MY ACCOUNT
The Premier League has grown into a global force in the three decades since its inception with superstars from all over the world competing.
Brentford became the 50th outfit to compete in the top flight since its formation in 1992 after the decision of top-tier teams to break away from the Football League.
The Premier League has had surprisingly few champions in that time with just seven clubs being crowned. LiveScore take a look at the lucky few.
Blackburn (one title)
The 1994–95 season was Blackburn’s third consecutive campaign in the top division of English football and after finishing fourth and second in the division’s first two editions, Rovers came out on top.
It was a remarkable effort and has gone down as one of the greatest stories in football, ending an 81-year run without a league title.
Owner Jack Walker did the impossible as within five years of buying the club, he had taken Rovers from their struggles in the Second Division to champions of England.
Manchester United entered the final day knowing they could clinch a hat-trick of titles if they beat West Ham and Liverpool did them a rare favour by downing the Ewood Park outfit.
Kenny Dalglish’s men lost 2-1 at Anfield but the Red Devils could not find a winner against the Hammers and Blackburn sealed their first and only Premiership title with Alan Shearer taking the Golden Boot.
Leicester (one title)
Arguably one of the most memorable Premier League wins came in the 2015-16 season, whether it be for the sheer shock of the underdogs’ victory or the nation’s amusement at Gary Lineker presenting Match of the Day in his pants.
After surviving their first season back in the top flight, the East Midlands team parted ways with Nigel Pearson and appointed Claudio Ranieri in a shock move.
And less than 12 months later, Leicester became champions on May 2 after Tottenham lost grip of a 2–0 lead against Chelsea, eventually drawing 2–2.
Bookmakers thought Leicester’s victory was so unlikely that some offered odds of 5000-1 at the start of the season.
The title resulted in the largest payout in British sporting history with total winnings of £25million.
Liverpool (one title)
Liverpool dominated English football for decades but have surprisingly only grabbed the Premier League title once.
As the global pandemic disrupted life in England and led to the suspension of the 2019-20 season, players and fans endured a nervous wait to see how the campaign would conclude.
Liverpool’s 30-year wait for a top-flight title ended after Manchester City lost 2-1 at Chelsea to confirm the Reds as Premier League champions for the first time.
Arsenal (three titles)
Arsenal lifted their first Premier League title in 1998 — winning the double in Arsene Wenger’s first full season in charge.
The revolutionary Frenchman became just the third manager to win the title after Dalglish and Alex Ferguson.
That title was inspired by the incredible talents of Dennis Bergkamp, who scored 16 league goals and was named PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
Over the next seven years, Arsenal finished second five times and won the league twice as all-time top scorer Thierry Henry led them to glory both times.
But the Gunners have struggled to keep pace in recent years as floods of money entered English football and have now gone 18 years without being crowned champions.
Chelsea (five titles)
The past two decades have been the most successful in Chelsea’s history with five Premier League titles.
A dynasty built on club legends like Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Petr Cech, the Blues have regularly been in contention since Roman Abramovich came to Stamford Bridge.
After winning just one title in their first 99 years of existence in modern football, the last 16 have yielded almost one every three seasons in an unprecedented era of success in West London.
Manchester City (five titles)
Manchester City have come from nowhere to usurp their aristocratic rivals thanks to a wave of new money, winning three of their five Premier League titles in the last four years.
Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini both brought the trophy to the Etihad but it was Pep Guardiola who turned the second-class Citizens into arguably English football’s best club.
Under the Catalan tactician, City lifted the Premier League title in the 2017-18 season with the highest points total in history and broke numerous other club and league records along the way.
He repeated the triumph the following campaign and scored another in 2021 to make his side the competition’s joint second-most successful team with the Blues.
Manchester United (13 titles)
Legendary boss Fergie brought an incredible 13 Premier League titles to Old Trafford in a stunning era of dominance.
Blackburn, Arsenal, Chelsea and City had emerged as rivals to the Red Devils at various points during his tenure, but United fended them all off under the Scot’s watchful eye.
Ferguson retired as the most decorated manager in English football history alongside many of his players — Roy Keane, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Eric Cantona were just some of the stars to feature for his title-winning teams.
His last triumph came in his final season in 2013, a victory Wayne Rooney recently described as a ‘miracle’.
A number of bosses have since wilted in the larger-than-life figure’s shadow and United are yet to win a title since Ferguson called it a day.
But despite their drought, no club are even close to matching the baker’s dozen of trophies on display at the Theatre of Dreams.
