Season Capsules: 2051/52 Apertura, 2052/53 Clausura
2051: Apertura
Although the D-League hadn't been able to create any kind of impact internationally, league officials were still feeling good about their product heading into the Apertura. The previous four titles had all been decided on the final matchday, ensuring that compelling football was being played throughout the country all season long. Of course, there were still some rumblings of discontent that there was a clear divide forming between the haves and have-nots. The Raymaleys and Mizunos just couldn't compete with the Lakeports and Kildares, while teams like Chuuoushi and Takano managed to show sparks but never quite found their way out of the middle of the pack. But since the salary cap was gone and teams were free to approach whomever they wanted, surely an infusion of cash could eliminate those complaints?
Well, if that was the case, owners all over the league were being rather stingy. A few role players were swapped here and there, but once again, the offseason transfer market was lacking a marquee signing. There were some rather silly rumors going around that all of the league's scouts had simply vanished. There were plenty of analysts who expected Dynamo Kalinsk and Port Royal to be big players during the offseason after both had disappointing seasons, and Chuuoushi's drop from sixth to fifteenth was even more galling. On the other end of the spectum youhad Yuki City Athletic, who rose ten spots to fourth after things started to click with the development of youngsters Shane Bologna and Shannon Brookhouse. At goalkeeper and forward, respectively, the two helped reverse the team's fortunes. They also had a good draft class from their fourteenth-place finish in 2049, so it was apparent that they were out to improve internally before they considered adding to their stock of foreign players.
There was excitement in the air in Kildare as the club opened the doors of its new 61,000 seat stadium, the KPL Arena. There was a real fear that the team was in danger of losing its edge. The team looked very different from the one which won two straight titles, due to a combination of old age and sagging revenue. Although the club's fanbase was passionate and produced a string of sellouts, the Kirk County Stadium was just too small. Having boosted their capacity by nearly 25%, the management hoped that the KPL Arena would help the team recruit and retain talent by giving them more money to spend as well as providing more attractive facilities. They opened the stadium with pomp and circumstance, and most importantly, a victory. A 3-1 result over visiting Sporting Lakeport got them off on the right foot, with forward Angelo Santuli christening the pitch in the 23rd minute with its first league goal.
As expected, Sporting Lakeport were among the league leaders in the early going. No one could ever count them out as long as long as Jeremy McAllister, Jr. was in his element, and in Tim Purcell, the club thought it finally had the right combination of finesse and power up front. The aging midfield was a problem that would surely be dealt with in time; for now, there were no major concerns. They shrugged off the opening-day loss to Kildare and rattled off six straight wins to climb up to second in the table. Ahead of them? Somehow... Teknika Schlieffen. They stared the season 6-2-0. The team actually looked dangerous after their time near the bottom of the league produced some excellent draft classes. Now they had Olga Enterprise and Lincoln McFarland to provide veteran leadership, and that helped the youngsters around them harness their potential. Three members of the Di Bradini Cup 11 were in the first eleven for Schlieffen, and although they still had question marks up front, Kenny Banister was off to a strong start with 5 goals in the unbeaten run.
Everyone expected them to fade. It wasn't the first time that a team had gotten off to a hot start that surprised the traditional powers. Witness Chuuoushi mingling with the top of the pack alongside Schlieffen well into November. Ten wins for Schlieffen and nine for Chuuoushi had them first and second, respectively, while the familiar clubs lingered behind them. A draw with lowly Bradford and a loss against Stoneridge restored some order, with Lakeport reclaiming second place by the halfway point. Yuki City Athletic were behind them, and Eastport United were enjoying some time back in the sun. Eastport looked like they were in a similar situation as Kildare -- plenty of talent, but all of it aging. Lynn DiMino and Aiko Yoshida still had an intrinsic understanding which made their midfield play dangerous, but they had lost some of their speed. In Ken Antonovich, though, they had a striking talent which could keep them in games.
The biggest thing about the halfway point, though, was that Teknika Schlieffen had not lost their pace. In fact, they were growing the gap between themselves and Lakeport. After a home loss to Dynamo in Week 13, Schlieffen rattled off six straight to lead by seven points at the turn. Among them were victories over Grandborough and Kildare, which were both in the midst of subpar starts. Kildare were especially disappointing. Although they'd been invigorated by the opening of their new stadium, the losses started to pile up. Morale was low as the club sat at 6-2-11. Fans were bemoaning the fact that they'd managed to fall beneath even Super Dimension, they of three-consecutive nineteenth-place finishes.
Could they keep it up? There was starting to be talk that maybe they were a threat. And with clubs like Shuukyuu, Grandborough, and Kildare all trying to maintain respectability let alone go for the title, the number of seasoned challengers wasn't too large. But then Schlieffen went cold. Three straight losses, including one to Kishin, would have derailed the campaign if Lakeport hadn't also managed to lose two matches in that same stretch. The gap was narrowed to two, however, in Week 25. Lakeport's 3-1 away win against Coraopolis was balanced against Schlieffen's scoreless draw against King's Eleven. Yuki City Athletic exploded onto the scene with a 4-0 romp over Lakeport in Week 27, and a 2-0 road win against Schlieffen a week later pulled them within a point of the top. Schlieffen's bad swing continued with a 4-2 home loss to Lakeport the following week, which dropped them to third. Athletic and Lakeport stood at the top with identical 17-6-6 records as the league entered March. A 1-1 draw with Super Dimension confirmed fears that the dream was finally over for Schlieffen, who were leapfrogged by Kalinsk with eight games remaining.
But they weren't done yet. Lakeport and Athletic jockeyed for position and Lakeport pulled two points clear in Week 32 as Junior's hat trick powered them past Bradford. But Schlieffen were still in the picture; they rolled 5-1 away to Kalinsk, a result which Dancougar international Hajime Kojima couldn't explain to the press after the game. The next week, Schlieffen took sole position of second with a 3-2 win over Port Royal, and a 3-0 victory against Kildare created a logjam at the top. Lakeport's 1-1 draw with Stoneridge meant that with a month to go, both were sitting on 68 points. Suddenly, the dream was back. Players were starting to appear more on the streets of Schlieffen to encourage fans to support the team, which was in contention for the first time ever. They willed their team to victory in Week 35, a 2-1 road win against Aiken City which boosted them two points clear. The advantage grew to five when Lakeport stumbled at home to Shuukyuu Kishin in Week 36, while Schlieffen dominated a thoroughly average-looking Grandborough 4-0.
Raymaley Atheltic made things interesting, though. Yes, you read right -- woeful Raymaley, owners of the league's worst defense, scraped together a 3-0 win against Schlieffen which saw forward Chad Oliverio nab his first professional hat trick. That, coupled with Yuki City Athletic's 4-2 win against Takano, meant that the lead stood at two points with a game remaining. Once again, the final day would decide it, although it was only a two-team race. Lakeport's 0-0 draw with Port Royal left them four points out. Looking at the table, Schlieffen had the easier match, home to Takano. Athletic were away to Eastport, who were destined for a top-six finish with the league's highest-scoring attack. They beat Athletic 2-1, making Schlieffen's 3-3 draw meaningless. Despite the long odds and the roller-coaster ride, Teknika Schlieffen had broken the monopoly at the top.
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Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Teknika Schlieffen 38 23 6 9 76 46 30 75 ^ 9
2 Yuki City Athletic 38 21 9 8 76 44 32 72 ^ 2
3 Dynamo Kalinsk 38 20 12 6 72 51 21 72 ^ 11
4 Sporting Lakeport 38 20 10 8 74 47 27 70 v 2
5 Eastport United 38 20 8 10 80 53 27 68 ^ 1
6 Shuukyuu Kishin 38 19 8 11 76 55 21 65 ^ 1
7 Port Royal FC 38 16 11 11 57 46 11 59 ^ 4
8 Grandborough FC 38 16 10 12 71 60 11 58 v 7
9 CF America Chuuoushi 38 17 7 14 64 61 3 58 ^ 6
10 King's Eleven Yuki City 38 15 8 15 56 53 3 53 ^ 3
11 Sporting Kildare 38 16 2 20 61 61 0 50 v 6
12 FC Takano 1983 38 12 11 15 59 65 -6 47 v 3
13 Mizuno no Juuichi 38 12 11 15 59 70 -11 47 ^ 5
14 Stoneridge United 38 12 10 16 54 53 1 46 v 11
15 Port Vigilence FC 38 10 10 18 48 60 -12 40 ^ 1
16 Bradford United 38 10 7 21 45 67 -22 37 v 4
17 Raymaley Athletic 38 9 10 19 46 81 -35 37 ^ 3
18 Aiken City United 38 9 6 23 45 76 -31 33 v 10
19 Super Dimension Ogasawara 38 7 12 19 37 72 -35 33 -
20 Coraopolis FC 38 7 10 21 41 76 -35 31 v 3
International Roundup
Whatever excuses the boards were willing to throw out, one couldn't deny that the outlook wasn't rosy when Eastport United welcomed Jaarguzmuz FC to kick things off in the Globe Cup prelims. It was a close-run thing. Eastport twice squandered 2-1 leads, so the second leg went into penalties. August Swainston stopped two to put them into the next round, but there they ran into East Reading. A 0-0 at home was a bad sign, and in the second leg, Eastport fell flat and lost 3-1. Shuukyuu Kishin, however, looked far better against Pasarga's Tanrisal. Wins of 5-3 and 3-2, powered by Tsutomu Asahina's four goals, got them in the qualifying stage where they would join Sporting Kildare. Lakeport were also found themselves scrapping it out in the Globe Cup after exiting the second preliminary round of the TakilQuip, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Wexax United. They made a good account of themselves in the loss, but wasted opportunities by Jeremy McAllister, Jr. and Maki Selks came back to haunt them after the first leg ended 1-0 to the elves.
Better luck, through, for Stoneridge United in the TakilQuip. Much better, in fact, given the draw put before them. In the second preliminary round they were up against Albrecht Turkish, one of the world's most famous clubs and a former world champion. A thumping was expected, but at least fans would turn out to see it. But then Stoneridge won the first leg at home 3-2 after Hisatsune Matsuura capped a furious comeback with a free kick goal in the 84th minute. Then it was off to Albrecht, where reality was expected to set in. It didn't. A more emphatic win, 4-2 after dominating the match, saw them through to face Dunboor FC. Now surely the roof would come down. Not yet. A 2-2 road draw was followed by a 2-1 win at home, as Swartaz forward Konstantin Brita connected on three of the four goals. They were surprisingly through to the group stages along with automatic qualifiers Grandborough FC.
In the Globe Cup, things were looking good for the D-League, as well. Shuukyuu Kishin fought Casuals Osteria to a 3-3 road draw and then won 3-2 at home with Sarzonian Jody Nicholls coming off the bench to provide the late game-winner. Sporting Kildare hardly blinked against Seaford, cruising 8-1 on aggregate. And a McAllister, Jr. hat trick powered Lakeport past Firewood City 6-2 at home en route to a 7-3 aggregate victory which saw most of the reserves get a workout in the second leg. That meant that five D-League teams were still active in the group stages of international competition. Maybe things were looking up!
Or maybe reality was waiting for the right moment to rear its ugly head. Grandborough and Stoneridge were not only outplayed in the TakilQuip group stages, but they were thoroughly outclassed. Both clubs managed only a single win from their six games, meaning that the Globe Cup safety valve was no longer open to them. Grandborough fared the worst, finishing a full three points behind Mountbatten Junction in Group E with a 1-1-4 mark and a paltry four goals scored. They were shut out twice at home and looked nothing like the defending league champions, prompting a harsh reaction from the fans. Stoneridge did better in finishing 1-3-2, which somehow put them only a point out of second place. Raynor City and Atletico Jutense were themselves surprised to be playing second fiddle to the Bradley Hornets, who helped West Zirconia to a strong showing.
In the Globe Cup, things went a little better. Shuukyuu Kishin and Medoria Lowen cruised through Gruop D, each hitting double digit points to finish well clear of the competition. Kishin's 5-3 home win over Medoria was a strong candidate for match of the tournament, with both teams attacking with reckless abandon and producing an array of scoring chances that kept fans on the edge of their seats. Sporting Kildare were also through in Group K, having pipped Sargossa's El Nacional by a single point in the final standings. A goalless draw in the KPL Arena against An Blascaod Mor was the difference, although there were plenty of fans who maintained that they should have won the game after Kildare had a late goal disallowed for offside. The bad news was in Group L, were Lakeport were ousted after finishing two points behind Mort Park. They put up a decent fight, but a pair of losses to the West Zirconians put the knockouts out of reach.
Kishin and Kildare were all that was left, and both were awaiting Cafundeulese competition. America, former home of respected doctor and Dancougar legend Hideo Ikeda, went up against Kildare and lost 3-1 on aggregate, as Kildare gambled on a near full-strength lineup that featured developing stars Angelo Santuli and Louis Rheingold despite the battle they were going through for the Apertura. Kishin had a tougher time agianst Atletico Jutense, and ended up losing on away goals after both legs ended in a draw. Onward to the Round of 16, then, for Kildare. Their opponents were Albrecht FC, who won the first leg 2-0 and never looked back. The KPL Arena was silenced in the return leg, as a scoreless draw saw Kildare exit the tournament and end the D-League's international adventure.
2052: Clausura
A note on the Dancougar league calendar: the Clausura takes place concurrently with World Cup 49 qualifying, so this writeup will be somewhat ahead of the qualifying thread. In our timeline, the World Cup/Cup of Harmony take place in the summer after the conclusion of the Clausura.
Dynamo Kalinsk finished an impressive third in the Apertura, bouncing back strongly after a dismal 2050/51 campaign. There was talk of them challenging for the title, but it appeared like they would have an uphill battle for it after losing star midfielder Darren Letson to the offseason market. Cafundeu side Petardos S/A snapped him up by virtue of his performances for club and country, and suddenly they had some serious holes to fill. The midfield needed shoring up after a round of retirements, but they had a budding star in 24-year-old defender Leslie Serianni. If nothing else, goalkeeper Hajime Kojima was looking to make a statement to stay in the good graces of national team manager Lyle Dylandy during World Cup 49 qualifying.
Letson's transfer was the only major move of the summer, as once again most teams preferred to keep their core lineups stable and only haggle with interchangeable parts. The natural question to ask was whether or not Teknika Schlieffen had a chance to repeat as champions. Their title had sent shockwaves throughout the league and some were writing it off as a fluke. Surely it wouldn't happen again. But a look at rosters seemed to indicate things were in their favor. Being a World Cup year, most of the foreign players in the league were intermittently bound for international duty, leaving clubs with weakened lineups while they recovered from the matches. Teknika had just one foreigner, Arrozan veteran Olga Enterprise. And while it did have three Dancougarans named to Dylandy's pool, only one of them was expected to play a large role - midfielder Lincoln McFarland. So most of the young talent which had carried them through the season would be left largely untouched by the international events of the fall and spring, conferring them some advantage.
Two months into the season, they were hanging tough in third, but it seemed like a lot of their element of surprise had vanished. Port Royal led the league comfortably, and a 3-2 head-to-head result against the holders in Week 5 seemed to confirm that they were in the pole position. Port Royal had dropped out of the picture in the preceding seasons, but midfielder Colt Seneker was enjoying a strong start with three goals in the first eight games. The team was expected to suffer when Arie Honjo was away on international duty, but Seneker was playing like he had some beef with Dylandy for leaving him out of the picture. Although he was oft tagged as a future star in college, Seneker never really took off in the pros, and his steady contributions were not enough to build Port Royal into a contender. Now at age 30, his shot at international stardom had likely evaporated, but he was still on a mission to redeem his club's faith in him. Troy McDonalds and Sylvia Hester were also finding form up front, which made up for the occasional absense of Orochi Sugawara.
As November came to a close, Port Royal had a six point lead over Schlieffen, which always seemed to have time for a bad loss. A 1-0 defeat at home to Port Vigilence was a bit misleading, as Vigilence got off to an uncharacteristically fast start themselves and were sitting sixth at the time. Kildare were in full recovery mode and sat third in the table, a marked improvement from eleventh the year before. Defender Zach Ledain, now 35, continued to hold his own in the middle of the park despite seeing a significant drop in his speed over the offseason. He made up for it with his wits and awareness, so he rarely found himself in a bad position. As a testament to how things could quickly shake up in the D-League, Takano and Port Vigilence found themselves in the top half while Sporting Lakeport found itself in a dismal 17th. Too many of their players were struggling to balance time between club and country, especially Audrey Brodell and Junior, two of the squad's lynchpins. Stoneridge, Yuki City Athletic, Grandborough, and Shuukyuu Kishin also found themselves in the bottom half. Suddenly, the vote of confidence given to Kishin manager Jericho Leyton seemed premature, and the former Dancougar captain wondered if he should have jumped ship for the national team job after all.
All three would make gains by the halfway point, especially Grandborough, which closed out the first half with a six-game winning streak. Port Royal remained on top, but the lead had shrunk to a single point. Right behind them were their cross-delta rivals from Eastport United, who were getting spirited production from Abel Khalid and Ken Antonovich. The team's 43 goals scored were best in the league and powered them to 12-3-4. Schlieffen were a point behind them in third, while Kildare and Grandborough rounded out the top five. Thus began the shuffle. Teknika reclaimed the lead in Week 21 after a 3-0 decision against Kalinsk, while Port Royal stumbled 3-2 at home to Grandborough who ran their winning streak to eight. It finally ended the following week with a 1-1 draw away to Super Dimension, and other results made it a mere three points separating the top five. The top spot went to Eastport after they invited Port Royal across the river to the Muni and thrashed them 6-0. It would hold up as the largest home win of the year for any team.
By the end of February, Teknika had opened up a six-point lead over Kildare, while Eastport faded after their signature win. They went winless in six, drawing the subsequent three and then losing the three after that, including 2-0 at Schlieffen. Shuukyuu Kishin and Sporting Lakeport also pushed their way into the top half, and Kishin's revival was stirring. They rose to fifth in the table once the midfielder started making up for the frequent absense of their best forwards. Allen Jakubiak and Mary Staken were key contributers, and when he wasn't chosen for the national team, Sidney Rutledge always seemed to produce that one moment of brilliance that could turn a game in his side's favor. Realistically, though, they weren't in the race for the title at 11 points out. After a month, they reduced that gap to 10 but managed to fall to eighth after teams started to cluster together. They all knew that two-year point totals were on the line, and with that, spots for international competition.
Teknika remained in the lead, and although the gap was only two points with three matches to go, the message they were sending to the rest of the league was that they were for real. It was time for another power shift in the D-League, and they intended to benefit. Eastport had recovered from its fall and were three points back. Grandborough had the fewest losses in the league with six and sat in second place. Kildare and Kalinsk were both in striking distance, as well. But in Week 36, nearly everything that could have wrong wrong for the challengers did. Grandborough lost 1-0 at Raymaley and Eastport drew Bradford. Teknika's match agianst King's Eleven ended 3-1 to the leaders, which stretched the gap to four points.
The schedule worked very much in Schlieffen's favor. Fifth-place Grandborough hosted third-place Kalinsk in Week 37 and sixth-place Port Royal welcomed second-place Kildare. Schlieffen, meanwhile, were away to 14th-place Takano. If results went the right way, they could win the trophy with a game to spare. Port Royal and Grandborough each did their part by winning - comfortably, it should be said. Results of 3-1 and 4-1 gave Schlieffen the opportunity, and the 2-0 victory gave them 75 points and clinched the league title. Much of the drama surrounding two-year point totals was also alleviated down the stretch. With two straight championships, Schlieffen had a TakilQuip slot wrapped up easily. Eastport and Kalinsk both had a significant edge of their nearest competitors and were also guaranteed TakilQuip slots. The only real question that remained was how the Globe Cup would be divvied up. Grandborough's 2-1 win over Kildare on the final saw saw them grab the first slot, while Lakeport's loss to Stoneridge meant that Shuukyuu Kishin could jump them into the second slot with a victory over King's Eleven in the Queen's Cup. At 6-2, it wasn't much of a contest.
But once again, the story was Teknika. It had been a little over ten years since a bitter mutiny tore through the state of Helmut. While actual fighting only lasted a few days, there were still physical and mental signs of scarring. Questions still hadn't been answered about why it started, who the real perpetrators were, and what had happened to all the men and women swept up in the conflict. Now, after putting all that behind them, the citizens of Helmut - and the capital, Schlieffen - had a reason to be proud. Their club now had two consecutive D-League crowns, and there was no reason to believe they couldn't remain competitive in the years to come.
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Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Teknika Schlieffen 38 23 7 8 71 34 37 76 -
2 Eastport United 38 22 7 9 85 49 36 73 ^ 4
3 Grandborough FC 38 21 10 7 70 42 28 73 ^ 5
4 Sporting Kildare 38 20 8 10 72 50 22 68 ^ 7
5 Dynamo Kalinsk 38 21 5 12 66 48 18 68 v 2
6 Shuukyuu Kishin 38 19 8 11 82 58 24 65 -
7 Port Royal FC 38 21 2 15 76 59 17 65 -
8 Sporting Lakeport 38 17 9 12 79 64 15 60 v 4
9 King's Eleven Yuki City 38 17 8 13 73 64 9 59 ^ 1
10 Port Vigilence FC 38 16 11 11 61 62 -1 59 ^ 5
11 Yuki City Athletic 38 15 12 11 68 58 10 57 v 9
12 Stoneridge United 38 14 8 16 55 54 1 50 ^ 2
13 CF America Chuuoushi 38 14 7 17 48 61 -13 49 v 4
14 FC Takano 1983 38 12 6 20 52 51 1 42 v 2
15 Aiken City United 38 10 11 17 50 71 -21 41 ^ 3
16 Coraopolis FC 38 11 8 19 45 73 -28 41 ^ 4
17 Mizuno no Juuichi 38 8 13 17 50 68 -18 37 v 4
18 Bradford United 38 8 11 19 44 73 -29 35 v 2
19 Raymaley Athletic 38 6 7 25 37 91 -54 25 v 2
20 Super Dimension Ogasawara 38 3 6 29 28 82 -54 15 v 1
International Qualifiers
On the final day of the Clausura, Yuki City Athletic, sitting 11th in the table and looking decidedly average, still had a miraculous shot at international qualification. They stood at 126 aggregate points, one behind Shuukyuu Kishin's 127. If they got some help from King's Eleven, they could still squeak into the Globe Cup based almost entirely on the strength of their second-place finish in the Apertura. They beat Takano 2-1 but were disappointed to learn that Kishin had run away with the Queen's Cup, meaning they were out of the picture. Deservedly so, perhaps, but it was a tough crash for a team that had high hopes entering the season.
TQCC1: Teknika Schlieffen
TQCC2: Eastport United
TQCC3: Dynamo Kalinsk
GC1: Grandborough FC
GC2: Shuukyuu Kishin
GC3: Sporting Lakeport
International Stadium Bids
As the National Stadium won its bid to host the previous Globe Cup, the Dancougar FA will only present two stadium bids this time around.
TAKILQUIP CHAMPIONS' CUP
Stadium: Kirk Patrick Lockhart Arena
Location: Kildare, Juusenkitai
Home Of: Sporting Kildare
Capacity: 61,000
Notes: Constructed only two years ago to replacing the aging - and, let's face it, crufty - Kirk County Stadium, the KPL Arena is a state-of-the-art facility with a natural grass pitch made possible by a retractable roof. This ensures perfect conditions for the final and an intimate atmosphere, although the city's public transport and infrastructure are not at the same level as Yuki City or state capital Port Royal.
SERIES B CHAMPIONS' CUP
Stadium: Aclaf Stadium
Location: Port Royal, Juusenkitai
Home Of: Port Royal FC
Capacity: 60,000
Notes: Located at the waterfront of this eastern port city, near the Leonard Sweetwater Arena and the city's prime nightlife destinations. Traveling fans will have access to the entire Kishin Delta region thanks to the Metropolitan East Transportation Authority (META) which links the twin cities of Port Royal and Eastport.
