Why did the premier league form, breaking the top division form those underneath?

CorkMan

I am reading an article about Ronaldinho at Flamengo, and how in the Brazil State championships Flamengo will play sides who might only get 200 at a match, even as low as 50. What is the point of driving a Rolls Royce on a dirt track they say. In Brazil there are 27 states, and Flamengo has to play the teams in their state. It is how football functions in Brazil.

Timy Vickery says this could help the big Brazilian clubs, to make them try to break away from the lower teams, ala the Premier League. Does anyone know though why the Premier League broke away. It was not only the top division, the Premier League is a different organization to the Football League.

greendom

Primarily financial reasons from what I remember. Previously under league rules, tv money was spread throughout the 92 clubs (obviously lower league clubs receiving much less of a share). With the start of the big money from satellite tv the top clubs wanted to keep this for themselves. The FL didn't agree with this so the top clubs formed their own organisation.

GavRedKing

CorkMan wrote: »

Why did the premier league form, breaking the top division form those underneath?

.

$$$$$$$$$$

JPA

Sky + ££££

PHB

Sorry, but the PL is one of the fairest systems out there in terms of the overall football league. They share the money fairly equally, especially compared to say Spain, around the league, and indeed make substantial payments to the lower leagues also.

I think the reformed structure is much better.

greendom

PHB wrote: »

Sorry, but the PL is one of the fairest systems out there in terms of the overall football league. They share the money fairly equally, especially compared to say Spain, around the league, and indeed make substantial payments to the lower leagues also.

I think the reformed structure is much better.

You can't deny though that the reason for creating the premier league was primarily finanacially based. Most concessions to the lower leagues or grass roots football were forced out of the PL by the government.

tommyhaas

JPA wrote: »

Sky + ££££

I could be wrong here, but it think Sky arrived pretty late in the day to bid for and win the rights to the prem. I think ITV were the station the founders thought would be paying to show the matches, only for Sky to emerge and out-bid them

greendom

tommyhaas wrote: »

I could be wrong here, but it think Sky arrived pretty late in the day to bid for and win the rights to the prem. I think ITV were the station the founders thought would be paying to show the matches, only for Sky to emerge and out-bid them

From Wikipedia...

The managing director of London Weekend Television (LWT) Greg Dyke met with the representatives of the "big five" football clubs in England in 1990. The meeting was to pave the way for a break away from the Football League. Dyke believed that it would be more lucrative for LWT if only the larger clubs in the country were featured on national television and wanted to establish whether the clubs would be interested in a larger share of television rights money.
The fundamental difference between the old Football League and the breakaway league (what became the Premier League) is that the money in the breakaway league would only be divided between the clubs active in that division whilst it was shared between all Football League clubs in the old First Division.
The five clubs decided it was a good idea and decided to press ahead with it, however the league would have no credibility without the backing of The Football Association and so David Dein of Arsenal F.C. held talks to see whether the FA were receptive to the idea. The FA did not enjoy an amicable relationship with the Football League at the time and considered it as a way to weaken the Football League's position.
ITV offered £205million for the television rights and later increased their offer to £262million but were outbid by Rupert Murdoch who saw it as the make or break opportunity to lure new customers to their loss-making satellite service Sky Television plc who had been advised by Tottenham Hotspur Chairman Alan Sugar. Trevor East of ITV heard Sugar on the telephone speaking to Murdoch at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London in May 1992 advising an increased bid for the television rights. Sugar is alleged to have told Murdoch to "Blow them out of the water".[1]
Sugar, at the time was supplying SKY with Satellite Dishes and was the only Chairperson of a big five club to vote in favour of Sky's bid. The other large clubs were reluctant to accept Sky's bid due to it being a non-terrestrial television service and no pledge from SKY to feature their games more regularly was made.
Following a trial in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court by Justice Rose, it was held that the formation of the Premier League was not subject to judicial review, The Football Association being governed by private law.

Fr Tod Umptious

greendom wrote: »

You can't deny though that the reason for creating the premier league was primarily finanacially based. Most concessions to the lower leagues or grass roots football were forced out of the PL by the government.

Correct. The PL was formed so that the top clubs (the ones in the old Div 1) could make decisions for themselves, not including the other 72 in the league as used to be the case.

amacachi

Didn't Sky/Alan Sugar screw ITV out of the rights?

secman

IN A WORD SKY

tommyhaas

secman wrote: »

IN A WORD SKY

How did you come to that conclusion?

Fr Tod Umptious

secman wrote: »

IN A WORD SKY

That is incorrect.

Yes the top flight broke away so that there would be less sharing of a TV contact but it was not specificity 'Sky' that caused the breakaway.

Sky were just one of a number of bidders for the TV rights once the decision to breakaway had been made.

nullzero

As I rememeber it the Premier League was formed primarily because football in England had become associated with hooliganism and anti social behaviour in the minds of the public and was fast becoming a very unprofitbale enterprise.

During the years in which English clubs were banned from european competition the ground work for what became the Premier League was laid.

It's easy to say it was all financially motivated but in reality while there was a financial incentive for Sky and the League itself, I doubt they would have dared to dream of how successful it has become since its inception and in some respects the involved parties may have been seen to have been taking a gamble.

The Premier League has been an amazing force for positive change in English football.
Where once English clubs lagged behind their continetal counterparts they now compete on a level playing field not just on the pitch but in the quality of the grounds the sport is played in as well as the increased profitbality thanks to the afore mentioned TV money and the previously untapped well of riches of football merchandising.

It's hardly a perfect systme when you see clubs struggling to survive after being relegated from the Premier League but it's a vast improvement from the days of the football hooligan.

_blank_

Football hooliganism hasn't gone away in England, just read Dub13's post in the Liverpool Superthread to read about two Liverpool supporters getting stabbed this weekend just past

Paully D

secman wrote: »

IN A WORD SKY

And thus Newcastle United were created :pac:

iregk

There was football before the premier league?