CLUBS - Where do we even start?
FC 27 CLUBS / THE GROUNDS – WHERE DO WE EVEN START?
With v1.0.4 confirmed to contain no gameplay tuning changes, I thought it would be useful to put together a quick recap of the major issues currently affecting Clubs.
There are some genuinely good ideas in FC 27, but right now the mode feels buried underneath technical problems, removed features and gameplay that makes playing organized 11v11 football unnecessarily frustrating.
TECHNICAL / LOBBY / SERVER ISSUES
- Matchmaking instability – Squads regularly begin a search, start loading into a match, but the opponent/player counter never appears. Eventually a data-sync/error message appears and everyone is kicked back out. Reforming the lobby and searching again often works.
- Players being kicked from matches – Players who join an existing squad between matches can take their positions normally, load into the next game, and then immediately get kicked while the original players remain.
- Join Live is unreliable – Failed Join Live attempts can result in players not entering at all, and we've even had the substitution interface remain stuck over the actual match or even a second phantom game playing even though squad mates remain in the original game, running around aimlessly.
- Lobby freezes / locked states – Positions, including ANY, can become locked after matches. Sometimes the only solution is for everyone to completely leave and rebuild the lobby.
- General lobby instability – Freezes, failed searches, disconnects and other lobby behaviour make simply getting consecutive matches started unnecessarily difficult.
- Server instability / ping spikes – Connections that are normally stable can suddenly spike during matches. FC 27 has felt noticeably less consistent online than previous versions, even on wired fibre connections.
- Server selection / matchmaking problems – Some server regions can provide considerably better latency but effectively fail to find matches, forcing players onto higher-latency servers just to play.
- Squad Stats are broken – Individual club statistics are not displaying correctly. Games played may appear while the rest of the statistical information is missing.
- Leaderboards are also not functioning correctly. We still can't compare our respective club stats to that of our friends'!
- Third kits still cannot reliably be selected before matches despite appearing correctly elsewhere in the club.
- EA Connect opponent visibility is still gone – In FC 25 we could use EA Connect after connecting to a lobby to see the opponents/player count. That disappeared in FC 26 and is still missing in FC 27. Why?
CUSTOMIZATION HAS GONE BACKWARDS
This is one of the strangest regressions.
- AI player customization has been massively reduced.
- Hairstyles and other appearance options for AI teammates are restricted/locked instead of allowing us to properly create our squad.
- Face and appearance customization is nowhere near what Clubs previously offered.
- Boot availability is extremely limited compared with the assets that already exist elsewhere in the game.
- Other customization assets available in other FC modes are simply unavailable in Clubs.
For years, Clubs players have created recurring AI teammates, former club members, inside jokes and entire identities around their clubs.
Why are we LOSING customization options in a newer game?
A Clubs team should feel like YOUR club.
PROGRESSION / GROUNDS COINS
The Grounds economy also feels dramatically slower.
Playing matches and actually grinding the mode should be a meaningful way of progressing.
Right now, the Grounds Coin return from simply playing feels significantly worse than FC 26. You can play for hours and accumulate very little purchasing power relative to the cost of progression/customization items.
Grinding the game should be rewarded.
GAMEPLAY – THIS IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM
Technical bugs can eventually be patched.
The bigger concern is that the actual football in Clubs currently feels fundamentally broken in several areas.
PASSING
Simple football has become unnecessarily difficult.
In FC 26, if you:
- created an open passing lane
• faced your intended receiver
• applied appropriate power
• made the correct footballing decision
…the pass would generally reach that player.
FC 27 frequently ignores that logic.
Straightforward passes are underhit, redirected, played toward pressure or selected for the wrong player.
Instead of rewarding vision and buildup, the game repeatedly creates turnovers from passes that should be routine.
THROUGH BALLS
Through balls have the same problem.
A teammate can make the correct run into completely open space and the passer can have the correct body position, angle and power, yet the ball frequently:
- goes behind the runner
• gets underhit
• travels toward the defender
• selects an unintended path/receiver
Good runs should be rewarded.
Right now they often aren't.
SEVERE INPUT DELAY
This might be the single biggest issue.
FC 27 Clubs feels considerably less responsive than FC 26.
You notice it everywhere:
- left-stick movement
• L1 dribbling
• first-time passes
• turning under pressure
• shooting
• skill inputs
• clearing the ball
• player switching
• tackling
• reacting to rebounds
Football is a game of milliseconds.
When every action feels slightly behind your controller input, the entire mode becomes frustrating regardless of the underlying mechanics.
DEFENDING / PRESSING / PHYSICALITY
Making defending more manual was a GOOD idea.
But the current balance makes very little sense.
The problem is that attacking players barely need to actually defend.
Small, pace-focused forwards can sprint directly into defenders, repeatedly tackle/pressure them and recover almost instantly when they lose a challenge.
Meanwhile, as a CB:
- You win the ball but don't have enough time to turn.
• You can't reliably shield the attacker.
• You can't calmly pass backwards.
• You can't move sideways and recycle possession.
• You sometimes can't even clear the ball before the same attacker recovers and challenges again.
There is virtually no opportunity to SLOW THE GAME DOWN.
Every possession becomes constant pressure.
SHIELDING / BODY POSITIONING
Physical positioning needs serious attention.
A large CB should be able to place his body between the ball and a 5'7" pace attacker and protect possession for long enough to make the next footballing decision.
Instead, attackers can frequently wrap around the defender, challenge from behind or appear to bypass the physical advantage entirely.
Shielding works in certain situations, but it is nowhere near consistent enough.
If I've won possession, positioned my body correctly and have the attacker behind me, that should mean something.
TACKLE → INSTANT RECOVERY → TACKLE AGAIN
This is another major problem.
You successfully dispossess an attacker.
He stumbles or loses the ball.
Before your defender can even complete his recovery animation, turn or pass, the attacker has recovered and is tackling you again.
That completely undermines successful defending.
Winning a challenge needs to provide some meaningful possession advantage.
AI TEAMMATES
And then there are the AI bots.
Year after year this remains one of Clubs' biggest weaknesses.
Decision-making, positioning, reactions, movement and general football intelligence can still be incredibly poor.
Human players should determine the outcome of Clubs matches.
We shouldn't constantly be fighting against our own AI teammates simply to make basic football work.
THE CORE PROBLEM
All of these gameplay issues feed into one another:
Input delay + inconsistent passing + broken shielding + relentless pressure + instant attacker recovery + questionable AI = no ability to control the tempo of a football match.
That's the problem.
There is no breathing room.
There is very little ability to receive the ball, assess the field, protect possession, turn away from pressure and construct the next phase.
Everything becomes frantic.
Clubs should reward coordinated teams that create space, move the ball intelligently, defend properly and understand positioning.
Right now it often feels like the game is actively fighting against that style of football.
The Grounds has a lot of potential.
But before adding more events, cosmetics, consumables and progression systems, PLEASE get the fundamentals of Clubs working properly:
Stable matchmaking.
Stable servers.
Functional lobbies.
Working statistics.
Proper customization.
Fair progression.
Responsive controls.
Reliable passing.
Functional shielding.
Balanced defending.
Competent AI.
What have I missed?
I know our club can't possibly be experiencing all of this alone.
We need some answers guys, the community is very frustrated with the state of Clubs at present.
