In London, 2023 will go down as the year of Arsenal's rise and Chelsea's fall; West Ham as a European champion; change at Tottenham; and stability at Brentford, Crystal Palace and Fulham.
Arsenal have the most compelling case as the capital's team of the year, likely to finish 2023 in the same position they started it: top of the Premier League.
In between, they were agonisingly leapfrogged by Manchester City when it really mattered, for few short weeks at the end of last season, but Mikel Arteta's side have already shown more than enough since to suggest the biggest trophies should come eventually.
The club’s summer business has not yet been fully vindicated, but the addition of Declan Rice from West Ham, at least, has ensured Arsenal are now better equipped to dethrone City in the year ahead. Arteta's side are duller, perhaps, but steelier, with more variety and depth.
Rice's former club also have a case as the capital's standout team, after winning the Europa Conference League in June, Jarrod Bowen's 90th-minute winner against Fiorentina ending the Hammers' 43-year wait for major silverware.
David Moyes, the West Ham manager, spent the year fearing for his job - and still is - but that heady night in Prague was a crowning vindication for the Scot, writing him into the club's history books, and the perfect send-off for Rice.
The Hammers have spent the Rice windfall smartly and, arguably, have a more complete team this season as they eye another European push.
As for Chelsea, where to start? The last 12 months will be remembered for their unprecedented spending under new owners, Clearlake Capital, the full implications of which - positive or negative - remain hazy.
In terms of their results, it was undoubtedly an annus horribilis. At the time of writing, they rank in the bottom three of clubs to have been in the Premier League for the entirety of 2023 on a points-per-game basis; their coach, Mauricio Pochettino, is under pressure, in spite of last night’s Carabao Cup penalty shootout heroics which took them one step closer to Wembley; and January promises further turnover: more expensive new signings and, perhaps, more academy players on the scrapheap.
Co-owner Todd Boehly's profile at Stamford Bridge was part of a trend of rising US interest and influence in the game over the year, also illustrated by Messimania in Miami and Wrexham's trajectory under Hollywood backers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
For Spurs, 2023 will go down as the end of the Harry Kane era and chairman Daniel Levy's failed experiment with 'win now' managers, as well as the start of something more exciting under Ange Postecoglou.
After Antonio Conte's sacking in March and the reluctant sale of Kane to Bayern Munich over the summer, it appeared a long route back to the elite for Spurs, but Postecoglou has transformed the club's prospects with remarkable speed and conviction. A brighter future should beckon if the club gets fully behind the Australian.
Kane's move to Bayern and Jude Bellingham's transfer to Real Madrid were the deals of the year and make for an interesting contrast: the Premier League increasingly dwarves Europe's other major competitions, but England's two best players both compete overseas.
Brentford, Fulham and Palace all finish the year much as they started it, safely ensconced in mid-table and with little prospect of being dragged into a relegation scrap, given the shortcomings of promoted trio Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton.
All three London clubs lost their star player of last season, with Wilfried Zaha swapping Palace for Galatasaray and Aleksandr Mitrovic lured from Fulham to the Saudi Pro League, though Brentford's Ivan Toney will be back from an eight-month betting ban in the New Year, albeit likely before making a big move elsewhere.
Toney was not the only top-flight player hit with a lengthy betting ban in 2023, with Newcastle's Sandro Tonali suspended for 10 months in October, as the game begins to confront its unhealthy relationship with gambling.
No mention of 2023 would be complete without an acknowledgement of the trailblazing Lionesses, who became the first England team since 1966 to reach a World Cup Final and the only one to do so on foreign soil, after an inspiring run at the finals in Australia and New Zealand.
The fallout from Spain's win over England in the Sydney final, triggered by Spanish football president Luis Rubiales’s unwanted kiss on Jenni Hermoso, illustrates that there is still a long way to go for the women's game, but in this country there remains encouraging momentum behind the sport's growth.
Unlike their successful and seamless triumph in the European Championship, Sarina Wiegman's side had to overcome the odds, travelling Down Under without half their XI from the previous summer and facing a series of setbacks during the tournament.
In fact, with their strong links to the capital, including stand-in captain Millie Bright and breakout star Lauren James, the Lionesses, too, have a case to be our team of the year.
