Crazy Canuck on Tour: The Homecoming

[Razer82]

Rancer - This has been a great career so far, well played.

It's also made me want to have another crack at North America but with this edit. The only downside I find in MLS is the lack of relegation, so this would be great.

[rancer890]

Markham Marauders Wall of Honour

This is another feature I will introduce now. With the release of my YP2012 and YP2013 youth products, it's time to create a 'Wall of Honour' to give recognition to those players to put on the Marauders shirt and made some very good contributions to the club. Without further ado, here are the inductions of Radford Sinclair and Anthony Baker. They both weren't the most flashiest players, and as we went up the divisions, their roles were diminished to the point I had to loan one of them out, but overall, without them, we wouldn't be in the USL-Pro East since 2018 without them.

================================================== ================================================== =========================

Name: Radford Sinclair
Nationality: Jamaican/Canadian
International Career: Capped at Jamaican U20 level
Date of Birth: June 2, 1996
Place of Birth: Markham, Ontario
Position: Striker

Markham Marauders Career Stats:

Year    Division                  Apps   Goals  Assists   MoM   Rating
2012    Colonial Amateur League     39      18        7     4     7.06
2013    Colonial Division 2         25       2        2     1     6.60
2014    Colonial Division 2         22       6        7     2     6.92
2015    Colonial Division 2         33      16       12     4     7.22
2016    Colonial Division 2         35      17       13     6     7.36
2017    Colonial Premier League     26      11        6     4     7.15
2018    USL-Pro East                16       0        0     0     6.72
2019    USL-Pro East                 0       0        0     0     0.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Career Totals                      196      70       47    21     -.--

Some might argue that the standards of entering this Wall of Honour must not be very high of someone of Radford Sinclair's caliber was inducted. Yes, he did not contribute at the USL-Pro East level, but he's the only one of my 2012 youth intake that managed to get this far with us. Remember, we have terrible facilities back in 2012, and to see how far Sinclair has worked to have a career with the Markham Marauders and play for 7 seasons is remarkable in itself. He was a big catalyst in leading us up the divisions and he will always be known as one of the pioneers in creating the initial history of the Markham Marauders into the club known today.

-----

Name: Anthony Baker
Nationality: Canadian
International Career: Uncapped
Date of Birth: February 15, 1997
Place of Birth: Markham, Ontario
Position: Striker

Markham Marauders Career Stats:

Year    Division                  Apps   Goals  Assists   MoM   Rating
2013    Colonial Division 2         29      12        3     2     6.94
2014    Colonial Division 2         35      12        6     2     6.86
2015    Colonial Division 2         34      16        7     1     7.05
2016    Colonial Division 2         32      18        6     3     7.26
2017    Colonial Premier League     40      15       11     3     7.01
2018    USL-Pro East                24       5        6     3     6.84
2019    USL-Pro East                22       2        4     0     6.68
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Career Totals                      216      80       43    14     -.--

I always liked calling him 'Mr. Consistency' because when you played him, you knew what to expect of him, which was a solid performance and goals. Before his playing time was reduced to a part-time role, he scored in double digits from 2013 to 2017. As of the beginning of the 2019 season, he was the club's all time leader in appearances, and as of the end of the 2019 season, he's also the club's leader in goals scored. He scored goals at all levels that he participated in, and that's a big accomplishment for him. He wasn't the quickest or strongest, didn't have the best soccer IQ, or even had the best pure skills on the team, but in the end, he got the job done and the results speak for themselves. He has embarked on a new career path, to Gangneung City in the Korean N-League (2nd tier). He happens to be one of three Canadians on the team (one of the other two happens to be a former Markham Marauders youth who I didn't sign!) so hopefully he makes the most of the rest of his career in South Korea.

[rancer890]

Rancer - This has been a great career so far, well played.

It's also made me want to have another crack at North America but with this edit. The only downside I find in MLS is the lack of relegation, so this would be great.

Cheers Razer82.

Good luck with whatever team in this xml file. It's not automatic relegation, but it's a challenge in itself if you're not an MLS team to get into MLS!

[cerud]

Really love the Wall of Honour idea Interesting the there are two players from the Marauders on the same team in the N-League now!

[cswalk08]

Well done in the USL so far! Looks like you can push for the playoffs this year

[rancer890]

Really love the Wall of Honour idea Interesting the there are two players from the Marauders on the same team in the N-League now!

Cheers cerud. I thought of originally having a Hall of Fame, but I don't think Sinclair and Baker were that good to be Hall of Famers, so I settled on a Wall of Honour.

Hopefully there won't be anymore inductions for a while...because most of the core I'm not ready to give up on yet.

And there's actually 3 Canadians on that team, which you know after your 1.5 years of management there that there's only a max of 3 foreigners, so it's a bit strange since the entire coaching staff is purely Korean!

In other news, another good high scoring win!

[rancer890]

Well done in the USL so far! Looks like you can push for the playoffs this year

CHeers cswalk. Hopefully we get playoffs this season. I won't stay much more because every time I say how good we are, we always blow it in the end!

[PaulHartman71]

Nice to see a bit of nostalgia of CSE with the Nep thread style YP wall of honour. Anyone from the 2nd tier been promoted to the MLS yet? IIRC in all the updates you did none of them made it past the play-off with the bottom MLS side, should be very tough for you once you eventually get there if the same teams have been in the MLS the whole save!

[SRL88]

Looks like a canny game for the neutral .

[cswalk08]

Random question, has Dover moved up at all in your save? Markham promoted in the second year and turned semipro in my save.

[AK22]

Giving your fans value for money!

[rancer890]

Nice to see a bit of nostalgia of CSE with the Nep thread style YP wall of honour. Anyone from the 2nd tier been promoted to the MLS yet? IIRC in all the updates you did none of them made it past the play-off with the bottom MLS side, should be very tough for you once you eventually get there if the same teams have been in the MLS the whole save!

Cheers Paul, Nep's Youth Player thread was certainly thought about when I made my Wall of Honour. Pity the thread isn't as active as it used to be.

It'll be a while because we even get into the NASL because they don't have auto promotion and I have to win through playoffs! We still have some holes to fill in the squad though.

Looks like a canny game for the neutral .

Well, if we can turn the neutral fans into Markham Marauders, it can only be a good thing!

Random question, has Dover moved up at all in your save? Markham promoted in the second year and turned semipro in my save.

Dover have stayed in the bottom half of the New England Premier League throughout my save. If I can pick a feeder club, it could be them, but I don't have that option yet.

Giving your fans value for money!

Average ticket price is USD$6.40, so yes, it's very cheap entertainment for the residents of the Markham area. Cheaper than going bowling for a few hours actually when I was in Markham.

[Raware]

Still looking well rancer

Out of interest, how's the file coping? No problems with the xml?

[rancer890]

2019 Season - Markham Marauders - USL-Pro East

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures - What a fantastic season that went down to the final game of the season, but we pulled through, and we'll be in the USL-Pro division, 3rd tier, next season.

North American Open Cup - A fantastic run in the Open Cup, getting to the 4th round, and facing MLS opposition in a competitive match for the first time, losing 3-2. We played the way I wanted them to play, Portland were just better.

USL Cup - It wasn't my priority and happy we didn't go far here.

Ontario Cup - Tanked the 2nd game.

Transfers - Some tough decisions, but some players just had to be released because of our depth. Sinclair has officially retired from the game, and Baker is in the reserves on his Korean club.

Squad - the squad is starting to have a bit of depth. Hopefully the next batch of youth players will give us more depth.

Youth Players:

Angelo Carmelo Matheson (YP 2014) - He's a free agent at the end of next season and I want him to stay with Markham for a while.

Brian Hussein (YP 2015) - He doesn't really have much of a future at the club at this stage.

Enrico Cavalluzzo (YP 2017) - Another great season from Cavalluzzo and he will be a key factor in helping us stay afloat in the USL.

Niksa Cotic (YP 2018) - I was expecting Cotic to make the step forward onto the bench on the senior squad but he didn't do that. He still has a lot of potential though so hopefully he can still become a squad player.

Steve Franks (YP 2019) - He did alright in limited playing time.

Carlo Silva (YP 2020) - A fantastic first season and he will only get better!

Other notables:

Sasa McCallum - A solid job by McCallum, now we just need to hammer out a new 5 year contract soon.

Pedro Lopez - A good season by Lopez.

----

Overview | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

We have a bit of money so maybe it's time to invest in facilities, but I want to deal with the contract situations first.

Managerial Stats

2011 Season
2012 Season
2013 Season
2014 Season
2015 Season
​2016 Season
2017 Season
2018 Season
2019 Season
2020 Season

Notes/Goals for Next Season

• Survive. 4 relegation spots...
• Resign Matheson and McCallum to fair multi-year contracts, otherwise one of them might have to be sold on
• Become BFFs () with Mark Rajkovic so contract negotiations can be easier, since he represents 10 of my players now
• We need defensive Youth Products. We have midfielders with talent and a good core of strikers. We really need additional help in the backline (Navin Simon keeps getting himself yellow cards, and we need a 'keeper)
• Training and youth facilities could be better, we still have basic and minimal facilities respectively. $2 million should be enough...
• Maybe the stadium could be expanded? We already packed over 2400 in the stadium on average every game...

Year     Division                    Tier     Position       Attendance                                              Notes
2011     St. Lawrence Soccer League     8          1st              299    Promotion, North American Amateur Cup Finalists
2012     Colonial Amateur League        7          4th              265                                          Promotion
2013     Colonial Division 2            6          8th              308                                                N/A
2014     Colonial Division 2            6         14th              282                                                N/A
2015     Colonial Division 2            6          2nd              383                               Colonial Cup Winners
2016     Colonial Division 2            6          1st              357                    Promotion, Colonial Cup Winners
2017     Colonial Premier League        5          1st              477                  Promotion, Colonial Cup Finalists
2018     USL Pro East                   4         12th              472                                           Survival
2019     USL Pro East                   4          7th              476                                    Top-half finish
2020     USL Pro East                   4          1st             2438                                          Promotion

[rancer890]

Still looking well rancer

Out of interest, how's the file coping? No problems with the xml?

Cheers Raware. No crashes after every game (~touch wood~ ). There's crashes every now and then, but nothing too annoying. It's certainly a lot better than before!

[deltablue]

Good luck surviving.

[rancer890]

Good luck surviving.

Cheers delta. It will be my hardest challenge but if we can stay healthy, we can do it.

In other news, Junior Coaching has been increased to an exceptional level, and training facilities will be improved, at a cost of $250,000 (lot less than I thought... ).

Unfortunately, $1.7 million (if we discount the $250k) is still not enough for youth facility improvements...

[cswalk08]

Congrats on promotion! Should be a very interesting year in the USL-Pro.

[AK22]

Well done on another promotion! Good to see the new stadium being filled out already

[cerud]

Congrats on promotion! One step below NASL now?

[PaulHartman71]

great job on promotion, should be interesting to see if you can survive especially with those 4 relegation spots

[rancer890]

Congrats on promotion! Should be a very interesting year in the USL-Pro.

Cheers cswalk. It would definitely be very interesting come the new season, but our key players give us some hope.

Well done on another promotion! Good to see the new stadium being filled out already

Yes, I'm very pleased and hopefully as more fans come, there's room to expand!

Congrats on promotion! One step below NASL now?

Yep, it's not an auto-promotion spot though!

great job on promotion, should be interesting to see if you can survive especially with those 4 relegation spots

I'm interested as well. Staying injury-free will be the key. Like our first season in USL-Pro East, we might need a shift in tactics to play more rigidly, because surely we can't outscore the opposition to win in the 3rd tier this year, right?

[rancer890]

Markham Marauders - USL-Pro

2021 Youth Intake

Our 2021 youth intake has mostly Markham area players, but there's also one from nearby Vaughan, and one from the eastern part of the GTA, in Oshawa.

Victor Hugo Esparza - He's a natural wingback, but he can also play right back, so we'll be training him as a right back. Marking and tackling will be attributes I will be training.

Fabian Baker - A decent midfielder. He's got potential to be decent.

Gilles Bourgault and Daniel Fath were offered youth contracts but they both betrayed. Fath joined a team in the St. Lawrence Soccer League. That's right, he turned down my youth contract offer from a tier 3 side for a team in the f****** 8th tier. Bourgault signed with a team in Louisiana in tier 7.

And the youth product is...

Ugo Conversano - I think he's really good . I already signed him to a pro contract because MLS club New England Revolution (!!!) were interested in him after he signed his youth contract.

----

I'm also at a crosswords, as I can't figure out why I can't afford to keep McCallum and Matheson (stupid wage cap), so I can probably only keep one of them beyond this season. It normally wouldn't be a problem, but I'm playing a youth only challenge so it's a bit different....

[rancer890]

Markham Marauders - USL-Pro

2021 Contract Situations

Robert Stillo has been resigned to a new 5 year contract, until the end of 2025. He will receive $7,750 this season, with annual 5% wage increases.

Cordell Lumley has been resigned to a 5 year contract. He will earn $9,750 in the 2021 season, and have annual 10% wage increases.

Sasa McCallum has finally been resigned to a new 5 year contract. He was set to become a free agent at the end of the season. He will earn a base salary of $67,000 each season. There are no appearance fees or wage increases. Unnamed sources have said that McCallum was promised a 5 figure loyalty bonus, rumoured around $15,000, and his agent received a one time $15,000 payout after successful negotiations.

The remaining first teamers left to resign are Navin Simon and Angelo Carmelo Matheson. Manager Ricky Nakano has confirmed the signings of Stillo, Lumley, and McCallum, but has declined to comment on the progress of negotiations with Simon's and Matheson's agent, who also happen to share the same agent as Stillo and McCallum.

[Raware]

Conversano does look promising. How are your youth facilities looking?

[Scarman]

Conversano looks great, another Canadian superstar! Love how diverse the second nationalities are! I always love developing those from the lesser nations just to see how they can help out their national teams in the future.

[rancer890]

Conversano does look promising. How are your youth facilities looking?

Still minimal...

Conversano looks great, another Canadian superstar! Love how diverse the second nationalities are! I always love developing those from the lesser nations just to see how they can help out their national teams in the future.

He's probably the most developed player I got in my time with Markham. And Canada is a diverse country, so there's a lot of second nationalities.

Still waiting for a Chinese Canadian to sign though. There's only one player who's willing to play for their second nationality than Canada, Navin Simon who wants to play for Jamaica. We had a lot of players called up for the Canadian U20s in their career, but none have made the jump to the senior team yet. They didn't really get capped though, because I kept withdrawing those players.

---

I also resigned Simon and Matheson to 3 year and 5 year contracts respectively. Simon was easy to resign, even though I hate him (too many yellow cards), but Matheson I didn't have extra wages to give him, so I had to bride the agent $30k to freeze his salary. So we now got the core of the team locked up long term, so the future is bright.

[cerud]

Congrats on locking up the team long term. SHould really help with your push towards the next level.

[SRL88]

YP21 looks very good . Will be nice to see how he develops.

[Raware]

Still minimal...

Oh dear. It looks to be bringing some half decent quality through though.

[DodgeeD]

Nice progress you've made here Rancer And some of your youth candidates look promising

How has this file worked out for you so far? Any bugs or annoying glitches?

[cerud]

Another good youth intake! WIsh I had your luck!

[rancer890]

Congrats on locking up the team long term. SHould really help with your push towards the next level.

They all did really well this past season.

YP21 looks very good . Will be nice to see how he develops.

He's probably the most talented player to come out of Markham, since all year MLS clubs have wanted him!

Oh dear. It looks to be bringing some half decent quality through though.

If they're decent enough prospects we can still develop them into good players. Like the past couple seasons, we put some youth players into first team roles and they excelled. Some of their attributes have improved nicely and they're consistent.

Nice progress you've made here Rancer And some of your youth candidates look promising

How has this file worked out for you so far? Any bugs or annoying glitches?

Cheers DodgeeD, nice to see you back! We've been a bit lucky with intakes and also more lucky that they actually sign with us!

There's no bugs or glitches so far, although I have avoided using other xml files, because there's a higher chance of crashing.

Another good youth intake! WIsh I had your luck!

We will have spent nearly $2 million on youth setup alone by the end of December of 2021, so it's a bit of luck and a lot of money spent driving us into the red.

[rancer890]

2021 Season - Markham Marauders - USL-Pro

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures | Promotion Semi Final Leg 1 Semi Final Leg 2 | Promotion Final Leg 1 Final Leg 2 - A fantastic season that I was even surprised about. Unfortunately, no auto promotion here so I had to get through 2 rounds of playoffs to get to the 2nd tier NASL!

North American Open Cup - We're happy to have made it to the 3rd round, but sucked that we didn't have our best players for the AC St Louis match.

USL Cup - lost in the 2nd round that we appeared in.

Ontario Cup - annoyed that we lost in the first round we appeared in, but it's not that important...

Transfers - Only released one player who wasn't doing much.

Squad - Lots of potential for a lot of them, so something to look forward to in the future.

Youth Players:

Angelo Carmelo Matheson (YP 2014) - Good year from Matheson. Never going to like the wages he's on but as long as the team is successful with him playing a key role, we'll keep him.

Brian Hussein (YP 2015) - Probably released once I get a youth player to replace him in the same position.

Enrico Cavalluzzo (YP 2017) - He's the team MVP, and maybe the league's MVP as well. He was unstoppable.

Niksa Cotic (YP 2018) - He's even behind Franks on the depth chart, so I don't know his future. I could sign him to a senior contract and then loan him out but we probably still won't use him at Markham.

Steve Franks (YP 2019) - He's developed well, but he's blocked at all the positions he can play in by Matheson/Conversano/Brown.

Carlo Silva (YP 2020) - He's becoming a solid CB. Hope he continues to progress!

Ugo Conversano (YP 2021) - he played as CM most of the season, and was very solid in his rookie year. He's certainly someone who can play in the top tier.

Other notables:

Sasa McCallum - Another good season by McCallum. He requested a transfer because we didn't strengthen the squad with any signings (and I wasn't planning to sign any players ) so he requested a transfer. Nothing to worry though, as he's under contract to 2025...

Pedro Lopez - Another good season from Lopez. He's a reliable left back.

Fernando Di Pietro - He had a very good rookie season, and I was skeptical whether he would go through the infamous 'Sophomore Slump'. He didn't.

John Cain - He's surprisingly developing into a decent 'keeper, as attributes are being improved into double digits. He's not a liability, but we could use a developmental 'keeper soon. He's not going to steal games, but he can succeed with the talent around him.

----

Overview | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

We lost a lot of money during the season but made it all up with end of season prize money.

Managerial Stats

2011 Season
2012 Season
2013 Season
2014 Season
2015 Season
​2016 Season
2017 Season
2018 Season
2019 Season
2020 Season
2021 Season

Notes/Goals for Next Season

• Have a decent year hopefully. With no automatic relegation spots, I think we can stay in the NASL, but that's definitely dependent on whether we have Cavalluzzo, because without him, we actually didn't win a single game.
• Are we going up the leagues too fast? I don't know, but I won't complain about winning...
• We really need a right back. Navin Simon keeps getting yellow cards and red cards (15 yellows, 2 reds, 33 games). He isn't Joey Barton stupid, but still he's stupid sometimes.
• We're starting to fill out the new stadium already, 2638 out of 2725 seated are filled on average...but not sure if we should use the money right now. For now, I will let the board decide on facilities or stadium expansion.

Year     Division                    Tier     Position       Attendance                                              Notes
2011     St. Lawrence Soccer League     8          1st              299    Promotion, North American Amateur Cup Finalists
2012     Colonial Amateur League        7          4th              265                                          Promotion
2013     Colonial Division 2            6          8th              308                                                N/A
2014     Colonial Division 2            6         14th              282                                                N/A
2015     Colonial Division 2            6          2nd              383                               Colonial Cup Winners
2016     Colonial Division 2            6          1st              357                    Promotion, Colonial Cup Winners
2017     Colonial Premier League        5          1st              477                  Promotion, Colonial Cup Finalists
2018     USL Pro East                   4         12th              472                                           Survival
2019     USL Pro East                   4          7th              476                                    Top-half finish
2020     USL Pro East                   4          1st             2438                                          Promotion
2021     USL Pro                        3          1st             2638                                          Promotion

[rancer890]

Well, the board decided on stadium expansion over facilities:



$1.15 million of that was through a grant, so the actual cost is around $1.15 million for expanding the stadium to about a bit less than 4000 seats (3978 to be exact).

LA Galaxy also offered me the managerial position there. Lots of money but staying at Markham so I said no.

[Scarman]

Almost at the top now! Has anyone been relegated from the MLS yet, or is it still the impossible task?

Nice stadium increase as well, always good to know that you'll have a bit more money flowing into the club.

[rancer890]

Almost at the top now! Has anyone been relegated from the MLS yet, or is it still the impossible task?

Nice stadium increase as well, always good to know that you'll have a bit more money flowing into the club.

Yup, tier 2 now! Want to establish myself in the NASL first though, because although some players are good in the division (mainly the 5 star players), we need some depth, and we need absolutely everyone at their best to get a good spot. $4 million, or what I got for getting 1st this season, equates to a 16th place finish in the NASL, so I think that's a good target to try and stay over.

Portland had a couple close calls against Orlando City and FC Buffalo, but they managed to win on away goals against Orlando and defeated Buffalo 4-3 on aggregate. Markham might make history down the road if any of the original 20 clubs are worried.

The stadium expansion is nice but we're still near the bottom in terms of attendance (although we were at like 97 or 98% capacity every game!). It's not something I'm too worried about because we had the lowest attendances and lowest player salaries in more of less every division we played in but I want to improve facilities soon.

2022 pre-season might be interesting. I want to test myself against the best to see how can we handle the NASL level...

[rancer890]

Markham Marauders end of season re-signings:

December 2, 2021:

The Marauders have resigned Fernando Di Pietro to a 5 year contract until the end of 2026. He will earn a pro-rated $14,250 for the rest of the year, and have 10% annual increases. "We felt that there was going to be some interest in Di Pietro because of the two fantastic seasons he had at the club, and we felt comfortable giving him a full-time contract so he can continue to develop with us for at least the next 5 years."

[cerud]

Congrats on promotion! You're now in the league with the club from my hometown, FC Edmonton. Don't know much about that as I live in Vancouver and am a Whitecaps fan, but will be interesting to see you play them Haven't seen them pop up on any careers yet.

[SRL88]

Great work getting promoted Rancer .

[Razer82]

Congratulations on another promotion!

Give it a couple more seasons at most and you'll be the first side to relegate an MLS team.

[rancer890]

Congrats on promotion! You're now in the league with the club from my hometown, FC Edmonton. Don't know much about that as I live in Vancouver and am a Whitecaps fan, but will be interesting to see you play them Haven't seen them pop up on any careers yet.

Cheers cerud! Yes, FC Edmonton are in the division, and hopefully they'll be exciting games with Markham on top..

Great work getting promoted Rancer .

Cheers SRL88.

Congratulations on another promotion!

Give it a couple more seasons at most and you'll be the first side to relegate an MLS team.

Hopefully Razer! A bit worrying though that some players want to move to bigger clubs....

[rancer890]

Markham Marauders - North American Soccer League

2022 Youth Intake

Darko Halilovic - He has decent MLS potential, which will be good. Managed to sign him to a youth contract. He can start at AML because our other ones aren't that good.

Daniel Shepherd - He didn't sign with us, opting to go for a $40,000+ a year contract with a club in Birmingham, Alabama. He could have replaced Simon.

The other annoying part is how the f*** (yes I'm pissed every bloody year that I lose youths) could they have signed him even though he had a hamstring injury after the Youth Candidates vs U18s match. Wouldn't he have failed his physical???

Oh and we're getting $8 million this year in TV revenue! Our money troubles will be a thing of the past!

[AK22]

Should start to get a bit harder now. Good luck, I'm sure you'll defy the odds once again!

[cerud]

I've never experienced a youth player signing with another club. Then again, I've never had good youth!

[PaulHartman71]

Almost reached the big time now! Big couple of seasons coming up for you, hopefully you can become a force in the NASL sooner rather than later!

[Razer82]

Wow! Massive TV money coming your way now then.

Good luck for the new season.

[B.W.G]

You've come a very long way and congrats on winning promotion.Good luck in the 2nd tier

[deltablue]

Very good tv money.

[rancer890]

Should start to get a bit harder now. Good luck, I'm sure you'll defy the odds once again!

It's certainly a lot harder. At least there isn't automatic relegation to worry about.

I've never experienced a youth player signing with another club. Then again, I've never had good youth!

A bit annoyed but hopefully all this youth stealing will stop otherwise it goes from a hard challenge to an impossible one....

Almost reached the big time now! Big couple of seasons coming up for you, hopefully you can become a force in the NASL sooner rather than later!

We still need some reinforcements (providing we can get some players on youth contracts and senior contracts) but hopefully you're right!

Wow! Massive TV money coming your way now then.

Good luck for the new season.

Cheers Razer! At least we don't have to worry about finances anymore...

You've come a very long way and congrats on winning promotion.Good luck in the 2nd tier

Cheers B.W.G. NASL is certainly a different kind of league compared to the ones below!

Very good tv money.

I agree. Now people can see our attacking style of soccer on TV!

---

I suffered a bit of FM burnout on this save and was doing a bunch of other things instead of FM for a week, but I'm back now.

[rancer890]

FM12 welcomes my return to the save with this:



Seriously? I'm shocked my 'keeper wasn't carded for some weird reason! Well done ref for booking 10 of my 14 players!

[Razer82]

That's a crazy number of cards! I don't think I've ever seen something like that.

[deltablue]

Bit much marauding I see.

[rancer890]

That's a crazy number of cards! I don't think I've ever seen something like that.

Me neither. Our tactic does mean we get out of position sometimes so we make some mistimed tackles in the end and we get carded, but nothing this ridiculous. We're not a dirty team and I don't tell my players to tackle hard.

Or maybe my players just have a good hockey mentality.

Bit much marauding I see.

Well I guess we're true to our nickname.

[rancer890]

2022 World Cup - Hosts: Qatar

Notable Absentees:

• CAF - Cameroon (2018 World Cup Finalists),
• AFC/OFC - N/A
• UEFA - Spain
• CONCACAF - Canada (Didn't even make it to the Hex ffs)
• CONMEBOL - N/A

Group Stage

A - Algeria, Uruguay, N. Ireland, Qatar
B - Germany, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Ivory Coast
C - Israel, Japan, England (drew Japan and Morocco, lost to Israel), Morocco
D - Argentina, Russia, USA, South Korea
E - France, Iran, Belgium, Senegal
F - Mexico, Netherlands, Romania, Peru
G - Italy, Serbia, Colombia, Egypt
H - Brazil, Portugal, Australia, Jamaica

Second Round

Czech Republic (p) 3-3 Algeria
Uruguay 2-3 (e) Germany
Russia (e) 3-1 Israel
Argentina (p) 1-1 Japan
France 1-2 Netherlands
Mexico 1-0 Iran
Italy 1-0 Portugal
Serbia 1-0 Brazil

Quarter-Final

Czech Republic 1-0 Argentina
Germany (e) 1-0 Russia
Netherlands (e) 1-0 Serbia
Mexico (e) 1-0 Italy

Semi-Final

Czech Republic 2-0 Mexico
Germany 3-0 Netherlands

Third Place Playoff

Netherlands 1-0 Mexico

Final

Czech Republic 0-2 Germany

-----

Awards

Best Goalkeeper - Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern)
Golden Ball - 1st: Emmanuel Gonzalez (Argentina/Fiorentina), 2nd: Luc Castaignos (Netherlands/HSV), 3rd: Anibal Pio (Argentina/Marseille)
Golden Shoe - 1st: Baghdad Bounedjah (Algeria/Le Mans), 2nd: Svyatoslav Vasyliv (Russia/Deportivo), 3rd: Emmanuel Gonzalez (Argentina/Fiorentina)
Best Young Player - Kevin Melaard (Netherlands/Ajax)
2022 World Cup Dream Team

[cerud]

Looking back at the match with all the cards, I'm wondering if you must have shot someone! Or at least a bench brawl.

[DodgeeD]

Haha - Israel qualify for the World Cup in Qatar! That would be interesting in real life Them beating England and knocking them out would not be though

[rancer890]

October 25, 2022

BREAKING NEWS: TORONTO FC HAVE BEEN RELEGATED FROM MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

TORONTO - Fans of Toronto FC at BMO Field are noticeably frustrated after they earned the distinction of being the first original MLS club to be relegated to the 2nd-tier North American Soccer League (NASL). Toronto's premier soccer team have lost to FC Buffalo, the 2022 NASL Champions, to a 3-2 aggregate scoreline. Having drawn the first leg at the City of Light Soccer Park in Buffalo 1-1, players and fans alike were looking at an advantage at BMO Field back in Toronto where they would have an advantage and win to retain their MLS membership. However, FC Buffalo tallied the first goal in the 48th minute, before TFC tied the game 14 minutes later. Another 1-1 draw meant the game was going to go into extra time, and penalty kicks if necessary. Unfortunately for the Reds, Buffalo scored a goal in the 105th minute and hung on for the 2-1 victory, making history in the process.

It's hard to believe that a big club such as Toronto FC would suffer the fate of becoming the first MLS club to get relegated from the top flight in the history of American soccer, but there's a reason why MLS Cup Championships, and likewise the MLS/NASL playoffs, are played on the pitch. Players and fans were visibly distraught after the final whistle blew, and while the Buffalo players were celebrating the historic achievement, the home team was booed off the pitch.

Afterwards, the manager and the players braved the barrage of questions afterwards about the match.

"We had a really bad season overall," manager Didier Deschamps, who replaced the sacked Ben Olsen in mid-May, told the local media, "there really was no excuse for us to be in this position to be in the MLS relegation playoff in the first place. We had the talent. We had the resources from upper management. A lot of things didn't work out for us and now we're at rock bottom. Relegation is a terrible feeling and I have no words to describe it."

"I really feel bad for the loyal Toronto fans," a solemn captain Michael Ndiovu said, "this city wants to cheer for a winner, but all we gave them was a disappointing season and this loss at home. I firmly believe we are an MLS team, but of course, the results have said we are not. Give Buffalo some credit here. They were huge underdogs since a MLS club haven't been relegated before. They played us tough over the two legs. You don't just get two fluky wins at this stage of the competition."

As a local reporter for the Toronto Sun asked whether his plans for next year would include playing for Toronto FC in the 2nd tier NASL, Ndiovu sidestepped the question, "I don't think it's the right time to discuss something like that. One thing though is that I love playing in Toronto and I love the city. Right now, it really hurts. I'm not thinking about next year right now. What has just happened today hasn't sunk in yet, and the off-season will be very tough on all the players, including myself, as well the coaches, the owners, and the fans."

As for Buffalo, the managers and players couldn't have been more excited. Manager Michel Vork on the victory: "The players and fans are ecstatic about the performance today. As you know, Toronto and Buffalo have a little hockey rivalry, and the fans really got involved in the games and were cheering on us to beat Toronto. Toronto FC are a great team and a class organization from top to bottom. Beating them over two tough legs was no easy task. I thought in the first leg we did a very good job limiting the damage that Toronto could have caused, and we came into this match looking to win, and win we did."

When news spread that FC Edmonton defeated the Markham Marauders in the other Semi-Final, Vork gave his brief scouting report. "The Markham Marauders were the highest scoring team in the league this season, and for FC Edmonton to contain their star players is a testament to the FC Edmonton manager for his strategy and tactics. We may have defeated Toronto FC, but we are not in MLS yet. We have two legs with a very tough FC Edmonton team. We each won one league in the two meetings against each other, so I expect it to a very evenly matched aggregate series. With a spot in MLS next season on the line, both teams will be giving it their all. We can celebrate tonight, but afterwards its back to training and watching video to see how we can play FC Edmonton."

[DodgeeD]

Well, I guess on current form that is what would happen in real life if the MLS/NASL were structured like this. Shame as I have a soft spot for TFC as you know from my FM10 career

[Razer82]

Great to see a team finally replace a side in MLS, shame it wasn't you though.

[deltablue]

Spain are rather notable absentees.

[rancer890]

Well, I guess on current form that is what would happen in real life if the MLS/NASL were structured like this. Shame as I have a soft spot for TFC as you know from my FM10 career

TFC were midtable a couple seasons before this happened. I would have thought other teams would have been relegated first. Portland was at the bottom the last couple seasons in 2020 and 2021, and they were so close from getting relegated.

Great to see a team finally replace a side in MLS, shame it wasn't you though.

The FC Edmonton playoff clearly showed we weren't ready, which I would say is a good thing. We wouldn't compete in MLS and we need more seasoning in the NASL. We also need to sign youth players and avoid them getting poached.

Spain are rather notable absentees.

Shocking how poor they were. They're hosting Euro 2024 so at least they won't be absent from that! At least in person at least. This team lost to the likes of Slovenia and Bulgaria in WCQ, and lost 4-0 to Israel in a friendly.

And Major League Soccer is coming to Buffalo, New York in 2023!!!

[rancer890]

2022 Season - Markham Marauders - USL-Pro

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures | Promotion Semi Final Leg 1 Semi Final Leg 2 - Overall, a really great season. Once I got into the playoffs, I did want to win it and wasn't going to throw it away even though we definitely weren't ready for the big time MLS. Unfortunately, we tried our best but still got played off the pitch by FC Edmonton, who were defeated by FC Buffalo in the Final in the one of the most expensive game in North America with the amount of money at stake.

North American Open Cup - lost 5-2 to the San Jose Earthquakes in the First Round (we entered from the First Round). Unlucky draw and this was probably a better indicator that we needed some better players to compete.

NASL Cup - lost to America USA in the Second Round, which was the first round we entered. Didn't lose any sleep over this, I wanted to beat them in the league for 3 points, not in a cup competition.

Ontario Cup - defeated Belleville in the Qualifying Round before losing to fellow NASL outfit Serbian White Eagles in the first round proper. I've never done well here and last thing I want is a fixture congestion near the end of the season.

Transfers - Finally released YP2015 Brian Hussein. Hopefully he can stay in football and find a new club eventually.

Squad - A strong starting XI, but not much to show for on the bench. Depth is a problem.

Youth Players:

Angelo Carmelo Matheson (YP 2014) - The veteran of the team now, he had a consistent and good season.

Enrico Cavalluzzo (YP 2017) - He tore defenses apart in his first season in the NASL. Won some Canadian caps too.

Niksa Cotic (YP 2018) - He's probably not good enough, and if there's decent youth at his position, he will be released.

Steve Franks (YP 2019) - I think he has at least earned a pro contract. I hope to have a good intake though so I can possibly loan him out for experience.

Carlo Silva (YP 2020) - A solid year from Carlo Silva. It's nice to see him recognized internationally and be capped for Canada.

Ugo Conversano (YP 2021) - Solid year. 3 caps and only 17. Wow.

Other notables:

Sasa McCallum - Solid season from what you might expect from McCallum.

Pedro Lopez - A very good season from Lopez who's young and still improving.

Fernando Di Pietro - If you couldn't think he could have a better year, he just did.

John Cain - He had a good season and he keeps improving so that's good as well. At only 22, he could be the solution at 'keeper for now.

Navin Simon - typical year from him. He made it to the list because he might be a potential Jamaican international!

----

Overview | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

Lots of income from TV revenue and prize money upgrades to the stadium and training facilities

Managerial Stats

2011 Season
2012 Season
2013 Season
2014 Season
2015 Season
​2016 Season
2017 Season
2018 Season
2019 Season
2020 Season
2021 Season
2022 Season

Notes/Goals for Next Season

• Now that I think we can compete (if we're at full strength), it's time to see how far we can go. With Toronto FC getting relegated to the NASL, it's a good test for us to see how we manage against a quality opponent like them. You don't stay over 10 years in MLS by mistake. FC Edmonton really beat us easily over 2 legs, and our main weakness was always depth, so hopefully some new youth players can help us in that regard
• Keep improving those training facilities, because we definitely won't be improving youth ones at this rate....
• We need youth players that we can sign and not get poached! Anyone is fine, just don't sign with another club if I want you!

Year     Division                    Tier     Position       Attendance                                              Notes
2011     St. Lawrence Soccer League     8          1st              299    Promotion, North American Amateur Cup Finalists
2012     Colonial Amateur League        7          4th              265                                          Promotion
2013     Colonial Division 2            6          8th              308                                                N/A
2014     Colonial Division 2            6         14th              282                                                N/A
2015     Colonial Division 2            6          2nd              383                               Colonial Cup Winners
2016     Colonial Division 2            6          1st              357                    Promotion, Colonial Cup Winners
2017     Colonial Premier League        5          1st              477                  Promotion, Colonial Cup Finalists
2018     USL Pro East                   4         12th              472                                           Survival
2019     USL Pro East                   4          7th              476                                    Top-half finish
2020     USL Pro East                   4          1st             2438                                          Promotion
2021     USL Pro                        3          1st             2638                                          Promotion
2022     North American Soccer League   2          2nd             3432                                  We made playoffs!

[deltablue]

Just one step away now.

[B.W.G]

Your correct in your Assessment,another season in NASL will probably do you more good as it gives the players more time to develop.

[rancer890]

Just one step away now.

We're close, but we're not ready just yet.

Your correct in your Assessment,another season in NASL will probably do you more good as it gives the players more time to develop.

We probably need more than one additional season, but most of the key players are already developed. I just need players who can push the current players so I got different options in case of injury. We had some key injuries over the course of the previous season and we did alright, but we're unfortunately very low on depth. I probably made a mistake only trying to attempt to sign 2 players (and successfully signing one), so I hope I can sign a lot more in the next intake.

Also have to somehow get the core to new long term contracts. I have to make them an 'amazing' offer...

[rancer890]

Markham Marauders - North American Soccer League

2023 Youth Intake

Tyler Ball - a decent midfielder prospect. He can be a squad player eventually.

Erik Fletcher - a decent striker prospect. Hopefully he can play on the first team in the future.

Daniel Grubisic - a solid right back. He'll get his opportunities.

And YP 2023, who has signed with the club, is...

Srecko Jeremic - he has some solid attributes. He needs a bit of work but he will get an opportunity to contribute, possibly as early as this season, depending on how he is in pre-season.

Some players I wanted to sign went to other clubs. I'm too pissed off to really talk about them. It's the one thing that I really hate about this save and could ruin me in the future.

Contracts

• Robert Stillo has signed a new year contract with a base salary of $83,000 a year. He will get a 5% wage increase. He was previously only earning a bit more than $10,000 a year.

[cerud]

Tough beat to FC Edmonton, but as its my hometown, I can't be too sad for you Another season in the NASL will ensure you're truly ready for MLS once you do get there.

[Raware]

Looking forward to seeing you in the MLS soon . Will be interesting to see how you do once you reach it. Is there that much of a diffrence in terms of quality? (Forgive my lack of MLS knowledge )

[AK22]

Very close to the big time now! Hopefully you can keep your momentum going

[rancer890]

Gonna take a little break from updating this. Or a long break I don't know. Kinda got bored by my own rules but I don't want to break them in this save.

A new (or old, depending how you look at it) save has my interest again right now and will be posting it up soon.

[cerud]

Fair enough. It was a great career to read

[Scarman]

I know that feeling, I start to get bored with the youth rules at the start of pretty much every season when I see how much I want to strengthen my team Hopefully you'll get the motivation to come back to this some day, it was a good read.

[Raware]

Understandable and probably best to take a break. A few weeks and your interest will be renewed...that's how it works with me.

[Razer82]

Shame that you've chosen to take a break so close to making the MLS. Hopefully the break will get your interest back up.

[cswalk08]

Sorry to hear this man. Good luck and hopefully you'll find the motivation to continue soon!