Manual

If you have just created a team and wonder what to do first, here is a quick overview that will help you set things up.

1. In the Overview page you can find the most important information about your team. From here, it is easy to navigate to your players and fixtures. The players table gives you an overview of your squad so that you can quickly check your players’ stats, statistics, and training progress (we will get to this later).

2. Competitions => League Table lets you see current standings for your nation/region and keep track of the latest results and upcoming matches, as well as the current season statistics and record-holding players for your league. From this page you can navigate to any other nation’s league table or upper/lower division for your own nation.

3. The first step after creating your team should be to go to Office => Kits and choose your Home/Away Kits. You can choose among 17 different designs and any colors you feel represent your team the best way.

4. When you set up and save your new kits (you can check your kits on the Overview page), you should go to My Team => Lineup and set up your lineup for the upcoming games. There is a large variety of modern football formations to choose from, so you can adapt it to your preferred tactics and the quality of players you have for each position.

Apart from setting up your starting 11 and substitutes, on this page you can also set team mentality and tackling level. Keep in mind that hard tackling can lead to more yellow/red cards, especially for players with lower ratings.

After setting everything up, don’t forget to click ‘SAVE.’

5. With kits and the lineup set, you can navigate to Office => Facilities to upgrade your first facilities. Click on Youth Academy and click Upgrade, which will unlock your ability to pull new players. Do the same for the Training Ground and Scout Center to get the ability to train and scout players.

6. Now you can move on to My Team => Youth Academy. Click on Find New Youth, which will give you a player your Level 1 Youth Academy prepared for you to pull. You can scout the player, and after getting the scout predictions (whose precision is in line with your Level 1 Scout Center), you can decide whether you want to sign or reject your new youth player.

7. In order to get you familiar with the training process, you should navigate to My Team => Training and then click on the Training Regime tab, where you can see the list of all players with a dropdown menu for a training regime you can set up for each of them. For more information about which skills are covered with each of the regimes, you can check the Training chapter inside this manual.

When you choose and save a regime for each player, you can switch to the Training Overview tab and click on Start Training. Below you will see a date and list of players as well as a skill that was improved for that player. The same can be observed in the Players tab of your team page when you check the Training box.

8. The last step of the starting setup is signing a sponsor for your team. Go to Office => Sponsorship and click on Get New Offers. Five offers will appear from which you can choose. More information about sponsor offers can be found in the Sponsorship chapter of the manual. When you choose the sponsor you prefer the most for your team, click Sign Sponsor. You will see that your team balance will be increased for the amount that is stated under the signing bonus. This sponsor is active for the next 10 days.

Congratulations on completing all the beginner steps to start your Dugout Soccer career! Now you can freely explore the website and check the transfer list, as well as our forum if you need any additional help or just want to connect with other managers. We wish you many trophies and to make history and earn a spot in the Dugout Soccer Eternal Ranking List. Good luck!

As with any game or website, we have some rules that every user must abide by. If you feel somebody has broken any of these rules, please send a Mail to a Game Admin (GA).



The Golden Rules

1. Managers can’t have more than 1 Account !!!

2. You must not make posts containing any offensive, hateful, racist, illegal or spam content. This includes advertising other games or anything else, offering players, etc.

3. You must not cheat in any way, this includes, but is not limited to, exploiting bugs, boosting transfer prices for a friend or intentionally losing a match !!!

4. You must not offer players to other Managers via forum, mail or messenger.

5. You must not act against common football knowledge. For example, you may not deliberately sell all your best players.



Anything we have not covered in the rules will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Remember to play fair and in accordance with the spirit of the game.

The Dugout Soccer seasons last 56 days, or 8 weeks. There are 4 league matches played each week, while calendar for international competitions - Champions Cup, International Cup, Conference Cup, also for the National Cup and finally the World Cup will be announced during Seasons 2, 3 and 4. The week goes as follows:



Monday - League match, Financial update

Tuesday

Wednesday - League match

Thursday

Friday - League match

Saturday - League match

Sunday - National Cup



League

Each division is made up of 16 teams, and you play each team twice. Once at home, and, once away. 3 Points are awarded to the winners, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing a match.

At the end of the season, the team that finishes top in the Division 1 of their league are declared the League Champion.

If you finish first or second in the lower ranked division you are promoted to the division above.

If you finish in the bottom 4 in any division, you are relegated to the division below if applicable.

If two teams have the same number of points at the end of the season, the team with better goal difference will be better placed. If two teams have the same number of points and goal difference, the team with more scored goals will be better placed. If two teams have the same number of points, goal difference and scored goals, the next tie break are H2H conditions – who scored more points in H2H matches, goal difference and scored goals in those matches.



League prize money (Season 1):

1st Division - From 20.000.000 to 12.500.000 with 500.000 less for every single lower position

2st Division - From 15.000.000 to 7.500.000 with 500.000 less for every single lower position

3st Division - From 10.000.000 to 2.500.000 with 500.000 less for every single lower position



National Cup (NC)

Maximum 3 Division ranks participate in National Cup matches if some Nation or Region has active 2nd and 3rd Division level.

Cup run can last from 4 to 8 rounds depending on the statement above.

Prize money rewards are received at the end of the season.

Cup winner gets a Trophy.

Cup prize money (Season 1):

Preliminary round 1 winners - 40.000

Preliminary round 2 winners - 60.000

Preliminary round 3 winners - 100.000

Round 4 winners - 200.000

Round 5 winners - 400.000

Round 6 winners - 600.000

Round 7 winners - 800.000

Round 8 winner - 2.000.000



Champions Cup (CC)

Starting in Season 3!



International Cup (IC)

Starting in Season 3!



Conference Cup (CF)

Starting in Season 3!



World Cup (WC)

Starting in Season 4!



Diamond Cup (DC)

Diamond Cup is an official Dugout Soccer Friendly Cup that takes place twice a year - winter and summer.

Managers from all nations/regions can register their teams for the cup. There is no limit to the number of teams one manager can register. Managers with VIP status at the moment of registration to the cup and Dugout Soccer supporters (managers that bought 500 diamonds or more in the past 6 months) have their main team automatically registered for the competition for free. They also have an option to register one extra team for free. Which means that VIP managers and DS supporters can join with up to two teams for free, but also have an option to join with additional teams for an entry fee of 250 diamonds. Entry fee of 250 diamonds also applies for each team that joins the cup whose manager doesn’t fulfill the conditions listed above.

After the registration period ends, a main draw is created, and the Diamond Cup officially begins! As it is a friendly cup, suspended or injured players can be set in the lineup without restrictions. If a player is injured or suspended, the injury/red card is only valid during the game and does not have an effect on the next matches in the cup or any other competition. The draw is random for all cup rounds.

The cup winner gets a special Diamond Trophy, which will be placed in their Trophy Room after the cup ends.

In addition to the Trophy, there are the following rewards:

Winner: 1000 DS diamonds

Runner-up: 600 DS diamonds

Semi-finalists: 300 DS diamonds

Registration for the #2 Diamond Cup will be open from today until Wednesday, Day 35. The Cup will take place on DS days 37, 38, 40, 42, 44 and the Great Final on Saturday, Day 45.



Friendlies

In the page Competitions => Friendlies you can find two types of non-official competitions that take place throughout the season.

First up is Friendly Cup which is currently available in a league format, that can be created and hosted by a VIP Manager. Although only VIP Managers can host these competitions, any manager can join and enjoy some more games.

Other option are Friendly matches, that can be played anytime. Every manager can send 1 friendly request each day, while VIP managers can send up to 3 friendly requests every day.

Eternal Ranking lists

End of Year Awards

Team Ranking (5-seasons)

Nation Ranking (5-seasons)



Coming in Season 3!

Each player has 20 stats. Of these, 5 are physical, 3 are mental, and 12 technical/tactical.



The 5 physical stats are (players & GK):

• Stamina, Strength, Speed, Jumping, Agility



The 3 mental stats are (players & GK):

• Composure, Vision, Decisions



The 12 technical/tactical stats are (players):

• Marking, Tackling, Interceptions, Heading Acc., Dribbling, Ball Control, Passing, Crossing, Att. Position, Long Shots, Shot Power, Finishing



The 12 technical/tactical stats are (GK):

• Passing, First Touch, Diving, Handling, Reflexes, One on One, Aerial Ability, Positioning, Communication, Throwing, Kicking, Shot Power



Retirement

At some stage in life, even footballers have to call it a day. So, when they decide to do that, they will let you know at the beginning of their last season. This is by way of having a marker next to their name. Players retire between the age of 31 and 39 (33 and 41 for a goalkeeper).



Statistics

On the player’s page, you can view the player’s stats, statistics during his career, and transfer history.

Found under My Team => Lineup, you can set your lineup and tactics. To add players to the field, you need to choose a formation in a dropdown menu, when your team’s jerseys will appear in the selected formation positions. By click on the jersey in the specific position on a field, a table with all your players will appear, where you can select which player you want to use as a starter on that position. Ensure you play your strongest lineup depending on the players you have.

If you want to remove a player from the lineup, due to injury, red card or your preference, click on the player’s jersey on the field, and then click X next to the players name. Don’t forget to save the lineup after your changes.

The same procedure applies for the players on the bench.

There are no limits to the number of foreign players you can have in your lineup or squad.

*There will be more tactics in the upcoming Seasonal updates.



Formations

There are 27 different formations available to set for your upcoming match.

When creating your formation, you must take into consideration the players you have. If you play a normal 4-4-2, and have no RM then the player that you put to play in RM will have a small penalty to his stats. This is because the players are not natural to that side of the pitch or the position. Central players can play either side of the central based positions.



Wrong position penalties

Penalty 5% (same position, wrong side)

Penalty 10% (RB/LB->CB, RB/LB->LWB/RWB, CB->RB/LB, RWB/LWB->RB/LB, RWB/LWB->RM/LM, CDM->CM, RM/LM->CM, CM->RM/LM, CAM->CM, RW/LW->RM/LM)

Penalty 15% (CB->CDM, CDM->CB, CM->CDM, CM->CAM, RM/LM->RWB/LWB, RM/LM->RW/LW, RW/LW->ST, ST->RW/LW)

Penalty 20% (RWB/LWB->RW/LW, CAM->RM/LM, CAM->RW/LW, RW/LW->CAM)

Penalty 25% (ST->CAM)

All other wrong position penalties that have not been listed are 30% or higher!



Team Mentality

You have the choice of playing 3 different styles - Defensive, Balanced and Attacking.

Defensive

This is best used when you are expecting your opponents to be very attacking, and/or your opponent’s strikers are very good. By playing defensively, your players will have the mindset to defend first over attacking to ensure the score-line stays respectable. Be mindful that you will attack less in the game with this style.

Balanced

Best utilized when your team has good defensive and attacking qualities where you do not need to boost the defensive part of your team or attack.

Attacking

For those of you who know you’re playing a team that could either play defensively, or have a strong defense, but a weak forward. This will give your team that added bonus going forward, but although you may have a strong defense, you may leave more gaps for the opponents to exploit.



Team Tackling

You have the choice of playing 3 different styles - Soft, Normal and Hard. Soft tackling gives you slightly less chance for getting yellow or red card by tackling opponent player, but due to more careful play, your players could allow slightly more room for attacking by the opponent. On the other hand, by setting tackling to Hard, you get the opposite effect.



Suspensions & Injuries

There will be a time when your players have been injured or suspended. You can check the status of players in the players page by looking for a symbol next to them. For injured players, it is a little red box with a white + sign, and for a red card, it is a plain red box.

Injured or suspended players cannot play matches. If you forget to remove the player from your starting lineup, your assistant manager will do this for you before they hand the referee your team sheet. They will be replaced by a player from your squad to keep your existing lineup. Your assistance manager isn’t very good at selecting players though, so make sure you change your lineup whenever an injury or suspension occurs.



Lineup Instructions

Lineup instructions can be set in the Instructions tab in the Lineup page. Every instruction consists of an Action and one or two conditions.



There are three types of Actions that can be set for an instruction: Substitution, Team Mentality and Tackling.

Substitution actions allow you to substitute a player in your starting 11 for a player on your bench. If either of the players you set in your action is not participating in the game, the action will not be performed. Keep in mind that if, e.g., one of your bench players is already on the pitch due to a previous substitution made due to an injury, the action will also not be performed.

Team Mentality action allows you to change the mentality of your team. If the mentality you set in your action is already a default mentality for your team, the action will not be performed.

Tackling action allows you to change the intensity of tackling by your players. If the tackling you set in your action is already the default tackling for your team, the action will not be performed.



After you choose an action, you have an option to choose one or two conditions that determine when your action will be triggered. There are two types of conditions to choose from: Score and Time. You can choose to trigger an action with only the Score condition set, only the Time condition set, or both.

Score condition allows you to trigger an action when your team is winning by a certain number of goals, when it is losing, or when it is a draw. If you set the Score condition to +1, the condition will trigger if you are leading by at least 1 goal difference. Also, if you set the Score condition to -1, the condition will trigger if you are losing by at least 1 goal difference. Keep in mind that if you set a draw condition without the Time condition, it will trigger immediately as the game starts!

Time condition allows you to trigger an action when the match has reached a specific minute. You are able to set multiple conditions at the same time.



As explained above, you are able to set an action to trigger when one Time and one Score condition are achieved. If, for example, you set a sub to be performed if Time is 70 and Score is 2+, the condition will trigger when both of the conditions are fulfilled. So if in your match in minute 70 you are leading 1:0, the sub will not be performed. If in minute 76 you score one more goal and now lead 2:0, both conditions are fulfilled, and in minute 76/77 your substitution will be done.

Keep in mind that a maximum of 5 subs can be performed during the match, including subs that happen due to an injury, so do not use all the sub spots through the conditions, as this way you may be left with 10 players on the field if one of them is injured.

To improve your players, they need regular training sessions. A player’s training regime setting can be found in My Team => Training. There are two main types of training regimes: player and goalkeeper training. Each training regime targets 6 specific skills.

Training sessions can be done once every 3 days, 72 hours. By upgrading the Training Ground facility, you can boost training for your players and enable them to improve their skills faster.

Training buffer for all managers is 3 hours, which means that if you miss the exact scheduled training time, but you run the training within the 3-hours buffer, you don’t lose that training cycle. However, if you miss the training by more than the buffer, the training session is treated as fully expired and resets from the new training session time.

VIP Managers will get an extended 6 hours buffer in upcoming Seasonal updates.

Whilst in their youth, until their 17th birthday, and in their bloom years that come later, players train at a faster rate than the normal rate. By scouting a player, you can determine whether his bloom stage comes sooner, after he turns 17, or later, in his early 20s. The bloom period lasts for 3 seasons.

Players of 30 years and over cannot improve their skills.



Player training:

Athletics & Gym – Stamina, Strength, Speed, Jumping, Agility, Shot Power

Tactics – Composure, Marking, Heading Acc., Vision, Decisions, Att. Position

Stopper – Stamina, Strength, Marking, Tackling, Heading Acc., Ball Control

Sweeper – Speed, Agility, Composure, Tackling, Interceptions, Heading Acc.

Ball-Playing Defender – Agility, Marking, Interceptions, Ball Control, Passing, Vision

Wide Defender – Stamina, Speed, Tackling, Dribbling, Crossing, Vision

Anchor – Stamina, Agility, Tackling, Interceptions, Dribbling, Passing

Ball Winning – Strength, Jumping, Marking, Interceptions, Ball Control, Decisions

Box to Box – Stamina, Agility, Tackling, Ball Control, Att. Position, Finishing

Dynamo – Speed, Agility, Dribbling, Ball Control, Crossing, Long Shots

Playmaker – Agility, Ball Control, Passing, Crossing, Vision, Decisions

Support Forward – Stamina, Interceptions, Heading Acc., Passing, Att. Position, Long Shots

Wide Forward – Speed, Agility, Dribbling, Ball Control, Crossing, Finishing

Shadow Striker – Strength, Heading Acc., Dribbling, Att. Position, Long Shots, Shot Power

Pressing Forward – Stamina, Agility, Tackling, Interceptions, Att. Position, Finishing

Target Man – Stamina, Strength, Heading Acc., Ball Control, Shot Power, Finishing

Poacher – Stamina, Speed, Agility, Vision, Att. Position, Finishing



Goalkeeper training:

Athletics & Gym – Stamina, Strength, Speed, Jumping, Agility, Shot Power

Goalkeeping – Stamina, Agility, Diving, Handling, Reflexes, Aerial Ability

Sweeper-Keeper – Speed, First Touch, One on One, Positioning, Communication, Kicking

Ball Distribution – Passing, First Touch, Vision, Throwing, Kicking, Shot Power

Tactics – Composure, Vision, Decisions, Positioning, Communication, Throwing

One of the most important aspects of the game, crucial for team growth and success in the game, is proper handling of finances. Detailed weekly finance reports can be found in Office => Finances.

It consists of two segments – Income and Expenses.



Income – financial gain in each week can be increased through Ticket sales (Home games only), income from built stadium facilities (Programme Stall, Burger Van, Scarf and Hat Stall and Club Shop), player sales, and sponsorship. In the end of the season each club also receives Prize Money, the amount of which depends on your final position in the league and success in other competitions - International competitions and National Cup.

Expenses – weekly expenses consist of the sum of player wages, the amount spent on player purchases, listing fees, building maintenance, and building costs. Last is the luxury/debt tax. Luxury tax exists to discourage money stacking. Teams that have up to 50M don’t have to pay a luxury tax each week; those with 50-100M have a very low luxury tax of 0.5%, 100-300M 1%, 300-500M 2%, and over 500M high luxury tax of 5%. Also, to encourage rational money spending, teams that are in debt (have a balance that is negative) have to pay interest of 2.5% of their total debt each week.

At the end of the financial report, each manager can see what their starting balance was in that week and current weekly expenses. It is important to keep track of the Final Balance when planning any additional expense (such as upgrading a facility or purchasing a player) in order not to end up in debt.

Information about facility upgrades and weekly maintenance costs can be found in Office => Facilities. It is advised not to upgrade the stadium or its additional facilities beyond the number of your current fan base, which can be observed in the Overview page.



Debt / Negative budget numbers

It’s not good to end up in debt, but if that happens, you can try to get back into positive balance by doing some of the following actions: Reduce level of your Training Ground, Youth Academy to pay much lower price for the maintenance in the upcoming weekly financial update. Also, you can sell some of your players that you may not need in your Team at the moment.

The facilities are a means of earning more money for your team.

When upgrading the stadium and/or facilities, think whether you can afford it. If you will end up in debt, hold off upgrading until you can afford it. Take into account the weekly maintenance costs and not just the upgrade cost. Think about the long term effect.



Stadium

Your stadium is important for your income, and you earn 100 Euros per ticket sold. You can increase and decrease your stadium in increments of 100 or 1,000 seats. Your attendance can be calculated as your fans + 1/4 of your opponent’s fans. If weather conditions are not good, certain percentage of fans will rather stay at home. This figure can then be increased by upgrading two facilities (Toilets and Parking) which boost attendance.

Your Team pays stadium maintenance as well that can be pricey, so don’t build more seats than you actually need.



Programme Stall, Burger Van, Scarf and Hat Stall, Club Shop

These 4 facilities can bring you nice additional income during your home matches, but they pay of on a long term basis, so be careful when you are ready to spend money on them.



Youth Academy

With higher level of Youth Academy, the chance to get player of your own nationality is increased as well as the player with higher overall potential. This way you can contribute to your national team at the World Cup.

Precision of Youth Academy scout when you pull your youth player is same as of your other scouts.

Youth Academy at higher levels is extremely expensive, be careful before upgrading it!!! It may not be financially feasible to upgrade it to max level.



Training Ground

By upgrading the Training Ground facility, you can boost training for your players and enable them to improve their skills faster.

Training Ground at higher levels is extremely expensive, be careful before upgrading it!!! It may not be financially feasible to upgrade it to max level.



Scout Centre

Scouts are important to have when you are deciding on the ability of players. It is important to have at least 1 scout as this is used for your Youth Pulls.

In order to be able to grow your team and receive additional income during the season, as well as gain 1 DS Diamond for daily login, each team can sign a sponsor. Sponsor offers can be found in Office => Sponsorship. Each sponsorship contract lasts for 10 days. After that period, you have a chance to sign a new contract, choosing from 5 different sponsor offers.

There are 3 types of sponsor offers: the first type gives you no signing bonus but a high win bonus (received for winning the League match), the second gives you a solid signing bonus and a moderate win bonus, while the last one gives you the largest signing bonus and a modest win bonus. The type of sponsor offer you choose should mainly depend on your team’s form, fixture calendar, and financial plans.

Keep track of the sponsorship expiration, as when you play a game without a sponsor, you don’t receive any bonus, and you skip valuable days of having a sponsored team. VIP managers receive a notification as soon as their sponsorship expires as a helpful reminder.

To be successful in Dugout Soccer, you need not only a good set up, but a good squad too. And other than molding your youth players to potentially become stars for you, another and more effective way is via the Transfer Market.



Buying Players

Every player that has been placed on the transfer market is listed for 3 days, 72 hours.

The team that has the highest bid come the end of the transfer time will purchase the player. Keeping it nice and simple for all to understand.

Any bid made with less than 2 minutes to go will push the timer back to 2 minutes so if you have made the last bid with a minute to go, keep checking for the next 2 minutes because someone may still out bid you.



Selling Players

A player can be listed from the player’s page. Once on the player’s profile, you can choose the option \\'Transfer List Player\\'. Click on the \\'Transfer List Player\\' and you will see a box appear where you can input your listing price. You will instantly pay 5% listing fee of the price that you set. For a rough idea on what to list your player, go onto the transfer market and have a look at similar skill sets and age for your player and see what the current prices are. Using your DS Diamonds, you can also add special effects like bolding to your listing to make your player stand out a bit more.

Any player you have purchased previously cannot be listed for 8 weeks (56 days) after the purchase. Any player under the age of 17 or the player who has announced his retirement cannot be transfer listed.



General

All players tend to sell for the what the player is worth regardless of what he is listed for. A player is only worth what other managers are willing to pay for him.

You can release your player if you don’t need him in your squad anymore by clicking on ’Release Player’ on the player’s page. Immediately he will become a Free Agent and will appear on the transfer list. If you release player under the age of 17 or the player who has announced his retirement, they will not appear on the transfer list.

If the transfer is Reported by the Dugout security system or by some other Manager, it will appear in Admin panel and it will take some shorter time for any case to be solved by Game Admins or by the System.