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What were your Premier League team’s best and worst days of 2017?
From title wins and star signings to cup embarrassments and shock departures, we look at your club’s best and worst days of 2017.
Chelsea claimed the title, Man City broke winning records, Claudio Ranieri was sacked just nine months after winning the title and the FA Cup provided several infamous shocks - 2017 has seen football fans treated to plenty of ups and downs.
Here, Gerard Brand, Ben Reynolds and Josue Ngandu take a look at each Premier League club’s best and worst football-related days of the year…
Best: May 27 - Light at the end of the tunnel
Arsenal’s 2016/17 season was considered a failure by some, but a piece of silverware brightened the mood of most, and in Arsene Wenger’s eyes at least, justified his decision to stay another two years.
Wenger’s side weren’t fancied against the newly-crowned Premier League champions, nor were they fancied in their semi-final against Manchester City, but Aaron Ramsey’s late winner gave them another FA Cup title.
Moment of the year for Arsenal fans, and one of Wenger’s proudest as manager: “It is one of the proudest moments of my career because nobody gave us a chance. This cup was won with special spirit and special attitude.”
A topsy-turvy summer culminated in a turbulent week for Wenger and Arsenal as the futures of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez momentarily took a back seat at Anfield.
Liverpool ran riot over a poor Arsenal side, who were humiliated and picked apart by wave after wave of attack.
The post-mortem lasted a few days, before a dramatic Deadline Day saw Sanchez stay, but targets Thomas Lemar and Raheem Sterling stay put too. A week to forget for the club.
Best: March 11 - Welcome win thanks to the King
Following a disastrous run of form, which saw Eddie Howe’s side drop to within six points of the relegation zone, West Ham turned up at the Vitality Stadium and looked to have stolen a point through Andre Ayew in the 83rd minute.
But Josh King’s fine form continued, completing a hat-trick in the dying moments to give Bournemouth a 3-2 victory, their first win in nine in all competitions.
They went on to lose only two more games and finish a respectable ninth.
Bournemouth were slipping fast in late February, when West Brom came from behind to win 2-1 and inflict a fourth straight defeat on Howe’s men, leaving them with just 12 games to earn 14 points and reach that all-important 40-point mark.
Artur Boruc’s poor mistake allowed Gareth McAuley to score the winner, and Howe was in a defiant mood after the game: “Destiny is in our own hands and we’ve got to force it our way.”
Then came an action-packed draw at Old Trafford, before the dramatic 3-2 win over West Ham.
Best: April 17 - Finally back in the top flight
Having missed out in the play-offs for three of the last four seasons, Brighton at last secured promotion to the Premier League the stress-free way… automatically.
Their 2-1 win over Wigan, coupled with Huddersfield’s 1-1 draw with Derby later on in the day, made it official, with jubilant scenes on the pitch at the Amex Stadium.
After ending a 34-year wait, owner Tony Bloom said: “It is 11 months since I went into the changing room at the end of the play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday and the players were on the floor. I was on the floor but I looked around and said: ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’”
It seems strange to mark the final day of Brighton’s best season in recent memory as one of their worst, but that says more about the Seagulls’ progress in 2017.
Leading 1-0 at Aston Villa going into the final moments, Jack Grealish’s messy equaliser handed Newcastle the Championship title by a single point.
“Today is a negative day, it’s difficult, but there are far more pluses,” Chris Hughton reflected.
Burnley have enjoyed their fair share of impressive days on the pitch in 2017, but perhaps the best came off it, fending off interest from Everton for the much-loved Sean Dyche.
Burnley continued to win despite the heavy speculation, beating Newcastle, Southampton and Swansea to soar up the Premier League table.
Dyche dealt with the talk admirably, and when Sam Allardyce bagged the Everton job on November 29, all Burnley fans could breathe easily.
Not many spared Burnley a thought after non-league Lincoln earned one of the most famous FA Cup results in history thanks to Sean Raggett’s late winner at Turf Moor in the fifth round.
Lincoln became the first non-league side to reach the last eight in 103 years, while Burnley again failed to make the quarter-final for a 14th straight season.
Joey Barton’s on-field antics with Matt Rhead did nothing to reduce the embarrassment.
Not many had backed Antonio Conte’s Chelsea when he arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2016, and those doubts looked to be justified in September following a humbling 3-0 defeat at Arsenal.
That prompted change, and they dropped just 13 points for the rest of the season, a staggering run of form which culminated in securing the title at the Hawthorns against West Brom in mid-May.
Michy Batshuayi’s late winner will live long in the memory, as will the celebrations…
It has stumped many since. Just why did Chelsea allow Nemanja Matic to leave for a Premier League title rival?
So often Jose Mourinho’s star man at Chelsea during his second stint, the 29-year-old Serb was sold to United, prompting many to question Conte’s transfer policy.
It even shocked Mourinho himself: “I was surprised when his agent called me to say ‘do you want him?’ When he told me ‘you can have him if you want’, of course I want.”
The Blues signed Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco in his position to compete with N’Golo Kante, and though time will tell whether he succeeds, just a handful of performances in a United shirt by Matic proved that Chelsea had strengthened a rival.
Best: May 14 - Securing safety in style
Crystal Palace endured a shocking start to the season in 2016/17, lingering one point above the relegation zone, before Alan Pardew was subsequently fired in late December.
Sam Allardyce was hired the following day, and was given the task of keeping Palace in the top flight for another season. He managed to achieve the club’s goal on May 14.
In a six-pointer against Hull on the penultimate day of the season, following a 5-0 defeat by Manchester City, goals from Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke, Luka Milivojevic and Patrick van Aanholt in a 4-0 thumping confirmed Palace’s safety in style.
Following a jump up the table, winning 24 points from 17 games in 2016/17, Crystal Palace were desperate to keep Allardyce for the next campaign.
Palace fans started believing they could realistically push on and finish in the top half of the Premier League for the first time, but Allardyce announced a shock departure from the club only five months into his two-and-a-half-year contract.
Allardyce said he would be open to an international manager position, but not another club job, which would leave a bitter taste in Palace fans’ mouths after he signed an 18-month contract for Everton in late November.
Everton all but ended Manchester City’s title hopes at Goodison Park in devastating style.
Man-of-the-match Tom Davies scored his first goal for Everton, as did Ademola Lookman, as Everton pulled apart Pep Guardiola’s City. The result was Everton’s biggest ever Premier League win over Manchester City and their joint-biggest win of the calendar year.
The Toffees scored with every shot on target, as Davies and Lookman became the 16th and 17th Everton teenagers to score a Premier League goal, a league high alongside Arsenal.
Managerless Everton conceded four or more for the third time this season and nine goals in four days as Southampton capitalised on a side severely lacking in belief.
Southampton hadn’t scored four or more goals in a Premier League game since May 2016, but Everton’s shambolic defending allowed the hosts, not beaming with confidence themselves, to run riot.
Caretaker manager David Unsworth said after the game: ‘‘I can’t stand here and defend the players today. It was a totally unacceptable performance, especially in the second half, and the Everton fans are quite rightly going to be furious with that but so am I. It’s not good enough or our football club.’’
Best: May 29 - Back in the big time
After a 45-year absence, Huddersfield made their way back to the top flight with a penalty shoot-out victory over Reading at Wembley in the play-off final.
In just over 18 months, David Wagner took the Terriers from perennial Championship strugglers to a promotion worth a minimum of £170m.
Chairman Dean Hoyle’s emotional reaction after Chris Schindler’s winning penalty will live long in the memory; he collapsed with joy in the stands, before composing himself to tell Sky Sports: “I’m so emotional. I’ve supported this club since 1979 when I was on the terraces. It’s a dream come true.”
Two months before promotion, Huddersfield still had dreams of reaching the automatic spots, sitting six points behind second-place Brighton with a game in hand.
But they ended the evening nine behind as Burton stole a last-minute 1-0 victory at the John Smith’s Stadium, their fourth defeat in six games.
In a year full of highs, this was most certainly a low. They continued their indifferent form for the next six weeks, but made the play-offs, and the rest was history…
Leicester’s incredible story in the Champions League continued after beating Europa League winners Sevilla 2-0 in the second leg. The result meant debutants Leicester reached the quarter-finals, the first side to do so on their first attempt since Malaga in 2012/13.
Captain Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton got on the scoresheet to overturn a 2-1 disadvantage in the first leg, and Kasper Schmichel did his bit by saving a penalty in both legs.
With the win, Leicester became England’s sole representatives in the competition. During a season full of mixed emotions, their Champions League run will live long in the memory.
The harshest sacking in Premier League history? Claudio Ranieri was dismissed as Leicester City just nine months after winning the Premier League title.
Despite their poor league form, some Leicester fans were outraged, as were the neutrals. Niall Quinn said ‘‘Leicester lost their soul’’, while Alan Smith labelled it ''the worst football decision in 10 years".
Jamie Redknapp slammed Leicester players, specifically singling out Riyad Mahrez, PFA player of the year in 2016, calling him ‘‘gutless’’.
Ranieri defended his players after his dismissal saying ''I refused to believe my players killed me, no, no, no," but Leicester were suddenly the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons.
Roma’s player of the season Mo Salah moved to Liverpool for £34m in late June, having finishing as the club’s top goal scorer with 15 goals and six assists.
His electric form at Liverpool has seen him eclipse his previous goalscoring record at Roma, and has proven to be one of the signings of the season, the hub of Liverpool’s ‘fab four’ alongside Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho.
He has been Liverpool’s most prolific goalscorer since Luis Suarez, and at 25, has plenty more to give to Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Worst: January 28 - Out of the Cup
Liverpool were knocked out of their second cup competition in four days, beaten 2-1 by Championship side Wolves at Anfield.
Having just been beaten by Southampton in the EFL Cup semi-finals, Liverpool suffered a third consecutive home loss in all competitions for the first time since October 2012.
The result confirmed Liverpool would not go on to win any silverware in Klopp’s second season in charge, having lost in two cup finals in the 2015/16 campaign.
Klopp went on to say: ‘‘I could look for excuses but I don’t want to, maybe we should use this time to be disappointed, to be frustrated, to be angry at ourselves. All I can say is sorry.’’
Best: December 10 - Breaking the record at Old Trafford
Manchester City clinched a record 14th consecutive top-flight victory in the sweetest possible manner with a 2-1 win over rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
It topped Arsenal’s run of 13 wins between February and August 2002, and it was a landmark win for Pep Guardiola, too, after being criticised in 2016/17 for not adapting to the Premier League.
He bit back at his doubters on Sky Sports after the game, saying: “I am happy because with this kind of play we can do it in England, that’s why I’m so happy, because people say the way we played in Barcelona, it is not possible in England. It is possible. We did it.”
For City, 2017 will end far brighter than it started.
Everton produced a brilliant performance to stun City, whose Premier League title hopes were at that point over, according to manager Pep Guardiola.
Goals from Romelu Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas, Tom Davies and Ademola Lookman gave Everton a 4-0 victory, having happily soaked up 71 per cent of City’s possession.
It left City 10 points off leaders Chelsea, and asked after the game if the gap was too great, Guardiola replied: “Yes. Ten is a lot of points.”
Heading into the final months of last season, it was obvious Jose Mourinho had made the Europa League his top priority.
Finishing outside of the top four, Mourinho’s first season would be defined by one game against Ajax in Stockholm.
Played two days after the Manchester terror attacks, Mourinho’s players did not let him or the city down in the Europa League final, as goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan either side of half-time secured United’s second trophy of the season, qualification for the Champions League and absolution for Mourinho.
United haven’t endured too many nightmare days in 2017, having won two cup competitions, but December 10 marked a chance to reduce Man City’s lead at the top of the Premier League to five points.
In a title-chase six-pointer, United posted a 35 per cent possession figure, their lowest at Old Trafford in the Premier League since 2003/04 (when Opta started collecting this data), losing 2-1 to their bitter rivals.
It ended with drama off the pitch, but on it, United simply failed to stop the City juggernaut and fell 11 points behind.
Just 348 days after relegation, Newcastle were back in the top flight following a 4-1 win over Preston at St James’ Park.
Just as in 2009/10, they were runaway favourites for promotion, boosted by the stewardship of Rafa Benitez. Their ruthless approach to the division, despite a hefty turnover in playing staff, was an example to all relegated sides.
To boot, they eventually came back to close the gap on leaders Brighton and win the Championship title in the final moments of the final day.
Before we had even reached September, there were major signs of discontent at Newcastle.
Benitez had spoken several times in the media about a lack of funding in the summer, with his desire to push Newcastle into a top-half side after bouncing straight back to the Premier League.
Deadline Day saw Newcastle linked with Matt Targett, Lucas Perez and Kenedy, but they ended up with nothing.
Benitez had given an exclusive interview to Sky Sports’ Patrick Davison just weeks before, not hiding his dissatisfaction at the lack of transfer activity, and Toon fans were feeling concerned come the evening of August 31 that the Spaniard would abandon the club.
Best: January 25 - Hit and run at Anfield
Leading 1-0 from the first leg, Southampton defended with just 28 per cent possession and nicked a late goal to reach their first cup final since 2003.
That Shane Long strike sent the 3,500 travelling Saints fans into raptures, celebrations which will be remembered for years to come, and allowed them to enjoy what would have been a nervy final few moments at Anfield.
It marked the first time Klopp had lost a semi-final as a manager, and meant Saints had reached the EFL Cup final without conceding a single goal.
After reaching their first final in 41 years, Southampton suffered defeat in harsh fashion after a battling performance against Manchester United at Wembley.
Manolo Gabbiadini’s goal was wrongly disallowed for offside while the game was poised at 0-0, and goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jesse Lingard soon had United 2-0 up.
After miraculously forcing their way back into the game with a Gabbiadini double, Southampton’s hard work was undone by Ibrahimovic’s 87th-minute winner. A bitter pill to swallow for the Saints.
After a narrow 1-0 defeat at Everton on the opening day of the season, Stoke then welcomed Arsenal to the Bet365 Stadium, and put in a strong performance to win all three points.
New signing Jese struck the only goal of the game just after the break, and at that point, Stoke fans were looking towards the rest of the year with anticipation following a summer which saw them strengthen in defence.
Mark Hughes was full of hope too, saying: “I think everybody is going to enjoy watching [Jese] and that he’ll light the Premier League up as the season progresses.”
It hasn’t gone to plan since, with Jese failing to score another goal.
Stoke fought and fought to keep their man, rejecting two bids before a transfer request was handed in, and manager Mark Hughes admitted the situation had become “irredeemable” as Marko Arnautovic moved on to West Ham.
Despite the potential £25m transfer fee, Stoke have missed Arnautovic’s influence, and their summer transfer activity mainly centred around improving their defence.
Stoke were eyeing up Schalke’s Yevhen Konoplyanka and Salzburg’s Valon Berisha, but neither deal came off.
It didn’t exactly end amicably, either, with Arnautovic’s brother Daniel saying: “Why Marko left Stoke I won’t tell you. I can only say that Mr Coates [Peter Coates, Stoke chairman] should clean up his own garbage within the club walls before pointing finger at anyone outside of it.”
Best: January 21 - Out of the relegation zone at Anfield
Nobody gave Swansea much of a hope as they headed to Anfield in late January. Paul Clement had only just taken up the job, with the Swans having lost seven of their last nine games.
Liverpool were unbeaten at home for over a year, and had scored 26 goals in their previous nine Premier League games, but goals from Fernando Llorente (two) and Gylfi Sigurdsson lifted Swansea out of the relegation zone with a 3-2 win.
It acted as a huge catalyst for survival, as Swansea won three of their next five and eventually stayed up by seven points.
It was on the cards for a while, but Sigurdsson’s departure from Swansea in mid-August marked the end of a superbly fruitful stint in south Wales.
His move to Everton brought a cool £45m, but Swansea will struggle to reinvest that cash to replace someone of Sigurdsson’s quality.
The Icelandic midfielder routinely saved the Swans with his goals and creativity, something so obviously lacking this season, as Clement’s side look to battle against the drop.
Best: November 1 - Home away from home
For one night, and perhaps one night only, Wembley felt like home for Spurs as they produced a scintillating display to humble Real Madrid 3-1 in the Champions League.
Having won 17 of 19 Premier League games in their final season at White Hart Lane, Mauricio Pochettino’s side had begun their domestic campaign at the national stadium in uncertain form, with the players struggling in unfamiliar surroundings and the fans unable to recreate the febrile atmosphere of the Lane.
But all that was swept aside on a brisk November evening as Dele Alli, back from a three-game European ban, scored either side of half-time before Christian Eriksen capped a lightning counter-attack to put Spurs 3-0 up.
Alli should have had a hat-trick to make it 4-0, but he missed a free-header and although Cristiano Ronaldo scuffed home on 72 minutes, Spurs would not be denied a thrilling victory that set them up to top their group.
Worst: May 5 - Title slips away again
Spurs were always outsiders to catch Chelsea, who had opened up a sizeable lead at the top of the Premier League on the back of 13 straight wins in November and December.
But Pochettino’s team arrived at the London Stadium having themselves won nine in a row and knew that only a 10th would be enough to continue applying the pressure on Antonio Conte’s side.
But it was not to be, with Harry Kane twice denied in the first half before Manuel Lanzini lashed home from five yards out on 65 minutes to score the only goal of a frantic game in east London.
Having conceded the title to Leicester the season before at Chelsea, to do so again at another London rival was tough to take and not only did defeat end Spurs’ title hopes, the win meant West Ham were mathematically safe from relegation, giving cause for double celebration for delirious Hammers fans.
After a messy end to Walter Mazzarri’s tenure, Watford appointed former Hull boss Marco Silva, their ninth boss in five years, and eighth since the Pozzo family took over in 2012.
Just another short-term fix? Silva’s first seven months in charge suggest that if he was to leave abruptly, it would be for a bigger side, not because the axe has fallen again.
Porto were linked with Silva at the time, and Everton have been heavily linked since, showing what an impressive job Silva has done at Vicarage Road.
In bizarre circumstances, Mazzarri was sacked by Watford before the final game of the season against Man City, but still took charge of the clash.
Mazzarri was humiliated at his ‘passing-out parade’, with Watford fans singing: “Walter Mazzarri, get out of our club,” and chairman Scott Duxbury not even acknowledging his sacking in the matchday programme.
“This club doesn’t have the same ambitions, the same mentality as the previous clubs I’ve been at.”
In hindsight, his sacking was the correct decision, but at the time, the managerial merry-go-round and less-than amicable departure marked another chapter in Watford’s chequered recent history behind the scenes.
Best: March 18 - When it all comes together
Tony Pulis was routinely criticised for his playing style at the Hawthorns, but this victory showed just how devastating West Brom could be when everything clicked.
Following disappointing defeats against Crystal Palace and Everton, Albion bounced back to consolidate their place in the top eight with a powerful performance against Arsenal.
Pulis, his face beaming after getting one over on old rival Arsene Wenger, kept expectations steady after the game, saying: “We haven’t got what the other teams have in terms of individual talent.”
It turned out to be their last win of the season, and things soon turned sour for Pulis…
Having scored just nine goals in their opening 11 Premier League matches, the trip to Huddersfield threatened to be make or break for Pulis’ West Brom.
His tactics under severe scrutiny, Pulis persevered with a 5-3-2, including three holding midfielders. A 1-0 defeat, playing over half an hour against 10 men, was the final straw for most Albion fans, who vented their anger at the Welshman throughout.
It was a dark day for West Brom, who seemed to be sleep-walking towards the relegation zone, and the owners gave Pulis just one more game before answering fans’ calls to sack him.
Best: May 5 - Turning it on against Spurs
Following a topsy-turvy opening season at the London Stadium, West Ham got the night they craved at their new home against their city rivals.
Tottenham’s pursuit of Premier League leaders Chelsea was dealt a huge blow as Manuel Lanzini’s second-half goal gave West Ham a 1-0 win in a game Mauricio Pochettino’s side simply failed to grab hold of.
Spurs lacked invention, and cheered on by a raucous home support, West Ham secured safety and moved into the top half of the table just weeks after relegation had seemed a real possibility.
The thought that David Moyes’ arrival could spark a West Ham revival had all but disappeared.
After defeat at Watford and a draw at home to Leicester, the trip to Everton had the makings of an early six-pointer, and it all went wrong for Moyes at his former club Everton.
The Toffees raced into a 2-0 lead through Wayne Rooney, before Lanzini missed a chance to halve the deficit from a penalty, and Rooney went on to complete his hat-trick in a thumping 4-0 victory.
“West Ham, wow,” said Sky Sports’ Paul Merson after the game. That just about summed up the task Moyes had on his hands.
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