Premier League 2008–09

Newcastle United

Sunderland

Middlesbrough

Hull City

Portsmouth

Tottenham Hotspur

West Ham United

Chelsea

Fulham

Arsenal

Aston Villa

West Bromwich Albion

Stoke City

Everton

Liverpool

Blackburn Rovers

Bolton Wanderers

Wigan Athletic

Manchester City

Manchester United

The 2008–09 Premier League season (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) will be the seventeenth since its establishment in 1992. Manchester United are the defending champions, having won their tenth Premier League title on the final day of the previous season. The campaign – the fixtures for which were announced on 16 June – began on Saturday 16 August 2008, [cite news |title=2008/09 fixtures announced |url=http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines/0,,12306~1328838,00.html |publisher=Premier League |date=2008-06-16 |accessdate=2008-06-16 ] and is scheduled to end on 24 May 2009. A total of 20 teams will contest the league, including 17 who competed the previous season and three promoted from the Football League Championship.

Starting with this season, clubs are now allowed to name seven substitutes on the bench instead of five. [cite news |title=Premier League ratifies more subs |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7233663.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-02-07 |accessdate=2008-06-07 ] This season is also different in that there will be no New Year's Day game, as is usually traditional. This is because the FA Cup Third Round is traditionally played on the first Saturday in January, which in 2009 will fall in the usual spot for New Year's league games. [ [http://www.burnley.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=112520 Burnley - Fixtures 2008/9-No New Year's Day Match ! ] ]

The first goal of the season was scored by Arsenal's Samir Nasri against newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion in the fourth minute of the early kick-off game on the opening day of the season on 16 August.cite news |first=Paul |last=Fletcher |title=Arsenal 1-0 West Brom |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7551128.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-16 |accessdate=2008-08-16 ] Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa scored the first hat-trick of the season against Manchester City, netting three goals in the space of seven minutes.cite news |first=Chris |last=Bevan |title=Aston Villa 4-2 Man City |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7551172.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-17 |accessdate=2008-08-17 ]

Promotion and Relegation

Teams promoted from Football League Championship 2007-08
* Champions West Bromwich Albion
* Runners up Stoke City
* Play-offs: Hull City

Teams relegated to Football League Championship 2008-09
* Reading
* Birmingham City
* Derby County

League table

Results

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eason statistics

coring

*First goal of the season: Samir Nasri for Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion, 4th minute (16 August 2008)
*Fastest goal in a match: 156 seconds – Carlos Tévez for Manchester United against Liverpool (13 September 2008) [cite news |first=Mandeep |last=Sanghera |title=Liverpool 2-1 Man Utd |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/7601885.stm|publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-09-13 |accessdate=2008-09-15 ]
*Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+5 minutes – Carlton Cole for West Ham United against Blackburn Rovers (30 August 2008) [cite news |title=West Ham 4-1 Blackburn |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7578470.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-30 |accessdate=2008-09-01 ]
*Widest winning margin: 6 goals – Manchester City 6–0 Portsmouth (21 September, 2008)
*Most goals in a match: 6 goals
**Aston Villa 4–2 Manchester City (17 August 2008) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/7551172.stm BBC News] ]
**Manchester City 6–0 Portsmouth (21 September, 2008) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7627549.stm BBC News] ]
*Most goals in one half by one team: 4 goals
**Aston Villa 4–2 Manchester City (17 August 2008)
**Manchester City 6–0 Portsmouth (21 September, 2008)
*First own goal of the season: Robert Huth (Middlesbrough) for Tottenham Hotspur, 90+2 minutes (16 August 2008) [cite news |first=Sam |last=Lyon |title=Middlesbrough 2-1 Tottenham |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7551168.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-16 |accessdate=2008-08-17 ]
*First hat trick of the season: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) against Manchester City (17 August 2008)
*Fastest hat trick of the season: 7 minutes, 37 seconds – Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) against Manchester City (17 August 2008)

Discipline

*First yellow card of the season: Sam Ricketts for Hull City against Fulham, 29th minute (16 August 2008) [cite news |first=John |last=May |title=Hull City 2-1 Fulham |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7551167.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-16 |accessdate=2008-08-17 ]
*First red card of the season: Mark Noble for West Ham United against Manchester City, 38th minute (24 August 2008) [cite news |first=Chris |last=Bevan |title=Man City 3-0 West Ham |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7570609.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-24 |accessdate=2008-08-24 ]

Top scorers

Also, Nike provided a new match ball, white with red and yellow, based on their T90 Laser II Omni model.

tadia

Managerial changes

ee also

*The Football League 2008–09

References