An A to Z from the Premier League in 2015
It was the year the Premier League went a bit mad, and 2015 should long be remembered as one of the more memorable 12 months in the division's history.
There were thrills, spills, shocks and sackings, but what have been your most memorable moments?
Take a trip down memory lane with our alphabetical guide to life in the English top flight in 2015.
We start, unsurprisingly, with A.
A Is for Awful Aston Villa
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Everyone loves a good stat, don't they? So let's kick off with one of the most damning of the year.
Aston Villa, pictured above in familiar pose, having just conceded a goal, won just 25 Premier League points in 2015, which is four under Watford's total of 29. Not that bad, you might think, until you remember the Hornets have only been in the division since August and Villa were in it for 12 months.
The aptly nicknamed Villans won just six Premier League games over the year, and their 2016 appears certain to contain the word "relegation" unless something dramatic happens.
B Is for Bye Bye, Brendan
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This was also the year the Liverpool bade farewell to everyone's favourite manager/dreamer/cartoon character, Brendan Rodgers, who paid the price for both a disappointing campaign in 2014/15 and a start to the current season that didn't really convince anyone better times were around the corner.
The Northern Irishman is clearly a good coach and a good man, and he'll be back in a top job somewhere some day, but his time at Anfield had run its course by the time he was sacked in October.
Fear not, though, Twitter users: He'll be back.
C Is for Chelsea
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Whether they have been good or bad, ruthlessly brilliant or hilariously inept, there is no doubt Chelsea have been one of the more fascinating teams to watch in 2015.
Everyone's title favourites for the current campaign after Jose Mourinho marched them to the trophy in May, the Blues have been shockingly bad this season, stumbling to defeat after defeat as they have set up camp just above the relegation zone.
Surely the reigning champions are the very definition of a team that is too good to go down, but right now no one can be sure of that, and that's what makes their tale so compelling.
D Is for Di Maria and Falcao
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They were supposed to be the pair who swept Manchester United and Louis van Gaal back toward the glory days when they were signed by the Old Trafford club in 2014, but Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao ended up exiting the club with their tails between their legs, the anger of supporters and an awful lot of money.
Di Maria and Falcao scored the grand total of two Premier League goals between them for United in 2015, with Falcao adding one more for Chelsea after his fairly baffling loan move to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Both have to go down as two of the more spectacular transfer fails in United's history, even though they've proved their quality elsewhere.
E Is for Eden Hazard
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It has been easy to forget during what has been a hugely miserable season this time around, but Eden Hazard was Chelsea's leading light as they strolled to the Premier League title in 2014/15.
The Belgian added seven league goals in the latter half of that campaign, including the goal against Crystal Palace that sealed the title for Mourinho's men—something that seems a lifetime ago now.
The hugely deserving reigning PFA Player of the Year appears to be suffering from a crisis of confidence, with all neutrals doubtless hoping we see him back to his best sooner rather than later.
F Is for £49M
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It wasn't the most expensive Premier League transfer of the year, but Raheem Sterling's money-spinning move from Liverpool to Manchester City was certainly the one that grabbed the most headlines.
If anything, it served to remind us all just where the big money is in the division these days, with Sterling swapping the more traditionally successful Reds for City, whose cash has helped them clinch two league titles in recent memory.
It didn't quite go to plan for the England international on his first meeting with his old club in November, though, with Liverpool hammering City 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
G Is for Goodbye, Gerrard
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Other legends left the division in 2015, but none did so in quite the manner Steven Gerrard left Liverpool, as the former Reds captain took his final bow in front of an adoring Anfield.
Gerrard had far from the perfect career at Liverpool, with the Premier League title a notable omission from an otherwise stellar CV, but there was a real sense of sacrifice about his stint with the Reds. His constant efforts to drag them up to join the elite mark him out as a special figure within English football—one whose like is increasingly rare.
H Is for Harry Kane
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Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane scored 27 Premier League goals in 2015, eight more than anyone else. For a young English forward many had written off, that isn't bad at all.
Kane's emergence at Spurs and with England is now a tale we've all become familiar with, and his consistent scoring streaks look as though they could give his side a real shot at winning the league this season, a story that would be even more unbelievable than the 22-year-old forward's rise.
I Is for Ighalo
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And speaking of scoring streaks, what about this guy?
Only those who followed Watford's promotion from the Championship last season would have been aware of the goalscoring prowess of Nigeria's Odion Ighalo, who has fired 14 goals in 19 Premier League appearances this season, as well as nine in his last nine.
His powerful, direct style has proved too hot to handle for many Premier League defenders this season, and he continues to shoot Watford to highs not many thought they were capable of.
J Is for Jose
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From his imperious best to his bitter worst, 2015 has perhaps been the year of Jose Mourinho.
In May, he was once again the King of the King's Road, guiding Chelsea to their third Premier League title under his tutelage and seemingly able to walk on water as far as the Blues were concerned.
But after the Blues came the blues. Chelsea's awful 2015/16 has been marked by Mourinho meltdowns, rows with his medical staff, his players and officials and a crashing spiral down to earth that eventually led to his sacking in mid-December.
Where will he turn up next?
K Is for Klopp
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Seemingly entering English football as the anti-Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp has breezed into the Premier League with Liverpool since replacing Brendan Rodgers in October.
The charismatic German coach will need time and his own players to really turn things around at Anfield, but the early signs have been good, as he's led his side to impressive wins at Chelsea and Manchester City as well as into the semi-finals of the League Cup.
He's still got a long way to go, but there's no doubt the Premier League is a better place with him in it.
L Is for Lukaku
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Will we end up looking back on 2015 as the year Romelu Lukaku really began to blossom?
The big Belgian has been in stunning form for Everton this campaign, scoring 15 goals so far, combining his raw talents of pace, brute strength and finishing ability to become one of the best all-round forwards in the division.
Earlier this year Lukaku also became one of only five players to hit 50 Premier League goals before the age of 23, joining Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo on a stellar list.
M Is for Marvellous Mahrez
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The brilliant Leicester City continue to delight, surprise and entertain, and not one of their players does any of those things better than the excellent Riyad Mahrez.
The Algerian was effective in his side's battle against relegation last season, but in 2015/16, he has taken his game to new levels that surely even he wasn't aware he could reach.
He's scored 14 goals as his side have taken up residence in the top four, and at 24 years old with a whole host of clubs queuing up for a player with his many abilities, we might be seeing Mahrez donning a different shirt in 2016.
N Is for Nigel Pearson
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Do you remember why all of this Leicester success is possible, though?
Bottom of the Premier League on New Year's Day 2015, and for a lot longer than that, the club's revival was spearheaded by manager Nigel Pearson, who amazingly pulled them away from the relegation zone while all the time wearing the look of a man at odds with anything and everything around him.
As well as being an expert on ostriches.
O Is for Ozil
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Rejoice! For it is he.
Arsenal fans would have torn the Internet down if we didn't mention Mesut Ozil here, and the German thoroughly deserves all the praise he is getting from many quarters as his fine form propels the Gunners up the league table.
The third-most expensive player in the division behind Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, all of Ozil's many qualities are coming to the fore, and he can be the man who makes the difference for Arsenal in a fascinating title race.
P Is for Pardew
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It was a remarkable year for Crystal Palace, who went from strength to strength following the appointment of Alan Pardew and end 2015 in fifth place in the Premier League table.
A divisive figure because of his stormy spell at Newcastle United between 2010 and 2014, Pardew is proving he can flourish in an environment that is tailored for him. A former Palace player, it is difficult to think of many more managers who are as popular with their respective fanbases as he is right now, and he deserves his success.
Q Is for Quique Sanchez Flores
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And so he came, all stylishly dressed and bearded, suavely entering the Premier League with newly promoted Watford in the summer.
Quique Sanchez Flores' appointment was quite the coup for the Hornets, and he's helped them sting plenty of the big boys during a first half of the campaign that has only been outshone by the remarkable efforts of Leicester City.
The Spanish manager has managed to quickly mould together a diverse group of players, and a top-half finish looks possible.
R Is for Ranieri
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The architect behind Leciester's stunning season, Claudio Ranieri has arrived back into English football with the wise mind of a man who has seen and done it all before.
The Italian, at Chelsea right at the beginning of the Roman Abramovich reign in 2003, has used a mixture of an old-school approach and the shedding of his Tinkerman ways to turn the Foxes into a Premier League force to be reckoned with.
They sit joint-top of the table going into the new year, and anything is possible.
S Is for Sergio Aguero
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The top scorer in the division in 2014/15, it's a shame Sergio Aguero's many qualities aren't seen more often in the Premier League because of his many injuries.
Surely the best pure striker in the division when he is fully fit and firing, it may be no exaggeration to say Manchester City's title hopes could rest on the Argentinian's fitness for the final few months of their campaign, with what he can do within them likely to prove crucial.
T Is for Tim Sherwood
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Gone but not forgotten.
Tim Sherwood's entire Aston Villa managerial reign was contained within 2015, as first the former Spurs coach was able to keep Villa up and get them into the FA Cup final before, following the loss of key players such as Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph, things started to go badly wrong this season.
Hopefully, he'll turn up somewhere else soon. When he does, it is sure to be entertaining.
U Is for Unpredictable
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As we mentioned at the beginning, this has to be the year Premier League football went more than a little crazy.
Shocks, upsets and surprising storylines have become a weekly feature of the division, with the likes of promoted clubs Watford and Bournemouth only adding to that this season.
Some use the unpredictability of the division as a sign that the quality within it has dipped, but is it not better to enjoy as a spectacle right now than it has ever been?
V Is for Vardy
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Of course V is for Jamie Vardy. How could it be anyone else?
The Leicester City frontman broke a Premier League record by scoring for the 11th straight match when he struck against Manchester United earlier this season, with his 15 goals the key reason behind the Foxes' remarkable campaign.
Vardy has surely made himself a must-pick for the England squad for the European Championship in the summer, and a big-money transfer could also be in the offing.
W Is for Wenger
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While the rest of the division continues to trip over themselves to try to make the best of the wildly unpredictable, Arsene Wenger just keeps plodding along.
The Arsenal boss has now been at his club for longer than the rest of the manager of the other 19 clubs put together, and surely the Frenchman must see 2016 as his best chance to pick up a league title for the first time since 2004.
It all seems to be opening up for the Gunners, and maybe that famous Wenger smile will be seen in May.
X Is for Xherdan Shaqiri
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They didn't do it purely for lists like this, but we'd nonetheless like to thank Stoke City for pulling off the amazing coup of signing Xherdan Shaqiri in August and giving us our X-factor.
Thanks, too, to Shaqiri himself, whose perfectly taken goals in the win at Everton on Dec. 28 were his first in Premier League football and hinted that we're about to see an awful lot more of the extremely talented Swiss midfielder in 2016.
It's all coming together.
Y Is for Yaya Toure
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Many thought Yaya Toure would be long gone from the Premier League by now as a long and seemingly happy relationship with Manchester City appeared to be falling apart.
He's still there, though, and he's still scoring goals as evidenced by his recent efforts against Arsenal and Sunderland.
Still possessing the ability to go from 0 to 100mph in the blink of an eye, the division is a better place with him in it, and he will be a key figure in the title race.
Z Is for Zamora's Goal of the Year Contender
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What's been your favourite goal in the Premier League in 2015?
Such debates often centre on strikes that stay in the memory, but while we could all talk about Shaqiri's recent stunner at Everton, what about a similar goal from Bobby Zamora for Queens Park Rangers at West Bromwich Albion in April?
Come onit's Bobby Zamora!
Who saw this coming?
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