Today, the Premier League in England kicks off its 23rd campaign and from the initial 22 clubs involved since the revamp of 1992-93, only seven have always played in the top flight.
Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were ever present in the Premier League as the clubs who failed to sustain the pace were Blackburn, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Ipswich, Leeds, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Nottingham Forest, Oldham, QPR, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton and Wimbledon.
On the opening round of matches last season, we had one direct clash between teams ever present in the Premier League as Aston Villa caused the shock of the day when they beat Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
Champions Manchester City will start the defence of their title with an away trip to Newcastle.
The capture of Frank Lampard on a six-month loan deal from New York City did not go down well with his former club Chelsea and most of the other teams in the Premier League.
The New York team is one of three belonging to the rich owners of Manchester City.
Perhaps, the most annoyed was Arsene Wenger, of Arsenal.
He was right to question if this has been a move to get around the fair play regulations after Manchester City received sanctions to their squad for breaching UEFA’s regulations.
Suarez’s void
What will life be without Luis Suarez for Liverpool?
His goals shot the Reds to second place last season and an entry into the UEFA Champions League. Shrewd manager Brendan Rodgers has been trying to rebuild the side with some key signings that can be the answer for Suarez’s omission.
Tomorrow, Liverpool cross swords with Southampton who parted with some of their best talents this summer for a considerable amount of cash.
On Monday, Chelsea take on newcomers Burnley at Turf Moor.
The Blues have great hopes that former Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa will leave his mark in the English league as Jose Mourinho remains worried some of his World Cup stars will not be fit for the start of the season.
Didier Drogba made his first appearance since returning to Chelsea but his side lost 3-0 to Werder Bremen in Germany.
The Ivorian will probably miss Monday’s match as he is nursing an injury.
As happened in the league opener last year, Manchester United play Swansea but this time at Old Trafford and with Louis van Gaal in charge.
Wayne Rooney left no stone unturned to convince Van Gaal he can be the next captain and he was eventually given the nod by the former Netherlands coach.
This evening, Arsenal clash against Crystal Palace in a London derby.
Palace impressed in the last phase of the previous season but today they will have to do without manager Tony Pulis who quit the club late Thursday.
Wenger admitted that his players were off the pace in the Emirates Cup earlier this month as Monaco denied the Gunners a chance to win the pre-season quadrangular tournament.
Another derby is scheduled for Upton Park this afternoon as West Ham take on Tottenham.
Hammers manager Sam Allardyce suffered another major injury blow when new signing Carl Jenkinson picked up a hamstring strain. The former Arsenal wing-back looks set to stay out for a few weeks and so will striker Andy Carroll who might take longer to return to training.
Tottenham, with new man Mauricio Pocchettino at the helm, will be keen to make amends for last season’s inconsistency which eventually cost them a place in the Champions League.
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Arsenal-Crystal Palace (18:30) - 1
Leicester-Everton - X
Man. United-Swansea (13:45) - 1
Queens Park Rangers-Hull - X
Stoke-Aston Villa - 1
West Brom-Sunderland - X
West Ham-Tottenham - 2
Tomorrow:
Liverpool-Southampton (14:30) - 1
Newcastle-Man. City (17:00) - 2
Monday:
Burnley-Chelsea (21:00) - 2
The Championship
Birmingham-Brighton - X
Blackpool-Blackburn - 2
Bolton-Nottm Forest - X
Bournemouth-Brentford - 1
Cardiff-Huddersfield - 1
Charlton-Wigan - X
Fulham-Millwall - 1
Leeds-M’boro (13:15) - X
Norwich-Watford - 1
Reading-Ipswich - 1
Rotherham-Wolves - X
Sheffield Wed.-Derby - 2
League One
Bristol City-Colchester - 1
Chesterfield-Rochdale - 1
Coventry-Sheffield Utd - X
Crawley-Swindon - 1
Crewe-Barnsley - 2
Doncaster-Port Vale - 1
Gillingham-Yeovil - 1
Notts Co.-Fleetwood - 1
Oldham-Leyton Orient - X
Peterborough-MK Dons - 1
Scunthorpe-Preston - X
Walsall-Bradford - 1
League Two
Burton-Dagenham - 1
Cheltenham-Accrington - 1
Hartlepool-Bury - 2
Luton-AFC Wimbledon - 1
Mansfield-Oxford - X
Morecambe-Newport - X
Plymouth-Exeter - 1
Portsmouth-Cambridge - 1
Shrewsbury-Tranmere - 1
Southend-Stevenage - 1
Wycombe-Carlisle - X
York-Northampton - 1
Hot four
Arsenal, Manchester United, Cardiff City, Fulham.