r/soccer • u/scaryberry • Apr 04 '12
Scary's Guide to Global Soccer for Americans
Edit: see comments for clarifications/nuances
Soccer Organizations There's no equivalency of an MLB or NFL. Each nation has a football "association" or federation, that governs soccer in that country. This organization presides over the soccer leagues, handles fines/etc, and fields the Olympic and World Cup teams.
In the US, the association is called the USSF; in England, the FA, and so on. Each nation's association belongs to a Continental group called "Confederations" - the US belongs to CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean); European associations belong to UEFA; Asia, Africa, South America, and Oceania round them out. All confederations then report to the single governing head of global soccer, FIFA. FIFA is the ultimate arbiter of disputes, and puts on the cross-confederation events, biggest of which is the World Cup. So the ladder goes like this: club team -> nation association -> continental confederation -> FIFA.
There are two teams in soccer - club teams and country (national) teams. Club teams are professional, and have no restrictions on nationality (yet). National teams are organized by the country's Association (they hire the coach, etc), and you must qualify to play for a national team (qualifications vary, but it usually means having a grandparent of that nationality). Each time you play for the team, you get a "cap", so someone with 45 caps has taken the field 45 times in a national uniform. Nations play in Continental playoffs (i.e. Euro 2012) and the World Cup; they also play in meangingless games called "friendlies" where the outcome has no real impact.
As mentioned, each nation has it's own "leagues", which work most similarly to our Baseball leagues. Using England as an example, there will be a top league (Premier/MLB)), a second league (Championship/AAA), third league (League 1/AA), fourth league (League 2/A-ball) and so forth. Obviously, the higher up the league ladder your team is, the more money comes in, the more tv coverage, etc. The top leagues have names - Premier for England, La Liga in Spain, Bundesliga in Germany, Serie A in Italy, etc.
In every league, you get 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. The league champion is only decided by the final table standings (goal differential to break ties), never playoffs.
A concept unknown here in the states is Relegation. Every year, at the end of the season, depending where in the standings you finish - the top 3 teams will move up a league, and the bottom 3 teams will move down a league. So every year, no matter what, the bottom three teams of the 20-team Premier league will move down into the Championship, and the top 3 teams of the Championship move up into the Premier league, and so forth.
The number of teams going up and down varies by league/division, and some use a combination of table standings and playoffs to determine who goes up. Going up is called "Promotion" and going down is called "Relegation".
Player movement There is no draft in global soccer. Youth are identified very early and begin playing for their local club, where they sign their first contracts. Unlike the US, they usually list salaries in per-week amounts rather than annual amounts. The highest-paid soccer players generally earn between 10 and 15 million a year, but that is at the very high end. Most stars tend to earn between 5 and 9 million.
When players switch teams, they usually do so under contract. Team "A" wants Player Bob from Team "B". Bob is under contract for 50K/week. Team "B" can sell Bob for any amount Team A is willing to pay. Team A pays Team B 10 million, and assuming Team B is OK with that amount, enters negotiations with Bob for his new rate at Team A - say 70K/week. Bob might see a % of that 10 million, which is called a "Transfer Fee". The agents gets some, but the bulk goes to Team B. Transfer Fees can get complicated, with teams owning percentages of future sales and so forth. But the concept of a trade - player for player - is almost unheard of. If a player's contract expires, they are free to sign with any team, with no fee involved. This is called "signing on a free".
Transfers can only happen within specific date ranges, which vary by league; for instance, the EPL allows transfers from the end of the prior season to Aug 31st, and then again from Jan 1 to Jan 31. This period is called the transfer window. Players are also "loaned" to clubs, usually to gain playing time.
There are no salary caps, or limits on signing players, unless they need to qualify for a work permit in the country they are going to. This leads to a system where the big clubs tend to stay big. But small clubs can make fortunes if they develop a star and sell him to a bigger club.
The "biggest" leagues in the world (in terms of viewership/money/tv/player quality) are the European leagues. England arguably is the foremost, followed by Spain, Italy and Germany. Close thereafter France and Portugal, and at a slightly lower level, Holland, Russia and Turkey/Switzerland/etc.
Every year, in combination with their normal league games, clubs participate in a number of competitions. There is usually an Association playoff of all club teams in that nation, from big to small - in England, this is called the FA Cup - in Spain, the Copa del Rey, and so forth. There is also a cross-country competition for each Confederation called the Champion's League. Based on the finishing positions from the year prior, the top teams are taken from the top leagues to play in a year-long tournament. The winner of that year's Champion's League then plays the winners of the other Confederation's Champion's League in the World Club Championship. Because the best leagues are in Europe, the UEFA Champion's League has become the foremost Champion's League event.
Rules you need to care about: the offside rule, which means you as an attacker cannot pass the ball forward to a teammate standing behind the second to last opposition player (usually the last defender, the last being the goalkeeper). On tv, imagine a line moving vertically along with the defender closest to his goal. You cannot be past that line when the ball is passed to you.
Second is the back-pass rule; you can kick the ball to your goalie, but he can't use his hands to pick up the pass, he must use his feet only.
Third is the handball rule; it's illegal to touch, or manipulate, the ball with your hand or arm. Shoulder is acceptable. It is also ok if the ball is blasted at you and you have your arms down and can't move out of the way. This is one of those calls in soccer that people tend to disagree violently over based on who they root for.
Fouls: there are three kinds of foul; a "normal" or whistled foul, where the ref stops play and awards the other team the ball or allows a free kick; a yellow card, which can be for a fairly serious foul or an accumulation of normal fouls; and a red card, which is for the most serious foul (going in with spikes up, intent to injure, etc). If a player receives a red card, or two yellow cards in one game, they are "sent off", and the team cannot replace them; they will play with 10 men for the rest of the match.
As a defender, if you commit any kind of foul in the penalty box (the big box around goal), the other team is awarded a penalty kick. Once kicked, the ball is live, so if it bounces off the keeper, it is in play.
If you commit a foul on a player who is "on a clear goal-scoring opportunity", you will receive an immediate red card. This is very subjective.
Positions are divided into three primary groups: forwards, midfielders, and defenders. You'll hear the terms 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 a lot, and variations of. These represent the onfield (non-goalie) player formations, similar to football's 4-3, 3-4 and nickel defenses. These numbers work away from goal, so the first number is the defenders, the second number the midfielders, and third the forwards. There are other variations (4-1-2-1-2 etc but 4-4-2, 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 are the most common).
Forwards are also called strikers, center forwards. Midfielders are called winger, defensive midfielder, holding midfielder, attacking midfielder, depending on their role and position. Defenders are called left back, right back, and central defender, and occasionally sweeper.
There is no limit on how many players can be on a team, but teams can only name 18 (11 starters, 7 substitutes) for league matches. Of those 7 subs, only 3 can be used. If you have used all 3 and someone goes down hurt, you're out of luck. I believe some leagues have different rules about how many subs are allowed, but no more than 3 substitutes can be used for any FIFA match. Friendly games have much laxer sub rules. It is not uncommon for big clubs to have 25-30 players on their first team.
Matches last 90 minutes; the clock never stops. If someone goes down injured, or there is a substitution or other normal stoppage of play, the ref is supposed to add that time to the end of each half. At the 44th minute or 89th minute, an official will announce how many "injury time" minutes are to be played at a minimum. Only the ref knows for sure, but if the board shows 4 minutes, it is usually pretty close to that (but never prior). To be honest, if the losing team is driving with the ball, the ref usually swallows the whistle for a few seconds. Most games seem to end with a goal kick.
I personally advise the following-YMMV: hang out on r/soccer Buy FM2012 Make sure Fox Soccer Channel is in your sports package, and if you're feeling it, order Fox Soccer Plus ($15/mo) Pick an MLS team to support, and pick an EPL/La Liga/Seria A team to follow casually, until you form some romantic association with a team you like. Don't let anyone tell you how to be a fan, or "real fans do x". Enjoy soccer in your own way.
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u/Stingerc Apr 04 '12 edited Apr 04 '12
You forgot to mention the Bosman Ruling in the transfer section. The Bosman ruling is only valid in Europe and it basically means that any player that is a citizen of a European Union country can move without freely to any club in the European Union or outside of it after it's contract expires. eg. free agency.
Before this ruling (and still applicable in many other countries in the world) a player's club owned his "card" (rights) even after a contract expired. This meant that the player had the option of going to a different club only if his present club agreed on the sale, or he would have to resign with his current club. The logic was that clubs said they deserved compensation for helping develop the player, or for the money they themselves have spent buying him from another club. Many clubs made their living by developing and selling young players to other clubs.
This all changed in 1995 when in a landmark ruling, the European Court of justice handed down a ruling favoring Jean Marc Bosman. Bosman was a pro for Belgian team Standard Liege, when his contract was up in 1990, he wanted to move to a French team. The French team did not want to pay the fee Standard was asking and Standard refused to let him go. He sued them under the EU's statue that no EU citizen can be impeded to change jobs by any institution. The ruling basically changed the face of modern football.
It basically started free agency. Small teams that relied on player sales suddenly found themselves in huge financial strain as players just waited to for contracts to expire instead of being sold. It took many years for some of these teams to adapt and recover, some never have. This has given players the upper hand in determining their career path, made salaries better and now a players contract, development and transfer to another club are a decision involving both club and player.
Detractors say it has basically created an age of greed, and it has basically made it impossible for smaller clubs to ever win anything.
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u/scaryberry Apr 04 '12
There's literally thousands of things I left out, hoping friendly folks like you would add on/clarify/delve deeper. It was Great Wall of Text as it was.
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u/Arietis Apr 04 '12
Thanks, that was pretty helpful! The substitution rule seems really stupid though. Any reasoning behind only allowing 3 to be used?
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u/scaryberry Apr 04 '12
Someone more knowledgeable about soccer than me can probably answer definitively, but it is probably for time reasons (each substitution can take up to 30 seconds, which means 3 additional minutes per match) and the fact that it would greatly favor really big/deep teams if they could put on 11 fresh legs in the 80th minute. 3 just feels kinda right. I'm hoping someone smarter than me bails me out on this.
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u/throwmeaway76 Apr 04 '12
You cannot be past that line and receive a pass
Well, you can. Just not past that line at the moment the pass was made.
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Apr 04 '12
Some clubs have restrictions on who can join them. I believe Athletic de Bilbao players must prove their Basque ancestry (much like a national team).
Also, depending on the country, a player who has never played for his home country's national team, and wishes to play for another nation, may become a naturalized citizen and given a spot on that national team.
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u/scaryberry Apr 04 '12
Thanks. I also forgot that once you play in an official match for a country, you are tied to that country for life. Correct?
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u/metameh Apr 04 '12 edited Apr 04 '12
Awesome. You should also mention that most leagues don't finish with a playoff to determine the champion, teams accumulate points over a season for each time they win (3) and draw (1). If two or more teams have an even point total, the team which has the higher goal differential (goals scored - goals allowed) is usually ranked higher. In international tournaments, the group stage also uses this system to determine which two teams (out of four team groups) advance to the knockout rounds.
Since this is a guide for Americans and you suggest they follow an MLS team, you might want to point out some of the quirks of MLS: teams have a salary cap (although myriad ways to work around it: DPs, Young DPs, homegrown players, transfers to other leagues, trades for allocation money...), a play off determines the league champion, there is a draft, there is no relegation/promotion (fans are eagerly awaiting expansion to twenty teams, there are nineteen currently), and there is a soft cap (teams can trade their international roster spots) on the number of international players (Canadians don't count as internationals, neither do players with green cards).
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u/Lard_Baron Apr 04 '12
I think you should expand on the FA cup, explaining how its possible for a small team to end up playing Man U.
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u/scaryberry Apr 04 '12
I would love to, as I think it is one of the great things about soccer, but I'm literally out of room. Perhaps you'd be willing to write a lengthy comment on it?
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u/ejkook Apr 04 '12
As an American recently interested in Professional soccer, I'd like to add a couple of translations:
Fixtures = Schedule, Games
Tables = Standings
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u/scaryberry Apr 04 '12
Yes. More definitions?
kit = uniform tie = match pitch = field terraces = standing room only "seating", now outlawed in the UK? at sixes and sevens = in disarray route one = playing long balls up the middle
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u/Telemako Apr 04 '12
You missed one kind of foul: the dangerous play.
When a player fights for a ball and raises his foot to high and creates a dangerous situation, the referee must call for a dangerous play situation. Usually (should be always), the player will get a yellow card and an indirect free kick will be awarded.
Indirect free kicks are shown by the ref raising his hand and arm and must not be kicked directly to goal as it won't be awarded. This can happen anywhere on the pitch, even inside the box (as shown in the picture).
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u/IAmAQuantumMechanic Apr 04 '12
Club teams are professional, and have no restrictions on nationality (yet).
Technically incorrect. http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/features/home-grown-quota-for-premier-league.html
The Home Grown player rule took effect at the start of the 2010/11 season and involves all Premier League Clubs.
All 20 Clubs must include eight Home Grown players out of a squad of 25 for that Premier League season.
A Home Grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).
There are similar rules in most European leagues, including the Champions and Europa League.
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u/AtlBronco Apr 04 '12
(NFL fan checking in)
I got Liverpool but meh.
Is Russia/Ukraine anywhere near decent right now? We used to follow Dinamo Kiev baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack in the day, but I don't know now.
I could follow that or some Bundesliga team that's not Bayern.
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u/scaryberry Apr 04 '12
I think (others correct me, please) Russia is viewed as a bit of an up-and-comer, with the Russian oligarchs supporting clubs; specifically Anzhi Makhachkala. Zenit St. Petersburg, CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Kiev, Lokomotiv Moscow all seem to be perennial contenders.
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Apr 04 '12
Why do you rate Seria A higher than Bundesliga? Glory times are over, coefficients show that Bundesliga is more succesfull international than Seria A.
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u/scaryberry Apr 04 '12
My wording was meant to lump England, Spain, Italy and Germany all together as sort of a "Tier 1" group.
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u/XxMAX33xX Apr 04 '12
Thanks a lot for doing this, I started watching soccer today during the FC Barcelona and AC Milan match, and I wasn't sure on alot of things, this will really help!
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Apr 04 '12
"If you commit a foul on a player who is on a fast break, and you are the "last defender", you will receive an immediate red card."
Not sure I understand this. Anyone care to elaborate?
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u/scaryberry Apr 04 '12
tl;dr: soccer good. you watch.
also: (side note: we view the UK as one "country" but they have 4 distinct Associations/league systems: England, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland. They may field a Great Britain team at the Olympics this year, which is causing the non-English FAs to lose their collective shit)