Football: That was the season that was

Quick On The Draw

The 11 Premiership players with the most opening goals

11: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

10: Dwight Yorke

Gianfranco Zola

9: Nicolas Anelka

Alan Shearer

8: Julian Joachim

Hamilton Ricard

7: Dennis Bergkamp

Deon Burton

Jason Euell

Marcus Gayle

Sure Shots

The 11 most effective players in the Premiership, based on minutes on pitch per goal scored

42mins: Jordi Cruyff (Manchester United)

67: Kevin Campbell (Everton)

69: Jonathan Hunt (Derby)

70: Vladimir Kinder (Middlesbrough)

72: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Man Utd )

84: Steve Basham (Southampton)

90: Philip Scott (Sheff Wed)

103: Kanu (Arsenal)

117: Chris Armstrong (Spurs)

123: Mark Bright (Charlton)

129: Lee Briscoe (Sheff Wed)

Red Mist

The two most frequently red-carded Premiership teams

8: Blackburn Rovers

7: Arsenal

Premiership Team Of The Season

Based on appearances in Team of the Week over the course of the season

3-4-1-2

David Seaman (Arsenal)

Tony Adams (Arsenal)

Jaap Stam (Manchester Utd)

Sol Campbell (Tottenham)

David Beckham (Man Utd)

Emmanuel Petit (Arsenal)

Roy Keane (Man Utd)

Neil Lennon (Leicester)

David Ginola (Tottenham)

Dwight Yorke (Man Utd)

Nicholas Anelka (Arsenal)

Manager of the season: Alex Ferguson - can sit at the shoulders of Busby and Shankly.

Performance of the season: Manchester United's victory over Juventus in Turin.

Newcomer of the season: David O'Leary - a sparkling managerial debut.

League Within A League

How the Premiership's top four fared against each other

9 Sept: Chelsea 0 Arsenal 0

20 Sept: Arsenal 3 Man Utd 0

25 Oct: Leeds 0 Chelsea 0

29 Nov: Man Utd 3 Leeds 2

16 Dec: Man Utd 1 Chelsea 1

20 Dec: Arsenal 3 Leeds 1

29 Dec: Chelsea 1 Man Utd 1

31 Jan: Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0

17 Feb: Man Utd 1 Arsenal 1

25 Apr: Leeds 1 Man Utd 1

5 May: Chelsea 1 Leeds 0

11 May: Leeds 1 Arsenal 0

Trebles All Round

12 Premiership hat-tricks

Clive Mendonca v Soton, 22 Aug

Michael Owen v N'castle, 30 Aug

Owen (4) v Forest, 24 Oct.

Dion Dublin v Soton, 14 Nov.

Robbie Fowler v Villa, 21 Nov

Chris Armstrong v Everton, 28 Dec

Darren Huckerby v Nottingham Forest, 9 Jan

Robbie Fowler v Soton, 16 Jan

Dwight Yorke v Leic'ter, 16 Jan

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (4) v Nottm Forest, 6 Feb

Nicolas Anelka v Leicester City, 20 Feb

Kevin Campbell v West Ham, 8 May

KEY NUMBERS

6 - the longest sequence of Premiership clean sheets, defended by Arsenal

7 - the longest Premiership winning streak, achieved by Leeds United

8 - the longest Premiership losing run, by Charlton

19 - the longest run without a Premiership win, endured by Nottingham Forest

21 - the longest Premiership unbeaten run, set by Chelsea

pounds 33.2m - Blackburn Rovers outlay in transfer market

45 - the total of red and yellow cards shown by David Elleray, the most lenient Premiership referee (despite Alex Ferguson's opinion).

53 - the number of yellow and red cards picked up by Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday players, the lowest Premiership card counts

99 - Everton's red and yellow total, highest in Premiership

112 - total red and yellow cards issued by Uriah Rennie, the Premiership's busiest

referee at 4.77 per match.

Kite Flyers

Impending transfer deals, as predicted by the Sunday newspapers

16 Aug: Alen Boksic: Lazio-Man Utd: pounds 10m (The People)

30 Aug: Darren Anderton: Tottenham-Leeds: pounds 10m (News of the World)

13 Sept: Alan Shearer: Newcastle-Internazionale: pounds 20m (Mail on Sunday)

20 Sept: Alan Shearer: Newcastle-Chelsea: Dennis Wise + Dan Petrescu + Tore Andre Flo (Sunday Mirror)

11 Oct: Alan Shearer: Newcastle-Lazio: pounds 10m + Alen Boksic (The People)

13 Dec: Rio Ferdinand: West Ham-Man Utd: pounds 14m (The People)

17 Jan: Juninho: Atletico Madrid-Aston Villa: pounds 12m (Mail on Sunday)

24 Jan: Juninho: Atletico Madrid-Aston Villa: pounds 18m (News of the World)

24 Jan: Rio Ferdinand: West Ham-Man Utd: pounds 12m + Teddy Sheringham (People)

28 Feb: Chris Sutton: Blackburn-Chelsea: pounds 10m (News of the World)

28 Feb: Sol Campbell: Tottenham-Lazio: pounds 15m (People)

Guns For Hire?

The 10 top scorers outside the Premiership

32 Lee Hughes (West Bromwich )

29 Jamie Cureton (Bristol Rovers)

26 Stuart Barlow (Wigan)

Marcus Stewart (Huddersfield)

25 Marco Gabbiadini (Darlington)

Geoff Horsfield (Fulham)

Lee Mills (Bradford)

Lloyd Owusu (Brentford)

Kevin Phillips (Sunderland)

Mark Stein (Bournemouth)

Goal Feasts

The eight highest-scoring Premiership matches

6 Feb: Nottingham Forest 1 Manchester United 8

16 Jan: Liverpool 7 Southampton 1

Leicester City 2 Manchester United 6

9 Sept: West Ham 3 Wimbledon 4

21 Sept: Blackburn Rovers 3 Chelsea 4

3 Apr: Derby County 3 Newcastle United 4

24 Apr: Middlesbrough 1 Arsenal 6

8 May: Aston Villa 3 Charlton Athletic 4

Premiership Goal Of The Season