English Premier League

The league held its first season in 1992–93 and was originally composed of 22 clubs. The first ever Premiership goal was scored by Brian Deane of Sheffield United in a 2–1 win against Manchester United. The Premier League is operated as a corporation that is owned by the 20 member clubs. Each club is considered a shareholder with one vote each on such issues as rule changes and contracts. The clubs elect a Chairman, Chief Executive, and Board of Directors to oversee the daily operations of the league. The Football Association is not directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the Premier League, but has veto power as a special shareholder during the election of the Chairman and Chief Executive and when new rules are adopted by the league.

There are 20 clubs in the Premier League. During the course of a season (which lasts from August to May) each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents for a total of 38 games for each club, with a total of 380 games in each season. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as champion. The three lowest placed teams are relegated into the Football League Championship and the top two teams from the Championship, together with the winner of play-offs involving the third to sixth placed Championship clubs, are promoted in their place.

Following are the clubs

• Arsenal - founded in 1886 has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles, 10 FA Cups and in 2005–06 became the first London club to reach the UEFA Champions League final.
  
• Aston Villa founded in 1874 having won the First Division Championship 7 times and the FA Cup 7 times. Villa are also one of only four English clubs to win the European Cup.
  
• Birmingham City They were FA Cup losing finalists in 1931 and 1956. They won their only to date in 1963 when they lifted the League Cup

• Blackburn Rovers the majority of the club's success was pre-1930 when they won the league and FA Cup on several occasions.

• Bolton Wanderers Football Club (also known as The Trotters) are an English professional football club based in the Borough of Bolton, in the North West of England. They are currently in the Premier League. In 2005–06 they participated in European competition for the first time but were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the round of 32 by Marseille. Bolton qualified for the 2007–08 tournament by finishing 7th in the 2006–07 Premier League. Bolton Wanderers moved to the Reebok Stadium in 1997. Their former home was Burnden Park.
  
  
• Chelsea Football Club (also known as The Blues or previously The Pensioners) are an English professional football club based in west London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier in English football. They have had two broad periods of success, one during the 1960s and early 1970s, and the second from the late 1990s to the present day. Chelsea have won three league titles, four FA Cups, four League Cups and two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups.
  Everton Football Club is an English football club located in the city of Liverpool. They are one of the top five most successful English clubs in terms of major honours, having won the League Championship 9 times, the FA Cup 5 times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup.

• Fulham Football Club (FFC) are an English football team based in Fulham, London. Founded in 1879, Fulham FC are the oldest professional football team in London, They spent much time in the Old First Division (Premiership) through the 60s, but are yet to gain any major honours, their only FA Cup final appearance being in 1975. They did win qualification to the UEFA Cup in 2002 by winning the Intertoto Cup.
  Liverpool Football Club are an English professional football club based in Liverpool. They play in the Premier League and are the most successful club in English football.[1]They lead the way in terms of English League Titles, with eighteen, and are third in terms of European Cup[2] wins, with five, an English record. They have also had success in the other cup competitons (see honours, below). Liverpool are a founding member of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs.
  
  
  
• Manchester City Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Manchester. Formed in 1880 as St. Marks (West Gorton), they went on to become Ardwick A.F.C. in 1887 before finally becoming Manchester City F.C. in 1894. The club have won the League Championship twice, the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice and the European Cup Winners Cup once. Manchester City's most successful period came in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when they acquired several trophies under the management team of Joe Mercer and assistant Malcolm Allison, and with great players such as Colin Bell.


• Manchester United Football Club is an English football club, based at the Old Trafford stadium in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and one of the most popular sports clubs in the world, with over 50 million supporters worldwide. Manchester United is one of the most successful clubs in English football, second only to Liverpool F.C. in terms of trophies won by an English club. They have won the Premier League/Football League 16 times (most recently in the 2006-07 season), the FA Cup a record 11 times, the League Cup twice, the European Cup / UEFA Champions League twice, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup once, the Intercontinental Cup once, and the European Super Cup once. The club has had the highest average attendance in English football for the past 34 seasons, with the exception of 1987-89.Among European clubs, they have been perennial revenue leaders for the late 1990s and early 2000s, and they are still the fourth richest (in terms of revenue) in the world.
  


• Middlesbrough Football Club are an English football club, commonly known as Boro, that play in the Premier League. The club was formed in 1876. since August 1995, their third ground since they became professional in 1889.The current manager is Gareth Southgate who was appointed on June 7, 2006 by current chairman of the club Steve Gibson. Middlesbrough won the League Cup in 2004, the club's first and only major trophy.
  
  


• Newcastle United Football Club (also known as The Magpies or The Toon) are an English professional football team based in Newcastle upon Tyne. They play in the Premier League and are historically the seventh most successful club in English football.This takes into account all results since the beginning of English league football in 1888.
  The club formed in 1892 after the merger of two local clubs, Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has since played at St James' Park, the old Newcastle West End ground in the city.
  
  


• Portsmouth Football Club Founded in 1898, The club is nicknamed Pompey (also the nickname for the city) and play in the Premier League. The club's most recent trophy was won on April 27, 2003 when Pompey beat Rotherham 3-2 to win the First Division championship, giving the club promotion to the Premier League for the first time since its inception.
  


• Reading Football Club are an association football club, based in the English town of Reading, in Berkshire. They currently play in the FA Premier League. When Reading gained promotion to the Premier League, on 25 March 2006, they achieved promotion to the top flight earlier in the season than any other post-war side, and also gained the highest points tally ever attained in any of England's four professional divisions. It was also the first time Reading had reached the top division in their history.



• Sunderland Association Football . They are currently nicknamed the 'Black Cats', after being previously known as 'The Rokermen'. Before the Second World War, Sunderland were league champions 6 times, when they became the last football club wearing striped shirts to win the English football league. , becoming the first team to join the league after its birth in 1888; and stayed in the top flight of English football until 1958, a record of consecutive seasons which only Arsenal have bettered in 1992. The club won their first F.A. Cup in 1937 with a 3-1 victory
  
  
• Tottenham Hotspur Football The club is also commonly referred to simply as Tottenham or Spurs, Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960-61 season. In 1963, Spurs became the first British club to win a European trophy - the European Cup Winners' Cup.



• West Ham United Football Club are based in Upton Park, Newham, East London The club was originally founded as Thames Ironworks F.C. in 1895 and later reformed, in 1900, as their current incarnation. They initially competed in the Southern League and Western League before joining the full Football League in 1919 and enjoyed their first top flight season in 1923. The club have never fallen outside the top two divisions. They have won the FA Cup 3 times: also captured the now defunct Cup Winners Cup in 1965 and the Intertoto Cup in 1999. They also won the first War Cup in 1940.
  
  
• Wigan Athletic Football In 2003, Wigan were promoted to the Football League Championship for the first time, and in 2005 came second in the Coca Cola Championship to gain promotion to the Premiership. During the 2005-06 season, they reached the League Cup final for the first time and remained in the top half of the Premiership for nearly the entire duration of the season.