Encomium
MANCHESTER City FC have been crowned champions of the 2013/2014 English Premier League. The club owned by Quatari brillionaire, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed capped up the season with a 2-0 victory against West Ham United as they went ahead to win their second premier league title in three years. The club had earlier in the season won the Carling Cup.
Manchester City finished the season with 86 points after 38 matches. Their closest rival, Liverpool earned 84 points after 38 matches. Chelsea Football Club, under Jose Mourinho had 82 points from 38 matches. The three have automatically qualified to play in the 2014/2015 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Arsenal FC, which garnered 79 points from 38 matches, is eligible to play in the UEFA Champions League in so far as they were able to win a compulsory play off. Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, which ended the season in fifth and sixth position will participate in the 2014/2015 UEFA Europa League, including Hull City FC by virtue of their playing in the FA Cup final later in May 2014.
Manchester United will not be playing any competitive tournament in Europe next season as they finished the season on the seventh spot in the log (with 64 points).
Three clubs went into relegation, Norwich City, Fulham and Cardiff City, while three clubs gained promotion to the premier league and will replace the relegated ones. Leicester City and Burnley have been confirmed promoted while the third club will be known in the days ahead after a play off.
In the just concluded season, 380 matches were played and 1,052 goals scored. Liverpool striker, Luis Suarez won the top goal scorer award with 31 goals. Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech and his counterpart in Arsenal, Wojciech Szczesuy both won the best goalkeepers in the 2013/2014 season. The winner of the title, Manchester City will get £9.7 million. The club will also get £100,000 as winner of the Carling Cup. The winner of the FA Cup later this month will walk home with £1.8 million.
Manchester City is the highest paying team in global sports, according to a survey conducted in 2014. The average first team pay at the club has been calculated at £5.3 million, $8.9 million per year or £102,653 per week.
THE MATCHES THAT DEFINED THE SEASON
The 2013/2014 premier league season has been dubbed the most unpredictable in the history of the league. Arsenal occupied the top of the table for 128 days, Chelsea FC 64 days, Liverpool 59 days and Manchester City, the eventual winners led the table for just 11 days. By January 2014, no one could say where the trophy would go. It was a tightly contested race.
We take a look at some matches that shaped the thrilling campaign.
Manchester City, 6 vs. Arsenal, 3 (December 14, 2013)
Liverpool, 5 vs. Arsenal, 1 (February 8, 2014)
Cardiff City, 3 vs. Fulham, 1 (March 8, 2014)
Chelsea, 1 vs. Sunderland, 2 (April 19, 2014)
Everton, 2 vs. Manchester United, 0 (April 20, 2014)
Liverpool, 0 vs. Chelsea, 2 (April 27, 2014)
Crystal Palace, 3 vs. Liverpool, 3 (May 5, 2014)
Manchester City, 2 vs. West Ham, 0 (May 11, 2014)
– FOLUSO SAMUEL
