Editing Premier League (section)

===Origins===
Despite major European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the mid-to-late 1980s marked a low point for English football. Stadiums were ageing with poor facilities, [[Football hooliganism|hooliganism]] was rife, and English clubs faced a 5-year ban from [[UEFA club competitions|European competition]] following the events of the 1985 [[Heysel Stadium disaster]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/31/newsid_2481000/2481723.stm |title=1985: English teams banned after Heysel |website=BBC News |access-date=8 August 2006 |date=31 May 1985 |archive-date=8 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608132009/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/31/newsid_2481000/2481723.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Football League First Division]], the top level of English football since 1888, was behind leagues such as Italy's [[Serie A]] and Spain's [[La Liga]] in attendance and revenues, and several top English players had moved abroad.<ref name="premsitehistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.premierleague.com/page/History/0,,12306,00.html |title=A History of The Premier League |publisher=Premier League |access-date=22 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118121453/http://www.premierleague.com/page/History/0%2C%2C12306%2C00.html |archive-date=18 November 2011 }}</ref>

By the turn of the 1990s, the downward trend was starting to reverse. At the [[1990 FIFA World Cup]], England reached the semi-finals; [[UEFA]], European football's governing body, lifted the five-year ban on English clubs playing in European competitions in 1990, resulting in Manchester United lifting the [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|Cup Winners' Cup]] in [[1991 European Cup Winners' Cup final|1991]]. The [[Taylor Report]] on stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to create [[All-seater stadium|all-seater]] stadiums in the aftermath of the [[Hillsborough disaster]] (between the fans of Liverpool and the fans of Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, Yorkshire on 15 April 1989) was published in January 1990.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.footballnetwork.org/dev/communityfootball/violence_taylor_report.asp |title=The Taylor Report |publisher=Football Network |access-date=22 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016222436/http://www.footballnetwork.org/dev/communityfootball/violence_taylor_report.asp |archive-date=16 October 2006 }}</ref>

During the 1980s, major English clubs began transforming into business ventures, applying commercial principles to club administration to maximise revenue. [[Martin Edwards]] of [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]], [[Irving Scholar]] of [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]], and [[David Dein]] of [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] were among the key figures in this shift.<ref name="taylor1" /> Clubs received only around £25,000 per year from television rights before 1986, rising to £600,000 by 1988.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sO1zDQAAQBAJ |title=White Hart Lane: The Spurs Glory Years 1899–2017 |first=Martin |last=Lipton |chapter=Chapter 15: Mr Chairman |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |date=5 October 2017 |isbn=9781409169284 |access-date=9 December 2018 |archive-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716075316/https://books.google.com/books?id=sO1zDQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Football League secured £6.3 million for a two-year deal in 1986, rising to £44 million over four years in 1988 with [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], with top clubs taking 75% of the income.<ref name="taylor">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZ6MAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA343 |title=The Association Game: A History of British Football |first=Matthew |last=Taylor |page=343 |publisher=Routledge |date=18 October 2013 |isbn=9781317870081 |access-date=10 July 2017 |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219042334/https://books.google.com/books?id=YZ6MAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA343#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="leicester_tv">{{cite web |url=http://www.le.ac.uk/sociology/css/resources/factsheets/fs8.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606080220/http://www.le.ac.uk/sociology/css/resources/factsheets/fs8.html |archive-date=6 June 2011 |title=Fact Sheet 8: British Football on Television |publisher=Centre for the Sociology of Sport, University of Leicester |last=Crawford |first=Gerry |access-date=10 August 2006}}</ref> The drive for greater revenue and influence led Division One clubs to threaten a breakaway from the Football League. As a result, they secured increased voting power and a 50% share of all television and sponsorship income in 1986.<ref name="taylor1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZ6MAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA342 |title=The Association Game: A History of British Football |first=Matthew |last=Taylor |page=342 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=18 October 2013 |isbn=9781317870081 |access-date=9 July 2017 |archive-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716074812/https://books.google.com/books?id=YZ6MAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA342 |url-status=live }}</ref> They also began demanding higher fees from broadcasters.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tongue |first=Steve |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l67VDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT180 |title=Turf Wars: A History of London Football |publisher=Pitch Publishing |date=2016 |isbn=9781785312489 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Negotiations took place in 1988 under the threat of ten clubs forming a "super league". They were persuaded to stay, but with leading clubs securing the bulk of the deal.<ref name="taylor"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Super Ten Losing Ground |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZmFPAAAAIBAJ&pg=7001%2C3212387 |date=14 July 1988 |newspaper=[[New Straits Times]] |access-date=9 September 2013 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128173610/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZmFPAAAAIBAJ&pg=7001,3212387 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="FLhistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0,,10794,00.html |title=The History of the Football League |publisher=The Football League |access-date=12 September 2010 |archive-date=11 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411034859/http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0%2C%2C10794%2C00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The talks also revealed that the bigger clubs would need the entire First Division to gain enough support for a future breakaway.<ref name=king /> By the early 1990s, such a move was again being considered, especially as clubs faced the financial burden of stadium upgrades recommended by the [[Taylor Report]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kBaOkPg8z0C&pg=PA103 |title=End of the Terraces: The Transformation of English Football |first=Anthony |last=King |publisher=Leicester University Press |date=2002 |page=103 |isbn=978-0718502591}}</ref>

In 1990, the managing director of [[London Weekend Television]] (LWT), [[Greg Dyke]], met with the representatives of the '''"big five"''' football clubs in England (Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, [[Everton F.C.|Everton]], and Arsenal) over a dinner.<ref name="Conn">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2013/sep/04/greg-dyke-premier-league-history |title=Greg Dyke seems to forget his role in the Premier League's formation |first=David |last=Conn |date=4 September 2013 |work=The Guardian |access-date=18 January 2018 |archive-date=16 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816234154/https://www.theguardian.com/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2013/sep/04/greg-dyke-premier-league-history |url-status=live }}</ref> The meeting was to pave the way for a breakaway from [[the Football League]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/1180279.stm |title=The Men who Changed Football |date=20 February 2001 |website=BBC News |access-date=20 December 2018 |archive-date=17 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317154011/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/1180279.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Dyke believed that it would be more lucrative for LWT if only the larger clubs in the country were featured on national television and wanted to establish whether the clubs would be interested in a larger share of television rights money.<ref name="Rodrigues">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/from-the-archive-blog/2012/feb/02/20-years-premier-league-football-1992 |title=Premier League football at 20: 1992, the start of a whole new ball game |first=Jason |last=Rodrigues |date=2 February 2012 |work=The Guardian |access-date=18 January 2018 |archive-date=3 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103025124/https://www.theguardian.com/football/from-the-archive-blog/2012/feb/02/20-years-premier-league-football-1992 |url-status=live }}</ref> The five clubs agreed with the suggestion and decided to press ahead with it; however, the league would have no credibility without the backing of [[the Football Association]], and so David Dein of Arsenal held talks to see whether the FA were receptive to the idea. The FA did not have an amicable relationship with the Football League at the time and considered it a way to weaken the [[English Football League|Football League]]'s position.<ref>{{cite news |last=MacInnes |first=Paul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jul/23/deceit-determination-murdochs-millions-how-premier-league-was-born |title=Deceit, determination and Murdoch's millions: how Premier League was born |date=23 July 2017 |work=The Guardian |access-date=18 January 2018 |archive-date=24 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224224653/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jul/23/deceit-determination-murdochs-millions-how-premier-league-was-born |url-status=live }}</ref> The FA released a report in June 1991, ''Blueprint for the Future of Football'', that supported the plan for the Premier League, with the FA as the ultimate authority that would oversee the breakaway league.<ref name=king>{{cite book |last=King |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kBaOkPg8z0C&pg=PA65 |title=End of the Terraces: The Transformation of English Football |publisher=Leicester University Press |date=2002 |pages=64–65 |isbn=978-0718502591 |access-date=4 July 2019 |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219042334/https://books.google.com/books?id=8kBaOkPg8z0C&pg=PA65 |url-status=live }}</ref>