Contested by sixteen clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the other secondary and tertiary leagues in Ethiopia.

[4] The early years of Ethiopian top division football were dominated for the most part by Mechal (now Defense Force SC).

[5] The inaugural 1997-98 Ethiopian Premier League Season saw Ethio Electric (known as Mebrat Hail at the time) lift the trophy.

[6] 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.

His record would stand 16 years until being surpassed by Dedebit striker Getaneh Kebede who scored 25 goals during the 2016-17 season.

In the end however, St. George was able to win their match and retain the title but the strong display by Arba Minch Textiles showed that teams outside the capital were indeed ready to contend in the top league once again.

[6] The 2003–04 season turned out to be breakthrough year for teams outside of Addis Ababa as Hawassa City S.C., led by their captain Kamal Ahmed, were able to lift the Premier League trophy for the first time in their history.

The season ended with Hawassa City winning their second title in as many years preventing a St. George S.C. three peat.

[7] 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.

[8] 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.

[9] The 2017-18 Ethiopian Premier League ended in dramatic fashion as debutantes Jimma Aba Jifar F.C.

During the course of a season (from November to May) each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents', for a total of 30 games.

However, these live transmissions have come under much scrutiny from the federation as it claims that neither the clubs nor the broadcasters are informing the proper authority.

[15] In June 2017 as part of the Ethiopian Football Federation's digitization process the rights to broadcast the premier league were opened for bidding to five companies including Kana TV, ENN, Walta TV and Chinese Pay television broadcaster, StarTimes.