[FM13] Loja Club Deportivo - A Flower Amongst Thorns

Thought to have been an early settlement in Roman times, the town itself came to prominence with the arrival of the Moors in the 8th century. For several centuries, the town was known as Medina Lawsa under Moorish rule. Following the Christian Reconquista in 1486, the town was renamed Loja. Legend has it that Queen Isabella I of Castile, called the town "A flower amongst thorns."

Loja lies on the very western edge of Granada province, in southern Spain. Situated between two ranges of mountains, it is often seen as the gateway between the provinces of Granada and Málaga. Straddling the Rio Genil, surrounded by agriculture and natural beauty, the current population is just over 21,000.

Background...

Historically, the town of Loja has never been a hotbed of football, but as the popularity of football spread to Spain, the town had several amateur teams playing in regional divisions, through the 1940's and 1950's. In 1968 the main football club was formed - Loja Club Deportivo.

Like previous football clubs in the town, Loja CD began life in the provincial divisions. There they would remain until winning promotion to the Tercera División (Spanish fourth tier) at the end of the 1979/1980 season. Their stay at this level would be brief however, finishing bottom and relegated. Following another two years in the provincial divisions, they once more gained promotion. The 1984/1985 season would see the club fair no better than their last attempt in the fourth tier, relegated again after just one season.

Loja CD would remain in the provincial divisions for the next 15 years, until they gained their third promotion to the fourth tier in 1998/1999. The following 1999/2000 season would see the club usher in the new millennium with a 12th place finish in the Tercera and survival... things were beginning to look up for the lower league strugglers! They weren't about to set the world on fire however. For the next 11 years, they would find themselves either sat mid-table or fighting relegation. Beginning to form their own youth system, albeit small compared to more established and renowned clubs locally, the policy started to bear fruit. After an excellent season from the young squad, the club finished 3rd and qualified for the promotion play-offs. After a good 1-0 win at home to San Fernando however, they suffered heartbreak by losing the away leg 4-0.

Aside from a few players who left during the following summer, Loja CD managed to retain most of their young players, strengthened with other local talents and felt ambitious. Finishing the season 1st place in Tercera División Group 9, qualifying for the play-offs once more. A narrow 1-0 defeat away at Real Valladolid B belied the strong performance and lack of fortune in front of goal. At home however, with the stadium featuring additional temporary seats to meet demand, Loja CD beat their promotion rivals by a comfortable 3-0 scoreline. The celebrations began and the club became only the 7th team from Granada province, to reach the Spanish third tier.

After the celebrations had died down however, some serious discussions and decisions needed to be made. The club would now need to turn professional, with players and staff on full-time wages. Whilst prepared for their success during the previous two seasons on the pitch, they were far from prepared of it. Club members, staff and fans met to discuss the options. At one point, discussions included selling their newly won place in Segunda B4. It was considered that doing this, the club could raise important finances, hoping that they could try again for promotion the following season.

Stronger links with nearby Liga BBVA clubs such as Granada CF and Málaga CF was also an option, but many felt the club might loose it's independence. A low-key affiliate deal does though remain in place with Málaga CF, whilst Granada CF occasionally play friendly matches against Loja CD. Eventually however, the club managed to raise support from sponsors and the local municipal council, along with fund raising amongst supporters. Though small financially, they managed to raise sufficient to lodge their bond with the league and took their place in Segunda B4 ahead of the 2012/2013 season.

Built in 2006, "Medina Lauxa" was named in homage to the original name of the town of Loja. A municipal multi-purpose stadium, there is one main covered stand and the pitch is surrounded by an athletics track. Normal capacity of the stadium is 1,250 but with promotion and higher attendances expected, just as during the play-off winning match, temporary stands have been erected, doubling capacity to around 2,500. Whilst there is space around parts of the stadium for expansion, it may be difficult to achieve being municipally owned.

Up until gaining promotion, the pitch was artificial. That had to change though, along with professional status and promotion and the pitch is now natural grass.

First Team

For much of the squad and just like their club, this is the first time they've ever played in the Spanish third tier. A lot of the players have been with the club for a few years, battling their way to eventual promotion, though a couple of the key players have played at this level before. You'll also note that looking through their histories, a lot of the players have found their way to Loja CD, via the youth teams of Málaga CF or Granada CF, or have arrived from other local regional level teams.

Whilst overall, the squad could probably best be described as "useful", there aren't likely to be many players who'll get you dancing with excitement when you look at their attributes. As a brief overview of the squad however, they should just about be able to hold their own in Segunda B4. I know those of you reading, are surely more ambitious than that though, right?

When it comes to improving the squad, obviously the Lower League Players thread will be worth visiting regularly. As the budget and expectations aren't high, it may be worth considering trying to offload some of the bigger earners, then replacing them with free agents. One bonus about playing a lower league save with a Spanish Segunda B club however, is that even though the club reputation might be low, you'll be able to attract higher calibre players than you would possibly in other countries, given the league reputation.

Staff

Just the Chairman, yourself, an assistant manager and a coach. That's all folks!

Obviously you'll want to improve that, so a checking in the Lower League Staff thread will be helpful. Again, as Segunda B is higher profile than the lower league in various other countries, it may be easier to attract higher quality staff.

There's scope for a decent complement of backroom staff though, plus you can also try asking the board for more. What you will begin with, should allow you to cover most if not all training areas comfortably.

Managing Loja CD won't be easy. Indeed, this should prove to be a challenging save. Small fan base, little money, diddy stadium... but hey, that's what a lower league save is all about right?

The club start in FM13 as clear favourites for relegation. Choosing anything higher as an objective, you'll get a small increase in wage and transfer budget, but not much. When in such a situation, the best advice I can give, is to try reducing your wage bill as quickly as possible. It's a little easier to offload players in FM13, so you may not need to have a complete clear out by releasing players or offering mutual termination of their contracts. Better to use those options as a last resort, where possible.

In FM12 I threw up a save with Cádiz CF. Bigger stature club, sizeable fan base, big stadium... plus a good affiliate deal and a shed-load of players from Granada CF. Very easy to achieve quickly with them. With Loja CD however, you'll require a lot more thinking and planning. Whilst there's an affiliate deal in place with Málaga CF, there aren't likely to be many players who'll want to drop down to Segunda B4. Likewise, some of the better players, their club might only consider loaning them to higher profile clubs.

"A flower amongst thorns" - was the title I gave the thread. As well as being a historical quote relating to the town of Loja, you could also tie it to how Loja CD stand amongst their rivals in Segunda B4. There's much bigger profile clubs (the "thorns"), such as Cádiz CF, Cartagena and Albacete... who will be fighting it out for promotion. Real Jaén should also be up there, not far behind. Not forgetting also, you've got the B teams of three much bigger clubs too... Sevilla Atlético, Real Betis B and Almería B. All of whom have some very good players... including "wonderkid" Alvaro Vadillo, who will likely feature when you play Real Betis B.

Your task, will be to get this "flower" to blossom.

This will be an uphill struggle from the word go... but could become a very rewarding save, if you stick with it.

To follow...

To follow...

To follow...

Reserved...

Reserved....

Great post Heath. A very interesting team to go for but I will stick with Tenerife when I get the game as I have done with every FM save. Great background story behind the club as well

Cracking start heath .

Oooh this is lovely.

I like it.

I've been dying to do a Loja CD thread, since they got to the play-offs the season before last. Now they've done it and become playable in FM13, I simply couldn't resist.

I only live 10 minutes from the town, plus the first time I ever watched Granada CF (in the Tercera División no less!), was at Loja CD. How times have changed!

Giving this a go now.

Great Guide. Was surprised that someone made a guide about Loja

You lose money fast in this league, going to have quite a negative balance by the end of the year

All part of the challenge!

Lower league clubs throughout Spain are struggling to survive, mired in severe debts or haemorrhaging money. The recent and very public situation at Real Oviedo is a good example - and they're a "big" club in the lower leagues. Observant FM'ers will have already spotted that several clubs featured in the Segunda B divisions in FM12, now don't even exist... they're gone for good.

Loja being one of the smallest clubs, even at this level, makes progress with them a very difficult challenge indeed. One I tend to enjoy, simply because up in the top divisions of most European leagues, I generally find it very easy to be successful quickly. The best way to survive and generate income, will be to keeping your eyes open for good young prospects, that you can sell on for a profit.

Have been struggling to get into FM13. Just found this thread and this seems very interesting. I've never brought a club up from the deep below before as I've not had the patience but hopefully I can give this a real good go. If I manage to get into it I'll post updates.

Well I've given this a proper go, pretty much made the squad entirely my own so there wasn't much left: http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1998/lojatransfers.jpg

Started off not so great, probably because the players needed time to gel but we soon got going and I'm gutted we didn't quite make the playoffs. Won't make many new signings next season, maybe tweak the tactics to improve defensively but that's it. We already overspend on wages and I can imagine the budget decreasing because we do lose money fast.

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7398/lojaleague.jpg

I started a save with L'Hospitalet a club from SB3 and I am currently 2nd after 21 matches. However I struggle to get some money. I have losses of 100k per month and with a stadium of 6400 I don't see how I can generate some money. I try to sell some of my best players, but nobody seems to pay as much as I would like. What do you do to get money in this position? Friendlies aren't really an option, because there are no good offers

Shame this thread seems to have died. Was looking forward to it!

Come on Heath, get this thread fully completed so I can get a Loja CD game started

Wondering where Heath has got to as I usually do an annual Granada thread.