Barclays Premier League

Barclays Bank sponsors the most popular of the English Football Leagues – The Premier League. Thus, it is officially known as the “Barclays Premier League”. The League is a conglomerate that has 20 professional football clubs as members. The Premier League operates by a system of promoting and demoting with the Football League.

The competition came into being in 1992. It comprised of the 22 clubs in the First division of the Football League that broke away to form an elite league. In 1995, this number was reduced to 20 on insistence by FIFA.

Earlier, with different sponsors, the League was named differently. Barclays Bank sponsors the League since 2004; and will continue to do till 2010.

Roles and objectives in Barclays Premier League

• Supervise, develop and improve constantly, to maintain a lead in the world football competition.
• Improve the viewer’s interest and accessibility to football in general, and to live games of the League in particular.
• Improve the commercial value of the League, and use the additional income to develop the competition, and safeguard the future of the League.
• Enhance the quality of Football world-over by collaborating with other Football bodies.
• Use the competition to enhance the quality of play of the member clubs.
• Bring forth and develop new talent to fuel the country team with the best possible players.

The season of the Barclays Premier League starts in August each year, and ends in May. Each one of the 20 member clubs plays 38 games - two with each of the other clubs. Of the two games between any pair of clubs, one is played on the home field of each club. Winning teams are awarded three points, teams that draw are awarded one point, and losing teams get zero points. All clubs in the league are ranked based on the number of points, goals scored, and goal difference.

The club that ends the season with the maximum number of points is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the goal difference and number of goals scored are criteria used to determine the winner. In case there is still a tie, a play-off match held on a neutral location may be used to determine the winner. A Play-off is also used to resolve any tie for demotion / qualification.

At the end of each season, the three lowest ranked teams are referred into the Football League Championship. Simultaneously, the top ranked two teams from the football league as well as the winner from the play-off games between the third to sixth ranked clubs are moved into the premier league.

• Football was always a lucrative game. In 1986, the Football League signed an agreement that got them £6.3million for two years of television rights.
• The Barclays Premier League is cited as the world’s most rewarding football league. In 2005-06, the combined revenues of the member clubs totaled around £1.4 billion (Deloitte). In the same year, eight Premier League clubs made it to the” Top-20” money making clubs of the year. Presently, the League is ranked fourth among all sports leagues worldwide.
• Sky bought the first television rights of the Premier League. These sold at £191 million for five seasons. The next four-season contract was for £670 million.
• Money also comes in from sale of stadium tickets. The highest average attendance for a game was recorded in 2002-03 at 35,464 people per game.
• Andriy Shevchenko holds the record for the highest transfer fee, which is rumored to be close to £30 million.

In the 16 seasons since the Premier League was established, maximum seasons have been won by Manchester United. This club has won 10 times, including the last season (2007-08). Arsenal comes a distant second with three wins, followed by Chelsea club (two wins). Blackburn Rovers has one win in 1994-95.

• Asprey & Garrard have designed the trophy using sterling silver for the body, and malachite. Malachite is a green stone, used to represent the green field. There is a lion above each handle. In all, the trophy weighs almost 25 kilograms.
• The two lions, along with the captain of the winning team symbolize the traditional three lion emblem that is associated with British football.

Game Trivia in premier league

• Brian Deane of Sheffield United scored the very first Premier League goal against Manchester United.
• Alan Shearer (Newcastle United) has scored the maximum number of Premier League goals (260).
• Manchester United was the first club to reach the 1,000-goal mark.
• Gary Speed and Ryan Giggs are the only players to have scored goals in all 16 seasons.

• 40 clubs have played in the Premier League over the 16 seasons.
• Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur have played in the League for every one of the 16 seasons.
• Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United have maximally been in the top five positions since the inception of the League.

• The top four teams from the Premier League qualify to enter the UEFA Champions League.
• The fifth ranked enters UEFA Cup.
• Due to their performance over a five-year period, the Premier League tops the UEFA rankings of European leagues.

• More than half a billion people in 202 countries watch the Premier League games.
• It is the most popular sports programme in Asia.

• In the first season, only 11 players could be called 'foreign', while now the number is 260.
• 36% players in 2000-01 and 45% players in 2004-05 were foreign.
• Chelsea in 1999 had the first entirely foreign starting line-up.

Barclays Premier League members for 2008–09