⚽ Season 18 Incoming

Season 17 was massive. Stadiums, FC, club progression. It was our biggest update to the game in a long time and our biggest season for new managers. Over 1,500 caretakers joined, more than double the previous record, and upgrades hit an all-time high all alongside rewards across the leagues continuing to grow!

Season 18 keeps that momentum going. We're finishing off the stadium system, streamlining the UI/UX based on everything you told us during S17, and shipping Milestones.

Milestones is a completely new onboarding system, but more importantly, it gives us the ability to spin up matches outside of set match times. That's a massive piece of work and it opens the route to features like home game time selection that have been requested for a long time!

Let's get into it!

📅 Season 18 Dates

Pre-Season Begins: Wednesday, 15th April

First Matches Kick Off: Tuesday, 21st April

⚡ TL;DR - Season 18

• In-Game UI/UX Overhaul: First big round of game UI improvements since launch, based directly on player feedback.
• Notifications System: Real-time alerts for FC earned, coaching sessions, store purchases and more, all inside the game.
• Milestones (New Onboarding): A completely new way for new managers to learn the game through interactive match scenarios.
• Referrals Relaunched: Better rewards for both sides, a new milestone ladder, and the Gaffer's League.
• Stadium Maintenance Goes Live: Bigger stadiums now come with real upkeep decisions.
• USD as Default Currency: Prices shown in USD across the game by default, with a toggle in settings.

🎨 Game UI/UX Improvements

We rolled out the first big round of UI/UX changes to the game since it's launch during Season 17 and kept iterating throughout the season based on your feedback. They're targeted improvements to make the experience cleaner and more intuitive across the board.

We also added a new Manager Settings page. This is going to become the central hub for managing your preferences, display options and account settings as we continue to build out the game.

One of the bigger changes towards the end of Season 17 was switching to USD as the default currency across the game. All prices, balances and transactions now display in USD by default. If you'd prefer to see the original values, you can toggle this in your settings.

🔔 Notifications

We shipped the notifications system during Season 17. You told us you wanted more visibility on how much FC you were earning from matches and other in-game activity, so we built it.

You'll find it in your top nav bar next to your FC balance and referral link. Right now you'll see alerts for:

• FC earned from match results
• Store purchases
• Coach assignments
• Breakdowns when you earned 0 FC from a match (like an incomplete lineup)

This opens the door to way more in-game notifications as we keep building. Check it out next time you log in, and let us know what else you'd want to see notifications for.

🏆 Milestones

This is a huge bit of work that has been happening behind the scenes and one we're really excited about.

Milestones is a brand new onboarding feature that lets new managers learn the game through interactive match scenarios. Instead of reading a guide or watching a video, you're dropped into a real match situation and asked to make decisions.

For example, you might take over a Youth Squad Training Match where your team is trailing 0-1 with 15 minutes to play. The previous manager has been called away urgently. Can you turn this around?

You'll watch the final minutes unfold, make a tactical decision at a key moment, and see your players in action.

This is a much more natural way to learn how Footium works, and it also lays the groundwork for features that have been requested for a long time, like home game time selection. The ability to spin up match states in different scenarios is something we'll be building on well beyond onboarding.

🤝 Referrals Relaunched

We've completely overhauled the referral system. Better rewards, more milestones, and a competitive twist.

Your mate now gets:

• 5 Common Players
• 2 Bronze Players
• 100,000 FC
• 5 Coaching Sessions

Up from 3 Commons and 5 Coaching Sessions.

You now get per referral:

• 20% cashback on their purchase
• 200,000 FC

Season 18 Referral Bonus:

Get just one referral this season and you'll earn a Silver Player straight away. One referral. That's it. It's the biggest instant reward we've ever offered for a single referral, so get your link out there early.

New Milestone Ladder:

We've added 8 new tiers between the existing milestones, filled with FC rewards, bonus players and coaching sessions. Already passed a new milestone? We'll backdate it to you.

The Gaffer's League:

We ran this for the first time last season and it was a hit, so we're bringing it back. Every caretaker who upgrades during the pre-season window enters a bespoke mini league. The winner gets a Young Rare Player. Make sure you upgrade your caretaker club before Season 18 kicks off to be eligible.

🏟️ Stadium Maintenance Goes Live

In Season 17, we introduced stadium upgrades but held back on maintenance to give everyone time to get comfortable with the system.

That changes now.

From Season 18, every stand above XS has a chance of needing repairs at the start of the season. If a stand needs work, you have the full season to pay the maintenance cost. If you don't sort it out, that stand drops down one size tier.

Maintenance costs are 40% of the upgrade cost for that stand's current tier. They're designed to be meaningful enough that you need to plan for them, but not so expensive that upgrading feels punishing.

This adds a real strategic layer to stadium development. Growing your ground is no longer just about spending FC. It's about managing what you've built.

👑 Legendary Player Auctions

As with every season, a number of Legendary Players will be auctioned off during pre-season. These are the highest-potential players in the game and have the potential to change your club for the long term!

Auction Format:

• 24-hour auctions with full-day bidding windows
• 5-minute extensions on last-minute bids
• No bid removals, what you bid is what you pay
• Earn rewards when outbid, even if you don't win you still earn

Batch 1: Thursday 17th April 12:00pm BST to Friday 18th April 12:00pm BST

Batch 2: Friday 18th April 5:00pm BST to Saturday 19th April 5:00pm BST

Batch 3: Saturday 19th April 3:00pm BST to Sunday 20th April 3:00pm BST

Player reveals will be shared closer to pre-season, keep an eye on Discord.

You've also voted in New Zealand as a new nationality for Season 18, so look out for the next Chris Wood or Winston Reid in the auctions and in your academy and free agents this season.

📊 Behind the Scenes

For the last 8 seasons, we've been laser focused on growing the player base and improving the new manager experience. Season 17 was our biggest season yet.

We welcomed over 1,500 caretaker managers, more than doubling our previous record. It was also the strongest season for upgrades, with a real influx of new managers joining the game and committing to their clubs. Rewards were higher across the leagues too, with more total rewards across the entire FFL up for grabs.

Seeing both of those numbers grow together is a really encouraging sign for the long-term health of the game. We're buzzing with where things are headed. Lots more to come!

🚀 Here we go

Season 18 is about polish, progression and making the day-to-day experience of managing your club better. The big foundation pieces landed in Season 17. Now we're building on them!

As always, thank you for playing, sharing feedback and helping shape Footium alongside us.

We'll see you in pre-season.

Forza Footium