hluraven

You can get an Under 18 team - I managed Brentford and applied to the board for one, and the next season got one. Sadly, it lead to a "promise" to play more youth players in the first team and the next season (two months after the first intake) I was sacked despite winning the league by a mile and playing a lot of teenagers (bought in) all season - for failing the promise to play youngsters.

Some very strange stuff with GK (and other position) ratings. My goalie made a world class penalty save and his rating went up 0.1. Later in the game, my team scored a free kick (nothing to do with the GK in the build up or anything) and his rating went up 0.6 Been a problem in every single version of FM. Full backs and defensive midfielders suffer in most (but not all) FMs, goalies really is in every version.

My favourite was "you lost last time you played them, how will it affect you" - to find I played them once in a friendly 17 years earlier.

I have noticed this, in particular strikers with much better "winger" type attributes, and the main one - nearly all high quality centre backs with extremely low (compared to current players) heading. There are other oddities, full backs with a 1 in footedness on the side they play on, low jumping reach across the board and more. I am managing England in the 2030s so regularly scout hundreds of the best players who have come through the newgen system, and it is extremely noticeable.

Some decent advice already in here, from my point of view always playing in English non-league to start. Key thing, if you have a wonderkid or very good player, you won't for long so maximise your return. If the player is that good, they quite rightly won't want to stay at a low level for long. For that reason, don't spend on transfers unless it's a clear bargain for a youngster you can sell on later. Keep control of wage budget is critical, and look continually for incremental improvements. If you are ever offered cash for a transfer take it, there are thousands of players on free transfers and it is very easy to sign good players for free - so long as you can afford the wages. Use the maximum number of loans you are allowed to bring in players. If they are from a higher division, they will usually be for 0 wages, so you can use them as squad depth even if they aren't first team level. Sometimes you can also get good enough to be regulars too. If you do get money, investing in facilities is probably the best idea, although may provide limited returns. There is only so much a lower league facility can do for a player, and given you will be flipping players for profit regularly, it probably won't have a big impact. With Tranmere you won't need to expand your stadium any time soon, so if anything I would invest in the youth team facilities in the hope of a home grown core (but that's fairly random).

I can confirm that I got a son in 2025 (FM19) so there definitely isn't a 10 or 20 year limit. My first son in any FM and he was useless enough to be instantly released by me and never signed by another club. Retired 2026.

I have a squad full of loan players, when I was a lower league team they would send them to me free (0 contribution as well as fee), and now I'm in the top flight it's usually 50% wages to pay. With the new "cannot be terminated" clause, it's just free cover and they players seem exempt from complaining as they're only on loan. Even dafter, the player and club are usually willing to extend the loan for the next season, even if they never played. It's basically an exploit how easy using loans is. I have found the point in the season to be critical in bringing them in, teams that refuse one month may be happy to send for free the next.

Actually yes, I saw the option greyed out for the last few (in-game) weeks, and was surprised as there are lots of things I can ask for. No idea if it's a problem or intentional.

I would expect someone to release a file that makes it playable on day one, it won't take long at all.

Ironically, that's basically where VAR is right now. A bit of a fiasco/less good version than not having it at all, but the best way to improve it is to include it and make it better through experience.

Can we get a search option in the editor for leagues with VAR? Would be good to turn them all off straight away!

I read all the other new posts first and was underwhelmed/outright disappointed with them overall. Read this one and am actually excited by the potential. Obviously the proof will be in how well it is replicated in game, and especially if the AI uses the options realistically/can cope with user tactics, but this certainly looks a lot more like the sort of tactics module that has been called for some time.

Is there any benefit in real life? I couldn't tell you a single youth competition winner ever.

My cycle is to start a new FM with Bromley, and play until I have won everything/there is no challenge any more. This usually takes 15-20 seasons in game, and hundreds of hours of game time. Hopefully once it's happened, it's roughly the time for a new iteration of FM, if not then I tend to create a World Super League type file on my own (I usually get more out of creating the file than playing it though). The trouble for me is that I like the long-term development of a team from lower levels far more than the domination at the top, and that plays out the same way whether it is in a new country, newly promoted team to the bottom level or custom file. I really struggle to get into a new save other than my usual main one.

Or, none of those things. In the scouting centre, not inbox, with no filters whatsoever, and either chief scout or manager setting responsibilities. And with the right package. At lower levels, scouts often return with 0 reports, even for the league the club is in. It's actually realistic given that most non-league teams don't have scouts, but it is stupid when they are such a major feature of FM.