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Football in Poafmersia
History of football in PFThe interest in playing football started back in the 1980s, where small groups of people started coming together to play football together. It was not until the late 90s where semi-professional clubs started to be formed, and states started organising mini leagues for their clubs. During this period, the 12 states had launched their own leagues and cups, first starting with Bikasta Football League, followed by Hitimatias Football League, Cochas Football Cup, and Lamas Football League, before the rest of the 10 states followed.
With rising popularity of football, the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport (MCMS) announced in 2012 that they would set up a Poafmersia Football Association (PFFA), structuring the current state leagues and eventually merging them into 1 national system. The PFFA also started a youth player training system, with the aim of having a national team by 2018.
The restructuring of football system was announced in 2017, after looking through the current systems and consulting the various stakeholders. The format of the restructure was made known to the public for the first time, as well as the creation of the PFFA National Development League, a league for U23 teams of the clubs. The clubs’ position in the pyramid were assigned based on the level of football the club played (semi-pro or amateur or professional), past performance records, and a playoff was held in the August-October period. The new league season would be shifted to a September-May period, starting from the 2019/20 season which will start in November and slowly adjusted to meet the eventual timeline. This is to coincide with other regional competitions PFFA is involved in.
Former Winners
Before 2012, there was no official records of winners of football league.
Between 2013-2018, states had their state-wide football league, and the champions of each league would come together to participate in the PFFA Champions Cup. State winners and Champions Cup Winners are as follows:
State | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
Bikasta | Jote United (1) | Jotim FC (1) | Cochin FC (1) | Cochin FC (2) | Jote United (2) | Jottim FC (2) |
Cochas | Mancodas Athletic FC (1) | Mancodas Athletic FC (2) | Mancodas Athletic FC (3) | Mancodas City (1) | Mancodas Athletic FC (4) | Mancodas City (2) |
Dalaris | Dalaris Sports FC (1) | Dalaris City (1) | Dalaris Sports FC (2) | Dalaris City (2) | Forte Agureo FC (1) | Dalaris City (3) |
Forche | Didari City (1) | Real Didari (1) | Didari City (2) | Pacifica (1) | Real Didari (2) | Real Didari (3) |
Gikash | Dury FC (1) | Dury FC (2) | Dury FC (3) | Dury FC (4) | Dury FC (5) | Dury FC (6) |
Hitimatias | Sochra Mudra FC (1) | Kavalti Rangers (1) | Kinabitan (1) | Sochra Mudra FC (2) | Kavalti River FC (1) | Sochra Mudra FC (3) |
Nitrishi-pai | Bikarish (1) | Bikarish (2) | Bikarish (3) | Holhot United (1) | Bikarish (4) | Bikarish (5) |
Piskn | Trimidau Rukiya (1) | Trimidau Rukiya (2) | Trimidau Rukiya (3) | Offsdi Dalas (1) | Offsdi Dalas (2) | Trimidau Rukiya (4) |
Ramadau Trish | Rama Holma (1) | Donbester (1) | Rama Holma (2) | Kistina Galaxy (1) | Rama Holma (3) | Kistina Galaxy (2) |
Tikahs | Sarim Potato FC (1) | Sarim Potato FC (2) | Fiskadaha FC (1) | Totalaha (1) | Fiskadaha FC (2) | Fiskadaha FC (3) |
Champions Cup | Mancodas Athletic FC (1) | Dury FC (1) | Mancodas Athletic FC (2) | Dury FC (2) | Bikarish (1) | Dalaris City (1) |
Current Format
Currently, Poafmersia has 5 tiers in its pyramid. The 5 tiers of football is as listed in the table below:
Tier | League Name | No. of Teams | Promotion | Relegation |
1 | PFFA Premier League | 20 | None | 2 teams + 1 from Playoff (1) |
2 | PFFA Super League | 20 | 3 teams | 3 teams |
3 | National League 1 | 24 | 2 teams + 1 from Playoff (2) | 4 teams* |
4 | National League 2 | 22* | 2 teams* | 4 teams* |
5 | National League 3 | 20* | 2 teams* | None |
(2) 3rd to 6th place qualify for semi-finals (3rd vs 6th, 4th vs 5th). Winner of the finals is promoted.
All matches for playoffs are one-off.
*The numbers are adjusted for Season 3 due to closure and merger of clubs.
For modern records, here is the 
spreadsheet that links to all the record of Club Football winners we have here in Poafmersia.
FA Cup
The FA Cup adopts a single-leg and replay format for the first few rounds of the tournament, before eliminating replays at the Round of 16, and a double-leg semifinals, before a single-leg neutral finals. The current entry list, updated as at Season 3, is as follows:
Round No. | Teams entering | Teams from Previous Round | Total Teams |
1 | 44 teams, from NL2, NL3 | None | 44 |
2 | 42 teams, from SL, NL1 | 22 | 64 |
3 | 16 remaining teams, excluding FFI LdV/TdC particpants and FA Cup defending champions*, from PL | 16 | 48 |
4 | None | 24 | 24 |
5 | Top 3 in PL (teams in FFI LdV/TdC), and FA Cup defending champions* | 12 | 16 |
6 (Quarterfinals) | None | 8 | 8 |
7 (Semifinals) | None | 4 | 4 |
Finals | None | 2 | 2 |
1. If the FA Cup winner comes from Super League or National League 1, the lowest ranked team in the new season's Premier League (previous season's Super League 3rd place) will play in the 2nd round instead of the 3rd round. Additionally, if the FA Cup winner comes from National League 2/3, the lowest-ranked promoted team in the National League 1 this season (ie. 2nd in National League 2 last season) will be shifted to play in the 1st round.
2. If there are more than 3 teams playing in the FFI LdV and TdC competitions (due to the team being title holders and did not qualify for the competition this season), and one of them is not the FA Cup winner, the PFFA will decide which team enters the FA Cup in Round 3, and which is Round 5.
3. If the FA Cup winner is also in the top 3 of the Premier League, and therefore qualifies for the FFI LdV or TdC, the highest-ranked team in the Premier League (ie. 4th in last season's Premier League) will enter in Round 5.
National Team
The Poafmersia National Team was set up as part of the reformation of football in Poafmersia. The plans were to form an international squad representing the nation by 2020, and in 2019, head coach Mr. Adnan Suliaha announced he will be leading a team to represent the nation in the Baptism of Fire and attempt to qualify for the World Cup.
The Red Panjias first participated in the Qualifiers for World Cup 84, where they came in 3rd in their qualification group. Their second qualification attempt comes in World Cup 85, where they came in 5th in their qualification group. Currently, Poafmersia is ranked 52nd in the World, according to KPB Rankings updated after BoF73.
