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"Chester - The Art Of Youth Development"


Tactic Master

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[FM12] "Chester - The Art Of Youth Development" (Arsenal Who?)

Welcome to my very first venture into the FM Career Forum! I will be embarking on a very long adventure with one of the newest clubs in English Football, with a very specific rule that most would turn their heads up at and not even give it any consideration! Here is the link to the challenge thread, incase anybody wants to join in!

Chester-1.png

What Am I Doing?

I am going to look to complete the following challenges with one big and very significant rule... The rule being a "No-Transfers In" policy! I will be doing my challenge, relying solely on the youth products we get each season in March... All of the best potential youth players who come in each March will be nicknamed with YP01 after their name (the number increases, 2 for the second, 3 for the third etc...).

  • Take Chester (newly promoted after a season on holiday), from the Blue Square North right up to the Premiership.
  • Win the Premier League
  • Win the FA Cup
  • Win the League Cup
  • Win the Community Shield
  • Win the Champions League
  • Win the World Club Championship
  • Win the Super Cup
  • Win everything in one season (Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Super Cup, Community Shield, Champions League & World Club Championship)
  • Produce the World's Best Player
  • Produce a World Beating Sammarinese player
  • Help San Marino become a Nation feared by others, by producing Sammarinese players through my youth system

Why Am I Doing This?

Since I moved from Championship Manager to Football Manager in 2007, i've played many different saves and lots of success, including a very proud moment in 2010 when I took FC United from the Blue Square North to the Premiership and won the Premier League and Champions League, but i've never set myself a hard challenge like this which could last me a long time, probably untill FM2013 comes out. I do like a challenge and this would provide the ultimate challenge for me. It will also be nice to focus on my own youth, rather than poaching other teams for their youth products.

I also think that this challenge might even provide a much tougher test than playing in a smaller country, due to the difficulty of moving up each league at a time, it could take up to 10 seasons at a time to reach promotion from each league.

Why Pick Chester?

Chester were established in 2010 which makes them one of the newest clubs in England that I'm able to manage and apart from winning the league to move up to the Blue Square Bet North, during my holiday season, they have won nothing! It provides me with the chance to make this club my own and know that any success this club has is because of me, creating the only history it will ever know!

Game Setup

Database Size: Large (Custom)

Player Count: 49,000

Game Start: England (July 2011)

Experience: Sunday League Footballer

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Chester-1.png

As of 5th January 2013

Club Information

Club Name: Chester

Nation: England

Year Founded: 2010

Status: Professional

Reputation: Local

Chairman Status: Loves The Club

Legends: None

Icons: Michael Wilde

Favoured Personnel: None

Fierce Rivals: Wrexham

Other Rivals: Chorley, Witton, Northwich, Shrewsbury

Finances: Okay

Average Ticket Price: £10.00

Average Season Ticket Price: £157.00

Season Ticket Holders: 1,101

Estimated Value: £160,000

Media Prediction: 8th

Squad Personality: Fairly Determined

Club Facilities

Stadium: The Deva Stadium

Location: Chester

Stadium Rental Price: £1.00

Capacity: 6,000 (3,485 Seated)

Stadium Condition: Good

Year Built: 1992

Under Soil Heating: No

Roof: No

Surface: Grass

Pitch Condition: Poor

Coporate Facilities: Fairly Basic

Training Facilities: Fairly Basic

Youth Facilities: Minimal (Rented)

Junior Coaching: Adeguate

Youth Recruitment: Basic

I have basically played half a season already and this is how it stands at the moment in time. I've had Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment upgraded so far this season and that could help an awfull lot come March!

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Chester-1.png

Season By Season Review

The season by season review will be a log on how well we do in competitions, any upgrades we get to facilities and also images of any new youth products as they come into the system...

Season 2012/2013

Blue Square Bet North: Finished Second - Promoted Through Play-Offs

FA Cup: Reached FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round (Lost 2 - 0 to Southport)

FA Trophy: Reached FA Trophy 3rd Round Replay (Lost 2 - 1 to AFC Telford)

Updgrades...

  • Youth Recruitment - Basic
  • Junior Coaching - Adequate

Season 2013/2014 (In Progress)

Blue Square Bet Premier: Currently 12th (17 Games)

FA Cup:

FA Trophy:

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Chester - Match Update - Season 1

It's been a long season, but we've finally got our first crop of youth players in! It has come up with some interesting players, but there isn't anybody outstanding as such...

We've worked very hard this season and started on sensationally, soon rising above the likes of Darlington and Alfreton into top spot. We heald top spot for a while and even went 5 points clear at one point, but all of a sudden we hit a brick wall! We are now doing the opposite and being the team 5 points behind 1st place! We are currently in the play-off positions, but it's Squeeky Bum Time! We are a healthy 5 points clear of Nuneaton, but as we have already experienced, that can quickly change and i'm hoping the new crop of youth can shoot us back up the table.

League Table

League Stats

We haven't particularly had any amazing players, just a team with togetherness, but as already stated, it's all falling apart...

Chester Squad & Stats

Season Verdict So Far... It's been a more than successfull season compared to what I expected, but I wont complain and we are just hoping to get promotion and maybe attract bigger crowds and hopefully improve the facilities.

Youth In-Take

ChesterYouthCandidatesSquad_Players.png

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My First YP!

Gary Beckford YP01, the home town hero of the future! Born in Chester on 24.10.1996, level headed, described as a young striker and is already blowing the Chester fans minds!

Gary Beckford YP01

Report Card

He looks to have very good Physical stats except strength and his composure is fantastic, really exciting stats if you ask me. I've set up a training schedule as promised for all my YP's and i've set individual training to Quickness to try get pace and acceleration up.

The only problem with Beckford is he has very low Determination levels, so i've decided to get Matty McNeil to tutor him who has 12 Determination. I'm hoping that Beckford's will go up through being tutored and give him a better chance of reaching his potential. I was a bit scepticle at first as my Assistant Manager isn't the best when it comes to looking at CA and PA, but I had nothing to lose in giving him games as my strikers haven't been able to score to save their life in the last few months and he's come into the side and blown peoples minds away!

1st Game: 1 Assist, best player in my team...

2nd Game: 2 Goals, best player in my team...

I can't wait for the next match now!

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League Standings Update

There is now 2 games to go and it really has gone down to the wire! If only the youth players had come earlier, we could have probably stole a few more victories, but it wasn't to be and we are now fighting against Alfreton and Darlington for automatic promotion! Unfortunately, goal difference isn't in our favour, so we need results to go our way to enable us to win on points.

Game 1: Lowestoft, a club known for conceding goals which could go in our favour, as we are the club known for scoring goals. Unfortunately, we are also known for conceding goals and Lowestoft aren't exactly short of goals either and combined with Lowestoft playing at home, it will be a very difficult game. Lowestoft are currenly 14th in the league. We lost in the reverse fixture (1 - 0).

Game 2: Northwich, a club that thrives on neutral football, not too attacking and not too defensive. Last time round in the reverse fixture, Northwich dominated us (3 - 1), but this time we play at home and hopefully that can help us out.

BlueSquareBetNorthOverview_Stages-2.png

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Last 2 Games Of Season...

Lowestoft Vs Chester

The first game was up against Lowstoft, which we basically dominated and ended with a 3 - 1 victory! Ryan James, Antoni Sarcevic and Michael Powell scored the 3 goals. This keeps us with in touching distance of the first place we want!

Chester Vs Northwich

This was the game that mattered the most, a must win! We were also looking for Darlington to lose and for Alfreton to either draw or lose. Unfortunaely the game ended 4 - 4, an absolute fantastic match, with Northwich scoring in the 88th minute... Either way, we wouldn't have taken 1st place as Alfreton managed the victory they needed, but we went into second place with Darlington losing! It looks like we will have to do this in the play-offs!

Play-off Semi Final - Southport Vs Chester

This game was always going to be the important one for us, as we needed to pick up some away goals. Luckily Chris Simm came good at the right moment and scored 2 massive goals to win us the game 2 - 1! This means we can go into the second leg, knowing Southport have to score 2 goals to stop us from going through. Simm hasn't been the most prolific striker this season, but he's come big when it has mattered.

Play-off Semi Final - Chester Vs Southport

We went into this match knowing it wasn't going to be easy, but we had the 2 away goal advantage and we just had to keep it tight at the back! Southport actually scored the 2 goals they were looking for, but thankfully we go into the Final against Darlington after scoring another 3 goals ourselves! We win the Semi-Final 5 - 3 on aggregate! Goals from Francis Green, Christian Smith and club Icon Michael Wilde!

Welcome to the showdown between Chester & Darlington! The Play-off Final!

Previous Meetings...

The First game between Chester and Darlington was a pre-season friendly, but despite matching them in every area of the pitch, Levi Mackin scored an own goal which sealed out fate, losing 2 - 1.

The Second game was an away game for us and Darlington were expected to crush us. Darlington were crushing us come half-time, but we were still holding out at 0 - 0 and in the second half, Matthew Dolan got sent off to Darlington. This allowed us to keep control of the ball a bit better and we were unlucky not to snatch a victory. It ended 0 - 0...

The Final game we played against them was in the return fixture, with home advantage! Darlington proved however, that home advantage wouldn't give us an easy ride and despite Darlington picking up a red card late on, we were lucky to come out of this with a very respectable 1 - 1 result!

The League...

Darlington were probably the most feared opponent in the league, come the start of the season, or at least in my eyes they were! But some how in our last game of the season, we managed to snatch second place away from them and i'm sure they will be looking for revenge! They have performed extremely well this season with 77 goals and 41 conceded, giving them a goal difference of +36.

Shaun Curtis is seen as the main threat for Darlington and he's been one of the most consistent performers in the league this season. We will need to keep him quiet if we are to come out of this one with the victory!

Verdict: I believe we can pull this off, but I will be looking towards my YP01 to provide some memorable magic! We've managed 2 draws in the league, but that friendly defeat does hang over our heads and it's time to go out and prove we are good enough! We are playing at home which could be a major factor in this match and i'm very pleased by that!

Match Highlights! Watch For Match Result! View in 720p HD :)

[video=youtube;Hry6ghXDDBo]

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Really cool challenge and a great thread. In fact, I liked it so much, I've decided to try my hand at it myself too!

Edit: Important question: will I get newgens from San Marino (or whatever other small nation I choose) if I set it as my second nationality? Or do I have to set it as my main nationality?

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Really cool challenge and a great thread. In fact, I liked it so much, I've decided to try my hand at it myself too!

Edit: Important question: will I get newgens from San Marino (or whatever other small nation I choose) if I set it as my second nationality? Or do I have to set it as my main nationality?

Thats great :D Glad you like it! About the San Marino, I saw a thread on the challenge forum about this, but in my first youth-intake I got all English??? I'm not sure if the fact I chose English as a second nationality stops me from getting San Marino players :( Maybe you shouldn't have a second nationality? Even so, I'd say you need main to be San Marino.

End of season update coming up soon!

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Really cool challenge and a great thread. In fact, I liked it so much, I've decided to try my hand at it myself too!

Edit: Important question: will I get newgens from San Marino (or whatever other small nation I choose) if I set it as my second nationality? Or do I have to set it as my main nationality?

Tactic Master is doing this challenge and if you are doing it we would love you to post updates in there, and see all the rules of the challenge. As for getting sammarinese newgens, you need to have high youth recruitment, so it is unlikely you would get any san marino newgens unless you got your youth recruitment VERY high.

also, could you put the above link in the OP of this thread please TM? it might attract more participants :)

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End Of Season Report

A long and difficult season, with the usual up's and down's! I must say, probably my favourite season in a save since I started playing in 2007. In the past i've been used to winning and I do consider myself pretty good at the game (trying not to be big headed), but this is where all the fun starts and will test how good I actually am.

The reason I enjoyed this save so much so far, is because i've not been winning every game, i've not got far in the cup competitions, as strange as that sounds! I actually like losing, because it shows that i've got a challenge in front of me and the fact that I managed promotion throught the play-offs, I feel i've achieved something :) Anyway, on to the important stuff!

Chester...

It was a real challenge for me, as we were predicted 8th and the board would surely not tolerate anything lower! I was impressed with the fact that Chester were a Professional club and the stage was set for a long and hopefully successfull season! Here are a few screenshots...

Chester - The Squad That Won Us Promotion

Chester Transfers - The Proof Of No Disception!

Chester - Club Finances Overall

Chester - Club Finances Income

Chester - Club Finances Expenditure

Chester - The Man Of The Moment! Gary Beckford YP01!

Blue Sqaure Bet North...

A fantastic season which saw us takes first place at one point, 5 points clear and then drop down into 5th due to a massive slump in form! I thought it was all over at one point, but Gary Beckford YP01 came in and steadied the ship! I also believe part of the reason we managed to bring the winning ways back was due to sending several players at a time on holiday, to regain their fitness back. Here are a few screenshots...

Blue Square Bet North League Table

Blue Square Bet North Player Stats

Chester Fixtures - The Slump In Form That Nearly Cost Us!

Chester Vs Darlington - The Match That Won Us Promotion!

FA Cup...

This was probably a waste of time, because we were never going to get far. We drew Southport in the draw and I thought, yeah we might be able to get a result...

(H) Chester 2 - 2 Southport - They scored in the 89th minute to salvage the draw, which really annoyed me.

(A) Replay: Southport 2 - 0 Chester - They totally outplayed us and we probably should have had a much heavier defeat.

That was the end of the cup on the first hurdle!

FA Trophy...

I had high hopes in this cup and thought we may be able to get far, especially with seeing our league form, which was very good at that point...

3QR (H) Chester 2 - 1 Hednesford

1R (A) Kidsgrove 0 - 0 Chester

1R (H) Replay: Chester 2 - 1 Kidsgrove (AET)

From this point, our form went right out of the window! But it wasn't over in the cup yet!

2R (H) Chester 1 - 1 Wrexham

2R (A) Replay: Wrexham 0 - 0 Chester (W Penalties)

Against our major rivals, our only fierce rivals who were in BSP and 1st place, so despite our current form, this was a massive result!

3R (A) AFC Telford 1 - 1 Chester

3R (H) Replay: Chester 1 - 2 AFC Telford

That was the end of our run in the cup and disappointing after beating our rivals from the BSP, then being beaten by a team halfway down our own table!

Verdict: A fantastic season, but wish we could have done better in the FA Cup, it just wasn't to be! Next season will definately be all about survival and I'm fairly confident of a decent finish after our match against Darlington and since Beckford came to the club. We just need another striker to step up and partner him!

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Well earned promotion.

Extremely difficult at one point, but definately well earned by the players and the newbie Gary Beckford :D

Will be doing an update on pre-season once it's done, with new staff arrivals to be unveiled! Brought a fantastic Assistant Manager in, a brilliant coach and an even better Physio! Funny story with the physio contract negotiations aswell!

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Pre-Season

Pre-season has been a success so far and i'm happy with a few of the results! First off i'll start with my new staff members, introducing my new Assistant Manager, Coach and Physio...

Assistant Manager - Kevin Cooper... This guy was hard to find, i'd looked through all the list nearly for a suitable person for the job, but they all either wanted too much wages or weren't the right person. His attacking stat means we are going to get good training in that area :)

Coach - Ivan Guerra... Not too bad stats and much better than my other coach and the one that left, should do a good job and is very strict which helps.

Physio - Duncan Russell... This guy was initially a Fitness Coach, but I managed to get him to become a Physio and he definately is much better than the one i let go. At first he demanded high wages, but I got him down to a £425 demand. I could only offer £375 and I pushed him to the limit, to a point where he was mad, so I said take it or leave it! Thankfully and to my suprise he accepted!

Next up, the Pre-Season matches. I decided to go with a mix of difficult and financially motivated matches and some easy-ish and easy matches...

(Green Means Win & Red Means Loss)

Chester 3 - 4 Aston Villa

Chester 0 - 2 Cardiff

Chester 4 - 0 Macclesfield

Chester 1 - 0 Hednesford

Chester 1 - 2 Derby

Chester 0 - 1 AFC Telford

Chester 2 - 0 Causeway Utd

Chester 1 - 2 Charleroi

So a pretty average results margin there and I'm pleased to have pushed Aston Villa and Derby to the limit! Hopefully we've gained enough fitness and can go into the season with a victory to start!

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Looks like Beckford has become a club legend already! Congratulations on getting promotion in your first season, hopefully you can stay clear of the drop.

Thanks, i'll have an update soon on things for the second season :) Beckford has been really good so far at such a young age, can't wait till he's fully developed!

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Mike Nevo's "Chester - The Art Of Youth Development" August To October Update

Note: We have had our Junior Coaching increased and is now described as Average!

August

August.png

An amazing start to the season, totally unexpected, 4 wins out of 6 is a great achievement as the newly promoted team and ZERO Signings whilst i've been here! I do get the feeling this may be beginners luck though and only time will tell!

September

September.png

This was my worst nightmare! I never thought things would be like this after September, but I did say time would tell! Thankfully we've picked up the much needed points last month to keep us in a respectable position. Unfortunately, their has been a massive squad dispute, especially after the "8 - 0" loss to Luton. I fined 5 players, with 2 players being docked 2 weeks wages. 3 of them decided to make a massive issue of it all. One player decided I was right, but the other 2 decided to push their luck and I ended the conversation with telling them they have been put on the transfer list. They immediately said they didn't want to leave the club. Morale has been a massive issue this season so far!

October

October.png

A sensational month if you compare it with September, but still not on par with August, although that definately appeared to be beginners luck now. 2 draws, an impressive 1 shot, 1 goal victory over Barrow and a very difficult victory over Dover, plus our "never going to win" loss to Accrington. Morale seemed to pick up a bit this month and I've taken one of the players I made an example of, off the transfer list, whilst the other complained again, this time about being transfer listed, so he remains there.

LeagueTable-9.png

A fantastic position to be in if you ask me! We are a massive 11 points clear and if you'd asked me a the start of last season, that we'd be in the Blue Square Bet Premier in 12th place in just over a years time, I would have laughed at you! Our only problems it seems, is our inability to defend and the lack of goals from the front men.

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Looks like your doing okay in the Conference, I would never have the patience to rely solely on youth players, good luck

Thanks Johnny, I will need good luck to get me through this with my disrespectfull players! Like I say, I wanted a challenge that would cause me problems, as i've tried challenges like Dafuge's challenge and it's been too easy really.

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Morale is a very important part in managing... maybe try to find time for a friendly against an amateur team to boost morale.

There are so many games in the Blue Square Premier that it's almost impossible to host friendlies unfortunately, but good idea. We seem to be overachieving even with out problems :)

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Mike Nevo's "Chester - The Art Of Youth Development" November Update

November Results

Fixtures.png

A brilliant month, they don't come any better with a team like this! First off, we had a trip back to what i'd consider a rival "Southport". We beat them in the Play-Offs last season and they were looking for revenge, but despite a difficult game, we came out on top. Then came 2 easier games against Newport and Welling, with 2 nice victories and clean sheets. Gloucester in the FA Cup was a fantastic draw and despite struggling, we managed to score 2 corners late on to seal a nice victory. Mansfield were the team that would stop our unbeaten run and we never expected to beat them, they are a fantastic team. The shock result was against Ebbsfleet who are 2nd place and some how we managed to snatch a goal and come out winners! Kettering should have been an easier match, but I can let the players off with that result after a fantastic, but very strenuos month.

On a more serious note, i've stood by my decision regarding Ashley Williams who will never play for us again. I seem to be commanding a bit of respect now which is fantastic and the aim I had this season.

LeagueTable-10.png

Like I said above, a fantastic month and we've moved up 1 place to 11th! We are now 17 points clear of relegation and i'm very confident that we will easily stay up this season. I'm looking towards the youth-intake and just praying for something good that can help us push on next season.

Speaking of youth-intake, i'd just like to throw in a couple of screenshots of my work with Gary Beckford YP01! I've trained him myself with his own unique training schedule and individual focus. Also, his tutor Matty McNeil was fantastic and got his Determination up from 5 to 12! Brilliant stuff...

Gary Beckford YP01 Stats

Gary Beckford YP01 Report

Previously, I had a bad Assistant Manager who couldn't really predict Current Ability and Potential Ability, but my new Assistant Manager has been able to provide a much better report and believes he could become League 1 quality!

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Brilliant November,looking much better at the half way point,hopefully you can continue that form into the second half of the season.

Definately, i'm looking forward to March and I have to keep my fingers crossed that we get a born goalscorer! Thats our only flaw right now.

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Not a bad start at all. Well done is getting over the L*ton thumping!

Im hoping March is kind to you also, get yourself a goal scorer and a push for play-off in still a possibility. Enjoying the read so far.

I always have time for Chester as that was the final game of the season when Rushden and Diamonds won the Conference in 2001. Can remember that day, and our line up, like it was yesterday!!

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Isnt Gary beckford your goalscorer? I dream of the day i get a player of his quality through ;)

Technically that is correct, but hes only got 7 goals in 26 games! He's my top goalscorer too... That shows how bad things are in that department. Luckily we play as a team and everyone chips in, but we need that spark up front that can just finish almost anything.

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Mike Nevo's "Chester - The Art Of Youth Development" December - February Update

December

December.png

A horror show this month and we are back to the morale issue! Thankfully i'm commanding more respect and nobody is complaining at receiving fines. There was one big positive from this month and that was our 2 matches again Swindon, which basically doubled our bank balance to over 300k! The Hayes & Yeading match was embarrasing to say the least...

January

January-1.png

This was more like it! It's still a concern that we can't seem to score more than 2 goals usually, but after last month, I will take anything! York winning was a no-brainer really as they are a much stronger team than we are, but apart from that it was a relatively easy month. It's a good job we had a decent cash flow in January as this month we come out with a loss.

February

February-1.png

This month was very mixed... We came up against some top sides in the league and was knocked out by 1st placed Macclesfield in the FA Trophy. The Hereford result was a good one, but the one that stood out the most for me was the draw against Luton who made us look like kids playing in a park last time round, losing 8 - 0! I'm happy with that draw and also our continued punishment of Alfreton, who aren't far behind us in the league. Unfortunately we also had some heavy defeats.

League Table

LeagueTable-12.png

Overall, i'm still happy with our achievements this season and we can still get a top 10 finish if we work hard in these final matches, but we will have to close up shop at the back to manage that, as we aren't a team that scores many goals.

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