Leagues and promotion

Levels and the league pyramid

Every league belongs to a level. In the file the level is called division: + division 1 is the top level, + division 2 the level below it, and so on. Together, the levels of a country form its league pyramid.

• Several leagues on the same level, such as a North League and a South League, simply get the same division number. They are called parallel leagues.
• Number the levels without gaps: 1, 2, 3 and so on. A gap such as 1, 2, 4 cuts the pyramid apart. The game does not warn you, but level 2 then never relegates and level 4 never promotes.
• Clubs only move between neighbouring levels of the same country.
• Keep all leagues of a country together, ideally in one file. If the leagues of one country are separated by another country's leagues, the two parts become separate pyramids that never exchange clubs.

The country part of a league file

A league file starts with its country. Everything after ! Country belongs to that country until the next country line.

Clubs without a league

Club lines written after the country line but before the first league do not belong to any league. These clubs still exist in the world: they can play in cups, sell and buy players and supply players for national teams. They are never promoted into a league.

Player pools

In the international file a line such as # PlayerPool "Otherland Player Pool" turns the next line, which must carry exactly that name, into a pool of extra players for the national team instead of a real club. It is one of the very few lines starting with # that the game reads.

Country rules for reserve teams and crowd sounds also belong into the country part, before its first league (see Reserve teams and Music, weather and sounds).

Settings of a league

These lines describe one league. Write them below the league's name line, before its clubs.

Settings for regional leagues and for reserve teams are explained on their own pages.

Number of clubs

A league needs at least 2 clubs, otherwise it stays inactive. It can hold at most 24 clubs; for more clubs, split the level into parallel leagues. An odd number is fine: one club rests on every matchday.

Meetings per opponent

With 2 meetings every club plays every other club at home and away. With 1 or 3 meetings, home and away games are shared out as fairly as possible. The number of matchdays is (clubs − 1) × meetings for an even number of clubs and clubs × meetings for an odd number. Ten clubs with 4 meetings therefore play 36 matchdays. A wrong value is reported, and the league then plays 2 meetings. Promoted and relegated clubs follow the rule of their new league. Older versions of the game always play 2 meetings.

League weeks

Without this line the league uses the usual season weeks 7 to 46. With it, the game first tries to fit all matchdays between your two weeks. If they do not fit, it may continue up to week 46 and then use earlier weeks down to week 1. It never goes beyond week 46 on its own: if the league should end later, for example in week 50, write that week yourself.

Cup dates are never moved for a league: a cup final in week 47 stays in week 47, even if the league ends in week 20. A very short window means less rest between matchdays. If even the longer window cannot hold all matchdays, the career continues with the matchdays that fit, and the Dataset test shows the missing rounds. Example: eight clubs with two meetings play 14 matchdays; #@cs league-weeks 7 20 gives about one matchday per week instead of one every three weeks.

In the Team Editor, clear both week fields to return to the usual schedule. Weeks 7 and 46 entered explicitly are kept as your own rule.

Making promotion and relegation fit

The basic rule is simple: as many clubs must go down from a level as come up from the level below. Otherwise one league grows and the other shrinks every season.

With one league per level

• The lower league decides. If the league above relegates a different number, the game corrects it when the career is created and tells you, for example: “Movement counts repaired between Footlandia - Premier League and Footlandia - League 2: relegations changed from 3 to 2”. Your file stays unchanged.
• Top level: nobody can go higher, so write + promotions 0.
• Lowest level: nobody can go lower. The game sets its relegations to 0 itself; if you wrote another number, a warning reminds you.
• Closed on purpose: 0 relegations above and 0 promotions below means that the two parts never exchange clubs. Be careful, though: a lower league with 0 promotions also stops the league above from relegating.

Example: three balanced levels

: Footlandia - Premier League
+ division 1
+ promotions 0
+ relegations 2
; 14 clubs here

: Footlandia - League 2
+ division 2
+ promotions 2
+ relegations 3
; 18 clubs here

: Footlandia - League 3
+ division 3
+ promotions 3
+ relegations 0
; 20 clubs here

Two clubs go down from the Premier League and two come up from League 2. Three go down from League 2 and three come up from League 3. League 3 is the lowest level and does not relegate.

Several leagues on one level

Without regional leagues, parallel leagues follow strict rules.

Rule 1: one number per level

All leagues of the upper level must relegate the same number of clubs, and all leagues of the lower level must promote the same number. Otherwise the career cannot be started: in a test, a North League promoting 1 and a South League promoting 2 below one Premier League stopped the career start with an error. Give both leagues the same number, or turn the level into regional leagues, which allow different numbers.

Rule 2: the totals must match

Upper leagues × their relegations must equal lower leagues × their promotions. If the totals differ, the game corrects them when the career is created and changes as few numbers as possible. In a test, one league relegating 3 above two leagues promoting 1 each was corrected to 2 relegations. Numbers too big for the leagues are reduced in the same way. These combinations work:

Rule 3: who goes where depends on the order in the file

Without regional leagues, geography plays no part. The relegated clubs are handed out in the order of the file: the lower league listed first receives the best-placed of the relegated clubs, the next league the following ones.

Rule 4: the numbers must fit into the leagues

No league can send more clubs up and down than it has. Numbers that are too large are reduced to the largest balanced combination that fits. In a test, three relegations above leagues with three and four clubs that promoted three each became 2, 1 and 1. If not even the smallest combination fits, the career cannot be started.

What happens at the end of a season

1. The final tables are fixed. They are ordered by points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw), then goal difference, then goals scored. Clubs that are still level keep their previous order.
2. Clubs go up and down with the numbers announced for the season that has just ended. These are the places marked in the table during the season; they never change while the season is running.
3. Reserve team rules are applied if your world has reserve teams.
4. Regional leagues are filled with the clubs of their level, if your world uses regional leagues.
5. Next season's places are set. Without regional leagues they stay as written in the file. With regional leagues they can change to keep league sizes healthy, and every manager is told the new numbers of their league.
6. The new fixtures are made.

Clubs never change countries. A club moves at most one level per season – only a reserve team that has to follow its relegated first team may drop further.

How many levels a career loads

When players create a career, they choose for every league file how many levels to load. Usually three levels are preselected; presets and the last choice can preselect other values.

• All leagues down to the chosen level are loaded, always including all parallel leagues of a level. It is not possible to load only some of the leagues of one level.
• Leagues below the chosen level are left out, together with the clubs that are only listed there. These clubs do not exist in that career.
• The lowest loaded level does not relegate. The game notes this as information; nothing needs to be done.
• The number in the menu is a level, not a number of leagues. If a file has levels 1, 2 and 4, a choice of 3 loads levels 1 and 2, and the menu shows 2.
• In regions with different depths, a region whose lower level is not loaded stops relegating automatically.
• A reserve team whose first team is not loaded keeps its link. The distance to the first team cannot be checked then, but the other reserve rules still apply.

Examples and checklist

One national league above two parallel leagues

: Footlandia - Premier League
+ division 1
+ promotions 0
+ relegations 2
; 10 clubs here

: Footlandia - North League
+ division 2
+ promotions 1
+ relegations 0
; 7 clubs here

: Footlandia - South League
+ division 2
+ promotions 1
+ relegations 0
; 7 clubs here

Two clubs go down, one comes up from each of the two leagues below. Without regional settings the 9th of the Premier League always goes to the North League and the 10th to the South League, wherever they come from. Regional leagues change that.

Four levels that split twice

Check: 2 go down from level 1 and 2 come up from level 2. 4 go down from level 2 and 2 × 2 come up from level 3. 2 × 2 go down from level 3 and 4 × 1 come up from level 4.

Checklist

• Every league has + division directly below its name line.
• The levels are numbered 1, 2, 3 and so on, without gaps.
• The top level promotes 0 clubs, the lowest level relegates 0 clubs.
• Between two levels, as many clubs go down as come up.
• Parallel leagues without regional settings use the same numbers on each level.
• Every league has 2 to 24 clubs, and every club is listed only once.
• No league sends more clubs up and down than it has.
• The Team Editor's Check is clean, and a Dataset test over several seasons runs without problems (see Testing your world).