Now that the dust has settled and holidays have begun, reflection time begins for all 20 teams that graced the Premier League with their presence in the 2024-25 campaign.
On the whole, the season will not be remembered as one of the most engrossing in recent memory, with title and relegation fates decided ahead of time, injuries piling up all over the shop and VAR controversy making headlines month after month.
However, from the hotly-contested race for Europe, the inevitable spate of sackings and the best-ever individual campaign in a 38-game Premier League season, 2024-25 was still memorable in its own right.
Here, Sports Mole takes a deeper dive into the story of the 2024-25 Premier League season, looking back at the key moments of the campaign in two-month periods.
2024-25 Premier League: August to September - The order is established
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A year that commenced with a false dawn at Old Trafford, Joshua Zirkzee had the honour of scoring the first Premier League goal of the 2024-25 campaign, as Erik ten Hag's Manchester United raised the curtain on the competition with a 1-0 home win over Fulham.
At the same time, Manchester City were customarily going about their business, winning each of their first three games of the campaign to sit atop the standings at the end of August, albeit while only leading a perfect Liverpool on goal difference.
Brighton & Hove Albion completed the podium placements as Fabian Hurzeler won the Premier League Manager of the Month, while Erling Haaland was named Player of the Month after scoring an unprecedented seven goals in his first three games.
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However, City's season suffered the cruellest of cruel twists in late September, as Ballon d'Or winner Rodri suffered the devastating ACL injury against Arsenal that would rule him out for the majority of the campaign.
Liverpool's first home loss of the Arne Slot era against Nottingham Forest did not impact their standing at the summit, as the Reds ended September one point clear of City and Arsenal in the gold medal position.
It was a Chelsea one-two in the monthly awards, though, as Enzo Maresca was named Manager of the Month, while Cole Palmer took home the corresponding player accolade after becoming the first man to score four goals in one half of a Premier League game.
Down the other end of the division, Southampton, Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town remained winless, but the latter's penchant for draws saw them sit just above the dreaded dotted line.
2024-25 Premier League: October to November - The first manager goes
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Languishing in 14th place after their first nine games of the new term, Man United bit the bullet and accepted that it was a mistake to give Erik ten Hag a stay of execution, and the Dutchman was the first manager to lose his job on October 28.
On the other side of the city, a Rodri-less Sky Blues side maintained their unbeaten streak to sit one point clear of Liverpool at the top of the table, after the Reds left Arsenal's Emirates base with a precious point from a 2-2 draw.
At the same time, Nottingham Forest were unexpectedly showing some European credentials, earning Nuno Espirito Santo and a rejuvenated Chris Wood the monthly Premier League awards for October.
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However, the catastrophic City capitulation soon began, and a 4-0 home humiliation at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur marked Pep Guardiola's heaviest home loss in his managerial career, as well as the Citizens' fifth straight loss in all competitions.
Not since 1956 had the champions of England been beaten in five straight games, and a Mohamed Salah-inspired Liverpool needed no second invitation to capitalise, continuing their ruthless ways to sit eight points clear at the top by the end of November.
All 20 Premier League teams had at least one win under their belts before December, but that was not enough for Leicester City, who gave Steve Cooper the boot and replaced him with Ruud van Nistelrooy following the Dutchman's interim spell as Man United boss.
Another Netherlands native - Slot - would win November's Premier League Manager of the Month, while the scintillating Salah won his first of two POTM prizes for 2024-25.
2024-25 Premier League: December-January - Nine is fine in game of the season
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With international breaks done for 2024 and lots of lost domestic football to catch up, December was nothing short of unrelenting for all Premier League clubs, but Liverpool continued to cope largely just fine at the summit.
The final match before Christmas proved to be the most engrossing, as Liverpool defeated Tottenham Hotspur 6-3 in the highest-scoring game of the campaign, a couple of weeks after Storm Darragh forced the postponement of the final Premier League Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
Over in Nottinghamshire, Forest's unforeseen Champions League charge continued to gather pace as Santo collected his second Manager of the Month award, while Alexander Isak was bestowed with the Player of the Month honour, having scored in a sensational six straight matches.
Teams lower down the table were in no mood to hand out early Christmas presents, though; Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton sacked Gary O'Neil and Russell Martin respectively in December, with both being let go on the same day.
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The New Year did not bring new hope for Julen Lopetegui or Sean Dyche either, as the pair were both given their P45s by West Ham United and Everton within two days of each other; none other than the distinguished David Moyes was sworn in to replace the latter.
The Scot quickly had the desired effect back at Goodison Park, steering the Toffees clear of the relegation zone and to within just five points of former club Manchester United, who alongside Tottenham Hotspur were enduring nightmarish campaigns.
At the other end of the division, Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth were proving to be quite the surprise package, ending January just one point off the Champions League spots and rightly being recognised for their achievements.
Iraola clinched the Manager of the Month prize, and Dutch delight Justin Kluivert was named the Player of the Month for January after providing five goals and two assists, including an extraordinary hat-trick away to Newcastle United.
2024-25 Premier League: February-March - Merseyside derby mayhem
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February began with a flourish for those associated with Nottingham Forest, whose astonishing 7-0 slaughter of Brighton & Hove Albion at the City Ground ended up being the biggest win of the entire Premier League campaign.
Santo's side were keeping Arsenal honest in second place, as the Gunners fell even further off the pace in the Premier League title race, being made to pay for a spate of draws and a fatal 1-0 home loss to West Ham United.
A whopping 12 points separated first and second at the end of February, the exact same deficit Arsenal trailed Manchester United by at the same point in the 1997-98 season, where Arsene Wenger's side pulled off a phenomenal comeback to win the crown. Spoiler alert - lightning did not strike twice 27 years later.
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However, Everton did offer Arsenal a slight helping hand in the rescheduled Merseyside derby, where James Tarkowski's astonishing late leveller rescued a 2-2 draw for the Toffees before all hell broke loose at full time; a fitting farewell derby at Goodison Park.
As March came into view, so did the dreaded international break, albeit one that still ended with Liverpool maintaining their double-figure advantage at the top of the table as the trophy edged ever closer.
With Forest still holding onto third place in the division, Santo earned himself a second Manager of the Month accolade, while Bruno Fernandes taking home the POTM trophy was a rare positive in an otherwise disastrous season for Man United.
2024-25 Premier League: April-May - You'll Never Walk Alone
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Just six days into April, and the Championship welcomed back its first relegated team, as a pitiful Southampton side suffered the earliest-ever demotion from the Premier League with seven games left to go.
The Saints' inevitable demotion triggered the exit of head coach Ivan Juric, and it would only be a matter of time before fellow promoted outfits Ipswich Town and Leicester City joined the Saints back down in tier two.
April 20 was the fatal date for Leicester, whose 1-0 home loss to Liverpool condemned them to their fate, as they also became the first side ever in England's top flight to fail to score in nine straight home matches.
The final nail was hammered into Ipswich's coffin six days later when they lost at Newcastle, meaning that all three relegations had been confirmed with four games remaining; a previously unprecedented feat in the Premier League era.
Speaking of fates being sealed with four games left to go, Liverpool needed just a point at home to Tottenham on April 27 to officially take Arsenal out of first-placed contention, and they did more than just take a point, slaughtering Spurs 5-1 to ensure their medals would be gold.
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Title number 20 saw the Reds take their place back at the top of the English game with Manchester United, who were simultaneously enduring their worst-ever Premier League season, as were Europa League final opponents Tottenham.
Liverpool did make some unwanted history in the weeks that followed, becoming the first team to fail to win any of their four Premier League matches since being crowned champions, but that was of little significance.
As a result, only European destinies were to be decided on the final day, as all of Chelsea, Man City, Newcastle, Forest and Aston Villa scrapped for three spots in next season's Champions League.
Chelsea's success over Forest confirmed both teams' fates, as did Man City's success at Fulham, but a complaint-worthy decision going against Villa allowed Newcastle to dine at Europe's top table at the Lions' expense.
To the surprise of few, Salah and Slot were honoured with the Player and Manager of the Season accolades, as the former set a new record for goal contributions in a 38-game season and the latter became just the fifth head coach to win the competition in his first season.
Ben Knapton
