Partnervereine richtig nutzen | Wednesday Wisdom

Whether you work together through a common owner or are connected through other means, it is always an advantage to have partners around the world as a club. Some partnerships are obvious with almost identical coats of arms and sponsors, others may be hidden. How are such partnerships integrated into Football Manager and how can a player benefit from them? @AccordingToFM has broken down how club partnerships work in FM20.

In order to decide how best to use your partners, it is worth looking at the existing partnerships first. To do this, go to “Club Info” in the side menu and then select “Partner Clubs” at the top. There you can find out everything about the clubs already linked to your club.

What do partner clubs bring?

There are several benefits that a side can get from a partnership. Deciding which option best suits your club and goals can be the key to success.

Right of first refusal for players

As the larger club in the partnership, you have the opportunity to go along with every transfer offer for your partner's players. At a club with a good youth department, you benefit from being able to match every offer for talent. You can then negotiate with the player, but the player ultimately decides which club he wants to join.

lend players 

One option, also used by many clubs in the real world, is to loan players to a partner club abroad or in a lower league. This can be used to give young players playing time. Although there is no obligation for your partner club to let these players play, the loan players can usually be called back. 

loan player

The other way around, this deal also benefits the smaller club in the partnership. In this way, the squad can be selectively strengthened with top talents, and there are no costs for these players - good if the transfer budget is tight.

Getting foreign youth players

With a partner club from another country, the chance of getting a talent in your youth player candidates from that country increases. In this way, a foreign talent could possibly be included in one's own youth at an early stage.

increase popularity

You can also acquire a partner club from a distant country to increase the awareness of your club there. This leads to higher revenues in merchandising. Most of the time, part of this partnership is a friendly game at your partner club.

Annual fee

Für die meisten Verbindungen ist eine jährliche Gebühr an den kleineren Verein zu entrichten. Wenn du den kleineren Verein der Partnerschaft leitest, kannst du so weitere Einnahmen generieren. Als größerer Verein erhält man in der Regel einen der oben genannten Vorteile.

Es gibt noch viele weitere Vorteile, die durch Partnervereine möglich werden, zum Beispiel das gemeinsame Scouting-Wissen, jährliche Freundschaftsspiele oder die gemeinsame Nutzung von Einrichtungen.

When signing up with a club, don't forget to review your partnerships and analyze how best to use this agreement. It's worth asking the board about a new partnership, even if you sometimes have to convince them to do so. If the board trusts you, you sometimes have the opportunity to propose your new partner yourself.