23 Things You Didn’t Know About the Premier League

Last updated on August 30th, 2022

The Premier League is one of the most popular football leagues in the world.

With many top players in the league, it does provide really entertaining matches!

However, here are some things you may not know about the league!

The difference between EPL and BPL

Both EPL and BPL refer to the English Premier League. The Premier League was previously called the Barclays Premier League (BPL) from 2007. However since 2016, the Premier League did not have any other sponsorship deals. Most people referred to it as the English Premier League (EPL) from then on.

In the past, the Premier League was known as the Barclays Premier League. This was due to sponsorship reasons.

Here are the different title sponsors that the Premier League has had over the years:

Years	Sponsor	League Name
1992-1993	No Sponsor	FA Premier League
1993-2001	Carling	FA Carling Premiership
2001-2004	Barclaycard	FA Barclaycard Premiership
2004-2007	Barclays	FA Barclays Premiership
2007-2016	Barclays	Barclays Premier League
2016-present	No Sponsor	Premier League

Interestingly, the league was known as the Premiership back in 2007!

Is there a difference between the Premier League and the Premiership?

Both the Premier League and the Premiership refer to England’s highest level of football. The competition was known as the Premiership between 1993-2007, before being referred to as the Premier League afterwards.

What is the difference between the Premiership and the Championship?

The Premiership is the old term used to describe the Premier League, which is the highest level of football. Meanwhile, the Championship is the term used to describe the second tier of English football.

Is the Premier League owned by the FA?

The Football Association (FA) is a special shareholder of the Premier League, but it does not have a role in the daily operations of the competition. Instead, it ensures that the football laws are implemented in the Premier League, and handles any disciplinary issues, both on and off the pitch.

Is the Premier League part of UEFA?

The Premier League can considered to be indirectly under UEFA. It is a competition under the Football Association (FA) governing body. The FA is one of the 55 association members of UEFA, which is the football association in Europe.

The hierarchy is as such:

1. Premier League
2. Football Association (FA)
3. UEFA

The Premier League is under the governance of the Football Association (FA), which in turn is one of the bodies in UEFA. In this way, the Premier League can be considered to be indirectly under UEFA.

Is the Premier League under FIFA or UEFA?

The Premier League is under both FIFA and UEFA. The Premier League is a part of the Football Association, which is an association member of UEFA. UEFA is one of the 6 confederations that is under the governance of FIFA.

The Premier League can be considered to be both under FIFA and UEFA, due to the hierarchy of the different associations.

Is the Premier League the same as the UEFA Champions League?

The Premier League and the UEFA Champions League are 2 different competitions. The Premier League consists of the top 20 English teams, while the UEFA Champions League hosts the top 32 teams in Europe.

The Premier League uses a double round-robin knockout format. Meanwhile, the Champions League consists of both a group stage and a knockout round. As such, they are 2 separate competitions!

To find out more about the differences between the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, you can view my comparison here.

A maximum of 5 teams from the Premier League can feature in the Champions League. You can read how this is possible too!

Does the Premier League have a sponsor?

The Premier League has eight ‘Official Partners’, who take on the role of sponsors. These sponsors play a specific role in the running of this competition. However since 2016, the Premier League no longer has a title sponsor, which was previously Barclays.

Here are the different sponsors that have partnered with the Premier League:

Sponsor	Role
EA Sports	Lead Partner
Barclays	Official Bank
Budweiser	Official Beer
Coca Cola	Official Soft Drink
Hublot	Official Timekeeper
Nike	Official Ball
Avery Dennison	Official Licensee
Panini	Official Licensee

Why did Barclays stop sponsoring the Premier League?

Barclays is no longer the title sponsor of the Premier League after they decided not to renew their sponsorship deal in 2016. However, they are still the official Banking Partner of the Premier League, with a deal that will last till the 2021/22 season.

How many matches does each EPL team play a season?

Each Premier League team will play 38 games a season.

Why are there 38 games in the Premier League?

There are 20 teams that play in the Premier League, which has a double round-robin system. Each team will play the other 19 teams twice. As such, each team will need to play a total of 38 games each season.

The 20-team format of the league is similar to other leagues in Europe, such as:

1. La Liga
2. Serie A
3. Ligue 1

The only exception is the Bundesliga which only has 34 games! This is because they only have 18 teams in the league.

When you read the league table, you will notice that the season ends after 38 games!

What is the maximum amount of points you can get in the Premier League?

Assuming that you win all 38 games that you play in the regular Premier League season, the maximum possible number of points that you can achieve in the Premier League is 114 points.

So far, no club has ever managed this achievement of winning all the matches in the Premier League season. The highest number of points that a club has earned is 100, which was achieved by Manchester City in 2017/18.

How did the Premier League change to 20 teams?

The Premier League was reduced to 20 teams from 22 after the end of the 1994/95 season. This was after 4 teams were relegated, and 2 teams were promoted from the Football League.

In the 1994/95 Premier League season, 4 teams were relegated:

1. Crystal Palace
2. Norwich City
3. Leicester City
4. Ipswich Town

The Premier League only started from 1992. In the previous 2 seasons (1992/93 and 1993/94), only 3 teams were relegated!

However, only 2 teams were promoted from the Football League:

1. Middlesborough
2. Bolton Wanderers

The Football League was the previous iteration of the EFL Championship.

This was also different from previous seasons, where 3 teams were promoted.

The reason for this change is not that well known

The decision was made to reduce the number of teams from 22 to 20, after just 3 years. However, the actual reason isn’t really that well known!

The main reason could be to reduce the number of games each team had to play (42 to 38). This was because the Premier League was the largest European league with 22 teams at that time!

Why does the Premier League use a yellow ball?

The Premier League uses a yellow ball during the winter period to increase the visibility of the ball. This is because the match ball is white in colour, making it hard to differentiate the ball from the snow during winter.

Nike has been the official ball supplier to the Premier League since the 2000/01 season. For most of these seasons, the ball’s base colour is usually white.

If you were to play with a white ball during winter, it will be very hard to differentiate the ball from the snow! This is why Nike has a winter ball as well. The ball’s bright yellow colour helps it to stand out against the snow.

This makes it much easier for the players to see the ball!

You can see the winter ball in action in this video below:

Why does the Premier League play in the winter?

The Premier League continues to play in the winter, due to the congested schedule of English football. The Premier League teams have to compete in 2 other domestic cups (FA Cup and EFL Cup) as well. To ensure that all matches can finish by the end of the season in end May, the teams still have to play during the winter.

The English football schedule is much more congested compared to the other European leagues.

As such, they will need to play games during the winter to finish the season by mid-May.

A winter break was actually introduced during the 2019/20 season. However, the break isn’t actually an actual break!

Due to the TV contracts that the Premier League has, it is actually a ‘split break’.

One half of the Premier League will take two weeks off, then the other half will do the same, but with an overlap. This means there are no blank weekends for broadcasting — in fact all 10 Premier League games will be shown live on TV in the UK.

ESPN

This may be different from the winter breaks of other leagues like the Bundesliga. However, it still gives the players a much needed rest!

Why is the Premier League having a winter break?

The Premier League organises a winter break to allow players to rest in the month of February. This allows players to receive some rest amid the congested fixture schedule, especially if the team participates in multiple competitions.

Other competitions like the La Liga and Bundesliga usually have a winter break during the December period. This allows the players to have a break midway through the season.

However, the Premier League does not have this break! Instead, the Premier League teams have to play multiple times between Christmas and New Year’s Day as part of the fixtures.

This is due to the long-standing tradition that English football has, where many matches are played during this festive period.

Many managers and players have spoken up about the fixture congestion, and have asked the FA to make changes to the schedule. The Premier League winter break was first introduced in the 2019/20 season.

However, the winter break was scrapped in the 2020/21 season due to further fixture congestion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why are some Premier League teams playing during the winter break?

The winter break is only a split break, where half of the Premier League teams do not play for 2 weeks. Due to deals with different companies, the Premier League has to ensure that matches are played during the weekends of the winter break.

The Premier League has television deals with certain broadcasters, such as:

1. Sky Sports
2. BT Sport
3. Amazon Prime Video
4. BBC Sport

As part of the deals, these companies want to ensure that Premier League football is still being broadcasted, even though some of the teams are on a break.

This is why the winter break is split into 2, where 10 teams will play matches, while the other 10 teams will take a break. The teams will then switch after the first 10 teams have played their matches.

Why does the Premier League start so early?

The Premier League competitions starts rather early, possibly due to the congested fixture schedule. Premier League matches also start much earlier than other leagues, which could be to appeal to other countries like those from Asia.

The Premier League is one of the earliest European leagues to start, compared to other competitions like La Liga or the Bundesliga. It usually starts in early August.

One of the reasons why the Premier League starts earlier could be due to the fixture congestion. Apart from the Premier League, the teams have to play in other competitions like:

• FA Cup
• EFL Cup
• European Competitions

You can find out whether the EFL Cup can be considered as a major trophy here.

Moreover, Premier League matches also start rather early too. This is in contrast with some competitions which have most of their fixtures starting at the same time.

For the Premier League, there is usually one lunchtime match at 12:30 (GMT+0). Majority of the matches will be played at 15:00 (GMT+0), and then another match is usually played at 17:30 (GMT+0).

One of the reasons why Premier League matches start so early would be to appeal to their Asian audience. For example, I am staying in Singapore, which is 8 hours ahead of the UK (GMT+8).

Most of the 15:00 (GMT+0) matches would be played at 23:00 in Singapore, which is rather late! The lunchtime match starts at 20:30, which is still quite accessible.

Another reason why Premier League matches start earlier could be due to the blackout rule in the UK.

The blackout rule prevents any 3pm matches from being broadcasted on UK television.

One reason why this rule exists is to encourage football fans to watch lower league matches that are playing at that time. If Premier League matches were broadcasted at 3pm, the fans may choose to watch those over their team’s matches!

Due to this reason, the TV companies may have decided to show the lunchtime matches, as well as 17:30 matches.

Do Premier League matches go into extra time?

The Premier League is a double round-robin league competition, and not a knockout competition. If the scores are level when the game is over, the game ends in a draw and it will not go into extra time.

Extra time is used to determine the winner in knockout competitions. This is because there needs to be a clear winner to move into the next round of the competition.

However, the Premier League is a league competition. If the game ends in a draw, both teams will get one point. As such, no Premier League games would go into extra time!

Can a Premier League game end in a tie?

A Premier League game can end in a tie as there is no need to determine a clear winner for each match. Both teams will be awarded one point for this draw.

Does the Premier League happen every year?

The Premier League is an annual competition that happens every year, between the months of August and May. The top 20 teams in English football will play in this competition in a double round-robin format.

Does the Premier League have a salary cap?

The Premier League does not have a salary cap, unlike those being implemented in American sport. However, most clubs have a wage budget that they are required to adhere to when buying or selling players.

Unlike the MLS which has a salary cap, the Premier League does not impose such a restriction on teams. Despite that, most teams would have a fixed wage budget that they can pay their players each year.

This will limit the amount of wages that the team is able to pay their players!

Does the Premier League have playoffs?

The Premier League does not have any playoffs to decide the winner, as well as the relegation from the league. However, playoffs are the 5th tiebreaker to determine the Premier League champion if the previous tiebreakers have all been exhausted.

Unlike the MLS, the Premier League does not have any playoffs. The champion is decided during the regular season, where the team with the highest points is the champion.

However, there may be scenarios where the top 2 teams have exactly the same number of points. In this scenario, some tiebreakers will be used to determine the champion. This includes:

1. Goal difference
2. Number of goals scored
3. Head-to-head records
4. Number of away goals scored in a head-to-head match
5. Playoff

The playoff is considered as the 5th tiebreaker. It will only come into effect if all other 4 tiebreakers are equal for the 2 teams. This is a very unlikely scenario, so the chances of having a playoff are extremely low!

Does the Premier League have a final?

The Premier League does not have a final match to decide the winner. The winner of the Premier League is determined by the team who has the highest number of points in the regular season.

Does the Premier League use head-to-head records?

The Premier League only uses head-to-head records as a third tiebreaker. The first 2 tiebreakers used would be goal difference and the number of goals scored, when 2 teams are level on points in the league.

You can find out more about how to read a soccer table with my guide here.

Does the Premier League have a draft?

The Premier League does not have a draft system to transfer players. All players are bought via cash transfer deals with clubs within England, as well as from other countries. The MLS is the only exception as they have a draft system for transferring players.

The Premier League also has rather strict rules on loan players, which you can find out more from my guide.

It is rather hard to implement a draft system into European football, especially since all deals have been done in cash. Moreover, the draft is more practical in the MLS, where there is no relegation.

However for most European leagues, relegation can occur between the higher and lower tier leagues!

While a draft may be able to reduce the excessive transfer fees that clubs are spending, it will be very hard to implement it outside of the USA.

Is the Premier League a farmer’s league?

The Premier League is not considered to be a farmer’s league as they are one of the most popular competitions with a high standard of football. Farmer’s league is a derogatory term used to describe football leagues that are deemed to be of lower quality.

The term ‘farmer’s league’ was mainly used to describe the Ligue 1, as it is constantly being dominated by PSG.

Why do all Premier League teams play at the same time?

For the last matchday of the season, all Premier League matches are held at the same time. If there are still staggered kickoffs on the last matchday, some teams may have an advantage from knowing how their opponents did in the earlier matches. To avoid this unfairness, all matches are played at the same time.

Some teams may have very similar points with each other. This may affect certain key placings in the league, such as:

1. The Premier League winners
2. Qualification for European competitions
3. Relegation

For these situations, a team that plays later may already know their rivals’ final point tally before the match if the kickoffs were staggered. This may lead to some unfair advantages!

As such, all games are held at the same time to give all teams an equal fighting chance. This has also led to some dramatic results regarding relegation,

as well as winning the Premier League title!

How do you get relegated in the Premier League?

The bottom 3 teams with the lowest number of points in the Premier League after 38 matches will be relegated. These relegated teams will be playing in the EFL Championship (second tier of English football), instead of the Premier League.

Your team will be relegated if they are one of the 3 worst performing clubs during the Premier League season. This is based on the number of points they have, which shows the number of wins, draws and losses they have.

Can 2 teams win the Premier League?

It is not possible for 2 teams to win the Premier League in the same season. If 2 teams end up with the same number of points after the last matchdays, certain tiebreakers (such as goal difference) will be used to determine the Premier League winner.

When the top 2 teams have the same number of points, other types of tiebreakers will be used to determine the champions. There are a few tiebreakers that are used, which you can find out more in this article.

Conclusion

The Premier League has captivated many fans around the world, and it is one of the most popular competitions in the world.

There are many interesting things to note about this competition, and I hope you have learnt a thing or two from this article!

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