Posted by admin on Sep 24, 2008 in
Uncategorized (Taken from http://en.allexperts.com/q/Professional-Soccer-European-1848/structure-european-soccer.htm)
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FORMAT OF DOMESTIC CLUB COMPETITIONS:
The club season is from August to May, except in countries with exceptionally cold climates, and in much of Latin America and the USA.
In August, the major league seasons start. Each country has its own league. In each country OTHER THAN THE US, the lowest-placed teams in the top division will be relegated to the next division down (tier system) for the following season, and the top teams (usually 2, 3, or 4 of them) from the lower division will come up to the top division to replace them.
In England, for instance, there is the Premier League (top division), the Championship (second division), League One (third), League Two (fourth), and the Conference (which is the beginning of the NON-LEAGUE teams. In order for a non-league team (all of which are semi-professional) to reach the Premier League, they would have to finish in the top 3 or 4 (depending on the league) each season for four years, thereby moving up through the divisions and eventually competing in the Premier League. Similarly, if Manchester United lost every league game for the next four years, they would find themselves in the Conference, having dropped one division down every season that they came in the bottom three.
I know, it’s complicated!
OK, so, that tier system exists in every country except the USA (like the NFL, the teams are league-owned, rather than independent business enterprises - this prevents dynasties from forming, so they say).
So, the major leagues which play each year between August and May are as follows, listed roughly in order of importance:
ENGLAND - Premier League (includes Man U, Arsenal etc)
SPAIN - La Primera Liga (includes Real Madrid, Barca etc)
ITALY - Serie A (includes AC Milan, Juventus etc)
GERMANY - Bundesliga (includes Bayern Munchen etc)
FRANCE - Ligue 1 (includes Marsielle, Monaco etc)
HOLLAND - Eriedivisie (includes PSV, Ajax etc)
RUSSIA - 1st Division (includes CSKA Moskva, Spartak etc)
PORTUGAL - 1st Division (includes Porto, Benfica etc)
SCOTLAND - Scottish Premier (includes Celtic etc)
BELGIUM - Jupiler League (includes Anderlecht etc)
And each country has its own version.
The league format is easy: every team plays every other team twice - once at home and once away. Three points for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss. At the end of the season, the more points you have, the higher you are in the table. If you are level with someone, the difference between the number of total goals scored and conceded (goal difference) is the deciding factor. After that it is goals scored, and then it is alphabetical (or a play-off) if they are still tied.
There are 38 games for each team in England because there are 20 teams in the top division. Some countries still have 18 or as many as 24. Scotland and Switzerland only have 10 (or 12?) so they play each team FOUR times (two home, two away).
Japan, China, Korea, Iran, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, every European nation - each has a major league. The Brazilian league and Argentinean league play twice a year (Apertura and Clausura) and the winners of each play in the “final”. They are very big. The Mexican league is also huge.
Most top players go to bigger leagues than the one in their own country, unless they are from one of the big three.
In each country, there is also a CUP competition. This is a random drawing of all the teams (smaller teams have to qualify, top division teams get in automatically) and each plays one other team. Some countries have home and away legs for the cup ties (total goals scored over two games adds up to give the winner), but in England, it is a single knockout game. Whether you play home or away depends on the luck of the draw.
Some of the top cups are:
England - FA Cup
Italy - Coppa Italia
Spain - King’s Cup
Germany - Cup
USA - Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
Scotland - Scottish Cup
England - League Cup (this year it is the Carling Cup)
England actually has two (as do Scotland and other countries), with the League Cup final played in February (next week, actually, it’s Liverpool vs. Chelsea) and the FA Cup final (and most cup finals) to be played in May.
The cups generally play on weekends when there are no league games. The Semi Finals of the FA Cup are played at neutral venues, and the final was always at Wembley, but whilst they are building the new Wembley near the old one in West London, they are holding it in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium.
The League Cup actually uses the two-leg format but only in the second round and the semi finals, and the final is also played at Wembley/Millennium.
The winner of the FA Cup faces the winner of the League in a “Supercup” match to begin the following season. In England this game is called the Charity Shield. However, it is actually just a showpiece event and means nothing.
The real winner is always the LEAGUE winner. They are the champions of the country, have shown their strength for nine straight months, and even though the cup winner is applauded, the league winner are the “best team in the country” for that year. Always. Statistically - whoever gets the most points is the best. That’s how it is seen.
Winning the league and cup in the same season is called doing the double. Winning all three cups in England is called winning the treble, and Arsenal did it recently and I believe Manchester United did it during the 90s.
Huge domestic rivalries include
ENGLAND
Liverpool-Manchester United (local rivals)
Liverpool-Everton (across Stanley Park from each other in the city of Liverpool)
Arsenal-Manchester United (a recent rivalry due to the overwhelming success of both)
Newcastle-Sunderland (traditional, bitter local rivalry)
Leeds-Manchester United (yes, Manchester United have a lot of rivalries, though they curiously don’t hate Manchester City as much as Leeds and Liverpool. Possibly because Man City have never been very successful. The Leeds and Sunderland rivalries are dormant because Leeds and Sunderland have recently dropped out of the top division, but they will probably be back and rivalries will be renewed)
Birmingham City-Aston Villa (local rivalry)
Arsenal-Tottenham Hotspur (bitter North London rivalry)
When local teams face each other, it is called a DERBY.
There are countless others, but those are the big ones.
SCOTLAND
Celtic-Rangers (Glasgow rivalry, THE most fierce rivalry in the world, fuelled by a Catholic-Protestant religious difference in one of the world’s toughest cities)
FRANCE
PSG-Marsielle (for some reason they hate each other)
GERMANY
Bayern Munchen-1860 Munchen (local rivalry that is dormant because 1860 were relegated last year, but will probably be back next year)
Germany has lots of others, especially in the Ruhr Valley, where Dortmund, Leverkusen, Monchengladbach, Aachen, Schalke, Koln and Dusseldorf are ALL located.
SPAIN
Barcelona-Real Madrid (the biggest inter-city rivalry in the world, easy)
Barcelona-Espanyol (local rivalry in a dangerous city)
Real Madrid-Atletico Madrid (bitter bitter bitter)
PORTUGAL
Benfica-Sporting Lisbon (local rivalry)
ITALY
AC Milan-Inter Milan (not classic rivals, they share a stadium and don’t bitterly hate each other, used to be the same team in the early century)
AC Milan-Juventus (hatred to the death)
Juventus-Inter (Inter hate Juve ’cause they keep beating them to the title for years and years now)
AS Roma-Lazio (second biggest rivalry in the world, they share a stadium and every time they meet, people die)
RUSSIA
All the Moscow teams (seven or eight in the top division)
GREECE
Panathinaikos-Olympiakos
ARGENTINA
River Plate-Boca Juniors (the Buenos Aires derby, the biggest rivalry outside Europe)
US
NY Metrostars-DC United (why? They’ve only been around for nine years, so I have no idea)
Of course there are hundreds more, but we’ll leave it at that.
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CLUB COMPETITIONS (CONTINENTAL)
Now, say you’re fifth in the Premier league with one game left, and you’re playing the team above you, who have one more point than you. You have no chance of winning the league, and the best you can do is fourth. So, why bother? I mean, fourth, fifth, it’s all the same? Why risk injury on the eve of your long awaited summer holiday? I’ll tell you why… it’s called the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
The Champions League is the biggest thing to happen to football since the World Cup started in 1930. It is basically the World Cup for clubs, even though it is strictly European.
Basically, they used to have this competition, since the 50s, called the EUROPEAN CUP, and Real Madrid and AC Milan won it a lot. Then, one day, UEFA (the governing body of European football) decided to spice it up.
Until that point, the winner of every European league the previous season, plus the winner of the previous year’s competition, would compete in the cup. But this meant that from AC, Inter, Juve, Roma and Lazio, only one would compete. From Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, just one. Of Madrid, Barca, Valencia, La Coruna, only one of the four.
But the Champions League changed everything. Instead of the winners, it became a seeded selection. Every winner had the chance to get to the competition, but they would have to qualify (so, like, the Estonian champion might be drawn to face the Albanian champion, the winner of which would face the Austrian champion for a place in the competition). The TOP countries (which are determined by a complex points system) would get automatic entries. Italy, Spain and England get FOUR TEAMS EACH, meaning that there is a HUGE battle for top four places.
To compete in the Champions League, if you make it through qualifying, is a huge deal. These days there are eight groups of four, and each group team plays the other three home and away. Six games, with the same points system as national leagues. What that means is that you are guaranteed six games against TOP European competition, which is HUGELY popular with fans and HUGELY successful financially. The Champions League is a commercial monster.
The top two from each of eight groups go through. Then it’s knockout. The sixteen teams play home and away and the winner (whoever scores the most total goals) goes through.
Let me give you an idea how big this is. Tomorrow and Wednesday is the round of 16 (first legs) in this year’s Champions League. ALL the big teams made it through, and the matches are unbelievable. Spanish league leaders Barcelona face Chelsea. Last year’s Italian champs AC Milan face powerhouse Manchester United. Star studded Real Madrid face Italian leaders Juventus. Massive Inter Milan face last years Champions League winners, Porto. And German league leaders Bayern Munich face last year’s British champs Arsenal. Then there’s Dutch champs PSV taking on last year’s Champions League beaten finalist, Monaco. Not to forget French champs Lyon facing German champs Bremen. And then there’s Liverpool against Leverkusen.
Wow! These games are being shown on ESPN Deportes and on stations all around the world. The Milan-Man U game is live from Old Trafford on ESPN2 on Wednesday at 2.45pm.
Anyway, the winner of the Champions League are THE undisputed Champions of Europe. Winning the national league is a big deal, but winning the Champions League is like, the World Cup for clubs. It is EVERYTHING.
The South Americans have their own version which they take very seriously, called the Copa Libertadores. North America, Africa and Asia recently started their own Champions Leagues.
Starting next season, there will be a WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP, where the winner and runner up of the Champions League compete with the Asian winner, the South American winner, the African, Australian and North American winner, and I’m not sure who the other two are. Up until this point, it had just been a “Europe-South America” match-up between the winners, played in Japan, but called the World Club Cup (or the Toyota Cup). However, no-one really cares about that cup. It is the Champions League (and the Libertadores for Latinos) that means EVERYTHING.
If your club wins the Champions League, they can claim to be… the best club in the world. Real Madrid have won it 9 times (mostly in the 50s the bastards) and AC Milan (my team) have won it 6 times. Everyone else has less than 4.
The UEFA Cup is like, a consolation cup that still means a lot. It is the 5th placed English team, the 5th and 6th from Spain and Italy, the 4th and 5th from Germany, the runner-up of every smaller league, plus the losers of the final qualifying round for the Champions League. There is a new group stage with 40 teams (8 groups of 5) with only one leg against each team, and when there are only 24 left (top 3 from each group), the eight third placed teams from the eight champions league groups get deferred into the UEFA Cup and make the teams for the round of 32.
The UEFA Cup final is played in May about a week before the Champions League final. These two finals are played in neutral European venues which are announced before the season, so, like the Superbowl, there is always a chance that a team will play a home game in a final.
The winners of the domestic cups in big countries (all the cups listed above) also get entry to the UEFA cup, which gives teams added incentive to forsake their league games for the one-off randomly-drawn domestic cup ties.
The FA Cup, last year, was won by Manchester United. But Man U also came 3rd in the Premier League, meaning that they qualified for the Champions League (in which they now face AC Milan). So, since they couldn’t use their UEFA CUP spot, from winning the FA Cup (you can’t play in both European competitions, and the Champs League is obviously the superior one), the FA Cup runner-up got into the UEFA Cup. Amazingly, a team from outside the Premier League (Millwall) had made it to the FA Cup final, and got to play in European competition this season while trying to win their lower league to get up to the Premier League. They were instantly eliminated, but it’s cool that they made it. Aachen in Germany are not in the top division, but similarly made it to the cup final, were beaten by a Champs League team (Bayern Munchen) and so this year got to play in the UEFA cup. They are still in it and face Dutch AZ Alkmaar.
So… in order of importance, the competitions are:
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (European winners, top 2/3/4 in some places)
ENGLISH/ITALIAN/SPANISH top division
COPA LIBERTADORES (South Americans only)
GERMAN/FRENCH top division
UEFA CUP (European runners up, or 4th/5th, and domestic cup winners)
OTHER CONTINENT’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUES
FA CUP/COPPA ITALIA/KING’S CUP (domestic cup competitions)
OTHER TOP DIVISIONS
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NATIONAL TEAMS
Now, it’s always bothering these clubs that pay big wages to players that every so often, they get called up to go and play for their national team. Most players, though, are proud and honored to represent their country.
For two years (from 2003-05) every country in the world plays qualifying games within their continental group… for example, in Europe, there are nine groups, and the group winners each qualify for the 2006 World Cup. The runners-up play play-offs to decide which 4 other teams will join them.
In South America, there is one big group, with everyone playing home and away. The top five go to the World Cup.
In North America, there is a preliminary stage, and now they are all in a group of 6. Top 3 go to the world cup, and number four plays an Australasian team (always Australia) for a place in the finals. In Africa, five go to the finals. In Asia, four qualify, two each from two groups of four, and the third placed teams play off, the winner plays the 9th runner-up from Europe for a place in the World Cup. Germany qualifies automatically for they are the host nation.
The World Cup is THE biggest sporting event, because it’s not about money, it’s about playing for your country, and the event is only held every four years. The event is held in the summer, and so the players have recently completed a grueling nine-month season, and so often the greats are tired and do not perform well.
There are eight groups of four, playing each other once(drawn the previous September) and the top two from each group go through. There is a second round, Quarter Finals, Semis, and then the biggest Sporting event in the world, attracting more viewers and sponsors than the Olympics and the Superbowl put together - the World Cup Final.
Previous hosts and winners
Uruguay 1930 URUGUAY
Italy 1934 ITALY
France 1938 ITALY
WWII
Brazil 1950 URUGUAY
Switzerland 1954 WEST GERMANY
Sweden 1958 BRAZIL (only non-Euro team ever to win in Europe)
Chile 1962 BRAZIL
England 1966 ENGLAND
Mexico 1970 BRAZIL (3rd time winners, kept the trophy, everyone reset to “0 wins”)
Germany 1974 WEST GERMANY (new trophy, the one seen today)
Argentina 1978 ARGENTINA
Spain 1982 ITALY
Mexico 1986 ARGENTINA
Italia 1990 WEST GERMANY
USA 1994 BRAZIL
France 1998 FRANCE
Japan/South Korea 2002 BRAZIL
Germany 2006 ???
South Africa 2010 ???
And there you have it. The World Cup is where names are made. There are also continental championships. For instance, the European Championship is huge and takes place every four years (1996, 2000, 2004). Last year it was in Portugal and I went to watch the games. Greece were the surprising winners over the hosts in the final.
European Championship qualifying begins months after the world cup, and the tournament takes place in the summer two summers after the World Cup, two before the next. There are 16 qualifiers in 4 groups of 4, and the top two go through to the Quarter Finals.
South American (COPA AMERICA) also includes Mexico and others, and is every two to three years, however, teams like Argentina and Brazil often field young teams because their big stars are only permitted to play in the World Cup by their clubs, not in smaller tournaments.
The Asian games and African Nations Cup and so on are very big deals in those regions, and are every four years, but do not garner much world publicity.
So, including all competitions, the “ranking” of prestige is
WORLD CUP
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP or CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (depending on who you ask)
DOMESTIC LEAGUES etc…
ANYONE can play in the World Cup, but only Europeans compete in the Euro Champs. To play in the Champs League, you have to play for a European club.
CAREER:
While some players come to colleges in the US to play at NCAA level, the rest of the world has youth teams and clubs and academies which turn out the top players. Arsenal, Manchester United and Madrid and such teams often recruit players younger than 12, and very often in their teens. As they move up through the youth rankings, they may play for their country’s national team at youth level (under 18) or at under-21 level.
Between 16-21, the players are usually integrated into a proper club squad. They can be loaned out to smaller teams (if there is too much competition in their regular team) or can play for the reserve team (the B-team).
Once players star for a club and perform well, they may be called up to their national team. The national team does not pay the players’ wages (though they may and often do receive large bonuses for representing their country). The deal is, basically, the club pays your wages, and you represent your country if requested for national pride and prestige.
Often, national teams in Africa, Asia and the Americas are made up almost entirely of players that do not play for a local club, but for a major club elsewhere in the world.
The only national teams which are made up largely of players based on home soil are the English, Spanish and Italian national teams, and even then, there are members who play abroad.
Players usually play for their national team until they are 30-35 and for their club team until they are 33-43.
For most of the world, player transfers are like buying goods, so money is paid from the club receiving the player to the club selling the player, unless the contract is expired, whereby there may be a free transfer involved. Player transfers can only occur in the summer, or in the January transfer window (for much of the world).
