I was watching the football news show we have in the US last night and they looked at the last section of the season in Belgium. Here it goes (mainly the last two paragraphs).
Talk about over-complicated.
Anymore really elaborate end of season formats out there? I know the Eredivisie is one, though not as bad as Belgium.
Each of the 16 competitors in the Pro League plays each of its 15 opponents twice in the regular season, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents. The regular season thus comprises 30 matchdays of 8 matches each, played between July and March. A win earns three points since the 1995-96 season and a draw earns one point (no points are awarded for a loss). Teams are ranked by total points, then by total wins and finally by goal difference, number of scored goals, number of away goals and number of away wins. If teams are still level, a test-match is played in two legs to determine the final order in the standings.
A play-off phase is then played from March to May. The top 6 teams from the regular season enter the play-offs 1, with each team playing their opponents twice. The point system in the play-offs 1 is the same as during the regular season, except that each team starts with half of the points they won in the regular season. Points are rounded up to the nearest integer. At the end of the play-offs 1, the first-placed team becomes the champion of Belgium. If some teams are level in the ranking, any points added due to rounding are first withdrawn from their total points if applicable, before other criteria are taken into account. Teams ranked 7 to 14 after the regular season enter the play-offs 2, with teams ranked 7th, 9th, 12th and 14th entering the group A and teams ranked 8th, 10th, 11th and 13th entering the group B. In each group, each team plays each of its 3 opponents twice. The winner of each group plays the final game in two legs, to determine the winner of the play-offs 2. The winner of the play-offs 2 then plays a home and away game against either the fourth-placed or fifth-placed team from the play-offs 1 for the final Europa League ticket, with the opponent depending on the fact if the Belgian Cup winner ended in the top four of the play-off 1 or not.
Team ranked 15th and 16th after the regular season enter the relegation play-off. It consists of 5 games between the 2 teams. The 15th-placed team starts the play-offs with 3 points whereas the 16th-placed team starts from zero. The loser of the relegation play-off is relegated to the second division. The winner of thay play-off enters the Belgian Second Division Final Round with 3 teams from the second division. The winner of this Final Round plays in the First Division the season thereafter.
Talk about over-complicated.
Anymore really elaborate end of season formats out there? I know the Eredivisie is one, though not as bad as Belgium.
