Reserve team

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For main roster players not in the starting lineup, see
substitute player
.

In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the primary team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to improve their skills, as well as members of the first team recovering from injury. In some countries, reserve or development teams compete in entirely separate competitions from first teams, while some countries allow reserve teams or farm teams to compete in the same league system as their club's first team, although usually in separate divisions.

In association football

Reserve teams usually consist of a combination of emerging youth players and first-team squad players. These teams are distinct from a club's

the Netherlands
, the adjective Jong (young) is commonly used.

In England reserve teams of professional clubs play in completely separate leagues and competitions such as the

Central League, although further down the pyramid
, reserve clubs feature in the same system as their parent clubs and can be promoted through the system. They cannot usually play in the same division as their parent team.

However, in other countries, reserve teams play in the same football league as their senior team and have competed in the domestic cup competitions. In

European Cup Winners' Cup and won the Segunda División
.

Bulgaria

Since 2015, the Bulgarian Football Union allowed Bulgarian teams to have reserve sides in Bulgarian football league system, obliged to play one level below their main side and also can not compete in the Bulgarian Cup. On 26 May 2023, CSKA 1948 II secured first place in Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football, becoming the first reserve team to become a champion of the league.[1]

Clubs are also allowed have third teams in the league system.

France

In France, the reserve teams of professional clubs playing in Ligue 1, Ligue 2 or National is restricted to play in fourth-tier Championnat National 2 if the club has a youth center or in fifth-tier Championnat National 3 if a team doesn't have a youth center. Reserve teams have not been allowed to play the Coupe de France to serve the non-reserve team's interests.

However, if the first team plays or get relegated in the fourth-tiered National 2, the reserve team is restricted to a fifth-tiered level.

If a reserve team finishes first in his National 2 group, the promotion is awarded to the second. Additionally, if a reserve team finishes first in his National 3 group but the club doesn't have a youth center, the promotion is instead awarded to the second.

Some clubs even have C or D-sides that play at regional or district levels.

E-sides


Germany

Main article: German reserve football teams

In Germany,

Second Bundesliga
instead.

Italy

In 2018, the

Atalanta Under 23.[18]

Japan

From the days of the old

league system. Even today reserve teams of J. League clubs are allowed to compete in the Emperor's Cup
.

Japan Soccer League reserve teams

These teams were never promoted to the top flight due to their senior squad's presence there.

Reserve clubs were usually localized in the same city as their senior team and should not be confused with clubs from sister companies within a

Toyota Motors, now known as Nagoya Grampus
, founding member and mainstay of the J. League.

J. League reserve teams today

Most

JEF United Ichihara Chiba Reserves, who compete in the national third division, the Japan Football League
. (Furukawa Electric Chiba still exists but is no longer affiliated with the JEF club.)

Norway

Main article:
Reserve teams in Norwegian football

In Norway, reserve football teams are permitted to participate at all levels of league football except for the two highest divisions, making the

fourth-tier league
, maintaining a league difference of two. Reserve teams bear the same name as their respective first teams with a "2" attached as a suffix. If a reserve team ends the season in a promotion spot to a league it cannot enter, that promotion is instead awarded to the best following team.

Scotland

Scotland has two reserve leagues under the umbrella of the SPFL Reserve League, where 27 of the senior clubs competed in its first year,[19] only for several (including Celtic and Rangers) withdrew to pursue their own programme of fixtures. The predecessor was the SPFL Development League until 2018.[20] It was described as a development league for under-20s, but teams could field up to five over-age players in each game.

Reserve teams (limited to under-21 players) of the clubs in the Scottish Premiership enter the Scottish Challenge Cup for lower division clubs (and some entrants from other parts of the British Isles). Proposals have been made by the bigger clubs to have 'B teams' placed into the Scottish football league system, but as of 2020 these have been rejected.[21][22]

South Korea

The South-Korean R League serves as a dedicated competition for reserve teams and has been intermittently active since 1990, with several interruptions and format changes throughout its history. In its current form, the league has been played since 2016.[23]

Spain

See also: Category:Spanish reserve football teams

Reserve teams in Spain play in the same league pyramid as their parent club but may not play in the same division.[24][25] Since 1990 reserve teams are restricted to play in Copa del Rey.[26][27]

Segunda División

In

FC Barcelona B
.

In

Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao respectively, finished as winners and runners-up of the Segunda División. Castilla, Bilbao Athletic and Atlético Madrid B finished third in 1987–88, 1989–90 and 1998–99
respectively. In normal circumstances, these teams would have all been promoted except for the fact that their senior team was already in the Primera División.

Special cases

Castilla CF in Copa del Rey

In 1980

Real Madrid but lost 6–1. However, because Real also won La Liga, Castilla CF qualified for European Cup Winners' Cup.[25] Despite beating West Ham United 3–1 in the opening game at the Bernabéu
, they lost the return 5–1 and went out in the first round.

Málaga CF

Málaga CF was originally formed in 1948 as Atlético Malagueño, the reserve team of CD Málaga. In 1992 CD Málaga was disbanded and two years later Atlético Malagueño were relaunched as Málaga CF. They were eventually promoted to the Primera División in 1999.

Thailand

There was a

Thai Premier League
from 2016 onwards.

Ukraine

In Ukraine, there are two types of reserve teams, one doubles and the other dvushky (dviyky, triyky) or second teams. The second teams compete in regular league competitions usually in the Ukrainian Second League or lower, some better have competed in the Ukrainian First League (such as FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv). Also some smaller clubs voluntarily would join bigger club as its farm (Ternopil-Nyva-2, Poltava-2 Karlivka, others), while other would be forced to be revived anew as the original club would be changed into a new better club. On rare occasions in the professional league competitions were allowed to compete some clubs' academies (Sports school of Olympic Reserve (SSOR) Metalurh, FC Dnipro-75 Dnipropetrovsk, others). Until 1999 second teams and third teams were allowed to compete in the Ukrainian Cup.

Since 1999–2000 in Ukraine started to talk about reviving some kind of separate competition for such teams or youth competitions. In 2004 there was organized competition for the Vyshcha Liha teams doubles. Some doubles were formed out of already existing second teams, other clubs kept their second teams as well as created additional doubles. It certainly reduced the number of second teams in regular league competitions as well eliminated some farm clubs. In 2008, championship among doubles was transitioned to youth competition (under-21) as Vyshcha Liha was also transformed into Premier Liha. In 2012, there was introduced additional competition in Premier Liha, the under-19 championship (see

Ukrainian Premier League Reserves and Under 19
). All these youth competitions "cleaned" the lower league structure of the second teams, but some clubs continue field them at national or regional levels.

In Ukraine, second teams act same as farm teams and they do not have an age restriction as youth teams. Second teams are not allowed to compete in the same division with their primary team (senior team). On several occasions, the second team of Dynamo Kyiv (

Dynamo Kyiv competes due to the rule. As any rules there are some exceptions, the second team of FC Nyva Ternopil (FC Ternopil
) were allowed promotion to the same division after it lost its affiliation with the main club and promoted to professional ranks starting again from regional competitions.

As it was mentioned above, farm teams in Ukraine are not necessary denoted with 2 (or 3), but could be a separate club that have an agreement with another club. Among examples there are FC Karlivka that used to be called FC Poltava-2 (the second team of FC Poltava), FC Kalush was known as LUKOR Kalush and Prykarpattia Kalush (the second team of FC Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk), FC Krasyliv was known as FC Krasyliv-Obolon as the second team of FC Obolon Kyiv, and there are other examples.

List of all second teams (competed at national competitions):

FC Kharkiv-2, MFC Mykolaiv-2, FC Stal-2 Alchevsk, FC Bukovyna-2 Chernivtsi, FC Sevastopol-2, FC Borysfen-2 Boryspil, FC Lviv, FC Naftovyk-2 Okhtyrka, FC Desna-2 Chernihiv, FC Spartak Molodizhne, FC Avanhard-2 Kramatorsk
.

United States

Seattle Sounders FC 2, into their league with special rules as a result of a partnership signed with MLS. This arrangement was later extended to USL League One (USL1), a third-level league also operated by the United Soccer League, but several MLS teams never fielded a reserve side in either USL league. In 2022, MLS is relaunching its reserve league as MLS Next Pro, which occupies the same level as USL1. The first season will feature 21 teams, all but one of which are MLS reserve sides. All remaining MLS teams except CF Montréal
have announced plans to place reserve sides in Next Pro by 2023.

The term is analogous to

junior varsity, a concept in high school and college sports which serves the same purpose in American football, basketball, and other sports to give players not usually featured in the first team, or varsity
, playing time and experience.

See also

References

  1. ^ Историческо! Дубълът на ЦСКА 1948 спечели титлата във Втора лига
  2. FFF
    .
  3. FFF
    .
  4. FFF
    .
  5. FFF
    .
  6. FFF
    .
  7. FFF
    .
  8. FFF
    .
  9. FFF
    .
  10. FFF
    .
  11. FFF
    .
  12. FFF
    .
  13. FFF
    .
  14. FFF
    .
  15. FFF
    .
  16. ^ Regionalliga Süd 2003–04 - final standings
  17. ^ "LA SECONDA SQUADRA BIANCONERA È REALTÀ!" (in Italian). 3 August 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Ufficiale: l'Atalanta Under 23 è realtà. Giocherà nel girone a di Serie C". 4 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Reserve League fixtures published". SPFL. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Development League fixtures". SPFL. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  21. ^ SPFL urged to introduce Premiership reserve teams into regionalised lower leagues in radical shake-up, Glasgow Times, 4 April 2020
  22. ^ Would Scottish football benefit from B teams?, BBC Sport, 19 June 2020
  23. ^ "K리그 챌린지, 3월 26일 개막... 부산 vs 안산 격돌" [K-League Challenger kicks off on March 26th... Pusan vs. Ansan clash]. interfootball.heraldcorp.com (in Korean). 26 January 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  24. ^ Reserve teams in the lower leagues? That idea doesn't even work in Spain, The Guardian, 26 February 2019
  25. ^ a b What are Football Club ‘B’ Teams and are they Successful?, Goal Profits, 20 December 2018
  26. ^ La irrepetible gesta del filial del Real Madrid en la Copa del Rey
  27. ^ La Real Sociedad B y otros filiales que han hecho historia en LaLiga

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reserve_team&oldid=1208792996"