Dirtydutch 9 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I'd like to get into European football, but I don't know anything about it; the leagues seem so confusing. Anyone wanna' give me a quick rundown of the setup over there? Link to post Share on other sites
DonkSlayer 1 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Meh, briefly:The "major" leagues of Europe are the English Premiership (arguably the strongest in Europe), Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera League and the French Ligue 1. Oh, the German Bundesliga is a signficant one as well.Unlike American soccer, the leagues are table-based and the primary emphasis is to win your league. There are no divisions within each league level, so, the 20-team English Premiership, everyone plays each other twice, and the team with the most points at the end (3 for a win, 1 for a tie) wins the league. This is the biggest accomplishment for a team. The top 2-3 teams of each domestic league will be "promoted" until they get to the premier league in their country..so the Coca-Cola Championship league (Division 1 soccer in England) have their 1st and 2nd place teams promoted to the premiership and have 4 teams play-off for the 3rd spot. Likewise, the bottom 3 premier clubs will be "relegated" to the lower division.Usually, the top 6 or so teams in each major league of Europe and the top 1-2 in the smaller leagues will advance to one of the two major European tourneys, the UEFA Cup or the Champions League, the latter being the more prestigous of the two. There are also at least 2 domestic tournaments that teams can play in; and these are volunteer entries and can be entered by teams in different levels of league within the same countries. To win one of these is nice but not as nice as winning your own league/being promoted to the Premiership or getting to play in Europe, etc. This is pretty much how all the countries over there play. Link to post Share on other sites
Dirtydutch 9 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Meh, briefly:The "major" leagues of Europe are the English Premiership (arguably the strongest in Europe), Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera League and the French Ligue 1. Oh, the German Bundesliga is a signficant one as well.Unlike American soccer, the leagues are table-based and the primary emphasis is to win your league. There are no divisions within each league level, so, the 20-team English Premiership, everyone plays each other twice, and the team with the most points at the end (3 for a win, 1 for a tie) wins the league. This is the biggest accomplishment for a team. The top 2-3 teams of each domestic league will be "promoted" until they get to the premier league in their country..so the Coca-Cola Championship league (Division 1 soccer in England) have their 1st and 2nd place teams promoted to the premiership and have 4 teams play-off for the 3rd spot. Likewise, the bottom 3 premier clubs will be "relegated" to the lower division.Usually, the top 6 or so teams in each major league of Europe and the top 1-2 in the smaller leagues will advance to one of the two major European tourneys, the UEFA Cup or the Champions League, the latter being the more prestigous of the two. There are also at least 2 domestic tournaments that teams can play in; and these are volunteer entries and can be entered by teams in different levels of league within the same countries. To win one of these is nice but not as nice as winning your own league/being promoted to the Premiership or getting to play in Europe, etc. This is pretty much how all the countries over there play.Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
Dirtydutch 9 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 I've long fancied myself a Newcastle man, but I know so little about it... I think I'm going to start getting really into this. What time of years do they play? Link to post Share on other sites
DonkSlayer 1 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I've long fancied myself a Newcastle man, but I know so little about it... I think I'm going to start getting really into this. What time of years do they play?Premier league starts on Sat. Will be interesting to see how your boys will do. Link to post Share on other sites
Dirtydutch 9 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Premier league starts on Sat. Will be interesting to see how your boys will do.Is there a way to watch in America? Link to post Share on other sites
socalpoker_j 1 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Is there a way to watch in America?FSC- the Fox Soccer Channel broadcasts games from all of the world's top leagues, except La Liga (Spain). I have it as a part of a bundle on digital cable. Link to post Share on other sites
brvheart 1,768 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Is there a way to watch in America?DirecTV has a season pass like NFL Sunday Ticket that has all the games, but I'm sure it's SUPER expensive.oh... and I can save you a couple hours of wasted time... Saturday's game will end 0-0 and everyone will say how awesome it was. Enjoy. Link to post Share on other sites
Dirtydutch 9 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 DirecTV has a season pass like NFL Sunday Ticket that has all the games, but I'm sure it's SUPER expensive.oh... and I can save you a couple hours of wasted time... Saturday's game will end 0-0 and everyone will say how awesome it was. Enjoy.See response in OT. Link to post Share on other sites
DonkSlayer 1 Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 FSC is the best unless you get PPV, Dirty.Braveheart, you're just jealous because lots of people watched the WC Dirty, I have this sick little ritual I do on Sat. mornings during Premier League season...if there's a big game, I get up at 715am on Sat all hungover, cook me some eggs and bacon, watch the game from 730-930am on FSC, then go back to bed for the rest of the day OR sleep on the hammoc if it's nice outside. It's bliss. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I am looking forward to Saturday. Finally the season starts up again. Got a little fix with the Community Cup last weekend but I am ready to go! Go Fulham! Link to post Share on other sites
DonkSlayer 1 Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I am looking forward to Saturday. Finally the season starts up again. Got a little fix with the Community Cup last weekend but I am ready to go! Go Fullham!I thought Bocanegra was a steal for my fantasy team. Hope he starts a lot. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I thought Bocanegra was a steal for my fantasy team. Hope he starts a lot.Ahh, that reminded me I still needed to pull Van Nistlerooy off my team. I have Bocanegra as well. Where are you playing at? Link to post Share on other sites
DonkSlayer 1 Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Ahh, that reminded me I still needed to pull Van Nistlerooy off my team. I have Bocanegra as well. Where are you playing at?Premier League.com. Free but lots of fun, you pick your team name and jersey, etc. And there aren't trades, you buy/sell depending on how your roll looks.I have Rooney, Lua Lua and Keane as my forwards. Was starting LL and Rooney but I yanked Rooney b/c I heard he's doubtful for the opener. Paid for Gerrard to captain it. Hahnemann is my starting keep. Picked up Carragher for the backfield too. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Premier League.com. Free but lots of fun, you pick your team name and jersey, etc. And there aren't trades, you buy/sell depending on how your roll looks.I have Rooney, Lua Lua and Keane as my forwards. Was starting LL and Rooney but I yanked Rooney b/c I heard he's doubtful for the opener. Paid for Gerrard to captain it. Hahnemann is my starting keep. Picked up Carragher for the backfield too.Ahh cool, that is where I am at as well. So Rooney no go? I will have to pull him. I have Keane and Henry up front, Campo, Mendes, C. Ronaldo, and Malbranque, in the midfield, and Given is my keeper. Link to post Share on other sites
KDawgCometh 2 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Is there a way to watch in America?Fox Soccer Channel, GolTV, and Setanta Sports. To get Setanta you have to have DirecTV and pay another 12 bucks a month for it. Setanta also gives you a ton of Rugby too. FSC comes with most Digital Cable packages and GolTv has to be specially purchased for cable, but some providers may not have it Link to post Share on other sites
Filesharer 0 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Premier League.com. Free but lots of fun, you pick your team name and jersey, etc. And there aren't trades, you buy/sell depending on how your roll looks.I have Rooney, Lua Lua and Keane as my forwards. Was starting LL and Rooney but I yanked Rooney b/c I heard he's doubtful for the opener. Paid for Gerrard to captain it. Hahnemann is my starting keep. Picked up Carragher for the backfield too.I'm pretty sure Lua Lua is injured too. I have Berbatov and Shevchenko up front, lampard, alonso, nolan and benayoun in midfield, and dawson, neill, ferdinand and distin at the back. Paul Robinson's my keeper. Link to post Share on other sites
DonkSlayer 1 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I'm pretty sure Lua Lua is injured too. I have Berbatov and Shevchenko up front, lampard, alonso, nolan and benayoun in midfield, and dawson, neill, ferdinand and distin at the back. Paul Robinson's my keeper.How on earth did you afford that team..did you do a draft or something? Link to post Share on other sites
Crazou 0 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 A great game of soccer management is www.hattrick.org but there's not the real players.Soccer in Europe is really #1 sport. Some weeks we could have more than 5 or 6 games broadcasted on TV (without Cable). Living in France, and support Paris Saint Germain (PSG) which plays in French Ligue 1.http://www.psg.frThe three majors leagues are in England, Spain and Italy, followed by France and Germany. Link to post Share on other sites
gkunit20 1 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Newcastle United will win the Premiership this year. That is all. Link to post Share on other sites
DonkSlayer 1 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Newcastle United will win the Premiership this year. That is all.I think the match against Wigan will tell a lot about how those two teams will fare this year. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I think the match against Wigan will tell a lot about how those two teams will fare this year.That is the early game ins't it?Also a big PSG fan. I wish I could get access to a lot more games and leagues. Link to post Share on other sites
gkunit20 1 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 That is the early game ins't it?Also a big PSG fan. I wish I could get access to a lot more games and leagues.Check the sig. This saturday. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Check the sig. This saturday.I know they play Saturday, just can't remember which of the three games it is on FSC this Saturday. I want to say 1st one. Link to post Share on other sites
Verdimme 0 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Its all about Ajax, baby Soccer is indeed #1 sport by far here in Europe.Ajax is gonna kick some *** this year..Huntelaar, Stam..Gabri. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now