Are you looking to get into the Premier League for the 2025/26 season? Here is everything you need to know about English football’s most prestigious competition.
What is the Premier League?
The Premier League is the highest level of men’s professional football in England. Launched in 1992, it consists of the country’s top 20 clubs battling it out to be crowned English champions.
Known for its competitive and compelling football, it is the most watched sports league in the world, attracting some of football’s biggest stars.
Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer and Rodri, the winner of the 2024 Ballon d’Or, an award given to the best footballer in the world, currently play in the Premier League, while the likes of David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry all graced the competition in the past.
Last season, matches were live broadcast in 189 of the world’s 193 countries recognised by the United Nations.
Which teams play in the Premier League?
For the first three seasons of the Premier League, there were 22 teams in the competition. That changed ahead of the 1995/96 campaign and there have been 20 ever since.
For 2025/26 those clubs are: AFC Bournemouth, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Six clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Man Utd (Manchester United) and Spurs (Tottenham Hotspur) – have been ever present in the Premier League since the competition launched in 1992.
The clubs new to the Premier League for 2025/26 are Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland, who were all promoted from the EFL Championship, English football’s second tier competition.
They replace Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton, who were relegated from the Premier League last season.
How does the Premier League work?
Every team plays each other twice over the course of the season: once at their home ground and once away at the opposition’s ground.
Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. All teams are ranked in order of points to determine the final standings.
In total, 38 matches are played, with a maximum of 114 points up for grabs.
The team that ends the season top of the standings are crowned English champions. There are also a number of places available for teams to qualify for European competitions in the form of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League.
The bottom three teams in the Premier League standings are relegated to the Championship, where they are replaced the following season by those that finish in the top two of the Championship, with the third spot decided by the winner of the playoffs involving four teams who finish fourth to sixth.
If multiple teams end level on points in the table, they will be separated by goal difference, which is the difference between how many goals they have scored during the season and how many goals have been scored against them.
If teams are still level, they will be ranked according to goals scored, head-to-head record and then away goals scored in head-to-head matches.
What do you get for winning the Premier League?
Last season’s winners were Liverpool, who were crowned Premier League champions for only a second time. Man Utd, with 13, have won the competition on the most occasions.
Liverpool’s title win earned them the coveted Premier League Trophy. In fact, there are actually two trophies, which are identical and include an engraved base detailing past Premier League champions.
During the season, one stays with the Premier League winners, while the other is used by the league.
The Premier League offers no specific prize fund for winning the competition. Instead, the team that finishes top receives the highest amount from the Premier League’s "central payments", based on a sliding scale according to finishing position.
The champions receive 20 times the basic merit payment, the club finishing second 19 times, and so on, down to the club finishing bottom receiving one times the merit payment.
Premier League champions also gain a place in the UEFA Champions League and a spot in English football’s traditional curtain-raiser, the FA Community Shield, against the winners of the FA Cup.
How can I watch and follow the Premier League?
Your No 1 destination for all things Premier League is the official Premier League app, which has been relaunched as part of a digital transformation for the 2025/26 season.
New and improved features include Matchday Live for the latest updates, Matchday stories from every game, and myPremierLeague, which allows you to shape your app and alerts around the players, clubs and matches that matter most to you.
You will also find the AI-assisted Premier League Companion, Premier League Radio, the Premier League Archive of highlights, and much more.
Outside of the app, Premier League football is aired live across the world. You can find a full list of where to watch or listen to Premier League football wherever you are: HERE.
Which Premier League team should I support?
With 20 clubs to choose from there is a team for everyone.
If in the United Kingdom, you may choose to support a team based on where you live. For the 2025/26 campaign, London, for example, has seven teams: Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Spurs and West Ham.
Those in the Midlands could go for Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest or Wolves, while the North East is represented by Newcastle and Sunderland.
If you live outside of the UK, you may find an affinity to a particular club based on their player history: For example, Wolves had six Portuguese players and a Portuguese manager during the 2024/25 campaign.
If red is your favourite colour then you could choose a team whose home shirt is red. Eighteen Premier League titles have been won by teams in red, with the remaining 15 claimed by those in blue.
What are the rules?
You can find the Premier League Rules in full via the Premier League Handbook. Read here.
For the International Football Association Board (IFAB) Laws of the Game, click here.
There are in fact some law changes new for 2025/26. Take a look at them below.
Fantasy Premier League
For the full Premier League experience, you can sign up to play Fantasy Premier League.
It’s a free-to-play game where you win points based on the real-life performances of players in the Premier League. You pick the team, and if one of your players scores a goal, or assists one, or keeps a clean sheet, you get Fantasy points.
You can have Salah, Palmer and Bukayo Saka all in one squad - your very own dream team - and you can buy and sell players during the season.
You'll move up and down the world rankings based on your performance (more than 11million people played last season). And more importantly, you can create private mini-leagues where you're just competing against your family, friends or work colleagues.