Long term growth of small clubs?

Hi all,

sorry if this has been answered elsewhere already, but I'm new to this game (well, I played the old Championship Manager way back sometime in the 90s), and am wondering if it is actually viable to start as a small (say third division club) and make your club into a European powerhouse?

Specifically, if you are successful on the pitch, do clubs grow sufficiently in financial terms, and do the number of fans and size of stadiums change sufficiently to compete with the likes of Man U or Real Madrid?

Also, do regens work properly in the long term? I seem to remember that when I first played (must have been 15 years go at least), the game would become pointless after maybe 10 or 15 seasons because of a lack of quality players.

Thanks for any answers!

Specifically, on this version yes the regens are much better and to answer your first question, yes you can turn a small club into a powerhouse

I've been managing Dover Athletic who start in Blue Square South and got them to the Premier league. My board reports always state they are pleased with the increase in stature of the club so you club status does improve.

In my first season was getting between 500-1000 fans turn up. After two successive promotions to League 2, I was up to about 2000 average for the season. In the Championship I was getting stadium selling outs of capacity at 6500 in most games.

Though I did have a turkish business man buy the club in my 3rd season in pre-season after promotion to League 2. He seems to pump £10-20mil twice a season into the club. The training and youth facilities have been upgraded twice each over the last 3 seasons during my seasons in League 2 and Championship. The only thing that wasn't improved was the stadium which has only 500 seats out of a 6500 capacity. I only asked for the upgrade at the start of the season in the Championship but he said he didnt think there was the fanbase to increase stadium size. So after promotion through playoffs to premier league im only getting 500 fans turn up while the mandatory stadium adjustments are being made for a 6000 all seater.

So only problem Ive found so far with managing a small club is that there is no option to ask the board to convert stadium to an all-seater. Only options are increase capacity size or build a new stadium.

Side note: Dover Athletic are in the 3rd round of the F.A Cup for real. The same stage I managed to get in my first season. Plus they are playing Huddersfield whom I had as a parent club for a couple of seasons

That's great to hear (read), thanks for the fast replies!

One more related question: in real life, clubs from smaller or medium nations (Netherlands, Portugal or even France spring to mind) simply can't compete with the finances of the big leagues.

Has this been made dynamic as well in this game? If the reputation of your club/league grows, do the TV revenues (and other country related income) increase?

Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

That's great to hear (read), thanks for the fast replies!

One more related question: in real life, clubs from smaller or medium nations (Netherlands, Portugal or even France spring to mind) simply can't compete with the finances of the big leagues.

Has this been made dynamic as well in this game? If the reputation of your club/league grows, do the TV revenues (and other country related income) increase?

Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

Yes, they do. There are TV revenue as the league gets better, and more prize money too! But you won't see the success overnight. The league as a whole must improve over a long period of time to see these effects.

That's great, this game seems to have come a long way since the 20th century!

Thanks a lot!