If, like us, you’re bored of the same old teams winning the same competitions over and over in your Football Manager saves, then you’ve most likely dabbled with the dark arts in an attempt to “ruin” certain big clubs. However, the hard-coded rules of FM mean certain sides, such as Man City, are almost impossible to destroy, through factors like dubious new sponsorships and their owners pumping in fresh funds.
However, what if we changed the long-standing rules of football to actively punish teams for winning matches? In other words, teams would gain more points for drawing and losing matches than they would winning them, and gain more money if they draw or lose a match. Surely that would transform the world of football as we know it.
We decided to put that theory to the test. To do that, we used the Advanced Rules feature in the FM24 Editor and did some jiggery-pokery with the league rules, updating them to:
- Points for a win: 2
- Points for a draw: 4
- Points for a defeat: 6
- Prize money for a draw: £1m
- Prize money for a defeat: £5m
- Prize money for a win: £1 (yes, one whole English pound for winning!)
- Gate receipt and TV money pooled between all teams
Those rules were applied across the playable leagues in England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland and Spain. Then we loaded the leagues up and simulated through nearly 100 years to discover whether our changes had the desired effect.
One Month Into The Experiment
We began by testing the database changes out in the English leagues. And, after one month, it was clear it had worked very nicely. Just click all the league table images below to expand them.
Premier League
Wolves were the early leaders with 22 points after a draw and 3 defeats, closely followed by Brighton (1 win, 3 defeats), Luton and Everton (2 draws, 2 defeats) on 20 points. Man United had the best record of 3 wins and a draw, which left them 19th on 10 points, only above Nottingham Forest, whose points deduction remained.
Championship to National Leagues
Looking down the leagues, Sunderland led the Championship on 30 points after 5 defeats from 5 games with Hull’s surprise bright start of 3 wins and 3 draws leaving them bottom on 14 points. In League One, Fleetwood were flying with 34 points after 5 defeats and a draw. In League Two, Forest Green were the early leaders with 32 points after 2 draws and 4 losses, while new boys Stockport and Wrexham occupied the bottom two on 16 points after 5 wins and a draw apiece. Down in the National League, new boys Oxford City were making an early play for the EFL as they sat on 38 points after 1 win and 6 defeats. In National League North, Curzon Ashton and Gloucester led the way with 40 points after 1 draw and 6 defeats and in National League South, Chelmsford were top on 38 points after 1 win, 3 draws and 4 defeats.
The Situation Going Into The New Year
Premier League
Moving ahead to 1 January, the plight of England’s big clubs was highlighted by all of the so-called big six sacking their managers before Christmas!
Luton now led the way with an impressive 98 points after 3 wins, 5 draws and 12 defeats. They were being pushed close by Fulham (96 points), Burnley (94 points) and Bournemouth and Wolves (92 points). Conversely, Man City were bottom of the pile on 50 points after winning 15, drawing 2 and losing 2. They trailed Arsenal and Liverpool, who both had 13 wins, by 10 and 12 points respectively, while Man United and Chelsea were right in the relegation mix.
Championship to League Two
In prime position to replace them was QPR, who led the Championship on 122 points after 13 defeats, 10 draws and 2 defeats. Millwall were pushing them close on 118 points after 15 defeats, 4 draws and 6 wins, followed by Rotherham, Preston and Huddersfield all on 112 points. Southampton and Leicester (15 wins) and Leeds and Norwich (14 wins) found themselves in big relegation trouble.
In League One, Leyton Orient topped the pile on 116 points after losing 12, drawing 9 and winning 4, followed by Fleetwood on 112 points and Portsmouth, Port Vale, Cheltenham and Wycombe on 110 points. The relegation battle is skewed by Reading and Wigan’s points deductions, but likely candidates include Oxford Blackpool, Lincoln, Derby and Bolton, who’d won 11 to 13 games. Forest Green continued to lead League Two, sitting on 118 points after 13 defeats, 7 draws and 6 wins, closely followed by Bradford, MK Dons, Sutton and Barrow on 114, 112, 110 and 108 points – and just 12 points (2 defeats) separates 2nd from 11th.
National Leagues
Aldershot, Oxford City and Maidenhead were leading the charge to reach the EFL, sitting joint-top of the National League on 124 points with 14 or 15 defeats apiece. Chesterfield, who got promoted in real life, were bottom with 84 points after 15 wins and just 5 defeats, with Southend, Oldham and Boreham Wood in the relegation places. Two of this writer’s local teams Gloucester and Hereford led the way in National League North on 118 points after 13 and 14 defeats. Tamworth, Chester, Scarborough and Scunthorpe were at risk of dropping out of the playable leagues. In the National League South, there was a three-way tie between Dover, Weston-super-Mare and Taunton on 120 points, having lost 12 and 14 games. But Taunton were favourites, having picked up an impressive 58 points from their last 10 games (9 defeats and a draw). Torquay looked bang-on for relegation with 60 points and 26 from safety after 15 wins, 7 draws and just 3 defeats, along with Yeovil, Eastbourne Farnborough (78, 80 and 84 points).
Interestingly, the prize money we added in meant teams across England had loads of money available. For example, Dover had £77m in the bank, Gloucester had £73m, Aldershot had £80m, Forest Green had £70m, Luton had £65m and Fulham had £93m. And come the end of the season, those bank balances will have boomed. It’ll also be interesting to see if the big clubs try and buy their way out of trouble, only to be kicked in the face when the teams they beat gain more points than them.
Surprise Winners and Losers Across England
Premier League
The football world was in a state of shock as Luton Town became Champions of England for the first time in club history in 2024. Luton topped the table with a record-breaking tally of 182 points after 21 defeats, 11 draws and 6 wins. Wolves, Fulham, Burnley and Bournemouth joined them in the Champions League after losing 20 or 21 games and Sheff United reached the Europa League in 6th on 172 points. Reigning champions Man City were relegated in 20th place on 110 points after 26 wins, 7 draws and 5 defeats. They were joined in relegation by Liverpool, who also qualified for the Europa League, and Arsenal, who racked up 112 and 120 points respectively.
Championship to League Two
Replacing that trio were runaway Championship winners QPR, who topped the pile with a huge 210 points after amassing 22 defeats, 15 draws and just 9 wins, Rotherham and Millwall, who both finished on 202 points and Millwall beat Plymouth, who also got 202 points, in the playoff final. At the other end, Leicester, Leeds and Southampton were relegated on 142, 144 and 152 points after 30, 27 and 25 wins respectively. Leicester, by the way, won 8 of their last 10 to guarantee relegation.
In League One, dreadful late form – 15 defeats and 4 draws to take 106 points from 20 games in the new year – saw Northampton charge to the title with 216 points after 24 defeats, 14 draws and 8 wins. Cheltenham joined them in promotion on 208 points after 23 defeats and 12 draws and Portsmouth, who finished way back on 192 points, won the playoffs. Blackpool, Oxford and Bolton were relegated on 162 points (winning 22 or 21 each), along with Reading on 164 points.
In League Two, Forest Green maintained their terrible form to win the league but only on goal difference ahead of Bradford. Both sides racked up 210 points with Forest Green losing 22, drawing 14 and winning 10 and Bradford losing 23, drawing 12 and winning 11. Crawley were also promoted on 198 points after 21 defeats and 11 draws, and 7th-place Accrington won the playoff final. The duo of Stockport and Wrexham kept winning and were relegated back out of the EFL, Stockport on 144 points after 28 wins, 10 draws and 8 defeats and Wrexham on 166 points after 23 wins, 9 draws and 14 defeats.
National Leagues
Stepping up to the EFL for the first time was Maidenhead, who won the National League with 218 points after 25 defeats, 13 draws and 8 wins. Oxford City and Wealdstone racked up 202 and 200 points but missed out in the playoffs as 7th-place Dagenham & Redbridge, who finished 12 points behind Oxford, won the playoff final. Chesterfield continued their good form and their 25 wins saw them relegated on 154 points, and they were joined by Altrincham, Boreham Wood and Oldham on 162, 170 and 170 points.
Banbury emerged as surprise National League North winners, losing 5 of their last 6 to claim the title on 212 points after 23 defeats, 14 draws and 9 wins. They just pipped Gloucester on 210 points, who went on to lose the playoff final to Hereford. Scarborough, Scunthorpe, Chester and Tamworth were relegated out of the playable leagues. In the South, Dover’s dire form cemented their charge as they won the league on 220 points after 26 defeats, 12 draws and 8 wins. Truro, who also got promoted last season in real life, joined them through the playoffs. Torquay finished rock bottom with 27 wins and 140 points and were joined in relegation by Yeovil, Eastbourne and Farnborough.
The financial situation is wild, including Hereford and Dover going up with £122m and £99m in the bank, Maidenhead going into the EFL with £98m, Forest Green going up with £118m, Northampton’s dreadful form earning them £128m, QPR going up with £100m. Up in the Premier League, Everton have £588m in the bank after a tycoon – so they’re set for a major fall – and every team bar Chelsea and Villa has over £100m. So it’s going to be really interesting to see which teams splash money and whether that affects them adversely.
Quick European Leagues Review
It’s also worth touching on European leagues, which are on view only for this experiment, as Almería won La Liga with 184 points with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético going down, Darmstadt won Bundesliga from Werder Bremen with Bayern and Dortmund going down, and Frosinone won Serie A by 6 points from Genoa with Milan, Juventus and Inter getting relegated. Estrela de Amadora were surprise Portuguese champions with Porto and Benfica tipping Sporting to relegation, St Mirren won the Scottish Premiership from Ross Coutny with Rangers going down and Celtic surviving in the relegation playoff, Le Havre won the French title with PSG (with 84 points after 27 wins and just 1 defeat) and Nice getting relegated.
The only other thing to check on for now is European winners. Man City beat Barcelona to defend their European crown and will compete in the Champions League from the Chamionship. Villarreal beat Rennes 1-0 to win the Europa League and Villa beat Fiorentina 3-1 to win the Conference League.
In terms of world transfers, City tried to buy their way out of trouble by blowing £210m on Bryan Cristante, Riccardo Orsolini and Takehiro Tomiyasu in Jnanuary. Liverpool signed Dani Olmo for £51m and Samson Baidoo for £68m and PSG signed Theo Hernández for £46m. But it’ll be interesting to see how transfers play out and if/when we start seeing crossover between small clubs becoming big clubs in the next few years.
In the future, we’ll also keep an eye on world, league and club rankings to see how these changes affect the footballing world moving forward. We’ll leave the experiment there for now, but, in the knowledge that the database work, with the exception of the Netherlands, unsurprisingly, we’ll skip ahead a few seasons to see how the football world has evolved.
We’ll see how the English leagues look in Part 2 when I can work out a format that makes it easy to review the various leagues without a ludicrously long blog – hopefully sometime next month!
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