While you are busy with your business, your attention is captured and immediately locked by the passing angel. His assured gait, his pretty curves and his doe eyes make you crack right away. However, it will take a little time to apprehend it, to know it better, to discover its shortcomings but finally to fall in love. The Premier League is like this sublime creature that may now be part of your life. Even if it did not correspond all along the line to your criteria, it knew how to reinvent itself, to control itself, to put a maximum of chances on its side. And the magic happens…
As you will have understood, we will talk about football, more precisely about this English championship so characteristic. Often, see all the time, the subject of discussions around a good beer by his fan boys across the Channel ..
Howhas this championship, which has been present since the origins of football, conquered its supporters? What is its particularity? How did he know how to remain in hearts despite the painful trials?
The history of the football cradle
The cradle of football is England which has given a framework to this game with the governing body called the "Football Association" created on October 26, 1863 to found the "Football Association Cup" reserved for professionals on July 20, 1885. Little by little professionalism will satisfy the northern part of the country with its class of workers paid by company bosses ready to invest in players as they would recruit a technical worker. In the south, football was reserved for the social elite and it was not until 1920 that north/south separatism disappeared.
The game will also evolve from "dribbling game" to "passing game". We must imagine the beginnings of the game that is not organized as we know it. For the "dribbling" all the players attack the ball by chaining the dribbles to score, with in passing a beautiful herd effect! The "passing" will develop the game as a team, and the reason lies in a formula often evoked by Michel Platini, "the ball will always go faster than the player". This evolution will appear at the end of the 1860s to impose itself in the 1880s. In 1884, the British Home Championship was the first international competition to see the Scots dominate the first editions by practicing "passing".
The British intervening on construction sites all around the world, they logically took in their suitcases this intoxicating sport. The construction of railway lines in South America is one example among many. Competitions reserved for workers will gradually introduce local players and then gradually local clubs. And it is the strength of this game that takes over to become popular worldwide.
In South Africa, the townships will fall in love with this sport which is on the contrary badly perceived by the white class who prefer cricket, tennis and rugby. Moreover, it reflects the vision of football in the British Empire. This discipline arouses little interest and it is always the sports considered "noble" that will long retain their place in India, Pakistan, North America or Australia. In Europe, structures are formed and organized. The first football competition recognized by FIFA at the Olympic Games will be won by the English in 1908. The machine is launched but how will it consolidate?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unw6tiXQmOU&ab_channel=FilmsActu
The public always at the rendezvous
The English men's championship will be organized in pyramidal structure as professional clubs appear. Moving to 2, 3 and then 4 levels of pro league! Not to mention 2 additional levels of leagues for pro and semi-pro players. It goes without saying that with such league depth, the level of clubs is demanding. The weekend's matches always have their share of twists and turns as well as goals from elsewhere! It takes no less to satisfy an audience in need of entertainment in our modern arenas. The quality of the lower leagues is such that even in Ligue 3 (League One) the fans are present for the teams that have nothing to be ashamed of.
Speaking of these stadiums, their name brings back memories of great events. Anfield built in 1884 in the north-west of Liverpool for Everton FC, will definitely be the home of Liverpool Football Club since 1892. The team with one of England's greatest records is also famous for two dramas that fans have experienced. The stele at Anfield Road end with the motto " You'll never walk alone " has become an anthem that sounds on match nights, shivering and transcendent, it is not uncommon to see Liverpool take advantage of these words sung by the public. All this makes us leave the sphere of history to write the legend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFf5H4wuRc&ab_channel=GO-DELCHANNEL
It would be unfair not to mention Old Trafford with its 75787 spectators when Manchester United are sold out. Among the most followed football clubs on the planet, it is also the most capped English club. Former coach Sir Alex Ferguson has only maintained the results of a team that has passed the ages with great success. To imagine that this great club is able to get a player like Ryan Giggs out of its training centre… 900 games with his club and he will play his last match of the 8th final of the Champions League against Real Madrid at the age of 39. This great team also allowed the apogee of another legend, Eric Cantona. Cut for the "Premier League", he offered the show with talent and inspiration. He was loved by the public. The media appreciated his escapades, his anger and his unpredictability.
In fact, most clubs in the English league have similar characteristics. Some club names awaken beautiful moments in the history of English football: Arsenal FC, Newcastle United, Leeds United FC, Southampton FC, Manchester City FC, Chelsea FC, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham… The list cannot be exhaustive. Otherwise, it would be too long. However, winning the Premier League is never guaranteed, even if you have the biggest record, you still have to impose yourself. Otherwise, an opportunistic team will take the place. Witness Leicester City FC who in 2016 with a remarkable "fighting spirit" won the championship for the 1st time in its history, while the previous season, the club had narrowly escaped relegation.
Winning this championship is a very high level of football, but not only. The game is impactful, the players fast and the impacts numerous. The expression "box to box" highlights the many reversals that occur during the match. Looking at them, even the viewer is out of breath. Finally, the players do not save so well that during the festive period when the other championships are in truce, the "Premier League" continues to shine during the famous "Boxing Day". This championship can be summed up as follows: Victory is won! And quite logically the spectators are at the rendezvous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZL5xneKgmA&ab_channel=CANAL%2BSport
Premier League: A selective football business
In Britain, the average cost of tickets has risen steadily, limiting access to low-income spectators. The football that grew up in this popular cradle is gradually moving away from it. In the eyes of some analysts, there is talk of a "gentrification" of the tribunes" (*gentrification). The most successful clubs were bought and floated on the stock market by foreign businessmen from the 1990s. At the same time, the famous British first division left the national federation in 1992 to form the fully privatized "Premier League".
The English football business always expands the universe that revolves around the round ball through sports agents but also football betting. This championship is very well followed by newspapers both specialized and those of the type "press people". For the benefits of business, national culture will send this working class financially unable to follow the matches in the stands, watch them in the "pubs" over a beer. This unannounced trick will increase revenue for advertising investors. The transfer window of the biggest players is a source of income on the sale of t-shirts but also advertising revenue. English clubs are therefore working on their image to sell more and more worldwide. And this is how a record is broken with the TV broadcasting rights signed in 2016 for 2 billion euros, an 800% increase since 1992. The circle is not necessarily closed, what will be the next profit that English football will bring? We just have to recognize that the Premier League, which has been loved by all, is no longer a ready surprise.
The fight against hooliganism
The English championship has also been able to surpass the inglorious hours of "hooliganism" coming directly from its stands. The term "hooliganism" will appear in the 1960s in accordance with the extension of the field of violence that manifests itself through vandalism practices qualified as delinquency far from the strict framework of the stadium. The acts of the "hooligan" will multiply and unfortunately, it is several tragedies that will mobilize the organizing bodies. The Hillsborough disaster is remembered. Let's set the context: a semi-final between the team that dominates English football, Liverpool, and a challenger in search of victory, Nottingham Forest, with hooliganism threatening for many years as a background. History will remember April 15, 1989 in Hillsborough Stadium. A tragedy that resulted in the death of 96 people…
Described as "one of the worst stories in sport in general". It has profoundly marked all strata of English football, which will take drastic, innovative measures, both on safety rules and in terms of solidarity. Sharing its methods on a European scale. In terms of justice, the procedure tried in 1991 will finally be annulled by two new procedures in 2016 and 2019, hoping that the truth about the real perpetrators is recognized.
This profound questioning has had many effects on neighbouring countries that have not really put in place a comprehensive policy to deal with this issue, and the problems persist. After the death of two of its supporters, Yann Lorence in February 2010 and Julien Quemener in November 2006, PSG put in place a plan against "hooliganism" with a high objective. Coming to the Parc des Princes "must become a family outing". Robin Leproux, then president of PSG decided to "break this fatal geographical opposition between the Auteuil and Boulogne stands, these territories that belong to one and not to the other". His courageous strategy has allowed the arrival of new investors: "My plan made possible the arrival of Qatar" (Interview: Le Parisien). The common point of Robin Leproux and that of the English championship is that violence is incompatible with football.
The best football championship
The English championship has fought its inner demons, made soft eyes to investors, revolutionized itself several times to meet growing expectations. In short, it's a bit like preparing the bride. She may have pretty curves, a seductive gait and an intoxicating perfume, but the fact remains that she is married for what she really is internally. The fight against her evil inclinations is not over, but the beauty has shown her desire to please.
Let a Premier League game run in a public place and you'll see the crowd gather.
We find these ingredients in other championships, but there is such a concentration in the "Premier League" that it does not leave indifferent! The origins of football, popular culture, a history forever, money en masse and supporters safe. All this serves as a showcase for the exceptional game developed by institutions that make more than one child dream of projecting himself as a future great player. Isn't it magic to dream with your eyes open?
