The Empire Strikes Back

Barclays Premier League. This name is easily recognized by football fans worldwide: the best football league in the World. English club football is back on the top after 20 years of ups and downs. During the late 1980's and 90's decades English football failed to win significant titles in the international scene, being Manchester United the only exception in 1999, when they defeated Bayern Munich, in a game considered to be one of the greatest comebacks in football history. This is a story of death and rebirth.

Brussels, Belgium, May 29th, 1985. Having won 4 European Cups (UEFA Champions League) in the past 7 years, Liverpool F.C. came to the final to defend their title, this time against Italian club Juventus. The venue was Heysel Stadium, Belgium's old national stadium. Liverpool officials were seriously concerned for the game's security conditions and asked UEFA to change the venue for a more appropriate one, but the European football governing body didn't listen. The result: 39 dead and more than 600 injured. Liverpool Hooligans and Juventus Fans were just meters away from each other, separated only by a chain link fence. Just before kickoff, Liverpool fans went over the fence against Juventus supporters and literally crushed tenths of them against the side wall. The Heysel Disaster became one of the darkest episodes in football history. Both Liverpool and English Clubs were banned indefinitely from any European competition, including European Cup, UEFA Cup, and European Cup Winner's Cup. The ban was lifted five years later for all the teams, and six years for Liverpool.

During European absence, hooligans became stronger, stadiums were unsafe, and violence was penetrating deep inside English football. With declining attendances and TV revenues, First Division clubs had nothing in order to succeed at European level. The situation hit rock bottom in 1989 when 96 Liverpool fans were crushed against the stands' fences at Hillsborough during an FA Cup Semifinal game. After the tragedy, drastic measures were taken to overcome the situation. Standing terraces in stadiums were replaced by all-seater stands and fences were to be removed, CCTV systems were installed inside the stadiums, and hooligans were forbidden access to the games. All this proved to be effective as violence started to decrease and English Football reorganized in the early 1990's.

The creation of the Premier League in 1992 brought millions of pounds to the top tier teams for TV revenues and increasing attendances. As violence was eradicated, families and real fans went back to the stadiums. The return to European stages was not immediately successful; it was not until 1999 that an English team climbed back to the top spot, with Manchester United winning the Champions League. From there on, English teams have established among the most powerful in Europe. They have only missed Champions League semifinals twice in the last eleven seasons; in the last three seasons three of the four semifinalists have been English, and at least one English team has played the final for five seasons in a row. The "Big Four" (Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool) are currently among the top six clubs in Europe according to UEFA coefficients, the other two being Milan and Barcelona, and every top class player would like to play in the English Premier League. Many may argue English football is all about power and speed, and no real skill, but results prove them wrong; the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, as well as UEFA coefficient system, place English Premier League as the best league in the world, beating Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga.

One more trophy can be added to English trophy shelves next week, when Champions League defending champions, Manchester United, leaded by Sir Alex Ferguson and FIFA World Player Cristiano Ronaldo, face Spaniard rivals F.C. Barcelona. Spain vs. England, Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo, technical skill vs. speed and power, football fans await kickoff anxiously to see who will be the new champion.