Three points for a win

Three points for a win is a standard used in many sports leagues and group tournaments, especially in association football, in which three (rather than two) points are awarded to the team winning a match, with no points to the losing team. If the game is drawn, each team receives one point.

"Three points for a win" is supposed to encourage more attacking play than "two points for a win", where the conventional wisdom for managers was to draw away matches and win home games. The idea is that, if the score is level near the end of a game, teams will not settle for a draw if the prospect of gaining two extra points (by playing for a late winning goal) outweighs the prospect of losing one point (by conceding a late goal to lose the match). Some commentators agree that it has resulted in more "positive" attacking play. [] However, critics suggest teams with a one-goal lead late in a match become more negative to defend the lead.cite web |title=How three points for a win has fouled up football |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20050915/ai_n15356172 |publisher=Evening Standard |first=Ben |last=Leapman |date=2005-09-15 |accessdate=2007-01-04] The number of matches finishing in a draw has not been affected in England by the change to three-points-for-a-win. []

History

The system was proposed for the English Football League by Jimmy Hillcite web |title=FA should stand firm against proposed new rules on imports |url=http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/comment/article108100.ece |accessdate=2007-01-04 |date=2003-06-09 |first=Graham |last=Kelly |authorlink=Graham Kelly (football) |publisher=The Independent ] It was introduced in England in 1981, but did not attract much use elsewhere until it was used in the 1994 World Cup finals. The following year, FIFA formally adopted the system, and it subsequently became standard in international tournaments, as well as most national football leagues.

Year of adoption of 3-points-for-a-win

This lists leagues where the standard is three points for a win in regulation time, one point for a draw, zero for a defeat. The year given is when the relevant season started.
* 1981: England
* 1982: Israel [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/israhist.html Israel - List of Final Tables] ]
*1983: New Zealand (NSL) [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesn/nzhist.html New Zealand - Final Tables National Soccer League] ]
* 1987: Turkey,
* 1988: Norway [http://www.rsssf.no/1988/First.html RSSSF - Norwegian First division 1988] "A 3-1-0 point scheme was used for the first time."]
* 1992: Greece [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesg/grkhist.html Greece - Final Tables 1959-1999] ]
* 1993: Belgium (Div. 2), Bulgaria [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesb/bulghist.html Bulgaria Championship History 1924-1997] ] , Rep. IrelandPreviously applied experimentally in 1982-3, following the trial of a 4 away win, 3 home win, 2 away draw, 1 home draw system in 1981-2. See [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ierhist.html (Republic of) Ireland League Tables] ] , Italy (Serie C)
* 1994: Croatia [http://prva-hnl.hr/2-rezultati%20i%20tablice.php?sid=15 Croatia - Prva HNL] ] , Czech Rep., France, Hungary, Italy (Serie A), Romania, Scotland
* 1995: Argentina, Austria, Belgium (Div. 1), Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay
* 2000: United States [http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/mls.html USA - Major League Soccer] "Scoring system: 2000-present: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss. 1996-1999: Three points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a shootout loss, 0 for a loss."]

Variants

Some leagues have used shootout tiebreakers after drawn matches. Major League Soccer (1996–2000) used three points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a shootout loss, 0 for a loss. The Norwegian First Division (in 1987) used three points for a win, 2 points for a shootout win, 1 point for a shootout loss, 0 for a loss. [http://www.rsssf.no/1987/First.html RSSSF - Norwegian First division 1987] "A 3-2-1-0 point scheme with drawn matches decided on penalties was used."]

In the National Hockey League in North America, a system described as "the three-point win" was proposed in 2004, with three points for a win in regulation time, two for a win in overtime, and one for a tie. This proposal was put on hold by the 2004-05 NHL lockout and subsequently rejected by team owners in February 2007. [cite web |url=http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=289373 |title=NHL general managers give universal thumbs down to three-point wins |publisher=Canadian Press |date=February 21 2007 |accessdate=2007-03-02]

ee also

*Group tournament ranking system

References