Eshian Domestic Newswire [ESHIALAND AND PUPPETS ONLY]

by **Eshialand** » Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:29 pm

So, a domestic soccer league in a nation that couldn't be bothered to care just 8 months ago? This'll end well.

The new, reset, (and improved?) Eshialand Soccer League will begin with 8 teams:

Each team will play a 28-match season, playing each other team 4 times. The top 4 teams at the end of the season will play in the Andrews Trophy Playoffs, for the chance to earn the title of Eshialand's Soccer Champions.

by **Eshialand** » Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:50 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 1

Buffalo Niagara FC 0–0 Pittsburgh Eagles
Cincinnati Siege 5–1 Ottawa Geese
Cleveland FC 1–0 Eshialand City Tigers
Detroit Wolves 0–0 Eshialand City Royals

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cincinnati Siege            1    1   0   0     5    1   +4     3
2 Cleveland FC                1    1   0   0     1    0   +1     3
3 Buffalo Niagara FC          1    0   1   0     0    0    0     1
  Detroit Wolves              1    0   1   0     0    0    0     1
  Eshialand City Royals       1    0   1   0     0    0    0     1
  Pittsburgh Eagles           1    0   1   0     0    0    0     1
7 Eshialand City Tigers       1    0   0   1     0    1   −1     0
8 Ottawa Geese                1    0   0   1     1    5   −4     0

Opening Day
Cincinnati Siege 5-1 Ottawa Geese

So, this was it. December 3rd, 2021. Opening day.

You, King William I, decided to go to the match being held in Cincinnati's Southern Sportsplex between the Cincinnati Siege and the Ottawa Geese, and it sure didn't disappoint in the goal-scoring department.

One of the good things about this match was Cincinnati's starting XI, which was... stacked to say the least.

GK #1 Logan MARTIN (M, 32)
LB #8 Sarah SILVER (F, 29)
RB #3 Joseph LEGAULT (M, 21)
LM #13 Jozelyn BAKER (F, 22)
CM #2 Hannah HYMAN (F, 25)
RM #4 Gary SANDERS (M, 24)
AM #12 Michael JACOBS (M, 26)
LW #23 Lucas MEILLING (M, 18)
RW #21 Jonathan HARPER (M, 27)
ST #24 Alice CARROLL (F, 22)
ST #9 Lana CHINDER (F, 27)

4 of these names had been listed to Eshialand's National Team at some point, which just seemed ridiculous, especially with some of the names... but it'd be fine. Ottawa wouldn't crack under pressure.

Until the third minute, when Alice Carroll scored. Oh... dear... 1-0 Cincinnati.

And then the 16th minute, when Lana Chinder got one off of a pass from Johnathan Harper. 2-0 Siege.

And then the 43rd minute, when Michael Jacobs scored from a pass from Jozelyn Baker... see where this is going? 3-0 Siege.

Luckily, Ottawa did get one... when Gary Sanders muffed it up, letting the ball go to Ottawa's Jason Callahan, who shot it past Martin in the 65th... but then, Cincinnati snapped right back into reality.

Alice Carroll scored again in the 71st minute to make it 4-1, at which point, some fans just started leaving the stadium because they knew Cincinnati was going to win, and watching it wasn't fun or exciting. This was a shitshow. The whole thing was a shitshow.

Ottawa's George Johnson did have a moment in the 80th though... where he took his frustrations out on Sarah Silver, tripping her up despite the fact that he was the one who had the ball and the fact that he had better things to do... and Alice Carroll took the penalty kick. And scored it. 5-1.

This was certainly an explosive start to the league, one which hopefully wouldn't define the rest of the league... "Cincinnati Destroys Everyone" would be a tagline to remember for all the wrong reasons.

At least it wasn't one of the two matches that ended in scoreless draws... heh heh... that wasn't great... this whole experiment was going to be an utter disaster, wasn't it...

by **Eshialand** » Thu Jun 17, 2021 3:10 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 2

Pittsburgh Eagles 0–0 Eshialand City Royals
Eshialand City Tigers 2–3 Detroit Wolves
Ottawa Geese 1–0 Cleveland FC
Buffalo Niagara FC 2–3 Cincinnati Siege

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cincinnati Siege            2    2   0   0     8    3   +5     6
2 Detroit Wolves              2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
3 Cleveland FC                2    1   0   1     1    1    0     3
4 Ottawa Geese                2    1   0   1     2    5   −3     3
5 Eshialand City Royals       2    0   2   0     0    0    0     2
  Pittsburgh Eagles           2    0   2   0     0    0    0     2
7 Buffalo Niagara FC          2    0   1   1     2    3   −1     1
8 Eshialand City Tigers       2    0   0   2     2    4   −2     0

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 3

Cincinnati Siege 0–2 Pittsburgh Eagles
Cleveland FC 4–3 Buffalo Niagara FC
Detroit Wolves 0–1 Ottawa Geese
Eshialand City Royals 4–0 Eshialand City Tigers

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cincinnati Siege            3    2   0   1     8    5   +3     6
2 Cleveland FC                3    2   0   1     5    4   +1     6
3 Ottawa Geese                3    2   0   1     3    5   −2     6
4 Eshialand City Royals       3    1   2   0     4    0   +4     5
5 Pittsburgh Eagles           3    1   2   0     2    0   +2     5
6 Detroit Wolves              3    1   1   1     3    3    0     4
7 Buffalo Niagara FC          3    0   1   2     5    7   −2     1
8 Eshialand City Tigers       3    0   0   3     2    8   −6     0

by **Eshialand** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:37 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 4

Pittsburgh Eagles 2–1 Eshialand City Tigers
Ottawa Geese 2–0 Eshialand City Royals
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–1 Detroit Wolves
Cincinnati Siege 3–1 Cleveland FC

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cincinnati Siege            4    3   0   1    11    6   +5     9
2 Ottawa Geese                4    3   0   1     5    5    0     9
3 Pittsburgh Eagles           4    2   2   0     4    1   +3     8
4 Cleveland FC                4    2   0   2     6    7   −1     6
5 Eshialand City Royals       4    1   2   1     4    2   +2     5
6 Detroit Wolves              4    1   2   1     4    4    0     5
7 Buffalo Niagara FC          4    0   2   2     6    8   −2     2
8 Eshialand City Tigers       4    0   0   4     3   10   −7     0

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 5

Cleveland FC 0–1 Pittsburgh Eagles
Detroit Wolves 3–3 Cincinnati Siege
Eshialand City Royals 1–3 Buffalo Niagara FC
Eshialand City Tigers 2–4 Ottawa Geese

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                5    4   0   1     9    7   +2    12
2 Pittsburgh Eagles           5    3   2   0     5    1   +4    11
3 Cincinnati Siege            5    3   1   1    14    9   +5    10
4 Detroit Wolves              5    1   3   1     7    7    0     6
5 Cleveland FC                5    2   0   3     6    8   −2     6
6 Buffalo Niagara FC          5    1   2   2     9    9    0     5
7 Eshialand City Royals       5    1   2   2     5    5    0     5
8 Eshialand City Tigers       5    0   0   5     5   14   −9     0

ENN Sports

"Hello and welcome to ENN Sports, I'm your host Josh Seametzle. The Eshialand Soccer League has really been depressing me lately, so I've decided to count down the top 3 reasons why this season has been utter garbage so far."

#3: It's Uncompetitive

"Let's face it: if you aren't a fan of Ottawa, Pittsburgh, or Cincinnati, your team's a disappointment and they aren't gonna win the Andrews Trophy. All your team might achieve is getting that fourth playoff spot, but that's no trophy, I'll tell ya that. Is that fun to watch? Not really."

#2: Eshialand City's Woes

"Eshialand's such a disappointing country that I'm not surprised that it's rubbed off on the capital, whose teams are sitting in the bottom two spots on the table. Heck, the Tigers are 0-0-5! Nobody from the capital's ever gonna watch these garbage teams! The Tigers are a lost cause, but Coach Kenneth Morgan of the Royals still has a chance to make his team straighten up and fly right if he wants them to have any shot at the playoffs."

#1: Nobody Really Cared to Begin With

"What people really want to see is their country kicking butt on an international stage, not this bland stuff that, frankly, doesn't matter! Give us the major tournaments like the World Cup 89 Qualifying, the 81st Cup of Harmony, or even anything other than this! I'm sure that if the entire country could be put into a coma until this disaster of a season was over, they'd thank whoever did it."

"So yeah, I don't like the Eshialand Soccer League, and neither should you. Sadly, this is my job, so I have to keep watching this trash... yay..."

by **Eshialand** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 7:30 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 6

Pittsburgh Eagles 0–0 Ottawa Geese
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–0 Eshialand City Tigers
Cincinnati Siege 5–3 Eshialand City Royals
Cleveland FC 3–6 Detroit Wolves

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cincinnati Siege            6    4   1   1    19   12   +7    13
2 Ottawa Geese                6    4   1   1     9    7   +2    13
3 Pittsburgh Eagles           6    3   3   0     5    1   +4    12
4 Detroit Wolves              6    2   3   1    13   10   +3     9
5 Buffalo Niagara FC          6    2   2   2    10    9   +1     8
6 Cleveland FC                6    2   0   4     9   14   −5     6
7 Eshialand City Royals       6    1   2   3     8   10   −2     5
8 Eshialand City Tigers       6    0   0   6     5   15  −10     0

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 7

Detroit Wolves 3–4 Pittsburgh Eagles
Eshialand City Royals 3–3 Cleveland FC
Eshialand City Tigers 2–1 Cincinnati Siege
Ottawa Geese 4–5 Buffalo Niagara FC

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Pittsburgh Eagles           7    4   3   0     9    4   +5    15
2 Cincinnati Siege            7    4   1   2    20   14   +6    13
3 Ottawa Geese                7    4   1   2    13   12   +1    13
4 Buffalo Niagara FC          7    3   2   2    15   13   +2    11
5 Detroit Wolves              7    2   3   2    16   14   +2     9
6 Cleveland FC                7    2   1   4    12   17   −5     7
7 Eshialand City Royals       7    1   3   3    11   13   −2     6
8 Eshialand City Tigers       7    1   0   6     7   16   −9     3

by **Eshialand** » Tue Jun 22, 2021 1:35 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 8

Pittsburgh Eagles 0–0 Buffalo Niagara FC
Ottawa Geese 4–3 Cincinnati Siege
Eshialand City Tigers 0–1 Cleveland FC
Eshialand City Royals 3–4 Detroit Wolves

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Pittsburgh Eagles           8    4   4   0     9    4   +5    16
2 Ottawa Geese                8    5   1   2    17   15   +2    16
3 Cincinnati Siege            8    4   1   3    23   18   +5    13
4 Detroit Wolves              8    3   3   2    20   17   +3    12
5 Buffalo Niagara FC          8    3   3   2    15   13   +2    12
6 Cleveland FC                8    3   1   4    13   17   −4    10
7 Eshialand City Royals       8    1   3   4    14   17   −3     6
8 Eshialand City Tigers       8    1   0   7     7   17  −10     3

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 9

Eshialand City Royals 1–2 Pittsburgh Eagles
Detroit Wolves 4–2 Eshialand City Tigers
Cleveland FC 0–0 Ottawa Geese
Cincinnati Siege 5–0 Buffalo Niagara FC

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Pittsburgh Eagles           9    5   4   0    11    5   +6    19
2 Ottawa Geese                9    5   2   2    17   15   +2    17
3 Cincinnati Siege            9    5   1   3    28   18  +10    16
4 Detroit Wolves              9    4   3   2    24   19   +5    15
5 Buffalo Niagara FC          9    3   3   3    15   18   −3    12
6 Cleveland FC                9    3   2   4    13   17   −4    11
7 Eshialand City Royals       9    1   3   5    15   19   −4     6
8 Eshialand City Tigers       9    1   0   8     9   21  −12     3

by **Eshialand** » Tue Jun 22, 2021 2:00 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 10

Pittsburgh Eagles 2–6 Cincinnati Siege
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–0 Cleveland FC
Ottawa Geese 1–3 Detroit Wolves
Eshialand City Tigers 3–3 Eshialand City Royals

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cincinnati Siege           10    6   1   3    34   20  +14    19
2 Pittsburgh Eagles          10    5   4   1    13   11   +2    19
3 Detroit Wolves             10    5   3   2    27   20   +7    18
4 Ottawa Geese               10    5   2   3    18   18    0    17
5 Buffalo Niagara FC         10    4   3   3    16   18   −2    15
6 Cleveland FC               10    3   2   5    13   18   −5    11
7 Eshialand City Royals      10    1   4   5    18   22   −4     7
8 Eshialand City Tigers      10    1   1   8    12   24  −12     4

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 11

Eshialand City Tigers 2–4 Pittsburgh Eagles
Eshialand City Royals 3–0 Ottawa Geese
Detroit Wolves 0–2 Buffalo Niagara FC
Cleveland FC 4–4 Cincinnati Siege

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Pittsburgh Eagles          11    6   4   1    17   13   +4    22
2 Cincinnati Siege           11    6   2   3    38   24  +14    20
3 Detroit Wolves             11    5   3   3    27   22   +5    18
4 Buffalo Niagara FC         11    5   3   3    18   18    0    18
5 Ottawa Geese               11    5   2   4    18   21   −3    17
6 Cleveland FC               11    3   3   5    17   22   −5    12
7 Eshialand City Royals      11    2   4   5    21   22   −1    10
8 Eshialand City Tigers      11    1   1   9    14   28  −14     4

by **Eshialand** » Tue Jun 22, 2021 6:36 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 12

Pittsburgh Eagles 2–2 Cleveland FC
Cincinnati Siege 2–3 Detroit Wolves
Buffalo Niagara FC 3–0 Eshialand City Royals
Ottawa Geese 0–2 Eshialand City Tigers

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Pittsburgh Eagles          12    6   5   1    19   15   +4    23
2 Detroit Wolves             12    6   3   3    30   24   +6    21
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         12    6   3   3    21   18   +3    21
4 Cincinnati Siege           12    6   2   4    40   27  +13    20
5 Ottawa Geese               12    5   2   5    18   23   −5    17
6 Cleveland FC               12    3   4   5    19   24   −5    13
7 Eshialand City Royals      12    2   4   6    21   25   −4    10
8 Eshialand City Tigers      12    2   1   9    16   28  −12     7

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 13

Ottawa Geese 1–0 Pittsburgh Eagles
Eshialand City Tigers 0–1 Buffalo Niagara FC
Eshialand City Royals 3–3 Cincinnati Siege
Detroit Wolves 0–0 Cleveland FC

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Buffalo Niagara FC         13    7   3   3    22   18   +4    24
2 Pittsburgh Eagles          13    6   5   2    19   16   +3    23
3 Detroit Wolves             13    6   4   3    30   24   +6    22
4 Cincinnati Siege           13    6   3   4    43   30  +13    21
5 Ottawa Geese               13    6   2   5    19   23   −4    20
6 Cleveland FC               13    3   5   5    19   24   −5    14
7 Eshialand City Royals      13    2   5   6    24   28   −4    11
8 Eshialand City Tigers      13    2   1  10    16   29  −13     7

by **Eshialand** » Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:23 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 14

Pittsburgh Eagles 0–1 Detroit Wolves
Cleveland FC 4–4 Eshialand City Royals
Cincinnati Siege 4–3 Eshialand City Tigers
Buffalo Niagara FC 3–5 Ottawa Geese

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Detroit Wolves             14    7   4   3    31   24   +7    25
2 Cincinnati Siege           14    7   3   4    47   33  +14    24
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         14    7   3   4    25   23   +2    24
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          14    6   5   3    19   17   +2    23
5 Ottawa Geese               14    7   2   5    24   26   −2    23
6 Cleveland FC               14    3   6   5    23   28   −5    15
7 Eshialand City Royals      14    2   6   6    28   32   −4    12
8 Eshialand City Tigers      14    2   1  11    19   33  −14     7

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 15

Buffalo Niagara FC 3–1 Pittsburgh Eagles
Cincinnati Siege 0–4 Ottawa Geese
Cleveland FC 0–1 Eshialand City Tigers
Detroit Wolves 5–2 Eshialand City Royals

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Detroit Wolves             15    8   4   3    36   26  +10    28
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         15    8   3   4    28   24   +4    27
3 Ottawa Geese               15    8   2   5    28   26   +2    26
4 Cincinnati Siege           15    7   3   5    47   37  +10    24
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          15    6   5   4    20   20    0    23
6 Cleveland FC               15    3   6   6    23   29   −6    15
7 Eshialand City Royals      15    2   6   7    30   37   −7    12
8 Eshialand City Tigers      15    3   1  11    20   33  −13    10

by **Eshialand** » Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:08 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 16

Pittsburgh Eagles 2–1 Eshialand City Royals
Eshialand City Tigers 2–1 Detroit Wolves
Ottawa Geese 3–1 Cleveland FC
Buffalo Niagara FC 3–0 Cincinnati Siege

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Buffalo Niagara FC         16    9   3   4    31   24   +7    30
2 Ottawa Geese               16    9   2   5    31   27   +4    29
3 Detroit Wolves             16    8   4   4    37   28   +9    28
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          16    7   5   4    22   21   +1    26
5 Cincinnati Siege           16    7   3   6    47   40   +7    24
6 Cleveland FC               16    3   6   7    24   32   −8    15
7 Eshialand City Tigers      16    4   1  11    22   34  −12    13
8 Eshialand City Royals      16    2   6   8    31   39   −8    12

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 17

Cincinnati Siege 2–1 Pittsburgh Eagles
Cleveland FC 0–3 Buffalo Niagara FC
Detroit Wolves 3–1 Ottawa Geese
Eshialand City Royals 1–2 Eshialand City Tigers

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Buffalo Niagara FC         17   10   3   4    34   24  +10    33
2 Detroit Wolves             17    9   4   4    40   29  +11    31
3 Ottawa Geese               17    9   2   6    32   30   +2    29
4 Cincinnati Siege           17    8   3   6    49   41   +8    27
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          17    7   5   5    23   23    0    26
6 Eshialand City Tigers      17    5   1  11    24   35  −11    16
7 Cleveland FC               17    3   6   8    24   35  −11    15
8 Eshialand City Royals      17    2   6   9    32   41   −9    12

by **Eshialand** » Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:16 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 18

Pittsburgh Eagles 0–1 Eshialand City Tigers
Ottawa Geese 2–1 Eshialand City Royals
Buffalo Niagara FC 3–3 Detroit Wolves
Cincinnati Siege 3–5 Cleveland FC

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Buffalo Niagara FC         18   10   4   4    37   27  +10    34
2 Detroit Wolves             18    9   5   4    43   32  +11    32
3 Ottawa Geese               18   10   2   6    34   31   +3    32
4 Cincinnati Siege           18    8   3   7    52   46   +6    27
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          18    7   5   6    23   24   −1    26
6 Eshialand City Tigers      18    6   1  11    25   35  −10    19
7 Cleveland FC               18    4   6   8    29   38   −9    18
8 Eshialand City Royals      18    2   6  10    33   43  −10    12

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 19

Cleveland FC 0–0 Pittsburgh Eagles
Detroit Wolves 2–0 Cincinnati Siege
Eshialand City Royals 4–3 Buffalo Niagara FC
Eshialand City Tigers 1–2 Ottawa Geese

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Detroit Wolves             19   10   5   4    45   32  +13    35
2 Ottawa Geese               19   11   2   6    36   32   +4    35
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         19   10   4   5    40   31   +9    34
4 Cincinnati Siege           19    8   3   8    52   48   +4    27
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          19    7   6   6    23   24   −1    27
6 Cleveland FC               19    4   7   8    29   38   −9    19
7 Eshialand City Tigers      19    6   1  12    26   37  −11    19
8 Eshialand City Royals      19    3   6  10    37   46   −9    15

by **Eshialand** » Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:20 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 20

Pittsburgh Eagles 1–2 Ottawa Geese
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–0 Eshialand City Tigers
Cincinnati Siege 1–4 Eshialand City Royals
Cleveland FC 3–4 Detroit Wolves

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Detroit Wolves             20   11   5   4    49   35  +14    38
2 Ottawa Geese               20   12   2   6    38   33   +5    38
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         20   11   4   5    41   31  +10    37
4 Cincinnati Siege           20    8   3   9    53   52   +1    27
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          20    7   6   7    24   26   −2    27
6 Cleveland FC               20    4   7   9    32   42  −10    19
7 Eshialand City Tigers      20    6   1  13    26   38  −12    19
8 Eshialand City Royals      20    4   6  10    41   47   −6    18

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 21

Detroit Wolves 3–2 Pittsburgh Eagles
Eshialand City Royals 2–1 Cleveland FC
Eshialand City Tigers 3–3 Cincinnati Siege
Ottawa Geese 3–2 Buffalo Niagara FC

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Detroit Wolves             21   12   5   4    52   37  +15    41
2 Ottawa Geese               21   13   2   6    41   35   +6    41
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         21   11   4   6    43   34   +9    37
4 Cincinnati Siege           21    8   4   9    56   55   +1    28
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          21    7   6   8    26   29   −3    27
6 Eshialand City Royals      21    5   6  10    43   48   −5    21
7 Eshialand City Tigers      21    6   2  13    29   41  −12    20
8 Cleveland FC               21    4   7  10    33   44  −11    19

by **Eshialand** » Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:23 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 22

Pittsburgh Eagles 0–1 Buffalo Niagara FC
Ottawa Geese 3–2 Cincinnati Siege
Eshialand City Tigers 0–0 Cleveland FC
Eshialand City Royals 3–2 Detroit Wolves

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               22   14   2   6    44   37   +7    44
2 Detroit Wolves             22   12   5   5    54   40  +14    41
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         22   12   4   6    44   34  +10    40
4 Cincinnati Siege           22    8   4  10    58   58    0    28
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          22    7   6   9    26   30   −4    27
6 Eshialand City Royals      22    6   6  10    46   50   −4    24
7 Eshialand City Tigers      22    6   3  13    29   41  −12    21
8 Cleveland FC               22    4   8  10    33   44  −11    20

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 23

Eshialand City Royals 1–1 Pittsburgh Eagles
Detroit Wolves 2–2 Eshialand City Tigers
Cleveland FC 0–0 Ottawa Geese
Cincinnati Siege 4–2 Buffalo Niagara FC

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               23   14   3   6    44   37   +7    45
2 Detroit Wolves             23   12   6   5    56   42  +14    42
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         23   12   4   7    46   38   +8    40
4 Cincinnati Siege           23    9   4  10    62   60   +2    31
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          23    7   7   9    27   31   −4    28
6 Eshialand City Royals      23    6   7  10    47   51   −4    25
7 Eshialand City Tigers      23    6   4  13    31   43  −12    22
8 Cleveland FC               23    4   9  10    33   44  −11    21

by **Eshialand** » Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:24 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 24

Pittsburgh Eagles 1–0 Cincinnati Siege
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–2 Cleveland FC
Ottawa Geese 4–5 Detroit Wolves
Eshialand City Tigers 2–1 Eshialand City Royals

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Detroit Wolves             24   13   6   5    61   46  +15    45
2 Ottawa Geese               24   14   3   7    48   42   +6    45
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         24   12   4   8    47   40   +7    40
4 Cincinnati Siege           24    9   4  11    62   61   +1    31
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          24    8   7   9    28   31   −3    31
6 Eshialand City Royals      24    6   7  11    48   53   −5    25
7 Eshialand City Tigers      24    7   4  13    33   44  −11    25
8 Cleveland FC               24    5   9  10    35   45  −10    24

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 25

Eshialand City Tigers 1–1 Pittsburgh Eagles
Eshialand City Royals 1–1 Ottawa Geese
Detroit Wolves 1–2 Buffalo Niagara FC
Cleveland FC 3–5 Cincinnati Siege

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               25   14   4   7    49   43   +6    46
2 Detroit Wolves             25   13   6   6    62   48  +14    45
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         25   13   4   8    49   41   +8    43
4 Cincinnati Siege           25   10   4  11    67   64   +3    34
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          25    8   8   9    29   32   −3    32
6 Eshialand City Royals      25    6   8  11    49   54   −5    26
7 Eshialand City Tigers      25    7   5  13    34   45  −11    26
8 Cleveland FC               25    5   9  11    38   50  −12    24

by **Eshialand** » Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:26 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 26

Pittsburgh Eagles 1–0 Cleveland FC
Cincinnati Siege 2–4 Detroit Wolves
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–3 Eshialand City Royals
Ottawa Geese 3–3 Eshialand City Tigers

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Detroit Wolves             26   14   6   6    66   50  +16    48
2 Ottawa Geese               26   14   5   7    52   46   +6    47
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         26   13   4   9    50   44   +6    43
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          26    9   8   9    30   32   −2    35
5 Cincinnati Siege           26   10   4  12    69   68   +1    34
6 Eshialand City Royals      26    7   8  11    52   55   −3    29
7 Eshialand City Tigers      26    7   6  13    37   48  −11    27
8 Cleveland FC               26    5   9  12    38   51  −13    24

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 27

Ottawa Geese 2–0 Pittsburgh Eagles
Eshialand City Tigers 0–1 Buffalo Niagara FC
Eshialand City Royals 3–3 Cincinnati Siege
Detroit Wolves 1–2 Cleveland FC

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               27   15   5   7    54   46   +8    50
2 Detroit Wolves             27   14   6   7    67   52  +15    48
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         27   14   4   9    51   44   +7    46
4 Cincinnati Siege           27   10   5  12    72   71   +1    35
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          27    9   8  10    30   34   −4    35
6 Eshialand City Royals      27    7   9  11    55   58   −3    30
7 Cleveland FC               27    6   9  12    40   52  −12    27
8 Eshialand City Tigers      27    7   6  14    37   49  −12    27

by **Eshialand** » Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:36 pm

Eshialand Soccer League, Matchday 28

Pittsburgh Eagles 0–3 Detroit Wolves
Cleveland FC 2–2 Eshialand City Royals
Cincinnati Siege 3–3 Eshialand City Tigers
Buffalo Niagara FC 2–3 Ottawa Geese

                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               28   16   5   7    57   48   +9    53
2 Detroit Wolves             28   15   6   7    70   52  +18    51
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         28   14   4  10    53   47   +6    46
4 Cincinnati Siege           28   10   6  12    75   74   +1    36
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          28    9   8  11    30   37   −7    35
6 Eshialand City Royals      28    7  10  11    57   60   −3    31
7 Cleveland FC               28    6  10  12    42   54  −12    28
8 Eshialand City Tigers      28    7   7  14    40   52  −12    28

The OTTAWA GEESE qualify for the IFCF Champions' League and the FFI Victors' League, while the DETROIT WOLVES, BUFFALO NIAGARA FC, and CINCINNATI SIEGE qualify for the IFCF Challengers' Cup.

by **Eshialand** » Wed Sep 22, 2021 6:11 pm

The Eshialand Soccer League, Season 2!

OOC: since this is for next season, don't count this for the 8th IFCF cycle, despite this being posted just before the RP cutoff.

Ah, yes. The smell of spring is in the air, the weather's warming up, and the World Cup draw has concluded, which means it must be time for another season of Eshian soccer!

The Eshian Soccer League isn't in the best financial state, as teams with low fan interest proved to be the ones doing the best and teams with the largest fanbases (like the Eshialand City Royals) absolutely fell flat on their faces, circumventing all expectations. The (presumably permanent) cancellation of the Andrews Trophy playoffs (the trophy itself just being handed to the Geese at the end of the season) did a serious number on interest in the league, not to mention all of the money wasted on marketing and preparation.

So, how can the league expect to fix their problems? Well, a start would be acquiring players from other countries, to drive up foreign interest. Five players from four nations have been added to Eshian rosters, with all teams except for the Eshialand City Royals, Cincinnati Siege, and the Detroit Wolves receiving one player from abroad. What will this mean in terms of foreign interest? Expect the three teams that didn't get foreign players (which already had some of the largest domestic fanbases) to have little to no foreign interest, whereas viewership for the five "smaller" teams (though this includes the defending champions, so the term is admittedly a bit dubious) to possibly have spikes in viewership from various countries in Esportiva and Rushmore. Sorry AO and Anaia, you get no love.

With that said, it's time to get on with team previews!

Buffalo Niagara FC

Buffalo Niagara FC is a team that nobody expected to be any good, yet they delivered. Despite only having two Eshian NTers (and only one in the national Starting XI), they rode an amazing defensive performance by Alexander Kolek all the way to third place, and even beating Saltstead's Cherrygrove City for the only IFCF win for any Eshian side, before being eliminated by Astograthian side Sporting Iturributa in the Challengers Cup. Now, they plan to build on their previous performance following the acquisition of South Newlandian defender Jay-Jay Driscoll (becoming the only team to make an international transaction rather than just picking up a free agent). Also of note, their manager James Landry was hired to be the head coach of The 14 Stars' NT, a clear sign of international confidence in this side. Will that confidence be mirrored in the results though?

2021/22 Record: 14-4-10 (3^rd place)
Eshian NTers: GK Alexander KOLEK (M, 31), CM James CALACE (M, 23)
Foreign Acqusitions: CB Jay-Jay DRISCOLL (M, 23)
Rookie Prospects: ST Freddie REDVREE (M, 18), RM Delia GRANT (F, 19)

Cincinnati Siege

As a team, the Siege have a bit of a dilemma on their hands. Despite having four active NTers and being one of the favorites to win the first season of the ESL, they wound up finishing with a paltry fourth and an early Challengers Cup exit to Licentian side Montfort Wanderers, certainly leaving much to be desired. What could possibly come next for this team? Well, you can certainly bet on their offense to deliver, as they scored the most goals out of any team last year, but at what cost? Along with scoring the most goals, they also allowed the most, so they'll have to hope for rookie keeper Joseph Antonetti to keep things tight at the back if their season is going to improve.

2021/22 Record: 10-6-12 (4^th place)
Eshian NTers: RB Sarah SILVER (F, 30), LM Lucas MEILLING (M, 19), ST Alice CARROLL (F, 23), RW Johnathan HARPER (M, 28)
Foreign Acquisitions: none
Rookie Prospects: GK Joseph ANTONETTI (M, 18)

Cleveland FC

So what went wrong for Cleveland FC? Was it poor management? Misallocation of funds? Whatever it was, it created a team that was expected to be trash and performed like trash. Not last though, that's an important distinction (albeit one only decided by head-to-head). After all, being in last would mean almost-certain relegation if a second division was ever introduced, and you certainly don't want to be relegated.

So, what would make Cleveland FC a better team? Well, for one, being anywhere other than Cleveland. Or maybe having a single member of the NT Starting XI on their team. Or maybe getting fans who are enthusiastic and can pump them up. Yeah, Cleveland won't deliver there. At least they acquired a free agent from Sylestone to help them out? There, that's a positive.

2021/22 Record: 6-10-12 (7^th place)
Eshian NTers: CB Carter LANGLEY (M, 25), LB Kyle RIKERS (M, 23)
Foreign Acquisitions: CF Richard PULLEY (M, 22)
Rookie Prospects: RW Eddie GLERA (M, 19), ST Brenda DULAINE (F, 18)

Detroit Wolves

Detroit was a good team last year. That's just a simple fact. With not only the best goal differential in the league and either leading or within a match of leading the table for most of the season, they proved their worth in the ESL, and they're here to stay. Just ignore the fact that they lost in the first round of the Challengers Cup to Sporting Kohnhead City, that clearly never happened.

This is a team that was almost cruelly denied the Eshian Championship in 2021/22, and they're ready to get their revenge on the Ottawa Geese for the extremely close defeat last year. Definitely watch this team in the coming months.

2021/22 Record: 15-6-7 (2^nd place)
Eshian NTers: RM Melissa CAREY (F, 29), CM Avery MacDOUGALL (F, 27), CB Andrew TRAVERS (M, 25)
Foreign Acquisitions: none
Rookie Prospects: GK Safa AZADI (F, 17), ST Ryan BORNON (M, 19)

Eshialand City Royals

There were such high hopes for the Eshialand City Royals coming into the 2021/22 season. They were expected to be one of the better sides in the league, with two of the NT's biggest stars and their coach to boot, but something somewhere just didn't quite click. Now, they're left without as many NTers as other teams, zero international transfers, and far bleaker hopes than they had coming into last year. All they have are the same stars as before, a few young prospects to hopefully help them out, and an eager fanbase just waiting for a breakthrough.

2021/22 Record: 7-10-11 (6^th place)
Eshian NTers: RCB George HABISBRAUER (M, 26), ST Jacob HARRAN (M, 24), RM Michael HORNER (M, 26)
Foreign Acquisitions: none
Rookie Prospects: GK Rafael MACIERAS (M, 19), LB Tommy HOPAL (M, 18), LW Elisa RESTAD (F, 19)

Eshialand City Tigers

The fact that the Tigers and bottomdwellers have become near-synonyms is definitely not a good thing. Getting last place in an already-bad league will do that to you. However, the Tigers' plight doesn't stop there. Last year, they only had two NT players. This year, since Christian Meers left for greener pastures in Bollonich, they have one NTer. Just one. And he's not even a good NTer, he's David friggin' Gorman. On the bright side, the Tigers managed to pull in young prospect Aznar Gozategi from Astograth to replace Meers, but he'd better be a damned good keeper if the Tigers are gonna get anywhere near the top 4 this year.

2021/22 Record: 7-7-14 (last place)
Eshian NTers: LB David GORMAN (M, 28)
Foreign Acquisitions: GK Aznar GOZATEGI (M, 19)
Rookie Prospects: LM Rayna ARAFENA (F, 18), RW Willow TRELLY (F, 19)

Ottawa Geese

So, the Ottawa Geese, the defending champions of the league. Surely they must be in a prime position to repeat, right? Well... no. Definitely not. First, their consecutive IFCF losses to Sylestone's Capital FC and Pasarga's Santos Luega definitely weren't good signs, but additionally, since star right winger Faith Krupp left for San Ortelio, the Geese have had a certain hole they haven't quite been able to fill up. While they're hoping that the Eastfielder Emmitt Emmerson will do a good job filling her shoes, it's certainly up in the air whether the Eshialand Soccer League will have its first repeat champions in 2022.

2021/22 Record: 16-5-7 (league champions)
Eshian NTers: LCB Dominique LaPLANTE (F, 26), CB Evan STEVENS (M, 27), LW Cameron CROWLEY (M, 26)
Foreign Acquisitions: ST Emmitt Emmerson (M, 19)
Rookie Prospects: RW Keiar FORSEN (M, 18)

Pittsburgh Eagles

Where some may see a mid-table team, fans see a defensive powerhouse. Believe it or not, the Pittsburgh Eagles and their keeper Elizabeth Michaels (well-known for bottling a crucial knockout match against Saterun in the Jenna Raven Cup) allowed the fewest goals of any team in the Eshialand Soccer League, and with the team having finished only one point out of 4^th last year, they're definitely on the radar to make it to the Challengers Cup this year. Also, keep an eye out for Sylestonian defender Mitchell Lynn, the team's latest young acquisition! Whether or not he makes a splash will be a huge determining factor in their success or lack thereof.

2021/22 Record: 9-8-11 (5^th place)
Eshian NTers: LW Alyssa LONGFIELD (F, 27), CM Lysander MOORE (M, 29), GK Elizabeth MICHAELS (F, 22)
Foreign Acquisitions: CB Mitchell LYNN (M, 21)
Rookie Prospects: LM Aurelia GRAY (F, 19)

by **Eshialand** » Mon Nov 22, 2021 9:28 pm

Eshialand Soccer League II, Matchdays 1-5

Cleveland FC 1-2 Eshialand City Royals

The Eshialand City Royals' redemption tour would begin in Cleveland, where they put up a "just plain solid" 2-1 win over the home team. Coach Kenneth Morgan's attempts to make this team into winners won't stop here, however, as there are still 27 more matches to play, and they'd have to win a fair chunk of them if they were even going to make the Challengers Cup.

Detroit Wolves 3-2 Cincinnati Siege

Meanwhile, the Detroit Wolves knew what they wanted, and they took it right away from the Cincinnati Siege, a team who aren't exactly the easiest to beat out of the bunch. This spiritual and literal victory at home in Garondin Place will serve wonders for a Wolves side who need to prove that they can make it.

Eshialand City Tigers 1-0 Pittsburgh Eagles

Before you ask, no, this is not a sign that the Eagles are failures this year. They just lost to the worst team in the league, no biggie. Aznar Gozategi got off to a clean start to his Eshian career as striker Joseph Blashill secured the W for the hopeful Tigers. Will this translate into success for the rest of the season?

Buffalo Niagara FC 2-1 Ottawa Geese

In perhaps the highest-class matchup of the night, there was Buffalo-Ottawa, the defending league champions visiting the third-place team, and the Falls, as their fans affectionately know them, would up stunning the visitors with a solid all-around performance. Some have taken this as a sign that, without Faith Krupp, the Geese would surely suffer; others say that Emmitt Emmerson is just getting settled into his new role.

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Detroit Wolves              1    1   0   0     3    2   +1     3
2 Buffalo Niagara FC          1    1   0   0     2    1   +1     3
  Eshialand City Royals       1    1   0   0     2    1   +1     3
4 Eshialand City Tigers       1    1   0   0     1    0   +1     3
5 Cincinnati Siege            1    0   0   1     2    3   −1     0
6 Cleveland FC                1    0   0   1     1    2   −1     0
  Ottawa Geese                1    0   0   1     1    2   −1     0
8 Pittsburgh Eagles           1    0   0   1     0    1   −1     0

Eshialand City Royals 6-2 Ottawa Geese

It's easy to lose confidence in the defending champions of anything if the start to their next campaign doesn't go exactly as planned. Oftentimes, it's an overreaction. "It's just a couple of games, everything will fix itself." "Don't worry, all teams have slumps!"... but being drubbed to the tune of 6-2 by the team who finished in 6th place the previous year dealt a major blow to the Geese's morale. As for the Royals, this win at home in the Eshialand City SuperDome was exactly what they needed to keep themselves motivated for a tough campaign ahead.

Pittsburgh Eagles 1-1 Buffalo Niagara FC

The 2022 season's first draw was one that neither side was particularly happy with. For the Falls, it meant dropping points to a team they shoudn't have dropped them to, and for the Eagles, it was just a missed opportunity to move farther up in the ranks.

Cincinnati Siege 2-1 Eshialand City Tigers

This match had all of the indications of everything functioning as expected, for once. The Tigers managed to get one goal off of the boot of Willow Trelly, but that was all they had to celebrate in the Southern Sportsplex. The Siege needed this win to put themselves in a marginally better position to strike for the championship, but apart from that, it was the kind of match they just didn't want to lose, rather than one they were hoping to win.

Cleveland FC 1-0 Detroit Wolves

The Wolves sure weren't expecting to lose to Cleveland on MD2, but a combination of Melissa Carey botching a shot with a practically open goal and Joseph Antonetti entering into form later on led to the Wolves walking out with the L. They're definitely going to want to straighten up and fly right if they want to win the Eshian Championship.

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Eshialand City Royals       2    2   0   0     8    3   +5     6
2 Buffalo Niagara FC          2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
3 Cincinnati Siege            2    1   0   1     4    4    0     3
4 Detroit Wolves              2    1   0   1     3    3    0     3
5 Cleveland FC                2    1   0   1     2    2    0     3
  Eshialand City Tigers       2    1   0   1     2    2    0     3
7 Pittsburgh Eagles           2    0   1   1     1    2   −1     1
8 Ottawa Geese                2    0   0   2     3    8   −5     0

Detroit Wolves 3-2 Eshialand City Royals

It's genuinely fascinating how no team started 3-0-0, but yet, the Wolves made sure that 3-0-0 wouldn't be the case. This was a major moral victory, stopping the Royals' unlikely start dead in its tracks and boosting team morale in the process. As these two teams sit in a three-way tie for first now, it'll be interesting to see whether they will prevail, if the Royals go back to winning, or if the third nation in the tie will surprise both of them...

Eshialand City Tigers 0-1 Cleveland FC

...yes, the third team in that tie is Cleveland. No, I'm not kidding. Granted, they were only playing a Tigers team on a rapid downward spiral from the high they reached upon beating Pittsburgh, but 2-0-1 and especially the clean sheet win over Detroit make Cleveland look like surprise contenders. It (somehow) remains to be seen whether Zara Tyrelko and company's shutdown defense will carry this Cleveland FC team into a Challengers Cup slot, or better, the Championship.

Buffalo Niagara FC 1-1 Cincinnati Siege

Buffalo Niagara's beginning to form a reputation as drawing artists, which serves as both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, if they draw all of the contenders and beat everyone below them, they're easily Challengers Cup material, but if they can't get the big wins, they aren't going to win the Eshian Championship either. As for the Siege, a 1-1-1 starting record leaves something to be desired, and they'll have to hope for better luck in the future if they want to contend for the Championship.

Ottawa Geese 1-0 Pittsburgh Eagles

The Geese finally get on the board, and recovery is still very much possible with 25 matchdays left to go, but there are definitely still some counting them out. However, counting out the defending champions is almost never a good idea, and the Geese will try to do everything they can to get back to the IFCF Champions League.

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Eshialand City Royals       3    2   0   1    10    6   +4     6
2 Detroit Wolves              3    2   0   1     6    5   +1     6
3 Cleveland FC                3    2   0   1     3    2   +1     6
4 Buffalo Niagara FC          3    1   2   0     4    3   +1     5
5 Cincinnati Siege            3    1   1   1     5    5    0     4
6 Eshialand City Tigers       3    1   0   2     2    3   −1     3
7 Ottawa Geese                3    1   0   2     4    8   −4     3
8 Pittsburgh Eagles           3    0   1   2     1    3   −2     1

Eshialand City Royals 0-1 Pittsburgh Eagles

And with this, the Eagles would become the last team to pick up their first win, and Royals fans, upon their team taking their second straight loss, were starting to get worried. Sure, the Royals were still in a decent position to strike, but if they continued in their mediocre form, things would not wind up going the way they'd like.

Cincinnati Siege 2-3 Ottawa Geese

As the Royals were regressing towards the mean, so too were the Geese, but this regression was upwards for them. This win over Cincinnati, always a dangerous opponent, was a huge one morally, as Emmitt Emmerson's first goal in Eshialand rekindled hopes that he could be a true successor to Faith Krupp, and be the missing piece they needed to win their second title.

Cleveland FC 1-2 Buffalo Niagara FC

The season's first "Battle of the Nameless" went... about as well as you could expect for Cleveland. Sure, they were technically tied for the top spot in the league, but that was just early season randomness, right? Results like these are the ones that everyone expects from them, but... could they pull off more upsets in the future? As for Buffalo, this win would propel them to the top of the table, where they'd hopefully like to stay, but their next match at home against the Wolves might cut that stint at the top a bit short.

Detroit Wolves 2-3 Eshialand City Tigers

No, the Wolves couldn't believe it either. A loss at home to the Tigers. They had a golden opportunity to take the first place spot, and they muffed it up. Safa Azadi would blame the loss on herself, but some have begun to question the team's management instead. After all, in what scenario did they think it was okay to start a minor in a professional match?

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Buffalo Niagara FC          4    2   2   0     6    4   +2     8
2 Eshialand City Royals       4    2   0   2    10    7   +3     6
3 Detroit Wolves              4    2   0   2     8    8    0     6
4 Eshialand City Tigers       4    2   0   2     5    5    0     6
5 Cleveland FC                4    2   0   2     4    4    0     6
6 Ottawa Geese                4    2   0   2     7   10   −3     6
7 Cincinnati Siege            4    1   1   2     7    8   −1     4
8 Pittsburgh Eagles           4    1   1   2     2    3   −1     4

Eshialand City Tigers 1-1 Eshialand City Royals

The first crosstown match-up of the season ended in a result that neither team wanted, taking two contenders and turning them into two outsiders looking in. The goalkeepers on either side did good jobs, (the only goals being from the Royals' Jake Harran and the Tigers' Joseph Blashill) but both have been questioned as to why they even allowed one goal to let this match be a draw.

Buffalo Niagara FC 1-2 Detroit Wolves

Out of all the matches played for MD 5, this was definitely the one to win, with both teams having high championship hopes and the ability to take the top spot in the standings should they win. Detroit handing Buffalo their first loss of the season would be enough to make any Falls fan ill at ease, but with a team like Detroit now leading the standings, fans of any other team should rightfully be nervous.

Ottawa Geese 0-2 Cleveland FC

...unless you're Cleveland, in which case you casually keep pace with the Wolves, defying every single expectation the doubters had about your squad in the process. The Geese's coaching staff were left scratching their heads after this one, wondering what exactly they'd have to do in order to get close to the top of the table.

Pittsburgh Eagles 1-3 Cincinnati Siege

In other news, the two worst teams so far faced off in Pittsburgh, and the Siege took a much-needed win off of the home team to send them right back into the thick of the action. Whether or not they'd be able to capitalize on their newfound opportunity would largely depend on whether Alice Carroll is able to put up as many goals as she's been able to in the past.

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cleveland FC                5    3   0   2     6    4   +2     9
2 Detroit Wolves              5    3   0   2    10    9   +1     9
3 Buffalo Niagara FC          5    2   2   1     7    6   +1     8
4 Eshialand City Royals       5    2   1   2    11    8   +3     7
5 Cincinnati Siege            5    2   1   2    10    9   +1     7
6 Eshialand City Tigers       5    2   1   2     6    6    0     7
7 Ottawa Geese                5    2   0   3     7   12   −5     6
8 Pittsburgh Eagles           5    1   1   3     3    6   −3     4

by **Eshialand** » Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:14 pm

OOC: Well, it's been a long time since I said I was gonna do Season II. I did one post, and left it to handle later... since then, all my scorination files for this league are long gone. That's my bad. I'd like to pick up this league where it left off, so lemme explain how the story goes ICly:

Eshialand Soccer League, 2026 Season

In short, disaster struck on the 2023 season. A lack of attendance, coupled with awkward budget issues, left the league on an indefinite suspension. All contracts were frozen, all rosters remained as they were three (or six, if you're one of the foreigners in the league!) years ago. Now, with the king putting just enough money back into the operation for it to flourish again, an attempt is being made to revive this ailing league.

OOC again: gonna be trying to pace myself more here, and not get burned out. This attempt to come back to the domestic scene is very experimental, just to test the waters to see if I can get back into it. If you want your players out of the league, I get it. Say the word. Take them back.

This is gonna be tough. There's a decent chance I burn out again, but I wanna give y'all at least one last decent season. Not even sure whether I'll be submitting this for IFCF, but again, we'll see down the line.

Our eight teams are back, and now, it's time to see what happens. Everything is reset, MD1 is on the near horizon. Let's make this the best season yet.

by **Eshialand** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:37 pm

ESL 2026, MD 1

"Well, are you ready?" Kenny Morgan asked his Royals team. "We've been given another chance to make this team work, a chance that cut far too short three years ago. We have a real chance here, and we can't blow it. The future of this league depends on us putting on 28 amazing shows this season.

"What about the other teams? Don't they also have to put on 28 amazing shows?" a defender in the back asked.

"We can't control them, but we can control us. We have the chance to be the captains of or own destiny. Now let's go out there and give them a show."

Joey Meininger's 75th minute mark for the Wolves tied the game up, 3-3, and the clock was ticking louder and louder. Despite Kenny Morgan's best attempts to get this team to score, even using a variant of George Habisbrauer's old "Golden Goose" technique that saw their usual 4-3-2-1 formation shift up to a 4-1-3-2, none of it was enough. That ball was not going into the goal, and the highest scoring game of the night would wind up being its only draw.

The Royals' disappointing 6th in the previous season wasn't necessarily the best thing in the world, and, although three years had passed in which things could've changed a bunch, there was a sinking feeling among the team that they hadn't changed quite as much as the fans were hoping they would. Sure, Detroit almost won the Eshian Championship in 2022, so a draw on their home field was no easy feat, but people were expecting just a little something more, that it really seemed like they weren't getting.

Of course this can, and probably should, just be chalked up to a small sample size. People were just jumping the gun, assuming that one singular game could mean anything at all when really, it means diddly-squat. One game, big whoop. The real test would come across the season, and who knows what the future would bring. They had a chance at the championship yet, especially with the best coach in the country backing them. Only time will tell what would come of this team.

Other Results:
Buffalo Niagara FC 0-1 Pittsburgh Eagles
Ottawa Geese 2–0 Cincinnati Siege
Cleveland FC 1–0 Eshialand City Tigers

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                1    1   0   0     2    0   +2     3
2 Cleveland FC                1    1   0   0     1    0   +1     3
  Pittsburgh Eagles           1    1   0   0     1    0   +1     3
4 Detroit Wolves              1    0   1   0     3    3    0     1
  Eshialand City Royals       1    0   1   0     3    3    0     1
6 Buffalo Niagara FC          1    0   0   1     0    1   −1     0
  Eshialand City Tigers       1    0   0   1     0    1   −1     0
8 Cincinnati Siege            1    0   0   1     0    2   −2     0

by **Eshialand** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 2:16 pm

ESL 2026, MDs 2-7

Ah, nothing like a home opener at the SuperDome in Eshialand City. The one game the entire season you just know will be packed to the brim with paying fans. (Usually if any other stadium hit capacity, it would be because the security systems failed and fans without tickets managed to sneak past the guards on their way in.) Today, however, was not just any home opener, because it was a Crosstown Special. That's right, the team visiting them would be the much-hated Tigers.

There was a lot riding on this game for the Royals. Now, you may be wondering, "why is that". After all, these teams were 6th and 8th last season, so they weren't exactly competitive, and, unlike the Royals, there was no sign the Tigers would have a pulse at all this season either. However, when it's the Crosstown Special, it makes you do crazy things. You get desperate.

You run the Golden Goose even though it didn't work last time, just to see if you can maybe, just maybe, break your late-game 1-1 tie.

It works. For the Royals, it puts them into second place, only behind the 2-0-0 defending champs. As for the Tigers? They become the only team left without any points at all. It's a cruel world out there. The Tigers were not built for this world, clearly. If there was a second division to Eshian soccer, they'd go there. There's no release, however. They're trapped in hell.

You know who else was with them, with the same 28 points in the last season? Cleveland. And they're third now, despite losing a close Battle of Ohio. The Tigers have nobody to comfort them in the hole they've dug themselves into. Surely they'll get back soon, right?

Other Results:
Cincinnati Siege 2–1 Cleveland FC
Pittsburgh Eagles 0–1 Ottawa Geese
Detroit Wolves 0–1 Buffalo Niagara FC

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                2    2   0   0     3    0   +3     6
2 Eshialand City Royals       2    1   1   0     5    4   +1     4
3 Cleveland FC                2    1   0   1     2    2    0     3
4 Pittsburgh Eagles           2    1   0   1     1    1    0     3
5 Buffalo Niagara FC          2    1   0   1     1    1    0     3
6 Cincinnati Siege            2    1   0   1     2    3   −1     3
7 Detroit Wolves              2    0   1   1     3    4   −1     1
8 Eshialand City Tigers       2    0   0   2     1    3   −2     0

Geese vs. Wolves. Yep, it was finally time for the top two teams of 2022 to face off for the first time since their crazy battle for first place. Heck, they didn't even get to play each other before the 2023 season got cancelled; they were set to play on MD6 but the season was formally halted the day before their game. So, tensions were definitely high, as both teams wanted to assert their dominance over the other.

Boy oh boy, was dominance asserted.

For the Geese, Eastfield Lodge's Emmitt Emmerson became the first foreign-born player to score multiple goals in a single game, and that wound up matching the total the entire Wolves team put up, with Keiar Forsen and Cameron Crowley scoring the remainder of Ottawa's goals. This was an important game between these two teams, with the Geese being propelled to 3-0-0 after already being the only team at 2-0-0, while the Wolves slipped into dead last place, even the Tigers managing to escape -- or at least delay -- their seemingly inevitable fate.

This was a nightmare scenario for Detroit fans. Second in 2022, now last after three games in 2026. A whopping four teams were now tied at three points, but the Wolves couldn't even manage that, their singular point coming from that Royals tie on opening day. They had some catching up to do, but it wouldn't be impossible... actually far from it.

Other Results:
Buffalo Niagara FC 0–1 Eshialand City Royals
Cleveland FC 0–1 Pittsburgh Eagles
Eshialand City Tigers 4–3 Cincinnati Siege

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                3    3   0   0     7    2   +5     9
2 Eshialand City Royals       3    2   1   0     6    4   +2     7
3 Pittsburgh Eagles           3    2   0   1     2    1   +1     6
4 Eshialand City Tigers       3    1   0   2     5    6   −1     3
5 Cleveland FC                3    1   0   2     2    3   −1     3
6 Buffalo Niagara FC          3    1   0   2     1    2   −1     3
7 Cincinnati Siege            3    1   0   2     5    7   −2     3
8 Detroit Wolves              3    0   1   2     5    8   −3     1

Remember when the Tigers were in hell? You know, two matchdays ago? Well, it's safe to say they've turned things around pretty quickly, with this 4-1 obliteration of the 3^rd place Eagles allowing the Tigers to move into the space they formerly occupied. Not only that, but it gave them the second-highest GD in the league to this point, although once again, right at the start of the season literally anything can happen.

Although, one sort of has to wonder what encouraged the Tigers to start overperforming this much... teams don't just go from damned for eternity to world-beaters overnight...

Before Matchday 3, it was pointed out to the top brass at the Eshian Soccer Federation that, due to new IFCF rules, the Eshian Soccer League would only be eligible for two Challengers' Cup slots for 2026 and subsequent seasons... unless they bit the bullet and decided to expand the league to 9 or more teams... so, they bit the bullet and made a fateful announcement that a promotion and relegation system would likely be implemented to not only expand the league to 9 teams in 2027, but also get good talent from teams you've never heard of into the league.

Although, given the reasons for it, relegation surely wouldn't be used in just the first season of a pro/rel implementation (which wasn't even confirmed yet!), it's been theorized that the Tigers heard that word and decided to go on a 4 goal per game pace to try and run away from the threat. However, we may never know the true reason why they appeared to be getting better.

Other Results:
Eshialand City Royals 1–4 Cincinnati Siege
Detroit Wolves 1–0 Cleveland FC
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–0 Ottawa Geese

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                4    3   0   1     7    3   +4     9
2 Eshialand City Royals       4    2   1   1     7    8   −1     7
3 Eshialand City Tigers       4    2   0   2     9    7   +2     6
4 Cincinnati Siege            4    2   0   2     9    8   +1     6
5 Buffalo Niagara FC          4    2   0   2     2    2    0     6
6 Pittsburgh Eagles           4    2   0   2     3    5   −2     6
7 Detroit Wolves              4    1   1   2     6    8   −2     4
8 Cleveland FC                4    1   0   3     2    4   −2     3

Sometime in the future, we're going to be able to look back at the start of this season and wonder where things started to go wrong for the Eshialand City Royals. They were second in the league for a good few matchdays there, but all of a sudden, they fell right down to fifth. What happened?

Well, it was a battle between the top two teams gone horribly horribly wrong. And to tell the story of this battle properly, I need to introduce you to a player named Keiar Forsen.

Okay, so who in the name of heck is Keiar Forsen? If he's so cool, why isn't he on the national team for something? I'm sure there are fifteen or so filler characters on that roster you could sub out for anyone cool enough to dedicate a matchday RP to, right? Well, sadly, his story is one of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At the age of 18, he was signed to play for the Ottawa Geese, to be their new starting right winger. This was a position that was pretty notably left wide open by Faith Krupp leaving for San Ortelio, where her career has promptly gone nowhere. As for Keiar, his career would also promptly go nowhere, as his arrival to the league coincided perfectly with Eshialand's domestic system ceasing to function properly. Good job.

Thanks to that, nobody (read: Kenny Morgan) ever noticed him playing domestically, because... well there was no domestic game to play. Hence, he just sat around twiddling his thumbs for three years. Sadly, there were a lot of young prospects whose careers would go that way because of the ESL's inability to operate for more than a year at a time. It's a cruel world in a nation such as Eshialand.

Now that he does have an opportunity to play, however, he's certainly made a big mark. In this, his age 21 season, he's operating less like a standard right winger and more like a second striker alongside Emmitt Emmerson, and he absolutely has the goal production to fit right in at that position. And so, now we get to the part of the story where the Royals show up.

Here, we see Kenny Morgan, his team the visitors in Ottawa, wondering who the hell this was singlehandedly carrying the Geese's offense and how he had somehow never heard of him before. "Where are kids like this on the NT??" he asked himself, and in that moment he knew what he had to do.

He was going to give Forsen the call-up he always wanted. Right after tanking a nasty loss and three spots in the league ranking, of course.

Other Results:
Cleveland FC 0–2 Buffalo Niagara FC
Eshialand City Tigers 2–2 Detroit Wolves
Cincinnati Siege 0–3 Pittsburgh Eagles

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                5    4   0   1     9    3   +6    12
2 Buffalo Niagara FC          5    3   0   2     4    2   +2     9
3 Pittsburgh Eagles           5    3   0   2     6    5   +1     9
4 Eshialand City Tigers       5    2   1   2    11    9   +2     7
5 Eshialand City Royals       5    2   1   2     7   10   −3     7
6 Cincinnati Siege            5    2   0   3     9   11   −2     6
7 Detroit Wolves              5    1   2   2     8   10   −2     5
8 Cleveland FC                5    1   0   4     2    6   −4     3

Where did things go wrong for these two teams?

We've already talked about the Wolves' struggles so far this season, and things hadn't really been getting any better. They were still sitting way too far down in the rankings to make any sort of difference, and a win here against the Siege wasn't helping that much. As for the Siege... what in the world happened to them? Four active NTers, a decent, even if still losing, record in 2022, and nothing too major changing between those seasons. So where in the world had everything gone off the rails for this team?

Well for one, Joseph Antonetti was absolutely not performing well in goal. There were a lot of hopes for him to be a breakout star and carry the team to the top of the table, but things just did not work that way. Out of six games the Siege had played so far in the season, he allowed three or more goals in half of them. But that's okay, as long as the offense can consistently perform... oh, they can't?

Yeah, they had only hit that same three goal mark twice in that same span, which is kind of disappointing given that names such as Alice Carroll and Lucas Meilling were on this team. Heck, in one of those two games, they managed to lose because even scoring three goals means nothing when Antonetti was allowing four. Against the Tigers. Yeah, not the best look. Antonetti's career with the team may be in jeopardy if he can't perform well enough to make them Challengers' Cup contenders again.

Hey, at least on the bright side, even if they are second-last in the league, they're still the best team in Ohio.

Other Results:
Eshialand City Royals 1–0 Pittsburgh Eagles
Buffalo Niagara FC 0–0 Eshialand City Tigers
Ottawa Geese 1–0 Cleveland FC

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                6    5   0   1    10    3   +7    15
2 Buffalo Niagara FC          6    3   1   2     4    2   +2    10
3 Eshialand City Royals       6    3   1   2     8   10   −2    10
4 Pittsburgh Eagles           6    3   0   3     6    6    0     9
5 Eshialand City Tigers       6    2   2   2    11    9   +2     8
6 Detroit Wolves              6    2   2   2    11   11    0     8
7 Cincinnati Siege            6    2   0   4    10   14   −4     6
8 Cleveland FC                6    1   0   5     2    7   −5     3

Standings after the first quarter of the season:

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                7    6   0   1    13    3  +10    18
2 Buffalo Niagara FC          7    4   1   2     7    3   +4    13
3 Pittsburgh Eagles           7    4   0   3     7    6   +1    12
4 Eshialand City Royals       7    3   2   2     9   11   −2    11
5 Detroit Wolves              7    2   2   3    11   12   −1     8
  Eshialand City Tigers       7    2   2   3    11   12   −1     8
7 Cincinnati Siege            7    2   0   5    11   17   −6     6
8 Cleveland FC                7    1   1   5     3    8   −5     4

by **Eshialand** » Sun Feb 05, 2023 8:04 pm

Inter-City Association, MDs 1-9

When a problem presents itself, a solution will always come up in the strangest of places, and this was no exception.

The Eshialand Soccer League was too small. Eight teams was enough for this nation's soccer appetites in the past, but these days, new IFCF rules plus increased demand meant that the new ideal number of teams in the ESL was nine. The solution?

Ten new independent teams cropped up, and gave the Eshian Soccer Federation a suggestion. "What if we set up our own second division?" they asked. "The winner of our first season joins the league, and from there, we can be the ESL's B league!"

It was a wild suggestion, but it was humored. These 10 new teams would form the foundation of the Eshian soccer pyramid's first expansion:

And so, these six teams formed the Inter-City Association, which was to become, should all go to plan, the second division of the Eshian soccer pyramid.

*  Inter-City Association       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Yzandria Strikers              9    5   2   2    25   20   +5    17
 2 Queensboro Flames              9    5   1   3    19   11   +8    16
 3 FC Dynamo Maryansk             9    5   1   3    28   25   +3    16
 4 Twin City United               9    4   3   2    19   15   +4    15
 5 Thameside Bullets              9    3   4   2    13   12   +1    13
 6 Superior Lumberjacks           9    3   3   3    13   15   −2    12
 7 Eshialand City Lightning       9    3   2   4    19   19    0    11
 8 Champlain Frontier             9    2   4   3    14   19   −5    10
 9 Vaynorth Comets                9    2   2   5    21   25   −4     8
10 Eshialand City Owls            9    0   4   5    12   22  −10     4

by **Eshialand** » Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:51 pm

ESL 2026, MDs 8-14

What makes the difference between starting a rebuild and staying low in the table? If you've figured out the answer to that, you might just land yourself a job as the new coach of Cleveland FC... but I'd recommend you don't take that position. You can do better.

After 8 matchdays last season, the Maroons were sitting in 6th in the league, with 10 points and both of Eshialand City's teams sitting comfortably behind them. Both they and the Tigers would finish on 28 points that season, but after this match against the Tigers, they found themselves on pace for a paltry 21, while the Tigers were on pace for a far better 38½, which would've been enough to reach the Challengers' Cup under 2022 rules. Not under 2026 rules, sure, and they're only 5th because of other results, but at least you can clearly see the improvement in the Tigers' gameplay.

The Maroons? They're just stuck. On the bright side, they're still just less than a game behind their rivals, the Siege, who've been looking more like the sieve when it comes to allowing goals, a league-leading 20 passing by Joey Antonetti. However, no amount of bad play for them could leave them below the Maroons, who seem to be content on proving why they should just drop down to the ICA right away. Sadly, there are no relegation spots. No getting out of here. They're stuck. And they're gonna have to figure out a way to either climb out of here or face some serious financial consequences. People don't watch bad teams. At least, not unless they have a weirdly morbid curiosity.

Other Results:
Eshialand City Royals 4–2 Detroit Wolves
Pittsburgh Eagles 0–1 Buffalo Niagara FC
Cincinnati Siege 2–3 Ottawa Geese

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                8    7   0   1    16    5  +11    21
2 Buffalo Niagara FC          8    5   1   2     8    3   +5    16
3 Eshialand City Royals       8    4   2   2    13   13    0    14
4 Pittsburgh Eagles           8    4   0   4     7    7    0    12
5 Eshialand City Tigers       8    3   2   3    12   12    0    11
6 Detroit Wolves              8    2   2   4    13   16   −3     8
7 Cincinnati Siege            8    2   0   6    13   20   −7     6
8 Cleveland FC                8    1   1   6     3    9   −6     4

In a league that so far seems to be defined by attempting to chase the Geese, losing is far from an option.

Coming into this matchday, there realistically seemed to be only two or three teams who were even close to being able to chase Ottawa, with Buffalo Niagara and the Royals both being in okay positions, with the Eagles being in somewhat of a worse position but still having a chance, and the Tigers... well they were doing well but it wasn't realistic.

Leaving this MD, however, things would be a lot bleaker for Geese-haters. First, Pittsburgh was up against Ottawa, and they were not winning that, no matter how much they tried. It just wasn't happening. But the Falls? They were up against the Wolves. Sure, they had fallen from the high position they had occupied in the previous season, but they sure still had some bite left in them, and that bite manifested itself in the form of a dominant clean sheet by Safa Azadi, long overdue for a team that really needed to grab a win to have a good shot at the Challengers' Cup.

The Royals would manage to overcome the Tigers in their Crosstown Derby, so they would remain on pace with Ottawa at least... although they were a massive 7 points back. Their next opponents? Why, they were the Falls. Winner takes second in the league, for now anyway.

Other Results:
Eshialand City Tigers 1–2 Eshialand City Royals
Cleveland FC 1–2 Cincinnati Siege
Ottawa Geese 2–0 Pittsburgh Eagles

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese                9    8   0   1    18    5  +13    24
2 Eshialand City Royals       9    5   2   2    15   14   +1    17
3 Buffalo Niagara FC          9    5   1   3     8    4   +4    16
4 Pittsburgh Eagles           9    4   0   5     7    9   −2    12
5 Eshialand City Tigers       9    3   2   4    13   14   −1    11
6 Detroit Wolves              9    3   2   4    14   16   −2    11
7 Cincinnati Siege            9    3   0   6    15   21   −6     9
8 Cleveland FC                9    1   1   7     4   11   −7     4

Opinion: Time for the Geese to Fly Away
by Noah Ludiger

"If I can't keep up with the best team, nobody can!"

I can totally imagine the Falls beating the Royals last night like a small child who refuses to share his toys with his sister. You know? Like, we've all seen that kid on the playground who can't get his way so he just ruins everyone else's lives along with it. And you know, I wouldn't be out here saying this if it weren't for the giant elephant in the room. You know what team I'm talking about.

The Geese are somehow 8 friggin' points above everyone else! Honestly, I'm sick of this! This isn't fun to watch, not if there seems to be nothing to play for! I really, really, really want this Geese problem to be solved. Y'all are gonna hate me for saying this, but we need salary caps on this league.

I know the king said he didn't want salary caps on teams. They can spend what they can afford to, let dynasties grow naturally... but this is getting to be a failed experiment. Come on now, 9-0-1? We don't want this year after year, and unless some rules are put into place, it can totally keep happening! So I just want to tell the king this: if you let the Geese keep this up, I'll--

The Eshialand City Journal has refused to publish the rest of this article.

Other Results:
Detroit Wolves 3–4 Ottawa Geese
Pittsburgh Eagles 0–0 Cleveland FC
Cincinnati Siege 1–4 Eshialand City Tigers

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               10    9   0   1    22    8  +14    27
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         10    6   1   3     9    4   +5    19
3 Eshialand City Royals      10    5   2   3    15   15    0    17
4 Eshialand City Tigers      10    4   2   4    17   15   +2    14
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          10    4   1   5     7    9   −2    13
6 Detroit Wolves             10    3   2   5    17   20   −3    11
7 Cincinnati Siege           10    3   0   7    16   25   −9     9
8 Cleveland FC               10    1   2   7     4   11   −7     5

The Detroit Wolves... well we've known for a while here that they've been dealing with some serious issues. Somehow, they were just unable to recapture the form that took them up almost all the way to the top of the 2022 ESL.

Needless to say, they got their form back in this game. After 10 games of playing at a level that would previously have been considered way sub-par, they got their chance to demolish the worst team in the league and man, did they ever seize that opportunity. Everything was working right: team cohesion was there in a way it just wasn't before, shots were more accurate, and the defense showed an impeccable ability to swipe the ball from the Maroons' offense whenever they felt like it, really. This was peak form Detroit... but that just raised more questions.

Was this the beginning of something real, or was it just a mirage, a false hope? Were they playing this well because they had regained their stride, or was it all just because of who their opponents were?

The answer to this question was likely to become more important than anyone ever expected, as at the top of the table, the Geese were showing their first signs of faltering, of being mortal. They took their second loss to the Falls (who've remarkably only scored 10 goals and allowed 4 across 11 games, are you sure they aren't secretly from Ko-oren or Atheara?) allowing both them and the Royals to inch closer to the top of the table. If they could regain their composure against the other teams, then they'd be set to stroll back into the Champions' League... but if it wasn't? Well then, it would be time for everyone else to strike.

Both the Wolves and the Geese would be against teams from Eshialand City for their next games, the Wolves welcoming the Tigers, who had been falling off as of late, slipping to 6th after spending a fair chunk of time around 4th place, and the Geese heading to the SuperDome to square off against the Royals, who wanted a win just as desperately as the Falls had. They'd need the win to keep pace with the Falls, too, as they were about to play Cleveland. No way they lose that, right?

Other Results:
Cincinnati Siege 1–4 Eshialand City Royals
Eshialand City Tigers 0–1 Pittsburgh Eagles
Ottawa Geese 0–1 Buffalo Niagara FC

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               11    9   0   2    22    9  +13    27
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         11    7   1   3    10    4   +6    22
3 Eshialand City Royals      11    6   2   3    19   16   +3    20
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          11    5   1   5     8    9   −1    16
5 Detroit Wolves             11    4   2   5    22   20   +2    14
6 Eshialand City Tigers      11    4   2   5    17   16   +1    14
7 Cincinnati Siege           11    3   0   8    17   29  −12     9
8 Cleveland FC               11    1   2   8     4   16  −12     5

The Falls found themselves here in a prime position to widen their gap against the Royals for second.

The Royals were up against the Ottawa Geese, the beat team in all the league. Surely, it was a game they couldn't win, right? Well, right. They lost 2-4. In contrast, the Falls were playing the Cleveland Maroons, who were the worst team in the league, and had just one singular win against the Tigers on MD1. How could the Falls lose this?

That was exactly the question that James Landry had to ask himself after this disaster show of a game. They were a team that only allowed 4 goals in their first 11 games against a team who had only scored 4 in their first 11. The man who proved himself, even at the age of 35, to be the best goalkeeper in the country time and time again couldn't keep his team afloat against a team that belonged in the ICA, not the ESL. Where in the world did this all go wrong?

Of course, Cleveland weren't the real winners of this game. They had basically nothing to play for down there at the bottom of the table. They were in last place before the game, and they were still last after. The real winners, of course, were the Geese, who were back into an 8 point lead, as dominant as they had ever been. This result, like it or not, was one not enjoyed by the teams playing, but by those watching from another province entirely.

Other Results:
Eshialand City Royals 2–4 Ottawa Geese
Detroit Wolves 0–0 Eshialand City Tigers
Pittsburgh Eagles 1–2 Cincinnati Siege

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               12   10   0   2    26   11  +15    30
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         12    7   1   4    11    6   +5    22
3 Eshialand City Royals      12    6   2   4    21   20   +1    20
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          12    5   1   6     9   11   −2    16
5 Detroit Wolves             12    4   3   5    22   20   +2    15
6 Eshialand City Tigers      12    4   3   5    17   16   +1    15
7 Cincinnati Siege           12    4   0   8    19   30  −11    12
8 Cleveland FC               12    2   2   8     6   17  −11     8

The Royals were a team with high expectations imparted on them by their manager, Kenny Morgan, but the wheels were starting to fall off the train for this fan favorite team.

Losing to the Geese? That was fine and understandable. But this... sure, the Eagles were on the up and up this year, but this loss wasn't quite what they were hoping for in any event. Pittsburgh was running circles around them, and they knew it. Something was going to have to give for this squad, but Morgan wasn't too sure what changes he could make.

The bright side, at least when it came to his job, was that this team was in fact just a team on the rebuild. He wasn't trying to carry a dynasty, he was just trying to get the Royals out of the bottom part of the table, which they had inhabited for the length of the 2022 season, and it certainly seemed like he was getting the job done in that regard, but he still had to be wary.

As the half-way point of the season approached, things were simultaneously getting clearer and more chaotic. There was a general picture of what the end of the year would probably look like, but freak results still occurred, and they would cause shockwaves. Remember Cleveland beating Buffalo? Well, now they've beaten Ottawa. Yeah, this season still has a ton of surprises in store.

Other Results:
Cincinnati Siege 2–2 Detroit Wolves
Eshialand City Tigers 2–4 Buffalo Niagara FC
Cleveland FC 1–0 Ottawa Geese

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               13   10   0   3    26   12  +14    30
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         13    8   1   4    15    8   +7    25
3 Eshialand City Royals      13    6   2   5    21   22   −1    20
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          13    6   1   6    11   11    0    19
5 Detroit Wolves             13    4   4   5    24   22   +2    16
6 Eshialand City Tigers      13    4   3   6    19   20   −1    15
7 Cincinnati Siege           13    4   1   8    21   32  −11    13
8 Cleveland FC               13    3   2   8     7   17  −10    11

Standings at the half-way point:

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               14   11   0   3    27   12  +15    33
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         14    8   2   4    18   11   +7    26
3 Eshialand City Royals      14    7   2   5    23   22   +1    23
4 Detroit Wolves             14    5   4   5    25   22   +3    19
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          14    6   1   7    11   12   −1    19
6 Eshialand City Tigers      14    4   3   7    19   21   −2    15
7 Cincinnati Siege           14    4   2   8    24   35  −11    14
8 Cleveland FC               14    3   2   9     7   19  −12    11

by **Eshialand** » Thu Feb 16, 2023 1:38 pm

Inter-City Association, MDs 10-18

"How have things been going?" King William asked the ICA's "executives".

The ICA, being a very decentralized lower league, didn't really have executives in the normal sense, just a bunch of team owners who claimed that the ship was running fine when really it was kinda listing a little in the stormy weather that was the Eshian sporting climate at the time. "Alright..." the Yzandria Strikers owner said. "I unironically think we're getting better attendance than the Maroons and Siege, so that's definitely a good start.

"Oh, really? I wasn't too sure that things would work out, saying as there was never really a market for stuff like this before."

Attendance-wise, the Strikers' owner was absolutely right about things. The league was doing really well at finding its audience, and the swift attacking style many of the teams in the ICA were employing made for some extremely exciting games, which really helped with viewership. Additionally, the lower ticket prices than what was typical in the ESL let more people attend more games and really get close to their favorite teams. There was a grassroots feel about the whole thing that was just lost in the corporate swamp that was the established ESL.

That being said, the administration of the ICA left a little something to be desired. The decentralized nature of everything meant that getting schedules prepared was a nightmare and a half, and the lack of external funding meant the wheels could fall off the car at any moment. Good ticket sales were staving off that possibility, but for how much longer? There were some small-market teams like FC Dynamo Maryansk that could barely survive as it was, what about them? Only time would tell, I suppose...

*  Inter-City Association       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Yzandria Strikers             18   11   2   5    46   34  +12    35
 2 Twin City United              18   10   5   3    33   22  +11    35
 3 FC Dynamo Maryansk            18    9   3   6    47   45   +2    30
 4 Superior Lumberjacks          18    7   6   5    36   32   +4    27
 5 Queensboro Flames             18    7   4   7    37   33   +4    25
 6 Champlain Frontier            18    6   6   6    29   31   −2    24
 7 Eshialand City Lightning      18    5   5   8    34   40   −6    20
 8 Thameside Bullets             18    4   6   8    28   32   −4    18
 9 Eshialand City Owls           18    3   8   7    28   37   −9    17
10 Vaynorth Comets               18    4   3  11    34   46  −12    15

by **Eshialand** » Sun Feb 19, 2023 7:06 pm

ESL 2026, MDs 15-18

Half-way home.

Kenny Morgan's goals for this Royals team were simple, really. Just do well, put on a show, and make sure there was enough interest in the ESL going forward to justify continuing the show for another year of fun and madness. Have they done that so far? Well, the numbers speak for themselves.

The Royals, for their part, were doing great. Not only were their on-field results a lot better than they were getting back in 2022, but their attendance numbers were definitely justifying their existence at the top flight. As for the Wolves, who were hosting the Royals on this fine night, they also held onto some pretty decent numbers. Not every team, sadly, was so lucky.

The Maroons and Siege were especially having some issues, with poor results leaving them in dire straights. The Maroons' numbers were strictly lower, but Cincinnati's stadium was far larger than that of Cleveland, so it looked a lot sadder over there. Overall, the league was... okay, but if you weren't having good results on the pitch, you weren't doing well financially either. At least you can't get relegated... yet.

Other Results:
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–2 Pittsburgh Eagles
Ottawa Geese 4–3 Cincinnati Siege
Cleveland FC 0–0 Eshialand City Tigers

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               15   12   0   3    31   15  +16    36
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         15    8   2   5    19   13   +6    26
3 Eshialand City Royals      15    8   2   5    25   23   +2    26
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          15    7   1   7    13   13    0    22
5 Detroit Wolves             15    5   4   6    26   24   +2    19
6 Eshialand City Tigers      15    4   4   7    19   21   −2    16
7 Cincinnati Siege           15    4   2   9    27   39  −12    14
8 Cleveland FC               15    3   3   9     7   19  −12    12

The Eagles may not have been in good striking distance of an IFCF spot just yet, but if they had to play the spoiler, they certainly proved they could take on that role.

Being down 2-0 against the absolutely dominant Geese as of Cameron Crowley's 32nd minute mark, they knew they had to come up with some sort of plan to even salvage one point... but how? These were the Geese, nobody could defeat them... except the Falls. And apparently the Maroons. Eshian soccer is a wacky thing.

Alyssa Longfield had to rally her team hard, and somehow, she made it work. Aurelia Gray set their energy into motion, and by the 72nd, Lysander Moore had turned that energy into enough momentum to tie the game up. And so, this game would remain tied. The Geese would be mortal for just a night, dropping two points... not that it brought anyone closer to them. The Royals ate a draw against the dreaded Tigers, while the Falls dropped their game against the Wolves. Somehow, Ottawa was in an even better position than before the night began. Oaghhe... perhaps things would get more interesting down the line?

Other Results:
Eshialand City Royals 0–0 Eshialand City Tigers
Cincinnati Siege 2–1 Cleveland FC
Detroit Wolves 1–0 Buffalo Niagara FC

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               16   12   1   3    33   17  +16    37
2 Eshialand City Royals      16    8   3   5    25   23   +2    27
3 Buffalo Niagara FC         16    8   2   6    19   14   +5    26
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          16    7   2   7    15   15    0    23
5 Detroit Wolves             16    6   4   6    27   24   +3    22
6 Eshialand City Tigers      16    4   5   7    19   21   −2    17
7 Cincinnati Siege           16    5   2   9    29   40  −11    17
8 Cleveland FC               16    3   3  10     8   21  −13    12

There's a certain art to being an utter disaster.

These two teams have come about their disasterhood in different ways, but they've both ended up in this exact same position. For the Tigers, they had hope in the earlier parts of this season, and they've wound up blowing it all, returning to the shoddy form they showed off in prior seasons. It was, in short, a massive living mess. As for the Siege? Their hope came from a good season in 2022, and they started out this season by bungling everything they had. All their NT stars, all their funds, all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put the Siege back into an IFCF spot again.

This draw? It was a continuation of this massive disaster for both teams. Neither side could scrounge up a win against the other, which was just the epitome of the incompetence shared between these two sides. The Siege now have a lot of NTers questioning their future direction, and the Tigers have a lot of fans ready to jump ship on this abysmal campaign.

Other Results:
Buffalo Niagara FC 1–0 Eshialand City Royals
Ottawa Geese 1–0 Detroit Wolves
Cleveland FC 1–1 Pittsburgh Eagles

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               17   13   1   3    34   17  +17    40
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         17    9   2   6    20   14   +6    29
3 Eshialand City Royals      17    8   3   6    25   24   +1    27
4 Pittsburgh Eagles          17    7   3   7    16   16    0    24
5 Detroit Wolves             17    6   4   7    27   25   +2    22
6 Eshialand City Tigers      17    4   6   7    20   22   −2    18
7 Cincinnati Siege           17    5   3   9    30   41  −11    18
8 Cleveland FC               17    3   4  10     9   22  −13    13

For Cincinnati, a road trip to Eshialand City that started out an indictment of their disaster status ended seeing them become giantslayers, as the third-placed Royals fell to them by a 1-2 score.

For Kenny Morgan and the Royals, this was not ideal. Don't get me wrong, Kenny Morgan as a coach was very used to dropping unusual points, after all this was the sort of thing that the Eshian national team ate, drank, and smoked... but this felt different.

The Royals and the Siege, financially, were the two biggest teams in Eshialand. Or at least, that's how things started. Records-wise, things were dubious at best and terrible at worst. The Siege had been in 7th place out of 8th for 12 matchdays in a row before this win, and the Royals, while they were knocking at the door of being great, they just couldn't quite get there. The Geese were always five steps ahead of them... ahead of everyone. At least the Royals still had their fanbase... can't say that about the Siege.

Other Results:
Pittsburgh Eagles 1–1 Eshialand City Tigers
Detroit Wolves 2–0 Cleveland FC
Buffalo Niagara FC 0–2 Ottawa Geese

* Eshialand Soccer League   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ottawa Geese               18   14   1   3    36   17  +19    43
2 Buffalo Niagara FC         18    9   2   7    20   16   +4    29
3 Eshialand City Royals      18    8   3   7    26   26    0    27
4 Detroit Wolves             18    7   4   7    29   25   +4    25
5 Pittsburgh Eagles          18    7   4   7    17   17    0    25
6 Cincinnati Siege           18    6   3   9    32   42  −10    21
7 Eshialand City Tigers      18    4   7   7    21   23   −2    19
8 Cleveland FC               18    3   4  11     9   24  −15    13

Cleveland can no longer win the league outright, but they could still tie.

Eshian Domestic Newswire [ESHIALAND AND PUPPETS ONLY]

Eshian Domestic Newswire [ESHIALAND AND PUPPETS ONLY]

Who is online