Long has it been the widespread belief amongst the English press and media that their own Premiership is head and shoulders above not only the other British domestic leagues but also the rest of Europe and no doubt the world. We hear on a weekly basis how the Premiership is the most exciting league in the world, has the greatest players in the world and is without a shadow of a doubt, the best league in the world.

It?s hard to argue that the Premiership at times doesn?t have some of the most exciting football to be seen with end to end action for ninety minutes although there is no obvious link between the excitement level of end to end football and actual quality of football played. Many times it?s quite the opposite with the reason the ball is pinging about the pitch from penalty box to penalty box being that the players in the middle don?t have even the rudimentary levels of control necessary to put their foot on the ball and build a more measures tempo.

Roy Keane - Truly World Class?

While the quality of some players such as Roy Keane and Arjen Robben is second to none, there are others who have been the Premiership?s standard bearers for most of the last decade but only found their way into the Premiership after failing in the more rarified atmosphere of the other European top leagues, most notably Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Viera and Thierry Henry at Arsenal who all suffered torrid spells in Italy at Inter Milan, A.C. Milan and Juventus respectively.

The finest European players in fact to grace the English stage only came to these shores when their stock on the continent had diminished to such a level that the top European clubs were no longer interested in them. Players such as Gianfranco Zola, Jurgen Klinsmann in two spells and most recently Edgar Davids have illuminated English grounds with their skill and passion but none can say that even big London clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur would have been their first choice if Milan, Barcelona or Bayern Munich had come calling from the outset.

It?s notable that players such as Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane or Ronaldinho have never even been seriously linked with moves to English clubs while at their peak and for all Manchester United?s or Chelsea?s money, the decision is far from a financial one.

Ronaldo in action for Brazil

The Premiership doesn?t then necessarily have the greatest quality of football. It doesn?t have the very finest world players at the peak of their powers either. One thing we are told it does have is strength in depth and a level of competition in the top division that other major countries? leagues are lacking. Even a cursory glance at the league tables for the thirteen previous seasons under the Premiership/Premier League banner tells a somewhat different tale though. Of the thirteen championships contested, Manchester United have dominated and won eight of them, their nearest rivals over that time have been Arsenal with three title wins and both Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers, with the financial input of their respective sugar daddies, have taken one title a piece.

Blackburn Rovers Celebrate Their Premiership Title in 1994/95

The two outsiders? Premiership titles were separated by a ten year gap though and with the means their league titles were won (or rather bought), they can almost be disregarded when judging the level of competition as far as Premiership contenders goes. Even when considering the top three positions there has been an unhealthy reliance on the same clubs, namely Liverpool and Newcastle United and one appearance each for one season wonders Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United outside of the aforementioned title winners. This doesn?t indicate a competitive environment, rather a closed club that is continually denying membership to any club who either wasn?t in the right place at the right time at the Premiership?s inception in order to take full advantage of the Sky TV and Champion?s League money or doesn?t have a multibillionaire benefactor to buy them a place at the top table. Long gone are the days when clubs like Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa were League Champions and I for one firmly believe the Premiership is a much duller competition because of it.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 31st, 2005 at 9:49 pm and is filed under General Football Articles. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.