The Premier League – an English professional football league. A league full of passion, defeat, and success. One game you’re filled with pride and pure joy, the next you’re staring at disbelief at the score line. It’s a wonderful love-hate relationship that I wouldn’t want to be in with anyone else other than the Premier League. And it’s something that everyone can get into, whether you’re a seasoned football lover or not. Major League Soccer is a joke in comparison... Well, pretty much any other league, but if you compare the level of play between the two leagues, the Premier League will entertain you tenfold. (Not that I don’t think MLS can improve and possibly one day pick up contention as soccer continues to grow in the USA, but for now, it’s not awesome.) So whether you’re a weathered player/fan looking to spruce up on England’s top league or a newbie looking to gain insight, I’m about to teach you everything need to know to become integrated even more in to the soccer realm.
Side-note: The 2016-2017 season has already begun, but they are only three games in, so it’s not too late to get into the Premier League!
Let’s start with some basics. You’ll see it referred to as the EPL (English Premier League) or the BPL (Barclay’s Premier League) -- both are correct and both mean the same thing. There are 20 clubs (mostly English with the occasional Welsh team(s)) within the Premier League, and was formed on February 20th 1992. The season starts in August and ends in May, and the months in between are spent waiting impatiently for your favorite team to show up on the TV again. Each team plays a total of 38 games, each team playing each other twice. The Premier League is set up so there are no playoffs, only regulations and promotions. Here’s how it works: the bottom three teams at the end of the season are regulated to the EFL (English Football League – the second tier football consisting of three leagues, the Championship being the highest), and the top three teams from the Championship league get promoted to the Premier League.
So, essentially, each league just switches out three teams every year to keep things interesting. It gives teams a chance to prove, or demolish, themselves. Another thing: since there are no playoffs, a team can will the title before the season ends; the winner is just whoever has the most points and no one else can possibly catch up to them. The table is set up so that the top six teams qualify for the Europa League, the fourth place team goes to qualifying rounds for the Champions League, and the top three teams automatically qualify for the Champions League. In terms of domestic cups, there is the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield, which is played between last year’s Premier League winners and the FA Cup holders.
Of the 24 titles that have been won, and the 47 clubs that have competed in the Premier League, only six teams have won the title: Manchester United (13), Chelsea (4 – Go Blues!), Arsenal (3), Manchester City (2), Leicester City (1), and Blackburn Rovers (1). The current title holders are Leicester City, who were promoted from the Championship League and had a 5,000-to-1 odd chance of winning the Premier League at the beginning of the 2015-2016 season. Their story was pretty incredible, no matter who your favorite team is. [Click here watch this awesome (but long) video.]
There has been a “Big Four” dominance era in the 2000s, which are typically the top four clubs to dominate: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool. Though in recent years, Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester City have been serious contenders for the top four, as well. Every season is filled with upsets, underdogs, and rivals. The most obvious rivalry, or derby, is between Manchester United and Manchester City, the two teams splitting the city of Manchester in half. Other infamous derbies include Tottenham vs. Arsenal, Liverpool vs. Everton, Cardiff City vs. Swansea City, Chelsea vs. Arsenal – the big teams playing each other is just usually an automatic rivalry because they are often in contention for the title with you and it’d be a huge victory.
The EPL is the most-watched football league in the world, reaching an audience of about 4.7 billion people. And for us here in the USA, NBCSN broadcasts all of the games (granted, some games are played at the same time and can be found on partner channels like USA Network and some local channels – so make sure to look around if you can’t find it right away). NBCSN also replays all of the games after they have been played, so if you’re lucky enough not to stumble upon the score on social media, then you can go online to watch the match (be cautious of spoilers on the website). This makes the games very accessible to you and you should definitely watch them. And with players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic joining Man U, Claudio Bravo to Man City, and Michy Batshuayi to Chelsea, this year’s Premier League is going to be intense and filled with exciting new players to watch. And in case I haven’t convinced you to watch the Premier League just yet, then perhaps Jason Sudeikis can entertain you enough to give it a try – NBCSN’s infamous commercial is truly a gem.
