2016–17 in English football

Antonio Conte enjoyed a successful start to life as Chelsea manager, winning the title in his first season at the club and earning a record number of league victories for a season, with only poor early form preventing them from also setting a new points total. Tottenham Hotspur shrugged off a disappointing Champions League campaign to push Chelsea close for the title, though they ultimately missed out – however, they ultimately finished with both the best attack and defence, with striker Harry Kane once again claiming the Golden Boot, whilst they ultimately went unbeaten at home during their final season at White Hart Lane. Manchester City improved on the previous season's finish by one place in Pep Guardiola's first season in charge, though ultimately ended the season trophyless, despite recording the third-best attack and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Liverpool made the Champions League for the first time in three years in Jürgen Klopp's first full season, though were prevented from finishing any higher than fourth by an inconsistent start to 2017, a consequence of both losing their £35 million signing Sadio Mané to international duty in January and February as well as suffering from several dropped points against bottom-half teams, in spite of going the season unbeaten against the rest of the top seven.

Despite winning seven of their final eight games, Arsenal finished in fifth place and failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1997, as fan pressure on both manager Arsène Wenger and share-owner Stan Kroenke grew. While they did win the FA Cup for the third time in four seasons, making Wenger the most successful manager in the competition's history, they endured yet another disastrous Champions League run, losing at the last-16 stage for a seventh successive year. Manchester United finished in sixth place, one place lower than the previous season, in José Mourinho's first season in charge with their failure to turn any one of their 15 draws into victories, though they did at least win the EFL Cup and won the Europa League final, winning the competition for the first time in their history and therefore securing a place in the Champions League. In only their second-ever top-flight season, AFC Bournemouth built on the success of the previous season as they secured a ninth-place finish and scored 55 goals, defying the critics who had tipped them to struggle from second-season syndrome. Much as Chelsea had the previous season, Leicester City made a poor defence of their title, despite having what turned out to be the best Champions League run of any English club this season by reaching the quarter-finals. With the club struggling, manager Claudio Ranieri was sacked in February and replaced by coach Craig Shakespeare, who steered the club to 12th place, still the lowest finish for a defending Premier League champion, but comfortably clear of relegation.

Crystal Palace had looked in serious danger of relegation early on, but a revival after Sam Allardyce took over saw them comfortably survive, securing a club-record fifth successive top-flight season in the process. Swansea City also looked dead and buried after early struggles under Francesco Guidolin and then a disastrous spell with Bob Bradley as manager, but were ultimately saved by a late improvement under Paul Clement's management. Burnley fared the best of the promoted clubs, with only atrocious away form preventing them finishing higher as they made their home-ground of Turf Moor one of the hardest places to get a point from – and secured a second successive top-flight season for the first time in 40 years. Watford, in their first successive top-flight campaign for 30 years, successfully ensured a third consecutive Premier League season – however, as a result of poor away form, a disastrous end to the season and several spells of indifferent form throughout the campaign, the Hornets were unable to really build on the previous season despite recording their first league victories over Manchester United and at Arsenal since the 1980s.

After several successive escapes from relegation, Sunderland's resilience finally collapsed and they dropped into the Championship after a decade, spending virtually the entire season rooted to the bottom of the table, as David Moyes being the first manager to spend a full season in charge of the Black Cats since 2011 ultimately amounted to nothing. Middlesbrough also struggled throughout their first top-flight season in eight years, with a poor end to the season, the weakest goalscoring record in the division and an inability to turn one of their 13 draws into victories ultimately dooming them. Hull City were the final relegated side, never quite recovering from a disastrous pre-season which saw manager Steve Bruce quit and next to no new players signed; despite encouraging early season form under Mike Phelan, a dismal run in the winter saw him sacked and replaced by Marco Silva, who steered the club to a much better second half of the season, but it ultimately proved to be a case of too little, too late.

Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion led the way for most of the season, and ultimately secured the two automatic promotion spots. Newcastle, as in their previous spell in the second tier, made an immediate return to the top-flight as champions despite a late scare with three games to go (and because of both Sunderland and Middlesbrough being relegated, it would be the first time since 1998 that the Magpies were the sole North-East team in the top-flight), while Brighton (ironically managed by Chris Hughton who steered Newcastle to promotion in their previous spell in the Championship) lost out on the title on the last day, after not winning any of their last 3 games – however, by this point, they had already earned promotion to the top-flight for only the second time in their history, and for the first time since 1983, after they narrowly missed out to Middlesbrough on goal difference on the final day of the previous season. Taking the final spot through the playoffs were Huddersfield Town, who won promotion to the top-flight for the first time in 45 years and in manager David Wagner's first full season in charge – whilst they did endure a poor end to the season and ultimately finished with a negative goal difference, the Terriers gradually eased their way through the play-off semi-final games against Sheffield Wednesday and then edged out Reading on penalties in the final at Wembley.

Leeds United managed a promotion challenge for the first time in six years and secured only their third finish in the top half of the Championship since being relegated from the Premier League in 2004, but poor runs of form either end of the season combined with an excellent late run by Fulham saw them fall short of the play-offs. Aston Villa's first season outside of the top-flight since 1988 proved to be turbulent as they changed managers after just eleven games – whilst they didn't look like relegation material, their failure to turn draws into wins also prevented them from making anything resembling a promotion challenge despite striker Jonathan Kodjia scoring 19 of their goals. Birmingham City's season surprised for all the wrong reasons, as they controversially sacked manager Gary Rowett in favour of Gianfranco Zola in December despite being only just outside the play-offs, only for their form to completely collapse in the second half of the season, leaving them needing a late improvement after Zola was replaced by Harry Redknapp and then a final-day win at Bristol City to stay up.

After two seasons flirting with relegation, Rotherham United finished bottom in what was a truly awful league campaign, getting through three managers by the end of November and recording the lowest second tier points total since 3 points for a win was introduced in 1981, with only a three match unbeaten run at the end of the season stopping them from conceding 100 goals. Wigan Athletic were immediately relegated back to League One, never quite getting back to grips with life in the Championship and ultimately being cost dear by a poor end to the season, as well as a failure to win home games between October and January. Blackburn Rovers filled the final relegation spot in a season marred by increasing fan protests aimed at the owners; while a late-season revival under Tony Mowbray meant they took survival to the last day, other results ultimately went against them and sent them down to the third tier for the first time since 1980; this also made them the first former Premier League champions to drop down into the third tier (Leicester City and Manchester City had both been in the third tier since the formation of the Premier League, but did not win the league until after their spells in the third tier). In their first ever season in the Championship, Burton Albion flirted with the drop on several occasions but ultimately pulled themselves away from the bottom three to ensure their first season in the second tier would not be their last.

After five seasons of near-misses and playoff heartbreak, Sheffield United finally ended their exile from the Championship and returned to the second tier for the first time since 2011, going up as champions and breaking the 100-point mark in the process. Despite making a slow start, the Blades gradually surged up the table and into the top two, giving former player Chris Wilder promotion in his first season as the club's manager as well as his second successive promotion in a year. Taking second place in a battle that went to the final day, Bolton Wanderers secured promotion back to the Championship at the first opportunity and in manager Phil Parkinson's first season in charge, never once looking like falling out of the top six. Taking the final spot through the play-offs were Millwall who shrugged off losing in the final the previous year by scraping into the top six in their last few games and then edged past opponents Bradford City in the final at Wembley, returning to the second tier after two years.

Fleetwood Town enjoyed their best season in their history, earning an unlikely fourth place, missing out on automatic promotion on the final day before only just being edged out by Bradford City in the play-offs semi-finals. In their first ever season at this level, AFC Wimbledon surprised the critics with an early challenge for promotion – whilst several dropped points and a failure to win any of their last six games pushed them back down into mid-table and below rivals Milton Keynes Dons (who looked like suffering a second successive relegation before the arrival of Hearts manager Robbie Neilson helped push them away from the drop), the club were not once in danger of suffering an immediate relegation back to League Two and ensured their stay in the third tier would last beyond one season. Northampton Town's first season in League One since 2009 started strongly as they continued their impressive unbeaten run, but a sharp drop in form in the winter months pushed them into the relegation battle, before a late good run of form helped them move back up the table. For the second season in a row, John Sheridan returned to Oldham Athletic to mastermind the Latic's great escape from relegation, despite their miserable scoring record that saw them score less than all four relegated teams.

At the bottom of the table, Chesterfield's three-year stay in League One came to an end as their decline in form following the loss of manager Paul Cook to Portsmouth finally took its toll. Coventry City fared not much better as they hit rock-bottom and fell into the bottom tier of the Football League for the first time since 1959 and just 16 years after having been in the top-flight – even victory in the Football League Trophy and a late run of good results following the return of successful former manager Mark Robins proved to not be enough, as growing fan protests towards the owners left the Sky Blues facing a bleak future. Only two years after narrowly missing out on promotion to the Championship, Swindon Town fell into League Two for the first time since 2012 with several poor results proving costly, despite the surprise appointment of former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood as director of football. Taking the final spot were Port Vale, who looked like shrugging off the loss of manager Rob Page to Northampton Town – however, a complete collapse in form around the winter period saw them slide into the relegation zone and they were relegated on the final day after drawing at Fleetwood, as it turned out a victory would have proved enough to save them.

Having lost in the play-offs just the previous year, Portsmouth shrugged off the heartbreak and won promotion to League One for the first time since 2013 and their first promotion in 14 years – despite looking set for the play-offs once more, a late surge in form from January onwards helped propel them into the top 3, taking the title on the last day. Going up in second were Plymouth Argyle, who also shrugged off their play-off loss from the previous year and ensured their six-year exile from the third tier came to an end, only missing out on the title by goal difference. Doncaster Rovers took the last automatic spot, securing an immediate return to League One – they had ironically been the first club to be promoted, but a failure to win any of their last five games pushed them into third place. Taking the last place through the play-offs were Blackpool, who also secured an immediate return to League One by defeating Exeter City at Wembley, also giving the club their first promotion since 2010 after 3 relegations in 5 years.

Despite losing their manager to Shrewsbury Town and then dismissing his replacement after only five months, Grimsby Town's first season in the Football League for six years saw them never once threatened with relegation and they secured their Football League status comfortably. Crewe Alexandra endured a turbulent season both on and off the pitch, as their strong start petered out and they were sucked into the relegation fight, which led to the dismissal of manager Steve Davis, an act seen as overdue by the fans after months of protests against the owners and their refusal to sack him. However, following the appointment of former player David Artell as manager, the Railwaymen fought their way back up the table and finished comfortably clear of the bottom two.

At the bottom of the table, after 112 years in the Football League and just three years after narrowly missing out on promotion to the Championship, Leyton Orient finally hit rock-bottom and were relegated to the fifth tier in a season that saw them change managers five times and was marked by increasing fan protests against the club owners, one of which led to the end of their final home game being finished behind closed doors. Taking the final spot on the last day were Hartlepool United, who finally saw their 96-year stay in the Football League end in the worst possible way – they had looked safe at the turn of the year but a collapse in form as well as failing to better the result of the team above them in their last game ultimately cost them their status. Having spent much of the season adrift in the relegation spaces, a late surge in form saw Newport County narrowly fight their way to safety – with a last-minute goal from player Mark O'Brien against Notts County on the final day proving to be crucial.

Six years after suffering relegation from League Two, Lincoln City returned to the Football League in a season of unprecedented success and off-field tragedy – not only did they win promotion as champions, nearly breaking the 100-point mark in the process, but they became the first non-league team in over 100 years to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, even securing victory at top-flight team Burnley along the way, honouring the sudden passing of former player and manager Graham Taylor in January in the best possible way. Going up through the playoffs were Forest Green Rovers, who avenged their loss in the playoff final the previous year by comfortably beating Tranmere Rovers at Wembley in manager Mark Cooper's first full season in charge – in the process of winning promotion, not only did the club secure their place in the Football League for the first time in their history but they also ensured that their hometown of Nailsworth became the smallest settlement to ever host a Football League club.

At the bottom of the table, North Ferriby United's first-ever season in the fifth tier ended in disaster as they finished last, undone by their inability to score and having the second worst defence. Southport fared little better as their run of seven successive seasons in the fifth tier finally came to an end in the worst possible fashion, conceding nearly 100 goals and making it through not just three managers but even losing their chairman along the way. Braintree Town took the third spot on the last day of the season, only one season after finishing third in the table and losing out to eventually-promoted Grimsby Town over two legs – just one win from their final three games would have saved them from the drop. Despite victory in the FA Trophy, York City took the last spot on the final day of the campaign, suffering the embarrassment of a second successive relegation and becoming the first club to suffer back-to-back relegations from the Football League to the sixth tier; whilst their form between January and April gave them a good chance of survival, an awful first half of the season ultimately proved to be costly for their hopes, as did a staggering five results all going against them on the final day of the season.

Manchester City won their second cup after 2014 and completed the double.[11]