Has anyone found a gem in non-league football?

In my Barnet save I decided to work similar to the way Dagenham & Redbridge's manager, John Still works in terms of finding hidden gems in non-league. I scouted, watched games from the stand and did my homework on a lot of non-league talents. The one that I am most proud of is regen named Tom Kavanagh. He was playing with Isthmian Premier Division side Sutton United, he made one appearance for the first team but was stuck in the reserves. Under his general happiness it said "Feels he has lost the ambition for a football career" or something like that. I thought his physical stats were rather high for a 17-year old and the rest of his stats were probably BSP quality.

So I decided to bring him in on trial for two weeks. I liked what I saw and worked out a deal with Sutton United for £7,000 for his services. He made 10 appearance late in the season after impressing in the reserves, scoring a penalty that clinched promotion to League One on the final day of the season. Next season in League One he just exploded, his stats improved greatly throughout the season, and became the perfect player to control my midfield. Every time he touched the ball I watched eagerly, waiting for a killer pass to set up a chance, or waiting for him to pick a corner from 30 yards out, I seemed to have found the next Frank Lampard! By the end of the season he won Young Player of the Year in League One and helped us clinch a rather easy playoff final victory over Hartlepool United and into the Championship. He is currently playing at the England U-19 level but is also eligible to play for Wales. I also just locked him up on a new 4-year contract. Screenshots below if interested.

Edit: If you can't see the screenshots very well, just copy and paste the URL and it should be bigger.

Nice find dude, his physical attributes are awesome along with good determination. How do the scouts rate his potential?

In my previous thread in the FM Career Updates forum, when I was Lancaster City, I had a few gems come into my club through our youth system while we were a non-league side.

The best was easily Stuart Sobers. He appeared in my youth team when we were in the Evo-Stik League Premier Division and this is how he turned out:

Stuart Sobers - Initial Profile

Stuart Sobers - Age 23

The other real standout gem was Peter Henderson. He came into the youth side when we were in the Blue Square Bet Premier (so not really non-league but close enough!), although he could have stepped straight into a League 1 side at the age of 17 and by the time I reached the premiership and he turned 22 he could have walked into any top side throughout the world.

Peter Henderson - Initial Profile

Peter Henderson - Age 22

In my previous thread in the FM Career Updates forum, when I was Lancaster City, I had a few gems come into my club through our youth system while we were a non-league side.

The best was easily Stuart Sobers. He appeared in my youth team when we were in the Evo-Stik League Premier Division and this is how he turned out:

Stuart Sobers - Initial Profile

Stuart Sobers - Age 23

The other real standout gem was Peter Henderson. He came into the youth side when we were in the Blue Square Bet Premier (so not really non-league but close enough!), although he could have stepped straight into a League 1 side at the age of 17 and by the time I reached the premiership and he turned 22 he could have walked into any top side throughout the world.

Peter Henderson - Initial Profile

Peter Henderson - Age 22

They are two awesome players to get through a small clubs youth system. How many goals has Sobers scored in his career so far?

Nice find dude, his physical attributes are awesome along with good determination. How do the scouts rate his potential?

They think he can improve even more, and a solid Championship player at the moment. I have no doubt he will be able to step up to the Premier League sooner rather than later. When I initially scouted him my scouts said he was rubbish but I was so intrigued by his rather high attributes, which is why I gave him the trial. When his technical attributes improve, he will be godly.

They think he can improve even more, and a solid Championship player at the moment. I have no doubt he will be able to step up to the Premier League sooner rather than later. When I initially scouted him my scouts said he was rubbish but I was so intrigued by his rather high attributes, which is why I gave him the trial. When his technical attributes improve, he will be godly.

Keep us updated on how he does, I am curious to see how well he progresses I have never picked someone up from a club so far down before.

They are two awesome players to get through a small clubs youth system. How many goals has Sobers scored in his career so far?

Well unfortunately my save game corrupted, so I have had to stop playing.

Also, with these figures you've got to remember that he only ever played as a lone striker and the vast majority of my teams chances fell to him.

Appearances - 344

Goals - 497

Assists - 105

Average Rating - 8.08

Also, every year we played in a tournament which was for local sides, and we were the only decent side in it. Every other team was 2 or 3 levels below league football, so we won virtually every match, every year, by at least 5 goals, so he would usually bag himself at least 20 goals in that competition alone each year.

He would have got 1000 goals easy, must have really annoyed you when the game corrupt.

He would have got 1000 goals easy, must have really annoyed you when the game corrupt.

You could say that! We had just got into the premiership too.

As for getting to 1000 goals, he wouldn't have got them for me. After rejecting every bid for 7 seasons my chairman eventually accepted a bid for him and he moved to Spurs for £32m.

You could say that! We had just got into the premiership too.

As for getting to 1000 goals, he wouldn't have got them for me. After rejecting every bid for 7 seasons my chairman eventually accepted a bid for him and he moved to Spurs for £32m.

I am sure there are some stronger words than annoyed but better not to use lol.

I doubt he would have got 1000 goals if he moved to Spurs unless they also played in their local competition, I think that was a fault with the added lower leagues wasn't it?

I am sure there are some stronger words than annoyed but better not to use lol.

I doubt he would have got 1000 goals if he moved to Spurs unless they also played in their local competition, I think that was a fault with the added lower leagues wasn't it?

Well it is a competition that Lancaster City do play in every season, and in theory they would continue to play even if they did move up through the leagues. The bug is when big teams get entered in tiny competitions. In this case it was a tiny team playing in a tiny competition, just that we continued to play every year even though we went up through the leagues, not a bug.

Nice work. I'd love to do a transfer like that, although as a manager in the Prem, it seems pretty unlikely I'm going to pick up anyone good enough from that low. I do like the fact you extensively worked with him despite maybe not being scouted the best. Good eye for a player!

I've also sign two other players from non-league. At the same time I signed Tom Kavanagh I also signed Karl Humphrey, a centre half also from Sutton United on a free transfer, and a few months later I finally landed Osa Obamwonyi from Dulwich Hamlet for £20,000. I have tried to stay local and scout London based teams as I find the best players are found there. Both Humphrey and Obamwonyi had rather high physical attributes like Kavanagh. I'm going to ease Humphrey into my squad and maybe loan him out while I'm currently looking to send Obamwonyi out on loan right away.

Yes, a regen called David Brooks, as seen in my thread in the careers forum.

In my Barnet save I decided to work similar to the way Dagenham & Redbridge's manager, John Still works in terms of finding hidden gems in non-league. I scouted, watched games from the stand and did my homework on a lot of non-league talents. The one that I am most proud of is regen named Tom Kavanagh. He was playing with Isthmian Premier Division side Sutton United, he made one appearance for the first team but was stuck in the reserves. Under his general happiness it said "Feels he has lost the ambition for a football career" or something like that. I thought his physical stats were rather high for a 17-year old and the rest of his stats were probably BSP quality.

So I decided to bring him in on trial for two weeks. I liked what I saw and worked out a deal with Sutton United for £7,000 for his services. He made 10 appearance late in the season after impressing in the reserves, scoring a penalty that clinched promotion to League One on the final day of the season. Next season in League One he just exploded, his stats improved greatly throughout the season, and became the perfect player to control my midfield. Every time he touched the ball I watched eagerly, waiting for a killer pass to set up a chance, or waiting for him to pick a corner from 30 yards out, I seemed to have found the next Frank Lampard! By the end of the season he won Young Player of the Year in League One and helped us clinch a rather easy playoff final victory over Hartlepool United and into the Championship. He is currently playing at the England U-19 level but is also eligible to play for Wales. I also just locked him up on a new 4-year contract. Screenshots below if interested.

Edit: If you can't see the screenshots very well, just copy and paste the URL and it should be bigger.

Well done mate, very nice find, I never knew you could find some rough gems in the non leagues on FM.

Is this on FM10 or FM11? Just wondering, because there is no 'private chat' tab on his profile screen.

It's FM10, there's the league news icon next to the inbox icon.

I remember signing someone (an 18 year old striker) from a Conference South club, when I was in Conference North with Boston on a free transfer (he wasn't released, but his youth contract ended) and he stayed all the way through and scored in every division including the Premier League.

He wasn't my player but I saw a goalkeeper who started out with Hastings United and ended up becoming one of the top 3 goalkeepers in my save.

Well done mate, very nice find, I never knew you could find some rough gems in the non leagues on FM.

Is this on FM10 or FM11? Just wondering, because there is no 'private chat' tab on his profile screen.

It's FM 10. But yeah, you can find quite a few rough gems in non-league. However you need to have a keen eye and be persistent. I looked through thousands of youth players and watched a lot of games from the stands including reserve games (That is where I found Tom Kavanagh, in the Sutton United reserves). I've currently signed only three players from non-league, all when I was in League Two. Since I've moved up to the Championship so quickly however, I'm not looking in non-league as much as I did in League Two, where a few players could make the jump right away.

I guess it's all about exposing some of these youngsters to regular first team football. I'm sure there are loads of hidden gems about but never get close to their potential due to poor management. In FM10 when I used Genie Scout from time to time I noticed about 4-5 180+ PA regens from Northern Ireland. None of them had great CA's however (70/80) and they weren't picked up by any bigger clubs. I was tempted to take one for myself but I didn't continue the save so I will never know how they turned out.

Miguel Medina,you can find him in Paraguay u20 squad.Becomes one of the best strikers in the world...

I signed a 16yo regen from Dartford (outside the league structure) for 6k. He looks pretty tasty and scored a cracker from 35 metres on his debut. Has the potential ability to be a good premier league midfielder, although he's not there yet (now just turned 18). He's definitely able to be a good utility sub in the championship though.

It feels great too. To know all those hours slaving in front of my computer screen, signing, training and developing these players is actually very much worth while. If/when Tom Kavanagh makes his international debut or moves to the Premier League I'll probably cry!