At the top of the Premier League

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I follow the English Premier League pretty rabidly. I am not a big fan of Man U or Arsenal or even the new power Chelsea. I do own a Manchester United jersey (note: you can find some great deals on jerseys here.) Anyways, Chelsea tops the table (standings to American chaps.), which is really a change as Man U and Arsenal usually battle it out each year. Only one other team besides the aforementioned clubs has topped the table at season's end- Blackburn Rovers. Rovers are one of my favorites although they are nearing the foot (bottom) of the table and could be relegation fodder as are Everton and England golden boy Wayne Rooney.
Unlike almost all American sports, in football (soccer to the Yanks) there are two contentious races going on during the season-
1) To get a high spot (1-6) in the table and
2) To avoid the bottom three spots of the table called the relegation zone.
Here's the scoop on the bottom three- they get "kicked" out of the league and play in a lower division (comparable to the minor leagues in baseball) next season. The top 3 in the lower division get promoted to replace the 3 who dropped. Once at the top of the Premier League there is nowhere to get promoted. I am not sure if there is a glass floor on relegation, but it is possible fall 4 levels under the Premier League, however I wouldn't advise supporting such a club. Sheffield Wednesday is a current example. Being relegated from the Premier League and then from Division 1 into Division 2. I doubt they will drop any farther, the Owls just have too many resources to fall to Division 3. Real diehards would live and die with their club despite falling from glory.

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