[FM11] Cymru fo am byth! (Prestatyn)

[DSYoungEsq]

Grats on another great season mate.

Hows the dynamic league system going, do you feel the league is growing in stature?

Is you club growing on a par with your league rise in Europe? e.g. Prize money attendances etc. Your loss to Airbus in the cup may be a reflection that other teams are benefiting from your success.

Yes, we're definitely seeing the benefit of a rise in the prestige of the League, as well as of PTFC. TV Revenue for the WPL has increased dramatically; the coming season will see us rake in over half a million dollars in TV rights for the WPL. That's twice some of the WPL team budgets. Better and better players are willing to transfer to Prestatyn every year; often all I have to do is show interest in a marginally disinterested player for a year and they will eventually say yes to me. Attendance at PTFC games is up significantly, both home and away in the WPL, and in Europe. And I agree that the other WPL teams are seeing a benefit from this, and while I generally still have the advantage, I cannot just assume that we will roll over all Welsh opposition.

Bad luck being beaten by the 'Old Lady'! You really need to get some more fans in though!

Doing something about that, finally!

[Luton Town]

Well done on getting to the 2nd knockout round in the Euro Cup not bad only losing 2-0 on aggregate also

[Flamers]

Nice seeding! Good luck

[DSYoungEsq]

Repeat performance required - 2022/3 Initial Report

The Board expect another season of the same.

The 2023/4 Season Squad. Some upgrades: see below.

The "reserves." These are all people on the way out, with the possible exception of Iwan Nash Y10.

The youth team intake. Nothing remarkable, but one semi-decent player.

I feel this is the watershed year. We've made our mark on Europe with a decidedly worthy performance. It's unlikely that European teams will allow us to sneak up on them like Lokomotiv, Inter and Bayern did last season. The fact that we are truly out of our depth with the big boys of Europe was amply demonstrated at home last season with the thrashing by the Germans. Now, we have in our sights the ability to qualify a fifth Welsh team for Europe, but to accomplish that, we're going to have to repeat last year's performance.

That's not going to be easy. Mark Bradley, on whom we relied for so long in the midfield, has come to the end of his usefulness. Kieran Djilali is fast approaching the age at which wingers stop being dominating presences, and start sucking wind as they try to run by people. Bigger clubs are sniffing around us, trying to pick off the meat from our bones (thanks a LOT, SI, for “solving” the problem of clubs not wanting to buy players! ). As a result, there's going to be some significant transition in this club over the next two years, I think, and that makes consistency a hard thing to achieve.

Fortunately, some seriously decent players are starting to be interested in coming to Bastion Gardens. We've picked up three good signings, one from Spain, for the coming season. Matt Morris, who was on loan with us last season (before tearing up his knee), will now join us from Reading. We're going to be moving up in quality at all positions during the next few seasons.

I've moved to get rid of some marginal players. Sam Taylor is on the way out, as is Albert de Lange. Antony Farley is also going elsewhere. That's three strikers; we've been overstocked on them for some time. Stephan Bergsma – DL is also going; when I signed him, he was my first major foreign signing, and I considered myself lucky to get him. Now he's a marginal player made expendable by the incoming Spaniard. I'll probably be dumping James Baker as well; he simply doesn't have the quality in the middle of the park to play with the Europeans and live.

I have made three good signings, one of whom will join us on July 1:

Chris Turner – SW/DC:

This guy is decidedly better than any of the three DCs I already have. He's got speed, something I've lacked in the middle of the back line. I expect he's going to make both Cornelius Payne and Tom Williamson second-teamers.

Xabier – DL:

An upgrade from Bergsma. 50/50 whether he or Stamp end up the #1 choice at the back; Xabier has some serious speed for the position.

John Gibson – ST:

Joins us from Aston Villa on July 1. Speedy, and my scouts swear by him. I'm not usually a fan of strikers who have plenty of pace and not much creativity or ability, but I need someone to run onto balls in Europe. If he rounds out like the scouts say, he'll be a great pick-up.

Youth Intake was not great, but we did have one player of mediocre note, and a couple others worth tagging:

Antony Morgan Y13 – AMC/ST:

Decent player. Ass Man rates him average in the long run Probably won't get any starts, but might end up being my token U-19 bench player in WPL games.

Richard Pike Y13a – ST:

Mediocre WPL player, eventually.

Gareth Jones Y13b – DL/DC/ML:

Tagged for tracking only. Being a DL might keep him alive in the WPL for longer than would otherwise be expected.

$561K of money for the WPL TV rights this year! This is almost half again last season's rights payment. We are making the WPL a watch-worthy league.

Manager Overview.

Finances.

Boardroom Overview.

[DSYoungEsq]

Well done on getting to the 2nd knockout round in the Euro Cup not bad only losing 2-0 on aggregate also

We did well against Juve. I was proud, even as I shivered in my boots, with memories of the Bayern destruction in my mind.

Nice seeding! Good luck

Can't wait for next next season, when we hopefully get to skip two rounds of the UCL qualifiers!

[Flamers]

Speed is amazing! My fast strikers run riot through the league. 50+ goals between them in 20 games

[DSYoungEsq]

Update tomorrow, but I'll simply say we are through to the Group stage of the UCL again, and this time, we absolutely destroyed Zilina on the way, a team that sent us out of the competition 2-3 on aggregate nine years ago. 12-1 in our favor this time. I'd say we are improved.

Group will be Bayern, Besiktas and Kiev. I think we could even manage a second place in that group, though I'm not counting on more than third.

[tapp]

Great thread ! Keep up the good work But could you post a screenshot with the prize money for finishing place in the WPL ? The one in the "rules" tab ? I'm just curious about the amount of money for each finishing place

[AK22]

You've got some serious money now. Have you made it into the top 100 richest clubs yet?

[I Know Nothin']

How well do you feel the other Welsh Prem teams will fair in Europe?? Or do you think that you'll still be winning those extra Euro spots by yourself again?

[DSYoungEsq]

Great thread ! Keep up the good work But could you post a screenshot with the prize money for finishing place in the WPL ? The one in the "rules" tab ? I'm just curious about the amount of money for each finishing place

Money prizes for 2023-24 WPL.

Money prizes for 2010-11 WPL.

As you can see, a significant change has occurred. $47.5K might not seem like a lot, but it represents a 17-fold increase in prize money.

You've got some serious money now. Have you made it into the top 100 richest clubs yet?

Not even close. We are worth $25M; the 100th club is Flumisense at $81M. Barça are top at $1.05B.

How well do you feel the other Welsh Prem teams will fair in Europe?? Or do you think that you'll still be winning those extra Euro spots by yourself again?

Good news here. This season, the EURO Cup participants from the WPL fared pretty well. Llanelli were dumped in the First Qual. Rd. by Armenia's Mika, but they managed an away draw before losing narrowly at home 0-1. Havorfordwest took out U.C. Dublin in the 2nd Qual Rd. (HW, AX) before losing in the 3rd Qual. Rd. to Mattersburg of Austria pretty comprehensively. (0-9 agg.). The 3rd Rd. entrant, TNS, dispatched Inter Baku of Azerbaijan, before losing to Nantes in the 4th Qual. Rd. (a 0-6 result in Nantes in the first leg rather quickly ended any hope of a group stage for them). So my fellow WPL teams managed 2-3-5 all told, a solid result. Add in my 6-0-0 record in the three qualifying rounds I played, and the Welsh teams will divvy up some nice coefficient points this season.

More importantly, TNS is VERY close to being able to make the EURO Cup group stage. A slightly more favorable draw in the 4th Rd. would have seen them through. I'm betting they'll manage it sometime in the next five years.

[DSYoungEsq]

On track – Qualifying Phase report - 2023/4

Notice: Only one loss so far, and no draws!

My squad. The lineup is for our Europe games.

This year, we are doing quite well. Europe was a cake-walk, and the first two League games have seen off two decent teams with no real trouble. We might really be getting good!

Europe:

Our first hurdle was FK Rabotnički, of Skopje, FYR Macedonia. We welcomed them to our temporary home at Maesdu Park (Bastion Gardens is undergoing expansion; we're getting a whopping 800 new seats!). We spanked them 4-0, then sent them home. A week later, we finished the job, though I was disappointed in the 2-1 scoreline since I didn't think they really should have been able to score on us. However, given that Ben Brook – GK had managed to injure himself lifting weights just before the start of the season, forcing me to scramble for a decent 'keeper to cover for him, I didn't get too upset.

Next up on the menu was FC Inter Turku, of Finland. This club is relatively new, founded in 1990. But they play some quality footie at the Veritas Stadion; they've been in Europe 6 of the last 14 seasons. We took our own quality footie to the shores of the Bothnian gulf and dominated the game, leaving 2-0 winnners. A 3-0 scoreline at Maesdu Park demonstrated that Welsh seaside soccer is currently better than Finnish seaside soccer.

At that point, it became old home week for us. Our Playoff opponents were MSK Zilina, of Slovakia. We had run into them back in the 2014 European campaign, and they had sent us packing 2-3 losers on aggregate. I was interested to see how much improvement we had made in the interim. (OOC: one way they've changed is that back then, they were about 50% greyed out players; now they only have a couple). Well, our opening leg at the Pod Dubnom made the difference clear: 6-0 winners in a game that could have had even more goals. The result at Maesdu Park was no different: 6-1 (we gifted them one). An aggregate 12-1 is a bit better than an aggregate 2-3. Clearly, we have improved significantly over the last nine years!

Now, I always complain about the UCL group draw we get. Probably, most people are tired of it; some no doubt refer to me as a mini-Wenger in this regard. But I have no complaints this season. We've been drawn with Bayern Munich, Besiktas, and Dinamo Kyiv. I personally will be very unhappy if we don't manage two wins minimum (one each from Dinamo and Besiktas), and if we can get two draws to go with them, we're going to be finishing 2nd and be through to the knockout rounds of the UCL (where no doubt we'll get thoroughly spanked by someone really good). If we don't finish at least 3rd, we've really bottled it, I think.

Home Front:

I've decided to really focus on the WPL this season. This year, with proper attention to detail, I think we can go undefeated, with fewer than 10 goals allowed. In recent seasons, it's been so easy to win that I've not bothered much with tactical issues on game day. This year, I'm paying as much attention to the WPL games as I am to the European games. I intend to set a mark that lasts for a long time.

So far, so good. Two wins in two played, and both were quite comfortable. Further, both were played with our second team on the field, as we had midweek dates with Zilina following them. The team is really in good spirits, and playing very good soccer. I don't sense any real weaknesses in the team this year. This could be the season we do something special in Wales.

I have added a couple players:

Álex Padrón –AM/M L/C:

Brought in to give me some options in the middle and left sides of the park. Wasn't sure how Matt Morris would do returning from major knee surgery and almost a year off. Padrón is well-rounded, and although not pacey, can hold his own in any tactical scheme I throw out. As a freebie, should do well for us.

Keith Faulkner – GK:

Ben Brook managed to strain his chest muscles less than a week before our opening European game. I've not been impressed with Nathan Passmore Y9, who never has lived up to any of his promise (probably because he's only played Reserve and Youth games). So I went out and grabbed Faulkner, who was available on a free, having been dumped from the Aston Villa youth program. His abilities seem much the same as Passmore, but he's got more determination, and a better work ethic, in my opinion. Did very well for us, substituting for Brook in the early stages of Europe.

As for departures, that's been interesting. I was able to ship out Chris Proctor – DC/DM/MC, who was surplus to requirements at the back, for $70K to Hibernians. Then, I got a request from a couple clubs to buy Dean Young – MC. He's never really excited me as much as I thought he would, and Paul Young promises much at that position. So I quoted twice his “value” and next thing I knew, off he went to Portsmouth for a cool $110K.

At that point, I put my foot down. Clubs are now circling around, making offers for all my good young players: Danny Jordan, Roddy Morrison, Jordan Stamp, etc. If I was willing, I could sell off about five players for almost $1M. But, of course, if I did that, I'd have a much less capable team left. So I am not doing that. But, of course, I've had to upgrade some salaries to keep the desirables happy with staying here. Salary costs are starting to worry me, though I'm well under the Board's limits. If we ever don't make the UCL groups, we'll take a real financial hit.

Transfers so far this season. Includes the usual youth players who have reached 18 and not excelled.

Poland U-19s

This has been a very difficult experience. I can't even recall if I updated last spring's efforts in the second phase of U-19 championship qualifying; we were comprehensively dismissed by Germany and France, after barely drawing with the Swiss. The pundits keep saying we should be winning all our games; not sure which Polish players THEY think I have available, but the ones who I'm able to play often couldn't make the first team at Prestatyn Town FC! We just played a friendly with the Germans and got hammered at home 1-6. I'm sticking around for the fall qualifying group; once we manage to scrape past that, I'll hand in my resignation and await a better international opportunity.

Manager overview.

Finances.

Boardroom Overview. Notice that they've agreed to another expansion of the Youth Facilities. Now, if I can only get Youth Recruitment off of basic!

In other news:

Last year at this time, I noted that Alex Nimely signed a significant contract extension with Hull. This year, he's decided to retire at the end of the season, as he's not getting playing time. Won't even talk to anyone about possibly transfering. At 32, he's done. How brief the flame of success can be for the moth that hovers there.

Also, Welsh clubs were very successful in Europe this year. TNS almost managed to get to the EURO Cup groups; a more favorable draw than Nantes in the 4th Round would have seen them through. Haverfordwest won their first round, before getting hammered out. And although Llanelli didn't win their 1st Qual. Rd. tie, they did draw one game before going out on an unfortunate 0-1 home loss. Welsh footie is starting to make some decent noise in Europe!

Finally, those who keep track of such things will be happy to know that our season tix are now up to 51! That's an increase of 7 over our first 10 years. Improvement comes in all shapes and sizes.

[RavingLibDem]

Sad times on Afan Lido not making Europe! On my file I made it in, having finished second and winning the welsh cup, but ran up against a much better Cypriot team! Makes me really appreciate how amazing your european achievements are :-)

[Luton Town]

A lot of friendly's in there do you think that that was to many as by the time the season starts your players have play 14 games in under 2 months so your players might be starting to get a bit tired.

[Flamers]

I have a lot of friendlies due to my long preseason, a game every 3-4 days helps the whole squad get into shape IMHO. It's each to there own though

[DSYoungEsq]

Sad times on Afan Lido not making Europe! On my file I made it in, having finished second and winning the welsh cup, but ran up against a much better Cypriot team! Makes me really appreciate how amazing your european achievements are :-)

I was quite surprised by this. They've done well, recently. I assume they'll bounce back.

A lot of friendly's in there do you think that that was to many as by the time the season starts your players have play 14 games in under 2 months so your players might be starting to get a bit tired.

It's not as many as it looks. My usual schedule is to have the First Team play four friendlies prior to the start of European competition. Then, the second team and the promising youth play a series of Friday or Saturday frienlies to keep them in shape for the beginning of the WPL in mid-August. I do this because there are essentially two starting elevens: a European 11 and a League 11. The League 11 stop being a separate entity once European group play is done in mid-December.

This season, I made a small error: I didn't realize it was a Calendar Creep Re-set year. Thus, I scheduled the first four friendlies a week earlier than I should have, leaving me a gap until the start of Europe (the Tottenham game was supposed to be the last warm-up). So I had to schedule a quick Wednesday game to keep the European 11 fit and ready.

I have a lot of friendlies due to my long preseason, a game every 3-4 days helps the whole squad get into shape IMHO. It's each to there own though

I tend to agree that getting in shape is a good thing. Match fitness is really important, especially against European teams with more skilled players.

[dtj27]

Great read DSYoung, Really enjoying it so far!!

How do you manage to keep you motivation though? It is almost a though you are going through the motions domestically, and all of your energy goes into Europe. I would have got really peed off playing teams week-in-week-out who aren't fit to lace your Prestatyn boys boots!!

[Flamers]

For me I use domestic fixtures to test tactics and see how well they work, I also use domestic fixtures to train up my youth and give them game time

[RichG]

I think you are a bit stuck now for the next 2-3 seasons. You need a real explosion on the attendance front to make that jump

[RavingLibDem]

I think you are a bit stuck now for the next 2-3 seasons. You need a real explosion on the attendance front to make that jump

Or, if Prize and TV money continues to rise, and a little bit more reputation means the money could be used more effectively!

[I Know Nothin']

No, I think a lucky draw in Europe will see a good run and really raise the reputation of the club. At the moment he is earning enough money from Europe that the attendance is having little affect. But obviously it would provide a massive advantage to hs cause.

[DSYoungEsq]

Europe: it tastes so good, you can't stop! – Europe Group report - 2023/4

My squad.

As the song says, how you gonna keep them down on the farm when they've seen Gay Paree!?

Europe:

I felt this group had potential for us. The pundits disagreed with me. Fortunately, I was right. But I wasn't really ready for the reason I was right.

We held Besiktas, Dinamo, and Bayern to a total of 3 goals scored against us over 6 games! That includes a 2-0 Bayern win and a 1-0 Besiktas win, both away from Bastion Gardens. Of course, in the course of those six games, we didn't score a single goal. Not one. And this was NOT from a lack of trying.

The game that got us third place in the group was the home match against Bayern. As you will recall, last season they came in and humiliated us 7-0. This season, they came in, and we held them scoreless. The resulting 0-0 draw meant we eventually took 4 pts from the group, ahead of Kyiv's 3. So it's springtime footie again.

And this year, we got an even better draw than last year: Sparta Prague. We've already proven we can beat them, having done so a few years past in qualifying rounds for Europe. So we have a good chance of another Round of 16 appearance in the EURO Cup. A name, we are, in Europe.

Home Front:

As good as Europe has been, the home front has been even more awesome. All domestic competitions combined, our record is 17-1-1. And in the WPL, we have allowed only 5 goals in 15 played, while scoring 45 (more than twice the second best team). We are 15 pts ahead of second place, after 15 played.

Our only blemish was a big one, though. Non-League side Port Talbot caught us thinking of Europe in our first Welsh Cup match of the season, and sent us packing with a comprehensive defeat. I proceeded to advise the players I was more than mildly miffed at the performance, and they have generally responded marvelously.

Our attendance is up again this year. We're averaging almost 500 at Maesdu Park. The expansion at Bastion Gardens should allow this to continue. Hopefully, the crowds will like the shiny new stands. With the new training facilities, we'll be a better team to watch.

It's gonna be quite a year!

Manager overview.

Financials.

Finally, in sad news:

The Welsh National Team job opened up again. And, again, I'm not the person they picked. I am in the running for Welsh U-21 coach, though.

[DSYoungEsq]

Great read DSYoung, Really enjoying it so far!!

How do you manage to keep you motivation though? It is almost a though you are going through the motions domestically, and all of your energy goes into Europe. I would have got really peed off playing teams week-in-week-out who aren't fit to lace your Prestatyn boys boots!!

This season, I've re-invigorated myself domestically with an attempt to really dominate the WPL. What I'll do next season, I don't know. It is a bit going-through-the-motions at times.

For me I use domestic fixtures to test tactics and see how well they work, I also use domestic fixtures to train up my youth and give them game time

Youth training, definitely a good use for domestic league games.

I think you are a bit stuck now for the next 2-3 seasons. You need a real explosion on the attendance front to make that jump

Or, if Prize and TV money continues to rise, and a little bit more reputation means the money could be used more effectively!

No' date=' I think a lucky draw in Europe will see a good run and really raise the reputation of the club. At the moment he is earning enough money from Europe that the attendance is having little affect. But obviously it would provide a massive advantage to hs cause.[/quote']

Well, our reputation is really reaching the point where we don't have that many peers. A good year this year, as we appear to be having, should see us into the top 50 clubs in Europe. But the continuing lack of status of the WPL is what really hurts us. Players who should covet a spot on my squad won't touch me, because who wants to be spending gameday in a 500 seat stadium?

I'm just trying to plod along and play the tortoise to the hares around me.

[Flamers]

How else are the youths meant to learn?

[AK22]

Love the fact you didn't score a goal but still managed to finish above Kiev! It seems you've got your own iron curtain for European matches!

[DSYoungEsq]

We have a very well-organized defense right now. I finally have some height in the center backs, so they cut out a lot coming off the wings, and that means I can steer the play out wide without running much risk of giving up a goal. And against the big teams, I've modified my set-up to a 5-1-2-1-1, not quite so defensive as it used to be, but still plenty behind the ball when needed.

[Flamers]

I find 3 at the back works as well cos your MR/L drop back and help if needed

[Raware]

Not had time recently to be on the boards but glad to see things still going well for you .

[DSYoungEsq]

Since Europe became our focus, I've dropped the 22-game Mid-Season report (when the WPL splits into the Relegation Group and the Championship Group). This year, though, I have to post the above table and do some crowing. Note our complete dominance over the table. If not for one slight slip against Neath (when we were more focused on the upcoming Dinamo Kyiv match), we'd be darn near perfect. 5 goals allowed in 22 games is an amazing statistic. And a goal differential of +63 is ridiculous. We are winning our average game so far 3-0. We've got at least a 22 point lead on 2nd place, going into the last 10 games (the two teams tied for 2nd have a game to play still).

At the other end of the table, sadly Afan Lido are in a race to the bottom with two other "newbies" to the League, Goytre and this year's promotees, C&C. I'd like to see all three stay up, but unless Airbus manages to out-do their ineptitude, it's likely one of them will say good-bye. My bet is on C&C.

[DSYoungEsq]

Not had time recently to be on the boards but glad to see things still going well for you .

Been wondering where you were. Was expecting life had gotten ahold of you. Thanks for the support!

[Luton Town]

Don't think you will win the league this season

[Raware]

Been wondering where you were. Was expecting life had gotten ahold of you. Thanks for the support!

Yeah, as much as i'd love to stay in my little FM world, unfortunately it won't pay the bills!

[RavingLibDem]

Since Europe became our focus, I've dropped the 22-game Mid-Season report (when the WPL splits into the Relegation Group and the Championship Group). This year, though, I have to post the above table and do some crowing. Note our complete dominance over the table. If not for one slight slip against Neath (when we were more focused on the upcoming Dinamo Kyiv match), we'd be darn near perfect. 5 goals allowed in 22 games is an amazing statistic. And a goal differential of +63 is ridiculous. We are winning our average game so far 3-0. We've got at least a 22 point lead on 2nd place, going into the last 10 games (the two teams tied for 2nd have a game to play still).

At the other end of the table, sadly Afan Lido are in a race to the bottom with two other "newbies" to the League, Goytre and this year's promotees, C&C. I'd like to see all three stay up, but unless Airbus manages to out-do their ineptitude, it's likely one of them will say good-bye. My bet is on C&C.

This update has been unkind to Afan Lido, after just missing out on the double last year, and starting this year strongly, I applied the patch, and since that have drawn 7 games in a row, with a last minute goal for me or them in each game! I am not amused to say the least, and it seems that the update has certainly changed the performance of some of my players...

[DSYoungEsq]

Worry not! As will be shown shortly, Afan Lido recover to retain their place.

And the update can't directly change the performance of already existing players: the database updates only affect new games. Of course, there might be secondary effects from changes to the match engine...

[DSYoungEsq]

Peerless in Wales - The 2023-4 End of Season Report

The Welsh Cup (last four rounds)

The League Cup

The Squad.

The Squad's stats (combined).

The Reserves. These are mostly people on the way out.

The Youth Rated.

Prestatyn Town Football Club have no peers in Wales. With only one small blemish on the record, 2023-4 has proven that no Welsh clubs can keep up with us. We are now THE dominant team in the country. Just don't ask about the Welsh Cup.

Europe

Our second season of Spring Football in Europe was equally, if not more impressive as our first. We were placed against Sparta Prague in the first tie, and I had a good feeling there, because we beat Sparta Prague back in 2018/9's qualifying campaign (two fairly energetic ties, a 4-2 win and a 5-5 draw!). And my good feeling was justified, as we smashed the Czechs out of the way at home, before completing the job at their place without much trouble. You'd think by now, European clubs would recognize we are a tough nut to crack.

You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. Drawn against Internazionale Milan, we went into the Giuseppe Meazza, and faced a weak team of reserve players. The move backfired against the Milanese, when we stifled their uncreative players and snatched a goal at the end of the game to run out 1-0 winners. Of course, when you poke a hornet's nest with a stick, the hornets boil out, and it wasn't too difficult to predict that the full squad of Nerazurri would take the pitch at newly refurbished Bastion Gardens. We weren't able to stop them from doing what they do so well, and they left winners of the tie on their way to the final of the EURO Cup.

I've decided that we don't over-achieve. We do this year-in, year-out. Therefore, it's what we're capable of. Obviously, when the larger clubs stop being complacent, we can be taken down hard (such as the 7-0 clock-cleaning Bayern administered last season). But if you don't play your best against us, we're likely to steal the points from you. Our goal next season is to see if we can stay in the Champion's League to do our stealing.

Wales

The WPL was over by Christmas, really. We simply didn't let anyone have a chance. Our final record shows only two mild blemishes: the early 0-0 Neath draw, and a 1-1 Aberystwyth aberration. We have set a record for points in a season which shatters the old record, we've set a record for goals scored, we've allowed only 7 goals all season in the League. And we've done it to increasingly bigger crowds; our biggest was the last game of the season, with over 1000 in attendance. As the League individual stats show, we dominated.

The League Cup was also easily won, even though I used the “reserve” players in it. It's worth a bit more than it was in 2010! Thankfully, they didn't drop that particular piece of silverware. They DID, however, get dumped out of the Welsh Cup at the first asking, by a non-League side. The only consolation was the nice, easy run-in, with the uncrowded domestic schedule that resulted. THAT particular piece of silverware gets returned next season, even if I have to play our top players all rounds to do it.

To give you an idea how dominate PTFC were this season: we not only smashed our way to the WPL crown, we won the Reserves going away (we're on a 51 game unbeaten run in the reserve league!), and we won the U-19 league as well. It was a complete, comprehensive domination.

Squad tinkering continues. When Kevin Irvine went down with an injury right before the European springtime games, I went and grabbed a loan player from Manchester United. Then I grabbed a promising young right wing who has a good left foot as well.

Andy Pearce – M/AM R:

I brought this player in during the fall for a trial, then tried to sign him, impressed with his potential versatility side to side. Sadly, his agent made demands that couldn't be met, so I broke off negotiations. When Pearce dumped the agent at the beginning of the year, I promptly re-opened the discussion. He was amenable to reasonable terms, and was a large part of the run-in success, spelling Michal Bortnik.

Sam Johnson – M/AM C / ST:

I've got a good feeling that Sam will join us shortly. He's on loan to us from Manchester United, but he's not good enough for that club, so they will be letting him go on 6/30. He's not willing to believe that, yet, so he won't sign with us permanently. But when they let him go, I'll be ready to pounce and grab him.

In addition, I've got a nice Italian midfielder who will make a great addition to the center of the park. He'd be my first Italian player, a real indication we're starting to be noticed and respected in Europe. Irvine has hit 28 with no sign that he's going to improve any more, and while he's still our dominate midfielder, he's not going to take us forward. A good Italian young stud should do the trick for us.

The WPL Player Statistics. Odds are Danny Jorday will be WPL PoY.

Manager Overview.

Boardroom overview. New Youth Facilities in the works.

Finances. Great year for us!

Last note: we have a new team goals scored in a season record-holder: John Gibson. That's notable only because it breaks a record set by Stuart Fleetwood way back in 2013-4!!

[AK22]

Well done on winning in Milan, great achievement. Shame they battered you in the return leg, I'm sure going down to 10 men in the first half made you curse!

[RavingLibDem]

Congrats! and your probably right, but it is still frustrating for my team to suddenly go off the boil, and I do have a feeling it may have affected my tactics, so I'm tinkering with them for now!

[DSYoungEsq]

Well done on winning in Milan, great achievement. Shame they battered you in the return leg, I'm sure going down to 10 men in the first half made you curse!

I was, as they put it, "mildly displeased."

[rancer890]

DSYoungEsq, great progress in Europe overall. Beating up Milan in the 1st leg must be have pleasing. Keep it up.

[DSYoungEsq]

DSYoungEsq, great progress in Europe overall. Beating up Milan in the 1st leg must be have pleasing. Keep it up.

For 87 min., I simply prayed we could keep it 0-0. I thought that would be an awesome result. Then the ball went in the net, my jaw dropped open, and I quickly rearranged the defense to prevent a real let-down by giving up a tying goal. Then I simply watched in stunned surprise while we saw the result out. At the start of the game, I would never have given us a chance of winning. Best result we've ever had, even if it was obtained against their "B" lineup.

[!.m.!]

I have been reading this often recently although never have before commented. I think what you have done is fantastic and also inspiring. I don't know i you have put these up recently already but if not could you post screenshots of your manager profile and history pages, I'm curious to see how they appear after so many seasons.

Thanks

[DSYoungEsq]

I have been reading this often recently although never have before commented. I think what you have done is fantastic and also inspiring. I don't know i you have put these up recently already but if not could you post screenshots of your manager profile and history pages, I'm curious to see how they appear after so many seasons.

Thanks

Funny you mention them. I felt the same way about them, so I took screenies of them at the start of the 2024-5 campaign. As soon as I get to writing that update up, I'll post them with it.

[DSYoungEsq]

The Year End Summary - 2023/4

Results:

WPL: 1st 40 pts. ahead of Llanelli

WC: Lost in Rd. 3 0-1 v. Port Talbot (won by Llanelli 6-0 over Caerleon)

LC: Won 2-0 v. Llanelli

Europe: Won 1st tie v. FK Rabotnicki Skopje (MKD) 6-1 2nd Qual Phase UCL (Champions)

Won 2nd tie v. FC Inter Turku (FIN) 5-0 3rd Qual Phase UCL (Champions)

Won 3rd tie v. MSK Zilina (SVK) 12-1 Playoff UCL (Champions)

Finished 3rd UCL Cup Group E W0 D4 L2 Pts 4

0-2-0 v Dinamo Kyiv (UKR) 0-0 A, 0-0 H

0-1-1 v Besiktas (TUR) 0-0 H, 0-1 A

0-1-1 v FC Bayern (GER) 0-0 H, 0-2 A

Won EURO Cup 1st Knockout Round tie v. Sparta Prague (CZE) 3-0 H, 2-1 A

Lost EURO Cup 2nd Knockout Round tie v. Internazionale Milan (ITA) 1-0 A, 0-4 H

Prestatyn Town FC Honors

Welsh Footballer of the Year (2023):

Kieran Djilali. An amazing accomplishment! The Welsh National Team still has some very heavy hitters on it. Not sure why I didn't get a screenie of this!

WPL Player of the Year:

Danny Jordan Should have been striker John Gibson, who tallied 19 goals in the WPL, but 6 of them came after the ballot came out.

WPL Young Player of the Year:

Ben Brook Finally recognized for his excellent work as a 'keeper.

WPL Top Goalscorer:

John Gibson I rarely have this person, as my attack is usually very balanced. But this guy just has a nose for goal.

WPL Team of the Season: Eight of the eleven again this year: – Ben Brook, Jordan Stamp, Roddy Morrison, Chris Turner, Kieran Djilali, Danny Jordan, Kevin Irvine, John Gibson. Don't let the colors fool you: Phil Morris Y7 is not from PTFC any more. Good to see my youth recruits succeeding elsewhere.

Fan's Player of the Year: Kieran Djilali. Must be his smile; he wins every year now.

WPL Manager of the Year:

Once again, Robbie Savage buys it away from me!. Not really. Looking at Llanelli's record, he did an excellent job. Second in League, Welsh Cup winners, League Cup runners up. It's only a bad decision because of the way we dominated the League this season.

News for Prestatyn Town FC:

Prestatyn are now 48th in Europe. That puts us close to the English clubs. Being ranked with Roma, Valencia and Español is doing well. Three more years of identical results in Europe would see us into the top 30 clubs.

The Wales Season Summary. A good year for Prestatyn Town FC.

Profit for the season was good, even with a dividend paid. Total profit $5M on turnover of $16.75M. We have to start paying attention to finances a bit more; this is a drop in profit on much the same result in prizes. Of course, we are expanding youth facilities, and did issue another dividend, but at some point, salaries are going to overtake the value of the prize money from participating in the UCL.

We had record attendance for the WPL. This makes me chuckle when I consider what we used to average 15 seasons ago!

Kieran Djilali set a WPL record for average rating for a season. I don't usually report this, since it's dependent upon how many games, and which ones, you get picked for. But in this case, he started 14 times and finished with 8 goals, 7 assists, was MoM 4 times, and had a very good rating. It shows he's still the team's best overall player, even after nine seasons with us.

News about Wales and the World:

Wales' world ranking 22nd, that's 16 places up.

The WPL makes a move up in Europe to 51st. That's a 2.5 star league now in reputation!!

Wales has finally gained a fifth European team for 2025. Sitting at 15th place, we now get two teams in the UCL, both entered at the 3rd Qual. Rd. The EURO Cup placements are now one 2nd Rd., one 3rd Rd., and one 4th Rd. If Wales moves up three more slots, it gets the WPL Champion in the Group stage automatically.

The WPL's European placements are more normal this year.

In other news of the world:

There was none. Very quiet year.

[DSYoungEsq]

Time to wow 'em! - 2024/5 Initial Report

The Board expect another season of the same. One of these days, they are going to up the ante on Europe.

The 2024/5 Season Squad.

The "reserves." These are all people on the way out.

The youth team intake. Mostly junk. Clearly, recruiting is NOT sufficiently related to quality of facilities or reputation of team.

Last season, I predicted some significant changes to the squad over the course of two seasons. So far, that prediction is holding true, and my aim is to follow through this season with completion of the revamp. We are getting serious looks from decent players, and I aim to snap a few up.

We also have to establish a consistent presence in Europe with qualification out of the UCL group into one or the other knockout competition. So far, that's been a function of the draw, but the fact we could hold Bayern 0-0 at home, and beat Inter Milan 1-0 away (albeit against their secondary players) shows our squad is becoming decent enough in its own right. If I can continue the upgrade, the result should be Spring Europe Footie for the forseeable future.

Everyone expects us to do well in the WPL. Kind of expected.

The alarm bells are beginning to ring in my head about money. So far, making the UCL groups has been all we need to bump up our cash reserves by some $5M a year, even after dividend payouts and facilities upgrades. But if we are going to go after better players, there's going to be a significant impact on salaries, not to mention the fact I expect to have to splash some agent and signing fee cash. If we can't start pulling in revenue from our WPL and endorsement endeavors, we'll reach a point where the money from Europe won't cover the cost of the players getting us there.

We're going to see some turnover this season. I've already designated Cornelius Payne and James Baker for departure; each has done admirably in their roles, but each has become surplus to requirements. Also on their way out this year, if I can manage it, will be Matt Morris and Kevin Irvine. Selling off Irvine will be a real wrench; he is, in my mind, the best player we've ever had, versatile and skilled. But I have my eye on some better midfielders who, if I can land, will make him an unnecessary resource. I've had some really large offers for him, so I expect I can sell him for a very good price.

I have made one signing:

Denis Bartolini – MC:

My first Italian signing. An indication we are on our way. He's at least as good as Irvine, and has better potential.

Youth Intake was **** poor. However, one player did get a tag:

Simon Jones Y14 – ML:

Probably won't even be able to play for mediocre WPL teams. Upsets me that this is what our intake pulls in still.

$770K of money for the WPL TV rights this year! The money in the League is beginning to really take off. Hopefully, the other teams can use this to get players that allow them to survive in Europe. If we could get just one WPL team into a EURO Cup group, it would be awesome!

Manager Overview.

Finances.

Boardroom Overview. Youth facilities upgrade done in Oct.

As manager of the U-19 Polish squad, we've been drawn into a tough group for the U-19 Championships in July. I doubt we'll finish any place but bottom. I'll manage the games, then I'll resign the position. Poland's youth are too inconsistent, and as youth coach, I cannot make changes that are needed to their tactical understanding of the game.

Finally, I wanted to take stock of myself after all this time. This is my 15th season as PTFC's manager. I thought it might be interesting to see how the world views me at this point:

Manager Attributes: I find the tactical summary quite surprising, because in at least 95% of my games, the players play with an aggressive pressing and tackling style. I also prefer a 4-2-2-2 to a strict 4-4-2, using attacking wingers as opposed to wide midfielders. But I'm aware the game views that as a 4-4-2 variation. I also note that I'm getting old.

Manager Information: I speak Polish and Spanish, in addition to Welsh and English. Polish comes from the international job; Spanish presumably from having a few Spanish players on the team. I'm a legendary coach with a world class reputation, but no teams are interested in me in the slightest. Ahuh.

Manager History: Interesting only for the overwhelming positive nature of the stats, created by the fact I've dominated the domestic league for so long. Well, that and the fact I've played over 5000 game days!!

[DSYoungEsq]

Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej

Poland Under-19 National Football Team: 2024 European Championships

2024 European U-19 Championship Qualifying Group 7 Results

2024 European U-19 Championship Group A Results

2024 European U-19 Championship Group B Results

2024 European U-19 Championship Knockouts

I didn't report on the 2023 results with a separate post. Suffice it to say we managed to qualify for the second set of qualifying matches, which is the feat that my predecessor failed to accomplish, resulting in his dismissal. I didn't have much hope of making it out of the second qualifying round; you have to finish first in your group to get to the finals. I wasn't helped by the fact that the friendly schedule got all messed up between what I wanted to have for games and what the national team's management scheduled instead.

Poland 0-0 Belgium: A decent start. We have a pourous defense at times, and to manage a clean sheet was encouraging. Of course, the Belgians are expected to do the worst in the group (amazingly, San Marino have put together a decent team!). Improvement needed up top for the last two games.

Ukraine 1-2 Poland: A very pleasing surprise. We not only played well at the back, we managed to break through in the second half with a goal to win. Squad morale improving as a result!

San Marino 1-3 Poland: Left this a bit late, we did. As it turned out, a draw would have qualified us anyway. But the two late goals against the Marinese made sure of our progression to July's finals in Denmark.

The draw for the finals was brutal. Our group had Holland, Italy and Spain; the other group had France, Portugal, Denmark and Turkey. I knew going in that we were likely to finish fourth, but I hoped to upset an apple cart or two on the way through the teams.

Poland 0-2 Spain: Well, it wasn't Spain's apple cart. They scored 3 min. in to make us aware they intended to win. Then they made sure we couldn't shoot even though we had 50% of the possession. I felt at the time they demonstrated they were the pick of the litter at the finals.

Holland 1-0 Poland: But it could have been Holland's, had we been a bit more confident. We had plenty of possession, plenty of chances. Sadly, none of them went in.

This knocked us out, regardless of the result against Italy. Meanwhile, Italy take out Spain, having drawn with the Dutch, leaving a mess at the top of the table. We can still have a massive say in who goes on.

Poland 5-4 Italy: It was Italy's apple cart that hit the speed bump. We suddenly woke up and started putting the ball in the net. 4-0 at the end of the first half and I was quite happy. But the Italians are good, and their coach fired them up. The second half saw them wake, and although we manage to restore a 5-1 lead, they stormed back late. The red card we picked up in the 78th min. didn't help matters; two Italian goals followed immediately. We finally recovered our composure, and saw the win out. But the quality of our defense is demonstrated by the scoreline.

However, the last two goals we allowed saw Italy through over Holland. I'm sure the Dutch weren't too pleased about that.

I was right about the relative qualities of the two groups: neither team from Group B won their knockout game, so the Spanish and the Italians played again for the final. The result was what I thought it should be: Spain winning, though they had to come from behind late to do it.

This was my last contribution to the Poland Under-19s. They are a frustrating nation to deal with, and I've not seen a rush of Polish youth to my team. The Welsh U-19 team is still open; perhaps if I'm not attached to Poland, I'll be picked for that opening. But I'd prefer a full national team, if possible.

[DSYoungEsq]

European Championship Finals 2024 (England) Results:

It was hard to be jazzed about this, as Wales didn't even qualify for the Finals. However, it should be noted that the French are now three-time-running Champions. That's an impressive run. And England smothered Scotland in the quarter-finals. I'm sure there was much wailing in Glasgow.

[DSYoungEsq]

Qualifying Phase report - 2024/5

My squad. The lineup is for our Europe games.

If I was to entitle the start to the season, I would say we are “sufficiently good.” We're definitely less dominant so far, despite some significant upgrading of the squad. But in the end run, I expect results will be much as last year, though with any luck, we might sneak past the second knockout round in the EURO Cup.

Europe:

In a first for us, we met a team from the Faroe Islands in the Second Qualifying Round. Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag avoided the First Qualifying Round by virtue of the North Irish team being dropped to that indignity. It didn't help KÍ any, as we smashed them 7-0, before heading off to the not-so-frozen Faroes to complete the job 4-0.

We then took on Zilina of Slovakia for the third time in our history, and for the second year running. They did better than last season, giving us something of a game at our place before making us sweat out a 2-1 win at the Pod Dubnom. I'm sure they are tired of us by now.

PFC Slavia Sofia flew up from Bulgaria next. We gutted out a 2-1 win, which put our survival into the Champions League groups in doubt. But we proceeded to do the job in Sofia, as we ran out of Slavia Stadium 6-2 winners. It wasn't all as easy as it sounds, though: Slavia scored first, to put themselves up on the away goals rule. We then traded goals, which would see us into extra time. But five late Seasider goals sealed the deal for us.

The group this time is about average for the UCL. I highly doubt we can seriously trouble City or Madrid, though we might sting them like we've stung others lately. But we certainly should see off the challenge of SK Sigma Olomouc (CZE) to finish in third, and qualify us once again for knockout play in the EURO Cup.

Home Front:

Last season was the season of the decade in Wales for us. This season, I'm not so excited about Wales. I think we can win without sweating it too much. I intend to blood some youngsters and see if maybe we can get them to be better than they are rated. If nothing else, it should showcase them so they command decent transfer offers from other WPL clubs.

I have been a busy beaver in the squad building way. Over the last month, a number of really quality players have started to signal they are willing to come to Bastion Gardens to ply their trade. Of course, these players come at a significant cost, between their agent fees and their own demands for signing fees. I've previously always held down signing fees to around $10K, preferring to wait the player out (usually, they eventually dump their agent, and sign for what I'm willing to pay). But now, I'm simply holding my nose, and paying the freight cost. As a result, we have the following additions to PTFC:

Piotr Skrzypczak –GK:

Brought in solely to sit on the bench for the next three years as an U-19 player so I don't have to use valuable bench spots for under-performing youth players to satisfy the WPL requirement. Allowed me to sell off Keith Faulkner for $40K.

Bojan Milovanovic – DM/MC:

I needed a good DM for the European group games, and James Baker simply isn't at that level. This guy is, and he'll easily cover a regular holding midfield slot when needed. At 6' 4”, he's also an imposing figure in the box on corners and long throws.

Gábor Pintér – MC:

Though he doesn't look all that impressive at present, the scouts and the coaches all swear he has the ability to be quite good, better than either Irvine or Bartolini. We'll see: he'll have his chance to prove it.

Tom Rogers – ST/AML:

The first of two excellent strikers who decided to throw in their lots with me. Tom has the added ability to run the left wing, where I expect he'll see a lot of action as Kieran Djilali ends up losing speed over the next couple years. Was very pleased when he said he'd come play for me, though he stiffed me for $110K in signing fees.

Didier Habimana – ST:

I hope this guy is as good as his press. He's very highly rated. He seems to have really good speed. He scored in one of his first matches for the team. AND, he's sitting out most of the season on the bench with a broken leg, obtained in the 71st min. of the game against Slavia. He, too, cost a bundle of fees, but I wasn't willing to let him go elsewhere.

The quality of the players coming in encourages me to believe I'll be able to ship off Irvine and Morris, and perhaps David Saunders and Gary Carr soon. I've had some very good bids for Irvine already, but I turned them down until I knew I had solidity in the middle of the pitch. Seems to me I have that, now.

Poland U-19s

As reported in the last update, I resigned the Poland U-19 position. So far, no added jobs have come my way.

Manager overview.

Finances.

In other news:

Welsh clubs did poorly in Europe this season: all besides me lost in their first ties, none close to going through.

The good news is that the Bastion Gardens expansion has had an impact on attendance and crowds. Now if we can keep that upswell of enthusiasm going!

[Raware]

A surprising early season defeat against Neath there DSYoungEsq but i'm sure it's only a minor blip! A tricky UCL draw too but as you say, qualification for the Europa League should be almost guaranteed. Some interesting signings...how are you finding your scouts finds? Are they regularly finding talent or are they only finding the odd one or two decent prospects?

And as for Englands exit...well, the less said about penalties the better! Nothing changes with us!

[DSYoungEsq]

The scouts are very hit or miss. Some areas of Europe provide a limited number of prospects; some areas provide plenty of prospects, but rated only 2-3 stars potential, and some areas produce plenty of prospects, including a decent number of 4-5 star potentials. Of course, not all those are truly interested in coming to PTFC right off the bat. But Rogers and Habimana were both scout suggestions, as was Bertolini. I also occasionally get a decent recommendation from one of my staff during my weekly backroom advice sessions.

[Coentrao]

Awesome read and your progress in Europe is simply amazing, with a luckier draw i think that winning the Europa League might be a possibility soon.

Good luck!