Gundo's FM12 European Adventure Challenge™

[Nordan]

Holiday speed is amazing on this version.

Am waiting for the level7/8 file for England so I can start the game I want to as my home town, but just gave a quick run through in Slovenia for half a season, and it is a difficult as I remember. The gap between Div 3 and Div 2 is huge. The gap between Div 2 and Div 1 even larger. Only 3 non-EU in the match day squad, and only people from Eastern Europe (most of which is non-EU) will come until you've had a couple of seasons in the CL.

Seems this version is harder "down below" and maybe easier in the top flights...if so that makes for some great challenges.

It's actually more fun following a career that is struggling and progressing slowly than a career whizzing up through the leagues.

[Nordan]

Cheers let me know if you discover anything

2nd season also did well,now holidaying to where you are,the end of season 2014.

[ThfcJoe]

I'm not sure what to do as my Modum FK save has hit a stumbling block but I do want to continue Gundo's challenge, I think i'll start a save in Belgium or somewhere similar perhaps

[Nordan]

I'm not sure what to do as my Modum FK save has hit a stumbling block but I do want to continue Gundo's challenge, I think i'll start a save in Belgium or somewhere similar perhaps

I imagine the save is ruined,that's how I would feel after so much work anyway.

Good luck wherever you go.

[ThfcJoe]

2nd season also did well,now holidaying to where you are,the end of season 2014.

It may be as my team is relatively new, made in 2007, but that shouldnt be a problem should it?

And cheers the next save better not mess up!

[Nordan]

It may be as my team is relatively new, made in 2007, but that shouldnt be a problem should it?

No it shouldn't...I honestly don't have a clue what's going on with your save,it all looks ok here in 2014/15.

Only thing I can think of (not sure if it's implemented in the game) is if you have/had extremely bad financials.

IRL the Licensing Board can refuse to give you license to play in the top 2 divisions if your financials are in shambles.There is no license to play in 2nd div so that COULD be it...unless your financials are ok.

IRL Lyn was first relegated from the Premier Div to 2nd div and then went bankrupt and was relegated to the bottom tier,I believe it was 6th division.

[ThfcJoe]

Hmm my finances were insecure but i'm unsure, i've decided to scrap that save anyway and start in Belgium, hopefully I get more luck there

[ThfcJoe]

Belgium's reload date is 29th June, and I have taken over FC Charleroi in the Belgian Third Division B.

Manager Profile
Manager Information
Club Overview
Club Information

Hopefully this one goes as planned

[Gundo]

Great idea for those who wants to try something else but also want to keep an eye on their original baby.

I have a small question:When loading players should I select both "Players based in nation" and "Players from nation" or just one of them?

Either or, I have 'players based in nation' in my save.

[Gundo]

Hmm my finances were insecure but i'm unsure, i've decided to scrap that save anyway and start in Belgium, hopefully I get more luck there

Joe sorry to here about your troubles, any chance you could start a thread in the Bugs Forum and upload your save game?

[Taunton]

It may be as my team is relatively new, made in 2007, but that shouldnt be a problem should it?

And cheers the next save better not mess up!

It looks like it didn'recognize your team, and assumed that Strømsgodset 2 won the league. And when they can't be promoted, chose the third team.

Very frustrating. I am in the same group, second division 4. Will see how it turns out there. But it must be a bug.

Good luck in Belgium, though.

[ThfcJoe]

Cheers my team seems strong enough and has done fairly well in friendlies but I can't really tell until the season starts. Hopefully the same doesn't happen to you as it happened to me but good luck anyway

[Britrock]

I was going to play the Big Euro League challenge, but lost interest as soon as I saw this thread and one country screamed out to me - Hungary. I couldn't resist the challenge of trying to restore a once great nation to brilliance.

So with that I holidayed through my first year and chose the team with the worst reputation and worst finances - Diosd TC.



Club information
First team squad
Finances

My Overview
My profile


I've actually played most of the summer and basically signed an entire new team - my wage budget is a quite healthy £8750 whilst my transfer budget is only £6750, so most of my signings are Hungarians for free.

EDIT: the transfer budget is actually a lot more than that, not sure where I got that figure from. :s I just adjusted the budgets and have £124k for transfers and £6.5k for wages.

[Taunton]

Good luck. It is time for the former great to conquer Europe again.

[Britrock]

Anyone know how I can get the accent on the o using the keyboard? Or is it a case of copying it from word?

[Charlesbeams]

ó Alt+0243 this one?

[Britrock]

Not a bad start

Honved didn't really come close to scoring, my 4132 keeping them at bay easily.

[GoalieManPat121]

I have to get going on this challenge. I picked my league out like a week ago. Works kept me so busy Ive barely got any play time on any challenge.

[Biscotti]

As I stated, I've decided to leave Switzerland be. My new home shall be Belgium.

Meet Lionel Aguerre (info) - newly appointed manager of RFC Liége.

According to wikipedia, they currently do not have a stadium of their own, but play at Stade du Pairay in Seraing (and not in Liége), although in game it appears they have their own stadium of essentially the same name in Liége instead.

Despite the 5 Belgian Championships and single Belgian Cup to their name, RFC Liége are probably best known for being the club responsible for failing to release Jean-Marc Bosman from his contract, resulting in what is today known as the Bosman Ruling.


With a media prediction of 2nd and the board wanting a title challenge, I may have to work hard for this one. Looks like I can't be satisfied with simply avoiding relegation.

[ThfcJoe]

Biscotti I saw them available in my game but I didn't want to start too high with too much expected of me.

I've been smashing back the games and lost automatic promotion by losing a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 on the last game of the season (conceding a 78th min winner) although I would have been saved but the team that got promoted, Mouscron-Péruwelz scored a 88th minute equaliser to get the point that got them top spot, so i'm left having to win the promotion play-off which means I have to win a 2-leg quarter final, then a 2-leg semi final then a 2-leg final. -.-

[Mr_Demus]

I am starting this in the Netherlands. Holidaying right now. I always liked the Netherlands, and I know it might be the easiest country to do this in, but I want to try it. Last year I failed hard in this country

Will update this post, when I find a club.

Edit: Netherlands reset date is July 6th.

Meet Preben Bjørnsen - the new manager of Rijnsburgse Boys.

[ThfcJoe]

I have too much spare time, finished season one in Belgium already!

Manager Profile
Club Profile

Season 1

Very disappointed as I was only 2 minutes away from automatic promotion, but I guess it wasn't to be, was at least 8 points behind the top team with for the majority of the season but eventually overtook them on goal difference with one game to go, so in that game all I needed was a win but I let slip a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 and would have won promotion anyway but the top team equalised with 2 minutes to go to grab them automatic promotion and leave me to the play-offs, which I lost 2-1 on aggregate which was a real shame as it means I have to battle it out in the third division for another season.

League Table

Last games of the season: Mine and Promotion Rivals'

Play-offs: First Leg, Second Leg

Transfers As usual with these saves i've signed lots and lots of free transfers and I do have a lot coming for next season when 1st July comes around.

Player Stats - The players overall didn't play amazingly with barely any getting over 7.00 average rating so hopefully next season overall they'll play much better

Next Season:

Next season I hope to gain promotion as I feel despite a very shaky start I deserved promotion and should have been promoted, at one point going over 20 games unbeaten. So next season hopefully i'll be celebrating promotion rather than licking my wounds and with many fresh free transfers on their way on 1st July I don't see why I can't manage it.

Season  -       League       -  Position  -       Finish       -     Cup    -  Top Scorer   -
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 -  Third Division B  -    2nd     -  Lost in Play-off  - 4th Round  - Issame Charai -

[Wellyboo]

Just past the halfway point of the first season with Höörs IS and I've hit a bit of an issue. It seems there is a known bug to do with renewing contracts and I can't tie any of my better players to new deals! I'll have to take a break for a bit and hopefully it will be fixed.

Really impressed with how the team is doing. Only really have 3 good players that I'm truly happy with, but we're sitting 3rd in the table and are unbeaten so far! Promotion is unlikely as only one team goes up, but it is a great starting season that I can hopefully build upon.

[ThfcJoe]

I am starting this in the Netherlands. Holidaying right now. I always liked the Netherlands, and I know it might be the easiest country to do this in, but I want to try it. Last year I failed hard in this country

Will update this post, when I find a club.

Edit: Netherlands reset date is July 6th.

Meet Preben Bjørnsen - the new manager of Rijnsburgse Boys.

Good luck the Netherlands needs another European giant imo

Nice skin btw

[Taunton]

Taunton - Tollnes - Season review - 2013 - Norwegian 2. division, group D

Table (9th)

Well.
I realize that this will be a marathon, and not a sprint. The team did very well at home, but we were abysmal away. Worst record in the league, and managed or only away win on the last day of the season. It was a great 5-0 win though, and it has given me hope that I have found the key to success outside of our home town of Skien.

Best result this season was a 2-1 win against Strømsgodset 2. It showed that the team can compete with the best on our day. But, no money, lots of poor players and few spectators means it will take a lot to get out of this division.

The takeover finally went through, and now we are runned by a supporters group. In the memo it said that now thousands of Tollnes fans owned the club. I wonder then why none of these show up when we play. But they injected some money into the club and hopefully they will continue to do so.

If we can get to grips with the away form, I think we could challenge for a top half spot next season.

Best player and top scorer: Torstein Mjønner

Economy: Not much to write home about

Key: This season (Last season)

Wage budget: 32.000 Nkr p/w (35.000 Nkr p/w)

Transfer budget: 0 Nkr p/w (150.000 Nkr p/w)

(For pounds, just divide the number with ten)

Av. attendance: 178 (182)

Players in: 15 (10)

Players out: 11 ( 0 )

Season | League   | Position  |  Cup  | Europe    |      Top scorer         | 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012   | 2. div   |    11th   | 1.rnd |    N/A    |  Issa Ibrahim Malam (9)
2013   | 2. div   |     9th   | 1.rnd |    N/A    |  Torstein Mjønner  (10)

[Gundo]

Solid season Taunton. I remember on FM11 it got very frustrating trying to gain promotion from 2.divisjon, it will feel as though you've really achieved something when it finally happens.

[Nightowl]

FC Santa Claus 2012 Season Review

Since the team was filled with terrible players, I set about bringing in some new blood, probably too much like I always seem to do. A number of free Finnish players were brought in on trial or signed during preseason. We also had a milestone, near the end of February when an agent offered us our first full international, Alex Msiska, who we gleefully signed. OK, he's a Zambian international willing to sign a part-time contract in Finland, but its something! Over the next few months, our scouting would kick in, with my scouts bringing me reports of three free talented young Norwegians as well as two talented young Finnish strikers (well, they were very fast, and that's all a striker needs to be at this level), who I signed away from their clubs for 50 pounds each. The youngest, Norwegian central defender Oyvind Johansen, instantly became the best player at the club according to our assistant manager.

Transfers

It was an interesting first season for Santa Claus, as after a mediocre start we hovered near the top of the table all season. Heading into the final game of the season, we held a 3 point lead over TPS, a well as being up 5 on goal difference. Of course, our final game was away to, you guessed it, TPS. We had beaten them twice previously, but quite frankly, their players were far better (and better paid) than ours, including former Aston Villa youngster Mika Aaritalo.

TPS attacked from the start, controlling most of the possession. Under siege, and knowing we just needed a draw or close loss, I switched to more defensive tactics, and hoped to catch them on a counter as they pressed. In the third minute of first half injury time, we made a breakthrough, as defender Oyvind Johansen scored off a corner kick by Vegard Bjorkly to give us a 1-0 lead at the half.

Early in the second half, we doubled our lead, as 32 year old Finnish striker Peke Huuhtanen, who only played 9 games all season, scored from another pass by Bjorkly. I was feeling confident until the 53rd minute, when the referee awarded TPS a dubious penalty, which they converted. They then drew level in the 73rd minute on another penalty, and I began wondering if TPS were the Man Utd of Finnish football. However, they couldn't break us down again, and even a 90th minute red card shown to midfielder Kari-Peka Koivunen couldn't take the shine off our performance. We were out shot 12-5, and lost the possession battle 61%-39%, but we got the draw we needed to win the league!

Table

Player Stats

Key Players for next season:
Central defenders Arild Rabben Erichsen (Nor), Oyvind Johansen (Nor)
Midfielders Vegard Bjorkly (Nor), Alex Msiska (Zam)
Strikers Dorian Ujkani (Fin), Hannu Keskitalo (Fin)

All young regens, who will hopefully develop into solid First Division players.

Back soon, as I'm almost finished season 2.

Season	League	Finnish Cup
2012	1st (First Division)	7th round

[Quacky]

SK Austria Klagenfurt 2021/22

After the promotion I knew I would struggle, theres a lot of proper players in this league. It got off to a terrible start, after 11 matches I hadn't won 1 and had 3 points. Then suddenly I went on a winning streak and then turned a bit rubbish again but that left me in 5th place with only a few games to play just ahead of Sturm Graz. 5th place gets you into europe which seemed impossible at the start of the season.

I had a remarkably similar schedule to Sturm Graz, two rubbish teams, two good team, medium one and then against Sturm Graz. So I promptly lost the first two (so did they LOL!), grabbed a point away at Linz (they lost) I thought I was in for 5th for sure after this. Thrashed by Salzburg 5-2 (they won HOW FFS!), thrashed the St. Pölten 5-2 (so did they), lost to Sturm Graz FAIL!. I don't think it would have mattered anyway as they made it to the Austrian cup final but I now hate Sturm Graz.

League: 6th
Squad: Mediocre
Top scorer: Jonas Warmuth
Highest rating: Thomas Henke
Top player: Joachim Cimander

Year    | Division | Position | Cup
-----------------------------------------
2020/21 | First    | 1st      | Qtr Final
2021/22 | Premier  | 6th      | 3rd Round

[ThfcJoe]

Congrats Nightowl personally I would love to see Manchester United vs FC Santa Claus someday in real life, imagine the headlines



Because that won't set my finances back at all...



Looks like i'll be paying the bank off for the next 34 years until 2038.

Oh well I get a nice 6316 capacity stadium soon with the imaginative name of FC Charleroi Stadium

[cookie15]

Very quick update!Second season went well finishing in 4th, an improvement on last year's 8th place finish. Yet another squad overhaul is needed and a few better players are on their way.Aim for this season- simple, Promotion!

[ThfcJoe]

Another day, another season done...

Season 2 Summary:

I did what was asked of me, got promotion but once again I left it late, and was in exactly the same situation as a year before on the last game of the season, having to play the same team last believe it or not. I took a 2-0 lead then conceded to make it 2-1, and with me needing a win I thought lightning could have struck twice but my team saw it through to win 3-1. I started out very well and stayed consistent throughout the season except for after the winter break I went on a horrible run but managed to (just) pick it up for the end of the season where I scraped the league title on Games Won. I also had a minor cup run where I got to the last 32 before being knocked out 3-0 by Pro League side Antwerp.

Screenshots:

League Table
Finances
Club Overview
Manager Profile
Transfers

Next Season:

Next season I hope to keep myself up because relegation would be terrible after the hard work me and my players have put in to get to the Second Division. Hopefully I can push on and firmly put myself in the division and the (very) optimistic side of me has me thinking of a push for the play-offs and possibly back to back promotions (although this is very unlikely), although it could be helped by signings such as this one, released by PSG and snapped up for free by me in the off-season, looks like he could dominate Belgian football for me (hopefully): Player Profile, Coach Report

Season  |       League       |  Position  |       Finish       |     Cup    |   Top Scorer    
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 |  Third Division B  |    2nd     |  Lost in Play-off  | 5th Round  |  Issame Charai  
2013/14 |  Third Division B  |    1st     |     Promoted       | 6th Round  | Anthony Lorezon

[Taunton]

Congrats to all who have achieved promotion so far. Keep going. Crossing my fingers that I can aim for it in my next season.

[Mr_Demus]

Yeah, so I have to start over :/ Had a crash when exiting/saving FM, and now it won't load. As I don't like to do the same thing twice in a row, I will start in another country.

[taifun]

Slowly working towards the end of the season with Cherry Orchard, and my promotion hopes are hanging by a thread. 10 games to go and I'm 6th, 10 points off leaders Cork and 9 off Limerick in 2nd place (with a game in hand.) Not impossible, but unlikely the way the team is playing. Losing to Swilly Rovers and Bangor Celtic isn't promotion quality. Looking forward to the Challenge Cup QF though, beat Premier League Dundalk in the third round to much applause. I'm also being touted as the next manager of St. Pats and Shamrock Rovers. Unlikely.

Had my first youth candidate update, nice addition to the game. The AM wanted to sign all 15 or so players to youth contracts, but I think its best to cut some immediately. I don't need four new 1-star midfielders.

[Britrock]

Diosd TC mid-season review

Table | Squad | Transfers 1 | Transfers 2 | Fixtures

Just reached the New Year break in Hungary, which lasts for a rather depressing 3 months (no football in December, January or February). The season started well, with 3 wins and no goals conceded. Since then, it's been very up and down. There have been very few standout performers so far, but a notable mention has to go to Roland Ugrai, my one striker who can score goals; Attila Csaszar, who keeps popping up at corners with headed goals and Zoltan Varga, who's knocked in a few long range beauties.

Promotion is off the cards with a 16 point deficit to the leader (and only one team going up), but I'm 15 points above the drop so I should be safe. Looks to be a season of mid-table obscurity, which will hopefully help to increase the reputation of the club and get some fans in. I'm currently running at 30% attendance (612 fans), which incredibly puts me 3rd in the league in terms of percentage attendance (5th in actual numbers). Depressingly, I make more in a month from fundraising then match day income though.

I'm playing a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-1-3-2 depending on the opposition, because I had great fun and success with the shape on FM11. My recent struggles might be linked to a switch to the more defensive 4-1-3-2, so I think I'll be back on the attack in March. My defence is the 4th best, but my strikers are hopeless. I've scored 22 goals, of which only 12 are from my strikers. I'm desperate for some speed up front but there's nothing out there to buy. I'm limited to 3 foreigners and the countries that count as non-foreign are bizarre (i.e. Africa, the Caribbean and some of eastern Europe).

The finances are starting to look a little wobbly, I'm £142k in the red and losing £20k a month. And that's with almost no transfer fees and a wage bill less than £4.5k a week (well below the budget). Does anyone know where the option to ask the board for a fan/supporter day thingy is? I want to attract people to see their newly successful team doing well...

Plans for the second half of the season:

Find a striker that can score
Secure safety



Oh, and one minor gripe - Diosd have a blue badge in game and it shows that their home kit is a blue shirt, yet every game I'm wearing either all white or all black. I thought it was a bit odd, so I downloaded the editor and had a look at their kit, and they've not been allocated one in the editor. I've played a couple of other teams as well and the kit choices have been monochrome. It's just a little weird that the club info screen would show a blue shirt if one isn't allocated in the editor. I also prefer my teams to wear a bit of colour, and it gets a bit tiring if half the teams wear black or white.

[ThfcJoe]

Oh, and one minor gripe - Diosd have a blue badge in game and it shows that their home kit is a blue shirt, yet every game I'm wearing either all white or all black. I thought it was a bit odd, so I downloaded the editor and had a look at their kit, and they've not been allocated one in the editor. I've played a couple of other teams as well and the kit choices have been monochrome. It's just a little weird that the club info screen would show a blue shirt if one isn't allocated in the editor. I also prefer my teams to wear a bit of colour, and it gets a bit tiring if half the teams wear black or white.

My team play in green, camouflage same colour as the pitch

Quick update: Thanks to some great scouting i've managed to find and sign some great young players, who can potentially be some of the best players in the Pro League, and at the moment with an average age of 21 with five games to go i'm 6 points behind top place in 5th one spot outside the playoffs, but tied on points with 4th and 3rd and 1 point behind 2nd, so at least the playoffs seem like a very good possibility for my team which are predicted 18th (out of 18 teams) and are experiencing their first season in the Second division

[ThfcJoe]

Smashed back another season, I just can't seem to stop playing FM

Season Summary:
Well, theres not much more that I can say about this season apart from the fact that it was absolutely brilliant. I was predicted last and after the first 5 games where I picked up one point I was fearing relegation but I made several quality youth signings (thanks to my brilliant scouts) and changed to 4-5-1 and played a little more conservatively than I had been, and since then i've barely slipped up and powered my way to the top of the table, narrowly missing out on automatic promoted and winning in the play-offs. So next season i'll be facing up against Belgian giants such as Standard, Anderlecht and Club Brugge

League Table
Play-offs
Player Stats
Manager Profile
Club Overview
Transfers

Star Players:
My attacking trio, got the majority of my goals and played brilliantly even though they're all Under 22.
Abdallah Yaisien, Job Kerkhof, Lorenzo Camurrio. However, there are lots more players that could be mentioned and the majority of them are quality newgens that i've signed for free over the course of the season.

Next Season:
I really don't know what to expect from next season, it could go either way as i'm unsure what my young squad are capable of at the moment so I could do great or I could be relegated, but my expectations are to still be in the Pro League after next season and survive, then build on that for future seasons.

Season  |       League       |  Position  |          Finish          |      Cup    |   Top Scorer    
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 |  Third Division B  |    2nd     |     Lost in Play-off     |  5th Round  |  Issame Charai  
2013/14 |  Third Division B  |    1st     |        Promoted          |  6th Round  | Anthony Lorezon 
2014/15 |  Second Division   |    3rd     |   Promoted in Play-offs  |  4th Round  | Abdallah Yaisien

I've also been granted professional status (finally) so I can make the most of my youth players potential in training and also attract better players, my board have let me scout the whole of Europe not just Central Europe and i've been given £95K transfer budget - I didn't even know that much money existed in Belgium! :P

[Mr_Demus]

After my last start got lost, I am trying once again. This time in Romania. Meet the new manager of ACS Berceni.

This is their first ever time in the 2nd league of Romania.

The club is located in Berceni, a town in southeast Romania. It has roughly 4000 inhabitants. The play at the Stadionul Berceni, which can hold a crowd of 2600.

[Gundo]

I'm taking forever to get through my first season with Sola Fotball and I'm actually finding it one of the most difficult versions of the game I've played.

[Faultless]

I have to agree gundo, but it's also one of the most enjoyable saves I've ever played. Just finished my 2nd season will update later tonight, but it wasn't a great season for me at sjk

[taifun]

Cherry Orchard - Irish first division - Season Report 2012

5th in the league, 5 points off winners Mervue Utd. I'm pretty sure we'd have won it if striker Robbie Murray hadn't been sidelined for 2 months with a torn groin muscle. We dropped from 2nd and gaining to 7th and dropping while he was gone, then returned to 5th when he came back for the last five games. I had a large squad for this season which was good, 50-ish games is demanding in many ways. 13K in prize money, 25K in player bonuses. Oh well...

Cups: Out in the first round of the league cup. Quarter finals of the Challenge cup, beating Dundalk on the way there. Above expectations.

Youth: Second in the league which is very very good. The youth squad has some talent and quite a few of them got senior appearances throughout the season.

Key players
Alan Cawley - AMC(R), Vital as the support man, First Division player of the year and 28 assists with a 7.40 avg says it all. The former Leeds trainee will be vital next year even if he's aging a bit. His set pieces alone earn him a place in the side..
Robbie Murray - FC, started as a support striker but moved up front when none of the other strikers worked out. 19 goals in 28 is decent enough and miles better than anyone else. When he's not playing, we struggle to score.
Keith McLoughlin - DR, Captain and Grim Reaper. 6.70 tackles pr game and NINETEEN yellow cards (but no reds)
Daragh McNamara - AML(C) - 22 yo signed from Drogheda on a free and started the season on the bench. Fought his way into the first eleven with some huge performances, but tend to disappear in some games.

Next Season is promotion or bust. We're leaking money to the tune of 20K a month, wage budget is lower for 2013 and I just can't take a third year playing Salthill four times a season. Looking forward to trying out some of the new youth players, especially local lad Jim Sheridan who looks like something special, and might be the answer when Robbie Murray goes away injured again. I've also picked up some Czech U19s (took them on trial first) that looked good when given the chance at the end of the season.

PS! Screenshots might or might not show up sometime depending on whether they feel like uploading.

[GoalieManPat121]

I have selected my team in Finland. I am now managing YPA. I am not sure if this is the save Ill be going full on first as I have a couple challenge saves going now and am seeing which one I get into the most but I will complete this one this year.

[ThfcJoe]

Amazing result: FC Charleroi 1-0 Standard

My winner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDn25hl39RY amazing goal

[Britrock]

Just coming to the end of season 1 in Hungary and looks to be a top 6 finish. Went on an amazing unbeaten run after the mid-season break and got an awesome Ukrainian striker on a free. More to come at the end of the season.

[jimbowmanuk]

Ok I'm in for this challenge, decided to go with Romania, and in particular ACS Recas
One downside is that in my league of 14 teams 5 will be relegated so I'll need results to work early for me

Manager Profile
Club History

The Board have given me a transfer fund of £8K, with a wage budget of £10k a week, currently only spending £1.5k a week so should be able to attract players
Will crack on with trying to strengthen the team and avoid relegation.

Updates to follow

[Mr_Demus]

Ok I'm in for this challenge, decided to go with Romania, and in particular ACS Recas
One downside is that in my league of 14 teams 5 will be relegated so I'll need results to work early for me

Manager Profile
Club History

The Board have given me a transfer fund of £8K, with a wage budget of £10k a week, currently only spending £1.5k a week so should be able to attract players
Will crack on with trying to strengthen the team and avoid relegation.

Updates to follow

Good luck in Romania. It's a very fun country to play in

[jimbowmanuk]

Good luck in Romania. It's a very fun country to play in

Cheers, i'm through about a third of the season but cant get consistency from the team so looks like i'm going to be in a relegation battle all season

[Mr_Demus]

Cheers, i'm through about a third of the season but cant get consistency from the team so looks like i'm going to be in a relegation battle all season

Me as well. Finances are very bad, and my team is about equal to the other relegation candidates, so I will need some luck to stay up

[Biscotti]

Quick midseason update: currently 22 played, only 3 lost. Managed to guarantee a playoff place during period two.

[Gundo]

Gundo - Sola FK - Season Review 2012

2.divisjon Final Positon.

Finally managed to get through my first season at Sola. In previous FM's I've tended to do this challenge with Stavanger based clubs, but this year this is slightly different. Sola is a small municipality in the Rogaland region, just outside Stavanger with a population of about 23,000. The media predication was 13th of 14 and Survival was my sole priority.

Found my first season at the 2,500 capacity Sola Stadium to be hugely difficult, struggled from day one and found it impossible to attract decent players to the club. In the end it was only a mid-season spell of good form that saved us after a poor start and an even worse finish to the campaign!

Stand-out best player was Wilhelm Pepa and this guy single handedly kept us up in the end.

Average attendance: 331

Next season: Survival and add a couple of better players to the squad.

Season  |       League       |  Position  |          Finish          |      Cup    |   Top Scorer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     
2012    |  2.divisjon Avd.3  |    10th    |            -             |  1st Round  |  Wilhelm Pepa (11)

[Cabaye]

I'm on holiday in Bulgaria. This looks like its going to be harder than ever but I'm up for it. Good effort there Gundo. Where is Patrick Burda nowadays?

[Gundo]

Sure you'll enjoy your Bulgarian adventure.

Cheers, certainly was a struggle! Last I heard Mr Burda was playing for a Swedish nonleague club, he's not in my save unfortunately.

[Taunton]

I know what you mean, Gundo. The first season is tough. I bet you will improve a lot next season. I have actually played against W Pepa He is good and very fast.

Good luck with your next season.

I am improving in my third season, but not consistant enough I think to be promoted, but a top five finish is up for grabs I think.

Also congrats to others gaining promotion. Keep up the good work, everyone.

[Mafino]

I have started a game in Serbia and have taken control of FK BASK

[cookie15]

Gundo - Good steady start my friend, you'll find you make progress next season
Mafino - all the best in Serbia
Cabaye - All the best in Bulgaria

Well i've finished a third season and will do a season review later, or maybe tomorrow.

[Britrock]

Diosd TC - Season 2012/13.



League- Fixtures - Best Eleven - Finances

An up and down season, a great start as noted before, followed by a slump before Xmas, but then after the break this team meeting turned everything around. We then went on an 9 game unbeaten run, with a 5 game win streak. At this point I thought it might even be possible to catch the leader (I got to 7 points behind), but then we had a couple of tough losses which knocked us back. The tactics were a lot more attacking in the new year, the 4312 was played in every game and defaulted to control, with pass into space and look for the overlap added on as shouts before the game. It's annoying that we messed up the pre-xmas fixtures so badly, because I beat 2 out of the top 3 teams pretty easily. If I'd had the same form in the first half of the season as the second, I'd have won the league.

My success wasn't unnoticed however, I came runner up in the Manager of the Year.

A few of the stars:

Gergo Szesci - a GK I found in the Xmas break who immediately jumped into the starting role. Made a number of quality saves to keep us alive.
Valentin Dima, Pavel Novitskiy - I was getting destroyed down the flanks with my 4312 and slow FBs so these guys came in at Xmas and solved my problems in one fell swoop. Dima looked like he was going to be trouble because he couldn't settle, including not turning up to training, but I needed him so I stuck with him and he seems to have turned around now.
Attila Csaszar - solid in defence all year and scored a few goals to boot
Attila Andrusko - the midfield general, solid all year and a quality penalty taker
Zoltan Varga - led the league with 19 assists and a creative force all year long
Vladimir Matveev - what can I say? This guy is way too good to be playing for me, with that speed, acceleration and finishing he was deadly in the second half of the season, scoring at almost a goal a game. No-ones noticed him yet so hopefully he'll push me on the title this year. Club captain for 13/14 too.

Finances aren't looking pretty, at £300k in the red. The board put £50k into the club at some point, but that was a drop in the ocean. We're losing £20k a month minimum, almost solely because the wages aren't covered by the home attendance (which ended up around 620).

Plan for next season:

Win the division - I've chosen to narrow my pitch as much as possible so there's less chance of being exposed on the flanks at home playing my 4312. Here's hoping it pays off, I've not brought in any new players thanks to the financial situation.

Season    Division        Pos    Hungarian Cup     Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13   Div II - West   4th    Fourth Round    Team building year

[Britrock]

Matveev just got my first ever 10.0 rating on FM. 5 goals in a demolition of Komlo.

EDIT: 3 consecutive hat-tricks. This guy is unstoppable, he's helped me to win my last 3 matches a combined 18-0.

[ThfcJoe]

Just beaten Anderlecht 1-0, great upset to go with the Standard victory

[Biscotti]

8 games remain - 11 points will guarantee me the league win. Not a bad position to be in

[Taunton]

8 games remain - 11 points will guarantee me the league win. Not a bad position to be in

Wish it was me I have two games left and are trailing the leaders by seven points, so no promotion this season, even though it is a major improvement.

Good luck on clinching that league win!

[viiralx]

EDIT: due to random freak power outage I have to reload to get a new team since i did not save. *facedesk*

[Taunton]

Good luck in Northern Ireland. I guess it wasn't the beaches and the sunny weather that made you go there

[viiralx]

Hah :,) .. Iv always wanted to give Northern Ireland a try, ever since Neppo did the amazing things with Knockbreada back in FM09.

Plan on making this a long-term save if things goes well.

[Irish Researcher]

Good luck to those playing in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.

Both leagues should be fairly fun this time round, and more challenging. A lot of the financial side, contracts etc is being overhauled for the next patch. Hopefully it's allowed as well but I highly recommend selecting the load all players based in Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland option. A lot of the sides will load with regens instead of the real players because their CA's are so low so if you want the more authentic feel, load all players.

On a side note... the season after Neppo's challenge, Knockbreda applied and got into the third tier in Northern Ireland, they are still there now, but expected to gain promotion this season and have assembled a good squad. Must have been inspired!

[viiralx]

Irish Researcher Thanks and good to know..

--

Talk about bad luck.. had a power outage right after I got the team I want so It did not save.. and now after 100 re-loads I cant seem to get it again.

So I guess I will have to pick a new team.

[cookie15]

Tiller Season 3 Review

Following a couple of successful campaigns in the Norwegian Second Division League 1 (finishing 8th and 4th respectively) it was time to give promotion a real crack. Not surprisingly the pundits gave us no chance whatsoever, a 10th place finish was predicted, but i knew the squad was getting stronger season upon season. Could we do it?
The cup run wasn't anything to write home about. We got knocked out in the first round proper by Start from the League above, but it was close (2-1). This meant that we could fully focus on the league and give promotion a real shot. Finishing 1st was the only way promotion is gained from this tier of league football in Norway.
The campaign started well and we managed to set our stall out early. At the midpoint we were sat in 4th, 4 points behind the leaders Rosenberg 2, could we push on and make the step up.
League Table- As you can see we did manage it and promotion was ours!

Players

Landry Kouadio - I spotted this boy on loan last season, and wanted him. I managed to wait for his contract to expire and offer him a trial. All in all a great bit of business, this boy is going to be a star. As you can see he was immense and was rightly awarded player of the year.

Eirik Henriksen - A solid season from the DC who performed consistently well.

Thomas Bendiksen- A great season from the new signing who really became a fan's favourite. He was top scorer even though he played the entire season wide on the right of midfield, not bad!

Ivar Unjhem - He was my Captain for the season and performed well when fit. He managed to find the net on regular intervals to keep the promotion push on.


Well, having secured promotion the ever predictable move to a new stadium occurred, the originally named Tiller Stadium. Granted it will increase the capacity to 3200 from 700, but at £3.2 million and a massive loan, it is going to hurt. Repayments have started, but the improved league revenue will hopefully offset the added costs.

Aims for next season:
Avoid relegation and retain my best players

[Gundo]

Great season cookie and Kouadio looks Immense!

[jimbowmanuk]

Well unfortunately I underestimated the Romanian League and have been sacked with 1 game to go after being relegated

Recas sack Bowman

League results were never consistent

Fixtures 1
Fixtures 2

League Tables

In conclusion the 5 relegation spots really punished me as after losing a few games I just couldn't make up the gap, I'll be holidaying another league and starting again in a different nation, like Romania that I have no experience or knowledge of.

[ThfcJoe]

Good to see more people getting involved in the challenge, and good luck to everyone

[cookie15]

Best of luck Jimbowmanuk

[Taunton]

Taunton - Tollnes - Season review - 2014 - Norwegian 2. division, group D

Table (6th)

This season was an improvement. But still there is a way to go. I managed to get a few more away wins, but we are still a bit unconsistent.

I am optimistic before the next season, and I really think we should be able to push for promotion next year.

Best player and top scorer: Thomas Larsen

Economy: It's us and Greece

Key: This season (Last season)

Wage budget: Nkr 30.000 p/w (32.000 Nkr p/w)

Transfer budget: 90.000 Nkr p/w (0 Nkr p/w)

(For pounds, just divide the number with ten)

Av. attendance: 222 (178)

Players in: 20 (15)

Players out: 21 ( 11 )

Season | League   | Position  |  Cup  | Europe    |      Top scorer         |
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
2012   | 2. div   |    11th   | 1.rnd |    N/A    |  Issa Ibrahim Malam (9) 
2013   | 2. div   |     9th   | 1.rnd |    N/A    |  Torstein Mjønner  (10)
2014   | 2. div   |     6th   | 1.rnd |    N/A    |  Thomas Larsen     (12)

[jimbowmanuk]

Ok I've decided to go with Serbia this time
I have been hired by FK Radnicki Pirot

Radnicki (P) Hire Bowman

Manager Profile

[Taunton]

Well. Hope Serbia would be fun. Good luck.

[jimbowmanuk]

Well. Hope Serbia would be fun. Good luck.

I think it might just won the 1st league game 2-1 and if the team plays like that every week i'll definately avoid relegation this time

[Mr_Demus]

Tried Serbia last year. It is just as tough as Romania in my experience. But good luck

[Britrock]

Halfway through season 2 in Hungary and I'm sitting second in the table, one point off the leaders. A great start to the season was followed by a slump in late October, but things picked up again in November. When I win, I seem to destroy the opposition (the 4 game win streak with a combined 21-0 scoreline), but when I lose I'm terrible (a 6-4 loss followed by a 3-0 whipping where I was never involved).

Transfer activity has been very limited because the finances are falling apart. Timofeev had an interesting start to his Diosd career. Whilst I hated the guy for it, I've never seen it before and it's the little things like this that make the game so amazing.

Matveev has been incredible all year - 26 goals in 17 games this season, including 5 hat-tricks, 7 man of the match awards and an average rating over 8. He is way too good for this level, he could easily succeed in the premiership with his ratings. I've got him training on his technique so he hits the ball cleaner, giving him even more goals.

[Quacky]

Revenge is mine! The evil empire of Sturm Graz is falling (both their goals were from long range too)

I had a guy like Matveev before Britrock, every match I could rely on being 1-0 up at least because hes playing.

[Mr_Demus]

Wow, Romania is hard this year. 5 out of 14 teams getting relegated. Likely due to the two 2nd leagues getting merged. Even though I am having a fairly good season so far, I still need to be careful. Tough challenge :P

[Jintro]

Starting this one in Slovakia, I'll upload my screens later.

League reset date has changed to 28th june (save on 27th)

[Gundo]

Thanks Jintro, added to the list.

[Gundo]

Taunton - Tollnes - Season review - 2014

Table (6th)

This season was an improvement. But still there is a way to go. I managed to get a few more away wins, but we are still a bit unconsistent.

I am optimistic before the next season, and I really think we should be able to push for promotion next year.

Best player and top scorer: Thomas Larsen

Economy: It's us and Greece

Key: This season (Last season)

Wage budget: Nkr 30.000 p/w (32.000 Nkr p/w)

Transfer budget: 90.000 Nkr p/w (0 Nkr p/w)

(For pounds, just divide the number with ten)

Av. attendance: 222 (178)

Players in: 20 (15)

Players out: 21 ( 11 )

Season | League   | Position  |  Cup  | Europe    |      Top scorer         |
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
2012   | 2. div   |    11th   | 1.rnd |    N/A    |  Issa Ibrahim Malam (9) 
2013   | 2. div   |     9th   | 1.rnd |    N/A    |  Torstein Mjønner  (10)
2014   | 2. div   |     6th   | 1.rnd |    N/A    |  Thomas Larsen     (12)

Another solid season, slowly creeping up the table each year.

[Gundo]

Mid-Season


Not looking too good at the halfway stage!

[ThfcJoe]

Close to end of season update: Finished 7th in first season in Belgian Pro league which included 1-0 victories at home vs Standard Liege and Anderlecht, and now i'm hoping to win a Euro Cup place in the play-offs. Would be an amazing season if I can get europe!

[Quacky]

SK Austria Klagenfurt 2022/23

The target this year was Europe and we got off to a decent start in the league hiding behind RB Salzburg and Rapid Wien. After a decent run jut before the winter break we were just 2 points off first place in 3rd but it all went a bit rubbish after the break and we managed to scrape home by goal difference in 3rd place. Meanwhile in the cup we managed a quality 5-2 away win over RB Salzburg (followed by another away win over them the very next match in the league) to set up a final against lower league Innsbruck, so we WON!!

League: 3rd
Squad: Decent
Top scorer: Uros Krapez (Anyone that mostly plays CF in my tactic wins this)
Highest rating: Boban Dvorsak
Top player: Boban Dvorsak and Mateusz Klich

Year    | Division | Position | Cup
-----------------------------------------
2020/21 | First    | 1st      | Qtr Final
2021/22 | Premier  | 6th      | 3rd Round
2022/23 | Premier  | 3rd      | Winners

[Taunton]

SK Austria Klagenfurt 2022/23

The target this year was Europe and we got off to a decent start in the league hiding behind RB Salzburg and Rapid Wien. After a decent run jut before the winter break we were just 2 points off first place in 3rd but it all went a bit rubbish after the break and we managed to scrape home by goal difference in 3rd place. Meanwhile in the cup we managed a quality 5-2 away win over RB Salzburg (followed by another away win over them the very next match in the league) to set up a final against lower league Innsbruck, so we WON!!

League: 3rd
Squad: Decent
Top scorer: Uros Krapez (Anyone that mostly plays CF in my tactic wins this)
Highest rating: Boban Dvorsak
Top player: Boban Dvorsak and Mateusz Klich

Year    | Division | Position | Cup
-----------------------------------------
2020/21 | First    | 1st      | Qtr Final
2021/22 | Premier  | 6th      | 3rd Round
2022/23 | Premier  | 3rd      | Winners

I guess that means Europe for you. Great work!

[jimbowmanuk]

Well I don't seem to be very good at this challenge

Radnicki (P) Sack Bowman

Managed only 10 points from 19 games and they gave me the punt
Will attempt this challenge in another country just need to decide where to go and with who

[Taunton]

Mid-Season


Not looking too good at the halfway stage!

I'm sure you can turn things around. I have to say that I think the most difficult part in Norway is to get out of the 2. division.

[Gundo]

I'm sure you can turn things around. I have to say that I think the most difficult part in Norway is to get out of the 2. division.

Yeah I found that on FM11 aswel, took me 5 attempts to escape 2.div. I think I'll be sticking to signing Nordic players only again, I enjoyed using that policy. =)

[Biscotti]

Just had my first look a the new youth intake system. I'll be tracking Loïc Martin's progress over in Neppo's thread.

[Gundo]

Gundo Sacked!

Gutted in the end, it went down to the last kick in the last game, but it just wasn't to be.

Don't really know where to go from here?

[jimbowmanuk]

Gundo Sacked!

Gutted in the end, it went down to the last kick in the last game, but it just wasn't to be.

Don't really know where to go from here?

Unlucky Gundo, like you I don't know where to go I like the idea of eastern europe but the 2 I've tried so far have been quite difficult for me

[Britrock]

I've bought a few good players from the Ukraine. Why not give that a shot? Big nation with a reasonable league rep already and plenty of talent kicking around.

[jimbowmanuk]

I've bought a few good players from the Ukraine. Why not give that a shot? Big nation with a reasonable league rep already and plenty of talent kicking around.

I decided to avoid them, Belgium and Holland as the top leagues have a good rep, I'm holidaying Israel just now hopefully the selection restrictions dont hamper me too much

[Taunton]

Gundo Sacked!

Gutted in the end, it went down to the last kick in the last game, but it just wasn't to be.

Don't really know where to go from here?

Oh no! That is bad news. Hope you will have another go. Are you thinking about another country perhaps?

[ThfcJoe]

Quick end of season update:

Finished 8th, and narrowly lost to Genk 4-2 on aggregate in Euro Places Playoff Final, so missed out on Europe but it was a very productive season and hopefully next time I can push on for a European spot

[cookie15]

Gundo Sacked!

Gutted in the end, it went down to the last kick in the last game, but it just wasn't to be.

Don't really know where to go from here?

I'll offer you a job as my Assistant Manager if you fancy it!

[Gundo]

Cheers guys, well I think I'll almost certainly stay in Norway going to Holiday and see who comes up I think.

cookie - Tempting offer that.

[Mr_Demus]

ACS Berceni - Season review - 2012/2013

League table
Finished in 4th place. Luckily enough, we didn't go up. We are very inconsistent, and we have a rather young team, so promotion would have been a disaster. Excited to see how the new league structure looks.

Squad ratings
As you can see, our squad played rather badly for a 4th placed team.

Right back Cristian Stan was our best rated player. Expecting a lot from him in the future.

Our loanee Florin Anton was our topscorer. God knows how, but none of my other players managed to score a lot.

We have signed 5 exciting players from Africa, and they have great potential.

Goals for next season:
-Add experience to the squad
-Tighten defence
-Get a 15+ goals striker

Season     Team                 Country    League                          League Finish           Cup          Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13   ACS Berceni           Romania    Liga 2 Astra Sport Bets Seria I      4th            3rd round         N/A

[Irish Researcher]

Think I'm going to get involved in my spare time.... will post up what country shortly.

[Taunton]

@Mr Demus: Solid first season. Hope you can build on this and push for promotion next year.