PREMIER LEAGUE
LIVERPOOL lifted a record-equalling 20th English league title as the Reds made good on a strong first two-thirds of the season.
In his first campaign in charge on Merseyside, Arne Slot led his team to 14 league wins, three draws and just one defeat at home to Nottingham Forest on 14 September to establish a near-impregnable advantage by the turn of the year.
CHAMPIONSHIP
LEEDS UNITED took the Championship title in truly dramatic style after Manor Solomon slammed in a stoppage time winner against relegated Plymouth Argyle.
It looked as if the Whites were going to have to settle for a runners-up spot after toiling against the Pilgrims, even falling behind through a Sam Byram own goal in the 18th minute.
But, following Willy Gnonto's equaliser, Solomon's strike ensured the Yorkshire club finished on a century of points for the first time ever.
Burnley, to their credit, also reached the 100-point mark after piecing together a magnificent sequence of 31 league games unbeaten from the start of November onwards.
The Clarets defended their season-long unbeaten record at Turf Moor on the final day with a 3-1 win against Millwall - and, certainly, defend was an apposite word when it came to Scott Parker's men.
Mihailo Ivanovic's goal for the Lions moved Burnley onto 16 league goals conceded across the whole of the campaign, just one more than record-holders Chelsea in 2004-05 under Jose Mourinho.
And, in all, the Clarets kept out the opposition on 30 occasions, including 12 in a row between 21 December and 21 February.
However, 12 of those 30 shut-outs came in 0-0 stalemates leading to understandable doubts about whether such a style is sustainable back in the Premier League.
For now, though, the Turf Moor outfit can bask in the knowledge that they are making an immediate return to the top flight - while the same was not the case for 90-point third-placed finishers Sheffield United.
The Blades were in the thick of the title chase for much of the campaign until a devastating run of four defeats in five in April - although Chris Wilder's side belatedly recovered their form ahead of the playoffs.
Their Wembley opponents sunderland, meanwhile, headed into the post-season on the back of five defeats in a row.
Worse still, the Wearsiders had to face bogey side Coventry City in the semi finals and must have feared the worst when Ephron Mason-Clark struck a deserved equaliser for the Sky Blues to take the tie to extra time.
Instead, Dan Ballard produced a towering header from Enzo Le Fee's cross in extra time stoppage time to prompt a massive pitch invasion at the Stadium of Light.
For their part, Sheff United easily disposed of Bristol City in their own semi finals - winning 3-0 in both legs against the Robins who were brutally exposed in their first serious attempt to reach the Premier League since 2008.
However, in the Championship playoff final, sunderland struck late again as teenager Tom Watson curled a 95th-minute winner past Blades custodian Michael Cooper.
It was an incredible end to a match in which the Black Cats had been second-best for large parts, falling behind to Tyrese Campbell's first-half goal.
Wilder's men had several other chances to put the game to bed - but Eliezer Mayenda's goal turned the tide towards sunderland who will return to the top flight for the first time in eight years, via four years in League One.
Depressingly, for Sheff United supporters, this was an all-too familiar tale being their 10th failure in the playoffs - while they still have not won a single game at Wembley since 1925.
At the bottom, Luton Town became just the fourth side after Swindon Town (1994-96), Wolverhampton Wanderers (2011-13) and Sunderland (2016-18) to drop from the Premier League to the third tier in consecutive seasons.
Elsewhere down there, Plymouth were the latest team to be undone by Wayne Rooney's lack of tactical acumen.
The Pilgrims and Rooney parted company on New Year's Eve after just four league wins in 24 matches, all at Home Park, while a series of heavy away defeats left the Devon club bottom.
There was a modest improvement in the second half of the season under Miron Muslic - including a famous FA Cup win over Liverpool.
A dreadful goal difference, though, gave the Green Army no chance of witnessing a remarkable recovery on the last day - and Cardiff City failed to give themselves even a technical chance after winning just once after February.
The Bluebirds thus drop into League One for the first time in 22 years and, in terms of the Welsh contingent, find not only Swansea City but also Wrexham now above them.
LEAGUE ONE
BIRMINGHAM CITY achieved an English league points record as the Blues made light work of their first season at this level in 30 years.
Spearheaded by 19 goals from Jay Stansfield, Birmingham - who remained unbeaten at St Andrew's in the league all season - racked up 111 points via 34 wins and nine draws, with only Charlton Athletic, Shrewsbury Town and Bolton Wanderers managing to get the better of the second city outfit.
Reading previously held the record after earning 106 points in their Championship-winning season in 2005-06.
But, having been promoted all the way back on 8 April and won the title less than a week later, manager Chris Davies did well to keep his players motivated and a place, surely for a long time, in the record books.
Indeed, the only real black mark on their season was a 2-0 defeat at Wembley as Peterborough United surprisingly defended the EFL Trophy.
Now, for much of the season, the other promotion spot was contested keenly by both Wrexham and Wycombe Wanderers.
However, back-to-back defeats at the end of April completely derailed the Chairboys and allowed the Red Dragons to add another chapter to their Hollywood fairytale with a third successive promotion.
Wycombe had to settle for a place in the playoffs again, having won promotion to the Championship in 2019-20 via that route.
This time, though, the Buckinghamshire club were beaten in the semi finals by Charlton in the tightest of ties settled at the Valley by a single goal nine minutes from time by Matty Godden.
At Wembley, the Addicks faced Leyton Orient in a London derby, with the Os bidding to reach the second tier for the first time since 1981-82.
In a far more open semi final, Orient had halted Stockport County's recent charge up the pyramid - for now, at least - with a 4-1 win on penalties following an eventful 3-3 draw on aggregate.
The first leg at Brisbane Road finished 2-2 after the hosts Orient led 1-0, fell behind in the space of five second half minutes, before League One top scorer Charlie Kelman converted an 88th-minute penalty.
However, it was Kelman's first goal on the half hour mark which prompted the understandable opprobrium of Stockport manager Dave Challinor after the striker poked in the opener from six yards despite being clearly offside.
The second leg did not take long to spark into life with Ollie O'Neill volleying the Os back in front inside three minutes following Galbraith's clever lofted free-kick.
But Stockport refused to give up and found a deserved equaliser when Tanto Olaofe sent a phenomenal back-heeled flick into the corner.
The Hatters took the momentum into extra time - but found on-loan Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Josh Keeley in fine form, while Odin Bailey also hit the outside of the post in the dying seconds.
After surviving all those scares, Orient were perhaps destined to go through and Ethan Galbraith duly made it four-in-a-row from 12 yards to make it a London derby under the Wembley arch.
At Wembley, though, it was Nathan Jones who went some way to restoring his own managerial reputation as Charlton succeeded through Macaulay Gillesphey's delightful first-half free-kick.
That was all there ended up being to separate the two sides in a largely cagey affair, with Kelman's deflected effort off the bar the closest that the Os came to finding an equaliser.
Now, on 26 November, Orient were left fourth-bottom after a 2-0 home defeat to Huddersfield Town - but 40 points out of the next 45 and, later, six wins in a row to finish the regular season led to the east Londoners' highest league finish in 11 years.
Instead, in the final assessment, it was Shrewsbury, Cambridge United, and Bristol Rovers who all returned to the basement division after stays of 10, four and three seasons respectively in League One.
Additionally, Crawley Town made an immediate return - and, notably, none of the sides reached the final day of the season with a fighting chance with Burton Albion able to survive on 47 points.
That was despite the Brewers themselves continuously occupying a place in the relegation zone between 21 September and 12 April.
LEAGUE TWO
Premier League | |
Champions | Liverpool |
Runners-up | Arsenal |
Champions League | Manchester City (3rd), Chelsea (4th), Newcastle United (5th) Tottenham Hotspur (Europa League winners) |
Europa League | Aston Villa (6th), Crystal Palace (cup winners) |
Europa Conference | Nottingham Forest (7th) |
Relegation | Leicester City, Ipswich Town, Southampton |
Championship | |
Champions | Leeds United |
Runners-up | Burnley |
Playoff winners | sunderland (won 2-1 v Sheffield United) |
Relegation | Luton Town, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City |
League One | |
Champions | Birmingham City |
Runners-up | Wrexham |
Playoff winners | Charlton Athletic (won 1-0 v Leyton Orient) |
Relegation | Crawley Town, Bristol Rovers, Cambridge United, Shrewsbury Town |
League Two | |
Champions | Doncaster Rovers |
Runners-up | Port Vale |
Also promoted | Bradford City |
Playoff winners | AFC Wimbledon (won 1-0 v Walsall) |
Relegation | Carlisle United, Morecambe |
National League | |
Champions | Barnet |
Playoff winners | Oldham Athletic 3-2 Southend United, after extra time |
Relegation | Dagenham & Redbridge, Maidenhead United, AFC Fylde Ebbsfleet United |
National League North | |
Champions | Brackley Town |
Playoff winners | Scunthorpe United (won 2-1h aet v Chester) |
Relegation | Needham Market, Rushall Olympic, Warrington Town, Farsley Celtic |
National League South | |
Champions | Truro City |
Playoff winners | Boreham Wood (won 1-0h v Maidstone United) |
Relegation | St Albans City, Welling United, Weymouth, Aveley |
Domestic Cup finals | |
FA Cup Final | Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City |
League Cup Final | Newcastle United 2-1 Liverpool |
FA Community Shield | Manchester City 1-1 Manchester United Manchester City won 7-6 on penalties |
EFL Trophy | Peterborough United 2-0 Birmingham City |
FA Trophy | Aldershot Town 3-0 Spennymoor Town |
FA Vase | Whitstable Town 2-1 AFC Whyteleafe, after extra time |
UEFA finals | |
Champions League | Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 5-0 Internazionale (ITA) (31-May, 8pm) |
Europa League | Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) 1-0 Manchester United (ENG) |
Conference League | Chelsea (ENG) 4-1 Real Betis (ESP) |
Super Cup | Real Madrid (ESP) 2-0 Atalanta (ITA) |
Selected league champions | |
Spain | Barcelona |
Italy | Napoli |
Germany | Bayern Munich |
France | Paris Saint-Germain |
Portugal | Sporting Lisbon |
Netherlands | PSV Eindhoven |
Belgium | Union Saint-Gilloise |
Greece | Olympicos |