2023 has come to an end and what a year it was. Loads of great games, many controversial moments and many great goal scored. Football delivered throughout the year and now it's time to take a look back.
JANUARY
As we went into the new year, the Premier League was not long back underway following the World Cup in Qatar. We immediately saw the first shock of the year as Brentford beat Liverpool 3-1 and without main man Ivan Toney who missed the game through injury.
The Premier League teams then entered the 3rd Round of the FA Cup with the standout tie being Man City facing Chelsea just a few days after they faced each other in the league. City won that game a resounding 4-0 to pile more pressure on Blues boss Graham Potter.
The Premier League returned a week later with two big derbies in Manchester and North London. United won the Manchester Derby 2-1 to keep up their good form whereas full further behind in the title race. Especially as Arsenal won their first game at Spurs in nine years 2-0 to move eight points clear at the top of the league.
City later cut that gap to 5 points as they came from behind to beat Spurs 4-2 a few days later. The following weekend, they briefly cut the gap to 2 points when an Erling Haaland hat trick helped them see off Wolves 3-0. That was until Arsenal beat Man United 3-2 to regain that 5 point advantage courtesy of an Eddie Nketiah double. There was a feeling that the Gunners were closing in on a first league title in 19 years.
That weekend, we saw the first managerial casualty of the year as Frank Lampard was dismissed by Everton following a 2-0 loss at West Ham leaving them 19th in the table. The mood around the club itself was very toxic as fans were protesting against the ownership. The Toffees later appointed Sean Dyche who was back in management after eight months out of the game.
FEBRUARY
The winter transfer window came to a close in February with Chelsea undoubtedly being the biggest spenders. They spent over £1 billion in the window with £105 million of it spent on World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez who they got from Benfica.
As we returned to domestic action, Sean Dyche made an instant impact as Everton boss as his side defeated league leaders Arsenal 1-0 to end their long unbeaten run.
A day later, Harry Kane became Spurs' all-time record goal scorer as he netted for the 267th time in Spurs' 1-0 win over Man City to take him above Jimmy Greaves. Kane's goal was also his 200th in the Premier League.
A few days after being charged by the Premier League for breaching 115 FFP rules, Man City put that well and truly behind them as they beat Aston Villa 3-1 to move within three points of Arsenal who dropped points the day before following a 1-1 with Brentford. Both sides faced each other a few days later with City winning 3-1 to move level on points with the Gunners.
The Champions League returned with the first knockout rounds of the season. Kingsley Coman came back to haunt PSG once again as his goal gave Bayern Munich a 1-0 win in their first leg tie against PSG. Just like he did in the 2020 final. A week later, Real Madrid inflicted more misery on Liverpool as they came from behind to crush them 5-2 at Anfield in a rematch of the final from the previous season.
Chelsea's season went from bad to worse as they were beaten 2-0 by Tottenham to pile more pressure on under-fire boss Graham Potter.
Across the capital, the first trophy of the season was won by Man United who beat Newcastle 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley. This was their first major trophy in six years whist Newcastle's wait for one went on.
MARCH
March kicked off with the FA Cup 3rd Round where we saw two major shocks from Championship sides. Promotion chasing Sheffield United beat Spurs whilst Blackburn beat 2021 winners Leicester.
The weekend after lifting the Carabao Cup, Man United were brought back down to earth as they were crushed 7-0 by rivals Liverpool who began to inject some life into their faltering season.
PSG again bombed in the Champions League as they were beaten 2-0 by Bayern Munich in the 2nd leg of their last 16 tie. Spurs also went out as they lost to AC Milan ending their hopes of any silverware and putting manager Antonio Conte's future into more doubt.
The following week, Erling Haaland scored four times as Man City cruised their way to the Quarter Finals with a 7-0 win over RB Leipzig. Liverpool meanwhile saw their chances of silverware disappear as Karim Benzema's goal saw Real Madrid through to the Quarter Finals winning their tie 6-2 on aggregate.
A few days after his four goal blitz in the Champions League, Erling Haaland was at it again as he netted another hat trick as Man City crushed Burnley 6-0 in the FA Cup to reach the Quarter Finals.
In the Premier League, Spurs' top four hopes were dealt a major blow as they threw away a two goal lead to with struggling Southampton. After the match, Antonio Conte criticized the club in a fiery post-match press conference. This would later lead him to being sacked by the club over a week later.
Around that time, 75 year old Roy Hodgson returned to Crystal Palace after over a year away. He replaced Patrick Vieira who was sacked after a 12 game winless run leaving them just three points above the relegation zone. Despite being 12th in the league.
The qualifiers for Euro 2024 kicked off with two of the home nations getting off to a good start. Harry Kane became England's record goal scorer climbing above Wayne Rooney as England kicked off with a 2-1 win in Italy. After beating Cyprus in their first game, Scotland caused an almighty shock as they beat Spain 2-0 at Hampden Park.
APRIL
The Premier League returned after the international break with Man City closing the gap on Arsenal with a comfortable 4-1 win over Liverpool to reduce the gap to 5 points. This gap would begin to get shorter as Arsenal began to drop points following three straight draws with Liverpool, West Ham and Arsenal. The first two they threw away two goals leads.
The next day saw two managers sacked on the same day. Leicester sacked Brendan Rodgers with the club having dropped into the bottom three following their loss at Crystal Palace whilst Chelsea parted ways with Graham Potter after just six months in charge.
The first automatic promotion place in the Championship was sealed with Burnley bouncing straight back up with a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough. The Clarets would later go up as champions and with 101 points.
The Champions League Quarter Finals came round with Man City showing why they're one of the favourites as they breezed past Bayern Munich 3-0. They would later earn a rematch with Real Madrid who beat Chelsea 4-0 across both legs to pretty much end their season.
Newcastle took a giant step towards a top four finish as they crushed Spurs 6-1 at St James' Park. Spurs would later pull the plug on another manager with interim boss Cristian Stellini losing his job. Ryan Mason would later take over till the end of the season.
In the title race, Man City were gaining momentum as they continued to keep up the pressure on leaders Arsenal. The two would later meet at the Etihad with City running out 4-1 winners. Arsenal would remain top by two points, but City had games in hand which gave them a slight advantage.
Liverpool were looking to end the season strongly and they kept up their faint top four hopes with a thrilling 4-3 win over Spurs. Spurs clawed their back to 3-3 heading into the final minutes of stoppage before before Diogo Jota won it at the death for the reds.
MAY
Man City gained the upper hand in the title race as a 3-0 win over West Ham put them back on top of the Premier League. A record was broken in that game as Erling Haaland scored for the 35th time to break the record for most goals in a single season. That record was previously held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole with 34 back in the 1993/94 season.
The final automatic promotion place in the Championship was sealed with Sheffield United beating West Brom 2-1 to seal second place. They're back in the big time after two seasons away.
Man City began to close in on a possible treble as they reached the Champions League after crushing Real Madrid 4-0 in a rematch of their semi final from last season. They were later joined by Inter Milan who beat rivals AC Milan 3-0 across both legs.
City then had the title wrapped up with Arsenal's defeat to Nottingham Forest being enough for them to seal a third consecutive title and a fifth title in six seasons.
The race for the top four then came to a close as Newcastle secured their return to the Champions League after 20 seasons away. Their spot was sealed following a goalless draw with Leicester.
Before the final day of the Premier League season, there was one place in the Premier League still up for grabs. Luton took that place as they beat Coventry in the Championship play off final to earn promotion to the Premier League for the first time. They were a non league club 10 years ago and have risen up the leagues ever since.
On the final day of the season, Leicester's fairy-tale came to an end as they joined Southampton and Leeds in the Championship. Seven years after achieving the impossible in winning the Premier League.
Sevilla got their hands on yet another Europa League title as they defeated Jose Mourinho's Roma on penalties in the final in Budapest. It was their fifth Europa League in 10 years.
JUNE
In June, the season finally came to a close as three finals were still to be played.
Man City completed the double after winning the FA Cup beating rivals Man United 2-1 in an all Manchester final at Wembley. That double would later be upgraded to a treble as they finally accomplished their long awaited dream in winning the Champions League. Rodri's long range striker was enough for them to defeat Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul.
West Ham ended their long wait for a trophy as they won the Europa Conference League as they beat Fiorentina 2-1 in the final in Prague. This was David Moyes' first trophy as a manager and a good parting gift for outgoing captain Declan Rice.
Spurs were the only club looking for a new manager heading into June and their long search for one finally came to an end as they appoint Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou. The Aussie had two trophy laden years at Celtic and arrives at Spurs to get them back to playing attacking football.
Once the season was completed, the transfer window then opened and clubs went into the market straight away. Liverpool's midfield rebuild began with the signing of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton for £35 million. James Milner would later move the other way on a free transfer.
Former target Jude Bellingham got himself a big move as he joined Real Madrid for £88.5 million from Borussia Dortmund. He would wear the famous no.5 shirt once worn by former legend Zinedine Zidane.
During the final international break of the season, the Nations League finals took place in the Netherlands. Spain won the tournament to end their decade long wait for a trophy as they defeated Croatia on penalties in the final in Rotterdam.
Whilst that was taking place, other countries were in Euro 2024 qualifying action. Scotland made the most of Spain's absence as they won both games against Norway and Cyprus to move clear at the top of their group. England meanwhile took a giant step towards qualification with big wins over Malta and North Macedonia. The latter being a 7-0 win with three of the goals being scored by Bukayo Saka.
Whilst the rest of Europe were making moves, the Saudi Pro League had other ideas as they began to snap up some of the biggest and best players in Europe. Karim Benzema joined Al-Ittihad after 14 years at Real Madrid and later joined there by Ruben Neves who joined Al Hilal.
Three Chelsea players went over there too in N'Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy as new boss Mauricio Pochettino began work by clearing out his bloated squad.
JULY
Liverpool continued to rebuild their midfield as they signed Dominik Szoboszlai for £60 million from RB Leipzig. The reds later saw both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho depart for the Saudi Pro League as it continued it's takeover of the transfer market.
Riyad Mahrez moved over there ending his five year stay at Man City and he was joined by fellow Premier League stars Roberto Firmino and Alan Saint Maximin.
But one big name players who didn't move to Saudi was Lionel Messi who instead joined MLS club Inter Miami who are owned by David Beckham. Messi links up with former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets who both left Barca on free transfers.
Man United began to strengthen their squad as they signed Mason Mount for £55 million from Chelsea. They later signed a keeper who can play out from the back in Andre Onana who they got for £47.2 million from Inter Milan.
Arsenal also strengthened their squad further as they brought in Declan Rice for a record equalling £105 million from West Ham.
England's U21 team ha a successful summer as they won the U21 Euro's in Georgia beating Spain in the final. Keeper James Trafford saved the crucial penalty and went the entire tournament without conceding a single goal.
AUGUST
Gianluigi Buffon finally hung up his gloves at the age of 45 bringing an end to his long successful career. Buffon won multiple leagues and cups during his time at Juventus and also won the 2006 World Cup with Italy.
A week before the new season began, Arsenal finally got one over Man City as they beat them on penalties in the Community Shield at Wembley.
The new season itself then got underway with champions Man City kicking off their title defence with a 3-0 win at newly promoted Burnley. Erling Haaland netted twice for the visitors.
Deals were still being completed in the transfer market as Harry Kane finally himself a big move, joining Bayern Munich for £86.4 million form Spurs. Chelsea again continued to splash the cash as they broke the bank to sign Moises Caceido for a record breaking £115 million from Brighton. Neymar meanwhile became the latest player to move to the Saudi Pro League as he joined Al-Hilal.
Man City bagged up another trophy as they won the Super Cup by beating Europa League winners Sevilla on penalties in Athens.
A week after losing Harry Kane, Spurs got their first win under Ange Postecoglou as they defeated a lacklustre Man United 2-0 with goals from Pape Sarr and Ben Davies. They were beginning to look like a completely different team under the Australian coach.
SEPTEMBER
The transfer window closed at the beginning of the month. But Chelsea managed to get a deal done before the deadline as they signed Cole Palmer for £40 million from Man City. They were once again the big spenders in the window.
Man City kept up their 100% start to the season as they saw off Fulham 5-1 with Erling Haaland netting his first hat trick of the season.
Arsenal kept up their strong start to the season as they beat Man United 3-1 thanks to two later goals from Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus.
The first international break of the season came round with countries looking to book their places at Euro 2024. Scotland gave their qualification hopes a massive lift by beating Cyprus 3-0 whilst England's were dented following a 1-1 draw with Ukraine.
We did see a managerial change take place during the break with Germany sacking Hansi Flick due to a poor run of results. Julian Nagelsmann would later be appointed.
The Premier League returned the following weekend and Man United's tough start to the season continued as they were beaten 3-1 by Brighton who secured their second successive win at Old Trafford.
The Champions League returned for the season with Newcastle and Arsenal making their long awaited returns. Newcastle kicked off with a goalless draw against AC Milan whilst Arsenal kicked off in style, beating PSV 4-0 in their opening game.
Man United though saw their tough start to the season continue as they were beaten 4-3 by Bayern Munich. Harry Kane got on the scoresheet and showed what United are missing after being heavily linked with him in the summer.
Newcastle began to put their slow start to the season behind by thumping newly promoted Sheffield United 8-0 at Bramall Lane. All eight goals were scored by eight different players.
VAR was again under spotlight following Spurs' controversial win over Liverpool. Luis Diaz's goal was ruled out for offside when the player appeared to be in an onside position. The reds also had two players sent off in Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota with the latter being the more controversial one.
OCTOBER
Newcastle had a night to remember as they got their first win back in the Champions League by beating PSG 4-1 at St James' Park.
After beating them in the Comunity Shield in August, Arsenal got another one over Man City as Gabriel Martinelli's goal gave them a 1-0 win over the champions to keep up their unbeaten start to the season.
Another international then came round and Scotland got their place at Euro 2024 booked after Spain's win over Norway was enough for them to secure qualification. A few days later, England got their place booked as they got their revenger on Italy by beating them 3-1 at Wembley. The same venue the Italian's beat them to win Euro 2020.
We later lost of of our greatest ever players in Sir Bobby Charlton who died at the age of 86. Charlton was part of England's 1966 World Cup winning side and spent a long time as England's all time leading goal scorer.
Over in Spain, Jude Bellingham was ripping it up in La Liga for Real Madrid where his game has gone from strength to strength. He kept up his fine start with two more goals in his first el classico as Real beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Nou Camp.
Back in England, Man City again showed why they're still the no.1 team in Manchester as they crushed rivals United 3-0 at Old Trafford with a dominant and ruthless display.
NOVEMBER
Man United's season then went from bad to worse as they were beaten 3-0 by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup in a rematch of the last season's final. Newcastle's week got even better as they beat Arsenal in the Premier League courtesy of an Anthony Gordon goal. This ended Arsenal's unbeaten start to the season.
Spurs' unbeaten start under Ange Postecoglou came to an end as they were beaten 4-1 at home by Chelsea. Spurs had two men sent off in Destiny Udogie and Sergio Romero alongside losing two men to injury in James Maddison and Ricky Van De Ven. Nicolas Jackson meanwhile netted a hat trick for the blues.
Chelsea were involved in yet another Premier League classic a week later as they played out an entertaining 4-4 draw with Man City. This has arguably been the game of the season so far.
Following the international break, we lost another England legend in former manager Terry Venables. Venables managed the likes of Barcelona and Spurs during his career but will be mostly remebered for leading England to the semi finals at Euro 96.
Aston Villa were proving to be the surprise package of the season and they ended the month inside the top four after coming from behind to beat Spurs with goals from Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins.
In the Champions League, Newcastle's hopes of reaching the last 16 were handed a major blow as a controversial VAR decision goes in favour of PSG who nick a 1-1 draw in Paris. Arsenal meanwhile book their place in the last 16 after crushing Lens 6-0 with six individual scorers.
DECEMBER
The first managerial sacking of the season took place as Paul Heckingbottom was sacked by Sheffield United with the club rock bottom of the Premier League. Former manager Chris Wilder returned after two years away in attempt to steady the ship.
Aston Villa began to put themselves in title contention as they recorded back to back wins against two of the favourites in Man City and Arsenal. Both wins had them in 2nd place and a point behind leaders Liverpool.
The Champions League knockout places were secured, but only two English teams progressed in Man City and Arsenal. Man United went out and finished bottom of their group after losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich and the same happened with Newcastle following their 3-1 defeat to AC Milan.
After several weeks of speculation, Steve Cooper became the latest manager to lose his job as he was sacked by Nottingham Forest following a poor run of results. He was later replaced by former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo who back in the Premier League for the first time since being dismissed by Spurs two years ago.
Man City ended the year with yet another trophy in the bag as they won the Club World Cup beating Fluminese 4-0 in the final in Jeddah. They completed the lot with this win after winning the treble last season and the Super Cup at the start of the season.
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