Football started in 1992. It did not stay the same.
Thirty years ago next week, the Football League First Division was replaced by the premier league.
The world has changed since 30 years ago.
31,016 goals have been scored in the 30 years of the premier league The goals came from 2,528 people.
There are 4,534 players in the premier league. England leads the way with 1,632, followed by France on 222 and Scotland on 215.
The top scorer in the league is Alan Shearer.
More players have been shown cards than have scored a goal. 35,312 bookings and 1,701 red cards have been made. They were responsible for eight of the reds. There is a record for the number of yellows.
Seven of the 50 clubs in the premier league have won the title at least once. They have done both.
There have been 955 goalless draws. In the last five years, five matches have had 10 goals and the most goals in a game is 11.
Is that managers as well? There have been more than 250 so far. On the opening weekend, there were Steve Cooper and Eric ten Hag.
Six managers have 100% win rates from short periods of time, with Pat Rice winning all three games with the club in 1996. The best win rate for a full time manager is 74%.
Managers lost all of their games. Frank de Boer was fired as Crystal Palace boss after four losses. They would like to see that number drop to 16 again soon.
How many people have watched all of this? A total of 368 million people attended the matches of the premier league. There will be a lot of the same people.
Things have changed a lot since 1992.
The backpass rule was introduced when the league began. When a teammate plays the ball back to them, goalkeepers were able to pick it up.
Defending and keepers didn't know what to do in tight spaces in the opening weeks.
Over the years, there have been many changes.
Kick-offs, drop balls and tackles from behind have all been changed in recent years.
The referee didn't know how much injury time there would be when the league began. It's a new thing for the fourth official to put up the board.
There has been an increase in the number of substitute workers. Teams were able to name three subs on the bench in the first season of the league. There are five subs and nine benches this year.
The league has shrunk. Before the current format of 20 teams and 38 games came in, there were 22 teams in the first three seasons.
Europe has changed as well. The only people who qualified for the league until 1997 were the winners.
There are seven teams that have qualified for Europe, the Cup Winners' Cup has been replaced by the Uefa Cup, and there is a conference league. The Intertoto Cup has left the scene.
It used to be that every game was played at the same time on the last day. There were nine games on the final Saturday and two on the Sunday in 1992.
Foreign players were also smaller. Only 15.6% of the players in the premier league were not British in 1992. The figure was higher last year.
The ruling is partly to blame. In the past, teams were less likely to have too many non-British players in their side if they only had three foreign players.
Steve Bruce was not allowed to play for the Republic of Ireland at the 1994 World Cup because he would have counted as a foreigner in the European club competition.
The only transfer deadline before 2002 was 31 March.
Sky Sports News and Jim White don't do countdown clock shenanigans. It is possible for teams to sign players all season long.
And the name. The name from 1993 to 2007 was the FA Carling Premiership. In the last two years it has been the premier league.
Back in 1992, the world was very different. Only a few people had mobile phones when the internet was not present.
A trip to see family or friends meant planning ahead and bringing a map with you.
The USSR and Yugoslavia had just broken up into 20 different states and East and West Germany had been merged.
On the opening weekend of the UK's premier league, Rhythm Is a Dancer was at the top of the charts.
You could get a beer and a penny change for that price. John Major was the prime minister.
Shops stopped selling music on vinyl because of the popularity of audio cassettes. In 2021 people spent more money on vinyl than on CDs.
It was not the same time to watch football.
With no internet or smart phones, radio and print were important.
If you want to follow scores on a Saturday, you should use Teletext or Ceefax.
It was the local newspapers, radio or TV. It was a case of getting a programme at the game and the football handbook each year.
Try your hand at some quiz questions from the premier league.
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