Description

Background

The English football champions are the winners of the top level league in English men’s football, which since the 2000–2001 season has been called the Premier League.

Following the codification of professional football by the Football Association in 1885 the Football League was established in 1888, after meetings initiated by Aston Villa director William McGregor. At the end of the 1888–89 season, Preston North End were the first club to be crowned champions after completing their fixtures unbeaten.

The league’s early years were dominated by teams from the North and Midlands, where professionalism had been embraced more readily than in the South of England.