Okay soccer fans in Eau Claire, it’s time to talk English Premier League. We have been discussing how to make Eau Claire a soccer community and one of the signals will be when the viewership of the English Premier League games on NBC and the NBC Sports Network improve. If you happen to be at a sports bar and listen to the conversations likely you will hear talk about the Packers, Vikings and Badgers. Lots of NFL talk, lots of College Football talk, but probably not much about the weekend of games in the English Premier League or the MLS.
It also amazes me when I talk to people in the soccer community; players, coaches, parents of players, etc. who really don’t have a clue about the English Premier League ( EPL), the top teams, the top games and the top storylines from the league. Soccer players are the ones that really make me wonder. All of my kids are fans and two of them played soccer at a high level. They were always aware and watched the games, knew the players, and followed the results. EPL is now a part of their daily ritual. I do believe that players who love the game can benefit from watching the best players in the world and the best teams in the world. I also believe as a coach, it is a huge benefit to follow the game, watch the game and continue to study the game.
So do we have a chance to become a soccer nation…maybe. Just this weekend I was watching a game that had a bit of controversy. A foul in the box that seemed pretty obvious, but the Referee chose to not call a foul and instead booked the player for diving, a simulation foul, and gave him a yellow card. It was quite controversial with lots of opinions by the experts on the call. I happened to mention the call to Kathy (better half) and we had a lengthy discussion about it. A replay was on the TV and I showed her and more discussion continued. It was an obvious foul in her mind, clearly the player was tripped and crazy the ref did not make the call. Now…not sure I could have had that conversation with Kathy 10 years ago. Likely the discussion might have been…What is diving, What is a PK, What is simulation? She has been a soccer fan since the boys started playing and has watched a lot of games on TV as we followed Chelsea and watched a lot of their games. She gets it now, knows the game and understands it as good or maybe even better than she knows football or basketball. She is a fan. If Kathy and I can have a 10 minute conversation about diving in a game between Bournemouth and Southampton on a Sunday morning, then I know there is hope in the US for Soccer. Just sayin! Let’s give you a little background for the water cooler talk tomorrow. Before we discuss the Premier League let’s review the English system.
English Soccer System
The English Football system is a bit different from sports as we know them in the US. Here, we have professional sports made up of leagues; NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, etc. That’s it really. In baseball and hockey, there are Minor leagues and Independent leagues affiliated with the top league but teams in these lower leagues can’t ever become part of the NHL or MLB. Their players can work their way up to the top league, but teams can’t. For the NBA and NFL, all their really is below the top league is College sports. College players are drafted into the league, but college teams can’t get into the NFL. English Soccer is different! Really different! Their system consists of a pyramid of leagues, bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. A certain number of the most successful clubs in each league (usually the top 3) can rise to a higher league, while those that finish at the bottom of their league (usually the bottom 3) can find themselves sinking down a level. In theory it is possible for a lowly local professional club to rise to the pinnacle of the English game and become champions of the EPL. While this may be unlikely in practice, there certainly is significant movement within the pyramid of teams with teams moving up or down a level every year.
The top five levels contain one division each and are nationwide in scope. Five levels of professional Soccer. Crazy, imagine 5 levels of professional football. Imagine if, by some crazy string of events, the Packers finished last in the NFC Conference, and the team was Relegated, moved out of the NFL, and dropped down to the professional level below the NFL. This year the Cleveland Browns have not won a game. Imagine if we had a system like English Soccer. The Browns would be out of the NFL next year. A team that had won the league below the NFL would get promoted and replace the Browns. That might change how teams draft players. That might change teams from late season tanking so they can secure the top draft pick. Come in last and you’re out! Replaced! You have to win the league you drop down to in order to get promoted back up to the NFL. What a concept! That might create a little stress when two 1-14 teams play the last game of the year and the winner gets kicked out of the NFL. This happens every year in the English Soccer System. Some of the most exciting games are the late season Relegation games that determine if you stay in the EPL.
At the top of English soccer is the single division of the English Premier League (Level 1, which is often referred to as the “top flight”), containing 20 clubs. Below the Premier League is the English Football League (EFL), which is divided into three divisions of 24 clubs each: The Championship (Level 2), League One (Level 3) and League Two (Level 4). The 92 clubs in the Premier League and English Football League are all full-time professional clubs. There are still another three levels below this top group of 92 teams. So does this Relegation and Promotion create any really cool success stories. YES. Example #1: Leicester City. A long time professional soccer club founded in 1884, they played at the top-level of English soccer for years. A string of bad managers, bad teams and debt lead the team to being relegated to the Championship (Level 2) and then down to the League 1 (Level 3) in 2008. From there they fought their way back. By 2014 they had worked their way back up from Level 3 to Level 1, the EPL. Two years later, in one of the most miraculous seasons in the history of the EPL, Leicester City won the EPL Title. So yes, it can happen!
2017-2018 English Premier League Season
So, quick review. 20 teams in the league. The season is made up of 38 games. Pretty simple concept. You play every team twice, one home game and one away game. The system is a pretty good way to determine the best team. No Super Bowl, no playoffs, just earn the most points from 38 games and you are Champions.
Point system…again, pretty simple. 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and 0 points for a loss. I know, American sports fans are now screaming! You get points for a tie! Ties are for sissies, a tie is like kissing your brother or sister, ties suck! Okay, okay, I get it, just sharing the system with you. For the traditional American sports fan who wants the champion determined on the field…well, we have the UEFA Champions League for you. Get off my back and just refer to my earlier post on the UEFA Champions League. I think you’ll like this League a lot!
We are now 2 months into the season. Here is where things stand as of games this weekend.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/table/_/league/eng.1?src=com
The top 5 teams after 15 games are: Manchester City (43), Manchester United (35), Chelsea (32), Liverpool (29) and Arsenal (28). Likely this years winner will come from the top 3 and based on the current points gap, Manchester City is going to be very hard to catch this year. As of 15 games, Manchester City has earned the most points in the history of the EPL. Out of a possible 45 points (15 games x 3 points for a win) they have secured 43. 14 wins and 1 draw. Amazing. It will take a significant run of bad luck, injuries or a complete collapse for them not to win the league. But hey…anything is possible…see Leicester City example a paragraph earlier!!
English Premier Highlights
So now that I have risked boring the heck out of you with all that…maybe not the best idea for a blogger trying to increase his audience, but I thought we all needed to smarten up a bit. Let’s take a look at some highlights for this season.
Another one. It is worth the 5 minutes. These players and goals are really good!
Top Games of the Year Highlights. Manchester United wins 3-1 vs. Arsenal. Lots of talk in American sports about the lack of goals…games are boring…no excitement. Well, check out these highlights for a 3-1 game. Really good stuff.
Had to include a Chelsea game highlight. Chelsea vs. Tottenham. Really exciting stuff.
So…now you are caught up. Quick review. You know all about the English football system. You are an expert on Relegation and Promotion. You know the Premier League is the best league in the world. You are all caught up on the season so far. Manchester City is on a historic run and historic point total. But as we know from the Leicester City example…anything is possible. Come on Chelsea!
More updates to follow as the season continues to progress. Your personal challenge. Watch a Premier league Game…do it soon! You won’t regret it. Better yet, watch the game with your son or daughter that play soccer. If they love soccer, they will love it! Every Saturday or Sunday morning you have options. NBS Sports Network (Charter channel 662) or NBC (Charter channel 605) are the best options.