From Klinsmann's dive to Richy's scissor-kick - the story of our Premier League opening days

The first match of the all new Premier League arrived for us on 15 August, 1992 at Southampton's famous old stadium, The Dell.

It was the heralding of football's new era - and it ended in a 0-0 draw!

Since then, opening weekend has been a rollercoaster.

Highlights are Teddy Sheringham's sublime finish to beat Newcastle 1-0 in 1993, Jurgen's header and iconic dive celebration at Sheffield Wednesday in a 4-3 win in 1994, Benoit Assou-Ekotto's thunderbolt as we beat Liverpool in 2009, Eric Dier's late, late winner at West Ham in Mauricio Pochettino's first game in 2014 and, more recently, Heung-Min Son's winner against City in 2022 and Richarlison's spectacular finish as we beat Burnley 3-0 last season.

We've experienced the other side of football's fortune as well - here are a few stats...

5

We went five unbeaten from the first weekend of the Premier League era in 1992 through to 1996, a run including wins against Newcastle, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn.

3 in 16

However, we then claimed victory in just three of our next 15 opening days from 1997 up to 2013, beating Ipswich at home in 2000, Pompey away in 2005 and Liverpool at home in 2009.

2 in 13

Since Roberto Soldado's winner from the penalty spot against Palace in 2013, we've lost just two of our opening day fixtures - United away in 2015 and Everton during COVID in 2020.

5 (again)

Mirroring our first five opening day fixtures in the Premier League era, we're now unbeaten in our last five since Heung-Min Son's stunner beat City in 2021 - beating Southampton and Burnley at home, drawing at Brentford and Leicester.

Opening day results | Premier League

1992/93 – 15 Aug - Southampton A 0-0
1993/94 – 14 Aug - Newcastle A 1-0 (Sheringham)
1994/95 – 20 Aug – Sheffield Wed A 4-3 (Sheringham, Anderton, Barmby, Klinsmann)
1995/96 – 19 Aug – City A 1-1 (Sheringham)
1996/97 – 17 Aug – Blackburn A 2-0 (Armstrong 2)
1997/98 – 10 Aug – United A 0-2
1998/99 – 15 Aug – Wimbledon A 1-3 (Fox)
1999/00 – 7 Aug – West Ham A 0-1
2000/01 – 19 Aug – Ipswich H 3-1 (Anderton, Carr, Ferdinand)
2001/02 – 18 Aug - Villa H 0-0
2002/03 – 17 Aug – Everton A 2-2 (Etherington, Ferdinand)
2003/04 – 16 Aug – Birmingham A 0-1
2004/05 – 14 Aug – Liverpool H 1-1 (Defoe)
2005/06 – 13 Aug – Pompey A 2-1 (Griffin OG, Defoe)
2006/07 – 19 Aug – Bolton A 0-2
2007/08 – 11 Aug – Sunderland A 0-1
2008/09 – 16 Aug – Middlesbrough A 1-2 (Huth OG)
2009/10 – 16 Aug - Liverpool 2-1 H (Assou-Ekotto, Bassong)
2010/11 – 14 Aug - City H 0-0
2011/12 – 22 Aug - United A 0-3
2012/13 – 18 Aug – Newcastle A 1-2 (Defoe)
2013/14 – 18 Aug – Palace A 1-0 (Soldado)
2014/15 – 16 Aug - West Ham A 1-0 (Dier)
2015/16 – 8 Aug – United A 0-1
2016/17 – 13 Aug – Everton A 1-1 (Lamela)
2017/18 – 12 Aug – Newcastle A 2-0 (Dele, Davies)
2018/19 – 11 Aug – Newcastle A 2-1 (Vertonghen, Dele)
2019/20 – 10 Aug – Villa H 3-1 (Kane 2, Ndombele)
2020/21 – 13 Sep – Everton H 0-1
2021/22 – 15 Aug – City H 1-0 (Son)
2022/23 – 6 Aug – Southampton H 4-1 (Sessegnon, Dier, OG, Kulusevski)
2023/24 – 13 Aug – Brentford A 2-2 (Romero, Royal)
2024/25 – 19 Aug – Leicester A 1-1 (Porro)
2025/26 – 16 Aug – Burnley H 3-0 (Richarlison 2, Johnson)