Premier League

The Premier League (also known as the English Premier League or EPL outside England) is the highest division in English football and is therefore at the top level of the English league system. Currently, 20 clubs participate in a round of matches played between August and May of the following year. Through a promotion and relegation arrangement with the Football League Association below, an exchange of three clubs takes place annually after the end of the season.

Founded on 20 February 1992 as the "FA Premier League", the division officially began play on 15 August of the same year. The clubs of the then elite First Division thus benefited considerably from significantly increased television revenues and split from the Football League, which itself thus lost the dominance it had enjoyed since 1888 as a platform for top-flight English and Welsh football. The Premier League has since become the world's most watched sports league.

Of the now 45 participating clubs, 7 teams have won the Premier League so far: Manchester United (13 titles), Chelsea FC and Manchester City (5 titles each), Arsenal FC (3 titles), Liverpool FC, Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City (one title each). The record English Championship champion since 2009 has also been Manchester United with 20 titles (sole record holder since 2011; most recently in 2013), followed by Liverpool FC with 19 championships. In addition to 43 clubs from England, two clubs from Wales also participated in the Premier League with Swansea City (last 2017/18) and Cardiff City (last 2018/19).

The women's counterpart is the FA Women's Premier League (or, more accurately, the FA Women's Premier League National Division), where clubs have more or less dependent links with the prestigious men's Premier League and Football League clubs. Nevertheless, the women's league has a rather semi-professional character and has a much lower public resonance compared to the men's sector.

The Premier Reserve League has existed for the reserve teams of professional clubs since 1999. Since the 2006/07 season, only teams of Premier League participants have been eligible to play in this league. In addition to the substitutes who are not part of the official professional squad, the young talents of the Premier League clubs are primarily used there. This was replaced for the 2012/13 season by the "Under-21 Premier League" with a total of 24 teams (17 Premier League, 7 Championship).

Since the 2016/17 season, the league has been sporting a new logo and bears the advertising-free name The Premier League, as the contract with Barclays, which had been in place since 2004, was not continued at the end of the 2016 season.

In June 2016, the Premier League became political, advocating for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union just days before the referendum on Brexit, arguing that the league stood for openness and internationalism.

History

Previous story

The 1980s marked a low point in English football. The difficult economic situation, which also affected football fans, dilapidated stadiums and the widespread hooligan problem, which among other things had led to the exclusion of English clubs from European club competitions after the events at the Heysel Stadium in 1985, were responsible for the fact that the English Football League First Division, which had existed since 1888, had fallen significantly behind other foreign elite classes - such as the Italian Serie A and the Spanish Primera División - in terms of spectator numbers and economic power. In addition, more and more top domestic players were striving to play in the best leagues of other nations. This downward trend was halted in 1990, when the England national football team played a successful World Cup in Italy, only being eliminated in the semi-finals by Germany on penalties. In the same year, the European football association UEFA ended the ban on English football clubs. In addition, the "Taylor Report", a document on stadium safety, had already been drawn up in January, promising to convert all venues into seat-only stadiums.

Television revenue had also increased significantly. Whereas in 1986 the Football League had sold the broadcasting rights for two years for a mere £6.3 million, in 1988 the sum rose to £44 million in the four-year contract. During the negotiations in 1988, voices were raised for the first time, with ten clubs threatening to leave the association in order to form their own "Super League". However, they were persuaded to stay for the time being. However, as stadiums continued to improve and attendances, and therefore revenues, increased, the top clubs again expressed their thoughts of leaving the Football League in order to benefit more from the significant increase in money now being invested in football.

Foundation and participants

In the first season 1992/93 22 clubs took part. The first goal was scored by Brian Deane as SheffieldUnited beat eventual champions Manchester United 2-1. In 1995, following an intervention by FIFA, the world football governing body, the Premier League reduced the division to 20 clubs by relegating four teams while only two clubs were promoted. FIFA last called for a further reduction to 18 clubs at the start of the 2007/08 season on 8 June 2006, as it did in Italy and Spain, but the Premier League rejected this proposal.

On 12 February 2007, the league shortened its official name from "FA Premier League" to "Premier League". Participation in the Premier League is not reserved for English football clubs only. On 30 May 2011, Welsh club Swansea City won the play-off final against Reading FC 4-2 at London's Wembley Stadium, becoming the first non-English football club in the Premier League. Cardiff City became the second Welsh club to make it into the Premier League on 16 April 2013. A 0-0 draw against Charlton Athletic on matchday 43 secured the club's early promotion. This was the first time that two Welsh clubs played in the Premier League in the 2013/14 season.

In addition, there is sporadic speculation about the Scottish top clubs joining the English Premier League. However, these considerations have not yet led to any concrete plans. After the forced relegation of Glasgow Rangers (2012), this topic was not taken up again.

Organization

The Premier League operates as an independent company jointly owned by the 20 participating clubs. Each club is considered a shareholder with exactly one vote in contractual matters and rule changes. The clubs elect a chairman, a chief executive officer ("CEO") and a board of directors who oversee the day-to-day running of the league. The English Football Association ("FA") is not itself involved in the day-to-day running of the Premier League but, as a special shareholder, has a veto right over the election of the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer, as well as over the implementation of rule changes. The Premier League sends representatives to UEFA's European Club Forum, with the number of clubs and the clubs themselves selected being based on a special coefficient set by the European Football Association. The European Club Forum elects three members to the Club Competitions Committee, which is involved in the operational business of UEFA competitions, including in particular the Champions League and the Europa League.