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Premier League
Tournament information
Venue	Various
Location	Various
Country	United Kingdom
Established	2005
Organisation(s)	PDC
Format	Legs
Prize Fund	£450,000 (2012)
Month(s) Played	February – May
Current champion(s)
Gary Anderson

The McCoys Premier League Darts (formerly 888.com) is a darts tournament which launched on January 20, 2005 on Sky Sports, and is currently the world's largest indoor sports event. The league is now played weekly from February to May, having originally started as a fortnightly fixture. The tournament originally featured seven players and now sees eight of the biggest names from the PDC circuit competing in a double round-robin format, with matches held across the country at different venues. The top four players in the PDC Order of Merit are joined by four wild card selections to make up the eight-man field.

The previous sponsors are Whyte & Mackay who succeeded Holsten having signed a three-year contract to support the event in October 2007.^[1] The prize fund will rise from £265,000 to £340,000 in 2008 – with the guaranteed minimum of £20,000 (previously £15,000) for each player that qualifies. The winner currently receives £125,000.

Phil Taylor has dominated this event, winning five of the seven competitions to date. He went unbeaten throughout the first three seasons before James Wade ended his 44 match run in the first match of the 2008 season. A new champion was to be crowned after Mervyn King defeated him in the 2009 semi-finals. Wade defeated King 13–8 in the final, to pick up the £125,000 first prize. Phil Taylor defeated James Wade the following season to claim his 5th title in the competition in 2010, however he was defeated in the semi-final of the 2011 tournament, allowing Gary Anderson to become champion in his debut season by defeating Adrian Lewis in a repeat of the world championship final earlier that year.

Television Coverage[link]

The matches have been broadcast on Thursday nights on Sky Sports since the tournament inception. Originally the league alternated with Premier League Snooker one week and Premier League Darts the next. From 2006, the snooker moved to late autumn – giving the Premier League darts a straight weekly run in the spring.

American sports channel OLN aired the 2006 Premier League Darts season on a slight delay, in August 2006.

German sports channel DSF (Deutsches Sport Fernsehen) has broadcasted many matches of the past two years live on TV and gives coverages of a selection of matches.

The PDC announced in January 2007 that the contract with Sky Television for coverage of the Premier League had been extended to 2010. [1]

In the Netherlands, the 2011 Premier League Darts was broadcast on RTL7 and will continue to do so until 2013.

Sponsorship[link]

The tournament has had four title sponsors since it was formed in 2005. They are 888.com (2005, 2011), Holsten (2006–2007), Whyte and Mackay (2008–2010) and McCoy's Crisps (2012-present).

In January 2012, McCoy's became sponsors of the league

Finals[link]

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-Up	Sponsor	Final Venue	Prize-pool
Best of 31 legs
2005	Phil Taylor	16–4	Colin Lloyd	888.com	G-Mex, Manchester	£150,000
2006	Phil Taylor (101.41)	16–6	Roland Scholten (92.01)	Holsten	Plymouth Pavilions	£167,500
2007	Phil Taylor (99.20)	16–6	Terry Jenkins (90.81)		The Brighton Centre	£265,000
2008	Phil Taylor (108.36)	16–8	James Wade (100.14)	Whyte & Mackay	Cardiff International Arena	£340,000
Best of 25 legs
2009	James Wade (90.38)	13–8	Mervyn King (85.83)	Whyte & Mackay	Wembley Arena	£405,000
Best of 19 legs
2010	Phil Taylor (111.67)	10–8	James Wade (100.08)	Whyte & Mackay	Wembley Arena	£410,000
2011	Gary Anderson (94.67)	10–4	Adrian Lewis (85.75)	888.com	Wembley Arena	£410,000
2012	Phil Taylor (97.08)	10–7	Simon Whitlock (95.32)	McCoy's Crisps	The O2, London	£450,000

Tournament records[link]

• Most titles: 6 – Phil Taylor
• Longest unbeaten run: 44 matches – Phil Taylor (2005–2008)
• Biggest victories (league stage): 11–1 Phil Taylor v Wayne Mardle (2005), 11–1 Phil Taylor v Peter Manley (2005).
• Biggest victories (playoff stages): 16–4 Phil Taylor v Colin Lloyd (2005 final)
• Whitewashes (since removal of "dead" legs in 2006): Colin Lloyd 8–0 Terry Jenkins (2007), Phil Taylor 8–0 Wayne Mardle (2008), James Wade 8-0 Simon Whitlock (2012)
• Most 180's in a single match - 11 Gary Anderson v Simon Whitlock (2011).^{[2] [3]}
• Highest average: 117.35 - Phil Taylor (2012)

Appearances[link]

Phil Taylor is the only player to appear in every Premier League competition. Andy Hamilton and Kevin Painter will be the latest players to make their debuts in the event in 2012. The top four in the PDC Order of Merit – Taylor, Gary Anderson, James Wade, and World Champion Adrian Lewis – will be joined in the 2012 competition by the four wild cards – Hamilton, Painter, Raymond van Barneveld and Simon Whitlock.

• 8 Phil Taylor 2005–2012
• 7 Raymond van Barneveld 2006–2012
• 5 Terry Jenkins 2007–2011
• 5 Adrian Lewis 2007–2008, 2010–2012
• 5 James Wade 2008–2012
• 4 Peter Manley 2005–2008
• 4 Wayne Mardle 2005–2006, 2008–2009
• 3 Colin Lloyd 2005–2007
• 3 John Part 2005, 2008–2009
• 3 Roland Scholten 2005–2007
• 3 Simon Whitlock 2010–2012
• 2 Ronnie Baxter 2006, 2010
• 2 Mervyn King 2009–2010
• 2 Gary Anderson 2011-2012
• 1 Mark Dudbridge 2005
• 1 Jelle Klaasen 2009
• 1 Dennis Priestley 2007
• 1 Mark Webster 2011
• 1 Andy Hamilton 2012
• 1 Kevin Painter 2012

References[link]

1. ^ Whyte & Mackay to sponsor Premier League planetdarts.tv
2. ^ "888.com Premier League Darts - Night 11". PDC. 22 April 2011. http://www.pdc.tv/page/PremierLeagueDetail/0,,10180~2344303,00.html. Retrieved 5 January 2012. 
3. ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/sports-latest/2011/04/22/premier-league-super-scot-gary-anderson-breaks-180-record-during-demolition-of-simon-whitlock-86908-23078799/

External links[link]

• Premier League Darts page on the PDC website

Premier League

150px
Countries	England  Wales
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	20 February 1992
Number of teams	20
Levels on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Football League Championship
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup
League cup(s)	League Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Current champions	Manchester City (2011–12, 1st title)
Most championships	Manchester United (12 titles)
TV partners	Sky Sports ESPN BBC (Highlights only)
Website	Premierleague.com
2012–13 Premier League

The Premier League is an English professional league for 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. 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, totalling 380 matches in the season. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. It was known as the Premiership from 1993 to 2007. It is currently sponsored by Barclays Bank and therefore officially known as the Barclays Premier League.

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.^[1] This was worth £2 billion in 2008–09.^[2] The Premier League is the most-watched football league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to an audience of 643 million viewers.^[3] In the 2010–11 season the average Premier League match attendance was 35,363, the second highest of any professional football league behind the German Bundesliga,^[4] and stadium occupancy was 92.2% full.^[5] The Premier League ranked first in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years, ahead of the Spanish La Liga and German Bundesliga.^[6]

Since 1888, a total of 23 clubs have been crowned champions of the English football system. Of the 45 clubs to have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, five have won the title: Manchester United (12 titles), Arsenal (3), Chelsea (3), Blackburn Rovers (1) and Manchester City (1). The current champions are Manchester City, who won the title in the 2011–12 season.

History[link]

Origins[link]

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.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[11]

Foundation[link]

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.^[12] 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.^[13]

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.^[8] 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 the same as the old First and Second Divisions with three teams relegated from the league and three promoted.^[11]

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.^[14] 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.^[15] Luton Town, Notts County and West Ham United were the three teams relegated from the old first division at the end of the 1991–92 season, and did not take part in the inaugural Premier League season.

Development[link]

As of the end of the 2010–11 season, there had been 19 completed seasons of the Premier League. Due to insistence by the International Federation of Association Football (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.^[16] 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.^[17] Welsh club Swansea City were promoted to the Premier League for the 2011–12 season. They were the first non-English team to compete in the Premier League. On 20 August 2011, the first Premier League match to be played outside England was between Swansea City and Wigan Athletic at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, Wales.^[18]

Corporate structure[link]

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.^[19] The current chairman is Sir Dave Richards, who was appointed in April 1999, and the chief executive is Richard Scudamore, appointed in November 1999.^[20] The former chairman and chief executive, John Quinton and Peter Leaver, were forced to resign in March 1999 after awarding consultancy contracts to former Sky executives Sam Chisholm and David Chance.^[21] 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.^[22]

The Premier League sends representatives to UEFA's European Club Association, the number of clubs and the clubs themselves chosen according to UEFA coefficients. For the 2010–11 season the Premier League had 10 representatives in the Association: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.^[23] The European Club Association 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.^[24]

Competition format[link]

Competition[link]

There are 20 clubs in the Premier League. During the course of a season (from August to May) each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), 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.^[25] 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.^[26]

Qualification for European competitions[link]

Arsenal against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League in 2011

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.^[27] 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 the FA Cup qualifies for the Champions League, then that place will go to the runner-up, and if the runner-up is also already qualified, then that place will go to the next-best placed finisher in the Premier League. If the winner of the League Cup has already qualified, that place goes to the next-best placed team in the league.^[28][29] 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.^[30]

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.^[31] 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 means that if the Champions League winner falls outside of its domestic league's top four, it will qualify at the expense of the fourth-placed team in the league. No association can have more than four entrants in the Champions League.^[32]

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.^[33] The top three leagues in Europe are currently allowed to enter four teams into the Champions League. Michel Platini, the UEFA president, had proposed taking one place from the top three leagues and allocating it to that nation's cup winners. This proposal was rejected in a vote at a UEFA Strategy Council meeting.^[34] In the same meeting, however, it was agreed that the third-placed team in the top four leagues would receive automatic qualification for the group stage, rather than entry into the third qualifying round, while the fourth-placed team would enter the play-off round for non-champions, guaranteeing an opponent from one of the top 15 leagues in Europe. This was part of Platini's plan to increase the number of teams qualifying directly into the group stage, while simultaneously increasing the number of teams from lower-ranked nations in the group stage.^[35]

Trophy[link]

The Premier League trophy, held by Vincent Kompany, captain of Manchester City.

The current Premier League trophy was created by Royal Jewellers Asprey of London. It consists of a trophy with a golden crown and a malachite plinth base. The plinth weighs 33lbs (15kg) and the trophy weighs 22lbs (10kg).^[36] The trophy and plinth are 76 cm (30 in) tall, 43 cm (17 in) wide and 25 cm (9.8 in) deep.^[37]

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.^[37] 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.^[38] In 2004, a special gold version of the trophy was commissioned to commemorate Arsenal winning the title without a single defeat.^[39]

Sponsorship[link]

The Premier League has been sponsored since 1993. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. There have been three sponsors since the league's formation.^[40]

• 1993–2001: Carling (FA Carling Premiership)^[8]
• 2001–2004: Barclaycard (Barclaycard Premiership)^[8]
• 2004–2007: Barclays (Barclays Premiership)^[8]
• 2007–present: Barclays (Barclays Premier League)^[41]

As well as sponsorship for the league itself, the Premier League has a number of official partners and suppliers.^[42] The official ball supplier for the league is Nike who have had the contract since the 2000–01 season when they took over from Mitre.^[43]

Finances[link]

The Premier League has the highest revenue of any football league in the world, with total club revenues of €2.479 billion in 2009–10,^[44] and is the second most profitable after the German Bundesliga.^[2] In 2010 the Premier League was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Premier League was recognised for its outstanding contribution to international trade and the value it brings to English football and the United Kingdom's broadcasting industry.^[45] The Premier League's gross revenue is regularly the fourth highest of any sports league worldwide, behind the annual revenues of the three most popular North American major sports leagues (the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association).^[46]

In terms of world football, the Premier League clubs are some of the richest in the world. Deloitte, who annually release figures on club revenues through its "Football Money League", listed seven Premier League clubs in the top 20 for the 2009–10 season.^[47] No other league has more than four clubs in this table. Premier League teams have dominated the list for many years, and even topped the list for almost a decade until the 2004–05 season. After the Premier League's new TV deal went into effect, the league-wide increase in revenues is expected to increase the Premier League clubs' standing in the list, and there is a possibility that a Premier League club will be top of the list.^[48][49]

Media coverage[link]

United Kingdom and Ireland[link]

A 2010 match between Chelsea and Newcastle United

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.^[10]

The Premier League sells its television rights on a collective basis. This is in contrast to some other European Leagues, including 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.^[50] The money is divided into three parts:^[51] 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.^[52]

The first Sky television rights agreement was worth £304 million over five seasons.^[53] The next contract, negotiated to start from the 1997–98 season, rose to £670 million over four seasons.^[53] The third contract was a £1.024 billion deal with BSkyB for the three seasons from 2001–02 to 2003–04. The league brought in £320 million from the sale of its international rights for the three-year period from 2004–05 to 2006–07. It sold the rights itself on a territory-by-territory basis.^[54] 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. Setanta also hold rights to a live 3 pm match solely for Irish viewers. The BBC has retained the rights to show highlights for the same three seasons (on Match of the Day) for £171.6 million, a 63 per cent increase on the £105 million it paid for the previous three-year period.^[55] Raidió Teilifís Éireann broadcast the highlights package in Ireland. Sky and BT have agreed to jointly pay £84.3 million for delayed television rights to 242 games (that is the right to broadcast them in full on television and over the internet) in most cases for a period of 50 hours after 10 pm on matchday.^[56] Overseas television rights fetched £625 million, nearly double the previous contract.^[57] The total raised from these deals is more than £2.7 billion, giving Premier League clubs an average media income from league games of around £40 million a year from 2007 to 2010.^[58]

Cristiano Ronaldo preparing to take a free kick in a 2009 match between Manchester United and Liverpool.

The TV rights agreement between the Premier League and Sky has faced accusations of being a cartel, and a number of court cases have arisen as a result.^[59] An investigation by the Office of Fair Trading in 2002 found BSkyB to be dominant within the pay TV sports market, but concluded that there were insufficient grounds for the claim that BSkyB had abused its dominant position.^[60] In July 1999 the Premier League's method of selling rights collectively for all member clubs was investigated by the UK Restrictive Practices Court, who concluded that the agreement was not contrary to the public interest.^[61] The BBC's highlights package on Saturday and Sunday nights, as well as other evenings when fixtures justify, will run until 2013.^[62] Television rights alone for the period 2010 to 2013 have been purchased for £1.782 billion.^[63] On 22 June 2009, due to 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 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.^[64]

Worldwide[link]

Promoted as "The Greatest Show On Earth",^[65][66] being broadcast to over 600+ million people in over 200 countries worldwide,^[67] often on networks owned and/or controlled by NewsCorp, which owns BSkyB and thus the primary UK and Ireland TV rights. In the United States, coverage is shared between Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus and ESPN; NewsCorp sometimes buys pitch-side advertising boards with the Fox Soccer Channel logo replacing that of Sky.^[68] In Canada, Sportsnet owns the Premier League rights for three years from the 2010–11 season.^[69] In Australia, Fox Sports shows the games with a Viewers Choice option for up to five live games and up to nine games live on any given game-week.^[70]

The Premier League is particularly popular in Asia, where it is the most widely distributed sports programme.^[71] In India, the matches are broadcast live on ESPN and Star Sports. In the People's Republic of China, data from 2003 suggested that matches were attracting television audiences between 100 million and 360 million, more than any other foreign sport.^[72] However, when the Chinese rights to Premier League matches were sold to a subscription channel in 2007, the number of viewers proved to be in the tens of thousands.^[73] Due to its popularity in Asia, the league has held four pre-season tournaments there, the only Premier League affiliated tournaments ever to have been held outside England.^[74] The Premier League Asia Trophy has been played in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and China and involves three Premier League clubs playing against a local team from the host nation, often the national side.^[75]

Figures from UK tourism body VisitBritain suggest that 750,000 visitors to Britain attended a Premier League match in 2010, spending a total £595 million and an average of £766. Visitors from Norway are most likely to come to watch Premier League football, with one in 13 Norwegian tourists travelling specifically to attend matches. Second on the list is the United Arab Emirates. For those visiting family and friends, the most likely to watch a football match are from Japan, China and Australia.^[76]

Criticisms[link]

"Big Four" dominance[link]

A major criticism of the Premier League has been the emergence of the so-called "Big Four" clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United).^[78][79] With the exception of Blackburn Rovers in 1994–95 and Manchester City in 2011–12, only three clubs have won the Premier League title – Manchester United (twelve titles), Arsenal and Chelsea (three times each). In addition, Manchester United have not finished outside the top three since the formation of the Premier League. From the 1996–97 season onwards, the "Big Four" have dominated the top four spots, and thus places in the UEFA Champions League (qualification was one club for the first four seasons, increased to two clubs in 1997, three in 1999 and four since 2002). The benefits of qualification, especially increased revenue, are believed to have widened the gap between the "Big Four" clubs and the rest of the Premier League.^[79] Arsenal are second with 17 top four finishes, followed by Liverpool with 12 and Chelsea with 11. The team who have appeared in the top four on the most occasions, and are not part of this "Big Four", is Newcastle United, having finished in the top four on five occasions, but not since the 2002–03 season.

In May 2008, then Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan said the "Big Four"'s dominance threatened the division, stating: "This league is in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world."^[80] Following Keegan's comments, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore defended the league, saying, "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 make it interesting."^[81] The dominance of Chelsea and Manchester United has led some to believe that the "Big Four" has contracted to a "Big Two"; prior to 2012, no club other than these two had won the Premier League since 2005 and, as of May 2012^[update], 21 of the last 28 major domestic trophies have gone to either Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford.^[77] This point became muted at the end of the 2011–12 season, as Chelsea fell to their worst finish in 10 years.

The years following 2009 marked a shift in the structure of the "Big Four" with two new clubs, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, vying for top four places to secure Champions League football. In the 2009–10 season, Tottenham pipped Manchester City to finish fourth and become the first team to "break" the top four since Everton in 2005, with both Manchester City and Aston Villa also finishing above Liverpool, one of the "Big Four" teams. In 2010–11, Manchester City finished third – the first time a team has broken into the top three since Newcastle did so in the 2002–03 season. This has continued into the 2011–12 season, with Manchester City winning the title for the first time since 1968, the first team outside the "Big Four" to do so since 1994–95. In addition, Chelsea finished outside the top four for the first time since 2001–02, as did Liverpool for the third season in a row. Criticism of the gap between an elite group of "super clubs" and the majority of the Premier League has continued, nevertheless, due to their increasing ability to spend more than the other Premier League clubs.^[82]

Widening gap with lower leagues[link]

One of the main criticisms levelled at the Premier League is the increasing gulf between the Premier League and the Football League. Since its split with the Football League, many established clubs in the Premier League have managed to distance themselves from their counterparts in lower leagues. Owing in large part to the disparity in revenue from television rights between the leagues,^[83] many newly promoted teams have found it difficult to avoid relegation in their first season in the Premier League. In every season except 2001–02 (Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham) and 2011–12 (Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City and Norwich City), at least one Premier League newcomer has been relegated back to the Football League. In 1997–98 all three promoted clubs were relegated at the end of the season.^[84]

The Premier League distributes a small portion of its television revenue to clubs that are relegated from the league in the form of "parachute payments". Starting with the 2006–07 season, these payments are in the amount of £6.5 million over the club's first two seasons in lower leagues, although this rose to £11.2 million per year for clubs relegated in 2007–2008.^[83] Designed to help teams adjust to the loss of television revenues (the average Premier League team receives £45 million while the average Football League Championship club receives £1 million),^[83] critics maintain that the payments actually widen the gap between teams that have reached the Premier League and those that have not,^[85] leading to the common occurrence of teams "bouncing back" soon after their relegation. For some clubs, including Burnley, Leeds United, Charlton Athletic, Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday, Bradford City, Leicester City, Queens Park Rangers, Southampton, Wimbledon, and Portsmouth who have failed to win immediate promotion back to the Premier League, financial problems, including in some cases administration or even liquidation have followed. Further relegations down the footballing ladder have ensued for several clubs unable to cope with the gap.^[86][87]

Clubs[link]

A total of 45 clubs have played in the Premier League from its inception in 1992 up to and including the 2011–12 season. 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.^[88]

The following 20 clubs are competing in the Premier League during the 2011–12 season.

• Birmingham City, Blackpool and West Ham United were relegated to the npower Championship (old Div. 2) for the 2011–12 season, while Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City and Swansea City were promoted to the 2011–12 Premier League. Swansea became the first Welsh side to ever gain promotion to the Premier League, after defeating Reading 4–2 in the 2011 Championship play-off Final.

^a: Founding member of the Premier League
^b: Never been relegated from Premier League
^c: One of the original 12 Football League teams

Stadia[link]

Premier League football has been played in 50 stadia since the formation of the Premier League in 1992. The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 and the subsequent Taylor Report saw a recommendation that standing terraces should be abolished; as a result all stadia in the Premier League are all-seater.^[89][90] Since the formation of the Premier League, football grounds in England have seen constant improvements to capacity and facilities, with some clubs moving to new-build stadia.^[91] Nine stadia that have seen Premier League football have now been demolished. The stadia for the 2010–11 season show a large disparity in capacity: Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United has a capacity of 75,957^[92] with Bloomfield Road, the home of Blackpool, having a capacity of 16,220.^[93] The combined total capacity of the Premier League in the 2010–11 season is 770,477 with an average capacity of 38,523.^[94]

Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for Premier League clubs.^[95] For the 2009–10 season, average attendances across the league clubs were 34,215 for Premier League matches with a total aggregate attendance figure of 13,001,616.^[94] This represents an increase of 13,089 from the average attendance of 21,126 recorded in the league's first season (1992–93).^[96] However, during the 1992–93 season the capacities of most stadia were reduced as clubs replaced terraces with seats in order to meet the Taylor Report's 1994–95 deadline for all-seater stadia.^[97][98] The Premier League's record average attendance of 36,144 was set during the 2007–08 season.^[99]

Managers[link]

Managers in the Premier League are involved in the day to day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and player acquisition. Their influence varies from club-to-club and is related to the ownership of the club and the relationship of the manager with fans.^[100] Managers are required to have a UEFA Pro Licence which is the final coaching qualification available, and follows the completion of the UEFA 'B' and 'A' Licences.^[101] The UEFA Pro Licence is required by every person who wishes to manage a club in the Premier League on a permanent basis (i.e. more than 12 weeks – the amount of time an unqualified caretaker manager is allowed to take control).^[102] Caretaker appointments are managers that fill the gap between a managerial departure and a new appointment. Several caretaker managers have gone on to secure a permanent managerial post after performing well as a caretaker; examples include Paul Hart at Portsmouth and David Pleat at Tottenham Hotspur.

Only one manager, Alex Ferguson, has remained in his position since the formation of the Premier League in 1992.^[103] Arsène Wenger has been in charge of Arsenal in the Premier League since 1996, while David Moyes has been Everton's manager since 2002. The most recent appointment was Terry Connor who was confirmed as manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers on 24 February 2012. No English manager has won the Premier League; the six managers to have won the title comprise two Scots Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United, twelve wins) and Kenny Dalglish (Blackburn Rovers, one win), a Frenchman (Arsène Wenger, Arsenal, three wins), a Portuguese (José Mourinho, Chelsea, two wins) and two Italians (Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea and Roberto Mancini, Manchester City, one win each).^[104] Currently 15 of the managers are from the British Isles, with three of them coming from Scotland. The current managers in the Premier League are:

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is the only manager who has remained in his job since the formation of the Premier League.

	Name	Club	Appointed
SCO !	Ferguson, Sir AlexSir Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	01986-11-066 November 1986
FRA !	Wenger, ArsèneArsène Wenger	Arsenal	01996-10-011 October 1996
SCO !	Moyes, DavidDavid Moyes	Everton	02002-03-1515 March 2002
WAL !	Pulis, TonyTony Pulis	Stoke City	02006-06-1515 June 2006
ENG !	Redknapp, HarryHarry Redknapp	Tottenham Hotspur	02008-10-2626 October 2008
ESP !	Martínez, RobertoRoberto Martínez	Wigan Athletic	02009-06-1515 June 2009
SCO !	Lambert, PaulPaul Lambert	Norwich City	02009-08-1818 August 2009
ITA !	Mancini, RobertoRoberto Mancini	Manchester City	02009-12-1919 December 2009
SCO !	McDermott, BrianBrian McDermott	Reading	02009-12-2020 December 2009
SCO !	Adkins, NigelNigel Adkins	Southampton	02010-09-1212 September 2010
ENG !	Pardew, AlanAlan Pardew	Newcastle United	02010-12-099 December 2010
SCO !	Allardyce, SamSam Allardyce	West Ham United	02011-06-011 June 2011
NED !	Jol, MartinMartin Jol	Fulham	02011-06-077 June 2011
NIR !	O'Neill, MartinMartin O'Neill	Sunderland	02011-12-033 December 2011
WAL !	Hughes, MarkMark Hughes	Queens Park Rangers	02012-01-1010 January 2012
ITA !	Di Matteo, RobertoRoberto Di Matteo (caretaker)	Chelsea	02012-03-044 March 2012
NIR !	Rodgers, BrendanBrendan Rodgers	Liverpool	02012-06-011 June 2012
	TBA	Aston Villa	TBA
	TBA	West Bromwich Albion	TBA
	TBA	Swansea City	TBA

Players[link]

Appearances[link]

Ryan Giggs holds the record number of Premier League appearances and the only player to have played in all 20 Premier League seasons, hes also the only player to have scored during each concluded campaign. He also holds the record number of Premier League Champions medals with a total of 12.^[105]

Foreign players and transfer regulations[link]

All-time appearances
(Premier League appearances only)

Rank	Player	Appearances
1	Ryan Giggs	598
2	David James	573
3	Gary Speed	535
4	Frank Lampard	520
5	Emile Heskey	510
6	Sol Campbell	504
7	Phil Neville	484
8	Jamie Carragher	481
9	Paul Scholes	478
10	Mark Schwarzer	464
Italics denotes players still playing professional football. Bold denotes players still playing in the Premier League.[106]

At the inception of the Premier League in 1992–93, just eleven 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).^[107] By 2000–01, the number of foreign players participating in the Premier League was 36 percent of the total. In the 2004–05 season the figure had increased to 45 percent. On 26 December 1999, Chelsea became the first Premier League side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up,^[108] and on 14 February 2005 Arsenal were the first to name a completely foreign 16-man squad for a match.^[109] By 2009 the average Premier League team had an average of 13 foreign players in their side^[110] with under 40% of the players in the Premier League being English.^[111] The effect of foreign players on the England national football team has been the subject of a long-standing debate with some such as José Luis Astiazarán, president of Spain's La Liga, suggesting that the high number of young foreign players is the reason behind the national side's lack of success at international football tournaments.^[111] Vicente del Bosque, the manager of the Spanish national team, disagrees stating that he "didn't think it's damaging for English football to have people from abroad."^[112]

In response to concerns that clubs were increasingly passing over young British players in favour of signing less-expensive foreign players, in 1999, the Home Office tightened its rules for granting work permits to players from countries outside of the European Union.^[113] Currently a non-EU player applying for the permit must have played for his country in at least 75 percent of its competitive 'A' team matches for which he was available for selection during the previous two years, and his country must have averaged at least 70th place in the official FIFA world rankings over the previous two years. If a player does not meet those criteria, the club wishing to sign him may appeal if they believe that he is a special talent and "able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in the UK."^[114] One area where the Premier League's player registration rules are more restrictive than those of some other football leagues, such as those of Belgium and Portugal, is that academy level non-EU players have little access to English football by law.^[114]

Players can only be transferred during transfer windows that are set by the Football Association. The two current transfer windows run from the last day of the season to 31 August and from 31 December to 31 January. Player registrations cannot be exchanged outside these windows except under specific licence from the FA, usually on an emergency basis.^[115] As of 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, with the squad list only allowed to be changed in transfer windows or in exceptional circumstances.^[116][117] This was to enable the 'home grown' rule to be enacted, whereby the League would also from 2010 require at least 8 of the named 25 man squad to be made up of 'home-grown players', defined as a player who:

irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)^[116]

Wages and transfer records[link]

There is no team or individual salary cap in the Premier League. As a result of the increasingly lucrative television deals, player wages rose sharply following the formation of the Premier League. In the first Premier League season the average player wage was £75,000 per year,^[118] but subsequently rose by an average 20 per cent per year for a decade,^[119] £409,000 in 2000–01, £676,000 in 2003–04 season^[120] rising to £1.1 million for the 2008–09 season.^[121]

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.^[122] 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.^[122] This stood as a British record for four years until it was eclipsed by the £18 million Leeds paid West Ham for Rio Ferdinand.^[122] Manchester United subsequently broke the record three times by signing Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastián Verón and Rio Ferdinand.^[123] 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.^[124] This was surpassed by Manchester City's transfer of Robinho from Real Madrid on 1 September 2008 for £32.5 million.^[125] This fee was then surpassed twice on deadline day of the January 2011 window, first by Andy Carroll's £35 million move from Newcastle United to Liverpool.^[126] This was then beaten when Fernando Torres moved from Liverpool to Chelsea for £50 million.^[127] The Torres deal remains the British transfer record paid for a player. 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.^[128]

Top scorers[link]

All-time top scorers in the Premier League
(Premier League goals only)

Rank	Player	Goals
1	Alan Shearer	260
2	Andrew Cole	187
3	Thierry Henry	176
4	Robbie Fowler	163
5	Frank Lampard	151
6	Les Ferdinand	149
	Michael Owen	149
8	Teddy Sheringham	147
9	Wayne Rooney	144
10	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink	127
(Italics denotes players still playing professional football, Bold denotes players still playing in the Premier League).[106]

Players in the Premier League compete for the Premier League Golden Boot, awarded to the top scorer at the end of each season, as well as for Golden Boot awards for the first person to score 10, 20 or 30 goals in a season. They can also compete for the informal competitions of Goal of the Month and Goal of the Season. Former Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer holds the record for most Premier League goals with 260. Shearer finished among the top ten goal scorers in 10 out of his 14 seasons in the Premier League and won the top scorer title three times. During the 1995–96 season he became the first player to score 100 Premier League goals. Since then, 21 other players have reached the 100-goal mark.^[129]

Since the first Premier League season in 1992–93, 14 different players from 10 different clubs have won or shared the top scorers title.^[130] Thierry Henry won his third consecutive and fourth overall scoring title by scoring 27 goals in the 2005–06 season. This surpassed Shearer's mark of three titles which he won consecutively from 1994–95 through 1996–97. Other multiple winners include Michael Owen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Didier Drogba who have won two titles each. Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer hold the record for most goals in a season (34) – for Newcastle and Blackburn respectively. Cole's record came in the 1993–94 season, while Shearer's came in 1994–95, both of which were 42-game seasons.^[131] Shearer's mark of 31 goals from a 38-game season in 1995–96 was equalled in the 2007–08 season by Cristiano Ronaldo.^[132] Five goals is the record individual scoring total for a player in a single Premier League game held by four players; Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, Jermain Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov.^[133] Only Ryan Giggs of Manchester United has scored in all 20 Premier League seasons.^[134]

Manchester United became the first team to have scored 1,000 goals in the league after Cristiano Ronaldo scored in a 4–1 defeat by Middlesbrough in the 2005–06 season.^[135] Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are the only other teams to have reached the 1,000-goal mark, with Tottenham being the latest team to do so after a Jermain Defoe goal on 23 April 2011.^[136][137]

The highest-scoring match to date in the Premier League occurred on 29 September 2007 when Portsmouth beat Reading 7–4.^[138]

Player and manager awards[link]

In addition to the winner's trophy and the individual winner's medals awarded to players, the Premier League also awards the monthly Manager of the Month and Player of the Month awards,^[139] as well as annual awards for Manager of the Season,^[140] Player of the Season,^[141] Golden Boot and the Golden Glove awards.^[142]

10 Seasons Awards[link]

Alan Shearer training in 2005

In 2003, the Premier League celebrated its first decade by holding the 10 Seasons Awards:^[143]

• Teams of the Decade:
  • Domestic: David Seaman, Gary Neville, Tony Adams, Steve Bruce, Stuart Pearce, David Beckham, Paul Ince, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Alan Shearer, Michael Owen
  • Overseas: Peter Schmeichel, Dan Petrescu, Jaap Stam, Marcel Desailly, Denis Irwin, Fredrik Ljungberg, Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Robert Pirès, Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona
  • Overall: Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Tony Adams, Marcel Desailly, Denis Irwin, David Beckham, Patrick Vieira, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Alan Shearer, Eric Cantona

20 Seasons Awards[link]

In 2012, the Premier League celebrated its second decade by holding the 20 Seasons Awards:^[144]

• Fantasy Team of the 20 Seasons
  • Panel Choice: Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Tony Adams, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer
  • Public Vote: Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Tony Adams, Nemanja Vidić, Ashley Cole, Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer

See also[link]

English football portal

• List of English Football League managers
• Football records in England

References[link]