i honestly dont get it too, was your stadium upgraded? it could be a rollback if the upgrade wasnt applied
1 day in T11 land is 1 day IRL (when building)
otherwise, its 1 day in T11 land is 2 WEEKS!!! (i still dont get why people say its 1 week though)

to make up a league filled with friends you all should start new FB accounts. dont worry FBs pretty lenient with multiple accounts. FB doesnt mind as long as you guys dont harass people
then 1 person invites everyone else when a new season kicks off, then you all should be in the same league (up to 14 players of course). the faster you can accomplish this the better since you never know if a random guy pops into the league. you all have the bonus of being in the same league (almost 100% sure shot), can support each other during matches, and negotiate deals between each other. if you guys arent token buyers i suggest to just skip that part. use your main account to check when the new league starts

i made the same noob mistake too. i thought the practices (stretching, cardio and practice matches) were auto added and stuff. you have to manually click them and make sure your players arent under 'rest' mode (1 bar? column?)