Trivia: FA Premier League 2007-08

Manchester United won their 10th Premier League title in 16 years finishing two points ahead of Chelsea. This was only the fourth instance where the title was decided on the last day of the season.  

Manchester United now have 17 league titles only one behind Liverpool’s tally of 18.  

Manchester United’s goal difference of +58 was the best ever goal difference attained in Premier League history. The scored the most (80) and conceded the least (22).

Chelsea finished with 85 points creating a new record for most points scored by a runner up club in a 38 game season while Arsenal’s tally of 83 points was the highest points tally for a third placed team with the same criteria.  

For the first time in Premier League’s history, players from both teams scored a hat-trick in the same match when Marcus Bent of Wigan Athletic and Roque Santa Cruz of Blackburn Rovers scored three goals each in Wigan’s 5-3 win over Blackburn at the JJB Stadium in December 2007.  

Portsmouth’s 7-4 victory over Reading at Fratton Park is the highest scoring match in Premier League history.  

Bottom side Derby County broke quite a few unwanted records. Their tally of 11 points was the lowest in Premier League history. Their goal difference of -69 broke Ipswich Town’s record 0f -57 set in the 94-95 season.  

Derby equaled Sunderland’s record of 29 losses in a single season. The Rams managed only one win all season, another record for the lowest number of wins. The win came against Newcastle United on 17th September 2007 thanks to a goal by Kenny Miller. They only managed to score 20 goals, which was also a record for the lowest number of goals scored in a season, breaking Sunderland’s record of 21 in the 01-02 season.  

For the third time in Premier League history individual players managed to score more than a single club. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) with 31 goals, Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) and Fernando Torres (Liverpool) with 24 goals each scored more than the entire Derby team.  

Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat trick against Derby County both home and away, becoming the first player to score a hat trick against the same team twice in one season.  

Just before the end of the season UEFA announced that the English League had taken over the Spanish as the best League in Europe for the first time since 1985 and will stay so till April 2009.  

Cristiano Ronaldo finished as top scorer with 31 goals equaling Alan Shearer’s record set in the 95-96 season of most goals scored in a 38-game season. He broke his own record of most goals scored by a midfielder in the Premier League. He had scored 17 in the previous campaign.  

Ronaldo emulated Thierry Henry by winning both PFA Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year Award in consecutive seasons.  

David James of Portsmouth became the first Portsmouth player to get selected for the Premier League team of the season as voted by the PFA.  

Sir Alex Ferguson won the Manager of the Year Award.  

Francesc Fabregas of Arsenal won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award.  

Amoy Ghoshal.