July 17 - The Premiership is Established

Urban legend has it that when Seth Johnson was negotiating personal terms with Leeds United in 2001, Johnson’s agent was hoping to get £13,000 a week for his client.

The story goes that when then Chairman of Leeds Peter Ridsdale walked in he said, “Sorry, all I can offer you is £30,000 a week.” Johnson’s agent apparently choked on his coffee when he heard this, to which Ridsdale responded, “Oh alright, £38,000 then.”

Whether this is true or just football folklore, it serves not only as an example of the financial recklessness of the Leeds management of the time, but also of the huge amount of money that was, and still is in the game at the top end.

This amount of wealth is due to the creation of the Premiership, and the Sky TV money which came with it.

It was on this day in 1991 the Founder Members Agreement was signed by all top-flight clubs. This document established the basic principles for the establishment of the Premier League, and led to huge changes within the game in England.

The 1980s had been a low point for football in England. Hooliganism was rife, old stadiums were crumbling and there had even been loss of life with tragic events such as the Bradford City fire and the Hillsborough disaster.

The European Cup final at Heysel in 1985 also turned into tragedy when 39 fans were killed. As a result of this, all English clubs were banned from European competition for five years.

English clubs also had to find the money to re-develop their grounds into all-seater stadia - a key element of the Taylor Report, which was produced after the events at Hillsborough.

It was clear the game needed restructuring and new impetus. There also seemed to be the national will to save football after England had captivated the nation by reaching the semi-finals at the World Cup in Italy in 1990.

The idea behind forming a new Premier League was to bring more money into the top flight of the game. The Founder Members Agreement established that the new league would have commercial and financial independence to the rest of the football league. This would prove to be crucial, as the new Premier League could now negotiate its own TV rights deals.

This led to the Premiership’s close relationship with Sky Television, which has proved to be a very successful marriage.

The first Premiership Sky contract was £191 million over five seasons. That is dwarfed by the latest deal which including Sky and Setanta’s live coverage, the BBC highlights package and overseas rights, is worth £2.7 billion.

This huge amount of investment and media coverage has been something of a double-edged sword for football in England.

There can be no doubt that it has led to much investment in stadia, with many new grounds built and others redeveloped over the last 15 years. It has also meant that English clubs can compete with their European counterparts to attract the best players to these shores. Whether, as some commentators believe, the Premiership is the best league in the world, it is certainly in the top three.

However, the amount of money sloshing around the game has meant that it has priced out some fans. You would be lucky to see a Premiership match for less than £30, and many ordinary fans can no longer afford to regularly watch matches.

These high ticket prices are in part due to players high wages, with £100,000 a week not now uncommon for some of the top earners.

What cannot be denied however, is that the establishment of the Premier League changed football in this country drastically and forever. And it all started on this day back in 1991. Oh, and mainly due to injury, Seth Johnson only ever managed about 50 games for Leeds in four years at the club. That works out at about £158,000 per game. Just in case you were wondering.

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