Originally Posted by
jloome
They've used databases primarily now for about fifteen years.
Most clubs don't have "hot shit" local hookups at all; they hire freelance scouts to check players out and ask locals questions about them.
TFC has had the same six or eight guys worldwide for about three years now, and a few of them for seven or eight years. Absolutely none of them, as far as I can tell, have pro playing experience. All of them are tangentially, at best, tied to the kind of roles where judging football players might be involved. How we collected them I have no idea. By personality, I imagine.
(One of them is a former club president or league president or something in Argentina, a former heavy hitter. But never a guy who scouted or played pro football.)
EDIT: As an addition, I'll note that a great many clubs buy the "professional" version of Football Manager's database, as the software company, SI, keeps scouts on retainer around the globe, as well as local experts. IT is apparently much more extensive and player-specific than the database in the game.