I don't know if this issue already exists on this site. If so, sorry for this.
I'm currently manager of Northwich Victoria. I've downloaded a custom database and started at the 9th tier. As semi pro club I received a small budget for player contracts. Now I'm promoted to the 8th tier I received a big increase of my budget, but since then I can only offer amateurcontracts.
Also the players who were already at my club can't get a new contract, because they don't want to change to an amateur contract.
Because of this I am not able to get a lot of players who are on my shortlist because they signed a contract to teams in the same division where they get a semi pro contract.