The 2009–10 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the current season of the Premier League and the eighteenth since its establishment in 1992. A total of 20 teams are competing in the league, with Manchester United the defending champions.^[2][3] The season began with a match between Chelsea and Hull City on 15 August 2009 with Chelsea winning 2–1 at Stamford Bridge. Hull's Stephen Hunt scored the opening goal of the Premier League season on his competitive debut for the club. The league season is scheduled to end on 9 May 2010.^[4] The fixture list was announced on 17 June.^[5] Prior to each opening week match, a minute's applause was held in memory of Sir Bobby Robson's passing. For the first time in the Premier League's history, there were no draws on the opening day.^[6]

[edit] 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 promotees Birmingham City, on the other hand, have changed divisions between the Premier League and the Championship for the fourth season in a row.

[edit] Stadia and locations

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Birmingham City

Blackburn Rovers

Bolton Wanderers

Burnley

Chelsea

Everton

Fulham

Hull City

Liverpool

Manchester City

Manchester United

Portsmouth

Stoke City

Sunderland

Tottenham Hotspur

West Ham United

Wigan Athletic

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Premier League 2009–10 teams

[edit] Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
Chelsea	Guus Hiddink	End of contract	30 May 2009[7]	3rd (08–09)	Carlo Ancelotti	1 July 2009[8]	Pre-season
Portsmouth	Paul Hart	Sacked	24 November 2009[9]	20th	Avram Grant	26 November 2009[10]	20th
Manchester City	Mark Hughes	Sacked	19 December 2009[11]	6th	Roberto Mancini	19 December 2009[11]	6th

[edit] Ownership changes

[edit] League table

Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
Winner of the 2009–10 FA Cup competition will qualify for the play-off round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League.
Winner of the 2009–10 Football League Cup competition will qualify for the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League.
More about European qualification:
a. The sixth-placed team will qualify for the UEFA Europa League if the FA Cup winners qualify for the UEFA Champions League with FA Cup losing finalists or the League Cup winners finish fifth or higher;
b. The seventh-placed team will qualify for the UEFA Europa League if the FA Cup winners qualify for the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup losing finalists and the League Cup winners finish sixth or higher;
c. A further place in the UEFA Europa League is available via the Fair Play initiative. If the Premier League has one of the three highest Fair PlayF20 rankings in Europe, and an average Fair Play score of eight or greater, then the highest ranked team in the Premier League Fair Play standings not already qualified for Europe will automatically qualify for the UEFA Europa League First Qualifying Round.^[17]
For further information on European qualification see Premier League - Competition.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective phase of tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

[edit] Results

Updated to games played on 28 December 2009
Source: Barclays Premier League
¹The 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.

[edit] Season statistics

Relevant discussion at

→ Talk:2009–10 Premier League#Statistics

[edit] Top scorers Rank Scorer Club Goals[18] 1 Jermain Defoe Tottenham Hotspur 14 Didier Drogba Chelsea 14 3 Wayne Rooney Manchester United 13 Darren Bent Sunderland 13 5 Fernando Torres Liverpool 11 6 Louis Saha Everton 10 7 Cesc Fàbregas Arsenal 9 Carlos Tévez Manchester City 9 9 Gabriel Agbonlahor Aston Villa 8 10 Hugo Rodallega Wigan Athletic 7 Robin van Persie Arsenal 7

[edit] Most assists Rank Assistant Club Assists[18] 1 Cesc Fàbregas Arsenal 12 2 Ryan Giggs Manchester United 10 3 Didier Drogba Chelsea 9 4 Frank Lampard Chelsea 8 Aaron Lennon Tottenham Hotspur 8 James Milner Aston Villa 8 7 Robin van Persie Arsenal 7 8 Craig Bellamy Manchester City 6 Andy Reid Sunderland 6 Shaun Wright-Phillips Manchester City 6

[edit] Scoring

• Fastest goal in a match: 48 seconds – Jermain Defoe for Tottenham Hotspur against Manchester United (12 September 2009)^[19]
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+5 minutes and 30 seconds – David N'Gog for Liverpool against Manchester United (25 October 2009)^[20]
• Winning goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+5 minutes and 28 seconds – Michael Owen for Manchester United against Manchester City (19 September 2009)
• First own goal of the season: Stephen Jordan (Burnley) for Stoke City, 32 minutes and 28 seconds (15 August 2009)^[21]
• First hat-trick of the season: Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur) against Hull City (19 August 2009)^[22]
• Widest winning margin: 8 goals – Tottenham Hotspur 9–1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)
• 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)^[23]
  • West Ham United 5–3 Burnley (28 November 2009)^[24]
  • Manchester City 4–3 Sunderland (19 December 2009)^[25]
• 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)^[26]

[edit] Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Bernard Mendy for Hull City against Chelsea, 45+1 minute and 30 seconds (15 August 2009)^[27]
• First red card of the season: Sean Davis for Bolton Wanderers against Liverpool, 53 minutes and 57 seconds (29 August 2009)^[28]
• 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)^[29]
• Most yellow cards in a single match: 9 – Manchester United 2–1 Arsenal – 3 for Manchester United (Wes Brown, Patrice Evra & Wayne Rooney) and 6 for Arsenal (Manuel Almunia, Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Emmanuel Eboué, Alexandre Song & Robin van Persie) (29 August 2009)^[30]

[edit] Miscellaneous

• Longest first half injury time: 8 minutes, 26 seconds – Stoke City against Chelsea (12 September 2009)^[31]
• Longest second half injury time: 8 minutes, 55 seconds – Chelsea against Tottenham Hotspur (20 September 2009)^[32]
• Worst start in a Premier League: 7 losses - Portsmouth (26 September 2009). Losing streak ended on 3 October 2009, with 1–0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers^[33]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August[34]	Harry Redknapp	Tottenham Hotspur	Jermain Defoe	Tottenham Hotspur
September[35]	Sir Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	Fernando Torres	Liverpool
October[36][37]	Roy Hodgson	Fulham	Robin van Persie	Arsenal
November[38][39]	Carlo Ancelotti	Chelsea	Jimmy Bullard	Hull City

[edit] Broadcasting

This season is 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 installment 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.^[40] 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 Setanta Sports North America to sell its rights to those games back to Fox Sports International, who in turn sublicensed them to ESPN. Setanta will continue to broadcast a reduced number of matches in both the USA and Ireland. In Australia, most games are available live on Fox Sports.

[edit] List of 2009–10 transfers

[edit] References