Many students are interested in football – yes, the real football – not the sport with helmets and an oddly shaped ball. We are talking about the game where you kick the ball with your foot – football!

Contrary to popular belief in America, there are professional football players and leagues all over the world. One of the most famous and widely-watched leagues is the Barclays Premier League in England.

If you were to ask someone who knew a bit about professional soccer, they would probably be able to name off some major English teams such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, or Liverpool. Only a true fanatic here in Edina would be able to name all twenty Premier League teams.

The English Football League System contains many leagues, and teams at the top of each league at the end of each season are promoted to the next league up. The teams at the bottom of each league at the end of the season are relegated into the next league down.

The top three leagues in order of increasing skill are: Football League One, Football League Championship, and Premier League. All of these leagues follow roughly the same promotion/relegation rules as the top two teams are automatically promoted, while the next best four teams play for the third spot (with the exception of the Premier League, as there is nowhere to be promoted to within the system). The three bottom teams are relegated to the next best league, with the exception of Football League One, where four teams are relegated.

The problem some people have with this system is that teams promoted are usually relegated again the next season, and teams at the top of the Premier League tend to stay atop the tables for many seasons. Over the last eight seasons, only six teams have cracked the top four in the end-of-season standings – Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool.

To determine where teams lie within the tables (also known as standings), each team plays thirty-eight regular season games. For a win, three points are given, and for a draw, one point is given. There are no points for a loss. Tiebreakers are decided with goals scored against, and if that is equivalent, then goals scored.

The UEFA Champions League is a convergence of the best teams in Europe, which only the top four English Premier League teams qualify for each season.