Sv2 Football Challenges
Caterina Haggins
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In a previous article I referred to the emerging nature of the Belgian 2nd Tier and why it is one of the fastest improving competitions within Europe at this moment in time. It has been established that there are recruitment challenges facing clubs in any competition, but for those operating within the Second Tier in Belgium specifically, the challenges are both unique and multiple:
During the last international break, for example, youngsters Ismal Kandouss (Union St-Gilloise) and Aboubakar Keita (OH Leuven) were rewarded with U23 international call-ups for Morocco and Ivory Coast respectively due to their excellent early season form. This was the first time that both players had been selected at U23 international level. Therefore, when competing in the Belgian 2nd Tier, even if the opportunity to sign internationally recognised players becomes a possibility, you may potentially be penalised for it by their limited availability.
The Belgian 2nd Tier is unique in both its formation and structure. It is one of the smallest and most competitive competitions in Europe. It is made up of just eight teams and as a result teams within the league are required to play each other four times during a regular 28 game season. It is after this period of time that the league breaks off into two different play-off competitions, concerned with either facing the prospect of qualifying for the Europa League or getting relegated. To many the idea of a 28 game league season is intense enough, in terms of how important every game really is within such a short period of time, but to intensify it further the 28 game season is separated into two blocks of 14 games. So to clarify (much needed I know!), there are two 14 game blocks that comprise the regular season in which each team plays every other team both at home and away. The concept of playing your seven direct competitors four times in a very concentrated period is not the most appealing for prospective signings, nor is the sheer relentlessness of each game where the difference between the sides is often very small. As an example, 49 of the 56 games played in the second block of the 2017/18 season were either drawn or decided by the difference of just one goal (88% of games). While it could be argued that the type of people (player) who are willing to entertain the prospect of playing in a competition such as this are actually the ones that you want in terms of their psychological make up and outlook, it also deters a lot of talented players. The idea of playing the same opponent so regularly is typically not a stimulating prospect, and as a result it narrows the pool of players who may have a potential interest in joining a club within the competition.
Not only is the competition structure unique, but so is the way in which success is achieved. The teams who win both respective 14 game blocks of the regular season are rewarded with a position in the Promotion Play-Off Final, which is played in March every year. Only one team is promoted from the Belgian 2nd Tier to the Belgian Premier League each season, another reason why potential recruits can be skeptical about joining the competition. In such a competitive and emerging competition, where the difference between the teams is so small, there is a genuine chance that even the strongest outfit can end up missing out. Especially when you consider that the completion of 28 league games come down to the lottery of a two-legged play-off final (home and away) to see who is victorious. Just to illustrate how high-pressured such play-off games are there have been three red cards, and two penalties in the four games played since 2018. The games involving promotion play-off finalists in the last two seasons have been decided by goals scored in the late stages of both games, in the 88th (Clmont Tainmont vs Beerschot-Wilrijk in 2018/19) and 90th minute (Irvin Cardona vs Beerschot-Wilrijk in 2017/18) respectively.
With this in mind players can feel a genuine level of risk associated with joining even the most well prepared and professional clubs in the competition as over the course of 180 minutes in a promotion play-off final anything can happen. It is fair to say that some players will back themselves to be successful no matter what the situation, but others (and their agents) may prioritise the comfort and security provided by alternative competitions elsewhere. While it is the former that you want to recruit as someone involved in scouting and recruitment at a club, the nature of how promotion is achieved from the competition can influence the number of players who are open to operating within such an unpredictable format.
I had repeatedly claimed that football is the simplest game on earth. I believed the ball is the single most important tool in the game. I was ignorant of the fact that there is no football without a solid surface carrying the game and its players.
That fact became most evident the day I arrived at a small island in Thailand. A floating village had been built, overthrowing the dreams of its children to play football, and depriving them of any chance of a solid surface to play on.
They dispersed in search of a dreamland, with a pact that whoever finds a viable place first will go to the top of its highest summit and plant a flag, declaring to the others the location of their new habitat.
Those who left the island for the bigger cities of Thailand, such as Phuket and Bangkok, brought their degrees back to where all their dreams began to teach the new generations, back to where their ancestors had once day taken up the only available profession, hunting.
Little by little, the dream city came together, and 1986 brought the world cup fever that struck people east and west. The evolution of broadcast media allowed everyone everywhere to watch football and introduced the children, who had never left their island, to a new game around which millions of people gathered.
Overnight the islanders found a new piece had been added to their city, in which children gathered, running barefoot kicking a small ball among them, and when one of them shot it into a small goal to score, he ran like mad in celebration. And if he missed, he threw himself in the ocean to retrieve the ball then retry all over again.
News floated in from the big cities that a one-day youth football tournament was planned. The team decided to participate, despite their doubts about their ability to compete against a real football team that had trained on a real pitch on solid ground. But fate had already made up its mind that it was time for these people to test their credibility as a soccer team. Their boats sailed from the island towards the championship stadium, and they were followed by the inhabitants of Koh Panyee prepared to support their local team.
As soon as the referee whistled, the children of the floating playground dominated the green pitch. They found out that scoring was much easier when the goal was larger than the handmade one with an ocean behind it. They won one match after the other, and they came to realize that they were better even than their own expectations.
Yet again, they outsmarted Nature; they refused to end the match without a final battle of wills. One of them took off his sneakers, and the rest followed suit. Thus, they were used to playing, and thus they regained control over the ball, and it was only minutes before they returned the match to the starting point, scoring two consecutive goals, they ran celebrating, their faces touching the sky.
The story of Koh Panyee bounced around Thailand, and football became the top passion for inhabitants of the Island of the Flag. They built a more advanced pitch, one that did not bounce with the movement of the players nor bother them with rusty nails. However, the old wooden field was left untouched, a monument to their past and to the legendary story in which football took over the minds and hearts of the children of the floating village and inspired them to make history.
As for the builders of the original wooden field, they are still well respected by everyone. They are called the Original Eleven. And they can be found in the stands, supporting the team they created from scratch, coaching different age groups of the Panyee FC, and in team management and directorship of the Panyee Sports Association.
If attendance is a proxy for college football viewing demand, so, too, would be television ratings. An inverse relationship exists between attendance and ratings because, by all accounts, 2021 was a good year for football on television. And, if fans are reticent about attending games in person during a pandemic, watching on television would be a good substitute.
That trend continued through the season with Michigan-Ohio State recording an 8.1 rating for a noon Eastern kickoff in late November, the most-watched regular season game in two years. Even Army-Navy returned to pre-pandemic ratings with a 4.2.
Consider the inference in his thesis that additional playoff games would increase demand via higher television ratings. The 2021 Rose Bowl between Ohio State and Utah, teams which finished the year ranked 6th and 12th, respectively, drew an 8.2 rating, just below the Alabama-Cincinnati semifinal game which recorded an 8.6. Would OSU-Utah as round-of-12 game attract sufficiently more viewers than if it were a non-playoff Rose Bowl? That seems unlikely.
The second reason the Outback Bowl is an appropriate comparison is that it annually features teams from the Big Ten and the SEC, the two conferences that dominate college football attendance and ratings. It is reasonable to assume that college football fans would be interested in a bowl game such as the Outback Bowl, featuring top teams from the top conferences.
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