FFB Premier League Season 42The 42nd season of the FFB Premier League showed what a difference one player can make.
In the case of new premiership club Cardston FC, that player was 19-year-old goalkeeper Tommy Redmond. Playing for a club that barely averaged one goal per match, Redmond simply did better, yielding a remarkable 0.88 goals per match en route to personal Rookie of the Year honours and a second-place finish.
For Zarahemla All-Sport, it was again star midfielder Claire van de Graaf. But this year it was all downhill, as she played only six matches before a torn ACL sent her to the sidelines and her club into a downward spiral. The two-time defending champions finished ninth.
Meanwhile, Bloomfield National squeezed past upstarts Cardston on the next-to-last week of the season and held on for their fourth Premier League championship. They backed it up in UICA action with a round-of-32 performance in the Globe Cup, moving to the #131 spot in the world rankings.
Red Devils FC midfielder Sophia Valentine narrowly prevailed in the MVP ballot over Redmond and Bloomfield National keeper Jerome Patterson. Red Devils manager Kathleen Kirkpatrick also took honours for her side as Manager of the Year, and despite his departure for Sorthern Northland Dover City's Glen Svoboda played enough matches to capture top scorer honours in a last hurrah.
Much attention was focused on the bottom of the Premier League ladder. Four clubs would be sent packing, not to return for three seasons as realignment takes hold. The unlucky clubs were North Fork FC, West Scoville Athletic, UMFK, and Gernsback United. On the other hand, Great Falls Cymru and Wye Celtic picked the right time to surge, finishing atop the final season of the Championship Series and securing a spot in the top circuit for at least three seasons.
FFB Premier League Season 42
Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Bloomfield National 34 19 6 9 69 37 +32 63 TQCC/IC
2 Cardston FC 34 19 5 10 36 30 +6 62 TQCC/IC
3 Red Devils FC 34 19 3 12 64 49 +15 60 GC/IC
4 Belgium FC 34 17 7 10 59 40 +19 58 GC/IC
5 OGC Nancy 34 15 10 9 41 30 +11 55
6 Lehi FC 34 14 11 9 58 60 -2 53
7 Parisian 34 15 6 13 52 48 +4 51
8 Fylkir 34 13 10 11 59 46 +13 49
9 Zarahemla All-Sport 34 14 7 13 44 41 +3 49
10 Dover City 34 13 8 13 59 49 +10 47
11 Viktoria Baden 34 13 5 16 40 47 -7 44
12 Greenville Rovers 34 12 8 14 49 51 -2 44
13 South Side AC 34 11 8 15 35 42 -7 41
14 FK Maribor 34 12 4 18 41 61 -20 40
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15 North Fork FC 34 11 5 18 41 60 -19 38 Relegate
16 West Scoville Athletic 34 8 12 14 33 41 -8 36 Relegate
17 UMFK 34 8 8 18 28 43 -15 32 Relegate
18 Gernsback United 34 7 9 18 34 67 -33 30 Relegate
FFB Championship Series Season 42FFB Championship Series Season 42
Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Great Falls Cymru 34 20 11 3 44 18 +26 71 Promote/IC/SBCC
2 Wye Celtic 34 16 7 11 41 41 +0 55 Promote/IC/SBCC
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3 Handcarters 34 15 9 10 43 37 +6 54 IC/SBCC
4 Southland FC 34 15 9 10 44 39 +5 54 IC/SBCC
5 Blue Ridge FC 34 13 12 9 41 34 +7 51
6 Cardiff FC 34 14 8 12 46 40 +6 50
7 Real Valencia 34 13 10 11 36 30 +6 49
8 Xianggang FK 34 12 13 9 30 21 +9 49
9 FK Kabe 34 14 7 13 47 40 +7 49
10 Moroni White 34 12 11 11 33 36 -3 47
11 Sporting Boulder 34 11 12 11 35 38 -3 45
12 Four Towers 34 10 15 9 36 33 +3 45
13 Forest Park Rangers 34 11 8 15 32 37 -5 41
14 Baden 98 34 8 15 11 22 26 -4 39
15 West Scoville Tigers 34 8 11 15 25 36 -11 35
16 FK Tesla 34 7 12 15 35 41 -6 33
17 Real Santa Catalina 34 7 9 18 32 58 -26 30
18 Moroni Blue 34 6 9 19 25 42 -17 27
UICA Tournament Berths:- TakilQuip Champions' Cup: Bloomfield National, Cardston FC.
- Globe Cup: AC Santa Catalina (Islands Cup holders), Red Devils FC, Belgium FC.
- Series B Champions' Cup: Great Falls Cymru, Wye Celtic, Handcarters, Southland FC.
All berths subject to update should another FFB season finish before the UICA deadline.Additional Season 42 ResultsFFB Second Series Season 42
Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Gimnastic 34 20 9 5 33 12 +21 69 IC
2 Dover FC 34 15 15 4 40 23 +17 60 IC
3 Far Point Islanders 34 17 8 9 36 29 +7 59 IC
4 AC Santa Catalina 34 16 11 7 29 14 +15 59 GC/IC
5 SV Knizia 34 16 9 9 52 33 +19 57
6 FC Green Star 34 12 13 9 45 33 +12 49
7 Wright FC 34 13 8 13 34 31 +3 47
8 Three Rivers Pilots 34 11 12 11 47 43 +4 45
9 Capital AC 34 11 11 12 41 36 +5 44
10 Ysbeilwyr Caerdydd 34 11 11 12 26 30 -4 44
11 VfL Uchtdorf 34 11 9 14 34 37 -3 42
12 AS Paris 34 10 12 12 26 28 -2 42
13 Windsor FC 34 11 6 17 33 50 -17 39
14 Golden FC 34 10 9 15 42 47 -5 39
15 Brigham City Pioneers 34 8 13 13 36 42 -6 37
16 AD Getafe 34 9 6 19 31 50 -19 33
17 FK Verdurbo 34 9 6 19 40 65 -25 33
18 Charleston FC 34 8 8 18 37 59 -22 32
FFB Third Series Season 42
Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Futbalo-Libereco 34 16 9 9 56 30 +26 57 IC
2 FK Waringhien 34 16 8 10 29 20 +9 56 IC
3 The Orange 34 16 6 12 54 42 +12 54 IC
4 Jiayi Kickers 34 14 11 9 47 48 -1 53 IC
5 SA Middleton 34 16 5 13 40 34 +6 53
6 Hooligans 34 13 12 9 35 27 +8 51
7 Moundsville AC 34 14 7 13 57 51 +6 49
8 Charleston United 34 11 13 10 26 25 +1 46
9 Longview FC 34 11 12 11 29 27 +2 45
10 Centralia FC 34 10 15 9 27 30 -3 45
11 Marines Club 34 12 8 14 34 28 +6 44
12 Tardis FC 34 11 10 13 42 52 -10 43
13 Urbana FC 34 10 12 12 28 36 -8 42
14 Beachcombers 34 9 15 10 26 22 +4 42
15 La Movado 34 10 11 13 24 28 -4 41
16 Eintracht Augsburg 34 10 10 14 32 35 -3 40
17 Atletico Valencia 34 8 10 16 29 48 -19 34
18 Guardians FC 34 7 10 17 38 70 -32 31
Islands Cup XXXIWith the move to regional leagues coming in season 43, clubs in the lowest two series had no promotions to play for. A transitional format for Islands Cup XXXI was thus announced, with only the top four clubs in each league qualifying for a streamlined Cup. All pairings were randomly drawn and neutral grounds were assigned for every match.
Second Series club AC Santa Catalina made the most of their opportunity, stunning Premier League champions Bloomfield National in the opening round and following up with scalps from runners-up Cardston FC and fourth-place Belgium FC on the way to a most unlikely Islands Cup win.
Opening RoundThe Orange 1–2 Jiayi Kickers
Gimnastic 2–3 Southland FC
Handcarters 2–3 Belgium FC
Dover FC 0–1 FK Waringhien
Bloomfield National 1–2 AC Santa Catalina
Futbalo-Libereco 1–0 Far Point Islanders
Red Devils FC 2–0 Wye Celtic
Great Falls Cymru 1–4 Cardston FC
QuarterfinalsJiayi Kickers 2–3 Southland FC
Belgium FC 2–1 FK Waringhien
AC Santa Catalina 2–1 Futbalo-Libereco
Red Devils FC 1–4 Cardston FC
SemifinalsSouthland FC 1–2 Belgium FC
AC Santa Catalina 1–0 Cardston FC
FinalBelgium FC 1–3 AC Santa Catalina
(OOC: Domestic league scheduling runs on a RL calendar not synced to the international season.)
FFB RealignmentBeginning with next season, Season 43, the 72 professional football clubs of FFB are realigned into the FFB Premier League of 16 clubs and four regional leagues of 14 clubs each. The regional leagues are roughly divided by islands, with FFB management charged with moving clubs to adjacent regions as needed to square up the leagues.
The objectives are to stabilise the leagues so rivalries can take better hold and to reduce expenses for clubs below the top flight. Thus, promotion and relegation occur only once every three seasons. The first such moves under the new scheme will occur after season 45.
FFB Premier League Relegations: Three clubs will be relegated each cycle. Any club finishing in the bottom two twice or thrice in the cycle is relegated. Clubs that finish in the relegation zone once are compared based on total points over three seasons, with the worst performer(s) relegated to fill the slots. Assignment of clubs to regional leagues will be made by FFB management.
FFB Regional Leagues Promotions: Three clubs will be promoted each cycle. Any club winning its league championship more than once will promote. Clubs that win one championship are compared based on total points over three seasons, with the best performer(s) promoted to fill the slots.
Management will announce provisions for a playoff in ambiguous cases.
Season 43 League RollsFFB Premier League: Bloomfield National, Cardston FC, Red Devils FC, Belgium FC, OGC Nancy, Lehi FC, Parisian, Fylkir, Zarahemla All-Sport, Dover City, Viktoria Baden, Greenville Rovers, South Side AC, FK Maribor, Great Falls Cymru, Wye Celtic.
FFB Regional League Ijak: Beachcombers, FK Tesla, FK Verdurbo, FK Waringhien, Four Towers, Gernsback United, Handcarters, Jiayi Kickers, Moundsville AC, The Orange, UMFK, West Scoville Athletic, West Scoville Tigers, Xianggang FK.
(Gibson and Tesla)FFB Regional League Nash: Baden 98, Blue Ridge FC, Cardiff FC, Eintracht Augsburg, Far Point Islanders, Forest Park Rangers, Futbalo-Libereco, Guardians FC, Moroni Blue, Moroni White, North Fork FC, SV Knizia, Windsor FC, Ysbeilwyr Caerdydd.
(Daimler and North Island)FFB Regional League Svoboda: AC Santa Catalina, AD Getafe, AS Paris, Brigham City Pioneers, Centralia FC, Dover FC, FK Kabe, Gimnastic, Longview FC*, Marines Club, Real Santa Catalina, Tardis FC*, Urbana FC, Wright FC.
(Cayley and Verne)FFB Regional League Valdemar: Atletico Valencia, Capital AC, Charleston FC, Charleston United, FC Green Star, Golden FC, Hooligans, La Movado, Real Valencia, SA Middleton, Southland FC, Sporting Boulder, Three Rivers Pilots, VfL Uchtdorf.
(South Island)Starred (*) clubs are assigned outside of their region.
The Future of the Islands CupFrom Season 43 on, the Cup will feature 16 teams playing a single-elimination cup after the shorter regular season. The top eight teams in the FFB Premier League standing will be joined by the champion of each regional league and the winner of a single-elimination league cup in each league. All matches will be on neutral grounds, save only that the finals site will not be changed due to the advancing teams.