2025-11-30, 09:08 PM - Word count:
I joined this league in those halcyon good ol' days where there was promotion and demotion, and where there were just shy of enough organizational managers and tacticians to go around for the number of teams we had. In the early days of Muunokhoi Sarantsatsral's career (in Accra first - the non-academy Accra, for you whippersnappers - then SFV) all I knew was the slow, steady climb toward promotion. That grind, and the team's progressive success at it, was the heart of my early SSL experience. It was immensely rewarding, I almost remember SFV securing promotion as much as that first division championship. Of my SSL memories, it's certainly the one that felt the most collective, founded on so many people pulling in the same direction.
For that reason, I'm glad to see the league returning to promotion and relegation as the major and minor leagues each split into first and second divisions. That same experience of getting a team over the promotion hump and then grinding again toward the division 1 premiership adds something back to the league that the current major/minor split lacks.
It does, though, make me wonder about the merits of a more drastic change.
What if the SSL maxed out promotion and relegation?
Maxed out, to me, would be adding two more things:
First, the team that finished last in the minor league division 2 is erased from existence. Why? Losing has to be consequential. And losing existence is the most consequential of all. A last-place team has something to fight for in those games after they fall out of contention. Every game counts. The players on the superdemoted team's roster go to a dispersal draft, or become free agents, or - wildest of all - enter a draft that includes both academy graduates and the superdemoted roster. Drafts would be more exciting too.
Second, the team that finishes last in major league division 2 should be demoted, switching with the winners of minor league division 1. Again, losing is consequential (and so is winning).
Past that point, there's a "to the winner go the spoils" move to settle affiliations. Two major team will have lost affiliates, one will have become a minor league team, and one minor team will have become a major team.
The major league team whose minor league affiliate was demoted out of existence receives the previous affiliate of the team demoted from the major league. Why? They didn't put enough love into their minor league team, and an organization that couldn't keep their major league squad in the majors isn't massively talent-laden in the minors either.
The team promoted to the major league acquires the new minor league expansion team (and perhaps advantageous draft picks?) to bolster their organization with the cleanest slate possible.
Is this realistic? Not particularly.
Is this easy? Not particularly.
Would this raise the stakes of many more games without premierships on the line? HELL YES.
To climb through the ranks of this alternate SSL would be rewarding as hell. And that's entirely its point.
For that reason, I'm glad to see the league returning to promotion and relegation as the major and minor leagues each split into first and second divisions. That same experience of getting a team over the promotion hump and then grinding again toward the division 1 premiership adds something back to the league that the current major/minor split lacks.
It does, though, make me wonder about the merits of a more drastic change.
What if the SSL maxed out promotion and relegation?
Maxed out, to me, would be adding two more things:
First, the team that finished last in the minor league division 2 is erased from existence. Why? Losing has to be consequential. And losing existence is the most consequential of all. A last-place team has something to fight for in those games after they fall out of contention. Every game counts. The players on the superdemoted team's roster go to a dispersal draft, or become free agents, or - wildest of all - enter a draft that includes both academy graduates and the superdemoted roster. Drafts would be more exciting too.
Second, the team that finishes last in major league division 2 should be demoted, switching with the winners of minor league division 1. Again, losing is consequential (and so is winning).
Past that point, there's a "to the winner go the spoils" move to settle affiliations. Two major team will have lost affiliates, one will have become a minor league team, and one minor team will have become a major team.
The major league team whose minor league affiliate was demoted out of existence receives the previous affiliate of the team demoted from the major league. Why? They didn't put enough love into their minor league team, and an organization that couldn't keep their major league squad in the majors isn't massively talent-laden in the minors either.
The team promoted to the major league acquires the new minor league expansion team (and perhaps advantageous draft picks?) to bolster their organization with the cleanest slate possible.
Is this realistic? Not particularly.
Is this easy? Not particularly.
Would this raise the stakes of many more games without premierships on the line? HELL YES.
To climb through the ranks of this alternate SSL would be rewarding as hell. And that's entirely its point.
![[Image: ssl2.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/ssl2.gif)
![[Image: qXecBe9.png]](https://i.imgur.com/qXecBe9.png)
![[Image: lisfor-3.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/sDzJYqYM/lisfor-3.png)
