Saturday 31 December 2022

The best of 2022

The year 2022 was a successful one for most of the teams we are dealing with. Bourj FC, Cusco FC and especially Total Soccer achieved very good results, Fayoum SC classified mid-table as usual, while 1. FK Svidník miraculously remained in the Third Division. At the opposite end, OFK Tryavna was suspended by the Bulgarian Football Union, and a phoenix club, FK Tryavna 1922, emerged in summer to take its place in Gabrovo Regional League. Pepiniere FC and Maaraba SC saw no action this year.

The only team that played in the top league of their country, Bourj FC, succeeded to classify third in the 2021-2022 Lebanese League, which equals their best result ever. The 2022-2023 season started very well, with a winning streak, but results got poorer towards the end of the year, and they finished only fifth in the final table of the regular season. However, Bourj FC qualified for the championship play-offs to be played in 2023, and the gaps are very small, so they might be able to achieve a good performance in 2022-2023 as well.

Cusco FC were relegated to the Peruvian Second Division in the beginning of 2022, as a consequence of a CAS decision. This was their first season in the Second Division ever, after 10 years in the top flight. They promoted to the Peruvian First Division in 2011 by winning Copa Peru. In the Second Division, Cusco FC dominated clearly the competition, winning both tournaments, Apertura and Clausura, and promoted back to the First Division without the need for a play-off.

Fayoum SC had a regular 2021-2022 season in the Egyptian Second Division, with the usual change of managers. There was some stress regarding relegation, but the team eventually finished in a comfortable ninth position. The 2022-2023 is however different, as they have to classify among the top five (or six) to get a place in the future Second Division A. The start of the season was rather poor and they are classified only in 13th place after 12 rounds (almost half of the season), with slim chances to get to the needed upper places in the table. Not impossible though.

The best performance of the year 2022 came from Total Soccer, which participated for the first time in the Colombian Primera C, the third tier in Colombia, and the highest league available for amateur teams. They succeeded to win the competition (which involved hundreds of teams), after some dramatic matches in the knock-out rounds.

1. FK Svidník had a very good second half of the 2021-2022 season, but only classified 11th, which seemed not enough to participate in the new format of the Slovakian Third League. However, they were eventually allowed to participate. They are now struggling to survive in this new league, with a lot of stronger teams than before.

OFK Tryavna were suspended by the Bulgarian Football Union in March 2022, when they were leaders of the Gabrovo Regional League and were heading towards promotion to the Bulgarian Third League. The decision came as a big surprise, as many other clubs were suspended too, for participating in an allegedly illegal meeting organized by Dimitar Berbatov, the opposition candidate to the presidency of the Bulgarian Football Union. The club had to reorganize, and a phoenix club was born in summer 2022, named FK Tryavna 1922, which enrolled in the 2022-2023 Gabrovo Regional League. They are now leaders in the league after half season, and are looking forward to promotion in the Third League.

Pepiniere FC did not enrol in any competition in 2022. There were talks to change their name into Kamonyi FC and to become a team supported by Kamonyi regional government, and to enrol in the 2022-2023 Rwandan Second Division as such. However, nothing came out of it, as the 2022-2023 Rwandan Second Division started without either Pepiniere FC or Kamonyi FC.

The same holds true for Maaraba SC, whose football team was inactive in 2022.

Best team

Total Soccer


 

Best performance

Total Soccer - Equipo Azul 2-1 (second leg of the Colombian Primera C final)

Best manager

Pablo Peirano (Cusco FC)

Best player

Khaled Takaji (Bourj FC)

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