For the opening column of this blog, I've decided to explain why I believe the Premier League is the strongest and most exciting league in the world and why there will never be another competition like it. In 1992, when the inaugural season took place, nobody could predict what would happen. At the time, Liverpool were unstoppable and Manchester United were going through a rough patch under their new manager Alex Ferguson. Oh how things have changed. Manchester United are now gunning for their 20th league title under the now knighted Sir Alex Ferguson, which will go past Liverpool's record of 19. On the other hand, The Reds are struggling to relive the glory days of the 80's and have even brought in former legendary manager and player 'King' Kenny Dalglish to try and change their fortunes. Also, who could have saw minnows such as Hull City, Blackpool and Swansea City gracing the division?
Everybody knows that money is a huge part of the game as we know it and while I agree that wage and transfer fees are ridiculous, I wouldn't have changed the way it happened for the world. As more and more money was pumped into the English game, more and more foreign stars decided to ply their trade in the Premier League as they saw it as more money as well as a game on the rise. If the money demands would have stayed the way it is was in 1992, we would never have saw Theirry Henry score that volley against United at Highbury or those oh so entertaining battles between Roy Keane and Patrick Viera. We probably wouldn't have even saw the enigmatic personality that is Eric Cantona pull on the Red Devil shirt and walk onto the Old Trafford pitch.
Another huge part of the Premier League and perhaps the biggest, are the fans. As a die hard fan, I can genuinely say that Football is more than a game to me, it's a religion. I know for a fact I can't go an hour without Football coming into one of my conversations and I live for the next time i'm up in that stand, cheering on my favorite team. In England, the Premier League has the biggest fan base compared to its lower division partners and although the lower league fans claim that its more passionate for them, I respectfully disagree. There's nothing more exhilarating than singing along to your favorite chant with the help of 40,000 people, nothing more exciting than seeing your favorite player go on a mazy run and nothing more satisfying than watching your favorite team get that 90th minute winning goal. Luckily enough, moments like these happen more often in the Premier League.
The interest that surrounds England's top division also helps to make the league the commodity it is. There's no doubt that Sky Sports has made the Premier League grow to what it is now. All the live matches they show makes their package a football fan's must have. The Sky Sports News channel has helped fan's see another side of football that's not the 90 minutes on a Saturday and that can only be a good thing. The league also reaches out to many other countries with people staying up until 3am just so they can see their favorite team live.
For these many reasons, it's proven there is nothing quite like the English Premier League and I don't think there ever will be.
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