Premier League continues to captivate

What a match! What a finale! What a season!

That was the universal reaction to the way Manchester City came from 2-1 down in May to beat QPR 3-2 with injury-time goals from substitute Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero.

It was the most dramatic ending to a season in 20 years of Premier League football and etched the fifth name on the most coveted domestic trophy.

So Manchester City are the champions as the world’s most famous league celebrates its 20th anniversary this month.

Manchester United have won it 12 times, Chelsea and Arsenal three times each and Blackburn once.

Yet if the thrill of lifting the trophy has not exactly been widespread, then the thrills and endless controversy associated with witnessing the Premier League in action have become a global phenomenon.

It is the reason broadcasters stumped up STG3 billion ($A4.47 billion) in a time of recession and austerity for the rights to screen Premier League matches between 2013 and 2016.

Football, it appears, stands alone as immune from the economic meltdown.

Why? It is because it delivers, year after year, the big names, the best competition and the most stirring action.

We have had 20 years of English bulldog spirit epitomised by strikers such as Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney and wonderful foreign talent such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Gianfranco Zola and David Silva.

Twenty years of controversial characters such as Eric Cantona and Didier Drogba and Mario Balotelli.

Twenty years in which plain old Alex Ferguson has become Sir Alex as he has guided Manchester United to those 12 league titles.

Who would bet against Sir Alex, health and fitness permitting, plotting another United title challenge this coming season and hoping for a similar ending in 2013 to the first Premier League season in 1992-93 when club captain Bryan Robson and playing captain Steve Bruce lifted the trophy to the Manchester skies?

Ferguson and United have been the obvious constants these past two decades but the rise of City, now the richest club in the world under owner Sheikh Mansour, threatens to change all that.

Yet 20 years of the Premier League have seen so many changes.

Could anyone have envisaged the way in which England’s top division has become seemingly a licence to print money or the way in which power has switched from owners and managers to the players? It is doubtful.

In 1994 striker Chris Sutton became the first STG10,000-a-week player when Blackburn signed him from Norwich. In 2012 the wages of Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez and United’s Wayne Rooney were reported to be around STG250,000-a-week.

In 1992-93 Manchester United’s shirt was sponsored by Sharp at a cost of STG200,000 for the season. In 2011-12 American financial giant AON were paying a reported STG20 million per season in a four-year deal to have their logo emblazoned on the United jerseys. United also have a training kit deal with DHL worth an estimated STG40 million over four years.

In 1992 a season ticket at Arsenal’s Highbury would have cost 476. Last season, an equivalent seat, admittedly at the state-of-the-art Emirates Stadium, cost STG1944. The figures, however, become truly mind-blowing when it comes to television cash.

In 1992 Sky stumped up STG60 million-a-season to secure TV rights. The deal for TV rights for the Premier League from 2010 to 2013 totalled STG1.782 billion. The new STG3 billion deal is a staggering rise.

It all comes down to demand and when you consider the league next season will be broadcast to around 600 million people in more than 200 countries it is not difficult to see where the big numbers come from.

Despite the global recession there is no reason to believe the world’s most popular game has reached saturation point. Far from it, with new markets in Asia, Africa and North America opening up by the year.

Yet the biggest change, perhaps, is the nature of the personnel. Twenty years ago when the Premier League consisted of 22 clubs the opening day’s program saw just 11 foreign players take the field.

Since then, Arsenal, for one, have taken the field with a team of 11 overseas players as talent from around the world has flocked to England.

Inevitably, money has become the driving force and the financial landscape was skewed even further when Roman Abramovich put his billions behind Chelsea.

Some argue football has sold its soul. Others would say that Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour have made the league more competitive.

It is no longer all about Manchester United. Others now have the financial muscle to compete with United’s global fan base.

There is little doubt the Premier League has become a billionaires’ playground but old values still apply. Success still demands a shrewd owner and a manager with an eye for a player and the ability to motivate and mould a squad of wealthy individuals with a team ethic.

As it prepares to mark 20 years since it all kicked off, the Premier League is not perfect.

Its rulers need to find a way of making fans feel closer to their club. They need to address spiralling wages and increased debt and find a way to nurture more home-grown players.

They need to crack down on players diving and reckless challenges and on-field intimidation of referees.

Yet, after 20 years, the Premier League remains the most watched, most discussed, most entertaining football division on the planet.

You might even say: What a league!

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!