Sports in Placentia

  

Sports are an important part of the culture of the Kingdom of Placentia. Association football is considered the most popular spectator sport to watch in the country, followed by ice hockey, rugby union, professional boxing, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, and baseball, among others.

Football

The Saint-Pierre Olympic Stadium

Although football variants have been played in Placentia going back to at least the 1830s, the oldest surviving independent football club in the country – that is, the oldest club not associated with an institution such as a school, hospital, or university – is claimed to be A.S. Royal Tannenbaum. According to legend, around the Christmas season in 1868, newly crowned king Orélie I introduced a game he had observed in his homeland of France, and taught several locals how to play. Donning green shirts to differentiate teams, the king's German wife remarked, "they look like tannebaums", meaning Christmas trees in German. Since then, the team embraced the nickname and continues to wear all green uniforms to this day. At that time, the "Tannenbaum Rules" were initially played, which were a local code of the country's own devising, but later with the introduction of England's Football Association and its spread to other countries, Placentia adopted conventional football rules in the late 1880s.

Domestic football

Domestic football is highly popular in Placentia, with eight amateur teams being fielded throughout the archipelago. Since 1929 these teams have been overseen by the Football Federation of Placentia, which administers the Placentian National Football Team, and organizes the Placentian Football League and its Archipelago Cup, the highest championship in the nation. Placentia is also an associate member of the Newfoundland Football Association in the Maritime Republic, allowing for regular games between Placentian and Newfoundlander teams. The winner of the Archipelago Cup each year is also entered into the preliminary rounds of the CONCACAF Cup, in which a Placentian team competes against teams from across North America. Placentia plays its home games at the Saint-Pierre Olympic Stadium, the only major stadium of its kind in the country.

Clubs as of the 2020 season:

Club	City	Founded
A.S. Royal Tannenbaum	Saint-Pierre	1868
A.S. Saint Pierraise	Saint-Pierre	1898
A.S. Ferryzaina	Saint-Pierre	1903
A.S. Miquelonnaise	Miquelon	1916
A.S. Chantdemarins	Brossard	1929
A.S. Mousquetaires	Miquelon	1953
A.S. Îlienne Amateur	Langlade	1960
A.S. Tridents	L'lle-aux-Marins	1986

International football

The Placentia National Football Team played its first match in 1931, in which they lost 0–4 against the Maritime Republic. During the nation's first competitive outing in an American Championship qualifier, Placentia was defeated 0–10 against Astoria. The team's record remained poor over the course of the next few decades, leading to the team's legitimacy in the main qualifying groups for such tournaments being called into question. On 17 November 1953 the nation made history in a World Cup qualifier when Alain Etchegoyen scored against England in only 8.1 seconds—still the record for fasting goal in World Cup competition. This would be only the seventh goal in the team's entire history, and they went on to lose the game 7–1. On 29 April 1952 Placentia achieved its first ever victory, a 1–0 victory over Liechtenstein in an international friendly. On 6 September 1960 the nation suffered its worst ever defeat, losing 16–0 to the United Commonwealth at a home game at the Placentian Olympic Stadium. After this loss, the team would almost achieve their first ever win in an American Championship qualifier, but narrowly lost to Tournesol 2–1 by a goal in the last 8 seconds. As of August 2020, Placentia is ranked 201th according to FIFA world rankings, one of the worst teams in the organization.

Ice hockey

The Placentian National Hockey Team in 1920.

Ice hockey is considered the second most popular sport in Placentia, having been imported by neighboring Canadian nations in the late 1890s. In the winter of 1885 a game known as "shinny" is recorded as having been introduced by Canadian migrants, which was played with sticks and a ball on a lake outside downtown Saint-Pierre. This later evolved into organized hockey, the first proper game being held on Azukrea Pond north of the city, on 17 November 1893. Three years later, on 1 December 1896 a formal game would be held between Placentia Royal University and Hôpital Royal Militaire, which is generally considered as the birth of ice hockey in Placentia. The game remained relatively less popular initially, with games being seasonal and occasionally held against Maritimer clubs. This changed with the building of the Saint-Pierre Ice Palace in 1911, and later the founding of the Placentian Ice Hockey Association in 1920. In 1940 Placentian ice hockey entered the American Hockey League on the professional level.