The FA Cup Finals in Scotland and England signalled the end of the domestic football seasons in those countries.  Six members of the research team at Beautiful Game Studios look back on Season 2008/09, as well as forward to the next season.

Derek McAvoy
As a Rangers supporter, I am delighted to have finished the season with a domestic double.  When we lost to Celtic at Ibrox in December I felt we had blown a great chance to win the league this season.  There was still a lot of football to be played though!

I was lucky enough to be at Rangers’ last home game of the season as well as Saturday’s Cup Final.  As I left Ibrox for the last time this season, I honestly felt that we had blown it by not beating Aberdeen by more goals – we won just 2-1.  The general feeling amongst the Rangers support as they left the ground was one of disappointment but as we had won the game there was still hope.  On the Sunday we got an unexpected boost when Celtic drew 0-0 with Hibs at Easter Road.  This of course meant it was advantage Rangers again the SPL.  Another “Helicopter Sunday” had been set-up.

Rangers saved their best form of the season for the last league game of the season.  We haven’t won at Tannadice since 2006 but beat Dundee United 3-0 to bring the league title back to Ibrox.  In the end, as Hearts drew 0-0 with Celtic, we won the league by 4 clear points.  It was the perfect time to end the run of no wins at Tannadice!  A lot of people criticise the SPL but it is refreshing that both the title winners and relegation will be decided over the last weekend of the season. 

Although we didn’t play well in the Cup Final on Saturday, the goal from Nacho Novo was worthy of winning again game.  Many of the players looked as if they were still suffering from hangovers!  Seeing Rangers end the game with Christian Dailly as a lone striker meant the last few minutes seemed to last forever.

Next season we will have a new challenge from Celtic.  They will have a new manager who will be keen to guide Celtic to the SPL in their first season in charge. 
Rangers have well documented financial problems but if we are to build on the success this season, we will have to keep most of our key players.  It was disappointing to lose the League Cup Final, but two out of three domestic trophies isn’t a bad return.

Jamie Beard
With West Ham finishing 9th in the Premiership this year and just missing out on Europe, this season was quite enjoyable for a change. With Zola coming in for Alan Curbishley very early on in the season it took him a while to get his own style across to the players and for a while I believed we were once again going to be involved in a relegation battle. After winning just one game in twelve during October and November we then went on a four gaming winning streak in the league to get us out of trouble and safely into the top half and set us up for the battle for 7th place, one which we would lose but never the less I’d much rather lose a battle for Europe than win a battle for survival.

A good season in general but there has been some very low points, losing home and away to Tottenham Hotspur is up amongst the greatest disappointments and of course finishing below them this year after the start they had hurts allot. Craig Bellamy showing no loyalty what so ever, injuries to Cole and Behrami and losing so easily to Middlesbrough in the cup are also sore points.

But there have been some great times this season and I’ve been lucky enough to be at some of the games this season when we have played some beautiful football and scored some cracking goals. Beating Fulham 2-1 away at the cottage in the beaming sun standing in view of the river Thames was a highlight along with beating Manchester City at home 1-0 on Craig Bellamy’s return to Upton Park.

In the leagues I research for Championship Manager there was one major upset with AZ winning Eredivise in Holland breaking the monopoly of the big three clubs (Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord). Along with Twente securing second place it was definitely a season for the under dogs. Along with finishing second Twente also finished runners-up in the Dutch cup losing on penalties to Heerenveen, Steve McLaren’s first season in charge can be seen as a huge success even though it ended on a sad note.

In Denmark FC København won the league and cup double winning the title by five points and securing the cup with a 1-0 win over Aalborg. The summer leagues of Norway, Sweden and Finland have just begun and I look forward to some great football over the summer in Scandinavia.

Ben Nelson
As a Sunderland supporter and someone who also follows AFC Wimbledon (I was born in Wimbledon) this has been a dramatic season and one that ended as one of the best I’ve known. As a rule Sunderland doesn’t win Trophies unless you count winning the old Division 2, or whatever it’s calling its self these days. So flirting with relegation is the norm and this season was no exception, though it was kind of Newcastle and Middlesbrough to join us in this seasonal event. The fact that Newcastle and to a lesser extent ‘Boro went down made Sunderland’s season one of the best in a long time, well since Peter Reid guided us to back to back 7th places in 200-01.

When AFC Wimbledon entered the Combined Counties League in 2002-2003 I doubt very much if many outsiders would believe that after 7 seasons this club would be 1 step off the football league again. Having had its league place stolen back in 2002, this club has looked on the positive side and back to back promotions in front of average crowds of over 3,500 is testament to the club’s ambitions. I’ve been to see them many times since their rebirth and was luckily enough to see them win 5 and draw 1 of the 6 games I went to last season. Next season will be a tough one, but with Oxford Utd, Cambridge Utd & Luton Town all coming to Kingsmeadow it should be a great one.

Stephen Morrison
As a Liverpool fan the season certainly had its highs and lows.  We managed to earn our highest ever Premier League point’s total while in the process losing fewer games and scoring more goals than the champions Man Utd.  However a run of draws halfway through the season cost us some valuable points and finishing runners-up was hard to take considering we beat Man Utd convincingly home and away!

The wins against United were undoubtedly the highlights of the season.  But we also completed a double over Chelsea, and two draws with Arsenal meant we failed to lose a game against any of the “big four”.  The 4-4 draw with Arsenal was costly as the title race reached its conclusion, but it was also the most entertaining match of the season.  The most disappointing match has to be the first leg of the Champions League quarter final against Chelsea.  Although we nearly completed a miraculous comeback in the second leg, the damage was already done by that stage.

Steven Gerrard was outstanding as always this season and we can only wonder what would have happened if injury didn’t restrict the number of starts him and Fernando Torres made.  But my player of the season has got to be Yossi Benayoun.  He’s often the unsung hero of the team, but his performances in the second half of the season were outstanding providing some spark when it was most needed, and his late goals earned Liverpool so many vital points.

My other team Linfield also endured a similarly disappointing season losing the Irish League title to their rivals Glentoran on the last day of the season.  After three successive league and cup doubles The Blues finished the season empty handed and now face a summer of transition.  Local legend Glenn Ferguson has already departed just a few weeks short of his 40th birthday, while other players are likely to follow with some being linked with moves to the professional leagues in England.

Steve Mace
In the end it was a frustrating season for Liverpool. Despite knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League in style, and thrashing Man Utd 4-1 at Old Trafford, they finished the season empty handed. 2nd place and a realistic title challenge for the first time in nearly twenty years offers hope for the future. The spectacular form of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard is also major encouragement for all Liverpool fans.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Russian league is open this year after Rubin Kazan surprisingly finished champions in 2008. So far CSKA Moscow looks the most impressive side. It was a memorable season for Ukrainian football as Shakhtar Donetsk won the UEFA Cup, while Dynamo Kiev and Metalist Kharkiv had impressive runs in that competition. Dynamo Kiev were the domestic champions, revitalised under the leadership of Yuriy Semin. In Poland and Italy, it was the same old story as Wisla Krakow and Inter Milan continued their grip on the domestic title.

Chris Jones
As a Crystal Palace fan, last season was not really one to shout about. A season that began with optimism and hopes of a top 6 finish were ended with disappointment as we suffered a poor second half to the season and ended up finishing 15th, behind such football powerhouses as Doncaster and Bristol City...

Palace fans are usually quick to jump on the managers back when things start to turn sour but this season has been surprisingly different. I think the general consensus is who would actually be able to get anyone better than Warnock? If we did, would he be able to do any better given the circumstances? These circumstances are being forced to play youngsters due to a tightening of the purse strings at the club and also watching 4 high earners run their contracts out, while showing little interest in playing football.

We did give debuts to some excellent young players though and I am clinging on to the hope we can keep hold of them and bring in three or four experienced players to bring them on even further. One of the youngsters is 18 year old, Nathanial Clyne. The young right back made his debut against Barnsley which was broadcast live on Sky and has gone from strength to strength. His performances haven't gone un-noticed either with clubs such as Wigan Athletic and Arsenal showing an interest.

I got the chance to see a lot of promising young players play in the Championship last season and I have a few rough diamonds that I feel could make an impact for next season. Kyle Walker of Sheffield United impressed me towards the end of the season. He's a pacy, agile right back and although he is living in the shadow and Kyle Naughton, I think next season he could really push on. Miles Addison of Derby County is another player with raw potential and the physical attributes to play in the Premier League. At Palace we have Victor Moses and Sean Scannell who although both still in the teens, they have amassed over 75 appearances between them. Both are inconsistent at the moment and struggled with injuries last season but if we can keep these guys fit then we will have a bit of pace and flair in the forward line.

The season seemed to fly by and when talking about some of my favourite games I would have to mention the Chelsea - Liverpool Champions League 2nd leg and Arsenal's 4-4 draws with Liverpool and Tottenham, respectively. Just amazing to watch such great attacking football and to see so many goals at that level of football!

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