What's a Transfer?

How About Some Formations?

So How Does Soccer Work?

There are some major differences that make soccer a little bit different than any other major sport, so I'll cover them as simply as possible.

How long is a game?

90 minutes, played in two 45 minute halves.  Interestingly, the clock counts up instead of down to zero like most sports.  Another interesting thing is that the clock never stops running, except at half time, no matter if there's an injury or the ball goes out of bounds.  For this reason, the referee can add a few extra minutes at the end of each half, to roughly make up for the time lost for injuries or the ball being out of play.  This is called "stoppage time."

How many players?

Each team can have 11 players on the field.  Also, each team is allowed 3 substitutions.  Once a team has used all three subs, they are stuck with those players for the rest of the game even if someone has to leave the field after the last sub is made.

What are these "cards?"

There are essentially three levels of discipline the referee can use during a game: a foul, a yellow card, or a red card.  A foul simply stops the play and gives the ball to the opposite team.  A yellow card can be given on a more physical foul, so a player must play the rest of the game "on a yellow card."  A red card is the worst offense, which can be given for either a very serious incident, or for receiving two yellow cards in one game.  A red card means that the player is kicked out of the game, and he cannot be replaced for that game, and that player is also ineligible for the team's next game as well.  In an even more serious incident, a player can be banned for even longer depending on how violent the foul was.


I'll follow up with more tactical and specific information in the near future, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

The Teams

So now that you're a bit familiar with the Premier League in general, here's my two-sentence run down of each team, in alphabetical order.

All team logos courtesy of Wikimedia

So, Where Are We Right Now?

© Barlcays Premier League

So, are you confused?  Don't be.  This is the "table" for the Premier League, which is essentially the current standings in the league.  Obviously, there are 20 teams.  Every team plays each other twice throughout the season, once at home and once away.  This means each team plays 38 games.  As of this post, all the teams have played 25 games (as shown in the 'P' column).  For every game (or "match") a team wins, they are awarded 3 points.  A draw gives both teams 1 point.  A loss gives 0 points.  The league champion is the team that has the most points at the end of the season.  Yup, it's that simple.

  

So, let's talk about the shading of the table.  At the top, the first four teams are shaded blue.  These top four spots are the "Champions League" spots.  Every year, there is a World Cup-style tournament of the best teams from all of the top European leagues (i.e. England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, etc.).  So, if the season ended today, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Southampton would be England's representatives in next year's Champions League.

Then, there are the grey teams at the bottom.  This is the dreaded "relegation zone."  English soccer is organized into 4 "leagues," the Premier League, the Championship, League One, and League Two (isn't that confusing?).  At the end of each season, the bottom three Premier League teams are demoted to the Championship for the following season, and the top three from the Championship are promoted.  This typically makes for some exciting matches between terrible teams near the end of the year.

I'm going to work on another post summarizing each of the teams, but this should serve as a guide for how the league functions and what team is where as of right now.