Lists

When we think of injuries in soccer and of their repercussions, we often think of big names at big clubs. But oftentimes it is the absence of important players at mid-sized clubs that has the biggest impact on performance.

Larger clubs have the depth to replace even the most talented of players; most teams do not. This list of most impactful injuries this season will include one or two big names, but it also features several footballers that sometimes go unnoticed.

By Championship standards, the end of the 2021-22 regular season was rather anticlimactic. There were no relegation deciders as in 20-21, and no dramatic fights for automatic promotion like the year before. This season, on the final day, four teams were fighting to secure two playoff spots, but in the end, there were no changes to the final table.

The cycle of an underdog team capturing an unbelievable title and then providing one of the worst title defenses ever seen is a tale as old as time. After all, winning back-to-back championships is classified as one of the most difficult exercises across sports, even when you're strapped to the teeth with finances, resources and world-class depth like Manchester City.

What is a Xogg? Alternatively, what is a Zigg? The Xoggz and the Ziggx were the men's and women's semi-pro soccer clubs based out of Columbus, Ohio, in the mid-1990s.

According to fossilized internet forums (because there is no other discussion of the topic), these were made-up names that were going to be assigned meaning through a fan contest. Unfortunately, neither club survived long enough for that to happen.

While these clubs were short lived, their rise and fall illustrates the state of American soccer in the 1990s.