Breaking Traditions

'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death.
I'm very disappointed with that attitude.
I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'
- Bill Shankly

Most of you will know that I am a fanatic fan of European football, in particular English football. If you are new here or don’t know this fact about me, perhaps this is a good time to check out my “About Me” page. However, I’ve never posted anything remotely related to football on this blog before. Since the English Premier League’s 2007/2008 season will kick off in less than 24hrs, I thought I’ll break tradition and post a few tidbits about the English Premier League.

1. The Premier League was formed on 27 May 1992.

2. The number of teams in the Premier League was trimmed from 22 to 20 at the end of the 1994/1995 season.

3. Since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, the title has been won by only 4 teams – Manchester United (9 times), Arsenal (3 times), Chelsea (twice) and Blackburn Rovers (once).

4. Former Sheffield United striker Brian Deane scored the first ever Premiership goal in a 2-1 win over Manchester United.

5. The fastest goal in the Premiership was scored by Tottenham Hotspur’s Ledley King, who found the net against Braford City after only 10 seconds in a 3-3 draw.

6. Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler holds the record of scoring the fastest hat-trick in the Premiership. He took 4 minutes 33 seconds to complete his hat-trick against Arsenal at Anfield on 28 Aug 1994.

7. Evergreen Teddy Sheringham is the oldest goal scorer in the Premiership. He was 40 when he scored for West Ham against Portsmouth on Boxing Day 2006.

8. Manchester United became the first team to score 1000 goals in the Premiership in the 2005/2006 season after Christiano Ronaldo scored in a 4-1 defeat by Middlesbrough.

9. Arsenal is the only other team to have reached the 1000-goal mark.

10. Former Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer holds the record for the worst number of Premiership goals with 260.

11. Alan Shearer’s 15 million move from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United in July1996 was a Premiership record that lasted nearly 5 years.

12. Leeds United broke that record when they paid West Ham 18m for Rio Ferdinand in Nov 2000.

13. The highest fee paid for a teenager is 27m by Manchester United when they signed Wayne Rooney from Everton in 2004.

14. The youngest player to play in the Premiership is Fulham’s Matthew Briggs who was 16 years and 65 days old when he came on as a sub in Fulham’s 3-1 defeat by Middlesbrough on 13 May 2007.

15. The oldest debutant in the Premiership was Fernando Hierro, when he turned out for Bolton Wanderers against Fulham on 21 Aug 2004, at the age of 36.

16. Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs is the player with the most number of Premiership medals. The Welsh wing wizard has 9 medals from the title winning seasons in 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2007.

17. Tottenham Hotspurs’ goalkeeper Paul Robinson holds the record for scoring the goal from the longest distance in the Premiership – 88 metres. On 17 March 2007, Robinson took a freekick from just outside his own penalty area, the ball was pumped upfield, bounced over the head of Watford’s goalkeeper and into goal.

18. The other 2 goalkeepers to have scored in the Premiership were Peter Schmeichel (for Aston Villa against Everton) and Brad friedal (for Blackburn Rovers against Charlton Athletic).

19. Portsmouth’s goalkeeper David “Calamity” James ironically holds the most number of clean sheets in Preimership history. The record stands at 143 as of 14 May 2007.

20. The most number of goals conceded in a season by a team was by Swindon Town in the 1993/1994 season when their defence leaked in 100 goals.

After nearly 3 months of off season "cold turkey" treatment, I can't wait for the new season to kick off! Football fans, are you ready for the new season? Stock up the beers and the chips, dust off those lazy couches, let the games begin!