Peak Barclays: My Five Favourite Premier League Seasons
This has been far from a vintage season, but what previous campaigns captured the imagination both then and now?
Is this the most boring Premier League season ever? According to most fans, pundits and everyone permanently online: probably. No title race, no relegation scrap, and a European chase where the only real feel-good story is Forest or Villa. It’s a season that’s just kinda happened.
Of course, now more than ever, people are reactionary, and there’s nothing like a bit of nostalgia to trick you into thinking all was better back in the day. They do have a point though.
This might not be the worst Premier League season – the Covid era will never be watched back – but it is unlikely to be one talked about often by anybody not on the red side of Merseyside.
So, what are the best seasons since 1992? With 2000/01 being the first I remember, I’ve picked my five favourites from then onwards (no definitive order) - each memorable for different reasons.
2011/12
Leicester’s miracle almost saw 2015/16 get the nod, but my personal pain makes this one more memorable, and it had a great title race with the best finale of the post-1992 era.
It wasn’t quite, as Martin Tyler put it, ‘you’ll never see anything like this again’ – Arsenal’s 1989 title win was more dramatic – but it remains the Premier League’s most iconic moment.
“Agueroooo” is immortalised in the memory even if City have their titles stripped, or the asterisks around their success grow even larger. That it came at the expense of Fergie, whose United side had thrown away an eight-point lead with six games remaining, only made it the sweeter for the Blues and everyone outside of Old Trafford.
Elsewhere, Robin van Persie finally fulfilled his glorious potential, staying fit for the season, scoring 30 goals to carry Arsenal to the Champions League, as well as scoop up the Golden Boot and all the individual honours.
Newcastle were a sexy, continental side under Alan Pardew of all managers, with Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba forming a perfect partnership in front of the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa.
They finished fifth in between a Spurs side that was jampacked with talent but faded badly and Chelsea, who hired and fired Andre Villas-Boas before Roberto Di Matteo remarkably won both the Champions League and FA Cup.
That miracle in Munich saw Chelsea both win the competition and qualify instead of their London rivals. Harry Redknapp harshly lost his job as a result. His replacement? AVB.
2011/12 also featured the two most startling results to date at that point: United 8-2 Arsenal and United 1-6 City.
Written in the Stars was also a peak Barclays theme song, and on that note…
2002/03
This had practically everything you want from a league season: a titanic title race that went to the wire, a relegation scrap that culminated in “Survival Sunday” and a top four shootout with more on the line than ever.
Having not witnessed ’99, this was the very best of the United-Arsenal rivalry for me, crystallised by the high-quality and high-drama 2-2 draw at Highbury in April 2003. The campaign hit a definitive peak, one rarely seen before or since.
The two sides went blow for blow, Ruud van Nistelrooy and (a hilariously offside) Thierry Henry battled it out for the Golden Boot, and Fergie and Wenger had one last showdown as the only gunslingers in town.
United eventually came out on top, with old rivals Leeds sealing the title for them, and it remains the last time the two clubs that defined a pivotal era of English football finished 1st and 2nd in the league.
One of the biggest reasons for that was what was happening at Stamford Bridge. On the final day of the season, Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-1 to pip them to a spot in the Champions League and save the club from financial ruin. Little did anyone know at the time, Jesper Gronkjaer’s goal would soon see the Blues go from rags to roubles.
At the bottom, history was made as West Ham were relegated with a record 42 points – just think about that in comparison to this season – and Bolton and Birmingham survived, in large part thanks to each having a France ’98 World Cup winner in their side. Jay-Jay Okocha also starred as Big Sam’s best Galactico.
Newcastle, in black and white, brought colour and flair again, while there was also the debut of a certain Wayne Rooney. Remember the name.
2013/14
This might have been the weirdest season in Premier League history simply because it was the first without the entity that defined it more than anyone.
Fergie’s retirement created a big vacuum, one that was not filled by David Moyes, who didn’t even last the full campaign as the comedy years began at Old Trafford. It remains the worst season I’ve had as a fan due to the shock.
With United out of the picture, the title was refreshingly fought for by four sides for much of the season. An Aaron Ramsey-inspired Arsenal were the first to fall, suffering harrowing defeats at their rivals – 6-3 at City, 5-1 at Liverpool, and 6-0 at Chelsea.
That loss at the Bridge came in Wenger’s 1000th game in charge and, even worse, to his chief tormentor, Jose Mourinho, who revelled in the big win in his first season back with the Blues.
The Special One then took on Brendan Rodgers and Manuel Pellegrini in a three-way race, even if he claimed his side was a “little horse” in another moment of mischief.
That little horse did fall on the final furlong, though, as Jose suffered a first loss in 78 Premier League home games. But he did have the biggest say of all in the destination of the title.
Liverpool appeared on the brink of the title after beating City 3-2 in an epic, with Luis Suarez enjoying a top three individual season, and Steven Gerrard demanding his team did not let it slip.
Infamously, he was the one to slip, as a rotated Chelsea side sh*ithoused their way to a 2-0 win at Anfield in the third last game. Crystanbul and Suarez tears capped off a thrilling title race that saw City take the title for the second time in three seasons.
2007/08
This was definitely the strongest the Premier League’s big hitters have all been at once. The “Big 4” was in full swing, and they were arguably the four best sides in Europe at the time.
United won the Champions League, defeating Chelsea in the first and best all-English final. The Blues had knocked out Liverpool in their third semi-final clash in four years, while the Reds saw off Arsenal in another cracker in the round before.
The gap from first to fourth was just 11 points – the same as that between fourth and fifth – underlining the gulf between the ‘Big 4’ and the rest.
While some tired of the same teams finishing at the top, there was plenty going on elsewhere. Everton and Aston Villa continued to make strides under Moyes and Martin O’Neill, while the cup winners were an incredibly trendy Portsmouth, and Spurs, who have not lifted silverware since. Anyone but City winning the FA Cup would help this overall season.
A different version of City was in its final few months back in 2008, and an 8-1 loss to Gareth Southgate’s Middlesbrough on the final day will seem stranger than fiction to many.
There was also a four-way relegation scrap on that day, with Roy Hodgson’s Fulham completing the great escape. Another Roy, Keane, survived with Sunderland in his one and only full season as a top-flight manager.
At the top, Liverpool were never really in contention despite Fernando Torres’ stunning debut campaign but Arsenal had bounced back from their post-Invincibles dip and looked on course for the title. Eduardo’s horrific leg break and William Gallas’ tantrums in that 2-2 draw at Birmingham ultimately derailed everything.
Instead, for a second season in a row, United and Chelsea went to battle, this time without Mourinho, however, who had fallen out with Roman Abramovich and been replaced by Avram Grant of all people. The Blues’ late win in late-April saw the title decided on the final day for the first time in the 21st century.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s 31st league goal of the campaign at Wigan helped seal yet another title for Fergie. This was Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or season, and the highest peak any player has reached in the league.
For those wondering, Henry’s 2003/04 sits alongside Ronaldo (07/08) and Suarez (13/14) in my top three individual seasons. Sorry Salah and Haaland.
2001/02
There is a bias involved here as it is the first league season I was well and truly engrossed in football on a fully conscious level. It helped that my favourite ever player, Ruud, also joined United in the summer of 2001.
United did not win the league though, which helps with balancing out my argument, as the shock of Fergie’s retirement announcement and Jaap Stam’s abrupt exit saw them go City 24/25 for a while before kicking back into overdrive.
Despite Fergie’s welcomed u-turn and van Nistelrooy’s brilliant form, the damage had been done in the first half of the season, and the defence was far too leaky to win a title. Either way, it was very fun to watch.
For much of the season, a tremendous title race was the tightest its been in the last 30-odd years, with just three points separating five of the biggest clubs in the country on New Year’s Day.
At the other end, this was the first season in which the three promoted sides stayed up in the Premier League - imagine that - and Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton all added a lot.
Leeds led the table at the start of 2002, with David O’Leary’s young side primed for glory before capitulating both on the pitch and in the spreadsheets. Newcastle’s return to contention was a great storyline, Sir Bobby Robson recreating the energy of Kevin Keegan’s entertainers with Alan Shearer, Craig Bellamy, Laurent Robert et al. to thrilling effect.
Liverpool kicked on from their cup treble the year prior, and at different points, seemed close to a first league title since 1990. It was not to be, even with the rather iconic mid-season loan signing of Nicolas Anelka.
It was the team Anelka left in acrimonious fashion in 1999, and helped win their last league title the year before, Arsenal, who streaked clear in the run-in, and completed a second double under Wenger.
The season had started with Sol Campbell crossing North London in the most controversial move in Premier League history, but with three home league defeats before Christmas as well. Their away form would largely sustain them in the first half of the campaign, and the Gunners became the first side in Premier League history to go a season unbeaten on the road.
This was also the season Thierry Henry fully began to establish himself as the best player in the league and won the Golden Boot on the final day of an all-time race with van Nistelrooy, Shearer and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink.
Wenger’s side broke more records as the season reached its climax, winning their final 13 games to win the title by seven points. The title was secured with a famous 1-0 win at Old Trafford.
Like Aguero, Martin Tyler’s “Wiltoooord” shout lives rent-free in my head, but it was a truly iconic moment in the annals of English football, and a fitting end to a fantastic season.