Why is there a buzz around the English Premier League?

For so long, we’ve been trying to promote American sports in the UK which has seen an increased amount of coverage around particularly the NFL and NBA. So why not turn the tables and get our US friends engaged with the sport and league that we love here in England, the Premier League.

Firstly, at risk of falling out with our friends overseas, FOOTBALL has played a pivotal part of most of our weekends for as long as we can remember. I remember the days my old man used to take me to the local football club, Farnborough FC who now sit in the 7th tier of English football – 6 leagues below the Premier League. The smell of the burger vans, the aggressive chants from middle aged man with their belly’s hanging out and the countless yellow and white scarfs covering all four corners of the stadium, sounds appealing right? – but that’s what makes the game great. One particular memory was an away day at Arsenal in the FA Cup, I must have only been 9 or 10 at the time but a group from my local football team took the trip up to North London to Highbury; where the gunners used to play. Arsenal ran out resounding winners but a consolatation goal from Rocky Baptiste inflicted wild celebrations amongst us away fans. Imagine that, despite being thumped we were still overly satisfied with the outcome. I remember watching the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires strut their stuff in the era of the invincibles and thinking, wow! I was in awe and amazed at how quickly they moved the ball and created openings. It was football art. Nonetheless, that entertaining style of play could only be mastered by a few English teams at the time and those teams could only be found in the Premier League. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all utilised that style of play and it was the latter that I opted to follow from a young age.

Anyway enough about me, why is there such a frenzy about the Premier League over here in Britain. I want to give you three reasons why:

Rivalries

There is no better feeling then waking up on a Saturday or Sunday morning to the knowledge of a local derby for the team you support. Growing up, the main ones for me were the Manchester derby, Merseyside derby and the North London derby. As a Liverpool fan, I always thought the Manchester United game was a bigger derby but the principle still applies, these games were bigger than no other, 6 pointers in fact. Similarly to the Lakers/Clippers or the Jets/Giants, a city would collide and bragging rights to the winners would seem to last a lifetime. Some of the biggest rivalries were actually between some of the London and Manchester clubs, the Van Nistelrooy/Keown penalty incident, the Viera/Keane tunnel bust up and the Pizzagate involving Fabregas and Mourinho, needless to say these encounters were filled with passion, anger and agonising fear of being on the losing side. You would almost lose count of the amount of knee high challenges which is the NFL equivalent to a Defensive End close-lining a QB. All tactical analysis went out the window and these games were simply a dogfight, played with anger and emotion. It shows a different dynamic to the English game, which leaves us fans on the edge of our seats. Admittedly it has calmed over recent years as the game has developed but you still see the odd red card or head loss now and again.

Competitiveness

From the outset you may think that Manchester City are the best team in the prem, which is arguably true. However, what you may not know is that we haven’t had a team retain the title since Manchester United did in the 08/09 season. Each year, we have seen different winners of the coveted trophy which included Leicester City when they shook the footballing word to claim the title after being tipped as one of the favourites to be relegated to the lower division at the start of the season. You wouldn’t see that in any other league around the word, it’s almost like the Browns winning the Super Bowl, sorry Browns fans, this year’s your year 😉 – but you get my point. This is the beauty about the prem, each year there are atleast 6 teams vying for the title. Similarly to the NFL, you know the Patriots and Steelers will always be sniffing around the championship, or the NBA with the Cavs and Warriors. There is a simple reason for this, the squad/roster is too strong on talent. However what makes the prem slightly different is that despite having superior talent, each game is not a certified win, there are upsets each week in the Premier League whereas you might have to wait half a season for the Pats to lose a game. Even the top teams have to approach each game as if it was a cup final otherwise they will get undone by inferior opposition. This is what makes each week so interesting and adds to the spectators appeal.

Superstars

Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, David Beckham, what do these three sportsmen have in common? Simple, they are superstars in their domain. Each man attracts millions of fans worldwide to pay their well-earned cash to watch them play the sport they excel at. For me, this was Steven Gerrard. My childhood idol growing up, he alone would attract me to the sport. The Premier League is no different, you may no longer have a David Beckham, a Steven Gerrard or a Thierry Henry but you do get a Paul Pogba, a Eden Hazard, a Kevin De Bruyne, a Mo Salah, the list is endless. What I’m trying to get at is, the prem is littered with global icons in which you could name 3 or 4 per team. Each player could do something out of the ordinary, a defence splitting pass from De Bruyne, a 40 goal season from Salah or even a new dance celebration from Pog. Watching this calibre of player’s line up, you knew you were going to be entertained; much like watching the three B’s line up for the Steelers, or a fit OBJ in peak condition. Similarly to the NFL or NBA, you also get an influx of young talent coming through who are destined to be superstars. Deshaun Watson is the name that springs to mind for the Texans, Ben Simmons for the 76ers, this is no different in football. Let’s take Mbappe for example, a 19 year old French kid who has lit up the World Cup, the golden boy of football. The pipeline of superstars is there to be seen and you’re guaranteed to be entertained for years to come.

So grab yourself a group of mates, pick up a crate of buds, slap on a few accas and sit and watch the action unfold. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!