FA Premier League

The FA Premier League (often referred to as the The Barclay's Premiership or just simply The Premiership internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system (above The Football League), making it England's primary football competition. It is the world's most watched sporting league, and the most lucrative football league. It is widely regarded as one of the best leagues in the world along with Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A.

The FA Premier League was formed in 1992 (and branded as " The Premiership" in the United Kingdom from the 1993-94 season) from the top division of The Football League, and is currently contested by twenty clubs. In a total of fourteen seasons, the title has been won by only four teams: Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea and Manchester United. Of these, the most successful is Manchester United, who have won the title eight times and are the only team to have won the title three consecutive times. The current Premier League champions are Chelsea, who won their second consecutive title in the 2005-06 season.

The FA Women's Premier League, more specifically the National Division, is the Premiership's female counterpart, as most of its clubs are affiliated with Premiership and Football League sides; however, the league is semi-professional and has a much lower profile than the mens' game even within its national boundaries.

The league held its first season in 1992-93 and was originally composed of 22 clubs. The first ever Premiership goal was scored by Brian Deane against Manchester United in a 2-1 win for Sheffield United. Due to insistence by FIFA, the international governing body of football, that domestic leagues reduce the number of games clubs played, the number of clubs was reduced to 20 in 1995 when four teams were relegated from the league and only two teams were promoted. On 8 June 2006, FIFA requested that all major European leagues, including Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga be reduced to 18 teams by the start of the 2007-08 season. The Premier League responded by announcing their intention to resist such a reduction. 

The Premier League is operated as a corporation that is owned by the 20 member clubs. Each club is considered a shareholder with one vote each on such issues as rule changes and contracts. The clubs elect a Chairman, Chief Executive, and Board of Directors to oversee the daily operations of the league. The Football Association is not directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the Premier League, but has veto power as a special shareholder during the election of the Chairman and Chief Executive and when new rules are adopted by the league.

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The Premier League sends representatives to UEFA's European Club Forum, the number of clubs and the clubs themselves chosen according to UEFA coefficients. The European Club Forum is responsible for electing three members to UEFA's Club Competitions Committee, which is involved in the operations of UEFA competitions such as the Champions League and UEFA Cup.