2009–10 Premier League
The 2009–10 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992.
A total of 20 teams competed in the league, with Chelsea unseating the three-time defending champions Manchester United, scoring a then Premier League record 103 goals in the process. The season began on 15 August 2009 and concluded on 9 May 2010. Prior to each opening week match, a minute's applause was held in memory of Sir Bobby Robson. Nike provided a new match ball – the T90 Ascente – for this season. Barclays sponsored the league.
 | |
| Season | 2009–10 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 August 2009 – 9 May 2010 |
| Champions | Chelsea 3rd Premier League title 4th English title |
| Relegated | Burnley Hull City Portsmouth |
| Champions League | Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur |
| Europa League | Manchester City Aston Villa Liverpool |
| Matches played | 380 |
| Goals scored | 1,053 (2.77 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Didier Drogba (29 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Petr Čech (17 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Tottenham Hotspur 9–1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009) Chelsea 8–0 Wigan Athletic (9 May 2010) |
| Biggest away win | Everton 1–6 Arsenal (15 August 2009) Wigan Athletic 0–5 Manchester United (22 August 2009) Portsmouth 0–5 Chelsea (24 March 2010) Burnley 1–6 Manchester City (3 April 2010) |
| Highest scoring | Tottenham Hotspur 9–1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009) |
| Longest winning run | 6 games Arsenal Chelsea |
| Longest unbeaten run | 12 games Birmingham City |
| Longest winless run | 14 games Sunderland |
| Longest losing run | 7 games Portsmouth |
| Highest attendance | 75,316 Manchester United 4–0 Stoke City (9 May 2010) |
| Lowest attendance | 14,323 Wigan Athletic 0–0 Portsmouth (14 April 2010) |
| Total attendance | 12,977,252 |
| Average attendance | 34,150 |
← 2008–09 2010–11 → | |
The race for the title went to the final day of the season with Chelsea one point ahead of Manchester United; Chelsea's 8–0 win over Wigan Athletic was enough to secure their first title since 2006, despite Manchester United's 4–0 defeat of Stoke City. The title win came in Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti's first season at the club and he followed this up a week later by securing Chelsea's first FA Cup and League double with a win over Portsmouth at Wembley. Chelsea striker Didier Drogba won the Golden Boot award as the league's top goalscorer for the second time The victorious Chelsea side were noted for their attacking style of football: the team averaged 2.71 goals per game, scoring a Premier League record 103 goals for the season, compared to the average of 1.89 when they won the title in the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons.
In February 2010, Portsmouth became the first club to go into administration whilst a member of the Premier League. They were docked nine points, and two months later they were the first team of the season to be relegated. Hull City and Premier League debutants Burnley were relegated alongside them.
Overview
Pre-season
Pre-season was overshadowed by the death of Sir Bobby Robson on 31 July. On the opening games of the season, players stood around the centre circle for a minute's applause for the former Newcastle United, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Barcelona, Porto, PSV and England manager who died at the age of 76.
Broadcasting
This season was the last of a three-year domestic television rights deal agreed in 2006. Television rights continue to provide a large portion of Premier League clubs' revenue. However, on 19 June 2009, the Premier League annulled its contract with Ireland-based broadcaster Setanta Sports after the company failed to pay an instalment to the league with speculation mounting that the company would enter administration. As a result, Setanta Sports' share was bought by United States-based broadcasters ESPN, while Sky Sports continue to hold four of the six 23-live match packages. In the United States, the Disney-owned network is making use of sibling-network ESPN2 to televise early Saturday matches and Monday matches. This was possible due to Setanta Sports' financial troubles, which required their USA-based North America division to sell its rights to those games back to Fox Sports International, who in turn sublicensed them to ESPN. Setanta continues to broadcast a reduced number of matches in Ireland. In Australia, most games are available live on Fox Sports. Sentanta Sports USA operations ceased on 28 February, and Fox Soccer Plus replaced Sentanta as a pay service the following day.
On 31 January 2010, Sky Sports broadcast the match between Arsenal and Manchester United in 3D. The 3D broadcast was shown at nine pubs in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin, making the match the first sports event to be televised in 3D to a public audience anywhere in the world.
List of 2009–10 transfers
Final results
Chelsea won the league by a point over second placed Manchester United on 9 May 2010, with an 8–0 win at home to Wigan Athletic. They won despite Manchester United's 4–0 win against Stoke. The title win came in Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti's first season with the club. Portsmouth were the first team to be relegated on 10 April 2010, followed by Hull City and Burnley. Fulham's manager Roy Hodgson was voted manager of the year by the League Managers Association. The season saw Liverpool, runners-up the previous season and considered one of the established 'Big Four', finish outside the top four for the first time since 2004–05 leaving them unable to compete in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2003–04 season. Tottenham Hotspur finished with their best point total at the time in the Premier League era, finishing in fourth place on 70 points, earning their first ever berth into the Champions league.
Teams
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Coca-Cola Championship. The promoted teams were Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City and Burnley returning to the top flight after absences of five, one and thirty-three years respectively. This was also Burnley's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion, who were relegated to the Coca-Cola Championship after their top flight spells of sixteen, eleven and one year respectively.
Stadiums and locations
Personnel and kits
(as of 9 May 2010)
* – Football Management Consultant
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunderland |  Ricky Sbragia | Resigned | 24 May 2009 | Pre-season |  Steve Bruce | 2 June 2009 |
| Chelsea |  Guus Hiddink | End of interim contract | 31 May 2009 |  Carlo Ancelotti | 1 June 2009 | |
| Wigan Athletic | Steve Bruce | Signed by Sunderland | 2 June 2009 |  Roberto Martínez | 15 June 2009[1] | |
| Portsmouth | Paul Hart | Sacked | 24 November 2009 | 20th |  Avram Grant | 26 November 2009 |
| Manchester City |  Mark Hughes | 19 December 2009 | 6th | Roberto Mancini | 19 December 2009 | |
| Bolton Wanderers | Gary Megson | 30 December 2009 | 18th |  Owen Coyle | 8 January 2010 | |
| Burnley | Owen Coyle | Signed by Bolton Wanderers | 8 January 2010 | 14th | Brian Laws | 13 January 2010 |
| Hull City | Phil Brown | Resigned | 15 March 2010 | 19th |  Iain Dowie | 17 March 2010 |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea (C) | 38 | 27 | 5 | 6 | 103 | 32 | +71 | 86 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Manchester United | 38 | 27 | 4 | 7 | 86 | 28 | +58 | 85 | |
| 3 | Arsenal | 38 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 83 | 41 | +42 | 75 | |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 67 | 41 | +26 | 70 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Manchester City | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 73 | 45 | +28 | 67 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 38 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 52 | 39 | +13 | 64 | |
| 7 | Liverpool | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 61 | 35 | +26 | 63 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 8 | Everton | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 61 | |
| 9 | Birmingham City | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 50 | |
| 10 | Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 41 | 55 | −14 | 50 | |
| 11 | Stoke City | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 34 | 48 | −14 | 47 | |
| 12 | Fulham | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 39 | 46 | −7 | 46 | |
| 13 | Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 48 | 56 | −8 | 44 | |
| 14 | Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 42 | 67 | −25 | 39 | |
| 15 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 32 | 56 | −24 | 38 | |
| 16 | Wigan Athletic | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 37 | 79 | −42 | 36 | |
| 17 | West Ham United | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 47 | 66 | −19 | 35 | |
| 18 | Burnley (R) | 38 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 42 | 82 | −40 | 30 | Relegation to Football League Championship |
| 19 | Hull City (R) | 38 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 34 | 75 | −41 | 30 | |
| 20 | Portsmouth (R) | 38 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 34 | 66 | −32 | 19 |
