10 fascinating facts about the 2008-09 Premier League season

2008-09 was one of the greatest seasons in Premier League history.
2008-09 was one of the greatest seasons in Premier League history.

Ten years ago, the landscape of English football was radically different. 2008-09 was the final season where the Premier League's 'Big Four' would dominate. It was a time when English clubs were at the top of Europe.

Manchester United was at their very best in the Premier League era, while the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal would try and usurp them. They were the four standard-bearers of English football, four of the top teams in Europe. The gap between and the rest of the league was pretty high, until a year later when it was shattered.

Regular top-four outfits Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur were on the cusp of possible success in the future, while the league was filled with a who's who of today's EFL Championship line-up. Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic among others were some of the current Championship clubs who were comfortably in mid-table.

We saw West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Hull City promoted in 2008, none of them is currently in the top flight and two of them were relegated just months ago. Heck, the 2016 Premier League champions Leicester City were deep in the Championship with no signs of going up.

The season was an extremely enthralling one, filled with shocks and surprises galore. While the top four was predictable as ever, it took so many twists and turns to get us there. However, the biggest battle in the 2008-09 season was the dreaded relegation scrap.

Lots of drama was on display for a certain few teams especially one, who suffered a massive collapse in the second half of the season. It truly was one of the greatest and most interesting seasons in Premier League history.

Close to ten years from the start of this magnificent roller-coaster, here are ten fascinating facts you may not have known about the 2008-09 Premier League season.


#10 This was the season of change for Manchester City

Sheikh Mansour bought Man City at the start of the 2008-09 season.
Sheikh Mansour bought Man City at the start of the 2008-09 season.

Since 2009, Manchester City has been the Premier League's most consistent club. They have won two league titles, along with regular appearances in the Champions League. This new vein of success for the Citizens is down to their change in ownership a few weeks into the 2008-09 campaign.

They were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group, with the process being led by Sheikh Mansour, who is worth at least £17 billion. He became the richest owner in world football.

The takeover was completed on transfer deadline day, sparking quick big money bids for various superstars in world football. Man City were very close in signing Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham as they were ultimately beaten by city rivals Manchester United for his signature.

Sir Alex Ferguson had to drive Berbatov on his arrival at Manchester Airport to United's training ground, in order to avoid any last-minute drama. The Citizens did manage to sign Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5 million, a then-British record. From then on, Man City have invested heavily on players that would help them attain the level of success they have reached.


#9 This season saw the second lowest goal tally from a Premier League Golden Boot winner

Chelsea's Anelka only scored 19 goals to win the Golden Boot.
Chelsea's Anelka only scored 19 goals to win the Golden Boot.

The Premier League's top scorer in the 2008-09 season was Nicolas Anelka, who only scored 19 goals. It seems like peanuts when looked upon in general. Cristiano Ronaldo, the previous year's top scorer scored 31 league goals. It is the second lowest total from a Golden Boot winner in Premier League history.

It is bizarre, as there has not been any outright goalscorer consistent enough to be maligned as one of the greatest strikers in Premier League history. Sure, legends like Drogba and Rooney did play but they did not enjoy a consistent enough season. Those two would score 29 and 26 in the next season. The likes of Adebayor and Torres had some injury concerns throughout the season, as did Ronaldo.

It actually came down to Ronaldo and Anelka on the final day of the season with both on 18 goals, but Ronaldo did not play as a result of being rested for the Champions League final against Barcelona. The French forward would score at Sunderland to secure the Golden Boot for himself, in one of the most uninspiring Golden Boot winning campaigns in Premier League history.

In another bizarre fact, the only two seasons with lower goal tallies for the Golden Boot winners were back-to-back and three people were tied for the award in both those seasons. 1997-98 and 1998-99 both saw three different players score 18 goals in the Premier League, with Michael Owen being in both those trios.

#8 Spurs saw three familiar faces return in January

Defoe was re-signed by Spurs after a year away.
Defoe was re-signed by Spurs after a year away.

Tottenham Hotspur did quite a lot of business in the 2008 summer transfer window, signing the likes of Luka Modric and Roman Pavlyuchenko in an attempt to make a charge towards Europe. Unfortunately, they suffered a horrible start to the season under Juande Ramos.

Spurs only got two points from their opening eight games before Ramos got sacked. Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp stepped in and took over the managerial duties at White Hart Lane. He steadied the ship well and took Spurs to the League Cup Final. But fans saw a familiar face show up during the semi-final.

Jermain Defoe was presented as a Tottenham player to the fans on the same night they beat Burnley 3-0 in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final. The striker returned to Spurs one year after he left for Portsmouth, linking up with Redknapp once again. He was not the only familiar face to return to Tottenham that month.

Pascal Chimbonda re-joined Spurs after half a season at Sunderland, while Robbie Keane made the move from Liverpool after his dream move to Anfield did not really work out. The old boys were back together and played a part in securing a top-half finish for Spurs before lightning struck the following season, sending them to the Champions League.


#7 West Ham played a few months without a shirt sponsor, while West Brom played the entire season without one

There were no shirt sponsors on display when West Brom and West Ham clashed.
There were no shirt sponsors on display when West Brom and West Ham clashed.

West Ham United were in the middle of some troubling times at the start of the 2008-09 season as manager Alan Curbishley resigned due to disagreements in the club's transfer policy. Shortly after that, their shirt sponsors XL Airways collapsed due to heavy debts. This left the Hammers with £4 million less and without a shirt sponsor.

They played for around three months with no shirt sponsor, with each player wearing their respective squad numbers on their shirts to take up space. Eventually, West Ham struck a deal with online bookmakers SBOBET to end this messy fiasco for the East Londoners.

West Ham may have ended up finding a sponsor, however, West Bromwich Albion spent the entire season without any shirt sponsors. This was peculiar for a Premier League club. Their deal with T-Mobile had concluded that summer and the Baggies were unable to find any shirt sponsors for the 2008-09 season.

The season would not transpire in a much better way for them, as they finished bottom of the table and were relegated before the final game of the season.

#6 Liverpool earned the highest number of points in a PL season without winning the title

Liverpool's 86 points was a then-record for the runners-up.
Liverpool's 86 points was a then-record for the runners-up

Liverpool enjoyed their best ever Premier League season in 2008-09, as they pushed Manchester United all the way in the title race. A title race that was led by them for a considerable amount of time.

Unfortunately for the Reds, silly home draws against lesser opposition would be their downfall. Liverpool drew at home to Stoke City, Fulham and West Ham United among others. Despite those missteps, they did manage to earn a total of 86 points.

Back then, it was the highest number of points won by the runners-up of a Premier League season. This record would be broken by Manchester United themselves in 2009 and matched by Tottenham in 2017.

Liverpool only lost two matches in the Premier League that season, further symbolising how impressive they just were. If it wasn't for a mammoth total of 90 points from the Red Devils, it might just have been Liverpool's year.

They scored the highest number of goals during the entire season and had a spectacular knack of scoring late goals in important games. The Reds' 4-1 win at Old Trafford will live long in the memories of any Liverpool fan who witnessed it that day.

However, this great season was followed in the worst way possible. Liverpool's lack of squad depth would be badly exposed in 2009-10 and it ended up costing them their place in the top four, thus ending the reign of the 'Big Four'.

#5 Aston Villa were comfortably in the top 3 in February

Aston Villa had a mighty collapse in the last few months of the season.
Aston Villa had a mighty collapse in the last few months of the season.

Aston Villa started the season immensely, going on a consistent run of positive results. They were spearheaded by a pacy frontline including Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Villa were flying and had also beaten Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates.

Martin O'Neill and his side kept on marching as they picked up big points going into the new year. They were comfortably in the top four by then. However, club captain Martin Laursen got injured around the December-January period, putting a dampener on the Villians' so-far impressive season.

In the middle of February, Aston Villa was in third place. They were seven points clear of Arsenal in fifth and just required a similar level of consistency to see it through and make it to the Champions League. But then the collapse happened. After a 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea, Villa went on an astonishing winless run.

They went over months without a single win as they relinquished their Champions League spot. It took the Gunners less than a month to make up the ground and reach fourth. This season will always remain a missed opportunity in the eyes of Villa fans, especially after their eventual downfall in the years to come.

#4 Chelsea had 4 managers (and 1 interim manager) in 2 seasons

Scolari spent around 7 months as Chelsea manager.
Scolari spent around 7 months as Chelsea manager

Chelsea are known for being extremely impatient with their managers and it was not demonstrated in a better way than during the period between 2007 and 2009. After Jose Mourinho left Stamford Bridge five games into the 2007-08 season, Chelsea appointed Israeli Avram Grant to take over the duties for the Blues.

He did a decent job, despite not being well liked, taking Chelsea to the Champions League final and battling for the Premier League title until the last day. Unfortunately, it was not enough and Grant was sacked at the end of the season. To solve their managerial problems Chelsea went big, namely Big Phil.

Luiz Felipe Scolari became the manager of Chelsea at the start of 2008-09 and began the campaign with a bang. The Blues were in hot form at the start of the season, with Anelka being the star of the show. But after a 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal, things went south.

Chelsea did not have a good December and January, as they dropped out of the title race. After a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool and a 0-0 draw at home to Hull City, Scolari was sacked and became the third Chelsea manager to leave in the past two seasons. Ray Wilkins was the interim manager for an FA Cup game before Guus Hiddink was appointed as caretaker boss until the end of the season.

He did a great job in stopping the downfall and helped to steady the Blue ship. He was the fourth Chelsea manager in two seasons, truly epitomizing how cut-throat the managerial job at Chelsea really is.

#3 Tony Adams' first and last games as Portsmouth manager were both against Liverpool

Tony Adams was a bust as Portsmouth's manager.
Tony Adams was a bust as Portsmouth's manager.

Portsmouth was in a great place heading into the 2008-09 season, fresh after their FA Cup victory and in possession of some really talented players like Jermain Defoe and Lassana Diarra. Harry Redknapp had taken Pompey to Europe and was set to embark on further success at Fratton Park.

However, as seen earlier, Redknapp moved to Tottenham in October and left a huge gap in the manager's seat at Portsmouth. It was up to his assistant, Tony Adams to do the job. Predictably, it did not turn out very well. The former Arsenal captain's first match in charge was at Anfield, as Portsmouth travelled to Liverpool.

They narrowly lost 1-0 but it all went downhill from there. All the momentum gained by Redknapp was lost, as both Diarra and Defoe left the club in January.

Adams managed 15 league games as Portsmouth manager and only won two of them. It was a poor run and it inevitably came to an end three and a half months after Adams' promotion, against the same club he faced in his first game in charge. Liverpool came from behind twice to win 3-2 and hand Pompey their seventh loss in eight league games.

Paul Hart was appointed as caretaker manager and, much like Guus Hiddink at Chelsea, steadied the ship for the time being. It is funny that Tony Adams' only spell of management in the Premier League lasted three and a half months, starting and ending with the same opponents.

#2 Hull City almost went from the top half to the drop zone

Hull City enjoyed an excellent start to the season.
Hull City enjoyed an excellent start to the season.

One of the most shocking stories in the footballing world ten years ago was the shocking promotion of Hull City for the first time in their existence. When they entered the Premier League, they were immediately tipped to go straight back down. What transpired over the first few months of the 2008-09 season was truly remarkable.

The Tigers enjoyed a fantastic start to life in the top flight and even picked up shocking wins away at Arsenal and Tottenham. They were third in October and similar to Aston Villa, the only way next was down. They just did not know how low.

After an incredible first nine games of the season, Hull lost their form completely and only got 15 points in their remaining 29 games. It was quite a shocking reversal of form and fortunes for the Premier League rookies. Their 2009 was even worse as they only received eight points in the entirety of the second half of the season.

Phil Brown's men would plummet down the table all the way from sixth in December, to 18th in May. Luckily for them, a 1-1 draw at Bolton on the penultimate weekend would be enough to save Hull from relegation. Newcastle United's own decline proved to be crucial for the Tigers as they lived to fight another year.

#1 Manchester United went 22 hours of football without conceding a league goal

van der Sar was an absolute brick-wall for Man United.
van der Sar was an absolute brick-wall for Man United.

When it was all said and done, Manchester United stood tall at the end of 2008-09 and won the Premier League for the third time in a row. They did so with a huge tally of 90 points. However, they did not exactly begin the season that well. Draws and defeats would hamper United's progress throughout the opening three months of the season.

Following a 2-1 reversal at Arsenal in November, the Red Devils went on an unbelievable defensive run. They went close to four months without conceding a goal in the Premier League, with Edwin van der Sar keeping 14 clean sheets in a row.

He was supported by one of the best centre-back pairings in Premier League history, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

van der Sar kept opposition attacks at bay for a total of 1,302 minutes in a row as the Red Devils marched to the top of the table in the midst of this mad run. It is the backbone of this United side that makes them one of the greatest teams in Premier League history.

Shortly after this run, they almost threw it all away as Liverpool won 4-1 at Old Trafford and a nine-man United lost 2-0 to Fulham. However, Sir Alex Ferguson's boys kept their composure and ensured victory in the league with a game to go.

This was Manchester United at their best, in terms of every single aspect at the club. Their brilliant character to fight back in the title race, along with a more than worthy adversary in Liverpool, makes 2008-09 one of the greatest Premier League seasons in history.

Quick Links

Edited by Shambhu Ajith