Custom Australian Database

Hi,

This my second attempt at a database. My first was an Australian Database for FM12. So not surprisingly this database is also for Australia but unlike the previous the league structure is setup on a regional basis which for an Australian League is the only sustainable way it could operate especially for the smaller teams due to the enormous cost of travel very long distances. In my league the A-League is still the top tier but now with an A-League 2 to add a second tier. I was inspired by the new Australian National Premier League to create a semi-pro Conference like setup. NPL is like the Conference Premier, NPL West & East are similar to the Conference North & South in structure. This acts as buffer leagues between the State Premier Leagues. South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria & Tasmania make up the West Conference, New South Wales, ACT, Queensland & New Zealand make up the East Conference. This makes it possible for promotion & relegation from these leagues without too much headaches although it’s not perfect & teams do occasionally wander from their respective leagues. After this clubs break down into their respective regional divisions.

Regional Structure

This was one of the hardest parts of constructing this league, which is why I avoided it in my last league for FM12. Every team has regional leagues assigned as well as each league has regional boundaries. Despite this teams still wandered into leagues they had no reason to be in. I went through the various cities to make sure the coordinates where correct (many weren’t) & added some especially if they helped to define state boundaries. I went through every team to make sure they have correct home grounds assigned & added coordinates where possible. It was the lack of home ground that caused the most trouble. This more or less solved the problem. You still get the occasional team promoting or demoting into the wrong Division but this mostly happens at the NPL or NPL East or West level when too many teams from the same Region are relegated. There is no real solution for this & the teams generally balance themselves out eventually.

Prize Money/TV Money

One of the major factors that holds the A-League back from expanding into a multi league format is the lack Corporate Sponsorship & TV Rights money. The A-League does well enough & some of the Major state premier sides do well (although only at a semi-pro level at best) but most sides are almost strictly amateur with volunteers performing most roles within the club with maybe a handful of semi-pro players in their 1st team. Fortunately in the fantasy world we have no such restrictions & I’ve given each league a generous amount of TV money & well as token prize money for winning their respective leagues.

A-League (12 teams, 2 relegated, TV $3M, 1st $250K, 2nd $125K, 3rd $60K)
A-League 2 (12 teams, 2 promoted, 2 relegated, TV $1.5M, 1st $100K, 2nd $60K, 3rd $40K)
NPL (12 teams, 2 promoted, 3 relegated, TV $750K, 1st $75K, 2nd $40K, 3rd $20K)
NPL West (12 teams, 1.5 promoted, 3 relegated, TV $500K, 1st $50K, 2nd $25K, 3rd $12.5K)
NPL East (12 teams, 1.5 promoted, 3 relegated, TV $500K, 1st $50K, 2nd $25K, 3rd $12.5K)
State Leagues (6 x 12 teams, 6 promoted, 14 relegated (2 each except NSW & NZ 3), TV $250K, 1st $40K, 2nd $20K, 3rd $10K)
Regional Leagues (12 x 14 teams, 14 promoted, 20 relegated, TV $125K, 1st $30K, 2nd $15K, 3rd $7500)
Metropolitan Leagues (11 x 16 teams, 20 promoted, 12 relegated, TV $75K, 1st $20K, 2nd 10K, 3rd $5000)
District Leagues (6 x 12 teams, 1 x 14 teams, 1 x 16 teams, 12 promoted, TV $50K, 1st $10K, 2nd $5000, 3rd $2500)

Cup Competitions

FFA Cup (Australian FA Cup, entry to Champs League for winner)
Charity Shield (A-League winner versus FFA Cup winner)
Chatham Cup (Domestic Cup for NZ teams)
Waratah Cup (Domestic Cup for NSW & ACT teams)
Mirabella Cup (Domestic Cup for Victorian teams)
Canale Cup (Domestic Cup for Queensland teams)
Federation Cup (Domestic Cup for South Australian & Northern Territory teams)
Cool Ridge Cup (Domestic Cup for Western Australian teams)
Milan Lakoseljac (Domestic Cup for Tasmanian teams)
Hellenic Cup (Domestic Cup for teams with Greek heritage)
Coppa Italia (Domestic Cup for teams with Italian heritage)
Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament (Domestic Cup for teams with Croatian heritage)
Macedonian Cup (Domestic Cup for teams with Macedonian heritage)
Karadjordje Cup (Domestic Cup for teams with Serbian heritage)
Australian National University Cup (Domestic Cup for University teams)
FFA State Institute Challenge (Domestic Cup for NTC & Academy teams)

Where’s XXX Cup?

Why isn’t there a cup for Clubs with Albanian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Fijian etc heritage? While the above cups don’t represent every nationality to make up the Australian/NZ soccer world & there are quite a few very successful clubs whose heritage isn’t covered by the various Cups. I felt 16 Cups was more than enough & gave the multicultural flavour of Australian Football. Also all of these Cups (with the except of the Charity Shield) really do exist in some form (often as State based comps or Carnival like tournaments held over a weekend rather than fully fledged domestic cups as presented.

Technical Colleges in Uni Cup?

Dunedin & Caversham Tech are not Uni teams but I felt it was close enough & would boost the Competition. Old Scotch & Old Camberwell are both Grammar school Old boys’ teams & I suppose could also be added. I chose not to.

Team Details & Kit accuracy

Every effort has been made to get team details & especially kits correct. Much of the 3 months I spent on this database was spent trawling through webs sites trying to find correct home & away kits for every team. In some cases there was a wealth of information thanks to passionate fans & club websites. I’d like to thank those people for making these pictures & details available on the net. Unfortunately for some clubs information was scarce, sometimes confusing & even contradictory. For these clubs I’ve often had to guess, sometimes educated other times not at what their kits (especially away kits) would look like. Some clubs are so small they don’t even have an away kit! Due to this I’ve bound to have made mistakes or assumptions that are incorrect. Too any supporters of these clubs I apologize for any errors I have made in my database & assure you that this is not a lack of respect for your clubs more a lack of accurate information. I’d welcome any information that would improve this databases accuracy. A special apology goes to the Ballarat Red Devils whose current kit I ignored as I preferred their 2010/11 to their current one.

B-Teams in main League

There are several B teams in the Main League rather than the Reserves or U21 leagues. This is mostly in the Tasmanian Statewide League & NZ Capital Premier & Div 1. I considered giving all teams a B-team in the main league especially the A-League sides but figured these teams would likely dominate their respective leagues rather than letting smaller clubs a chance to rise through the ranks. I allowed some teams to have a B-Team rather than a reserve team where there was a history of the side playing multiple teams in the main state competition (not a reserve league). Most notably this happens in the Tasmanian & NZ Central Leagues although it’s quiet common in the Brisbane League but I had more than enough teams to fill the BPL & Capital 1 & 2 & chose to make them just normal reserve sides. Institute & Academy sides don’t have reserve sides only main & U21.

Institute/Academy sides Professional status?

I wasn’t sure whether to make Institute or Academy sides Professional, Semi-Pro or Amateur. Most of these sides in reality are either a government run scholarship (NTC) or linked to an A-League team (Academy) so these players are not under contract to these teams but if I was to set them as Amateur then any club could take them & it may affect the quality of players these teams may attract (the quality is normally very high, most of our top players have been through the AIS or one of the NTC as some stage in their youth career). I have heard that sometimes the computer will sign players on long term contracts which takes them past 21 & therefore ineligible to play for them. While I’d like to avoid this I’m also reluctant to make them amateur & lower their player standard. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

Reserves/U21 Leagues

I’ve added a Reserves & U21 League to this database. League structure for both is very similar to the main league although with more focus on Regional Divisions. Reserves & U21 leagues have their own promotion & relegation independent of the main league.

Wages/Player Values

I altered the Transfer & Weekly Wages Values to match those of the J-League. The J-League is perhaps the most successful & prominent league in the Asian region & one the A-League should aspire to match. I felt these values was more in line for my vision of what the A-League could be & gave the League a more realistic feel than the default values. I also boosted Australia’s youth rating from 90 to 115.

Future Projects

I would like to add an A-league All-Stars game versus the reigning A-League Champs but have no idea on how to create such a competition if it can be done at all. Any help would be appreciated.
My next big project is to collect Team logos & kits for all of the 500+ teams in this database. Fortunately I began this with my last database for FM2012 but many of the logos & kits have since changed. Unfortunately I have no skill in creating either kits or logos so anybody willing to help with this project would be much appreciated. I’d be willing to do much of ground work collecting images of both kits & logos in fact I already have many saved on my computer.

Hope you enjoy this database & I welcome any feedback even constructive criticism (although I much prefer praise even if not deserved).

Custom Australian Database

As somebody who lives in Karori, Wellington what a great idea!
When I try to play the game however it says its trying to get too many teams from the T-League for the FFA cup!

Apologies, just tried it again and it seems fine so far!