The Premier League is the top-tier professional football league in England, featuring 20 clubs competing in a promotion and relegation system with the English Football League. A season spans from August to May, with each team playing 38 matches against every other team, both at home and away. Games are primarily held on weekend afternoons, supplemented by occasional weekday evening matches. It is the highest level in the English football league system.
The average attendance in the 1948-49 season, which held for over 70 years, was surpassed in the 2021-22 season.
In the 1998-99 season, Manchester United became the first English club to win the European Cup since Liverpool in the 1983–84 season.
In 1985, English clubs faced a 5-year ban from European competition following the events of the Heysel Stadium disaster.
In 1986, Division One clubs secured increased voting power and a 50% share of all television and sponsorship income.
In November 1986, Alex Ferguson became the manager of Manchester United, marking the beginning of his tenure that lasted through the last five years of the Football League First Division and the first 21 seasons of the Premier League.
In 1988, negotiations took place under the threat of ten clubs forming a "super league," leading to leading clubs securing the bulk of the deal.
In 1988, the Football League secured £44 million over four years with ITV for television rights, with top clubs taking 75% of the income.
On 15 April 1989, the Hillsborough disaster occurred at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire, resulting in a report on stadium safety standards.
In 1989, the Hillsborough disaster and subsequent Taylor Report recommended the abolishment of standing terraces in football stadiums, leading to all-seater stadiums in the Premier League.
In January 1990, the Taylor Report on stadium safety standards was published, proposing expensive upgrades to create all-seater stadiums following the Hillsborough disaster.
At the close of the 1990–91 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring more money into the game overall.
In 1990, Greg Dyke of London Weekend Television (LWT) met with representatives of the "big five" football clubs in England to discuss a breakaway from the Football League.
In June 1991, the FA released a report titled "Blueprint for the Future of Football," supporting the plan for the Premier League.
On 17 July 1991, the Founder Members Agreement was signed by the game's top-flight clubs, establishing the basic principles for setting up the FA Premier League.
At the end of the 1991–92 season, Luton Town, Notts County, and West Ham United were the three teams relegated from the old First Division.
In 1991, UEFA lifted the five-year ban on English clubs playing in European competitions and Manchester United lifted the Cup Winners' Cup.
In 1991, the top flight had only been expanded to 22 teams at the start of the 1991–92 season – the year prior to the formation of the Premier League.
In February 1992, the FA Premier League was founded after clubs from the First Division decided to break away from the English Football League.
On 27 May 1992, the 22 First Division clubs resigned en masse from the Football League, and the FA Premier League was formed as a limited company.
In 1992, the Premier League was established with fifty-one clubs having competed since its inception.
In 1992, the Premier League was founded and began its inaugural season.
In 1992, the Premier League's decision to assign broadcasting rights to Sky was a radical move that has significantly contributed to the league's financial success.
In the 1992–93 season, at the inception of the Premier League, only 11 players named in the starting line-ups for the first round of matches hailed from outside of the United Kingdom or Ireland.
In the 1992–93 season, the average attendance in the Premier League was 21,126. Stadium capacities were reduced as clubs replaced terraces with seats to meet the Taylor Report's 1994–95 deadline for all-seater stadiums.
Since the first Premier League season in 1992–93, the Premier League Golden Boot has been awarded each season to the top scorer in the division.
Between 1993 and 1997, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United came closest to challenging Manchester United’s early dominance.
From 1993, the Premier League was sponsored by Carling and was known as the FA Carling Premiership.
At the end of the 1994–95 season, four clubs, rather than three, were relegated from the Premier League.
From 1994, Topps, under its Merlin brand, held the licence to produce collectables for the Premier League including stickers and trading cards.
In the 1994–95 season, Blackburn Rovers, led by Alan Shearer, won the FA Premier League.
In the 2011–12 season, Chelsea and Liverpool finished outside the top four for the first time since 1994–95.
In the 2015–16 season, Leicester City defied 5000/1 odds to win the league, becoming the first non-"Big Six" champion since Blackburn in 1994–95.
The Taylor Report's 1994-95 deadline for all-seater stadiums contributed to reduced capacities in the 1992-93 season as clubs replaced terraces with seats.
In 1995, the Premier League reduced its size from 22 to 20 clubs for the start of the 1995–96 season.
In 1995, the number of clubs in the Premier League was reduced from 22 to 20, with four teams being relegated and only two promoted.
In the 1994–95 season, Blackburn Rovers, led by Alan Shearer, won the FA Premier League.
In 1996, Arsène Wenger became the manager of Arsenal in the Premier League, beginning his long tenure with the club.
In the summer of 1996 Newcastle signed Alan Shearer for a then world-record fee of £15 million.
Between 1993 and 1997, Arsenal emerged as serious contenders, winning the League and FA Cup double in 1997–98.
In the 1997-98 season, all three promoted clubs were relegated by the season's end.
Starting from the 1997-98 season, the Premier League's broadcasting contract rose to £670 million over four seasons, highlighting the increasing value of TV rights.
In 1998, Wimbledon received Premier League approval to relocate to Dublin, Ireland, but the move was blocked by the Football Association of Ireland.
In the 1998–99 season, Manchester United began the journey to complete a historic treble by winning the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.
In July 1999, the UK Restrictive Practices Court investigated the Premier League's collective selling of broadcasting rights but concluded it was not against the public interest.
On 26 December 1999, Chelsea became the first Premier League side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up.
In 1999, the Home Office tightened its rules for granting work permits to non-EU players due to concerns that clubs were increasingly passing over young English players. Players had to meet certain criteria related to international appearances and FIFA rankings.
In the 1999–2000 season, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United began to dominate the Premier League, forming the "Big Four".
Between 2000 and 2010, Arsenal lost in the final of the UEFA Cup/Europa League
By the 2000–01 season, the number of foreign players participating in the Premier League was 36% of the total.
In 2000, Nike became the official ball supplier for the Premier League, taking over from Mitre.
In the 1999–2000 season, Manchester United won one of their five league titles during the 2000s.
In the 2000–01 season, Leeds United reached the Champions League semi-finals.
During the 2001-02 season, for one of the few times in Premier League history, no promoted team was immediately relegated back to the Football League.
In 2001, a sponsorship deal with Barclaycard rebranded the league the FA Barclaycard Premiership.
In the 2001–02 season, Arsenal claimed one of their two league titles during the 2000s.
Starting in 2001, the Premier League secured a £1.024 billion deal with BSkyB for broadcasting rights over three seasons, continuing the growth in television revenue.
In 2002, the Office of Fair Trading investigated BSkyB, finding them dominant in the pay TV sports market but without sufficient grounds to claim abuse of that position.
In the 2001–02 season, Arsenal claimed one of their two league titles during the 2000s.
In the 2002–03 season, Manchester United won one of their five league titles during the 2000s.
From 2004 to 2007, the Premier League brought in £320 million from the sale of its international broadcasting rights, sold on a territory-by-territory basis.
In 2004, FA Barclaycard Premiership was changed to the FA Barclays Premiership in time for the 2004–05 season.
In 2004, a special gold version of the Premier League trophy was commissioned to commemorate Arsenal winning the title without a single defeat.
In the 2003–04 season, Arsenal earned the nickname "The Invincibles" for their unbeaten season.
In the 2004–05 season, Chelsea achieved a record-breaking 95-point haul.
In the 2004–05 season, the figure of foreign players participating in the Premier League had increased to 45% of the total.
On 14 February 2005, Arsenal became the first Premier League team to name a completely foreign 16-man squad for a match.
In the 2004–05 season, Chelsea rose to prominence with one of their three league titles under José Mourinho during the 2000s.
In the 2005-06 season, Thierry Henry won his fourth overall scoring title by scoring 27 goals.
In June 2006, FIFA requested that all major European leagues, including the Premier League, be reduced to 18 teams by the start of the 2007-08 season.
In August 2006, Sky's monopoly on Premier League broadcasting rights was broken when Setanta Sports was awarded rights to show two packages of matches.
Between 2000 and 2010, Middlesbrough lost in the final of the UEFA Cup/Europa League
From the 2006–07 season, Manchester United secured three consecutive title wins.
In 2006, Arsenal finished as runners-up in the Champions League.
For the 2007–08 season, the league was rebranded the Barclays Premier League.
In 2007, Liverpool finished as runners-up in the Champions League.
In 2007, Sky and BT Group jointly paid £84.3 million for delayed television rights, overseas television rights fetched £625 million, totaling over £2.7 billion for Premier League clubs.
In 2007, the Premier League resisted FIFA's request to reduce the number of teams to 18, and the 2007-08 season kicked off with 20 teams.
In the 2007–08 season, Manchester United won one of their five league titles during the 2000s.
Launched in the 2007, Topps' Match Attax, the official Premier League trading card game, is the best selling boys collectable in the UK, and is also the biggest selling sports trading card game in the world.
In 2008, Manchester United won the Champions League.
In 2008, Sheikh Mansour's arrival at Manchester City began reshaping the league’s financial landscape.
On 22 June 2009, ESPN was awarded two packages of UK rights for 46 matches in the 2009–10 season and 23 matches per season from 2010 to 2013, following Setanta Sports' financial difficulties.
By 2009, under 40% of the players in the Premier League were English.
In 2009, Manchester United finished as runners-up in the Champions League.
In 2009, the Premier League had the highest revenue of any association football league in the world, with total club revenues of €2.48 billion in 2009–10.
In the 2009–10 season, Tottenham Hotspur finished fourth, the first new club to do so since Everton five years earlier, starting the "Big Six".
Between 2000 and 2010, Fulham lost in the final of the UEFA Cup/Europa League
From 2007 to 2010, Premier League clubs earned an average media income of around £40 million per year from league games, fueled by television deals.
In 2010 the Premier League was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category for its outstanding contribution to international trade and the value it brings to English football and the United Kingdom's broadcasting industry.
In the 2010–11 season, the Premier League introduced new rules mandating that each club must register a maximum 25-man squad of players aged over 21. The "home grown" rule was also enacted, requiring at least eight members of the named 25-man squad to be "home-grown players" from 2010.
Television rights alone for the period 2010 to 2013 were purchased for £1.782 billion.
In August 2011, Swansea City's home match at Liberty Stadium against Wigan Athletic marked the first Premier League match to be played outside England.
During the 2011-12 season, for one of the few times in Premier League history, no promoted team was immediately relegated back to the Football League.
In 2011, Blackburn Rovers were relegated, marking only the second time a Premier League-winning club had been relegated.
In 2011, Manchester United finished as runners-up in the Champions League.
In the 2011–12 season, Manchester City's title win was the first by a club outside the "Big Four" since Blackburn Rovers in 1994–95.
In the five seasons after 2011–12, Manchester United and Liverpool missed the top four three times.
In March 2012, UEFA clarified the right of Welsh clubs to take up English places in European competitions, allowing them to participate.
On 13 June 2012, the Premier League announced that BT had been awarded 38 games a season for the 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons at £246 million-a-year, marking a shift in broadcasting arrangements.
In December 2012, Premier League clubs agreed in principle to implement radical new cost controls, including a break-even rule and a cap on wage bill increases, to manage revenue from upcoming television deals.
Alex Ferguson retired from Manchester United at the end of the 2012-13 season, after managing 810 matches with the club.
In 2012, Chelsea qualified for the 2012–13 Champions League in place of Tottenham Hotspur, who went into the Europa League, after winning the Champions League that summer but finishing sixth in the league.
In 2012, Chelsea won the Champions League.
By the end of the 2013-14 season, all 20 Premier League clubs ranked within the top 40 globally in terms of revenue, primarily due to increased broadcasting revenue.
In 2013, Cardiff City gained promotion, increasing the number of Welsh clubs in the Premier League to two for the 2013–14 season.
In 2013, NBC Sports acquired the rights to the Premier League in the United States, replacing Fox Soccer and ESPN, and has been widely praised for its coverage.
In 2013, Swansea took one of England's three available places in the Europa League in 2013–14 by winning the League Cup in 2012–13.
In 2013, due to improved television revenues and cost controls, the Premier League clubs collectively made a net profit in excess of £78 million, exceeding all other football leagues.
In 2013-14 season, BT was awarded 38 Premier League games a season for the 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons at £246 million-a-year.
Starting with the 2013-14 season, Premier League parachute payments to relegated clubs exceeded £60 million over four seasons, intended to ease the financial impact of television revenue loss.
In 2013-14 season, BT was awarded 38 Premier League games a season for the 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons at £246 million-a-year.
In June 2015, Barclays' deal with the Premier League expired at the end of the 2015–16 season, and the organisation announced it would not pursue further title sponsorship deals.
From 2015, the Europa League champions qualify for the Champions League, increasing the maximum number of participants per country to five.
In 2015, NBC Sports reached a six-year extension with the Premier League to broadcast the league until the end of the 2021–22 season in a deal valued at $1 billion (£640 million).
In 2015, Sky and BT paid £5.136 billion to renew their contracts with the Premier League for another three years up to the 2018–19 season, increasing the value of the licensing deal by 70.2%.
In the 2015–16 season, Leicester City defied 5000/1 odds to win the league.
In the five seasons after 2011–12, Chelsea finished 10th in the 2015–16 season.
In August 2016, the BBC announced the creation of a new magazine-style show for the Premier League, titled "The Premier League Show."
During the 2016-17 season, TV broadcast deals accounted for a large portion of club revenues, with the top clubs earning between £150 million and nearly £200 million.
In 2016, the Europa League Champions qualification took effect in England.
In the 2016–17 season, Arsenal’s fifth-place finish ended their 20-year top-four streak.
In the 2016–17 season, central payments to the 20 Premier League clubs totaled £2,398,515,773, comprising participation fees, TV broadcast revenue, commercial rights, and a merit-based component.
The BBC's highlights package on Saturday and Sunday nights, as well as other evenings when fixtures justify, ran until 2016.
In May 2017, Burnley finished 16th in the Premier League, resulting in a merit payment of £9,708,045 based on their league position.
Arsène Wenger departed from Arsenal at the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, ending his tenure as the longest-serving manager in the Premier League.
During the 2017-18 season, for one of the few times in Premier League history, no promoted team was immediately relegated back to the Football League.
From the 2017–18 season, players receive a milestone award for 100 appearances and every century there after and also players who score 50 goals and multiples thereof. Each player to reach these milestones is to receive a presentation box from the Premier League containing a special medallion and a plaque commemorating their achievement.
In 2017, Cardiff were promoted again to the premier league.
In 2017, Manchester United finished sixth in the Premier League and won the Europa League, giving England five Champions League entrants for 2017–18.
Since 2017, Cadbury has been the official snack partner of the Premier League, and sponsored the Golden Boot, Golden Glove and Playmaker of the Season awards.
In February 2018, BT was awarded the package of 32 lunchtime fixtures on Saturdays, while Sky was awarded four of the seven packages, covering the majority of weekend fixtures.
In June 2018, Amazon Prime Video acquired rights to 20 Premier League matches per-season, covering a mid-week round in December and all Boxing Day fixtures.
In October 2018, Panini were awarded the licence to produce collectables from the 2019–20 season.
In 2015, Sky and BT paid £5.136 billion to renew their contracts with the Premier League for another three years up to the 2018–19 season, increasing the value of the licensing deal by 70.2%.
In 2018, Swansea City had been relegated from the Premier League while Cardiff City gained promotion, so the number of Welsh clubs remained the same for the 2018–19 Premier League season.
In the 2018–19 season the average annual salary stood at £2.99 million.
In the 2018–19 season the total salary bill for the 20 Premier League clubs was £1.62 billion. The club with the highest average wage is Manchester United at £6.5 million.
In December 2019, Richard Masters was appointed as the chief executive of the Premier League.
By 2019, all "Big Six" clubs ranked in the world’s top ten richest.
Due to compelling and exceptional circumstances in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rights for the cycle between 2022-23 and 2024-25 season remained as they were since the 2019–20 season.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the Premier League announced that all remaining matches in the 2019–20 season would be broadcast on British television, split across Sky, BT, and Amazon, with some matches on free-to-air channels.
From the 2019–20 season, video assistant referees (VAR) were introduced in the league and Liverpool claimed their first Premier League title.
In 2019, Topps licence to produce collectables for the Premier League ended
In 2019, Video assistant referee (VAR) was introduced to the Premier League at the beginning of the 2019–20 season to assist the referee in making decisions on the pitch.
In 2019, the Premier League generated approximately £3.1 billion annually from domestic and international television rights, highlighting the league's financial strength.
In the 2019-20 season, a new rights cycle began with the domestic package increasing to 200 matches overall and changes in the distribution of fixtures among broadcasters.
Starting from the 2019–20 season, the Young Player of the Season award is given to the most outstanding U-23 player.
By February 2020, 117 different nationalities had played in the Premier League, and 101 nationalities had scored in the competition.
In October 2020, Manchester United and Liverpool announced the 'Project Big Picture' proposal, which aimed to create a closer alignment between top Premier League clubs and the English Football League. However, the proposal faced criticism from the Premier League leadership and the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
During the 2020, The Coca-Cola Company (under its Coca-Cola Zero Sugar product line) sponsored the Golden Boot, Golden Glove and Playmaker of the Season awards.
In 2020, with matches continuing without spectators, the Premier League initially continued broadcasting all matches and later introduced a controversial pay-per-view scheme via BT Sport Box Office and Sky Box Office.
Following the implementation of Brexit in January 2021, new regulations were introduced which require all foreign players to obtain a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) in order to play football in the United Kingdom, regardless of EU status.
On April 2021, during a Leicester City v Crystal Palace match, play was paused to allow Muslim players Wesley Fofana and Cheikhou Kouyaté to break their Ramadan fast. It was believed to be the first time a Premier League game was halted for this reason.
In May 2021, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters spoke out against the implementation of an independent regulator, defending the Premier League's role as regulator of its clubs.
On 22 July 2021, Tracey Crouch MP announced in the review's interim findings that the Premier League had "lost the trust and confidence" of fans.
On 6 July 2021, Amanda Staveley of PCP Capital Partners criticized the Premier League for its lack of transparency and accountability in blocking the attempted takeover of Newcastle United by a PIF-backed consortium.
In November 2021, NBC reached another six-year extension through 2028 in a deal valued at $2.76 billion (£2 billion).
As of the 2021, Castrol is the current sponsor of the Golden Boot, Golden Glove and Playmaker of the Season awards.
In China, the Premier League broadcast rights were awarded to iQiyi, Migu and CCTV that began in the 2021–22 season.
In the 2021-22 season, the average attendance reached record levels, surpassing the previous record set in the 1948-49 season.
Starting with the 2021–22 season, four new awards are given: Save of the Season, Game Changer of the Season, Most Powerful Goal, and Most Improbable Comeback award.
As of the 2022–23 season, Canadian media rights to the Premier League are owned by FuboTV, after having been jointly owned by Sportsnet and TSN, and most recently DAZN.
Due to compelling and exceptional circumstances in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rights for the cycle between 2022-23 and 2024-25 season remained as they were since the 2019–20 season.
During the 2022-23 season, for one of the few times in Premier League history, no promoted team was immediately relegated back to the Football League.
For the 2022–23 season, average attendances across the league clubs were 40,235 for Premier League matches with an aggregate attendance of 15,289,340. This also set a competition record for total attendance with more than 15 million spectators.
In 2022, the 2022–23 season paused for six weeks between November and December to accommodate the first winter World Cup, and players chose to take the knee at select "significant moments" to reaffirm their commitment to ending racial prejudice.
In the 2022-2025 cycle, the Premier League earned a record £5.6 billion from international rights.
As of May 15, 2023, Erling Haaland holds the record for most goals in a Premier League season (38 matches) with 36 goals.
As of the 2023-24 season, Premier League clubs received central payments totaling £2.8 billion, with additional solidarity payments made to relegated EFL clubs.
For the 2023–24 season, the Premier League has 13 representatives in UEFA's European Club Association: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In 2023, Manchester City won the Premier League for the sixth time in seven years, becoming the first top-flight side in English football history to win four consecutive league titles.
In 2023, the Premier League stadiums showed a large disparity in capacity, with Old Trafford having a capacity of 74,031 and Dean Court having a capacity of 11,307. The combined total capacity of the Premier League in the 2023–24 season is 787,002 with an average capacity of 39,350.
In early 2023, Alison Brittain took over the role of chair of the Premier League.
In the 2023-2024 season, all three promoted clubs were relegated by the season's end.
In October 2024, it was reported that the government is planning to grant the independent regulator authority to stop Premier League clubs from selling their stadiums to affiliated or third-party companies.
On 22 November 2024, the Premier League announced plans to end its agreement with IMG and take Premier League Productions in-house beginning in 2026–27.
As of 2024/25, the Premier League has the highest average match attendance of any association football league in the world, at 40,430 per game.
Due to compelling and exceptional circumstances in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rights for the cycle between 2022-23 and 2024-25 season remained as they were since the 2019–20 season.
In 2024, Liverpool secured their second Premier League title, ending Manchester City's run. The same season saw a record six English clubs qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
In 2024, twenty clubs are competing in the 2024–25 season – top seventeen from the previous season and three promoted from the Championship.
In the 2024-2025 season, all three promoted clubs were relegated by the season's end.
As of 8 May 2025, the coefficients for are as follows (only top five European leagues are shown).
Broadcasters to continental Europe until 2025 include Canal+ for France, Sky Sport Germany for Germany and Austria, Match TV for Russia, Sky Sport Italy for Italy, Eleven Sports for Portugal, DAZN for Spain, beIN Sports Turkey to Turkey, Digi Sport for Romania, and NENT to Nordic countries.
From 2025 to 2029, the Premier League's domestic television rights deal is set to increase to £6.7 billion, up from the current £5 billion.
Up to and including the 2025–26 season, fifty-one clubs have played in the Premier League from its inception in 1992.
Beginning in 2026–27, the Premier League will take Premier League Productions in-house, ending its agreement with IMG.
In November 2021, NBC reached another six-year extension through 2028 in a deal valued at $2.76 billion (£2 billion).
In 2029 the Premier League's domestic television rights deal ends, after rising to £6.7 billion from 2025.
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