English Premier League History - The Story Unfolds
December 14, 2020 By Sourav
English Premier League, or simply just the Premier League, is one of the most popular football tournaments in the entire world which is thoroughly followed by millions and millions of fans worldwide. Everyone loves to cheer for their favorite EPL team and hope their best for the team’s success in the league. The fans also follow their favorite players of the team very closely. Everyone who follows Premier League knows almost everything about the recent performance and stats of their favorite teams, and the same goes for the League standings of the current season. But most of the football world, even some of the hardcore premier league fans, know a little about the true history of the Premier League.
English Premier League history
The league has a very rich history which is amazing and a must-know for every fan of the league. And a wise man once said ‘to build the future we have to learn from our past’. So here we will unfold all the details of the English Premier League history since its inception.
English football was at its all-time low in the late 1980s’ when the tournaments faced the worst stadium infrastructures and poor facilities. Hooliganism also played a major role in the scenario which resulted in English clubs getting a ban for five years from all the European competition in 1985, just after the Heysel Stadium disaster. In terms of stadium attendance and revenue generation, The Football League First Division fall behind Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A. But the situation started to improve after England reached the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup. UEFA then lifted the ban on the clubs and Manchester United got immediate success while achieving the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991.
An extensive report was published in January 1991 for the improvement of the league thus improving the overall revenue. First Division starts to work on the Taylor Report on stadium safety standards which proposed all-seater stadiums with better infrastructures and modern facilities. The top clubs of the First Division considered leaving the Football League after the rise of match attendance and revenues due to the new stadiums, in order to capitalize on the flow of the revenue. But the prospect of the new breakaway league was established long before the scenario when ten clubs threatened to leave to form a new “super league” in 1988. But somehow the division negotiated with the clubs and the teams choose to stay in the league.
The foundation of the Premier League
The first major step of the foundation of the Premier League occurred in October 1990. It started after managing director Greg Dyke of London Weekend Television arranged a meeting with the representatives of the “big five” clubs of the First Division. Dyke met with Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham, and Arsenal. He assured the prospect of lucrative revenue from the Television. According to his new plan, fans can watch larger teams play on national television. He knew it will be great for LWT. And then, he proposed a larger share of the television rights money to the clubs. They built the main plan to form a breakaway league. According to the plan, only the active clubs of the new division will have their shares from the whole revenue. The clubs also found it lucrative as the revenue was shared among all Football League clubs in the First Division.
The big five clubs knew it was a great idea. And then, they decided to go with the plan of forming a new league. But they knew it will be pretty hard for them if they don’t get any backup from The Football Association as the league wouldn’t have any credibility without it. Arsenal’s David Dein then held a meeting with the representative of FA to let them know about their plan in detail. FA, on the other hand, has thought it will weaken the Football League’s position in Europe. While talking about the new plan for forming a new breakaway league, Football League president Bill Fox once told that this is an attempt to ‘hijack’ the English First Division.
The Satellite Rights Scenario
In the very inaugural Premier League season, ITV first offered £205 million. They then increased the bid to £262 million for the Premier League television rights. But Sky Television plc later outbid the ITV with a £304m bid for the five-year deal. The channel’s head Rupert Murdoch quickly understood the opportunity to lure new customers with the league. He figured out that the new league will be the only way to the survival of their loss-making Sky. It is alleged that Tottenham Hotspur Chairman Alan Sugar was silently there behind the deal. Alan started supplying Satellite Dishes to Sky Television plc at that time. Besides, he had a great relationship with Alan Sugar.
Trevor East of ITV, while talking about their lost bid, accused Sugar of the instance. He said he has heard Sugar telling Murdoch to “Blow them out of the water” in a telephonic conversation. The incident happened in May 1992 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London. He alleged Sugar for being the sole guide for Sky’s increased bid. After the bidding, Alan Sugar was the only chairman of a big five club to vote for the television rights. Which he then did in favor of Sky. But on the other hand, many big clubs were not happy. The bitterness came as Sky won the television rights as a non-terrestrial television service.
The Formation of Premier League
First Division clubs resigned from the old Football League in 1992. Shortly after, the FA Premier League officially became a limited company on 20 February 1992. The league started working from Football Association’s then headquarters in Lancaster Gate. The officials quickly confirmed that the first Premier League season would begin in August 1992 with 22 clubs. All the 19 highest placed teams of First Division that season entered the new league. Besides, the champions, runners-up, and playoff winners of the Second Division also got their chance to participate in the inaugural season of the Premier League. They decided that the Premier League will operate as a single division and the Football League with the rest three.
The old Second Division then renamed Division One. The Third Division becomes Division Two, and the Fourth Division became Division Three. The FA officially confirmed that the promotion-relegation system will remain the same as the old tradition. The system will continue between the newly formed Premier League and First Division. Three teams will be relegated from the Premier League from that time onwards. And, top three teams in the First Division will be promoted to the league each season.
The league started in 1992 with 22 clubs in the inaugural season. The members of the very first Premier League season were Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United, Norwich City, Sheffield United, Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest, Coventry City, Southampton, Wimbledon, Oldham Athletic, Middlesbrough, and Sheffield Wednesday. After facing relegation from the old first division in 1992, three teams, West Ham United, Notts County, and Luton Town did not take part in the first season of the English Premier League.
The “Big Four” dominance
The English Premier League history remains incomplete without the “Big Four” dominance in the 2000s. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool dominated the top four spots in the league from 2002 to 2009. Retired player and manager Kevin Keegan once said “This league is in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world.” while talking about the “Big Four” dominance in May 2008. In defense, the chief executive of Premier League Richard Scudamore then said: “There are a lot of different tussles that go on in the Premier League depending on whether you’re at the top, in the middle or at the bottom that makes it interesting.“
Everton first finished the league in the top four in 2005. Then the dominance first destroyed in the 2009–10 season. Tottenham Hotspur became the first team to break into the top four positions of the league. The “Big Four” dominance occurred due to the financial ability of the elite clubs. They usually spend more on player purchases and transfers than the other English Premier League clubs. The dominance era also witnessed scenarios like Arsenal winning the Premier League without even losing a single game in the 2003–04 season. That was the only time the phenomenon ever happened in the history of the Premier League.
The Conclusion
The new season of 2018-19 is the 26th installment of the Premier League. Millions of fans all over the globe now watch and cheer for their favorite clubs in the Premier League. It is natural that we all have huge expectations from the new season. But, since its inception in 1992, Premier League always gave us a little more than the usual football. Starting from the Invincible Arsenal in the 2003-2004 season, the domination of Manchester United with 13 titles, the marvelous not-so-elite champion of season 2015-16 Leicester City till the amazing win by Manchester City in the 2011-12 season, Premier League never missed a chance to surprise us. So let’s hope for the best in the new season. And, don’t forget to send your valuable opinion about the English Premier League history in the comment box below.
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