June 2026 – Newsletter
June in Cape Town means proper winter – grey skies, cold mornings, and the kind of weather that keeps you at the keyboard. Which is exactly where I’ve been. May was a quieter month on the surface, but a lot was happening under the bonnet, and most of it is about to become visible.
⚙️ Match Engine V2
The bulk of May went on the V2 Match Engine, and I want to be straight with you about where things stand. On the personal front, my mum was admitted to hospital for nine days during the month. She’s home and recovering – but at 81 that takes time, and between the family commitments and the day job, development moved slower than I’d planned. I’m not making excuses, just explaining the honest picture.
That said, the work is progressing. I’m roughly a week or two from completing the core build – the minimum required before full system testing can begin. Testing will take another week or two after that, and then I want to go live and swap V1 out for V2. Realistically, that puts the switch-over at end of June, fingers crossed.
What does the V2 core actually include? Here’s the list:
| → | Everything V1 does – no regressions |
| → | More realistic scorelines – fewer blowouts, sensible goals-per-match and draw rates |
| → | Home advantage that actually reflects real football – targeting the real-world ~45/30/25 home/away/draw split |
| → | Stronger teams winning more reliably – skill gaps now translate properly instead of producing freak results |
| → | Manager decisions carrying more weight – your captain, formation, aggression and effort choices make up roughly 25-30% of your team’s effective skill |
| → | Missed turnsheet penalty and no-tactic penalty – engaged managers get the edge |
| → | Injured keeper auto-sub fix – a keeper comes off the bench, not a defender |
| → | Expanded match commentary – more variety, more colour, more events covered |
| → | In-house match predictor running at ~82% accuracy – plus a separate ‘beer-mat’ predictor shown alongside it so you can compare your gut to the engine |
The plan is to go live with just the core set and let it settle for a month or so. After that, I’ll introduce follow-on features one at a time – per-zone ratings, substitution tactics, formation impact, zonal tactics enhancements, weather effects, and more. You’ll get a steady drumbeat of improvements rather than one massive change.
📖 New Hint Sheets: #5 and #6
Two new Manager’s Playbook hint sheets went live in May. Hint Sheet #5 covers Experience – an often overlooked attribute that has a real effect on how players perform under pressure. Hint Sheet #6 covers Fitness and Injury – including how to train without making injuries worse, and how your Physiotherapist fits into the picture. Both are worth a read if you haven’t already.
🛠️ Bug Fixes and Small Improvements
My focus this month was almost entirely on V2, so game improvements were limited to what needed fixing. A processing speed improvement was made that has brought turn processing down to under 20 minutes per league. The Completed Transfers listing was also improved – you can now see the original club owner of a player who was put on the circuit and sold, which makes tracking transfer history a lot cleaner. A bug on the Clubs’ Transfer History page was also picked up and fixed.
🎨 Website Facelift
Work started in May on replacing the stock header images across the site with retro-styled illustrated artwork more in keeping with the Soccer Supremos look and feel. It’s not finished – this will continue through June – but the pages that have been updated already look a lot more like the game they’re describing.
| → | Four-way deadlock at the top of Division 1 – Rangers, Nottingham Forest, Walsall and Norwich City all on ten points after six weeks |
| → | Harrogate Town beat Liverpool 3-0 – one of the results of the season so far; they’re now one point off the summit |
| → | Hull City and Chelsea level at the top of Division 4; Gomis already on nine league goals |
| → | League Cup Round 2 underway – Last 16 draw scheduled for Week 8 |
| → | Five clubs covered by five points in the Division 1 title race with eight games to play – still anyone’s |
| → | Supremos Cup quarter-finals delivered the shock of the round: Nottingham Forest (Division 4) beat Barcelona to reach the semis |
| → | Cardiff City’s Bongonda scored a hat-trick in 27 minutes at Borussia Dortmund – three of his four goals in a single destructive spell |
| → | Athletic Bilbao on a six-game winning run; Real Madrid and Leverkusen both staring down the relegation barrel |
| → | Division 1 is now a genuine four-way title fight – West London Blue and Mighty Greens on 38 points, South Park Cows and Indie Kids United on 34 |
| → | South Park Cows host West London Blue in Week 18 – the biggest Division 1 fixture of the season so far |
| → | Richmond are 47 points clear in Division 3 and winning it by a distance; Gerblansky and Yakubu are joint top scorers across the league on 15 goals each |
| → | Trumpton: nine away games, nine defeats, zero goals scored – almost impressively consistent |
| → | Manchester City six wins from six in Group 1, three points clear – the early benchmark for the whole league |
| → | Group 4 is a six-club logjam at the top – Everton, with the highest-rated squad in the league, somehow sitting fourth |
| → | Hearts have climbed to the top of Group 3 for the first time; Lincoln City overtook Swansea to lead Group 2 |
| → | Still 24 weeks to play – every group position determines which division you start in for Season 2, so nothing is settled yet |
One moment from May worth putting on record. A manager in League 1 had a fire at home – and without any prompting from me, a group of six fellow managers quietly pooled together to buy him some turn credits. I matched their contributions, applied the full bulk discount, and topped it up myself to bring the total to 150 credits – five full seasons of play. It was entirely their idea. That kind of thing doesn’t happen by accident; it’s a reflection of the group that’s built up around this game. Thank you to everyone involved.
June is going to be defined by one thing above everything else:
| → | V2 Match Engine go-live – core build completion, full system testing, and the switch-over from V1. Target: end of June |
| → | Continued website artwork updates – header images across the remaining pages |
| → | Further hint sheets – time permitting alongside V2 work |
I won’t be adding new game features or improvements while V2 testing is underway – the focus needs to stay on getting the engine right. Once it’s live and settled, the follow-on features will start coming through.
Four leagues running, title races tightening in all of them, and a rebuilt match engine on the way. If you’re an active manager, your turnsheets are what keep the lights on – thank you for keeping them coming. If you’ve been away for a while and you’re reading this out of curiosity, the game is in better shape than it’s ever been and there’s always a club available. And if you’re brand new to all of this, the Starter’s Guide is the place to begin.
– Gads
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