Ageing
At season’s end the third factor that affects a player’s performance level comes into play, age! Ageing is the process that will affect the starting performance level of all players for the next season. Players age as shown in the table below. At the age of 32 there is a chance that a player may retire at the end of a season though it won’t be until he becomes 35 or more that this becomes a serious likelihood, with many older players continuing playing well into their thirties; just keep the matter in mind for your older players, especially your club captains.
However, the loss of skill levels from an older player after ageing might well make it less attractive to keep him on the books. If a player’s skill falls below 1 after ageing then he automatically retires. There are advantages and disadvantages to having older players in your team. For a start, once a set age is reached older players tend to tire more easily than younger players when it comes to the Cup matches and extra time. However, older players use their heads more than their legs and between the ages of 23 and 28 their experience earned increases more quickly than does it for younger players, so it’s really a case of swings and roundabouts!
There are a few special cases of player’s performance levels not reducing as much as they should due to ageing. This comes from being the season’s highest goal scorer in the division, being the eldest defender/sweeper playing in the defence that concedes the least goals in each Division, or from being a STAR PLAYER. Also, at the end of the season, one of your players will be automatically rejuvenated at random (i.e. he ages but loses no performance levels). This will generally be one of the older players in your squad, but with random elements being what they are, there is no certain way of calculating who this might hit. The computer does check your oldest players first. SBY’s and STARS are exempt from losing levels through ageing.
Also, remember rejuvenation comes before retirement in the end of season ageing routine, so BOTH can happen to the same player. Also, when trying to calculate exactly what the effects of ageing will be on a player, you will generally find that they will fall between two performance levels after deductions. This is where experience comes into play once more, as the fractional gains they have made throughout the season will be what determine whether `half-levels’ are rounded upwards or downwards.
Basically, if an older player has played a good few games during the season, and has not benefitted from an experience gain, then he is more likely to have his post-ageing levels rounded up rather than down.
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