[FM10] The Ultimate English Quest

[Dees-Blake]

Hey, as you can see here by my post count I am fairly new to these forums, and this is my first ever career thread posted here. I'm heading back to England - the motherland of football, or at least in my opinion, anyway, where I will be using Super Bladesman's English Tier 10 file and attempting to take a forlorn team from obscurity to domination, by progressing through the various tiers. It should be an interesting career - one that is probably a very common attempt, but still one I would like to complete as I have never taken a team below League 1 to the Premiership before, in my entire (yet short) FM career.

Game Setup: FM2010, Patch 10.2.0

Database Size: Large

Currency: AUD

Wages: Yearly

I apologise for the AUD currency and the yearly wages, but I have always done it like this since I started playing FM07, and I would rather not change - I hope it won't make it too difficult for you. To get a rough idea, 1 pound is about 1.8 AUD, so buying a player worth 250,000 GBP would instead be 451,000 AUD. Sorry if it is too confusing.. :o

Leagues: England (Tier 10)

Extra Files: Super Bladesman's England to Tier 10

I thought I would just stick with the basics - I was tempted to load other leagues, but in the end left it at just England. This is not going to be a journeyman save - merely the battles of one club, fighting for success. I wanted this challenge to be as tough as possible, so I wasn't going to set myself up with a club worth half a million with a 2.5K seater and decent facilities - instead, I found this.

Team Name: Ivybridge Town AFC

Reputation: Obscure

Balance: $1,100 AUD

Chairman Status: Will listen to offers

Stadium Capacity: 500

Training and youth facilities: Basic

Could we get much better than this? I don't think so. This was going to be the challenge of a lifetime.

Playing in the Peninsula Premier Division in Tier 10, Ivybridge were founded in 1925 and are an amateur English club that plays at a tiny stadium known as Erme Valley. They have a trophy cabinet just waiting to be filled - well, at least with something apart from their previous Throgmorton League Cups and the Devon Premier Cups - trust me, they aren't as exclusive as they sound.

This sounds like my sort of job.

The ultimate quest commences - how far can Ivybridge get, under my guidance - a little-known 30 year old Australian manager, with no experience apart from playing the occasional Sunday league game? We're about to find out.

[Prinny_gall]

best of luck, sounds like thats going to be quite a challenge. It'll be interesting to see where you can take a team like that.

[acidmonkey]

good luck ill be keeping an eye on this ive just started a level 10 save myself so good luck

[Dees-Blake]

Thanks for the support guys. I play the game quite slowly, so updates might be a little bit apart, but I'll definitely get to them. I was considering the prospect of doing month-to-month updates, but in the end I decided that might be too much work and would make me hate updating the game - I just want to keep it in moderation.

Seasonly updates it is, and there should be one coming in a few days time.

[Dees-Blake]

Note: My updates are quite long, but I don't really want to turn it into a story. To compensate for a lack of monthly updates, my end of season update is quite a read - hope you aren't bothered by it. If you find reading the entire thing a bit daunting, just check out the season summary.

Firstly, I'm extremely sorry about the lack of updates here. I've been quite busy with school and whatnot, and my FM time has been a bit limited - and I am disappointed that I promised an update in just a few days, and it has taken me in the end a few weeks. I also want to add another little note in here. I am not playing strictly by LLM rules - I am using the player filter to filter attributes, to find players to sign, which could explain why I make so many transfers. I hope this isn't really considering as cheating.. but at least I'm not using a scout or anything of the like. Just wanted to clear that up.

Ivybridge Town AFC (2009/10)

Tier 10: Peninsula Premier League

Peninsula Premier League: 1st

A delightful first season in charge ended with us taking out the Peninsula Premier League in Tier 10. The signs were good early, even without any immediate signings, as we went on a 6 match unbeaten run at the start of the season before losing 4-3 to Elburton. We continued our solid form, going unbeaten for many short streaks throughout the season, and while we never dominated for a long period of time, we always played strongly and I couldn't have been happier with the team effort.

There was only one real exciting match all season though - a 4-4 draw against Dartmouth, playing away. We started strongly, scoring two early goals and we looked the goods, but Dartmouth got one back on us before half-time, and then came out blazing after the break, scoring twice more to take a 3-2 lead. Just as all appeared doomed, in the 88th minute striker Jon Hoyles broke through the defence and sprinted through the middle before putting it past the keeper. At that stage I would've been happy to take a 3-3 draw, but from the kick-off Dartmouth surged forward and their attacking midfielder curled a miracle long range shot into the net from a tough angle from just outside the box. Needless to say I was fuming at this stage, but that quickly turned to joy as once more, Hoyles found himself on the end of the cross and he volleyed it superbly into the net, ending the match in a 4-4 draw with his 92nd minute equaliser.

FA Vase: Winners

In the biggest shock all season, we somehow walked away with the FA Vase trophy, despite the board wanting us to reach merely the Second Qualifying Stage. We advanced through the first two qualifying stages nervously, but hit our strides in the first five rounds of the actual Vase, eliminating a lot of teams from Tiers 9 and 10 - the highlight a 6-0 win over West Auckland, despite being billed at ridiculous 50/1 odds. The toughest match was our semi-final - after coming out with a 2-1 loss away, we managed to pull it back, winning 3-0 at home to advance to the final, where we won quite easily at Wembley. The prize money was much welcomed - our balance was merely $1,100 at season's beginning - but we received over $45,000 AUD alone for winning the Vase, and approximately $25,000 - $30,000 in prize money through the other rounds.

Devon County FA St Lukes Cup: Semi-Final

We won the earlier rounds fairly easily, but we bowed out at the hands of Plymouth Reserves in a match we were never going to get anything from, with Plymouth currently participating in League 2. The Plymouth Reserves went on to win the competition, which at least gave me some satisfaction to know - at least I had been beaten by a decent team.

Transfers:

In my first season, I was forced to become active in the Transfer Market, but thankfully there were plenty of good buys that were more than happy to join me on an amateur contract. In fact - the amateur contracts made things very interesting - my players could simply be poached by a club at any time, and I would have no resistance nor gain no money. I lost quite a few good players against my will due to this, but one interesting occurance resulted in my central midfielder Alex Gibbons accepting a contract from Buckland on the 5th of February. I was quite annoyed about this, naturally, and I offered him a contract after his immediate move - needless to say, he was more than happy to return, and on the 7th of February, he came back, while the media praised me on making such a good signing.

Squad:

As the season went on, I leaned more towards signing some older players - and found some gems. As my reputation went up (winning the FA Vase helped) more players became interested and I managed to snare some good older players for my team. A strong squad overall for this tier, and I have confidence that we won't spend too long in Tier 9 either - I think we easily have what it takes to promote again, back to back.

Key Players:

Alex Gibbons - My main centre midfielder throughout the year, who played a very important role and was unlucky not to win the Player of the Season for the Peninsula Premier League.

Darren Barnard - Signed late in the season, and despite his poor physical stats, I'm hoping his technical ability will be enough for him to have a contribution.

Jon Hoyles - Was originally my second-choice striker, but took the main role after my other striker was poached. Scored 19 league goals.

Marco Parrachini - My Swiss centre back, who, despite not having the most impressive technical stats, played an important role in holding the team together and he had a good season.

Stanislav Janky - My Bulgarian striker who made a move to the wing mid-season, but came back up front later on. Contributed in the big games when needed.

Season Summary:

Season    League                      Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2009/10   Peninsula Premier League    1st         League Champions, FA Vase

[Pangaea]

Note: My updates are quite long, but I don't really want to turn it into a story. To compensate for a lack of monthly updates, my end of season update is quite a read - hope you aren't bothered by it. If you find reading the entire thing about daunting, just check out the season summary.

That's a great advantage in my book, so don't act like it's a weak point

I don't really get the point with monthly updates. I much prefer seasonal ones. Easier to follow the story then, and there's less 'fluff'.

[Dees-Blake]

That's a great advantage in my book, so don't act like it's a weak point

I don't really get the point with monthly updates. I much prefer seasonal ones. Easier to follow the story then, and there's less 'fluff'.

Actually, I find it quite hard to compact my updates, so sometimes I worry about writing to much - if casual readers just want to see a few lines each season. My summaries are always far too in-depth - but I guess, as you said, that may not be such a bad thing.

Anyway, will just include a quick Roll of Honour here for the 2009/10 season. I hope I am doing this right! This is my first career thread, so if you see something wrong let me know.

--------------------------------------------------------

Roll of Honour

English Premier League

Champions: Chelsea

Top 4: Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham

Relegated: Blackburn, Fulham, Wigan

Coca-Cola Championship

Champions: West Brom

Promoted: Newcastle, Q.P.R.

Relegated: Ipswich, Preston, Doncaster

Coca-Cola League 1

Champions: Norwich

Promoted: Charlton, Millwall

Relegated: Wycombe, Bristol Rovers, Exeter, Yeovil

Coca-Cola League 2

Champions: Notts Co

Promoted: Rotherham, Shrewsbury, Bradford

Relegated: Bournemouth, Barnet

Blue Square Premier

Champions: Mansfield

Promoted: Wrexham

Relegated: Forest Green, Tamworth, Chester, Salisbury

Blue Square North

Champions: Gainsborough

Promoted: Northwich

Relegated: Gloucester, Hyde, Farsley

Blue Square South

Champions: Dover

Promoted: Weston-super-Mare

Relegated: Havant & W, Lewes, Welling

World Cup

Final: Brazil 2-1 Spain

3rd Place: Czech Republic 0-3 Argentina

Champions League

Final: Liverpool 3-0 At. Madrid

EURO Cup

Final: Sevilla 1-4e Stuttgart

FA Cup

Final: Middlesbrough 0-4 Man City

Carling Cup

Final: Arsenal 0-1 Everton

Community Shield

Final: Man Utd 0-2 Chelsea

[Prinny_gall]

Wow, great start to your career. Looks really promising for future success KUTGW!!

Similarly I find the season by season updates easier to follow too and gives a much easier read, than month by month or match by match updates. Look forward to the next post.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good start. These lowest leagues do seem rather easy.

[MeLikeFM]

Good start. These lowest leagues do seem rather easy.

They are and 3 or 4 promotions in a row are possible if your good which is why I only skimmed the update, brilliant in the Vase though, that is amazing.

[Dees-Blake]

Ivybridge Town AFC (2010/11)

Tier 9: Kent Premier League

Kent Premier League: 3rd

What's the word for this again? Oh, that's it - gutted. Absolutely gutted. Realistically I should be happy with our third placed finish in our Tier 9 debut, but in the situation we were in, it was a terrible finish. We kicked off our Kent Premier League campaign with an incredible 10-2 win in Round 1, and dominated the first half of the season - so how on earth did it go wrong? We established a solid position on the top of the table, and nobody even looked close to catching me - then it all went downhill. Injuries struck, morale was shattered and we hit an atrocious form slump, seeing the rest of the league quickly tighten the points gap and setting the league up for an incredible finale. After our form slump though, we quickly picked ourselves off the ground, and after a 5-1 win followed by a 3-0 victory away, I thought we would be right, with our form back to superb - and it should've been, but then, with just four games remaining - perhaps the worst time of all for our form to drop, we found ourselves quickly sliding and unable to get a grip. We were sitting on top of the table by 4 points, with 4 games remaining - a fairly good situation. However, we then had to play the 3rd placed team away, and we put in a disgraceful display, conceding in the 9th minute to cap off a 1-0 loss. Things didn't get much better, as we next had to play the team coming 2nd at home the very next game, in the game that would be the make or break of my season. Everything that could go wrong did, and despite not losing, our 0-0 draw was a terrible result, considering we had two separate goals from the same striker disallowed and one blatant penalty not given, where my striker was hacked down with two feet by a defender inside the box. This 0-0 draw would end up costing me the season.

However, despite all of this, the next game was far more frustrating than the one before. We played the 5th placed team (at the time) away, continuing our ridiculously tough fixtures. Things got off to a terrible start in the 17th minute, as my attacking midfielder took a terrible first touch which rolled ten metres into the path of their striker, who took a ridiculous 40 yard shot which went over the head of my goalie who was retreating backwards and somehow bounced off the crossbar and went in. Then, not long after, they crossed the ball in, and the exact same striker took a header from the edge of the 6 yard box which bounced off the crossbar AGAIN and went in. I was fuming at this stage, but my striker from Montserrat scored just before half-time to give me renewed hope, and when my French centre midfielder scored a great goal after half-time to level the scores 2-2, I was completely pumped. We were ready to win a thriller, and what a comeback this would be! But then, disaster struck - they took a corner, and my attacking midfielder - the very same that turned over the first goal with his dreadful first touch - ran the ball into the back of our own net, in a ridiculous move. We lost 3-2, and I fined my attacking midfielder two weeks of wages for his disgraceful display. He declared I was being unfair, and he felt he was being poorly treated at the club. His contract was torn up immediately and he was told to pack his bags and leave on a free transfer.

Surely things couldn't get any worse, but they eventually did. It was later revealed that we needed just to win against the 9th placed team at home to secure the league, and when my new signing scored in the 3rd minute I couldn't have been happier. But, from there, our team was completely outplayed and goals came flying in - we were soon 3-1 down. The new signing pulled one back to make it 3-2, and then was hacked down in the box - but no penalty. We also had yet another goal disallowed, this time off a corner through a foul, which was an absolutely terrible decision, and the match ended. We lost 3-2. My hopes of finishing second were quickly shattered, after the team that we had played the match before who were in 5th at the time managed to score a dramatic second half goal to win 1-0, and take second spot. We finished 3rd, missing out on the title by a mere 2 points - our goal difference was miles beyond any club, and yet we hadn't even earned the chance of a promotion playoff. It was a terrible feeling, and we would be resigned to spending another season in the Kent Premier League - in all honesty, a league that was too easy for us. This season also saw me rack up my hundredth game in a match we ended up losing.

FA Vase: Fourth Round

There were no miracle results this season, as a dreadful display against old foes Almondsbury UWE, from the Pensinula Premier League, saw us bow out in the fourth round with a 3-0 loss at home. The highlight of the Vase was a 5-0 drubbing away of Andover in the third round, although truth be told it should have been more as we were leading 5-0 just 35 minutes into the match. Still, it was a rather disappointing display, and the board weren't particularly happy, particularly after last season's success.

FA Cup: Third Qualifying Round

I would've liked to progress a bit further in the FA Cup in order to perhaps pick up a money tie, but we got perhaps the toughest draw in the entire round - an away game against Nuneaton, who had only just been relegated from the Blue Square North (and who ended up going back there after finishing 2nd in their league at the end of the season). This was in the qualifying round of course which included only teams below the Blue Square, so it was ridiculously poor luck to draw Nuneaton away. We managed to score one, but conceded four more, and lost comfortably. The board wasn't happy, but could understand why we lost to Nuneaton.

Devon County FA St Lukes Cup: Quarter Final

We waltzed through the second round, after a bye in the first, with a 3-1 win away against Bovey Tracey, and we were looking good in the Quarters leading Cullompton 1-0 at half-time, but then two second half goals including an 88th minute knockout blow saw us exiting 2-1, in another disappointment. The board had expected me to reach the Final, so they again were not particularly happy.

Kent Premier Division Cup: Winners

Despite being low on morale after I slammed the entire team for losing in the last league game of the season, the depleted team came out just three days later and performed admirably, defeating Sevenoaks 2-1 in the final, after young 16 year old Daniel Mansell, who was a long-term replacement for Paul Hall, who was released after his disgraceful league display, scored his first ever goal for the club in the 99th minute. Still, this wasn't a competition I took too seriously - I fielded my reserves in the semi-finals but still managed to win that 6-2 on aggregate. It was nice to pick up some silverware though for the seasons - my effort as manager not going unnoticed, and it pleased the board as well, who had been a bit disappointed with my dodgy displays in the other cups.

Transfers:

We were again active in the transfer market, and the move to semi-professional ended up giving us a transfer budget of $14,000, after I readjusted our wage budgets. We made the most of it, signing 16 different players, and releasing 13. Our goalkeeper, Mike Green, who was showing great promise for us after being released from Bristol Rovers was poached for $35K by the mysteriously rich Spennymoor Town, but we compensated by signing a new one. We also announced a link with parent club Torquay, and this saw attacking midfielder Saul Halpin join us on loan. He proved to be an extremely valuable player, playing superbly throughout his time with the team before heading back to Torquay after spending the entire season with us. We signed quite a few more starting XI players, but none of them were really stand-out news. Legwinski, the French central midfielder, proved to be a very handy signing but he unfortunately announced his retirement at the end of the season, declaring that he wouldn't play another season, unfortunately for us.

Squad:

I was fairly pleased with the depth of my squad, although I felt we lacked maybe some depth in the attacking midfielder position, particularly with Saul Halpin electing not to join us on loan for another season. Still, I am quite happy with the squad and I feel that we easily have the talent and depth in our team required to promote from this league, and I won't be wasting any time at all in going all-out for next season.

Key Players:

Dan Kirkup (DC) - he developed nicely this season and played as centre-back throughout the season, putting in some good performances

Darren Barnard (D/WBL) - despite his atrocious physical attributes, he played superbly in the full-back role, scoring 6 and supplying 8 goals in 21 games

Jon Hoyles (ST) - for the second season in a row this man was our leading goalscorer, and he was brilliant once more, scoring 24 goals from 34 games

Saul Halpin (AML) - joining us on loan from Torquay, he had a huge impact on the left wing and provided 11 assists throughout the season

Tesfaye Bramble (ST) - The 30 year old from Montserrat joined us and had an immediate impact, scoring a brace on his debut playing on the right wing, and he continued well, scoring 11 goals in just 19 games

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seasonal Best Eleven - 2010/11

Overall Best Eleven

Note: Saul Halpin's stats show him playing 56 games, probably due to him joining a different club on loan early last year, which seems to have affected his games played.

Season Summary:

Season    League                      Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2009/10   Peninsula Premier League    1st         League Champions, FA Vase
2010/11   Kent Premier League         3rd         Kent Premier Division Cup

[Nobby_McDonald]

Gutted .

[Dees-Blake]

Roll of Honour (2010/11)

Premier League of 2009 - Current Worst Teams

3. Fulham (1st in Championship)

2. Blackburn (3rd in Championship)

1. Wigan (9th in Championship)

English Premier League

Champions: Man Utd

Top 4: Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham

Relegated: Burnley, Birmingham, Portsmouth

Coca-Cola Championship

Champions: Fulham

Promoted: Middlesbrough, Sheff Utd

Relegated: Plymouth, Reading, Barnsley

Coca-Cola League 1

Champions: Ipswich

Promoted: MK Dons, Notts Co

Relegated: Brentford, Shrewsbury, Rotherham, Tranmere

Coca-Cola League 2

Champions: Port Vale

Promoted: Rochdale, Exeter, Crewe

Relegated: Dag & Red, Macclesfield

Blue Square Premier

Champions: Luton

Promoted: York

Relegated: Grays, Gainborough, Weston-super-mare, Hayes & Yeading

Blue Square North

Champions: Fleetwood

Promoted: AFC Telford

Relegated: Ashton Utd, Harrogate, Blyth

Blue Square South

Champions: Forest Green

Promoted: Bromley

Relegated: Salisbury, Maidenhead, St. Albans

Champions League

Final: FC Bayern 0-1 Barcelona

EURO Cup

Final: Stuttgard 1-2 Man Utd

FA Cup

Final: Man Utd 0-2 Tottenham

Carling Cup

Final: Liverpool 3-0 Arsenal

Community Shield

Final: Chelsea 3-0 Man City

FA Trophy

Final: York 0-0p (2-4) Barnet

FA Vase

Final: Whitley Bay 2-1e Coalville

[Dees-Blake]

My apologies for taking so long between seasons, I am a very slow player of the game and often get distracted by other saves or different games so for me to take two weeks to finish a season isn't really unnatural.

Ivybridge Town AFC (2011/12)

Tier 9: Western Premier League

Western Premier League: 1st

I was determined not to let this season go down as a repeat of last season, and so was my squad. Although I signed just three players throughout the season, I picked up three more on loan from Torquay who proved to be instrumental to my success - a striker, a left winger and a young Turkish midfielder who was simply brilliant after joining. We got off to a slow start to the season, but quickly picked up the pace and once we did we were uncatchable. We weren't brilliant throughout the season, but we had no real challengers - the other teams all seemed to lose matches at key stages, making it very easy for us to hold on, and as soon as we built a gap between us there was no looking back. The shuffle to the Western Premier League was a good one for us, giving us some easier teams, and as we had now bonded together as a squad I really wasn't going to accept anything other than first position.

I wrapped up the season with seven games in hand, holding an uncatchable 22 point lead at the top, before deciding to let my Ass Man take the rest of the now pointless league games whilst I handled the cups. He performed pretty poorly, losing a match and drawing a few, leaving our final winning margin at 16 points. It was a dominant display though, and I was delighted with the effort from our team. We finished on 88 points from 38 games, a very respectable tally, and lost just twice in the entire league. Never were we really effectively challenged, and our loan signings shone brightly, dominating the league. Another instrumental factor in my success was the dramatic improvement of young striker Ray Spear. In his first season at the club, the year before this one, he performed fairly poorly, scoring just 7 goals and 10 assists from 36 games up front - yet for some strange reason, I persisted with him and it was a move that paid off greatly. This season he was simply unstoppable, playing no less than 55 matches and scoring 30 goals and providing a staggering 29 assists - a fantastic effort. He was a whirlwind in the league and tied as the top goal scorer.

FA Vase: Winners

We managed to win the FA Vase in our very first year, whilst competing in the Peninsula Premier League, and we returned again this year, fighting through some extremely tough battles to somehow emerge victors. Our road was far more difficult this year, as we came up against some the hardest possible opponents and still managed to scrape through. The toughest encounter was easily coming up against Lymington Town - a team coming 1st in a different Tier 9 league - thankfully, we were drawn at home. We managed to go 2-0 down at half-time, looking like we were goners - when suddenly, we pulled two inspiring goals back after half-time to force the match back into a stalemate. After the 2-2 draw, we had a bad situation ahead of us though - we now had to play them away. The bookies jumped off us and it was clear to see why; Lymington had dominated us at our home. But we started the replay superbly, scoring in the 7th minute before Lymington pulled it back in the 26th minute to one all. The match continued, with a number of close chances - but at the end of 90 minutes, the score was locked 1-1. Half time in extra time passed, the second half of extra time looked set to draw to a close... when suddenly, out of nowhere, loanee Mustapha Carayol scored a screamer from the edge of the area in the 120th minute, giving us an emotional 2-1 victory. It was a fantastic moment for us, and our fortune continued - the next round we drew 2-2 away, and won 1-0 at home on the replay, before winning the quarter finals 3-2, and going on to the semis where we lost 1-0 in the away leg but came back brilliantly with a 4-0 win at home. We played in front of a 1.3K strong crowd in the final at Wembley, beating Hadleigh 3-2 after going down 1-0 early... an incredible cup run it was, and I couldn't be happier with our success, and the inevitable prize money that came with it.

FA Cup: Fourth Qualifying Round

We breezed through the early qualifying rounds before being given a very tough draw against Tier 7 team Swindon S. We managed a respectable 1-1 draw at home, but lost 3-2 away on the replay after an admirable effort - still, I was pleased with the fight shown by our team, and we did very well to record a home draw after all. The board never really expected us to go anywhere, but it would've been nice to at least reach the First Round - still, next year there will be another opportunity at success.

Devon County FA St Lukes Cup: Quarter Final

This useless cup saw us given the draw of death in the QF, as we looked set to take on Torquay Reserves - although, ironically, we had more players on loan from their reserves then they actually had fit in their reserve XI. It didn't make a difference though - we went down 2-0 at HT, pulled it back to 2-2, but lost 3-2 in extra time in a result I was hardly fussed about.

Western League Les Phillips Cup: Winners

Our hardest match ironically came in the first round as we were pushed to extra-time where we scraped away with a 3-2 win against Wimbourne. Through there it was easy coasting, as we came up against some Tier 10 Western teams before dispatching Tavistock 4-3 in the final, after taking a 4-0 lead early. We scored an impressive 16 goals from 5 matches throughout the cup; a record I was pretty pleased with.

Transfers:

We signed just the three players on a permanent deal - prominent right midfielder Craig Sutton, full-back Joe Selby and young Kiwi goalkeeper Ashley Brunt. It was, however, our three loan signings from Torquay that proved to be lethal - Ashley Yeoman up front, Mustapha Carayol on the left wing, and Kamil Tevfik, the young Turk controlling the midfield. They all had huge impacts - in particular Tevfik, who was the heart of my team at times, popping up everywhere to contribute. Instead of signing players, I decided to release a lot - sending a few stray reserves packing, and lessening our squad size.

Squad:

The one place that perhaps needed some improvement was the central defence position, but apart from that we filled out the team sheet pretty well and had some good backups at all times. I am still in the hunt for a solid centre defender, however, and I think that we will need a few improvements if we are to thrive in Tier 8.

Key Players:

Ray Spear (ST) - after a quiet first season, he dominated this year, scoring 30 and adding 29 assists from 55 games

Kamil Tevfik (MC) - the young Turkish midfielder was a sheer beast, dominating play and being our best player by far

Jon Docker (MC) - Docker continued to be a crucial player in our team as he had another very successful season in midfield

Ashley Yeoman (ST) - on loan from Torquay, Yeoman was fantastic scoring 31 goals for the season

Ashley Brunt (GK) - the young Kiwi goalkeeper had a decent first season but has plenty of time to improve, and looks good for the future

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Seasonal Best Eleven - 2011/12

Overall Best Eleven

Season Summary:

Season    League                      Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2009/10   Peninsula Premier League    1st         League Champions, FA Vase
2010/11   Kent Premier League         3rd         Kent Premier Division Cup
2011/12   Western Premier League      1st         League Champions, FA Vase, Les Phillips Cup

[Super Bladesman]

Nice story so far Dees - keep it up

Which Build of my file are you using - a bit odd that you went from SWP to Kent and then to Western! Keeps it interesting I suppose! The latest build really makes big improvements here I think, but it sounds like you're not too fussed anyway

I look forward to catching up with your next installment, whenever it's ready - don't rush!

[Cookie147]

Excellent stuff Dees. Keep it up....

I'm also doing this ultimate challenge, and so far have Thetford Town in the Blue Square North, and going well in 2nd place. I struggled early on, waiting 4 seasons for my first promotion, but have now had 4 promotions in the past 5 years.

[Scoham]

Good to see a career with SBs file, going well so far. I've not had a proper go with it yet, is very hard getting used to what makes a good player at the lowest levels.

Good start. These lowest leagues do seem rather easy.

Depends how you play I'd say. If you mainly used your scouts to find players, and only went for players in the local area, it would probably be a good challenge. Using the filters to find players with the right attributes feels a bit too easy to me, though I don't go as extreme as playing with LLM rules. Nothing wrong with playing that way of course.

[Nobby_McDonald]

I play the LLM way (with the exception of using Uncle Ron's English level 8 file). With Curzon Ashton and still got them promoted in a couple of seasons then struggled in the season at the higher level.

[Dees-Blake]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Super Bladesman - I'm using an older one, a build that you released quite a while ago for 10.2 but I'm not fussed about the leagues at all - moving doesn't bother me. I realise you probably get a lot of people saying this, but fantastic job on the leagues - it is really enjoyable playing with a Tier 10 team and you have done a brilliant job.

Also, Scoham, yes - I am using the cheap way to play, which I feel perhaps a little guilty about - I use the player search filter to look for players and staff, as well as relying a lot on my scout reports. This will still be a good challenge though, and I'm not going as far as using FMRTE or Genie Scout or something that would make it ridiculously easy. Well done to you Nobby for playing the LLM way - it must be extremely satisfying when you win promotion or sign a great player from your scouts, but since I've already used player filters I guess I can't really go back now. Still, despite that, all of the people I find that look decent are rated as carp from my Ass Man/Scout so the majority of my signings have come courtesy of my scouting assignments. Also, well done Cookie for getting Thetford to the BSN.. hopefully you can go even further and get them into league football soon! I don't know of anybody who was won the premiership yet with a Tier 10 team, although I believe there are people who are currently in the Premiership.

Anyway, I'll try and get through this season fairly quickly. I've been promoted to the English Southern League First Division South/West in Tier 8, and hopefully I can head straight up to Tier 7!

[Dees-Blake]

Roll of Honour (2011/12)

Premier League of 2009 - Current Worst Teams

3. Blackburn (3rd in Championship)

2. Birmingham (9th in Championship)

1. Wigan (20th in Championship)

English Premier League

Champions: Chelsea

Top 4: Man Utd, Liverpool, Tottenham

Relegated: Everton, Sheff Utd, Wolves

Coca-Cola Championship

Champions: Burnley

Promoted: Portsmouth, Blackburn

Relegated: Norwich, Charlton, Notts Co

Coca-Cola League 1

Champions: Colchester

Promoted: Leeds, Southampton

Relegated: Stockport, Oldham, Leyton Orient, Crewe

Coca-Cola League 2

Champions: Bristol Rovers

Promoted: Rotherham, Shrewsbury, Wycombe

Relegated: Tranmere, Hereford

Blue Square Premier

Champions: Cambridge

Promoted: Gateshead

Relegated: Ebbsfleet, AFC Telford, Histon, Barnet

Blue Square North

Champions: Nuneaton

Promoted: Chester

Relegated: Gainsborough, Vauxhall, Nantwich

Blue Square South

Champions: Newport Co

Promoted: Havant & W

Relegated: Weston-super-Mare, Dorchester, Grays

Champions League

Final: Man Utd 0-2 A.C. Milan

EURO Cup

Final: Sporting CP 1-2 Juventus

FA Cup

Final: Sheff Utd 2-4 Liverpool

League Cup

Final: Everton 3-1 Tottenham

Community Shield

Final: Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea

FA Trophy

Final: Chester 1-4 Forest Green

FA Vase

Final: Hadleigh 2-3 Ivybridge

EURO 2012

Final: Italy 0-0p (2-4) Ukraine

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done to you Nobby for playing the LLM way - it must be extremely satisfying when you win promotion or sign a great player from your scouts, but since I've already used player filters I guess I can't really go back now.

I've always played the LLM way to a sense. A loose version before I discovered the LLM forum, and still play in that manner albeit with the extra English leagues since I left the LLM forum when FM10 came out.

Success is very satisfying playing this way, as you know it's down to your good work and not cheating that you have done it.

I've only ever won the Premier League with one team though, and the Champions League with two. Ultimate success doesn't come round very often!

[Dees-Blake]

I've always played the LLM way to a sense. A loose version before I discovered the LLM forum, and still play in that manner albeit with the extra English leagues since I left the LLM forum when FM10 came out.

Success is very satisfying playing this way, as you know it's down to your good work and not cheating that you have done it.

I've only ever won the Premier League with one team though, and the Champions League with two. Ultimate success doesn't come round very often!

I'm tempted actually to start playing that way this season - ditch the player search, and club browsing, and instead just rely on scouts.

Looks like I'll be putting up some job offers!

Where do you stand on loans? Do you see it as acceptable to go to your parent club and offer to loan out some of their players, or do you only accept the players that they loan out to you at the start of the season?

[Dees-Blake]

Just making it official - I'm going to play now almost entirely under the LLM rules.

From this season onwards, I will only use my scouts to find players, and will not browse clubs at all looking for players. The only players I will loan out will be either ones my assistant recommends to me or ones that are offered to me from clubs.

Should be an interesting and hopefully enjoyable experience!

[Scoham]

Will be interesting to see how much difference it makes.

I don't think I mentioned I still use player search, since it is based on your clubs scouting knowledge, it's the attribute filters I don't like. Also don't use filters like preferred foot. Mainly just transfer and contract status, position, maybe the odd one or two more, and sort players by value or scout star ratings.

[MeLikeFM]

I'm tempted actually to start playing that way this season - ditch the player search, and club browsing, and instead just rely on scouts.

Looks like I'll be putting up some job offers!

Where do you stand on loans? Do you see it as acceptable to go to your parent club and offer to loan out some of their players, or do you only accept the players that they loan out to you at the start of the season?

Parent/Feeder clubs are against the FA rules and thus are banned by LLM iirc

[Nobby_McDonald]

Regarding parent clubs, it depends where you play. All the British FAs as well as the German FA prohibit any of their members to be a feeder club. Hence you would be unable to have a parent club and therefore cannot loan players from one.

They can be parent clubs however, so can loan players out to other teams in this many, provided they aren't from Britain or Germany.

Everywhere else it's fair game, unless any nation's FA has rules that we on this forum are unaware of.

Playing in a LLM style of management is by far the most satisfying, and you have a great feeling when you achieve some success as you know it's down to your work and not by tainted means, such as somebody who uses FM Scout for example.

[Shrew82]

Good luck with this. I'm doing similar with a level 11 side so i know how tough it is.

[Dees-Blake]

Another season, another fantastic year...

Ivybridge Town AFC (2012/13)

Tier 8: English Southern League First Division South/West

Southern League D1SW: 1st

My first season under the lower league style of management proved to be a very successful one, after a rocky start. I decided to switch to the lower league style after getting bored with using player search to find players. Now, I rely purely on my scouts or transfer rumours and on a whole the game has improved for me in my eyes. However, I am still maintaining my link with parent club Torquay - although, whether it is worth it I am beginning to question after they were relegated in last to the Blue Square Premier, and this year I only received one player on loan - a fairly rubbish centre back by the name of Nwankwo.

In the league, after a slow start which saw us around upper mid-table, we quickly rebounded with a superb winning streak which saw us in second place after a third of the season. Our main rivals, Lymington Town, held strong for quite a while but it was just after the halfway mark of the season when we overtook them and moved into first position. From there, we were near unstoppable, winning 10 of our next 11 games to ensure a comfortable gap and some room to breathe. Lymington Town never ended up closing the gap and we held strong, winning the title with three games in hand. Throughout the season, we put in some good performances, and it was largely thanks to my three strikers that we played so well - Spear, Dundas and Symes worked in a rotation system which saw them each score plenty of goals and keeping in good condition. We also found some very strong centre midfielders - particularly 25 year old Max Porter, who joined from Rushden on a free transfer, as well as some quality centre backs, including an interesting pairing between Harry Hooman and Chris Farman which was quality while it lasted for a few games; simply due to the names alone.

In the end, we finished with 93 points from the 42 game season, a superb effort for our first season in Tier 8 and I couldn't be happier. We won the league by 13 points - a very comfortable margin and scored 88 goals from 42 games, at an average of over 2 a game which was really pleasing to see, and our attacking style was very good on the eye. With just three draws in the entire season, we seemed to take an all or nothing approach which normally paid off, with 30 wins which is a fantastic effort and overall it was an enjoyable season in charge. I picked up Manager of the Season as well which was a nice reward on top of the league success (despite only winning Manager of the Month on one occasion).

FA Trophy: Fourth Qualifying Round

I was fairly happy with our performance in the FA Trophy, in our first year competing in it. We performed well, picking up some good wins before our luck came to an end as we drew Woking from Blue Square South. It was always going to be a tough game but we fought well - even pulling ahead before half-time, before conceding two second half goals to lose the match. That said, it was a good effort from the team and in a trophy I wasn't expecting to go anywhere, it was a good result. That was the highlight of our campaign, although an away win 3-0 on the replay after drawing at home against fellow Tier 8 side Prescot was also a good moment.

FA Cup: Second Qualifying Round

We came up next against minnows Dudley Town in our first game in the FA Cup - the Second Qualifying Round. In all honesty we should've won it, but a slack performance and a lack of desire to win saw us lose 1-0 and drop out in our first game. Our only real hopes in the FA Cup were drawing a money tie, but we really weren't big enough in stature to even get near the Fourth or Fifth Round draw anyway.

Devon County FA St Lukes Cup: Semi Final

I'm still fuming after this result, as it was one of the last games of the season proper. We breezed through the earlier rounds without much difficulty before encountering what looked set to be a good battle - an away match against Plymouth Reserves in the Semi Final. Looking at their reserve team, they had a few good players but no real dominant people that would destroy us. I thought we had a very good chance as well, as did the pre-match odds, which put Plymouth Res. at 30/1. I was feeling confident, when I decided to check out Plymouth Reserves team.. to find out they had stacked it with first teamers! I was absolutely fuming - I was playing against 8 of Plymouth's first XI as well as some of their better youth players and only one of the people in their reserves team. In the end, we were no match for the League 1 Plymouth, as we couldn't get past their German goalkeeper who started every game for their first team. It was a very frustrating end, and after losing comfortably my fans were 'devastated' about the loss, and were disappointed about not reaching the Final - and this is after hardly breaking a sweat about me winning the league. I didn't even receive a single message about the fans being grateful or the board congratulating me on my success - it was just Ivybridge have won the league, and it left it at that. Not a great way to end the cup.

Southern League Cup: Third Round

We won our first two matches against lesser opponents before coming up against Tier 7 Bromsgrove. We fought bravely, locking the scores at 2-2 after 90 minutes, before Norton on their team scored an extra-time goal to send us out in the third round. Not a match I really cared about, but some extra prize money is always welcome.

Transfers:

We were more active in the transfer market this season as opposed to last, despite me following more of a lower league style of management. My four scouts managed to find a whole variety of different players, many who joined. In game crucial strikers Dundas and Symes, who played a lot during the season, as well as Max Porter who had a huge role. Some other notable signings were right back Ben Nunn, who took the starting position of Filipino and long-time player Rob Gier, as well as Scottish attacking midfielder Kenny Faulds, who with 7 youth caps for Scotland under his belt played very well for the majority of the season. I also signed a host of centre backs; Rob Walker, Ryan O'Neill (a promising Northern Irish defender who was looking promising before he tore his cruciate ligaments, putting him out for 9 months), Mike Savage, Simon Nwankwo on loan from Torquay, Harry Hooman and Chris Farman. All played a few games for me, with Hooman, Nwankwo and Savage getting the majority of game time.

Squad: We had superb centre backs, centre mids and strikers, but really lacked some quality in the wider areas of the pitch - in particular, left back. Kinch played out the entire season but really isn't good enough to make the step up to the Regional Premier Divisions, after struggling in Tier 8, while Faulds and Mansell have no back-up if one of them gets injured - and, they still could improve as well. A few new signings with our improved reputation might need to be on the cards.

Key Players:

Ray Spear (ST) - his third season at the club was again another excellent one up front, as he made 43 appearances, scoring 23 goals and providing 12 assists

Michael Symes (ST) - the new main strike partner of Ray Spear. Symes performed excellently after a slow start and finished with an impressive 17 goals in 31 games - 7 of those as sub

Max Porter (MC) - the 25 year old English centre mid had a superb first season as well, scoring 5 goals and providing 12 assists from 31 games as well as generally playing very well

Kenny Faulds (AML) - the young Scottish attacking midfielder had a good first season which showed some potential, as he played 39 games and providing 10 assists

Ashley Brunt (GK) - the young goalkeeper from New Zealand continues to improve, and had a superb season, playing all 53 games and conceding 48 goals

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seasonal Best Eleven - 2012/13

Overall Best Eleven

Season Summary:

Season    League                      Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2009/10   Peninsula Premier League    1st         League Champions, FA Vase
2010/11   Kent Premier League         3rd         Kent Premier Division Cup
2011/12   Western Premier League      1st         League Champions, FA Vase, Les Phillips Cup
2012/13   Southern League D1SW        1st         League Champions

So, next year, the Southern Premier League awaits - and will Ivybridge be good enough for yet another consecutive promotion, taking them to the Blue Square South?

[Nobby_McDonald]

Les Phillips must be proud.

[Dees-Blake]

Roll of Honour (2012/13)

Premier League of 2009 - Current Worst Teams

3. Wolves (2nd in Championship)

2. Wigan (4th in Championship)

1. Birmingham (5th in Championship)

English Premier League

Champions: Arsenal

Top 4: Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool

Relegated: West Brom, Burnley, Bolton

Coca-Cola Championship

Champions: Everton

Promoted: Wolves, Sheff Utd

Relegated: Scunthorpe, Crystal Palace, Southampton

Coca-Cola League 1

Champions: Charlton

Promoted: Notts Co, Doncaster

Relegated: Brighton, Swindon, Reading, Wycombe

Coca-Cola League 2

Champions: Oldham

Promoted: Stockport, Northampton, Luton

Relegated: Torquay, Darlington

Blue Square Premier

Champions: Hereford

Promoted: Oxford

Relegated: AFC Wimbledon, Chester, Macclesfield, Northwich

Blue Square North

Champions: Spennymoor Town

Promoted: Stafford

Relegated: Workington, Hinckley, Solihull Moors

Blue Square South

Champions: Woking

Promoted: Farnborough

Relegated: Tonbridge, Hayes & Yeading, Carshalton

Champions League

Final: FC Bayern p1-1 (4-2) Man Utd

EURO Cup

Final: Liverpool e1-0 Atletico Madrid

Club World Championship

Final: A.C. Milan 2-0 Cruz Azul

FA Cup

Final: Newcastle 2-1 West Ham

League Cup

Final: Tottenham e2-1 Portsmouth

Community Shield

Final: Newcastle 0-3 Arsenal

FA Trophy

Final: Tranmere 2-1 Havant & W

[paperclips]

Cracking read. Keep it up son.

[Nobby_McDonald]

You're only a month behind.

[paperclips]

I am on track now.

[Dees-Blake]

This is still going indefinitely, but I mentioned I have slow updates, and get distracted a lot. Sorry, but this isn't really a thread you check daily - more read once every now and again.

Definitely not over, though.