Goulong First League

Goulong First League

Founded	7 September 1901 (1901-09-07)
Country	Goulong (20 teams)
Confederation	FFA
Number of teams	20
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Goulong Division B
Domestic cup(s)	GFA Cup Emperor's Shield
League cup(s)	Goulong Professional Cup
International cup(s)	FFA Champions Cup
Current champions	1905 Zhongwan (19th title) (2018–19)
Most championships	1905 Zhongwan (19 titles)
Most appearances	Du Hong (653)
Top goalscorer	Lam Chun-kit (368 goals)
TV partners	TVG Sport and FootballNow (live matches) 1Goulong (highlights)
2018–19 Goulong First League

The Goulong First League (often referred to as the First League or GFL within Goulong), is the top level of the Goulongese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the second-tier Goulong Division B.

Seasons run from August to May with each team playing 38 matches (playing each other home and away). Most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, but postponed or rescheduled matches due to cup or continental matches may be played mid-week, on Wednesday afternoons. The First League has featured 64 clubs since its inception in 1901.

The League was founded with the creation of the Goulongese Football Association in 1900, and after 24 professional and amateur teams applied to join, the Goulongese Division One started play on 1901 September 7. The league has undergone several structural and organizational changes, including reducing the number of contesting teams to 20 in 1959 and renaming the competition to the present-day Goulong First League in 1988.

The league generates $1.9 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2016–17, teams were apportioned revenues of $1.4 billion, rising sharply to $2.2 billion in 2017–18.

The First League is the most-watched sports league in Goulong, and is broadcast to almost all Aeian nations with a potential audience of 1.4 billion people. The league attracted an average attendance of 35,000 people per match in the 2017-18 season, with the average First League stadium reaching full or near capacity each match.

Sixty-four clubs have competed since the inception of the First League in 1992. Nine of them have won the title, with the reigning champions 1905 Zhongwan F.C. claiming 19 titles, the most of any First League club.

Format

The Goulong First League is comprised of twenty teams from around the nation. The First League operates on a double round-robin system- each club plays all 19 other clubs in the league with one home and away fixture for a total of 38 matches per club per season. Under FFA rules, three points are awarded for a win, with one point for a draw and none for a loss.

Promotion and relegation

A system of promotion and relegation exists across the GFA-sanctioned Goulong football league system. All leagues are interconnected through a system of promotion and relegation, as three clubs from Division B are promoted to the First League each season, with three First League clubs relegated to Division B. Below Division B is Division C, followed by Division D and the Premier Football Conference, Goulong's lowest professional football league. Any leagues below this and the clubs that populate them are considered amateur and regional.

The First League's bottom three teams are automatically relegated with no relegation playoff taking place. However, the Division B operates with a promotion system- the top two teams are automatically promoted, with four teams from third to sixth competing in a promotion playoff for the third and final promotion berth.

Ranking of clubs on equal points

If points are equal between two or more clubs, the sides in question are ranked based on:

• Total goal difference
• Goals scored
• Away points
• Red cards
• Yellow cards

During the regular season, if clubs are evenly matched they are deemed to occupy the same position. If clubs are tied with the above criteria following the end of the regular season, a play-off match will be held at a neutral venue to determine rank.

Qualification for international competition

FFA coefficients allow Goulong to send three clubs to the FFA Champions Cup, an Aeia-wide club football competition. The top three Goulongese clubs at the end of the season qualify for next season's Champions Cup competition.

Teams

A total of 20 teams contest the league in its current season, including 17 sides from the 2017-18 season and three promoted from Division B. These are two clubs promoted directly from that division, Royal Barracks and Lai King Town, and the winner of the Division B play-offs, Pingshan United.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
1. AFC Metropolitan	Zhongwan	MetroCentre	36000
1. Ölgii FC	Ölgii	BetTwenty Field	28750
1905 Zhongwan	Zhongwan	ZhongwanInternational	98000
AFC Oceania	Haibian	Haibian Community Stadium	52000
Athletic Tsuen Wan	Zhongwan	Tsuen Wan Sports Complex	72100
Bei’an City	Bei'an	Mandarin Park	41300
Canton SC	Zhongwan	Red Dragon Stadium	65000
Dongcheng United	Dongcheng	Arena of the North	62000
Donghai Shiyi	Donghai	stadium:donghai	31840
Lai King Town	Lai King	LKT Stadium	28900
Pingshan United	Pingshan	Union Field	24300
Royal Barracks	Yilan	Yilan Palisade	45600
Sham Shui Po	Sham Shui Po	KDOT Stadium	32000
Sporting Yilan	Yilan	SportStar Stadium	46710
Wan Chai	Wan Chai	Riverbend Park	54000
Xiaolian SC	Xiaolian	Xingzong Stadium	32800
Xucheng Town	Xucheng	Zeng Weihai Stadium	42300
Yau Tsim Mong	Zhongwan	Royal District Stadium	33140
Yilan Shoudu	Yilan	Capital Field	67100
Yuejiang FC	Yuejiang	Riverside Centre	56000

Player records

Top scorers

As of 31 November 2018.

Rank	Nat	Name	Club	Years	Goals	Apps	Ratio
1		Lam Chun-kit	1905 Zhongwan	1966–1984	368	729	0.5
2		Du Chun	Chengdong United	2008–	312	401	0.78
3		Cheung Ng-ming	1905 Zhongwan	1916-1929	311	365	0.85
4		Siu Ka-yip	1905 Zhongwan & Lai King Town	1986–1999	215	258	0.83
5		Hu Li	Athletic Tsuen Wan & Vestby	2006-	550	228	0.41

Italics denotes players still playing professional football,

Bold denotes players still playing in First League.

Most appearances

Rank	Nat	Name	Years	Apps	Goals
1		Lam Chun-kit	1966–1984	729	368
2		Zhang Yuhai	1947–1962	550	0
3		Cheung Ng-ming	1983–2002	543	311
4		Yip Ka-chun	1980–1997	542	27
5		Chan Long-keung	1983–2001	523	142
6		Siu Ka-yip	1995–2012	510	259
7		Ingvar Bylund	1998–2015	505	58
8		Zhang Kai	1983–2003	504	0
9		Chan Tsz-ki	1987–2003	497	198
10		Emile Odegaard	1980–1997	483	139