2025-04-06, 08:52 PM - Word count: 873
Now that the much anticipated S19 has concluded and crowned a champion club, let’s take a look at the Minor Division and see where everyone ended up. Was there a shocker at the top of the standings? Did the youths prevail? Did a grizzled old veteran finally get their championship before moving on?
CHAMPIONS
Montréal United - 1st
12-0-2 36pts
S18 finish: 2nd
Montreal finally unseats the North Shore United dynasty and brings home their first ever Minor Division crown! I’m doing my best to make this sound exciting, because based on that record I’m sure this was almost a foregone conclusion for many weeks leading up to the final. I will almost always celebrate a team breaking a drought though, so congrats and getting the monkey off their back after finishing in 2nd in S18. It does look like the W12 match against FC Kaapstad was a pivotal win to break ties in the final standings. Montreal still had to take care of business in their remaining matches, but they were up to the challenge. There is no other way to label this season for Montreal than a resounding success.
Runner Ups
F.C. Kaapstad - 2nd
10-1-3
S18 Finish: 4th
As alluded to in the Montreal summary, a fateful W12 loss to the eventual champions would deny Kaapstad the chance to bring home their first championship since S10. Holding all other match results the same, Kaapstad would have finished 11-1-2 with a win over Montreal who would then fall to 11-0-3 on the season. A season this strong is still something to be proud of, even if the ultimate goal wasn’t obtained. Moving up in the standings from 4th to 2nd and missing out by only a game is some excellent momentum. Im sure Kaapstad will be in the hunt again next season.
Middle of the Pack
North Shore United - 3rd
8-2-4
S19 Finish: 1st
Well when you’ve won five in a row, finishing anywhere outside of first is bound to be a let down. The Minors Division has a new champion for the first time since S13, and to make it sting even more for North Shore United they were looking up at second place as well. Expectations wise, NSU started the season around 3rd in TPE. Although unexciting, this was probably where Vegas would have put them. NSU’s losses were fairly respectable, two to Kaapstad, one to Montreal, and a surprising loss to ASP. The draws were even more surprising, with another one to ASP and one to Athenai. Hard to move past Kaapstad and Montreal without sweeping the series against them, but even harder when you drop a few games to teams below you.
AS Paris - 4th
6-4-4
S18 Finish:6th
Finishing fourth doesn’t exactly earn you a bottle of champagne in the locker room, but I think this team can still feel good about the product they put on the pitch this year. Moving up from sixth place to fourth means Paris really cannot have any margin for error if they expect to improve. Besides suffering some losses to teams above them in the standings, Paris was snakebite by Cairo this season going 0-1-1 against the last place team in the Minor Division.
Seoul MFC - 5th
7-0-7
S18 Finish: 3rd
No easy way to put this, this was a tough season for the Seoul squad. A 3rd place finish in S18, and no championship since S8 no doubt had Seoul fans hungry for a breakthrough performance in S19. A 0.500 effort is not breaking out, its just staying afloat. The good news is that they haven’t sunk, and a few results going the other way against the right teams has Seoul right back into competition. Let’s see how the expansion and prospect drafts treat them before abandoning ship on S20.
The Bottom
Inter London - 6th
2-3-9
S18 Finish: 5th
Im not going to go too deep into the next three teams as all three saw similar results in Minor league play: hard to find wins, and stiff competition. Both of London’s wins came at the expense of other bottom dwelling teams, Cairo and Athenai. London likely has the best excuse for finishing where they did, as they entered the season with the lowest TPE in the Minor Division.
Athenai FC - 7th
2-2-10
S18 Finish: 7th
Athenai finds themselves in the same spot as they were last season, looking up at everyone but Cairo. Athenai got one victory against the Cairo club, and a surprising win vs Kaapstad. Athenai certainly expected to do better than 7th when they were 4th in total TPE from the start of the season.
Cairco City - 8th
2-2-10
S18 Finish: 8th
Its certainly tough finishing 8th two years in a row. On the bright side, we’ve seen teams like Montreal, NSU, and Kaapstad can translate TPE into success in the standings. Cairo was sitting 5th in total TPE to start the season. Let’s hope things bounce their way next season so it isn’t a threepeat at the bottom.
CHAMPIONS
Montréal United - 1st
12-0-2 36pts
S18 finish: 2nd
Montreal finally unseats the North Shore United dynasty and brings home their first ever Minor Division crown! I’m doing my best to make this sound exciting, because based on that record I’m sure this was almost a foregone conclusion for many weeks leading up to the final. I will almost always celebrate a team breaking a drought though, so congrats and getting the monkey off their back after finishing in 2nd in S18. It does look like the W12 match against FC Kaapstad was a pivotal win to break ties in the final standings. Montreal still had to take care of business in their remaining matches, but they were up to the challenge. There is no other way to label this season for Montreal than a resounding success.
Runner Ups
F.C. Kaapstad - 2nd
10-1-3
S18 Finish: 4th
As alluded to in the Montreal summary, a fateful W12 loss to the eventual champions would deny Kaapstad the chance to bring home their first championship since S10. Holding all other match results the same, Kaapstad would have finished 11-1-2 with a win over Montreal who would then fall to 11-0-3 on the season. A season this strong is still something to be proud of, even if the ultimate goal wasn’t obtained. Moving up in the standings from 4th to 2nd and missing out by only a game is some excellent momentum. Im sure Kaapstad will be in the hunt again next season.
Middle of the Pack
North Shore United - 3rd
8-2-4
S19 Finish: 1st
Well when you’ve won five in a row, finishing anywhere outside of first is bound to be a let down. The Minors Division has a new champion for the first time since S13, and to make it sting even more for North Shore United they were looking up at second place as well. Expectations wise, NSU started the season around 3rd in TPE. Although unexciting, this was probably where Vegas would have put them. NSU’s losses were fairly respectable, two to Kaapstad, one to Montreal, and a surprising loss to ASP. The draws were even more surprising, with another one to ASP and one to Athenai. Hard to move past Kaapstad and Montreal without sweeping the series against them, but even harder when you drop a few games to teams below you.
AS Paris - 4th
6-4-4
S18 Finish:6th
Finishing fourth doesn’t exactly earn you a bottle of champagne in the locker room, but I think this team can still feel good about the product they put on the pitch this year. Moving up from sixth place to fourth means Paris really cannot have any margin for error if they expect to improve. Besides suffering some losses to teams above them in the standings, Paris was snakebite by Cairo this season going 0-1-1 against the last place team in the Minor Division.
Seoul MFC - 5th
7-0-7
S18 Finish: 3rd
No easy way to put this, this was a tough season for the Seoul squad. A 3rd place finish in S18, and no championship since S8 no doubt had Seoul fans hungry for a breakthrough performance in S19. A 0.500 effort is not breaking out, its just staying afloat. The good news is that they haven’t sunk, and a few results going the other way against the right teams has Seoul right back into competition. Let’s see how the expansion and prospect drafts treat them before abandoning ship on S20.
The Bottom
Inter London - 6th
2-3-9
S18 Finish: 5th
Im not going to go too deep into the next three teams as all three saw similar results in Minor league play: hard to find wins, and stiff competition. Both of London’s wins came at the expense of other bottom dwelling teams, Cairo and Athenai. London likely has the best excuse for finishing where they did, as they entered the season with the lowest TPE in the Minor Division.
Athenai FC - 7th
2-2-10
S18 Finish: 7th
Athenai finds themselves in the same spot as they were last season, looking up at everyone but Cairo. Athenai got one victory against the Cairo club, and a surprising win vs Kaapstad. Athenai certainly expected to do better than 7th when they were 4th in total TPE from the start of the season.
Cairco City - 8th
2-2-10
S18 Finish: 8th
Its certainly tough finishing 8th two years in a row. On the bright side, we’ve seen teams like Montreal, NSU, and Kaapstad can translate TPE into success in the standings. Cairo was sitting 5th in total TPE to start the season. Let’s hope things bounce their way next season so it isn’t a threepeat at the bottom.
![[Image: oknomSSL.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/oknomSSL.gif)
