The 2019/20 season has begun and it’s time to look ahead to the
Return of the Champions League!
Just as last year, the four League Champions will begin their Champions League campaigns as #1 Seeds in different groups.
Premier League Champions – Vanishing Spray F.C. – Group A
Championship Champions – Boss – Group B
League One Champions – Tralfamadore Zoo F.C. – Group C
League Two Champions – Route 57 F.C. – Group D
Vanishing Spray F.C. are now the only team in the BFFA to have played in every Champions League! They were Semi-Finalists in 2016, but are still waiting for their first Final.
Boss return to the CL after one season away. Last time in, as Boss Barkley, they finished bottom of their Group. This season they join the tournament as a Premier League team with a shiny new League Title in their trophy cabinet.
Tralfamadore Zoo F.C. were runners-up in last season’s Champions League Final, losing 39-31 to All Star Gunners in GW17. After already winning League Two, League One and BFFA Cup silverware in their short history, The Zoo may be considered favourites to win the CL at their second attempt.
Route 57 F.C. will be competing in their first Champions League after storming League Two last season, winning the title by 12 clear points.
Drawn into those groups will be the other 12 qualifiers. They include three previous Champions League winners – K.H. Granitza Sting F.C. (2015 Winners), Mighty Fine Feeling (2017 Winners) and All Star Gunners (the current CL Champions). Also amongst this season’s entrants are last season’s Europa League Champions – FC Santa Barbara – and the BFFA Cup holders Smash & Grab. Also, two more teams making their first appearances in the CL – Cabezazo Increíble and Hung Like A Bony.
The Draw is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 8th September.
The other qualified teams are:
#1: AFC Chester (League One Runners-Up)
#2: All Star Gunners (Champions League Winners)
#3: Bigger Than Brolin (Third, Premier League)
#4: Branwellington F.C. (Third, League One)
#5: Cabezazo Increíble (League Two Runners-Up)
#6: F.C. Santa Barbara (Europa League Winners)
#7: Hung Like a Bony (Third, League Two)
#8: K.H. Granitza Sting F.C. (Fourth, League One)
#9: Mighty Fine Feeling (Third, Championship)
#10: Smash & Grab (BFFA Cup Winners)
#11: Sporting Wicker Park (Fourth, Championship)
#12: The Money Team (Premier League Runners-Up)
The Champions League will begin, after the international break, in Gameweek 5 – 14th-16th September. The fixtures are listed below.
The Group Stage matches will be played each gameweek from GW 5 – GW 10.
The Quarter-Finals will be two-legged fixtures on GW 11 and GW 12.
The Semi-Finals will also be played over two legs on GW 13 and GW 14.
Gameweek 15 is a midweek gameweek and won’t feature any CL or IML games.
The Intramural League Final will be on Gameweek 16 (details of that tournament will be posted next week).
The Champions League Final will be played on Gameweek 17, on the weekend of the 14th of December.
The Fixture List
(#1): #1 seeds – already decided, see above.
(#2), (#3) & (#4) – the teams from the Champions League Draw, as they are drawn, i.e. first team out of the hat will be (#2) in Group A, the next team will be (#3) in Group A. The last team out will be (#4) in Group D.
Group Stage:
Gameweek 5: (#1) vs. (#4), (#2) vs. (#3)
Gameweek 6: (#3) vs. (#1), (#4) vs. (#2)
Gameweek 7: (#1) vs. (#2), (#3) vs. (#4)
Gameweek 8: (#2) vs. (#1), (#4) vs. (#3)
Gameweek 9: (#1) vs. (#3), (#2) vs. (#4)
Gameweek 10: (#4) vs. (#1), (#3) vs. (#2)
After GW 10, the top two teams in each Group will, as ever, go through to the Quarter-Finals.
The third-placed teams will join the Intramural League at the Quarter-Final stage.
The fourth-placed teams are out and can concentrate fully on their League!
Quarter-Finals: Gameweeks 11 & 12
QF1: Winner Group A vs. Runners-Up Group B
QF2: Winner Group B vs. Runners-Up Group A
QF3: Winner Group C vs. Runners-Up Group D
QF4: Winner Group D vs. Runners-Up Group C
Semi-Finals: Gameweeks 13 & 14
SF1: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2
SF2: Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4
THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL: Gameweek 17
Tiebreakers:
Group Stages: If two teams are tied on table points then teams are separated first by total matchpoints scored, then total goals, least red cards, total assists, total clean sheets, least yellow cards and finally, if necessary, a coin toss (best 3 out of 5!).
Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals: If a match is tied after both legs, the match will be decided by total goals in the tie, least red cards, total assists, total clean sheets, least yellow cards, then most matchpoints scored in the CL (this tournament only of course), then best CL W-D-L record, and then, if necessary, a best-of-five coin toss.
The Final: If the match is drawn then the winner will be the team that scored the most goals. If at this point the teams are still tied, we will replay the Final. If for some reason three replays can’t separate the teams then the QF/SF tiebreaker deciders can be used.
Champions League 2020
A little look into the distant future…
Now that we are a 50-strong League, the Champions League will be expanded for the 2020/21 season. We will be growing from a 16-team tourney to a 20-team goalfest!
The top three teams from each League will still qualify for the CL, as will this season’s Champions League winner, the Intramural League winner and the BFFA Cup Champion.
This season the CL Runners-Up and the BFFA Cup Runners-Up will also earn a place!
- There will be a Qualifying Round to reduce the field from 20 to 16. Going into the Qualifying Round will be the third-placed teams from each League, the IML winner, the CL Runners-Up and the BFFA Cup Runners-Up (unless they qualify automatically for the Group Stage).
- Starting in the Group Stage will be the five League Champions, the League Runners-Up, the Champions League Champions and the BFFA Cup Winners.
- Any overlaps will move the respective third-placed teams into the Group Stage and the gaps will be filled by the fourth-placed teams from the Premier League down to the National League in that order (i.e. if the League One winner also wins the BFFA Cup, then the team in third-place in League One will move up to the Group Stage and be replaced by the team that finishes fourth in the Premier League. A second gap would be filled by the Championship’s 4th-placed team, and so on).
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