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When the red, red, robin comes bob, bob, bobbing along!

Raware

By Raware,
in FM Career Updates

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Raware

Raware

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Game : Football Manager 2016 (PC)

Database size : Large

Leagues loaded :

  • England (Vanarama North/South and above)
  • Ireland (First Division and above)
  • Northern Ireland (NIFL C2 and above)
  • Scotland (Ladbrokes League 2 and above)
  • Wales (Welsh Premier League only)

Previous experience : Sunday morning footballer

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Raware

Raware

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November...always my favourite time of the year because 1) It's my birthday and 2) The new version of FM is released :-).

With a new FM comes a new save as this year I'll be going back to the UK and Ireland after a stint in Iberia for FM15. I've loaded up all of the available leagues from England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and will be playing this save alongside dafuge's challenge.

So, I holidayed for a year and have taken over the newly promoted Ilkeston from the Northern Premier League Premier Division, which is quite convenient really as I work just a few miles down the road from Ilkeston IRL :).

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Raware

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NKOdNHA.png

Ilkeston : A background

Founded in 2010 as a successor to the liquidated Ilkeston Town, Ilkeston are a semi-professional English Football Club currently playing in the Vanarama National League North after winning promotion from the Northern Premier League Premier Division last season.

The club play their home games at New Manor Ground and possess fairly basic training facilities and below average youth facilities. The club also has average junior coaching and a fairly basic youth recruitment network.

With no real competition history of note, The Robins are a club with a trophy cabinet to be filled. The club are affectionately known as The Robins and retain a fierce rivalry with Eastwood Town

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New Manor Ground

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Raware

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Ilkeston - Pre-Season 2016/17



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League expectation

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Vanarama National League North : Board expectation - Mid table finish : Media expectation - 14th (out of 22)

Cup expectations

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FA Cup : 4th Qualifying Round

FA Trophy : 1st round

Transfer budget : £0k

Wage budget : £4.2k p/w

Current wage bill : £2.7k p/w

Season tickets sold : 310

My views for the season ahead… : Upon joining Ilkeston, I've inherited a squad that looks like this. It looks quite lightweight, unbalanced and lacks the quality we need if we're to finish at least where the board and chairman wants us to finish. Our cause isn't helped with the loss of players such as Callum Chettle, Liam Marshall and Jack Blake either after they chose to leave the club once their contracts had expired. But, we've managed to strengthen the squad by bringing in 12 players during the transfer window as Liam Matthews, Marcus Dinanga, Daniel Jarvis, Ben Wynter, Joe Howell, Kuda Muskwe, Keiran Coupe, Bradley Jordan, Ged Kinsella and Faisal Hemati all join us on free transfers while Curtis Morrison and Riccardo German join us on season long loans from Chesterfield, leaving our new squad looking a lot healthier and more balanced.

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Raware

Raware

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Hooray! Another Raware career!

Means those silver shoes will make a comeback at the FMCU Awards!!

I've not had to use them for the past 3 or 4 years.

Happy Birthday... for whenever.

Thanks delta...getting old now :(

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Raware

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Ilkeston - Season Review 2016/17



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Vanarama National League North/Vanarama National League North progress : Mid table was our aim this season after the club gained promotion from the Northern Premier League Premier Division last season. Given the signings that were made at the start of the season and the signings that were made throughout the season though, I was quietly confident that we'd be able to make a push for the play-offs and that's exactly what we were doing for much of the season...until the last 10 games when Boston United's form took a turn for the worse. They picked it up again towards the last 4 games but by then it was too late; we hit some great form at the right time and capitalized on the opportunity to go on and nick automatic promotion and with that, the title on the last day of the season!

FA Cup : We went three rounds further than what was expected of us as we made it to the 2nd round where Yeovil Town beat us 2-1 to end our journey.

FA Trophy : We went further in this cup too as we made it to the 2nd round before Woking beat us 2-0.

Transfers : A lot of transfer activity throughout the season for us as 12 players joined us during pre-season while 9 more joined us as the season went on. The 9 that joined us after pre-season were Kane French (after he left for Solihull Motors just 4 days before), Charlie Gorman, Ryan Broom, Daniel Grimshaw, Matty Templeton, Brice Wassi and Nathan Kelly all on free transfers while Charlie Lakin and Matt Rhead joined us on season long loans.

Squad : As I said in my pre-season report, the squad was short of numbers, quality and balance when I arrived so my immediate focus was to bring in players that had the quality that we lacked whilst also making the squad balanced with no transfer budget. Given the accomplishments of the players this season, I can safely say that I was delighted with the players that came in, most notably our 2 strikers Liam Blake and the on loan Curtis Morrison who notched 49 goals between them. I was also pleased with Charlie Lakin and the assists he provided and Liam Matthews who proved himself to be great keeper for this level as he undoubtedly earnt us 12-15 points this season.

Finances : Looking ok after making a decent profit this season.

My views of the season… : Obviously a great season for us as we clinched the title and promotion on the last day of the season! Cup runs were good too which generated a bit more cash for us :). Also, plans for a new stadium have been announced so the club is going in the right direction :).

My aims for next season… : Survival. That’s it! There’s no doubt that we’ll need to strengthen but it depends who we can get in. We might be in stall for a long, hard season!

Career Summary


Season     Team          League          	  Position         Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Ilkeston    	 Vanarama North	     	    1st     (P)    League Winners

Trophy Cabinet


Vanarama North - 2016/17

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Raware

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Ilkeston - Pre-Season 2017/18



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League expectation

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Vanarama National League : Board expectation - Attempt to avoid relegation : Media expectation - 22nd (out of 24)

Cup expectations

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FA Cup : 1st Round

FA Trophy : 2nd round

Transfer budget : £70k (last season £0k)

Wage budget : £7.5k p/w (last season £4.2k p/w)

Current wage bill : £7.1k p/w (last season £2.7k p/w)

Season tickets sold : 416 (+116 from last season)

My views for the season ahead… : There's no doubting that we're everyone's favourite to make an immediate return to the Vanarama North as the media are predicting us to finish 22nd while the board are hoping that we can make an effort to avoid relegation. While it's going to be tough, I think we can avoid the drop and to help us to try and achieve that, over the summer I've brought in Lindon Meikle, Jordan Smith Will Patching, Richard Nartey and Callum Chettle (who rejoins us after leaving a couple of seasons ago) all on free transfers. Last seasons top scorer Curtis Morrison and Charlie Lakin have both rejoined us on season long loans while Charlie Jemson and Micah Edwards have also joined us on season long loans. I've also used the £70k transfer budget that the chairman gave me by bringing Jack Blake back to the club for £7.25k after he left a couple of seasons ago, Calum Dyson from Alfreton for £8.75k and Kyle Clinton from Wealdstone for £5k

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Raware

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You don't hang about :D

Promotion from the North/South is always fairly straight forward I've found. There's not a lot of difference in quality between teams in those leagues in my experience.

Are you trying to turn the club into a past Forest youth team? Or are you trying to bring in youngsters whose dad's played for Forest. Chettle and Jemson. Who is next? Walker?

:D...I'm trying :). Jordan Smith, Charlie Jemson, Jack Blake, Callum Chettle so far. Tyler Walker refused to join us on loan :(. Plus I'm thinking of bringing in Steve Chettle as Assistant :D

Will be following, always a fan. Good luck! :)

Thanks...even though you're a Derby fan ;):):D

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Nottingham Forest

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Steve Chettle was at the club before. I'd be delighted if you're able to bring him back as assistant manager. Always found him to be a handy lower league assistant on the majority of FMs.

I'll echo what Raware says about the North/South. If you're able to find yourself a couple of better quality players it's usually easy enough to get out of.

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RSJ

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What database are you using please Raware? I would like to attempt a save with Mickleover Sports at some point. I came across one but it was incorrect imo, the leagues werent feeding into one another correctly.

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Raware

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Steve Chettle was at the club before. I'd be delighted if you're able to bring him back as assistant manager. Always found him to be a handy lower league assistant on the majority of FMs.

I'll echo what Raware says about the North/South. If you're able to find yourself a couple of better quality players it's usually easy enough to get out of.

I've had him as my assistant before and he was decent enough. I've also had Colin Cooper as my assistant as well and he was good too. I'll probably make an offer for Chettle just to add to our Forest contingent :D. Been trying to get Gerry McDonagh, Ben Brereton and Jorge Grant on loan but Forest won't allow them to join us as they want them to play at a higher level :(.

Yep, just a couple of players with that extra bit of quality always does the trick. Curtis Morrison and Charlie Lakin in my case last season.

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Raware

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Ilkeston! I know the town well.

When/If I get round to FM16, I have a mind to load the lower divisions and take Rocester FC to the top (nearest available club to my hometown) :)

Good luck!

Ilson as the locals call it! :). It's always been local to me and I only work a few miles down the road from there. It's a strange town...half support Forest and half support D*rby. A bit like Long Eaton where I used to live (who I also played as on FM in the past :))

Had a few trips to watch the old Ilkeston side when Notts were away from home in my youth, so will be following. Best of luck :thup:

Being so close to Nottingham, I went a few times too. It was a shame they folded but great to see them back up on their feet now :).

27 weeks in the top 2, promotion well deserved. Nice start! KUTGW

Thanks :thup:. I didn't actually realise that we spent so long in the top 2. With just one automatic promotion spot, I was expecting us to finish in the play-offs in the end but luckily for us, Boston blew their lead and we nicked the title on the last day of the season! :D

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DodgeeD

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Ilson as the locals call it! :). It's always been local to me and I only work a few miles down the road from there. It's a strange town...half support Forest and half support D*rby. A bit like Long Eaton where I used to live (who I also played as on FM in the past :))

It's like that in Uttoxeter only the two teams are Stoke and Derby (both about 15 miles away depending on which direction you go in. There are a few Port Vale and Forest fans about as well.
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RSJ

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Ilkeston at least has a respectable non league team. Uttoxeter Town had a decent season in the Midland League Division One last season, their first time in tier ten but then resigned from the league.

We played a team called Uttoxeter Town today, i only play Sunday League like...

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Raware

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Good luck mate, know how you're feeling!
Extremely close. Hopefully you'll get into the play-offs.

Thanks fellas. We need a couple of things to go our way but even then, if they do...I hate the play-offs (for obvious reasons :mad:)

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Thanks fellas. We need a couple of things to go our way but even then, if they do...I hate the play-offs (for obvious reasons :mad:)
Yeah, it's funny that. I hate the play-offs in FM as well as real life :D.

I just hate football :lol:

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DodgeeD

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Ilkeston at least has a respectable non league team. Uttoxeter Town had a decent season in the Midland League Division One last season, their first time in tier ten but then resigned from the league.
I didn't know that - guess they have taken a step up since I last lived there!
We played a team called Uttoxeter Town today, i only play Sunday League like...
Did you beat them? :D

Good luck with getting into the play-offs Raware!

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Ilkeston - Season Review 2017/18



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Vanarama National League/Vanarama National League progress : Avoiding an immediate return to the Vanarama National League North was our only aim this season so to finish 6th, one place from the playoffs is a fantastic achievement for us! :) We were more or less in the top 10 for most of the season and while, yes, we blew an opportunity to make the playoffs in the last few games, I can have no complaints as to how our season went.

FA Cup : We achieved the boards expectation of reaching the 1st round as our parent club, Mansfield Town proved to be too strong for us.

FA Trophy : A good cup run for us in this competition as we went a round further than what the board wanted. If anything, I was a little disappointed to go out at this stage as we totally outplayed Boston and should've beaten them.

Transfers : We made the majority of our signings in the summer transfer window as we brought in 10 players. We brought in 2 more as the season went on as Admiral Muskwe joined us from Leicester City on a season long loan while Adam Dawson joined us on a free transfer.

Squad : 9 players from last seasons title winning side stayed with us, those being Liam Matthews, Ollie Luto, Nathan Kelly, Charlie Lakin, Nick Arnold, Brice Wassi, Bradley Jordan, Liam Blake and Curtis Morrison while 12 new players joined us. Out of the new signings, Jack Blake and Micah Edwards were clearly our stand out players as they grabbed 25 goals and 20 assists between them but once again, it was the on loan Curtis Morrison (who joined us on a 2nd successive season long loan from Chesterfield) who was our key player as he won the Vanarama National League Top Goal Scorer Award after netting 24 league goals, 26 in all competitions, making him the clubs all time leading goal scorer with 49 league goals and 55 goals in all competitions :).

Finances : Taken a big hit this season due to higher wages as we apparently lost nearly £200k. Not a massive amount in today's money but for a club our size, it's a hefty loss :(. Hopefully now we've moved to our new stadium which has a bigger capacity, we can generate a bit more income through more gate receipts.

My views of the season… : In a word...delighted...even though we blew a shot at a 2nd successive promotion, this time through the playoffs. I'd of been happy to finish 21st so to finish 6th is a superb season for us :).

My aims for next season… : We've obviously got to build on this season but another push for the playoffs maybe a big ask as we definitely over achieved this season. The board are wanting mid table and I think that's a realistic aim...providing we can bring in a few players.

Career Summary


Season     Team          League          	  Position         Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Ilkeston    	 Vanarama North	     	    1st     (P)    League Winners
2017/18	   Ilkeston	 Vanarama National	    6th            -

Trophy Cabinet


Vanarama North - 2016/17

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