[FM13] Travelling to Wembley in a Coach & Horses

After travelling the footballing world in FM12 and managing in Cameroon and China to name but a few I think it's time to stick at home this time around and manage my local club - with the privilege of being able to call ourselves the oldest football club in history it is about time to revive the sleeping giant of Sheffield FC and build a legacy at the Coach & Horses ground in the sleepy village of Dronfield, just outside of Sheffield.

Club Background

The club, founded in 1857 is most noted for the fact that they are the world's oldest club now playing Association football. Sheffield Football Club currently play in the Northern Premier League Division One South.The team was originally based at various grounds around Sheffield, including Bramall Lane, the home of Sheffield United. They are now based at the Coach and Horses Ground in Dronfield, Derbyshire. The club are also noted for participating in the world's oldest footballing rivalry. Sheffield competed against Hallam in the world's first inter-club match during 1860 – the match is known as the "Sheffield" derby.

The club's finest hour came in 1904 when they won the FA Amateur Cup, a competition conceived after a suggestion by Sheffield. They also finished as runners up of the FA Vase in 1977. They have been bestowed with the FIFA Order of Merit and commemorated by the English Football Hall of Fame for their significant place in football history.

The Coach & Horses Ground

Sheffield club have played at a number of grounds around Sheffield. Initially they played at Strawberry Hall Lane Park. However, like all of the early grounds they played at, it was not owned by the club. In the following years they would play at Newhall Athletic ground, Old Forge ground and a ground near Hunters Bar on Ecclesall Road.

There was much reluctance from the owners of Bramall Lane to see the pitch be used for football. They did not relent until a charity match between Sheffield and Hallam was suggested in late 1862. The ground was used by Sheffield F.C. for its more important fixtures but relations with the owners remained strained. They collapsed altogether in 1875 when the club vowed never to play at the ground again.

In 1921, Sheffield settled at the new Abbeydale Park ground. They moved to Hillsborough Park in 1988,then to Owlerton Stadium and Don Valley Stadium before purchasing the Coach and Horses pub and some adjoining land in Dronfield in 2001 for the purposes of developing a stadium, the first time the club had owned its own ground.

The land was previously used by the Coach and Horses pub team, and was also the home of Norton Woodseats and Dronfield United. It currently has a capacity of 2,000, and is also known as the BT Local Business Stadium for sponsorship purposes, having previously been named the Bright Finance Stadium.

Career Aims

In no particular order:

• Become the largest club in Sheffield (i.e. overtake Rotherham, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday)
  
• Re-develop the Coach & Horses pub into a 50,000 seater stadium
  
• Win the Premier League
  
• Win the FA Cup (hence taking a coach & horses to Wembley)
  
• Become the most successful manager in the Hall of Fame
  

Clubs

[u][b]Season            Team                          League                                             Final Position                     Notes & Highlights[/b][/u]
2012-13           Sheffield FC                  Northern Premier League First Division South       1st                                Appointed 14th July 2012. Northern League Challenge cup winners
2013-14           Sheffield FC                  Northern Premier League                            1st                                Northern Premier League Champions
2014-15           Sheffield FC                  Blue Square North                                  1st                                Blue Square North Champions
2015-16           Sheffield FC                  Blue Square Premier                                14th
2016-17           Sheffield FC                  Blue Square Premier                                1st                                Blue Square Premier Champions
2017-18           Sheffield FC                  League Two                                         1st                                League Two champions
2018-19           Sheffield FC                  League One                                         5th                                League One Play-off winners
2019-20           Sheffield FC                  nPower Championship                                7th             
2020-21           Sheffield FC                  nPower Championship                                2nd
2021-22           Sheffield FC                  Barclays Premier League                            13th
2022-23           Sheffield FC                  Barclays Premier League                            8th
2023-24           Sheffield FC                  Barclays Premier League                            5th                  

National Teams

[u][b]Nation Date Appointed Date Left Achievements & Notes[/b][/u]

Club Honours

[b][u]Season              Team                     Honour
[/u][/b]2012/13             Sheffield FC             Northern Premier League First Division South Champions
2012/13             Sheffield FC             Northern League Challenge Cup winners 
2013/14             Sheffield FC             Northern Premier League Champions
2014/15             Sheffield FC             Blue Square North Champions
2016/17             Sheffield FC             Blue Square Premier Champions
2017/18             Sheffield FC             League Two Champions

National Honours

[u][b]Year Nation Honour[/b][/u]

Manager of the Year Awards

[u][b]Season            Club                        Award
[/b][/u]2014/15           Sheffield FC                Blue Square North Manager of the Year
2016/17           Sheffield FC                Blue Square Premier Manager of the Year
2017/18           Sheffield FC                League Two Manager of the Year
2018/19           Sheffield FC                League One Manager of the Year
2023/24           Sheffield FC                Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year Runner Up

Sheffield FC - Club Information

Nation: English

Year Founded: 1857

Operating Status: Semi-Professional

Nickname: The Club

Legends: Mick Godber (Player), Dave McCarthy (Manger)

Finances: Okay

Average Ticket Price: £8

Average Season Ticket Price: £119

Season Ticket Holders: 90

Estimated Value: £110k

Transfer Budget: £0

Wage Budget: £630 p/w

Balance: £12,213

Media Prediction: 3rd

Facilities

Stadium: Coach & Horses Ground

City: Dronfield

Capacity: 2000 (250 seated)

Owned by: Sheffield FC

Stadium Condition: Average

Surface: Grass

Pitch Condition: Poor

Corporate Facilities: Basic

Training Facilities: Basic

Youth Facilities: Minimal

Youth Setup category: 4

Junior Coaching: Minimal

Youth Recruitment: Limited

A decent preseason was only really over-shadowed by a heavy defeat to Sheffield Wednesday - it's to be expected really against a side 7 leagues above us in the structure, and we could really feel the difference on the day. Neverthless a defeat against your local rivals (even if they are our parent club) hurts - but never mind, revenge will be sweet!

Transfers

Virtually the first news item I received upon arrival at the club was to tell me that Bishops Stortford had put in a bid to sign our star midfielder Tyrone Thompson. With the Blues offerring a wage which would have taken up one third of my entire budget I had no choice but to let him leave. Luckily I have a plethora of midfield options, so whilst this will dent our push for promotion it isn't the end of the world.

A good use of the loan market has seen us introduce a number of strong players who'll drop straight into the first team. Without a doubt though the strongest player to join is goalkeeper Mark Oxley, joining on lona from Hull City. Mark could easily be playing at a higher level, but maybe the option of a quick trip down the M18 a couple of times a week was more enticing than a move further away in the country.

Mark Oxley - should be a solid pair of hands between the sticks as Mark really could be playing at a higher level

Dominic Langdon - bringing some strength into the centre of defence Dominic joins from Blue Square side Solihull Moors

Liam Henderson - one of two strikers joining on loan, especially important as our start striker Vill Powell picked up a 6 week injury in pre-season

Anthony Wilson - the second loan striker and the one more likely to be warming the bench through the season

Michael Roche - Michael is my only permanent signing of the season and will play at centre back alongside Dominic Langdon

A great start to the season with 2 really good wins away at Newcastle followed up by a convincing 3-1 win at home to Hucknall. Player / Coach Chris Adam was instrumental on the left wing on both occassions picking up goals as well as supplying assists.

King's Lynn had also had a strong start by the time we were due to face them and both of us had maximum points at the start of the game - but in a game that we were domintating a minute of madness cost us all 3 points. Dominic Langdon gave away a penalty after bundling over their striker in the box and Michael Roche, already on a yellow card, went and argued with the referree earning himself a second yellow card and early bath and the hairdryer treatment from me at full time. I'd have been confident that we could have pulled back the penalty, but not with only 10 men on the pitch.

Liam Henderson ran the show against Stamford and snaffled up 3 wonderful opportunities to earn a first hattrick under my guidance

September began with a really cruel, bitter defeat. We played extremely well and matched Rainworth Miners Welfare throughout the game. However their finishing was considerably stronger and they scored 3 wonderful goals to give them a win with a scoreline which really hurt. We bounced back strongly in our next fixture however with the return of Vill Powell to the team, powering through to a 3-0 lead within the first fifteen minutes against Mickleover Sports - this then led to a really strong run of form through the remainder of the month, the only slight stain on our card being a 1-1 draw with bottom of the table Coalville Town in a game we really should have won easily.

So, although it's still very early in the season we're performing in line with expectations and really running with the chase pack trying to claw back points against early run-away leaders Kings Lynn.

It took me a couple of tries, but I've managed to convince the board to increase the level of coaching that the club provides to local youngsters - hopefully this will give the club a boost in years to come, because believe me, with a wage budget of only £630 per week I'm really going to be relying on youngsters coming up through the ranks

The month started with the first tie of the Northern Challenge cup against Northern Premier League side Matlock Town. We gave a really strong account of ourselves against a higher league opposition and a good goal from loanee Anthony Wilson secured a draw and an immediate replay later in the week. Wilson again scored in the return leg at the Coach & Horses ground and it was local hero Vill Powell who stepped up to score the winner, securing a £500 prize fund and a second round tie against Brigg

In the league Vill Powell also began to dominate with 4 goals in 5 games. In fact it was the Vill Powell show against Carlton Town and he quite easily could have picked up his hattrick, aside from blasting an opportunity over the crossbar of an open goal in the 80th minute. Against Lincoln United we again failed to close the gap on leaders Kings Lynn conceeding a sloppy equaliser in the dying minutes of the game.

Kidsgrove Athletic had been flying high in the league until they visited us, and our central back partnership of Langdon and Roche combined to give us an early 2 goal cushion both headed from corners before Gascoigne and Powell sealed the win but Market Drayton, also pushing for promotion bought us crashing down with our first defeat in 7. We had our fair share of possession but the chances that we did have to score were all from a long way out and wildly missed the target. Of 11 shots on goal we only forced one save out of their keeper and they made us pay.

Finally, that man again, Vill Powell returned us to winning ways at home to Gresley with a great performance - again just missing out on a hattrick as he fired straight at the keeper from close range. Kings Lynn remain in touching distance although their are plenty of other teams still more than capable of dragging me back down and out of the play-off positions.

Good start so far best of luck!

Are Rotherham really based in Sheffield?

Cracking start dude .

Are Rotherham really based in Sheffield?

Strictly no, but for a couple of seasons they played at Don Valley Athletics stadium in Sheffield after having been thrown out of their own stadium. They're now back in Rotherham but close enough to count as a local rival

Cracking start dude .

Cheers mate - don't expect me to work at your pace though!

Very good start, I'm routing for you even though Market Drayton is just down the road from where I live.

With all respect to the oldest club in the world, they aren't a sleeping giant because they have never been a giant.

I never got round to having a favourite in the Sheffield rivalry (though would like to manage a Sheffield club at some point), may as well go for the underdog and support your Sheffield FC. Nice job so far. You're at what level of the ladder, 7 or 8, no?

With all respect to the oldest club in the world, they aren't a sleeping giant because they have never been a giant.

Fair point!

With all respect to the oldest club in the world, they aren't a sleeping giant because they have never been a giant.

Fair point! Time to put that right!

Very good start, I'm routing for you even though Market Drayton is just down the road from where I live.

Thanks - we were poor against them and didn't deserve anything from that game! They have a good chance of going up.

I never got round to having a favourite in the Sheffield rivalry (though would like to manage a Sheffield club at some point), may as well go for the underdog and support your Sheffield FC. Nice job so far. You're at what level of the ladder, 7 or 8, no?

Cheers good to have a new fan - we'll save you a place in the stands! We're playing in level 8 of the pyramid this season

Strictly no, but for a couple of seasons they played at Don Valley Athletics stadium in Sheffield after having been thrown out of their own stadium. They're now back in Rotherham but close enough to count as a local rival

Ah yes, I had a feeling they had moved there temporarily recently but weren't there any more.

A fantastic month with a 100% record which has lifted us up to the top of the table. The fixture list was kind with most of our games against the teams towards the bottom of the table, but even so, 4 games and 4 clean sheets was an impressive performance. Vil Powell started the month extending his great goalscoring form and when his goals dried up his strike partner picked up the flow, finishing with a fabulous hat-trick, his second of the season, in the final game of the month against Halesowen.

Title rivals Kings Lynn town dropped 4 points early in the month, before returning to their winning ways - but those 4 dropped points were sufficient to allow me to move into the only automatic promotion place at the top of the table.

Brigg Town almost spoilt my 100% record for the month in the Northern League challenge cup, scoring from a direct free kick with their first shot on goal - but Liam Henderson, who had been rested for the game, came off the bench with 12 minutes left on the clock and scored in injury time to continue his goal scoring run and secure a 3rd round tie away to Northern Premier League side Frickley United.

Elsewhere an appalling run of form for Manchester City in October and November has resulted in Mancini being shipped out, to be replaced by Sunderland's Martin O'Neill. City are currently languishing in 13th place in the table.

An incredibly busy month for us in December with 7 matches scheduled in the league. The start of the month couldn't have gone much better, with goals and wins coming with ease. Liam Henderson continued to lead our goal scoring charts and picked up his second hat-trick in 3 matches against Northwich Victoria. Eventually our 12 game winning streak came to end against 2nd placed team King's Lynn Town - to be honest they were the better side for the second time this season ans I thought we were going to slip to a defeat until Michael Roche rose up to score a headed winner at the back post from a corner. We should have returned to winning ways in the next match, but 3-1 up at half time I had to substitute goalkeeper Mark Oxley at half time after he broke his hand - we held on strongly for a long time, but two weak goals were conceeded by youngster Nathan Kellaway on his first appearance for the club in the final stages of the game. Oxley is out for 4-6 weeks so I'm off to search for an emergency loanee goalkeeper!

Despite slipping up in the final two games of the year, we've developed a convincing lead at the top.

3 new loan signing's joined in the month, including that emergency goalkeeper I needed - Jason Mooney joins on a 2 month loan deal from Tranmere Rovers. In addition Will McCall will give Chris Adam some competition on the left wing and Lee Beeson will improve my options in the middle of the park

Massive lead and it's going to take something bizarre to take promotion away from you, very convincing season so far.

Looking a safe bet to go up.

Good start to the career.

Massive lead and it's going to take something bizarre to take promotion away from you, very convincing season so far.

Thanks, unfortunately form of late hasn't been great so I'm looking over my shoulder and hoping for a turnaround!

A bizarre month in January in which our winning form deserted us, and all we could do was draw - in fact I'm pretty certain that the 4 draws in January coupled with the 2 draws in December could well have taken me to my longest ever run of successive draws in Football Manager. We were truly awful against 3rd placed Mickleover Sports and were well and truly deserving to crash to a defeat, but super-sub Jacob Wilberforce rescued us with 2 great goals at the death - the opposite happened against bottom of the table Coalville Town when we were cruising until back-up goalie Jason Mooney made a couple of calamitous mistakes to hand the points and the overdue win away.

Eventually, at last we managed to turn the tide with a win against Loughborough, ironically in the game where we really didn't deserve it having been outplayed for most of the game. Returning first team goalkeeper Marc Oxley was the star of the show picking up the man of the match award following several flying saves. I'm please to have him back between the sticks!

Luckily, most of my main opponents have also been going through sticky patches and I've managed to retain a healthy 8 point lead as we head into the final quarter of the season.

A mid-month reprieve from the leage saw us knock out another Premier League side, only to see us drawn against another team from the league above, at home this time, in the quarter finals against Eastwood

Strange drop in form but you should still go up and comfortably so.

A short month in February allowing some of our tired and jaded players an opportunity to recover and get back to full fitness - despite this however our form continued to disappoint and we failed to capitalise on our win on the last day of January to return to winning ways.

2 matches, 2 more score draws - including a very disappointing performance against bottom of the table Carlton Town

The chasing pack are slowly starting to close up on me, no reason to panic yet - a 7 point lead with 9 games to go should be more than comfortable

Another great performance against higher league opposition puts us one step away from our first ever cup final - a 2 legged tie against Northern Premier League side AFC Fylde is all that is between us and that final - and given my performances to date against higher league opposition, my hopes are high

A rather uninspiring youth intake in my first season, I'd imagine that the impact of our improved junior coaching will take a few years to take effect...... I am pleased that a large number of my youngsters have high levels of determination and work ethic - must be that Yorkshire grit showing through.

Now might be the time to start panicking.......... our poor form takes a turn for the worse as the season end closes in - whilst before we were conceeding as many as we were scoring, now we just can't score. With the exception of the win against Gresley this was a truly torrid month.

Despite this however the chasing pack have only closed the gap by two points - and with 5 games to go I've still got 5 points in hand. I need 10 points out of the remaining 15 to secure automatic promotion, but where are those 10 points going to come from??

In the cup, 2 tight matches against AFC Fylde, but we came up with the goods when they were needed in the 2nd leg at home. In a game we dominated I was concerned that we were yet again going to find the back of the net until midfield dynamo Dan Williams scored a thunderbolt of a goal in the 57th minute. After that we had to fight off a strong comeback and hold strong to secure our first ever final against Stamford - who I've already played twice and taken 6 points from.

This should be a straight forward offer to accept given my intention to stay at Sheffield and create a dynasty, but the last few weeks in the league, especially after the great first half to the season, have been so depressing for the club and the fans I can't bear to accept this until the end of the season.

At last we returned to winning ways with two good wins in April, but we slipped up in a difficult away encounter against Sutton Coldfield and then in an easy very winnable contest against Northwich Victoria - so with only one more game to go we already know that we'll fail to reach the 10 point target required so the title race is now out of our hands and is dependant on King's Lynn's performances - if they have a clean sweep of wins they will have the advantage.......

.......and that is exactly what they've managed to do - turning in 4 excellent performances and reeling me back in to take the lead on goal difference. I've only got myself to blame here, how exactly have we managed to throw away a 9 point lead???

Goal difference is tight, just the one goal in it, but Kings Lynn have more goals scored - so in the final game of the season I need to beat their result and score 2 more goals than they do. We are at home to mid table Belper Town, whilst Kings Lynn are away to Coalville Town who are at the bottom of the table, confirmed as being relegated and have only one win in the last 17 matches - plenty of reasons for me to feel confident then

Good luck getting a miracle.

So, the final day of the season arrived with us needing to better Kings Lynn's performance by more than 2 goals.

We started out strongly at home against Belper, quickly dominating possession and creating chances - things were looking good but an inspired performance by Aaron Chapman in the Belper goal was holding us back.

At half time it was 0-0 in both games and I was starting to hope that nicking a goal and a 1-0 win might be enough to put us up. As time was ticking on however, despite improving our performance into the second half and generating more opportunities we still hadn't scored and time was starting to drift away.

In the 70th minute, Kings Lynn went ahead in their fixture effectively ending our chances - we now needed to score 3 goals in 20 minutes. Game effectively over I started mentally preparing for next season in the next division - we had an awful record against the other teams in the Top 5 so I didn't fancy my chances in the play-off's.

But, then in the 79th minute an equaliser from Coalville Town just opened the door again, I had 11 minutes to score.......... It wasn't going to happen though, we just couldn't break them down and when the match highlights restarted on 93:40 seconds with only 4 minutes of added time I knew it was just for the final whistle.

The higlight restarted from a corner, fired into the middle of the penalty area by Chris Adam into a crowd of Belper defenders - only for Liam Henderson, my top scorer all season, to leap above them and head the ball into the top right hand corner. We'd won the game - with the last touch of the ball. Kings Lynn had only managed to draw so we took the championship and automatic promotion!!!!!!!

God - I hate this game! How does it manage to do this to me!

After the final day drama in the league I wasn't sure my emotions were up for a cup final! But Stamford were awaiting us in the final battle to win the Northern Challenge cup and the team were determined to lift a second title.

Liam Henderson, buoyed from his final minute winner in the league was the key man for us once again, scoring twice, either side of a Stamford equaliser to catapult us to victory - with Michael Roche providing the final nail in Stamfords coffin.

Well done snatching promotion!

Retirements

• Jupp Heynkes stepped down as Bayern Munich manager and retired from football having lifted the Bundesliga for the first time in 2013. Heynkes was a worldclass footballer in his own right before entering the world of management having scored 14 goals in 39 appearances for Germany. Heynkes also led Bayern to the final of the Champions League in 2012 and won the German DFL-Supercup in 2012
  
• 2 famous Brazillian managers also retired in 2013 - Carlos Alberto Parreira who's Brazil team lifted the World Cup in 1994 stepped down having been out of work since managing Fluminense in 2010 and 79 year old Zagallo who won the World Cup in 1970 also formally announced his retirement
  
• English journeyman striker Kevin Phillips left his last club Blackpool at the age of 39 after a grand total of 544 club appearances and 243 goals. Phillips earnt 8 England caps and lifted the League Cup with Birmingham City in 2011
  

Major Transfers

• England dominated the transfer market in the only transfer window available this season in January. Arsenal were almost the biggest spenders splashing out a combined £62m on Thiago and Andriy Yarmelenko - but this spending splurge appeared to be justified as they bought the Premier League title home with 12 points to spare
  
• Tottenham Hotspur had the largest transfer bill in the end though with a combined £70m spent on Sven Bender, Danny Wellbeck, Martin Olsson and Gary Medel with only £4.7m Jake Livermore leaving the club to join Newcastle United
  
• Elsewhere Lucas Moura was the most expensive player to move joining PSG from Sao Paulo whilst Falcao moved to Italian champions Juventus from Atletico Madrid
  

Well done snatching promotion!

Cheers - it shouldn't have been that close though!

A quick update on some of the major managerial changes and news in the last 12 months at the top of the game:

• Arsenal's victory in the Premier League secured Arsene Wenger the privilege of being lifted into the list of the 20 world's greatest managers - entering straight in at number 16. Wenger is now rated just one place above Fabio Capello.
  
• Steve Clarke didn't last long at WBA and was sacked in mid December at which point Owen Coyle left Bolton to take over - Bolton appointed Stuart McCall into the number 1 spot which didn't do there promotion chances any harm, securing Premier League status again at the first attempt
  
• After the shock sacking of David Moyes from Everton, Steve Clarke was quickly given another chance in the top flight, but the Toffees fans won't be happy with a 17th position, only just above the relegation zone and will be expecting much more next season
  
• Fulham had to deal with the departure of Martin Jol in early January as he left to become Valencia manager - Fulham poached outspoken Ian Holloway from Blackpool who in turn appointed ex Man City icon and Brentford manager Uwe Rosler into the dug out
  
• After an appalling start to the season Liverpool were one of the first clubs to act, sacking Brendan Rodgers and rolling back time to re-appoint Rafa Benitez. Benitez stabilised the clib and secured a 13th place finish
  
• Similarly Man City acted early sacking Roberto Mancini after an appalling run of form and appointing Martin O'Neill from Sunderland. O'Neill recovered to finish in 6th place but will be expected to deliver Champions League football next season. Sunderland appointed Malky Mackay from Cardiff and the welsh club turned to the ex England manager Steve McClaren
  
• QPR dispensed with Mark Hughes services at Christmas in an attempt to secure Premier League status and Huddersfield's Simon Grayson managed to do exactly that, finishing in 15th place
  
• Chris Hughton, Nigel Adkins and Roberto Martinez all departed their clubs having failed to retain Premier League status for Norwich, Southampton and Wigan respectively - although Adkins jumped straight back into management at Wigan. Southampton appointed Peterborough's up and coming young manager Darren Ferguson whilst Wigan looked to Uruguayan Gus Poyet
  
• Milwall appointed outspoken manager Paulo Di Canio after their manager Kenny Jackett moved to Blackburn
  
• Nottingham Forest appointed Roy Kean on New Years Day 2013 having sacked Sean O'Driscoll
  
• Sevilla managed to sack 2 managers in 4 months - dispensing with Michel in September followed by Luciano Spalletti in December before making the shock announcement of Englishman Stuart Pearce as their new manager!
  

Congratulations on the promotion.

Nice layout at the top of the thread.

Congratulations on the promotion.

Nice layout at the top of the thread.

Thanks - and yes, you are due credit for some of the layout, apologies for not referencing earlier SRL88 may also recognise the layout of the season end summary.

I hope neither of you mind but let me know if you do and I will of course amend!