How did the Premier League start? - Quora Quora Updated Dec 1, 2014 The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. Despite significant European success during the 1970s and early 1980s, the late '80s had marked a low point for English football. Stadia were crumbling, supporters endured poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, and English clubs were banned from European competition for five years following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985. The Football League First Division, which had been the top level of English football since 1888, was well behind 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 (resulting in Manchester United lifting the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1991) and the Taylor Report on stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to create all-seater stadia in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, was published in January of that year. Television money had also become much more important; the Football League received £6.3 million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but when that deal was renewed in 1988, the price rose to £44 million over four years. The 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league; ten clubs threatened to leave and form a "super league", but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadia improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the country's top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the growing influx of money being pumped into the sport.

At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring more money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the game's top-flight clubs, established the basic principles for setting up the FA Premier League. The newly formed top division would have commercial independence from The Football Association and the Football League, giving the FA Premier League licence to negotiate its own broadcast and sponsorship agreements. The argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe. History of the English Premier League - SuperSport - Football History of the English Premier League William McGregor statue © Action Images What is now known as the English Premier League has its roots in an earlier league, called the Football League, which was originally founded in 1888. The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football. It was the top level football league in England from its foundation until 1992.

Since 1995 it has had 72 clubs evenly divided into three divisions, which are currently known as The Championship, League One and League Two. Promotion and relegation between these divisions is a central feature of the League and is further extended to allow the top Championship clubs to exchange places with the lowest placed clubs in the Premier League. A director of Aston Villa, William McGregor, was the first to set out to bring some order to a chaotic world where clubs arranged their own fixtures. On March 2, 1888, he wrote to the committee of his own club, Aston Villa, as well as to those of Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion, suggesting the creation of a league competition that would provide a number of guaranteed fixtures for its member clubs each season. The first meeting was held at Anderson's Hotel in London on March 23, 1888, on the eve of the FA Cup Final. The Football League was formally created and named in Manchester at a further meeting on April 17 at the Royal Hotel.

In 1992, the First Division clubs resigned from the Football League to take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal and on May 27, 1992, the Premier League as we know it today was formed. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions; the Premier League would operate with a single division and the Football League with three. There was no change in competition format; the same number of teams competed in the top flight, and promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the new First Division remained on the same terms as between the old First and Second Divisions. The 22 inaugural members of the new Premier League were Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wimbledon. A total of 43 clubs have played in the Premier League from its inception in 1992 until the end of the 2009/10 season.

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 Premier League season and have not subsequently returned to the top flight. Seven clubs have been members of the Premier League for every season since its inception. This group is composed of Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur. Due to insistence by Fifa 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 promoted. On June 8, 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. 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 in 2007.

FOREIGN PLAYERS At the inception of the Premier League in 1992/93, just 11 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). By 2000/01, the number of foreign players participating in the Premier League was 36 per cent. In the 2004/05 season the figure had increased to 45 per cent. On December 26, 1999, Chelsea became the first Premier League side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up, and on February 14, 2005, Arsenal were the first to name a completely foreign 16-man squad for a match. No English manager has won the Premier League; the five managers to have won the title comprise two Scots (Alex Ferguson (Manchester United, 11 wins) and Kenny Dalglish (Blackburn Rovers, one win), a Frenchman (Arsène Wenger, Arsenal, three wins), an Italian (Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea, one win), and a Portuguese (José Mourinho, Chelsea, two wins).

TRANSFER FEES The record transfer fee for a Premier League has been broken several times over the lifetime of the competition. Prior to the start of the first Premier League season, Alan Shearer became the first British player to command a transfer fee of more than £3 million. The record rose steadily in the Premier League's first few seasons, until Alan Shearer made a world record breaking £15 million move to Newcastle United in 1996. This stood as a British record for four years until it was eclipsed by the £18 million Leeds paid West Ham for Rio Ferdinand. Manchester United subsequently broke the record three times by signing Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastián Verón and Rio Ferdinand. Chelsea broke the record in May 2006, when they signed Andriy Shevchenko, from AC Milan. The exact figure of the transfer fee was not disclosed, but was reported as being around £30 million. This was eclipsed by Manchester City's transfer of Robinho from Real Madrid on September 1, 2008 for £32.5 million. The Robinho transfer remains the largest ever paid by a Premier League club.

The record transfer in the sport's history had a Premier League club on the selling end, with Manchester United accepting an £80 million bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. RECORDS David James holds the record for the most Premier League appearances, overtaking the previous record held by Gary Speed of 535 appearances in February 2009. The first ever Premier League goal was scored by Brian Deane of Sheffield United in a 2–1 win against Manchester United. SPONSORS The Premier League has been sponsored since 1993. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The table below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition: YEARS Barclays Premier League TELEVISION 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. 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: 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. 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. On 22 June 2009, due to the troubles encountered by Setanta Sports after it failed to meet a final deadline over a £30 million payment to the Premier League, ESPN was awarded the two packages of UK rights containing a total of 46 matches that were available for the 2009/10 season as well as a package of 23 matches per season from 2010/11 to 2012/13. MATCH BALLS For the inaugural season of the Premier League, clubs were obliged to supply their own match balls, which were usually provided by the clubs' kit manufacturers. In 1993, the Premier League came to an agreement with Mitre for them to supply the league's teams with their match balls.

Mitre supplied balls to the Premier League for seven years, starting with the Mitre Pro Max (1993–1995) and then the Mitre Ultimax (1995–2000). The 2000/01 season saw Nike take over as match ball supplier, introducing the Nike Geo Merlin ball, which had been used in the UEFA Champions League. The Geo Merlin was used for four seasons before being replaced by the Nike Total 90 Aerow, which ran for another two seasons. The 2004/05 season also saw the introduction of a yellow "Hi-Vis" ball for use in the winter months. Next came the Nike Total 90 Aerow II, which featured an asymmetrical design to help players judge the flight and spin of the ball.

For the 2008/09 season, the official ball of the Premier League was the Nike Total 90 Omni, which featured yet another pattern in dark red and yellow and a modified panel design, and was replaced by the Nike T90 Ascente for the 2009/10 season, with blue, yellow and orange trim, and for 2010/11 by the T90 TRACER, and will be electric blue, black and white trim. TOP SCORERS IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE (PREMIER LEAGUE ONLY) PLAYER MORE GOALS Manchester United became the first team to have scored 1 000 goals in the league after Cristiano Ronaldo scored in a 4–1 defeat of Middlesbrough in the 2005/06 season. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are the only other teams to have reached the 1 000-goal mark. The highest-scoring match to date in the Premier League occurred on September 29, 2007, when Portsmouth beat Reading 7–4.

Five goals is the record individual scoring total for a player in a single Premier League game, and as of November 2009, only three players had achieved this feat, Andy Cole first, followed by Alan Shearer and then Jermain Defoe. Only Ryan Giggs of Manchester United has scored in all 18 Premier League seasons. Event Streaming leagues Crystal Palace 1 - 2 Swansea (03 Jan) Description The Premier League is an English professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the countrys primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League (EFL; known as "The Football League" before 2016–17). Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away), totalling 380 matches in the season. Most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons; others during weekday evenings.

It is colloquially known as the Premiership and outside the UK it is commonly referred to as the English Premier League (EPL). The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB and BT Group securing the domestic rights to broadcast 116 and 38 games respectively. The league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion. The Premier League is the most-watched football league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people.

In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000, second highest of any professional football league behind the Bundesligas 43,500. Most stadium occupancies are near capacity. The Premier League ranks third in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. While 47 clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, only six have won the title: Manchester United (13), Chelsea (4), Arsenal (3), Manchester City (2), Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City (1). The current champions are Leicester City, who won the title in 2015–16. Schedule A SHORT HISTORY OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE © Tony Brown, 1995 Taken from the introduction to "The Ultimate Football League Statistics Book", published by the author in 1994. The idea of a "league", in which each club played every other club in an organised, scheduled fashion was first established in America with the formation of baseball's National League in 1876.

The earlier baseball National Association was less well organised; each club was not obliged to play every other, and they played unequal numbers of games. Cricket in this country was also less formally structured at the time; an unofficial championship table was published as early as 1864 but not until 1892 did each county play every other twice. The 1880s were a period of rapid change in the organisation of professional, competitive football. The press reports of the time show a growing spectator interest in the game as the Saturday half day holiday became established. The growth of football can be seen by examining the number of clubs entering the F.A. Cup competition; fifteen in 1871/72, seventy three in 1881/82, and one hundred and forty nine in 1888/89. The fixture list of a leading club at that time included a series of "friendly" fixtures with other clubs of similar status, the F.A. Cup, and other cup competitions organised by the county or town in which the club was based.

The formation of the Football League in 1888 can thus be seen as a logical development; a means of continuing to attract the paying public to a guaranteed number of home games each season. William McGregor, a committee member of Aston Villa, wrote to some of the leading clubs in March 1888; after two meetings the founder members of the League were agreed. The number of Saturdays available was a factor in limiting the number of clubs in the competition to twelve. This required twenty two Saturdays for the fixtures, but the clubs would also have continued with some of their traditional friendly games and needed to play their national and local cup games as well. Many clubs found that the only way to tackle this fixture problem was to arrange two games on one day, and use two completely different "first" teams to play the games. The first twelve clubs comprised six from Lancashire and six from the Midlands. All of them had professional players. Just one of those clubs is no longer playing today (Accrington), although another (Stoke) has had two spells out of the League. Well established clubs who were not included in the original twelve were Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday; Forest were late to embrace professionalism and preferred to retain their former fixture list.

Southern clubs stayed largely amateur and aloof from the League; Arsenal were the first to be admitted, in 1893/94. It was originally hoped that Scottish clubs would join; clubs from north of the border had played in the F.A. Cup since the competition started in 1871/72. However, they formed their own league in 1890. The first games were played under the League rules on September 8th 1888. Some of these rules were still under discussion; the two points for a win, one for a draw rule was not agreed until November 21st that year. The counter proposal was just to count the wins. Things were a little disorganised at first. Matches often started late due to the late arrival of the opposition. Results were sometimes disputed. Bolton Wanderers claimed a game against Notts County in 1889/90 was lost 0-3 and not 0-4 as shown in the records; this helped them avoid the need to apply for re-election at the end of the season.

The Notts County versus Derby County game in the first season is shown in the League's records as played on the 19th November 1888 with a 2-5 result. In fact the match was played on 16th March 1889 and finished 3-5. There is no doubt that all the clubs involved found the League was a success. The original rules required the last four clubs to retire and apply for re-election; all were successful in 1889, so the second season started with the same twelve clubs. Stoke were the first club not to be re-elected; they were replaced by Sunderland in 1890. Nottingham Forest changed their minds about organised competition and were founder members in 1889 of a rival competition, the Football Alliance. A game between the two leagues was played in 1891, resulting in a 1-1 draw. The original constitution of the League had envisaged a second division, and this was formed in 1892/93 by absorbing the Football Alliance. Two Alliance clubs were elected directly into the first division; most of the remaining clubs formed the new Division Two.

The formation of the second division raised the question of promotion and relegation. The League decided that the clubs in the promotion and relegation spots should meet in "test matches", a descriptive enough term borrowed from cricket where the first international matches to be labelled as test matches took place in 1861/62. The test matches ran for six seasons, but were not regarded as particularly fair or successful and were replaced by automatic promotion and relegation in 1898/99. The League rules still allowed for direct election into the first division; the last club to benefit from this were Arsenal who were elected to Division One after the First World War despite finishing fifth in Division Two in season 1914/15; it was an inspired choice as they have remained in the division ever since. There was a fairly rapid turnover of clubs in the second division in the seasons up to 1915. Some clubs dropped out for a year or so and played in regional leagues before returning; others never did return. Some disbanded, others can still be found to this day playing in the minor leagues. The League was suspended at the end of the 1914/15 season because of the First World War.

Most clubs continued to play in regional competitions during the war, but many players volunteered for active duty and did not return. The League restarted in 1919. The experience of amalgamating another league into the Football League was repeated in 1920, when the first division of the Southern League (formed in 1894) became the third division of the League. It was intended to form a third division for northern clubs at the same time, but there was no "Northern League" to take over. The northern section started one year after the southern section, with clubs from leagues such as the North Eastern, the Lancashire Combination, the Birmingham and District, the Midland, and the Central. Most of these leagues were established in the early 1890s, all taking the Football League rules as their basis. Just one club was promoted from each of the third divisions. In order to fit the clubs relegated from Division Two into their appropriate division, South or North, it was sometimes necessary to move the Midland clubs from one third division to the other; thus clubs such as Mansfield and Walsall played in both divisions.

The 1939/40 season had just started at the outbreak of the Second World War; most clubs had played three games when the competition was suspended. As in the First War, a number of regional leagues were organised. The League did not restart until August 1946 althoughthe F.A. Cup was played in season 1945/46. The period from 1922 to 1958 saw little change; the number of clubs dropping out or failing to win re-election was much smaller than the seasons up to 1915. The third divisions were expanded to 24 clubs in 1950. By 1958, the economic justification for regional third divisions was less obvious, and it was decided to replace them with nationwide Third and Fourth divisions. The top half of each regional division formed the new Third division, and the bottom half the Fourth. Four clubs were promoted and four relegated between the two new divisions. Two up, two down had been the general rule between the higher divisions; this changed to three up, three down in 1973/74.

Until season 1975/76, clubs that finished level on points were separated by "goal average". Their total of goals for was divided by their goals against. This could be argued to encourage defensive play, since not conceding any goals is obviously going to help the average. From 1976/77 onwards, goal difference was used instead. This is calculated by subtracting the goals against from the goals for. If clubs have the same goal difference, the one with most goals for is given the higher place; this rule was needed to settle the First Division championship in 1988/89. The "new" Football League decided that "goals for" would apply from 1992/93 onwards, but the Premier League has retained goal difference. 1981/82 saw one of the most fundamental changes in the history of the League, although it caused no major revolution. The reward of two points for a win was replaced by three points, the argument being that it would stimulate attacking play and reduce the number of 0-0 draws that had peaked between 1971 and 1980.

Season 1985/86 was the last season in which the bottom four clubs (of Division Four) had to apply for re-election. The League clubs agreed that the bottom club in 1986/87 would be replaced by the champions of the GM Vauxhall Conference. This had been formed in 1979/80 (as the Alliance Premier League) to bring together the major non-league clubs from the regional leagues. Lincoln City were bottom in 1986/87. This was the fourth time in their history that they were out of the league, but (as on all other occasions) they were back after just one season. The re-election principle had not always seemed fair; Gateshead were not re-elected in 1960 yet nearby Hartlepool survived on many occasions. There is an interesting list of clubs that applied for election but didn't make it; how might football history have changed if the applications of The Argonauts, Rossendale, and Fairfield been successful? The test match principle was re-introduced in 1986/87 as a means of helping to reduce the first division from 22 clubs to 20.

The play-offs were generally held to be successful even though "odd" results could occur; Chelsea were relegated in 1988 despite winning three of their four play-off games. The play-offs continued from 1988/89 as a means of deciding the final promotion place in Divisions Two, Three and Four. The bottom club of Division Four in seasons 1990/91 and 1991/92 were not moved to the GM Vauxhall Conference as it had been decided to restore the first division to 22 clubs. The clubs which would have formed the first division in 1992/93 broke away to form the F.A. Premier League. The remaining divisions two, three and four of the Football League were then renumbered one, two and three. Three clubs are relegated from the Premier League, and three promoted from Division 1 though this changed at the end of 1994/95 when the number of clubs in the Premier League was reduced. THE MISCELLANEOUS GAMES There have been many competitive games played under League rules that are not regarded as "league" games.

These matches are: Test matches, played between 1893 and 1898, and used to determine promotion and relegation between Divisions One and Two. The expunged records of Wigan Borough in 1932, Accrington Stanley in 1962 and Aldershot in 1993. These clubs failed to complete the season and so the results of the games they had played that season were removed from the final totals. Those of season 1939/40, which was abandoned because of the 1939-45 War after each club had played two or three matches. Play-offs, which have been used since 1987 to settle some promotion and relegation issues. THE LEAGUE TABLES The original League rules published in 1888 required the bottom four clubs to retire from the League but they were then eligible to apply for re-election. The formation of the second division meant that the bottom four clubs of that division had to retire; this was reduced to three in season 1895/96 and two in 1908/09.

Two clubs from each of the Third Divisions North and South had to retire, and four from Division Four. The last season of the re-election principle was 1985/86; until 1990/91, the bottom club in Division Four has been replaced by the champions of the GM Vauxhall Conference. Bolton Wanderers were not obliged to retire in 1889/90 after a dispute over the result of one of their games. West Bromwich Albion were excused from retiring in 1891/92 because they had won the F.A. Cup. Darwen were not re-elected that season, but were then elected to the new Division Two. Birmingham City were not promoted after winning the championship of Division Two in 1892/93 (and Manchester United were not relegated after finishing last in Division One) as a result of the test matches. Similarly, West Bromwich Albion avoided relegation in 1895/96 despite finishing bottom of Division One.

Rotherham Town were not re-elected in 1893/94, but were invited back for the following season after the resignation of Middlesbrough Ironopolis. Crewe managed to avoid retiring that season by arguing that Bootle should be considered as finishing below them; Bootle had in fact resigned just before the start of the season. Stoke City and Burnley qualified for Division One in the test matches of 1897/98. A 0-0 draw was sufficient for the clubs to top the test match table and they duly ensured that this happened in what was probably the most boring game of all time. However, after it was agreed to increase the number of clubs in the League, the two defeated clubs (Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United) were elected to Division One. Once again, Darwen were not re-elected that season, but were invited back because of the increase in the number of clubs. Bury and Notts County were re-elected to Division One after finishing last in 1904/05, because the size of the League was increased again. Burton United were not re-elected, but it was their turn to be invited back because of an increase in the number of clubs.

There were several changes when the League resumed in 1919 after the First World War. Chelsea were re-elected to Division One without going to a vote as the division had been extended to 22 clubs. Arsenal were elected (somewhat controversially) to Division One ahead of Tottenham Hotspur (who were thus relegated to Division Two), Burnley, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City and Hull City. Leeds City were expelled in the 1919/20 season for not revealing their books to the League; these were thought to contain evidence of illegal payments to players during the War. They had played eight matches at the time; Port Vale were invited to rejoin the League and played the remaining Leeds City fixtures. They were also credited with the results of the eight games. Grimsby Town and Lincoln City were not re-elected in 1920. However, Grimsby were elected (somewhat incongruously - the only northern club) to the new Division Three. Although they had finished below Lincoln in the table they had polled more votes in the re-election ballot. They transferred to Division Three (North) when this was formed for the 1921/22 season.

The third division of the League was created for the 1920/21 season by taking the clubs from the first division of the Southern League and including Grimsby. As there was no Third Division (North) until the following season it is arguable as to whether the records for the third division should be labelled as "3S" or simply "3". Brentford and Gillingham were not obliged to retire in 1920/21 because of the formation of Division Three (North). The resignation of Wigan Borough in 1931/32 meant that only Rochdale had to retire. Similarly, the resignation of Accrington Stanley in 1961/62 meant that just the last three clubs in Division Four that year needed to retire. Peterborough United were relegated from Division Three to Division Four at the end of the 1967/68 season because of illegal payments to players. However, points were not deducted from their record. Port Vale were expelled in 1968 for unauthorised payments, but were immediately re-elected. The Scunthorpe United versus Exeter City game in season 1973/74 was not played.

Scunthorpe were awarded two points. Swindon Town won their play off match against Sunderland in 1989/90 but were not promoted because of irregular payments to players. The following clubs had points deducted, in most cases for playing ineligible players. Tranmere Rovers failed to play a game on the scheduled date. Arsenal and Manchester United had points deducted because of player misconduct during their game. 1890/91 Division 1 1 point Some "home" games were actually played on grounds belonging to other clubs. The most notable examples are perhaps Manchester United who played on Manchester City's ground from 1946 to 1949 because of bomb damage at Old Trafford, and Notts County when they played at Trent Bridge. At the start and end of each season County had to play elsewhere because of the need to play cricket on the ground. Such games are still counted as home games in the records. OTHER CLUB NAMES Several clubs have played under different names during their time in the League. The name used in the database is followed by the other names they have used and the League seasons to which they apply. Arsenal Burton Wanderers merged with Burton Swifts to form Burton United.

Rotherham Town merged with Rotherham County to form Rotherham United. South Shields moved to Gateshead in 1930, changing their name and their ground. The original Accrington club resigned from the League in 1893 and went out of existence in 1896, at about the time that Accrington Stanley were formed. They should be considered as separate clubs. Similarly, Leeds City were not the same club as Leeds United, and New Brighton Tower and New Brighton were separate clubs. These distinctions have sometimes not been made by other compilers of statistics. UNCERTAIN RESULTS The definitive work for League results up to season 1937/38 is the "Story of the Football League", published by the League in 1938. Five results in the AFS database differ from those given in the League's book (and repeated in other reference works such as Rothmans). They are as follows: 1888/89 (16th March 1889): Notts County 3, Derby County 5 (not 2-5).

Notts County cancelled the original fixture scheduled for 17th November 1888 in order to play Derby Midland in the F.A. Cup. 1895/96 (4th January 1896): Arsenal 5, Loughborough 0 (not 6-0). The Loughborough paper reports that the sixth goal was disallowed for offside. 1896/97 (28th November 1896): Leicester City (then Fosse) 4, Walsall 2 (not 4-1). Given by the authors of the Leicester City history "Of Fossils and Foxes" (Dave Smith and Paul Taylor, Polar Publishing). Confirmed by the Nottingham papers, though they note that Walsall scored their second goal "just on time". 1902/03 (25th December 1902): Glossop 3, Stockport County 0 (not 3-1). 1912/13 (26th April 1913): Hull City 2, Leicester City (then Fosse) 0 (not 2-1). Still something of a puzzle.

The author of "Hull City, A Complete Record" (Chris Elton, Breedon Books) gives 2-1. "Of Fossils and Foxes" has 2-0 and is therefore accepted as correct (as it is a Leicester goal that is in dispute). However, a Leicester correspondent has 2-1, with Osborn the scorer. Khel 24x7: Barclays English Premier League - The Most Popular Football League in World Barclays English Premier League - The Most Popular Football League in World EPL - The English Premier League - Most Popular Football Event in Europe The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. It is widely regarded as the elite club competition in world football. It is the world's most lucrative football league, with combined club revenues of more than £2 billion in 2008–09. It is also ranked first in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years, ahead of Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League.

The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38 games each. It is sponsored by Barclays Bank and therefore officially known as the Barclays Premier League. The English Premier League formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from The Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. A total of 43 clubs have competed in the Premier League since 1992, but only four have won the title: Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, and Chelsea. The current champions are Manchester United, who won their eleventh Premier League title in the 2008–09 season, the most of any Premier League team. The English Premier trophy The current Premier League trophy was created by Royal Jewellers Asprey of London. It weighs 25 kg; 56 lb, and is 76 cm tall, 43 cm wide and 25 cm deep.

Its main body is solid sterling silver and silver gilt, while its plinth is made of malachite, a semi-precious stone. The plinth has a silver band around its circumference, upon which the names of the title-winning clubs are listed. Malachite's green colour is also representative of the green field of play. The design of the trophy is based on the heraldry of Three Lions that is associated with English football. Two of the lions are found above the handles on either side of the trophy – the third is symbolised by the captain of the title winning team as he raises the trophy, and its gold crown, above his head at the end of the season. The trophy has borne several names on its face since it was first created, when it read "The F.A. Premier League". The one Manchester United lifted in 2006–07 read "The Barclays Premiership". From the 2007–08 season onwards, the trophy has read "Premier League" on one side and "Barclays Premier League" on the other side. Match Format of Premier League 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. 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 champion. If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank. 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.

Barclays English Premier League inaugural members The 22 inaugural members of the new Premier League were Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wimbledon. English Premier League champions Table by year Season Premier League champions 2008–09 Manchester United Barclays Premier League History As of the end of the 2008–09 season, there had been 17 completed seasons of the Premier League. The league held its first season in 1992–93 and was originally composed of 22 clubs. The first ever Premier League 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 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. 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 in 2007. English Premier League structure The Premier League is operated as a corporation and is owned by the 20 member clubs. Each club is a shareholder, with one vote each on issues such as rule changes and contracts. The clubs elect a chairman, chief executive, and board of directors to oversee the daily operations of the league. 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. 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 Europa League. New Qualification for UEFA Champions League As of the 2009–10 season qualification for the UEFA Champions League changes. The top four teams in the Premier League qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the top three teams directly entering the group stage. Previously only the top two teams qualified automatically. The fourth-placed team enters the Champions League at the play-off round for non-champions and must win a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group stage. The fifth team automatically qualifies for the UEFA Europa League, and the sixth and seventh-placed teams can also qualify, depending on the winners of the two domestic cup competitions. If one of the cup winners qualifies for Europe through their league position, the sixth-placed team in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League. If both of the cup winners qualify for Europe through their league position, the sixth and seventh-placed teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League. A further place in the UEFA Europa League is available via the Fair Play initiative.

If the Premier League has one of the three highest Fair Play rankings in Europe, the highest ranked team in the Premier League Fair Play standings which has not already qualified for Europe will automatically qualify for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. Begining of FA Premier League Despite significant European success during the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 80s had marked a low point for English football. Stadia were crumbling, supporters endured poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, and English clubs were banned from European competition for five years 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 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 (resulting in Manchester United lifting the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1991) and the Taylor Report on stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to create all-seater stadia in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, was published in January of that year. Television money had also become much more important; the Football League received £6.3 million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but when that deal was renewed in 1988, the price rose to £44m over four years. The 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league; ten clubs threatened to leave and form a "super league", but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadia improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the country's top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the growing influx of money being pumped into the sport. Base of the New English Premier League At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal for the establishment of a new league was tabled that would bring more money into the game overall.

The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the game's top-flight clubs, established the basic principles for setting up the FA Premier League. The newly formed top division would have commercial independence from the Football Association and the Football League, giving the FA Premier League license to negotiate its own broadcast and sponsorship agreements. The argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe. In 1992 the First Division clubs resigned from the Football League en masse and on 27 May 1992 the FA Premier League was formed as a limited company working out of an office at the Football Association's then headquarters in Lancaster Gate. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions; the Premier League would operate with a single division and the Football League with three. There was no change in competition format; the same number of teams competed in the top flight, and promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the new First Division remained on the same terms as between the old First and Second Divisions.

Posted by Playsarea | Premier League - Playsarea Premier League in League The Premier League is an English professional league for men’s association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country’s primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Football League. Besides English clubs, the Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify to play. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away) totalling 380 matches in the season.Most games are played in the afternoons of Saturdays and Sundays, the other games during weekday evenings. It is currently sponsored by Barclays Bank and thus officially known as the Barclays Premier League and is colloquially known as the Premiership. Outside the UK it is commonly referred to as the English Premier League (EPL).

The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. This deal is worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB and BT Group securing the domestic rights to broadcast 116 and 38 games respectively.The league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. The Premier League is the most-watched football league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. In the 2010–11 season, the average Premier League match attendance was 35,363, the second highest of any professional football league behind the Bundesliga, and stadium occupancy was 92% capacity.The Premier League ranked second in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years.

Of the 47 clubs to have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, five have won the title: Manchester United (13), Chelsea (4), Arsenal (3), Manchester City (2) and Blackburn Rovers (1). The current champions are Chelsea, who won the title in 2014–15. Since its inception, member clubs have won the UEFA Champions League, the premier European club competition, on four occasions. This was accomplished by Manchester United in 1999 and 2008, by Liverpool in 2005 and by Chelsea in 2012. Despite significant European success during the 1970s and early 1980s, the late ’80s had marked a low point for English football. Stadia were crumbling, supporters endured poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, and English clubs were banned from European competition for five years following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985.

The Football League First Division, which had been the top level of English football since 1888, was well behind 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 (resulting in Manchester United lifting the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991) and the Taylor Report on stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to create all-seater stadia in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, was published in January of that year.

Television money had also become much more important; the Football League received £6.3 million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but when that deal was renewed in 1988, the price rose to £44 million over four years.[11] The 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league; ten clubs threatened to leave and form a “super league”, but were eventually persuaded to stay.As stadia improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the country’s top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the growing influx of money being pumped into the sport. Qualification for European competitions As of the 2009–10 season qualification for the UEFA Champions League changed, the top four teams in the Premier League qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the top three teams directly entering the group stage. Previously only the top two teams qualified automatically. The fourth-placed team enters the Champions League at the play-off round for non-champions and must win a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group stage.

The team placed fifth in the Premier League automatically qualifies for the UEFA Europa League, and the sixth and seventh-placed teams can also qualify, depending on the winners and runners-up of the two domestic cup competitions. Two Europa League places are reserved for the winner of each of the domestic cup competitions; if the winner of either the FA Cup or League Cup qualifies for the Champions League, then that place will go to the next-best placed finisher in the Premier League. A further place in the UEFA Europa League is also available via the Fair Play initiative. If the Premier League has one of the three highest Fair Play rankings in Europe, the highest ranked team in the Premier League Fair Play standings which has not already qualified for Europe will automatically qualify for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. An exception to the usual European qualification system happened in 2005, after Liverpool won the Champions League the year before, but did not finish in a Champions League qualification place in the Premier League that season. UEFA gave special dispensation for Liverpool to enter the Champions League, giving England five qualifiers. UEFA subsequently ruled that the defending champions qualify for the competition the following year regardless of their domestic league placing.

However, for those leagues with four entrants in the Champions League, this meant that if the Champions League winner finished outside the top four in its domestic league, it would qualify at the expense of the fourth-placed team in the league. No association can have more than four entrants in the Champions League.[45] This occurred in 2012, when Chelsea – who had won the Champions League the previous year, but finished sixth in the league – qualified for the Champions League in place of Tottenham Hotspur, who went into the Europa League. In 2007, the Premier League became the highest ranking European League based on the performances of English teams in European competitions over a five-year period. This broke the eight-year dominance of the Spanish league, La Liga. Club

Question: In what year did clubs in the first division of the English Football League, founded in 1888, break away and found the Premier League?
Answer: 1992