Dela-Where?: Attempting to Bring a Small State to the Top Tier

[cswalk08]

Dela-Where?: Attempting to Bring a Small State to the Top Tier

Leagues Loaded (Using The Latest Patch Starting from January 2011):
Argentina
Belgium
Brazil
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Holland
Italy
Mexico
Russia
Scotland
Spain
Turkey
USA+Canada down to Tier 8 from http://community.sigames.com/showthr...ca-2.0-Level-8

The Club: Dover Mustangs, 8th tier New England Premier League
Location: Dover, Delaware. This is the only club I could find from my home state, it pained me choosing them due my inherit disdain for the city, Philadelphia is actually closer to home than Dover is. The club appears to be loosely based on Delaware State University.
Rivals: Altoona RailRoaders

I've considered attempting this as a youth only challenge, but I've decided due to 1st wanting to improve my managerial abilities to hold off on that for now and save it for the next save.
I will be doing updates after each in game month.

Club Facilities:


Goals:
1. Bring Dover to the MLS
2. Establish a link with the Philadelphia Union while in the lower leagues
3. Win all major North American Trophies
4. Win the Club World Cup
5. At some point take over the US National Team and win the World Cup with them
6. If I feel like it, After my time with Dover take over the Philadelphia Union and bring them to glory

I am relatively new to the game so any tips you have for playing style, personnel management and anything at all really feel free to suggest it to me!

[SRL88]

Mustangs .

Good luck with this fella .

[cswalk08]

2011 Season Preview

Board Expectations:
New England Premier League: Respectable Finish
North American Open Cup: Learn From the Experience
United States Open Cup: Learn From the Experience
North American Amateur Cup: First Round

My Expectations:
New England Premier League: Top 3 or Win. (This is due to my preseason friendly results which I'll post later today)
North American Open Cup: Find out if I am actually in the Cup
United States Open Cup: Find out if I am actually in the Cup
North American Amateur Cup: Make a Run in either this cup or the other two if I am in them.
Related Question: I'm currently wrapping up my pre-season friendlies and The NAOC is already going on with Phase 1 Qualifying Groups which have lots of upper tier teams in them. Are their later phases, or am I just sitting out this year? I'm sure something similar will be happing with the USOC.

The New England Premier League

Here is the teams in the league for reference, and just to note the league splits after the 1st 19 games.

[cswalk08]

Mustangs .

Good luck with this fella .

Thanks! things are going surprising well with the friendlies so hopefully this will be a good season. Though I haven't managed an Amateur club before and I'm fearing my players getting stolen away.

[cswalk08]

2011 Preseason Friendlies

It turned out that My first league game wasn't until April 30th, so I had 4 months of nothing schedule. To pass the time I scheduled 17 friendlies against all sorts of opposition to test ourselves for the coming year, and too keep us match fit.



I am overall very Happy with these results. We started off very poorly but then had some truly memorable games against some high quality opponents, andt hose results give me confidence that I can do well in the league this year.

The tiers of our opponents and any notes I have on the games:
Dover Reserves-I can't even begin to explain this game. It was awful, our goalie is an idiot, and I thought we were headed for the bottom of the league
Ac Crusaders (6th Tier)-Better
FC Delco (7th Tier)-Gave up 3 different leads
I made a few moves after this game to bring in some better players (namely a keeper with a modicum of intelligence).
FC Buffalo (2nd Tier)-Really excited with this game, we went up 1-0 in the 12th minute, and their keeper got sent off in the 24th for walking out of the box with the ball.
Potomac (7th Tier) -a good win, their manager made some degrading comments about me which I found humorous.
FC New York (2nd Tier)-a quality performance against a high tier side
Jersey Express (3rd Tier)-another quality performance
Reading United (4th Tier)-another surprise win
Philadelphia Union U18s (1st Tier)-it was tied 1-1 when I pulled my starters in the 75th though the U18s deserved their win.
Baltimore Bays U18s (3rd Tier)-we were up 3-1 when I [pulled the started in the 72nd minute, put in my stupid keeper, and the rest is history
Baltimore Bays (3rd Tier)- completely dominating performance. They should consider playing their U18s for their regular season
Philadelphia Union Reserves (1st Tier)-they were the better side and deserved the win after goign up 2-0 in the first 7 minutes
Dover Reserves-REVENGE! Though is it really revenge if its your own team?
Philadelphia Union U18s (1st Tier)-Revenge win!

Our U18 side also had a few games, including beating the Senior sides for Potomac and CDA.

I'll post again today about the transfers I made.

[dagoonerfan]

Good luck pal!

[B.W.G]

Good luck with Dover Mustangs.Don't worry about losing to your reserves,I've lost to my u19's before

[cswalk08]

Good luck pal!

Thanks!

Good luck with Dover Mustangs.Don't worry about losing to your reserves,I've lost to my u19's before

Thanks. Having just finished the first NEPL Game, I know this is gonna be a fun year.

[cswalk08]

2011 Preseason Squad, and Transfers

I mentioned previously that I made some moves after my embarrassing defeat to my reserves, and here they are:
2011 Preseason Transfers:

The only transfer out of the club was our 4th string goalie being released because 1. we had 41 players and only were allowed 40, and 2. he was our oldest goalie and still the worst.

Now to show where these guys are ability wise when compared to the rest of my squad.
2011 Preseason Team Report:

As you can see they are much much better than the rest of my team. It will be interesting to see how this roster plays out during the season.

[rancer890]

Good luck with Dover mate! Nice to see a lot more people using that league structure too!

[cswalk08]

Good luck with Dover mate! Nice to see a lot more people using that league structure too!

Thanks! I'm really glad I found out about it in your thread

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs April 2011

New England Premier League
April contained a few friendlies shown above, and on April 30th was our first league game.

A nice way to start the season for sure. It seems the players I have brought in are going to be great for this league.

North American Open Cup
I have discovered we are in this cup. We have been drawn into the 2nd Qualifying Round against Match Fit, which is in the "I forgot too look it up" Tier. I'm excited to get a game against a higher tiered opponent and see if we can make a cup run.


One thing I've noticed from this and the next games I've played is that I'm getting a lot of penalty calls. I've gotten at least 1 in every league game so far and 2 in some occasions. Does that seem odd?

[cswalk08]

Of all the things I did not expect to happen in the first few months of the career, this is up there. It would appear that Union manager Peter Nowak was fired and AVB wants to be his replacement.

Welcome to the new world.

[cerud]

Good to see another career in North America. But that has to be the oddest managerial move for Villas-Boas...

[FMtillidie]

interesting idea for a career mate. good luck

[deltablue]

Looks like this year won't be too hard.

[cswalk08]

Good to see another career in North America. But that has to be the oddest managerial move for Villas-Boas...

It seems like North America is becoming a common choice these days. And AVB took the job so I hope he knows what he's doing

interesting idea for a career mate. good luck

Thanks!

Looks like this year won't be too hard.

It seems this way though with cup matches I'm saving my best players for them which is causing closer games in the league.

[cswalk08]

Crap.Crap.Crap.Crap

Sanchez is my top striker with 16 goals in 7 games

Any tips on how to deal with this in the future? I think I can ride this core group to at least the 6th tier, and don't want to lose then without getting anything in return.

[rancer890]

Offer him a new contract. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The hardest year of my youth challenge was year 1 because I had to keep offering players 'new' amateur contracts.

[cswalk08]

Offer him a new contract. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The hardest year of my youth challenge was year 1 because I had to keep offering players 'new' amateur contracts.

I will definitely try that next time. In my good fortune he turned them down anyway!

A miracle because I do not have a striker nearly as good as him.

In other news the May update will be up later tonight after I play the last game!

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs May 2011

New England Premier League

We are the class of the league thus far. A perfect record and winning by large margins whenever I put in my best 11, though closer when I do not. The game against the Rhode Island Reds was a lot closer than it looks. They dominated the first half but we went in up thanks to our only shot coming from an excellent play by Estuardo Sanchez. I had started that game without a few of my top players because of the cup game on Wednesday, but once I put Galik in in the 60th minu everything changed and we dominated and got 3 more goals.

North American Open Cup

So far we have handled our cup opponents with ease, Match Fit a 7th tier side was no contest for us, and we were victorious against 3rd-tier Oklahoma City Oilers despite us being rated as only having a 50 to 1 shot to win many thanks to a dominating performance by Sanchez. We are now set for a 1st round proper match against a fellow NEPL side, Parlor City, and I think it is likely we will progress farther into the tournament!

I also recently signed another 5-star free transfer who plays right back and striker (I don't understand either) and an aging veteran striker (2 stars) while I was panicking about the possible loss of Sanchez. I'm really excited to see what this team can do this year and hopefully we'll continue the success we've had so far.

[cerud]

That goal difference is amazing! Definitely will be good for you looking forward

[FMtillidie]

your doing amazing mate.

[B.W.G]

Your performance so far is nothing short of stunning.Hope your able to keep Sanchez as well as he is definitely firing on all cylinders.

[deltablue]

Thought so, impressive 6 from 6 so far.

[cswalk08]

That goal difference is amazing! Definitely will be good for you looking forward

Thanks! I'm really excited about the cup run, this and the USOC should be great fun.

your doing amazing mate.

Thanks, though to be honest I"m doing very little haha

Your performance so far is nothing short of stunning.Hope your able to keep Sanchez as well as he is definitely firing on all cylinders.

Thanks B.W.G, Gonna see if I can break some forum records this year! I've put all my stars with an asking price of 750k, I don't think it will affect anything since they are on amateur contracts but it was worth the shot.

Thought so, impressive 6 from 6 so far.

Yeah, its been pretty easy so far. Beating up on Oklahoma and Sanchez's double hattrick are definitely the highlights of the season so far.


Looking back on my transfers I was competing with 2nd and 3rd tier teams for their signature, I have no idea why they chose me. There were a bunch of other players who refused to negotiate with me or picked the higher up clubs, but I think if I can put together 11 of these 5 star players I should be able to ride them to the 5th or 4th tier before I need any major deals to happen. Also its really fun that pretty much every player that isnt in my starting lineup is under the age of 20 so the future is definitely bright.(only reason I held on to the stupied keeper with his Eccentricity of freaking 15 ) The reserve and U18 leagues start up next week in game, and I'm excited to see how my teams fare.

If you guys want to see the stats for any of my players/any rosters/tactics/want to see how another club is doing let me know and I'll gladly post a screen shot. I don't think any updates besides any humorous emails I receive will be posted for the next few days. Yesterday and today are big work days for me but hopefully june will be ready by the end of the week. Thanks everyone for the kind messages its a really fun save to play so far.

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs June 2011

New England Premier League

1/3 of the way through the season. No longer a perfect record. Our effort in front of goal that game was abysmal I think we still had 65% of the possession though. Nothing to exciting in the other games, except that we seem to be developing a habit of giving up early goals.

North America Amateur Cup

Easy win. Seems like a cup I could win with a bit of luck

[cswalk08]

North American Open Cup

An easy win over a fellow NEPL team and then two exciting wins of higher tier teams.

The last game was especially exciting here is the write up by the paper and the game summary.

Extremely exciting game that has set up our first match against an MLS side.

Expect another poster later today with some bad news

[Scarman]

Great season so far, shame you couldn't keep the perfect record.

[deltablue]

You've lost Sanchez?

[cswalk08]

Dover Bids Farewell to Two Players

Manzonelli Signs With Nashville

It was unfortunate to lose him. His stats weren't as outrageous as Sanchez's but he was very key in our attack frequent sending the pass the would set up an assist. We have an alright backup and I have made an offer to someone close to his level of play.



America Usa Snatches Up Sanchez

Big Big Loss. I held off 5 other offers using the offer another amateur contract technique but it failed this time. I've signed another striker about half as good as him and I'll keep looking out for someone around his level.


This is pretty frustrating that I don't any compensation when teams come and snag two of my best players. Any tips you have on how I could hold on to players better would be greatly appreciated. I have teams that are currently interested in my Goalie and Left Back and I would prefer not to lose them as well.


I also edited in the Cup win summary in the above post

[cswalk08]

Great season so far, shame you couldn't keep the perfect record.

Thanks! I'm perfectly fine with it. The important part is reaching promotion, and we seem well set to do that still.

You've lost Sanchez?

yup

[FMtillidie]

unlucky losing him mate.

[cerud]

Amateur contracts suck...always tough to keep the great players.

[AK22]

Shame that you've lost key players, but you've made a very impressive start!

[cswalk08]

unlucky losing him mate.

Yeah, hopefully the rest of the team will step up.

Amateur contracts suck...always tough to keep the great players.

They do suck, you would think the contract part of them would allow you to set an end date so you could at least guarantee them for a season.

Shame that you've lost key players, but you've made a very impressive start!

I'm very happy with the start, not I just need to hold on to the lead for dear life

Side note:
I have alost Jani Galik to a transfer


He was an excellent defensive midfielder and frequently dominated the midfield and led the league in takcles/game. I have a semi-suitable replacement so hopefully he can step up.

Additionally the player who had stepped up the most in the loss of Sanchez and Manzonelli was right midfielder John Fishbaugher he set up and scored multiple goals in the last few games, and he has gone out injured for 3 months with broken ribs

[deltablue]

And for nothing as well!

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs July 2011

New England Premier League

The league has split and I have a 7 point lead with 7 games to go.
We're not playing particularly well. Given up more goals than I would like and have lost our scoring touch completely. The transfer deadline has passed and I have added an Argentine striker but due to the rules about 1 international player per squad I cannot play my Brazilian left back at the same time. Also, pretty much all of my recent goals have ben scored either by my wide midfielders or my defenders. Needless to say my strikers need to play better.

North America Amateur Cup

Still alive in the cup we are now in the round of 32. Hopefully we can find our form and continue our run in this cup.

North American Open Cup

No games this month but my away match against the Seattle Sounders in the round of 16 draws near, and I think it is likely my undefeated run as Manager will end there.

United States Open Cup

I have been drawn into the first round against the Chicago Fire Reserves (I think the top two tiers can only put reserve teams into this cup).

[deltablue]

Still looking good to go up.

[iHeadHunta x]

Good start mate and superb result vs LA Galaxy

[TheGreatTraveler]

Good Results so far.

[cswalk08]

deltablue-Hopefully. It looks like my strong start will carry me through

iHeadHunta x-Thanks, and it was actually LA Legends we beat who are in the USL-Pro Division (3rd Tier)

TheGreatTraveler-Thanks its definitely looking like a good season.

[cerud]

Good to see you in top spot halfway through, although too bad about your strikers drying up. Hopefully they figure it out and get going again.

[cswalk08]

cerud-Thanks! its actually 2/3rds of the way only 22 games in the season. I messed that up in an earlier post.

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs August 2011

If You Thought July Was Bad...




New England Premier League



6 points up with 4 games to go. 2 more wins 2 more wins. That is the mantra. Just need to hold on.



North America Amateur Cup

Aaaaaand we're out of the cup. I hit a late equalizer after dominating the game then they got a shady penalty call to take the win. I may or may not have written that referee's down for retribution.

[cswalk08]

North American Open Cup

And we're out of another Cup! This was the first of the many losses this month and it was expected but it still stung. I learned a valuable lesson from it though. I will never again put a defensive, park the bus, strategy out against a superior opponent. The team did much better when I let them play their typical formation and mentality.

United States Open Cup

And our trifecta of being knocked out of three cups this week is complete! Close game and I call shenanigans on Oduro being on Fire's reserve squad.

Bolatti, the new Argentine striker, may be turning on the jets at the right time. We can only hope.

[cswalk08]

Yes, because I had a choice in the matter

[B.W.G]

Hope you can keep your chin up and get those two victories you want.

[deltablue]

Yes, because I had a choice in the matter

That's always so annoying, but also had messages about fans being delighted (probably for squad harmony reasons) because a player was sold above my head.

[cswalk08]

B.W.G-Thanks. I think we'll be able to pull it out. Fishbaugher and he should make our play much better

deltablue-I can't wait to be able to have real contracts

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs August 2011

Almost There......




New England Premier League

John Fishbaugher has returned and things are beginning to turn around! We have 2 games left and need to grab 2 points from those games to garuntee to promotion. I believe we are going to do it even if we are facing two of the 3 teams right below us, Canton and Rhode Island.

[cerud]

That's one hell of a week! Tough to take it on the chin on all those cup games.

[rancer890]

Hope you get promotion mate, because I think if you get promoted, you should become a semi-pro club which will help you so your players don't get poached for free.

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs October 2011

Moving On Up!




New England Premier League

We did it! We we were able put everything together right when we needed to. It's very satisfying to go up in our first year after dealing with the uncontrollable loss of key players mid season.

I'm very excited for the next season. I will probably post a full season review later today.

[deltablue]

Great achievement getting promoted with those player losses.

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs 2011 Review

New England Premier League

Results | League Table | Most Valuable Player | Golden Boot | Defender of the Year | Goalkeeper of the Year | A great year where started, and finished on top of the table never losing our top place. Some shaky times towards the end but the team rallied together when it counted. We swept all the major awards for the league and have been promoted to the Colonial Amateur League.

North American Open Cup

Results | Final | A fantastic cup run that had up upsetting teams as high as the 3rd tier, and losing to a very strong Seattle side that went on to win the competition is nothing to be ashamed of

North America Amateur Cup

Results | Final | A decent run and knocked out in stoppage time on a questionable PK call. Definitely still not bitter about it, nope, definite do not remember the referee's name (Eric Bell) so I can't say order a player to run into him next game of mine he refs.

United States Open Cup

Results | Final | Unlucky draw, Oduro ran all over us, hopefully we'll be able to make a better run this year.

Other Competitions

MLS | Club World Championship: Final | NEP Reserve League | NEPL Academy Division | Our reserves were leading the league until the last few weeks, but unfortunately will be remaining in the NEPRL for another year. THe Academy team was average hopefully they step up their game this year. Unfortunately the Pink Cows of New Jersey (otherwise known as NYRB) took home their first significant silverware in 17 years of existence, winning the MLS Cup, my it sit alone of the shelves of an otherwise empty trophy case forever. As for the CWC, I can't explain it, at a complete loss for words, this is the 1st year of the save, things like this shouldn't happen!

Fan Awards

Fan's Best XI | Fan's Player of the Year | That XI was a great one and I'll always wonder what the season would've been like if we hadn't of lost those players, and Fishbaugher gets another deserved award.

[Jolanthustrel]

Yes, because I had a choice in the matter

They'll whinge about that for ages.

Congrats on promotion. I don't think I've crossed the Delaware River (at ground level). I know I've paid to get out of NJ back to into PA but I've never been out the other side.

[B.W.G]

Congrats on promotion,hopefully you'll be able to go semi-pro soon.

[iHeadHunta x]

Congrats mate!

[cswalk08]

Jolanthustrel-They fans to seems to continuously complain. Yes, Delaware is an exclusive place thus the cover charge, can you blame us though? I mean we border New Jersey gotta attempt to keep the state clear of that.

iHeadHuntax-Thanks! The future is looking up (except my Youth intake, they were all crap).

B.W.G-Thanks, and you called it! I can finally sign players to contracts they can't ignore!


Also saw this funny tidbit:

[cerud]

Congrats on promotion and going semi-pro! Being able to sign contracts will definitely offer up some much needed stability

[PaulHartman71]

Great job with the league win and like Cerud said, the semi-pro will help you out to no end. Also, that Andre Villas Boas job move? So random

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs 2012 Season Preview

Notable Offseason Events
The Club turned Semi-Professional.
I can't seem to sign ANYONE
I applied for the U23 positions for USA, Canada, Brazil, Spain, and England and got rejected from all of them (Brazil laughed at me ).
The person who predicts my matches should be fired, he predicted us to lose almost every game last season

Board Expectations:
Colonial Amateur League: Avoid Relegation (Media Prediction 19th)
North American Open Cup: 2nd Qualifying Round
United States Open Cup: Learn From the Experience
North American Amateur Cup: Second Round
Colonial Cup: Learn from the experience

My Expectations:
Colonial Amateur League: Top half finish
North American Open Cup: 1st Round
United States Open Cup: Have Fun
North American Amateur Cup: Kill Eric Bell
Colonial Cup: Have fun

Colonial Amateur League

Here is the teams in the league for reference, and the league splits after the 1st 19 games (for real this time).

[B.W.G]

Good luck for the new season,at least your not last in the media predictions

[rancer890]

I think you will do fine in the 7th tier. Most of your holdovers should help you stay in the top half at least. You should totally ignore the media predictions as you go up the leagues.

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs Preseason Friendlies 2012

Season 2: Return of the Fishbaugher




Friedlies

We appear to be a slightly weaker team than last year with a less successful preseason but we still had some fantastic results against high tier opposition, and are coming on strong just in time for the regular season. Favorite moment: I put on my backup keeper (Danny Johnson) in right midfield to replace an injured player to amuse myself....and he scored.

Transfers

Due to the 2 foreign player limit I had let Tiago go so I could sign Marin who is a 19 year old striker of equivalent level to Estuardo Sanchez. We'll see if the move turns out to be a smart one. In fantastic news, Fenner, Bolatti, Leslie, Giezen, Benjamin, and Fishbaugher all signed with me on part time contracts. Fishbaugher turned down offers from 6 other clubs to accept. This greatly appreciated loyalty from my big players will hopefully allow us to have a good season. Garcia and May are both very young prospects who I hope to develop into high level players (my youth team and intake is pitiful so I sought out good youth from other sources). I having a very hard time getting anybody to be interested in signing with the team though. I have attempted to signed probably 20-30 players from other clubs but none of them are interested in contract negotiation with me even though I'm willing to pay them more then they are currently making. Tips on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

[cswalk08]

cerud- Thank you! Having signed players has made the game so much less stressful. Now to trap them into (er I mean reward them with!) longer contracts! Muahahaha.

PaulHartman71- Thanks! I think AVB took the sacking from Chelsea a bit hard. He's doing pretty good in Philadelphia they are slightly better this year.

B.W.G- Thanks! I'm not worried I beat a few of these teams in cups last year.

rancer890-I think you're right (and it has nothing to due with the fact I'm currently in mid-june ), but I still think the guy who runs the local paper should be fired.

As I said above I'm actually in Mid-June of the season because I'm coming into the last two weeks of college and this is how I'm procrastinating. Would you, as the readers, prefer one big update at the end of june, a March/April and a May/June, or one for each month?

[cerud]

cswalk08, I'm wondering how big regionally your league is now. I think you had said initially when you started, you were around the New England area? Now that you've moved up a few leagues, how big is it. How many states are involved? I assume it's only an American league, no Canadian cities.

[raulzur]

wow! amazing story mate

First season was great. Hope for you that you success in promote to 5th tier.

[cswalk08]

ralzur-Thanks! Unfortunately I'm in the 7th tier but will hopefully be moving up this year too.

cerud-I've only moved up one league so far. The NEPL seems to be pasically from Ohio east and Virginia north, while the CAL has a bit wider of a range including some Canadian teams. Below are all the teams originally in these leagues and their locations. There are 3 colonial leagues who teams move within each other when they have the choice.

New England Premier League:
Dover Mustangs-Dover, DE
Youngstown Johnnys- Youngstown, OH
Haverhill Revolution-Haverhill, MA
Canton Invaders-Canton, OH
New Bedford Whalers-New Bedford, MA
Rhode Island Reds-Providence, RI
Elm City SC-New Haven, CT
Utica Zmajevi-Utica, NY
Hudson Valley United-Poughkeepsie, NY
Queens City-Queens, NY
Manchester Mavericks-Manchester, NH
Morgantown Bobcats-Morgantown, WV
Electric City United-Scranton, PA
Barnstable Americans-Barnstable, MA
Parlor City-Binghampton, NY
Altoona Railroaders-Altoona, PA

Colonial Amateur League:
McLean-Mclean, VA
Select de Trois-Rivieres-Trois Rivieres, QC
Oakwood SC-Gastonberry, CT
PA Classics-Manheim, PA
Bridgeport International-Bridgeport, CT
Seacoast United-Hampton, NH
NJSA 04-Holmdel, NJ
Albertson SC-New York, NY
Lakers du Lac Saint-Louis-Montreal, QC
Westchester Flames-New Rochelle, NY
Richmond Strikers-Richmond, VA
FC Westchester-Purchase, NY
Empire United-Syracuse, NY
Match Fit-West Windsor, NH
Met Oval-Holbrook, NY
South Central Premier-Bridgeport, CT
LaSalle Stompers-Windsor, ON
FC Delco-Downingtown, PA
PDA-Zarephath, NJ
Potomac-Baltimore, MD

Relegated into the CAL for 2012
N.Y. Athletic Club-Pelham, NY
FC Sonic-Bethlehem, NY

[TheGreatTraveler]

So many friendlies!!!
Hopefully your signing works for you!

[AK22]

That's a very vigorous pre-season; let's hope it pays off!

[raulzur]

opss.. my bad!

I don't understand something. The MLS should be 2 groups (i think east and west) and in the end the best teams from each group will play in play-off. Am I right?

[rancer890]

opss.. my bad!

I don't understand something. The MLS should be 2 groups (i think east and west) and in the end the best teams from each group will play in play-off. Am I right?

Edited db means that each team plays the other teams once (19 games), and then the league splits into 2 (top 10/bottom 10), which then teams play an additional 9 games, for a total of 28 regular season games. And then top 2 seeds get a first round bye, and (3) vs (6), and (4) vs (5) in the quarter-finals. Lowest seed faces (1) and the other QF winner faces (2), and then MLS Cup Final. All rounds are 2 leg aggregate.

[raulzur]

so it's not the original rules?

[cerud]

A couple Canadian teams in there Thanks for that! I was curious as how how the leagues and regions grew.

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs March/April 2012

A Familiar Start




Colonial Amateur League

We have started off very strong similar to last year. Promotion definitely looks attainable and I'll be striving to win the league again this year. I think it my crazy preseason schedules that give my team excellent match fitness to start the year is what puts us at such a high level at the start of the year while the rest of the teams are not quite as fit.

Colonial Cup

This is a Cup for among the teams in all three Colonial Divisions (Colonial Amateur League, Colonial Division 2, and Colonial Premier League). A good first round win over a fellow CAL team and we'll see how the match with a higher division opponent goes in the next round

[cswalk08]

raulzer-Currently in the real United States structure there is no promotion/relegation so this is a editted version that allows it as well as supplies a few more tiers to the structure.

AK22-Its how I like it gets all the 1st team, reserves, and U18s fit for the season.

TheGreatTraveler-Thanks! I also am making money on each of those friendly. Slowing building up the cash we need to make upgrades to facilities.

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs May/June 2012

A Drop in Form




Colonial Amateur League

Not a sequence of results that we're particularly proud of but the new signing, Marin, has taken off in scoring and leads the league in the category. We maintained our lead in the standings but we'll need to regain some form if we are to hold on to the title.

Colonial Cup

The Erie game was very close with us going down in the 17th minute and finding an equalizer in the 44th only to give an own goal right before half time. Being away from home and playing against superior opposition took its toll but I bet if it was a home game we would've won.

[cswalk08]

North American Open Cup

Another good run in this cup but we had the unfortunate draw of playing a NASL team that has since gone on to make it to the Quarterfinals of the cup. I aslo have some ire directed at the referee of this contest for as of 57th minute we were up 1-0 on a Giezen goal in the 3rd minute and had hit the woodwork twice when he sends off one of my players on a questionable call which allowed St. Louis to score two goals (70th and 87th minutes) to see us off. The game was ours in all the main stats until the card and Kevin Stott will pay!

Other Competitions

Euro 2012

Congrats to all you English folk, but I cannot explain how Northern Ireland even qualified for the tournament let alone finished second. My save is turning weird fast

CONCACAF Champions League

Colorado becomes the first USA team to win this tourney and will play in the CWC.

[cswalk08]

In other news.....

We're actually about equal on player talent but its income and they might send me a center back.

Also the AVB reign in Philadelphia has ended

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs July/August 2012

Getting Back on the Right Foot




Colonial Amateur League

Our form has returned wit the only issue that everyone else has kept pace. We have a 4 point lead with 6 games remaining in the season. Our next game is against the currently 2nd placed Westchester Flames and a lot hinges on that result. A problem that stands in our way is that the team hasn't scored in the last 4 games (across all competitions) and that needs to change fast.

[cswalk08]

North America Amateur Cup

Another good run in this tourney where we were unfortunate to draw the defending cup holders in the the third round and were eliminated in a very even game a way from home. No shame in the way we went out and we'll hope for another good run next year.

United States Open Cup

An poor game and a quick exit from the cup. We were played off the pitch by a better team and we'll hope for a better go of it next year.

[B.W.G]

Doing very well so far,bit unfortunate in the cups.Don't now which is more weird,Northern Ireland qualifying and getting to the final or England winning it.

I can live with Colorado Rapids winning the CONCACAF Champions League as I've done it on FM12

[PaulHartman71]

Wow not sure which is more surprising, England vs Northern Ireland final or Northern Ireland beating the Germans on penalties! Domestically looks like you right on course to win the league, big game with Westchester Flames though, better get a result out of that one!

[TheGreatTraveler]

Great season so far in the league. Hopefully you can keep first place

[Scarman]

Strong going so far, hopefully you can secure another promotion!

[raulzur]

you didn't understand...

I meant that the rules you have in your save are exactley like they are in the real life..

this is amazing what you do with this club!

[FMtillidie]

going well matey

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs September/October 2012

Back to Back




Colonial Amateur League

A two months that started off about as bad as they could we were able to rally the team together in a team meeting and put together an amazing run. It is worth noting that the final win came after going down a man in the first five minutes and after Sherbrooke scored first. Another season in the books and we have Colonial Division 2 to look forward to next year.

Sorry about the delay in this post, I earlier today took my last exam as a college student so needless to say I haven't had much time for FM in the last week

Now that I have a lot more free time updates should be rather regular for the next two weeks. My main question is what more do you want me to talk about? Do you want more write ups about each game? Any other info? Let me know so I can make this thread better. Also, expect the season review post to be made sometime later today.

[cswalk08]

B.W.G-I'm going to go with England winning it I don't know if I approve of your us of, as they are known by other MLS fans, the CRapids

PaulHartman71-I may have failed in that one game but I managed to make up for it!

TheGreatTraveler-Luckily the team finds form when it needs it (with some help from an angry manager)

Scarman-We're moving on up again! Hopefully my team still isn't at a level equal to its abilities yet and we can put another good season together

[PaulHartman71]

Yeah you definitely did make up for it, feared the worst for you when I saw you'd lost that but you managed to turn it around very well in the end! Not really sure what you can do in terms of updates, like the current style you have and not a massive fan of reading individual match reports myself, generally just skim read them, but obviously some people like the extra detail. Good luck in the next tier up

[TheGreatTraveler]

Maybe the next tier will be a challenge?
Also, has any team been relegated from the MLS?

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs 2012 Review

Colonial Amateur League

Results | League Table | Most Valuable Player | Golden Boot | Defender of the Year | Goalkeeper of the Year | Another league win that sees us promote to the next level. And another year where we sweep the awards. Marin won the Golden Boot and broke Estuardo Sanchez goal mark from last year, and a repeat wins for Fishbaugher and Fenner in the MVP and Goalie awards. Captain Torres won best defender, and there still isn't a manager of the year award . We're moving on up and I"m excited to see what this group will do in the Colonial Division 2. On to the 6th Tier!

North American Open Cup

Results | Final | Another good run, but had the misfortune of being drawn against a fantastic AC St Louis team that reached the semifinals of the competition.

North America Amateur Cup

Results | Final | A decent run where we lost a game I feel we could've won. A frustrating end to the run but still a satisfactory performance.

United States Open Cup

Results | Final | Just a bad performance overall in a difficult but winnable game, maybe next year we'll finally get a win in this competition.

Colonial Cup

Results | Final | Really bad luck of the draw to get a team who finished very high in the final Colonial Premier League table so early in the cup.

Other Competitions

MLS | Club World Championship: Final | NEP Reserve League | NEPL Academy Division | Our reserve and academy teams both had great years both finishing in the top 3 of their division. Hopefully next year they'll begin to climb up the ranks to follow the Senior team. The Seattle Sounders had a great year winning both the MLS and the NAOC, props to Sigi Schmid. And the CWC seemed to return to a state of near normalcy with a Brazilian team, instead of a Saudi Arabian team, knocking off a Spanish power in the final.

Fan Awards

Fan's Best XI | Fan's Player of the Year | Marin edged out Fishbaugher for this years Fan MVP and another best 11 that saw Marin take his place in the overal best XI

[cswalk08]

PaulHartman71-I think my team aims to make the league races as exciting as possible only way I can explain random spurts of poor form whenever we're about to pull away.

TheGreatTraveler-Hope so. Though I wouldn't complain if wasn't too hard. Yes! In the first year the NY Cosmos were relegated and replaced by the Minnesota Stars, but last year they swapped places so the original MLS 20 are currently what make up the league.

[rancer890]

Shocked a team actually got relegated from MLS!

Colonial Division 2 was a bit challenging for me, but if you're signing players it should be alright.

[SRL88]

Excellent season mate. Hopefully you can get a bit more of a challenge in the next tier.

[deltablue]

Nicely done so far.

[cswalk08]

Dover Mustangs 2013 Season Preview

Notable Offseason Events
I finally have foudn people wiling to sign for me
Still haven't found an international job
The club still only has a 1/2 rating

Board Expectations:
Colonial Divistion 2: Avoid Relegation (Media Prediction 20th, Promotion Odds 20-1)
North American Open Cup: 2nd Qualifying Round
United States Open Cup: Learn From the Experience
Colonial Cup: Learn from the experience

My Expectations:
Colonial Division 2: Top half finish
North American Open Cup: Escape the group phase.
United States Open Cup: Have Fun
Colonial Cup: The Qualifying round is in the middle of fixture congestion hell so I'm probably going to send out a reserve squad. We'll see what happens.

Colonial Amateur League

Here is the teams in the league for reference, and the league splits after the 1st 19 games. NYAC joins us from the CAL last year. The only previous experience against any of these teams is the 2 times I beat NYAC Last year and 2 friendlies with AC Crusaders in previous years which have 1 win for each team. This year's friendly has not occurred yet.

North American Open Cup:

This year we have to qualify for the Open Cup through the Phase I Group Qualifying. We have drawn into a rather difficult group where most of the teams are from tiers higher than ours including one NASL Team.

[cswalk08]

rancer890-I'm hopeful but I've been challenged and beaten frequently by teams at this level in cups. I think Cosmos didn't have their act together in the first year and last year they won promotion back and made it to the final of the NAOC. Also fun side-note: the Markham Maruaders (Is that a typo on the in game name?) have won promotion to the CAL and have turned semi-pro.


SRL88-Thanks! At the very least the NAOC is going to be a very challenging group section.

deltablue-Thanks!