Proposed Pigeon Cup Format
18 Elite Teams + 2 Strong Supporter Teams who ever made transfers this season = 20 teams.
4 Groups of 5 Seeded like this:
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
1 2 3 4 (1)
8 7 6 5 (2)
9 10 11 12 (3)
16 15 14 13 (4)
17 18 SS1 SS2 (5)
Group Play = Round 1 (1) v (4), (2) v (3), (5 bye)
Round 2 (3) v (1), (4) v (5), (2 bye)
Round 3 (5) v (3), (4) v (2), (3 bye)
Round 4 (2) v (5), (3) v (4), (1 bye)
Round 5 (4) v (2), (5) v (1), (4 bye)
Group Winners decided by W/L record with total points tiebreaker
Top 2 in each group advance. Winners of each group seeded 1-4 by W/L record with total points tiebreaker. 2nd Place teams seeded 5-8 same way.
Final 8 in straight head to head quarterfinals knockout tournament 1 v 8, 2 v 7, etc.
If strong supporter wins Pigeon Cup they don't get prize. Money stays in the pot but can be used by the winner for credit in entry into elite leagues in future years.
I want other folks to decide timing of the tournament ( what week seeding takes place, group play weeks, knockout weeks). My preference is that we finish by week 30-32. The last couple of weeks can be really tricky with playoff resting. I can track the tournament and post like Adam did last year. If someone else can figure out what the prizes will be that would be great. There was a proposal for prizes when we had 16 players, but not 18. I don't want to be involved in that either.
EDIT: The format for the groups isn't as clear in the post as when its on my screen. Hopefully everyone can figure out what I mean.