Datasoccer
This soccer database enables you to search for country and club results, for the composition of teams of countries and clubs, and for the careers of players, from different angles.
Datasoccer is a unique source of information for the true football enthousiast with an eye for history, as well as for the professional football writer.
Messages of the publisher
1. The basic principles of choosing or omitting content
The outlook of database is very much international. English is used as being a broadly understood language. Text is kept to a minimum, in short remarks, and in the menu of the database.
The database covers at present the years from 1945 to 2008 onward. It is intended to cover the era from the end of World War II, the beginning of the modern history of football. And of course every year last year's information is entered in the database.
Focusing on the best players in the world has made us set the limit at all international, capped players of the 'A' teams, (and in some cases the Olympic teams, in cases where it arguably is the strongest national selection). Apart from these players we feature the uncapped players of the top. Speaking of clubs we have drawn the limit at those playing at the highest national level. This means some clubs through the years fall out of or come (back) into consideration.
The guiding principle is to focus on the countries that have in the past and present shaped and continue to shape the history of international football. This is of course an ever changing picture that will need adjusting from time to time. As for now we have included the European countries with the exception of the small and very small football powers that mostly have never qualified for a major final international tournament. Of the American continent the foremost South American footballing countries have been included leaving out (as yet) Bolivia and Venezuela. From Northern and Central America only Mexico figures as yet. The rising footballing nations of Africa, Asia and Oceania are yet to be included.
2. Illustration
The imagery and pageantry of club colours and national colours, reflected in outfits and emblems, and their development through the years, are essential to any football enthousiast. It is therefore part of the intended layout of our database. In this respect shirt sponsoring is a hard nut to crack. The representation of shirt sponsoring in drawings of players in club outfits has been left out for esthetical and obvious legal reasons. With many commentators and writers we do abhor the ruining of traditional club shirts by depicting company and brand names. On the other hand the football shirt without sponsors' names nowadays looks in some way empty and outdated. Included are the club and national team outfit or outfits considered to be the most typical.
For obvious legal reasons we have not included club emblems.
DISCLAIMER
Although extensive care has been taken to present the true and correct facts the hereunder mentioned author of this database cannot be held responsible for mistakes.
USER'S RIGHTS AND WRONGS
As a subscriber you are granted the right to use the database and its content privately as an amateur researcher, student or enthousiast of football's fact and history. You are not allowed to use, reproduce or extract from the database and its content for any exploitation directed at third parties nor to any other use outside the private sphere.
I wish you great times using the database to expand your knowledge of football in the major footballing nations of the world.
Bart Dingemans
Wielseweg 66
4024 BL Eck en Wiel
bart.dingemans@planet.nl
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the added value of this database?
How do I find a player?
What to do when I am not sure of the spelling of the name?
How to look for a (foreign) club, when you are not sure of the name?
How do I find out if a certain club is considered a top club?
How do I find the results of a club I have selected?
How have you dealt with name changes of clubs?
How to cope with clubs having the same name?
How have you treated club mergers and termination of clubs?
How do I look for match results of countries?
What is shown of the careers of the players in the database?
What is the meaning of terms in the composition of the national team?
What is the meaning of terms in the individual club results?
What is the meaning of terms in the records under season's results of all clubs?
WHY HAVE YOU INCLUDED THE LINE UPS OF TOP CLUBS AS PART OF THE DATABASE?
Clubs, click on Line ups and trainers of top clubs.
Records of the top players are not only to be derived from the records of the national teams. The results of a player in inter club competitions and in strong national leagues has gained an ever growing importance.
These competitions have become another important stage where names and reputations are built. Mostly the strongest clubs from the national leagues participate in these competitions. They often build the backbone of the national teams, but they often field very important players who are not yet or no longer part of their national teams, or belong to nations not (yet) covered in the database. Obviously the players' careers cover a period broader than the stay in the national team. National team selection policies can play their part too. This may lead to exclude valuable players employed in foreign leagues. Sometimes policies on amateur status and politics play their part. Sometimes it is a matter of personal conflict. Not to leave out very important players is the reason why we have included the teams of top club teams in the database. You find which teams for which period are included in the general information on clubs under Remarks. The careers information of the players included is extended with the results of their club teams, for as long as they were in our view top teams. This means the scope of the featured careers is made broader than the period of figuring in the national team. Furthermore a number of high profile players of top clubs are featured in the database who have never been capped, or who belong to a nation as yet not featured in the database.
The standard team line-ups of these top teams you find in the database, including names and nationality of players and their field position(s) in the team. See for the meaning of field position the answer to the question
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF TERMS IN THE RECORDS UNDER COMPOSITION OF THE NATIONAL TEAM?
It happens fairly often that the field position of a player in the national team is different from his role in his club. This is indicated as a Remark next to his field position. It makes the reading of the line up less fluid, but it is hoped the picture remains clear enough.
How have you coped with clubs and players subsequently belonging to different states?
Why have you sometimes listed top 10, resp. top 5 or top 3 scorers?
What is the purpose of the special notation of international match results?