S5 Expansion Update + Structure Changes

[RashfordU]

S5 Expansion

It's been a while since the announcement for expansion happened and we are now at a point in time where we can announce some new information!
We are happy to announce that we have appointed our two new expansion managers for two yet unnamed teams.
@Matty86 from and @TheSparkyDee from are the two new expansion managers for the 13th and 14th team added to the SSL!

Enjoy the tease of the new locations!


The expansion draft will be held in proximity with the start of the off-season around the 17-18th of July,
but players that have been exposed may be contacted by the expansion managers during the upcoming week.



Promotion/Relegation Coming in S5
We are also really excited to announce that with this new expansion we're also changing the way the SSL is structured. We have from the start of this league been discussing ways the league can look with more teams and one of the major parts of any football league in the real world is the system of promotion and relegation. As such we have been mainly focused our discussion on this type of structure over developmental leagues and parallel conferences. We received a lot of great suggestions in our earlier call for proposals and we have a long term plan that we hope to be able to introduce throughout the next couple of seasons after they have been thoroughly discussed and passed in the Rulebook.

What will happen in S5? Well the first major change is that we will create two divisions, called Division 1 and Division 2, consisting of 8 and 6 teams respectively. The bottom three teams of the current season league standings will be automatically relegated to Division 2 and the 8th and 9th team will have a relegation playoff with the loser being relegated to Division 2. As of writing this (after MD19) the three teams automatically relegated are , , and (who could still climb in the standings) while there are only 6 points separating the 5th place and 9th place . The two new expansion teams will be starting off their journey in the second division to get it to 6 teams.

Below you will find the rules adjustment to bring the league into our new structure.

[r1c3bowl22]

Can't wait to see Catalunya relegated.

[TheSparkyDee]

Go :expansion2:

[RashfordU]

QUOTE (TheSparkyDee @ Jul 11 2022, 11:01 AM)

Go :expansion2:

Sparky, you had the wrong code, it's
:expansion2electricboogaloo:

[sarah]

I'm afraid that this league is making too many substantial changes, with an expansion currently happening every season and substantial structural changes being made alongside it while not allowing things to marinate at least a little.

How does this league plan to maintain interest levels in league two? Might the constant threat of expansion drafts ruin the user experience as they try and find a clubhouse where they can get eatablished in? How many applications are there for management every expansion cycle? How would this league deal with flight of talent and prospects from one league to another just as cause of relegation?

[Reno]

Now that we have a Brazilian team give me a German team so I can beat them 7-1 again

[Matty86]

QUOTE (sarah @ Jul 11 2022, 10:14 AM)

I'm afraid that this league is making too many substantial changes, with an expansion currently happening every season and substantial structural changes being made alongside it while not allowing things to marinate at least a little. How does this league plan to maintain interest levels in league two?  Might the constant threat of expansion drafts ruin the user experience as they try and find a clubhouse where they can get eatablished in? How many applications are there for management every expansion cycle? How would this league deal with flight of talent and prospects from one league to another just as cause of relegation?

I believe it was Canadice that posted some data supporting the need to add additional teams. The expansion should help the user experience. At the rate we're adding new players we would have been seeing increases in bench players and a lot of players not getting as many minutes and having to sit out additional games. This should allow everyone to see more time on the field.

Also there are a lot of people who love the competition to earn promotion and avoid relegation. The fact that a new team was going to be starting in a lower division is exactly what enticed me to apply to run an expansion side. I love trying to build from the lower level up to a competitive top tier club.

[C9Van]

QUOTE (sarah @ Jul 11 2022, 03:14 PM)

I'm afraid that this league is making too many substantial changes, with an expansion currently happening every season and substantial structural changes being made alongside it while not allowing things to marinate at least a little.

We GRSL officially now!

[Legend]

Pro/Rel Hype!

[Aneeqs]

Congrats to the new expansions and to the new managers!