Looks like we'll have 27 teams. Normally, I'd insert my Austria-Hungary scrub squad as cannon fodder to bring us up to an even 28 but that team got deleted...so 27 will have to do. The format with 27 or 28 is the same except Group G will only have three teams instead of four.

If anybody has a scrub team they are willing to enter to fill the one spot remaining in Group G, let me know and I'll add them, even if the Group Stage has already gotten underway.

I'll be slowly building the tournament thread today and, at some point tomorrow morning, the groups will be official and we'll be off and running.

Welcome to FC Dynasty Cup XVIII. The Cup XVII Champion, FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men and williamshake, are back to defend their title as they try to build upon their fantastic feat of winning it all in their first Cup try. As always, the Champs get the honor of the pre-tournament #1 seed (the first listed team in Group A.)

TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The tournament will be split into stages, a group play followed by knockout rounds leading to a Championship Round. Teams will be eliminated at the end of each stage until a Champion is crowned. This Champion will lay claim to glory and shall have bragging rights over the entirety of the FC Dynasty universe for a very short period of time.

Group Stage
Each team is assigned to a group. Group play will consist of a round robin, with each team playing a home and away against the other teams within their group for a total of six Group Stage games, except the teams in Group G, which will play a total of four. Points will be awarded on the following: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.

The top two teams in points out of each group will advance to the Knockout Stage along with the two best 3rd place finishers. Tiebreakers will be decided in the following order for the top two finishers in each group: stage points - goal differential - away goals - goals scored. For the 3rd Place teams, stage points will be divided by the number of games played, to account for the odd number of teams in Group G. If the teams are still tied after all tiebreakers are applied, a coin flip using random.org's random number service will determine who advances.

Knockout Stage
Each round will be a home and away series with the winner based on aggregate goals. If aggregate goals are tied, the higher seed will host the lower seed in an additional game. If that game is tied, the lower seed will then host the higher seed and so on. As long as both coaches are scheduling games, the round will continue until one side wins outright. If one team fails to schedule for three consecutive days, that team will forfeit the round and the other team will advance.

Seeding for the knockout rounds will be based on stage points tiebreakers as listed above.. The seven group winners will automatically be awarded the first seven seeds, the 2nd place finishers will get seeds 8-14 and the two 3rd place finishers that advance will be assigned the 15th and 16th seeds.

The First Round will consist of the following:

#1 seed vs #16 seed
#2 seed vs #15 seed
#3 seed vs #14 seed
#4 seed vs #13 seed
#5 seed vs #12 seed
#6 seed vs #11 seed
#7 seed vs #10 seed
#8 seed vs #9 seed

The Quarterfinals will consist of the following:

#1/16 vs #8/9
#2/15 vs #7/10
#3/14 vs #6/11
#4/13 vs #5/12

The Semifinals will consist of the following:

#1 seed quarterfinals bracket vs #4 seed quarterfinals bracket
#2 seed quarterfinals bracket vs #3 seed quarterfinals bracket

Championship Round
The Championship Round will match the two remaining teams in a home and away series with the winner being based on aggregate goals. Away goals are not used as a tiebreaker in the Championship Round. If an aggregate goal tie occurs, the host of the additional game will be decided by a coin flip using random.org's random number service. The Championship Round is the only round not subject to a time frame. Tiebreakers will be played until a Champion is declared.

Bums Bracket
Any team that does not qualify for the knockouts may participate in the Bums Bracket, which will follow a similar elimination format - each round will be a home and away series with the winner based on aggregate goals and if aggregate goals are tied, the higher seed will host the lower seed in an additional game. There will need to be at least four teams that sign up for the Bums in order for it to be played. The seeding format will be adjusted based on how many teams participate.

TOURNAMENT RULES
Each stage of the tournament will have a specific time frame in which all games must be scheduled. Everybody will be sending challenges simultaneously, especially at the start of the tournament, so overlap is inevitable. To account for the fact that it may take several attempts to get all games on the docket, the time frame is generous. However, failure to schedule games within the allotted time will result in a forfeiture.

On the evening of the last day for each stage, all games that have not been scheduled will be deemed a 0-0 draw so that the stage can be completed. The team failing to issue (or accept) a challenge will be awarded no points for the drawn game and any team with more than one forfeiture during the Group Stage cannot advance. A forfeiture during the Knockout Rounds will result in a walkover for your opponent. The team deemed at fault is at my discretion but it is usually obvious which team has gone AWOL.

As a general rule, the following guideline should be used. If you receive a challenge in the same slot you have sent a challenge, please accept the incoming challenge and re-issue your own outgoing challenge. If you receive multiple challenges in the same slot, choose one ASAP to give the team you declined as much time as possible to issue a new request.

Remember, the team issuing the challenge is the home team. If more games are scheduled than needed (you send two challenges to the same team and both are accepted,) only the first game will count unless I am told otherwise and prior to the first game being played.

Unscheduled Games will be tracked during each stage. In the last 72 hours of each time frame, any team that has not received a challenge by an opponent (or has sent a challenge that has not been accepted,) should post a message to the other coach here or, if you do not have posting rights, via sitemail to gomiami1972, who will post the request on your behalf. I would prefer, if you do not have posting rights, to send requests through me rather than sitemail each other. Many FC Dynasty owners to not check sitemail regularly. This thread is the best place to communicate with fellow Cup participants..

Time Frame to Schedule Group Stage Games - Jan 20th thru Jan 31st (Challenges must be sent and accepted by 7pm on the 31st. This does not mean the games must be played by the 31st.)
Time Frame to Schedule 1st Round Games - TBD
Time Frame to Schedule Quarterfinal Games - TBD
Time Frame to Schedule Semifinal Games - TBD

Best of luck to all participants in their quest for the ultimate prize - The FC Dynasty Cup!

List of Participants

Group A
FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men (World 92) - williamshake (defending Champion)
Not Very United (World 85) - pubmonkey2
Fianna AFC (World 62) - EJP65
North Polar Dragons FC (World 79) - shoe3

Group B
VB Hibernian (World 74) - EJP
Rushmore FC (World 59) - bert_fischer
SwampDragons United (World 72) - sd59
FC Cackalacky (World 79) - clememp

Group C
Kobelco United Football Club (World 87) - nittany88
FC Edinburgh Bullet Birds (World 90) - craigferguso
Hardknoxs F.C. (World 74) - hardknox23
Swampdragons FC (World 90) - swamp_dragon

Group D
Metropolitan Eagles (World 78) - KSBeachBums
Brighton AFC (World 62) - vkurk
Wolfsburg Dynamit (World 87) - BruKing
Club Deportivo Baile Brian (World 84) - mnnorthstars

Group E
FC Not Very Athletic (World 62) - pubmonkey
Swamp City Dragons (World 64) - sd69
the crutchanators of soccer (World 79) - brandon5135
Slough FC (World 87) - Levy2818

Group F
FC Trojans of SC (World 62) - spdracer
Holbæk Idrætsforening (World 79) - flames5881
FC Stolpen Steamroller (World 71) - Dorf
Southeast Indiana Football Club (World 87) - gccoach

Group G
FC Kingston (World 80) - jmjtrain
FC Winnipeg Royal Lions (World 85) - TuteFruy
Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. (World 71) gomiami1972

Group Tables and Results
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Group tables and results will be updated every evening around 7pm during the Group Stage of the tournament. Individual game results show the home team always to the LEFT of the bracketed score. Table abbreviations key: GoalF = goals for, GoalA = goals against, GoalD = goal differential, AwayG = away goals, (F) = team has forfeited point(s) due to failure to schedule, Blue Highlighting = qualified for the next round, (#) Knockout Seed.
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GROUP A - 12 games remaining	Wins	Loss	Ties	GoalF	GoalA	GoalD	AwayG	Stage Points
FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men...............	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Not Very United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fianna AFC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Polar Dragons FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

xxx [0 : 0] xxx
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GROUP B - 12 games remaining Wins Loss Ties GoalF GoalA GoalD AwayG Stage Points VB Hibernian 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rushmore FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 SwampDragons United.................................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 FC Cackalacky 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

xxx [0 : 0] xxx
. .
xxx [0 : 0] xxx

Knockout Results

The Knockout Rounds will consist of the First Round, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and a 3rd Place game if both teams are willing to participate. Results are updated after the 7:00 pm game each night. Individual game results show the home team always to the LEFT of the bracketed score. Teams that forfeit a game due to a failure to schedule cannot advance. A full explanation as to tiebreakers can be found in the Tournament Format and Rules post above. Numbers in bold between team names represent aggregate goals. Abbreviations key if necessary: (F) = team has forfeited round due to a failure to schedule. Blue Highlighting = advanced in the knockout rounds.

L'Orteil D'or (The Golden Toe) tracker for the tournament's top goal scorer

3rd Place Home Game Coin Flip

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Bums Bracket Finals Extra Game Coin Flip (if necessary)

reserved

FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men and williamshake, your title defense and bid to become a repeat Champion starts now!

After some technical difficulties this morning (the entire subdivision's fiber optic cable was cut by a bulldozer) the Group Stage is now underway and you are free to start scheduling at your convenience.

The Time Frame to Schedule Group Stage Games will be Jan 20th thru Jan 31st If you are new to the Cup, everybody will, sooner or later, be in the middle of a tourney stage when their particular world flips to a new season. To account for this, there is a large spread of days to schedule games in case you need time to sign new players. So, for the group stage, you have until January 31st to schedule your games...and please note that the games only need to be scheduled, not necessarily played, by the 31st.

Spread your outgoing challenges out. Slot 10 is as good as Slot 1. If everybody uses the first three slots, there will be a traffic jam. So, here's the rule of thumb I suggest - If you receive an incoming challenge in the same time slot you have sent an outgoing challenge, please accept the incoming challenge and re-issue your own challenge in a later time slot. If you receive multiple incoming challenges in the same time slot, choose one ASAP. Choosing one quickly gives the team you auto-rejected as much time as possible to realize their challenge was denied so that they can issue a new challenge to you.

I have verified that each User ID and team name is spelled correctly. You can copy/paste the user ID or team name from the participating teams list. While a lot of teams have similar names (there are a lot of dragons,) every ID is unique. If you use the copy/paste, make sure there are no spaces either before or after the team name or user ID.

OK, everyone. It's time to lace up your cleats and enter the arena. Best of luck and show no mercy - goal differential is a tiebreaker. 16 survive the round-robin to continue the fight in their bid for the Ultimate Prize.

Challenges sent! GL everyone.

Challenges also sent out. Thanks so much for hosting this tourney. It's the main reason I still play FC Dynasty!