Adriatic League (24.3 version)

• 18 teams
• 34 rounds (teams play each other twice)
• Teams 1st-6th qualify directly to the play-offs quarterfinal
• Teams 7th-10th qualify for the preliminary play-offs round
• All the play-off rounds are single legs, with home advantage always going to the higher placed team; in case of a draw after 90 minutes there will be additional 30-minutes extra time and then penalties, if needed
• Bottom 3 get relegated

Teams:

• 4 teams from Serbia (Red Star, Partizan, Vojvodina, Radnički Niš)
• 4 teams from Croatia (Dinamo, Hajduk, Rijeka, Osijek)
• 4 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo, Željezničar, Zrinjski, Borac BL)
• 2 teams from Slovenia (Maribor, Olimpija)
• 2 teams from North Macedonia (Vardar, Shkendija)
• 2 teams from Montenegro (Budućnost, Sutjeska)
• All teams had their reputation increased (5500 on the lowest end, 6900 on the highest)
• All teams had their debts cleared and start the save with similar finances (~25.000.000e balance, ~5.000.000e transfer budget)
• All stadiums now have undersoil heating installed
• All teams had their average attendances increased
• Every team has been replaced in their domestic leagues by their B team (Budućnost and Sutjeska being the only exceptions as Montenegrin league doesn't exist anymore)


Nation rules and continental qualification:

• The league was formed in the place of Montenegrin top division and Montenegro had its name changed to South Slavic Union
• The league's coefficient has been improved to the point where in the first season best 4 teams + the winner of Adriatic Cup will compete in European competitions
• All the participating teams compete in the original European competitions in the first season but representing South Slavic Union instead of their original countries
• All the players from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo kept their original nationalities but are considered non-foreign
• The quality of youth intake players has been significantly improved and all clubs had their ratings for Youth recruitment and Youth importance maxed out

Transfers, registration and match rules:

• Maximum of 30 registered players
• Maximum of 6 foreign players in the squad
• Minimum of 10 homegrown players (from ages 0 to 21) in the squad and 8 in the match squad
• Maximum of 4 loaned players
• Summer transfer window lasts from July 1st to September 1st
• Winter transfer window lasts from January 1st to February 1st
• 5 substitutions allowed in 3 stoppages + 1 in extra time, maximum 11 players on the bench
• Loans between the clubs are forbidden and the price evaluation is bulked up to discourage stronger clubs taking the better players from weaker clubs

Prize and TV money:

• Every team gets ~5.000.000e per season from TV rights
• Prize money varies from 900.000e to 5.000.000e and it increases slightly with each league position
• VAR and Goal-line technology both enabled

Additional notes:

• Team colors, jerseys, supporters culture, board culture, objectives etc. have NOT been changed
• The league is NOT a successor to Yugoslavian First Division but rather an entirely new competition with its own history

Competition format:

• 20 teams in 2 groups
• 27 rounds (teams play each other three times)
• Top teams from each group get promotion to Adriatic Superleague
• Teams 2nd-5th qualify for the play-offs
• All the play-off rounds are single legs, with home advantage always going to the higher placed team; in case of a draw after 90 minutes there will be additional 30-minutes extra time and then penalties, if needed
• The final is also single leg but at a neutral venue (National Stadium); winner of the match gets promotion to Adriatic Superleague
• No relegation

Teams:

• 5 teams from Serbia (Radnički Kragujevac, Novi Pazar, TSC, Sloboda Užice, Spartak Subotica)
• 4 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sloboda Tuzla, Čelik Zenica, Velež Mostar, Široki Brijeg)
• 4 teams from Croatia (Istra 1961, Varaždin, Cibalia, Šibenik)
• 3 teams from North Macedonia (Rabotnički, AP Brera, Shkupi)
• 3 teams from Slovenia (Koper, Celje, Mura)
• 1 team from Montenegro (Rudar Pljevlja)
• All teams had their reputations increased (from 4550 to 5700)
• All teams had their debts cleared and start the save with similar finances (~10.000.000e balance, ~2.500.000e transfer budget)
• All stadiums now have undersoil heating installed
• All teams had their average attendances increased
• Every team has been replaced in their domestic leagues by their B team (Rudar Pljevlja being the only exception as Montenegrin league doesn't exist anymore)

Nation rules and continental qualification:

• Maximum of 30 registered players
• Maximum of 5 foreign players in the squad
• Minimum of 10 homegrown players (from ages 0 to 21) in the squad and 8 in the match squad
• All the players from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo kept their original nationalities but are considered non-foreign
• The quality of youth intake players has been significantly improved and all clubs had their ratings for Youth recruitment and Youth importance maxed out

Prize and TV money:

• Every team gets ~2.250.000e per season from TV rights
• Prize money varies from 1.000.000e to 2.000.000e and it increases slightly with each league position
• VAR and Goal-line technology both enabled


About the competition:

• 38 teams participate every season (18 from Adriatic Superleague and 20 from Adriatic Challenge league)
• 6 rounds in total, single legs, extra-time and penalties if needed
• Prize money:
o ~50.000 for winning in the Preliminary round
o ~100.000 for winning in the 1st round
o ~200.000 for winning in the 2nd round
o ~400.000 for winning in the quarter-final
o ~800.000 for winning in the semi-final
o ~1.500.000 for winning the Grand final, 500.000 consolation for the runner-up
• Winner qualifies for Europe (Europa League play-off round in the first season)
• The draw is completely randomized, only rule is that up to the quarter-finals the lower seeded teams are playing at home; Final match is at the National stadium


KNOWN BUGS AND ISSUES:

• Any name fix will likely overwrite the competitions’ names
• Competition colors might not be correct
• At the end of the regular season, you are likely to see the icons “UCL”, “EL” and “UECL” in the table next to all the clubs in the play-offs, please be aware that it is just a graphic error that I am yet to sort out and doesn’t affect the gameplay as European qualification will proceed as planned
• During testing, I’ve continuously faced an issue of Serbian clubs still participating in the Serbian Cup even though they are now part of the South Slavic Union. Unfortunately, the ultimate solution was to remove the competition entirely so Serbia doesn’t have a national cup anymore
• On the records screen of Adriatic Superleague you might still see some of the old records of Montenegrin Top Division, please ignore them for now

F.A.Q.

Q: What version of the game is required to use this update?
A: 24.3.0 exclusively

Q: Can I use any other update with this?
A: Honestly, as this is my first ever update, I can’t answer that question but I can guarantee that it will work with the clean 24.3.0 version

Q: How did you choose the participating clubs?
A: I chose them based on their stature, history and facilities

Q: Why did you replace Montenegro instead of creating a whole new nation?
A: Because it was easier this way and saved me a lot of time

Q: Why did you replace the participating teams with their B teams in the domestic leagues instead of replacing them with other clubs from lower divisions?
A: Again, it was easier because with every club that you move up a division you have to pick another to replace them. For anyone that might be worried that these clubs’ B teams will still dominate – they won’t. You can control your own B team and help them be more competitive but all the B teams by default are much weaker than their league rivals and in every single test I ran they all sank to lower divisions quickly.

Q: Why did you name the new nation like this and not Yugoslavia?
A: Because I myself am from the area and know how many people react when they see the name. I would prefer to avoid the fighting and arguing in the comments.

Q: Why didn’t you change all the players’ nationalities to South Slavic?
A: Because the point of this update isn’t to create another Yugoslavia, the point is to make a regional league where the clubs could get stronger through competing against each others and in European competitions but at the same time provide players for their original countries so the national teams don’t suffer.

Q: Why did you choose this competition format? It's unfair!
A: Several reasons. First of all, I think it's a better challenge when the whole season is decided by a single-leg playoff. A typical league format is easy once you give it a few seasons and build a strong enough team. Second, I wanted something different to what I usually see people make.

If you would like a more simple competition format, let me know down in the comments and I will provide in the coming days.

For any questions, suggestions, critiques, problems, bugs and issues, please reach out in the comment section. Thanks and enjoy!