FM23 > Semi Professional Club with Amateur Players can only offer Non-Contract

[The Enforcer]

Hi,

I started a new save unemployed where I applied for and was accepted for a job at Banbridge Town in the third tier of Northern Ireland.

The existing squad are all on amateur contracts (£0) apart from a part-time player/physio (£40/w), two teenagers on non-contracts (£20/app) and one on a youth contract (£0). The board gave me a wage budget of £54, but this is already wiped out by the small wages/fees from the PC/NC players.

I can basically get away with signing one player on NC terms with fees, which typically takes me to around £50-60 over budget, after which the board impose a £1 limit on any appearance fees, effectively shutting down any further NC deals.

This wouldn't be a problem if I could continue to sign new/replacement amateur players whom won't command any fees. However, that no longer appears to be possible due to the club's semi professional status. Not only that, but if i try to renew an existing player's amateur deal in order to discourage them from joining another club trying to poach them, I can only offer them non-contract terms, whereby they demand an appearance fee.  At best, I can only afford to offer this to one existing player and only if this happens before I sign anyone else.

All of the other third tier clubs have mostly amateur players as well. When one of them poached one of my midfielders I saw they had to offer him a NC, so it appears they are all in the same boat. However, I don't know what their budgets are, but if they extend into three figures, this would give them a lot more scope to maintain and improve their squads than I have.

As it stands, I am going to periodically lose amateur or NC players from my squad to other clubs and then be unable to replace them, even with inferior players. The only exception to this appears to be loan signings, where it appears I can sign as many as I like, but they can only join in the transfer windows and remain for the whole season.

 

Is this really what is intended for squad building at this level or is this a bug that I should report?

 

Cheers,

TE

[drajen]

Did you get the answer for that? My problem is that I also can't register NC players for the league! I only can do this for amateurs, so do others team. It results in the way, that other teams are playing only with grey players, because no one can register no player, but youngsters youth contracts

[phnompenhandy]

On 09/07/2023 at 07:16, The Enforcer said:

Is this really what is intended for squad building at this level or is this a bug that I should report?

As a veteran lower league manager, I can insist it's not a bug at all. In real life as in FM, this is the reality of lower league - the club runs at a loss, and you're constantly having to work with inadequate means. At amateur/non-contract level yes, as soon as a player rises to the top he gets poached for nothing but it is a level playing field. I'm used to floundering in midtable before putting in a late surge when the runaway leaders suddenly go on a losing streak - due to losing their best players.

Where you have the edge at this level is tactics - if you can construct a resilient tactic that works with limited players coming and going, you can succeed up to a point until you fluke that elusive cup draw that brings in riches.

[drajen]

6 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

As a veteran lower league manager, I can insist it's not a bug at all. In real life as in FM, this is the reality of lower league - the club runs at a loss, and you're constantly having to work with inadequate means. At amateur/non-contract level yes, as soon as a player rises to the top he gets poached for nothing but it is a level playing field. I'm used to floundering in midtable before putting in a late surge when the runaway leaders suddenly go on a losing streak - due to losing their best players.

Where you have the edge at this level is tactics - if you can construct a resilient tactic that works with limited players coming and going, you can succeed up to a point until you fluke that elusive cup draw that brings in riches.

I am not saying, that is a bug. I just wanted to know, why can I only offer non-contratc? Because my club is in 4 tier? Because it is semi-professional status of my club (don't think so, `cause taking professional in that 4 league still having that issue, and in other words, when the club can offer part-time or full-time contract. because the problem is that I can't register any player for league, only under 19(because you can register them at anytime) I am playing only greys,though I have many non-contract players

[phnompenhandy]

5 minutes ago, drajen said:

I am not saying, that is a bug. I just wanted to know, why can I only offer non-contratc? Because my club is in 4 tier? Because it is semi-professional status of my club (don't think so, `cause taking professional in that 4 league still having that issue, and in other words, when the club can offer part-time or full-time contract. because the problem is that I can't register any player for league, only under 19(because you can register them at anytime) I am playing only greys,though I have many non-contract players

Northern Ireland is a tiny country with its league very low-ranked, so 4th tier is about as low as you can get. I'd expect in real life players to be amateurs or play for petrol money.

Which league and level are you in? In game terms, you shouldn't be stuck with gray players. Are you saying you can't sign free agents in the summer and register them? Did you load up all N. Irish (or whichever nation) players when you selected the database? Are you using an add-on lower league database?

Having a squad of U19s should be fine at that level anyway.

[The Enforcer]

On 02/11/2023 at 18:03, drajen said:

Did you get the answer for that? My problem is that I also can't register NC players for the league! I only can do this for amateurs, so do others team. It results in the way, that other teams are playing only with grey players, because no one can register no player, but youngsters youth contracts

I didn't get a reply here until yours, so I reported it as a bug and it was marked as "under review": 

I don't know if it is still occurring in FM24.

Cheers,

TE