English Premiership (rugby union)

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Aviva Premiership Rugby
Current season or competition:
2012–13 English Premiership (rugby union)
180
Sport Rugby union
Instituted 1987; 26 years ago (1987)
Number of teams 12
Country  England
Holders Harlequins (2011–12)
Most titles Leicester Tigers (9 titles)
Website premiershiprugby.com
Broadcast partner Sky Sports
ESPN UK
ITV4 (Highlights only)

The English Premiership, currently known as Aviva Premiership Rugby or more commonly the Aviva Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Aviva,[1] is a professional league competition for rugby union football clubs in the top division of the English rugby union system. There are twelve clubs in the Premiership. The competition has been played since 1987, and has evolved into the current Premiership system employing relegation to and promotion from the RFU Championship, known as National Division One before the 2009–10 season. Clubs competing in the Premiership qualify for Europe's two club competitions, the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. The current champions are Harlequins. The most recently promoted side is London Welsh, who, after defeating Cornish Pirates in the RFU Championship Final won promotion, following a lengthy appeal. This meant the Newcastle Falcons were relegated to the Championship.[2]

Contents

History [edit]

See also History of the English rugby union system

Beginnings: English domestic rugby union until 1972 [edit]

The governing body of rugby union in England, the Rugby Football Union (RFU), long resisted leagues as it was believed that the introduction of leagues would increase 'dirty' play and put pressure on clubs to pay their players (thereby contravening the amateur ethos). Instead, clubs arranged their own friendlies and had traditional games. The only organised tournaments were the County Cups and County Championship — the former played by clubs and the latter by County representative teams. The Daily Telegraph and a few local newspapers — such as the Yorkshire Post — compiled 'pennants' based on teams' performances, but as the strength of fixture lists varied, it was at best an estimate of a team's performance throughout a season.

Cups and leagues: 1972–1995 [edit]

In 1972 the RFU sanctioned a national knock-out cup — the R.F.U. Club Competition, the predecessor to today's Anglo-Welsh Cup — followed first by regional merit tables and then, in the mid-1980s, by national merit tables. One of the casualties of the move to competitive leagues was the loss of traditional games as the new fixture lists did not allow enough time for them.

The league system has evolved since its start in 1987 when the Courage Leagues were formed — a league pyramid with roughly 1000 clubs playing in 108 leagues each with promotion and relegation.

In the first season, clubs were expected to arrange the fixtures on mutually convenient dates. The clubs involved were Bath, Bristol, Coventry, Gloucester, Harlequins, Leicester, Moseley, Nottingham, Orrell, Sale, Wasps and Waterloo. That first season was an unqualified success, with clubs in the upper echelons of the national leagues reporting increased crowds, interest from both local backers and national companies as well as higher skill levels among players exposed to regular competition. The fears that leagues would lead to greater violence on the field proved largely unfounded.

By the next season, the RFU allocated fixed Saturdays to the league season, removing the clubs' responsibility for scheduling matches. There was no home and away structure to the leagues in those early seasons, as sides played one another only once.

Initially two teams, Bath and Leicester, proved to be head and shoulders above the rest in the Courage League, and between them dominated the top of the table.

In 1994 the league structure expanded to include a full rota of home and away matches for the first time. The 1994–95 season was the first to be shown live on Sky Sports, a relationship which continues to this day.[3]

1996: The dawn of professional rugby union [edit]

The league turned professional for the 1996/97 season when the first winners were London Wasps, joining Bath and Leicester as the only champions in the league's first decade. Clubs like Saracens, Newcastle and Northampton were able to attract wealthy benefactors, but the professional era also had its casualties, as clubs like West Hartlepool, Richmond and London Scottish were forced into administration when their backers pulled out.[4]

2000 to 2002: Zurich Premiership, Zurich Championship and the Zurich playoffs [edit]

The re-branding of the league to the Zurich Premiership at the start 2000–01 season also brought with it a re-vamping of the season structure. In 2000–2001 an 8-team playoff (the Zurich Championship) was introduced. However, the team finishing top of the table at the end of the regular season was still considered English champions ("Zurich Premiership title").

Half-way through the 2001–02 season, with Leicester odds-on to win their fourth title in succession, it was controversially decided that the winners of the 8-team playoffs would be crowned English champions.[5] There was an outcry from fans and this proposal was dropped.

The ascendancy of the playoffs: 2003 – present [edit]

From the beginning of the 2002 -03 season, a new playoff format was introduced to replace the 8-team Zurich Championship. The format required the first placed team in the league to play the winner of a match between the second- and third-placed teams. Critically, the winner of this game (the Premiership Final) would be recognised as English champions. Although Gloucester won the league by a clear margin, they then faced a three-week wait until the final. Having lost their momentum the second-placed Wasps (who had defeated third-placed Northampton) beat them easily in the play-offs. The playoff structure was reformatted in the 2005–06 season in which the first placed team would play the fourth placed team in a semi-final (a Shaughnessy playoff). Since the implementation of the playoff system, Only three teams have won both the regular season and playoffs in the same year; Leicester in 2000–01 (the first year of the playoffs) and again in 2008–09 and 2009–10, Sale Sharks in 2005–06 & the Harlequins (in their first ever premiership final) 2011-12. Of all the Premiership teams, London Wasps have made a reputation for playing the competition format to perfection, peaking at the right time to be crowned English Champions in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. Wasps did not lead the league standings at the end of the season in any of these years. Indeed, the London club have not finished top of the league since the playoffs began. Conversely, Gloucester Rugby have garnered an unfortunate reputation for leading the table at the end of the regular season, only to fall short of winning the Premiership title in 2003, 2007 and 2008. Gloucester's single victory in the playoffs, in 2002, occurred when the league leaders, in that season Leicester, were still considered English champions, Gloucester's Zurich Championship victory being considered secondary. The 2011-12 season saw Harlequins add their name to the trophy on their first attempt, winning 30-23 against the nine times champions Leicester. With their first ever English Premiership title, they are only the sixth club to win the Premiership since its creation in 1997, the others being Newcastle Falcons, London Wasps, Leicester Tigers, Sale Sharks and Saracens.[6]

Other season highlights [edit]

Since 2004, the season has begun with the London Double Header.[7]

On 27 December 2008 Harlequins moved their home match against Leicester Tigers across the road to Twickenham Stadium in what was dubbed 'The Big Game'. 50,000 spectators attended (a Premiership record) and this was repeated at Christmas 2010 after successfully holding another in 2009. 'The Big Game 3' was held between Harlequins and London Irish, where Harlequins won. The game also had the years X-Factor winner Matt Cardle, and the runner up perform before the game, and at half time. 'The Big Game 4' was held during the 2011-12 season when Saracens beat Harlequins, and a fifth was held during the 2012-13 season between Harlequins and London Irish on 29 December, on front of 82,000 spectators.[8]

On 24 April 2010, Wasps also moved their home match with Bath to Twickenham for the St George's Day game in support of Help for Heroes. This was repeated in 2011 and again resulted in Bath being victorious, the game was not repeated the following season.[9]

Competition [edit]

Format [edit]

The Aviva Premiership Rugby season runs from September to May and comprises 22 rounds of matches, with each club playing each of its rivals home and away. The results of the matches contribute points to the league as follows:

  • 4 points are awarded for a win
  • 2 points are awarded for a draw
  • 0 points are awarded for a loss, however
    • 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
  • 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match

Following the completion of the regular season, the top 4 teams enter the play-off, which is held throughout May. The top two teams receive home advantage, the league leaders hosting the 4th ranked team, and the 2nd place team hosting the 3rd place team. The winners of these semi-finals progress to the final, held at Twickenham Stadium. The winner of the final being Premiership Champions. The lowest placed team is relegated to the RFU Championship.[10]

Salary Cap [edit]

The English Premiership operates a salary cap, set by the Premiership Rugby Board, specifying the money a club can spend on the player salaries of its squad per season. In the 2012-13 season, the base salary cap is £4.26m, with an "academy credit" of up to £240,000 (£30,000 per player for up to eight players). One player may be excluded from the cap calculations; this player must have met at least one of the following three criteria:

  • Played with his club for at least two full seasons before he was nominated as an excluded player.
  • Played outside the Premiership in the season before he was nominated.
  • Was selected and included in the official squad of any national team participating in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final tournament.

Promotion and relegation [edit]

See also English rugby union system

There is a system of promotion and relegation to and from the Aviva Premiership. The last placed club after the 22 regular season rounds of the Premiership is relegated into the RFU Championship (the former National Division One), while the winner of the Championship play offs is promoted to the Premiership for the subsequent season. However, promotion and relegation is subject to a Minimum Standards Criteria. If the winner of the play offs does not meet these standards, then there is no relegation/promotion, as was the case in the 11-12 season when London Welsh won promotion from the Championship but where denied promotion and so Newcastle Falcons' relegation wasn't carried out, until London Welsh successfully appealed against their block.[11]

European competitions [edit]

Teams playing in the Premiership also compete in the two European Rugby Cup competitions: the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. England is entitled to six Heineken Cup places each season, with the possibility of a seventh depending on performances of English clubs in the prior season. The top four placed clubs in the Premiership qualify for the Heineken Cup, though more clubs can qualify in a number of ways: the previous season's Heineken Cup winner, the champion of the European Challenge Cup or the winner of the LV Cup (officially "LV=" per the sponsor's branding).

More precisely, Premiership Rugby nominates clubs for the Heineken Cup in the following order, skipping any places occupied by clubs that are either outside the Premiership or qualified in a prior step:[12]

  1. Heineken Cup holder
  2. Challenge Cup holder
  3. Premiership champion.
  4. Premiership runner-up
  5. Premiership semi-finalists (2 teams)
  6. Anglo-Welsh Cup holder
  7. Fifth-, sixth, and seventh-place teams, in that order, until the Premiership's Heineken Cup allocation is filled

As an example, the Premiership's seven 2011–12 Heineken Cup places were filled as follows, based on 2010–11 season results:

  1. Skipped—2010–11 Heineken Cup won by Leinster of the Celtic League
  2. Harlequins as 2010–11 Challenge Cup winners (1). Note that Quins' Challenge Cup victory gave England an extra Heineken Cup berth.
  3. Saracens (2)
  4. Leicester Tigers (3)
  5. Gloucester (4) and Northampton Saints (5)
  6. Skipped—2010–11 LV= Cup winners Gloucester qualified as Premiership semi-finalists
  7. Bath as fifth-place team (6) and London Irish as sixth-place team (7)

Following changes to European qualification rules that took effect in the 2009–10 season, the winners of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup receive berths in the following year's Heineken Cup, which will not usually count against the Premiership's allocation. However, the number of English teams in the Heineken Cup is capped at seven. If Premiership clubs win both European trophies during a given season, only five other clubs can earn Heineken Cup berths through the league or LV= Cup.

Seven Premiership clubs will compete in the Heineken Cup if either of the following occurs:

  • A Premiership club wins either of the previous season's European trophies
  • Both European trophies in the previous season were won by clubs from France (which is also capped at seven Heineken Cup teams), and the club that stands highest in the European Rugby Club Rankings among those not already qualified for the Heineken Cup is English. The same scenario also applies if one of Scotland's two professional clubs, which are automatically entered in the Heineken Cup, wins a European trophy.

All clubs that do not qualify for the Heineken Cup play in the European Challenge Cup.[12]

Sponsorship [edit]

  • Courage League: 1987–88 to 1996–97
  • Allied Dunbar Premiership: 1997–98 to 1999–2000
  • Zurich Premiership: 2000–01 to 2004–05
  • Guinness Premiership: 2005–06 to 2009–10
  • Aviva Premiership: 2010–11 to 2013–14

2012–13 teams [edit]

Main article: 2012–13 Aviva Premiership
2012–13 Aviva Premiership Teams
Club Stadium Capacity
Bath The Recreation Ground 12,300
Exeter Chiefs Sandy Park 10,744
Gloucester Kingsholm Stadium 16,500
Harlequins The Stoop 14,816
Leicester Tigers Welford Road 24,000
London Irish Madejski Stadium 24,250
London Wasps Adams Park 10,516
London Welsh Kassam Stadium 12,500
Northampton Saints Franklin's Gardens 13,600
Sale Sharks Salford City Stadium 12,000
Saracens Allianz Park 10,000
Worcester Warriors Sixways Stadium 12,068

Table [edit]

2012-13 Aviva Premiership Table watch · edit · discuss
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Tries For Tries Against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Saracens (SF) 22 17 1 4 533 339 194 41 25 5 2 77
2 Leicester Tigers (F) 22 15 1 6 538 345 193 56 29 7 5 74
3 Harlequins (SF) 22 15 0 7 560 453 107 52 35 5 4 69
4 Northampton Saints (F) 22 14 0 8 501 433 68 55 36 6 3 65
5 Gloucester 22 12 1 9 515 481 34 40 42 2 8 60
6 Exeter Chiefs 22 12 1 9 542 446 96 51 43 4 5 59
7 Bath 22 10 1 11 452 434 18 44 29 4 7 53
8 London Wasps 22 9 0 13 511 528 -17 47 51 4 8 48
9 London Irish 22 7 1 14 459 601 -142 38 57 2 3 35
10 Sale Sharks 22 7 1 14 377 596 -219 37 53 2 3 35
11 Worcester Warriors 22 5 1 16 422 547 -125 35 59 3 8 33
12 London Welsh 22 5 0 17 412 619 -207 30 67 1 7 23[n 1]

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

  1. Greater Number of matches won
  2. Greater Points Difference
  3. Greater Points For
  4. Greater Points For (matches between the tied teams)
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
  1. ^ London Welsh were deducted 5 competition points for fielding a player who did not hold Effective Registration.[13]
Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places, and receive berths in the 2013–14 Heineken Cup. Blue background (rows 5 and 6) are clubs that do not make the play-offs, but receive Heineken Cup berths. Red background (row 12) relegated if the champion of the RFU Championship meets the requirements for promotion. Updated 24 April 2013 — Current English Leagues

source: Premiership Rugby

Results [edit]

By year [edit]

Courage League [edit]

Allied Dunbar Premiership [edit]

Zurich Premiership [edit]

Guinness Premiership [edit]

Aviva Premiership [edit]

Premiership finals [edit]

On all occasions at Twickenham Stadium

Season Playoff Winner Score Runner-up Attendance First place in table
2000–01* Leicester Tigers 22–10 Bath 33,500 Leicester Tigers
2001–02* Gloucester 28–23 Bristol 28,500 Leicester Tigers
2002–03 London Wasps 39–3 Gloucester 42,000 Gloucester
2003–04 London Wasps 10–6 Bath 59,500 Bath
2004–05 London Wasps 39–14 Leicester Tigers 66,000 Leicester Tigers
2005–06 Sale Sharks 45–20 Leicester Tigers 58,000 Sale Sharks
2006–07 Leicester Tigers 44–16 Gloucester 59,000 Gloucester
2007–08 London Wasps 26–16 Leicester Tigers 81,600 Gloucester
2008–09 Leicester Tigers 10–9 London Irish 81,601 Leicester Tigers
2009–10 Leicester Tigers 33–27 Saracens 81,600 Leicester Tigers
2010–11 Saracens 22–18 Leicester Tigers 80,016 Leicester Tigers
2011–12 Harlequins 30-23 Leicester Tigers 81,779 Harlequins
  • *until and including 2001–2002, first in league table were champions. Since then, the playoff final winner are the champions.

By Premiership wins [edit]

Team Premiership Titles Years of Titles Won Topped League Standings Years Topped League Standings
Leicester Tigers 9 1988, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010 10 1988, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011
Bath 6 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 7 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2004
London Wasps 6 1990, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 2 1990, 1997,
Newcastle Falcons 1 1998 1 1998
Sale Sharks 1 2006 1 2006
Saracens 1 2011 1 2013
Harlequins 1 2012 1 2012
Gloucester 0 3 2003, 2007, 2008

Participation in the top flight [edit]

A total of 28 clubs have been involved in top flight league since its inception in the 1987–88 season, with London Welsh the newest entry in 2012–13. Four, namely Bath, Gloucester, Leicester Tigers and Wasps, have appeared in all 26 seasons to date. Harlequins have only missed the 2005–06 season. Coventry, Liverpool St Helens, Moseley, Nottingham, Rosslyn Park, Rugby and Waterloo only appeared during the amateur era, whereas Exeter, Leeds, London Welsh, Richmond, Rotherham and Worcester have only appeared during the profesional era. Below, the 2012–13 clubs are listed in bold; omnipresent clubs are listed in bold italics. Years listed are the calendar years in which the seasons ended.

Seasons Team Dates
26 Bath 1988–2013
3 Bedford 1990, 1999–2000
19 Bristol 1988–1993, 1996–1998, 2000–2003, 2006–2009
1 Coventry 1988
3 Exeter 2011–2013
26 Gloucester 1988–2013
25 Harlequins 1988–2005, 2007–2013
8 Leeds 2002–2006, 2008, 2010–2011
26 Leicester 1988–2013
2 Liverpool St Helens 1989, 1991
20 London Irish 1992–1994, 1997–2013
2 London Scottish 1993, 1999
1 London Welsh 2013
4 Moseley 1988–1992
16 Newcastle 1994, 1998–2012
21 Northampton 1991–1995, 1997–2007, 2009–2013
5 Nottingham 1988–1992
10 Orrell 1988–1997
2 Richmond 1998–1999
4 Rosslyn Park 1989–1992
2 Rotherham 2001, 2004
2 Rugby 1992–1993
20 Sale 1988, 1995–2013
22 Saracens 1990–1993, 1996–2013
26 Wasps 1988–2013
2 Waterloo 1988–1989
5 West Hartlepool 1993, 1995–1997, 1999
8 Worcester 2005–2010, 2012–2013

Player records [edit]

Most matches [edit]

# Player Team Pos Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop Won Lost Draw %
1. England George Chuter Saracens/Leicester Hooker 1997- 259 200 59 80 16 0 0 0 169 77 13 67.76
2. England Hugh Vyvyan Newcastle/Saracens Lock 1998-2012 245 191 54 105 21 0 0 0 120 116 9 50.81
3. England Steve Borthwick Bath/Saracens Lock 1998- 237 231 6 30 6 0 0 0 140 89 8 60.75
England Simon Shaw Wasps Lock 1997-2011 237 212 25 98 19 0 0 1 142 84 11 62.23
5. England Duncan Bell Sale/Bath Prop 1997-2012 230 167 63 50 10 0 0 0 113 106 11 51.52
6. England Alex Brown Bristol/Gloucester Lock 1999-2012 227 212 15 35 7 0 0 0 113 107 7 51.32
7. England Tom May Newcastle/Northampton Centre 1999- 221 199 22 407 52 21 26 9 93 121 7 43.66
8. England Chris Fortey Gloucester/Worcester Hooker 1997-2012 219 129 90 25 5 0 0 0 102 106 11 49.08
England Tom Voyce Bath/Wasps/Gloucester/London Welsh Wing 2000- 219 200 19 330 66 0 0 0 116 94 9 55.02
10. 2 players on 218 matches

Most points [edit]

# Player Team Pos Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop
1. England Charlie Hodgson Sale/Saracens Fly-half 2000- 191 179 12 2133 33 255 448 38
2. England Andy Goode Leicester/Saracens/Worcester Fly-half 1998- 182 155 27 1771 27 236 355 33
3. England Olly Barkley Bath/Gloucester Centre/Fly-half 2001-2012 181 163 18 1588 19 169 383 2
4. England Jonny Wilkinson Newcastle Fly-half 1997-2008 138 129 9 1489 25 196 302 22
5. Ireland Barry Everitt London Irish/Northampton Fly-half 2000-2010 131 95 36 1267 7 100 319 25
6. England Tim Stimpson Newcastle/Leicester/Leeds Fullback 1997-2005 121 107 14 1243 22 160 269 2
7. England Paul Grayson Northampton Fly-half 1997-2005 119 104 15 1238 9 148 290 9
8. New Zealand Glen Jackson Saracens Fly-half 2004-2010 112 102 10 1192 13 148 265 12
9. England Shane Drahm Bristol/Northampton/Worcester Fly-half/Fullback 2001-2008 134 106 28 1185 15 147 258 14
10. England Dave Walder Newcastle/Wasps Fly-half 1999-2011 162 122 40 1037 13 108 230 22

Most tries [edit]

# Player Team Pos Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop
1. England Mark Cueto Sale Wing 2001- 178 174 4 375 76 0 0 0
England Steve Hanley Sale Wing 1998-2007 135 126 9 375 75 0 0 0
3. England Tom Varndell Leicester/Wasps Wing 2004- 142 120 22 350 71 0 0 0
4. England Paul Sackey Bedford/London Irish/Wasps Wing 1999-2010 185 180 5 340 68 0 0 0
5. England Tom Voyce Bath/Wasps/Gloucester/London Welsh Wing 2000- 219 200 19 330 66 0 0 0
6. England James Simpson-Daniel Gloucester Wing 2000- 177 160 17 315 63 0 0 0
7. England Neil Back Leicester Flanker 1997-2005 128 114 14 295 59 0 0 0
8. England Ben Cohen Northampton/Sale Wing 1997-2011 184 173 11 290 58 0 0 0
9. Ireland Geordan Murphy Leicester Fullback 1998- 201 187 14 428 57 28 24 5
10. England Josh Lewsey Bristol/Wasps Wing/Centre 1997-2011 203 187 16 291 56 1 3 0

Media coverage [edit]

In the United Kingdom, the rights are currently held by ESPN UK which has the rights to broadcast 43 live matches and one semi-final per season, and Sky broadcasting the other semi-final and 26 regular matches per season on 14 December 2009. The deal began with the 2010–11 season and will run until 2012–13.[14] The two broadcasters reached a deal to show 3 live games per matchday. From 2013-14 for three years the right will change to BT under an £125m deal signed on 12 September 2012 to brocasting all of the 69 live matches per season.[15]

In Australia the Aviva Premiership is available on Setanta Sports, while in the UK, comprehensive coverage of the league is provided by Sky Sports, who televise at least one match a week, and a Thursday evening highlights and discussion show known as 'The Rugby Club'. Since the 2008/09 season there has been a highlights show on ITV4, repeated midweek on ITV1. From the 2010–11 season Setanta Sports were due to show 46 live games per season, while Sky Sports were to show only 23. However, due to Setanta's administration and then closure in the UK, their televised rights were given back for re-tender. In the United States, the Aviva Premiership is currently available on Fox Soccer Plus.[16]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Premiership Rugby announce long term partnership with Aviva Premiership Rugby, 7 July 2010
  2. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18686757
  3. ^ http://www.premiershiprugby.com/premiership/partners/sky_sports.php#.UVFqgRyeOSo
  4. ^ http://www.londonscottish.com/club/history.php
  5. ^ "Leicester livid as seasons spoils are left up for grabs". The Independent. 10 February 2001. Retrieved 28 January 2009. 
  6. ^ http://www.premiershiprugby.com/premiership/history.php#.UVAziRyeOSo
  7. ^ http://www.rfu.com/tickets/events/2012_09_01_londondoubleheader
  8. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20844626
  9. ^ http://www.rfu.com/tickets/events/2011_04_23_st_georges
  10. ^ http://www.rfu.com/thegame/competitions/avivapremiership
  11. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/9365484/London-Welsh-to-join-Aviva-Premiership-after-winning-appeal-against-decision-to-deny-them-promotion.html
  12. ^ a b "Premiership Structure". Premiership Rugby: Information. Premiership Rugby. Retrieved 12 June 2011. 
  13. ^ "Panel of Inquiry decision". Rugby Football Union. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013. 
  14. ^ ESPN grabs Guinness Premiership rights Digital Spy, 14 December 2009
  15. ^ [1] Guardian Media, 12 September 2012
  16. ^ "Fox Soccer Plus Set to Launch March 1 with DirecTV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FIOS" (Press release). Fox Cable Networks. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 

External links [edit]

English Premiership
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Related articles
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