ANTÓNIO VALENTE CARDOSO
INTRODUCTION There have been several studies and analysis over the main European football leagues, some concerning the general European football leagues but none watching the second divisions, the players, the goals, the clubs, the similarities and discrepancies between the second leagues in Europe, from the Mediterranean to the Nordic. Between the professional Championship and the amateur Estonian second division little is alike, just the Beautiful Game itself, eleven aside and a referee, here we will try to show a bit more about those leagues, underlining that it is a pioneer view, with the limitations and virtues involving a first analysis. Anyone that truly travelled the footballing world, either as a player, a supporter, a professional within a football structure, a reporter, commentator or journalist, a researcher or historian is aware of the elite and glamour involving the top clubs within the best leagues and the absence of knowledge, of mediatic attention involving the second tiers, which diminishes the lower you go on the football leagues. In some countries the second leagues are a place of growth for the younger talents while in others they give a space to the so-called veterans, those that often lack space in the primary league scenario due to their identity cards in spite of maintaining quality and having the experience of many years on the pitch. In some leagues there is a mix of youth and veterans as it depends both on the country’s football and sociological culture and on the club’s own culture and sporting policies. One of the purposes of this view is to assess differences, trying to bridge them looking at several league aspects, showing unknown players and teams, superlatives in the next door to the mediatized top European leagues. As the attention is paid mostly to the first divisions and even within them to the main leagues, the European ‘Big 5’ and another five or six, it is common not to be aware of the differences, knowing that the number of clubs ranges from 10 to 24 teams, the matches go from 22 to 46, from two legs to four, the maximum number of substitutions varies between three and five, the attendances can top the 20, 30 even 40 thousand or be under 50 souls, and this is what we are going to try and show a little in this study. It aims to serve as a scientific study open to professionals, students and researchers and/or curious of the football phenomena.
Above shown the leagues that will be detailed, underlining that for the average attendances there are some more leagues numbers and we will start with those figures.
1. ATTENDANCES
If in the top divisions of each country the attendances figures are very different between them, it is only normal that this happens also in the second divisions, especially because some of those tiers are, at best, semi-professional whilst others are professional with budgets of millions. League England Germany France Spain Italy Netherlands
Average Attendance 17716 17186 8453 7089 6313 4121
Occupation Rate 67,25 % 63,05 % 44,49 % 40,75 % 35,02 % 57,28 %
Variation Rate from 10/11 -1,61 % 10,64 % 3,90 % -8,56 % 2,71 % 1,71 %
Sweden Austria Scotland Poland Ukraine Switzerland Belgium Norway Romania SII Czech Rep. Bulgaria E Portugal Finland Romania SI Serbia Slovakia Belarus Bulgaria W Hungary E Hungary W Iceland Slovenia Estonia
2428 2316 2295 2237 2071 2002 1874 1174 1115 1064 972 943 929 758 700 666 550 543 536 365 243 214 71
30,40 % 32,29 % 26,98 % 26,14 % 30,27 % 25,14 % 23,14 % 31,51 % 12,,34 % 23,26 % 15,34 % 19,49 % 22,02 % 14,47 % 18,12 % 22,10 % 21,31 % 9,80 % 14,71 % 13,43 % 27,70 % 13,43 % 14,66 %
3,68 % -2,13 % -3,11 % 1,85 % 7,14 % 3,26 %
1,60 % -6,58 %
-1,68 %
-3,27 %
The distance between the Championship and the 2.Bundesliga and all others second leagues is huge in the attendance scenario, these two double the numbers of the best of the rest, which shows how big they are, with the need to highlight the growth of 10 percent for the 2.Bundesliga and the bigger gap from the English and German and the other so-called Top 5. The Iberian second leagues also lost public; both the Spanish and Portuguese had a decrease of over five percent, with the Portuguese not even averaging the four figures. Naturally, the promotions and relegations have a huge effect on these figures, like in the top leagues. Some clubs have legions of supporters while others not so much, some support their team especially when they’re down and others only pay attention to the wins and top classifications, and that reflects always on these numbers. Confirming their top league status, Eintracht Frankfurt was the team from the second leagues with the biggest average attendance, going close to 40 thousand people (37682) at the Commerzbank-Arena (51500) in a return year after this brief spell in the 2.Bundesliga. Eintracht Frankfurt already has a European title, a national championship prior to the Bundesliga and four German cups. Like in the first leagues and in other sports, watching a football match in Germany is a synonym of a big crowd, of a true spectacle, the sporting culture the countries has it’s an example to all others.
Also in the 2.Bundesliga we find the club with the biggest occupation rate, FC St. Pauli from Hamburg, that averaged 94, 91 percent of the 24487 Millerntor-Stadion capacity. St. Pauli is a cult club, unique even in Germany, popular, that used its own location, near the harbor, the docks and the red district, being the first to ban extreme right-wing nationalisms manifestations officially. A left wing club, came from the little over one thousand spectators in the early 80’s to the average 20 thousand from the 90’s with the development of the club and the public manifestations towards the left wing ideas, defending the minorities, the society’s outcasts. In the below table it will be shown the attendance’s high and lows in the leagues evaluated League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland Slovakia Scotland Ukraine Poland Czech Rep. Romania Slovenia Serbia Hungary Bulgaria
Clubs 16 16 10 12 16 13 18 10 18 22 20 18 24 22 16 16 12 10 18 18 16 16 10 18 16 10
Club + Sandefjord Slavia Mozyr Kalev Tallinn Akranes Hammarby AC Oulu E. Frankfurt A. Lustenau Antwerp Deportivo Racing Lens Willem II West Ham Sampdoria Portimonense St. Gallen Z. Michalovce Dundee FC Sevastopol Piast Gliwice Zbrojovka Brno CSMS Iasi Smartno Napredak K. Szeged 2011 Etar V. Tarnovo
Class. 3rd 1st 1st 1st 11th 3rd 2nd 4th 10th 1st 12th 5th 3rd 6th 16th 1st 6th 2nd 3rd 1st 4th 1st 10th 6th 12th 1st
Average 2573 1385 128 807 7953 2003 37682 4247 5982 26843 21774 9547 30923 20853 1584 10711 1671 4224 5612 5294 2041 3000 331 2788 1097 2100
Club Lov-Ham Polotsk Levadia II Haukas Qviding FC Espoo Ingolstadt Grodig AFC Tubize Villarreal B Istres Almere City Peterborough AlbinoLeffe Sp. Covilhã Chiasso Ruzomberok B Ayr United Olimpik Donetsk Kolejarz Stroze Sparta Prague II Dunarea Galati NK Krsko Srem Sremska Ferencvaros II Sportist Svoge
Class. 15th 10th 4th 3rd 16th 13th 12th 7th 12th 12th 10th 13th 19th 22nd 15th 7th 7th 9th 12th 4th 16th 10th 6th 18th 10th 2nd
Average 161 164 44 232 482 276 7564 790 524 1648 2458 1397 9111 2265 435 104 292 1500 412 418 367 128 125 178 197 219
As it can be seen in the table above, the club’s success is usually directly related with the higher numbers at the stadia and the opposite too. Most of the teams that topped the attendances in each of the second leagues analyzed were promoted to the top leagues although the lowest numbers are not so connected with relegations and it is interesting to
watch the B sides appearing, underlining that the second leagues are opened to B squads in some countries but closed in others (Germany and France, e.g.). Another conclusion drawn from this table is the huge discrepancies in several leagues, in most actually, with variations from 400 to over seven thousand in Sweden, for instance, or the Spanish little over 1000 Villarreal’s B squad to the more than 20 thousand at La Coruùa’s Deportivo. This shows the big gaps that we have within each league.
2. AVERAGE AGES
Even more than in the first tiers, the second leagues present themselves with a wide range of average age, going from the little over 22 years old in the Estonian Esiliiga to the almost 27 years old in the Spanish Liga Adelante. The fact that the Baltic league has some B squads and is used mostly as a test-tube to the youngsters reflects on that number. On the other hand, the countries with the best top leagues have the higher age average, being the second tier many times the one space where players over 30 find a spot to keep on playing, as the ID card is still viewed in some of them as a definition of quality and capacity.
Average Age 26,91 26,49 26,41 26,10 25,98 25,87 25,80 25,51 25,13 24,95 24,95 24,74 24,68 24,41 24,39 23,61
Spain Portugal Germany England Belarus Italy Greece France Switzerland Austria Sweden Norway Belgium Finland Netherlands Iceland Estonia
Average Age
22,25
20,00
22,00
24,00
26,00
28,00
30,00
The youngest squad – counting only the used players – in the observed leagues was Valga Warrior, last placed in the Estonian second league, averaging 19,55 years old, which means they fielded mostly youth players, 12 under19, 16 under17, and that was enough to – even in a league with so many youngsters – demote them to the Estonian third tier. On the other position is the Spanish club Huesca, averaging 29,71 years old in the utilized players for their 11/12 Liga Adelante campaign and with a most fielded XI well above the 30 years old, where only Lluis Sastre (26) and Gilvan (28) were under 30.
League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
Older Squad Bodo/Glimt Gorodeya Tamme Auto Throttur Brage HIFK Ingolstadt WAC/St. Andra Heist Huesca Angers Veria Go Ahead Doncaster Rovers Nocerina Arouca FC Vaduz
Class. 5th 3rd 3rd 7th 14th 9th 12th 1st 7th 13th 11th 2nd 9th 24th 20th 12th 8th
Average 26,50 28,84 26,34 24,91 26,54 26,15 27,51 26,55 26,19 29,71 27,02 28,87 26,19 27,76 27,71 29,40 26,69
Younger Squad Hodd BelCard Valga Warrior IR Reykjavik IFK Varnamo FC Espoo E. Braunschweig FC Lustenau FC Bruxelles Barcelona B Metz Diagoras Den Bosch Peterborough Crotone Belenenses Locarno
Class. 8th 15th 10th 9th 13th 13th 8th 9th 14th 8th 18th 18th 6th 19th 13th 5th 9th
Average 22,00 22,65 19,55 22,41 22,24 22,44 25,74 23,60 22,83 21,29 23,51 22,25 22,85 23,10 24,13 24,20 23,09
As the above table shows, there are leagues with very even numbers in the average ages, like Iceland or Germany, but also others with huge gaps like Spain, Belarus or Greece, which reflect the leagues discrepancies themselves. Some studies and visions link the ages with the performances and these figures confirm partially that, many of the youngest squads are in the lower ranks and a couple of the most experienced teams finished well placed. In seven of the observed second tiers the youngest squad placed better than the oldest one, which brings a contradiction to the above sentence, nonetheless that happened essentially in the leagues more ‘experienced’.
3. PLAYERS USED When we watch the number of players each team utilized during the 2011, 11/12 campaigns there is something that jumps to sight, the fact that the Nordic leagues use the less number of footballers, with the exception of the Baltic Estonia that tops the ranking, a natural phenomenon since Esiliiga has several B squads where you have first team players returning from injuries, the second squad footballers usually in their first couple of years of senior game and youth players, upping the figures. We could think that the number of matches during the season (ranging from 22 to 46 just in the leagues) would affect the number of players used. It is true that the leagues with more games tended to use more players but it is not a definite conclusion. Iceland, for instance, with 22 games, have an average higher than leagues with 30 matches. The English short term loans, one month, also add to the high number of footballers the Championship utilized.
Number of Players Used 36,90
Estonia England Italy Greece France Spain Germany Austria Belgium Netherlands Portugal Switzerland Iceland Finland Belarus Sweden Norway
31,17 30,50 29,72 27,95 27,59 26,22 26,00 25,89 25,78 25,75 25,69 25,58 25,46 24,44 23,94 23,38 20
22
24
26
28
30
32
Players Used
34
36
38
40
The table above shows the average number of footballers that each second league used during the last season’s campaign, noticing the enormous gap between the little over 23 averaged in the Adeccoligaen and the almost 37 in the Esiliiga! It is also interesting to notice how even the Central European leagues are in this aspect, averaging between more than 25 and less than 27, with Portugal in that middle. This is
connected with the culture of each area, the practice, training, play and procedures are different in the several continental areas, plus the British one, something not yet well studied, described and noted. It is often to think that European football is one, when you listen to certain, so-called, specialists whose knowledge of the game runs around their own country top league and the five or six most mediatic ones. The squad with the less number of used footballers was the Belgian side Lommel, with mere 18 players fielded during the entire local league campaign, Thoelen, Lenaerts, S. Vanaken, Wisniowski, de Koninck, Delande, Molenberghs, H. Vanaken, Brouwers, Meeus, Cerigioni, the most fielded XI, plus Thijs, Colinet, Debauve, van Mierlo, Rijckx, van den Putte and Ziriouhi.
On the other hand, two Tallinn II and Valga players fielded during We should also footballers in the Valga Estonian, not a single
League Norway
Estonian teams, Levadia Warrior reached the 44 the 2011 Esiliga league. underline that the 44 Warrior minutes list are non-national player.
Belarus Estonia
- Players HamKam Asker Granit Tamme Auto
Class. 6th 13th 8th 3rd
Nr. 20 20 20 26
Iceland Sweden Finland Germany
Leiknir Atvidabergs JIPPO Joensuu Paderborn
10th 1st 8th 5th
21 20 20 20
Austria
WAC/St. Andra SCR Altach Lommel Celta Vigo Tours Istres Le Havre GS Kallithea Diagoras Zwolle Birmingham Hellas Verona Cittadella
1st 2nd 5th 2nd 6th 10th 15th 3rd 18th 1st 4th 4th 17th
23 23 18 21 24 24 24 23 23 22 25 26 26
Belgium Spain France
Greece Netherlands England Italy
+ Players Mjondalen Strommen Baranovich Levadia Tallinn II Valga Warrior KA Akureyri Hammarby PoPa Pori Ingolstadt Karlsruhe FC Lustenau
Class. 10th 12th 16th 4th 10th 8th 11th 11th 12th 16th 9th
Nr. 27 27 33 44 44 32 28 33 31 31 29
Vise Villarreal B AS Monaco
9th 12th 8th
34 40 41
Larissa
10th
36
AGOVV Apeldoorn Doncaster Rovers Grosseto
17th 24th 15th
31 41 35
Portugal Switzerland
Santa Clara Wil 1900 FC Vaduz Biel-Bienne
14th 6th 8th 10th
22 23 23 23
AtlĂŠtico Lugano
11th 5th
29 29
Naturally, it is normal to think that the best performances during the season tend to use fewer players; however it is not absolutely like that. Contrary to the top leagues, second tiers are more even and unpredictable and sometimes a revolution in the middle of the season turns a last into a promoted or almost (Monaco, e.g.). Austria, Switzerland, Norway and Portugal are the countries whose leagues have numbers more balanced, with gaps of six or seven players between the fewer and most players utilized during the season. Regardless of the above paragraph, we can verify that none of the teams that fielded the higher number of footballers was promoted, with at least four of them being sportingly relegated. We can infer therefore that too many changes and too many players are not a good policy for a good sporting performance.
4. AVERAGE GOALS One of the stats that scholars pay less attention is the average goals scored in the leagues, a factor more important than the little attention paid seems to give. The evolution of the game in each league, the tactical aspects, the defensive rigor, worry, the care for the spectacle, the search for a win versus the preoccupation in keeping a clean sheet defines coaches but not only, it defines footballing schools, the science versus the individual, the strength and physic versus the technique, the defense worries versus the midfield heart, a lot of factors must be measured and you can define within Europe several football schools and influences that make the game be played differently, with diverse strategies and ways of even watching it. There is also another factor, the professionalism, its degree, the less you prepare each match the more tactic chaos you have and therefore more goals are possible. This is one vision; but it can be a little contradicted since the less you train the harder it is also to score, so it is more likely that you miss more too. Although the high and low leagues of this statistic factor contradict this paragraph, usually more goals mean more wins and less tied matches (Estonia’s Esiliiga had over 50 percent of matches that ended tied, even if it was the league with the higher goal average per match while the Greek Football League averaged just 23 percent of tied matches – being necessary underline the huge number of victories decided in the secretary due to withdrawals, 30 – which influence decisively that percentage).
Average Goals per Match 3,81
Estonia Norway Netherlands Finland Switzerland Iceland Sweden Austria Germany Belgium Spain Belarus England Italy Portugal France Greece
3,23 3,23 3,04 2,97 2,95 2,90 2,89 2,79 2,66 2,64 2,63 2,57 2,52 2,30 2,29
Average Goals/Match
2,12 2,00
2,20
2,40
2,60
2,80
3,00
3,20
3,40
3,60
3,80
4,00
As written above, the fact that over 30 matches in Greece ended in the 3-0 result due to withdrawal of two sides from the Football League in the middle of the season, season that started only in October/November due to the match fixing scandal that struck the Greek football, influence also the low number of goals. However, it is necessary to add that the first league average only 2,23 last season being the fourth league with less goals scored on average from the over 40 analyzed, only beaten in that low rank by Poland, Serbia and Cyprus. On the top of the table is Estonia with almost four goals per game, well ahead of the Norway and the Netherlands, being of notice that Northern and Central Europe averaged more goals than the Latin Europe and we can relate that with two factors, the tactical dynamics, much more defensively minded in Portugal, France, Italy or Greece, and the job security or, better said, results only survival versus structural idea of club and football.
Average Goals 1st and 2nd Leagues Estonia
3,81
Netherlands
3,23
Norway
3,23
Finland
3,04
Switzerland
2,97
Iceland
2,95
Sweden
2,90
Austria
2,89
Germany
2,79
Belgium
2,66
Spain
2,64
Belarus
2,63
England
2,57
Italy
2,52
Portugal
2,30
France
2,29
Greece
2,12 0,00
3,42 3,26 2,94 3,03
2,50 3,04 2,62 2,43
Aver. Gls/1
2,86 3,13
Aver. Gls/2
2,76 2,33 2,81 2,56 2,64 2,52 2,23 1,00
2,00
3,00
4,00
5,00
As it is possible to verify through the above table, the first leagues of the observed countries have more goals than the second tiers, in a proportion of 10 to seven, although some very leveled like Finland, Italy, Germany, Iceland or Greece. Below it will be presented a group of tables with the best and worst overall attacks per league and also home and away high and low teams scoring capabilities, together with the best defenses.
League Norway
Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland
+ overall goals Honefoss Sandefjord Ranheim Partizan Minsk Kalev Tallinn Akranes Atvidabergs AC Oulu
Class. 1st 3rd 4th 2nd 1st 1st 1st 3rd
Nr. 2,03 2,03 2,03 1,97 2,83 2,41 1,45 2,13
Germany
Eintracht Frankfurt
2nd
2,24
Austria Belgium Spain
WAC/St. Andra Charleroi Celta Vigo
1st 1st 2nd
1,97 1,88 1,98
Bastia GS Kallithea Zwolle Cambuur Leeuwarden Southampton Pescara Moreirense St. Gallen
1st 3rd 1st 7th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st
1,61 1,71 2,00 2,00 1,85 2,14 1,57 2,23
France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
-overall goals Lov-Ham
Class. 15th
Nr. 1,07
Baranovichi Valga Warrior Grotta Qviding KPV Kokkola FC Espoo Energie Cottbus Alemannia Aachen TSV Hartberg Standard Wetteren Cartagena Nástic Tarragona Amiens Diagoras Emmen
16th 10th 11th 16th 12th 13th 14th 17th 10th 18th 20th 22nd 20th 18th 18th
0,33 0,94 0,73 0,57 0,79 0,79 0,88 0,88 1,06 0,56 0,88 0,88 0,76 0,09 0,71
Coventry Gubbio Sporting Covilhã Délémont
23rd 21st 15th 14th
0,89 0,88 0,73 0,80
As it is possible to observe in the above table, the goal scoring ability is directly associated with a good classification. Although it is 10/10 between 1st or not the truth is that almost all the teams that topped the goal scoring statistic finished in a promoted position with one exception. On the other side there is also a direct relation between the lack of capability to score and the relegation, also in a 10/10 between last and not but also all in a relegation position apart from one. Also interesting to note is that only two of the least capable finishers were able to average over one goal per match, underlining that in the Diagoras case they left the Greek Football League in the 15th game day. League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland
+ home goals Ranheim Partizan Minsk Infonet Selfoss
Class. 4th 2nd 2nd 2nd
Nr. 2,40 2,47 3,33 2,41
Sweden Finland
GIF Sundsvall Viikingit
2nd 5th
2,67 2,58
-home goals Lov-Ham Baranovich Valga Warrior IR Reykjavik Grotta HK Kopavogur Qviding KPV Kokkola
Class. 15th 16th 10th 9th 11th 12th 16th 12th
Nr. 1,13 0,53 0,94 0,91 0,91 0,91 0,60 0,92
Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
Greuther Furth WAC/St. Andra KV Oostende Celta Vigo Bastia GS Kallithea Cambuur Leeuwarden Southampton Pescara Moreirense St. Gallen Aarau
1st 1st 4th 2nd 1st 3rd 7th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd
2,71 1,83 2,29 2,38 2,32 2,00 2,53 2,13 2,14 1,73 2,40 2,40
Alemannia Aachen TSV Hartberg Standard Wetteren Nástic Tarragona Amiens Diagoras Emmen Nottingham Forest Gubbio Sporting Covilhã Winterthur Stade Nyon Etoile Carouge Délémont
17th 10th 18th 22nd 20th 18th 18th 20th 21st 15th 4th 12th 13th 14th
0,88 1,00 0,76 0,81 0,79 0,18 0,88 0,91 0,88 0,80 1,13 1,13 1,13 1,13
+ away goals Sandefjord Slavia Mozyr Volna Kalev Tallinn
Class. 3rd 1st 8th 1st
Nr. 2,00 1,67 1,67 2,67
-away goals Mjondalen Baranovichi
Class. 10th 16th
Nr. 0,53 0,13
Akranes Assyriska FC Lahti Eintracht Frankfurt WAC/St. Andra Charleroi Valladolid Sedan Panachaiki Fortuna Sittard Birmingham Pescara Estoril-Praia Moreirense Biel-Bienne
1st 9th 1st 2nd 1st 1st 3rd 4th 4th 11th 4th 1st 1st 2nd 10th
2,55 1,67 2,08 2,24 2,11 1,65 1,67 1,47 1,47 2,00 1,78 2,14 1,40 1,40 2,20
Legion Tallinn Valga Warrior Grotta Qviding FC Espoo Karlsruhe SKN St. Polten Standard Wetteren Cartagena Metz Diagoras Emmen Coventry Gubbio Freamunde
9th 10th 9th 16th 13th 16th 5th 18th 22nd 18th 18th 18th 23rd 21st 13th
0,94 0,94 0,55 0,53 0,58 0,65 1,00 0,35 0,67 0,58 0,00 0,53 0,57 0,67 0,53
Délémont
14th
0,47
The above tables show that the home factor is more decisive than the away games, being possible to relate the home goal scoring with promotions and relegations more than the away scoring abilities, even if in the away goals scored table you have also a lot of the champions. League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland
Best overall defense Honefoss Slavia Mozyr Kalev Tallinn Akranes
Class. 1st 1st 1st 1st
Nr. 0,93 0,50 1,08 0,77
- overall defence Randaberg Baranovich Valga Warrior Throttur
Class. 16th 16th 10th 7th
Nr. 2,90 3,00 3,64 2,05
Sweden Finland
Osters FC Lahti
4th 1st
0,93 0,75
Germany Austria Belgium Spain
Greuther Furth SCR Altach KV Oostende Celta Vigo Valladolid Le Havre Panthrakikos Sparta Rotterdam Den Bosch Reading Torino Estoril-Praia Bellinzona
1st 2nd 4th 2nd 3rd 15th 1st 2nd 6th 1st 2nd 1st 3rd
0,79 1,08 0,85 0,88 0,88 0,89 0,47 0,94 0,94 0,89 0,67 0,67 0,70
France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
Vasteras SK PoPa Pori KPV Kokkola Hansa Rostock TSV Hartberg Tienen Guadalajara
15th 11th 12th 18th 10th 15th 16th
2,20 2,42 2,42 1,85 2,06 1,82 1,79
Amiens Diagoras AGOVV
20th 18th 17th
1,50 2,44 2,76
Doncaster Rovers Nocerina Trofense SC Bruhl
24th 20th 8th 16th
1,74 1,69 1,50 2,60
Attacks win matches defenses win championships, it is said. Well, according to the data it is fairly equal, 10 top teams out of the 17 in the overall classifications had the best attack while nine had the best defense. The surprise in this table is Le Havre, well low in the overall Ligue 2 classification, 15th, and yet was the best defense in that league. League Norway
Best home defense Sandnes Ulf
Class. 2nd
Nr. 0,67
Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden
Slavia Mozyr Levadia Tallinn II Akranes Atvidabergs GIF Sundsvall JIPO Joensuu Greuther Furth Eintracht Frankfurt SCR Altach KV Oostende CAD Alcorcรณn Cรณrdoba Troyes Le Havre Panthrakikos Den Bosch Birmingham Sassuolo Estoril-Praia Bellinzona
1st 4th 1st 1st 2nd 8th 1st 2nd 2nd 4th 4th 6th 3rd 15th 1st 6th 4th 3rd 1st 3rd
0,33 1,11 0,82 0,73 0,73 0,58 0,71 0,71 0,83 0,59 0,67 0,67 0,63 0,63 0,18 0,71 0,61 0,62 0,40 0,60
Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
- home defence NIL-Trysil Randaberg Baranovichi Valga Warrior Throttur Qviding
Class. 14th 16th 16th 10th 7th 16th
Nr. 2,27 2,27 2,33 3,33 2,18 2,07
PoPa Pori Hansa Rostock
11th 18th
2,25 1,88
TSV Hartberg Tienen Murcia
10th 17th 18th
2,17 1,82 1,67
Metz
18th
1,42
Diagoras AGOVV Leeds United Nocerina Uniรฃo Madeira SC Bruhl
18th 17th 14th 20th 10th 16th
2,47 2,41 1,78 1,71 1,53 2,73
League Norway Belarus
Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
Best away defense Honefoss Slavia Mozyr Partizan Minsk SKVICH Kalev Tallinn Selfoss Osters FC Lahti PK-35 Vantaa Greuther Furth LASK Linz Antwerp Hércules Metz Panserraikos FC Eindhoven West Ham Hull City Torino Aves Chiasso
Home Goals Aver. 1,85 1,50 2,03 1,55 1,66 1,59 1,60 1,53 1,49 1,47 1,34 1,28 1,85 1,41 1,36 1,33 1,62
Class. 1st 1st 2nd 4th 1st 2nd 4th 1st 4th 1st 3rd 10th 5th 18th 7th 3rd 3rd 8th 2nd 3rd 7th
Nr. 0,80 0,67 0,67 0,67 0,94 0,64 0,93 0,83 0,83 0,88 1,00 1,06 0,90 0,89 0,59 0,82 0,96 0,96 0,67 0,80 0,73
Away Goals Aver. 1,38 1,33 1,78 1,40 1,24 1,22 1,20 1,36 1,18 1,17 0,96 0,84 1,38 1,16 1,16 0,97 1,35
- away defence Randaberg Baranovich
Class. 16th 16th
Nr. 3,53 3,67
Valga Warrior Fjolnir Vasteras SK KPV Kokkola
10th 5th 15th 12th
3,94 2,27 2,60 3,08
Union Berlin First Vienna Sint-Niklaas Alcoyano Amiens Diagoras AGOVV Ipswich Town Doncaster Rovers Gubbio Trofense Délémont
7th 8th 15th 21st 20th 18th 17th 15th 24th 21st 8th 14th
2,35 2,00 2,06 2,14 1,84 2,41 3,12 1,96 1,96 2,14 2,00 2,80
Variation 0,47 0,17 0,25 0,15 0,42 0,37 0,40 0,17 0,31 0,30 0,38 0,44 0,47 0,25 0,20 0,36 0,27
The variation shows the importance of the home ground advantage, ranging from the .15 difference in Iceland to .47 in Norway and Holland. Clubs from France, Greece and Portugal weren’t able to average one goal per match as visitors.
5. Average Cards per Match
Football schools also differ in the refereeing; some tend to let the game go on, other whistle at every fall, some footballers love and respect the game, want to play, others are that love to try and trick the referee. We tend to say – and it is true – that the Nordic football is rougher, more physic, based more on the force than in the pure technique, yet it is the Northern Europe, together with England and Holland that present themselves with the lowest card average rate. It doesn’t surprise for those who accompany the football phenomena but it is a contradiction with the way football is played in the different schools. We would think that a football school where the technique, the individual skills are more developed per se would have less fouls, less cards, but it’s in the Iberia that you have more cautions. It is strange to watch the respect and the way footballers and referees address each other’s in England, for instance, and then see all the complaints, the moaning, the protests that happen in the Portuguese and Spanish leagues, for example, remembering that a huge number of cautions in the Latin countries happen due to contestation, to discontent and disrespect, which you cannot dissociate from the enormous presence of South American footballers and the South American footballing schools, more disrespectful towards the refereeing authority.
Average Cards per Match Portugal Spain Austria Switzerland Italy Germany Greece Belarus France Belgium Estonia Iceland Netherlands Sweden Finland England Norway
3,03 2,98 2,86 2,25 2,24 2,11 2,04 2,02 1,98 1,97 1,89 1,83 1,76 1,65 1,62 1,48 1,37
Average Cards/Match
1,00 1,20 1,40 1,60 1,80 2,00 2,20 2,40 2,60 2,80 3,00 3,20 3,40
Average Yellow and Red Cards per Match 0,31
Portugal
2,73
0,20
Spain
2,79
0,24
Austria
2,62
Switzerland
0,12
2,13
Italy
0,14
2,11
0,10
Germany
2,01
0,16
Greece Belarus
0,12
France
0,14
1,89 1,90
0,20
Belgium Estonia
1,74
Iceland
0,12
1,72
Netherlands
0,13
Sweden Finland
0,09
England
0,08
Norway
0,08 0,00
Yellow Cards
1,77
0,15
0,07
Red Cards
1,85
1,63 1,59 1,53 1,40 1,29
0,50
1,00
1,50
2,00
2,50
3,00
As it is possible to see in the above charts, there is a big gap between the leagues observed; Portuguese Liga Orangina doubled the Norwegian Adeccoligaen. In the red cards it more than tripled, giving the idea of a violent league that it isn’t. Austria, Spain and Portugal have a considerable distance to all the other second tiers, over half a card per game, being fair to underline the low rate of cards in Norway, Finland, Sweden and England.
6. Foreign Players
Like in the top tiers, the second leagues have a huge disparity between them in the use of foreign players. The English Championship utilized over 45 percent of foreign footballers in the total players used in the 11/12 season while the Belarus second league only had little over one percent of non-Belarusian footballers used during the 2011 season. The degree of professionalism, the involvement, the cultural habits and ties, the mediatic attention, for example, are some of the factors that influence these numbers. Naturally, it is necessary to underline that several of the players formed themselves in the country they’re playing even if they were born elsewhere or represent a foreign nation. Switzerland is a good example for that, although it also happens in several other countries. Nowadays, with the globalization phenomena, the easiness that populations have – comparing with previous years – to move around the world, to enter the countries in search of a better life makes each country a melting pot of cultures which reflects in the sports scene. It is easier to attach a color to a continent than to understand the difference between ethnical origin and footballing origin/formation. Currently, the German national side is one of the best examples, together with the French, Swiss and Belgian national sides, of selections with ethnical variety but with little footballing foreign players or naturalized footballers.
Percentage Foreign Players Used 11/12 England Switzerland Portugal Germany Belgium France Netherlands Italy Finland Greece Austria Norway Sweden Spain Iceland Estonia Belarus 0,00%
45,45% 43,55% 38,83% 35,38% 33,69%
26,83% 22,41% 22,35% 21,90% 19,81% 19,23% 18,98% 18,54% 14,83% % Foreign Players Used 11/12 12,96% 10,30% 1,28% 10,00%
20,00%
30,00%
40,00%
50,00%
The surprising number in the above table is the Spanish Liga Adelante, have less than 15 percent foreign players of all the footballers fielded. This is connected with the cultural way of being, the protection of the Spanish product, in this case footballer, in opposition to the Portuguese way of seeing things, an interesting contrast in Iberia.
Percentage of Foreign Players 1st vs 2nd Leagues England Switzerland Portugal Germany Belgium France Netherlands Italy Finland Greece Austria Norway Sweden Spain Iceland Estonia Belarus
45,45% 43,55% 38,83% 35,38% 33,69% 26,83% 22,41% 22,35% 21,90% 19,81% 19,23% 18,98% 18,54% 14,83% 12,96% 10,30% 1,28%
62,10% 47,42% 59,91% 51,12% 52,08% 40,36% 38,95% 49,06%
24,35% 46,62%
% Foreign II % Foreign I
27,97% 30,48% 30,72% 35,93% 15,70% 18,92% 23,87%
0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00%
Observing the above table it is necessary to underline the proximity in the foreign footballers’ percentage between the first and second tiers in Switzerland (less than four percent), in Finland (2.5 or so) and Iceland (also under three percent). This may say that there is a more balanced league behavior between the first and second tiers in these countries or it can be a mere coincidence that only a look throughout the seasons can confirm or not. The numbers that are presented nowadays are a direct result of the world’s revolution and revolutions, the open markets, the Bosman ruling, the EU policies, the new technologies and the possibility to travel further, faster, to make anyone known by the mere touch of a computer and an internet connection. The two or three foreign players rulings seem so far away now, the need to go and watch several matches to evaluate a player and choose the right one due to the limitations on the foreign footballers is now mixed with the ‘catalogues’, you almost buy by the box, the pack.
League
Clas.
Perc.
Nr.
Norway
+ Foreign Players % NIL-Trysil
14th
52 %
13
Belarus Estonia
Rudensk Lootus
13th 7th
8% 24,32%
2 11
Iceland
Bolungarvik
6th
33,33%
8
GIF Sundsvall OPS Oulu Duisburg FC Lustenau Charleroi Deportivo Le Mans Larissa Helmond Sport Birmingham Cardiff City Sampdoria Naval FC Vaduz
2nd 2nd 10th 9th 1st 1st 17th 10th 4th 4th 6th 6th 4th 8th
34,78% 47,62% 65,38% 27,59% 72 % 34,62% 63,33% 38,89% 45,83% 64 % 64 % 44,12% 61,54% 60,87%
8 10 17 8 21 9 19 14 11 16 16 15 16 14
Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
- Foreign Players % Bodo/Glimt Bryne 12 teams Parnu Valga Warrior Fjolnir Grotta Vasteras SK HIFK St. Pauli SKN St. Polten St. Wetteren Xerez Laval An. Giannitsa Cambuur L. Peterborough
Clas.
Perc.
Nr.
5th 9th 8th 10th 5th 11th 15th 9th 4th 5th 18th 14th 16th 13th 7th 19th
4% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 4% 8% 16,67% 11,54% 4,17% 0% 4,35% 3,03% 3,85% 21,43%
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 3 1 0 1 1 1 6
Pescara Aves Biel-Bienne
1st 3rd 10th
7,41% 13,04% 17,39%
2 3 4
As it showed in the above table, the fact that you have more foreign players doesn’t necessarily gives you an edge, an advantage, although in some of the league analyzed the teams with the higher rate of foreign footballers managed to get promoted. Even so, it is a balanced table. You could think that the second tiers would have more teams fielding only national footballers but that happened only in four leagues (Iceland, Estonia, Belarus and Spain), being the Spanish side Xerez the most surprising of the all national sides. On the other hand, seven of the second leagues have the club with most foreign players fielded over 50 percent of the total players used! In the next table it will be presented the amount of foreign players, the number of nationalities, the degree of dissemination and the global and relative rate of the most representative foreign nation in each second league. Any player that has represented two teams in the same league during the season is counted as two in these evaluations, as it defended different colors and made an impact in the different sides.
League
FP(1) UP(2)
Nat(3)
Diss(4)
+ Rep(5) 14 1 19 7 11 10 10 10 32 17 16 18 31 57 24 94 24
Nation
% o/FP(6) 19,72 % 20 % 50 % 17,95 % 15,49 % 14,93 % 5,99 % 20 % 20,38 % 18,89 % 10,67 % 16,98 % 29,81 % 16,76 % 16 % 58,75 % 13,41 %
% o/UP(7) 5,08 % 0,26 % 5,15 % 2,33 % 2,87 % 3,27 % 2,12 % 3,85 % 6,96 % 2,80 % 2,86 % 3,36 % 6,68 % 7,62 % 3,58 % 22,82 % 5,84 %
Norway 71 374 28 39,44 % Sweden Belarus 5 391 5 100 % Estonia 38 369 12 31,58 % Russia Iceland 39 301 19 48,72 % England Sweden 71 383 28 39,44 % Brazil Finland 67 306 28 41,79 % Nigeria Germany 167 472 61 36,53 % Austria Austria 50 260 17 34 % Spain Belgium 157 466 52 33,12 % France Spain 90 607 29 32,22 % Argentina France 150 559 46 30,67 % Senegal Greece 106 535 38 35,85 % Brazil Netherlands 104 464 34 32,69 % Belgium England 340 748 66 19,41 % Rep. Ireland Italy 150 671 46 30,67 % Brazil Portugal 160 412 27 16,88 % Brazil Switzerland 179 411 46 25,70 % France (1) Number of foreign footballers fielded (2) Overall players fielded (3) Number of nationalities that composed the foreign legion (4) Degree of dissemination of the foreign footballers throughout the foreign nations counted (5) Most representative non-national legion (6) Rate of the most representative foreign nation in the foreign players numbers (7) Rate of the most representative foreign nation in the total players fielded
The above figures show that Brazil keeps on being the biggest football exporter, being the biggest foreign representative in five of the analyzed leagues. The political, geographical and social ties are proven here also, with Sweden having the biggest presence in the neighbor Norway, Russia in Estonia, France in Switzerland and Belgium, Republic of Ireland in England, Belgium in the Netherlands, Austria in Germany, Argentina in Spain, Brazil in Portugal or Senegal in France, colonial relations are in the mix too. As the Championship presented the biggest number of foreign footballers, it is natural that it’s England the country with more countries represented (66), but followed very closely by Germany (62) with less than half the foreign footballers used in the English second tier. Portugal, although having one of the largest foreign legion, presented only footballers from 27 non-national nations, with Brazil having more than half the foreign players that appeared in Liga Orangina 11/12, totaling over a fifth of the entire number of footballers used, underlining that in all other leagues the most representative foreign country didn’t total even 10 percent of the players fielded.
996
13
21 4
37
26 19
5
423
2
8 4 1 241 2 9 1 22 1 1 6 8 3 4
209 4 8
19
16 15
1
7
1
2 2
2
2 1
1
3
57
1 16
1 7 19 8 5 48 1385140 3 7 3 28 38 1 1 5 3 1 461 413 28 2 2 7 7 1 3 1 2 2
2
1
4 1
3
59 23 6
5
The above map shows the totals and origins of the foreign players outside Europe in the European second tiers reviewed while the below tables present the numbers per continent and continental zones.
League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
1
16 9
Europe America 39 9 3 0 34 1 26 2 28 20 28 18 104 20 36 11 87 17 22 50 19 15 59 30 75 14 234 33 67 53 12 101 123 29 996 423
Africa 22 2 1 10 19 19 33 2 47 16 117 16 13 47 22 46 29 461
Asia/Ocean. 1 0 2 1 2 2 10 1 5 2 2 1 2 22 1 1 2 57
England dominates in the European and Asian ‘legionnaires’, Portugal tops the American footballers – almost a quarter – and France with the same dominance in the African origins – a quarter of the entire African played in the Ligue 2.
League
West. East. South North Central Balkans Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe Norway 2 1 0 27 1 8 Belarus 0 3 0 0 0 0 Estonia 1 24 0 9 0 0 Iceland 0 1 0 14 3 8 Sweden 0 1 3 16 0 8 Finland 0 12 0 3 1 12 Germany 10 24 14 11 22 23 Austria 10 6 0 0 9 11 Belgium 46 2 6 8 14 11 Spain 17 0 0 4 1 0 France 1 3 2 4 7 2 Greece 15 10 4 2 1 27 Netherlands 4 9 10 6 43 3 England 30 11 1 175 16 1 Italy 17 10 0 9 23 8 Portugal 4 0 0 2 1 5 Switzerland 53 3 4 2 23 38 210 120 44 292 165 165 The biggest amount of ‘legionnaires’ comes from Northern Europe, with the English Championship contributing with over half of the total, being those countries the Nordic, Baltic, British and Irish states. Western Europe follows, where we have the western Latin states, Iberia, France and Italy. Central Europe and the Balkan region have the same number.
League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
South North Central Caribbean America America America 2 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 14 5 1 0 12 6 0 0 10 10 0 0 9 2 0 0 11 3 0 3 47 0 3 0 11 0 0 4 28 1 0 1 2 3 0 9 9 7 3 14 52 0 1 0 97 4 0 0 27 1 0 1 331 50 8 34
Talking about American footballers in Europe is, basically, to speak about the Southern American, almost 80 percent of the total American players in the second tiers reviewed. Portuguese’s Liga Orangina produced almost 30 percent of the South American footballers fielded in the 11/12 season.
Western Africa dominates the numbers from the ‘Black Continent’ having more than half the African footballers fielded in the analyzed second leagues, being considered west African states Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, GuineaBissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
League Norway Belarus Estonia Iceland Sweden Finland Germany Austria Belgium Spain France Greece Netherlands England Italy Portugal Switzerland
Middle East 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 10
League
West Eastern Southern Northern Central Africa Africa Africa Africa Africa Norway 16 1 0 5 0 Belarus 1 0 0 0 1 Estonia 1 0 0 0 0 Iceland 6 0 1 0 3 Sweden 15 1 1 0 2 Finland 16 1 0 0 2 Germany 13 0 3 11 6 Austria 0 0 0 0 2 Belgium 27 4 0 3 13 Spain 3 0 0 4 9 France 62 11 0 20 24 Greece 10 0 1 1 4 Netherlands 7 0 0 3 3 England 25 5 4 3 10 Italy 16 0 0 3 3 Portugal 30 2 1 1 12 Switzerland 10 1 0 2 16 258 26 11 56 110
Central Asia 0 0 2 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
South Asia 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8
Oceania 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 15 1 0 0 23
Eastern Asia 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 1 9
The Asian and Oceanic footballers are residual, 57 in a total of almost two thousand nonnational players isn’t even 3 percent of the total! Yet, the footballers from the Pacific Ocean are the most represented, especially present in the English Championship, followed not by the Far or Southeast Asian but the Middle Eastern footballers.
16 16 19 32
3
59
21
5 17
14
6
60
4 29
15
16
20 33
41 1
6 15 11
110
7
10
19
35
38
16
11
22 23 30
29
2
17 37 8 16 14 37 13
3 11 26
3
The above map shows the number of European foreign players in the second leagues reviewied, noting that France is the biggest exporter of talents, having 110 French footballers appearing in 11 of the 17 second tiers whose figures are here referred. Apart from the British Isles, with particular regulations (reminding that Scots, Irish, Welsh and English were never foreign within those leagues), the country that is closer to France with the foreign legion is Belgium with 41 in six leagues, almost a third of the French number. The figures concerning the foreign legion confirms the Brazil as the biggest supplier of footballers, as in the top leagues, with over 200 players in a total of almost 2000 (over 10 percent of the total), followed by France with 110 and Republic of Ireland with 60 – 57 just in the English Championship. These totals aren’t equally divided, like with the Irish half of the French legion is based in the Belgium and Swiss second tiers and almost half the Brazilians in the European second leagues reviewied played in the Portuguese Liga Orangina. Although the above countries are the most represented it is Cameroon the nation most disseminated in the European second leagues with footballers in 14 of the 17 leagues viewed! Brazil and Serbia come next putting players in 13 of the 17 second tiers here presented. The below table shows the detailed figures from each nation and concerning every second tier analyzed. 132 regions were represented.
Afg AfS Alb Ale Alg Ang Arg Arm ATB Aus Aut Bdi Bel Ben BiH Blr Bol Bra Brb BuF Bul Can Cgo Chl Chn CiV Cmr COD Col Com CpV CRC Cro Cur Cyp Cze Dnk Dom DoR Ecu Egy Eir EqG Esp
Nor Blr Est Ice Swe Fin Ger Aut Bel Esp Fra Gre Ned Eng Ita Por Sui Diss Tot 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 4 1 6 9 1 1 8 2 1 14 10 7 37 1 5 8 1 8 1 2 1 6 9 33 5 1 6 2 1 5 15 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 7 2 1 17 8 4 13 1 13 8 59 1 1 1 3 3 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 10 1 7 16 10 2 3 4 4 19 1 1 2 2 1 3 1 31 2 3 6 41 1 1 1 3 3 2 4 3 8 5 1 1 1 2 3 10 30 1 1 1 1 4 4 2 1 1 3 4 11 8 8 8 8 9 9 18 1 2 24 94 9 13 209 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 6 8 4 1 4 2 4 11 2 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 8 13 7 1 5 3 13 2 2 1 1 4 6 1 1 2 2 5 1 1 3 1 11 2 6 2 7 1 11 40 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 6 2 3 2 4 5 14 38 3 8 1 1 2 2 6 5 8 28 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 6 6 1 2 7 1 3 1 3 11 5 19 1 1 1 5 3 3 1 2 2 7 7 23 8 1 2 9 1 2 2 3 6 4 3 1 1 5 15 3 4 2 2 1 3 2 7 17 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 57 4 60 5 1 5 2 3 10 2 3 1 7 3 1 3 10 35
Est Fij Fin Fra Gab Gam GB GC Gdp Geo Gha Gre Grn Hai Hon Hun Ice Ina Ing Isr Ita Jam Jpn Ken Kor Kos Kzk Lat Lbr Lie Lit Lux Mar Mda Mdg Mex Mkd Mli Mne Moz Mri Mtn Mwi Nam Ned
1
1
1 2
2 1
5 1 1
1
1 32
3 1
8
2 2
2 1
7 1
1 11 1 1 3 2
3 1 2 1 4
5 1
1 1 1
1 1 3 4
1 1 1
1 24
10
1 1
1
1
4 4 1 11
7 2
1 1 4
1 5
1
1 2 2
3
2 1
3
1
3
1
1 6
2 11
1 1
1
7 3
1 1
1 4
1 1 1 16
2 1
2 1
1 4 5
7 1
1
2 5 3 6 2
22
1 1
1 1
1
3 1
1 2 3
1 1
7
1
1
1
1
2 3
1 10 1
1
1
1 1
1
2
7
3
1
2
2 1
1 1 1
5
1 2 1 2
2 1 1 1
2
1 3 2
10
2 1 1
2
2
1 1 1
2
1 1 2 4
4
1
1
4
1
3 1 9 11 2 5 4 7 4 8 12 5 2 2 2 7 5 1 5 3 4 2 2 1 2 7 2 5 2 1 4 1 8 2 1 3 7 5 6 1 2 1 1 1 6
3 1 16 110 4 7 13 19 4 16 28 13 2 4 2 17 16 4 16 7 38 8 3 1 2 16 4 5 3 10 6 1 19 2 2 5 14 16 8 1 3 1 1 2 15
Nep Nga Nig Nor NZl Par Per Phi Pol Por PRK RCA Rou Rus Rwa Sco Sen Sle Slo Srb STP Svk Sui Sur Swe Syr Tah Tnz Tog TT Tun Tur UAE Uga Ukr Uls Uru USA Uzb Vie Vnz Wal Zim
1 7
5 2
2
3 1 1
10
3
4
1 1
1
2 3
1
6
1
2
8 4 4 1
1 1
4 4
6 1
1
2 1
5 4
1
3 3
4 1
3
1 4 3
3
3
1 1
14
7
2
3 4
2
1
1 1
5 1
10
1 1
5 19
1 1 3
2 1
1 2 4 1 1
1
1
1
1
2
4 4 2 1
3 2
1
4
5 1 1 3
16
1
1 1
7
2
3 1 1 1
1 2
1
1
55 7
1
2 1
6 2
3 1
2 2
2
2
5
4 1
3 1 4
1
1 1 1
1 1
1
3 2
5 9
1
1 5
2
7
1 2
6
1
2
1 1 1
3
1
1
1 5
1 2
2
5
13 4
6
1 1
3 2
8
1
1 1
7 1
6
2 3 1
4
1 1
1
1 29 1
1 1
1 12 1 6 2 4 4 1 7 9 2 2 5 3 2 3 10 4 9 13 1 5 6 1 12 1 1 2 3 1 5 7 1 1 4 2 7 12 1 1 5 1 3
1 48 1 19 5 8 4 2 20 29 2 7 11 21 3 59 51 8 22 37 1 11 7 1 32 1 1 2 5 2 16 26 1 1 6 14 23 37 2 1 8 29 3
To better understand the above table and the countries/regions mentioned here’s each abbreviated state with the full name: Afg – Afghanistan; AfS – South Africa; Alb – Albania; Ale – Germany; Alg – Algeria; Ang – Angola; Arg – Argentina; Arm – Armenia; ATB – Antigua and Barbuda; Aus – Australia; Aut – Austria; Bdi – Burundi; Bel – Belgium; Ben – Benin; BiH – Bosnia-Herzegovina; Blr – Belarus; Bol – Bolivia; Bra – Brazil; Brb – Barbados; BuF – Burkina Faso; Bul – Bulgaria; Can – Canada; Cgo – Congo; Chl – Chile; Chn – China; CiV – Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast); Cmr – Cameroon; COD – Democratic Republic of Congo; Col – Colombia; Com – Comoros; CpV – Cape Verde; CRC – Costa Rica; Cro – Croatia; Cur – Curaçao; Cyp – Cyprus; Cze – Czech Republic; Dnk – Denmark; Dom – Dominica; DoR – Dominican Republic; Ecu – Ecuador; Egy – Egypt; Eir – Republic of Ireland; EqG - Ecuatorial Guinea; Esp – Spain; Est – Estonia; Fij – Fiji Islands; Fin – Finland; Fra – France; Gab – Gabon; Gam – the Gambia; GB – Guinea-Bissau; GC – Guinea; Gdp – Guadeloupe; Geo – Georgia; Gha – Ghana; Gre – Greece; Grn – Grenada; Hai – Haiti; Hon – Honduras; Hun – Hungary; Ice – Iceland; Ina – Indonesia; Ing – England; Isr – Israel; Ita – Italy; Jam – Jamaica; Jpn – Japan; Ken – Kenya; Kor – South Korea; Kos – Kosovo; Kzk – Kazakhstan; Lat – Latvia; Lbr – Liberia; Lie – Liechtenstein; Lit – Lithuania; Lux – Luxembourg; Mar – Morocco; Mda – Moldova; Mdg – Madagascar; Mex – Mexico; Mkd – Former Yugoslav Republica of Macedonia; Mli – Mali; Mne – Montenegro; Moz – Mozambique; Mri – Mauritius; Mtn – Mauritania; Mwi – Malawi; Nam – Namibia; Ned – Netherlands; Nep – Nepal; Nga – Nigeria; Nig – Niger; Nor – Norway; NZl – New Zealand; Par – Paraguay; Per – Peru; Phi – Philippines; Pol – Poland; Por – Portugal; PRK – North Korea; RCA – Central African Republic; Rou – Romania; Rus – Russia; Rwa – Rwanda; Sco – Scotland; Sen – Senegal; Sle – Sierra Leone; Slo – Slovenia; Srb – Serbia; STP – Sao Tome and Principe; Svk – Slovakia; Sui - Switzerland; Sur – Surinam; Swe – Sweden; Syr – Syria; Tah – Tahiti; Tnz – Tanzania; Tog – Togo; TT – Trinidad and Tobago; Tun – Tunisia; Tur – Turkey; UAE – United Arab Emirates; Uga – Uganda; Ukr – Ukraine; Uls – Northern Ireland; Uru – Uruguay; USA – United States of America; Uzb – Uzbekistan; Vie – Vietnam; Vnz – Venezuela; Wal – Wales; Zim – Zimbabwe.
In the below table it will be detailed the Top 8 clubs with the most dispersed origins of their foreign players. Club AS Monaco MSV Duisburg Brighton Portsmouth Charleroi Karlsruher Reading Le Mans
League Fra Ger Eng Eng Bel Ger Eng Fra
Total 17 17 16 19 21 13 16 19
Nat 16 15 14 14 14 13 13 13
Diss % 94,12 % 88,24 % 87,50 % 73,68 % 66,67 % 100 % 81,25 % 68,42 %
The acquisition of Monaco by a russian tycoon brought to the Monegasque principality club a number of foreign players during the winter transfer window that put the club in the top of this table, with 16 different nationalities in 17 foreign footballers.
The 2.Bundesliga demoted Karlsruher impressed with 13 nationalities on 13 ‘legionnaires’… case to talk about the Babel Tower?
7. Efficiency levels
The below numbers refer to the scoring and goalie performances. Efficiency levels are disregarded in the evaluation that most works concerning football do. People tend to look to the overall numbers, neglecting many times better performances, when you look at, for example, scoring rates with the time on the pitch as prime comparison. The figures showed are based on the average scoring per minute, with the players considered having to have played at least one quarter of the club’s league matches. The same formula was applied to the goalkeepers, with the rate evaluation being the goal suffering per minute. Keep in mind that the below figures relate a players’ performance to a club as changes in the middle of the season or performances in the youth or lower league satellite clubs are difficult to obtain (the numbers). Player
Club
Nat. Age (6) Jean-M. Dongou Barcelona B Cmr 17 Maksim Rostov Infonet Est 38 Sergey Malinovsky Khimik Blr 19 Lefteris Matsoukas GS Kallithea Gre 22 E. Olisadebe Veria Pol 33 Sergei Krot SKVICH Blr 31 Rimo Hunt Kalev Tallinn Est 26 Daniel Svard Atvidabergs Swe 21 Ville Salmikivi Viikingit Fin 19 Guilherme Afonso Lugano Ang 26 Joeano Arouca Bra 32 Denis Laptev Slavia Mozyr Blr 20 Hjortur Hjartarson Akranes Ice 37 Sten Ove Eike Sandefjord Nor 30 Yuriy Korolyuk Volna Blr 21 Niklas Tarvajarvi Go Ahead Fin 29 David Poljanec BW Linz Slo 25 Iago Aspas Celta Vigo Esp 24 Gennaro Troianello Sassuolo Ita 29 Michael Karlsen Hodd Nor 21 Yassin El-Azzouzi Bastia Fra 29 Ricardo Vaz Té West Ham Por 25 (1) Player fielded the 90 minutes; (2) Player substituted; (3) Player coming from the bench; (4) Total goals scored; (5) Efficiency rate; (6) Player’s nationality.
Match.
Tot (1)
11 31 8 11 10 8 30 12 23 8 25 27 19 9 25 11 27 35 14 28 17 15
0 22 0 0 0 0 27 0 14 1 13 0 8 1 17 0 8 10 1 6 1 8
Sub (2) 0 6 0 1 1 0 3 0 7 5 2 0 9 6 8 1 11 18 1 11 7 5
Bench (3) 11 3 8 10 9 8 0 12 2 2 8 27 2 2 0 10 8 7 12 11 9 2
Gls (4) 2 40 1 2 2 2 35 2 20 5 19 4 15 6 21 3 18 23 5 16 8 10
Eff. (5) 54 63 65 70 70 73 76 86 90 90 93 94 99 100 100 100 101 101 102 103 103 103
The most impressive figures are, naturally, the ones from Rostov, a veteran with Infonet in the Estonian Esiliiga, 38 years old at the end of the 2011 league and yet scoring 40 goals in 31 matches. The Estonian league also saw Rimo Hunt, 26 years old, scoring 35 goals in 30 appearances! Dongou was promoted to the senior B squad of Barcelona in the second part of the 11/12 season, with a total of 108 minutes played (not minding the stoppage times) in 11 entrances from the bench and scoring two goals, ending the season with 17 years old just completed. Looking at the above players it is proven that age hasn’t the weight that some coaches and many – so-called – experts, it is all about ability to score, in this case, regardless of the age, which ranges here between 17 and 38 years old! The below table shows the most efficient per league reviewed.
Player
Club
Nat. Age (6) Jean-M. Dongou Barcelona B Cmr 17 Maksim Rostov Infonet Est 38 Sergey Malinovsky Khimik Blr 19 Lefteris Matsoukas GS Kallithea Gre 22 Daniel Svard Atvidabergs Swe 21 Ville Salmikivi Viikingit Fin 19 Guilherme Afonso Lugano Ang 26 Joeano Arouca Bra 32 Hjortur Hjartarson Akranes Ice 37 Sten Ove Eike Sandefjord Nor 30 Niklas Tarvajarvi Go Ahead Fin 29 David Poljanec BW Linz Slo 25 Gennaro Troianello Sassuolo Ita 29 Yassin El-Azzouzi Bastia Fra 29 Ricardo Vaz Té West Ham Por 25 Tomas Radzinski W-Beveren Can 38 Ranisav Jovanovic F. Dusseldorf Ale 31 (1) Player fielded the 90 minutes; (2) Player substituted; (3) Player coming from the bench; (4) Total goals scored; (5) Efficiency rate; (6) Player’s nationality.
Match.
Tot (1)
11 31 8 11 12 23 8 25 19 9 11 27 14 17 15 9 17
0 22 0 0 0 14 1 13 8 1 0 8 1 1 8 2 1
Sub (2) 0 6 0 1 0 7 5 2 9 6 1 11 1 7 5 7 1
Bench (3) 11 3 8 10 12 2 2 8 2 2 10 8 12 9 2 0 15
Gls (4) 2 40 1 2 2 20 5 19 15 6 3 18 5 8 10 7 4
When we detail per league we observe the experience appearing in most of them, underlining that the youth prevails especially in the Eastern and Northern Europe, also in the less known league, were there is a bigger number of youth footballers. The second tiers from the most prominent football countries in Europe tend to have more experienced footballers, many of who going ‘under’ due to the lack of opportunities to keep scoring in the country’s main league.
Eff. (5) 54 63 65 70 86 90 90 93 99 100 100 101 102 103 103 104 115
The next table shows the top 20 efficiency scorers with over 10 goals in the respective league.
Player
Club
Nat. (6) Maksim Rostov Infonet Est Rimo Hunt Kalev Tallinn Est Ville Salmikivi Viikingit Fin Joeano Arouca Bra Hjortur Hjartarson Akranes Ice Yuriy Korolyuk Volna Blr David Poljanec BW Linz Slo Iago Aspas Celta Vigo Esp Michael Karlsen Hodd Nor Ricardo Vaz Té West Ham Por Yuri Markhel SKVICH Blr Aleksandr Makas Partizan Blr Sveinbjorn Jonasson Throttur Ice Branimir Hrgota Jonkopings Swe Harlem Gnohéré Charleroi Fra Randy Edwini-Bonsu AC Oulu Can Ciro Immobile Pescara Ita Moussa Gueye Charleroi Sen Vladimir Shakov SKVICH Blr Tom van Weert Den Bosch Ned (1) Player fielded the 90 minutes; (2) Player substituted; (3) Player coming from the bench; (4) Total goals scored; (5) Efficiency rate; (6) Player’s nationality.
Age
Match.
Tot (1)
38 26 19 32 37 21 25 24 21 25 32 20 25 18 24 21 22 23 27 21
31 30 23 25 19 25 27 35 28 15 15 25 22 25 32 20 37 23 29 19
22 27 14 13 8 17 8 10 6 8 15 11 22 15 9 17 24 13 8 10
Sub (2) 6 3 7 2 9 8 11 18 11 5 0 11 0 5 14 1 12 9 11 8
Bench (3) 3 0 2 8 2 0 8 7 11 2 0 3 0 5 9 2 1 1 10 1
Gls (4) 40 35 20 19 15 21 18 23 16 10 13 19 19 18 19 16 28 17 16 14
Eff. (5) 63 76 90 93 99 100 101 101 103 103 104 104 104 105 106 107 107 108 112 113
The next table will show the most efficient goalkeepers in the reviewed second tiers. Goalkeeper Georgios Kantimiris Fotis Koutzavasilis Dimitrios Koutsopoulos Vladimir Gaev Pal Gisli Jonsson Georgios Lazaridis Vagner Juha Tuomi Athanasios Tolios Swen Konig Sergey Kurgansky Andrea Capelletti Christos Pouris Vitali Makauchyk Francesco Benussi Ivo Vazgec Adriano Basso Ângelo Mikka Hakkinen Panagiotis Vosniadis
Club
Nat.
Age
Match.
Eff. (1)
Veria Panserraikos Panthrakikos Slavia Mozyr Akranes Platanias Estoril-Praia FC Lahti Iraklis Psachna Bellinzona Partizan Chiasso Panachaiki SKVICH Torino Landskrona Hull City Sampdoria PK-35 Vantaa Anag. Giannitsa
Gre Gre Gre Blr Ice Gre Bra Fin Gre Sui Blr Ita Gre Blr Ita Swe Bra Bra Fin Gre
29 23 34 34 28 28 25 22 35 26 25 32 25 30 30 25 37 28 27 22
25 12 28 29 17 28 28 16 33 30 9 32 21 13 18 11 13 15 23 12
225 216 210 183 170 148 133 131 129 129 128 127 126 125 125 124 123 123 122 120
(1) Number of minutes played per each goal suffered. Observing the previous numbers, especially the ones concerning the attacking and defending figures, it is no surprise to see so many Greek goalies present in this top 20, seven, as the Greek Football League had the lowest scoring average per match. Under the woodwork experience is still the key, although it is more and more common to watch younger goalies appearing in the big set the years still count for the number ‘1’ post, seven of the goalkeepers in this table are over 30 and only three are under 25. Contrary to the scoring efficiency, where footballers from more leagues and different nationalities filled the tables, in the goal line the little scoring ability or the tactics or the best performances from the goalies resulted in the Greek dominance and three Brazilians in three different leagues, a complete change in the football history. Brazil used to stand for creativity, individual skills and awful goalkeepers, usually the achilles heel of the Brazilian football. The 90’s showed a new kind of Brazilian goalkeeper and the Taffarel school, if we can put a name to the historical change, started to arise putting Brazilian goalkeepers in the European football, scattered throughout the continent and shining. The next table will show the most efficient goalie per second tier reviewed.
Player
Club
Class.
Georgios Kantimiris Veria 2nd Vladimir Gaev Slavia Mozyr 1st Pal Gisli Jonsson Akranes 1st Vagner Estoril-Praia 1st Juha Tuomi FC Lahti 1st Swen Konig Bellinzona 3rd Francesco Benussi Torino 2nd Ivo Vazgec Landskrona 10th Adriano Basso Hull City 8th Mart-Mattis Niinepuu Kalev Tallinn 1st Sergio Alvarez Celta Vigo 2nd Max Grun Greuther Furth 1st Michael Clepkens Waasland-Beveren 2nd Johnny Placide Laval 16th Nico Pellatz Sparta Rotterdan 2nd Steve Clark Honefoss 1st Thomas Dau First Vienna 8th (1) Number of minutes played per each goal suffered.
Nat.
Age
Match.
Eff. (1)
Gre Blr Ice Bra Fin Sui Ita Swe Bra Est Esp Ger Bel Hai Ger USA Aut
29 34 28 25 22 26 30 25 37 19 25 25 26 24 25 25 20
25 29 17 28 16 30 18 11 13 27 18 34 28 23 33 30 15
225 183 170 133 131 129 125 124 123 114 114 113 110 100 98 96 90
Detailing the goalies efficiency per league tells us that the age factor isn’t so essential as the previous tables may show. In the 17 considered leagues only three had goalies with 30 or more in this table while under 25 there are four plus six with 25 years old. This tells us that the age factor is more definite in certain leagues, it has a lot to do with mentalities and the current one – after years where, in all sports, the age maturity, the age factor got older, with the evolution of training, injury recovery, players tended to ‘reform’ themselves later. Yet, a new line of thinking within the coaching community, in certain countries at least, is changing that again, defending that a player over 30 is already too old, using the speed that the game has now as a justification for that. The above change of thought, of paradigm reflects also in the players height, an interesting view considering that the game is called foot-ball. It is not rare to dismiss a football player due to his low height in the youth system and even with the Barcelona style of play, proving that the height isn’t as essential as several coaches defend, more and more managers have a minimum height required for many positions in the field. The ratio between national and foreign favours the local goalies – 12/5 – and seven of the most efficient goalkeepers were of the first overall in the final classification, with four from the second. Dau, from First Vienna, and Vazgec, with Landskrona BoIS, were midseason recruits helping both teams not to be relegated, but this explains the places in the table. Placide is the biggest surprise, overcoming the top teams, showing how even the French leagues are, even in this aspect.
BIBLIOGRAPHY All the data present in this paper was retrieved and compiled by the author. The support for this research involved websites from numerous clubs and the following pages and media: www.transfermakt.co.uk www.soccerway.com www.weltfussball.de www.foradejogo.net www.lpfp.pt www.lfp.fr www.football.ch http://svenskfotboll.se www.jalgpall.ee http://palloverkko.palloliitto.fi www.ksi.is www.altomfotball.no www.football.by www.nr10.be www.kicker.de www.marca.com www.vi.nl www.football-league.co.uk http://seriebwin.it www.footballleague.gr