Boston United going up...

Hi guys, I am not sure I can post this topic here, but I would like some feedback on this career of mine...

I started with Boston Utd in the Blue Square Bet North and I finished first 3 seasons in a row, which means I am now in League One. Now I find myself competing with teams which pay their average player 3 or 4 times my average.

My wages per week / attendance / bank account evolution

BSB North 5k per week 1338 per match 0 EUR

BSB Premier 10k per week 2110 200k EUR

League 2 16k per week (lowest of the league) 3875 375k EUR

League 1 27k per week (33k allowed) 4700 (after 2 matches) 700k EUR

Why keep 6k per week unused? Simple, I can not attract the players I want, because those are not interested signing with me (using large database by the way). I think the reason must me the "acceptable" training facilities. In those 3 years the board have not accepted any of my requests for improving youth and standard training facilities because of the financial situation...

Also the crowd attendances are disappointing, I've expected to have a full house every match in league 1. Another issue is that Boston rents its stadium (not in good state) and I can not expand unless I first buy the place... So I would prefer to build a new stadium, but guess I need to win the lottery first.

All this means my run of three times champions in a row will most likely be stopped and actually has to be stopped, because another promotion without an upgrade of my training facilities will only increase the problem even more next season.

.

As you might guess, my focus in the game is to find the right players for my tactics and find them cheap, making sure I have a healthy financial situation. I spend 32k on transfers in 4 mid-seasons (70 players in) and received 40k for selling players (71 players out)... Also I use long term loan players (all at 0 wage cost) whose are crucial to getting the results and keeping wage cost low at the same time.

And now I am not sure how to proceed to be able to increase facilities quickly so that I can take the last two steps to the Premier League? Guess I need more cash, but I am not sure how much more the board needs to actually accept my requests.

Does anyone has any advice or found themselves in the same situation?

Sorry for my English by the way, hope it makes sense

greetings

Playing FM11 by the way

firstly welcome to boston utd! as a regular at york street im glad to see you doing well. we are all rather fickle though so as soon as you lose a few games we will want you out! as we start as a non league club our reputation and facilities are not going to be good. in league 1 we will be seen as punching above our weight and expected to go straight back down. league 1 players wont want to join, your best hope of real talent is loanees. due to lack of money improving facilities is also unlikely to happen unless you reach the prem.

i also see you are not happy about attendances. despite being in the football league for 5 seasons we are traditionally a non league club which makes it hard to get supporters. around here most people support lincoln, nottm forest, leicester, leeds or 1 of the top clubs. they couldn't care less about how boston do. even when we were in league 2 the attendances were normally below 2,500 unless the away club brought a big following.

You'll probably find the reason you can't sign the players is because you've gone from BSN to to League 1 so quick. You may be at that level of football, but your reputation may not quite reflect that, which is something I've often found with quick promotions.

Thanks for the inside info and the geographics. I was not aware of the specifics. It does explain the attendance numbers. I hope the crowds will keep growing though....

Despite the obvious struggle I am pretty confident I have the necessary quality in my team (thanks to 4 loan players) to maintain myself in league one, although the differences in wages are sometimes huge. I just played Portsmouth (lost 1-2 at home), they have 2 players which earn more then 30k/week (my total is 27k/week for the entire club).

My reputation is most likely also a factor why I can not attract the right players. I started with semi-pro experience, although my reputation has gone up to "national". Club reputation is still "local" I noticed.

I was probably being over-ambitious trying to bring them straight to the top, but I guess I will have to be patient and maintain myself in league one a couple of years, try earning some cash and reputation, and upgrade my facilities to take the next step....

everything you said in the above post sounds good to me just try and build and develop a little more each season

Good luck and all that

An update for those who care...

Finished 3rd in my first season in league one, lost the final for promotion which gave me a nice financial boost though.

The next season I finished 1st with 105points with a wage budget about 58k/week but financially big loss, but my balance still about 300k

At the start of my first season in the championship I sold quite a few players for 1400k and after a shaky start I managed to push the team into a safe zone, finishing 12th with 80k/week wage budget, and 3.8 million on my balance, and a nice cup run to the 1/4 final of the FA cup. For the first time my stadium is sold out for almost every game (6643p), but needless to say this will not be enough to get in the Premier Division. My new stadium will be ready in May 2019, but no idea how big it will be, or what the financial consequences will be.

I still have 3 players in my squad which where signed in the BSB Premier and which have developed to decent championship players. I spent 100k in transfer fees in 6 years, received 1.9million. Key is finding good youngsters with good potential combined with a few older experienced players, because that's all I can sign with my current wage budget for season 2016/2017 (100k/week) Find them cheap, give them play time, and sell them at a high price if you have found a cheaper but comparable talent!

Also a hands-on approach to your players is very useful combined with a squad rotation system. They all love me, and you keep them all happy and fit!

So it seems that the finishing date of my stadium is the date for promotion for the Premiership... But you never know, it's hard to keep my ambition under control

feel free to add comments or questions if you have em!