Online & Friends

Your career club has two more places to play. Both open once you have a career, because the club, its squad and its tactics come from it; there is no market, training or staff to manage in these modes, and nothing that happens in them is written back into your career.

The Online league puts every manager's club into one pyramid of divisions of sixteen. The champions of each division go up, the bottom two go down, and newcomers start at the bottom. A matchday kicks off at 20:00 UTC every evening, for everyone at once, and is revealed live over about fifteen real minutes. Team sheets lock at 19:00 UTC: the squad and tactics your career has at that moment are what play, so a strong career means a strong Online side. The page shows tonight's match, your division's table, the calendar, the whole pyramid and the hall of fame.

Friends is a quick session with your mates, under thirty minutes from lobby to trophy. One of you opens a lobby and shares its six-character code; everyone joins with the club from one of their careers. Squads are levelled to the same strength, so the better plan wins rather than the longer career. Pick a format — quick league, home and away, knockout cup or last one standing — and two to ten clubs. Rounds play out live for everyone at once, with a chat in the clubhouse, a secret game plan for when you lead, draw or trail, and a few touchline shouts per match. There is also a daily challenge against a club from another manager's career, one attempt per day, ranked by winning margin.