English Premier League History

England's Premier League was started in 1992/93 when the top teams in the country split away from the Football League in order to rake in even more dosh through gargantuan TV deals. The English Football League has been around for over 120 years, founded way back in 1888. But in 1992 teams from what was the First Division broke away and formed the FA Premier League.

In the subsequent seasons a total of 43 clubs have campaigned in the Premiership. Obviously when a club earns the right to play in this League it makes a huge difference to their coffers, and similarly relegation is a financial disaster of the highest order. Only 4 clubs have managed to win the Premiership since its inception. Those teams are Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Blackburn.

Shock and amaze your friends by pointing out that the mighty Liverpool, who won 18 championships in the old league have yet to win the Premier League. If your friends support Liverpool feel free to laugh at this juncture as well.

Manchester United have made the Premier League their own personal plaything, winning the league 11 times under the not so gentle steering of Sir Alex Ferguson. They have also won it three years in a row heading into the 2009/10 season. They are now tied with Liverpool for championship titles (18, as mentioned above), and the one criticism about the EPL is that United and Chelsea dominate to such an extent that there is little parity. Supporting any of the smaller clubs that are not Manchester United or Chelsea tends to be a hopeless cause.

The English Premier League is the wealthiest football league in the world. The teams that compete racked up combined revenues of nearly two billion pounds in 2007/08. It is also widely agreed that the League fields the strongest club teams in the world, ahead of the Spanish and Italian leagues, with the big four (United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal) nearly always in the hunt for the UEFA Champions League title.