2007-08 in English football
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "2007-08_in_English_football".

The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

• Brighton & Hove Albion had hoped to be moving to Falmer Stadium during this season. This was following a "Yes" verdict two years ago from the former Secretary of State John Prescott. However, persistent legal challenges from Lewes District Council have delayed this and forced the Government into a fresh assessment. The new Secretary of State finally gave planning permission on 24 July 2007. The stadium is now anticipated to open in 2010.
• For the first time in their history, Leeds United will be playing in the third tier of English football. What was recently a Champions League club now plays in League One and will start the season on -15 points following their failure to reach an agreement with HM Revenue & Customs on their Creditors Voluntary Arrangement. This penalty was imposed for the first time in league history.
• Sheffield celebrate their 150th anniversary. Sheffield are trying to plan a friendly with Real Madrid to commemorate the fact that they are the only two clubs to receive the FIFA Order of Merit.^[1]
• The Premier League changed the font printed on the back of players' shirts.^[2]
• Shrewsbury Town moved to the New Meadow for the start of this season, leaving their old stadium, Gay Meadow.
• Milton Keynes Dons moved to their new 22,000 all seater stadium at Denbigh, Milton Keynes, known as Stadium:mk. The stadium was officially opened on 29 November 2007 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.^[3]
• Both Dagenham & Redbridge and Morecambe played in The Football League for the first time, after securing promotion to League 2 from the Conference National.
• The Premier League changed its sponsored name from the Barclays Premiership to the Barclays Premier League (BPL).
• The Conference National changed its name to the Blue Square Premier, with its regional feeder leagues to be known as the Blue Square North and South respectively, after a three year sponsorship deal was announced.^[4] It signals the end of a nine year association between the Conference and the Nationwide Building Society.
• Birmingham City and Sunderland played in the Premier League, returning at the first time of asking since being relegated in 2005–06. They were joined by Derby County.
• The Premier League started on 11 August 2007 and ended on 11 May 2008.
• Deloitte reports on 4 September 2007 that transfer spending by all Premier League and Football League clubs exceeds £500 million, compared to £300 million spent the season before. Deloitte attributes the rise in spending to the huge increase in broadcasting revenue and new owners buying into Premier League clubs.^[5]
• England played their first international match on a synthetic pitch against Russia. England lost the game 2–1^[6] leaving qualification for Euro 2008 out of their hands.
• England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 after losing 3–2 to Croatia on 21 November 2007.^[7]
• Fabio Capello is confirmed as the new England manager on 14 December 2007, after weeks of rumours since Steve McClaren was sacked on 22 November 2007. Capello was unveiled by The FA on 17 December 2007, and took up his new role on 7 January 2008.^[8]
• Chelsea F.C. played Manchester United F.C. in the first all-English UEFA Champions League final, which was played in Moscow.
• Oldham Athletic had planning permission accepted for a redevelopment of their Boundary Park stadium, which will now be called Oldham Arena.
• Hull City played at Wembley Stadium for the first time in their history, winning the Championship play-off final to secure promotion to the top flight for the first time in their 104-year history.^[9]

Managerial changes

See also: List of English Football League managers by date of appointment

Notes

• ¹ Downing was previously caretaker manager after Ward's departure.
• ² Scott was previously caretaker manager after Butcher's departure.
• ³ Harford was named caretaker manager for the remainder of the season.
• ⁴ Blackwell was named caretaker manager for the remainder of the season.
• ⁵ Davies' caretaker role was extended until the end of the season.
• ⁶ Holland's caretaker role was extended until the end of the season.
• ⁷ Mullen was previously caretaker manager after Money's departure.

Events

• 5 August 2007 – Manchester United take the first silverware of the season, as they beat Chelsea 3–0 on penalties in the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium.
• 23 October 2007 – Arsenal equalled the UEFA Champions League record victory with a 7–0 win over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium.^[95]
• 6 November 2007 – Liverpool bettered Arsenal's Champions League record with an 8–0 victory against Beşiktaş at Anfield.^[96]
• 22 November 2007 – England manager Steve McClaren sacked one day after a 3–2 defeat to Croatia knocked England out of Euro 2008 qualifying.^[97]
• 14 December 2007 – Fabio Capello confirmed as new England manager. He was unveiled on 17 December 2007, and took up the position on 7 January 2008.^[98]
• 24 February 2008 – Tottenham Hotspur win the Carling Cup in a thrilling final, beating the holders Chelsea 2–1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium.^[99]
• 29 March 2008 – Derby County were relegated from the Premier League, the first team in Premier League history to be relegated before the end of March.^[100] They eventually finished on the lowest points tally ever, amassing only 11 points.
• 30 March 2008 – MK Dons won the Johnstone's Paint Trophy after beating Grimsby Town 2–0 in the final.^[101]
• 12 April 2008 – Swansea City won promotion to The Championship after a 2-1 victory away to Gillingham.
• 15 April 2008 – Aldershot Town won the Conference National and clinched promotion to League Two after drawing 1–1 away to Exeter City.
• 26 April 2008 – Hereford United won promotion to League One, for the first time in 30 years.
• 4 May 2008 – West Bromwich Albion won promotion to The Premiership, as champions of The Championship.
• 11 May 2008 – Manchester United won their tenth Premier League title.
• 17 May 2008 – Portsmouth win the FA Cup with a 1–0 victory over Cardiff City.
• 18 May 2008 – Exeter City won promotion to Football League Two through the play-offs after beating Cambridge United 1–0 at Wembley Stadium.
• 21 May 2008 – Manchester United won their third UEFA Champions League/European Cup.
• 24 May 2008 – Hull City won promotion to the Premier League by beating Bristol City 1–0 at Wembley Stadium in the Championship play-off final.
• 25 May 2008 – Doncaster Rovers won promotion to the Championship by beating Leeds United 1–0 at Wembley Stadium in the League One play-off final.
• 26 May 2008 – Stockport County won promotion to League One by beating Rochdale 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in the League Two play-off final.

Promotion and relegation

See also: promotion and relegation

Playoff winners in bold.

Premier League

• Champions: Manchester United
• Champions League 2008/09 Qualifiers : Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool
• UEFA Cup 2008/09 Qualifiers : Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Manchester City and Portsmouth
• Relegated to The Championship : Derby County, Birmingham City and Reading

Championship

• Champions: West Bromwich Albion
• Promoted: Stoke City
• Playoffs : Hull City, Bristol City, Watford and Crystal Palace
• Relegated: Leicester City, Scunthorpe United and Colchester United

League One

• Champions: Swansea City
• Promoted: Nottingham Forest
• Playoffs : Doncaster Rovers, Leeds United ,Southend United and Carlisle United
• Relegated: AFC Bournemouth, Gillingham, Port Vale and Luton Town

League Two

• Champions: Milton Keynes Dons
• Promoted: Peterborough United, Hereford United
• Playoffs : Stockport County, Rochdale, Darlington and Wycombe Wanderers
• Relegated: Mansfield Town and Wrexham

Blue Square Premier

• Champions: Aldershot
• Play-offs: Cambridge United, Torquay United, Exeter City and Burton Albion
• Relegated: Altrincham*, Farsley Celtic, Stafford Rangers and Droylsden
• Promoted to: Kettering Town, Lewes, Eastbourne Borough and Barrow

*Altrincham avoided relegation after Halifax Town went into liquidation

National team

The home team is listed on the left; the visiting one on the right.

22 August 2007 friendly match	England	1 – 2	Germany	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 86,133 Referee: Massimo Busacca
	Lampard  9' Cole 34'	(Report)	Kuranyi  26' Pander  40'

8 September 2007 Euro 2008 qualifier	England	3 – 0	Israel	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 85,372 Referee: Pieter Vink
	Wright-Phillips  20' Owen  49' Richards  66' Terry 67'	(Report)	Gershon 15' Benado 45' Ziv 55' Aouate 66'

12 September 2007 Euro 2008 qualifier	England	3 – 0	Russia	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 86,106 Referee: Martin Hansson
	Owen  7'  31' Cole 79' Ferdinand  84'	(Report)

13 October 2007 Euro 2008 qualifier	England	3 – 0	Estonia	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 86,655 Referee: Nicolai Vollquartz
	Wright-Phillips  11' Rooney  32' Rähn  33' (o.g.)	(Report)	Rähn 12' Lindpere 73'

17 October 2007 Euro 2008 qualifier	Russia	2 – 1	England	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow Attendance: 84,700 Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo
	Berezutskiy 12' Pavlyuchenko  69' (pen.)  73' 74'	(Report)	Rooney  29' 69' Ferdinand 59'

2007-11-16 friendly match	Austria	0 – 1	England	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna Attendance: 39,432 Referee: Nicolai Vollquartz
		(Report)	Crouch  44'

2007-11-21 Euro 2008 qualifier	England	2 – 3	Croatia	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 88,091 Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt
	Lampard  56' (pen.) Crouch  65'	(Report)	Kranjčar  8' Olić  14' Petrić  77'

2008-02-06 friendly match	England	2 – 1	Switzerland	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 86,857 Referee: Felix Brych
	Jenas  40' Wright-Phillips  62'	(Report)	Derdiyok  58'

2008-03-26 friendly match	France	1 – 0	England	Stade de France, Paris Attendance: 78,500 Referee: Florian Meyer
	Ribery  32' (pen.)	(Report)

2008-05-28 friendly match	England	2 – 0	United States	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 71,233 Referee: Kyros Vassaras
	Terry  38' Gerrard  59'	(Report)

2008-06-01 friendly match	Trinidad and Tobago	0 – 3	England	Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain Attendance: 25,001 Referee: Enrico Wijngaarde ( Suriname)
		(Report)	Barry  12' Defoe  16'  49' Gerrard 30'

Honours

League Tables

Premier League

Main article: Premier League 2007-08