Considered as the most popular football league in the world, the English Premier League is a corporation of 20 football clubs sponsored mainly by Barclays Bank. For this reason, the EPL is also known as the Barclays Premier League. There were actually 22 teams that initially made up the association but were eventually cut back to the present number. Founded in 1992, the EPL will finish its 18th season at the end of the 2009-2010 season. Games for each season starts around August to May, with each team playing 38 games throughout the season.
The most lucrative football clubs
Being the most watched football event in Europe and in the UK, the Premier League is considered the most lucrative football league throughout the world. This professional football league is composed of some of the richest football clubs in the world. The best players in the league as well as the most famous football players made up the roster of its players. Great players are offered fortunes just to be in the league. During the early years of the Premier League, the average annual salary of players was around.
£75,000 but eventually rose by an average of 20% per year onwards. The highest average salary of a regular player in the league reached its peak in 2003-2004 season when it exceeded more than £676,000. One of the most famous player in the league that was offered the first record breaking transfer fee was Alan Shearer when he got more than £3 million. A few years after, he broke this record by getting £15 million for a transfer to Newcastle United. The most expensive acquisition was made by Manchester United when it offered Cristiano Ronaldo a whopping £80 million in 2009.
Many football associations in many countries consider EPL as the model of their own leagues. In terms of clubs, the EPL has also some of the oldest in the world.
Dominant teams
One of the setbacks about the league is the emergence of the "Big Four" teams composed of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal. These teams have been the league leaders in terms of standing as well as stature for several years now. They have been on the top 3 spots ever since 1996-1997 season onwards. The run for the top spot for these teams was only broken in 2005 when Liverpool was beaten by Everton to fourth place. On the other hand, Manchester United has the best record so far by not finishing outside the top 3 since Premier League was founded. The Arsenal finished all but 2 seasons inside the top five since the foundation of the Premier League. The same is true for Liverpool, which finished 12 seasons inside the top 4 spot.
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