Ranking Table

Overview

The RankingTable class provides access to league standings for the top 5 European football leagues. It enables scraping current and historical rankings, with support for multiple export formats including CSV, JSON, and PDF.

The module automatically handles European qualification spots and relegation zones in PDF exports, with color-coded visual indicators.

Installation

from premier_league import RankingTable

Initialization

ranking = RankingTable(
    league="Premier League",
    target_season="2023-2024",
    cache=True
)

Parameters

league

str

default:"Premier League"

League to scrape rankings for. Options:

“Premier League” (England)
“La Liga” (Spain)
“Serie A” (Italy)
“Bundesliga” (Germany)
“Ligue 1” (France)

target_season

str

default:"None"

Specific season in format “YYYY-YYYY” (e.g., “2023-2024”). If None, uses current season

cache

bool

default:"True"

Whether to cache scraped data to reduce subsequent loading times

Quick Start

from premier_league import RankingTable

# Get current Premier League standings
pl = RankingTable(league="Premier League")
standings = pl.get_ranking_list()

# Display the table
for row in standings:
    print(row)

Core Methods

get_ranking_list()

Retrieve the ranking data as a list of lists.

ranking = RankingTable(league="Premier League")
standings = ranking.get_ranking_list()

# standings[0] contains headers
# standings[1:] contains team data
print(standings[0])  # ['Pos', 'Team', 'Pld', 'W', 'D', 'L', 'GF', 'GA', 'GD', 'Pts']

for team_data in standings[1:]:
    pos, team, played, wins, draws, losses, gf, ga, gd, points = team_data
    print(f"{pos}. {team}: {points} pts")

Returns

List[List[str]]: Nested list where first row is headers, subsequent rows are team data

Column Structure

Pos: League position (1, 2, 3…)
Team: Team name
Pld: Matches played
W: Wins
D: Draws
L: Losses
GF: Goals for
GA: Goals against
GD: Goal difference
Pts: Total points

get_ranking_csv()

Export the ranking data to a CSV file.

ranking = RankingTable(
    league="Serie A",
    target_season="2023-2024"
)

ranking.get_ranking_csv(
    file_name="seria_a_2023_24",
    header="Serie A 2023-2024 Standings"
)
# Creates: seria_a_2023_24.csv

Parameters

file_name

str

required

Name of the CSV file (without .csv extension)

header

str

default:"None"

Optional header text to include at the top of the CSV file

get_ranking_json()

Export the ranking data to a JSON file.

ranking = RankingTable(league="Bundesliga")

ranking.get_ranking_json(
    file_name="bundesliga_current",
    header="Current Bundesliga Standings"
)
# Creates: bundesliga_current.json

Parameters

file_name

str

required

Name of the JSON file (without .json extension)

header

str

default:"None"

Optional parent key for the entire data structure

get_ranking_dict()

Get the ranking data as a Python dictionary.

ranking = RankingTable(league="Ligue 1")

ranking_dict = ranking.get_ranking_dict(header="Ligue 1 Standings")
print(ranking_dict)
# Output: {'Ligue 1 Standings': [[...], [...], ...]}

Parameters

header

str

default:"None"

Optional parent key for the dictionary

Returns

dict: Dictionary containing the ranking data

get_ranking_pdf()

Generate a professionally formatted PDF with color-coded qualification and relegation zones.

Requires the optional PDF dependency. Install with: pip install premier_league[pdf]

ranking = RankingTable(
    league="Premier League",
    target_season="2023-2024"
)

ranking.get_ranking_pdf(
    file_name="premier_league_standings",
    dir="reports"
)
# Creates: reports/premier_league_standings.pdf

Parameters

file_name

str

required

Name of the PDF file (without .pdf extension)

dir

str

default:"files"

Directory where the PDF will be saved. Created if it doesn’t exist

PDF Features

Color Coding System

The PDF uses color-coded backgrounds to indicate European qualification and relegation:Premier League (2021-present):

Light Green: Champions League spots (Top 4)
Medium Green: Europa League spots
Dark Green: Europa Conference League spot
Red: Relegation zone (Bottom 3)

Historical Seasons:

Colors adapt based on the specific season’s qualification rules
Accounts for cup winners affecting European spots
Special handling for unique seasons (e.g., 1994-95 with 4 relegations)

European Qualification Logic

For seasons 2021 onwards, the PDF automatically determines:

FA Cup winners (Europa League spot)
EFL Cup winners (Conference League spot)
Champions League winners (automatic CL qualification)
Europa League winners (automatic CL qualification)
Conference League winners (automatic Europa qualification)

Spots are redistributed if teams qualify through multiple routes.

Supported Leagues & Seasons

Premier League
La Liga
Serie A
Bundesliga
Ligue 1

Country: England
Available from: 1947-1948 season
Teams: 20

ranking = RankingTable(
    league="Premier League",
    target_season="1992-1993"  # First PL season
)

Country: Spain
Available from: 1929-1930 season
Teams: 20

ranking = RankingTable(
    league="La Liga",
    target_season="2010-2011"
)

Country: Italy
Available from: 1929-1930 season
Teams: 20

ranking = RankingTable(
    league="Serie A",
    target_season="2005-2006"
)

Country: Germany
Available from: 1963-1964 season
Teams: 18

ranking = RankingTable(
    league="Bundesliga",
    target_season="2013-2014"
)

Country: France
Available from: 1945-1946 season
Teams: 18

ranking = RankingTable(
    league="Ligue 1",
    target_season="2018-2019"
)

Advanced Examples

Export to Multiple Formats

from premier_league import RankingTable

# Initialize for current Premier League season
pl = RankingTable(league="Premier League")

# Export to all formats
pl.get_ranking_csv("premier_league_standings", header="PL Standings")
pl.get_ranking_json("premier_league_standings", header="standings")
pl.get_ranking_pdf("premier_league_standings", dir="reports")

print("Exported to CSV, JSON, and PDF!")

Compare Seasons

# Compare title race across different seasons
seasons = ["2018-2019", "2019-2020", "2020-2021"]

for season in seasons:
    ranking = RankingTable(
        league="Premier League",
        target_season=season
    )
    standings = ranking.get_ranking_list()
    
    # Get top 3 teams
    top_3 = standings[1:4]
    print(f"\n{season} Top 3:")
    for pos, team, *stats in top_3:
        points = stats[-1]
        print(f"  {pos}. {team} - {points} pts")

Historical Analysis

import pandas as pd
from premier_league import RankingTable

# Analyze La Liga over multiple seasons
all_winners = []

for year in range(2010, 2024):
    season = f"{year}-{year+1}"
    ranking = RankingTable(
        league="La Liga",
        target_season=season
    )
    standings = ranking.get_ranking_list()
    winner_data = standings[1]  # First place
    
    all_winners.append({
        'season': season,
        'team': winner_data[1],
        'points': winner_data[-1]
    })

df = pd.DataFrame(all_winners)
print(df)
print(f"\nMost titles: {df['team'].value_counts().head()}")

Generate Reports for All Leagues

from premier_league import RankingTable
import os

leagues = ["Premier League", "La Liga", "Serie A", "Bundesliga", "Ligue 1"]
season = "2023-2024"

os.makedirs("league_reports", exist_ok=True)

for league in leagues:
    print(f"Generating report for {league}...")
    
    ranking = RankingTable(
        league=league,
        target_season=season,
        cache=True
    )
    
    # Export to all formats
    league_file = league.lower().replace(" ", "_")
    ranking.get_ranking_csv(
        f"league_reports/{league_file}",
        header=f"{league} {season}"
    )
    ranking.get_ranking_json(
        f"league_reports/{league_file}",
        header=f"{league} {season}"
    )
    ranking.get_ranking_pdf(
        f"{league_file}_{season}",
        dir="league_reports"
    )
    
    print(f"✓ {league} complete")

print("\nAll reports generated in league_reports/")

Working with Data

Filter by Position

ranking = RankingTable(league="Premier League")
standings = ranking.get_ranking_list()

# Get teams in European spots (top 7)
european_teams = standings[1:8]
print("Teams qualifying for Europe:")
for row in european_teams:
    print(f"{row[0]}. {row[1]} - {row[-1]} pts")

# Get teams in relegation zone (bottom 3)
relegation_teams = standings[-3:]
print("\nTeams in relegation zone:")
for row in relegation_teams:
    print(f"{row[0]}. {row[1]} - {row[-1]} pts")

Calculate Statistics

ranking = RankingTable(league="Serie A")
standings = ranking.get_ranking_list()

# Extract data (skip header row)
teams_data = standings[1:]

# Calculate league statistics
total_goals = sum(int(row[6]) for row in teams_data)  # GF column
avg_points = sum(int(row[-1]) for row in teams_data) / len(teams_data)

print(f"Total goals scored: {total_goals}")
print(f"Average points per team: {avg_points:.1f}")

# Find highest scoring team
highest_scoring = max(teams_data, key=lambda x: int(x[6]))
print(f"Highest scoring: {highest_scoring[1]} with {highest_scoring[6]} goals")

Error Handling

from premier_league import RankingTable

try:
    # Invalid season format
    ranking = RankingTable(
        league="Premier League",
        target_season="2023"  # Should be "2023-2024"
    )
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error: {e}")

try:
    # Season before league existed
    ranking = RankingTable(
        league="Bundesliga",
        target_season="1950-1951"  # Bundesliga started in 1963
    )
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error: {e}")

Use cache=True (default) to significantly speed up repeated requests for the same season data.

The module automatically handles qualification/relegation markers like “(R)”, “(C)” in the scraped data, providing clean team names in the output.

Get Started

Core Modules

Guides

Overview

Installation

Initialization

Parameters

Quick Start

Core Methods

get_ranking_list()

Returns

Column Structure

get_ranking_csv()

Parameters

get_ranking_json()

Parameters

get_ranking_dict()

Parameters

Returns

get_ranking_pdf()

Parameters

PDF Features

Supported Leagues & Seasons

Advanced Examples

Export to Multiple Formats

Compare Seasons

Historical Analysis

Generate Reports for All Leagues

Working with Data

Filter by Position

Calculate Statistics

Error Handling

Get Started

Core Modules

Guides

​Overview

​Installation

​Initialization

​Parameters

​Quick Start

​Core Methods

​get_ranking_list()

​Returns

​Column Structure

​get_ranking_csv()

​Parameters

​get_ranking_json()

​Parameters

​get_ranking_dict()

​Parameters

​Returns

​get_ranking_pdf()

​Parameters

​PDF Features

​Supported Leagues & Seasons

​Advanced Examples

​Export to Multiple Formats

​Compare Seasons

​Historical Analysis

​Generate Reports for All Leagues

​Working with Data

​Filter by Position

​Calculate Statistics

​Error Handling

Overview

Installation

Initialization

Parameters

Quick Start

Core Methods

get_ranking_list()

Returns

Column Structure

get_ranking_csv()

Parameters

get_ranking_json()

Parameters

get_ranking_dict()

Parameters

Returns

get_ranking_pdf()

Parameters

PDF Features

Supported Leagues & Seasons

Advanced Examples

Export to Multiple Formats

Compare Seasons

Historical Analysis

Generate Reports for All Leagues

Working with Data

Filter by Position

Calculate Statistics

Error Handling