The Champions Cup: A collaborative football (soccer) TL.

[Xibalba]

Die Besten,
Les grandes équipes,
The champions!

Welcome to the Champions Cup!

What is the purpose of this thread?

It is mostly an attempt to combine two things i'm really fond of, that being Alternate History and football! In this thread we will (hopefully) try to create and build a timeline that will feature alternate countries and their football clubs. For this I will need your help, as you can suggest teams that will enter in this alternate Champions League.

How will it work?

First of all, we will need some alternate European countries. Then we need to figure out how many teams it could have in the CC. After that we can create the teams. To get an idea at just how many teams said alternate country would get, we will need to look at the Association ranking, and will try to use OTL countries as a guideline. Here's a small example of what I mean:

Alternate country: Republic of Catalonia
OTL equivalent: Portugal
Teams in the CC: 2
Team: Athletic Barcelona

Based on this system, Someone else can create a second team from Catalonia since they have 2 spots in the CC. When creating alternate countries I would recommend keeping it somewhat modest. I think OTL France or Germany is the maximum size. So no continent spanning empires, as it would severely limit the diversity of the teams involved. I've planned for 32 teams. If we don't get that amount after some time, I will allow second teams.

Once you've created your team, you will have to provide some basic information, something like you can find on a wikibox. This includes things like Colors, Nicknames, Foundation date, Stadium. Here's a template with the example used above.

Full Name: Athletic Club de Barcelona
League: Campionat Nacional
Nickname(s): Athleti
Colors: Red, Yellow
Founded: 1895
Ground: Nou Estadi

A small description of the team's history would also be very helpful as it fleshes out some of the backstory, besides that you can also add in a description or a sketch of the club's crest and kits. I will try to make logo's and kits based on those descriptions, but this is not mandatory.

Will this be a tournament simulation like the AHFA World Cup and AHFA Euro's?

No, not for the moment at least. I don't want this to get in the way of the excellent alt-hist football tournaments held on this site. If there is enough intrest, I'm open to the possibility.



​

 

[Pragmatic Progressive]

Inspired by one of your scenarios, @Xibalba , namely the "West and East Germany reversed" one:

Official name: National State of Prussia
Coefficient equivalent to: France
Teams in the Champions Cup: 3

League: Oberste Nationalliga ("Top/Supreme National League"), 20 teams.
Team: Borussia Königsberg 07
Nicknames: (die) Borussia, die Borussia aus Königsberg ("the Borussia from Königsberg", die Nationalen ("the National(ist)s), derogatory "die Landratten" (lit.: "the landlubbers"), Staatsverein (lit. "state club"), or even "die Imperialisten" ("the imperialists")
Colours: Black and white - their home kit is black and white vertical stripes (much like OTL Juventus). The away kit is all white with black shorts and socks, with the third kit a dark, purplish red.
Founded: 1907
History: Both in the united German Empire (1907-1941) and in the era of division, Borussia Königsberg 07 (mostly just die Borussia, or die Borussia aus Königsberg when differentiation to other clubs called Borussia is needed) was one of the most successful clubs. Borussia Königsberg is record championship holder (33 times) and record holder in the number of cup (Reichs- or later Staatspokal) wins (19 times). Their main rivals, if not to say their arch-enemies, are their cross-city rivals SSV Königsberg ("die Blauen" or "die Seemänner" (lit.: "the seamen") - a moniker which came about as many former and current navy soldiers and civilian seamen including famous admirals like Eugen Dietrich openly declared their affiliation to SSV Königsberg, while army soldiers tended to choose Borussia Königsberg 07. Another significant rivalry links them to Hanseatischer FC Danzig (often just Hanseatischer FC or HFC = "Hanseatic Football Club"). A newer, but already strong rivalry exists between Borussia Königsberg 07 (and, as rare as that is, also between SSV Königsberg) and SG Grün-Weiß Tapiau, a small club from the town of Tapiau playing in a local league when they were bought up by a rich magnate and entered the Oberste Nationalliga in 2004. They achieved a sixth place in the league in their first season, repeating this success in their second season. A little decline saw them finish mid-table several times, until 2011 when Grün-Weiß Tapiau came second behind only SSV Königsberg. In 2017, Grün-Weiß Tapiau even won their first (and so far only) league title. To this day, most traditionalists and even more football fans despise the rise of Grün-Weiß Tapiau, associated with big money and capitalism instead of patriotism...

Especially in earlier decades, but sometimes even now, rumour has it that the authoritarian government or important members of it are active supporters of Borussia Königsberg 07, with some going so far as to believe that they have access to unfair advantages. The communist syndicalistss (especially of West Germany)- unsuccessfully - sometimes try to explit this rumour, calling the club Staatsverein or just Die Imperialisten, but it is to little avail as the supporters of Borussia Königsberg 07 are known to be extremely loyal.

Recent champions of the Oberste Nationalliga:

1996/97: 1. FC Stettin
1997/98: VfL Memel 03
1998/99: Breslauer SV
1999/2000: Borussia Königsberg 07
2000/01: Borussia Königsberg 07
2001/02: Borussia Königsberg 07
2002/03: Breslauer SV
2003/04: Borussia Königsberg 07
2004/05: Borussia Königsberg 07
2005/06: Borussia Königsberg 07
2006/07: Borussia Königsberg 07
2007/08: 1. FC Stettin
2008/09: VfL Germania Posen
2009/10: 1. FC Stettin
2010/11: SSV Königsberg
2011/12: SSV Königsberg
2012/13: Borussia Königsberg 07
2013/14: SSV Königsberg
2014/15: MSV Borussia Berlin
2015/16: Borussia Königsberg 07
2016/17: Grün-Weiß Tapiau
2017/18: Borussia Königsberg 07
2018/19: SSV Königsberg
2019/20: VfL Germania Posen
2020/21: Borussia Königsberg 07​

 

[Wings]

Here's to making the Ligue 1 a little better:

Alternate country: French Empire (OTL France and overseas+Wallonia, Luxembourg, Algeria)
OTL equivalent: Italy
Teams in the CC: 4

League: Ligue 1, 16 teams (Regular season + Playoffs in 8 SE format)
Team: Aigle Lyonnais
Nicknames: "Les Aigles" ("The Eagles"), "Les Gones" ("The Kiddos")
Colours: White, Red and Blue, with white as a dominant colour:

Founded: 1896
Stadium: Groupama Stadium (90,000), opened 2012
History: The Aigle Lyonnais was founded in 1896 as a response to the more workers-oriented Sporting Club de Lyon, representing the working classes of the city on the Rhone. The Aigle, named after the symbol of the french imperial standard, was founded by a group of the elite of Lyon, looking to form a rivalry against the SC. However, this would not pan out, as the SC would quickly turn out as the much better club, forming world-class players, while the Aigle struggled in the bottom divisions. It wouldn't be till 1961 that the Aigle would finally reach the elite, and another ten years till they would reach a European competition. It is only recently that the Aigle Lyonnais rose to prominence, winning their first title after the 1994-95 season, before winning eleven straight titles, a national record. This streak would be broken, but the Eagle had landed on the European scene, quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. The Aigle would outpace the fledgling, SC Lyon, which dropped to the second division in 1997-98, never to return. Their rivalry therefore shifted to three other clubs: the ages-old class divide with the En Avant Saint-Etienne, the club of neighoburing city Saint-Etienne, which substituted itself for the SC Lyon as the dominant "worker's club" of the South of France, but also with the Aigle Marseillais, other "Imperial" club of the South of France, and the Athletic Club de Villefranche, a smaller club from the nearby city of Villefranche sur Saone, but usually excellent club when the derby of the Saone would occur. To add upon this, the Aigle Lyonnais feminine division is one of the most successful clubs in Europe.

2021 Roster: TBD

Ligue 1 Playoff History (starting 2000-01):
2000-01: Aigle Lyonnais
2001-02: Aigle Lyonnais
2002-03: Aigle Lyonnais
2003-04: Aigle Lyonnais
2004-05: Aigle Lyonnais
2005-06: Aigle Lyonnais
2006-07: Victoire de Toulouse
2007-08: Aigle Lyonnais
2008-09: Victoire de Toulouse
2009-10: Aigle Marseillais
2010-11: Lille FC
2011-12: Montpellier HSC
2012-13: Paris FC
2013-14: Paris FC
2015-16: Paris FC
2016-17: AS Monaco
2017-18: Aigle Lyonnais
2018-19: Aigle Lyonnais
2019-20: Stade Breton Rennes
2020-21: AS Monaco

 

[Xibalba]

Official name: Kingdom of Italy (OTL Italy + Dalmatia/Istria)
Coefficient equivalent to: Italy
Teams in the Champions Cup: 4

League: Campionato Italiano di Football (20 teams)
Team: F.C Torinese
Nicknames: l'Ambraneri, Il Toro, FCT
Colours: Amber/Black
Founded: 1894
Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia
History: The club was founded in 1894, and was the fourth club that was founded in the city of Turin, which was a hotbed for the sport during the early days. In contrast to their local rival Internazionale, which had it's roots in upper class sports organization, Torinese had mostly working class players from the city and surrounding areas. The club reached the semi-finals during the first ever Italian Championship in 1898, but lost narrowly to their city rivals. From 1922 onwards the league was restructured into the format that is still used today. During this time the Ambraneri where starting to overshadow their rivals with their first title coming the the 1924-25 season. From then on F.C Torinese would become a top team in Italian football having amassed 21 titles. Due to their succes they have also developed rivalries with other teams besides Internazionale
(the Derby della Mole), there's also animosity towards Milan club S.S Ambrosiana with which they contest the Derby d'Italia. There's also a rivalry with U.S. Partenopea form Naples which stems from the rivaly between Northern and Southern Italy.

Recent Champions of the Campionato
2010-2011: S.S Ambrosiana
2011-2012: F.C Torinese
2012-2013: US Milanese
2013-2014: F.C Torinese
2014-2013: Roman F.C
2014-2015: F.C Torinese
2015-2016: C.S. Firenze
2017-2018: F.C Torinese
2018-2019: F.C Torinese
2019-2020: US Milanese
2020-2021: F.C Torinese

Kits

Crest

​

 

[Slartibartfast]

Official Name: The United Kingdom of England, Wales and Gibraltar (OTL UK minus Scotland, N. Ireland and Briswall Republic)
Coefficient equivalent to: England
Teams in the Champions Cup: 4

League: The United Super League (USL) (formerly the English Premier League)

Team: The Northern Warriors (formerly Glasgow United)

Nicknames: The Weegies or Old Firm (formerly), The Scotch-Irish or Globetrotters (current) (Also known as the Traitors or Sassenachs in the Republic of Scotland)
Colours:
Home:

Away:

Founded: 1992

History:
Both Celtic and Rangers had a long and proud footballing history in Scotland. Indeed, in Scottish footballs’ heyday, Celtic became the first northern European team to win the European Cup (1967, also lost in 1970 final) whilst Rangers were winning the European Cup Winners Cup in 1971 (also lost a final in 1967). However, by the early 1980s, success was harder to come by for the Glasgow giants. Long being used to being the “big fish” in the small Scottish pond, the emergence of a “New Firm” in form of Dundee Utd and Aberdeen, threatened the traditional hegemony exuded by the Glasgow clubs. Revenue was falling, previous crowds of almost 100,000 were long gone, with some games being played behind crowds of less than 5000. Mid table mediocrity looked to be the norm for these fallen giants until an Australian media mogul named Rupert Murdoch go involved.

Mr. Murdoch has been instrumental in lobbying the old English First Division football clubs to resign from the English Football League en masse, and join his new English Premier League. This new Premier League would be propped up by Mr. Murdoch via his Newscorp owned satellite pay TV service SKY. The television money flowing into the Premier League clubs was massive – a huge jump from the old ITV “Big Match” days, but something was missing. Murdoch needed to bring football (or more appropriately Soccer) to a new lucrative market – America!

Interest in Football (sorry, I can’t call it Soccer!) in the US and Canada was well below European standards – I mean, there were no professional football leagues to speak of in either country, but what they did have was a World Cup on their front door in 1994. Interest in Football was rising in North America, but how best to get Americans invested in football – give them a team in the EPL to support!

The USA and Canada have a massive diaspora of people of Scots or Irish ancestry, in fact, more people who identify as Scottish or Irish live in North America than in Scotland or Ireland! So, Murdoch took the decision to form a new team, a Scottish/Irish team, an American team. This team would be based on an amalgamation of the 2 most supported football teams that the diaspora already followed – Celtic & Rangers.

There was already a precedent of cross border football teams in the UK (Berwick Rangers – English playing in Scottish leagues, Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham – Welsh playing in the English Leagues), so having a “Scots-Irish” team in the EPL wasn’t going to be a problem. The problem was that the Scottish and Irish Football Associations (and to a lesser extent the English FA) were not happy with the perceived diminished reputation of their leagues. Murdoch was coy when he started Glasgow United as he never actually purchased the original Celtic or Rangers, merely adopting their shared persona – both these teams still play in the Scottish Football leagues although shadows of their former selves. As recently as 2012, Rangers had sunk to the depths of the Scottish 3rd Division.

Many people see Glasgow United as a franchise in the English leagues purely to appeal to the foreign markets without consideration for the “local” support. This view was deepened after 2014, when Scotland voted to become independent of the UK. There was a clamour for Glasgow United to be brought into the Scottish league system as England was now a foreign country, but without success. The newly rechristened United Super League were loathed to lose one of their bigger teams and so Glasgow United was renamed the “Northern Warriors” and became a touring team. Without a home ground, the Warriors play their “Home” games at various stadia in North America on a rotational basis. The designated “home” stadia are Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas), Bank of America Stadium (North Carolina), The Cotton Bowl (Texas), The Nissan Stadium (Tennessee) Yankee Stadium (New York) and Tim Hortons Field (Ontario).

Since Northern Warriors are one of the best supported teams in the USL, they are also one of the most successful, with 4 league titles and 2 AHFA Europa League titles. The one title the Warriors support are desperate for is the AHFA Champions League titles, with many tipping them to be successful this season. We shall soon see.....

 

[New Britain Mapping]

Official Name: Briswall Republic (OTL South-West England plus Guernsey and Jersey)
Coefficient equivalent to: Albania
Teams in the Champions Cup: 2

League: Briswall Premier League (16 teams)
Team: Bristol Palace
Nickname: The Bridgers
Colours: Red + Black
Founded: 1893
Stadium: Palace of Bristol Stadium (39,000 capacity)​

History: Bristol Palace were created in 1893, being the first club from Briswall to be founded, because of the growing popularity of sports in the nation. The league was created in 1902, with Palace one of the founding members, and they won the first season of the league, which originally had 12 teams, but then it would increase to 16 teams, but with football increasingly growing in the nation, cups and leagues further down were created, but for now Bristol Palace were dominating, but it came to a end when Weston City FC had won in 1956. The Bridgers had amassed a record 20 league titles in a row, which remains to this day. They have a rivalry with another Bristolian team, Longwell Green United, but more rivalries against Bath Wanderers, Weston City, Wells United and Clevedon FC.

Recent Champions of Briswall Premier League: (From 1995-96)
1995-96 - Bristol Palace
1996-97 - Bristol Palace
1997-98 - Bristol Palace
1998-99 - Bristol Palace
1999-2000 - Bristol Palace
2000-01 - Bristol Palace
2001-02 - Weston City FC
2002-03 - Clevedon FC
2003-04 - Swindon City FC
2004-05 - Tiverton Athletic
2005-06 - Tiverton Athletic
2006-07 - Bath Wanderers
2007-08 - Exeter Athletic
2008-09 - Bristol Palace
2009-10 - Bristol Palace
2010-11 - Bristol Palace
2011-12 - Longwell Green Utd
2012-13 - FC United of Plymouth
2013-14 - FC United of Plymouth
2014-15 - Bristol Palace
2015-16 - Bristol Palace
2016-17 - Penzance Pirates FC
2017-18 - Guernsey United FC
2018-19 - Bristol Palace
2019-20 - Cheltenham United
2020-21 - Bristol Palace

Kits:
Home - All-white shirt, red shorts.
Away - Black/yellow quarters shirt, gold shorts
Third Kit: All-blue shirt, white shorts

Crest:

​

 

[Xibalba]

Team overview



National State of Prussia (3 teams)
Borussia Königsberg 07​

French Empire (4 teams)
Aigle Lyonnais​

Kingdom of Italy (4 teams)
F.C Torinese​

The United Kingdom (of England, Wales and Gibraltar) (4 teams)
The Northern Warriors​

Briswall Republic (2 teams)
Bristol Palace​

 

[Slartibartfast]

Official Name: Republic of Scotland (OTL Scotland)
Coefficient equivalent: Scotland
Teams in Champions Cup: 1

League: Scottish Football League Premier Division*

Team: Third Lanark Athletic Club*

Nicknames: The Hi-Hi’s or The Thirds
Colours: Red & White with occasional blue flashes

Founded: 1872 (original), 1967 (reformed)
Stadium: New Cathkin Park (Cap. 54,000)

History:
Third Lanark A.C. were formed on 12th December 1872 as an offshoot of the Glasgow-based 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers (part of the then British Army Volunteer force, later known as the Territorial Army and now subsumed into the Scottish Reserves Regiment). Inspired by the first ever international football match taking place 2 weeks earlier across the city (Scotland 0 – England 0), riflemen decided to form their own team.

Thirds proved themselves to be a strong footballing team with many victories in early Scottish tournaments. Indeed, they were winners of the Scottish Cup in 1889 & 1905, won the League Championship in 1904 as well as the Glasgow Cup in 1903, 1904 & 1909.

Relegation followed this early success in 1925 and Thirds earned a reputation as a yo-yo club with 3 relegations and 3 promotions within 10 years! By the late 1950’s, the club had stabilised themselves as one of the better teams in Scotland. In season 1960-61, Thirds finished in 3rd position in the Scottish top league, scoring 100 goals in the process. By 1965, however, the rot had set in.

In 1965, Thirds finished with 3 wins, 1 draw with 21 consecutive defeats consigning them to the Second Division. On 8th January 1966, the Glasgow Herald announced in a front-page story, that the board were selling their Cathkin Park home for housing and moving to the nearby “new town” of East Kilbride. This was the least of the problems, a Board of Trade investigation found serious financial irregularities including the defrauding the club lottery (it never paid out winnings). By June 1967, a court ruled that the club be liquidated due to the inability to pay a Glasgow builders company for works to Cathkin Park, however, a local businessman and fan of Thirds (who wished to remain anonymous) loaned the money as the club mortgaged their home ground. The club was then reconstituted as Third Lanark A.C. (1967). A legal case against the former owner was ruled pointless as he passed away from a heart attack in November 1967 and so too any chance of legal consequences.

The 1970’s proved a difficult time for Thirds – inability to pay the mortgage on Cathkin Park meant that they were locked out and had to groundshare with local rivals such as Queens Park and Clyde – the club were losing fans and more importantly money. David Murray (Later Sir David), recently crowned Young Scottish Businessman of the Year 1984, was looking to buy a Scottish football club. His hometown club, Ayr United, refused Mr Murray’s offer, but Thirds were a different case altogether. On 1st April 1985, a revolution began at Third Lanark A.C. For the token sum of £1, control of the club passed to one of Scotland’s richest men. In the space of 10 years, Thirds went from a homeless, broken, shadow of it’s former self, to Scottish League Champions in 1995 – their first championship win since 1904.

A new stadium fit for the 21st Century was built on the site of the former Braehead power station on the Western edge of the city. The 35,000 all seater New Cathkin Park stood out as a model of riverside regeneration in the Glasgow. In 2012, the Commonwealth Games came to Glasgow, with New Cathkin Park chosen to host the opening and closing ceremonies. In readiness for this, the stadium was again upgraded to hold 54,000 with a retractable roof in place (needed in Scotland!)

As things off the pitch improved, so too did performance on it. In 1985, Thirds finished in 7th place in the Scottish Third Division. The top earner was John Eadie (later sold to Meadowbank Thistle for £10,000) who collected £50 per week. In 1995, Thirds finished top of the Scottish Premier League with England international John Barnes scoring 23 goals (signed from Watford for £750,000 and £5,000 per week!) being the top earner.

Success continued with Thirds winning 20 league titles, 14 Scottish Cups, 14 League Cups and 2 appearances in European finals to show for Sir David’s investments. The downfall of the Old Firm due to the USL franchise, Northern Warriors, taking a lot of their revenue/fanbase has meant that Thirds are now Scotland’s biggest club.

Scottish Football League – Premier Division (Winners since 2000)

1999-2000 St Mirren
2000-2001 Third Lanark
2001-2002 Third Lanark
2002-2003 Third Lanark
2003-2004 Aberdeen
2004-2005 Hibernian
2005-2006 Third Lanark
2006-2007 Third Lanark
2007-2008 St Mirren
2008-2009 Third Lanark
2009-2010 Third Lanark
2010-2011 Third Lanark
2011-2012 Third Lanark
2012-2013 Third Lanark
2013-2014 Third Lanark
2014-2015 Third Lanark
2015-2016 Third Lanark
2016-2017 St Mirren
2017-2018 Third Lanark
2018-2019 Third Lanark
2019-2020 Third Lanark
2020-2021 Third Lanark

*Logo for SFL and Third Lanark A.C are OTL and not my own - The SFL existed 1890 - 2013 and Third Lanark badge is that of original club with two stars added for 20 league titles

 

[BritishThongs]

Don't tell me what I'm doing, but this thing has been dead for a year, but I'm not gonna necro this thread am I? I think it's gonna need a lock up now.