Amazingly, the Premier League has been a feature of the domestic football establishment for 12 years already and, like it or not, it has revolutionised football in this country, with a ripple effect, financially, that has made it arguably the most watchable league in the world.
Millions of us have enjoyed the spectacle, from the comfort of our armchairs, or live at Premier League grounds the length and breadth of the country, as Manchester United dominated the elite, Arsenal forced their way into the frame and Blackburn Rovers, so far, the only other team to take the title, won the top prize.
We have also watched as clubs like Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest yo-yoed between the First Division and the top flight. We watched in admiration as smaller clubs like Swindon, Bradford City and Watford forced their way to dine at the high table, only to fall back almost immediately, as they found the quality and finance necessary for Premier League football too much for them.
Twelve seasons, 120 months, of football that has thrown up some remarkable and, naturally, historic moments. Can you remember who scored the very first Premier League goal and thus ensured his place in the record books for eternity? No, the answer is at the end.
Statistics covering the first 12 years of the Premier League have thrown up some very interesting data. Everyone knows that Alan Shearer is the all-time leading scorer in the Premiership with 243 goals but did you know that that total came in 381 games giving him a scoring percentage of 63.78. But there is someone with a better record, Thierry Henry.
The Arsenal striker's 112 goals in 173 Premier League games makes his percentage 64.74. Michael Owen has netted 118 goals in 216 Premiership appearances, 23 of which were as a substitute, and his scoring percentage is 54.63 per cent, better than one goal every two games.
Because of his age, just 24, the Liverpool striker has the best chance of catching Shearer's total as the Newcastle striker plans to retire at the end of the forthcoming season and mainly because the rest of the Premiership's top ten scorers, with the exception of Robbie Fowler, who is 29, are all in their 30s. Although, having said that, Robbie has scored in nearly half of his Premiership total of games, 143 in 310, so cannot be ruled out.
Another well known Premiership stat is that Gary Speed is top of the league appearance table with 414, including eight as a substitute, but just behind him, 36 in fact, is Alan Shearer, on 381, so it looks as if Gary is well in line to keep that particular title for some time to come.
Just behind Alan Shearer, on 361 Premiership appearances, is David James. With the normal longevity associated with goalkeepers, three of the top ten are keepers, the Manchester City and England man could take over at the top of the appearance table in a couple of years, presuming that Speed retires in that time.
The two most startling statistics I found concern the 'most used substitute' in the Premiership and the 'most prolific scorer'. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has enjoyed, if that is the right word, a THIRD of his Manchester United Premiership appearances from the bench, 71 games. But when you add the fact that he has scored in 39 per cent of his United games it underlines what a special striker he is.
And it is another Manchester United player who is THE most prolific scorer in the Premier League. His 68 goals in the Premiership, in 98 games, two as a substitute, means Ruud van Nisatelrooy has a scoring record of 69.39 per cent.
I wonder how the Premiership scoring, appearance and substitute statistics will look in another 12 years and how many of the players who feature in the current data will be around in 2016?
PS: It was Brian Deane who scored the very first Premiership goal, after five minutes, in Sheffield United's opening day victory over Manchester United on August 15th 1992.
