Football Data — Valid Commands & Common Mistakes

Football Data — Valid Commands & Common Mistakes

Valid Commands

These are the ONLY valid commands. Do not invent or guess command names:

• get_current_season
• get_competitions
• get_competition_seasons
• get_season_schedule
• get_season_standings
• get_season_leaders
• get_season_teams
• search_team
• get_team_profile
• get_daily_schedule
• get_event_summary
• get_event_lineups
• get_event_statistics
• get_event_timeline
• get_team_schedule
• get_head_to_head
• get_event_xg
• get_event_players_statistics
• get_missing_players
• get_season_transfers
• get_player_profile

Commands That DO NOT Exist (Commonly Hallucinated)

• get_standings — the correct command is get_season_standings (requires season_id).
• get_live_scores — not available. Use get_daily_schedule() for today's matches; status field shows "live" for in-progress games.
• get_team_squad / get_team_roster — get_team_profile does NOT return players. Use get_season_leaders for PL player IDs, then get_player_profile for individual data.
• get_transfers — the correct command is get_season_transfers (requires season_id + tm_player_ids).
• get_match_results / get_match — use get_event_summary with an event_id.
• get_player_stats — use get_event_players_statistics for match-level stats, or get_player_profile for career data.

Other Common Mistakes

• Using get_season_leaders or get_missing_players on non-PL leagues — they return empty. Check the Data Coverage table.
• Using get_event_xg on leagues outside the top 5 — returns empty. Only works for EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1.
• Guessing team_id or event_id instead of discovering them via search_team, get_daily_schedule, or get_season_schedule.

If you're unsure whether a command exists, check this list. Do not try commands that aren't listed above.

Command Parameter Reference

get_current_season

• competition_id (str, required): Competition slug

get_competitions

No parameters.

get_competition_seasons

• competition_id (str, required): Competition slug

get_season_schedule

• season_id (str, required): Season slug (e.g., "premier-league-2025")

get_season_standings

• season_id (str, required): Season slug

get_season_leaders

• season_id (str, required): Season slug (must be premier-league-*)

get_season_teams

• season_id (str, required): Season slug

search_team

• query (str, required): Team name to search
• competition_id (str, optional): Limit search to one league

get_team_profile

• team_id (str, required): ESPN team ID
• league_slug (str, optional): League hint

get_daily_schedule

• date (str, optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Defaults to today.

get_event_summary

• event_id (str, required): Match/event ID

get_event_lineups

• event_id (str, required): Match/event ID

get_event_statistics

• event_id (str, required): Match/event ID

get_event_timeline

• event_id (str, required): Match/event ID

get_team_schedule

• team_id (str, required): ESPN team ID
• league_slug (str, optional): League hint
• season_year (str, optional): Season year filter
• competition_id (str, optional): Filter to a single competition

get_head_to_head

UNAVAILABLE — requires licensed data. Do not call this command.

• team_id (str, required): First team ID
• team_id_2 (str, required): Second team ID

get_event_xg

• event_id (str, required): Match/event ID. Top 5 leagues only.

get_event_players_statistics

• event_id (str, required): Match/event ID

get_missing_players

• season_id (str, required): Season slug (must be premier-league-*)

get_season_transfers

• season_id (str, required): Season slug
• tm_player_ids (list, required): Transfermarkt player IDs

get_player_profile

• fpl_id (str, optional): FPL player ID (PL players only)
• tm_player_id (str, optional): Transfermarkt player ID (any league) At least one ID required.