Frequently Asked Questions

1. General

2. Players

3. Team

4. Matches

5. Training

6. Finances & Facilities

7. National Teams

What is random?

Random is an ever-present element on FA that slightly influences most aspects of the game. It mainly affects the course and results of matches (thanks to random, a weaker team can occasionally beat a stronger one), but it also affects player performance (and therefore team performance), changes in form and potential, training, match attendance, and youth academy pulls.

What causes form to rise or fall?

Form changes randomly. However, a player with low form has a higher chance of seeing it increase, and vice versa. Additionally, a player who played at least one match during the week has a better chance of improved form compared to one who didn't play at all.

How does form affect performance?

Form affects a player's performance in exactly the same way as experience. So a player with form 2 and experience 7 will produce the same performance as an equally skilled player with form 7 and experience 2.

How do players gain experience?

Experience can only be gained by playing matches - league, cup (domestic and international), friendly, and international matches. In international matches, players named on the bench also gain a (very small) amount of experience. At the World Cup, players earn double experience compared to other international fixtures. There is no experience gained in the friendly league, though this can be changed by hiring a special staff member. Matches are ranked as follows for experience purposes:
1) Senior national team
2) League, League Cup
3) Champions League, U-22 national team
4) Prestige Cup
5) International Cup, friendlies, U-19 national team
6) Challenge Cup
7) Fair Play Cup, national team bench

How does experience work with substitutions?

Each player earns experience proportionally based on the number of minutes played. This applies equally to injury substitutions and tactical substitutions.

How quickly do players gain experience?

In general, players with lower experience gain it faster than those with higher experience. The amount also depends on the number of minutes spent on the pitch.

How does experience affect team performance?

Experience and form have the same impact on a player's performance. Experience also has an additional effect on certain tactics - pressing and counter-attacks - where a more experienced team will execute these tactics better than an inexperienced one.

Does an offensive player gain different experience when playing in a defensive or normal position?

No, it doesn't matter. Experience gain is unaffected, even if a defender plays as a striker.

When does potential change?

Only at the turn of each season; it increases up to about age 22, and then only declines with age. Some players may start declining earlier.

Will every player eventually reach 100% potential?

Not necessarily, but most will.

What determines a player's price?

Primarily the player's skills, and to a lesser extent his experience. Older players have a lower price compared to younger players with the same overall rating. Form, fitness, and potential do not affect price.

Can a player's def/off specialisation be changed?

No, it cannot.

How is the def/off specialisation determined for youth players?

Randomly. Skills and specialisation are determined independently of each other.

How is a player's match performance calculated?

Each player's performance is calculated every minute, and the overall performance (star rating) is the average for the entire match or the time spent on the pitch. A player does not perform at the same level throughout the match - his fitness changes during the game. If a player's fitness drops below 50%, his performance starts to deteriorate, which in turn affects the overall team strength.

What performance does an offensive player produce when playing in a defensive or normal position?

If, for example, an offensive player plays in a normal or defensive position, he performs according to his skills but at a maximum of 95% of the performance he would produce in the same match at his natural position. This penalty applies to performance from base skills; tactical effects (counter-attacks etc.) are applied afterwards. As a result, it's possible that a normal midfielder with high passing could perform slightly better in an offensive position than in his own. This penalty applies equally to all def/normal/off combinations.

Will an injured player train on Friday?

No. A player must be fit at the time of training to participate. However, if a player gets injured during a match and recovers before Friday, he will train. He must be fit by Thursday before training.

What does the number next to an injured player mean?

It shows the number of weeks until the player recovers. This duration is approximate and decreases based on the team's medical facility level - a higher medical facility means faster recovery. A higher facility level also reduces the initial injury duration, so players are injured for shorter periods.

Do an injured player's skills decline?

Yes, all skills (and therefore the player's price) decline, and at a slightly faster rate than if the player simply wasn't training.

Will a player train fully even if he didn't play the full match?

Yes. Even playing just one minute is enough for full training.

What is the team captain for?

The captain boosts the team's strength based on his experience - the higher his experience, the greater the boost. The captain always earns slightly more experience per match than other players. If the captain is substituted or goes off injured during a match, the team loses the captain bonus. If the captain is a youth academy graduate, he boosts team strength by 50% more than a regular captain.

How is team performance calculated?

It is calculated every minute during the match based on the performance of players on the pitch; the overall performance is then the average of these values.

Does the team performance already include the effect of the chosen tactic?

Yes. However, pressing and counter-attacks contribute only very slightly to the displayed team strength (and may even reduce it), even though the team might actually perform better in the match thanks to these tactics.

Does the team performance already include the match importance setting?

No. The displayed performance always corresponds to the "normal" importance setting. The actual performance based on your chosen importance level needs to be calculated according to the manual (see the Match Line-up Settings - Importance section).

What do the three colours below the overall team performance in match detail mean?

Green - defence, blue - midfield, red - attack. This colour coding is used throughout FA, for example when setting up your match line-up.

What affects team morale?

Results of league and cup matches (not friendlies or friendly league matches). Selling players on the transfer market can also lower morale - see the manual for details.

What does team morale influence?

Team performance in matches, fan club growth, and match attendance.

Why did my team morale increase on its own?

If team morale falls below a certain threshold, it automatically increases every Tuesday and Friday (the lower the morale, the larger the likely increase). This threshold varies by league - it is highest in the top division (around 65%) and decreases in lower divisions.

Can a scheduled friendly match be cancelled?

No, it cannot.

What determines attendance in friendly matches?

Attendance depends on the fan clubs and marketing levels of both teams, as well as their morale. Random also plays a role. The home team's factors carry more weight - so it's worth playing at home against teams with larger fan clubs and higher morale. Players with international caps also slightly increase attendance.

What determines attendance at a neutral venue in friendly matches?

Attendance is the same as if the match were played at the home team's ground.

Are there injuries in international matches?

Yes, but injuries in international matches are much less likely than in other matches and usually last for a much shorter period.

Do players train if I win by walkover? Do they get experience? What about gate receipts?

The team that submitted a line-up receives training as if the match were played, but only players in the starting XI will train. The team that didn't submit a line-up receives no training. Only the captain of the team with a submitted line-up earns experience - but only the captain bonus (not for minutes played). Gate receipts go to the team that submitted a line-up, but only a portion of what they would have earned in a full match (they don't receive money for the team that failed to set up).

Why can't I change my line-up 30 minutes before kick-off?

Match calculations begin 30 minutes before kick-off. This is because the computation takes some time, so everything needs to be pre-generated before the matches officially start.

What happens if I don't set any condition for a tactical substitution?

The substitution will be made at the specified minute regardless of any conditions.

What happens if I make a mistake in the tactical substitution settings (e.g. missing a player, wrong names, or no time set)?

The settings won't be saved and the substitution won't take place.

I set up a tactical substitution correctly, but it didn't happen in the match - why?

Check whether a player was injured during the match before the planned substitution, and whether he was replaced by the same player who was meant to come on for the tactical sub (the same player obviously can't enter the pitch twice). Also check whether an injury substitution already used up one of your three permitted substitutions, preventing the tactical one from going ahead.

Why can't I make substitutions during a live match?

On FA, all match results and events are calculated 30 minutes before kick-off. During the actual broadcast of the match, the pre-generated events are simply revealed gradually. It's therefore not possible to intervene during the match, e.g. in the 60th minute, because the entire match has already been calculated before the official start time. Furthermore, allowing live changes would disadvantage managers who can't be online during the match.

What affects a player's penalty-taking ability?

The player's overall match performance (so even a goalkeeper can take penalties) - there is no dedicated penalty-taking skill on FA. In theory, whoever has the highest star rating in the match will be the best penalty taker (even if it's the keeper).

Why is the total training allocation only 1200%?

The aim is to prevent managers from training all their players equally, forcing them to think carefully about who to train and how, and who to buy on the transfer market. If everyone could fully train anyone, the transfer market would become largely pointless.

How do players train when set to 100% training?

A player's total training output depends on his potential. Stamina, however, is always trained at 100%, regardless of potential and age.

How quickly are individual skills trained?

The "total" skill always increases at the same rate for a given player. The speed of individual skills is inversely proportional to their usage weighting in the player's performance (see the manual). The primary skill (the one most heavily weighted) trains the slowest. For example, if a defensive winger uses twice as much tackling compared to winger skill (60% vs 30%), the winger skill will train twice as fast as tackling, even though the total always increases at the same rate.

Do two players with the same potential but different prices train at the same rate?

Yes, their individual skills (and therefore the total skill) increase at the same rate. However, at higher prices the relationship between price and total skill changes slightly (price grows a bit slower than total), so the percentage price increase shown in the player detail gradually decreases at higher prices, even though the player has the same potential and trains identically.

Does random affect training?

Yes, each player's training can be affected by random, varying up to 5% above or below the expected value.

Can I borrow money on FA?

No. However, weaker teams can buy FA money with credits.

Can I transfer money to another manager (aside from selling players on the market)?

No, this is not possible. Any deliberate transfer of money between two teams via player sales, intended to move funds from one team to another, is considered a violation of the rules and is forbidden.

When do I receive the money after selling a player?

Typically within 1–4 minutes after the sale.

What happens if I sell a player while a match is being played?

The deal is agreed at the time of sale, but it is finalised a few minutes after the match ends. The player will finish the entire match for his current club and leave the team (with the money being transferred) a few minutes after the final whistle.

How quickly is the stadium built?

5 days for every 1,000 seats (or part thereof).

How large should my stadium be?

Slightly larger than your fan club. Attendance is also boosted by your marketing level and team morale (though poor morale can actually reduce attendance).

Why did my facility level drop?

Facilities deteriorate over time through wear. If no work is done on a facility for an extended period, it will automatically drop by 1 level - see the game manual for details.

What is facility stability?

Stability shows how close the facility is to dropping by one level (the percentage remaining before it drops). However, stability has nothing to do with the facility's "performance" - a given facility level always operates at full capacity until the moment it drops (or until you build the next level).

How often do facilities deteriorate?

Approximately one level every 4–5 seasons.

What happens when I build a higher facility level?

Stability is automatically reset to 100%, and it will take approximately another 4–5 seasons before it drops again (unless a higher level is built during that time).

What happens if I start building a higher facility level just before it's about to drop (e.g. when stability is at 1%)?

Once a higher-level build is ordered, the facility can no longer drop. Likewise, while one facility is being built or demolished, wear on all other facilities is paused.

How do I become a national team head coach?

You need to be from the specific country you want to manage. You must stand for election in the two-round voting process, which takes place automatically every two seasons after the World Cup. There are also credit-based elections held after the official ones. If a national team is vacant, anyone can try their luck by applying - a new coach is then randomly drawn from all applicants.

Who can vote for a national team head coach?

Only managers who play in that specific country.

How do I become an assistant coach for a national team?

The head coach of that country must select you - you can be an assistant for any country.

Do I need to be a Supporter to become an assistant coach?

Not necessarily, but it's a disadvantage if you're not, because of the access to extended statistics.