Zia AhmedLast updated: October 2016
Image: Pixabay
English Premier League
The English Premier League is the top tier of the English football league system. It was formed in February 1992 as part of an agreement by football clubs in the old Football League First Decision.
There were originally 22 members of the inaugural English Premier League season, which was then revised to 20 members in the 1994/95 season.
3 teams are relegated and promoted to the English Premier League each season, with the top 3 teams also directly qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, a change from the initial league winners only rule back in the original 92/93 season.
English Premier League Records
Since the inception of The Premier League there have been a total of 47 clubs which have competed in it and only 6 winners. These are Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and the most recent being Leicester City. Manchester United has won the most Premier League titles with a record of 13 championship wins. Sir Alex Ferguson has won the most championships as a manager, having been Manchester United’s manager for all 13 of their title wining campaigns, whilst also holding the record as the longest serving manager in Premier League history, a total of 21 seasons spent before retirement in 2013.
Manchester United can also boast another record holder, Ryan Giggs, their former player and temporary manager competing in a record 632 appearances in the English Premier League since its inception.
The most goals scored in the competitions history however, goes to Alan Shearer, who played for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. He scored a total of 260 Premier League Goals and is the only player to score more than 200 goals in the competition.
Sponsorship and Broadcasting
There have only been 2 title sponsorships in the 24-year history of the competition; Carling from 1993 to 2001 and then Barclays from 2004 to 2016. Barclaycard did sponsor the competition from 2001 to 2004 until they switched to their main banking brand in 2004.
Latest figures show English Premier League clubs generated a total of £3.3bn in the 2014-2015 season – a 3% increase. The competition is broadcasted by BskyB and BT Sport, with Sky being the only television network to broadcast every season since the inception of the Premier League in 1992.
Currently, English Premier League clubs will receive an enormous £5.136bn for TV rights in the 2016-2017 season, the highest record ever held in any league in world football, thus making the English Premier League the most attractive and appealing league in the world for players and fans alike.
Author: Zia Ahmed
Graduated with a BA (Hons) in Sport Management from Loughborough University, UK. Ahmed writes regularly on sports science and relevant subjects. His other areas of interest are business development, customer service and social media marketing.
