Here is my list of free players in Football Manager 2012. I am posting it one day before the official FM 2012 release. And I hope it will help you to get some decent players for free in the very start of your game.
The free players list has several properties I should mention:

- It contains around 150 best free players in FM 12.
- All players are grouped by positions (GK, DMC, DL, etc.).
- Every position group consists of 3 quality subgroups: Very Good, Good, Decent. As you understand the subgroups correspond to a relative player level.
- Every players is described with the following data: Name, Age, Nation
- Shortlist file is included (you can find a link at the bottom).

IMPORTANT NOTE: The list is opened for any changes. Surely I missed good free players. So you are welcomed to remind me about them in the comments. I will appreciate your help!

Share the list with your friends! They'll be happy!

Goalkeepers (GK)

Very Good  

Timo Hildebrand, 32, Germany
Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard, 28, Denmark
Biel Ribas, 25, Spain
Simon Pouplin, 26, France
Tony Sylva, 36, Senegal 

Good

Jerzy Dudek, 38, Poland
Matteo Sereni, 36, Italy
Vedran Runje, 35, Croatia
Stephan Loboue, 29, Ivory Coast
Andjelko Djuricic, 30, Serbia
Maik Taylor, 39, Northern Ireland
Dimitar Ivankov, 35, Bulgaria
Arni Gautur Arason, 36, Iceland

Decent

Richard Kingson, 33, Ghana
Mahamadou Sidibe, 32, Mali
Lounes Gaouaoui, 33, Algeria
Youann Djidonou, 25, Benin
Richard Wright, 33, England
Alvaro Nunez, 38, Uruguay

Central Defenders (DC)

Very Good  

Marco Materazzi, 37, Italy
Arne Friedrich, 32, Germany
Vangelis Moras, 29, Greece

Good

Sol Campbell, 36, England
Francisco Pavon, 31, Spain
Dardo Caballero, 30, Uruguay
Ali Bouabe, 32, Morocco
Ivica Dragutinovic, 35, Serbia
Milton do O, 32, Brazil
Zoro, 27, Ivory Coast
Lamine Diatta, 35, Senegal

Decent

Moussa Quattara, 29, Burkina Faso
Kurt Van Dooren, 32, Belgium
Christian Daily, 37, Scotland
Vladyslav Vaschuk, 36, Ukraine
Jean-Jacques Pierre, 30, Haiti
Ricardo Rojas, 36, Chile
Eric Addo, 32, Ghana
Igor Gjuzelov, 35, Macedonia
David Jemalli, 36, Tunisia
Diego Crosa, 35, Argentina

Right Defenders (DR, WBR)

Very Good  

Carlos Diogo, 27, Uruguay
Andreas Hinkel, 29, Germany

Good

Stuart Parnaby, 28, England
Philipp Degen, 28, Switzerland
Mihael Kovacevic, 23, Switzerland
Abubakari Yakubu, 29, Ghana
Walid Regragui, 35, Morocco

Decent

Ivan Stevanovic, 28, Serbia
Thierry Gathuessi, 29, Cameroon
Frederic Dupre, 32, Belgium
Tristan Lahaye, 28, France
Paul Stalteri, 33, Canada
Maurice Ross, 30, Scotland
Hugo Ibarra, 37, Argentina
Kewullay Conteh, 33, Sierra Leone
Ibrahima Sory-Conte, 30, Guinea
Laszlo Bodnar, 32, Hungary

Left Defenders (DL, WBL)

Very Good  

Pierre Wome, 32, Cameroon
Fernando Vega, 26, Spain
Timothee Atouba, 29, Cameroon

Good

Wellington, 25, Brazil
Gustavo Nery, 33, Brazil
Armand Mahan, 27, Ivory Coast
Mariano Pernia, 34, Spain
Max Tonetto, 36, Italy
Lee Young-Pyo, 34, South Korea

Decent

Filippos Darlas, 27, Greece
Ibrahima Sory Camara, 26, Guinea
David Carney, 27, Australia
Luis Delgado, 31, Angola
Manu Rubio, 24, Spain
Stephen Jordan, 29, England
Ben Thatcher, 35, England
Amarito, 24, Spain

Central Defensive Midfielders (DMC)

Very Good  

Mahamadou Diarra, 30, Mali
Anthony Obodai, 29, Ghana

Good

Tam Nsaliwa, 29, Canada
Stelvio, 21, Angola
Leonardo Borzani, 29, Argentina
Richard Hughes, 32, Scotland
Zlatan Bajramovic, 31, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Nicolas Dieuze, 32, France

Decent

Badara Sene, 26, Senegal
Marc Gouiffe a Goufan, 27, Cameroon
Brahim Hemdani, 33, Algeria
Dario Damjanovic, 29, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Sven Vandenbroeck, 31, Belgium
Diego Camacho, 34, Spain
Mourad Hdiouad, 34, Morocco
Amdy Faye, 34, Senegal
Macchabes Younga- Mouhani, 36, Congo
Roberto Baronio, 33, Italy

Central Midfielders (MC)

Very Good  

 Maniche, 33, Portugal

Good

Gilberto, 35, Brazil
Daniel Jensen, 32, Denmark

Decent

Michael Stuart, 30, Scotland
Masilo Modubi, 26, South Africa
Ruben Palazuelos, 28, Spain
Sergio, 34, Spain
Geremi Ndjitap, 32, Cameroon
Stephen Appiah, 30, Ghana
Gianni Guigou, 36, Uruguay
Oumar N'Diaye, 22, France
Jonathan Lacourt, 24, France
Fernando, 33, Brazil
Lucas Pusineri, 34, Argentina

Left Midfielders and Wingers (ML, AML)

Very Good  

James McFadden, 28, Scotland
Marco Perovic, 27, Serbia

Good

Christian Gonzalez, 36, Argentina
Tom Soetaers, 30, Belgium
Boudewijn Zenden, 34, Holland

Decent

Andrejs Rubins, 32, Latvia
Fode Mansare, 29, Guinea
Michael McIndoe, 31, Scotland
Marco Ingrao, 28, Belgium
Kanga Akale, 30, Ivory Coast
Salomon Olembe, 30, Cameroon
Claudio Lopez, 36, Argentina
Jose Pereda, 37, Peru
Athirson, 34, Brazil

Right Midfielders and Wingers (MR, AMR)

Very Good  

-

Good

Gerald Asamoah, 32, Germany
Xisco Nadal, 25, Spain
El-Hadji Diouf, 30, Senegal
Rolan Gusev, 33, Russia
Steed Malbranque, 31, France

Decent

Lucas Castroman, 30, Argentina
Franck Songo'o, 24, Cameroon
Said Husejinovic, 23, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Romano Denneboom, 30, Holland
Miguel Perez, 31, Spain

Central Attacking Midfielders (AMC)

Very Good  

-

Good

Dalibor Stevanovic, 26, Slovenia
Elrio van Heerden, 27, South Africa
Javi Flores, 25, Spain
Jonathan Valle, 26, Spain
Arnold Bruggink, 33, Holland
Fernando, 32, Spain

Decent

Robert Pires, 37, France
Hong Yong-Jo, 30, North Korea
Edu, 32, Brazil
Hamed Namouchi, 27, Tunisia
Jason Koumas, 31, Wales
Julio Edson Uribe, 29, Peru
Lomana LuaLua, 30, DR Congo
Cesar La Paglia, 32, Argentina

Strikers (SC)

Very Good  

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, 32, Holland

Good

Nihat Kahveci, 31, Turkey
Ioannis Amanatidis, 29, Greece
Luciano Figeroa, 30, Argentina
Tomasz Radzinski, 37, Canada

Decent

Eddie Johnson, 27, USA
James Beattie, 33, England
Sandor Torghelle, 29, Hungary
Guayre, 31, Spain
Abdessalam Benjelloun, 26, Morocco
Leandro Lazzaro, 37, Argentina
Lenny, 23, Brazil
Marcelinho, 24, Brazil
Andres Oper, 33, Estonia
Stern John, 34, Trinidad & Tobago
Sergio Pachon, 34, Spain

Download free players FM 2012 shortlist file

For the laziest Football Manager 2012 gamers I am sharing my shortlist file containing all enumerated players

Download shortlist file

Hope you'll like my Football Manager 2012 free players list!