Premier League Quiz
The league was born from a dispute over television money.
A Premier League quiz with answers about the competition's history rather than this week's table: its founding, landmark seasons, long-standing records and one title that nobody saw coming.
Did you know?
- Two identical Premier League trophies exist. When the title is still undecided on the final day and the contenders are playing in different cities, one trophy is sent to each stadium, so that the winners can lift it on the pitch wherever the race ends.
- The first goalkeeper to score in the Premier League was Peter Schmeichel, in 2001. Playing for Aston Villa, he ran forward for a late corner and struck a volley into the net. Only a handful of goalkeepers have scored in the competition since.
- The fastest goal in the league's history took 7.69 seconds. Shane Long of Southampton scored it in 2019 after blocking a defender's clearance straight from the kick-off and running through on goal. The previous record, just under ten seconds, had stood for nineteen years.
How the Premier League became the world's most watched league
English league football dates back to 1888, but by the late 1980s its stadiums were ageing and attendances were low. The leading clubs wanted to keep more of the income from television instead of sharing it with ninety-two teams across four divisions. In 1992 they resigned together from the old league and formed a new top division of their own. The Football Association supported the plan, and the new competition kept promotion and relegation with the divisions below.
Television changes everything
The new league sold its live matches to a satellite broadcaster, which paid far more than any earlier contract and showed games on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights. The money rebuilt stadiums with seats for every spectator and attracted players and coaches from abroad. On the opening weekend only a handful of players came from outside Britain and Ireland; today more than a hundred nationalities have appeared.
How the season works
Every club plays every other twice, at home and away. A win is worth three points and a draw one. The team with most points is champion, with no play-off or final. The bottom three are relegated to the division below and replaced by three promoted clubs, so a place in the league is never guaranteed, and the struggle to stay up is followed as closely as the race for the title.
A global audience
Matches are now broadcast in almost every country in the world, often with kick-off times chosen to suit viewers in Asia and the Americas. Overseas television rights have come to be worth more than the domestic ones. Supporters' clubs for English teams exist from Lagos to Seoul, and many fans who follow a club closely have never visited the city it comes from. Several clubs now have more followers abroad than at home.