Now that you’ve picked a team to root for, how does the Premier League work?
No Playoffs: The league consists of the 20 best teams in English Football. They all play each other at home and away for a total of 38 games. Each game is 90 minutes plus stoppage time and either ends in a win, draw, or loss. A win is worth three points and a draw worth one. At the end of the season, whoever has the most points wins the league. Many Americans don’t understand a lack of playoffs and I was the same way. But what makes it cool is that each game has the importance of the entire season being on the line. Most of the games are on Saturday and Sunday mornings which is great because it gives you something to watch early on weekend mornings and mostly doesn’t interfere with the NFL, college football, or other US sports leagues. The tie breaker for two teams with the same record is goal difference, so teams are incentivized to continue playing hard even in blowout games.
Relegation: The league has many great ways of ensuring teams continue to compete throughout the year. The bottom three teams get relegated to the 2nd highest level of English soccer (the Championship) and three teams from the Championship join the Premier League next year.
Domestic Cups: Throughout the season there are two domestic cups, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. The tournaments are a one and done format. The FA Cup is absolutely awesome, with SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINE teams competing this past year. I had to write out the whole number so I could capitalize it. Why so many teams? It would take super long to explain the English soccer system, but I’ll try to do it quickly. Basically anyone can start an English soccer team. That means you and I could start one and due to the fact that each level of the English soccer pyramid has relegation and promotion (no promotion in the Premier League because it’s the top dog) we could theoretically make our way all the way up to the Premier League. Unlikely, but the fact it’s plausible is still awesome. Basically the top 9 levels of the system all play each other for the FA Cup. It’s the equivalent of every single college football team in the country competing in a one and done, winner takes all tournament. That means the Division Three MIT Engineers football team could take on FBS powerhouse Alabama Crimson Tide. The EFL Cup (also know as the Carabao Cup due to sponsorships) is the same format as the FA Cup, but just consists of the top four levels of English soccer.
European championships and qualification: Another incentive for teams to keep playing hard is qualification for next season’s European championships. The top four teams from the Premier League qualify for the Champions League which decides who’s the best team in all of Europe (and therefore the world). The top leagues from countries all over Europe have teams qualify and they play each other throughout the next season. Below the Champions League, there are other levels of European football teams can qualify for. The 5th place team and the FA Cup champion qualify for the 2nd highest level of European championships, the Europa League. If the FA Cup winner was one of the top 5 teams, the 6th place team gets into Europa League. Finally, the EFL Cup winner qualifies for the third tier of European Championships, the UEFA Europa Conference League. If that team already qualified, then the 6th place team will qualify for the Conference League or the 7th place team if the FA Cup winner led to the 6th place team making the Europa League. Basically, most teams have something to play for other than pride deep into the season.
How to watch as an American: If you want to really follow the Premier League you should get Peacock. They show most of the games and USA and NBC will also show some games.
There’s your primer from an American. If it sounds confusing, it starts to make more sense as you watch more games. There’s also some good YouTube videos and articles online that explain it well. The Premier League season starts up this Friday, August 16. Welcome to being a Premier League fan!
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