Division A

The season is over, the perfect time to look back:

Before the start of the season, the favorites for the title were The Skunks, X-tenzo, FC Vesalius and outsider AS Vlalex.
Only the last one did not say he was going for it. It was a very promising season!

FC Vesalius was the first team to let go of their title-ambitions. Early in the season manager Claudia was defeated by a red card and FC Wageningen, a defeat she never fully recovered from. The team performed good, but she couldn’t surprise against the other top-teams and the others just stayed ahead of her. Halfway through the season the championship was no priority to her anymore, and FC Vesalius concentrated on the Cup-adventure, where they are still playing as one of the favorites.

The next team that wouldn’t make it was AS Vlalex. The start of the season was great. Draws away at The Skunks and FC Vesalius were great results, and together with The Skunks and X-tenzo they ruled the league. The second half of the season began with a disaster. At home against The Skunks Vlalex had no keeper, and they lost 1-2. After that there were defeats against The Cheathunters and X-tenzo. Other results were good, but the home-defeat against The Skunks proved too much to overcome.

X-tenzo was the big contender this season. The last season was a disappointment, but this time he saw a good chance to set things right. It wasn’t meant to be. The season started with a defeat at de Zoeloes. During the first half of the season there were defeats at Vlalex and The Skunks. No problem, as long as he could defeat them all at home. But things turned out different. A red card in the home-game against SLB Carcavelos finished the league prematurely. The fact that X-tenzo didn’t have a striker in the home-game against The Skunks, which resulted in a draw, wasn’t even important anymore. X-tenzo, the man with a mission, will have to fulfill his mission some other time.

Champion: The Skunks!
The Skunks played a flawless season. Vlalex, de Zoeloes and X-tenzo were able to keep them to a draw, but apart from that he ruled the league. The second A-division title in a row, and the fourth in succession for Israel. A masterly achievement!

An honorable mention goes to de Zoeloes. A team that never really competed for the title, but performed very well throughout the season, fighting around 5th place continuously.
The next good performance goes to Raffin and his Cheathunters. His first two weeks were very disappointing, but after that he just kept moving up.
SLB Carcavelos had a similar story. Their first two weeks were disastrous, but then they recovered very well.
FC Marlboro had a decent season too. Maybe the fans had some disappointing home-matches, but they did pretty good at away-games.
RSCA Prince started good, but the second half of the season was disappointing. Yet he never really had to fear relegation.

The fight against relegation in the A-Division was hard and strenuous. 4 teams lived between hope and fear in the second half. Slavia Kobylisy, FC Wageningen, FC De Rekenbreinen and KV Joy fought for just 1 spot in the end.

KV Joy started the season weak and recovered too late from that. He peaked at wrong times and didn’t have luck on his side.
FC De Rekenbreinen wasn’t sure if he should go for it 100%. Maybe this doubt is what caused the relegation, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. Only manager KVK Dries can judge on that.
FC Wageningen had two easy games at the start to put them ahead, they got into a victory-rush and stayed on top for almost another week. But the rush couldn’t last forever, and the lack of pure quality couldn’t just be compensated by hard work and good will. The team slowly sinked below the red line, and couldn’t do much to avoid relegation.

Through all this, Slavia Kobylisy was able to stay in the A-division. It didn’t look good for a long time, good results and bad ones took turns, but they had some nice highlights, which was enough for them.

Two teams didn’t even fight for it from the start. Former Champion Maccbi Natanya and Oprescu Team didn’t try at all. After a spirited start with some disappointing results, FC Rtyne joined them.

Next season, we will see some great new names in the A-division:
Nop’s Heroes and FC Bruggenhof, both previous winners of the A-division, will be there.
Also the ambitous Frrfrr, UEFA Cup II winner AS Bosman, rising star XAR and Sjarel’s Westel will play among the best SP has to offer. These are fantastic names that certainly fit in the A-division, and it makes me expect a very exciting season!

A division report

Three weeks so far in the new season and first cards have been shaken in the A-division. Before the start of the competition there was no real top favourite, but as much as five competitors for the title.

FC X-Tenzo started as a comet and obtained rapidly 24/24, but left in the third week a bit of its pluck with thin 1/6 in two top games against The Skunks and Maccbi Natanya. The most ambitious manager of SP  nevertheless stands still in control of the ranking and you can speak of a nice first shutter of the competition with 31/36.

Its biggest opponent seems to be The Skunks. Without the incorrect draw in the match against KV Joy, they stood perhaps with 1 point advantage, instead of 1 point behind.

The title holder, Maccbi Natanya, meanwhile follows 4 points behind FC X-Tenzo and has to pull out all the stops for its third successive title in a row. With 4 points behind, he has not yet lost everything, but taking into account the old ages of his best players, it becomes a particularly difficult task for Sly. but also the third place isn’t safe yet! FC Vesalius and the revelation of this season, RSCA Prince, stand on respectively two and three points of the strong manager from Israel.

Behind the top five a large breach of six points lets out. KV Joy stand on that sixth place, with as many points as De Zoeloe’s. AS Vlalex is the biggest disappointment with scarcely 16 points from 12 games and stands on the eighth place. Westel and Bąbelki are still above the relegation zone, which cannot be said of Sokol Oldřichovice, The Cheathunters, SLB Carcavelos and SK Beveren. And finally we have Glorybuffalos and Kauno Grybai, they let it sail this season, and stand entirely below the ranking.

It still promises to be a tense week in the run to the autumn title, FC X-Tenzo has a game against KV Joy, where little teams picked up something in this competition, and must still play against RSCA Prince, which seems entirely launched with a nice 12/12 score last week. The Skunks has to score a three pointer at AS Vlalex, to be able to compete for the autumn title. It also becomes an important week for the relegation candidates, teams as The Cheathunters, SLB Carcavelos and SK Beveren must try to gather as many points as possible in the coming relegation-games.

General Classification after 12 games played in the A-division:

1        FC X-Tenzo 31

2        The Skunks 30

3        Maccbi Natanya 27

4        FC Vesalius 25

5        RSCA Prince 24

6        KV Joy 18

7        De Zoeloe’s 18

8        AS Vlalex 16

9        Westel 14

10    Bąbelki 14

11    Sokol Oldřichovice 13

12    The Cheathunters 13

13    SLB Carcavelos 11

14    SK Beveren 11

15    Glorybuffalos 3

16    Kauno Grybai 1

 

By Raffin

Maccbi Natanya grabs first period title!

Last weekend, Maccbi Natanya celebrated their well deserved first period title. While the second period has only just begun, with Nespereira losing a game, there is already a six-point gap between the biggest title contenders, a luxury which Maccbi Natanya couldn’t achieve during the entire first period. So things are looking great for the still unbeaten 5-star team from manager Sly. A 5-star team with more than 5 star players, of course. Behind the unreachable leader, Nespereira finds himself in a real dilemma after being beaten on the first day of the first period. He’s 6 points loose from the third in row, but faces a gap of 6 points with the leader. Should he keep looking up or rather start looking down? He is probably the only candidate to kick the leader of his throne.

In the meanwhile, behind Maccbi Natanya and Nespereira, a foursome has established itself in the sub top region. RSCA Prince and Vlalex lead FC Bruggenhof and kfc de pomp by 2 points. They will have no problems and will have a quiet season with maybe a surprise against Sly and his team. The relegation battle strikes places 14 up to 7, with eight teams located in a margin of 5 points. Nop’s Heroes, Babelki, SCS and AC Rossoneri are on a safe spot at the moment. Westel, KV Joy, FC Unirea Iasi and Godsheide VV are in the danger zone but can be in a much better position after a few match days. The opposite is also possible though. Finally, everyone already knows that FC Diepenbeek and the glassbell don’t stand a chance.

A very promising second period seems to have started, if you ask me! Will the top order still change? And who will be able to save themselves after 14 match days? We’re already looking forward to it!

By Badbuffalo
Translated by Matt

A division

Last season, the sixteenth since the official start, we experienced a second Dutch title. AS Vlalex, managed by the sympathetic Vlalex, was able to bring his biggest trophy ever back home. After the lost cup finale at the end of season fifteen, he succeeded in winning the cup with the big ears. AS Vlalex is really going strong recently, the lost cup finale, overall champion in season sixteen and after two weeks in season seventeen, we can find him on second position in the ranking. A tremendous performance for a tremendous manager with a tremendous team. A standing ovation would not be out of place!

After the title last season, manager Vlalex had to give away the leading position after eight matches. Not to just anybody, no, the new leader is Maccbi Natanya, with a 22/24 and three points ahead of his rivals he is the hot favourite for the title in A. Before the start of the season manager Sly bought a few superstars on the top of their career. We can easily say that no manager before has succeeded in collecting such a player potential. No wonder that we all believe this is the team that needs to be beaten. The only points he lost can be put on the account of Lord Random, this stresses the fact that this team can only be stopped by a few instances of very bad luck.

The standards in the A division are raised every season again and Maccbi Natanya is the first team in a long time that really sticks out and that is aware of that. Maybe we have to wait for a wave of injuries or an undeserved loss of points to see him fall behind. We’ll have to wait and see who is going to follow in Maccbi Natanya’s wake. Apart from AS Vlalex, teams like Nespereira and Babelki have gone ahead very well. Right behind you’ll find the Betekom twins FC Bruggenhof and kfc de pomp. And next there’s the abdominal middle group, that stretches to place thirteen. Nop’s Heroes, RSCA Prince, SCS and AC Rossoneri are still in the safe zone now. Westel, KV JOY and GodsheideVV are lagging behind on them just a bit. A bit further, but with already four points behind on the safe tenth position, we can find B2 Champion FC Unirea Iasi. FC Diepenbeek and the glassbell have lost such an enormous amount of teamspirit by their activity on the transferlist that relegation will be inevitable. They are still waiting for the first points.

With only three Belgian teams in the top ten and also four teams that have just promoted it goes without saying that this is a surprising start of the competition. It has all the signs of becoming a nice season and it would be interesting to find out whether the predictions uttered on the forum will come true. Good luck to you all!

by Badbuffalo

Final report Division A, season 15

What a season it was! What a conclusion! Not Westel, who, if we remember well, was the leader of the A-division throughout the whole season, but kfc de pomp can hold the trophy up high!

And all that happened on the single last match day, unbelievable.

The excitement on the last day was immense, since there were as many as three teams who had a chance of winning the title: Westel as leader, kfc de pomp one point behind, and FC Bruggenhof one more point behind.

Kfc de pomp and FC Bruggenhof were able to claim a victory on the last day, while Westel didn’t reach further than a scoreless draw against AS Vlalex. This made Westel drop two positions, which was a big surprise to most of the SoccerProject managers.

About three seasons ago kfc de pomp just missed the title by a hair, but this time it all worked out. A more than beautiful result for manager Kenny in his 13^th consecutive season in the A-division. Congratulations!!

In the top-10 we find, of course, only tremendously strong teams. For kfc de pomp (1^st), FC Bruggenhof (2^nd) and Westel (3^rd) it was a very good season from a sportive point of view.

Rollerbal (4^th) was just a bit short of joining the top-3, but he too can look back at a successful season. For Mado (5^th) and AS Vlalex (6^th), a strong second half of the season undid a weak first half, and both can look back at a successful season, knowing that even more might have been possible. Next to AS Vlalex, The Guardians (7^th) are the only newcomers who survived their debut in the A-league with a nice season.

Nespereira (8^th) and ReesinGenk (10^th) were able to save themselves with a cunning sprint at the end of the season, while the glassbell (9^th) was safe fairly soon, but had a little downfall in the end.

Besides these ten teams, who will compete in the A-division again, there are also six teams who will have to say goodbye to the top division. Amongst the six relegated teams are a stunning 4 newcomers! It turned out AC Rossoneri (11^th) came short to make it during their debut-year in the A-division, while Drambuie United (14^th), AFC AFA (15^th) and De Zoeloe’s (16^th) regarded this year as a sabbatical and barely competed at all. With Forza Buffalo-forum I myself will disappear from the highest league. After the last relegation FB-f was able to achieve a promotion right away, something that seems impossible this time. The last team that relegated was probably the most remarkable one: Nop’s Heroes (13^th) relegates only one season after becoming the overall SP-champion. Manager Nopp clearly put all of his effort in last season, resulting in the championship, and won’t mourn too much about this relegation. Who knows, maybe we will see him back soon enough.

Next season the A-division can embrace six newcomers, all of them debutants! Lazio 1900 (Italy, 1^st in B.1), RSCA Prince (Belgium, 2^nd in B.1), FC Diepenbeek (Belgium, 1^st in B.2), Babelki (Poland, 2^nd in B.2), KV JOY (Belgium, 1^st in B.3) and LensDreamTeam (Netherlands, 2^nd in B.3) are the lucky ones.

Good Luck!

By Badbuffalo, translated by Sljivovica

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A division

Winter break is over and should be digested after a week, but with another eleven games, spread over three weeks, we can expect some high quality battles between only the top teams in Soccerproject. Westel still leading, with a 4 point gap to his closest opponent kfc de pomp, who themselves have a 3 point lead onto number 3, FC Bruggenhof. They are the only teams that can be sure that they won’t relegate, how weird it may sound.

Behind the Top-3, there is a very large but close encountered “midfield”, meaning the spots four until eleven. Rollerbal is at four, but has only 4 points more than number 11, Mado. Between that there are six teams that may fear for relegation, but have their faith in their own hands. The Guardians, the glassbell, Forza Buffalo-forum, ReesingGenk, AC Rossoneri en AS Vlalex are all within a 1 game range and so could be cought up by Mado at position eleven. Every point may be decisive for them, the more because it is believed that only one of the teams that is on a relegation spot, may be capable of pulling itself out of that.

Nespereira, twelfth and playing weak lately, may be only 5 points behind a safe spot, but his poor form isn’t showing any improvement. The greatest surprise is at place thirteen: Nop’s Heroes, last year’s champion. Nop’s Heroes does not succeed to get his team on the rails, and is getting into a hopeless situation. Age, lots of bans and the pressure to perform because of last year’s title, seem to become a fatal coctail. Another, though equally letal coctail was served to Drambuie United, AFC AFA and De Zoeloe’s, that never showed any interest in the competition.

Next week the situation may be totally different, but one thing is certain: yet again it will be an amazing and tense season!

 by Badbuffalo, translated by visje69

Report on the A division

Season 15 is going on for two weeks already. And the name of Westel is standing at the top of the ranking. Creator Sjarel has an excellent team for a few seasons, and for the first time since long he didn’t miss the start of S15. There’s enough quality in his team to gain many points. This is already proven by his team the seasons before. Because the team is in pole-position now, the question is raising if somebody can catch up with Sjarel.  A turn changed scenario for Westel, that’s used to join the group of followers.
Behind Westel there is a quite big group of average teams, stretching out till the zone of death. Nespereira, kfc de pomp and Forza Buffalo-Forum are currently on the closest position to the leader of division A. But also these 3 are closely followed by rollerbal, ReesingGenk, the glasbell, the Guardians, Nop’s Heroes and as tenth, AC Rosseneri. A quiet surprising thing is that Nop’s Heroes is 9 and FC Bruggenhof 11two people who owned the first and second place the season before. But their teamspirit is back raising, they will raise up in the ranks quickly. Behind FC Bruggenhof there are 5 teams in the red-zone. Mado, AS Vlalex, AFC AFA, Drambuie United and De Zoeloe’s, three Belgian teams and two Dutch.
The newcomers are failing at the moment. The first of them is ranked 8, The Guardians, closely followed by AC Rossoneri. Places 13 – 16 are also taken by newcomers. A very difficult start for those teams. But teams like AFC AFA and AS Vlalex must be able to show us better results. And with Drambuie United and De Zoeloe’s it seems to be that there are ‘merely’ two teams who will pass the competition by this season in A.
In other words, we can expect more battles than the season before and we’ll get a nice scenario. Fun!
By Badbuffalo, translated by Benjamin

Preview of season 15: The Newcomers!

While the cup is having its final run, everybody is of course already looking forward to the next season, already the 15th, with hope or fear. The teams who managed to keep their place in the highest division have done this by playing very strong and the ones who relegated were either to weak or their manager gave up. So it’s time to already go and take a look at the 6 new teams in A for the next season.

1. Nop’s Heroes (NL)
2. FC Bruggenhof (BE)
3. rollerbal (BE)
4. Westel (BE)
5. the glassbell (NL)
6. Mado (BE)
7. Forza Buffalo-forum (BE)
8. kfc de pomp (BE)
9. Nespereira (POR)
10. ReesingGenk (BE)

Champion B1 – Ac Rossoneri (IT) – alex ferguson
Manager alex ferguson is certainly not unknown to the SoccerProject world. For some seasons now, this strong Italian manager built up his team in the B and C Divisions and prepared it for A. With two promotions in a row, the Rossoneri prove that they’re ready to take the big step into the ‘Big World’. The team has a very talented primary team, but lacks some worthy substitutes on certain positions. It will not be an easy season, but who knows, maybe the Rossoneri will surprise us all in season 15!

Vice Champion B1 – Drambuie United (NL) – Ally
During season 13, Drambuie United already had the chance to experience the A Division, and after a promising season, manager Ally returns to the highest division of them all.
In season 13, the team turned out to be too weak, and in the upcoming season it still won’t be very easy. The team has chosen for youth and the question rises if the low team spirit won’t cause them severe point loss. Manager ally is probably also aware of this, and knows that it’s going to be a season of struggling and fighting for every point again. Will Drambuie United succeed this time in reaching a spot in the top ten, against all expectations?

Champion B2 – The Guardians (BE) – Hyperion
The Guardians have managed to get out of B2 after a delightful season. For several seasons the players of The Guardians were in B2 with changing success, but this time the difference in points was quite big, mostly because of a very balanced team.
It is a very strong team, but the level of the game in A is very high so it still won’t be easy to ensure a next season. This season the age of the players won’t be very crucial, but this could change towards the seasons beyond that. Manager Hyperion will have to find something for it. Is it a candidate to stay in A? Most certainly!

Vice Champion B2 – AS Vlalex (NL) – Vlalex
Many seasons ago, AS Vlalex was already considered a top manager and a team to keep an eye on by active managers. Together with Nespereira they crushed their adversaries in C Division and now they join up again after a season. It may sound weird but AS Vlalex seems to have a stronger team than champion The Guardians. AS Vlalex does play with an atypical line-up (5-3-2 just like Westel) so we’ll see if that makes a difference. He will certainly be a dangerous adversary for the top ten.

Champion B3 – De Zoeloe’s (BE) – nvdb
A little while ago the highlight in their SoccerProject career for De Zoeloe’s was to reach the cup final against Westel in season 12, but now the title in B3 (which is more than deserved) and the promotion to A is the most important fact in the club’s history. It shows that De Zoeloe’s aren’t a weak addition to A Division and come to take their chance. The team is broad and very well balanced but it may possibly lack some individual class which other teams in the A division do have. It will of course not be an easy season for nvdb & co but he should give it all he has!!!
Probably the season for De Zoeloe’s will start with a slightly lower team spirit, so any points gained in the first week could be crucial for the remainder of the season.
It will be fighting until the end, but who knows De Zoeloe’s might be able to dash out a hard right, followed by a killer left…

Vice Champion B3 – AFC Afa (NL) – Maupster
With Maupster, there are already 3 new Dutch managers in the A division. He managed to just stay ahead of KV Joy in the tables and that way, the team can take place between the biggest managers from sp after two promotions in a row. An on average young team, individually very strong but also aggressive: it is very hard to predict how this team will do in the highest league. The class is certainly there, but the aggression will also certainly cost points. But just like some other teams who managed to stay in A, AFC Afa shouldn’t be pessimistic and should just go for it. This team will not perform bad, unless Lord Random pulls a trick or two or the manager changes something dramatically.

It will be another very exciting season, or will Noppp decide different? Or will somebody else take over from Nop’s Heroes? More international than it has ever been, the competition will kick off blazing on Monday December 4th at 4 o´clock..

By Badbuffalo.
Translated by Matt.

Report A Division

Congratulations to Noppp and Nop’s Heroes! We could see it coming, but with only 3 days of play left it is official: we celebrate the first Dutch Champion of SoccerProject, and what a champion it is! His lead is telling, the results even more so. A historic event for SoccerProject, to have a non-Belgian team take the Main Prize! And, in my humble opinion, this will be the case more and more in the future. The internationalization of SoccerProject is now fully making its mark on the game, something we can only be pleased with. The challenge to the Belgian managers is there: they need to prove themselves, to give them a shot at a future title.

Behind the Champion powering through, we get to enjoy a lively battle for second and third spot. FC Bruggenhof, defending champions, is currently second and best placed with two points more than the number three. But we’re sure that the glassbell (yet again one of those darn Dutchmen) and rollerbal will have their say before the last whistle has blown. And even kfc de pomp whose in fifth spot, over Forza Buffalo-forum, Westel and Mado, ranked 8th, can mathematically still claim a place on the podium. A broad closely matched group in the middle of the table, which underlines the fierce struggle that is fought behind the champions Nop’s Heroes. Nespereira and ReesingGenk complete the top-10, and are assured of a prolonged stay in the highest division, knowing that number 11, FC Keisarit, remains unmanaged.

Along with FC Keisarit we see the expected teams being relegated: Beringen United, The Cheathunters, FC Nicosia (FC team), KVOllivier and TrAnEcIdS. Will they be able to stand their ground in B next season, or not? Will some succeed in getting back to A Division soon or will they drop even further back? The only hope this reporter/A-Division team manager has is that in the future A Division is no longer the end of the road for managers who decide to quit, or that relegation from it will not be the beginning of the end…

By Badbuffalo
Translation by Quansey

Report A Division

For the past thirteen seasons, SoccerProject has been ruled by a bunch of crazy Belgians. Thirteen seasons long there was a Belgian Champion in the top division of SoccerProject. But especially during the last seasons, more and more foreign players are starting to penetrate in the highest regions of the SoccerProject-community. Until now without success in division A, but season 14 may just be the one that changes it all….

Nineteen matches played, and on the number one spot, next to the team “Nop’s Heroes” we can spot the Dutch flag. Nop’s Heroes has already been doing very well the entire season, has an incredibly strong team, and has with a 3 and 5 points advantage on the Champions and the Runners-up of last season, FC Bruggenhof and Forza Buffalo-Forum, a nice bonus going into the last 11 games of the season. The competition for Noppp isn’t exactly a peace of cake, but I think that it surely is not unthinkable, that nop’s heroes finishes the season top of the league in division A, and by doing so become the first foreign SoccerProject Champions. Sensational!!!

We still didnt spot any Czechs in the higher divisions, although we can already say that this will only be a matter of time, before the largest nation within the SoccerProject-community will play it’s part in division A. The rest of the foreigners who occupy division A this season, aren’t doing a bad job either. The glassbell (NED) proudly takes in a nice fifth place, Nespereira (POR) quite safely on a tenth position. Quite safely because the gap with number eleven, FC keisarit (FIN), who won’t get that many points anymore for the manager is hardly active, will only continue to grow.
All teams within the Top-10 are in fact expected to easily avoid relegation. Rollerbal leads a group of four players, followed by Glassbell, Westel and kfc de pomp, while only 5 points back, Mado, ReesingGenk and nespereira have almost assured themselves of a spot in the A division next season.

Tough words, knowing there are still eleven matches to be battled out?
From the current six teams that are now on a relegation spot, will be expected to perform a miracle in orde to save themselves from relegation. An overview…
FC Keisarit (11e -6 pts): The ongoing inactivity of the manager and a therefore completely abandoned team, makes a rescue nearly impossible.
Diegem (12e -10ptn): manager The Iceman has left the game, sold most of his players, low teamspirit, and not longer enough quality, so mission impossible
Beringen United (13e -15 ptn): Finally back at decent team spirit, the gap seems too big for manager Dark Tiger, and so relegation seems very logical, though this team will be the one that probably takes most points in the eleven games left.
The Cheathunters (14e -17 ptn): Selling off players, buying new players, it’s the cause of the low teamspirit, and so rescue is out of the question
KVOllivier (15e -17ptn): Manager aquaboy decided to have a transition year, because his team was found incapable for the highest division, rescue was inevitable, but yet a bigger opportunity to reinforce his team for the upcoming season.
TrAnEcIdS (16e -28ptn): After big sales in his team and purchasing an entire new team, this team is far too weak plus a low teamspirit, and so relegation is certain already.

Will we, after all, still have an exiting season ending? As we can see quite much is decided already, but we all hope there are still some surprises waiting for us

By Badbuffalo
Translation by visje69