Why can't our 15 year olds play ?

Barnsley have pledged to nurture Reuben Noble-Lazarus after the striker, aged 15 years and 45 days, became the Football League's youngest player.

Maybe its a new rule and it will be in FM2009 or it could be that Barnsley aren't in the Premiership which I believe has rules regarding minimum age that the other leagues dont. Both of these are a guess btw.

In the last 20 years, Millwall's Moses Ashikodi was the youngest player to make his Football League debut. He played in 2003, aged 15 years and 240 days.

Matthew Etherington, now with Premier League side West Ham, was 15 years and 262 days when he appeared for Peterborough in 1997.

I think there is no age rule in English football, it all depends on the general law. Reuben did not receive any money and I guess that he still can't play in a game that is scheduled in the late evening. Maybe to complicated to implement into the game?

Does footie manager not allow you to play 15 yr olds then? i never new such restrictions existed.

is it the case that an under 18 player that has played earliar that day, cannot play in a first team game on the same day?>

I've always found that if you have a 15 year old in the 1st team squad he has an Ile marker next to him.

I beleive it is a real life rule but teams can ask for special dispensation to play younger players.

I beleive it is a real life rule but teams can ask for special dispensation to play younger players.

this is true.

There is a age limit in the Cup comps of 15+ , but in the football league , i dont think it matters. Correct me if i am wrong.

As far as I was aware (and being a manager in real life) the 16 year old rule was an absolute.

I guess once again its one rule for some clubs and one rule for others!

NO WONDER FOOTBALL HAS SO MANY DISAGREEMENTS!

i couldn't play two 15 year olds in the premiership or any cup competition and they had the ile sign next to them but as soon as they turned 16 they could both play.

Aguero made his debut when he was 15 years old in the Argentinian league without any problem or special measure taken

I wonder if Reuben Noble-Lazarus* will be in FM09, and available to play.

edit: obviously he'll be in the game...

Players in the football league(maybe Prem included) are ineligible to play until their sixteenth birthday. But teams are allowed to ask for special permission from the FA. This has most recently happened with Reuben and also happened with John Bostock last season.

As far as I was aware (and being a manager in real life) the 16 year old rule was an absolute.

I guess once again its one rule for some clubs and one rule for others!

NO WONDER FOOTBALL HAS SO MANY DISAGREEMENTS!

Just wondering which team you manage?

Aguero made his debut when he was 15 years old in the Argentinian league without any problem or special measure taken

That's in Argentina though (stating the obvious). We're talking about England (or at least, it appears that way). Argentina is a whole different country (again, stating the obvious) with a whole different set of laws (again).

each league has their own rules ... in the south american leagues youngsters can play at a very young age, but in europe that's diferent, they have to be way older... for example, in the portuguese league, you can only BUY a brazilian player when he completes the age of... you can buy him before, but he will only transfer when he completes 18

I think there is no age rule in English football, it all depends on the general law. Reuben did not receive any money and I guess that he still can't play in a game that is scheduled in the late evening. Maybe to complicated to implement into the game?

Just to point out the game he played in was a late evening game.

Also didn't Derby (when Burley was there?) and more recently Crystal Palace play 15/16 year olds?

At least you can play your 15 y/o's in International matches...

This is from the records thread...

Youngest international player - dave byrd - Nigel Simpson - 15 years 88 days - http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/stephenmillward/youngestcap-1.jpg

No record yet for youngest domestic player though.

IIRC i had a goalkeeper in FM06, I played quite a way into it and took over northampton to find i was inheriting a team that was thread bare! i played this GK at 15 years and had no resriction at all, i found players in the prem cannot play at 15 they have to be 16 correct me if im wrong though!

How young can players get in fm? in my fm 2006 game i found a 14 year old playing for wrexham i think it was or some other welsh team its 3 seasons into the game so its possible he is a regen. He has totally killer stats too he would have been my best youth player if i could have bought him i was totally gutted when he turned me down.

Just to clear this up for anyone:

As Punchdrunk has said, last season Crystal Palace played 1 fifteen year old, 4 16 year olds and 3 17 year olds. No player can play in the English Leagues until their sixteenth birthday although you can ask to the FA to play a player less than 16. Palace did this with Bostock(Judas) and Barnsley, most recently have done this with Reuben, I believe.

Therefore, FM is correct in a way with 15 year olds ineligible in England, but you should be able to ask the FA for permission to play him.

Just to point out the game he played in was a late evening game.

Also didn't Derby (when Burley was there?) and more recently Crystal Palace play 15/16 year olds?

Think that was John Gregory with Tom Huddlestone. ( about Derby could be wrong though)