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OPSL season 5: A Romainbourgeois title race goes into the home stretch, while East Calaverdians enjoy success lower down
Two East Calaverdian clubs win OPSL divisional title, while Anne-Sophie Groothuis adds a Premier Division championship to her collection of honours
Romainbourg —The story of this championship started, of all places, in Cobrio. Having just been murdered 9–0 over two legs in the IFCF Challengers Cup (not to be confused with the OPSL Challenge Cup), the club had reached a breaking point: already sitting on the bottom of the division after six games, Alexis Stephanidis got the axe before she even boarded the plane home to Romainbourg. In one of Omerica’s most surprising managerial hires of all time, “the Miracle Worker” Anne-Sophie Groothuis made the journey to the Republic of the City of Romainbourg for what was, it turns out, a match made in heaven.
This season was meant to be a title procession for AS Républicains. Nothing could stop them, not even Mother Nature. Winning eight games on the bounce to start the season, they went top of the league by matchday four and were undefeated until a shocking trip to arch-nemesis Malavan Romainbourg’s Stade des Marins on matchday 11. It didn’t stop them from holding a comfortable five-point lead by the midpoint of the season—exactly the position they held when the previous one was abandoned—with Malavan winning the battle for second place, one point ahead of United Philibiscostal.
Much joy was to be had when Malavan suffered a scoreless draw at home to Inter Bayonnette, extending Républicains’ lead at the top to seven points. But the laughs were short-lived: Kingsmouth pulled off one of the upsets of the season, coming from 3–1 behind at halftime to defeat the league leaders 5–4. Just a few matchdays later, Républicains drew 1–1 to the same Bayonnette team that defeated their archrivals, cutting their lead in the division in half.
Malavan were nibbling at Républicains’ feet, but every opportunity for the noisy gits to take the lead was wasted. Républicains kept their lead by the grace of God. Républicains draw La Corona 1–1 at home? Malavan draw 3–3 in Londonderry the next day. Républicains grind out a scoreless draw at the Arena la Rouge? Malavan lose 3–1 at home to Ever Grande. Républicains lose 1–0 in Sassari? Malavan fall 2–1 at home to Falcon United. Républicains host Malavan in the Romainbourgeois derby? 1–1 draw. It seemed that Républicains were just destined for the title.
But after Républicains left Coleraine with a 2–0 loss against Londonderry, watching Malavan ROFL-stomp visiting Kingsmouth was absolute horror to the red side of Romainbourg. 3–0 and with three matchdays left, Malavan were now leading the division by two points. Républicains would get back on their winning form with a 1–0 at home to Ever Grande, but Malavan had already left Great Arden having summarily put Força Lisboa to the sword and sealed the Ardenian side’s relegation to the Second Division.
Then, on a wet night in Port-des-Saints, Capital Dragons ground out a scoreless draw and the trophy was potentially one game away from slipping out of Républicains’ hands. Nassau were due to visit the Stade des Marins and had to claim at least a draw for Républicains to stay in the title race. Things started out well for the visitors: Ariane van der Berg slotted past Malavan captain and goalkeeper Coralie Turchi, but Théo Deniau equalised before the break. Républicains remained in contention until the 61st minute, as Ismaël Abdullah slotted the ball past Annabelle Owens to put Malavan 2–1 up.
That would be the final goal of the match. The title race was over. Association Sportive des Républicains had been denied by disease and now knew a fate, to them, that was worse than death—the OPSL title in the hands of Malavan Club de Romainbourg—and, this time, their misfortune was their own damn fault.
Les Voyageurs, however, were not to be denied. The Premier Division trophy was calling Coralie’s name. The championship was waiting to climb into the arms of Anne-Sophie. The ribbons were to be black, white and sky blue. Malavan supporters will celebrate for now, but—if the rumours are correct—the task of finding a new manager who can carry on Groothuis’s work will hang over Les Voyageurs’ victory.
Meanwhile, Jraxville FC, in whose stadium Stephanidis lost her job as Malavan manager, were to be found nowhere near the Rabastorian title.
On the other end of the table, Athéna Levanin kept hope alive with a crucial win over already-safe Inter Bayonnette. Capital Dragons’ draw had perhaps shaken them more than Républicains, leaving the team from the capital in danger of dropping, but the fear was all for naught. Dragons defeated Kingsmouth away to secure their survival, making La Corona’s helpful hand—a 4–2 win over Athéna—unnecessary. Bayonnette’s four-goal draw at home to Trailblazers meant that they’d be the lowest-placed team to stay up thanks to the OPSL’s unusual rule of breaking ties in favour of teams with more wins.
Athéna Levanin thus became the first fifteenth-place finishers to suffer an automatic drop to the Second Division. “People will say we voted ourselves out of the top division,” Athéna chairman Jean-Christophe de Pietro said, referring to the pre-season vote to introduce a second automatic relegation spot that he supported. “But a playoff is risky. Unfortunately, there’s no way to guarantee that the outcome would have been different.”
OPSL Premier Division Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Malavan Romainbourg 30 19 6 5 46 25 +21 63 Champions League
2 AS Républicains 30 17 8 5 49 29 +20 59 Premier Division playoffs
3 Londonderry FC 30 18 4 8 59 42 +17 58 Challengers Cup¹
4 United Philibiscostal 30 16 7 7 58 35 +23 55 Premier Division playoffs
5 Corona Christiana 30 13 8 9 46 35 +11 47 Premier Division playoffs
6 Saint Anne Athletic 30 12 9 9 63 56 +7 45 Challengers Cup²
7 Falcon United 30 12 7 11 42 38 +4 43 Premier Division playoffs
8 Nassau FC 30 11 9 10 51 50 +1 42
9 Ever Grande 30 12 5 13 54 50 +4 41
10 Sassari Trailblazers 30 12 4 14 36 40 −4 40
11 Forestia Cricket 30 11 6 13 29 34 −5 39
12 Kingsmouth FC 30 9 5 16 38 56 −18 32
13 Capital Dragons FC 30 8 6 16 37 52 −15 30
14 Inter Bayonnette 30 7 9 14 39 48 −9 30
15 Athéna Levanin 30 6 7 17 34 54 −20 25 Second Division
16 Força Lisboa 30 5 4 21 27 64 −37 19 Second Division
¹OPSL Challenge Cup winners; ²Federation Cup winners
The Second Division went all the way down to the final day, but became an almost instant dud. Groothuis’s old team Club de 28 Mars held the lead going into the final day and just needed to win to seal the divisional title and promotion to the Premier Division. Less than four minutes into their game in South Provence, they took the lead and they never looked back. Andreaskruis bagged the win they needed to stay alive, but Lacédémonienne had failed to do the job and Calaverdian representation in the top flight was therefore restored.
All the drama was on the other end of the table, where Violet Dunleary had a fragile one-point advantage over Montzieu Gymnastique with both teams were hosting title contenders. Andreaskruis easily took the lead and Dunleary never looked like threatening it. Montzieu, however, took the lead against Olympique Provençal and looked to be climbing out of the drop zone. Olympique had equalised before halftime, but the result would still keep Montzieu up on goal difference. Going into injury time, the score had not changed and Montzieu had hope.
Except that Olympique scored less than two minutes into stoppage, bouncing Montzieu back into the drop zone. Before the players could even process what had happened, Olympique scored again. 3–1 was the final score and Montzieu were headed down to the Third Division after all.
OPSL Second Division Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Club de 28 Mars 30 18 6 6 66 40 +26 60 Premier Division; Champions Trophy
2 Andreaskruis 30 18 5 7 52 32 +20 59 Second Division playoffs; Champions Trophy
3 Olympique Provençal 30 17 8 5 48 23 +25 59 Second Division playoffs; Champions Trophy
4 Williamsburg SC 30 15 10 5 58 38 +20 55 Second Division playoffs
5 Aelton Warriors 30 16 6 8 55 43 +12 54 Second Division playoffs
6 AS Saint-Christophe 30 15 4 11 40 41 −1 49
7 AS Lacédémonienne 30 15 2 13 46 45 +1 47
8 Ysberg Voetbal 30 12 11 7 46 36 +10 47
9 Racing Rialto 30 13 6 11 38 34 +4 45
10 Cathair Dhoire 30 10 8 12 35 36 −1 38
11 Independence FC 30 9 8 13 39 47 −8 35
12 Inter Épiteaux 30 9 6 15 33 47 −14 33
13 New Cardiff FC 30 8 4 18 48 56 −8 28
14 Violet Dunleary 30 6 4 20 25 54 −29 22
15 Montzieu Gymnastique 30 5 6 19 35 58 −23 21 Third Division
16 Racing Amstad 30 5 4 21 31 65 −34 19 Third Division
All-in-all, it was a good season to be an East Calaverdian club in the OPSL. Châtaigneraie—who managed the fewest defeats across the league—had to wait until the final day of the season to win their title, but picked up the win that would secure them the title. Not that Châlons were threatening their lead at any point, though, getting battered 5–1 by Gold Coast Market.
But the story of the season was Athlétique Trois-Fleuves’s 3–0 win to close out the season. Despite the match being a virtual dead rubber, what with Athlétique having secured a playoff place with a game to spare, the game was notable for what it did to the record of Grand-Océan: the North Provençal side would please memelords everywhere by finishing 10–10–10 in the league, having scored 32 goals and conceded 32 goals. Balance!
OPSL Third Division Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 AS Châtaigneraie 30 17 10 3 57 31 +26 61 Second Division
2 US Châlons 30 16 7 7 46 35 +11 55 Third Division playoffs
3 Racing Roslow 30 16 6 8 52 39 +13 54 Third Division playoffs
4 Langholm Oak 30 16 5 9 57 35 +22 53 Third Division playoffs
5 Athlétique Trois-Fleuves 30 15 5 10 57 40 +17 50 Third Division playoffs
6 CF Esconditnegro 30 12 6 12 36 38 −2 42
7 Grand-Océan 30 10 10 10 32 32 0 40
8 Ville Félibourg 30 10 9 11 40 40 0 39
9 Club de 24 Juin 30 10 9 11 36 38 −2 39
10 Tyrone Athletic 30 9 10 11 55 57 −2 37
11 Williamsport Kickers 30 10 6 14 38 50 −12 36
12 Wharfland Ferry FC 30 9 8 13 40 36 +4 35
13 Gold Coast Market 30 8 10 12 36 44 −8 34
14 Hampstead Road 30 9 5 16 32 61 −29 32
15 Excelsior Stockbridge 30 8 6 16 34 46 −12 30 Fourth Division
16 Château-d’Or 30 5 8 17 30 56 −26 23 Fourth Division
Templemore bounce back up with a game to spare, while Nouvelle Savoie easily slip back into the ignominy of semi-professional football. Twin Cities remained alive into the final day of the season, but were sent down thanks to their 2–0 defeat against Foot Balon, forcing them to shuffle back to the OIFA in shame.
OPSL Fourth Division Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Templemore Rovers 30 19 5 6 61 29 +32 62 Third Division
2 Newcastle Harbour 30 16 9 5 60 37 +23 57 Fourth Division playoffs
3 Foot Balon 30 16 7 7 56 38 +18 55 Fourth Division playoffs
4 Craven United 30 16 5 9 47 41 +6 53 Fourth Division playoffs
5 Bleus-et-Blancs 30 15 6 9 47 34 +13 51 Fourth Division playoffs
6 Révolution d’Affolchâtel 30 14 8 8 40 33 +7 50
7 Tennis Sisteron 30 13 6 11 47 42 +5 45
8 Hainault United 30 13 5 12 48 46 +2 44
9 Port Juliana 30 9 11 10 45 48 −3 38
10 Sombrefeuille FC 30 9 9 12 35 39 −4 36
11 Ossenveen VC 30 9 9 12 43 51 −8 36
12 Étoile Rouge 30 9 9 12 42 53 −11 36
13 Swordsmiths 30 10 4 16 44 50 −6 34
14 En Avant 30 10 1 19 46 70 −24 31
15 Twin Cities FC 30 8 3 19 41 65 −24 27 OIFA Series A
16 Nouvelle Savoie 30 2 7 21 34 60 −26 13 OIFA Series A
Omerica (OME) qualifiers
Primary association
Champions League: Malavan Romainbourg
[Rising Stars Cup: Aucune Équipe Qualifiée]
Challengers Cup: Saint Anne Athletic (cup winners), Londonderry FC (league cup), United Philibiscostal (playoff winners)
Champions Trophy: Club de 28 Mars, Andreaskruis, Olympique Provençal