The football season is returning this weekend and while it is a time most men have been looking forward to over the past of couple of months, ladies are dreading another eight months of surrendering the remote and even sometimes their relationship to the action happening faraway in Europe. But rather than surrendering, how about you try to understand the football jargons to enable you enjoy watching the game with le beau (or at least pretend to). Because after all, if you can’t beat them, you have to join them.
This would only be a basic crash course which will cover need-to-knows about different areas of the game – the European version. And we are assuming you already know basics like the meaning of a football and you have given up on questioning the fascination of 22 grown men running round a stadium after a ball with a mammoth crowd cheering them on. If you have not, we cannot help you! So ladies, can we begin?
What Are Points?
In football, the team with the highest number of points raises the trophy. Points are also used to determine which sides will enter European tournaments, and which will be relegated to a higher league or promoted to a lower league. The winning team gets three points. The losing team gets none. If the game ends in a tie, each team gets one point.
What Is Promotion?
Promotion is typically the ultimate goal for teams that play outside a country’s top division. Moving up the pyramid often results in greater revenues for a club, through sponsorship deals, TV rights and increased ticket sales. Promotion is typically achieved when a club finishes first or second in its league, or by winning a promotion playoff.
What Is Relegation?
The greatest fear for many clubs is to slip down the league pyramid, starting the next season a division lower than the season before. Players will leave, less money will come in, and the club could well start a long slide into obscurity. Teams are relegated when they finish in one of the bottom slots in their league — anywhere from the bottom two to the bottom six, in some smaller leagues.
What Is A League?
In Europe, soccer structures tend to form a pyramid. The non-professional sides fill out the base, and the most talented players tend to be found at the top. Teams can be promoted to a higher division or relegated to a lower division, although the system by which this occurs often differs from association to association. Often “league” and “division” are used interchangeably, particularly at the highest levels of soccer.
What is UEFA?
UEFA is the European confederation of FIFA, tasked with administering the national football associations of its 54 members, as well as running international competitions such as the quadrennial European Football Championship (Euros), the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League.
What Is Champions League?
The UEFA Champions League is Europe’s premier competition, widely considered the most coveted trophy in club football. “League” in this case does not refer to a domestic competition, but rather a tournament played out amongst the top sides in Europe. Teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams, with no teams from the same association drawn together. Each team faces off twice, at home and away, for a total of six matches. The two sides with the most points at the end of the group tournament then proceed to the Round of 16. The third-placed side in each group drops into the Europa League. After the Group Stage ends, the 16 remaining teams enter the knockout rounds. Here they play two-legged ties, home and away, with the winner over 180 minutes progressing to the next round. The competition proceeds through the Round of 16 to the quarter-finals to the semi-finals and finally to the final which is played on a neutral ground.
What Is Europa League?
Another club tournament organized by UEFA, this competition is often seen as the ugly stepchild to the Champions League. Teams that finish high up in the league but lower than those that qualify for Champions League participate in this tournament. Forty-eight teams are drawn into 12 groups of four, with the top two finishers in each group moving on to the knockout phase. The knockout phase begins with the Round of 32, in which the 24 top finishers join with the eight third-place finishers from the Champions League group stage. Teams drawn together play a two-legged tie, home and away, with the winner progressing to the next round. The round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals are conducted in the same manner. The final is a single match played in a neutral venue.
What Are Domestic Cups?
The majority of football associations organize at least one cup competition for domestic teams. The rules vary, with some associations permitting all clubs to enter the tournament, and others restricting the competition to certain leagues. Frequently the winner of the association’s primary domestic cup competition is granted entry into the Europa League, while sometimes the runners-up will take their place if the winner has already clinched a spot in the Champions League.
Photo Credit: Getty
