Eshian Domestic Newswire [ESHIALAND AND PUPPETS ONLY]

[Eshialand]

OOC: The following is reposted from the IDSN thread. All prior teams, results, and whatnot have ceased to exist, canonically due to funding and administrative issues. Any players anyone had left sitting around in Eshialand are free to do their own thing from here on out. This is a restart.

Eshian soccer players were starting to get restless. With the utter collapse of the Eshian Soccer League and with it all of the teams in it, there was nothing really left to play for at all. Anyone who couldn't get onto the NT or get a contract abroad (seldom offered to Eshians thanks to the completely non-functioning state of the nation's soccer programs) could only sit back and twiddle their thumbs hoping there were enough guys around to set up a beer league nearby.

Eventually, a few dozen players in eight cities, both large and small, got fed up with the way things were, and set up an informal league between them. There were no big names involved in this league, no star managers from the olden days, no continuity with teams that existed prior, nada. This was the start of something new, the start of something grand... no budget, no spectators, hell, not even a name.

This was Season 0 of something new, and that zero represented more than just a season number, but rather something far more. Zero expectations, zero aspirations, just good old fashioned fun with zero problems holding it back.

Well, the other teams were right pissed off at the team from Eshialand City because of course the big city had the best players. But other than that there were zero problems.

[Untitled Eshian League] Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts                                          
1 Eshialand City          14   12   1   1    32   13  +19    37    —   1–0  1–0  3–1  3–1  2–0  4–3  1–0 CEdC XLVII
2 Bellvale                14    9   2   3    16    9   +7    29   2–4   —   1–0  5–2  0–1  1–0  0–0  1–0
3 Yzandria                14    7   4   3    25   18   +7    25   1–1  1–1   —   2–2  2–0  2–1  3–0  1–0
4 Vaynorth                14    4   5   5    16   22   −6    17   1–2  0–1  2–2   —   0–3  1–0  4–3  1–0
5 Wesson's Falls          14    4   4   6    17   19   −2    16   3–2  0–1  3–2  0–0   —   0–1  2–2  1–2
6 Creston                 14    4   3   7    12   15   −3    15   1–2  0–1  3–4  1–1  1–1   —   2–0  1–0
7 Wynnburgh               14    2   4   8    11   22  −11    10   0–3  0–1  1–2  0–1  1–0  0–0   —   0–0
8 Maryansk                14    1   3  10     6   17  −11     6   0–3  0–1  2–3  0–0  2–2  0–1  0–1   —

[Eshialand]

Outlaws
Part 1: Unsanctioned but Undeterred

"Welcome one, welcome all to the next season of... whatever we're calling this league! Seriously please help me I have no clue about names."

Dominic Forner, manager of the team from Eshialand City, was basically the de facto leader of... whatever this operation was supposed to be... following his team winning their "Season Zero", and he, to be quite honest, had no idea what he was doing. None of this was well-planned, as teams were playing in whatever fields they could find across the nation rather than in actual stadiums. "This isn't Aleirave, Dominic..." Marcel Alexander, one of his early detractors said, "you need a proper place to play."

So, for the opening match of Season 1, he decided to get an actual stadium, one that wasn't being used anymore: Tim Wilkins Stadium, which hadn't played host to much of anything since 2021, and hadn't been in continuous use since even longer ago. Surely, nobody even remembered that the stadium existed, let alone that it was going to play host to a match between Reial Eshialand City and the Yzandria Explorers on this fine Saturday evening... or so he thought.

---

First, a little background on these two teams. Reial Eshialand City may seem like the Eshialand City Royals of old, but as Dominic wanted to stress, this was a different team with a new start, hence why he went with the Ferrany name Reial Eshialand City rather than the English Eshialand City Royals (plus, it paid homage to his heritage in Ferranya).

However, this team ended up just as dominant as Kenny Morgan wanted the original Royals to be, and then some. Finishing at a whopping 12-1-1 in Season 0 was no easy feat, and they were ready to come back for more, even if more actual soccer players knew about the league now and they could help make the other teams more competitive.

The Yzandria Explorers, on the other hand, had just barely missed out on the second CEdC spot, and they were looking for more. This was a team building itself up for greatness, although whether that greatness was going to come was a question in and of itself.

Their new name had come in honor of the city's namesake, Jason Yzander. When the story of Maryansk went public, he was fascinated by the idea of hidden settlements in the northern – or rather now it was western after the second rift – forests. He went into the wilderness and, alas, was never seen again… although his spirit lives on through this team, one that was treading their own path in this league.

While the matchup was well-fought by the Explorers, it wasn't quite enough to overcome Reial’s energy, playing in this house of old greats, as they cruised to a 3-1 win, the match serving as a beautiful overture to this new story.

---

clap… clap… clap…

“Well done Mr. Forner… that went pretty well, I'd say.”

Kenny Morgan's slow clapping snapped Dominic out of his good mood. “Oh, Kenny Morgan, welcome welcome! What brings you here?”

“Well, I've heard reports that you were running a new soccer league and you didn't tell us? What's this all about?”

“Is it all of a sudden a crime to get a few friends together to play some football?”

“Not necessarily, but when you've submitted teams into the Campionato di Campeones, it makes it seem like you’re ‘Eshialand's Top League’ and you haven't talked to me about that at all… not to mention some of these players were still contracted to ESL teams, and poaching them for your own setup is just a little bit illegal.”

Dominic started to sweat as he felt the reality of the situation finally weighing on him. “Well, uh, I…”

“Listen, you know I'm not a very vindictive man, I'm not the type who chooses to make enemies… I'd just like to have a chat in my office sometime, and we can work something out. Just know that all of this is completely against every rule in the book. This, right here, is an outlaw league.”

---

Matchday 1
Reial Eshialand City 3–1 Yzandria Explorers
Bellvale Rockets 2–0 Vaynorth Comets
Creston Sharks 1–1 Wynnburgh Wolves
Wesson's Falls Lions 1–4 FC Dynamo Maryansk

* [Untitled Eshian League]  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts                                          
1 FC Dynamo Maryansk          1    1   0   0     4    1   +3     3    —    —    —    —    —    —    —    — 
2 Bellvale Rockets            1    1   0   0     2    0   +2     3    —    —    —    —    —   2–0   —    — 
  Reial Eshialand City        1    1   0   0     3    1   +2     3    —    —    —    —    —    —   3–1   — 
4 Creston Sharks              1    0   1   0     1    1    0     1    —    —    —    —   1–1   —    —    — 
  Wynnburgh Wolves            1    0   1   0     1    1    0     1    —    —    —    —    —    —    —    — 
6 Vaynorth Comets             1    0   0   1     0    2   −2     0    —    —    —    —    —    —    —    — 
  Yzandria Explorers          1    0   0   1     1    3   −2     0    —    —    —    —    —    —    —    — 
8 Wesson's Falls Lions        1    0   0   1     1    4   −3     0   1–4   —    —    —    —    —    —    —

Matchday 2
Yzandria Explorers 1–0 FC Dynamo Maryansk
Wynnburgh Wolves 6–1 Wesson's Falls Lions
Vaynorth Comets 0–0 Creston Sharks
Reial Eshialand City 0–1 Bellvale Rockets

* [Untitled Eshian League]  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts                                          
1 Bellvale Rockets            2    2   0   0     3    0   +3     6    —    —    —    —    —    —   2–0   — 
2 Wynnburgh Wolves            2    1   1   0     7    2   +5     4    —    —    —    —    —    —    —   6–1
3 Reial Eshialand City        2    1   0   1     3    2   +1     3   0–1   —    —   3–1   —    —    —    — 
4 Yzandria Explorers          2    1   0   1     2    3   −1     3    —    —    —    —   1–0   —    —    — 
5 FC Dynamo Maryansk          2    1   0   1     4    2   +2     3    —    —    —    —    —    —    —    — 
6 Creston Sharks              2    0   2   0     1    1    0     2    —   1–1   —    —    —    —    —    — 
7 Vaynorth Comets             2    0   1   1     0    2   −2     1    —    —    —    —    —   0–0   —    — 
8 Wesson's Falls Lions        2    0   0   2     2   10   −8     0    —    —    —    —   1–4   —    —    —

Outlaws
Part 2: Regulatory Rage

“Okay, so there are hurdles to jump through here, right?” Dominic said as he and Kenny began their discussion in the Eshialand Soccer Federation head office.

“More than a few… I know you just wanted to have a little fun but let's be serious, I want everything to be done by the book here… a lot of this is not my fault, there's layers of regulation even above me.”

“Don't worry, anything you need, I'm ready to do it.” Dominic replied, just wanting this new league to keep going.

“Okay, so here's the elephant in the room, the IFCF. As you well know, the ESF is a member of the IFCF, and it's our job to let them know what our official league system is as well as assigning Champions League spots et cetera et cetera…”

“But Kenny–”

“Well to them, the Eshialand Soccer League is our league, and our entrants come from there. As well, the ESL is the only league that can transfer foreign players in or out of it.”

“And we haven't done… any of that! We didn't submit teams to IFCF competitions, nor did we sign anyone outside Eshialand! Heck, technically we haven't even signed anyone, since it's all amateur!”

“You did submit teams to the CEdC though, and as members of CONESPIO it should be the Federation’s official league, the ESL, submitting teams to them, not whatever you're up to.”

“Counterpoint… you never have? Last time the ESL did anything at all, you were still a member of FFI! And do you even know how long ago that was?”

Kenny Morgan was left speechless for a moment as Dominic’s comment hit him like a bullet. He was right, the ESL had done nothing… what even was it at that point?

---

Basement dwelling was never a fun thing, but unfortunately, such was the reality for these next two teams. FC Dynamo Maryansk was a small team for a small place: the little community of Maryansk, tucked deep in the western forests.

Maryansk used to be on the coast of the Great Northern Bay, where it had been founded by Sergey Grenkov and a small group of Klysevian settlers. Usually these settlers had a habit of conquering wherever they landed and subjugating the people there, such as had happened in Aleirave, but Sergey Grenkov got along with King William, and Maryansk remained a peaceful corner of Eshialand.

After the rifts that led Eshialand first to Atlantian Oceania and then to Esportiva, the Great Northern Sea was gone, and Maryansk was now in the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by the Western Wilderness. The people of Maryansk didn't interact much with the rest of society, but they did have a team in the Inter-City Association, the ESL’s second division: FC Dynamo Maryansk.

While this was not the same team, it had many of the same players thanks to the town’s isolation, and man, were they shite. 1-3-10 in Season 0 was about as bad as it could've gone, but they always had their hopes high. Maryansk was all about being together, no matter what, and so was this team.

The Wynnburgh Wolves weren't too much better, with a 2-4-8 record and about as much fan support as that computer in your basement that just keeps overheating.

While their spirits weren't nearly as high as Maryansk’s, they still had aspirations to be somewhat less terrible this time around, and beating the Wesson's Falls Lions by a massive 6-1 on Matchday 2 was certainly a good sign of things to come on this new journey of theirs.

However, what was to follow in Maryansk decidedly wasn't, as neither side could even put a goal past the other, leading to a decidedly unremarkable 0-0. Both sides knew they could've done better, but neither one could. And so, their stories stayed as mediocre as could be.

---

“Kenny… Eshialand has nothing. The ESL? That's a distant memory now. Five years and not a peep from them. We've been itching just to play, Kenny.”

“The ESL is still a legal entity though, so it's not like you can go around it… we have a league.”

“We used to have a league. Used to. A league that's permanently on suspension is no league at all, it's not one we can play in, not one we can watch, not one we can enjoy. It's a waste of space and money.”

“I agree with you there but there's a lot of paperwork that you never submitted, and I'm kinda forced to shut it all down unless that paperwork is filed. My hands are tied…”

“Gimme the paperwork now then. We just wanna have fun, the way we always have.”

“It's not just about the paperwork, there's a lot more to do after that… but I'll get right on making sure you can do your part.”

---

Matchday 3
Bellvale Rockets 0–1 Yzandria Explorers
Creston Sharks 0–1 Reial Eshialand City
Wesson's Falls Lions 1–1 Vaynorth Comets
FC Dynamo Maryansk 0–0 Wynnburgh Wolves

* [Untitled Eshian League]  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts                                          
1 Reial Eshialand City        3    2   0   1     4    2   +2     6    —   0–1  3–1   —    —    —    —    — 
2 Bellvale Rockets            3    2   0   1     3    1   +2     6    —    —   0–1   —    —    —   2–0   — 
3 Yzandria Explorers          3    2   0   1     3    3    0     6    —    —    —    —   1–0   —    —    — 
4 Wynnburgh Wolves            3    1   2   0     7    2   +5     5    —    —    —    —    —    —    —   6–1
5 FC Dynamo Maryansk          3    1   1   1     4    2   +2     4    —    —    —   0–0   —    —    —    — 
6 Creston Sharks              3    0   2   1     1    2   −1     2   0–1   —    —   1–1   —    —    —    — 
7 Vaynorth Comets             3    0   2   1     1    3   −2     2    —    —    —    —    —   0–0   —    — 
8 Wesson's Falls Lions        3    0   1   2     3   11   −8     1    —    —    —    —   1–4   —   1–1   —

Matchday 4
Yzandria Explorers 5–2 Wynnburgh Wolves
Vaynorth Comets 2–0 FC Dynamo Maryansk
Reial Eshialand City 0–3 Wesson's Falls Lions
Bellvale Rockets 1–1 Creston Sharks

* [Untitled Eshian League]  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts                                          
1 Yzandria Explorers          4    3   0   1     8    5   +3     9    —    —    —   5–2   —   1–0   —    — 
2 Bellvale Rockets            4    2   1   1     4    2   +2     7   0–1   —    —    —   2–0   —    —   1–1
3 Reial Eshialand City        4    2   0   2     4    5   −1     6   3–1  0–1   —    —    —    —   0–3   — 
4 Wynnburgh Wolves            4    1   2   1     9    7   +2     5    —    —    —    —    —    —   6–1   — 
5 Vaynorth Comets             4    1   2   1     3    3    0     5    —    —    —    —    —   2–0   —   0–0
6 FC Dynamo Maryansk          4    1   1   2     4    4    0     4    —    —    —   0–0   —    —    —    — 
7 Wesson's Falls Lions        4    1   1   2     6   11   −5     4    —    —    —    —   1–1  1–4   —    — 
8 Creston Sharks              4    0   3   1     2    3   −1     3    —    —   0–1  1–1   —    —    —    —

[Eshialand]

Outlaws
Part 3: Monetary Monkey Business

"Well, Dominic, I'm quite impressed by this paperwork... you've clearly done your due diligence to make sure that this league can succeed just as well, if not even more, than the ESL ever did."

"I sense there's a but here--"
"Buttttt..."
"Here we go..."
"Even if your league which... do you even have a name for it yet?"
"No, not quite."
"Well alrighty then. Even if this unnamed league has everything it takes to become a major league... it can't become the major league unless the other one ceases to exist."

"The ESL ceased to exist five years ago, you know that and I know that."

"Ceasing to exist is a very different thing from the state the ESL's in, one of an indefinite suspension... legally the 2026 season never actually ended, it's just on hold for... ever! And unless the powers that be dissolve it, it can never truly--"

"Kenny, I thought you're the head of the Federation, you're supposed to be the powers that be..."

"Not... quite... money talks, I'm afraid, and there were some really powerful investors involved in the entire operation who would all need to be willing to agree to kill the league for good. Well, except for Tony Beaujoleil I suppose, since his assets are still being frozen pending the end of his little Union Stadium joyride."

"And these investors are?"

"Some of Eshialand's richest people. Some of them are happy to see new action taking place and are willing to forgo their stakes in a dead league, but as for the others... they're going to be tougher to convince. I'm willing to try my hardest to get action on the pitch again, but this is going to be an uphill battle."

---

Matchday 6 was going to be quite a pivotal time for multiple teams, as the rush of the start of the season faded away and the meat of the battle was upon them. One of these teams were the Bellvale Rockets, who had just taken top spot in the league and needed to keep the Yzandria Explorers, still one point back, away.

Bellvale was a suburb of Eshialand City that, for quite a long while, had just been "a part of the capital". Usually, if there were going to be two Eshialand City teams in any given league, one of them would be playing in Bellvale but with Eshialand City slapped onto their name so people would vaguely know where that was. These Rockets, however, wanted to prove that they were something else, something more.

They certainly had done a good job of that in Season 0, slipping into the CEdC and getting the only win -- and indeed, the only points -- for either Eshian side in the competition. This time however, they hungered for more. They wanted to rocket to the top of the standings, and put Bellvale on the map in its own right... and against bottom-dwelling Dynamo, they had the perfect chance to build their lead.

The Wesson's Falls Lions, on the other hand, found themselves in the opposite position. The roar of the lion, rather than roaring like the waterfalls the town got its name from, turned out to be a soft meow, with the team being stuck in an awful last place spot. But this bunch were hardworking, and they were ready to climb their way out.

They would be visiting Creston for a tilt against the Sharks, one where they surely would find a way out of the rut they dug themselves into... this was a decent chance for upward mobility against a mid-tier team, and when opportunity knocks, the Lions were ready to pounce on it.

However... Matchday 6 would not be the time for any of that. It would not be a time for much of anything interesting, in fact... it would be a day living on in infamy as the Day of the Four Draws... no decisive matches at all, just boring draws, helping nobody, hurting nobody. Crushing dreams without giving any dreams to anyone else. Just... pain and suffering for all involved. "A day that should hopefully never be repeated, ever, so help me Margaret." said Josh Seametzle of the depressingly dull day.

---

"Listen, we've got a lot of exciting action coming up, including a lot of prospects who haven't had the chance to show their skills, what with the ESL being... not there for them anymore. And if you move your investment over from there to here, I promise you things will be--"

click!

Kenny sighed at this latest rejection. "I... don't think we're going to be able to make this work. My hands are fully tied. There's just too much stopping me from--"

"There isn't some kind of backdoor?" Dominic asked him, clearly desperate to keep this operation afloat by any means necessary."

"Well... there might be one person I can call... he's basically a living, breathing backdoor for anything I ever need... but it's a longshot to ask any help from him. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. I have no clue and it's going to be a doozy no matter what."

---

Matchday 5
Creston Sharks 1–0 Yzandria Explorers
Wesson's Falls Lions 1–2 Bellvale Rockets
FC Dynamo Maryansk 0–0 Reial Eshialand City
Wynnburgh Wolves 2–2 Vaynorth Comets

* [Untitled Eshian League]  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bellvale Rockets            5    3   1   1     6    3   +3    10
2 Yzandria Explorers          5    3   0   2     8    6   +2     9
3 Reial Eshialand City        5    2   1   2     4    5   −1     7
4 Wynnburgh Wolves            5    1   3   1    11    9   +2     6
5 Creston Sharks              5    1   3   1     3    3    0     6
  Vaynorth Comets             5    1   3   1     5    5    0     6
7 FC Dynamo Maryansk          5    1   2   2     4    4    0     5
8 Wesson's Falls Lions        5    1   1   3     7   13   −6     4

Matchday 6
Yzandria Explorers 1–1 Vaynorth Comets
Reial Eshialand City 1–1 Wynnburgh Wolves
Bellvale Rockets 0–0 FC Dynamo Maryansk
Creston Sharks 1–1 Wesson's Falls Lions

* [Untitled Eshian League]  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bellvale Rockets            6    3   2   1     6    3   +3    11
2 Yzandria Explorers          6    3   1   2     9    7   +2    10
3 Reial Eshialand City        6    2   2   2     5    6   −1     8
4 Wynnburgh Wolves            6    1   4   1    12   10   +2     7
5 Creston Sharks              6    1   4   1     4    4    0     7
  Vaynorth Comets             6    1   4   1     6    6    0     7
7 FC Dynamo Maryansk          6    1   3   2     4    4    0     6
8 Wesson's Falls Lions        6    1   2   3     8   14   −6     5

Outlaws
Part 4: Happily Halfway Home

"And you needed help with...?"

While a call from Kenny Morgan was always a happy occasion for the king, this particular one was also one filled with utter confusion. Apparently Kenny wanted something from him, but what could it possibly even be?

"I need you to dissolve the Eshian Soccer League by an executive order in your capacity as Minister of Sports."

The king wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "Well that... was certainly a sentence that I've heard."
"So, are ya in or are ya out?"
"I take it the investors already shot you down?"
"Who needs the investors? You said it yourself, sports doesn't need copious amounts of corporate sponsorship, what we need are proper clubs who get support from their players and fans, and that support is what keeps the love of the game alive!"
"Where even is this support? All I'm seeing is eight teams playing on random fields, and ten old ESL and ICA markets that just... don't exist anymore!"

"What if we made them exist again?" Dominic said, listening in to the conversation. "You have room to support more teams? Well I have an idea for a better structure going forward."

---

As the halfway mark arrived in this Season 1, things were heating up for many teams... and for others, things weren't looking so hot. For the Vaynorth Comets, the situation could've been a lot better.

This team was one that carried on the spirit of their ICA predecessors, carrying the growing city of Vaynorth to... something in between pride and shame. They sat in a dead middle 4th in Season 0, and now they found themselves hopelessly tied for 5th, with the Day of the Four Draws doing a grand total of nothing to even give them a tiebreak. Their last game of the first half would be against Reial Eshialand City, a matchup that... sure, didn't look great, but they always could believe... always...

This tie for 5th place was shared with the Creston Sharks, a team that actually saw 5th place as an improvement after last time.

Creston was not a city with very much of a history of... anything, really. A relatively new establishment on the southern part of the coast near Super-Llamaland, Creston was kind of a surprise to even exist in this league, but they certainly fit right in, at least a little better than whatever Maryansk was doing. Speaking of Maryansk, they would be who the Sharks would be breaking their tie against. One team was against the best of them all, the other... against the worst.

One of these matches would go as expected, while the other would be the exact opposite... place your bets now.

Vaynorth's home fixture against Reial was an absolute disaster. Losing 2-6 at home is never fun, and this was the sort of loss that would make you rethink what you're doing and what your goals are. Meanwhile, Creston had managed to bottle their chance against Maryansk, with Dynamo holding the 2-0 clean sheet at home. On the basis of GD, the tie was broken in Creston's favor... but at what cost? They were still only two points out of last place, with things looking bleaker by the day.

---

"Listen, you think we can handle more teams? We can do more teams. There are so many more guys out there who just wanna play, we could have 10, hell, 12 more teams! Bigger and better than before!"
"And you can arrange all of this?"
"You know I can. Let me draw up the plans and we'll get on our way."

The plans for the new Eshian League system would be relatively simple... but also complex and evolving. Let's look at where it is and how it's going.

For Season 1, things would continue on with the following structure:

Lliga 0
Bellvale Rockets
Creston Sharks
FC Dynamo Maryansk
Reial Eshialand City
Vaynorth Rockets
Wesson's Falls Lions
Wynnburgh Wolves
Yzandria Explorers
1st to CL, 1st and 2nd to CEdC, 2nd and 3rd to ChC, 8th to Relegation Playoff

Lliga 1
AFC Pa'akale Beach
Barreigh Tigers
Daira Geese
Eshialand City Owls
FC Dyrion
Luneburgh Otters
Morristown Rovers
Queensboro Flames
Thameside FC
Union of Wynnburgh
Western Spirit
Yzandria Beavers
1st and 2nd to Lliga 0, 3rd to Promotion Playoff, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd to LBCT

---

Following this, 10 teams would be in Lliga 0 and Lliga 1: 10th in Lliga 0 would be demoted, 1st in Lliga 1 promoted, and Lliga 0 9th place would play Lliga 1 2nd place in a playoff. Was this an ambitious plan? It absolutely was, no doubt about that... but the central management would be minimal, with much of the organization done by the clubs themselves. There wasn't too much work for Dominic, and if it paid off... it would pay off big time. All he needed was for the king to sign off on the plan.

All it would take is a matter of time.

Matchday 7
Wesson's Falls Lions 0–2 Yzandria Explorers
FC Dynamo Maryansk 2–0 Creston Sharks
Wynnburgh Wolves 1–3 Bellvale Rockets
Vaynorth Comets 2–6 Reial Eshialand City

* Lliga 0                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bellvale Rockets            7    4   2   1     9    4   +5    14
2 Yzandria Explorers          7    4   1   2    11    7   +4    13
3 Reial Eshialand City        7    3   2   2    11    8   +3    11
4 FC Dynamo Maryansk          7    2   3   2     6    4   +2     9
5 Wynnburgh Wolves            7    1   4   2    13   13    0     7
6 Creston Sharks              7    1   4   2     4    6   −2     7
7 Vaynorth Comets             7    1   4   2     8   12   −4     7
8 Wesson's Falls Lions        7    1   2   4     8   16   −8     5

Matchday 8
Yzandria Explorers 0–1 Reial Eshialand City
Vaynorth Comets 1–1 Bellvale Rockets
Wynnburgh Wolves 1–0 Creston Sharks
FC Dynamo Maryansk 0–1 Wesson's Falls Lions

* Lliga 0                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts  
1 Bellvale Rockets            8    4   3   1    10    5   +5    15
2 Reial Eshialand City        8    4   2   2    12    8   +4    14
3 Yzandria Explorers          8    4   1   3    11    8   +3    13
4 Wynnburgh Wolves            8    2   4   2    14   13   +1    10
5 FC Dynamo Maryansk          8    2   3   3     6    5   +1     9
6 Vaynorth Comets             8    1   5   2     9   13   −4     8
7 Wesson's Falls Lions        8    2   2   4     9   16   −7     8
8 Creston Sharks              8    1   4   3     4    7   −3     7

[Eshialand]

Outlaws
Part 5: Let "But" Be Not a Barrier, but a Beginning

"I do have to admit... those plans are very well drawn-up. I absolutely love what you've got going, and I do think this can all work out."
"But...?"

Dominic knew, from his conversations with Kenny and others, that there always seemed to be a "but" lurking around. "But you can't do this", "but I can't support this", "but who really cares"... but there was one thing he was forgetting.

"But... what, exactly? I just love this plan, and I think we should implement it!"

This was the king he was talking to, and the king never has that "but" prepared. He never let the "but" stand in his way, even if it seemed like it had to.

"But wait..." Dominic seemed to have a but of his own. "What if the ESL's investors aren't on board?"
"Investors? We don't really need them, come on now, you said it yourself! And they don't really need their investments either." he said with a bit of a smile.
"You'll just dissolve the league without compensating them?"
"That's what they get for not jumping off the sinking ship while they had the chance!"

---

The race for first place in the Lliga 0 was heating up, as Reial and the Rockets found themselves in a dead heat for first place heading into their MD9 tilt in Bellvale. One goal could end up being all that would separate these two teams, and everything was on the line. Sure, it wasn't the end of the season quite yet, but this was the clash of two titans, and those can define a race before it's even over.

Harry Bruske and Lani Garrett, these two teams' goalkeepers, were fresh off their performances in Campionato Esportiva 39, one where they helped bring Eshialand out of nowhere all the way to third place. However, there were still open questions over which one of these two would end up being the starter for the national team going forward, and both of them knew that their performances in this match could go a long way into showing the difference between them. So, they held steady, never letting a goal in.

Never letting a goal in.

Never letting a goal in.

0-0, FT. The goalkeepers were just too good for their own good. The Explorers dunked on middling Dynamo and leapfrogged both of them. They had survived the clash of titans, but now both had to play catchup.

Matchday 9
FC Dynamo Maryansk 0–1 Yzandria Explorers
Wesson's Falls Lions 0–2 Wynnburgh Wolves
Creston Sharks 1–0 Vaynorth Comets
Bellvale Rockets 0–0 Reial Eshialand City

* Lliga 0                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Yzandria Explorers          9    5   1   3    12    8   +4    16
2 Bellvale Rockets            9    4   4   1    10    5   +5    16
3 Reial Eshialand City        9    4   3   2    12    8   +4    15
4 Wynnburgh Wolves            9    3   4   2    16   13   +3    13
5 Creston Sharks              9    2   4   3     5    7   −2    10
6 FC Dynamo Maryansk          9    2   3   4     6    6    0     9
7 Vaynorth Comets             9    1   5   3     9   14   −5     8
8 Wesson's Falls Lions        9    2   2   5     9   18   −9     8

Matchday 10
Yzandria Explorers 0–2 Bellvale Rockets
Reial Eshialand City 0–1 Creston Sharks
Vaynorth Comets 3–4 Wesson's Falls Lions
Wynnburgh Wolves 1–1 FC Dynamo Maryansk

* Lliga 0                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bellvale Rockets           10    5   4   1    12    5   +7    19
2 Yzandria Explorers         10    5   1   4    12   10   +2    16
3 Reial Eshialand City       10    4   3   3    12    9   +3    15
4 Wynnburgh Wolves           10    3   5   2    17   14   +3    14
5 Creston Sharks             10    3   4   3     6    7   −1    13
6 Wesson's Falls Lions       10    3   2   5    13   21   −8    11
7 FC Dynamo Maryansk         10    2   4   4     7    7    0    10
8 Vaynorth Comets            10    1   5   4    12   18   −6     8

---

"And so, I think we have a few announcements to make..."

The king had called together a press conference, speaking not in his capacity as the King of Eshialand, but as the nation's Minister of Sport, a role which, despite it not being his main role in the nation's government, he still took extremely seriously. Dominic Forner stood by his side, proud of how far the little league had come since it was just he and a few other guys organizing teams to play for fun.

"Effective today, the Eshialand Soccer League is officially no more. It's done. Well, I mean we all knew it was done, but now it's official. All the teams are officially folding, all assets are void, all contracts are released. It's done. If you had interests in it... sorry, we all knew it was happening.

"As some of you may know, there's been a new league around called Lliga 0... after some talks with my friend Dominic over here, as well as with Kenny Morgan, it will become the new official soccer league of the Eshialand Soccer Federation. Starting with this year's IFCF 21, only this league's system will be able to send teams to international club competition. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask."

There were many questions, but none were particularly important at this point. What really mattered was that it was all official now. The shift was made, and the Lliga 0 era had officially begun.

The Chase
Part 1: Roaring onto the Scene

With the King's announcement that he was putting a forceful end to the old Eshialand Soccer League, all Lliga 0 eyes turned to the race for the title and IFCF spots. In the inaugural season, three teams would go on to international competition, before the league's expansion for Season 2 would raise that number to 4. The competition for those spots would be very stiff, and although not every team still had a realistic shot, all had a chance to change the results.

Matchday 11 would see the Wesson's Falls Lions take their shot. Nobody was realistically looking at them as a team with a chance to go to the Challengers Cup, but something was in the air when they hosted Reial. Maybe Dominic Forner was too busy riding the high of this becoming Eshialand's new official league to properly manage his own team to winning said league. Maybe the team was just going into a bit of a slump... or maybe, just maybe, the Lions were roaring ahead, seeing an opportunity and taking it while they could.

Whatever it was, they had another huge win. 3-2 over the reigning champions would put them just one measly point behind third place, in a prime position to head to international competition. It was time for them to shine.

Matchday 11
Wynnburgh Wolves 2–3 Yzandria Explorers
FC Dynamo Maryansk 1–0 Vaynorth Comets
Wesson's Falls Lions 3–2 Reial Eshialand City
Creston Sharks 0–1 Bellvale Rockets

* Lliga 0                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bellvale Rockets           11    6   4   1    13    5   +8    22
2 Yzandria Explorers         11    6   1   4    15   12   +3    19
3 Reial Eshialand City       11    4   3   4    14   12   +2    15
4 Wynnburgh Wolves           11    3   5   3    19   17   +2    14
5 Wesson's Falls Lions       11    4   2   5    16   23   −7    14
6 FC Dynamo Maryansk         11    3   4   4     8    7   +1    13
7 Creston Sharks             11    3   4   4     6    8   −2    13
8 Vaynorth Comets            11    1   5   5    12   19   −7     8

Cannot win the league.

However, the Lions weren't the only ones who felt like they had a shot at getting back into things. No no no, there would be way, WAY more drama in the final stretch.

As you can see, after MD11, the Lions weren't the only team close to the top 3. Actually, there were just 2 points between that last IFCF spot and seventh place. Literally everybody except the Comets had a really good chance to make it onto the global stage, and every game from now to then counted for something.

The Explorers looked to be clear of the pack, sitting in second place with 4 points between them and third. Everything looked fine as they looked to play the Sharks, who, out of everyone in the mess that was 3rd to 7th, looked to be the farthest from success. However, they just couldn't get anything done at all. Not a single goal was scored in the match, and the Sharks were through their toughest remaining match relatively unscathed.

The aforementioned Lions would now have to take their trip to Bellvale, which decidedly did not go as well as their last game. They tried as hard as they could, but lost out by a hair. 1-0 for Bellvale. The Rockets were now near-guaranteed to win the league.

Reial, now finding themselves stuck in a pack they really didn't wanna be in, were now hosting Dynamo, a team that they really didn't think much of. It's Maryansk, they have no players there at all. Just a couple of old Klysevian guys trying to play ball with the best of them. Surely, they couldn't lose this match, at home no less. Well... they were dead wrong. As it turns out, if Aleirave wasn't a clue for them already, Klysevians are very very good at soccer. 1-2, in the visitors' favor. For Dynamo, that result brought them into sole third place, although that third place wasn't exactly the most secure...

Lastly, Vaynorth would have their chance to play spoiler against Wynnburgh, who wanted something, anything to get them out of this mess they found themselves in... and they were going all-out. Wynnburgh kept scoring goal after goal, tallying four by game's end... but the team in dead last matched every single one of them. 4-4. There is no such thing as enough when everybody wants everything.

The picture in the league was now no clearer than it was before. Still, only two points remained between 3rd and 7th. Anyone could still win, and all eyes were on Lliga 0.

Matchday 12
Yzandria Explorers 0–0 Creston Sharks
Bellvale Rockets 1–0 Wesson's Falls Lions
Reial Eshialand City 1–2 FC Dynamo Maryansk
Vaynorth Comets 4–4 Wynnburgh Wolves

* Lliga 0                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bellvale Rockets           12    7   4   1    14    5   +9    25
2 Yzandria Explorers         12    6   2   4    15   12   +3    20
3 FC Dynamo Maryansk         12    4   4   4    10    8   +2    16
4 Wynnburgh Wolves           12    3   6   3    23   21   +2    15
5 Reial Eshialand City       12    4   3   5    15   14   +1    15
6 Creston Sharks             12    3   5   4     6    8   −2    14
7 Wesson's Falls Lions       12    4   2   6    16   24   −8    14
8 Vaynorth Comets            12    1   6   5    16   23   −7     9

Will finish top 3.
Cannot win the league.
Cannot finish top 3.

[Eshialand]

The Chase
Part 2: Splitting the Pack

The stage was set for one hell of a finale. Less than one game between seventh and third, and two games to go for everyone. It was time to see how the dust would settle.

First up, the Wesson's Falls Lions. They seemed to be in such a good spot just a couple matchdays before, beating Reial and being right on the edge of something amazing... but now, everything was falling apart. Maybe they didn't see that after losing to a team as good as the Rockets, but now, something was very clearly wrong. No matter what they tried, they couldn't get a goal past the Sharks' iron defense. They would end up losing 0-1, and be left out of any qualifying position.

Another team that now found themselves out of contention were the Wolves. Everything looked like it was going oh so well, but something seemed to slip against Reial this time around. Even at home, they just couldn't get the gameplay they were looking for, and they ended up losing 2-4. They'd be stuck playing spoiler for a Rockets team that likely couldn't even be spoiled at all.

Speaking of playing spoiler, the Comets were on an uncanny run of getting draws against teams that really needed to win their matches. The Comets didn't care anymore, they accepted their fate of going to the relegation playoff. First, it was the Wolves, and now, the Explorers were getting an inexplicable draw. They were going to be dragged, kicking and screaming, back into this pack, whether they liked it or not. 2-2.

However, there was one truly interesting result, which nobody was ever expecting. Bellvale 0, Maryansk 2.

Dynamo was never a team which should've been able to do this. They were dead last in Season 0, and all of a sudden they were out there beating the best team in the entire league in a critical matchup. They found themselves holding onto their unlikely third place after the win, and this spot was theirs to lose now. All they had to do was not lose to Creston, and if they drew, hope for other results. Not hard.

As for Bellvale, not all was lost for them. After all, Vaynorth spoiling Yzandria had guaranteed them winning the league, despite the catastrophic loss. While winning the league should've been a cause for celebration, however, today was not a day worth celebrating. They were now questioning what happened, where the heck this Dynamo superteam came from, and what would even come next.

* Lliga 0                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bellvale Rockets           13    7   4   2    14    7   +7    25
2 Yzandria Explorers         13    6   3   4    17   14   +3    21
3 FC Dynamo Maryansk         13    5   4   4    12    8   +4    19
4 Reial Eshialand City       13    5   3   5    19   16   +3    18
5 Creston Sharks             13    4   5   4     7    8   −1    17
6 Wynnburgh Wolves           13    3   6   4    25   25    0    15
7 Wesson's Falls Lions       13    4   2   7    16   25   −9    14
8 Vaynorth Comets            13    1   7   5    18   25   −7    10

Season 1 Champions!
Cannot finish top 3.
Will play in the relegation playoff.

The Chase
Part 3: Finality

There were four games being played on the final matchday, but all eyes seemed to be on Creston, who were hosting Dynamo in their final match. Either one of these teams could've made it to the top 3, getting into the Challengers Cup and all of the attention that competition would bring. These teams would have an easier time finding international contracts, and building themselves into Eshialand's greatest club, on their way to being the greatest in the world.

If the team from Maryansk won, they would be moving on, and Creston would not. If Creston won, then Reial could move on with a win of their own, but otherwise they would move on. If it was a draw, then Maryansk would be ahead but again, Reial could win and take third. There was so much on the line, but both of these teams had what it took to win.

Dynamo were strong out the gate, with Sergei Antoniov and Valentina Fyodorova getting some incredibly good shots on goal, but unlike in their previous fixture in Maryansk, neither of them could get one past Freyja Niessing, who was trying to prove herself as Eshialand's best goalkeeper. She'd been doing a good job so far, with only 8 goals allowed across her first 13 matches, a feat only beaten by Lani Garrett and matched by Pavel Madinov... but being "one of the three best" doesn't exactly get you much recognition, and finishing ahead of Madinov would be imperative, as, after all, he was the one standing 105 meters away from her. Whoever finishes the season with fewer goals allowed wins this match.

In the 55th minute, that tie would end up being broken.. by Creston right winger Zara Plarei. She took her shot and it rose way higher than Madinov was ever expecting... it went in, 1-0. This score would stand until full time. Dynamo were out, and the Sharks now only had to wait for Reial, who simply had to beat the worst team in the league at home to make it to the Challengers Cup.

For their part, they did score three goals against the Comets... but Maggie is cruel at times, crafting the most ridiculous scenarios just to maximize suffering. Vaynorth managed to score 4 goals, getting their first win in 10 matches to knock Reial out of contention. As a reminder, Reial won this matchup 6-2 back in Vaynorth. For Dominic Forner and his team, this was a cruel reminder that there are no free points.

Zara Plarei, of course, was celebrated for scoring the goal that brought the Sharks into the top 3, but Freyja Niessing earned even more celebration. After all, over 14 matches, she allowed a tied league-best 8 goals, singlehandedly carrying the league's worst offense to international competition. She was one of the best Lliga 0 had to offer, and she'd be starring for these Sharks for many years to come.

Matchday 14
Yzandria Explorers 2–5 Wesson's Falls Lions
Creston Sharks 1–0 FC Dynamo Maryansk
Bellvale Rockets 1–1 Wynnburgh Wolves
Reial Eshialand City 3–4 Vaynorth Comets

* Lliga 0                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bellvale Rockets           14    7   5   2    15    8   +7    26 - Champions; CL 21, CEdC 48
2 Yzandria Explorers         14    6   3   5    19   19    0    21 - ChC 21, CEdC 48
3 Creston Sharks             14    5   5   4     8    8    0    20 - ChC 21
4 FC Dynamo Maryansk         14    5   4   5    12    9   +3    19
5 Reial Eshialand City       14    5   3   6    22   20   +2    18
6 Wesson's Falls Lions       14    5   2   7    21   27   −6    17
7 Wynnburgh Wolves           14    3   7   4    26   26    0    16
8 Vaynorth Comets            14    2   7   5    22   28   −6    13 - Relegation playoff

[Eshialand]

Lliga 1, Season 1

The situation after MD21:

*  Lliga 1               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 AFC Pa'akale Beach     21   12   6   3    49   30  +19    42
 2 Yzandria Beavers       21   11   5   5    31   29   +2    38
 3 Eshialand City Owls    21   12   2   7    37   32   +5    38
 4 Western Spirit         21   10   6   5    45   37   +8    36
 5 Luneburgh Otters       21    9   3   9    41   43   −2    30
 6 Thameside FC           21    8   3  10    30   29   +1    27
 7 Union of Wynnburgh     21    8   3  10    35   40   −5    27
 8 Daira Geese            21    7   3  11    28   39  −11    24
 9 FC Dyrion              21    5   9   7    22   24   −2    24
10 Barreigh Tigers        21    6   5  10    28   34   −6    23
11 Queensboro Flames      21    5   7   9    34   35   −1    22
12 Morristown Rovers      21    5   4  12    18   26   −8    19

Lliga 1 Season 1 Champions!
Cannot be promoted.

With 21 of 22 matchdays played, many questions were answered, but there were a couple more left to go. AFC Pa'akale Beach guaranteed themselves the league title by beating the Western Spirit on MD20, and were playing a completely meaningless match against the dead-last Morristown Rovers on the final day, so nobody was worried about that they were up to. The other 1.5 promotion spots, however, were still up for grabs, with the Yzandria Beavers and Eshialand City Owls essentially tied for second (the former having the advantage over the latter, winning 3-1 at home on MD3 and 3-2 away on MD14). The Western Spirit, however, were not out at all, being only two points behind second place, with the final matchups giving them a prime opportunity to come back.

Here's what these teams' final matchups would look like:

Western Spirit vs. Yzandria Beavers
That's right, the Beavers were traveling to Asheton to play the Spirit face-to-face. The winner of this matchup would be guaranteed a chance to play for the Liga B Champions Trophy, as well as at least going to the promotion playoff (with the Beavers automatically promoting should they win, and the Spirit needing an Owls loss to promote automatically). A draw, on the other hand, would send the Beavers to at least the promotion playoff (autopromoting should the Owls fail to win), and leaving the Spirit to play another season in Lliga 1.

The Beavers won these teams' previous matchup in Yzandria 2-1, and they had a good feeling going into this one after winning the last two matches. On the other hand, the Spirit were trying to recover from a loss to the dead-last Rovers on MD21, and playing a critical 6-pointer right after such an embarrassing defeat wasn't really something they were looking forward to. This was very much the Beavers' match to lose, it would seem.

Queensboro Flames vs. Eshialand City Owls

Third place vs. eleventh place, with even a draw guaranteeing them top 3 (as they had a +3 head-to-head GD advantage over the Spirit with a 6-4 win away MD1 and a 2-3 loss at home MD12). The Flames had just lost to the Beavers, so they were also going to be fatigued from playing two of the best teams in the league back-to-back. However, not all was assured. After all, the Owls only won this matchup by a 1-0 score at home on MD11, and they saw what happened to their Lliga 0 counterparts against Vaynorth on their last matchday. It's completely possible to collapse against anyone.

On the bright side, the Owls didn't really have too much to lose, since they would have to lose to Queensboro and have the Spirit beat Yzandria in their match in order to not go to the LBCT and have a shot at promoting. Like, surely we don't have two upsets in one night, right?

---

For their part, the Owls did manage to hang on to their spot in the top 3, beating the Flames by a score of 3-2. They were going to the LBCT, and would at least be contesting for a spot in Lliga 0. All eyes then turned to Asheton, where the all-important Spirit-Beavers match would be played out a bit later than all the other matches -- supposedly, this was because of a rain delay, but maybe Maggie created the weather to make for better cinema... we will never know.

The score in this one remained tied 2-2 into the 76th minute, with the Spirit pushing for the win they desperately needed. Whereas at the start of the match they were feeling dejected over their loss to the Rovers, the end saw a fire lit under them, as the tied score proved they could do it, no matter what... and Eddie Umbring ended up doing it.

He shot a rocket of a kick past Yzandria keeper Willy Markitz, breaking the tie, 3-2 Spirit. This score would hold, and the Spirit would go to the LBCT and play the Vaynorth Comets in the promotion playoff, while the Beavers would spend the next season back in Lliga 1, wondering where the heck they went wrong.

Matchday 22
AFC Pa'akale Beach 0–0 Morristown Rovers
Western Spirit 3–2 Yzandria Beavers
Queensboro Flames 2–3 Eshialand City Owls
Union of Wynnburgh 4–2 Barreigh Tigers
FC Dyrion 0–0 Daira Geese
Thameside FC 0–1 Luneburgh Otters

*  Lliga 1               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 AFC Pa'akale Beach     22   12   7   3    49   30  +19    43 - Champions; LBCT 21, Promoted
 2 Eshialand City Owls    22   13   2   7    40   34   +6    41 - LBCT 21, Promoted
 3 Western Spirit         22   11   6   5    48   39   +9    39 - LBCT 21, Promotion playoff
 4 Yzandria Beavers       22   11   5   6    33   32   +1    38
 5 Luneburgh Otters       22   10   3   9    42   43   −1    33
 6 Union of Wynnburgh     22    9   3  10    39   42   −3    30
 7 Thameside FC           22    8   3  11    30   30    0    27
 8 Daira Geese            22    7   4  11    28   39  −11    25
 9 FC Dyrion              22    5  10   7    22   24   −2    25
10 Barreigh Tigers        22    6   5  11    30   38   −8    23
11 Queensboro Flames      22    5   7  10    36   38   −2    22
12 Morristown Rovers      22    5   5  12    18   26   −8    20

Note: Xkoranate's tablegen originally had FC Dyrion above the Daira Geese; however, the Geese beat Dyrion 1-0 on MD11 before drawing 0-0 on MD22. They therefore have the H2H advantage, and are 8th place. I have no clue why Xkor sorted them by GD when I specified H2H as the first tiebreaker, but it must be a bug of some kind. This same bug had the Owls above the Beavers after MD21 on GD, when the Beavers were ahead by the second tiebreaker, H2H GD; thankfully MD22's results meant that didn't end up being a problem.

Promotion/Relegation Playoff
Vaynorth Comets vs. Western Spirit

The stage was now set for the first Lliga 0/Lliga 1 Promotion/Relegation Playoff, which would be a home-and-away series between the Vaynorth Comets (last place in Lliga 0), and the Western Spirit (third place in Lliga 1). The winners would play Season 2 in Lliga 0, while the losers would play it in Lliga 1. Leg 1 would be played in Asheton, and leg 2 (along with extra time, should it be required) in Vaynorth. (Home field advantage being awarded to the Comets by virtue of them attempting to defend their spot in Lliga 0.)

Leg 1: Western Spirit 3–4 Vaynorth Comets
Leg 2: Vaynorth Comets 1-4 Western Spirit

Winning 7-5 on aggregate, the Western Spirit will be promoted to Lliga 0, while the Vaynorth Comets will be relegated to Lliga 1.

[Eshialand]

Welcome to the Big Show

Matchday 1
Eshialand City, Capital District

The nation's capital was a city with many hungry football fans, some of whom had been waiting patiently for upwards of a year for their beloved Lliga 0 to begin anew. While most of these fans were either watching the festivities at home, cramming themselves into the SuperDome to watch Reial take on the Wynnburgh Wolves (who had just barely managed to survive relegation back in Season 1), or even travelling to Yzandria to watch the Bellevale Rockets take on the Explorers, a select few of them headed over to Yeshley Field to check out two teams playing their very first match in Lliga 0: the Eshialand City Owls versus the Western Spirit.

This match was quickly becoming a staple for these two teams, as it was also their first match down in Lliga 1 as well; that first match had been won 6-4 by the Owls in Asheton, before their MD12 rematch at Yeshley where the Spirit came back to win 3-2. Being the home team seemed to be a death sentence in this matchup, which was quite interesting given the huge differences between the fans and environments in each city.

The Owls may not have been Eshialand City's first team, their most popular, or their most successful, but what they were was a spiritual continuation of Owls teams of the past, which would always have their own appeal for fans in the city. There had been scattered Owls teams in town pre-unification -- including the ones that inspired the national team's identity -- and one in the ill-fated ICA while the ESL was still a thing, and this one carried all the love of those predecessors. For some, Reial, despite their origins founding this league out of their love of the game, was still too establishment, and the Owls were the answer to that.

In contrast to the Owls' urban appeal, the Western Spirit represented a group of people who never got too much attention in the minds of the nation: the rural and heavily forested Hartshire Province, playing in the city of Asheton. Asheton was far from the largest city in Hartshire, with Wesson's Falls being a much more important center of activity, but to make up for it, the Spirit branded themselves as a team for the entirety of the Western forests. To their fans, Wesson's Falls, with its big-city amenities, wasn't truly "the West". The West was neglected, and they were ready to get their full revenge on those who neglected them by going full offensive.

And full offensive they went in this match, with Eddie Umbring scoring two to really ask the question "why have I not been called to the NT?" Those two goals ended up being all the difference, with the Spirit taking it home by a final score of 4 to 2, bringing away teams to 3-0 in matchups between these two. Everybody awaited the day when this rivalry would head back to Asheton and the Owls would inevitably win there.

2 goals, in fact, was the best goal difference in the entire league. For a moment, these newcomers were on top. They may have barely scraped their way into Lliga 0, but they fit right in here.

Other Headlines: Newcomers AFC Pa'akale Beach notch 2 past Freyja Niessing, a quarter of her total GA in Season 1; it was not enough to get more than 1 point. | Reial's basement-dweller curse continues, as a win cannot be found against last season's 7th-placed Wolves. | What does a larger Lliga 0 mean for you?

Matchday 1

Lliga 0
AFC Pa'akale Beach 2–2 Creston Sharks
Eshialand City Owls 2–4 Western Spirit
Wesson's Falls Lions 1–0 FC Dynamo Maryansk
Yzandria Explorers 0–1 Bellvale Rockets
Reial Eshialand City 2–2 Wynnburgh Wolves

Lliga 1
Union of Wynnburgh 3–2 Daira Geese
Queensboro Flames 0–1 FC Dyrion
Morristown Rovers 2–2 Thameside FC
Barreigh Tigers 2–2 Yzandria Beavers
Luneburgh Otters 1–1 Vaynorth Comets

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Battle for the Top

Matchday 2
Bellvale, Toren

In Eshialand's largest metro area, there was nothing quite like the rivalry between Reial Eshialand City and the Bellvale Rockets (who one again scrapped the extraneous E from their name after fan pushback). While they weren't the only Lliga 0 teams in the Greater Capital Region anymore, as the champions of the two seasons that had been run so far, they were the ones with the fiercest rivalry in the league.

This matchup was also played out on MD2 of Season 1, where the Rockets stunned Reial 1-0 in Eshialand City, before post-football enjoyers (should those even exist) celebrated a 0-0 occurring here at the Launchpad. These teams weren't even particularly defensively-minded, at least not when compared to teams like the Sharks, but this matchup in particular seemed to inspire a particular sense in these two that, instead of trying to one-up each other by scoring more goals than the opponent, the best show of strength was allowing fewer goals than their rivals. Harry Bruske and Lani Garrett weren't just competing to win the match for these teams, after all; they were fighting for the NT's coveted starting goalkeeper position, one which Garrett had secured by winning the league for the Rockets in Season 1.

As for this time around, the two keepers, friends when representing Eshialand but mortal enemies now, once again put up a stellar performance. The only dent in this beautiful performance from both sides came from Gabe Peurak, who gave Reial a single goal in the 56th minute to give them their first win in the Clash of the Titans since Season 0.

Other Headlines: Owls put 5 past Pa'akale Beach, calling into question who the best new promotion is. | Wolves and Creston combine for 7 goals, "disastrous" loss for Freyja Niessing. | Vaynorth blank Daira 3-0 in bid to return to Lliga 0.

Matchday 2

Lliga 0
Creston Sharks 3–4 Wynnburgh Wolves
Bellvale Rockets 0–1 Reial Eshialand City
FC Dynamo Maryansk 3–2 Yzandria Explorers
Western Spirit 2–2 Wesson's Falls Lions
AFC Pa'akale Beach 2–5 Eshialand City Owls

*  Lliga 0               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Western Spirit          2    1   1   0     6    4   +2     4
 2 Reial Eshialand City    2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
   Wynnburgh Wolves        2    1   1   0     6    5   +1     4
 4 Wesson's Falls Lions    2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
 5 Eshialand City Owls     2    1   0   1     7    6   +1     3
 6 Bellvale Rockets        2    1   0   1     1    1    0     3
   FC Dynamo Maryansk      2    1   0   1     3    3    0     3
 8 Creston Sharks          2    0   1   1     5    6   −1     1
 9 AFC Pa'akale Beach      2    0   1   1     4    7   −3     1
10 Yzandria Explorers      2    0   0   2     2    4   −2     0

Lliga 1
Daira Geese 0–3 Vaynorth Comets
Yzandria Beavers 2–2 Luneburgh Otters
Thameside FC 2–2 Barreigh Tigers
FC Dyrion 1–0 Morristown Rovers
Union of Wynnburgh 2–1 Queensboro Flames

*  Lliga 1               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 FC Dyrion               2    2   0   0     2    0   +2     6
   Union of Wynnburgh      2    2   0   0     5    3   +2     6
 3 Vaynorth Comets         2    1   1   0     4    1   +3     4
 4 Barreigh Tigers         2    0   2   0     4    4    0     2
   Yzandria Beavers        2    0   2   0     4    4    0     2
 6 Luneburgh Otters        2    0   2   0     3    3    0     2
   Thameside FC            2    0   2   0     4    4    0     2
 8 Morristown Rovers       2    0   1   1     2    3   −1     1
 9 Queensboro Flames       2    0   0   2     1    3   −2     0
10 Daira Geese             2    0   0   2     2    6   −4     0

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A Bleak Future?

Matchday 1
Eshialand City, Capital District

Eshialand Soccer Federation HQ fell silent as Eshialand's team crashed out in the quarterfinals of the Campionato Esportiva. While it was a good run, an ending in extra time left much to be desired... so much potential lost in the final 30 minutes. With international football once again done for a few months, all eyes turned back to Lliga 0, although even that was starting to look a little bleak.

Why would a new league, fresh off a "first" season that hooked so many Eshian fans, ever be in a bleak spot so soon? Well, all can be explained by the fact that two transfer windows have occurred since the end of Season 1 and, notably, no transfers occurred involving Eshian clubs. Eshians have moved, but nobody came in or out of the Lliga system. It was almost as if Dominic Forner didn't want anyone from abroad following Lliga 0... as if he was afraid of disappointing everyone.

On the bright side, MD3 was not a day which disappointed anyone in Eshialand, at least. Well, unless you like the Owls, in which case you should probably cry because the Sharks scored half a Creston season's worth of goals against you. Oh well...

Other Headlines: Sharks score 7 in two games, "our attackers are possessed, they aren't normally like this" says manager. | Wolves and Rockets combine for 8, but can't combine for a win. | Bottomfeeders Yzandria get out of their rut by beating the newcomers Spirit.

Matchday 3

Lliga 0
Eshialand City Owls 1–4 Creston Sharks
Wesson's Falls Lions 2–1 AFC Pa'akale Beach
Yzandria Explorers 4–3 Western Spirit
Reial Eshialand City 0–1 FC Dynamo Maryansk
Wynnburgh Wolves 4–4 Bellvale Rockets

* Lliga 0               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Wesson's Falls Lions    3    2   1   0     5    3   +2     7
 2 FC Dynamo Maryansk      3    2   0   1     4    3   +1     6
 3 Wynnburgh Wolves        3    1   2   0    10    9   +1     5
 4 Creston Sharks          3    1   1   1     9    7   +2     4
 5 Western Spirit          3    1   1   1     9    8   +1     4
 6 Reial Eshialand City    3    1   1   1     3    3    0     4
 7 Bellvale Rockets        3    1   1   1     5    5    0     4
 8 Yzandria Explorers      3    1   0   2     6    7   −1     3
 9 Eshialand City Owls     3    1   0   2     8   10   −2     3
10 AFC Pa'akale Beach      3    0   1   2     5    9   −4     1

Lliga 1
Queensboro Flames 0–3 Daira Geese
Morristown Rovers 0–0 Union of Wynnburgh
Barreigh Tigers 1–0 FC Dyrion
Luneburgh Otters 1–1 Thameside FC
Vaynorth Comets 2–1 Yzandria Beavers

*  Lliga 1               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Vaynorth Comets         3    2   1   0     6    2   +4     7
 2 Union of Wynnburgh      3    2   1   0     5    3   +2     7
 3 FC Dyrion               3    2   0   1     2    1   +1     6
 4 Barreigh Tigers         3    1   2   0     5    4   +1     5
 5 Luneburgh Otters        3    0   3   0     4    4    0     3
   Thameside FC            3    0   3   0     5    5    0     3
 7 Daira Geese             3    1   0   2     5    6   −1     3
 8 Morristown Rovers       3    0   2   1     2    3   −1     2
   Yzandria Beavers        3    0   2   1     5    6   −1     2
10 Queensboro Flames       3    0   0   3     1    6   −5     0

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A Light Returns

Matchday 4
Pa'akale Beach, Capital District

Eshian domestic football ceased to function, as it often tended to do, for a year and a half. It wasn't anyone's fault, nobody in specific was to blame, it often just took a backburner to other competitions which captured the hearts and minds of the fans more.

For smaller teams with dedicated fanbases like AFC Pa'akale Beach, this was an absolute knife to the heart. Pa'akale Beach was a neighborhood of Eshialand City known for having a large Aleiravan diaspora. Their presence here was relatively new, with most coming to the mainland after the island joined Eshialand, but this community already had its own character. When word spread about a community with lovely beaches and easy access to the opportunities brought by the capital, Pa'akale Beach grew as a home away from home for Aleiravans hoping to make it big on the mainland, and AFC Pa'akale Beach became their squad.

The Warriors, as they became known, began their life in Lliga 1 as a squad mostly comprised of locals, with a couple of Aleiravans who didn't quite have what it took to strike it big on the national team. They took home the championship in the first season of Lliga 1, earning themselves a promotion to the top flight, Lliga 0, and as Haulafo and the entire Aleiravan national team disappeared into the darkness, mainlander Aleiravans had nobody else to cheer for. This team was their light.

And then, when Lliga 0 temporarily shuttered its doors, that light went out. The Seagulls eventually revealed that no, they hadn't gone anywhere, but the community of Pa'akale Beach desperately wanted to have the action at home once again. When it was announced that Lliga 0 was coming back and they'd finally be hosting the Yzandria Explorers on Matchday 4, the community here was electric. Unfortunately, the team didn't have what it took to back up that energy.

Try as they might, the Warriors just couldn't get anything done against the Explorers, with striker Damian Kolek, the young son of legendary Eshian NT keeper Alexander Kolek, notching 2 goals on the way to a 3-1 breeze of a victory for the visitors. AFC Pa'akale Beach remained dead last in the table, but the fans didn't mind much. After all, all they were looking for was someone to cheer for.

Other Headlines: Western teams dominate as Capital Metro Area teams occupy the bottom 4 spots. | Eshialand City gridlocked as the NT returns home to "glorious" quarterfinal appearance celebration parade. | Is post-hiatus Lliga system relevant? We asked 100 Eshians.

Matchday 4

Lliga 0
Creston Sharks 1–0 Bellvale Rockets
FC Dynamo Maryansk 1–0 Wynnburgh Wolves
Western Spirit 3–1 Reial Eshialand City
AFC Pa'akale Beach 1–3 Yzandria Explorers
Eshialand City Owls 1–1 Wesson's Falls Lions

* Lliga 0               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 FC Dynamo Maryansk      4    3   0   1     5    3   +2     9
 2 Wesson's Falls Lions    4    2   2   0     6    4   +2     8
 3 Creston Sharks          4    2   1   1    10    7   +3     7
   Western Spirit          4    2   1   1    12    9   +3     7
 5 Yzandria Explorers      4    2   0   2     9    8   +1     6
 6 Wynnburgh Wolves        4    1   2   1    10   10    0     5
 7 Bellvale Rockets        4    1   1   2     5    6   −1     4
 8 Eshialand City Owls     4    1   1   2     9   11   −2     4
   Reial Eshialand City    4    1   1   2     4    6   −2     4
10 AFC Pa'akale Beach      4    0   1   3     6   12   −6     1

Lliga 1
Daira Geese 3–1 Yzandria Beavers
Thameside FC 0–1 Vaynorth Comets
FC Dyrion 2–3 Luneburgh Otters
Union of Wynnburgh 3–1 Barreigh Tigers
Queensboro Flames 3–1 Morristown Rovers

* Lliga 1               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Vaynorth Comets         4    3   1   0     7    2   +5    10
 2 Union of Wynnburgh      4    3   1   0     8    4   +4    10
 3 Daira Geese             4    2   0   2     8    7   +1     6
   Luneburgh Otters        4    1   3   0     7    6   +1     6
 5 FC Dyrion               4    2   0   2     4    4    0     6
 6 Barreigh Tigers         4    1   2   1     6    7   −1     5
 7 Thameside FC            4    0   3   1     5    6   −1     3
 8 Queensboro Flames       4    1   0   3     4    7   −3     3
 9 Morristown Rovers       4    0   2   2     3    6   −3     2
   Yzandria Beavers        4    0   2   2     6    9   −3     2