After the turn of the year heading into 2015, things were as exciting as ever as the 2014/15 season was heading towards the business end.
With that season coming to a wonderful climax and a new season now begun, we can take a look back at every Premier League team’s calendar year progress this season, and see whether this year was one to remember, or forget.
In 2008, Bournemouth sat 92nd out of 92 clubs in the football league triangle, battling for survival in league 2. Today, on 28th December 2015, they sit 14th in the Premier League table, a point above reigning champions Chelsea, and 3 points off the drop zone. The progress they’ve made has been substantial, and this year was the sweetest of all, winning the championship to gain promotion to the Premier League, and be in the top division of English football for the very first time.
High point – 2nd May – Championship winners
Low point – 29 September – Callum Wilson injury blow vs Stoke
Overall score this year – 8.5/10
At the end of 2015, we finish looking at Arsenal very realistically looking at winning their first league title since 2004. Their recent win over Manchester City not only showed that they are serious title contenders, but also that some of the players in their squad really are top, top players. In particular, Mesut Ozil, it’s been a standout year for him, a year he’s come of age in the Premier League. Arsenal fans will be hoping that he can get even better in the second half of the season and propel them towards their 14th league title.
High point – May 30th – FA Cup triumph vs Aston Villa
Low point – March 17th – Champions League last 16 defeat vs Monaco
Overall score for 2015 – 8.5/10
At the end of 2015, Villa are in trouble, it’s safe to say. But they have to keep battling and hoping for a turnaround between now and May. They’ve played some good football this season, getting themselves into an FA Cup final, but they’ve missed Christian Benteke’s goals since he’s left the club, and now haven’t won since the opening game of the season all the way back in August. Something needs to change, or Villa will be a Premier League club no more.
High point – April 19th – Defeating Liverpool at Wembley to make it to the FA Cup final.
Low point – July 22nd – Villa lose star striker Christian Benteke as he leaves for Anfield.
Overall score for 2015 – 5/10
What a strange year this has been for Chelsea. Jose Mourinho has been one of the most talked about men in the world this year, they’ve had the extremes of highs and lows, it’s been a rollercoaster ride to be a Chelsea fan this year. From winning the league in May, to sitting 15th and two points off relegation in December, Chelsea are in serious trouble, and new manager Guus Hiddink has some serious work to do to propel Chelsea up to a more respectable finish, with Saturday’s 2-2 home draw to Watford proving that it won’t be an easy job by any stretch of the imagination.
High point – May 3rd – Securing the Premier League title with a 1-0 home win vs Crystal Palace
Low point – December 16th – With Chelsea 15 in the table, Jose Mourinho is sacked just 7 months after winning the league
Overall score for 2015 – 6/10
This was a year where Palace asserted themselves into a side that are here in the Premier League to stay. They have a very good manager in Alan Pardew, and top players in Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha. It’s incredible to watch how they’ve moved away from the long ball tactics of Tony Pulis and are now a great side to watch under Pardew, sitting 5th in the league at the end of 2015. It’s been an outstanding year at Selhurst Park.
High point – July 10th – Yohan Cabaye joins from PSG
Low point – October 28th – 5-1 hammering at City in the Capital One Cup
Overall score for 2015 – 8.5/10
Everton have had a mixed bag this season. The form of Romelu Lukaku, especially this season, has been something to admire, but they’ve often found themselves losing in games they’ll look back on and feel they could’ve won. They had a disappointing finish in the 2014/15th season, finishing 11th, which was especially disappointing after achieving a 5th place finish in the 2013/14 season. But impressive wins over Chelsea and Sunderland at home have demonstrated how well they can play, and they’re in the Capital One Cup semi-finals this season, so things could improve in 2016.
High point – September 12th – 3-1 win over champions Chelsea thanks to Steven Naismith hat-trick
Low point – October 17th – Heavy 3-0 loss at home to Manchester United
Overall score for 2015 – 6/10
Well they’ve done incredibly well, especially this season. They rose from the dead late last season to keep their place in the Premier League after it looked certain they’d be going down, and now they’re 2nd in the league going into the New Year. The sky is the limit for Leicester in 2016 if they keep their strikers fit and their team spirit high, they could be in with a real shout for a top 4 finish, and maybe even higher than that.
High point – December 25th – Top of the league on Christmas Day
Low point – September 26th – Thumping 5-2 home defeat to Arsenal
Overall score for 2015 – 9/10
Overall, Liverpool fans will be disappointed with their year. It began badly with club legend Steven Gerrard announcing he will be leaving for American at the end of the 2014/15 season, and despite going the first 10 games unbeaten in 2015, Liverpool ended the season without silverware, losing to Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final, and 7th in the league, getting battered 6-1 away at Stoke in Gerrard’s last game. The club changed their manager in October, replacing Brendan Rodgers with Jurgen Klopp after a 1-1 Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
High point – November 21st – 4-1 domination win vs Manchester City at The Etihad
Low point – May 24th – 6-1 humiliation away at Stoke in Steven Gerrard’s final game at the club
Overall rating for 2015 – 6/10
It’s probably that Manchester City fans are disappointed with their team’s season. It’s been a trophyless 12 months and despite winning the first 5 games of the 2015/16 season, City have been below par in terms of the quality of their play, and they’ve often been missing their star man Sergio Aguero through injury, a huge loss for them when he isn’t on the field. However, they’ve sailed through their Champions League group this year and are in the Capital One Cup semi-final too, so things look like they could turn around this year for City.
High point – December 8th – Comfortably winning their Champions League group
Low point – March 14th – Loss at Turf Moor to struggling Burnley
Overall score for 2015 – 7/10
United will look back upon the end of the 2014/15 season with fondness, as they managed to get themselves back into the Champions League under Louis van Gaal, beating City and Liverpool while doing it. However, this season they won’t have enjoyed at much, they’ve struggled and while they still remain up there, their style of play has been heavily criticised and their strikers aren’t firing the goals they need them to get. They’ve been knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and don’t really look within in a sniff of chasing the title, and now with Louis van Gaal under pressure this could be turning into another season to forget for United.
High point – March 22nd – United victorious 2-1 at Anfield and Steven Gerrard sent off 40 seconds after coming on
Low point – December 8th – Crashing out of the Champions League at the group stage
Overall score for 2015 – 6.5/10
Pretty poor season for Newcastle, with their only real positive managing to avoid relegation. The fans aren’t happy, the manager is struggling, they’re really not getting the results they need, and they’re playing with the real prospect of relegation. Something needs to change or they’ll be going down and playing Championship football next season.
High point – December 6th – 2-0 victory at home to Liverpool gives fans hope
Low point – November 28th – 5-1 thrashing away at Crystal Palace
Overall score for 2015 – 3.5/10
After gaining promotion to the top flight last season through the Championship playoffs, Norwich are holding their own in their first season back in the Premier League. Sat in 15th they’re not completely out of trouble but they’re showing signs of playing well and will hope to hit the magic 40 point mark and stay up come May.
High point – May 25th – Championship playoff win at Wembley to gain promotion
Low point – October 18th – 6-2 loss away to struggling Newcastle
Overall score for 2015 – 7/5/10
After a high-flying finish last season, Southampton fell to Earth with a bump after being knocked out of the Europa League in the qualifying round, and haven’t managed to hit the same heights as last season in this campaign. They’re sat in a comfortable 12th, and have enjoyed some ups and downs in all competitions this season, and with the players they’ve lost should be satisfied with their progress this year.
High point – December 26th – Big 4-0 win over Arsenal at St. Marys halts Gunners’ title charge
Low point – December 2nd – 6-1 home loss to Liverpool in the Capital One Cup
Overall score for 2015 – 7.5/10
We’ve witness wonderful progress from Stoke this season under Mark Hughes, they’re playing much more attractive football and are flying high in the league table. They’ve got some good results this season and signed some top players, and are looking at the prospect of being in a Europa League race for the rest of this season.
High point – August 11th – Potters sign Champions League winner Xherdan Shaqiri
Low point – February 14th – 4-1 FA Cup loss away to Championship side Blackburn
Overall score for 2015 – 8/10
Sunderland are also struggling, it’s been a year of disappointments apart from avoiding relegation for the Black Cats, they’re on their 3rd manager of the calendar year and are currently 7 points adrift of safety in the league, they’re in trouble and like their rivals Newcastle they’re not looking like saving themselves.
High point – October 25th – Sixth straight win over city rivals Newcastle
Low point – October 4th – Dick Advocaat quites Sunderland
Overall score for 2015 – 4/10
They had a great season in 2014/15, finishing 8th behind Southampton and just missing out on a Europa League place. Their progress has stuttered this season, they’re now managerless and sitting 17th in the table, just two points above the drop-zone, they need to pick things up in the second half of the 2015/16 season, because they’re not getting the results to stay up right now.
High point – 24th May – 8th placed finish in the Premier League
Low point – December 9th – Garry Monk sacked after 1 win in 11 games
Overall score for 2015 – 7/10
Especially in the new season, Spurs have played very well this year. They’ve only lost 2 all season and throughout the year have shown signs of being real top 4 contenders, even title talk is now being mentioned. But they have to keep going, they have to keep Englishman Harry Kane scoring, and they may be able to achieve big things in 2016.
High point – February 7th – 2-1 win at the Lane vs Arsenal
Low point – March 1st – Capital One Cup final loss vs Chelsea
Overall score for 2015 – 8/10
Watford are doing remarkably well after gaining promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2014/15 season. They lost out, just, on winning the Championship title late on, but despite that now sit 9th in the Premier League- 6 points of a Champions League place. They seem to have stumbled across a good strike partnership between Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo, who are scoring some great goals.
High point – April 25th – Watford secure promotion to the Premier League
Low point – May 2nd – Losing out on Championship title on the final day at Vicerage Road
Overall score for 2015 – 8/10
West Brom are as consistent as ever, not really in danger of going down at this point, but not really troubling the top sides in the league, it’s another season of mid-table security for the Baggies. The Hawthorns is still a tough place to go to and despite not setting the world alight, Tony Pulis will be very happy with the stability at the club.
High point – May 18th – 3-0 win over newly elected Champions Chelsea at The Hawthorns
Low point – 4th April – Beaten 4-1 at home to struggling QPR
Overall score for 2015 – 7/10
After finishing 12th last season, manager Sam Allardyce’s contract was never renewed and he left club, paving the way for Slaven Bilic. And despite being knocked out of the Europa league before their campaign had hardly begun, West Ham got their Premier League season off to a very impressive start, taking some stuff opening fixtures right into their stride, beating Arsenal away on the first day of the season and going on to beat Liverpool and City in the opening 5 games. They’re now trailing of slightly, and sit in 8th, but are still dark horses to claim a Champions League spot this year, especially when their star signing of the summer, Dimirti Payet, returns from injury.
High point – August 29th – 3-0 win at Anfield stuns Kop
Low point – May 24th – Sam Allardyce leaves Upton Park 3 minutes after 2014/15 season ends
Overall score for 2015 – 7/10
Overall, 2015 has been a fantastic year for Premier League football, we saw Chelsea crowned Premier League champions but are now 14th in the table after 19 games. Steven Gerrard left Liverpool after 28 years, and was whacked 6-1 by Stoke in the last game. Leicester escaped relegation in May and are now 2nd in the league going into 2016. Stoke signed Xherdan Shaqiri, a player chased by some of Europe’s top clubs. Bournemouth got into the top division of English football for the first time, and all of that is the tip of the iceberg for a crazy year of football.
With any luck, 2016 will be just as exciting.
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10