2013–14 Premier League

2013–14 Premier League

The 2013–14 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd season of the Premier League, the top-flight English professional league for men's football clubs, and the 115th season of top-flight English football overall. The fixtures were announced on 19 June 2013. The season started on Saturday 17 August 2013, and concluded on Sunday 11 May 2014.

On the final day of the season, Manchester City sealed their fourth league title and second Premier League title with a 2–0 victory over West Ham United, finishing with 86 points. Liverpool had looked on course to win the title with two weeks to go, but a loss and a draw in two of their last three matches, combined with Manchester City winning their final five league matches, ultimately meant they finished in second place with 84 points. Chelsea finished third and Arsenal, who led the table for the longest period, finished fourth. For the third time in four seasons, the top-seven places were dominated by the so-called ‘Big Six’ clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur) and Everton.

Manchester United's first season following Sir Alex Ferguson's departure ended in disappointment, as the defending champions would finish 7th, tying the record for the worst title defence with the 1994–95 champions Blackburn Rovers. At the time, it was also their worst finish in the Premier League era.

Norwich City, Fulham, and Cardiff City finished in the bottom three and were relegated to the Football League Championship.

Luis Suárez was the top scorer with 31 goals, and was also named Player of the Season. Goalkeepers Wojciech Szczęsny of Arsenal and Petr Čech of Chelsea led the league with 16 clean sheets each. Tony Pulis of Crystal Palace won the Manager of the Season award.

Season summary

2013–14 Premier League

The 380 fixtures for the 2013–14 Premier League season were announced on 19 June 2013. The television broadcast rights were given two-to-three weeks later. The season started on Saturday 17 August 2013, and concluded on Sunday 11 May 2014. During the 2013–14 season, the Premier League used goal-line technology for the first time.

During the 2013–14 season, first place changed hands 25 times, compared to just four times during the 2012–13 season. That represented the most lead changes since the 2001–02 season – which had 29, the most ever. The championship was not decided until the final day of play for just the seventh time in league history. Manchester City won the league with a 2–0 victory over West Ham United on the final day, finishing with 86 points. In total, Manchester City led the league just 14 days throughout the season en route to their second championship in the last three seasons. The club scored 102 goals, one short of the record, while also conceding the second fewest goals in the league.

With two weeks to go, Liverpool looked on course to win the championship before they had a loss and a draw in two of their final three games. The team ended up in second place with 84 points. Chelsea came third, while perennial power and 2013 champions Manchester United had a disappointing season under new manager David Moyes (who was sacked in April) and finished seventh. It was their first finish outside the top four in Premier League history, their worst finish overall since 1989–90, and the first time they had not qualified for European football in 25 years. Southampton's eighth-place finish and Everton's 72 points were club records.

Sunderland became only the second team in the Premier League era to avoid relegation having been bottom of the table on Christmas Day. Defeat at home to Everton on 12 April left Gus Poyet's side bottom of the table, seven points from safety (albeit with two games in hand). The club's 'great escape' began with a draw away at eventual champions Manchester City, followed by a run of four wins, including remarkable away victories at Chelsea and Manchester United. Their 2–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on 7 May confirmed their top flight status for next season. Four days earlier, Cardiff City and Fulham were both relegated to the Football League Championship, after losses away at Newcastle and Stoke City, respectively. On the final day of the season, Norwich were relegated after losing to Arsenal.

Two teams (Manchester City and Liverpool) scored more than 100 goals for the first time in Premier League history. The feat had only once been achieved before – by Chelsea in 2009–10. Luis Suárez won the golden boot for most goals with 31, ahead of teammate Daniel Sturridge who came second with 21 goals. Wojciech Szczęsny of Arsenal and Petr Čech of Chelsea led the league with 16 clean sheets each. In a game against Southampton, Asmir Begović became just the fifth goalkeeper in league history to score. Begovic's goal was also the fastest of the season, occurring just 12 seconds into the game. Mile Jedinak had the most tackles with 133. Chelsea manager José Mourinho lost a home game for the first time in his Premier League career, losing to Sunderland and ending a run of 77-straight home games unbeaten, stretching over two stints as Chelsea manager.

Teams

2013–14 Premier League

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 Cardiff City, Hull City and Crystal Palace, returning to the top flight after absences of fifty-one, three and eight years respectively. This was also Cardiff City's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Wigan Athletic, Reading and Queens Park Rangers, who were relegated to the Championship after spending eight, one and two years in the top flight respectively.

Stadiums and locations

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Location</th><th>Stadium</th><th>Capacity</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Arsenal</td><td>London (Holloway)</td><td>Emirates Stadium</td><td>60,362</td></tr><tr><td>Aston Villa</td><td>Birmingham</td><td>Villa Park</td><td>42,785</td></tr><tr><td>Cardiff City</td><td>Cardiff</td><td>Cardiff City Stadium</td><td>27,815</td></tr><tr><td>Chelsea</td><td>London (Fulham)</td><td>Stamford Bridge</td><td>42,055</td></tr><tr><td>Crystal Palace</td><td>London (Selhurst)</td><td>Selhurst Park</td><td>26,255</td></tr><tr><td>Everton</td><td>Liverpool (Walton)</td><td>Goodison Park</td><td>40,157</td></tr><tr><td>Fulham</td><td>London (Fulham)</td><td>Craven Cottage</td><td>25,700</td></tr><tr><td>Hull City</td><td>Kingston upon Hull</td><td>KC Stadium</td><td>25,400</td></tr><tr><td>Liverpool</td><td>Liverpool (Anfield)</td><td>Anfield</td><td>45,276</td></tr><tr><td>Manchester City</td><td>Manchester (Bradford)</td><td>City of Manchester Stadium</td><td>47,405</td></tr><tr><td>Manchester United</td><td>Manchester (Old Trafford)</td><td>Old Trafford</td><td>76,212</td></tr><tr><td>Newcastle United</td><td>Newcastle upon Tyne</td><td>St James' Park</td><td>52,405</td></tr><tr><td>Norwich City</td><td>Norwich</td><td>Carrow Road</td><td>27,224</td></tr><tr><td>Southampton</td><td>Southampton</td><td>St Mary's Stadium</td><td>32,689</td></tr><tr><td>Stoke City</td><td>Stoke-on-Trent</td><td>Britannia Stadium</td><td>27,740</td></tr><tr><td>Sunderland</td><td>Sunderland</td><td>Stadium of Light</td><td>49,000</td></tr><tr><td>Swansea City</td><td>Swansea</td><td>Liberty Stadium</td><td>20,750</td></tr><tr><td>Tottenham Hotspur</td><td>London (Tottenham)</td><td>White Hart Lane</td><td>36,284</td></tr><tr><td>West Bromwich Albion</td><td>West Bromwich</td><td>The Hawthorns</td><td>26,445</td></tr><tr><td>West Ham United</td><td>London (Upton Park)</td><td>Boleyn Ground</td><td>35,016</td></tr></tbody></table>

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Manager</th><th>Captain</th><th>Kit manufacturer</th><th>Shirt sponsor</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Arsenal</td><td>Arsène Wenger</td><td>Thomas Vermaelen</td><td>Nike</td><td>Emirates</td></tr><tr><td>Aston Villa</td><td>Paul Lambert</td><td>Ron Vlaar</td><td>Macron</td><td>dafabet</td></tr><tr><td>Cardiff City</td><td>Ole Gunnar Solskjær</td><td>Mark Hudson</td><td>Puma</td><td>Malaysia</td></tr><tr><td>Chelsea</td><td>José Mourinho</td><td>John Terry</td><td>Adidas</td><td>Samsung</td></tr><tr><td>Crystal Palace</td><td>Tony Pulis</td><td>Paddy McCarthy</td><td>Avec</td><td>GAC Logistics</td></tr><tr><td>Everton</td><td>Roberto Martínez</td><td>Phil Jagielka</td><td>Nike</td><td>Chang</td></tr><tr><td>Fulham</td><td>Felix Magath</td><td>Brede Hangeland</td><td>Adidas</td><td>Marathonbet</td></tr><tr><td>Hull City</td><td>Steve Bruce</td><td>Robert Koren</td><td>Adidas</td><td>Cash Converters</td></tr><tr><td>Liverpool</td><td>Brendan Rodgers</td><td>Steven Gerrard</td><td>Warrior</td><td>Standard Chartered</td></tr><tr><td>Manchester City</td><td>Manuel Pellegrini</td><td>Vincent Kompany</td><td>Nike</td><td>Etihad Airways</td></tr><tr><td>Manchester United</td><td>Ryan Giggs (interim player-manager)</td><td>Nemanja Vidić</td><td>Nike</td><td>Aon</td></tr><tr><td>Newcastle United</td><td>Alan Pardew</td><td>Fabricio Coloccini</td><td>Puma</td><td>Wonga</td></tr><tr><td>Norwich City</td><td>Neil Adams</td><td>Russell Martin</td><td>Erreà</td><td>Aviva</td></tr><tr><td>Southampton</td><td>Mauricio Pochettino</td><td>Adam Lallana</td><td>Adidas</td><td>aap3</td></tr><tr><td>Stoke City</td><td>Mark Hughes</td><td>Ryan Shawcross</td><td>Adidas</td><td>Bet365</td></tr><tr><td>Sunderland</td><td>Gus Poyet</td><td>John O'Shea</td><td>Adidas</td><td>BFS Group</td></tr><tr><td>Swansea City</td><td>Garry Monk</td><td>Ashley Williams</td><td>Adidas</td><td>GWFX</td></tr><tr><td>Tottenham Hotspur</td><td>Tim Sherwood</td><td>Michael Dawson</td><td>Under Armour</td><td>HP</td></tr><tr><td>West Bromwich Albion</td><td>Pepe Mel</td><td>Chris Brunt</td><td>Adidas</td><td>Zoopla</td></tr><tr><td>West Ham United</td><td>Sam Allardyce</td><td>Kevin Nolan</td><td>Adidas</td><td>Alpari</td></tr></tbody></table>

• Additionally, referee kits are now being made by Nike, sponsored by EA Sports, and Nike has a new match ball, the Incyte Premier League.

Managerial changes

A record 10 managers left their position mid-season during the 2013–14 campaign.

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Everton	David Moyes	End of contract	19 May 2013	Pre-season	Roberto Martínez	5 June 2013
Manchester City	Brian Kidd (caretaker)	End of caretaker spell	19 May 2013	Manuel Pellegrini	14 June 2013
Stoke City	Tony Pulis	Mutual consent	21 May 2013	Mark Hughes	30 May 2013
Chelsea	Rafael Benítez	End of contract	27 May 2013	José Mourinho	3 June 2013
Manchester United	Alex Ferguson	Retired	1 July 2013	David Moyes	1 July 2013
Sunderland	Paolo Di Canio	Sacked	22 September 2013	20th	Gus Poyet	8 October 2013
Crystal Palace	Ian Holloway	Mutual consent	23 October 2013	19th	Tony Pulis	23 November 2013
Fulham	Martin Jol	Sacked	1 December 2013	18th	René Meulensteen	1 December 2013
West Bromwich Albion	Steve Clarke	14 December 2013	16th	Pepe Mel	9 January 2014
Tottenham Hotspur	André Villas-Boas	Mutual consent	16 December 2013	7th	Tim Sherwood	16 December 2013
Cardiff City	Malky Mackay	Sacked	27 December 2013	16th	Ole Gunnar Solskjær	2 January 2014
Swansea City	Michael Laudrup	4 February 2014	12th	Garry Monk	4 February 2014
Fulham	René Meulensteen	14 February 2014	20th	Felix Magath	14 February 2014
Norwich City	Chris Hughton	6 April 2014	17th	Neil Adams	6 April 2014
Manchester United	David Moyes	22 April 2014	7th	Ryan Giggs (interim player-manager)	22 April 2014
Ryan Giggs	End of caretaker spell	19 May 2014	7th	Louis van Gaal	19 May 2014

League table

2013–14 Premier League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester City (C)	38	27	5	6	102	37	+65	86	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Liverpool	38	26	6	6	101	50	+51	84
3	Chelsea	38	25	7	6	71	27	+44	82
4	Arsenal	38	24	7	7	68	41	+27	79	Qualification for the Champions League play-off round
5	Everton	38	21	9	8	61	39	+22	72	Qualification for the Europa League group stage
6	Tottenham Hotspur	38	21	6	11	55	51	+4	69	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
7	Manchester United	38	19	7	12	64	43	+21	64
8	Southampton	38	15	11	12	54	46	+8	56
9	Stoke City	38	13	11	14	45	52	−7	50
10	Newcastle United	38	15	4	19	43	59	−16	49
11	Crystal Palace	38	13	6	19	33	48	−15	45
12	Swansea City	38	11	9	18	54	54	0	42
13	West Ham United	38	11	7	20	40	51	−11	40
14	Sunderland	38	10	8	20	41	60	−19	38
15	Aston Villa	38	10	8	20	39	61	−22	38
16	Hull City	38	10	7	21	38	53	−15	37	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
17	West Bromwich Albion	38	7	15	16	43	59	−16	36
18	Norwich City (R)	38	8	9	21	28	62	−34	33	Relegation to Football League Championship
19	Fulham (R)	38	9	5	24	40	85	−45	32
20	Cardiff City (R)	38	7	9	22	32	74	−42	30

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal: Daniel Sturridge for Liverpool against Stoke City (37th minute, 13:22 BST) (17 August 2013) • Fastest goal: 12 seconds (Asmir Begović (GK); Stoke City 1–1 Southampton 2 November 2013) • Largest winning margin: 7 goals • Manchester City 7–0 Norwich City (2 November 2013) • Highest scoring game: 9 goals • Manchester City 6–3 Arsenal (14 December 2013) • Cardiff City 3–6 Liverpool (22 March 2014) • Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 7 goals • Manchester City 7–0 Norwich City (2 November 2013) • Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals • Sunderland 3–4 Chelsea (4 December 2013) • Manchester City 6–3 Arsenal (14 December 2013) • Stoke City 3–5 Liverpool (12 January 2014) • Aston Villa 4–3 West Bromwich Albion (29 January 2014) • Liverpool 4–3 Swansea City (23 February 2014) • Cardiff City 3–6 Liverpool (22 March 2014)

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Luis Suárez	Liverpool	31
2	Daniel Sturridge	Liverpool	21
3	Yaya Touré	Manchester City	20
4	Sergio Agüero	Manchester City	17
Wayne Rooney	Manchester United
6	Wilfried Bony	Swansea City	16
Edin Džeko	Manchester City
Olivier Giroud	Arsenal
9	Romelu Lukaku	Everton	15
Jay Rodriguez	Southampton

Hat-tricks

<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>For</th><th>Against</th><th>Result</th><th>Date</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Luis Suárez</td><td>Liverpool</td><td>West Bromwich Albion</td><td>4–1</td><td>26 October 2013</td></tr><tr><td>Luis Suárez4</td><td>Liverpool</td><td>Norwich City</td><td>5–1</td><td>4 December 2013</td></tr><tr><td>Adam Johnson</td><td>Sunderland</td><td>Fulham</td><td>4–1</td><td>11 January 2014</td></tr><tr><td>Samuel Eto'o</td><td>Chelsea</td><td>Manchester United</td><td>3–1</td><td>19 January 2014</td></tr><tr><td>Eden Hazard</td><td>Chelsea</td><td>Newcastle United</td><td>3–0</td><td>8 February 2014</td></tr><tr><td>André Schürrle</td><td>Chelsea</td><td>Fulham</td><td>3–1</td><td>1 March 2014</td></tr><tr><td>Yaya Touré</td><td>Manchester City</td><td>Fulham</td><td>5–0</td><td>22 March 2014</td></tr><tr><td>Luis Suárez</td><td>Liverpool</td><td>Cardiff City</td><td>6–3</td><td>22 March 2014</td></tr></tbody></table>

Player

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Petr Čech	Chelsea	16
Wojciech Szczęsny	Arsenal
3	Tim Howard	Everton	15
4	Artur Boruc	Southampton	14
Hugo Lloris	Tottenham Hotspur
6	Joe Hart	Manchester City	13
7	David de Gea	Manchester United	12
John Ruddy	Norwich City
Julián Speroni	Crystal Palace
10	Vito Mannone	Sunderland	11

Club

• Most clean sheets: 18 • Chelsea • Fewest clean sheets: 5 • Fulham

Player

• Most yellow cards: 11 • Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City) • Most red cards: 3 • Wes Brown (Sunderland)

Club

• Most yellow cards: 78 • Aston Villa • Most red cards: 7 • Sunderland

Awards

Monthly awards

<table><thead><tr><th>Month</th><th>Manager of the Month</th><th>Player of the Month</th><th>Reference</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Manager</td><td>Club</td><td>Player</td><td>Club</td></tr><tr><td>August</td><td>Brendan Rodgers</td><td>Liverpool</td><td>Daniel Sturridge</td><td>Liverpool</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>September</td><td>Arsène Wenger</td><td>Arsenal</td><td>Aaron Ramsey</td><td>Arsenal</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>October</td><td>Mauricio Pochettino</td><td>Southampton</td><td>Sergio Agüero</td><td>Manchester City</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>November</td><td>Alan Pardew</td><td>Newcastle United</td><td>Tim Krul</td><td>Newcastle United</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>December</td><td>Manuel Pellegrini</td><td>Manchester City</td><td>Luis Suárez</td><td>Liverpool</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>January</td><td>Adam Johnson</td><td>Sunderland</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>February</td><td>Sam Allardyce</td><td>West Ham United</td><td>Daniel Sturridge</td><td>Liverpool</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>March</td><td>Brendan Rodgers</td><td>Liverpool</td><td>Luis Suárez & Steven Gerrard (shared)</td><td>Liverpool</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>April</td><td>Tony Pulis</td><td>Crystal Palace</td><td>Connor Wickham</td><td>Sunderland</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Premier League Manager of the season

Tony Pulis won the Premier League Manager of the Season award.

Premier League Player of the season

The Premier League Player of the Season was awarded to Luis Suárez.

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year was awarded to Luis Suárez. The other nominees were; Steven Gerrard, Eden Hazard, Adam Lallana, Daniel Sturridge and Yaya Touré.

PFA Team of the Year

PFA Team of the Year
Goalkeeper	Petr Čech (Chelsea)
Defenders	Séamus Coleman (Everton)	Gary Cahill (Chelsea)	Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)	Luke Shaw (Southampton)
Midfielders	Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)	Adam Lallana (Southampton)	Yaya Touré (Manchester City)	Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Forwards	Luis Suárez (Liverpool)	Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool)

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year was also awarded to Eden Hazard.

FWA Footballer of the Year

The FWA Footballer of the Year was also awarded to Luis Suárez.

Premier League Golden Glove

The Premier League Golden Glove award was won by Petr Čech of Chelsea and Wojciech Szczęsny of Arsenal.

Premier League Fair Play League

The Premier League Fair Play League was topped by Liverpool.

Average attendances

2013–14 Premier League

Club	Average attendance
Manchester United	75,207
Arsenal	60,013
Newcastle United	50,395
Manchester City	47,075
Liverpool	44,671
Chelsea	41,482
Sunderland	41,090
Everton	37,732
Aston Villa	36,081
Tottenham Hotspur	35,808
West Ham United	34,197
Southampton	30,212
Cardiff City	27,430
Norwich City	26,805
Stoke City	26,137
West Bromwich Albion	25,194
Fulham	24,977
Crystal Palace	24,375
Hull City	24,117
Swansea City	20,407