Season 155 Review

The League

The Premiership was won by Arsenal again, winning their 2nd title in a row and their 20th overall, 3 ahead of Leeds United and 5 ahead of Manchester United. Liverpool were the early pace-setters, who were unbeaten in their first eight home matches of the season. Chelsea, promoted two seasons ago, were also much improved and led Arsenal by three points at the halfway stage. As Liverpool fell away somewhat in the second half of the season, eventually finishing fourth behind Middlesbrough, Chelsea faced a home match again Arsenal which would put them six points clear if they won. They lost 2-1, however, and Arsenal did not look back thereafter. They had a 12-game winning streak and also won the final five games of the season, finishing 10 points clear of Chelsea. Middlesbrough's late run of 10 wins in 11 games saw them reach the heady heights of third place after bouncing straight back into the Premiership after one season in the First. Bolton Wanderers also had a very good season after promotion from Division 1. They led the table after winning the first four games but fell away somewhat, dropping to 12th place at one point. An unbeaten run of 13 games, 11 of them won, saw them finish strongly, clinching 5th place. Sunderland finished a good season in 6th place and Watford, the third of the three promoted teams, finished 7th, showing that the gap between the divisions is small at the moment - long may it continue. The disappointment of the season were Manchester United, who never really got going after a poor start. They dropped to 13th at one stage, only managing to reach 9th at the final hurdle.

At the bottom end of the table, Bradford and Leicester were the early candidates for the drop, but Manchester City were the surprise ones to join them. They did not get going until very late in the season but finished safely in 16th place. Newcastle also had a bad season, but recovered towards the end and looked to be heading for safety in 17th place. In their final game, however, they travelled to Barnsley, where a draw would have seen them survive but they lost 3-2, and thus dropped out of the Premiership for the first time in 24 seasons.

In Division 1, Tottenham Hotspur returned the to the top flight at the third time of asking, as they narrowly missed out on the previous two occasions, finishing fourth each time. This time they won the title 6 points ahead of Fulham, who returned to the Premiership after 32 seasons, during which time they fell as low as the penultimate position in the entire League. Charlton joined the other two after a break of 25 seasons outside of the top flight. Sheffield United looked good for the rise until the final stages, when they lost five out of their last six games and missed out by one point. They will be the ones to watch next season.

Tranmere dropped out of the First for the first time in 16 seasons and Port Vale fell straight back into the Second after winning said division last season. Stockport County joined them, being relegated for the second season in a row after their six-season spell in the top flight during which they reached the A.F.L. Cup final twice, winning it in season 151.

In the lower divisions, Preston, Wigan and Leyton Orient made the jump from the Second to the First, with favourites Norwich City only managing fifth place. Grimsby, Wrexham, Notts County and Walsall could not avoid the trap door, and will be replaced by Blackpool, Plymouth, Wycombe and Southend. Blackpool won the Third Division title very impressively, attaining an impressive haul of 104 points.

The Cups

The A.F.L. Cup was won by Manchester City, who defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0. This was a surprising win for City, who had spent almost the entire season in the Premiership drop-zone, but it was welcome along with their survival in the top flight. After defeating Brighton in the third round (4-1 at home), they had Premiership opposition in Sunderland (3-1 away), Leeds United (2-0 at home), Bradford City (2-0 at home) and Southampton (2-0 at Villa Park). West Bromwich were the surprise winners against favourites Arsenal in the other semi-final, although it took them two games to do so, winning 2-1 at Villa Park after a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane.

The A.F.L. Trophy was disappointing this season, as the top clubs all fell early on, especially in comparison with the previous season, when Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1. Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa were all defeated in the 2nd Round, and Everton fell at the next stage. Bolton Wanderers, the only remaining club in the upper reaches of the Premiership, were beaten by Manchester City, who at the time were bottom of the division. City won the final 3-1 against First Division promotion hopefuls Sheffield United, thus completing a satisfying cup double.

The A.F.L. Vase final was contested by Norwich City and Wigan Athletic. Norwich, who missed out once more on promotion from Division 2, won the final 3-1.

Tables

Premier League

    P W D L F A Diff Pts
1   Arsenal 38 26 8 4 82 34 +48 86
2   Chelsea 38 23 7 8 87 34 +53 76
3   Middlesbrough 38 21 6 11 76 50 +26 69
4   Liverpool 38 21 3 14 82 53 +29 66
5   Bolton Wanderers 38 20 5 13 71 55 +16 65
6   Sunderland 38 17 11 10 59 47 +12 62
7   Watford 38 17 6 15 53 54 -1 57
8   Aston Villa 38 15 10 13 63 60 +3 55
9   Manchester United 38 15 9 14 62 56 +6 54
10   Everton 38 16 5 17 62 62 0 53
11   Leeds United 38 12 11 15 56 63 -7 47
12   West Ham United 38 14 5 19 57 66 -9 47
13   Portsmouth 38 13 7 18 54 60 -6 46
14   Coventry City 38 12 9 17 62 81 -19 45
15   Southampton 38 14 3 21 52 82 -30 45
16   Manchester City 38 12 8 18 55 57 -2 44
17   Barnsley 38 11 9 18 53 79 -26 42
18   Newcastle United 38 10 11 17 51 62 -11 41
19   Bradford City 38 11 6 21 47 80 -33 39
20   Leicester City 38 6 9 23 38 87 -49 27

League 1

    P W D L F A Diff Pts
1   Tottenham Hotspur 46 29 5 12 87 45 +42 92
2   Fulham 46 26 8 12 69 47 +22 86
3   Charlton Athletic 46 27 5 14 82 61 +21 86
4   Sheffield United 46 26 7 13 77 46 +31 85
5   Blackburn Rovers 46 24 8 14 90 53 +37 80
6   Crystal Palace 46 24 6 16 83 65 +18 78
7   Derby County 46 23 8 15 79 63 +16 77
8   West Bromwich Alb 46 20 11 15 65 54 +11 71
9   Reading 46 20 7 19 75 66 +9 67
10   Q.P.R. 46 18 11 17 76 66 +10 65
11   Cardiff City 46 19 7 20 65 72 -7 64
12   Huddersfield Town 46 19 6 21 67 89 -22 63
13   Sheffield Wednesday 46 18 8 20 60 65 -5 62
14   Gillingham 46 17 9 20 72 71 +1 60
15   Stoke City 46 17 8 21 68 75 -7 59
16   Wolverhampton Wand 46 15 13 18 61 61 0 58
17   Birmingham City 46 15 12 19 66 79 -13 57
18   Wimbledon 46 15 11 20 57 70 -13 56
19   Swindon Town 46 17 4 25 50 74 -24 55
20   Bury 46 15 8 23 60 84 -24 53
21   Ipswich Town 46 14 10 22 53 77 -24 52
22   Tranmere Rovers 46 11 11 24 58 83 -25 44
23   Port Vale 46 11 10 25 63 82 -19 43
24   Stockport County 46 8 15 23 54 89 -35 39

League 2

    P W D L F A Diff Pts
1   Preston North End 46 26 9 11 90 63 +27 87
2   Wigan Athletic 46 24 12 10 89 50 +39 84
3   Leyton Orient 46 24 9 13 83 63 +20 81
4   Colchester United 46 20 14 12 80 51 +29 74
5   Norwich City 46 21 11 14 94 67 +27 74
6   Chesterfield 46 20 13 13 74 63 +11 73
7   Luton Town 46 21 9 16 72 53 +19 72
8   Hull City 46 21 9 16 82 68 +14 72
9   Oldham Athletic 46 22 6 18 68 61 +7 72
10   Nottingham Forest 46 20 9 17 80 73 +7 69
11   Scunthorpe United 46 19 11 16 76 88 -12 68
12   Burnley 46 17 16 13 77 60 +17 67
13   Northampton Town 46 17 15 14 74 64 +10 66
14   Bristol City 46 20 6 20 68 75 -7 66
15   Crewe Alexandra 46 18 8 20 68 73 -5 62
16   Brighton & H A 46 17 10 19 58 73 -15 61
17   Millwall 46 15 12 19 55 70 -15 57
18   Bristol Rovers 46 14 13 19 62 61 +1 55
19   Rotherham United 46 15 7 24 55 81 -26 52
20   Brentford 46 12 15 19 60 64 -4 51
21   Grimsby Town 46 12 13 21 53 71 -18 49
22   Wrexham 46 13 9 24 66 107 -41 48
23   Notts County 46 8 12 26 50 92 -42 36
24   Walsall 46 9 6 31 55 98 -43 33

League 3

    P W D L F A Diff Pts
1   Blackpool 46 33 5 8 78 38 +40 104
2   Plymouth Argyle 46 27 8 11 90 41 +49 89
3   Wycombe Wanderers 46 25 11 10 76 49 +27 86
4   Southend United 46 24 12 10 85 49 +36 84
5   Carlisle United 46 25 6 15 79 56 +23 81
6   Lincoln City 46 23 11 12 68 54 +14 80
7   Swansea City 46 20 12 14 67 56 +11 72
8   Doncaster Rovers 46 19 11 16 63 52 +11 68
9   Rochdale 46 17 13 16 68 56 +12 64
10   Mansfield Town 46 17 13 16 66 61 +5 64
11   Chester City 46 18 8 20 64 76 -12 62
12   Hartlepool United 46 15 15 16 66 61 +5 60
13   AFC Bournemouth 46 15 15 16 57 69 -12 60
14   Oxford United 46 18 5 23 63 70 -7 59
15   Barnet 46 16 10 20 68 71 -3 58
16   Cambridge United 46 15 12 19 58 66 -8 57
17   Hereford United 46 17 4 25 59 81 -22 55
18   Shrewsbury Town 46 14 12 20 62 64 -2 54
19   Torquay United 46 14 9 23 61 80 -19 51
20   Peterborough United 46 13 12 21 54 75 -21 51
21   Scarborough 46 13 12 21 56 81 -25 51
22   Darlington 46 11 14 21 56 77 -21 47
23   York City 46 12 7 27 50 83 -33 43
24   Exeter City 46 9 7 30 48 96 -48 34