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The Premier League has been going for more than three decades, and in that time its thrown up more than its fair share of picture-perfect moments.
Here, we pick out a selection of the most iconic snaps from the world's greatest league – covering incredible goals, bizarre touchline confrontations, animals on the pitch and more.
To kick off the countdown, just click any of the arrows on the right of the page!
32. Big Sam & Little Sam do their best Bee Gees impression
Crystal Palace looked doomed to relegation midway through the 2016/17 Premier League season – but they ended up staying alive thanks to Sam Allardyce and his loyal sidekick Sammy Lee.
Here, we see Big Sam and Little Sam (and backing dancer Ryland Morgans, Palace’s head of performance at the time) channelling their inner Saturday Night Fever while, er, encouraging their team in a 2-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
31. The Anfield cat
Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Tottenham in February 2012 wasn’t exactly a classic – but a star was born that night at Anfield.
Eleven minutes into the game, a tabby cat toddled onto the pitch and momentarily sat in the Spurs box as goalkeeper Brad Friedel looked on. Within 24 hours, the stray moggie dubbed ‘Kenny’ – after then Reds boss Dalglish – had more than 30,000 followers on Twitter.
30. Pardew loses his head
Alan Pardew earned himself a seven-match ban for bizarrely (if rather feebly) headbutting Hull midfielder David Meyler in 2014.
The Newcastle manager’s moment of madness was back in the news 10 years later, after a Japanese Magpies fan admitted he started supporting the club precisely because of it. Fair enough!
29. Paul Alcock takes a tumble
Paolo Di Canio was no stranger to controversy throughout his Premier League career, unwaveringly wearing his heart on his sleeve.
The Italian cult hero showed a little too much passion while playing for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal in 1998, though, pushing over referee Paul Alcock after being sent off – and getting slapped with an 11-match suspension for his troubles.
28. Chelsea are champions
In 2005, Chelsea ended their 50-year wait for a second English top-flight title – and they did it under the tutelage of a certain Jose Mourinho.
The Blues conceded a record-low 15 Premier League goals during the 2004/05 campaign, and just look what that trophy meant to them (that’s Jiri Jarosik licking his lips at the back, by the way – remember him?).
27. Pires & Henry's penalty mishap
As they hosted Manchester City in their final season at Highbury in September 2005, Arsenal tried to do something a bit special.
Unfortunately, it failed spectacularly, but Robert Pires and Thierry Henry’s attempted lay-off penalty (which they tried with the Gunners only 1-0 up, would you believe?!) provided a truly memorable Premier League moment.
26. Alisson to the rescue
With time running out for Liverpool to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive, they needed a hero.
That saviour came in the unlikeliest of forms: goalkeeper Alisson, who went up for Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 95th-minute corner at West Brom – and became the sixth ‘keeper to score a Premier League goal.
Pure scenes ensued; it’s just a shame that Covid restrictions prevented supporters from being in the ground to share in them.
25. Off the mark with Brian Deane
Brian Deane scored 70 Premier League goals – but the last 69 of those paled in significance compared to the first.
Playing for Sheffield United, the striker headed home the very first Prem goal after Carl Bradshaw’s long throw was flicked on by a Manchester United defender. The Blades won went on to win 2-1, with Deane making it a brace from the spot.
24. Red sky at night as Liverpool's long wait finally ends
Liverpool’s wait for English title number 19 lasted 30 years – during which arch-rivals Manchester United wiped out and surpassed a 12-title deficit.
There was absolute delirium among Reds fans as Jurgen Klopp’s side were confirmed as champions thanks to Manchester City’s loss to Chelsea – and, unable to be in the stands amid Covid restrictions, they celebrated in style by turning the skies over Anfield red with fireworks and flares.
23. Mission accomplished for Blackburn’s ‘SAS’
They built their team with substantial financial backing from local businessman Jack Walker, but Blackburn were still welcome Premier League champions in 1994/95, briefly disrupting Manchester United’s early dominance of the competition.
The ‘SAS’ strike partnership of Golden Boot winner Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton did the business for Kenny Dalglish’s side – who lost to Liverpool at Anfield on the final day but clinched the title thanks to United’s draw with West Ham.
22. Vinnie Jones goes in goal
As the craziest member of Wimbledon’s ‘Crazy Gang’, it was only right that Vinnie Jones donned the gloves when Paul Heald saw red away to Newcastle in 1995.
And the notorious Premier League hardman didn’t fare too badly between the sticks, the 6-1 scoreline not an accurate reflection of his goalkeeping abilities.
21. Souness sorts them out
Newcastle duo Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer’s infamous on-field fight against Aston Villa at St. James’ Park in 2005 makes for quite the photo itself.
But we’ve decided to focus on the aftermath, when visibly incensed manager Graeme Souness sat the pair down like two naughty schoolboys to face the media.
20. Big Ron gets the wrong dugout
Ron Atkinson had been sunning himself in Barbados when he got the call to take over as Nottingham Forest manager in January 1999.
The former Manchester United boss swiftly flew back to England – and comically stepped into the away dugout ahead of his first home game in charge of Forest against Arsenal. He hadn’t even been out of management that long!
19. Becks makes his mark
David Beckham had already established himself in the Manchester United first team during the previous season, but it was on the opening day of the 1996/97 campaign that he really made the world sit up and take notice.
Spotting Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan off his line, the 21-year-old Beckham audaciously lobbed him from the halfway line – and celebrated like it was easy (it probably was for him, to be fair).
18. A poultry protest
What do you do when you have a grievance with the chicken magnates who own your club? You deck one of the feathered critters out in club regalia and let it loose on the pitch, of course.
Blackburn supporters staged their famous demonstration against unpopular owners Venky’s during a 1-0 home defeat to Wigan in 2012.
17. The master at work
The Premier League’s first foreign superstar, Eric Cantona produced plenty of moments of magic in a Manchester United shirt.
This goal was probably best of them: an audacious chip over goalkeeper and French compatriot Lionel Perez to complete a 5-0 thrashing of Sunderland at Old Trafford four says before Christmas in 1996 – the perfect gift for United fans.
16. Phil Brown takes the lesson outside
When managers need to give their players the hairdryer treatment at half-time, they usually at least afford them the courtesy of doing in the privacy of the dressing room.
Phil Brown decided to take a different approach on Boxing Day 2008… With his Hull side trailing 4-0 away to Manchester City, Brown forgot about the dressing room and gave his team a right old dressing down on the pitch.
It worked, sort of: Hull ‘drew’ the second half 1-1.
15. Shearer's trademark celebration
Sometimes, the most iconic things are she simplest ones. Alan Shearer’s go-to goal celebration certainly fitted into the bracket.
More often than not, the Premier League’s record scorer – who found the net 260 times in the competition, mostly for Newcastle – wheeled away with one arm raised – and that was all there was it.
14. Manchester United's first of many
When Manchester United claimed the first of their numerous Premier League crowns in the league’s inaugural season of 1992/93, there was something different about the trophy lift: it was done by two skippers.
With ‘Captain Marvel’ Bryan Robson injured for most of the campaign, Steve Bruce usually wore the armband – and the pair shared the load when it came to hoisting that silverware aloft.
13. Adebayor doesn’t get the memo…
They say you shouldn’t celebrate against your old club; you definitely shouldn’t celebrate like this against your old club.
We get the feeling that Emmanuel Adebayor probably didn’t care, though, when he pegged it the length of the pitch to provoke the travelling Arsenal fans after scoring for Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in 2009.
He might have cared a bit when he started getting pelted with projectiles…?
12. Bocelli wows Leicester
Leicester’s 2015/16 title triumph (more on that later) was one of the most astonishing achievements in football history.
It was only right, then, that the Foxes celebrated in style – and what better way than to have one of the greatest tenors of all time sing the unavoidably goosebump-inducing Nessun dorma on the pitch ahead of the trophy presentation?
10. Stevie G’s costly slip-up
Steven Gerrard is arguably the best player never to win the Premier League – and his slip against Chelsea at Anfield during the 2013/14 run-in dealt a major blow to Liverpool’s title hopes. The skipper’s reaction to his mistake which allowed Demba Ba in to break the deadlock said it all.
A 2-0 Defeat to the Blues snapped a nine-match winning streak for Brendan Rodgers’ Reds and took matters out of their hands.
9. Why always him?
Mario Balotelli arrived in England with a bad boy reputation and lived up to it (fireworks in the bathroom, that kind of thing…).
He also scored 20 Premier League goals for Manchester City – including two in 2011’s historic 6-1 derby demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford, where the Italian celebrated by revealing an undershirt bearing that message apparently alluding to the constant media scrutiny surrounding him.
8. Fergie time
It was regularly claimed (usually by opposition fans) that Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United benefitted from more added time when they were losing.
However true (or not) that ultimately was, though, there’s no denying the sight of the fiery Scotsman intently inspecting his watch on the touchline belongs among the most iconic Premier League imagery.
7. Keown's Ruud gesture
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s was as reliable as they came from the penalty spot – but Manchester United’s star centre-forward rattle the bar late on against Arsenal during September 2003’s ill-tempered ‘Battle of Old Trafford’.
Reacting to the miss – which would prove crucial to the Gunners’ unbeaten Premier League title-winning campaign – Martin Keown and Ray Parlour taunted Van Nistelrooy, with the former getting especially in the Dutchman’s face.
6. In off the... beach ball?!
We’ll probably never see a crazier Premier League goal than Darren Bent’s beach ball-assisted winner for Sunderland against Liverpool in 2009.
Penny for the thoughts of the Reds fan who let the inflatable – which utterly bamboozled goalkeeper Pepe Reina – loose onto the pitch…
The goal shouldn’t have stood, but referee Mike Jones appeared unfamiliar with the ‘outside interference’ law and, well, the rest is history.
5. Wenger finds it’s standing room only at Old Trafford
Dismissed by Mike Dean for kicking a water bottle in frustration after a disallowed Arsenal equaliser, Arsene Wenger took the notion of being sent to the stands very literally.
In a great comedy moment of the Premier League era, the Gunners’ French gaffer simply shimmied along to a platform next to the away bench at Old Trafford and stood there, shrugging emphatically, among the home fans – who absolutely loved it.
4. ‘AGUEROOOOOOOOOO!!!’
You’re looking at the immediate aftermath of the single most dramatic moment in Premier League history: Sergio Aguero’s last-gasp, title-sealing goal for Manchester City against QPR in 2012.
Rarely has a strike been celebrated like the one which clinched City’s first top-flight crown since 1968 and had commentator Martin Tyler borderline roaring in astonishment.
3. Rooney takes flight
The list of spectacular Premier League goals is a long one, and we’re going to put Wayne Rooney right at the top of it – certainly for the aesthetic appeal of the effort.
Manchester United’s record goalscorer produced this match-winning bicycle kick in 2011 on one of the grandest of stages: the Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
1. Cantona takes matters into his own han... feet
Our most iconic Premier League photo goes to that which captures the competition’s ultimate moment of madness: Eric Cantona’s kung fu kick at Selhurst Park in January 1995.
