Last Updated: 7th August  2006

Getting Started Here is a guide of do's and don't getting started with ManagerZone.  You will find a lot of this page concerns money not your players.  This is because increasing your revenue and managing your expenses is the best way to succeed in ManagerZone.  With money you can buy great players, coaches and youth team - but first you need to get the money rolling in and learn where not to waste it.   Do Dont Increase the size of your stadium.  Aim for a building program that gets you a stadium to at least 8,000 spectators.  BUT be careful to ensure the proportions of the stadium are kept at 75% standing, 23% sitting, 2% VIP. This translates to 6,000 Terraces, 1,840  Sitting and 160 VIP.  If you have to skimp, build just the Terraces but dont build more that 6,000 as even if there 8,000 that want to watch a league match, only 6,000 will want to stand.  So don't waste your money on building things that don't get used and cost to maintain. Always ensure that you have enough cash to cover two weeks worth of expenses. To be on the safe side, ensure that you have twice the amount of cash in the bank as you have expenses.  This will save you getting bankruptcy notices. Add facilities carefully. Add hot dog stands. Lots of them they are cheap.  Believe or not, an 8,000 spectator stadium will keep out 20 hot dog stands busy.  It is also nice to build one of each other type of facility as they give you good income on friendly games.  Don't build a hotel though as they are so many ways to make more money with a lesser investment. Get lots of friendly games. Get lots of friendly games in. Home games will give you revenue.  Forget about being greedy and trying to set up home games only though as: 1) you only get revenue on the first 5 friendly games of the week 2) people will hate you. Read the Manual, then the rest of the FAQ. There are so many things that people get caught out on because they haven't read the manual.  Read it.The FAQ will also cover the majority of questions when you start out.(A friend lost £10k selling a player because he didn't know the way the taxes worked.  If had waited another week he could have got taxed less.) Visit the Forums. ManagerZone has its own forums.  People on there will be more that happy to assist you with your questions.  Please however, read the forums rules, the basics being avoid bad language and offensive material,  stay on topic.  On the forums will see a lot of users with letters behind their names (like MA, RA, FA, etc - see Misc for an explanation), there people will help you. Be part of the community.  Managerzone is played by lots of people of differing ages.  It has a nice atmosphere and to preserve it please stay polite and exercise some restraints.  Please do not swear, you do not know who will be reading it. Don't change your team or stadium name.  Why ? Because when you are starting out you really need that money for other things that generate money. (A friend of mine changed his stadium name when he just started.  Then he realised he made a spelling mistake and had to change it again.  £30k in total ...ouch) Don't start buying lots of players on the transfer market.  The reason is that you may not really know whether a player is good value or not. Even if he is cheap or free you have to keep paying wages.  A frequent error for people starting out is that they collect lots and lots of players. Overnight their squad gets half as big again and the wage bill rockets up.  There is a sales tax on selling players that means that you are NOT going to make a quick buck.  Large teams (above 25 players) cost a lot of money to maintain so to begin with keep it small.  In due course you may choose to have a big squad, but now is not the right time to do it. Only buy a player on the transfer market if you absolutely need too.  You may need a good goalies for instance.  Take your time however.  Be aware also that older players (older 25) might be at the stage when they are loosing attributes.  So be careful they may not be the bargain they first seem. Don't build your stadium too big.  A common mistake is managers that make stadiums bigger than there current audience and they build them wrong proportion.  To begin with, a stadium of 8,000 is plenty. See "Do". Don't build your stadium all in one go.  You are better off having several parallel building projects even though you are paying out the proposal cost several times.  A common mistake is to have a massive stadium and facilities upgrade which takes a month.  Had you split the work, you would have very likely had a league's match worth of revenue on that work which would have paid for that proposal cost twice over. Don't build a hotel.  Hotel cost as much as 20 hot dog stands and 10 souvenir shops but only gives you the tenth of the revenue.  Building a hotel is something you do when you have built everything else. Don't sell your best players. New teams have one or two great players.  Keep them as you will find it very difficult to get players of that calibre. Try to stay out of financial problems to begin with. Don't build a youth team straight away. Youth teams are good and are an essential part of introducing new players into the system.  They are however quite expensive so wait until you have established your stadium and have got revenue coming in. ManagerZone Weekly Calendar     Events Saturday Weekly expenses get taken out of your account (Stadium, Youth, Staff and Players Salaries) Receive sponsor income Youth team starts if you requested it in the week The bankruptcy check League games in some countries Sunday League games in some countries Monday Coaches that accepted offers previous week start today Coaches that we were given an offer give you an answer Interested coaches may approach you You can play up to 2 friendly games You can play friendly league games You can play Cups Tuesday - Friday Interested coaches may approach you You can play up to 2 friendly games You can play friendly league games You can play Cups