2024-01-03

Premier League history: Records, transfers and against-the-odds victories

In the three decades since it was formed, the Premier League has provided some of the biggest betting moments in the history of football.

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of the Premier League. From betting on matches and following games live on TV, to being at the likes of Old Trafford, The Etihad, Anfield, The Emirates or St James’ Park and hearing the roar of the crowd when a goal goes in, Premier League football for many people is life.

Here at BetMGM we’re just as passionate about England’s top flight. Let’s delve into the history of the Premier League and how one of the most popular competitions in all of sport became what it is today.

Premier League History

Let’s start with the basics. The Premier League launched for the 1992-93 season to incredible fanfare. Twenty-two teams competed in the inaugural season and games were shown live on Sky TV for the first time.

Manchester United won the maiden Premier League season, beating Aston Villa to top spot by 10 points. Defending champions Leeds United narrowly avoided relegation while Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest slipped into the First Division.

United would come to define the Premier League in the 1990s. Under Sir Alex Ferguson the club won five titles in that decade and wrapped it up with the treble in 1999 when they won not just the league but the FA Cup and Champions League too.

Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal were the only teams to become Premier League champions during this time, despite Newcastle United coming close on a couple of occasions.

Everything changed in 2003 when Russian billionaire Roman Abramovic bought Chelsea. It heralded the beginning of major international influence in the top flight. As of 2023, 16 of the 20 Premier League clubs are at least partially foreign-owned.

Chelsea were champions within two years of Abramovich’s takeover, just a season after the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ became Premier League champions without losing a single game. No other side has gone unbeaten for a full season in the Premier League era.

More changes were to follow. After their takeover in 2008, Manchester City’s owners steadily funded a team that would go on to dominate English football. City’s success did not happen overnight but, after lifting their first Premier League title with Sergio Aguero’s dramatic last-gasp clincher in 2011-12, the club would go on to dominate domestically for much of the next 15 years.

Premier League Timeline

1992 – The inaugural season gets underway with 22 teams in the division. Sheffield United’s Brian Deane scores the league’s first-ever goal in a 2-1 win over Manchester United
1995 – Blackburn Rovers win the Premier League to deny Manchester United a third straight title. In January of that year, United forward Eric Cantona was banned from football for eight months for kicking a Crystal Palace supporter
1996 – Liverpool beat Newcastle United 4-3 in one of the greatest games of the Premier League era. The defeat forms part of Newcastle’s title collapse as Manchester United beat them to the trophy by overcoming a 12-point deficit
1998 – Arsenal win their first Premier League title to again deny United three consecutive championships
1999 – Manchester United achieve the treble by winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. Manager Alex Ferguson receives a knighthood for services to football
2000 – Leeds United break the British incoming transfer record by signing Rio Ferdinand from West Ham for £18m on their way to a fourth-place finish and a Champions League semi-final
2003 – Roman Abramovich buys Chelsea. The Blues make a raft of high-profile signings as they look to dominate English football
2004 – Arsenal go a whole season unbeaten to win the league and become the first ‘Invincibles’ of the Premier League era.
2005 – Chelsea win their first of two Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho and become the defacto challenger to Manchester United’s domestic dominance
2008 – The Abu Dhabi United Group buys Manchester City. The Citizens are league champions within four years
2013 – Sir Alex Ferguson retires after winning one last title. His successor as Manchester United manager, David Moyes, lasts a little over nine months in charge
2016 – Leicester win the Premier League at odds of 5,000/1, arguably the biggest shock in football betting history. That summer, Pep Guardiola becomes manager of Manchester City, triggering a new era of dominance in the top flight
2020 – Liverpool beat Manchester City to the league title during a Covid-19-impacted season. It is the first time in 30 years the Reds are top-flight champions
2021 – Jack Grealish becomes Britain’s first £100m player when joining Manchester City from Aston Villa
2023 - Manchester City complete a historic treble, with Pep Guardiola’s side winning the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League – the second English side ever.

Premier League Winners

The history of the Premier League can often be viewed through its champions. Manchester United hold the most Premier League titles with 13 (as of 2023) and six other clubs can boast a championship too. Here is a quick list of Premier League winners by season:

1992–93 Manchester United
1993–94 Manchester United
1994–95 Blackburn Rovers
1995–96 Manchester United
1996–97 Manchester United
1997–98 Arsenal
1998–99 Manchester United
1999–00 Manchester United
2000–01 Manchester United
2001–02 Arsenal
2002–03 Manchester United
2003–04 Arsenal
2004–05 Chelsea
2005–06 Chelsea
2006–07 Manchester United
2007–08 Manchester United
2008–09 Manchester United
2009–10 Chelsea
2010–11 Manchester United
2011–12 Manchester City
2012–13 Manchester United
2013–14 Manchester City
2014–15 Chelsea
2015–16 Leicester City
2016–17 Chelsea
2017–18 Manchester City
2018–19 Manchester City
2019–20 Liverpool
2020–21 Manchester City
2021–22 Manchester City
2022–23 Manchester City

Top Goalscorers in the Premier League

The history of the Premier League is nothing without its goalscorers. Interestingly, despite the influx of foreign talent in the Premier League, eight of the top 10 goalscorers of all time are English.

Alan Shearer – 260 goals

His record may never be beaten. Shearer scored twice on the opening weekend of the 1992-93 Premiership season for Blackburn and never looked back. He bagged 260 Premier League goals for Rovers and Newcastle during his career while picking up three Golden Boot awards in the process.

Harry Kane – 213 goals

Currently at Bayern Munich, Kane was widely considered the most likely man to break Shearer’s record had he remained at Tottenham instead of moving to the Bundesliga. His first Premier League goal came against Sunderland in April 2014 after loan spells at four lower-league clubs. Like Shearer, Kane won three Premier League Golden Boots before he decided to head to Germany in 2023.

Wayne Rooney – 208 goals

When Rooney scored his first Premier League goal, a famous winner against Arsenal in October 2002, the Evertonian had the world at his feet. The teenager scored 15 league goals for the Toffees before moving to Manchester United and finding the net 183 times. He won five titles at Old Trafford but never the Golden Boot and headed back to Everton to score 10 more Premier League goals. A stint at Derby County followed before he ultimately retired in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Biggest Premier League Betting Upsets

Betting on Premier League football allows punters to get even closer to the action. Over the last three decades, the English top flight has proven to be one of the most unpredictable divisions on the planet.

Here are three of the biggest Premier League betting upsets in the history of the division:

Leicester Win the Title

Sportsbooks up and down the country had Leicester priced at 5,000/1 to win the 2015-16 Premier League title. A few lucky punters put money on the Foxes, who held their nerve as Arsenal and Tottenham chased them down. Claudio Ranieri’s side couldn’t be stopped and Leicester ended up winning the league by 10 points.

West Brom’s Great Escape

West Brom were bottom at Christmas in the 2004-05 season but became the first Premier League team to avoid relegation from that position. They were also 20th on the final day when facing Portsmouth on ‘Survival Sunday’. But a 2-0 victory, a draw for Crystal Palace and defeats for Norwich and Southampton sent the others down at the Baggies' expense. Some bookmakers had West Brom at 2,500/1 to survive at certain points in their live odds before they completed the turnaround.

Mourinho’s Unbeaten Home Record Ends

After 77 home games over two spells as Chelsea’s manager, no one expected bottom side Sunderland to be the ones to end Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten home Premier League record as Blues boss in April 2014.

This was even more the case after Samuel Eto’o put Chelsea ahead in the first half but a goalkeeping mistake allowed Connor Wickham to equalise before half-time then Fabio Borini converted a second-half penalty as the Black Cats took the three points back to the North-East.

It was a first win since February for Gus Poyet’s side, who went on to pull off their own great relegation escape using the victory in West London as the catalyst in a run which also saw them beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Premier League Transfer Records

The Premier League transfer record has been broken 18 times between 1992 and 2023. When Alan Shearer moved from Southampton to Blackburn on the eve of the Premier League era, the £3.6m fee was criticised as a waste of money and a sign that cash was ruining football.

Who would have predicted a £100m transfer for a British player just 19 years later?

Here’s a timeline of the Premier League transfer record:

£3.6m: Alan Shearer – Southampton to Blackburn – July 1992
£3.75m: Roy Keane – Nottingham Forest to Manchester United – July 1993
£5m: Chris Sutton – Norwich to Blackburn – July 1994
£7m: Andy Cole – Newcastle to Manchester United – January 1995
£7.5m: Dennis Bergkamp – Inter to Arsenal – June 1995
£8.5m: Stan Collymore – Nottingham Forest to Liverpool – June 1995
£15m: Alan Shearer – Blackburn to Newcastle – July 1996
£18m: Rio Ferdinand – West Ham to Leeds – November 2000
£19m: Ruud van Nistelrooy – PSV to Manchester United – April 2001
£28.1m: Juan Sebastian Veron – Lazio to Manchester United – July 2001
£29.3m: Rio Ferdinand – Leeds to Manchester United – July 2002
£30.6m: Andriy Shevchenko – AC Milan to Chelsea – July 2006
£32.5m: Robinho – Real Madrid to Manchester City – September 2008
£50m: Fernando Torres – Liverpool to Chelsea – January 2011
£59.7m: Angel Di Maria – Real Madrid to Manchester United – August 2014
£89m: Paul Pogba – Juventus to Manchester United – July 2016
£100m: Jack Grealish – Aston Villa to Manchester City – August 2021
£106.8m: Enzo Fernandez – Benfica to Chelsea – January 2023
£115m: Moises Caicedo – Brighton to Chelsea – August 2023

BetMGM and the Premier League

The Premier League is one of the most exciting competitions in the world and at BetMGM we offer betting markets to match.

As well as accumulators and correct score betting, you can build a bet on individual games choosing from options including shots on target, players to be carded and on stats such as corners and passes. Check out the host of sportsbook markets we have available.