Premier League

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Premier League
logo
Full name The Premier League
abbreviation EPL, PL
Association The Football Association
First edition 1992
hierarchy 1st League
Teams 20th
master Liverpool FC
Record champions Premier League:
Manchester United (13 titles)
Overall:
Manchester United (20 titles)
Record player English peopleEnglish people Gareth Barry (653)
Record scorer English peopleEnglish people Alan Shearer (260)
Current season 2019/20
Website premierleague.com
Qualification for UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
FA Community Shield

The Premier League (outside of England also English Premier League or EPL ) is the top division in English football and is therefore at the top level of the English league system . There are currently 20 clubs taking part in a game round that takes place between August and May of the following year. An exchange of three clubs takes place annually via a promotion and relegation regulation with the Football League Association below.

The division founded on February 20, 1992 as the "FA Premier League" officially began playing on August 15 of the same year. The clubs of the former elite league First Division thus benefited significantly from significantly increased television income and split off from the Football League, which itself lost its dominance as a platform for top English and Welsh football that had existed since 1888. The Premier League has since developed into the sports league with the world's highest number of spectators.

Of the 45 clubs now taking part, 7 teams have won the Premier League so far: Manchester United (13 titles), Chelsea FC (5 titles), Manchester City (4 titles), Arsenal FC (3 titles), Liverpool FC , Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City (one title each). The record champions of the English championship have also been Manchester United with 20 titles since 2009 ( sole record champions since 2011 ; most recently in 2013 ), followed by the reigning champions Liverpool FC with 19 championships. In addition to 43 clubs from England , Swansea City (most recently in 2017/18 ) and Cardiff City (most recently in 2018/19 ), two clubs from Wales also took part in the Premier League.

The women's equivalent is the FA Women's Premier League (or more precisely the FA Women's Premier League National Division), with the clubs there being more or less dependent on the renowned clubs in men's football from the Premier League and the Football League. Nevertheless, the women's league has a more semi-professional character and has a significantly lower public response than the men's.

The Premier Reserve League has existed for the reserve teams of professional clubs since 1999 , in which, since the 2006/07 season, only teams from Premier League participants have been eligible to play. In addition to the substitute players who are not part of the official professional squad, it is primarily the young talents of the first division clubs that play. 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).

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

In June 2016, the Premier League became political and, a few days before the referendum on Brexit, advocated the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union on the grounds that the league stood for openness and internationality.

history

season English champion  ( total / PL )
1992/93 Manchester United  (8/1)
1993/94 Manchester United  (9/2)
1994/95 Blackburn Rovers  (3/1)
1995/96 Manchester United  (10/3)
1996/97 Manchester United  (11/4)
1997/98 Arsenal FC  (11/1)
1998/99 Manchester United  (12/5)
1999/2000 Manchester United  (13/6)
2000/01 Manchester United  (14/7)
2001/02 Arsenal FC  (12/2)
2002/03 Manchester United  (15/8)
2003/04 Arsenal FC  (13/3)
2004/05 Chelsea FC  (2/1)
2005/06 Chelsea FC  (3/2)
2006/07 Manchester United  (16/9)
2007/08 Manchester United  (17/10)
2008/09 Manchester United  (18/11)
2009/10 Chelsea FC  (4/3)
2010/11 Manchester United  (19/12)
2011/12 Manchester City  (3/1)
2012/13 Manchester United  (20/13)
2013/14 Manchester City  (4/2)
2014/15 Chelsea FC  (5/4)
2015/16 Leicester City
2016/17 Chelsea FC  (6/5)
2017/18 Manchester City  (5/3)
2018/19 Manchester City  (6/4)
2019/20 Liverpool FC  (19/1)

prehistory

The 1980s marked a low point in English football. The difficult economic situation, from which the football fans also suffered, dilapidated stadiums and the widespread hooligan problem, which led, among other things, to the exclusion of English clubs from European club competitions after the events in Heysel Stadium in 1985, were responsible 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 audience numbers and economic strength . In addition, more and more domestic top players aspired to the best leagues of other nations. This downward trend was stopped in 1990 when the English national soccer team played a successful World Cup in Italy and was only eliminated in the semifinals after a penalty shoot-out against Germany . In the same year, the European football association UEFA ended the suspension of the English football clubs. With the “ Taylor Report ”, a document on safety in the stadiums had already been drawn up in January that promised to convert all venues into pure seating stadiums.

TV revenues had also gained significantly in importance. While the Football League had sold the broadcasting rights for two years for just 6.3 million pounds in 1986, the sum rose to 44 million pounds in 1988 in the four-year contract. In the negotiations in 1988 for the first time voices were raised in which ten clubs threatened to leave the association in order to found their own "super league". For the time being, however, they could be persuaded to stay. However, when the stadiums were continuously improved and the number of spectators and thus the revenues increased, the top clubs again expressed their considerations to leave the Football League in order to benefit more from the significantly increased money that has now been invested in the sport of football.

Foundation and participants

In the first season 1992/93 22 clubs took part. The first goal was scored by Brian Deane , who with Sheffield United beat eventual champions Manchester United 2-1. Due to an intervention by the world football association FIFA , the Premier League reduced the league in 1995 to 20 clubs by relegating four teams and only two clubs were newly promoted. FIFA last asked on June 8, 2006 - as in Italy and Spain - a further reduction to 18 clubs at the beginning of the 2007/08 season, but this project was rejected by the Premier League.

On February 12, 2007, the league shortened its official name from "FA Premier League" to "Premier League". Participation in the Premier League is not only reserved for English football clubs. On May 30, 2011 Welsh club Swansea City won the play-off final against Reading 4-2 at London's Wembley Stadium , becoming the first non-English football club in the Premier League. With Cardiff City made it on 16 April 2013, the second Welsh club into the Premier League. With a 0-0 win against Charlton Athletic on Matchday 43, the club secured promotion early. 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 inclusion of the Scottish top clubs in the English Premier League. However, these considerations have not yet led to concrete planning. After the forced relegation of the Glasgow Rangers , this issue was no longer taken up.

organization

The Premier League operates as an independent company that is jointly owned by the 20 participating clubs. Each club is considered to be a shareholder with exactly one vote on 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 operations of the league. The English football association The Football Association ("FA") is not itself involved in the day-to-day business of the Premier League, but as a special shareholder has a veto right in the election of the chairman and the general director, as well as in the implementation of rule changes. The Premier League sends representatives to the UEFA European Club Forum, with the number of clubs and clubs selected based on a special coefficient from 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 the Champions League and the Europa League in particular .

Course of the competition and sponsors

competition

There are currently 20 teams playing a championship round in the Premier League. During a season that lasts from August to May, the clubs play two games each against the other participants in a home game in their own stadium and away in the opponent's venue. This results in 38 competitive games for each club and a total of 380 games in the course of a Premier League season. A team receives three points for a win and one counter for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. The clubs rank in the table according to the number of points won, with the better goal difference determining the ranking of teams with the same number of points. If this is also the same, the team with the most hits will be preferred. If all these criteria are equal, the clubs will be given the same place. If the placement at the end of the season for equal clubs is decisive in the championship question, the qualification for a European club competition or in the question of relegation, the teams concerned must play play-off games on neutral ground for the final decision (this case is until but not yet occurred today). The club that is in first place in the table according to these criteria at the end of the season is English football champions. The three teams that are at the bottom of the season at the end of the season are relegated to the second-rate Football League Championship and are directly replaced by the two best teams in this league and by a third team, which is between third and sixth place in the Football League Championship in the regular season completed and then won two elimination rounds.

Qualification for European club competitions

Game scene from the game between Bolton Wanderers and Fulham FC in the FA Cup .

The top four teams from the Premier League's final season table qualify directly for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League . The team in fifth place is allowed to take part in the final qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League , the so-called play-off round, and the clubs in sixth and seventh place can also take part in this competition if a certain constellation of the domestic cup competitions has occurred. This is the case if the winners of the FA Cup and League Cup are among the top five teams in the championship in the past championship season and thus the place to be played out by the FA Cup in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League and "release" the place to be played out by the League Cup in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League to the next best team in the table.

Theoretically, the Football Association can send any team from the English league system to a European club competition, but in practice - as in the other major leagues in Europe - the selection is usually limited to the best teams in the top division. In 2005, the controversial situation arose that Liverpool had just won the Champions League, but could not qualify for the next round of the highest European club competition with a fifth place in the championship round. This would have meant that, for the first time in the history of the prestigious competition, a team would not have been given the opportunity to defend their title. In a similar constellation, Real Madrid had also won the Champions League in 2000 and did not qualify for the following season via the domestic league. In this case, the Spanish Football Association had “sacrificed” the fourth-placed club and transferred its starting place to Real Madrid. In contrast, the FA insisted on sending the best four teams to the Champions League, as they had previously earned the qualification. In particular, the fourth-placed team, Everton , insisted on having the right to participate and opposed a similar approach to that previously practiced in Spain. UEFA initially rejected a rule change, but finally bowed to pressure from its own President Lennart Johansson , that of FIFA President Sepp Blatter , and from prominent football personalities such as Franz Beckenbauer and thus took five English teams into a Champions League for the first time. Round up. However, UEFA emphasized the exceptional character of this regulation and stipulated that in future the defending champion would automatically take part in the Champions League of the following season and take the starting place of the lowest-placed club in the championship.

Sponsors

From 1993 to 2016, the Premier League had an official sponsor. Depending on the current sponsor, the official name of the league often changed, with the term “Premiership” being constantly used as a common feature. The last sponsorship contract with Barclays was not extended beyond 2016, however, as the league was able to forego the approximately £ 40 million annually from the naming rights due to the high income from the sale of television rights in order to create a uniform name similar to the North American leagues .

The following sponsors have coined the name of the league over the years:

  • 1993-2001: Carling (FA Carling Premiership)
  • 2001-2004: Barclaycard (Barclaycard Premiership)
  • 2004–2016: Barclays (Barclays Premiership, 2004–2007) (Barclays Premier League, 2007–2016)

Financial situation

The Premier League is currently home to many of the world's best players and is the financially most lucrative football league. According to an assessment by the management consultancy Deloitte , the total income of the Premier League clubs for the 2010/11 season was estimated at the equivalent of EUR 2.74 billion. The gap to the next largest leagues in terms of revenue in Germany (1.73 billion euros), Italy (1.70 billion euros) and Spain (1.66 billion euros) has increased further. In contrast, Deloitte found in the annually published " Football Money League " that even the financially strongest English football club, Manchester United , ranked more than 100 million euros behind the currently highest-earning football club FC Barcelona in terms of total income in the 2018/19 season . Although the clubs within the Premier League differ significantly in terms of their income, there is greater consistency than in the comparable large European football leagues. Deloitte lists eight Premier League clubs in the “Top 20” of the “Money League” in 2020, with a maximum of four clubs from one nation placing there. Although Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are currently the two financially strongest football clubs in this calculation, only one other Spanish club is in the "Top 20".

The average attendance for a Premier League championship game was 33,875 in the 2005/06 season, making it the fourth-highest average in a professional sports league worldwide, ahead of Serie A and the Spanish BBVA league , but behind the German Bundesliga . This shows an increase of over 60% compared to the starting season 1992/93 (21,126 viewers on average). However, it must be taken into account that the stadiums were still in a phase of major conversions into pure seating stadiums in the founding season in order to meet the requirements of the Taylor Report on this point, which was covered by a deadline for the 1994/95 season. Compared to the record season in Premier League history 2002/03 with an average of 35,464 viewers, the number for the 2005/06 season showed a slight decline.

In the new three-year contract, the television broadcaster Sky bought 92 Premier League games for 1.314 billion pounds and Setanta Sports 46 games for 392 million pounds. Foreign television rights will be worth £ 625 million over the same period, while revenues from the Internet and cellular technologies will total £ 400 million. The specific income from these rights for the individual clubs ranges from 50 million pounds for the respective best club down to 26.8 million pounds for the bottom of the table, including both the prize money and the individual TV revenue. With the 50 million pounds, the top club of the Premier League is comparable to an NFL club, with the NFL dividing its income from television rights equally among all clubs. Overall, the new contract of the Premier League ensured that it negotiated the world's second most lucrative TV rights contract for a sports league - both in terms of total income and the average for the club - and thus ranks only behind the NFL. However, it must also be noted here that the NFL has committed itself to a much greater extent to assign the players to various promotional dates on television, radio and in the print media and to perceive numerous live appearances.

However, the figures mentioned only refer to the broadcasting rights in the national championship matches, so that the income for the participants in the European club competitions - including the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup - can increase significantly. The Champions League in particular can prove to be financially very rewarding, especially if a club in question can continue to qualify for the next round. The Liverpool received 20.5 million pounds, which in his tournament win in the 2004/05 season from the TV rights of the UEFA Arsenal a year later 22.4 million pounds. In the latter case, Arsenal FC, ultimately losing out in the final, even got more than the winner FC Barcelona, ​​which was due to the special proceeds on the English market. In the 2006/07 season, Liverpool FC once again benefited from a final appearance in the Champions League, but had to share the income to a greater extent with Chelsea and Manchester United , which, as Premier League clubs, have also made it to the semi-finals and are therefore entitled to own a large share of the income (8 million each plus shares from the TV rights pool and bonuses).

In the course of its history, the financially lucrative Premier League has ensured that the participating clubs have developed into commercial enterprises that generate income in the two- to three-digit million euro range and that can be traded on stock exchanges. In the recent past, however, a contrary trend has developed and the clubs have increasingly become the takeover target of wealthy investors. In 1997 the takeover of the then third division FC Fulham by Mohamed Al-Fayed made the headlines, but in the 21st century the first division clubs became more and more a target for financially strong individuals. Chelsea FC was bought by Roman Abramowitsch in 2003 , and Manchester United was completely owned by the US businessman Malcolm Glazer in 2005 . Liverpool FC was owned by George Gillett and Tom Hicks until 2010 . Manchester City (Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan ), Leicester City ( Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha ), Arsenal FC ( Alischer Usmanow and Stanley Kroenke ), Watford FC (Gino Pozzo), West Bromwich Albion (Lai Guochuan), Everton FC (Farhad Moshiri), Southampton FC (Gao Jisheng and Katharina Liebherr), Bournemouth FC (Maxim Demin) and Swansea City (Stephen Kaplan) are partially or completely foreign-owned.

In 2012, TV rights revenues increased again and for the three years from the 2013/14 season now stands at 3 billion pounds sterling, with several companies having secured various broadcast packages, including BSkyB and the BT Group .

The broadcast of the Champions League of the seasons from 2021 to 2024 was acquired by DAZN in August 2020 . This means that 121 out of 137 are broadcast exclusively per season.

Media coverage

England

Championship game between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in 2004

Television played a crucial role in the development of the Premier League. The money from the TV broadcasting rights was largely responsible for ensuring that the league flourished both on and off the field. In 1992 it was a risky decision to give the rights to BSkyB , since at that time there was no British experience in pay TV in the sports sector and acceptance by football fans was questionable. However, it should pay off very soon, with the combination of a successful Sky marketing strategy, the quality of football in the Premier League and the great response from the public helping the concept to succeed and the value of the TV rights quickly skyrocketing let fast. This also resulted in a more refined schedule for Sunday and Monday games, in which the strategy of the Sunday and Monday evening games was based on the NFL . In either case, it is usually the only Premier League game that takes place at that time.

The Premier League sells its TV rights collectively and thus differs from other European leagues - including Serie A and Primera División - where the individual clubs are allowed to market themselves, which tends to lead to higher revenues for the top clubs at the expense of the weaker clubs. The income generated in England is divided into three areas: Half of the total income is initially distributed equally to the participating clubs; a further quarter is staggered as a bonus according to the position occupied in the final table, whereby the master receives 20 times the bonus compared to the bottom of the table and the clubs in between are graded in constant steps of difference from one another. The last quarter is paid out for specific live TV broadcasts, in which the lion's share usually falls for the top clubs. In contrast to this refined breakdown, the income from overseas broadcasting rights is shared equally among all 20 clubs.

The value of the broadcast rights negotiated with the TV broadcaster Sky increased from an initial five-year contract worth £ 191 million to £ 670 million over four seasons at the beginning of the 1997/98 season. The contract with BSkyB, which was valid from 2004 to 2007, weighed 1.024 billion pounds and was increased by 320 million pounds from overseas rights - based on the same period up to the end of the 2006/07 season - which were in turn negotiated individually on a regional basis. Sky's monopoly was broken for the first time in the domestic market in August 2006, when the broadcasting rights to two of the six game packages were granted to the broadcaster Setanta Sports . This is also seen as a direct reaction to an intervention by the European Commission , which criticized the exclusive rights for only one TV company. For the rights from 2007 to 2010 Sky and Setanta paid a total of around 1.7 billion pounds, which is equivalent to a two-thirds increase. This surprised many experts who, in view of the past rates of increase, had expected that the value of the rights could no longer be increased at comparable rates. The BBC also paid £ 171.6 million for the three year summary rights for Match of the Day , an increase of 63% from the £ 105 million negotiated three years earlier. Sky and the BT Group have also jointly acquired the TV rights for 242 games for £ 84.3 million, which they play in full length after 50 hours - based on the game day that ended at 10:00 p.m. - on TV and in Internet can be transmitted. Overseas TV rights have almost doubled to £ 625 million and there are other businesses in cellular technology. All told, these revenues totaled £ 2.7 billion, bringing in £ 45 million for the average Premier League club between 2007 and 2010. In addition, there were smaller amounts from the media rights of the domestic cup competitions and, in some cases, large income from the TV rights of the European club competitions.

The TV rights agreements between the Premier League and Sky were often the subject of public controversy, at the center of which were allegations of cartel formation , and led to several legal disputes. After an investigation in 2002, the “ Office of Fair Trading ” (comparable to the Federal Cartel Office ) established that BSkyB had a dominant position in the pay-TV sports business, but had not misused it. In July 1999 the “UK Restrictive Practices Court” examined the central marketing of the broadcasting rights on behalf of the clubs involved and came to the conclusion that the agreements made did not conflict with the public interest.

Worldwide

The Premier League is advertised as "The Greatest Show On Earth" and is the world's most watched sports league with over a billion viewers. It is widely used in overseas countries and the Premier League games are shown in a total of 195 countries. Broadcasting usually takes place via the network of the media conglomerate News Corporation (“NewsCorp” for short) controlled by Rupert Murdoch , to which BSkyB and thus the first exploitation rights in Great Britain and Ireland belong. The NewsCorp has also bought advertising space in the Premier League for the Fox Soccer Channel , which is responsible for the distribution in the United States (radio reports can also be received in the United States via Sirius Satellite Radio ). In Canada , too, numerous Premier League games are shown on the “ Sportsnet ” every Saturday. The Premier League is particularly popular in Asia , where it is the most widespread sports program. The Premier League also takes this enormous popularity into account by staging two tournaments in the run-up to a season in Asia. These are also the only Premier League-related tournaments that are played outside of England. In July 2003, the "FA Premier League Asia Cup" was held for the first time in Malaysia with Chelsea FC , Newcastle United , Birmingham City and the Malaysian national soccer team . In 2005, the "Asia Trophy" was played in Thailand with a similar format , with the Thai national team and the three English clubs FC Everton , Manchester City and the Bolton Wanderers taking part (the latter club won the competition). In 2007 the "FA Premier League Asia Cup" took place in Hong Kong as the "Barclays Asia Trophy 2007". Participants were there with the "South China Athletic Association" Cup Winners' Cup in Hong Kong, of Liverpool , the Fulham FC and the eventual winner FC Portsmouth .

In the more recent past the FA took a stand against copyright infringement on the Internet. In order to combat the publication of live games via streaming media , a cooperation was started with the company "NetResult", which specializes in the online protection of brands. Although NetResult has been able to ban some live stream provider websites, the results are not considered effective. The BBC published a report in which it was reported that NetResult, on behalf of the Premier League, had sent an e-mail warning to the operators of the website “www.footyclips.com” because they were publishing video recordings from the YouTube platform . This led to the temporary closure of the independent provider's website.

player

At the beginning of the Premier League season 1992/93, only eleven foreigners - based on the nationalities outside the United Kingdom and Ireland - were represented in all teams in the first games . In the course of time this structure has fundamentally changed and after a 36% share in the 2000/01 season, the ratio of foreign players increased to 45% in the 2004/05 season. On December 26, 1999, Chelsea FC had a first team made up entirely of foreign players for the first time, and on February 14, 2005, Arsenal FC nominated a 16-man squad of six French, three Spaniards, for the game against Crystal Palace . two Dutch players and one player each from Cameroon, Germany, Ivory Coast, Brazil and Switzerland.

Although the Premier League is an English competition, no English head coach has yet succeeded in winning it. In total, only ten different coaches have won the Premier League championship: two Scots (Sir Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Kenny Dalglish with Blackburn Rovers), a French ( Arsène Wenger with Arsenal), a Portuguese ( José Mourinho with the Chelsea FC), a Chilean ( Manuel Pellegrini with Manchester City), a Spaniard ( Pep Guardiola with Manchester City), a German ( Jürgen Klopp with Liverpool FC) and four Italians ( Carlo Ancelotti , Antonio Conte both with Chelsea FC, Roberto Mancini with Manchester City and Claudio Ranieri with Leicester City ). The best results from English coaches have been two runners-up ( Ron Atkinson with Aston Villa in 1993 and Kevin Keegan with Newcastle United three years later).

Over 260 foreign players are employed in the Premier League and 101 players from the English leagues took part in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea . At the 2006 World Cup in Germany , no other league had as many players as the Premier League. Among the more than 80 players were 21 of the 23 players from the English national team .

Due to the skyrocketing income from broadcasting rights, player salaries have also risen sharply since the Premier League was founded. While the average player received “only” £ 75,000 a year in the 1992/93 season, this revenue increased by around 20% annually and in the 2003/04 season already amounted to £ 676,000.

Transfer revenues: record highs

In the first seasons of the Premier League, the respective record transfer fee for player transfers was broken almost annually, and this continued into the first years of the 21st century.

Although Alan Shearer's transfer record lasted almost five years in England, the world record was broken within a year. The record of the transfer from Rio Ferdinand, whose record was surpassed after almost four years by Andrij Shevchenko, also lasted for a comparably long time, although the exact transfer fee for his transfer from AC Milan to Chelsea is unknown and was between 30 and 56 million pounds. The highest transfer fee for a teenager in the history of the Premier League is around 50 million pounds and was paid by Manchester United to the French club AS Monaco for Anthony Martial in 2015 .

The "financial risk descent"

The logo of the division called "FA Premier League" until 2007
Premier League logo from 2007 to 2016

Since the Premier League spun off from the Football League , many established top division clubs have managed to distance themselves more and more from the lower-class teams, both athletically and financially. This is mainly due to the large discrepancy in the income for the broadcast rights, which makes it very difficult for many promoted players to keep the class in the Premier League. With the exception of the 2001/02 season, at least one promoted club always had to return to the Football League - that is, to the second division - after only one season. After the end of the 1997/98 season, all three promoted teams were relegated back to the second division.

A small part of the TV income is given by the Premier League as so-called "parachute payments" to the relegated. Since the start of the 2006/07 season, these contributions to a club in question total £ 6.5 million for the two-year period in the lower class. Although the intention was to narrow the financial gap that results for relegated players from the loss of high television revenues, critics complain that it will increase the gap between clubs that have played in the Premier League and those that have not yet made it . Contrary to the intention to compensate for the loss of income of the relegated team (an average Premier League club receives 28 million pounds, a participant in the Football League Championship only one million pounds), according to critics, the phenomenon of the " elevator teams " was promoted. In this context, this jumping back and forth between the leagues was described with the new English term "bouncing back", which goes back to a word created by Iain Dowie - then coach of Crystal Palace. With the “bouncebackability” after defeat of his team, he had demanded to demonstrate the ability to “get up again” with a victory - this term has even found its way into the renowned “ Oxford English Dictionary ” since 2006 . Teams that are promoted and relegated frequently are also called yo-yo teams.

Most recently, the London club Charlton Athletic reacted to its relegation from the Premier League and the expected loss of income with an austerity course, which on July 23, 2007 even its own women's division ("Charlton Athletic LFC") should fall victim to. In the past 2006/07 season, this had at least finished third in the FA Women's Premier League. Only after two months of negotiations was it possible at the last second with the help of a sponsorship package under the umbrella of the “Charlton Community Trust” to ensure gaming operations for the subsequent 2007/08 season.

Tax avoidance

In April 2015, the Guardian reported that 28 English football clubs, including big-name clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal London , are registered in tax havens . The Tax Justice Network published a detailed investigative report in which the sometimes very complex tax structures are explained. Accordingly, Manchester United conducts its operational business from several offshore locations . Red Football Holdings Limited, an association of various holdings in Great Britain, is owned by Manchester United PLC, registered in the Cayman Islands , which in turn is 90 percent owned by Delaware-based Red Football LLC. The latter is controlled by the sons of the owner Malcolm Glazer, who died in 2014. The £ 2.2 billion inheritance from the club was passed on to the sons almost tax-free. The governor of the Cayman Islands, a representative of the Queen and negotiator for the British government, signed a deal with Manchester United that would grant the club tax exemption in the overseas territory for the next 20 years. In addition to Manchester United, Birmingham City, Coventry City and Cheltenham Town are also based in the Cayman Islands. Fulham FC is owned by a holding company that operates under the name Big Cat Holdings in the Bahamas. The American businessman Stan Kroenke holds his shares in Arsenal London through a company in the US state of Delaware, which is considered a tax haven. The Tax Justice Network estimates the volume that will be transferred via these offshore ports at three billion pounds. The publication of the report did not cause the outrage on the island that one might have expected. The government in London did not respond with stricter capital and transparency regulations.

Teams

Premier League champions

In the 28 Premier League seasons since the 1992/93 season, a total of 7 different clubs have won the championship title. The most successful club with 13 Premier League championships is Manchester United , which is also the English record champion with a total of 20 championship titles. It is followed by Chelsea FC with 5 and Manchester City with 4 Premier League titles. The earliest champions in Premier League history are Liverpool FC , who in the 2019/20 season after the 31st match day - 7 match days before the end of the season - could no longer be pushed out of the top of the table. The points record was set by Manchester City in the 2017/18 season with 100 points.

rank society Premier League title  (total title)
1 Manchester United Manchester United 13  (20)
2 Chelsea FC Chelsea FC 05  0(6)
3 Manchester City Manchester City 04  0(6)
4th Arsenal FC Arsenal FC 03  (13)
5 Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers 01  0(3)
Leicester City Leicester City 01  0(1)
Liverpool FC Liverpool FC 01  (19)

See also: List of English football champions

Participants for the 2020/21 season

The following 20 clubs will contest the 2020/21 season in the Premier League.

society Closing table position in the 2019/20 season first first class season Number of first-class seasons (total) continuously first class since Number of championship titles last title win
Arsenal FC 8th place 1904/05 104 1919/20 13 2003/04
Aston Villa 17th place 1888/89 106 2019/20 7th 1980/81
Brighton & Hove Albion 15th place 1979/80 8th 2017/18 0 -
Burnley FC 10th place 1888/89 58 2016/17 2 1959/60
Chelsea FC 4th Place 1907/08 86 1989/90 6th 2016/17
Crystal Palace 14th place 1969/70 21st 2013/14 0 -
Everton FC 12th place 1888/89 118 1954/55 9 1986/87
Fulham FC Climbers 1945/50 27 2020/21 0 -
Leeds United Climbers 1924/25 51 2020/21 3 1991/92
Leicester City 5th place 1908/09 52 2014/15 1 2015/16
Liverpool FC 1st place 1894/95 106 1962/63 19th 2019/20
Manchester City 2nd place 1899/1900 92 2002/03 6th 2018/19
Manchester United 3rd place 1892/93 96 1975/76 20th 2012/13
Newcastle United 13th place 1898/99 89 2017/18 4th 1926/27
Sheffield United 9th place 1893/94 63 2019/20 1 1897/98
Southampton FC 11th place 1966/67 44 2012/13 0 -
Tottenham Hotspur 6th place 1909/10 86 1978/79 2 1960/61
West Bromwich Albion Climbers 1889/89 82 2020/21 1 1919/20
West Ham United 16th place 1923/24 63 2012/13 0 -
Wolverhampton Wanderers 7th place 1888/89 66 2018/19 3 1958/59

Former Premier League clubs

From the start in 1992 to the end of the 2012/13 season, a total of 45 clubs have participated in the Premier League. The two clubs Luton Town and Notts County have also ratified the founding agreement, but had to relegate from the major league before the first season in 1992/93 and have never returned to play in the Premier League for the first time.

The following six clubs have now been listed since the first season in the Premier League: Arsenal , Chelsea , Everton , Liverpool , Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur .

Player statistics

For a complete listing of all players used in the Premier League, see List of Premier League Players .

Top scorer of the individual seasons

season Top scorer society Gates
1992/93 EnglandEngland Teddy Sheringham Tottenham Hotspur 22nd
1993/94 EnglandEngland Andrew Cole Newcastle United 34
1994/95 EnglandEngland Alan Shearer Blackburn Rovers 34
1995/96 EnglandEngland Alan Shearer Blackburn Rovers 31
1996/97 EnglandEngland Alan Shearer Newcastle United 25th
1997/98 EnglandEngland Chris Sutton Blackburn Rovers 18th
EnglandEngland Dion Dublin Coventry City
EnglandEngland Michael Owen Liverpool FC
1998/99 NetherlandsNetherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Leeds United 18th
EnglandEngland Michael Owen Liverpool FC
Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago Dwight Yorke Manchester United
1999/00 EnglandEngland Kevin Phillips Sunderland AFC 30th
2000/01 NetherlandsNetherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Chelsea FC 23
2001/02 FranceFrance Thierry Henry Arsenal FC 24
2002/03 NetherlandsNetherlands Ruud van Nistelrooy Manchester United 25th
2003/04 FranceFrance Thierry Henry Arsenal FC 30th
2004/05 FranceFrance Thierry Henry Arsenal FC 25th
2005/06 FranceFrance Thierry Henry Arsenal FC 27
2006/07 Ivory CoastIvory Coast Didier Drogba Chelsea FC 20th
2007/08 PortugalPortugal Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 31
2008/09 FranceFrance Nicolas Anelka Chelsea FC 19th
2009/10 Ivory CoastIvory Coast Didier Drogba Chelsea FC 29
2010/11 BulgariaBulgaria Dimitar Berbatov Manchester United 21st
ArgentinaArgentina Carlos Tévez Manchester City
2011/12 NetherlandsNetherlands Robin van Persie Arsenal FC 30th
2012/13 NetherlandsNetherlands Robin van Persie Manchester United 26th
2013/14 UruguayUruguay Luis Suarez Liverpool FC 31
2014/15 ArgentinaArgentina Sergio Aguero Manchester City 26th
2015/16 EnglandEngland Harry Kane Tottenham Hotspur 25th
2016/17 EnglandEngland Harry Kane Tottenham Hotspur 29
2017/18 EgyptEgypt Mohamed Salah Liverpool FC 32
2018/19 GabonGabon Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Arsenal FC 22nd
SenegalSenegal Sadio Mané Liverpool FC
EgyptEgypt Mohamed Salah Liverpool FC
2019/20 EnglandEngland Jamie Vardy Leicester City 23

Status: end of season 2019/20

Eternal goalscorer list

Players with names in bold will continue to play in the Premier League.

Item player Gates
01. EnglandEngland Alan Shearer 260
02. EnglandEngland Wayne Rooney 208
03. EnglandEngland Andrew Cole 187
04th ArgentinaArgentina Sergio Aguero 180
05. EnglandEngland Frank Lampard 177
06th FranceFrance Thierry Henry 175
07th EnglandEngland Robbie Fowler 163
08th. EnglandEngland Jermain Defoe 162
09. EnglandEngland Michael Owen 150
10. EnglandEngland Les Ferdinand 149

Status: end of season 2019/20

Most assists

Players with names in bold will continue to play in the Premier League.

Item player Assists
01. WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ryan Giggs 162
02. SpainSpain Cesc Fàbregas 111
03. EnglandEngland Wayne Rooney 103
04th EnglandEngland Frank Lampard 102
05. NetherlandsNetherlands Dennis Bergkamp 94
06th SpainSpain David Silva 93
07th EnglandEngland Steven Gerrard 92
08th. EnglandEngland James Milner 84
09. EnglandEngland David Beckham 80
10. EnglandEngland Teddy Sheringham 76

Status: end of season 2019/20

Most stakes

Players with names in bold will continue to play in the Premier League.

Item player Calls
01. EnglandEngland Gareth Barry 653
02. WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ryan Giggs 632
03. EnglandEngland Frank Lampard 609
04th EnglandEngland David James 572
05. EnglandEngland James Milner 538
06th WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Gary Speed 535
07th EnglandEngland Emile Heskey 516
08th. AustraliaAustralia Mark Schwarzer 514
09. EnglandEngland Jamie Carragher 508
10. EnglandEngland Phil Neville 505

Status: end of season 2019/20

Goalkeeper with the most clean sheets

Players with names in bold will continue to play in the Premier League.

Item player Calls
01. Czech RepublicCzech Republic Petr Čech 202
02. EnglandEngland David James 169
03. AustraliaAustralia Mark Schwarzer 151
04th EnglandEngland David Seaman 141
05. EnglandEngland Nigel Martyn 137
06th SpainSpain Pepe Reina 136
07th United StatesUnited States Brad Friedel 132
United StatesUnited States Tim Howard 132
NetherlandsNetherlands Edwin van der Sar 132
10. DenmarkDenmark Peter Schmeichel 128

Status: end of season 2019/20

Audience numbers

After the German Bundesliga, the Premier League is the league with the second highest average attendance and the league with the highest occupancy. The club with the highest average attendance in the league is Manchester United (average of 75,290 in the 2015/2016 season). Due to the high demand, Liverpool FC and Manchester City are also expanding their stadium capacities.

season cut Games total
1992/93 21,132 462 9,763,140
1999/00 30,730 380 11,677,585
2000/01 32.903 380 12,503,039
2001/02 34,451 380 13.091.502
2002/03 35,464 380 13,476,455
2003/04 34,991 380 13.296.709
2004/05 33,900 380 12,882,140
2005/06 33,885 380 12,876,213
2006/07 34,365 380 13,058,755
2007/08 36,076 380 13,708,885
2008/09 35,592 380 13,524,978
2009/10 34,151 380 12,977,252
2010/11 35,273 380 13,403,792
2011/12 34,601 380 13.148.465
2012/13 35,921 380 13,649,868
2013/14 36,631 380 13,919,810
2014/15 36,176 380 13,746,753
2015/16 36,452 380 13,851,829
2016/17 35,822 380 13,612,316
2017/18 38.297 380 14,552,748
2018/19 38.168 380 14,503,954
2019/20 29,821 380 11,332,096

UEFA five-year ranking

Placement in the UEFA five-year ranking ( previous year's ranking in brackets ). The abbreviations CL and EL after the country coefficients indicate the number of representatives in the 2019/20 season of the Champions League and the Europa League .

Status: end of the European Cup season 2018/19

Web links

Commons : Premier League  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "United (versus Liverpool) Nations" (The Observer (Author: Denis Campbell))
  2. ^ "Competition format of the U21 Premier League" (www.premierleague.com)
  3. ↑ New logo for the Premier League. English Premier League presents new logo. In: sport1.de. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  4. ↑ English league does not have a name sponsor in future. Premier League. In: focus.de. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  5. ↑ dailymail.co.uk: Premier League to be without a title sponsor from 2016-17 season in bid to mirror major American sports' 'clean' branding strategy article from June 5, 2015 (English)
  6. ^ Premier League against Brexit. Premier League for further EU membership of Great Britain. In: sport1.de. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Premier League clubs against Britain's exit from the EU. “Brexit” vote. In: transfermarkt.de. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  8. ↑ "1985: English teams banned after Heysel" (BBC)
  9. ^ "The History of the FA Premier League" ( Memento of May 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (www.premierleague.com). Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  10. ^ Peter Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth: Final Report into the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster . 1990. , cf. also "The Football Spectators (Seating) Order 1994" (Controller of HMSO).
  11. ^ "Fact Sheet 8: British Football on Television" (University of Leicester Center for the Sociology of Sport)
  12. ^ "The History Of The Football League" ( Memento from April 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Official website of the Football League)
  13. ↑ "Fifa wants 18-team Premier League" (BBC)
  14. ^ "Our relationship with the clubs" ( Memento of March 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (Premier League)
  15. ^ "The Premier League and Other Football Bodies" ( Memento of March 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (Premier League)
  16. ^ "European Club Forum" ( Memento of September 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (www.uefa.com)
  17. ^ "Johansson backs Liverpool" (www.eurosport.com)
  18. ↑ "Blatter backs Liverpool Champions League place" (www.rte.ie)
  19. ↑ "Duo backing Reds"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (SkySports)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / home.skysports.com  
  20. ^ Premier League to end 15 year association with sponsors Barclays , Independent article of June 4, 2015
  21. ^ "English football gods in the gold rush", Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung of June 9, 2011
  22. ↑ Deloitte Football Money League Infographic (pdf, English) accessed on March 14, 2020
  23. ^ "Football Stats Results for 1992 - 1993 Premiership" ( Memento from August 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (stats.football.co.uk)
  24. ^ "Fact Sheet 2: Football Stadia After Taylor" ( Memento from January 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  25. ↑ "Shifting stands" (soccernet.espn.go.com)
  26. ↑ "Premiership Attendance - 2002/03" (soccernet.espn.go.com)
  27. ↑ "Euro cash fear for English football clubs" (BBC News)
  28. ^ "English clubs caught in TV revenue trap" (Telegraph.co.uk)
  29. ↑ Premier League lands £ 3bn TV rights bonanza from Sky and BT , Guardian article of June 13, 2012
  30. ↑ Champions League from 2021/22: DAZN secures the largest TV rights package
  31. ^ A b "Football rights and competition in broadcasting" ( Memento of July 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Football Governance Research Center, University of London)
  32. ^ "Premier League launches international right tender" (www.sportbusiness.com)
  33. ↑ "BBC keeps Premiership highlights" (BBC News)
  34. ^ "TV deal pays another £ 84 m" (Daily Telegraph)
  35. ^ "Premiership in new £ 625 m TV deal" (BBC News)
  36. ^ "Sport and European Competition Policy" ( Memento from 23 August 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (European Commission) (PDF document; 51 kB)
  37. ↑ "About Us FAQs" ( Memento from October 10, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) (Premier League)
  38. ^ "ESPN-Star extends pact with FA Premier League" (The Hindu Business Line)
  39. ^ "Premiership trio launch Asia Cup" (soccernet.espn.go.com)
  40. ^ "English Premier League Launch Asia Trophy" (Premier League)
  41. ^ "Goal footage warning for website" (BBC News)
  42. ^ "England need to stem the foreign tide" ( Memento from February 15, 2012 on WebCite ) (The Guardian)
  43. ↑ "Phil Neal: King of Europe?" (Guardian Unlimited)
  44. ^ "Wenger backs non-English line-up" (BBC Sport)
  45. ↑ "Forty factors fueling inflation football" (The Guardian)
  46. ^ "The billion-pound revolution" (The Times)
  47. ↑ "Man City beat Chelsea to Robinho" (bbc.co.uk)
  48. ↑ United sign Angel Di Maria for record fee. In: manutd.com. Manchester United, August 26, 2014, accessed August 27, 2014 .
  49. ↑ a b "Rich clubs forced to give up a sliver of the TV pie" (The Guardian)
  50. ^ "Why clubs may risk millions for riches at the end of the rainbow" (The Guardian)
  51. ↑ womensoccer.de: Charlton's women's football team saved
  52. ^ The Offshore Game ( Memento from May 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  53. ↑ "The Caribbean also loves European football" (Adrian Lobe in the Austrian daily newspaper "Die Presse")
  54. ↑ Liverpool FC are champions - after 30 years and with a double record , kicker.de, June 25, 2020, accessed on June 26, 2020.
  55. ↑ 100 points! Manchester City sets Premier League record , goal.com, May 13, 2018, accessed June 26, 2020.
  56. ↑ a b c d e f g has been represented there without interruption since the Premier League was founded
  57. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n founding member of the Premier League.
  58. ↑ Premier League Player Stats - Goals. Premier League, accessed March 17, 2020 .
  59. ↑ Premier League Player Stats - Goals. Premier League, accessed August 5, 2020 .
  60. ↑ Premier League Player Stats - Assists. Premier League, accessed August 5, 2020 .
  61. ^ Premier League Player Stats - Appearances. Premier League, accessed August 5, 2020 .
  62. ↑ Premier League Player Stats - Clean sheets. Premier League, accessed August 5, 2020 .
  63. ↑ Premier League 2019/2020 - spectators. Retrieved on August 5, 2020 (German).
  64. ↑ UEFA rankings for club competitions. In: UEFA. Retrieved July 14, 2019 .