Part 1: Oh god! Where do I start?



It's important to notice that Russia and Israel are not a part of Asia in FM. Therefore, I won't be saying anything about those countries or their teams (they aren't in the asian cups anyways). Australia is sort of a part of Asia though, but I won't bother with writing about that continent now.
If you are going to manage an Asian club, especially if it's a rich one, it could be wise to load all the leagues (or maybe all the top and decent ones). Usually there are few players in Asia, even with huge database, so if you need a new striker or a goalkeeper it could be hard to find a decent one. Therefore, select most of the Asian leagues if you are going to manage in a good league. If you are in a poor one though, you should'nt bother. Even though you have the greatest team in your poor league, you won't be able to sign players from the top leagues in Asia, any league in Europe or any league in America. Believe me, I've tried.

Part 2: Choosing a league
So you've picked some of the asian nations and leagues avaible (more about these later). Ask yourself: What are you looking for in a club on this side of the planet? Do you want to start with lots of decent and promising youngsters in an average team, or do you want to start from scratch (with minimal training facilities and almost no players) ? Or maybe you want to start playing in the Asian Champions League right away? For some clubs in certain leagues it'll take maybe up to 10-15 seasons minimum to get to play in the ACL, so it's important to know what you're doing here. You could obviously just don't give a fuck about it, but it's ok to have plans imo.

Top leagues

K - League


The top Korean league is definetely also the top playable asian league in FM07. The top teams, Suwon, Ulsan Hyundai and Seongnam, are comparable with teams in the Championship, maybe even comperable with the crapper teams in the Premier League. There are no South Korean youth league in FM07, but they do have a reserve-league which have lots of youngsters. Some teams have no youth facilities, even in K-League (N-league is also playable), but the bigger teams have youth academies.

Teams: 14
Matches: 26 + playoffs. From March to November
Match rules: No more than 3 foreign players in the squad. Squad must include a goalkeeper on the bench (wtf). 6 subs, maximum 3 used.
Qualifying for Asia: Playoff-matches between the clubs after the season decides who wins the league and that team gets an entry to the Asian Champions League. Also, the winner of the Korean FA-Cup gets a place in the ACL.
Relegation: None.
Cups: Korean FA Cup, Super Cup, All-Star Cup, League Cup
Average transfer budget: £ 760,000 (Highest: £ 1.3M Pohang Steelers Lowest: £ 57k Incheon United)
Average wage budget: £ 49,000 p/w (Highest £ 109,000 p/w Suwon Lowest: £ 28,700 p/w Gwangju)

Chinese Super League


The Chinese Super League is called Chinese Great League in FM07, and is obviously the top division in China. This league will probably make your head hurt, because of all the "edited" team-names. All the clubs have different names from real life; the team called Hong Harbin in FM07 is the top team in China, Dalian Shide, in real life. And Wuhan Shizi is obviously Wuhan Guanggu in the real CSL. Although the teams' names are changed, the players' names aren't, so you'll easily find european and south-american legends such as Zoran Jankovic and Gilsinho in the game. This league has a Reserves League and a U19-league.

Teams: 15
Matches: 28. From March to October
Match rules: Maximum 4 foreign players OR maximum 3 foreign players if you are not including Hong Kong. The squad must have no more than 4 Hong-Kong players. No foreign goalkeeper in squad. 7 subs, maximum 3 used.
Qualifying for Asia: The champions of the League, as well as the winner of the Chinese FA Cup, qualify for the AFC Champions League.
Relegation: The bottom team gets relegated.
Cups: Chinese FA Cup.
Average transfer budget: £ 300,000 (Highest: £ 690,000 Beijing Tiankong Lowest: £ 25,000 Shijiazhuang Hongse)
Average wage budget: £ 29,400 p/w (Highest £ 54,400 p/w Diwang Zibo Lowest: £ 12,900 p/w Chonqing Feng)


Decent leagues

Indonesian Premier Division


In Asian terms, the Indonesian league is MASSIVE. In the FM07-version, which is the same system which was used in Indonesia in the 2006-season, you've got 28 teams split in two groups, with 14 in each. However, in FM08 you'll probably see 36 teams in the top division, 'cause football is popular down there. The four top teams in each group qualifies for the "second phase", and eventually, they'll find out who wins the league in a final. For me, it's hard to say which teams are the best ones, but Persik Kediri and PSIS are two clubs worth mentioning. Many of the clubs in this division have youth academies, and there is also an U18-league. So you shouldn't be suprised if there will develop some superstars in this country in a few years/seasons.

Teams: A total of 28. 14 in each group.
Matches: 26 in each group + later phases. From January to August.
Match rules: No more than 5 foreign players. 7 subs, maximum 3 used.
Qualifying for Asia: The top two finishers in the league qualify for the AFC Champions League.
Relegation: Bottom two teams in each group goes down.
Cups: Indonesian Super Cup, Indonesian Cup
Average transfer budget: £ 75,000
Average wage budget: £ 2,000 p/w

Malaysian Super League


The MSL is quite new, and was introduced in 2004. Then it had only 8 teams, but now it's got 13. No team has been able to defend the title, so 3 different teams have won it: Pahang, Perlis and Negri Sembilan. If you include the team Perak, you've got the top four teams in Malaysia. Like in the Indonesian Premier Division, most teams in MSL have youth academies and at least an average training ground, but unlike its neighbour countries, Malaysia have an U21-league instead of the regular U18-league.

Teams: 13
Matches: 24. From December to May.
Match rules: No more than 3 foreign players. Must have at least one Malaysian U-21 player in the squad. 7 subs, maximum 3 used.
Qualifying for Asia: The winner of the Malaysian FA Cup and the Super League champion gets a place in the Confederation Cup.
Relegation: Bottom two teams are doomed.
Cups: Malaysian FA Cup, Charity Shield, Malaysia Cup
Average transfer budget: £ 125,000 (Highest: £ 200,000 3 teams   Lowest: £ 50,000 Melaka  )
Average wage budget: £ 8,800 p/w (Highest: £ 13,100 p/w Perak  Lowest: £ 6,300 p/w Melaka )


Poor leagues

Hong Kong First Division League


China's little brother in every way, even football. The only playable Hong Kong division in FM07 has only 10 teams, two of them far better than the rest (Sun Hei and Happy Valley). Compared to Chinese football, the Hong Kong football is far more amateurish, and the foreigners here are barely decent (but still better than the Hong Kongs). Some of the teams have parent clubs in China, some teams have only Chinese players, Hong Kong FC has lots of young, poor Englishmen, and the team Citizen seems to collect Ghanese players. So even though the league is tiny, you have lots of different teams. Most of the teams do not have a home ground, so most of the matches are played in the Hong Kong Stadium or on the Mongkok Stadium.

Teams: 10
Matches: 18. From September to April.
Match rules: No more than 7 foreign players in the squad OR maximum 4 foreign players if you are not including Chinese players. A limit of 6 Chinese players in the squad. 7 subs, maximum 3 used.
Qualifying for Asia: Winner of the league and the winner of the Hong Kong FA Cup gets a place in the Confederation Cup.
Relegation: Bottom two team goes straight down.
Cups: Hong Kong FA Cup, Hong Kong League Cup, Senior Shield, Hong Kong - Canton Interport Cup, Hong Kong - Shanghai Cup
Average transfer budget: £ 10,115  (Highest: £ 19,700 Sun Hei Lowest: £332 HKFC )
Average wage budget: £ 7,700 p/w (Highest £ 14,755 p/w South China Lowest: £ 1,193 p/w Hong Kong 08 )

S-League


Singapore's top league is probably even more unusually built up than the Hong Kong league. The Singapore Armed Forces FC is the top club in the league, together with Home Utd and Tampines Rovers. The Chinese Super League team Shijiazhuang Hongse have a squad in this division also, and the Japanese team Niigata have a reserves-team in the S-League. And if this wasn't weird enough, the Korean Super Reds FC also plays as a foreign team in Singapore. So what you have, is one army, 3 foreign teams and 8 "normal" Singaporean teams. In one league.

Teams: 12
Matches: 33. From March to November.
Match rules: A maximum of 4 foreign players in the match squad. 7 subs, maximum 3 used.
Qualifying for Asia: Winner of the league and the winner of the Singapore Cup gets a place in the Confederation Cup.
Relegation: None.
Cups: Singapore Cup
Average transfer budget: £ 24,800  (Highest: £ 40,000 Woodlands Wellington  Lowest: £ 0 Korean Super Reds FC )
Average wage budget: £ 9,300 p/w (Highest £ 14,250 p/w SAFFC  Lowest: £ 1,100 p/w Korean Super Reds FC )

National Football League (India)


The Indian league is a weird one. The national team is ranked 157th in the world, but they actually have one of the largest stadiums in the world, the Salt Lake Stadium, which fills 120000 people. Although cricket is the most popular sport in India, football is also quite popular.  But there is a major problem: Only a few of all the regions in India have good teams (Kolkata, Mombai, Goa), and in many regions it seems like they don't even have a team. But it looks like the Indian League is going to get better in the future, 'cause it can't go much worse actually.

Teams: 10
Matches: 18. From January to May.
Match rules: No more than 3 foreign players in the squad. 7 subs, maximum 3 used.
Qualifying for Asia: The winner of the Durand Cup and the winner of the league qualifies for the Confederation Cup.
Relegation: The 2 teams with fewest points go straight down.
Cups: Federation Cup, Durand Cup and Super Cup.
Average transfer budget: £ 25,600 (Highest £ 125,000 Mahindra United Lowest: £ 0 Air India )
Average wage budget: £ 5,100 p/w (Highest £ 8,100 p/w Mahindra United Lowest: £ 2,900 p/w Air India )


Now you probably know more about the top divisions in the managable Asian countries. I haven't been listing up the second division that some of these countries have (Korea have N-League, China have another league, and Malaysia have a second division called Premier League), but you should get the idea: these leagues are a bit poorer than the top league in their country. By "poor" leagues, like the S-League, I mean leagues that have less money, less good players and lesser chance of success in the asian-club competitions. Top clubs in the "Top" leagues should be able to win the Asian Champions League after one or two seasons. Be aware though, many unmanagable teams from Saudi-Arabia and Japan can be stronger opposition than you might think.

Part 3: Interesting clubs, my top 5 favourites

FC Seoul


The powerhouse in K-League and the powerhouse in the playable parts of Asia. With "lots" of cash, a promising squad, and a stadium with 66000 seats, your goal is to make sure that things stay this way. Should be a fun team to manage if you don't like too high expectations for a team which in real life is one of the richest in Asia. You even start with skilled youngsters that could have a major influence on the club's future.

Country: South Korea
Result last season: 4th in K-League
Stadium: Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul
Capacity: 66080 all-seater
Training ground: Average facilities
Youth facilities: Basic facilities + Youth Academy
Estimated value: £ 42.5M
Media predicition: 6th
Team expectations: Respectable league position.
Transfer budget: £ 1.1M
Wage budget: £ 67,300 p/w
Current wage budget: £ 33,000 p/w



East Bengal FC


Do you want to manage in one of the poorest leagues, but not be totally doomed? Then East Bengal FC is the perfect club for you; although the club is awful and shitty at the beginning, the finances WILL skyrocket in a few years no matter what you do (unless you do extremely terrible in the league and in the cups, of course). And it's all just because of one thing: The Massive Stadium. When I managed this team I managed to get from around £ 0 in finances to about £ 14M in four seasons. Which means that the board will upgrade the training ground and the youth facilities to an un-Indian level. Which also means that you could be managing one of the best clubs in Asia within 5-6 years.

Country: India
Result last season: 2nd in NFL (India)
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
Capacity: 120000
Training ground: Adequate facilities
Youth facilities: Basic youth facilities
Estimated value: £ 17,25M
Media predicition: 1st
Team expectations: Win the league
Transfer budget: £ 50,000
Wage budget: £ 6,668 p/w
Current wage budget: £ 5,250 p/w



Korean Super Reds FC


You start with no players. Find some.
Possibly one of the funnier hard challenges I've found in this game. Even though you have loaded the S-League and the Korean Leagues (as you probably understand, this team is 100% Korean, but for some reason it is based in Singapore), you got only a handful of youngsters in your Under 18's team. No players in the first team or in the reserves. But you can't get relegated from the S-League, so that's a relief. But the media and team expectations are way too high.

Country: Singapore
Result last season: New in the S-league
Stadium: Yishun Stadium, Yishun
Capacity: 4200 (3200 seated)
Training ground: Fairly basic facilities
Youth facilities: Minimal youth facilities
Estimated value: £ 75k
Media predicition: 8th
Team expectations: Safe mid-table position
Transfer budget: £ 5,000
Wage budget: £ 1,106 p/w
Current wage budget: £ 910 p/w



Shijiazhuang Hongse and Liaoning Guangyuan


Ever dreamed about managing two clubs at once in two different leagues without having to switch players? Well, if you're choosing Shijiazhuang Hongse (real name: Liaoning FC), you sort of can. Here's why: Shijiazhuang, which is a club in the Chinese Super League, have a B-team in the top Singaporean League. Weird? Of course. Fun? Sure! To make sure that you can manage this team, you should load the Chinese leagues and the Singaporean one, and then you have to pick the team in the Chinese League (other way around is impossible). You also have a U18-team in China which you can also choose to manage. So, if you are successful, you can actually win the CSL and the S-League in the same season, and you can even get both of your teams into the asian club-competitions. One superb advantage with the team in the S-League is that you don't have to have Singaporean players. So, if you have some good youngsters, you could use them in a professional league in another country. AWESOME.

Shijiazhuang Hongse
Country: China
Result last season: 12th in Chinese Super League
Stadium: Fushun Stadium, Fushun
Capacity: 31506 all-seater
Training ground: Fairly basic facilities
Youth facilities: Average youth facilities + Youth Academy
Estimated value: £ 1,6M
Media predicition: 10th
Team expectations: Stay clear of relegation
Transfer budget: £ 25,000
Wage budget: £ 17,000 p/w
Current wage budget: £ 14,000 p/w

Liaoning Guangyuan
Country: Singapore
Result last season: Founded in 2007.
Stadium: Queenstown Stadium, Queenstown
Capacity: 5000



DPMM (Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota FC)


Power to the Brunei's! This team based in Malaysia have almost only players from Brunei, a tiny tiny country sorounded by Malaysia. DPMM FC is owned by the crown prince of Brunei, His Royal Highness Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah. His Royal Highness himself used to be a goalkeeper for the club... So, why is this team interesting to manage? Well, think of the possibilities. If you were to manage the Brunei national team, and the team DPMM at the same time, you've got yourselves a nice save going on. You could recruit your club-players that you've developed to the national team, and maybe, somewhere around 2060, you've got Brunei in the World Cup. I want to start this save now!

Country: Malaysia
Result last season: New in the league. Currently 3rd in real life.
Stadium: Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan
Capacity: 30000 all-seater
Training ground: Fairly basic facilities
Youth facilities: Minimal youth facilities + Youth Academy
Estimated value: £ 95k
Media predicition: 10th
Team expectations: Fight bravely against relegation
Transfer budget: £ 90,000
Wage budget: £ 6,600 p/w
Current wage budget: £ 4,200 p/w

That's all folks, I hope you found it interesting.
- Lilarc0r

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