Fifteen of the best things that happened in the 2018-19 season

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, in April a new top-flight record was set by sides in the bottom three – Huddersfield Town, Fulham and Cardiff City: after 33 league games against the top six, those at the bottom had lost every one of those fixtures.

This is the stuff of nerds though. If you want that kind of footballing poindexterism, we’re sure you can find it elsewhere.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the other more remarkable stories from the 2018-19 season, from on and off the pitch.

1. Mourinho demanded a little respect

After losing two of his first three Premier League matches - including a 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham - Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho made a somewhat tenuous argument about the significance of that scoreline.

“Do you know what was the result? Three nil… do you know what these mean? Three nil, but also, three Premierships and I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. Three for me and two for them. Respect, respect, respect man.”

He was eventually sacked in December, with United sitting sixth in the league, 19 points off the top.

2. Fifa FINALLY gave Jesse Lingard and Wilfried Zaha a trim

It had been an ongoing gripe for both lads – the game developers’ apparent refusal to update their avatars’ dos.

So the pair were understandably thrilled when an update was added to the game in November last year and they both got that fresh look.

3. Sol Bamba told a massive porky

In November last year, Sol Bamba scored a 90^th minute winner for Cardiff to beat Brighton 2-1. In the heat of the moment, he sprinted up to the away end and peeled his shirt off in raptures – a yellow card offence. Oddly, he didn’t get booked for it. Why? How? Well, apparently referee Martin Atkinson didn’t spot the incident and when he asked Bamba whether he had indeed taken his shirt off, well, Bamba just told him he hadn’t!

For the avoidance of any doubt, here's a picture of him celebrating that goal.

4. Charlie Austin got very, very irate about VAR

Footballers are so sanitised and robotic these days aren’t they? Each press conference so formulaic.

Charlie Austin showed off the full extent of his media training when he made this very impassioned plea for officials to be given more help, after a controversial decision to disallow what could have been his winning goal for Southampton against Watford back in November. The game ended 1-1.

It's hard to measure what impact Austin's rant may have had on the integration of VAR, but it did, in the meantime, inspire this...

5. Andy Carroll turned up to a wedding in a club tracksuit

Never question Andy Carroll’s commitment. With a busy Christmas holiday fixture list, Carroll had a diary clash in December that included the wedding of his fiance’s sister and Southampton away - all on the same afternoon.

Because he’s a professional, he managed to do both – as a second-half substitute in the match, and as a late appearance at the reception too. Not quite in enough time to put a tie on, unfortunately.

6. Hector Bellerin gave us A LOT of great Instagram content

Arsenal’s very own Hoxton pirate was sadly ruled out for the rest of the season when he ruptured his ACL in January. Arsenal’s loss was content’s gain, as we were treated to A LOT of very drippy updates from the treatment room.

Since then, he has been busy making the side-lines of stadiums around the country look considerably more wavey.

7. A cat at Goodison was one of the biggest talking points of the season

Everton may have been thankful of the respite when a cat on the pitch stopped play temporarily, during a home fixture against Wolves in March, which also prompted this lovely bit of improvisation from John Acres. Wolves had just scored their third goal of the afternoon and it ended 3-1.

Since then, Everton have had a much better run of form, with wins in April against Arsenal and Manchester United.

8. Pep Guardiola changed the whole game with this jumper

Since around December he’s been doggedly clinging to that absolutely horrendous coatigan with the same tenacity that City have been showing in their league campaign. Anyway, the Manchester City manager proved he can still provide more shocks in the knitwear department when he wore the above quite divisive jumper to a pre-match press conference ahead of facing Chelsea in February. We’re going to put our necks on the line here and say we’re big fans. Don’t @ us.

9. Roy Hodgson became the oldest Premier League manager in history

In February this year, Roy overtook Sir Bobby Robson as the oldest man to manage a Premier League game, at 71 years and 198 days ripe. He celebrated with a 4-1 win for his team Crystal Palace, on the road at Leicester City. It was the first time in 19 years that Leicester had lost four league games in a row at the King Power and was followed shortly afterward by the sacking of their then manager Claude Puel.

10. Theo Walcott turned 30 and a Peep Show prophesy came to be

Perennial ‘big potential’ player Theo Walcott hit a major milestone in March this year, which will have triggered a lot of anxious thoughts for a lot of people about the ultimate transience of youth – certainly a crisis moment for us, anyway.

Meanwhile, a number of fans marked the occasion by realising a joke made years ago in Peep Show, where Jez said that he was planning to get rich by selling the headline ‘Three-O Walcott’ to tabloid newspapers the day of the footballer's birthday.

Turns out it was a good idea after all. What pleasing circularity hey?

11. Klopp complained a lot about the weather

A frustrating draw for Liverpool against their city rivals Everton in March saw them drop one point behind Manchester City in the table - having at one stage led by seven. Klopp had a few groans about the conditions.

"The wind does not help and there was a lot today. You have to be ready for the fight of the second ball," said the Liverpool manager.

This wasn't his first complaint about the weather. He was similarly dismayed by the snow during a 1-1 draw at Anfield with Leicester.

Did he have a point? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Either way, it was absolute food and drink to banter fans of other teams.

12. Mike Dean issued his 100th red card

We had to wait until 2 April to find out who would be Dean’s 100th victim. History was made on a Tuesday night at the Molineux stadium when Dean dismissed Ashley Young early in the second half of a 2-1 win for Wolves against Manchester United.

Contrary to all expectation, Dean made his 100th dismissal without any of the usual ostentation or wild gesturing. You can’t just tell him to perform on command. He’ll do it his own way.

13. Mike Dean also played this hilarious prank on Aguero

He was in more playful mood back in February, when Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick during a 6-0 rout for Manchester City over Chelsea. What a performer. Dean, that is, not Aguero. But him too. Obviously.

That game saw the Argentine match Alan Shearer’s record for 11 hat-tricks during the Premier League era. Machine.

14. Wolves issued instructions on how to use a flag

Wolves have had a wonderful season in the Premier League since being promoted from the Championship last season, and recently secured a seventh place finish. Back in March, they issued these super helpful instructions for fans. Thanks for clearing that up guys - and there we were holding our flags upside down all these years.

15. Neil Warnock briefly turned into Liam Gallagher

A 3-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace brought confirmation that Cardiff would be returning to the Championship next season, after being promoted to the Premier League last season. We’ll miss Neil Warnock for stuff like this and hope, in the meantime, his side-hustle as the front man of tribute band Noasis continues strongly.

Well, what a season hey. We miss it already. And it’s not over quite yet.