[FM10] The Dawning of a New Era

I am starting a career with a club I made myself in the editor(Welwyn(My home village)). I will post updates after every month for anyone who wishes to follow my progress. Feedback is welcome.

An Introduction to Welwyn

Welwyn are a small side founded in 1992. They currently play in the English Spartan South Midlands Premier Division and play their home games at Ottway Walk. They have basic training facilities and youth facilities. They are affectionately known as The Warriors.

My first propper update will either be this evening of tomorrow depending on when I get back from watching Stevenage play away to Port Vale.

July 2009

On my first day at the club the board announce that they are expexting me to achieve a mid-table finish this season with no transfer money to spend and no wage budget remaining. The next day I am introduced to the media.

The first decision I had to make came during my third day in charge when I was asked whether I wanted a friendly against the Glenn Hoddle Academy (GHA). I accepted their offer.

The first bit of bad news came when Welwyn could't afford their players wages and had recievers brought in and a transfer embargo placed upon them until they paid the money back that had been borrowed to pay the players.

On the 22nd came my first match in charge against GHA. Despite battling hard my Welwyn side were unable to prevent a superior GHA side from going away with a 2-1 victory. James Folkes gave GHA the lead after 29 minutes with a header from close range. The lead was then doubled on the stroke of half time with a stunning long range freekick from Michael Noone. Richard Harrison scored a close range finish to give Welwyn a late glimmer of hope but it was too little, too late. A very disappointing crowd attended of only 35 people.

Promotion odds put us at 25-1 suggesting we would do well to avoid finishing bottom of the league.

Screenshots

09/10 Squad

August 2009

We started the month with our first league game at home to Colney Heath. Welwyn could probably feel that they were fairly luck to get a 1-1 draw out of the game. Colney Heath took the lead when Adam Gordon scored in the 65th minute. Welwyn then brought on winger Rory Wilson who scored the equaliser 4 minutes later. The attendance was 200. By playing in this match Luke Nolan became the youngest ever Welwyn player aged just 15years and 343 days.

The next day Welwyn announced that they had sold 18 season tickets, but the best news was that the club had restructured their debt and the recievers were appeased meaning we were now able to control the sale of players again.

Our second game of the month came away to Biggleswade United. The Biggleswade fans were probably left wondering how the game only finished 1-0 after totally outplaying Welwyn. Biggleswade got the decisive goal on 73 minutes from centre back Matt French. Attendance 152.

We then had another narrow defeat, this time at home to Hatfield Town. Hatfield battled their way to a 1-0 win in an evenly contested match between 2 hardworking teams. Gary Metcalf gave Hatfield the lead in the 40th minute. Welwyn must have wondered what they needed to do to score, as time and again their shots were met by an defender ready to block them. Attendance 152.

The final match of the month, against Leverstock Green, was very disappointing. The game never looked like going Welwyns way from the 24th minute when Danny Poole was sent off with the game still 0-0. Leverstock Green then took the lead on 42 minutes when Mark Wiltshire scored taking them in 1-0 at halftime. Jamie Shaw doubled their lead shortly after half time and when Welwyn captain Ben Hill scored an own goal with little over 5 minutes left the 3 points were secured for Leverock. Final score 3-0. Attendance 311.

Screenshots

Finances for the start of August

League Table - End Of August

August Results

September 2009

The month started by the board telling me that they were satisfied with my management of the club, despite ending last month bottom of the league.

The first match of the month was a hard fought battle with Aylesbury which saw Welwyn take all 3 points. Welwyn took the lead when Leigh Rowe scored a header from point blank range just after half time. There was then controversy as Aylesbury had two penalty shouts turned down. Both teams had a number of attempts but the quality of finishing was poor throughout. Attendance 96.

The press wrote an extra report about this as I had finally found a winning formation it seemed. After I had tried several combinations including 4-3-3 the new 4-1-4-1 formation seemed to suit the players I had at my disposal.

The next game continued our unbeaten run. Welwyn will probably feel a bit lucky to have escaped with a 1-1 draw away to Dunstable Town. The match began with controversy as Dunstable had a goal disallowed in the opening minute. It remained 0-0 until the 81st minute when Jonathan Barnett scored to give Dunstable the lead. With dunstable already celebrating the win, Peter Adams scored a deflected shot in the second of 3 added minutes at the end of the 90. Attendance 326.

The next game saw our most convincing performance of the season to date. An efficient Welwyn performance saw them run out 3-0 winners at home to Chalfont St. Peter. Winger Peter adams scored his second in two games to give Welwyn the lead after 12 minutes. Clive Wood then doubled the lead on 34 minutes before David Maxwell completed the scoring in the 41st minute.

The last game of the month was also the only defeat of the month. Broxbourne Borough fans left the game wondering how their side had only managed to win 1-0. Broxbourne took the lead when Chris Davies scored in the 43rd minute. Welwyn did manage to get the ball in the net but it was rightly ruled out for offside. Welwyn were carved open a number of times but despite their ability to create chances, Broxbourne struggled to put them away. Attendance 316.

Screenshots

Finances

League Table

Results

October 2009

The board announce that they are satisfied with my performance as manager.

The first game in October saw Welwyn held to a 0-0 draw by Kentish Town in a close fought match. Welwyn may look back on the number of shots from range they had and regret it as they often proved wasteful. Attendance 83.

The board then injected £26K into the club to help with the clubs running costs.

Welwyn's second game provided a fortuitous 1-0 win over Tring. Midfielder David Maxwell gave Welwyn the lead in the 24th minute. Welwyn later had a penalty claim denied. No matter how many shots Tring had, there was always a Welwyn player there to get the block in. Attendance 136.

The team then had a comfortable 3-1 win over Royston Town. Young striker Richard Harrison got Welwyn off to a great start with his goal in the 3rd minute, making him the youngest ever scorer for Welwyn at 16 years and 356 days old. James Sweeney then equalised for Royston in the 21st minute before Clive Wood restored Welwyns lead in the 34th minute. Rory Wilson completed the scoring on 58 minutes. Each side had a late penalty shout turned down. Attendance 97.

In the penultimate game of the month Welwyn came away highly disappointed from their 1-0 defeat to Welwyn Garden City. WGC took the lead when their captain Ender Öztürk scored a header from point blank range on 68 minutes. With Welwyn facing the prospect of defeat there was controversy as they had a penalty shout turned down. Welwyn had a number of chances but unfortunately were unable to put any away. Attendance 167.

The haloween match up between Welwyn and Langford saw both sides come away with a point. After the match, one of Langford's key players said that they were lucky to come away with a draw. Despite dominating the game, the only incident of any real note was when Welwyn had a penalty shout turned down early in the match. Attendance 90.

Screenshots

Finances

League Table

Results