History of the EPL

The Premier League was formed on 20 February 1992 and took over as the top professional league from season 1992/93. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions.

A number of events during the mid and late eighties had sent clear signals that fundamental changes were needed to the structure of professional football.

On 11 May 1985 56 fans lost their lives when fire broke out at Bradford City's ground. Later that season, on 29 May, the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus saw the Heysel disaster. Violence broke out between rival supporters, which led to the deaths of 39 fans and resulted in a five-year blanket ban on English clubs in European football. Disaster also struck in April 1989 when 96 football fans were killed and over 150 seriously injured at Sheffield Wednesday's ground, Hillsborough, as they became crushed on an overcrowded terrace at the FA Cup semi final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

The English game was at possibly its lowest ebb. Stadiums were crumbling, supporters were faced with poor facilities, hooliganism was rife and English football was exiled from European competition. The old First Division became a selling League as many top players were lured by the financial attractions of the Continent.

Following Hillsborough, Lord Justice Taylor recommended a huge programme of investment in order to make football grounds safe and comfortable environments for supporters and to help eliminate crowd disorder problems of the past. One of the key elements of the Report was the introduction of an all-seater policy at designated football grounds.

Football’s image had been severely tarnished and the English game was suffering from an acute lack of investment. By 1992 Clubs were facing huge costs, as the scale of meeting the recommendations of the Taylor report became apparent. In addition many top Clubs voiced growing concerns over their inability to compete for the top players in the transfer market and bridge the gap with European clubs who had advanced considerably during the English Clubs' enforced exile from European competition.

A radical restructuring of the game was required if English football was to prosper.A proposal for the establishment of the League was tabled that would bring more money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17th July 1991 by the game’s top-flight clubs established the basic principles for setting up the Premier League.

The newly formed top division would have commercial independence from the Football Association and the Football League, giving the Premier League license to negotiate its own broadcast and sponsorship agreements.

In 1992 the First Division Clubs resigned from the Football league en masse and on the 27th May 1992 the Premier League was formed as a limited company, which worked out of an office at the then Football Association’s headquarters, Lancaster Gate.From the outset of the Premier League there was a commitment to reduce the league from twenty-two clubs to twenty, reflecting the collective will to the development of excellence in the game at club and international level. This change was made at the end of the 1994/95 season.

The first matches kicked off on Saturday 15th August 1992 and when Brian Deane scored the first ever Premier League goal few could have imagined that the competition would come so far in such a short period time. One of the major factors in this rapid development was the Premier League’s relationship with television.