_______________________________________________________________________________
CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 4 - LEAGUE & CUP GUIDE
My guide to how all of the leagues and cup competitions in CM4 work.
_______________________________________________________________________________
-----------------------------------
|***********************************|
|* *|
|* Created by Dan Adams, *|
|* On July 13 2003, *|
|* Last Update September 5, 2003 *|
|* Current version: 0.30 *|
|* *|
|* dan2003nz@yahoo.co.uk *|
|* *|
|***********************************|
-----------------------------------
CONTENTS
========
PART 1: FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Legal Bit
Contact Me
Introduction
PART 2: NATIONS AND NATIONAL COMPETITIONS
The Nations
Important General Rules
The Competitions
PART 3: CONTINENTS AND CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS
PART 4: INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL
Playable Teams
Tournaments
PART 5: THE FINAL WHISTLE
Credits
|========|
| PART 1 |
===============================================================================
FIRST THINGS FIRST
===============================================================================
THE LEGAL BIT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This FAQ may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation
of copyright.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
Right now, this guide is only available from www.gamefaqs.com, www.cheats.de
or from my own website (http://uk.geocities.com/dan2003nz) so if you've got
this from some other website, please let me know.
Basically, unless otherwise stated, this is all my own work so don't steal it,
borrow it, publish it or stick it on your website without asking. Thank you.
CONTACT ME
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My email address is: dan2003nz@yahoo.co.uk
My MSN messenger name is: dan2003nz@hotmail.com
If you notice any huge errors in this guide or if there is something you'd like
me to cover in my next update or if you just want to tell me that this FAQ is
total rubbish then feel free to email me or send me an MSN message.
INTRODUCTION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This FAQ will outline how all of the leagues and cup competitions in
Championship Manager 4 work. Mainly all the things that the game's user guide
doesn't go into, such as how many foreign players you can play in the Croatian
Second Division or how many teams get promoted from the Italian Serie C2A,
that sort of thing. Unfortunately this is a work in progress but I've tried to
indicate when each section will be implemented.
I won't be covering anything to with tactics (mainly because I'm rubbish at
them) or about which players to buy as there are plenty of guides already out
there for that kind of thing. Also, I'm presuming you have bought the game
(including its user guide) so I won't go over any of the game mechanics as they
are covered in depth in the official manual.
As I'm writing this after the release of "Enhancement Pack 5" there are a
whopping 43 nations to cover (instead of the 39 leagues in the original version
of CM4). So you may not have some of the nations or leagues available in your
version. If this is the case, you can download the latest Enhancement Pack from
the developers' website (www.sigames.com) or from one of the hundreds of
fan-sites.
Finally, I have also written some more specific in-depth FAQs for 'Project CM'
and dedicated Championship Manager website which has things like tactics guides
and player reveiws (http://projectcm.thedugout.net).
|========|
| PART 2 |
===============================================================================
NATIONS AND NATIONAL COMPETITIONS
===============================================================================
THE NATIONS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are all of the nations that you can play in CM4 (including the new four)
listed by continent.
Europe South America
------ -------------
Austria Argentina
Belgium Brazil
Croatia Colombia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England North America
Finland -------------
France Mexico
Germany United States
Greece
Holland
Hungary (Not in original CM4) Asia
Ireland ----
Israel China
Italy Hong Kong
Northern Ireland India
Norway Indonesia (Not in original CM4)
Poland Japan
Portugal South Korea
Russia Singapore
Scotland
Slovakia (Not in original CM4)
Spain Africa
Sweden ------
Switzerland South Africa
Turkey
Ukraine (Not in original CM4)
Wales Oceania
Yugoslavia -------
Australia
IMPORTANT GENERAL RULES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This part describes rules that are the same for all or most of the countries
and competitions in the game.
League Points
-------------
Unless otherwise stated, all league competitions use the traditional points
method of:
3 points for a win
1 point for a draw
0 points for a loss
One rare exception is the U.S.A. league (MLS) which uses extra-time in league
games and gives you one point for an extra-time (overtime) win. But that will
be explained fully in the relevant section.
Goal Difference
---------------
Unless otherwise explained, teams with equal points in the league are
separated by 'goal difference' (goals scored, minus goals conceded). One
exception to this is the final league placings in the Italian league. Here, if
two teams have equal points at the end of the season, they have a playoff (full
details in the relevant section).
Work Permits (European)
-----------------------
Oh, the dreaded work permit rule. One of the craziest and most unpredictable
rules in CM4.
Basically, European law says that anyone from outside the European Union
requires a work permit to work (and play football) in Europe. So when you sign
a player from Cameroon, for example, he will only be allowed to sign if he is
granted a work permit, and its up to CM4 whether he gets one or not.
I only know of one country outside Europe which uses a work permit system on
CM4 and that is South Africa - the system is slightly different there so refer
to the South Africa section of this guide for details.
The rule can be very annoying as CM4 does not say exactly what is required of
a player for him to get a permit but here are the main factors:
1. How famous is the player?
If the player is world famous, like Gabriel Batistuta or Ronaldo, then it is
likely that he will be given a work permit. In lower leagues, eg. English
Third Division the player doesn't have to be world famous, he just needs to
be a big-name player in relation to that league.
2. How much international experience does he have?
If the player you're trying to buy has a ship-load of international caps,
someone like Hossam Hassan of Egypt for instance, he is much more likely to be
granted a work permit than someone who has never played for his country and is
unproven outside of his home league.
3. Does the player have an EU passport?
This is the easiest way around the permit rule. It shows up in the game if you
look at the player's 'information' screen, under 'Other Nationalities'. For
example Juan Sebastien Veron has a second nationality of Italian so he is able
to bypass the rule and is granted a work permit immediately.
*HINT* Many Argentinean players have a second nationality of Italian, and loads
of African player have a French or Portuguese second nationality and will
therefore be much easier to buy.
4. What do your scouts think?
If you're still not sure it's a worthwhile going after a player, you can always
ask a scout. Just select 'Get scout report' in the player's action menu and
within a few days one of your scouts will come back to you with a brief report
and he will give you an estimate on how difficult it will be to get a work
permit for the player.
So, you've finally been granted a work permit for your new star signing from
Madagascar or wherever. But the headaches are far from over. Work permits
are granted conditionally - meaning that to justify your new signing, he must
be regarded as a first team member, rather than just a 'bench-warmer'. A
player on a work permit must play in at least 50% of your teams matches or his
permit will not be renewed for the following year and you will have a totally
pointless player on your wage bill that you can't even pick. You will notice
a little piece of info on the player's info screen which tells you what
percentage of games he has played.
NB: If a player is injured, suspended or otherwise unavailable for a match, it
will not count as a missed game and his percentage will stay the same.
EU Nations
----------
This is a list of all the countries in the game are classed as EU (European
Union) nations. Any country not listed here is not an EU nation and you may
need a work permit for them.
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
England
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
French Guyana*
Germany
Greece
Guadeloupe*
Holland
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Martinique*
Mayotte*
New Caledonia*
Northern Ireland
Norway
Portugal
Reunion*
San Marino
Saint Pierre & Miquelon*
Scotland
Sint Maarten*
Spain
Sweden
Wales
Wallis & Futuna Islands*
NB: This list contains quite a few countries that aren't even in Europe (the
ones with the * next to them) such as Guadeloupe and New Caledonia. They are
territories of European countries, mainly France, Holland and the UK so there
players are classed as EU players.
THE COMPETITIONS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is basically the reason this guide exists. Each playable country in CM4 is
listed here, along with details of every league and cup competition that is in
each country.
For details of European cups, and other continental cups, see PART 3 of this
FAQ.
_______________________________________________________________________________
ARGENTINA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: South America
TEAMS: 40
DIVISIONS: 2 - First Division & Second Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: None
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Copa Libertadores
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Copa Panamericana & Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
ARGENTINE FIRST DIVISION
========================
ARGENTINE SECOND DIVISION
=========================
_______________________________________________________________________________
AUSTRALIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Oceania
TEAMS: 13
DIVISIONS: 1 - National Soccer League
CUP COMPETITIONS: None
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: OFC Club Championship
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
INTRODUCTION
------------
This is one of the smaller leagues in CM4 and doesn't have much scope for
building a Real Madrid-style empire, but it's still fun to play and makes a
nice change from the usual European leagues.
There is only one division (with no relegation) and there is no domestic cup
competition. The only sideline is the 4-yearly OFC Club Championship, which is
just a very small version of the UEFA Champions League, so I'd recommend
playing in another league at the same time if you are easily bored.
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
NATIONAL SOCCER LEAGUE
======================
TEAMS: 13
FORMAT: League and playoff followed by Grand Final
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: None
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: The Grand Final winner plays in the OFC Club
Championship.
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
Only 3 foreign players are allowed in the match squad. However, the definition
of a 'foreign' player in this league is different to any other that I know of.
Due to the fact that the Australian league contains one team from New
Zealand (Football Kingz) any player from a country in the Oceania region is
classed as Australian and does not count in your 3-foreigner allowance. This
includes countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa - for a full
list of Oceania nations click on the 'NATIONS & CLUBS' button on the game's
menu bar, then select 'NATIONS' and them 'OCEANIA'.
Even more strangely, players from the UK and Ireland are also not classed as
foreign. I'm not sure if this is a bug in the game or a genuine rule of this
league but it certainly makes life easier when managing in Australia.
FORMAT: LEAGUE STAGE
--------------------
The season is divided into two parts - the Minor Premiership and the Playoffs.
The first part of the season is played on a normal league basis where all the
teams play each other twice (home and away), resulting in 24 games per team.
After this period, the top six teams qualify for the playoff and for the other
teams, the season is over.
The team who finishes top after these 24 games is crowned 'Minor Premiers' but
is not the actual champion, yet.
There is no relegation from this league, so finishing bottom of the league is
just a blow to morale rather than a disaster.
FORMAT: PLAYOFF STAGE
---------------------
When the playoff begins you will probably notice that 2 teams are given a head-
start! The team that comes first in the main league is given 6 points at the
start of the playoff and the team that came 2nd gets 3 point.
The playoff is again played on a league basis with the 6 teams playing
each other twice more (home and away) making another 10 games per team.
The top two teams after these games will qualify for the Grand Final.
The Grand Final is a one-off match played at the stadium of whichever team
finished top of the playoff table. The winner of this match will be crowned
National Soccer League champions.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS
----------------------
The overall champion (Grand Final winner) qualifies for the OFC Club
Championship. This tournament is held every FOUR years so you may not be in it
the season after you win the Australian league but you will be in it
eventually.
For a full description of the OFC club Championship see the Continental
Competitions section of this guide.
OTHER NOTES
-----------
1 - There seems to be a small bug in the History section of this
league (the screen where it shows who were the Champions, the Runners-Up and
the 'Minor Premiers'). It always shows the team who comes THIRD in the PLAYOFF
group as being the 'Minor Premiership" winners, even if they weren't.
Hopefully this will be fixed in a future patch.
2 - Teams in this country don't have any reserve or under-19 teams so if you
get a big squad (over 40) it can be a pain in the butt to keep track of all
your players.
_______________________________________________________________________________
AUSTRIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
BELGIUM
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
BRAZIL
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: South America
TEAMS: 176
DIVISIONS: 30 - National First Division,
National Second Division & National Third Division
plus 27 'State Championship' divisions.
CUP COMPETITIONS: 1
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Copa Libertadores
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Copa Panamericana & Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
NATIONAL FIRST DIVISION
-----------------------
NATIONAL SECOND DIVISION
------------------------
NATIONAL THIRD DIVISION
-----------------------
===============================
|| STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS ||
===============================
INTRODUCTION
------------
This is easily the biggest, most overblown competition in the CM4, and the
whole world! With 27 separate divisions of varying amounts of teams and each
division with it's own playoff, it's also the only competition of its
kind in CM4. I wasn't sure whether to class it as a league or a cup so I've
given a section all of it's own and will now try to explain the whole thing
without confusing anyone (including myself).
The 27 state championships are as follows:
Acre State Championship
Alagoas State Championship
Amapa State Championship
Amazonas State Championship
Bahia State Championship
Ceara State Championship
Distrito Federal State Championship
Espirito Santo State Championship
Gaucho State Championship
Goias State Championship
Maranhao State Championship
Mato Grosso State Championship
Mato Grosso do Sul State Championship
Minas Gerais State Championship
Para State Championship
Paraiba State Championship
Parana State Championship
Pernambuco State Championship
Piaui State Championship
Potiguar State Championship
Rio de Janeiro State Championship
Rondonia State Championship
Roraima State Championship
Santa Catarina State Championship
Sao Paulo State Championship
Sergipe State Championship
Tocantins State Championship
Obviously there is no promotion or relegation between the groups as they are
based on where each team is located. Because of this, there is a big
difference in the quality of the teams in each group. The Sao Paulo and Rio
de Janeiro championships contain most of the top teams in Brazil (along with
a few tiny ones) and other groups, eg. Espirito Santo, contain only very
small teams.
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
BRAZILIAN CUP
=============
_______________________________________________________________________________
CHINA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Asia
TEAMS: 29
DIVISIONS: 2 - First Division A & First Division B
CUP COMPETITIONS: 2
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: AFC Champions League
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
CHINESE NATIONAL FIRST DIVISION A LEAGUE
========================================
CHINESE NATIONAL FIRST DIVISION B LEAGUE
========================================
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
CHINESE FA CUP
==============
WHO: The top 32 Chinese clubs (29 league clubs + 3 non-league).
WHEN: Begins in early March with the Final in late November.
HOW: Group stage followed by knockout stages and Final.
CHINESE SUPER CUP
=================
WHO: Last season's league champions vs. last season's FA Cup winners.
WHEN: February each year.
HOW: A one-off match between the 2 best clubs from the previous season.
_______________________________________________________________________________
COLOMBIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: South America
TEAMS: 45
DIVISIONS: 2 - First Division & Second Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: None
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Copa Libertadores
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
FIRST DIVISION
==============
SECOND DIVISION
===============
_______________________________________________________________________________
CROATIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE: No
TEAMS: 36
DIVISIONS: 2 - First Division & Second Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: 2
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
FIRST DIVISION
==============
SECOND DIVISION
===============
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
CROATIAN CUP
============
WHO: All Croatian League teams + a few non-league teams.
WHEN: August - June
HOW: Standard knockout cup, some rounds played over 2 legs.
CROATIAN SUPER CUP
==================
WHO: The league winners vs. the Croatian Cup winners.
WHEN: July
HOW: One-off match
_______________________________________________________________________________
CZECH REPUBLIC
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
DENMARK
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
ENGLAND
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE: Yes
TEAMS: 114
DIVISIONS: 5 - Premier Division, First Division,
Second Division, Third Division & Conference.
CUP COMPETITIONS: 5
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
INTRODUCTION
------------
Ah, the home of football and also my home country. The English League is
probably the most elaborate one in CM4 and is one of the most fun to play.
With 5 divisions and loads of cups to play in, it's almost worthy of a whole
FAQ of its own.
TRANSFER SYSTEM
---------------
Just one short note about signing players on LOAN for English teams: Each team
is only allowed to bring in 8 players (maximum) per season on-loan. Also, you
can only have 4 players in on-loan at any one time.
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
PREMIER DIVISION
================
TEAMS: 20
FORMAT: Normal League
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: Bottom 3 teams
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: Top 8 (depending on Intertoto invitations)
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players in match squad.
FORMAT
------
The Premier Division is played in the traditional league style with all
teams playing each other twice (home and away) making a total of 38 games per
team. Whoever finishes top of the league after 38 games are the Champions.
Simple as that.
The bottom 3 teams at the end of the season are relegated to the First
Division.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS
----------------------
As described above, this can change as the game goes on, due to the UEFA
co-efficients (see the Continental Competitions section of this guide for full
details of UEFA co-efficients), but here's how it works in the first season:-
1st place - Qualify for Champions Cup Group Stage
2nd place - Qualify for Champions Cup Group Stage
3rd place - Qualify for Champions Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
4th place - Qualify for Champions Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
5th place - Qualify for UEFA Cup 1st Round
6th place - Qualify for UEFA Cup Qualifying Round
7th place - Qualify for Intertoto Cup 3rd Round
8th place - Qualify for Intertoto Cup 2nd Round
NB: This table assumes that the 7th and 8th placed teams choose to enter the
Intertoto Cup. As this cup is optional, all Premier Division teams are given
an invitation near the end of the season asking whether they want to enter.
At the end of the season, the 2 highest-placed teams that accepted the
invitation qualify for the Intertoto (which is usually 7th & 8th place).
FIRST DIVISION
==============
TEAMS: 24
FORMAT: Standard League with promotion playoff.
PROMOTION: 3 (Top 2 teams plus playoff winner)
RELEGATION: Bottom 3 teams.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players in match squad.
FORMAT
------
The First Division is played in the traditional league style with all
teams playing each other twice (home and away) making a total of 46 games per
team. The top 2 teams are promoted to the Premier Division along with the
winner of the promotion playoff. The bottom 3 teams are relegated to the
Second Division.
PROMOTION
---------
1st place - Division One champions and promotion to the Premier Division
2nd place - Promoted to the Premier Division
3rd place - Qualify for promotion playoff
4th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
5th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
6th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
PROMOTION PLAYOFF
-----------------
The promotion playoff is basically a mini-cup competition with a two-legged
Semi-Final and then a Final. The Semi-Final stage works as follows:
3rd place vs. 6th place
4th place vs. 5th place
These are played over 2 legs (one at each team's home ground) and the winner
on aggregate goes through to the Final. Away goals count if the aggregate
scores are level after the second leg. If the score is still level, extra-time
(normal extra-time, not 'golden goal') and penalties are used.
The Playoff Final is a one-off match played on neutral ground at Millennium
Stadium, Cardiff and then at Wembley Stadium when it is rebuilt. The winner of
this match is promoted to the Premier Division. If the scores are level after
90 minutes extra-time and, if required, penalties are used.
SECOND DIVISION
===============
TEAMS: 24
FORMAT: Standard League with promotion playoff.
PROMOTION: 3 - top 2 plus playoff winner.
RELEGATION: Bottom 4 teams.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players in match squad.
FORMAT
------
The Second Division is played in the traditional league style with all
teams playing each other twice (home and away) making a total of 46 games per
team. The top 2 teams are promoted to the First Division along with the winner
of the promotion playoff. The bottom 4 teams are relegated to the Third
Division.
PROMOTION
---------
1st place - Second Division champions and promotion to the First Division
2nd place - Promoted to the First Division
3rd place - Qualify for promotion playoff
4th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
5th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
6th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
PROMOTION PLAYOFF
-----------------
The promotion playoff is basically a mini-cup competition with a two-legged
Semi-Final and then a Final. The Semi-Final stage works as follows:
3rd place vs. 6th place
4th place vs. 5th place
These are played over 2 legs (one at each team's home ground) and the winner
on aggregate goes through to the Final. Away goals count if the aggregate
scores are level after the second leg. If the score is still level, extra-time
(normal extra-time, not 'golden goal') and penalties are used.
The Playoff Final is a one-off match played on neutral ground at Millennium
Stadium, Cardiff and then at Wembley Stadium when it is rebuilt. The winner of
this match is promoted to the First Division. If the scores are level after 90
minutes extra-time and, if required, penalties are used.
THIRD DIVISION
==============
TEAMS: 24
FORMAT: Standard League with promotion playoff.
PROMOTION: 4 - top 3 plus playoff winner.
RELEGATION: Bottom 2 teams.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players in match squad.
FORMAT
------
The Third Division is played in the traditional league style with all teams
playing each other twice (home and away) making a total of 46 games per team.
The top 3 teams are promoted to the Second Division along with the winner of
the promotion playoff. The bottom 2 teams are relegated to the Conference.
PROMOTION
---------
1st place - Third Division champions and promotion to the Second Division
2nd place - Promoted to the Second Division
3rd place - Promoted to the Second Division
4th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
5th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
6th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
7th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
PROMOTION PLAYOFF
-----------------
The promotion playoff is basically a mini-cup competition with a two-legged
Semi-Final and then a Final. The Semi-Final stage works as follows:
5th place vs. 6th place
4th place vs. 7th place
These are played over 2 legs (one at each team's home ground) and the winner
on aggregate goes through to the Final. Away goals count if the aggregate
scores are level after the second leg. If the score is still level, extra-time
(normal extra-time, not 'golden goal') and penalties are used.
The Playoff Final is a one-off match played on neutral ground at Millennium
Stadium, Cardiff and then at Wembley Stadium when it is rebuilt. The winner of
this match is promoted to the Second Division. If the scores are level after 90
minutes extra-time and, if required, penalties are used.
CONFERENCE
==========
TEAMS: 22
FORMAT: League with promotion playoff.
PROMOTION: 2 - Conference winner plus playoff winner.
RELEGATION: 3
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players in match squad.
FORMAT
------
The Conference is played in the traditional league style with all teams playing
each other twice (home and away) making a total of 42 games per team. Only the
winner of the Conference is promoted automatically. The next 4 teams qualify
for the promotion playoff.
The bottom 3 teams are relegated the lower division which aren't on CM4.
PROMOTION
---------
1st place - Conference champions and promotion to the Third Division
2nd place - Qualify for promotion playoff
3rd place - Qualify for promotion playoff
4th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
5th place - Qualify for promotion playoff
PROMOTION PLAYOFF
-----------------
The promotion playoff is basically a mini-cup competition with a two-legged
Semi-Final and then a Final. The Semi-Final stage works as follows:
2nd place vs. 5th place
3rd place vs. 4th place
These are played over 2 legs (one at each team's home ground) and the winner
on aggregate goes through to the Final. Away goals count if the aggregate
scores are level after the second leg. If the score is still level, extra-time
(normal extra-time, not 'golden goal') and penalties are used.
The Playoff Final is a one-off match played on neutral ground, usually the
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent. The winner of this match is promoted to the
Third Division. If the scores are level after 90 minutes extra-time and, if
required, penalties are used.
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
THE F.A. CUP
============
WHO: Every league team in England, along with loads of non-league teams.
WHEN: October - May
HOW: Standard knockout cup. One-off games with replays (if required).
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: Winner qualifies for UEFA Cup First Round.
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players.
FORMAT
------
The FA Cup is the oldest and most famous cup competition in the world. It is
played over 8 rounds (plus Qualifying Rounds) on a straight knock-out basis.
Big teams, ie. Premier League teams, enter the cup in Round 3.
In all rounds up to the Quarter-Final, if a game ends in a draw, a replay is
played (usually about 10 days later).
In the replay, if the game is drawn, extra-time and penalties will be played.
The semi-finals are played at a neutral stadium (usually somewhere like Old
Trafford or Villa Park) and no replays are played - semi-finals go straight to
extra-time/penalties if they end in a draw.
The Final: As you probably know, right now the world famous Wembley Stadium is
just a pile of dust and rocks, so the FA Cup Final is played at the Millennium
Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. If you play a few seasons of CM4, Wembley is
eventually rebuilt and the FA Cup Final moves back to its spiritual home again.
LEAGUE CUP
==========
WHO: All league teams in England, except for those in the Conference.
WHEN: August - February
HOW: Standard knockout rounds.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: Winning team qualifies for the UEFA Cup First Round.
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players.
FORMAT
------
The League Cup has been known by lots of different names over the years - Coca
Cola Cup, Milk Cup, Carling Cup, etc - but CM4 just calls it the League Cup.
All rounds, except for the Semi-Final, are one-off matches and if a match is
drawn extra-time and penalties are played.
Semi-Finals are played over 2 legs and games that are level after both legs are
decided on away-goals, and then extra-time and penalties if still level.
The Final, as with the FA Cup, is currently played at the Millennium Stadium,
Cardiff. Extra-time and penalties are played if the Final finishes as a draw.
VANS TROPHY
===========
WHO: All Second & Third Division Teams and 16 teams from the Conference.
WHEN: October - April
HOW: Knockout competition divided into North and South sections.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players.
FORMAT
------
The Vans Cup is divided into 2 sections: North and South. Each section contains
12 teams from the Second Division, 12 teams from the Third Division and 8 teams
from the Conference (as you'll probably notice, not all Conference teams are in
this cup, only the top 16 teams from the previous Conference season qualify).
Each section is played almost as if it was a separate cup, with a First Round,
Second Round, Quarter-Final, Semi-Final and Final. All rounds up to the
Semi-Final are one-off matches and they all use golden goal extra-time and then
penalties if a match finishes as a draw.
The section Final is played over 2-legs (home and away) and away goal do count.
If the match is level after both legs, golden goal extra-time and penalties
are played.
So, now there is a North champion and a South champion and these teams meet in
the grand Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. This game also uses golden goal
extra-time and penalties in the case of a draw.
F.A. TROPHY
===========
WHO: Conference teams and lots of amateur non-league teams (64 in total).
WHEN: January - May
HOW: Straight knockout similar to the FA Cup.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restriction on foreign players.
FORMAT
------
The competition starts at the Third Round stage (presumably because there
aren't enough teams on the game to make up the early rounds). It just straight
knockout rounds all the way to the semi-finals. If a match ends as a draw it
goes to a replay - if the replay is a draw extra-time and penalties are used.
The semi-final matches are played over 2 legs (home and away) with the
aggregate winners going on to the final. Away goals DO count in this round if
the tie is level after both legs and if away goals are equal extra-time and
penalties will be used.
The Final is a one-off match and is played on neutral ground at the Millennium
Stadium, Cardiff - until Wembley is rebuilt. The final goes to extra-time and
penalties if it finishes as a draw.
COMMUNITY SHIELD
================
WHO: Premier Division champions vs. FA Cup winners.
WHEN: August
HOW: One match 'curtain-raiser'.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restriction on foreign players.
FORMAT
------
This is just a one-off match and is really more like a pre-season friendly than
a cup and is the traditional opening match for the Premier League season.
The Premier League winners play the FA Cup winners from the previous season and
is supposedly the two best English teams facing each other. If the game ends as
a draw it goes straight to a penalty shoot-out instead of the usual extra-time.
The match is played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff until the new Wembley
Stadium is built.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FINLAND
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
FRANCE
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
GERMANY
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
GREECE
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
HOLLAND
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
HONG KONG
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Asia
TEAMS: 8
DIVISIONS: 1
CUP COMPETITIONS: 3 (well sort of 4 actually - see Cups section)
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: AFC Champions League
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
INTRODUCTION
------------
Possibly the smallest league in CM4 with only 8 playable teams. One for the
real hardcore CM fans - or people from Hong Kong :P
On the up-side it has some of the best team names in the world, like 'Happy
Valley' & 'Double Flowers'.
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS (Applies to all Hong Kong leagues and cups.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum of 4 foreign players allowed in the match squad. Only 6 foreigners
allowed in your whole squad.
However, when playing in Hong Kong SOME foreigners are not classed as foreign.
You can also have players from China, Macau and Singapore and they will not
count as foreign. This certainly opens a few doors as there are not many Hong
Kong players to choose from.
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
FIRST DIVISION
==============
TEAMS: 8
FORMAT: Normal league
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: 2
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: 2
FORMAT
------
The Hong Kong First Division uses a standard 'round-robin' league format with
all teams playing each other twice. As there are only 8 teams in the division
this adds up to just 14 games per season. Thankfully there are also 3 cups to
keep you interested.
The team that finishes, top after 14 games, wins the championship and the
bottom 2 are relegated.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION
-------------------------
The league champions and runners-up both qualify for the AFC Champions League.
The champions enter at the East Asia Third Qualifying Round stage, but the
runners-up have to start right from the East Asia First Qualifying Round.
Unfortunately, none of the Hong Kong cups provide entry into any Asian cup
competitions.
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
HONG KONG LEAGUE CUP
====================
WHO: All 8 Hong Kong league teams.
WHEN: November - January.
HOW: Group stage followed by semi-final and Final.
FORMAT
------
The group stage consists of 2 groups of 4 teams (all the teams from the First
Division). Teams play each other once (3 games per team) and the top 2 from
each group qualify for the Semi-Finals.
The Semi-finals are one-off matches using golden-goal extra-time if needed but
not penalties. If the match is still level after extra-time, it's decided by a
replay.
The Final is played at Hong Kong Stadium, Causeway Bay (Hong Kong's national
stadium).
SENIOR CHALLENGE SHIELD
=======================
WHO: All 8 Hong Kong league teams
WHEN: March
HOW: Straight knockout competition. Just like the Hong Kong FA Cup really.
FORMAT
------
Very simple format for this one. Just one-off matches, with golden-goal
extra-time and penalties used if needed.
The final is played at Hong Kong Stadium, Causeway Bay.
HONG KONG FA CUP
================
WHO: All 8 league teams from Hong Kong.
WHEN: April
HOW: A small knockout cup, played during one month.
FORMAT
------
Very much the same as the Senior Challenge Shield. One-off matches using
golden-goal extra-time and penalties if needed. Again, the Final is played at
Hong Kong Stadium.
AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYOFF
============================
Well, well, well. This seems to be a mythical competitions which never actually
happens. I presumed it would be a playoff between the Hong Kong champions and
the champs of another tiny league in order to qualify for the AFC Champions
League. But it never actually takes place. Unless I'm missing something.
A CM4 bug perhaps???
_______________________________________________________________________________
HUNGARY
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
INDIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Asia
TEAMS: 12
DIVISIONS: 1 - National Football League
CUP COMPETITIONS: 2
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: AFC Champions League
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
INTRODUCTION
------------
The first thing you'll notice when you start-up the Indian League is that it's
tiny! Only one division and only 12 teams. However there are a few cups for you
to play which adds a little excitement to the season.
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS (Applies to all Indian leagues/cups)
--------------------------------------------------------
Maximum of 3 foreign players allowed in match squad. Plus, you are only allowed
4 foreigners in your whole squad.
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
========================
TEAMS: 12
FORMAT: Standard league format.
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: Bottom 2 teams
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: Top 2 qualify for AFC Champions League.
FORMAT
------
This one is just a normal league with all teams playing each other twice (home
and away). No playoffs so whoever is top of the league at the end of the season
wins the championship.
The bottom 2 teams at the end of the season are relegated (they get relegated
to a league that isn't on CM4, so if you get relegated you'll be sacked and
won't be able to play in the lower league).
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION
-------------------------
The league winners and the runners-up both qualify for the AFC Champions
League. The winners go straight into the East Asia Region Third Qualifying
Round but the runners-up have to start from the First Qualifying Round.
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
Unfortunately neither of these cups provide you with a place in the AFC
Champions League. And the Durand Cup is... well, read on.
FEDERATION CUP
==============
WHO: Indian league teams plus a few non-league teams.
WHEN: August
HOW: Straight knockout cup
FORMAT
------
This one is really just a pre-season warm-up tournament as it all takes place
during August. It's also a good way to get your players match-fit for the AFC
Champions League Qualifiers (if you are in them) as they also begin before the
league season.
This cup is a bit strange as it starts in the Second Round stage, but it uses
the classic club cup format. One-leg matches, with extra-time and penalties
if required.
The Final is played at Salt Lake Stadium which is the Indian national team's
home ground and has a capacity of 120000!!
DURAND CUP
==========
WHO: Indian league teams.
WHEN: February
HOW: 2 group stages followed by semi-finals and a Final.
FORMAT
------
I have to say this is a ridiculous cup, as it's in the middle of the season and
all happens in the space of 2 weeks. On top of that, if you get to the Final
you have to play 3 matches in 3 days (last group match, semi-final & Final)!!!
A real test of your squad rotation policy.
PHASE 1 GROUP STAGE:
This is made up of the smaller league teams and some non-league teams.
There are 2 groups of 3 teams and they play the other the teams in their group
once, making 2 games per team. The top team in each group goes through to the
next phase.
PHASE 2 GROUP STAGE:
The 'big' league teams now enter the cup and there are 4 groups in this stage,
each with 3 teams. This time the teams play each other twice, making 4 games
per team. The winner of each group goes through to the Semi-final.
The semi-final matches are one-off matches and it seems that one of them is
always played at a neutral stadium (Salt Lake Stadium).
The Final is also one leg and is played at the Salt Lake Stadium.
Extra-time and penalties are used in the Semi-finals and Final.
_______________________________________________________________________________
INDONESIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Asia
TEAMS: 20 (16 from 2004 onwards)
DIVISIONS: 1 - Premier Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: None
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: AFC Champions League
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
INTRODUCTION
------------
Only one playable division in Indonesia and not even a single cup to go with
it, unless you qualify for the AFC Champions League. The only thing worth
noting is that the league is re-structured after the first season.
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
PREMIER DIVISION
================
TEAMS: 20 (in first season - 16 from 2004)
FORMAT: Standard league format
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: Bottom 6 (in first season - bottom 2 from 2004)
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: AFC Champions Cup (1)
_______________________________________________________________________________
IRELAND
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS: 22
DIVISIONS: 2 - Premier Division & First Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: 6
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
IRISH PREMIER DIVISION
======================
IRISH FIRST DIVISION
====================
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
SENIOR CHALLENGE CUP
====================
IRISH LEAGUE CUP
================
FIRST DIVISION CUP
==================
IRISH PRESIDENT'S CUP
=====================
MUNSTER SENIOR CUP
==================
LEINSTER SENIOR CUP
===================
_______________________________________________________________________________
ISRAEL
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup
UEFA Cup
Super Cup
Intertoto Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
ITALY
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS: 4 - Serie A, Serie B, Serie C1 & Serie C2
CUP COMPETITIONS: 2
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
JAPAN
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Asia
TEAMS: 28
DIVISIONS: 2 - J-League 1 & J-League 2
CUP COMPETITIONS: 3
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: AFC Champions League
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS:
Maximum of 3 foreign players allowed in match squad.
J-LEAGUE 1
==========
J-LEAGUE 2
==========
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
EMPEROR'S CUP
=============
JAPANESE CUP
============
JAPANESE SUPER CUP
==================
_______________________________________________________________________________
MEXICO
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: North America
TEAMS: 40
DIVISIONS: 2 - First Division & First Division A
CUP COMPETITIONS: 1
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: CONCACAF Champions Cup & Copa Libertadores
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Copa Panamericana
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
FIRST DIVISION
==============
FIRST DIVISION A
================
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
PREPRELIBERTADORES PHASE
========================
_______________________________________________________________________________
NORTHERN IRELAND
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS: 20
DIVISIONS: 2 - Premier Division & First Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: 4
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
NORTHERN IRISH LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
======================================
NORTHERN IRISH LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION
====================================
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
NORTHERN IRISH CUP
==================
NORTHERN IRISH LEAGUE CUP
=========================
ULSTER CUP
==========
COUNTY ANTRIM SHIELD
====================
_______________________________________________________________________________
NORWAY
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
POLAND
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE: No
TEAMS: 34
DIVISIONS: 2 - First Division & Second Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: 1
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
FIRST DIVISION
==============
SECOND DIVISION
===============
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
POLISH FA CUP
=============
_______________________________________________________________________________
ROMANIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
RUSSIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS: 38
DIVISIONS: 2 - Premier Division & First Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: 2
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
PREMIER DIVISION
================
FIRST DIVISION
==============
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
RUSSIAN CUP
===========
RUSSIAN SUPER CUP
=================
_______________________________________________________________________________
SCOTLAND
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
SINGAPORE
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Asia
TEAMS: 12
DIVISIONS: 1
CUP COMPETITIONS: 1
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: AFC Champions League
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
S-LEAGUE
========
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
SINGAPORE CUP
=============
_______________________________________________________________________________
SLOVAKIA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup
UEFA Cup
Super Cup
Intertoto Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
SOUTH AFRICA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Africa
TEAMS: 46
WORK PERMIT RULE: Yes
DIVISIONS: 2 - Premier Division & First Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: 5
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: African Champions League, African Cup Winners Cup,
CAF Cup & African Super Cup.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
INTRODUCTION
------------
This seems to be quite a difficult league to manage in as you are almost
limited to buying only South African players, and most of the good ones are
playing for big European clubs. You can get a few goods foreign players past
the strict work permit rule though.
Even though this is the only playable African league on CM4, there are several
continental cups which work in a similar way to the European cups a few years
ago.
WORK PERMITS
------------
This is a rare example of a non-European league that uses the work permit rule
and it's even more strict in South Africa. In England, for example, you can buy
any player from an EU country and you won't need a permit but in South Africa
the rule applies to anyone who isn't South African. The system works in a
similar way to the European one, with the game taking about 4 weeks to decide
if a player will be granted a work permit. If a player gets a work permit he is
obliged to play at least 50% of the clubs games each season, for the permit to
be renewed.
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
SOUTH AFRICAN PREMIER DIVISION
==============================
TEAMS: 16
FORMAT: Normal league format.
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: Bottom 2 teams.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS:
SOUTH AFRICAN FIRST DIVISION
============================
TEAMS: 30
FORMAT: League divided into 2 regional groups.
PROMOTION: 2 (the top team in each group)
RELEGATION: 2 (the bottom team in each group)
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: None
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
SOUTH AFRICAN LEAGUE CUP
========================
WHO: South African league teams only.
WHEN: September - December
HOW: Knockout rounds played over 2 legs.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: Yes
FORMAT
------
The cup starts with a Preliminary round containing 4 teams. The strange thing is
these 4 teams are the ones the finished in the top 4 of the league, in the
previous season. The two winners of the Preliminary Round go through to the
First Round along with all the other Premier Division teams, plus the 2 teams
that were relegated last season. From here. it's a simple cup format with
matches played over 2 legs. Probably the strangest thing about this cup is that
the 2 legs are not played 'home and away' - CM4 seems to pick a stadium at
random and both legs are played there. Despite this, away goals DO count in all
rounds (this just depends if you are on the home side or the away side of the
screen), and extra-time and penalties are used if a game is still level.
The Final is just one match and is played on neutral ground at FNB Stadium.
CHARITY CUP
===========
WHO: 4 teams
WHEN: July
HOW: Semi-Finals and Final.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: No
FORMAT
------
This cup is played over one weekend as is really just a glorified friendly cup.
The matches are all one-off matches and are all played at FNB Stadium.
TOP 8 CUP
=========
WHO: The top 8 teams.
WHEN: July - August
HOW: Standard knockout competition.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: No
FORMAT
------
Simple one-match cup ties with extra-time and penalties used if they are
needed. The Final is played on neutral ground at Odi Stadium, Pretoria.
SOUTH AFRICAN FA CUP
====================
WHO: All South African league teams + some non-league teams.
WHEN: February - May
HOW: Standard knockout cup. One-off matches in all rounds.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: Yes
FORMAT
------
Similar to the English FA Cup but a lot smaller. All rounds are one-off matches
and if a game finishes as a draw there is no a extra-time, it goes to a replay.
In the replay the fixture is reversed, so the team that played at home before
is now the away team. Extra-time and penalties are used if the replay finishes
as a draw.
V CUP
=====
WHO: 2 South African teams and 2 teams from north Africa.
WHEN: July
HOW: Short knockout cup. One-off matches.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: No
FORMAT
------
This is quite a unique cup as it contains 2 teams from other countries.
The 2 South African teams play each other in one Semi-final and the 2 'guest'
teams play each other in the other Semi.
The winners of each match meet for a 'North vs. South' final.
All matches use extra-time and penalties if needed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
SOUTH KOREA
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Asia
TEAMS: 12
DIVISIONS: 1 - K-League
CUP COMPETITIONS: 3
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: AFC Champions League
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: None
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS:
Maximum of 3 foreign players in the match squad.
K-LEAGUE
========
TEAMS: 12
FORMAT: Standard league format
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: None
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS:
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
KOREAN FA CUP
=============
KOREAN SUPER CUP
================
ALL-STAR CUP
============
_______________________________________________________________________________
SPAIN
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
SWEDEN
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
SWITZERLAND
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
TURKEY
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
_______________________________________________________________________________
U.S.A.
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: North America
TEAMS: 28
DIVISIONS: 2 - Major League & Second Division
CUP COMPETITIONS: 3 (including MLS Combine)
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: CONCACAF Champions Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Copa Panamericana
INTRODUCTION
------------
The American league has got to be the most unique and 'different' league in the
world of CM4. The Major League, or MLS, has several rules all of its own and a
transfer system unlike any other country. Most of these exist to protect
the MLS from the problems that collapsed the old NASL (North American Soccer
League), when a couple of mega-rich teams (mainly the New York Cosmos) bought
all the good players of that era (Pele, Best, Beckenbauer, etc) and just
won everything.
All this can make the MLS very enjoyable to play if you are bored of Serie A
and the English Premiership.
This is definitely soccer the American way.
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
AMERICAN MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER CUP (MLS)
======================================
TEAMS: 10
FORMAT: League divided into 2 regional groups, then playoffs.
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: None
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: Champions Cup (4) and Copa Panamericana (2)
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
The only restriction on foreign players is that you are allowed a maximum of 3
"Senior Internationals" in your squad. The game doesn't say exactly what a
Senior International is but it seems to be any foreign (non-U.S.) player that
is over 23 years old.
No restriction on the amount of young foreign players you can have.
But there are other restrictions in the transfer system.
TRANSFER SYSTEM
---------------
The transfer system is very different to the traditional system.
Firstly, when you buy a player from another MLS team you are not allowed to
offer any money. You can only offer players and/or 'Draft allocations' (the
Draft system is fully explained below).
When buying players from outside the MLS it's almost like the normal way,
except for the rule on 'Discovery Players'.
A discovery player is a player bought from outside the MLS (including American
players bought from other American teams or from 'No Club' as a free agent).
You are allowed 4 discovery players in your squad but you are only allowed to
buy 2 per season.
--- === ---
PRESEASON
---------
About 2 months before the league season kicks off, you have to select a
'provisional roster' of 26 players, which just means you have to pick the best
26 players in your squad.
The only restriction here is that you must select no more than 20 players who
are aged over 23.
BEWARE: Any player you don't select for your squad of 26 is released on a free
transfer!
About 10 days before the season starts, you are asked to shrink your squad even
more and pick your 'final roster' of 24 players. Again, the players that you
don't pick are released on a free transfer, so make sure you don't leave out
your new $5,000,000 striker.
This time you can only pick a maximum of 18 players aged over 23. On top of
that there is a salary limit. The total weekly wage of your 23-man squad cannot
be more than 24.48K/week (about a quarter of what David Beckham gets by
himself!).
THE PLAYER DRAFT SYSTEM - (NOTE: There is no player-draft in the first season)
=======================
WHEN: February - before you select your provisional roster.
This is something that's totally unique to the American league. It's basically
just a system of allocating a load of new young players to the various teams
in the MLS, but it's a good way of picking up new players for free.
There are 3 stages to the draft: The MLS Draft Combine matches; the Superdraft;
and the Supplemental Draft.
1 - MLS DRAFT COMBINE
---------------------
I'm not sure if this can actually be classed as a cup in CM4 because you can't
play in it. It's really just a series of friendly matches involving all the
players who will be in the Draft system (explained below). There are 4 teams
called "Major League A", "Major League B", and so on, and they all play each
other once, in a kind of mini-league. It doesn't really matter which teams wins
the mini-league, it just matters which players play well.
If you are hoping to pick some good young players from the draft then it does
help to view these games (by clicking on the "v" when the fixtures appear) and
make a note of any players who perform well.
2 - THE SUPERDRAFT
------------------
A couple of weeks after the Draft Combine matches is the Superdraft itself.
It's a bit like a player auction and can sometimes provide some good players,
and of course, they are all free.
There are six rounds and in each round the MLS teams take turns to pick a
player. The order of who gets to pick first, second, third, etc. in each round
is decided by how well the team has performed in the league. This means the
worst team in the league gets first choice and vice versa.
However, during the season, players can be traded or 'bought' in exchange for
draft picks, so if you've sold a lot of players during the past year you may
get to choose several players in each round. And of course, if you've bought a
lot of players you might not have any draft picks left and then you don't get
to choose anyone.
This might sound a bit complicated but it's pretty self-explanatory when the
draft is going on, and it tells you when it's your turn to choose.
If you find the whole thing really boring you can just click the 'Auto' button
and the game pick your players by itself.
If you don't want any draft players the click the 'Finish' button as soon as it
begins.
After the draft has taken place, you have to select your Provisional Roster.
Anyone you leave out (and anyone left out by other teams) goes into the
Supplemental Draft.
3 - THE SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT
--------------------------
This is similar to the Superdraft except there is only one round and it's made
up of all the players who were left out of there team rosters. You can usually
find some pretty good older players in here who have been released by the
better teams. You only get one pick this time - unless you have traded for some
Supplemental draft allocations earlier in the season.
After this, you have to select your Final Roster for the season.
--- === ---
LEAGUE FORMAT: REGULAR SEASON
-----------------------------
The MLS is structured in a very similar way to all of the big American sports.
The league is split into two groups of 5 teams - the Eastern Conference and the
Western Conference. As you may have guessed from the names, these groups are
decided by each team's location within the USA. Simple enough. But now things
start to get a bit complicated.
Each team plays the other teams in their own Conference 4 times.
They also play 4 of the teams in the other Conference 3 times, and 1 of the
teams twice. This seems really weird and a bit pointless but that's the way it
goes. So, that adds up to 30 games per team.
Also, American sports don't like games to end as a draw, so in the MLS if a
game is level after 90 minutes, 10 minutes of golden-goal extra time is played.
If you win in extra-time, you still get 3 points as you would for a normal win.
If it's still level after extra-time, then the game is a draw and each team
gets 1 point.
The aim in the regular season is to finish in the top 4 of your conference and
qualify for the playoffs. So, just don't finish last and you're in.
NOTE: There is no relegation from this division AT ALL, so if you do finish
last, you will still be in the MLS next season.
LEAGUE FORMAT: PLAYOFFS
-----------------------
The playoff is really just a knockout competition with matches. It begins with
the Quarter Final where all teams play against another team from their
Conference. Quarter-final matches are played over 2 legs and the full draw is
as follows:
QF1 - 1st in Eastern Conf. vs 4th in Eastern Conf.
QF2 - 2nd in Eastern Conf. vs 3rd in Eastern Conf.
QF3 - 1st in Western Conf. vs 4th in Western Conf.
QF4 - 2nd in Western Conf. vs 3rd in Western Conf.
The semi-final matches are just one-off matches and not 2-legs like the
quarter-final. The draw is as follows:
SF1 - Winner of QF1 vs Winner of QF2
SF2 - Winner of QF3 vs Winner of QF4
The draw is done like this so that each team only plays teams from their own
Conference, until the Final - so in theory the best team from each Conference
meet in the Final.
The Final is another one-off match and is played at a neutral stadium.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS
----------------------
All 4 Semi-finalists from the MLS playoffs qualify for the Champions Cup.
The MLS winner also qualifies for the Copa Panamericana.
SECOND DIVISION
===============
TEAMS: 18
FORMAT: League divided into 4 groups, followed by playoffs.
PROMOTION: None
RELEGATION: None
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
None. Any amount of foreign players can be selected.
LEAGUE FORMAT: REGULAR SEASON
-----------------------------
The American second division is very different to the MLS and more like a
normal league. No extra-time in league games, no salary limits.
There are 4 groups (A,B,C and D): groups A and D have 5 teams each; groups B
and C have 4 teams. The spread of the teams seems to be random and is not
regional like in the MLS.
There is one complicated part though. Each team plays 11 of the other teams
TWICE and 6 of the teams ONCE. Adding up to 28 games in total.
As with the MLS, the idea is to qualify for the playoffs, and this how it's
decided:
In group A and group D, the top 4 teams qualify.
In group B and group C, the top 2 teams qualify.
LEAGUE FORMAT: PLAYOFFS
-----------------------
First Round: As a bonus, the 4 teams who finish with the most points (no
matter what group they are in) miss the First Round and go
straight into the Quarter-Finals. The other 8 teams play in
the First Round (2-leg matches).
The winners go into the Quarter-Finals.
Quarter-Finals: The 4 winners from the first round are drawn against the 4
teams that skipped round one.
Semi-Finals: Straightforward 2-leg semi-finals.
Final: The winners, over 2 legs, become Second Division champions.
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
US OPEN CUP
===========
WHO: All American league teams, plus some amateur teams.
WHEN: June - October
HOW: Normal knockout cup, one-off matches in all rounds.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION: None
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restriction on foreign players.
FORMAT
------
This cup is a little strange as it starts at the Second Round stage. All
matches are one-off matches with golden-goal extra-time and penalties played
if needed. The Final is played at the Rose Bowl, Los Angeles.
The cup winners qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
MLS ALL-STARS GAME
==================
WHO: MLS All-Stars East vs. MLS All-Stars West
WHEN: June (in the middle of the league season)
HOW: One-off exhibition match.
In a similar way to the NHL All-Stars game in ice hockey, the 'best' players
from each conference are selected to represent their half of the MLS. The
players that get picked for this game seem to be the most famous ones rather
than the players who have the highest ratings, value or number of goals and
it's really just a mid-season friendly match to break up the year.
_______________________________________________________________________________
UKRAINE
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS: 34
DIVISIONS: 2 - High League & First League
CUP COMPETITIONS: 1
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
UKRAINIAN HIGH LEAGUE
=====================
UKRAINIAN FIRST LEAGUE
======================
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
UKRAINIAN CUP
=============
WHO: Ukrainian league teams plus one non-league team.
WHEN: August - May
HOW: Normal knockout cup, some rounds played over 2 legs.
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS:
No restrictions. Any amount of foreign players can be selected.
_______________________________________________________________________________
WALES
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS: 18
DIVISIONS: 1 - Premier League
CUP COMPETITIONS: 3
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
============================
|| LEAGUES ||
============================
PREMIER LEAGUE
==============
TEAMS: 18
FORMAT: Normal league format.
PROMOTION: n/a
RELEGATION: Bottom 2 teams.
CONTINENTAL QUALIFIERS:
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS:
Maximum of 3 non-EU players allowed in match squad.
============================
|| CUPS ||
============================
WELSH CUP
=========
FAW PREMIER CUP
===============
WELSH LEAGUE CUP
================
_______________________________________________________________________________
YUGOSLAVIA (Serbia & Montenegro)
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONTINENT: Europe
WORK PERMIT RULE:
TEAMS:
DIVISIONS:
CUP COMPETITIONS:
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup & Super Cup
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS: Intercontinental Cup
|========|
| PART 3 |
===============================================================================
CONTINENTS AND CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS
===============================================================================
Here is a list of all the club tournaments that teams from each continent can
play in...
_______________________________________________________________________________
EUROPE (UEFA)
_______________________________________________________________________________
=============
CHAMPIONS CUP
=============
WHO: Top clubs from around Europe, based on previous season's league placing.
WHEN: July - May
HOW: Qualifying rounds, then group stage, knockout rounds and Final.
Recognised as the most important cup in club football the Champions Cup (also
known as the European Cup or UEFA Champions League) puts Europe's top clubs
against each other to decide who is the best team in Europe.
It all kicks off with the Qualifying Phases where the minnows of Europe
attempted to qualify for the famous group stage.
The First Qualifying Phase contains just 18 teams. The 9 winners go through to
the next phase.
The Second Qualifying Phase contains the 9 winners from the first phase plus 19
new teams making 28 teams in total.
The Third Qualifying Phase is where the first batch of big team come in. The 14
winners from the second phase are joined by 18 bigger (seeded) teams to make up
32 teams in total. The 16 winning teams from the round qualify for the group
stage. All qualifying matches are played over 2 legs- away goals do count and
extra-time and penalties are used if a tie finishes level after both legs.
The group stage is made up of the 16 winners of the final qualifying phase and
16 big-guns (mainly champions and runners-up from the big leagues around
Europe) who qualified directly for the group stage. They are split into 8
groups of 4 teams (groups A - H) making sure that there is never more than one
team form any country in each group. Also, the groups are 'seeded' so each
group has 2 big clubs and 2 smaller clubs.
Teams in each group play each other twice (home and away) adding up to 6 games
pre team. At the end of these games, the top 2 teams in each group go through
to the Second Group Stage, all third-placed teams are knocked out but now join
the UEFA Cup at the Third Round stage. All the fourth-placed teams are out of
the cup completely.
The second group phase works in the same way as the first one except there are
only 4 groups. Again. teams play each other twice and after all the games, the
top 2 from each group go through to the Quarter-Final.
In the Quarter-Final and Semi-Final, the games are played over 2 legs. Away
goals do count and extra-time and penalties are played if a match is level
after both legs.
The Final is a one-off match played at a neutral stadium, usually one of the
famous grounds like Nou Camp or San Siro. If the match finishes as a draw,
extra-time and penalties are played.
========
UEFA CUP
========
WHO: European teams that aren't quite good enough for Champions Cup.
WHEN: August - May
HOW: Standard two-leg knockout rounds, ending in a one-off Final.
The setup of this cup is huge - including all rounds and all the teams who
enter at later stages, a total of 145 teams compete in the UEFA Cup. The
easiest way to describe how it works is probably to break it down a round at a
time. So here goes...
Qualifying Round: 82 teams mainly the very small teams from lesser known
countries. The 41 winning teams go through to the First
Round where they meet some of the bigger teams.
First Round: The 41 winners from the Qualifying Round + 52 bigger teams +
the 3 Intertoto Cup winners making 96 teams in total.
The 48 winners from this round go through to the Second
Round.
Second Round: No new teams enter at this stage so the 48 teams are drawn
against each other and the 24 winners go though to the Third
Round.
Third Round: The 24 winners from the Second Round are now joined by the 8
teams who finished 3rd in their Champions Cup groups - making
a total of 32 teams.
From here it's just a normal knockout cup (as no new teams enter).
All rounds (except for the Final) are played over 2 legs (home and away) with
away-goals, extra-time and penalties used if the tie finishes as a draw.
The Final is a one-off match played at a stadium chosen at random by the game.
This stadium is just one of Europe's big grounds and can sometimes even be the
home ground of one of the teams in the Final. Extra-time and penalties are
played if the match is drawn.
=============
INTERTOTO CUP
=============
WHO: European teams that didn't even make it into the UEFA Cup.
WHEN: June - August
HOW: Standard two-leg knockout rounds ending in 3 Finals!
This tournament is a sort of 'back-door' into the UEFA Cup for the teams who
just missed out on normal qualification. It's divided into 3 sections and ends
with 3 'Finals', allowing 3 teams to qualify for the UEFA Cup First Round.
All rounds (including Finals) are played over 2 legs (home and away) and use
extra-time and penalties if a tie is level after both legs.
The First Round contains 40 teams, mostly from tiny football nations like
Iceland and Belarus. The 20 winners go through to the Second Round where they
are joined by 12 slightly bigger (seeded) teams. The winner go through to the
Third Round and joined by 8 more seeded teams. Third Round winners go through
to the 3 sets of Semi-Finals, which are followed by the 3 Finals.
All 3 'Final' winners now qualify for the UEFA Cup.
==================
EUROPEAN SUPER CUP
==================
WHO: The winners of the previous year's Champions Cup and UEFA Cup.
WHEN: August
HOW: A one-off match played in Monaco, France.
This is a one-off match between the winners of the 2 major European trophies -
the Champions Cup and the UEFA Cup. The game is played at the Stade Louis II
in Monaco and is generally regarded as nothing more than an overblown friendly
match. If the game ends as a draw it goes straight to penalties.
====================
INTERCONTINENTAL CUP
====================
WHO: The Champions Cup winners vs. the Copa Libertadores winners.
WHEN: December
HOW: A one-off match played in Japan.
Sometimes called the World Club Cup or the Toyota Cup, this was invented to try
and find the best team in the world, but is really not much more than an
exhibition match. The European Champions take on the champions of South America
(the Copa Libertadores winners) in a one-off match played at the Yokohama
International Stadium in Japan. If the match is drawn it goes straight to a
penalty shoot-out.
_______________________________________________________________________________
SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL)
_______________________________________________________________________________
=================
COPA LIBERTADORES
=================
====================
INTERCONTINENTAL CUP
====================
See 'Europe' section above.
=================
COPA PANAMERICANA
=================
_______________________________________________________________________________
NORTH AMERICA (CONCACAF)
_______________________________________________________________________________
======================
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP
======================
WHO: 16 top clubs from around North America.
WHEN: February - August
HOW: Knockout tournament. Matches played over 2 legs.
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions on foreign players.
FORMAT
------
This really the top competition that you can win if you are a North American
team - about equal with the new Copa Panamericana.
All matches are played over 2 legs (including the Final).
Away goals are used to decide matches that are still level after the 2 legs,
and extra-time and penalties are played if the game is still level.
=================
COPA PANAMERICANA
=================
_______________________________________________________________________________
ASIA (AFC)
_______________________________________________________________________________
====================
AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
====================
WHO: Top club from around Asia.
WHEN: August - May
HOW: Lots of qualifying rounds, a group stage, then Semi-finals and Final.
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
-------------------
No restrictions. Any amount of foreign players can be selected.
FORMAT
------
The qualifying stages are split into two sections: East Asia Region, which
includes teams from China, Korea, India, etc; and West/Central Asia Region,
which covers all the Middle-East countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan.
Basically if you are playing as any of the Asian teams on CM4, you'll be in the
East Asia Region.
Both of these qualifying sections have four rounds, with the better teams
entering in the third and fourth rounds (like in the European Champions
League). In these rounds, away goals count if the tie is level after both
legs. If the game is still level using away goals, then 'golden goal'
extra-time is played, and then penalties.
So at the end of the qualifying rounds we're left with 8 teams (4 from East
Asia, 4 from West/Central Asia), these team now go into the Group Stage along
with 8 other teams.
The group stage is made up of 4 groups of 4 teams. The teams in each group play
each other just once and then the top team in each group goes through to the
semi-finals. One noteworthy thing about this group stage is that all the games
in each group are played at one stadium - usually the stadium of the
biggest/best team in the group or whoever's got the biggest ground.
For the Semi-finals, it's back to the good old two-leg matches with extra-time
and penalties if they are needed.
The Final is also over two-legs, with extra-time and pens, and the winners
become the Champions of Asia.
_______________________________________________________________________________
AFRICA (CAF)
_______________________________________________________________________________
========================
AFRICAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
========================
========================
AFRICAN CUP WINNERS' CUP
========================
=======
CAF CUP
=======
=================
AFRICAN SUPER CUP
=================
_______________________________________________________________________________
OCEANIA (OFC)
_______________________________________________________________________________
=====================
OFC CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
=====================
WHO: League champions from around the Oceania region.
WHEN: Every 4 years.
HOW: Group stage, followed by semi-finals and final.
_______________________________________________________________________________
|========|
| PART 4 |
===============================================================================
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL - Who you can manage and what you can play in.
===============================================================================
PLAYABLE TEAMS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EUROPE (28)
-----------
Austria
Belarus
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
Finland
France
Germany
Holland
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Northern Ireland
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Scotland
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
Ukraine
Wales
Yugoslavia
SOUTH AMERICA (6)
-----------------
Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Paraguay
Uruguay
NORTH AMERICA (2)
-----------------
Mexico
U.S.A.
ASIA (7)
--------
China
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Japan
Singapore
South Korea
AFRICA (3)
----------
Algeria
Nigeria
South Africa
OCEANIA (2)
-----------
Australia
New Zealand
TOURNAMENTS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is a run-down of all the tournaments you can play in when you manage a
national team. Obviously, the cups you get to play in will vary, depending on
which country you manage.
_______________________________________________________________________________
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFYING
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
COPA AMERICA
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFYING
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
ASIAN NATIONS CUP QUALIFYING
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHO: Every country in Asia.
WHEN: Every 4 years, starting in March 2003 and ending in March 2004
HOW: Preliminary Stage and Group Stage
PRELIMINARY STAGE
-----------------
This is where the very small Asian nations try to qualify for the main
qualifying groups.
There are 7 groups of 3 teams (groups A - G). Everyone plays the other teams in
their group twice (home and away) and the top team in each group qualifies for
the main Group Stage.
GROUP STAGE
-----------
The group winners from the Preliminary stage now meet the bigger Asian
countries in the main qualifying stage. There are 7 groups (A - G) this time
with 4 teams per group. Teams play each other twice (home and away) making 6
games per team.
The top 2 in each group qualify for the Asian Nations Cup, the following
summer, along with the competition hosts and the previous winners of the cup.
_______________________________________________________________________________
ASIAN NATIONS CUP
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHO: 16 Asian nations (14 qualifiers plus hosts and previous winner)
WHEN: Every 4 years in July.
WHERE: In a host nation, decided in advance (China in the first season).
HOW: Group stage followed by knockout rounds.
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONCACAF GOLD CUP
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHO: 10 teams from North America plus 2 'guest teams'.
WHEN: Every ? years in July - August.
WHERE: In a host nation, decided in advance (USA in the first season).
HOW: Group stage followed by knockout matches.
10 teams from around the CONCACAF region (North and Central America) are joined
by 2 'guest' teams - Brazil and South Korea in the first season. The first
round is a group stage consisting of 4 groups of 3 teams. The top two from
each group qualifies for the next round. From then on, it's a straight knockout
competition using extra-time and penalties, if required. NOTE: This is normal
extra-time and not 'golden goal'.
Also, there is a Third-Place Playoff between the 2 losing Semi-Finalists.
_______________________________________________________________________________
OFC NATIONS CUP
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
CONFEDERATIONS CUP
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
OLYMPIC GAMES
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHO: Almost every country in the world.
WHEN: Every 4 years, about a year before the World Cup.
WHERE: All over the place.
HOW: Leagues, knockout matches, group stages, playoffs...
The method of qualifying for the World Cup varies a lot depending on which part
of the world you are in. Each continent has its own qualifying tournament and
these are all explained below. (Coming soon)
_______________________________________________________________________________
THE WORLD CUP
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHO: 32 teams from around the world, decided by qualifying competitions.
WHEN: Every 4 years in June/July.
WHERE: In a host nation, decided in advance (Germany in 2006).
HOW: Group stage followed by knockout matches.
|========|
| PART 5 |
===============================================================================
FINAL WHISTLE - I know it's cheesy but I couldn't think of a better name, ok?
===============================================================================
CREDITS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Firstly, big thanks to Sports Interactive for making CM4 so damn addictive (and
so huge!) that I am compelled to spend up to 15 hours at a time, playing and/or
writing about it and therefore flushing my social life down the pan. Cheers
lads :P
Secondly thanks to GameFAQs for posting this guide (my first).
And finally thanks to you, whoever you are for reading it. I hope I helped in
some small way. Cheers.
This document copyright Dan Adams 2003.