IRON SPORT: Iron Syndicate Domestic Sports

[The Iron Syndicate]

Closed newswire thread for The Iron Syndicate and associated nations. Posting rights belong to TIS/the user behind TIS.

IRON SPORT: PRESENTED BY NOODLE
Welcome to Iron Sport, from wherever you may be. We are the cutting edge of sports coverage on the islands and territories of the Iron Syndicate, as the official corporation that was selected to be the only official source of sports news in the country. We're presented by Noodle, the largest search engine and internet provider in the islands and in the space territories. No matter where you are, Noodle is the most reliable source for answers to your questions and for staying connected with the outside world.

Because of our partnership with the Board of Executives of the Iron Syndicate, we have access to the athletes of the country that's closer than anything you've ever seen before. We'll take you inside locker rooms, inside the private homes of your favorite players, and bring you every big and minor stoyline that happens over the course of the season. Additionally, we're going to bring you up to the minute coverage of all of the Ironite national teams and international athletes. Below, you'll find some more info about us and the territory that we cover.



Who Are You?
We are the largest sporting corporation in the country, and the sponsor of multiple sporting leagues. We also own ten sports related channels that can be found on Ironite TV sets, and we regularly stream our content abroad. Our base is in Portus, the capital of the Iron Syndicate, and our Executive is former Ironite basketball player Kai Silverstone, who is also the brother of Portum Island governor Kal Silverstone. Other regular contributors that you will see are Mariel Lightfoot, John Goldshine, and Brandon Strongsword. We'll also have some features in the future with national team players from different sports, and other athletes of note.

Where Am I?
This place is the Iron Syndicate. It's a group of mega corporations that banded together a few decades ago to bring order, stability, and prosperity to the islands of the Sea of Iron, located between Esportiva, Rushmore, and Atlantian Oceania. They operate together as one conglomerate under the Executive Board of the Iron Syndicate, and they are giants of commerce and industry that have become powerful enough to run this country themselves. Our nation, however, is still a democracy where Board members are voted in annually, with the Chief Executive also being selected by the people. People who live in the megacities of the islands often live in absolute luxury and decadence, with the Iron Syndicate claiming the title of Most Decadent Place On Earth. There's also space colonies that have the role of harvesting resources, though the quality of life there is known to be drastically lower and closer to a third world place.

The things that you should know is that Portus is the capital, the total population is three hundred million including the space colonies, and that the nation speaks English and Ironite, a combination of Latin and other languages. You should also know that the nation is working on improving its international profile in recent years. One more thing, it's worth noting that Ironite citizens will mostly have shorthand names that take the place of their long ID numbers. These names will consist of a first name and a one letter surname, that isn't a true family name. If someone has a family name, it means that they're typically either rich, important, or both.

And with that, we welcome you to our site. We hope you'll enjoy your stay, and find our unique sporting culture interesting.

[The Iron Syndicate]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Football
National League/Portum League Season 31

Rugby
The Rugby Syndicate 31

[The Iron Syndicate]

DATABASE OF IRONITE ATHLETES
COMING SOON

[The Iron Syndicate]

LEAGUE HISTORY IN THE IRON SYNDICATE

PTC National League
1: Portus Central
2: Portus Independent
3: Portus Independent
4: Sporting Ceres
5: Portus Central
6: Union Atrus
7: Portus Central
8: Portus Independent
9: Red Hill United
10: Zombie FC
11: Zombie FC
12: Union Atrus
13: Portus Central
14: Portus Central
15: Zombie FC
16: Red Hill United
17: Sporting Ceres
18: Union Atrus
19: Zombie FC
20: Portus Central
21: Sporting Ceres
22: Sporting Ceres
23: Sporting Ceres
24: Portus Independent
25: Portus Central
26: Portus Central
27: Zombie FC
28: Silvershire Sporting
29: Portus Central
30: Sporting Ceres
31: Portus Central


Iron Shield
1: Portus Independent
2: Portus Independent
3: Red Hill United
4: Portus Central
5: Portus Central
6: Union Atrus
7: Red Hill United
8: Silvershire Sporting
9: Sporting Ceres
10: Northstar United
11: Portus Central
12: Red Hill United
13: Portus Independent
14: Sporting Ceres
15: Zombie FC
16: Racing Club Westbay
17: Racing Club Westbay
18: Portus Central
19: Sporting Ceres
20: Red Hill United
21: Silvershire Sporting
22: Luxus FC
23: Sporting Ceres
24: Sporting Ceres
25: Portus Independent
26: Zombie FC
27: Portus Central
28: Sporting Ceres
29: Zombie FC
30: Red Hill United
31: Zombie FC


Formula S
1: Carsen Bold
2: Carsen Bold
3: Demetrius Sol
4: Grayson Chase
5: Carsen Bold
6: Jacob Monteroyal
7: Grayson Chase
8: Grayson Chase
9: Demetrius Sol
10: Ella Estrella
11: Landon Fritz
12: Carsen Bold
13: Grayson Chase
14: Ella Estrella
15: Lagi Lightfoot
16: Lagi Lightfoot
17: Lagi Lightfoot
18: Ella Estrella
19: Carsen Bold
20: Lagi Lightfoot
21: Bryan Santos
22: Emere Isla
23: Loto Amitas
24: Eder Augustus 
25: TJ Chase
26: Loto Amitas
27: Bryan Santos
28: TJ Chase
29: Zhen Estrella
30: TJ Chase
31: TJ Chase
32: Zhen Estrella
33: Latrell Dreschler
34: Matt Brightstar
35: TJ Chase

1: Red Hill Racing
2: Red Hill Racing
3: Red Hill Racing
4: Ceres Motors
5: Red Hill Racing
6: Luxus Automotive
7: Ceres Motors
8: Ceres Motors
9: Luxus Automotive
10: Portus Racing Team
11: Ceres Motors
12: Red Hill Racing
13: Ceres Motors
14: Portus Racing Team
15: Territorial Motors
16: Territorial Motors
17: Territorial Motors
18: Portus Racing Team
19: Luxus Automotive
20: Territorial Motors
21: Black Isle Racing
22: Black Isle Racing
23: Territorial Motors
24: Red Hill Racing
25: Ceres Motors
26: Black Isle Racing
27: Black Isle Racing
28: Ceres Motors
29: Portus Racing Team
30: Ceres Motors
31: Corsa Portum
32: Portus Racing Team
33: Portus Racing Team
34: Corsa Portum
35: Red Hill Racing

[The Iron Syndicate]

OOC: As my plans have shifted, I have decided that the Iron Syndicate will be my second UICA league rather than Anglatia, hence this league and the creation of the newswire. You'll see the story implications of this league soon in the Independents Cup.

   PTC National League      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Portus Central            28   16   6   6    55   37  +18    54
 2 Zombie FC                 28   14  11   3    65   42  +23    53
 3 Sporting Ceres            28   15   7   6    70   53  +17    52
 4 Union Atrus               28   14   7   7    53   40  +13    49
 5 Portus Independent        28   14   3  11    52   45   +7    45
 6 Red Hill United           28   12   9   7    41   37   +4    45
 7 Silvershire Sporting      28   11   7  10    58   54   +4    40
 8 Portus South              28   11   6  11    57   52   +5    39
 9 Northstar United          28    8   7  13    43   61  −18    31
10 Luxus FC                  28    7   9  12    50   57   −7    30
11 Atrus West                28    7   9  12    49   65  −16    30
12 Racing Club Westbay       28    7   8  13    54   64  −10    29
13 Noodle SC                 28    7   7  14    60   70  −10    28
14 Sporting Luxus            28    8   4  16    50   65  −15    28
15 Metrus United             28    6   6  16    65   80  −15    24

  Portum Developmental League  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Academy United                14   10   1   3    39   23  +16    31
2 Central B                     14    9   1   4    28   22   +6    28
3 Portus Harbor FC              14    6   5   3    28   24   +4    23
4 Bay of Portus FC              14    7   2   5    28   25   +3    23
5 Portum Park FC                14    4   5   5    18   18    0    17
6 Independent B                 14    2   7   5    21   26   −5    13
7 Portus Reds                   14    3   2   9    17   27  −10    11
8 Noodle SC B                   14    2   3   9    26   40  −14     9

The National League is a bit of a strange beast. The format is different than what most are used to, the league has a crazy amount of wealth even in the lower parts of the table, and the cities are massive, with even the smaller cities in the league having more than ten million inhabitants. There's also some clubs owned directly by corporations, such as Noodle SC and Zombie FC, which are owned by Noodle and Zombie Energy. The culture of the league is similar to the culture that the country has overall. Style and flash are important, even at the expense of substance, and teams train their players very well in technical skills while not necessarily focusing on conditioning and physical strength. The top players of these clubs are paid handsomely and become legendary figures in their cities, while even lesser known players are taken care of.

This year, the title was decided between the traditionally big clubs and their massive payrolls. Central captured it, but Zombie FC was just behind them with another push that came behind their excellent staff and management, and Sporting Ceres and the largest payroll in the league led them to third place. Before we talk about the season, let's go over the contrast between the three cities. Central is based, obviously, in downtown Portus, the capital of the country in addition to being the capital of the island of Portum. It's home to forty million people and is one of the larger cities in the country, and has long been the capital of luxury and business. Just like the rest of the country, Portus is focused on decadence, but it takes that to extremes. Extravagant dress, elaborate foods, crazy architecture, a massive red light district, you can find it all in Portus.

They say the nightlife in Portus is mind blowing, and the famous party atmosphere and luxury is the reason why Central can recruit players so well. Everyone knows how things work. Go to Central, and you'll be showered in money, girls, all manor of drugs, and given a place to live in what's considered to be the best part of the nicest city in the Syndicate. On the other hand, Zombie FC is based on the island and city of Red Hill, which is built more around its port and while it is still a high class city, has more industry. The tech industry is huge in Red Hill and the Zombie FC staff have taken advantage of that to build a very intelligent staff that's mostly based locally. They've become known as the advanced analytics club and have used that to gain an edge on a lesser budget than several other big teams, including the other huge Portum club, Independent.

Sporting Ceres is based in the northern hills in the suburbs of the city of Ceres, which is home to twenty five million. They share the city with Noodle SC and their city is more known for the entertainment industry. Acting, music, TV, you can find all of it in Ceres, and the suburbs in particular. While their city isn't the richest, their neighborhood has the most coins per capita of anyone in the Syndicate, even more than downtown Portus. Because of this, Ceres has a very high payroll and is owned by eccentric billionaire Ricky Eaststar, who pumped over a hundred million last season into investments for rebuilding the club to their glory days. They won season number seventeen, but with an aging squad, they needed all the cash they can get.

Central were the glamorous capital team looking to get their title back, Zombie were the younger upstarts trying to cut corners in the budget, and Ceres was trying not to underachieve on an absolutely huge payroll. That was the narrative going into the season, and that was what eventually decided things. Central put out another star studded lineup, featuring experienced 28 year old striker Alonso Cortes playing in front of 20 year old midfielder Lucy Silverstone. Silverstone was playing in her first season, but obviously had access to some of the best training, as the daughter of Portum governor Kal Silverstone. And next to her, completing the star trio, was new 24 year old winger Deandre Z, who had a great first season with Central to help lift them to the title.

Zombie, on the other hand, was less balanced. They focused more on the attack and that caused their GD to be slightly worse than Central's. Slightly, yes, but Central was only able to win the league by a single point after Lucy Silverstone's late goal lifted them over a middling Noodle SC. If Zombie had fixed up their defensive problems before late in the season, they would have been the champions instead of the team from the capital. Ceres put pressure on the top three all season but surprisingly never led, creating speculation that Ricky Eaststar could make a managerial change. Whatever happens, the fanbase will be demanding more results from their hundred million plus payroll.

At the bottom of the table, two casino teams duked it out. Metrus and Luxus are both big vacation and gambling islands, and are tax havens, but their wealth couldn't make up for these clubs not having the tradition of some of the bigger city clubs. But, this is where the fact that there's no relegation plays in. Metrus will have to live with an angry fanbase and with being the laughing stock of the league, but they'll have a chance to sort things out next season. However, there's a twist in that this is the first year when there will be Ironite teams in UICA competition. Here's what the qualification results look like.

Iron Syndicate (IRN) qualifiers
Puppet of The Redvale
Champions’ Cup: Portus Central
Globe Cup: Zombie FC, Sporting Ceres, Union Atrus
SBCC: Academy United, Central B, Portus Harbor FC

[The Iron Syndicate]

Syndicate Rugby: The 31st Season

   The Rugby Syndicate      Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts 
 1 Red Hill Highlanders      22   18   0   4   391  245 +146    72
 2 RFC Central               22   15   1   6   367  259 +108    62
 3 RFC Independent           22   15   1   6   394  291 +103    62
 4 Metrus Astros             22   12   1   9   346  300  +46    50
 5 Ceres Loons               22   12   1   9   338  322  +16    50
 6 Luxus Kingfishers         22   11   1  10   433  308 +125    46
 7 Silvershire Union         22   11   1  10   287  309  −22    46
 8 Portus Park Rangers       22    9   3  10   267  302  −35    42
 9 RFC Academy               22    9   1  12   357  424  −67    38
10 Atrus Trojans             22    5   2  15   242  382 −140    24
11 Cerium Leopards           22    4   3  15   242  360 −118    22
12 Westbay Admirals          22    3   1  18   237  399 −162    14

Rugby Syndicate: Highlanders roll to win in season 31 as intrigue over national team begins
Coverage by John Goldshine

Rugby is one of the sports that's more popular in the Iron Syndicate than it is in other places across the multiverse, and it's one of the sports with the most money in it. Money in the league, money in gambling, money in TV deals, etc. This time, the gamblers that placed bets on the field, notably on RFC Central and RFC Independent, the two main teams from Portus, will be disappointed. It was the favorites that walked away with the title, with the Red Hill Highlanders finishing ten points above second place Central. On the other hand, those who bet on Central to finish second will be happy... But most people didn't, with Central's hype train hitting peak levels in the preseason before they faltered around the middle of the season despite a good start and a decent finish too.

It wasn't that they were bad, but Red Hill has the most quality of anyone right now, with the techie owners of the team investing in advanced analytics to find the best talents and get the most out of their lesser known players. Fly half Eric Hammer was brilliant all season long, and that became one of the storylines of the season, along with the rise of young Red Hill centre Dre Martins, who signed on a free transfer from the Ceres Loons at age twenty one before proceeding to start every match and have a breakout season. Martins and Hammer proved to be a golden combination for Red Hill, with Hammer playing the number ten role and Martins taking up the number twelve role behind him.

The best drama, though, wasn't on the pitch. There were two big storylines related to the business side... One was the Luxus Kingfishers failing to find a new owner during the season. The club is under a transitional phase of leadership after former owner Lars del Cerium passed away unexpectedly in the preseason. The Kingfishers were already going through financial troubles in past seasons, but this means that unless there's a change, they definitely won't be able to pay off all of their debts, or even most of them. It's believed that unless they find an owner before next season, they won't be allowed to renew their license to compete in the Rugby Syndicate, which could see the team drop to a lower league or fold completely. Fans have attempted to crowdsource funds to pay the team's debts, but with the heaviest debts in the league, it's unlikely that anyone will donate enough to come close to paying them off. The Save The Kingfishers campaign has become a nationally trending topic on social media, and trended on matchdays during the season as fans of one of the most popular teams in the league tried to drum up support for the crowdfunding. We'll see if anything comes of it, or if the Syndicate will be looking for a replacement team for next season.

The other major story developed largely silently in the boardrooms of some of the biggest television moguls in the Syndicate. The story was, of course, about the TV contracts for the league and the need to grow to keep from being overtaken by Rugby League, the sport that's popular in the territories and that's trying to break into the islands. If Rugby League passes Union in popularity on TV, that would spell disastrous results for the Rugby Syndicate. The implication is that a higher TV rating would lead to Union's monopoly on the islands being broken, and as a result, the Rugby Syndicate was willing to bust out some measures that they had been sleeping on in the case of an emergency.

More specifically, they have talked with the government about the creation of a Rugby Union national team, run on the watch of the Syndicate's leaders and with matches broadcast on TRS' biggest TV partner, I-Vision. The team, which will supposedly be named the Black Arrows to match the national football team, will compete in the next Rugby Union World Cup if the rumors are true, and will be made of mostly Rugby Union players, and not League players from the space territories that can play both sports. For the uninformed, this would be absolutely HUGE for Rugby Union in the Syndicate and its territories, with Union drumming up viewership with a national team and League having no such counterpart. The Territorial Championship plans to dispute the creation of the team, but Portum governor Kal Silverstone is believed to be heavily lobbying in favor of it, because of Portum's culture of playing Rugby Union.

Whatever happens, people are attracted to drama. The head of Syndicate Rugby, Jean Darkell, has confirmed that the rumors are at least partially true, stating this: "We believe that our nation is one of the most passionate when it comes to rugby and we believe that we can both share that passion with the rest of the world and grow our game domestically by joining the top level of competition, the international one. We can't make exact promises but we are looking at sites for a national stadium and looking for interest levels from players to see if it's a viable option right now. But yes, I think the chance of a national team being created is greater than the chance that one isn't."

Continue Reading...

Territorial Championship

 Territorial Championship           Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts 
1 Station Sixteen Chiefs              28   21   3   4   376  233 +143    90
2 Black Isle Monsters                 28   20   1   7   431  270 +161    82
3 New Portum RFC                      28   17   3   8   355  302  +53    74
4 Isla Luna Demons                    28   17   2   9   345  260  +85    72
5 Station Nineteen Dukes              28    9   4  15   242  285  −43    44
6 Zalium Miners                       28    8   4  16   262  309  −47    40
7 Station Twenty One Ice Dragons      28    6   3  19   148  287 −139    30
8 Isla Dellanova Lions                28    3   2  23   217  430 −213    16

Territorial Championship: League strikes back in TV war with surprising season
Coverage by Lensey Steele

While the spoiled aristocrats from the islands were watching their Union matches and thinking about the creation of a national team to represent them in their sport, the hard working proletariat of the space territories were enjoying something completely different, a more hard hitting and fast version of the sport that we didn't invent but we did perfect. I'm talking about Rugby League, the greatest fucking sport in the world and the only one that the territories can kick the islands' ass at. Okay, maybe I'm biased, as someone that's spent her entire life on Station Twenty One, the home of ice mining in Syndicate controlled space. My Ice Dragons might not have done well, but that didn't mean the season wasn't exciting.

While the expected team was running away again in TRS, the underdogs were turning the Territorial Championship into upset city. Station Sixteen, according to the betting odds, should have finished fourth. Not third, not second, not first. Fourth! But they're the reigning champions after an explainable Black Isle collapse at the end of the season that saw their offense disappear and their star players turn on each other when they needed to stick together the most. Station Six had been overperforming, but then they capitalized and proved that it wasn't a fluke when they stole the title after a late unbeaten run.

Anyway, we've all heard the news about the islands trying to form their own team to boost TV ratings. And frankly, none of us in the territories give a fuck what they do. The Championship does, but the fans don't, because we know that we'll always be the authentic working class game and they'll be watching just another money making scheme on the part of the government and the biggest corps. They can keep their ridiculous advertisements and their teams that are toys for billionaires, and we'll keep our incredible atmospheres, working class spirit, and exciting title races. If the new national team causes them to beat us in the TV ratings war and keeps us off of the islands, so be it. We never wanted to be there, anyway.

Continue Reading...

[The Iron Syndicate]

National League: Expansion talks finalize move to sixteen clubs, Mezina to finally go top tier
Coverage by John Goldshine
For awhile, people have speculated that the odd fifteen club size of the National League meant that the league could rush to expand to sixteen and get an even number. The league ran for multiple years with fourteen clubs, but as Portus South joined and made the number fifteen, there were various scheduling concerns. Well, it looks like those concerns have been eased and the next season will feature sixteen clubs, after negotiations have been completed for AS Mezina to join as the sixteenth club after winning the Western Premiership in back to back years. The club, owned by IronBet CEO Valen Highgate, is one of the most valuable in the country but has never played first flight football, even eight years after being taken over by the Highgate family.

The island of Mezina, which is known for the vibrant regional capital of Mezina Town, is one of the most elite islands in the Syndicate but is also one that's different from the typical corporate cities, because it has a different type of crowd. Tourism is the big industry here rather than the kinds of commerce that you can find on other islands, and if you have enough cash to get there and stay at one of the many hotels, you can experience what's been called the best night life in the Syndicate and a music and art scene that's attracted some of the best artists on the islands. Every summer and even every winter, tourists flock to come to music festivals and to clubs that frequently see artists use the audience as their testing crowd before releasing their music to the rest of the world.

This party culture has made it an attractive place to live and from the very start that has been an advantage for AS Mezina, who have become famous for their red shirt and gold shorts and their great play in the Western Premiership, which has been considered the best of the regional leagues. They've recruited well from the time that Highgate has taken over, too, and when Portus South joined the league, they were the runner up to make it to flight. But because of South having a stadium and Mezina needing to build a larger one to have the edge, South received the expansiom slot and Mezina was left to wait until they had a bigger stadium. Now, however, they're playing in IronBet Park, a high tech stadium designed by the very best architects, which can seat forty thousand and has the second largest terrace in the Syndicate on its East Stand.

They've done a good job in foreign recruitment, bringing in Audioslavian keeper and Klyde legend Elton Alo, who would have continued to start if the club hadn't been forced into rebuilding by their relegation. They've also already benefitted from their good environment, succeeding in their recruitment of Schottia youth academy graduate Helen Appelrath, who could have made it at much bigger clubs but went for the one with the best city. Laura Weiler was a prolific striker for a time in Brenecia but suffered a drop off, and she decided to trust new manager Jerry Shields with restarting her career abroad and making it back to the top.

They also have prospects, with Chloe Catori hailing from St. John, Quebec, despite having Ironite nationality from spending multiple years living in the Syndicate and training with Luxus FC. She moved to Mezina after a falling out with the CSKA Quebec staff and her teammates because of having off of the pitch problems, which are rumored to have to do with a gaming addiction, but she quickly became the club's number one prospect because of her rare position, libero. There's also Jon Laxalt, the diminutive but very skillful and tricky Audioslavian midfielder who also holds Ironite nationality after moving to Mezina as a sixteen year old. Both players will represent the U-18 team in the Sporting World Cup, despite a controversy about the national team buying the commitments of foreign prospects.

Whatever happens, next season will be a lot more interesting, with the party club and their horde of casuals finally kicking the door down in the National League and crashing the party that they were never expected to make it into.

[The Iron Syndicate]

National League Preview Part One: What to watch for next season
Coverage by Lensey Steele

It's about the time of the year when clubs start competing in their provincial leagues, and do you know what that means? It means it's not that long until they all come together to play in the PTC National League, and there's already plenty of drama surrounding the transfer window that's seeing Ironite clubs stock up on talent from abroad in what amounts to an arms race to the title.

If you haven't followed the National League before, there might not be a better time to start, with new foreign stars joining and the old giants of the past waking up again and gunning for UICA spots. There's also some interesting domestic players, new competition for spots on the national team, and the classic rivalries of the past that will be more interesting with new players. In case you aren't sure about what the biggest storylines of the season are, here's some things to look for once we kick off with the new sixteen team league.

NUMBER THREE: SIXTEEN CLUBS, AND EXPANSION
For the first time, the number of clubs in the National League will be sixteen, with AS Mezina finally getting in after being spurned by Portus South for their previously too small stadium. Everyone is interested in seeing how the new team does, because while they've been dominant in the Western Premiership, they haven't been able to out recruit Red Hill United and Zombie, let alone the Portus clubs. Some experts, however, say that they should be competitive with the top teams and competitive for a UICA spot immediately, because of their strong transfer window.

The transfer window is th great equalizer, the thing that makes prestige irrelevant if you have enough cash to recruit well through it, and they've done that. Mezina only targeted free agents, but their large financial power allowed them to get a class of them with some names that foreign fans will recognize... Laura Weiler, Brenecian striker that was once prolific before suffering a slump that she couldn't break. Harriet Greenslade, former Northern Union defensive midfielder who will see time in the central midfield for the Sharks. Delmar Baxter, a Semar wide midfielder who played in Bonesea and still has a relatively young age. Elton Alo, former Klyde goalkeeper and fan favorite.

The promising and young Gareth Wesley took the job at Independent despite being only twenty eight, but just because they lost the man that led them to back to back regional titles doesn't mean that they won't be managed well, either. Jerry Shields is a good manager despite not having top flight experience, and was on the staff at Red Hill United... A club that's known in recent years for attempting a revival through playing smart football and running a smart organization, the very things that are important to a new team trying to have immediate success.

However, Mezina isn't the only storyline related to expansion. There's rumors that the league might look at eighteen clubs, or maybe seventeen, for next season. It all depends on what the TV figures show, and if the national team's arrival really does give them the popularity boost that they expected. It worked for rugby, and it could work for football too, and that popularity boost could see more islands that were previously excluded being brought into the league. The island of Pascua has been thrown around for expansion, so keep an eye out for that as the season develops and the TV numbers begin to come out.

NUMBER TWO: MANAGERIAL BATTLES
This season will be one that has plenty of intrigue for a number of reasons, but one that's often overlooked is the managers. The National League has an interesting cast of characters prowling the sidelines, but this season will see the battles between them get even more interesting as new players are brought into the mix and a couple of popular managers switch clubs and take on challenging new jobs.

The Portus Derby will be interesting this season not just because of what happens on the pitch but on the sideline; Christopher Blackstar will be entering his fifth season as manager of Portus Central, and he's well known for being a good motivator but a manager that requires every player to buy into the game plan wholeheartedly. His teams typically don't have dissent and don't have huge personalities, as crazy as that sounds for someone in charge of such a successful big city club.

Alonso Cortes has gone to Apox after the club didn't want to lose him for nothing at the end of his contract, but Blackstar has appointed defender Jerome Ford as captain in his place. The decision, of course, means that another experienced club veteran will be captain, likely meaning that the no nonsense policies of the past will continue and that the club won't let their new foreigners or their domestic players get too low or too high, and that there will be no room for dissent.

Across town, Independent is managed by Gareth Wesley, a name that has their legions of fans excited. Wesley is only twenty eight and never played, but spent a long time studying the trade at Sporting Ceres from the time he was in high school, and he's coming off of back to back Western Premiership titles with AS Mezina. He's not traditional by any means and doesn't buy into any of the no nonsense tactics used by Blackstar. According to his own words, he believes in individualism and in letting players shine not just on the pitch, but as people.

In other words, expect his Independent team to let their personalities show on and off of the pitch, for better or worse, and don't expect them to be without egos and conflicts. Wesley believes that egos are a part of the game and that you can't get rid of them, only keep them from becoming a team problem. The Independent fans will certainly be waiting to see if he is able to do that, and keep them from tearing apart what looks like a promising squad.

Another relatively young manager is forty year old Celsus York, a former player who was popular as a defender. Now, he's heading back to the old club where he made his name and taking them over after a disappointing sixth place finish. Red Hill United hasn't been playing their best football for a very long time, and that's speaking in both recent and historical terms, and York has decided to go to the transfer window to fix that. After their poor finish, the club doesn't have much buying power, but York was able to get around that by looking for free agents and luring them in with the one thing Red Hill does have, payroll.

Among others, York was able to recruit two good wide players from Semarland... Jacob Close, a twenty five year old right midfielder, and Idrissa Sissoko, a twenty two year old left midfielder. He was also able to bring in Appius Freilino, a thirty eight year old striker from Legalese who has experience playing in some of the best teams, and should be able to give a couple of good more years to Red Hill while they look to get their purchasing power back and secure a younger future option. They aren't only going for veterans though, because they also brought in Astograthian central defender Eyande Osamiz, who is only nineteen but is competing for a starting role immediately. If there's one skill that Celsus York has, it's recruitment, and he's shown that by getting these players to a club that looked like it might never be at the top of the league again before he came in.

The last big name manager that's interesting to watch is Sporting Ceres boss Gallus Jay, who is one of the older managers of this group at sixty two years of age. He brings plenty of experience but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have innovative new ideas. His teams are great at attacking and he's done it through a number of different ways, this time opting for a 4-4-2 that can shift into a 4-2-4 when the Angels need to put some pressure on the opponent.

His game plan was like that last season, but it didn't have the players that it needed to win the title. This season, that isn't going to be a problem. Aleixo Christakis was the bright spot in the attack last season, and now, the quick poacher will have a partner to play alongside, that can keep up with him. Twenty two year old Heron Kendall, from Nephara, fits very well in this system, as the tall finisher rather than the player that hunts down the long balls and hangs near the offside line. Kendall brings style and finishing, and Christakis brings speed and playmaking.

Guarding the back of the midfield is a veteran from Cosumar, Chaz Lifeson, and he's good with speed and strength and jumping, just not ball skills. But as one of the primarily defensive players that will stay back even when the wide players push forward, he doesn't need to be a great attacker, just someone that can stop the ball when the opponent brings it forward. Speaking of the wide midfielders going forward, Jay has a good eye for talent and believes that Chromatik teenager Ga-yeong Han is the key to better results this season, as at left midfielder, she gives them both playmaking and the ability to move up in the 4-2-4 and create an overload to attack the defense with. She's been highly rated as a prospect, but it was the glory of the northern hills of Ceres that eventually convinced her to sign.

With every manager seeming to have their own tactical and management style that's very personal to them, the stylistic matchups will be contrasting and often times clashing this season, making for one where following the managers and tactics is just as exciting as following the players. The Manager Of The Year race will be fun to predict too, with both Wesley and Jay being the preseason favorites to win the award.

NUMBER THREE: THE TITLE RACE
There's no clear title favorite this season. Central are defending champions, but they lost ground to their rivals when they lost Alonso Cortes to Brimstone, and they also risk losing star defensive midfielder Drew Case(formerly Drew C) because of the same contract situation. Lucy Silverstone has become an integral part of their midfield, but without someone guarding the back, Silverstone may not get as many touches with the ball and less chances to get it forward in space. Kate Shaw joins the midfield from Nephara, but despite being skilled, she's thirty four years old and has a bad calf.

Dominik Krause is a twenty two year old Pasargan joining the team as a winger, but with no real number one up front, he may have to make more plays for himself instead of feeding the ball to a reliable striker like Cortes. And because of multiple fights with Blackstar, the forward who was waiting in the wings for Cortes to move is now gone, playing across town for their city rivals. It looks like the opening day striker will be Erik Moussa, but just how good is the former Central B striker, against top flight competition?

Independent looks like they're poised to strike at their rivals faltering, with Gareth Wesley saying that they can make it into the UICA, but they might not have enough strength to win the title itself. Their fate will largely depend on the performances of their twenty five million coin signing, Alexis Valente... She formerly played for the other side of Portus, but only had five appearances and four goals last season because of her fighting with manager Christopher Blackstar over his management style. She's now joined their arch rivals, and she brings a presence up front that can exploit any space given to her, and her hard running and good stamina often wears defenses out.

But there's a lot of inexperience in this squad. Valente herself is twenty one. Starting central midfielder Ellie Graham, from Port Christopher, is also twenty one. Staring center back Cierra Anderson, from Chromatika, is eighteen. Kate McSorley, a Schottian prospect who isn't starting but that is there to learn from Valente and others, and who is expected to get at least a few appearances, is sixteen. Of course, there's some experienced vets, like goalkeeper Devin Hill or Guayabalense left back Martin Guevara, who Anderson is supposedly learning from, but amateur mistakes could still cost this good looking team the title.

Zombie FC is staying with their strategy of spending smart and using analytics in their decisions, and they've also recruited well despite their class of new players being smaller than other teams. But their team isn't that deep overall, and they may need to add more talent to keep up in the arms race, after having several bids for big name players shot down. Eventually, they settled for Cosumarite striker Thorodel Nagdalene, who isn't quite thirty yet and therefore is an acceptable transfer target for the team that doesn't usually rely on old veterans. Though, their data department did find one good player, twenty one year old left midfielder Justine Sparwasser, the younger sibling of Brenecian international Andreas Sparwasser.

Ceres, on the other hand, has a deep and loaded squad but is surrounded by distractions. In one of the richest and most luxurious destinations, will the players be able to focus and not let partying get the better of them, especially as they become local celebrities and have the all pervasive Ceres press bearing down either positively or negatively on them? There really is no clear favorite, there is only a race that should keep fans at the edge of their seats for the entire season. And with Central not really being challenged last season, that's definitely something welcome. Buckle up, Ironite fans... Because this ride will be wild.

[The Iron Syndicate]

THE FORGE
The National Academy of the Islands

Off of the coast of northern Cerium, on an island specifically built to house the massive structure, there lies a building known for its cutting edge technology, its size, and for what goes on inside. That building is Forge Hall, home of the Forge, or the national academy of the islands. Players who come here are regarded as some of the best in the nation and will often make it to the PDL and national league, and they'll play here until they're twenty one. In many cases, this league prepares them for the real developmental league.

Players live in the gigantic Forge Hall, which has been said to be shaped like a lotus flower, and younger players attend school there, with all players receiving food and everything else that they need without ever having to leave the island. They'll compete in a season made up of four long rounds, playing more games than even professional footballers would and showing their skills year round, giving the managers a chance to rotate their players often and use their deep squads. There's three levels to the program, with each one being broken into two sections. Of the top level, the first two teams are fully professional.

These are the rosters for the two professional sections of the program.

Section A As
Manager - Steven Hoop - 45
GK - Heinrich Bongers - 20
GK - Valentina Sadek - 19
GK- Nicolas Lucioni - 18
D - Mikaere De Marco - 20
D - Julius Jileck - 20
D - Jase Longo - 18
D - Hailey Jansky - 19
D - Camila Arcuri - 18
D - Charlotte Roelvink - 17
M - Simon Doornbos - 20
M - Reinhard Li Fonti - 21
M - Ibrahim Martens - 20
M - Emily Bouwmeester - 18
M - Anahera Hardenbergh-Lorenzo - 16
M - Beat Oscuro - 17
F - Silas De Jong - 21
F - Phoenix Burgers - 20
F - Nevaeh Slavíček - 21
F - Gael Blom - 19
F - Daniel Brickman - 16

Section B Bulls
Manager - Serenity Herrema - 48
GK - Chiara Altera - 21
GK - August Mendizabal - 19
GK - Derek Hanák - 17
D - Enzo Andriessen - 20
D - Harper Smekal - 20
D - Judah De Greef - 19
D - Isaiah Burian - 18
D - Kobe Jerabek - 20
D - Lillian Sáblík - 17
D - Milan Marino - 16
M - Juna Shine - 21
M - Tilda Došek - 20
M - Vince Honda - 16
M - Sem Zavala - 17
M - Remington De Groot - 18
M - Reid Duyff - 15
F - Mohamed Švec-Murua - 20
F - Sacha De Groot - 18
F - Owen De Vos - 19
F - Shane Sladek - 18
F - Travis Rutte - 17

[The Iron Syndicate]

OOC Note: When I decided to start using this nation as one of my primary ones esther than The Redvale, I realized I would have a UICA spot open. I'm using it to return to a longtime goal of mine to get a powerful multi association league running, but for now, I'm starting with only Arcadian clubs and leaving it open for someone else to join me in the future. In the meantime, both the Ironite league and Arcadian league are set to begin later this week or next week.

Arcadia Islands: Conplete O-League Profiles
Coverage by John Goldshine
The Iron Syndicate is a nation that spans multiple areas, and one of those regions under the control of the Executive Board is the Principality of the Arcadia Islands, a group of two island chains that's largely split between a northern and a southern group. These islands have a high GDP per capita, good quality of living, and plenty of prime real estate that makes the area a great vacation destination for Ironite citizens and for others across the world.

While the islands are made up of two chains located close to each other, the two halves are very different places. The north is made up of more lowlands and has more forests and also more density despite having a very similar population, and leans towards left wing nationalism politically. The north is known for being the home of the Arcadian independence movement, particularly the city of Valburg. It's also the place where there's the highest population of indigenous Arcadians.

The south, on the other hand, is more mountainous and has more towns and cities that are spread out over a larger area, and has more farmlands than forests. This area, however, is known very much for its beaches and for the tourism industry, and also being the home of Ironite settlers who moved from the islands in the Sea of Iron to Arcadia. Politically, the conservative and ruralist Blue Party is the most popular here, and the area is fiercely loyal to the Syndicate.

Despite the big divide between the two places, sport is one of the things that can bring the north and the south together, and that's why the creation of the Ocean League is one of the best things that can happen to the islands. The league has the goal of uniting the regional championships that previously were responsible for football in the north and south, and the teams chosen are the best in Arcadia. Now, those regional championships serve as feeder leagues that promote their championships to the unified league, which has far more money involved.

The Ossani family, and their conglomerate known as O-Corp, have always had an interest in the region and now, that interest has materialized into the Ocean League, sponsored by O-Corp and given a six hundred million dollar TV deal that was brokered by the Ossani family with Red Hill based technology giants Noodle, to make the league one of the easiest to watch for Ironite citizens, with both TV and streaming options. And the new league will instantly be able to be competitive with the National League when it comes to competing for domestic talents, because of the new money in it.

How will things turn out with the north and the south having to share one league and get along with each other? Will the old giants come back to the top, or will underdogs reign in this region? Can football change the political scene? The answers will be revealed as the islands of Arcadia finally compete for the first time in a professional league that they can call their own.

North Conference

Red Star Valburg
Colors: Red and black
Manager: Bryson Nepper(45)
Stadium: Independence Park(65,000)

The titans of the north are Red Star, who have a record number of titles in the regional championship of that region and who are famous for their revolutionary style and the things that their colors represent. They wear red and black, oftentimes in hoops, and those colors have always represented the left wing nationalism of the region and the ideals that their club was founded on, that saw them become a symbol of resistance. They're even led by former revolutionary hero turned manager Bryson Nepper, who was a footballer that played a key role in the Arcadian Revolutionary Army in the early days of the feared rebel group.

Valburg doesn't draw their entire identity from revolution, though, because they have quite a good record as a football club that plays a blitzing, attacking style that often sees their wingers scoring double digit goals and their strikers competing for the golden boot by the end of the season. Leaving caution to the wind is the Valburg way, and their fans wouldn't want them to play any other way. Speaking of their fans, those fans are known by the title of the Red Brigade, and they aren't afraid to travel to any stadium and get in a fight or two when their club ideals are challenged.

Celtic Meerland
Colors: Green and white
Manager: Connor De Ruiter(63)
Stadium: Meerland Arena(54,000)

The foil to the domination of Red Star in the north has always been Celtic, who forms the other half of the dominant two in the region. However, they aren't as different as they seem, even if their fans wouldn't like to admit how similar they are. Celtic’s green and white stripes might contrast with Red Star’s black and red hoops, but they represent the same thing. Both clubs are favorable to the idea of revolution, and their fans have very similar political leanings. Still, Red Star is more of an urban club and Celtic is undeniably rural.

Meerland is about twice as big as Valburg, with a population of two million, and it shows in the amount of support that Celtic has, making them the arguable most supported team in the north. The city has been called the jewel of North Arcadia, and that could also describe the football team that's always collected trophies over the years with a pragmatic and cautious style that contrasts with the all out attacking of their rivals. When they play Valburg, it's known as the Northern Derby, and fans from all of the islands tune in to watch.

AFC Meerland
Colors: Black and gold
Manager: Elli Vandermark(48)
Stadium: Meerland Municipal Stadium(16,000)

The local rivals go Celtic are the boys in black and gold, who don't have as much of a budget despite playing in a giant city and typically win by punching above their weight. They do have a couple of regional league wins in recent years and they've done it playing a multitude of different styles, but most recently they've used a great midfield to control the ball and defeat larger teams by shutting down their attacks with possession.

With their reputation as giant killers, it's strange that they don't have more support and more attendance, as they still play in the old Meerland Municipal Stadium, which only seats 16,000 and is going to be in need of renovation soon enough. They also have problems keeping their players for themselves, because without the purchasing power of their neighbors, it's easy for the big two to lure their stars away before they can hit their peaks with AFCM.

Ashfield Bohemians
Colors: Red and black
Manager: Felix Osman(39)
Stadium: Worker's Arena(28,000)

Located in one of the smaller towns is a club that was able to get to this point through careful spending and good management, and this is also one of the clubs that's produced both good managers and executives along with some of the better players in Arcadia. They've gained their following because of that and they definitely have done a good job to make it to this top division, and it will be an even better job if they can stay up against the tougher competition that this league presents.

The club is pretty recognizable with their red shirts and black shorts, and they also have the most loyal traveling support in the north, with their fans being known as the Red Army. And they have a play style that wins them fans easily, using a strong attack and taking plenty of risks, that have often paid off with them having successes over larger clubs and over performing based on their budget.

Valburg Rovers
Colors: Blue and white
Manager: Marcus Haver(47)
Stadium: The Pit(15,000)

This club is somehow here after putting on an amazing performance in the regional championship that saw them finish in the mid table despite only being a club for five years. They were founded by loyalists in Valburg that didn't feel accepted by Red Star. They had a quick rise to the northern league and soon found themselves able to stay up by great coaching and through a high level of support from the loyalist community, and they also brought in more income than Bohemians did last season.

They're now famous for their blue shirt with white sleeves and white shorts, and their rivalry with Red Star has become very intense. When the two sides play in the local derby, there's always heated events on the pitch and fights in the stands, sometimes provoked by the Red Brigade and sometimes provoked by the Blue Legion fans of the Rovers. But will they be able to keep their politically heated rivalry going by surviving the season and avoiding the dreaded relegation playoff?

South Conference

Axalt Rangers
Colors: Blue and red
Manager: Niko Pietri(43)
Stadium: Arcadia Park(60,000)

Located in the center point city of South Arcadia, and one of the most popular vacation destinations in the island group, the Rangers are the gem of the south and the club that's fully embraced the Syndicate control of the islands and made it into a part of the club culture. They often have Ironite players and managers and supposedly discriminate against players born in the north, because of the political conflict that affects the field of sport too. While Red Star is vocal in their support of the ARA, the Rangers are the exact opposite and their Blue Horde often sings about fighting the northern revolution.

Historically, they wear blue shirts and red shorts, and have also symbolized their connection to the Syndicate by wearing copper colored away kits sometimes. Stylistically, their teams are hard hitting at the back but are also traditionally deadly up front, with several big name Arcadian strikers having gained fame while playing for them. And with their massive fanbase across the north and the south, they're the kind of club that brings loud voices to both home and away matches. Currently, they have the third largest payroll in the Ocean League behind Red Star and Hoffenbrook.

TSV Hoffenbrook
Colors: Green and gold
Manager: Elijah Seck(58)
Stadium: Oceanside Stadium(57,000)

Just like Celtic is a foil to Red Star, Hoffenbrook is a foil to Rangers, and the club that plays in close proximity with them in South Arcadia is their main rival both historically and in the current. The boys in green have kept Rangers from running away with the southern title on a number of occasions and have always been a thorn in their side, with the meetings between the two being known as the Battle for South Arcadia. Rangers holds the edge over them in those matches, but not by a huge margin.

They used to be a more defensive club, but recently they've stocked up on attacking talent and have become one of the most elite attacks in the league, scoring often from the midfield and from a lone center striker that plays up front with the assistance of two wide wingers. Their style could be said to be based around the concept of pressure and going after their opponents as soon as the ball crosses the halfway line, and the manager behind that style, Elijah Seck, is widely regarded as a genius around these parts.

AFC Belcamp
Colors: Black and silver
Manager: Jose Naas(52)
Stadium: Church Park(32,000)

Known for being the team of the church, the Iron Church has invested heavily into AFC Belcamp to bring them to the top flight and keep them there, at least in the era of the south having their own team. Fittingly, they wear black and silver, and their shirt sponsor has been the Iron Church for awhile now, with their away colors being their more traditional green.

They haven't had near as much support as the big city clubs but they do have a good academy and good scouting and their specialty is making something out of nothing and finding gems in the rough that can later be flipped to the city clubs for more cash than they were bought for. A very savvy club that's on the rise because of investment.

West Coast FC
Colors: Navy blue and cyan
Manager: Xavier Mesman(36)
Stadium: City of West Coast Stadium(25,000)

Located in another vacation town, West Coast has branded themselves as a designer football club that's popular with foreign fans who want to support a trendy team that plays in an upscale area and spends just as much time designing fancy alternate kits than they do focusing on things like tactics. This brand, however, has paid off big time and ensured that they receive a good slice of the new money floating around.

Right now, however, they're more known for being bought out by Sporting Ceres owner Ricky Eaststar, who has promised to pump more money into them and make them into proper title contenders. The effects of that haven't shown yet, but they do have some back room changes coming that look to be foreshadowing an increase in spending and a move into contention.

Forest Park Wanderers
Colors: Green and white
Manager: Ryan Van Hee(42)
Stadium: Ceres Motors Stadium(31,000)

This former nomadic club has finally found their permanent home in Forest Park, it looks like, and they're operating on a shoestring budget and still trying to establish themselves in their new place after getting thrown out of their last two cities by city councils who wouldn't give them a stadium.

Now they've attached the Wanderers title to their name, but it looks like they're done being nomads. But with little local support and a poor budget, and an ownership group that's often not seen or heard from, will they be able to survive making it into the best league that Arcadia has ever seen?

[The Iron Syndicate]

IronBet Prototype Series: Islands' best on display in demo series
Coverage by Mariel Lightfoot
Racing season is something that's always long awaited by fans on the islands, and even in their territories, where racing caught on late but became famous because of the interesting setting of racing in space. One of the shorter but prestigious series in the domestic landscape is the Prototype Series of the Islands, which is home to some of the most advanced cars in the Syndicate and is considered the second fastest series behind Formula S.

There's seven different teams in this series and all of them employ three different drivers, for a grid size of twenty one drivers. Below, you'll find a review of the different teams that competed in the competition and a rundown on the setup that each one used.

Prototype Series 11 Teams

Black Isle Racing
The defending champions of the competition don't hail from the islands but from space, and continue to be owned by Territorial Motors legend Lagi Lightfoot. They wouldn't retain their title but that's not to say that their all black car isn't one of the most famous on the grid and that's not to say that they don't have excellent driver development. They had the second largest payroll going into the season and managed to turn top prospect Armo Lehto into the most wanted prospect in Formula S. Lehto, of course, is the estranged son of legendary racer Carsen Bold, and was raised by his mother in the bad part of Cerium. This season, Black Isle ran with the CMR-17 by Ceres Motors, which was plagued with reliability issues but had a powerful engine and proved to be a promising model that can contend next season with adjustments.

Corsa Axalt
Based in the South Arcadian tax haven of Axalt is the latest champion, who finished second last season. They're famously owned by the Ossani family that also owns Central Portus among other companies through their conglomerate, and the team is also owned by former star Ella Estrella, who is famous for her rivalry with Lagi Lightfoot and for the amazing battles between Territorial Motors and her Portus Racing Team. Luxus Automotives, a company owned by the Ossani family, produced the LM-82 car for Corsa, however, this one wasn't like the rest of the grid. They became the first team to win the title with an electric car, while making Luna Estrella the youngest driver to win the title, at twenty years old. Luna is the adopted daughter of Ella Estrella and quickly became a fan favorite because of her eccentric style; the blonde twenty year old believes herself to be psychic, doesn't wear shoes, wears her hair in dreads, and has four teardrop tattoos under her right eye. She's pretty maketable and recognizable, and because of that, she allegedly already landed a Formula S seat with the new Axalt based team, ART.

Ceres Motors Engineering
Ceres Motors entered the season with the highest budget and highest payroll but couldn't get anything better than the predicted third place finish. They used the CMR-16 and were hit with the same reliability problems that badly affected defending champs Black Isle, and despite finishing third in the team standings, they couldn't get any of their drivers into the top three, with Dallas Hudec sneaking into fourth via some late results. They produced every part in house and still couldn't get their reliability up, leading some to believe that sweeping changes are coming to their team before the Formula S season. With their iconic blue color scheme and iconic interlocking logo, they still led the prototype season in merchandise sales however.

Red Hill Racing
Red Hill is traditionally better in Formula S than in prototype competitions, but they improved this season with a better engine and that engine is expected to be exported to other teams because of the power that it displayed despite the rest of their car not living up to the fame of their previous ones. However, Chief Technology Officer Ethan Lombardo is expected to leave the team after yet another failure to move to a team that can compete more in Formula S against some of the newer teams that have risen recently. Both ART and Black Isle have been linked to the famous designer. Traditionally they race in all red, but this season, they changed things up and used crimson and white.

Luxus Racing Team
One of the newer teams on the grid that doesn't maintain a Formula S equivalent has managed to get out of the basement and rise up to the mid table, even though there isn't much of a mid table in a seven team league. They're never among the best but they are reliable and they survived every race with only one DNF, allowing them to build up enough points to creep into the mid table. Number one driver Donovan Anderson is also a heavily scouted prospect that's being looked at to join Red Hill or Black Isle next season, especially if Armo Lehto leaves the series for bigger and better things.

Territorial Motors
The gold and blue clad Territorial Motors haven't been at the top for a very long time, with the team suffering from bad management and a talent drain that's seen a lot of their best drivers leave for higher paying rivals. Their budget problems have severely affected their experimental division, causing them to consider not even fielding a team before securing a sponsorship deal that allowed them to live on for another season. Some of their fans were wishing that they hadn't come back though, after an awful finish by their standards.

Northeast Engineering
Funded by the powerful Kemp family is the newest team on the grid and the one that finished last after signing a deal with the Kemp owned Portus Motors Auto Group to race with the PM-37 model that truly is experimental, as the company doesn't have much experience in the class. They were recognizable with their red and black, but they didn't actually do much results wise, and the plan for them is to build for the future and look to get a win or two for the first time.

The season began on the streets of Red Hill with the Red Hill Prototype Grand Prix, and one of the oldest racing cities in the country was the one that would see the new money team from Axalt dominate and place two out of their three drivers inside the top ten, with Luna Estrella taking her first win in her second season. It didn't just mark the first race of the season, but it marked the first battle between Luna and Armo Lehto, with Lehto finishing in third and Luna overtaking him with five laps to go for the lead after starting fourth. The rivalry, of course, represented a continuation of the battles between Ella Estrella and Lagi Lightfoot, which often turned very heated and involved class and politics and not just sporting reasons. Territorial had their best finish when they put Elena de Jager in fourth, but that would end up being their best result for a long time.

Going into race two out of eight, however, home advantage would reign and the blue and silver of Ceres Motors would be the victorious colors as Luna won pole and dropped to second place before finding herself stuck between two Ceres drivers on the podium in first and third place, with her teammate Luis Aarons dropping all the way to ninth place after qualifying in third. Supposedly, the oval in Ceres was a bad track for the street wise Axalt drivers, which was the official reason given by the team for two of their drivers finishing outside of the top eight. Black Isle would also win some points by putting Armo Lehto into fourth and allowing him to keep pace with Luna at the top of the table, and Ceres would move very close to Corsa in the team championship.

The third race was the biggest racing event of the year in Meerland and Corsa continued their good run by helping Luna to a second straight second place finish as Noah Chancellor of Red Hill Racing took the win, but Corsa still used the home advantage of competing in Arcadia to finish high and have all three drivers in the top six. For Black Isle, though, things would look grim. They would place no drivers in the top ten and the wild results that the series is known for would continue as Luna expanded her lead on the top and Armo dropped after scoring no points. It was shaping up to be a dramatic title race, and the third race represented a break for development before the races would continue.

After that break, where testing was held in East Portus, Black Isle came back with more power but less reliability. The next race was in their back yard, on Station Twenty One, but they somehow managed to botch their chance to get back into the title race when they were faced with a brakes failure on their third car and an engine explosion for Armo Lehto, who would take pole and then not finish in the closest thing that the team has to a hometown race. Meanwhile, Luna finished off of the podium for the first time this season in fourth, and Dallas Hudec took his first win for Ceres Motors to help them move past Black Isle in the title hunt. Red Hill meanwhile was on the brink, but they found themselves getting a boost from Noah Chancellor getting on the podium and winning silver.

Race number five would be located in East Portus and would be a very hard fought one where Noah Chancellor took his second win and third podium after Armo Lento and Luna Estrella destroyed themselves with a deadly looking crash that saw both of them chase the same line and smash into each other at high speed without either of them slowing up, before Luna was hit by Luis Aarons after spinning. Both of those Corsa drivers wouldn't finish and Lehto wouldn't finish either, allowing Noah Chancellor to briefly take the top spot with his second win. After the crash, Luna would hunt Lehto down in the pit lane and would brawl with him before being separated by her staff, and the war of words between the two afterwards would later become another part of this legendary rivalry.

The sixth race of the season would take the racers to one of the wealthy casino cities, Metrus. While not traditionally known for racing, the race here has always been a success and it was certainly interesting this time around as Luna Estrella took her second win and Armo Lehto finished as the runner up, while Luis Aarons finished third to let Corsa take the team title back. Meanwhile, Noah Chancellor dropped after a wheel shaft failure led to him retiring, and his team suffered as their second car would crash out of the race with seven laps left. Additionally, Dallas Hudec took a lot of risks but was repaid with fourth place, keeping Ceres Motors in the chase.

The penultimate event of the season would take place in the other casino city, Luxus, and would be a street race that was contested under the lights of some of those casinos, but even with a chance to clinch the title, Luna wouldn't be able to win. No, she would be out of it for the entire race weekend, qualifying seventeenth after brawling in the pit lane with her stepsister, Zhen, over what was allegedly a familial argument that didn't have to do with racing. After her poor start, she was able to navigate her way to eighth, but that wouldn't give her the title and it wouldn't keep Armo Lehto from shocking everyone with a dominant win and wouldn't keep Dallas Hudec from letting Ceres back into the race after finishing second.

However, the final race would see the status quo of that season maintained. The Prototype Grand Prix of Portus would be the most watched race of the season, and when it really mattered, Corsa would shine the most. Luna would qualify second, behind Dallas Hudec on pole and above Noah Chancellor in third, but she would take control of the race because of her aggression and cornering suiting the street track well. Armo Lehto would pull into third but she would still maintain her position for the majority of the race before waiting until there were three laps left and putting a brilliant move to the inside line on Dallas Hudec and overtaking the Ceres Motors prospect on the main straight. Two Black Isle cars would try to hold her up for Armo on the final two laps, but she would avoid them and make it to the end victorious, becoming the third different Estrella to win a title and giving Corsa Axalt their first ever title.

The green and black team that were derided as tax evaders at the beginning of the season somehow made it out with both titles, and the final day even saw some reconciliation between the Estrellas and Black Isle, as Luna consoled a tearful Armo Lehto for fifteen straight minutes before the former points leader was in a good enough state to head up to the podium. And so, the champion of the Prototype Series is now a twenty year old former orphan that, according to herself, won the title because of being the only one on the series to have "an open third eye", and who the third place finisher is another young prospect, who is only a year older but started out much more famous because of being connected directly blood to one of the greatest drivers in national history.

Will the internal conflicts in the Estrella family keep Luna from continuing her meteoric rise? Will Armo Lehto live up to the legacy of a father that he grew up apart from? Is Red Hill genius Ethan Lombardo about to create a monster by joining forces with the electric engineers at Corsa Axalt? Those answers will be revealed soon enough, and the Prototype Series was really just the start of this story.

[The Iron Syndicate]

National League 32 Part One: Kickoff
Coverage by Brandon Strongsword
The sun goes down, and the floodlights come on inside the monstrous arenas of the Syndicate, with the streets clearing out in the big cities as the people of the islands gather together to watch their teams battle for supremacy. The buses arrive, to the sight of a sea of adoring fans, the players walk out to a rock star's reception and to the flashing of cameras as the national media show up to catch all of it. The air in the stadiums smells like smoke as the barras fill up and the drumbeats start up, before continuing all night long... Everything stops, and all the attention goes to the twenty two players in each match, to the modern day gladiators. This is football in the Syndicate. This, everyone, is the National league. And the madness begins now.



MATCHDAY ONE
Portus Independent 3–1 AS Mezina
Portus Central 5–2 Sporting Luxus
Sporting Ceres 5–4 Racing Club Westbay
Zombie FC 7–3 Northstar United
Union Atrus 2–2 Atrus West
Red Hill United 1–0 Luxus FC
Silvershire Sporting 2–3 Metrus United
Noodle SC 1–2 Portus South

Pandemonium in Ceres! The eyes of the entire country were on Cerium as the season opened up on a Thursday night in the northern hills, and the match ended up being an absolute thriller that saw the Angels storm back from three down to capture a 5-4 win in front of a raucous home arena. Gallus Jay has been under increased pressure since more info has come out about him turning down star prospect Owen de Vos from joining the team on a cheap contract because of off the pitch concerns, after the public already learned of Jay forcing out promising assistant Gareth Wesley back before the young star manager found his way in Mezina and then Independent, and that pressure only increased when the Angels went down 2-0 inside of the first thirty minutes after two powerful ranged strikes from Trace Bale, the team's primary star and their center forward.

The powerful Ceres attack didn't come into play soon enough and the defenders didn't do enough to cover for them, which led to winger Martin Onio beating Nepharim central defender Wilhelm Lotus to the ball and blasting the ball off of the crossbar and into the goal, past Heinrich Marino. The Onio goal marked a 3-0 halftime score in favor of Westbay, and the team from Ceres went into the locker room to the sound of whistles from their own fans because of their performance. But they would come out swinging, with Chromatik prospect Ga-yeong Han volleying the ball across the pitch to Nepharim forward Heron Kendall, who kept the ball away from two defenders before putting it into the back of the net from close range. They'd get their second in the 48th minute, when Kendall linked up with Aleixo Christakis for the first time and set the tall striker up at the edge of the box, where he finished from just outside of it.

It was a game again, and Ceres would strike for their third goal on a corner kick, where Kameron Duif would find the ball with his head and knock it backwards past the keeper, tying things up at 3-3. Still, the Angels are definitely more of an attacking team than a defensive one; Zander Conti would get caught playing high by Trace Bale, who would complete the hat trick with a breakaway 76th minute goal. Once again, there were whistles around the arena, but the home team had some fight left in them. They would pull out the dramatic win because of a late brace from Aleixo Christakis, who would also manage the hat trick and would get all three goals with his left foot.

MATCHDAY TWO
AS Mezina 0–2 Portus South
Metrus United 0–2 Noodle SC
Luxus FC 0–4 Silvershire Sporting
Atrus West 2–3 Red Hill United
Northstar United 2–1 Union Atrus
Racing Club Westbay 4–3 Zombie FC
Sporting Luxus 1–1 Sporting Ceres
Portus Independent 0–1 Portus Central

It's what we've all been waiting for... The matchup between Independent and Central. The Kemps and the Ossanis. Alexis Valente versus Lucy Silverstone, and Gareth Wesley versus Christopher Blackstar, and a balanced and aggressive frontal attack versus one that was solely made of Quebecois star Marcos Zelaya. And this matchup didn't let everyone down, because despite the influx of foreign talent, things were just as heated and hateful as ever, with both teams finishing with ten men. Independent welcomed Central to hell at Northeast Power Stadium, and from the start, it proved to be a hard match from the champions. Gareth Wesley sent his team out headhunting, and Lucy Silverstone sustained an early injury and kept playing after Alexis Valente kicked her in the stomach with high studs while battling for control of a volley in the third minute.

In the fourth minute, the first yellow of the match happened when Independent's Sive Vacek ran into fifty million dollar man Marcos Zelaya at full speed, clattering both players and potentially saving an early goal for Central. It was clear that the referee was in for a long day, and the pressure from Independent's Commando Rossa ultras group didn't make things any easier. The match was stopped in the thirty third minute because of smoke from the Curva Nord making it impossible to see on the pitch, and was stopped again in the forty eighth when flares from the Curva Nord nearly hit Ty Boldsword in goal. Boldsword complained to the referee about it, but there wasn't much that could be done.

Play resumed, but in the fifty fifth minute, the red cards came out when Alexis Valente and Lucy Silverstone chased the same ball, and Valente held Silverstone up by yanking her hair back and dropping her to the ground. The fans loved the action, but not so much the referee. Alexis Valente received a red card, but both teams would go down to ten men when defensive midfielder Drew Case barged in and rocked Valente with a very clean and very hard right hook, sending a message and reminding everyone of his MMA days. Case was sent off and suspended for a match for the action, but it did what it was supposed to do; send a message. Without the high motor of Valente up front for them, Independent would soon collapse, and they would concede the match winning goal in the sixty eighth minute to none other than Central's fifty million dollar transfer, Marcos Zelaya, who was able to scissor kick a cross from Shottic center back Lily McKinnley after a corner kick was deflected and cleared by Independent.

And so once again, the black and white side of Portus is the victorious one, as the red side came close early and couldn't pull off the upset. Still, if things continue as they have been happening, the title race between these two teams will be just as exciting as it was on paper...

 PTC National League      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Portus Central             2    2   0   0     6    2   +4     6
 2 Portus South               2    2   0   0     4    1   +3     6
 3 Red Hill United            2    2   0   0     4    2   +2     6
 4 Sporting Ceres             2    1   1   0     6    5   +1     4
 5 Zombie FC                  2    1   0   1    10    7   +3     3
 6 Silvershire Sporting       2    1   0   1     6    3   +3     3
 7 Noodle SC                  2    1   0   1     3    2   +1     3
   Portus Independent         2    1   0   1     3    2   +1     3
 9 Racing Club Westbay        2    1   0   1     8    8    0     3
10 Metrus United              2    1   0   1     3    4   −1     3
11 Northstar United           2    1   0   1     5    8   −3     3
12 Atrus West                 2    0   1   1     4    5   −1     1
13 Union Atrus                2    0   1   1     3    4   −1     1
14 Sporting Luxus             2    0   1   1     3    6   −3     1
15 AS Mezina                  2    0   0   2     1    5   −4     0
16 Luxus FC                   2    0   0   2     0    5   −5     0

[The Iron Syndicate]

National League 32 Part Two
Coverage by Brandon Strongsword
The title race is heating up, but so far there's been a lot of upsets and uncertainty as new squads figure out how to gel and how to win. Central is being Central, Independent is under pressure from the press and from their fans, and Noodle has staged an incredible turnaround thanks to increased youth investment from their parent company. There's also a confusing Sporting team in seventh, and Portus South is finally coming into their own after being one of the youngest expansion teams... It's an interesting season so far. Just not for the reasons we thought.

MATCHDAY THREE
Portus Central 2–0 AS Mezina
Sporting Ceres 5–4 Portus Independent
Zombie FC 2–1 Sporting Luxus
Union Atrus 2–0 Racing Club Westbay
Red Hill United 6–3 Northstar United
Silvershire Sporting 2–1 Atrus West
Noodle SC 2–1 Luxus FC
Portus South 1–3 Metrus United

The week started off in Outer Red Hull, where Zombie defeated Sporting Luxus in the match where their new star man bagged both first half goals. Thorodel Nagdalene joined from Cosumar for a large fee to prove that he's still in his prime at 29 years old, and Nepharim forward Jusine Sparwasser only took five minutes to get into the box and play the ball backwards to him for the opening goal, which would happen right in front of the Risen Dead, the core support of ZFC. It wouldn't take too long for the second goal to come, either. Twenty eight minutes in, aggressive Ironite center back Paxton Bellini headed the ball into the danger area on a corner kick, and Nagdalene was right there to poach the goal and put Luxus away, while the defense keyed in on strike partner Kyle Zombie.

Elsewhere, Ga-yeong Han would dazzle in Ceres and would score a brace, with goals coming from both feet, but despite Aleixo Christakis also contributing a hat trick, the Angels wouldn't be able to pull out the victory after allowing braces from Cenian Xavi Caldera and Bonesman Adriano Seawall. The winner for Independent would come from Pasargan midfielder Alan Pavic, who'd strike the ball from ten yards out after a deflection brought it down to him.

MATCHDAY FOUR
AS Mezina 3–1 Metrus United
Luxus FC 3–3 Portus South
Atrus West 2–2 Noodle SC
Northstar United 2–3 Silvershire Sporting
Racing Club Westbay 0–0 Red Hill United
Sporting Luxus 0–0 Union Atrus
Portus Independent 1–0 Zombie FC
Portus Central 3–2 Sporting Ceres

Alexis Valente returned from her suspension with a bang. Portus Independent welcomed Zombie to the Northeast side and played an unconventional lineup, starting controversial Anglatian prospect Sive Vacek in the back and playing her next to Chromatik eighteen year old Cierra Anderson, but the lineup had enough success to keep a clean sheet. Vacek would register three key blocks and would also get the winning assist because of her ball playing style, and she would launch the ball over the top for Valente in the fiftieth minute. Despite being marked by Paxton Bellini, Valente would make short work of the Zombie back line, cutting to the inside and finishing from close range before taking a bow in front of the Brigata Rossa.

Central also stayed undefeated when they took on Sporting in the battle of the biggest payrolls, and Marcos Zelaya would continue proving that he's worth the money when he converted a PK for the first goal. The second would come from a Lucy Silverstone free kick that was deflected in by Jerome Ford, and while Heron Kendall would pull one back for Ceres and then Han would continue her hot form to tie the match, it would never be in doubt. The overwhelming Central attack would get the winner just sixty minutes in, with Drew Case setting up Deandre Zey with a pinpoint volley for an open shot to the far post.

MATCHDAY FIVE
Sporting Ceres 3–3 AS Mezina
Zombie FC 3–3 Portus Central
Union Atrus 2–2 Portus Independent
Red Hill United 2–1 Sporting Luxus
Silvershire Sporting 3–2 Racing Club Westbay
Noodle SC 1–1 Northstar United
Portus South 3–3 Atrus West
Metrus United 2–3 Luxus FC

Red Hill has been confusing. Everyone likes Celsus York and this fanbase thought that they'd be back with their big transfer window, but so far, they've had to fight just to take down some of the minnows. Sporting Luxus is in thirteenth and yet they challenged Red Hill until the very end. However, the historical giants showed some resolve and kept their Armata Rossa satisfied when they stormed back for two goals in the last ten minutes of the match to steal a win in front of their own crowd. It would all start with Nura Ba making a bone crunching tackle to win the ball before booting it deep and letting Appius Freilino bring it down outside of the box and pass to Jacob Close, who would rifle the ball into the back of the net in the eighty seventh minute to tie. The win, however, would come from their Astograthian star. Four minutes later, in stoppage time, Xabier Eskerra would play a one two with Close and would slip into the space a few yards away from the keeper. And not knowing who to defend, the keeper would allow him an open shot that would bounce off of the post and in. Celsus York doesn't have pressure for his job... For now. Red Hill has serious expectations, and despite this win, they haven't met them.

AS Mezina showed that they can't be underestimated in their first top flight season when they went to Ceres and jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind Jon Laxalt's brace and then withstood the onslaught from Aleixo Christakis and Heron Kendall to hold on for a 3-3 draw. Guayabalense vet Renato Corrientes would get the equalizer for Mezina late, and libero Chloe Catori would have three blocks that would prevent goals and keep Heron Kendall off of the scoresheet. For Ceres, however, this result just means more pressure on Gallus Jay and more doubts about letting go Wesley...

MATCHDAY SIX
AS Mezina 3–2 Luxus FC
Atrus West 2–3 Metrus United
Northstar United 0–2 Portus South
Racing Club Westbay 1–2 Noodle SC
Sporting Luxus 3–1 Silvershire Sporting
Portus Independent 2–0 Red Hill United
Portus Central 1–1 Union Atrus
Sporting Ceres 0–1 Zombie FC

Portus South has overachieved so far, and the Southsiders have done it through three players; Amelia Sal, Colin Axon, and Emerson de Moor. The first of those players is a midfielder, the other two play on the wing, but all three of them have used brilliant teamwork this season to dominate the opposition and become the biggest rising stars in the Ironite game. South's always been highly rated as a developmental team, but now, that development is showing tangible effects on the league, as the three twenty two year olds continue to tear teams apart. Axon and de Moor had both goals in their away win over Northstar, and they managed to get to fourteen points and fifth in the table, with a better record than Independent or Zombie.

MATCHDAY SEVEN
Zombie FC 1–3 AS Mezina
Union Atrus 2–3 Sporting Ceres
Red Hill United 2–2 Portus Central
Silvershire Sporting 5–3 Portus Independent
Noodle SC 2–1 Sporting Luxus
Portus South 6–2 Racing Club Westbay
Metrus United 2–1 Northstar United
Luxus FC 3–0 Atrus West

The Derby Della Isole... The biggest competitive rivalry in the league and the country as a whole. Contested between the giants from Red Hill and Portus Central. Both of these teams have the most history. The most cash. The most influence. Red Hill wants to get back to that former standard. Portus is fighting to maintain their recent success. But this derby was something of a drab affair where the most action happened in the stands with skirmishes between the Rogues and the Armata Rossa. Both sides didn't want to give each other too much room. Freilino had the opening goal in the thirtieth minute after Eskerra danced through the defense and passed once they converged on him, and then Marcos Zelaya would equalize just before the end of the half to wrap up scoring. A tense match, yes. An exciting one, no. But Red Hill didn't lose to their rivals and Central stayed undefeated.

MATCHDAY EIGHT
AS Mezina 4–0 Atrus West
Northstar United 1–1 Luxus FC
Racing Club Westbay 0–1 Metrus United
Sporting Luxus 1–0 Portus South
Portus Independent 2–3 Noodle SC
Portus Central 3–1 Silvershire Sporting
Sporting Ceres 3–2 Red Hill United
Zombie FC 1–1 Union Atrus

Zombie has been leaning heavily on Nagdalene rather than Kyle Zombie, the forward who took on the name of his club's parent company, but Nagdalene's strike partner finally stepped up with a thirty five yard strike against Atrus that would give Zombie the brief lead and keep them from getting upset in a match at home where their attack never really started up. At the same time, Independent would blow a nationally televised home match against an inferior opponent, a streaking Noodle side. They'd go down 3-0 by the half, and the second half brace from Alexis wouldn't be enough to rescue them...

   PTC National League      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Portus Central             8    5   3   0    20   11   +9    18
 2 Noodle SC                  8    5   2   1    15   10   +5    17
 3 Silvershire Sporting       8    5   0   3    21   17   +4    15
 4 Metrus United              8    5   0   3    15   14   +1    15
 5 Portus South               8    4   2   2    19   13   +6    14
 6 Red Hill United            8    4   2   2    16   13   +3    14
 7 Sporting Ceres             8    4   2   2    22   20   +2    14
 8 AS Mezina                  8    4   1   3    17   14   +3    13
 9 Zombie FC                  8    3   2   3    18   16   +2    11
10 Portus Independent         8    3   1   4    17   17    0    10
11 Union Atrus                8    1   5   2    11   11    0     8
12 Luxus FC                   8    2   2   4    13   16   −3     8
13 Sporting Luxus             8    2   2   4    10   13   −3     8
14 Northstar United           8    1   2   5    13   23  −10     5
15 Racing Club Westbay        8    1   1   6    13   22   −9     4
16 Atrus West                 8    0   3   5    12   22  −10     3

[The Iron Syndicate]

National League 32 Part Three
Coverage by Brandon Strongsword
The title race now shows itself to be more like we thought it would be preseason. Central's star studded lineup has brought them to first, but Wesley's young guns from the northeast side are in second place and keeping the race close and exciting, and Zombie FC has returned to the familiar position of being in striking distance of the top while not being there themselves, despite massive investments and an absolutely lethal front line. Beyond that, however, we see chaos. Fourth and fifth place belonging to Silvershire and Mezina, and Red Hill United floundering in sixth while Sporting Ceres falls to twelve. Order and chaos are here, and in the same table.

MATCHDAY NINE
Union Atrus 0–1 AS Mezina
Red Hill United 1–2 Zombie FC
Silvershire Sporting 2–0 Sporting Ceres
Noodle SC 1–2 Portus Central
Portus South 0–1 Portus Independent
Metrus United 2–0 Sporting Luxus
Luxus FC 1–1 Racing Club Westbay
Atrus West 2–4 Northstar United
The Red Hill Derby, the battle of the national and international sides of the city and also the clash that sees everyone in Red Hill either pick red or purple, came and saw the trend of Zombie victories continue... Despite all the investment in RHU. Xabier Eskerra would continue his good run as the star of this team by moving up from the midfield and heading in the cross from Jacob Close, but the Zombies would equalize five minutes later in the tenth minute when Nagdalene struck the ball with the top of his foot from the top of the box and arced the shot into the net. There'd be a tough fought physical match until the seventieth minute, when Kyle Zombie got the winner in front of a shocked Red Hill curva off of Nagdalene's one two play.

Central also kept up their winning ways through Zelaya's brace, the Ceres attack fell flat away from home in Silvershire, South went down to Independent off of Xavi Caldera's strike into the corner of the net, and Jon Laxalt tapped in the winner for Mezina in Atrus.
MATCHDAY TEN
AS Mezina 2–1 Northstar United
Racing Club Westbay 0–1 Atrus West
Sporting Luxus 5–2 Luxus FC
Portus Independent 2–1 Metrus United
Portus Central 0–0 Portus South
Sporting Ceres 1–2 Noodle SC
Zombie FC 3–3 Silvershire Sporting
Union Atrus 3–3 Red Hill United

Red Hill's management is increasingly under fire as they continue to flop, and this time they lost a western Syndicate derby with rivals Union Atrus. They went down 2-0 in the first half behind a penalty kick and a corner kick volley, but Eskerra would pull one back at the start of the second and then Miles Stone would get an impressive goal when the ball fell at his feet. But it would be in vain when Atrus scored a second penalty that was given up this time by Nura Ba, and the fans wouldn't be very happy with the result despite the last gasp tying goal from Appius Freilino.

Central was also held up at home vs South, who got their first result in years against the black and white and nearly got the win when Colin Axon rifled a shot off of the inside of the crossbar and out into the box where Amelia Sal missed the rebound shot chance. Ceres would go down at home to Noodle for another upset result, despite Ga-yeong Han keeping up her good form with a goal.

MATCHDAY ELEVEN
Red Hill United 3–2 AS Mezina
Silvershire Sporting 0–1 Union Atrus
Noodle SC 1–4 Zombie FC
Portus South 1–0 Sporting Ceres
Metrus United 1–3 Portus Central
Luxus FC 2–5 Portus Independent
Atrus West 0–2 Sporting Luxus
Northstar United 0–2 Racing Club Westbay

South has been amazing considering their spending power, their market, and all the competition they have for that market and from other mid table teams, and they managed to shut out Sporting for another disappointing result from an Angels team that's in free fall. The winner was scored in the 82nd minute by Emerson de Moor, who crossed over Nepharim defender Wilhelm Lotus and then cut back to the inside and finished with the inside of his boot. After this result, there's rumors swirling around that Gallus Jay could lose his job as early as midseason, and that Ceres is already lining up his replacement, who reportedly could be a young manager from Anglatia...

MATCHDAY TWELVE
AS Mezina 0–0 Racing Club Westbay
Sporting Luxus 1–1 Northstar United
Portus Independent 4–0 Atrus West
Portus Central 2–2 Luxus FC
Sporting Ceres 3–3 Metrus United
Zombie FC 3–1 Portus South
Union Atrus 2–1 Noodle SC
Red Hill United 2–2 Silvershire Sporting

Despite goals from both Zelaya and Drew Case, Central were held up at home by Luxus FC after blowing a 2-0 first half lead. This sees them stay close in the title race, with Independent getting a four goal win behind Xavi Caldera's hat trick of assists and Alexis Valente's first career four goal match, where she had a brace in each half. Independent is still behind their bigger neighbors, but that doesn't mean the title race is over, especially with a couple of the 'big' teams having early season collapses and looking for change already, during a season where every big team was supposed to have improved tremendously...

PTC National League      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Portus Central            12    7   5   0    27   15  +12    26
 2 Portus Independent        12    7   1   4    29   20   +9    22
 3 Zombie FC                 12    6   3   3    30   22   +8    21
 4 Silvershire Sporting      12    6   2   4    28   23   +5    20
 5 AS Mezina                 12    6   2   4    22   18   +4    20
 6 Noodle SC                 12    6   2   4    20   19   +1    20
 7 Red Hill United           12    5   4   3    25   22   +3    19
 8 Metrus United             12    6   1   5    22   22    0    19
 9 Portus South              12    5   3   4    21   17   +4    18
10 Union Atrus               12    3   6   3    17   16   +1    15
11 Sporting Luxus            12    4   3   5    18   18    0    15
12 Sporting Ceres            12    4   3   5    26   28   −2    15
13 Luxus FC                  12    2   4   6    20   29   −9    10
14 Racing Club Westbay       12    2   3   7    16   24   −8     9
15 Northstar United          12    2   3   7    19   30  −11     9
16 Atrus West                12    1   3   8    15   32  −17     6

[The Iron Syndicate]

National League 32 Results

  PTC National League      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Portus Independent        30   22   3   5    75   40  +35    69
 2 Portus Central            30   18   7   5    77   44  +33    61
 3 Zombie FC                 30   16   7   7    67   47  +20    55
 4 Red Hill United           30   15   7   8    65   54  +11    52
 5 Sporting Ceres            30   16   3  11    69   59  +10    51
 6 Silvershire Sporting      30   12  10   8    60   50  +10    46
 7 Union Atrus               30   12  10   8    55   47   +8    46
 8 Noodle SC                 30   12   7  11    50   57   −7    43
 9 Metrus United             30   10   7  13    50   58   −8    37
10 AS Mezina                 30   11   3  16    52   57   −5    36
11 Portus South              30    8   7  15    44   56  −12    31
12 Luxus FC                  30    8   7  15    54   67  −13    31
13 Sporting Luxus            30    8   6  16    41   57  −16    30
14 Atrus West                30    7   7  16    47   74  −27    28
15 Racing Club Westbay       30    7   6  17    43   59  −16    27
16 Northstar United          30    6   7  17    53   76  −23    25