2012–13 in English football

The 2012–13 season was the 133rd season of competitive football in England.
The season began on 11 August 2012 for the Football Conference and 18 August 2012 for both the Premier League and The Football League.&lt;ref name="When does the 2012/13 season start?"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; The regular season of the Football Conference season ended on 20 April 2013 followed by League One and League Two both ending on 27 April 2013 whilst The Championship ended on 4 May 2013 and finally the Premier League on 19 May 2013.
League tables.
Premier League.
In Sir Alex Ferguson's final season as manager, Manchester United comfortably won their 13th Premier League title and their 20th overall, topping the table in mid-November and never surrendering their lead, though a run of just three wins in their last eight matches meant that they squandered the chance to become the first ever top-flight side to earn a hundred points in a season. Neighbours and defending champions Manchester City finished in second place, though they never looked like seriously challenging for a second successive title, and this, combined with a humiliating FA Cup final defeat by Wigan Athletic, cost Roberto Mancini his job. Despite enduring a turbulent season in which Champions League-winning manager Roberto Di Matteo was dismissed early in the campaign and replaced by the extremely unpopular appointment of former Liverpool boss Rafael Benítez on an interim basis, Chelsea did improve on the previous season's finish by three places and 11 points, and also won the Europa League for the first time in their history. The final Champions League spot was taken by Arsenal; despite being well off the pace for much of the season following the £24 million departure of Robin van Persie in the summer, they managed to snatch fourth place with an excellent late run of form, consigning rivals Tottenham Hotspur to the Europa League once again.
David Moyes ended 11 years in charge of Everton by guiding the Toffees to a solid finish of sixth place, finishing two points ahead of arch rivals Liverpool, who hit the headlines again for all the wrong reasons when striker Luis Suárez received a lengthy ban after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanović during a league game. Swansea City qualified for the Europa League by winning the League Cup, becoming the first Welsh club to qualify for a major European club competition, whilst West Bromwich Albion finished eighth, their best finish in the Premier League era.
West Ham United fared the best out of the three promoted teams, losing just four home games all season and finishing impressively in tenth place, despite repeated speculation that manager Sam Allardyce would be sacked and replaced with a manager with a reputation for a more attractive style of play. Southampton finished four places below them, flirting with relegation all season before Nigel Adkins was sacked and replaced by the relatively unknown Mauricio Pochettino, who guided the Saints to 19 points from their remaining 16 games.
At the bottom of the table, Queens Park Rangers were relegated after a thoroughly dismal campaign in which they recorded the worst start in Premier League history, not winning a league game until December, and with not even Harry Redknapp's appointment as manager and a substantial investment in players during the January transfer window significantly improving their fortunes. Reading, who never quite adjusted to the pace of the top-flight after being promoted as champions the previous year, fared little better and were relegated in second-bottom place. Both Reading and QPR were relegated on the same day after a 0-0 draw against each other. Despite winning the FA Cup (and thereby qualifying for the following season's Europa League), Wigan Athletic finally succumbed to relegation after eight years of battling against the odds in the Premier League.
Leading goalscorer: Robin van Persie (Manchester United) – 26
Championship.
After a decade of trying and play-off heartbreak, Cardiff City finally secured their long-awaited promotion to the Premier League, leading the division for nearly the entire season and being promoted as champions. Hull City finished the season as runners-up under manager Steve Bruce, returning to the top-flight after an absence of three years. This was despite a shaky end to the season which saw them fail to win any of their last four fixtures. Ian Holloway made it two promotions in three attempts as Crystal Palace were promoted through the play-offs, earning a record-breaking fourth promotion to the Premier League. The Eagles' success ensured that they became the first club to win the second-tier play-off final four times, and also the first club to win the play-off final at four separate venues – at home at Selhurst Park in a two-legged final format in 1989, the old Wembley in 1997, the Millennium Stadium in 2004 and the new Wembley in 2013.
Bolton Wanderers fared the best out of the newly relegated clubs and looked good value to secure a play-off place throughout the season, but narrowly missed out after drawing their final game and Leicester's last minute win at Nottingham Forest. Blackburn Rovers in contrast, despite a strong start to the season spent the latter part of it battling relegation, with indifferent spells of form during the season and the presence of three permanent managers seeing them slide towards the bottom 3 before finally pulling away under the caretaker management of Gary Bowyer.
Bristol City, who had been in a gradual downward spiral since failing to win promotion to the Premier League in 2008, were relegated in bottom place after a dismal end to the season. The arrival of Sean O'Driscoll and a run of 5 home victories from 6 failed to save them. Making even bigger headlines were Wolverhampton Wanderers, who suffered their second successive relegation, giving them the unwanted distinction of having suffered successive relegations from the top and second tiers on two separate occasions (the first being in the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons). The final relegation spot was filled by Peterborough United, who despite recovering well from seven consecutive losses at the start of the season, ended up being relegated with the joint-highest ever points total for a relegated team.
League table.
A total of 24 teams contest the division: 18 sides remaining in the division from last season, three relegated from the Premier League, and three promoted from the League One.
Leading goalscorer: Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) – 30
League One.
Despite the departure of manager Dean Saunders, Doncaster Rovers made an immediate return to the Championship, winning the title in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season. Bournemouth were promoted as runners-up; they had initially looked set to battle relegation this season following an awful start under previous manager Paul Groves, but the decision to re-employ successful former manager Eddie Howe paid off handsomely, and saw them promoted to the second tier for only the second time in their history, and the first time since 1990. Yeovil Town won promotion through the play-offs, entering the Championship for the first time ever, and also meaning that manager Gary Johnson (who returned for his own second spell late in the previous season) had earned his third promotion with the club, having gotten them promoted from the Football Conference and League Two in 2003 and 2005 respectively. None of the three promoted clubs had ever played in the top flight at the time, be it the old Football League First Division or the current Premier League. The previous time this had happened was in 1979, when Shrewsbury Town, Watford and Swansea City were promoted (the latter two eventually competed in the top flight under both denominations).
Financially stricken Portsmouth finally hit rock-bottom, and were relegated to the Football League's lowest tier for the first time since 1980, just five years after winning the FA Cup, and three years after playing in the Premier League. They were consigned to bottom place after their second ten-point deduction in as many seasons, though unlike the previous season would have been relegated even without the deduction. Hartlepool United were relegated in second-bottom place, mostly due to a dreadful first half of the season which saw them win just once in their first 23 games, bringing an end to what had been the club's longest spell outside the bottom tier. Bury, who suffered their own financial problems and never quite recovered from the loss of manager Richie Barker days before the season began, also suffered relegation, and only finished above Hartlepool on goals scored. Scunthorpe United occupied the final relegation spot, being relegated for the second time in three seasons.
League table.
A total of 24 teams contest the division: 17 sides remaining in the division from last season, three relegated from the Championship, and four promoted from League Two.
Leading goalscorer: Paddy Madden (Yeovil Town) – 23
League Two.
Gillingham won the division and returned to League One after a three-year absence, as Martin Allen's appointment as manager brought immediate success. Rotherham United celebrated their return to their hometown (after four years of playing in Sheffield) by winning promotion as runners-up. Port Vale, whose promotion challenge had been derailed by a ten-point administration penalty in the previous season, took the final automatic promotion spot. The play-offs were won by Bradford City, who were victorious in their second Wembley appearance this season (their first being in the League Cup final).
Aldershot Town were relegated back to the Football Conference after five years, experiencing relegation for the first time since the club's formation in 1992. After surviving relegation on the last day for three seasons in a row, Barnet's luck finally ran out (despite their best points total in four years and the high-profile appointment of Edgar Davids as player-manager) and they were relegated from the Football League for the second time.
League table.
Twenty-four teams contest the division: 18 sides remaining in the division from last season, four relegated from League One, and two promoted from Conference National.
Leading goalscorer: Tom Pope (Port Vale) – 31
Football Conference (Top Division).
Promoted as champions of the Football Conference were Mansfield Town, who coincidentally were one of the teams replaced by Aldershot at the end of the 2007–08 season. They were joined by 2013 Conference National play-off Final winners Newport County, who joined the Football League for the first time as the current incarnation of the club (their forerunners last played in the League in 1988). The play-off final between Newport County and Wrexham was the first Wembley Stadium final to feature two Welsh clubs.
AFC Telford United were relegated in bottom place after a terrible run of form which saw them win just one of their last 30 matches, along with getting through four different managers during the course of the season. Ebbsfleet United finished second-bottom amid financial worries caused by the collapse of their MyFootballClub ownership scheme. Barrow occupied third-bottom place, ultimately being cost dearly by their poor goalscoring record. Stockport County were the final relegated side, being relegated to the Conference North just three years after being in League One, and eleven years after being in the second tier.
Diary of the season.
Welsh success.
The 2012–13 season was one of particular success for Welsh clubs playing in the English league system. Swansea City of the Premier League became the first Welsh club to win the Football League Cup; Cardiff City gained promotion to the Premier League by winning the Football League Championship; Newport County and Wrexham reached the final of the Football Conference play-offs, with Newport winning to gain promotion to the Football League, while Wrexham gained a measure of consolation by winning the FA Trophy.