Rules

1. ONE CLUB ONLY: You can only create one club per user. Having more than one club per user will get you permanently banned from the game. If there are more users on the same computer/network (sharing IP) then you must let us know the reason for this BEFORE you create additional clubs. If we allow the creation of additional clubs, then it's absolutely forbidden to trade/loan players between the created clubs running from the same machine/network! IMPORTANT: If you are logging into the game using computers at school, networks, library or visiting your friends you are not allowed to trade with anybody on that network or computer!

2. TACTICS DEADLINE: All managers must submit valid tactics at least one hour before the match starts. If you don't submit your tactics until the deadline, or if your tactics are invalid (due to a player in the lineup having been sold, suspended or injured), your team will either play with less than 11 players or even with the so-called "bot tactics" (random player positioning in 4-4-2 formation). If the club doesn't even have enough players for a legal "bot" tactics then the club will lose the game 3-0 behind the green table (denoted as GT on live scores page). If both the managers playing against each other fail to submit valid tactics and they both don't have enough players in their teams for a legal "bot" tactics, then the game will register as void. If the void game was an official league match then neither of the teams will receive any points and the match will be registered as 0-3 loss for both teams. If that was a cup match the game will also be registered as a 0-3 loss to BOTH of the teams involved and neither of the teams will progress through (thus their opponent in the next round will be handed a bye).

3. LEGAL TACTICS (FORMATIONS): Correct (legal) tactic is tactic that : We would like to remind all the managers that DMC means defensive central midfielder and not central defender! Also note that loaned players are not eligible to play for youth team (in any competition) from season 5!
 * Includes max. 2 left/right defenders/midfielders/forwards (1 FBL + 1 WBL is legal, while 3 WBL's are illegal)
 * Includes max. 4 attackers (strikers+center forwards+wingers) and max. 3 central strikers (strikers or center forwards)
 * Includes at least 2 central defenders or 3 defenders (if only 1 CD is used)
 * Includes max. 5 defenders in total
 * Includes max. of 4 central defenders
 * Includes max. 7 midfielders in total
 * Includes max. 5 central midfielders (all types - MC, AMC and DMC)
 * Includes at least 1 central midfielder (MC, AMC or DMC)
 * Includes at least 2 midfielders of any type
 * Includes max. 3 defensive midfielders

4. MAXIMUM 5 OFFERS TO UNEMPLOYED COACHES OR PHYSIOS: It is not permitted to send more than 5 offers for coaches and 5 for physios at the same time! All extra offers will be deleted(you won't get any reply for them) and the system will also notify one of the Dugout-Online administrators(which can lead to a hefty fine for your club). Offers for coaches and physios are answered once per day, after the update (23:00 GMT).

5. 10 WEEKS / 2 ON LOAN: If you buy a player he must stay at your club for at least 10 weeks(you can not sell or loan him sooner). You are allowed to loan out 2 players and have 2 loaned players in your team at the same time. It's strictly forbidden, for whatever reason, to loan out players that are clearly good enough to play in first 11 of the team loaning them out (taken into account some default 4-4-2 formation)! It is also strictly forbidden to loan out players when you already know that you are going into bankruptcy or in the case of you leaving the game for good. We are against the situations when one manager sees he is going to be bankrupt and thus decides to help out a "friend" by loaning him good player(s) for 5 seasons.

6. HARASSMENT: It is forbidden to harass other managers. This especially applies to trading (if the manager says NO, then it means NO and there cannot be any "elitism" in the game, meaning no sentences like "Hey n00b, I've been here longer than you have, so put that player on transfer market so I can bid for him!"!). It is also heavily forbidden to send multiple unwanted messages to one or more managers (spamming)! In addition to that, any verbal abuse towards a fellow manager will not be tolerated.

7. ABSURD PRICES: It is strictly forbidden to sell or buy players for ridiculous prices. This rule is set because we want to prevent cheating (as in the case when 2 managers know each other and the other is quitting the game, thus helping the other by bidding couple of millions on some lousy player). That does not mean that the player needs to be sold for an estimated value of his and that you cannot bid much higher than that(estimated value is not so accurate anyway - please check game FAQ for help in this department). We do require you try to be a good manager, meaning you can transfer list and sell players cheap when you clearly don't have any use for them in your squad, and you can buy a clearly usefull player for much higher price than he is supposedly worth. Just use common sense and you will be fine. And by common sense we mean, for example, that you should be well aware of the fact that some 35 year old player with below average statistics is not worth even his estimated value on the transfer market, while some 17 year old superstar can of course be sold for much higher price than his estimated value. If any of the managers is bidding an absurd price for one of your players in order to get you in trouble, you must immediately contact one of the admins (being quiet and just cash in on the money offered will get you in trouble!). It is also strictly forbidden to make a high "first bid" for any reason (be it helping your friend or anything else)! If you want to bid for a player then start the bid at normal price! ''Please note: that any of the administrator can contact you for an explanation about any of your actions, included but not limited to your transfer activity! You are required to provide a truthfull explanation in this case(if admins catch you lying to them you and your club can find yourself severely fined or worse!). This is only so we(the admins) can make a game as fair as possible for all managers involved in it!''

8. PRE-ARRANGED TRANSFERS: Transfers arranged in advance are not allowed in Dugout-Online. DO has an auction transfer market system and it is expected from all managers to treat it like this. All deals in the style of "OK, it's agreed then. I will transfer list my player and you will buy him for 5.000.000 £", are not allowed!

9. PLAYER SWAPS:  Taking advantage of the transfer market system by deliberately swapping players between two clubs (with or without additional profit for one of the clubs) is not allowed. Please read the rule nr. 8 regarding of how the transfer market should be treated in Dugout-Online.

10. CHAIN-TRADING:  Deliberate multiple trades between "friends" are not allowed. There is simply no need for few clubs exchanging multiple players of the similar quality and price, or swapping better players for worse. The IP rule doesn't need to apply in this case.

11. COMMUNICATIONS OUT OF DUGOUT-ONLINE: Communications between managers outside the Dugout-Online system are not of our (administrators) concern and will not be taken (in any case) as evidence for something the other manager did, say, etc... We are more than avare that any communications (screenshots, log files, etc...) through personal emails, instant messaging systems (like MSN) and other similar methods can be easily falsified. To give you an example : if anyone promised you anything over(for example) MSN and didn't deliver, you cannot present this conversation as some kind of the evidence for anything. The only valid communications for such cases are communications that happened directly through the Dugout-Online system (like in-game personal messages).

12. ACTIVE CLUB: You need to login at least once every 21 days in order to keep your club "active". If you know beforehand that you won't be able to do so, you have the "On vacation" option available under your Profile. If you check this option, the system will extend the period to 45 days. If you really need to be away from the game for longer than 45 days, then you need to contact one of Dugout-Online's administrators and he(or she) will arrange everything so the club won't be disabled. If you fail to login for a set period of time (be it 21 or 45 days) your club will be disabled.

13. CLUB SELL-OUT: It is forbidden to sell out your players for any given reason! While you are allowed to sell a lot of players (but not the majority of them) if you believe that you can save the club (for example from bankruptcy) by doing so, it is strictly forbidden and against the rules to sell players in the case when it's obvious that this won't help you in any way or even in case that you are quitting the game. This rule is here to prevent selling out players for low prices and to prevent selling the players to "manager's friends" when it's obvious that the club is heading either for bankruptcy (and reset) or towards the inactivity (when manager quits the game). It is also forbidden to put the majority of your players on transfer list for any reason (you are expected to have at least 11 players in your senior team and 11 players in your youth squad at any time so you can normally play league/cup matches!).

14. 120 PLAYERS MAX.: You cannot have more than 120 players in your squad. If (when) you reach this limit, you won't be able to bid anymore on players (be it transfer listed or those on free transfer).

15. BANKRUPTCY.: You are not allowed to go more than 250.000 £ in debt. If you do, then the system will give you 14 days to recover financially. If you don't do that, the club will be declared bankrupt and you will have to continue the game with new players, starting finances, no facilities, etc... Your rating will drop to 1 and you will receive -15 points for the current league season.

16. FAIR-PLAY: It is forbidden to lie to other managers (for example about the talent of the transfer listed player). It is also forbidden to lose game(s) deliberately in order to help another manager. We ask all managers to play the game in the spirit of fair-play.

17. LET'S KICK RACISM OUT OF THE GAME: Any racist or politicaly oriented team/manager names are not permitted. It is also strictly forbidden to throw racist/political abuse around other manager's message boxes! We also won't tolerate heated debates about former or present conflicts between any countries in real life. Shortly : politics, racism and religion have no place in Dugout-Online. We are here to have some fun.

18. YOUR ACTIONS ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY: This means that if you arranged a friendly, then you will need to show up on the match. The same goes for other actions like biding on players, loaning players, etc... Be careful how much you bid on players because you will be solely responsible for any mistakes you make. If you make mistake with bidding (like putting too much zeroes in the text field), you will have the chance for your bid to get reset, but your club will be fined with : All started builds (be it stadium or facilities) are not possible to reset.
 * 20% of the bid value for first such mistake
 * 40% of bid value and 2 deducted points for second mistake
 * 50% and 4 deducted points for third mistake
 * Same as before but add 2 points for each additional mistake.

19. PREMIUM ACCOUNT USERS: Although this should be self-explanatory, we decided we will put it in "writing" anyway. By purchasing Premium Account, you are not purchasing a service. You show your support to the game and help Dugout-Online progress and develop further - and in return, you received a set of bonus options that make the gameplay even more fun and enjoyable (but don't give you any special advantages over other managers). Purchasing PA doesn't give you any additional rights and it doesn't give you the rights to break rules. We just want to be clear on this.

20. ADMINS: While the creators/administrators and other people associated with the Dugout-Online project CAN create a team and play the game, they or any of their close relatives are NOT eligible for any real prizes from our sponsors. If, for example, there is a tournament with a grand prize (a football kit or something similar) and the club who wins it is owned by an associate of Dugout-Online or his/her close relative, the prize will be given to the runner-up. This rule does not apply to forum moderators/administrators that don't have any access to the server or the game itself.

21. NAMES FOR ANY VIRTUAL PERSON in Dugout-Online (including but not limited to footballers, coaches and physios) are created by taking a random first name and last name from a database of names and are in no way associated with any actual living or dead person.

And don't forget. The interpretation of the rules, type (and amount) of fines, decisions to ban managers and all other things directly or indirectly linked to the rules are solely in the domain of the game administrators that are making sure the game is fair for every manager involved! We never did (and will never in the future) ban the manager playing the game in the spirit of fair-play, while on the other hand we already did (and will in the future) ban managers that are trying to get around the rules thinking admins can only act if the rule was broken to the last letter.