Persistent Online Seasons
TITLE:
Make Online Seasons Feel Like a Real Season – Persistent Fitness, Injuries and Suspensions
Hi EA FC team,
I mainly play Online Seasons because I prefer a more realistic football experience rather than Ultimate Team.
I think Online Seasons could become much more immersive and strategic with a few relatively simple changes, without needing to completely redesign the gameplay.
My suggestion is to make each 10-match Online Season a persistent mini-season.
During those 10 matches:
• Player fitness should carry over from one match to the next.
• Yellow cards should accumulate and eventually cause suspensions.
• Red cards should cause suspensions in following matches.
• Injuries should carry over for one or more matches depending on severity.
• Players should recover progressively between matches instead of automatically starting every game at 100%.
This would completely change squad management.
Right now there is almost no reason not to use your strongest starting XI in every single match.
For example, if I use FC Barcelona, why would I ever give minutes to squad players when I can always start Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Rashford, Pedri and the strongest available XI at full fitness?
With persistent fatigue and suspensions, suddenly the whole squad would matter.
Imagine reaching matchday 7 with Lamine Yamal at 75–80% fitness and knowing that matches 8, 9 and 10 could decide promotion or the title.
I might decide to rest him and start a rotation player instead.
That creates real football decisions.
It would also create much more variety between matches.
My rotation match could be my opponent’s first match of his season, so he might arrive with his strongest XI fully fit.
Or perhaps he has already played six matches and also needs to rotate.
You would never know exactly what squad situation your opponent is dealing with.
This would make every match feel different and give the season itself a real narrative.
It would also give value to squad depth.
Players who currently almost never get used would suddenly become important because you would need them during suspensions, injuries and rotation.
I would suggest a simple pre-match squad screen showing:
• Current player fitness
• Injuries and estimated recovery
• Yellow-card accumulation
• Suspensions
• Remaining matches in the 10-game season
The current promotion/relegation system could remain exactly as it is.
The main change would simply be that your squad condition persists throughout the 10 matches.
I think this would make Online Seasons much more realistic, strategic and unpredictable without affecting Ultimate Team players or requiring a complete gameplay overhaul.
It would turn Online Seasons from “10 isolated online matches” into an actual mini football season.
For players who want a more simulation-focused experience, this could be a huge improvement.
Thank you for considering it.
