History of Premier League

premier league arena

The English Premier League was founded in 1992 by the Football Association. It involves 20 clubs from England. It works on the principle of promoting and relegating clubs. Two clubs from the lower division advance into the league and two bottom clubs in EPL are demoted to the lower division.

All the teams play 19 home games and 19 away games, making it a total of 38 for all the teams. Usually, this happens between August and December for the first leg, and January to May for the second leg. It starts with the curtain-raiser in August and ends with awarding the champions in May.

The winner is announced in May and is awarded the top prize. The best four teams usually get a chance to participate in the Champions League. Therefore, the first four positions are very competitive. The fourth position is not always an automatic qualification for entry into the European Champions League.

Sometimes, the fourth team is subject to play off with other teams from other leagues. This match is very vital as it decides on who will join the prestigious Champions League. The season for buying and selling of players starts in May and ends before the start of the season.

Top four teams

Since it began in 1992, the top four teams have never been relegated to lower division. There have been frequent clubs fighting the top four positions for long. These clubs have mainly been:

  • Manchester United
  • Liverpool
  • Arsenal
  • Tottenham Hotspurs

Chelsea, with manager Jose Mourhino, surprised many football fans in 2004, for the first time beating big teams. Leicester City also surprised many clubs and football teams to emerge as the winners in 2016 under the leadership of manager Claudio Ranieri. This win meant that the club would participate for the first time in history.

Over recent years, there has been a change from big four to top six. With six clubs winning and competing for the top four positions, the notion of the big four is no more. Today we have the top six teams, which have kept the consistency of the top six spots. These clubs include:

  • Manchester United
  • Liverpool FC
  • Arsenal
  • Tottenham Hotspurs
  • Chelsea
  • Manchester City

Today no team has held the trophy for the last three consecutive seasons. In the past few years, some big four teams faced many challenges, some almost ending to relegation in the lower division.

In 2015, Manchester United performed poorly under Sir Alex Ferguson. This poor score followed the retirement of one of the longest-serving club managers in the world, Sir Alex Ferguson. After Ferguson’s retirement, Manchester United has faced many challenges, from which up to date, they have not recovered.

Arsenal, since 2012, has been struggling to remain in the top league. They have changed the club manager two times since then. First was the retirement of the oldest serving Arsenal manager in 2016, Arsene Wenger. New managers have not been able to bring one of the top clubs back to its former glory.

  • Manchester City won 2011 season
  • Leicester won 2016 season

Best Premier League managers

premier league stadium

Since 1992 when it started, there have been many managers who have come and disappeared. While most of them we can’t recall, some managers will ever remain in the minds of their fans due to their performance.

One of these managers was Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson was among top world football managers, steering the Manchester United club for over ten years. During the time Ferguson was in Manchester, the team record was always high.

In his time, he won over ten trophies and one Champions League trophy. Sir Alex Ferguson also mentored many young players, for example, Christiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and others.

Fergusons best and worst moments

Sir Alex enjoyed most of the time in Manchester United; the club had great achievement almost all the time that he was in charge. 2009 saw one of Fergusons best moments in a club where Manchester emerged with multiple trophies. They bagged the Premier League and Champions League trophies into their cabinet.

During this time, Christiano Ronaldo also won the player of the year under Sir Alex mentorship. The year 2013 saw Sir Alex’s worst football season ever. 2013 is the only season Manchester United under his leadership failed to make to the top four. The club in that year also failed to win any trophy in all games.

Other great EPL managers

Besides Ferguson, the EPL has had many other great managers. These managers include Arsene Wenger. Arsene Wenger has been the manager of Arsenal for more than a decade. During his time in Arsenal, he won several titles. Many players also grew up in Arsenal under Arsene Wenger’s leadership. Arsenal became one of the top clubs in England in terms of profits generated.

Claudio Ranieri is another senior manager and achiever in EPL. He led Leicester City from lower-division into winning a title. Despite having inadequate cash to spend on buying players, the team went ahead and won in 2016.

Great all-time Premier League players

christiano ronaldo

It has raised many world top players. A good number of top players helping their countries win the continental and world cups have had their roots in the Premier League. For example, great Portuguese players like Christiano Ronaldo and Luis Nani were players before.

Thiery Henry, also from Arsenal, was one of the greatest world players. Some African players, like Didier Drogba, were among the best African players, and their roots come from Chelsea’s club.

And lastly, also Nwankwo Kanu, the most celebrated African best player, who led Nigeria to World Cup quarter-finals in 1998.

2019/2020 Premier League season

The 2019/2020 season came to an unplanned break following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan China, early this year. All matches were called off after some players and managers tested positive for COVID-19.

By the time the teams went into the break, Liverpool Football Club was leading with 82 points after 29 games. The teams went into the break in March 2020. Things normally end by May of every year. No training sessions are going on and no games happening. There is no clear information on when the teams will resume training and competitions.

FAQs

What was the Premier League called before?

The first name was FA Carling Premiership

When was the Premier League started?

20 February 1992.

Who won the first Premier League season?

Manchester United won the first season with a lead of 10 points over Aston Villa.