Football in Patriam

**Football** is a very popular sport in Patriam.

## History

The first football club in Patriam, FC Patriam, was founded in 1887. The Royal Patriam Football Association was founded in 1903, and the First League in the same year. The Patriam national football team was founded in 1923.

For the first eighty years or so of football in Patriam, the First League was dominated heavily by two teams, FC Patriam and Georgeland United, though there were also some other teams that got good results, like Greenville City and New Portland United. Top two finishes by teams outside the aforementioned four were rare. The First League was generally considered to be fairly "static" for the first half of the twentieth century. During this period, the national team only played sporadically and didn't perform well.

The First League became professional in 1973, which resulting in the quality of the national team improving somewhat. With the popularity of the North American Soccer League, numerous teams similar to American franchises were created in Patriam in the late 1970's and the 1980's; these teams, however, were rarely able to win promotion from the amateur Second League. This led to club owners pushing the RPFA to create a second professional football league; this only intensified in the 1980's as the NASL declined and folded in 1985.

The RPFA obliged in 1989, and the Premier League was created above the First League; at the same time, the Second League was expanded and split into four groups for different parts of the country. This allowed the franchise-like teams to enter professional competition, and improve their quality. Gradually, this led to a distinct period in the history of football in Patriam, lasting from roughly 1995 to 2005, sometimes termed the "Reformation Era" after the "Classic Era". The Reformation Era saw, instead of just FC Patriam and Georgeland United, numerous of the franchise-like teams also contend for the title, including the George City Wolves, the Otan City Reds, the Port Enderong Jets and several others. These new teams benefitted from investments and media attention from the United States due to the absence of a professional American league at this time. The Reformation Era also saw a noticeable improvement in the quality of the national team.

Eventually, the owners of FC Patriam and Georgeland United were able to obtain large investors in order to surpass the franchise-like teams financially, while some of the franchise-like teams suffered relatively poor attendances due to being based in smaller cities. After roughly 2005, the top of the Patriam football leagues resembled its pre-Reformation Era state, leading some to call a "Restoration Era". However, the quality of teams in the Second League was again improving, which led to the RPFA again creating a new professional league above the older ones, the Major League in 2010. Since the Reformation Era, despite the return to dominance of FC Patriam and Georgeland United and the decline of many of the franchise-like teams, the league gained some new title contenders, namely Danver Football and Blue Star F.C.. The national team, however, declined somewhat after the Reformation Era.

## National Cup

The Patriam Cup is the national football cup of Patriam. All clubs of Patriam are able to win this cup. All clubs first compete in the cup-competition of their state (like Janon Cup, Georgeland Cup, Annrock Cup etc.). The winning club of each state goes to the Patriam Cup.