dafuge's FM08 small club to big club challenge

[dafuge]

The Aim

To take a small club who were previously unplayable in the game from the Blue Square N/S to Premier League and Champions League glory.


The Rules

Load a game with the English leagues only, with the Blue Square N/S selected, a large database (or smaller if preferred) and the attribute masking and the transfer boxes ticked. No additional players from any nation should be loaded. It should look like this.

The extra levels of detail that you can change while in the game are up to you, as they shouldn't make a difference.

Add yourself as an unemployed manager, the details are not important at all. I like to call mine 'Holiday Man'.

Go on holiday until 19th June, this shouldn't take that long, perhaps about an hour. Saving on 18th June may give you a better choice of teams by reloading the game then going on holiday for one day, I would strongly recommend trying this.

Retire your 'Holiday Man' manager, it's always a sad moment, a bit like when the farmer says 'that'll do pig, that'll do' at the end of Babe.

Add a new manager, the options are up to you but 'past experience' must be set to the lowest possible which is 'Sunday league footballer'. I understand that choosing different nationalities may have an effect later on, but I trust people will be sensible with this. I would expect people to use their own true nationalities.

Take over one of the new clubs promoted to the Blue Square North or South, they should appear in this list which also shows the reputation of the possible clubs. The reputation should act as a difficulty level, the lower the reputation, the harder your game should be. Everybody knows that real men manage a club with a reputation less than 1000

Isthmian Premier

AFC Hornchurch           900
AFC Wimbledon            1350
Ashford Town (Middx)     650
Billericay Town          1100
Boreham Wood             950
Carshalton Athletic      900
Chelmsford City          1250
East Thurrock United     600
Folkestone Invicta       700
Harlow Town              600
Harrow Borough           750
Hastings United          600
Hendon                   900
Heybridge Swifts         850
Horsham                  800
Leyton                   700
Maidstone United         800
Margate                  1100
Ramsgate                 850
Staines Town             800
Tonbridge Angels         850
Wealdstone               700



Northern Premier

Ashton United            750
Buxton                   850
Eastwood Town            850
Fleetwood Town           1000
Frickley Athletic        850
Gateshead                1200
Guiseley                 1200
Hednesford Town          1300
Ilkeston Town            1050
Kendal Town              900
Leek Town                900
Lincoln United           850
Marine                   1250
Matlock Town             1150
North Ferriby United     950
Ossett Town              900
Prescot Cables           1000
Stamford                 1000
Whitby Town              1100
Witton Albion            1250
Worksop Town             1200



Southern Premier

Banbury United           800
Bashley                  600
Bedford Town             1000
Brackley Town            400
Bromsgrove Rovers        700
Cheshunt                 600
Chippenham Town          900
Cirencester Town         750
Clevedon Town            750
Corby Town               650
Gloucester City          800
Halesowen Town           900
Hemel Hempstead Town     800
Hitchin Town             1000
King's Lynn              1100
Mangotsfield United      850
Merthyr Tydfil           1100
Rugby Town               600
Swindon Supermarine      450
Team Bath                552
Tiverton Town            1000
Yate Town                650

It is now up to you to manage this club all the way to the Premier League title and UEFA Champions League crown.

You may not move clubs unless you are sacked.

If you get sacked, you can either take over a newly promoted club that satisfies the original criteria (check the club's league history), or just start again.

Any form of international management is not allowed, until you have completed the challenge.

There are no restrictions on assigning feeder/parent clubs.

To sign a player, you must be able to scout them, this doesn't mean you have to, just he must be accessible to your scouts. If you have a foreign player on a free transfer who is willing to come on trial, you do not need to be able to scout them.

No external utilities such as FMScout should be used and the database should be unedited. Should SI release a data update, this would be allowed. It is advised that people should update using the latest patches as they are released.


Rules for this Thread

Player naming is allowed. (This is a warning for those of you who do not wish to see this)

Discussion on tactics is allowed. (This is another warning for those of you who do not wish to see this)

Screenshots for anything are encouraged.

When you join the challenge, could you post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the 19th June Like this .

Progress of your club should be documented using this thread, we want to hear the story of your club all the way through. Please keep us updated, even if you are doing really badly.

At the end of every season, could everyone post some kind of season review, including at least a screenshot of a league table and the clubs transfer page. If you give this a title in bold it makes it a bit easier to pick out.


The Website

Thanks to Allan our webmaster, we have our very own website: http://www.dafugeschallenge.com/

When taking part in the challenge you can register with the site which tracks your progress throughout the challenge. If you do not sign up to the website, your name will not appear on the list which I will regularly post in this thread.


How to Post a Screenshot

<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI> While in FM, press the 'Prt Sc' button (usually next to F12 on your keyboard).

<LI> Open an image editing program such as Paint and paste the image

<LI> Save the file as a JPEG

<LI> Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Photobucket or Imageshack

<LI> Post the direct Url to the image here.[/list]

Best of luck

[Joshisapoolie]

Dibs on the first post

Havent got the damn thing yet but I'll get straight into this when I do.

[Gundo]

That's super dafuge.

Any news when the website will be up and running?

[aston_martin]

wp Dafuge, here's to another year of this great challenge.

Will start as soon as I get the game, MON the Halesowen.

Good luck to everyone

[dlnwba86]

As i said yesterday, i began this challenge with Halesowen and thankfully it seems i guessed the correct set-up. Here's my Profile.

After a torrid pre-season struggling to find a tactic of any use whatsoever, the first 3 league games weren't as bad as expected. A home defeat and two away draws sees us 16th after 3 games. Got 3 West Brom players on loan including Stuart Nicholson who is far too good at this level. Can't play too much tonight but thought i should register my start.

PS. I have scouts apply first time round to my advert.

[westhamrob]

havent got the game yet, but i will be AFC wimbledon, to get them back to were they deserve!!!

[arsenaltops]

I'll give this a go when i get round to buying 08 as i'm skint atm

[Oxslow]

Count me in.

Thank you dafuge for all the work you put into this.

[jamesf18]

Will be having a stab at this again, when my gain eventually arrives!

[Gilbster]

Definitely going to give this a go, and am holidaying at the moment.

Never done this challenge before, but have been reading bits of lasts year thread with interest.

This should be fun.

[Scoham]

Screenshot of your profile should probably say 19th June, not 20th

Going to holiday and see if Hastings United can be promoted, if not not I'll wait and see if they can if there's a data update with the patch.

If they gain promotion in anyones save any chance you could upload it please? If they do it'll be very rare as their reputation is so low.

[aaberdeenn]

Well done to dafuge and Allan for making this possible.

Will get my game up once I get my copy sometime next week.

Good luck to all.

(If anyone happens to have a team promoted with a low reputation which will be rare then I'm sure it would be appreciated if they could upload the save game)

[westhamrob]

week off next week, fm all the way

[Jimbokav1971]

Meet, (at least until the patch comes out), the new manager of Chippenham.

Unfortunately, my position is a little precarious from the off due to my Chairman's status.

Some things never change.

[Jimbokav1971]

Retire your 'Holiday Man' manager, it's always a sad moment, a bit like when the farmer says 'that'll do pig, that'll do' at the end of Babe.

[NepentheZ]

Thank god its up. I hadnt played the game yet waiting for this.

Im on holiday now....

[dlnwba86]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:
Meet, (at least until the patch comes out), the new manager of Chippenham.

Unfortunately, my position is a little precarious from the off due to my Chairman's status.

Some things never change.

How come you have knowledge of France, are you half french? Good luck by the way. My chairman is in the same mindset as yours.

[aaberdeenn]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Retire your 'Holiday Man' manager, it's always a sad moment, a bit like when the farmer says 'that'll do pig, that'll do' at the end of Babe.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's what I thought, lol.

[Supermas2]

Holidaying the game at the moment - will prob be up and running either later this evening or Saturday (too busy tomorrow)

[Jimbokav1971]

How come you have knowledge of France, are you half french? Good luck by the way. My chairman is in the same mindset as yours.

Do I have knowledge of France ?

So I do.......

No idea.

Nationalities are N.Irish and Irish, (I have a choice of England, Ireland, Scotland, & N.Ireland).

Honestly have no idea.

[bennyd81]

i'm in, holidaying now...

[spotg]

Will be interested to see how people get on, especially if anyone takes over Buxton.

I'll be in the San Marino thread (assuming Ter ever starts it .. ), and if I complete/get bored of that one, I'll be back in Slovenia for Gundo's challenge.

Good luck all

[Top Gooner]

LOL, I am a real man I will take control of an under 1000er..

[iseemonsters]

Good luck to all!

I'm holidaying now while I cook my dinner. I think I'm just a little bit too excited about starting this challenge...

[jankoller]

I've loaded about 20 games now, trying to get a team I want. it's always the same 6 damn market towns.

i'll report back once I get Swindon Supermarine

[Top Gooner]

Brackley Town 400

...that would be sweet

[kccircle]

Here we go.

Decided that after umpteen reloads North Ferriby will not get promoted so I will take on the challenge of Worksop Town




http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q244/kccircle/ManagerProfile.jpg[/IMG]]Manager Profile

[kccircle]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kccircle:
Here we go.

Decided that after umpteen reloads North Ferriby will not get promoted so I will take on the challenge of Worksop Town



Manager Profile

[Allan]

Originally posted by Gundo:
That's super dafuge.

Any news when the website will be up and running?

Im working on the site / Testing and hopefully launching tonight (but dont hold me to that). I was gonna be on time if release was tomorrow, D'oh!

Anyway I still need testers, anyone willing to help right now send me an email at allan@dafugeschallenge.com

Thanks!

[aaberdeenn]

I wonder who will be the first to post their first end of season update?

[Gundo]

Anyone seen Ashton Utd promoted yet?

[Gilbster]

Allan, you should have mail.

Is the saving on the 18th June and then reloading and going forward a day the best way to get a new selection of teams? Ie, is it better and more reliable and holidaying over and over again?

[kccircle]

Originally posted by Gundo:
Anyone seen Ashton Utd promoted yet?

I didn't on about 35 reloads. Only sub 1000 teams I saw were Hendon (once), Halesowen (twice)

[spankie]

I'll certainly join in when I get a copy of the game on Saturday.


I wonder if anyone would be lucky enough to get Brackley Town to pop up in the game.

[aaberdeenn]

Is the saving on the 18th June and then reloading and going forward a day the best way to get a new selection of teams? Ie, is it better and more reliable and holidaying over and over again?

Yes.

[Gundo]

Originally posted by kccircle:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gundo:
Anyone seen Ashton Utd promoted yet?

I didn't on about 35 reloads. Only sub 1000 teams I saw were Hendon (once), Halesowen (twice) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Damn it! It's not looking good.

[ManU@oldtrafford]

I'll go on holiday now post my screenie latter

[Walcott\'s Wonderkids]

After 6 reloads and not a single team with rep below 1000 appearing, I decided to cut my losses and start with Bedford Town (rep 1,000). What can I say, I so so close to being a real man!

Manager Profile

In fairness, they don't have any staff or players at the beginning so should still be a challenge.

Like it how the initial board expectations can vary from survive relegation to winning the league - how much do you back yourself 1st season?!

[Allan]

I wont be anywhere near close to it this year, stupid job and lack of a copy of the game...

[kccircle]

Like it how the initial board expectations can vary from survive relegation to winning the league - how much do you back yourself 1st season?!

Especially when you get the message you've sold 30 season tickets!

[wisla_krakow]

Day off tommorow, so hopefully FM will arrive then so I can get some good game time in, and possibly start this .

If not then I'll aim to finish the FM07 version of the challenge!

[Allan]

Originally posted by Gilbster:
Allan, you should have mail.

Is the saving on the 18th June and then reloading and going forward a day the best way to get a new selection of teams? Ie, is it better and more reliable and holidaying over and over again?

I have no mail.

Its possible the DNS issues with the site are causing errors with dafugeschallenge.com email, try allanbrown [at] gmail.com

Thanks

[ManU@oldtrafford]

Originally posted by kccircle:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Like it how the initial board expectations can vary from survive relegation to winning the league - how much do you back yourself 1st season?!

Especially when you get the message you've sold 30 season tickets! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ican't wait to start but got to go on holiday

[jankoller]

Boreham Wood. Yes! Only took about 45 reloads.
Meet Jan Koller, clearly suprised at his new surroundings.

It begins

He's about to retire without going into coaching, so I thought it apt to take it into my own hands.

[Jimbokav1971]

I'm still crawling my way towards the first league game.

I'm finding it VERY hard to fill the squad.

I started off with 9 youth players, (1 of whom was a Danish GK), but none of them are capable of playing first team.

The job centre helped me out in terms of numbers.

I started off with no staff and I now have the following.

Ass Man.
First Team Coach.
Player Coach. (AM/FC Tunisia).
Coach.
Player GK Coach. (GK).
Fitness Coach.
Player Youth Coach. (AMR Welsh).
Physio.
Scout 1.
Scout 2.

I've brought in 7 players on loan. How many are we allowed? I expected to only be able to sign 4 .

[Jordanknox]

Profile

Just taken over Chelmsford city

Cant find an assistant manager though :@

[rlipscombe]

right then... this is the first time i've tried this. really excited for some reason!! ha ha. once i've my team i'll post a screenshot

[Scoham]

Looks like it would be best if you were allowed to retain English players, as its not ideal or realistic having to sign a whole team.

[ManU@oldtrafford]

Originally posted by Scoham:
Looks like it would be best if you were allowed to retain English players, as its not ideal or realistic having to sign a whole team.

I like sign a whole team

[HunterKiller]

\0/

I swore I'd do this challenge this year..see you after a bit of a holiday!

[Scab]

I'm in.

Currently reloading my June 18 save repeatedly, hoping to get a somewhat interesting team.

[dagurol]

I'm in aswell.

I've reloaded about 10 times but the best I've gotten is Bedford, with a 1000 rep.

Hopefully I'll get a team under 1000.

[Icklebitt]

Well here goes nothin

Boreham Wood 950 rep, real man I am

[Allan]

To all who said they wanted to test, u shd have emails and instructions. If ya want the site live go test

[Des Tiny]

Allan I registered, but it won't let me into the site once I have tried to validate my email as a new member...

[Allan]

Originally posted by Des Tiny:
Allan I registered, but it won't let me into the site once I have tried to validate my email as a new member...

Wd be the kinda thing u send me over email so not to bug evreyone here

[jimbodarlo]

Currently holidaying :d can't wait but think im going to go above 1000 rep since im not a man yet im only 17 :d haha technically not old enough to be a 'real man'

[Scab]

Originally posted by jimbodarlo:
Currently holidaying :d can't wait but think im going to go above 1000 rep since im not a man yet im only 17 :d haha technically not old enough to be a 'real man'

I seems kinda hard to get a <1000 rep team promoted anyway. I've kept reloading for an hour now and it hasn't happened once.

[Scab]

Fine, just because I write that, 900rep Chippenham pops up...

[aaberdeenn]

You should have mail Allan.

[Tyler_Durden]

I looking forward to starting this challenge tommorow!! What´s the name of that program you use to upload images straight away??

[foost]

woohooo!! Way to go dafuge (&allan)

Im on it! holidayin' as we speak!

[jankoller]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Bontcho Guentchev

[jimbodarlo]

Bontcho Guentchev

Who Is He? Divulgeeeeeee

[Quavis]

Looking forward to this challenge again this year. Although i didn't come close to finishing last year (stupid corrupt game files) I'm really looking forward to giving it a go again this year.

Still about a week to go on this side of the world... so keep those updates coming so all of us yanks have something to read while we wait.

Jimbo Super Kyle looks like a machine on your holiday year... where did Barrow end up finishing? Seemed like in the mini demo challenge people were having a very hard time with them. Might be hard to pry away a 20 goal scorer though. Whats his initial value?

Do you have any French coaches? It seemed like in the demo I was picking up a bit of knowledge from a random coach despite not having that country set as a nationality.

[Wellyboo]

I've been meaning to try this challenge for a long time now, and I guess with a new version of FM its a good time to start. I decided to manage Merthyr Tydfil; no non-grey players outside of the youth squad, and no staff either! Lots of work to be done before the start of the season, but I do get Cardiff City as a parent club, so hopefully I'll get a few good loans in from them.

Manager Profile

[SeanH91]

<A HREF="http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7529/profilehr5.jpg" TARGET=_blank>Manager
Profile</A>

Took the Gateshead job

Premiership here we come!

[ManU@oldtrafford]

here a link for kit in the southen premier league

here

I think here is a north premier pack also

here

[Jimbokav1971]

Jimbo Super Kyle looks like a machine on your holiday year... where did Barrow end up finishing? Seemed like in the mini demo challenge people were having a very hard time with them. Might be hard to pry away a 20 goal scorer though. Whats his initial value?

Do you have any French coaches? It seemed like in the demo I was picking up a bit of knowledge from a random coach despite not having that country set as a nationality.

Super Kyle is only valued at £2,000 but anything at all is reasonable down here. He is listed as indespensible though and is contracted until June 2010.

I have a player/coach who is Tunisian, but his knowledge is all African .

[jimbodarlo]

I have a player/coach who is Tunisian, but his knowledge is all African .

Tunisia Is In Africa

[Alurny]

I will be starting soon Dafuge.

Just playing as a big team to get to grips with the game and everything.

Here is to hoping my parents home club Worksop Town are promoted or my birth town Hemel Hempsted!

[aaberdeenn]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Jimbo Super Kyle looks like a machine on your holiday year... where did Barrow end up finishing? Seemed like in the mini demo challenge people were having a very hard time with them. Might be hard to pry away a 20 goal scorer though. Whats his initial value?

Do you have any French coaches? It seemed like in the demo I was picking up a bit of knowledge from a random coach despite not having that country set as a nationality.

Super Kyle is only valued at £2,000 but anything at all is reasonable down here. He is listed as indespensible though and is contracted until June 2010.

I have a player/coach who is Tunisian, but his knowledge is all African . </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm sure that Tunisia is linked with France in someway, like many African countries such as Ivory Coast are.

[jankoller]

Originally posted by jimbodarlo:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Bontcho Guentchev

Who Is He? Divulgeeeeeee </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Have a search for him. He's at Hendon. I met him once, when he was in his... prime. if prime is the right word.

Don't think he'll pay 46 games at that age but his creativity's high enough to change a game!

[aaberdeenn]

More mail for you Allan.

I've got one or two issues.

[Jimbokav1971]

Tunisia Is In Africa

I know that .

I meant he didn't have any French knowledge. It was all African.

[HunterKiller]

Here I go with the mighty Fleetwood! (I know, they've got 1000 rep)

Profile

No pressure then!

One for you Jimbo

[superayrunited]

My profile

I've taken over Bedford. Never done one of these challenges before so here goes nothing!

[Jimbokav1971]

Who Is He? Divulgeeeeeee

Legend. Simple as that.

[Poyplemonkeys]

I have a player/coach who is Tunisian, but his knowledge is all African Confused.

[Jimbokav1971]

Originally posted by poyplemonkeys:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I have a player/coach who is Tunisian, but his knowledge is all African Confused.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

What I meant was it wasn't French .

[Poyplemonkeys]

aye sure. Just holidaying now fwiw. First game crashed when I tried giving you all a treat by having Abi Titmuss as a profile pic.

[iseemonsters]

It seems to be taking a lot longer to holiday on FM 08 compared to FM 07. Still, I'm on May now, so not much longer!

By the way, just in case I was supposed to state it, I started on a medium database rather than large - as shown by my holidaying experience, my computer can't take too much!

[Allan]

ok guys lets go.

http://www.dafugeschallenge.com/

The site is still in Beta, but I figure the best way to test is with live data. Any questions give me a shout i'll be here an hour or so yet. Use the contact form or my email address to post problems, not this forum.

Gd luck!

Allan

[jimbodarlo]

I meant he didn't have any French knowledge. It was all African.

Oohh thats why i shouldn't jump in half way through a conversation i suppose lol

Guttered i just holidayed(sp) all ready to go then realised i had only done english league Coca Cola League :| have to holiday again

[Allan]

Congrats KCCircle! 1st new Profile on the New site.

http://www.dafugeschallenge.com/players/KcCircle/

[Walcott\'s Wonderkids]

Just registered on the site, looks most impressive Allan.

Good job indeed, no problems ending my previous game and restarting a new one.

[Poyplemonkeys]

hmmm, signed up and everything but won't finish validate it yet as I have no team or profile picture.

[ManU@oldtrafford]

here my profile

[aston_martin]

I'm an eejit holidayed to 18th august instead of june for some reason, going to have to holiday again tommorow now.

[Alurny]

Originally posted by Allan:
ok guys lets go.

http://www.dafugeschallenge.com/

The site is still in Beta, but I figure the best way to test is with live data. Any questions give me a shout i'll be here an hour or so yet. Use the contact form or my email address to post problems, not this forum.

Gd luck!

Allan

Site looks excellent!

[Jimbokav1971]

Welcome to League football.

What makes it more galling is that Viera was an important part of my early squad in last years challenge.

I desperately need a GK. At the moment all I've got is a kid and my GK player coach .

[Gilbster]

I have been reloading for ages, and still havent seen a single sub 1000 team. I think I have seen King's Lynn the most so far.

I'll continue, since I really want a hard challenge and possibly a localish team. They must appear eventually I hope.

[Allan]

Originally posted by Gilbster:
I have been reloading for ages, and still havent seen a single sub 1000 team. I think I have seen King's Lynn the most so far.

I'll continue, since I really want a hard challenge and possibly a localish team. They must appear eventually I hope.

If anyone has a good starting save then give me a shout over email and i'll see about getting it on the site for others to use.

[Arrid86]

Finally found a team with under 1000 rep after a few reloads, Halesowen Town.

Manager Profile

They seem to already have a parent club in Kidderminster and a feeder club in Sutton Coldfield, so hopefully can get a few loanees to come play for me.

The board also have some low expectations, but are also willing to listen to offers so a takeover may be forthcoming. A bit of cash wudn't go amiss!

[aston_martin]

Arrid, could you send me that save please? Intent on playing as my home town.

If it wouldn't be too much trouble E-mail is in profile.

Cheers

[iseemonsters]

Originally posted by Gilbster:
I have been reloading for ages, and still havent seen a single sub 1000 team. I think I have seen King's Lynn the most so far.

I'll continue, since I really want a hard challenge and possibly a localish team. They must appear eventually I hope.

Same here, but I'm holding out hope of getting a sub-1000 team soon!

Merthyr Tydfil and Gateshead have come up most so far for me, followed by King's Lynn, Chelmsford and AFC Wimbledon.

[Jimbokav1971]

Sounds like I was REALLY lucky to get a sub 1000 rep team at the first attempt .

[Scab]

I've gotten a few <1000 rep teams, but none very appealing. Except for Boreham Wood, but I'm not sure I could live with their name. ^^;

[HunterKiller]

Robbed!

The one goal was punched in by the 'keeper

I'll take games like that all season

[Poyplemonkeys]

If anyone gets Harrow Borough promoted please upload the save for me. I know their manager in real life so would take great pleasure replacing him