1995/96 or 1997/98 database - Competition structures

[JamesTheSuperBlue]

Hi all.

Entirely theoretical at the moment, but if I was to work on a database for either or both of these two seasons, I would of course work on club division swapping, kit colours, histories and records, players, attributes, etc. first.

After that is done, I have two options with regards to competition and league structures. The first option is to leave the English league structure, the English cup competitions and the European club competitions as they are. Obviously they are all today different in ways to how they were in 1995 or in 1997, but this option saves tonnes of faffing about in the editor.

The second option is:

• To restructure the entire English league system thus getting rid of the second relegation place at the bottom of D3, getting rid of BSN and BSS and returning the Auto Windscreens Shield (JP Trophy) to something like its 1995 or 1997 format.
• Restructuring the European club competition scene so the the Champions League and Uefa Cup resemble their 1995 or 1997 formats and add the Cup Winners and Intertoto Cups.

I'm a stickler for realism so prefer the second option but is a total restructure of the English league system and of the European club competition scene worth the effort? And if it's worth the effort, is it even possible? I've had trouble nailing down a description of the Champions League and UEFA Cup formats in 1995/96 and 1997/98, and re-doing those would require messing about with UEFA club/country coefficients and country/league reputations.

Has anyone done anything similar (especially with the European club cup system) and got it anywhere near correct? Or can anyone lend any advice?

 

[Adi1974]

i have the cd of the 95/96 season so can tell you the champs league format if that would be any use to you ?

 

[Adi1974]

what i ment to say is i have championship manager 2 on cd rom so i can tell you the format of the champions league

 

[JamesTheSuperBlue]

i have the cd of the 95/96 season so can tell you the champs league format if that would be any use to you ?

That would be a lot of use to me, thanks!

Could still prove difficult to replicate that format perfectly in the editor though, espcially as I would need to fiddle around with UEFA club and country coefficients to make sure that European countries get the same number of CL and UEFA Cup spots in the following seasons in-game. That's why I'm hoping someone might also know of someone who has already successfully done an old CL format!

 

[Adi1974]

there wasnt that many teams in champs league back then if memory serves me correct there were 2 knockout rounds and then 8 teams that were left went into the group stage and the top 2 in each group made up the semi's so champs league had only 32 teams as only league winners went into it

 

[Adi1974]

sorry me bad ignore the above post the champions league in 95/96 consisted of 4 groups starting on september 13th ending in december 8 teams qualified automatically and 8 more via a prelim round. and obviously the top 2 in each group went to the 1/4 finals! it was the only time juventus won it in the 90's and if you want to be very realistic the 16 teams were! group a panathinaikos(gre) nantes(fra) porto (por) Aalborg bk(den) group b blackburn (eng) spartak moscow(rus) legia warsaw (pol) rosenberg(nor) group c juventus (ita) dortmund(ger) steaua(rom) rangers (scot) group d ajax(hol) real madrid(spa) grasshopper(swi) ferencvaros(hun)