1.1 Online Football League Management:
Ceri Griffiths established OFLM in December 2002. Previously known as Football League Manager (FLM), the game changed from a PBeM version to a completely online system in January 2005 ready for the start of Season 4, thanks to the scripting of Richard Gubby.

1.2 OFLM Structure:
The league consists of four divisions of sixteen teams. Managers from various parts of the country or indeed the world will control all teams. When no manager is available then the computer will take charge (uncontrolled teams will typically play 442N).

Each team will play the other fifteen teams in its division twice in a season, once at home and once away, giving 30 league matches a season. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat. At the end of each season the top three in each Division get promoted while the bottom three go down.

1.2 The Cups:
There are three types of cup competitions played during the season.

1.2.1 The OFLM League Cup
The OFLM League Cup will see all 64 teams entered into the first round. The draw will be made randomly (so you could play a Division 1 team in each round) and played on a knockout basis with the winner going through. If teams are still all square after 90 minutes, then there will be extra-time and penalties.
In general the further you get in the cup the larger the crowds will get. The Winners will get £4,000,000 and the Runner-Up will get £1,500,000, with the winners of each round getting £750k. Gate Receipts are shared equally.

If a manager fails to submit a team selection for a cup match then you will concede the match 5-0 (if your opponent submits a team selection) and will have to pay the opponents a "compensation fee" of £250,000. When both managers fail to submit a team selection, then the match will go ahead with both teams playing 532D.

1.2.2 Divisional Cups:
Each Division will host a Divisional Cup, which will see the 16 teams playing in a knockout competition. The first round draw will be made with no seeding. If teams are still all square after 90 minutes, then there will be extra-time and penalties.

Each Divisional winner will receive £2,000,000 with the runner up getting £900,000. Each round winner will receive £250k. Gate receipts will be shared equally.

1.2.3 OFLM Super Cup
At the beginning of each season the OFLM Super Cup will be contested between the Division 1 Champions and the Winner of the OFLM League Cup. In the circumstance that one team wins both titles, the runner up in Division 1 will play in the Super Cup. The match will be played at the ground of the OFLM Division 1 Champions and gate receipts will be shared equally. Winners will get £2,000,000 and the Runners-Up £750,000.

In the event of the same team winning both the OFLM Cup and Division 1 – the Super Cup will be contested between the Division 1 winners and runners-up.

1.3 Managing Extra Clubs:
You are not permitted to manage more than ONE club at once in OFLM. Managers found breaking this rule will be dealt with harshly.

1.4 Manager Conduct:
OFLM managers shall at all times be expected to act in the best interest of the game and shall not act in any manner, which is improper or brings the game into disrepute. This includes the Forum.

Any manager can message/email a report with the facts or matters which may constitute misconduct, however complaint should not be made for vexatious or frivolous reasons.

Managers found to be breaking this rule could face heavy fines for their club, deduction of youth points, league point deductions or in severe cases immediate sacking from the game.

2.0 Your Squad

2.1 The Players:
There is no limit to the amount of players you can employ at your club, as long as you can afford their wages and contract! It is NECESSARY to keep a MINIMUM of at least sixteen players in your squad - as fines will be imposed on clubs which cannot field full teams.

In your Control Panel you can see a full list of all players currently employed at your club along with their important details, arranged into playing positions (i.e. goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and attackers).

2.2 Player Attributes:
Each player has four main skills, St, Tk, Ps & Sh, which relate to the players ability to actually use the ball on the field. A player's skill will improve or decrease depending on their performance and their training. These skills, as well as other elements shown on your squad sheet are detailed below:

St: Is the player's shot-stopping skill. In other words, his goalkeeping skill. For the best performance, the manager has to place the player with the highest St as the goalkeeper. Of course the manager is not obligated to do so, and it is up to him to consider.

Tk: Is the player's tackling skill. Mostly used by players playing in the defence.

Ps: Is the player's passing skill. Mostly used by players in the midfield, for creating opportunities and assisting goals.

Sh: Is the player's shooting skill. It defines the player's skill to shot to goal and reach these shooting chances.

Ag: Is the player's aggression. The aggression of a player doesn't change, it stays the same for his whole career. Aggression is a value between 1 and 100 and it defines how aggressive a player plays.

KAb, TAb, PAb, SAb: Player ability for each skill. A number ranging from 0 to 1000 and can affect the player's skills. Abilities vary from game to game depending on the player's performance.

Gam: Simply the amount of games the player played. If the player participated in a game, even if he played a single minute, it will be counted as an another game.

Sv: The total amount of saves the player made. Only if the player played as a goalkeeper he can make saves.

Ktk: The total amount of key tackles the player made to stop scoring opportunities. Usually defenders will make the highest amount of tackles, but midfielders and forwards tackle sometimes too.

Kps: The total amount of key passes made by the player to create goalscoring opportunities.

Sht: The total amount of shots to goal taken by the player.

Gls: The total amount of goals scored by the player.

Ass: The total amount of assists made by the player.

Dp: The total amount of disciplinary points accumulated by the player. Disciplinary Points (DP) are "accumulated" when a player gets yellow/red cards.

Inj: If a player isn't currently injured, Inj is 0. If a player is injured, it indicates the amount of WEEKS he can't play.

Sus: If a player isn't currently suspended, Sus is 0. If a player is suspended, it indicates the amount of GAMES he can't play.

Each season each player will get older by one year. When a player reaches 31 they will be considered past their prime and lose skill ratings in the process.

If a player is over 31 and his main rating is below 8 or reaches the age of 40 then he will retire automatically.

2.4 Player Wages and Values:
Every player must be paid a reasonable wage every week while employed at your club, regardless of whether he plays at all.

Player's wages are calculated using the following formulas:
A = mainskill * mainskill * (mainskill + 3) * 6;
B = secondskill * secondskill * mainskill * 5;
C = thirdskill * thirdskill * secondskill * 5;
Wage = (A+B+C)* 10%

So for example a player’s typical wages & values will look like this:
E_Cantona (ratings 2,5,6,23)
A = 23*23*(23+3)*6 = 82524
B = 6*6*23*5 = 4140
C = 5*5*6*5 = 750
Wages = 87414*10% = £8,741
Player Value = £8,741 * 850 = £7,430,190

To assess what your team’s wages and player values are please use the wages spreadsheet. You will have to enter the latest player and the stats into the spreadsheet and it will automatically calculate their wages, values and the total wages for your club. The spreadsheet will also give you a better idea of what players are worth using these new formulas.

2.5 Contracts:
Each player will have to negotiate a contract with your club during the transfer process or towards the end of their current deal.

Contracts will depend on the player’s value, age and skill rating. A player will have a good idea of how much they are worth, but you can negotiate longer or shorter deals but will have to amend the wages per week or add a few incentives (such as a house, car or bonuses – to be developed).

Your club has a maximum of 60 years to spread over all its players in contract length.

Should a player fail to agree a contract with you the transfer will fall through or the player may leave your club for free.

Keep an eye on your players Future. If that player is becoming unhappy at your club they are more likely to request a transfer away from your club or refuse to sign a new contract.

2.6 Tactics and Formations:
The actual ability of the team in obviously an important element in wining matches, but the other factors are the styles of play and tactics which can sway the result of games, no matter what the difference in ability of the two sides.

For example, a poor ability team may decide to play defensive to gain points off a good quality team. In OFLM there are a variety of tactics to play that can gain an advantage over the opposition. If one team played defensively and the other attacking then one may cancel out the other, however, if both teams play attacking the score will most certainly not be 0-0!

Normal :. No specific style of play, just normal game, trying to use all parts of the team in the most suitable way.

Defensive: Focusing more on the defence. Defence is hard to score against, but won't create many opportunities either; it is the most defensive tactic. Midfielders and even forwards will pay more attention to the defence.

Attacking: The most offensive tactic. The players try to score as much as possible, effectively neglecting the defence. This tactic may get you to score more goals but also concede quite a few.

Passing: The team tries to move the ball quickly using a lot of passes, even when these are not really needed. More players try to help in the midfield to create slow but efficient opportunities. This tactic is more offensive than Normal but less offensive than Attacking.

Counter Attack: The players concentrate on the defence, while the forwards are waiting for counter-opportunities. This tactic is more defensive than Normal but not as defensive as Defence.

Long Ball: The most intriguing and unexpected tactic. Can easily win a game with some circumstances, and completely fail with other. The midfield is almost insignificant, as the team tries to defend and reach the forwards with long balls. Thus, this tactic is especially useful for teams with weak midfielders, and against some tactics/formations can prove to be a lethal weapon.

Note: Each tactic, except of Normal has some bonuses against some other tactics, which makes the decisions more complicated and challenging. The bonuses table is below. It also includes the 'Bonus type', which tells where is the bonus added.

2.7 Substitution and Match Commands:
Five substitutes should be selected for every match; only three of them can come on in each game. They will automatically replace an injured player but can be given specific instructions on when they enter the field. You may want to bring on a sub when you’re winning or losing or in a specific minute or to replace a certain player. You can even change your formation with your substitutions. Please read the orders and conditions carefully outlined below. Write any sub or tactic commands below your team selections in the Control Panel. Post any questions in the Help section for the Forum.

Important Note: In the orders, the players are referred not by their names, but by their numbers. These are shown above the player’s shirt when you select the team.

Making changes during a match generally take the following format:
"COMMAND" IF "CONDITION1" "CONDITION2" "CONDITION3".

There are 3 different COMMANDS available, TACTIC, CHANGEPOS and SUB, which can be used with several CONDITIONS, which are IF MIN, SCORE, SHOTS, INJURED, RED and YELLOW.

Making a substitution: To simply withdraw one player for another use the following command & condition.
SUB 11 16 FW IF MIN = 60
The first number indicates the player NUMBER to be withdrawn, the second number indicates the player to go on and the position he will play. This will occur in the 60th minute. Don't forget to specify the position for the sub to play & only three subs are permitted per match.

You can use the SUB command to bring off the worst performer in certain positions. If not used in conjunction with the INJURED command then you will see the worst performer, or if two players in the same position are playing equally bad, the lower skilled of the two comes of.
SUB MF 14 MF IF MIN = 66

Changing tactics: This command can be used to defend a lead or chase the game is you are losing.
TACTIC A IF SCORE = -2
The above command will see the team become more attacking if they go two goals down.

Changing a player's position: It is possible to switch a player’s position during the match.
CHANGEPOS 11 MF IF SCORE = 2
This will see a striker play in midfield when your team leads by two goals.

Defining Aggression: You can use the AGG command to define how aggressive or passive your team plays. The default and average setting is 10, so if you don't use the command it will automatically be 10. The range is from 1 to 20. To set your teams aggression simply enter the following:
AGG 15

Below are the explanations for the CONDITIONS:

IF MIN = : Pretty simple here. If the game reached the stated minute, the order will be executed. For example: CHANGEPOS 2 MF IF MIN = 56 will change the position of player number 2 to midfielder on the 56th minute.

IF SCORE = : The SCORE condition is a SINGLE NUMBER which stands for the difference in score between your team and the opponent. 2 is leading by 2 goals, -6 is losing by 6 goals etc. For example: TACTIC A IF SCORE = -1 means that the team will switch to attacking tactic if is loses by one goal.

IF SHOTS = : The SHOTS command is used the same was as the SCORE command with the difference between the teams shots being used.
TACTIC A IF SHOTS = -8

IF INJURED = : This is used so the manager can choose what happens if a player in a particular position gets injured.
TACTIC C IF INJURED FW

When used in conjunction with a substitution it would look like this, SUB "Position" "Number of Player to go on" "His New Position to Play" INJURED "Position":
SUB DF 16 MF IF INJURED DF

RED Card : This is used so the manager can chose what happens if a player in a particular position gets sent off.
TACTIC D IF RED FW

YELLOW Card : Again, this can help the manager decide what happens if a player in a particular position gets booked.
SUB 11 15 MF IF YELLOW FW

Complex Orders : All of the conditions can be combined and this is ok as long as each part of the order is correct The IF command must be used after the initial COMMAND no matter how many CONDITIONS are used. The "greater than" or "lesser than" symbols should be used BEFORE the = sign to indicate range of commands, For example:
TACTIC A IF MIN >= 65 SCORE <= 1 SHOTS <= -9 RED FW YELLOW MF INJURED DF
TACTIC A IF MIN >= 45 SCORE >= 2 SHOTS <= 2
CHANGEPOS 2 MF IF MIN <= 20 SCORE >= 1

There is an online checker which will give you tips on what errors you have made in your sub commands. Simply press back on your browser and follow the points made to correct any errors.

2.8 Non-Playing Members:
Your club can obtain the services of several non-playing members who are often older more experienced players who have retired but still want to be involved with the sport. You can obtain non-playing staff the same way as purchasing players and their skill, wages and market value will vary, depending on skill.

Skills Coach:
His job is to improve the skills and player ratings of your players. His success can only be as good as his own rating ability and of course a squad that has the ability to learn.

You can target your training to Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielder, Attackers the Whole Squad or just an Individual. You can even send your skills coach on a training course to improve his ratings. The areas of training will be Stopping, Tackling, Passing, Shooting or a mixture of all skills. You will also have to set the intensity of training, default will be low. The higher the intensity of skills training the greater the skill improvement possible, however a player will be fatigues greater from Intense training.

Things to consider when you are training players is that the better the players' skill rating is, the harder it is to improve it. Additionally, younger players will normally develop more under training than more senior ones. As mentioned before the higher the intensity of training the greater the skill development, however the players fitness rating will be effected. Players CAN become injured through training.

Skills coaches will retire when they reach the age of 60. There is no limit to how many coaches you employ at your club & their wages & value will be worked out the same as players.

The two other types on non-playing members at your disposal will be a Fitness Coach and a Physiotherapist. These individuals will be available on a consultancy fee basis that your club will have to pay each time they are used. The greater the rating the greater their effect will generally be.

Fitness Coach:
Pretty straight forwards, the fitness coach is there to improve your players fitness rates to ensure that they have a better ability to recover after each match & play more games each season, and reduce their chances of injury.

Physiotherapist:
Their ability will help injured players to recover quicker than normal. The physio will only be able to help players injured for 2 weeks or longer.

2.9 Youth Points and Youth Players:
With each team selection managers submit on time, and from success, managers can collect Youth Points, which they can used to create youth players.

You will also be given the opportunity in the future to develop youth academies that will increase your ability to collect youth points.

Each manager can create a youth player to fill their squad, develop or to sell to another team at any time, providing they have at least seven youth point.

When creating a youth players you must:
Ensure the players surname if no more than 11 characters.
The maximum level for any one skill is 12.
The highest skill level must be at least 3 points higher than the second skill level.
The total points allocated to one youth player cannot be greater than 25.
All skill areas should have at least 1 point.

Note: Please remember that the players name should be original, applicable to their nationality, not offensive or vulgar. All unacceptable names will simply be deleted.

2.10 End of Season Improvements:
* * * * * * * * * * MORE TO FOLLOW * * * * * * * * * *

3.0 Transfers

In order to strengthen your squad, it may be necessary to buy players from other teams within the league.

Each week your club can wheel and deal with the other managers in the game to loan, buy or sell players. The rules regarding transfers can be quite complex but you can use the wages&values.xls spreadsheet to help you.

The most important thing to remember is that players cannot be sold for more or less than 30% of their market value. In other words a player worth £1,000,000 cannot be sold for less than £700,000 or more than £1,300,000. This should hopefully stop cheating and ensure that selling teams are getting at least a fair price for their player.

As part of the Transfer Process the player will have to agree a contract with the new club or agree to any loan deal. A player can refuse any transfer deal – unless the terms are acceptable to them. For example, a high rated player in their prime will refuse to play in Division 4. Similarly a player who is developing quickly will more than likely request to leave a lower league club for one in a higher Division.

There are three types of deals you can arrange. All are subject to the player agreeing a contract in the process.

3.1 Transfer List:
Each week players are available on the Transfer List. This will be a list of players other managers are looking to offload, players with no clubs, players whose contracts have expired or non-playing members. If you see a player you would like in your squad then you must bid at least the minimum amount requested (this amount has to be a minimum of -30% of the players market value), but there is no maximum limit. The selling club manager will accept the best deal given.

3.2 Private Deal:
If you find a player at another club you fancy you can contact that manager with a private bid and as long as the fee is within +/-30% of the market value the deal will go ahead.

3.3 Loan Deals:
You can loan players from any club if you cannot afford to buy players. In any one season you can only have five loan players. If you do loan players you will be responsible for their wages for the period of their loan. The minimum loan period is 10 week and the maximum is 30 weeks. Players CANNOT be re-called early from loans UNLESS you do not have enough players to make a squad of 16. You MUST send a message requesting this before it can happen or you will be fined for being unable to field a whole team.
A player cannot be loaned to another club in the same Division.

3.4 Releasing a Player: * * * TO BE UPDATED.
You can get rid of any player you want by selling them or by releasing them from their contract. This can be done via the Control Panel but you will have to pay compensation to that player under contract. This will be calculated by the formula wages * 30 / 2 * y (where y is a random number between 3 & 6). For example R_VanNistelrooy is on £2,500 per week, in order to sack him then you will have to pay a compensation of 2500*30/2*(3 to 6) = £112,500 - 225,000. The sacked player will then show up on the Transfer List where he will be available for his minimum value.

3.5 The Transfer Deadline:
The Transfer deadline for each week is 4pm GMT every Thursday. It will open again on Friday mornings after the website has been updated with that weeks match details.

No more transfer action will be permitted after Week 20 of the season. The Transfer Market will remain closed until the end of the season.

3.6 Confirming a Transfer:
Each transfer which is submitted will be approved by the OFLM Transfer Board and until the transfers have been looked at they will appear as pending in the Transfer Section of the Control Panel. You can withdraw any transfer bid BEFORE it has been approved, after which you cannot back out of the deal.

Each transfer will then have to be accepted or rejected by the selling team once the deal has been approved, then the player will need to agree a contract with the new club for the transfer to be completed.

4.0 Finances

4.1 Bank Balance:
Cash can be gained or lost through a variety of different causes, but you should always try to maintain a positive balance.

You may go into dept up tp £2,000,00, but the Club's Chairman will refuse to sanction any transfer deals, stadium development etc if it will put the club over the -£2,000,000 limit.

4.2 Club Sponsors:
All clubs will need a major sponsor, which you can decide upon. You can only have one sponsor at a time. When you have no sponsor your clubs Treasurer will try and find the best deals for your club. You will only get the sponsors money if you achieve their standard so be careful which one you select. Sponsors will reflect your current form and league position.

All sponsorship deals will consider league performance only.

4.3 Stadium Developments:
As well as running a successful team, it is also your job to keep your ground up to scratch. Building new stands, improving the facilities and finding money to finance these projects is all up to you.

Stands:
Every ground begins with a total capacity of 8,000 seats divided equally over four stands (north, south, east & west). You will need to name your ground (maximum of 30 characters) and you can build more seats and more stands, but remember that the bigger your stadium is the more it will cost to maintain. All stands are assumed to be covered, as this is a building requirement for modern stadiums.

All seater stands : Type 1
1) 250 seats
Cost to build - £110,000. Time to build 1 week.

2) 500 seats
Cost to build - £175,000. Time to build 2 weeks.

3) 750 seats
Cost to build - £240,000. Time to build 3 weeks.

4) 1000 seats + 5 executive boxes
Cost to build - £400,000. Time to build 4 weeks.

5) 1500 seats + 5 executive boxes
Cost to build - £525,000. Time to build 5 weeks.

All seater stands : Type 2
6) 2000 seats (two tier) + 10 executive boxes
Cost to build - £800,000. Time to build 7 weeks.

7) 3000 seats (two tier) + 10 executive boxes
Cost to build - £1,050,000. Time to build 8 weeks.

8) 4000 seats (two tier) + 10 executive boxes
Cost to build - £1,300,000. Time to build 9 weeks.

9) 5000 seats (two tier) + 10 executive boxes
Cost to build - £1,550,000. Time to build 10 weeks.

All seater stands : Type 3
10) 6000 seats (three tier) + 10 executive boxes
Cost to build - £1,900,000. Time to build 13 weeks.
This type of stand is simply unheard of in this country, though some foreign clubs with regular support of over 100,000 do have three-tier seating.

11) 7500 seats (three tier) + 10 executive boxes
Cost to build - £2,350,000. Time to build 15 weeks.
This is the largest stand available and is unlikely to be built very often. An entire stadium of such stands would hold 150,000 fans - twice the size of the Millennium Stadium!!!

4.4 Ground Maintenance:
The larger your stadium capacity the greater potential to make money. Each week your club must pay maintenance costs for the upkeep of your ground. The cost is £1 per seat each week. If you spot a discrepancy in your stadium capacity & maintenance cost please message immediately. For example a stadium of 50,000 capacity will incur a £50,000 maintenance fee each week.

4.5 Executive Boxes:
All of the larger stands come equipped with executive boxes and although these add a fair sum to the initial price of the stand, they will soon pay themselves off. Each executive box will ALWAYS bring in £500 for each home game, regardless of how bad your support is.

4.6 Ticket Prices:
The cost of entering a match for fans is an important consideration, in general, the cheaper the entrance cost the more fans you will get, but the less income you will receive. The accepted price for stands are £5 - £40 and goes down for lower leagues (and depending on success). The away team will only receive 25% of a match income on league matches, but the income is exactly 50% for Cup matches.

You can change the prices for home matches in the Stadium Development section of the Control Panel. The change in prices will take effect for the NEXT home game.

4.7 End of Season Prize Money:
A clubs end of season position will earn them prize money, obviously the higher up the league you finish the more money your club will receive. However this money has now been reduced for season 3 to limit the amount of money available in OFLM.