Ok, here are the rules for the league:
*** 15 min games.
(Decided on this because 10 mins can be very hit and miss, the extra 5 mins reduces a lot of lucky results. If you can't get shots off from 15 mins then you probably never will.)
*** Condition -> green arrow.
(makes it fair as some players over 90 in some stats can only get so good if arrows are up and it allows players with stats under 90 to close the gap.)
*** Home & Away games
(This is to overcome the unfair advantage of lag as a client. Home games you play as host, away as client.)
*** Divisions of 8 teams per division.
(This way the season will be 14 games - just like ML div. 2)
*** Top 4 teams from each div. go through to home and away leg knockout round.
*** Because of the lag issue, final will be home and away too.
*** Stats taken from all games to be put in a big table and everybody ranked 1 through whatever. For the next season, the player who finished bottom gets first pick of a team and so on until the winner of the last season gets last pick.
(This means after the first couple of seasons, personal ability should even itself out to find a team that is suited to them to be able to compete relatively well against anybody)
*** Start date - to be decided. I'll divide the groups up this week, we'll play mixed (e.g. not all English teams together, etc.) diviisions. People can start playing as and when they want I guess.
*** Quitting rules. This league is based on a fair amount of trust. If you opt out of a game because you're losing then you take a 3-0 defeat just like you would if you walked off the field in real life. The only time this rule will be changed is if it is tactical. e.g. a player wins 4-0 in the first leg so the other player decides to forfeit as this will mean they'll go through. In situations like this, the player who forfeits gets knocked out. If your PC cuts off against your will, if it is past the 55th minute then the score will stand (i.e. ten minutes into the 2nd half just like real soccer). Anything less than this and there will be a rematch. If somebody is down by so many goals before the 55th minute, a rematch will probably go the same way scorewise anyway.