About Premier League Asia Trophy

History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage

The Premier League Asia Trophy (previously known as the Barclays Asia Trophy due to sponsorship reasons) is a biennial pre-season friendly tournament held in Asia. The event, which is staged every other summer, is a two-day affair that kicked off in 2003 as a result of the growing interest from the continent in the English top-flight.

The Premier League Asia Trophy sees four teams compete for this pre-season trophy. The participants in this friendly tournament are either four Premier League clubs or three English top-flight sides and one local team from the host country.

The competition follows a knockout system in which two teams from the four face off in the semi-finals, with the winners moving on to the final and the losers making the third-place playoff for a total of four games. The Premier League Asia Trophy’s very-first fixture took place on July 24, 2003. Chelsea lifted the inaugural title, beating Newcastle on penalties in the final. The Thailand under-23 national team was the first local team to make the final, achieving this feat in the 2005 edition.