2012–13 Premier League
The 2012–13 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the Premier League, the English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 114th season of top-flight English football overall. The fixture schedule was released on 18 June 2012. The season began on 18 August 2012 and ended on 19 May 2013.
| Season | 2012–13 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18 August 2012 – 19 May 2013 |
| Champions | Manchester United 13th Premier League title 20th English title |
| Relegated | Wigan Athletic Reading Queens Park Rangers |
| Champions League | Manchester United Manchester City Chelsea Arsenal |
| Europa League | Wigan Athletic Tottenham Hotspur Swansea City |
| Matches played | 380 |
| Goals scored | 1,063 (2.8 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Robin van Persie (26 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Joe Hart (18 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Chelsea 8–0 Aston Villa (23 December 2012) |
| Biggest away win | Newcastle United 0–6 Liverpool (27 April 2013) |
| Highest scoring | Arsenal 7–3 Newcastle United (29 December 2012) West Brom 5–5 Manchester United (19 May 2013) |
| Longest winning run | 7 games Manchester United |
| Longest unbeaten run | 18 games Manchester United |
| Longest winless run | 16 games Queens Park Rangers |
| Longest losing run | 7 games Reading |
| Highest attendance | 75,605 Manchester United 1–0 Reading (16 March 2013) |
| Lowest attendance | 15,436 Wigan Athletic 3–2 Reading (24 November 2012) |
| Total attendance | 13,653,908 |
| Average attendance | 35,931 |
← 2011–12 2013–14 → | |
Manchester City were the defending champions, having won their first Premier League title the previous season. This was their first top division league title since the 1967–68 season.
On 22 April 2013, Manchester United won their 13th Premier League title and 20th English title overall after a 3–0 victory over Aston Villa at Old Trafford. This, coupled with a 3–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur the day before, left reigning champions Manchester City trailing 16 points behind their local rivals with only 5 matches left to play for. It was the first time the title had been decided in April since Chelsea were the winners in 2005–06. It was also only the fourth time in the history of the Premier League that it had been won with at least four games remaining in the season, the last time being in 2003–04, when Arsenal won the title. England national football team manager, Roy Hodgson declared that United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was a "magician" having won 13 titles in 21 seasons. On 8 May 2013, Ferguson announced his retirement. His last game in charge of United was away to West Bromwich Albion on the final day of the season, which ended in a 5–5 draw.
On 28 April 2013, Queens Park Rangers and Reading were both relegated from the Premier League after a 0–0 draw against each other. Wigan Athletic were the third and final club to be relegated, after a 4–1 defeat to Arsenal on 14 May 2013. This brought an end to their eight-year stay in the Premier League, and came three days after winning the season's FA Cup, making them the first club to win the FA Cup and suffer relegation in the same season.