Ultimate Football/Soccer Thread 2015-2016 + Euro 2016 Finals

by **Minoa** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 5:58 am

For update suggestions, please telegram the author.

For league discussion after 15 June 2016, see viewtopic.php?f=20&t=381145

The Premier League Fixtures will be announced at 0900 BST on Wednesday, 17 June 2015. In line with forum tradition, a new edition of the Ultimate Football (Soccer) Thread has been created to cover the 2015-2016 season, and I have decided to create this slightly earlier to allow coverage of the unveiling of the opening fixtures and football and soccer events for the period between 17 June 2015 to 14 June 2016.

The following links will instantly populate after the fixtures are announced.

England:
Premier League fixtures: BBC link
Championship fixtures: BBC link
League One fixtures: BBC link
League Two fixtures: BBC link
National fixtures: coming soon
National North fixtures: coming soon
National South fixtures: coming soon
FA Cup Final: 21 May 2016

Scotland:
Scottish Premier League fixtures: BBC link
Scottish Championship fixtures: BBC link
Scottish League One fixtures: BBC link
Scottish League Two fixtures: BBC link

Europe:
Europa League final: 18 May 2016 in Basel, Switzerland
Champions League final: 28 May 2016 in Milan, Italy
Euro 2016: 10 June 2016 – 10 July 2016 in various venues across France – It is expected that the NationStates Forum will have a dedicated thread for this one.

International:
FIFA Club World Cup: 10–20 December 2015, in Japan

There is a dedicated thread for the FIFA scandal here.

ISideWith UK · by **Eastfield Lodge** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:05 am

Minoa wrote:It is expected that the NationStates Forum will have a dedicated thread for Euro 2016 and its preceding qualifiers.

I thought the qualifiers were fair game for this thread. It's the Finals themselves that need separate threads I believe.

by **The Blaatschapen** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:06 am

Eastfield Lodge wrote:
Minoa wrote:It is expected that the NationStates Forum will have a dedicated thread for Euro 2016 and its preceding qualifiers.

I thought the qualifiers were fair game for this thread. It's the Finals themselves that need separate threads I believe.

Considering that the qualifiers are already halfway, let's keep them in the seasonal threads.

Edit: Whether or not the EC will have its own thread, I'll leave up to Arch.

by **Shove Piggy Shove** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:10 am

The draw for the first round of the League Cup:

Link

At home to Reading isn't a bad draw, might actually get past the first round for once!

by **Evil Lord Sauron** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:28 am

I must protest. You have not included the Conference (soon to be National) League in the OP. We have a few Conference fans in these threads.

by **The Blaatschapen** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:31 am

Evil Lord Sauron wrote:I must protest. You have not included the Conference (soon to be National) League in the OP. We have a few Conference fans in these threads.

Minoa wrote:For update suggestions, please telegram the author.

I suggest to telegram Minoa the schedule of the Conference.

I'll probably do the same with the two professional dutch leagues, when the final schedule is known.

by **Apox** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:38 am

Posting to keep up to date with what goes on in here.

by **The Archregimancy** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:41 am

The Blaatschapen wrote:
Eastfield Lodge wrote:I thought the qualifiers were fair game for this thread. It's the Finals themselves that need separate threads I believe.

Considering that the qualifiers are already halfway, let's keep them in the seasonal threads.

Edit: Whether or not the EC will have its own thread, I'll leave up to Arch.

That's a bridge we can cross when we get there.

by **Valanora** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:52 am

Well Dallas is on a bit of wobble now. Shame I can't watch most of the games, stupid networking deals. Oh well, I missed most of the EPL last season to because of it -sigh-

by **Minoa** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:10 pm

The Archregimancy wrote:
The Blaatschapen wrote:
Considering that the qualifiers are already halfway, let's keep them in the seasonal threads.

Edit: Whether or not the EC will have its own thread, I'll leave up to Arch.

That's a bridge we can cross when we get there.

The Euro 2016 championship will definitely be straddling between this one and the next one, so I don't see any issue with the finals getting its own thread.

by **Liventia** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:12 am

Minoa wrote:
The Archregimancy wrote:
That's a bridge we can cross when we get there.

The Euro 2016 championship will definitely be straddling between this one and the next one, so I don't see any issue with the finals getting its own thread.

The seasonal designators in these threads are more often than not completely arbitrary anyway; there are lots of world leagues that do not follow a cross-year pattern (i.e., run in the northern summer only).

by **The Blaatschapen** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:14 am

Liventia wrote:
Minoa wrote:The Euro 2016 championship will definitely be straddling between this one and the next one, so I don't see any issue with the finals getting its own thread.

The seasonal designators in these threads are more often than not completely arbitrary anyway; there are lots of world leagues that do not follow a cross-year pattern (i.e., run in the northern summer only).

We follow the July to June season format, considering that most of our userbase is from countries that follow that format or something very close to that. Sorry for those few Finnish, Russians, etc. who don't

by **Frasers** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:22 am

Imagine if all the UK countries end up in the Euro, which could well happen

I'd like to see that

ISideWith UK · by **Eastfield Lodge** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:33 am

Frasers wrote:Imagine if all the UK countries end up in the Euro, which could well happen

I'd like to see that

Chances are, they'd all exit at the group stage.

Looking at the fixture, there's yet another late October Tyne-Wear derby (the 4th in the 6 seasons since Newcastle got promoted).
And I'm not entirely enthused about the start of the season either: Southampton (H), Swansea (A), Man U (A), Arsenal (H) are our August matches - followed by West Ham (A), Watford (H), Chelsea (H) and then Man City (A) at the start of October...

by **Dumb Ideologies** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:41 am

Eastfield Lodge wrote:
Frasers wrote:Imagine if all the UK countries end up in the Euro, which could well happen

I'd like to see that

Chances are, they'd all exit at the group stage.

Fair odds on that happening but you can't predict the future. If my Football Manager save is anything to go by, Austria are going to win the 2018 World Cup...

ISideWith UK · by **Eastfield Lodge** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:45 am

Dumb Ideologies wrote:
Eastfield Lodge wrote:Chances are, they'd all exit at the group stage.

Fair odds on that happening but you can't predict the future. If my Football Manager save is anything to go by, Austria are going to win the 2018 World Cup...

My FM05 sim (around Easter-time I was busy simming it to the present day - I stopped after 2010) said that England would win Euro 08, beating Ireland in the final...

by **Evil Lord Sauron** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:45 am

Eastfield Lodge wrote:
Frasers wrote:Imagine if all the UK countries end up in the Euro, which could well happen

I'd like to see that

Chances are, they'd all exit at the group stage.

Nar if we get in, we will win it

I'd like to think given our higher ranking, which should stay the same should we qualify we will be given a nicer group.

by **Minoa** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:36 pm

The Blaatschapen wrote:
Evil Lord Sauron wrote:I must protest. You have not included the Conference (soon to be National) League in the OP. We have a few Conference fans in these threads.

Minoa wrote:For update suggestions, please telegram the author.

I suggest to telegram Minoa the schedule of the Conference.

I'll probably do the same with the two professional dutch leagues, when the final schedule is known.

Conference league fixtures should come out hopefully by July 3, subject to scheduling adjustments. I do not know yet if the BBC is going to change the URLs for the leagues (currently http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/conference/fixtures).

by **Auremena** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:50 pm

Anyone else watching the international matches today? Did Germany suddenly seem like they were up a man rather than down after Gunter's sending off, or was it just me? Or perhaps Serbia just felt secure in defending with a man up?

by **The Starlight** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:53 pm

Well, I better switch over here now.

by **Pope Joan** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:59 pm

I don't know why the US Women can look so effective and yet score so seldom.

It is fitting that Abby W. scored the winner to send the US up to the next rank.

by **Auremena** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 6:31 pm

Ospina lucky as fuck Firmino didn't rip the net open. Should be 1-1.
In other news, Cuadrado is diving around more than Neymar.

by **Buyan** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 4:57 am

Was having a look through the Euro qualifiers - for a format in which as is said in Belgium "everybody" qualifies, there's still quite a few proper teams with issues.

The Netherlands, Turkey, Bosnia, Ukraine, Schotland, Ireland, Greece, Russia, Norway, Bulgaria, Serbia, ...

In a diferent topic, I've been discussing with a friend last night towards the future of European club football. His point was that a 'Euroleague' was inevitable as the gap between the top clubs and the rest continues to widen. Especially, he said, as anyone can predict 2/3ths of the squads in such a league. Even the gap between top top teams and those just below grows wider.

It seems unreal to me that football as we know it would be completely transversed like that - on the other hand, it does look more and more realistic every fleeting season. What do you think?

by **DesAnges** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 5:50 am

Scotland, Ireland, Bulgaria and Norway struggled to qualify anyway so I would put them in the same group as the Netherlands or Greece. And it's not really surpassing Ukraine aren't doing too well, considering.

by **Risottia** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 7:00 am

Auremena wrote:Anyone else watching the international matches today?

Watched three minutes of Italy-Portugal. BOOOOORING. Continue playing like this, Italy, and you won't even qualify for the Euro.

Ultimate Football/Soccer Thread 2015-2016 + Euro 2016 Finals

Ultimate Football/Soccer Thread 2015-2016 + Euro 2016 Finals

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