May 28, 2012
PREMIER LEAGUE
It was, simply, Manchester United’s year and neither a slight bobble at the end of their efforts nor a late charge from Chelsea could prevent the Red Devils from hoisting the trophy at the end of the season, finishing with thirty wins and ninety-three points. Everton and Manchester City will join those two teams in next year’s Champions League, while Wigan, Ipswich, and Hull will all spend the 2012/13 season in the Coca Cola Championship.
United’s Carlo Ancelotti was the Manager of the Year, finishing well ahead of Chelsea’s Danyil Oranje and Everton’s David Moyes.
Robin van Persie
Top Goalscorer: 21, Robin van Persie (Arsenal)
Top Rated Player: 7.52, Rafael (Manchester United)
Injuries, age, and increased competition for playing time left last year’s leader in both categories, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba, playing a solid, if unspectacular, role in his Premier League swan song before heading to Toulouse over the summer. Van Persie’s total does raise the question if the age of the thirty goal campaign has passed: you have to reach back to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 31 in 2007-8 to find a tally that high.
Drogba passed the English Footballer of the Year to his teammate, Fernando Torres, trailed by Steven Gerrard and Antonio Valencia while the Players’ Player of the Year was awarded to Anderson, with his Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney coming in third behind Chelsea’s Frank Lampard. The same clubs dominated the Young Player of the Year, with Chelsea’s young French striker, Ishak Belfodil, edging out the twin Red Devils, Rafael and Fábio.
Unsurprisingly, the Select XI was a blue and red affair, with Chelsea’s Petr Cech, United’s Jonny Evans and Nemanja Vidic, Everton’s Cristián Zapata, and Liverpool’s Luis Suárez joining Rafael, Anderson, Gerrard, Torres, and van Persie, with Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon being the only player clad in white to gain the honor.
COCA-COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
Moments after Sunderland’s Fraizer Campbell had tied the game, QPR’s Alejandro Faurlin gave his side the lead and, thirty minutes later, the coveted final promotion spot into England’s top flight. QPR joins regular season champion West Brom and surprise Nottingham Forest in the move up while Watford, Norwich, and Barnsley will all be moving down.
Fraizer Campbell
Top Goalscorer: 25, Fraizer Campbell (Sunderland)
Top Rated Player: 7.86, Jonas Olsson (West Brom)
Simon Church, last year’s top goalscorer, put in another good season with Reading, as did veteran Scottish defender Stephen Crainey with Blackpool, both of which held their ground in the CCC. Roberto de Matteo of West Brom was the Manager of the Year. With last year’s winner, Paul Ince, currently at Liverpool, could a jump to a more prestigious side be in order for de Matteo as well?
COCA-COLA LEAGUE ONE
Notts County, Peterborough, and playoff surprise Coventry achieved promotion, with Rotherham, Stockport, Luton, and Wycombe finishing at the foot of the table.
Top Goalscorer: 33, Lee Novak (Brighton)
Top Rated Player: 7.84, Danny Fox (Notts Co)
Last year’s leading scorer, Paul Hayes of Norwich City, had a fine year, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Canaries flying, so Hayes will return to CCL1 next season. Coventry defender Stephen Carr retired after last year’s top notch performance.
COCA-COLA LEAGUE TWO
The joys of promotion will be felt by Northampton, Walsall, Bristol Rovers, and Chesterfield, while Yeovil and Mansfield will ply their trade in the Blue Square Premier next season.
Top Goalscorer: 25, Joël Thomas (Crewe)
Top Rated Player: 7.95, Gareth Roberts (Northampton)
Port Vale’s James Lawrie turned in another great year with the twenty-one year old finishing a single goal behind Thomas. Last year’s best player, nineteen year old Mark O’Brien, was purchased by Tottenham and then spent a good season one league up for Plymouth.
MKNN 