How to find the best free players in Football Manager’s lower leagues

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Managing the lower leagues of Football Manager’s

Trial everyone – do NOT scout

Offer trials to released players at the end of the season

Invite everyone that your Director of Football suggests on trial

Filter by reputation when offering trials

Loan players

If there’s one thing I’m well-versed in, it’s managing in the lower leagues on Football Manager. While everyone else is bragging about finding the best wonderkids and tearing up their team sheets or splashing £50 million on the latest hot prospect, I’m here, in the trenches, figuring out how to sign that crucial striker with a budget of minus £10k.

Managing the lower leagues of Football Manager’s

Yes, it’s a wildly different experience managing in the lower leagues, and it forces you to learn tricks and methods that are completely alien to the majority of the Football Manager fanbase. I mean, we’ve all seen how few players actually vary up their styles to nab all the achievements.

In some ways, managing in the lower leagues is easier than at the top level. The opposition teams are often so poor that if you’re halfway competent, you can rocket up the divisions. However, recruiting players is where the challenge lies. You’ve got less money, more competition for signings, and a painfully small margin for error. It’s like trying to win MasterChef with a pot noodle and a spork. Brutal.

But worry not, dear reader—this is where I come in. My goal is to make your struggles a thing of the past. If even one of my tips helps you snag a player on a free, then my job here is done. So, let’s dive in.

Trial everyone – do NOT scout

Forget scouting. In the lower leagues, it’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Here’s why:

Terrible Scouts: Your scouts have a Judging Current Ability of about 8, which means they’d take one look at Lamine Yamal and conclude he’ll never amount to much.
Time Constraints: If you’ve got just one scout to assess hundreds of players, you’ll be waiting until next season to see anything useful.
Budget Woes: Scouting budgets in the lower leagues are laughable. If you’re managing a Vanarama North side, you’re lucky if the board lets you scout your division and the one above.

Enter trials—a lifesaver. You can offer trials to 30 players at a time, and once they accept, you can rinse and repeat. Before long, your training ground will look like Britain’s Got Talent auditions. After a week, you’ll be able to see their attributes and star ratings, which are surprisingly accurate indicators of their quality.

Here’s the kicker: as soon as the trialists join, immediately terminate anyone with a two-star rating or lower. Trust me, there’s a lot of dross, and you don’t need your assistant manager wasting time on players who couldn’t hit a barn door with a beach ball.

Offer trials to released players at the end of the season

At the end of each season, clubs release players. You can find them by going to Transfers -> Transfer History -> Released Players. Sure, most of them have been let go for a reason—they’re not good enough, they’re too old, or both. But for lower-league clubs, these cast-offs are golden.

Click through each team one by one and offer trials to all their released players. If 100 players are released, maybe only 5 will accept. But those 5 could be your next star players.

For a faster method, shortlist all Premier League and Championship under-23 players whose contracts are expiring that year. When they’re released, bring them in on trial. Easy.

Invite everyone that your Director of Football suggests on trial

Your Director of Football might finally earn their paycheck here. In the scouting section, they’ll recommend players. Anyone they suggest with four stars or above and an expired contract? Send them a trial request immediately. It’s that simple. They’ll often dig up hidden gems you’d never have spotted yourself.

Filter by reputation when offering trials

When you’re searching for players to trial, the sheer number can be overwhelming. In my save, nearly 40,000 players had expired contracts—far too many to sift through. The solution? Filter by reputation.

Go to Scouting -> Edit Search -> Add Condition -> General -> World Reputation. Adjust the reputation level to match your team’s status. Low-reputation players are usually dreadful, so start higher and work your way down. Trust me, your sanity will thank you.

Loan players

In the top tiers, relying too much on loans can stunt your squad’s growth. In the lower leagues, throw that out the window. Loans are your ticket to signing players way above your level and steamrolling the competition.

But loan deals aren’t as cheap as they used to be. The AI now squeezes every penny out of you. Here’s how to get around it:

Wait Until Deadline Day: Clubs often lower wage demands near the transfer deadline.
Target Transfer-Listed Players: They’re usually cheaper to loan later in the window.
Get a Senior Affiliate: Keep pestering your board until they agree. While some affiliates still charge fees, you might luck out and snag a gem for free.

So there you have it—my tried-and-tested tips for building a squad in the lower leagues when your transfer budget makes you weep. Hopefully, you’ve picked up a few new ideas, or at least had a chuckle at my expense. Got any tips or tricks of your own? Let me know—I’d love to hear them!

About the Author

William is the admin of Out of Context Football Manager, an X account that focuses on FM news. He's worked for LADbible Group and is VG's resident FM expert.