The Premier League
When looking for the top soccer in the world one not get conflicted by believing the World Cup or the Champions League is the number one tournament in the world. You might be right when thinking the World Cup is the biggest event but it does not present the highest standard of football year in, year out. When you are looking for the best the Premier League is the number one spot in Europe and in the world. You will find many of the world’s premier players in the Premier League from Drogba to Torres to Ashley Cole to Carlos Tevez and many more.
The Premier League has been around since 1992 and is the top level of the English football league system. There are 20 different teams in the league and work with relegation and promotion with the The Football Championship League which has been around since 1888. Since its creation in 1992 it has become the largest league in terms of revenue with over 2 billion euros coming in for the 08-09 seasons. The Premier League has gone through 3 different title sponsors since its inception. Currently the Premier league is sponsored by Barclays making it the Barclays Premier League. As of this time it is the number one ranked league according to the Union of European Football Associations.
The Premier League is the forth highest grossing league or any sport in the world. It only trails the big 3 in the United States (National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association) making the Premier League the largest sports league outside of the United States.
The Premier League has been topped by four teams Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, and Manchester United since the league’s inception. These four teams have won all of the leagues titles. Manchester United leads the group with eleven championships but are being caught up by their rival and last years champions Chelsea. All of the 20 teams in the Premier League compete each year for the Malachite trophy which has the names of all the teams since the league’s inception are listed on the trophy. In 2004 Arsenal received a unique gold version of the trophy to signify them going through the season undefeated.
The Premier League also sends four teams to the UEFA Champions League. The top two placed teams will enter the group stage directly while the third and fourth placed teams gets placed into a knockout round that precedes the group format.
The main reason for the success of the Premier League is its presence on the world’s stage. The league is promoted as “The Greatest Show on Earth”. The world is watching also since it is estimated that over a half a billion people in over 200 countries follow the Premier League on a regular basis. Many teams regularly expand their global fan base by touring the World as part of their pre season fixtures, this also allows the opportunity to further expand their revenues. The facts are if you are looking for the best soccer in the world the Premier League is your league of choice.
Adrian Bryan writes for The Football Merchandise Store the web’s finest collection of Football Souvenirs and Football Merchandise
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