making debts in the BSS

Hi,

im managing Maidenhead in the BSS. We were tipped as relegation candidates before the 2011/2012 season and we made a good 10th place in the end.

Problem is, I cant stop the debts getting bigger every month. Right now were on 100K in the minus.

I tried to reduce the WB last year by loading off old and expensive wood so now Im mostly relying on youngster with 4 or 5 PA stars.

My Wage budget is 16k and Im using it to 15K now in the 2nd season i am in the preseason.

Any suggestions how to make money? And no, friendlies dont get me much money , the most was 5K

Wow, £15k wage bill is insane in BSS. That's the equivalent of paying the whole first team squad £1k per week.

To put it bluntly, you are paying your players too much, just because the board will let you spend it, doesn't mean you should! You should be able to get out of that division with a wage bill of at most 1/3rd of what you're spending. Cut the players on high salaries, cut the deadwood, negotiate players down when offering deals. I guess your best option in the short term might be to hold tight and win the league (which you presumably will with that sort of outlay) and try to tighten things up in BSP?

i no how you feel i was hinckley and i only used 600pw wage budget out of 2.4k a week on offer i still managed to lose 10-15k a month and was by the end of the season 150k in the red. so in the next pre-season i arranged for a load of very big premier/championship teams to come to my ground as i was projected to make 20-25k for each match, this did not work out very well... I got 20-25k gate receipts but i was charged £10000 match day expenses and i also got a big tax bill like £10000 which meant i made about 2-5k. The only way i can turn this around is to have a great cup run this season and if i can sell one of my young talented players which i dont really want to do. Youth recruitment is the key in the low leagues i think very low wages for 2-3 years £5pw if you sign players on a non contract watch the bonuses they will get. It tough at the bottom thats why i like it i think.

yup cup runs can do wonders to your bank balance.. i got halifax to the fa cup fourth rd and made some nice money from that... but usually i play bout 10-15 pre season

friendly's and that helps the bank balance over the year... you still lose money over he year but should be enuf to stay in the black

It's problems like these that make non-league management such a joy!

Thanks for all your answers!

I think I should wait for a sheikh takeover

I can only echo the cup run advice, especially in the FA Trophy- all the teams in that are beatable, there's really not a huge leap between the BSS/BSN and the BSP. Between that and keeping the wage bill down, there's not a huge amount you can do. I'm also playing as Maidenhead at the moment, and discovered that Non-Contracts and Youth Contracts are my best friends, especially as I've always been a huge squad kinda guy. It's also a case of being unafraid to throw young kids into the first team, because some of them can meet the standard- at the moment, a 16-year-old Jack Smith has been filling in for my star striker, and not doing a bad job at all.

At the moment, in the current squad, we've got:

1 on F/T contract (on loan from another club)

8 on P/T contracts (max wage £350)

17 on Non-Contracts (one of whom is out on loan at another club)

10 on Youth contracts who have made a senior appearance at least once this season

16 on Youth contracts who haven't appeared (mostly 15-16 years old)

Total of 52 players, 36 of whom have played a senior competitive game.

It's a bit of a risk running everyone on a pay-per-appearance basis, as they're not tied to the club, but so far I've only lost one player because of it (John Scarborough, who's 32 and whose legs are going anyway).

thanks for the advice. gonna start a new game now with the new patch

IRL, some teams budget for a cup run, if they don't get it, they release players. Others stick with a very low wage bill throughout and strengthen if they get a cup run. But for all but the biggest BSS teams, your wage bill would be massive, I would try to stick to the 3-5,000 range with Maidenhead rather than 15.

Use arrange friendlies extensively, and try to pick up released youngsters from top teams and sell them on with 50% next sale clauses. These (and cup runs) are your only real income sources

Most lower league clubs make losses. No matter what happens. You could cut your wage bill by £3k and you'll still find that you'll be making a loss. Cup runs are good and if you get one be delighted. But imo, the best thing to do is to try and get a squad that's versatile. I'd personally have a squad os 18 with a few loans if possible and try and buy players who can play in more than one position. Don't worry about making a loss or being in the red for the time being. Try and get as many promotions as possible and also look to haggle with wages. If Player X wants £1k a week, offer him £500. Stick to a set amount in your head that you would be willing to offer and don't go from it unless the player is worth it or if you're close to agreeing a deal with him. There will be plenty of players to choose from so don't worry if you don't get your first choice as you'll there will probably be another 7 choices after to choose from.

Within two seasons I won successive promotions from the Blue Sq Premier with Newport County, I kept my wage budget under whilst bringing in 3-4 really quality players for no money at all.

Well third season my Club lower my wage budget and now I was stuck with a 4k debt per week with wages. I have had to offload 3 of my 4 quality players and bring in cheap options (Bag of turd).

I was confident I could win League 1 but with a lower budget I have no hope at all.

To top it off when I asked my board to upgrade my Salary revenue for players they basically told me to do one because I have rubbish financial control even after getting rid of my stars.

Making me feel now like I can not take this club any further and this was to be my dream journey on FM

Dissapointed.

Well, I'm in League 1 with nearly £1,000,000 of debt, but absolutely flying at the top of the league. I was considering selling all of my high earning players, until the FA Cup 3rd round draw sends me to Eastlands where we earn a handsome £600,000!!

Still in trouble but hopefully a promotion and letting some players go at the end of the season will get us a bit closer to that magic £0!