2006–07 FA Premier League

The 2006-07 FA Premier League season, the fifteenth since its establishment, will begin on August 19, 2006. Reigning champions Chelsea will be looking to become only the fifth side ever to win three consecutive English top-flight titles, following in the footsteps of Huddersfield Town 1924-26, Arsenal 1933-35, Liverpool 1982-84 and Manchester United 1999-2001.

Changes

Sponsors

Online gambling sites are joining the traditional industries of automakers, breweries, electronics and financial institutions as team sponsors. For the 2006-07 season, there are no fewer than three internet wagering sites as new kit sponsors, joining Middlesbrough with 888.com. Here are the current lists (as of June 12, 2006) of changes:

• Arsenal will revert back to their traditional red and white home kit, but now with gold side striping on the shirt, and with Dubai-based Emirates, who also will sponsor their new stadium, as their new shirt sponsor replacing cellular provider O₂.
• Aston Villa will have a new jersey sponsor, with internet betting site 32Red replacing German-based DWS Investments. Many internet posters and fans thought that the company logo for DWS actually said "COWS" because of the hexagon's placement in front of the initials. Also, white replaces yellow as the new alternate kit. A joke amongst Aston Villa fans is that 32Red's logo on the shirt has been altered, so it doesn't look like the word "BORED".
• Blackburn Rovers will also have a new jersey sponsor, with internet betting site Bet24 taking over on the front of the jersey while Lonsdale, who served as the uniform sponsor in 2005-06, remains their kit provider.
• Charlton Athletic will go into their first full season of jersey sponsorship with the Spanish financial firm Llanara, who came on board at mid-season.
• Chelsea have switched from Britain's Umbro to German adidas after the adidas-Group made an eleventh-hour bid that was higher than American-based powerhouse Nike. Electronic maker Samsung will remain sponsorship on the front of the jersey.
• Liverpool will change from Reebok to adidas as a result of their merger, as Danish brewers Carlsberg stays on the front of the jerseys.
• Everton have a new home kit made by Umbro featuring the classic diamonds down one shoulder, and will retain their sponsor, the Thai based brewer Chang.
• Fulham will have a new home kit, with Germany's Puma being replaced by French-based Airness, and their long-sleeve shirts will feature thumb holes. British internet provider Pipex will stay as the team's shirt sponsor with their new insignia.
• Manchester United will have a new home kit as US-based AIG becomes the new sponsor after celluar phone providers Vodafone stepped down.
• Portsmouth are sponsored by OKI.
• Reading will be in Puma kits with blue and white hoops at home and sponsorship on the front of the shirt from copying titan Kyocera.
• Sheffield United will wear le coq sportif kits with the famous red and white stripes on the shirt, and US-based credit card bankers Capital One as sponsor in the front.
• Tottenham Hotspur have switched their kit provider from Kappa to Puma and will feature a new shirt sponsor, internet based betting site mansionpoker.net replacing Thomson Holidays.
• Watford will be in yellow with Diadora kits and internet financiers Loans.co.uk as the team's shirt sponsors.
• West Ham United have a new away strip in navy blue replaceing the white and claret jersey. The new strip includes the new Reebok logo (RBK). The club are sticking with Job Hunter website Jobserve.com

Stadia

• Arsenal moves to the larger 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium after 93 years at Highbury. The first game was a testimonial match for Dennis Bergkamp, who retired following the 2005-06 season as Arsenal took on Ajax (which they won 2-1), the club where Bergkamp began his career, on July 22. Highbury will be converted to luxury apartments as both the East and West stands will be retro-fitted and the newer North and South (Clock) ends will be razed to build apartments from the ground up, while the pitch will become a garden. The clock from South end will be placed in the new facility. The first Premiership match there will be against Aston Villa on August 19.
• Manchester United will have Old Trafford as a fully completed 75,000 seater stadium, with its debut a friendly against La Liga team Sevilla in August. Fulham will serve as the first Premiership visitors on August 20.
• Reading's Madejski Stadium will make its debut in the Premiership, with Middlesbrough providing the opposition in the first match there August 19.

Managers

• Newcastle United was the first to make a change as they will begin the campaign with Glenn Roeder as their manager after being named on May 16, despite not holding the required UEFA Pro Licence. [1]
• Charlton Athletic will start the season with Iain Dowie as their manager after his appointment on May 30. His first league game in charge will be away at West Ham United on August 19.
• Another person not holding a required UEFA Pro Licence will be Middlesbrough's Gareth Southgate, replacing the new England manager Steve McClaren, who was named as player-manager for the 2005-06 UEFA Cup runners-up on June 7. He will make his FA Premier League managing debut away at newly-promoted Reading on August 19.
• Martin O'Neill was announced as the new manager of Aston Villa on August 4, replacing David O'Leary, who left the club in June due to "mutual consent" [2]

Promoted teams

These three teams were promoted from The Championship at the start of the season:

• Reading (Championship 2005-06 winners and an all-time English football record 106 points earned)
• Sheffield United (Championship 2005-06 runners-up)
• Watford (Championship 2005-06 play-off winners)

See also

• 2006-07 in English football

External Links

• Premiership spreadsheet — computes standings from scores; includes historical results.