The DanFootball Gazette: Season 18 Retrospective

A word from the editor

Yogi Berra, who knew nothing about our game and everything about endings, once said: "It ain't over till it's over." Season 18 took him at his word and kept the title open until the last minute of the last round. Every number below is real. The jokes are ours. The goodbye in Act II is real too, and we have tried to write it properly.

Act I: Seventy-nine each, and a calculator

For the first time in the history of World League 1, two clubs finished level on points. Spicey Boys Barranco: 25 wins, 4 draws, 1 defeat, 88:13, 79 points. Gold Coast Sharks: 25 wins, 4 draws, 1 defeat, 79:17, 79 points. Same wins, same draws, same defeats. The title went to Barranco on goal difference, +75 against +62. Third World 1 title for Spicey Boys (Seasons 14, 17 and 18), and the second in a row.

• The final day. Spicey Boys led by two points and were at home to Nordlys IF, a team that had scored 8 goals in 29 matches. It finished 3-3. Le Roy scored in the 2nd minute, Tueni put one into his own net in the 17th, Barsotti put Spicey 3-2 up in the 52nd minute, and the lead lasted two minutes: Figueiredo scored his second for Oslo from the penalty spot in the 54th. In Reykjavik the Sharks won 4-0 at Jökull, Luján and Inocente from the spot, and waited for the calculator. Nordlys scored three of their eleven goals of the season on the afternoon it mattered most, which is either bad luck or a very strange sense of humour.
• The run. Spicey Boys started the season with 13 wins and a draw. Counting the 44 unbeaten league matches they carried in from Seasons 16 and 17, that made 58, a new record (Wild Roses held it with 54). Who ended it? The Sharks, of course. Round 15: Spicey Boys 0-2 Sharks, Ekomba and Jaco, in Barranco. The return in Round 16 finished 0-0. On the head-to-head the Sharks were better. Goal difference does not read the head-to-head.
• The Sharks' one defeat came in Round 24 at home: Sharks 1-5 Wild Roses, Edgar twice in three minutes and an own goal by Kuster, who had scored at the right end too. Without that afternoon, Gold Coast would be champions. With it, they have 79 points, the most ever by a runner-up (the old record was 77), and a story they will tell without enjoying it.

Bill Shankly is usually credited with the cruellest line in the trade: "If you are first you are first. If you are second you are nothing." This newspaper disagrees. Second with 79 points is not nothing. It is the best nothing in history. Virgilio Luján won the World 1 Golden Boot again, this time with 21, four of them in a 7-2 against Pyramids in Round 26. Miguel Mancebo scored 18 for the champions and Barsotti 17. Nils Dünnwald of Adria also scored 17, so nobody in Split can say they were not trying.

Act II: Galaxy Vilnius, a goodbye

Some clubs arrive, some clubs stay, and some clubs climb. Galaxy Vilnius climbed. They started in the Lithuanian league in Season 13, went up to World 3 in Season 14, to World 2 in Season 15 and to World 1 in Season 16. Three promotions in three seasons, and then three seasons in the top flight, finishing fifth every time. Twenty-five signings from the market. In six seasons: 150 matches, 86 wins, 37 draws, 27 defeats, 266 goals scored, 91 conceded. It looked like the beginning of something.

On the first morning of this season, the club's owner closed the account. The team was already on the fixture list, so the team played. All thirty matches. 19 wins, 4 draws, 7 defeats, 55:24, 61 points, fifth again, and the best total in its history. It beat Adria 1-0, won 5-0 three times, lost 7-0 at Barranco, and closed with Galaxy 5-0 Pyramids on the last day, as if to leave the room tidy. Galaxy were disbanded at the end of the season, and their players go back to the market.

We are sorry to see them go. We would have liked to know what a fourth season in World 1 looked like. But football keeps no seats warm, and the fixture list for Season 19 was printed on Sunday night as usual. Life goes on. And somebody has to sit in that seat (Act III).

Act III: Union Santiago, or the seat nobody booked

A year ago Union Santiago won World League 3. This season they went up to World 2 and finished fourth: 12-11-7, 26 scored, 16 conceded, 47 points, one point behind Imperial for the last promotion place. A good season. A quiet season. The kind of season after which a club plans a second year in World 2 and maybe buys a full-back.

And then the Galaxy seat came free, and the rules did what the rules do: the best club below the promotion places goes up. Union Santiago are in World League 1. From World 3 to World 1 in two seasons, the second one without winning anything. How did they prepare for the biggest step of their life? With one signing all season: Tahar Goumiri, 1,004 credits. Their best eleven is worth 3,607. The Sharks' is worth 7,187. In Santiago they are still reading the email twice. Alan Hansen said in 1995 that you can't win anything with kids. Nobody has yet said what you can win with a squad that packed for World 2. We will find out together.

It does not stop there. One empty seat at the top moves everybody up a step. Lusitania Lisbon, fourth in World 3, go up to World 2. And in the qualifiers a losing finalist gets a place (Act VII). One departure, three promotions. Galaxy left, and three clubs got a present they never asked for.

Act IV: The rest of World 1

• Adria Split third with 72 points, equal to the record for a third-placed club (Wild Roses, last season). Adria won 8-0 at Kaiser in Round 7 and 8-0 against Jökull in Round 15, the two biggest wins of the season, and still finished seven points behind the leaders. Last year 69 points made them fourth. Progress in Split is measured in points, not places.
• Wild Roses Edmonton led the table for the first four rounds and then lost four in a row. They finished fourth with 64, scored 76, and decided the title for somebody else with the 5-1 in Gold Coast. Aquilino Fariña gave 15 assists. Kindness runs in that dressing room.
• Kaiser Vienna conceded 70 goals, including the 0-8 at home to Adria, and finished eighth. Clubs that concede seventy usually go down. Kaiser looked at the table, saw eight clubs below them, and stayed. Hilmar Ihrig scored twice and reached 260 (Act IX).
• Nordlys IF scored 11 goals in 30 matches, drew 14 times and stayed up comfortably. Johan Cruyff said that playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is. Nordlys have taken out the football and kept the simple.
• Bucharest Raiders: tenth, 28 points, eight fewer than last year. Dwight Stafford scored a hat-trick in the 3-3 against Kaiser. And in Round 13 Aníbal Tineo of FC Dacia scored his 250th career goal in the 60th minute of FC Dacia 1-0 Raiders. Raiders have always been generous hosts. This season they were generous guests too.
• Going down: Hussars FC Warsaw (16 points, 13 defeats in a row, the lift goes down again one season after it went up), Cape Town Storm (last year the club that never drew, this year nine draws and relegated, so the experiment with compromise has been cancelled), and Banatul Timisoara, in spite of seven goals from Krunoslav Bekavac, who is now on 208.

Act V: World 2, the express lane

Espada Madrid were promoted from World 3 last season as runners-up. This season they are champions of World 2: 15-13-2, 40:11, 58 points, 25 matches unbeaten, and on the first page of the World 1 fixture list. They took the lead for the first time in Round 25 and did not give it back. Fiko Tunis led for fourteen rounds in a row, from Round 11 to Round 24, and still go up as runners-up, which in Tunis counts as a win with a small delay.

Third: Imperial Tokyo. 16 goals scored in 30 matches, 8 conceded, 48 points. Last year this newspaper noticed that all six of their wins were 1-0. This year they won eleven times and drew fifteen, and they are in World 1. Imperial do not score goals. They ration them.

The Golden Boot was a committee: four players on 11 goals. Emre Yavuz (Astral), Shinya Aihara (Atlas), Carlos Almeida (Hammer) and Bienvenido Canto (Bania). They will have to share the boot, one lace each. Going down: King Cobra Jakarta, who led the table after Round 3 and finished last; Bania Craiova, solid at home and 1-2-12 away; and Atlas Marrakech, relegated for the second season running, in spite of two hat-tricks from Aihara. Atlas are now very good at one thing, which is moving house.

Act VI: World 3, and a tiger in a hurry

Last season Harimau Selatan of Johor Bahru finally came through the qualifiers. This season they are champions of World 3 at the first attempt: 17-4-9, 59:33, 55 points, and a home record of 11-3-1. They took the lead in Round 21, lost it for one round, and took it back on the last day. Two years at the door, one year in the house, and now upstairs.

Up with them: Oresund Copenhagen, the best attack in the division with 62, and Damien Blenheim with the World 3 Golden Boot, 19 goals, four of them in a 6-0 against Motors. And Detroit Motors, relegated from World 2 a year ago, straight back. Fourth place belonged to Lusitania Lisbon, who also came through last season's qualifiers, and the Galaxy seat (Act III) takes them up too.

At the bottom, six clubs go down, and the line was drawn with a ruler. CD Volcán de Quito and Aberdeen Bad Boys both finished on 38 points with a goal difference of minus 4. Bad Boys had scored 17. Volcán had scored 16. Volcán go down by one goal across thirty matches. Last year Gladiator Milan survived by two goals. This year the goals ran out and they go down too, with Diamonds Amsterdam (Zempoala scored 17, and it was not enough), FC Sipp Dortmund, Tomis Constanta and Asteras Rhodes. Sir Alex Ferguson, after a much happier final day in 1999, summed football up in three words: "Football, bloody hell." In Quito they would use the same three words, in a different tone.

Act VII: The qualifiers, and a losing finalist with a ticket

• Toros Sevilla, champions of Spain, had failed in the qualifiers three seasons running. This time: 3-0 against Shanghai Dragons, 1-0 against Busan Seagulls and 1-0 against Al Najd Riyadh in the final round. Three ties, five goals, none conceded. The bull has learned patience.
• Osaka Naniwa won their three ties 7-2, 7-0 and 7-0. They seem to have one result and use it every time.
• Mayab Merida went 7-1, 8-3 and 4-0, the 8-3 against Avala Belgrade including a 6-3 first leg. Jalisco Guadalajara knocked out the Italian champions AC Vesuvio (15 wins and a draw in their own league) after a 1-1 on aggregate, then beat Lapacho Asunción 3-1. Europe Brussels beat Suwa, Wouri and Atlantico Porto. Azure Chefchaouen won 6-2 away in Singapore and did not concede in the last two rounds.
• And Al Najd Riyadh, the best friendly club of the season (Act XI), lost the final round to Toros. In any other season that is the end of the story. This season there was a seat left over (Act III), and the best losing finalist takes it. Al Najd are in World 3. They lost the match and won the lottery.
• Elsewhere: FC Leman Geneva beat Shannon Athletic 8-0 in a first leg, and FC Farul Fara Bec, the lighthouse without a bulb, went out in the first round again, this time to Garabaaley FC Mogadishu.

Act VIII: The country leagues

• Scotland: Ravens FC are champions. Last season they finished on zero points. This newspaper wrote that it was a step in a direction. It was. They also collected a friendly wildcard.
• Italy: AC Vesuvio 15-1-0, 53:8, champions after their relegation from World 3, and then out in the qualifiers on a 1-1. Spain: Toros Sevilla 11-3-0, 33:4. Belgium: Europe Brussels 7-1-0, 29:4, including a 7-0 on the first day.
• Germany: Munich Butterfly, last in World 3 a year ago, are champions unbeaten (8-4-0) and then lost in the qualifiers to Al Najd, 4-3 on aggregate. Romania: FC Farul Fara Bec again. United States: Ballers, who lost the title on the last two days last year, won it this time. Japan: Naniwa, 8 scored, 0 conceded.
• Also: Mexico, Mayab; France, Mousquetaires; Canada, Red Kings; Argentina, Academicos; Brazil, Guanabara; Australia, Kookaburras; Ireland, Shannon Athletic. And a welcome to CF Montoito Redondo, new in Portugal.

Act IX: Farewells and milestones

The retiring class numbers 538, a record for the fourth season running. At the front of it: César Figueroa of Gladiator, 505 appearances, the most of any player who has ever retired (Sokolov's 474 lasted a week, like the one before it). Behind him, Juheon Gam of FC Dacia, 483 appearances and 130 goals, and Matthias Baudet of Hussars, who finally stops at 465. The top scorer of the class is Lorenz Leuenberger of Lions FC with 138 goals. And goalkeeper Nico Berend of Butterfly leaves with 14 red cards. Referees are planning another small party.

Now the numbers that matter. A year ago Aníbal Tineo finished the season on 249, one short. This newspaper promised to watch every minute he played. He made us wait thirteen rounds and then scored the winner against Raiders (Act IV). He finished on 253. Our eyes are tired again. We regret nothing again. Hilmar Ihrig, 39, scored twice and is now on 260. Hector Ojeda, 40, did not score this season and is also on 260. Two old men, one number. Ojeda has still not retired. Ihrig has still not retired. Somebody in this league is going to have to blink.

Act X: Mercato and crime blotter

The market woke up: 131 transfers, 151,630 credits, about 70 percent more than last year. The top fee was 7,206 credits for Nicolás Barros, 19, to Amazonia, signed on the final day of the season, which is either long-term planning or a very late Christmas present. Sydney Kookaburras bought 13 players. Union Santiago bought one (Act III).

Discipline: matches with a red card, or a stretcher with nobody left on the bench, 481 of 2,952, exactly the same 481 as last season. In the world leagues, 118 red cards in 720 matches (131 a year ago), 64 own goals, and 23 hat-tricks, three of them four-goal afternoons: Luján, Blenheim and Sankharé of Amazonia, whose four came in a 5-3 in Craiova.

Act XI: The friendlies

Al Najd Riyadh won the friendly ranking with 125 points from 66 matches, ahead of Lagune Abidjan (113) and Avala Belgrade (109, third again). Spicey Boys played 38 friendlies and lost one, because even holidays are work in Barranco. Berserkers Tromsø scored 52 and conceded 199, and are the most generous club in the game by a distance. 136 series, all completed, 4,240 goals. Top scorer: Darrell Gorton of Lagune, 39. Wildcards for next season's qualifiers: Hangang FC, Santana and Edinburgh Ravens.

Final standings

World 1: 1. Spicey Boys Barranco 79 · 2. Gold Coast Sharks 79 · 3. Adria Split 72 · 4. Wild Roses Edmonton 64 · 5. Galaxy Vilnius 61 · 6. Seattle Pacific 44 · 7. Juventud Buenos Aires 43 · 8. Kaiser Vienna 38 · 9. Jökull Reykjavik 30 · 10. Bucharest Raiders 28 · 11. Nordlys IF Oslo 26 · 12. FC Dacia Brasov 24 · 13. Pyramids Giza 23 · 14. Banatul Timisoara 22 · 15. Cape Town Storm 21 · 16. Hussars FC Warsaw 16

World 2: 1. Espada Madrid 58 · 2. Fiko Tunis 55 · 3. Imperial Tokyo 48 · 4. Union Santiago 47 · 5. Lions FC Lagos 46 · 6. Hammer Hamburg 43 · 7. Plymouth Sea Dogs 39 · 8. Trakia Plovdiv 37 · 9. Black Army Budapest 37 · 10. Nottingham Arrows 36 · 11. Amazonia Manaus 34 · 12. Astral Amsterdam 33 · 13. Kingston Barracudas 32 · 14. Atlas Marrakech 31 · 15. Bania Craiova 29 · 16. King Cobra Jakarta 27

World 3: 1. Harimau Selatan Johor Bahru 55 · 2. Oresund Copenhagen 52 · 3. Detroit Motors 51 · 4. Lusitania Lisbon 48 · 5. Atletico Aburra Medellin 45 · 6. Vltava Prague 44 · 7. Esil Astana 43 · 8. Pokrok Kosice 40 · 9. Halicspor Istanbul 39 · 10. Aberdeen Bad Boys 38 · 11. CD Volcán de Quito 38 · 12. Diamonds Amsterdam 33 · 13. FC Sipp Dortmund 33 · 14. Gladiator Milan 32 · 15. Tomis Constanta 32 · 16. Asteras Rhodes 28

Qualifiers → World 3: Toros Sevilla, Osaka Naniwa, Mayab Merida, Jalisco Guadalajara, Europe Brussels, Azure Chefchaouen, and Al Najd Riyadh as the best losing finalist. Friendly Ranking podium: Al Najd Riyadh 125 · Lagune Abidjan 113 · Avala Belgrade 109; wildcards to Hangang FC, Santana and Edinburgh Ravens.

Golden Boots: Virgilio Luján (Sharks) 21 in World 1, Yavuz, Aihara, Almeida and Canto 11 each in World 2, Damien Blenheim (Oresund) 19 in World 3. Record watch: a World 1 title decided on goal difference, for the first time; most points by a runner-up, 77 → 79 (Sharks); longest unbeaten league run, 54 → 58 (Spicey Boys); most appearances by a retiree, 474 → 505 (Figueroa); retiring class, 531 → 538. Equalled: most points by a third-placed club, 72 (Adria). Milestones: Tineo 250, Ihrig 260. Still behind glass: the 10-0, the fifteen-goal match, and Raiders' 83 points.

Season 19 opens with Spicey Boys champions by thirteen goals; with the Sharks holding the best second place ever and no wish to defend it; with Espada, Fiko, Imperial and a surprised Union Santiago in World 1; with Harimau Selatan and Lusitania one floor up; with Al Najd in World 3 thanks to a seat that belonged to somebody else; with Ihrig and Ojeda both on 260 and neither of them leaving; and without Galaxy Vilnius, whose fifth places we will miss. Life goes on. Do not change the channel.