A.F.L. Season 168

Season Summary

A.F.L. Season 168
Champions Liverpool
Relegated Hull City
Middlesbrough
Swansea City
League I West Ham United
Also Promoted Blackpool
Relegated Oldham Athletic
Ipswich Town
Wolverhampton Wanderers
League II Sheffield United
Also Promoted Brighton & Hove Albion
Relegated Carlisle United
Leyton Orient
Walsall
League III Notts County
Also Promoted Colchester United
Relegated Northampton Town, Aldershot
A.F.L. Cup West Ham United
Premier Cup Liverpool
Season 167 Season 169

The 168th season of the A.F.L. has finished with Liverpool winning the title at the third attempt, after failing at the final hurdle in the previous two seasons. In the early part of the season, the lead switched between Machester United and Sunderland. However, Liverpool had a bright start and did not lose until round 8, when they lost 2–3 at Chelsea. From then on Liverpool and Chelsea forged ahead and were neck and neck until the latter stages of the season. Chelsea's downfall came in round 35, with a 2–3 defeat at Newcastle, whilst in the same round Liverpool celebrated the best away win of the season, 5–1 at Hull. In the next round Chelsea dropped two points at home to West Brom, and the title was finally going to Anfield, their first in 16 seasons. Arsenal hovered on the edge of the title race and took third place in the end, with Tottenham claiming the final Euro-League place for next season.

At the bottom, two of the three promoted sides dropped back to League I. Swansea fell adrift quite early on, and were never likely to survive. Middlesbrough suffered a similar fate, although they were in touch until much later in the season. The remaining relegation spot was contested by Leicester, Hull and Wigan. Leicester pulled themselves clear in the final quartet of matches, and Wigan clinched their survival with a 3–1 win over Tottenham in the final match, so it was Hull that took the drop into League I.

In League I, West Ham had a successful season, winning the title by an 8-point margin, and crowned a successful season by adding the A.F.L. Cup to it with an impressive 5–0 victory over Premier League Fulham, the latter club's second successive final. Blackpool will join them in the Premier League next season, along with Aston Villa who won the play-off final against Stoke City with a score of 3–2.

The pre-season Premier Cup was won by eventual Premier League champions Liverpool, with a 3–2 victory over Sunderland in the final, and the Anfield side completed a notable treble by winning the Euro-League final with a 3–1 win over Arsenal.


Premier League

Premier League
Season 168
Champions Liverpool
Relegated Hull City, Middlesbrough, Swansea City
Euro-League Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur
Europa Cup Manchester United, Newcastle United
Matches played 380
Goals 1233 (3.24 per match)
Biggest home win Liverpool 6–0 Everton
Biggest away win 0–4 (many)
Hull 1–5 Liverpool
Highest scoring Wigan 3–5 Man Utd
Newcastle 4–4 Everton
Home goals 711
Away goals 522
Home wins 189
Away wins 116
Draws 75

Final League Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Liverpool (C) 38 26 5 7 93 46 +47 83
2 Chelsea 38 24 7 7 81 44 +37 79
3 Arsenal 38 23 6 9 76 42 +34 75
4 Tottenham Hotspur 38 20 11 7 75 50 +25 71
5 Manchester United 38 21 7 10 74 63 +11 70
6 Newcastle United 38 20 8 10 73 55 +18 68
7 Everton 38 16 7 15 69 61 +8 55
8 Reading 38 15 10 13 75 69 +6 55
9 Norwich City 38 15 7 16 62 67 -5 52
10 Manchester City 38 15 6 17 53 56 -3 51
11 Sunderland 38 13 8 17 52 59 -7 47
12 West Bromwich Albion 38 12 10 16 56 68 -12 46
13 Queen's Park Rangers 38 13 6 19 56 63 -7 45
14 Fulham 38 13 5 20 54 69 -15 44
15 Leicester City 38 12 5 21 40 67 -27 41
16 Wigan Athletic 38 10 10 18 52 66 -14 40
17 Southampton 38 10 10 18 45 60 -15 40
18 Hull City (R) 38 11 6 21 53 72 -19 39
19 Middlesbrough (R) 38 8 11 19 51 75 -24 35
20 Swansea City (R) 38 8 5 25 43 81 -38 29

Qualified for Euro-League Group Stage
Qualified for Euro-League Qualifying Round
Qualified for Europa Cup Round of 32
Relegated to League I

Results

Home-Away ARS CHE EVE FUL HUL LEI LIV MNC MNU MID NEC NRW QPR REA SOA SUN SWA TOT WBR WIG
Arsenal ----- 0–3 1–0 4–1 5–2 3–0 4–1 3–0 4–0 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 3–2 3–0 3–2 3–0 0–1 4–1 2–3
Chelsea 2–2 ----- 2–0 2–0 4–1 2–1 3–2 0–3 4–1 3–1 0–0 2–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 4–2 3–2 3–0 2–2 2–1
Everton 0–1 0–3 ----- 4–1 3–2 3–0 3–4 3–1 1–2 4–0 1–1 1–2 2–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 2–0 1–3 3–2 4–1
Fulham 1–2 1–3 3–0 ----- 3–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 2–3 4–0 2–0 2–2 2–0 2–0 3–3 3–4 1–2 2–0
Hull 0–2 2–2 0–1 4–2 ----- 2–1 1–5 2–1 0–1 2–0 4–2 1–0 2–0 0–3 1–3 2–1 4–0 1–2 1–1 0–0
Leicester 1–0 0–1 0–3 3–0 4–2 ----- 0–4 1–4 1–2 1–2 0–1 2–0 2–3 2–1 3–2 0–2 2–0 0–4 3–2 0–0
Liverpool 1–2 3–2 6–0 1–0 2–1 4–0 ----- 3–0 4–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 3–0 4–0 1–2 4–1 3–0 1–1
Man City 3–0 0–1 3–3 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–1 ----- 0–3 1–1 4–0 3–2 4–3 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–2 1–2 3–2 2–0
Man Utd 2–2 2–1 3–1 4–0 3–3 0–0 2–3 1–0 ----- 3–0 1–2 2–2 1–2 1–0 2–1 0–3 2–1 4–2 2–1 4–2
Middlesbrough 1–1 2–3 1–1 2–2 2–2 0–3 2–2 3–1 3–4 ----- 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–2 3–4 1–3 2–3 4–0 1–3
Newcastle 0–1 3–2 4–4 3–0 2–0 3–0 0–1 1–1 4–3 2–0 ----- 2–2 2–1 2–2 2–0 0–0 5–0 3–2 3–1 3–2
Norwich 2–1 3–1 2–4 3–0 4–2 4–1 1–4 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–4 ----- 2–0 2–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 0–4 3–0 3–1
Q.P.R. 0–1 1–0 0–3 4–1 0–2 0–0 3–0 3–0 2–2 3–0 4–2 1–1 ----- 2–3 2–3 4–2 3–1 1–1 3–1 1–0
Reading 2–1 0–3 2–1 3–0 3–2 2–2 3–4 1–1 1–3 1–2 3–0 4–2 3–1 ----- 2–2 4–2 4–1 2–2 1–1 2–2
Southampton 0–1 1–4 4–2 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–3 1–1 2–2 1–1 2–3 3–2 2–3 2–1 ----- 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 1–1
Sunderland 0–1 0–3 1–1 1–3 2–1 4–1 1–1 3–0 2–0 2–2 0–2 2–1 2–1 2–2 2–0 ----- 3–0 3–3 0–1 1–2
Swansea 3–2 1–3 0–2 1–2 2–0 1–2 1–2 0–2 1–2 1–2 2–4 1–2 2–2 4–1 0–0 2–0 ----- 0–4 0–2 2–1
Tottenham 2–2 1–0 1–1 2–2 0–1 2–0 3–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–0 3–1 4–1 3–3 3–2 0–0 2–0 ----- 1–1 1–1
West Brom 2–4 1–1 1–3 1–2 0–0 0–1 2–3 2–0 3–1 3–2 1–1 2–2 2–1 4–2 1–0 1–0 2–2 1–2 ----- 2–0
Wigan 0–4 2–3 0–2 1–0 2–1 0–1 2–2 2–2 3–5 4–1 2–1 3–1 2–0 2–3 0–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 2–3 -----

* Home team score shown first


Premier Cup

Round One   Quarter-finals   Semi-finals   Final


















1 Arsenal 2  
16 Hull 1       Arsenal 0  
8 West Brom 0     Southampton 1  
9 Southampton 1         Southampton (2) 0  
4 Reading 2         Sunderland (4) 0  
13 Q.P.R. 0       Reading (7) 2
5 Sunderland 4     Sunderland (8) 2  
12 Fulham 1         Sunderland 2
2 Liverpool 2         Liverpool 3
15 Man City 1       Liverpool 4  
7 Chelsea 0     Wigan 2  
10 Wigan 2         Liverpool 2
3 Newcastle 0         Man Utd 1  
14 Man Utd 2       Man Utd 2
6 Tottenham 2     Tottenham 1  
11 Everton 1  

Scores in penalty shoot-outs shown in parentheses.


A.F.L. Cup


First Round
Second Round
Third Round
Quarter-Final
Semi-Final
Final



































Carlisle
2

Brentford
1


Carlisle
2




Bournemouth
1

Bournemouth
2


Hartlepool
0



Carlisle
0




West Ham
3

Portsmouth 2 1


Birmingham 2 2


Birmingham
1




West Ham
3

Sheff Wed
1


West Ham
2



West Ham
3





West Brom
2

Norwich 0 2


West Brom 0 3


West Brom 2 1




Blackpool 2 0

Blackpool
2


Blackburn
1



West Brom
4




Liverpool
2

Wolves
1


Liverpool
2


Liverpool
4




Chelsea
2

Chelsea 4 2


Crawley 4 1



West Ham 3




Man Utd 2

Doncaster
2


Oldham
1


Doncaster
3




Tottenham
2

Tottenham
3


Sheff Utd
1



Doncaster 2 2




Man Utd 2 4

Huddersfield 2 2


Man Utd 2 3


Man Utd
2




Burnley
0

Burnley
2


Cardiff
0



Man Utd
2





Wigan
0

Man City
0


Swansea
2


Swansea
1




Hull
2

Hull
2


Q.P.R.
0



Hull 1 0




Wigan 1 2

Wigan
2


Bristol C
0


Wigan
3




Swindon
2

Swindon
2


Barnsley
1



West Ham 5





Fulham 0

Yeovil
2



Derby
1


Yeovil 2 0




Reading 2 4

Charlton
0


Reading
4



Reading 2 1




Sunderland 2 0

Sunderland
5


Walsall
0


Sunderland
3




Nottm F
1

Nottm F
2


Preston
0



Reading
3





Middlesbrough
1

Fleetwood 2 0


Middlesbrough 2 3


Middlesbrough
2




Accrington
1

Accrington
4


Bolton
2



Middlesbrough
3




Ipswich
0

Stoke
1


Brighton
0


Stoke
0




Ipswich
2

Ipswich
3


Everton
0



Reading 4




Fulham 5

Fulham
2


Arsenal
0


Fulham
2




Southampton
1

Southampton
2


Bury
0



Fulham
2




Watford
0

Watford
2


Newcastle
1


Watford
4




Crystal P
1

Crystal P
2


Crewe
1



Fulham
3





Aston V
1

Millwall
2


Aston V
3


Aston V
1




Scunthorpe
0

Scunthorpe
1


Aldershot
0



Aston V
3




Leeds
1

Cheltenham
2


Rochdale
1


Cheltenham 1 0




Leeds 1 2

Leeds
1


Leicester
0

 


Other Leagues

League I

POS  CLUB P W D L GF GA GD PTS
1   West Ham United (P) 42 26 8 8 79 39 +40 86
2   Blackpool (P) 42 22 8 12 71 59 +12 74
3   Stoke City 42 19 10 13 69 42 +27 67
4   Birmingham City 42 19 10 13 67 59 +8 67
5   Aston Villa (P)(O) 42 21 4 17 57 51 +6 67
6   Bristol City 42 19 6 17 58 62 -4 63
7   Blackburn Rovers 42 18 8 16 65 55 +10 62
8   Huddersfield Town 42 18 6 18 58 49 +9 60
9   Derby County 42 17 9 16 59 59 0 60
10   Nottingham Forest 42 17 8 17 59 54 +5 59
11   Charlton Athletic 42 16 8 18 64 67 -3 56
12   Watford 42 16 8 18 61 70 -9 56
13   Bolton Wanderers 42 16 7 19 59 63 -4 55
14   Millwall 42 14 13 15 65 73 -8 55
15   Sheffield Wednesday 42 15 10 17 56 66 -10 55
16   Leeds United 42 16 6 20 74 72 +2 54
17   Burnley 42 14 12 16 50 58 -8 54
18   Barnsley 42 15 5 22 63 72 -9 50
19   Preston North End 42 13 11 18 46 62 -16 50
20   Oldham Athletic (R) 42 13 11 18 45 63 -18 50
21   Ipswich Town (R) 42 13 9 20 61 72 -11 48
22   Wolverhampton Wand (R) 42 12 9 21 48 67 -19 45

Automatically promoted to Premier League
Qualified for promotion play-offs
Relegated to League II

Play-offs

                     
  Aston Villa 2 1  

Birmingham City 2 0  

  Aston Villa 3



  Stoke City 2

Bristol City 0 1

  Stoke City 1 5  

 

League II

POS  CLUB P W D L GF GA GD PTS
1   Sheffield United (P) 42 25 9 8 94 58 +36 84
2   Brighton & H A (P) 42 25 7 10 81 44 +37 82
3   Cardiff City (P)(O) 42 24 9 9 78 45 +33 81
4   Crystal Palace 42 21 7 14 60 46 +14 70
5   Tranmere Rovers 42 20 6 16 69 50 +19 66
6   Peterborough United 42 19 9 14 72 54 +18 66
7   Swindon Town 42 19 9 14 59 60 -1 66
8   Portsmouth 42 17 13 12 64 49 +15 64
9   Hartlepool United 42 17 11 14 58 66 -8 62
10   Scunthorpe United 42 18 5 19 61 72 -11 59
11   Yeovil Town 42 16 8 18 70 57 +13 56
12   Stevenage 42 16 7 19 68 66 +2 55
13   Doncaster Rovers 42 14 11 17 61 76 -15 53
14   Bury 42 14 10 18 52 52 0 52
15   Milton Keynes Dons 42 14 10 18 56 69 -13 52
16   Bradford City 42 15 7 20 51 81 -30 52
17   Accrington 42 13 10 19 64 76 -12 49
18   Crewe Alexandra 42 11 13 18 55 65 -10 46
19   AFC Bournemouth 42 12 10 20 46 60 -14 46
20   Carlisle United (R) 42 11 10 21 54 77 -23 43
21   Leyton Orient (R) 42 9 13 20 45 68 -23 40
22   Walsall (R) 42 9 12 21 45 72 -27 39

Automatically promoted to League I
Qualified for promotion play-offs
Relegated to League III

Play-offs

                     
  Tranmere Rovers 0 2  

Crystal Palace 0 1  

  Tranmere Rovers 1



  Cardiff City 3

Peterborough United 3 1

  Cardiff City 1 5  

 

League III

POS  CLUB P W D L GF GA GD PTS
1   Notts County (P) 42 29 7 6 111 52 +59 94
2   Colchester United (P) 42 24 9 9 66 44 +22 81
3   Brentford 42 21 8 13 73 52 +21 71
4   Wycombe Wanderers 42 20 7 15 69 55 +14 67
5   Coventry City 42 19 8 15 73 60 +13 65
6   Crawley Town (P)(O) 42 19 7 16 64 55 +9 64
7   Plymouth Argyle 42 18 10 14 65 57 +8 64
8   Shrewsbury Town 42 19 6 17 76 58 +18 63
9   Burton Albion 42 18 9 15 75 67 +8 63
10   Exeter City 42 17 7 18 61 62 -1 58
11   Cheltenham Town 42 16 10 16 58 65 -7 58
12   Southend United 42 16 8 18 54 68 -14 56
13   Port Vale 42 15 9 18 57 59 -2 54
14   Rochdale 42 13 13 16 54 59 -5 52
15   Bristol Rovers 42 14 10 18 56 65 -9 52
16   Rotherham United 42 14 9 19 53 74 -21 51
17   Fleetwood 42 13 11 18 68 73 -5 50
18   Torquay United 42 15 5 22 58 78 -20 50
19   Chesterfield 42 12 12 18 55 71 -16 48
20   Hereford United 42 11 11 20 51 75 -24 44
21   Northampton Town (R) 42 12 7 23 35 56 -21 43
22   Aldershot (R) 42 12 7 23 53 80 -27 43

Automatically promoted to League II
Qualified for promotion play-offs
Relegated from A.F.L.

Play-offs

                     
  Coventry City 2 2  

Wycombe Wanderers 2 4  

  Wycombe Wanderers 0



  Crawley Town 1

Crawley Town 3 0

  Brentford 0 2  

A.F.L. Clubs in Europe

Arsenal

Euro-League

  • Group Match 1 v Ajax (H) W 3–0
  • Group Match 2 v Bayer Leverkusen (H) W 3–2
  • Group Match 3 v Sparta Praha (A) D 1–1
  • Group Match 4 v Sparta Praha (H) L 0–1
  • Group Match 5 v Bayer Leverkusen (A) L 1–2
  • Group Match 6 v Ajax (A) W 1–0
  • Round of 16 v Barcelona (A) D 1–1
  • Round of 16 v Barcelona (H) W 4–0 (Agg 5–1)
  • Quarter-Final v Roma (H) W 4–3
  • Quarter-Final v Roma (A) D 2–2 (Agg 6–5)
  • Semi-Final v Internazionale (H) D 0–0
  • Semi-Final v Internazionale (A) W 2–2 (Agg 2–2; won on away goals)
  • Final v Liverpool (Munich) L 1–3

Liverpool

Euro-League

  • Group Match 1 v Marseille (H) W 5–1
  • Group Match 2 v Besiktas (A) W 3–2
  • Group Match 3 v Porto (H) W 3–2
  • Group Match 4 v Porto (A) W 2–1
  • Group Match 5 v Besiktas (H) W 2–1
  • Group Match 6 v Marseille (A) D 1–1
  • Round of 16 v Villarreal (A) L 1–3
  • Round of 16 v Villarreal (H) W 3–0 (Agg 4–3)
  • Quarter-Final v Valencia (H) W 3–2
  • Quarter-Final v Valencia (A) W 3–2 (Agg 6–4)
  • Semi-Final v PSV Eindhoven (A) W 2–1
  • Semi-Final v PSV Eindhoven (H) L 0–1 (Agg 2–2; won on away goals)
  • Final v Arsenal (Munich) W 3–1

Newcastle United

Euro-League

  • Group Match 1 v Rapid Wien (A) D 1–1
  • Group Match 2 v København (H) W 3–1
  • Group Match 3 v Werder Bremen (A) L 2–3
  • Group Match 4 v Werder Bremen (H) D 2–2
  • Group Match 5 v København (A) D 1–1
  • Group Match 6 v Rapid Wien (H) D 1–1
  • Round of 16 v PSV Eindhoven (H) W 2–1
  • Round of 16 v PSV Eindhoven (A) L 1–3 (Agg 3–4)

Reading

Euro-League

  • 2nd Qualifying Round v Dinamo Kiev (H) W 3–0
  • 2nd Qualifying Round v Dinamo Kiev (A) L 2–5 (Agg 5–5; won on away goals)
  • Group Match 1 v Sporting Braga (H) W 4–3
  • Group Match 2 v BATE Borisov (H) D 0–0
  • Group Match 3 v Real Madrid (A) W 2–1
  • Group Match 4 v Real Madrid (H) D 2–2
  • Group Match 5 v BATE Borisov (A) D 2–2
  • Group Match 6 v Sporting Braga (A) W 1–0
  • Round of 16 v Bayern München (H) L 2–4
  • Round of 16 v Bayern München (A) L 0–1 (Agg 2–5)

Sunderland

Europa Cup

  • Round of 32 v Anorthosis (A) W 2–0
  • Round of 32 v Anorthosis (H) W 5–1 (Agg 7–1)
  • Round of 16 v Paris St Germain (H) W 2–0
  • Round of 16 v Paris St Germain (A) L 1–3 (Agg 3–3; won on away goals)
  • Quarter-Final v Napoli (H) D 1–1
  • Quarter-Final v Napoli (A) L 0–2 (Agg 1–3)

Tottenham Hotspur

Europa Cup

  • Round of 32 v Spartak Zlatibor Voda (A) L 0–1
  • Round of 32 v Spartak Zlatibor Voda (H) W 5–1 (Agg 5–2)
  • Round of 16 v Dinamo Kiev (A) D 3–3
  • Round of 16 v Dinamo Kiev (H) W 1–0 (Agg 4–3)
  • Quarter-Final v Club Brugge (A) D 1–1
  • Quarter-Final v Club Brugge (H) W 3–1 (Agg 4–2)
  • Semi-Final v Napoli (A) W 1–0
  • Semi-Final v Napoli (H) L 1–3 (Agg 2–3)

US-04