Possible 2042 Expansion thread ?

[Fat Nige]

This thread will showcase potential franchises bidding for an expansion team

Commissioner Rectenwald’s announcement that the UMEBA may well consider a 2-team expansion to the league after the 2041 season has sent the middle east countries & cities into a flurry of activity preparing possible bids for an expansion franchise.

Tbilisi, Georgia

First to publicly respond to Rectenwald’s announcement was Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia. Georgia (formally The Republic of Georgia until 1995) is a country of around 4 million people, just north of Azerbaijan & Turkey while it’s capital Tbilisi has around 1.5 million living there. The country has had a fractious history having being invaded by the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, Iran and Russia. All of these have left their mark on this diverse country which finally pursued a pro-Western foreign policy; aimed at NATO and European integration in 2003 after the Roses Revolution of 2003 when 20 days of protests including the storming of Parliament with the protesters all carrying red roses eventually overthrew the government. The country is still considered by many as under Russian occupation after several disputes including a brief Georgia – Russian war in 2008.

Peace has reigned now for over three decades as the various factions live together in an uneasy sort of peace. The backers of the potential bid for a franchise has privately expressed worry about whether the factions would clash at games and so have designed the stadium to be segregated into different areas with the Russians being given one set of bleachers opposite the Mongols with other groups having the first & third baselines. Centre field being given over to the Georgian Orthodox Church where all factions can freely move and pray during the innings breaks.

The Georgian government is throwing its full weight behind the possible bid, believing it to be a vehicle in which Georgia can increase it’s limited international recognition in the western world. Tbilisi’s nearest UMEBA teams would be Istanbul (824 miles), Jerusalem (867 miles), Baghdad (931 miles) and Bucharest (967 miles).

Artists impression of the possible Logo & Uniforms

[GoldenOne]

Also, Georgia is the birthplace of wine!!

[Lane]

Great idea Nigel

[Fat Nige]

Great idea Nigel

I’m away next week but when I come back I’ll add some more possibilities there, but of course anybody can add possible teams here, as long as they include a potted history and logo/uniforms

[Fat Nige]

Tripoli & Libya step in

The second country to declare an interest in a possible UMEBA expansion franchise is Libya, a neighbour of Egypt. Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa and the 16th in the world, the possible franchise would be based in the capital, Tripoli, which is home to over a million of Libya’s six million inhabitants.

The history of Libya since the 1950’s has been one military coup after another, some last months, some decades, but there’s always another just around the corner. The Libyans are always ready to stir up trouble in the region too, having fought conflicts against Chad & Egypt, supported Uganda against Tanzania and sponsoring dozens of paramilitaries and terrorist groups around the world. The current military Junta claim to have put all this behind them and in their press release claim their inclusion in the UMEBA would be a first step on the road to respectability, inclusion through sport as they put it. Protest groups are already forming, claiming that all the players would actually be elite combat troops and the intention would be for them to act as Trojan Horses to commit terrorist massacres around the Middle East.

The Libyan authorities debunk any such suggestions as utter nonsense although they do admit the team would be called “The Libyan Generals” in tribute to the many top men in the countries Junta.

An Artists impression of The Team’s logo and uniforms

[bcslouck]

This is a good idea. I hope they are considered when it comes time to expand. Nicely done.

[Fat Nige]

One of the smallest countries to apply for an UMEBA expansion franchise will be Malta. A small archipelago in the Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African coast, Malta is home to only around 500,000 people, of which around 400,000 live in the capital city Valletta. The team would obviously be based in Valletta, but the government are not worried about their lack of population. “We battled bravely in WWII and we would battle just as hard to defeat the giants of the UMEBA league. We may be the 10th smallest sovereign but we are also the fifth most densely populated.” said a government spokesman.
The islands were given by Charles V of Spain in 1530 to The Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights of Hospitaller or the Order of St John, which was a medieval and an early modern catholic military order whose symbol was the Maltese Cross after which the team may be named. It may also be called the St John Knights or the Maltese Knights.

Artists Impression of a possible logo and uniform

[Fat Nige]

Getting in on the act now of attempting to secure an UMEBA expansion franchise is the largest Mediterranean island, Sicily. The island has a population of just over five million of which around 700,000 live in the capital city of Palermo which may be hosting the team. Details of the bid are pretty sketchy at the moment because surprisingly the bid isn’t from the Sicilian government but from the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian branch of the Mafia. An insider had said that the family see a team in the UMEBA as a way of not only raising the profile of the Cosa Nostra, but of laundering some of their ‘proceeds’ too. Unfortunately, we can’t press him for further details as he was found dead in a roadside ditch a few days later with his tongue cut out and a sign saying “GRASS” pinned to his forehead with an axe.

Artists Impression of a possible logo and uniform

[jleddy]

This is awesome.

[lordtoffee]

Expansion is going to be an interesting thing. This will help all of us UMEBA owners get out of salary cap trouble, and the expansion fees are going to help.

[allenciox]

Fantastic work, Fat Nige!

[Fat Nige]

Tehran, Iran

Envious of near neighbours Baghdad, the Iranian government have now expressed an interest in a coveted UMEBA expansion franchise. It would no doubt be based in Tehran, a city of over 9 million people with a metropolitan population of over 15,000,000. Pollution has been an ongoing problem in Tehran for many years now so it’s odds on that the new team would have to play in an enclosed Dome stadium.

Artists Impression of a possible logo and uniform

[Fat Nige]

Athens, Greece

The Greek government, plagued by financial woes caused by defaulting on loans from the EU at the turn of the century, wanted nothing to do with this bidding for an UMEBA expansion franchise but the municipal council of Athens has allocated the money from it’s own coffers and proposed that it could possibly run an expansion franchise themselves. Several local businessmen came on board with the bid and now they’re in the hat for the expansion lottery. Athens is one of the world’s oldest cities with recorded human inhabitation somewhere between the 11th & 7th centuries BC and now around 4 million people live there. The city has always been involved in sport having hosted the first of the modern Olympics in 1896 and the 108th edition of those Olympics in 2004.

Artists Impression of a possible logo and uniform

[Fat Nige]

Sofia, Bulgaria

Bulgaria is just north of Turkey and just below Romania on the banks of the Black Sea and is home to around seven million people of which some 1.5 million live in the capital city of Sofia. The driving force behind the Bulgarian bid for the UMEBA expansion franchise is C.S.K.A., this is an abbreviation of The Central Sporting Club of the Army, a common organisation found in Eastern Europe with it’s roots found in the Officers Clubs in the early 1900’s. CSKA Sofia already run many sporting clubs in over 15 different sports such as football, athletics, water polo, ice hockey, boxing and much more. Situated in close proximity to other UMEBA franchises (Bucharest is around 400 km away and Istanbul is around 550 km) the organisation felt that it could add baseball to it’s varied portfolio whilst creating major sporting rivalries with neighbouring countries.


Artists Impression of a possible logo and uniform

[lordtoffee]

Very cool uniforms and concepts. If it were up to me I would expand to Athens and Tehran. Would be comfortable trips for teams, and would open up new markets.

[FuzzyRawley]

'Tehran has my vote!

[Fat Nige]

My favourite so far is CSKA although I do quite like Tehran. Nearer the time when I've exhausted my ideas I'll put up a poll and let everyone vote on their favourites

[Clayman]

At this moment in time I'm waiting on uniforms and logos, also I've left out the history of the cities simply because Middle East countries have the same kind of history ie Ottomans invade, Persians invade, Romans invade, Crusaders invade. Hopefully what I've done is acceptable if not feel free to say, if it is okay then I'll write up and post the others.

Team :- Ramallah Haddads
Nickname Meaning :- Blacksmiths
Colours :- Red, White, Green & Black.
Country :- Palestine.
Population :- 27,092
Rivals :- Jerusalem Hebrew Hammers
Owner :- Narcyz Hadid (olive producer)
Stadium :- Rashid El Haddadin Muntazah (park)

Ramallah is a Palestinian city on the West Bank just a short distance from Jerusalem with a population of just 27,092 it may be looked at as a non starter to be an expansion team in the UMEBA, however on hearing of possibly gaining an expansion team there is now a waiting list of 21,650 to purchase season tickets alone. It is also a ready made rival to the Jerusalem Hebrew Hammers and leads to headlines such as "Haddads Hammer Hammers." The ballparks name comes from Rashid El Haddadin one of the brothers from the clan Haddadin who founded modern Ramallah in the 1500s

[Fat Nige]

Nice one Neil, you’re welcome to carry on

[Clayman]

Nice one Neil, you’re welcome to carry on

Will do, rivals should be "possible rivals", hopefully the mods on the OOTP boards will come through on the logos & uniforms.