At the time of writing, only seven clubs have ever won the Premier League. 

Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Leicester City have all reigned supreme since the league’s inception in 1992. 

That’s a very limited number of teams when you consider that 49 different clubs have featured in England’s revamped top flight. 

But what about the unofficial champions? And what does that even mean? 

Fortunately, The Guardian have us covered.

If you’ve ever asked who would win the league if football were decided like boxing – so the first team to beat the existing champion becomes the new champion – then wonder no more. 

There would have been glory days for the likes of Norwich City, who were then beaten by West Ham, who were then beaten by Nottingham Forest, and so on. You get the idea.

So let’s take a look at this alternate football utopia where Manchester United only won the league once and our collective childhoods weren’t ruined. 

1992-93 – Norwich City

1993-94 – West Ham United

1994-95 – Nottingham Forest

1995-96 – Newcastle United

1996-97 – Aston Villa

1997-98 – Derby County

1998-99 – Leeds United

1999-2000 – Sheffield Wednesday

2000-01 – Sheffield United

2001-02 – Birmingham City

2002-03 – Leeds United

2003-04 – Portsmouth

2016-17 – Huddersfield

2017-18 – Crystal Palace

2018-19 – Liverpool

2019-20 – Southampton

Ralph Hasenhuttl, what a job you have done. 

Sadly, all this is but a dream and the reality is the Premier League has largely been dominated by the usual suspects. 

There is real optimism that could change this year, though.

Back in the real world, Leicester, Tottenham and Southampton are all in the top four with almost a quarter of the season gone. 

We’re unlikely to ever see as whacky a history book as the one above, all the same.