Premier League

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For other sports leagues which may be referred to by this name, see List of professional sports leagues.
Premier League
2007-08 Season
Logo of the Premier League
Founded
1992
Nation
Flag of England England
Relegation To
The Championship
Number of Teams
20
Level on Pyramid
Level 1
European Qualification
Champions League
UEFA Cup
Intertoto Cup
Domestic Cups
FA Cup
League Cup
Current Champions (2006–07)
Manchester United
Website
Official Site
The original FA Premier League logo, used until 2007
The original FA Premier League logo, used until 2007

The Premier League (officially known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons, colloquially known as The Premiership), is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top echelon of the English football league system (above The Football League). It is the world's most watched sporting league, and the most lucrative football league.[1] Based solely on the performances of member clubs in European competitions over a five-year period, with the 2006/07 season results in consideration, the Premier League is unofficially ranked second[2] behind Spain's La Liga, but ahead of Italy's Serie A in the UEFA rankings of European leagues; this is an improvement on the third place from the official rankings up to the 2005–06 season.[3]

The FA Premier League (as it was then known) was formed in 1992 from the clubs in the top division of The Football League, and is currently contested by twenty clubs. In a total of fifteen seasons, the title has been won by only four teams: Manchester United (nine times), Arsenal (three times), Chelsea (twice), and Blackburn Rovers (once). In every campaign to date, a team managed by a non-English manager has triumphed. The current Premier League champions are Manchester United, who won the title with two games remaining of the 2006–07 season.

The FA Women's Premier League, more specifically the National Division, is the Premiership's female counterpart, as most of its clubs are affiliated with Premiership and Football League sides; however, the league is semi-professional and has a much lower profile than the men's game.

The 2007–08 Season sees the Premier League introduce a new theme song, logo, typeface for player names and numbers, and patches.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

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 foreign 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 all-seater stadiums, was published in January of that year.

[edit] Establishment

After the top sides in England's demands for a bigger share of television revenue were not met, the top 22 teams broke off the First Division and formed a new league: The FA Premier League

The league held its first season in 1992–93 and was originally composed of 22 clubs. The first ever Premiership goal was scored by Brian Deane of Sheffield United in a 2–1 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 were 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 2007–08 season. The Premier League responded by announcing their intention to resist such a reduction.[4] Ultimately the 2007-08 season kicked off again with 20 teams.

The league changed its name from the 'FA Premier League' to simply the 'Premier League' on February 12, 2007.

[edit] Structure

The Premier League is operated as a corporation that is owned by the 20 member clubs. Each club is considered a shareholder with one vote each on such issues as rule changes and contracts. The clubs elect a Chairman, Chief Executive, and Board of Directors to oversee the daily operations of the league.[5] The Football Association is not directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the Premier League, but has veto power as a special shareholder during the election of the Chairman and Chief Executive and when new rules are adopted by the league.[6]

The Premier League sends representatives to UEFA's European Club Forum, the number of clubs and the clubs themselves chosen according to UEFA coefficients. The European Club Forum is responsible for electing three members to UEFA's Club Competitions Committee, which is involved in the operations of UEFA competitions such as the Champions League and UEFA Cup.[7]

[edit] Competition format and sponsorship

[edit] Competition

There are 20 clubs in the Premier League. During the course of a season (which lasts from August to May) each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents for a total of 38 games for each club per season. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as champion. If points are equal the goal difference and goals scored then determines the winner. If still equal they are deemed to occupy the same position; if the champions, teams for relegation or qualification for other competitions thus cannot be decided, a series of play-off matches are played between the affected teams at neutral venues (this has yet to occur). The three lowest placed teams are relegated into the Football League Championship and the top two teams from the Championship, together with the winner of play-offs involving the third to sixth placed Championship clubs, are promoted in their place.

[edit] Qualification for European competitions

The top four teams in the Premiership qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the top two teams directly entering the group phase. The third and fourth placed teams enter the competition at the third qualifying round and must win a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group phase. The fifth placed team automatically qualifies for the UEFA Cup, and the sixth and seventh placed teams can also qualify, depending on what happens in the two domestic cup competitions. If the FA Cup winners and runners-up both finish in the top five of the Premier League, the FA Cup's UEFA Cup spot goes to the sixth placed team in the League. If the League Cup (Carling cup) is won by a team that has already qualified for Europe, the League Cup's UEFA Cup spot also goes to the next highest placed team in the League (unlike the FA Cup spot, it is never transferred to the losing finalist). The highest placed team that has not qualified for the UEFA Cup is allowed the opportunity to compete in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, provided they have applied to enter the Intertoto Cup in the next season. This provides another means of getting into the UEFA Cup, as winners of all eleven third-round Intertoto Cup ties qualify for that tournament.

Bolton Wanderers and Fulham compete in the FA Cup.
Bolton Wanderers and Fulham compete in the FA Cup.

Technically, the FA can nominate any team in the league system to represent them in Europe; however, understandably and just as in all the other major leagues, only the teams that finished top of their highest league are sent. This issue presented itself in 2005 when Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League, but failed to finish high enough in the Premier League to be entered into the following year's tournament. Initially, this would have meant that for the first time in the competition's history the defending champions would not have been allowed to defend their trophy. In fact, a similar situation had occurred at the start of the 2000–01 Champions League, when defending champions Real Madrid from Spain did not finish high enough to qualify. In that situation, they were allowed to qualify by sacrificing the fourth placed qualifier that year. However, the FA insisted on its policy of only entering the four highest qualifiers. In addition, Everton (who finished fourth in the Premier League that year) justly bemoaned the fact that they would lose their place, which they had earned. UEFA, although initially reluctant to alter the rules, were forced to admit five English teams to the Champions League that year after receiving support from their own president Lennart Johansson,[8] FIFA president Sepp Blatter,[9] and prominent members of the game such as Franz Beckenbauer.[10] Subsequently, UEFA ruled that the defending champions of the trophy qualify for the competition the following year regardless of their domestic league placing. This means that, in future, if a team wins the Champions League but finishes outside the top four in the Premier League, the team will be entered into the next season's Champions League at the expense of the fourth-placed team in leagues permitted to enter four clubs.

The Premiership was recently promoted to second in the UEFA rankings of European leagues based on their performances in European competitions over a five year period, behind Spain's La Liga and now above Italy's Serie A.[11] The top three leagues in Europe are currently allowed to enter four teams into the Champions League, although the new UEFA president Michel Platini has proposed changing the rules so as to limit any league's Champions League contingent to three at some point in the future.

[edit] Sponsorship

Since 1993, the Premier League has been sponsored. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition:

  • 1993–2001: Carling (FA Carling Premiership)
  • 2001–2004: Barclaycard (Barclaycard Premiership)
  • 2004–2010: Barclays (Barclays Premiership (2004–2007) then Barclays Premier League (2007–2010))

[edit] Finances

The Premier League is the most lucrative football league in the world, with total club revenues of over £1.4 billion in 2005–06 season according to Deloitte, 40% above its nearest competitor: Italy's Serie A.[12] Revenues will increase to approximately £1.8 billion in the 2007–08 season,[13] when new media rights deals start (see below). Based on November 2007 exchange rates, £1.8 billion converts to a gross annual league revenue of about US$3.76 billion. For the past few seasons, the Premier League's gross revenue (£1.4bn) has been the fourth highest for any sports league worldwide, behind the annual revenues of the three most popular North American major sports leagues (the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association), but slightly ahead of the National Hockey League. The new TV deal is expected to give the Premier League total revenue comparable to that of the NBA. However, considering that the Premier League has only 20 clubs (compared to 32 in the NFL and 30 in the other major North American leagues), at roughly US$188 million, the Premier League's average annual per-team revenues are expected to fall only slightly behind the NFL's, which has an average per-team annual revenue of over US$190 million. [1]

In 2007, the Premier League negotiated a new TV rights deal which will bring in around £2.7 billion over three years, of which Sky will pay £1.314 billion for 92 games per year, Setanta will pay £392 million for 46 games per year, foreign TV rights will pay £625 million, and Internet and Mobile Phone deals around £400 million. To compare how this new deal will impact the league compared to the old one, with the previous deal the top club in Premier League received roughly £30 million and the bottom placed team received around £16 million; with the new deal, the bottom placed team will now receive around £30 million, and the winners will receive around £50 million, which is comparable to what each NFL team receives from their TV rights deal (since they share their revenue evenly).[14] This new TV deal is, by some margin, the second richest set of television contracts by any sports league in the world on a gross basis, behind only the NFL, which has annual gross TV revenue of US$3.1 billion (compared to US$1.8 billion per year for the Premier League based on September 2007 exchange rates). However, since the NFL has more teams than the Premier League, the Premier League's TV deal is almost comparable to the NFL deal on a per-team basis, which is higher by less than US$10 million.

Apart from television revenue, Premier League clubs also earn revenue from participating in European competitions; most notably the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup. The former competition can be highly lucrative for clubs, especially if they advance to the latter stages of the tournament: Liverpool received a £20.5 million share of UEFA's television revenue for winning the competition in 2005, and Arsenal received about £22.4 million from UEFA the following season despite finishing runners-up in the tournament (due to the large revenues generated by the English television market, they actually received more money than winners F.C. Barcelona). Liverpool reached the final again in 2007 and stand to benefit from UEFA's new, more lucrative deal. However, they will receive a smaller share of the increased total revenue this time around because two other Premier League clubs (Chelsea and Manchester United) also made it to the semi-finals and will receive significant shares of their own (£8 million each plus TV market pool shares and bonuses).[15][16]

Although there is considerable disparity in Premier League club's revenue by American standards, the league's 20 clubs do distribute their league revenue far more equally compared to clubs in the other European leagues. For this reason, Deloitte, who annually release figures on club revenues through its "Football Money League", currently list eight Premier League clubs in the top 20 of the "Money League." No other league has more than four clubs in this table, and while La Liga rivals Real Madrid and F.C. Barcelona are currently ranked #1 and #2, no other Spanish clubs are listed in the top 20. Premier League teams have dominated the list for many years, and even topped the list for almost a decade until the 2004–05 season. After the Premier League's new TV deal comes into effect, the league-wide increase in revenues is expected to increase the Premier League clubs' standing in the list, and a Premier League club (based on data released so far, most likely to be Arsenal[17], but possibly also Manchester United) may regain the top spot.

Another significant source of regular income for Premier League clubs remains their revenue from stadium attendances, which, with the 2005–06 average attendance of 34,364 for league matches, is the fourth highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world, ahead of Serie A and La Liga, but behind the German Bundesliga. This represents an increase of over 60% from the average attendance of 21,126 recorded in the league's first season (1992–93).[18] However, during the 1992–93 season the capacities of most stadiums were reduced as clubs replaced terraces with seats in order to meet the Taylor Report's 1994–95 deadline for all-seater stadiums.[19][20] The 2005–06 figure, however, is lower than the Premier League's record average attendance of 35,464, set during the 2002–03 season.[21]

[edit] Media coverage

[edit] England

See also: English football on television
A 2004 match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur
A 2004 match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur

Television has played a major role in the history of the Premier League. The money from television rights has been vital in helping to create excellence both on and off the field. The League's decision to assign broadcasting rights to BSkyB in 1992 was at the time a radical decision, but one that has paid off. At the time pay television was an almost untested proposition in the UK market, as was charging fans to watch live televised football. However, a combination of Sky's strategy, the quality of Premier League football and the public's appetite for the game has seen the value of the Premier League's TV rights soar. It also saw the creation of regularly scheduled games on Sundays and Mondays, taking a page from the U.S. National Football League's Sunday Night and Monday Night games. In both cases, the featured TV games are normally the only ones played at that time.

The Premier League sells its television rights on a collective basis. This is in contrast to some European Leagues, including Serie A and La Liga, in which each club sells its rights individually, leading to a much higher share of the total income going to the top few clubs. The money is divided into three parts:[22] half is divided equally between the clubs; one quarter is awarded on a merit basis based on final league position, the top club getting twenty times as much as the bottom club, and equal steps all the way down the table; the final quarter is paid out as facilities fees for games that are shown on television, with the top clubs generally receiving the largest shares of this. The income from overseas rights is divided equally between the twenty clubs.

The first Sky television rights agreement was worth £191 million over five seasons.[23] The next contract, negotiated to start from the 1997–98 season, rose to £670 million over four seasons.[23] The third contract was a £1.024 billion deal with BSkyB for the three seasons from 2004–05 to 2006–07. The league brought in £320 million from the sale of its international rights for the three-year period from 2004–05 to 2006–07. It sold the rights itself on a territory-by-territory basis.[24] Sky's monopoly was broken from August 2006 when Setanta Sports was awarded rights to show two out of the six packages of matches available. This occurred following an insistence by the European Commission that exclusive rights should not be sold to one television company. Sky and Setanta paid a total of £1.7 billion, a two-thirds increase which took many commentators by surprise as it had been widely assumed that the value of the rights had levelled off following many years of rapid growth. The BBC has retained the rights to show highlights for the same three seasons (on Match of the Day) for £171.6 million, a 63% increase on the £105 million it paid for the previous three year period.[25] Sky and BT have agreed to jointly pay £84.3 million for delayed television rights to 242 games (that is the right to broadcast them in full on television and over the internet) in most cases for a period of 50 hours after 10 pm on matchday.[26] Overseas television rights fetched £625 million, nearly double the previous contract,[27] and there was also a smaller deal for mobile phone rights. The total raised from these deals is more than £2.7 billion, giving Premiership clubs an average media income from league games of £45 million a year from 2007 to 2010. They also receive smaller amounts from media rights for the domestic cups and in some cases substantial amounts from media rights for European matches.

The TV rights agreement between the Premier League and Sky has faced accusations of being a cartel, and a number of court cases have arisen as a result. An investigation by the Office of Fair Trading in 2002 found BSkyB to be dominant within the pay TV sports market, but concluded that there were insufficient grounds for the claim that BSkyB had abused its dominant position.[28] In July 1999 the Premier League's method of selling rights collectively for all member clubs was investigated by the UK Restrictive Practices Court, who concluded that the agreement was not contrary to the public interest.[29]

[edit] Worldwide

Promoted as "The Greatest Show On Earth", the Premier League is the world's most popular and most watched sporting league, followed worldwide by around half a billion people.[30] It is widely watched overseas, with matches being shown in 195 countries,[31] generally on networks owned and/or controlled by NewsCorp, which owns BSkyB and thus the primary UK and Ireland TV rights. NewsCorp has purchased ad space at some Premier League stadiums to promote Fox Soccer Channel, which is part of the company's US division (as in Britain and Ireland, the rights are shared with Setanta Sports). NewsCorp's Australian division, among others, also televises matches. Rogers Sportsnet, The Score and Setanta in Canada split the rights. The Premier League is particularly popular in Asia, where it is the most widely distributed sports programme.[32] In the People's Republic of China, matches attract television audiences between 100 million and 360 million, more than any other foreign sport, although pay television is relatively new to that region, so future audience numbers are somewhat uncertain.[33] Due to this popularity, the league has held two pre-season tournaments in Asia, the only Premier League affiliated tournaments ever to have been held outside England. In July 2003 the FA Premier League Asia Cup was held in Malaysia, featuring three Premiership clubs, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Birmingham City, and the Malaysia national team.[34] In 2005 the Asia Trophy featured a similar format, held in Thailand and featuring the Thailand national team competing against three English clubs — Everton, Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers, the latter of whom won the trophy.[35] In 2007, the FA Premier League Asia Cup took place in Hong Kong, to be renamed the Barclays Asia Trophy and featured Liverpool, Portsmouth, Fulham and the Hong Kong FA Cup winning team, South China.

Radio coverage of the Premier League can also be heard in the United States and Canada on Sirius Satellite Radio; several other countries also have radio broadcasters with Premier League coverage.

The FA has faced difficulty fighting internet copyright infringement. In an effort to stop the broadcasting of streams of live games on the net they have hired NetResult, a company that specializes on protecting trademark rights online. Although NetResult has cut down the number of sites offering free streams some see their actions as heavy handed. The BBC reported that NetResult, on behalf of the Premier League, emailed a warning to 101greatgoals.blogspot.com, an independent website that links to youtube videos, that forced its temporary closure.[36]

Recent overseas TV rights deals have sometimes included internet and/or mobile phone rights, taking advantage of technology to restrict usage to the countries included under the contract.

[edit] Players

Premier League clubs have almost complete freedom to sign whatever number and category of players they wish. There is no team or individual salary cap, no squad size limit, no age restrictions other than those applied by general employment law, no restrictions on the overall number of foreign players, and few restrictions on individual foreign players - all players with EU nationality, including those able to claim an EU passport through a parent or grandparent, are eligible to play, and top players from outside the EU are able to obtain UK work permits. The only area where the Premiership's player registration rules are more restrictive than those of some other football leagues, such as those of those of Belgium and Portugal, is that academy level non-EU players have little access to English football.

At the inception of the Premier League in 1992–93, just eleven players named in the starting line-ups for the first round of matches were 'foreign' (players hailing from outside of the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland).[37] By 2000–01, the number of foreign players participating in the Premiership was 36%. In the 2004–5 season the figure had increased to 45%. On 26 December 1999, Chelsea became the first Premier League side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up,[38] and on 14 February 2005 Arsenal were the first to name a completely foreign 16-man squad for a match.[39]

In response to concerns that clubs were increasingly passing over young British players in favour of signing less-expensive foreign players, the Home Office in 1999 tightened its rules for granting work permits to players from countries outside of the European Union.[40] Currently a non-EU player applying for the permit must have played for his country in at least 75% of its competitive 'A' team matches for which he was available for selection during the previous two years, and his country must have averaged at least 70th place in the official FIFA world rankings over the previous two years. If a player does not meet those criteria, the club wishing to sign him may appeal if they believe that he is a special talent and "able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in the UK."[41]

Despite being an English competition, no English manager has ever actually won the Premier League. Only four different managers have won the title as of 2006: two Scots (Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United and Kenny Dalglish, Blackburn Rovers), a Frenchman (Arsène Wenger, Arsenal) and a Portuguese (José Mourinho, Chelsea). Two English managers have achieved second place in the Premiership. They are Ron Atkinson (Aston Villa in 1993) and Kevin Keegan (Newcastle United in 1996).

Over 260 foreign players compete in the league, and 101 players from England's domestic leagues competed in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the Premier League was the most represented league with more than eighty players in the competition, including 21 of the 23 players in England's squad.

As a result of the increasingly lucrative television deals, player wages rose sharply following the formation of the Premier League. In the first Premier League season the average player wage was £75,000 per year,[42] but subsequently rose by an average 20% per year for a decade,[43] peaking in the 2003–04 season, when the annual salary of the average Premier League player was £676,000.[44]

[edit] Transfer records

The first few seasons of the Premier League saw the record transfer fee paid by English clubs broken almost every season, a practice that resumed in the first few years of the twenty-first century.


  • £3.30 million in June 1992 (Alan Shearer, Southampton to Blackburn Rovers)
  • £3.75 million in June 1993 (Roy Keane, Nottingham Forest to Manchester United)
  • £5 million in July 1994 (Chris Sutton, Norwich City to Blackburn Rovers)
  • £7 million in January 1995 (Andy Cole, Newcastle United to Manchester United)
  • £7.5 million in June 1995 (Dennis Bergkamp, Inter Milan to Arsenal)
  • £8.5 million in July 1995 (Stan Collymore, Nottingham Forest to Liverpool)
  • £15 million in July 1996 (Alan Shearer, Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United)
  • £18 million in November 2000 (Rio Ferdinand, West Ham United to Leeds United)
  • £19 million in May 2001 (Ruud van Nistelrooy, PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United)
  • £28.1 million in July 2001 (Juan Sebastián Verón, Lazio to Manchester United)
  • £29 million in July 2002 (Rio Ferdinand, Leeds United to Manchester United)
  • £30 million in August 2004 (Wayne Rooney,Everton to Manchester United)
  • £30 million in August 2006 (Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan to Chelsea)

Alan Shearer's £15-million record lasted nearly five years in England, although his worldwide record was broken within a year. Andriy Shevchenko's record lasts to this day. The creation of the Premier League, therefore, has seen the record fee paid by English clubs broken 11 times in under 15 years. The highest fee paid for a teenager is £29.85 million. This fee was paid by Manchester United to Everton for England striker Wayne Rooney in 2004, including installments and bonuses.

[edit] Premier League problems

Although the Premier League was created with the goal of bettering the quality of the top flight of English football, some problems have arisen as the competition's standards have attained a difference from the old Football League First Division standards. These problems actually predate the Premiership, but have just become more accentuated through it.

[edit] Premiership-Football League gulf

Main article: Premiership-Football League gulf

Since its split with the Football League, many established clubs in the Premier League have managed to distance themselves from their counterparts in lower leagues. Owing in large part to the disparity in revenue from television rights between the leagues,[45] many newly promoted teams have found it difficult to avoid relegation in their first season in the Premier League. In every season except 2001–02 (Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham F.C.) at least one Premier League newcomer has been relegated back to the Football League. In 1997–98 all three promoted clubs were relegated at the end of the season.

The Premier League distributes a small portion of its television revenue to clubs that are relegated from the league in the form of "parachute payments". Starting with the 2006–07 season, these payments are in the amount of £6.5 million over the club's first two seasons in lower leagues, although this is set to rise to £11.2 million per year for clubs relegated in 2007–2008.[45] Designed to help teams adjust to the loss of television revenues (the average Premier League team receives £45 million while the average Football League Championship club receives £1 million[45]), critics maintain that the payments actually widen the gap between teams that have reached the Premiership and those that have not,[46] leading to the common occurrence of teams "bouncing back" soon after their relegation.

[edit] Second season syndrome

Main article: Second season syndrome

Second season syndrome is a frequent problem which has affected teams in the second season following their promotion. On several occasions, a team has won promotion to the Premier League and performed very well in their first season, only to suffer a substantial downturn in fortunes during their second season.

The most high profile example of this is Ipswich Town, who were promoted to the Premier League in 2000, finished fifth in 2001, but were relegated on the last day of the season in 2002.

[edit] "Big Three" dominance

The last twelve seasons have seen just three different clubs win the Premier League title - Manchester United (7 times), Arsenal (3 times) and Chelsea (twice). In addition, Liverpool, while without an English league title since the pre-Premier League era, have not finished lower than fifth since 1999.

In three of the past four seasons, these four clubs have finished in the top four positions - the only exception being when Liverpool were edged out by local rivals Everton in 2004-05. The fact that England has four Champions League places means that these four clubs, by continually qualifying for that competition, increase their wealth advantage over the remaining clubs. Even when Liverpool failed to finish in the top 4, they were still allowed to enter the Champions League by UEFA. Despite this, the gap between the Big Three and the rest appears to be widening - in 2006-07, there was an 21-point gap between the Champions, Manchester United, and the highest placed non-Big Three team, Liverpool.

[edit] Premier League clubs

[edit] Premier League champions

For a list of winners and runners-up of the Premier League since its inception, and top scorers for each season, see English football champions.

[edit] Premier League members for 2007–08

04 October 2007 table

The following twenty clubs are competing in the Premier League during the 2007–08 season.

Club
 Current Position
in 2007–08		 First season in
top division		 First season of
current spell in
top division
Arsenal[47][48] 1st http://www.opensuse.org/1904–05 1919–20
Aston Villa[47][48] 10th 1888–89 1988–89
Birmingham City[48] 13th 1893–94 2007–08
Blackburn Rovers[48] 5th 1888–89 2001–02
Bolton Wanderers 19th 1888–89 2001–02
Chelsea[47][48] 3rd 1907–08 1989–90
Derby County[48] 20th 1888–89 2007–08
Everton[47][48] 9th 1888–89 1954–55
Fulham 14th 1949–50 2001–02
Liverpool[47][48] 6th 1894–95 1962–63
Manchester City[48] 3rd 1899–1900 2002–03
Manchester United[47][48] 2nd 1892–93 1975–76
Middlesbrough[48] 17th 1902–03 1998–99
Newcastle United 8th 1898–99 1993–94
Portsmouth 7th 1927–28 2003–04
Reading 12th 2006–07 2006–07
Sunderland[48] 15th 1890–91 2007–08
Tottenham Hotspur[47][48] 18th 1909–10 1978–79
West Ham United 11th 1923–24 2005–06
Wigan Athletic 16th 2005–06 2005–06

[edit] Former Premier League members

A total of 40 clubs have played in the Premier League between 1992 and 2006. Two other clubs (Luton Town and Notts County) were signatories to the original agreement that created the Premier League, but were relegated prior to the inaugural Premiership season and have not yet returned to the top flight. For a list of all clubs past and present see List of FA Premier League clubs.

Seven clubs have been members of the Premiership for every season (16) since its inception. This group is comprised of Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.

10 of the Premier League's former members are in the division for the 2006-07 season. The other three founder members who have not played in all 16 seasons are Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Middlesbrough. Blackburn were relegated in 1999 and promoted two years later, so they have played in all but two of the Premier League seasons so far. Middlesbrough were relegated after the first season, they returned after two years, went down again after another two years, won promotion at the first attempt, and have remained in the Premier League ever since. Middlesbrough have, consequently, played in 13 out of 16 Premier League seasons. Manchester City were relegated at the end of the fourth season of the Premier League, and did not return for four years. They were relegated after one season, but regained their Premier League status at the first attempt and have held onto it ever since. Therefore, Manchester City have participated in 11 out of 16 Premier League seasons.

Barnsley, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Norwich City, Queen's Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Watford, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers are the 14 former Premier League clubs who are now members of the Football League Championship (Division One until 2004). Charlton, Coventry, Ipswich, Leicester, Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton had all been members of the Premier League for at least five seasons each, with Wednesday playing in the first eight Premier League seasons, Coventry the first nine and Southampton the first 13. Crystal Palace, Norwich City and QPR had all been members for four seasons - with Palace being relegated every time. West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United had played in the Premier League for just three seasons each, with Albion achieving survival on just one occasion. Watford had played in two Premier League seasons - both of which ended in relegation. Barnsley and Wolves only played in the Premier League for one season.

Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic and Swindon Town are all now members of Football League One - two tiers below the Premier League - which was previously known as Division Two. Leeds were members of the Premier League for 12 seasons before being relegated in 2004, and they fell into the league's second tier three years later. Forest were members of the Premier League for five of its first seven seasons, and have been in the league's third tier since 2005. Oldham were Premier League members for the first two seasons of the league's existence until they were relegated in 1994, and are now the longest-serving third tier club with 11 successive seasons at this level. Swindon were promoted to the Premier League in its second season, only to suffer relegation at the first attempt. Since then they have played five seasons in Division One (now the Championship), one season in League Two (the lowest professional division in England) and are now in their eighth season of third tier football since 1995.

Bradford City reached the Premier League in 1999, and were members for two seasons afterwards. They have since declined to fall into Division One in 2001, League One in 2004, and League Two in 2007. They are playing alongside Milton Keynes Dons, the club who were formed in 2004 to reflect the new home of the club previously known as Wimbledon - who had been Premier League members from 1992 until 2000. Milton Keynes are rarely recognised as a former Premier League club, as they have never played above League One under their new name, and no longer make any claims on the history of Wimbledon FC.

[edit] Stadia

Premiership Rank Stadium Capacity Club Overall Rank Notes
1 Old Trafford 76,212 Manchester United 2 Largest football stadium in the Premier League and the second largest football stadium in England after Wembley Stadium
2 Emirates Stadium 60,432[49] Arsenal 3 Also known as Ashburton Grove and in UEFA competitions as "Arsenal Stadium", as Emirates are not an official sponsor of the Champions League competition. The largest club stadium to have been built in England since 1923
3 St James' Park 52,387[50] Newcastle United 4 Plans to upgrade to 60,000 seats with added corporate facilities. Most recent expansion work took place in 2001; previous capacity was 36,000
4 Stadium of Light 49,000[51] Sunderland 5 Extensions planned for 55,000 seats, with planning permission granted in 2002. Was built with 42,000 seats in 1997, and at the time was Britain's largest new club stadium since 1923
5 City of Manchester Stadium 47,726[52] Manchester City 6 Also known as Eastlands, the stadium was originally built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, but City did not occupy it until a year later when the pitch was lowered and a new permanent stand was built on the north side of the ground
6 Anfield 45,362[53] Liverpool 7 There have been plans since 2000 to move to a new 60,000-seat stadium, and the last upgrade at Anfield was the reconstruction of the Anfield Road Stand in 1997
7 Villa Park 42,593[53] Aston Villa 8 Venue of more FA Cup Semi Finals than any other Engish Stadium. Plans to upgrade to a minimum of 56,000 seats
8 Stamford Bridge 42,055[53] Chelsea 9 Was the largest club stadium in London prior to Arsenal's relocation in 2006. One of the only stadiums to have all four stands architecturally different, and three of the club's four stands have been built since 1993
9 Goodison Park 40,569[53] Everton 10 There have been plans for a relocation to a new and bigger stadium since 1996, and the latest possibility is a move to a new home just outside Liverpool City
10 White Hart Lane 36,238[54] Tottenham Hotspur 13 Plans have been in the pipeline for several years to expand capacity to between 50,000 and 60,000, but have yet to go ahead.
11 Boleyn Ground (Upton Park) 35,146[55] West Ham United 14 Chairman Eggert Magnusson is keen on finding a new stadium, after plans to move to the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 games were scrapped. A new stadium is planned next to West Ham station and is expected to open by the 2011-12 Premier League Season.
12 Riverside Stadium 35,049 Middlesbrough 15 Was opened in 1995 as the top division's first new stadium in 72 years, and there are now plans for the capacity to rise to 45,000.
13 Pride Park Stadium 33,597 Derby County 16 Built in 1997 as one of Britain's first new top division stadiums since the Second World War, and there are now plans for the capacity to be increased to 44,000
14 Ewood Park 31,367[53] Blackburn Rovers 21 Has not undergone any expansion work since reconstruction was completed in 1994, though for at least six years there have been plans to rebuild the Walkersteel Stand that has existed since 1988
15 St. Andrews 30,016[citation needed] Birmingham City 24 There are plans to move to the City of Birmingham Stadium, but expansion of St Andrews is still being considered.
16 Reebok Stadium 28,723[56] Bolton Wanderers 27 Has not undergone any expansion work since its completion in 1997, in spite of Bolton's much improved standing since the relocation from Burnden Park
17 Craven Cottage 26,300[57] Fulham 37 Fulham returned to an all-seater Craven Cottage in 2004 after two years away, but chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed has plans for an eventual relocation to a bigger stadium.
18 JJB Stadium 25,138[58] Wigan Athletic 34 Shared with Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club, and was built in 1999 to replace the much smaller and more basic Springfield Park
19 Madejski Stadium 24,161[59] Reading 38 Built in 1998 and as yet unchanged, but planning permission has been approved to expand to approximately 36,900.[60] Guinness Premiership team London Irish are tenants.
20 Fratton Park 20,688 Portsmouth 46 After a decade or so of speculation as to whether the club would expand its current home or build a new home, plans were unveiled for relocation to a new 35,000-seat stadium, but it is unlikely to be ready for at least another four years[61]
See also: List of English football stadia by capacity

[edit] Top scorers

All-time top scorers in the Premier League
(Premier League goals only)
Rank Player Goals
1 Flag of England Alan Shearer 260
2 Flag of England Andrew Cole[62] 188
3 Flag of France Thierry Henry 174
4 Flag of England Robbie Fowler 162
5 Flag of England Les Ferdinand 149
6 Flag of England Teddy Sheringham 147
7 Flag of England Michael Owen[62] 127
8 Flag of the Netherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 127
9 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago Dwight Yorke[62] 122
10 Flag of England Ian Wright 113
As of 1 September 2007 (Bold notes players still in Premier League).[63]
Further information: English football champions

Former Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer holds the record for most Premiership goals with 260. Shearer finished among the top ten goal scorers in 10 out of his 14 seasons in the Premier League and won the top scorer title three times.

Since the first Premier League season in 1992–93, eleven different players have won or shared the top scorers title. Thierry Henry won his third consecutive and fourth overall scoring title by scoring 27 goals in the 2005–06 season. This surpassed Shearer's mark of three titles which he won consecutively from 1994–95 through 1996–97. Other multiple winners include Michael Owen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who have won two titles each. Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer hold the record for most goals in a season (34) - for Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers respectively. Cole's record came in the 1993–94 season, while Shearer's came in 1994–95, both of which were 42-game seasons. Shearer's mark of 31 goals in 1995–96 remains the highest total in a 38-game season. Didier Drogba won the Premiership Golden Boot in the 2006–2007 season, in doing this, he became the only person to win the Golden Boot who doesn't take penalties for their club.

Manchester United became the first team to have scored 1,000 goals in this league after Cristiano Ronaldo scored, in a 4–1 defeat by Middlesbrough, in the 2005–06 season, having been the first team to have conceded a Premiership goal following the League's inception. Arsenal are the only other team to have reached the 1,000 goal mark.

At the close of the 2006–07 season, only two players held the prestige of having scored in each of the 15 Premiership competitions. These were Bolton Wanderers player/coach Gary Speed and Manchester United veteran winger Ryan Giggs, both former captains of the Wales national football team. Both players have scored in the 2007-08 season too.

The highest-scoring match to date in the Premiership occurred on 29 September 2007 when Portsmouth defeated Reading by 7 goals to 4.[64]

[edit] Top scorers by season

Name Goals Club
1992-93 Flag of England Teddy Sheringham 21 Tottenham
1993-94 Flag of England Andrew Cole 34 Newcastle United
1994-95 Flag of England Alan Shearer 34 Blackburn Rovers
1995-96 Flag of England Alan Shearer 31 Blackburn Rovers
1996-97 Flag of England Alan Shearer 25 Newcastle United
1997-98 Flag of England Dion Dublin
Flag of England Michael Owen
Flag of England Chris Sutton		 18 Coventry City
Liverpool
Blackburn Rovers
1998-99 Flag of the Netherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Flag of England Michael Owen
Flag of Trinidad and Tobago Dwight Yorke		 18 Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester United
1999-00 Flag of England Kevin Phillips (footballer) 30 Sunderland
2000-01 Flag of the Netherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 23 Chelsea
2001-02 Flag of France Thierry Henry
Flag of England Alan Shearer		 24 Arsenal
Newcastle United
2002-03 Flag of the Netherlands Ruud van Nistelrooy 25 Manchester United
2003-04 Flag of France Thierry Henry 30 Arsenal
2004-05 Flag of France Thierry Henry 25 Arsenal
2005-06 Flag of France Thierry Henry 27 Arsenal
2006-07 Flag of Côte d'Ivoire Didier Drogba 20 Chelsea

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Campbell, Dennis. "United (versus Liverpool) Nations", The Observer, January 6, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  2. ^ UEFA Country Ranking 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
  3. ^ Spain set 2007/08 standard (2006-08-02). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
  4. ^ "Fifa wants 18-team Premier League", BBC. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  5. ^ Our relationship with the clubs. Premier League. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  6. ^ The Premier League and Other Football Bodies. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  7. ^ European Club Forum. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  8. ^ Johansson backs Liverpool. Retrieved on 2007-04-14.
  9. ^ Blatter backs Liverpool Champions League place. Retrieved on 2007-04-14.
  10. ^ Duo backing Reds. Retrieved on 2007-04-14.
  11. ^ UEFA Country Ranking 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
  12. ^ "First fall in Premiership wages", BBC News, 31 May 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  13. ^ Premiership wages 'to top £1bn', bbc.co.uk, quoting data from Deloitte, 30 May 2007
  14. ^ "Premiership shares £900m TV windfall", The Telegraph, 18 January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-30. 
  15. ^ "Euro cash fear for English football clubs". Retrieved on 2007-06-03. 
  16. ^ "English clubs caught in TV revenue trap". Retrieved on 2007-06-03. 
  17. ^ "Arsenal bullish over £200m income", BBC News, 24 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-24. 
  18. ^ Football Stats Results for 1992–1993 Premiership. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  19. ^ Fact Sheet 2: Football Stadia After Taylor. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  20. ^ Shifting stands. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  21. ^ Premiership Attendance - 2002/03. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  22. ^ "Frequently asked questions about the F.A. Premier League", premierleague.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  23. ^ a b Martin Cave. "Football rights and competition in broadcasting", Football Governance Research Centre, University of London. Retrieved on [[8 August 2006]]. 
  24. ^ "PREMIER LEAGUE ANNOUNCE NAME CHANGE". Retrieved on 2007-06-03. 
  25. ^ "BBC keeps Premiership highlights", BBC News, 8 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  26. ^ "TV deal pays another £84m", Daily Telegraph, 26 May 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  27. ^ "Premiership in new £625m TV deal". Retrieved on 2007-06-03. 
  28. ^ "BSkyB investigation: alleged infringement of the Chapter II prohibition", Office of Fair Trading, 17 December 2002. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.  (pdf)
  29. ^ "Sport and European Competition Policy", European Commission, 1999. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.  (pdf)
  30. ^ Campbell, Dennis. "United (versus Liverpool) Nations", The Observer, January 6, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  31. ^ "About Us FAQs", Premier League, 15 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  32. ^ "ESPN-Star extends pact with FA Premier League", The Hindu Business Line, March 21, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-08-09. 
  33. ^ "Chinese phone maker's fancy footwork", BBC News, 27 October 2003. Retrieved on 2006-08-09. 
  34. ^ Premiership trio launch Asia Cup. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
  35. ^ English Premier League Launch Asia Trophy. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
  36. ^ Goal footage warning for website. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
  37. ^ Ron Atkinson. "England need to stem the foreign tide", The Guardian, 2002-08-23. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. 
  38. ^ Phil Neal: King of Europe?. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on August 10, 2006.
  39. ^ Wenger backs non-English line-up. BBC Sport. Retrieved on August 10, 2006.
  40. ^ New Work Permit Criteria for Football Players Announced. Department for Education and Employment. Retrieved on July 1, 2007.
  41. ^ Work permit arrangements for football players. Home Office. Retrieved on July 1, 2007.
  42. ^ "Forty factors fuelling football inflation", The Guardian, 31 July 2003. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  43. ^ "Wages fall, but Premier League still spend big", ESPN Soccernet, 1 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  44. ^ "The billion-pound revolution", The Times, 8 June 2005. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  45. ^ a b c Rich clubs forced to give up a sliver of the TV pie. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  46. ^ Why clubs may risk millions for riches at the end of the rainbow. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
  47. ^ a b c d e f g Played in every Premier League season
  48. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Founding member of Premier League.
  49. ^ Questions & Answers. Arsenal.com (2006-08-22). Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  50. ^ Modern St James' Park in detail. Newcastle United FC official website. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  51. ^ Club Profile: Sunderland. The Football League. Retrieved on 2006-12-16.
  52. ^ Stadium History. Manchester City FC official website. Retrieved on September 18, 2006.
  53. ^ a b c d e Premiership Club-by-club Guide. BBC. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
  54. ^ White Hart Lane Seating. Tottenham Hotspur FC official website. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  55. ^ Stadium Information. West Ham United FC official website. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  56. ^ Reebok Stadium - Bolton Wanderers. talkaboutsport.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
  57. ^ Craven Cottage. Fulham FC official website. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
  58. ^ JJB Stadium - Facts & Figures. Wigan Warriors. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
  59. ^ "Madejski Stadium information", Reading F.C., 2007-08-15. Retrieved on 2007-08-16. 
  60. ^ "Committee Report by the Director of Environment Culture & Sport", Reading Borough Council Planning Applications Committee, 2007-05-23. Retrieved on 2007-05-31. 
  61. ^ Pompey announce new stadium plan. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2007-04-25.
  62. ^ a b c Currently active in Premier League team's squad.
  63. ^ FA Premier League - Actim Station. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  64. ^ Portsmouth 7-4 Reading. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
Premier League 2007–08
v • d • e

Arsenal | Aston Villa | Birmingham City | Blackburn Rovers | Bolton Wanderers | Chelsea | Derby County | Everton
Fulham | Liverpool | Manchester City | Manchester United | Middlesbrough | Newcastle United | Portsmouth
Reading | Sunderland | Tottenham Hotspur | West Ham United | Wigan Athletic
Premier League seasons
v • d • e

1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–2000 • 2000–01
2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08
Top level football leagues of Europe (UEFA)
v • d • e

Albania | Andorra | Armenia | Austria | Azerbaijan | Belarus | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | England | Estonia | Faroe Islands | Finland | France | Georgia | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Republic of Ireland | Israel | Italy | Kazakhstan | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | FYR of Macedonia | Malta | Moldova | Montenegro | Netherlands | Northern Ireland | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | San Marino | Scotland | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | Ukraine | Wales 
English football league system - Level 1
Promotion to: none (top level)
Relegation to: Football League Championship
Football in England Flag of England
v • d • e
League competitions The FA Cup competitions
Premier League England (B) (C) FA Cup
The Football League (Champ, 1, 2) (U-21) (U-20) (U-19) Football League Cup
Football Conference (Nat, N, S) (U-18) (U-17) (U-16) FA Community Shield
Northern Premier (Prem, 1N, 1S) List of clubs Football League Trophy
Southern League (Prem, 1Mid, 1S&W) List of venues FA Trophy
Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S) (by capacity) Conference League Cup
English football league system List of leagues FA Vase
Records FA NLS Cup
Foreign players

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