User:Lemonade51/Club seasons

The following is a style guide for those who edit club season articles under WikiProject Football.

Naming conventions
Per WP:DATERANGE, "Periods straddling two different years, including sports seasons, are generally written with the range notation (2005–06)."


 * Range is written with en dash, not hyphen or slash. Must be no space on either side.
 * 1978–79 Manchester United F.C. season (not 1978–1979; 1978/79)


 * Periods come before the club's name.
 * 1988–89 Manchester United F.C. season (not Manchester United 1988–89; Manchester United F.C. 1988–89 season)

Lead section
The lead paragraph should serve as a quick introduction to the club's season, as well as a concise overview of the article itself. The first paragraph must tell the reader what domestic league said club play in, and how they fared in the different competitions they entered. For instance:

"The 2002–03 season was the 105th season of competitive football played by Arsenal. The club retained the FA Cup, a feat last achieved by Tottenham Hotspur in 1982, but finished runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League. In the UEFA Champions League, defeat to Valencia in the second group stage meant Arsenal exited the competition at the same round for the second successive year."

There is no need to mention all the competitions (this example doesn't even state how Arsenal fared in the Football League Cup), but it would be beneficial to the reader if the prominent ones are included. Or if said club reached the final/best finish of a cup competition.

The subsequent paragraph(s) ideally would summarise the major points of the rest of the article: transfer business, the big moments/turning points of the season and squad statistics (top goalscorer, how many players represented the club).

Background
Set the context here. Summarise what happened to the club, the previous season and be sure to include anything notable (managerial changes, players signed). For instance:

"The previous season was a transitional period for Arsenal. The club transferred a number of first-team players such as defenders Sol Campbell and Lauren to Portsmouth and winger Robert Pirès to Spanish club Villarreal. After lengthy negotiations, Ashley Cole moved to Chelsea on the final day of the summer transfer window, in exchange for £5m and defender William Gallas. Arsenal played their home games at the newly constructed Emirates Stadium and drew their first game against Aston Villa. After they were defeated by Bolton Wanderers, manager Arsène Wenger admitted that his team were unlikely to make a serious challenge for the Premier League."

Be sure to include what expectations the media, players and staff have going into this campaign. Make full use of print texts and quotes, but don't overdo it.

Transfers
Where this is positioned is up to the editor; it may help readers if this ties in with the background section. When citing, first port of call should be the club's official website. Transfer fees are often undisclosed, so you may need to find other sources to get a reported figure. Use reputable sources (broadsheets, official club annuals, BBC Sport, CNN, state media), not tabloids and sites dedicated to transfer gossip. Be sure to check for consistency. Tables for accessibility purposes should comply with MOS:DTT. Avoid MOS:FLAG here. You may wish to add shirt number and position columns if you think it's beneficial.

Avoid listing net spend, expenditure, 'total spending' figures – it's based on estimates and holds no significance without prose.

Match results
(Compare and contrast how results are presented and discuss the use of colour)

Squad statistics
This should be presented in the form of a table, but can be complemented by prose; consider:
 * How many different players the club used for that season
 * Who was the club's top goalscorer
 * How many red cards
 * How many players did not make a first team appearance
 * How many goals the squad scored collectively
 * Whether this was an improvement from the campaign before.

Squad information like this should be avoided; a player's age, if they are EU or not, and how long they have been at the club is irrelevant. As are tables designed specifically for discipline and top goalscorers – it can be incorporated into one table.

Include domestic league and cup, continental football and super cup competitions. Avoid adding friendlies here, unless they make up a considerable amount of the club's playing season. Add a key to explain abbreviated words (GK → goalkeeper; DF → Defender) and what the cards in the discipline column symbolise. Denote substitute appearances with either brackets or a plus sign, and mark players who have played and left the club during the playing season.