2006–07 FA Premier League

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FA Premier League
Season 2006–07
Dates19 August 2006 – 13 May 2007
Champions Manchester United
9th Premier League title
16th English title
Relegated Sheffield United
Charlton Athletic
Watford
Champions League Manchester United
Chelsea
Liverpool
Arsenal
UEFA Cup Tottenham Hotspur
Everton
Bolton Wanderers
Intertoto Cup Blackburn Rovers
Matches played380
Goals scored931 (2.45 per match)
Top goalscorer Didier Drogba
(20 goals)
Best goalkeeper Pepe Reina (19 clean sheets)
Biggest home win Reading 6–0 West Ham United
(1 January 2007)
Biggest away win Middlesbrough 0–4 Portsmouth
(28 August 2006)
Reading 0–4 Arsenal
(22 October 2006)
Bolton Wanderers 0–4 Manchester United
(28 October 2006)
Wigan Athletic 0–4 Liverpool
(2 December 2006)
Tottenham Hotspur 0–4 Manchester United
(4 February 2007)
Highest scoringArsenal 6–2 Blackburn Rovers
(23 December 2006)
Longest winning run9 games [1]
Chelsea
Longest unbeaten run14 games [1]
Chelsea
Longest winless run11 games [1]
Aston Villa
Watford
West Ham United
Longest losing run8 games [1]
Wigan Athletic
Highest attendance76,098
Manchester United 4–1 Blackburn Rovers
(31 March 2007)
Lowest attendance13,760
Watford 2–1 Blackburn Rovers
(23 January 2007)
Total attendance13,058,755
Average attendance34,365
2007–08 →

The 2006–07 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclays Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of the FA Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 19 August 2006 and concluded on 13 May 2007. Chelsea were the two-time defending champions.

Contents

On 12 February 2007, the FA Premier League renamed itself simply to the Premier League. The change introduced a new logo, sleeve patches and typeface. The sponsored name remains the Barclays Premier League.

The 2006–07 season was the lowest-scoring season in Premier League history, with only 931 goals (with a 2.45 goals per match ratio, the poorest in the history of Premier League).[ citation needed ]

Manchester United won their first Premiership title since 2003, following Chelsea's 1–1 draw with Arsenal on 6 May 2007. The result left the defending champions seven points behind United with two games left. It was their ninth title in fifteen seasons.

The three relegation spots were occupied by Watford and Sheffield United who each lasted one season in the league, along with Charlton Athletic who went down after seven seasons.

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Football League Championship. The promoted teams were Reading (playing in the top flight for the first time ever), Sheffield United (playing top flight football for the first time in twelve years) and Watford (returning after a six-year absence). They replaced Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland, who were relegated to the Championship after their top flight spells of four, two and one year respectively.

Stadiums and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Arsenal London (Holloway) Emirates Stadium [a] 60,600
Aston Villa Birmingham Villa Park 42,553
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park 31,367
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Reebok Stadium 28,723
Charlton Athletic London (Charlton) The Valley 27,111
Chelsea London (Fulham) Stamford Bridge 42,360
Everton Liverpool (Walton) Goodison Park 40,569
Fulham London (Fulham) Craven Cottage 24,600
Liverpool Liverpool (Anfield) Anfield 48,677
Manchester City Manchester (Bradford) City of Manchester Stadium 48,000
Manchester United Manchester (Old Trafford) Old Trafford 76,212 [b]
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 35,049
Newcastle United Newcastle upon Tyne St James' Park 52,387
Portsmouth Portsmouth Fratton Park 20,220
Reading Reading Madejski Stadium [c] 24,250
Sheffield United Sheffield Bramall Lane 32,609
Tottenham Hotspur London (Tottenham) White Hart Lane 36,240
Watford Watford Vicarage Road 19,920
West Ham United London (Upton Park) Boleyn Ground 35,146
Wigan Athletic Wigan JJB Stadium 25,138
  1. ↑ Arsenal moved to the larger 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium after 93 years at Arsenal Stadium.
  2. ↑ Old Trafford is now a fully completed 76,000-seater stadium, making it the largest club stadium in the UK.
  3. ↑ The Madejski Stadium was a new Premier League ground for this season, Reading's first in the competition.

Personnel and kits

(as of 13 May 2007)

TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Arsenal Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Arsène Wenger Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Thierry Henry Nike Fly Emirates
Aston Villa Ulster Banner.svg Martin O'Neill Flag of England.svg Gareth Barry Hummel 32red.com
Blackburn Rovers Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Hughes Flag of New Zealand.svg Ryan Nelsen Lonsdale bet24.com
Bolton Wanderers Flag of England.svg Sammy Lee Flag of England.svg Kevin Nolan Reebok Reebok
Charlton Athletic Flag of England.svg Alan Pardew Flag of England.svg Luke Young Joma Llanera
Chelsea Flag of Portugal.svg José Mourinho Flag of England.svg John Terry Adidas Samsung Mobile
Everton Flag of Scotland.svg David Moyes Flag of England.svg Phil Neville Umbro Chang
Fulham Ulster Banner.svg Lawrie Sanchez Flag of the United States.svg Brian McBride Airness Pipex
Liverpool Flag of Spain.svg Rafael Benítez Flag of England.svg Steven Gerrard Adidas Carlsberg
Manchester City Flag of England.svg Stuart Pearce Flag of Ireland.svg Richard Dunne Reebok Thomas Cook
Manchester United Flag of Scotland.svg Sir Alex Ferguson Flag of England.svg Gary Neville Nike AIG
Middlesbrough Flag of England.svg Gareth Southgate Flag of the Netherlands.svg George Boateng Erreà 888.com
Newcastle United Flag of England.svg Nigel Pearson (caretaker) Flag of England.svg Scott Parker Adidas Northern Rock
Portsmouth Flag of England.svg Harry Redknapp Flag of Serbia.svg Dejan Stefanović Jako Oki
Reading Flag of England.svg Steve Coppell Flag of Scotland.svg Graeme Murty Puma Kyocera
Sheffield United Flag of England.svg Neil Warnock Flag of England.svg Chris Morgan Le Coq Sportif Capital One
Tottenham Hotspur Flag of the Netherlands.svg Martin Jol Flag of England.svg Ledley King Puma Mansion.com
Watford Flag of England.svg Aidy Boothroyd Flag of England.svg Gavin Mahon Diadora loans.co.uk
West Ham United Flag of England.svg Alan Curbishley Flag of England.svg Nigel Reo-Coker Reebok Jobserve
Wigan Athletic Flag of England.svg Paul Jewell Flag of the Netherlands.svg Arjan De Zeeuw JJB JJB

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment
Charlton Athletic Flag of England.svg Alan Curbishley End of contract24 April 2006 [2] Pre-season Ulster Banner.svg Iain Dowie 27 May 2006
Middlesbrough Flag of England.svg Steve McClaren Signed by England 4 May 2006 [3] Flag of England.svg Gareth Southgate 7 June 2006 [4]
Aston Villa Flag of Ireland.svg David O'Leary Sacked19 July 2006 Ulster Banner.svg Martin O'Neill 4 August 2006 [5]
Charlton Athletic Ulster Banner.svg Iain Dowie 13 November 2006 [6] 20th Flag of England.svg Les Reed 13 November 2006
West Ham United Flag of England.svg Alan Pardew 11 December 2006 [7] 18th Flag of England.svg Alan Curbishley 13 December 2006 [8]
Charlton Athletic Flag of England.svg Les Reed 20 December 200619th Flag of England.svg Alan Pardew 24 December 2006 [9]
Fulham Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Chris Coleman 10 April 2007 [10] 15th Ulster Banner.svg Lawrie Sanchez 10 April 2007
Bolton Wanderers Flag of England.svg Sam Allardyce Resigned29 April 2007 [11] 5th Flag of England.svg Sammy Lee 30 April 2007 [12]
Newcastle United Flag of England.svg Glenn Roeder 6 May 2007 [13] 13th Flag of England.svg Nigel Pearson (caretaker)6 May 2007

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C)3828558327+5689Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Chelsea 38241136424+4083
3 Liverpool 38208105727+3068Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
4 Arsenal 38191186335+2868
5 Tottenham Hotspur 38179125754+360Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round [a]
6 Everton 381513105236+1658
7 Bolton Wanderers 38168144752−556
8 Reading 38167155247+555
9 Portsmouth 381412124542+354
10 Blackburn Rovers 38157165254−252Qualification for the Intertoto Cup third round [b]
11 Aston Villa 381117104341+250
12 Middlesbrough 381210164449−546
13 Newcastle United 381110173847−943
14 Manchester City 38119182944−1542
15 West Ham United 38125213559−2441
16 Fulham 38815153860−2239
17 Wigan Athletic 38108203759−2238
18 Sheffield United (R)38108203255−2338Relegation to Football League Championship
19 Charlton Athletic (R)38810203460−2634
20 Watford (R)38513202959−3028
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ↑ Since both finalists of the FA Cup (Manchester United and Chelsea) and the League Cup winners (Chelsea) were qualified for the Champions League, their UEFA Cup spots were given to the 6th- and 7th-placed Premier League teams.
  2. ↑ The highest-placed team who applied for the Intertoto Cup and not in an automatic UEFA Cup spot was awarded with a place in that competition. Blackburn Rovers occupied the Intertoto place, because Portsmouth and Reading did not apply.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000037-QINU`"' A further place in the UEFA Cup was up for grabs via the Premiership Fair Play League. The winner is placed into a draw with the winners of Fair Play leagues in other countries. The representatives from the two countries that come out of the hat first are given a place in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round. Since the winners of the Premiership Fair Play League, Tottenham Hotspur, had already qualified for the UEFA Cup by virtue of their league position, their place in the Fair Play draw was given to Aston Villa. However, the places in the UEFA Cup were awarded to the representatives from Finland and Norway.

Results

Home \ Away ARS AVL BLB BOL CHA CHE EVE FUL LIV MCI MUN MID NEW POR REA SHU TOT WAT WHU WIG
Arsenal 1–16–22–14–0 1–1 1–13–13–0 3–1 2–1 1–11–12–22–13–0 3–0 3–00–12–1
Aston Villa 0–12–00–12–00–01–11–10–01–30–31–12–00–02–13–01–12–01–01–1
Blackburn Rovers 0–21–20–14–10–21–12–01–04–20–12–11–33–03–32–11–13–11–22–1
Bolton Wanderers 3–12–21–21–10–11–12–12–00–00–40–02–13–21–31–02–01–04–0 0–1
Charlton Athletic 1–22–11–02–00–11–12–20–31–00–31–32–00–10–01–10–20–04–01–0
Chelsea 1–1 1–13–02–22–11–1 2–2 1–0 3–00–03–01–02–12–23–0 1–0 4–01–04–0
Everton 1–00–11–01–02–12–34–1 3–0 1–12–40–03–03–01–12–01–22–12–02–2
Fulham 2–11–11–11–12–1 0–2 1–01–01–31–22–12–11–10–11–01–10–00–00–1
Liverpool 4–13–11–13–02–2 2–0 0–0 4–0 1–0 0–1 2–02–00–02–04–03–02–02–12–0
Manchester City 1–0 0–20–30–20–00–12–13–1 0–0 0–1 1–00–00–00–20–01–20–02–00–1
Manchester United 0–1 3–14–14–12–01–13–05–1 2–0 3–1 1–12–03–03–22–01–04–00–13–1
Middlesbrough 1–11–30–15–12–02–12–13–10–00–21–2 1–0 0–42–13–12–34–11–01–1
Newcastle United 0–03–10–21–20–00–01–11–22–10–12–2 0–0 1–03–20–13–12–12–22–1
Portsmouth 0–02–23–00–10–10–22–01–12–12–12–10–02–13–13–11–12–12–01–0
Reading 0–42–01–21–02–00–10–21–01–21–01–13–21–00–03–13–10–26–03–2
Sheffield United 1–02–20–02–22–10–21–12–01–10–11–22–11–21–11–22–11–03–01–2
Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 2–11–14–15–1 2–1 0–20–00–12–10–42–12–32–11–02–03–11–03–1
Watford 1–20–02–10–12–20–10–33–30–31–11–22–01–14–20–00–10–01–11–1
West Ham United 1–01–12–13–13–11–41–03–31–20–11–02–00–21–20–11–03–40–10–2
Wigan Athletic 0–10–00–3 1–3 3–22–30–20–00–44–01–30–11–01–01–00–13–31–10–3
Source: Barclays Premier League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Overall

Home

Away

Statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Didier Drogba Chelsea20
2 Flag of South Africa.svg Benni McCarthy Blackburn Rovers18
3 Flag of Portugal.svg Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United17
4 Flag of England.svg Wayne Rooney Manchester United14
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Viduka Middlesbrough
6 Flag of England.svg Darren Bent Charlton Athletic13
Flag of Ireland.svg Kevin Doyle Reading
8 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur12
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Dirk Kuyt Liverpool
Flag of Nigeria.svg Yakubu Middlesbrough

Historic goals

15,000th goal

The Premier League expected to have the league's 15,000th goal scored at some point in the period between Christmas and New Year. The target was reached on 30 December when Moritz Volz scored for Fulham against Chelsea. Barclays, the Premiership's sponsor, donated £15,000 to the Fulham Community Sports Trust in Volz' name. Additionally, a fan who correctly predicted that Volz would score the historic goal in a contest presented the player with a special award prior to Fulham's game against Watford at Craven Cottage on 1 January. [14] The honour of scoring the 15,000th goal led to Volz being nicknamed "15,000 Volz".[ citation needed ]

Goalkeeper scores

On 17 March 2007, Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson scored against Watford from an 83-yard free kick, which bounced over his England teammate Ben Foster, who was in goal for the Hornets, leading Spurs to a 3–1 win at White Hart Lane. [15] This was the third goal scored by a goalkeeper in Premiership history. The other two were scored by Peter Schmeichel, for Aston Villa against Everton on 21 October 2001, [16] and Brad Friedel, for Blackburn Rovers against Charlton Athletic on 21 February 2004. [17] In those two cases, the teams they played for lost. Robinson became the first keeper to score for the winning team in a Premiership match.

Relegation controversy

West Ham escaped relegation on the final day of the season with a 1–0 win over Manchester United, with Carlos Tevez scoring the winner. [18] Sheffield United were relegated, along with Charlton and Watford. Tevez was subsequently found to have been ineligible to play, as he was not owned by West Ham, but by a third party. Sheffield United sued to keep their Premier League status and, when that failed, went to an FA arbitration panel seeking up to £30m compensation. The arbitration panel found in favour of Sheffield United. [19] The two clubs subsequently settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. [20]

Monthly awards

Month Manager Player
August 2006 Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
September 2006 Steve Coppell (Reading) Andrew Johnson (Everton)
October 2006 Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
November 2006 Steve Coppell (Reading) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
December 2006 Sam Allardyce (Bolton) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
January 2007 Rafael Benítez (Liverpool) Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
February 2007 Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
March 2007 José Mourinho (Chelsea) Petr Čech (Chelsea)
April 2007 Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa) Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur) [a]
  1. ↑ Keane and Berbatov became the first joint winners of the Player of the Month award since Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp and Edu in February 2004'"`UNIQ--ref-00000052-QINU`"'

Annual awards

This season's awards were dominated by Manchester United, who, as a team, picked up a total of eight individual awards, five of which went to Cristiano Ronaldo. They also had eight players in the Team of the Year.

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2007 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo. He had won the PFA Young Player of the Year award earlier on in the awards ceremony, making him the first player to win both awards in the same year since Andy Gray managed the same feat in 1977. Didier Drogba came second, while Paul Scholes was third. [21]

The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, in alphabetical order, is as follows:

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was also won by Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. Cesc Fàbregas came in second place, and Aaron Lennon was third. Wayne Rooney was going for a hat-trick of Young Player of the Year awards, having won this award for both of the two preceding seasons, but did not feature in the top three for the 2006–07 season. [21]

The shortlist for the award was as follows:

PFA Team of the Year

The Team of the Year featured eight Manchester United players. [21]

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)
Defence: Gary Neville, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić (all Manchester United)
Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo (all Manchester United)
Attack: Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur)

PFA Merit Award

The PFA Merit Award was awarded to Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United, for his commitment to the club, the Premier League, and in recognition of the 19 major trophies he had won in his time in England. [21]

PFA Fans' Player of the Year

This award was voted for in an online poll run by the PFA on their website. With four days of voting left before the closing date of midnight on 15 April, the five players with the most votes in the poll were Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Dimitar Berbatov, Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard, but it was Ronaldo who managed to fend off the challenges of the other four.

FWA Footballer of the Year

The FWA Footballer of the Year award for 2007 was also won by Cristiano Ronaldo. The award is presented by the Football Writers' Association and voted for by its members. This year, Didier Drogba came second and Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes came third and fourth respectively.

Premier League Manager of the Season

The Premier League Manager of the Season award was presented to Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson before the club's final game of the season against West Ham United.

Premier League Player of the Season

The Premier League Player of the Season award was also presented before Manchester United's game with West Ham United on the last day of the season, and was awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo, granting him the sextuple of PFA Players' Player, Young Player, Fans' Player of the Year, Barclays Premiership Player of the Season, Football Writers' Association Player of the Year and a place in the Team of the Year.

Premier League Merit Award

Ryan Giggs was presented with this special award at the same time as the Manager and Player of the Season Awards were given out, in recognition of his record of nine Premier League titles.

Premier League Golden Glove

The Premier League Golden Glove award was presented to Liverpool's Pepe Reina for the second successive season after keeping 19 clean sheets, ahead of Tim Howard of Everton (14) and Marcus Hahnemann of Reading (13). [22]

Attendances

#Football clubHome gamesAverage attendance [23]
1 Manchester United 1975,826
2 Arsenal FC 1960,045
3 Newcastle United 1950,686
4 Liverpool FC 1943,561
5 Chelsea FC 1941,542
6 Manchester City 1939,997
7 Everton FC 1936,739
8 Aston Villa 1936,214
9 Tottenham Hotspur 1935,739
10 West Ham United 1934,719
11 Sheffield United 1930,512
12 Middlesbrough FC 1927,730
13 Charlton Athletic 1926,195
14 Reading FC 1923,829
15 Bolton Wanderers 1923,606
16 Fulham FC 1922,279
17 Blackburn Rovers 1921,275
18 Portsmouth FC 1919,862
19 Watford FC 1918,751
20 Wigan Athletic 1918,159

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "English Premier League 2006–07". statto.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Curbishley to leave Charlton job". BBC Sport. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2006.
  3. ↑ "McClaren named as England manager". BBC Sport. 4 May 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2006.
  4. ↑ "Southgate appointed as Boro boss". BBC Sport. 7 June 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2006.
  5. ↑ "O'Neill named Aston Villa manager". BBC Sport. 4 August 2006. Retrieved 4 August 2006.
  6. ↑ "Charlton part company with Dowie". BBC Sport. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2006.
  7. ↑ "Pardew sacked as West Ham manager". BBC Sport. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
  8. ↑ "Curbishley named West Ham manager". BBC Sport. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2006.
  9. ↑ "Pardew replaces Reed at Charlton". BBC Sport. 24 December 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
  10. ↑ "Coleman out as Sanchez takes over Charlton". BBC Sport. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  11. ↑ "Allardyce resigns as Bolton boss". BBC Sport. 29 April 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  12. ↑ "Lee appointed manager of Bolton". BBC Sport. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  13. ↑ "Roeder resigns as Newcastle boss". BBC Sport. 6 May 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  14. ↑ "VOLZ SCORES 15,000TH PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL". premierleague.com. 30 December 2006. Archived from the original on 23 January 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  15. ↑ Lyon, Sam (17 March 2007). "Tottenham 3–1 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  16. ↑ "Schmeichel strike in vain". BBC Sport. 20 October 2001. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  17. ↑ "Charlton 3–2 Blackburn". BBC Sport. 21 February 2004. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  18. ↑ Nurse, Howard (13 May 2007). "Man Utd 0-1 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  19. ↑ Dollard, Rory (23 September 2008). "Sheffield Utd win ruling against West Ham over Tevez". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  20. ↑ Kelso, Paul (13 March 2009). "West Ham and Sheffield United reach out-of-court settlement over Carlos Tevez affair" . The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Ronaldo secures PFA awards double". BBC Sport. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  22. ↑ "REINA NETS GOALKEEPING AWARD". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  23. ↑ https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng2007.htm
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