Premier League Big Six: How did the balance of power in English football evolve?

The Premier League has come to be defined by its 'Big Six' of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.

Their influence is so strong that they even dictate the very perception of the English game around the world.

However, the Big Six is the result of 30 years of evolution and change, and that suggests it won't be too long before further change arrives.

If you want to trace the evolution of the big clubs in English football, you have to go all the way back to just before the Premier League started. In fact, those clubs were the reason why it started.

Before then, English football was a very different place. The top division was one that anyone could win, for a start, because success was not married to wealth. There was a very good - and simple - reason for that too: the wealth was shared.

Gate-sharing was a policy that meant Luton, for example, received half of the gate receipts from an away match at Manchester United. In other words, every club got the same. That was great for the majority but the big clubs didn't like it. A threat of a breakaway was enough to scare the Football League into abolishing the policy. It didn't satiate the clubs' greed and it opened the door for them to hold the game hostage.

Big Five: Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham

Out: Everton, Tottenham

In: Newcastle, Blackburn

Initially, nothing really changed. The order had already been established with quite an equitable distribution of talent around the clubs and it was going to take time to channel it to the richest clubs. Norwich and QPR finished above all of the Big Five clubs that season except Manchester United.

Champions !

Manchester United 3 v 1 Blackburn Rovers on 3 May 1993.