AVORNIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, YEAR 68 SEASON

Going into Year 68, expectations for who would win the League Championship varied. It was true that Jahnsel wasn’t likely to repeat as champions, but several other teams had kept things competitive last year.  Anjocca, Tomen, Silagnak all had high hopes.   Earch was getting older but were well coached.   Speaking of well coached, Hanuna and Petorvale were led by respected football minds, but had been underwhelming recently, could one of them make a push towards competing for the title?   And what of Henix and Baelanholme, the 2nd year teams?  They had both down well in their first season, one had to wonder where they would finish this year.  Meanwhile, on the other sides of things, the expectation was that teams like Leorux and Dobo, with histories of poor showings, would once again struggle and leave Avornian Football League fans wondering why they even have clubs at all.    Whatever the expectation was, the results of Year 68 were certainly held a few surprises for fans.

Jahnsel: After the brutal offseason Jahnsel went through, fans had no hope for a League Championship repeat and were expecting a bad season.   Just how bad would become evident very quickly, as the Jackrabbits would lose their first 4 games of the season and would suffer another 5-game losing streak midway into the year.    In fact, they would enjoy exactly one winning streak the entire season (a 2 game streak against Earch and Silagnak in Weeks 10 and 11).  The Jackrabbits did at least sweep the series against hated rival, Silagnak, there’s that.   Otherwise, next to nothing went right.  

The offense sorely missed Bili of House Yelbow and Jimm of House Tomacka, only being able to score 25 goals (the league low) a year after setting the Avornian Football League record for most goals ever scored in a season.    The 3-4-3 formation that player captain Derrec of House Smyt cooked up didn’t work near as well as he’d hoped it would.  It’s not like the defense had anything to be proud of either, allowing 36 goals (2nd worst in the league).  New Goalkeeper Tophar of House June performed horribly throughout the year, to the point that Derrec eventually decided to replace him by Week 15 with a better, (if much shorter) goalie.   Perhaps not surprisingly, this switch did seem to make a positive difference for Jahnsel, as from Weeks 17-22, they would earn 9 points (a 2-3-1 record).   However, by then, it was far too little, too late.  

To their credit, the Jahnsel football fans proved a loyal bunch, sticking with the team even as they struggled throughout the campaign.  Less so was their owner, Ryne of House Ewickson, who flat out never showed up to any games (an unheard of act, especially for home games) and it was clear that by the end of the season, he appeared to not give a care whatsoever for the team.  Jahnsel would finish with 20 points, in dead last place.   They are the first team to ever drop from 1st to Worst in a season, a feat nobody would have ever imagined possible, though it’s certainly understandable.   One can only hope things improve next season.

Dobo: The Claymen surprised everyone (perhaps including themselves) with a 3 game winning streak to start the season.   The offense was clicking, having already scored 7 goals in such a short timespan.   This was largely due to 2nd year Center Forward Axsan of House Sleigh emerging out of nowhere to become the first legitimate scoring threat in Dobo’s history.  Indeed, the team would score 28 goals which, while tied with 3 other teams for the 2nd least in the league, is actually a new Dobo record for most goals scored.   One would think that Axsan would easily have led the team in scoring, but one would be wrong.

In the Week 4 game against Chalmblaank, Axsan would break his leg on an ugly and awkward fall trying to head in a goal.   He would miss the rest of the season and his absence was felt immediately, as the Claymen lost 6 straight games, scoring a goal in only one of those contests.  They’d eventually righten the ship to play better but only enjoyed one more winning streak that season, a meaningless 2 game streak in Weeks 21 and 22.  One other big part of their seasonal woes was the defense, which was horrendous.  They allowed 40 goals, nearly setting an all-time mark. 

While Dobo did earn one more point this season compared to last, owner Jephard of House Obuis was not pleased whatsoever with the team’s performance, blaming the player captain, Wahwmah of House Taccew’s game management and lack of player development for the team’s struggles.  He might have had a point.   While Dobo have always played hard for their respected leader, it’s pretty clear that on top of being relatively untalented, they’ve struggled with situation awareness, making dumb errors throughout the year, costing them several games.   The Claymen also had a curious habit in Year 68 of playing up (or down) to their competition’s level.   They were strangely able to earn half of their total points (13 out 26) against the top four teams in the standings, yet several of the teams in the lower half of the standings swept them completely.   The lack of consistent mental discipline is clearly a problem and one has to wonder if Jephard is going to keep Wahwmah as the player captain going into Year 69, especially now that Dobo has finished in 11th place for two consecutive years.

Henix: The Firebirds were a disappointment in Year 68.    There had been plenty of optimism from the Henix fanbase that the team would improve upon its promising first season, where it had finished in 8th place and looked competitive for the most part, especially after setting the league record for ties with 9 of them.  They did avoid drawing so many games in Year 68, they’d only have two this time. Unfortunately, while the Firebirds did win a couple more games than they did last year, many of those ties got changed into losses, with 12 in Year 68, hence why they dropped to 10th place.

The biggest problem, as it was in Year 67, was a leaky defense that seemed overwhelmed in some games.   Left Centerback Carlin of House Fandanno was once again called on to basically perform the work of five men in the team’s 4-3-3 formation, or at least it felt that way with him having to dash all over the back half of the field to make up for his teammates’ blown coverages and other defensive miscues.  The 33 goals Henix allowed feels like it could have been even worse.    The offense sputtered a bit too.  The team’s Striker, Ewick of House Poulser, wasn’t really to blame here, as he had another good season, with 10 goals scored.   However, he didn’t get a lot of help on offense, which stifled his production.   Center Midfielder Endru of House Adib had a down season, not being quite on point with several of his passes to Ewick.   New Left Winger, Roh of House Quake was as seemingly timid as feared, trying to force passes to Ewick whenever the opposing defense put the slightest bit of pressure on him while driving.   Teams figured him out quickly and his predictable “scared” gameplay allowed crafty defenses to position themselves for easy steals that killed a frustratingly large amount of Firebird drives.   To his credit, Ewick kept patient with the young Roh, far moreso than anyone expected him to be, given his brash personality.   Perhaps knowing how skittish Roh is, Ewick acted as a kind of older brother to him, giving advice on what to do and not do in high pressure situation.   It didn’t help Henix win games, but his actions did Ewick’s reputation wonders, making him even more popular with fans than he already was.   He can clearly be a jerk to other teams with his highly physical, trash talking game, but at least he’s Henix’s jerk. 

Dobi of House Almen’s lack of playing experience was a talking point when he was first hired as the Manager of Henix.   While he’s a popular leader within the players, very friendly and buddy-buddy to them, it doesn’t appear that he’s been highly effective in leading the team to success.   There are some great talents on the team, but the depth is very lacking.   While they play hard, the Firebirds haven’t been the most disciplined team around, leading to costly errors.    Owner Gal of House Zakariah is a quiet man, so it’s not clear what he’s thinking about the team’s progress, but one has to imagine that Dobi’s seat is getting a little warmer.  Overall, Henix needs more help than just a few potential star players in order to rise in the standings.   Dobi’s job is to find that depth, it’ll be interesting to see if he can do that in Year 69.

Tomen: Expectations were high in Tomen, as the Rivermen were a team that had been improving year after year, with an effective Manager in Loeb of House Gammiz, and stellar players in Mishakl of House Floddergrove and the Sammsoon brothers, Argill and especially Cragnus.   After a fast start to the season (9 points in 4 weeks, just one point behind first place), Tomen would utterly disappoint their fans with some of the most inconsistent play ever seen in the Avornian Football League.  Outside of the early 3 game winning streak and two small 2 game losing streaks, Tomen somehow never got the same result in back to back games.  The disjointed results meant Tomen quickly fell out of contention and while they never looked overmatched, fans never knew what to expect out of the team that ultimately finished in 9th place.  It seemed that Loeb’s energetic managerial style just wasn’t working this time as some weeks, the team would play like world beaters, other weeks, teams like Henix and Dobo would outhustle them (Tomen got swept by both teams despite both being worse clubs).

The offense was fine, as Midfielder/Forward Cragnus had another great season, scoring 13 goals despite being targeted by defenses all year long.   His inspired play and magician’s touch with the ball definitely kept the team competitive throughout the year.  Center Midfielder Mishakl did a great job as a midfielder in directing traffic, and even scored several goals himself, knowing when to target Cragnus and when to take the ball to the goal himself.  The defense was not near as good, allowing a team high 32 goals.   Argill, the team’s Right Centerback, did his best to lead the defense well, but simply had a down year.   Having been so good last year at being just physical enough to disrupt offenses without committing penalties, Argill just didn’t have a lot of luck with the referees this season.   Plays that he got away with last season were getting called out this year and the results was a few too many penalty kicks given away.   It’s likely he’ll bounce back in Year 69, but this wasn’t his best showing at all.

Overall, the Rivermen didn’t play their best ball, but never got blown out of the water in games.  In fact, despite finishing with just 29 points in the standings, Tomen actually only had a -1 goal differential.  If that meant anything in the standings, they’d have finished in a tie for 5th place instead of 9th.   It really just feels like this team, though rather up and down in performance, was just a bit unlucky this year.   It’s still a lost season, but nobody expects Loeb to be in any sort of hot seat situation, his body of work has long earned him the benefit of the doubt.  But no doubt the team will need to play more consistently next season, if they do, they could bounce right back up in the standings.

Chalmblaank: If the Knights’s fan wanted the team to avoid drama and just focus on winning games, they were sorely let down.  The first half of the season will go down as one of the worst halves the team has ever experienced (other than the 2nd half collapse of Year 65 that cost them a League Championship).   With only 10 points in the standings, they were in last place, already realistically out of the running for the title (being 16 points down).  While Chalmblaank had been competitive, little things were costing them games.   An untimely penalty, a misdirected pass, being out of position, an ill-advised shot on goal with more open teammates nearby, not substituting when they should have been, just a bunch of small miscue was costing the team games.   However, the real problem was the non-stop drama between two people.   It was known that the team’s best forward, Sirge of House Einna, was a talented, but self-centered player that expected to be handed the ball at all times, believe he alone could win the day with his shooting.   However, Manager Deagu of House Sanchor had been trying (and failing) to get it through Sirge’s head that if he allowed himself to pass the pass to open teammates, it would help the team score more goals.   If defenses had more than one player to worry about defending, it’d open Sirge up to get more scoring opportunities for himself.   Somehow, it never crossed Sirge’s mind and he felt Deagu was just targeting him to use as an excuse for why the team was doing poorly when Deagu was failing the entire team by not coaching them up and mismanaging games.  The result was that the two men were constantly yelling at each other on the sidelines, causing a big distraction to the club.  

Before the Week 12 game, Alajandrus of House Capeburgh, the longtime Center Midfielder and most consistent player on the team finally had enough of it and held a closed-door team meeting.   Speaking on behalf of the entire team, Alajandrus laid down the law on both men, Deagu for always throwing the players under the bus when his mismanagement was just as responsible for the team’s losing, and Sirge, for being a self-centered pain in the butt that wouldn’t let any slight against him go.   With an entire squad against them, Deagu and Sirge were forced to admit both of their faults and agree to stop being a distraction to the team.   Perhaps not surprisingly, from that point onwards, Chalmblaank finally started to play much better, going 5-4-2 in the final 11 games to earn 19 points.   While clearly still well out of first place, Knights fans have to be encouraged by the team’s turnaround. 

Sirge would end the year with 12 goals and did do a bit better at passing the ball around more (at least by his standards).   Alajandrus would even get several goals in this season, leading to one of the more balanced attacks Chalmblaank has had so far.    The defense did struggle a bit though.   New Centerback Arlo of House Pixsan was clearly learning the job as he went along, which led to several moments of blown coverage that resulted in too many 1 on 1 shots on goal.   For his part, new Goalkeeper Matrick of House Cattlebottle did his best, but was exposed during the 1 on 1 situations as being too reactive in scoring drives.  Forwards often faked a shot, then simply dribbled up a little closer and shot at an empty goal after Matrick had flown off to the wrong end of the goal, completely fooled by the misdirection.   The Chalmblaank fans, full of wealthy elites, poured boos down on Arlo and Matrick, the only two non-nobles on the team.   To their credit, they handled to criticisms with class and never let it get to them.   That mental fortitude will definitely help their growth as players, so it’ll be interesting to see how next year plays out for them.   Overall, Chalmblaank definitely had another disappointing year, but the way the team (and its manager) improved in the 2nd half, along with the fact that they team ended up with a +3 goal differential (4th best in the league) are encouraging signs that things could get much better in Year 69.

Earch: All eyes (especially the owner’s Seesar of House Romi) were on Dennai of House Endear, the longtime star midfielder who had retired to become the new manager of the Earch Falcons Football Club.  It was known he was a stellar leader on the field, but could he direct from the sidelines?   For the most part, the answer was yes.   Dennai had done well in drilling the basics into the team and the Falcons played mostly mistake free football.   Dumb penalties were rare and the team was well educated on what responsibilities their positions entailed.   However, there was a reality that became crystal clear immediately.   Earch had been declining for years already as the team had gotten older and losing Dennai really hurt as the team as a whole just wasn’t as talented as it had been.   Though they played as well as they could, Year 68 was the worst season in Falcon history up to this point.   The 8 losses they suffered was a new team high (though to be fair, every other team has at some point lost more than 8 games, so on that metric, Earch’s worst ever season is still better than every other team’s worst year).   

Things weren’t helped on defense which saw both Hobbs of House Vinicius (Left Centerback) and Daivan of House Banswell (Right Fullback) miss significant time with injuries, Hobbs with a bad left ankle and Daivan with a relatively bad concussion.  Earch would allow 30 goals, easily the most that the proud franchise had ever given up on defense.   While the injuries can be partially blamed, the fact is that the team needs more depth on the roster on that end of the field.  The offense needs more help too, as Aili of House Fendeleeni (Center Forward), while highly talented and technical with his play, could use another threat on offense.   He only scored 9 goals due to the pressure defenses put on him.    At least the midfield game is mostly solid (very necessary in Earch’s 4-3-3 formation), as Dennai’s replacement at Center Midfield, Neuten of House Claybill did an admirable job in the position, displaying solid leadership and managing to do well at every aspect of the game.  It looks like Dennai picked his successor well, which bodes well for the future.

Earch is definitely on the decline, it appears that Dennai has stayed too loyal to his former teammates and kept the core of the team a year too long.   He’ll need to find and develop new talents for next year.   Neuten’s contributions are promising, but it’ll take much more than him to keep the Falcons competitive.   Seesar will be watching the team’s progress closely, he may understand that Dennai is a beloved figure within the community, but he expects Championships from the team.  

Anjocca: Expectations were sky high for the Sabercats coming into Year 68 and why wouldn’t they be?   Anjocca had finished in 2nd place each of the past two seasons, and with all of their core footballers returning, the reigning King’s Cup Champions seemed ready to finally win that elusive League Championship.   That’s why it was such a shock to see them near the bottom of the standings after 6 weeks, with just 4 points to their name.   It was true that the schedule had been considered a brutally tough start (games against other Year 67 contenders Earch, Silagnak, and Tomen all ended in losses and they’d only tied with Jahnsel), but by this point, Anjocca was already 10 points out of first place.   They’d never get closer than 7 points behind the entire season as the Sabercats were rarely in rhythm all year.   They’d enjoy two 3 game winning streaks, but by the end of the year, Anjocca had 10 losses, the most they’d ever suffered before.  

While the offense had another strong season, Tobyas of House Stonner leading the team with 11 goals and Shaggu of House Khaldrem assisting with 8 more of his own, the defense was a massive disappointment.   Dunne of House Werewilf, a defensively oriented Midfielder, had a tough time staying on the field this season, missing 8 games due to a variety of injuries.  Gailor of House Omakyt provided his usual heavy tackling and physical approach to defense, though it seems referees are starting to watch him more closely, as he got penalized more often and was even ejected from 3 games due to careless tackles causing injuries.   With their absences, opposing teams were getting more shots off on goal.  Xaxi of House Pentuna had long been a steady Goalkeeper, but there’s no doubt this was by far his worst season as a professional, allowing 33 goals.   Perhaps unfairly, him only having one eye will always lead to skeptics wondering if he’s lost his touch anytime he has a bad year.   He’s unlikely to retire at this time though, considering he’d been great each of the last two seasons. 

Owner Connavonn of House Duvaloi was extremely upset with the team’s underperformance.  It’s widely known that the team’s manager, Tan of House Browse, is now squarely on the hot seat.    Anjocca’s two consecutive 2nd place finishes before Year 68 are probably the only thing that allowed him to keep his job, and one would have hated to have been in his shoes throughout the season, knowing he had a very competitive and angry owner yelling at him after every loss.   Connavonn is very likely the most demanding owner in the league and he expects Year 69 to show massive improvements.   The Sabercats do have a solid core of players, so it seems possible that they could finally win that League Championship soon, but this really feels like a missed opportunity for the team.    A similar result next year could result in some overhauling to the coaching and to the club itself.

Petorvale:  Petorvale’s hopes at a championship had taken a blow before the season had started when their star Right Forward, Svontal of House Dors, suffered a serious knee injury.   The hope was for Petorvale to thread water until his eventually return, whever that would be.  However, Svontal wouldn’t be back until Week 13 and didn’t play full time until Week 16, so his 6 goals scored was easily the least he'd have ever obtained before.   Ceecil of House Ackerberry, the Right Center Midfielder in Petorvale’s 4-4-2 formation, tried his best to provide a spark on offense, but it was clear that the Hammers needed their star player back.   The defense surprisingly had performed decently, which for the Hammers was pleasant to see.   In what was the Avornian Football League’s highest scoring season to date, Petorvale only ended up allowing 29 goals, good for 4th best in the league.   Credit has to be given to Norty of House Peaweedle and Cooma of House Niccagua, the Left Centerback and Goalkeeper, respectively.   Norty did a wonderful job keeping the penalty area clear of stray footballs, having some success either launching the ball far enough away to allow Petorvale’s defense a reset or even finding an open midfielder to pass to in order to start a new drive.    Cooma’s large frame did leave him a little slower than one would hope a goalkeeper would be, but he’s proven to had good gut instincts on where an opponent will kick towards the goal. 

By Week 12, Petorvale had just 12 points, a full 17 points out of first place.   Any hopes of a title seemed beyond hopeless.   However, that week, the Hammers hit a remarkable hot streak, as from that week till Week 20, they earned an impressive 22 points (a 7-1-1 mark) just as the first place team started to suffer a lackluster run of their own.    Entering Week 21, Petorvale had managed to shave that lead to just 2 points going into a matchup with hated Chalmblaank.   What a story it would be in the Hammers could pull this comeback out!    Unfortunately, their run ended there, as Chalmblaank would crush them in what likely will go down as one of the most painful losses in Petorvalen history, a 4-0 butt whooping that had Chalmblaankian fans literally laughing out loud.   The embarrassing loss, plus the fact that the team in 1st won their game, meant Petorvale was officially eliminated.   Another bad loss to Earch in Week 22 soured things moreso, but the mere fact that Petorvale even came within 2 points of a League Championship after being down 17 points halfway into the year is a noteworthy story in its own right and one the team should be proud of. 

Manager Hammen of House Tong had definitely been feeling some heat going into the season from Owner Benwah of House Ailian.  After the year Petorvale had, especially in the 2nd half of the season, that hot seat has cooled somewhat, especially with their 5th place finish being the best Petorvale has had in 4 years.   Now that the Hammers finally have developed some defense, and with a still in their prime core of offensive players, (not to mention the Youth Academy that Hammen started before the season), there’s some real optimism in Petorvale.   If the team can keep up the form they displayed during that 9 week stretch and do that all year long, the Hammers have a chance to contend for sure.  

Leorux: If someone had left the country for a full year after Year 67, then returned in time to read a paper on what the Year 68 standings resulted in, they might be forgiven for wondering if the results were printed upside down.   Jahnsel, Tomen, Earch, and Anjocca, after the 4 horse race they were in last season, now all in the bottom 7 of the league?  Meanwhile… Leorux near the top of the standings…, wait, LEORUX?!   Yes, the Elves, a club that had never before finished above the bottom three places in the standings, would find themselves finishing in 4th place with 35 points (more than the previous two season combined!) and even that didn’t tell the full tale.   For this season truly was a magical one for the oft ridiculed club.  While many clubs fell far behind 1st place early on, Leorux seemed to be the one club that could keep up with them, never falling further than 7 points behind.   At multiple points in time, they were even within just one point behind, including by Week 21.    Sadly, they must have used up all the magic that the Elves had, as they would lose to 11th place Dobo to get eliminated.   A loss to Tomen the following week knocked the team down to 4th place, somewhat deflating the accomplishment.  But for Leorux fans, they’ll always remember this as the year where the Elves finally earned respect within the league as they kept pace with the League Champions and at points of time, they could even realistically dream of becoming the champions themselves.

How did they do it?  It started with Carles of House Yalmount finally having the sort of season Elves fans knew he was always capable of.   With Hemly of House Raber proving himself to be a real nuisance to defenses, Carles was finally able to get some occasional breathing room on attacks, which allowed him to score his personal best 14 goals, near the league lead.  He also developed something of a knack for scoring late in tied games to allow Leorux to squeak by a tough opponent.  While the defense was far from stellar, the additions of Centerbacks Kade of House Nush and Azaroth of House Belock definitely helped the defensive unit keep games competitive just long enough for Carles to pull out a game winner.   With all the improvement the team made, one absolutely must give the team’s Owner and Manager, Herrad of House Hoopmeister tons of credit for turning the culture of his team around.   It was known that he was a big football fan when he purchased the Elves, but his knowledge of the game, his ability to gameplan, and his eye for young talent were far more impressive than anyone would have guessed.    Unfortunately, he won’t be allowed to manage the team after this season, the Avornian Football Committee insisting that he stick to the business end of things as the owner, but for one incredible year, he got to live his dream and lead Leorux to the most success they’ve ever had. 

Critics will be quick to point out that for as uplifting a story as Leorux’s season was, they were an awfully lucky team to have stuck around at the top of the standings for as long as they did.  For example, a controversy popped up in not one, but both of the Leorux vs Earch matchups where key passes late in the game from Earch went straight to Leorux players (the Earch players complaining that both teams wearing red shirts was unfair).  In addition, having several of the top contenders have underwhelming seasons at the same time, plus the fact that Leorux didn’t really have that strong of either an offense or defense as a whole, meant that there are questions as to how sustainable their plan of keeping things close long enough for Carles to win them games in the last minutes really is.   They may have a point, as Leorux ended the year with a -3 goal differential, (they got clobbered more than a couple of times).   In truth, they were an improving club that was expected to at best finish something like 8th place, (and if goal difference meant anything in the standings, that’s exactly where the Elves would have finished) not 4th and contending for most of the year.   The experts are predicting that the team has a falling back to the ground moment next year, but for this one year, Leorux soared high in the skies creating memories their fans will not soon forget.

Silagnak: As with several other teams that had competed for the Year 67 League Championship, Silagnak had high hopes.   The key would be to keep consistent and not experience another drop off in their peaks and valleys heavy history.   Which is why it’s somewhat funny, when all of the other contenders from last year experienced major disappointments, of course Silagnak would be the only one of them that had another solid season.  While they never got closer to first place than 4 points after Week 4, the Black and Blues kept paced with the leaders, always there to provide them something to think about.   While Silagnak generally did business well, usually beating the teams they were supposed to and earning some points against the really good teams, they’re going to strongly regret their performances against Jahnsel (a rival that hated them a whole lot more than Silagnak hates them) and Leorux (the plucky underdogs who didn’t have near the talent Silagnak had).   Going 0-4 in those games can be blamed for Silagnak’s failure to win the League Championship, their 2nd loss to Leorux in Week 20 all but officially eliminating them (they’d officially be knocked out in Week 21 despite beating Tomen).   Nonetheless, for once, the Black and Blues had a 2nd straight good year, and that’s something to be happy about, though the team will wish they’d have finished business properly against Jahnsel and Leorux.

Striker Boba of House Coldsteek had yet another great season, scoring 13 goals.   While that’s a drop off from last year, that’s only because Right Forward Varner of House Patracks provided some much needed assistance on offense, scoring 10 goals himself.   He did have a bad little habit of trying to get too cute with some of his shots, banging the crossbars more than a couple of times, which was really irritating in those close games that Silagnak tied or lost.   Nonetheless, the offense was great in Year 68.   The defense once again was solid, offenses have struggled to get around the five in the Black and Blues 5-2-2-1 format.  With Lenzlo of House Amburs (Middle Centerback) proving that his remarkable rookie year last season was no fluke, and Borky of House Silvor providing plenty of pain of misery to offenses (including a couple of nasty little trips that juuuust avoided the referee’s eye for a foul), Silagnak only allowed 24 goals the whole year, 2nd best in Avornia.  

On a team that’s full of big (and sometimes controversial, given Borky and the team’s owner, the totally not a crimelord Shonnie of House Bochwiller) personalities, it’s easy to forget about the Manager, Mendo of House Tydent.   But the quiet little old man is as crafty as he seems unassuming (with his slightly stooped back and bald, wrinkled head, one would assume he was a scholar of some noble household, not the football manager in the most dangerous city in Avornia) and credit must be given to him for leading the Black and Blues to consistently good play.   He’s never led the team to a Championship, either League or Cup, before, but it feels like it could be a matter of time before that happen, especially with everything clicking as well as it is in the rough and tough city of Silagnak. 

Baelanholme: There have been League Champions that started a season slowly before catching fire to win the title at the end of the season when a fast starting team faltered towards the end.   Baelanholme certainly would have fit the bill for such a team in most seasons, having only earned 4 points in the first six weeks.   However, as the Pirates found out the hard way, those early games make a difference in the standings too, as Baelanholmes slow start absolutely cost them the League Championship.   They couldn’t have known that at the start of the season though, as after a month and a half of play, they were just hoping to avoid the cellar in the standings.   Staring in Week 7, the Pirates definitely hit their groove, with a 10-1-2 record in the next 13 games (the only losses being to rivals Hanuna and Silagnak, that had to sting a bit!) to earn an impressive 31 points and get them within just 1 point of a struggling Hanuna squad that certainly was feeling the pressure of several teams catching up to them and a league filled history of 2nd half collapses that they didn’t wish to add to.   With 3 games to go, Baelanholme and Hanuna had a surprisingly similar schedule left.   Both had games against Anjocca and Henix, but Hanuna would get Dobo for their final game whereas Baelanholme had to deal with a near equally hot Petorvale club.   Completing the task of catching the Bluefins wouldn’t be easy.   And indeed it would end in failure, as Baelanholme would lose back to back heartbreakers to Petorvale and Anjocca to get eliminated in Week 21.   The final victory over Henix was bittersweet, at least they once again got the better of their Year 67 expansion friends but the win put Baelanholme one point behind Hanuna, making the results look a bit closer than they really were.  The slow start, plus the fact that the Pirates lost both meetings against the Bluefins, put the pai(g)n in their campaign as they’ll be left to rue the missed opportunity to stun the league to become champions in just their 2nd season in the Avornian Football League (oh, how they would have LOVED to have rubbed that title in King Mikelangel III’s face, it was known by now that he hadn’t been pleased to find out Baelanholme had gotten a team in his beloved league). 

As for the players involved, there was plenty to be encouraged with.  The offensive combination of Waen of House Harbage (Striker) and Mehcka of House Bhasha (Center Forward) put plenty of fear in the eyes of defenses, leading the Pirates to 35 goals scored, which would have lead the league in most years.  Mehcka’s probably already the more dangerous striker despite Waen holding that position, but he's been just fine with causing mayhem before getting the ball to Waen for an easy shot.   The defense played strongly too.  Shanto of House Sayloor played solidly, keeping the ball well in control to avoid there being too much pressure on the rest of the defense.  Tyfir of House Angelbacc (Centerback) had a great rookie season and it looks like he’ll anchor the defense for years to come.  New Goalkeeper Traxton of House Blackharth struggled at first, a leading contributor to the Pirates’ slow start, but he did improve a bit as the year went along.   Still, he’d better be grateful for Tyfir, Shanto, and the rest of the defense as their hard work definitely made him look better than he probably was, (though his eye for positioning helped him lead the defense into the right positions when needed).   Only allowing 27 goals was a nice little accomplishment for Baelanholme, it seems that building their team around defense moreso than Henix did was the right decision that allowed them to improve quickly as a club.

Overall, losing the League Championship by a single point (to Hanuna no less) hurts, but one has to be impressed by the team’s rapid growth.  New manager Danotto of House Fongo did an excellent job this year building up the young roster and if he can repeat the team’s progress next season, he’ll become one of the most highly respected managers in Avornian football in no time.   If that progress happens, there’s every chance that Baelanholme could win their first ever championship.

Hanuna: Going into the season, it was believed that the Bluefins were looking much better than they had after the last two seasons of underperforming.   But nobody expected Hanuna to burst out of the scene the way they did in Year 68.  Avoiding defeat for the first 8 games, (including a Week 1 win over Baelanholme that ended up making a big difference in the final standings) Hanuna jumped right up to the top of the standings.   After twelve weeks, they had 29 points, for a 9-2-1 record.  They had a solid 7 point lead over Leorux for 1st place in the standings and seemed near invincible.   However… Avornian Football fans had seen this story before with Chalmblaank famously dropping a 10 point lead in Year 65 and Anjocca blowing their own 7 point lead just last year in 67.  They waited to see how long it’d take for the Bluefins to blow it, especially knowing that they did not have a recent history of dominating the league.   After only earning 5 points in the next 4 weeks, Hanuna still looked fine enough.   However, during a Week 16 victory over Leorux, Alfenz of House Mohr (Striker) injured his ankle on a bad fall and would miss most of the rest of the season.  With their biggest offense threat sidelined, Hanuna faded, their lead falling to just one point by Week 21.  Luckily the Bluefins got a good outing against Henix, winning 4-1 and with the right teams losing, had clinched their first ever championship!  It would be the only win they’d get in the final 6 games (though at least Alfenz came back for Week 22 in a loss to rival Dobo). 

Alfenz, before his injury, had a career year, the tutoring that Lellochatnim of House Gull (Manager) had given him throughout the offseason clearly making a gigantic difference in his play, as he scored 15 goals before the injury, tying the all time mark.   His greatly improved passing was important too, utilizing his wing forwards more, in particular Osnardo of House Zahn.   There’s no awards given to players, but if there had been a Comeback Player of the Year award, Osnardo easily would have won it, becoming an expert on creating space with his dribbling and quick movements, opening passing and shooting lanes that he used to full effect.  Garlen of House Richenaan had changed positions to become a defensive minded midfielder and the move paid off.  He still dominated the defensive side of the game with his elite tackling and pass interceptions, but also displayed a rather nice hidden ability to assist the other midfielders in driving the football on offense, his passing game of particular note.  Least anyone think the Bluefin defense was exposed now that Garlen had move up in position, Shend of House Illard (Left Centerback) proved a major nuisance on defense, knocking offenses around with physical play.   Overall, Hanuna led the league on both offense (38 goals scored) and defense (21 goals allowed) for an impressive +17 Differential (2nd all time in Avornian Football history). 

There definitely had been some pressure on Lellochatnim to improve the team, as he carried a big reputation as an excellent coach and football strategist.   Now that he was solely responsible for coaching, it was put up or shut up time.   One would think he put up just fine this season, leading the Bluefins to a pleasantly unexpected League Championship and in the process becoming the first full time manager to win a championship (up to this point, every League Champion was led by a player captain).  There was definitely some drama towards the end of the season, but Hanuna is surprisingly the first League Champion to have essentially led in the standings for the entire season, never spending a day outside of at least a 1st place tie, every other champion having to come back from behind in some way.  This excellent showing is a great moment in Hanuna and now they hopefully can avoid a championship hangover that the last two champions suffered.



Next: Year 68 King’s Cup and Year 69 Offseason Report

Last edited by Stickman (1/02/2023 9:38 am)

Avornian Football League Year 69 Team By Team Previews

Silagnak (Black and Blues) (Owner: Shonnie of House Bochwiller) (Manager: Mendo of House Tydent) (Formation: 5-2-2-1): After another good season in Year 68 (3rd Place in the League Standings and a Semifinals Appearance in the King’s Cup), expectations are raising every year.   Mendo has done well at turning the Black and Blues into a consistent threat, but has still yet to lead the team to any championship victories.   Shonnie isn’t exactly putting him on the hot seat, of course, but has been very vocal about expecting a championship, preferably two of them in Year 69.  With the club that Silagnak has, that’s not an unreasonable expectation.

Boba of House Coldsteek (Striker) is still one of the most dangerous strikers in all of Avornia, and it’s likely he’s only just now getting into his prime, (a scary thought for defenders everywhere).   With Varner of House Patracks (Right Forward), entering his 2nd season as a professional, also being a scoring threat, the offense is going to be set to once again be a massive threat.  

The defense is as strong as ever, Silagnak’s 5-2-2-1 formation has been a tough nut for opponents to crack.  With Lenzlo of House Amburs (Middle Centerback) leading the charge, getting past this defensive squad is a difficult task indeed.  Lenzlo, already a very fast and athletic guy, seems to have gotten even quicker during the offseason.   That’s good because it’s looking like he might have to pick up some slack.   Borky of House Silvor, a long time physical nuisance (and self admitted dirty player) looks like he’s getting close to retiring soon.   He’s never been a technical player nor a very athletic one, but Borky clearly seems to be a step or two slower and looking a little frailer now.   If this isn’t his final season, the next likely will be.   Luckily, the Black and Blues have a prospect in their Youth Academy that could be ready at any time to step up to replace Borky.  Wels of House Portler also specializes as a Wingback, (part of the 5 in the formation but positioned a bit closer to the midfield) and while about as dirty of a player as Borky, is a bit more athletic and seems to be pretty competent as a dribbler and passer.   His tackling needs some seasoning, which is why he’s projected to stay in the Youth Academy for now.  

Overall, Silagnak has plenty to be excited about this year, there’s a good chance that this is their best team yet.   A championship (or even both the League and Cup championships) is well within reach for this team!

Baelanholme (Pirates) (Owner: Candor of House Blusal) (Manager: Danotto of House Fongo) (Formation: 3-3-3-1):  Baelanholme had been a major surprise team last year, having jumped up the League Standings from 9th place in Year 67 to 2nd in Year 68, not to mention their appearance in the King’s Cup final.  Danotto has gotten a ton of praise for his work on improving his squad as quickly as he did.   Now the question is, can he keep growing the squad to take that next step towards a title? 

The offense should still be great, as the combination of Waen of House Harbage (Striker) and Mehcka of House Bhasha (Center Forward) was highly effective last season.  There is a legitimate concern with Waen though.   Despite this only being his 3rd season as a professional, it’s worth noting that he’s already in his mid-30s, and early reports from training camp are saying he’s looking a bit sluggish.    With Mehcka being such a high level passer, Waen should still get his opportunities, but Mehcka may have to carry him a bit more if the striker is regressing.   Mehcka himself could easily handle the striker duties if need be, but the Pirates really love that he can be a major threat to either score or assist on scoring drives, being a pure striker might make the team’s offense a bit more one dimensional. 

The defense brings back mostly the same group of players, led by Shanto of House Sayloor (Defensive Center Midfielder) and Tyfir of House Angelbacc (Centerback/Stopper).  Tyfir in particular looked highly promising as a rookie last year, his large 6’6” frame caused a lot of mayhap on offensive cross passes and he even scored a couple of goals on corner kick headers.   His expected growth is sure to make him one of football’s most difficult defenders to get the ball past.   Returning as Goalkeeper is Traxton of House Blackharth, but he’s had a worryingly awful training camp.  He appeared to take last year’s King’s Cup loss in the finals rather hard, especially after giving up 5 goals against rival Hanuna, and it doesn’t seem like he’s shaken that memory from his mind, a real problem as goalies need short memories to get over bad play.  With Danotto as his manager, there’s still hope things can be turned around in time for the season, or at least, Baelanholme better hope that’s the case, as they have no good backup options should he struggle.

There are a couple of big question marks for the Pirates, but fans are pretty optimistic that with the star talent on the team, plus an exciting young manager, the team will be contending again this year.

Leorux (Elves) (Owner: Herrad of House Hoopmeister) (Manager: Eddark of House Hoopmeister) (Formation: 4-4-2): At the request/demands from the Avornian Football Committee, Herrad did relinquish his title as the team’s manager in order to focus on strictly being their owner.   However, he’s keeping things in the family by hiring his younger brother (and fellow football fanatic), Eddark to replace him.   Eddark is indeed a passionate football fan, having had many an argument with Herrad over football matters.  His first action as manager was to eliminate Herrad’s 4-3-3 formation with the triangular midfielder and adopted a 4-4-2 strategy, wanting to be a little more defensively sound (he’s well aware of the critics saying Leorux’s defense made their 4th place finish in the League Standings a bit lucky).  

The offensive should still be just fine, as Carles of House Yalmount (changing into a Right Forward from Center Forward) is still likely to be the biggest threat to score goals.   Meanwhile, Eddark spent some time with veteran player Joezas of House Nook (Left Forward) to work on his skills, so that he can compliment Carles more as another offensive threat.   Joezas is a good passer, but his shooting had always been poor for a forward, it’s hoped that the work Eddark put into him will result in more goals from Joezas, which would mean less pressure would be put on Carles to play hero at the end of every game (far too many games relied on Carles scoring late in the contests, so this does seem like a good idea in theory).   Assisting as a pure midfielder now is Hemly of House Raber (Right Midfielder).   After a career year thanks to Herrad’s coaching, Hemly has turned into a reliable two way player, able to assist well on offense, while also helping cover the defense too.  His fitness and athleticism seem a perfect fit for Eddark’s new counter heavy attack plan.   

The defense is still led by 2nd year players Kade of House Nush and Azaroth of House Belock (both Centerbacks).  They had their learning bumps last year, committing a few too many penalties for any manager’s liking, but they are big athletic kids that are highly aggressive defenders.   As time goes on, Kade seems to be evolving more as a player, showing markedly improved football IQ and positioning himself better for easily breaking up offensive drives, but Azaroth is no slouch either.   Overall though, it’s not likely that defense will be the Elves’ strength once again.

Last season’s darlings will definitely not catch anyone off guard this year, as teams are more aware of what their strengths and, more importantly, what their weaknesses are.   Eddark’s going to have to coach the team well to avoid the drop off in the standings that most experts are predicting will happen.

Earch Falcons Football Club, AKA Earch FFC (Falcons) (Owner: Seesar of House Romi) (Manager: Dennai of House Endear) (Formation: 4-3-3): There’s some building pressure on Dennai to get the Falcons back up in the standings after a disappointing 7th place finish, their worst ever season up to this point.  Seesar is really nagging Dennai hard about his roster selections, which to this point has exclusively consisted of Earchian noblemen.   Seesar wants to look past just the high class people of Earch, noting that the Federation of Avornian Football’s Earch team have a much bigger talent pool of people to choose good players from, but Dennai has resisted this so far, being loyal to his fellow classmen.   Perhaps he should have listened, as the Falcons look really thin on talent this year, there just aren’t enough young talents among the nobles to make up for the roster turnover due to retirements.  

Earch’s offense looks about the same as last year, with Aili of House Fendeleeni (Center Forward) being by far the biggest (and maybe only) threat to score.   Dennai did find a young guy in Rhanthony of House Vivilyn to play as Left Forward in an effort to give Aili some help, but early reports are that Rhanthony is just not ready for the big league yet, and would have benefitted greatly with a year in Earch’s Youth Academy (which has hardly any good prospects at all).   

The defense, long a strong suit of Earch’s, looks weaker than ever too.   Hobbs of House Vinicius (Left Centerback) should be a force to be reconned with, but his partner Daivan of House Banswell (Right Fullback) still seems to be struggling with getting back to his former level of play.   Daivan had suffered a fairly bad concussion during Year 68 and still doesn’t seem to be fully recovered, the effects of that injury have lingered a worryingly long time.  He probably shouldn’t be playing right now, but Dennai was desperate to get all his starters back on the field.   At least Neuten of House Claybill (Center Midfielder) looks like he’s made some improvements to his defensive play, (not that he was bad to begin with) showing solid tackling and better positioning to steal passes. 

The newly named Earch Falcons Football Club (knowing a merger could come soon that would include another Earch based club, Seesar wanted to give the team a bold and proud name to differentiate the teams) is in some trouble.  There’s a couple of very good players on the team, but the lack of depth is highly distressing.  Dennai has struggled with finding the next generation of star players for years now and it’s caught up with the team.  While this is Earch we’re talking around, a team that’s never finished lower than 7th place in the League Standings and the team with the most championships in Avornian Football (3, with two League titles and 1 King’s Cup), objectively one would have to imagine that the Falcons will likely finish in the bottom 4 in the standings, any higher placements would be an overachievement. 

Petorvale (Hammers) (Owner: Benwah of House Ailian) (Manager: Hammen of House Tong) (Formation: 4-4-2): Hammen had came up with the Youth Academy concept in an effort to more quickly find new generational talents that maybe needed just a little bit of time honing their skills before they were ready to face the challenges that the Avornian Football League has to offer.   He hadn’t expected to get a superstar right away, but when he heard about the stunning progress that young Garrend of House Jackleton had made with just one year in the Academy, he knew he had to promote the kid right away.   Garrend (Left Forward) could be a special talent, with one of the strongest legs anyone has ever seen out of a forward.   He could legitimately score from 40 yards out and might just be confident enough to try it on more than one occasion.    The hope, of course, is that he’s not the ball hog type, especially with Petorvale having a long time established goal scoring threat in Svontal of House Dors (Right Forward).   Garrend seems like an alright kid, but young guys can be very cocky, he’ll need to reign that in a bit in order to keep the team’s chemistry intact.   Helping out as usual is Ceecil of House Ackerberry (Right Center Midfielder), who’s skills with scoring assists will give defenses nightmares now that he has two legitimate threats to pass to.   If Garrend fits in well and is as good as he’s being reported to be, Petorvale will have a frighteningly awesome offense!

The Petorvalen defense finally made some real strides in Year 68, and got even better during the offseason with the addition of Zephyr of House Emmends (Right Fullback), another rookie from the Youth Academy who looks like a highly physical guy with surprisingly fancy footwork.  He’s stolen a few balls from forwards by kicking the ball out from between the opponents legs more than once.  Norty of House Peaweedle (Left Centerback/Sweeper) will certainly improve from his promising rookie year.   Cooma of House Niccagua was good enough last season to return as Goalkeeper, making him the first Petorvalen goalie to start for a 2nd straight year since Hammen himself commanded the position for a couple of years back in Years 64 and 65.   Comma’s shown great instincts on where a striker will shoot the ball and his huge frame makes getting the ball around him very difficult.  

Overall, on paper, this Hammers team has so much top level talent, that they have the potential to go down as the best team ever assembled in Avornian Football history, let alone for this year.    They will be big favorites to win the League Championship, which would be their first if they do so.   But, that depends a lot on Hammen’s ability to get the talented young club to play up to their potential.   The oversized fan favorite has always been a well respected football mind, but it’s fair to point out that during his reign as manager, Petorvale has always finished in the middle part of the League Standings and gotten eliminated in the Quarterfinals of the King’s Cup.  Will that finally change this year?

Jahnsel (Jackrabbits) (Owner: Ryne of House Ewickson) (Player Captain: Derrec of House Smyt) (Formation: 4-3-3): After a terrible season, which saw the Jackrabbits perform the first ever 1st to Worst in Avornian Football League history, Derrec (still running the team as the only permanent Player Captain due to Ryne’s refusal to care enough about the team to even hire a full time manager) had to make some changes and quickly.   He changed the team’s 3-4-3 formation since it mostly backfired on the team and went with a more traditional and defensive minded 4-3-3 set.   Then he went about working on improving the players on the team. 

New player Casby of House Talgrass (Left Centerback and relative of failed former Player Captain Noman from Year 65) comes in as a promising rookie (Jahnsel has no Youth Academy due to Derrec being too busy running everything else on the team because…. You guessed it… Ryne doesn’t care enough to do any business running).   Casby is a very athletic kid that can run all over the field, though as a defender, that means he risks being out of position a bit.  On corner kicks, he’s been showing a knack for being at the right place at the right time to land a header or two into the opposing goal.   Being a good looking guy too, the lady fans of Jahnsel have taken a liking to him, screeching out his name during mere practices.   Hopefully that doesn’t turn into a distraction because Casby has real promise to become an elite level player that could become a big name despite playing a defensive position that isn’t known for producing superstars. 

Derrec himself nearing the end of his prime years now and looks to be Jahnsel’s best scoring threat, though the Jackrabbits are still really thin on offense besides him.   They’ll realistically be near the league low in goals scored once again.  

There just aren’t very many high level players on Jahnsel anymore, most promising kids in the village have joined the Federation’s Jahnsel squad.   With a merger coming up soon, there’s no guarantee that the Jackrabbits will even exist after this season, since the Federation’s Jahnsel team is likely the better squad anyway.   As a result, this year may be one played purely out of pride and a desire to make a lasting impression, because Jahnsel sure isn’t likely to finish in the top half of the standings, let alone win the League Championship. 

Tomen (Rivermen) (Owner: Knoan of House Whitley) (Manager: Loeb of House Gammiz) (Formation: 3-7-0 to 3-6-1): After the remarkably inconsistent performance Tomen put out in Year 68, everyone is hoping for some stability.   Loeb had always been able to lead the team to inspired play, so most accepted that last year was just an off season.  At least, they did until the end of training camp.  However, the reports have indicated that the team’s looked very lethargic and almost lazy.   Loeb’s kept calm so far, but if the Rivermen start the season as disjointedly as last year, he’ll have to turn up the heat on the team. 

The team’s unusual 3-7-0 to 3-6-1 formation returns, one of the stranger spectacles in Avornian Football so far.   However, with some of the changes to the roster since last year (the Federation’s Tomen team was able to convince a few decent forwards and midfielders to join them), it seems that the rhythm is a bit off so far.   Mishakl of House Floddergrove (Center Midfielder) seems to be the only player that’s with it, having a solid preseason.    Everyone else, though, is struggling, most alarmingly so are Cragnus and Argill of House Sammsoon (Left Center Offensive Midfielder to Striker and Right Centerback respectively).  The Argill brothers are dealing with a recent family tragedy, a fire that caused fatalities to multiple Sammsoon family members.    It’s pretty clear (and understandable) that they haven’t mentally recovered from the incident, and considering it happened just weeks before the season was to begin, one has to wonder if they should have taken some more time to grieve properly.  

One player to watch out for is a new starter at Goalkeeper.    Stilston of House Amago has been in the league for a couple of years now, but has never gotten a chance to start until now.   At 5’9”, he’s the shortest starting goalie in the league, which was one reason he never got his chance.   He’s very agile though, so that potentially could make up for his height.   However, he’s not the most instinctual player on the field, playing very cautiously.   He’s truthfully a below average goalie, but Tomen had no better options for now, so he gets his chance to shine.

Tomen has a talented enough team, but the mental makeup has been all kinds of wrong so far, leading fans to worry that Tomen could be in for another disappointing season.   Loeb is going to have to find some serious inspiration to coach this team up to the standard of play that they’re used to, otherwise this will be a long year.

Hanuna (Bluefins) (Owner: Cyboar of House Eliason) (Interim Player Captain: Alfenz of House Mohr) (Formation: 4-2-3-1): Hanuna is looking to end the recent trend of League Champions failing far down the standings table the year after finishing 1st.   However, their chances took a huge blow during the offseason.   Longtime leader Lellochatnim of House Gull, could be missing up to the entire season, having fallen very ill with a mysterious disease.    Being almost bedridden, nobody knows exactly what happened to him, as he's unable to even talk about what ails him.   In blind hope for a potential return sometime during the year, Cyboar decided against hiring a new manager, instead promoting Alfenz of House Mohr (Striker) to a player captain role until Lellochatnim comes back. 

Alfenz, after having a career defining season, looks to build upon his all-time record tying 15 goal season and looks to be just as impressive in training camp as he did last year.   His main offense help, Osnardo of House Zahn (Right Wing Forward) returns, though looking a little chunky after an offseason of celebrating.   Hopefully he returns to his Year 68 form because that Osnardo was near magical in his ability to find and/or create space on the attack. 

On defense, Garlen of House Richenaan (Defensive Right Midfielder) impressed greatly with his ability to adapt to a new position last year and looks to continue his solid play, already among the best in Avornia at tackling and intercepting passes.   Shend of House Illard (Left Centerback) is as aggressive as ever on defense and should be a pain in the neck once more.  

The defending champions have the talent to once again compete for the League Championship, but the question is whether they can do it without Lellochatnim to manage them.  Alfenz is certainly a great footballer, but is he a great manager on top of being a great player?   Time will time, but at least he’s got a strong team to work with.

Anjocca (Sabercats) (Owner: Connavonn of House Duvaloi) (Manager: Tan of House Browse) (Formation: 4-3-3): One can only imagine what kind of pressure Tan is under this season to get the Sabercats to contend for the League Championship after underwhelming in Year 68.  Despite some recent successes (Two 2nd place finishes in the League Standings in Years 66 and 67 and a King’s Cup Championship, also in Year 67), the only goal that’s on Connavonn’s (and now Tan’s) mind is winning the League Championship.   Connavonn believes the talent is plenty good enough to win the title and doesn’t want to risk the team missing its window of opportunity with near misses.  

The offense is once more led by longtime threat, Tobyas of House Stonner, who’s now considered to be past his prime.   It’s hoped he’s got another good year or two left in him.  Shaggu of House Khaldrem (Right Wing) is still a talented shooter that also can pass the ball well, but more may be expected of him this year if Tobyas struggles.   Dunne of House Werewilf is back as well, hopefully healthy for once, as he's missed time in both of his seasons so far.   He’s great on defense, but is also a pretty skilled passer and dribbler on attacks too.   Anjocca really needs him to stay on the field.

Dunne’s skills on defense has always been valued, but most fans would agree that the main stars on that end of the field are Gailor of House Omakyt (Left Centerback) and Xaxi of House Pentuna (Goalkeeper).   Both can be cantankerous individuals, but both are highly respected in Anjocca for their aggressive, fearless play.  Xaxi wants to prove he’s still got it after a down season, probably more than a little tired of people questioning the one eyed man.  Gailor had a rather bad season in Year 68, getting too physical at times and getting suspended several times.   It’s going to be hard to convince the emotional defender to change everything about how he plays football, though Tan (usually a very hands off coach) is trying to work with him.   Results are mixed so far, as Gailor’s play during training camp hasn’t been great so far. 

For years, Anjocca has been a generally consistently good club, having only once finished in the bottom half of the League Standings.   But the League championship that has eluded them has driven their owner crazy with competitive rage.    Can they finally get the title, before their stars get too old?

Chalmblaank (Knights) (Owner: Pyppan of House Steelow) (Manager: Deagu of House Sanchor) (Formation: 4-3-3):  Year 68 was a year of trials and revival.    After the team found a way to stick together after lots of drama between Deagu and Sirge of House Einna (Center Forward) and the strong finish they enjoyed, Knights fans are very excited to see how well the team plays in Year 69, hopefully with no distractions this year.  

Leading the way on offense, Sirge is sure to get his opportunities to score several goals, (he’ll certainly demand it anyway).   He did a much job at passing the ball around more last year, but there are signs that some old traits are starting to resurface.   If he can bring himself to stay the good teammate he started to become last year, Chalmblaank’s offense will be in good shape.    Alajandrus of House Capeburgh (Center Midfielder) is still considered one of the best dribblers and passers in the Avornian Football League and proved last year that he could score plenty of goals on his own.  

Due to Deagu’s decision to play non-nobles, the defense was heavily scrutinized by the fans.   Hopefully there will be improvements from 2nd year players, Arlo of House Pixsan (Centerback/Sweeper) and Matrick of House Cattlebottle (Goalkeeper).   Arlo seems to have been working on being more patient on defense, which should lead to fewer blown coverages.    Matrick looks far more confident than he used to.   Often looking like a deer in the torch lights last year, Matrick was often quite jumpy and was fooled on several shots on goal in Year 68.    His improved confidence is nice to see, although one has to wonder if he’s taken it a bit too far.   He and Sirge got into several face to face arguments after a Matrick save, due to the young goalie taunting Sirge after the save, even finger waving in his face.  In a city like Chalmblaank, nobles don’t often get disrespected by non-nobles, and Sirge is an arrogant guy even for Chalmblaank’s standards.   It’ll be interesting if Matrick continues to try his taunting in games, opposing teams will enjoy being finger waved at even less than his teammates do. 

Deagu’s run as manager has sometimes been a bit controversial, as he had a nasty reputation of throwing teammates under the bus as a player and up until the mid-point of last year, was doing the same to his athletes.   In addition, his choice to sign on non-nobles certainly ruffled several feathers within the Chalmblaankian community, with several influential names being so offended that they went to Pyppan about it, to try to get him removed as manager.    For his part, Deagu has taken the stance that football isn’t just a sport for nobles, but a sport for the everyman too (something most cities in Avornia have long figured out, but to be fair, cities like Earch and Chalmblaank have many people with noble ties, they’ve resisted this fact so far).   Luckily, Deagu and Pyppan have been friends for years, but even that friendship has its limits.    It’s known that Deagu has filled Chalmblaank’s Youth Academy with non-nobles, so the fans will have to get used to seeing different people playing for the team as long as the embattled manager continues to run things.   The question is, can Deagu turn the Knights into contenders before Pyppan runs out of patience with him?  

Henix (Firebirds) (Owner: Caltan of House Zakariah) (Manager: Dobi of House Almen) (Formation: 4-3-3):  After a regression that irritated many Firebirds fans, they are expecting a bounce back up in the League Standings, especially after Baelanholme (with whom this club seems to always get compared to) managed to be the runners up last year.   The pressure is definitely on Dobi, who new owner Caltan did decide to spare for now.   But the hyper competitive young man seems likely to make a quick change in management if things start off badly again.  

One person that fans will never get impatient with is star player Ewick of House Poulser (Striker), who’s looking the best he’s ever looked in training camp.   A big season is expected of the highly confident young man as usual.   It will help if Roh of House Quake (Left Wing) has gotten over his timidness.   Ewick earned a lot of praise for his patience with the young winger, and rumor is that he worked very hard on Roh’s mental toughness and goal shooting during the offseason.   A 2nd year leap in quality would do Roh’s confidence wonders.   Speaking of leaps in quality, Endru of House Adib (Center Midfielder) disappointed with his play in Year 68 and looks to bounce back to his Year 67 play, when he impressed with great passing skills and field vision.  

The defense… generally, the less spoken about the Firebirds’ defense, the better it is for a fan’s mood.   One would be forgiven for assuming that Carlin of House Fandanno was the only guy out there playing any defense for Henix, as he’s still the only halfway good player on that end of the field, the rest of the defenders and goalies are considered anything from below average to flat out rubbish in talent.

Dobi been a very buddy-buddy kind of manager.   It's made him a popular coach, but perhaps not a very good one.  Looking at the team, there doesn’t appear to be any hope for the defense at all, leaving the offense to likely have to win a bunch of shootouts if Henix is to improve from last year.  While Ewick is certainly up to the task, he can’t be the only player that the Firebirds can rely on (at least to win games, they can definitely sell tickets to bystanders based on his name value).   Experts are predicting that Henix finishes in the bottom half of the standings again, whether Dobi makes it the entire season or not is the only real question yet to be answered.

Dobo (Claymen) (Owner: Jephard of House Obuis) (Manager: Mothrew of House Greenbend) (Formation: 4-3-3): All eyes were on Dobo during the Year 69 offseason.    It was well known that Jephard was extremely displeased with the Claymen’s performance last year and there had been some head-butting with the player captain, Wahwmah of House Taccew, over Wahwmah’s managerial skills and use of Slap Wrestling to determine who made the roster.    During the Year 68 season, Jephard had taken it upon himself to set up the Youth Academy for Dobo (he’s the only owner that did this, the other teams had the manager or player captain set things up) and expected Wahwmah to make changes to the roster using the kids that were being developed.   For his part, Wahwmah, remembering all too well the days where Dobo was seen as a soft group of wimps that wouldn’t play physical, adamantly rejected the Youth Academy concept, seeing it as no way to determine if the prospects were ready to handle the demanding physicality that Claymen players were now expected to have.   This would be the final straw, Jephard was tired of the insubordination.   He removed Wahwmah completely from the roster, (not surprisingly, Wahwmah’s brother, the often disappointing Nahnquan quit the team in protest), hiring an old friend of his, Mothrew, to be the new full time manager.  

Mothrew felt he didn’t have much of a roster to work with and has been aggressive in bringing kids up from the Youth Academy to try to light a fire under the team.  The entire midfield has been revamped, led now by Kocha of House Nabu (Center Midfielder) and Sindol of House Hattmen (Right Midfielder).  Dobo has long played with ball control and physicality in mind, and Kocha certainly fits the mold.   Nahnquan had always started ahead of him, but Kocha was probably always the better player anyway.  He's not as good an athlete, but is a no-nonsense type that won’t make errors, nor let his teammates get away with making them either.   Sindol is a similar type of player Kocha is, he too was on the bench for years while another bigger guy was started by Wahwmah.   Sindol is no pushover either, and he and Kocha have great chemistry together, getting drives started will be easy.   Axsan of House Sleigh (Center Forward) is expected to come back early in the season (he’s still recovering from a gruesome leg injury suffered last year) and it’s hoped that he will be the lightning bolt to the offense that he began Year 68 as.   The defense has one new player, Deason of House Amabastan, a rookie Left Fullback from the Youth Academy.  He’s less physical than most Dobo players, but is a skilled tackler and will likely stop many a drive with his defensive prowess.  With Tumac of House Sashtane gone as goalie (he was terrible anyway), there’s legitimate hope that Dobo will allow fewer goals this year.

Overall, the Claymen got quite a facelift, with several new players joining and several big names leaving.  It's a new era in Dobo and nobody’s quite sure what exactly to expect this year.  With all the changes, another bottom half finish is likely, but perhaps Mothrew is the leader that Dobo needs to break through and surprisingly contend.

Next: Additional News on the Avornian Football League and Federation of Avornian Football Merger and Year 69 Season

Last edited by Stickman (1/07/2023 10:10 am)

Avornian Football League Year 69 Season, Part 2, Season Review

Earch FFC: Earch FFC began Year 69 well, beating Tomen in Week 1 to be tied for 1st place in the League Standings.  It would be the only time that the Falcons looked like they would be contending for the League Championship, who simply had a terrible year.  By the time that the Avornian Football Committee announced that the bottom two teams in the League Standings would be relegated to the 2nd Division, there was an acceptance from fans that Earch FFC would likely be one of those team, having just 9 points after ten weeks.   A streak of 4 wins in 5 games during Weeks 14-18 was good enough to briefly take the Falcons out of the relegation zone, but that would be a short lived bright spot as they’ve lost the last three games.   With their Week 21 2-0 loss to Silagnak, Earch FFC has officially been guaranteed relegation next season.   It’s more than a bit ironic that after King Mikelangel III had pushed the merging football organizations to pursue a merit based process to determine who will get promoted and relegated each season, that his own favorite team would be the first club to ever get relegated.

While Earch FFC’s offense wasn’t anything special, they’re currently tied for 6th in the league in goals scored, thanks to Aili of House Fendeleeni (Center Forward) having another solid season.   Rhantony of House Vivilyn (Left Forward) played alright, but as expected that he could have used another year in the Youth Academy as he didn’t seem to provide much of a spark to the offense and was mostly just there.  Neuten of House Claybill (Center Midfielder) showed some growth on his passing game and that helped.  

The problem for the Falcons was their defense, they’ve allowed 34 goals, 2nd most in the league.  Hobbs of House Vinicius (Left Centerback) played okay, but he’s never quite matched the productivity that he displayed in his rookie year back in Year 67.   Daivan of House Banswell (Right Fullback) was horrible, he clearly wasn’t at 100% and after suffering yet another head injury in Week 14, he’s not played and he might not be coming back this time. 

Seesar of House Romi (Owner) has been quiet throughout the year regarding Dennai of House Endear’s (Manager) future, too quiet.   While Dennai is a beloved figure in Earch for the heroics he displayed as an athlete, one has to imagine that he’s coached his final game as the Falcons have regressed since he took over.  Seesar expected a champion when he bought the team in Year 67, but has yet to experience any championship, whether League or Cup.   As competitive as he is, that has to be driving him (and the fans) nuts.

Jahnsel: At the time the threat of relegation was announced after Week 10, Jahnsel was in the midst of a slump, but was still surprising the league, being tied for 6th in the League Standings after a red hot start and not losing until Week 5 (going 2-2-0 for 8 points).  The talent may not have been there, but the team was playing with a ton of heart, led by Derrec of House Smyt (Left Wing), who was having a strong start to the year, with 6 goals.   New Left Centerback Casby of House Danners was proving to be a major pain in the neck for offenses, aggressively running all over the field, making several pass blocks to stop many a drive.  The local fan favorite had even gotten a couple of goals off of headers off of corner kicks.   Things were going well enough that even their unsupportive owner, Ryne of House Ewickson, was showing up for a game or two after refusing to attend a single game in Year 68.     The Jackrabbit fans were plenty optimistic that they’d find a way to break the relative slump and continue surprising the Avornian Football League. 

Sadly, that hasn’t happened lately.   The slump that was hoped to be temporary proved near permanent, as from after Week 4, the team has only earned 14 points, (a 4-2-11 record).   Particularly ugly was a 5 game losing streak, only scoring 2 goals in that time as Derrec’s production dipped.   Ultimately Jahnsel’s offense has only scored 24 goals for the year, least in the year (Derrec being the only member that’s scored more than 4 goals, with 10).   However, the defense, led by Casby, has been very impressive, only allowing 28 goals so far (good for 4th best in the league) and keeping Jahnsel competitive even with the offense sputtering.

Ultimately, with one game left, Jahnsel may be in 11th place, they do have a real avenue to avoid relegation.  They will need to beat a solid Silagnak club that beat them earlier in the season, but if they can do that, it will come down to one other game.   As long as that game doesn’t end in a draw, the Jackrabbits will have earned the right to stay in the 1st Division.   Can the offense come alive in the final week of the season?

Baelanholme: Expectations were very high for the Pirates going into Year 69 after their massive improvement the previous season.   However, Year 69 hasn’t been nearly as nice of a season as the last was for the navy and silver team.   They only won 1 of their first 9 games, though they did somehow manage to tie 5 of those games.   Still, the lack of wins kept the team down in the League Standings and the announcement of a relegation system being implemented didn’t ease anybody’s anxiety.   Pirates’ Owner Candor of House Blusal (who’s starting to earn a reputation for being one of the most difficult owners for the Avornian Football Committee to deal with) was among the loudest detractors of the decision to implement relegation during the season instead of giving more fair notice before the year began.  Perhaps it actually briefly lit a fire under Baelanholmes’ behinds, as the team went on a 4-1 run in the middle of the season.   However, the run didn’t last long, as the Pirates has since gone 1-2-4 (5 points) in the last 7 games to put themselves with just 25 standings points, keeping their status as a 1st Division team up in the air.

The offense definitely regressed, as fears for Waen of House Harbage (Striker) were well founded.   He’s just not been near as effective as he should have been.   It was bad enough that Danotto of House Fongo (Manager) actually benched him for a couple of games, running Mehcka of House Bhasha (Center Forward) as the striker instead.   Mehcka has been having another great year, scoring 12 goals, but has had to deal with defenses making him the primary target to watch out for and that has hurt his productivity as the year’s gone on. 

Looking at the goals allowed stat alone would make one assume that Baelanholme’s entire defense played poorly.   That hasn’t actually been true though, as Tyfir of House Angelbacc (Centerback/Stoppage) and Shanto of House Sayloor (Defensive Center Midfielder) held the center of the field together and were very difficult to get balls past.   The problem was Traxton of House Blackharth (Goalkeeper), whose mental struggles haunted him throughout the year.   He’s another player that Danotto finally had to bench in order to inspire some improvements with that position, but that hasn’t worked at all as nobody has stepped up to take the starting role over on a consistent basis.   They even tried putting Tyfir in as a goalie for a game, wanting to utilize his big size, but he’s clearly a better Centerback than Goalie, as proved by him allowing 3 goals against Earch FFC (a game Baelanholme was lucky to escape with a draw).  However, the biggest factor for the Pirates’ woes has truthfully been in the number of draws the team has had as they’ve only lost 8 games, the same amount they lost last year.   In Year 68, Baelanholme led the league in wins, with 12.   This year, many of those wins have turned into draws and the defense has been blamed the most for all the draws.

Overall, this has proven to be a rather frustrating season and Danotto’s reputation as the next great managerial genius has taken a big hit.  In truth, people were probably too quick to throw that praise out there after just one year, but no doubt his skills as a manager will be scrutinized a lot more from now on. 
Baelanholme plays a critical Week 22 game where the threat of relegation is very real.   Lose that game, and they’d better hope that Jahnsel doesn’t beat Silagnak.   The idea of a League and King’s Cup runner up getting relegated the next season is not an appealing one for Pirates fans.

Henix: Henix had been playing a bit streaky when the relegation announcement was made.   Winning 2 of the first 3 games was followed by an awful 5 game losing streak (getting outscored 2-10 during that run).   All eyes were on Caltan of House Zakariah, the new owner of the Firebirds, and whether he was ready to fire manager Dobi of House Almen.   He didn’t and entering Week 11, the Firebirds had won 2 straight games and while they were near the relegation zone, they seemed capable of at least replicating Year 68’s performance.    However, immediately after the threat of relegation became a reality, the Firebirds immediately went and lost the next 4 games.    Having seen enough, Caltan did finally fire Dobi mid-season, choosing to have Ewick of House Poulser (Center Midfielder) run the team as an interim player captain.   This seems to have improved things a bit, as Henix has since gone 4-1-2 (13 points) since the change, putting Henix just outside relegation… for now.

Ewick had another solid year, being helped a lot by Roh of House Quake (Left Wing) having a much better 2nd season.   Both forwards score more than 10 goals, and along with Endru of House Adib (Center Midfielder) having a bounce back year with improved passing and even a couple of goals of his own, Henix’s offense looks much better, being 3rd in the league for goals scored (31).   However, the defense, long a Firebirds’ Achilles heel, once more rears its ugly head, allowing 33 goals so far.   Despite Carlin of House Fandanno (Left Centerback) doing his best, the fact of the matter is that defensively, the Firebirds are getting worse each season.  They may have to dip into the Youth Academy for new resources to try out next season.

Week 22 may be the most important game in Firebirds history.   With the threat of relegation being very real, Henix has drawn a game with fellow relegation threat Baelanholme (of course, the Year 67 expansion teams will play each other, seeing as they always get compared to each other).   With a win or tie, Henix will live to fight another day.  However, in 5 games, the Firebirds have only even managed a draw just once against the Pirates (and have never beaten them).   The team has played much better lately with Ewick running things, but can he lead them to avoid defeat one more week?

Dobo: Going into Week 22, the Claymen’s Year 69 season has to be considered a step in the right direction, being in 8th place and in no risk of being relegated.  Considering that they finished in 11th place each of the past two seasons, that’s an improvement that will satisfy their hands-on owner, Jephard of House Obuis.   Mothrew of House Greenbend (Manager) seems to have done well in keeping Dobo’s ball control, physical style of play alive that the team is used to, while at the same time, coached them to avoid the mistake-filled play that they had been used to under Wahwmah of House Taccew’s run. 

A large part of Dobo’s improved mechanics can be tied to the new midfielders, Kocha of House Nabu (Center Midfielder) and Sindol of House Hattmen (Right Midfielder).   Both played well, Kocha in particular is proving to excel as a team leader with his no-nonsense approach to football.   Their excellent communicating skills allowed both to usually be in position to steal passes from opponents and then begin drives the other way.  In addition, Deason of Hous Amabastan (Left Fullback) played well enough for a rookie, avoiding the referees’ wrath by playing good, clean defense.   This resulted in Dobo allowing 30 goals this season, a full 10 goals fewer than in Year 68.  

The offense proved to be another matter.   Axsan of House Sleigh (Center Forward) came back in Week 7, but looked rusty for much of the season.  Hopefully, a full season in Year 70 will get him back on track to the threat he was in Year 68.  As usual, Dobo failed to get many scores across and that definitely held them back a little bit.  They need more offensive weapons besides just Axsan.

The improved disciplined approach to Dobo’s play has kept them more competitive and has prevented suffering as many losses as they have historically (the 9 defeats they’ve experienced is tied for the 2nd least in team history, and is the record low for a 22 game season).  Mothrew and Jephard’s work at changing the team culture seems to be working, which is fortunate because many fans hadn’t been too keen on the decision to remove the popular (if ineffective) player-captain Wahwmah.  If the Claymen continue to improve next season, happier days could be had soon.

Hanuna: The defending champion Bluefins definitely had some odds stacked against them going into Year 69, what with the distraction of their manager, Lellochatnim of House Gull, being out with a mysterious disease.   It would eventually become known that he had been cursed with a rare starvation spell by a mage over a fishing bet of all things, which weakened his body dramatically.   The non-evil mages did their best to cure the Hanunan manager, but he hasn’t recovered enough by the end of the year to return to managing full time.   Thus, the pressure fell upon the team’s striker, Alfenz of House Mohr to lead the team in the interim.   To his credit, Alfenz did fairly well for a while.   Hanuna was tied for 1st place in the League Standings after Week 5 and even after Week 11, were still just 4 points out of the top spot.  However, a devasting knee injury to Shend of House Illard (Left Centerback) caused the defense to completely cave in and Hanuna would fall out of contention quickly.  By Week 22, Hanuna sits in 7th place, a result that looks much worse than it should have as for much of the year, they played like contenders.

Alfenz did a fair job indeed as a player captain, but it’s clear that he has no imagination for defense, (perhaps not surprisingly as he is a striker, generally the least defensive position in football) and once Shend was lost for the year, he had no answers to replace him, though he did try with Youth Academy recruit Ullie of House Ran (Left Centerback).   Unfortunately, Ullie was flat out awful, letting far too many forwards past him, to the point where offenses mostly just targeted his side of the field for drives, to great success.   He might not ever recover mentally, especially after the humiliation that Varner of House Patracks from Silagnak put him through in Week 17.   Varner routinely dribbled around him so badly that the Hanunan fans were actually laughing at the poor kid by the end of the 6-1 shellacking after each of his trips and falls.  Garlen of House Richenaan (Defensive Right Midfielder) did his best to make up the difference in Shend’s absence, but with teams mostly avoiding him, he wasn’t about to make near as many steals or tackles as he did the previous year.  Ultimately, Hanuna has allowed 38 goals, a stunning 17 goal increase over its disciplined efforts last year.  The difference in Lellochatnim’s defensive coaching and Alfenz’s is a mile wide, clearly.   

The offense has fared better, being tied for 4th in goals scored.   Alfenz had another solid year, with 11 goals scored while Osnardo (Right Wing Forward) did okay this year, with 7 goals of his own.   Osnardo seems to have lost a step after getting a bit lazy during the offseason, next year could be critical for his career as when he’s properly motivated and in shape, his skills at space creation are highly impressive. 

No doubt, the Bluefins miss their manager greatly, although their drop in the standings seems to have done about as much for Lellochatnim’s reputation as an elite manager as winning another championship would have, as his coaching was a big part in the team’s improvements last season.   Year 69 will go down as a bit of a wasted season, but considering they played well for a while, that might not be the fairest criticism.   The defense needs to get back on track next season though, but Lello’s been rather good at coaching that unit up despite being an averagely talented group, so there’s hope.  

Tomen: The timing of the relegation announcement didn’t please too many people, but Tomen and its fans were probably the most upset.   Who could blame them, with the team being in dead last place at 8 points after 10 weeks and showing very little life at all.   The star Sammsoon brothers, Cragnus (Left Center Offensive Midfielder/Striker) and Argill (Right Centerback) had only just come back the previous week after taking time off early in the year and both looked rusty.   Worse, Loeb of House Gammiz (Manager), long known to keep the team inspired with his enthusiasm and uplifting managerial style, was for a 2nd straight year not having any luck as the team just wasn’t responding.   Though that would finally change after yet another ugly performance in Week 11 against Anjocca (a 1-1 game that the Rivermen were more than a bit lucky to avoid defeat in), as he’d finally had enough.   No one has ever spoken of the two hour meeting he held with the team immediately after that game, but it’s believed that he finally lost the high positive energy approach and ripped into the team for their efforts (or lack of).   Whatever he said seems to have done the trick, because Tomen’s play has been far improved, going 5-3-2 (18 points) in the ten games since the meeting to not only escape the threat of relegation, but to even currently be in 6th place in the League Standings.

A large part of the improvement has been because of the offense, which after scoring just 10 goals in the first eleven games, has gotten the ball into the opponents’ net 16 times since.   Cragnus seems to have finally gotten back into his groove, lighting the league up with his stellar dribbling and shooting.  He's gotten 10 goals for the year, and if he had played this way all year long, probably could have broken the 15 goal all time mark in most seasons.   While Loeb’s meeting probably helped, it really made a difference that he and Argill had taken a few weeks off from football to properly grieve his family tragedy after trying to push past it for far too long.   Mishakl of House Floddergrove (Center Midfielder) kept the team’s attack focused well, being the only player on the team that performed well the entire year.  He’s scored several goals himself and with his solid enough efforts on defense, once again appears to be among, if not THE, best midfielders in the game.  

The defense actually hasn’t been too bad at all.   Since Loeb’s meeting, they’ve only allowed more than one goal twice, against Silagnak (2 goals in Week 19) and Petorvale (4 goals in Week 20), the two teams with by far the best offenses in the Avornian Football League.  Argill in particular has looked like a man with a renewed passion for football in recent weeks, making several huge tackles in opportune times while avoiding the penalty bug that seemed to plague him in Year 68.   Stilston of House Amago (Goalkeeper) has played better than expected.   The short goalie (5’9” in a league that has prioritized height for the position) is a good athlete, which helps.  He's not a very instinctual player, but his conservative approach hasn’t backfired too badly.  

Overall, one would have to had wished Loeb got on his team sooner for its weak start to the year, but fans will at least be happy that the team is responding to his coaching style again.  Maybe Year 70 will be the year they finally get that first League Championship, though the Rivermen might still need another piece or two to emerge as legitimately good starters for that to happen.

Leorux: If naysayers were looking to jump all over the Elves to say they told us that they were lucky in Year 68 to finish 4th and that a decline would happen, their best chance came early, as four weeks into the season, they only had 3 points, good for last place.  A 4 game winning streak from Weeks 5-8 put any end to the critics, as Avornia’s favorite underdogs shot right back up the League Standings and never fell near the relegation zone again.   They would fall out of contention as the year went on, as they tied several games that they might have won last year, but going into Week 22, they are in 5th place with 28 points, near the top of a mix of seven teams that are within 4 points of each other.  

Despite Eddark of House Hoopmeister’s (Manager) 4-4-2 formation being intended to improve the defense, in fact, the Elven offense has actually seen more improvements, as Joezas of House Nook (Left Forward) has elevated his attack game quite nicely, provide another needed spark to assist Carles of House Yalmount (Center Forward) form a more rounded offensive game.   Hemly of House Raber (Right Midfielder) continues to improve year after year, adding yet another wrinkle in Leorux’s offense.  The 30 goals that Leorux scored is tied for 4th in the league, which if that doesn’t change in Week 22, would be the first time the Elves have finished in the top half of the league in goals scored.  

The defense allowing 31 goals has to be seen as bit disappointing, considering the defensive formation that they employ.   They really need a new goalkeeper, as there’s only so much that Centerbacks Kade of House Nush and Azaroth of House Belock (Left and Right Centerback respectively) can really do to prevent shots on goal.  Both are improving on cutting the penalties down, but they could do some work in improving their communication to each other and their passing games each could be better as they both committed more than one passing mishap that led to an easy steal and shot on goal.   Still, with some more experience and improved depth, Leorux will eventually cut down the goals allowed.

When last year’s Elves caught everyone off guard, most experts wrote them off for Year 69, believing a decline was likely.   However, while that technically is correct for now (they’re in 5th instead of 4th), Leorux once again is keeping far more competitive than they probably should be given the total amount of talent on the team.   Eddark is doing well to prove that he’s just as good of a manager as his brother, team owner Herrad, was last year.  With the Hoopmeister brothers’ efforts, Leorux has elevated from a team that looked likely to fold to suddenly having something of a golden era (for them anyway) with two straight top half finishes in the League Standings.   If things keep going the way they are, could a League Championship (or even a King’s Cup Championship) be that far away from being a reality?

Anjocca: The pressure was on for the Sabercats’ manager, Tan of House Browse.   With Connavonn of House Duvaloi’s (Owner) expectations of a League Championship, the feeling was that anything less than a title would not be enough to keep his job.   If that’s the case, then Year 69 will be his final season as a manager, because Anjocca has been officially out of contention since Week 17.   It’s not that Anjocca has played poorly, far from it.   They were able to keep pace for the first half of the year, being just 4 points down after Week 11.   However, like most of the teams in Avornia, the yellow team would quickly get left in the dust behind the league leaders.   It doesn’t help that the Sabercats’ -4 goal differential is one of the worst in the team’s history, as that shows that this failure to win the title has nothing to do with luck.

The offense has only scored 26 goals, as Tobyas of House Stonner (Center Forward) is definitely declining as a performer.  Shaggu of House Khaldrem (Right Wing Forward) did his best to make up for his teammate’s bad year, but he could only do so much.     It really doesn’t help that Dunne of House Werewilf (Center Midfielder), a very good passer and necessary offensive tool for drives has once again had an injury filled season.   He’s only play 17 games this year, which actually is the most he’s made it through in his career, but it’s beyond obvious at this point that he appears to just be a frail athlete.   Anjocca will need to focus much more on its Youth Academy to find a suitable player that can be expected to play because with Dunne seemingly being made of glass, they’ll need to be able to start several games each year.

After allowing 30 goals for a 2nd straight year, Anjocca’s defense no longer has the reputation of being a great crew that just happened to have a bad year.   Xaxi of House Pentuna (Goalkeeper) did his best, but actually had to miss games for the first time in his career after suffering one of the most violent collisions ever seen in Avornian Football in a Week 13 win over Hanuna when Alfenz of House Mohr kneed him in the face by accident when the grizzled one eyed man dove for a football.   He only missed two games, but those two were all Anjocca needed to see that the Sabercats really need to work on finding a better substitute, as the backup they had was terrible.  Gailor of House Omakyt (Left Centerback) seems to strangely be declining as a player despite his youthful age.   Tan had been trying to coach him into being a cleaner tackler to avoid getting penalized so much by the referees.  However, in doing so, he seems to have missed with Gailor mentally, as he has almost seemed afraid to engage with forwards now, leading to ineffective play.  

There’s no question that Anjocca’s position in the League Standings (4th) is certainly not bad at all, though the team has seen a decline in the amount of points its obtained for the last few seasons now.  But Connavonn has proven to be likely the league’s most over-competitive owner in the sport, with extremely high expectations.   He may have to tone those goals down a bit, even if he terminates Tan (which he almost assuredly will) after Year 69.   The fact of the matter is, Anjocca is getting older, and the while Tan has generally done well in coaching the men well, his work with the Youth Academy isn’t promising.    There may not be even one kid in the school that is ready to move up to the big league, and that’s a scary thought considering the need to replace long time stars is fast approaching.   What the Sabercats’ new manager does in the next year or two could have a gigantic impact on the team’s longterm future.

Silagnak: After their elimination in Week 20, and now 11 points behind the 1st place team in the League Standings, one would assume that the Black and Blues perhaps had a down season after playing at a high level each of the previous two years.    However, that assumption would be dead wrong, as Silagnak has 37 points in the standings (a new team high), scored 38 goals (also a team high, and would have tied Hanuna for the league lead last season) and allowed just 21 goals (not only the league best, but if it holds, will be yet another Silagnak best).  The fact of the matter is that despite being guaranteed at least a 3rd place finish (which is, you guessed it, tied for Silagnak’s best), this has been very likely the best season in Black and Blue history.  

The offense was at times scary good, with Boba of House Coldsteek (Striker) scoring 14 goals, Varner of House Patracks (Right Forward) adding another 11 of his own.   Defenses simply had no real answer for those two for much of the year.  Outscoring Silagnak wasn’t likely to happen often either, not with Lenzlo of House Amburs (Middle Centerback) leading the highly defensive 5-2-2-1 formation with his tackling and pass breaking up being top tier in the league.   It turns out that he had some help too.   Borky of House Silvor (Right Wingback) took to the benches after a nagging leg problem kept him sidelined for several weeks.   The solution ended up being Wels of House Portler (Right Wingback) who came up from the Youth Academy and played quite well, well enough to keep Borky on the bench even after he was healthy.   Wels is far from an elite player at this point, his tackling is messy and he’s developing a reputation for being a hot head (which the Silagnak fans love), to the point where he’s gotten fouled multiple times for shoving a player roughly when he feels that they’ve disrespected him (which the Silagnak fans don’t love).  But there is some promise with him, as he’s a good athlete and is much with passing and dribbling than Borky ever was, he’s likely going to be a starter for the next several years, so if he can clean up his game a little bit, Wels will be a huge asset.

Mendo of House Tydent (Manager) has once again done his best to coach his team up the best he could.   It's true that owner Shonnie of House Bochwiller had huge expectations of the club going into the year, but with this being likely the best season in Silagnak history, Year 69 was still a nice year for the team.   What ultimately doomed the team was their performances against Chalmblaank and Petorvale (losing all 4 of the games against them).   They just didn’t have what it took to overtake the top two teams, generally taking care of business against everyone else.   Still, it’s felt like for a while now that Mendo is eventually going to lead the team to a championship.   With most of his star players either being in their prime or having promising starts to their careers, it just feels like it’s a matter of time before the Black and Blues finally top the League Standings (or win a King’s Cup, which they could still do of course).

Chalmblaank: The Knights were ready to prove that they were a top level team after their goal differential in Year 68 seemed to indicate a talented team that just underperformed.  Indeed, they would do just that.   The defense, something of a weak point in each of the past couple of seasons, finally stiffened up and that has led to Chalmblaank only allowing 24 goals so far, good for 3rd best in the league.  Matrack of House Cattlebottom (Goalkeeper) had almost taken on a strangely arrogant persona over the offseason, many had wondered how would translate over the course of the year.   It turns out, quite well, as his head games seemed to get under the skin of his opponents all year long.   He even managed to get Petorvalen Forward Garrend of House Jackleton ejected from a game after the young goalie got right into his face after a nice save, causing Garrend to shove him to the ground.  Chalmblaank’s fans still haven’t entirely taken to the brash tactics (though that’s likely due to the noble heavy city’s prejudice against non-nobles), but the boos he heard throughout Year 68 have declined noticeably.   It’s certainly helped that Arlo of House Pixsan (Centerback/Sweeper) has absolutely made some strides to improve and he’s made it much harder on teams to get past him to even get the few shots on goal that they can get. 

Chalmblaank’s offense did experience a bit of a decline from Year 68, only scoring 27 so far.  That’s partially been because Alajandrus of House Capeburgh (Center Midfielder) was injured for much of the second half of the year with a groin injury, leaving Sirge of House Einna (Center Forward) as being by far the only real threat to score goals.   Normally, he’d want it just that way, being a bit self-centered and egotisical, but surely even he has to see that he can’t do it all himself, blowing too many drives trying to force a score when he could have just passed the football to another forward or midfielder.   It clearly seems to have driven Deagu of House Sanchor (Manager) crazy on more than one occasion, but after all the drama the two had with each other last season, one has to commend Deagu for keeping things a bit more professional this season.    He hasn’t been nearly the distraction he was last year and in fact has quietly done a fantastic job with coaching the team up to prevent a lot of errors, while doing well at controlling the ball (no easy task with Alajandrus, one of the league’s best ball controllers, out with injury).

The result was that the Knights were able to keep the pressure up on an excellent Petorvale team, keeping pace with them throughout the year despite currently only having a +3 goal differential for the year.  After Week 16, Chalmblaank was only 2 points behind, but unfortunately their form has since declined slightly while Petorvale got hotter than ever.   Despite defeating Silagnak in a difficult 1-0 win in Week 20, Chalmblaank would be eliminated from League Championship contention.   Still, with one game to go, their 38 point performance is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of at all.   It appears that despite several early controversies to his run as manager (throwing athletes under the bus, yelling arguments with Sirge, and irritating Chalmblaank nobles by hiring non nobles to the club), Deagu’s work in the last year and a half has to be praised as despite the noise, he’s been one of the better managers in the Avornian Football League.  If he can keep finding new talents and developing his current stars, maybe next year might finally be the year that Chalmblaank wins a championship.

Petorvale: Year 69 will go down in Petorvalen (and Avornian Football) history.  The Hammers won and won a lot, setting a new league record with 15 victories throughout the season to earn another record setting 48 points with one more game still to go.   Like Hanuna the previous year, Petorvale quickly got to the top of the standings and stayed there for the entire season.   That’s not to say there wasn’t some drama though.  For most of the first half of the year, teams like Chalmblaank, Silagnak, Anjocca, Leorux, and Hanuna were all having good enough starts to the season that Petorvale couldn’t exactly relax.  A 4-game winning streak from Weeks 12-15 was good enough to shake nearly everyone.   However, Chalmblaank continued to hang with the Hammers.   Of course, it’d be hated Chalmblaank, with their arrogant, stuck up fans, that would make life hard for Petorvale.    It appeared this year’s games with them were getting more heated than ever.   Matrack of House Cattlebottle’s mind games got to Petorvale’s Garrend of House Jackleton’s (Left Forward), causing him to snap and shove Matrack, getting himself ejected from one game.   Ceecil of House Ackerberry (Right Center Midfielder) and Chalmblaank’s Sirge of House Einna nearly got into a fist fight of their own after a contested play.   Rumors are even the fans got into it, with incidents in both games involving punches being thrown in the stands.  More than ever, Petorvale wanted to get beat the Knights and get that first League Championship.  In Week 20, after beating Tomen 4-1, the Hammers finally got their wish, having finally eliminated Chalmblaank to become champions (though the fans will also point out that this was the first season where Petorvale swept their rivals, only adding to the sweet victory)!   After the win, the entire team lifted their massive manager, Hammen of House Tong up in celebration (though given his hefty weight, that was a struggle) as he was bellowing out cheers along with the Petorvale faithful, having finally gotten his beloved city a League Championship!

Much credit has to be given to Svontal of House Dors (Right Forward), who was nearly untouchable throughout the year, setting a new league high with 16 goals scored and honestly could have easily gotten more if he had been a greedier player.   Garren had a fine rookie year himself, and score several goals too.   He does seem to have some maturity issues (besides getting ejected in that Chalmblaank game, reports are that he irritated his older teammates with his big mouth), but if he can reign that in, he'll be a great asset for years to come.  Ceecil, always more of an offensive minded midfielder, also had a great season, which gave Petorvale 3 legitimately scary options to score goals.  They’ve scored 40 goals so far, Jahnsel’s record of 42 set in Year 67 is still within reach.  

For years, the Hammers’ defense had been the weak point of Petorvale, but after a surprisingly decent performance last year, the unit has been lights out in Year 69.  Norty of House Peaweedle (Left Centerback/Sweeper) and Zephyr of House Emmends (Right Fullback) were both stellar seasons.   Zephyr in particular looks highly promising, being highly physical, yet with a surprisingly soft touch when reaching around forwards to gently tap footballs away, then quickly maneuvering to steal the ball.  Cooma of House Niccagua’s (Goalkeeper) job was being made almost too easy, though he also played well.  His large frame (6’8” and 250 plus lbs) makes it hard to shoot around him, but when his instincts are on point (they usually are), forget about it.   Petorvale has only allowd 22 goals to this point, good for 2nd best.

Overall, this season has been a dream for Petorvale, who have got to go down as likely the greatest team in Avornian Football history.  Everything went right, as the offense was terrifying, the defense was dominating, and they become the first team in Avornian Football to have obtained more than 2/3rd the possible season points (at 48 out of a possible 66 with one game left, meaning they’ve gotten at least 72% of the possible points that they can get in a year).  Hammen, who two years ago was starting to see his massive seat get warm, has made several great strides throughout the last couple of seasons with his Youth Academy innovation, which is already paying dividends for the club.   The best part is, barring some gigantic tragedy befalling the team, it seems like Petorvale is set up to perform well for the next few years at least, so another title could be obtained yet, (especially since starting next season, there will only be 10 teams in the 1st Division, so it’ll theoretically be easier to win another title).  Times are good in Petorvale, can they be the first team to repeat as League Champions in several years?



Next: Avornian Football League, Year 69, Week 22.  Who will Join Earch FFC in being Relegated into the new 2nd Division?  How'd Your Favorite (or Least Favorite) teams do?   C&C Welcomed as Always!

Last edited by Stickman (1/13/2023 10:36 am)

Hammers take the league! Hammers take the league! 
Good to see that Youth Academy pay immediate dividends. Who is even thinking about the year 68 season and what could have been had Svontal not gotten hurt and missed most of the season? 
Not the champs! 

Seriously loving this series. Keep it up!  

King’s Cup, Year 69

1ST ROUND
5. Anjocca over 7. Dobo 3-3 (4-3 Penalty Kicks)
6. Tomen over 10. Baelanholme 4-4 (5-3 Penalties)
9. Henix over 12. Earch 3-1
11. Jahnsel over 8. Hanuna 4-1

QUARTERFINALS
2. Chalmblaank over 5. Anjocca 1-0
4. Leorux over 9. Henix 2-0
3. Silagnak over 11. Jahnsel 1-0 (after extra time)
1. Petorvale over 6. Tomen 3-1

SEMIFINALS
4. Leorux over 3. Silagnak 2-2 (4-2 Penalties)
1. Petorvale over 2. Chalmblaank 1-0 (a.e.t.)

FINAL
1. Petorvale over 4. Leorux 2-2 (3-2 Penalties, took 6 rounds)

After the disappointment that was last year’s King’s Cup, Avornian Football fans were rewarded with what has to have been the most exciting Cup to date, with 4 of the 11 games going to Penalty Kicks and an additional two games requiring extra time after regulation. 

Petorvale would indeed win its first ever Cup Championship, though it would be a challenging ride to say the least.   After dispatching Tomen in the quarterfinals fairly easily, a meeting with Chalmblaank was drawn up for the semifinals.   That Petorvale-Chalmblaank game will go down in infamy, but it was also a highly dramatic football game, with several near misses as Cooma of House Niccagua and Matrick of House Cattlebottle (Goalkeepers for Petorvale and Chalmblaank respectively) had lights out performances.    However, Petorvale would eventually win in on a 117th minute goal by Svontal of House Dors (Right Forward) to move onto the final. 

Leorux had never made it to a King’s Cup final before Year 69, but this would finally be their season.   After beating a very game ninth seeded Henix club 2-0, Leorux drew third seeded Silagnak.   Most expected the Black and Blues to dominate the game, but the Leorux-Silagnak match up was one for the ages.   Silagnak did take an early 2-0 lead after just 14 minutes, but the Elves’ defense would hold strong there after.  Joezas of House Nook (Left Forward) scored a beautiful header off of a Carles of House Yalmount (Right Forward) pass in the 67th minute, while Carles himself would get the ball into the net on a rocket of a shot in the 83rd minute to even the score.   Silagnak’s Varner of House Patracks (Right Forward) will likely rue a missed opportunity to regain his team’s lead in the 111th minute of extra time, as, trying to aim his shot ever so perfectly into a corner, hit the upright instead.  Had he just worried about taking a regular shot instead of being too precise, he’d have likely gotten the ball in.   The game would go to Penalty Kicks, which Leorux would surprisingly win easily (given Silagnak’s offensive talents, it's a surprise that they only got 2 of their shots into the goal).

Due to an ugly incident in the previous matchup, Petorvale was know short a major asset for the King’s Cup Final and they missed him, as Leorux was able to jump to an early 2-0 lead in a game that probably shouldn’t have been competitive.   It took Petorvale’s Ceecil of House Ackerberry (Right Center Midfielder) pulling off a goal from a jumping kick and later a header off of a corner kick to even the score.  Even after extra time, regulation would end 2-2 and the teams would be forced to compete in Penalty Kicks to determine which team would win its first King’s Cup.   Ultimately, Petorvale would prevail, 3-2, though thanks to great goal keeping from both teams, it would take six full rounds before the victor was decided.  

It is worth shouting out Henix and Jahnsel for their efforts.  Interestingly, while all teams have been allowed to compete in the King’s Cup, never had a team seeded lower than 8th ever actually won a game before.   Henix was the 9th seed (that luckily drew up 12th seed Earch in the first round) and Jahnsel was the 11th seed, their victory over 8th seed Hanuna means that despite being relegated, Jahnsel at least set a record that won’t be beaten for a long time (thanks to there only being 10 teams in the 1st Division going forward). 

However, all of that will be overshadowed by what will go down as the ugliest black eye in Avornian Football history (at least up to this point).   During the Petorvale-Chalmblaank game, in the 105th minute,  Chalmblaank’s Matrack was able to prevent Petorvale’s Garrend of House Jackleton (Left Forward) from scoring on a nice diving play.   Matrack would do his now customary finger wave taunt to celebrate and get into Garrend’s head.   And get into it he did, as Garrend utterly snapped, running towards the goalie and beginning an ugly fist fight.  To make matters worse, fans from both sides jumped the stands and rushed into the fray (how the Avornian Guard allowed this became a source of investigation during the offseason).   It would take nearly 10 full minutes to finally sort through the mess, a full 40 people were injured during the fray, including both Garrend and Matrack.   Unfortunately, one of those happened to be a distant relative to King Mikelangel III, who had jumped in early to try to break up the fight.  Not surprisingly, Mikelangel III was furious over the incident.   To placate him, Avornian Football Commissioner Ravael of House Banswell would temporarily suspend Garrend from the King’s Cup final (had Chalmblaank not been eliminated already, Matrack would have been too) to await further punishment.

King’s Cups From Year 70 Onward

Now that the Avornian Football League consisted of two divisions, questions arose as to how the King’s Cup would be run going forward.   While an idea was floated that the Cup could consist of teams from both divisions, former Federation of Avornia Football Commissioner Yoel of House Ramaloon (now a member of the Avornian Football Committee) suggested instead that both divisions could have their own cups.   The 1st Division’s King’s Cup could be renamed the King’s Golden Cup, while the 2nd Division’s could be called the King’s Silver Cup.   Yoel felt it would be a good idea to give teams potentially stuck in the 2nd Division for years to have a championship of their own to compete for, worrying that pitting the two divisions against each other would usually just result in teams from the 1st Division always winning.

Ravael liked the idea and so both divisions will have their own King’s Cup.   Winning the King’s Silver Cup would appropriately result in a reward of 5 silver coins (half the prize money winning the King’s Golden Cup awards, meaning the average player earns just over 27 papers each for winning the Silver Cup.  Considering that the average footballer’s salary is about 66 papers currently, that’s a nice chunk of change!), in addition to being considered Cup Champions.  

Promotion and Relegation From Year 70 Onward

The Avornian Football Committee held several meeting during the offseason to discuss how the new promotion and relegation system would work going forward.    Two teams had been relegated in Year 69, but that was only to even the total amount of teams in each division to ten.  Going forward, it’s been decided that only one team will be promoted into Division 1 and one relegated to Division 2.   The Committee felt that it would be a real possibility that a team could bounce around the two divisions too easily, which they wanted to avoid.   So, for the purposes of stability and giving newly promoted teams every opportunity possible to stick around for many years, they went with one team changing per division.   As more teams over the years were to get added, the number of promoted and relegated teams will be reviewed at that point.

The Lucky 8 Teams

One major issue that needed addressed was decided which of the remaining old Federation of Avornian Football teams would be absorbed into the new Avornian Football League 2nd Division, to join Earch FFC and Jahnsel United.   Jahnsel’s merger, plus the sudden folding of the Silagnak team, left just thirteen remaining teams to vie for eight spots, (Earch City, Tomen Sporting Club, Forest Rangers FC, Goblec, Shadoma, Shadow Riders, Naide, Rammsten, Anhkana, Toidana, Meshalketh, Cheppard, and Elkstrom).

The first additions and subtractions were determined by reviewing all the cities that could now have two clubs.   Earch and Tomen, the biggest cities in Avornia, were deemed big enough to justify having multiple teams.  Thus, Earch City and Tomen Sporting Club were the first two teams to be selected to join the 2nd Division.   However, there were two other cities with two clubs, those cities are just small enough to where a decision would have to be made.  

Forest Rangers FC and Goblec Football Club, in the forest city of Goblec between Leorux and Hanuna, made things easy by simply agreeing to merge and combine their resources.   In truth, with Forest Rangers being the far more popular and successful team, Goblec FC probably never had a real chance to win that fight, so offering the merger was their only real hope to survive.  In Shadoma, the arid city near the dreaded Sandwyrm Desert, things would be tougher to sort out.   Shadoma Football Club was the more financially sound of the two teams, but Shadow Riders were probably the more popular of the two.  Success wasn’t a factor, as both had been mid-tier clubs, neither ever seriously contended for the Federation league championship.    Unlike with Goblec, the owners of the two clubs couldn’t come to a friendly agreement, Shadoma’s owner (the first ever woman football owner) found the Shadow Riders’ owner sexist, Shadow Riders’ owner finding her to be difficult and uncompromising.  After both clubs made their case, the Committee ultimately decided with the richer Shadoma, meaning the Avornian Football League will have it’s first female owner, a milestone reached.  

While the two club cities out of the way, the Committee now had to figure out the remaining four teams.    Naide, a city near the Tomen River that acts as a gateway city of sorts- connecting Tomen, Hanuna, and Silagnak- was a no brainer, being currently the 6th biggest city in the kingdom.  Rammsten, a mining city that made a huge mining discovery that has made it a very rich city in next to no time, was the next choice due to the potential population growth that could make it the next great Avornian city.  For the same reasons the Naide and Rammsten were picked, Anhkana and Toidana were eliminated.   Both are just too small of cities to be seriously considered for football teams, (though the Committee did like the idea of a Dobo-Anhkana rivalry, there’s plenty of history between those two cities). 

The remaining three clubs, Meshalketh, Cheppard, and Elkstrom, were debated over for several days.  Meshalketh was finally picked to join, as they were the biggest remaining city.   It doesn’t have a history of football passion within the city compared to the other two cities, but they do have some excellent meat from their livestocks (Which was probably used as a bribe to get Meshalketh in.   Yes, their steaks really are that good!).    Cheppard, being located by Jahnsel and Leorux, has a natural “Triangle Cities” friendly rivalry of sorts with those teams and has 3 times the population that Elkstrom has, so naturally, their civilians assumed they’d get the last league spot.   However, surprisingly, Elkstrom was chosen instead.   Elkstrom isn’t a particularly rich community (and hasn’t been in years), so they were seen as an odd choice.   However, it’s worth noting that Shonnie of House Bochwiller, Silagnak’s owner, was VERY passionate in vouching for Elkstrom.   That might not draw suspicion (even for the rumored crimelord), but it’s well known that Silagnak and Elkstrom have long had a history of being two of the most corrupt cities in the kingdom.   Elkstrom, infamous for it’s “Shooting Star” alcoholic beverage (which is so potent that it’s illegal in Avornia) has long been suspected of supplying the drink to the various crime lords for decades now.   Shonnie likely was paying the city back by getting them into the Avornian Football League.   Regardless of why they were chosen, tiny Elkstrom becomes the 20th and (currently) the final team in the completed 2nd Division!

Team Kits

Finally, a decision was made in regards to uniforms.   For years now, fans have complained about certain teams’ jerseys looking too similar, causing occasional confusion.   That ends now, as all Avornian Football League teams have introduced a 2nd jersey that they can wear to clash a little more with teams that have similar uniform colors.   Admittedly, these won’t be worn too often, so disappointedly, most teams chose not to go all out with their new kits, but some teams did take the opportunity to switch things up a little.  More will come in the next posts during the Team by Team previews.



NEXT: 2nd Division Team by Team Previews (and Introductions!)

Any favorites so far with the new uniforms?  Any you absolutely hate?   Let me know and feel free to provide any other C & C you'd like!