So, I just realised I might be really weird

Yup, you is crazy.

And I freaking love it

Just a little look at the TV landscape in Avrilia and its relationship to football.

TV NETWORKS

TTV (based in Sakatar)

TTV 1: Main state broadcaster, heavy on news, current affairs, documentary, major films and the classier end of mainstream entertainment. Its Christmas horror film, which airs at midnight on Christmas Eve, is a national institution. Carries big football matches. TTV currently has rights to Pro League Premier weekend games, as well as games in most other competitions and the (rotating) cup final. Nightly highlights and discussion show Nightball covers all levels of the game and is another national institution.

TTV 2: More light entertainment, quirkier documentary and comedy, lots of sport.

TTV Sport: Live sport, mostly spillover content on big football nights, and lesser sport like the native indoor game of cornerball. Most programming is sports documentaries.

TTV Special: Repeats, themed programming seasons and rolling news of major events.

Capital TV: Local TV for the capital city, available nationally like all regional channels in Avrilia. Screens Municipal Cup games and the smaller Sakatar clubs' matches in various competitions.

ALTCHAN (based in Ballinglin)

ALTCHAN is a part-private "alternative programming" network. Main channel is a curious mixture of prestige programming, midweek Pro League Premier games, tabloid TV and old comedy repeats.

ALTCHAN Coastal: Based in Aroa, regional programming for North West and the Western coast, and also covers the regional football competitions.

ALTCHAN SouthEast: Based in Sakatar. Regional channel for Sakatar and the southern half of the East province. Regional football a staple.

ALTCHAN North: Based in Ferres. Covers the North and north-east.

ALTCHAN Central: Based in Ballinglin. Regional affiliate for South and West provinces.

HOME TV (based in Insford)

Home TV: Old-fashioned, stodgy content, loads of news, in-depth documentaries, classical music and debate shows. Retains exclusive live coverage to the Christmas Cup, but otherwise only covers football nowadays through highlights show Premier Weekend. Very much the third network, but Christmas Cup Final is usually the highest-rated programme of the year.

HomeTV1: Mixture of slightly more youth-oriented programming and classic archive shows from Home TV's past.

ForceSport (based in Mablonda)

ForceSport: Brash new sports network, a bit of a joke in its early years but now honing its coverage. Gives its name to the curtain-raising ForceSport Super Cup, and its Midnight Football Festival is a cult favourite. Also has non-exclusive rights to Pro League First, NFA Cup, NPO and various provincial tournament games. Most acclaimed for its Re-LIVE show, a multi-sport series in which former players do commentaries on classic matches they participated in.

ForceSport Extra: Basically just a spillover channel for big football nights. Also covers smaller competitions and minority sports.

InfoTV (based in Sakatar

InfoTV is an interesting concept, a rolling-news channel jointly staffed and produced by all the main networks.

Panoplay

Panoplay is another collaborative all-network retrospective channel featuring classic programming from years gone by.

Online-only

This year, the National Football Association launched nfalive.av, a streaming service which features live coverage of smaller clubs' games, particularly on nights when all the major channels are broadcasting bigger matches.

A breakdown of the top players in Avrilia, if anyone's still interested.

10: Kyle Thompson (DRLC, Gold Swords)

Age: 29 Born: Granagh (North West Province)

Previous clubs: Granagh, Newvale United, Ballinglin City

Inter-provincial: North West (10 caps, 1 goal)

A tall, fast, powerful defender, Thompson only entered the Pro Leagues with Newvale aged 26. Can play anywhere across the back four, and makes a surprisingly nimble full-back for such a tall man.

Partnered club-level rival Charles Ganlon in the centre of defence during the 2013 National Trophy, and scored a crucial goal against North in the semi-final, only to see North West lose 1-0 to Sakatar in the decider.

9: John Cox (AMRLC, Bluestripes)

Age: 21 Born: Sakatar (Sakatar Province)

Previous clubs: South Eastern Academy, Ferres Town

Inter-provincial: Sakatar (11 caps, 2 goals)

Arguably the greatest talent yet produced by the regional academy system. Ferres controversially bought him out of his academy contract before graduation, then sold him to Bluestripes two years later for twenty times their original outlay. Cox is a brilliant, swift and technically flawless attacking midfield who can play wide or through the middle.

A revelation on the left wing during Sakatar’s victorious 2013 National Trophy campaign.

8: Alan Geraghty (DLC, Sakatar City)

Age: 34 Born: Ferres (Northern Province)

Previous clubs: Coyleforge, Pearsons, Clifton Town.

Inter-provincial: North (2 caps, no goals)

Veteran central defender, the mainstay of Sakatar City’s all-conquering squad. Remarkable, near-clairvoyant reader of the game, and hardly ever beaten in the air. Has seen multiple partners come and go, but remains undroppable despite loss of pace.

With the resumption of inter-provincial football in 2013, made his debut for North aged 33. Was dropped after a disastrous performance in the warm-up Brotherhood Cup.

7: Sam Allen (ST, Gold Swords)

Age: 20 Born: Glosmadgen (Sakatar Province)

Previous clubs: None

Inter-provincial: Sakatar (8 caps, 5 goals)

28 goals in 2012, 28 in 2013, and 17 so far this season. A remarkable return for an unheralded youngster from the tiny Sakatar Province town of Glosmadgen. Lightning pace and cool finishing are his main assets.

Bit the hand that feeds him by scoring the winning goal for his native Sakatar against North West in the 2013 National Trophy final, but his popularity in Aroa remains undimmed.

6: Charles Ganlon (DRLC, Sakatar City)

Age: 21 Born: Meadowdale (North Western Province)

Previous clubs: None

Inter-provincial: North West (9 caps, 1 goal)

A native of Meadowdale, a tiny New Town Project in the North Western interior, Ganlon Joined Sakatar City as a teenager. A favourite of manager Dean Harper, Ganlon was initially played at left-back; a disastrous error against Gold Swords during the 2011 title run-in saw him pilloried by fans, but he has matured into the most fearsome centre-back in Avrilia, though also a yellow card magnet (25, plus three reds, in the past two seasons alone).

Was a slightly unpopular call-up to the North Western squad for the National Trophy (as a key player for Gold Swords’ title rivals), but realistically couldn’t be ignored, and enjoyed a fine tournament.

5: Dean White (GK, Sakatar City)

Age: 29 Born: Sakatar (Sakatar Province)

Previous clubs: Capital, Insford Town

Inter-provincial: Sakatar (6 caps, 0 goals)

A sturdy, reliable, unflappable goalkeeper with a spectacular save in his locker for special occasions. His distribution, with hands and feet, is one of his strongest assets. Lost the gloves briefly to veteran George Jordan in 2010, but has kept them ever since.

At inter-provincial level, had a catastrophic game for Sakatar against North West (a 5-1 defeat in the opening game) and didn’t feature again in the tournament, but his club form hasn’t suffered.

4: Rob James (ST, FC Freistadt)

Age: 19 Born: Sakatar (Sakatar Province)

Previous clubs: None

Inter-provincial: Sakatar (6 caps, 3 goals)

Freistadt fans have seen their club comprehensively asset-stripped over the past four years. One unforeseen side-effect was the rise to prominence of Rob James, who has since blossomed into one of the finest all-round strikers in the country (42 goals in 64 appearances since 2013).

At inter-provincial level, James was something of a forgotten hero of Sakatar’s victorious 2013 National Trophy campaign. He scored a vital goal against West in the crucial third match, but was badly injured and didn’t feature again.

3: Keith Dunne (AMC/FC, Gold Swords)

Age: 20 Born: Enverdale (Sakatar Province)

Previous clubs: Ballinglin City

Inter-provincial: None (see below)

Probably the most complete player ever produced by an Avrilian club. Fast, muscular, technically and temperamentally superb. Plays best surging forward from behind the striker. Gold Swords paid a record fee for the then 18-year-old in 2012, and have been rewarded with 31 goals and 25 assists in two seasons.

Refused a call-up by Sakatar for last year’s National Trophy; despite being born in Enverdale, Dunne considers himself a Westerner, having joined Ballinglin aged 9. National Trophy eligibility criteria are based entirely on birthplace, however.

2: Victor Robinson (AMRLC/FC, Knockshepel)

Age: 33 Born: Knockshepel (Western Province)

Inter-provincial: West (6 caps, 0 goals)

Hands-down, the greatest, most loved and admired Avrilian player of all time. Has spent his entire career at his hometown club despite lucrative offers from elsewhere. As a consequence, has only three provincial cups, a Pro League First title and an NFA Cup to his name.

Burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old during the 1995 season. Playing for Knockshepel in the old National Fourth Division, he scored a frankly ludicrous 42 goals in 18 games, many of them effortless dribbles followed by pounding long-rangers. Has remained with Knockshepel despite their relegation to the NPO (third tier). Plays mostly on the left, still retains most of his pace, all of his dribbling ability, and has already racked up 15 assists and 11 man-of-the-match awards this season.

At inter-provincial level, Western fans finally got to see their greatest-ever player in the blue of their province at the revived 2013 National Trophy. Although he showed flashes of his brilliance, he was injured in the third game and returned from the bench for the fifth and final match. With West already eliminated, Robinson missed a penalty in stoppage time during the 0-0 draw with North. He’ll hope to get another chance before he retires.

1: Chris McGillen (AMR/ST, Sakatar City)

Age: 28 Born: Sakatar (Sakatar Province)

Previous clubs: Chevaliers (loan), Diamond Sport Insford (loan)

Inter-provincial: Sakatar (10 caps, 4 goals)

Last season’s stats say it all; 42 goals in 43 games, and only the second man to win a Double Fehador Medal (a Fehador Medal is awarded to anyone who scores 20 senior goals in a season). Under current manager Dean Harper, McGillen has scored 135 goals in 180 games, and roasted through opposition defences on the way to four consecutive titles. A complete goalscorer, McGillen is lethal in the box but can also register from distance and create his own opportunities. Has already scored 30 goals in 26 appearances this year, including six in the 8-1 Grand Provincial thrashing of Dovestream. Quite simply, the finest goal-scoring machine ever constructed in this country.

Looked uncharacteristically nervous in the provincial shirt during the National Trophy, but settled into the tournament and scored 4 vital goals to help Sakatar to victory, partnering with deadly club-level rival Sam Allen.

You've inspired me to make my own database, which is coming along...well, slowly. Although it seems that I've gone another level in terms of detail and include many nations. I think it was 8 nations at last count, each with around 30 clubs (it varies). Yet to actually touch the editor in anger, and anger is probably what I'm going to be feeling once I try and put that lot in.

Looking forward to getting something like you have going - having things totally the way I want them, and making up completely new stories rather than the same old.

Mister, I want you to create this detail of universe but in a futiristic galactic setting, like Mass Effect. I want to know what aliens watch on TV and ****.

I've considered creating a save set in a post-capitalist world, in which certain leagues and nations are merged and all clubs are amateur, but I dunno if the engine could handle that.

This is awesome! I may have to try something like this one day. I've done a lot of world building for RPGs and such in the past, dunno why I never considered it for FM. Love the dedication to the details. Maybe weird, but freaking awesome too!

Had a cracking cup quarter-final against everyone's pet team Chevaliers (see above) at the weekend. Wasn't looking good at 0-1 after 50 seconds and 0-2 after ten minutes, but...

Now for two weeks of Municipal Cup games before the next league match. Might field the first XI in one of them and duff up some poor amateur outfit.

Forameuss, that's a serious undertaking you've got going! Drop me a PM here if you fancy any advice/help. Yeah, inputting your vision into the editor is the real pain in the balls, it's almost easier to edit as you go.

Forameuss, that's a serious undertaking you've got going! Drop me a PM here if you fancy any advice/help. Yeah, inputting your vision into the editor is the real pain in the balls, it's almost easier to edit as you go.

Yeah, it'll end up being like that. At the risk of derailing your topic too much (sorry) two of the nations share a border and a city, Cyprus style, so I'm getting all the data for them inputted first. Think I've got all the cities and teams added for one of them, but boy is it tedious. I haven't even started on things like kits, reputation or finances. It should go a lot quicker once one nation is out of the way and running. Can then make small changes here and there, which should make the next nation a bit easier. Gives my imagination something to do anyway!

Don't worry about derailing, think of this thread as a support group for everyone who's as weird as I am

That sounds cool, the shared border/city idea. Yeah, I'd say focus on getting that first nation out of the way, then load it up in the game and holiday through a few seasons to make sure it's all running as it should. It's actually really good fun to see it playing out before your eyes, as well as flagging any snags.

I tried doing this and failed. It's just so much work in the editor. Might wait for FM15 to come out and give it bash.

I tried doing this and failed. It's just so much work in the editor. Might wait for FM15 to come out and give it bash.

How many clubs/competitions are you planning to have?

How many clubs/competitions are you planning to have?

I was going to do a three tier relegation/promotion league, but have everyone start from scratch, and see how they all fare after a few years (as in no favouritism to any of the sides, even mine).

Might have to bust out the graph paper and start planning for the next division as this is something I could look at doing long-term. Perhaps have it as a self-sustaining league (Bilbao-esque).

edit: and just realised I technically didn't answer your question. I was looking at 15-20 teams per league (so 60 in total), and maybe three cup competitions.

Might try and make it so that winning the league gets you an entry into the Champions League (the very first qualifier) and one of the cups does the same with Europa.

I've been inspired by this thread to set up my own country. After about 10 hours on the editor plus a couple of weeks of thinking about teams and structures, I'm getting closer to having something playable.

I created the country of Tontuga (still not convinced about the name) which is a large island lying off the coast of Africa. It replaces Sao Tome & Principe in the database and is a volcanic island that replaces it on the map but is probably 50 times bigger in size.

I imagined that this island was settled by British, Spanish and Dutch explorers/settlers in the past so the island still holds some links to those countries even now Tontuga is an independent country in it's own right. There are four provinces/states which the country is divided up into, two are British (Esk and Elizabeth) plus one Dutch and one Spanish. They are split geographically by a volcano (Monte Patista) in the centre of the island.

In terms of competitions, presently there are three national division which run from January to May. After a summer break the national knockout cup is played up until the end of December along with the Provincial Cups which are all set up as Domestic Cups in the editor with group stages and semi final/finals. So far I have 32 teams but need more to fill out the non-British provinces.

Will post some screenshots shortly.

I've been inspired by this thread to set up my own country. After about 10 hours on the editor plus a couple of weeks of thinking about teams and structures, I'm getting closer to having something playable.

I created the country of Tontuga (still not convinced about the name) which is a large island lying off the coast of Africa. It replaces Sao Tome & Principe in the database and is a volcanic island that replaces it on the map but is probably 50 times bigger in size.

I imagined that this island was settled by British, Spanish and Dutch explorers/settlers in the past so the island still holds some links to those countries even now Tontuga is an independent country in it's own right. There are four provinces/states which the country is divided up into, two are British (Esk and Elizabeth) plus one Dutch and one Spanish. They are split geographically by a volcano (Monte Patista) in the centre of the island.

So why does the volcano have a Greek name and an Italian title?

So why does the volcano have a Greek name and an Italian title?

Maybe because abu645 knows that naming conventions are endlessly fluid.

That sounds great, abu645. Really interesting backstory. I'm not sure how the editor works in later versions of FM, will you still get mostly Portuguese names appearing because it's replacing Sao Tome e Principe, or can you change that by adjusting the national languages? I've never integrated a fictional country into the real world, it sounds like it could be fascinating. Let me know how you get on with it!

I was going to do a three tier relegation/promotion league, but have everyone start from scratch, and see how they all fare after a few years (as in no favouritism to any of the sides, even mine).

Might have to bust out the graph paper and start planning for the next division as this is something I could look at doing long-term. Perhaps have it as a self-sustaining league (Bilbao-esque).

edit: and just realised I technically didn't answer your question. I was looking at 15-20 teams per league (so 60 in total), and maybe three cup competitions.

Might try and make it so that winning the league gets you an entry into the Champions League (the very first qualifier) and one of the cups does the same with Europa.

Try and make the top division first, and holiday through a few seasons. That will iron out a lot of bugs. A good way to have everyone start from scratch would be to give them all the same reputation and just let the game fill the squads for you. Would cut down the workload too.

Thanks for the comments. Having a great time making this world! Only downside with the editor (which is excellent) is the names of the players. I have added lots of players from the database who have no club with Spanish/English nationality and assigned them Tontugan nationality and Tontugan clubs. So far all of the newgens have Portuguese style names though. There is one guy called Sweetzer in the database but in game there are 13 people with that name! Must be a limited number of Sao Tome names in the hardcoded DB!

Have been doing lots of editing this week (school holidays) creating 54 teams with kits, four national divisions plus a national cup and four state cups. Plus I've added in competition history for those tournaments. The game is close to being playable but I just can't decide which team to play as!

Here is a link to a picture of my map plus the screenshots of the teams in the first two divisions.

http://worldfootballreportfm.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/tontuga.html

Any updates, abu645? Loving that concept, really creative having the four diverse provinces. Great way of cramming lots of intrigue into a small-nation save. I'm half-tempted to start a "real-world" save myself now.

Latest on Avrilia is that I'm going to revive another dim teenage memory by holding a Summer Sports Festival; this will feature inter-provincial contests in football, rugby, cricket, golf and maybe boxing. I've already selected the provincial squads in a new DB, and might start a story thread for the tournament if anyone would be interested. If anyone wants to remotely "manage" one of the other provincial sides (I'm gonna be Sakatar), I can send them the DB or just a rough squad sheet!

Meanwhile, here's a profile of a Pro League First side called Domingana. I briefly took them over at the start of the season, with a manager I occasionally use as a temporary troubleshooter and squad-builder when I think a club isn't make best use of its financial resources.

CLUB PROFILE: DOMINGANA S.C.

Full name: Domingana Sports Club

Colours: All-tangerine (home), all-sky blue (away).

THE TOWN

Dominga, North province (population 21,000)

Dominga is the second-most northerly town in Avrilia, an isolated settlement clinging to the cliffs which overlook the busy port of Rocky Harbour. It has strong cultural and commercial links with the North Western coastal cities of Aroa and Amergina; indeed, Domingana occasionally entered the North Western provincial cup until the mid-90s. However, a recent poll found that 78% of Domingans considered themselves Northerners.

Dominga is noted for its spectacular vistas, famous natural harbour, challenging cliff-top golf course and its wild weather. Most of the population works in the fishing, service and tourism industries, with a high proportion of public sector employment. At the last election, Domingans overwhelmingly backed the ruling Social Radicalist Party, although the North Western Dockers' & Workers' Party also won a surprise seat, in a nod to the city's North Western links.

THE STADIUM

Rocky Harbour Stadium is a 7,000 all-seater arena perched on the cliffs above Rocky Harbour. The stadium is something of a technological marvel; enclosed by a retractable roof, featuring an advanced synthetic pitch and transparent walls offering views of the turbulent sea, it also incorporates many of the city's community and arts facilities. Domingana enjoy healthy attendances for a provincial club, generally averaging 6,750 spectators per game. Rocky Harbour is also a favoured venue of the Northern provincial rugby team.

THE TEAM

Domingana have just two senior honours to their name - Northern Championship Trophy wins in 1983 and 1997 - to go with seven runners-up finishes in various competitions. Last season, they hosted the final of the Northern Championship Final, but lost 1-0 to Ferres Town.

Manager Stuart Callaghan resigned just before the start of the season. He was replaced, on a temporary basis, by acquisitions expert George Kilmartin, who was given a brief (and a sizeable budget) to overhaul the squad. Kilmartin added several interprovincials to the club's already-impressive ranks, including goalkeeper Keith Valentine, a star of Sakatar's provincial side, who joined form Chevaliers. At 180k from Ballinglin City, teenage striker David Hutton was the club's record singing.

Unusually, troubleshooter Kilmartin was invited to stay on and manage the team, but the results proved disastrous, and Kilmartin resigned in May. Hutton has scored just twice in 22 league games, and although midfielder Darren Wells has enjoyed a superb season (earning a call-up to the Eastern provincial squad), Domingana hover just a point above the relegation zone with six games remaining. Demotion from the Pro Leagues would be a catastrophe for an expensively-assembled squad, who also crashed out of the NFA Cup to Northern village side Skarmwell.

Not officially got started with mine yet. Up to 64 teams now with 16 in national divisions. Like you Lewisq, I have added lots of cups. There are the four province cups, a cup winners cup for those four teams, a 64 team national cup plus an 8 team group stage/knockout college cup for 8 teams who have a maximum age of 21.

I'm getting a better spread of names for regents by adding new players to the game with the names of my choice but all of the regens have dark skin. My idea was that they would be more mixed but that's not too important. I think when I'm happy with the quality of the players and the finances then the game will be ready. I want teams to be buying players from each other for money but at present they aren't.

Loving the Avrilia updates by the way. So detailed! Can we have some more screenshots?

Posted some screenshots from a few matches here: http://worldfootballreportfm.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm giving a career a go now after a lot more editing. I've bumped up the reputation of the country and clubs which has improved the quality of the league so far. I've done a fair bit of holidaying overnight and noticed that lots of clubs end up with no players and choose to become semi-pro. We'll see if this iteration is worth persevering with. I think at the moment that I might not have enough players/non-players of my nationality in the database.

Reading this reminded me of a game I used to play when I was younger. Not sure if this was something my dad made up or if its a common game. Anyway, it goes like this:

I created fixture grids on the computer which my dad used to print at work. I would simulate the results by rolling two dice - one for the home team and one for the away team. At the end of each season, I would create the league tables, and even play cup competitions, then amend the fixture grids to adjust for relegations/promotions. To begin with, I used the normal English leagues (Premier League, Div 1, 2 and 3) but I drew up a huge list of teams from places (both fictional and real) which all had a number assigned to them. I would use my sister's bingo game to draw teams to replace the teams relegated from the old Division 3.

I ended up (after hours wasted away on a weekend, with the football scores on the TV in the background) with my old Sunday league side playing in the Football League along with Walford FC, Springfield FC etc.

Those were the days. Wish I still had the imagination to spend hours on something so simple. Will definitely be showing it to my children when I eventually have them

By the way, I just noticed I wrote in the OP that I made 8,000 changes to the database. Looking again, it was actually 58,000...

I love the look of Totunga! Especially the sandy pitch at King Charles Stadium (no such feature in FM 10, although I did assign the requisite weather systems to the various cities). The provincial set-up and all the cup competitions are great too. I wouldn't stick with this save, to be honest, but maybe play through a season as a dummy run. Any screenshots in particular you'd like to see from Avrilia?

I also have a universities knockout tournament, but it's separate from the main DB (I didn't think to include it back in 2010 when I was setting it up). I sometimes scan the real-time DB for players who are out of contract and assign them to a university in the database; government back-to-education scheme. I also include a Universities XI as a warm-up opponent in the inteprovincial National Trophy save (they trounced North 5-1 in a friendly before the last tournament).

Great story, jack1712! Have a crack at it in FM, dude!

I've started an FM Story about the Summer Sports Festival here: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/395537-Joy-in-a-Fractured-State-%28Avrilian-Summer-Sports-Festival-2014%29?p=9779873#post9779873

Thanks guys!

I can't remember if I did as MBarbaric suggested, but my league is pretty much cut-off from the outside world. Of course, I have a stipulation of zero foreign players allowed for each club and tournament. Very occasionally, clubs sign free agents from other countries, but can never actually play them and just let their contracts lapse. However, I do sometimes get foreign (real-life) managers taking up jobs in the league. The advantage of using the Virgin Islands is they have few international fixtures, but most newgens have U.S.A. second nationality and sometimes get called up to the US youth teams.

MBarbaric, I have taken things a step further the past few months and started constructing the various cities, town and villages of my country in Sim City (or simplified versions of them, really), so I can visualise them better in FM. I've found this great fun and not too time-consuming.

Upload the save somewhere i would love to play as a team in this fictional place

Upload the save somewhere i would love to play as a team in this fictional place

Ditto, I'd love a go

This is possibly my favourite thread on these forums!

I had a fictional four tier British League that I designed kits and stadia for but that is nothing compared to this.

Nice work LewisQ

Just stumbled upon this topic but this is just epic, cracking work Lewis! Loved reading this thread so far

Glad you're enjoying it, guys!

I'm gonna tidy up the DB a little and post it next week. While it feels weird to let it go (not least because I've been playing a single save for four years, and the world of the game is now very different to the base DB), it's cool that people want to join in. I'll type up an accompanying document; bear in mind that I play for the narrative, and not for hardcore FM management, so others might find some of the DB's peculiarities frustrating (e.g., the fact that some teams play huge numbers of games, whereas some of the smaller non-league teams from East province might play only twenty a season).

League tables and histories or player screenshots would be interesting to see.

The problem with using the editor is that I always find more stuff I want to add. I've set up a game and holidayed until 2020ish. In going to start playing properly now. I've taken over Leopoldo City who are one of the Grand 4 clubs from the Dutch Province. Despite winning the first national championship in 1960, they have fallen upon hard times since the start of the save and have spent the last three years in Division 3. Hopefully will be a fun ride back to the top!

I've found the my club reputations and attendances have fallen through the floor for some reason and almost all of the professional teams have turned semi-pro. In addition most players are on 1 year contracts and are very reluctant to sign anything longer. Fortunately the in game editor can boost these things but it shows that the league isn't perfect yet!

I've uploaded the Avrilia .xml and an accompanying document here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/wkccaq

The document is about the practicalities of playing the save. I doubt anyone will actually play, but if they do, I'm more than happy to produce another document fleshing out the world or a club/challenge/player guide.

I think you've just inspired me to rekindle my own nation again.

The kits (well, enhanced mock-ups of the FM template versions) for the forthcoming interprovincial Summer Sports Festival:

From the story thread.

So I've finished the Summer Sports Festival save (all documented at the story thread). North West beat South 3-1 in the final, Sakatar hammered North for rugby gold, and South easily won the cricket competition. South surprisingly topped the overall medal table.

I now have a huge backlog of club fixtures to get through, as follows:

Crucial league clash vs. deadly city rivals (and my bogey team) FC Freistadt.

Cup semi-final vs. Northern giants Pearsons.

Potential championship decider vs. Gold Swords.

Municipal Cup semi-final versus Freistadt again.

...plus the finals of the NFA Cup and Municipal Cup if I win the semis!

I tried a similar idea LewisQ (well not to that standard)

I basically put in my own country, and then set up a small 12 team league (setup similar to Scotland first division) and left the squads blank with a load of cash to play with (seriously, one of the sides signed Fleck for around 8m - I've had around 5m accepted for him at a similar time)

and then their own nation, with a casual focus on their rise through the rankings (so all with good youth facilities)

basically it died because I wanted the nation to have a small time-to-citizenship (2 years accumulative) but also gain dual-nationality with English

I kinda wanted it as a glorified feeder nation to my team (with sending out those u18 brazilians to them for WP purposes) but couldn't have the main team get anyone with HG status

kinda like Cardiff IRL, but if Wales broke-up from the UK

Yeah, trying to integrate this stuff into the real-world database is hard, too many variables that can screw it up.

Well, we hammered Freistadt 5-1, with a couple of the many, many players I've poached from them to the fore. That was sweet. Then, we beat Pearsons 2-1 in the cup semi-final, left-back Keith Curtis scoring a late winner. But we just lost 0-1 to Gold Swords, after a late goal from Sam Allen saw them edge a point ahead of us with an easier run-in. Think I've blown it. Not looking good for the five-in-a-row. When you play in real-time, it's a kick in the chops! Although to be honest, I'd be half-glad to see someone else win so it doesn't become boring.

But, still, after six actual months of (virtual) blood, sweat and tears - gutted!

http://s29.postimg.org/5p84i88ef/tabla.png

This is really cool. I did something similar as a kid but not as elaborate. Great read!

This was an absolutely awesome read! When I was younger me and my friends had something we called The League. It was based off of the English League system but we made our own changes and over a weekend would play all the matches either physically down the park or on our constantly updated FIFA database. It's because of this that I have a strange affinity towards Yeovil Town and why Phil Jevons is somewhat of a hero of mine - they were my elected team to 'control' and in the five/six seasons we played through 'he' scored well in excess of 150 goals..

Anyways, I would love to give this db a whirl, the download link posted earlier seems to be dead though?

Being "normal" is for the boring! Be weird, be different and dont let anyone tell you what is "cool"

Being "normal" is for the boring! Be weird, be different and dont let anyone tell you what is "cool"

And additionally, for the love of To don't constantly tell people you're weird or post related quotes/pictures on Facebook about how 'weird' or 'random' you are. These people are the epitome of normal and mundane.

I did something similar, I created a country called Cistina.

I did not give myself the trouble of creating players, let the game do it. But created 80 clubs, divided into five divisions, is really fascinating.

As I recall, it was a country with Italian, Spanish and Portuguese influences.

The first division was called Bebbersbank Championship One, and had teams that I will always remember, like Martin Gasse, Giuliavieja, Cittá Alegre and Aviattore.

Great thread.

Love it!

That's exactly my childhood. When I was 9/10/11/12, I created a country and its football league. At that time, I didn't know Football Manager so I generated by my self the results of each matchs and did a kind of Match of the day alone in the garden (yes I was a little bit mad). Good old times ...

I love this.

Great stuff.

As a kid I had a wild imagination for football leagues, Wrestling leagues (WWF meets the premier league) and crazy fiction (Orcs, goblins, skaven and the like)

But you my friend need to be in the crazy fm book haha.

Probably the most amazing thing I've ever read.

Simply phenomenal.

This is my confession.

Like a lot of people, I had an imaginary country when I was young.

Say what?

Say what?

It was common enough amongst my generation, anyway, as you can tell from this thread.

This weekend was the NFA Cup final against our title rivals Gold Swords. You'll be disappointed to learn that I didn't wear a suit, spend Friday night in an hotel, or invite my neighbours round for a communal bath (I would have done, but I've just moved house and I don't know them yet).

I did, however, visualise the Avrilian tradition of the winning team being presented with the trophy in the bowels of the stadium, and then emerging triumphantly onto the roof of the main stand to display it to the crowd, a tradition that began as an act of drunken hijinks. When the current National Football Stadium was built, access points and a safe platform were provided to allow the tradition to persist.

We won the final 2-1 against our perpetual title rivals Gold Swords. It was massively enjoyable. Be advised that the following is just idle gloating...

Gold Swords have beaten us home and away in the league, so I had some tough choices to make before the game. I have two top-class left-backs, one of whom has been my first choice this year, but the other of whom has a weird knack for scoring in big games (including the winner in the semi). On a hunch, I picked the latter.

I adjusted my formation to shadow Gold Swords' 4-1-2-1-2, and the first half was a chanceless stalemate. At half-time, I decided this was not the Sakatar way, and sent my team out to attack. Within minutes, we scored through - you guessed it - the left-back Keith Curtis, ghosting into the box to finish beautifully from sixteen yards. They got a scrappy, but deserved, equaliser ten minutes later, before disaster struck - my 40-goal striker Chris McGillen had to come off with an injury.

I looked at my options on the bench. Davd Kane was the obvious choice. He's scored at least 10 goals as a substitute this year. But the youngster Andrew Anderson, who's done well in minor cups this season, caught my eye. As a more creative player, he might shake off their tight marking. I considered changing both my forwards; Noel Schilling was having a stinker and hadn't scored for six games. He'd also been flagged offside four times. But he only needed to beat the flag once. I left him on.

With fourteen minutes to go, Anderson picks the ball up 30 yards out, pirouettes and lays a beautiful pass into the path of Schilling. The flag stays down, Schilling takes a touch and toe-pokes past Fox, scoring with his only shot of the game. You know, a celebratory bath might be a good way to get to know the neighbours...

Oh, and their star player Keith Dunne ballooned a penalty in the 87th minute, but I didn't have much to do with that, in all fairness. Although maybe he was unnerved by the fact that I was wearing a dressing gown during a cup final.

You all have inspired my to put my Dungeons/Dragons world into the game. Too bad i'll have to delete about 500,000 things first.

Quality stuff Love it, what a story