Subject: Stadium Expansion

Ok so my promotion failed in spectacular fashion and now im staring a bad financial season ahead despite my previous stadium expansion.

what i need to know is how to best maximise my end of season payout money to make me more money in the future.

i have 3000 benches, 1000 behind the goal and 2000 down the side. what i've noticed is that more fans choose to go in a proper stand so what i was going to do is build 3000 terracing to get the people in hoping this would boost my attendances. Is this the right thing to do or will i lose people from my benches?

current fanclub: 482 and in pretty much a bot League

Personally, i have gone for the option of only expanding when i can afford seats...stadium expansions are always a long term gain, and if you get terraces or benches now they'll only be replaced by seats in a few seasons time, wasting you more money.

If you are happy with your squad and coach set-up and definately want to expand, then i would just buy as many seats along the sides as you can afford.

If it was me though, i'd probably upgrade my junior coach and/or other coaches...even if it means using your season bonus to offset the small loss you make each week...

im happy with my set up. i have an excellent head coach and a good assistant and a formidable junior coach. although the head and junior coaches swap depending on what im training.

the problem is i run at a loss and i want to sort that out. and im not overly happy with squad because i want to start building for division 3 before i get there

I have run at a bi-weekly loss for the whole 5 seasons i've been playing...i think it is important to use the income i generate from doing this to subsidise it, maxing the training potential of the side.

If you have 1 assistant i would perhaps look at getting 2 more "good's", which'll only cost you another £2k per week.

But like i said, if you wish to expand, then i would always buy as many seats as possible.

You have never sold out your ground have you?

Therefore bigger stadium = reduced income = waste of money

well i've upgraded my 500 terrace to 1000 benches so i'll see how this does me for money before i consider anymore assistants.

so having more assistants even at the same skill level is helpful?

Yes, get 3. No more, no less.

but if you must expand then 2000 seats along the south side wouldn't be bad, just worse than nothing. I would leave it until you have sold out at least twice before bothering.

Save the money for a better trainee - that's what really gets you promoted

I agree - there's no need for you to expand a ground you aren't filling I'm afraid.

"You have never sold out your ground have you?

Therefore bigger stadium = reduced income = waste of money "

but i've always sold out my "stands" terraces and benches. so i figured build another stand and pack them in some more.

you might get some tiny increment from moving a few people from standing to benches - less than the increased maintenance I'll bet. When you build seats you will actually get extra fans as a result.

But do the maths - the payoff on stadium expansion is over many, many seasons - the better route to money is trainees as the payback is shorter.

Only expand when
a) you sell out regularly and are therefore literally throwing ticket money away
and
b) you cannot possibly improve your trainees - they are still a better investment even if you sell out every week!!

Completely agree...because i chose a better junior coach earlier on and got lucky with a pull, i had about £1.5m to spend, of which a considerable chunk of that went on a stadium in my 3rd/4th season. Making small adjustments every season is costly, and the investment should be your junior coach. The revenue made from this should be spent on your stadium imo.

fair enough then, i'll stick with youth and training and hope for a good pull. should have a formidable in a few months.

is a formidable junior coach good? i know its based on talent but as a gernal rule what level should i look for?

Formidable is good enough early doors. The bump 2 levels to incredible will probably set you back an additional £5k in wages, so wait a while if money's tight now. <5 week poppers in the junior school are talented with a formidable coach.

A formidable coach should be enough to pull the odd decent youth (i managed it). You won't be able to afford better yet.

This is the criteria i used with a formidable coach:

1 > promote everybody that could be 16 years old, average and higher.
2 > promote everybody that has a talent of 4 or less (but ditch starting juniors less than weak however many weeks are left, unless rule no.1 fits)
3 > promote anybody that could come out at formidable or higher, regardless of talent

I also make a note of the minimum age the player can be, as this has a bearing on whether to keep them or not. For example, there is little point keeping an average/adequate youth with 3 weeks til promotion if he joined this week as he will be 17yo at best and almost definately worthless. Sometimes, the most valuable youths are not the pretty talented brilliants and magicals but the really talented formidables and outstandings that can be 17 early to mid-season.

Some of those rules may slightly contradict one another (for example i would normally ditch someone if he hadn't popped after 6 weeks but may keep if he has already popped once early on could come out formidable+)

got one popping at 2,5 weeks(according to sokker organiser) but sadly he's not been in my school long enough, should finish very good.

we'll see what happens, thanks for the help guys