12:56:38 | 27/03/2023
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Football Strategy is an online football (soccer, if you’re American) management game. Something new is always happening to your team, competing managers and the leagues you’re involved in. Managers may log in at any time to find out what has happened since their last session, view upcoming events, and make new, fun managerial decisions.
For a better understanding of how the game works, it is recommended for new managers to read the manager handbook.
The Football Strategy community is forever growing. Teams are getting stronger, divisions are getting tighter, and managers are continuously finding more ways to get ahead.
Join in on the discussions at the forums, where managers figure out the best tactics for their side and offer suggestions to help improve the game even further. Alternatively, come in to chat with Football Strategy’s active staff team, who are working on the game daily, and interacting with the community frequently to find out how the game may be improved.
Categorized by the colour, their club’s name is written. The four types of clubs are:
Football Strategy was built to be fun and to serve fans and managers. To help keep the game fun and fair, certain rules must be followed:
By violating the game rules, managers risk permanent suspension of their accounts.
Activities within the game are constantly being monitored to ensure a fair playing ground therefore the players should refrain from any violation of stated rules.
The game is designed to be always playable for football managers, at any time.
Clubs can be managed successfully without the need of playing daily. Advance setup may be done for everything from future line-ups for competitions, training schedules and youth development plans. Managers will find that time, tactics and enthusiasm invested into the club are usually rewarded with top results from their teams.
A season consists of 16 weeks (week 0 to week 15). Here is a basic rundown of events managers can expect to happen each week:
You seize control of a brand-new club, after becoming a manager. The club’s long-term future is now in your hand. You start with 38 players for both your primary and U21 team. This includes 3 GK, 2 DL, 2 DR, 2 SW, 6 DC, 2 WBL, 2 WBR, 2 DMC, 3 MC, 2ML, 2MR, 2 AML, 2 AMR, 2 AMC, 4 ST.
For helping managers to learn the ropes at their new clubs, each new manager starts with $2,000,000 in their bank and receives a temporary boost to their weekly income (match attendance, sponsors, TV rights) and fanbase increase.
Boost increases by 5% for every season passed, only for newly registered managers that join at a later season. For example, if a manager joins during season 5, the boost will be an additional 25%.
Both your primary and U21 teams are equally responsible for the success and development of your club. Though both teams share all facilities and financial responsibilities, they have their own competitions, rating system, and training sessions. Your primary team also has a higher impact on match attendance and finances.
Your primary and U21 team each need to maintain a minimum of 16 players, and a maximum of 50.
Managers can switch players between their primary and U21 teams if the player:
Up to three players may be moved between your teams each week. After a successful team change, the player appears in the new team but is not eligible for participation in any activity for the next 48 hours.
Your player and staff members can request an increase in their salary at the end of the season if they feel like they have earned it. This is justified by their performance or constant over-use during competitions.
As a manager, you can approve or decline a request. It is your job to carefully examine each request and determine its validity.
Being cautious when handling such duties as approving or declining a request can have positive or negative consequences.
Your job as a club manager is to ensure a positive bank balance. To achieve that, the revenue your club generates needs to exceed the expenses it incurs.
The primary sources of income for your new club are stadium (tickets), fanbase, associates, sponsors, and TV rights. Managers are advised to keep track of their revenues and avoid club funds falling into negative figures because:
When a -$3,000,000 limit is reached, the club goes bankrupt. You then have eight weeks to turn things around and return within the limit, or your club will be deleted from the roster. During this period, the club will not be allowed to incur additional expenses. Hence, new club managers are highly recommended not to incur any expenses until they are comfortable with how the game works.
Match attendance and ticket sales are determined by many factors such as:
This means that your team’s weekly performance directly impacts match attendance through the fanbase count and mood changes (friendly games do not have any impact).
Marketers set the ticket price per zone based on your:
By the other factors, the higher your club’s marketing levels, the more favorable prices will be set. If at any time during the season, the marketing level drops, compared to the time that ticket prices are set, there will be a permanent 25% decrease in ticket prices. When the home team is a bot and there is a matching revenue for the away team, ticket prices for the match will be those set for the away team.
It is crucial to ensure that a stadium matches a club’s goals and size. When the club has grown, and there is a higher demand for tickets, managers should increase the number of seats. Every upgrade of seating capabilities opens new upgrades for the stadium. A warning, though: Upgrading seats is a costly procedure, and rushing through plus overbuilding your stadium at the start will likely result in bankruptcy.
Stadiums are zoned the following way:
Four zones: North – South – East – West
There are five levels of seating division:
Fanbase value is an estimation of the number of supporters your club currently has. Mood indicates how happy your supporters are and how much passion they have for the club.
Fanbase values begin initially at 500 while mood numbers start at 5. Fanbase numbers cannot fluctuate by more than 200 each week and mood values increase and decrease between 0.01 and 10.00. In the higher range, mood figures are hard to sustain. Fanbase and mood changes are based on several factors including the type of matches played, recent results, and current rankings. Events such as promotion, relegation, associates, and sponsor bonuses can also affect your fanbase mood.
To have high match attendance – which results in higher match revenue – you should always try to have a high fanbase and keep the mood close to 10.
Associates are considered season-ticket holders. They pay a seasonal subscription at the end of the season and do not pay for regular tickets. Marketers set a price for your associate fee based on your:
Higher the marketing level, better league and cup performance and a higher number of associates will give you more income.
The number of associates you gain is determined by the amount of fan base, overall ranking, associate fee, and the competitions your teams will face during the season.
Your associates will have expectations for you and your team. For each competition, your primary team participates in during the season, they will have a minimum expected goal and an exceeded goal. Reaching those goals allows you to get more revenue from your associates at the end of the season.
There are 22 possible sponsorship contracts. To sign a deal with a sponsor, you must meet their qualifying conditions on club amenities and marketing level. To fulfil these conditions, purchase amenities for your stadium and training ground and/or increase your marketing level by hiring marketers.
Every season allows managers to choose two sponsors to sign up. The manager has until Friday (depending on the day of registration) to select both sponsors otherwise the best possible two are automatically selected.
Sponsors weekly pay out a determined amount, with the opportunity to achieve bonus payments at the end of the season. Managers may track progress for these milestones on the media page. If at any point during the season, the club’s marketing levels drop below the requirement needed to sign the contract, a 50% penalty is incurred on all income from sponsors.
Amenities for the stadium and training ground are based on prestige (0-5 prestige levels). Each prestige has 4 levels for stadium amenities, and 5 for training ground amenities.
The bonuses for each level completed are the following:
However, there is a weekly maintenance fee of $100,000 for each level completed.
TV rights income gives you a boost in revenue generated during a season. Revenue from TV Rights is tied to the primary team’s current division, and the following scale is a guide to expected income, although the exact amount depends on your club’s overall ranking.
Club staff are housed and managed at the headquarters. There are three different rankings for staff:
Managers starting out are automatically assigned a Degree C Rank Assistant manager and Degree C Rank U21 assistant manager. Recruiting better staff is a sound plan, however, it is strongly recommended for new managers to commit to starting staff members for at least the first few seasons before changing or adding new staff.
New staff members may be bought in two ways; you can either buy directly from other clubs or wait until the start of a season as new staff is generated in 4 to 7-day auctions held at random given times. During these auctions, you are restricted to the number of staff members to bid on based on the maximum number of staff members the club has for that role. The number of staff generated is based on the following formula:
A staff member may be employed by a club for 8 to 12 seasons. If a member of your staff plans to retire, he will notify you on the first day of the season. Staff members that do not get contracted after the first auction when generated are automatically kept in weekly auctions until they are contracted by someone. If at the end of the second season, they still are not contracted, they will be removed from the transfer system. In the case that a staff member with a rating of 10.0 retires in your club, your next staff member within that same role that is contracted within seven days will receive a bonus of 1.00+ rating.
You are free to release a staff member at any point, but it will cost the club 6 times the staff’s weekly salary cost to release him. When a staff member is released, he is put up for auction as a free agent. Active managers may also sell their staff members, with up to a maximum of 12 staff members coming in or out of the club during twelve weeks.
Managers can also increase ratings for staff members by sending them to seminars. The cost of the seminar is calculated based on the rating the staff member has, costing $10,000 per 1 rating. You also have the option to open a second seminar training spot for a different staff member at three times the normal cost.
Attending seminars guarantees a rating improvement between 0.05 and 0.10. Seminars are conducted every Wednesday and Saturday, and improvements in staff ratings are reflected after scheduled maintenance times.
Every club has only one assistant manager. His main duty is to help the manager with training and is the staff member who carries the biggest impact on your primary team.
Up to three coaches can be employed to look after the primary team. Coaches help improve your players’ training results.
The U21 assistant manager is tasked with training the club’s U21 team and academy. Only one U21 assistant manager can be employed at each club.
Three coaches may be assigned to your U21 team. They help to improve your U21 team and academy training results.
A club can assign up to four scouts. Scouts help their clubs and managers to scout for talented youngsters around the world, adding better prospects to your U21 academy.
Each club can employ up to four physios. Their role is to aid injured players ensuring a faster recovery.
Each club has a marketing department that holds up to four marketers. Responsible for your sponsor contracts, marketers also help attract visitors to matches by setting favorable prices for match tickets and associate fees.
There are four main club competitions:
Your new club will participate in a league competition based on the country you selected on registration. As your club progresses, you will be promoted into new, and more competitive, divisions as follows:
Eight clubs compete in each league, amounting to fourteen fixtures per season with games played every Saturday (U21 team) and Sunday (primary team). Points for league tables are given as follows:
Positions on the league table are given based on total points. If two teams are tied on points, rankings are decided on the following, starting with the highest priority:
Clubs without human control (bots) will automatically be controlled to preserve the integrity of competitions. Therefore, your club’s overall placement on the league table will depend upon your time of registration and the number of active clubs participating. New managers step in to take over bot-managed clubs, and this might be in the third or fourth division (up to fifth if the division is enabled which means that the country has over 680 active clubs).
* A fifth division will only be made available in countries that reach full capacity.
** When deciding which teams are promoted directly and which partake in play-offs, the rules applied are the same as League rules stated (overall points, goal difference, goals for, number of victories).
*** Playoffs follow a seeding rule, in which the highest ranked team from the lower division will be matched up against the lowest ranked team from a higher division. The higher rank team is always the host, although revenue generated from match attendance is shared equally for both sides. In the case of a draw, a penalty shootout is used to decide a winner.
Every country in Football Strategy holds their own cup competition – The National Cup. The National Cup is divided into three divisions:
For National Premier Cup to be enabled in a particular country, there must be 800 active users for that country. For National Challengers Cup to be enabled in a particular country, there must be 1200 active users for that country.
Each National Cup division is made up of 128 groups of 4 teams each. In each group, two top-ranking clubs are seeded to play against two clubs that rank at the bottom. National Cup Games are played every Monday (U21 team) and Tuesday (primary team), with two matches (Home and Away), played against each opponent in the group.
Clubs that finish as number one in the group stages progress into the knockout rounds. The knockout rounds are carried out as follows:
The higher-ranking club ends up playing home during Round 128, 64, 32, 16, Quarter Finals, and Semi-Finals. For the Grand Finals, the higher-ranking club always plays the second leg at home.
The Football Strategy Cup is the competition to find the best club in the world. It is divided into three divisions; The overall best 512 clubs play for the FS Champions Cup; the next 512 clubs play for The FS Premier Cup and the next 512 clubs compete for The FS Challengers Cup. All three competitions are always active. Other than fixtures being played every Wednesday (U21 team) and Thursday (primary team), the seeding system and rules for this competition are the same as the National Cup.
Friendly matches can be played every Wednesday (U21 team) and Thursday (primary team). These non-competitive matches serve as training and provide a small boost to your revenue. Income from match attendances is shared equally between both sides. To arrange a friendly fixture a club must:
Managers can add their teams to the friendlies pool anytime between Friday and Tuesday. If there is a club with a ranking lower or greater than 500 from your club already in the pool, a friendly game will automatically be arranged. If not, you enter a queue to wait for a team that meets the requirements to join the friendlies pool. For friendlies, the team with the higher-ranking plays at home. On Tuesday’s maintenance, all clubs are removed from the friendlies pool, so managers must add their team again if they want to arrange a friendly match during the week.
Football Strategy Clubs have three types of rankings:
Your teams need to achieve and maintain a high-ranking position to qualify for cup matches.
Every Monday rankings are updated and are calculated from all match results of the past week – EXCEPT for friendly and play-off matches. Whether it is a home or away game; the stronger your opponents, the calculation deems you to be ranked higher accordingly!
Players receiving Yellow and Red Cards face consequences in the upcoming matches.
Every football club and its players require training. Football Strategy Tools will allow managers to develop the team’s progress and improve any weaknesses. Training ground also ensures players improve their physical and playing attributes. Most importantly, it will allow young talents to develop and make their way to the primary team.
Factors affecting training and how often players increase attributes are:
Players may achieve skill points on match days according to the positions they played in during a match. More training points may be achieved by:
Increase your attributes by using training points. A player increases an attribute when he collects more than 2,000 points in an attribute that was below his potential. A player increases an attribute when he collects more than 4,000 points in an attribute that was equal to higher than his potential. A player loses an attribute when it drops below -200 points. When the increase occurs, 2,000 (or 4,000) points are removed from the attribute. If an attribute is lost, 200 points are added to the attribute.
Players can still lose attribute points due to aging, non-playing, injuries, and other factors.
To see what type of training players are currently undergoing, look at the 'Training Type' column on the training page.
Custom Training: Player is training based on the customized training values set specifically for a player. Managers who wish to go into the finer details can fine-tune their players’ training. There is a restriction of 40% maximum you can train in a single attribute.
Default Position: The player is training based on default training values:
Players gain training points by the following methods in the training session:
Completion of every prestige level of training amenities boosts the total training points calculated by 4%.
During the U21 team training, Assistant Manager and Coaches are replaced by U21 Assistant Manager and U21 Coaches, staff members.
Players gain training points in each training match through the following method:
In total training, calculation by the above two factors gives the following boost points:
No boosts for friendly matches. Training points from matches will be assigned the same way as points from training sessions.
All training points (including training sessions, match training and U21 National Team match training) gained while a player is in the U21 team are reduced by 30%.
For each potential skill level after 12 the effect is reduced by 3%. For example, if the player has 15 potential skill levels, the total reduced amount would be 21% instead of 30%.
Players at the age of 26 will also start to lose points. Each day they will lose 12 training points for each of the two highest skill level attribute the player has, and 6 training points for each of the third, fourth and fifth highest skill level attribute.
For each age after 26, the effect doubles. For example, if the player is age 30, he would lose 60 training points for each of the two highest attributes, and 30 training points for each of his third, fourth and fifth highest attributes. The number of training points gained (for both training sessions and training matches) is reduced by 5% for each age above 26. For example, if the player is age 28, the total reduction would be 15%.
Personality traits allow for each player to have unique attribute increases. Players can have different types of personality traits that will give a 10-20% boost to the training points gained for the attribute that matches the trait. For each attribute, there will be a matching trait. For example, the Agility trait will give a 10-20% boost to all training points gained in the Agility attribute.
There is also a rare 3% chance the trait will boost either all physical/mental attributes, all defensive attributes, or all offensive attributes. Although most players will not have such traits, there is a 20% chance a player can have up to 1 trait, a 10% chance of up to 2 traits, and a 5% chance of up to 3 traits. Traits can be stacked, meaning if you have three traits of Agility, the total boost will be 60%.
The youth academy is where prospects are managed before they enter the club’s U21 team. It is a vital part of any club, as it not only provides the team with new players but also has the potential to earn the club revenue in the future.
Trials for new prospects can last between 10 to 15 weeks. During this period, the club’s U21 staff members can influence the prospect’s progression. Every day, each prospect’s skills are evaluated, and the progress of the past day is reported.
Upon ending the trial period, the prospect will no longer train with the club and the manager will have to decide to accept or decline him for your U21 Team. If no decision is made within 3 weeks after the trial, the prospect is released.
Managers can also manage the number of openings they wish to have at a time – although, by doing so, it will come at a cost to the club. Up to three new prospects can join the club every Wednesday and Saturday; however, there must be enough space available otherwise prospects are automatically rejected.
Up to 30 prospects can be managed at a single time. The academy must be handled with care as it can be very costly to maintain. There is a weekly maintenance fee of $15,000 for every spot opened and a fee of $5,000 for each rating a prospect has.
The information you have about each new prospect is his skill level (the average of all attributes) and age. As a prospect progresses during the trial, managers get fresh insights about him:
There is a chance that a prospect during week 3 may change his projected skill with up to a -2 rating, and, on very rare occasions, up to a 2+ rating.
The average player skill rating of prospects is based on a point system. Each scout will give as many points as his scout rating (up to 10 points each). Points are also awarded for each closed spot the academy has (0.5 points for each closed spot). This means that the more closed spots the academy has, the more points are awarded.
Projected average player skill per total points:
There is a 1% chance for a rare prospect to appear that would have a potential of 18 - 20 with a 7.0 - 9.0 average player skill regardless of staff members.
This chance is increased by 0.30% - 0.50% each time you do not get a rare prospect but is higher for newer clubs:
When a rare prospect appears, the chance percentage is reset. For the chance to increase, there must be at least 1 open space at the time of new prospect day.
Factors affecting youth academy training are the ratings of the U21 assistant manager, the ratings of the U21 coaches and the individual player’s age. Training changes are based on a points system where in each training session prospects gain points in the following method:
A player will increase a skill after he passes 200 points. When the increase occurs, 200 points are removed. During a skill increase, only one of the main attributes has a 50% chance of improvement, all other attributes have a 20% chance. The maximum value a youth academy player can reach in an attribute is 14.
The main attributes for academy U21 positions are:
The match engine offers matches a sense of realism while providing managers with a variety of tactical options. Informative match reports allow managers to deeply analyze the performance of their teams. Football Strategy offers the best 3D match experience available for any online browser-based game and takes the player quality and tactical options into account for all matches, resulting in realistic and immersive gameplay.
In a match, each side gets approximately the same number of opportunities unless their tactics and player quality stipulate otherwise.
Though it’s not necessary to make advanced choices to win games, it is often the best way to utilize specific players. During the match, conditional orders and tactical swaps ordered by the manager can come into effect. These orders are given before the match and come into effect when their conditions are met.
For example, leading by 2 goals and/or in a certain minute. When your team goes behind in the second half, conditional tactics to play more offensively can often lead to an equalizer or even turn the game around. Substituting tired players is also a common conditional order.
As with a real football game, in Football Strategy, a great manager can often lead a weaker side to win against the strongest teams through the strategic use of match tactics and match simulation options.
During a match, stamina has four phases:
Penalty Taker – The taker will choose a random direction to shoot. The accuracy of the shot depends on the shot algorithm.
Goalkeeper – Goalkeepers will dive in a random direction from six possible choices: lower left, upper left, lower middle, upper middle, lower right, and upper right. If the goalkeeper guesses right and has a chance to save, then the save detailed below takes place.
The higher their agility and strength, the faster the goalkeepers will dive. If a goalkeeper manages to get close enough to pull off a save, the goalkeeper’s keep ability determines whether the save is successful or not.
The player taking the free kick will decide whether to shoot, cross or do a simple pass. This decision will be based on the distance and angle to the goal.
The shooter decides which area of the goal to shoot to, based normally on which area of the goal is least guarded. The accuracy of the shot is based on the finishing ability of the player, as well as the pressure the player is under from the opposition.
The player will choose to cross the ball if there’s a player in the box that is well positioned. If the player decides that a cross is the right choice, they will lift the ball toward the target player. The accuracy of the cross is based on the crossing attribute, as well as the opposition pressure the player may be under.
When a player decides to pass, they will rate every player around them. This rating is based on many variables, such as how much space the player has, how well positioned the player considers the other player to be, and whether the player considers the potential pass target to be better positioned than him. After the pass rankings have been calculated the player will decide whether it is worth passing to a player. The accuracy of the pass is based on the passing attribute, as well as the opposition pressure the player may be under.
Players start in their position in the formation. They will then look for a better position in the space around them to be in. If a player on the offensive move has a high positioning stat, he will look around him for a position with more space, or that poses a greater attacking threat. A player will also consider his manager’s tactical instructions when looking for positions to be in.
If a player gets close enough to the player in possession the tackling algorithm kicks in. The chance of a successful tackle is based on the dribbling ability of the player in possession and the tackling ability of the tackler, along with other variables such as the tackling tactical choice instructed by the manager.
Managers are responsible for their team’s tactics, which range from general player instructions to set up players on the pitch. One of the most important things managers need to ensure is that a line-up is selected for a match ahead of time as they must be locked in 5 hours before match time on the fixtures page.
Managers can have 3 possible saved formations at any given time, and each can be modified separately. Players are divided into 3 groups:
Users can change players from one group to the other by selecting and dragging their names to their desired positions. Injured players can only be placed in the reserves group. If the starting eleven is not filled up with enough players, the match is automatically forfeited.
Goalkeeper (GK) – The primary role of the goalkeeper is to protect the goal and prevent the opposition from scoring. Goalkeepers distribute the ball differently based on the strategies implemented. For cautious and defensive tactics, goalkeepers will mostly aim to clear the ball deep. In more aggressive tactics, he will tend to feed the ball to nearby players.
Sweeper (SW) – Sweepers primarily prevent the opposition from attacking the box. The sweeper is best used when choosing to play with very defensive tactics.
Fullback (DL) (DR) – The left and right fullbacks defend the flanks. Depending on team tactics, fullbacks can join the offense when their team has possession of the ball to support the attack.
Center Defender (DC) – Center backs stop opposing attackers from passing the defensive line and clear the ball from danger when required.
Wingback (WBR) (WBL) – While being similar to a full back, wingbacks take a more offensive approach depending on team tactics and strategy selections. Wingbacks need very good fitness because they cover a lot of pitch switching from defense to offense.
Defensive Midfielder (DMC) – The defensive midfielder’s primary role is to protect the defensive line from being breached. They break up attacks by blocking the opposition and supporting other midfielders when in possession.
Wide Midfielder (ML) (MR) – Wide midfielders own the flank and perform defensive and attacking duties in them. When in offensive mode, they support midfield lines and look to create opportunities.
Center Midfielder (MC) – Center midfield players create chances and support offensive players. When playing in a defensive setup, they fall back to help with defense. Due to their need to cover a lot of ground switching from defense to offense, center midfielders need very good fitness.
Winger (AML) (AMR) – Wingers support the flanks and feed the ball to create offensive plays. Depending on tactic and strategy selection, wingers can cross, pass, or break the defense and create a scoring chance.
Inside Forward (AMC) – Connecting the midfield with the strikers, the attacking midfielder role primarily aims to cut infield towards the defensive line to create a scoring chance.
Striker (ST) – The main job of strikers, is to score. As such, strikers play near the goal and look to provide the finish to the team’s offensive plays.
To get the best of their team, managers will want to customize every bit of the team’s tactics. New managers though, can start with preset tactics to ease themselves into the game.
The team attempts to retain possession for a decent amount of time and build play slowly rather than rush forward.
The team looks to attack quickly when they receive the ball, getting the ball forward to the attacking players as fast as they can.
The team has a higher tendency to play long balls than to make short passes.
The team plays at a high intensity, closing opponents quickly when they have the ball and making tackles at the earliest opportunities.
It's most likely going to be best for you to customize your tactics, so you can get your team playing exactly as you like, rather than rely on the default values. Here is a rundown of what all the sliders do.
To customize team tactics related to defense, managers can toggle the defense slider.
A higher-pressure stat increases the chance players have of closing the ball when the opposition has possession.
A higher aggression stat increases the chance players have of attempting a tackle when they are near an opposition player with the ball.
Width affects how wide a team plays when they don’t have possession. 0% makes teams play 20% narrower than normal, while 100% makes teams play 20% wider than they do when they control the ball.
The defensive line is decided between cover or offside trap. Cover instructs players to look for close-by players that are out of positions and attempt to move into a medium position to cover for them. The offside trap tactic instructs players to look for moments when a pass is about to play and attempt to move up to play receivers offside.
Speed affects how quickly teams move forward when they control the ball. 0% causes players to pass the ball around the defense and midfield for a while before moving it forward. 100% instructs the team to consistently pass to the furthest man forward.
The passing tactic increases the tendency for passing long, if the percentage is high, and passing short if the percentage is low. It also decides the likelihood of players offering themselves for the ball if they are within the set passing range.
Freeform positioning allows teams to offer themselves to the player in possession for a pass more often, and to make runs to get into space. Organised positioning leads to players keeping to the formation and not breaking formation to receive the ball.
The passing stat influences the chance of a pass in the offensive zone. When a high passing stat is set, a player considering making a pass is more likely to do it.
The crossing stat influences the chance of a cross if a player is occupying a wide in the offensive zone. A low value influences the player in possession to try a short pass first or even dribble towards the goal instead of making a cross into the box.
The shooting stat influences the chances of players taking shots. Set to 100% and players will shoot from range, whereas if set to 0%, players will try to walk the ball into the net.
Freeform positioning allows teams to offer themselves to the player in possession for a pass more often, and to make runs to get into space. Organised positioning leads to players keeping to the formation and not breaking formation to receive the ball.
On top of generic team tactics, managers in Football Strategy can go into the finer details by giving individual players and positions instructions on what to do in different scenarios.
Defenders have the option to either stay back or attack when the ball is in the opposition half. In general, defenders in a team that’s currently leading will stay back, and defenders on a losing side will join the attack. A defender will also consider the number of players in his team already in front of him and whether the defense will be exposed if he moves forward.
The defender will take on a more offensive approach, moving forward with the team and joining in attacking moves.
The defender takes on a more defensive mindset, always staying behind in defense, regardless of the situation.
Midfielders have the option to either stay back or attack when the ball is in the opposition half. Before deciding, the midfielder considers the number of players in his team already in front of him and whether the defense will be exposed if he moves forward.
The midfielder takes on a more offensive stance and looks to support attacks at every opportunity.
The midfielder takes on a defensive role, sitting back and sweeping the ball forward once the opposition manages to clear.
The midfield player has the option of moving from his position or staying put. He maintains strict discipline or breaks out of position to help in his team’s attack based on whether his side is currently leading or trailing.
The midfielder maintains discipline in his positioning, sticking to his pre-set position and not looking to offer himself up for the ball or cover for another player.
Midfield players with roaming instructions tend to roam from their position to aid the attack by either offering themselves up for a pass or getting into the box for a chance to score.
Under this instruction, forwards have the option of playing the ball wide or central based on who they deem to be in the most space or have the best chance to score.
Forwards will keep the ball in the central region of the pitch, providing their team with the chance for a shot on target.
This instruction gets forward to move the ball out wide, potentially to cross the ball or to cut in from the wings.
The offensive player will move forward with play as normal, looking to move into space both inside and at the edge of the box.
When the ball is out wide, forwards under this instruction aim to get into the box quickly to receive a cross.
Forward players with this instruction hover around the edge of the box when the ball is out wide and could be crossed. This offers another option to the crosser and enables them to pick up rebounds.
This predetermines the player to take corners. If unavailable, the closest player to the chosen takers delivers the corner.
This determines the order of penalty takers, with 1 being the first to take the penalty, 2 being second and so forth. This is always in order and never decided by distance to the ball.
This predetermines the player to deliver free kicks. If unavailable, the closest player to the chosen taker dispatches the free kick.
When viewing players from other teams, their defensive, offensive, and physical/mental skills are hidden. Although the exact skill level is not revealed, their skills are categorized in the following format:
Position
The position is where the player is more capable of playing in a formation setting. If a player is not playing under his natural position, the player will suffer -2 skill levels to all attributes as a penalty during matches.
Age
The age of the player. Outfield players normally retire at 34-38 years old, while goalkeepers can play till the age of 38-42.
Value
The value of the player is based on his attributes and skill levels.
Wage
The weekly salary cost of the player. The wage varies depending on his stats and on the league division the player participates in as he would demand more from a higher-tier club. Players will also request a salary increase if they are played often during a season.
Potential
The potential of a player on a 12-20 scale.
Rating
The average match rating for the current and the past season. The player must have participated in at least 5 league or international competitions to have a rating during that timeframe. National team matches do not affect the rating.
Country
It is the player’s country of birth.
The following table explains what the Match Engine considers important for each attribute based on the position of the player. This might not be 100% accurate as different managers might want players with different attributes to fit their strategies.
For example, a manager may want a WBR with higher 'Cross' attributes to constantly create crossing chances. In this case, an attribute with a value of 5 is very important while an attribute with a value of 0 is not necessary ina that position.
| GK | SW | DL | WBL | DR | WBR | DC | DMC | ML | MR | AML | AMR | MC | AMC | ST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keep | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Position | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Head | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Steal | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| First Touch | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Pass | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Dribble | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Cross | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Finish | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Agility | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Strength | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Fitness | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Speed | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Creativity | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
There are three categories of injuries that can occur to players, ranging from a minor concussion to a broken hip. Injuries are divided by duration and the chance of occurrence.
In 60% of cases, an injury falls under Category 1. The most frequent injuries have limited duration and little impact on the player. Injuries in this category normally last from 20 to 30 days, depending on the severity and the skills of the physio.
Category 1 injuries include:
In 30% of cases, less frequent, Category 2 injuries, occur. Medium severity injuries like these have some impact on the player’s attributes and require a longer recovery period. Injuries in this category last from 30 to 40 days, depending on the severity and the physio.
Category 2 injuries include:
Only in 10% of cases do Category 3, the least frequent injuries, occur. These high-severity injuries have a major impact on the player’s health and attributes. A Category 3 injury requires extensive recovery periods and lasts from 40 up to 50 days, depending on the severity and Physio.
Category 3 injuries include:
Physios can reduce injuries length.
For each physio rating, the days are reduced by 1%. For example, if you have a total physio rating of 20, a 20-day injury is reduced by 20% down to 16 days.
Every tackle in a match increases the chances of an injury. A tackle currently produces a less than 2% chance of causing an injury. But this chance is also affected by the stamina of a player and how harsh is the tackle.
Players can also be injured during training sessions. During a training session, a player has a 1% chance of injury, this chance increases by 0.1% for every match played during a season. The chance increase is reset at the start of every new season. Players cannot participate in matches or training while injured.
An initial fee is imposed on clubs for putting players on the transfer list. This amounts to 2% of the starting price. If the transfer goes through successfully, the seller pays an additional 5% of the sale price. If a player wasn’t brought in from the Youth Academy and is under 26 years old, a 5% fee is paid to his original club. Loan listings are exempted from all fees, except for the 2% starting fee. Managers are eligible to take down their listings if there are no active bids for a player without refund.
There are two types of possible transfer methods:
When a club makes a bid during the last minute of an auction, the auction deadline is increased by one minute.
Auto-bid allows Plus-subscribed managers to place a bid automatically.
When an existing offer is being outbid, a preset auto-bid places a bid higher by 3% of the competing bid on the manager’s behalf. The auto-bid will continue to outbid other offers until the set maximum amount is reached.
All countries supported by Football Strategy can have their own National Team and National U21 Team. For this to happen, your country must have at least 10 active managers to be eligible for participation in the two tournaments available, otherwise the National Team will be AI-controlled to maintain integrity between competitions. The card system and injuries are both still in play for both competitions.
On the last maintenance day of the World Cup season, players that participated in the past national team competitions and are not playing for an active club, are automatically transfer listed as free agents. The time frame will be randomly generated from 4 to 7 days.
The selection process for a National Team manager that takes charge for two full seasons is a democratic one. Anyone can apply for a national team, but only managers in the country are able to vote for their national team manager.
To become a candidate, all managers need to do is visit the country page for the National Team you’re interested in and select “Declare Interest”. Players who belong to that country would then be able to vote for you. The candidate with the most votes is selected as the national team manager. In the case of a tie, the candidate with the highest Overall Ranking is chosen.
The selected candidate for the National Team can now call up between 30 to 40 players from the National Pool. This pool includes 30 GKs, 150 DEFs, 150 MIDs and 150 ATKs (suggested roles) with the highest average skill level.
The National Team manager would be able to freely see the stats of players in the National Pool and can call up the player into the National Team without affecting the club he belongs to.
If the candidate does not bring in the necessary number of players, the candidate will be fired from the National Team and the national team will become AI-controlled. If the country has 10 or less active managers at the start or at the end of this process, the active national team manager will also be fired, and the national team will become AI-controlled.
Based on performance, players gain training points for each minute spent on the field during a national team match. The amount of training points awarded is calculated the same way FS Cup matches are with an additional boost of 20% if Continental Cup and 40% if World Cup.
Training points are applied as soon as the NT match is finished. Training points are not awarded if the bot is AI-controlled.
There are two different versions of the Continental Cup depending on the geographic location of your club; Europe (36 countries) and Rest of the World (36 countries). Three seedings are held for this competition; First seed consists of the top 12 national teams; second seed consists of the 12 next highest ranked national teams and the third seed consists of the 12 lowest ranked national teams. Three random teams from each seed are paired into 4 group stages of 9 teams each. Continental Cup matches are played (20:00 [FS] Time National Team, 12:00 [FS] Time U21 National Team) every Thursday and Sunday.
The best four National Teams from each group stage qualify for phase 2 of the Continental Cup and earn a spot for the World Cup competition. Managers who did not qualify become inactive and lose access to their National Team, however, they can re-apply for next selection.
Phase 2 involves a total of sixteen National Teams in knock-out rounds seeded as follow:
Matches are played twice a week (home/away).
The World Cup competition involves the best sixteen national teams from the two Continental Cups. Candidates can optionally bring in an additional ten players into their team (clubs still benefit from the bonus if their player is selected).
World Cup matches are played (20:00 [FS] Time national team, 12:00 [FS] Time U21 National Team) every Thursday and Sunday. There are two seedings for this competition; First seed consists of the top 16 national teams, and the second seed, consists of the 16 lower ranked teams. Together they make up four group stages.
The best four teams from each group enter a final knock-out stage. Phase 2 involves a total of sixteen National Teams in knock-out rounds seeded as follows:
Matches are played twice a week (home/away).
The best four World Cup candidates have the option to continue for another two seasons. Clubs also benefit from their national team’s performance well through the following bonuses:
These bonuses are reduced by 60% for U21 National Team.
The PLUS system gives subscribers access to numerous perks and creates a better playing experience for managers who choose to support the game. Funds collected through the PLUS system are used for further game development and to offset server costs.
Naturally, we did our best to ensure gameplay is not affected, to keep the game competitive, and that everyone has an equal chance of progressing. Players who wish to continue playing without subscribing can, of course, still enjoy the game and achieve everything a subscriber does.
You can read more about this system in the PLUS section. We hope you’ll choose to support Football Strategy by subscribing to PLUS!
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