The Premier League is the top tier of the English football league system. With the fierce competition among the best football teams, the league attracts millions of people watching and enjoying every day.
Despite its popularity, there are some unusual facts about the Premier League that not many people know.
This article aims to improve your knowledge of this prestigious league with its history and some mind-blowing facts. Keep on reading!
The History Of The Premier League
The Premier League is the pride of football in the United Kingdom. Despite being relatively young, it is currently the most watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes.
In 1992, the FA Premier League was formed, and then officially changed to the Premier League in 2007. It is also known as the Barclays Premier League since its official sponsor is Barclays Bank.
There were 22 teams in the Premier League initially, but this number decreased to 20 in 1995. On the whole, 49 clubs have competed in this league, six of which have won the title.
The Premier League operates according to a promotion and relegation system. Three teams with lowest points in the Premier League are relegated to the Championship, while the top two teams from the Championship are promoted to the Premier League. An additional team will get promotion after a series of playoffs.
I have walked you through the overall history of the English Premier League (EPL), now let’s come to the best part!
Exciting Facts About The Premier League
1. Manchester United owns the most titles
The Red Devils have won 13 EPL titles in total, more than all other teams combined. This achievement does not come as a big surprise since this club is internationally famous for its rich history.
This statistic is based on the seasons in the period of 1993-2008. If the concerned date goes back to 1888, Manchester United would still be on top with 20 titles. Meanwhile, Chelsea would step down, giving the place for Liverpool with 18 trophies.
Another fact related to the Red Devils: the team has many top goalscorers with 1,856 goals on the whole. An astonishing number, right?
2. Alan Shearer scored the most goals of all-time
With 283 goals recorded during 20 years of playing for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United, Alan Shearer holds the status of the best goalscorer in the Premier League.
It doesn’t stop there! He also owns the world record for scoring 11 hattricks over his 20-year career. One of the most interesting facts about this superstar is the number of penalty goals netted. Shearer has scored goals from the penalty spot for 56 times in overall.
3. Only five players have scored five goals in an EPL match
Another fact involving the legend Alan Shearer!
The five brilliant names in the list are Alan Shearer, Andy Cole, Jermain Defoe, Dimitar Berbatov, and Sergio Aguero. The most recent happened in 2015, when Aguero scored five goals, leading to a 6-1 victory of Manchester City against Newcastle United.
If you happen to ask, there are 22 players with four goals in a single game.
4. Marcus Bent has played for the most clubs
Usually, a footballer stays with 2 or 3 teams during his whole career due to the nature of the sports. However, Marcus Bent is a strange exception for playing for eight clubs until now.
So which teams has he joined so far?
During the 1997/98 season, the player represented Crystal Place before joining Blackburn the following season. In 2001, he left Blackburn for Ipswich. However, he did not stay there for long as the club got relegated one year later. Marcus played for Leicester on loan in the 2003/04 season before becoming a member of Everton and Charlton Athletic respectively.
His journey continued when Charlton got relegated; the striker served Wigan on loan for the 2007/08 season. Not until 2010 did Marcus make his final move by joining the 8th-place Premier League club Wolverhampton.
5. The Premier League is the richest league in the world
The most-watched Premier League also wins the title of the world’s wealthiest league.
During the 2016/17 season, the league reported the revenue of nearly $6.4 billion, according to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group. The profit amounted to over $1.4 billion. Much of the gain comes from the league’s broadcasting deals.
With that impressive number, the EPL surpasses the other renowned leagues all over the world, namely Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1.
6. Manchester United celebrated the biggest win in EPL history
The Red Devils step forward for another record – the biggest victory throughout the history of EPL. The team enjoyed a good time with a 9-0 score against Ipswich Town at Old Trafford on 4th March 1995.
Not only playing well at home, but Manchester United also delivered excellent performance in away games. They own the highest winning margin as a visiting team with an 8-1 win against Nottingham Forest in 1999.
The highest scoring game is the victory of Portsmouth against Reading at Fratton Park in 2007. There were 11 goals scored in total.
7. Pep Guardiola became the first Spanish manager to win the Premier League
The talented Spanish coach guided Manchester City towards the top-flight title in 2017/18 season. This season is a roaring success of Pep Guardiola, as Manchester City became the first club to attain 100 league points.
Since the inception of the Premier League, four Italians, two Scots, a Frenchman, a Portuguese and a Chilean have also won the trophy.
Do you know what’s more surprising? No English coach has managed to win the title so far!
8. Arsenal went through 49 games without defeat
The unbeaten run of Arsenal lasted from May 2003 to October 2004, with 49 games completed. The team had excellent performances under the guidance of the manager Arsène Wenger.
The run ended in controversy at Old Trafford when Arsenal lost to Manchester United.
The 2003/04 season also witnessed Arsenal going undefeated in the league. Only two teams, including Arsenal and Preston North End, have gained this fantastic accomplishment.
The greatest Premier League season is still up for debate, but the crowning achievement of Arsenal 2003/04 team is not something easy to rival!
Conclusion
The English Premier League is undoubtedly the most exciting football league with several superstars and the intense competition. If you are a fan of this prestigious league, visit here to keep yourself updated on every match happening.
Listed above are the history and some facts about the top tier of the English football league system. If you find this article useful, do not hesitate to like and share now!
In case you want more football-related information, remember to check out my next posts! See you!
