# 2009–10 Portsmouth F.C. season

The 2009–10 season was Portsmouth's 111th in existence, their seventh season in the Premier League and their seventh consecutive season in the top division of English football. It was a season in which the club struggled with financial problems and entered administration.
The club finished at 20th place in the league, a place they had occupied since the second matchday, which meant relegation to the Championship. Portsmouth managed to only receive points in 14 of the 38 games, including only seven wins. In March they were docked nine points for entering administration.
Portsmouth's biggest success in the season came in the FA Cup, advancing to the final after beating Coventry City, Sunderland, Southampton, Birmingham City and Tottenham Hotspur. They played at Wembley Stadium in the final against Chelsea, a game that Chelsea won by 1–0. Portsmouth also participated in the League Cup and reached the quarter-finals.
Manager Paul Hart was sacked in November and replaced by Avram Grant, who stayed until the end of the season. French striker Frédéric Piquionne scored eleven goals throughout the season and was the club's top goalscorer.

## Team kit

The team kit was produced by Canterbury of New Zealand and the shirt sponsor was Jobsite. On 8 April, Portsmouth announced a new five-year kit supply deal with Kappa. They wore the Kappa strip for the first time in the FA Cup semi-final on 11 April.

## Ownership changes

The club started the season with great expectation after Sulaiman Al-Fahim bought the club from previous owner Alexandre Gaydamak for a fee around £60 million, but Al-Fahim's ownership only lasted 40 days until Ali Al-Faraj and his business Falcondrone Ltd. bought 90% of Al-Fahim's stake in Portsmouth; as part of the deal, Al-Fahim became non-executive chairman at the club until the end of the 2010–11 season. However, at the start of February 2010, al-Faraj lost his stake in Portsmouth to a debtor as part of a repayment agreement on one of his loans. In 2010, Balram Chainrai loaned former owner Ali al-Faraj £17 million, secured through collateral of Fratton Park grounds and the club itself. When the owner failed to pay meet a scheduled loan repayment, Chainrai took over control of the club. He intended to sell the club as soon as possible, and in the meantime he leased Fratton Park back to Portsmouth, with possible future rental yields of nearly a million pounds annually. On the morning of 26 February, a formal announcement was made that the club had entered administration and would be docked 9 points once three directors of the Premier League board had met to agree when the points should formally be taken. Andrew Andronikou, Peter Kubik and Michael Kiely of accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young were appointed by the club as administrators.

## Financial problems

Even before the season began Portsmouth saw a net transfer spend in the far negative, with key players such as Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch, Niko Kranjčar, and Sylvain Distin all departing the club. Although a team was assembled through cheap deals and loans, it soon became clear that Portsmouth had been depleted of quality and the team began sliding down to the bottom of the table, with the first seven league matches all being lost.
As the season progressed, the finances dried up and the club admitted on 1 October that some of their players and staff had not been paid. On 3 October, media outlets started to report that a deal was nearing completion for Ali al-Faraj to take control of the club. On Monday 5 October, a deal was agreed for Al Faraj and his associates via the British Virgin Islands-registered company Falcondrone to hold a 90% majority holding, with Al-Fahim retaining 10% stake and the title of non-executive chairman for two years. Falcondrone also agreed a deal with Gaydamak the right to buy, for £1, Miland Development (2004) Ltd, which owned various strategic pockets of land around the ground, once refinancing was complete. 2 days after the Al-Faraj takeover was completed, Portsmouth's former technical director Avram Grant returned as director of football.
On the pitch, Portsmouth's late transfer of funds called for a flurry of transfers at the end of the window, including the loan signing of Ivorian international Aruna Dindane, who would go on to score a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic. An opening run of seven defeats raised fears Hart would be sacked, but at the eighth attempt, at Molineux, Hassan Yebda (another loanee) headed in to secure the first win. Portsmouth were beaten 4–2 at Fratton Park by Aston Villa in the quarter finals of the League Cup, having beaten off Premiership high-flyers Stoke City; yet another loanee, Frédéric Piquionne, was on target twice. However, because of the financial problems, the Premier League placed the club under a transfer embargo, meaning the club were not allowed to sign any players.
Paul Hart was sacked by the board on 24 November, based on the poor results that left Portsmouth at the bottom of the league. He was offered the role of technical director responsible for players aged 18–21, but he declined. Coaches Paul Groves and Ian Woan took temporary charge of the team. On 26 November 2009, Portsmouth F.C. announced on its official website that Avram Grant had been appointed as manager.
On 3 December, it was announced that the club had failed to pay the players for the second consecutive month. On the 31st, it was announced player's wages would again be paid late, on 5 January 2010. According to common football contracts, the players then had the right to terminate their contracts and leave the club without any compensation for the club, upon giving 14 days notice. Despite the financial difficulties, Grant's time as manager was initially successful, having won two of his first four games in charge (against Sunderland and Liverpool) and only narrowly missing out on a point against league leaders Chelsea.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) filed a winding-up petition against Portsmouth at the High Court in London on 23 December. HMRC claimed the club owed large sums in unpaid VAT on the club's net receipts from its negative transfer spend over the previous two years. Initially, the club denied the winding-up order and a statement was released via the club's website, in which the club stated that they expected the winding-up order to be retracted. The club applied to the High Court to strike out the winding-up petition. Tax lawyer Conrad McDonnell argued that the standard VAT treatment of football clubs, negotiated between the FA and HMRC, was wrong and legally no VAT should be charged on transfers of employees (players are employees), so that the whole HMRC debt was disputed. On 19 January 2010, the High Court dismissed the club's claim, although permission to appeal was granted and a statement from Portsmouth said the judge "considered an appeal to the Court of Appeal would have a 'real chance of success'". This meant that the case stayed open and HMRC were not able to proceed with an immediate winding-up as they wanted.
Meanwhile, it was announced on 5 January that the Premier League were to use Portsmouth's share of the latest installment of television broadcast monies to pay off the club's debts to other top-flight sides. Chelsea, Tottenham and Watford were all owed money by Portsmouth (as were Udinese and Lens). The Premier League split £7 million between them. The action is allowed within league rules to protect clubs that are owed money from transfers.
On 26 January, the Premier League partially lifted the transfer embargo, and allowed the club to sign and register loanees and players not registered to other clubs. Portsmouth managed to sell a few players, raising hope that bills and staff might get paid on time. On 28 January, the club's deep financial trouble was further highlighted by the temporary closure of the Portsmouth website, after the club failed to pay their bills for its upkeep to their Bournemouth-based digital agency Juicy. The website was back live several hours later, after Juicy announced a new financial arrangement with Portsmouth. It appeared on 2 February that staff and players were not paid their wages on time for the fourth time in five months, causing Portsmouth's PFA representative to call for more openness from within the club.
On 4 February, Portsmouth was taken over by its fourth owner in one season: Balram Chainrai. A Nepalese businessman based in Hong Kong, Chainrai took over Portsmouth as part of a clause in a loan deal he made with the previous owners. He is thought to have given the club between £15 and £20 million, but the debts were not repaid.
A full court hearing of HMRC's winding-up petition was held on 10 February and the club was given a "stay-of-execution" for a further seven days with a view to securing a new buyer. If the club did not enter administration or HMRC did not recover its money, the club could have been wound up by the Court and a liquidator appointed.
On 26 February, having not secured a new buyer before the 25 February deadline, Portsmouth prepared to enter administration, and appointed UHY Hacker Young as administrators. On the morning of 26 February, a formal announcement was made that the club had entered administration and would be docked nine points once three directors of the Premier League board had met to agree when the points should formally be taken. The Premier League decided to delay their decision until the court case on 15 March decided the club's fate. After beating Birmingham City 2–0 on 6 March, Portsmouth qualified for the FA Cup semi-final, to face Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on 11 April. On 11 March, the HMRC withdrew their winding-up order, having contested the validity of the administration that was implemented on 26 February, after receiving documentation proving its validity. On 12 March Peter Storrie stepped down as the club's CEO, though he remained at the club in the short term as a consultant to the administrator.
On 15 March, a consortium fronted by Rob Lloyd entered a period of exclusivity to buy Portsmouth. Rob Lloyd met 19 invited Portsmouth fans at the Hilton Portsmouth on Sunday 14th to outline his group's plans and to answer questions from the fans.
On 17 March, Portsmouth were docked nine points for entering administration. That only confirmed a relegation that was always inevitable, with Portsmouth being last in the league on actual points as well. Portsmouth reached the 2010 FA Cup Final against Chelsea, losing the match 1–0, but would have normally been qualified to the UEFA Europa League as Chelsea had qualified for the higher ranked Champions League. However, Portsmouth was denied entry due to its financial state, with Premier League's 7th-placed team Liverpool taking over its place.
On 24 March, administrator Andrew Andronikou revealed that the club would be looking to start the next season with a whole new squad. Players with expiring contracts would be allowed to leave and Portsmouth were looking to sell between eight and ten players. Overall, up to 20 players could leave at the end of the season. The club would be looking to build their team from free transfers in the summer transfer window to save money.

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ENG | David James (captain) |
| 3 | DF | POR | Ricardo Rocha |
| 4 | MF | RSA | Aaron Mokoena |
| 5 | MF | ENG | Jamie O'Hara (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Hayden Mullins |
| 7 | DF | ISL | Hermann Hreiðarsson |
| 8 | MF | SEN | Papa Bouba Diop |
| 9 | FW | FRA | Frédéric Piquionne (on loan from Lyon) |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Michael Brown |
| 15 | GK | FIN | Antti Niemi |
| 16 | DF | IRL | Steve Finnan |
| 17 | FW | NGA | John Utaka |
| 18 | DF | BEL | Anthony Vanden Borre (on loan from Genoa) |
| 19 | FW | ENG | Danny Webber |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Tommy Smith |
| 21 | GK | ENG | Jamie Ashdown |
| 22 | MF | SCO | Richard Hughes |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 23 | MF | GHA | Kevin-Prince Boateng |
| 24 | FW | CIV | Aruna Dindane (on loan from Lens) |
| 26 | DF | ISR | Tal Ben Haim |
| 27 | FW | NGA | Nwankwo Kanu |
| 31 | GK | ENG | Liam O'Brien |
| 32 | MF | ALG | Hassan Yebda (on loan from Benfica) |
| 33 | MF | GRE | Angelos Basinas |
| 35 | DF | IRL | Marc Wilson |
| 37 | FW | FRA | Gaël N'Lundulu |
| 38 | MF | ENG | Marlon Pack |
| 39 | DF | ALG | Nadir Belhadj |
| 40 | DF | ENG | Joel Ward |
| 41 | MF | ENG | Matt Ritchie |
| 43 | DF | ENG | James Hurst |
| 44 | DF | ENG | Luke Wilkinson |
| 46 | DF | GER | Lennard Sowah |
| 47 | FW | NED | Nadir Çiftçi |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Linvoy Primus (retired) |
| 3 | DF | FRA | Younès Kaboul (to Tottenham Hotspur) |
| 10 | FW | ENG | David Nugent (on loan to Burnley) |
| 14 | DF | ENG | Mike Williamson (to Newcastle United) |
| 14 | FW | GHA | Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (on loan from Spartak Moscow) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Sylvain Distin (to Everton) |
| 19 | MF | CRO | Niko Kranjčar (to Tottenham Hotspur) |
| 25 | DF | SRB | Duško Tošić (on loan to Queen's Park Rangers) |
| 31 | GK | BIH | Asmir Begović (to Stoke City) |
| 42 | MF | FRA | Gauthier Mahoto (to Bastia) |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | David James | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Younès Kaboul | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | Ricardo Rocha | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | MF | Aaron Mokoena | 21+2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 27+3 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | Jamie O'Hara | 25+1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28+1 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Hayden Mullins | 15+3 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21+5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | DF | Hermann Hreiðarsson | 17 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Papa Bouba Diop | 9+3 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Frédéric Piquionne | 26+8 | 5 | 6+1 | 3 | 2+2 | 3 | 34+11 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | David Nugent | 0+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Michael Brown | 22+2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 30+3 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | Quincy Owusu-Abeyie | 3+7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 3+8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Sylvain Distin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | Steve Finnan | 20+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | John Utaka | 10+8 | 1 | 3+4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 16+12 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | Anthony Vanden Borre | 15+4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 21+4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 19 | MF | Niko Kranjčar | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Danny Webber | 4+13 | 1 | 1+3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8+16 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Tommy Smith | 12+4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | Jamie Ashdown | 5+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Richard Hughes | 9+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 12+4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | Kevin-Prince Boateng | 20+2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25+2 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | Aruna Dindane | 18+1 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 23+1 | 10 | 7 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | Tal Ben Haim | 21+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | Nwankwo Kanu | 6+17 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+4 | 2 | 6+22 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Asmir Begović | 8+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | Hassan Yebda | 15+3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20+3 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | Angelos Basinas | 7+5 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10+7 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 35 | DF | Marc Wilson | 28 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 35+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 39 | DF | Nadir Belhadj | 16+3 | 3 | 2+1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 22+4 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | Joel Ward | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 41 | DF | Matt Ritchie | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | DF | Lennard Sowah | 3+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Top scorers

| No. | Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 9 | FW | Frédéric Piquionne | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 24 | FW | Aruna Dindane | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 39 | DF | Nadir Belhadj | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 23 | MF | Kevin-Prince Boateng | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 27 | FW | Nwankwo Kanu | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | DF | Younès Kaboul | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 17 | FW | John Utaka | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 19 | ST | Danny Webber | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 32 | MF | Hassan Yebda | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | MF | Jamie O'Hara | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | MF | Hermann Hreiðarsson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | FW | Aaron Mokoena | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | DF | Anthony Vanden Borre | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | MF | Richard Hughes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

## Transfers
### In

Permanent
| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2009 | DF | Aaron Mokoena | Blackburn Rovers | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | DF | Steve Finnan | Espanyol | Free |
| 7 August 2009 | GK | Antti Niemi | Unattached | Free |
| 27 August 2009 | ST | Tommy Smith | Watford | £1.8M |
| 28 August 2009 | MF | Michael Brown | Wigan | Free |
| 28 August 2009 | MF | Kevin-Prince Boateng | Tottenham Hotspur | £4.0M |
| 31 August 2009 | DF | Tal Ben Haim | Manchester City | Undisclosed |
| 1 September 2009 | DF | Mike Williamson | Watford | £3.0M |
| 1 September 2009 | FW | Danny Webber | Sheffield United | Free |
| 3 February 2010 | DF | Ricardo Rocha | Standard Liège | Free |
| 12 February 2010 | DF | Duško Tošić | Werder Bremen | Free |
Loan
| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Return date |
| 5 August 2009 | FW | Frédéric Piquionne | Lyon | End of season |
| 13 August 2009 | DF | Anthony Vanden Borre | Genoa | End of season |
| 28 August 2009 | ST | Aruna Dindane | Lens | End of season |
| 28 August 2009 | MF | Jamie O'Hara | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 January 2010 |
| 1 September 2009 | MF | Hassan Yebda | Benfica | End of season |
| 29 January 2010 | FW | Quincy Owusu-Abeyie | Spartak Moscow | 31 March 2010 |
| 29 January 2010 | MF | Jamie O'Hara | Tottenham Hotspur | End of season |

### Out

Permanent
| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee |
| 2 June 2009 | DF | Djimi Traoré | Monaco | Free |
| 26 June 2009 | DF | Glen Johnson | Liverpool | £17.0M |
| 1 July 2009 | DF | Geraint Price | Stewarts & Lloyds Corby | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | DF | Sol Campbell | Notts County | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | DF | Andre Blackman | Bristol City | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | DF | Ryan Woodford | Havant & Waterlooville | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | MF | Sean Davis | Bolton Wanderers | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | MF | Louis Castles | Bognor Regis Town | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | MF | Jerome Thomas | West Bromwich Albion | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | MF | Glen Little | Sheffield United | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | MF | Lauren | Córdoba CF | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | MF | Noé Pamarot | Hércules | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | MF | Joe Collins | Unattached | Free |
| 1 July 2009 | FW | Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo | Standard Liège | Free |
| 27 July 2009 | FW | Peter Crouch | Tottenham Hotspur | £9.0M |
| 7 August 2009 | MF | Arnold Mvuemba | Lorient | Free |
| 12 August 2009 | DF | Martin Cranie | Coventry City | £0.5M |
| 27 August 2009 | DF | Sylvain Distin | Everton | £6.0M |
| 1 September 2009 | MF | Niko Kranjčar | Tottenham Hotspur | £2.5M |
| 7 December 2009 | DF | Linvoy Primus | Unattached | Retired |
| 27 January 2010 | DF | Mike Williamson | Newcastle United | £1.0M |
| 27 January 2010 | DF | Younès Kaboul | Tottenham Hotspur | £6.0M |
| 1 February 2010 | GK | Asmir Begović | Stoke City | £3.25M |
| 1 February 2010 | MF | Gauthier Mahoto | Bastia | Free |
| 24 March 2010 | GK | Antti Niemi | Unattached | Contract terminated |
| 31 March 2010 | MF | Quincy Owusu-Abeyie | Al Sadd | Loan terminated |
Loan
| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Return date |
| 27 July 2009 | FW | Ryan Gazet Du Chattelier | Weymouth | September 2009 |
| 28 July 2009 | DF | Callum Reynolds | Luton Town | 22 January 2010 |
| 1 September 2009 | MF | Matt Ritchie | Notts County | 31 December 2009 |
| 1 September 2009 | FW | David Nugent | Burnley | 25 January 2010 |
| 1 September 2009 | MF | Tom Kilbey | Dagenham & Redbridge | 1 October 2009 |
| 14 October 2009 | GK | Asmir Begović | Ipswich Town | 23 November 2009 |
| 2 January 2010 | FW | Paris Cowan-Hall | Grimsby Town | End of season |
| 5 January 2010 | DF | Luke Wilkinson | Northampton Town | 5 February 2010 |
| 7 January 2010 | MF | Marlon Pack | Dagenham and Redbridge | 5 February 2010 |
| 1 February 2010 | FW | David Nugent | Burnley | End of season |
| 25 March 2010 | DF | Duško Tošić | Queens Park Rangers | End of season |

## Matches
### Pre-season

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 21 July 2009 | Havant & Waterlooville | A | 2 – 2 | Bopp 58', 62' | 3,216 |
| 25 July 2009 | Basingstoke Town | A | 0 – 0 | | 1,588 |
| 27 July 2009 | Eastleigh | A | 1 – 6 | Kaboul 5' Cowan-Hall 10' Subotić 26' Nugent 75', 80', 88' | 1,401 |
| 31 July 2009 | Vitória de Guimarães | A | 2 – 0 | Rui Miguel 57' Custódio 87' | |
| 1 August 2009 | Benfica | A | 4 – 0 | Cardozo 16', 41' Weldon 71' Wilkinson (o.g.) 86' | |
| 8 August 2009 | Rangers | H | 2 – 0 | Piquionne 31', 51' | 9,018 |
| 8 August 2009 | Gosport Borough | H | 0 – 3 | Ritchie 13', Ashikodi **', Subotić **' | 832 |

### Competitions

| Date | Opponents | Tournament | H/A | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Referee |
| 15 August 2009 | Fulham | Premier League | H | 0 – 1 | | 17,510 | Martin Atkinson |
| 19 August 2009 | Birmingham City | Premier League | A | 0 – 1 | | 19,922 | Lee Probert |
| 22 August 2009 | Arsenal | Premier League | A | 1 – 4 | Kaboul 37' | 60,049 | Steve Bennett |
| 25 August 2009 | Hereford | League Cup | H | 4 – 1 | Piquionne 20', Utaka 23', Kranjčar 43', Hughes 56' | 6,645 | Andy D'Urso |
| 30 August 2009 | Man City | Premier League | H | 0 – 1 | | 17,826 | Howard Webb |
| 12 September 2009 | Bolton | Premier League | H | 2 – 3 | Kaboul 25', Boateng 43' | 17,564 | Chris Foy |
| 19 September 2009 | Aston Villa | Premier League | A | 0 – 2 | | 35,979 | Stuart Attwell |
| 22 September 2009 | Carlisle Utd | League Cup | A | 3 – 1 | Dindane 26', Webber 32', Vanden Borre 62' | 7,042 | Neil Swarbrick |
| 26 September 2009 | Everton | Premier League | H | 0 – 1 | | 18,116 | Alan Wiley |
| 3 October 2009 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Premier League | A | 1 – 0 | Yebda 19' | 29,023 | Howard Webb |
| 17 October 2009 | Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League | H | 1 – 2 | Boateng 59' | 20,821 | Phil Dowd |
| 24 October 2009 | Hull City | Premier League | A | 0 – 0 | | 23,720 | Stuart Attwell |
| 27 October 2009 | Stoke City | League Cup | H | 4 – 0 | Piquionne 17,59', Webber 55', Kanu 81' | 11,251 | Peter Walton |
| 31 October 2009 | Wigan Athletic | Premier League | H | 4 – 0 | Dindane 35,64,90' (pen.), Piquionne 45+3' | 18,212 | Alan Wiley |
| 7 November 2009 | Blackburn Rovers | Premier League | A | 1 – 3 | O'Hara 15' | 23,110 | Andre Marriner |
| 22 November 2009 | Stoke City | Premier League | A | 0 – 1 | | 27,069 | Kevin Friend |
| 28 November 2009 | Manchester United | Premier League | H | 1 – 4 | Boateng 32' (pen.) | 20,482 | Mike Dean |
| 1 December 2009 | Aston Villa | League Cup | H | 2 – 4 | Petrov 10' (o.g.), Kanu 87' | 17,034 | Lee Mason |
| 5 December 2009 | Burnley | Premier League | H | 2 – 0 | Hreiðarsson 65', Dindane 84' | 17,822 | Phil Dowd |
| 12 December 2009 | Sunderland | Premier League | A | 1 – 1 | Kaboul 90+3' | 37,578 | Steve Bennett |
| 16 December 2009 | Chelsea | Premier League | A | 1 – 2 | Piquionne 59' | 40,137 | Mark Clattenburg |
| 19 December 2009 | Liverpool | Premier League | H | 2 – 0 | Belhadj 33', Piquionne 82' | 20,534 | Lee Mason |
| 26 December 2009 | West Ham United | Premier League | A | 0 – 2 | | 33,686 | Lee Probert |
| 30 December 2009 | Arsenal | Premier League | H | 1 – 4 | Belhadj 74' | 20,404 | Alan Wiley |
| 2 January 2010 | Coventry City | FA Cup | H | 1 – 1 | Boateng 45' | 11,214 | Phil Dowd |
| 12 January 2010 | Coventry City | FA Cup | A | 2 – 1 | Wright 90' (o.g.), Mokoena 120+1' | 7,097 | Mike Jones |
| 23 January 2010 | Sunderland | FA Cup | H | 2 – 1 | Utaka 42,57' | 10,315 | Peter Walton |
| 26 January 2010 | West Ham | Premier League | H | 1 – 1 | Webber 76' | 18,322 | Andre Marriner |
| 31 January 2010 | Manchester City | Premier League | A | 0 – 2 | | 44,015 | Martin Atkinson |
| 3 February 2010 | Fulham | Premier League | A | 0 – 1 | | 21,934 | Anthony Taylor |
| 6 February 2010 | Manchester United | Premier League | A | 0 – 5 | | 74,684 | Lee Mason |
| 9 February 2010 | Sunderland | Premier League | H | 1 – 1 | Dindane 90+5' | 16,242 | Kevin Friend |
| 13 February 2010 | Southampton | FA Cup | A | 4 – 1 | Owusu-Abeyie 66', Dindane 75', Belhadj 82', O'Hara 85' | 31,385 | Howard Webb |
| 20 February 2010 | Stoke City | Premier League | H | 1 – 2 | Piquionne 35' | 17,208 | Mike Dean |
| 27 February 2010 | Burnley | Premier League | A | 2 – 1 | Piquionne 25', Yebda 76' (pen.) | 19,714 | Mark Clattenburg |
| 6 March 2010 | Birmingham City | FA Cup | H | 2 – 0 | Piquionne 67,70' | 20,456 | Steve Bennett |
| 9 March 2010 | Birmingham City | Premier League | H | 1 – 2 | Kanu 90+2' | 18,465 | Mike Jones |
| 15 March 2010 | Liverpool | Premier League | A | 1 – 4 | Belhadj 88' | 40,316 | Stuart Attwell |
| 20 March 2010 | Hull City | Premier League | H | 3 – 2 | Smith 37', O'Hara 88', Kanu 89' | 16,513 | Phil Dowd |
| 24 March 2010 | Chelsea | Premier League | H | 0 – 5 | | 18,753 | Lee Mason |
| 27 March 2010 | Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League | A | 0 – 2 | | 35,870 | Kevin Friend |
| 3 April 2010 | Blackburn Rovers | Premier League | H | 0 – 0 | | 16,207 | Steve Bennett |
| 11 April 2010 | Tottenham Hotspur | FA Cup | N | 2 – 0 | Piquionne 99', Boateng 117' (pen.) | 84,602 | Alan Wiley |
| 14 April 2010 | Wigan Athletic | Premier League | A | 0 – 0 | | 14,323 | Mike Dean |
| 18 April 2010 | Aston Villa | Premier League | H | 1 – 2 | Brown 10' | 16,523 | Lee Probert |
| 24 April 2010 | Bolton Wanderers | Premier League | A | 2 – 2 | Dindane 54,68' | 20,526 | Howard Webb |
| 1 May 2010 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Premier League | H | 3 – 1 | Dindane 20', Utaka 39', Brown 67' | 19,213 | Mike Jones |
| 9 May 2010 | Everton | Premier League | A | 0 – 1 | | 38,730 | Peter Walton |
| 15 May 2010 | Chelsea | FA Cup | N | 0 – 1 | | 88,335 | Chris Foy |

## Premier League
### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | D | W | L | L | L | W | D | L | W | L | L | D | L | L | L | D | L | W | L | L | W | L | L | D | D | L | D | W | L |
| Position | 15 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Wigan Athletic | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 37 | 79 | −42 | 36 | |
| 17 | West Ham United | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 47 | 66 | −19 | 35 | |
| 18 | Burnley (R) | 38 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 42 | 82 | −40 | 30 | Relegation to Football League Championship |
| 19 | Hull City (R) | 38 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 34 | 75 | −41 | 30 | Relegation to Football League Championship |
| 20 | Portsmouth (R) | 38 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 34 | 66 | −32 | 19 | Relegation to Football League Championship |
* ↑ Portsmouth were docked nine points for entering administration.