General Information

Short History

Olmec Soccer was a variation of a game of postal soccer invented by Alan Parr in England around 1970. Olmec was developed by Allan Sellers and the first league was MSWL (Make Sure Wayne League). While the first two seasons of the MSWL featured matches resolved using dice (United-style), starting with Season 3, all matches are simulated by software. This version of Olmec borrowed some concepts from the EEFL (specifically, EEFL Season 11). Much of the format and rules you see here were taken directly from those of the EEFL. There have been many changes over the past few years as well.

MSWL started in 1989. There were 3 seasons from 1989-1991. MSWL restarted in 1993 and is now available on another server. SESL (Scottish E-mail Soccer League) started around 1998 (a guess) and is now in season 31, PSFA (Psycho S[h]occer Football League) started around 2000 and lasted for 5 seasons, SaSo (Saturday Soccer) started around 2002 and lasted 3 seasons, SFLSL (Sanctuary Football League SL)is now in Season 17. ODFL was set up in ... to find & train up New Coaches for the leagues. ODFL became a full member league & changed its name to OASL in 2010 & ODFL was relaunched a little later.
The OLMEC CUP was re-launched.

On 1st January 2013 SESL, SFLSL, OASL OLMEC CUP now SOS CUP and ODFL broke away from the OLMEC group to form SOS-SOCCER-MANAGER.co.uk. We use the same core rules and match engine with some peripheral variations. These variations are pointed out in the rules where necessary.

Season Overview

Each manager coaches a soccer/football club. A season is divided into "sessions", each of which generally consists of one or two matches for each club.

In most matches, one club is designated as the "home team" and the other club is designated as the "visiting team".

There is mid-season break in most leagues where Mid-season Aging (Skill Loss) is performed.

Lineups are entered/stored online. Trades, auction bids, press/journals and other community based activities are also carried out online through the SOS-SOCCER-MANAGER website.

Leaving the Game

If a manager is NMR (No Moves Received) for games during the season, the commissioner will, at his discretion, declare the manager "gone" and the team available for adoption.

If a new manager misses either his first or second session he is also considered gone and a replacement will be found.

Leaving the Game Differences in SESL
If a manager does not turn in lineups for two sessions in a row or 3 times in a season, the commissioner may, at his discretion, declare the manager "gone" and the team available for adoption.

If a manager is seriously under-achieving with a team that should be going for glory, then that teams CHAIRMAN may give him a warning and expect things to improve. This is normally done on the forum as a bit of fun (initially) to gee up a de-motivated manager.

(Managers can be sacked for under achieving but do have “the right to reply”. The more involved a manager is with Blog notes, press and the forum the less likely they are to be fired. And all possible support is given to new and in-experienced managers!)

Taking a Break

If you will be unavailable to run your team for an extended period of time, you can send in orders ahead of time, enough sets to cover your entire absence. If that is not reasonable, you can also find a friend to take over your team during your vacation. That person must agree to give the team back at a specified time.

In the past we have had a "sabbatical" option. We had removed that option as it creates some chaos. However, it is apparent we still need something like this. To qualify for this option you must have managed your team for 5 consecutive seasons and provide some advance notice.

Taking a Break Differences in SESL

The Commish may also provide a work colleague to run a vacant team in the short term if sufficient notice is given.

Any previous SESL manager wishing to return to the game (provided he was reliable) will be placed at the top of the waiting list and offered the next available team to re-join SESL. This has happened over a dozen times in last few seasons, so this is a genuine option for a manager going through a busy period in their life and he/she can take comfort the door will remain open for a return to SESL.

Benign Dictatorship & the Responsibilities of the Commissioner

No Replaying of Matches
The league does not belong to a commissioner. The league belongs to the coaches who play in that league. Consider the commissioner as a league moderator or games master. It is his responsibility to set up matches, auctions and schedules and keep things ticking over. He will set trade windows and make necessary announcements through the season. Rarely, but if required, the commissioner may make changes in the game to maintain the spirit and playability of the competition. He will not break the rules lightly, but will do so when needed to maintain overall fairness and consistency. One of the areas where the commissioner will intervene is when a trade is proposed that may either damage a team or one that is too one-sided. Intervention will generally not occur when two long-time managers are making the trade.

Keep in mind that the commissioner and software ”can” make mistakes sometimes. However, we will not replay ANY single matches for any reason, PERIOD! If a mistake is made where a simple TP/CP or monetary adjustment is required, those can easily be fixed, just point them out (do it nicely). If a mistake is made that affects your lineup, the match will not be replayed. The result will stand, but hopefully the reason for the mistake can be identified to prevent it from reoccurring. The software will do weird things sometimes too, but it does not play favourites. If software problems are identified let the commissioner know so the problem can be fixed. If an issue occurs that affects all matches or would result in “major manual work” to repair the database, then all matches will be replayed at the commissioners discretion.

In MSWL Season 6, for example, there were a variety of instances where people could have argued for replays...'''NO MATCHES WERE REPLAYED''' however. One team fielded an illegal lineup without a FW (this was later adjusted so it could not happen as the code repositions players to make a lineup legal). Alon Atie had two instances, one where his lineups did not make it to the commish and another where the software gave NYT a bizarre OTF in a match vs. GS. I must say Alon handled both cases better than anyone else ever has and should be commended. The first case meant 2nd in the 2nd Division rather than a possible 1st place, while the second situation meant GS did not go to the Final 16. I don't think we can foresee much worse than this happening to a team. But Alon did not get upset about it and "take his toys and go home" like some others have. Use this as your example when it does happen (and it will).

The Structure of a Season

Standings
Clubs are ranked during the season, and during special tournaments described below, primarily by the number of "league points" (Pts) they earn. Clubs earn 3 Pts per win and 1 Pt per draw. Clubs with equal Pts shall have that tie broken using the following criteria (in order):

Goal Differential
Total Goals Scored
Head To Head Record
Most Goals Scored in Head To Head Play
Games Won
Goals scored @ home
Home matches Won
Leading Goal scorer
Flip of a coin

Pre-Season Draft/Auction

Each league has different rules for the method of new pre-season players.

The Regular Season (LEAGUE)
The regular season will involve all the teams in each division playing the other teams in their division twice (once at home and once away).

The schedule will be published at the beginning of the season.

Each League has slightly different rules for how the league works, but essentially:-

1st in the Division wins the Divisions, and is promoted to the Division above unless in top flight already
Bottom in the Division is relegated to the Division below, unless already in the bottom Division.

To encourage competitive play towards the end of the season, Playoffs are used for further Promotion and Relegation.

Cups
Each League has slightly different rules for how their Cups work.

Each of the leagues, essentially have a Cup competition in the first half of the season, and another in the second half.

End of Season Awards
At the end of the regular season, each League hands out "awards" to a number of teams, in the form of resources. Each league, has differences in their award system, but all award ''Golden Boots'' the player who has scored the most goals in the regular season in each division and ''Golden Gloves'' for the top GK using the GK rating formula.