The definitive history of London's rulers in the Premier League era

London is England's football city. You can barely walk a mile or two without being reminded of that.

In some ways, that's paradoxical. The north is where the nation's two most successful teams - Manchester United and Liverpool - reside, and towns up there are often noted for 'loving football in this part of the world'. Football is a working class sport after all, so that makes sense.

But the capital is the city for the sport. It's irrefutable and undeniable.

There are 13 professional clubs competing in the top four divisions of English football and a further 18 competing in tiers five to eight. 10 - Arsenal, Brentford, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Wimbledon - have played in the Premier League, with seven there for the 2023/24 season.

The power shift has swung back and forth across the capital and 90min has managed to pinpoint who's ruled London in the Premier League era.

1992-1994: Arsenal

Heading into the inaugural Premier League season, the London championship belt (proverbial in this instance, but the clubs should consider banding together to get a real one made) belonged to Arsenal.

The Gunners ended as the highest-ranked capital club by a country mile in the final year of the old Division 1, finishing in fourth place on 72 points, 15 clear of the nearest challenger in Crystal Palace. To emphasise the point that Arsenal ruled this land, they even poached the Eagles' best player - Ian Wright - during that season.

Surprisingly, Arsenal finished tenth in the 1992/93 Premier League season, and the only reason that QPR - who came fifth - don't get this crown is due to the Gunners winning both domestic cups that campaign. Sorry, Super Hoops.

Arsenal's streak of local dominance continued with victory in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1994, but a lowly 12th-place finish in 1994/95 meant that they had to briefly give up their title as London champs.

1994-1995: Tottenham Hotspur

If you're petty enough to level a 'warra trophy, when's the parade' jibe at Tottenham over this achievement, you should also consider this is one of the least noteworthy achievements in the history of anything and everything ever.

Spurs managed to interrupt Arsenal's era of dominance purely by being the least-worse London team in the 1994/95 season while trophies went back up north, ending seventh in the standings (two points clear of QPR, sorry again lads).

The cherry on this measly cake came when former Tottenham star Nayim scored the winning goal against Arsenal in the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup final, lobbing David Seaman from the halfway line.

But again, this is barely a feat worth celebrating. This should not go in the trophy cabinet, et cetera.

1995-2004: Arsenal

Main article - Arsenal 1995-2004: The Premier League's first London dynasty

Here we are, the first propa' era of London dominance in the Premier League.

Arsenal ruled for the better part of a decade, ironically beginning once they ousted club legend George Graham (who would soon cause a stir by upping sticks over at Spurs).

Bruce Rioch was placed in charge for the 1995/96 season, with vice-chairman David Dein in appointing a different candidate. To his credit, Rioch guided the Gunners back into the Europe in his sole full season in charge before falling out with the board.

That civil unrest allowed Dein to go out and bring in the manager he had long desired - Arsene Wenger.

The Frenchman was an immediate success in north London, despite jibes of 'Arsene Who?' from the press upon touching down this side of the Channel. Arsenal led the Premier League table for a portion of his first campaign, and though they ended up dropping to third, the seeds were planted for the dynasty to come.

Wenger led Arsenal to the eighth league-and-cup double in English history - the first by a foreign manager - during his first full campaign, revolutionising English football on and off the pitch along the way.

From there on, Arsenal were a force for the rest of their Highbury days and only finished outside the top two once in this specific time period. They were all that stood between Man Utd and the rest of England.

A second double followed in 2002. Another FA Cup in 2003. Then, in 2004, came Arsenal's finest ever achievement.

The Gunners went all 38 Premier League games unbeaten and set a record of 49 league games without defeat. It felt like the good times would never end, that rule of London could simply not be lost and the power would never shift.

But that's not how it went down.

2004-2015: Chelsea

Main article - Chelsea 2004-2015: How the Blues took control of London

Roman Abramovich's takeover of Chelsea in 2003 brought football into a new age even beyond the boundaries and borders of London.

The Blues splashed the cash like crazy, with transfer spending reaching completely unprecedented levels. Claudio Ranieri tried his darnedest to be the man to lead Chelsea into this era but he was just simply inferior to the man the club really wanted.

Jose Mourinho was every adult's man-crush when he first rocked up by the Thames. He had charm and wit, sophistication and s***housery, a man on the way up to the peaks and pinnacles of football.

Chelsea became the first London team to win and successfully defend their Premier League title, while they only endured two trophy-less years in this 11-year rule. Their first title-win smashed the existing points and goals-conceded records, too.

Mourinho left in 2007 and the Blues stumbled through various other managers until settling on Carlo Ancelotti, who wrestled the English crown away from Man Utd during his first season as Chelsea made history by breaking the 100-goal barrier in the Premier League.

When Ancelotti's time was up, Chelsea looked to the long-term with Andre Villas-Boas, inadvertently stumbling into Roberto Di Matteo as an assistant - the club's former midfielder would lead them to their first ever Champions League as a caretaker.

That's what Chelsea had become, developing that sixth sense for winning when the chips were down. That was a London first, really. Hell, even the universally unpopular Rafa Benitez won the Europa League a year later almost by mistake.

The homecoming of Mourinho followed, and within two years he restored Chelsea's place as champions of England. And then the remarkable happened.

Chelsea made a historically bad start to the 2015/16 season, and Mourinho was given his marching orders for a second time when they were beaten 2-1 by table-topping Leicester City in December, with the Blues hovering a point above the relegation zone. Quite some way for an era to end.

2015-2016: Arsenal

Taking their place back on the London throne were Arsenal, who at this point had emerged as title-favourites owing to the lack of faith that Leicester could actually stay top for a whole season.

Mesut Ozil had finally turned into the reliable superstar Gunners fans hoped he could become, supplying 18 assists during the first half of the campaign.

Arsenal were unable to maintain their momentum though and would spend much of the season sitting in third, only usurping neighbours Tottenham on the final day of the season after they were beaten 5-1 by 10-man and relegated Newcastle United. Which is a big reason why this section is not dedicated to them instead.

2016-2017: Chelsea

Oh look, Chelsea are back.

The Blues turned to Antonio Conte to sort their heaping pile of putrid garbage out, and it's hard to believe his preference early doors was to play a 4-3-3 or 4-2-4 formation.

After being dismantled by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, the Italian reverted to his trusty 3-4-3 system, embarking on record 13-match unbeaten run. Tottenham snapped this streak by matching up against Chelsea, which offered the blueprint of how to stop Conte's side in their tracks.

Nevertheless, Chelsea held off Spurs' advances to claim back the Premier League title.

2017-2019: Tottenham Hotspur

At last, Tottenham were able to assert authority in London without it coming by virtue of being the least-bad team.

Mauricio Pochettino was building a young and hungry side, with Spurs accumulating more appoints across the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons than any other in the Premier League. Ironically, they finished third and second in those campaigns.

But this was a team on the up, a club that was no longer an afterthought and instead fought their way into cultural significance.

Their crowning achievement saw them reach the 2019 Champions League final against all odds. Just don't mention what happened once they got there.

2019-2022: Chelsea

There was a time when Frank Lampard was viewed as a decent up-and-coming manager.

When he returned to Chelsea as manager in 2019, the club had been placed under a transfer embargo and had sold star player Eden Hazard to Real Madrid. The Blues were tipped to end the season well outside the top six, let alone the top four.

But Lampard was able to galvanise a team of young players and academy graduates, playing a fast if naive brand of football on their way to a fourth-place finish.

He would be replaced by Thomas Tuchel midway through the 2020/21 term. Again, Chelsea changed managers during a season and it led to Champions League glory. That's the modern history of the club.

Tuchel's charges performed admirably amid sanctions brought on the club and Abramovich by the UK government after Russia invaded Ukraine. Chelsea are still trying to find their path back to the top under new ownership.

2022-present: Arsenal

Chelsea's loss has once again proved to be Arsenal's gain (sorry to 90min's Toby Cudworth, who made an impassioned case that David 'The Moyessiah' Moyes' West Ham should be here).

Mikel Arteta has put the Gunners back on top in London, and they have their sights set on the rest of England.

For the first time since the Invincibles era, Arsenal are undisputedly the kings of the capital. They'll just be hoping the Australian revolution down the Seven Sisters Road is a flash in the pan.

Total years of dominance

Arsenal may be London's current rulers, but they're still in the midst of a battle to claim back their title of longevity.

Owing to the last few years of Abramovich's ownership, Chelsea currently hold the record for most years as the capital's kings in the Premier League era. Todd Boehly, BlueCo and Mauricio Pochettino have some way to go if they're to stop the Gunners from taking that crown.

Or who knows, maybe Ange Postecoglou really is onto something over at Tottenham. Maybe Moyesy (we are that close) will lead West Ham to more silverware. Maybe Roy Hodgson has one final trick up his sleeve for his career. Maybe Thomas Frank is building a gigantic bee that will devour us all.

READ MORE ABOUT ARSENAL AND CHELSEA'S BATTLE FOR LONDON