The history of the Premier League stretches from a separation signed in a London boardroom in 1992 to Arsenal’s title in 2025-26, and only seven clubs have been champions in the 34 seasons that have ended.
The league was founded on February 20, 1992, and the first ball was thrown that August. It is currently broadcast in 212 territories and its domestic TV rights alone are worth £6.7 billion.
As the 2026-27 season gets underway, here’s how it started, who dominated and the records that still define it.
Why was the Premier League created?
The Football League’s First Division had been England’s top flight since 1888, but was in decline by the 1980s. Attendances were dwindling, many grounds were old and unsafe, and hooliganism had become the image of English football abroad.
The two disasters changed the conversation. In May 1985, 39 people died before the European Cup final match between Liverpool and Juventus at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, and English clubs were banned from the European Cup for five years.
In April 1989, 97 Liverpool supporters died in the Hillsborough crush during the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest. The subsequent Taylor Report called for senior venues to be converted into all-indoor stadiums.
Stadiums were expensive to rebuild, revenues were falling and the game’s reputation was being damaged. The biggest clubs believed the answer was to keep more of their TV money.
Breaking away from the Football League
Under the old structure, television revenues were shared between four divisions. The leading First Division clubs felt undervalued and were outclassed by the best in Spain, Italy and Germany.
The Football Association backed the breakaway, partly in the hope that better-funded clubs would raise the standard of the English team. The Founding Members Agreement was signed in July 1991, the Premier League was formed on 20 February 1992 and on 27 May 1992 the 22 First Division clubs resigned from the Football League together.
How the Sky deal changed Premier League history
Sky won the first live rights in a bid of £304m over five years. Live top-flight football was rare on British television and Sky built its schedule around it, with Super Sunday and Monday Night Football turning league games into major events.
Money has changed what English clubs can afford. Higher wages became sustainable and elite overseas players, once out of reach for most of the division, began to arrive.
Since then, each legal cycle has been greater than the previous one. The current domestic deal is worth £6.7bn and the international rights for 2022-2025 are valued at £5.3bn. More information about the history of the league itself is on the official history page of the Premier League.
The first season of the Premier League in 1992-93
In the first season there were 22 clubs. At the end of 1994–95, the league was reduced to 20 and has remained at that size ever since.
Sheffield United’s Brian Dean scored his first Premier League goal in a 2-1 win over Manchester United on the opening weekend. United still finished as champions, their first league title in 26 years and it was the start of an era.
Manchester United and the Ferguson years
Sir Alex Ferguson managed Manchester United from 1986 until his retirement in May 2013. His team won 13 Premier League titles, still a record for any club.
These names are 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-01, 2007-08, 2012-13.
The 1998-99 season stands out from the rest. United won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, the first treble by an English club. Ferguson retired after his 13th title and United have failed to win the league since.
Blackburn Rovers broke their run in 1994-95
Backed by local businessman Jack Walker, Blackburn signed Southampton’s Alan Shearer and paired him with Chris Sutton. The two scored 49 league goals between them and Blackburn won the 1994–95 championship, the club’s only league title of the Premier League era, one point clear of Manchester United.
Arsenal, Wenger and the Invincibles
Arsene Wenger came to Arsenal in 1996 and changed more than one club. His ideas on diet, training and tactics were new to English football and he attracted the likes of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Robert Pires.
Arsenal were champions in 1997-98, 2001-02 and 2003-04. In the 2003–04 season, the Invincibles went on a 38-game unbeaten run, with 26 wins and 12 draws, extending their unbeaten league streak to 49 matches. Henry scored 30 league goals that season.
The era of Chelsea and Abramovich
Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in July 2003 and within two years they were champions. Jose Mourinho arrived in 2004 and won back-to-back titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06, conceding just 15 league goals in the first of those seasons.
Chelsea have won five Premier League titles under Abramovich until 2022: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2009-10, 2014-15 and 2016-17. His takeover showed that after 2008 the Manchester City model could take a club to the top.
Manchester City’s rise in Premier League history
Abu Dhabi United Group bought Manchester City in September 2008. City won the old First Division twice, in 1937 and 1968, and spent part of the 1990s and 2000s outside the top flight.
Roberto Mancini’s side were crowned champions on goal difference from Manchester United in 2011-12, with Sergio Aguero scoring a stoppage-time goal against QPR on the final matchday. Another title followed in 2013-14.
Pep Guardiola took over in 2016 and set new standards. City reached 100 points and scored 106 league goals in the 2017–18 season, both records. They won four titles in a row from 2020–21 to 2023–24, and the 2022–23 side added the FA Cup and Champions League for a second English treble.
City’s eight titles are behind only Manchester United. Guardiola left in the summer of 2026 and Enzo Maresca is now in charge of the squad that Guardiola built.
Leicester City and the biggest upset
Leicester City were promoted from the Championship in 2014 and before the 2015-16 season most bookies were offering them 5000/1 to win the league. They won it by 10 points.
Claudio Ranieri built the side on defensive organization and quick counter-attacks, and Jamie Vardy scored in 11 consecutive Premier League games during the campaign, a league record. Ten years later, when Everton eyed him on a free transfer, Vardy remained a Premier League winner.
Liverpool ends their wait, then wins again
Before Liverpool’s Premier League era, they won their last top league title in 1990. Jurgen Klopp arrived in October 2015 and rebuilt the squad, with Mohamed Salah scoring 32 league goals in 2017-18.
In 2019–20, Liverpool won the title with seven games to spare, the earliest of any club to do so, finishing with 99 points. They added a second Premier League title in 2024-25.
Arsenal’s championship in the 2025-26 season
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal finished second in three consecutive seasons before crossing the line in 2025-26. The title was confirmed with a game to spare when Manchester City drew 1-1 at Bournemouth and couldn’t catch them anymore.
It was Arsenal’s first league title in 22 years and fourth in the Premier League era. David Raya kept 19 clean sheets and key men in the team such as title-winning midfielder Declan Rice are now being rewarded with new contracts.
All Premier League champions in history
In the last 34 seasons, 7 clubs have won the Premier League.
| Club | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | 13 | 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 9010, 2010- 2012-13 |
| Manchester City | 8 | 2011-12, 2013-14, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 |
| Chelsea | 5 | 2004-05, 2005-06, 2009-10, 2014-15, 2016-17 |
| Arsenal | 4 | 1997-98, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2025-26 |
| Liverpool | 2 | 2019-20, 2024-25 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 1 | 1994-95 |
| Leicester City | 1 | 2015-16 |
Premier League records that still stand out
Alan Shearer is the league’s all-time top scorer with 260 goals in 441 games for Blackburn and Newcastle. He scored 112 goals in 138 appearances for Blackburn before joining his hometown club in 1996 for a then world record fee of £15m, winning three consecutive Golden Boots.
Erling Haaland scored 36 league goals in 2022–23, a single-season record, and won his third Golden Boot in 2025–26 with 27 goals, level with Shearer and Harry Kane. Manchester City’s 100 points in 2017-18 remains the highest tally and the 32 wins shared by City and Liverpool remains the highest in a single season.
What the history of the Premier League tells us
The Premier League, which began in August 1992, bears little resemblance to the current competition. Decisions made after Heysel and Hillsborough, and the Sky deal that paid for its early growth, have established a league that now reaches 212 territories.
7 titles in 34 seasons shows how difficult it is to win and Arsenal’s title proved that the long wait can be over. The next chapter is already being written in 2026-27 with Maresca in charge of City and Arsenal defending their crown.