Back in 2004 I didn't understand why the game could not open up more and allow more foreigners to be signed. Surely this would make the game more dynamic and fun, especially for smaller countries, which again would allow for growth? I did not see any downsides to it back then, and I still dont.
For some reason every time this topic was brought up for discussion on the English ManagerZone talk section, all hell would break lose. The same few "superusers" would use washed out phrases such as: "The rich will get richer", "This will only benefits the swedes", "Why change something that isn't broken?", "you give users one more foreigner, and soon they would want another and another!". The talk was almost of political nature. If you wanted more foreigners than this meant you where an ignorant and irresponsible person not able to see the dangerous consequences such a change would cause. I even remember Myfatcat advocating for zero foreigners back in the day. He seemed to be the guy who started the MZ border patrol unit as I like to call it. The last time I joined a discussion for more foreigners I was told by one of the naysayers that if I wasn't happy with the foreign limitation than I should just leave and play some other game instead.
When Patrick first announced that there might be an increase in foreigners I could not help but to think "oh, they are going to execute him". That said, I knew he was tough enough to drive through a change if he meant it would improve the game, and if he felt enough users wanted such a change.
Letting people vote anonymously without any danger of a verbal beatdown by these intimidating managers was nothing short of a brilliant solution by Crew. Let the majority decide, it is simple, and it is democratic. I myself knew what the outcome would be, as the MZ border patrol unit would not be able to influence the outcome of discussion like they would if the voting had been done on the forums, like they wanted. I was however not suprised to see them trying though. Early numbers showed a majority in favour of an increase in foreigners. As predictible as ever the MZ border patrol unit claimed this must be the new and stupid users just voting yes without thinking about the consequences. More detailed data on who voted what would prove otherwise. The border patrol unit was in dissaray. After existing since the day of dawn they had finally been defeated, by the majority, by numbers in its most pure form. Death by data. The game is finally not in shackles anymore regarding this, and can set sail. Work Permits would soon see the day of light.
I recently participated in the Legends meeting in Linköping. One of the first things I congratulated Patrick with was the implementation of Work Permits, as this is a clever way of increasing foreign limit and rewarding activity, aswell as making it as fair as it can be without overcomplicating stuff. Whinsy was the second to arrive. One of the first things he did was to congratulate Patrick with the idea and implementation of Work Permit. When Civilu arrived, he did the very same thing.
One thing had me baffled during the ongoing debate on the forums though. Why were there a few users in smaller countries whom opposed an increase. Surely nobody would benefit greater than they would? Australia springs to mind as a good example. I think I know the answer: Tiny countries have been tiny/small forever. They have never had a decent transfermarket. They have always had to resort to playing ManagerZone like it was called TrainingZone. Now imagine you are an Aussie guy who want to try out ManagerZone for the first time. 21 days into the game the transfermarket finally opens up to you, and you can buy some players. Approxomately 23 days into your career you have bought the three foreigners you are allowed to buy, and the market pretty much closes for you again. Now, you might be one out of two types of people; the one who is not extremely patient and also prefer playing a game where there are more than one road that leads to Rome, or you could the type who likes to see plants grow.
So, how many of the people who prefers having options and not being restricted to having to grow their own players like they are all some slow growing plant will still be playing in a country like Australia some seasons or years after they joined? Probably next to none. How many Aussies favour an increase in foreign limit? Next to none. Australians in favour of such an increase never bothered continue playing when they first joined.
Nothing is more limiting to the growth of a MZ country than the current foreign limitation, I am absolutely convinced of it. Some countries will stay tiny forever, no matter what, don't get me wrong. They sinply lack a decent population. Luxemburgh, Andorra, etc. But there is no reason Australia shouldn't increase slowly now that the game opens up a bit more by allowing their users less of a one dimensional experience.
How it works
Region A – These countries generally have a strong and active domestic transfer market.
Region B – These countries generally have an active domestic transfer market, but there are times when the market is slow or limited.
Region C – These countries generally have an inactive or very limited domestic transfer market.
Work Permit:
A player may qualify for a Work Permit that allows him to play in a foreign country by residing in that country. A Work Permit costs 10 times the Player's current weekly salary.
For example. A French player who has spent 60 days playing for an Australian team would qualify for a Work Permit. Until that time he is considered as a foreign player and is included in the foreign limit of 3 that all teams have. If after 60 days a work permit is bought, he is then considered a dual nationality Player and a foreign slot is now open in the team. If the player is sold to another Australian team, a new work permit must be obtained, or the player will once more be considered a foreign Player, although he will retain his residency days. The cumulative residency total for each player is always visible on the player page.
A work permit may be purchased for existing foreign Players by clicking on the Work Permit icon
. A work permit may also be purchased at the time of bidding on the transfer market.
A residency filter is available on the transfer page. We are also working on a significant user interface update to the transfer page that will be part of separate release this season.
An example of a player who has played in many countries. 
An example of a Polish player who has played in Wales for 1 day. 
Players began to gain residency days from June 17th, therefor the first players will qualify in region C, on August 1st.
Foreign Limits
The foreign Player limits will be reviewed periodically and only if we see that the transfer market for a country changes significantly, it is not our intent to make regular changes.
Region A
Teams in Region A may have 3 foreign Players and 1 foreign Player with a Work Permit, for a total of 4 foreign Players.
Region B
Teams in Region B may have 3 foreign Players and 2 foreign Player with a Work Permit, for a total of 5 foreign Players.
Region C
Teams in Region C may have 3 foreign Players and 3 foreign Player with a Work Permit, for a total of 6 foreign Players.
Inspired by this change, Club Chairmen have decided to assess their squads. Chairmen will review the activity of Managers and teams and withdraw their funding if they decide the Club is not active. They will publish their findings later.
