The Conference League Format and Its Playing Rules

At the base of the pyramid sits the Conference League. It was added to give a further band of clubs a place in Europe, and it follows the same design as the two competitions above it, with a league phase, a knockout and a final, so the structure of the European game reaches further down the rankings than before.

Where the Conference League sits

The Conference League is the third tier. It sits beneath the Champions League and the Europa League, and it gathers clubs from associations and positions that the higher tiers do not reach, so the pyramid now extends to a broader field than ever.

Its purpose is to widen the pyramid. By giving clubs from smaller leagues their own competition, it provides a route into Europe that does not depend on reaching the top two tiers, and it gives those clubs matches of a standard suited to their level.

The league phase

The competition uses a league phase. A field of clubs is drawn together, plays a set number of matches against a range of opponents, and is ranked in a single table, and the positions decide who advances in the knockout.

The design mirrors the tiers above. The method is the same shape, so a club that climbs from the Conference League to higher tiers finds a familiar system, and the pyramid is consistent from top to bottom in the way it runs its rounds.

The knockout rounds

After the league phase comes a knockout. Clubs that finish lower play an extra round before joining the higher-placed sides, and the ties continue over two legs until a final decides the trophy at a neutral venue.

The knockout gives the competition its drama. The field is broad and the clubs are drawn from many countries, so the ties bring together unlikely opponents, and the final crowns a champion who earned a place through a long run of rounds.

What it adds to the pyramid

The Conference League adds reach. It gives a further group of clubs a continental competition, and by doing so it connects more of the European game to the structure of the three tiers, so the pyramid is wider at its base than it was before the competition existed.

It also adds a route. A club that would once have had no way into Europe now has a competition of its own, and a strong run in it brings a trophy and a place in the tier above, so the base of the pyramid is connected to the top.

Reading the Conference League

The Conference League should be read as the widening of the pyramid. It is the broadest of the three competitions, it uses the same method as the tiers above, and it gives clubs a first foothold in Europe that they might otherwise never have had.

For a reader, the competition completes the structure. With it, the European game offers every ranked club a possible place, and the three tiers together form a pyramid that reaches from the largest leagues to the smallest associations.

• The Conference League is the third tier of the pyramid.
• It gives clubs from smaller leagues their own competition.
• It uses a league phase and a knockout, as the tiers above.
• Clubs that finish lower play an extra round.
• A win brings a trophy and a place in the tier above.
• It widens the base of the European pyramid.

The Conference League is the base of the European pyramid. Built on the same model as the competitions above it but open to a broader field, it gives clubs from smaller leagues a place in Europe and a route upward through the tiers.