Fifteen seasons of Whirl Islands Premier League action have already been held, so let's have a quick look at what happened this last season...
Standings
Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Navel Sharks 33 23 4 6 69 29 +40 73 CC
2 Lagoon Red Diamonds 33 19 8 6 62 33 +29 65 CC
3 FC Atlantis 33 15 9 9 45 39 +6 54 GC
4 Navel FC 33 13 14 6 46 35 +11 53 GC
5 Eastburg United 33 14 8 11 30 23 +7 50 GC
6 Portland Greencaps 33 10 11 12 30 32 -2 41
7 Náutico 33 9 9 15 32 43 -11 36
8 Union FC 33 9 8 16 39 55 -16 35
9 Narissa Dolphins 33 8 11 14 19 33 -14 35
10 Halcones de Maracaibo 33 10 5 18 29 51 -22 35
11 Racing de Terranova 33 8 9 16 27 39 -12 33
12 Vieux-Port FC 33 8 8 17 35 51 -16 32 REL
In the most boring and predictable football league of the multiverse, Navel Sharks cruised to yet another championship without another team posing a significant threat to their title chances, although the Red Diamonds managed to strip Navel FC from another second place finish and got the Whirl-Islander berth for the Champions' Cup's preliminary rounds for non-champions. And once again, Atlantis proved that they could be title contenders in the middle-term by retaining their third-place finish, while NFC's failure to represent a real threat to their arch-rivals sent them crashing to fourth place and an unwanted ticket to the Globe Cup, and Eastburg seemed to be content with finishing in fifth every season, with the Greencaps finishing too far away in sixth and never looking as a strong contender for that last berth to the GC.
And, if last season's relegation struggle was passionate, this season it was even more, with Náutico, promoted Union, Narissa, Halcones, Racing and Vieux-Port reaching the last weekend of league action with real chances of seeing the drop. Halcones and Racing found themselves facing each other, while Union had to visit Eastburg, Náutico had to fight for their salvation in Atlantis, and Narissa and Vieux-Port had the toughest matches, with Vieux-Port hosting Navel FC, and the Dolphins visiting the already-crowned champions, the Sharks. Of all five teams, the only ones able to get positive results were Halcones, who beat Racing in Terranova, and Náutico, who stole a point from Atlantis, which was enough for them to finish in seventh, and for the Yellow-Blacks to secure third place. Union were downed by Eastburg, while the Dolphins lost at Jamestown, and Vieux-Port, who were rock-bottom at the start of the day, doomed themselves to play the next season in the Campeonato Nacional after losing in a shameful way to NFC at home.
A new Campeonato Nacional season is over, with a three-horse race developing throughout the season between Sparta Navel, Athletic Victoria, and Olimpia, although the claret-glad team was the one that finished first and won promotion to the Premier League, where they will meet their arch-rivals Union once again. For Victoria and Olimpia, there was a "consolation prize" waiting for both though, as their efforts were awarded with qualification for the Series B Champions' Cup, along with champions Sparta and Lagoon Crocodiles, who finished in fourth place. And clearly, we won't waste any words talking about the rest, as they did nothing notable or of interest for the competition this season.
Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Sparta Navel 33 17 9 7 49 30 +19 60 CH/P - SBCC
2 Athletic Victoria 33 17 8 8 48 30 +18 59 SBCC
3 Olimpia 33 16 9 8 45 24 +21 57 SBCC
4 Lagoon Crocodiles 33 16 7 10 49 41 +8 55 SBCC
5 Atlético Narissa 33 12 10 11 30 29 +1 46
6 FC Moncton 33 12 6 15 41 47 -6 42
7 FC Terranova 33 10 9 14 32 38 -6 39
8 Hoxvathor Seahawks 33 10 9 14 35 45 -10 39
9 CCD Eastburg 33 9 11 13 35 41 -6 38
10 Sporting Ayacucho 33 9 10 14 27 40 -13 37
11 Arica FC 33 8 10 15 31 45 -14 34
12 Deportivo Maracaibo 33 8 10 15 23 35 -12 34
The Twelfth Islander Championship
With the return of the Whirl Islands Premier League as the highest tier of Whirl-Islander professional football, the Islander Championship now gives a single berth for the Cygnus Cup.
Quarter-Finals
Navel Sharks 6-1 Union FC
Lagoon Red Diamonds 2-0 Náutico
FC Atlantis 0-0 Portland Greencaps (1-0 AET)
Navel FC 3-1 Eastburg United
Semi-Finals
Navel Sharks 2-3 Navel FC
Lagoon Red Diamonds 0-1 FC Atlantis
Final @ Yellow Field, Atlantis, Atlantis Island (Attendance: 11,223)
FC Atlantis 3-0 Navel FC
Congratulations to FC Atlantis, who won the twelfth Islander Championship and qualified for the next Cygnus Cup!
UICA Qualification:
CC: Navel Sharks, Lagoon Red Diamonds
GC: FC Atlantis, Navel FC, Eastburg United
SBCC: Sparta Navel, Athletic Victoria, Olimpia, Lagoon Crocodiles
Cygnus Cup qualifier: FC Atlantis