Crescent News Network Sports (Abanhfleft & Co. V2)

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sun Apr 14, 2024 2:55 am

Another season of the Fleftic Premier League is about to begin. As always, 20 teams will compete through 38 matchdays to determine who will be crowned football champions of Abanhfleft, and of those 20, only 17 will remain in the top flight going into the next season as the bottom three will be relegated to the second division of Fleftic football. With places in international tournaments up for grabs, who among these 20 will be able to string together enough results to emerge on top of the pile, and who will face the scary prospect of going down to Unang Liga? There is, of course, only one way to find out, but before we do that, let's take a look at the teams, how they shape up, and what their prospects are for the coming season.

Admiral Porcusces

Manager: Korbin Watson (48 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Filibusters' Street (capacity 35,712)
Location: Porcusces, Ceneisis Province
Home colors: Blue with white trim and gold lettering
Away colors: Black with white lettering and trim
Third colors: White with blue lettering and gold trim
Position last season: 12th
Season objective: Top ten finish, Challengers' Cup place if possible

12th place is not where Admiral Porcusces would have thought that they would end up in after impressing in the 2033-34 season and netting a Challengers' Cup place by virtue of finishing in 4th. But that seems to be the case with almost every Fleftic team that makes it into international football because they don't know whether to focus on domestic or international affairs. It is exactly this reason why many fans of the Sea Foxes are more optimistic this season because now they don't have to worry about anything more than their club winning as many games as it can in order to make their grand return to international football. Admiral Porcusces have been quieter in the transfer market than people have been used to seeing, but they've still done some good business, most notably securing the services of want-away Tikariotan winger Cavaghn Boyce. Boyce, though he is getting closer to 30 than he is to 20, is still believed to have bags of talent and skills but apparently needs to be in a new environment to unleash his potential, and maybe Porcusces will turn out to be the right environment for him. The other notable new arrival into the club is center half Stephen Bader, originally from Siovanija and Teusland but now also holding Vanorian citizenship after developing in and playing for Char Sara in Valanora. Bader left his original club after it was relegated, and he's now hoping that he'll be far away from fighting to escape the drop when he suits up for the Sea Foxes.

All-Inclusive Haranguer

Manager: Frank Cucci (55 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: National Book Store Stadium (capacity 22,591)
Location: Haranguer, Selid Province
Home colors: Orange and black striped shirts and black shorts
Away colors: White with black trim and lettering
Third colors: Aquamarine with neon yellow trim
Position last season: 2nd in Unang Liga
Season objective: Mid-table finish, avoid relegation at worst

The champions of the 2029-30 Fleftic Premier League and the first ever defending champions of Abanhfleft's top flight to be relegated the season after clinching the top prize in all of Fleftic football, have finally returned, and this time they plan on making sure that not only do they stick around but that they'll become factors in the title race within the next few seasons. Those five seasons that the Sand Tigers spent in Unang Liga was one spent on introspection and trying to figure out what they did wrong in order not to repeat the same mistakes again. The reliance (some would say over-reliance) on foreign players maybe did cost Haranguer in their ill-fated title defense season, resulting in their shock relegation, and because of that, most of the foreign players had been moved on and the Sand Tigers decided to focus on internal development, i.e. promoting from their youth system. And it paid dividends, especially when it came to the goalscoring department as young striker Tiffany Payumo literally exploded onto the scene and turned Haranguer from mere promotion hopefuls to challengers for the Unang Liga title with her 30-goal season. She's not the only Haranguer product that helped turn the Sand Tigers' season around though; Victoriana Marauri has finally hit the prime of her career, and the Jenna Raven Cup-winning center back was key for Haranguer in their promotion run-in. Now though comes the age-old question: can they do it for their club at the top level?

Arsenal de Releinthi

Manager: Oleg Mostovoi (54 y/o, Pridnestrovia)
Stadium: Monsanto Stadium (capacity 60,757)
Location: Releinthi
Home colors: Red shirt with white sleeves and white shorts
Away colors: Dark yellow shirt with navy blue trim and navy blue shorts
Third colors: Black with yellow trim
Position last season: 1st
Season objective: Retain the title

They weren't even considered to be part of the title race until the last few weeks of the previous season, but since Arsenal de Releinthi are the ones at the top of the table at the end of the season, the title goes to the Gunners anyway. That said, this current squad of theirs is getting a little long in the tooth, and while Oleg Mostovoi isn't a manager known to get rid of players once they've outlived their usefulness to him, he's also the kind of manager who realizes that this isn't sustainable in the long term. Some old names like Marcus Tabarez in the midfield will still be there for at least two or three more years, but the Pridnestrovian manager has already made some moves to inject youth and new blood into his system. One of those comes from overseas, with Xanneria's Dillon Bruster coming in to compete with Noriyasu Hachisuka for the right back position. But arguably the player to watch for the Gunners this season is young Edgar Smith-Fernandez. He had already stamped his name into the public's consciousness after a wonderful strike against Electric Yugal last season, and now that he's become a permanent addition to the Releinthi first team, he will want to impress everyone even further as the defending champions aim to retain their title.

Bananas FC

Manager: Rachid Boumedinne (49 y/o, Fhulghamous Peninsula)
Stadium: NLighten Arena (capacity 37,955)
Location: Suwkpel, Berkner Bay Province
Home colors: Amber shirt and black shorts
Away colors: Black with amber trim
Third colors: Dark green with apple green trim
Position last season: 1st in Unang Liga
Season objective: Avoid relegation, mid-table finish if possible

When Bananas were relegated from the Fleftic Premier League at the end of the 2029-30 season, the Gorillas probably weren't expecting to be playing alongside and against the champions of that particular season just one year later. Both Bananas and All-Inclusive Haranguer then found themselves languishing in Unang Liga while other clubs made the jump up and then moved back down, sometimes immediately and sometimes after a few seasons in the FPL. Eventually though, after almost half a decade of trying, Bananas have finally made their triumphant return to the Fleftic top flight, and as champions of Unang Liga to boot. No doubt that the key to this success is none other than Mustafa Bensoussan himself, who refused high-profile big money moves to big clubs both home and abroad in order to bring his boyhood club back into the big time. The biggest difference between last season and all the other times that the Gorillas have attempted promotion pushes was that this time, Bensoussan wasn't alone in contributing to the campaign. Left-sided midfielder Vladislav Mukhin was instrumental in transitioning Bananas from defense to attack, and he also wasn't averse to a goal contribution or thirteen as well. The defense stepped up as well, especially club captain Pancho Guiao, who finally lived up to the responsibilities of his position and led by example. There's no doubt that these three players will be the most important ones in Bananas' campaign to make sure that their stay in the Premier League lasts much, much longer than the last one.

Dynamo Ja

Manager: Tomislav Kamtsev (50 y/o, Estorvipa and Estorpiva)
Stadium: Stadion die Einigkeit (capacity 31,489)
Location: Ja, Jep Province
Home colors: White with blue trim
Away colors: Navy blue with white trim
Third colors: Neon green with black trim
Position last season: 3rd in Unang Liga
Season objective: Avoid relegation

It's been three decades since Dynamo Ja was last in the Fleftic Premier League, and practically everyone is excited to see them back in the top flight. However, it has to be said that their transfer business is questionable at best, as they have opted to sign many of the older castaways of the FPL mainstays in order to bolster their squad numbers. Some would say that the Lilies brought in these older players to provide their squad with much-needed experience in order to make sure that their most recent foray into the Prem isn't only for one season. Sure, most of their attacking force is reliant on Paul Osomoai, who although he is still a somewhat dependable goalscorer at 35, appears to see Dynamo as his final full-time club; as well as former Rosenpfelblatz City stalwart Oliver Ganson, who was finally declared surplus to requirements after more than two decades with the Mezaladbyi club. That said though, there is still a youthful-ish core within the Dynamo setup; Ousmany Carrera is their midfield metronome, and star prospect Julius Habermehl is perhaps their best and greatest option off the bench in a pinch.

Fleftic Air Force

Manager: Rufus Hernandez (47 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Villahermosa Memorial Stadium (capacity 43,021)
Location: Pilken, Dav Province
Home colors: Blue with white sleeves and collar and white shorts
Away colors: Yellow with blue trim
Position last season: 7th
Season objective: Mid-table finish, potential Challengers' Cup place

For a club that’s made up mostly of active duty servicemen in the Fleftic Air Force (as the name would imply), Fleftic Air Force FC is actually doing remarkably well in the Premier League. They’ve been in the Globe Cup and the Challengers’ Cup at least once, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that they want not only to go back there but to become one of Abanhfleft’s mainstays in the second most prestigious club football competition in the multiverse. Admittedly, it would be hard to assemble a team of airmen, NCOs, and officers that’s actually capable of keeping up with fully professional football players whose only job is to maintain their fitness for match purposes, but the Air Force Club has managed to do it more times than not, especially in recent times. It also helps that they’ve invested wisely on the three foreigners that they’re allowed to sign in order to maintain their status as a Premier League team, and this season is no exception. Perhaps their biggest achievement is luring over Savojar striker Joni Laurismäki from Jolbonopolis United in Quebec, mostly because the latter club has been mired in the mid-table in recent seasons and Laurismäki was declared surplus to requirements. Xanneria’s Micah Hackney also jumped to the Air Force Club on the promise of a guaranteed place in the starting eleven, and Abbas Mustafayev from Pridnestrovia fills a gap in midfield, though there are rumors that he wasn’t the Air Force Club’s first choice for the position.

Fleftic Army

Manager: Clarissa Melecio (42 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Alvarez Memorial Stadium (capacity 30,756)
Location: Sebet, Sarvusdalamoive Province
Home colors: Olive with white trim
Away colors: White with olive trim
Position last season: 14th
Season objective: Mid-table finish

Much like their rivals in the Air Force, the Fleftic Army Football Club has been slowly but surely cementing their place in the Premier League as well. However, unlike the Air Force Club, the Army Club has remained somewhat rooted in the lower side of the mid-table, and while it may rankle many of their fans to see the Flyboys higher up the table than their Soldiers, so far the club itself is satisfied to just be raking in that FPL money. There might be some debate on whether the Army Club has invested in their three foreigner slots as well as Air Force, but there is some cautious optimism around their latest signings. Arabante Zardain left Tanrısal in Pasarga due to falling down the pecking order in the aforementioned club in order to become the starting center forward for the Army Club, while Laviska Ryarm was slotted into the center of the defense to serve as the final line of defense before the goalkeeper in order to hide his declining pace. Oontaznik midfielder Alfredo Mendoza fills out the Soldiers’ third foreigner slot, though much like Abbas Mustafayev in the Air Force Club, there is talk that Mendoza is their second choice for said foreigner slot.

Locomotive Imgortur

Manager: Emilio Caravaggio (65 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: New Locomotive Arena (capacity 45,035)
Location: Imgortur, Verbergerkinnh Province
Home colors: Green shirt and red shorts and socks
Away colors: White with green and red trim and lettering
Third colors: Black with white and green trim and lettering
Position last season: 6th
Season objective: Top four finish

It’s no secret that Locomotive Imgortur’s fortunes have been up and down. One season they would be fighting for a place in international club football, and then the next they would be mired in a relegation battle. Last season was one of the better seasons for the Engineers since they finished 6th, just two places away from making it into the Challengers’ Cup. It may be too soon to aim for the top four, but that never stopped Locomotive or their fans from believing that they could do it. Heck, this is a club that had won the Fleftic Premier League against all odds literally ten seasons ago, and while claiming their second Premier League title this season would be the perfect way to celebrate one decade since their greatest triumph, finishing in the Challengers’ Cup places would still be a good season overall. The club had grand visions of executing a masterstroke of a transfer window, but at the end of it all, they only made one signing. That said, if scouting reports are to be believed, Zeke Pellito was the best player that Union Laguardia of Xanneria had before he decided that he wanted to leave due to uncertainty surrounding his old club. It’s safe to say that the situation in Locomotive is more stable, but whether Pellito can actually help the Engineers to the Challengers’ Cup or not is a question that can only be answered after 38 matches.

Ludogorets Markovsky

Manager: Roberto Hoya (49 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Stadium of the Old Forester (capacity 40,202)
Location: Markovsky, Mazaladbyi Province
Home colors: Dark green with white trim
Away colors: White with dark green trim
Third colors: Gray with dark green trim
Position last season: 9th
Season objective: Title challengers

The four-time Fleftic Premier League champions are still on the quest for their fifth title, but this could be the furthest that the Foresters have ever been from the coveted trophy even when it seemed at points that Ludogorets Markovsky could have claimed the PL last season. There is no doubt that finishing in 9th place is a massive disappointment for the Foresters and their fans, and after it was reported that they had also missed out on every single one of their transfer targets, all of this seems even harder to accomplish. It also doesn’t help that many of the stars that had led Ludogorets to their most recent successes are getting long in the tooth, and it doesn’t look like they’ve prepared the next generation as best as they possibly could. Damian Selikov is being phased out of the starting eleven and Trevor Iñiguez is clinging (desperately, some might say) to his spot. It’s all on Ermolay Ermolaieff to lead and guide the Foresters to where they want to be, and it’s still up in the air whether he can read the directions properly.

Malabon SC

Manager: Kirill Kucherenko (45 y/o, Pridnestrovia)
Stadium: San Roque Park (capacity 52,001)
Location: Malabon
Home colors: White and black striped shirts and black shorts
Away colors: Orange with light blue trim
Position last season: 10th
Season objective: Top four finish

It’s been literally thirty years since Malabon SC last won a Premier League title, and through all that time they’ve suffered through the highs of winning the IFCF Challengers’ Cup along with the lows of getting relegated from the Fleftic top flight. The Ravens also flirted with the drop at the start of this season, and while Malabon was eventually able to climb their way up to safety, the fanbase and the club itself doesn’t want to be mired in a situation similar to what Locomotive Imgortur have been going through in recent years. This season will also mark the first time that Lucjo Kleinmann will not be on the Malabon roster in any capacity since he has announced his retirement, and he leaves behind a massive hole which the Ravens will struggle to fill in the coming years. The lucky (or unlucky from another point of view) player who has to fill Kleinmann’s shoes is Poafmersia’s Aapeli Shea, considered the leader of his country’s creative midfielders. Shea requested an overseas transfer, and Malabon jumped at the chance almost immediately. Marvin Peiper also joins the team, either as the starting right winger or as a bench option. But are these additions going to be good enough to return Malabon to the top four conversation?

That does it for Part One of the official preview for the 2035-36 season of the Fleftic Premier League season. In Part Two, we will tackle the remaining ten teams and discuss their chances of achieving their objectives along with the players that we should keep an eye on across the season. This could prove to be the most interesting season in the league's history, at least until the next season comes around and the cycle repeats itself...

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sun Apr 14, 2024 11:16 am

Here is the second part of the preview for the 2035-36 season of the Fleftic Premier League. Here, we will talk about the other ten teams in the league that were not covered in Part One and discuss their transfer business and their chances of winning the league, qualifying for international club football, or just staying in the top flight. Without further ado, here is Part Two of the Fleftic Premier League preview.

Marinos Thimpodopoulos

Manager: Armando Uriarte (70 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Arena Marinos (capacity 35,673)
Location: Port Thimpodopoulos, Fhulghamous Peninsula Colony
Home colors: Navy blue shirt and shorts with white trim
Away colors: White shirt and shorts with navy blue trim
Third colors: Red shirt and shorts with white trim
Position last season: 15th
Season objective: Avoid relegation, mid-table finish if possible

Marinos Thimpodopoulos are determined to hang on to their status as a Premier League club after a few seasons of uncertainty, and honestly, who can even blame them? Being in the top of the Fleftic football pyramid pays the bills, and at the same time, they’re representing the Fhulghamous Peninsula in the PL so they have that going for them as well (technically Thereisnogodistan is also representing the Peninsula but that’s another matter entirely). That said, the Mariners’ grip on the top flight is not as secure as the club would want other people to believe, and they did what they could to bolster their numbers in the transfer market before the new season. Unfortunately for them, there was really only one man who was interested (two if one counts Isaac Reyes joining from Riuwiee United) in their quest to remain in the Premier League, and that is Pyazhnayan defender Egor Gavrikov. Nobody knows anything about him, just that he was out of contract and he decided to go to Port Thimpodopoulos as a free agent. Is he going to be enough for the Mariners to keep themselves in the top flight? Probably not, but stranger things have happened in football anyway.

Paulsen FC

Manager: Djordje Ilicic (59 y/o, Estorvipa and Estorpiva)
Stadium: Paulsen City Arena (capacity 20,922)
Location: Paulsen, Dorfdifving Province
Home colors: Old gold shirt and shorts with black trim
Away colors: Black shirt and shorts with old gold trim
Third colors: White shirt and shorts with old gold lettering and black trim
Position last season: 13th
Season objective: Mid-table finish, avoid relegation if necessary

Paulsen FC are in this strange spot in which they’re too good to be relegated but at the same time not good enough to break into the top 10 of the Fleftic Premier League. The money is nice, of course, as is the bragging rights, but there are definitely some people in the club and the fandom that feel that now is the time to move forward, and by forward they actually mean upward. And they’re going to do it in a way that’s different from pretty much every other Premier League club as the Blacksmiths have opted to focus entirely on internal moves. They opted not to bring in foreign talent, except for those that they already have on hand, and most of their transfer activity was restricted to moves between other Fleftic clubs. They’ve also decided on promoting from their own youth system, which is how they’ve ended up with the likes of Magomed Ismaldiyev and Fisher Gerwin as perhaps the best players they’ve got. Ismaldiyev is an unbelievably quick winger with fantastic whip in pretty much every single one of his crosses, while Gerwin is one of those midfielders that just keeps on going and going and going. Is this combination going to be enough to lift Paulsen up to the top half of the table come the end of this season though? Maybe it is.

Riuwiee United

Manager: Volker de Veen (62 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: May 26 Revolution Memorial Stadium (capacity 71,385)
Location: Riuwiee
Home colors: Dark blue shirt with yellow trim and yellow shorts with dark blue trim
Away colors: Yellow shirt with black trim and black shorts
Third colors: Neon green shirt with dark blue trim and dark blue shorts
Position last season: 2nd
Season objective: Win the title

The Blue Tribesmen had one hand on the title last season and they let it slip away. Not only that, but Riuwiee United actually let their great rivals from across the Elcano Channel come from literally out of nowhere and snatch the title from right under their noses. Obviously the Blue Tribesmen and their fans can’t let that happen again, which is why reinforcements were the order of the day come the opening of the transfer window. The biggest gaps in their team are striker, midfielder, and center back, and unlike many other teams, United have actually gotten who they wanted in the first place. Pyazhnaya’s Marat Tkachev fills in the gap left behind by Hamish Muir’s retirement, although as a poacher his playstyle may be at odds with what the Schottian striker gave the Tribesmen during his long tenure in the Fleftic capital. Damjan Protic comes in to replace Oleg van der Beek, with his willingness to use his body to bully the opposition off of the ball being probably his greatest contribution to the team. And Artyom Gradovic from the Squornshelan Remnant States is pretty much going to be the replacement for Isaac Reyes, at least in terms of the actual playing position. Not a lot is known about Gradovic so it’s anyone’s guess if he is actually a one-for-one replacement for Reyes. This could very well be a title-winning team, so long as they keep their heads on their shoulders unlike last season.

Rodrigues FC

Manager: Charles Villanueva (40 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Estadio de Pontecorvo (capacity 11,047)
Location: Rodrigues, Dorfdifving Province
Home colors: Yellow shirt with green sleeves and yellow shorts
Away colors: Blue shirt and shorts with white trim
Position last season: 17th
Season objective: Avoid relegation

Rodrigues have survived for another season, but only by the skin of their teeth. Frankly, it’s a miracle that the Yellowfins have been able to remain in the Fleftic Premier League for as long as they actually have, considering that they were still stuck in Liga Ikatlo only ten years ago. Surely this can’t last forever, right? Not if they could help it, of course, but their transfer business in the last window admittedly isn’t the most inspiring one. Their primary focus in the window was their defense, but instead of actually going out there and buying a bunch of quality center backs, Rodrigues opted to dip into the free agent market, and that was how they ended up getting their hands on Chinonso Ogbonna and Timur Shalyapin. A decade ago, this would have been a fantastic back line, and one that the Yellowfins would never have had a chance of affording even just a week’s worth of their respective wages. In the present day, while that’s still quite a respectable get, there is a non-zero chance that this defensive partnership is no longer good enough to keep a team in the FPL.

Rosenpfelblatz City

Manager: Romeo Portnoy (47 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Aeroflot Stadium (capacity 56,097)
Location: Rosenpfelblatz, Mezaladbyi Province
Home colors: Sky blue shirt and white shorts with black trim
Away colors: Black shirt and shorts with white trim
Third colors: Dark violet shirt and shorts with orange trim
Position: 3rd
Season objective: Win the title

Here’s another team that will be regretting letting the title slip from their grasp when it was just within arm’s reach, and their activity in the transfer window shows just how much that rankled the Citizens. Arguably Rosenpfelblatz City’s biggest acquisition in the window was South Newlandia’s Kenzo Harrison, who arrived at the Aeroflot Stadium to the tune of 4 million NS dollars in order to bolster their defense. Not that the Citizens needed bolstering in that particular department, but they saw a chance to improve upon their team and they took it. The same argument can be made for Amisa Fatabbujbi and Lucas von Wolfberg, additions to the Citizens’ attack that, while not necessarily needed, could still be the keys to finally getting the Premier League trophy to Rosenpfelblatz for the first time in thirteen years. Fatabbujbi works well for that shooting on sight option that the Citizens could need against teams sitting in the low block, while Wolfberg is a massive unknown to literally everyone, which itself is both a pro and a con.

Sarvusdalamoive

Manager: Yuri Kharitonov (51 y/o, Pridnestrovia)
Stadium: Stadio della Citta de Sebet (capacity 42,323)
Location: Sebet, Sarvusdalamoive Province
Home colors: Pink shirt and black shorts
Away colors: Black shirt and shorts with pink trim
Third colors: White shirt and shorts with pink and black trim
Position: 8th
Season objective: Challenge for the Challengers' Cup places

Finishing in the top half of the table is all well and good for Sarvusdalamoive, but like many other clubs that have spent some time in that part of the Premier League, there’s always that temptation of aiming for something higher up than that. With the Pinks being surprisingly quiet in the transfer window this time around, it’s kind of hard to tell if they’re just consolidating their spot for the future or if they think that their current squad is already good enough to shoot them into the top four conversation. There’s some meat on the bones with regards to the latter topic as Sarvus do have the likes of Calisto Oliveira and Megaduta Bhave on their squad. Those two combined for 34 of the Pinks’ 74 goals last season, and if they can keep that kind of form going into the new season, that’s their attack already sorted out. And while admittedly their defense was one of the leakiest ones among those who finished with a positive goal difference, but Jean-Louis Rocheteau has always impressed despite this. He could still be the key to Sarvus finally making the step up to fighting for the Challengers’ Cup places on a more regular basis.

Sporting Ceneisis

Manager: Denise Crawford (50 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Throckmorton Bridge (capacity 47,630)
Location: Mereilles, Ceneisis Province
Home colors: Blue shirt and shorts with white trim
Away colors: White shirt and shorts with blue trim
Third colors: Pink shirt and shorts with black trim
Position last season: 5th
Season objective: Win the title

It’s not that Sporting Ceneisis was or wasn’t really a factor in last season’s title race; it’s just that for the vast majority of last season, the Blues were just there. Sure, they played spoilsport to pretty much every single one of the title contenders last year but they were never in the picture themselves. Some would even say that they weren’t really even in the picture for the Challengers’ Cup places until the very end, and even then, they finished 5th, which is no longer good enough to get into the second tier of international club football. It’s kind of a far cry from where they were even just five years ago. So what are they going to do in order to remedy this? Throw money and players at the problem, of course! And nowhere is that more obvious than when the Blues spent 5 million NSD to get the signature of Freddie Altman, a right winger from Baker Park who is also an established presence in that country’s national team. Scoring goals isn’t the Blues’ problem though; far from it, actually. Anthony Mauritus comes in at right back to bolster the Ceneisis defense at right back, while Anthony King slots into the left side of midfield. These could be the changes that the Blues need to return to the title scene, or it could all be a massive waste of time and money. Watch this space.

Thereisnogodistan

Manager: Samwell Crownover (40 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Richard Dawkins Park (capacity 25,607)
Location: Thereisnogodabad, Fhulghamous Peninsula Colony
Home colors: Yellow and white half-and-half shirt and white shorts
Away colors: White shirt with yellow sash and yellow shorts
Third colors: Blue shirt with white sash and blue shorts
Position last season: 16th
Season objective: Avoid relegation

Thereisnogodistan isn’t really the kind of team that one thinks of when talking about teams in the Fleftic Premier League, but they’re there anyway, although their position hasn’t always been secure in the past few seasons. This season was no exception, and one could make the argument that they were lucky that there were at least three teams that were poorer than them last season, thus being the only reason why the Atheists survived the drop. And because their financial situation isn’t a positive one despite all the seasons that they’ve spent in the top flight, TNG aren’t exactly in a place to bolster their squad via the transfer window. Gejus Welcker is still their primary source of goals, but with the man now pushing 32 years old, he surely can’t be expected to carry the team for much longer. They do have some stellar youngsters in the squad, most notably Oyrat Orazaliev in the midfield and Pierre-Georges Despeyroux at right back, but is this a squad that’s good enough to secure another season of PL football this side of the Fhulghamous? Probably not, but then again, stranger things have happened in this league.

Wanda Island Wanderers

Manager: Ruperto da Silva (64 y/o, Sultanate of Oontaz)
Stadium: IKEA Arena (capacity 58,973)
Location: Wanda City, Wanda Island
Home colors: Pink shirt and dark blue shorts
Away colors: Dark blue shirt and shorts
Third colors: Light blue shirt and shorts
Position last season: 4th
Season objective: Challenge for the title, bare minimum Challengers' Cup qualification

Seeing their rivals from across the Strait of Carrizozo win yet another league title must sting for the Wanderers of Wanda Island, and not even Challengers’ Cup football is going to assuage that anytime soon. This leaves the Wanderers no choice but to find new players to improve their defending and shore up their goalscoring abilities. Young Rostislav Chukreyev of Pyazhnaya adds that goalscoring threat from the midfield owing to his propensity for taking shots from practically anywhere in the opposite half. But that’s not the only reason why Chukreyev was picked up by Wanda Island; he can also come back to defend if required, and he has the speed to cover both ends of the pitch to actually make that possible. The rest of the Wanderers’ transfer activity was spent on acquiring defensive reinforcements; Scott Gillespie was transfer listed by Syneca after the latter club experienced difficulties with their back line, and Wanda Island jumped at the chance to acquire what they believed to be an elite-level defender, and Pertinax Tikeers appears to be their intended long-term successor to Psiquiq between the sticks.

Xemlice Rovers

Manager: Peter Paul Montenegro (41 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Oubie Park (capacity 47,312)
Location: Lotharstadt, Xemlice Province
Home colors: Light blue and dark blue checkered shirt and light blue shorts
Away colors: Yellow shirt and shorts with dark blue trim
Third colors: Gray shirt and shorts with light blue trim
Position last season: 11th
Season objective: Challengers' Cup qualification

Last in an alphabetical sense but most definitely not the least of the current Premier League clubs is Xemlice Rovers. The winners of the very first Fleftic Premier League season have not been anywhere near the title conversation after that title win apart from a couple of occasions, and last season appears to be no different. This seasons appears to be one in which the Gamekeepers are once again consigned to mid-table mediocrity, although their fans will quickly declare that their team won’t finish down there this time around. At least their club did try to make sure that that didn’t happen by dipping into the transfer market, but they were unable to get all the pieces that they would have wanted. In fact, the only transfer that Xemlice was able to execute in the window was for Xannerian midfielder Vin Vaught, and even then, he wasn’t even supposed to be the club’s biggest signing of the window, or even their only signing of the window. And there’s no assurance that Vaught will be around for a long time; the only reason why Xemlice was even able to sign him was because he spent only one season with his former club Austin City. There’s every possibility that Vaught pulls the same thing for the Gamekeepers this season regardless of where they finish, so Xemlice fans better brace themselves for another rollercoaster ride.

And that is the end of the preview for the 2035-36 Fleftic Premier League season. Twenty teams will compete for the title and the honor of being declared the best football club in all of Abanhfleft (even though realistically, only six clubs or so have an actual shot at the title), but there can be only one winner. Who will it be? There is, of course, only one way to find out.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:45 pm

Arsenal de Releinthi wasn’t really supposed to win the 2034-35 Fleftic Premier League title. They were not in the title picture until the second half of the season, and even then they weren’t true players until the last few matchdays. However, the only thing that matters is who is on top at the end of the season, and it was indeed the Gunners standing on top of the likes of Riuwiee United and Rosenpfelblatz City come the final whistle. Meanwhile, in the SFA Cup, Riuwiee United had better luck, and in that case, better luck actually means scoring four goals against Wanda Island Wanderers to pick up the tin idol one more time. The Blue Tribesmen have made a habit of dominating Abanhfleft’s cup competition, perhaps because they’re trying to make up for not being as competitive in the Premier League as they used to be. Then again, silverware is silverware is silverware, and the first piece of silverware in the new season is already up for grabs as the 2035 SFA Community Shield between league winners Releinthi and cup winners Riuwiee in what is sure to be a hotly contested Capital Islands derby for the Shield.

2035 SFA Community Shield

Played @ Master Sergeant Ramon Villahermosa Memorial Stadium, Pilken, Dav Province

     Riuwiee United 2–3 Arsenal de Releinthi      
  Tkachev (5', 60')     Tabarez (27')
                        Vagay (80')
                        Smith-Fernandez (90+10')

Referee: Genrikh Zinoviev (Pridnestrovia—Karavatsenin)

Normally, the SFA Community Shield is to be contested in the home stadium of the cup winners from last season, and the May 26 Revolution Memorial Stadium is more than adequate for the purpose of hosting the Community Shield game. However, it just so happened that Riuwiee United’s opponents are none other than their bitter rivals Arsenal de Releinthi, and there’s just no chance that this match is going to happen in either Riuwiee or Releinthi without all sorts of trouble happening in those places. So the SFA had no choice but to move the Community Shield match to a more “neutral” venue, and they ended up picking the Villahermosa Memorial Stadium, home of the Fleftic Air Force Football Club. And although the Shield is honestly not as important as a league title or an SFA Cup, the SFA itself still requested a foreign officiating crew for this match, and this was how the Pridnestrovian Genrikh Zinoviev became the referee for this match.

No matter whose you’re on in this contest, no one can deny that this latest edition of the Capital Islands derby absolutely delivered on the hype yet again. This was another back-and-forth contest in which it wasn’t clear who was actually going to be the dominant team until the very end as both Riuwiee and Releinthi had their own periods of being the better team. Marat Tkachev opened up his account for the Blue Tribesmen just five minutes into his debut, and he would end up scoring a brace in Riuwiee’s attempt to claim the Community Shield. Unfortunately, United didn’t count on Arsenal de Releinthi being determined to prove that their league victory last season wasn’t just a fluke. Marcus Tabarez, ever the wily veteran, was at the spearhead of the Gunners’ attack, and if he hadn’t been able to convert that 27th minute long shot of his into a goal to equalize, perhaps Riuwiee could have run away with the Shield without looking back. As it was, Tkachev handed the lead back to the Blue Tribesmen right on the hour mark, only to be once again pegged back this time from Blue Vagay’s header from a Jeff Favorite corner with ten minutes to go. This was the kind of game that people just didn’t want to end, but it was heading towards the end, and the penalty shootout beckoned (the Community Shield goes straight to penalties after only 90 minutes). If only someone could pop up and score the winner… and wouldn’t you know it; Edgar Smith-Fernandez has come off the bench and won the Shield for Releinthi on the tenth minute of time added on.

Congratulations to Arsenal de Releinthi, your 2035 SFA Community Shield winners!

Matchday One Scores
Admiral Porcusces 0–1 Malabon SC
Fleftic Army 2–3 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Wanda Island Wanderers 1–0 Fleftic Air Force
Riuwiee United 1–1 Rosenpfelblatz City
Locomotive Imgortur 0–0 Rodrigues FC
Xemlice Rovers 1–1 Sarvusdalamoive
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–0 Thereisnogodistan
Arsenal de Releinthi 3–1 Sporting Ceneisis
Paulsen 0–0 Dynamo Ja
Bananas 2–3 Ludogorets Markovsky

It’s not the most exciting opening matchday for the Fleftic Premier League. That much, the SFA is willing to admit. But one also has to admit that they may have executed a bit of a masterstroke in the schedule by pitting Arsenal de Releinthi against Sporting Ceneisis as the opener for both the Gunners’ and Blues’ seasons. Sure, the rivalry between the two clubs has calmed down now that both Godric Wexler and Artemio Peres have left those clubs almost two decades ago (how time flies!), but memories last a long time in Fleftic football, and it’s a certainty that these two sides will want to get at least one up on their rivals, and there’s no better time to do that than at the start of the season. However, if Ceneisis were hoping to play spoilsport to start off Releinthi’s title defense, then they have another thing coming to them. Fawqiyya Arvidsson opened the scoring just three minutes into the game, and from that point on it was clear that this was going to be Releinthi’s day. Not even Lachlan Ghannam’s equalizer in the 36th minute was enough to dissuade the Releinthi faithful from believing that their club could win back-to-back league titles once again, even if there are still 37 games left to play.

The other marquee matchup for Matchday One, without a doubt, has to be Riuwiee United against Rosenpfelblatz City. These two clubs were supposed to be the title protagonists of last season; unfortunately, they kept tripping up in the last few matchdays of 2034-35 and handed the title to Arsenal de Releinthi on a silver platter. This season is going to be different, or so the clubs and their supporters are saying to themselves and to one another. However, if one is to predict the future of both Riuwiee and Rosenpfelblatz based solely on this first game of theirs against each other, then it looks like they are both going to trip up over themselves yet again in their pursuit of the title. Goals from new boys Amisa Fatabbujbi and Artyom Gradovic canceled each other out and left fans of both sides and even neutrals wanting for more, but this time they will all have to be content with just one goal apiece.

Matchday Two Scores
Malabon SC 3–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
Dynamo Ja 1–1 Bananas
Sporting Ceneisis 3–2 Paulsen
Thereisnogodistan 0–0 Arsenal de Releinthi
Sarvusdalamoive 0–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Rodrigues FC 1–1 Xemlice Rovers
Rosenpfelblatz City 3–1 Locomotive Imgortur
Fleftic Air Force 0–0 Riuwiee United
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–1 Wanda Island Wanderers
Admiral Porcusces 3–1 Fleftic Army

It truly was too early for anyone to say anything about not only the title picture but also Arsenal de Releinthi’s ability to retain the title. After an exciting and goal-filled encounter against Sporting Ceneisis at their backyard, the Gunners made the long trip to the Fhulghamous Peninsula to go up against Thereisnogodistan. Now, whether the distance traveled actually had a factor in how the game ended up going or not is going to be up for debate until the end of the season and depending on where Releinthi ends up in the table. There wasn’t really anything to be mad about when it comes to how the Gunners played except maybe for their finishing. Oleg Mostovoi’s men were wasteful in front of goal; they had many chances to open the scoring against the Atheists and they took none of them. The club from Releinthi should count itself lucky that Thereisnogodistan wasn’t also stellar in front of goal as well, or else this could have ended up being an even worse result for the defending champions on their quest to go back-to-back.

Arguably the biggest winner of Matchday Two in terms of both the actual result and the ramifications of that result has to be Malabon SC. The Ravens played host to a Ludogorets Markovsky side fresh off of a hard-fought victory against newly promoted Bananas FC and aiming to become part of the title conversation once again, and the home side absolutely tore apart the visitors. The Foresters never looked like they knew what had hit them while Malabon cruised to a 3-0 victory through goals from Guillermo Manuyong, Marvin Peiper, and Anwar Bugarani. The result sees the Ravens shoot straight to the top of the FPL table, where their only company so far is, surprisingly, All-Inclusive Haranguer. The Sand Tigers shocked a lot of people in Abanhfleft when they also claimed all three points against the visiting Wanda Island Wanderers, with Megan Sinclair and Leandra Bashir turning the situation back into the Sand Tigers’ favor after Sebastian Wilczkowski had taken the Wanderers to an early lead. Again, it’s still too early to claim anything about what the title picture is going to look like, but it’s probably safe to say that nobody had Malabon and Haranguer topping the table just two matchdays in.

Matchday Three Scores
Fleftic Army 0–1 Malabon SC
Wanda Island Wanderers 3–1 Admiral Porcusces
Riuwiee United 1–2 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Locomotive Imgortur 0–1 Fleftic Air Force
Xemlice Rovers 2–1 Rosenpfelblatz City
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–0 Rodrigues FC
Arsenal de Releinthi 2–3 Sarvusdalamoive
Paulsen 3–4 Thereisnogodistan
Bananas 3–2 Sporting Ceneisis
Ludogorets Markovsky 2–0 Dynamo Ja

Things continue to go from bad to worse for the defending champions. After the disappointing draw in Thereisnogodabad, Arsenal de Releinthi hoped that a return to the Monsanto Stadium would put them and their campaign back on the right path, but unfortunately for the Gunners and their fans, Sarvusdalamoive didn’t plan on being on the losing side of this contest. The Pinks took their game straight to the home side, and within twenty minutes their attacking trio of Calisto Oliveira, Megaduta Bhave, and Richard Luyindula had torn apart Releinthi and given Oleg Mostovoi and his men a massive mountain to climb. Jeffery Favorite and Oliver Thornton would both be able to reduce the gap between the Gunners and the Pinks, but time wasn’t on the home team’s side this time around, and Sarvusdalamoive ran away from the Capital Islands with all three points.

Speaking of the Capital Islands, Riuwiee United themselves weren’t having a very nice matchday as well, seeing as they have become the latest team to fall to the sword of All-Inclusive Haranguer. The Blue Tribesmen’s fate was a mirror image of what happened in Releinthi, with Marat Tkachev scoring the first goal for the capital club before Milena Zosimova equalized just before half-time, and then Kateryna Dukhno would come off the bench to claim all three points for the Sand Tigers away from home and maintain their undefeated record to start off their first Premier League season since getting relegated four seasons ago. However, despite this, Haranguer would still remain in second place as Malabon SC also won their game against Fleftic Army. It did take the Ravens more than 70 minutes before Aapeli Shea finally found the back of the net and make sure that Malabon would also remain undefeated at the end of matchday three, but their fans would quickly say that the only thing that mattered was that their team actually found the back of the net at least once.

Matchday Four Scores
Malabon SC 2–0 Dynamo Ja
Sporting Ceneisis 0–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
Thereisnogodistan 1–1 Bananas
Sarvusdalamoive 0–1 Paulsen
Rodrigues FC 2–1 Arsenal de Releinthi
Rosenpfelblatz City 2–1 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Fleftic Air Force 1–2 Xemlice Rovers
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–0 Locomotive Imgortur
Admiral Porcusces 0–1 Riuwiee United
Fleftic Army 3–7 Wanda Island Wanderers

Whisper it quietly, but it really does seem like the title race could be between a team that hadn’t won it in over three decades and another team that got relegated the season right after they shocked everyone and defied all expectations by actually winning the Fleftic Premier League. The Ravens made short work of newly promoted Dynamo Ja as Clyde Jefferson and Levon Darbinian both opened their accounts this season, while All-Inclusive Haranguer continue to shock the people and defy the odds yet again by beating Locomotive Imgortur thanks largely in part to their up-and-coming star Tiffany Payumo. Payumo was responsible for both of Haranguer’s goals in this game, opening the scoring with a wonderfully taken volley right on the penalty spot and then providing the assist for Raven Concepcion to head home the second goal that secured all three points for the Sand Tigers. It’s only four matchdays into the season, but for a lot of people, especially those living in Haranguer, it suddenly feels like it’s the 2029-30 season all over again. Again, it’s too early to say, but if this holds, maybe we’re in for one of the more unpredictable title races this season.

Speaking of titles, the defending title holders are really not having a good time right now. For those who were hoping that Arsenal de Releinthi’s defeat against Sarvusdalamoive was only going to be a blip, it looks more and more likely that those hopes are about to be dashed. One would think that playing Rodrigues FC, a side that barely survived relegation last season, is exactly what the doctor ordered when it comes to getting a club’s flagging season right back on track. And, while Releinthi are indeed away from home, that still isn’t a good excuse for a club of their stature to be taken down a peg or two by the Yellowfins. Yet that’s exactly what happened anyway. Sometimes football can be a cruel mistress, and nowhere was that more clear than in Rodrigues, courtesy of Nikita Demchenko and Abd-al-Aziz Mahjoub. As for the other title hopeful from last season, Riuwiee United may have a reason to smile at their Capital Islands rival’s misfortunes thanks to a Mamadou Haidara free kick, but that only puts them one point better off than the Gunners, with both teams currently mired deep in the midfield. The words “hollow victory” come to mind, but no one knows exactly why.

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Four

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 Malabon SC                 4    4   0   0     7    0   +7    12   Champions League qualification
 2 All-Inclusive Haranguer    4    4   0   0     9    4   +5    12   Challengers' Cup qualification
 3 Wanda Island Wanderers     4    3   0   1    12    6   +6     9   Challengers' Cup qualification
 4 Xemlice Rovers             4    2   2   0     6    4   +2     8   Challengers' Cup qualification
 5 Rosenpfelblatz City        4    2   1   1     7    5   +2     7
 6 Ludogorets Markovsky       4    2   1   1     5    5    0     7
 7 Thereisnogodistan          4    1   3   0     5    4   +1     6
 8 Rodrigues FC               4    1   3   0     3    2   +1     6
 9 Bananas                    4    1   2   1     7    7    0     5
10 Sarvusdalamoive            4    1   2   1     4    4    0     5
11 Riuwiee United             4    1   2   1     3    3    0     5
12 Arsenal de Releinthi       4    1   1   2     6    6    0     4
13 Paulsen                    4    1   1   2     6    7   −1     4
14 Fleftic Air Force          4    1   1   2     2    3   −1     4
15 Sporting Ceneisis          4    1   1   2     6    8   −2     4
16 Marinos Thimpodopoulos     4    0   3   1     1    2   −1     3
17 Admiral Porcusces          4    1   0   3     4    6   −2     3
18 Dynamo Ja                  4    0   2   2     1    5   −4     2   Relegation to Unang Liga
19 Locomotive Imgortur        4    0   1   3     1    6   −5     1   Relegation to Unang Liga
20 Fleftic Army               4    0   0   4     6   14   −8     0   Relegation to Unang Liga

Both Malabon and Haranguer fans must think and feel like they’re dreaming when they look at the Fleftic Premier League table. Again, there is a massive disclaimer that this is only one month into the season itself, but if this is still how the table looks in two months or three, then by all means, let the Ravens and the Sand Tigers dream, and dream big at that. It’s been three decades since Malabon last won a league title, and what better time for them to win their third one than right now? As for All-Inclusive, the memories of their shocking relegation from the Premier League the season right after they had won the title in one of the most unexpected results in Fleftic footballing history would still be fresh in their minds, but this is supposed to be a new-look team from the depths of Myleikaf Province. There is an interesting mix of youth and experience in this new Sand Tigers team, but can they use all of those to their advantage and bring glory to the National Book Store Stadium once again?

Sadly, glory seems to be the furthest thing from the mind of the Fleftic Army Football Club. Again, disclaimer: it’s only been four matchdays. But the fact that the Army Club has not won a single game of football in that time span has to be cause for concern for the people in charge. Another club whose personnel should be worried is that of Locomotive Imgortur. Long gone are the days of the Engineers challenging for the title under Klearchos Kazantzakis; Emilio Caravaggio decided to take on the job of bringing Locomotive into the top four conversation, and so far, he’s absolutely failing hard at it. And as for Dynamo Ja, well, they’re a newly promoted side. It’s no surprise that they’re also struggling at the start of the season. The real problem lies on whether those struggles of theirs will continue into the next few months.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 10:58 am

Matchday Five Scores
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–3 Malabon SC
Riuwiee United 1–2 Fleftic Army
Locomotive Imgortur 1–0 Admiral Porcusces
Xemlice Rovers 2–1 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 1–0 Fleftic Air Force
Arsenal de Releinthi 2–2 Rosenpfelblatz City
Paulsen 1–0 Rodrigues FC
Bananas 2–1 Sarvusdalamoive
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–3 Thereisnogodistan
Dynamo Ja 3–1 Sporting Ceneisis

There was once a time when Arsenal de Releinthi versus Rosenpfelblatz City was one of the biggest football matches in a Premier League season, if not the biggest. This time is not one of those times. The Gunners are still going through what those in the sport call a “championship hangover,” and the Citizens, while they are closer to the top of the table than Releinthi, have not been on a great run of form either. But both sides knew that getting a victory against the other in the Monsanto Stadium could very well be the thing that jumpstarts their season and gets it into full gear. Rosenpfelblatz was the first one to draw first blood courtesy of Lucas von Wolfberg, but this wasn’t the kind of game where one goal would be enough to decide the outcome so the Citizens knew that they had to look for that second goal even as Releinthi were already searching for their equalizer. It wouldn’t be until deep into the second half before Rosenpfelblatz got that second goal from substitute Xavier Cleverton, and it looked like there wasn’t enough time for Releinthi to get back on equal terms. Apparently, no one told this to both Edward Martinez and Blue Vagay since both of them scored in added time to make sure that the Gunners could walk away from this contest with a point to their name.

And then there was only one. All-Inclusive Haranguer had been on a hot streak ever since the Sand Tigers made their grand return to the Fleftic Premier League, and while everyone knew that this couldn’t possibly last forever, the fans were willing to see how far their team could take this undefeated streak of theirs. Unfortunately, Haranguer could only take their winning streak as far as Lotharstadt as it would be Xemlice Rovers that would hand the Sand Tigers their first loss of the season. Valerie Aguirre had given Haranguer the lead just before half time, but the thing about scoring near half time was that it gave the opponents at least 45 minutes to find the equalizer at the very least, and at the same time they could use the half time break to actually plot out a path to either a draw or even a victory. Once Peter Lyngstad netted the equalizer only three minutes into the second half, all the momentum had swung fully in favor of the Gamekeepers, and teenage striker Dennis Calderon made sure that that momentum swing actually meant something for Xemlice.

Matchday Six Scores
Malabon SC 3–1 Sporting Ceneisis
Thereisnogodistan 2–1 Dynamo Ja
Sarvusdalamoive 1–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
Rodrigues FC 1–1 Bananas
Rosenpfelblatz City 3–3 Paulsen
Fleftic Air Force 3–2 Arsenal de Releinthi
All-Inclusive Haranguer 5–1 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Admiral Porcusces 2–2 Xemlice Rovers
Fleftic Army 3–3 Locomotive Imgortur
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–1 Riuwiee United

Things continue to go from bad to worse for the defending Premier League champions. This is pretty much similar to what happened to Ludogorets Markovsky last season, where their attempts to retain the title faltered right from the get-go. Arsenal de Releinthi should have looked at that and made sure to do everything in their power not to imitate those mistakes, but instead it appears as if the Gunners are committing all new mistakes in their own seemingly ill-fated defense of the title. Really though, it shouldn’t have ended in defeat for Releinthi as Lynn Parry netted a first half brace against Fleftic Air Force which should have sealed the game in the away team’s favor, but apparently the Air Force Club didn’t get the memo as Rufus Hernandez’s men made the Gunners look like absolute fools in the way that they bottled a two-goal lead. The season is already rapidly falling apart for Releinthi, and we’re only six matchdays into the season! Surely it can’t get any worse than this for the Gunners, right?

In the meantime, teams such as Malabon SC and All-Inclusive Haranguer could hardly care less about the struggles of the defending champions. That sentence makes sense no matter what, but this probably wasn’t how these teams imagined the season would go. After a heartbreaking loss against Xemlice Rovers, Haranguer are back to winning ways against Marinos Thimpodopoulos, and boy was that a statement of intent from the Sand Tigers! After narrowly getting edged out by the Gamekeepers last week, Haranguer looked to bounce back while playing host to the Fhulghamousian side, and to say that Haranguer smacked Marinos would be a bit of an understatement. Meanwhile, Malabon SC continues to march on to the title after claiming yet another victory, this time over Sporting Ceneisis. Marvin Peiper and Guillermo Manuyong continue to be in complete sync for the Ravens, and they combined for two goals and three assists as Malabon ran roughshod over the Blues to maintain their stranglehold on the top spot in the Premier League table. If only this could last forever for Ravens fans, or at least up to the end of the season…

Matchday Seven Scores
Riuwiee United 3–2 Malabon SC
Locomotive Imgortur 1–0 Wanda Island Wanderers
Xemlice Rovers 4–1 Fleftic Army
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 1–2 Admiral Porcusces
Arsenal de Releinthi 0–1 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Paulsen 4–0 Fleftic Air Force
Bananas 5–4 Rosenpfelblatz City
Ludogorets Markovsky 3–0 Rodrigues FC
Dynamo Ja 1–1 Sarvusdalamoive
Sporting Ceneisis 1–3 Thereisnogodistan

Alas, not even Malabon is immune to receiving a loss or two in the current campaign. At least Ravens fans have the silver lining that their first defeat of the season came against a historically dominant side in Riuwiee United, and even then, they still lost to a Capital Islands rival and a side currently mired in mid-table to boot. Another saving grace for Malabon in this game was that it was actually an exciting back-and-forth affair in which both sides had the advantage on a number of occasions before the Blue Tribesmen finally found their winner courtesy of Andy Hosking. The loss has taken the wind out of Malabon’s sails somewhat, but then again, it’s only one loss. At the same time though, it’s one loss that could easily turn into two losses, which could turn into three, and so on and so forth. The Ravens can’t allow this to snowball into something bigger. This is perhaps their best shot at winning the Premier League title for the first time in thirty years, and their fans don’t want that to slip through their fingers yet again.

Speaking of losses snowballing, how about Arsenal de Releinthi and All-Inclusive Haranguer? Both teams lost on Matchday Six, although that was only Haranguer’s first loss while Releinthi got slapped with their third defeat of the season already. The objective for both teams was simple: stop the rot. However, said objective was much more vital for one team than the other simply because if they lost yet again, they could end up in the drop zone, and it’s not the one people would think would be in danger of relegation. Yes, for some reason, the defending champions Arsenal de Releinthi have now found themselves staring at the improbable prospect of being in the relegation zone just months after their equally improbable title win in the previous season. A defending champion getting relegated the season after winning the title isn’t as farfetched in the Fleftic Premier League as it would probably be in other leagues; it had happened just four years earlier to Releinthi’s current opponent, All-Inclusive Haranguer. And after Malabon dropped all three points against Riuwiee United, the Sand Tigers were looking forward to the prospect of being on top of the heap once again. Thanks to an early goal from Boudewijn de Vos, Haranguer did just that, and at the same time they condemned Releinthi to the drop zone, at least for one week.

Matchday Eight Scores
Malabon SC 1–3 Thereisnogodistan
Sarvusdalamoive 0–1 Sporting Ceneisis
Rodrigues FC 0–0 Dynamo Ja
Rosenpfelblatz City 2–4 Ludogorets Markovsky
Fleftic Air Force 3–1 Bananas
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–0 Paulsen
Admiral Porcusces 3–3 Arsenal de Releinthi
Fleftic Army 1–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Wanda Island Wanderers 0–0 Xemlice Rovers
Riuwiee United 0–1 Locomotive Imgortur

Malabon SC are unable to stop their own rot, and because of this, a new and very unlikely challenger for the title has emerged in the form of Thereisnogodistan FC. The Atheists, under the management of their own former goalkeeper Samwell Crownover, have been working quietly behind the scenes in terms of winning games and picking up points. Once again, it’s still too early in the season to tell if TNG are actually serious about challenging for the title or not, but in the meantime, they’re having their cake and eating it too. At the same time, Malabon deserves criticism for how poorly they played against the Atheists in from of a raucous sold-out home crowd in San Roque Park. It was as if Malabon went into that game expecting the three points to be handed over to them without so much as a question or a fight, and it was that mentality that cost them. Because of that defeat, Malabon have slipped into third place while TNG takes their place as best of the rest behind All-Inclusive Haranguer, who just continue to pick up points in a seemingly inevitable march towards their second title, this time winning over Paulsen FC in a calm and controlled game.

Meanwhile, the situation has gone from bad to worse for the defending champions. Every game that Arsenal de Releinthi is playing has become a must-win game already, and even when they’re up against teams that they were expected to beat, the Gunners have struggled mightily. The latest team to heap further pain and misery upon the red side of Releinthi is Admiral Porcusces; the Sea Foxes simply refused to keel over and present their bellies to the Gunners even though the former are currently “comfortably” in mid-table. Cavaghn Boyce continues to wreck stuff in the name of Admiral Porcusces, to the point that his antics managed to get Fawqiyya Arvidsson sent off in the 50th minute. To Releinthi’s credit though, they also didn’t roll over when the tough going got even tougher for them. After Arvidsson’s dismissal for an early bath, Porcusces scored again to make it 3-1 in their favor, but thanks to the efforts of Blue Vagay and Edward Martinez, Releinthi still managed to escape from Filibusters’ Street with a point to their name. Obviously the best possible outcome was for them to take all three points against the Sea Foxes, but at the same time, one point is still better than none at all.

Matchday Nine Scores
Locomotive Imgortur 1–0 Malabon SC
Xemlice Rovers 0–0 Riuwiee United
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–0 Wanda Island Wanderers
Arsenal de Releinthi 4–3 Fleftic Army
Paulsen 0–2 Admiral Porcusces
Bananas 2–2 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–0 Fleftic Air Force
Dynamo Ja 1–0 Rosenpfelblatz City
Sporting Ceneisis 1–0 Rodrigues FC
Thereisnogodistan 1–1 Sarvusdalamoive

The Ravens are bottling it. This could be Malabon SC’s best shot at winning the Premier League, and they’re bottling it. So what if they lost their third consecutive FPL game to Locomotive Imgortur and a Bas Langeveld thuderstrike? They’re still throwing away their biggest opportunity to become the best football club in all of Abanhfleft, and the only reason why the Ravens are not slipping further down the table is because the clubs nearest to them are busy cocking it up for themselves as well. Xemlice Rovers had their own shot to jump into third place, but instead they decided that they liked a goalless draw against Riuwiee United even more. Here’s something interesting that may have slipped under the radar of a lot of people: Xemlice Rovers are one of only two teams in the Premier League that are still yet to tally a loss, but if one considers that the Gamekeepers’ record is four wins and five draws, suddenly that doesn’t seem as exciting as 8-0-0 or even just 7-1-1.

Finally, finally, Arsenal de Releinthi have won a game of football in the Fleftic Premier League. Fleftic Army Football Club made them fight for every single one of those three points, but that just makes the victory every bit sweeter for it. Arabante Zardain has been doing the business for the Army Club practically under the radar, but because Fleftic Army has been down in the drop zone like Releinthi, nobody has really paid much attention to him. This almost came to bite the Gunners in the rear end since it was the Astograthian who opened the scoring in what was practically a relegation six-pointer, and within a few moments Marcelo Garcia had doubled the away side’s advantage. But, much like the previous game against Admiral Porcusces, Blue Vagay took it upon himself to lead the Gunners to victory, by himself if he had to. It didn’t work out exactly as he would have hoped it would last week, but this time, everything went Vagay’s way, and he was even able to create the chance that ended with Edgar Smith-Fernandez tucking it into the bottom right corner to hand Releinthi only their second win of the season.

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Nine

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 All-Inclusive Haranguer    9    7   1   1    20    9  +11    22   Champions League qualification
 2 Thereisnogodistan          9    5   4   0    17    9   +8    19   Challengers' Cup qualification
 3 Malabon SC                 9    6   0   3    16   10   +6    18   Challengers' Cup qualification
 4 Xemlice Rovers             9    4   5   0    14    8   +6    17   Challengers' Cup qualification
 5 Ludogorets Markovsky       9    5   1   3    14   11   +3    16
 6 Wanda Island Wanderers     9    4   2   3    16   11   +5    14
 7 Locomotive Imgortur        9    4   2   3     8    9   −1    14
 8 Bananas                    9    3   4   2    18   18    0    13
 9 Paulsen                    9    3   2   4    14   14    0    11
10 Admiral Porcusces          9    3   2   4    13   13    0    11
11 Sarvusdalamoive            9    2   4   3     8    9   −1    10
12 Dynamo Ja                  9    2   4   3     7    9   −2    10
13 Fleftic Air Force          9    3   1   5     8   12   −4    10
14 Sporting Ceneisis          9    3   1   5    11   17   −6    10
15 Arsenal de Releinthi       9    2   3   4    17   18   −1     9
16 Rosenpfelblatz City        9    2   3   4    18   20   −2     9
17 Riuwiee United             9    2   3   4     8   10   −2     9
18 Rodrigues FC               9    1   5   3     4    8   −4     8   Relegation to Unang Liga
19 Marinos Thimpodopoulos     9    1   4   4     4   10   −6     7   Relegation to Unang Liga
20 Fleftic Army               9    2   1   6    16   26  −10     7   Relegation to Unang Liga

If one were to look at only the top two of the Fleftic Premier League right now, one would be forgiven for thinking that they were getting it confused with the Unang Liga table. All-Inclusive Haranguer and Thereisnogodistan are two sides whom one would expect to be tearing it up in the second division of Fleftic football, not the top flight itself. But that’s exactly what’s going on right now. The Sand Tigers and the Atheists have taken advantage of the fact that four of the Premiership’s top clubs are currently shitting the bed when it comes to challenging for the title, and while the big teams are still trying to figure out how to escape their predicament, Haranguer and TNG are going to play at being the unlikeliest of title contenders. Malabon SC, though they’ve lost three on the trot, are still just four points away from the top, so don’t count them out just yet despite their recent poor form. And don’t forget about Xemlice Rovers; they’re still unbeaten (even if their draws currently outnumber their wins) and have an outside shot of potentially forcing themselves into the title conversation.

Speaking of the big strugglers, Arsenal de Releinthi have managed to extricate themselves from the relegation zone for the time being, but there isn’t a lot of sunshine between the Gunners and the drop. In fact, the same can be said for Sporting Ceneisis, Rosenpfelblatz City, and Riuwiee United. There has not been a single season of the Fleftic Premier League in which four of the traditional “Big Six” clubs of Abanhfleft are flirting with relegation all at the same time. Surely, all four of them won’t be this far down the table come the end of the season, right? Also, just because the big stories in the league revolve around the unlikely title challengers and the even more unlikely relegation candidates doesn’t mean that the three sides actually in the drop zone (Rodrigues, Marinos Thimpodopoulos, and Fleftic Army) shouldn’t be too worried themselves. There’s a reason why the “Big Six” are called the Big Six, and it has everything to do with the fact that people are not used to seeing them down at the foot of the league table for an extended period of time.

Race for the Golden Boot
1. Mustafa Bensoussan (Bananas FC) - 8 goals
2. Lucas von Wolfberg (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 6 goals
T3. Arabante Zardain (Fleftic Army) - 5 goals
T3. Sebastian Wilczkowski (Wanda Island Wanderers) - 5 goals
T4. Amisa Fatabbujbi (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 4 goals
T4. Ermolay Ermolaieff (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 4 goals

It’s probably fair to say that everyone expected Mustafa Bensoussan to still be able to score the goals once Bananas were promoted back to the Premier League, but perhaps nobody expected him to be scoring as many goals as he has right now. Yes, he is the starting striker for the Fleftic men’s national team, but the step up in difficulty between Unang Liga and the FPL, but at the rate he’s going, Bensoussan could potentially be on course for the first ever 40-goal season in the Fleftic top flight since the formation of the Premier League! And if it does happen, there is perhaps no other player deserving of such an accolade in the present.

Race for the Golden Glove
T1. Li Braveheart (Marinos Thimpodopoulos) - 5 clean sheets
T1. Mimis Abaris (Locomotive Imgortur) - 5 clean sheets
T2. Isaak Krutikov (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 4 clean sheets
T2. Karl Fenenko (Paulsen FC) - 4 clean sheets
T2. Radislav Kalyna (Malabon SC) - 4 clean sheets

It feels strange to see Li Braveheart topping the standings for the Golden Glove, and it feels even stranger once one remembers that Braveheart plays for Marinos Thimpodopoulos, a side mired deep in the relegation battle. How could a club have a goalkeeper leading the race for the Golden Glove be knee-deep in the drop zone? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that most of Marinos’s results consist of goalless draws, which wouldn’t be a bad thing in and of itself. However, Marinos also needs to both win games and keep clean sheets at the same time in order to remain in the top flight, and that’s not something that they’ve been doing well, if at all. Someone who probably deserves the Golden Glove more than Braveheart is Mimis Abaris, since his clean sheets have actually been beneficial to Locomotive Imgortur. The Engineers are on the fringes of the Challengers’ Cup, and if they keep doing what they’re doing, Imgortur will be in there sooner rather than later.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Thu Apr 18, 2024 11:49 pm

Matchday Ten Scores
Malabon SC 1–3 Sarvusdalamoive
Rodrigues FC 2–1 Thereisnogodistan
Rosenpfelblatz City 3–0 Sporting Ceneisis
Fleftic Air Force 1–0 Dynamo Ja
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
Admiral Porcusces 4–0 Bananas
Fleftic Army 3–4 Paulsen
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–1 Arsenal de Releinthi
Riuwiee United 1–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Locomotive Imgortur 2–2 Xemlice Rovers

The Strait of Carrizozo Derby between Arsenal de Releinthi and Wanda Island Wanderers is one of the most notorious football derbies in all of Abanhfleft. This was a rivalry that dates way back to the days before the concept of Abanhflet as a united nation-state had even been formed. Releinthi and Wanda Island had been home to rival clans, rival chiefdoms, and rival pirate factions for centuries, and the derby between the Gunners and the Wanderers is just one more facet to that centuries-long blood feud. This derby had seen its fair share of one side heaping even more misery upon the other side, and both Releinthi and Wanda Island have done that to each other over the years. This time, it’s Wanda Island’s turn to make Gunners fans even sadder as another defeat at the hands of their biggest rivals would bring Releinthi right back into the drop zone. Sebastian Wilczkowski gave the Wanderers an early lead, though this was almost immediately canceled out by a Blue Vagay strike, and really, the Gunners should have been able to escape the Wanda City Arena with all three points had it not been for them being wasteful with their chances. Because of that, Scott Gillespie made Releinthi pay with his 87th minute winner, and the Wanderers currently have the last laugh in the Strait of Carrizozo as Arsenal de Releinthi drop back into the relegation spots.

Matchday Eleven Scores
Xemlice Rovers 0–0 Malabon SC
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–0 Locomotive Imgortur
Arsenal de Releinthi 0–1 Riuwiee United
Paulsen 1–4 Wanda Island Wanderers
Bananas 2–2 Fleftic Army
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–0 Admiral Porcusces
Dynamo Ja 1–0 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Sporting Ceneisis 0–3 Fleftic Air Force
Thereisnogodistan 2–3 Rosenpfelblatz City
Sarvusdalamoive 1–0 Rodrigues FC

The Wanda Island Wanderers are riding high off of their victory in the Strait of Carrizozo Derby against Arsenal de Releinthi, and now that they’ve disposed of their deadly rivals at least once this season, the Wanderers see another opportunity to make the Gunners even more miserable by forcing themselves into the title picture. The Wanderers made short work of Paulsen at the home of the Blacksmiths, and after Thereisnogodistan’s loss to Rosenpfelblatz City in a close and hotly contested affair, Wanda Island is now in second place, five points away from current league leaders All-Inclusive Haranguer. Unfortunately for Haranguer though, they should have been eight points clear by this point had it not been for them falling away from home against their fellow promoted side Dynamo Ja. The White Stripes shocked everyone, including the Sand Tigers, after Oliver Ganson gave Ja the lead just two minutes into the match, and despite Haranguer’s best efforts, they just couldn’t find an equalizer to help salvage this contest into something that even remotely resembles being in their favor.

This truly has been the title defense from hell as far as Arsenal de Releinthi are concerned. Not only did they lose to Wanda Island Wanderers, but now they’ve also lost to Riuwiee United. The words “rubbing salt into the wound” comes to mind when looking at what had happened to the Gunners in the past two weeks. Not only did they lose to two of their biggest rivals in football, but both defeats also means that Releinthi have failed to make it out of the relegation zone yet again. It’s only because both Marinos Thimpodopoulos and Fleftic Army are having worse seasons that the Gunners aren’t propping up the rest of the table just yet. Oleg Mostovoi and his men must turn things around sooner rather than later or else they could find themselves in a hole so deep, they may never be able to dig themselves out of it. Surely Releinthi doesn’t want to be the second champions in five seasons to be relegated from the Premier League the season right after they’ve won it, right?

Matchday Twelve Scores
Malabon SC 2–1 Rodrigues FC
Rosenpfelblatz City 2–1 Sarvusdalamoive
Fleftic Air Force 3–0 Thereisnogodistan
All-Inclusive Haranguer 0–1 Sporting Ceneisis
Admiral Porcusces 2–0 Dynamo Ja
Fleftic Army 2–2 Ludogorets Markovsky
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–0 Bananas
Riuwiee United 3–2 Paulsen
Locomotive Imgortur 0–3 Arsenal de Releinthi
Xemlice Rovers 3–1 Marinos Thimpodopoulos

Wanda Island Wanderers continues to creep ever closer to the top of the league, and at the same time All-Inclusive Haranguer continues to lose ground in the title race. The Wanderers claimed a routine 2-0 victory over Bananas, Byron Applebottom and Leonid Zaplatin scoring the goals for Wanda Island, while the Sand Tigers fell to yet another one-goal defeat, this time at the hands of Sporting Ceneisis. The Blues, currently under the management of Denise Crawford, had been struggling to find good form as well, something that sees them perilously close to the drop as well. However, because Arsenal de Releinthi is doing worse than them, nobody except Blues fans have been paying attention to Ceneisis’s own troubles, but that doesn’t mean that the danger doesn’t exist. And speaking of dangers, All-Inclusive Haranguer itself now appears to be in danger of throwing away all of the good work that they had done at the start of the season. Whether this is simply a byproduct of their earlier good form now beginning to balance out or the first signs of a deeper and more significant issue is still unknown, but one thing is clear right now: one more slip-up and Haranguer is no longer going to be top of the Fleftic Premier League.

Matchday Thirteen Scores
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–2 Malabon SC
Arsenal de Releinthi 0–0 Xemlice Rovers
Paulsen 4–2 Locomotive Imgortur
Bananas 0–2 Riuwiee United
Ludogorets Markovsky 0–0 Wanda Island Wanderers
Dynamo Ja 0–1 Fleftic Army
Sporting Ceneisis 1–0 Admiral Porcusces
Thereisnogodistan 5–1 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Sarvusdalamoive 1–2 Fleftic Air Force
Rodrigues FC 0–1 Rosenpfelblatz City

All-Inclusive Haranguer have lost yet another game, but for some reason they’re still on top of the Fleftic Premier League table. Most of it comes down to the fact that Wanda Island Wanderers, having been presented with a golden opportunity to go top of the league, instead spurned said opportunity by settling for a goalless draw against Ludogorets Markovsky. The Wanderers are not going to beat the bottling allegations anytime soon, especially if this is how they are going to go about trying to win their second Premier League title. They had the perfect chance to go top of the league with one point between then and the Sand Tigers, and they blew it. And because Wanda Island blew it, now somehow Malabon SC have forced their way back into contention. Everyone thought that the Ravens had also blown their chance at the title when they began losing all of those games in a row, but now they’re back to reclaim what once was theirs, and no newly promoted side was going to stop Malabon from going back on top of the pile.

Down at the “wrong” end of the table, there’s finally some positive upward movement for Arsenal de Releinthi. Not this week though, seeing as the Gunners somehow only managed to eke out a scoreless draw against Xemlice Rovers, but they have actually managed to win a game previously, and that was last week against Locomotive Imgortur. Yes, a scoreless draw doesn’t really help anyone’s case, especially when they’re just a couple of points away from the drop zone, but at least the Gunners are back to picking up points. It’s a far cry from the four weeks or so before all of this in which Releinthi couldn’t even get a draw to save their own lives. Now that that statement has taken on a slightly more literal meaning though, perhaps it’s not a coincidence that results have started picking up a little bit. Yes, there’s still room for improvement (lots and lots of room for lots and lots of improvement), but at least Releinthi are now on the right path. Maybe they won’t be so close to the relegation zone come next month, as long as they actually continue to build upon the good work that they’ve done in the past few matchdays. As long as Oleg Mostovoi and his men do that, they’ll be fine come the end of the season.

Matchday Fourteen Scores
Malabon SC 2–1 Rosenpfelblatz City
Fleftic Air Force 2–1 Rodrigues FC
All-Inclusive Haranguer 1–1 Sarvusdalamoive
Admiral Porcusces 4–3 Thereisnogodistan
Fleftic Army 1–2 Sporting Ceneisis
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–0 Dynamo Ja
Riuwiee United 3–1 Ludogorets Markovsky
Locomotive Imgortur 2–2 Bananas
Xemlice Rovers 3–2 Paulsen
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–3 Arsenal de Releinthi

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new Premier League leader. It’s a club that we’ve seen on top of the table before, so perhaps it’s not really that big of a surprise, but Malabon SC are once again leading the race for the premiership. All that All-Inclusive Haranguer had to do was win their match against Sarvusdalamoive in order to maintain their place on top of everyone else, but for some reason they couldn’t do that anymore. If these two sides had met earlier in the season, there was no doubt in most people’s minds that the Sand Tigers would have walked all over the Pinks. However, for some reason, Haranguer just isn’t clicking together like they were at the start of the season, and now it looks like they’re about to throw away what is possibly their best shot at the Premier League title in some time. Look, as a newly promoted side, Haranguer are performing way above everyone’s expectations, but at the same time, given that practically every expected title contender is struggling in some form of another, why would they give up their best shot at the title, even if it is one that they’ve already won a few years ago? It just doesn’t make sense.

Oh, and Wanda Island Wanderers is now in second place. Maybe they can beat the bottling allegations after all, but they’ll still have to leapfrog Malabon for top spot before those allegations go away, but so far, they’re actually doing a good job of that. Sure, there may have been a few hiccups here and there, but the Wanderers are still on the right track, and out of the “Big Six” sides, they’re the ones who have an actual shot at the title, at least at this point in the season. A lot of things could still change as we haven’t even hit the halfway mark yet, but if the title is going to be fought between Malabon, Wanda Island, and Haranguer then it’s probably the most exciting and most unexpected race we’ve had in some time. There truly is no predicting who’s going to be crowned champions of Abanhfleft this season, and even then, if another one of the struggling big boys manages to get their act together, that will only throw another spanner in the works of the title race, and we all know everyone loves spanners in the works in title races.

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Fourteen

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 Malabon SC                14    9   1   4    23   15   +8    28   Champions League qualification
 2 Wanda Island Wanderers    14    8   3   3    26   13  +13    27   Challengers' Cup qualification
 3 Xemlice Rovers            14    6   8   0    22   13   +9    26   Challengers' Cup qualification
 4 All-Inclusive Haranguer   14    8   2   4    24   17   +7    26   Challengers' Cup qualification
 5 Fleftic Air Force         14    8   1   5    19   14   +5    25
 6 Riuwiee United            14    7   3   4    18   13   +5    24
 7 Thereisnogodistan         14    6   4   4    28   22   +6    22
 8 Rosenpfelblatz City       14    6   3   5    28   25   +3    21
 9 Ludogorets Markovsky      14    6   3   5    18   18    0    21
10 Admiral Porcusces         14    6   2   6    23   18   +5    20
11 Sporting Ceneisis         14    6   1   7    15   24   −9    19
12 Sarvusdalamoive           14    4   5   5    15   15    0    17
13 Paulsen                   14    5   2   7    27   29   −2    17
14 Locomotive Imgortur       14    4   5   5    14   20   −6    17
15 Arsenal de Releinthi      14    4   4   6    24   21   +3    16
16 Bananas                   14    3   6   5    22   30   −8    15
17 Dynamo Ja                 14    3   4   7     8   15   −7    13
18 Fleftic Army              14    3   3   8    25   36  −11    12   Relegation to Unang Liga
19 Rodrigues FC              14    2   5   7     8   15   −7    11   Relegation to Unang Liga
20 Marinos Thimpodopoulos    14    1   5   8     5   19  −14     8   Relegation to Unang Liga

Now this was probably the most unexpected top four that anyone has ever seen this season. Most of the Premier League’s heavy hitters are nowhere to be seen (except for Riuwiee United, who are now in sixth place after a catastrophic start to the season), and the current title challengers are teams vying to claim the crown of best football club in all of Abanhfleft for the first time in a long time. Well, it hasn’t necessarily been that long of a time for both Wanda Island Wanderers and All-Inclusive Haranguer; they’ve both won the title within the past ten years. There is, however, no doubt that the other two title protagonists are going to be much more desperate to win the title. It’s been thirty years, practically an entire generation, since Malabon SC last won the Premier League, and it’s been an even longer wait for Xemlice Rovers, the winners of the inaugural Fleftic Premier League season and no other titles ever since. Also, imagine if Xemlice somehow manages to win the title with zero defeats but more draws than wins. Statistically, that’s supposed to be impossible, but we’re already in a timeline in which Malabon Xemlice, Wanda Island, and freaking Haranguer are in a title race. There’s probably some more room for more improbabilities to happen.

Things really don’t look good at all for Marinos Thimpodopoulos Football Club. The Mariners have only barely managed to survive getting relegated last season, and now it looks like they’re on course for another return to Unang Liga, and they’re not even doing anything about it. Obviously, relegation dogfights are no fun for the clubs who have to fight against the drop, but at least there have been some teams who fought against it even when their doom was pretty much a certain thing. It doesn’t look to be the case for Marinos, who look like they’re still playing for as many goalless draws as possible without a care in the world for getting more than just one measly win. That’s not what’s going to get your club out of the relegation places, Mariners. A similar case could be made and argued about Rodrigues, but what about that team in 18th place? Fleftic Army Football Club have scored almost as many goals as the league leaders, but they have simply not been getting the rub of the green when it comes to positive results. Scoring a lot of goals doesn’t mean a whole lot when your defense is so porous that their opponents can just score even more than your own side. Isn’t it ironic that a football club operated by the Army itself seemingly doesn’t know how to defend?

Race for the Golden Boot
1. Lucas von Wolfberg (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 12 goals
2. Mustafa Bensoussan (Bananas FC) - 10 goals
3. Arabante Zardain (Fleftic Army) - 9 goals
T4. Joni Laurismäki (Fleftic Air Force) - 8 goals
T4. Marat Tkachev (Riuwiee United) - 8 goals
T4. Sebastian Wilczkowski (Wanda Island Wanderers) - 8 goals

It may have taken him some time to get going, but Lucas von Wolfberg has finally gotten into the groove and hit a rich vein of scoring form. He’s finally gelled with his teammates and is combining with them to give Rosenpfelblatz City a vital push up the table. Mustafa Bensoussan has now realized that he’s got some stiff competition for that Golden Boot, so now it’s time for him to step up and start converting his own chances to keep himself in contention.

Race for the Golden Glove
T1. Mimis Abaris (Locomotive Imgortur) - 6 clean sheets
T1. Isaak Krutikov (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 6 clean sheets
T1. Radislav Kalyna (Malabon SC) - 6 clean sheets
T1. Li Braveheart (Marinos Thimpodopoulos) - 6 clean sheets
T1. Orestes Katsouranis III (Riuwiee United) - 6 clean sheets
T1. Psiquiq (Wanda Island Wanderers) - 6 clean sheets

There are now a lot more goalkeepers contending for top spot for the Golden Glove contest than last month, but the two leaders from last time out are still up there. Both Li Braveheart and Mimis Abaris are still leading the way when it comes to clean sheets in the Premier League, and it seemed inevitable that they would both cancel each other out when Marinos Thimpodopoulos and Locomotive Imgortur played each other on Matchday Eleven. Of course, winning the Golden Glove is a big achievement for a goalkeeper, but wouldn’t it be funny if this season’s Golden Glove winner was someone playing for the worst team in the division?

FPL Manager of the Month: Volker de Veen (Riuwiee United)
Undoubtedly, the Manager of the Month award has to go to Volker de Veen of Riuwiee United. At the start of the month, the Blue Tribesmen were flirting with relegation alongside Arsenal de Releinthi and Sporting Ceneisis. Now, not only has he led Riuwiee to five straight wins (including one against the defending champions, although admittedly they are struggling to get going), but he is now knocking on the door of a Challengers’ Cup place, and potentially something even more than just that. It’s the greatest turnaround in form in the Premier League this season, plain and simple.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 11:11 am

Matchday Fifteen Scores
Arsenal de Releinthi 0–1 Malabon SC
Paulsen 0–1 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Bananas 4–2 Xemlice Rovers
Ludogorets Markovsky 0–0 Locomotive Imgortur
Dynamo Ja 0–1 Riuwiee United
Sporting Ceneisis 0–0 Wanda Island Wanderers
Thereisnogodistan 1–0 Fleftic Army
Sarvusdalamoive 1–1 Admiral Porcusces
Rodrigues FC 2–1 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Rosenpfelblatz City 3–3 Fleftic Air Force

Arsenal de Releinthi falls to yet another defeat against another Capital Islands rival in Malabon SC. This was a game of utmost importance for both teams as it could have massive implications for the rest of their respective seasons. Malabon needed to win this game in order to maintain their place at the top of the Premier League, while Releinthi needed to win in order to put more distance between themselves and the relegation zone. One would have probably expected a cagey affair between the two sides given the circumstances, but this game itself was anything but. In fact, if it weren’t for both teams’ defenses stepping up, this could have easily ended up being a crazy seven-goal thriller. In any case, one goal turned out to be enough to seal the deal, and it went in favor of Malabon via Frank Crosby’s head. After that, a scoreless draw between Sporting Ceneisis and Wanda Island Wanderers ensured that the Ravens would have a three-point lead over the Wanderers in what is perhaps one of the most unpredictable title races in recent memory.

Meanwhile, Xemlice Rovers have finally been defeated. People were making a lot of jokes about how the Gamekeepers had the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever and win the Premier League with an undefeated record while having more draws than wins. But the undefeated dream is now over for Xemlice, and they have Bananas FC of all teams to thank for that. Mustafa Bensoussan, when he is in the mood to score, just cannot be stopped at all. And then, way down at the foot of the table, Marinos Thimpodopoulos have finally managed to tally only their second win of the season. Paulsen FC are no slouches by any stretch of the imagination, although it has to be admitted that they’re struggling more than just a little bit this season. But it still doesn’t excuse them from losing to the worst team in the division. Maybe Marinos lulled the Blacksmiths to falling asleep due to their boring style of football, and the Mariners took advantage through Leontiy Pankratov. People may not like how Marinos got their second win, but clearly it was effective. Be prepared to see more of these in future Marinos games.

Matchday Sixteen Scores
Malabon SC 1–0 Fleftic Air Force
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–3 Rosenpfelblatz City
Admiral Porcusces 1–0 Rodrigues FC
Fleftic Army 0–3 Sarvusdalamoive
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–2 Thereisnogodistan
Riuwiee United 1–2 Sporting Ceneisis
Locomotive Imgortur 1–1 Dynamo Ja
Xemlice Rovers 2–1 Ludogorets Markovsky
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–1 Bananas
Arsenal de Releinthi 3–1 Paulsen

At this point, someone has to ask the Wanda Island Wanderers whether they’re actually serious about winning the title or if they’re just happy to be further up the table than their rivals from across the Strait of Carrizozo. There simply is no other explanation for why they’ve decided to settle for draws instead of claiming wins now that they have a clear shot at the Premier League title. Admittedly, the Wanderers did go up against a fellow title chaser in Thereisnogodistan (that’s a sentence that’s probably never been uttered before, at least in the context of the FPL) so maybe a draw wasn’t that unexpected, but at the same time, that’s still two points dropped as far as the Wanderers are concerned. Nevertheless, this draw means that Malabon SC has now put more daylight between themselves and the rest of the chasing pack. The Ravens made that win of theirs look routine, but it still took them until the 72nd before Anwar Bugarani rescued all three points with a wonderfully taken volley just three minutes after coming on from the bench. This truly is Malabon’s title to lose now.

Nobody had been talking about them because the focus has been on other teams, but now is perhaps the best time to shine the spotlight once again on All-Inclusive Haranguer. The Sand Tigers were once considered as Malabon’s title rivals this season, but now it seems as if their earlier good form has caught up to Haranguer, and now they’re losing games left and right to balance things out. Then again, their latest loss was against a resurgent Rosenpfelblatz City, so perhaps it’s not so surprising that Haranguer lost at all. However, given the context of how a lot of the teams expected to be challenging for the title have been stumbling over themselves since the start of the season, when the Sand Tigers found themselves leading the league, they really should have done all that they could to stay there for as long as possible. It’s not an impossible task; they have already won the league at least once before. But maybe just staying up is good enough for Haranguer this time around.

Matchday Seventeen Scores
Paulsen 2–1 Malabon SC
Bananas 3–4 Arsenal de Releinthi
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Dynamo Ja 0–1 Xemlice Rovers
Sporting Ceneisis 5–2 Locomotive Imgortur
Thereisnogodistan 2–1 Riuwiee United
Sarvusdalamoive 2–5 Wanda Island Wanderers
Rodrigues FC 0–2 Fleftic Army
Rosenpfelblatz City 2–0 Admiral Porcusces
Fleftic Air Force 2–2 All-Inclusive Haranguer

Now it’s Malabon’s turn to start throwing away their lead at the top of the table. That lead of theirs had grown to as large as five points between themselves and their nearest challengers in Wanda Island Wanderers, and for some reason the Ravens have decided that they should take on the mantle of bottlejobs from the Wanderers. And once again, it’s the fault of those damned Blacksmiths from Paulsen FC. Yes, it’s clear that these boys are fighting for their lives to stay away from the drop zone (a surprisingly easy task thanks to the likes of Marinos Thimpodopoulos refusing to win more than just two of their games), but at the same time, surely it can’t be that hard for Malabon to beat Paulsen? They’ve done it many times before, so why couldn’t they do it now? It’s not like Paulsen unveiled some sort of revolutionary or groundbreaking tactic against the Ravens, either. They just played their normal game and somehow, the Blacksmiths ended up besting Malabon. Okay, maybe they could have done better to close down Virgil Skovenborg before the latter could score the winning goal, but that’s another topic for another time.

And because of that, the Wanda Island Wanderers are once again just two points behind the leaders. The Wanderers as a team really just don’t make any sense anymore at this point. They refused to make this an easier title race for themselves by edging closer to Malabon at the same time that the Ravens were winning games, and now that Malabon has slipped up, that’s when Wanda Island decided to win? Something doesn’t add up here. Sure, Wanda Island may be close now, but who’s to say that they won’t slip up again when (if?) Malabon gets their act together? Then again, this is Wanda Island Wanderers we’re talking about here. When they’re not busy being the biggest threats to the Challengers’ Cup spots or even the title, they’re giving away points to lower-table teams like they’re a charity. It’s a miracle that they even won the Premier League in 2028, probably because everyone else was bottling it even harder than the “traditional” bottlers of the league. How hard can winning a stretch of football games really be?

Matchday Eighteen Scores
Malabon SC 0–0 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Admiral Porcusces 0–1 Fleftic Air Force
Fleftic Army 3–2 Rosenpfelblatz City
Wanda Island Wanderers 4–0 Rodrigues FC
Riuwiee United 1–0 Sarvusdalamoive
Locomotive Imgortur 0–1 Thereisnogodistan
Xemlice Rovers 1–2 Sporting Ceneisis
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 2–0 Dynamo Ja
Arsenal de Releinthi 1–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
Paulsen 2–2 Bananas

Well, will you look at that? Wanda Island Wanderers are on top of the Fleftic Premier League. It’s been some time since that happened; not too long ago that it’s a complete shock to the system, but also not so recently that the immediate reaction to the previous statement isn’t “so what?” Suffice it to say that Wanda Island heard all of that talk about “bottling” the title race before it had even begun in earnest and decided that they were going to take this seriously. Scoring four goals against Rodrigues is good enough for a statement of intent, but at the same time, it still took Malabon and All-Inclusive Haranguer having to settle for a scoreless draw for the Wanderers to claim top spot in the table. Not the best way for a change in the lead to happen, but Wanderers fans will take it anyway. It affords them such a lofty position from which they could laugh at the misery of their rivals from across the Strait of Carrizozo. It’s probably safe to say at this point that the defending champions, Arsenal de Releinthi, are no longer in contention for a successful title defense.

Now, don’t alarm anyone, but Marinos Thimpodopoulos have managed to win yet another game! It really shouldn’t be news that a football club has won a game of football, but given how abysmally the Mariners have been playing, Marinos winning a game is absolutely a newsworthy item. Of course, the match itself deserves some context, and that context is the fact that this was a relegation six-pointer between Marinos and Dynamo Ja. The Lilies have been able to keep themselves away from a true relegation dogfight at the start of the season, but now their bad luck has caught up to them and now right in that fight. Marinos could have definitely tried to play it safe against another relegation rival, play for yet another mind-numbing nil-nil draw, but this time the Mariners went out of their shell and actually played some football. Maybe they should try doing that more often because Marinos actually has some slick players in their roster, and it’s also obvious that they could easily escape the drop if they so wished. And that’s what makes their current predicament all the harder for their fans to stomach, because they didn’t have to be in this position, but now they’re going to have to get out of it the old-fashioned way.

Matchday Nineteen Scores
Bananas 0–1 Malabon SC
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–0 Paulsen
Dynamo Ja 0–0 Arsenal de Releinthi
Sporting Ceneisis 1–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Thereisnogodistan 1–0 Xemlice Rovers
Sarvusdalamoive 1–0 Locomotive Imgortur
Rodrigues FC 1–2 Riuwiee United
Rosenpfelblatz City 0–0 Wanda Island Wanderers
Fleftic Air Force 2–3 Fleftic Army
All-Inclusive Haranguer 0–5 Admiral Porcusces

And once again, Wanda Island Wanderers have bottled it. Well, they haven’t bottled the title just yet, but they have bottled their lead on top of the table. The Wanderers truly are one of the most infuriating football clubs to follow, whether as a neutral or a fan, just because they don’t know whether they want to win titles or not. They are in a title fight, believe it or not, but they’re not doing themselves any favors by dropping points against Rosenpfelblatz City. Yes, it’s Rosenpfelblatz City; winning against them is not a given, nor should it be, but Wanda Island could have done more to actually give themselves a chance to win this game. This does mean that Malabon is back on top of the league, and once again the onus is on them to maintain that place until the end of the season. Maybe this is exactly what Wanda Island wants though. Maybe the Wanderers prefer to be the chasers instead of the chased. Honestly, it’s a decent strategy, but at the same time, it’s a strategy that has no rooms for any sort of errors at all. One slip-up and Wanda Island could be four or five points away from the top once again, not just two.

It’s almost unbelievable that it’s taken this long for the latest edition of the Armed Forces derby to take place, but sometimes that’s just how the league scheduling algorithm works. This does mean that both Army and Air Force are going to end the season against each other, and it could have all sorts of implications for both clubs. As it stands, Fleftic Army is just a few points above the relegation zone while Fleftic Air Force is knocking on the door of the Challengers’ Cup places. Victory for either club would strengthen their position and at the same time grant bragging rights to their respective service branches, at least until the next derby match. This particular match though ended up being the Joni Laurismäki versus Arabante Zardain show, with the two foreigner strikers leading the line for their respective clubs. At the end of the day, it was Zardain who asserted his dominance and gave Army all three points, pushing the War Pigs six points clear of the drop. Fleftic soldiers all over the country must have loved all of that, especially Zardain’s game-winning chip over Aleardo Cogliati.

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Nineteen

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 Malabon SC                19   12   2   5    27   17  +10    38   Champions League qualification
 2 Wanda Island Wanderers    19   10   6   3    37   17  +20    36   Challengers' Cup qualification
 3 Thereisnogodistan         19   10   5   4    35   25  +10    35   Challengers' Cup qualification
 4 Riuwiee United            19   10   3   6    24   18   +6    33   Challengers' Cup qualification
 5 Xemlice Rovers            19    8   8   3    28   21   +7    32
 6 Sporting Ceneisis         19   10   2   7    25   28   −3    32
 7 Fleftic Air Force         19    9   3   7    27   23   +4    30
 8 Rosenpfelblatz City       19    8   5   6    38   33   +5    29
 9 All-Inclusive Haranguer   19    8   4   7    29   29    0    28
10 Ludogorets Markovsky      19    8   4   7    21   21    0    28
11 Admiral Porcusces         19    8   3   8    30   22   +8    27
12 Arsenal de Releinthi      19    7   5   7    32   26   +6    26
13 Sarvusdalamoive           19    6   6   7    22   22    0    24
14 Bananas                   19    5   7   7    32   39   −7    22
15 Paulsen                   19    6   3  10    32   37   −5    21
16 Fleftic Army              19    6   3  10    33   44  −11    21
17 Locomotive Imgortur       19    4   7   8    17   28  −11    19
18 Dynamo Ja                 19    3   6  10     9   20  −11    15   Relegation to Unang Liga
19 Rodrigues FC              19    3   5  11    11   25  −14    14   Relegation to Unang Liga
20 Marinos Thimpodopoulos    19    3   5  11     8   22  −14    14   Relegation to Unang Liga

The title picture is still clear as mud even at the halfway point of the season, but at least there is some clarity as to who could be the major players for the title moving forward. Malabon SC are the slim favorites seeing as they are the ones sitting on top of the heap at the conclusion of the first half of the season, but Wanda Island Wanderers are not that far behind. Or at least they won’t be far behind so long as they don’t let their “bottling” reputation get the better of them and cost the Wanderers this shot at the title. Arguably the most surprising candidate in the title race has to be Thereisnogodistan, who are somehow high and dry in third place and potentially the sleeper hit among all of the challengers. The Atheists were predicted to be down in the doldrums holding off the drop, almost where their fellow Fhulghamousians from Port Thimpodopoulos actually are right now. They would do well to stay where they are right now; winning the Premier League would be the cherry icing on top of the triple layer chocolate mousse and red velvet cake TNG have right now. As for Xemlice Rovers, while they won’t win the title with an undefeated record and more draws than wins, they still have a shot at the title. They just need their fellow competitors to start dropping points, and if we consider who those competitors are, that might not be as far-fetched as it initially appears.

Things are still looking bleak for Marinos Thimpodopoulos. They thought that they could aim for a mid-table finish this season, but yet again they’ve gotten bogged down in the relegation zone. The Mariners aren’t just bogged down though; they are literally propping up the rest of the league way down in 20th place. Rodrigues FC are hardly doing any better than Marinos though; the only reason why the Yellowfins aren’t dead last in the table is because Rodrigues have scored more goals than Marinos. Three more goals, to be exact. This just goes to show why Marinos playing for goalless draws is perhaps the most boring and soul-sucking way for a club to get relegated from the top flight, and the fact that Marinos have shown glimpses that they are actually capable of playing exciting attacking football only makes their situation all the more infuriating. The side currently in 18th place, Dynamo Ja, thought that they had escaped the dogfight thanks to a good start to their season, but now the results have caught up to them, and the Lilies are struggling to get back to the good form that they had displayed before. They’re not dead and buried just yet, but with four points between themselves and safety, it’s going to be a steep uphill battle for Dynamo Ja.

Race for the Golden Boot
1. Lucas von Wolfberg (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 16 goals
T2. Mustafa Bensoussan (Bananas FC) - 15 goals
T2. Arabante Zardain (Fleftic Army) - 15 goals
4. Joni Laurismäki (Fleftic Air Force) - 13 goals
T5. Marat Tkachev (Riuwiee United) - 11 goals
T5. Sebastian Wilczkowski (Wanda Island Wanderers) - 11 goals

Lucas von Wolfberg still leads the way in the race for the Golden Boot, and Mustafa Bensoussan is still hot on the heels of the striker from Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland. But thanks to an incredible hat trick performance Fleftic Air Force in the Armed Forces derby, Arabante Zardain has forced his way into the conversation for the most prolific striker in the Fleftic top flight this season. And even Zardain’s opposite number in Fleftic Air Force, Joni Laurismäki, can’t be discounted from the conversation just yet. Four strikers at the top of their game this season equals a potential race for the Golden Boot for the ages.

Race for the Golden Glove
1. Radislav Kalyna (Malabon SC) - 10 clean sheets
T2. Isaak Krutikov (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 9 clean sheets
T2. Psiquiq (Wanda Island Wanderers) - 9 clean sheets
T3. Li Braveheart (Marinos Thimpodopoulos) - 8 clean sheets
T3. Orestes Katsouranis III (Riuwiee United) - 8 clean sheets

It would have been a strange, strange world if the worst team in the Fleftic Premier League, the team that finished 20th, is also the team for which the winner of the Golden Glove played. That was almost the case with Li Braveheart and Marinos Thimpodopoulos, but thankfully some semblance of balance has been restored in the universe, and the current leader of the Golden Glove race is someone who plays for the current league leaders. If Malabon SC are to win their first title in three decades then one of the primary contributors to that would undoubtedly be Radislav Kalyna. He would be a deserving winner too, come to think of it.

FPL Manager of the Month: Samwell Crownover (Thereisnogodistan FC)
The Manager of the Month award was practically a dead heat between Samwell Crownover and Denise Crawford, and really, either one of them deserved to win. However, only one person could actually win the award, and Samwell Crownover was chosen simply because of where his team is on the table. Any other month and Denise Crawford would have taken the award. Better luck next time, Ms. Crawford (even though she’s already married, she still prefers to be called Miss.)

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sun Apr 21, 2024 9:23 am

2035-36 SFA Cup Third Round

Buscargill Town 0–2 Ludogorets Markovsky
Gyouza Young Lads 2–2 Mannerheim Town
Mertano & Mertayev 3–2 Keklavik United
Admiral Porcusces 1–0 Electric Yugal
Niraza Rovers 2–2 Tefel
Miroz Old Boys 3–2 Duhblakk Rovers
Inseparables 2–0 Gold Coast Arsenal
Malabon SC 1–0 Sporting Ceneisis
AFC Da 2–4 Pawwazim
Real Mikkaleth 2–1 Malhall United
Riuwiee Metropolitan 5–4 Sporting Tiembabkh
United of Riuwiee 1–0 El Horizonte
Rapid Pelaez 2–5 Fleftic Air Force
Rosenpfelblatz North End 0–2 Duke's Own Town AFC
Antslinngs Islands 1–0 Jasvirabad Gems
Sarvusdalamoive 2–4 AFC Hithamandhoo

Atletico San Sebastian 4–4 Reyes United
Athletic Dorfdifving 1–0 Garufaloe
Eielo Sunlight 2–1 Xemlice Rovers
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 1–0 Dynamo Ja
Athletic Club Oof 1–4 Wanda Island Wanderers
Verrokib South End 2–2 Locomotive Imgortur
Wabash River 0–0 Riuwiee United
All-Inclusive Haranguer 3–4 Fleftic Army
Paulsen 2–1 Nuclear Spriekt
Imperial Markovsky 1–0 Rodrigues
Arsenal de Releinthi 3–2 Kimmirut Panhandle
Purzat Rovers 2–4 Bananas
Pamunas 1–1 Piuui Pirates
Thereisnogodistan 5–4 Keephall Vikings
Khimik Ogovlich 2–4 Tutschkill Town
Pilken Kickers 0–2 Rosenpfelblatz City

Once again, it’s time for the oldest football competition in Abanhfleft to take center stage. Yes, the SFA Cup is back, and as usual, we will start off in the third round of the Cup when teams from the Premier League and Unang Liga enter and pit themselves against the twenty clubs that had made it through the gauntlet of the previous rounds. Before going any further though, here are some changes to the rules. Replays have been reinstated into the SFA Cup, but only until the fourth round. That means that if a tie ends in a draw during the third or fourth rounds, both clubs are obligated to play once again, this time on the ground of the club that was drawn as the away side the first time around. SFA Cup replays had originally been cut due to certain illnesses having ravaged Abanhfleft more than ten years ago, but with the threat of these sicknesses now gone, all SFA member clubs have agreed to the revamped replay rules. As for the replays themselves, it will be like the SFA Community Shield in which if the result is still tied after ninety minutes, we go straight to a penalty shootout. Once we get to the fifth round though, replays will no longer be played. Cup ties from the fifth round onward must be decided on the day of the match, and this is where teams will have to play an extra thirty minutes before going to a penalty shootout if required. Now that the new rules have been laid out, it’s time to take a look at the third round of the 2035-36 SFA Cup.

There are some interesting ties drawn in the third round of the Cup, but nothing that really catches one’s attention. Well, except perhaps for that all-FPL tie between Malabon SC and Sporting Ceneisis. Malabon are currently sitting on top of the Premier League, and there’s no denying that the allure of a double is calling out to the Ravens. Those Ravens do love their shiny things, after all. And let’s not ignore Sporting Ceneisis, currently knocking on the door of the Challengers’ Cup places after a poor start to the season. The Blues would dearly love to win the tin idol once again and crush the double dreams of the current league leaders along the way. However, Malabon showed in this match that there was a reason why they were leading the Premier League, and that’s the fact that they know how to win in the big moments, the big matches. It may not have been the best or most exciting match of the round, but all that really mattered was that Anwar Bugarani scored in the 76th minute for Malabon and nobody had scored for Ceneisis.

However, the SFA Cup isn’t just about the chance to win more silverware. For some teams, it’s the chance to go up against the biggest fish in the pond that is the Fleftic football system, and while some are just happy to be drawn against Premier League opposition in order to get their share of the gate receipts, some teams dream about committing a “giant killing;” that is, a lower-league side beating a Premier League team in the Cup. That didn’t happen a lot last season, so people aren’t holding out much hope this time around, but they shouldn’t have worried because we can now confirm that the magic of the SFA Cup is back! Xemlice Rovers, another side knocking on the door of international club football, has been eliminated from the Cup by Eielo Sunlight, but that’s not the biggest shock of this round. Nope, without a doubt the shocker of the season has to go to little AFC Hithamandhoo, who were recently just promoted into the Liga ng Abanhfleft last season. Hithamandhoo were drawn away to Sarvusdalamoive, and while their expectation must have been only on claiming their half of the gate, on the pitch it was another matter entirely. Now, did Sarvus capitulate in this game or not? Yes, they absolutely capitulated in this game. How else can someone describe a Premier League team going three goals down against a newly promoted Liga Ikatlo side where a quarter of their roster is still reportedly on part-time contracts? Ah yes, the magic of the SFA Cup. Never change, SFA Cup. Never change.

Matchday Twenty Scores
Malabon SC 2–1 Admiral Porcusces
All-Inclusive Haranguer 0–2 Fleftic Army
Fleftic Air Force 1–1 Wanda Island Wanderers
Rosenpfelblatz City 2–3 Riuwiee United
Rodrigues FC 0–0 Locomotive Imgortur
Sarvusdalamoive 5–4 Xemlice Rovers
Thereisnogodistan 1–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Sporting Ceneisis 3–1 Arsenal de Releinthi
Dynamo Ja 3–3 Paulsen
Ludogorets Markovsky 3–0 Bananas

Time to return to Premier League action then, and for Malabon SC, the grind just never stops. It’s clear to everyone now that the Ravens are the ones to beat when it comes to claiming the title, and right now it is Wanda Island Wanderers and Thereisnogodistan of all teams who are their nearest challengers. And after Malabon knocked Sporting Ceneisis out of the SFA Cup, Ravens fans are quietly whispering the word “double.” It’s not so far-fetched a possibility now than it was back then, but it would still take Malabon winning as many of their coming games as possible to complete one half of their new season objective. The latest team to try to knock the Ravens off of their perch is Admiral Porcusces, themselves a former Fleftic Premier League winner, although they haven’t been anywhere near the title conversation since the last time that they won it. The Sea Foxes are once again nowhere near the title picture this season, but they had fancied themselves as being the team capable of beating Malabon. Then Marvin Peiper and Guillermo Manuyong took a look at all of that and said “That doesn’t work for us, brothers,” and the two of them combined to beat Porcusces and maintain Malabon’s stranglehold at the top of the table.

As one team gains momentum, so another team loses theirs. It’s literally a miracle that Thereisnogodistan are in the title race at the moment (though their own nature would probably compel them to claim that this was a natural process of a football club improving season upon season), and they’ve taken one step closer to potentially claiming the biggest prize in all of Fleftic football after they down their Fhulghamousian rivals Marinos Thimpodopoulos at Richard Dawkins Park. Branislau Sidarovich was the man responsible for the Mariners’ pain, not only giving a boost to the Atheists’ own title challenge but also consigning Marinos deeper into the relegation zone. Meanwhile, Wanda Island Wanderers are living up to their “bottling” reputation yet again, and this time they were only lucky enough to scrape a point against Fleftic Air Force. The Golden Eagles had been in control of this particular game since practically the first whistle, although they were a bit wasteful with their chances, something which would end up costing them two points in the race for the Challengers’ Cup places. Air Force may have believed that Amado Ferrer’s goal was enough to seal the victory, but unfortunately for them, Nicol McIver’s own goal handed Wanda Island a slender lifeline in the race for the title.

Matchday Twenty-one Scores
Ludogorets Markovsky 0–0 Malabon SC
Bananas 2–0 Dynamo Ja
Paulsen 3–2 Sporting Ceneisis
Arsenal de Releinthi 1–2 Thereisnogodistan
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 1–0 Sarvusdalamoive
Xemlice Rovers 0–1 Rodrigues FC
Locomotive Imgortur 1–3 Rosenpfelblatz City
Riuwiee United 0–1 Fleftic Air Force
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–3 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Fleftic Army 0–1 Admiral Porcusces

This time it’s Malabon’s turn to slip up in the title race, although given that the Ravens managed to escape the Stadium of the Old Forester with one point to their name and zero goals conceded, many of their fans are willing to look at the positive side of things for once. Even then, the fact that Malabon also scored zero goals of their own against Ludogorets Markovsky is a cause for concern since it opens the door for the chasing pack, specifically Thereisnogodistan, to give the Ravens something to think about in the future. The Atheists continue their ascent up the table and towards the top at the expense of struggling Arsenal de Releinthi, who are still mired deep in mid-table with seemingly no avenue of escape. The Gunners have finally managed to establish something resembling a buffer between themselves and the drop zone, but it seems as if any attempt that they made at moving further up the table is being thwarted almost every single time. This season has already been a write-off for Oleg Mostovoi, and the SFA Cup is now their only shot at silverware. Good thing they made it past Kimmirut Panhandle there, or else this season has pretty much turned into a dumpster fire.

Rejoice, Marinos Thimpodopoulos fans, for your Mariners are no longer propping up the rest of the Premier League! Yes, the Mariners have finally left the foot of the table, and all it took for them to do that was to beat Sarvusdalamoive. You know, the same team that got trashed at their home by a still somewhat semi-professional side newly promoted into the fourth tier of Fleftic football just a few weeks ago. Boy, it has not been a kind couple of weeks for the Pinks and their fans, although they did have a thrilling 5-4 victory over Xemlice Rovers to comfort them until the next good or bad thing happens to them and their club. The name Moshir Abdelzaher isn’t one that usually comes to mind when talking about goalscoring threats for Marinos, but on this day, Abdelzaher saw a gap in the Sarvus defense and called his shot, and his goal could end up being the one that saves Marinos Thimpodopoulos from what had been their guaranteed relegation. Not bad for someone who played semi-regularly in the second tier of Fhulghamousian football last season.

Matchday Twenty-two Scores
Malabon SC 3–0 Fleftic Army
Admiral Porcusces 0–2 Wanda Island Wanderers
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–5 Riuwiee United
Fleftic Air Force 2–1 Locomotive Imgortur
Rosenpfelblatz City 2–2 Xemlice Rovers
Rodrigues FC 0–2 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Sarvusdalamoive 2–4 Arsenal de Releinthi
Thereisnogodistan 2–3 Paulsen
Sporting Ceneisis 3–1 Bananas
Dynamo Ja 0–1 Ludogorets Markovsky

And now Malabon SC are once again back on track. They sure do like to make their fans sweat a little bit when it comes to this particular title race. Then again, this is the first one that they’ve been a part of in a very long time, so their fans would probably appreciate it more if the Ravens took it easy on the heart-stopping moments and just kept winning their way to the title. Now that last task is probably the most difficult one to achieve, but at the same time, Malabon just needs to keep winning more games than the chasing pack. Anwar Bugarani’s hat trick will surely do wonders to settle a lot of nervous spirits since it helps Malabon put some distance between themselves and Thereisnogodistan, who dropped all three points against Paulsen at Richard Dawkins Park. To say that momentum has been hard to come by in this league is a bit of an understatement. Barring rare cases, it seems like it’s hard for any club to put together a string of positive results, meaning that title races can (and often are) decided on the final day of the season. That’s not what Malabon fans want though. They want their club to win the title with some games to spare. Not impossible, but at the same time, it’s not very likely to happen.

The good news just keeps on coming for the fans of Marinos Thimpodopoulos. Not only did their peninsular rivals Thereisnogodistan bottle their shot at keeping pace with the league leaders, but the Mariners are now out of the drop zone as well! The last time that Marinos was not in 18th place or below was way back in Matchday Seven, and that was a game in which they lost 1-2 to Admiral Porcusces. This time though, Marinos’s opponents are Rodrigues, and unlike the last time that they were out of the drop zone, Marinos actually won their game against the Yellowfins. It’s a relegation six-pointer, a meeting which both clubs would both be looking forward to and dreading, and now the Mariners have decided that they were actually going to play football in order to save their skins. It was clearly effective the last time that they won a football game, so this is pretty much a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Luciano Ferrufino (another name that’s not normally associated with scoring goals for Marinos) opened the scoring in the 18th minute, and John Lawler sealed the deal in the 79th. Now all the Mariners need to do is keep doing this and win games, and they’ll be safe from the drop sooner rather than later.

2035-36 SFA Cup Third Round Replays
Reyes United 0–1 Atletico San Sebastian
Locomotive Imgortur 1–1 Verrokib South End (5–4 pen.)
Riuwiee United 2–0 Wabash River
Piuui Pirates 1–1 Pamunas (4–3 pen.)
Mannerheim Town 3–2 Gyouza Young Lads
Tefel 0–1 Niraza Rovers

It is now time for the replays of the SFA Cup Third Round ties which ended in a draw on the day. We only have six replays this time around, but two of those replays do involve a Premier League team. One involves Riuwiee United, who had been held to a scoreless draw by their opponents, Wabash River. Wabash are no strangers to playing in the May 26 Stadium, having been in the Fleftic top flight on a number of occasions, but given that their last season in the Premier League was way back in 2023, nerves were to be expected. Then again, this was the same side that had held Riuwiee United to a goalless draw at their own place, so perhaps another result wasn’t so inconceivable, and this time they could pull off the impossible via a penalty shootout. However, it never got to penalties at the May 26 Stadium thanks to Abdul-Hassan Ghaly, who provided both a goal and an assist in what became a routine 2-0 victory over the Swamp Men of Wabash River.

The other replay involving a Premier League side is the one between Locomotive Imgortur and Verrokib South End. The Liga Ikatlo team would have definitely hoped that they could do what AFC Hithamandhoo did against Sarvusdalamoive and smash their Premier League opposition, and although Imgortur may be struggling in the league this season, they still managed to keep Verrokib out of their net except for one time, and that almost cost them. Thankfully for the Engineers, the penalty shootout came to their rescue, and Cosmas Stamatelopoulos scored the winning penalty to send Imgortur through to the fourth round of the SFA Cup. Another notable replay involved a couple of former Premier League teams, as well as a former winner of the SFA Cup. Niraza Rovers and Tefel FC played out a four-goal thriller at Pixylight Stadium, necessitating a rematch in Wetfields. Unfortunately, their replay was not as exciting as their earlier meeting, but one goal from Amets Abasolo was still enough to settle the tie in favor of Niraza Rovers.

Matchday Twenty-three Scores
Dynamo Ja 0–0 Malabon SC
Ludogorets Markovsky 4–2 Sporting Ceneisis
Bananas 5–1 Thereisnogodistan
Paulsen 4–1 Sarvusdalamoive
Arsenal de Releinthi 0–0 Rodrigues FC
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 2–2 Rosenpfelblatz City
Xemlice Rovers 1–1 Fleftic Air Force
Locomotive Imgortur 2–0 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Riuwiee United 1–0 Admiral Porcusces
Wanda Island Wanderers 0–2 Fleftic Army

Malabon SC have slipped up yet again with a scoreless draw against bottom of the table Dynamo Ja, and now it has opened the door for a new challenger to appear on the scene. Riuwiee United have been waiting in the wings for some time now, seemingly content to play for the Challengers’ Cup spots, but now it seems that the Blue Tribesmen have set their eyes on the biggest prize in all of Abanhfleft. It’s a prize that Riuwiee have lifted at least eight times already, and after missing out last season, they have now made it their mission to claim title number nine in 2036. Some would say that Riuwiee are lucky to even be this close to the top of the table; if it weren’t for Mamadou Haidara’s free kick then they would have still been in fifth place. Really though, if there was anyone who had any right to be angry, it had to be fans of both Wanda Island Wanderers and Thereisnogodistan. They were the clear challengers for Malabon’s dominance at the start of the second half of the season, and now both teams have fallen away. For the Atheists, it’s perhaps to be expected; they couldn’t possibly have expected to maintain pace with the league leaders across the whole season, but for Wanda Island, the word “bottlers” is being mentioned yet again.

The good days didn’t last very long for Marinos Thimpodopoulos, did they? A couple of wins had Mariners fans believing that they could actually beat the drop, but Rosenpfelblatz City have singlehandedly brought them straight back down to the ground. For both Amisa Fatabbujbi and Lucas von Wolfberg, it was just business, but for the likes of Zasumu Tulanu and Giampietro Serenelli, it was the difference between survival and relegation. Again, it’s become increasingly clear that Marinos Thimpodopoulos can actually play attractive, or at the very least attacking football, but for some reason they choose not to do that, instead settling for goalless draws. They didn’t get a goalless draw this time around, but the Mariners still dropped points anyway, and it could have been even worse had it not been for the aforementioned Marinos players saving their own club’s bacon this time around. And what’s going to happen when these guys are not around? Who’s going to pick up the slack for Marinos then?

Matchday Twenty-four Scores
Malabon SC 1–3 Wanda Island Wanderers
Fleftic Army 2–3 Riuwiee United
Admiral Porcusces 0–0 Locomotive Imgortur
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–1 Xemlice Rovers
Fleftic Air Force 0–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Rosenpfelblatz City 3–3 Arsenal de Releinthi
Rodrigues FC 1–1 Paulsen
Sarvusdalamoive 2–2 Bananas
Thereisnogodistan 2–3 Ludogorets Markovsky
Sporting Ceneisis 2–2 Dynamo Ja

Riuwiee United are no longer just chasing after Malabon SC; the Blue Tribesmen are now breathing down the necks of the Ravens. And who do Riuwiee have to thank for this? Wanda Island Wanderers, who utterly dominated Malabon in San Roque Park in a performance that would have many people (Wanderers fans included) why the team from Wanda City couldn’t keep doing that across a whole season? Well, in actuality, they have done that before, back in the 2027-28 season, but the fact that they’ve only done it once before and not again does make one wonder. Are the Wanderers really stuck in some sort of loop which prevents them from winning major honors, and for some reason 2027-28 was the only time that they were able to break that loop? In all seriousness though, it’s refreshing that Wanda Island is actually doing their part as the hunters to Malabon’s title ambitions, as long as they remember that they’re actually in the race in the first place. This victory is a massive boost not only to the Wanderers but also to the Blue Tribesmen of Riuwiee, although one wonders how a Riuwiee fan would react to the knowledge that it was Wanda Island that potentially helped their team to win their ninth league title? There might be some bile in the back of people’s throats, specifically the throats of those who support the Blue Tribesmen.

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Twenty-four

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 Malabon SC                24   14   4   6    33   21  +12    46   Champions League qualification
 2 Riuwiee United            24   14   3   7    36   25  +11    45   Challengers' Cup qualification
 3 Wanda Island Wanderers    24   12   7   5    45   24  +21    43   Challengers' Cup qualification
 4 Ludogorets Markovsky      24   12   5   7    32   25   +7    41   Challengers' Cup qualification
 5 Thereisnogodistan         24   12   5   7    43   37   +6    41
 6 Fleftic Air Force         24   11   6   7    32   26   +6    39
 7 Sporting Ceneisis         24   12   3   9    37   39   −2    39
 8 Rosenpfelblatz City       24    9   8   7    50   44   +6    35
 9 Xemlice Rovers            24    8  10   6    36   32   +4    34
10 All-Inclusive Haranguer   24   10   4  10    36   41   −5    34
11 Paulsen                   24    9   5  10    46   46    0    32
12 Arsenal de Releinthi      24    8   7   9    41   36   +5    31
13 Admiral Porcusces         24    9   4  11    32   27   +5    31
14 Bananas                   24    7   8   9    42   48   −6    29
15 Sarvusdalamoive           24    7   7  10    32   37   −5    28
16 Fleftic Army              24    8   3  13    39   51  −12    27
17 Locomotive Imgortur       24    5   9  10    21   33  −12    24
18 Marinos Thimpodopoulos    24    5   7  12    13   25  −12    22   Relegation to Unang Liga
19 Rodrigues FC              24    4   8  12    13   28  −15    20   Relegation to Unang Liga
20 Dynamo Ja                 24    3   9  12    14   28  −14    18   Relegation to Unang Liga

Title challengers have come and gone, but Malabon SC has stayed eternal. The Ravens really want to break that thirty-year duck of theirs when it comes to the Premier League title. And given how long they’ve actually managed to stay in the race after all of their challengers have fallen away, maybe they do deserve to win it this time around. But it won’t be an easy fight. Since when has any FPL title race been easy? Well, there have been a few times when one team was the clear winner, but not in recent memory, and that’s what’s really important. In any case, while Wanda Island Wanderers have managed to keep pace with the Ravens, a new challenger has emerged in the form of Riuwiee United. Even Ludogorets Markovsky isn’t a side that can be easily dismissed now that they’ve slid into fourth place, and Thereisnogodistan is still in with an outside shot. At the start of the second half of the season, people said that the title picture was clear as mud, and five matchdays in, there is still no clarity to be found. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe not knowing who could possibly win the league is good for keeping spectators on the edge of their seats. Not Malabon fans, though. They know what they want, and that’s their club’s third Premier League title, and first one in over thirty years.

There’s a new team propping up the rest of the table, and unfortunately, it is one of the newly promoted sides. It’s been said time and time again, but Dynamo Ja did not put their good start to the season to good use, and now they’re paying for it. Surely they couldn’t have expected Marinos Thimpodopoulos to be absolutely awful at playing football forever. But now the Lilies are paying for their hubris, and what was supposed to be a triumphant return to the Premier League for the team from Jep Province is now turning into a one-and-done situation. And it’s not like the club can plot an immediate return following another relegation; their fellow promoted sides Bananas and All-Inclusive Haranguer all spent five and four seasons respectively in Unang Liga before they finally got the rub of the green and regained Premier League status. And, after a few narrow scrapes in the past few seasons, this might prove to be the season that Rodrigues FC finally goes down. They put up a good fight, a brave fight, but it didn’t look or feel like it was a fight that they could keep up forever. But who knows? There’s still a third of the season left to play.

Race for the Golden Boot
1. Lucas von Wolfberg (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 20 goals
2. Mustafa Bensoussan (Bananas FC) - 18 goals
3. Arabante Zardain (Fleftic Army) - 17 goals
T4. Joni Laurismäki (Fleftic Air Force) - 15 goals
T4. Marat Tkachev (Riuwiee United) - 15 goals

Lucas von Wolfberg still leads the way in the race for the Golden Boot, and Mustafa Bensoussan is still just behind the Schutzen striker playing for Rosenpfelblatz City. The two foreign strikers playing for the two Armed Forces clubs in the Premier League are also still in the picture, although Arabante Zardain and Joni Laurismäki both have some catching up to do, something that they might not actually achieve if both von Wolfberg and Bensoussan continue their respective goal outputs. Nothing has really changed in the race for the Golden Boot except for the amount of goals that the contenders have scored.

Race for the Golden Glove
1. Radislav Kalyna (Malabon SC) - 13 clean sheets
2. Isaak Krutikov (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 12 clean sheets
3. Li Braveheart (Marinos Thimpodopoulos) - 11 clean sheets
4. Mimis Abaris (Locomotive Imgortur) - 10 clean sheets
T5. Orestes Katsouranis III - 9 clean sheets
T5. Psiquiq (Wanda Island Wanderers) - 9 clean sheets

It’s become increasingly clearer that Radislav Kalyna is the vital piece of the puzzle that Malabon SC needed before they could finally start their pursuit of the Premier League title in earnest. If it weren’t for the magic hands of the Pridnestrovian, who knows where the Ravens would be in the league this season? It most probably wouldn’t be anywhere near the top, that’s for sure. Former leaders Li Braveheart and Mimis Abaris are now both beginning to slip up as their respective sides have been drawn into a long slog against the drop, and the desperation that both Marinos Thimpodopoulos and Locomotive Imgortur are feeling with regards to gaining positive results means that both teams are opening themselves up to conceding more chances against their opposition. And as good as they are, both Braveheart and Abaris aren’t superhuman.

Manager of the Month: Roberto Hoya (Ludogorets Markovsky)
This time, the choice for FPL Manager of the Month was a no-brainer. Roberto Hoya took Ludogorets Markovsky from the depths of mid-table towards the Challengers’ Cup places, and at the same time the Foresters are now sniffing around the edges of the title picture. However, Markovsky would need the teams above and around them to continue dropping points in order to actually be considered a title challenger. Then again, that possibility isn’t that far-fetched. Maybe there’s still time for Markovsky to chase after their fifth Premier League title.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:30 am

2035-36 SFA Cup Fourth Round

Bananas 1–1 United of Riuwiee
Imperial Markovsky 3–0 Duke's Own Town AFC
AFC Hithamandhoo 0–2 Fleftic Air Force
Malabon SC 4–2 Atletico San Sebastian
Piuui Pirates 1–1 Mertano & Mertayev
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 2–0 Miroz Old Boys
Antslinngs Islands 3–2 Athletic Dorfdifving
Pawwazim 2–4 Rosenpfelblatz City

Eielo Sunlight 1–2 Inseparables
Thereisnogodistan 3–3 Wanda Island Wanderers
Paulsen 0–0 Real Mikkaleth
Admiral Porcusces 0–0 Riuwiee United
Tutschkill Town 1–2 Mannerheim Town
Locomotive Imgortur 5–3 Arsenal de Releinthi
Fleftic Army 1–1 Niraza Rovers
Ludogorets Markovsky 0–2 Riuwiee Metropolitan

Ladies and gentlemen, it is our pleasure to announce that the magic of the SFA Cup has not only returned, but it is also kicking as much rear end as it possibly could! Not for AFC Hithamandhoo though. They may have gotten the rub of the green against Sarvusdalamoive, but the luck of the team from Hithamandhoo Atoll in the Antslinngs Islands of Trendstart has run out against the Fleftic Air Force. At least the Golden Eagles managed to play in Hithamandhoo Stadium, the stadium voted as “most picturesque” in an unofficial fan-made poll last season. That said, the magic of the SFA Cup merely left Hithamandhoo for Riuwiee Metropolitan, a club that began life as the football team of the Riuwiee Metropolitan District of the Fleftic National Police. The FNP still sponsors Riuwiee Met, but that is now the only link between the police and the club, which has now become its own entity. However, all of that is immaterial compared to the result that the Met had just gained over Ludogorets Markovsky. Roberto Hoya had done well leading the Foresters back into the top four places in the Premier League, but the SFA Cup has proved to be a different thing entirely. It’s a great thing for the magic of the SFA Cup for Riuwiee Met to win at the Stadium of the Old Forester, but Ludogorets fans will feel miffed that they were on the receiving end of a magic moment this season.

This one isn’t as big of a giant killing as Riuwiee Metropolitan knocking off Ludogorets Markovsky, but it still has massive implications for the two teams involved in the tie. Both Locomotive Imgortur and Arsenal de Releinthi had been struggling in the Premier League; Locomotive even more so than Arsenal as the Engineers are the ones closer to the relegation zone. The SFA Cup is a chance for both teams to forget about their struggles in the league, for a short time at least, and give themselves a shot at ending their respective seasons with some silverware. Imgortur had the advantage of playing at home, but in their most recent meeting at the New Locomotive Arena, Releinthi had beaten the Engineers 3-0. At the end of the match, the Gunners had indeed scored three goals against their opponents, but they were the ones going out of the SFA Cup anyway as Locomotive had scored five goals in response to Releinthi’s three. Again, it’s still no Hithamandhoo knocking out Sarvusdalamoive or Riuwiee Met knocking out Ludogorets Markovsky, but that is still a massive blow for Oleg Mostovoi and company, and Arsenal de Releinthi will end the 2035-36 season without a trophy to their name.

Matchday Twenty-five Scores
Sporting Ceneisis 2–3 Malabon SC
Dynamo Ja 3–0 Thereisnogodistan
Ludogorets Markovsky 2–0 Sarvusdalamoive
Bananas 4–3 Rodrigues FC
Paulsen 2–1 Rosenpfelblatz City
Arsenal de Releinthi 2–0 Fleftic Air Force
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–1 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Xemlice Rovers 2–2 Admiral Porcusces
Locomotive Imgortur 3–4 Fleftic Army
Riuwiee United 0–1 Wanda Island Wanderers

Malabon SC’s defeat at the hands of Wanda Island Wanderers on Matchday Twenty-four could have been the start of a downward spiral for the Ravens, a spiral which could potentially cost them their best chance at winning the Premier League title for the first time in thirty years. But Malabon has recognized that this was their best shot at the title in three decades, and they are determined not to waste it. There may have been some fans of the Ravens who were willing to accept that their team may not be able to get a positive result away to Porcusces against Sporting Ceneisis, but only begrudgingly. Thankfully for the Ravens’ fanbase, they won’t have to worry about dropping two points or all three against the Blues. Anwar Bugarani, stepping in for the injured Arthur Supratno, has turned himself into a lynchpin for the Ravens’ attack, and the Oontaznik striker played a role in all three of Malabon’s goals against Ceneisis. Apart from scoring Malabon’s second goal of the game, Bugarani also assisted Guillermo Manuyong, and Jose Amancio was the first man to pounce on the ball after one of Bugarani’s many attempts was saved by Guildenstern Cardew. Malabon lost one Oontaznik striker, and they found another one to fill his shoes almost immediately.

Another team has taken Dynamo Ja’s place at the bottom of the Fleftic Premier League, and unfortunately for them, it’s a side that had seemed doomed to the drop for the past few seasons. Rodrigues FC’s fight against relegation had been well documented, but it almost seemed as if the Yellowfins had the capability to grab wins and points in the last few matchdays of the season in order to secure survival by the skin of their teeth. This season though appears to be way different from Rodrigues’s previous seasons, and though it’s still too early to tell who’s going to drop down to Unang Liga, the fact that Rodrigues could score three goals and still lose speaks volumes about the Yellowfins’ potential fate. Never mind that Rodrigues played against a Bananas side fighting to put even more distance between themselves and the drop; those were the kinds of games that the Yellowfins needed to win, and they paid for their loss by sinking further down the relegation zone.

Matchday Twenty-six Scores
Malabon SC 2–0 Riuwiee United
Wanda Island Wanderers 1–2 Locomotive Imgortur
Fleftic Army 1–4 Xemlice Rovers
Admiral Porcusces 0–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
All-Inclusive Haranguer 4–3 Arsenal de Releinthi
Fleftic Air Force 6–2 Paulsen
Rosenpfelblatz City 3–1 Bananas
Rodrigues FC 3–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
Sarvusdalamoive 0–1 Dynamo Ja
Thereisnogodistan 1–1 Sporting Ceneisis

Malabon SC’s relentless march to the FPL title continues, and their latest scalp is that of the Blue Tribesmen of Riuwiee United. Riuwiee may have thought that they had been handed a boost to their own title race after Wanda Island Wanderers beat the Ravens on Matchday Twenty-four, but the Wanderers immediately turned around and cost the Blue Tribesmen as well right afterwards. And now, after it had seemed as if Malabon’s season was on the verge of collapsing all around them, now it is Riuwiee’s season which is actually collapsing around them in real-time. This time, Guillermo Manuyong was the key man for the Ravens, scoring and assisting in Malabon’s victory over the capital club. At the same time, Wanda Island Wanderers have been defeated in their own backyard by Locomotive Imgortur, themselves trying to build some distance between themselves and the drop. Because of this, the one-point gap between Malabon and the chasing pack has suddenly turned into six points, and the Ravens are currently high and dry in the title chase.

And Marinos Thimpodopoulos have gone back down to 20th place yet again. It came about as a result of such an innocuous result as well, yet another goalless draw against Admiral Porcusces. Marinos truly has become a club that is reliant on the results of others in order to secure their own survival, and that strategy is now blowing up in their faces. At the same time though, it seems as if people had been ready to write off Rodrigues FC when the Yellowfins apparently still had some gas left in the tank. Also, Ludogorets Markovsky just cannot catch seem to catch a break. Just a few weeks after they were on the wrong end of a “magic of the SFA Cup” moment against Riuwiee Metropolitan, the Foresters have once again lost to a team which they were expected to beat, and handily at that. Instead, it was Markovsky that were beaten handily by Rodrigues. Jorge Bracamonte’s goal was the one that opened the floodgates for the Yellowfins, and within 25 minutes Rodrigues were three goals to the good against the four-time Fleftic Premier League champions.

Matchday Twenty-seven Scores
Thereisnogodistan 0–1 Malabon SC
Sporting Ceneisis 1–0 Sarvusdalamoive
Dynamo Ja 1–0 Rodrigues FC
Ludogorets Markovsky 2–2 Rosenpfelblatz City
Bananas 2–2 Fleftic Air Force
Paulsen 2–4 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Arsenal de Releinthi 2–2 Admiral Porcusces
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–0 Fleftic Army
Xemlice Rovers 3–2 Wanda Island Wanderers
Locomotive Imgortur 1–0 Riuwiee United

Malabon SC seemingly just can’t stop winning at the moment, and obviously that’s a good thing for them because that’s what they need in order to win the title. The latest team to fall victim to the Ravens is Thereisnogodistan, and this was perhaps the sternest test that Malabon may have experienced this season. The Atheists may have fallen away from the title, and their spot replaced by more familiar names that might actually have a better chance at snatching the title from under Malabon’s noses, but the team from the northern Fhulghamous Peninsula know that they could still play a part in who gets crowned champions of Abanhfleft in the near future. Or at least that’s what Samwell Crownover and his boys would have thought, but destiny is beckoning to the Ravens, and they plan on answering that call no matter what. TNG put up a brave fight, the bravest that they could muster, and for more than 80 minutes they withstood everything that Malabon threw against them. In the end, it would be a simple headed goal from Alvin Delgado off of a corner kick that would break TNG’s resistance, and after both Wanda Island Wanderers and Riuwiee United lost their games, Malabon are now nine points clear of the pack. Nine points! Ravens fans used to dream of times like these, and now they don’t want to wake up at all.

Fans of Rodrigues FC, Marinos Thimpodopoulos, and Dynamo Ja would rather wake up instead of continuing to live in the nightmare world in which their clubs are under threat of relegation. At least Lilies fans have something to happy about in this round though as their club won against the Yellowfins in a relegation six-pointer; Boris Bachev coming up with the goods just a few minutes into the second half. Dynamo Ja may be just one point away from safety, but at the same time they’re still three points away from dropping to 19th place, and given how inconsistent they have been since the start of the season, it’s not that inconceivable of a potential occurrence as well. The race to the bottom seems to be more about who can collect the most points before inevitably mucking it up again, and while there are definitely some people who are into that kind of thing in football, fans just want the clubs that they follow to remain among the elite, and as we’ve seen, an immediate bounce-back from Unang Liga back to the FPL is not a guaranteed thing at all.

2035-36 SFA Cup Fourth Round Replays
Wanda Island Wanderers 0–0 Thereisnogodistan (3–1 pen.)
Real Mikkaleth 1–1 Paulsen (5–4 pen.)
Riuwiee United 0–0 Admiral Porcusces (4–2 pen.)
Niraza Rovers 1–2 Fleftic Army
United of Riuwiee 1–1 Bananas (4–5 pen.)
Mertano & Mertayev 2–1 Piuui Pirates

We have six replays to go through in order to determine the participants of the fifth round of the SFA Cup, and it’s notable that we have two all-Premier League ties that will have to be settled by playing another ninety minutes of football, and penalties if so required. This kind of fixture congestion is exactly the kind of thing that both Wanda Island Wanderers and Riuwiee United would have wanted to avoid given that they’re chasing after Malabon SC and the FPL title. One could probably even include Thereisnogodistan into that conversation even though they’re slipping further and further away from the top of the table, but maybe the Atheists have realized that chasing after the tin idol is a much more realistic pursuit for them. In any case though, the SFA Cup will not be a trophy that TNG could possibly win this season as Wanda Island Wanderers have knocked them out of the competition following a dreary penalty shootout that itself followed an equally dross goalless draw. It’s not that both teams were playing for penalties though; both the Wanderers and Atheists were simply wasteful in front of goal, and it seemed as if that wastefulness continued into the spot kicks. TNG should count itself lucky that it even managed to get a penalty on the board through Spencer Blair, but at the end of the day, they’re still eliminated from the Cup.

Another tie that was similar but different was the one between Riuwiee United and Admiral Porcusces. These two sides had already played out a goalless draw at Filibusters’ Street, meaning that once again the Blue Tribesmen would have to play a replay at the May 26 Revolution Stadium just like in the last round, but this time they are up against fellow Premier League opposition, a team that knows how to play in the May 26 Stadium. And like their meeting at Filibusters’ Street, this match ended in a nil-nil draw, so once again the defending SFA Cup winners will have to win from 12 yards away in order to defend the tin idol and perhaps win it again. At least the penalty shootout between Riuwiee and Porcusces was actually watchable; the goalkeepers actually made the difference and executed a couple of nice saves, but Fabian Ibscher was just a better goalkeeper in the Cup than Trevor Vaughn is. Also, would it be fair to say that Paulsen getting eliminated by Real Mikkaleth (via penalties, admittedly) is part of the magic of the SFA Cup? Yes, Paulsen has been in the Premier League for quite some time now, but they are the kind of team that’s easily forgotten whenever people make a list of Premier League clubs. Can you really be a killable giant if no one remembers you walk among the giants anyway?

Matchday Twenty-eight Scores
Malabon SC 1–0 Locomotive Imgortur
Riuwiee United 0–1 Xemlice Rovers
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Fleftic Army 3–5 Arsenal de Releinthi
Admiral Porcusces 5–1 Paulsen
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–3 Bananas
Fleftic Air Force 0–1 Ludogorets Markovsky
Rosenpfelblatz City 3–5 Dynamo Ja
Rodrigues FC 0–1 Sporting Ceneisis
Sarvusdalamoive 1–2 Thereisnogodistan

Time to go back to the Premier League, and Malabon SC have picked up right where they left off. The Ravens did their job in the SFA Cup, knocking out Atletico San Sebastian in a six-goal thriller at San Roque Park to continue feeding hopes and dreams of a double, and they did the job in the league by beating Locomotive Imgortur. The Engineers were still riding the high of eliminating Arsenal de Releinthi in the Cup, and perhaps it was that hangover that cost them against the league leaders. Again, all Malabon really needed was one goal to beat Imgortur, and this one came from Virgil Lacandola in the 23rd minute. This is what champions do after all: win games no matter what, and no matter the circumstances. Sure, winning by two or three goals or even more is all well and good, but sometimes it only takes one goal to win, and sometimes one goal is the only thing they will get. This was an important lesson that Malabon had to learn in order to become the title challengers they are now, and they have applied that lesson to this race to maximum effect.

Now this is a surprise: Sarvusdalamoive have fallen into the relegation zone. Sarvus in the drop zone! That defeat against AFC Hithamandhoo in the third round of the SFA Cup must have really done a number on their mentality because the Pinks have dropped like a rock through the standings since being on the wrong end of the magic of the SFA Cup. It truly has been horrible form for Sarvus over the past month: four consecutive losses with three of them being decided by a single goal. The only time that Sarvus lost by more than one goal was against Ludogorets Markovsky, and that happened at the start of this month. It’s painfully obvious by now that Sarvus has been mightily unlucky over the past few matchdays because they’re not getting dominated every time they play. In fact, there have been more than a couple of games in which the Pinks were actually the dominant force, but they just haven’t been able to convert that dominance into results. And of course we cannot ignore the effect of losing all of those games. As the old adage goes, it’s better to lose one match 5-0 than lose five matches 1-0. But Sarvus has now found themselves falling victim to the second part of that adage, and so far it doesn’t look like there’s any respite in sight for the Pinks.

Matchday Twenty-nine Scores
Sarvusdalamoive 0–0 Malabon SC
Thereisnogodistan 0–1 Rodrigues FC
Sporting Ceneisis 0–1 Rosenpfelblatz City
Dynamo Ja 0–1 Fleftic Air Force
Ludogorets Markovsky 3–1 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Bananas 4–3 Admiral Porcusces
Paulsen 5–3 Fleftic Army
Arsenal de Releinthi 1–2 Wanda Island Wanderers
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 1–0 Riuwiee United
Xemlice Rovers 2–1 Locomotive Imgortur

The tales of the two clubs featured on Matchday Twenty-eight have neatly dove-tailed into the narrative of Matchday Twenty-nine as Sarvusdalamoive played host to a rampant Malabon SC side seeking to win their first league title in thirty years. Malabon needed to win this match in order to further increase their lead over the rest of the league, while Sarvus needed to win in order to arrest their slide down the relegation zone. In the end, this match would finish scoreless. This was the kind of match in which the defenses shined, although the Sarvus did stand out more as they were besieged by the likes of Anwar Bugarani, Guillermo Manuyong, and Marvin Peiper. Jaidev Muthukrishnan was perhaps the best player in a pink shirt out there on the pitch as he made at least two saves against all of the aforementioned Malabon players, and while Ravens fans aren’t clutching their heads in disbelief just yet (they do have a seven-point lead over their nearest challengers at this point), all of those missed chances could still end up costing their club in the long run. No one wants to mention the “B word” just yet, but it’s probably fair to acknowledge that it’s in the back of some Malabon fans’ minds.

This is truly a season to forget for Arsenal de Releinthi. Not only did they fail to defend the Premier League title that they had won (some would say snatched from right under Riuwiee United and Rosenpfelblatz City’s noses), not only did they get knocked out of the SFA Cup by the same side that they had trounced by three goals in the same ground, but now their deadly rivals Wanda Island Wanderers have done the double over them. Even in seasons in which Releinthi had not done well, they usually still had at least one derby victory over their rivals from across the Strait of Carrizozo, but this season the Gunners won’t even have that to tide them over for next season. The Wanderers had seen that Malabon was slowly but steadily building up a bigger and bigger points lead over them and they needed to cut that down if they were actually serious about challenging for the title. Winning against Releinthi in the derby was important for Wanda Island not just because of pride but also because it allowed them to capitalize on Malabon’s first slip-up in some time, a goalless draw against Sarvusdalamoive. With only nine matchdays left to play in the season, every single victory is important for the title chasers, and Wanda Island’s victory over Releinthi is important to the Wanderers’ season in more ways than one.

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Twenty-nine

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 Malabon SC                29   18   5   6    40   23  +17    59   Champions League qualification
 2 Wanda Island Wanderers    29   15   7   7    53   30  +23    52   Challengers' Cup qualification
 3 Ludogorets Markovsky      29   15   6   8    40   31   +9    51   Challengers' Cup qualification
 4 Xemlice Rovers            29   12  11   6    48   38  +10    47   Challengers' Cup qualification
 5 Fleftic Air Force         29   13   7   9    41   33   +8    46
 6 Sporting Ceneisis         29   14   4  11    42   44   −2    46
 7 Riuwiee United            29   14   3  12    36   31   +5    45
 8 Thereisnogodistan         29   13   6  10    46   44   +2    45
 9 All-Inclusive Haranguer   29   13   4  12    48   52   −4    43
10 Rosenpfelblatz City       29   11   9   9    60   54   +6    42
11 Bananas                   29   10   9  10    56   61   −5    39
12 Arsenal de Releinthi      29   10   8  11    54   47   +7    38
13 Paulsen                   29   11   5  13    58   65   −7    38
14 Admiral Porcusces         29   10   7  12    44   36   +8    37
15 Fleftic Army              29    9   4  16    50   68  −18    31
16 Dynamo Ja                 29    7   9  13    24   32   −8    30
17 Locomotive Imgortur       29    7   9  13    28   41  −13    30
18 Sarvusdalamoive           29    7   8  14    33   43  −10    29   Relegation to Unang Liga
19 Marinos Thimpodopoulos    29    6   9  14    14   28  −14    27   Relegation to Unang Liga
20 Rodrigues FC              29    6   8  15    20   34  −14    26   Relegation to Unang Liga

Malabon SC are still leading the way for the Fleftic Premier League title, and for a long time, they actually looked like they could actually run away with the title itself. The Ravens have stumbled against relegation-threatened Sarvusdalamoive, but their fans do have something this season that they haven’t had in a very long time, and that thing is belief. For the first time in a long time, Ravens fans finally believe that their team can hold it together going into the run-in; that this stumble against the Pinks won’t be what will end up defining their season, and it definitely won’t be the result that ends up costing Malabon the title. But Wanda Island Wanderers are determined not to make it easy against the Ravens. Wanderers fans also have belief in their team, especially now that Wanda Island have achieved a league double against Arsenal de Releinthi. Wanda Island is going to be the biggest threat to Malabon’s ambitions of securing their third FPL title, but the Wanderers will still have to hold their nerve to maintain the pressure on the leaders. And that’s not even getting into the latest entrant into the title race, Ludogorets Markovsky, and a resurgent Xemlice Rovers. It’s going to be a war of attrition for the title from here on out, and the club that drops the least points has the clearest shot at the gold.

Right now, the relegation battle looks like it has two regulars and three, perhaps four teams that jump in and out depending on form and other such circumstances. Rodrigues FC and Marinos Thimpodopoulos are practically penciled in as being the two teams most likely to drop down to Unang Liga, but at the time of writing, the identity of the third victim of the drop is still unclear. A lot of people thought that that third team was going to be Dynamo Ja, but after the Lilies finally got on a run of good form, Sarvusdalamoive has taken their place in terms of being under threat of relegation. It had already been mentioned before, but losing their SFA Cup tie against AFC Hithamandhoo has most probably wrecked the confidence and morale of the Pinks. If they couldn’t even beat a semi-professional outfit way down in Liga Ikatlo then what hope did they have against their fellow Premier League clubs? All that said, it’s not as if Sarvus are already done and out of the league; they are only one point from safety, two at most. Dynamo Ja, Locomotive Imgortur, and Fleftic Army both aren’t safe just yet as well, although Admiral Porcusces probably are. Then again, nobody thought Sarvus and Imgortur could actually get dragged into the relegation dogfight as well. So what do we actually know?

Race for the Golden Boot
1. Lucas von Wolfberg (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 22 goals
2. Mustafa Bensoussan (Bananas FC) - 21 goals
3. Arabante Zardain (Fleftic Army) - 20 goals
4. Joni Laurismäki (Fleftic Air Force) - 18 goals
5. Marat Tkachev (Riuwiee United) - 15 goals

Nothing has changed in the race for the Golden Boot. Lucas von Wolfberg is still leading, Mustafa Bensoussan is still his closest chaser, and both Arabante Zardain and Joni Laurismäki have outside shots of winning. One contender, Marat Tkachev, does appear to be falling away from the picture, and it’s unclear whether that’s a result of Riuwiee United falling away from the title chase as well or if it’s his decline that resulted in the Blue Tribesmen disappearing from the conversation for the time being.

Race for the Golden Glove
1. Radislav Kalyna (Malabon SC) - 17 clean sheets
T2. Isaak Krutikov (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 14 clean sheets
T2. Li Braveheart (Marinos Thimpodopoulos) - 14 clean sheets
3. Mimis Abaris (Locomotive Imgortur) - 11 clean sheets
T4. Tobias Waller (Dynamo Ja) - 9 clean sheets
T4. Aleardo Cogliati (Fleftic Air Force) - 9 clean sheets
T4. Orestes Katsouranis III (Riuwiee United) - 9 clean sheets
T4. Guildenstern Cardew (Sporting Ceneisis) - 9 clean sheets
T4. Psiquiq (Wanda Island Wanderers) - 9 clean sheets

Radislav Kalyna is still the leader of the Golden Glove race. It’s been said before, and it will be said again: Kalyna, at this point, has to be at least 50 percent responsible for Malabon topping the league and being as far out ahead of the rest as they are right now. Isaak Krutikov deserves some kudos for his own role in dragging Ludogorets Markovsky into the title picture as well; that run in the previous month that propelled the Foresters into the Challengers’ Cup spots probably wouldn’t have happened without him. And Li Braveheart is keeping himself relevant thanks to Marinos Thimpodopoulos continuing to play for goalless draws, but now the Mariners are scoring goals as well. At least they score some of the time. A Golden Glove contender is playing for a club still considered a relegation candidate. That’s the sheer absurdity of the Fleftic Premier League for you.

FPL Manager of the Month: Kirill Kucherenko (Malabon SC)
Kirill Kucherenko of Malabon SC claims the FPL Manager of the Month award thanks to his achievements in this month. Malabon had already been leading the Premier League for some time, but it was in this month that the Ravens built up their largest lead over the rest of the pack, being as much as nine points away from their nearest challengers. Results brings championships, and it is something that Kucherenko, a Pridnestrovian, understands very well given how narrowly Malabon won some of those games.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 11:21 am

Matchday Thirty Scores
Malabon SC 0–0 Xemlice Rovers
Locomotive Imgortur 0–1 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Riuwiee United 1–1 Arsenal de Releinthi
Wanda Island Wanderers 5–3 Paulsen
Fleftic Army 3–3 Bananas
Admiral Porcusces 1–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–1 Dynamo Ja
Fleftic Air Force 0–1 Sporting Ceneisis
Rosenpfelblatz City 3–2 Thereisnogodistan
Rodrigues FC 0–1 Sarvusdalamoive

Oh, dear. Oh, no. This might be the beginning of the “inevitable” decline of Malabon SC in their pursuit of their first Fleftic Premier League title in three decades. Nobody, not even Ravens fans, expected their team to be able to win every single remaining game in the season, but Malabon had shown that it was capable of bouncing back following a less than optimal result, and a lot of their fans expected the Ravens to bounce back against Xemlice Rovers after being held to a scoreless draw by Sarvusdalamoive. Unfortunately, recent history was not on Malabon’s side when it came to this match-up; the Gamekeepers had already held the Ravens scoreless in their previous meeting at Oubie Park, and it would turn out to be more of the same despite the best efforts of Marvin Peiper. This result has allowed Wanda Island Wanderers to draw ever closer to Malabon, and there are now only five points separating these two teams after the Wanderers picked up a vital victory over Paulsen FC via an eight-goal thriller.

Dynamo Ja have lost yet another game, but because of how close the team in the relegation zone are to each other, instead of remaining in the drop zone, the Lilies have somehow managed to climb their way out of it. How did this happen? Look no further than Locomotive Imgortur, who lost their relegation six-pointer against Marinos Thimpodopoulos and are now in 19th place due to having the worst goal difference out of the three teams sitting on three points. Things aren’t necessarily going down the toilet for Emilio Caravaggio and company just yet, but once again it’s their inconsistency that’s hurting them. Then again, inconsistency is pretty much the bread and butter of this league. If you’re not consistently inconsistent then are you really playing in Abanhfleft? Malabon had seemed like the only exception to that rule this season, but even they are beginning to fall victim to that, but it’s teams like Marinos and Imgortur that should really be worried about their lack of consistency, because if they don’t start picking up points anytime soon, there is at least one season in Unang Liga in their immediate futures.

Matchday Thirty-one Scores
Rodrigues FC 1–1 Malabon SC
Sarvusdalamoive 0–2 Rosenpfelblatz City
Thereisnogodistan 0–2 Fleftic Air Force
Sporting Ceneisis 1–3 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Dynamo Ja 0–3 Admiral Porcusces
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–2 Fleftic Army
Bananas 2–1 Wanda Island Wanderers
Paulsen 2–6 Riuwiee United
Arsenal de Releinthi 1–0 Locomotive Imgortur
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 1–0 Xemlice Rovers

Three draws. All it takes is three draws to turn a substantial lead at the top of the Fleftic Premier League into a nervous five-point affair that could go right down the wire. That is the conundrum currently facing Malabon SC at the moment. That scoreless draw against Sarvusdalamoive was supposed to be just a one-time thing, a little hiccup or bump on the road to the title. Now, the Ravens are on their third consecutive draw, and if only the teams behind them were not inconsistent as well, this could have been very costly for Malabon indeed. How in the world were they only able to score one goal or pick up one point against bottom of the league Rodrigues? Heck, Malabon’s goal in this contest didn’t even come from one of their own players. If Aleksandar Polumenta had tried to block the ball from Christopher Johnson any other way, that would have gone nowhere. Instead, Polumenta’s touch redirected the ball in a way that confused the heck out of Erickson Achtner, and that was how Malabon managed to scrape a point away from home in Rodrigues. Imagine relying on an own goal to possibly save your club’s title hopes and dreams.

Luckily for Malabon though, the chasing pack is seemingly unable or incapable of taking advantage of their recent slip-ups. The less charitable would say that that’s to be expected when the chasing pack is being led by Wanda Island Wanderers, and it’s actually kind of hard to argue with those people. Barring their title win back in the 2027-28 season, Wanda Island have made a habit of not really taking advantage of the mistakes that teams around them were making. This season is no exception apparently, as when they were given the chance of cutting Malabon’s lead to only three points, the Wanderers decided that they would rather lose to Bananas FC instead. Wanda Island should have gone into this contest with the mentality that they were already at least 1-0 down as Mustafa Bensoussan is practically guaranteed to score a goal whenever he plays; injuries seem to be the only way to prevent the Fleftic national team striker from finding the back of the net. And indeed, Bensoussan did score a goal against Wanda Island, and Bananas immediately followed that up with another goal from Greg McIntosh. The Wanderers themselves didn’t score until the 85th through Montez Tubman, and by that time any hope that they had of cutting Malabon’s lead to only three points had well and truly gone up in smoke.

2035-36 SFA Cup Fifth Round
Riuwiee United 1–0 Wanda Island Wanderers
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 4–0 Imperial Markovsky
Real Mikkaleth 2–1 Malabon SC
Rosenpfelblatz City 2–1 Fleftic Air Force
Locomotive Imgortur 5–3 Mannerheim Town
Mertano & Mertayev 2–4 Bananas
Antslinngs Islands 4–2 Inseparables
Riuwiee Metropolitan 0–2 Fleftic Army

Time to take a break from league action once again to focus on the SFA Cup, where it is now the fifth round of the competition. This is the part of the competition in which replays will no longer be necessary; the winner of a given tie must be decided on the day in extra time or via penalties if needed. All that said, none of the matches in the fifth round actually went beyond the ninety minutes (plus however many minutes the respective referees added on to the end). Now, remember that time when people wondered whether Real Mikkaleth knocking out Paulsen FC on penalties counted as being part of the magic of the SFA Cup? Well, wonder no more, because this time there is no more argument to be had. Real Mikkaleth have single-handedly ended Malabon SC’s dreams of winning a double this season, and it wasn’t’ just because they got lucky. Mikkaleth had actually been dominating the Ravens in spells throughout the game, and when they were dominant they made it count. Anwar Bugarani thought that he could spark another comeback for Malabon when he scored in the 67th minute, but in the end his goal was nothing more than a consolation as the Ravens became the latest big team to experience the magic of the SFA Cup.

Riuwiee United are still on course to defending the tin idol, and this time they didn’t even need to go to penalties to knock out their latest opponent. Perhaps it’s fitting that the fifth round put the Blue Tribesmen against the Wanda Island Wanderers, another side chasing after Malabon SC in the league. The Wanderers had just lost in the league and thus failed to capitalize on Malabon dropping points, so this was pretty much the perfect time to play them as far as Riuwiee was concerned. Marat Tkachev, the Pyazhnayan striker signed by the Blue Tribesmen for 1.5 million NSD, had been doing the job for the capital club in league, but so far he hadn’t even managed to get a shot on target in the cup. But today is the day that that particular streak of his ended, as it was Tkachev’s 71st minute strike that sent the Blue Tribesmen through to the next round of the SFA Cup. In the meantime, other notable results in the fifth round include Riuwiee Metropolitan getting knocked out by Fleftic Army, and Locomotive Imgortur repeating their fourth round result against Arsenal de Releinthi by beating Mannerheim Town 5-3. Like, the Engineers literally repeated their result. What are the odds of that happening? It must be miniscule or something.

Matchday Thirty-two Scores
Malabon SC 0–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Xemlice Rovers 3–2 Arsenal de Releinthi
Locomotive Imgortur 0–0 Paulsen
Riuwiee United 1–1 Bananas
Wanda Island Wanderers 1–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
Fleftic Army 1–0 Dynamo Ja
Admiral Porcusces 0–0 Sporting Ceneisis
All-Inclusive Haranguer 2–1 Thereisnogodistan
Fleftic Air Force 1–0 Sarvusdalamoive
Rosenpfelblatz City 1–0 Rodrigues FC

Back to the Premier League once again, and it looks like Malabon SC’s misery continues. Not only have they been knocked out of the SFA Cup and their hopes and dreams of a double shattered, but it seems as if they just can’t get a win in the league anymore as well. The next team to trip up the league leaders is Marinos Thimpodopoulos, and the Mariners got exactly what they wanted out of this contest, which is… you guessed it, a goalless draw. A lot of people had been making fun of Marinos for going for such a seemingly self-destructing strategy, but right now it appears to be something that’s actually working out for them. Whether it’s actually a viable strategy for Marinos going forward or if it’s only because the other teams around them are busy throwing away more points than they are, no one really knows, and it’s possible that no one will know until the end of the season itself, when the identity of the three teams going down to Unang Liga will finally be revealed.

This time, Wanda Island Wanderers have decided that this is the moment in which they are actually going to take advantage of yet another Malabon SC slip-up. Like their current title rivals, Wanda Island was knocked out of the SFA Cup, and now their sole focus is on the one bit of silverware that they could still win. Ludogorets Markovsky were the unfortunate victims of this “resurgent” Wanderers side, although it’s quite telling that the word resurgent is bracketed by quotation marks. Wanda Island did dominate Markovsky in this match, but they couldn’t do a lot with that dominance until late in the second half, when substitute striker Darius Dilangalen took advantage of tired legs in the defense to finally score the winning goal. The win now puts Wanda Island just four points behind Malabon, and at the same time it’s allowed the Wanderers to build up their own points buffer between themselves and the others in the chasing pack. Wanda Island are currently six points removed from the rest of the title hopefuls, and their own hope is that they will be the only one fighting Malabon for the title in the final stages of the season. But whether they can actually do it is, again, another question entirely.

Matchday Thirty-three Scores
Rosenpfelblatz City 0–1 Malabon SC
Rodrigues FC 0–1 Fleftic Air Force
Sarvusdalamoive 4–2 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Thereisnogodistan 1–1 Admiral Porcusces
Sporting Ceneisis 3–4 Fleftic Army
Dynamo Ja 2–2 Wanda Island Wanderers
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–1 Riuwiee United
Bananas 0–1 Locomotive Imgortur
Paulsen 0–2 Xemlice Rovers
Arsenal de Releinthi 1–1 Marinos Thimpodopoulos

Malabon SC is actually capable of winning a game of football in the run-in. Who knew? Lots of Ravens fans certainly didn’t feel like that was actually a given, and when one takes into consideration that this game was against Rosenpfelblatz City, it would have been really hard for even those of a Malabon persuasion to consider them the favorites in this contest. But that was exactly what happened. Malabon survived the pressure from Rosen, and once again Radislav Kalyna is going to get pretty much all the credit for keeping the Ravens in this match until it was time for them to strike. And strike they did, courtesy of one Marvin Peiper tearing down the right wing and beating a couple of defenders in sky blue before finally rifling it into the roof of the net. Now, there would be some that would argue that Peiper shouldn’t have been as selfish as he was in that play as it could have ended in disaster, and Peiper did have an open teammate in the middle of the box. But Peiper did manage to score the winning goal from that tight angle, so at this point, who really cares what else he could have done?

Just one week after claiming that they were going to be the only other team in the title picture, Wanda Island Wanderers have opened the door for other teams to barge their way back in once again. The Wanderers just cannot seem to shut up about the things they’re going to do, and because of that, when karma decides to bite them in the rear end, it often bites them hard and painfully. Maybe they should stop talking and just start doing. Relegation-threatened Dynamo Ja was supposed to be an easy three points for Wanda Island, and when the Wanderers went into half-time two goals to the good courtesy of Rostislav Chukreyev and Fionntan Breen, it did look like all three points were headed their way. Then Ja, quite possibly fired up and ready to go thanks to their half-time team talk, responded with two goals of their own early in the second half. It truly is a miracle that Wanda Island managed to win a Premier League title just how consistently inconsistent they are, and it can’t be doing the health of their fans any favors as well.

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Thirty-three

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 Malabon SC                33   19   8   6    42   24  +18    65   Champions League qualification
 2 Wanda Island Wanderers    33   17   8   8    62   37  +25    59   Challengers' Cup qualification
 3 Fleftic Air Force         33   16   7  10    45   34  +11    55   Challengers' Cup qualification
 4 Xemlice Rovers            33   14  12   7    53   41  +12    54   Challengers' Cup qualification
 5 Ludogorets Markovsky      33   15   7  11    42   36   +6    52
 6 All-Inclusive Haranguer   33   16   4  13    57   59   −2    52
 7 Rosenpfelblatz City       33   14   9  10    66   57   +9    51
 8 Riuwiee United            33   15   6  12    45   36   +9    51
 9 Sporting Ceneisis         33   15   5  13    47   51   −4    50
10 Thereisnogodistan         33   13   7  13    50   52   −2    46
11 Admiral Porcusces         33   12   9  12    49   37  +12    45
12 Bananas                   33   11  11  11    62   67   −5    44
13 Arsenal de Releinthi      33   11  10  12    59   52   +7    43
14 Fleftic Army              33   12   5  16    60   75  −15    41
15 Paulsen                   33   11   6  16    63   78  −15    39
16 Sarvusdalamoive           33    9   8  16    38   48  −10    35
17 Marinos Thimpodopoulos    33    8  11  14    17   29  −12    35
18 Locomotive Imgortur       33    8  10  15    29   43  −14    34   Relegation to Unang Liga
19 Dynamo Ja                 33    7  10  16    27   40  −13    31   Relegation to Unang Liga
20 Rodrigues FC              33    6   9  18    21   38  −17    27   Relegation to Unang Liga

Malabon SC are still leading the Fleftic Premier League, but their lead at the top is not as big as it used to be the last time that we checked. Sure, a six-point lead is just one less than seven points, but every point literally counts in the FPL when inconsistency seems to be the rule of the day. Those four consecutive draws going back to Matchday Twenty-nine could have really damaged the Ravens’ title hopes, but luckily for them, the team with the “best” chance of running them down is Wanda Island Wanderers. There’s a reason why the Wanderers have a reputation of “bottling” things, and why that reputation has stuck with them even after they had finally won the biggest prize in all of Fleftic football. The Wanderers had all those chances to reel Malabon closer and closer to them, and all they were able to do was cut the deficit from seven to six points. As for the other teams in the Challengers’ Cup places, Fleftic Air Force have come from out of nowhere to claim third place in the league, while Xemlice Rovers have managed to restore their course after going on a poor run in the middle of the season. It’s still too early to call this the final running order of the league as we all know how these teams love being inconsistent, but for now that is how things stand.

Things are looking bleaker and bleaker for Rodrigues FC. Not only have they returned to the foot of the Premier League table but they are now at least eight points from safety. And it’s not as if they can even rely on the inconsistency of others because they themselves have been consistently poor throughout the season. It’s been said before and it’s going to be said again: Rodrigues had been riding their luck in terms of surviving in the top flight for many seasons, but this season could very well be the one in which their luck has finally run out. Dynamo Ja aren’t doing so well either; it’s looking more and more likely that their stay in the Premier League is going to be only one season long. Of course, they could always get promoted back in the season immediately after, but if there’s one thing that history has taught us, it’s that getting promoted from Unang Liga is not as easy as it sounds. And that’s something that Locomotive Imgortur will have to be wary of, because if the Engineers don’t get their act together sooner rather than later, they’re going to fall victim to the drop as well. At least they’re only one point away from safety as opposed to the likes of Rodrigues and Dynamo Ja, but that’s probably little comfort to them or their fans.

Race for the Golden Boot
T1. Mustafa Bensoussan (Bananas FC) - 23 goals
T1. Arabante Zardain (Fleftic Army) - 23 goals
T1. Lucas von Wolfberg (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 23 goals
2. Marat Tkachev (Riuwiee United) - 22 goals
3. Joni Laurismäki (Fleftic Air Force) - 20 goals

There is now a three-way tie for the Golden Boot. Arabante Zardain’s form has started picking up right at the same time that Lucas von Wolfberg and Mustafa Bensoussan began slowing down, which is something that the Astograthian striker probably loved to see. Meanwhile, Marat Tkachev is just one goal away from drawing level with this trio. Scoring four goals in a game tends to do that. And even Joni Laurismäki has put himself into contention by hitting that 20-goal mark, but he has some more work to do before being able to claim the Golden Boot just yet.

Race for the Golden Glove
1. Radislav Kalyna (Malabon SC) - 20 clean sheets
2. Li Braveheart (Marinos Thimpodopoulos) - 17 clean sheets
3. Isaak Krutikov (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 14 clean sheets
4. Mimis Abaris (Locomotive Imgortur) - 13 clean sheets
5. Aleardo Cogliati (Fleftic Air Force) - 12 clean sheets

Keeping 20 clean sheets is practically unheard of in the Fleftic Premier League, and yet that’s exactly what Radislav Kalyna is doing right now. It’s been said before, and it will be said again: Kalyna’s monster season is basically one half of the reason why Malabon SC is so close to clinching their third FPL title, and their first league title in three decades. The man has already become a legend in the club for his decade of faithful service to the Ravens, and if Malabon does win the title, Kalyna’s legacy will be well and truly cemented.

FPL Manager of the Month: Clarissa Melecio (Fleftic Army)
Clarissa Melecio gets the Manager of the Month award for leading Fleftic Army away from the relegation dogfight. There had been a few weeks when the Warfighters’ situation looked pretty dicey, but Melecio got everyone in the club to clean up their act and focus on not only clinching safety but securing a place in the mid-table for themselves. She may have started off as a caretaker, but now that she’s settled into her job, there’s a possibility that the Army could make Melecio’s appointment permanent.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 12:01 pm

Matchday Thirty-four Scores
Malabon SC 1–0 Arsenal de Releinthi
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–1 Paulsen
Xemlice Rovers 2–0 Bananas
Locomotive Imgortur 0–0 Ludogorets Markovsky
Riuwiee United 0–0 Dynamo Ja
Wanda Island Wanderers 4–1 Sporting Ceneisis
Fleftic Army 2–2 Thereisnogodistan
Admiral Porcusces 1–0 Sarvusdalamoive
All-Inclusive Haranguer 4–4 Rodrigues FC
Fleftic Air Force 1–1 Rosenpfelblatz City

With only five games left to play this season, every game is now literally the most important one for every team, at least until the next one comes around. Winning every game still on the schedule is important, even necessary for the title chasers. Winning every game is important for the Challengers’ Cup chasers in order to secure international club football for next season, and winning every game is important for the teams in the bottom half in order to retain their Premier League status. And after finally picking up a victory over Rosenpfelblatz City after a run of four consecutive draws, Malabon SC knows that they need to get a result against Arsenal de Releinthi if they actually want to win their first FPL title in thirty years. The Gunners had long since abandoned the idea that they would be able to defend their title from last season, but they are still the most successful side in the Fleftic Premier League and a side that’s not easily beaten when they put their minds to it. But, while Releinthi did make it hard, Malabon still managed to secure all three points with a late goal from none other than Anwar Bugarani.

And it’s a good thing that Malabon won because their title rivals (and Releinthi’s eternal rivals) Wanda Island Wanderers have picked up a win as well. Not only did Wanda Island, but they absolutely demolished Sporting Ceneisis in that match. Ceneisis went into this match without much in the way of expectations; they’ve already recognized that getting into the Challengers’ Cup places was a bit of long stretch for them this season and so they’ve decided to focus on consolidating their position in the table instead. And the Blues knew that Wanda Island needed this victory more than they did, so all Denise Crawford’s men really needed to do was to play spoiler to the Wanderers’ title ambitions. Unfortunately for them, trying to stop Wanda Island from winning the title just wasn’t that strong of a motivator, and the Wanderers decided that they were going to smash the Blues for even daring to think that the team from Ceneisis Province could play a role in the title race. Sure, that was something that Sporting Ceneisis have done before, but they won’t do it this season, not if Wanda Island have anything to say about it.

2035-36 SFA Cup Quarterfinals
Rosenpfelblatz City 1–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Antslinngs Islands 4–2 Real Mikkaleth
Fleftic Army 2–0 Riuwiee United
Locomotive Imgortur 1–0 Bananas

For the six Premier League teams still in contention for the SFA Cup, it’s once again time to take a break from league action to focus on the chase for the tin idol. There are two sides from Unang Liga still in the Cup as well, and thanks to the luck of the draw, they are going to play each other, meaning that one team from the second tier of Fleftic football is guaranteed to make it into the semifinals of the SFA Cup. And after ninety minutes of thrilling and entertaining football which saw six goals scored between them, Antslinngs Islands would be the one booking their spot in the semifinals. Joining them there will be Rosenpfelblatz City, who put an end to Marinos Thimpodopoulos’ cup run and made sure that the only thing that the Mariners have to look forward to is attempting to stave off relegation in the run-in. However, this victory came at a heavy price for the Citizens: Lucas von Wolfberg, their shiny new striker from Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland currently leading the Golden Boot race in the Premier League, sustained an injury that would rule him out for the rest of the season. What a way to lose an important player going into the most important part of the season.

And this is where Riuwiee United’s defense of the tin idol comes to an end. After going to sleep from the fifth round onwards last season, the magic of the SFA Cup has decided that its presence was sorely needed now. The magic itself has jumped from team to team; no one has been able to go on a sustained run of consecutive giant killings, but the important thing is that a giant killing has happened in pretty much every round, and that still rings true in the quarterfinals. Riuwiee United, the defending SFA Cup winners, were drawn away to Fleftic Army, and the expectation was that the Blue Tribesmen would make it through that particular tie. Maybe it would end up going to extra time or penalties, but Riuwiee was going to win the tie regardless. Guess nobody told Clarissa Melecio and her men about that part of the script because they decided that the tin idol would look nice in their admittedly bare trophy cabinet. Two of the Army’s young guns (pun intended), Colton Patacsil and Leon Buenpacifico, were handed a chance to impress in the Cup, and that was exactly what they did. No matter what happens to the Army Club this season, those two will have the honor of helping Army beat Riuwiee United in the SFA Cup.

Matchday Thirty-five Scores
Fleftic Air Force 0–4 Malabon SC
Rosenpfelblatz City 1–1 All-Inclusive Haranguer
Rodrigues FC 0–2 Admiral Porcusces
Sarvusdalamoive 3–2 Fleftic Army
Thereisnogodistan 1–1 Wanda Island Wanderers
Sporting Ceneisis 4–3 Riuwiee United
Dynamo Ja 0–1 Locomotive Imgortur
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–0 Xemlice Rovers
Bananas 2–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Paulsen 3–2 Arsenal de Releinthi

The Fleftic Premier League title continues to beckon to Malabon SC, and the Ravens continue to move closer to the gold. Not even the likes of Fleftic Air Force is going to stop Malabon from taking one step closer to the title, and for the first time in some time, the Ravens have actually won a game by more than one goal. The Golden Eagles have been having a remarkable season, putting themselves right in contention for a place in the Challengers’ Cup, but after their latest meeting with the league leaders, those hopes have been dented somewhat. Air Force could still secure international club football, but they have not done themselves any favors by letting Malabon score four past them. And it’s a good thing that the Ravens won this game as well because Wanda Island Wanderers have (surprise, surprise) slipped up yet again. It seems weird to say it now, but there was a period in which Thereisnogodistan was considered as a potentially legitimate competitor for the league title this season, and while the Atheists have definitely fallen off now, scrapping a draw against Wanda Island has shown that that particular team might still have potential to shock all of Fleftic football in the near future.

Rodrigues FC and Dynamo Ja have seemingly resigned themselves to their fate, which is going down to Unang Liga after one and five seasons in the top flight respectively. One team that is determined to maintain their Premier League status, however, is Locomotive Imgortur, as the champions of the 2025-26 season want to have another shot at glory, even if that’s not going to happen this season. No one expected the Engineers to win back in 2026, and while the likelihood of that happening again in the next few years is not that high, it’s still a chance, something that Imgortur won’t have if they get relegated. And at the moment, they’re not going to get relegated, not after they won a vital six-pointer against Dynamo Ja. That said, while Ja may have been resigned to their fate, they still did their absolute best to make things hard for Imgortur. The Engineers had to go into their bench to find a breakthrough against the Lilies, and that breakthrough would come courtesy of Palmer Hicks. The semi-regular Fleftic national team striker used his fresh legs to the fullest as soon as he came on, and in the 85th minute, he blasted past two Ja defenders and their goalkeeper to help the Engineers get out of the drop zone for the time being.

Matchday Thirty-six Scores
Malabon SC 1–0 Paulsen
Arsenal de Releinthi 1–0 Bananas
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 0–1 Ludogorets Markovsky
Xemlice Rovers 1–0 Dynamo Ja
Locomotive Imgortur 1–0 Sporting Ceneisis
Riuwiee United 2–0 Thereisnogodistan
Wanda Island Wanderers 2–3 Sarvusdalamoive
Fleftic Army 2–2 Rodrigues FC
Admiral Porcusces 3–1 Rosenpfelblatz City
All-Inclusive Haranguer 1–1 Fleftic Air Force

They’ve done it! They have finally done it! Malabon SC are once again champions of Abanhfleft! The Ravens and their fans waited thirty years and suffered through the indignity of a relegation between then and now, but all of that has been forgotten as soon as the ball went into the back of the net from the boot of one Aapeli Shea. Now, there is inevitably going to be some sort of argument on whether Shea actually meant to go for goal or if he was shaping up to simply pump the ball into the box. His body language seems to suggest that it was more towards the latter, but nobody of a Malabon persuasion is going to care about that in the long term. They’ve won the bloody title! Really though, Malabon’s fate was entirely in their hands going into the run-in, and a victory against Paulsen would have sealed the deal no matter the results elsewhere. It’s just the icing on the cake that Wanda Island Wanderers couldn’t stop being themselves and bottled yet another game against Sarvusdalamoive. They could have made the title race more interesting, especially when Malabon beating Paulsen wasn’t a guaranteed thing yet. But the Wanderers just can’t keep themselves from throwing away their biggest chances at glory, 2028 notwithstanding.

On some sadder news, Rodrigues FC is now officially the first team confirmed to be headed down to Unang Liga next season. They’ve led a charmed life, finishing mid-table in their first season back in the top flight after ten years of bouncing in between the second and third divisions, but today is when the fun ends for the Yellowfins. It’s harsh to say, but that first season in the FPL in which Rodrigues finished 10th and people started claiming that they could cement themselves as a decent lower mid-table side was literally the peak of that football club. The Yellowfins finished in 14th the season after they were promoted, and they’ve been regularly involved in the relegation dogfight ever since. Rodrigues skirted their luck in the past two seasons, and this season, that luck of theirs had finally run out. But at least they could say without a hint of irony that they went down fighting. Fleftic Army had the Yellowfins dead to rights, and though a win would have only staved off the inevitable, Rodrigues still did all that they could to get that win, however unlikely it was, and the fans will appreciate that.

2035-36 SFA Cup Semifinals
Semifinal 1 @ Soft Jazz Arena, Bytuch Wyk, Bytuch Feld Province
Rosenpfelblatz City 1–1 Antslinngs Islands (1–1 AET) (3–4 pen.)

Semifinal 2 @ Szymborski Stadium, Reyes, Dorfdifving Province
Locomotive Imgortur 1–2 Fleftic Army

Only four teams remain in the hunt for the SFA Cup, but unlike the previous season, there’s only one club out of the “Big Six” remaining in the hunt. And Rosenpfelblatz are about to go up against Unang Liga side Antslinngs Islands in the first semifinal tie, and the Citizens will be hoping that they won’t become the latest team to feel the magic of the SFA Cup. The other semifinal tie consists of Locomotive Imgortur and Fleftic Army, two sides whom one probably would not have expected to make it this far into the quest for the tin idol, but they’re here anyway, and one of them is going to make it all the way to the final where they will have a fifty-fifty chance of winning the oldest footballing trophy in all of Abanhfleft. As to who will actually win the SFA Cup, Rosenpfelblatz City are currently the odds-on favorites, but because we now all know that the magic of the Cup is back, there really is no telling who is actually going to bring home the tin idol. So enough waffling about; it’s time for the footballing gods to decide who will make the trip to the final.

This season, the Samahang Futbol ng Abanhfleft has decided to reinstate one of the old traditions of the SFA Cup, and that is playing the semifinals in neutral sites as equidistant as possible between the two competing clubs in a given semifinal tie. Of course, actual equidistance between the clubs is what the SFA said the rules meant, but oftentimes certain conditions (hint, hint) mean that the neutral sites chosen by the Samahan are actually substantially nearer to one club than the other, and that proved to be the case for the tie between Rosenpfelblatz City and Antslinngs Islands. The site selected for their semifinal is the Soft Jazz Arena, located in Bytuch Wyk, which is the capital of Bytuch Feld Province. Now, for those who don’t know their geography, Bytuch Feld is located on the northern Fleftic mainland and is literally only two provinces away from Mezaladbyi, which is where the city of Rosenpfelblatz is located. Meanwhile, the Antslinngs Islands are literally on the opposite side of Abanhfleft, an archipelago 50 kilometers off of the coast of the Trendstart Colony, the southernmost part of the Democratic Republic. A neutral site in the Capital Islands like the May 26 Stadium in Riuwiee, Releinthi’s Monsanto Stadium, or even the Wanda City Arena would have been more ideal for this semifinal, but there are whispers that the deal to give the Soft Jazz Arena the rights to host the 2036 SFA Cup Final included a clause requiring one of the semifinals be played there as well. Money talks, indeed.

But sometimes money is powerless against the magic of the SFA Cup because Antslinngs Islands have beaten all the odds and beaten Rosenpfelblatz City to book their spot in the SFA Cup final! The Citizens had taken an early lead in the 10th minute through Xavier Cleverton, but then they started missing their chances in such a way that a lot of people, starting from the Antslinngs fans in the stands of the Soft Jazz Arena to neutrals all across the country and even supporters of Rosenpfelblatz’s rival clubs, started to believe that the Islanders could come back. And come back they did through a stunning volley from Vitaliy Yashin. To say that nobody was expecting Antslinngs to score against Rosenpfelblatz would not be entirely truthful, but it was fair to say that no one was expecting the veteran Pridnestrovian midfielder to be the one to score the equalizer for the Islanders. Antslinngs then held on for dear life as Rosenpfelblatz did all that they could to stave off extra time and penalties, but the team in red and black stood their ground and held on to the bitter end. Penalty shootouts have often been criticized for being more about the luck of the draw than anything else, especially when the team that many felt “deserved” to win doesn’t win the shootout. But given how there is now a clear underdog in this contest, a lot of people were surely rooting for Antslinngs Islands to make it through, and make it through they did, thanks to none other than… you guessed it, Vitaliy Yashin.

The second semifinal tie in this edition of the SFA Cup was between Locomotive Imgortur and Fleftic Army. This one had much less distance between them than the other semifinal; Imgortur and Army are based in the provinces of Verbergerkinnh and Sarvusdalamoive respectively. Nevertheless, the choice of venue for this tie still drew some controversy as one of these clubs (specifically Locomotive Imgortur) was still closer to the Szymborski Stadium in Reyes, capital of Dorfdifving Province. However, since the Szymborski Stadium is one of the older stadia in the country, nothing like the ultra-modern facilities of the likes of the Soft Jazz Arena, there’s not as much controversy surrounding the choice of Athletic Dorfdifving’s home for one of the SFA Cup’s two semifinals venues this season. Some might call it unfair, but since the people still got a great football match there, no one is going to say anything more than absolutely necessary. As for the match itself, Fleftic Army were the dominant side all throughout, and they were great value for the two goals that they scored from Shane Sanchez and Haitham El-Shazly. Haider El-Amin did get his name on the scoresheet as well late on in the hopes of forcing extra time like what Antslinngs Islands did, but it would be nothing more than a consolation for the Engineers. It’s going to be Antslinngs Islands versus Fleftic Army in the 2036 SFA Cup Final, and this match will be contested at the Soft Jazz Arena at the end of the season.

Matchday Thirty-seven Scores
All-Inclusive Haranguer 0–1 Malabon SC
Fleftic Air Force 2–2 Admiral Porcusces
Rosenpfelblatz City 6–4 Fleftic Army
Rodrigues FC 0–0 Wanda Island Wanderers
Sarvusdalamoive 0–1 Riuwiee United
Thereisnogodistan 4–3 Locomotive Imgortur
Sporting Ceneisis 2–0 Xemlice Rovers
Dynamo Ja 2–0 Marinos Thimpodopoulos
Ludogorets Markovsky 1–1 Arsenal de Releinthi
Bananas 1–0 Paulsen

Wanda Island Wanderers have secured a place in next season’s IFCF Challengers’ Cup, but not in the way that they would have wanted to do it. In any case, the Wanderers and their fans will be utterly disappointed with how this season had turned out. They had numerous chances to close the gap to Malabon SC all throughout the second half of the season, but Wanda Island just couldn’t seem to get the job done when it matters the most. And now that the Ravens had secured the title, the least that the Wanderers could do for their supporters was to win the rest of the games remaining on their schedule. Given that their match on the second to the last matchday was against already relegated Rodrigues FC, this was supposed to be a gimme for Wanda Island. But, as always, they blew it, like they blew the title chase this season. And it’s not as if the Yellowfins had anything to play for anymore. They’re already going down, for goodness’ sake! And Wanda Island still couldn’t find a way through that Rodrigues defense. If it wasn’t for Xemlice Rovers and Ludogorets Markovsky also blowing their chances, the Wanderers would still have to play for the Challengers’ Cup spot going into the final matchday.

The era of Marinos Thimpodopoulos as a Fleftic Premier League team has come to an end once again. The last time the Mariners were relegated back in 2027, it came as a surprise as they had seemingly cemented themselves in the mid-table. They did bounce back immediately, spending only one season in Unang Liga and winning the title by amassing 100 points while doing so on their way to immediate promotion back to the top flight. The Mariners didn’t set the country alight with their second stint in the top flight, although eight seasons is still a damn sight longer than a lot of other promoted clubs would have had. Marinos was the only side in the bottom three that still had a shot of escaping relegation in the final two matchdays, but they simply had the misfortune of having to go up against Dynamo Ja on Matchday Thirty-seven. In a classic case of “if I’m going down, I’m taking you with me,” the Lilies torpedoed Marinos’s chances of extending their stay in the top flight for one more season courtesy of Boris Bachev and Pavlo Kalitvintsev. Can Marinos bounce right back to the Premier League like the last time that they were relegated? Unfortunately, we will not find out until the end of next season.

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Thirty-seven

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 Malabon SC                37   23   8   6    49   24  +25    77   Champions, Champions' League
 2 Wanda Island Wanderers    37   18  10   9    69   42  +27    64   Challengers' Cup
 3 Xemlice Rovers            37   16  12   9    56   44  +12    60   Challengers' Cup qualification
 4 Ludogorets Markovsky      37   17   9  11    45   37   +8    60   Challengers' Cup qualification
 5 Riuwiee United            37   17   7  13    51   40  +11    58
 6 Fleftic Air Force         37   16  10  11    49   42   +7    58
 7 Rosenpfelblatz City       37   15  11  11    75   66   +9    56
 8 Sporting Ceneisis         37   17   5  15    54   59   −5    56
 9 Admiral Porcusces         37   15  10  12    57   40  +17    55
10 All-Inclusive Haranguer   37   16   7  14    63   66   −3    55
11 Thereisnogodistan         37   14   9  14    57   60   −3    51
12 Bananas                   37   13  11  13    65   70   −5    50
13 Arsenal de Releinthi      37   12  11  14    63   57   +6    47
14 Paulsen                   37   13   6  18    67   82  −15    45
15 Fleftic Army              37   12   7  18    70   88  −18    43
16 Sarvusdalamoive           37   11   8  18    44   54  −10    41
17 Locomotive Imgortur       37   10  11  16    34   47  −13    41
18 Dynamo Ja                 37    8  11  18    29   42  −13    35   Relegated to Unang Liga
19 Marinos Thimpodopoulos    37    8  11  18    17   35  −18    35   Relegated to Unang Liga
20 Rodrigues FC              37    6  12  19    27   46  −19    30   Relegated to Unang Liga

Malabon SC are the new champions of Abanhfleft, having secured the Premier League title with two matches to go after Wanda Island Wanderers practically gifted the title to the Ravens by losing to Sarvusdalamoive. The Wanderers themselves have also punched their ticket into the IFCF Challengers’ Cup, although they did it in the most Wanda Island way possible: by drawing against an already relegated side at the same time that their closest contenders were also dropping points. This means that only two more spots are up for grabs, and while right now Xemlice Rovers and Ludogorets Markovsky occupy those spots, the Gamekeepers and Foresters are still not guaranteed to play international club football next season. Riuwiee United and Fleftic Air Force could still win their respective games on the final matchday while Xemlice and Markovsky could lose theirs, resulting in all four sides swapping places. It’s not something that could actually happen, but it’s also something that’s not truly impossible. Fleftic football has already proven that anything can happen, especially on the last matchday when teams still have something to play for, so we might still see different teams filling out the top four come the end of the season.

The relegation picture is much clearer than the top of the table, that was for sure. Both Rodrigues FC and Dynamo Ja were already going down going into Matchday Thirty-seven, and all Marinos Thimpodopoulos needed to do was to beat Ja in order to at least delay the drop down to the final matchday. But Dynamo Ja was not in a giving mood. They were already going down anyway, so why couldn’t they bring down the Mariners with them? It’s a grim day for fans of both Marinos and Rodrigues, as their respective tenures in the Fleftic top flight come to an end, while Lilies fans won’t have a lot to be mournful for because they’ve only been back to the Premier League for one season in this latest stint. They and their fans thought that they had managed to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three after a good start to the season, but that was the thing about the FPL. Good starts can only take a team so far. A team needs to be good all the way through the season in order to maintain their top flight status, and that was something that Dynamo Ja couldn’t do. Hopefully they will have learnt that particular lesson in preparation for what many people hope will be a quick, if not immediate, return to the Fleftic Premier League.

Race for the Golden Boot
1. Marat Tkachev (Riuwiee United) - 26 goals
2. Mustafa Bensoussan (Bananas FC) - 25 goals
3. Arabante Zardain (Fleftic Army) - 24 goals
4. Lucas von Wolfberg (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 23 goals
5. Joni Laurismäki (Fleftic Air Force) - 20 goals

Marat Tkachev is now leading the race for the Golden Boot after Lucas von Wolfberg of Rosenpfelblatz City suffered an injury in an SFA Cup game against Marinos Thimpodopoulos in the quarterfinal round. Mustafa Bensoussan is still hot on the heels of the league’s top goalscorer, seemingly always just one goal shy of tying the leader or nicking top spot itself. The foreign strikers playing for the two Armed Forces clubs in the Premier League, Arabante Zardain and Joni Laurismäki, could still play a part when their respective teams clash on the final day of the season, but admittedly it’s a long shot, especially for Laurismäki.

Race for the Golden Glove
1. Radislav Kalyna (Malabon SC) - 24 clean sheets
T2. Isaak Krutikov (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 17 clean sheets
T2. Li Braveheart (Marinos Thimpodopoulos) - 17 clean sheets
3. Mimis Abaris (Locomotive Imgortur) - 16 clean sheets
4. Emelio Lontok (Admiral Porcusces) - 13 clean sheets

Just give the Golden Glove to Radislav Kalyna already; it’s clearly been his since Malabon took top spot in the league. Li Braveheart put up a good fight, but playing for a side that was destined for relegation put a dent into those plans. That said, there might be transfer interest in Braveheart, but rumors are that he wants to go back to his homeland once his contract runs out.

FPL Manager of the Month: Kirill Kucherenko (Malabon SC)
It’s Kirill Kucherenko once again claiming the Manager of the Month award. Who else would it be? The man led Malabon to four straight victories and the Fleftic Premier League title after encountering a little hiccup the previous month, although some would argue that he was lucky that the other teams around Malabon were busy cocking it up for themselves as well. Might as well give Kucherenko the Manager of the Season award; he’s just so far ahead of the rest of the possible contenders.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Fri Apr 26, 2024 11:03 am

Matchday Thirty-eight Scores
Malabon SC 4–2 Bananas
Paulsen 1–2 Ludogorets Markovsky
Arsenal de Releinthi 1–0 Dynamo Ja
Marinos Thimpodopoulos 1–0 Sporting Ceneisis
Xemlice Rovers 4–3 Thereisnogodistan
Locomotive Imgortur 1–1 Sarvusdalamoive
Riuwiee United 1–2 Rodrigues FC
Wanda Island Wanderers 4–1 Rosenpfelblatz City
Fleftic Army 2–3 Fleftic Air Force
Admiral Porcusces 3–3 All-Inclusive Haranguer

There’s nothing much to report on with regards to the top of the Fleftic Premier League. Malabon SC had already secured the title two weeks ago, and they could have taken their foot off of the gas for the last two weeks of the season. But that’s not really how the Ravens operated this season, did they? They want to cap off this title-winning season of theirs with another victory both to show their fans that they’re not resting on their laurels and that Malabon actually plans on defending the title come next season. Unfortunately for Radislav Kalyna though, he won’t be able to get a record 25 clean sheets in the league thanks to Yossi Santiago and the ever-irrepressible Mustafa Bensoussan even as Malabon stomped Bananas FC 4-2 to end their season. Still, 24 clean sheets is nothing to scoff at, and Kalyna caps off his personal record-breaking season with a Golden Glove to add to his trophy cabinet alongside the Fleftic Premier League. Not that anyone else really had a chance catching up to him once Malabon went into that run of winning then drawing then winning games. That title-winning juice really is something else.

In more interesting news though (aka the race for the Challengers’ Cup places), both Xemlice Rovers and Ludogorets Markovsky have managed to hang on to the top four by the skin of their teeth. Well, really, it was more Xemlice hanging on by the skin of their teeth and Markovsky cruising towards international club football before a late Patrick Mangubat goal in the 76th minute made Foresters fans’ sphincters clench for the final 14 minutes of that game. Xemlice Rovers had their shit rocked by Thereisnogodistan, who had at least one point in this season been considered as a potential title contender. The Atheists fell back into the midfield soon after touching the top four, but just because they were back in mid-table didn’t mean that they were every other team’s doormat. Heck, TNG even took the lead against Xemlice early in the second half courtesy of Attila Zsolnyanszki before Sergey Lyubomirov restored parity and Marc Lagmay secured international club football for the Gamekeepers. And from a Xemlice perspective, it’s a good thing that they were actually able to turn this game around because if they didn’t, Fleftic Air Force could have pipped them for the third and final Challengers’ Cup spot. Now that would have been embarrassing for the Rovers.

2035-36 SFA Cup Final

Played @ Soft Jazz Arena, Bytuch Wyk, Bytuch Feld Province

          Antslinngs Islands 2–4 Fleftic Army              
  Jaspreet Shantinath (36')     Anthony Acuña (10')
       Vitaliy Yashin (58')     Arabante Zardain (14')
                                Haitham El-Shazly (45+2')
                                Kent Dimaculangan (75')

Referee: Logan Speirs (Ferale)

Now that the season is over, it’s time for the final football match of the season: the 2036 SFA Cup Final. It’s Antslinngs Islands versus Fleftic Army fighting for the right to bring home the tin idol at the Soft Jazz Arena in Bytuch Wyk, home of the Bytuch Wyk Stingrays of the Fleftic National League of American Football (FNLAF) and the Bytuch Feld Dinosaurs of the Fleftic Rugby Premiership. It’s a long, long trip for these two teams to make, especially for the Islanders, but both sides think that it was worth it for the chance to bring home the oldest footballing prize in all of Abanhfleft. Both teams have not had much luck with regards to the SFA Cup; this will be the Army’s first appearance in the final since 1986, and they’ll be hoping to win it for the first time since 1960. Meanwhile, Antslinngs have never made it to the final before in the entire history of their football club, having only been founded in the 1990s and making it to the top two tiers of Fleftic football at the start of the 2010s. Army are the slight favorites coming into this match, mostly simply due to their place in the Fleftic Premier League, but given how the magic of the SFA Cup has made its presence felt in practically every round of the competition, Antslinngs must have at least a slender chance of winning it all as well.

Sadly for those of a red and black persuasion, it would appear as if the magic of the SFA Cup has left their side the moment that they needed it most. Fleftic Army got off to a hot and brilliant start, and within 14 minutes the Warriors were already up two goals thanks to Anthony Acuña and Arabante Zardain. Antslinngs Islands, bless them, they really tried to claw their way back into this game. Unfortunately for them, this was the kind of moment that Micah Hermann, Army’s cup goalkeeper, had been dreaming of his whole life. Most football players dream of scoring the goal that wins their team the league or the cup, but goalkeepers like Hermann dream of making the save that stops the opposition from equalizing or taking the lead or even saving the deciding penalty in a shootout. And that was exactly what Hermann did for much of the first half. Antslinngs were able to put pressure on Army after the Warriors had already taken a two-goal lead, but Hermann was able to deal with pretty much all of them. It had to take a high and looping long range effort from Jaspreet Shantinath for Antslinngs to finally beat Hermann, but it would be all for naught as Haitham El-Shazly restored Army’s two-goal lead deep into first half stoppage time.

Even though El-Shazly’s goal had practically knocked the wind out of Antslinngs’ sails, mostly owing to the fact that he scored with the final kick of the first half. But after some motivating words from Paulo Huertas in the dressing room, the Islanders took the initiative to start off the second half. The first fifteen minutes of the second half resembled the final fifteen of the first in that it was Antslinngs that had the upper hand, pushing and probing Fleftic Army’s lines and searching for weaknesses in their defenses. And who else would give Antslinngs and their fans hope but Vitaliy Yashin, hero of the semifinal against Rosenpfelblatz City in both regulation and penalties. One of the consequences of Antslinngs throwing everything that they had against Fleftic Army was that they got a larger number of set pieces and corner kicks, and Yashin would finally convert one of those corners into the Islanders’ second goal in the SFA Cup final, sparking hopes that they could mount yet another comeback and maybe force a shootout once again. Sadly, that wouldn’t come to pass as Fleftic Army tightened up their act and began looking for their fourth goal of the day.

That goal would come from Kent Dimaculangan, who came off the bench in place of the third Army goalscorer Haitham El-Shazly and took advantage of the tired legs on the defense to blast past three red and black shirts to blast the ball past the goalkeeper. Army already had the win-loss percentage on their side even after Vitaliy Yashin’s goal, but Kent Dimaculangan sealed the deal for the Warriors. Antslinngs never came close to scoring another goal again despite their best efforts, and after a six-goal thriller at the Soft Jazz Arena in Bytuch Wyk, Fleftic Army Football Club has won the SFA Cup for the fourth time in their history, and for the first time since 1960, more than seventy years ago. The magic of the SFA Cup was not on Antslinngs Islands’ side this time around, and they will rightfully consider this a massive opportunity at winning silverware spurned. There’s no telling the next time that Antslinngs will be back in the SFA Cup final. It could be next season, it could be in the next ten years, or it could be never again. In the meantime, the Warriors of Fleftic Army will lift the tin idol over their heads, and they will definitely throw some shade at their Armed Forces rivals because they won silverware this season and Fleftic Air Force didn’t.

[img]placeholder.png[/img]
Congratulations to Fleftic Army, your 2035-36 SFA Cup champions!

Fleftic Premier League Table After Matchday Thirty-eight

   FPL                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                   
 1 Malabon SC                38   24   8   6    53   26  +27    80   Champions, Champions' League
 2 Wanda Island Wanderers    38   19  10   9    73   43  +30    67   Challengers' Cup
 3 Xemlice Rovers            38   17  12   9    60   47  +13    63   Challengers' Cup
 4 Ludogorets Markovsky      38   18   9  11    47   38   +9    63   Challengers' Cup
 5 Fleftic Air Force         38   17  10  11    52   44   +8    61
 6 Riuwiee United            38   17   7  14    52   42  +10    58
 7 Admiral Porcusces         38   15  11  12    60   43  +17    56
 8 Rosenpfelblatz City       38   15  11  12    76   70   +6    56
 9 All-Inclusive Haranguer   38   16   8  14    66   69   −3    56
10 Sporting Ceneisis         38   17   5  16    54   60   −6    56
11 Thereisnogodistan         38   14   9  15    60   64   −4    51
12 Arsenal de Releinthi      38   13  11  14    64   57   +7    50
13 Bananas                   38   13  11  14    67   74   −7    50
14 Paulsen                   38   13   6  19    68   84  −16    45
15 Fleftic Army              38   12   7  19    72   91  −19    43   Cup Winners' Cup
16 Sarvusdalamoive           38   11   9  18    45   55  −10    42
17 Locomotive Imgortur       38   10  12  16    35   48  −13    42
18 Marinos Thimpodopoulos    38    9  11  18    18   35  −17    38   Relegated to Unang Liga
19 Dynamo Ja                 38    8  11  19    29   43  −14    35   Relegated to Unang Liga
20 Rodrigues FC              38    7  12  19    29   47  −18    33   Relegated to Unang Liga

What else is there left to say about what has honestly been an epic and enjoyable season of the Fleftic Premier League? Malabon SC have finally ended thirty years of pain and heartbreak by winning the league title, although it has to be said that in the midst of all that pain and suffering (which includes an unfortunate relegation down to Unang Liga back in [2026? 27? 28?]), they did win the first ever edition of the IFCF Challengers’ Cup. But it’s the Premier League that they’ve always wanted to win, and after three decades of waiting, the Ravens have finally got their hands on it once again. Speaking of the Challengers’ Cup, the three teams going into that particular competition will be Wanda Island Wanderers, Xemlice Rovers, and Ludogorets Markovsky. Wanda Island did a somewhat good job of keeping Malabon honest, but at the end of the day, the Wanderers sadly lived up to their “bottling” reputation yet again and let the Ravens walk away with the title despite numerous opportunities to catch up. Down at the wrong end of the table, Rodrigues FC, Dynamo Ja, and Marinos Thimpodopoulos will be going down to Unang Liga, where they will all hope that their stay in the second tier won’t be too long. As for who will be taking their places next season, we don’t know just yet. Perhaps in a future post.

Race for the Golden Boot
T1. Mustafa Bensoussan (Bananas FC) - 26 goals
T1. Marat Tkachev (Riuwiee United) - 26 goals
2. Arabante Zardain (Fleftic Army) - 25 goals
3. Lucas von Wolfberg (Rosenpfelblatz City) - 23 goals
4. Joni Laurismäki (Fleftic Air Force) - 21 goals

It’s honors even for Mustafa Bensoussan and Marat Tkachev, and both gentlemen will share the FPL Golden Boot for the 2035-36 season. However, if consistency was to be included in the criteria for the Golden Boot, Bensoussan would clear the young Pyazhnayan by a country mile. Bensoussan, as befitting his role as the main strike for the Abanhfleft national football team, hit the ground running upon Bananas FC’s return to the top flight, while it took Tkachev some time to get used to the pace and physicality of the Fleftic Premier League despite scoring Riuwiee United’s two goals in the SFA Community Shield against Arsenal de Releinthi.

Race for the Golden Glove
1. Radislav Kalyna (Malabon SC) - 24 clean sheets
2. Li Braveheart (Marinos Thimpodopoulos) - 18 clean sheets
3. Isaak Krutikov (Ludogorets Markovsky) - 17 clean sheets
4. Mimis Abaris (Locomotive Imgortur) - 16 clean sheets
5. Emelio Lontok (Admiral Porcusces) - 13 clean sheets

The Golden Glove goes to Radislav Kalyna, and really, it was his since once we went into the run-in. There is no doubt in everyone’s mind that Kalyna’s performance this season contributed in large part to Malabon SC finally winning the title. Li Braveheart is the closest challenger to Kalyna when it comes to taking home the Glove, which might seem hard to believe as his club Marinos Thimpodopoulos is one of the three sides that got relegated, but considering how the Mariners played for goalless draws most of the time, the number of clean sheets beside Braveheart’s name starts to make more sense.

FPL Manager of the Season: Kirill Kucherenko (Malabon SC)
What other choice do we really have? Do we have another team whose manager led them to outperform all expectations laid out to them at the start of the season? No, because the rest of the top four teams are teams that are actually top four contenders. Heck, a lot more managers underperformed than overperformed, hence why it’s practically a no-brainer for Kirill Kucherenko to win the Manager of the Season award for the Fleftic Premier League.

[img]malabon.png[/img]
Congratulations to Malabon SC, your 2035-36 Fleftic Premier League champions!

by **Oontaz Dert Li Ng** » Sat Apr 27, 2024 2:46 am

2029-30 Oontaznik First Division Final Standings

   First Division             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                 
 1 General Santos FC           38   23   9   6    80   54  +26    78   Champions, Champions' League
 2 Pasargad Manitogoro         38   20   9   9    89   70  +19    69   Challengers' Cup
 3 Botafogo de Maranao         38   20   7  11    81   63  +18    67   Challengers' Cup
 4 Real Altamarino             38   17  13   8    87   77  +10    64   Challengers' Cup
 5 Deportivo Cauayan           38   16  14   8    82   70  +12    62
 6 Red Horse Biñan             38   16  14   8    81   71  +10    62
 7 Hapoel Nineveh              38   17  10  11    94   74  +20    61
 8 Fudukwan FC                 38   17   9  12    92   78  +14    60
 9 Gryphons Nubalochi          38   17   9  12    76   67   +9    60
10 Kota Nibabalu               38   16  11  11    84   75   +9    59
11 Esteghlal Omidinabad        38   15   5  18    78   80   −2    50
12 Rayo La Presa               38   13  10  15    84   77   +7    49
13 RCD Baler                   38   14   7  17    84   88   −4    49
14 Real Meycauayan             38   11  10  17    77   88  −11    43
15 Vigan Athletic              38   11   8  19    70   80  −10    41
16 General Trias Multiversal   38    8  14  16    68   76   −8    38
17 Racing al-Ampatuan          38    9   8  21    68   93  −25    35
18 Paniqui CF                  38    9   7  22    52   93  −41    34   Relegated to Second Division
19 Habaniyyah Harriers         38    8   8  22    75   95  −20    32   Relegated to Second Division
20 Persephone Hojfsa           38    6  12  20    53   86  −33    30   Relegated to Second Division

Um al-Gwarif FC, Al-Awqad SC, and Gingoog Gymnastic Club are promoted from the Oontaznik Second Division into the First Division.

Congratulations to General Santos FC, your 2029-30 Oontaznik First Division champions!

by **Oontaz Dert Li Ng** » Sat Apr 27, 2024 7:29 am

2029-30 Sultan's Cup Second Round

Tall Afar 1–1 Tarbayog Aguilas (1–1 AET) (2–3 pen.)
Deportivo Cauayan 3–1 Beitar Gibeon
Al-Suwayyil 3–3 Fudukwan FC (4–3 AET)
Persephone Hojfsa 0–1 Gryphons Nubalochi
Paniqui CF 0–0 Real Meycauayan (1–2 AET)
Racing al-Ampatuan 1–5 Real Altamarino
Esteghlal Omidinabad 0–0 Pasargad Manitogoro (0–1 AET)
Al-Wutayyah 1–4 General Santos FC
Nasiriyah 3–3 Vigan Athletic (3–3 AET) (7–6 pen.)
Al-Awqad 4–4 Botafogo de Maranao (5–4 AET)
Tikrit Wanderers 1–0 General Trias Multiversal
Habaniyyah Harriers 1–3 Sasmuanense
Red Horse Biñan 4–3 Etazig Petroleum
Al Mazyunah 5–3 RCD Baler
Kota Nibabalu 4–3 Hapoel Nineveh
Zama Athletic 3–3 Rayo La Presa (3–3 AET) (3–1 pen.)

2029-30 Sultan's Cup Third Round

Tikrit Wanderers 2–2 Real Meycauayan (2–2 AET) (4–3 pen.)
Tarbayog Aguilas 0–0 Sasmuanense (0–0 AET) (2–3 pen.)
Al-Suwayyil 1–4 Zama Athletic
General Santos FC 3–2 Al Mazyunah
Pasargad Manitogoro 2–1 Nasiriyah
Kota Nibabalu 2–7 Red Horse Biñan
Real Altamarino 4–0 Al-Awqad
Gryphons Nubalochi 4–2 Deportivo Cauayan

2029-30 Sultan's Cup Quarterfinals

Sasmuanense 2–3 General Santos FC
Gryphons Nubalochi 1–1 Red Horse Biñan (1–1 AET) (4–3 pen.)
Zama Athletic 3–3 Real Altamarino (3–4 AET)
Tikrit Wanderers 1–4 Pasargad Manitogoro

2029-30 Sultan's Cup Semifinals

Pasargad Manitogoro 2–2 Gryphons Nubalochi (3–3 AET) (4–3 pen.)

General Santos FC 3–2 Real Altamarino

2029-30 Sultan's Cup Final

Pasargad Manitogoro 2–3 General Santos FC

Congratulations to General Santos FC, your 2029-30 Sultan's Cup champions!

by **Trans-Dniesters** » Sun Apr 28, 2024 2:37 am

2034-35 Pridnestrovian Super League Final Standings

    Team                            P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts   Qualification                                    
  1 Dinamo Bender                  34  21   4   9  66  34  +32  67   Champions, Copa de Campeones
  2 Dinamo Macaresti               34  20   6   8  70  38  +32  66
  3 Sheriff Tiraspol               34  20   5   9  62  37  +25  65
  4 Admiral Novorossiysk           34  19   7   8  67  38  +29  64
  5 Rotor Dnistrosh                34  19   5  10  65  49  +16  62
  6 CSKA Tiraspol                  34  17   9   8  69  44  +25  60
  7 Union Rheinburg                34  18   5  11  54  39  +15  59
  8 Lokomotiv Novosverdlovsk       34  16   7  11  67  49  +18  55
  9 Fortuna Novonikolaysk          34  15   7  12  56  49   +7  52
 10 Kesselburger Kickers           34  15   1  18  61  62   -1  46
 11 Spartak Tiraspol               34  12   5  17  48  69  -21  41
 12 Masyafspor                     34  12   4  18  61  69   -8  40
 13 Metallurgist Beledor           34   9  11  14  54  61   -7  38
 14 Shakhtar Rheinburg             34  10   7  17  41  53  -12  37
 15 Derinkuyuspor                  34   9   7  18  53  89  -36  34
 16 Bierburger SV                  34   8   8  18  45  65  -20  32   Relegation playoff
 17 Traktor Bender                 34   6   5  23  43  89  -46  23   Relegated to National Premier Football League
 18 FK Pridnestrovskaya Gavan      34   5   7  22  32  80  -48  22   Relegated to National Premier Football League

Congratulations to Dinamo Bender, your 2034-35 Pridnestrovian Super League champions!

by **Copper Cuprum** » Sun Apr 28, 2024 7:29 am

2029-30 Copperite National League Final Standings

   National League                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification             
 1 Atletico Bed Deg                 30   18   7   5    72   44  +28    61   Champions, CEdC
 2 Athletic Wa Deg                  30   18   6   6    72   50  +22    60   CEdC
 3 Nel Deg Rovers                   30   17   8   5    85   62  +23    59
 4 South Ons Deg Rabbitohs A.F.C.   30   14   7   9    59   50   +9    49
 5 Sportif Ab Deg                   30   12  12   6    73   62  +11    48
 6 Ken Deg United                   30   13   8   9    64   53  +11    47
 7 Copper Cuprum Halal Commission   30   14   5  11    57   62   −5    47
 8 Wa Deg City                      30   12   7  11    66   61   +5    43
 9 Bor Deg Bears                    30   12   4  14    55   62   −7    40
10 Vay Deg Eels A.F.C.              30   10   8  12    58   59   −1    38
11 Sub Deg Raiders A.F.C.           30    9  10  11    65   72   −7    37
12 Mah Deg Diamonds                 30    9   5  16    51   57   −6    32
13 Yon Deg                          30    9   4  17    53   66  −13    31
14 Hen Deg                          30    8   7  15    63   76  −13    31
15 Al Deg Barracudas A.F.C.         30    7   2  21    46   70  −24    23   Relegation to League Two
16 Ven Deg A.F.C.                   30    5   6  19    37   70  −33    21   Relegation to League Two

Congratulations to Atletico Bed Deg, your 2029-30 Copperite National League champions!

2029-30 Copperite League Two Final Standings

   League Two               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                           
 1 Ons Deg North End         30   17   7   6    71   56  +15    58   Champions, Promoted to National League
 2 Nay Deg                   30   16   9   5    62   46  +16    57   Promoted to National League
 3 Bed Deg Town              30   14   8   8    71   53  +18    50
 4 Nay Deg Elephants F.C.    30   14   7   9    80   63  +17    49
 5 His Deg A.F.C.            30   12  10   8    62   55   +7    46
 6 Pad Deg Harriers A.F.C.   30   13   7  10    63   61   +2    46
 7 AFC Bor Deg               30   13   6  11    62   53   +9    45
 8 Af Deg Wanderers          30   11   9  10    61   55   +6    42
 9 Wa Deg Giants A.F.C.      30   11   9  10    72   67   +5    42
10 Chicken Wings FC          30    8  14   8    56   57   −1    38
11 Noh Deg                   30    8  12  10    50   57   −7    36
12 Bed Deg Bantams A.F.C.    30    8  10  12    63   73  −10    34
13 Dan Deg Megatheriums      30    8   7  15    54   65  −11    31
14 Ob Deg Palms A.F.C.       30    7   7  16    59   82  −23    28
15 Chapter 11 Tigers         30    6  10  14    58   74  −16    28   Relegated to League Three
16 Jet Deg                   30    4   8  18    54   81  −27    20   Relegated to League Three

Jit Deg Royal F.C. and Ims Deg Rovers are promoted from Copperite League Three into League Two.

by **Fhulghamous Peninsula** » Mon Apr 29, 2024 11:12 am

2029 Fhulghamousian Premier League – Opening Final Standings

   Premier League              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification             
 1 Charalambos FC               22   13   2   7    60   46  +14    41   Opening Champions, CEdC
 2 Nuevo Guadix CF              22   11   7   4    52   42  +10    40
 3 Deportivo Pequeña Melilla    22   11   4   7    59   38  +21    37
 4 Airbus Fhulghamous Besanza   22   10   7   5    60   47  +13    37
 5 Heliopolisspor               22    9   7   6    49   43   +6    34
 6 Emekasis Sportif             22    7   7   8    40   44   −4    28
 7 Nove Gossed                  22    8   3  11    35   35    0    27
 8 Haritzaga Albion             22    7   6   9    42   50   −8    27
 9 Sobresalientes               22    6   6  10    32   43  −11    24
10 RCD Nueva Ceuta              22    6   5  11    42   53  −11    23
11 EA Tatouwine                 22    5   8   9    50   68  −18    23
12 Veterans Foundation FC       22    4   8  10    37   49  −12    20

2030 Fhulghamousian Premier League – Closing Final Standings

   Premier League              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification             
 1 Deportivo Pequeña Melilla    22   15   3   4    66   40  +26    48   Closing Champions, CEdC
 2 Heliopolisspor               22   12   2   8    55   41  +14    38
 3 Charalambos FC               22   10   7   5    43   35   +8    37
 4 Airbus Fhulghamous Besanza   22    8   8   6    49   47   +2    32
 5 RCD Nueva Ceuta              22    8   6   8    43   47   −4    30
 6 Emekasis Sportif             22    8   6   8    30   35   −5    30
 7 Nuevo Guadix CF              22    6   9   7    38   41   −3    27
 8 Veterans Foundation FC       22    6   8   8    43   48   −5    26
 9 Nove Gossed                  22    6   8   8    33   38   −5    26
10 Sobresalientes               22    5   8   9    35   45  −10    23
11 Haritzaga Albion             22    5   7  10    50   53   −3    22
12 EA Tatouwine                 22    4   6  12    38   53  −15    18

2029-30 Fhulghamousian Premier League Final Standings

   Premier League              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                            
 1 Deportivo Pequeña Melilla    44   26   7  11   125   78  +47    85   Overall champions, Qualified for CEdC
 2 Charalambos FC               44   23   9  12   103   81  +22    78   Qualified for CEdC as Opening champions
 3 Heliopolisspor               44   21   9  14   104   84  +20    72
 4 Airbus Fhulghamous Besanza   44   18  15  11   109   94  +15    69
 5 Nuevo Guadix CF              44   17  16  11    90   87   +7    67
 6 Emekasis Sportif             44   15  13  16    70   79   −9    58
 7 Nove Gossed                  44   14  11  19    68   73   −5    53
 8 RCD Nueva Ceuta              44   14  11  19    85  100  −15    53
 9 Haritzaga Albion             44   12  13  19    92  103  −11    49
10 Sobresalientes               44   11  14  19    67   88  −21    47
11 Veterans Foundation FC       44   10  16  18    80   97  −17    46   Relegated to Second League
12 EA Tatouwine                 44    9  14  21    88  121  −33    41   Relegated to Second League

2029 Fhulghamousian Second League – Opening Final Standings

   Second League               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification             
 1 Nou Philippopolis            22   15   1   6    55   39  +16    46   Opening Champions
 2 UD Nuevo Carthago            22   10   8   4    43   35   +8    38
 3 Besanza Emeralds             22   10   7   5    49   33  +16    37
 4 Athletic Club Ixmurratin     22    9   8   5    44   37   +7    35
 5 Pythagoras FC                22   10   5   7    52   52    0    35
 6 Sycorax Kickers              22    8   8   6    47   41   +6    32
 7 Oxyrhynchus United           22    6   8   8    39   42   −3    26
 8 Marble Arch Defenders        22    7   5  10    35   43   −8    26
 9 Deportivo Nova Aracillum     22    6   5  11    38   45   −7    23
10 Palaeiologi                  22    6   4  12    39   48   −9    22
11 Asparagus Thistle            22    5   5  12    29   47  −18    20
12 Esquadrille White Rabbits    22    3  10   9    30   38   −8    19

2030 Fhulghamousian Second League – Closing Final Standings

   Second League               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification             
 1 UD Nuevo Carthago            22   12   5   5    57   44  +13    41   Closing Champions
 2 Nou Philippopolis            22   13   2   7    55   42  +13    41
 3 Athletic Club Ixmurratin     22   12   5   5    47   39   +8    41
 4 Besanza Emeralds             22   11   3   8    50   37  +13    36
 5 Marble Arch Defenders        22   11   3   8    47   42   +5    36
 6 Esquadrille White Rabbits    22   10   5   7    46   43   +3    35
 7 Oxyrhynchus United           22    8   5   9    45   45    0    29
 8 Sycorax Kickers              22    7   6   9    50   57   −7    27
 9 Palaeiologi                  22    7   4  11    49   55   −6    25
10 Pythagoras FC                22    5   9   8    39   48   −9    24
11 Deportivo Nova Aracillum     22    6   5  11    49   54   −5    23
12 Asparagus Thistle            22    1   6  15    36   64  −28     9

2029-30 Fhulghamousian Second League Final Standings

   Second League               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                                  
 1 Nou Philippopolis            44   28   3  13   110   81  +29    87   Overall champions, Promoted to Premier League
 2 UD Nuevo Carthago            44   22  13   9   100   79  +21    79   Promoted to Premier League
 3 Athletic Club Ixmurratin     44   21  13  10    91   76  +15    76
 4 Besanza Emeralds             44   21  10  13    99   70  +29    73
 5 Marble Arch Defenders        44   18   8  18    82   85   −3    62
 6 Sycorax Kickers              44   15  14  15    97   98   −1    59
 7 Pythagoras FC                44   15  14  15    91  100   −9    59
 8 Oxyrhynchus United           44   14  13  17    84   87   −3    55
 9 Esquadrille White Rabbits    44   13  15  16    76   81   −5    54
10 Palaeiologi                  44   13   8  23    88  103  −15    47
11 Deportivo Nova Aracillum     44   12  10  22    87   99  −12    46   Relegated to Third League–North
12 Asparagus Thistle            44    6  11  27    65  111  −46    29   Relegated to Third League–South

FC Aeaea Albion from the Fhulghamousian Third League–South and SD Mimetiz from the Fhulghamousian Third League–North are promoted to the Second League.

by **Estorvipa and Estorpiva** » Fri May 03, 2024 7:28 am

The new Federal Top League of the Federal Republic of Estorvipa and Estorpiva (is it still okay to call this league new? Because they’ve been playing for four seasons now and they show no signs of stopping) has surprisingly shown more parity in the four seasons that it has been in existence than the old People’s First Division that it replaced. The history of the People’s First Division could almost always be summed up by which team was dominating which decade, like how the last decade of the old First Division saw Spartak Rybolovlev claim eight of the last ten league titles because they were the hometown club of one Vissarion Zhivkov. Those were some dark times for Estorian football, not least because of the inherent corruption in the system and the favoritism showed towards the old dictator’s favorite team. Also, this would be the part where someone would mention something about the so-called “Revolutionary Football League” created by the anarcho-capitalist gangster rebels in the north, but given how those people only managed to play five matches before the situation “became too dangerous to continue play,” there is literally no football history from the rebel-occupied part of Estoria to speak of.

Also, speaking of Spartak Rybolovlev, they have finally managed to win their first Top League title. In terms of their overall footballing history, this is Rybolovlev’s 29th Estorian championship, but it’s the first one that they’ve won in the era of the Federal Republic. They had come close in all three previous seasons before they finally won the big one, the most notable instance being in the inaugural season in which they lost out against Mamai Ihorivtsi by only three points. And had the Top League stuck to the old double round-robin format, history would have repeated itself in the 2026-27 season. Spartak would have lost the title to Mamai, although by a slightly larger margin (five points, to be exact). But this is a new era, a new league, and after the 22-game regular season, the top six teams split off from the bottom six to form the championship round, and it was in this championship round in which Spartak showed their class. Seven wins, three draws, zero defeats: the record speaks for itself. And with Mamai struggling to recover the form that had led them to the top in the regular season, the door opened up for Spartak to claim their first Federal Top League title, and they blew through that opening like what the 5th Armored Division did to the Zhivkov Line to kick off the Second Rybolovlev Offensive.

2027-28 Federal Top League Regular Season Final Standings

   Federal Top League      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                     
 1 Dinamo Durdenville       22   13   7   2    45   26  +19    46   Qualified for Championship Round
 2 Spartak Rybolovlev       22   14   3   5    52   31  +21    45
 3 Traktor St. Paulsburg    22   11   5   6    58   48  +10    38
 4 CSK Armiya Supskij       22   10   6   6    50   37  +13    36
 5 Politehnica Humongalia   22   10   3   9    41   42   −1    33
 6 Foc Feuerstadt           22    9   5   8    43   39   +4    32                                     
 7 Mamai Ihorivtsi          22    8   7   7    40   39   +1    31   Qualified for Relegation Round
 8 Velikiy Varadino         22    6   6  10    39   48   −9    24
 9 Chornyy Volodymyrivka    22    7   3  12    32   44  −12    24
10 Cavaleri Urodorasul      22    6   3  13    34   49  −15    21
11 Delfo Yevdokiya          22    5   5  12    43   56  −13    20
12 Matrega Fanagoria        22    4   5  13    29   47  −18    17

Spartak Rybolovlev have to be thanking their lucky stars right now that the championship-relegation rounds exist, or else this season would have gone down in history as the mother of all bottlejobs, at least from a Spartak point of view. The defending champions of the Federal Top League looked like they had top spot in the league locked down for the vast majority of the regular season until a less than optimal record in the run-in, coupled with Dinamo Durdenville hitting their stride at just the right moment allowed the champions of the 2025-26 season to come from nowhere to claim top spot going into the championship round. Of course, being top of the league during the changeover from the regular season to the championship-relegation rounds doesn’t mean a lot if the team on top falls flat on their faces in the championship round. And speaking of the relegation round, there is an impostor among them. Mamai Ihorivtsi have done what those in the industry call a “bottle job,” failing to find good form throughout the regular season and thus consigning themselves to the ignominy of fighting in the relegation round instead of the championship round where they and their fans would rather have them be. Mamai are not in danger of falling victim to the drop anyway, but this would probably still be good training for them should this unfortunate happenstance happen again in a time when promotion and relegation exists in the Federal Republic once again.

2027-28 Federal Top League Championship Round Final Standings

  Championship            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts     
1 Foc Feuerstadt           10    6   2   2    21   16   +5    20
2 Spartak Rybolovlev       10    5   3   2    24   18   +6    18
3 Traktor St. Paulsburg    10    5   3   2    21   15   +6    18
4 Politehnica Humongalia   10    3   2   5    19   26   −7    11
5 Dinamo Durdenville       10    2   3   5    22   29   −7     9
6 CSK Armiya Supskij       10    2   1   7    19   22   −3     7

If the league actually only consisted of the six teams participating in the championship round then Foc Feuerstadt would have been crowned champions of the Federal Republic. However, the Federal Top League is decided by a combination of the teams’ records in the regular season and the championship-relegation round, Foc probably won’t even be anywhere near actually challenging for the title, but their championship round form could be good enough to bring international club football to Feuerstadt. That is, if the Federal Republic was still taking part in the IFCF. In any case, there’s a chance that Foc could be playing in the LigAnaia. It’s a small chance, admittedly, but a chance nonetheless. That said, Spartak Rybolovlev are right on their heels, and seeing how far down the championship round table Dinamo Durdenville are, there’s every chance that Spartak have successfully defended their title this time around.

2027-28 Federal Top League Relegation Round Final Standings

  Relegation              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts     
1 Chornyy Volodymyrivka    10    8   0   2    29   15  +14    24
2 Mamai Ihorivtsi          10    5   1   4    18   17   +1    16
3 Velikiy Varadino         10    4   2   4    24   23   +1    14
4 Delfo Yevdokiya          10    4   1   5    20   21   −1    13
5 Cavaleri Urodorasul      10    3   1   6    14   22   −8    10
6 Matrega Fanagoria        10    2   3   5    13   20   −7     9

Mamai Ihorivtsi would still probably be safe from relegation had the Federal Second League finally come into existence this season, but there definitely has to be at least a few people in Mamai’s front office concerned about their club’s consistent inconsistency. The winners of the inaugural Federal Top League season have struggled to gain points when adversity comes their way, as proven by the four losses next to their name, along with only the one draw. That’s definitely concerning no matter how one looks at it, and if Mamai wants to continue being counted among the elites of the new era of Estorian football, they’re going to have to get their act together one way or another, otherwise it will be back to mid-table mediocrity for them. Oh, and on a side note, Matrega Fanagoria are doing very poorly this season, no matter if it’s the regular season or the relegation round. There’s another side that’s currently very happy that the Federal Second League doesn’t exist just yet because they know that that is the level that they should be playing in.

2027-28 Federal Top League Final Standings

   Federal Top League      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts  Qualification                           
 1 Spartak Rybolovlev       32   19   6   7    76   49  +27    63  Champions, Qualified for CAFA LigAnaia
 2 Traktor St. Paulsburg    32   16   8   8    79   63  +16    56  Qualified for CAFA LigAnaia
 3 Dinamo Durdenville       32   15  10   7    67   55  +12    55
 4 Foc Feuerstadt           32   15   7  10    64   55   +9    52
 5 Politehnica Humongalia   32   13   5  14    60   68   −8    44
 6 CSK Armiya Supskij       32   12   7  13    69   59  +10    43                                          
 7 Chornyy Volodymyrivka    32   15   3  14    61   59   +2    48  **Ineligible for CAFA LigAnaia**
 8 Mamai Ihorivtsi          32   13   8  11    58   56   +2    47
 9 Velikiy Varadino         32   10   8  14    63   71   −8    38
10 Delfo Yevdokiya          32    9   6  17    63   77  −14    33
11 Cavaleri Urodorasul      32    9   4  19    48   71  −23    31
12 Matrega Fanagoria        32    6   8  18    42   67  −25    26

For the first time in the history of the Federal Top League, a football club has won the title twice. And perhaps it’s no surprise that that club is none other than Spartak Rybolovlev, the most successful club in all of Estoria. This win sees Spartak claim their second Federal Top League title and thirtieth title overall in Estorian history, allowing them to finally put that coveted third star atop their badge. And even as Spartak and their fans were celebrating their titles, there is already an undercurrent of tension running through the rest of Estoria. Is this the beginning of a new age of domination from the most dominant club in the country, the same club that had once been the favorite of the last Estorvipan dictator? No one really knows the answer to that just yet, and they’re also afraid to find out. And, just to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same, the runners-up are none other than Traktor St. Paulsburg, and it is the two powerhouses of Estorian football that will represent the Federal Republic at the CAFA LigAnaia. So much for the new era.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sun May 05, 2024 7:26 am

2035-36 Fleftic Unang Liga Final Standings

    Unang Liga                     P   W   D   L  For   Ag  +/-  Pts   Qualification                                  
  1 Athletic Dorfdifving          46  33   9   4  122   41  +81  108   Champions, Promoted to Fleftic Premier League
  2 Atletico San Sebastian        46  31   6   9  118   52  +66   99   Promoted to Fleftic Premier League
  3 Gyouza Young Lads             46  31   6   9  112   61  +51   99   Promotion playoffs
  4 Antslinngs Islands            46  27   8  11   96   54  +42   89   Promotion playoffs
  5 Keklavik United               46  27   7  12   92   56  +36   88   Promotion playoffs
  6 Eielo Sunlight                46  25  12   9  103   68  +35   87   Promotion playoffs
  7 Electric Yugal                46  26   8  12   87   56  +31   86
  8 Pilken Kickers                46  24   9  13  109   71  +38   81
  9 Rosenpfelblatz North End      46  22   9  15   93   61  +32   75
 10 Kimmirut Panhandle            46  21  11  14  104   71  +33   74
 11 Miroz Old Boys                46  21   9  16   90   68  +22   72
 12 Keephall Vikings              46  17  15  14   75   70   +5   66
 13 Real Mikkaleth                46  18   9  19   67   74   -7   63
 14 Purzat Rovers                 46  17   8  21   73   76   -3   59
 15 Mannerheim Town               46  14  13  19   84  101  -17   55
 16 Tefel FC                      46  13  15  18   74   89  -15   54
 17 Sporting Tiembabkh            46  14  11  21   72   85  -13   53
 18 Duhblakk Rovers               46  12   9  25   60   94  -34   45
 19 Inseparables                  46  11   9  26   61  103  -42   42
 20 Pawwazim                      46  11   9  26   44   91  -47   42
 21 Pamunas                       46   9   8  29   58  121  -63   35
 22 El Horizonte                  46   9   1  36   55  128  -73   28   Relegated to Liga Ikalawa
 23 Malhall United                46   7   7  32   60  140  -80   28   Relegated to Liga Ikalawa
 24 Wabash River                  46   5   6  35   49  127  -78   21   Relegated to Liga Ikalawa

The teams of the Liga ng Abanhfleft appeared to be in a scoring mood for the entirety of the 2035-36 season. This has to be the most goals scored across all 72 teams in the second to fourth tiers of Fleftic football, and that is no exaggeration. Surely there hasn’t been any other point in history in which fifteen teams were able to score at least 100 goals throughout the season. One hundred goals! And fifteen teams did it! That’s at least 1,500 goals, and we’re only talking about a small percentage of all the goals. And that’s not the only record that’s being broken, or at least came close to being broken. Everyone remembers when Malabon SC got relegated and then went straight back up to the Premier League after claiming the biggest points haul in the history of the second division? Well, one can say that Athletic Dorfdifving did what they could to emulate that record, and while they did come somewhat close, at the end of the day the Canaries are still 15 points short. But nobody who supports the green and yellow side of Reyes will probably care since Athletic Dorfdifving will be going back to the Premier League after an absence of only two seasons. Quite the short wait, especially when compared to the other side that attained automatic promotion to the top flight this season. The last time that Atletico San Sebastian was in the Fleftic Premier League was in 2010. Back then, Abanhfleft was still recovering from the aftermath of the Holy Revolution of 2008. Some people even thought that the country was never going to recover, and San Sebastian fans also thought that they wouldn’t recover from the shame of relegation. But the club itself kept its head down and did what it could to gain promotion, and after almost thirty years, the Royal Blues are now back in the big time. Could we see them become a fixture in the top flight like they were during the first ten years of the league? Maybe. Who knows at this point?

Congratulations to Athletic Dorfdifving, your 2035-36 Fleftic Unang Liga champions!

2035-36 Fleftic Liga Ikalawa Final Standings

    Liga Ikalawa                 P   W   D   L  For   Ag  +/-  Pts   Qualification                      
  1 Uranium City Radiation      46  36   5   5  129   43  +86  113   Champions, Promoted to Unang Liga
  2 Chevaliers de Motonou       46  27  10   9  103   58  +45   91   Promoted to Unang Liga
  3 Sporting Mykorrigan         46  26   7  13   89   54  +35   85   Promotion playoffs
  4 Imperial Markovsky          46  25   9  12  100   56  +44   84   Promotion playoffs
  5 Athletic Bergson            46  23  11  12   79   52  +27   80   Promotion playoffs
  6 Khimik Ogovlich             46  20  19   7   96   69  +27   79   Promotion playoffs
  7 Niraza Rovers               46  22  12  12  111   76  +35   78
  8 Tutschkill Town             46  20  16  10   90   57  +33   76
  9 FC Afa-az                   46  21  11  14   87   70  +17   74
 10 Southern Imgortur           46  20  12  14   72   63   +9   72
 11 Gold Coast Arsenal          46  19   7  20   74   73   +1   64
 12 Buscargill Town             46  19   6  21   80   69  +11   63
 13 Sporting Wappinger          46  18   9  19   58   67   -9   63
 14 West Releinthi City         46  17  12  17   75   86  -11   63
 15 North Iboyie Albion         46  18   8  20   80   74   +6   62
 16 Nuclear Spriekt             46  13  13  20   72   95  -23   52
 17 Olistan Presbyterians       46  14   8  24   60   90  -30   50
 18 Real San Seriffe            46  13   9  24   71  103  -32   48
 19 OGC Oui                     46  12  10  24   68   99  -31   46
 20 Reyes United                46  11  11  24   63   92  -29   44
 21 Bohuda United               46  12   8  26   49   86  -37   44
 22 Rapid Pelaez                46   9  12  25   67  104  -37   39   Relegated to Liga Ikatlo
 23 Sociedad de Pesadill        46  10   6  30   51  123  -72   36   Relegated to Liga Ikatlo
 24 Pazugas                     46   9   5  32   50  115  -65   32   Relegated to Liga Ikatlo

2035-36 Fleftic Liga Ikatlo Final Standings

    Liga Ikatlo                 P   W   D   L  For   Ag  +/- Pts   Qualification                        
  1 FC United of Riuwiee       46  31   6   9  113   55  +58  99   Champions, Promoted to Liga Ikalawa
  2 Uthilmir United            46  28  10   8  103   53  +50  94   Promoted to Liga Ikalawa
  3 Real Haritzaga             46  27  10   9  103   57  +46  91   Promotion playoffs
  4 Effelenendro FC            46  27   8  11  111   57  +54  89   Promotion playoffs
  5 Selid Town                 46  25  12   9   94   47  +47  87   Promotion playoffs
  6 Athletic Club Oof          46  26   8  12   88   56  +32  86   Promotion playoffs
  7 Zzimmonnttogg Wolves       46  25   6  15  101   65  +36  81
  8 AFC Da                     46  22  12  12   90   67  +23  78
  9 Lokoue Llamas              46  20  11  15   89   69  +20  71
 10 Verrokib South End         46  19  13  14   73   59  +14  70
 11 Garufaloe FC               46  17  12  17   73   67   +6  63
 12 Nnettekkebb Wanderers      46  16  14  16   90   81   +9  62
 13 Tanasteh United            46  16  10  20   58   78  -20  58
 14 Sporting Busov             46  14  15  17   84   89   -5  57
 15 Bartunna United            46  16   8  22   75   91  -16  56
 16 Koob Rovers                46  15  10  21   64   78  -14  55
 17 Duke's Own Town AFC        46  15  10  21   58   81  -23  55
 18 Jasvirabad Gems            46  15   9  22   72   87  -15  54
 19 Ambemiri Lions             46  13  11  22   66   87  -21  50
 20 AFC Hithamandhoo           46   9  11  26   57   95  -38  38
 21 Onghawesk East End         46   8  13  25   52   96  -44  37
 22 Piuui Pirates              46   8  11  27   50  104  -54  35   Relegated to National Conference
 23 Riuwiee Metropolitan       46   9   8  29   58  117  -59  35   Relegated to National Conference
 24 Berezovsky United          46   6  12  28   60  146  -86  30   Relegated to National Conference

Nou Constantinopoli, Vikrant Rovers, and SSC Domodossola are promoted from the National Conference into Liga Ikatlo.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Tue May 07, 2024 1:46 am

The Liga ng Abanhfleft playoffs is to be played between the four highest placed teams in each division of the Liga that did not automatically qualify for promotion to the league above. The 3rd placed team will play against the 6th placed team, and the same applies for the 4th and 5th placed teams. The team who finished in a lower position in the league will play the first leg and their home ground. The winners of these two playoffs will then meet each other in the May 26 Revolution Memorial Stadium in Riuwiee, the capital of Abanhfleft, to determine the third and final promotee from their respective divisions.

Unang Liga playoffs

(6) Eielo Sunlight vs. (3) Gyouza Young Lads

Leg 1 @ Estadio Cabanalan, Manilaonilao, Eielo
Eielo Sunlight 1-1 Gyouza Young Lads

Leg 2 @ Minchev Automobiles Field, Gyouza, Eielo
Gyouza Young Lads 4-1 Eielo Sunlight

Gyouza Young Lads advances to the Unang Liga promotion playoff final 5-2 on aggregate

(5) Keklavik United vs. (4) Antslinngs Islands

Leg 1 @ Stade Olaf Ragnar Grimsson, Keklavik, Fleftic Antarctica
Keklavik United 2-0 Antslinngs Islands

Leg 2 @ Estadio Nacional de los Islas, Antslinngs City, Trendstart
Antslinngs Islands 4-2 Keklavik United (5-2 AET)

Antslinngs Islands advances to the Unang Liga promotion playoff final 5-4 on aggregate

Unang Liga Playoff Final: (3) Gyouza Young Lads vs. (4) Antslinngs Islands

@ May 26 Revolution Memorial Stadium, Riuwiee
Gyouza Young Lads 2-1 Antslinngs Islands

Gyouza Young Lads is promoted to the Fleftic Premier League

Liga Ikalawa playoffs

(6) Khimik Ogovlich vs. (3) Sporting Mykorrigan

Leg 1 @ Lev Pokrov Municipal Stadium, Ogovlich, Mezaladbyi
Khimik Ogovlich 0-1 Sporting Mykorrigan

Leg 2 @ Green Cross Arena, Mykorrigan, Myleikaf
Sporting Mykorrigan 2-2 Khimik Ogovlich

Sporting Mykorrigan advances to the Liga Ikalawa promotion playoff final 3-2 on aggregate

(5) Athletic Bergson vs. (4) Imperial Markovsky

Leg 1 @ Stade de Eclairs, Bergson, Tentenaraya
Athletic Bergson 1-5 Imperial Markovsky

Leg 2 @ Landmark Stadium, Markovsky, Mezaladbyi
Imperial Markovsky 0-2 Athletic Bergson

Imperial Markovsky advances to the Liga Ikalawa promotion playoff final 5-3 on aggregate

Liga Ikalawa Playoff Final: (3) Sporting Mykorrigan vs. (4) Imperial Markovsky

@ May 26 Revolution Memorial Stadium, Riuwiee
Sporting Mykorrigan 1-2 Imperial Markovsky

Imperial Markovsky is promoted to Unang Liga

Liga Ikatlo playoffs

(6) Athletic Club Oof vs. (3) Real Haritzaga

Leg 1 @ Upper Southside Part, Oof, Zimp
Athletic Club Oof 3-1 Real Haritzaga

Leg 2 @ Estadio San Ildefonso, Haritzaga, Fhulghamous Peninsula
Real Haritzaga 3-1 Athletic Club Oof (5-1 AET)

Real Haritzaga advances to the Liga Ikatlo promotion playoff final 6-4 on aggregate

(5) Selid Town vs. (4) Effelenendro FC

Leg 1 @ Earl Whitman Memorial Stadium, Selid, Myleikaf
Selid Town 0-0 Effelenendro

Leg 2 @ SFCU Stadium, Effelenendro City, Effelenendro
Effelenendro 1-1 Selid Town (1-1 AET, 2-1 pens)

Effelenendro FC advances to the Liga Ikatlo promotion playoff final 2-1 on penalties

Liga Ikatlo Playoff Final: (3) Real Haritzaga vs. (4) Effelenendro FC

@ May 26 Revolution Memorial Stadium, Riuwiee
Real Haritzaga 0-3 Effelenendro

Effelenendro FC is promoted to Liga Ikalawa

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sun Jun 16, 2024 11:12 am

Abanhfleft Handball Association Season III Regular Season Final Standings

   AHA North             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD    Win %   Qualification           
 1 Beef                   16   14   0   2   445  390  +55    0.875   Conference winner
 2 Shooting Stars         16   10   1   5   437  403  +34    0.656   Qualified for playoffs
 3 Baysharks              16    9   0   7   417  406  +11    0.562
 4 Musketeers [x]         16    6   0  10   393  437  −44    0.375
 5 Guardsmen              16    5   2   9   401  422  −21    0.375
 6 Xtreme                 16    5   1  10   405  424  −19    0.344

*[x] = Musketeers ahead of Guardsmen on total wins

   AHA South             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD    Win %   Qualification           
 1 Enforcers              16   14   0   2   458  390  +68    0.875   Conference winner
 2 Orbiters               16   12   0   4   438  399  +39    0.750   Qualified for playoffs
 3 Express                16    7   1   8   411  428  −17    0.469
 4 Flying Fish [y]        16    5   0  11   416  438  −22    0.312
 5 Fire                   16    4   2  10   393  427  −34    0.312
 6 Predators              16    1   1  14   406  456  −50    0.094

*[y] = Flying Fish ahead of Fire on total wins

The top two teams in both conferences of the Abanhfleft Handball Association have literally just swapped places at the end of the league’s third season. And this year, it has been pretty clear that these four teams are the top dogs of the organization, at least for the moment. And out of those four, the top dogs are the Ferale Beef and the Oui Orbiters. They both share the same win-loss record, and if the two of them should meet in the AHA Championship Game, the Beef will have the home advantage courtesy of their 26-24 victory over the team from Jep Province during the regular season. Ferale native Chester Hawkins claims the honor of Season III’s most valuable player, leading the Beef to fourteen regular season victories. It’s a shame though that he couldn’t lead his team to the group stage of the World Club Handball Championships when every other Fleftic team made it in, but perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise. Now they can focus on the national title, and if they can get over that particular hump, who knows what’s next for the team from the Fleftic province with the lowest population density out of them all?

AHA Season III Conference Finals

Beef 27–24 Shooting Stars
Enforcers 32–24 Orbiters

Well, if that wasn’t a predictable outcome and a half. The top seeds in their respective conferences in the Abanhfleft Handball Association have both won their conference championships. The Immola Enforcers made short work of the defending AHA champions, dumping the Oui Orbiters out of the playoffs by eight points. The turning point of that particular match-up was during the halfway point of the second half. Before then, the game had been a tit-for-tat affair between the two teams, but with fifteen minutes left to play, Pancho Nacua went on a streak of scoring five consecutive goals which finally put the Enforcers out of reach. Now if he could only replicate such a performance in the Championship Game then surely Immola has a chance to claim Abanhfleft’s handball crown, especially now that they’ve knocked off the former champs. Meanwhile, over in the Northern Conference, the Ferale Beef and the Mydeuzey Shooting Stars took the fight to each other. The Beef want to make their dominance in the regular season count for something, and the Shooting Stars want to be the first team in the AHA to win multiple titles. But if the Stars are going to do that, they’ll have to wait for one more season as Chester Hawkins yet again gave his hometown team the edge over their opponents. Could this really be the season of the Beef?

AHA Season III Championship Game

Beef 29–30 Enforcers

No, unfortunately, this is not going to be the Year of the Beef. Oh, yes, Ferale have made a whole song and dance about trademarking that particular slogan, especially after they clinched the regular season championship. They really thought this was going to be their season, the year that they would finally win a “national” title, having dominated the regionals before the formation of the AHA. But on the other side of the coin is the Immola Enforcers. They had already been denied once before, in the very first AHA Championship Game, by the Mydeuzey Shooting Stars. The Enforcers had been bridesmaids before, and they had no intention of being the bridesmaid again, and Pancho Nacua had taken up the mantle of being Immola’s savior. You might as well call this particular Championship Game the Nacua versus Hawkins Final as those two were the main players of this story. Those two might as well have played the game all by themselves considering how much they figured all throughout the sixty minutes. However, while Chester Hawkins may have been the regular season MVP, there is just no doubt who the Championship Game MVP was, especially after Pancho Nacua netted the winning goal with six seconds left to go. Three different champions in three different seasons. Now that’s parity, at least in the playoff picture.

Congratulations to the Immola Enforcers, your Abanhfleft Handball Association Season III champions!

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sun Jun 30, 2024 1:56 am

2037-38 Fleftic National Ice Hockey League Western Conference Regular Season Final Standings

   WESTERN CONFERENCE              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD    Win %   Qualification           
 1 Port Thimpodopoulos Aliens       82   56   7  19   326  226 +100    0.726   Qualified for playoffs
 2 Mykorrigan Dust Devils           82   54  10  18   333  225 +108    0.720   Qualified for playoffs
 3 Marble Arch Cavalry              82   46  17  19   313  251  +62    0.665   Qualified for playoffs
 4 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves         82   47  14  21   248  180  +68    0.659   Qualified for playoffs
 5 Besanza Basques                  82   48   9  25   298  230  +68    0.640   Qualified for playoffs
 6 Releinthi Deathsticks            82   41  15  26   172  145  +27    0.591   Qualified for playoffs
 7 Wadim-ti Force                   82   37  16  29   183  163  +20    0.549   Qualified for playoffs
 8 Markovsky Berserkers             82   35  14  33   266  275   −9    0.512   Qualified for playoffs
 9 Oof Blizzard                     82   32  14  36   135  137   −2    0.476
10 Reyes Doom                       82   28  20  34   137  154  −17    0.463
11 Wanda City Green Jackets         82   28   9  45   272  322  −50    0.396
12 Riuwiee Icemen                   82   18  15  49   275  357  −82    0.311
13 Bytuch Azam Rays                 82   21   8  53   257  344  −87    0.305
14 Sfax Heat                        82   18  10  54   103  181  −78    0.280
15 Braganopolis Aces                82   14  10  58   225  312  −87    0.232

2037-38 Fleftic National Ice Hockey League Eastern Conference Regular Season Final Standings

   EASTERN CONFERENCE              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD    Win %   Qualification           
 1 Porcusces Bucks                  82   50  12  20   190  127  +63    0.683   Qualified for playoffs
 2 Suwkpel Gorillas                 82   47  13  22   290  230  +60    0.652   Qualified for playoffs
 3 Immola Venom                     82   45  12  25   145  115  +30    0.622   Qualified for playoffs
 4 Antslinngs City Tarpons          82   40  15  27   212  157  +55    0.579   Qualified for playoffs
 5 Bendy Benny Hammerheads          82   41  12  29   278  252  +26    0.573   Qualified for playoffs
 6 Manilaonilao Blazers             82   36  17  29   271  240  +31    0.543   Qualified for playoffs
 7 Pilken Aviators                  82   38  11  33   236  209  +27    0.530   Qualified for playoffs
 8 Lotharstadt Jaegers              82   37  12  33   245  249   −4    0.524   Qualified for playoffs
 9 Vikrant Steelers                 82   34  15  33   199  192   +7    0.506
10 Sebet Egrets [x]                 82   27  16  39   287  325  −38    0.427
11 Ja Steamwheelers                 82   28  14  40   190  228  −38    0.427
12 Koob Nomads                      82   25  11  46   137  195  −58    0.372
13 Mereilles Dockers                82   23  14  45   175  235  −60    0.366
14 Calfragilis Roughriders          82   20  16  46   166  226  −60    0.341
15 Bergson Fortress                 82   21  12  49   171  253  −82    0.329

[x] = Sebet ahead of Ja on head-to-head results

Order has been restored to the Eastern Conference of the Fleftic National Ice Hockey League, or at least some order has been restored in that side of the FNIHL. There was no doubt in everyone’s mind that the fact that both the Suwkpel Gorillas and the Porcusces Bucks failed to make it to the playoffs in the previous season was a complete and utter shock for practically every single ice hockey fan in Abanhfleft, and it was especially surprising for fans of both franchises. After all, these were two teams that had been on the forefront of the fight for the Bixbee Cup (and in the case of the Gorillas; they’ve actually won it more than a few times), so to see these two teams not even be part of the playoff picture back in 2037 was not only surprising, but perhaps also a sign that their times at the top had come to an end. Indeed, for all intents and purposes it seemed as if the time of Suwkpel as the dominant franchise in the FNIHL’s Eastern Conference had come to an end, and that the Pilken Aviators had taken their place at the top of the heap in the East. However, it could now be said that perhaps the Gorillas were just spending time in the shadows to rest and recuperate while some of their title-winning core retired or moved on to other teams in order to build up a new team that could maintain the pace in terms of continuing the Suwkpel dynasty, the Gorillas announced their return to the Bixbee Cup playoffs in dominant fashion, claiming the second seed behind their occasional rivals the Porcusces Bucks. The Aviators, for their part, finished as the seventh seed in the Eastern bracket, but seeing how this was pretty much the same team that had won the Bixbee Cup a few years ago as the fifth seed, there’s still a slim possibility of a three-peat happening. A slim possibility, yes, but a possibility nonetheless.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the other side of the FNIHL, the Western Conference. Over there, the Port Thimpodopoulos Aliens have taken the lead in the west yet again, and the Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves aren’t that far behind. At least there appear to be a number of new teams in the mix for being the top dog in the west though; the Mykorrigan Dust Devils have been making waves ever since they tallied back to back Bixbee Cup Finals appearances. The only real complaint that Dust Devils fans (and fans of Western Conference teams, probably) is that they’ve also chosen to emulate Zzimmonnttogg in losing both of their chances of lifting the Bixbee Cup, both times at the hands of the Pilken Aviators. But considering the teams in the eastern side of the bracket, it’s now possible that the Aviators could be eliminated early on and the Dust Devils could actually win against the Porcusces Bucks or the Suwkpel Gorillas. It’s probably not going to happen, but given that Pilken had proved that they have Mykorrigan’s number time and time again, maybe a change of scenery (or more accurately a change in opponent) is actually the key to the Dust Devils finally lifting the most coveted trophy in all of Fleftic ice hockey.

PREVIEW OF THE 2037-38 FNIHL PLAYOFFS

Western Conference

(1) Port Thimpodopoulos vs. Markovsky Berserkers (8)

(4) Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves vs. Besanza Basques (5)

(3) Marble Arch Cavalry vs. Releinthi Deathsticks (6)

(2) Mykorrigan Dust Devils vs. Wadim-ti Force (7)

Eastern Conference

(1) Porcusces Bucks vs. Lotharstadt Jaegers (8)

(4) Antslinngs City Tarpons vs. Bendy Benny Hammerheads (5)

(3) Immola Venom vs. Manilaonilao Blazers (6)

(2) Suwkpel Gorillas vs. Pilken Aviators (7)

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 12:32 am

2038 FNIHL Playoffs First Round

Western Conference

(1) Port Thimpodopoulos Aliens 4-3 Markovsky Berserkers (8)

(4) Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves 4-0 Besanza Basques (5)

(3) Marble Arch Cavalry 4-0 Releinthi Deathsticks (6)

(2) Mykorrigan Dust Devils 4-2 Wadim-ti Force (7)

Eastern Conference

(1) Porcusces Bucks 4-2 Lotharstadt Jaegers (8)

(4) Antslinngs City Tarpons 4-0 Bendy Benny Hammerheads (5)

(3) Immola Venom 4-3 Manilaonilao Blazers (6)

(2) Suwkpel Gorillas 3-4 Pilken Aviators (7)

2038 FNIHL Playoffs - Conference Semifinals

Western Conference

(1) Port Thimpodopoulos Aliens 3-4 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves (4)

(2) Mykorrigan Dust Devils 0-4 Marble Arch Cavalry (3)

Eastern Conference

(1) Porcusces Bucks 4-2 Antslinngs City Tarpons (4)

(3) Immola Venom 4-0 Pilken Aviators (7)

2038 FNIHL Playoffs - Conference Finals

Western Conference

(3) Marble Arch Cavalry 3-4 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves (4)

Marble Arch Cavalry 5–2 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves
Marble Arch Cavalry 2–5 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves
Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves 4–3 Marble Arch Cavalry
Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves 5–5 Marble Arch Cavalry (5–6 OT)
Marble Arch Cavalry 6–2 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves
Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves 4–4 Marble Arch Cavalry (5–4 OT)
Marble Arch Cavalry 3–4 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves

The protagonists of both the Western and Eastern Conference Finals have been determined, and in the western side of things, it’s the Marble Arch Cavalry against the Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves. The Cavalry want to make it to the Bixbee Cup finals for the very first time in their history, but standing in their way is a team that has had a history of failing to win the biggest prize in Fleftic ice hockey more times than they had actually won it. With most of the usual suspects out of the way (Port Thim, Suwkpel, Antslinngs City, and even Pilken), this is obviously Zzimmonnttogg’s best chance to actually win that massive silver cup, but Marble Arch want to pick up yet another scalp on their road to the finals. And it’s the Cavalry that actually hold home advantage thanks to their better regular season record, but a lot of people are expecting this conference finals to be as close as it could possibly get. Many people had said the same thing about a lot of other playoff series this season, but this was one that actually followed the predictions to the letter. Both teams were literally trading wins throughout the seven games, and it was goals galore as well so nobody could say that this didn’t live up to expectations at all. Well, except for those who actually appreciate defensive masterclasses in ice hockey, but apparently those people are few and far between. And it wasn’t just goals that were overflowing in this series; it had its fair share of heartstopping moments as well; heartstoppers and heartbreakers to be exact. And there was no doubt that Stephen Boisvert broke Marble Arch fans’ hearts when he scored the winning goal in Game 7 to punch the Wolves’ ticket to the 2038 Bixbee Cup finals.

Eastern Conference

(1) Porcusces Bucks 2-4 Immola Venom (3)

Porcusces Bucks 2–2 Immola Venom (3–2 OT)
Porcusces Bucks 0–1 Immola Venom
Immola Venom 0–2 Porcusces Bucks
Immola Venom 5–4 Porcusces Bucks
Porcusces Bucks 4–4 Immola Venom (4–5 OT)
Immola Venom 1–0 Porcusces Bucks

It’s a similar situation for both the Porcusces Bucks and the Immola Venom in the Eastern Conference Finals. Two of the big names in their side of the bracket, namely the Suwkpel Gorillas and the Pilken Aviators, have been knocked out of the competition, and like everyone else still remaining in the fight, they all think that this is their best shot at winning the Bixbee Cup. Everyone likes to predict the Conference Finals match-ups to be these mostly equal contests where both teams go back and forth in terms of the series lead, and this was another series that lived up to the hype. It was as if everyone got the sweeps out of the way in the earlier rounds of the playoffs so that they could focus on just trading blows with regards to winning games in the Conference Finals. It happened in the west, and it was also what happened in the east. There is a minor difference though, a really minor one but a difference nonetheless: the Eastern Conference Finals only required six games to decide a winner, whereas the West Finals had to go all seven. As always with matches involving Immola, there was some uncertainty and maybe even fear that this could end up being a bit of a “boring” series, but the Bucks’ high-power offense made sure that the Eastern Finals wouldn’t end up quite like the Venom’s semifinals against the Aviators. But it’s not something that could be suppressed forever, and it seemed fitting that Karim Burniston’s winning goal would come in the middle of the first period of Game 6. Some things truly are inevitable, it seems.

2038 Bixbee Cup Finals

Immola Venom 7–5 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves
Immola Venom 3–4 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves
Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves 4–0 Immola Venom
Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves 2–2 Immola Venom (2–3 OT)
Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves 6–6 Immola Venom (6–7 OT)
Immola Venom 0–0 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves (0–1 OT)
Immola Venom 1–2 Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves

Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves wins the 2038 Bixbee Cup Finals 4-3

Here it is, the reason that all thirty FNIHL teams play like hell across nearly an entire year: the Bixbee Cup finals is here, and the two teams fighting for the right to bring that massive silver cup back to their hometown are two franchises that haven’t had the rub of the green. It’s the Zzimmonttogg Direwolves against the Immola Venom fighting to be crowned the 2038 BIxbee Cup champions. We all know the Direwolves’ reputation in the finals and even before that. Meanwhile, Immola haven’t had nearly the same spate of bad luck, but that was only because they haven’t been in the finals as many times as the Wolves. But when they are in the finals, it’s usually during times when the usual suspects are nowhere to be seen. It’s just a shame that they don’t have the rub of the green in the finals themselves; see the 2027 BIxbee Cup finals against Wanda City as evidence. Ten years almost to the day of that disappointment, the Venom are looking to make amends, most probably by taking advantage of the Direwolves’ infamous bad luck in the finals series.

Immola already have a slight edge going into the finals courtesy of their home ice advantage by virtue of a better regular series record. And the Venom made that advantage count, at least in the first game in their place. There may have been fears that this could have ended up another patented Immola “defensive masterclass,” but Zzimmonnttogg’s on-fire offense made sure that the home side would have to fight back and score goals tit-for-tat in order to secure victory. But obviously that couldn’t last forever, and sooner or later Immola would have to bring back the defensive solidity that had brought them to the Bixbee Cup finals in the first place. That would probably explain why Games 4 to 6 spilled over to over time after the Wolves had flipped the script to take a 2-1 series lead. Immola got the upper hand in Games 4 and 5 to return the advantage back to their side, but when Game 6 looked like it was going into overtime with neither team having scored a goal, Micah Etheridge scored in the third overtime period to even out the series yet again. Mr. Etheridge would then cement his legacy as a Zzimmonnttogg legend by scoring the Wolves’ second goal in Game 7 to make sure that Matt Ehirim’s goal would be only a consolation and unable to force yet another overtime period. For now, at least, the Direwolves have gotten rid of their curse. Whether they can keep that specter away next season is another matter as always, but in the meantime, the Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves are the top dog of the FNIHL.

Congratulations to the Zzimmonnttogg Direwolves, your 2038 Bixbee Cup champions!

by **Trans-Dniesters** » Mon Jul 15, 2024 11:26 am

2036–37 Koalition Hockey League–Pridnestrovian Division Regular Season Final Standings

   KHL-Pridnestrovia                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Qualification                       
 1 Dinamo Verkhovyansk                56   38   4  14   218  137  +81   118   Regular season champions, Playoffs
 2 Torpedo Verkhovyansk               56   35  12   9   144   85  +59   117   Qualified for playoffs
 3 CSKA Tiraspol                      56   35   8  13   231  161  +70   113   Qualified for playoffs
 4 Admiral Novorossiysk               56   32   9  15   234  187  +47   105   Qualified for playoffs
 5 Sheriff Tiraspol                   56   32   8  16   223  183  +40   104   Qualified for playoffs
 6 Nord-Vest Hockey [x]               56   30  11  15   120   99  +21   101   Qualified for playoffs
 7 Red Star Beledor                   56   30  11  15   184  153  +31   101   Qualified for playoffs
 8 Dinamo Bender [y]                  56   30   7  19   170  115  +55    97   Qualified for playoffs
 9 Traktor Bender                     56   29  10  17   154  113  +41    97
10 Rotor Renzev                       56   24  12  20   180  154  +26    84
11 Elektrik Vladikarpaty              56   25   5  26    90   97   −7    80
12 Turkiye Derinkuyu                  56   22   8  26   174  188  −14    74
13 Sparta Slatsk [z]                  56   21   9  26   165  173   −8    72
14 UrGa Antakya                       56   22   6  28   111  137  −26    72
15 Sonolovichyrevko                   56   19  13  24   114  132  −18    70
16 Olimpik Dnistrosh                  56   17  10  29   156  186  −30    61
17 Angely Pridnestrovskaya Gavan [a]  56   17   8  31   179  222  −43    59
18 Eggolsheim-Neuses Narwhals         56   17   8  31   178  230  −52    59
19 Avtomobilist Lyubengelsk           56   14  13  29   119  169  −50    55   Relegated to Hockey Second Division
20 Spartak Nestorovsk                 56   11   5  40   129  191  −62    38   Relegated to Hockey Second Division

= [x] Nord-Vest ahead of Beledor on head-to-head results (3-2, 2-0)
= [y] Dinamo Bender ahead of Traktor Bender on head-to-head goals scored at home (3-2, 0-1)
= [z] Slatsk ahead of Antakya on head-to-head results (3-0, 5-1)
= [a] Pridnestrovskaya Gavan ahead of Eggolsheim-Neuses on head-to-head goals scored (4-5, 5-3)

HC Petrocub Topraisar and HC Irbis Lesonetsk are promoted from the Pridnestrovian Hockey Second Division to the KHL.

2036-37 KHL Playoffs - Quarterfinals

(1) Dinamo Verkhovyansk 4-0 Dinamo Bender (8) (2-1, 4-3 OT, 4-3, 8-5)

(4) Admiral Novorossiysk 4-2 Sheriff Tiraspol (5) (10-4, 4-3, 3-4, 5-7, 3-2 OT, 3-0)

(3) CSKA Tiraspol 2-4 Nord-Vest Hockey (6) (0-1, 3-5, 3-5, 1-0, 8-7 OT, 3-5)

(2) Torpedo Verkhovyansk 2-4 Red Star Beledor (7) (2-3, 1-2 OT, 2-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-2 OT)

2036–37 KHL Playoffs – Semifinals

(1) Dinamo Verkhovyansk 4-3 Admiral Novorossiysk (4) (4-2, 6-7 OT, 3-4 OT, 2-1, 2-0, 2-4, 5-3)

(6) Nord-Vest Hockey 2-4 Red Star Beledor (7) (0-1, 5-1, 1-0, 0-1, 3-4, 1-2 OT)

2037 Meshvedishvili Cup Finals

Dinamo Verkhovyansk 2–1 Red Star Beledor
Dinamo Verkhovyansk 5–6 Red Star Beledor
Red Star Beledor 5–5 Dinamo Verkhovyansk (5–6 OT)
Red Star Beledor 1–5 Dinamo Verkhovyansk
Dinamo Verkhovyansk 1–0 Red Star Beledor

Dinamo Verkhovyansk wins the 2037 Meshvedishvili Cup 4-1

Congratulations to Dinamo Verkhovyansk, your 2037 Meshvedishvili Cup champions!

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:44 am

The 2035-36 season of the Fleftic Premier League could go down in history as one of the best, not really because it was one of the most exciting title races (although it was actually surprisingly exciting until the last few matchdays) but because Malabon SC finally won the league after three decades of waiting. In those three decades between their league titles, the Ravens have won an international competition, been relegated to Unang Liga, and went back up to the Premier League after setting a new record in points won in the second tier. But for Malabon, winning the title is one thing, and defending it is another thing entirely. Now the target is on their backs, and they better hope that it’s hard to distinguish said target from their kit’s black-and-white stripes. That’s not really an idiom, or a sentence that’s been said before, but it’s been said now. Will the Ravens successfully defend their title? Will a familiar name claim the Premier League championship? Or will someone else crown themselves the best team in all of the Democratic Republic? The process of finding out starts here and now.

Admiral Porcusces

Manager: Korbin Watson (49 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Filibusters' Street (capacity 35,712)
Location: Porcusces, Ceneisis Province
Home colors: Blue with white trim and gold lettering
Away colors: Black with white lettering and trim
Third colors: White with blue lettering and gold trim
Position last season: 7th
Season objective: Top Four finish

Technically speaking, a 7th place finish is an improvement for Admiral Porcusces considering that they finished in 12th in the season before the last one. But this was a club that had already tasted international club football before, and it must hurt for both the fans and the players that they had come so close to coming into the top four but were unable to actually get there in the end. It also doesn’t help that they’ve got an aging squad, and that squad turnover will be expected to be high in the offseason. Also, the Sea Foxes are now operating on a tighter budget than usual so they can’t just splash the cash in the transfer market in terms of rebuilding their squad into top four contenders. In fact, their only purchase in the offseason has been Tikariotan defender Xavier Raffan, a mercurial right back who swings between brilliance and bone-headedness to a rhythm that even he probably doesn’t know. Porcsuces’ other acquisitions are both free agents, and both are from The 14 Stars: midfield dynamo Mehmet Demir and an unknown quantity in Kenneth Davidson. With Elbert Judd hanging up his boots, the responsibility of leading the line now falls on the young Fhulghamousian Youssouf al-Basoomi, supported on the wings by the likes of Sami Saab and Cavaghn Boyce.

All-Inclusive Haranguer

Manager: Frank Cucci (56 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: National Book Store Stadium (capacity 22,591)
Location: Haranguer, Selid Province
Home colors: Orange and black striped shirts and black shorts
Away colors: White with black trim and lettering
Third colors: Aquamarine with neon yellow trim
Position last season: 9th
Season objective: Mid-table finish

All-Inclusive Haranguer’s grand return to the Fleftic Premier League was a success, and a massive one at that. As always, the hope for them was to not become part of the relegation dogfight, and in that they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. There was a time in the first third of the season in which the Sand Tigers had actually topped the table, and although they were unable to sustain the momentum, that epic start to their season was still more than enough to keep them in the top half for the rest of the season. Haranguer could have even finished in the top four before a less than stellar run-in put an end to those dreams, but at least the club knows that it has the talent to claim a spot in the Challengers’ Cup. In keeping with their new strategy of developing from within, All-Inclusive have only signed three players in the transfer market, and one of those is more of a long-term development project. Their only purchase is Chromatika’s Brigitte Albert, although the details of her transfer make it seem more like a free transfer than one that resulted in money exchanging hands. Haranguer’s other first team signing is Hasan Yilmaz from The 14 Stars, and while he may start on the bench, he is also intended to be the successor to Mladen Kabachnik between the sticks. And while she may not have gotten as many goals in the top flight as she did in Unang Liga, Tiffany Payumo proved that she’s no flash in the pan and will continue to make herself a menace to opposing defenses as the Sand Tigers hope to march further up the table this season.

Arsenal de Releinthi

Manager: Oleg Mostovoi (55 y/o, Pridnestrovia)
Stadium: Monsanto Stadium (capacity 60,757)
Location: Releinthi
Home colors: Red shirt with white sleeves and white shorts
Away colors: Dark yellow shirt with navy blue trim and navy blue shorts
Third colors: Black with yellow trim
Position last season: 12th
Season objective: Title challengers

Last season could very well be the worst that Arsenal de Releinthi have ever had under the management of Oleg Mostovoi, but the man still has enough goodwill from having led the Gunners to a couple of league titles that no one’s calling for the sack for him… yet. But Mostovoi’s reliance on what is now an aging squad showed that there might be cracks forming in his strategy and tactics, and since he’s going nowhere for the moment, something else has to change. And that something else is the squad. Mostovoi has overhauled the squad by allowing many of the older players to leave, and now the Releinthi squad’s average is not as high as it was at the end of 2036. Notable departures include striker Lynn Parry to relegated Dynamo Ja and attacking midfielder Blue Vagay to Mikan Wave in Riena. And although the Gunners have more than enough cash to splash in the transfer market, Oleg Mostovoi is very particular when it comes to the players that he wants, which is why Releinthi haven’t made a lot of moves as well. Martin Doyle of Myrtle Beach should prove to be a menace in the center of the back line thanks to his “I’d rather die than concede” attitude, and Kelssek’s Martin Fenton will inject much-needed youth into the Gunners’ attack, now led by academy product Edgar Smith-Fernandez. Smith-Fernandez turned heads by being one of the few bright spots in Releinthi’s campaign as they stumbled from attempting to defend their title to simply settling for mid-table mediocrity, but now the question is: can this young man continue scoring the goals now that the burden, the onus of scoring is upon him?

Athletic Dorfdifving

Manager: Andrey Lisitsyn (51 y/o, Pridnestrovia)
Stadium: Szymborski Stadium (capacity 35,264)
Location: Reyes, Dorfdifving Province
Home colors: Canary yellow and green half-and-half shirt and green shorts
Away colors: Gray shirt and shorts
Position last season: 1st in Unang Liga
Season objective: Avoid relegation, mid-table finish if possible

We finally come to the first of the three teams promoted from Unang Liga from the previous season. Athletic Dorfdifving have been in the Fleftic Premier League many times before, but they’ve never stayed for more than four seasons before eventually getting relegated again. That said, this might have been the longest time that the Canaries have been away from the top flight, so it has to be a real relief for the ownership, the players, and the fans that they’re going to be playing in the Prem once again. But once again, their ultimate goal is to survive in the FPL: avoid relegation at all costs and then hopefully, just maybe they could eventually cement themselves in the mid-table. But even the most die-hard and deluded Dorfdifving fan would have to admit that their squad is a bit thin when it comes to achieving even just the first objective, and their coffers are also not big enough to sustain a huge amount of activity in the transfer window. Their most notable moves are for a midfield duo from the free agents list, Jeremy Collins-Lewis of South Newlandia and Alessio Caruso from The 14 Stars. These two players are still young and are to be expected to sit under the learning tree of one Silas Babalioutas, a regular starter for the Fhulghamous Peninsula national team and one-time Campionato Esportiva winner. With their current squad and new additions, Dorfdifving should be able to survive, but they may have to fight for the entirety of the season to retain their top flight status.

Atletico San Sebastian

Manager: Logan Ulrich (60 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Estadio Arbeloa (capacity 34,067)
Location: San Sebastian, Duhblakk Province
Home colors: White and royal blue striped shirt and white shorts
Away colors: Burnt orange shirt and shorts
Position last season: 2nd in Unang Liga
Season objective: Avoid relegation

Atletico San Sebastian is the second team to be promoted to the Fleftic Premier League last season, and they are also the second promoted team on the season preview. Much like Dynamo Ja in the previous season, San Sebastian’s return to the top flight is perhaps the one most anticipated by Fleftic football fans. After all, the Royal Blues were founding members of the FPL and were almost always a fixture in the top half during the league’s first decade of existence. However, the usual issues of financial mismanagement and ownership that only cared about being in the Premier League came together to bring San Sebastian closer and closer to the drop before the inevitable finally happened in 2005. The Royal Blues were able to return to the Premier League in 2008, only for the ravages of the Gullotist Revolution of the same year to put an even bigger dent to their finances, resulting in another relegation in 2010 from which San Sebastian has not been able to recover until the present. Now, under new and much more dedicated ownership, San Sebastian fans’ hopes of becoming an FPL fixture once again have risen, although doubt still remains on whether they actually have the squad to achieve it. The Royal Blues will have to rely on the veteran experience of Pia Moxjo Lihos between the ticks and Israel Conrad in the midfield to see them through, along with former Wanda Island Wanderer Fionntan Breen leading the line.

Bananas FC

Manager: Rachid Boumedinne (50 y/o, Fhulghamous Peninsula)
Stadium: NLighten Arena (capacity 37,955)
Location: Suwkpel, Berkner Bay Province
Home colors: Amber shirt and black shorts
Away colors: Black with amber trim
Third colors: Dark green with apple green trim
Position last season: 13th
Season objective: Mid-table finish, avoid relegation if necessary

Bananas FC did what they wanted to do, which was to survive in the FPL for one season. Then again, they never really looked like they were in danger of dropping back down immediately after getting promoted, but now it’s time to do it all over again. And this time the Gorillas won’t have the leadership of Pancho Guiao to guide them as the 35-year old defender has decided to hang up his boots after accomplishing his mission. At least they still have Mustafa Bensoussan, co-winner of the 2035-36 FPL Golden Boot alongside Marat Tkachev of Riuwiee United. Mustafa may have finally hit the big 3-0, but he still shows no signs of slowing down just yet. And Vladislav Mukhin is still pulling strings in the midfield, serving as the lynchpin between defense and attack for the Suwkpel-based club. As for transfers, Bananas was only able to make one from outside of the APOC Coalition, and it’s Tabassum Saqaf from Syneca AC in the Squornshelan Remnant States, who was signed to replace Pancho Guiao in the center of the defense. Saqaf may be a little short for a central defender, but don’t say that to his face, or else he might just remove your kneecaps using the studs on his boots.

Fleftic Air Force

Manager: Rufus Hernandez (48 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Villahermosa Memorial Stadium (capacity 43,021)
Location: Pilken, Dav Province
Home colors: Blue with white sleeves and collar and white shorts
Away colors: Yellow with blue trim
Position last season: 5th
Season objective: Mid-table finish, potential Challengers' Cup place

The Fleftic Air Force Football Club could have made it into the IFCF Challengers’ Cup last season. The Air Force Club probably should have made it into the Challengers’ Cup last season. It would have been an incredible achievement for a squad that’s mostly made up of players who are also currently active service members for the actual Fleftic Air Force. But such a squad still has its limitations, and nowhere was that more visible than the last few matchdays of the 2035-36 season when a string of bad results meant that international club football slipped through the fingers (or perhaps the talons) of the Golden Eagles. Three foreign players can only carry a team and a football club so far before the locals have to come up with the results themselves, even if it’s also understandable that airmen and officers wouldn’t be as focused on the football as a team of professionals would. And with two of their current foreigners also leaving on free transfers, the Air Force Club had to look for reinforcements once again to supplement the near-unstoppable Joni Laurismäki leading their line. Liang Tao from Yuezhou will slot into the midfield and provide balance and experience in that area, while veteran defender Darren Mayes brings a wealth of experience to the Golden Eagles’ back line.

Fleftic Army

Manager: Clarissa Melecio (43 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Alvarez Memorial Stadium (capacity 30,756)
Location: Sebet, Sarvusdalamoive Province
Home colors: Olive with white trim
Away colors: White with olive trim
Position last season: 15th
Season objective: Mid-table finish, avoid relegation if necessary

On one hand, the Fleftic Army Football Club won the SFA Cup, so the Warriors actually have something to show for their efforts. On the other hand though, the Army Club flirted with danger, namely the drop, more times than their fans would have liked, and while the Warriors have survived, they still finished perilously close to the bottom three, and that can’t be allowed to happen again. However, the Army Club also suffers from the same problems that their rivals in the Air Force do, and that’s the fact that there’s only so much active duty personnel could do against professional football teams. Even the three foreign players that they were allowed to have on their roster could only carry them so far. Arabante Zardain, the dual Astograthian-Pasargan national, scored 25 league goals in the previous campaign and was instrumental to the Warriors winning the tin idol, but he can’t be expected to do all the work by himself. Oontaznik midfielder Alfredo Mendoza could prove to be the help that this squad needs, but it’s still too early to tell just how much he will actually contribute. And after losing their long-time guardian between the sticks Patroklos Papaioannou to retirement, the Warriors have decided to bring in a foreign goalkeeper, Tikariot’s Jonathan Espinal, who had lost his spot in the Xannerian leagues after his former club decided to target younger prospects in his position instead.

Gyouza Young Lads

Manager: Paul Olivares (38 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Minchev Automobiles Field (capacity 25,727)
Location: Gyouza, Eielo Province
Home colors: Gold and black striped shirts and black shorts
Away colors: White with black trim
Third colors: Light blue with neon yellow trim
Position last season: 3rd in Unang Liga
Season objective: Avoid relegation, mid-table finish if possible

After a six-year absence from the top flight, the Young Lads of Gyouza have finally returned. The Lads thought that they had been able to establish themselves in the FPL during the three years that they were actually there, but it all fell apart during the 2030-31 season. After that, getting back to the Prem proved to be more difficult than the Young Lads thought, and last season they had to go through the playoffs in order to claim that third and final ticket up to the top of the Fleftic football pyramid. And now that they are back in the Prem, Gyouza have accepted that the squad that had earned them promotion most likely wouldn’t be enough to actually keep them safe from immediate relegation, so they turned to the transfer market for reinforcements. Unfortunately, a limited budget meant that the most that Gyouza could do is attract free agents over to the club, and in fairness to them, they were actually able to attract a fair few such free agents. Arguably, their most important acquisition has to be Myrtle Beach goalkeeper Colin Wade. Wade, the backup goalkeeper for the Myrtle Beach national team, found himself out of a job after his old club could no longer afford his contract, and Gyouza immediately jumped at the chance to bring in an international-level talent through their doors. Squornshelan striker Tuan Parthosi may be streaky by his own admission, but his bundles of energy could help tire out opposition defenses and allow his new teammates to take advantage, and Goddard Boon could be an intimidating presence in the middle of their back line.

Locomotive Imgortur

Manager: Emilio Caravaggio (66 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: New Locomotive Arena (capacity 45,035)
Location: Imgortur, Verbergerkinnh Province
Home colors: Green shirt and red shorts and socks
Away colors: White with green and red trim and lettering
Third colors: Black with white and green trim and lettering
Position last season: 17th
Season objective: Top four finish

Locomotive Imgortur could very well be the first yo-yo club in Fleftic history that doesn’t actually bounce around between the country’s top two football divisions. It’s pretty much feast or famine for the Engineers with no room for anything else in between. Either they’re good enough for international club football or they’re so bad that they almost got relegated (but not really). Locomotive fans and players alike have to be thankful that there were three other teams that were decidedly worse than their club during the previous season so as to prevent a very shocking relegation to Unang Liga. Escaping a relegation dogfight wasn’t the reason why Locomotive hired Emilio Caravaggio as their manager, but that was the job that he was forced to do because of the circumstances. And it’s probably fair to say that Caravaggio hasn’t been given the best tools to fix the mess in which he had found himself as his transfer budget was also surprisingly limited. Perhaps the ownership of Locomotive Imgortur got spooked by their flirtation with relegation and didn’t want to take too many chances in the coming season. In any case, Caravaggio worked with what he had, and he brought in a number of young players around which he could build a new core. Samuel Parr of Chromatika will add sorely needed set pieces to Imgortur’s bag of tricks, and Patriotlandia’s William Harrison jumps from a relegated team to one that could very well be fighting against the drop again. Garey Rogier, a 20-year old Crpostranian left back, is more of a project player, although he should also expect to play at least a handful of games with the first team throughout the season.

Thus ends Part One of the preview for the 2036-37 Fleftic Premier League season. In Part Two, we tackle the remaining ten teams and discuss their chances of winning the league or even just staying in it. After Malabon SC’s triumph last season alongside the shocking relegation of Marinos Thimpodopoulos, there is no longer anything that appears to be assured in the FPL. But nobody ever got hurt trying to predict anything, and this isn’t about to stop anytime soon.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Wed Jul 17, 2024 12:12 pm

Here is the second part of the preview for the 2036-37 season of the Fleftic Premier League. Here we will talk about the other ten teams in the league that were not covered in Part One, along with their transfer activity, prospects for winning the league or qualifying for international club football or even just staying in the top flight. Without further ado, here is Part Two of the 2036-37 Fleftic Premier League Preview.

Ludogorets Markovsky

Manager: Roberto Hoya (50 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Stadium of the Old Forester (capacity 40,202)
Location: Markovsky, Mazaladbyi Province
Home colors: Dark green with white trim
Away colors: White with dark green trim
Third colors: Gray with dark green trim
Position last season: 4th
Season objective: Title challengers

A lot of teams would have been happy to finish in fourth place in the Fleftic Premier League. Ludogorets Markovsky is not one of those teams. Ludogorets firmly believes that they have what it takes and more to challenge for the FPL title, but once again they had come up just a little bit short of the title. It was probably for the better though as a lot of people in the Capital Islands would not have forgiven the Foresters for denying Malabon SC their crowning moment, not that Ludogorets’ own fans would have cared that much if they were the ones with the silverware at the end. Hence it is for that reason that the Foresters have opened up the good old war chest and spent a lot of it in the transfer market. Whether those transfers would actually prove to be value for their money, only the next 38 matchdays would tell. In the meantime, Sven Fahrni and his robot-like tenacity and sense for the killer pass and through-ball will be the central focus of this Foresters team. Paolo Von Montanari, long rumored to be one of the many transfers for which Ludogorets failed to seal the deal a few seasons ago, has finally made his way to the green side of Markovsky alongside much fanfare and some concern about his supposed lack of end product, and free transfer Gideon Nightwalker should bring much needed steel to the defense, along with a mastery of football’s “dark arts.”

Malabon SC

Manager: Kirill Kucherenko (46 y/o, Pridnestrovia)
Stadium: San Roque Park (capacity 52,001)
Location: Malabon
Home colors: White and black striped shirts and black shorts
Away colors: Orange with light blue trim
Position last season: 1st
Season objective: Defend the title

It literally cannot get any better than this for Malabon SC, who have finally brought back to San Roque Park the Fleftic Premier League trophy thirty years almost to the day of their previous title triumph. Or can it? Because now that the Ravens have proven themselves to be the best football team in all of Abanhfleft once again, it appears as if the next objective is to do it all over again and become the first team to win back-to-back league titles since fellow Capital Islands side Arsenal de Releinthi did it more than ten years ago. However, it’s no secret that Malabon won the title with a bit of an aging squad who just so happened to all hit their respective strides at the same time, much to the benefit of everyone of a black-and-white persuasion in the Capital Islands. Their transfer activity may not have been as busy as that of Ludogorets Markovsky, but Malabon’s primary motivation in the market was to find younger replacements for some of their older players, and they would like to believe that they had done a good job of turning over the squad. Most of their changes are concentrated in the midfield, with Tero al Disco’s Federico Cabral coming in to provide a good balance of attack and defense on the right side, while Kyle dos Santos of Kelssek will be the new anchor in the center of the field. Jeremy Onus of Sylestone could prove to be the signing of the season, not just for Malabon but for all of the FPL, not just because he is an up-and-comer with the Sylestone national team but because going straight into the title defenders could be the kick up the backside he needs to cement himself on the international stage.

Paulsen FC

Manager: Djordje Ilicic (60 y/o, Estorvipa and Estorpiva)
Stadium: Paulsen City Arena (capacity 20,922)
Location: Paulsen, Dorfdifving Province
Home colors: Old gold shirt and shorts with black trim
Away colors: Black shirt and shorts with old gold trim
Third colors: White shirt and shorts with old gold lettering and black trim
Position last season: 14th
Season objective: Mid-table finish, avoid relegation if necessary

It may not be the best season that Paulsen FC has ever had, but it’s also not the worst one either. At least they survived to play in the Fleftic Premier League for another season, but the Blacksmiths and their fans probably wish that things wouldn’t be this difficult. And they won’t be finding much relief in the transfer market as well as they simply don’t have the budget or the pull to attract many players to suit up in the old gold. That means that Paulsen’s continued survival in the top flight will once again be down to its own players such as center forward Patrick Mangubat. However, he will have to improve his output of ten goals last season by at least twofold if he wants the Blacksmiths to avoid relegation. He shouldn’t have to have to do that alone though, if the signing of Francois Bernard is anything to go by though. Not much is known about the left winger from The 14 Stars but he should be able to contribute his fair share of goals throughout the campaign. And if all else fails, Fisher Gerwin could spam out set pieces for days, so long as there is someone out there ready and willing to take advantage of the chances he has to offer.

Riuwiee United

Manager: Volker de Veen (63 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: May 26 Revolution Memorial Stadium (capacity 71,385)
Location: Riuwiee
Home colors: Dark blue shirt with yellow trim and yellow shorts with dark blue trim
Away colors: Yellow shirt with black trim and black shorts
Third colors: Neon green shirt with dark blue trim and dark blue shorts
Position last season: 6th
Season objective: Win the title

“Missed opportunities” appear to be the theme of the day for the second part of the FPL preview, as the Blue Tribesmen of Riuwiee United are yet another team that could have won the league last season before ceding the advantage to Malabon SC. And this time, Riuwiee doesn’t even have international club football in the form of the IFCF Challengers’ Cup to distract them from the fact that they failed to win either one of the two major trophies on offer to Fleftic teams. The failure of their defense of the SFA Cup, a competition which the Blue Tribesmen had practically made their own through sheer dominance, to the eventual winners Fleftic Army must sting more than just a bit. Age is also a problem for the current Riuwiee squad, and like the defending champions, the Tribesmen sought out younger replacements in some key positions. Christopher Colroy brings with him not just plain and simple experience but title-winning experience as well, specifically the Tikariotan Premier League with his former team Baraldhur, which could prove decisive if Riuwiee wants to bring the fight to their Capital Islands rival. Muhammad Anwar comes from Flavovespia to fill the gloves of Orestes Katsouranis III, and if rumor is to be believed, Anwar will finally have the privilege of playing behind the sturdiest backline he has ever seen. And freebie transfer Aalipdis Marec could help take the pressure off of Frank Agunod by being a bench option to allow the latter to rest for more minutes than he did last season.

Rosenpfelblatz City

Manager: Romeo Portnoy (48 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Aeroflot Stadium (capacity 56,097)
Location: Rosenpfelblatz, Mezaladbyi Province
Home colors: Sky blue shirt and white shorts with black trim
Away colors: Black shirt and shorts with white trim
Third colors: Dark violet shirt and shorts with orange trim
Position: 8th
Season objective: Title challengers

Statistics would have suggested that Rosenpfelblatz City would have made a title challenge last season at the very least. Instead, what actually happened was that the Citizens lingered in and around the edges of the top four before eventually slipping back down the table to an ignominious eighth place finish. This is nowhere near good enough for the sky blue side of Rosenpfelblatz, whose wait for a sixth Fleftic Premier League title continues on. And it wasn’t as if the side that Romeo Portnoy had assembled isn’t good; they were just unable to hit their stride at the same time or when it actually counted. This Citizens squad needs consistency more than it does quality, but that didn’t stop the club from seeking out both in the transfer market. Marc Apellaine may not bring a lot to the table other than youth and an instinct to shoot on sight, but the latter could force opposition defenses to double up on him, opening up spaces for his new comrades in the forward line to exploit. Denis Konyov will take the place of the retired Apolloscleiyali in the center of the Citizens’ defense, where the hope is that his anticipation would negate a perceived lack of speed, and Brandon Blacklock should provide more attacking options and tools on the left flank. Blacklock’s discipline is a bit of an issue though since he apparently believes that rules are more like guidelines, which doesn’t help the fact that he sometimes forgets about his defensive responsibilities.

Sarvusdalamoive

Manager: Yuri Kharitonov (52 y/o, Pridnestrovia)
Stadium: Stadio della Citta de Sebet (capacity 42,323)
Location: Sebet, Sarvusdalamoive Province
Home colors: Pink shirt and black shorts
Away colors: Black shirt and shorts with pink trim
Third colors: White shirt and shorts with pink and black trim
Position: 16th
Season objective: Mid-table finish, challenge for the Challengers' Cup places if possible

Sarvusdalamoive probably wishes that they were five places away from the top, not the bottom of the Fleftic Premier League. Nobody really understands why some teams always seem to crash back down the table every other season that they’ve done reasonably well for themselves. The Pinks had already shown that they had a squad capable of finishing in the mid-table without any problems whatsoever. The club itself had taken part in international club football a handful of times before as well, so it’s mystifying that sometimes, Sarvus just slips up and gets dragged into a relegation dogfight in which they had no business being a part of in the first place. Then again, this team had possibly one of the oldest squad in terms of average age last season, so falling into the clutches of relegation was perhaps not as far-fetched as it first appeared. And if Sarvus actually wants to return to the midfield, they would have to rely on their own academy more than the transfer market as they have neither the money nor the reputation to invite quality players into their ranks. But a few players have agreed to make the jump to the Pinks, such as defensive midfielder Bruce Shuttlesworth and veteran center back Pierre Lefevre. However, the locals will still have to do the lion’s share of the work, but at least we know from past experience that it’s actually doable. It’s whether the foreigners can keep up or not is potentially the real question that has to be asked.

Sporting Ceneisis

Manager: Denise Crawford (51 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Throckmorton Bridge (capacity 47,630)
Location: Mereilles, Ceneisis Province
Home colors: Blue shirt and shorts with white trim
Away colors: White shirt and shorts with blue trim
Third colors: Pink shirt and shorts with black trim
Position last season: 10th
Season objective: Win the title

It’s pretty clear to Sporting Ceneisis just what exactly went wrong for them last season, and it’s the fact that they have somehow suddenly developed a porous defense. The Internet hasn’t been kind to the Blues and the mishaps that their backline suffered, although to be fair, Ceneisis fans have been a little bit insufferable during the times when they were among the dominant teams in the league so perhaps they deserve a little stick back. The solution to this is clear, at least from the perspective of Sporting’s ownership: get rid of the old backline (old in more ways than one) and buy a brand-spanking-new backline. It’s something that they had done before, and they’re not about to stop now. Left back Kim Hoseok brings a wealth of experience with him from the Squornshelan Remnant States, and with all of the titles under his belt, he is expected to lead this Blues squad to similar success in the FPL. Aarif el-Tahir is of a similar mold to Kim, if perhaps not as successful trophy-wise, but both of these incoming players use their toughness to keep the opposition from scoring, something that Ceneisis sorely needed last season. In terms of scoring more goals though, Ceneisis have brought in Brandon Meyers to improve their offensive output, though he will still have to prove himself in the new season.

Thereisnogodistan

Manager: Samwell Crownover (41 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Richard Dawkins Park (capacity 25,607)
Location: Thereisnogodabad, Fhulghamous Peninsula Colony
Home colors: Yellow and white half-and-half shirt and white shorts
Away colors: White shirt with yellow sash and yellow shorts
Third colors: Blue shirt with white sash and blue shorts
Position last season: 11th
Season objective: Avoid relegation, mid-table finish if possible

There was a brief period last season in which Thereisnogodistan FC topped the table and some people started talking about the possibility of this team from the Fhulghamous Peninsula winning the biggest prize in all of Fleftic football. But it was only a brief glimpse at an improbable possibility, and soon the Atheists have gone back down to earth and settled themselves right in the middle of the table. It would have been easy to point to those few weeks and claim that TNG is now ready to challenge for the title, but the former Multiverse Premier League club have kept a level head and stated that the aim for this season is nothing more than another mid-table finish. Their transfer activity is similarly low-key, signing only one player to plug a gap that needed to be filled after the departure of Gejus Welcker. Dan-Arne Kystebo may not be the most mobile center forward out there, but that’s just fine for TNG and Samwell Crownover as the forwards’ role in this team is simply to receive the ball from high up in midfield or even their own third before putting it in the back of the net. Speaking of Crownover, his latest successor as the club’s goalkeeper, Pablo Ramon Jativa, has garnered some attention thanks to his acrobatic saves, but he’ll have to do more than that, as well as keep more than just six clean sheets, to ensure that TNG can keep themselves in the mid-table. And while many Fleftic football fans might consider Thereisnogodistan one of the more boring teams out there, the addition of Ozzy Bocanegra implies that some Oontaznik flair is more than welcome in this club right now.

Wanda Island Wanderers

Manager: Ruperto da Silva (65 y/o, Sultanate of Oontaz)
Stadium: IKEA Arena (capacity 58,973)
Location: Wanda City, Wanda Island
Home colors: Pink shirt and dark blue shorts
Away colors: Dark blue shirt and shorts
Third colors: Light blue shirt and shorts
Position last season: 2nd
Season objective: Title challengers

Finishing ahead of their fierce rivals from across the Carrizozo Strait is perhaps the only silver lining that Wanda Island Wanderers fans have in a season that could have been so much more. Qualifying for the IFCF Challengers’ Cup is always nice, but there was a brief moment in time during the run-in that the Wanderers could have played spoilsport for yet another Capital Islands rival, Malabon SC, and snatched the title from underneath the Ravens’ nose. Unfortunately, the Wanderers had to be themselves once again and let the opportunity slip right through their fingers, and both Malabon and Arsenal de Releinthi fans are happier for it. Goals weren’t really a problem for Wanda Island, but their attacking line was getting long in the tooth, so to speak, so it was inevitable that the club would start looking for their replacements. Kamijiro national team regular Oliver Freeland is a player who wants to prove himself, and what better way to do that than to win a trophy with a team that’s seemingly cursed to never win anything other than actual games of football? Samuel Holmes adds an additional facet in the attack, though it probably has to be said that Holmes does things to draw fouls against opponents, and Iain Aspinall might need to rediscover his scoring touch sooner rather than later if he hopes to turn the Wanderers into title contenders yet again.

Xemlice Rovers

Manager: Peter Paul Montenegro (42 y/o, Abanhfleft)
Stadium: Oubie Park (capacity 47,312)
Location: Lotharstadt, Xemlice Province
Home colors: Light blue and dark blue checkered shirt and light blue shorts
Away colors: Yellow shirt and shorts with dark blue trim
Third colors: Gray shirt and shorts with light blue trim
Position last season: 3rd
Season objective: Top four finish

Did Xemlice Rovers sneak their way into the top four and book themselves a place in the IFCF Challengers’ Cup? Yes, probably, definitely. Are the Gamekeepers and their fans going to complain about it? Absolutely freaking not. Will that stop the other teams below them from moaning? Not a chance. This Xemlice squad is in a good place at the moment, and while they have lost a number of long-time players to transfer or retirement, the club is more or less confident in the abilities of their own homegrown talent to see them through both domestic and international football. Xemlice brought in only one international player this transfer window, Xanneria’s Dalton Wilson, but there were reportedly a number of performance clauses attached to Wilson’s transfer that nearly sidetracked the whole thing before all parties were able to come to an agreement that works out for everyone involved. Joachim Eisener has retired, but his successor as the primary goalscorer for Xemlice is actually left winger Isaiah Ivy as opposed to his actual successor Marc Lagmay, mostly because Ivy is ambipedal like Eisener and can cross with his left foot and smash with his right. Muhammad Azawani is also stepping in to replace the departing Paco Matundan in the center of the backline, and the Fhulghamousian has shown signs that he’s ready to take over as the new club captain in the absence of one James Carmichael.

That is the end of the preview for the 2036-37 season of the Fleftic Premier League. Twenty teams will compete for the title and the honor of being dubbed the best football team in all of Abanhfleft, but only one can actually make that dream come true, while three teams will eventually have to go down to Unang Liga. Who will be crowned champions? Who will get relegated? Will Malabon successfully defend their title, or will a new name be etched onto the trophy? As always, there is only one way to find out.

Crescent News Network Sports (Abanhfleft & Co. V2)

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