The 2007–08 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) season was the 16th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 11 August 2007, and the season ended on 11 May 2008. Manchester United went into the 2007–08 season as the Premier League's defending champions, having won their ninth Premier League title and sixteenth league championship overall the previous season. This season was also the third consecutive season to see the "Big Four" continue their stranglehold on the top four spots (which mean UEFA Champions League qualification).
The first goal of the season was scored by Michael Chopra, who scored a 94th-minute winner for Sunderland against Tottenham in the early kick-off. The first red card of the season was given to Reading's Dave Kitson after a challenge on Patrice Evra in their opening game against Manchester United. The first hat-trick was scored by Emmanuel Adebayor in the match between Arsenal and Derby County.
On 29 September 2007, Portsmouth beat Reading 7–4 in the highest-scoring match in Premier League history. On 15 December 2007, both Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers) and Marcus Bent (Wigan Athletic) scored hat-tricks during Wigan's 5–3 home win over Blackburn. This was the first occasion in Premier League history that two players on opposing teams had scored hat-tricks during the same match.
On 29 March 2008, Derby County drew 2–2 with Fulham while Birmingham City, who were 17th in the table at the time, beat Manchester City 3–1, to make Derby County the first team in Premier League history to be relegated in March, ending the season with an all-time top flight record low points tally of just 11.
On 11 May 2008, the final day of the season, Manchester United beat Wigan Athletic 2–0 while Chelsea drew 1–1 with Bolton Wanderers, thus crowning Manchester United with their tenth Premier League title, and 17th championship overall, just one behind Liverpool's total of 18. Meanwhile, despite Birmingham beating Blackburn Rovers 4–1 and Reading beating Derby 4–0, both Birmingham and Reading were relegated due to Fulham's 1–0 win over Portsmouth. This meant that Fulham avoided relegation by a goal difference of −22, compared to Reading's −25. On the same day, Middlesbrough beat Manchester City 8–1 to claim the biggest win of the season.
The season was notable for the return of the English league to the top of UEFA's official ranking list, overtaking La Liga for the period from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009. This followed the success of English clubs in the UEFA Champions League, with both champions Manchester United and runners-up Chelsea reaching the European Cup final. This was the first time that the English league had topped the UEFA rankings since the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985.
Teams
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Sunderland, Birmingham City (both teams returning after a season's absence) and Derby County (returning after a five-year absence). They replaced Sheffield United, Charlton Athletic and Watford. The previous season had seen Sheffield United and Watford both suffer an immediate return to the Championship, while Charlton Athletic were relegated after a seven-year top flight spell.
Stadiums and locations
Personnel and kits
In addition, Premier League officials were supplied with new kit made by Umbro, replacing American makers Official Sports, and are sponsored by Air Asia, replacing Emirates. The 2007–08 season saw a new font used for the names on the back of players' shirts.