The programmers have devoted much attention the the club fans featuring in the game, and the new options are, either directly or indirectly, connected to them. Now, as we know, in FML a football supporter did not have too much say in what happened to his or her club. He did not voice his concerns on the situation at the club, the team's form or transfers, indeed, he did not even... turn up in the stands. For even though our virtual stadium had a name, and the pitch had a defined size and the way the grass had to be cut, this one thing, namely the stadium's capacity and attendance figures that come with it has been, more or less, a mystery. It is apparently going to change soon.

First things first, though; let's start by saying that the role of your club's supporters will be completely different. Creating your club – with its very own and distinct personality which will make it stand out from the crowd – is the essence of FM Live. Te game makers have taken these factors into account; they came to a conclusion that it is not how many fans your club has, but what kind of supporters they are that matters. Hence your supporters were divided into several groups, each of which has its own characteristics:

• Corporates – big fish in a small pond, they come not to watch games, but to take care of their business, the game itself doesn't interest them that much, but, significantly, hey inject loads of cash into the club's coffers.
• Die – hards – the fans, they are passionate about their club and like to get involved, it is this group that sing, shout and as a result generally get a sore throat after every game; on the downside – they do not spend too much on their club and tend to get themselves – and the club – into trouble.
• Devoteds, fanatics, just like die – hards they do their bit cheering the lads on throughout the game and they are staunchly loyal; however, they like to stay out of wherever things start to get a bit too hot.
• Families – not as hardcore as the die – hards or the devoteds, but their presence is nonetheless essential – the kids brought to the stadium by their mammas n' the pappas will one day become active supporters in their own right.
• Glory hunters – for them, the winner takes it all; when the team are on the rise, they are best supporter in town – they sing and egg the team on, and they buy heaps of food and souvenirs; but as soon as things turn sour they disappear from the stands.
• Sideshows – they like to dress up, being an average fan doesn't satisfy them; hats, caps, wigs, masks, faces painted in club colours, you name it. They contribute hugely to the great match day atmosphere.

Soon, each FML user will be able to get to know the fan structure of their club. Each fan group will contribute different attribute values, by which your club will be defined. These attributes are: Atmosphere, Loyalty, Passion, Money and Violence. All this is put in place to make each club that tiny bit different from other clubs, to give each club a specific feel. It's worth mentioning that how many fans of each group there are at your club will depend on many factors. For instance, a successful team with continental reputation will attract the corporates and glory hunters, while a team consisting of loyal and hard working footballers will be supported by a bigger group of die hards. Tough an committed players will be liked by a type of fan that might be unappealing to the businessman supporter...

It seems this module will be quite extensive, and therefore – more prone to bugs... But let's not be malicious and move on to the next supporter related novelty. We, as managers, will be able to capitalise on specific fan groups' interest in our club, and even stimulate that interest, by appropriate expansion of stadium infrastructure. Up till now we couldn't influence what was built in our grounds and how it was built. But now we will get to decide on what we want to put in four of the stands – more seats, a VIP area, or maybe some adverts? Your call. What you choose will determined the climate in the stand and your gate receipts. Ultimately, the first decision rests on whether you want your stadium to please your current fans or you would rather a different kind of supporters started coming to the games, which you can influence by adjusting the spatial arrangement of the stand accordingly.

You'll even be able to pick a specific type of the stand you will want to install. Each of those types will have many levels and will be priced differently, and it will have various amounts of space available. For example, one type can have 7 ordinary seat sectors and several lounges while another, instead of the lounges, will offer additional advertising space. The seating itself will not be the same everywhere; some seats will be more comfortable than others – so they will take up more room (smaller number of people will be able to sit there) and they will cost more. Yes, this is new in FML as well – varied ticket prices. The idea is that we will be able to set the price of the basic, cheapest ticket, and all other prices will be calculated by the CPU on the basis of that. But this is not set in stone yet.

What will probably not change is the way gate receipts are distributed between clubs; it may be unrealistic, but it had to be adjusted to the requirements of MMO gaming. The home game receipts will be counted and dished out daily, in proportion to the average attendance. Giving the money to the club after their home game would be unfair – it would favour those who play more matches and more often than others, and it would make everybody want to play the friendlies only at home.

Now, let's fantasize for a moment: Rob Cooper, one of SI programmers, has said that he would like to see the stadium licence requirements introduced in the game, but it is hard to establish how seriously we should treat such a loosely thrown in idea in the context of next year's changes. It would certainly be interesting – such requirements are the order of the day in real life, after all.

As you can see, the FM Live makers aren't loosing momentum and they intend to build upon their game. And while stadium expansion as outlined above will probably for a long time be available only in the online game, I think that the division of fans into groups and reflecting real world fan structures would be something worth adding to the regular FM series. But would the researchers handle the task?