About The Eternal Turnover
What is a Lineal Championship?
A lineal championship is a title that can only change hands through direct competition. Unlike tournament rankings, leagues, or seasonal champions, the lineal title follows a simple rule: to be the champion, you must defeat the champion.
This concept creates an unbroken chain of succession stretching back to the very first titleholder. Every current champion can trace their lineage directly back through every previous champion, one victory at a time. It's the purest form of competitive succession—no points systems, no ranking criteria, just victory over the reigning champion.
(It also puts a target on the back of the current champion, which is kind of fun).
Championship Rules
- Direct Succession The championship changes hands when a coach defeats the current champion in direct, face-to-face competition. The moment of victory is the moment of succession. No other path to earn the title exists.
- Inactivity Reversion If the current champion has not competed in any NAF sanctioned Blood Bowl match for six months, they are considered inactive, and therefore ineligible to hold the title. When a coach is deemed inactive the title reverts to the last coach who held the title. This ensures the title is never held hostage or retired by inactive coaches.
- Chain of Reversion The title transfers to the previous owner immediately. To retain the title they must remain active in the following 6 months.
- Match Validity Only NAF sanctioned face-to-face tournament matches count for championship purposes. Friendly matches, leagues, exhibition games, online, and practice matches do not transfer the title or establish succession rights.
Why start with Blood Bowl 2003 Nottingham?
The Blood Bowl 2003 tournament in Nottingham serves as our inaugural event for several reasons:
It was one of the first major NAF recorded tournaments in the database.
The venue is the home and origin of Blood Bowl, Warhammer World.
At 230 matches and 130 unique coaches, it was a sizeable affair.
Most importantly, it provides a fixed starting point with historical significance to the Blood Bowl community. Every lineal championship needs a genesis moment, this is ours.
Data Sources & Methodology
Championship data is compiled from the NAF database. Data is updated regularly; the full lineage is available at here.
Our in-house algorithm determines the current champ, but if you spot any issues please do let us know at lineage@eternalturnover.com
Credits
The Eternal Turnover is maintained by members of the Blood Bowl community who like this kind of competitive ridiculousness. Special thanks to tournament organizers, league commissioners, NAF bods and other coaches who make moving our plastic figures and rolling our dice possible.
This project is unofficial and is not affiliated with Games Workshop or any official Blood Bowl organization. It exists purely as a community-driven historical record.