2009–10 Premier League

Premier League

Season	2009–10
Champions	Chelsea 3rd Premier League title 4th English title
Relegated	Portsmouth Burnley Hull City
Champions League	Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur
Europa League	Manchester City Aston Villa Liverpool
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1053 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorer	Didier Drogba (29 goals)
Biggest home win	Tottenham Hotspur 9–1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)[1] 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) (10 goals)[1]
Longest winning run	6 games[2] Arsenal Chelsea
Longest unbeaten run	12 games[2] Birmingham City
Longest winless run	14 games[2] Sunderland
Longest losing run	7 games[2] Portsmouth
Highest attendance	75,316[3] Manchester United 4–0 Stoke City
Lowest attendance	14,323[3] Wigan Athletic 0–0 Portsmouth
Average attendance	34,150[3]
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

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 Premier League record 103 goals in the process.^[4][5] The season began on 15 August 2009 and concluded on 9 May 2010.^[6] 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.

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.^[7] 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^[8] 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.^[9]

In February 2010, Portsmouth became the first club to go into administration whilst a member of the Premier League.^[10] 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.

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.

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.^[11] They won despite Manchester United's 4–0 win against Stoke.^[7] 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.^[12][13][14] Fulham's manager Roy Hodgson was voted manager of the year by the League Managers Association.^[15] 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.

Teams

Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion were relegated to the 2009–10 Football League Championship after finishing the 2008–09 season in the bottom three places. Newcastle suffered their first relegation from the Premier League since their promotion to it in 1993. Middlesbrough returned to the Championship after an eleven-year tenure in England's top flight, while West Bromwich's latest stint in the Premier League lasted only one season.

The three relegated teams were replaced by 2008–09 Football League Championship champions Wolverhampton Wanderers, runners-up Birmingham City and promotion play-off winners Burnley. Wolverhampton play their first season at the top level since the 2003–04 season, and Burnley made their return to England's highest football division after 33 years. Fellow promoted club Birmingham City, on the other hand, had changed divisions between the Premier League and the Championship for the fourth season in a row.

Manchester United came into the season as defending champions and aiming to win a fourth successive Premier League title, following championship-winning campaigns in 2006–07, 2007–08 and 2008–09. They were also looking to overtake Liverpool's record of 18 league titles.

The league comprised five teams from London (Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United); four clubs from the Midlands (Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers); eight teams from the north-west (Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Wigan Athletic); and one each from the north-east (Sunderland), Yorkshire and the Humber (Hull City), and the south (Portsmouth).

Team summaries

Stadia

Team	Location	Stadium	Stadium capacity
Arsenal	London	Emirates Stadium	60,355
Aston Villa	Birmingham	Villa Park	42,788
Birmingham City	Birmingham	St Andrew's	30,009
Blackburn Rovers	Blackburn	Ewood Park	31,367
Bolton Wanderers	Bolton	Reebok Stadium	28,723
Burnley	Burnley	Turf Moor	22,546
Chelsea	London	Stamford Bridge	42,055
Everton	Liverpool	Goodison Park	40,157
Fulham	London	Craven Cottage	25,700
Hull City	Kingston upon Hull	KC Stadium	25,404
Liverpool	Liverpool	Anfield	45,276[16]
Manchester City	Manchester	City of Manchester Stadium	47,726
Manchester United	Manchester	Old Trafford	76,212
Portsmouth	Portsmouth	Fratton Park	20,688
Stoke City	Stoke-on-Trent	Britannia Stadium	28,383
Sunderland	Sunderland	Stadium of Light	49,000
Tottenham Hotspur	London	White Hart Lane	36,240
West Ham United	London	Boleyn Ground	35,309
Wigan Athletic	Wigan	DW Stadium	25,138
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Wolverhampton	Molineux	29,303

Personnel and kits

(as of 9 May 2010)

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit Makers	Sponsor
Arsenal	Wenger, ArseneArsène Wenger	Fabregas, CescCesc Fàbregas	Nike	Emirates
Aston Villa	Oneill, MartinMartin O'Neill	Petrov, StiliyanStiliyan Petrov	Nike	Acorns Children's Hospice
Birmingham City	Macleish, AlexAlex McLeish	Carr, StephenStephen Carr	Umbro	F&C Investments
Blackburn Rovers	Allardyce, SamSam Allardyce	Nelsen, RyanRyan Nelsen	Umbro	Crown Paints
Bolton Wanderers	Coyle, OwenOwen Coyle	Davies, KevinKevin Davies	Reebok	188BET
Burnley	Laws, BrianBrian Laws	Caldwell, StevenSteven Caldwell	Erreà	Cooke Fuels
Chelsea	Ancelotti, CarloCarlo Ancelotti	Terry, JohnJohn Terry	Adidas	Samsung
Everton	Moyes, DavidDavid Moyes	Neville, PhilPhil Neville	Le Coq Sportif	Chang Beer
Fulham	Hodgson, RoyRoy Hodgson	Murphy, DannyDanny Murphy	Nike	LG Electronics
Hull City	Dowie, IainIain Dowie*	Ashbee, IanIan Ashbee	Umbro	Totesport.com
Liverpool	Benitez, RafaelRafael Benítez	Gerrard, StevenSteven Gerrard	Adidas	Carlsberg
Manchester City	Mancini, RobertoRoberto Mancini	Toure, KoloKolo Touré	Umbro	Etihad Airways
Manchester United	Ferguson, AlexSir Alex Ferguson	Neville, GaryGary Neville	Nike	AIG
Portsmouth	Grant, AvramAvram Grant	James, DavidDavid James	Canterbury	Jobsite
Stoke City	Pulis, TonyTony Pulis	Faye, AbdoulayeAbdoulaye Faye	Le Coq Sportif	Britannia
Sunderland	Bruce, SteveSteve Bruce	Cana, LorikLorik Cana	Umbro	Boylesports
Tottenham Hotspur	Redknapp, HarryHarry Redknapp	King, LedleyLedley King	Puma	Mansion
West Ham United	Zola, GianfrancoGianfranco Zola	Upson, MatthewMatthew Upson	Umbro	SBOBET
Wigan Athletic	Martinez, RobertoRoberto Martínez	Melchiot, MarioMario Melchiot	Vandanel	188BET
Wolverhampton Wanderers	McCarthy, MickMick McCarthy	Henry, KarlKarl Henry	Le Coq Sportif	Sportingbet

* – Football Management Consultant

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
Sunderland	Ricky Sbragia	Resigned	24 May 2009	Pre-season	Steve Bruce	2 June 2009	Pre-season
Chelsea	Guus Hiddink	End of interim contract	31 May 2009		Carlo Ancelotti	1 June 2009
Wigan Athletic	Steve Bruce	Sunderland paid compensation of £3 million	2 June 2009		Roberto Martínez	15 June 2009
Portsmouth	Paul Hart	Sacked	24 November 2009[17]	20th	Avram Grant	26 November 2009[18]	20th
Manchester City	Mark Hughes	Sacked	19 December 2009[19]	6th	Roberto Mancini	19 December 2009[19]	6th
Bolton Wanderers	Gary Megson	Sacked	30 December 2009[20]	18th	Owen Coyle	8 January 2010[21]	18th
Burnley	Owen Coyle	Signed by Bolton Wanderers	8 January 2010[21]	14th	Brian Laws	13 January 2010[22]	14th
Hull City	Phil Brown	Removed from position	15 March 2010[23]	19th	Iain Dowie	17 March 2010[24]	19th

Ownership changes

Club	New owner	Previous owner	Date
Sunderland	Short, EllisEllis Short	Drumaville Consortium	000000002009-05-27-000027 May 2009[25]
West Ham United	CB Holding	Gudmundsson, BjorgolfurBjörgólfur Guðmundsson	000000002009-06-08-00008 June 2009[26]
Portsmouth	Alfahim, SulaimanSulaiman Al-Fahim	Gaydamak, AlexandreAlexandre Gaydamak	000000002009-08-26-000026 August 2009[27]
Birmingham City	Grandtop International	Sullivan, DavidDavid Sullivan and Gold, DavidDavid Gold	000000002009-10-06-00006 October 2009[28]
Portsmouth	Alfaraj, AliAli al-Faraj	Alfahim, SulaimanSulaiman Al-Fahim	000000002009-10-06-00006 October 2009[29]
West Ham United	Sullivan, DavidDavid Sullivan and Gold, DavidDavid Gold	CB Holding	000000002010-01-19-000019 January 2010[30]
Portsmouth	Chainrai, BalramBalram Chainrai	Alfaraj, AliAli al-Faraj	000000002010-02-04-00004 February 2010[31]

League table

Rules for classification:

1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Portsmouth were docked nine points for entering administration.^[32]
2 Originally Portsmouth should qualify for the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League as 2009–10 FA Cup runners-up to Champions League-qualified Chelsea however they failed to apply for a UEFA licence therefore Liverpool took their place.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
More about European qualification:
For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Competition.

Results

Home ╲ Away

Arsenal !ARS

Aston Villa !AST

Birmingham City !BIR

Blackburn Rovers !BLB

Bolton Wanderers !BOL

Burnley !BUR

Chelsea !CHE

Everton !EVE

Fulham !FUL

Hull City !HUL

Liverpool !LIV

Manchester City !MCI

Manchester United !MUN

Portsmouth !POR

Stoke City !STK

Sunderland !SUN

Tottenham Hotspur !TOT

West Ham United !WHU

Wigan Athletic !WIG

Wolverhampton Wanderers !WOL

Arsenal !Arsenal

3–0

3–1

6–2

4–2

3–1

0–3

2–2

4–0

3–0

1–0

0–0

1–3

4–1

2–0

2–0

3–0

2–0

4–0

1–0

Aston Villa !Aston Villa

0–0

1–0

0–1

5–1

5–2

2–1

2–2

2–0

3–0

0–1

1–1

1–1

2–0

1–0

1–1

1–1

0–0

0–2

2–2

Birmingham City !Birmingham City

1–1

0–1

2–1

1–2

2–1

0–0

2–2

1–0

0–0

1–1

0–0

1–1

1–0

0–0

2–1

1–1

1–0

1–0

2–1

Blackburn Rovers !Blackburn Rovers

2–1

2–1

2–1

3–0

3–2

1–1

2–3

2–0

1–0

0–0

0–2

0–0

3–1

0–0

2–2

0–2

0–0

2–1

3–1

Bolton Wanderers !Bolton Wanderers

0–2

0–1

2–1

0–2

1–0

0–4

3–2

0–0

2–2

2–3

3–3

0–4

2–2

1–1

0–1

2–2

3–1

4–0

1–0

Burnley !Burnley

1–1

1–1

2–1

0–1

1–1

1–2

1–0

1–1

2–0

0–4

1–6

1–0

1–2

1–1

3–1

4–2

2–1

1–3

1–2

Chelsea !Chelsea

2–0

7–1

3–0

5–0

1–0

3–0

3–3

2–1

2–1

2–0

2–4

1–0

2–1

7–0

7–2

3–0

4–1

8–0

4–0

Everton !Everton

1–6

1–1

1–1

3–0

2–0

2–0

2–1

2–1

5–1

0–2

2–0

3–1

1–0

1–1

2–0

2–2

2–2

2–1

1–1

Fulham !Fulham

0–1

0–2

2–1

3–0

1–1

3–0

0–2

2–1

2–0

3–1

1–2

3–0

1–0

0–1

1–0

0–0

3–2

2–1

0–0

Hull City !Hull City

1–2

0–2

0–1

0–0

1–0

1–4

1–1

3–2

2–0

0–0

2–1

1–3

0–0

2–1

0–1

1–5

3–3

2–1

2–2

Liverpool !Liverpool

1–2

1–3

2–2

2–1

2–0

4–0

0–2

1–0

0–0

6–1

2–2

2–0

4–1

4–0

3–0

2–0

3–0

2–1

2–0

Manchester City !Manchester City

4–2

3–1

5–1

4–1

2–0

3–3

2–1

0–2

2–2

1–1

0–0

0–1

2–0

2–0

4–3

0–1

3–1

3–0

1–0

Manchester United !Manchester United

2–1

0–1

1–0

2–0

2–1

3–0

1–2

3–0

3–0

4–0

2–1

4–3

5–0

4–0

2–2

3–1

3–0

5–0

3–0

Portsmouth !Portsmouth

1–4

1–2

1–2

0–0

2–3

2–0

0–5

0–1

0–1

3–2

2–0

0–1

1–4

1–2

1–1

1–2

1–1

4–0

3–1

Stoke City !Stoke City

1–3

0–0

0–1

3–0

1–2

2–0

1–2

0–0

3–2

2–0

1–1

1–1

0–2

1–0

1–0

1–2

2–1

2–2

2–2

Sunderland !Sunderland

1–0

0–2

3–1

2–1

4–0

2–1

1–3

1–1

0–0

4–1

1–0

1–1

0–1

1–1

0–0

3–1

2–2

1–1

5–2

Tottenham Hotspur !Tottenham Hotspur

2–1

0–0

2–1

3–1

1–0

5–0

2–1

2–1

2–0

0–0

2–1

3–0

1–3

2–0

0–1

2–0

2–0

9–1

0–1

West Ham United !West Ham United

2–2

2–1

2–0

0–0

1–2

5–3

1–1

1–2

2–2

3–0

2–3

1–1

0–4

2–0

0–1

1–0

1–2

3–2

1–3

Wigan Athletic !Wigan Athletic

3–2

1–2

2–3

1–1

0–0

1–0

3–1

0–1

1–1

2–2

1–0

1–1

0–5

0–0

1–1

1–0

0–3

1–0

0–1

Wolverhampton Wanderers !Wolverhampton Wanderers

1–4

1–1

0–1

1–1

2–1

2–0

0–2

0–0

2–1

1–1

0–0

0–3

0–1

0–1

0–0

2–1

1–0

0–2

0–2

Source: Barclays Premier League
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: 27 minutes and 12 seconds – Stephen Hunt for Hull City against Chelsea (15 August 2009)^[33]
• Fastest goal in a match: 36 seconds – Darren Bent for Sunderland against Tottenham Hotspur (3 April 2010)^[34]
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+5 minutes and 48 seconds – Wade Elliott for Burnley against Hull City (10 April 2010)^[35]
• First own goal of the season: Stephen Jordan (Burnley) for Stoke City, 32 minutes and 28 seconds (15 August 2009)^[36]
• First hat-trick of the season: Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur) against Hull City (19 August 2009)^[37]
• Quickest hat-trick: 6 minutes – Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur) against Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)
• Widest winning margin: 8 goals
  • Tottenham Hotspur 9–1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)
  • Chelsea 8–0 Wigan Athletic (9 May 2010)
• Most goals in one half: 9 goals – Tottenham Hotspur 9–1 Wigan Athletic (1–0 at half time) (22 November 2009)^[1]
• Most goals in one half by a single team: 8 goals – Tottenham Hotspur 9–1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)^[1]
• Most goals scored by losing team: 3 goals –
  • Manchester United 4–3 Manchester City (20 September 2009)^[38]
  • West Ham United 5–3 Burnley (28 November 2009)^[39]
  • Manchester City 4–3 Sunderland (19 December 2009)^[40]
• Most goals scored in a match by one player: 5 goals – Jermain Defoe for Tottenham Hotspur against Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)^[1]
• Shortest time between goals: 50 seconds – Robin van Persie (41'52") and Cesc Fàbregas (42'42") for Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur (31 October 2009)^[41]
• Most own goals scored in a match by same team: 3 – Portsmouth (Anthony Vanden Borre, Richard Hughes and Marc Wilson) against Manchester United (6 February 2010)^[42] However, on 26 May 2010, the Dubious Goal Committee declared the second own goal by Richard Hughes as Michael Carrick's goal.
• Last goal of the season: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Everton) against Portsmouth 93 minutes and 10 seconds (9 May 2010)^[43]
• Least times failed to score: 1 game – Chelsea against Birmingham^[44]
• Most times failed to score: 17 games – Wolverhampton Wanderers ^[44]
• Highest scoring draw: 6 goals:
  • Bolton 3–3 Manchester City
  • Chelsea 3–3 Everton
  • Hull City 3–3 West Ham
  • Manchester City 3–3 Burnley

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals[45]
1	Didier Drogba	Chelsea	29
2	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	26
3	Darren Bent	Sunderland	24
4	Carlos Tevez	Manchester City	23
5	Frank Lampard	Chelsea	22
6	Fernando Torres	Liverpool	18
	Jermain Defoe	Tottenham Hotspur	18
8	Cesc Fàbregas	Arsenal	15
9	Emmanuel Adebayor	Manchester City	14
10	Gabriel Agbonlahor	Aston Villa	13
	Louis Saha	Everton	13

Table-related statistics

Overall

• Most wins – Chelsea and Manchester United (27)
• Fewest wins – Hull City (6)
• Most losses – Burnley and Portsmouth (24)
• Fewest losses – Chelsea (6)
• Most goals scored – Chelsea (103)
• Fewest goals scored – Wolverhampton Wanderers (32)
• Most goals conceded – Burnley (82)
• Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (28)
• Best goal difference – Chelsea (+71)
• Worst goal difference – Wigan Athletic (−42)

Home

• Most wins – Chelsea (17)
• Fewest wins – Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers (5)
• Most losses – Portsmouth (11)
• Fewest losses – Chelsea (1)
• Most goals scored – Chelsea (68)
• Fewest goals scored – Wolverhampton Wanderers (13)
• Most goals conceded – Portsmouth (32)
• Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur (12)

Away

• Most wins – Manchester United (11)
• Fewest wins – Hull City (0)
• Most losses – Burnley (17)
• Fewest losses – Manchester City (4)
• Most goals scored – Arsenal and Chelsea (35)
• Fewest goals scored – Portsmouth and Stoke City (10)
• Most goals conceded – Wigan Athletic (55)
• Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (16)

Clean sheets

• Most clean sheets – Manchester United (19)
• Fewest clean sheets – Burnley (3)

Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Bernard Mendy for Hull City against Chelsea, 45+1 minute and 30 seconds (15 August 2009)^[46]
• First red card of the season: Sean Davis for Bolton Wanderers against Liverpool, 53 minutes and 57 seconds (29 August 2009)^[47]
• Card given at latest point in a game: Barry Ferguson (red) at 90+5 minutes and 27 seconds for Birmingham City against Manchester City (1 November 2009)^[48]
• Most yellow cards in a single match: 9
  • Manchester United 2–1 Arsenal – 3 for Manchester United (Wes Brown, Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney) and 6 for Arsenal (Manuel Almunia, Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Emmanuel Eboué, Alex Song, and Robin van Persie) (29 August 2009);^[49]
  • Sunderland 1–1 Wigan Athletic – 4 for Sunderland (Lorik Cana, Lee Cattermole, Kenwyne Jones and George McCartney) and 5 for Wigan (Gary Caldwell, Maynor Figueroa, James McCarthy, Charles N'Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega) (6 February 2010)^[50]
• Most red cards in a single match: 3 – Portsmouth 1–1 Sunderland – 1 for Portsmouth (Ricardo Rocha) and 2 for Sunderland (Lee Cattermole and David Meyler) (9 February 2010)^[51]

Miscellaneous

• Longest first half injury time: 8 minutes, 26 seconds – Stoke City against Chelsea (12 September 2009)^[52]
• Longest second half injury time: 10 minutes, 25 seconds – Hull City against Aston Villa (21 April 2010)^[53]
• Worst start to a Premier League season: 0 points from 7 games – Portsmouth (26 September 2009). Losing streak ended on 3 October 2009, with 1–0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers^[54]
• Most own goals in a season for a single team: 10 – Manchester United

Records

• Chelsea broke the record for most goals scored in a season with 103 goals, becoming the first Premier League club to cross the century mark. The previous record of 97 goals was set by Manchester United in the 1999–2000 season. The Blues also broke the record for the highest goal difference in a season with +71 goals. The previous record of +58 goals was set by Manchester United in the 2007–08 campaign. United equalled their own previous record during the 2009–10 campaign.
• Wigan Athletic were the first team to lose two matches by eight goals in a Premier League season, away to Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
• Chelsea scored seven or more goals in four league matches, a record for both the club and the Premier League, and in consecutive home fixtures achieved an aggregate score of 15–0, in their last two home matches of the season against Stoke City and Wigan Athletic, having already scored seven in home matches against Sunderland and Aston Villa.

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August[55]	Harry Redknapp	Tottenham Hotspur	Jermain Defoe	Tottenham Hotspur
September[56]	Sir Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	Fernando Torres	Liverpool
October[57][58]	Roy Hodgson	Fulham	Robin van Persie	Arsenal
November[59][60]	Carlo Ancelotti	Chelsea	Jimmy Bullard	Hull City
December[61][62]	Alex McLeish	Birmingham City	Carlos Tevez	Manchester City
January[63][64]	David Moyes	Everton	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United
February[65]	Roy Hodgson	Fulham	Mark Schwarzer	Fulham
March[66][67]	David Moyes	Everton	Florent Malouda	Chelsea
April[68][69]	Martin O'Neill	Aston Villa	Gareth Bale	Tottenham Hotspur

Annual awards

PFA Player of the Year

The PFA Player of the Year was awarded to Wayne Rooney.

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year was awarded to James Milner for the first time.

PFA Team of the Year

Hart Ivanović Dunne Vermaelen Evra Valencia Fàbregas Fletcher Milner Rooney Drogba PFA Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart (Birmingham City)
Defence: Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Branislav Ivanović (Chelsea), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa)
Midfield: James Milner (Aston Villa), Antonio Valencia, Darren Fletcher (both Manchester United), Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
Attack: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

Barclays Player of the season

The Barclays Player of the Season award was won by Wayne Rooney of Manchester United.

FA Premier League Manager of the Year Award

Harry Redknapp, 63, received the FA Premier League Manager of the Year Award for the first time in his career, as a result of leading Tottenham Hotspur to Champions League qualification. Redknapp winning Manager of the Season marked the first time a non-title winning manager received the award since George Burley in the 2000–01 Premier League season.^[70][71]

Barclays Golden Boot

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba won the Golden Boot, scoring 29 goals in 32 appearances; this was the second time he won the award.

Barclays Premier League Fair Play Award

The Fair Play Award was given to Arsenal, the team deemed to have been the most sporting and best behaved. Sunderland occupied last place as the least sporting side^[72]

Behaviour of The Public Fair Play League

The Public Fair Play League was again given to Chelsea for the third consecutive year.^[73]

Barclays Premier League Merit Award

Chelsea collected the Barclays Premier League Merit Award for being the first team to score 100 goals in a Barclays Premier League season.

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.^[74] 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.^[75][76]

List of 2009–10 transfers

References