Beginnings The first officially recognized version of an Ethiopian football league was established in 1944. Originally five teams representing the various communities of
Addis Ababa and The British Military Mission in Ethiopia (BMME) contested for the title which was won by the BMME. The
Ethiopian Cup was added the following year and has been contested regularly since with the exception of some gap years. The early years of Ethiopian top division football were dominated for the most part by Mechal (now
Defense Force SC). The club won 6 titles throughout the 40s and 50s. St. George SC enjoyed some dominance in the late 60s after which the league went through a period of relative parity in the 70s and 80s. The league went through changes in the 1990s culminating in the founding of the Ethiopian Premier League in 1997 (1990
E.C.) by the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) and the teams that made up the top division of Ethiopian Football.
Premier League Era The inaugural 1997-98 Ethiopian Premier League Season saw
Ethio Electric (known as Mebrat Hail at the time) lift the trophy. The following year the league decided to increase the number of teams to 10, a year that ended with perennial favorites
St. George S.C lifting their first Premier League trophy (16th title overall). St. George would go on to repeat as champions the following year (1999-00 season). The 2000–01 season was a special one in the league thanks in large part to the offensive display of Ethio Electric striker
Yordanos Abay. Abay scored what was then a record 24 goals during his league campaign helping Ethio Electric to its second Premier League title (3rd overall title). His record would stand 16 years until being surpassed by
Dedebit striker
Getaneh Kebede who scored 25 goals during the
2016-17 season. The following season (2001-02 season) Ethio Electric were picked by many to repeat as champions, but fell short of expectation by finishing behind eventual champions St. George. On May 2, 2018, the league was suspended by the
Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) after a referee was attacked during a match between
Welwalo Adigrat University and
Defense. League play would not resume until two weeks later when assurances were made to the arbiters union that referees would receive insurance coverage in the near future and that previous medical expenses would be covered by the responsible clubs. The
2017-18 Ethiopian Premier League ended in dramatic fashion as debutantes
Jimma Aba Jifar F.C. lifted the trophy for the first time in their history on the last day. Jimma Aba Jifar and St. George came into the last day tied on points and goal difference, but a 5–0 victory for Jimma Aba Jifar and a 2-0 result for St. George S.C. meant that the title would go to Jimma thanks to +3 goal difference advantage over St. George S.C. After the
2017-18 season the
EFF and premier league clubs agreed to reduce the number of foreign players allowed on each team to three. Rising wages and the neglect of home grown players were given as some of the reasons why the move was made. On May 5, 2020, the
2019-20 Season was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, no champion was awarded and no clubs were relegated from the league in this season. On December 12, 2020, the
2020-21 Season officially kicked off. On May 6, 2021
Fasil Kenema was confirmed to be the 2020-21 premier league champion, the club's first ever first division title. == Competition format ==