Chapter IV: Your First Season

In this chapter, we will share a number of useful tips and hints that may help you during your first few seasons in the game. This advice is designed to help you avoid making costly or long-term mistakes, and set your team on a path to success.

Remember though, YOU are the Manager, and every decision is yours to make!

Stadium template

Type	Amount
Total	7500
Terracing	5625
Seating	1725
VIP Seats	150
Restaurant	8
Hotdog Stand	16
Fast Food Outlet	10
Pub	6
Souvenir Shop	6
Hotel	2

Expand your Stadium for the future

Healthy finances are vital for short- and long-term success. If you have no Team Money you cannot train properly, buy Players, pay wages, support your Youth Academy or develop your Stadium. Your Stadium and facilities should be your starting point for developing long-term revenues.

The template on the left offers one example of what a healthy Stadium and facilities could look like for a mid-level (Division 4, 5 and 6) team.

As you gain more experience, you should further develop your Stadium, particularly as you rise through the divisions. Higher division teams attract more fans, so their Stadiums need to be larger.

Training is the key to success!

• It can be very tempting to rush out and buy Players as soon as your Chairman unlocks the Transfer Market! It’s a great way to find the final few Players to complete your team, or to sell your surplus Players. However each purchase should be considered carefully.
• Consider Players’ skills, salaries, and age, and study their training graphs to see if they fit into your long-term plans.
• The Team Money you spend buying Players could be better spent training your existing squad. Look at your current Players (particularly your Loyal Players) and try to build around them.
• Start a Youth Academy as soon as you can afford to, and use Youth Training Camps (YTC) and Youth Conditioning Camps (YCC) to accelerate your Youth Players’ training.
• If you take advantage of either of the First Season Starter Packs (see below), you can configure your Youth intake to suit your plans.
• Train your senior Players at Training Camps (TC), remembering that Camps of longer duration give the best results. Well-trained Players will contribute to success on the field – and become assets you can make financial profits from on the Transfer Market.

Which Tactic should I use?

• Study the Tactics of successful Managers and use them to develop your own.
• Watch your own matches and see if your Tactics win or lose more games against similar level teams.
• The skills of your Players have the largest impact on results, but ineffective Tactics will lead to more losses than wins.
• Remember you are competing with other Managers from your country and across the world and they all want to win as much as you do!
• Ask for help in the Forums, but remember the advice you read comes from both friends and rivals!

Hints for healthy finances

• Regularly check your finances.
• Remember to at least play the five matches per week that bring income to your Club. These can be Friendly Leagues, Challenge/Scout Matches, Friendly Cups or your two Friendly matches.
• Have the right-sized Stadium for your division level.
• Have the right squad for your plans. Better Players are more expensive, so have enough to win the matches you are competing in. Paying 11 world-class Players in the 8th division will soon bankrupt your Club.
• Join as many Official Cups as you can.
• Participate in the Season Break bonus offers, but do not build your financial strategy around them.
• Have the correct level of Coach for your Players. You do not need A-Class Coaches in every position unless you are training world-class Players.
• Consider joining Youth Leagues. They are fun and contribute to your revenues.
• Sell your surplus Players on the Transfer Market.
• Fire Players you cannot sell in order to save on their salaries – but remember, they will never play for you again.
• Avoid walkovers in matches! They result in no match income and upset your fans.
• Build a reserve of Team Money to spend on transfer bargains or to replace retiring Players.
• Training Youths usually represents the best long-term investment.

Welcome Cups

Your Chairman has arranged for your team to compete in a series of free Official Welcome Cups to give you a first taste of an exciting Cup competition.

This gives you an early chance to win a Cup and enjoy competing in an official competition as well as bringing in good revenue for your Club.

You must accept the invitation by signing on the Cup page.