From the terraces to the top...hopefully!

[Raware]

Game : Football Manager 2012 (PC)
Version : Official SI 12.0.3
Database size : Large

Leagues loaded :

• England (Regional First Divisions and above)
• France (National and above)
• Northern Ireland (Second Division and above)
• Ireland (First Division and above)
• Scotland (Third Division and above)
• Wales (Corbett Sports Welsh Prem only)

Sunday morning footballer

[Raware]

Another year, another FM . Having played my saves for the last few years in Asia, I think for this years release I’m due for something new. With the new feature of adding/removing leagues in this years FM it should definitely make hopping around the world’s football leagues a lot easier…but for now, I’m staying in England with the English, French, Northern Irish, Irish, Scottish and Welsh leagues loaded from the start. However, I may decide to add/remove leagues as I progress through my career.

In this save, as always, I’ll be starting at the bottom and trying to work my way up the leagues. Thanks to the excellent work of uncle ron and his Level 7 & 8 lower league add-on , I’ll be attempting to do this with Coalville Town who currently play in the Evo-Stik League First Division South. Why? Because the father-in-law is a big Coalville Town fan, has family on the board of directors and we both went to watch them at Wembley last May in the FA Vase (which they unfortunately lost ). While I want to stay at Coalville and attempt to take them as far as possible, if I do receive a job offer which is too good to turn down, I may decide to take it.

I hope you enjoy my journey. Comments are welcome

[Raware]

Coalville Town : A background

Founded in 1926, Coalville Town are semi-professional English football club currently playing in the Evo-Stik League First Division South. The club play their home games at Owen Street Sports Ground, possess basic training facilities but lack youth facilities. The club also has basic junior coaching and a limited youth recruitment network. The club is affectionately known as The Ravens and retains a fierce rivalry with Shepshed Dynamo, Loughborough Dynamo and Quorn.

Although they have never won a competition, the club are enjoying probably their best spell of success this decade. Coalville finished runners-up in the FA Vase in 2011, finished runners-up in the English 9th tier for the only time in 2010, and finished runners-up in the Leics Challenge Cup in 2006.

Owen Street Sports Ground

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2011/12 : Preview

League expectation
-------------------------
Evo-Stik League First Division South : Board expectation - Learn from the experience : Media expectation - 17th (out of 22)

Cup expectations
---------------------
FA Cup : 1st Qualifying round

FA Trophy : Learn from the experience

Doodson Sports Cup : 1st round

Transfer budget : £1k
Wage budget : £153 p/w
Current wage bill : £5 p/w

Season tickets sold : 35

My views for the season ahead… : I’m not quite sure as I have no idea where we stand in terms of quality but with the board wanting us to learn from the experience and the media suggesting we’ll finish 17th, I can only aim for a mid-table finish. Anything other than this will be a bonus considering our pre-season predictions.

[roganp]

Good luck with this Raware I've enjoyed reading your previous threads, so I look forward to following your new adventure

[offen94]

Best of luck Raware!

[Azeryk`]

Good luck

[rancer890]

Welcome back Raware. Good luck.

[abulezz]

Good luck - lets get this thing started!

[cerud]

Great to see you back, Raware! Looking forward to it

[hursty2]

Welcome back and good luck with The Ravens!

Raware's Ravens.

[deadfncat]

Good luck. WIll be following

[Raware]

Good luck with this Raware. I've enjoyed reading your previous threads, so I look forward to following your new adventure

Best of luck Raware!

Good luck

Welcome back Raware. Good luck.

Good luck - lets get this thing started!

Great to see you back, Raware! Looking forward to it

Good luck. WIll be following

Thanks for the support fellas

Welcome back and good luck with The Ravens!

Raware's Ravens.

Cheers hursty. I never thought of that alliterated title...I could've used it for my thread title

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2011/12 : Mid-season update

Evo-Stik League First Division South : It’s been a fantastic start for us in my first season in charge as we’ve won 17, drawn 4 and lost just 2 which leaves us sitting top of the table at the halfway point of the season. We’re finding goals plentiful as we’ve hit the back of the net 51 times already, mainly thanks to our new signing Alan Lynch who’s scored 12 times (17 in all competitions) and we’re also managing to keep a few clean sheets as we’ve conceded just 18 goals, the lowest in the league.

It’s also been good in the cups for us too as we reached the 1st round in the Doodson Sports Cup before Radcliffe Boro knocked us out, the 3rd Qualifying round in the FA Trophy before Totton sent us packing but perhaps the most pleasing of our cup runs is our performance in the FA Cup in which we’ve reached the 3rd round where we play Ipswich Town at home.

My aims for the remainder of the season… : To maintain our great early season form and push the top teams in the league all the way. While we were predicted to finish 17th at the start of the season, for us to finish anywhere near that now would be very disappointing and we should be looking to at least book a place in the play-offs now if not making a challenge for the title, providing we can steer clear of injuries.

[Pangaea]

Great start.

Good luck for the 2nd half.

[powells_red_army]

Flying start, good luck for the rest of the season

[City2000]

Looking forward to reading this career, good luck

[DSYoungEsq]

Good to see this get started. I'm predicting however that you'll get that offer of a job you can't turn down before five years are up.

[Raware]

Great start.

Good luck for the 2nd half.

Flying start, good luck for the rest of the season

Looking forward to reading this career, good luck

Good to see this get started. I'm predicting however that you'll get that offer of a job you can't turn down before five years are up.

Thanks guys. I'm more than pleased with how our season started but even more so with how it ended .

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2011/12 : Review

Evo-Stik League First Division South/Evo-Stik League First Division South progress/Evo-Stik League First Division South fixtures : With such a fantastic start under our belts, I wanted more of the same leading into the second half of the season…and I got just that as we romped home to the title by an impressive 17 points to give us Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division football next season for the first time in the clubs history!

FA Cup : We had an unbelievable run which saw us knock out 3 Blue Square Bet Premier League teams before Ipswich Town ended our fine run in the 3rd round. A great cup run for us though!

FA Trophy : We did well in this competition too as we reached the 3rd Qualifying round before Totton knocked us out.

Doodson Sports Cup : This was a bit of a Mickey Mouse Cup so I wasn’t too bothered that we went out quite early on in it. We still surpassed the board’s expectations though.

Evo-Stik Chairman’s Cup : This really was a just an end of the season game where we played the winners of the Evo-Stik League First Division North, Radcliffe Boro. We comfortably won it 2-0 thanks to goals from Deniss Magdelevics and Alan Lynch. It was that unimportant I didn’t even bother getting a screen shot!

Transfers : A massive amount of activity for us in the transfer market as players both came and went, the pick of them that came in being Alan Lynch, Jake Inglis, James Gilpin, Kieran Moloney, Richard Munday and former Southampton and West Brom man Pedro Miguel Cardoso Monteiro (or how he’s referred to, Pele, but I refuse to call him that so I call him by his full name!)

Squad : With so many players coming and going I did worry that we’d struggle to gel, but we showed no signs of that as the players proved they were the best in the league by claiming the title. Alan Lynch was our star man as he claimed 28 goals in 48 games while also finishing as runner up in the top goal scoring charts while our captain Richard Munday also did well as he grabbed himself 13 goals in 43 games from defence. Our left winger Kieran Moloney also did well as he reached double figures by netting 11 times and veteran Julian Joachim, who was already at the club when I arrived, rolled back the years as he scored 11 times too. He would’ve scored more if he wasn’t sidelined for 5 months with a torn calf muscle. One slightly worrying point though is the fact that all of our players aren’t on contracts as due to the league we’re in, I can’t offer any contracts. I’m hoping that during the off-season no clubs decide to come in for any of our players and we can keep hold of them before I can offer them new contracts in the new season.

Finances : Thanks to our great FA Cup run (and the fact that we only pay players as they play), our finances are looking decent as we sit with over £100k in the bank .

My views of the season… : It’s been an incredible season for us culminating in the league title and promotion to the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division, something which, given our pre-season predictions, I never expected.

My aims for next season… : There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference in quality between the Evo-Stik League First Division South and the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division so I feel that we’ve got more than enough quality in the squad (providing we can keep the players we have) to make an impression within the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division next season and I’ll be looking for us to establish ourselves within the division, maybe even sneaking a push for the play-offs.

Career Summary

Season   Team               League          		              Position   Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2011/12  Coalville Town     Evo-Stik League First Division South       1st      League Champions

[offen94]

Great job so far Raware, hopefully your good form continues into next season! I've used James Gilpin myself and found him to be a very good goalkeeper for lower leagues.

[powells_red_army]

A great 1st season, well done

[deadfncat]

Ahh James Gilpin. Used him in many a squad myself

[Pangaea]

Promoted. Congrats.

[B.W.G]

A brilliant first season,well done on promotion

[hursty2]

Brilliant promotion and even an impressive FA Cup run!

It's a pity you didn't draw a massive club in the third round.

[Raware]

Great job so far Raware, hopefully your good form continues into next season! I've used James Gilpin myself and found him to be a very good goalkeeper for lower leagues.

Ahh James Gilpin. Used him in many a squad myself

He's been really consistent for me and at times has won us matches on his own. I was surprised that a player with such quality was available. Have you guys ever had Alan Lynch? I find that he seems head and shoulders above anyone else at this level.

[Raware]

A great 1st season, well done

Promoted. Congrats.

A brilliant first season,well done on promotion

Thanks guys

Brilliant promotion and even an impressive FA Cup run!

It's a pity you didn't draw a massive club in the third round.

I was even more amazed at our FA Cup run than our league win. It wouldv'e been nice to have drawn a real big name in the 3rd round but I guess I can't be too fussy seeing as we got so far.

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2012/13 : Preview

League expectation
-------------------------
Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division : Board expectation - Respectable league position : Media expectation - 9th (out of 22)

Cup expectations
---------------------
FA Cup : 4th Qualifying round

FA Trophy : 1st round

Alan Boon Cup : Not important

Transfer budget : £10k
Wage budget : £2k p/w
Current wage bill : £1.9k p/w

Season tickets sold : 38 (+3 from last season)

My views for the season ahead… : With the board wanting a respectable league position and the media predicting us to finish 9th, I guess a top half finish is the aim. However, the bookies are contradicting this and have released their odds for the coming season which have placed us as joint favourites along with Lewes to win the league even with us being the new boys of the division. Myself…it seems like there isn’t much difference between the Evo-Stik League First Division South and the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division which leads me to feel quietly confident of mounting a second successive promotion push.

[Flamers]

Why can I see this being a short career?

[AK22]

Good to see one of your threads back on the board, Raware

I shall be following, and I should wish you good luck, but considering you won the league at a canter, and got to the Third Round of The FA Cup, all in your first season, I think you're doing alright by yourself

BTW, your home stadium (can I even call it a stadium?!) reminds me of the field they used to make us run round for our cross-country competition at school. There'd be a strategically placed teacher behind every tree to make sure no-one stopped for a crafty cigarette!

[Raware]

Why can I see this being a short career?

I'm not quite sure what you mean Flamers. A short career?

Good to see one of your threads back on the board, Raware.

I shall be following, and I should wish you good luck, but considering you won the league at a canter, and got to the Third Round of The FA Cup, all in your first season, I think you're doing alright by yourself.

BTW, your home stadium (can I even call it a stadium?!) reminds me of the field they used to make us run round for our cross-country competition at school. There'd be a strategically placed teacher behind every tree to make sure no-one stopped for a crafty cigarette!

Thanks AK. The league win was a bit of a surprise but the FA Cup run was something else and completely unexpected! It did help though that we had a relatively easy route to the Third round . I am kind of leaning towards your point in the GD thread in FMCU that you just posted about this years FM being 'easier' in comparison to other years. I don't think I would've acheived what I have in FM12 so far on FM11 or FM10.

As for our 'stadium' , that's exactly what it is...a field! I went to a few pre-season games this season and I'm sure I saw a few kids having a sneaky ciggy behind a tree . Seriously though, it took me half an hour to get a burger at the burger bar (it basically a shed that sells food) as they were cooking them individually on a single cooker! Now that's grass roots!

[Flamers]

You will achieve everything in about 8 years

[Raware]

You will achieve everything in about 8 years

Oh right, with you.

[AK22]

Seriously though, it took me half an hour to get a burger at the burger bar (it basically a shed that sells food) as they were cooking them individually on a single cooker! Now that's grass roots!

That sounds like the away end at Fratton Park too

[roganp]

Great start, congrats on the promotion

[cerud]

Great promotion Raware! Surprized you were able to sign Gilpin as such a low level. Definitely will be a good goalkeeper for a few years to come still as you continue moving up.

[Raware]

Great start, congrats on the promotion

Thanks roganp.

Great promotion Raware! Surprized you were able to sign Gilpin as such a low level. Definitely will be a good goalkeeper for a few years to come still as you continue moving up.

Thanks cerud. I was a little surprised too as there were a few other clubs interested in him plus we couldn't offer a wage, only a pay as you play deal.

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2012/13 : Mid-season update

Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division : It’s been another fantastic start to the season for us as we head the table by 9 points with 3 games in hand at the halfway point, dispelling any pre-season predictions of mid-table mediocrity. Much of that is again down to Alan Lynch who’s netted 13 times in 15 games (18 in 22 in all competitions) but also to our tight defence who have conceded just 15 goals, the lowest in the league.

Onto the cup competitions and put simply…we’re out of all of them. While we’ve not been as successful in the cups this season as we were last season, we’ve still done fairly well in them as we reached the 3rd round of the Alan Boon Cup, the 1st round of the FA Trophy and unfortunately we couldn’t match last seasons amazing FA Cup run as we went out in the 2nd Qualifying round . Still, the league was my first priority so I can’t say I’m too disappointed.

My aims for the remainder of the season… : Before we came into the new season, I was quietly confident of pushing for a second successive promotion…now, I’m very confident. If we throw it away now, I’ll be more than a little disappointed!

[B.W.G]

Wow,looks like your walking the league

[deltablue]

On your way up already surely.

[City2000]

Great progress!

Lynch is certainly doing the business so far, how far do you think he can go up the pyramid with you?

[Pangaea]

Walking the league there.



Hopefully you face stiffer opposition at the next level.

[dagoonerfan]

Best of luck getting to the top, great read so far

[Raware]

Wow,looks like your walking the league.

I know the bookies had us down as favourites for the league at the start of the season but I did expect a little more competition than we've currently had!

On your way up already surely.

I'm hoping so. To throw it away now would be very disappointing.

Great progress!

Lynch is certainly doing the business so far, how far do you think he can go up the pyramid with you?

I'm not sure how far Lynch could go as his stats aren't great and there doesn't sem to be much interest in him from bigger clubs. Yet he seems to have no problem finding the net. Just wondering if anyone else has had him in their squad and how he fared with them. I've never heard of him.

Walking the league there.

Hopefully you face stiffer opposition at the next level.

I'm slightly disappointed too despite our pre-season odds of favourites to win the league. I'd of liked a little more competition. I'm hoping we get more of a challenge at the next level too if we go up.

Best of luck getting to the top, great read so far

Thanks dagoonefan. I think once we hit the BSP or League Two, things will definitely start to become more difficult in reaching the top. Glad you're enjoying the read so far

[buzz2k7]

I love all of your threads
The one is Asia was amazing and looking forward to another great thread How far are you away from the bsp?

[Raware]

I love all of your threads
The one is Asia was amazing and looking forward to another great thread How far are you away from the bsp?

Thanks buzz2k7 . We're in the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division at the minute. The next league up is the Blue Square North/South and the league above that is the Blue Square Premier, so only two off the BSP.

[rancer890]

You're making this look too easy Raware.....

[Raware]

You're making this look too easy Raware.....

I wasn't sure about the step up in quality from the Evo-Stik League First Division South to the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division but once the bookies released their odds for the season and placed us as favourites even though we're the new boys in the league, it leads me to believe that there can't be much difference in quality. It may also touch on AK's point in the GD discussion thread here in FMCU about FM12 being a little easier. I'm finding that once we string a few wins together, morale is sky high and that coupled with having a few decent players is enough to carry you through. It'll probably all be different once we hit a higher level (e.g BSN/BSP) but for now it does seem a little easier...not that I'm complaining though .

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2012/13 : Review

Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division/Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division progress/Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division fixtures : After a great first half of the season for us, I was very confident of us pushing on in the second half of it to try and claim a second successive promotion…and we did, taking the league title by a massive 28 points! While I was confident that we’d have no problem settling in the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division, I didn’t expect us to take the league by that many points; not that I’m complaining! We found goals easy to come by again as Alan Lynch smashed in 21 league goals in 37 games and we carried on what we’re fast being associated for and that’s keeping clean sheets as we only conceded 33 goals, the lowest in the league.

FA Cup : No repeat of last seasons heroics as Droylsden knocked us out at the 2nd Qualifying round stage.

FA Trophy : We went a round further this year as we reached the 1st round before Blue Square Bet North side Tamworth knocked us out after we took them to a replay.

Alan Boon Cup : Another Mickey Mouse Cup which I wasn’t bothered about, hence why we went out in the 3rd round.

Transfers : We lost a few key players at the start of the season as we couldn’t offer any contracts until we went up but my scouts definitely earned their money this season as we managed to bring in some good players. In came Levi Bowyer from Hastings United for free, ex-Leeds United youngster Liam Darville, Ben Davisson (who left later on in the season), ex-Reading youngster Thomas Lyskov, ex-Everton youngsters Gerard Kinsella and Adam Thomas, ex-Manchester United youngster Andeele Martins, Antons Kurakins (who had a brief spell at Celtic but didn’t play any games), ex-Tottenham Hotspur youngsters Laste Dombaxe and Jake Nicholson, ex-West Ham youngster Sebastian Lletget and Ricky Ravenhill and ex-Bolton striker Michael Ricketts who brought a bit of experience into the squad.

Squad : The squad had a bit of a different look to it this season compared to last season…but for the better as we walked the league by an impressive 28 points. Alan Lynch was once again our star man as his goals proved vital for us as he hit 26 goals in 44 games, taking him to 44 league goals for us, just 3 off the club record held by Matt Gardner while also finishing 3rd in the top goal scoring charts. Andeele Martins also did well for us in his first season as he managed to grab himself 13 goals as did our captain Jake Inglis who got 6 goals as well as some important assists throughout the season.

Finances : How things can change in a season! From comfortably sitting in the black, we’re now well into debt as we sit £-137k in the red. This though is due to us now paying players on contracts (not per game as last season) and not receiving the prize money that we received last season from our great FA Cup run. Hopefully though, with us in the Blue Square Bet North next season it can generate a bit more cash for us.

My views of the season… : I can have no complaints about this season as we secured a second successive promotion plus we managed to tie down a few of our key players on 1-2 year contracts giving us some stability in the squad.

My aims for next season… : We should definitely have enough quality in the squad for us to establish ourselves in the Blue Square Bet North next season and relegation shouldn’t even be a thought for us. If anything, given our previous meetings with teams in this league, I think we’re more than a match for most of them, if not better and I’ll be looking for us to make a push for the play-offs to try and attempt a third consecutive promotion.

Career Summary

Season   Team               League          		              Position   Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2011/12  Coalville Town     Evo-Stik League First Division South       1st      League Champions
2012/13  Coalville Town     Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division     1st      League Champions

[Pangaea]

Great season. Congrats on the promotion. I think you can do a third since you were so dominant this season. Probably not a gulf in quality.

[rancer890]

Good work Raware. Do you think you're good enough for another promotion?

[Raware]

Great season. Congrats on the promotion. I think you can do a third since you were so dominant this season. Probably not a gulf in quality.

Good work Raware. Do you think you're good enough for another promotion?

Thanks fellas . I agree, there isn't that much difference between the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division and the BSN and considering our dominance this season, it leads me to believe that we've got more than enough quality to make an impression in the BSN next season and I'll be looking for us to at least push for the play-offs .

[Raware]

Some great news for us as the board have announced a stadium expansion .



In the meantime, we’ll be ground sharing with local neighbours Burton Albion.

[roganp]

Brilliant news. Well done on another emphatic title win

[Nobby_McDonald]

Excellent start Raware. Shame Newcastle Town dropped off in season 1 though.

Don't get how you went from Northern Premier First Division South to the Isthmian Premier though.

Ground expansion looks good and the temporary share at Burton very useful.

[rancer890]

Niceee. Now you can keep winning in front of more supporters.

[HotChocolate]

Not done bad at all to get the ground share at Burton.

[cerud]

Not bad on the stadium expansion! You already have a good sized stadium for that level I would have thought. What are your crowds like?

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the promotion and nice to see you having an expansion which should help reduce the risk of financial problems in the future.Good luck in the BSN

[Raware]

Brilliant news. Well done on another emphatic title win

Thanks roganp. I was a little surprised at how easily we won the league.

Excellent start Raware. Shame Newcastle Town dropped off in season 1 though.

Don't get how you went from Northern Premier First Division South to the Isthmian Premier though.

Ground expansion looks good and the temporary share at Burton very useful.

Thanks Nobby. Newcastle Town seemed unstoppable at one point thanks to the goals of Anthony Malbon but they just fell short in the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure about us going from the Northern Premier First Division South to the Isthmian Premier as it's uncle ron's level 7 & 8 expasion pack that I'm using. As for the ground share, I can't really complain as it's more than double what we can currently hold .

Niceee. Now you can keep winning in front of more supporters.

Hopefully with that comes more revenue

Not done bad at all to get the ground share at Burton.

I'm not complaining!

Not bad on the stadium expansion! You already have a good sized stadium for that level I would have thought. What are your crowds like?

With the ground expansion, it'll take our capacity to 3000. It kind of surprised me as we're not filling the gound week in week out, we're averaging around 1000.

Congrats on the promotion and nice to see you having an expansion which should help reduce the risk of financial problems in the future.Good luck in the BSN.

Thanks B.W.G I'm hoping the expansion will go some way to reducing our financial losses which we just can't seem to stop.

[Pangaea]

1,000 average crowd at that level is extremely good. Looking at my own save, we had 243 average the season I got promoted from level 7, Isthmian League Premier Division in my case.

Odd sorting of teams may happen once in a while, but usually it is correct. I did some testing with how to set the borders for the FM 10 or 11 version, with maps on google that took me effin' hours, and the spread looked very good most of the time. Some years there was an oddball here or there, usually a team thrown way north or in the middle of London.

Here is one of them. Don't recall what borders were used here, but from a brief look I don't see any serious oddballs. They can happen here or there out of the blue, but it's quite rare. Nothing he can do about it either.

The pins are level 7 teams and the blobs level 8.

[withnail316]

Congrats on the double promotion. Those crowds are extremely healthy, I had a brief game at Bishop's Stortford in FM11 and was getting less than half of that.

I can imagine about 2,000 by the time you make the BSP, which would be incredible really. I do hope you get more of a test in the Blue Square, though. Don't know about you, but if I earn two back-to-back promotions in a career and I'm still flying in the third, I tend to go off the save very quickly!

[Raware]

1,000 average crowd at that level is extremely good. Looking at my own save, we had 243 average the season I got promoted from level 7, Isthmian League Premier Division in my case.

Odd sorting of teams may happen once in a while, but usually it is correct. I did some testing with how to set the borders for the FM 10 or 11 version, with maps on google that took me effin' hours, and the spread looked very good most of the time. Some years there was an oddball here or there, usually a team thrown way north or in the middle of London.

Here is one of them. Don't recall what borders were used here, but from a brief look I don't see any serious oddballs. They can happen here or there out of the blue, but it's quite rare. Nothing he can do about it either.

The pins are level 7 teams and the blobs level 8.

Sorry, I actually meant to write we're averaging 100 not 1000. My damn keyboard keys either keep sticking or missing letters out when I type I usually read back what I've typed to make sure it's readable but obviously missed that typo :embarrassed:

That's an interesting border test and one that I wouldn't have had the patience to do! The file which uncle ron has produced is nothing short of fantastic and I didn't even realise our jump from the Northern Premier First Division South to the Isthmian Premier was strange. As you say though, there's bound to be an oddball sometimes due to the amount of info being processed.

Congrats on the double promotion. Those crowds are extremely healthy, I had a brief game at Bishop's Stortford in FM11 and was getting less than half of that.

I can imagine about 2,000 by the time you make the BSP, which would be incredible really. I do hope you get more of a test in the Blue Square, though. Don't know about you, but if I earn two back-to-back promotions in a career and I'm still flying in the third, I tend to go off the save very quickly!

Thanks withnail. Like I mentioned above, it's my mistake (or my keyboards mistake!). I actually meant 100 not 1000, damn thing!

Yeah, I do share your thoughts. The first two seasons have been a breeze really and something I wasn't really wanting. The third season also sees us flying and with no real difference between the Isthmian Premier and the BSN in terms of quality, it's looking like a third promotion is possible which is kind of turning me off the save. However, the gulf in class has got to come in to play in the BSP and that's the only thing keeping me going at the minute. If we fly through that then I may look to start a difference save to give me some competition. However, I'm fairly confident that the BSP will a lot more difficult than the divisions below.

[Pangaea]

That's an interesting border test and one that I wouldn't have had the patience to do! The file which uncle ron has produced is nothing short of fantastic and I didn't even realise our jump from the Northern Premier First Division South to the Isthmian Premier was strange. As you say though, there's bound to be an oddball sometimes due to the amount of info being processed.

It's an absolutely marvellous work he has put in. He deserves a world of praise

Just looked up Coalville and it seems to be right on the border where the Northern and Southern Premier usually divide. I'm not sure why, but sometimes the game then puts the club in the Isthmian Premier instead. This fits well with the few anomalies I observed while testing this a couple years back.

If the Northern is filled up you should have been put into the Southern, and then the most south-east club put into the Isthmian (instead of Southern). But instead the game puts the club in the border region into the Isthmian. Quite strange.

Thankfully it doesn't happen very often with the expanded and more dynamic borders, so if you stayed there for one more season I expect you to have been put in your rightful place in the Southern Premier (or Northern, depending on who got promoted/relegated).

[Pangaea]

Here is an excellent site with info and maps btw. Click on the various levels to see maps of which clubs are where and how the regionalisation is distributed.

http://www.thepyramid.info/leaguemap/leaguemap.htm

[Raware]

Here is an excellent site with info and maps btw. Click on the various levels to see maps of which clubs are where and how the regionalisation is distributed.

http://www.thepyramid.info/leaguemap/leaguemap.htm

An interesting website . While obviously I know the clubs in the Premier League, I didn't actually sit back and realise how many are in fact from the North West.

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2013/14 : Preview

League expectation
-------------------------
Blue Square Bet North : Board expectation - Safe mid-table position : Media expectation - 18th (out of 22)

Cup expectations
---------------------
FA Cup : 4th Qualifying round

FA Trophy : 1st round

Isthmian League Charity Shield : Win it

Transfer budget : £0k
Wage budget : £2.35k p/w
Current wage bill : £2.05k p/w

Season tickets sold : 78 (+40 from last season)

My views for the season ahead… : The board want a safe mid-table position and the media are predicting us to finish 18th…personally, I think we should be aiming much higher than that such is the strength of our squad and the weakness of the division, excluding a few teams like FC United, FC Halifax, Droylsden and Southport of course. Given our previous experiences with teams in this division, I’m more than confident that we can hold our own in this league and I’ll be looking for us to reach the play-offs to push on for a third straight promotion push.

[AK22]

Excellent job with the back-to-back promotions. Going for three in a row now? I'd risk a small wager on it, especially considering the BSN is just as poor as the level seven leagues.

Really good news on the ground share too, that should keep you ticking over until the improvements are made

[Raware]

Excellent job with the back-to-back promotions. Going for three in a row now? I'd risk a small wager on it, especially considering the BSN is just as poor as the level seven leagues.

Really good news on the ground share too, that should keep you ticking over until the improvements are made

ThanksAK. I'm thinking a third promotion maybe possible for that reason. The BSN doesn't seem to be much different to the Isthmian Premier in terms of quality and that's the reason why we've started the season so well I think.

The ground share was a great move for us and has helped us slightly financial wise. However, the expansion to our ground is almost complete and we'll be moving back to Owen Street pretty soon.

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2013/14 : Mid-season update

Blue Square Bet North : This is all looking a bit too easy now as for a third straight season we sit top of the league at the halfway point of the season after some great displays. However, this season doesn’t seem like a foregone conclusion at the halfway point like the last two as it’s quite tight at the top of the league with 6 or 7 teams, including ourselves looking like they have a great chance of promotion. We’re the top scorers in the division thanks to fans favourite Alan Lynch who’s hit 13 goals in 19 league games (18 in 27 in all competitions) while also becoming the clubs all-time goal scorer sitting on 57 league goals and we’re also managing to keep some clean sheets, not as many as I’d like though.

As for the cup competitions, we’re out of all of them again as Dartford sent us packing in the 1st round of the FA Trophy and Gateshead disposed of us in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying round, dashing any chance of us making a repeat of our famous FA Cup run two seasons ago .

My aims for the remainder of the season… : I was confident that we’d have no problem settling in this league and maybe even making a push for promotion, so given our performances so far, I’m more than happy with where we sit. However, there’s still half of the season left to go and with us picking up a few injuries recently, our squad isn’t that big which could hinder our chances of claiming a third straight promotion.

[HotChocolate]

Shame about the cups but you're going well in the league

[DSYoungEsq]

I'm banking on you to rise all the way to the EPL in another 6 seasons.

[Pangaea]

Looking good so far. Good luck for the second half.

[withnail316]

Shame about the typo, those gates would have been brilliant! Incidentally, what are you averaging this year?

[B.W.G]

Looking good in the league so far,shame you couldn't get a decent run to help with the financial side of things.

[Raware]

Shame about the cups but you're going well in the league

Thanks HC. The FA Cup run a few years ago was clearly a lucky run .

I'm banking on you to rise all the way to the EPL in another 6 seasons.

DSYoungEsq...ever the optimist!

Looking good so far. Good luck for the second half.

Thanks Pangaea.

Shame about the typo, those gates would have been brilliant! Incidentally, what are you averaging this year?

Damn keyboard keys! This year in the BSN we're averaging around 400-500. Not brilliant I know but the crowds are growing. (I've checked the average attendance figure I've just typed and there's no typo this time ).

Looking good in the league so far,shame you couldn't get a decent run to help with the financial side of things.

Thanks B.W.G. I was a little disappointed to go out in the cups so early. I don't think there'll be a repeat of our FA Cup run a few seasons ago anytime soon if we keep playing like that in the cups .

[Raware]

We can now move back to Owen Street Sports Ground as our planned expansion has now been completed, increasing the grounds capacity to 3000

[deltablue]

Should be useful as you rise and fill it up.

[buzz2k7]

What are your finances looking like now?

[dagoonerfan]

How long does it take you to complete a season?

[Raware]

Should be useful as you rise and fill it up.

Definitely, we need all the gate receipts we can get!

How long does it take you to complete a season?

It depends on what free time I have. The past week I've had quite a bit of free time so I've managed to get a few seasons in quickly but usually it take me a couple of weeks to complete a season.

[HotChocolate]

Home sweet home.

[cerud]

A third consecutive promotion looks likely, nice job! Good to have the stadium expansion done so you can start getting those gate receipts

[Raware]

What are your finances looking like now?

Sorry buzz2k7, I missed your comment. Our finances aren't looking good at all. We're about 200k in the red .

Home sweet home.

A third consecutive promotion looks likely, nice job! Good to have the stadium expansion done so you can start getting those gate receipts

Despite our dire finances, I'm obviously pleased that the board decided to expand the stadium. Those extra seats should generate a bit of much needed cash. As for a third consecutive promotion...

[Raware]

Coalville Town

Season 2013/14 : Review

Blue Square Bet North/Blue Square Bet North progress/Blue Square Bet North fixtures : So, a third straight promotion and title win for us sees us rapidly rise through the leagues where we’ll be playing Blue Square Bet Premier League football next season! . My pre-season feelings regarding a quiet promotion push and no difference between the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division and the Blue Square Bet North/South were proven right as we took the title, 8 points ahead of FC Halifax, who themselves won the play-offs to join us next year in the Blue Square Bet Premier. To further back-up my belief of no difference between the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division and the Blue Square Bet North/South, Lewes, who we’re also promoted along with us last season, also stormed their division (the Blue Square Bet South) only narrowly missing out on promotion, proving my point that there seems to be no difference between the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division and the Blue Square Bet North/South.

FA Cup : We took both Warrington and Colwyn Bay to replays before Blue Square Bet Premier side Gateshead knocked us out in the 4th Qualifying round.

FA Trophy : We made a disappointing early exit as Blue Square Bet South winners Dartford got lucky on the day and sent us packing in the 1st round.

Isthmian Charity Shield : A pre-season, nothing cup against weaker opposition in the form of Canvey Island which we easily won 4-0.

Transfers : With no money to spend again we had to look at free transfers so in came Solomon Taiwo, Stuart Love, ex-Sunderland youngster Adam Mitchell, ex-Nottingham Forest youngster Eurico Sebastiao, Lee Wright, ex-Fulham youngster Albert Owusu-Ansah, ex-Leicester City youngster Liam Moore, ex-Newcastle United youngster Lee Toland, ex-West Brom youngster Ryan Allsop and ex-Charlton Athletic youngster Harry Osbourne. Out of the door disappointingly saw a few faces leave, especially Andeele Martins and James Askey as they both wanted moves to bigger clubs.

Squad : Another great season from the squad as we proved we could make the step up to a higher level. Alan Lynch in particularly stood out for us again despite a 2 month lay off as he netted 28 times in 40 games as well as finishing runner up in the top goal scoring charts for the third year running. Our other striker Adam MItchell also grabbed himself a few goals as he did well as did Laste Dombaxe who got 12 assists throughout the season.

Finances : Still not looking good despite numerous cash injections from the board. However, this is not only due to wages but also due to a couple of recent stadium expansions we’ve had which should be worth it in the long run.

My views of the season… : Another faultless season which culminated in a third straight promotion plus the addition of some key players to the squad.

My aims for next season… : This is where things start to get more difficult as the step up in class now becomes more apparent with more able teams in the league.

Career Summary

Season   Team               League          		              Position   Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2011/12  Coalville Town     Evo-Stik League First Division South       1st      League Champions
2012/13  Coalville Town     Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division     1st      League Champions
2013/14  Coalville Town     Blue Square Bet North                      1st      League Champions

[DazRTaylor]

Terrific three seasons mate. As you say, now the tes starts

[Raware]

Terrific three seasons mate. As you say, now the tes starts

Cheers mate. The test definitely starts next season with some good teams in the BSP. I think we'll do well to avoid an immediate return to the BSN next season.

[Pangaea]

Great going so far. Knew you'd do it

[deltablue]

It probably will get a bit trickier now, but if anyone can do it again...

[B.W.G]

Well done on a third successive promotion.Will probably be slightly trickier but you'll have more then enough to survive.

[HotChocolate]

You getting dizzy yet?

[roganp]

Not very difficult this management lark is it? good luck in the BSP

[rancer890]

Same old same old.

Good luck in the BSP.

[Raware]

Great going so far. Knew you'd do it

It probably will get a bit trickier now, but if anyone can do it again...

Well done on a third successive promotion.Will probably be slightly trickier but you'll have more then enough to survive.

Thanks guys

You getting dizzy yet?

I think we're starting to!

Not very difficult this management lark is it? good luck in the BSP

Ha ha, it's not when teams around you are so weak .

Same old same old.

Good luck in the BSP.

Cheers .

[Fletchdt]

A great 3 seasons. Good luck in the BSP.

[Nobby_McDonald]

You need a harder version of the game Raware

[Raware]

A great 3 seasons. Good luck in the BSP.

Thanks .

You need a harder version of the game Raware

Ha. I think I'll get that next season in the BSP.

[Raware]

Another planned expansion to the stadium

[Raware]

I’d like to think I’ve done a pretty decent job at Coalville Town so far; and it seems others think the same too now.









While they’re only rumours and should an offer be made to me, I’d probably turn it down as I feel I’ve still got quite a bit to offer Coalville. Still, it’s nice to be linked to bigger jobs.