Premier League 2015/16: A Look Back at the Most Topsy Turvy Season in Years

Published on: 14 May 2016

We're just one match away from the last ball being (belatedly!) kicked, and the 2015/16 Premier League season is all wrapped up. It's taken us 40 weeks, 281 days, and 379 matches to get to this point - however you prefer to measure it it's been a long one. Kyle Walker's own goal against Manchester United kicked us off, and the chaos has scarcely stopped since then. 


This was the season which turned the established order completely upside down. Reigning champions Chelsea careening down the table looked like being the weirdest, wackiest thing that would happen in the season - sitting just three points above the relegation zone halfway through the campaign - but it wasn't even close. 


Leicester City were the story this season. From Jamie Vardy's record-breaking run of scoring in 11 consecutive games to Claudio Ranieri's team doing - ostensibly - the impossible, winning the Premier League with two games to spare, the Foxes grabbed the imaginations of fans and non-fans alike around the world. 

CHAMPIONS!!!! pic.twitter.com/pFtvo5XUNx

Heroes came from nowhere. Captain Wes Morgan transcended his role, becoming a true talisman at the back. N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez turned themselves into household names and true stars, while Kasper Schmeichel followed in his father's footsteps to lift the Premier League trophy. 


Picking out a single crucial game from Leicester's season is next to impossible, but consecutive wins over Liverpool and Manchester City at the start of February gave them a big boost before a last-gasp defeat against Arsenal - and an 89th minute winner from Leonardo Ulloa against Norwich in the next game kept things on track when things could so easily have fallen apart. 


The closest Leicester came to slipping up in the final run-in? A breathtaking match against an impressive West Ham side. It wasn't even close to enough - although the mention of West Ham does give us an excuse to drag out the memory of Dimitri Payet's free kick. Y'know. That one. 


Elsewhere, the managerial merry-go-round kept twirling throughout the season - Brendan Rodgers displaying terrific character *ahem* when he was replaced by Jurgen Klopp, while Jose Mourinho's antics were entertaining for a while before he was consigned to the Stamford Bridge bin for the second time in his career. 


Oh, and Tim Sherwood was Tim Sherwood, burning bright like a massive, incompetent star before being canned by a painfully bad Aston Villa team all too early. 

Manchester City started the season like a shot, winning their first five games without conceding a single goal, but then they went ahead and threw all of that out of the window by conceding six goals in consecutive defeats to West Ham and Spurs. They went a horrible five and a half months without winning consecutive league games, putting two slugs in the head of their own title challenge from point blank range.


On the other side of Manchester, Louis van Gaal was Louis van Gaal. Whether or not he stays or goes seems to depend largely on the whims of the fates at this point - or worse, Ed Woodward. 


Incidentally, try pronouncing Ed(ward) Woodward's name as if the letter 'D' didn't exist. Ewar Woowar. It makes him a lot more likeable. 

Spurs stuck around brilliantly at the top of the table, putting in a real challenge before descending into pure, unabashed chaos and shenanigans for the last couple of weeks as the title slipped away. Dele Alli's punch into the stomach of Claudio Yacob may have been the nail in the coffin, but his incredible goal against Crystal Palace probably, on balance, made up for it. 


Through all the chaos, though, one thing was constant. Arsenal were Arsenal. Finishing about Spurs, a raft of injuries to important players, a dig at the title which fell apart long before crunch time, and some complaining about Arsene Wenger. Thank you, Arsenal. You are a beacon of normality in a sea of nonsense, and we love you for it. 


Things at the bottom were pretty tasty, too. Sunderland played the Arsenal role - in prime position to go down, as ever, before staying up, as ever. Aston Villa were about as bad as it was possible for a team to be - rotten from top to bottom - but at least they let us have some fun. 

pic.twitter.com/F1TynC1kTb

Newcastle were no fun. Laughing at their demise from afar has been less like kicking a puppy, and more like kicking an old dog which used to bite you, but lost all of its teeth years ago and went half-blind. You can do it, but why would you want to?


Norwich also existed, allegedly. You'd be forgiven for forgetting that. 


Anyone fancy predicted what's going to happen next season? Nah, us neither. But it's going to be an absolute blast. 

For more from Chris when he's not writing on 90min, follow him on Twitter at @ThatChris1209!

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