What in thw world is the point of downloading all these aptches and kits to get stadiums ands flags? Am I missing something here. I love Fifa, and consider myself talented, as well as quite addicted, but I don't see the joy in creating so many teams and stadiums which you will never use. Can someone fill me in on what I've been missing. I enjoy the game just the way I bought it.

Could you imagine Joe Madden with only half the teams in the roster, or playing with old rosters?

In many parts of the world football (soccer) is as big as, if not bigger than, grid-iron or baseball in the States. Pity the poor Australian or Bosnian or Korean footy fan whose team isn't listed. Needless to say, someone will feel the need to create the league in which their favorite team plays. An example of this is the English Super Patch. A few years ago in England and Wales, there was one major league with four divisions. At the end of every season there was promotion and relegation between the various divisions. In a bid to provide better football, the 1st division was split off as the Premier League (found in FIFA games) and the other three divisions formed the Nationwide League (not found in FIFA games).

Everything is fine and dandy if you like Man Utd, but if you like Ipswich, you can't have them in FIFA99, as they were promoted at the end of the season. Thanks to hardworking patch creators, you can have them, and Wolves, Birmingham and West Brom for people in the West Midlands who aren't Aston Villa supporters.

Some people feel that the 360º spin is a silly move, so a chap from Kiev called Duncker produced his FIFA99% patch that improves many aspects of gameplay.

The simple answer is:- if the standard game suits your needs then you don't need the patches. if you prefer a little more realism to rosters, leagues, etc. then download the patches. I would also suggest using SweetPatch MRA as you can always go back to the original game without having to reinstall.

thank you, steve. That was very well put. I must confess that I am not the biggest soccer fan. I am your regular American, and I love baseball and basketball. The level of soccer available for us Americans is not very appealling. I enjoy Fifa immensely, and now I can see what you are talking about with the level of realism involved in the game. I actually would like to see a way for defenses to react to what I have been doing in a game, because I can do the same move off a corner every time. But that may be a bot too much to ask. Any way, thank you.

The point is that some ppl enjoy creating teams, and yes some ppl use all the teams.
Im sorry that you do not feel the same passion as us other fans.

Hey Biggie! don't feel that way about it! Don't forget, the USA only started playing Association Football in a big way about 25 years ago. When they first started their leagues, they imported a load of UK and European players (older ones, to give their players a chance!) and even introduced an off-side line, as they thought the crowds wouldn't get the hang of two players between you and the goal line at the time the ball was played, etc. etc.

I tend to let the septics off when it comes to Rugby, as they think we're all mad, playing with no protection.

thanx stevie. Yes, us Americans are ignorant, but, hey, what can ya do?