FM16: Portsmouth FC - Fan Owned & Debt Free!

1898–1939: Beginnings of Portsmouth F.C.

The club was founded in 1898 with John Brickwood — owner of the local Brickwoods Brewery — as chairman, and Frank Brettell as the club's first manager. A blue plaque on the wall of 12 High Street Portsmouth commemorates the founding on 5 April. The club joined the Southern League in 1899, with their first league match being played at Chatham Town on 2 September 1899 (a 1–0 victory), followed three days later by the first match at Fratton Park; a friendly against local rivals Southampton, which was won 2–0, with goals from Dan Cunliffe (formerly with Liverpool) and Harold Clarke (formerly with Everton). That first season was successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, earning them the runner-up spot in the league. 1910–11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Robert Brown as manager, the team was promoted the following season.

League football was suspended during First World War, but following the resumption of matches Portsmouth won the Southern League for the second time. Continuing success saw them in the Third Division for the 1920–21 season. They finished 12th that year, but won the division in the 1923–24 season. The club continued to perform well in the Second Division, winning promotion by finishing second in the 1926–27 season, gaining a record 9–1 win over Notts County along the way.

Portsmouth's debut season in the First Division was a struggle. The next season they continued to falter, losing 10–0 to Leicester City, still a club record defeat. However, despite their failings in the league, that season also saw Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final for the first time, which they lost toBolton Wanderers. Portsmouth managed to survive relegation, and their fortunes began to change. The 1933–34 season saw Portsmouth again reach the FA Cup Final, beating Manchester United, Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City and Birmingham City on the way. The club was again defeated in the final, this time to Manchester City.

1939: First FA Cup Triumph

Having established themselves in the top flight, the 1938–39 season saw Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final, the third time they had done so. This time, Portsmouth managed to convincingly defeat favourites Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1. Bert Barlow and Jock Anderson scored whilst Cliff Parker scored twice (3rd and 4th) to complete a famous victory. League football was again suspended due to the Second World War, meaning Portsmouth hold the unusual distinction of holding the FA Cup for the longest uninterrupted period as the trophy wasn't contested again until the 1945–46 season.

1948–49 and 1949–50: Champions of England

League football resumed for the 1946–47 campaign after five years and Portsmouth continued in the First Division. Portsmouth capitalised on the footballers called up to serve in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines in the war years and recruited some of them. In this way, Portsmouth had the pick of some of the best. In their "Golden Jubilee" season of 1948–49, the club were tipped to be the first team of the 20th century to win the Football League and FA Cup double, but crashed out of the FA Cup in the semi-final against Leicester City. They still made up for it by claiming the league title in spectacular fashion. That season also saw them record a (then) massive attendance of 51,385, a club record which still stands to this day. The club powered their way to the title the following year, beating Aston Villa 5–1 on the last day of the season, and are thus one of only five English teams to have won back to back titles since the Second World War.

1954–1970: The Years to Follow

Portsmouth finished third in 1954–55 and on 22 February 1956, they played the first Football League game under floodlights against Newcastle United. Subsequent seasons saw Portsmouth struggle and they were relegated to the Second Division in 1959. Portsmouth went down to the Third Division in 1961 (the first former English League champions to do so) but were promoted back to the Second Division at the first time of asking under the guidance of George Smith. Despite limited financial means, Smith maintained Portsmouth's Second Division status throughout the sixties until moving upstairs to become general manager in April 1970.

1972–1988: Deacon to Gregory

The cash injection that accompanied the arrival of John Deacon as chairman in 1972 failed to improve Portsmouth's league position. With Deacon unable to continue bankrolling the club on the same scale, Portsmouth were relegated to the Third Division in 1976.

In November 1976, the club found itself needing to raise £25,000 to pay off debts and so avoid bankruptcy. With players having to be sold to ease the club's financial situation, and no money available for replacements, Portsmouth were forced to rely on an untried manager, Ian St John and inexperienced young players. Consequently, they were relegated to the Fourth Division in 1978.

Portsmouth were promoted back to Division Three in 1980, and in the 1982–83 season they won the Third Division championship, gaining promotion back to the Second Division. Under Alan Ball's management, Portsmouth narrowly missed winning promotion to the First Division twice before finally succeeding in 1986–87. Unfortunately, by the middle of the 1987–88 season the club was again in grave financial trouble, and Portsmouth were relegated straight back to the Second Division. The summer of 1988 saw Deacon sell the club to London-based businessman and former Queens Park Rangers Chairman, Jim Gregory.

1991–2001: Smith, Venables and Mandarić

Jim Smith's arrival as manager at the start of the 1991–92 season, combined with the emergence of some good young players, sparked a revival in the team's fortunes and that year Portsmouth reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing on penalties to eventual winners Liverpool after a replay. Portsmouth missed out on promotion to the FA Premier League in 1992–93 only by virtue of having scored one less goal than West Ham United.

In the summer of 1996 Terry Venables arrived at Portsmouth as a consultant, later taking over as chairman after buying the club for £1 in February 1997. The team enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 1996–97, beating FA Premier League side Leeds United en route, but finished just short of the qualifying places for the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League.

Portsmouth's centenary season, 1998–99, saw a serious financial crisis hit the club, and in December 1998 Portsmouth went into financial administration. Milan Mandarić saved the club with a takeover deal in May 1999, and the new chairman immediately started investing. However the club only survived on the last day of the 2000–01 season when they won their final game and Huddersfield Town lost theirs, keeping Portsmouth up at their expense.

2002–2008: Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp took over as manager in early 2002, with Jim Smith returning to the club as assistant manager. Redknapp was able to make the most of Mandarić's willingness to invest in players at a time when competitors were struggling after the collapse of ITV Digital's television deal with the Football League. Just over a year later, Portsmouth were celebrating winning the Division One Championship and promotion to the Premier League, winning the title with a game to spare.

The club finished 13th, 16th and 17th in their first three Premier League seasons. Redknapp had resigned midway through the club's second Premier League season, after a disagreement with Mandaric, and went on to manage bitter rivals Southampton, only to return just over a year later, with Velimir Zajec and then Alain Perrinhaving had brief spells as manager in-between. In January 2006, Portsmouth were bought by businessman Alexandre Gaydamak whose funding allowed for the club to buy practically a whole new squad mid-season. The signings included a quartet from Tottenham Hotspur, then record signing Benjani Mwaruwari and the highly rated Argentina international Andrés D'Alessandro on loan from VfL Wolfsburg. With large amounts of money available for the manager to make record signings, the club finished the 2006–07 season in the top half of the table for the first time, only one point short of European qualification.

The 2007–08 season saw Portsmouth finish eighth in the Premier League and reach the FA Cup final for the first time since 1939. They eliminated Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarter-finals, and beat Championship side West Bromwich Albion 1–0 at Wembley Stadium in the semi-finals, coincidentally the same day that the club celebrated its 110th birthday. Portsmouth went on to win the cup with a 1–0 win over Cardiff, with Nwankwo Kanu scoring the only goal. The win earned them a place in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, the club's first time playing European football. Their first European match was a historic 2–0 victory over Vitória Guimarães in the first round on 18 September. Portsmouth went on to win the tie 4–2 on aggregate, progressing to the group stage.

On 25 October 2008, Redknapp left Portsmouth for a second time, leaving his assistant Tony Adams to be promoted to the managerial role. On 27 November, Portsmouth managed a historic 2–2 draw with Italian giants A.C. Milan, going 2–0 up through goals from Younes Kaboul and Nwankwo Kanu, but conceding two goals later in the game. However, performances were not consistently good, and the team were eliminated from the 2008–09 FA Cup in the fourth round, losing 2–0 at home to Championship side Swansea City. Adams was dismissed in February 2009. Youth team coach Paul Hart took over as manager until the end of the season, with Brian Kidd assisting him, and oversaw an upturn in form that resulted in Portsmouth being guaranteed Premier League safety on 16 May 2009. Portsmouth finished the 2008–09 Premier League season in 14th place. On 26 May, Portsmouth accepted a bid from United Arab Emirates businessman Sulaiman Al Fahim to buy the club.

2009–2013: Administration and Three Relegations

Because of the financial problems suffered by the club, Portsmouth were forced to sell several of their top players and high earners, this included selling Peter Crouch, Sylvain Distin, Glen Johnson and Niko Kranjčar. On 21 July, Al Fahim was appointed non-executive chairman of Portsmouth. On 19 August, Portsmouth announced on their website that a rival consortium headed by current CEO Peter Storrie had also made a bid for the club; unknown at the time, this was backed by Ali Al-Faraj. Despite this, Al Fahim completed the takeover on 26 August; Al Faraj moved to review a takeover of West Ham United. As the early stages of the 2009–10 season progressed, the finances dried up and the club admitted on 1 October that some of their players and staff had not been paid. On 3 October, media outlets started to report that a deal was nearing completion for Ali al-Farajto take control of the club. On 5 October, a deal was agreed for Al Faraj and his associates via BVI-registered company Falcondrone to hold a 90% majority holding, with Al-Fahim retaining 10% stake and the title of non-executive chairman for two years. Falcondrone also agreed a deal with Gaydamak the right to buy, for £1, Miland Development (2004) Ltd, which owns various strategic pockets of land around the ground, once refinancing is complete. 2 days after the Al-Faraj takeover was completed Portsmouth's former Technical Director Avram Grant returned as Director of football. On the pitch, Portsmouth's late transfer of funds called for a flurry of transfers at the end of the window, including the loan signing of Ivory Coast international Aruna Dindane who would go on to score a hat trick against Wigan Athletic. An opening run of seven defeats saw fears Hart would be sacked. However at the eighth attempt, at Molineux Stadium, Hassan Yebda another loanee, headed the first win. Portsmouth were beaten 4–2 at home by Aston Villa in the quarter finals of the League Cup having beaten off Premier League high-flyers Stoke City. Yet another loanee Frédéric Piquionne was on target twice. However, because of the financial problems, the Premier League placed the club under a transfer embargo, meaning the club were not allowed to sign any players.

Avram Grant took over at Portsmouth on 26 November 2009 replacing former manager Paul Hart, who had been sacked by the board two days previously, due to the club's position at the bottom of the league.

In December 2009, it was announced that the club had failed to pay the players for the second consecutive month, on the 31st it was announced player's wages would again be paid late on 5 January 2010. According to common football contracts, the players then had the right to terminate their contracts and leave the club without any compensation for the club, upon giving two weeks' notice. Despite the financial difficulties, Grant's time as manager was initially successful. He gained two wins (against Burnley and Liverpool) and a draw away at Sunderland from his first five games. The only losses inflicted on Portsmouth in this period were by eventual double winners Chelsea and the previous season's champions, Manchester United. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) filed a winding-up petition against Portsmouth at the High Court in London on 23 December 2009. In March 2010, this winding-up petition was dropped, leaving Portsmouth with a nine-point penalty for entering administration. During the 2009–10 season, it had become apparent to the club's new owner Balram Chainrai that Portsmouth were approximately £135 million in debt so to protect the club from liquidation, Chainrai placed the club into administration on 26 February 2010, and the club appointed Andrew Andronikou, Peter Kubik and Michael Kiely of accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young as administrators. This automatically incurred a nine-point penalty from the FA Premier League which came into effect on 17 March and consigned the team to almost certain relegation, which was mathematically confirmed on 10 April.

On 9 April it was announced David Lampitt would be joining Portsmouth as their new CEO after he had worked a period of notice at the FA, his current employer. Portsmouth were relegated to the Championship the following day after West Ham United beat Sunderland. Despite this, Portsmouth won their FA Cup semi-final match against Tottenham 2–0 after extra-time the next day, with goals from Frédéric Piquionne and Kevin-Prince Boateng winning the match. They faced Chelsea in the final at Wembley on 15 May and lost 1–0 to a goal from Didier Drogba. Despite being the FA Cup finalists, the club were denied a licence to play European football the following season in the UEFA Europa League. In May, Grant resigned as Portsmouth manager. On 17 June, the club's creditors voted for a Company Voluntary Arrangement, with an 81.3% majority; Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Paul Hart and the agent of Portsmouth midfielder Tommy Smith were the only ones to reject it, but HMRC appealed against the CVA due to the reduction of their considerable debt. On 15 July 2010 HMRC appealed against the proposed CVA on the last day before it would be formally agreed, the case was originally going to take place in October 2010, but after an appeal from the administrators at the club it was set for 3 August at the High Court in London. The case was heard by Mr Justice Mann from 3 to 5 August where, having heard submissions from both sides, he turned down HMRC's appeal on all five counts put forward by the revenue service. HMRC decided not to appeal against the verdict, leaving Portsmouth's administrators to formally agree the CVA and bring the club out of administration. On 17 August, Balram Chainrai completed his takeover of the club and passed the owners and Directors Fit and proper person test.

On 22 October, Portsmouth issued a statement saying: "it appears likely that the club will now be closed down and liquidated by the administrators.”, but key creditor Alexandre Gaydamak announced the next day that he had reached an agreement which could save their future. It was revealed just hours later that Portsmouth had finally come out of administration, with Balram Chainrai regaining control of the company.

2010–2012: The Championship

Former Notts County manager Steve Cotterill was appointed manager of the club in June 2010 on a three-year contract. During the 2010 Summer transfer window, Marc Wilson, who had only recently been named captain, signed for Stoke City on transfer deadline day, with Stoke players Dave Kitson and Liam Lawrence moving to Fratton Park as part of the deal. After a poor start had left Portsmouth rooted to the bottom of the league in September, they went on a seven-match unbeaten run, which helped lift them to mid-table by the end of October. After achieving 19 points from seven matches in October, Cotterill was nominated for the October Manager of the Month award. Lawrence, with six goals under his belt and a number of impressive performances, also received a nomination for Player of the Month.

Unfortunately this run of form did not continue. Later in the season, Portsmouth's form started to falter and they were in 18th place by January 2011. During this time the size of the squad depleted further by contract complications with players Richard Hughes and Michael Brown as a clause written into their contracts would trigger new agreements with higher wages. Another seven-match unbeaten run was recorded, picking up 17 points from a possible 21. In March, Portsmouth recorded a 1–0 win over a strong Leicester City with a first-half David Nugent strike splitting the teams apart. Portsmouth finished the season with an eight-game winless run and ended up 16th with 58 points.

On 1 June 2011, Convers Sports Initiatives owned by Russian Vladimir Antonov completed its takeover of the club. On 15 June the club announced their first summer signing, who was David Norris from Ipswich on a free transfer, this was followed by the signings of Jason Pearce (strangely the first transfer with available money since January 2010), Luke Varney, Stephen Henderson and Greg Halford.

On 13 August, prior to kick-off against Reading at Fratton Park, it was announced that Portsmouth had re-signed forward Benjani Mwaruwari; he had previously left the club in 2008. On 14 October, Steve Cotterill agreed a compensation package to be allowed to take the vacant Nottingham Forest manager's position. Later that day, it was announced that first team coaches Stuart Gray and Guy Whittingham would take over management duties, Cotterill's departure allowed several omitted players a return to the first team, such as Dave Kitson and Ricardo Rocha in a 2–0 home win against Barnsley.

Following Cotterill's departure, Michael Appleton was announced as the new manager on 10 November 2011. His first match in charge was a 2–0 defeat at Watford, only Appleton's second match as a first team manager.

Administration Again

On 23 November 2011, a Europe-wide arrest warrant was issued for owner of Portsmouth, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Antonov, by Lithuanian prosecutors as part of an investigation into alleged asset stripping at Lithuanian bank Bankas Snoras, which is 68% owned by Antonov and had gone into temporary administration the previous week. Operations in another of Antonov's banks, Latvijas Krajbanka were suspended by Latvian authorities on 22 November 2011 for similar reasons. Antonov was subsequently arrested at his offices in London on 24 November and was bailed.

Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) released a statement which said "In the light of the recent events at Snoras Bank, Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) would like to reassure its companies, staff, and the fans of its teams and events, that it remains very much business as usual." The statement added that "CSI has been solely financed through the private wealth of its owners. Snoras Bank has never provided funding for the purchase of a CSI organisation, nor has it lent any money to these businesses after they have been acquired." However, Lithuanian prosecutors added that they would be taking "all the necessary steps" to freeze assets belonging to Mr Antonov and his business partner. On 29 November 2011, Antonov resigned as chairman of Portsmouth after parent company Convers Sports Initiatives entered administration. On 24 January 2012, Portsmouth were issued with a winding up petition by HMRC for over £1.6 million in unpaid taxes, which was heard on 20 February.

On 17 February, Portsmouth went into administration for the second time in two years, bringing them an automatic 10-point deduction. Administrator Trevor Birch admitted that the financial situation was "worse than we first feared" and that Portsmouth were "struggling to make the end of the season”. On 11 April 2012, reports from administrators PKF revealed that Portsmouth owed £58 million debt with £38 million was owed to UHY Hacker Young, £10.5 million investment made by Vladimir Antonov's Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) remained outstanding, players were due £3.5 million in wages and bonuses for the last two seasons, while £2.3 million was owed to Revenue and Customs and, additionally, £3.7 million was owed for general trade. On 21 April Portsmouth were relegated from the Championship after a 2–1 loss to Derby County, condemning Portsmouth to League One – the first time in 30 years that the club had played at that level.

2012–2013: League One

Following Pompey's relegation, the entire professional playing squad left the club, with the final player, Liam Lawrence, leaving on 10 August 2012. Portsmouth were due to start the 2012–13 season on −10 points after being told by the Football League that they were allowed into League One with strict financial controls, which administrator Trevor Birch described as "unjustified”. Despite the penalty not being immediately applied, it was confirmed in December 2012.

On 7 November 2012 it was announced that Michael Appleton had left Portsmouth to become the manager of Blackpool. The club confirmed that Guy Whittingham would take over as caretaker manager. On 9 November 2012 Chanrai halted his attempt to buy the club. Six days later, the Pompey Supporters Trust signed a conditional agreement with PFK to buy the club. Portsmouth were unable to find a manager on a long-term basis due to their financial state. The club went on a record winless run, playing their 20th game without a win in February 2013, the streak stretching back to October 2012 when the club defeated Shrewsbury. The winless streak lasted a total of 23 matches, finally ending on 2 March 2013 as Portsmouth won 2–1 away at Crewe Alexandra. On 10 April 2013, a deal with administrators was reached, although the Pompey Supporters' Trust had not yet finalised the purchase. Portsmouth were relegated to League Two at the end of the season.

2013–present: Exiting Administration, Pompey Supporters Trust and League Two

http://www.pompeytrust.com/

On 19 April 2013, Portsmouth exited administration when the Pompey Supporters Trust deal to buy the club was completed. Following Pompey's second successive relegation, Guy Whittingham was appointed manager on a permanent basis, with a one-year contract. Portsmouth sold over 10,000 season tickets for the 2013–14 season, a record for any League Two club. In November 2013, with Pompey 18th in the league and having lost their last four competitive games, Whittingham was sacked after just over a year in charge. Andy Awford took over as caretaker manager with Alan McLoughlin and David Connolly assisting.

After only 12 days, on 9 December 2013, ex-Crawley manager Richie Barker was appointed Portsmouth boss, along with Steve Coppell as the Director of Football, similar to the set-up used at Crawley Town. Barker was sacked after 20 games in charge, with the club in serious danger of relegation to the Football Conference, and Awford was again made caretaker manager. Since the latter's appointment, he won five games out of five played, becoming longest winning run for over three years, and guaranteeing Pompey's survival in League Two. On 1 May 2014 Awford was appointed Pompey's permanent manager, signing a one-year contract. On a historic announcement on Monday 29 September 2014 the club was able to declare itself debt-free after paying back all creditors and legacy payments to ex-players. The news came 18 months after the PST took control of the club.

Following an unsuccessful 2014–15 campaign, Paul Cook was appointed manager of Portsmouth.

Good Lad

Glad to have a year off this year thanks for this stevemc

I am currently in my second season in the Premiership with Pompey. My first season in the Prem I was 18th in January, before the board called me in for a meeting (I thought I was getting sacked) and they gave me £33m to strengthen the squad and improve our league position!

Carried on losing and then went on a 5 game win streak which boosted me up to a 13th place finish.

Haven't got chance to get into the second season in Prem yet, due to my laptop fan packing up! Hoping it is fixed within the next couple days.

If anyone would be remotely interested in my save, I can do a quick 4 season round up of league positions and transfers over the course of League 2 to Prem life... and then do proper updates for my second season in Prem from then onwards?

This is my first attempt at a club thread ever, so bear with me...

Only did it because you lot are too lazy.

If anyone would be remotely interested in my save, I can do a quick 4 season round up of league positions and transfers over the course of League 2 to Prem life... and then do proper updates for my second season in Prem from then onwards?

Definitely interested in this

I second that, get it up Ty, should finally give this thread some movement and inspiration for others to get involved.

Ill start a save... will hopefully get me my first save off on FM16

Quick update for my career thus far.

Season 1:

Final Table

Results

Transfers

Definitely interested in this

I second that, get it up Ty, should finally give this thread some movement and inspiration for others to get involved.

No worries, when the laptop is up and running I'll post it up!

Really enjoyed this save, my favourite in a few FM's. Can see it being long term!

No worries, when the laptop is up and running I'll post it up!

Really enjoyed this save, my favourite in a few FM's. Can see it being long term!

I am totally loving this version as it is with my tactic and not anyone elses and there is another reason I am enjoying it that I can't disclose on the forums

OK lads, I've updated the first posts, let me know if I've missed anything off as its my first time at making a club thread

Thanks, and enjoy...

Portsmouth 2015/16: League Two

Just to start off, this is the lowest save I’ve ever tried in any FM (been playing since 94/95 too), I’ve always been a bit of an elitist when it comes to management saves, so this level is new to me.

Anyway, I’m finding myself being heavily dependant on my 3, rather poor, scouts and ended up shopping on the loan & free list during the summer:

Notable signings are Bakayogo, Dissels and the two loans of Goss and Forster-Caskey, who have all been superb for me.

I’m out of the League Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, having drawn League One side Swindon Town both times, but I’m through in the FA Cup after spanking Bognor Regis, but now I've drawn an away tie with Sheffield United.

In the league, I’m playing pretty well, I’m top but I’d like to turn a few more draws into wins, but once my star striker is back fit, that should happen:

I love games like this, when they go in your favour

My man, Dissels, notching a hat trick and two last minute goals.

Decided to spend some cash for January, £185K on Jordan Spence, which for this level should be a real coup:

Good start

I am hoping my laptop will be fixed today/tomorrow reading about other people's saves is killing me!

Really enjoying it myself, it's an interesting save. I think it will be hard once I go up to league one as my team isn't good enough plus it's full of loans.

My team was full of loans all the way up to the Prem abuse the system! York City are doing it in real life after we beat them 6-1, loaned half of the Prem's youth players!

I might need to do that, what's the limit? Is it still 5 loans per match day squad as you go up the leagues?

5 per match day squad - my best midfield trio at one point was Swift (Chelsea) Ledson (Everton) Rossiter (Liverpool) in League One all on loan. All averaging way over 7!

Just updated my progress so far...

Feel free to make new posts with the updates Pompeyboyz so people don't miss them!

Season 2

Table

Results

Highlights

Transfers

Tactic used

Details of it can be found here http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/444361-FM16-Bulgarian-Honeymoon

Season 3

Gonna be tough in the Championship as I was given no money for transfers and about 20k wage boost. I managed to bring in 2 decent releases from Liverpool and a few loans from Premier League teams.

Pre Season I played a lot of tough matches to gauge how I will do and I should survive but not expecting promotion.

Results So Far

Transfer made for Season 3

There you go Ty

Nice update, how much transfer budget did you get for League One?

I got about £550k I think. Sold one of the transfer clauses for a small figure and my sales helped fund a few deals. But I really screwed myself up with high wages so got next to nothing for the championship. I have gotten very lucky as I got some unexpected income from Mahoto(sp?) who was playing for Inverness Caley as he got sold on to Celtic for £1m which brought me £200k or so in from another clause.

Noticed that Lavery is out of contract at the end of the first season, I presume you can sign him as he's banging the goals in for me.

I did get him in at the end of his contract. Funnily enough at the start of season 3 Sheffield Wednesday came back for him and offered £300k but I told them to jog on and offered him a new and improved deal

Portsmouth 2015/16: League Two

By far my best performance of the season, everything just clicked, Wycombe were 2nd at the time too:

Made it out of the Christmas period with a 7 point gap so i should hopefully have enough in the tank to see me gain promotion now. Still unbeaten too.

My laptop is fixed! After 6 days apart I was re-united with my baby last night and it's running better than ever.

Can't wait to get into my save later

My laptop is fixed! After 6 days apart I was re-united with my baby last night and it's running better than ever.

Can't wait to get into my save later

Yay \o/

Posted this in the Football League thread. Will update in here going forward

Started with Portsmouth myself. Currently just starting season 3.

Transfers season 1:

Asked the board for more money in January season 1 and they gave me £1.5M. I signed Appiah for £650k and he gave me the fire power needed to get automatic promotion

League Table season 1:

Transfers season 2:

Phillips was a great signing going into League 1.

League Table season 2:

Delighted with the back to back promotions but serious strengthening will be needed to have a decent campaign in the championship.

Will post my transfer activity later

Nice work, some good deals in there. How did you find the jump from L2 to L1, pretty simple?

Yeah I actually found it easier, tactic was tweaked alot throughout the first season but was more settled in L1. Managed to turn a lot of draws into wins. Only for Leeds get relegated in the first season and having a great squad, I probably would have one the league.

I'm struggling a bit in the Championship so far although Denilson who I signed in season 2 is on fire, shame he's 30 odd

Been so busy with work that Ive got a game going will post updates

Awesome stuff Ty. Thanks for all that. I'm sure will help lots of Pompey players.

Regarding tactics Did you stick with 433 (CDM, CM, CM, RW, LW, ST) all the way?

TY, how the hell did you get Wilshire to Portsmouth for only £2.5m????

Portsmouth 2015/16: League Two

Towards the end of my first season now, finally lost a game, in a very frustrating fashion

That coincided with a shocking run of injuries to key men, meaning I had to dip onto the loan market for an emergency striker. Picked up Gary Madine from Bolton who hit a hat-trick on his debut, and now has 5 in 3

Also brought Guy Whittingham back to the club as an under 18's coach, he's a club icon, and the fans loved his appointment, plus he's a 3 star coach.

All in all, I have a 9 point lead, so I should win the title this season and gain promotion:

Made my first signing for next season too, picked up Chris Herd on a free transfer.

Awesome stuff Ty. Thanks for all that. I'm sure will help lots of Pompey players.

Regarding tactics Did you stick with 433 (CDM, CM, CM, RW, LW, ST) all the way?

Nope, I swapped my tactic around so much in my first season in the Prem trying to get it to work. I went up the leagues with a flat 3 CMs and a RW/LW/ST.

In the Prem saw me go with a CAM, then when I realised my defence wasn't anywhere near good enough for the Prem I dropped a CDM in there and that's when results picked up. My defence was just so, so bad for a Prem team. Roco and Carter-Vickers were much needed players for my defence.

Now, I just beat Forest 3-0 but the striker isn't getting involved again and scoring, it's all coming from RW and my CMs

TY, how the hell did you get Wilshire to Portsmouth for only £2.5m????

That is subject to rise for £8m depending on England caps and Portsmouth caps

Its sort of a way of saying, if they players aren't successful we can move them on without paying a lot of other fees but if they are successful at Portsmouth (like Lingard), I am happy to pay all the clauses.

Wilshere was listed by request and wanted to leave, was getting no football after coming back from injury!

Couldn't resist, started a save..

Transfers:

Some fantastic transfers in, but my favourite is the loan of M.Bennett, he's going to lead the line superbly I think.

Kosnic: Fantastic free CB who can also play at LB if necessary.

Pasqualini: Freebie championship level leftback come left midfielder.. will actually be using him at let midfield more than anything due to my counter attacking tactics.

Sana (lassana Camara): Another freebie, all action, high energy central midfielder. I imagine he'll be my primary creator.

Will update with how I get on etc in a bit.

The best game I've had so far in FM16... what a comeback.. already becoming my favourite save thus far.

Some great transfers there, kosnic looks great for L2

Going well so far....

Keep up the good work!

I've just gained promotion, finishing off the season now.

Give it one more day before Welshace is in another thread on another save

I see he did his 'free transfer' research first...

I have 5 concurrent saves at the moment