[FM16] For Neloxia, Forever.

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Preface

This is a reboot of a story that I've been writing for years. For FM10, I did an extensive 8-division league centered around this country complete with visuals using city simulators. Since this is FMStories, I'll spare you the photos this time (which is good, nobody has that kind of time anymore.) For some reason, I got the druthers after avoiding it for many years to do another extensive dynasty for Neloxia for FM16, which is good because I wasn't really playing it at all before I did this.

Now we're going to dip into Neloxia and turn you all into Neloxian football fans.

Introduction

The Confederacy of Neloxia is a western democracy located for geographic purposes in a polygot multiracial democracy located in the North Adriatic. Home to over 6 million people, Neloxia is one of the world's economic powers and has experienced major growth over the past 40 years due to its positioning as a non-aligned haven during the Cold War. Attracting people from around the world seeking refuge from persecution, its financial sector grow exponentially and turned this tourist nation and fishing village into an economic powerhouse.

For the purposes of football, Neloxia has seen many evolutions in its major tier leagues from the Super 8 league comprised of the biggest clubs to the latest iteration of the premier pyramid - the LigaPremier. Comprised of seventeen tiers, the Neloxian football pyramid is extensive and emphasizes development at all levels. The country has increased its investment not only in youth football, but creating programs to bring players from abroad to Neloxia to train as youth - along with their families - and thanks to relaxed immigration rules, the country's national football program has grown by leaps and bounds since 2015.

In this story, we'll introduce you to the various clubs that have dominated Neloxian football, the upstarts who want to take their place and explore how things have changed in the last fifteen years since I last paid attention to Neloxian football and what the future holds.

The Pyramid

The current Neloxian football pyramid is 17 steps.

We'll explore the teams in each of them as we go along.

Ligapremier (16 teams)

Ligaexcel (11 teams)

Series A (10 teams)

Series B (11 teams)

Series C (11 teams)

Series D (10 teams)

LigaRegional (16 teams)

Regional League One (11 teams)

Football Alliance Championship (9 teams)

Hometown Football League (HFL) Division 1 (8 teams)

HFL Division 2 (10 teams)

HFL Division 3 (8 teams)

HFL Division 4 (11 teams)

HFL Division 5 (11 teams)

HFL Division 6 (Legacy Football Conference, HFL Friday Night League, HFL Tuesday Night League, HFL Wednesday Night League)

Communitywide Sunday Football Association Division 1 (12 teams)

SFA Division 2 (15 teams)

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The team is currently ranked #1 in the world and recently won the Euro 2032 Championship for the first time ever. It's quite a time for Neloxian football!

Neloxia qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever in 2026, finishing 4th in their Group. In 2030, the team fared much better, finishing 4th in the entire tournament after losing to Russia in the 3rd place game.

High hopes abound heading towards the 2034 World Cup in China.

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Only the top six divisions are active for this save (down to the Series D) but I'm going to go through and talk about the major players, upstarts and give you a sense of the landscape of Neloxian football as it exists right now.

First off, the Neloxia national team has been a rising power for a while and solidified the nation as one of football's leaders with an improbable World Cup victory in 2034. The nation has also won the Euro 2032, the UEFA Nations League once and two under-20 World Cup victories in recent memory.

High hopes are on tap for the upcoming World Cup in 2046, where Neloxia hopes to claim its second victory ever, after faltering in the two previous editions of the tournament.

But before we go there, we'll cover the national leagues and give you a who's who:

LIGAPREMIER
The 16-team Ligapremier awards 5 points per win, which makes matches a lot more competitive because wins are so valuable all the way to the end of the season. Teams play each other three times (45 games) and the top four teams qualify for the post-season single-elimination playoffs. The two worst teams in the Ligapremier are relegated to the 11 team LigaExcel. 

TOP TEAMS
Cerise has won more LP titles than any other team with 15, though their last title came eight years ago. Based in the capital city Marisa, they have an extensive fanbase and are the preferred team of politicians & elites, but also have a historically strong supporter base of migrants who are relatively new to Neloxia and only saw Cerise games on TV, giving them national reach. They've been to the Champions League final twice in their history. Their main color is Maroon.

The gold standard of Neloxian football however belongs to a club called Alzate Capital. They are often jokingly referred to outsiders as "Real Neloxia", owning to the Spanish heritage of the club. They were founded by a bank and have branched out into a variety of industries over the years, but the corporate priority has always been about owning the most globally significant Neloxian football team. The Red and White is an institution. Alzate has won 13 LP titles and has been the runner up 13 times. They've also won the Champions League twice. 

Holdsworth Steel are probably the third most successful club in the modern era. They've won 10 LP titles, have been runner up 8 times and outside of the Alzate/Cerise derby manage to be a dominant club despite really only drawing their fanbase from the rural areas around Holdsworth, an old industrial city where the team is based. They've won the Galatic League twice, a tournament where many of the best teams in the world participate (and is held in Neloxia annually) and have also won the Europa League twice in recent history. Their colors are Yellow and Black.

Anthracite Taxi are another regional club with an outsized success rate, winning all five of their LP titles since 2016. The club has won the most titles of any team not named Cerise or Alzate since that time. Their fanbase has grown substantially and as a suburban Marisa team, they're able to draw fans from the capital & surrounding area. In 2040, they were the UEFA Champions League finalist. They wear checkercab colored uniforms.

Kings Avenue is another Marisa-based club that has only had recent success, winning the LP three times in their history and being runners up five times -- all in the last 20 years. Champions League runners up in 2044, they didn't win promotion from the LigaExcel until 2018, making their improbable run of 4 FA Cup titles since then even more impressive. If you're looking for a club on the rise, Kings Avenue is probably the one you'll pick simply because they're an elite team you can root for without feeling like a bandwagoner, mostly because fans of other old teams are entrenched in their fandom.

Black Tambourine is a major beer brand that backs a club that still sports a large fanbase despite their lack of relative success over the last 25 years. The Brewers have won 5 LP titles in their history, but the last came over 26 years ago. They even managed to get relegated to the LigaExcel for a year, a blow their fans still haven't recovered from despite winning the LE (2036-37) and coming back to the top division. They've made just three playoff appearances in the past 25 years and obviously not winning in any of them. Black Tam wears Gold and Black.

Neloxian Dairy were the runners up for the LP title in 2016-17, but have not appeared in the Top 2 since and managed to get relegated last year for the first time in over 35 seasons. They still sport a solid fanbase, but have seen better times.

Prima Alzate is the other major club hailing from Alzate, with a much smaller fanbase and footprint. The derby between the two clubs (Alzate Capital and Prima) is fierce. They won their only LP title in 2009 and these days have been relegated all the way down to the Series A. This has taken a toll on their fanbase. Prima wears a baby blue color.

Embassy of Football has been in the LigaPremier since 2015-16, without ever winning it. They've only made one playoff appearance ever, but they've won an FA Cup and somehow have managed to not get relegated. 

There are some other clubs in the LigaPremier at present worth noting, so we'll just cover the rest of them as of (2045-46):

Endersby City is a story of epic proportions. Playing out of the hamlet of Endersby City, in the far northern part of Neloxia with a population of less than 30,000 people, this club playing in the Football Alliance Championship (9th division) in 2015-16. By 2042-43, through a variety of promotions, they'd made it to the Ligapremier for the first time, bounced back down a level and are back again this year. It's an impressive story, even if they don't manage to stick around.

San Carlos 1999 are based in the city of Figueroa and were a Series A that rose through the ranks to reach the LigaPremier for the first time in the 20s and have been back 6 times since then. They've never stuck around more than a year during any of their stints. 

Sporting Mapouras are a big city team from the city of Mapouras, but they've never claimed the Ligapremier title and their only FA Cup win was in 1934. Still, they've been an active member of the Ligapremier every year since 2015-16. Over that time, they've never made the playoffs. Still their fanbase is loyal, tortured and yearning for a breakthrough.

The Family are based in Figueroa and have been a recent upstart winning the FA Cup twice and twice appearing the Ligapremier playoff final. They've made six straight playoff appearances and were only promoted to the Ligapremier in the early 20s. 

Watchmen are a club based in the medium sized city of Decleyre and have had swig of success winning the Ligapremier twice, most recently in 2043. They also have a Galactic League title in their satchel of late and among small fan base teams, they're one that draw from all over Neloxia due to an aggresive marketing campaign.

East Hellsbath A.C. are an upstart who earned promotion and hail from the Hellsbath metropolitan area, having worked their way up from the Series B in 2015 to make three appearances in the Ligapremier never lasting more than a year. They have a much smaller fanbase than the dominant Hellsbath area team - Hellsbath Wanderers - but have been able to slowly cut into that lately, through their promotions.

Boldmouth Robins are one of the oldest continiously professional clubs in Neloxia. They won 7 FA Cups during the early days all before 1933. The club worked up from Series B to the LigaPremier for the first time 12 seasons ago and have made five appearances since then. This is their first back to back set of seasons in the LP, but they've secured relegation meaning they're headed back down again.

Other clubs worth mentioning:

AFC Swenton United (LigaExcel, worked their way up from the 7th division over past few decades)

Swenton City (LigaExcel, Swenton is one of the largest cities in Neloxia but does not currently have a team in the LigaPremier.)

Broadcast Network of Neloxia (BNN) (LigaExcel, their highwater mark came in '25 when they were runners up for the FA Cup. A large fanbase due to an outsized tv deal.)

Five Cities Insurance (FCI) (LigaExcel, a traditional Neloxian power who are not really powerful anymore. Won the LP in 1969.)

Enclave are a North Marisa club playing in the LigaExcel, they won two LP titles in the 60s and 70s. That was a long time ago.

Vampire Lake (Series A) Won 5 FA Cups, the last in 2020. Vampire Lake is the largest city in the mostly rural Northwestern part of Neloxia. People in this area largely root for Marisa-based clubs, but there is a devoted, passionate fan base who'll root for the Bloodsuckers, especially if they are winning.