JAFL Rules

JAFL began life in the year 2000 and was started by Andy McGrae. Andy was the sole person running the game setting up the website, organising the leagues, sending out fixture details, receiving teamsheets, running matches and notifying all the managers of the match results. In early 2004, Andy took a back seat in the running of the game and today, JAFL is run by a 'committee' of players within the game itself.

The current committee members are :

Simon Marsh - transfers, foreign offers, foreign loans, academies, coaching ,rosters

Neil Kirby – finances, installing new managers, managers luck, auctions, performance of the week

Peter Norton - game running, scouting, bettting

Tony Wilkinson  - website management

If you have a query or complaint for HQ please contact the manager most likely to deal with that section. However, any member of HQ will be happy to help and answer any concerns.

A word of thanks must however be given to former committee members Sam Bache, Richard Guth and Dwight Causey for their hard work.

In addition Davor Tomic for providing personal funding of the website hosting costs for the past couple of years.

CONTENTS

1. Structure & Manager Conduct
2. Players, Rosters & Tactics
3. Youth Leagues & Academy Ratings
4. Player Re-Rating
5. Finances, Sponsorship, TV Revenue & Bank Loans
6. Manager's Luck & Newspaper & Red Card Appeals
7. Transfers, Loans, Foreign Loans, Auction, Foreign Offers, Scouting & Coaching
8. Non Submission Of Teamsheets
9. Stadium Improvements & Training Grounds
10. Predictions
11. Managerial Vacancies
12. End Of Season & Promotion/Relegation Bonuses and Betting

1. Structure & Manager Conduct

JAFL is made up of four senior divisions and four youth divisions, each containing ten teams. Each club within JAFL has a senior team and a youth team and has one active manager. All teams in their respective divisions play each other at home and away. 3 points are awarded for a win and 1 point awarded for a draw. Cup games are also played during the season - mainly midweek. Details of upcoming games are all available on the website from the 'JAFL Calendar' on the home page. 

It is a condition of any managers' participation that he accepts the committee's decisions on all matters pertaining to the league. Only in extremely exceptional circumstances will a match be replayed once the results have been sent to the managers. From time to time a situation may occur which is not covered by these rules, or not covered fairly, in which case the committee reserves the right to make any ruling deemed necessary for the general good of JAFL.

League  

The top two sides in each league are promoted and the bottom two sides are relegated.
3rd to 5th enter the playoffs alongside the team who came 8th in the league above.

End of season playoffs are decided on away goals after extra-time.

JAFL Cup

This competition is played between senior teams in JAFL and is over 1 leg. Games go into extra-time and are settled by penalties on the night.

Youth Cup

This competition takes place between the youth teams in JAFL and operates in the same way as the JAFL Cup.

Inter-League Trophy (JUS Cup)

The bottom three division teams will take part in the Inter-League Cup, along with other teams from the UCFL and SSL leagues. All rounds will be one leg, straight knock-out games with extra time and penalties

PFA Competitions

Champions League - JAFL champions and runners up, Div One 3rd and 4th place.

PFA Cup - All the current division 1 teams and the previous cup winners if won from divisions 2-4.

Manager Conduct

Any manager who is deemed by the JAFL FA to have brought the game into disrepute will be fined up to a maximum of £20m. In addition other possible punishments include the auctioning off of star players and loss of ability points.

Possible acts of disrepute include, but are not limited to:

* managers may only manage one club at a time in JAFL. Anyone found to be managing more than one club will be dismissed instantly.

* managers fielding weakened sides with no due reason. Resting players for cup games or blooding of youngsters in lesser league/cup games could be deemed appropriate. Managers may in some cases be required to submit reasons/explanations for the HQ to consider before a full investigation and decision is arrived at between the HQ members.

* personal attacks on another manager on the JAFL list. Banter in newspaper articles is fine, and is encouraged, but there are limits!

* touting any other play-by-email football league on the JAFL list.

* with regard to loans between clubs (see section 7 of these rules), any side that fails to play his loanee as per the loan agreement will be subject to bringing the game into disrepute with possible compensation being paid to the loaner and bonus payments being reversed. It is the responsibilty of the manager to inform HQ when a player he has loaned out is not playing as per the loan rules initially agreed.  HQ will remind the loaning manager of his obligtion via mail and if the rules are broken again then action will be taken each time the rules are broken thereafter. If the club who has loaned in the player no longer wishes to play the player, and there is no provision for terminating the loan in the agreement, then it is up to the clubs involved to agree on a compensation package for the return of the player in question.
 
If the clubs cannot agree on a compensation package then the player must remain at the club in question and the conditions adhered to, or the fine, as set out above, will accumulate.

2. Players, Rosters & Tactics

Each player listed at every club has a name, a nationality, a current age, and a playing 'profile', in terms of his qualities in aggression, shot stopping, tackling, passing and shooting. Naturally, players with higher shot stopping ability make good goalkeepers. Those with higher tackling ability are good defenders. Good passers are generally good midfielders, and good strikers tend to be the ones with higher shooting ability.

However, in JAFL, players are not designated as 'keepers', 'defenders', midfielders' or 'strikers' - it's up to manager to decide where he will play each player within his chosen team. There are also many players who have high skill values in more than one area.

Here is an example of a player within JAFL :

In the above example, A_Player is aged 25, he's from Scotland and his best attribute is in tackling - he's predominantly a defender. However, his passing level of 6 is reasonable for a defender and he obviously can have the odd shot at goal - his shooting level of 8 means he could well score once or twice during the season.

You'll notice that A_Player has a number of extra numbers against his name. Players are able to 'move up' (or down) in the ability levels by earning (or losing) ability points. The column 'Kab' denotes that A_Player currently has 300 keeping ability points. He also has 175 'Tab' points, or tackling ability points - 509 'Pab' passing ability points and 879 'Sab' shooting ability points.

All players at every club have these details against their names in the club squad, or 'roster', as it's know within JAFL. Every club is sent a current roster before the next round of matches is due to commence - including youth rosters. The rosters also include a further number of columns which indicate the players appearances during the current season, how many minutes have been played, saves or tackles or passes or shots made and goals scored, amongst other things. Disciplinary points and injury or suspension details are also to be found in the current rosters.

Club Captain Nomination (optional)

Managers can nominate a club captain from his senior side. The nominated player will be identified by his nationality being in capital letters. All club captains must be nominated in the close season and they will gain 1 extra main skill has a bonus.  You can amend your choice of captain in the close season period if required. The Captain, if aged over 30, will lose abs as normal on a weekly basis.  However, the Club Captain will be ineligble for sale or loan transfers and will automatically retire at the season end so choosing your captain carefully is key. 

Match Tactics

Tactics employed by managers when selecting their strategy for upcoming matches can play a decisive role in influencing the outcome of a game. Select the right team, but with the wrong tactic, and things could turn sour. Selecting the right team with the right tactic and many a 'minnow' has sprung a surprise result against a team higher in the league. Second-guessing what you expect your opponent to do can be extremely rewarding.

The tactics available are :

N - 'Normal'. Playing a normal game, no specific style, using all parts of the team without emphasis on any one area.

D - 'Defensive'. Hard to score against whilst creating fewer opportunities, all players paying more attention to defending.

A - 'Attacking'. Players try to score as often as possible at the expense of defending, even defenders involved more in attack.

P - 'Passing'. More passes used, even if not needed, more players involved in midfield, more offensive than 'N', less than 'A'.

C - 'counter-Attack'. Team concentrate on defence, forwards waiting for counter-attacking opportunities. More defensive than 'N'.

L - 'Long Ball'. Most intriguing and unexpected, can win matches unexpectedly - and lose them unexpectedly, midfield almost insignificant.

E - 'European'. A new tactic based on the 'total football' concept.

Here is the tactic table and which tactics work best against which.

A bit of time spent considering which tactic to play can pay real dividends.

Formations

The game has no pre-defined formations for teams. The formation is simply the number of DF's, DM's, MF's, AM's and FW's selected within the team. Thus, a team with 3 defenders, 4 midfielders and 3 forwards plays a 3-4-3 formation.

There are certain limits to the number of players in each area a manager may select :

maximum 6 defenders, 5 midfielders and 5 strikers (only 1 DM if using 6 defenders)

minimum 3 defenders, 2 midfielders (including either DM or AM), 1 striker

Of course, 1 goalkeeper must be selected in the team.

The manager should ensure that the above limits are adhered to during the full match. However, enforced substitutions due to injuries and red cards will not be deemed to be a breach of this rule.

All managers must ensure that they can select a squad of 16 eligible players. If this is not possible, JAFL Admin will add a 1-skill 19 year old player to your squad at a cost of $500,000.

For fielding an ineligible team (according to the 'max' and 'min' above), you are liable to have the game awarded against you by default and the scoreline recorded as 3-0 to the opponents.

3. Youth Leagues

Players may play either for the senior team or the youth team and may move freely between the two. The following controls, however, are applied :

To be eligible to play in the youth side, players must be aged 19 or below.

Skill level capping controls are also applied. Maximum skill levels per division for youth league games are :

Youth Division One- players play upto skill  level 18
Youth Division Two- players play upto skill level 17
Youth Division Three- players play upto skill level 16
Youth Division Four- players play upto skill level 15

From season 19, players who exceed the skill cap for their  respective divison can still be picked to play but they will perform at the level of the skill cap only.

There are no maximum skill levels for cup games - which means all teams can field eligible players of any rating in a cup game.

In Youth League Play Off matches, the maximum skill level allowed to each team will be the league that the teams are playing to get into. For example, if a Division Four youth team plays off against a Division Three team, the maximum skill level allowed will be 16 for both teams.

Academy Ratings

It is important that managers play a part in developing their youth academy, as at the end of the season the youth teams will need to be replenished with players due to the 19 year olds being ineligible for the youth team when they turn 20, at the start of the next season. New youth players will be generated and allocated based on the calculated 'skill' of each academy - from 1 to 10 - and several factors will influence the 'skill' calculation:

a)Correct youth team sheet admission over the season - 1 academy point is awarded for 6 to 9 correct teamsheets, 2 points for 10 to 14, 3 points for 15 to 17 and 4 points for all 18.

b) youth league in which the club has just played - 3 academy points are awarded for playing in Youth Division 1, 2 points for playing in Youth Division 2 or 3, and 1 point for playing in Youth Division 4.

c) number of newspaper articles written over the season - 1 academy point is awarded for 5 to 15 articles, 2 points for 16 to 25 articles, and 3 points for 26 to 44 articles. d) one bonus point is awarded to any youth team promoted.

e) any team that goes 6 or more weeks without a manager during any season is automatically awarded an extra two academy points.

If a team manager transfers clubs mid-season, he inherits the points accumulated at his new club. He does NOT take with him the points accumulated at his previous club. The club he has left retain the prediction and newspaper article points accumulated to the date of his leaving.

NOTE - if a club goes on a mass sell-off of youth players, the JAFL Administrators reserve the right to give them a 1-rating academy. This type of activity, whilst allowable within the rules, is generally frowned upon - thus the low academy rating.

The number of draft academy players given to a squad will be decided before the season starts and will be dependant on the size of current youth squad numbers within the youth leagues.

Youth Super Draft

One of the close season drafts will be a super-draft where the chances of finding a "gem" are significantly increased.

4. Player Re-Rating

Every player has a rating against the various skill areas (shot stopping, tackling, passing and shooting). As illustrated in the previous section, A_Player had an 18 rating in tackling. Each player also has a number of 'ability points' in each skill area that will rise and fall as the season progresses. Again, in the above example, A_Player had 175 tackling ability points.

In order to gain an increase in the skill level in any area, players must attain 1000 ability points in that area. In doing so, their skill level will increase by 1 point. The ability points are reset 0.

For example, if A_Player achieves 1000 Tab points (tackling ability points) he will go to 19 rating in tackling and his Tab points will restart (if he had been at 950 before a game and gained 60 points, he would go on to 10 Tab in the updated player details).

These are the points awarded by the game programme during a match :

senior games

youth games

Automatic Re-Rating

All players below the age of 22 receive automatic re-rates. This reflects real life, where players gain skills in their early years. All players age 21 or under will receive, each week, 56 ability points automatically in their best two skills and 27 points in their third best skill. For example :

A_Player 21 usa 1_13_8_3 would receive, each week until he reaches 22 years old, 56 tackling ability points, 56 passing ability points and 27 shooting ability points.

All players start to lose ability points automatically when they turn 30 years of age. This process increases as their age increases. The following table shows how the automatic de-rating is set :

All players shall retire automatically when they reach the age of 36. They will be removed from the club's roster before the start of the next season.

The JAFL Admin reserve the right to periodically review and cull players from any JAFL club squad. This will only be done if players are heading toward retirement age or have skill levels that clearly mean they will be of little or no use to their club and, in any case, can be easily replaced from the Free Transfers list.

The maximum main skill a player can reach is 30.  Any additional re-rates will see his secondary skill raise by one level.  However, if this is a goalkeeper the secondary skill can be distributed to an outfield players skill of your choice.

5. Finances

Each week, all managers will receive a file with details of their club's financial position. The details will include the financial situation at the start of the previous week, any money coming in, any money going out and a closing balance.

Money coming in - this includes gate monies, newspaper involvement, transfers out, prize money, etc.

Money going out - this includes players wages (from week 1 to end of play offs - not in close-season), transfers in, fines, loan payments, etc.

Any club that has a negative bank balance for 4 consecutive weeks, must clear the debt within the next week or will have the player with the highest current info file value selected for transfer out, by the JAFL Committee, in order to clear the debt. The player chosen will be auctioned but the club in debt will not receive more than the player's 'info file' valuation.  Teams are not allowed to make cash loans or donations to cover debts.

If this happens after the transfer deadline has passed, the player will still be sold off through an auction. The money raised is paid into the club's bank account immediately, but the player will not move until season end. Transfer deals that include end-of-season payments are not considered to clear the debt.  In times when only a small debt exists then managers have previously cleared these by taking payments for making kits, selling their naming rights on their stadium and these are acceptable. However, managers are not allowed to write newspaper articles for each other.

Sponsorship

Before the start of each season, commercial sponsors pay JAFL clubs a one-off sponsorship payment. These payments will be based on the division in which each club will be playing :

Division 1 - $4 million
Division 2 - $3 million
Division 3 - $2.5 million
Division 4 - $2 million

Result of the week

500k will be awarded each matchday to the side attaining the best result that week.  There will be divisional winners per league matchday and 1 overall winner per cup day.  All cup competitions will have 1 separate winner. 

Inter League Competitions

JAFL clubs are invited each season to compete in Europe, against top clubs from other football leagues. $5 million = Champions League Winners

$4 million = PFA Cup Winners

$3 million = JUS Cup Winners

Bank Loans

JAFL does not allow bank loans.

6. Manager's Luck 

Each week, there will be a 'manager's luck' report sent out. This could be good luck or bad luck - it could be a financial windfall, a player injury,/recovery or small abs and aggreesion changes. Upto three club managers will enjoy/suffer 'manager's luck' each week.

Red Card Appeals

£1m payment to your lawyer per appeal. 2 appeals allowed per season for domestic red cards only. No appeals against yellow cards.

Newspaper

All managers are encouraged to write and submit newspaper articles to the JAFL Newspaper. Articles must be a reasonable length (250 words), and if so the manager's team will be paid $500,000 per article. If JAFL Admin consider the article is not of sufficient length then only a half or quarter of this amount may be awarded. Cut and pasted words do not count towards your word count in news articles although if there has been some calculatve analysis work involved then short articles will be counted as whole and paid in full.

-You can also submit a picture with your news article, these will be paid at $500,000 with a small amount of words each.

-The deadline for submission of news each week runs from match round up to the next match round up. During the close season it runs from Saturady to Saturday 10.00pm.

You can write as many articles a week as you like but you will only be paid a maximum of $1,000,000 per week and only 2 articles will count towards your academy rating. 4 "half articles" can count as your 2 towards teh academy rating in a week. 

As in real life, clubs within JAFL will regularly be looking to improve their playing squads, in all positions.

New Managers

When a new manager joins JAFL (and has had no previous experience of either JAFL or a similar league), the JAFL committee will monitor the transfer dealings involving the new manager to offer guidance and help. New managers can be niaive in their first few weeks and inappropriate deals struck in this early period can have disastrous consequences for the team and its new boss.

Deals Between Managers

By far the most common form of transfer is a deal between JAFL Managers. Any agreed deal between managers involved MUST be confirmed by each manager to the Administrator responsible for controlling transfers. Confirmation must be received from each manager within 48 hours before the deal can be considered finalised. If the second confirmation is not recieved within 48 hours of the first the deal will be scratched. End of season deals are fine but all money must be paid in full in the season the transfer wa. At least 50% of the transfer fee must be paid for upfront, and payment must be completed in full by the end of that season. A player cannot be sold and then bought back by the same club unless 4 weeks has passed.

There is a deadline of 10pm UK Time Thursday by which time deals must be confirmed by each manager involved if the player is to be available for the Saturday match. For midweek matches, the transfer deadline is 10pm 2 days immediately before the match. For Wednesday games, for instance, the deadline would be 10pm on the previous Monday. 

Inter-Club Loans

Loans between clubs are encouraged, but loans can only be arranged for one season at a time. Loans cannot be arranged that stretch beyond the current season. Loans enable clubs to strengthen their squad for the season and also give an opportunity for players to pick up ability points when they might otherwise be sat on the bench.

Each club is allowed a maximum of FOUR players loaned out at any one time, and a maximum of FOUR players loaned in at any one time.  

Loans are allowed into or out of a club's senior and youth squads, but there must be a combined total not exceeding four in and/or four out. The maximum in or out of any one club squad (senior and youth) must not exceed THREE.  For example you would be allowed to loan in 3 seniors and 1 youth player, or 2 seniors and 2 youth players, or 3 youths and 1 senior player but NOT 4 senior or youth loans.

Teams cannot loan senior players to or from other teams in the same senior division. Loans must be for a MINIMUM of four weeks once the season has started. During the close season loans can be shorter but recalls must be agreed by all parties

A loan agreement can be terminated early but both clubs must be in agreement for this to take place.

A nucleus of a senior team's best players will not be eligible for loan :

- 2 top goalkeepers on roster

- 5 top defenders on roster

- 5 top midfielders on roster

- 3 top strikers on roster

If the 5th, 6th, 7th, etc. players on the roster are equal in main skill then any of these players can be loaned out.

Players out on loan at another club cannot be transferred until that player returns from the loan, or all three parties are in agreement.

At the end of the season the FA will look at all transfers, and if any were thought to be done to avoid these loan rules (eg. transferring players to and from a club) then the managers involved may be charged with bringing the game into disrepute. 
For clarification purposes it is the roster that your loan player leaves/joins that decides whether it is a senior or youth loan.  Therefore an 18-year old who has reached the youth skill cap in his division will be counted as a senior loan for the loaner but a youth loan for the loanee.

Foreign Loans

Managers will be given the opportunity of sending out 2 players aged 20-21 to a foreign club for one season on loan. No roster conditions on foreign loans and they do not count towards the loan quota allowable. Foreign loans cost £4m per player and must take place in close season. You can amend your choice of foriegn loan on request.

Age 20-21 gain random abs between 400 and 700 and secondary abs between 150-250 and a flat 100 abs for tertiary skills.

The player will be removed from your roster for the entire season and no recall option is allowable. The player will re-rate as normal in addition to the random number of main ability points gained.
 

Free Transfers

At any time, a manager may release a player from his current squad on to the 'free transfers' list. This is done by simply informing the transfers Administrator.

Similarly, when the free transfers list is compiled and circulated by the Administrator, a manager may take a player, free of charge, and he will be added to the club roster. Again, this is done by informing the relevant Administrator.

If more than one manager expresses an interest in the same player from the free transfers list, JAFL Admin will grant the transfer to the club at which the player of interest will "most likely" get a regular game. Free transfers in or out are not allowed after the transfer deadline has passed. The Free transfers list will be issued with the upcoming match rosters and decisions will be made at the next weekly transfer deadline.

Auctions

There are two HQ auctions each season.

The first HQ auction will feature 16 new players, training ground upgrades and special coaches/scouts and takes in the close season

Week 10 auction will feature 12 new players and some special coaches.

At each auction, player details will be available on this website and managers are invited to bid via the website link to the auction. Details of players to be available via the auction will normally be circulated a few days before the auction begins. Bids before the agreed starting date and time are allowed but will be considered to have been made at the time of the auction starting.

A bid will only be deemed to be acceptable if the bid includes the club name or an abbreviation. For example, 'CSC' or 'Storm Chasers' would be appropriate. If the club is not apparent from the bid details, the bid may not be considered valid. Bids, once entered, cannot be revoked.

Each bid registered against a player must stand for 24 hours to be considered a winning bid. If it is outbid before the 24 hours expires, it will be a losing bid and the highest bid is the current winning bid.

Bids must be in increments of at least $500,000.

Scouting

Scouts are rated from 1-star to 5-star. (5 being the best). 
Every side is assigned a 1-star scout.
You can upgrade to a 2-star scout for £2m in the close season only.
You can upgrade to a 3-star scout for a further £3m in the close season only.
4-star and 5-star scouts will become available in the auctions.
Your scout rating is permanent, not just for the season. 
You can trade scouts in the same way as players and a club can own more than 1 and upgrades to 3-stars are unlimited.
Scouting will be run on the first saturday of each month during the transfer window. Your scout will send you a report and the better rated the scout, the more accurate information you will be provided with

Coaching
The number of correct teamsheets you submit in this season will set the rating of your following seasons coaching ability.
18 correct senior teamsheets = 3-star general senior coach. Every senior player recieves 3 abs in all 4 skills.
15-17 correct senior teamsheets = 2-star general senior coach. Every senior player recieves 2 abs in all 4 skills.
12-14 correct senior teamsheets = 1-star general senior coach. Every senior player recieves 1 ab in all 4 skills.
0-11 = no general senior coach = 0 abs

In addition you could be awarded a general youth coach based on correct youth teamsheet submission
18 correct youth teamsheets = 3-star general youth coach. Every youth player recieves 3 abs in all 4 skills.
15-17 correct youth teamsheets = 2-star general youth coach. Every youth player recieves 2 abs in all 4 skills.
12-14 correct youth teamsheets = 1-star general youth coach. Every youth player recieves 1 ab in all 4 skills.
0-11 = no general youth coach = 0 abs

Coaches are eligible for part-exchange trading within the normal transfer deadlines. Only 1 of each can be owned per club.

Training Grounds  

You can build your own training ground in close season which will help your overall coaching skills.

A 1-star rated training ground will cost £1m and every senior and youth player will recieve 1ab in all 4 skills. (kab, tab, pab and sab)
A 2-star rated training ground will cost £3m (2m upgrade from 1star) and every senior and youth player will recieve 2abs in all 4 skills.
A 3-star rated training ground will cost £6m and every senior and youth player will recieve 3abs in all 4 skills.
Watch out in the auctions - an upgrade to 4-star (4abs) and 5-star(5abs) will be available. Once built/upgraded training grounds are permanent and are not available for trading.

Foreign Offers  

Are recieved each month (first weekend of each month), at the start of the close season and just before the transfer deadline. You will receive a foreign offer for a player from your senior squad or your youth squad. The offer is fixed. If you wish to accept the offer, the player is removed from your roster.   Late acceptances for Foreign offers will only be processed if the player has not been named in any subsequent team sheet at HQ discretion.

No foreign offers occur after the transfer deadline passes.

Transfer Deadline

All transfers will cease at midnight (UK time) 2 days before week 13 matches. Any transfers agreed after this deadline will only be processed at the completion of the season's fixtures - including play-off games. No transfers, loans or loan returns of players/scouts/coaches/doctors/lawyers will take place after the transfer deadline until the absolute end of that season (after the Cup Finals).

8. Non-Submission/Errors of Teamsheets

Managers are expected to regularly visit the JAFL website and keep themselves abreast of upcoming matches. If any manager is unsure as to whether there is a game coming up, please e-mail ANY of the game administrators for further advice and assistance.

Teamsheets should normally be submitted by 10pm BST on a Saturday and 10pm in Midweek that the games are scheduled to be played. If the games are delayed, the deadline still stands but the admin member running the games has the discretion of accepting a late teamsheet, as long as the games are not underway.

Any manager not submitting a teamsheet or sending an incorrect teamsheet will have a team entered on their behalf, selected from the current squad but playing a 4-4-2 'T' tactic. Generally, this tactic has no benefit against other tactics and is the weakest of the ones available. In addition, the overall performance of the team will be reduced to 85% and clubs are fined 500k for missing sheets from all senior league games and 1m for missing inter-league games. Missing/incorrect teamsheets have a detrimental effect on your academy and coaching ratings.

Persistent Non-Submission

If a manager fails to submit FOUR teamsheets in a row (without prior warning), he is liable to be stripped of the management of the club and can be removed from the game (sacked).

9. Stadium Improvements

Stadiums can be improved - leading to an increase in gate receipt revenue for home games - during the close season. Improvements should be emailed to the group. Extra seats added to the stadium cost :

As an example, if a club currently has 45,000 capacity and wants to increase by 10,000 to 55,000, this would cost :

5,000 at $600,000 per 1,000 = $3,000,000 (taking the capacity to 50,000) plus
5,000 at $700,000 per 1,000 = $3,500,000 (taking the capacity up to the required 55,000)

10. Predictions

Drawcast -
Each week managers can predict 3 games which they think will end in a draw.  Predict all 3 draws and take a share of the weekly £2m jackpot on offer.  No winners and the money rolls over.

11. Managerial Vacancies

From time to time, and for a number of reasons, managers will be unable to continue managing a club in JAFL. When this happens, it is important that a new manager is found as soon.  Any vacant position will be advertised for a caretaker manager from a different league within JAFL. Any transfers that may be proposed by the caretaker manager must be sanctioned by the JAFL Administrators and not be of direct influence of his own side.

Vacancies will, in the first instance, be offered to existing JAFL managers. Each candidate will need to state clearly why they consider that they should be appointed. If no suitable candidate is forthcoming, candidates on the managerial waiting list will be offered a vacancy. All vacant sides will receive a 4-4-2 Random tactic.

£5M will be a payable to anyone who finds an active new manager. You will recieve your £5M bonus after the manager you have found has remained in post actively for 4 weeks.

12. End Of Season & Promotion/Relegation Bonuses

At the end of the season, each club is awarded an amount of money, determined by their finishing place in the senior leagues in that season. The higher the team finishes, the higher the award.

Teams finishing in the top three positions in the Youth Leagues are also awarded prize money.

The winners of the JAFL cup competitions will receive the following prize money :

Season Awards

At the end of each season, the participating JAFL managers will be invited to vote for various awards. These include 'Manager Of The Year', 'Player Of The Year' (ages 22 upwards) and 'Young Player Of The Year' (ages 16 to 21) in each division.

Prize for manager of the year will be $1,000,000 for each winner. Managers will be nominated by HQ and a vote will take place on the website.

Managere will be asked to nominate their 2 Players of the Season: A player must have played for your side in the season so you can nominate players on-loan at other clubs.

Top voted seniors 'Player of the Year' from each division will be awarded ability points - 1st place gets 300 points, 2nd place gets 150 points and 3rd place gets 75 points.

The top 5 youths 'Young Player of the Year' overall will receive - 1st 300, 2nd 250, 3rd 200, 4th 150, 5th 100. No awards will be given to player for non-voting managers.

Best goalie (most saves per shots - minimum 12 games played}), defender (most tackles made), midfielder (most passes made) and forward (most goals scored) will be selected by the JAFL Admin at season end and each winner's respective club will be awarded $1,000,000. Youth players promoted to the senior side during the season will be ineligible for the senior HQ awards. A player on-loan at a club will win the prize for the side he is playing for, not his normal league side.

Promotion/Relegation Bonuses

Senior teams that are promoted will receive the following bonus :

Division Four to Three 1000 abs points to allocate as desired

Division Three to Two 1500 abs points to allocate as desired

Division Two to One 2000 abs points to allocate as desired

No more than 500 abs in any one skill to any one player (though if they want they can go 500 in each skill to the player - subject to the number of abs they receive to distribute).The bonus abs can only be allocated to players that have played at least 300 minutes in the senior side.

Players loaned in from other clubs canot be awarded this bonus.

Teams that are relegated will receive the following penalty :

Division One to Two 250 main skill abs taken off top 8 info valued players

Division Two to Three 250 main skill abs taken off top 6 info valued players

Division Three to Four 250 main skill abs taken off top 4 info valued players

Players loaned in from other clubs will not be penalised if relegated. Players loaned out to other clubs or abroad will not be subject to losing points.  Promoted youth players will not lose skill points.  There is no set game time required to lose skill points so players playing 0 minutes could lose skills points if they are top info.