Strangest League that you have managed in?

[oche balboa]

For me its Macau 2nd Division. 

[XaW]

4th 3rd tier in the Faeroe Islands.

Edited April 22, 2020 by XaW

[kingjericho]

Romania 2nd division. It has lots of limitations regarding U21 which makes squad building very hard

[yolixeya]

I read the title strongest league you have managed in and then I read the comments and was like WTF 

 

[Gross_Ballon]

4 hours ago, XaW said:

4th 3rd tier in the Faeroe Islands.

How did you end up there ? bad divorce ? lol 

[XaW]

4 minutes ago, Gross_Ballon said:

How did you end up there ? bad divorce ? lol 

Haha, could have been!

I tried a youth only challenge with the smallest team I could find back in FM18 (I think). Became a good domestic team, but never got far in Europe, if I remember correctly. Think I got past a qualifying round every once in a while, but never made any group stage. The goal was to win the CL, but never manged it. The Faeroe Islands national team became a lot better though!

[DementedHammer]

My FM19 save started in the 9th tier of the New Zealand league system. My FM20 save is currently in the Essex Senior League.

Regarding weird rules, I haven't played there myself, but I remember Loki Doki getting relegated from the Uruguayan premier division because the relegation system uses a system where the points are averaged out over a couple of seasons. 

[Chesters86]

I think on FM 17 or something like that I created the American Samoan league structure and has a few seasons managing there in their top flight.

[oche balboa]

Anymore?

[llDracoll]

The San Marino league gets weirder and weirder with every passing year.

In the past, it was the playoff system that used double elimination, unheard-of in any other league AFAIK.

And now, there are two different group stages, followed by a playoff.

Edited June 18, 2020 by llDracoll

[KodjiaMaster]

EBACC Northern League Division Two. Fun league in the tenth tier

[Brother Ben]

21 hours ago, llDracoll said:

The San Marino league gets weirder and weirder with every passing year.

In the past, it was the playoff system that used double elimination, unheard-of in any other league AFAIK.

And now, there are two different group stages, followed by a playoff.

Just came accross this https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forum/gforum.cgi?post=437352 regarding San Marino

Quote

15 clubs are divided into two groups. The groups are not regional and teams play the others in their own group twice, and the other group once only. This means that teams in the group of 8 play 21 matches, while those in the group of 7 play 20.

The national cup also starts as a group competition, with three groups of 5 playing eight groups games - the top two from each group, and the two third placed teams with the highest points, (etc.) go into the quarter finals, from which point the competition is straight knock out.

The National Championship gets interesting after the group stage, with the top six teams going through

The pattern for the double elimination series is as follows.

Match Day 1
1. A2 v B3
2. B2 v A3
A1, B1 exempt

Match Day 2
3. Winners 1 v Winners 2
4. Losers 1 v Losers 2
A1, B1 exempt.
Losers of match 4 (played 2, lost 2) eliminted.

Match Day 3
5. A1 v B1
6. Losers 3 v Winners 4
Winners 3 exempt.
Losers of match 6 (played 3, lost 2) eliminated.

Match Day 4
7. Winners 5 v Winners 3
8. Losers 5 v Winners 6
Losers of Match 8 (2 matches lost, but either 2 or 4 played) eliminated

Match Day 5 (semi-final)
9. Losers 7 v Winners 8.
Exempt, winners 7
Eliminated, losers 9 (2 matches lost)

Match Day 6 (FINAL)
Winners 7 v Winners 9

In San Marino, and generally where this system is used, the final is a single match, and hence a team can fail at this stage with only one defeat.
You could add a second final if Winners 9 won the first, as both Winners 9/winners 7 would then have one defeat to its name.
This would be especially fair if Winners 7 was given home advantage in the final - by winning the match, Winners 9 would take the game back to its own home venue for a final game.

In 2011-12, Group A winners were Libertas - they then beat Tre Fiori (B1) and Tre Penne (B3), both on penalties after 1-1 draws.
Tre Fiori also won on Match day 4, also on penalties, but lost to Tre Penne in the semi-finals.

Tre Penne then defeated Libertas 1-0 in the final, meaning Libertas' record in the play offs was played 3, won 2, lost one
While Tre Penne's record was Played 5, won 4, lost 1.

I looked back a couple of years, and in both 2010 and 2011 Tre Fiori beat Tre Penne in the final, although in 2011, Tre Fiori were unbeaten (and hence Tre Penne lost twice), while in 2010, Tre Penne had lost only once.

I love a crazy league system!

Edited June 19, 2020 by Brother Ben