[5] 13 July: Wolverhampton Wanderers sign defender Roger Johnson from Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee, believed to have surpassed the £7 million the Black Country club paid for Steven Fletcher last summer.

[7] 30 July: Brighton & Hove Albion finally move into their Amex Stadium at Falmer, first planned in 1999, and open their new home with a 3–2 friendly defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.

[22] 12th: Kenny Dalglish makes his fifth signing of the close season for Liverpool with a £6 million move for Newcastle United defender José Enrique.

Chelsea, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle United and Aston Villa complete the top seven, with West Bromwich Albion, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur (all without a point) in the relegation zone.

The final score ended as 14–13 to Dagenham on penalties, with Ben Chorley missing the 28th spot kick for Orient which sent the Daggers through to a second round clash with Southend United.

Blackburn Rovers, West Bromwich Albion and Bolton Wanderers are still suffering from their early season form and make up the relegation zone.

29th: Robin van Persie scores a hat-trick as Arsenal gain a first away league win of the season, beating Chelsea 5–3 at Stamford Bridge.

At the other end of the table, Wigan Athletic stand bottom after six successive losses; they are joined in the relegation zone by Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers.

[43] In the Championship, Southampton are continuing their bid to become the second team in two seasons to achieve two successive promotion to the Premier League, standing three points clear of second-placed West Ham United.

Crystal Palace, expected by many to struggle this season, are three points behind West Ham in third, while the play-off places are completed by Middlesbrough, Derby County and Hull City.

[46] 28th: Queens Park Rangers chairman Tony Fernandes announces his intention to relocate the club from Loftus Road to a new, bigger stadium elsewhere in West London.

Tottenham Hotspur remain in third, six points adrift of United but with a game in hand, while Arsenal have moved into the crucial fourth place for the first time this season, at the expense of Chelsea.

[58] 8th: Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp and the former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandarić are cleared of tax evasion after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

[62] 24th: After Alan Curbishley and Walter Smith both rejected the chance to manage Wolverhampton Wanderers, coach Terry Connor is put in charge of the first team until the end of the season.

[68] 17th: The FA Cup quarter-final tie between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane is postponed after 41 minutes when the visiting team's midfielder Fabrice Muamba is taken seriously ill on the pitch after collapsing.

The rest of the top seven remains unchanged, except that Everton have now moved ahead of their Merseyside rivals Liverpool, who are in eighth place with a game in hand.

[72] 21st: Already-relegated Doncaster Rovers drag Coventry City down to League One with them by winning 2–0 in the Championship clash at the Ricoh Arena, meaning that the midlanders will be playing third tier football next season for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Everton's belated challenge for European qualification is over; the sole remaining aim of the season is to finish above archrivals Liverpool, who are two points behind in eighth.

Despite being pushed all the way, they won their final six games, while cross-city neighbours Manchester United squandered an eight-point lead in what was largely a trophyless season for Sir Alex Ferguson's men for the first time in six years.

Chelsea suffered their worst season in ten years, finishing sixth with 64 points; André Villas-Boas, the personal choice for owner Roman Abramovich, was sacked after just nine months with automatic qualification for the Champions League at risk.

Liverpool were similar to Chelsea for parts of the league, but ultimately worse as they recorded their lowest league finish for 18 years, finishing in eighth place and only edging ninth-placed Fulham on a higher goal difference; their season was marred by striker Luis Suárez being convicted of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in October.

Kenny Dalglish, fabled for his earlier Liverpool managerial reign in the late 1980s, was sacked after just 16 months following a poor finish to the season that saw them pick up just 13 points from 14 games.

Norwich City finished just below them in 12th, tied with Swansea and West Bromwich Albion, impressing on their return to the top flight and also had manager Paul Lambert attracting the attention of other Premier League clubs.

The sacking of Mick McCarthy after nearly six years and the appointment of first team coach Terry Connor effectively ended Wolverhampton Wanderers' three-year spell in the top-flight.

Having been clear of the relegation zone at the start of April, Blackburn Rovers were also undone by poor late-season form; losing eight of their last nine games as growing anger from the supporters toward owners Venky's and manager Steve Kean continued.

Leading goalscorer: Robin van Persie (Arsenal) – 30 A year after suffering heartbreak in the play-off final, an excellent run of 50 points from their remaining 21 games saw Reading crowned divisional champions, earning promotion to the top flight for only the second time in their history.

West Ham United, who lost out to Southampton on the last day of the season, won promotion via the play-offs, with manager Sam Allardyce passing his former clubs Blackburn and Bolton on the way up.

11 years after dropping out of the Premier League, Coventry City finally hit rock bottom as they suffered from an ongoing financial crisis and the loss of several key players pre-season, their never-ending downward spiral culminating in relegation to the third tier for the first time since 1964.

Shrewsbury took the runners-up spot, going the entire season unbeaten at home and earning veteran manager Graham Turner his second promotion with the club 33 years after his first.

Leading goalscorers: Jack Midson (AFC Wimbledon), Izale McLeod (Barnet), Lewis Grabban (Rotherham United), and Adebayo Akinfenwa (Northampton Town) – 18