Daryan Pro League
The Daryan Pro League is the top flight of Daryan association football, founded in 1988 and held continuously since then. The league includes 20 franchise clubs from across Darya. Unlike in most nations' football leagues and the National Conference for lacrosse, the Daryan Pro League does not feature promotion or relegation.
History[edit | edit source]
Football first became prominent in Darya in the mid-20th century. Increased international commerce and immigration led to the first football clubs in port cities such as Dhanora by 1909. The sport took off in earnest as a result of the colonial experience, when Daryan colonial administrators in colonies such as Mallacaland became partial to the game.[a] In the short term, the Daryan Civil War (1910-1915) contributed to the rise of Daryan football, as soldiers found football easier to play while on the march, while the war devastated Darya's lacrosse clubs and infrastructure. The growth of mass media contributed to the sport's rise, and many lacrosse teams founded football affiliates which competed in the Conference of Daryan Football (CDF, 1919-1955).
The initial surge in football in Darya subsided, particularly as an economic slowdown in the 1940s spelled the death of many football teams, and nationalistic fervor promoted by the Daryan Imperial household led to football being criticized as an effeminate foreign sport. In 1955, the Conference of Daryan Football collapsed, leading to a drought in Daryan football which would last until after the Great War. Interestingly, perceptions of football as a more gentle, sedate sport meant that women's participation in football continued even during the drought; women were excluded from lacrosse, but women's colleges and secondary schools during the mid-20th century typically featured football as the sole team athletic event.
The end of the Great War offered opportunities for a resurgence in Daryan football. During the occupation of Darya, many soldiers on occupation duty formed football teams which competed against upstart local clubs. The wartime experiences of Daryan soldiers abroad also helped promote the game's growth—one of the game's first post-war Daryan stars, Rajesh Bai, had first begun playing during years spent in a prisoner of war camp in Laeral. Many Daryan settlers in Andhrapur also emigrated following the country's independence, some of whom had played football in Andhrapur's colonial league. In 1973, the All-Darya Football Championship was founded, consisting of 10 teams, with the number growing to 18 by 1978. This league faced financial and legal difficulties, including widespread corruption and legal scrutiny by authorities, and folded in 1984.
Over the next several years, individual football clubs operated under league arrangements conducted on a season-by-season basis. In 1988, the Daryan Pro League was formed to unite eight of the largest and most popular clubs. Shrewd television deals allowed the Pro League to outdo its competitors and become Darya's dominant football league by 1994 when it absorbed its largest rival. Today, the Daryan Pro League's membership has grown to 20 clubs, and it is recognized as the preeminent Daryan football league, second only to the National Conference in lacrosse for revenue.
Clubs[edit | edit source]
| Club | City | Founding Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amroha FC | Kurwai, Kurwai State | ||
| Gulana FC | Gulana, Rhandistan | Nicknamed the "Rhandi national team" by Rhandi nationalists | |
| RC Sambhal | Sambhal, Bhavra | ||
| Vidisha FC | Vidisha, Ujjain | ||
| Begusarai SC | Kurwai, Kurwai State | Also known as Sporting Club of Begusarai | |
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ In fact, one of the first Daryan football teams, Emirs of Dhanora FC, was founded as a club of former colonial officers in Mallacaland and also included a small number of Mallacan expatriates as players.