Football has evolved over the last few decades with leagues around the world gaining more prominence – as well as being completely different.
Steven Gerrard playing for the LA Galaxy
Every country around the world is always trying to find new and innovative ways to make their national league different and unique, whether that means changing the rules from year to year or giving in to fan demands.
Regardless of the reason, there’s a growing list of competitions from Asia to America that constantly leave people wondering just how you win the league.
Major League Soccer (USA)
MLS tends to run from March to October with every team playing 34 games. Then, in keeping with other North American sports, the 12 best performing teams go into a play-off system before one side is eventually crowned the champion in the MLS Cup match.
The overall best performing team at the end of the regular season is also awarded the Supporters’ Shield as opposed to the actual championship.
MLS: New York City FC at Montreal Impact
In addition to this it’s one of the only places in the world where expansion teams are allowed to go straight into the top division, with Atlanta United and Minnesota United set to be the next new entrants in 2017.
The MLS has garnered much attention for the arrival of top names such as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard coming over to America to play for LA Galaxy and New York City FC respectively. With so many of these elite players being used to a standard season with a decisive winner, it’s interesting to wonder what they think about the prospect of championship play-offs.
Primera División (Argentina)
Known as one of the biggest leagues in the world with 30 teams competing for the title, the Primera Division runs from August to May. Every team plays everyone else in the league once. However, there will also be another fixture where everyone gets the chance to play their rivals a second time. This is known as the Fecha de Clásicos, and it will be interesting to see if it’s something that other leagues choose to adapt to their own systems.
Picture Supplied by Action Images
As well as not getting to play both home and away against the majority of teams in the league, the new layout also puts more pressure on the bigger clashes between title contenders. One team who will be hoping the change can benefit them is River Plate, who find themselves top of the table after the first round of fixtures. After finishing 9th last season they’ll feel they have a point to prove after they reigned victorious in the equally confusing 2014 campaign, where the winners of the two halves of the season faced off in a Superfinal.
Jupiler Pro League (Belgium)
Considered by some as the most bizarre and fascinating league in world football. It runs from late July to early May, with every team playing 30 games in the regular season. They then either enter Play-Offs 1 or Play-Offs 2 according to where they finished in the initial league table.
The first set of play-offs include the top six and are known as the title section, with the second set being the Europa League section, involving teams placed from 7th-15th.
The team that finish in 16th are therefore relegated, showing the thin line between potential success and failure. Three teams from the second tier also compete in Play-Offs 2, rounding off possibly the most mind-boggling system in European football.
The new format has proved to be both bewildering and exciting, with three different teams taking home the title in the last three years. With established sides such as Anderlecht and Standard Liége having to battle for every single point, it certainly makes the Belgian league seem much more competitive.
Standard Liege’s Laurent Ciman, Michy Batshuayi and Mohamed Tchite (L-R)
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