History

Origins

The 1980s had marked a low point for English football. Stadia were crumbling, supporters endured poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, and English clubs were banned from European competition following the events at Heysel in 1985.[2] The Football League First Division, which had been the top level of English football since 1888, was well behind foreign leagues such as Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga in attendances and revenues, and several top English players had moved abroad.[3] However, by the turn of the 1990s the downward trend was starting to reverse; England had been hugely successful in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, losing the semi-finals on penalties. UEFA, European football's governing body, lifted the ban on English clubs playing in European competitions in 1990 and the Taylor Report on stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to all-seater stadiums, was published in January of that year.[4]

Television money had also become much more important; the Football League had received only £6.3 million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but when that deal was renewed in 1988, the price had risen to £44m over four years.[5] The 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league; ten clubs threatened to leave and form a "super league" but were eventually persuaded to stay.[6] As stadiums improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the country's top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the growing influx of money being pumped into the sport.