Media Deals Agreed

Media deals for the coming season were announced yesterday, £590 million was shared between the nine federations.



Overall membership of the UFFA has remained relatively stable, but most importantly the number of active members in the union rose 8% to 452 member clubs.

The big news is the closure of the Nighttime Football Association, who have struggled for numbers in recent seasons. The big beneficiaries of this move are the Social Football Association who were the association of choice for the ex-NFA members, seeing the SFA rise to to the top of the FA rankings alongside the PFA. The other major change is the Xtreme Football Association's decision to move to an early evening schedule (6pm-9pm), which has re-invogorated the once-struggling association following a 33% growth in membership from last season.

Federation	Members	Media Deal	Per Club
SFA	66 (+22)	£73.3m	£1.11m (0.06)
PFA	67 (-4)	£74.4m	£1.11m (-0.07)
CWA	74 (+6)	£80.7m	£1.09m (-0.02)
AEFA	79 (+2)	£86.1m	£1.09m (0)
XEFA	75 (0)	£78.8m	£1.05m (-0.05)
XFA	47 (+16)	£48.4m	£1.03m (-0.02)
MLFA	22 (1)	£22.2m	£1.01m (-0.06)
CIFA	109 (-28)	£109.2m	£1m (0)
WCA	22 (-8)	£20.7m	£0.94m (-0.04)
TOTAL	561 (-9)	£593.8m	£1.05m (-0.02)

Fantasy Football League

As a new season approaches the UFFA community has come together to form a private league in the official Fantasy Premier League 2009/10. The code to join is: 37833-57935.

The Cloughite will run regular updates throughout the season.

A Warm Welcome to New Member Clubs

Picking the Right Football Association:
This is probably the most important decision you have to make once you have become a member of the UFFA. The Cloughite has gathered the opinions of real FA members who it believes will provide an honest assessment of their FA. We present this information to you not to persude you to join any particular FA, but to give you the information to make the right decision yourself.

Evening FAs:
Clough is primarily an evening gameworld, the majority of users are active between 7pm and 1am, if these are the hours you expect to spend in-game the majority of the time then you are spoilt for choice in terms of FAs:

Primetime Football Association (19:30-22:30). Peak activity 19:30-21:00. The PFA is the top ranked association in Clough with the strongest top division of any FA, if you are looking for prestige then this may be the FA for you. Like the XEFA, the PFA league is comprised of 4-tiers. The PFA is highly active, however the lobby is realitively quiet as member clubs spend more time playing matches. Clubs in the PFA can expect to play about 60 games during the season depending on progress in the cups. Youth structure: U21 league and cup, U19 and U17 league.

All Evening Football Association 18:00-00:00. Peak activity 20:00-22:00. The AEFA has one of the most varied communities in Clough, with managers from many nations taking part, with a particularly strong Greek & Italian community. The AEFA has one of the best structured youth systems in the gameworld, with leagues structured to seperate those managers who wish to manage their youth team from those that let the AI take control. Teams in the AEFA will be looking at a schedule of between 50-70 matches during the season depending on success in the cups. Youth structure: League and cup at U21,20,19,18 &17.

Social Football Association (19:00-23:00). Peak activity 20:30 - 22:30. The SFA has become known in recent seasons for the strength of it's youth system, it was the first FA to introduce youth leagues at all levels and teams from the SFA have dominated UFFA youth competitions in recent seasons. The SFA has a close community, with plenty of healthy competition and no over-competitive must-win-at-any-cost players. The SFA offers a number of optional competitions to allow members to play anything from a bare minimum league schedule (50 matches) to an intensive schedule of over 100 matches. Youth structure: League and cup at U21,20,19,18 &17.

Xtreme Evening Football Association (20:00-00:00). Peak activity 20:00-21:30. The XEFA was the first association to introduce a 4-tier football league, providing one of the most competitive environments in the Gameworld, offering the challenge to new members of progressing through 4 divisions. All teams in the XEFA will be looking at a schedule of approximately 100 games during the season.


Nighttime FAs:
In addition to the evening associations Clough has a number of nighttime football associations. After discussion with various community members the Cloughite would advise UFFA members to delay any decision on which of the associations below to join because there may well be big changes ahead for Nighttime football in Clough. Once we have a clearer idea how Nightime football in Clough will be structured next season will be sure to update this guide.

Moonlight Football Association (01:00-12:00) Youth structure: League and cup at U21, 19 & 18. U17 Cup.
Nightime Football Association (22:30-01:00) Youth structure: U21 League and cup, U19 league.
Xtreme Football Association (22:30-05:00) Youth structure: League and cup at U21, U19 and U18 level.


Casual Associations:

Casual Weekday Assocation (Mon-Fri 12:00-00:00). Peak activity 15:00-21:00. Over recent seasons the CWA has expanded it's range of competitions to provide a schedule suitable for casual players looking for any number of matches during the course of the season. Following the demise of the XFA the CWA is the only FA with a weekday day timeslot, which could make it the obvious choice if that is when you will be most active. Depending on which optional competitions you enter and progression in the cups you will be playing between 50 to 70 matches in the season. Youth structure: U21 League and cup. U19 League.

Weekend Casual Association (Fri 15:00-00:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-23:00, Mon 00:00-09:00)
Peak activity is Sat and Sun 11.30-12.30 although games are played throughout the week, not just the weekend. Chat wise. When we are all on at the same time we get a bit of chat - but with a small Casaul FA that can be difficult. The WCA was one of the first FA's to have an official Reserve League; essential for Casual Players with big squads, the WCA News & Official FA Player of the Season votes. Teams in the WCA should expect to play around 44 to 70 games . Youth structure: U21 league and cup, U19 and U17 cup.


Set your preferences for match finder: There's nothing more disheartening than watching your team get hammered match after match. There is a very small group of managers that are quite happy watching their team play weaker sides over and over again. When you recieve a friendly challenge take a look at the team's reputation and think whether you have a chance of winning the game.

Pick and choose your friendly competitions: Before you enter a competition, particularly if there is an entry fee involved, size up the standard of the opposition teams and consider whether your team can be competitive in that competition. You can do this by looking at the "Members - Entrants" tab on any competition.

Learn the Economy: The transfer market is constantly in flux, during this period of end of contract wage auctions you should be expecting to pay under Market Value for any players that are deemed surplus to requirements at another club, keep an eye out for players being sold for £1, this is a great way to get a head start in the world, even if you do not see the player as a long term solution.

End of Contract Wage Auctions: You should focus your attention on the players who's contracts are expiring this coming week (go to All Players and set your filter criteria to Contract Expires Is Less Than 3 days And Contract Auto Renewal Is Not Auto Extend), these are the players that you can sign from other clubs in the gameworld for a nominal fee (their acquisition fee). You may place a bid for one of these players when their contract has 24 hours left to run. Take note that you are bidding on the daily wage you will pay the player, don't go nuts!

Nerve Palace Look to Make History

Sir Evren's formidable Nerve Palace are on the verge of a historic victory in the UFFA Gold Cup as they look to become the first team to retain the trophy following their narrow victory against Grabimbyda Scrufoviznek last season.

Palace will meet Hristo Krastev's BG United, victors in Season 6, in Thursday's final and whoever emerges victorious will become the first to win the Gold Cup for a second time.

Previous Winners:
Season 8: Nerve Palace beat Grabimbyda Scrufoviznek
Season 7: Erdington Villans beat Little Badgers
Season 6: BG United beat Ely Town
Season 5: Old Avenellonians beat Shaolin Avengers
Season 4: King Krimson FC beat Dragon team
Season 3: Rapid Pitesti beat FC Ulander
Season 2: Katalyst FC beat Dukes Park Dons

Ariadni FC Seal Place in Gold Cup Semis

Ariadni FC became the first team to book their place in the UFFA Gold Cup Semi-Finals following their 3-0 aggregate victory over Jonathan Ditcher's Dynamo Dragons.

Leandro Gioda headed in the only goal of the second leg just before half time, and although the Dragons' created plenty of opportunities they were unable to score the breakthrough goal. In the 80th minute they earned a penalty when Magalhaes brought down Tagliaferro in the penalty area following some great play down the left. However Ariadni's young 'keeper Martin Lowing guessed correctly diving to his right to save Carlos Tevez's 80th minute penalty kick, extinguishing any last hopes the Dynamo fans' had of a late comeback.

Ariadni progress to meet one of Rapid Pitesti, Dueling Dragons, Nerve Palace or Cardiff United, who have yet to complete their Last 16 matches.

Transfer Roundup

It's been a crazy week and a half in the transfer market. Hristro Krastev's BG United stunned the world with one of the most audacious player exchange deals in history, allowed Lionel Messi to leave Soldier Field in exchange for the services of Cristiano Ronaldo from Donkey Rovers in a deal valued at £3.875m.






The same day saw another huge transfer completed, with Sergio Aguero leaving Harlesden Harriers, signing for AEFA title challengers Arsenal FC in a £6m deal. Queiroz moved quickly to replace the Argentinian, signing Italian striker Francesco Silvestri from Phantoms for £5.25m. But this was only the beginning of the transfer activity at Scurbs Lane; only a day later midfielder Nuri Sahin also left Harriers for a fee of £2m, himself replaced by the £5m signing of Gael Kakuta from Smithson Town FC.








Erdington Villains' manager Richard Birchall reluctantly allowed unhappy star midfielder Oscar to move on to a new challenge, accepting a £4m bid from FC Alpha.




The biggest transfer of the season so far was the £6.75m deal that took Ramon Ribeiro from SFA Premiership side London Town to Sussex Sharks 9 seasons after making his debut for Mark Lockie's team; a huge fee reflecting not only the player's current ability but his huge potential to become even better. Sharks' took their spending this week past the £10m mark with the signing of Salvatore Foti from Boaster United for £3.25m.







After being priced out a deal for his number 1 target Ribeiro, Relegation Fodder manager Dave Parker added some experience to his youthful side with the signing of 29 year old Jeremy Menez from fellow SFA Premiership side Madrid Lions for a fee of £2.5m.

The Rise of The Playing Fields

Over the past 4 seasons Relegation Fodder have invested £28m in redevelopment of the club's stadium. Season 8 saw the completion of that work, following the unexpected sale of club legend Naldo to London Town. The construction team behind the project have revealed the goals that shaped the development, the Cloughite hopes our readers will find this information useful in their own endevours:

The stadium was designed with these goals in mind:

• Learn 4* Construction to save 20% off all costs, it only takes a week.
• Consider the long term reputation of your club; in this case the Stadium must remain sustainable for a club with 3.5* reputation, so no point having a 70'000 capacity behemoth. Thinking ahead to when stadiums affect home/away performances I don't want a half empty stadium.
• Minimize reliance on corporate fans, these are the first to abandon a team when you are not doing so well, so stick to Exclusif boxes to ensure that even at a lower demand you are still getting every last penny possible from the corporate crowd. 4000 Flauta capacity is no use when corporate demand is only 2000, whereas 2000 Exclusif bring in just as much income when demand is 2000 as they do when it is 4000. In either case, installing an Exclusif will return more income than installing Flauta in any given corporate block.
• Stadium income streams should be optimised for the reputation you think you'll settle at; for this project that is 4*, we're expecting to stick between a high 3.5* to a low 4* rep. Ensure that when we have a drop in demand we lose as little income as possible and that the stadium can accomodate for the change in the fan demographic -- principally Glory Hunters & Corporate fans -- as the club shifts between 3.5 to 4.5 rep.
• Keep maintenance cost as low as possible, so don't use three tier stands unless it is unavoidable -- due to their much higher maintenance costs, if the extra capacity is not bringing you more income than you'd achieve from a 2-tier stand you could end up worse off than had you constructed 2-tier stands.
• Do not contruct anything that will later be demolished, get it right first time.
• Dimishing returns begin to hit hard after 260k.
• Leave room (capacity and income wise) to expand with corner stands in the future when/if such options become available (We worked under the assumption that a 2-tier corner stand will seat an additional 1000-1500 Di Lusso and that it is unlikely that they will allow for more corporate boxes to be installed).
• Don't drain the bank balance all at once. Having saved up £26m before end of season taxes were introduced it would be very tempting to blow all of that in one go on the stadium, however saving back up to whatever balance you had before you begin construction will be much more difficult because the end of season tax that really begins to bite once you go over £3m profit per season.
  
• Plan an initial development to bring the stadium to the mimimum needed to sustain the club (in this case £10.5m, all on the West Stand), spread all further development costs over a long period of time with the goal of achieving £3m profit per season whilst the stadium is being constructed, this way all construction acts as a "tax dodge", further reducing the real cost of construction (last season I saved over 1m in tax by bringing forward construction planned for the season after).

The result:

• Stadium Value: £36.5m
• Capacity: 46'420 (14'300 Astilla, 16'110 Pieghevole, 14'070 Di Lusso, 1'940 Exclusif)
• Predicted Income at 3*: 213k (16'000 demand)
• Predicted Income at 3.5*: 254k (26'000 demand)
• Predicted Income at 4*: 274k (40'000 demand)
• Predicted Income at 4.5*: 285k (60'000 demand)
• Predicted Income at 5*: 290k (85'000 demand)

Three identical Two-Tier Ospitalia II stands were contructed at a cost (undiscounted) of £8'456'750 each, with the following blocks:

• 2 * Block of Pieghevole Seating
• 5 * Block of Di Lusso Seating
• 1 * Electronic Ad Boards
• 2 * Block of Exclusif Corporate Boxes

In addition, a Three-Tier Aziendale II was constructed in the West Stand with the following blocks at a cost (undiscounted) of £11'154'000:

• 5 * Block of Astilla Seating
  
• 4 * Block of Pieghevole Seating
• 3 * Electronic Ad Boards
• 1 * Block of Exclusif Corporate Boxes