Well Chelsea ended up as Champions, and it proved to be one of the best title races in years, going down to the final day with Arsenal only falling away in the closing weeks aswell.
We also had a new member of the top four, Spurs replacing Liverpool, who dropped like a stone down the league, and only one of the promote sides getting relegated with three sides getting cut adrift and being relegated well before the final day.
Portsmouth were one of those sides and they had five owners, two managers, about a dozen loanees and £138m worth of debt. It may well be a long time before we ee them in the top flight again and whilst I won't miss the drive their fans have always been top notch and the top flight will be weaker for losing them.
Back in August though none of this was known and eyebrows were raised on the opening day when Arsenal crushed Everton 6-1 at Goodison Park to take the early lead and send a message they were contenders, whilst Everton fans would have been forgiven for having the odd sleepless night that week.
Tottenham were next to top the table, the position would change hands nearly thirty times in this enthralling season, after they thrashed Hull 5-1 at the KC Stadium, another side sending an early message.
By the end of August Chelsea were back on top, with Spurs, Man Utd and then Stoke in fourth, completing the Champions League places. Just four weeks later not only had all the 100% records gone but every side had lost at least one game, showing that the league was much tighter and the gaps between the top sides and the rest was very much reduced.
As November started every side, bar Manchester City had now lost at least two games, whilst the real story was Burnley. They had dropped down the table, courtesy of five defeats in five away games, but five wins in six at home, including victories over Manchester United and Burnley had really put the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons on their long awaited return to top flight action.
The Potters had dropped to 9th but were still only 3 points off 4th and Everton had got themselves together during October, moving out of the drop zone and into mid table, although November saw them drop back down to two places and 3 points above the relegation zone.
The festive season was upon us, the transfer window within sight and a disappointing run of results saw Stoke drop into the bottom half over Christmas, while Everton were now just a point above the drop zone. Birmingham had replaced Burnley as the seasons big talking point as they pushed themselves into the top 8, built on a watertight defence and the ability to nick vital goals.
Despite being just outside the top four, and losing just twice all season in all competitions, Mark Hughes was sacked as manager of Manchester City and replaced by Italian Roberto Mancini just days before Christmas. He started well with a comfortable Boxing Day win over Stoke but Villa were the team in form and the team now in possession of that vital fourth spot.
January was very stop start, the usual 3rd and 4th round of the FA Cup taking two weekends whilst the snowy conditions saw a lot of what was left postponed and played havoc with the calendar. That said the table looked pretty much as it did in May come the end of the first month of 2010 with Chelsea leading from Manchester United, Arsenal then Spurs and Burnley, Hull and doomed Pompey sitting in the relegation places.
February saw further disruptions courtesy of the weather and the league remain as tight as a....well you add your own ending, at both ends of the table with just three points seperating Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal at the top, four points seperating Manchester City in fourth and Villa in 7th, with Liverpool and Spurs sandwiched between the pair. The bottom was even tighter, taking Pompey out of the equation, with four points seperating 13th placed West Ham and second bottom Burnley, whose home form had gone the same way as their away form.
The 17th March 2010 will go down in Premier League history, for all the wrong reasons, as that was the day that Portsmouth finally gave in and entered administration, the first time one of the members of the Premier League had taken the drastic financial step. A 9 point penalty was given, as good as guaranteeing relegation to the Football League for the Southerners.
By the end of March Pompey were almost officialy relegated, but Hull, West Ham and Burnley were now fighting to stay up. Results for the other sides down the bottom had pulled them slightly away from that scrap and three points seperated the three aforementioned with two destined to drop. At the top end Manchester United were back on top of the league nobody wanted to win, the top three, who usually only lose two or three games each all season, had already lost seventeen games between them. Tottenham were back in fourth, relegating Manchester City into that 5th place that would seem like relegation to them.
Teams were soon dropping though, Burnley were relegated in April, Hull basically relegated due to their hugely inferior goal difference and Arsenal dropping down out of the title race leaving Chelsea and Manchester United to fight it out. One race that didn't have people dropping out was the race for fourth and with just eight days of the season left two points seperated four teams going for that vital Champions League place.
Four became two on the penultimate weekend as Manchester City came from behind to beat, and eliminate, Aston Villa and with Tottenham winning aswell Liverpool were pushed too far back. Hull's relegation was confirmed when they conceded an injury time equaliser at Wigan after coming from behind to lead.
There was one point in the title race going into the final day and Tottenham made sure all attention was on that fight when they travelled to Manchester City on the last Wednesday of the season and came away with a 1-0 win, thanks to a late Crouch strike, to guarantee Champions League football for the first time in the clubs history.
The final day was a slight let down drama wise, Chelsea racked up eight at home to Wigan, so had bagged the title well before the final whistle. Incidentily it wasn't the Latics worst defeat of the season, they lost 9-1 away at Spurs in October and although it was the biggest win of the season for Chelsea they did also put 7 past Sunderland, Aston Villa and Stoke late in the season. That last day rout included a 14 minute hat trick for Didier Drogba, taking him to 29 for the season and land him the golden boot.
The second half of the season means the start of next season will be even more eagerly anticipated than most. Tottenham will have the added pulling power this summer, Manchester City have money to burn, Chelsea are new Champions but are an ageing side, Arsenal reportedly have money to spend, Everton were the form side of 2010, beating Chelsea and Man Utd in the same week at one point and finished 8th, hot on the heels of the Champions League chasers so will be looking to build on that, and Villa got closer than ever to the top 4 and also got to a cup final and a semi final. On the flip side Manchester United have to find a way, probably a cheap way, of improving the side and replacing key players who are in their twilight years and Liverpool are also debt ridden, have no Champions League football, no faith in the management on and off the field and star players who must be wondering how much longer to put up with it all.
Looking at Stoke we improved, and not too much, but enough so that we can realistically improve again next year, and our strengths are obvious and our weaknesses, finding the net, even more blatantly obvious, A summer of wheeling and dealing is about to start and we will no doubt be involved just as much as ANY club in the top flight.