officeglenn Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Alright, so a friend of mine told me about this over the weekend, and I love the idea: the Unofficial Football World Championships.Basically, it's a boxing-style world title for soccer, where one team holds the title until another team beats them. It started in 1967, when Scotland beat the reigning World Cup champions England in a British Home Championship match, so Scottish fans started jokingly making the claim that they were rightful world champs.Historians then went back to the first international match ever played, again between Scotland and England, in 1873, and awarded the first UFWC title to the winner of that game (actually, that was a 0-0 draw, so the UFWC was still vacant until the two sides met again the next year). They then traced it all the way through every A-side game ? World Cups, confederation championships, qualifiers, friendlies, etc. ? to present day. Of course, the title cannot change hands on a draw.Since the UFWC was defended so much among the British Isles near its beginning, Scotland have actually held it for the greatest number of matches and the greatest number of days, although England has the greatest number of separate reigns. A total of 46 different nations have held the UFWC, including the likes of Venezuela, Georgia and the Netherlands Antilles.The current champions are the Netherlands, winning it from Sweden in an international friendly on Nov. 19, 2008, and currently having made six title defenses. Their next defense comes on Sept. 5, 2009, in a friendly versus Japan.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unofficial_Football_World_Championshipshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_Unofficial_Football_World_Championshipshttp://www.ufwc.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintsfan Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 What a great idea. Interesting to see how rarely the actual world cup final is an UFWC match! (The last two, I think I am right in saying were the 1998 and 1986 games). Would be interesting to see what happened if FIFA adopted this format, in addition to the regular competitions. I wonder if some friendlies would become a bit more valuable. 2011/12 WFL Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-kj Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I've seen that before, but it's still pretty interesting to look at again. I'm also a fan of the ELO ratings, based on the same rating system as chess. Cool to see all the historical results for the national teams. Buy some t-shirts and stuff at KJ Shop! KJ Branded |Β Behance portfolio Β POTD 2013-08-22 On 7/14/2012 at 2:20 AM, tajmccall said: When it comes to style, ya'll really should listen to Kev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEW.ERA Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I read about the UFWC ages ago and I was thought it was a great idea, It would be nice to see it get more media attention. Β JETS|PACK|JAYS|NUFC|BAMA|BOMBERS|RAPS|ORANJE| Β Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintsfan Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Holland are still world champs, having beaten Japan 3-0. Scotland next up for the Oranje on Wednesday. Crucial World Cup qualifier, that Scotland need to win, so who knows there could be a change then!! 2011/12 WFL Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJMorris3 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Holland are still world champs, having beaten Japan 3-0. Scotland next up for the Oranje on Wednesday. Crucial World Cup qualifier, that Scotland need to win, so who knows there could be a change then!!Meanwhile, Venezuela holds the Virtual World Championships, having won it off of Bolivia last June. Their next defence is tonight against Chile. Hope the VWC holders make the World Cup, I want to see the titles (VWC, Natazzi's Baton, and UFWC) reunited again.Differences:UFWC - every A-side match used, result at completion mattersNatazzi's Baton - every A-side match used, result after 90 minutes mattersVWC - only continental qualifiers/tournaments count, result after 90 minutes matters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintsfan Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 The Netherlands beat Scotland 1-0 to retain the UFWC crown, and the e-trophy that goes with it, the Charles W Alcock Cup. (The win puts Scotland out of the real FIFA World Cup as well!) 2011/12 WFL Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winters in buffalo Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Pretty cool. Is there one for any US pro sports? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJMorris3 Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Pretty cool. Is there one for any US pro sports?There is the College Football Belt, currently held by Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiK Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 wow thats pretty cool. hup holland!Next test october 10th: Australia 73, 77, 81, 83, 90, 06 29, 30,Β 31,Β 36, 39, 44, 61, 62, 65, 66, 67, 96, 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiK Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 revisiting this:for the UFWC to change, the A-side has to be playing, correct? Say, if the Netherlands played San Marino in a friendly next week and they only had 1 "A" player, would it change if they lost? How do they keep track of who's A material and who's not? 73, 77, 81, 83, 90, 06 29, 30,Β 31,Β 36, 39, 44, 61, 62, 65, 66, 67, 96, 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintsfan Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 revisiting this:for the UFWC to change, the A-side has to be playing, correct? Say, if the Netherlands played San Marino in a friendly next week and they only had 1 "A" player, would it change if they lost? How do they keep track of who's A material and who's not?Without reading the rules closely, I would guess that what it means is that an international team will play various grades of international (eg under 17, under 21 and occasionally 'b'internationals). The UFWC is up for grabs in anything that is a full international not anything less. So if it were the Netherlands vs San Marino, it wouldn't matter who was on the field, but if it were Holland 'B' vs San Marino then the UFWC couldn't change hands. 2011/12 WFL Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakwood Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 revisiting this:for the UFWC to change, the A-side has to be playing, correct? Say, if the Netherlands played San Marino in a friendly next week and they only had 1 "A" player, would it change if they lost? How do they keep track of who's A material and who's not?Without reading the rules closely, I would guess that what it means is that an international team will play various grades of international (eg under 17, under 21 and occasionally 'b'internationals). The UFWC is up for grabs in anything that is a full international not anything less. So if it were the Netherlands vs San Marino, it wouldn't matter who was on the field, but if it were Holland 'B' vs San Marino then the UFWC couldn't change hands.I think the general rule is that a full match is any match played in a FIFA competition, a confederation competition, or a friendly on a FIFA designated date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintsfan Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Just to keep folks up to date, the Dutch drew 0-0 with the Aussies this morning to retain the championship. Next defense is against actual Football World Cup holders Italy in November. 2011/12 WFL Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJMorris3 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Just to keep folks up to date, the Dutch drew 0-0 with the Aussies this morning to retain the championship. Next defense is against actual Football World Cup holders Italy in November.Meanwhile, the Virtual World Championship just went from Venezuela to Paraguay after the Guaranies defeated La Vinotinto 2-1. Next up for Paraguay, Colombia on Wednesday, and then it's the World Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintsfan Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Italy failed in a bid to unite the UFWC with the official world cup winners title, drawing 0-0 at home to the Dutch. (Fantasy owners might be concerned over an apparently serious injury to Robin Van Persie!?!)2 goalless draws in a row for the Dutch!Next up for the Dutch, the recently deposed Virtual World Champions, Paraguay. 2011/12 WFL Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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