I was seriously considering reviewing this game as a perfect 10/10 (which I don't do very often)...

..until I reached Division 1.

But let's talk about the good things first:
-I really liked the general composition of the sport - kind of like a combination of American Football and European Football, blending physical power and finesse in one exciting package.

-The graphics weren't bad - good enough to discern easily between the two teams, which is arguably the most important thing the graphics should show in a game like this.

-The simplicity of the game - movement WASD, plus 3 other keys - made it easy to jump in without stressing over complicated controls, and begin having fun without really practicing to any large extent.

-The music/sfx became quite catchy, as I began to joyfully anticipate those few notes indicating a goal had been scored, as well as when the game was over and I had time to rest a little bit. Very good sound indeed.

-My favourite part of the game has to be the individual statistics for each player, instead of a vague overall stat for each team, as well as the free agent signing after each division. I spent about half of my money I had earned for winning Division 4 on a single superstar player, and then fed him the ball whenever I could in Division 3 to take him up for a goal. I'm not sure why I loved it so much, but it seemed like you included much more detail than the average Flash game author. I also appreciated the inclusion of the various names of the players.. some of which gave me quite a laugh when I read them (ie. Bobby Fett, Lou Pole, Danny Quayle, etc.) and added an extra humourous, creative tone to the game.

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Just as an extra note, I'm not positive about how consistent the game is about this, but the player I signed was Ferris Jones, and he was incredible. Once I signed Tony Hayers, though, I knew almost every time he was in possessed the ball, it was likely going in the back of the net. Maybe somebody can reply to this comment and tell me if Hayers is the same level in their game - his stats, from left to right at the 'Your Team' screen before the game is 5-5-5-4.5-5.
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Now.. why only an 8/10?

Divisions 4, 3 and 2 were extremely fun; the difficulty was just right, some easy games and some difficult games. When I reached the match versus 'Simply Victory' in Division 1, however, the game became far too frustrating for me to enjoy. Not only did it seem the players were twice as fast as your own (and nearly all my players had all 5 * ratings), but once you eventually got the ball, their defense was impenetrable. I ultimately got one (pretty lucky) goal at the beginning of one of my several "refresh/replays" and just held it in my own end, playing keep-away until time ran out.

I am not a fan of leaps in difficulty whatsoever, so this really bothered me. It ends the fun of the game so abruptly, the player likely doesn't even understand why they can't beat it, as if by this stage in the game, they are supposed to have a team good enough to handle it. Even a slight mistake like this gives the overall product an amateur feel to it.

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I'd also like to point out another one of the highlights of the game was scoring a 126.9m goal, off the wall and in from my own end of the field! That was great. =)

Congratulations on the front page, and hopefully you accept my criticism and others, to perhaps make a sequel, as utilizing the opinions of the NG users in future projects will most definitely enhance their quality.

->Suspect

I can recognize how you would want to usher the player in and familiarize them with the controls and techniques in your game, but the Medium levels were way too hard off the bat.

The first level of Medium took ridiculously long and felt like there was no end to it.. I completed it after about 5 minutes, thinking it was going to be the only one like that. I reached Medium level 4 and quit. Not only does the Progress Bar fill up FAR TOO SLOWLY, frustrating the player, but the game's simplicity eventually makes it boring and aggravating to play.

The music sounded like it could have been pulled from an edition of Snowboard Kids for the N64 and, although catchy at first, was a nuisance more than anything.

By the way, you know that the level towards the end of the Tutorial stages has reversed controls, right? It is probably intentional, although it seemed very amateur and moronic to have a level like that and catching the player off guard, especially when the cursor reached the edge of the screen and could barely move due to the yellow slowing and short length of the 'string-thing'.

Definitely needs fine-tuning.. actually, don't tune anything. Leave this one in the trash bin and start working on your next project. I wouldn't recommend making a sequel to this game at all, even with the criticism of this edition.

->Suspect

Well, it was a quick, simple, and (at times) fun game. On to the (hopefully helpful) criticism.
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I felt that the main good points were:

-its setting within the atmosphere of a game I truly love
-and the timer gave you a sense of urgency.. = suspense

You did a pretty good job on Glados' voice/script too, but it got pretty annoying, even in the short time that I was playing for.

Even though I liked that it was, I didn't understand why it was in the universe of Portal.. It seemed to me that the doors/items/voice could be switched out for those of a haunted house, an abandoned warehouse, etc. and it would still keep the suspense without losing anything really critical to 'the story.'

..Perhaps you found a way to clone/create Glados' voice, and decided to use it in a Portal-based game, which required only a little effort? And, truly without any intention of offense, you say this is the result of 1 year+ post-beta? I know it was your first-flash, but I'm not sure I would blatantly advertise such a statement right on the page, even if you procrastinated for 11 of those months.

Alas, I can only speculate..

Point-and-click adventure games come and go through this.. er.. Flash 'portal'.. like the tides, and if you want to get noticed and/or followed, you really have to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack. Now, obviously you impressed Tom, and the front page will help your Flash career (congratulations on that, by the way), but the Newgrounds users are your main userbase and the expectations are pretty high on this site.

The best I can give the game is an average 50%, or 5/10.
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For the future:

-try to tighten up the graphics - even if this is just a sort of micro-fanbased-game, people will notice the time and effort you put into making your game as polished as possible

-if you choose to do another Portal game, try adding other distinguishing features of the environment (ie. the Companion Cube, turrets, energy ball/capture point, and oh, I don't know, the PORTAL GUN..!? maybe? hehe)

-you are obviously aware of this already, but I would suggest definitely an increase in length for any sequel you make, along with more challenging puzzles (especially towards the end to achieve the difficulty curve of easy--hard)

I'm sure other reviewers will give you more help on different points than I mentioned, and although a low rating may sting at first, in the end, its all for the better.

There's really nowhere to go from here but up.

Again, congratulations on making the front page, and good luck on your future projects.

->Suspect