Football Premier League » Statistics. Players, Teams, Referees, Stadiums, groups, Members. Worldfootball.net ## England. Football - results, news, statistics and much more. Clubs in the English Football League (EFL) agreed a deal with players' union the.

Wikimedia list articleThe following is a list of sports competitions by.In this table, the 'Season' column refers to the league season for which financial data is available and referenced, which is usually not the most recently completed season of competition. Number of teams in the season referenced in this table. Due to league expansion and contraction, does not necessarily match the number of current teams.

Cited revenue was 15.56B$, exchange rate of 1 USD = 0.8329 EUR used here for end of 2017. The last Premier League season to date that featured a Welsh side was 2018–19. Cited revenue was USD 1300 million; approximate average exchange rate of USD 1.098 per EUR 1 for October 2016 used here. MLS expanded to 23 teams in the 2018 season, 24 in the 2019 season, and 26 for the 2020 season.

Contents HistoryThe idea behind the World Football League was originally created by Tony Rizzano and Louis Goldman, who in 1973 proposed a Universal Football League that would include teams in Toronto, Mexico City, New York City, Anaheim, Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Memphis, and Birmingham. All but Phoenix and Mexico City would eventually get a new NFL or WFL franchise by the end of the decade; Phoenix would have to wait for a team to arrive in 1983, while Mexico City still has no professional football.was the driving force behind the WFL. He had helped start the successful and, some of whose teams survived long enough to enter the established and leagues. His World Football League did not bring any surviving teams into the, much less survive as a whole league.The fledgling WFL did succeed in raising stagnant salaries in the NFL. Average salaries of NFL players were among the lowest in the four major sports.

Davidson's league garnered major news when the, led by John F. Bassett, signed three Miami Dolphins players, fullback, halfback, and wide receiver to what was then the richest 3-player deal in sports, an astounding US$3.5 million to start in 1975. The pact was a guaranteed, personal services contract, so the three would be paid even if the WFL did not survive its first season.Immediately, the NFL took notice as did its players when they were approached to jump leagues. The lost both their quarterbacks, who signed with the and, who penned a contract to play for the, starting in 1975. The also took roster hits when WFL teams in Hawaii and Houston signed running back and quarterback respectively. The Hawaiians also signed Pro Bowl WR and All-Pro TE.

However, Gilliam would end up with the and Kwalick signed with the prior to the 1975 season. By early June 1974, the WFL claimed they had some 60 NFL stars and regulars under contract.The top minor leagues in the United States at the time, the and, were also tremendously affected. The ACFL had survived a suspension of operations in 1972 to return to play in 1973, only to have the WFL lure away most of the ACFL's players with the prospect of playing in a 'major' league. Both leagues were forced to fold.1974 seasonPlaying a 20-game regular season schedule in 1974 – six games longer than the NFL's then 14-game season – the WFL staged no exhibition games (although its teams did participate in preseason scrimmages). The season was to begin on Wednesday, July 10 and ended on Wednesday, November 13. This was a 20-game season in 19 weeks - a schedule accomplished by having double games (primarily Monday and Friday) on Labor Day weekend. Some complained that the schedule was poorly drafted.

For one thing, although most teams played on Wednesday nights with a national TV game slated for Thursday nights, the Hawaiians played their home games on Sunday afternoons. This meant that when the Hawaiians had a home game they played an opponent who flew to Honolulu after having played just four days earlier. In addition, back-to-back meetings between two teams were common.As was common with many upstart leagues, the WFL's intended lineup of teams changed several times before it even played a down.

Most notably, Bassett's Toronto Northmen were forced to find a new home after the Canadian government threatened to ban any American football team from competing with the; though the never passed, the mere threat of it prompted Bassett to move the team to Memphis, where it became the.The original schedule called for a four-team playoff, with semifinal playoffs held on Wednesday-Thursday November 20-November 21, and the on Friday, November 29 (the night after Thanksgiving). League officials boldly discussed plans for expansion teams in Europe and Asia.In the first few weeks, the WFL looked to be a resounding success. Attendance outpaced the first week of the of 1960, averaging just under 43,000 a game. The box office numbers proved to be the beginning of the WFL's undoing. In Jacksonville, the admitted that 44,000 tickets were giveaways.

The whose first two home games totaled 120,000 fans, told the press that over 100,000 had been sold for almost nothing. Presumably the giveaways were intended in part to pique the public's curiosity and interest, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Six games into the first season, WFL franchises were in serious trouble. The were looking to move to and the made overtures of bringing the first place club to.By September, the barely one-year old league had bottomed out when two franchises relocated. The relocated to as the, and the, the first WFL team to relocate in mid-season, moved to as the. On top of this, the aforementioned Wheels briefly moved for one game to (this time with nary a complaint from Canadian officials), and then became a for the next six weeks.

In October, the league pulled the plug on the and the after 14 games. The folding of the Jacksonville franchise meant that the would not host World Bowl I.

(Coincidentally, Jacksonville was also slated to be the host of the 1986 Championship Game, but that game was never played. It would not be until February 2005 that the city would host its first championship pro football game,.)Reports of financial hardship abounded.

Most of the teams were badly undercapitalized (notable exceptions being Birmingham, Memphis, Southern California and the Hawaiians), despite league officials' bold plans. For instance, the Portland Storm's players were reportedly being fed by sympathetic local fans. The Charlotte Hornets had their uniforms impounded for not paying a laundry bill from the time the team was located in New York, and were forced to miss the playoffs because they couldn't afford to travel to Orlando for their first-round game. The Florida Blazers weren't paid for the last three months of the season, and reportedly survived on meal vouchers. Davidson resigned as commissioner by the end of October 1974, Hawaiians owner was named the new commissioner a month later.Late in the year, the league announced that it was going to award its MVP a cash prize at the World Bowl.

It was literally a cash prize. Rather than endure the embarrassment of media sneers about whether a WFL check would clear, the league neatly stacked cash high upon a table in the middle of the field. The MVP award was a three-way split, and the players involved split the cash.Despite the disasters, many thought the WFL performed fairly well, though below NFL standards. Many games were tight, decided by seven points or less, and the Action Point, the one-point conversion run or pass attempt after a touchdown, was favored among WFL coaches and critics. The league championship – the, or 'World Bowl I' – was staged in between the hometown. The Action Point proved to be the decider as the Americans won the championship by a single point, 22-21. The day after the World Bowl, the champions' uniforms were confiscated by sheriff's deputies.

( referred to the game, prophetically, as 'The first, and possibly only World Bowl'.)1975 seasonThough many predicted the WFL was dead, the league returned for the 1975 season, with a new leader, commissioner, former co-owner of the 1974 Hawaiians franchise, and some new owners with new names. The deceased Sharks of came back as the 'Express.' The Portland Storm became the Portland Thunder, the Birmingham Americans were replaced by the, and the became the.

The World Bowl runner-up folded; its franchise rights were relocated to, as the. Only two teams, Memphis and Philadelphia, returned with the same ownership from the prior season.The league changed its scheduling format from 20 games without exhibitions to 18 games (played in 20 weeks due to the odd number of teams) with exhibitions. Gone were weeknight games; the new schedule had games on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. But the league still was snake-bit. Although the original plan called for a July 5 preseason opener and August 2 regular season openers, the regular season had to open a week earlier, with a single game on Saturday, July 26, due to a stadium conflict. This meant that a single regular season game was played in the midst of the last weekend of preseason play (with some preseason games being played the next night).Several more NFL free agents including and signed on with the struggling WFL, and the made an offer to aging, who seriously considered the offer before refusing and resigning with the.

The embarrassing rejection by Namath, after they had invested so much in the effort to sign him, seriously hurt the Winds, who folded five weeks into the season. Shortly afterward, the entire league shut down and the, with a league best record of 9-3 were awarded the league championship.With the relative financial stability of the Birmingham and Memphis clubs, both attempted to join the NFL but were refused. In 1979, the Memphis club owners filed an against the NFL. Their case was ultimately dismissed on May 30, 1984, by which time the owners had already established the in the next professional league, the (which incidentally filed its own, more famous antitrust suit against the NFL in 1986). Although the NFL expanded in 1976, that expansion had been planned before the WFL's first season.LegacyThe league's struggles led to endless sarcastic comments (starting with the league's own abbreviation, which was often pronounced '). Chicago Fire offensive lineman quipped bitterly that he had been offered a million dollar contract: 'A dollar a year for a million years!' The WFL, for all its embarrassing miscues, produced a number of coaches who found success in the NFL: notably, and., a quarterback for the Hawaiians, became a head coach in the NFL and UFL, taking the to in 2001 and the to a win in the.

Memphis head coach went on to become head coach of the, but had more success as general manager of the during the 1980s years. Several players, most notably, and, later found success in the NFL as well.Two WFL alumni made it to the:. (Csonka and Warfield were, however, already established stars in the NFL before joining the WFL.)The league's most severe impact was on the, who had just won consecutive before the WFL's snagging of three of their star players. Maher, Todd. Coffin Corner (Professional Football Researchers Association). New, The. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

Retrieved 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

Retrieved 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

Retrieved 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29. Blum, Ronald (July 12, 2010). Associated Press. KCCI-TV. ↑. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

April 6, 2009. ↑ Hibdon, Glenn (July 19, 2008).

Skate fight battle. Tulsa World. Retrieved July 29, 2010. Baconian Online. October 20, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2010. August 31, 2009.

Retrieved July 29, 2010. ↑. World Football League. August 1, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.External links.

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