Football
The most popular Sport in the World is Association Football AKA Football AKA Soccer, the latter name being used mostly in areas where other games are popular. The Rules and (To some extent) The History of the Game are more or less the same as they are "here".
Britain
The early history of football in IB is largely the same that it is "here". The game (along with Rugby, but that is another story) grew out of the Mob Football of Mediavel Europe and the Public School Football that emerged in the ninteenth century thoughout the Kingdoms. The Football Association in England was founded in 1863, the Football Association of Kemr (Lla Asygedwin di Fall-Bedd di Gemr) in 1865.
The top league in England is known simply as the Football League. It consists of 48 teams and is divivded into two Divisons of 24 teams, each known simply as the First Division and the Second Division. The First Division is the top flight of English football with Second Division being the next leg down. Below the Second Division are the Northen and Southern Leagues and below them are other smaller regional leagues. There is (as there is "here") a system of promotion and relgation were teams from that finish at the top of the lower leagues are sent up to the league above them and teams at the bottom are sent below.
The top league in Kemr is Lla Lig di Gemr; it is more or less orginized the same way as the Football League in England except that it has fewer teams (40 20 in Each Division)
The top teams in England are based in the London area while the top teams in Kemr are in the northern provinces of the country, many of them centered around the cities of Mafyc and Sedan (*roughly* Manchester and Liverpool "Here" unless anyone has any better ideas). This includes one of the most famous football clubs in the world, CF Mafyc Ynid. (BP, [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/conculture/message/36230 362300).
North America
In North America, Football and Rugby are played throughout the NAL, Louisianne, New Francy and Oregon, while AC, Montrei and Alyeska are mostly Football playing. In the NAL and Lousianne, while both codes are popular, rugby (specifically rugby league) has a slight edge which becomes less slight the further south in each country. Football and Rugby were both equally popular in FC, and continue to be so in both the NAL Provinces and South Florida. Tejas plays a game that is very different from either game. (BP, 36192)
The Balkans
(still working here... Ferko)
Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in the Bal kans, and many would say, around the world. Proof of the popularity in the Balkans is seen in the fact that every Balkan state has a domestic club competition at various levels. There are also a number of international competitions both at club and national team levels.
Football competition started in the Balkans as early as 1885, with FC Austria Wien winning the first all-Austrian competition. In 1887 SV Hertha Agram became the first team outside Cisleithanian Austria to win the competition, but it wasn't until 1894, when FK Adria Spalatu took the title, that a non-German club won the championship.
In the competition of the former CSDS (1947 to 1989), the army's team based in the capital city, Uzice, was dominant, winning seven straight titles from 1947 to 1954 (the first four as the 19th Division of the Army of Soviet Danubia, whose football section became formalised as a club in 1951 as Armija Uzice - again winning the title, and from 1953 the last three titles were won as Red Star Uzice. Since the independence of Sanjak, this club is known as FK Uzice). Competition became more even after 1954, with only Krila Danubije Uzice (the Air Force-sponsored team) ever establishing a long-lasting dynasty with five championships in a row from 1969 to 1973) after a title in 1960. Other successful clubs in the post-1954 period were CSKA Sofia (four titles), as well as Partizan Belgrade, Red Flag Ljubljana, Dinamo Raguza and Radnicki Nis, each with three titles.
Following the dissolution of the CSDS, club competition continued in the successor states. In Dalmatia, Dinamo Raguza won the first four championships (1990 to 1993), before re-establishing its domaninance in the beginning of the 21st century under the name Gloria Raguza, with titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The other most successful clubs in independent Dalmatia are Biafiar Anxiara (4 titles) and Sansku FK (3 titles).
International Country Competitions (Men)
International Club Competitions (Men)
Domestic Club Competitions (Men)
World
There is the World Football Cup, which is managed by the International Football Association, and is the most watched sporting event in the world. Aside from the Second Great War, the Cup had been played continuously since 1933, first won by Italy in Uruguai.
