FORMAT CHANGES
Since the end of last season, the Competition Committee has been discussing the format of our competition and has decided to alter the structure of the tournament. There are many benefits to the changes below, but chief among them are (a) the reduction in the overall number of weeks, which becomes more important as our teams get better and make longer runs in national cup competitions and (b) a good resolution to the relegation problem spawned this season. Here are the highlights
* There will now be 20 teams. System, Presidents, and Anfield IF will all be automatically included this season.
* There will be 4 groups, each with 5 teams.
* Group play will consist of only one neutral-site match against each other team, in normal rules.
* The rules and deadlines for issuing and accepting challenges will be the same. For each fixture, the team listed first on the Cupmanager page will be responsible for issuing the challenge and selecting the neutral stadium.
* Only the top 2 teams in each group will qualify for the playoffs.
* Each playoff round will still be one match on cup rules.
In some ways, this makes the tournament even harder than it already is. Each group match will now be more meaningful, because there will be no chance to even the score on a return leg. Also, we will need to recruit 2 more teams to round out the field. If you have nominations, please let me know via email or HT mail or comment here. Preference will be shown to European teams (esp if representing a country not currently represented) in an attempt to preserve the US-Euro split. If anyone does NOT want to play this season for some reason, please let me know.
Some details we will worked out and announced later, including the seeding for the group draw, how to handle the DLI and future "relegation", etc.
In the meantime, here's your first update of this season:
Done (and ready to rumble)
Avs
CTFC
Direwolf
Freaks United
Presidents
Anfield IF
System
Still Alive (...and holding us back)
Tigers
Ratz
Ellwood
KCU
Stones
Delta
Bonafide
Brooklyn FC
Saltopus
Sea Lane
Wind
posted by patient boy @ 15:37
6 comments
6 Comments:
Do stadia from the same country as the 'host' team count as neutral venues or must the teams play in a country that neither of them are nationals of?
My understanding is that "neutral" means any stadium that is oustide of your region. But yes, it could be in the same country.
From the HT Rules: "You can challenge any team in any country (unless they are still in the cup or already have a scheduled friendly, of course). You can challenge them to play at either of your arenas, or at a neutral ground. When challenging a team to play at a "neutral" arena, please note that regions still apply - that is, if you play in an arena in your own region, you will still get home team advantage, even if you are listed as the away team. No matter where you choose to play, any match played against a foreign team is considered to be an international friendly."
I was aware of the HT rules as regards 'neutral' but didn't know whether we were using the same definition ;P
Cheers for the clarification.
Well I think that the new format is great! Not just cause I don't have to sweat it out against Anfield :D
You're certainly right about us teams getting further in the cup, (shuttit! :P) and hence delaying the games.
This way seems sweet.
Prizes to anyone who can play in the most obscure neutral ground :) haha. Botswana here I come.
Hmm. Botswana. Now that is an excellent idea. Glad you like the format. It will certainly make each group match more important. Of course, on the downside, I'm glad I won this thing once already because I may never qualify for the playoffs again.
I feel the same way, mate! Good job I have won it three times as it's getting more and more competitive ;)
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