FM14 Small Club to Big Club Americas Challenge... brought to you by Razer82 & DodgeeD

The Aim

To take a previously unplayable team from the lower leagues of a nation from the Americas to their domestic title, the Copa Libertadores or NACL and then onto the Club World Cup**! These do not have to be won in the same season.

*NOTE: The Club World Cup has been added to the challenge in order to bring the USA in as a playable nation. A game with just winning the NACL could be over rather quickly with a side from the MLS so an extra degree of difficulty has been added for longevity.

The Setup

Leagues that can be used - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico*, Peru, Uruguay, USA

*NOTE: Mexican teams are invited to compete in the Copa Libertadores. However, they must win the NACL as part of the challenge.

NEW FOR FM14: This year, with changes being made to the editor to allow for opening/closing stages (used by a lot of South and Central American leagues), user-created leagues will be allowed. We will add links to those leagues as and when they are created. Please only use the leagues that are linked to here. If you create/find an additional league that you would like to be included in the challenge, post it here so Razer82 and DodgeeD can check it and approve it.

Reputations of Leagues eligible for this challenge - To be updated for FM14.

Argentina 130

Brazil 150

Chile 112

Colombia 108

Mexico 130

Peru 98

Uruguay 103

USA 116

Getting Started

Load all the available division within the nation you select.

NEW FOR FM14 - you may also load other North/South American leagues. This will ensure that the other nations are more competitive as they produce more newgens who regularly play. You must select the start date for the league you intend to play in, however.

A Large database should be selected (although you are free to use other database sizes if you wish to)

'Disable Player Attribute Masking' must not be selected.

You can load all players from the nation that you have selected to manage in and you may also select the option to load players from any other naitons you have selected as well as the Top Clubs in the continent.

The extra levels of detail that you can change while in the game are up to you, as they shouldn’t make any difference.

Add yourself as an unemployed Manager, the details of which are unimportant.

Then go on holiday until the new seasons teams are generated, see below for actual dates, and select one of the newly promoted teams.

League Reset Dates - Please note these are based on previous versions and will be updated as necessary (if you find that one is not correct, please let us know and we'll update the list).

Also, it is a good idea to stop holidaying and save your game one day before these reset dates. That way, if the teams that come up don't take your fancy, you can easily reload your save and see if any different teams are promoted.

Argentina - 15th July

Brazil - 2nd January *

Chile - 25th June*

Colombia - 10th January

Mexico - 10th June*

Peru - 1st January*

Uruguay - 1st July*

USA - 27th December

*Confirmed for FM14

Then retire your original manager profile.

Add a new manager with the experience set to ‘Sunday League Footballer’, or if that is not available then ‘Automatic’.

Take over one of the clubs newly promoted into the lowest division within your selected nation. If you are unsure about which clubs have been promoted then go to the season summary screen and choose one of the teams promoted from the lowest (unplayable) division.

It is now up to you to manage the club to their domestic title, the Copa Libertadores or NACL and then onto the Club World Cup.

You are not permitted to move between clubs unless you are sacked; If you are sacked, you can either take over at another club the meet the original challenge criteria or just quit the current save and start again. If you have loaded more than one naiton, you may switch naitons at this point.

Any form of international management is not allowed until the challenge has been completed.

There are no restrictions on assigning feeder / parent clubs.

Scouting Guidelines

You can only sign players that you are able to scout or trial at the club first, so in short the player must have the 'Get scout report' button on his profile screen. The one exception to this is when you ask a current squad/staff member to recommend a new signing or recieve an agent offer. It is then ok to sign him as the person who recommended him knows of him anyway.

No external utilities should be used and the database should be un-edited (excepting approved additional leagues). Should SI release a data update, this would be allowed. It is advised that people should update using the latest patches as they are released.

Rules for this Thread

Player naming is allowed. (This is a warning for those of you who do not wish to see this)

Discussion on tactics is allowed. (This is another warning for those of you who do not wish to see this)

Screenshots for anything are encouraged.

When you join the challenge, could you post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the date you take control at your new club so we can see your reputation is 'sunday League' or 'Automatic'.

Progress of your club should be documented using this thread. We want to hear the story of your club all the way through (success and failure), so please keep us updated, even if you are doing really badly.

At the end of every season, could everyone post some kind of season review, including the minimum of a screenshot of the league table (including opening/closing and/or average points tables if your league follows these formats). Screenshots of progress in cups (results or victory in the final) are optional. Progress in continental competitions should be shown (group tables, results, key match overviews, etc).

Any other screenshots you wish to add (key players, transfer history, mews items, youth prospects) are up to you but encouraged to give us a fuller picture.

If you give this a title in bold and include your team's logo, it makes it a bit easier for others to pick out.

How to Post a Screenshot

1. While in FM, press ALT + F9.

2. This should save a screenshot in the following folder: Documents/Sports Interactive/ Football Manager 2014/ Screenshots

3. Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Photobucket or Imageshack

4. Post the direct Url to the image here.

Good luck to everyone taking part this year.

A Guide to the Americas Challenge*

*Obviously, this is a work in progress but will be done over the next few days

This challenge is a great chance to try something different away from the more popular European leagues but the different formats used by the various leagues can be a bit daunting so here is a quick overview of the leagues and continental competitions in the game that will hopefully make things a bit clearer:

Domestic Leagues

Argentina -

Brazil -

Chile -

There are two divisions in the game, which break down as follows:

First Division B - Consists of 14 teams. You play an Opening and Closing Stage, each Stage you play 19 games. You play all teams once in the league you also play 6 teams local to you to make up the 19 games. The winner of each stage enters a Promotion play off along with the two teams who finish highest in the overall league out of those already not qualified. The lowest in the overall league gets relegated

First Division - Consists of 17teams you play again in two stages and play each team once. The bottom four go down into the First Division B. Each winner of each stage go into the end of season playoff along with the teams who finish highest in the overall league. This decides who enters continental places.

Chilean Cup - Every team enters you enter an initial 4 team group and the winners of this enter the second round which becomes straight knockout over two legs all the way to the final.

Chilean Super Cup - Match between the Chile Cup winners and the overall winners of the First Division

Colombia -

Peru -

Uruguay - There are two divisions in the game, which break down as follows:

Uruguayan Second Professional League - 14 teams play each other twice (26 games). The top two sides are promoted automatically, while places 3-10 enter a play-off for the final promotion spot. The team in 14th place goes down and one team from the unplayable Second Amateur League comes up.

Uruguayan First Division - 16 teams play each other in separate opening and closing stages (15 games each). The two stage winners then play each other in a two-legged play-off (this is not played if the same team wins both stages) for the right to play the top side from the combined table in a championship play-off (again, this match is not played if the same team has won both stages). Relegation is decided on 'accumulative points', with the three teams with the lowest points totals over the last two seasons going down.

There is no domestic cup.

Mexico -

U.S.A. -

Continental Competitions

Copa Libertadores - The big one for South American teams (with a few Meixcan sides thrown in). It consists of preliminary rounds, a group stage, and three knockout rounds before a two-legged final. The winner qualifies for the Club World Cup (unless that happens to be a Mexican side, in which case the losing finalist goes through) as well as the Recopa.

Copa Sudamericana - Often billed as the equivalent of the Europa League but there are a couple of key differences. First of all, there is no group stage. This is two-legged knockout football all the way. Secondly, some nations allow the same teams to enter this cup and the Copa Libertadores in the same season (the competitions do not run concurrently, making this possible). The winner qualifies for the Recopa.

Recopa - simply a two-legged Super Cup match between the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana winners.

NACL - The North American Champions League (or CONCACAF Champions League in real life) is for North and Central Ameircan club sides, and Caribbean teams as well. Qualifying rounds are followed by a group stage and two-legged knockout rounds before a two-legged final, the winner of which goes to the Club World Cup.

Club World Cup - The last stage of the challenge. If you play as a South American side, you get to go straight into the semi-finals. NACL winners have one extra match to play before they try to show their worth against the best Europe (usually) has to offer.

Approved Custom Leagues

These will be added as and when they become available

A History of the Challenge

This challenge has been around in various forms since FM08. Here are links to the previous incarnations and a Hall of Fame of all of those who have completed it:

iseemonsters' FM08 Small club to big club South American challenge - the original incarnaiton of the challenge saw the first completion as MacTavish won the Lİbertadores (Club World Cup was not a requirement then) with Uruguayan side Club Oreintal de Futbol

Razer82’s FM09 Small Club From A South American Nation Adventure Challenge - the year Razer took over was the most popular year of the challenge to date as the thread hit 10 pages! There were also three completions as dafuge reached the top with Brazlandia in er... Brazil, DodgeeD swept all before him on both contients with Mexican side Estudiantes Santander, and daemonic also did the business with Sociedade Esportiva Ypiranga Futebol Clube also in Brazil.

Razer82's FM10 Small Club to Big Club Americas Challenge

Razer82's FM11 Small Club To Big Club Americas Challenge

Razer82's FM12 Small Club to Big Club Americas Challenge

Razer82's FM13 Small Club to Big Club Americas Challenge

reserved for challenges in progress/completed challenges

Fantastic. I am just about to finish holidaying in Chile.

Fantastic. I am just about to finish holidaying in Chile.

Club de Deportes Puerto Montt

Time for a challenge and time for Chile. This club was founded in 1983, this team used to be decent and even participated in the Copa Libertadores. I am hoping to return this once great club to where they were.

Me

General

Last Year

good luck with the challenge this year. I really think this is a massively under rated challenge and deserves more players than it has had in the past few years. I really hope to give this a go this year at some point as I love South American football.

good luck with the challenge this year. I really think this is a massively under rated challenge and deserves more players than it has had in the past few years. I really hope to give this a go this year at some point as I love South American football.

That is exactly my feelings that is why I am giving a good early go.

Tough times so far in Chile I lost half my squad due to contracts running out. Was given no friendlies early doors to sort my squad out as it was straight into the cup. I am hoping with time the team will settle down

Good luck at Puerto Montt ashton - they were always coming up when I set up my game last year... Btw, is the reset date for Chile still Jan 1st?

Good luck at Puerto Montt ashton - they were always coming up when I set up my game last year... Btw, is the reset date for Chile still Jan 1st?

Cheers mate, things going ok so far got 4 points from 6 games in the Cup and was knocked out and I have just won first two games in the league

Yeah it was either these or Mellipila I think they came up last year a lot as well. Sorry mate its the 25th of June, I thought is very strange as well because I thought it was usually Jan. Are you taking the plunge in this challenge.

Cheers mate, things going ok so far got 4 points from 6 games in the Cup and was knocked out and I have just won first two games in the league

Yeah it was either these or Mellipila I think they came up last year a lot as well. Sorry mate its the 25th of June, I thought is very strange as well because I thought it was usually Jan. Are you taking the plunge in this challenge.

I will take the plunge tomorrow hopefully. Once I had got this thread up, there was no time left to play today. I just need to decide on Uruguay, Mexico (most likely), Argentina or Peru (those two less likely but not ruled out...)

Thanks for the info - maybe in real life they are switching to a European season rather than a calender year one...

I will take the plunge tomorrow hopefully. Once I had got this thread up, there was no time left to play today. I just need to decide on Uruguay, Mexico (most likely), Argentina or Peru (those two less likely but not ruled out...)

I was considering Uruguay but I wanted a cup to play, albeit for about a week.

I was actually playing a Mexican game not long before this came out and I came across your old club.

I was considering Uruguay but I wanted a cup to play, albeit for about a week.

I was actually playing a Mexican game not long before this came out and I came across your old club.

I've decided on Uruguay mainly because the league is short so I can get through the seasons quickly (two Uruguyan seasons to one Brazilian/Mexican in terms of playing time!) Holidaying now so I will update later today once I've chosen my team.

I can confirm the reset date for Uruguay is still July 1st. Now to see which team comes up

DodgeeD - Thanks for getting the thread up.

Got my game setup last night, having another crack with in Peru this year. Haven't picked my team yet but the reset date is still 28th January.

Good luck with your games guys, hopefully we'll get some interest in this challenge this year.

Np Razer - I've confirmed the Peru date in the OP and have started to compile a guide to each league and a brief history of the challenge. Do you recall who has completed the challenge over the last few versions?

Also any help for summarising the leagues would be appreciated from those who are playing/have played in them - just a quick explanation of how the league works (complicated in some cases I know!), championship/promotion/relegation play-offs and any combined/average points system. DM me if you can help

No, I don't recall who's finished it in the past. Think I've only managed it the once on FM11.

We'll need to head back through the old threads to find out.

As we're all starting with different leagues, that should at least cover those leagues for summaries. That's assuming Ashton does't mind writing up a little something for Chile.

Not at all mate will get it done later. Cannot wait to get back home and get my team again. I seemed to have stumbled onto a really decent tactic

One thing I love about this challenges is looking at the town/city where the club is based and the ground where the team play. Puerto Montt is a city on the coast which unsurprisingly relies a lot on fishing and agriculture for their survival. The Stadium looks surperb.

love the idea of it being right on the coast and being so open.

Club de Deportes Puerto Montt

I have managed to get to the end of the Opening Stage and strange things are happening in Chile, my little team are really doing well. I took control of the Opening Stage early on and never really give that up. I am honestly amazed at how well we are doing. I am looking forward to the Promotion Playoffs now once I finish the Closing Stage

Opening Stage

ashton - Great opening stage. Does that secure you a chance of promotion already?

Got my game setup last night, having another crack with in Peru this year. Haven't picked my team yet but the reset date is still 28th January.

Don't know what I was thinking with this date. Reset is 1st January.

I'm back bitches! Time to start holidaying in Brazil!

One thing I love about this challenges is looking at the town/city where the club is based and the ground where the team play. Puerto Montt is a city on the coast which unsurprisingly relies a lot on fishing and agriculture for their survival. The Stadium looks surperb.

love the idea of it being right on the coast and being so open.

ashton - that is one great location!! Not much room for expansion though

viralix - great to see you back and good luck in Brazil.

razer - I've edited the info in the OP about Peru accordingly. Added a bit of history and league info for Uruguay as well

Now, 'Im going to reload Uruguay a few times and try not to get Villa Espanola!

Brazil save on 1st of January.. leagues reset on the 2nd. http://www.mediafire.com/?a37q7ni31p5gya7

I've never really managed outside of Europe (mainly stick to Dafuges challenge each season) but after much thought I think it's time to branch out so think this challenge is the one for me this year. Trying to pick between Argentina and Brazil (once I've sorted out my graphics)

I've never really managed outside of Europe (mainly stick to Dafuges challenge each season) but after much thought I think it's time to branch out so think this challenge is the one for me this year. Trying to pick between Argentina and Brazil (once I've sorted out my graphics)

Highly recommend Brazil I play dedicated in Brazil on FM since FM08

Brazil looks fun with the amount of games you get to play - I imagine that's great for producing and progressing youngsters.

Brazil looks fun with the amount of games you get to play - I imagine that's great for producing and progressing youngsters.

Yup pretty much..

I've never really managed outside of Europe (mainly stick to Dafuges challenge each season) but after much thought I think it's time to branch out so think this challenge is the one for me this year. Trying to pick between Argentina and Brazil (once I've sorted out my graphics)

I finally got started in Uruguay. I'll do a full post tomorrow but it's been tough so far as I took over at a club with no staff and a thin squad of players. The biggest annoyance so far has been my board's refusual to offer more than 95 quid a week to scouts when most won't go below 120 p/w in negotiations... even the rubbish ones! Managed to get my backroom staff togetehr though so I will see who they reccommend

DodgeeD - That's the joy of the small club I suppose, but at least you've been able to get hold of some people.

darren1983 - Welcome! Always nice to draw someone new in. Whilst I agree with you that the extra games in Brazil make if perfect for bringing through youngsters, it also makes the season very long. Which is why I tend to avoid it.

viiralx - Thanks for the save. Good luck with your save.

V50 has set up a thread in the editors forum about getting Caribbean leagues done once the editor is ready that should be worth keeping an eye on

Cheers Razer. I have gone with Mexico so just a heads up for the OP - Mexico reset date is June 10.

Now to pick my team

Picked my team. Loros de la Universidad de Colima (Loros Colima for short) have a new manager

Club overview

Squad

I must admit I do like the look of our stadium

darren - welcome to the challenge. I am a huge fan of you ground pal its fantastic, looks like its carved into the ground. Your badge is brilliant as well mate good luck.

After about 50 reloads, about 30 of them featuring Villa Espanola and another 15 featuring Uruguay Montevideo, I finally settled on Salus FC as they seemed to be the smallest club that came up (I was hoping to get a club that was not based in Montevideo but no luck).

A busy pre-season awaits as there are no staff at the club and only 16 registered players, about half of whom are worth keeping.

Here's my profile and manager information.

Here's a quick overview of the club:

We are predicted to finish dead last but I'll be doing my best to avoid and perhaps sneak into the top ten for the end of season play-offs (yes, basically a team that close to the bottom could still get promoted!)

Having seen a couple of scenic looking stadiums, I thought I'd share this one of Parque Salus (it ws the only one I could find with any kind of structure visible!)

I'll update on transfers and pre-season tomorrow.

Welcome to Mexico darren - it's a fun league to play in

Thanks guys - just trying to shape my team now, first preseason game away to a lower league team ended 7-0 to us (watch us lose every league game now )

DodgeeD / Darren - Good luck with your clubs. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Will also be keeping an eye on the Caribbean league edits thread for something interesting to take on at another point in the future.

Got my team selected & some screens will be up shortly.

If anyone else doing the challenge in Brazil, feel free to use pack i put together for personal use for this challenge in FM12

http://www.mediafire.com/folder/40m8ne9ep44dh9m,r6r57apsp3czme0,1544mgziyvs5bsy/shared

Most of the Brazil teams should have logo/kit -- thats logos for over 900 teams

I take no credit for this.. i just put it together in a zip.

also here is another Bazil save.. http://www.mediafire.com/?v5o7e8s94sd8v2g

DodgeeD - that looks like a beautiful stadium you have mate

viiralx - look forward to seeing your team in Brazil, Brazil is a fantastic place to play

Puerto Montt - Chilean First Division B - 2014/2015

Opening

Closing

Overall

Well what happened here. I amazed my self in the Opening Stage we beat most of the other teams in the league and managed to somehow take the stage without really being under any pressure throughout. In the Closing Stage I was awful I struggled with injuries, form and suspensions and it shown as we just did not make any real mark on the league and I was really disappointed with it. In the playoffs we returned to form and beat two sides local to us to make it to the big time.

Cups - was not fantastic by any means we really looked like we may do something in the group but in the end we were just good enough.

Intake - couple of decent players who will make an impact next year for us

Squad - decent depth just need to improve the squad quality

Transfers - added one or two players just to add to the depth I got rid of the awful players that were there already

Finances - Getting worse

Season Stars:

Gonzalo Bravo - my creative force in the middle of the park who was a spark for everything that we do in the team

Ceser Talma - a midfield dynamo, who has been fantastic as my box to box player. He has scored plenty and was a real fantastic player

Patricio Casteneda- my centre half at the club, he was solid all year round for us and one of the Defenders who shone this year.

Career Overview

Season    League                   Opening       Closing        Overall         Cup         Continental          Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/2015 Chilean First Division B 1st             10th           2nd            Grp            N/A                    Promotion

Next Season

This happened two or three years sooner than I expected so I expect a busy summer but all I want is to survive next year.

Congrats on the unexpected promotion ashton I guess a busy pre-season of scouting and scouring for players awaits!

And as for my stadium, I'm including a small bonus for my subs each time they have to vault the wall to get the ball back

Best of luck in Brazil viiralx and thanks for sharing the files. I'll add them to the OP soon

A busy pre-season saw me pretty much reshape my new club from top to bottom. I brought in backroom staff but not many as the board would only allow 3 coaches and one assisstant, plus one physio. I was allowed 4 scouts but only got one in the end because I was limited to a 95 pounds a week contract offer and most wouldn't go below 110... In the end, I got one guy with JPA of 8 and JPP of 10, which will do for now.

The squad was completely overhauled as I released a lot of useless players who were thankfully on amateur contracts, ties donw a coupe of the better amateurs to pro deals and then raided the free transfer market bringing in more than 20 new faces!

That's obviously too many to go into here so I'll just introduce the players I feel will be key over the next 9 months:

Maurico Rodriguez (DL) - the best player already at the club.

Daniel Hernandez (DM/MC/AMC) - one of the many new faces and one who has been capped by Uruguay! (Only once but, hey...) He can play DM or MC, and will probbaly be used in both. Unfortunately, he is out for a month but will be in the side as soon as he's fit.

Nikimba (DM/MRC) - another player with internaitonal experience, this time from Togo. He will also be used in central midfield.

Ramon Larossa (ST) - a nifty little striker this one, whom I hope will become my (pre-Newcastle era) Michael Owen.

Tactically, I'm starting out with a 4-1-2-3 formation. The DM will act as an anchor man while both MCs operate as box-to-box midfielders. My right winger is a wide target man and the stiker is set to the poacher role. So far, it's worked nicely (sitll need a few tweaks here and there though) with the defence clearing to the right flank, where my winger lays on crosses and passes either for the late arriving midfielders or the poacher. The first league game brought a shock 2-1 away win over Boston River so I'm hoping we can keep that form up.

EDIT: Deary me - we are 5,000-1 to win the division and the poor Boston River manager got the sack in the wake of their opening day shocker!

Daniel Hernandez looks like a belter mate. Good luck

Well I really dont feel like I am clicking with Puerto Montt despite my success I have already had. However everytime I load up somewhere else to play I keep turning that off and dropping back into Chile. What makes it worse is I have just tried signing a certain Nicolas Milan. I did not get him but he is interested but his club just want to much. He is still only 23 on my game. Amazing.

ashton - I know what you mean about struggling to click. I'm finding that with the game as a whole right now. I think the main issue is the change to the tactics, been used to the old way for so long now, I'm having difficulty getting used to the changes.

I found the tactics fairly easy I think I just found that one that worked but I dont know if its the players or the club or what but it doesnt feel right