The World's Greatest League
Long has been the argument which questions, which exactly is the best football league in the world? Many deciding factors weigh in when people make choices about which their favourite is. For some it’s the excitement value, others, the number of great teams and the challengers for the title sometimes even perhaps it’s the place where the best players from across the globe compete or where passion, drive, raw aggression win everything.
In a bid to pay tribute to so much fantastic domestic football we review several of the most popular leagues from throughout the globe.
In a bid to pay tribute to so much fantastic domestic football we review several of the most popular leagues from throughout the globe.
11. Q League (Qatar)
The Far East may not be the first place you think of when it comes to successful football given the importance of football in Middle Eastern Europe, but it is where one of the most famous Leagues in the World is played. Since it’s creation in 1973, the Qatar League has made steady progress and now become one of the best known because of its ability to attract World Class names to it shores. With ten teams in the top division names such as Romario, Desailly, Hierro and Jay Jay Okotcha have enjoyed career lengthening spells in the rejuvenated Q League since its expansion in 1996.
Backed by government money the National Championship which runs between September and May has brought much joy to a country devout of any footballing success. With former International players wishing to end their career by playing in developing surrounds (not to mention earning a fair wad of cash), the Q League was designed with the hope of developing not only an interesting spectacle but with the help of players in their twighlight years it was believed that young footballers would learn no better lessons from former greats. Qatar, a country which is more known throughout the World for its riches not football teams takes itself seriously and the QFA itself hopes that the country will one day pass through preliminary stages of World Cup qualifications. With the League hoping to add two more teams to its structure only time will tell how much of a success Asia’s best known league has been.
10. The Championship (England)
Set up in 2003/4 as part of the redevelopment of the English Football League the Championship is one of the most interesting and unpredictable competitions in World football. Boasting a position underneath England’s Premier competition the Championship is potentially the most diverse and clambering out of the division is probably the toughest challenges in English football. Mixing together teams with ex-Premiership experience, sides full of emerging youth talent and ‘smaller teams’ coming up from League One and Two to the Championship, the division is always full of surprises and it’s standings frequently changing on a week by week basis. With the re-branding of English football taking place to ensure the safety and security of clubs not earning the millions offered by the Premiership the league is not only competitive but also highly intriguing to watch right through the season. With the added excitement of end of season playoffs and the opportunity for the winner to net almost £20 million in bonuses the twenty four team competition is definitely worth a look for those who are fans of entertaining, exciting encounters almost every week of the year.
9. Campeonato (Brazil)
The Brazilian football league may not be able to keep up with the big reputation of the nation as a footballing whole however it stands as a development for players who often move onto ply their trade in Europe before becoming experiences and talented enough to wear the gold and green of the Brazilian national team. With teams histories dating back well into the 18th century, (Though the league did not develop until the 1970’s) the mainly home grown player filled clubs participate in a league season which runs from April to December. Similar to the English format with twenty teams and a the transfer window opening during the mid season break, the Brazilian League is notorious for having many young and upcoming players looking to make their name in the ‘massive’ leagues of Europe, it is not inconceivable for a team to have changed it’s entire starting line up from beginning to end of the season. With the top two sides in Brazil’s League given the chance to participate against other South American opponents in the prestige competition of the Copa Libatadores the marathon season ensures that on all fronts supporters of Brazilian football clubs are entertained. In Brazil the top division is known ‘Serie A’, where each season four teams are relegated from the league with a replacement four being promoted from the ‘Serie B’. It is well known in South American for Brazilian football to make seasonal rule changes and with the league developing a double round robin system instead of the playoff format which is used to run and avoiding the problems which have dogged the Championship in the past, the quality of play in the Campeonato is finally doing the talking.
8. Bundesliga (Germany)
German’s are often associated with succinct and consistent football and the Bundesliga is exactly what you would expect from the national league of the country. Created in 1963 the League plays host to frequent changes in the way it is run. The top division is known as the First Bundesliga (With the term for the German League literally translated as Nationwide-League) and only Hamburg can lay claim to being the only side present in every season of the top flight. Currently the league starts in early August and ends in late May, with a winter break of six weeks present between mid-December and the end of January. The bottom three are relegated to the Second Bundesliga and the top three in the 2nd flight of German Football are promoted. Traditionally games in German Football are played on a Saturday and Sunday but a new television deal this season will see one of the Saturday games replaced by a match on Friday night.
The development of German football has led to them adopting an Italian style of rewards to multiple Championship wins. Gold stars are displayed in the shirt of each team, with one star awarded for three titles, two stars for five titles and three stars for ten titles. The current record for German Championships is held by Bayern Munich who have won the title no less then 20 times.
7. Le Championat – Ligue 1 (France)
Ligue 1, Premiere Division or Division 1 in France is the top league in national football. It is one of two divisions making up LFP, with the other being Ligue 2 directly below the top division. It has been an all professional League since 1932 and since the end of World War Two has consistently run as a football championship switching between participation of eighteen and twenty teams. In the modern era 20 teams make up Ligue 1 with each team playing one another twice and the winner being decided over a 38 game League season. At the end of the season the bottom three are relegated with the top two from ‘Ligue 2’ being promoted. The idea of promotion and relegation for three teams in French football was a concept only developed in 1995. The traditional format had long been direct relegation for the bottom two teams and a one off battle between the third bottom placed side and the winner of the Ligue 2 playoffs.
After the success of the French national team and also French clubs in European Competition, Ligue 1 now has three representatives in the Champions League with the fourth, fifth, sixth and both cup winners taking their place in the UEFA Cup. Point allocation in the League follows International standards with one point for a draw and three for a win.
6. Primera Division Argentina (Argentina)
Providing top quality South American football, the Argentinean league is one of the most pleasing on the eye. Boasting tons of ‘future’ International superstars the league is also famous for producing exports capable of forging themselves a career in other parts of the World. Containing twenty teams the league season is split into two sections, Clausura (February to June) and the Apertura (August to December) therefore producing two champions each season. The idea was developed in 1990 and was very much opposed to the previous system which was contained during a calendar year rather than over two separate seasons. The Argentinean league also has no official cup competition. The most frequently heard of Argentinean sides are River Plate, Boca Juniors and Independiente, with rivalries running deep the title is often a close run thing. Relegation in the league is based on a system of averages which means at the end of each full season the two teams with the worst three year averages are relegated with the two best teams from the second division promoted. The teams seventeenth and eighteenth in the averages table play a best of three playoff against the fourth and third second division teams. Thus the number of teams promoted each season can vary between two and four, the system also largely presents ‘big’ Argentinean sides being relegated from out of the top division as the AFA fear that the relegation of one of its top clubs will lead to a potential collapse of the league.
5. MLS (United States)
The MLS or Major League Soccer is the top league in the United States; the format of the league is very much developed along the same lines as other North American sports with ‘soccer’ becoming very much Americanized since its transition to mainstream sport. With 12 teams currently participating in the MLS season, the most since its development in 1993, the league is looking to prevent casualties and is enjoying fresh expansions in 2006. The American League format starts in April and runs through to the Championship match which is usually played mid November of the same year. The twelve teams are split down the middle according to location into eastern and western conferences with each team playing 32 matches; two home and two away against teams in the same conference as themselves and one home and one away against those in the opposite side of the league.
All this equates to a top four being developed from each conference qualify for a knockout tournament played in the format of playoffs with the winners of this, one Western, one Eastern facing off for the MLS Cup or League Championship.
The development of Major League Soccer came from FIFA’s plea to organise a ‘premier’ footballing competition in North America with the promise that in return the United States would be granted the pleasure of hosting the World Cup finals in 1994. Off the back of the successes of the tournament the first reorganisation of the competition took place in 1998 when Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion were added to the MLS. This caused a creation of a central division but when the two Florida teams disbanded the original format was returned of two conferences was returned. Despite its entertainment value and quality of play the MLS is presumed to have lost almost $350 million since its invention and the league are desperately hoping several more expansion teams will turn the league into a fully fledged 18 team league before 2010.
4. Serie A (Italy)
Serie A is the top division of the World Champion Italian football league. Since 2004/05 the league has contained twenty teams, before hand containing just 18. It’s season is similar other top European Leagues in terms of lay out with the competition running from August to May with a total of 38 League games played by each side, one home and one away against each opponent. The first half of the league is known as the 'andata' and the order which it is played in is repeated exactly the same in the ‘ritorno’ or second half of the season.
The League system runs with three points for a win and one for a draw with teams who finish on equal points at the end of the season separated by goal difference. The only case where this rule is not applicable is at the top of the table where in the eventuality of a tie the top two must play a one off match to decide the winner of the Squedetto or Italian League Championship. Relegation works similar to other European competitions with three teams being relegated to Serie B and three teams being promoted to the top level each season.
Italy’s high co-efficient and FIFA rankings mean that the top four clubs in the League qualify for the UEFA Champions League with the top two being placed directly into the group phase. The League as it is structured today was created in 1929 and before hand the competition was separated into regional groups.
The Winner of the League bears a small coat of arms and the Italian tricolour flag for the following season and for every ten titles won, clubs are allowed to bear a Golden star however top sides AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus as the only teams who bear this tribute with the ‘Old Lady’ of Italian football by far the most successful side in the country having claimed 27 Championships.
Despite the recent match fixing scandal which saw Juventus relegated to Serie B and points all being docked from Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina. The League this season started late but with seven or eight genuine title contenders and squads strengthening all the time, the Italian title race is one of the most unpredictable around.
3. Primera Liga (Spain)
The Spanish top division or Liga de Futbol is commonly regarded as one of the top in the World by analysts. Only nine clubs have ever won the top division title and with sides such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia contenders for the title every season it is hardly surprising that the figures for different teams winning the competition are so low. It is however still well renowned for it’s depth of World Class football and quality teams involved, it is also well known for bringing to the footballing table so many gifted technical footballers. With players from around the world including South America and Europe choosing to ply their trade in La Liga the quality of the championship it self is high as it brings a rich diversity to a tournament which could so easily be dominated by one of three clubs. The player claiming the last five FIFA World Players of the Year awards have hailed from Spain and the squad lists of team who play their football in the top league read like a who’s who of International football.
The format of the competition is very similar to that of others which are played in continental Europe. The league takes places between the months of September and June, much like Italy and England the top division contains twenty teams with each playing one other twice, once home once away. The bottom three teams are relegated from the league and the top three in the Segundo division are promoted. Much like Italy the top four placed teams are given a crack at Champions League football with places five and six going to the UEFA Cup along with the Spanish Cup winner.
2. Premiership (England)
One of the most famous Leagues in the World the Barclays English Premier League or Premiership was created in 1992 after a restructuring of the English League involving the abolishment of the fourth division. Each season the Premier League is contested by twenty teams vying to be named as the top side in the country, however only four have done so and only three more than once. Blackburn Rovers title win in 1995, Arsenal’s in 1998, 2002 and 2004 as well as Chelsea’s double in 2005 and 2006 have all broken up the domination of a Manchester United side who have won the League eight times.
With the English League crumbling following the Taylor report in 1990, the Premiership was created out of fear of a super league being created by the top ten wealthiest teams in the country. In 1992/93 the Premiership began with 22 teams playing for the first Championship of its kind, though Manchester United won and crowds poured back into watch English football FIFA demanded that the League was cut in size so in 1995 four teams were relegated and the league began with its now familiar format of 20 teams and thirty-eight games.
Three teams each season are relegated with the top two championship placed clubs and the winner of the playoffs getting their crack at the £30 million jackpot that is a place in the Premiership.
In the first season of the Premiership just eleven players from outside the UK and Ireland lined up in the league but by 2004 the figure had increased to a massive 45% of all players making up squads hailing from ‘abroad’. Despite being an English competition, an English manager has never had the pleasure of lifting the trophy whilst being in charge of a club with Kevin Keegan and Ron Atkinson missing out by a place in 1993 and 1996 respectively.
1. The Champions League (Europe)
Formerly known as the European Cup, the UEFA Champions League is now the pinnacle of European football and is the trophy most sought after by clubs entering his prestigious group stages. It is one of the most valuable competitions in the whole of sport and has a global audience of over a billion people.
The European Cup itself was developed in 1955 by a French journalist, with the idea that each club placed at the top of the domestic tree would go forward to battle for the title of ‘best in Europe’. In 1992-3 however the idea was reverted to allow more teams to enter as leagues with the best co-efficient boast three and sometimes even four teams in the knock out rounds of the competition, despite the fact that it is no longer just for the champions of each nation, the entertainment which is brings has now developed over time and it is the one trophy which every manager, player and fan would like to get their hands on.
The tournament itself consists of several stages and begins with three preliminary knock out rounds. Different teams start in different rounds according to their position or their nation’s position in the UEFA Rankings, with the sixteen best, or highest ranked nations qualifying for the group stages automatically.
With the losers of the third qualifying stages dropped into the UEFA Cup the group stages of the biggest competition in Europe begin with a mini group stage of six games, one home and one away against. These normally run between September and December and with the top two qualifying for the knock out stages of the competition, the standard of play is usually very high.
The knock out stages are a two legged affair which begin in February and run all the way until the centre piece final which takes place in May. Financially the Champions League is the most rewarding competition in football with UEFA estimating that money given away to teams participating in last season competition totalled £340 Million and with TV deals said to be worth up to £30 Million it is certainly worth staying in the competition as long as possible.
The Winning clubs gets possession of the trophy at the awards ceremony but must return the cup to UEFA headquarters two months after the date of the final. UEFA winners gain a slimed down version of the trophy for keeps and winning clubs are free to have made up replicas of the model itself as long as they are no larger than 80% the size of the authentic piece of silverware. Actual competition rules however state that if a side wins the trophy three times in a row, such as Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern Munich or complete the feat of Liverpool and AC Milan by winning the competition five times in total the trophy is theirs to keep.
The Far East may not be the first place you think of when it comes to successful football given the importance of football in Middle Eastern Europe, but it is where one of the most famous Leagues in the World is played. Since it’s creation in 1973, the Qatar League has made steady progress and now become one of the best known because of its ability to attract World Class names to it shores. With ten teams in the top division names such as Romario, Desailly, Hierro and Jay Jay Okotcha have enjoyed career lengthening spells in the rejuvenated Q League since its expansion in 1996.
Backed by government money the National Championship which runs between September and May has brought much joy to a country devout of any footballing success. With former International players wishing to end their career by playing in developing surrounds (not to mention earning a fair wad of cash), the Q League was designed with the hope of developing not only an interesting spectacle but with the help of players in their twighlight years it was believed that young footballers would learn no better lessons from former greats. Qatar, a country which is more known throughout the World for its riches not football teams takes itself seriously and the QFA itself hopes that the country will one day pass through preliminary stages of World Cup qualifications. With the League hoping to add two more teams to its structure only time will tell how much of a success Asia’s best known league has been.
10. The Championship (England)
Set up in 2003/4 as part of the redevelopment of the English Football League the Championship is one of the most interesting and unpredictable competitions in World football. Boasting a position underneath England’s Premier competition the Championship is potentially the most diverse and clambering out of the division is probably the toughest challenges in English football. Mixing together teams with ex-Premiership experience, sides full of emerging youth talent and ‘smaller teams’ coming up from League One and Two to the Championship, the division is always full of surprises and it’s standings frequently changing on a week by week basis. With the re-branding of English football taking place to ensure the safety and security of clubs not earning the millions offered by the Premiership the league is not only competitive but also highly intriguing to watch right through the season. With the added excitement of end of season playoffs and the opportunity for the winner to net almost £20 million in bonuses the twenty four team competition is definitely worth a look for those who are fans of entertaining, exciting encounters almost every week of the year.
9. Campeonato (Brazil)
The Brazilian football league may not be able to keep up with the big reputation of the nation as a footballing whole however it stands as a development for players who often move onto ply their trade in Europe before becoming experiences and talented enough to wear the gold and green of the Brazilian national team. With teams histories dating back well into the 18th century, (Though the league did not develop until the 1970’s) the mainly home grown player filled clubs participate in a league season which runs from April to December. Similar to the English format with twenty teams and a the transfer window opening during the mid season break, the Brazilian League is notorious for having many young and upcoming players looking to make their name in the ‘massive’ leagues of Europe, it is not inconceivable for a team to have changed it’s entire starting line up from beginning to end of the season. With the top two sides in Brazil’s League given the chance to participate against other South American opponents in the prestige competition of the Copa Libatadores the marathon season ensures that on all fronts supporters of Brazilian football clubs are entertained. In Brazil the top division is known ‘Serie A’, where each season four teams are relegated from the league with a replacement four being promoted from the ‘Serie B’. It is well known in South American for Brazilian football to make seasonal rule changes and with the league developing a double round robin system instead of the playoff format which is used to run and avoiding the problems which have dogged the Championship in the past, the quality of play in the Campeonato is finally doing the talking.
8. Bundesliga (Germany)
German’s are often associated with succinct and consistent football and the Bundesliga is exactly what you would expect from the national league of the country. Created in 1963 the League plays host to frequent changes in the way it is run. The top division is known as the First Bundesliga (With the term for the German League literally translated as Nationwide-League) and only Hamburg can lay claim to being the only side present in every season of the top flight. Currently the league starts in early August and ends in late May, with a winter break of six weeks present between mid-December and the end of January. The bottom three are relegated to the Second Bundesliga and the top three in the 2nd flight of German Football are promoted. Traditionally games in German Football are played on a Saturday and Sunday but a new television deal this season will see one of the Saturday games replaced by a match on Friday night.
The development of German football has led to them adopting an Italian style of rewards to multiple Championship wins. Gold stars are displayed in the shirt of each team, with one star awarded for three titles, two stars for five titles and three stars for ten titles. The current record for German Championships is held by Bayern Munich who have won the title no less then 20 times.
7. Le Championat – Ligue 1 (France)
Ligue 1, Premiere Division or Division 1 in France is the top league in national football. It is one of two divisions making up LFP, with the other being Ligue 2 directly below the top division. It has been an all professional League since 1932 and since the end of World War Two has consistently run as a football championship switching between participation of eighteen and twenty teams. In the modern era 20 teams make up Ligue 1 with each team playing one another twice and the winner being decided over a 38 game League season. At the end of the season the bottom three are relegated with the top two from ‘Ligue 2’ being promoted. The idea of promotion and relegation for three teams in French football was a concept only developed in 1995. The traditional format had long been direct relegation for the bottom two teams and a one off battle between the third bottom placed side and the winner of the Ligue 2 playoffs.
After the success of the French national team and also French clubs in European Competition, Ligue 1 now has three representatives in the Champions League with the fourth, fifth, sixth and both cup winners taking their place in the UEFA Cup. Point allocation in the League follows International standards with one point for a draw and three for a win.
6. Primera Division Argentina (Argentina)
Providing top quality South American football, the Argentinean league is one of the most pleasing on the eye. Boasting tons of ‘future’ International superstars the league is also famous for producing exports capable of forging themselves a career in other parts of the World. Containing twenty teams the league season is split into two sections, Clausura (February to June) and the Apertura (August to December) therefore producing two champions each season. The idea was developed in 1990 and was very much opposed to the previous system which was contained during a calendar year rather than over two separate seasons. The Argentinean league also has no official cup competition. The most frequently heard of Argentinean sides are River Plate, Boca Juniors and Independiente, with rivalries running deep the title is often a close run thing. Relegation in the league is based on a system of averages which means at the end of each full season the two teams with the worst three year averages are relegated with the two best teams from the second division promoted. The teams seventeenth and eighteenth in the averages table play a best of three playoff against the fourth and third second division teams. Thus the number of teams promoted each season can vary between two and four, the system also largely presents ‘big’ Argentinean sides being relegated from out of the top division as the AFA fear that the relegation of one of its top clubs will lead to a potential collapse of the league.
5. MLS (United States)
The MLS or Major League Soccer is the top league in the United States; the format of the league is very much developed along the same lines as other North American sports with ‘soccer’ becoming very much Americanized since its transition to mainstream sport. With 12 teams currently participating in the MLS season, the most since its development in 1993, the league is looking to prevent casualties and is enjoying fresh expansions in 2006. The American League format starts in April and runs through to the Championship match which is usually played mid November of the same year. The twelve teams are split down the middle according to location into eastern and western conferences with each team playing 32 matches; two home and two away against teams in the same conference as themselves and one home and one away against those in the opposite side of the league.
All this equates to a top four being developed from each conference qualify for a knockout tournament played in the format of playoffs with the winners of this, one Western, one Eastern facing off for the MLS Cup or League Championship.
The development of Major League Soccer came from FIFA’s plea to organise a ‘premier’ footballing competition in North America with the promise that in return the United States would be granted the pleasure of hosting the World Cup finals in 1994. Off the back of the successes of the tournament the first reorganisation of the competition took place in 1998 when Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion were added to the MLS. This caused a creation of a central division but when the two Florida teams disbanded the original format was returned of two conferences was returned. Despite its entertainment value and quality of play the MLS is presumed to have lost almost $350 million since its invention and the league are desperately hoping several more expansion teams will turn the league into a fully fledged 18 team league before 2010.
4. Serie A (Italy)
Serie A is the top division of the World Champion Italian football league. Since 2004/05 the league has contained twenty teams, before hand containing just 18. It’s season is similar other top European Leagues in terms of lay out with the competition running from August to May with a total of 38 League games played by each side, one home and one away against each opponent. The first half of the league is known as the 'andata' and the order which it is played in is repeated exactly the same in the ‘ritorno’ or second half of the season.
The League system runs with three points for a win and one for a draw with teams who finish on equal points at the end of the season separated by goal difference. The only case where this rule is not applicable is at the top of the table where in the eventuality of a tie the top two must play a one off match to decide the winner of the Squedetto or Italian League Championship. Relegation works similar to other European competitions with three teams being relegated to Serie B and three teams being promoted to the top level each season.
Italy’s high co-efficient and FIFA rankings mean that the top four clubs in the League qualify for the UEFA Champions League with the top two being placed directly into the group phase. The League as it is structured today was created in 1929 and before hand the competition was separated into regional groups.
The Winner of the League bears a small coat of arms and the Italian tricolour flag for the following season and for every ten titles won, clubs are allowed to bear a Golden star however top sides AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus as the only teams who bear this tribute with the ‘Old Lady’ of Italian football by far the most successful side in the country having claimed 27 Championships.
Despite the recent match fixing scandal which saw Juventus relegated to Serie B and points all being docked from Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina. The League this season started late but with seven or eight genuine title contenders and squads strengthening all the time, the Italian title race is one of the most unpredictable around.
3. Primera Liga (Spain)
The Spanish top division or Liga de Futbol is commonly regarded as one of the top in the World by analysts. Only nine clubs have ever won the top division title and with sides such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia contenders for the title every season it is hardly surprising that the figures for different teams winning the competition are so low. It is however still well renowned for it’s depth of World Class football and quality teams involved, it is also well known for bringing to the footballing table so many gifted technical footballers. With players from around the world including South America and Europe choosing to ply their trade in La Liga the quality of the championship it self is high as it brings a rich diversity to a tournament which could so easily be dominated by one of three clubs. The player claiming the last five FIFA World Players of the Year awards have hailed from Spain and the squad lists of team who play their football in the top league read like a who’s who of International football.
The format of the competition is very similar to that of others which are played in continental Europe. The league takes places between the months of September and June, much like Italy and England the top division contains twenty teams with each playing one other twice, once home once away. The bottom three teams are relegated from the league and the top three in the Segundo division are promoted. Much like Italy the top four placed teams are given a crack at Champions League football with places five and six going to the UEFA Cup along with the Spanish Cup winner.
2. Premiership (England)
One of the most famous Leagues in the World the Barclays English Premier League or Premiership was created in 1992 after a restructuring of the English League involving the abolishment of the fourth division. Each season the Premier League is contested by twenty teams vying to be named as the top side in the country, however only four have done so and only three more than once. Blackburn Rovers title win in 1995, Arsenal’s in 1998, 2002 and 2004 as well as Chelsea’s double in 2005 and 2006 have all broken up the domination of a Manchester United side who have won the League eight times.
With the English League crumbling following the Taylor report in 1990, the Premiership was created out of fear of a super league being created by the top ten wealthiest teams in the country. In 1992/93 the Premiership began with 22 teams playing for the first Championship of its kind, though Manchester United won and crowds poured back into watch English football FIFA demanded that the League was cut in size so in 1995 four teams were relegated and the league began with its now familiar format of 20 teams and thirty-eight games.
Three teams each season are relegated with the top two championship placed clubs and the winner of the playoffs getting their crack at the £30 million jackpot that is a place in the Premiership.
In the first season of the Premiership just eleven players from outside the UK and Ireland lined up in the league but by 2004 the figure had increased to a massive 45% of all players making up squads hailing from ‘abroad’. Despite being an English competition, an English manager has never had the pleasure of lifting the trophy whilst being in charge of a club with Kevin Keegan and Ron Atkinson missing out by a place in 1993 and 1996 respectively.
1. The Champions League (Europe)
Formerly known as the European Cup, the UEFA Champions League is now the pinnacle of European football and is the trophy most sought after by clubs entering his prestigious group stages. It is one of the most valuable competitions in the whole of sport and has a global audience of over a billion people.
The European Cup itself was developed in 1955 by a French journalist, with the idea that each club placed at the top of the domestic tree would go forward to battle for the title of ‘best in Europe’. In 1992-3 however the idea was reverted to allow more teams to enter as leagues with the best co-efficient boast three and sometimes even four teams in the knock out rounds of the competition, despite the fact that it is no longer just for the champions of each nation, the entertainment which is brings has now developed over time and it is the one trophy which every manager, player and fan would like to get their hands on.
The tournament itself consists of several stages and begins with three preliminary knock out rounds. Different teams start in different rounds according to their position or their nation’s position in the UEFA Rankings, with the sixteen best, or highest ranked nations qualifying for the group stages automatically.
With the losers of the third qualifying stages dropped into the UEFA Cup the group stages of the biggest competition in Europe begin with a mini group stage of six games, one home and one away against. These normally run between September and December and with the top two qualifying for the knock out stages of the competition, the standard of play is usually very high.
The knock out stages are a two legged affair which begin in February and run all the way until the centre piece final which takes place in May. Financially the Champions League is the most rewarding competition in football with UEFA estimating that money given away to teams participating in last season competition totalled £340 Million and with TV deals said to be worth up to £30 Million it is certainly worth staying in the competition as long as possible.
The Winning clubs gets possession of the trophy at the awards ceremony but must return the cup to UEFA headquarters two months after the date of the final. UEFA winners gain a slimed down version of the trophy for keeps and winning clubs are free to have made up replicas of the model itself as long as they are no larger than 80% the size of the authentic piece of silverware. Actual competition rules however state that if a side wins the trophy three times in a row, such as Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern Munich or complete the feat of Liverpool and AC Milan by winning the competition five times in total the trophy is theirs to keep.