English Premier League

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Details:

Full Name: FA Premier League - Barclays Premier League
Founded: 1992 (1888)
Tier: 1
Number of Teams: 20
Previous Names: Football League (1888-1892), Football League First Division (1892-1992)

Introduction:

The Premier League is the top league in the English football pyramid and has few realistic contenders at the moment for the title of most popular and most successful football league in the world. It boasts some of the most famous football names in the world, like Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United, while still finding a way to incorporate utterly provincial English towns like Burnley and Hull. Since its creation in the 1992-93 season, as an FA-backed breakaway from the Football League, The Premier League has been largely dominated by Manchester United, who have won 11 Premiership titles.

English Premier League Map:

Each marker represents a Premier League team. Click a marker to reveal the team name and emblem. Zoom in to see the stadiums in close detail.

Description:

The Football League was formed in 1888, the first organized league football competition anywhere in the world. After 104 years of existence the Football Association launched a breakaway FA Premier League which incorporated the clubs from the 1991-92 Football League First Division. The arrival of the Premier League coincided with the transition to all-seater stadiums and the first Sky TV contract. These two events began a massive infusion of wealth into the game and a nearly complete transformation of the culture of watching and attending matches. The launch of the Premier League has become almost a year zero in football for so many supporters. It is hard to against the success and popularity of the Premier League. English clubs are consistently successful in Europe, the league has a wider global audience than any other and billionaire sheikhs line up to inexplicably plop down enormous money on relatively minor provincial clubs.

Despite all the success there are quite a few who have turned their back on the Premier League or watch it in grudging frustration. Ticket prices have risen incredibly since its launch and many clubs' original working class fan bases have simply been priced out of the game. Combine this with the end of the terraces and the transition to heavily monitored all-ticket sections and the result has been a quieter and less atmospheric experience for many. The budget disparity between the Premier League and the second-tier Football League Championship is enormous and promoted clubs often come up with little more to hope for than a desperate fight against relegation. Not to mention the growing gap between the Champions League regular "Big Four" and the rest of the league.

The English Premier League is formally known as the Barclays Premier League for title sponsor Barclays, a UK-based bank. It's often simply called the Premier League or the Premiership or the Prem or EPL in the acronym-loving United States.

League Format:

The English Premier League season begins in August and ends in May with no winter break.
The 20 teams play each other twice (home and away) for a total of 38 matches.
3 points are awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.
Final league position is based on the total number of points earned over the full season.
The team with the most points is considered the league champion.
The bottom three teams are relegated to the second-tier Football League Championship.