When it comes to football in England, the main ambition of every single club, however unrealistic, is to win the Premier League. The desire of many supporters is to one day see their club’s captain hoist the Premier League trophy high above his head as supporters everywhere go crazy at the sight.
As a result, there is a huge amount of interest in the trophy itself, including who is responsible for making it, where the design came from and how much it weighs. Some questions can be answered, whilst others are better left to the imagination of those that asked.
The Trophy Itself
Every season, a Premier League captain will lift the trophy at the end of the season. What a lot of people might not realise is that there are actually two such trophies, that are identical in every way. This includes the engraved base, upon which the winning teams of past Premier League titles are engraved, along with the years of the winning campaign. You would be forgiven for thinking that this was specifically in case two teams were both likely to win the title on the final day of the season, allowing a trophy to be located at each of the grounds they’re playing at, but that’s not the case.
Instead, it is in order to allow the winning team to keep one Premier League trophy, whilst the other stays with the Premier League itself. When the following season is reaching its climax, the previous season’s title winners need to hand their trophy back to the Premier League, at least three weeks before the final league match of the campaign. Of course, there are also some occasions when more than one team has the chance of winning the title on the last day of the season, so having an extra one to be able to take to one to each stadium where the teams are playing is ideal.
In terms of facts and figures, the trophy is three foot and five inches tall, which is 104 centimetres. It is two foot, or 61 centimetres, wide. As for the weight, captains need to ensure that they’re not overly tired come the end of the match, given the fact that it weighs four stone, or 25.4 kilograms. That being said, a huge part of that weight is the base, which is 2.5 stone, or 15.9 kilograms. Obviously, the captain doesn’t lift the base, but it will be on display thanks to the fact that the name of the winning team as well as the season that they have won it are engraved on a plate on it.
The Lions
In England, there has long been an obsession with the idea of the Three Lions. It is the nickname of the national team, for example, whilst the Lion Rampant can be seen on the crests of numerous teams that play in the country. This is largely thanks to the fact that there are three lions on the coat of arms of England, which is made up of a red background and three gold lions with blue claws and blue tongues depicting striding forward, their front right paw raised and their face turned out to the viewer. Lions have been used since the Saxon era, being adapted from Germanic tradition.
When it comes to the Premier League trophy, that theme of the ‘Three Lions of English Football persists. The more observant amongst you will no doubt have noticed that there are only two lions on the trophy, which are located above the handles on either side of the main body of the trophy. That is because the role of the third lion is played by the captain of the winning team, who fulfils his position when he hoists the trophy, along with its golden crown, above his head at the end of the season. Whilst it’s obviously a ridiculous notion, you can see what they were aiming for.
Bits of Trivia
Whilst the old First Division trophy was obviously interesting to look at, it was felt that there was a need for a new, more modern trophy to be introduced when the Premier League was launched in 1992. It was designed by the Royal Jewellers Asprey of London, with the main body of the trophy made up of solid sterling silver whilst being aligned with silver gilt. The plinth, meanwhile, is made of malachite, which is a semi-precious stone that is green in nature, allowing it to represent the pitch. When the trophy is lifted at the end of the season, it is adorned with ribbons in the colours of the title-winning team.
In 2004, Arsenal went unbeaten for an entire Premier League season. Although this had been done before when the English top-flight was the First Division, it had never been done in the new version of the competition. As a result, the club was presented with a gold trophy, which was smaller than the regular trophy. When Arsene Wenger, the manager who masterminded that campaign, retired, the club allowed him to keep the trophy as thanks for his glittering career and for helping to return the Gunners back to their former glory.