Gundo's FM11 European Adventure Challenge™

[Peter G]

How have some of you done this so quickly, will choose a league later. Thinking either Holland, Poland, Wales or Ireland. Anyone sway me?

[Icelander83]

I've managed Víkingur Ólafsvík before Nightowl, they have a Serbian manager in real life which is why they have a bunch of foreign players. Some were pretty decent too in the FM version I played on.

There's that. Then there's the fact that they are based quite a way from the capital city so hold absolutely no appeal to anyone not born there. Teams like Víkingur Ólafsvík need to rely on getting foreigners in, they don't have a lot of towns around them from which to get players, nor a lot of people even living in the nearby area, thus fewer youngsters coming in. Even then, most of them will move to the city when they get old enough. Often these players will not be paid a lot for their football, rather they will be found a job in the town (working in the fishing industry, sometimes PE teachers, often coaches for the younger kids at the club). This is hard to emulate in the game so the finances will be way off from what they are in real life.

[the greyham]

i'm goin for ireland, but having a problem. no one is getting relegated from the first division, beacuse last place enters the relegation play offs and i have restrted 5 times now and they always win the final so no team is actually promoted to the first division. is it ok to continue with the team who finished last? advise please

[Tomaldinho]

Finally got around to my first competitive game of the season and have now realised that 8 of my preferred 11 are over the age of thirty

[Mr_Demus]

Loading up again. This time in Finland

[the greyham]

Here we go.

Graham takes over at Salthill in the Irish First Division.

Salthill finished in 12th place in the 2010 seaon Table

As they won the relegation playoff final no team were promoted to the division so i take over them

Manager Profile 1 Manager Profole 2

Here is the squad i have been given Squad

[brambleten]

no idea how far i'll get, but i've started. I went for Wales as i wont get a lot of playing time this year due to 1st year uni and all the things that come with it.

profile

Personal

and one of the youngsters from the Academy (yes, we have an accademy, along with a 5050 seater stadium), who has made himself one half of my first choice pairing up front for this season, Will Cooper

[B.W.G]

Bridgend Town - Welsh Principality Premier League - 2015/16

Transfers - Deadwood out, better quality and cheaper wages in. Done to help strengthen the team and keep wage budget low.

Competitions

Welsh Premier - Table - At the moment it is quite easy, if the league can enhance its reputation then it will be more of a challenge. Unfortunately I don't know how long it will take.

Champions League - Champions Playoff - 1st qualifier was easy. 2nd qualifier against Partizan Belgrade, I was helped to victory by the ref. 3rd was easier then 2nd qualifier ( vs Baku). I didn't deserve to get any further but was more then happy with the money made.

Euro Cup - Group stages - I came in at this stage, I saw who I got and expected 6 defeats. We scraped the draw against Rubin and made the other games a battle

Welsh Cup - Winners - Was half expecting to face TNS in the final but Afan Lido surprised them. It was a straight forward game.

League Cup - Winners - Straight forward Victory. I was using this competition to blend the youth in. The 2 oldest players in my team were 26 (GK) and 23 (MC).

Players/Awards

I won Manager of the Year

Jason Mitchell was top scorer with 18 goals.

Oliver Wale had most assists with 13.

Jeff Williams won Welsh Young Player of the Year, Player of the Year and came 2nd in Young Player of the Year.

Leon Clowes won Fans Player of the Year.

Next seasons youth prospect is Neil Brown.

Expectations

Bridgend have now gone professional. I hope this will help players reach their potential being on a better training schedule.

Carry on domestically and try to repeat the fluke of the Euro run.

Help raise the reputation of the Welsh Premier from 358th which is still 0.5 * (Up from 482nd). The welsh cup is now 394th and the league cup is 408th.

Season     League    Cup              C.League      Euro Cup     Achievements
2011/12    2nd      Runners Up        N/A             N/A        Euro Cup Qualifcation
2012/13    1st      Winners           N/A             2nd QL     Domestic Treble
2013/14    1st      Winners           2nd QL          N/A        Domestic Treble
2014/15    1st      Winners           2nd QL          N/A        Domestic Treble.     
2015/16    1st      Winners           Play Off        Group      Domestic Treble. 

[the greyham]

i don't mean to sound stupid here but i can't find where the league rep is? i see the stars but not the overall rank?

great stuff so far B.W.G

[B.W.G]

i don't mean to sound stupid here but i can't find where the league rep is? i see the stars but not the overall rank?

great stuff so far B.W.G

Thanks greyham

for the overall rank, go to the world tab and then competitions.

[Mr_Demus]

Meet the new manager of FC City Stars (Finland)

My Profile

[BWZ_Tomek]

Great stuff, B.W.G. I enjoyed reading that, keep up the good work! Very curious about the league rep progress rate myself.

Good luck in Finland, Demus.

[Peter G]

Are there any save games, in Holland or Wales preferablly. Choosing one of them two, probably Wales due to it being more fun to build it up.

[Gilbster]

Volsungur have been relegated in my second season in charge. Oddly enough the other side to be relegated were the other one that I had a choice of managing at the start of the first season.

I will be back tomorrow in a new country and hopefully slightly more suecessfully.

[BWZ_Tomek]

That's unfortunate, Gilb - given any thought to where you're going to start? Anyway, wherever it is, I wish you better luck.

I'm done for the night having played about 7 games so far in the league and I've to say, I'm having as much fun right now as I ever have in FM, if not more. There's something beautifully organic about managing at these levels...and the fact that it's been a wonderfully eventful start to the season has helped, obviously. Will post an update on my progress as soon as I get the time. I prefer more frequent updates, as I feel they help the community (as well as myself) really get immersed in my game world.

[Quackje]

Santa Claus 2013 - µUpdate

To continue my theme of great goals from rubbish players I give you this super

from Juho Pernu.

My 4th choice centre back playing in defensive midfield due to 2 injuries and a suspension and quite possibly the worst player on the team puts his long shots attribute of 1 to good use.

[TIR669]

FK Gorodeya

season 2011

Belarusian First League: 14th (MP: 14th)

Belarusian Cup: Second Round (lost to Partizan Minsk 1-2)

Well, it's finally over. That's all I can say now. A long season of bad morale, bad form and pretty bad players has come to an end. We finished 14th, with five and six points more than Pinsk and Molodechno, the two relegated teams. It all started quite well as we won 5/6 friendly games. First two league games were fanstastic as we managed two wins against Molodechno (relegated this year) and Lida (12th). Then we lost four in a row, won one and then lost three out of four league games. It was like that most of the time. We would won, and then lost two games minimum. The lowest point was losing seven games in a row (goal difference 4-19), one of them was Cup fixture. The highest point was a 5-0 win against league champions at home two games before the end.

We managed not to get relegated, and that was my goal. Now, it's time to lose the old, 30+ players and bring in some potential playerwise. We will bring in some staff, also, as we have two scouts with determenation 3. And I kept wondering why did they find two or three players every time I sent them to scout Belarus. But the thing I can't forget are the finances; we have over €350K sitting. That surprised me as I played lots of lower clubs; mostly with red numbers.

I will mention three players that will stay my key players for the upcoming season: Aliaksandr Golovchik with 23 games played on DC, Maksim Shkyratenko, our top scorer with 5 goals scored in 25 games, but only 23 years old, and Iliya Kuzmenko, our other DC. We don't have any good youth players (I hope we can sign some during the winter break).

Next year, a mid table finish is a minimum. Until then, goodbye from Belarus!

Season Club       Division                 Position Cup           Achievements   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011   Gorodeya   Belarus First Division   14th     Second Round  n/a

[Marky Mark!]

Dunloy 2011/12 Mid Season Update - Northern Irish Second Division - Mid Season Update

Ok, this isn't much of an update, more just my first impressions of my first ever Gundo's challenge.

After completing Dafuge's challenge, I thought I had plenty of experience with lower leagues clubs, but managing in the lowest Nth Irish league is something else, there is just no money at all, not just for transfers (which I expected), but not even for wages! The only way I could afford to bring any staff in was to get Player/Coaches (as the board would allow more for them), and after spending a small $850/week on a couple of signings, I completely ran out of money to sign any more players and had to loan in half of my squad! (it was only afterwards that I realised the average wage for this division is $90/week, and the average wage for the top division is only $325/week!)

The other thing that surprised me is the sheer amount of cup games, halfway through the season I had played 14 league games and a staggering 13 cup games (with more to come)!

That said, I did manage to bring a couple of good players in before I ran out of money, and with the help of many loanees I am currently top of the Second Division, 1 point clear of 2nd and 3rd - let's see if my squad (which is either over 30 or under 22) can keep it up!

A proper update with screen shots (including my manager profile) will follow after the end of the season.

[the greyham]

i must admit my salthill game is a challenge. went on an 18 match streak without a win. but saying that it is the most amount of fun i have ever had playing FM since i started in 05. this is a proper challenge, thankyou Gundo

[Icelander83]

Finally getting started on my Afturelding save, finding out what a hassle pre-season friendlies are when you don't have an ass man Well, in the sense that I have to take care to rotate the squad during matches, I usually refrain from making subs as much as possible, prefer to rotate between games. At least the team is starting to play a bit better

[Spleen!]

After finishing 3rd in my 1st season with Belisce, I'm currently in relegation after more than half of my 2nd season :confused: We had one of the best attacks and defences in the league last season, and I've not lost any players - I've even improved my squad - yet this season we can't defend and we struggle to score.

Really am baffled by how badly we've been playing this season.

[Gilbster]

Profile

After being relegated in Iceland, I have decided to restart in Sweden. I have taken over a newish club called Falu in the Second Division NS. They were only founded in 2006 and are already professional, like all teams seem to be in this division.

We have a media prediction of 7th, which makes me hope that I am not starting with a complete load of rubbish, although I will need to replace the Ass man and Scout at some point. I have told the board that we can avoid relegation. I just hope I wasnt lieing.

[Quackje]

Santa Claus 2013 - µUpdate

This screenshot couldn't wait, takeover talks, my average attendence is nice too.

[Gilbster]

Falu - 2011 - Swedish Second Division NS

Managed to considerably strenghten the squad and the addition of Trellborg as a parent club was very welcome. We managed to sign a few players on loan as well as strenghten all areas of the squad.

Surprisingly we weren't entered into the Swedish Cup, not sure why. If we havent been in a few seasons times, I will look into it.

Makes a world of difference being at a club with a close to full backroom staff, and being able to scout a wide variety of countries at this level is nice, if only players were interested.

Table

Transfers

Was overall an encouraging first season, very happy with 5th in the table and hope we can improve on it next season. Already have 3 new signings due in, and will be letting some players go at the end of their existing contracts. I am hoping to add perhaps 1 or 2 more signings, and go for continuity in my second season, and hopefully consolidate our mid table position before going for promotion in a few seasons time.

[the greyham]

Salthill 2011 season reveiw Irish First Division

might of been my most exciting season as a fm manager, but man was it hard. League Table

won in the relelgation final with a 3-1 aggregate

only 1 player i can seriously say played well Thomas Hyland at the heart of the defence

Transfers. quite a few in disrupted the team obviously. but it wasn't until the last 10 games where things started to turn around but was too late by then (spent an hour and a half fixing my tactics) time well spent imo

just playing a 4-4-2 balanced attacking formation worked well in the end

[Gundo]

Santa Claus 2013 - µUpdate

This screenshot couldn't wait, takeover talks, my average attendence is nice too.

Brilliant.

[Tomaldinho]

Bohemians Prague - 2011/2012 Season Review

A disappointing result in the end, finished 11th in the league out of 16 but it was pretty comfortable to be honest. The board aren't overly happy with the league performance but their confidence in me is born out of my tight wage control as I am only using about a third of the budget, and this will be changing over the summer as I chase a top half finish.

I gave the squad a pretty good overhaul in the first few weeks of the summer but the squad is desperate for young blood. Four first team players have already announced their retirements this summer and the rest are likely to follow as they are all beyond their better days. My two best rated players were my centre backs so what that says about my tactics I don't know, but it is something to be considered over the summer.

And we finally had a board takeover after two failed attempts during the season, but no investment looks forthcoming so my dream of a sugar daddy will have to wait a little longer yet.

League Table | Transfers

  Season           Division            Position    FA Cup       Europe  Other 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/2012     Czech Second Division     11th     Third Round     N/A     N/A

[Icelander83]

I have to restart my Icelandic go at this, forgot I had made some changes to the DB for a game I meant to play before this Returned to the official database now, holidaying at the moment.

[Spleen!]

Heh, just loaded up my Belisce save, and apparently I was sacked last night! I saved and quit straight after the defeat that took me into relegation, didn't bother looking at my news, and was shocked to see I was unemployed today. There was no warning at all, completely unexpected. Naturally I blame the players

Currently holidaying to the end of the season, to see if Belisce get relegated. Might take over a newly promoted team, or come back to this at a later date.

[Quackje]

Santa Claus 2013

Much better team, much better season. Firstly lets talk about the league rearrangement, top division shrinks by 2 while 1st division stays at 10 teams and now only the top side is promoted while the quality of the division increases. All put together I didn't think I would have the quality to go up this year but certainly able to push for the title. We had a bit of a midseason slump around the time goal keeping legend, Jussi Jääskeläinen, took over the club which cost us in the fight for the title so in the end we finished in 3rd while setting a new league record for ill-discipline with 49 yellows and 5 reds. Still no money and an ageing team, we need to get promoted.

League: 3rd

Squad: Improved

Best Player: Tomislav Krstevski

Best Finn: Toni Ståhl

Top Scorer: Miguel Reno (set new ykkönen record, 17 goals)

Interesting youngster: Mika Pöyry (if only he had technical ability)

Next season: Promotion?

Year | League  | Position | Finnish Cup | Europe
-------------------------------------------------
2012 | Ykkönen | 7th      | 3rd Round   | N/A
2013 | Ykkönen | 3rd      | 3rd Round   | N/A

Tomaldinho: I keep getting offered Ibrahim Shikanda too, if I had the £2.5K you had I would have bought him but I don't.

[Fastbasher]

Eger - Hungarian Division II East - 2012/13 Season review

I inherited a club with exactely zero talent, so immediately set about creating a solid backroom team.

They in turn suggested the usual bunch of young wannabes and last chancers. I signed a few and spent the first half of the season yoyoing in and out of the relegation zone.

A few key signings in the January window saw me comfortably out of the relegation spots and safe with a game to spare.

Hungarian Division II East 2012/13 final table

The old warhorse Balázs Kiskapusi was one of the few original players to keep his place in the team. Although with time against him and club ambitions high, it is unlikely he will see much more playing time.

Péter Bali was one of the key January signings who added vital goals and is largely responsible for our safety. I hope he keeps that scoring rate up for the whole of next season.

Our finances must have given the club beancounters many sleepless nights as we went from a nice safe Ł70k positive to a debt of Ł137k.

Our cup run finished where it started. In the first round.

The squad has managed to get bloated out to 37 players during the season, so the off season will be very much about getting rid of the deadwood. We have one very decent Guinean keeper joining, but other than that, with no transfer budget I will be relying on last seasons top performers and the odd product from our shiny new youth academy to do the business.

[qwerty52]

I have a question, regarding my ass man's recommendations.

At the start of my game my ass man reckons that my squad is capable of achieving what is required of them (avoiding relegation) and I notice he doesn't rate a single one of them below 4 stars. I know these ratings are usually relative to your entire sqaud and how each player compares to the sqaud as whole.

My question is though: are my requirements taken into consideration at all when the players are rated? In other words are they rated highly because they can just about avoid relegation or just because they are all around a similar level, i.e. all rubbish.

Looking around sqauds in the division seems to indicate that the ass man doesn't take my season requirements into account but I'm hoping someone can correct me. . .

[Tomaldinho]

An agent just offered me this guy and I snapped him up as he becomes my best player by quite some distance: Cristiano

I am excited \o/

[Tomaldinho]

Tomaldinho: I keep getting offered Ibrahim Shikanda too, if I had the £2.5K you had I would have bought him but I don't.

He has been a bit of a monster for me in my first season, one of the few successful signings I made. If you scrape together a transfer budget I do recommend him

[Scab]

After being relegated in Iceland, I have decided to restart in Sweden. I have taken over a newish club called Falu in the Second Division NS. They were only founded in 2006 and are already professional, like all teams seem to be in this division.

If you're interested, they're that young because they're the result of a merger between Korsnäs IF, Falu BS, and Slätta SK, as evident from the design of their crest:

This is their ground, by the way.

[Fastbasher]

An agent just offered me this guy and I snapped him up as he becomes my best player by quite some distance: Cristiano

I am excited \o/

Wow. Looks decent. I dont think there is a player in my whole league that is that good.

[BWZ_Tomek]

Start Otwock - Polish First Division - Early 11/12 Update

I'd left you with a report of my preseason, which was surprisingly successful, both in terms of the results achieved and the manner in which they were achieved.

Could we replicate those performances against sterner opposition once the league campaign kicked off and the games were for real?

Luckily, I've been blessed with a pretty decent squad for this league. One which, if I'm honest, with a bit of strengthening of quality, I fully expect to fulfill our goal of avoiding relegation. So, with that in mind, I went about making the additions that would keep me in the division.

Transfers

I know the names are meaningless, but hopefully I won't always be the only one playing in Poland. Maybe someone will find those names to be of use in the future.

Basically, I signed a quality CB, a backup DM for my 4-4-2 diamond, a striker for the rotation, loaned a versatile midfielder who I use primarily as backup for the newly acquired Trela, whose transfer (a good one, mind...except for his age. I believe he's 31-32) was prearranged. Released players I found surplus to requirements and sold Tokaj, who showed me a serious lack of respect in a meeting in insisting on a new contract and then whinging about being sent to the reserves. I need to stamp my authority on the club from day one.

Squad and Tactics

League To Date:

Game #1: (A) Sandecja 4-2

Our inaugural match saw us make the trip to southern Poland to face Sandecja. We got off to a dream start, Kiczynski scoring from a corner. However, shortly thereafter we failed to deal with a free kick delivery into the area and it was back to reality. An own goal, at that. With 15 minutes to play, our keeper conceded one I'd bet he'd like to have back, an effort from outside the area beat him at his near post. We were duly rewarded when Kiczynski popped up again to score from another corner in almost identical fashion in the 83rd minute. However, we were not given any time to celebrate, as Sandecja immediately began to turn the screw. Just 3 minutes later, we conceded from a corner ourselves. A near post effort deflected cruelly off one of our own and into the net for our 2nd own goal of the match! Harsh. Another Sandecja goal, this one in stoppage time, added arguably undeserved gloss.

Game #2: (A) GKS Katowice 0-0

This one really should have been a smash and grab in our favor. I was really proud of my players - we set the stall out to defend and did so admirably, limiting their chances and forcing long range efforts. In the 81st minute, a counter produced a penalty. Up stepped our best penalty taker (on the pitch at the time), our captain and keeper. Wouldn't you know it, he put it wide of the post. Sour taste.

Game #3: (H) Flota 4-2

Cagey opening, fell behind in the 27th, but responded from a corner within 10 minutes. So, after 3 matches, we'd managed 3 goals to that point, all of them from corners. That belied our ability, really. Two minutes after equalizing, a brilliant through ball later and we had the lead. We never looked back, taking a 3-1 lead after Bala and his strike partner worked an intelligent one-two. A late Flota goal made it interesting, but this time it was us who added another in stoppage time to make the victory certain. An even match decided by our superior incisiveness and inventiveness.

Game #4: (H) Radzionkow 5-2

Three days later and it was another home fixture, so a bit of squad rotation was in order. The type of game we needed to win if we expected to survive in the division. To my pleasant surprise, not only did we do so, but we did so in resounding fashion. Delightfully clinical finishing had us up 3-0 at half time. And from the restart, we had slotted the ball in their net within seconds. The fans were in dreamland. Of course, another own goal from us and a Radzionkow strike less than 5 minutes thereafter conspired to unnerve us. With 52 minutes played, it was 4-2. Game on? Not really, as we popped up with a goal before the hour mark. Surprisingly, that was it. Great, great win.

Game #5: (A) Gornik Zabrze 0-0

We had no business drawing this game. Gornik have the quality of promotion contenders and they had us under the cosh all game long. We had 4 shots on target to their 1, but they attempted many more and struck the woodwork 3 times. Ironically, we had a chance to snatch it late but hit the woodwork ourselves. Still, lady luck smiled on us, all things considered.

Game #6: (H) Ruch Chorzow 1-2

Another match where we'd be lucky to pick up a point, we faced the side I'd actually predicted to win the title in preseason. We played defensively and on the counter all night, struggling to keep them out. We hadn't generated a single thing and they peppered our goal. But wouldn't you know it, on the stroke of half time we took the lead with what had to be our only effort of the half. We looked like sealing a famous victory. But a justly awarded penalty was converted successfully for Ruch to equalize. And, cruelly for us, we conceded a crushing second to throw away the points two minutes from time. To be fair on the visitors, it was no less than they deserved.

Game #7: (H) Warta Poznan 2-1

Another one we'd probably have to win if we really had any grand ambitions, considering we were home and the visitors were tipped to finish slightly below mid-table. The attacked us from the off and took a one goal lead into the changing room at halftime. We opened up and finally produced the quality needed to equalize, hitting them on the counter. It was a relatively even game, with few shots on target (our 3 to their 1). But we kept pushing for the winner and it paid off. In stoppage time, late substitute Urban latched on to an ingenious through ball and lashed home emphatically to give us the 3 points we craved.

TABLE AFTER 7 MATCHES

Hope to maintain this early form, it might even see us push for a promotion place...

Thanks for reading, if you made it!

[Gilbster]

If you're interested, they're that young because they're the result of a merger between Korsnäs IF, Falu BS, and Slätta SK, as evident from the design of their crest:

This is their ground, by the way.

Thats a pretty looking ground. Knowing its a merger explains why apparently the club had soem success before it was formed according to the intro message I had. Not a bad looking logo either.

Can't seem to manage a win in my second season, don't know whats going wrong, I'm ok with first seasons but by second seasons it goes wrong!

[XaW]

I'm going for this, once again. Managed it in Belgium in FM10, so I'm going back. Loading up now.

[Quackje]

Tomaldinho: He sure looks good and I'm desperate for defenders at the moment but on my game Omonoia Nicosia managed to sign him before I could get any money, so I'm still desperate for defenders my only really good one at the moment is 33 now...

[BWZ_Tomek]

JSalter - that's a shame, harsh. Quackje and Tomaldinho - nice writeups and good seasons. That Cristiano looks like a class addition to your team. Fastbasher, good season and writeup, but the link to the league table actually sends you to the finances screen.

I am seeing a few red arrows on my players' attributes. For the old players, this is to be expected. But it's not always the case. Is this caused by a lack of playing time more than anything, or poor training facilities/coaches? I'm assuming a combination of both, as those who are usually in the starting XI haven't really been affected.

Good luck XaW.

[Quackje]

I've seen that on a few players too BWZ, I think it might be due to my terrible coaches or rather, coach. Only after 2 seasons have I felt financially in a position to employ 2 coaches along with my ass man to get that going properly.

[Fastbasher]

Tomeck, thanks. Link fixed now.

Not started the season well. I was impressed by my new Guinean International keeper, so I sold the old keeper for a massive Ł6k. This angered the rest of the team and now my Guinean always seems to be off in African qualifiers when I need him.

I have another player off playing for Tanzania, and two Hungarian youngsters that always seem to be away with the under 19's and under 21's teams without actually playing.

Result

I lost three of my first four league games and got knocked out of the cup by non league Érd. Not a good start to the season.

[XaW]

Belgium - 1st July.

Umm....the reset date is 30th June. I went over, but had an autosave a couple of weeks before, luckily.

[XaW]

As it would happen, the team I won CL with last year came up on my first try. I couldn't help but try it again. XaW is now the new manager or K Berchem Sport 2004!

[Earendil]

Kozakken Boys - Eerste Divisie Season 2011/2012

Competitions

Eerste Divisie Table | Graph

Media Prediction: 18th

Promotion Play-off

Round 2 Leg 1: Kozakken Boys - Excelsior 3-1

Round 2 Leg 2: Excelsior - Kozakken Boys 3-1

Round 2 Decider: Kozakken Boys - Excelsior 1-0

Round 3 Leg 1: Kozakken Boys - Willem II 1-1

Round 3 Leg 2: Willem II - Kozakken Boys 2-3

Dutch Cup

Round 2: Kozakken Boys - FC Eindhoven 0-1

Finances

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

After taking over newly promoted Kozakken Boys, my only aim was to avoid relegation. During the pre-season I managed to sign a lot of older experienced players combined with two younger loaned strikers from Ajax and VVV. They became the backbone of my squad and the key to success.

The start of the league went very well, with three straight victories taking us to the top. The good form kept us going for a few more rounds until we experienced four rounds without a win, taking us down to 9th place. We managed to stay in 9th place until the winter transfer window, where I managed to strengthen the squad, especially on the midfield.

With added depth in the squad, Kozakken saw a slow rise towards the top of the league and we eventually reached a 3rd place before ending up at 4th place in the end. A 4th place meant we entered the promotion play-off in the second round, being drawn against the 2nd placed Excelsior.

The first leg was played at home, and Excelsior disappointingly took the lead after just 2 minutes. However, we didn't give up at that and scored two goals in the first half. The second half did not see much action until the 90th minute where Stroeve scored the important 3-1 goal for us.

In the second leg we were outplayed but managed to score a goal so the final result was 3-1 and that meant a decisive game at home. There we played very defensively and managed to score the first goal in the 80th minute, a lead which we held on to.

The third play-off round saw us drawn against Willem II, who ended up 17th in Eredivisie. The first game was even and the final result was 1-1. The second leg saw Willem take the lead 2-0, but an outstanding performce from our Ajax loan saw us score 3 goals which meant promotion to the Eredivisie!

Aims for next season:

Avoid relegation

Strengthen squad

Make a profit

  Season        Division            Position  Dutch Cup       Europe  Other 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/2012       Eerste Divisie      4th       Second Round    N/A     Promotion!

[Fastbasher]

Nice work Earendil. Promotion in first season is a huge success.

I cant seem to open any of the screenshots though.

[Earendil]

Thanks Fastbasher, I've now fixed the screenshots.

[Fastbasher]

Fantastic profit Earendil. What was the main source of the income?

I'm struggling financially. And everywhere else to be honest.

Is anyone else getting sick of telling 3 or 4 players a month to stop using their weaker foot?

[Earendil]

Fantastic profit Earendil. What was the main source of the income?

I'm struggling financially. And everywhere else to be honest.

Is anyone else getting sick of telling 3 or 4 players a month to stop using their weaker foot?

About half of it was from TV-money which is very good in Holland. One fourth was from gate receipts, I averaged about 3300 per game. Managing in Holland is quite easy, lots of good and cheap players and lots of income from TV licenses.