
- BGG rank
- BGG #3,756
- BGG rating
- 6.5
1st & Goal
- 2–4 players
- 120–150 min
- Complexity 1.8/5
- 2011

2017
Rules assistance for The Football Game
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Football Game is a board game released in 2017 for 2–4 players, 60–90 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Simon Pearson, Mark Pearson, and Jo Pearson and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Dice Rolling, and Simultaneous Action Selection.
Description from the publisher: About: In The Football Game, each player takes charge of a football club and manages it through an entire football season. The winner is the Club who most exceeds the expectations of their fans. The Football Game is a much about the football narrative as it is about winning. It captures the rivalries, the excitement, the back-page headlines, the stars, the emotion, humour and the occasional insanity and scandal of football both on and off the pitch. The Football Game combines our love of the sport with our love of tabletop gaming. It reflects not only how football works, but also how it feels! How to Play: The game is played over six rounds, with one turn per Player per Round. Each Round represents about 6 weeks of a football season. During setup, each Player chooses a Club and is dealt a random squad of Footballers and a Manager. The strength of your squad determines your Club’s Class (and win conditions). The transfer market is where you'll buy and sell Footballers in order to add strength and depth in your squad. You’ll need cover too: Players may become unavailable in the course of each Match Day. Every turn ends with a Match Day Roll, where coloured dice are used to reflect scoring. Even the very best Footballers won't perform every week! When selecting their match day team, Players should consider a Footballer’s Ability, Colour, Position, and how these might affect other Footballers in the team. Each Match Day influences the league position of all clubs, so you're never left waiting for your turn. You can boost your score through the use of Tactics cards played both before and after each Match Day Roll. Careful management of Tactics cards might be the difference between stealing the title for some, or avoiding relegation for others. These cards allow your players (such as the Wing Wizard, Ancient Attacker, and Incredible Sulk) to pull off elegant interceptions, lucky deflections, and wonder goals. The two twelve-sided bring about the fortunes and misfortunes that can affect any club or Footballer. You’ll experience Injuries, Knocks and over 50 events including Social Media Mishaps, Night Club Nightmares, Academy Stars, Billionaire Buyouts, Sell-On Fees and many more! Victory points are scored at several stages of the season, and are awarded according to your league position and club class. Different club's have different expectations, so the winner at the end will be the club who most exceeded their fans expectations! Will your Players perform? Will your risk-taking be rewarded? Will lady luck hand you a lifeline?
The Football Game supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for The Football Game is 60–90 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists The Football Game for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
The Football Game has a complexity rating of 2.1 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
The Football Game belongs to these categories: Sports. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Dice Rolling, and Simultaneous Action Selection. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of The Football Game are: Simon Pearson, Mark Pearson, and Jo Pearson. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists The Football Game as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.