Association Football in Untsangasar
| Association Football in Untsangasar | |
|---|---|
| Country | Untsangasar |
| Governing body | IFAF |
| National team(s) | Untsangasari National Association Football Team |
| Nickname(s) | Association football, soccer, footy, kickball |
| First played | 1886 |
| Registered players | > 10,000 |
| Clubs | approx. 400 at all levels of competition |
Association football or soccer enjoys a significant degree of nationwide popularity in Untsangasar. Much like ice hockey, association football cannot claim to be the most popular sport in the vast majority of the Khaganate's regions and provinces, but it is consistently in the top-three team sports in popularity across the country, something which few other sports can claim. As a result, soccer has something of a unifying effect on the country; whomever a person talks to might or might not follow cho'an, yagancho'an, pitz, or some other sport, but a person can assume with reasonable certainty that they will be at least passingly-familiar with their local soccer club.
Domestic Club Competition
The Book of Champions
Something of a relic of less-organized days of competition, the Book of Champions is a book composed of two-foot by foot-and-a-half dimension vellum pages, onto which the names of the manager, club president, and players of the club that holds the roll are written in permanent ink. This trophy is awarded as a challenge trophy: the club which holds it must entertain two challenges per year by clubs in its level of competition (that is, a CFCC club can be challenged by other CFCC clubs, or regional clubs may be challenged by other regional clubs), although there is some amount of discretion about which challenges are accepted. An official challenge match may occur as part of league play, provided that the challenge is made at least 1 month in advance of the fixture, or as a special exhibition match. The challenge is a single-leg match hosted by the reigning Book champions.
Due to the nature of the challenge system, the Book of Champions occasionally may be held by the same club for years at a time, or it may change hands more than once in a year. Prior to 1952, the President of the IAFF and at least one representative of the Imperial House or the Imperial Archives (who are formal custodians of the Book) present; now only the Custodian and a representative of the IAFF must be present, although the Book itself must also be present at all challenges, as the team that wins the match leaves with it.
The Book was first awarded in 1904, making it the oldest continuously-contested championship in Untsangasari association football.
The current Book is the third; the first two books were retired in 1954 and 2004 respectively after a half-century of use, each.
Chuyan Football Champions Circuit
Domestically, the Chuyan soccer pyramid is well-developed. The highest level of competition is the Chuyan Football Champions Circuit (CFCC). The CFCC consists of 18 clubs, divided into six "regions", which correspond to the six regional leagues to which their respective "regional" CFCC clubs are affiliated. The regular season consists of 36 games; 30 in a double round-robin (home-and-home) between a club and the 15 clubs outside its 'region', and 6 games (a double round-robin, home-and-home, plus a neutral-site game against each region-mate in their region's 'hub city' at the end of the regular season) against its region-mates. At the end of the regular season, the lowest-ranked team in each region is relegated back to its home league, and it is replaced by the corresponding regional league champion. The neutral-site regional games are often played toward the end of the regular season and can be quite intense due to the relegation implications.
The top-finishing club in each region goes onto the three-round Champions' Banner tournament, a single-knock-out tournament held in Kha'ankhot, to determine the league's postseason champion. The team that finishes top-of-table is also typically given the Golden Banner, which acts as the regular-season championship.
Current clubs in the CFCC are as follows (names translated into English):
| Club Name | City | Regional Affiliation | Table Finish (2023-2024 season) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swift Fleet IFC | Haeshenway | Makrian Coastal Football League System | |
Regional Leagues
Feeding into the CFCC is a system of six regional leagues. The regional associations operate anywhere between two and four tiers of competition, depending on the number of clubs within their area. All regional leagues operate at least a first and second tier, with the first tier promoting into the CFCC (and receiving teams relegated therefrom) and the second tier promoting teams into the first regional tier, and accepting teams falling out of it.
The level of competition ranges anywhere from capable professional, as at the CFCC and most of the more-frequent fixtures in the first regional tier and the more successful clubs in the second regional tier, to semiprofessional (lower second-regional-tier clubs, most third-tier regional clubs) to amateur (bottom-level third-regional tier clubs, fourth-tier clubs in Lo).
| League Name | Region | Number of Teams in Upper Tier | Number of Tiers | Total Number of Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Football Federation | Northern Coast & Northern Interior | 16 | 3 | 55 |
| Old Heartland Football League | Southwest; Uluujoli Heartland | 17 | 3 | 58 |
| Football Association of Greater Lo | South-Central | 16 | 4 | 64 |
| Central Football Federation | Central Interior | 16 | 3 | 50 |
| Makrian Coastal Football League System | Lower Makrian Coast | 18 | 4 | 72 |
| Peninsular Football Association | Northeast Interior and Coast | 17 | 2 | 35 |