Schedule
As you may have noticed, the fixtures have been put up in the Schedules section. The dates are all official, but are subject to change - should any problems arise.
Free Agents
Season 5 sees FM's first season without a draft system, and as a result - the Free Agency. It's no longer a requirement for new players to sign up here in order to be signed to a team, something which will suit everyone. In place of this, we now have an optional Free Agents Forum. This section is where new players (or old ones that are simply looking for a team and want everyone to know!) can advertise themselves to team captains.
Check-in date closure
The Team Check-ins will close on Sunday 18th November. From the 19th onwards, all players who have confirmed their signings in the check-in threads will be tied in to a contract with the club they signed for. Up until this date, all players are still free to accept or reject any offer and move freely between clubs. Captains will still be allowed to sign players once the check-in closes (providing they have space in their roster).
Player Contracts
Signing players will work a little differently in season 5 in that we are implementing a Contract system. This system still gives captains peace of mind that their players can't just leave at their own will (at least until their contract is up), also allowing a degree of "player power".
All players which have confirmed their signings in the check-in window will be locked into a standard 4 game contract (once the check-in closes). Players that are locked in to contracts are not allowed to leave a team until their contract has expired (unless the captain agrees to it).
Once a players' contract has expired, the captain can choose to offer the player a new contract, or let them go. A contract length is completely dependant on what the captain/player decide. If the captain wants to lock the player into a season long contract, this is fine as long as the player agrees to it. You can determine the length yourselves. A player whose contract has expired is not allowed to play until they sign a new contract, punishments will be given for teams that break this rule.
The contract system will be fully embedded into the website, and the full list of rules and regulations regarding contracts will be up on there (if we've missed any).
New Website & Forums
Unfortunately I don't have enough information on this to reveal but Jonny has set a deadline of the 18th November for the website to be finished. Hopefully we will migrate the forums either the same day, or as soon as possible after the website is up and running.
Aaaaand that's all for now.. (I think!).
Thanks for your patience - we know it's taken a while to get season 5 sorted but we hope it'll be a cracker.
Last edited by Rachel on Fri 02 Nov 2012, 13:10; edited 1 time in total