Main provisions of regulations
Official name: The English Premier League (Premier League)
Number of participants: 20
The tournament is held according to the “fall-spring” system. As a rule, first matches are played early in August, last – late in May. Teams play 1 game at home and one away (38 all in all). The champion is determined by the number of points scored in all 38 rounds. If two teams get an equal number of points, additional factors are taken into account: the goal difference and the number of goals scored. In case the strongest team isn’t revealed after that, an additional play-off contest is carried out on a neutral field (exclusively between clubs arguing about the champion’s title or places in the European cup competitions).
On the completion of the season three teams with the lowest number of points move to the English Football League Championship. They are replaced by first two Championship teams and the winner of the promotion play-off, the participants of which are the teams ranked from 2nd to 6th in the second division. If several teams bear a risk of knockout from the Premier League, the rules described above are applied.
The most uncompromising struggle for tickets to the European cup championships breaks out at the English Premier League tournament. 4 clubs make their way to the Champions League on the completion of each season. Winning places takers get directly to the group stage, and the club on the 4th place is obliged to start qualifying from the third qualification round. In 2006 and 2013 the tickets distribution was held beyond this format. In 2006, “Liverpool”, as the winner of the Champions League, got into the group stage, having taken the fifth place in standings. And in 2013, “Chelsea” went to the “Old World” main tournament of the instead of “Tottenham”, which finished fourth. In the meantime, the “Blues” were 6th, having won the previous Champions League tournament, however.
The 5th team enters the Europa League. If the teams, ranked from 1st to 5th played in the League Cup and FA Cup finals, the 6th and the 7th teams of the championship go to the Europa League as well. Finally, a team that stands high in the UEFA Fair Play Rankings can enter the Europa League. The last English club to get into the European Cups in this way was “Fulham”, which took the 2nd place in the rating summarizing the results of the 2010/11 season.
The official Premier League cup was created by the Royal Jewellers company. The tournament winner receives the cup for perpetual storage.
It weighs 25 kg, is 76 cm high, 43 cm wide and 25 cm deep. The cup is cast from 925 silver and coated with silver gilding, and its base is made out of malachite. A silver band runs around the base, displaying the engraved names of the champion clubs. The green color of malachite symbolizes the green color of a football pitch. The design of the cup is based on the three lions heraldry being associated with football of England. Two lions are located above the handles on both sides of the cup, and the third lion is symbolized by the captain of the champion team, raising the cup above his head at the awards ceremony, and the golden crown on the top of the cup (source: Wikipedia)
The main source of income is the sale of TV rights. The teams also receive additional bonuses for participation in European competitions and promotion in national cup tournaments. In the 2016/17 season a new sponsorship contract came into force. It was signed for three seasons in the amount of 5.15 billion pounds. This is a record contract in history, significantly increasing the prize fund at the end of the season and providing teams ranked low in the standings with the possibility to spend more money for acquiring new footballers.
