Friendly
A friendly is any game that is not a competitive nor a tournament match.
It is always played mid-week (except for two matches in off-season time). The income is split evenly among the two teams.
A popular thing to do in friendly matches is flag chasing, where you visit a new country every week.
Match types
Rules
The friendlies can be played using two different kind of rules:
- Normal
- If the match ends in a draw, no extra time or penalties will be played.
- The amount of attendance is lower than a cup rules friendly.
- Cup rules
- If the match ends in a draw, extra time and penalties (if needed) will be played.
- The attendance of the match is higher than a normal friendly.
Venue
A friendly can be played in every arena and that may changed ratings and income.
- National friendly
- is a match played with another team from the same home country. It will earn your players about 1/10 the experience they would earn in a League Match and about 1/2 the experience they would earn in an International Friendly.
- It costs nothing to play a friendly against a team in your home country. However, less spectators will watch your match than if you were playing an International Friendly. Spectator income is split evenly between the visiting and home clubs (as in International Friendlies).
- Neutral ground
- The term refers to an arena where a match takes place, but which neither team playing the match owns. The owner of the "Neutral Ground" does not receive any monetary compensation for allowing the other two players to use his arena.
Note that matches played on "neutral ground" will not earn a flag for either of the participating teams, unless the match is held in one team's home country (in which case the away team will earn a flag).
- International friendly
- These types of friendlies cost each 6 000 (in $ or €), but can have some benefits, though. International friendlies can provide an opportunity to meet different types of managers in different countries and cultures.
- Your players will also gain about twice the experience they would usually receive in a National Friendly.
- Many users choose to play matches abroad in order to collect flags (many of these players belong to the Flag Chasers Community).
Effects
The main purpose of friendlies is to maximise training and keep your substitutes in a hopefuly better form.
Players can gain a tiny amount of experience, much lower than the amount of experience from a league match.
They might also get injured while playing that match.
However, the outcome of the match has NO effect on:
Moreover, suspensions do not apply in friendly games, and red/yellow cards do not carry over to league games.
Attendance
There is also some gate income, but it is quite low compared to an official match, so it could give just a little help to your economy. The attendance will be slightly higher if the match is an international friendly.
In fact, the amount of spectators who attend a friendly match is significantly lower than the amount of spectators who attend a regular league match. It is rare to spot friendlies with over 5 000 spectators (even among teams from the top divisions).
Profitability
For clubs of the lowest division in large leagues (e.g. Netherlands, Spain, Italy or Germany) international friendlies (away) are not recommendable. The travelling costs will be higher then the spectator income of the match. Those teams should play friendly matches against higher division teams in their own country or international friendlies in their own stadiums. The economic effect is also important here.
Spectators in series games: | Spectators in a friendly against a IV. division team: |
2175 1230 |
985 |
Schedule
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The times specified below indicates the earliest possible start time for international friendlies. There can be delays for various reasons, and all the updates, as well as matches, take time to complete. Precisely how long varies depending on how many teams there are in the league and on the type of update.
Country | Area | Day | Time |
---|---|---|---|
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Europe | Tuesday | 18:30 and 18:25 (cup rules) |
Africa | Tuesday | 18:50 | |
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Europe | Tuesday | 19:15 and 19:20 (cup rules) |
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Europe | Tuesday | 19:25 |
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Europe | Tuesday | 19:30 |
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Africa | Tuesday | 19:40 |
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Europe | Tuesday | 19:50 |
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Europe | Tuesday | 20:20 and 20:25 (cup rules) |
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Europe | Tuesday | 20:15 |
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Asia | Tuesday | 20:30 |
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Europe | Tuesday | 20:45 |
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Europe | Tuesday | 21:00 |
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Europe | Tuesday | 21:30 |
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Europe | Tuesday | 22:00 |
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Europe | Tuesday | 22:15 |
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America | Tuesday | 22:45 |
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America | Tuesday | 23:15 |
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America | Tuesday | 23:45 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 02:00 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 02:30 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 03:00 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 03:30 |
Oceania | Wednesday | 04:00 | |
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Asia | Wednesday | 04:30 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 05:00 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 05:00 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 05:15 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 05:15 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 05:30 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 06:00 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 06:00 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 06:15 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 06:30 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 07:00 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 07:15 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 07:30 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 07:45 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 07:50 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 08:00 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 08:15 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 08:30 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 08:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 09:15 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 09:30 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 09:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 09:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 10:00 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 10:15 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 10:45 and 10:50 (cup rules) |
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Africa | Wednesday | 10:45 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 10:50 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 11:00 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 11:15 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 11:15 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 11:30 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 11:45 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 11:45 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 11:50 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 11:55 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 12:10 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 12:15 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 12:25 and 12:30 (cup rules) |
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Europe | Wednesday | 12:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 13:15 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 13:30 and 13:00 (cup rules) |
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Europe | Wednesday | 13:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 14:00 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 14:15 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 14:20 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 14:25 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 14:30 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 14:40 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 14:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 15:20 and 15:25 (cup rules) |
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Europe | Wednesday | 15:15 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 15:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 16:00 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:10 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:10 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:15 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:20 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 16:20 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:25 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 16:30 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:35 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:35 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:40 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 16:40 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 16:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 16:45 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 16:50 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 17:15 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 17:20 and 17:25 (cup rules) |
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Asia | Wednesday | 17:40 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 17:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 17:55 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 18:25 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 18:25 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 18:40 |
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Asia | Wednesday | 18:45 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 18:55 |
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Africa | Wednesday | 18:55 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 20:00 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 20:15 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 20:45 |
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Europe | Wednesday | 21:55 and 22:00 (cup rules) |
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Europe | Wednesday | 22:10 |
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America | Wednesday | 22:15 |
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America | Wednesday | 22:20 |
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America | Wednesday | 22:50 |
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America | Wednesday | 23:00 |
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America | Wednesday | 23:15 |
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America | Wednesday | 23:15 |
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America | Wednesday | 23:10 |
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America | Wednesday | 23:30 |
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America | Wednesday | 23:40 |
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America | Wednesday | 23:45 |
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America | Thursday | 00:00 |
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America | Thursday | 00:15 |
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America | Thursday | 00:30 |
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America | Thursday | 00:50 |
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America | Thursday | 01:00 |
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America | Thursday | 01:10 |
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Asia | Thursday | 01:15 |
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America | Thursday | 01:45 |
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America | Thursday | 02:00 |
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America | Thursday | 02:15 |
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America | Thursday | 03:00 |