OSN.net :: Osarius Sports Network (Domestic Newswire)

[Osarius]

Osarius Sports Network

As of August 2016, and the dissolution of LigAnaia, Osarian domestic leagues will be rebooted.
The League of Aquillian will also be rebooted and run concurrently.

Some old posts will be kept simply because I can't delete them, but most will be re-purposed to archive/directory posts or whatever

For RPing time etc... Season 1 (for each competition) commenced in the year 2228, immediately after Transfer Window 16.

Index of Contents                                        
OFA Pro Season 1     Preview
2228-2229            Part 1a, Part 1b, Interlude
Post-TW16            Part 2, "Mid season round-up"
                     Part 4, Part 5

[Osarius]

OFA Pro
(formerly the Osarian League of Association Football)

Tier I: Golden League

The Golden League is a single division, twenty team, double-round-robin league to determine the national champions of Osarius. The top two teams are entered to the UICA Champions Cup, and at least one more team is entered to the UICA Globe Cup. The remaining two allocations for the UICA Globe Cup are determined via cup competition and are not guaranteed to go to Golden League teams. The bottom three teams in the Golden League at the end of each season are relegated to the Aurumia League.

Season  Champions                Runners-up               Third Place              
S01     Hastmead Diamante        Firewood City            Real Jraxville

Tier II: Aurumia League

The Aurumia League is a single division, twenty team, double-round-robin league which promotes four teams and relegates four teams every season. It is the only tier in which teams can compete in both the OFA League Cup and the OFA Trophy.

The top two teams at the end of each season earn automatic promotion to the Golden League, while positions three through six are paired off in double-legged playoffs, with the winners progressing to a single-legged final at a neutral location to determine the final promotion slot. The bottom four teams are all relegated to the Phoenix League.

Season  Champions                Runners-up               Third Place              
S01     Violia FC                Qubadili FC              Alissar Phoenix          

Season  Playoff Winners          Runners-up                                        
S01     Alissar Phoenix          Warton Villa

Tier III: Phoenix League

The Phoenix League is a single division, twenty team, double-round-robin league which promotes four teams and relegates four teams every season. It is the only tier in which teams can compete in both the OFA League Cup and the OFA Trophy. The top two teams at the end of each season are promoted to the Aurumia League, while positions three through six are paired off in double-legged playoffs to determine the remaining two promotion slots.

Season  Champions                Runners-up                                        
S01     Yamihagi FC              Blacktube Village        

Season  Playoff Winners                                                            
S01     Dynamo Druz              Real Rajahara

Tier IV: Duchess League

The Duchess league consists of two divisions of twenty-two teams each. The divisions were created through analysis of rank primarily, in order to provide a sense of balance between the two, though some consideration was made for geographic limitations in special circumstances.

Teams play once against each team in their division before the divisions are split based on performance. Teams then play each team in their split once, with the venue reversed from the last time they played.

After this second stage is completed (thirty-one games across thirty-two matchdays), the top four teams in each upper split are combined into a promotion league, where they play a single-round-robin. The top four teams are promoted to the Phoenix League. Meanwhile, the bottom four teams in each lower split are combined into a relegation league, where they play a single-round-robin and the bottom four teams are relegated to the Regional Leagues.

Teams not participating in the promotion or relegation leagues are split into groups of four, where they play across three match days. The teams topping each group are ranked according to their results from the entire season, and seeded into a seven team knockout bracket. The final four win the right to enter the OFA Trophy later the following season, the other four byes go to the non-promoted teams who qualified for the promotion league. The winner of this bracket is awarded a prestige shield. A similar knockout bracket is prepared for the seven teams finishing in each position in the groups, where the winners also earn prestige awards. Teams that are eliminated from the bracket are still required to play classification matches.

Season  Champions                Promoted Sides                                    
S01     Kyatoshima United        East Elismith, FC Kelogi, Lanismel Village

Tier V: Regional Leagues

The Regional leagues are the lowest tier of professional football in Osarius, and misleading in name, as they do not correspond to the seven administrative regions of Osarius, but rather four geographic regions, which are grouped into pairs. The four divisions are Mountain (predominantly teams in the North-West), Tropical (South-West), Royal (Central and North-East) and Desert (South-East). While the OFA attempts to divide the sixty-four teams into these four divisions along approximate geographical boundaries, this is not always possible. In such cases, it is possible to see teams forced to compete in another region due to relative proximity, often struggling with travel costs. Sometimes, a wealthier club will volunteer to incur additional travel costs and play in another region, though this is rare.

At the end of the season, each division sends three teams to compete in a playoff series, to determine champions of their respective divisions and thus earn promotion to the Duchess League. The divisional champions then face off for "super regional" championships. Mountain and Tropical divisions contest the Steel Championship, while the Royal and Desert divisions contest the Crown Championship. The winners of the Steel and Crown Championships then contest the Grand Regional Championship and the right to be called National Tier V champions.

Ordinarily there is no relegation from the Regional Leagues, as most Non-League clubs lack the infrastructure to step up to professional football. However, in the event that a Non-League team qualifies by merit (this is complicated, but typically involves winning a district championship at least), meets the administrative requirements, and submits an application, the teams finishing bottom of each division compete in a single-round-robin tournament, with the lowest finishing team being relegated. If multiple Non-League teams meet the aforementioned criteria, up to four will be accepted into the Regional Leagues at the discretion of the OFA. In such cases, it is possible that only the winners of the single-round-robin tournament among division low finishers will be permitted to remain a part of Tier V. If four Non-League teams are accepted, there is no single-round-robin tournament, and all four low finishers are immediately relegated.

Tier Championship Playoffs

Season  Tier V Champions         Steel Champions          Crown Champions          
S01     AFC Carbonia             AFC Carbonia             Denworth Athletic

Divisional Playoff Champions

Season  Mountain Champions       Tropical Champions                                
S01     AFC Carbonia             Poyndale Rovers     

Season  Royal Champions          Desert Champions                                  
S01     Corriere Sporting        Denworth Athletic

Regular Season Division Champions

Season  Mountain Champions       Tropical Champions                                
S01     Renegata Neahri          Poyndale Rovers          

Season  Royal Champions          Desert Champions                                  
S01     Corriere Sporting        Triumph Network Corps

Tier VI: Non-League (mostly District Leagues)

At this level, as most teams are not professional, there is no fixed league system operated by the OFA. Instead the responsibility is delegated to independent, district-level league organisations who come under the OFA umbrella. For example, in their early days, Hastmead Diamante competed in the Central Carbonia Recreational League, a subdivision of the Hastmead District League system.

U19: OFA Elite Development League

The Elite Development League is open only to academies rated "Elite" by the OFA -- i.e. scored 80 or above on the Development Assessment Index -- including their fifteen regionally designated, OFA-run academies.

At the beginning of the season, all eligible academies are ranked, and split (by rank) into eight team divisions across as many tiers as required. If there are not enough teams to create an eight team division at a lower tier, the OFA may opt to create a smaller division, or extend invites to academies which narrowly missed out on Elite designation.

The Development League season is split into two halves, contested in Autumn/Winter and Spring. The first half sees teams compete against all others in their division in a double-round-robin format. The top four teams in each division contest a playoff to determine the Autumn Champions, while the other teams compete in a consolation bracket.

Over the winter break, ranks are recalculated and where the OFA deems there to be an imbalance, divisions may be realigned. Within each division, the teams are further split into two groups. Each team plays the others in their group in a double-round-robin format and the top two in each group progress to a playoff series with the corresponding group in their division to determine the Spring Champions.

The Autumn Champions and Spring Champions for each division then face off for the Divisional Championship. In the case that one team is both Autumn and Spring Champion, they are automatically awarded the Divisional Championship.

The Champions of the highest division are entered into the UICA Youth Cup. In the case that they are already eligible via the merit of their affiliated senior club, the entry slot passes to the next highest ranked academy.

Season  Tier I Champions         Autumn Champions         Spring Champions         
S01     Firewood City            Firewood City            Greeningham City

[Osarius]

OFA Cup Competitions

OFA OmniCup

The OmniCup is an unseeded, single-legged knockout competition open to all OFA registered clubs in the country. There are no replays, and all ties must be decided on the day. If scores are level after ninety minutes, an additional period of thirty minutes is played. If scores remain level, ties are settled with a penalty shoot-out.

Losing teams in each round are eliminated from contention until only four remain. From this point on, matches take place at neutral locations, with the winner of the final being awarded the King George II Cup.

OFA Pro League Cup

The League Cup -- often referred to as the Corradini Cup for sponsorship reasons -- is a knockout competition with staggered entry, open to all clubs in tier three and above. There are no replays, and all ties are single-legged except the semi finals. For single-legged ties, if scores are level after ninety minutes, an additional period of thirty minutes is played. If scores remain level, ties are settled with the ADG shoot-out. In the semi finals, the away goals rule is not applied, but scores are aggregated. Should the scores be level at the end of ninety minutes in the second leg, the aforementioned methods are used to settle the tie.

Losing teams in each round are eliminated from contention until only two remain, wherein they contest the final at a neutral location, with the winners being awarded the Enzo Corradini Cup.

  Round One:    20   Tier Three Teams Only
  Round Two:    32   Round One winners, Tier Two teams, two lowest ranked Tier One teams
Round Three:    32   Round Two winners, remainder of Tier One
 Round Four:    16   Round Three winners
   Q/Finals:    8    Round Four winners
   S/Finals:    4    Quarter Final winners
      Final:    2    Semi Final winners

OFA Trophy

The OFA Trophy is an single-legged knockout competition open to all clubs outside the top two tiers. There are no replays, and all ties must be decided on the day. If scores are level after ninety minutes, an additional period of thirty minutes is played. If scores remain level, ties are settled with the ADG shoot-out. The competition necessitates a preliminary round, contested by the four lowest ranked entrants over two legs. The away goals rule is not applied, and ties are settled as defined previously.

Losing teams in each round are eliminated from contention until only four remain. From this point on, matches take place at neutral locations, with the winner of the final being awarded the Queen Maria Trophy.

Preliminary:    4    Lowest ranked entrants
  Round One:    48   Preliminary winners, forty-six next lowest ranked entrants
  Round Two:    64   Round One winners, forty highest ranked non-league teams
Round Three:    64   Round Two winners, bottom half of tier five (32)
 Round Four:    64   Round Three winners, top half of tier five (32)
 Round Five:    64   Round Four winners, tier four teams without byes (32)
  Round Six:    64   Round Five winners, tier four byes (8), relegated tier three (4), tier three (20)
Round Seven:    32   Round Six winners
Round of 16:    16   Round Seven winners
   Q/Finals:    8    Round of 16 winners
   S/Finals:    4    Quarter Final winners
      Final:    2    Semi Final winners

OFA Academy Challenge Cup

The Academy Challenge Cup is an analog to the OmniCup, but specifically for academy (under-19) teams. To facilitate the entry of the fifteen OFA Elite Academies, a preliminary round is held for the thirty lowest ranking academy sides in the country.

Losing teams in each round are eliminated from contention until only four remain. From this point on, matches take place at neutral locations, with the winner of the final being awarded the Lord William Kenterbury Cup.

[Osarius]

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[Patricant]

An I-Patricant individual, Georgio Scalone, wishes to inquire about a purchase price for Shanak FC. He will make the club a winner, and has deep capital reserves to spend on club infrastructure.

[Osarius]

Dear Mr Scalone,

I would like to thank you for your interest in Shanak Football Club, and welcome your approach. The club exists as a major symbol of the northern area of Kronkow, and is acutely aware of it's responsibility to the community. I must stress that this was a major talking point when your interest in the club was brought up in our last shareholders' meeting. While there was a little resistance from one of our major shareholders, who has vested interests in the local community, he has been sufficiently convinced that your intentions will benefit all.

Upon consultation with legal counsel and economic advisors, the board of directors have agreed to a sale at a price of 102,000,000 Osarian Credits (or USD $54,048,325.56 according to today's exchange rates of 1.8872 OSC = USD $1). This will include all club assets and holdings.

We feel that the price reflects the value and quality of the playing squad, non-playing staff, and significant investment made in the youth academy and training facilities in recent years. In addition, the sale price includes the 16,750 capacity stadium (currently subject to a naming contract with O-Comm) in northern Kronkow, and the land upon which is resides. The club has already acquired planning permissions to expand the stadium to a capacity of 48,168 within the next eight years, as part of a long-term plan to propel the club into the upper echelons of Osarian football.

I look forward to doing business with you in the near future.

Mr Raymond Yao
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Shanak Football Club

[Patricant]

Mr. Scalone will submit a bid of $55 million for Shanak FC, conditionally. The conditions are that naming rights for the stadium be handed to AeroPatricant, Patricant's flag carrier, and an enterprise Mr. Scalone holds a 5% stake in.

[Osarius]

Shanak buy-out completed

Second tier Osarian football club Shanak FC today confirmed that the club has been bought outright by Patricant businessman Georgio Scalone, for a sum of $55 million (approximately 102 million OSC). Sole ownership will be transferred to Mr Scalone within the next 48 hours, and the transaction will make him the owner of all Shanak FC holdings and assets, including the stadium and training facilities.

The deal comes following a lengthy discussion with O-Comm, the telecommunication firm who have held the naming rights to Shanak's stadium for the past fourteen years. It is said that the transaction stalled on this point, as Scalone demanded that naming rights be transferred to AeroPatricant, a firm he holds a stake in.

"The board had to discuss the situation with O-Comm, and they were not pleased, but they understood. It was fortunate that their current deal for naming rights expires next year, so Mr Yao could agree a deal to buy out the contract in order to allow the deal to go through." A spokesperson for Shanak FC told us. The deal will come as good news to the fans, who will now anticipate major investment in the playing squad. "I think we have a good squad already, and now we should be able to push on to the next level and reach the Golden League." said Ugo Muntari, a lifelong Shanak fan.

Shanak finished fourth in the Aurumia League last season, and were unfortunate not to be given a chance at promotion through the Golden Road playoffs, as FC United of Dynapolis finished five points clear of the drop zone, above the four point threshold. Shanak manager Ikenna Enyeama is expected to keep his job, given his team's impressive performances over the past couple of seasons, and will certainly seek to strengthen the squad for another assault on the second tier championship.

[Patricant]

Georgio Scalone Press Conference, St. Waldo, Patricant
"I believe that this is a Genesis for Shanak FC. I feel that under the guiding hand of my leadership Shanak FC will be propelled into the first division by next year. This will be set as our parameter goal; the season will be determined a success if this occurs. In order to show appreciation to the fan base of this prestigious club, I will be announcing a series of promotions extending throughout the rest of the season. Some potential promotions include 5 jerseys signed by the team to be one, 5,000 seat cushions to be given away, and the chance to be entered in a contest in which the prize is usage of AeroPatricant Stadium for 2 hours, assumably to play a pick-up match with some mates. I know the Shanak FC dynasty is right around the corner, this club just needs a steady and capable hand to bestow upon the club the conviction it needs to flourish. I am enthralled to have that opportunity, and would like to say that I am as eager as ever to do all I can to allow this club to achieve victory!"

[Patricant]

Shanak FC News-

New owner Georgio Scalone announced current manager Ikenna Enyeama will retain his job. Said Mr. Scalone "Ikenna is the best option for the team at this point. I feel he is capable to lead this team to the Golden League."

[Patricant]

Shanak FC Rumors-
Star Sicoutimont Striker to Shanak?

Rumors are abuzz that I-Patricnt businessman Georgio Scalone's first transfer signing will be of star Sicoutimont striker Christopher Savard. Savard scored his country's first division's most goals last season, and is looking for a team in UICA competition. Shanak FC is believed to be a perfect fit for him. An excerpt from his transfer listing reveals more: "
Christopher Savard-Age 24-Brighton United
Savard, a national team player, is a star striker for UICA-qualifing Brighton United. On the national team, he plays a side role to Girard Giroux, but can get the job done in Sicoutimont's AmpiSport Champion's League. He led the league in goals last season, with 23. He also led the league in caps, playing in all 60 AmpiSport Champion's League games. A young star, he looks to play for a team with a chance of UICA qualification, in a league ranked above Sicoutimont."

[Patricant]

Aurumia League Transfer Wire-

Shanak FC is in the transfers columns, with a 2.5 million Borish pound, 3 season deal being signed with Boring Paradise international right back Chian Chiac. Chiac plays as a substitute for his international team, and has been signed off the free agent market.

[Patricant]

Shanak FC Team News-

Ikenna Enyeama, Shanak FC's manager, announces the appointment of the team's captain and vice captain. The captain is now Luke Hayes, CB, and the vice-captain is Severino Garcia, ST. In other news, Shanak FC will appoint an assistant manager, Mixu Vayrynen, from Finland.

[Patricant]

Shanak FC Transfer Wire-

It is announced that star Sicoutimont striker Christopher Savard, a player it has been revealed Shanak FC bidded for, will not play for Shanak, and will instead sign with a club from Free South Califas.

[Osarius]

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[Patricant]

In transfer news, Northern Sunrise Islander Chikage KIzama, a midfielder, has signed with Shanak FC, owned by I-Patricant businessman Georgio Scalone, on a two-year deal. The financial terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed. Kazama has played for his national team.

[Osarius]

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[Patricant]

Georgio Scalone stated earlier today that he was pleased with the transfer signings of Shanak FC, and that he will be expecting a promoting season this year.

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