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In the Championship – League season ends
Two of the relegated clubs, Crewe and Millwall, played each other at Crewe and it ended in a 4-2 win for the home side. Steve Jones scored their last goal before relegation and apparently he's off on his travels now having opted to take a Bosman signing elsewhere.
Bottom place though has been taken by Brighton, defeated 5-1 at home against Stoke for whom Adam Rooney hit a hat trick in only his second league start for the Potters. That was good news for the league's Icelandic club but it still remains in turmoil with Johan Boskamp now set to pack his suitcases and head back to Belgium having been let down with the offer of just a one year deal.
Rooney though became just the eighth player to hit a hat trick this season – the others were David Connolly (Leicester), Carl Cort (Wolves), Rob Hulse (Leeds), Ade Akinbiyi (Burnley), Dave Kitson (Reading), Dean Ashton (Norwich) and Vincent Pericard (Plymouth).
Up at the top of the league Reading broke the points record but just missed out on 100 goals, and it was just missed out, they made it to 99. They just about broke the points record, previously held by Sunderland, with a penalty six minutes from the end by captain Graeme Murty. He hasn't scored a goal for five years but pulled rank and decided to take the spot kick himself.
At Norwich, Colin Cameron became the last player of the season to receive a red card, sent off by Iain Williamson who Ade will remember quite well from our home game against Sunderland last season, whilst the last goal of the season was scored by the obnoxious Dennis Wise in Coventry's 3-1 win over Cardiff.
And going back to last August, Stoke's Gerry Taggart was the first player of the season to receive a red card, from Mark Clattenburg, whilst the first goal of the season was scored by a player by the name of Andy Gray, giving Sheffield United the lead against Leicester from the penalty spot.
So, after 46 games we say farewell to Reading, Sheffield United, Crewe, Millwall and Brighton, and already we know that we'll be preparing for games against Birmingham, West Brom, Sunderland, Southend and almost certainly Colchester. And now we await the play offs before completing our league for next season.
The Final Day Results | |
Sunday 30th April | |
Brighton 1 Stoke 5 | Plymouth 2 Ipswich 1 |
Burnley 1 Luton 1 | Preston 2 Leeds 0 |
Coventry 3 Cardiff 1 | Reading 2 QPR 1 |
Crewe 4 Millwall 2 | Sheffield Utd 1 Crystal Palace 0 |
Derby 0 Sheffield Wed 2 | Southampton 2 Leicester 0 |
Norwich 1 Wolves 2 | Watford 0 Hull 0 |
The Final Day Stats | |
Biggest win | Stoke 5-1 v Brighton (away) |
Total goals scored | 34 |
Player scoring most goals | 3 - Adam Rooney (Stoke) |
Highest Attendance | 30,391 - Derby v Sheffield Wed |
Lowest Attendance | 5,859 - Brighton v Stoke |
Total Yellow Cards | 29 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most cards in a game | Norwich v Wolves (5Y 1R) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
21 | Marlon King (Watford) |
18 | Kevin Doyle (Reading) Cameron Jerome (Cardiff) Dave Kitson (Reading) |
15 | Ade Akinbiyi (Sheffield Utd) - 12 with Burnley Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace) Gary McSheffrey (Coventry) |
14 | Darius Henderson (Watford) Steve Howard (Luton) |
13 | Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) Ashley Young (Watford) |
12 | Dele Adebola (Coventry) David Healy (Leeds) Rob Hulse (Leeds) Jason Koumas (Cardiff) |
11 | Robbie Blake (Leeds) Carl Cort (Wolves) Ricardo Fuller (Southampton) - 2 with Ipswich Paul Gallagher (Stoke) Inigo Idiakez (Derby) Leroy Lita (Reading) Neil Shipperley (Sheffield Utd) |
10 | Dean Ashton (Norwich) Stern John (Coventry) Ben May (Millwall) Kenny Miller (Wolves) Dave Nugent (Preston) Steve Sidwell (Reading) Rowan Vine (Luton) Danny Webber (Sheffield Utd) |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Brighton | 81 | 5 | Millwall | 97 | 14 |
| Burnley | 78 | 5 | Norwich | 71 | 2 |
| Cardiff | 73 | 2 | Plymouth | 64 | 1 |
| Coventry | 88 | 4 | Preston | 89 | 2 |
| Crewe | 34 | 2 | QPR | 78 | 8 |
| Crystal Palace | 84 | 3 | Reading | 45 | 0 |
| Derby | 65 | 6 | Sheffield Utd | 63 | 2 |
| Hull | 52 | 3 | Sheffield Wed | 59 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 60 | 6 | Southampton | 65 | 4 |
| Leeds | 75 | 2 | Stoke | 75 | 7 |
| Leicester | 83 | 6 | Watford | 61 | 6 |
| Luton | 65 | 5 | Wolves | 65 | 2 |
Average Attendances (league only) | |||
Avge | Club | High | Low |
24,952 | Norwich City | 27,470 | 23,838 |
24,853 | Sheffield Wednesday | 33,439 | 20,244 |
24,252 | Ipswich | 29,184 | 22,551 |
24,166 | Derby | 30,391 | 21,434 |
23,657 | Southampton | 30,173 | 19,086 |
23,624 | Wolves | 27,980 | 21,683 |
23,415 | Sheffield United | 30,558 | 17,739 |
22,354 | Leeds | 27,843 | 18,353 |
22,233 | Leicester | 25,578 | 18,856 |
21,301 | Coventry | 26,851 | 16,156 |
20,207 | Reading | 23,845 | 14,027 |
19,841 | Hull City | 23,486 | 17,698 |
19,457 | Crystal Palace | 23,843 | 17,291 |
15,449 | Watford | 19,842 | 11,722 |
14,619 | Preston | 19,350 | 12,453 |
14,432 | Stoke | 20,408 | 10,121 |
13,776 | Plymouth | 17,726 | 10,460 |
13,440 | QPR | 16,152 | 10,901 |
12,464 | Burnley | 17,912 | 10,431 |
11,720 | Cardiff | 16,403 | 8,724 |
9,529 | Millwall | 13,209 | 7,108 |
9,139 | Luton Town | 10,248 | 7,474 |
6,802 | Brighton | 7,999 | 5,859 |
6,731 | Crewe | 8,942 | 5,686 |