******************************************************************************* * * * F O O T B A L L M A N A G E R 2 0 0 5 * * * * EU-WORK PERMITS GUIDE * * * * v1.1 * * * ******************************************************************************* Created by villanzUK (Dan Adams) on 10th April 2005 Version 1.1 - 15th April 2005 Email: dan2003nz@hotmail.com _______________________________________________________________________________ LEGAL STUFF 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 so if you found this on some other website, please email me and 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. _______________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS -------- 1 - INTRO 2 - WHICH LEAGUES USE THE WORK PERMIT RULE? 3 - WHAT IS A WORK PERMIT? 4 - WHO DOESN'T NEED A WORK PERMIT? 5 - WHO GETS A WORK PERMIT? ...AND WHY? 6 - TIPS _______________________________________________________________________________ INTRO As most FM players probably know, when you're managing in some European leagues there is a restriction on player transfers that can stop you from buying players from foreign countries. The dreaded WORK PERMIT rule!! This transfer guide tells you about work permits, how they work, who needs them, and who doesn't. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WHICH LEAGUES USE THE WORK PERMIT RULE? Its basically just the 5 British countries plus Iceland, that use this annoying rule. All the other leagues have their own separate transfer rules (usually less strict than the EU work permit rule). So here is the list of the leagues that use the dreaded rule: England Iceland Ireland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WHAT IS A WORK PERMIT? A work permit is what players who are not from an EU (European Union) country need to be able to play in certain leagues in Football Manager 2005 (including all English and Scottish leagues). If you've played FM for a while you've probably come across it. A player from within the EU (e.g. France) can be bought easily but when you try to buy a player from outside the EU (e.g. Brazil) you get a message telling you that the player needs a work permit and that the transfer will be delayed until a decision is made. This makes it difficult to buy all the young foreign stars that you want. Some players who are born outside the EU, have a second nationality of an EU country. This gets around the work permit rule because the player is then classed as an EU player. An example of this is Javier Saviola. He is Argentinean but has a second nationality of Spanish so he can be bought without getting a work permit. When buying a non-EU player, after he has agreed a contract with you, you'll get a message saying that your club has applied for a work permit for him and it will usually take 14 days for the decision to be made (when you are close to the end of a transfer window, the decision can be rushed through in a day or two). If the application is rejected you get the chance to appeal and this can take up to 2 more weeks. If it is rejected again, you don't get another chance to appeal so just try again next season or in the next transfer window. In previous games from Sports Interactive (the 'old' Championship Manager series), players on work permits had to played in a certain percentage of your team's games otherwise their contract could not be renewed. Thankfully this rule isn't included in Football Manager, so once you've got the player he can stay for good. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WHO DOESN'T NEED A WORK PERMIT? There are 45 nations that Football Manager classes as EU nations. These are mostly European countries that are part of the European Union but there are also a few little-known countries in the Pacific, Caribbean, etc that are owned by European countries, as well as a few countries that are not in the EU but their players dont need a work permit, for whatever reason. Any player whose nationality is one of these countries can be signed without a work permit: Andorra Austria Belgium Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands Finland France French Guyana Germany Greece Guadeloupe Holland Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Martinique Mayotte Monaco Northern Ireland New Caledonia Norway Poland Portugal Reunion Saint Martin Saint Pierre & Miquelon San Marino Scotland Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Wales Wallis & Futuna Any player who is not from one of these countries (or doesn't have one of them as a second nationality) will need a work permit. The next section explains why a player might get a work permit and why many players will not be given one... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WHO GETS A WORK PERMIT? ...AND WHY? The reasons for players not being allowed a work permit are never really given in the game itself (or in the manual) but it's basically to do with how good or well known the player is. The following things seem to be taken into account: Player Ability Number of International Caps Age of Player A young, untested player from somewhere like or Indonesia or New Zealand, who no one has really heard of is very unlikely to be given a work permit. A player who is a bit older, has plenty of international experience, is a very good player and is very well known (someone like Carlos Tevez or Robinho) is almost certain to get a work permit. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIPS - The best thing you can do is if you find a young player that you don't think will get a permit is to check if they have an EU second nationality. Check in the "Personal" screen of the player's profile and it will be listed under "Other Nationalities" if he has one. - You can also get a scout to look at the player (by clicking "Get Scout Report" in the player's profile) and in the report he will say if he thinks the player will be allowed a work permit. - If all else fails, just try buying the player. You won't know until after he has agree a contract but even if he gets turned down you always get one chance to appeal and sometimes you just get lucky. ******************************************************************************* T H E E N D ******************************************************************************* Well that's the end of my Football Manager 2005 EU-Work Permits Guide. I'd appreciate any feedback if you've got the time. Let me know if you think I've missed anything or got something wrong or if you'd like to see a guide on another part of this great game. My email address is: dan2003nz@hotmail.com Copyright 2005 Dan Adams