[FM10] It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Be a Swan) - Featuring Pile o'Stats

[HotChocolate]

Nice to see the board building a new stadium.

[Pangaea]

2029/30 - Walton & Hersham

Championship

Board expectation: Mid table finish

Media expectation: 13th

Odds: 40-1

Season tickets: 1467 (up 3)

Despite the disappointment last season the chairman increased our wage budget to 79,000 a week and gave us 1.7 million to play with.

Transfers

Transfers are dealt with more in-depth here. The main thing is we had to sell players to balance the books. Therefore Matthew Stansfield, Jozef Vyskoc, Stewart Reid and a few others leave, while Ismael Abdullah, Grzegorz Misiewicz and others are recruited. We sell players for 7.75 million and buy for 1.4M, thereby bringing our finances well in the black.

Robert Martin finally signs a new contract, which is fantastic news.

Competitions

League Cup: The League Cup has been good to us lately, and this year was no different. Good win against PL Preston before Sunderland suffer as we are on fire up front by putting 7(!) past them in a 7-1 win, which is a new club record. Everton stop us in the Quarter final by beating us 0-3 in a similarly efficient manner.

FA Cup: We draw a relegation-threatened Liverpool away in the 5th round. They fully deserve the 2-1 win, but we aren't embarrassed. The two trips to Liverpool also earn us some needed money.

League

Last season was nothing short of a big disappointment with erratic form throughout, bar the usual good start. This season starts well again, with Martin in half-decent form..., and we sit pretty in 3rd spot after 16 matches with some good results along the way. Unfortunately it doesn't last. I'm sure you are very surprised to hear that by now! The entire time in the Championship we have started well and looking hot for the playoffs, but when Santa comes calling our results are appalling.

Mid-way we are 8th, however, and certainly not out of it. Results are all over the place though, what is oftentimes called "aquaplaning" in some quarters. Since both my wingers, Garner and Monsen, are natural in AML/AMR a call was made in pre-season to try with pushed up wingers instead of the typical flat 442. It seemed to work well then and in the early season when we scored a lot of goals, but maybe it left us too vulnerable at the back and thus caused us some bad blows. In February they are pulled back again and I go back to a more cautious approach. Early signs look bright, as we beat Nottingham Forest 5-0 away and Bradford 5-2 at home. As the fixtures show, the change in tactical approach (again!) certainly improved matters, but then there are screwballs like the 3-4 loss to a rather out of form Birmingham who hadn't scored in the 6 games before meeting us, and had a 2-2-17 record the last 21 matches. To then let them score four times and beat us...?

9 wins and 5 draws the last 14 games of the season was a bit of a saving grace, and it secured a top-half finish with 10th place. In addition to the probably wrong tactical change this season (remember we did well with the flowing football stuff at the backend of last season though), I suspect the breakdown of the dressing room atmosphere played its part too. Practically the whole backline wants away, which can't do wonders for defensive stability. Overall the team does better than last season, however, so that's a step in the right direction - albeit a small one.

League Fixtures: We really aren't a winter team. I wonder why this happens every season.

League Graph: Good start, but slow decline before the season is saved at the end.

Squad - There is double cover on every position so we are pretty solid in terms of personnel. No grave holes either as most are in the 3-star region.

Finances - Due to all the player sales our economy looks a lot better, though we did lose 3 million over the season with transfer activity exempted.

Pile o'Stats - Gaffney made mistakes that cost us no less than 7 goals. 16-year old Garner played second most minutes, only beaten by Flindt in central defence. I love him already

Key Players

Nicklas Flindt (D RC) - The solid Dane is everpresent in defence with 49 matches.

Grzegorz Misiewicz (DM, M C) - Disciplinary problems with 3 red cards but a great acquisition for us.

Ismal Abdullah (AM RC) - Arab with over 100 caps who both scored and assisted from right wing and central midfield.

Vegard Monsen (AM RC, ST) - My fellow Norwegian also did well from right wing.

Lawrence Garner (AM L, ST) - Our own kid! 16 years old but was marauding down the left wing and was a great danger in the box. Has simply been stunning in his first season.

Robert Martin (AM/F C) - Back to his old best this season. Shame he was injured a fair bit.

Sergei Henn (ST) - Sailing up as the second best striker behind Martin.

Team of the Season - Shows the formation in use most of the season.

Historic Best Eleven - Tidswell was sold so have no idea why he now makes it onto the bench.

Summary and Other News

Not much to say about that. We are just repeating ourselves from seasons past. Good start, crap midle, saving grace finish. Think the breakdown in team morale has something to do with it, in addition to what turned out to be poor tactical decisions. Those seem to haunt me!

Fullback Lewis Wyatt breaks the club record for most apps, and ends the season with 406 league appearances for the club.

Robert Martin makes it into the Championship Players' Select, and finishes runner up in the goalscoring chart.

Next Season

Our stadium will be ready for the start of the 2031/32 season, so it would be perfect to get promoted next season and thus get a shiny new stadium for the introduction to Premier League football. Given our erratic showing the last few seasons that won't be the target though. I just want to see some improvement with a genuine push for playoff again. If we are in the running in April I'll be happy.

Career Summary

[b]
Season   Division                 Pos     FA Cup     League Cup   Other Achievements[/b]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2009-10/EnglishIsthmianLeagueFirstDivisionSouth.png"]2009/10[/url][/b]  Isthmian First South    19th       -            -        Consortium takeover.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2010-11/EnglishIsthmianLeagueFirstDivisionSouth.png"]2010/11[/url][/b]  Isthmian First South     3rd P  2nd Q Rnd       -        New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2011-12/League42.png"]2011/12[/url][/b]  Isthmian Premier         2nd P  3rd Q Rnd       -        Won Isthmian League Cup.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2012-13/BlueSquareSouth42.png"]2012/13[/url][/b]  Blue Square South       17th    3rd Q Rnd       -        New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2013-14/BlueSquareSouth42.png"]2013/14[/url][/b]  Blue Square South        9th     2nd Rnd        -        FA Trophy Semi-final
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2014-15/BlueSquareSouth42.png"]2014/15[/url][/b]  Blue Square South        1st P   1st Rnd        -        New contract. Consortium takeover.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2015-16/BlueSquarePremier46.png"]2015/16[/url][/b]  Blue Square Premier      2nd     2nd Rnd        -
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2016-17/BlueSquarePremier46.png"]2016/17[/url][/b]  Blue Square Premier      2nd P   2nd Rnd        -        New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2017-18/Coca-ColaLeague46.png"]2017/18[/url][/b]  League Two               8th     4th Rnd     1st Rnd
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2018-19/Coca-ColaLeague2-46.png"]2018/19[/url][/b]  League Two               9th     2nd Rnd     1st Rnd     New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2019-20/Coca-ColaLeague2-46.png"]2019/20[/url][/b]  League Two              11th     2nd Rnd     1st Rnd     JPT Semi-Final
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2020-21/Coca-ColaLeague2-46.png"]2020/21[/url][/b]  League Two               7th P   1st Rnd     2nd Rnd     New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2021-22/Coca-ColaLeague1-46.png"]2021/22[/url][/b]  League One              16th     4th Rnd     1st Rnd     JPT South Final.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2022-23/Coca-ColaLeague1-46.png"]2022/23[/url][/b]  League One              17th     2nd Rnd     3rd Rnd     New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2023-24/Coca-ColaLeague1-46.png"]2023/24[/url][/b]  League One               3rd     1st Rnd     2nd Rnd     Playoff final.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2024-25/Coca-ColaLeague1-46.png"]2024/25[/url][/b]  League One               2nd P   5th Rnd     1st Rnd     JPT Winners. New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2025-26/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"]2025/26[/url][/b]  Championship            12th     5th Rnd     1st Rnd
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2026-27/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"]2026/27[/url][/b]  Championship            10th     3rd Rnd     3rd Rnd     New contract (2,000 p/w). New chairman (internal).
[url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2027-28/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"][b]2027/28[/b][/url]  Championship             8th     5th Rnd    Semi Final   
[url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2028-29/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"][b]2028/29[/b][/url]  Championship            13th     5th Rnd     4th Rnd     New contract (2,300 p/w).
[url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010%20-%20Walton%20and%20Hersham/2029-30/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"][b]2029/30[/b][/url]  Championship            10th     5th Rnd  Quarter Final  

P = Promotion, R = Relegation 

[HotChocolate]

Championship is a tough league to get out of but you seem to be a great Cup team

[Pangaea]

Club Records 2029/30

• Attendances
  
  • Highest: 6,500 (full)
    
  • Lowest: 5,489
    
  • Average: 6,382
    

  [*]Results

  • Biggest Win: 7-1
    
  • Biggest Loss: 0-4
    
  • Highest Score: 7-1
    

  [*]Sequences

  • Won in Row: 5
    
  • Lost in Row: 3
    
  • Without Losing: 5
    
  • Without Winning: 6
    
  • Without Conceding: 2
    
  • Without Scoring: 2
    

  [*]Players

  • Top Goalscorer: 27 - Robert Martin
    
  • League Goals: 23 - Robert Martin
    
  • Most Assists: 15 - Robert Martin
    
  • Highest Rating: 7.59 - Robert Martin
    
  • Most MoM: 10 - Robert Martin
    
  • Player of the Year: Robert Martin
    

  [*]Finances

  • Wage Budget: 79,000 p/w
    
  • Transfer Budget: 1,700,000
    
  • Profit (Season): 2,710,000
    
  • Balance (End): 1,930,000 (22,000,000 loan)
    

Roll of Honour 2029/30

English Premier Division

Chelsea | 26-5-7 | 83 pts

Chelsea makes it four titles in a row, and becomes the first English club to do so. City started terribly, but made a good recovery. Man Utd had a better season and almost made it into Europe. Liverpool were long in real danger of relegation, sitting 19th, but the new manager finally pulled them out of the relegation zone and into safety. Spurs were not so lucky and goes down.

Italian Serie A

Udinese | 22-10-6 | 76 pts

Udinese breaks the Genoa-AC Milan dominance and take the title for the first time in the club's history.

Spanish La Liga

Real Madrid | 29-3-6 | 90 pts

Real Madrid thumps Barcelona this season. Atletico not far off, but just as in real life it's very difficult to break the Barca-Real dominance.

Champions Cup

Barcelona | Udinese 1 - 2e Barcelona

Udinese was so close to take the league-CL double, and deserved to beat Barcelona, but in the end Barca run out winners after an extra time goal.

EURO Cup

Man City | Man City 3 - 1 Oldham

Oldham has become a big English side now and nearly has a European trophy to show for it. City deserve their win though, in an otherwise disappointing season for them.

Walton & Hersham - Most Matches

Lewis Wyatt clims to the top by quite some distance. Can he make it to 500?

[b]Player                  Pos             Nat     Apps    Gls     Asts    MoM[/b]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wyatt, Lewis            D RL            ENG     478       2      18      14
Rioch, Alan             MC              SCO     432      15      81      40
Kerr, Fraser            D C             SCO     417      14       9      10
Brown, Scott            GK              SCO     355       0       4       9
Draper, Ross            M RC            ENG     344      46      36       9
Taiwo, Tom              DM, M C         NGA     336       1      39      11
Ashford, Tony           D C             ENG     334      13       5       5
Paterson, Kris          D RL            SCO     325       2      11      13
Marshall, Marcus        ST              ENG     309     135      67      35
Ogogo, Abu              D/M R           ENG     265       5      22       9
Turnbull, Paul          M C             ENG     261      21      29      17
Gaffney, John           D RLC           IRL     259       5       2       5
Hoyle, Tony             AM RC           ENG     258      32      53      27
Pritchard, Andy         AM L            ENG     254      31      35      24
Purcell, Tadgh          ST              IRL     244     126      57      58
McNally, Richard        DM, M C         IRL     241       9      45       5
Holt, Daniel            GK              ENG     228       0       0       5
Thornley, Liam          ST              ENG     228     100      50      29
Reid, Stewart           AM/F C          SCO     221     104      41      36
Tidswell, Leon          AM R            ENG     205      25      23      11
Sherwood, Daniel        ST              ENG     201      55      40      18
Nelthorpe, Craig        AM LR           ENG     194      20      49       9
Stansfield, Matthew     DM, AM LC       ENG     194      30      22      15
Connolly, Reece         AM R, ST        ENG     183      40      12      11
Williams, Rob           GK              WAL     180       0       0       2
Martin, Robert          AM/F C          ENG     171      95      53      47
Grant, Garry            D R             SCO     162       1       6       4
Charnock, Kieran        D LC            ENG     160       0       5       3
Vilhete, Mauro          M C             ENG     160      12      18       9
Clark, Matthew          M RLC           ENG     158      15      21       8
Lucas, Adam             D C             ENG     158       6       1       1
O'Neill, Ryan           D C             NIR     157       4       1       2
Chapman, Jonathan       D RL, WB L      ENG     153       2       4       3
Cowen, James            D C             ENG     153       4       1       4
Davies, Craig           AM R, ST        WAL     149      57      41      11
Kenny, Mickey           ST              IRL     149      46      21      18
Joyce, Chris            D C             ENG     146       2       1       1
Breakell, Ben           D R             ENG     144       1      13       7
Darby, Ashley           M C             ENG     143      12      26       9
Gier, Rob               D R             PHI     143       0       3       6
Flindt, Nicklas         D RC            DEN     142       6       0       5
Jones, Alan             GK              SCO     141       0       5       3
Evans, Martin           D C             WAL     140       4       2       0
Fitzpatrick, Niall      AM C            IRL     135      11      35       8
Cross, Jack             DM, AM LC       ENG     133       9      13       3
Gemmell, David          ST              SCO     130      32      25       3
Smith, Jamie            AM C            ENG     127      19      25       6
Grimes, Harry           D C             IRL     121       0       3       3
Reeves, Michael         M L             ENG     120      10      12       6
Spearing, Jay           M C             ENG     120       4       9       2
Bramble, Tesfaye        ST              MSR     119      31      22       7
Strnad, Miroslav        D RLC           CZE     116       0       4       1
Takacs, Tamas           ST              HUN     111      35      21       7
Monsen, Vegard          AM RC, ST       NOR     110      15      19       7
Garrick, Neil           DM, M C         IRL     106       3      14       1
Brathwaite, Elliot      D C             ENG     105       6      2        6
Brown, Ryan             D/WB L          ENG     105       1      4        2
Leslie, Steven          M L             SCO     102       9      21       5 

Walton & Hersham - Top Goalscorers

Robert Martin sits fith with a few goals short of 100. With a new contract, he should make it to the top within the next two seasons if he continues like he has so far.

[b]Player                  Pos             Nat     Apps    Gls     Asts    MoM[/b]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marshall, Marcus        ST              ENG     309     135      67      35
Purcell, Tadgh          ST              IRL     244     126      57      58
Reid, Stewart           AM/F C          SCO     221     104      41      36
Thornley, Liam          ST              ENG     228     100      50      29
Martin, Robert          AM/F C          ENG     171      95      53      47
Davies, Craig           AM R, ST        WAL     149      57      41      11
Sherwood, Daniel        ST              ENG     201      55      40      18
Draper, Ross            M RC            ENG     344      46      36       9
Kenny, Mickey           ST              IRL     149      46      21      18
Connolly, Reece         AM R, ST        ENG     183      40      12      11
Takacs, Tamas           ST              HUN     111      35      21       7
Hoyle, Tony             AM RC           ENG     258      32      53      27
Gemmell, David          ST              SCO     130      32      25       3
Pritchard, Andy         AM L            ENG     254      31      35      24
Bramble, Tesfaye        ST              MSR     119      31      22       7
Stansfield, Matthew     DM, AM LC       ENG     194      30      22      15
Tidswell, Leon          AM R            ENG     205      25      23      11
Turnbull, Paul          M C             ENG     261      21      29      17
Nelthorpe, Craig        AM LR           ENG     194      20      49       9

Roll of Honour

         [b]England        Italy           Spain           Champions Cup   EURO Cup
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
2009/10   Arsenal        Lazio           Barcelona       Barcelona       Arsenal
2010/11   Chelsea        Juventus        R. Madrid       R. Madrid       At. Madrid
2011/12   Man Utd        Juventus        Barcelona       Man Utd         Tottenham
2012/13   Arsenal        Genoa           Barcelona       R. Madrid       AC Milan
2013/14   Chelsea        Juventus        R. Madrid       R. Madrid       AS Monaco
2014/15   Man City       Genoa           Barcelona       At. Madrid      Man City
2015/16   Chelsea        AC Milan        Barcelona       Juventus        AC Milan
2016/17   Arsenal        Genoa           R. Madrid       Barcelona       Bordeaux
2017/18   Man City       Genoa           At. Madrid      Chelsea         AC Milan
2018/19   Chelsea        Genoa           R. Madrid       Barcelona       Man Utd
2019/20   Aston Villa    AC Milan        Barcelona       AC Milan        Sporting CP
2020/21   Aston Villa    Juventus        Barcelona       Barcelona       Man Utd
2021/22   Arsenal        Genoa           R. Madrid       Man City        FC Bayern
2022/23   Man City       Lazio           R. Madrid       AC Milan        Werder Bremen
2023/24   Man City       AC Milan        Barcelona       Man City        Genoa
2024/25   Arsenal        AC Milan        Barcelona       Arsenal         Inter
2025/26   Man City       AC Milan        Barcelona       Arsenal         Aston Villa
2026/27   Chelsea        Genoa           R. Madrid       AC Milan        Lyon
2027/28   Chelsea        Genoa           R. Madrid       Man City        Panathinaikos
2028/29   Chelsea        Genoa           Barcelona       Arsenal         Fulham
2029/30   Chelsea        Udinese         R. Madrid       Barcelona       Man City

[Pangaea]

Championship is a tough league to get out of but you seem to be a great Cup team

It's a rough gathering. We are a small team so can't compete with others on wages or transfer fees, and the teams coming down from the Premier League usually takes at least one promotion spot. This coming season none other than Tottenham are coming down, so we can pretty much forget one already.

I like the challenge though, and the change from many other saves

[Nobby_McDonald]

Can I hear Status Quo playing?

[Pangaea]

Can I hear Status Quo playing?

Stuck in a loop too.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the youth team did okay. Went all the way in the FA Youth Cup and beat Liverpool, albeit fortunately, 2-0 in the final. Garner was in the first team, so there wasn't a single* half-decent youth in there. No idea how they pulled it off. Maybe the youth coach should replace me?

*(Not entirely true as 17 year old Havenith was pulled down to the youths for the final, but he only came on for the last half hour anyway; suppose the coach trusted the players that had gotten them there instead.)

[AK22]

Good to know that the future's looking bright.

Fantastic result at the Stadium of Light, looks like everything just clicked at the right time. This shows you can't be too far off reaching the playoffs, just need to turn some of those defeats into draws and you'll be right up there

[Pangaea]

Good to know that the future's looking bright.

Fantastic result at the Stadium of Light, looks like everything just clicked at the right time. This shows you can't be too far off reaching the playoffs, just need to turn some of those defeats into draws and you'll be right up there

It was a fantastic match, that's for sure. Couldn't quite believe what the screen was telling me

Barely kicked a ball in the next season yet, but I hope we can gain some consistency and make a push for the playoffs. We have done very well at times, but then go long stretches of games unable to win. That is what has cost us the last 3-4 seasons.

[SnakeXe]

Just finally got up to date with this, a really excellent read!

Plus, any thread that has the Mackems getting stuck for 7 will get my approval.

Despite the lack of any progress in a sense of moving up the leagues, the club is definitely increasing in stature (most obviously showcased by building a new stadium) which will be a massive help when you do finally win promotion.

[DazRTaylor]

How on earth has this thread escaped me before? Bloody hell, what a career this is. Congratulations on this - it is simply brilliant!

[City2000]

I skimmed through this earlier, looks like a great career. I'm going to give this a proper read tommorrow, looking forward to it!

[Pangaea]

Thanks guys. We've been still in the water lately, but it's been a successful ride (swim? ) overall since the cautious beginnings at level 8 of the football pyramid.

Plus, any thread that has the Mackems getting stuck for 7 will get my approval.

It was an odd match. Actually a pretty even affair, but we kept scoring while they didn't. Football can be unfair at times.

Very much looking forward to the new stadium and the economical lift it's bound to give us. Hopefully it's what we need to take the step up to Premier League promotion contenders. I wonder how much of it we fill out. Our current stadium isn't always full but home seats are always sold out, it's the away fans who sometimes fail to show up.

[Pangaea]

2030 - World Cup

Hosts: USA - Holders: Russia

Group Stage

Group A

Q Russia

Q Italy

- Paraguay

- Egypt

Group B

Q Portugal

Q Mexico

- Tunisia

- Switzerland

Group C

Q USA

Q Croatia

- Japan

- Uruguay

Group D

Q Argentina

Q Saudi Arabia

- Germany

- Trinidad & Tobago

Group E

Q England

Q Australia

- Ghana

- Denmark

Group F

Q Spain

Q South Africa

- Ukraine

- Iran

Group G

Q Holland

Q Serbia

- Costa Rica

- Nigeria

Group H

Q Brazil

Q France

- Jamaica

- South Korea

Saudi Arabia continue their strong showing in the World Cup by besting none other than tournament specialists Germany in the group stage. Apart from that, the only other somewhat surprising group result is that Australia progress instead of Denmark or Ghana. Not by a big amount though.

Knockout Stage

Second Round

Mexico 0 - 2 Russia

Portugal p2 - 2 Italy

Saudi Arabia 0 - 2 USA

Argentina 0 - 1 Croatia

South Africa 0 - 3 England

Australia 3 - 2 Spain

France 5 - 1 Holland

Brazil 2 - 3 Serbia

Quarter Final

Russia 1 - 2 Croatia

Portugal 0 - 1 USA

England e2 - 1 Serbia

Australia 0 - 2e France

Semi Final

Croatia 2 - 2p France

USA 0 - 1 England

Third Place Playoff

Croatia 2 - 0 USA

Final

France 0 - 0p England

USA with a very strong showing as they narrowly lose out to England in the semi final. Reigning champions Russia are knocked out in the quarter final by Croatia, who are knocked out on penalties by France in the semis. The French are not so lucky in the final, as England -- England! -- beat them on penalties. Really FM? Not only do England win a match on penalties, but they win a World Cup on penalties? SORTITOUTSI!!

The final looks to have been a snoozy affair, with only 3 shots combined on target and nothing finding the back of the net. It's a shame, but finals between great teams tend to turn out this way as the prize is too grand to risk end-to-end football off the top shelf.

In typical FM-fashion England are vastly overperforming, but so far it's only been in the Euros. England have won it twice and been runner up once. They lost the World Cup final in 2018, but have not won it since their victory over (W.) Germany back in 1966. That final, of course, was rather more entertaining

[Raware]

At least you seem to be back on the road to progression now, you just need to buy some Scandinavians who are used to the cold to help with your winter form!

Good to see Martin still knocking the goals in. I notice that he has a slight concern...whinging about a move to a bigger club? He's tied down for 3 more years but would you consider flogging him if you received an offer?

[Pangaea]

Squad morale was right down the pan because so many players wanted away. So even he, who has Walton & Hersham as his favourite club, was concerned about the dressing room atmosphere. QPR was pretty aggressively after him this summer, coming out with "We want him!" messages, but they never made a bid - thankfully. If they had made a huge offer it would have been difficult to turn down due to our finances still being questionable. But he is also our supremely best striker so if he goes we can forget about promotion.

Then to something completely different.

What a charming name....

[deltablue]

Poor chap.

[Nobby_McDonald]

As if there aren't enough knobs already in Stoke.

[Pangaea]

2030/31 - Summer Update

The plan wasn't to make the summer update a regular feature, but there was so much activity this summer that it's more feasible than to put it in the seasonal update.

The absolutely terrible squad harmony due to so many players wanting away has already been touched upon. Squad harmony was down to "very poor" and 7% at the worst, though usually hovering in the 20-25% region. This was because basically our entire backline wanted away. Dolezal, Strnad, Flindt and Gaffney all thought they could hack it at a higher level and requested to be transfer listed. Flindt and Gaffney's contracts were running out so although they were our central defender pairing I had little choice but to sell them while they could fetch us some money. Dolezal's was also running out, but Strnad could have stayed longer. However, they were so unhappy it seriously affected the team's harmony. Therefore a decision was made for a complete overhaul in defense.

Transfers Out

Robert Dolezal (D RLC) to West Ham for 3.9M

He has been a star for us, but is PL quality and was tired of Championship football. Can't really blame him.

Nicklas Flindt (D RC) to Racing for 4.5M

We paid 4.5 million for him and finally managed to get our money back. We're still paying for his buy, but will at least get it back now - over time. Our best defender and a huge loss.

Miroslav Strnad (D RLC) to West Ham for 3.2M

Both fullbacks leave for West Ham in the Premier League. Happy for them as they are good enough for that level, but also sad to see quality players leave.

John Gaffney (D RLC) to Sampdoria for 1M

Last defender to leave, but it had to be done as he was not happy here and wanted out. We now needed a fully new backline. The only guy left is ever-present Lewis Wyatt, who is sadly starting to show his years. It's frustrating that as soon as (most) players turn 30, preventing decline is about as successful as learning to fly.

Grzegorz Misiewicz (DM, M C) to Liverpool for 3M

Probably our best central midfielder, but when Liverpool faxed in a 3 million bid it was tough to say no to a 30 year old. No signs of decline in this lad, but he was a bit of a loose cannon with 3 red cards last season, and we were solidly staffed in midfield anyway. He had also gotten concerned with squad harmony, and the damn tapping up was leaving my team in disarray.

Total: 15.6M (with the vast majority coming in over the next 24+ months)

Players In

Bartosz Chamera (D R) from Kalmar FF for 450K

He is two-footed so the plan is to retrain him to DL, like I prefer to do with reasonably two-footed fullbacks. Bit of a wild personality and not as good as Strnad or Dolezal, but should do the job for us.

Joze Prsa (D R) from Helsingborg for 3M

This guy oozes quality and could easily hack it in the Premier League already. Had been negotiating a transfer for a while already, and although Chamera had been secured just two day earlier, when Helsingborg finally agreed to my structured 3 million deal we had to sign him. The club didn't want to sell him, which is why he was so expensive. I rarely go for people when my scouts tell me the club don't want to sell, but made an exception here. Wouldn't have dared to pay this much money for a player again, learning my lesson from the 4.5 Flindt transfer saga, if a new stadium wasn't being built. But I reckon it will make us able to sustain this one huge outlay.

Christian Lock (D/M C) from Man City for 1.4M

Scouts have had their eyes on this guy for a couple of seasons, so when he was out of favour in Man City we made our move. Sadly he had gone to loan to Falkirk just the day before I had another scouring look at the shortlist for central defenders, but thankfully a deal was still reached and he joined for the pre-season tour.

Christian Payer (D C) on Free Transfer (released by Stoke, with a long career in Sporting and Valencia)

Really didn't fancy going into a new season with only two central defenders (the new Lock and our own young Mettlen), so although he is probably over the hill he looks good and should give us a good option both as a starter and from the bench.

Kerem Isik (M RC) from Ajax for 450K

Not sure if he is any better than our current midfielders, but Abdullah and Figueira haven't really shone so a punt at another guy can't hurt.

Adam Papp (M C) from Debrecen for 450K

Surprised we got him as there was stiff competition for his signature, but very glad we did. Hope he can inject some creative spark to our central midfield. A steal for that price.

Total: 5.75M (all but part of the Prsa money paid up front)

Youth Intake

Getting a proper youth policy going is one of my favourite aspects about Football Manager. There is nothing like the feeling of seeing a youth product make the grade into the first team and establish himself there. Granted, players like Garner don't come along very often, but we were lucky and got a fine prospect in this year's intake too.

Nathan East isn't as talented as Garner, and certainly not ready for first team football yet, but I have some hope he can make the grade in a year or two. My coaches tell me he can become a "leading Championship defensive midfielder in the future." Not exactly Keano-esque bravery there, but he has good teamwork and work ethic and that's the main thing, right? Right, Ray?

[deltablue]

Looks like a lot of good business.

[City2000]

Just read through this whole thread, a fantastic read

Great news on the new stadium and Garner looks great, good luck in the quest for Premier League football!

[Pangaea]

Looks like a lot of good business.

On the one hand some of the deals are pretty good, but on the other I know they will be worth more in the PL so had hoped for a bit more. Nothing to sneeze at though, and it's good money for a club of our stature.

Just read through this whole thread, a fantastic read

Great news on the new stadium and Garner looks great, good luck in the quest for Premier League football!

Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it. Hopefully we'll get up there some day

[Pangaea]

2030/31 - Walton & Hersham

Championship

Board expectation: Top half finish

Media expectation: 12th

Odds: 40-1

Season tickets: 1535 (up 71)

Small step in the right direction last season, so slightly higher requirement this season from the chairman, who also gives us a higher wage budget of 81,000 p/w and 2.2 million to play with on the market.

Transfers

Most of the transfers have been mentioned previously. Our whole defence is shipped out and a new backline brought in, plus some others here and there. A player comes and leaves in January too.

Competitions

League Cup: Our results in the League Cup have been good recently, and they have given us an indication of how we will fare. Not the case this season as we crash out 0-1 to Stockport in the 2nd round.

FA Cup: No worries. The money is in the FA Cup anyway. League One Kidderminster up as the first hurdle and a good chance to play some reserves. 90 minutes later the FA Cup waves us goodbye when we walk off the pitch in another 0-1 loss to an underdog.

League

Oh well, out of both cups already. Time to focus on the league. With a new backline I'm not expecting too much, so it's not a big surprise we don't get off to the usual good start this season. It's not bad though, we just draw a lot. 8 draws by the end of October leaves us just behind the playoff pace. With few losses, however, I hope things come together when the new backline gels. 3 losses in 6 matches in December and I'm feeling a deja vu coming on as we go into the last half of the season sitting in 5th. Instead we go 10 matches without losing, winning 7 of them. Certainly a better winter than we're used to. We are utterly dependent on Martin to score, however, making Arsenal's one-man reliance fade in comparison. To further underline the problem, our probably second best striker Henn goes 20 hours without scoring.

In the same screen you can see that right-winger Vegard Monsen got crocked for 4 months with a torn calf muscle. Usually this is horrible news, but as this was in January and the buggar wanted away it quite effectively ended those qualms. On that note, I'm incredibly fed up of teams tapping up my players. Just two days after a team say good things about right fullback Chamera he wants away. It's far from the first time either. I try to talk up players too, but the best reaction is the bloke gets pleased with the comment. Never have I seen an AI players demand transfer after my tapping-up attempts.

But I digress. Preston ended our 10-game unbeaten run by crushing us 0-4. The players react well to the loss and we win the next 5 matches before Tottenham ends that run in a close 2-3 loss. Tottenham are vastly underperforming by the way, probably because they sold a pile of players after the relegation last season. Despite the loss to Tottenham we have all but secured playoff with 5 matches to play. If not for an undeserved draw to Ipswich we could have pipped Sheffield United to third and gotten an easier playoff opponent, but we ride it in to 5th. Preston and Hull ran away early and were never caught, though we did record an impressive 5-1 hiding of Hull. Sometimes everything just comes together and the goals pile on.

Wolves face us in the Playoff semi final. It's safe to say we are pretty evenly matched over the years, but since we beat them 1-0 in their place this season I had some confidence going in to the tie.

I have played matches with text only for almost the entire season as it was much faster and I was mostly just looking forward to next season and the new stadium being completed. Put it on extended highlights for the playoff, however, to get some more control. As the matches played on I wrote down some notes in Word. Instead of editing it I'll post it in full.

Playoff Semi final leg 1: Walton & Hersham v Wolves

Henn tap in 1-0.

Papp fantastic shot from the corner of the box to the opposite side of the goal, 2-0.

Garner clears a ball off the line.

Jones with a great full-stretch save.

We are playing better in the second half, retaining more possession. We were getting outplayed in parts of the first half, despite being 2-0 up.

Martin got a knock. Don’t want to take any risks so put on Mulcahy, who has done well leading the line for the reserves. Then both Garner and Monsen (just back from a four month calf injury) get knocks, so I take them off too.

We win 2-0 in a very close affair. Great timing to have an efficient performance up front!

Despite taking off Martin right away he still picked up an injury and is out for 2-3 weeks, and thereby missing the return leg and likely a possible playoff final too. Shattering news as he is our attack. His first injury this season too.

Match Report.

Playoff Semi final leg 2: Wolves v Walton & Hersham

Again I'll just post the full match comments, written as they occurred. It's long but bare with me.

Wolves with a great chance after 10 minutes. Jones in full stretch and they put the rebound in the post. Henn is through on goal in the 23rd minute, but a last ditch tackle saves the situation for Wolves. Muckup in defense puts Papp through on goal, but the goalie comes out and saves in good fashion. Two great chances to decide the tie there. Still 0-0 at half-time.

Right off the bat there is a clever ball to Wolves’ Watson, who in crowded space finds the far corner. 1-0 to Wolves, but we’re still one goal up on them. I change my strikers around hoping that will make a difference, as both Henn and Mulcahy is on the wrong side of 6.0.

Wolves right in attack again, and Jones saves nicely, although from an ‘impossible’ angle for the attacker. A minute later we block a goalbound shot in the box. Hectic! I nervously change to Contain, hoping we can keep them out long enough to get some play going again. Still only 51 minutes on the clock.

66 minutes; Mulcahy gets slipped a fine ball but can’t finish before they get a foot in. Ball comes back into the box to him, but he misses the target on a great chance. Despite them pushing us back we have had our chances and should have scored at least once. Will be one of those games? (I’m writing this while pausing the match)

One minute later, and I seem to have jinxed myself. Lock tackles but the ball bounces back to a free David who scores to make it 2-0 and 2-2 on aggregate. Damn! We are desperately missing Martin up front as our current strikers are woeful on the day. I’m taking Mulcahy off, and so-called star signing Prsa, who is also having a mare. Probably a crazy move, but let’s Control this... We need to get back in the game somehow.

Ugh. Henn is down to 5.4. No chance he’s coming back in the game so third sub is made in the 74th minute when tired right winger Monsen steps up as striker to partner a (seasonal) under-firing Takacs.

Wolves with another good chance minutes later, but Jones saves the header. How he sits on 6.7 is beyond me. Jones is keeping us in the game and deserves and 8. Oooooh. Jones has one of those superman kicks right to a striker, but sadly Monsen puts it in the post and their goalie smothers the rebound. What a match!

Crap on a stick, one of their throughballs finally finds their man and alone with Jones Wolves’ Maloney makes no mistake and it’s 3-0. With five minutes to go we are out of it. There’s only one answer to such a situation, and it ain’t sittin’ back.

With almost everybody on attack duty and Overload, for the first time in the match basically nothing happens. I guess Wolves closed up shop. They win 3-0 and 3-2 on aggregate. To be frank it was about as deserved as these matches come, and we were lucky to be 2-0 up after the first leg.

Match report.

Sheffield United won their semi final on penalties after two 0-0 draws, and does it again in the final and thus gets promoted after penalties.

League Fixtures: Much better results overall and no real down period. There is a first for everything.

League Graph: Many draws in the beginning, but once the season stabilised we sat fifth for basically its entirety.

Squad - Prsa was a massive disappointment and was the worst signing of the season - hardly a badge of honour. Also note our incredible dependence on Martin to deliver the goods.

Finances - Losing a lot of money without transfer activity, but I hope this will be much improved next season with hopefully higher gate receipts.

Pile o'Stats - We played more cautious this season, but Garner still scored and assisted 7 each. The non-Martin strikers really need to up their game next season.

Key Players

Bartosc Chamera (D RL) - Surprisingly he did much better than the expensive Prsa.

Christian Lock (D/M C) - You can think of the obvious pun for this lad. Great buy.

Kerem Isik (M RC) - Capable in both MC roles so happy with this buy.

Adam Papp (M C) - Played very well overall so I have big hopes for this lad.

Lawrence Garner (AM L/ST) - Have to pinch myself. Youth product and does incredibly well for us, despite perhaps not looking that impressive attribute-wise.

Robert Martin (AM/F C) - He is our attack, simple as that. Fantastic season with 33 goals. Player of the season by a country-mile.

Team of the Season - Back to the good ol' 4-4-2.

Historic Best Eleven - Old-timer Taiwo gets back into the team, on the bench. Martin has been even more efficient than old club legend Tadgh Purcell (who has sadly retired as a staff too).

Summary and Other News

In what I fully expected to be another season of mid-table obscurity given the changes to our backline, the players surprise and we finally get that longed for playoff spot. The playoff itself was disappointing, but it's a lot easier to accept defeat when you are being outplayed, like Wolves did to us. It will also be interesting to see what attendances we get next season in our new stadium without the natural boost of Premier League football. Capacity is 17,664.

This post is rather long already, so briefly: I've signed a new 3-year contract for 2,500 a week. Martin beat a new record for league goals in one season, and became our all-time top league goalscorer, while also making the Championship Players' Select with young youth product Garner by his side. Martin was also voted to have scored the third best goal of the season. In light of clubs mucking with the heads of my players with tapping up, it was great to see Garner telling them where to go. Sniff. If all were like him...

Our parent club Sevilla have been taken over by a tycoon, and I was linked with the Tottenham job. In a normal journeyman career that would be interesting as they are underfiring rather grotesquely. Same with Stoke to be honest, who have entered administration three times the last four seasons, and barely escaped relegation this season. Their squad is cut to the bone now, or perhaps the marrow would be more apt.

Next Season

This was a huge step in the right direction for the club, and for the first time in a long while I have real hope of getting promoted next season. 85 points would have put us up in most seasons, so if we can improve further on that we should at least claim 2nd spot. Official and personal aim is another playoff adventure, but the hope is to get promoted.

Having a new stadium should bring new buzz to the club, which will hopefully manifest itself in bigger crowds and better results.

Also, Cups. Suck. Arse.

Career Summary

[b]
Season   Division                 Pos     FA Cup     League Cup   Other Achievements[/b]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2009-10/EnglishIsthmianLeagueFirstDivisionSouth.png"]2009/10[/url][/b]  Isthmian First South    19th       -            -        Consortium takeover.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2010-11/EnglishIsthmianLeagueFirstDivisionSouth.png"]2010/11[/url][/b]  Isthmian First South     3rd P  2nd Q Rnd       -        New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2011-12/League42.png"]2011/12[/url][/b]  Isthmian Premier         2nd P  3rd Q Rnd       -        Won Isthmian League Cup.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2012-13/BlueSquareSouth42.png"]2012/13[/url][/b]  Blue Square South       17th    3rd Q Rnd       -        New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2013-14/BlueSquareSouth42.png"]2013/14[/url][/b]  Blue Square South        9th     2nd Rnd        -        FA Trophy Semi-final
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2014-15/BlueSquareSouth42.png"]2014/15[/url][/b]  Blue Square South        1st P   1st Rnd        -        New contract. Consortium takeover.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2015-16/BlueSquarePremier46.png"]2015/16[/url][/b]  Blue Square Premier      2nd     2nd Rnd        -
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2016-17/BlueSquarePremier46.png"]2016/17[/url][/b]  Blue Square Premier      2nd P   2nd Rnd        -        New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2017-18/Coca-ColaLeague46.png"]2017/18[/url][/b]  League Two               8th     4th Rnd     1st Rnd
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2018-19/Coca-ColaLeague2-46.png"]2018/19[/url][/b]  League Two               9th     2nd Rnd     1st Rnd     New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2019-20/Coca-ColaLeague2-46.png"]2019/20[/url][/b]  League Two              11th     2nd Rnd     1st Rnd     JPT Semi-Final
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2020-21/Coca-ColaLeague2-46.png"]2020/21[/url][/b]  League Two               7th P   1st Rnd     2nd Rnd     New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2021-22/Coca-ColaLeague1-46.png"]2021/22[/url][/b]  League One              16th     4th Rnd     1st Rnd     JPT South Final.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2022-23/Coca-ColaLeague1-46.png"]2022/23[/url][/b]  League One              17th     2nd Rnd     3rd Rnd     New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2023-24/Coca-ColaLeague1-46.png"]2023/24[/url][/b]  League One               3rd     1st Rnd     2nd Rnd     Playoff final.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2024-25/Coca-ColaLeague1-46.png"]2024/25[/url][/b]  League One               2nd P   5th Rnd     1st Rnd     JPT Winners. New contract.
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2025-26/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"]2025/26[/url][/b]  Championship            12th     5th Rnd     1st Rnd
[b][url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2026-27/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"]2026/27[/url][/b]  Championship            10th     3rd Rnd     3rd Rnd     New contract (2,000 p/w). New chairman (internal).
[url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2027-28/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"][b]2027/28[/b][/url]  Championship             8th     5th Rnd    Semi Final   
[url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2028-29/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"][b]2028/29[/b][/url]  Championship            13th     5th Rnd     4th Rnd     New contract (2,300 p/w).
[url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2029-30/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"][b]2029/30[/b][/url]  Championship            10th     5th Rnd  Quarter Final  
[url="http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/FM2010 - Walton and Hersham/2030-31/Coca-ColaChampionship-46.png"][b]2030/31[/b][/url]  Championship             5th     3rd Rnd     2nd Rnd     New contract (2,500 p/w). Playoff semi final loss.

P = Promotion, R = Relegation 

[City2000]

I was sure you were making the final after that first leg win

Still, a good season overall though, hopefully you can kick on next year

[DazRTaylor]

Congratulations on reaching the playoffs in the Championship for the first time I don't think the lack of a cup run harmed you either.

Promotion is just around the corner!

[Pangaea]

]Club Records 2030/31

• Attendances
  
  • Highest: 6,500 (full)
    
  • Lowest: 4,874
    
  • Average: 6,361
    

  [*]Results

  • Biggest Win: 5-1
    
  • Biggest Loss: 0-4
    
  • Highest Score: 5-1
    

  [*]Sequences

  • Won in Row: 5
    
  • Lost in Row: 2
    
  • Without Losing: 12
    
  • Without Winning: 5
    
  • Without Conceding: 3
    
  • Without Scoring: 2
    

  [*]Players

  • Top Goalscorer: 33 - Robert Martin
    
  • League Goals: 33 - Robert Martin
    
  • Most Assists: 8 - Sergei Henn
    
  • Highest Rating: 7.52 - Robert Martin
    
  • Most MoM: 15 - Robert Martin
    
  • Player of the Year: Robert Martin
    

  [*]Finances

  • Wage Budget: 81,000 p/w
    
  • Transfer Budget: 2,200,000
    
  • Profit (Season): 900,000
    
  • Balance (End): 2,940,000 (22,000,000 loan)
    

Roll of Honour 2030/31

English Premier Division

Chelsea | 26-7-5 | 85 pts

Five titles in a row for Chelsea. Liverpool in relegatin problems again, but dragged themselves out of it. Newcastle were in deeper problems, but secured their PL contract next season on the next last day.

Italian Serie A

Udinese | 25-8-5 | 83 pts

Udinese takes another title, their 2nd in the club's history. Genoa and AC Milan complete the top three. Lazio a win from relegation.

Spanish La Liga

Barcelona | 27-6-5 | 87 pts

Barcelona wins this year. Racing gave Real Madrid a good run for second, but came up short in the end.

Champions Cup

AC Milan | Real Madrid 1 - 3 AC Milan

AC Milan came third in Italy, but wins the Champions League.

EURO Cup

Benfica | Roma 1 - 2 Benfica

The Italians close to wrapping up both Euroepan trophies, but Benfica beat Roma to the EURO Cup.

Walton & Hersham - Most Matches

Lewis Wyatt did indeed make it to 500 and beyond as he extends his lead. Closest active player is McNally on 263 matches, so Wyatt will hold onto this lead for the foreseeable future.

[b]Player                  Pos             Nat     Apps    Gls     Asts    MoM[/b]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wyatt, Lewis            D RL            ENG     508       2      18      14
Rioch, Alan             MC              SCO     432      15      81      40
Kerr, Fraser            D C             SCO     417      14       9      10
Brown, Scott            GK              SCO     355       0       4       9
Draper, Ross            M RC            ENG     344      46      36       9
Taiwo, Tom              DM, M C         NGA     336       1      39      11
Ashford, Tony           D C             ENG     334      13       5       5
Paterson, Kris          D RL            SCO     325       2      11      13
Marshall, Marcus        ST              ENG     309     135      67      35
Ogogo, Abu              D/M R           ENG     265       5      22       9
McNally, Richard        DM, M C         IRL     263      10      49       7
Turnbull, Paul          M C             ENG     261      21      29      17
Gaffney, John           D RLC           IRL     259       5       2       5
Hoyle, Tony             AM RC           ENG     258      32      53      27
Pritchard, Andy         AM L            ENG     254      31      35      24
Purcell, Tadgh          ST              IRL     244     126      57      58
Thornley, Liam          ST              ENG     228     100      50      29
Holt, Daniel            GK              ENG     228       0       0       5
Reid, Stewart           AM/F C          SCO     221     104      41      36
Martin, Robert          AM/F C          ENG     220     128      61      62
Tidswell, Leon          AM R            ENG     205      25      23      11
Sherwood, Daniel        ST              ENG     201      55      40      18
Stansfield, Matthew     DM, AM LC       ENG     194      30      22      15
Nelthorpe, Craig        AM LR           ENG     194      20      49       9
Connolly, Reece         AM R, ST        ENG     183      40      12      11
Williams, Rob           GK              WAL     180       0       0       2
Jones, Alan             GK              SCO     169       0       5       3
Grant, Garry            D R             SCO     162       1       6       4
Vilhete, Mauro          M C             ENG     160      12      18       9
Charnock, Kieran        D LC            ENG     160       0       5       3
Clark, Matthew          M RLC           ENG     158      15      21       8
Lucas, Adam             D C             ENG     158       6       1       1
O'Neill, Ryan           D C             NIR     157       4       1       2
Cowen, James            D C             ENG     153       4       1       4
Chapman, Jonathan       D RL, WB L      ENG     153       2       4       3
Davies, Craig           AM R, ST        WAL     149      57      41      11
Kenny, Mickey           ST              IRL     149      46      21      18
Joyce, Chris            D C             ENG     146       2       1       1
Breakell, Ben           D R             ENG     144       1      13       7
Darby, Ashley           M C             ENG     143      12      26       9
Gier, Rob               D R             PHI     143       0       3       6
Flindt, Nicklas         D RC            DEN     142       6       0       5
Evans, Martin           D C             WAL     140       4       2       0
Takacs, Tamas           ST              HUN     135      41      22       9
Monsen, Vegard          AM RC, ST       NOR     135      16      21       7
Fitzpatrick, Niall      AM C            IRL     135      11      35       8
Cross, Jack             DM, AM LC       ENG     133       9      13       3
Gemmell, David          ST              SCO     130      32      25       3
Smith, Jamie            AM C            ENG     127      19      25       6
Grimes, Harry           D C             IRL     121       0       3       3
Reeves, Michael         M L             ENG     120      10      12       6
Spearing, Jay           M C             ENG     120       4       9       2
Bramble, Tesfaye        ST              MSR     119      31      22       7
Strnad, Miroslav        D RLC           CZE     116       0       4       1
Garrick, Neil           DM, M C         IRL     106       3      14       1
Brathwaite, Elliot      D C             ENG     105       6       2       6
Brown, Ryan             D/WB L          ENG     105       1       4       2
Benker, Geert           D/WB L          BEL     103       5       9       4
Leslie, Steven          M L             SCO     102       9      21       5

Walton & Hersham - Top Goalscorers

Robert Martin moves up to second place and will surely fly into a good lead next season if he's anywhere near as good as he was this season with 33 goals. If we can hold onto him he should easily make it to 200. But it's a big if.

[b]Player                  Pos             Nat     Apps    Gls     Asts    MoM[/b]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marshall, Marcus        ST              ENG     309     135      67      35
Martin, Robert          AM/F C          ENG     220     128      61      62
Purcell, Tadgh          ST              IRL     244     126      57      58
Reid, Stewart           AM/F C          SCO     221     104      41      36
Thornley, Liam          ST              ENG     228     100      50      29
Davies, Craig           AM R, ST        WAL     149      57      41      11
Sherwood, Daniel        ST              ENG     201      55      40      18
Draper, Ross            M RC            ENG     344      46      36       9
Kenny, Mickey           ST              IRL     149      46      21      18
Takacs, Tamas           ST              HUN     135      41      22       9
Connolly, Reece         AM R, ST        ENG     183      40      12      11
Hoyle, Tony             AM RC           ENG     258      32      53      27
Gemmell, David          ST              SCO     130      32      25       3
Pritchard, Andy         AM L            ENG     254      31      35      24
Bramble, Tesfaye        ST              MSR     119      31      22       7
Stansfield, Matthew     DM, AM LC       ENG     194      30      22      15
Henn, Sergei            ST              EST     89       27      21       8
Tidswell, Leon          AM R            ENG     205      25      23      11
Turnbull, Paul          M C             ENG     261      21      29      17
Nelthorpe, Craig        AM LR           ENG     194      20      49       9

Roll of Honour

         [b]England        Italy           Spain           Champions Cup   EURO Cup
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]
2009/10   Arsenal        Lazio           Barcelona       Barcelona       Arsenal
2010/11   Chelsea        Juventus        R. Madrid       R. Madrid       At. Madrid
2011/12   Man Utd        Juventus        Barcelona       Man Utd         Tottenham
2012/13   Arsenal        Genoa           Barcelona       R. Madrid       AC Milan
2013/14   Chelsea        Juventus        R. Madrid       R. Madrid       AS Monaco
2014/15   Man City       Genoa           Barcelona       At. Madrid      Man City
2015/16   Chelsea        AC Milan        Barcelona       Juventus        AC Milan
2016/17   Arsenal        Genoa           R. Madrid       Barcelona       Bordeaux
2017/18   Man City       Genoa           At. Madrid      Chelsea         AC Milan
2018/19   Chelsea        Genoa           R. Madrid       Barcelona       Man Utd
2019/20   Aston Villa    AC Milan        Barcelona       AC Milan        Sporting CP
2020/21   Aston Villa    Juventus        Barcelona       Barcelona       Man Utd
2021/22   Arsenal        Genoa           R. Madrid       Man City        FC Bayern
2022/23   Man City       Lazio           R. Madrid       AC Milan        Werder Bremen
2023/24   Man City       AC Milan        Barcelona       Man City        Genoa
2024/25   Arsenal        AC Milan        Barcelona       Arsenal         Inter
2025/26   Man City       AC Milan        Barcelona       Arsenal         Aston Villa
2026/27   Chelsea        Genoa           R. Madrid       AC Milan        Lyon
2027/28   Chelsea        Genoa           R. Madrid       Man City        Panathinaikos
2028/29   Chelsea        Genoa           Barcelona       Arsenal         Fulham
2029/30   Chelsea        Udinese         R. Madrid       Barcelona       Man City
2030/31   Chelsea        Udinese         Barcelona       AC Milan        Benfica

[deltablue]

Not too far off now.

[Pangaea]

I was sure you were making the final after that first leg win

Still, a good season overall though, hopefully you can kick on next year

I was pretty confident myself too, despite missing Martin. Sadly it wasn't to be.

Congratulations on reaching the playoffs in the Championship for the first time I don't think the lack of a cup run harmed you either.

Promotion is just around the corner!

Thanks. Was great to finally get that playoff spot I've been wanting for at least 3 years. Hope we can improve on this for next season.

Martin still has 2 years left on his contract, but he wants a new one and I can't afford it. Suspect we need to get promoted next season if we are to hold onto him. He is PL quality so understandable he may want to move on. Probably been calm so far because Walton & Hersham is his favourite team.

[AK22]

Edging closer

Anything can happen in the playoffs; form and logic nearly always goes out of the window. As you've said, 85 is a good points total, so if you can better that next season, you should go up in one of the automatic promotion places.

[Pangaea]

Oh no! This worries me!

Set up our first friendly against a big side to introduce our new stadium to the fans. Great result aside, it's being played at Stompond Lane in front of 6,500 people. Does this mean the new stadium hasn't 'taken' for whatever reason and I have to play yet another season in this dump?

Hope this isn't a bug

[Pangaea]

Oh wait, think I know what's wrong. All home friendly matches are to be played at Stompond Lane, but league matches are thankfully said to be played at our new stadium in the fixture list. It's probably because the friendly matches were arranged at the backend of last season, before Walton & Hersham Stadium was officially opened.

Phew. Sigh of relief!

[deadfncat]

nice friendly result though

[Pangaea]

nice friendly result though

It was. Don't think they fielded a top side for us to manage that, but still a good result to take into pre-season. And of course Man Utd isn't the force they once were.

Transfer windows are so slow. Somehow worse when I'm not really looking to buy any one too. Can't wait to the start of this season. Here's hoping we continue like we played for much of last season.

[uncle ron]

Hi Pangaea! Long time...

It's been a while since I've ventured into this forum and its great to see you are still going with your FM10 save. Also great to see that file works long term!

Surely you'll finally get the Premier League this season....

[Pangaea]

Hi Pangaea! Long time...

It's been a while since I've ventured into this forum and its great to see you are still going with your FM10 save. Also great to see that file works long term!

Surely you'll finally get the Premier League this season....

Good to see you back in these quarters. You still have a game going on? I remember you got unfairly sacked from Biggleswade.

I'm not sure how well the sorting is now down the division as I'm not paying attention to it, but the file itself works excellently after more than 20 years as far as I can tell. No errors of any kind. I'm auto-saving bi-monthly and have never had a crash dump.

---

Managing Brazil is mental in the best of circumstances, but this one really takes the cake. José had been in charge for a year, winning most friendly matches prior to Copa America 2031. Despite winning the group stage with 1-2-0 he got sacked after the third game (with qualification thus secured). Ricardo Gomes takes over a few days later. Despite losing the semi final to Mexico and beating Argentina on penalties in the Third place playoff match he actually survives the Copa. But a 1-2 loss to Wales in a friendly match two weeks later seals his fate. Out on his arse after three weeks in the job.

Managing Brazil has to be the toughest job in the business, with nothing else really coming close. You expect to win everything you enter, and if you don't you are usually kicked out on the curb.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Oh wait, think I know what's wrong. All home friendly matches are to be played at Stompond Lane, but league matches are thankfully said to be played at our new stadium in the fixture list. It's probably because the friendly matches were arranged at the backend of last season, before Walton & Hersham Stadium was officially opened.

Phew. Sigh of relief!

Indeed, I just had this in my Newcastle Town save.

Nice work making the playoffs. See if you can get even further this season...

[uncle ron]

Good to see you back in these quarters. You still have a game going on? I remember you got unfairly sacked from Biggleswade.

I'm not sure how well the sorting is now down the division as I'm not paying attention to it, but the file itself works excellently after more than 20 years as far as I can tell. No errors of any kind. I'm auto-saving bi-monthly and have never had a crash dump.

Yes was sacked with Biggleswade and carried on with that save for a bit with Hastings United then Hereford and Preston and stopped recently to make a start on FM12. Still haven't started my save yet and really unsure where to start this time around...

[Raware]

Tough luck in the playoffs, I thought you had it in the bag after the first leg. Still, after a couple of years of stagnation it seems things are back on track. Automatic promotion next season?

[deltablue]

Well done on going up again.

[HotChocolate]

Must be so frustrating to miss out on the Premier League so many times!

[Pangaea]

Must be so frustrating to miss out on the Premier League so many times!

It sure is. Unfortunately it doesn't look terribly bright this season either as we have suddenly started to leak goals like a sieve and results are all over the place. Beat a playoff team one day and lose to a relegation battler the next round. Frustrating.

I've lost count how many times I've thought "Finally. This tactical setup seems to work great. Now we'll move onwards and upwards." A few months later it's turned to crap. Same thing this season. Last season we played very well most of the time and hardly lost. I was pretty sure we'd continue with that this season, particularly as the team is basically the same. But no. Hope we can turn it around again.

[Pangaea]

A hurricane hit here on Xmas day so we've been without power, phone and internet for most of the last three days. Hopefully it's back for good now. We lost some stuff and need to fix others but I think most is covered by insurance so we shouldn't be too bad off from it. At least everything is standing - sort of. Hope you had a good Xmas, with less wind and destruction than in our parts.

[HotChocolate]

Sorry to hear that Pangaea, hope everyone is okay

[Pangaea]

We're all okay, thanks. Nasty weather here is pretty common, but this one was worse than most. A lot of material damages here and there, but have only heard of sporadic personal injuries.

Was odd to be without power for that long, but cosy too. We've gone semi-caveman these last few days

[SnakeXe]

Hope you busted out the Uno and Monopoly

[Pangaea]

We actually did play some Monopoly!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Christ Pangaea. Where is it you live?

[CityAndColour]

We beat W&H this season in the FA Cup qualifying rounds. They're only a tier nine side but I still imagined us putting your Championship heroes to the pump

[Pangaea]

Christ Pangaea. Where is it you live?

The dark side of the moon.

We beat W&H this season in the FA Cup qualifying rounds. They're only a tier nine side but I still imagined us putting your Championship heroes to the pump

Tier nine, eh? Easy to forget where we started out when struggling for promotion to the top tier. Shame on you for beating the mighty Swans though!

[Nobby_McDonald]

The dark side of the moon.

I didn't know you lived in Hull.