How it works
1. The window
£900M, eleven slots, eight formations. Each turn deals a random club-season from 2009-10 to 2017-18 (seven leagues). Sign one player; if he fits more than one slot, you choose. Out of position he plays at 92%.
2. The price
What he was worth that season, in today's money, plus three seasons of wages. A 2012 De Bruyne costs a fraction of a 2015 one.
3. Classic or Hardcore
Ratings are always shown. Classic: bought in his best season he plays at his peak, −1 for every season away from it (never below that season's rating) · 2 rerolls. Hardcore: true to the season you buy · no rerolls. Valves (Other season, Other club, Reroll) are per game. Tap a signed player to release him for a full refund.
4. The nine champions
One match against each charged season's title winner, in order: Chelsea 09-10 (86 pts), Man Utd 10-11 (80), Man City 11-12 (89), Man Utd 12-13 (89), Man City 13-14 (86), Chelsea 14-15 (87), Leicester 15-16 (81), Chelsea 16-17 (93), Man City 17-18 (100). Perfect is 9-0-0.
5. Creative accounting
Short of cash? Get creative. Each scheme adds budget and charges, and raises the odds of a finding:
- Airline sponsorship, upgraded: +£150M, 30 charges.
- “Commercial partners”: +£100M, 25 charges.
- Image rights, outsourced: +£75.0M, 15 charges.
- Manager “consultancy” deal: +£40.0M, 10 charges.
- Non-cooperation: no money, 35 charges.
Then our (entirely fictional) Commission rules: Cleared, a points deduction or titles stripped. No schemes → CLEAN board; any scheme → ALLEGEDLY*.
Questions on file
Q.Why don't prices match what he cost at the time?
A player costs his Transfermarkt market value that season, converted to today's money (transfer inflation: about 4.7× for 2009 down to 1.8× for 2017 — deliberately steep, so £900M doesn't stretch to a team of legends), plus three seasons of wages. The Database pages show his value at the time.
Q.Where do the wages come from?
A stylised three-season estimate from fee and age, not real contracts: older and pricier players cost more.
Q.Are the receipt extras real?
No. Racehorses, helicopters and facilitation fees are jokes — not claims about any real person.
Q.Classic or Hardcore?
Classic: sign a player in his best season and he plays at his peak rating; each season away from it costs a point, but never below his rating that season. 2 rerolls. Hardcore: he plays at his rating in the season you bought him, with no rerolls. Each has its own leaderboard.
Q.Are the valves per turn?
Per game. Other season (same club, another year) ×1, Other club (same year) ×1, Reroll ×2 in Classic, none in Hardcore.
Q.How does the Commission decide?
No schemes, no case. Otherwise the money schemes set the odds of a finding. If it finds against you, it's a points deduction (your latest wins struck off) or, rarely, every title stripped. Non-cooperation lowers the odds but hits harder.
Q.How is the leaderboard ranked?
By the record after the verdict: 3 points a win, 1 a draw, then goal difference, then XI strength. Clean and Allegedly* boards, each split Classic | Hardcore.
Q.Can people cheat?
Our server deals every squad and replays every entry before it counts, so you can only post players you were actually offered. The result is fixed at kick-off; one kick-off per draft.
Q.Where does the data come from?
Market values from Transfermarkt via the open transfermarkt-datasets project. Ratings are our own estimates. See About.