Toughest League!

English league now is officially the hardest league IRL and on FM. played fm 2008 with the lastest updates. using TOT fighting against 5 GAINTS Arse, Chel, Liv, City and united,

SWEAT!

When did the English league officially become the hardest league?

I don't think it is in game or IRL. In game I find Serie A the hardest league and IRL Spain is probabaly the hardest, considering the amount of teams that can beat each other and the amount of teams challenging for the 4 CL places.

Personally i found the israeli second division the hardest, but that's mainly because i couldn't pronounce any team names (iirc there was a team called "rangers" which was the exception).

Although, with regard to the Op - it really depends on who you are playing as - as everton the EPL was very tricky, as chelsea i won it 15 times consecutively...

Will be nice if Man City provide a bit more challenge this year

MLS was the hardest league I managed in. New York Red Bulls got a bit of a coup when they signed me from, I think, Lyon in my career game. Tbf, I only lasted 24 days, but signing quality players was very hard. Maybe I'll give it another shot, but currently my career has taken me to Gillingham, and I just can't leave my home town club. :*)

But yeah, MLS was damn near impossible!

Finland's league is the toughest by far , even if you win it next day all players want to move out and hardly anyone wants to move in , plus most (of my) tactics simply do not work

Any league that all players are willing to move in ( Italy, Spain, England) is easy by definition

I'd say the hardest for me is the conference, 24 teams, 2 promotion, 4 relegation. Tough.

i don't play in enough leagues to know which is the hardest, but i've found that the EPL can become very average sometimes, whereas in spain real madrid and barca always stay huge, and you have at. madrid, sevilla, valencia, etc, and AT LEAST one of them becomes almost as good.

In the MLS I found have a quick counter attacking tactic works wonders until the AI manages to beat it. I won two leagues as FC Dallas using this method but quit the game as I couldn't get a move to a top level club.

IMO the MLS is the hardest league to manage in due to all the drafts and rescritions in place but any lower leagues tend to be quite hard for me as well.

I don't think the EPL is the toughest because 'everyone has money' and generally the computer doesn't spend it wisely! i think Spanish is pretty hard and also i find the championship pretty tough cause like the top '12 teams' are all capable of promotion/play off spot

Like others, I think MLS is way harder. The rules are mental and complicated, and no one famous will sign for you until they 50 years old. Perhaps I'm biased. I didn't read up on the rules properly and lost 10 players to the draft.

Norwegian 2nd Division is tough. Just 1 promotion place and 3 teams get relegated out of 14. Depends who you are managing of course and how realistically you wish to manage, but if you are managing a team realistically (esp. one who got promoted) it can be devilishly difficult.

EPL is definitely not the hardest, with all that money sloshing around.

For me it's a toss-up between MLS, and League 2.

Tried being Columbus Crew in MLS, all the drafts, superdrafts, first picks etc, just drove me crazy!

I find in league two, no matter how good teams are, everybody beats everybody, so you end up with a difference of 10 points between 1st and 14th. A few wins and youre sky high outdoing everybody's expectations, and a few draws and you're back in a respectable position. I hate 'respectable'.

i don't play in enough leagues to know which is the hardest, but i've found that the EPL can become very average sometimes, whereas in spain real madrid and barca always stay huge, and you have at. madrid, sevilla, valencia, etc, and AT LEAST one of them becomes almost as good.

This isn't true. As Atletico, in 2020, Valencia have been in the league below for years, Barca are in the relegation zone, Real Madrid are hoping for a UEFA Cup place, while Rayo and Elche are competing with me for the title, and doing a darn good job at it!

I'd say the hardest for me is the conference, 24 teams, 2 promotion, 4 relegation. Tough.

Actually, managing in the Conference with a semi-pro side is a real battle - probably the hardest I've come across. Also, I found Serie B difficult following promotion from C.

id agree with the MLS. i did two seasons and i had to release some decent players as i didnt know the rules. brought in some players then my squad was too big to register them and had to release them! evil league!

Playing in Spanish Division B3 atm, as Eivissa (random team) who are amatuer. I.E. if someone wants your best player and your only goal scorer, they can have him free. You cant offer contracts for any money so getting players is impossible. 4 relegation spots and 1 relagation playoff spot in a 20 side league. Top 4 teams don't even get promoted, they've all got to go into a playoff to get promoted against the other B divisions. Not that my Eivissa team will be challenging

Just try getting out of the Brazilian Third Division...

I find Spain to have the toughest top 3 divisions. The player quality down to the 50th placed team is immense. Brazil is absolutely insane in this regard though. You have to be a good manager in Brazil to have any chance at all.

I'd have to go for Brazilian 3rd division for the insanely low chance of promotion or Swiss Challenge league, 2 teams get promoted from 18 and theres only 3 professional sides. They attract far better players than you could ever hope for as a semi-pro side so the teams that go down each season bounce right back up again.

Any league/club, where you don't have any money is hard regardless. I always like to start as a rich club that has just been relegated. FC Nantes is a perfect example. Everyone's off your back when you go straight back up again and it gives you a few seasons to challenge for the title. Anything for an easy life from the board. I hate them.

for me the hungarian second league is the toughest by far

they have no money no good players and wicked player regulations like youngsters have to play and no more then 3 fgn players (i'm not sure in the number though)

The toughest top flight league has to be Serie A. Having taken Man City to 3 consecutive league titles using a pacy attacking side, I employed the same tactic (which also worked well in Europe) at Roma after failing to get the Barca job. Got beat in my first 5 out of 9 games, then decided (somewhat reluctantly) it was my tactic. After that I had some limited success, however I was having to constantly change my tactics and I had no consistency beating top teams like Milan and Inter away and losing to struggling sides such as Chievo and Genoa at home

Most difficult overall has to be BS North/South. So hard to get players to come in, most are not of a quality to play any real passing football and lack in physical stats as well.

It most definately is my European Super League.

It has the top teams in Europe, Liverpool, Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barca, R MNadrid, Inter, AC, Lyon, Juve, FC Bayern etc.

Wow now that is tough.

Going from the Italia Serie C2/C to the C1 was difficult but by far the Serie B is the toughest

Usually, non-league divisions are the toughest - no money, all poor teams

but my Middlesbrough game has changed that, Arsenal won the title with me second with 4 games to go, despite me being on 83 points, their consistency was ridiculous, lost two all season (both to me), their fifth straight title now, they're just unstoppable on it.

Just try getting out of the Brazilian Third Division...

Really? I'm surprised at that, I managed it first time, and pretty comfortably too. With massively skilled players and next to no money nationwide, I ended up almost 20 grand under my wage budget, shifted it to transfers and rolled over the league with youngsters, ended up 3rd overall in the final table after going through 4 rounds of qualifying for it.

Hardest I've found has been Serie A, since the biggest teams end up only getting richer and harder to peg back with the scaled TV money, massive stadiums and Champions League. it takes really something special to break up their dominance, and even if some of them fall there's always the chance to rebound when you have 80,000 fans per game funding you! It only adds to the difficulty with the gulf in finances that the EU restriction prevents you from bringing in cheap, talented foreigners.

Hehe, I see people are having trouble in the MLS. It's not as hard as it seems...but this is coming from a Canadian where all our sports have a similar system as the MLS

I personally found the Swedish 2nd Division a bit challenging. No one willing to come on permanent contract or loan, no one willing to come to the games, no TV revenue, no ticket sales, and only one promotion spot. HORRIBLE.

Also, if you try and take over a newly promoted semi-pro team in the Hong Kong Premier League, you're guaranteed to get relegated

gonna have to agree with alurny and cbarnet, Blue Square Prem is by far the hardest division for me.

Reputation is still low enough that you can't sign anyone good, teams usually not pro yet so you cant scout outside the country for easy gems, only 1 automatic promotion spot, 4 relegation spots, and anyone decent you might have actually had in BSN or BSS gets gobbled up as soon as your promoted. Overall better teams means that you cant blow away the league, meaning attendences actually DROP and moral is harder to keep high. Just about every other team in the conference is professional.

English league now is officially the hardest league IRL and on FM. played fm 2008 with the lastest updates. using TOT fighting against 5 GAINTS Arse, Chel, Liv, City and united,

SWEAT!

EPL is not the hardest in the IRL. it is the most enjoyable. I don't think Sir Alex Ferguson would find it easy coach again in the scottish league with much less money at his disposal.

he did alright with Aberdeen

Swedish first division elite - Superettan. The handful of professional teams in the division make it almost impossible for a semi-pro team to achieve promotion.

he did alright with Aberdeen

I said "to coach again". Read well.

personally the SPL is the hardest if you try to use any of the bottom 6 clubs

The Irish league is hard, not bein able to sign many players, most clubs in debt and terrible youth facilities, Australia is probably the easiest one to dominate after a few years, tho.

On the game, the English Prem is quite easy, sign a few players from abroad (they'll want to come because of the Prem's reputation) and get into Europe and money just flies in.

Any league with restrictive rules and small clubs with no money is bloody hard! No wonder I tend to stick to the upper divisions of the best leagues.

All other clubs have those restrictive rules too so relatively it shouldn't be any harder depending which club you manage, but that dependancy holds whatever division you are in.

Try the Welsh league only two full time teams Llanelli and TNS dont be any of them and its very hard to win anything as match revenue always less that the wage bill, plus no players will really move to welsh league.

English Prem is easy compared as everyone wants to play in that league and even with a team outside the top 4 its easy to finish in top half of table.

For me it's a toss-up between MLS, and League 2.

Tried being Columbus Crew in MLS, all the drafts, superdrafts, first picks etc, just drove me crazy!

I find in league two, no matter how good teams are, everybody beats everybody, so you end up with a difference of 10 points between 1st and 14th. A few wins and youre sky high outdoing everybody's expectations, and a few draws and you're back in a respectable position. I hate 'respectable'.

This isn't true. As Atletico, in 2020, Valencia have been in the league below for years, Barca are in the relegation zone, Real Madrid are hoping for a UEFA Cup place, while Rayo and Elche are competing with me for the title, and doing a darn good job at it!

League 2 is easy in my opinion, always go up with my team Wycombe. The momentum can keep me going through League 1 the next year too, though "second season syndrome" makes the following year very hard.

I've had success in all the Leagues in England, as well as in Wales, Scotland 1,2 & 3 & Republic of Ireland. Not tried any others, so can't comment.

It all depends on the team you are I suppose

Swiss Challenge League with a Semi-Pro team. Only one definite promotion spot which is almost always occupied by the Pro team that got relegate the previous year. It's not unusual for the League Winners to drop less than 10 points in the season...not bad over 36 games.

Have a read of the Gundo Challenge in the Challenges...forum for some of the trials and tribulations of playing that league.

I found managing in Brazil hard with Cruzeiro. Even though they are one of the top teams in South America it is still hard to slog through a season when you are always having financial issues, your best stars go for cheap and anyone of the teams in the league can win it.... Good fun though

Scottish First Division is hard, Several teams whose expectations is to be promoted and there is only one promotion place.

The La Liga is probably the hardest. So many teams can beat each other.

Being Canadian the rules in the MLS are second nature to me since the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB, basically all work the same way. But even though I understand everything I would still say it is the hardest league in the game, if not in real life.

The way I look at it is if I play the "best" team in a league and I can win every year ala Man U, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, ect, ect, ect, where all these big money clubs have a monopoly every year, the league is only hard if I choose a relegation dweller who had no chance of winning the league to begin with in the media's eye. But if you look at the MLS, yes there are favourites to win it all every year, but because of the nature of the league there is a lot of parity. For example, as of this post the Columbus Crew was one of the crappy teams from last years season but as of now they are 1st in the league this season. Also because 1st in the league does not mean you win the league because of the play-off structure you could be flying into the playoffs as the #1 team but then screw-up and lose in the quarter-finals. Add in a salery cap, restrictions on the number of foreign players, and the fact that big name managers and players who have come to the MLS suckout because they constantly underestimate the skill involved in the league, and it is a recipe for a frustratingly hard time.

When did the English league officially become the hardest league?

I don't think it is in game or IRL. In game I find Serie A the hardest league and IRL Spain is probabaly the hardest, considering the amount of teams that can beat each other and the amount of teams challenging for the 4 CL places.

how is the spannish league harder than the premiership irl. the fact that the top 4 are so rarely broken into is the reason it is so difficult. also, having watched la liga, there is a huge divide between the top third and bottom third of the league and it is extremely rare that bottom teams challenge the likes of madrid or barca in a game - unlike the premiership where every game is tough( the only exception being derby last season).

as for in game i find the hardest leagues are leagues where i have no knowledge of players or the league itself. as i start unemployed i often end up starting my career with no reputation in the lower levels of the european legues. once i began in south afriaca which was suprisingly difficult. i believe there is no hardest league in the game as it depends on your managerial style and the way you like your teams to play.

I personally think that the Superdrafts and the Supplemental Drafts are actually the easy part of MLS. Just choose a player you like and pick 'em.

I think the strict roster restrictions pose a much bigger problem than the drafts to people who play in the MLS. Even though I spend a lot of time in the MLS, I still struggle with getting enough Canadians on my TFC team. And also many players want to leave the MLS after a couple seasons for Europe. It's more frustrating to constantly rebuild the team year after year, and winning with the amount of parity in the league than just the draft system.

Going from the Italia Serie C2/C to the C1 was difficult but by far the Serie B is the toughest

I agree. Serie B is the hardest league I have ever played. I could easily win promotion from C2 to C1 and C1 to Serie B, but i could never compete in The serie B. Eventually I quit my game just because I always got so fed up. I kept bringing in better players and yet, my players were performing even worse...

tbhwith the money thrown into english, italian, spanish and french leagues i dont think it matters which team you are its easy to win the league, doesnt take more than 10 seasons to take most lower league clubs to premiership glory. i think the hardest one i have played in is the scottish league with anyone but rangers and celtic. also ukrainian wth anyone but shakthar!

tbhwith the money thrown into english, italian, spanish and french leagues i dont think it matters which team you are its easy to win the league, doesnt take more than 10 seasons to take most lower league clubs to premiership glory. i think the hardest one i have played in is the scottish league with anyone but rangers and celtic. also ukrainian wth anyone but shakthar!

I won the Scottish League with Dundee United

And in Ukraine, there's Kiev...

Got to the the Premiership. Playing with newcastle and it has come down to last game between 4 or 5 clubs every year. I've always found in Spain Italy etc after 3 seasons or so I start just humping all the lower half team 5 or 6-0 which is enough to win easily even just holding my own against the other cl teams.

Cant really comment only played in the Bwin Liga, SPL(always rangers as im a supporter), League 1, Championship and Premiership as well as the top french division with Monaco. I found Monaco quite hard but that was 3 seasons into the game and they were in the relegation zone with no money when i took over.

i know this may sound ******** but i think Coca-Cola league 2 is the hardest at the end of the season all the teams are really close on points