Kevin Keegan after his side’s defeat to Chelsea in a candid interview mentioned the domination of the Big Four in the Premiership, viz. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. He said that at best Newcastle can try to win the other league that is going on within the Premier League, i.e., the fight to finish fifth and earn a spot in the UEFA Cup competition. How true are these words by Keegan? Will the Premiership title remain a contest between these four teams year after year? Or do the others have a shot at it? The answers can be explored by looking at the changes that have occurred at the top over the history of the Premiership.
The Premiership began in the year 1992 taking the place of the old football League Division One. The first year saw Manchester United bagging their first Premiership title comfortably. For the next few years, the main title contenders used to be Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. Blackburn won the title in 1994-95 season and Newcastle under Keegan came agonizingly close in the next year only to squander a 10-point lead to ManU. The 1996-97 title was also grabbed by Manchester United and Newcastle finished runners-up for a second time. Blackburn Rovers had started slipping by then after the sale of Alan Shearer to Newcastle and they finished 13th in the 1996-97 season. In the first five years of the Premiership, 8 different teams had finished in the top four but the Champions League slots at that time were limited to two for English clubs.
The 1997-98 season saw the emergence of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger and the rise of one of the current ‘Big Four’. They won the title that year and interestingly, the top four in the table were Arsenal, ManU, Liverpool and Chelsea! But it was also the emergence of Leeds United who finished fifth that caught the eye, for next season they moved a berth higher and became one of the title aspirants. In this season, the top three English clubs were given the chance to play in the Champions League.
Liverpool under Houllier started growing in strength from the next season onwards. They were title contenders for most part of the season along with Leeds but the real tussle continued between Manchester United and Arsenal. Newcastle under Bryan Robson then started to challenge for the title in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons and qualified for the Champions League in both these seasons. Yet the title was distributed between Arsenal and Manchester United only. The second five-year period in the Premiership thus saw 6 different teams finishing in the top four. Manchester United and Arsenal finished in the top four in each of the seasons in that period while Liverpool was in the top four in all but one season.
The 2002-03 season was once again contested between Arsenal and ManU with Alex Ferguson’s team clinching the top honors. The next season brought Roman Abramovich to Chelsea and thus began the rise of the last of the Big Four. They finished runners-up to Arsenal in 2003-04 but with the arrival of Jose Mourinho Chelsea won the next two league titles. The domination of the Big Four had begun. Or had it? In 2004-05, it was not Liverpool but their local rivals Everton who clinched the final Champions League spot. Liverpool though won the Champions League to qualify for the competition in the next season. Everton’s run in the European competition was short-lived as they were knocked out in the qualifying stage thus not making it to the group stages.
The last three seasons have seen the Big Four continue fighting for the league honors and no one apart from them has broken into the top four. But is the gap widening between these four teams and the rest of the League? It appears so but that may not be the case. While Everton broke into the top four in 2005, Tottenham almost edged out Arsenal in 2006 only to be denied by a defeat in the final game.
There is a massive gap financially between the top four and the rest of the league, no doubt about that. But this gap does not necessarily have to show on the pitch. The likes of Everton under Moyes and Spurs under Jol have given the Big Four a run for their money. And another case could be the FA Cup finals this season that will not be contested for the first time by any team of the Big Four since 1990-91 final between Spurs and Nottingham Forest. The key towards managing to grab the kind of money the top clubs earn is to qualify for Champions League. A spot in the UEFA Cup does not even come close to the big bucks a sustained run in the Champions League can bring. The winners of last year’s Champions League earned around 39 million euros in prize money compared to 7 million euros for the UEFA Cup winners. And to grab that spot in the top European competition, a team needs an ambitious manager who has a stable team built around a nucleus of players and a fair amount of luck so that there are no long-term injuries. Everton look the most likely team to break into the Big Four and it would be great if the likes of Keegan would not end their team’s chances even before the campaign kicks off.
The Premiership history tells us that there have been changes at the top, and with time and patience other clubs have managed to rise to the top levels and challenge for the title while the old ones have fallen down hard. Usually it has been change in personnel either in the squad or the management that has led to inconsistencies. So the emergence of the Big Four does not imply a complete domination of the Premiership but just needs a rallying call for the others to forego their attack on the fifth spot and instead penetrate into the top!
The Premiership began in the year 1992 taking the place of the old football League Division One. The first year saw Manchester United bagging their first Premiership title comfortably. For the next few years, the main title contenders used to be Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. Blackburn won the title in 1994-95 season and Newcastle under Keegan came agonizingly close in the next year only to squander a 10-point lead to ManU. The 1996-97 title was also grabbed by Manchester United and Newcastle finished runners-up for a second time. Blackburn Rovers had started slipping by then after the sale of Alan Shearer to Newcastle and they finished 13th in the 1996-97 season. In the first five years of the Premiership, 8 different teams had finished in the top four but the Champions League slots at that time were limited to two for English clubs.
The 1997-98 season saw the emergence of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger and the rise of one of the current ‘Big Four’. They won the title that year and interestingly, the top four in the table were Arsenal, ManU, Liverpool and Chelsea! But it was also the emergence of Leeds United who finished fifth that caught the eye, for next season they moved a berth higher and became one of the title aspirants. In this season, the top three English clubs were given the chance to play in the Champions League.
Liverpool under Houllier started growing in strength from the next season onwards. They were title contenders for most part of the season along with Leeds but the real tussle continued between Manchester United and Arsenal. Newcastle under Bryan Robson then started to challenge for the title in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons and qualified for the Champions League in both these seasons. Yet the title was distributed between Arsenal and Manchester United only. The second five-year period in the Premiership thus saw 6 different teams finishing in the top four. Manchester United and Arsenal finished in the top four in each of the seasons in that period while Liverpool was in the top four in all but one season.
The 2002-03 season was once again contested between Arsenal and ManU with Alex Ferguson’s team clinching the top honors. The next season brought Roman Abramovich to Chelsea and thus began the rise of the last of the Big Four. They finished runners-up to Arsenal in 2003-04 but with the arrival of Jose Mourinho Chelsea won the next two league titles. The domination of the Big Four had begun. Or had it? In 2004-05, it was not Liverpool but their local rivals Everton who clinched the final Champions League spot. Liverpool though won the Champions League to qualify for the competition in the next season. Everton’s run in the European competition was short-lived as they were knocked out in the qualifying stage thus not making it to the group stages.
The last three seasons have seen the Big Four continue fighting for the league honors and no one apart from them has broken into the top four. But is the gap widening between these four teams and the rest of the League? It appears so but that may not be the case. While Everton broke into the top four in 2005, Tottenham almost edged out Arsenal in 2006 only to be denied by a defeat in the final game.
There is a massive gap financially between the top four and the rest of the league, no doubt about that. But this gap does not necessarily have to show on the pitch. The likes of Everton under Moyes and Spurs under Jol have given the Big Four a run for their money. And another case could be the FA Cup finals this season that will not be contested for the first time by any team of the Big Four since 1990-91 final between Spurs and Nottingham Forest. The key towards managing to grab the kind of money the top clubs earn is to qualify for Champions League. A spot in the UEFA Cup does not even come close to the big bucks a sustained run in the Champions League can bring. The winners of last year’s Champions League earned around 39 million euros in prize money compared to 7 million euros for the UEFA Cup winners. And to grab that spot in the top European competition, a team needs an ambitious manager who has a stable team built around a nucleus of players and a fair amount of luck so that there are no long-term injuries. Everton look the most likely team to break into the Big Four and it would be great if the likes of Keegan would not end their team’s chances even before the campaign kicks off.
The Premiership history tells us that there have been changes at the top, and with time and patience other clubs have managed to rise to the top levels and challenge for the title while the old ones have fallen down hard. Usually it has been change in personnel either in the squad or the management that has led to inconsistencies. So the emergence of the Big Four does not imply a complete domination of the Premiership but just needs a rallying call for the others to forego their attack on the fifth spot and instead penetrate into the top!
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