By David Marsden · Hamburger SV

Yesterday’s Youth Shield round exposed two separate problems, and it is worth being clear about both of them.

First, the new Tournament Centre was harder for some managers to navigate than it should have been. I accept responsibility for that. Based on the feedback, the tournament site has already been changed to make the schedule much easier to find, and My Matches now gives managers a simple personalised view of who they are playing and whether they should send the friendly request or expect one.

Second, one part of the published Youth Cup rules had become out of date. The old wording told an away manager who had not received a friendly request to contact the home manager 24 hours before kick-off. That was written when Soccer Manager allowed friendlies to be arranged much later. Changes to the game now mean that Wednesday can be the last opportunity to arrange a Saturday friendly.

The rules have therefore been clarified for future rounds.

Fixtures will normally be published by Sunday evening. The home manager should send the Soccer Manager friendly request promptly and no later than Wednesday. The away manager must also check the fixture and, if no request has arrived, contact the home manager before Wednesday’s arranging window closes. If either manager encounters a problem, they should tell the organiser while there is still time to resolve it.

The responsibility remains shared, but that does not mean the two jobs are identical. The home manager initiates the fixture; the away manager checks that it has happened and chases if it has not. Where there is a dispute, evidence of a timely request, message or attempt to resolve the problem can distinguish the manager who made a reasonable effort from the manager who did not. If neither manager makes a reasonable effort, both can forfeit.

Tournament reminders and newsfeed posts are useful back-ups, but they do not replace managers’ responsibility to find their fixture and arrange it in time.

This clarification takes effect from 13 September 2026. It does not retrospectively reopen the S28 Youth Shield Round of 32 decisions from 12 September. Those decisions were made under the rules and circumstances applying to that round.

The change is recorded in the Top 100 rulebook and in the full Youth Cup rules rather than silently replacing the old position. That matters: when the platform changes, our procedures sometimes have to change with it, but we should always be able to establish which rule applied at the time.

The practical version for managers is very simple: check My Matches on Sunday, send or chase the request, and don’t leave it until the end of the week.