Walkover
With walkover (WO) a team concedes victory to the opponent without playing. WO occurs in a competitive match when a user does not field at least 9 players and loses it with a result of 5-0.
Before December 2005, when bot teams were created, teams that didn't have human owners gave a walkover every week.
Competitive matches
In the walkover game, all ratings are set to non-existent and the star ratings are disabled[1] for the fielded players as the match was not played.
For the winning team, training is gained, but there's no chance for the players to collect cards or suffer injuries; so most of the time a walkover is good for an active team, and it also allows the active team to field the B squad and keep the best players for next match.
However, there are also drawbacks: player experience is not gained in a walkover; walkovers decrease attendance because they tend to attract less audience at stadium; goals don't count in any top scorers competition... nevertheless, the case of league position by goal difference or top scorers decided by a walkover is very rare. Usually the benefits far outweigh the negative aspects.
The team giving WO does not train any players fielded in that specific game. To avoid walkovers, it's advisable to set up and maintain a default line-up with enough players, preferably full squad. That way, if you forget/are unable to give orders to your team for the match in time, at least you don't suffer the consequences of a walkover.
Non-competitive or youth matches
If you fail to field at least 9 players in non-competitive or Youth Academy matches, then the boys from the neighbourhood will replace your team. Contrary to competitive matches, this will not have a negative impact on the training received by players who have been fielded in a competitive match that week.
Friendly Cup WO
In Friendly Cups the term walkover is used differently. These unofficial tournaments usually have a deadline for fixture, to allow teams to organize an alternative friendly match and never miss training. When a team fails to accept a challenge for the cup in time, walkovers can be declared and this team is said to cause the walkover. The match is lost, cup match is marked as "won by walkover" and the opponent is generally free to arrange another friendly. A mutual walkover is also possible, if no team declares problems in organizing the match to the cup organizer.
Footnotes
- ^ This was a change starting in Season 34. Previous to that season star ratings were indeed shown in walkover matches.
- This change unifies the display from the youth matches (where star ratings were never shown in walkovers) and the senior squad matches.
