2025-09-14, 02:32 PM - Word count:
One thing I would change about the Simulation Soccer League is the way that every game is played at a neutral venue. Every simulation league, hell, every team sport, has some form of home advantage. Yet we opt against this. I disagree with that decision.
I'll start this by saying that I understand that home advantage in FM24 is a bit overtuned compared to home advantage in real life. I assume that's the reason for getting rid of it, but even so, I have a few reasons why we should bring back home and away games.
1) Give weaker teams a chance
The best teams in the SSL are winning the league anyway. A weaker team will play a stronger team twice in a season. Would a weaker team give up 10% chance of winning one game in order to get 10% more in the other one? In my opinion, it's a no-brainer. Having a better chance to celebrate a win at home is worth taking an 8-0 loss away.
2) Introduce some tactical variation
Every Football Manager player (and every real life manager) knows that it's a good idea to approach home and away games differently. This tactical compensation, and the thought associated with it, is realistic, and I would argue that it's fun.
3) Make the Cup Final special again
Cup finals should be the only time teams play on a neutral ground, and test themselves against each other straight up. It's a special occasion - treat it like one. What's more, it would make the cup draw more important. In real life, whether you're home or way for a cup tie is pretty significant. Bring it back, get some upsets, introduce some unpredictability into the cup.
4) I imagine it's horrible to set up
Some people work very hard on this league behind the scenes. I am not 100% sure on this point - I have only set up a couple of custom files - but I'm going to make the educated guess that putting everything in a neutral venue adds quite a lot of work to the file setup. Let's give people some of their time back.
#BringBackHomeGames
I'll start this by saying that I understand that home advantage in FM24 is a bit overtuned compared to home advantage in real life. I assume that's the reason for getting rid of it, but even so, I have a few reasons why we should bring back home and away games.
1) Give weaker teams a chance
The best teams in the SSL are winning the league anyway. A weaker team will play a stronger team twice in a season. Would a weaker team give up 10% chance of winning one game in order to get 10% more in the other one? In my opinion, it's a no-brainer. Having a better chance to celebrate a win at home is worth taking an 8-0 loss away.
2) Introduce some tactical variation
Every Football Manager player (and every real life manager) knows that it's a good idea to approach home and away games differently. This tactical compensation, and the thought associated with it, is realistic, and I would argue that it's fun.
3) Make the Cup Final special again
Cup finals should be the only time teams play on a neutral ground, and test themselves against each other straight up. It's a special occasion - treat it like one. What's more, it would make the cup draw more important. In real life, whether you're home or way for a cup tie is pretty significant. Bring it back, get some upsets, introduce some unpredictability into the cup.
4) I imagine it's horrible to set up
Some people work very hard on this league behind the scenes. I am not 100% sure on this point - I have only set up a couple of custom files - but I'm going to make the educated guess that putting everything in a neutral venue adds quite a lot of work to the file setup. Let's give people some of their time back.
#BringBackHomeGames
![[Image: qgFfIx6.png]](https://i.imgur.com/qgFfIx6.png)
