What happened in English Premier League 2006-07?

Champions: Manchester United
Runners up: Chelsea
Champions League places: Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal
UEFA Cup places: Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers (Intertoto Cup)
Leading Scorer: Didier Drogba (Chelsea) 21 goals

In one of the closest-fought seasons for years, Manchester United wrestled the title away from Chelsea- thwarting the
Londoners' attempts to win it for the third consecutive year. The Blues' hopes of retaining the title were dealt a major
blow when Petr Cech suffered a horrendous injury during their victory at Reading. The goalkeeper was out for three months after undergoing major surgery, and wore protective head gear for the remainder of the season.

Neck-and-neck up to that point, Manchester United soon started to pull away. Chelsea's first defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in 16 years coupled with United's 3-0 victory over Portsmouth saw the Red Devils open up a three-point gap.

There was to be no stopping Manchester United as Ronaldo dazzled Barclays Premiership defenders around the country. Last-gasp winners against Fulham and bitter rivals Liverpool kept United firmly in control. The destination of the title was all but mathematically decided when United came back from two goals down to beat Everton 4-2 and Chelsea were held by Bolton Wanderers. A week later the Blues lost 1-0 to Arsenal and the title was headed back to Old Trafford.

At the other end of the table, West Ham United pulled off a great escape as manager Alan Curbishley dragged them to safety. In an act the great Houdini himself would have been proud of, the Hammers beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford on the last day of the season to secure Barclays Premier League football for another year. In a season of turmoil and struggle it should be noted that they won all of their games against the Champions and Arsenal. The Hammers' escape was largely down to Carlos Tevez who joined the club on 31st August along with fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano. Mascherano left for Liverpool in January but Tevez stayed to fire the Hammers to safety.

Watford were the first club relegated - recording only five victories all campaign. The beginning of the season saw a new manager in Charlton Athletic's dugout for the first time in 15 years. But Iain Dowie was sacked after only 12 games. Alan Pardew exchanged one relegation-threatened club for another. Sacked from West Ham he stepped into the hot-seat at Charlton Athletic. Despite improved form and some good results, including a win over the Hammers, he couldn't keep the Addicks up.

The last match of the season saw West Ham, Wigan Athletic and Sheffield United all desperate to avoid the drop - with the latter two playing each other. Sheffield United were the unlucky losers as a 2-1 defeat sent them down. Wigan escaped on goal difference while West Ham's win at Old Trafford saw them finish in 15th spot.

In its 15th season, the Premier League saw its 15,000th goal. This was scored by Fulham's Moritz Volz in their victory over Chelsea on 30th December. Ronaldo made a clean sweep of football awards, becoming only the second player to win both the Professional Football Association (PFA) Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year titles in the same year. He also won the PFA Fans' Player of the Year - making him the first to win all three PFA awards in one season - and the Football Writers' Association Award. Ronaldo's amazing form prompted team-mate Patrice Evra to claim, "nobody can stop him. Probably the only way to do it is to kill him."

FA Cup Winners - Chelsea [Final - Chelsea 1 v 0 Manchester United (aet)]
League Cup Winners - Chelsea [Final - Chelsea 2 v 1 Arsenal]
Champions League Winners - AC Milan [Final - AC Milan 2 v 1 Liverpool]
UEFA Cup Winners - Sevilla [Final - Sevilla 2 v 2 Espanyol (aet) Sevilla win 3-1 on penalties]