A Brief History Of The English Premier League

By Peter C

Football (also known as soccer) remains the most popular sport in the world because football leagues like the English Premier League control an incredible number of fans. Established in 1992, the Premier League has experienced dramatic improvements to become the most-watched sports league globally, with more than 1.4 billion followers worldwide.

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History

Before the establishment of the Premier League in 1992, English clubs were faced with enormous problems, ranging from poor handling of football matches to the unruly behaviors of their fans, which badly affected their reputation.

However, efforts were made by concerned bodies to change these anomalies, leading to the acceptance of English clubs back into the UEFA Champions League.

Because English clubs were struggling financially and couldn’t compete with clubs in other European leagues when signing big players, they took advantage of a TV rights sale offer from Sky and other satellite broadcasters.

This led to the collapse of the existing league, the Football League First Division, following the breakaway of all top-division clubs to form a new league, the Premier League.

Structure

The Premier League structure comprises 20 member clubs. A typical Premier League season starts from August to May every year, with all participating teams battling it out with each other, home and away, to become the league champions. The club with the highest points wins and is automatically crowned the league champions.

The last three clubs on the league table at the completion of the season get relegated to the Championship, the second top league in England, and are replaced by the top 3 clubs from the Championship to participate in the Premier League the following season.

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Since 1992, with 30 completed seasons, Manchester United has been the most successful club in the league after winning ten times. Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Blackburn, and Leicester have also won the league.