The Barclays Premier League Champions: Manchester United Runners-Up: Chelsea F.C. History The English Premier League was made due to lack of organization, poor facilities, hooliganism, and neglected stadium. At the time, England's top league was the Football League First Division (est. 1888) was well behind the leagues of Italy, and Spain in attendances, and revenue. By the turn of the 1990s, things started to change due to England's success in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. In 1992, the English Premier League was officially formed, and it gave England hope for competing in Europe, and attracting talent from all over the world. At first, the Premier League consisted of 22 teams but in 1995 the board had to comply with FIFA's demands and changed it to 20. Points System and Relegation/Promotion During the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 38 games (not including domestic cup, and European 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 (this is very rare). 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. The top four teams in the Premier League qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the top three teams directly entering the group phase. The fourth placed team enters the competition also, but they must qualify for the Group Stage by holding a two-legged knockout round. The fifth placed team automatically qualifies for the UEFA Cup, and the sixth and seventh placed teams can also qualify, depending on what happens in the two domestic cup competitions. If the FA Cup winners qualify for the Champions League, the runner-up is awarded the UEFA Cup place; if the runner-up has also qualified for the Champions League, the spot goes to the next-highest placed league finisher not already qualified for Europe (I know, it's confusing. Even I don't get it sometimes). If the Carling Cup is won by a team that has already qualified for Europe, the League Cup's UEFA Cup spot also goes to the next highest placed team in the League. The FA Cup - (The Football Association Challenge Cup) Current Cup Holders: Portsmouth F.C. Runners-Up: Cardiff City The FA Cup is a knockout cup competition for English Clubs, run by and named after The Football Association. The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world, founded in 1871. All divisions (leagues) are eligible to play in the FA Cup. As well as being presented with the cup, the winning team also qualifies by right for the first round of the UEFA Cup, unless they have already qualified for Europe in which case the position goes to the runners-up or to the highest placed Premier League side without European qualification. Football League Cup - Carling Cup Current Cup Holders: Tottenham Hotspurs Runners-Up: Chelsea F.C. The Football League Cup, commonly known as the Carling Cup, is an English Football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. Unlike the FA Cup where 731 teams entered in 2007-2008 only 92 clubs can enter (the 20 teams of the EPL, and 72 from The Football Leagues). Unlike the FA Cup, the semi-finals are played over two legs. The winners qualify for the UEFA Cup, if they have not qualified for European competition in some other way. The Carling Cup is less prestigious than the FA Cup. The Carling Cup is seen by some larger clubs as a lower priority than other competitions. Some clubs have made a point of fielding a weaker side in the competition, making the opportunity for so-called 'giant-killing' of the larger clubs more likely. Many of the top English sides, Manchester United and Arsenal in particular, have used the competition to give young players valuable big-game experience. This is not the same for Chelsea F.C., because they're all glory hunting bastards that just want to win as much as possible. - Main Event ----------------------------------- Please PM or post if I should add anything else. F.A.Q. They are mostly one per week for each team, it tends to go like this: Saturday lunchtime: sometimes 1 game, broadcast on TV Saturday 3:00pm: can range between 5 and 8 games, none on TV. It is either against the law or unconventional to put football matches on TV at 3:00pm on a Saturday, as authorities believe that it would harm the attendances of lower league matches. Saturday 5:15pm: sometimes 1 game, broadcast on TV Sunday 1:30pm: sometimes 1 game, broadcast on TV Sunday 4pm: 1 game, broadcast Monday 8pm: 1 game, broadcast Sometimes there are also games midweek, though these are usually when games could not be played on the originally scheduled date. For example, on Friday Man UTd played in the European Super Cup, so could not play again on Sunday. Therefore, their game against Fulham has been rearranged and will probably be on a Wednesday, which conveniently allows it to be shown on TV. There are dates set aside for some competitions, such as the FA Cup and League Cup, so they will rarely clash with Premier League games. However, in later stages of the competition, dates are not set aside, so teams face fixture congestion late-on in the season if they have been successful in all competitions. There is no equivalent of Playoffs, Finals or Super Bowl in the Premiership, unless you count the final day of the season, where all teams play their 38th game simultaneously, with relegation and title battles growing in intensity throughout. The FA Cup and League Cup are randomly drawn from a hat. The FA Cup has either already started or is just about to start, in the first qualifying round. Originally, many amateur or semi-professional teams enter, and they are whittled down in 4 matches in knockout-style (like the Playoffs, but just one game each time). There are no seeds and you don't know who you will get in the next round until the draw is made after the round is over. In the first round proper (after the 4 qualifying rounds) all teams still in the Cup after the qualifying rounds are put into a "hat" along with League 2 and League 1 sides. All these sides are then whittled down knock-out style in 2 rounds. In the third round, all remaining teams are put in a "hat" with Premiership and Championship sides. From there, there are random draws and teams are whittled down until the Final. This season 762 teams have entered the competition, and that is why it is the best cup competition in the World. Its history, giant-killings and excitement are second to none. Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are the best teams, usually referred to as the "Big Four". Outside of them, Aston Villa, Everton, Spurs and maybe Man City lead the charge. Champions: 92/93: Man Utd 93/94: Man Utd 94/95: Blackburn Rovers 95/96: Man Utd 96/97: Man Utd 97/98: Arsenal 98/99: Man Utd (famous treble winning season - Premier League, FA Cup and European Champions League) 99/00: Man Utd 00/01: Man Utd 01/02: Arsenal (famous "invincibles" season - they never lost a game in the Premier League) 02/03: Man Utd 03/04: Arsenal (Chelsea notable bought by Abramovic at beginning of season, spent over £100m on new players) 04/05: Chelsea 05/06: Chelsea 06/07: Man Utd 07/08: Man Utd -------------------- Thanks Chingy.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MainEvent @ Jun 20 2008, 12:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div align="center"> </div> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><u> </u></span> This is not the same for Chelsea F.C., because they're all glory hunting bastards that just want to win as much as possible.</div> hahahaha lmao. Nice thread MainEvent.
How does the scheduling work for the EPL? Per the above, each team has 38 league games spread out over August to May. How frequent are matches? Does the EPL have something equivalent to the Super Bowl / World Series / NBA Finals? You mention other competitions, how are those scheduled?
Also breifly who are the top teams, and history of who has won it recently, (prem not before when it was divison 1)
I didn't see this thread yet, as old as it is. Then again, it was around the time I moved. In any case, nice work Main Event and thanks to Chingy for the additional information.
Yeah, well 1992 was when it was called the Premier League and was ruled by an organized group. A lot of the teams have been playing for a long time though. Arsenal first moved to Highbury at around 1913.
The Premier League was formed only a little more then a decade ago to replace the Championship as the first division of English football. Now, the Championship is level 2 on technicalities.
most leagues are 70-100 years old. The EPL was formed in 92, but there was still an English league since the late 1800's
