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43-833: The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England . The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although some members (such as Darlington ) transferred to join the Football League Third Division North in 1921, the North Eastern League absorbed the Northern Alliance in 1925–26 and split into two divisions. The league spent nine years like this, returning to one division in 1935; clubs from

86-484: A regular season in a league format, the top teams (possibly determined by conference or division) advance to the playoffs. In some such leagues having the best regular season record is relatively unimportant, though top-seeded teams in some leagues, such as the NFL , can gain byes to later rounds of the playoffs, and teams finishing with the best records usually have the advantage of playing the weakest teams that have advanced to

129-407: A set schedule, usually called a season , with the results of the individual competitions being used to name an overall champion. A league championship may be contested in a number of ways. Each team may play every other team a certain number of times in a round-robin tournament . Usually, teams play an equal number of games or matches at their own stadium and at other teams', because home advantage

172-519: Is a major factor in many sports. When teams competing for a tournament championship do not play the same teams the same number of times, it is known as an unbalanced schedule. In such a set-up, the team with the best record becomes champion, based on either a strict win–loss–tie system or on a points system where a certain number of points are awarded for a win, loss, or tie, while bonus points might also be added for teams meeting various criteria. Many leagues also use playoffs , where after teams compete in

215-550: Is a sports league where all the fixtures take place at the same venue, instead of rotating around the venues of the 'home' team, for each fixture. Several UK basketball leagues operate on this basis, intended to keep the costs of participation as low as possible, including: Many sports leagues also participate in a single-elimination tournament each year. In the United States, Mexico, and some other countries, these tournaments are commonly called "playoffs" and are played at

258-524: Is constructed differently—a description of the status of two leagues rather than the title of one—it is common to hear "MLB" without "the" attached to it, as in "the most home runs in MLB this year", since one would not say "the Major League Baseball". The common thread between all sports leagues is a structure that allows teams or individuals to compete against each other in a nonrandom order on

301-639: Is no team movement between the higher major league and the lower minor leagues . In many of these closed-model leagues in Canada and the United States, they are divided into subdivisions on historical or geographical lines. These may be referred to as conferences or divisions . For example, the National Football League (NFL) is divided into the National Football Conference and American Football Conference ;

344-455: Is not a league. In many cases, organizations that function as leagues are described using a different term, such as association , conference , division , leaderboard , or series . This is especially common in individual sports, although the term "league" is sometimes used in amateur individual sports such as golf . The term "league" is also sometimes applicable to competitions that would more traditionally be called tournaments , such as

387-551: Is still used in many team sports around the world. One potential drawback of this simple double round-robin format is that the number of teams in the league determines the schedule. Larger leagues may not be able to play as many games as such a system would require, and smaller leagues may want more games. In addition, leagues whose teams are geographically spread out over a wide area (a common situation for leagues in North America) may face significant travel costs. One solution

430-411: Is to allow teams to play each other whenever they see fit. In some sports, such as horse racing , the main goal of the entrants is to win individual purses , and there is little or no ranking or competition outside winning certain major races. A small amount of league organization may be imposed on these non-league sports by way of a series or tournament tying several individual events together, such as

473-428: Is to play an unbalanced schedule, with some teams playing additional games against some other teams; this is the way Major League Soccer has traditionally been scheduled, with the additional games being played against local rivals. Some leagues also break the league into subunits, often known as divisions and conferences , each of which may itself play a balanced or unbalanced schedule. A "central venue league" (CVL)

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516-427: Is used similarly in the United States to describe baseball teams that play in leagues other than those sanctioned by Major League Baseball . These teams do play in leagues and should not be confused with barnstorming teams that play truly non-league schedules. Individual sports often use an alternative type of league organization where competitors are ranked against each other. In the simplest cases, such as boxing ,

559-792: The AFC champion in the Super Bowl . Both the AFC and NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970. When the AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, the NFL consisted of 13 clubs. By 1969, the AFL had expanded to ten teams and the NFL to 16 clubs. In order to balance the merged league, all ten of the former AFL teams along with the NFL's Cleveland Browns , Pittsburgh Steelers , and Baltimore Colts formed

602-701: The English Football League (EFL) is a league system, while the term "National League" refers both to the league immediately below the EFL in the English pyramid and to its associated league system . An alternate system of league organization which is used primarily in Australia, Canada, and the United States is a closed model which always has the same teams playing, with occasional admission of expansion teams and relocation of existing teams . There

645-489: The National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), each have 16 teams organized into four divisions . Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 NFL merger with the rival American Football League (AFL). All ten of the former AFL teams and three NFL teams formed

688-553: The Seattle Seahawks . As of 2021, the only pre-merger team that does not play in its 1969 market is the St. Louis Cardinals , who moved in 1988 to Phoenix suburb of Tempe (they moved to Glendale in 2006). The Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, but moved back to Los Angeles in 2016. None of the expansion teams added after 1970 have relocated. With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time,

731-534: The Triple Crown . Even in team sports that normally use a traditional league format, some teams often exist outside any league; these teams are generally known as barnstorming teams and either schedule games against local professional or amateur competition or bring their own competition, such as the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters did when they toured with the Washington Generals . As with

774-474: The UEFA Champions League , which is organized with multiple small round-robin competitions followed by a single elimination tournament to choose an overall winner. "League" and its synonyms may be used to encompass either a single competition or a related group of competitions. Many groups use promotion and relegation , where the best-ranked team(s) in the lower division are promoted to

817-534: The divisional setup established in 2002 has remained static ever since. The original NFC logo, in use from 1970 to 2009, depicted a blue 'N' with three stars across it. The new logo was similar to that of the AFC (which itself was similar to the AFL logo) in that unlike the NFL logo it consisted of a single letter instead of a full abbreviation. The three stars represented the three divisions that were used from 1970 to 2001 (Eastern, Central and Western). The 2010 NFL season brought an updated NFC logo. Largely similar to

860-477: The higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team(s) in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season. Under this system, "league" may refer both to a league system , a group of leagues that are tied together in a hierarchical fashion by promotion and relegation, and to the individual leagues within the league system. For example, in English association football ,

903-607: The AFC while the remaining thirteen NFL clubs formed the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making a total of 16 clubs in each conference. The defending champions of the NFC are the San Francisco 49ers , who defeated the Detroit Lions in the 2023 season 's NFC Championship Game for their eighth conference championship in the team's history. Since 2002, like

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946-427: The AFC, the NFC has 16 teams that organized into four divisions each with four teams: East , North , South , and West . The fourteen opponents each team faces over the 17-game regular season schedule are set using a predetermined formula: Each NFC team plays the other teams in their respective division twice (home and away) during the regular season, in addition to eleven other games assigned to their schedule by

989-409: The AFC, while the remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC. While the newly formed AFC had already agreed upon and set up their divisional alignment plan along almost purely geographic lines, team owners could not agree to a plan on how to align the clubs in the NFC. The alignment proposals were narrowed down to five finalists (each one sealed in an envelope), and then the plan that was eventually selected

1032-581: The Globetrotters, barnstorming teams sometimes emphasize spectacle over athletic competition. In Europe, the term "cup competition" is used to describe single elimination or knock-out tournaments, where the pairing of teams in each round is determined by a "draw" (see for example, the FA Cup in England), to distinguish it from league competition, in which every club in the league or division plays

1075-430: The NFC and AFC, respectively, for one season before they switched conferences. The Seahawks returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment . The Carolina Panthers joined the NFC in 1995 . Parity is generally greater among NFC teams than AFC teams. The only NFC team that has never made a Super Bowl appearance is the Detroit Lions . Since the 2002 division realignment, the NFC has sent 12 different teams to

1118-651: The NFL: three games are assigned on the basis of a particular team's final divisional standing from the previous season, and the remaining eight games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions. This assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2023 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the NFC East plays against every team in the NFC West and AFC East. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents –

1161-530: The North Eastern League in 1962–63 but folded for a second time in 1964. The champions of the league were as follows: During the league's existence, 82 clubs and reserve teams played in the league. Sports league Many uses of the term league in sports and for sports organizations are misnomers as the term league relates specifically to the form of organization, requiring persons or bodies to be in league together. A sport competition owned and controlled other than by its participant players, teams or clubs

1204-1110: The Super Bowl -- all except the Lions, Vikings, Cowboys, and Commanders -- whereas the AFC has only sent 8: the Baltimore Ravens (1 time), the Cincinnati Bengals (1 time), the Las Vegas Raiders (1 time), the Kansas City Chiefs (2 times), the Denver Broncos (2 times), the Indianapolis Colts (2 times), the Pittsburgh Steelers (3 times) and the New England Patriots (8 times). The only NFC team to make back to back Super Bowls since 2002 are

1247-482: The conference, as other sports leagues do, but the individual schools also schedule a certain number of "non-conference" games that are organized independently between two schools in different conferences, or between a conference team and a non-conference team. Also, national championships in some college sports are determined by a ranking or playoff system that is independent of the individual conferences. Most major team sports play some form of round-robin schedule, where

1290-400: The end of the season, with the teams qualifying for the playoffs based on their performance during the season. In Europe, "cup" competitions are more common, with all teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that takes place during and parallel with the regular season. National Football Conference The National Football Conference ( NFC ) is one of the two conferences of

1333-536: The exception being the three games assigned based on the team's prior-season divisional standing. At the end of each season, the four division winners and three wild cards (non-division winners with best regular season record) in the NFC qualify for the playoffs . The NFC playoffs culminate in the NFC Championship Game with the winner receiving the George S. Halas Trophy. The NFC champion then plays

North Eastern League - Misplaced Pages Continue

1376-570: The goal is for each team to play a relatively balanced schedule with each other team in the league or in its league subdivision. Within this structure, there are a few significant differences between leagues, a few of which are set forth below. The simplest way to organize a sports league, and still one of the most common, is in a double round-robin format where each team plays each other team twice, once at home and once away. This ensures that every team plays an equally difficult schedule and that no team has undue home field advantage . This organization

1419-641: The latter conference was formed largely from the remnants of the American Football League after it merged with the NFL , though it now contains three original NFL teams and three expansion teams. Both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL) are divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The conferences in the NFL, NBA, and NHL are further divided into subsets, all of which are called divisions . These are geographically based, and teams play their divisional opponents more than any others, and then play

1462-502: The league" and be understood to mean the overall NFL, a similar mention of "the best outfielder in the league" is almost always a reference to the American or National League, while "in all of baseball" or similar is used to denote the larger status. Each of the major leagues also has its own set of awards to recognize the separation between the two, which means there are two MVPs , two Cy Young Award winners, etc. Since its name

1505-405: The old logo, the new logo has a fourth star, representing the four divisions that have composed the NFC since 2002, with the AFC logo being simultaneously updated in a similar manner. CBS aired the NFC's Sunday afternoon and playoffs games from 1970 through the 1993 season. From 1994 to 2013, Fox was the primary rightsholder to the NFC's games. In those years, all interconference games in which

1548-477: The other clubs in their conference more than their non-conference opponents. Baseball has a unique nomenclature, with " Major League Baseball " (MLB) the name of the overall grouping of 30 teams in two "major leagues", the American League (AL) and the older National League (NL). They are titled leagues rather than conferences for several reasons. The National League predates the American by 25 years and

1591-463: The other teams a pre-determined number of times in a season, usually on a home and away basis. Further, in England, the term non-league football is used for historical reasons to describe association football teams that play in organized leagues, but not in the English Football League or Premier League , the two highest levels of competition in that sport in that country. Independent baseball

1634-464: The playoffs. While round-robin and modified round-robin competitions are the most common form of league organization, there are a number of ways to organize a sporting competition, almost all of which may be described as a "league". Many sports organizations fall on a continuum between a total lack of organization, as in a pick-up game, and a formal league such as is common at the highest level of professional team sports. The simplest form of competition

1677-826: The rankings mean little and the major competition is to crown a champion in a title fight. In other sports, the rankings and leaderboards gain importance when they are used in seeding tournaments. In some sports, points are assigned to results at individual competitions, and the resulting points are used to generate a season rankings and determine the season champion. While not usually referred to as "leagues", but "tours" or "series", these season-long competitions with set events are very similar to league structures in team sports. Examples of this are motorsport , tennis , golf , skiing , beach volleyball and rugby sevens . American college sports are traditionally organized into groups of teams known as conferences . These conferences ordinarily keep league tables and crown champions within

1720-638: The second division re-forming the Northern Football Alliance, which became a feeder to it. As years progressed, numbers dwindled and the league initially folded in 1958 after the withdrawal of Football League clubs' reserve sides. The remaining members initially transferred to the Midland Football League before founding the Northern Counties League in 1960. The Northern Counties League was renamed

1763-586: The two leagues played mostly separate competitions within the larger framework of MLB. Finally, until 2000, they were actually separate legal entities, unlike the conferences of other leagues. Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan has a similar history, with the Central League and Pacific League not founded together. Due to this naming custom, it is common to use slightly different terms to discuss MLB. Where someone might refer to "the best quarterback in

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1806-570: Was considered a "major" league in comparison to its early competitors, and in a sense it simply extended this recognition to the AL, the only league of similar financial clout. In addition, the leagues played no interlocking schedule of any kind until 1995, and then added only a small amount of interleague play , with the main AL-NL competition occurring between their champions in the World Series . Thus

1849-499: Was picked out of a glass bowl by then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle 's secretary, Thelma Elkjer, on January 16, 1970. The five alignment plans for the NFC in 1970 were as follows, with Plan 3 eventually selected: Three expansion teams have joined the NFC since the merger, thus making the total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976 , they were temporarily placed in

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