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The English Premier League
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The Premier League is an English professional league for
football clubs.
At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's
primary football competition. It is contested by 20 clubs, operating a
system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier
League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as
shareholders. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38
games each. It is sponsored by Barclays Bank, and is therefore
officially known as the Barclays Premier League.
The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992
following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to
break away from The Football League, which was originally founded in
1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. The
Premier League has since become the world's most watched sporting
league. It is the world's most lucrative football league, with combined
club revenues of around £1.4 billion in 200506, which are expected to
rise to around £1.8 billion for 200708 due to media revenues. It is
also ranked first in the UEFA rankings of leagues based on performances
in European competitions over the last five-years, ahead of Spain's La
Liga and Italy's Serie A.
A total of 42 clubs have competed in the Premier League, but only four
have won the title: Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, and
Chelsea. The current champions are Manchester United, who won their
tenth Premier League title in the 200708 season, the most of any
Premier League team.
Origins
Despite
significant European success during the 1970s, the 1980s had marked a
low point for English football. Stadiums were crumbling, supporters
endured poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, and English clubs were
banned from European competition following the events at Heysel in 1985.
The Football League First Division, which had been the top level of
English football since 1888, was well behind leagues such as Italy's
Serie A and Spain's La Liga in attendances and revenues, and several top
English players had moved abroad. However, by the turn of the 1990s the
downward trend was starting to reverse; England had been successful in
the 1990 FIFA World Cup, reaching the semi-finals. UEFA, European
football's governing body, lifted the five-year ban on English clubs
playing in European competitions in 1990 and the Taylor Report on
stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to create
all-seater stadiums in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, was
published in January of that year.
Television money had also become much more important; the Football
League received £6.3million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but when
that deal was renewed in 1988, the price rose to £44m over four
years.[7] The 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway
league; ten clubs threatened to leave and form a "super league", but
were eventually persuaded to stay.[8] As stadiums improved and match
attendance and revenues rose, the country's top teams again considered
leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the growing influx
of money being pumped into the sport.
Foundation
At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal for the establishment of
a new league was tabled that would bring more money into the game
overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the
game's top-flight clubs, established the basic principles for setting up
the FA Premier League.[9] The newly formed top division would have
commercial independence from the Football Association and the Football
League, giving the FA Premier League license to negotiate its own
broadcast and sponsorship agreements. The argument given at the time was
that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams
across Europe.
In 1992 the First Division clubs resigned from the Football League en
masse and on 27 May 1992 the FA Premier League was formed as a limited
company working out of an office at the Football Association's then
headquarters in Lancaster Gate.[5] This meant a break-up of the
104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four
divisions; the Premier League would operate with a single division and
the Football League with three. There was no change in competition
format; the same number of teams competed in the top flight, and
promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the new First
Division remained on the same terms as between the old First and Second
Divisions.
The 22 inaugural members of the new Premier League were Arsenal, Aston
Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace,
Everton, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City,
Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest,
Oldham Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Sheffield
Wednesday, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wimbledon.
Establishment
As of the end of the 200708 season, there had been 16 completed seasons
of the Premier League. The league held its first season in 199293 and
was originally composed of 22 clubs. The first ever Premier League goal
was scored by Brian Deane of Sheffield United in a 21 win against
Manchester United. Due to insistence by FIFA, the international
governing body of football, that domestic leagues reduce the number of
games clubs played, the number of clubs was reduced to 20 in 1995 when
four teams were relegated from the league and only two teams promoted.
On 8 June 2006, FIFA requested that all major European leagues,
including Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga be reduced to 18 teams by
the start of the 200708 season. The Premier League responded by
announcing their intention to resist such a reduction. Ultimately the
200708 season kicked off again with 20 teams. The league changed its
name from the FA Premier League to simply the Premier League in 2007.
Premier League champions
Season Winner
199293 Manchester United
199394 Manchester United
199495 Blackburn Rovers
199596 Manchester United
199697 Manchester United
199798 Arsenal
199899 Manchester United
19992000 Manchester United
200001 Manchester United
200102 Arsenal
200203 Manchester United
200304 Arsenal
200405 Chelsea
200506 Chelsea
200607 Manchester United
200708 Manchester United
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