Russian Schedule 2011-2012

There is currently a plan being implemented to transition the Russian Premier League to a Fall-Spring schedule as opposed to a Spring-Fall one, in order to synchronize it with the main European leagues. There is a tentative schedule currently discussed, which, it is assumed, will be finalized soon.

This schedule will see the Russian Premier League be extended by 1 round, running in 3 segments - Spring 2011, Fall 2011 and Spring 2012, before assuming the normal two-round format in Fall 2012 & Spring 2013 (there are PDFs that explain it in more detail). The Russian First Division, and lower divisions, will similarly be synchronized and realigned. The new structure will still be 1-1-5-10, but there will now be playoffs at all levels. The 15-16th Premier League clubs will be automatically eliminated, while the 13-14th placed club will be in a playoff with the 3-4th club from the First Division.

In the First Division, it will now be composed of 18 teams, with the 17-18th clubs eliminated automatically, and the 16th club playing a playoff with the 5 winners of the Second Division for the 3 open spots.

Anyway, I was hoping that this can and will be included in FM11, not sure how complicated it will be to code, but the mantra has always been that if it's in real life, it should be in FM11, so there you go.

I'm sure the Russian researchers can fill the dev team on the intricacies of the new schedule.

There is currently a plan being implemented to transition the Russian Premier League to a Fall-Spring schedule as opposed to a Spring-Fall one, in order to synchronize it with the main European leagues. There is a tentative schedule currently discussed, which, it is assumed, will be finalized soon.

This schedule will see the Russian Premier League be extended by 1 round, running in 3 segments - Spring 2011, Fall 2011 and Spring 2012, before assuming the normal two-round format in Fall 2012 & Spring 2013 (there are PDFs that explain it in more detail). The Russian First Division, and lower divisions, will similarly be synchronized and realigned. The new structure will still be 1-1-5-10, but there will now be playoffs at all levels. The 15-16th Premier League clubs will be automatically eliminated, while the 13-14th placed club will be in a playoff with the 3-4th club from the First Division.

In the First Division, it will now be composed of 18 teams, with the 17-18th clubs eliminated automatically, and the 16th club playing a playoff with the 5 winners of the Second Division for the 3 open spots.

Anyway, I was hoping that this can and will be included in FM11, not sure how complicated it will be to code, but the mantra has always been that if it's in real life, it should be in FM11, so there you go.

I'm sure the Russian researchers can fill the dev team on the intricacies of the new schedule.

I doubt it will be implemented until it's officially confirmed by the Russian FA.

I doubt it will be implemented until it's officially confirmed by the Russian FA.

Yep.

Only once it's been officially rubber-stamped by the officials, will it be implemented.

Right, but it might be a week before release before it's officially announced, I was just mentioning it so that the coders can code it as an option. No one knew if the Chelsea transfer ban would be in effect, but they had included it and had the option of removing it in a patch. The same could be done with this.

SI have always said that any changes to competition rules that are agreed will be included if there is enough time to implement the changes before the game release. Changes after release will be included in a future patch, again if there is time. There will be nothing included if it is just a proposal.

Spring to autumn wouldn't be nice in russia, imagine playing in January when it's minus 20 outside. Ouch

The idea is to have it similar to what Ukraine does - a long winter break. In practice, the season will be played in essentially the same time frame as now, except the finishing matches will be played in april-may, instead of october-november.

SI have always said that any changes to competition rules that are agreed will be included if there is enough time to implement the changes before the game release. Changes after release will be included in a future patch, again if there is time. There will be nothing included if it is just a proposal.

That's understandable, but the fact of it happening is about 90% certain, shouldn't the SI staff hedge on the side of caution, rather then trying to implement a solution at the last minute, or failing to make one at all?

Here's an interview of the Russian Football Premier League president from today:

http://www.sport-express.ru/newspaper/2010-09-09/2_2/?view=page

You can google translate, I'll translate the pertinent part myself:

Q: Is there certainty as to what the schedule of the transitional championship look like, after which our football will live according to the fall-spring system?

A: We looked at 3 options, which were talked about in the press. We ended up with the championship being played in 3 rounds from the start of one spring to the end of the next spring. The most unusual part is that the last round will be played under a different scheme. According to the tournament position, the teams will be separated into 2 groups of 8 teams. The 1st 8 teams will play for the medals and UEFA places, the bottom 8 will decide which 2 teams are relegated. And there will be a playoff match between the 3rd worst RFPL team and the 3rd best First Division team. I've tried to implement the playoff this year, but didn't have enough time....

Q: What's the end date for the transitional championship and what is the schedule for the 2012/2013 season?

A: The last matchday of the transitional championship will fall roughly on the 5-6th of May 2012. And from the first season of the fall-spring system we must comply with UEFA and FIFA regulations. So the first matchday would be roughly 28-29th of July 2012 with the last matches before the winter break on the 24-25th of November.

That's the gist of it.

Now, the new system still has to be approved by the RFS - Russian football's governing body. The meeting is set for September 13 to discuss the issue, however, all the scheduling and planning of the switch have already been completed and it's only a matter of time before it's official.

The coding to change a league's format seems to be a daunting task and would be very hard to complete in the rushed pre-release cycle or in a patch, so I was simply pointing attention to it, so that SI isn't caught unawares.

They'll probably do it in a patch, if it makes it in this year at all. I imagine it would be hard to code the 'transition' phase from the current scenario in the Russian league to the future scenario.

That's understandable, but the fact of it happening is about 90% certain, shouldn't the SI staff hedge on the side of caution, rather then trying to implement a solution at the last minute, or failing to make one at all?

No they shouldnt. There is not a huge amount of point in them doing anything until all official details are made available. What if they program it but then the Russian FA change the way it works slightly at the last minute, then SI have wasted their time.

its unlikely that would happen but i dont see why they would be coding a new league/fixture structure for something that might happen.

The Chelsea scenario was the exact same thing. When it was done, the ban was in place, there was a good chace it would be overturned, but it was still coded in as existing

sorry but i dont think SI should program it at this stage. if its for 2011/12 then it wont be implicated from the start of the game. also not exactly a big league i know but wales annouced their league changes from 2010/11 long before fm10 came out. the reason was because it was 'too hard to program' according to a member of the SI team. this was in a thread somewhere on here btw.

its ok expecting it to be done but if it is hard to impliment and its not certain to happen then SI should spend their time correcting other issues that do need addressing

And it's a done deal. The RFS (Russian Football Union, the governing football body in Russia) Executive Committee met today and voted to switch to a fall-spring system. The transitional period will be from spring 2011 to spring 2012, as described above. I can't find any english language articles yet, but I'm sure they'll pop up in the morning, however, here are a few russian ones, use google translate.

http://gazeta.ru/sport/rfc/2010/09/a_3419154.shtml

http://www.sovsport.ru/news/text-item/407944

http://www.sovsport.ru/news/text-item/407964

http://news.sport-express.ru/2010-09-13/387289/

And it's a done deal. The RFS (Russian Football Union, the governing football body in Russia) Executive Committee met today and voted to switch to a fall-spring system. The transitional period will be from spring 2011 to spring 2012, as described above. I can't find any english language articles yet, but I'm sure they'll pop up in the morning, however, here are a few russian ones, use google translate.

http://gazeta.ru/sport/rfc/2010/09/a_3419154.shtml

http://www.sovsport.ru/news/text-item/407944

http://www.sovsport.ru/news/text-item/407964

http://news.sport-express.ru/2010-09-13/387289/

I'd love that to be included in FM11, though I think it is too late now to be implemented, but still there is hope.

Honestly, if it's too difficult to implement in the intended "real-world" way, I'd be fine with just switching the system to a fall-spring one from the very start. Just push the start date for the Russian league to August 1st, implement the new playoff system and include a winter break. I think that those things are simple enough, you could do them in the editor. However, for the real-life feel, the 3 round transitional year would be pretty cool to see.

I just knew this'd come up in here

To be really well-implemented, the weather system in the game would need to be really improved to better mirror real-life imo

I just knew this'd come up in here

To be really well-implemented, the weather system in the game would need to be really improved to better mirror real-life imo

Speaking of which, the RFS is also implementing a building plan to pay for artificial turf for a lot of clubs in poor weather regions from the lower divisions. And there is money to build covered stadiums with artificial turf as well, so that when the schedule eventually expands into december around 2013-2014, there are reserve options in cases of poor weather.

There will also likely be a weighted schedule creation, to make sure that poor-weather teams play on the road in good-weather cities during the winter months.

Projected schedule:

KP denotes Russian Cup, since the season spans a full year and then some, there are two cups being contested over the time frame, the final of the first is 22 may 2011, the final of the second is 13 May 2012.

Just wondering if it would be possible to get an official response as to whether this will make it into the game or not.

Probably not the highest priority feature a month from release, but it would be interesting to know.

Surprised people are saying that SI shouldn't be working on this.

It will not be possible to make a change like this with a patch, guaranteed.

I predict that the change will happen "too close to release" and won't be implemented.

If it doesn't make it in time for FM11, then it will definitely be in FM12.

Surprised people are saying that SI shouldn't be working on this.

It will not be possible to make a change like this with a patch, guaranteed.

I predict that the change will happen "too close to release" and won't be implemented.

Why are you surprised? SI have never put unconfirmed stuff in, imagine if they had, we'd be on a 39 game EPL fixture list by now as well as loads of other maybe happening things.

Now its confirmed I'm sure SI will get working on it, although the transitional league looks tricky.

Why are you surprised? SI have never put unconfirmed stuff in, imagine if they had, we'd be on a 39 game EPL fixture list by now as well as loads of other maybe happening things.

Now its confirmed I'm sure SI will get working on it, although the transitional league looks tricky.

It was confirmed in the middle of September by the Russian FA and the Russian Premier League.

If it doesn't make it in time for FM11, then it will definitely be in FM12.

Sort of defeats the purpose. By the time FM12 will be coming out, the odd transitional season will be almost over, and they can just use the new simple schedule, which I can easily make even now with the editor.

Why are you surprised? SI have never put unconfirmed stuff in, imagine if they had, we'd be on a 39 game EPL fixture list by now as well as loads of other maybe happening things.

Now its confirmed I'm sure SI will get working on it, although the transitional league looks tricky.

it was a confirmed a few weeks ago

EDIT: beaten to it!

Sort of defeats the purpose. By the time FM12 will be coming out, the odd transitional season will be almost over, and they can just use the new simple schedule, which I can easily make even now with the editor.

Gosh.

I suppose you don't know how hard it is to code something like this and makes sure it works properly at such short notice.

We'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

Gosh.

I suppose you don't know how hard it is to code something like this and makes sure it works properly at such short notice.

We'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

I am aware of the difficulty, which is precisely the reason I mentioned this, and would like a response. If they can't code it in time, they can't code it, I'll deal with it. But I hope they won't say that they didn't know about it, because this thread was started in September and if their Russian researchers are worth anything, they would have told the SI staff that the change and transitional schedule was highly likely to be implemented. In July, the president of the Russian FA said that the move is happening and that the documents are being finalized and will be approved in due time (which they were in September), around the same time the idea of a 3-round transitional league became public, and, eventually, in August (if my memory serves), there was a provisional explanatory pdf released showing the three-round format with date ranges and how it will all affect the lower divisions.

Now, I realize that there are limitations, especially with the engine the game runs on. It may simply be impossible to program a league season that lasts more than a calendar year, with 3 transfer windows and a split into an upper and a lower table after 2 rounds. It was certainly impossible to do so in the editor. However, I believe that all effort should be done to include this oddity of a season in the game, as I feel it will be an interesting thing to play and experience.

Especially so, since this will be the first year that the game will be released in the Russian language, and considering that the Russian League has become a top-8 league in Europe in recent years, having it represented not as it is in real life does not connote the mantra of SI - of creating the most real-world accurate football simulation possible.

I'm sure they would have known about it.

Besides, in FM12 you probably get the chance to start the Russian League from the 2011 season anyway, which would be the transitional season and swap over to the new format in 2012. I'm sure they'd much rather dedicate resources to put that in a whole new game rather than rush and throw it into a game that's almost due for release.

It was confirmed in the middle of September by the Russian FA and the Russian Premier League.

it was a confirmed a few weeks ago

EDIT: beaten to it!

Neither of you beat me, see the bolded part of my post below

Why are you surprised? SI have never put unconfirmed stuff in, imagine if they had, we'd be on a 39 game EPL fixture list by now as well as loads of other maybe happening things.

Now its confirmed I'm sure SI will get working on it, although the transitional league looks tricky.

Would be nice if this makes it in the patch if not in out of box game.

Neither of you beat me, see the bolded part of my post below

So what you really meant to say was:

I'm sure SI got working on it when it was confirmed a few weeks ago.

So what you really meant to say was:

I'm sure SI got working on it when it was confirmed a few weeks ago.

Yes thats exactly what I meant.

Can't seem to find the answer anywhere but are the 2011-2012 Russian schedule changes making it into FM11? Cheers

no, no they are not