Mercury League

Mercury League

Countries	Mercury
Confederation	EMUFA
Founded	2010
First season	2011
Number of teams	60
Levels on pyramid	1-4
Relegation to	MeFA Conference
Domestic cup(s)	Mercury FA Cup MeFA Minor Cup
International cup(s)	EMUFA Champions' League
Current champions	Dynamo Deacon (2020)
Most championships	Tow Law FC (5)
Website	http://mercuryfa.webs.com
2021 Mercury League

The Mercury League is the highest level football competition system in Mercury, consisting of four divisions. It was the only football league in Mercury between 2010 and 2011, run by the MeFA. The league involved six teams, each scheduled to play 20 games (four times against each team), however, after the third fixture was played, the fixture list was lost, meaning the league had to be cancelled. In 2011, it was announced that the league would be reformed as Mercury's second division, containing six teams playing ten games, with the top two teams being promoted to the Four Nations league.

History

The Mercury League was founded in 2010 with six teams. The season continued for three rounds of fixtures, before the fixture list was lost. The competition was replaced by a knockout cup for the remainder of the season.

In the second season, the clubs competing in the original Mercury League moved into the Four Nations league system, and were replaced by six new teams in the Mercury League. The competition was won by Mercury Armed Forces FC. In 2012, the league format underwent further changes. The teams that had broken off to join the Four Nations rejoined the Mercury League, forming the Premier League, with the remaining teams forming the Second League.

Inclusion of Nova English clubs

In 2013, the Mercury FA announced that the four highest ranked Nova English clubs would gain entry to the Mercury League. The Premier League was expanded to 12 teams, with the top four teams from the 2012 Second League being promoted. The Second League was expanded to 10 teams, with top two Nova English teams, and the top four teams from the 2012 Amateur League being promoted, and the Amateur League was rebraned as the Third League, also expanding to 10 teams.

2017 expansion

The Mercury League expanded once again for the 2017 season, adding in a new fourth division, as well as increasing the number of teams in each division except the Mercury Premier League from 10 to 14 teams.

Financial Fair Play regulations

The financial affairs of clubs within the Mercury League are regulated by law. Clubs must not overspend in the pursuit of success, and must not enter into unsustainable or dangerous levels of debt which might threaten their long-term survival. Club directors are legally considered to be personally accountable for any breaches of these regulations, however the Mercury League imposes its own sanctions on clubs that are found guilty of any financial misconduct.

Penalties

The penalties for entering administration vary from league to league. All instances incur a points deduction, with subsequent breaches resulting in relegation and eventually expulsion from the league. Clubs in divisions below the Premier League are given the option of accepting a survival package from the central Premier League funding pot. Acceptance of the package disqualifies the club from promotion for a minimum of three seasons. This also incurs a points deduction and counts towards a club's count of insolvency events, so may not be used as a means of avoiding the penalty of entering administration. A separate category of penalty exists for "unsafe financial conduct", which covers other situations that don't specifically result in insolvency, but that do create an unnecessary financial risk for the club.

League	Points deduction
	Administration	Accepting a survival package	Unsafe financial conduct
Premier League	15	–	Up to 8
Second League	10	10	Up to 6
Third League	10	10	Up to 6
Fourth League	12	12	Up to 6

Results

Year	Winners	Runners-up	Second League	Third League	Fourth League
2011	Mercury Armed Forces FC	IJSC FC	-	-	-
2012	Tow Law FC	Dynamo Deacon	Mercury City	-	-
2013	May Wanderers	Tow Law FC	West Grinstead FC	Port Barret FC	-
2014	Tow Law FC	May Wanderers	AFC Heartpool	Made in Heaven	-
2015	Tow Law FC	Bohemian Rhapsodies	Innuendo FC	Breakthru FC	-
2016	Tow Law FC	Bohemian Rhapsodies	Mullen Albion	The Red Specials	-
2017	Port Barret FC	Tow Law FC	Breakthru FC	A Night at the Football	Penbury Electric FC
2018	Tow Law FC	Dynamo Deacon	Taylor Sporting Club	A Kind of Magic	FC Henscar
2019	Cook Island FC	Dynamo Deacon	A Night at the Football	One Vision	Yorkwell Town
2020	Dynamo Deacon	May Wanderers	Port Barret FC	The Red Specials	Hawking Black Holes
2021					Settington Rovers

2021 Teams

Premier League

• A Night at the Football
• AFC Heartpool
• Bohemian Rhapsodies
• Breakthru FC
• Cook Island FC
• Dynamo Deacon
• Flash FC (promoted)
• Kuiper Town FC
• May Wanderers
• Mercury City
• Mullen Albion (promoted)
• One Vision (promoted)
• Port Barret FC (promoted)
• Queen Athletic (promoted)
• St John's FC (promoted)
• Taylor Sporting Club
• Tow Law FC
• West Grinstead FC

Second League

• A Kind of Magic
• Break Free Athletic
• Fulditch United
• Hammond Rangers (promoted)
• Holham Park FC (promoted)
• Innuendo FC
• Made in Heaven
• Mercury Armed Forces FC (promoted)
• Mercury Phoenix
• Penbury Electric FC
• Ponthorne Town (promoted)
• Soxceter FC
• The Red Specials (promoted)
• Yorkwell Town (promoted)

Third League

• Arleness FC
• Besford Town (promoted)
• Bisminster Harriers
• Cunston Rovers (promoted)
• Dunleigh Eagles
• FC Henscar (promoted)
• Fenhouse United
• Halley Comets
• Hawking Black Holes (promoted)
• Mercury City Messengers (promoted)
• Nafferton Town
• Olbers' Paradoxes (promoted)
• Railminster Robins
• Show Must Go On

Fourth League

• Bybridge Town FC
• Castleton Lions (promoted)
• Compton Motors FC (promoted)
• Coulomb Chargers (promoted)
• Dissingham Town (promoted)
• Enderby Town Rockets
• Gyeongju FC (promoted)
• Keyfoss Knights
• Kincester City
• Longstoke City
• Lowhouse FC
• Settington Rovers
• Torburn Miracles
• Upton FC (promoted)