The Premier League superseded the First Division of the Football League as the top flight of English football in 1992, when member clubs opted to maximise their earning potential by breaking away from the Football League. Since 1992/93, just seven clubs – namely Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United – have won the Premier League and none of them were managed by an Englishman in any of their title-winning seasons.
Of course, Sir Alex Ferguson is far and away the most successful manager in the history of the Premier League with 13 wins, but he is Scottish, not English. A similar comment applies to Sir Kenny Dalglish, who guided Blackburn Rovers to their one and only title in the 1994/95, while the other title-winning managers were Chilean, French, German, Italian and Swiss.
The last English manager to win the top division of the football league system in his native country was, in fact, Howard Wilkinson. Wilkinson became manager of Leeds United in October 1988, following the sacking of his predecessor, Billy Bremner. The following season, 1989/90, United won the Second Division title and, on their return to the First Division, finished fourth, albeit 19 points behind champions Arsenal.
Ahead of the 1991/92 season, Wilkinson broke the club transfer record twice to bring in defender Tony Dorigo from Chelsea and striker Rod Wallace from Southampton, along with midfielder Steve Hodge from Nottingham Forest. Later in the season, he further strengthened his squad with the acquisition of another striker, Eric Cantona, from Nimes. In the season as a whole, Leeds United lost just four games and clinched the First Division title with a game to spare.