Slot delivers in first season as rivals flounder

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.

Thereafter, it could be argued that Liverpool rather laboured their way to the trophy - and they also failed elsewhere.

Defeat to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup ended hopes of a quadruple - before, in the space of a few days, the Reds were eliminated from the Champions League on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain before losing the League Cup Final to Newcastle United.

Nevertheless, Liverpool always had enough in hand in the league and celebrated the title with four matches to spare after putting five goals past Tottenham Hotspur amid a party atmosphere at Anfield.

There was a similar festival-like feel on Bank Holiday Monday as thousands of people lined the streets of Liverpool for a bus parade - only for disaster and near-tragedy to strike.

Seventy-nine people - including four children - were injured, some seriously, when a driver rammed a car into the crowds.

A 53-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving offences and driving while unfit through drugs.

Thankfully, all of the injured attendees are said to be recovering well - but the shock of the incident undoubtedly will take longer to get over.

Now, back to less important matters - because, whatever Bill Shankley meant by what he said, football is always less important than life and death.

Arsenal finished runners-up for a third year running - and yet never really got close to a first Premier League crown since their Invincibles season in 2003-04 after four defeats and a startling 14 draws.

Manchester City eventually settled in third - despite falling as low as seventh following a 1-1 home draw against Everton on Boxing Day.

But, having surrendered a Premier League title held in their cabinet since May 2021, Pep Guardiola's men failed to compensate elsewhere, after defeats to Real Madrid in the Champions League, and Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup.

Additionally, Man City lost to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup Final as the solidly mid-table Eagles won the first major honour in their history thanks to Eberechi Eze's superb 16th-minute finish.

All this meant the focus on the final day came down to the last two Champions League places as Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest battled it out.

Adding intrigue to the situation, Forest faced Chelsea at the City Ground - but, in keeping with their recent unconvincing form, Nuno Espirito Santo's side went down to a fifth defeat since April including a FA Cup semi final loss against Man City.

With Chelsea in the Champions League despite a bumpy first campaign under Enzo Maresca - and the Tricky Trees confirmed in the Conference League, a fifth Champions League placing via the league came down to Newcastle or Villa.

Both games headed to half time at 0-0 but Unai Emery's men found themselves down to 10 men after Emi Martinez wiped out Rasmus Hojlund.

While Villa could not have any complaints about that decision by inexperienced referee Thomas Bramwell, head coach Unai Emery was incensed by what transpired as the match headed into the closing stages.

Morgan Rogers thought he had put Villa ahead but it did not count as the referee judged incorrectly that the forward kicked the ball out of goalkeeper Altay Bayindir's hands.

Worse still for Villa, Bramwell blew his whistle before the ball reached the net - and so the video assistant referee was unable to intervene. 

However, the first twist of the day actually went in the Villains' favour as Carlos Alcaraz nodded into the Gallowgate net in the 65th minute for Everton to stun St James Park.

Newcastle continued to struggle but Manchester United - who finished trophyless in 15th place - unexpectedly stirred to come to the Magpies' rescue.

Former Sunderland loanee Amad Diallo put the Red Devils ahead with a looping header on 76 minutes before he was brought down for an 87th-minute penalty converted by Christian Eriksen.

Yet this really was a rare success for Man United who lost 18 league matches, including nine at Old Trafford, as the change of coach from egghead Erik Ten Hag to Ruben Amorim in November had no impact whatsoever.

Indeed, the Europa League final in Bilbao between Amorim's men and Spurs was a battle between the two lowest-placed teams ever to contest a European final.

Spurs won a predictably low-quality contest through a scrappy Brennan Johnson's goal late in the first half - but the result justified the brash promise made by Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou that he always delivers silverware in his second season at a club.

On this occasion, though, Postecoglou also delivered a 17th-place finish and a barely-believable 22 league defeats out of 38 as Spurs failed to hit 40 points in a season for the very first time in the three-point era.

Not that Tottenham were ever actually in any genuine danger of relegation.

Instead, for the second season in a row, all three teams promoted from the Championship failed to make the top level grade - and, this time, each of them by some distance.

Southampton, in fact, only narrowly escaped being the worst team in Premier League history, scraping 12 points from their 38 matches - only one more than that truly hapless Derby County side in 2007-08.

The Saints still broke the record for the most defeats in a Premier League season - 30 - while Leicester City also booked an unwanted place in the record books.

The fruitless Foxes failed to score a single home league goal between Christmas and Easter as the mid-season change of coach from Steve Cooper to Ruud van Nistelrooy simply never looked like working.

By contrast, Ipswich Town have emerged with a little more credit with their supporters having thoroughly enjoyed a first top-flight campaign in 23 years.

Having beaten Chelsea 2-0 at home on 30 December to go within a point of safety at the halfway mark, though, the Tractor Boys endured a disappointing second half to the season, winning just once at Bournemouth and losing 14 times out of 19.

Defeat to Leicester on the penultimate weekend even left the Suffolk club in second bottom - and, with main striker Liam Delap certain to leave Portman Road, a rebuild will be required at all three demoted teams.

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

DONCASTER ROVERS clinched the League Two title with victory away at Notts County as runners-up Port Vale surprisingly slipped up in any case against midtable Gillingham.

A first-half brace for Rob Street sent Grant McCann's Rovers up in style as the South Yorkshire club regained their third-tier status after just three years away.

The Valiants, meanwhile, make an immediate return to that level under Darren Moore - with Bradford City defying some erratic season-ending form to take the third automatic place.

Graham Alexander's Bantams scrapped their way to promotion with a 1-0 win over Fleetwood Town in front of a remarkable 24,033 supporters at Valley Parade.

It was a first three-point haul for Bradford since 5 April following a five-match sequence which featured a 5-4 loss at Swindon Town and a 3-3 draw against Chesterfield.

Somehow, though, that modest record was enough to finish above Walsall who must still now feel as if they have thrown it all away.

Rather incredibly, Walsall were 12 points clear at the top in January with a game in hand - and 17 ahead of Bradford.

But the recall of on-loan striker Nathan Lowe by parent club Stoke City led to a complete collapse in form with Mat Sadler's Saddlers taking all three points only three times from the end of January onwards.

Walsall perhaps surprisingly recovered sufficiently to reach Wembley after easing through 4-1 on aggregate against Chesterfield in the semi finals.

Wimbledon provided the opposition at the national stadium on Bank Holiday Monday after the Dons earned 1-0 wins in both home and away legs to knock out Notts County.

Defence was certainly the Merton club's big strength in 2024-25 with just 35 goals conceded and 21 clean sheets in the regular season.

Consequently, a fourth consecutive 1-0 win - including the victory over Grimsby Town on the last day - came as no surprise once Myles Hippolyte scored in first-half added time to condemn Walsall to a seventh-straight campaign in the basement division.

Down at the very bottom, Morecambe were the last of the 92 Premier League and EFL teams to get off the mark in terms of a home league win, only achieving their first on New Year's Day.

As such, a run of six successive defeats to finish the season merely confirmed what had long looked inevitable as the Shrimpers meekly limped out of the EFL for the first time since their promotion in 2006-07.

The other team to be relegated were Carlisle United, in spite of investment from their new American owners - and a too-little-too-late upturn in form under former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes.

Indeed, the Cumbrians were beaten 3-2 in stoppage time at Cheltenham Town to be relegated with a game to spare. 

Then again, this will be a familiar feeling for a club who were only relegated from League One only last season and who have gone down to the National League before in 2004.

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ROLL OF HONOUR 2024-25

	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

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EUROPE

	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