Tag Archives: soccer
Sweden - Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Swedish football league system, it is the country’s primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan. Seasons run from April to November, with teams playing 30 matches each, totalling 240 matches in the season.
The league was created in 1924. Before that, the top league in Sweden was called Svenska Serien. The winner is awarded Lennart Johanssons Pokal. It is ranked 24th in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years, just ahead of the Slovak Super Liga and below the Belarusian Premier League. The current champions are IF Elfsborg, who won the title in the 2012 season.
Sweden - Superettan
Superettan (English: The Super First) is the second highest league in the league system of Swedish football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Allsvenskan and Division 1. Seasons run from April to October, with teams playing 30 matches each, totalling 240 matches in the season.
The league was created in 2000. The second tier of Swedish football had previously consisted of a varying number of regionalized leagues operating under the Division 2 (1924–1986) and Division 1 (1987–1999) names.
Switzerland - Super League
The Swiss Super League or Raiffeisen Super League is the top tier of the Swiss Football League. The Swiss Super League is currently ranked 14th according to UEFA’s ranking of league coefficients, which is based upon Swiss team performances in European competitions.
Switzerland - Challenge League
The Swiss Challenge League (until August 2008 known simply as the Challenge League) is the second highest tier of the Swiss Football League. Ten teams play in the Challenge League. The winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, and bottom team is relegated to the 1. Liga Promotion. The second placed team enters a two-legged playoff against the 9th placed team in the Super League, the winner playing in the higher division next season.
The league was named Nationalliga B until 2003 when it was changed to the “Challenge League.”
Liechtenstein’s FC Vaduz also play in the Challenge League as Liechtenstein does not have a league of its own.
Turkey - Super Lig
The Süper Lig Super League is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system. It is one of the top leagues in the UEFA confederation, and the winner of the competition automatically qualifies for the UEFA Champions League. Eighteen clubs compete annually, where a champion is decided and three clubs are promoted and relegated to and from the 1. Lig. The season runs from August to May, with each club playing 34 matches. Matches are played Friday through Monday. It is sponsored by Spor Toto and therefore officially known as the Spor Toto Süper Lig.The competition formed as the Milli Lig in 1958. It was the first national league competition held in Turkey. Previously, league competitions took place in a few cities, including Adana, Ankara, Eskişehir, Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, and Trabzon. It is currently ranked 11th in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years. A total of 66 clubs have competed in the Süper Lig, but only five have won the title: Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş, Trabzonspor and Bursaspor.
Turkey - 1. Lig
The TFF First League (currently known under the terms of a sponsorship deal as the PTT 1. Lig) is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2000 after it was separated from the Turkish Second League Category B during reorganizing Second League, who was second level of Turkish league between 1963–2001. It was founded as the Turkish Second League Category A and started with 20 teams. The number of teams were reduced to 18 the season after, in 2002. The league was renamed TFF First League prior to the 2007–08 season. It was called Türk Telekom Lig A in 2006–2007 season.
Ukraine - Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was formed in 1991 upon discontinuation of the Soviet championship and included the Ukrainian based clubs that competed in the Soviet competitions. In 1996 along with all the professional football leagues of Ukraine, the Supreme League became a member of the Professional Football League of Ukraine.
In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of both the Professional League and the Football Federation of Ukraine, officially changing its name to the current one. Its rank was 7th highest in Europe as rated by UEFA as of September 2012.
United Arab Emirates - Pro League
The UAE Pro League is the First Division of the UAE Football League, commonly known as Etisalat Pro-League for sponsorship reasons, since 2008, is the top professional association football league in United Arab Emirates. Contested by 12 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with UAE Division 1 Group A.
The format of the Etisalat Pro-League from the 2008-2009 season through the 2011-2012 season had each of the 12 participating football teams play each other twice in a 10-month-long competition. On June 2, 2012, it was announced that the league would be expanding to 14 teams for 2012-13 season.
The first team to win the title was Al-Sharjah, while the team with the most titles is Al-Ain who have won the league 10 times.
United States - MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league representing the sport’s highest level in the United States and Canada. Sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer), the league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada.
Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States’ bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[1] Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is a single entity where each team is owned and controlled by the league’s investors.[2] The league’s closed membership makes it one of the world’s few soccer leagues not using promotion and relegation. The first season took place in 1996 beginning with ten teams. Seasons presently run from March to December, with each team playing 34 games in the regular season. Ten teams compete in the postseason MLS Cup Playoffs culminating in the championship game, the MLS Cup.
Uruguay - Primera Division
The Liga Profesional de Primera División, also known as the Primera División Uruguaya or Primera División de Uruguay (English: Uruguayan First Division), is a professional football league in Uruguay at the top of the country’s football league system. It is organized by the Uruguayan Football Association and is contested by 16 teams from August to May of the following year. It runs on a system of promotion and relegation with Segunda División Profesional.
The league was founded in 1900, making it amongst the oldest on the continent. Despite few yearly interruptions, it has been held regularly on a yearly basis since then. In 1932, the league turned professional.
Ten different clubs have been the Primera División champion, although only seven have won it in the professional era. The most successful club is Peñarol and current champion is Nacional.
Venezuela - Primera Division
The Primera División, or Liga Venezolana is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It’s organized by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol and from the season 2007-2008 the league will consist of 18 clubs.The 18 teams play two single-round tournaments each year: the Apertura (August to December), and the Clausura (February to June). The league table is kept like a normal European league table, one point for ties three points for wins.
The absolute champion is decided between the Apertura and Clausura champions. If the same team is the champions of both tournaments that team is the absolute champion.
Wales - Premier League
The Welsh Premier League (Welsh: Uwch Gynghrair Cymru) is the national football league for Wales. It has both Professional and Semi-Professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2002, the league was known as the League of Wales, but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal. Currently, the full sponsored name of the league is the Corbett Sports Welsh Premier Football League.The Welsh Premier League is ranked by the UEFA coefficient in 48th place out of 53 current members