Q. How do I actually start in the game?
A. First of all you email us with your choice of team to manage. You'll get a prompt reply to whether that team is still available. You may choose a club from any of the 4 English Divisions or from the Scottish Premier Division (later there will be a chance to manage abroad too. When 10 clubs have been taken in the English Premier then all of them will be placed in the Premier Division, the rest of the clubs reshufffled and the game will start. THEN GO TO THE SOFTWARE LINK AND DOWNLOAD THE LATEST VERSION OF THE TURNSHEET PROGRAM. YOU CAN'T PLAY WITHOUT IT!

Q. Do I have to start my team in the Premiership?
A. No you don't. Just let me know when you are choosing your club. When the player details are created they are done with their league status in mind. So even if you want to manage Wycombe Wanderers tbeir players will be created using the Premiership as a guideline. If you wanted them in the 2nd Division then their details would reflect that Division. The game will only start though when 10 clubs for the Premiership are taken over.

Q. Will the bigger clubs have an advantage over the smaller clubs in the game?
A. Not from player creation they won't. All Premiership starting clubs have their players created the same. However, all club details are accurate and as this includes the stadium details then Manchester United will have a significant financial advantage. Their ticket sales will also initially reflect their stadium size. This will obviously mean more revenue and a greater spending power over a season. Club facilities though are randomised at the start of the game so the coaches at lower clubs have just as much chance of being as good as bigger clubs. This isn't unrealistic as some lower division clubs (Crewe for example) have enviable coaching results.

Q. What strengths are the foreign clubs?
A. Players from the best European leagues will be created at a better rate than the Premiership, to give strong competition. Therefore it's unlikely that a Premiership side will succeed initially in the Champions league. Indeed, as clubs have to qualify for it then no Premiership club will be in Europe at all for the first season (something to aspire to!) But as there is a special club competition called the World Club Cup every year, all clubs will have the chance to test their metal against the best in Europe. And you can organise friendlies against them as well.

Q. Can I take over teams in Europe then?
A. Not right at the beginning of the game but after that yes. First we want to create a healthy number of managed clubs in the same league because it's more fun that way. The main European leagues are played in the same way as England and Scotland though (and you'll see their results, match reports etc each week). The main leagues covered are Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Holland.

Q. Can I take over a team in a game that has already started?
A. Yes. Just email me and let me know what team you're interested in. On the website there are links to league tables for all games and any club with the letter N next to them are currently unmanaged.

Q. Can I create my own club from scratch?
A. Yes. There is actually a form for creating brand new clubs on the turnsheet program software. These clubs will be added to the existing 3rd Division. And you can only create clubs after the game has started. They can't be used as initial startup clubs.

Q. What do I need to play the game?
A. First of all you need to download the turnsheet program from the indicated link. It's a 4.5 mb download but essential. After that install the software.

Q. I've just downloaded the software, installed it and run it but it errors. Why?
A. After installing the software for the first time you must email me at freedompbm@btinternet.com or waric@kovak.freeserve.co.uk The program needs to find a squadsheet before it can run and if you've never played the game before it won't have one!

Q. This game is free for the first season, right?
A. Yes it is. The game is packed with features and although easy enough to get into I don't want to charge people until they are familiar with all of the features. Enjoy the first season on me and if you like it then you'll probably not mind paying a nominal fee for the game.

Q. Some other pbems are free. Why do I have to pay at all?!
A. Any commercial pbem game can justify costs because of unlimited memberships, regular turnaround periods, more game detail etc. Anyway, the charge is very competitive and you don't pay anything until you've tried the game. And if you've seen some of the features you also understand why there should be a charge!

Q. How much will it be then?
A. The fee will be based on the number of managed clubs in the game. The maximum per club will be 50p a week. But there will be a standard maximum fee expected for each game of £20 per week. The fee will be based on this figure divided by the number of managed clubs in the game. So if there are 50 managed clubs in the game then the cost per club would be 40p each a week and so on. So by taking additional clubs you'll lower the cost of the game and by encouraging your mates into the game you'll also lower the cost of the game.

Q. Are there prizes at the end of the season?
A. Not direct monetary ones but there will be credits added to successful clubs.

Q. I don't live in the UK so how should I pay ?
A. It's best to pay for a reasonable length of time in the game, at least a quarter of a season (13 weeks). Cash seems to be reliable enough provided it's not coins. I haven't had a problem with this method. Western Union is a safe method although they charge a bit for doing this. I can't obviously accept any cheques etc from overseas. Shortly there will be a credit card facility.

Q. Can I manage more than one club?
A. Yes and the software is set up for that.

Q. Can I drop my side and manage a different one?
A. Yes. Just tell me which non managed side you would like to manage instead.

Q. What do I do with the zips you send me each week?
A. You get two zips from me each week, one marked weekly and the other marked with your email address. Make sure the folders Squadsheets, Turnsheet and Weekly where you installed the game are empty. The game is installed to Program Files/FreedomPBeMTurnsheet unless you changed the destination when installing it. Then unzip the weekly.zip into the Weekly folder and the other zip into the Squadsheets folder. ** But remember to empty those game folders first!! **

Q. How do I know what my fixtures for the week will be?
A. When you load the software up you'll see that one of the tabs is marked Fixtures. Here you'll see any fixtures you have that week and if you click on each on you can set up your team accordingly. In the weekly.zip there is a complete breakdown of every league fixture for all leagues.

Q. What if I don't have a fixture?
A. This doesn't happen very often but if it does just continue as normal. If you can remember then the week before let me know what friendly game you would like to play instead. Friendly matches normally cost 50p to setup but are free if you don't have a scheduled match that week. I have to know the week before so the fixture can be programmed in and will then show up on the next squadsheet.

Q. The program remembers the last teamsheet I entered the previous week but nothing else like formation, tactics etc. Why?
A. It was found that managers get bored and complacent if they can play the same way each week. This method at least forces people to continue to think about what they are doing!

Q. How do I pick players then?
A. Just click firmly on the player's name in the Available box and then drag and drop him to one of the numbers on the pitch grid or onto another player name.

Q. Can I leave blanks?
A. Yes you can but the computer will not fill it in for you! It will put an unknown reserve player into the fray and these are rated very low.

Q. How do I use the match viewer?
A. The zip that you extract to the Squadsheets folder each week contains your match reports and when you press to load a match you'll get a dialog box come up showing the contents of that folder. Match reports have a # in the file name. Make sure you set a speed first though!

Q. I've tried the match viewer but it gives me an error!
A. One problem may be a font the program tries to use. The font is Georgia and you can find it on the website. Stick it in your Windows/Fonts directory and you should be ok. Unfortunately though it may be down to some files in your system conflicting with the software. All software developers have this problem and have to sort it out for the majority and if you can't run it then you are one of the unlucky ones. It can be viewed from the text version inside the Squadsheet folder although it can be a bit cluttered because it carries the colour codes.