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2008–09 Premier Academy League

Field	Value
winners	Arsenal U18S
biggest home win	Ipswich Town U18s 7 – 0 Birmingham City U18S
(25 April)
biggest away win	Blackburn Rovers U18s 0 – 8 Manchester City U18s
(1 November)
highest scoring	Tottenham Hotspur U18s 6 – 6 Coventry City U18s
(22 November)
total goals	1975
average goals	3.51
longest wins	11, Sunderland U18s
(1 November – 14 March)
longest unbeaten	28 (all group game), Manchester City U18s
(23 August – 18 May)
26 (inc. play-off), Manchester City U18s
(23 August – 2 May)
longest losses	11, Milton Keynes Dons U18s
(1 November – 28 February)
prevseason	2007–08
nextseason	2009–10

(25 April) (1 November) (22 November) (1 November – 14 March) (23 August – 18 May) 26 (inc. play-off), Manchester City U18s (23 August – 2 May) (1 November – 28 February) The 2008–09 Premier Academy League Under–18 season was the twelfth edition since the establishment of The Premier Academy League, and the fifth under the current make-up. The first matches of the season were played on 23 August 2008, and the season ended on 18 May 2009.

All teams played the other teams in their group twice and played 10 inter-group fixtures, producing 28 games a season. Eight of the inter-group games were played against teams in their 'paired group' (i.e. A–B and C–D are the paired groups), whilst the remaining two games comprise one game against a team in each of the two remaining groups. Winners of each group qualified for play-offs.

Arsenal became the first group winners by leading Crystal Palace 20 points with 6 games left in Group A after a 1–0 win against Watford on 21 March 2009. Group C champions Manchester City set up tie with Arsenal in the play-off the following week by recording a 23–game unbeaten run which last to 26 games. Sunderland secured top spot in Group D after achieving the 14th win in last 15 games on 31 March. These 3 teams all clinched the group title for a third successive season. Tottenham Hotspur claimed the last play-off spot after beating Watford 2–1 on 6 May.

Arsenal reached the 2009 Premier Academy League Play-off Final with a 2–1 victory over Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium on 8 May. Tottenham Hotspur set up clash with Arsenal after defeating Sunderland 2–1 at the Stadium of Light on 13 May.

On 17 May, Arsenal were crowned the 2008–09 Premier Academy League Champions after a 1–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in the Play-off Final at White Hart Lane, with a goal from Rhys Murphy. It is Arsenal's first title since the Premier Academy League reformed as an under–18 competition.

League tables

Academy Group A

	Charlton Athletic U18s

Academy Group B

	Milton Keynes Dons U18s

Academy Group C

	Bolton Wanderers U18s

Academy Group D

	Middlesbrough U18s

Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored Pos = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points C = Champions

Play-off semi-finals

Rhys Murphy

Andros Townsend

Play-off Final

Records

Most group wins: 22, Arsenal, Manchester City and Sunderland
Most league wins: 24, Arsenal
Fewest wins: 3, Milton Keynes Dons
Fewest group defeats: 0, Manchester City
Fewest league defeats: 1, Manchester City
Most defeats: 21, Milton Keynes Dons
Most points: 72, Manchester City
Fewest points: 13, Milton Keynes Dons
Most goals scored: 90, Leicester City
Fewest goals scored: 26, Milton Keynes Dons
Fewest group goals conceded: 30, Sunderland
Fewest league goals conceded: 32, Arsenal and Sunderland
Most goals conceded: 81, Milton Keynes Dons
Highest goal difference: 55, Manchester City
Lowest goal difference: −55, Milton Keynes Dons

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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