168:
235:" system where the best teams in a given season compete in a tournament, with the winner being crowned champion of the league for that season. These have their roots in the long travel distances common in US and Canadian sports; to cut down on travel, leagues are typically divided into geographic divisions and feature unbalanced schedules with teams playing more matches against opponents in the same division. Due to this, not all teams face the same opponents, and some teams may not meet during a regular season at all. This results in teams with identical records that have faced different opponents differing numbers of times, making team records alone an imperfect measure of league supremacy.
657:
such as tradition or local identity. For similar reasons, relocation of clubs to other cities is very rare. This is mostly because virtually all cities and towns in Europe have a football club of some sort, the size and strength of the club usually relative to the town's size and importance. Buying an existing top-flight club and moving it to a new location is problematic, as the supporters of the town's original club are unlikely to switch allegiance to an interloper. This means anyone wanting ownership of a high ranked club in their native city must buy a local club as it stands and work it up through the divisions, usually by hiring better talent. There have been
36:
799:, which features 12 non-European franchises. Australia and New Zealand have five franchises each; one franchise represents Fiji but currently plays most of its "home" games in Australia; and one franchise represents the Pacific islands as a whole (mainly Samoa and Tonga) but is based in New Zealand. Super Rugby also formerly featured franchises in South Africa, Japan, and Argentina.
610:" to its relegated teams for the following years in order to protect them from bankruptcy. If a team is promoted back to the higher tier the following year then the parachute payment for the second season is distributed among the teams of the lower division. There is of course a corresponding bonanza for promoted clubs.
295:
competition in the U.S., has a business structure identical to that of MLS. It is a single business entity, with each team owner-operator being a league shareholder, and all player contracts are held by the league. Also similar to MLS, MLR uses playing rules set by its sport's international governing
838:
was established in 1876, its founders judged that in order to prosper, they must make baseball's highest level of competition a "closed shop", with a strict limit on the number of teams, and with each member having exclusive local rights. This guarantee of a place in the league year after year would
818:
have a particular differentiation among leagues: "European" sports such as football and rugby use promotion and relegation, while "American" sports such as baseball and basketball use franchising and minor leagues, with a few differences varying from country to country. A similar situation exists in
656:
Clubs may be sold privately to new owners at any time, but this does not happen often where clubs are based on community membership and agreement. Such clubs require agreement from members who, unlike shareholders of corporations, have priorities other than money when it comes to their football club
296:
body. However, MLR teams do not play competitive matches against teams from other leagues, and there is currently no cup competition in U.S. rugby similar to soccer's U.S. Open Cup. The MLR league structure also follows the North
American model of one premier league without promotion and relegation.
189:
Professional sports leagues in North
America comprise a stipulated number of teams, known as franchises, which field one team each. The franchises have territorial rights, usually exclusive territories large enough to cover major metropolitan areas, so that they have no local rivals. New teams may
242:
is technically not an association of franchises but a single business entity, though each team has an owner-operator; the team owners are actually shareholders in the league. The league, not the individual teams, contracts with the players. Unlike teams in the four traditional major North
American
507:
system is generally used to determine membership of leagues. Most commonly, a pre-determined number of teams that finish at the bottom of a league or division are automatically dropped down, or relegated, to a lower level for the next season. They are replaced by teams who are promoted from that
851:
but rather the top competition within it. The new league was not universally accepted as
England's top-calibre competition right away. To help win fans of clubs outside The Football League, a system was established in which the worst teams at the end of each season would need to win re-election
794:
does not use the pyramid structure normally found in football, but instead follows the tradition of
Australian sports having a franchise model and a post-season playoff system. This model better suits a country with a few important central locations where a sport needs to ensure there is a team
674:
Leagues around the world generally follow one or the other of these systems with some variation. Most sport leagues in
Australia are similar to the North American model, using post-season playoffs and no relegation, but without geographical divisions, with the most notable examples being the
486:
The
Premier League negotiates television contracts for its games. However, although the national league would be the dominating competition in which a club might participate, there are many non-league fixtures a club might play in a given year. In European football there are national cup
839:
permit each club owner to monopolize fan bases in their respective exclusive territories and give them the confidence to invest in infrastructure, such as improved ballparks. This in turn would guarantee the revenues needed to support traveling across the continent.
625:
in 2007 and returned to the
Championship in 2010. Any city that loses all of its Premier League clubs to relegation will continue to be without a club in the top league until a local club plays well enough to be promoted into the Premiership. Famously, the French
833:
A major factor in the development of the North
American closed membership system during the 19th Century was the distances between cities, with some teams separated by half of the North American continent, resulting in high traveling costs. When the
781:
The
European model is also used in Europe even when the sports were founded in America, showing that the league system adopted is not determined by the sport itself, but more on the tradition of sports organization in that region. Sports such as
130:
that oversees the league, as in America's Major League Baseball or England's Football League. Because most European football clubs participate in different competitions during a season, regular-season home-and-away games are often referred to as
487:
competitions, which are single elimination knock-out tournaments, are played every year and all the clubs in the league participate. Also, the best performing clubs from the previous year may participate in pan-European tournaments such as the
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developed a very different system from that in North America, and it has been adopted for football in most other European countries, as well as to many other sports founded in Europe and played across the world. The features of the system are:
621:, relegated from the Premier League to the Championship in 2004, and went without top-flight football for 16 seasons before United returned to the Premier League in 2020. During this period, United were relegated again to the third-tier
307:, where there are no individual owners or investors, with all teams centrally owned and operated by the league. Many upstart leagues begin their existence as pure single-entity leagues before they secure investors for teams (such as the
276:, each competition has featured all American-based MLS sides. However, after the 2023 season the MLS announced it would no longer send MLS first teams to the US Open Cup - opting to send sides from its developmental league -
842:
In contrast, the shorter distances between urban areas in England allowed more clubs to develop large fan bases without incurring the same travel costs as in North America. When The Football League, now known as the
605:
Relegation often has devastating financial consequences for club owners who not only lose TV, sponsorship and gate income but may also see the asset value of their shares in the club collapse. Some leagues offer a
255:
that serves as an additional qualifier for the Champions Cup. Also, MLS uses playing rules set by the international governing body of its sport. MLS followed its own playing rules until 2004, when it adopted
661:
where existing owners have chosen to relocate out of a difficult market, to better facilities, or to realize the market value of the land that the current stadium is built upon (A famous example being the
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game against a team from a lower-level league the next, followed by an EFL Cup game against a team in the EFL, and then a fourth game might be against a team from across Europe in the Champions League.
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As well as having no right to being in a certain tier, a club also has no territorial rights to its own area. A successful new team in a geographical location can come to dominate the incumbents. In
591:, due to the divergent strengths of the teams. As this differential was overcome over the next five years, the winners of the Second Division went into a playoff with the worst placed team in the
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enter the competition only by a vote of current members; typically, a new place is put up for bid by would-be owners. The "franchise system" was introduced in baseball with the formation of the
197:
Although member teams are corporate entities separate from their leagues, they operate only under league auspices. North American teams do not play competitive games against outside opponents.
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into the league. Most of the teams in the four major North American leagues were created as part of a planned league expansion or through the merger of a rival league. Only one team in the
412:, most North American sports leagues that operate on the franchise system do not allow individual owners to hold an interest in more than one franchise at once. Most such leagues also use
468:, operated by the English Football League and open to its own teams and those in the Premier League). In conjunction with FIFA and other countries' governing bodies, it also sets the
176:
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Cain, Louis P.; Haddock, David D. (2005). "Similar Economic Histories, Different Industrial Structures: Transatlantic Contrasts in the Evolution of Professional Sports Leagues".
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of teams between them. Often a minor league team is partly or wholly owned by a major league team, or affiliated with one, and utilized for player development. For example,
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of two parallel league systems each with its own separate promotion and relegation, one national and another on state-level, the same teams play both leagues each year.
204:. It is organized in a way that assures the teams' continued existence in the league from year to year. On occasion a league may decide to grow by admitting a new
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707:, which is the top level of rugby league in the United Kingdom and France (and included a Canadian team for several years), was run on a franchise basis from
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The promotion of well-performing teams to higher-level leagues or divisions and the relegation of poorly performing teams to lower-level leagues or divisions.
268:, respectively, the U.S. and Canada have had separate knockout cup competitions during the MLS season that include teams from lower leagues. In the U.S., the
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around the world, notably in Africa and Latin America as well as Europe. The most notable variation has developed in Latin America where many countries have
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has many different meanings in different areas around the world, and its use for different concepts can make comparisons confusing. Usually a league is a
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405:, is totally independent. None have a promotion/relegation system, although many teams have moved between levels, either by invitation or by choice.
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European football clubs are members both of a league and of a governing body. In the case of England, all competitive football clubs are members of
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as before. However, the league structure of MLS follows the North American model, with a single premier league and no promotion or relegation.
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in order to determine participation in a hierarchy of leagues or divisions, and a North American originated model characterized by its use of
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are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are one that developed in Europe, characterized by a tiered structure using
856:, was then formed in 1889. When the two merged in 1892, it was not on equal terms; rather, most of the Alliance clubs were put in the new
247:, featuring teams from throughout the northern half of the Americas, including the Caribbean. Starting in 2023, all MLS teams play in the
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540:(a Welsh club that plays in the English system), which won a playoff tournament of the teams that finished third through sixth. In the
1217:'Similar Economic Histories, Different Industrial Structures: Transatlantic Contrasts in the Evolution of Professional Sports Leagues'
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sports leagues, MLS teams play meaningful games against teams from other nations. The MLS season serves as a qualifier for the
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460:, a separate organization. The 72 teams in the three levels below the Premier League are members of still another body, the
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568:. The two former teams had won automatic promotion, while the latter occupied the last promotion spot when they defeated
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Shropshire, Kenneth L. "The sports franchise game: Cities in pursuit of sports franchises, events, stadiums and arenas"
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464:. The FA operates the national football team and tournaments that involve teams from different leagues (except the
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666:). As in the U.S., team relocations have been controversial as supporters of the club will protest at its loss.
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Rader, Benjamin G.; 2002; Baseball:A History of America's Game; Second Edition; University of Illinois Press
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lacked a team from Paris, France's capital and largest city, for some years. Likewise, Berlin clubs in the
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does not have a minor league system as of 2024 but it has operated or affiliated with minor leagues in the
315:) or are forced to operate in the pure single-entity model when investors fail to materialize (such as the
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games, even though the separate competitions may be organized by the same governing body. Also, there is a
110:. Both these systems remain most common in their area of origin, although both systems are used worldwide.
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countries in Central America and the Caribbean, where football and baseball share several close markets.
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743:(historically the Celtic League, Pro12, and Pro14). It was founded with teams in the Celtic nations of
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528:, the second level of English football. They were replaced by the top two teams from the second level,
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338:. The minor clubs do not move up or down in the hierarchy by on-field success or failure. Professional
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https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-plans-to-be-represented-by-mls-next-pro-clubs-in-2024-us-open-cup
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playing with no risk of relegation. Likewise, the American franchise model is used by rugby union's
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All cities in the US and Canada with at least one team in the MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL or NHL, 2021
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The league does not choose which cities are to have teams in the top division. For example,
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The system originated in England in 1888 when twelve clubs decided to create a professional
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The existence of an elected governing body to which clubs at all levels of the sport belong.
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have been rare, due to the richer clubs being all located in the former West Germany.
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Before 1876, baseball clubs joined the professional class (1869–1870) or the
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in similar fashion, firmly establishing the principle of promotion and relegation.
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Article discussing the potentially negative effects of franchising on Rugby League
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in Japan uses the North American system due to American influence on the game. In
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that play each other during the season. It is also often used for the name of the
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has a system somewhat similar to baseball's (without as many levels), while the
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by announcing their intentions and paying any required fees, an open system.
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in place of its worst teams. Another merger, with the top division of the
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Structure of North American leagues (franchise and minor league system)
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A more rarely seen business model in North America is the pure single-
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in 1892, with the majority of the Alliance teams occupying the lower
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were initially more successful than the city's current biggest team
64:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.
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251:, a competition also involving all sides in Mexico's top flight of
495:. A Premier League team might play a league game one week, and an
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The leagues operate in a closed membership system and do not have
1030:"Steve James: The Twenty20 franchise system simply will not work"
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739:. Rugby union also has a European-based franchised league in the
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has had MLS participation from the league's inception; since the
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Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada
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in an effort to maintain a level of parity between franchises.
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in 1876 and later adopted by the other North American leagues.
1142:"David Gallop places consolidation of A-League high on agenda"
719:. Another example of a franchised league in European sport is
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instead. Canada's MLS teams will continue to compete in the
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were relegated to the Championship. They were replaced by
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against any clubs wishing to join. A rival league, the
727:, centered mainly in Russia with teams also located in
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American and Canadian sports leagues typically have a "
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FIFA Regulations On The Status And Transfer Of Players
1049:"ECB head dismissed talk of Twenty20 franchise system"
703:, launched in 2008, also operates on this system. The
617:, the fourth-biggest city in England, saw their team,
536:, both of which won automatic promotion, as well as
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766:The promotion-relegation system is widely used in
448:Matches played both inside and outside of leagues.
1198:: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2024 (
572:5–0 on aggregate in the semifinals, and defeated
456:, while the top 20 teams also are members of the
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829:Promotion and relegation: Historical comparisons
322:Many North American systems have a secondary or
303:league, typified by the two incarnations of the
1084:"MLS teams won't compete in 2024 U.S. Open Cup"
836:National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs
649:. As of the current 2024–25 season, London has
1033:. Daily Telegraph, London, UK. 18 April 2010.
524:were relegated from the Premier League to the
664:Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes
381:Men's soccer has multiple minor leagues. The
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27:Organization of professional sports leagues
1051:. Taipei Times, Taipei, Taiwan. May 2008.
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860:, whose best teams would move up to the
653:, including seven Premier League teams.
481:International Football Association Board
385:operates two of these, the second-level
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583:. It then expanded by merging with the
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403:National Independent Soccer Association
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576:2–1 at the final in Wembley Stadium.
228:, which merged with the NHL in 1979.
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311:and its de facto predecessor, the
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972:List of largest sports contracts
790:. In the same vein, Australia's
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60:the claims made and adding
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397:operates the third-level
313:Premier Hockey Federation
153:, which is distinct from
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1180:(inactive 2024-09-20).
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374:and invested in one in
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410:conflicts of interest
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346:operates a single
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475:The rules or
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270:U.S. Open Cup
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108:minor leagues
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43:This article
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792:A-League Men
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761:South Africa
705:Super League
689:rugby league
681:Aussie rules
673:
655:
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619:Leeds United
612:
604:
578:
538:Swansea City
534:Norwich City
502:
485:
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451:
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407:
399:MLS Next Pro
380:
348:NBA G League
326:but without
324:minor league
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298:
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278:MLS Next Pro
230:
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199:
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181:Minor league
159:
150:rugby league
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147:code called
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136:
133:league games
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127:
123:
119:
117:
93:Professional
91:
76:
67:
44:
962:Liga ASOBAL
812:South Korea
797:Super Rugby
717:2015 season
562:Southampton
408:To prevent
293:rugby union
249:Leagues Cup
155:rugby union
1242:Sports law
1231:Categories
1007:References
784:basketball
737:Kazakhstan
721:ice hockey
659:some cases
632:Bundesliga
623:League One
418:salary cap
340:ice hockey
175:See also:
137:non-league
104:franchises
70:April 2011
54:improve it
1186:154506974
759:and then
574:Blackpool
550:Blackburn
518:Blackpool
510:2010–2011
334:operates
262:US Soccer
118:The term
114:Etymology
58:verifying
1035:Archived
876:See also
768:football
749:Scotland
566:West Ham
274:2012 cup
264:and the
967:EHF Cup
745:Ireland
729:Belarus
697:cricket
628:Ligue 1
570:Cardiff
558:Reading
542:2011–12
466:EFL Cup
253:Liga MX
233:playoff
218:ex novo
52:Please
1184:
816:Taiwan
751:, and
735:, and
699:, the
683:) and
639:Munich
564:, and
554:Bolton
552:, and
497:FA Cup
416:and a
370:, and
350:. The
301:entity
183:, and
120:league
1182:S2CID
983:Notes
808:China
804:Japan
757:Italy
753:Wales
733:China
615:Leeds
368:1990s
364:1960s
360:1940s
356:1930s
212:(the
1200:link
814:and
713:2014
709:2009
532:and
520:and
503:The
258:FIFA
1174:doi
723:'s
711:to
691:).
319:).
305:XFL
220:as
141:cup
139:or
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