History of the Premier League
The Barclays Premier League, commonly known as The Premier League or Premiership, is a professional football league for association football clubs. It is the most viewed and financially profitable division in world soccer, played in front of packed out stadiums weekly. The league was formed to give English football a fresh re-branding after problems within the game had scarred its reputation. Hooliganism was rife, and the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters were truly tragic events. In the wake of these terrible incidents, the 1989 Taylor Report ordered a change in the manner in which football stadiums were run and maintained. This led to the developement of all-seater soccer stadiums and more thorough safety measures.
The foundations of the Premier League were laid out and the Founder Members Agreement was signed on July 17 1991. The 22 First Division clubs split from the rest of the Football League to form the Premier League, which was given the rights to handle its own sponsorship deals and broadcast agreements seperately from both the Football Association (FA) and Football League. Broadcasting agreements were made with Sky TV and the BBC worth £304million, the largest in British sporting history. A £12million sponsorship deal was set up with lager brand Carling, which gave the league its original name of the FA Carling Premiership for four years. Barclaycard were announced new sponsors in 2001 in a four year deal worth £48million deal, subsequently changing its name to the Barclaycard Premiership.
Previous Premier League seasons
On August 15 1992, the first Premier League games got underway. Brian Deane of Sheffield United was the first goalscorer as the Blades beat Manchester United 2-1. By June 2010, 18 full seasons will have been completed. In its debut year, 22 teams competed but this number was reduced to 20 by the beginning of the 95-96 season. Since its inception, 43 clubs have played in the Premier League, the latest new entrant being Burnley, who were promoted via the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs in 2009. Seven clubs; Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, have played in every season. It has only ever been won by four clubs; Manchester United (11), Arsenal (3), Chelsea (2) and Blackburn Rovers (1) with David James and Ryan Giggs the only two players to have appeared in every season. Ryan Giggs remains the sole player to have scored in every Premier League season. Other big names clubs that currently play in the league are the world’s richest club, Manchester City, previous champions Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United.
