nyssa@abnji.UUCP (nyssa of traken) (03/28/85)
This explaination of European Football shall come in 5 parts. Part 1: Standard Domestic Organisation (& intro) Part 2: Differences Part 3: European Competitions Part 4: International Competitions Part 5: History Each European country has their own league (with the exceptions of the tiny countries). In every case, the league is organised into several divisions, based on the teams success. At the end of the season, the bottom teams are dropped to a lower division (relegated) and the top teams are moved to the next higher division (promoted). The winner of the top division is the "League Champion". Every team in each division plays every other team in that division twice, once on each teams home ground. The winner of the match gets two points towards the division's championship. If the match is tied, then each team gets one point. The team with the most points at the end of the season is the winner. If there are teams that are level, all the goals scored in those teams matches are tallied. The team with the greatest difference between goals for and goals against is then winner. Should that, too, be the same, then the winner is the team that scored the most goals. (This occured last year between Huddersfield and Fulham.) Each country also runs a cup competition. Many clubs are eligible to enter the cups, not just the league clubs. Teams are paired at random for each round. Once a team is beaten, it is out. There are two ways of resolving these rounds. One is a single match. The home team is chosen at random, and a single match is played. The winner advances, the loser is out of the competition. If the match is tied, a second match is played on the other team's home ground. This series of matches continues until one team wins. (I believe the record is seven matches, but I may be wrong.) On some occaisions, this is terminated by penalty kicks, explained shortly. The other is to paly two matches, one on each team's home ground, and add the two scores. The winner of the aggregate scores is the winner. Should the aggregate be even, then the team that scored the most goals on the other team's ground wins on "away goals." Should away goals be level, an extra thirty minutes is played, NOT SUDDEN DEATH, and that score is added as well. If no goals are scored in the thirty minutes, then there are penalty kicks. In penalty kicks, each team gets to take five regular penalty kicks. (The kickers alternate between teams.) No player may take more than one. The team that scores with the most penalties is the winner. If that should still be level, the penalties alternate between teams until one team hits and the other misses. (Ask Graham Rix about that!) If all eleven players have taken a penalty, they start through the cycle again. Examples: New York beats Chicag0 2-0 in New York, then loses 4-1 in Chicago Aggregate is 3-4, so Chicago wins. New York beats Chicago 2-0 in New York, then loses 3-1 in Chicago. Aggregate is 3-3, but New York scored one in Chicago, while Chicago did not score in New York, so New York wins. New York beats Chicago 2-0 in New York, then loses 2-0 in Chicago. An extra 30 minutes is played, in which Chicago scores another goal. Aggregate is now 3-2, so Chicago wins. New York beats Chicago 2-0 in New York, then loses 2-0 in Chicago. An extra 30 minutes is played, no one scores. So they go to penalty kicks. Both teams are 4 for 5, so they alternate. At the eighth kick, New York hits while Chicago misses, therefore New York wins, 7-6 on penalties. Easy, really.