The match
A match is a physical simulation of all twenty-two players and the ball. What you set beforehand decides how the eleven behave; what happens then is football, one decision at a time.
What the simulation does#
- Every player moves, and with the ball weighs a shot against a pass against a carry on the spot. The ball travels, and the keeper tries to reach it.
- Offside is called on the touch, and a high defensive line plays the trap.
- Fouls give free kicks and may bring a yellow card. A booked player still defends but becomes more selective about another challenge; a second yellow sends him off. Goalkeepers can concede a foul but receive no cards.
- Throw-ins, corners, goal kicks, free kicks and penalties are real restarts, taken by the players you named for corners, free kicks and penalties.
- Added time comes from the stoppages that actually happened.
- In a two-legged tie level on aggregate there is extra time of two 15-minute halves, then a penalty shootout.
- Stamina starts at 100 and falls through unavoidable match fatigue plus the physical work a player actually performs. Extra time continues the same clock.
The score is not chosen before kick-off. Actions and match events are resolved in chronological order as play develops, so the final result remains unknown until the match ends.
What decides strength#
| Factor | Size |
|---|---|
| The eleven's skills | Each player's six skills, scaled by how his position fits his slot: 100%, 75% or 50% |
| Game style | Shifts effective skills between defence and attack for the whole match |
| Home crowd | +1% at 80% of the ground filled, up to +5% at a sell-out |
| Groundsman | +3% with the Assistant, then +5%, +7% or +10% with higher staff tiers |
| Captain | Up to 3% for age, up to 5% for career matches, 8% at most |
| Energy | Below full, a player is weaker, and he tires further as the match runs |
A friendly and a cup final have no home side and no crowd bonus.
Penalties and tired players#
For a penalty, the taker and goalkeeper use the performance they brought into the match, before the ordinary in-match Stamina reduction. This does not restore either player's real Stamina, and open play continues with the same tired legs afterwards.
The taker still has a small smooth accuracy effect below 60 Stamina: it grows to at most four percentage points at zero. The goalkeeper has no Stamina penalty on a penalty kick. The same rule applies during the match and in a shootout; shootout pressure and experience are separate from physical fatigue.
What a competitive match costs and earns#
- Both clubs pay every contracted player's salary and every facility's upkeep, less the Director's cut.
- The home club takes the gate: attendance times the ticket price, within the round cap. A cup final's 300,000 gate is split 150,000 each.
- Fame: 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss, times the tournament coefficient, plus 0.01 per goal scored and minus 0.005 per goal conceded — the Fame page.
- Union points: 3, 1 or 0 times the same tournament coefficient.
- Each player who played spends energy for his minutes, adjusted by Manager Pressing and halved in a cup match. Extra time counts; the shootout does not add minutes.
A friendly does none of this: no salaries, no upkeep, no gate, no fame, no union points, no energy.