Super League Football

From MicrasWiki
Revision as of 11:56, 23 June 2020 by Ef2000 (talk | contribs) (→‎Teams)
Jump to navigationJump to search
Super League Football
Countries Floria Floria
Confederation Aefa.png AEFA
Founded 2018
First season 2018-19
Number of teams 20
Levels on pyramid 1
Domestic cup(s) Florian Cup
International cup(s) AEFA Champions' League
AEFA Cup
Current champions Northcliff United
(2019-20)
Most championships Northcliff United (2)
TV partners Red Sports
FBC Sport (highlights)
2020–21 Florian Football season

The Super League Football (Florian:Super lìog Pêl-droed) or SLF, is the top tier of professional football in the Confederate States of Floria. Contested by 20 teams, the teams are split into two conferences of ten teams and each team plays a total of 38 games. Twelve teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the end of season playoffs and qualification for Apollonian competitions is decided via an overall table.

Super League Football is a corporation in which member clubs and its supporter groups act as shareholders. The season operates from September to May and most games are played on Saturday afternoons but matches on Fridays and Mondays are common. One Etournian team competes in the league and therefore the league is an intercontinental competition, the first and only in Micrasian football. Super League Football is one of the most popular football leagues in the world and fifth most popular sports league in the Confederate States of Floria after the FFL,ICHL,SLB and Super League.

Competition format

Football is a winter sport in Floria and the season runs from September to late May. Teams are geographically divided into two conferences and during the course of the season, each club plays the others twice at home and away for a total of 38 matches. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. At the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The top six teams from each conference advance to the SLF playoffs. The teams which finish 3rd to 6th qualify for the Wildcard round, comprising of one knockout game with the teams with the higher position in the regular season standings gaining a home advantage against their opponent. The top two teams from each conference enter the Conference Semi-Finals which consists of two legs. The winner of the Semifinals then advances to the Conference Final which is also made up of two legs. The winners of the Conference Finals then advance to the Grand Final held at Sports City.

Teams

In the inaugural season of Super League Football featured 20 teams. Twice the size of its predecessor, the Florian Premier League. The league was open to expansion in the future and hoped it would have 26 teams by 2020 however from 2019 onwards expansion plans were scrapped and promotion and relegation was introduced. Due to restructure, eight teams were relegated, leavin 12 teams left in the top tier. In 2020 at the end of the 2019-20 season, the league would reverse it's decision on promotion and relegation expanded back to twenty teams. The current teams are as follows:

League Champions

No. Season Champion
1 2018–19 Northcliff United
2 2019–20 Northcliff United

Wins by club

History

Super League Football was founded in early 2018, after the breakaway of the Florian Premier League from the Florian FA, after many clubs were unhappy with how the top tier competition was run. The first season kicked off in August 2018 and lasted until May 2019. 20 teams competed in the inaugural season with Northcliff United winning the league. After a one-off league restructure, eight teams were relegated at the end of the season to accommodate the newly created second tier, Super League Football 2. A season later, Super League Football 2 was scrapped and eight teams were promoted to Super League Football resulting in the league returning back to twenty teams only this time the twenty teams would be split into two conferences of ten teams and an introduction of a playoff system.

Organisation

Ownership

Super League Football in its inaugural season conducted under a single-entity structure in which teams and player contracts were directly acquired by the league. Each team had an investor-operator that was a shareholder in the league. The league had 20 investor-operators for its 20 clubs and therefore each club only had one each. However, Super League Football clubs approved an overhaul in league operation and it was announced on the 31st March 2019, that each club in both divisions must have 30% of their shares owned by its members and the rest by private investors. If a team does not have 30% of its shares owned by its members, teams face a risk of being expelled from the league.

Player purchase and salaries

The average salary for the league's players is $4 million (Cr 4 million). Player salaries are limited by a luxury tax to make the league more competitive. The current luxury tax threshold of the league is $200 million for each team. The league operates two transfer windows, however, in the second transfer window, it has been traditionally difficult to get players abroad as most leagues on Micras only have one transfer window. Therefore foreign players are mostly bought in the first transfer window. The league has a homegrown player policy and the league only allows teams to have 30% of their squads made up of foreign players. Failure to do so leads to points deductions and fines. The league during its inaugural season operated a Marquee Player Rule, which allowed teams to sign six players whose salaries exceeded the maximum cap. Corian footballer, Danijel Despotovic was the first player signing under this rule. Like other sports leagues in Floria, players can be traded or waived until an agreed deadline each season.

Youth development

Youth development is a hugely important policy of Super League Football. All clubs in Super League Football must operate a youth academy which accommodates youth teams from Under 7's to Under 23's. Most Super League Football sides enter their U23 sides into the Elite Development League, a qualifying tournament for the Florian Trophy to give youth players more competitive experience. Notable clubs which have produced high-quality players include Northcliff United, Northcliff City and most notably, Dragonmoor FC who has produced players such as Ryan Clark and Sam Butcher. Young prospects can either sign with a Super League Football team via their academies or declare for the SLF SuperDraft if they have opted to go through the college system.

New Stadium policy

Media coverage

Floria

All Super League Football are broadcasted by either Red Sports, ESN or FBC Sport. The highlights show of the league is provided by FBC Sport.

International

In Krasnocoria, coverage of the league is broadcasted by Stadiosport. In Freeland, coverage is provided on PRF 1. In countries without a broadcast deal, matches are broadcast on a streaming app. In Mercury, the league has minor coverage but Mercurian TV channels regularly show highlights of recent matches.