The Key To Success - AI Experiment/Sign-Up

The Key to Success – AI Experiment/Sign-Up

Welcome to ‘The Key to Success’, an AI experiment and a selective sign up rolled into one.

The objective here is to see, over an extended period of time, what facets of a club are the key to long-term success. Users will be able to apply for one of the ten available spots in this experiment, choosing the type of club they want to have and the areas they want to concentrate on, they then watch and find out how there club does over the course of time in comparison to the other users.

Will the club find Premiership Glory or be little more than Conference makeweights? The choice, as always, is yours.

Financial Problems in the Blue Square Regional Leagues

The Daily Mail

The football world was shocked yesterday with the news that several clubs in the Blue Square North and South have dropped down the football pyramid due to financial difficulties. The clubs had been struggling for a while and have decided that a drop down to a less expensive league is their only option for survival, this unprecedented event has left many wondering what the Football Association are going to do to replace the clubs.

The teams facing trouble in the Blue Square North are Boston United, Nuneaton Borough, Leigh RMI, Vauxhall Motors, and Hucknall Town.

From the Blue Square South they are Weston-super-mare, Cambridge City, Sutton United, Dorchester Town, and Bognor Regis Town

Top clubs in feeder leagues refuse to promote

SkySports.com

Citing the financial cost, and the expected budgets and planning put into the league they are scheduled to play in, the top clubs in the leagues below the Blue Square South and North have said that it is too close to the season for them to consider accepting the Football Association's offer of moving up a step into the Blue Square leagues. It remains to be seen how the Football Association will fill these leagues or if they will run with just the 17 teams currently in each league.

The Times

In a move that is a complete culture shock to the English sporting world the authorities have announced that they are opening up the ten vacant positions within the Blue Square North and South leagues to applications from newly formed clubs backed by owners with the financial resources to pay the franchise fee and fund the necessary facilities required to operate a football club. It is thought that only individuals with tens of millions of pounds to spend need apply but this new chapter in English football history is sure to be an interesting one.

In their statement announcing that the spaces will be open to new clubs, the Football Association has given details of the necessary requirements needing to be met to be considered for a franchise, these include:

1. Meeting the minimum requirements normally associated with playing in the Football Conference North/South

As a reminder, the pertinent requirements are:

a) The location of the ground, in so far as its relation to the conurbation whose name the club bears, or is traditionally associated with, must meet with the approval of both The Football Association and the Board of Directors of the Football Conference.

b)The Stadium must have a minimum operational capacity of 3,000 calculated by a competent person in accordance with the guidance given in the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds (Green Guide). There must also be potential to increase the capacity to 4,000 in the future.

2. Applicant clubs should be located in areas where there are no football clubs in the football league and where adequate potential fan bases exist. Clubs based in large cities are acceptable provided they are distinctively located away from other clubs and where there is a potential fan base for the club.

3. An investment of £17.5 million will be required as part of the franchise deal, this investment is needed to establish community ties, build the stadiums, invest in the youth and training facilities, and pay the academies for the players being made available to the newly formed clubs.

In what is being seen as a landmark move, the Football Association has agreed that 50 youngsters from football academies across the country will be allowed to move to the new clubs and that the money invested by the owners will allow them to have these players play for the clubs. The players will be assigned in an American Sports like draft with teams picking in order, deciding on the players they want.

Football Association Press Release

As has been documented in the press, the FA is inviting applications from individuals interested in being granted a license to compete in the Blue Square North/South for the 2007/2008 season. Only investors with the ability to fund nearly £20 million need apply, and are encouraged to make applications to the Football Association using the standard business bidding process of sending applications privately to us.

We remind would-be investors that we would prefer clubs to be located in football-deprived areas and for the bid to expand in prose upon the benefits of a football club being based there and what the area has to offer. All bids will be considered on their merits and we do not rule out accepting bids coming from clubs being located in big cities, these will however be limited.

The Football Association has limited any investment to £17.5 million in order to try and prevent the new clubs from being vastly overfunded in comparison to the established clubs. Furthermore, a limit has been set of £5,000,000 in any one area. The Football Association would like the maximum amount to be spent on one area of a club with free reign to assign money to the other areas with a minimum of £250,000 spent in each area.

The areas where money can be spent are:

• Club Reputation
  

The money invested in this area will be used to establish community ties and give the new club press, advertising, and prestige in the surrounding areas and make it a more attractive destination for fans and players alike.

• Stadium
  

The government together with the Football Association has agreed to assist in the stadium financing costs, grants of double whatever the owner invests will be available to build the stadiums. Therefore a 16,000 capacity stadium is available which would cost the owner £5 million with £10 million in grants.

• Fan Support
  

All money spent in this area will be used to establish support in the local communities through press, freebies, merchandise, subsidised tickets, and other incentives. Every £250,000 spent is thought to lead to a 1,000 fans.

• Finances
  

The owner may assign up to £5 million in this area in £250,000 increments to be put into the club’s bank account for future spending purposes.

• Training Facilities
  

Clubs are invited to invest in their training facilities and investors are informed that generally a £5 million investment (together with football development grants) will garner a world class training facility rated 20/20 by the renowned ‘Football Manager’ magazine.

• Youth Development
  

As well as training facilities, a youth investment of £5 million (plus grants) will see a top class youth development facility built for the club and any investment rated as 15/20 by ‘Football Manager’ magazine will be granted a youth academy status.

• Chairman
  

Money assigned here will affect the training and development that you or your designated Chairman of the club will receive. Increased investment here sees better quality people instructing the Chairman and teaching him how to run the club to the best of his ability.

The application form:

 Proposed club name:
 Proposed club location:
 Club Nickname:
 Club Reputation:

 Club Colours (Home)
 Kit Type:
 Main Colour:
 Other Colour:
 Trim Colour:

 Club Colours (Away)
 Kit Type:
 Main Colour: 
 Other Colour:
 Trim Colour:

 Preferred Formation:
 Style of Play: 
 Marking:

 Stadium Name:
 Stadium Location:
 Stadium Capacity:

 Fan Support Investment:
 Money assigned to Club:

 Investment in Training Facilities:
 Investment in Youth Development:

 Chairman Name and Quality:
 Business: 
 Resources: 
 Patience: 
 Interference: 

 Total Points Assigned (TPA):
 Draft Points (70 – TPA): 
 [u]Further Information[/u]

Example Application

Proposed club name: Canterbury City

Proposed club location: Canterbury, Kent

Club Nickname: The Bishops

Club Reputation: 1550 (7)

Club Colours (Home)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: Dark Blue

Other Colour: White

Trim Colour: White

Club Colours (Away)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: White

Other Colour: Red

Trim Colour: Red

Preferred Formation: 4-2-3-1

Style of Play: Attacking

Marking: Zonal

Stadium Name: Marlowe Road

Stadium Location: Canterbury

Stadium Capacity: 6,250 (7)

Fan Support: 6,000 (6)

Money assigned to Club: £250,000 (1)

Investment in Training Facilities: 14

Investment in Youth Development: 20

Chairman Name and Quality: Benjamin Breeg (15) 15 x 4 = 60 points to assign

Business: 15

Resources: 18

Patience: 12

Interference: 5 (20 – 15)

Total Points Assigned (TPA): 70

Draft Points (70 – TPA): 0

Further Information

Canterbury has a long and varied history, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the Church of England, it is home to Canterbury Cathedral, Thomas Becket, and is the county town of Kent. With a city population of 43,432 and a district population of 135,278, there is the potential base of support for a league football club in an area of the country without many top football clubs. The nearest league football club is Gillingham, which is located many miles away.

The stadium will be situated in the west of the city on vacant playing field near Canterbury West station and will be named after Christopher Marlowe, a famous figure in the history of Canterbury.

Resources for Applications

Faithful Wikipedia for a bit of history and information about your chosen town/city

http://www.lovemytown.co.uk/FootballTeams/FootballTeamsTable6.asp - for a list (possibly out of date) of large towns without league football

The crux of my experiment is to answer a simple question:

What is the key to success?

Let me explain;

10 individuals (users of the forums) will be tasked with creating a club, but these will be no ordinary clubs, they will be clubs which have been set up by multi-millionaires but with conditions restricting the initial outlay on each club and forbidding future investment by them as they see their team’s progress.

The investors have been limited in their choice of the facets of the club they wish to concentrate on and these will be from across 7 areas. They will have 70 "points" to assign, with a maximum of 20 points assigned in any one area with the proviso that they must assign 20 points to at least one area, and every area, apart from the draft, must have one point assigned to it.

They can assign points to the following areas:

Reputation

Stadium

Fan Support

Finances

Training Facilities

Youth Development

Chairman's Ability

Any points they choose to leave over will go into the category "Draft", the person with the highest points left over in "Draft" will choose first in the player draft. Tiebreakers are settled by pot luck, with teams that are tied alternating positions in each round to change who chooses first.

If two teams have 2 draft points, one team would choose first out of those two in the 1st round, the other would choose first in the 2nd round.

The player draft features 50 players, with each team having five picks. These players will vary in skill and each player will have a screenshot together with a grade which will give an indication of their future potential. As an indication, the top 10-12 players will have a starting CA of 75 and a PA of -8. After that the players will drop to CA’s of 70 and PA -7, CA’s of 65 and PA’s of -6, and CA’s of 60 and PA’s of -5.

The teams will all start at the bottom tier of English football available in Football Manager, five assigned to the Blue Square North, five assigned to the Blue Square South. Each team will need to be based in England (or Wales) and have a relatively realistic name, which should be related to the area they are located. (Real London FC - acceptable, Poole Bandits - acceptable, Frazza's Footballers - not acceptable)

Points assigned will give the following results:

Reputation - Each point adds 150 to the club's reputation, which starts at 500. The maximum is therefore 3,500.

Stadium - Each point adds 750 seats to the capacity of the stadium, the start point is a 1,000 capacity stadium, and therefore the maximum starting capacity is 16,000.

Fan Support - Each point assigned gives an average attendance increase of 1,000, there is no starting point. Maximum average attendance is 20,000

Finances - Each point leads to £250,000 in the bank balance at the start, with 25% of the bank balance assigned to transfer budget. Maximum bank balance is £5,000,000.

Training Facilities - Each point increases the training facilities by the corresponding amount. The maximum 20 would give world class training facilities.

Youth Development - Same as training points wise, 20 would give excellent youth facilities plus a youth academy

Chairman's Ability - Each point assigned increases the ability of the Chairman by 10, maximum of 200.

Chairman Points

Take the points you’ve assigned and multiply by four, and then split between the following four attributes:

Business

Resources

Patience

Interference (starts from 20, use points to bring it down).

20 points assigned gives free reign over the Chairman’s skill level, and will see a CA and PA of 200. 15 gives CA of 150.

The Chairman will have the same preferred formation, style of play etc as your club

The Manager

The manager of each club will have 10s in all areas and a CA of 100. His preferred formation and style of play will be the same as your club; he will have a five year contract and love the club.

Other Info

After the teams and draft order have been announced teams can, before the draft occurs, trade with other teams to move up or down the draft board and or to acquire draft picks. For example, one club could trade the first overall pick to another club for their first pick in the first round (say 6th) and their second round pick.

Furthermore, they can trade up to 5 points of their attributes, taking the corresponding hit to their club's attributes. The trades would need to be agreed by both parties and sent to me by PM by both parties.

Each stadium's expansion capacity will be triple their starting capacity plus 12,000. Thus if you chose to max the capacity at the start (16,000) then the expansion capacity will be 60,000.

The players and chairman would be set as loving the club, have maximum confidence, and be given long contracts. Each player will start as an 18 year old with minimal initial reputation and ambition of 11.

The manager’s start at the age of 40 with minimal reputation to increase the likelihood of them staying, will love the club, and will have a five year contract.

The Chairman will be set to love the clubs they are at, and will all start aged 30.

Strategy

Each strategy will have pros and cons, and the benefits of strategies will be assessed in the updates which I am to continue as long as there is interest and hopefully for at least 15 game years.

Maxing out fan attendance and stadium capacity may lead to problems if the fans drift away after no initial success and high maintenance costs of looking after the stadium, alternatively, the revenue generated by the fans can be used to build the club up and buy players. The need not to expand capacity would prevent incurring expensive redevelopment costs that would see money eaten up and loans taken out.

Alternatively you could max out reputation and finances, hoping that the manager will buy in better players than the Blue Square Leagues are used to and that the success and reputation will bring in the fans. However the poor Chairman may mismanage the club, hire crap managers, and see the club’s reputation fall as it fails to get into the Football League.

Each strategy has benefits and pitfalls, going the average route may see those who were more aggressive in certain areas succeed initially, or perhaps longer term.

The Scoring System

A scoring system will be in place for each club based on the league their in with points awarded according to reputation for staying in the league.

Relegation means no points are earned for that season’s league performance. The team would not receive the league reputation points that they were playing in for that season.

Points of the competition are doubled for winning it, and promotion garners the points of the league the team is promoting to. (Thus the winners of the Blue Square Premier would get double the BSP's reputation, plus the rep of League Two that season).

Should any of the teams make it to the European stage, teams will be rewarded with the reputation points of that competition each time they spend a season competing in it, with a bonus of three times the reputation should they ever win it.

Winning the Premiership also entails a triple reputation points reward as there is no promotion.

To Sum Up

The objective is to see which strategy is the most successful long term, investing in the stadium, providing finances, investing in staff, building a reputation, or investing in players through either youth development and training facilities, or the draft.

I do not expect any teams to make the Premiership and I’d be impressed if a club made it to the championship.

I expect numerous people to want to take part; therefore this will not be done on a first come first served basis. The best applications will be chosen.

Silly names for clubs, stadiums, and people will likely see the application rejected.

Applications should be sent to me by Private Message with the title “Key to Success Application”

The FA (read me) may decide to ask you to resubmit/change details or suggest improvements; the FA may like your application but have received a better one for the same city in which case the FA will invite you to resubmit for another city/area.

If I receive too many good applications I will try to accommodate more teams.

The application form:

 Proposed club name: Poole
 Proposed club location: Poole
 Club Nickname: pirates
 Club Reputation:2000

 Club Colours (Home)
 Kit Type: plain
 Main Colour: black
 Other Colour: white
 Trim Colour: White

 Club Colours (Away)
 Kit Type: plain
 Main Colour: orange 
 Other Colour: black
 Trim Colour: black

 Preferred Formation: 433
 Style of Play: attacking 
 Marking: man

 Stadium Name: Brittany Ferries Stadium
 Stadium Location: Poole
 Stadium Capacity: 8000

 Fan Support Investment:7500
 Money assigned to Club:

 Investment in Training Facilities:12
 Investment in Youth Development:18

 Chairman Name and Quality:Maz Ad 
 Business: 
 Resources: 
 Patience: 
 Interference: 

 Total Points Assigned (TPA):
 Draft Points (70 – TPA): 
 [u]Further Information[/u]
Ill fill rest in later  

Example Application

The above is just an example of a bidding document.

Resources for Applications

Faithful Wikipedia for a bit of history and information about your chosen town/city

http://www.lovemytown.co.uk/FootballTeams/FootballTeamsTable6.asp - for a list (possibly out of date) of large towns without league football[/font]

The application form:

 Proposed club name: Truro City
 Proposed club location: Truro
 Club Nickname: The Buccaneers
 Club Reputation: 2000 (10)

 Club Colours (Home)
 Kit Type: Plain
 Main Colour: White
 Other Colour: Black
 Trim Colour: Black

 Club Colours (Away)
 Kit Type: Plain
 Main Colour: Black
 Other Colour: White
 Trim Colour: White

 Preferred Formation: 4-3-3
 Style of Play: Attacking
 Marking: Man Marking

 Stadium Name: The Quay Stadium
 Stadium Location: Truro 
 Stadium Capacity: 7750 (9)

 Fan Support Investment: 7000 (7)
 Money assigned to Club: £500,000 (2)

 Investment in Training Facilities: 12 (12)
 Investment in Youth Development: 18 (18)

 Chairman Name and Quality: Fred Brookes (12) 12 x 4 = 48 points to assign
 Business: 15
 Resources: 15
 Patience: 8
 Interference: 10 (20 - 10)

 Total Points Assigned (TPA): 70
 Draft Points (70 – TPA): 0
 [u]Further Information[/u]

The bustling cathedral city of Truro is the centre for administration, 
commerce and tourism for the county of Cornwall. 
Truro, called after Tri-veru meaning three rivers which includes the 
Rivers Kenwyn and Allen, has developed close to the Truro river. 
There has been a town here since the 12th century when Richard Lucy, 
a minister of Henry II built a castle on the hill. 
Work on Truro's cathedral started in 1880 but was not completed for another 
30 years.

Not only would Truro have the potential of its 19,000 inhabitants creating 
a solid fan base, it would have the whole of Cornwall. 
Truro would be the only major footballing team in the County (with 
Plymouth technically being in Devon even though it rests in both counties). 
The whole of Cornwall would have a home grown team to support putting 
the potential fan base at a massive 520,000 people. 

The stadium will be located to the west of the city, just west of Kenwyn 
and east of the Truro golf club. 
This location is currently fields, however with the potential to cement 
Truro's name on the footballing map the Council have already granted 
planning permission!! 
The name Quay stadium refers to the Cities rich maritime history.

have pm'd it, looks like a great idea

Proposed club name: Chelmsford United FC

Proposed club location: Chelmsford, Essex

Club Nickname: The Radiomen

Club Reputation: 1700 (8)

Club Colours (Home)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: Blue

Other Colour: Blue

Trim Colour: Yellow

Club Colours (Away)

Kit Type: Hoops

Main Colour: Red

Other Colour: White

Trim Colour: Red

Preferred Formation: 4-4-2

Style of Play: Attacking

Marking: Zonal

Stadium Name: The Marconi Stadium

Stadium Location: Chelmsford

Stadium Capacity: 6000 (8)

Fan Support Investment: 20,000 (20)

Money assigned to Club: 1,500,000 (6)

Investment in Training Facilities: 8

Investment in Youth Development: 7

Chairman Name and Quality: Gary Capri (12)

Business: 16

Resources: 14

Patience: 8

Interference: 10 (20-10)

Total Points Assigned (TPA): 68

Draft Points (70 – TPA): 1

Further Information

'Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England - the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Charing Cross in London. Chelmsford is steeped in history and was one of the original settlements of Great Britain. Residents of Chelmsford are known as 'Chelmsfordians'. The town has a population of roughly 120,000 and is still growing. It is a modern, well placed town that has a large number of commuters who work in the City of London financial sector.' - Wikipedia Description

Chelmsford Weekly News Article

With Chelmsford being a very large and very fast growing town, still without a Football League Team, a bid has been placed by multimillionare Gary Capri to fund a new football team in the town. With Chelmsford City FC doing fairly well in the Blue Square South, but not owning it's own ground, it seems like the ideal place for a proposed new team needed to fill the new spots opened up in the Blue Square South.

The prospect for support is great, the two nearest Football League clubs being Southend (20miles away) and Colchester (23 miles away) and the nearest Premiership club being West Ham (28 miles away) Chelmsford can expect many loyal fans as well as housing the many citizens of Chelmsford and the surrounding areas appetite for watching great live football. The recent infrastructure improvements around the city can accomodate a flock of fans turning up for match day and allow all travellng fans an easy journey to the ground. Who knows, with Stansted Airport only being a few miles down the road, it might even be easy to watch Chelmsford United in Europe in years to come!

The team will be Chelmsford United, as it proposes to unite Chelmsford and the surrounding area to support one team as opposed to the great divide in teams currently supported in the area, mainly West Ham and Tottenham.

The ground is proposed to be sited at the old Marconi factory site which has been dormant for years, a site very close to the town centre and railway station, but also cleverly right next to the University campus, a potential gold mine of football support.

The ground will be called The Marconi Stadium, a tribute to the great Guglielmo Marconi, and his first factory where he gave birth to the radio right here in Chelmsford. As such the nickname for the team would be The Radiomen.

The bid has yet to be approved but the council are optimistic and the town is greatly anticpating what could be a great boost to the town. Gary Capri has also enlisted Penny Lancaster, who was born in Chelmsford to add her glamour to the bid and is quoted to say ' We got Penny in, as this is her hometown, and we hope her flair will be an indication of the football we propose to play.'

Of course we will update you as soon as we can of the clubs proposal.

N.B. If this bid is accepted could the rivallry be set to max between Chelmsford City and Chelmsford United, could be entertaining. Thanks

Excellent bids received thus far, I make it 7-8 bids and all in different cities/towns, very good. In case it wasn't clear, this will be run on FM2008.

Chimpos, I love the post, your extra info is really good, much better than mine

However I think your calculator may be out by one

Fingers crossed for the pick. :o

Cheers Denther, back to my calculations, this is why I should do arithmatic in my head!

I like your bid too, sounds like Cornwall is a bit starved of football!!

Proposed club name: Gloucester Old Spots

Proposed club location: Gloucester

Club Nickname: The Dockers

Club Reputation: 3500 (20)

Club Colours (Home)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: Pink

Other Colour: Black

Trim Colour: Black

Club Colours (Away)

Kit Type: Hoops

Main Colour: Blue

Other Colour: White

Trim Colour: White

Preferred Formation: 4-3-3

Style of Play: Attacking

Marking: Zonal

Stadium Name: Hurricane Hangar

Stadium Location: Brockworth

Stadium Capacity: 1750 (1)

Fan Support Investment: 2000 (2)

Money assigned to Club: £750,000 (3)

Investment in Training Facilities: 12 (12)

Investment in Youth Development: 18 (18)

Chairman Name and Quality: Charles Wheatstone (10) 10 x 4 = 40 points to assign

Business: 15

Resources: 17

Patience: 6

Interference: 18 (20 - 2)

Total Points Assigned (TPA): 66

Draft Points (70 – TPA): 4

Further Information

Gloucester is a major population centre (pop: 136,203) in a prime location between Wales and the southwest; two areas deprived of quality football sides. This provides ample oppurtunity for a football side to thrive and flourish under the right guidance and investment. Although traditionally a rugby town, (where noteworthily the home game attendences regularly top 15,000), my client and investor, Charles Wheatstone, feels that this is only due to the inadequate investment and marketing of local sides. Gloucester can be considered a smaller scale Liverpool: built on a traditional dock industry that as its declined has seen the history cherished but the future not forgotten with widespread gentrification and focus on the cultural richness of the area and cider. This will aid in attracting high calibre players and we anticipate a rapid ascent through the football leagues.

The large proportion of the population are working class; the stereotypical football spectator. Pie sales in Gloucester are already amongst the highest in the country. So attendences are anticipated to rise quickly and on any street corner in Gloucester you will find a fine bunch of young men who, judging from the speed they can disperse from police officers and their considerable pugilistic abilities, are only the right opportunity away from the premiership.

The proposed stadium site is on the path of an old roman road and as such has ease of access whilst also being in a suburban area keeping costs, congestion and noise complaints to a minimum. This area has proven experience of accomodating high profile sporting events such the cheese rolling festival (although our players must be contractually forbidden from participating).

Any other questions please feel free to ask,

We look forward to hearing from you,

Hamuel

Sending PM

PM is sent... This looks fantastic, even if I don't get a franchise will follow with interest!!

Looks absolutely awesome, and the Bandits have applied.....

I dont understand how the points allocation works.

Inside the headquarters of the Football Association, a meeting is taking place between FA Directors and the Conference.

"Right David, can you update us on how the bidding is going? How many have we received, what the details are etc?" said Jeff Murdoch, the Chairman.

"No problem Jeff. At the moment gentleman we've received 12 bids and we expect more over the coming days. Most of the bids have come from individuals wishing to win franchises for southern located clubs, two from Cornwall, which does not have any league football clubs. Both Truro and Newquay have made bids. We've also received two bids for a team to be located in Poole on the south coast. In addition to those we've received bids from:

Swansea, Eastbourne, Chelmsford, Hornsea, Bideford in Devon, Stockton-on-tees, Gloucester, and Sutton Coldfield.

As I mentioned earlier, bids are mainly from the South at the moment, and very few received from northern towns and cities, or even midlands for that matter."

"Thanks David, I'm quite surprised we haven't received bids from Dudley, Guildford, Gateshead, Canterbury and places like that."

With that, Patrick, one of the directors began to speak.

"What about the bid details? What are people concentrating on?"

"Well Patrick" answered David, "Most bids have concentrated on the youth and training facilities, we have had few concentrating on finances, fans, or reputation."

"Interesting" said Patrick, "I think we need more variety, and more northern bids. Everyone else agree?"

Everyone nodded their heads, the meeting moved onto other matters.

This is very interesting...

Proposed club name: Longbridge Rovers

Proposed club location: Longbridge, Birmingham

Club Nickname: The Rovers

Club Reputation: 2250 (15)

Club Colours (Home)

Kit Type: Vertical stripes

Main Colour: Maroon

Other Colour: Gold

Trim Colour: Black

Club Colours (Away)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: Dark green (aka Plymouth Argyle)

Other Colour: Black

Trim Colour: Red

Preferred Formation: 4-4-2

Style of Play: Attacking

Marking: Zonal

Stadium Name: Viking Ship Ground

Stadium Location: Longbridge, Birmingham

Stadium Capacity: 2500 (2)

Fan Support Investment: 2000 (2)

Money assigned to Club: 250,000 (1)

Investment in Training Facilities: 10 (10)

Investment in Youth Development: 20 (20)

Chairman Name and Quality: JJ Wang (12) 12 x 4 = 48

Business: 10

Resources: 15

Patience: 18

Interference: 5 (20 - 15)

Total Points Assigned (TPA): 62

Draft Points (70 – TPA): 70 - 62 = 8

Further information

Longbridge is an area in Birmingham in the West Midlands, with an estimated population of 30,000. Ever since the Rover Car Company folded and shut down its factory in 2005, the area has seen a drastic slowdown in activity. However, a Chinese investor, JJ Wang, has decided to reinvest in the area to bring some life back to this once vibrant industrial town.

Establishing a football team in the town will serve as a boost to this area, in terms of employment and attraction. The potential earnings that could be earned from hosting football matches and their fans could surpass that of the former factory.

Being located in the Midlands, it has a huge base on which to draw its support. Nearby football clubs include Birmingham City and Coventry City, both of which play in the Championship.

The stadium will be built partly on the grounds of the old Rover factory, to be named the Viking Ship Ground in recognition of the Viking Ship that was present on the logo of Rover previously. There will be further references to the old Rover company, noticably in the kit of the football team and the badge.

We look forward to hearing from you.

(P.S. I hope this is OK. My math is horrible, so I hope I've added the points up correctly. :o)

Yes, you have.

Sorry, PMed

Hi BenArsenal, just to let you know you didn't add the initial 500 to your rep so it should be 2750 not 2250

Also your inteference should be 15 (20-5) not 5 (20-15)

(Spot the maths geek )

Hi BenArsenal, just to let you know you didn't add the initial 500 to your rep so it should be 2750 not 2250

Also your inteference should be 15 (20-5) not 5 (20-15)

(Spot the maths geek )

Cheers. Weg has pointed out the interference bit to me, and I've amended accordingly.

Thanks for the heads up.

I have sent my PM - Alnwick FC set to play at "The Castle" I hope my maths was right, I am checking some of it now...but will be embarrassed to find some errors haha.

Checked it to find two errors :O sending it now...

I had to try and make the Northernmost team, gotta destroy that Southern Pride

Whats your cut off point for applications mate?

Looks fantastic and I'm wondering when it is going to start as it should be an interesting read if I get a spot or not.

Cut off will be Friday this week most likely, maybe sooner, depends on how much time I have to sift through applications and code the database.

Proposed club name: Oxford Town

Proposed club location: West oxford

Club Nickname: The knights

Club Reputation: 2500(10)

Club Colours (Home)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: Red

Other Colour: White

Trim Colour: White

Club Colours (Away)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: Yellow

Other Colour:Blue

Trim Colour: Blue

Preferred Formation: 4-4-2

Style of Play: Defensive

Marking: Zonal

Stadium Name: The Stadium of Dreaming Spire

Stadium Location: Botley Road, Oxford

Stadium Capacity: 2500(2)

Fan Support: 2000(2)

Money assigned to Club: £250,000 (1)

Investment in Training Facilities: 20

Investment in Youth Development: 20

Chairman Name and Quality: Jason Bolt (15) 15 x 4 = 60 points to assign

Business: 15

Resources: 15

Patience: 15

Interference: 5(20 – 15)

Total Points Assigned (TPA): 70

Draft Points (70 – TPA): 0

Further Information

Oxford is also home to Oxford United, who are currently in the Conference National, the highest tier of non-league football, but have enjoyed greater success in the past.At a lower level in the football pyramid, the city is also represented by Oxford City.

The stadium will be situated in Botley Road,one of the main arterial road into Oxford, just outside of the commercial area and the big field would be converted to a stadium for all supporters.

This mystery investor Jason Bolt appeared in the news after agreeing with the council to start another football club.

A plan to create the club’s brand own beer is in the works…

Proposed club name: Gateshead Rovers

Proposed club location: Gateshead

Club Nickname: The Rovers

Club Reputation: 2000 (10)

Club Colours (Home)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: White

Other Colour: Blue

Trim Colour: Yellow

Club Colours (Away)

Kit Type: Plain

Main Colour: Blue

Other Colour: Blue

Trim Colour: Yellow

Preferred Formation: 4-3-3

Style of Play: Attacking

Marking: Zonal

Stadium Name: The Oak Stadium

Stadium Location: Gateshead

Stadium Capacity: 10.000 (12)

Fan Support Investment: 6.000 (6)

Money assigned to Club: 5.000.000 (20)

Investment in Training Facilities: 1

Investment in Youth Development: 1

Chairman Name and Quality: Martien Oak (20) 20 x 4 = 80 points to assign

Business: 20

Resources: 20

Patience: 20

Interference: 0 (20-20)

Total Points Assigned (TPA): 70

Draft Points (70 – TPA): 0

Further Information:

'Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne.

Gateshead town centre and Newcastle city centre are very close to one another, and together they form the urban core of Tyneside.

Gateshead is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.' - Wikipedia Description

Martien Oak is a rich investor from the Netherlands. Like lots of his countrymen he adores the English soccer culture and obviously he

wants to be part of that culture!

I'll be sifting through applications and determining clubs accepted on Thursday night most likely and then looking to get things started this weekend. Further applications will be considered up to that point.

Can't wait Wegason

Even if Truro don't get picked it looks excellent and will still be following this :o

Alnwick for LIFE!! If we don't get picked I guess I will have to support someone else I will be here though without a doubt.

hopefully i get picked

FA Announcement

The FA would like to announce its decision on the following bids: Poole Pirates, Bideford United, Stockton Athletic, Hornsea FC, and Truro City.

Poole Pirates - Rejected

User: m1234566778

The application from Mad Az was incomplete, showed a lack of thought and care, and was the poorest application received out of all. For this reason, the application has been rejected.

Bideford United - Rejected

User: Jack Rudd

The application for the town in Devon called Bideford was rejected, however, the owner of the club was invited to make another application for another area of the country. The FA cited the location of Plymouth and other awarded franchises for a denial of a franchise in the south-west.

Stockton Athletic - Accepted

User: DanGLiverpool

The application for a club to be located in Stockton-on-tees, a large town near Hartlepool and Middlesbrough was accepted, the application was strong in a town with the potential for a strong fanbase.

Hornsea FC - Rejected

User: Waghlon

This application, representing an area northeast of Hull was rejected by the FA, we do not feel it has the ability to sustain a league football club and better locations exist within the country.

Truro City - Accepted

User: Denther

The FA believes that Truro, and Cornwall itself, will be able to support a league football club and that a county the size of Cornwall should not be without a club able of making it to the Football League.

Further announcements will be made in due course.

I'm actually nervous to see whether my team have been accepted!

Eh, fair enough in being rejected. I cant even find Hornsea again on google maps! Which obviously means it too small to even sustain life...

think i might lose out now but hopefully not

FA Announcement

The FA would like to announce its decision on the following bids: Poole Pirates, Bideford United, Stockton Athletic, Hornsea FC, and Truro City.

Truro City - Accepted

User: Denther

The FA believes that Truro, and Cornwall itself, will be able to support a league football club and that a county the size of Cornwall should not be without a club able of making it to the Football League.

Further announcements will be made in due course.

Oh yeah, does a little dance and lets out a small woo hoo

Thanks Fa (Wegason ) Truro will not disappoint, mon the buccaneers

Can't wait Wegason KUTGW

Further announcements will be made in due course.

Does this mean soon? I am dying to find this out...

Proposed club name: AFC Slough

Proposed club location: Slough, Berkshire

Club Nickname: The Sloffs

Club Reputation: 2000 (10)

Club Colours (Home)

Kit Type: Stripes

Main Colour: Red

Other Colour: White

Trim Colour: White

Club Colours (Away)

Kit Type: Stripes

Main Colour: Blue

Other Colour: Yellow

Trim Colour: Blue

Preferred Formation: 4-4-2

Style of Play: Mixed

Marking: Zonal

Stadium Name: Thearte of Sloughians

Stadium Location: Slough, Berkshire

Stadium Capacity: 5,500 (6)

Fan Support: 5,000 (5)

Money assigned to Club: £250,000 (1)

Investment in Training Facilities: 14

Investment in Youth Development: 20

Chairman Name and Quality: Jimmy Riddle (14) 14 x 4 = 56 points to assign

Business: 10

Resources: 18

Patience: 14

Interference: 6 (20 – 14)

Total Points Assigned (TPA): 70

Draft Points (70 – TPA): 0

Further Information

Slough is located in the South of England and has a total resident population of 122,000 and is the most ethnically local area outside of london. A Heart of Slough project is an aim in Slough to create a European and a national focus, and a cultural quarter for creative media, information and communications industries. The aim is also to help create a mixed-use complex, multi-functional buildings, visual landmarks and a public space in the Thames Valley. Recommendations for the £400 million project have been approved, with work possibly starting in 2009 for completion in 2018. This will bring in many fans from different points of the world and will help innovate football in this great community.

The Stadium will be located near the Heart of Slough project as it will provide quick access to the stadium and with all thismedia attention will help bring more fans from an area beyond Slough.

Ah well, I already knew my Bideford bid had failed. Never mind. Congratulations to Truro City and Stockton Athletic.

Looks good this!

Hopefully I will be accepted.

Proposed club name: Yarmouth F.C.

Proposed club location: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

Club Nickname: Mouths

Club Reputation: 1700 (8)

Club Colours (Home)

Kit Type: Vertical stripes

Main Colour: Blue

Other Colour: Gold

Trim Colour: Red

Club Colours (Away)

Kit Type: Vertical stripes

Main Colour: Yellow

Other Colour: White

Trim Colour: Red

Preferred Formation: 4-4-2

Style of Play: Adventurous

Marking: Mixed

Stadium Name: Nelson Home

Stadium Location: Great Yarmouth

Stadium Capacity: 6250 (7)

Fan Support Investment: 5000 (5)

Money assigned to Club: 3,000,000 (12)

Investment in Training Facilities: 10 (10)

Investment in Youth Development: 15 (15)

Chairman Name and Quality: Leo King (13) 13*4=52

Business: 12

Resources: 17

Patience: 18

Interference: 15

Total Points Assigned (TPA): 70

Draft Points (70 – TPA): 0

Further Information:

Being the home town of the famous admiral Nelson Horatio, Yarmouth is a town with history. The town has overcome the Romans, kings and queens, bombs and floodings, and the town is still a vivid place. The only thing the town really lacks, is a professional football club. With the coming of Yarmouth F.C. the Yarmouthians can finally support a footballclub.

*waits nervously*

Jimmy Riddle:

Further Information

Salford is located in the South of England and has a total resident population of 122,000 and is the most ethnically local area outside of london. A Heart of Slough project is an aim in Slough to create a European and a national focus, and a cultural quarter for creative media, information and communications industries. The aim is also to help create a mixed-use complex, multi-functional buildings, visual landmarks and a public space in the Thames Valley. Recommendations for the £400 million project have been approved, with work possibly starting in 2009 for completion in 2018. This will bring in many fans from different points of the world and will help innovate football in this great community.

The Stadium will be located near the Heart of Slough project as it will provide quick access to the stadium and with all thismedia attention will help bring more fans from an area beyond Slough.

You forgot to mention David Brent and Wernham Hogg. Surely an oversight?!

Looks fascinating. Never submitted to a sign up before...so hoping I am in time and bid successful

Pm Sent Wegason

You forgot to mention David Brent and Wernham Hogg. Surely an oversight?!

????????????

David Brent (main character) and Wernham Hogg (the workplace) were in THE OFFICE - only thing I know about Slough!

I guess you need to watch The Office to understand that one!

Hmmm little worried that I may miss out with my Northern based club in a smaller town now

Thinking I am going to miss out as I also applied for a town in Cornwall, unless a rivalry is created...

Fingers crossed for the dockers

Hope they get picked as I'm really looking forward to picking all the high aggression and determined players to try and create a new crazy gang style team

If the opening post and the drama of the announcement decisions is anything to go by this will be an excellent read

Don't think my application will be successful but looking forward to following this

Wegason its not Leigh RMI if your doing it on 2009 its Leigh Genesis and they are not in BLue Square North

Jimmy...they still just as bad though lol

there my local team and my mates dad owns them lol

We are Leigh, We are Leigh, We are Leigh!