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-==== Game Fees ====
-KICKABOUT is paid for by players every Session, with current fees per session running at just £3.00 for
-the postal and premier leagues, with the e-mail leagues from September 2009 running at £2.75 per
-session. This fee is irrespective of how many games you play in that session as we unlike other soccer
-PBM’s, can see no reason for penalising players who achieve success and hence have to play more
-games. On top of this basic cost, there is a start-up fee to pay upon joining the game, which is currently
-£7.50, for which you get your rulebook, back newsletters, team-sheets and first two sessions. For brandnew
-managers, you may be asked to credit your account with enough money to cover the first FOUR
-sessions (£12.00), as we tend to prefer keeping idle browsers and rulebook collectors at bay. You are in
-no way losing out with this, as you will still get the sessions you would have to pay for anyway, but it
-stops the casual players dropping in and out of the game on every other session, and upsetting the flow
-and feel of league as a result. I you have email though you can get this and your first turn for free.
-In KICKABOUT, Managers who drop out (or are sacked), are replaced as soon as possible, normally on
-the same session. Unlike many of our competitors, we cannot see the point in playing computer-run
-teams we much prefer having real people as Managers running our teams!
-A full-season of KICKABOUT, covering sixteen sessions in all (and including your pre-season Session startup
-fee), costs £51.00 for the postal and premier leagues; whilst the e-mail leagues all season costs just
-£46.75. Please note that this payment is non-refundable, as you have reserved your position in the
-league for the whole season, and if you choose to drop out, then you forfeit your right to any recovery
-of that money. Our side of the agreement is that we will supply a whole season of KICKABOUT for your
-payment, which we will always meet. If you choose not to play it, then it is you that is breaking the
-agreement, not us. And, as a final note, if you submit orders when your account is overdrawn, or does
-not have enough money in it to cover the current session (i.e. less than £3.00 for postal and premier
-leagues and £2.75 for the e-mail leagues), you will be charged a double turn fee. This is done to
-discourage those players who seem to think we are a bank, not a business, and constantly play accounts
-which are overdrawn. The phrase which sums up our position is
-**`You must pay to play’**
-Ignore this, and you will find yourself pushed further into debt. If, after this, you submit a second set of
-orders without credit, you will be sacked as manager of the team, and your position given to someone
-else. Try to remember that we are a business, not a hobby; I do have a family to feed after all.
-If you advise a friend to join KICKABOUT, and he tells us that you did so on his start-up turn, we will
-credit your account with one session’s turn fees as a thank-you. However, please explain to your friends
-that they must send in their £7.50 start-up fee if they wish to play KICKABOUT, as just submitting their
-name and address will get them nothing at all.
-----
-==== Mailing Costs ====
-It is still possible to play the game by sending and receiving your turns in the post.
-There are two ways of paying for your mailing costs throughout the season, either by submitting an SAE
-each session, or by paying for a whole seasons mailing in advance. The latter option will cost you just
-£7.50 (£9.50 Overseas) for the whole season, while the former means that you MUST submit an SAE
-each session, and be liable to a £1.00 surcharge that is needed as we try and stem the rising tide of
-players who cannot be bothered to do either. Be warned; if you don’t pay for your mailing, and don’t
-submit SAE’s, then you will find that it gets very expensive!
-----
-==== Turnaround ====
-We aim to keep the game to a four-week turnaround for postal leagues, fortnightly for email leagues so
-that you gain the maximum enjoyment from our product. Each session your squad sheet will inform you
-of the next RETURN-BY-DATE, which will be the day we expect your orders to arrive back to us.
-Any orders arriving twenty-four hours after this date will be deemed late and you will receive one less
-automatic Success Point [SP] on the following session, so it is up to you to return your orders swiftly to
-keep the SP’s flowing. Your turns will generally (all things allowing) be processed the day after the
-RETURN-BY-DATE and if we do not have your orders then we will use the NO MANAGER RULES (below).
-Hopefully your next turn will be back in the post a day or two after that so that you will have plenty of
-time in which to return your next set of orders. If you have trouble in meeting deadlines, it might be
-wise to submit a set of stand-by orders for us to follow, rather than use the No Manager rules. This will
-save you precious SP’s, and will allow you to make a rough guess on what team will actually make the
-park for any missed games. At the start of a new season, you will be sent a standard orders sheet
-anyway, and if you choose not to use it, then that is up to you.
-----
-==== Missing Manager Rules ====
-If a manager misses a session and doesn’t submit orders then the computer will select his team for him
-(unless he has submitted stand-by orders), but this tends to be done with little tactical thought, so your
-team will not do as well as if you had selected it (at least, usually!!). No success points will be allocated
-to training during that session; all available SP’s are converted into cash at a rate of 100K per SP instead.
-Obviously, missing turns is not going to help your team building very much!
-If a second session is missed then we will assume that you have dropped out of the game and a new
-manager will be sought to take over the management of your team. Game over!
-----
-==== Disputes ====
-If you feel we have made a major mistake somewhere, or there appears to be an error made concerning
-your orders, then please include some documentary evidence (turn sheets, printouts, etc.) when
-contacting us about it. Without these we have no way of checking your claims and any errors cannot be
-rectified. We reserve the right to overrule any claims if we consider it necessary and our decision is final.
-Please don’t ask for a whole session to be re-run if the error is one that cannot easily be put right. We
-will do all we can to rectify mistakes on our part, but we obviously cannot do anything that will
-adversely affect the other players in the game. Such errors are very rare indeed, and though they do
-occur, we hope that you will never be the victim of one. Finally, please remember that we are human,
-and with the sheer volume of data entry involved in KICKABOUT, we cannot claim to be 100% accurate
-for 100% of the time.
-To err is to be human after all! [Rumour has it the GM is an alien though]!!!!!
-----
-==== Tailpiece ====
-This rulebook is only an outline of what the game of KICKABOUT contains. Much of the game revolves
-around the Newsletter, and it is from here that news, rules and ideas flow. Things such as the Kickabout
-Weekends breathe additional life into this already fascinating game, while your fellow managers are also
-a source of news and views, and you will receive the names and contact addresses of these with your
-start-up materials and fixture lists. Contacting them to arrange deals, friendly fixtures or just for an
-exchange of ideas can prove as much fun as the game itself.
-Whatever you get out of KICKABOUT, we feel sure that you will come to see why the game is regarded
-as the most complex, rewarding and fulfilling of its kind on the PBM market today. Good Luck with your
-side, and may you reap the rewards your planning and luck deserve.
-(This rulebook updated with the help of Graeme `Councilor’ Miller)