Football traditionalists will tell you that a true home and away league season is the only “proper” way to crown a champion and there is nothing like a title race that comes down to the final day.
With every match kicking off simultaneously, we have seen plenty of drama unfold as clubs face the ultimate pressure situation.
This year will see the title come down to the final day for the tenth time in the Premier League era and it’s advantage Manchester City at the moment.
Pep Guardiola’s men on the verge of a fourth consecutive league title if they can avoid defeat at home against West Ham with Arsenal hoping for the unlikeliest of slip ups.
Ahead of what promises to be a dramatic conclusion to the league campaign, we’re taking a trip down memory lane and looking at the other times the Premier League champion has been crowned on the final day.
1994-1995
The first two editions of the Premier League were won by Manchester United in a canter, however the third season of the newly formed league was decided on the final day.
While the 2012 final day might be the most dramatic conclusion to a season, this one has a case to be the most chaotic.
Blackburn lead Manchester United by two points heading into the final kickoffs, with Rovers travelling to Anfield to face Liverpool while United were at Upton Park facing West Ham.
It all looked like it was going to go pear shaped for Kenny Dalglish’s side with Liverpool winning their match 2-1 which meant they were at the mercy of Sir Alex Ferguson’s juggernaut.
Somehow though, United could not get the result they needed against the Irons (who finished the season in 14th place), and were held to a 1-1 draw, gifting the title to Blackburn for the first time in over 70 years.
It might just be the happiest reaction to a defeat in football history.
1998-1999
The rivalry between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger at Manchester United and Arsenal perfectly encapsulated the Premier League in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
United won the league in 1996 and 1997, before Wenger’s Gunners claimed the title in 1998 ahead of Ferguson’s charges.
Manchester United’s treble of 1999 went down to the wire on a couple of fronts, aside from the infamous comeback in the Champions League final, the Red Devils were pushed all the way in the Premier League too.
After 37 matches, United were on 76 points and were hosting Tottenham on the final day, while Arsenal were a point behind and had been drawn at home to Aston Villa.
For a brief moment, it looked like once again United would fall at the final hurdle, trailing Spurs after half an hour while Arsenal were level with Villa.
Then David Beckham and Andy Cole struck either side of halftime, once again returning United to the summit and they held on for a 2-1 win to reclaim their status as champions of England.
2007-2008
We had to wait nearly a decade for another final day decider with Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all winning the league with games to spare.
Nine days before these sides faced off in a dramatic Champions League Final in Moscow, they first had to play to decide the Premier League title.
With the teams level on 84 points apiece, United were in the box seat ahead of their trip to Wigan with a goal difference of +56 compared to Chelsea’s +39.
So unless United dropped points at the DW Stadium, Chelsea would have needed to put about 20 past Bolton.
It took half an hour for United to break the deadlock in their match with Ronaldo converting from the spot, while Chelsea needed 62 minutes to score through Andriy Shevchenko.
As the season entered its final ten minutes, Ryan Giggs wrapped up the title for United to put them up 2-0 on the day and Chelsea, perhaps with their minds on the Luzhniki Stadium, gave up a 93rd minute equaliser to leave Sir Alex Ferguson’s men two points clear on top of the table.
As a side note, Manchester City were hammered 8-1 by Middlesbrough on this day as well, how times have changed for the blue half!
2009-2010
United completed their hat-trick of titles in 2009, but the following season they were pipped at the post by Chelsea.
Under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti, the Blues held a one point lead on top of the table and simply needed to match or better Manchester United’s result, who were at home to Stoke.
What unfolded over the 90 minutes of play were two of the more emphatic performances you will see.
Nicolas Anelka was the first to score, putting Chelsea up 1-0 after six minutes, before Darren Fletcher netted for United in the 31st minute of their match.
Frank Lampard converted a penalty not long after, while Ryan Giggs popped up with another final day goal to send both teams into the halftime break 2-0 up.
United added a further two in the second half to win 4-0, but it would all be for nought Chelsea ripped Wigan to shreds.
Solomon Kalou scored before Anelka bagged his second for the day, then Didier Drogba chimed in with a hat-trick before Ashley Cole completed the rout in the final minute of normal time.
2011-2012
Football doesn’t get much better than this, we really don’t need to set this up anymore than simply saying first it was Dzeko with the equaliser, then Aguero with the winner.
This will be the first clip in Martin Tyler’s career highlights package.
2013-2014
About a month prior to the conclusion of this season, Steven Gerrard emphasised that Liverpool would not let their lead at the top of the table slip.
Well we all remember how that went and their late season capitulation meant that on the final day they were two points behind Manchester City and hoping for a miracle.
That outcome never eventuated as City played out a relatively routine 2-0 win over West Ham, while Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Newcastle would have provided some hollow comfort.
2018-2019
While Liverpool’s capitulation in 2014 was funny to most non-Liverpool supporters, you almost have to feel sorry for them with the way this season ended.
Having won 29 of their 37 games heading into the final day, their 94 points tally would have been enough to win just about every other Premier League title in a canter.
They would have won this season had Manchester City not gone on a ridiculous run of their own, entering the final day on 95 points and simply needing to win away to a Brighton team who were already safe from relegation.
Liverpool jumped out to an early lead in the 17th minute thanks to Sadio Mane, and for about 20 minutes it looked like they might be able to pip City at the post.
Glenn Murray gave Brighton the lead over City in the 27th minute of their match but that lead was short lived as Sergio Aguero scored a minute later and Aymeric Laporte gave City the lead ten just before halftime.
City added two more after halftime to cruise to another league title, although it was a step back from their 100 point total of 2017-2018.
Liverpool did finally break through for the league title the following year though.
2021-2022
Once again it was Manchester City and Liverpool fighting for the title in the closing stages of the 2021-2022 Premier League season.
City entered the day one point clear of Liverpool and knew that a win over Aston Villa would be enough to render the Reds result at Anfield against Wolves meaningless.
Wolves took an early lead at Anfield in the third minute, before the Reds equalised at the midway mark of the first half.
Villa held a 1-0 lead over City at halftime and added a second with 20 minutes to play, with Liverpool needing one more against Wolves to pinch the Premier League title.
Up stepped Ilkay Gundogan with the German substitute scoring in the 76th minute to give City hope, before Rodri levelled the game two minutes later.
With both matches level heading into the final ten minutes, City had one hand on the trophy and it was Gundogan again, winning the match, and the title for his team.
Liverpool scored two late goals to win their match against Wolves but all it did was leave them just behind City (again).
While not quite as dramatic as the conclusion to the 2011-2012 season, this might be the year that has the best case to be the runner up.