How the fairy tale ends

I'm curious of people's stories of when they were on the cusp of something truly special only to have it taken away.

My own story which inspired this is long and boring and as such I'll give you the choice. Click this link and you'll be taken to a far off mystical land where you won't have to worry about this thread or the length of what I'm about to write. Your second choice is to read on and see what I have to say. Make your choice wisely, although you can technically click the link and read on and as such experience both, but hey. I'd also point out for those who have kept reading past the link that it just goes back to the general discussion page... Hey, it's a mystical land isn't it? Anyhow...

Once upon a time in a far far away land called Norway there was a place called Drammen. Based here was a club called Stroms... Yeah, I don't like this tone either... Let's try again.

Having managed Stromsgodset to 3 Norwegian titles the sights had moved clearly onto Europe. In the previous season the side had found themselves topping a group of death in bizarre fashion. The group had spanish runners up Valencia, English Champions Blackburn and German side Werder Bremen along side the little fansied Stromsgodset. Through the quality two young forwards Rodney (codename) and Santa (short for Santarelli) the side had managed to draw 3 and lose 1 in their first 4 matches. 2 draws against Valencia, 1 against Blackburn and a loss to Werder. This sat Stromsgodset equal bottom with Werder with 2 games left. Ian (codename) had scored a late winning against Blackburn to seal our first win of the group stages, but the future of the side's European campaign lay on the side's home game to Werder. A loss would see my side bottom, a draw would get us through to the Europa league whilst a win would guarantee one of the top two spots with us picking up first if Valencia and Blackburn drew. We scored within seconds and added a second within minutes as the side turned over Blackburn in emphatic fashion 3-0 whilst Blackburn levelled the scores against Valencia. The side went through to the last 16 first where they were knocked out by Chelsea.

This time around the side had new recruits and the side was ready for all that came up against us. Ian (mentioned in another thread) however, apparently the side's best player, was having major troubles both on and off the field. The side mauled Qarabag Agdam, Debrecen and Djurgarden on their way to the group stages where they faced off against holders Porto, Shakhtar and Kobenhavn. The side started slowly going 2-0 down to Shakhtar within 20 minutes, yet recovered to record a 3-2 away win to open the group stage campaign, before leaving it late to take down Porto 3-2 away, Santa striking to deliver both wins. The side turned over Kobenhavn before sealing safe passage to the round of 16 with a win over Shakhtar and a draw with Porto.

The side had proven itself capable in Europe, mainly due to the attacking displays of Santa and Rodney. The form of Ian and his other problems however made him a liability. As such he was sold and his sale (on the advice of people in this thread) funded the move for a 19 year old French winger Esai. A tall and powerful winger, with pace and technique to match, he was set to be one of the keys to the side's round of 16 clash against Real Madrid.

Esai set up one and was heavily involved in the other as the side went 2-0 up against Real Madrid away from home within 20 minutes. The side fell away in the second half and ended up drawing 2-2. Esai was heavily involved in the second leg as well setting up one, scoring another as the side won 4-1 over Real Madrid, the side's greatest ever result. The quarter saw the side return to Madrid to face off against a miss firing Atletico Madrid, and it sure did show. Esai again scored and set up another as the side were 2-0 winning in Madrid. Rodney was the key in the second leg scoring one and setting up another as the side finished the job 3-2 at home in a result that saw the club reach the semis.

The obvious opponents for the side were of course Chelsea, the side who knocked them out the previous time, and so it was. The first leg was one of the more eventful matches I have seen Torres scoring within seconds after an ice-skating Aguero had beaten the entire defence and put it on a place. Chelsea seemed to lose their heads a bit however and would fire 28 shots at the side within the next 90 minutes, without ever looking like scoring. Esai, apparently not happy with losing in London showed up in the nick of time with a domineering run that would see him slam one past Delac to put the side back on level terms in the 92nd minute (2 minutes of added time), only our 8th shot of the match. Before the side could even enjoy this late late goal an Ice skating Aguero came to Chelsea's rescue again, beating the entire backline again before going down to the challenge of my key defender, Nefzi. Penalty Chelsea in the 94th minute, yellow for Nefzi, a yellow that would see him miss the second leg. Torres scored and Chelsea celebrated a 2-1 win.

The equation was simple in the second leg, score a goal, be solid at the back. The side was however missing their best defender and this was further compounded by an injury between matches and one of my strikers jetting off to play for the Democratic Republic of the Congo U20s side. Santa, who hadn't scored since the late group stages returned to the starting line up. The game started well with the first 30 minutes being an even contest. The Chelsea players seemed shell shocked that their goal were 5 players were at least 2 meters offside was ruled out, ironically for a foul. Esai scored only for it to be ruled out as well before Nefzi's replacement, 18 year old Brou dived in two footed again on Iniesta. Rodney, who had been injured minutes before came off as another 18 year old made his professional debut to replace Brou in the back line. Further injuries to my left back and my best centremid left the side with an attacking mid at leftback, a player who hadn't played since December (back from injury) in the midfield and 5'3" Santa playing the role of lone striker. The side dug in though and battled on.

In the dying minutes Esai was again back at his glorious best as he landed a ball on the head of 5'3" Santa from 30 yards out, this time Cech managed to dive the width of the goal to save the shot. The side pressed and pressed and in the 95th minute (4 minutes of extra time) it was none other than Esai to score the goal that would put the side through on away goals, if he wasn't off side... and there it would finish Stromsgodset 0 - 0 Chelsea (1-2 agg.). Within moments of the final, but hey, they gave it the fight of their lives! Esai has made himself an almost instant legend as well. The side are young and will be back some day, hopefully!

So, anyone else have a story about just missing out on that fairy tale in the dying moments?

was 4-1 first leg at home , lost second leg 6-1 ( had whole or 3/4 back line out injured along with at least 2 key central midfielders out and my key strikers out )

But if we had twice scored again we could have won , had the chances as well but M.Owen didnt take them hit the post and missed a one on one arghhhh)

Lost the premiership to arsenal on the final day of the season on goal difference once.

Not as in depth of yours, but in my defence, it was on CM0102

I was managing Caernarfon Town in the Welsh Premier and after about 6 or so seasons, I'd taken us from fighting relegation to toppling the might TNS and winning the league. I signed an ageing Robbie Fowler to lead my attack and the legend that is Ray Parlour and over the next few years cemented a stranglehold on Welsh football. I'd go entire seasons without losing a game domestically and having a clean sweep of all cup competitions. All that remained was Europe

Over the next decade I'd progressively go further in the Champions Cup. After all that time we were still minnows in Europe though. I couldn't keep hold of my best players as a 1st Division club would just table an offer and my player would want to move to a 'bigger' club.

Eventually (and this is more than 30 seasons now) I get a team which can compete in Europe. We were never expected to win, but we could get through to the group stages. Think of it was a modern day Lille or Deportivo. However, it seemed that clubs like Juventus and Bolton (who are a big team now btw) would play their reserves against me, who I could beat.

After being underestimated by our more illustrious opponents, we scraped win after win and found ourselves in the final against Roma. A less than thrilling shutout later and it ended 0-0 after extra time and went to penalties....which I lost. I was devastated. This was our one chance to do the impossible, and we fell at the final hurdle. I decide to see what happens next season.

One year later, the exact same has happened. I've kept hold of my players and we've gone on another European journey and made it to the final again! I couldn't believe it! Our opponents? The old nemesis Roma. And keeping to tradition, we drew 0-0. Our destiny would be decided on penalties, again

We lost, again.

The offers rolled in. My star players all left, and due to being limited by the reputation of the Welsh Premier, I couldn't replace them. Gareth Collins, my first ever good regen. A world class goalkeeper who would leave for Valencia for a staggering 60million...all of which was useless as no player worth more than a couple of million would join my lowly team in Wales. We were a victim of our own success. The higher performances in Europe's premier competition attracted teams to my players, who all left for greener pastures

After over 30 years and two consecutive Champions Cup final penalty losses, my players went their separate ways and my squad was gutted.

And with that, I retired

The fairytale may be ending for me at Luton.

I took them from non league football to the premiership with back to back to back to back promotions. I then started winning cups, got them into Europe, climbed the table over 3 seasons (15th, 10th, then finally 2nd) before winning the champions league, finishing 2nd again, then the season after (last year) going unbeaten in the league, winning the title and retaining the champions league.

The problem is, while I've only spent 20 mil net per year, and kept my wages modest for the level we're playing at (currently peaked at 1 mil a week) we're in 30 mil debt due to our tiny 22.5k stadium, and the debt is rising monthly. We're adding an extra 12.5k seats (so just shy of 35,000 seats) in a couple of months, but I'm beginning to worry that selling my star player is the only way we'll survive. And without him, we're the sort of team that will struggle to qualify for the UEFA Cup, the hayday of Champions League finals and Premiership winning medals may be over. In his 2 and a bit years at the club, he's scored 58 in 59, 71 in 63 and 15 in 13 this season. He's likely to hit 100 league goals for the club by Christmas. Despite a 54 mil "asking price" (16 mil value), Man City are sniffing around.

Getting to the top is only half the battle. :-( It's possible the kids coming in will replace him, and at least keep us in the top 4 while we build up support and slowly increase our stadium size. It's equally possible we'll end up sliding into mid table obscurity though, and ultimately back down to lower league football. With a 35k stadium and what reputation I've been able to build up at the club they will certainly be better when I leave than when I took over, but the fairytale itself might be slowly ebbing away.

i love it how the others are paragraphed and in depth and mine is just 1 scentence

i love it how the others are paragraphed and in depth and mine is just 1 scentence

You're supposed to paint a picture of imagination! FM is the canvas, words are your paintbrush!