dafuge's FM12 challenge

[Dan BHTFC]

END OF SEASON

HENDON F.C - Season 2033/34

League Table | Squad | Transfer In / Out

Challenge complete!!

We beat Manchester City in the Final and we won comfortably, this is now my biggest achievement in Football Manager. In the league we lost too many easy games and finished 5th but we have some good youngsters coming into the squad. We also won the F.A Cup beating Sheffield Wednesday so a Cup double is great!

Season      Division                    Position        Cups
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13     Blue Square South           6th             F.A Cup 3rd Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 2nd Rnd
2013/14     Blue Square South           5th             F.A Cup 2nd Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 1st Rnd
2014/15     Blue Square South          12th             F.A Cup 3rd Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 2nd Rnd
2015/16     Blue Square South           9th             F.A Cup 2nd Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 1st Rnd
2016/17     Blue Square South           1st             F.A Cup 2nd Rnd, F.A Trophy 4th Rnd
2017/18     Blue Square Premier        10th             F.A Cup 4th Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 4th Rnd
2018/19     Blue Square Premier         1st             F.A Cup 5th Rnd, F.A Trophy Winners
2019/20     npower League 2             9th             F.A Cup 3rd Rnd, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT 1st Rnd
2020/21     npower League 2             1st             F.A Cup 2nd Rnd, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT Semi-Finals
2021/22     npower League 1            15th             F.A Cup 3rd Rnd, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT 2nd Rnd
2022/23     npower League 1            14th             F.A Cup Semi Finals, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT 2nd Rnd
2023/24     npower League 1             1st             F.A Cup 4th Rnd, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT 1st Rnd
2024/25     npower Championship         1st             F.A Cup 5th Rnd, Carling Cup 3rd Rnd
2025/26     Barclays Premier League    10th             F.A Cup 5th Rnd, Carling Cup Quarter Finals
2026/27     Barclays Premier League     8th             F.A Cup 3rd Rnd, Carling Cup Winners
2027/28     Barclays Premier League     9th             Europa League Quarter Finals, F.A Cup 3rd Rnd, Carling Cup 3rd Rnd
2028/29     Barclays Premier League     3rd             F.A Cup Final, Carling Cup 4th Rnd
2029/30     Barclays Premier League     4th             Europa League Winners, F.A Cup Winners, Carling Cup 4th Rnd
2030/31     Barclays Premier League     3rd             Europa League 2nd K.O, F.A Cup 4th Rnd, Carling Cup Semi Finals
2031/32     Barclays Premier League     5th             Champions League   1st K.O, F.A Cup Quarter Finals, Carling Cup Quarter Finals
2032/33     Barclays Premier League     1st             Europa League Quarter Finals, F.A Cup Semi Finals, Carling Cup 3rd Rnd
2033/34     Barclays Premier League     5th             Champions League Winners, F.A Cup Winners, Carling Cup 4th Rnd

[Gilbster]

Congratulations Dan. Isn't it a great feeling to beat the challenge at last!

[darren1983]

Darren1983 Kingstonian Season 2020/21 Review nPower Championship

Table Graph Tansfers

Well after 2 season of doing naff all in this league, all I was looking for from this season was a sign of progress. We started the season strongly, and by the end of November we were right in the mix for promotion, however a poor run over christmas saw us slip down to 4th, we soon picked ourselves up and went on a great run that inclueded 5 wins in 6 games in Feb to win me manager of the month and we were looking good. However a shocking run of 6 defeats in 7 games (4 of which were in a row) saw us slide down to 6th, we refound our form in the run in and a last day 1-0 win away to champions Fulham left us in 5th place and in the Play Offs against Watford.

Play Off First Leg saw a poor 1-1 draw at home where we didnt play well and frankly we were lucky to get away with a draw, it did mean we had to go and try and win away from home which I was happy about as on away form alone we were 2nd in the league.

Play Off Second Leg a great away performance saw us win 2-1 and progress to the final. We were much better then the scorelinf suggests and should have had the game won long before we did. The win meant we were to play Blackpool a team that beat us 6-0 over 2 league games

Play Off Final wow!! did not expect that!! We played them off the park and should've been a good couple of goals up by half time, we took the lead mid way through the first half and never looked back, we won a pen in the 2nd hald which was put away and we were never in dange rof losing from then on - Premeirship here we come!!!!

Players Of The Seaon

Fabian Andre picked up this young French keeper from Clairefontaine on a free and he was superb all season - easily the best keeper I've had at Kingstonian

Thierry Thomas another young French player, was released by Le Harve and was on trial with Swansea when he was recommended to me through the backroom staff section, Swansea let him go at end of his trial and he signed for me and ended up with 20 goals and always seemed to score in the big games

A special mention must go to Alex Burhenne I've had this guy since my BSP days and he just gets better the higher up we go, another 28 assists this season and thats not even a record for him

[timers]

Is the challenge to win the EPL and win the Champions League in different seasons, or is it in the same season? I always thought it was in the same season

[Brizza]

Nottingham Forest Update (January) : Blue Square North 2033/34

Count themselves lucky that Chasetown and Barrow have had points deductions!

[AndyMUFC]

i've been following Dan on twitter. last night it came up he had been beaten in champs league final yet 6 minutes later get another update saying he had led team to a double after leading team to sucess in champions league, Twitter posts, these twitter posts came through about 8 mins before update on here

me thinks he reloaded till he got result he wanted

auto updates through twitter has caught him out

[Utdchamp]

i've been following Dan on twitter. last night it came up he had been beaten in champs league final yet 6 minutes later get another update saying he had led team to a double after leading team to sucess in champions league, Twitter posts, these twitter posts came through about 8 mins before update on here

me thinks he reloaded till he got result he wanted

auto updates through twitter has caught him out

- Properly busted there...

[ejthegreat]

Tooting & Mitcham 2015/16 Season Review

After all the concerns I had with finances and players wanting more than I could both afford and was allowed to offer, the season itself turned out to be an outstanding success.

Comps:

League Cup: Lost first round to Portsmouth. Actually won the game but an electrical storm caused comp to restart and result was lost, went back to most recent save game (autosave 1/week on 3 rolling files) but save was before game. Sadly lost the 'replay'.

FA Cup: Unlike the past two seasons, there would be no financial windfall this year. Drawn away to L1 Middlesbrough in Rd 2, we lost 2:1 in front of only around 8k people. It was enough to break even for the month but didn't give me the kick I got the last two seasons.

JPT: Despite the misses above, T & M did have a great cup run and this was it. We defeated L1 Crawley at home in Sth Rd 1 on penalties, then smashed L2 Champions Barnet 3-0 in Rd 2 at home. The qtr final was away to L1 Reading who made the mistake of putting in a weakened team and we came back with a 2-0 win. Back home for the SF against L1 Plymouth, they were no match for the rolling Terrors and we won 2-0 very comfortably.

On to the South Final against L1 Wycombe and once again in two legged matches, we struggled at home in the first leg, going down 2-1. Off to Wycombe then and an early goal helped our cause, before Wycombe leveled just before the break. After half time though, we were a dominant force. Scoring straight after the break to level the tie, we won a penalty in the 71st min, duly converting and in their desperate attempt to score, Wycombe left themselves open at the back and we took advantage, 4-1 on the day for 5-3 overall.

On to the JPT Trophy against North winners and fellow promotion hopefuls Stockport in front of nearly 23k at Wembley, easily our biggest crowd and a far cry from the 18 people who came to watch our first round match against Crawley. 0-0 at the break, it was a tense affair until Stockport took the lead in the 74th min. We attacked and were rewarded with a penalty in the 83rd minute, 1-1. From there the deadlock couldn't be broken and after full time and extra time, it was off to penalties.

Things started badly for us when Smyth missed our first penalty and sadly, 9 scored penalties in a row later, Stockport had won the JPT 5-4 on penalties. It was a great effort from the boys despite the loss.

League 2: We started off in fine style, unbeaten in our first 5 matches and despite the occasional loss, we had a great run until early in the new year, having played 25 games for 15 wins, 6 draws and 4 losses; 51pts and top of League 2 after Barnet, who had been leading all the way, had a slight form slump and slipped back to second.

From there though, it was much tougher going with the increased fixtures due to the JPT. Only 2 wins from the next 10, but 5 draws maintained the point scoring and we were still in the hunt for automatic promotion, changing between second and third, with Barnet now kicking clear on top.

Our form continued to fluctuate and with a poor goal difference compared to our rivals, we needed to turn things around and hope results went our way over the last three games. Our form returned with a gutsy 2-1 win on the road at Bournemouth, leaving us on 76pts in 4th place, 2 behind Gillingham and Stockport who had to play each other in the second last game. We thumped Bradford 3-0, meaning destiny would be in our own hands on the final day, as long as Gillingham and Stockport didn't draw, however, they did.

This meant, going into the final day, all three of us were on 79pts, with Hereford on 78 and Swindon 77, all vying for the final two automatic promotion spots. We travelled to Tranmere on the final day, whilst Gillingham were at home to struggling Northampton, Stockport were on the road to dangerous Port Vale, Hereford at home to midtable Lincoln and Swindon away at champions Barnet. We needed a win and for one of the two above us not to win.

With one eye on the game and one on the scores, we kicked off and great news came early with Northampton getting an early goal. This was compounded when Obem scored from a corner on 22mins, enabling us to get a foot in the door. Elsewhere, Hereford had taken an early lead too and it looked like the two of us were going through at the half time break, both leading 1-0, with Stockport 0-0 and Gillingham 0-1 down.

That changed on 63mins when Gillingham levelled meaning they only needed one more, which came on 75mins. Luckily though, at the same time, we got word that Port Vale had taken the lead against Stockport, Hereford had lost the lead to Lincoln and Barnet were leading Swindon, meaning we only had to hold on for promotion. Finally after pushing Tranmere back, they relented and we scored a second goal and when the whistle blew, we were going up at the expense of Stockport, getting revenge for the JPT in the best possible way.

Table: http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/npowerLeague2Overview_Stages.jpg

Graph: http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/npowerLeague2Overview_PastPositions.jpg

Squad: http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/TootingMitchamUnitedSquad_Players-5.jpg

Transfers: http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/TootingMitchamTransfers_History-3.jpg

Board Overview: http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/TootingMitchamBoardroom_BoardOverview-2.jpg

Current Profile: http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/PierceHawthorneOverview_Profile-3.jpg

Goals for 2016/17:

• Stay up
  
• Get everyone on full time contracts
  
• Find away to afford that
  
• Good cup run to help financially
  
• Get reputation up to at least 1 star
  

[magicmastermind124]

Congratulations Dan. Isn't it a great feeling to beat the challenge at last!

It's just a shame that the person decided to reload his save after losing the first time around.

I'm not going to say that's the wrong thing to do but I thought others should know.

[Utdchamp]

It's just a shame that the person decided to reload his save after losing the first time around.

I'm not going to say that's the wrong thing to do but I thought others should know.

Looking at his twitter account it does not seem like the first time either. He lost the Euro Cup final, but magically celebrated the double soon after.

Not gonna judge either since I've done it before, but got out of the habbit some versions ago.

[grff]

Oh dear, poor old Nottingham Forest!

I've got a similar thing going on with Forest in my game, except they are about to drop off the radar completely as they are fighting relegation in the Blue Square North. I'd be tempted to take over them if it wasn't for the challenge.

[darren1983]

Think my promotion to the Permiership is a season to early for us - the club (stadium, youth training, trainging ground, squad) is not up to standard and I fear a Derby-esque points total

[Gypsum]

Gypsum's Worksop town - Premier league - 2022/23

Challenge completed!

League position: 1st / Position chart

Media prediction: 7th

After last season's league disappointment, we made up for it this year with a sensational league run. And in addition to last year's Champions league success, I have completed the challenge!

Champions league: Knocked out out in the first round.

An obvious disappointment as reigning Champions, but injuries left our squad with a tough task against a strong Sevilla.

League cup: Winners! Beat Sunderland 4-0

Transfers - Not the transfer of Manfred Maes, a good striker I got for £3m, sold 6 months later for £11.5m by my chairman.

Finances

General squad info

Star players;

Philipp Eberlein - Our star man yet again, a livewire as a wide striker who won Young player of the year for the 2nd time.

Peter Birbeck - Signed for just £1.6m from Man City last season, Birbeck is the quintessential playmaker.

Denis - Another impressive goal haul, despite a delayed start to the season through injury.

Arjan Helle - Signed from Hannover for £7.5m, and worth every penny. Completed our front three.

Tete - A towering Brazilian centre-back, signed for £5m from Botafogo.

Carlos Gonzalez - Now in his second season with us, Carlos remains an imperious defender, despite injury problems.

Christ Makumbu - The powerhouse of a midfielder had another good season. An absolute bargain as a free transfer!

  Year                Division                          Position                    Other achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7211593&viewfull=1#post7211593"]2012/13[/url]              Blue Square North                    1st
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7235105&viewfull=1#post7235105"]2013/14[/url]              Blue square Premier                  12th                       FA Cup third round
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7247744&viewfull=1#post7247744"]2014/15[/url]              Blue square Premier                  3rd                        Moved into new stadium / Playoff winners 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7270622&viewfull=1#post7270622"]2015/16[/url]              League 2                             3rd                        Automatic promotion / FA cup 5th round
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7285863&viewfull=1#post7285863"]2016/17[/url]              League 1                             1st                        FA Cup 4th round
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7300327&viewfull=1#post7300327"]2017/18[/url]              Championship                         5th                        Championship playoff semi-finalists
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7311246&viewfull=1#post7311246"]2018/19[/url]              Championship                         1st                        
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7326521&viewfull=1#post7326521"]2019/20[/url]              Premier league                       7th
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7343716&viewfull=1#post7343716"]2020/21[/url]              Premier league                       2nd                        Champions league qualification
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7365531&viewfull=1#post7365531"]2021/22[/url]              Premier league                       2nd                        Champions league winners
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7399975&viewfull=1#post7399975"]2022/23[/url]              Premier league                       1st                        League cup winners 

[Dan BHTFC]

I can promise you I have never reloaded a game on any of my saves ever

[magicmastermind124]

Perhaps you should switch off your contradictory automatic twitter feeds then, they don't seem to be helping your case.

It's nothing against you but it should be seen that the challenge was not completed with the ethic that it deserves to be completed with.

[High Flying Dwarf]

Don't jump on him about it, everybody gets tempted to do it, although denial in face of clear evidence is a bit silly.

Daf will have the final say over it, and nobody else should get involved.

As for Lewes, double header coming up, with two seasons of dramatically contrasting fortunes .

[High Flying Dwarf]

Season 2022-2023 Review

Not even Super Mario could save a dismal Lewes side from Premier League disaster

Media Prediction: 20th (The Prediction Man strikes back!)

My Expectation: Survival

Final Position: 20th

We knew it would be tough work but nothing could prepare us for the smashing we took this season. It all looked so bright at the beginning of the season when we ran rings around West Brom but failed to secure three points in a 1-1 draw. We were a shambles, and shambles deserve to be in the Championship instead of the Premiership.

I signed Mario Balotelli in a Carsonesque attempt to save our season but it wasn't as effective in a higher level, we took very little out of this season other than the monetary benefits. We made over £20 million pounds (including parachute payments) during our time in the top flight, and with the Thomas Cook Stadium finally built we can look forward to a solid Championship campaign with a bit of reinforcement.

-

FA Cup: Newcastle beat us 2-0 at the Thomas Cook Stadium to send us out in a Fifth Round Replay.

League Cup: We saw out our days at the Dripping Pan with a final splendid victory 3-2 win against Blackburn in the Third Round but Everton proved too difficult to overcome as we were beaten 3-4 in the Fourth Round.

Managers Player of the Season

Josh Swan: A bright spark in an otherwise dull season, Swan left to join Fulham shortly after the season in a £2.5 million pound deal, but his influence in preventing an even worse finish with a 7.04 avg rating was plain to see.

Table

Transfers

-

Season 2023-2024 Review

Young Lewes fans celebrate an incredible season which has seen them become the talk of England.

Media Prediction: 3rd

My Expectation: Winners

Final Position: 1st

After a season of losing I was well aware that I did not want another experience quite like that. In response, I decided to make radical changes, which included shipping out some of the clubs legends. These lads may have helped us get to where we wanted to be, but the simple fact is they weren't good enough to help us stay there. We stood at a new era for the club, and as the season got underway it became clear we wouldn't be disappointed.

Where to start then? Our record breaking title run, our incredible season in the cups, our record breaking top scorers. The simple fact is we came together to shake off the disappointment of last season and go on a big run towards a return to the Premiership. We did just that, breaking the points record for theChampionship with 112 points. Our two top strikers, Richard Boateng and Robert Wojcik, became club legends as they constantly traded the spot for top scorer. In the end Boateng triumphed with 45, but only by a single goal, with the two racking up 89 goals in all competitions.

The team was typified on the final day, a solitary goal from Richard Boateng sealing our points record with a neat finish in front of the Meade Stand. This team definitely has the Premiership ability, now they just have to show it.

Things are looking bright for next season, We've signed a new shirt sponsorship deal with AMD (shirts on the way!) which will open up more revenue for the club, and more TV money will be available thanks to our Premiership status. Here's to, hopefully, staying up.

I was only runner up for Championship MOTY as well! AGAIN!

-

FA Cup: We went all the way to the Quarter Finals in the national knockout cup but Chelsea came back for revenge with a 4-2 win at the Thomas Cook Stadium. So near, but yet so far.

League Cup: We were minutes away from our first ever domestic cup final. Having beaten six teams including the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool, we came up against a resilient and heavily favoured Newcastle in the Semi Finals. We took them all the way to extra time at the Sports Direct Arena but came up just short as they went home with a 4-3 win on aggregate.

Managers Player of the Season

Richard Boateng and Robert Wojcik: Inseparable. So prolific was our partnership up front that we simply couldn't choose one over the over. As said above, 89 goals in all competitions gave us our best season on record.

Table

Transfers

-

Club Overview

Season Division Position Points Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 Blue Square South 8th 67 FA Trophy Semi Finalists
2013/14 Blue Square South 3rd 72 Promoted via playoffs, BSS Manager of the Year
2014/15 Blue Square Premier 12th 63
2015/16 Blue Square Premier 10th 69 FA Cup Third Round
2016/17 Blue Square Premier 1st 87 Blue Square Premier Champions, BSP Manager of the Year
2017/18 Npower League 2 1st 85 Npower League 2 Champions, League 2 Manager of the Year
2018/19 Npower League 1 4th 81 Promoted via playoffs, League 1 Manager of the Year
2019/20 Npower Championship 11th 64 New 16,616 capacity stadium planned
2020/21 Npower Championship 11th 67
2021/22 Npower Championship 2nd 94 Npower Championship Runner Up, Npower Championship Manager of the Year Runner Up
2022/23 Barclays Premiership 20th 23 Relegation, Moved into the 16,616 capacity Thomas Cook Stadium (Lewes Stadium)
2023/24 Npower Championship 1st 112 Npower Championship Champions, Npower Championship Manager of the Year Runner Up

[magicmastermind124]

Don't jump on him about it, everybody gets tempted to do it, although denial in face of clear evidence is a bit silly.

Daf will have the final say over it, and nobody else should get involved.

As for Lewes, double header coming up, with two seasons of dramatically contrasting fortunes .

It's not him I'm getting at, I wanted to bring it up to ensure that others were aware in case it affected any records or something. End of from me.

It's still an achievement to get that high and into Europe.

[Dan BHTFC]

I have now resigned from Hendon and now waiting to see who comes up into the Blue Square North/South and try it again but this time it will be tougher as all the players in the database are regens

[High Flying Dwarf]

It's not him I'm getting at, I wanted to bring it up to ensure that others were aware in case it affected any records or something. End of from me.

It's still an achievement to get that high and into Europe.

I know, don't worry, I wasn't having a go at you

[ejthegreat]

Finally up to 1 star reputation now that I've been promoted from L2. Been trying to sign up players to full time contracts but I might have to hurry, the takeover merry-go-round has just begun.

http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/PierceHawthorneNews_Inbox-1.jpg

Chairman is 'willing to listen to offers'. Suspect this might be the type of thing that takes a year to sort out. Most of the FA Cup revenue reserves have been used up, we'll be going into the red within the next two months unless we get a major increase in crowds early this coming season. Need to get the key players sorted out before then.

[AndyMUFC]

AndyMUFC - npower League One - Winners - Season 2016-17

Media Prediction:- 24th

Board Prediction:- Avoid Relegation

My Prediction:- Playoffs

Table Graph Squad Best Player Transfers Finances

A cracking season with us never being outside the playoff spots, with us eventual winning the league with 7 games to go.

Only 1 new player was bought in this was Issac Osbourne who went straight into the first team as our 1st choice DMC, but 12 players were released that no longer where in the clubs plans or would not resign.

The best player over the season was Jordan Walker our AMC who I used as a Trerquartista, he finished the season with some excellent stats of 51 games 29 goals and 26 assists with a rating of 7.65, he was also Man of the Match 13 times.

Finances are in a bad state with us making a loss of £924,367 over the season. £336,000 of this was the loan repayments for the new stadium, we also made subsentual payments on goal and other bonuses due to the excellent season we had. We also overspent £100,000 on wages due to unable to sell or release anymore players as couldn't get any new signings for lower wages that were good replacements, Also a fair amount was lost through match day expsenses due to moving into new stadium at start of season, an all singing all dancing stadium with 17,836 all seater with undersoil heating. At least with having these facilities we had no games called over the season.

Tasks for next season:-

1) Avoid relegation

2) Improve Squad

3) Improve Finances

[u]Season	Division	         Pos  Pts  FA Cup              Other Cups	                         Europe       Achievements[/u]		

2012-13	Blue Square Bet North    2nd  78   2nd Rd              FAT 2nd Rd                                N/A          Promoted via playoffs
2013-14 Blue Square Bet Premier  4th  79   4th Qualifying Rd   FAT 2nd Rd                                N/A          Lost in Playoff Final
2014-15 Blue Square Bet Premier  1st  96   3rd Rd              FAT Final                                 N/A          Automatic Promotion
2015-16 npower League Two        1st  105  2nd Rd              JPT 2nd Rd, Carling Cup 1st Rd            N/A          Automatic Promotion
2016-17 npower League One        1st  105  3rd Rd              JPT Quarter Final, Carling Cup 2nd Rd     N/A          Automatic Promotion

[GreyedOutMan]

Harrow Borough | Season 2030/31 | Barclays Premier League

Table | Positions Graph | Squad | Finances | Transfers

During the summer I managed to rake in a record transfer income despite selling no-one I really wanted to keep (apart from a few players who left on Bosmans). I got a million for Gauna, who had been good but was 29 and probably over-performed anyway. I got £2.8m for Dillon Stevens who had played 11 games for me. I got £1m for Georg Antonaccio who was promising but unlikely ever to be a proper Premiership player. Ben Pratt was sold on for £775k a season after signing for nothing. But the most amazing one for me was the sale of Marko Haase. I got him on a free last summer, he looked OK, but not great, he played precisely 11 minutes for Harrow before moving to Newcastle for £1.6m - right little Arsene Wenger I've turned into! I was really happy with that, and after the stadium upgrade which decimated my finances, it was needed. Of course, record transfer spending also had to come, including my first two million-pound men, and soon I was happy that my squad could at least stay up and possibly surprise a few people.

An opening-day 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham brought me back down to earth with a bump, and I settled in for a long, hard campaign, steeled for a possible first ever relegation. I tried to find consolation in the fact that we'd had 11 shots and none on target - we would surely have better days at the office than that!

But it seemed not many. We got a win against fellow promoted team Nottingham Forest, and it was our only points in the opening 9 league games. A 6-1 defeat to Championship Middlesbrough in the League Cup was a particular low-point. On 2nd November, we picked up another win at home to Newcastle but there was still a long way to go. I picked up another win and then put in a credible performance against Chelsea, going ahead twice before losing 4-2. But then Guilbert, whose form had helped us a lot, got injured for three months just as the stadium re-opened. The first game at the expanded Harrow Stadium was the visit of Manchester City. After putting up a valiant fight for most of the first half, we found ourselves two-nil down soon after the start of the second. We were never going to come back from that but by only losing 2-0 we didn't disgrace ourselves.

It didn't get better from there. All my good players were underperforming and it was getting rather embarrassing, really. At one point I got just two points from 13 games, although during this time I did find myself 1-0 up against Man Utd with 17 minutes to go. Needless to say, I lost 2-1! I couldn't buy a win during this period, although in the 14th game I got another draw, that didn't stop the rot, despite having Swansea at home in the next game. I got trounced 3-1. On March 1st, the 16th game since the last win, I was 1-0 up against Leicester with two minutes to go when a stupid own-goal cost us two points. I think at that point I more or less wrote off the season. I started getting players to sign new contracts - luckily they were stupid enough to take small wage rises in return for 50% relegation wage drops! Result!

A harsh penalty for Newcastle and a poorly disallowed goal for us (the defender was level, and they were both on the edge of the penalty area - with a white line already there, there's not really any excuse for the line-o!) combined to rob us of what should have been a first win 17 at St James' Park, and a remarkable double over the Magpies. Relegation loomed ever larger - with nine games remaining, we sat seven points off safety.

Cup Runs this year provided a bit of respite. The Carling Cup defeat to Middlesbrough was shockingly bad and in the middle of a particularly bad run in the league, but the FA Cup saw our best run yet, and a trip to Wembley to face Man Utd in the first major cup semi-final in Harrow's history. It just happened to be my 1,000th game as Harrow's manager. What a feeling, to lead out your team at Wembley in your 1,000th match. Surely fate was on my side? Arsenal had beaten Birmingham in the other semi-final so the prize was on the table if we could manage to sneak a famous win. We had a chance towards the end of normal time, and though United had the better of the game, it wasn't a mismatch, and extra-time promised a tense, nervy half-hour. It wasn't a foregone conclusion. After 20 minutes of nail-biting stuff, Brahim Messaoudi got the breakthrough and Wembley erupted red, not for the devils but for Boro. It was nervy, edgy and horrible, but we hung on to reach the Cup Final! Unbelievable, and an historic day for Harrow. It was just a shame that our league form was so completely opposite to our cup form....

Surrounding the amazing Wembley win against United, I had an impossibly tough run in the league. I lost to Man City away a week before the semi-final, and between the semi-final and the final, our run was Chelsea (H), Arsenal (H), Aston Villa (A) and Blackburn (H), but frankly, sitting 13 points off Ipswich in 17th albeit with a game in hand, I was pretty much resigned to relegation and though I planned to give it everything until relegation was confirmed, the fact that it was almost certainly going to be over with several games to go was quite a relief in that it meant we could rest players for the final, whereas Arsenal had a massive fight on their hands, sitting two points behind Swansea in the fight for the fourth Champions' League spot.

Despite going ahead early against Chelsea, we were losing 2-1 before half time and couldn't drag it back. It meant that the Cup Final dress-rehearsal at Harrow Stadium was almost certain to be the game to seal relegation, not only if we lost but more than likely even if we won as Ipswich were facing Wigan who had little to play for. What I hadn't noticed was that the Arsenal game had been moved to the Sunday, and Ipswich's win over Wigan sealed relegation on 26th April. I was determined to give the Arsenal game everything because I didn't want Arsenal to have the psychological edge at Wembley. That didn't quite happen for me - within 3 minutes, Arsenal had the lead. Before half time the game was all but over at 2-0. A 3rd with twenty minutes to go wasn't great, and the Gunners heaped on the pain, eventually making it 4-0 at full-time. To rub salt into the wounds, Marc Weller was sent off in the last seconds of stoppage time. Our league performance was nothing short of shocking, and 26 games without a league win must be some sort of record.

We went into the Cup Final with Harrow relegated and Arsenal almost certainly out of the running for the Champions' League - so both teams were playing for much-needed pride.

You'll notice that the Cup Runs link doesn't give you the result from the final. Can't lose the suspense! I went into it with a debutant. It was a risk that my AssMan had recommended, and I wasn't entirely convinced but my midfield hadn't been that great throughout the season, and Moussa Camara hadn't been cheap. But when your star striker (and former Sp**s player) Guilbert is sent off within twenty minutes, you're never likely to be in with a chance in a Cup Final against a team like Arsenal. We were two-nil down before half-time. Arsenal's name was on the Cup. The final score was 4-1, and the trouncing rather summed up our stay in the Premiership. I have no idea how I managed to beat United in the Semi-Final. However, Arsenal somehow managed to nick the Champions' League spot, with Swansea getting just one point from the last two games away at Chelsea and United. This meant, of course, a Europa League spot for Harrow Borough!!!

Key Players

Herve Guilbert* - really important to us, and the form of the team went down the pan when he got injured.

Ander Larrea - the loanee whose performances in the FA Cup were absolutely crucial to the run to the Final.

Danny Boon - nearly sold him in the summer - so happy I didnt, and I plan to make him a central figure in our bid for re-promotion.

Regis Mpinda - the only new signing who worked out.

Gabriele Monda - the only one of several central defenders I used this season to really impress - another one like him and we might have stayed up.

(*= fans' player of the year)

The team of the year

The historical best XI - Neuemeier, Cabello and Monda inducted.

Key Records Broken

Highest Transfer Fee Paid: £1.6m for Gustavo from Burnley on 13th July - the first million-pound man was Regis Mpinda from Swansea on 4th July.

Highest Transfer Spend: £5.5m - transfers section says £5.75m

Highest Transfer Income: 9.25m - transfers section says £8.25m

Highest League Finish: 20th in the Premiership

Most Games Lost in a Row: 7 from 14th September to 26th October

Highest Average Attendance: 10,895

Valete (Or, key departures and their career stats)

None this year - we sold a bunch of players who had barely played for the club for a lot more than we paid for them. Quite a result, that.

Next season, I need to go back up to the Premiership. But I want to make sure that I also preserve my financial situation. Several of my highest-paid players are going to have to take a 50% wage cut, which will help, not to mention the parachute payments which took my finances to a new level. Unlike last season, when only one of my expensive new signings worked out (Mpinda), I need to buy well this year.

Targets for 2030/31

Survival in the Premiership FAILURE - abject one, at that. We weren't a Premiership side by a long shot.

A cup semi-final SUCCESS - one better, as we managed that shock victory in the Semi-Final!

Get out of debt SUCCESS - amazing the different a season in the Premiership can make!

Targets for 2031/32

Promotion

Save money for the Premiership to get better players in next time around

Sign some good youngsters who will turn into quality Premiership players

In other news, I've been offered just about every Premiership job going this year, including Chelsea, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Newcastle, but the 'childhood dream' Arsenal job which was going at the start of the season eluded me despite press speculation after Lee Clark left to manage England.

Season      Division	          Position     Points    Achievements

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

[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7278263&viewfull=1#post7278263]2012/13[/url]     Blue Square South         17th      45       Stayed clear of relegation.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7287208&viewfull=1#post7287208]2013/14[/url]     Blue Square South          3rd      80       Playoff runners-up.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7294922&viewfull=1#post7294922]2014/15[/url]     Blue Square South          2nd      91       Promoted via playoffs.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7300819&viewfull=1#post7300819]2015/16[/url]     Blue Square Premier       13th      64       Mid-table finish.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7305894&viewfull=1#post7305894]2016/17[/url]     Blue Square Premier       10th      63       None.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7313993&viewfull=1#post7313993]2017/18[/url]     Blue Square Premier       17th      57       None.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7322421&viewfull=1#post7322421]2018/19[/url]     Blue Square Premier       15th      56       Drew with Forest in FA Cup!
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7326026&viewfull=1#post7326026]2019/20[/url]     Blue Square Premier        7th      73       FA Trophy Winners.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7330382&viewfull=1#post7330382]2020/21[/url]     Blue Square Premier        4th      77       Playoff semi-finalists; FA Trophy Winners.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7334472&viewfull=1#post7334472]2021/22[/url]     Blue Square Premier        1st      90       Promoted as Champions; FA Trophy Winners.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7346166&viewfull=1#post7346166]2022/23[/url]     Coca-Cola League Two       1st      92       Promoted automatically, and at the first attempt!
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7354887&viewfull=1#post7354887]2023/24[/url]     Coca-Cola League One       3rd      87       Playoff Final runners up; FA Cup 4th round.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7364798&viewfull=1#post7364798]2024/25[/url]     Coca-Cola League One       7th      77       JPT Runner-up.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7368804&viewfull=1#post7368804]2025/26[/url]     Coca-Cola League One       1st      97       Promoted as Champions.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7374349&viewfull=1#post7374349]2026/27[/url]     Coca-Cola Championship    10th      68       Stadium Expansion planned to just over 7,000 all-seater.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7383513&viewfull=1#post7383513]2027/28[/url]     Coca-Cola Championship    16th      53       Expansion to 7,582 all-seater completed, further expansion of 1,580 seats planned.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7392674&viewfull=1#post7392674]2028/29[/url]     Coca-Cola Championship    10th      66       Expansion completed to 9,162 capacity.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7396585&viewfull=1#post7396585]2029/30[/url]     Coca-Cola Championship     2nd      90       Promotion; Carling Cup Q-Final; FA Cup R5, incl. victory v. Tottenham; Stadium expansion announced (3,500 seats).
2030/31     Barclays Premier League   20th      18       Expansion to 12,662 capacity stadium completed; FA Cup Runner-up & Europa Leauge Qualification.

[CityAndColour]

Bad luck there GoM, I've been on one of those winless streaks in the EPL on FM11 and it's not fun. But it is fun rebuilding for a CCC promotion push again.

[GreyedOutMan]

Yeah - that and the European qualification means I'm not too downhearted. But I'd love to know how to get it right next time - any tips?

[CityAndColour]

I did it with QPR, a fair few seasons into the game. Basically I didn't panic with trying to overhaul the squad. I'm sure you had a lot of players who didn't perform to their abilities at the higher level, so give them a chance to redeem themselves in the Champ.

[mikeytk]

#89 mikeytk - Canvey Island - Blue Square South - 2013/14

Finished 3rd - PROMOTED VIA PLAYOFFS

Table | Graph | Stats

I know it's been ages since the last update, I went on a bad run and ragequit for a while.

Amazingly similar to last season, but with a better end result! Decent start, then terrible spell between September-January then a 17-match unbeaten run in the second half got me into the playoffs again. Beat Dartford 5-4 over the two legs in the SF to face Lewes at home in the final.

Squad | Transfers | Finances

Finances not great again due to wage costs and poor attendances. Hopefully will improve in the BSP.

Key Players

Jamie "the" Tank - Brilliant again. Another double-figure haul and an av. rating of 7.25

Michael Uwezu - The former Arsenal and Fulham man was top scorer with 18

Moses Ademola - Another good season from the winger signed from Woking last mid-season. 12 goals and 17 assists.

Disappointing. Beaten by Dartford in the 2nd qual. round on pens after a replay

Beaten by Gateshead in the 4th round

Next Year

Survival is the aim in the BSS but I'm confident my current squad is capable of that, with some quality additions who knows?...

[color=#333333][font=monospace]Season Division Position Cups Achievements[/font][/color]
[color=#333333][font=monospace]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/font][/color][color=#333333][font=monospace]2012/13 Blue Square South 4th F.A Cup 1st Rnd, Fa Trophy 2nd Rd Play offs
[/font][/color]2013/14 Blue Square South 3rd F.A Cup 2nd Qual, FA TRophy 4th Rnd Promotion via Playoffs

[Kazpeer]

St. Albans – npower league 1 – 2020/2021

Aim or the season: Better place than last season (11th)

League table

Past positions

Actually a quite good season. Only thing missing was the playoff. If I had won my last game i would have been in the playoff.

Squad

Transfers

Sold both my keepers, as they wanted way too high wages.

Key Player Profiles:

Bernard Mensah – Topscorer with 16 goals.

Alan Moores – Once again the best player based on avg. rating.

Career overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13   BSS                     9th         n/a
2013/14   BSS                     1st         BSS
2014/15   BSP                    10th         n/a
2015/16   BSP                    12th         n/a
2016/17   BSP                     4th         Promotion via Playoff
2017/18   L2                      2nd         Automatic promotion
2018/19   L1                     18th         n/a
2019/20   L1                     11th         n/a
2020/21   L1                      7th         n/a 

Next Season

At least playoff. Would like to get promoted.

[Utdchamp]

Yeah - that and the European qualification means I'm not too downhearted. But I'd love to know how to get it right next time - any tips?

The combination of Euro Cup and Championship means that you will have a long season ahead. I played 70 matches the year I won the Euro Cup....big squad essential.

[GreyedOutMan]

Yeah tell me about it!

[ejthegreat]

Finally up to 1 star reputation now that I've been promoted from L2. Been trying to sign up players to full time contracts but I might have to hurry, the takeover merry-go-round has just begun.

http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/PierceHawthorneNews_Inbox-1.jpg

Chairman is 'willing to listen to offers'. Suspect this might be the type of thing that takes a year to sort out. Most of the FA Cup revenue reserves have been used up, we'll be going into the red within the next two months unless we get a major increase in crowds early this coming season. Need to get the key players sorted out before then.

Well the takeover has taken another step forward and it's not good news. Have a transfer embargo on the club now and I might be out of a job soon.

http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/PierceHawthorneNews_Inbox-2.jpg

I'm also not able to interact at all with the board and haven't been for a week or two.

Anyone seen this and come through the other side intact?

[Britrock]

Well the takeover has taken another step forward and it's not good news. Have a transfer embargo on the club now and I might be out of a job soon.http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx245/divvydan/PierceHawthorneNews_Inbox-2.jpgI'm also not able to interact at all with the board and haven't been for a week or two.Anyone seen this and come through the other side intact?

I had one at Newcastle on fm11 and survived it. If you've had a successful time at the club and start well under the new guys reign you should be fine.

[Shakes]

Lewes - 2014/15 BSP End of Season Update - 1st

Table | Positions | Transfers | Squad | Finances

Made the mistake of signing some players who didn't really fit my system out of "well they're the best guys who will sign at all at this point" panic. When I tried to fit them in (switching from my usual 4-1-2-2-1 with AML/R to a 4-1-2-1-2 narrow diamond) dropped 3 games in 4 and was slumping to mid table. Thankfully at that point I gave up on the experiment, reverted to my usual style and an abundance of guys who fit the inside forward role started to show up willing to sign. End result was a complete demolition job of the league, most pleasing was the consistency, nobody was a runaway goal scorer but pretty much all the players chipped in and although we didn't often completely destroy sides we were rarely scratching for a goal.

FA Cup - 3rd Round.

1st round was a heart stopper, managed to throw away a 1-0 lead a man up on the away leg, couldn't get more than a draw in a dominant home leg, and missed the first penalty. Got lucky and saved the 5th and 6th to snatch the win, took care of business in the second round to get to the profit stage, an away leg against the Spurs. Very pleasing 1-0 loss, defended bravely and with two penalties denied and a very marginal offside going against us on a luckier day would have got something from the match.

FA Trophy - Winner.

Nearly threw away a 4-0 home leg in the semis ... they came back and had it at 5-4 with 15 minutes to go, but we hung on so no hair dryers were thrown. In the final we were last minute wonders, equalizing in the 90th and then winning with a deflection off a free kick in the last seconds of extra time. Pleasing to make amends for our loss 2 years ago, since hopefully this will be the last crack at the FA Trophy Lewes get!

Next Season

Well despite winning the competition, winning the FA Trophy and a good cup run with wages safely under the budget the new seats required by our promotion means we posted a slight loss on the year, so I'm not expecting a huge wage budget increase. With a fairly large squad getting everyone onto professional contracts could be a challenge, but thankfully I have at least a year on everyone's current deal to run, so I can hopefully do it gradually. Cutting a few players lose probably wouldn't be the end of the world, I have more than I can reasonably rotate through the 1st team when healthy.

Hopefully with the increased number of promotion spots available in league 2 back to back promotions are on the cards, I think the players I currently have are good enough to do it so probably a quieter year than this one when I signed over two dozen players, a few who I shipped back out before they'd even played a senior game (how rude of guys to sign a contract then promptly injure themselves in the reserves ... should be able to cut them without paying them off).

Season    Division    Pos     FA Cup      Other Cups             Achievements
2012/13   BSS         1st     2nd Rnd     FAT RU                 Promoted, FA Trophy Runners Up
2013/14   BSP         3rd     4th Rnd     FAT 4th Rnd            Promotion Finalists
2014/15   BSP         1st     3rd Rnd     FAT Winners            Promoted, FA Trophy Winners

[GreyedOutMan]

I've never been replaced as a manager following a takeover - I don't think it ever happens, its just press speculation. Might mean you need to start winning more though, if you want to keep your job for much longer afterwards!

[grff]

FC United of Manchester

Season 14 - 2025/26 – Barclays Premier League

Pre-season - Media Prediction: 11th

First proper bit of silverware!

League Table| Progress | Squad | Transfers

Had a fantastic season all in all. My aim was to qualify for the Europa League having been pipped to the post last season, but this wasn't looking to clever after 4 defeats from the first 5 games. However, a steady climb up the table was helped by a successful run in the FA Cup, which instilled confidence throughout the squad.

January came and Champion's League football was looking as though it could be on the cards for next season and luckily the squad kept their nerve and managed to finish 3rd.

Champion's League spot and FA Cup winner. Job done for the season!

Targets for the 2025/26 season

1. Qualify for Europe ACHIEVED

2. Reach FA Cup 6th round ACHIEVED

3. Reach Carling Cup final FAILED

Career Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13         Blue Square North          4th           Reached play-offs 
2013/14         Blue Square North          9th           Reached FA Cup 1st round
2014/15         Blue Square North          3th           Highest finish to date        
2015/16         Blue Square North          1st           Promoted                           
2016/17         Blue Square Premier        1st           Promoted                               
2017/18         League Two                 17th          None                                       
2018/19         League Two                 3rd           Promoted                            
2019/20         League One                 15th          None      
2020/21         League One                 1st           Promotion/JPT winner                               
2021/22         Championship               5th           None                                      
2022/23         Championship               1st           Promotion/Carling Cup Finalist     
2023/24         Premier League             15th          None                                         
2024/25         Premier League             7th           None                                      
2025/26         Premier League             3rd           FA Cup winner                          

Targets for new season:

1. Reach last 16 of the Champion's League

2. Retain FA Cup

3. Improve on last year's 4th place finish

[Gypsum]

I've never been replaced as a manager following a takeover - I don't think it ever happens, its just press speculation. Might mean you need to start winning more though, if you want to keep your job for much longer afterwards!

I know it used to happen quite frequently in older FM's, but SI have probably toned it down a bit.

[Gypsum]

As i've only just completed the challenge and expectations aren't too high, I might work on building an all Home nations squad. I'm not going to ship out my foreign players straight away, but i'll gradually phase them out by only signing UK and Irish players. Will probably take 7 or 8 seasons, and weaken my squad, but it should be an interesting challenge.

[darren1983]

Darren1983 Kingstonian Season review 2021/22 Premeirship

Table Graph Transfers

After our unexpected promotion last season all I was looking for was to stay up, we brought in some much better players (on paper at least) then we let go and even broke the million pound barrier for the first time (though it wouldn't be the last time!) I brought in a 35 year old Gary Cahil for some much needed experience (even with him the average age was still just 22) and we were off!

Firsat game was a home one against Aston Villa, and even though we outplayed them we could only manage a 1-1 draw, this season saw us continue our fairly poor home form whilst shocking everyone that says you need home form to stay up by winning more games away from home then we did at home. Our first win came in the 4th game away to Norwhich and we followed that up by winning our next away game at Everton. In late November we went on our best run of the season, 7 unbeaten, 4 of which were games won on the spin. However a nightmare christmas period where we had to play 4th placed West Brom, 2nd placed Man Utd and 3rd placed Chelsea in the space of 3 days saw us lose all 3 and start a run of 7 straight defeats which was only ended with a change of formation and a scrappy 1-0 win at home to Everton.

We continued to pick up the odd result and the gap between us and the relegation was never bigger then 4 points untill the final 5 games where we had to play 5 of the top 8! 4 defeats and 1 win (home to West Brom) just about saw us creep over the finishing line 3 points clear of the drop zone

Cups

Not much to say, lost at home to Man City in the 4th round of the league cup and lost away to Hull in the 3rd round of FA Cup

Aims for next season

Score more goals

Shore up the defence

Try and have a cup run

Oh yeah - stay up!!!!!

[High Flying Dwarf]

Nigeria have just offered me the managers job out of absolutely nowhere, shame I can't take it, but maybe some day I can emulate my 2010 Ivory Coast winning side from FM 2010.

[darren1983]

I'm now a Kingstonian legend

[GreyedOutMan]

Harrow Borough | Season 2031/32 | Coca-Cola Championship

Table | Positions Graph | Squad | Finances | Transfers

20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

I got a bit carried away this year and the report is long - if you're going to skim down to "Key Players", I will understand, but do check out the screenshots if you can - there are a couple of impressive ones!

Despite the abject relegation of last season, the year in the Premiership did wonders for the long-term future of the club - the finances clearly took a massive shot in the arm, and getting to a Cup Final against a Champions' League-qualified team meant a first European outing for Harrow, which is incredible. However, it was rather odd to be representing England in the competition alongside both Cardiff and Swansea....I have a feeling that IRL, this wouldn't be allowed, would it? I'm sure there was a hoo-ha about Cardiff not being allowed to enter the Europa League if they got to a final a few years back because they're in Wales, not England? Anyway, Southampton were the other English entrants, so this does also demonstrate how much has changed in the 20 years I've been in charge at Harrow.

The season started with more wheeler-dealing. The net transfer profit (i.e. money from sales minus the transfer fees paid for those players) made on the sales I made in the winter transfer window alone amounted to £9.3m! I know with wages this comes down a bit but it's brilliant how much value I'm adding to my players at the moment. I guess even a shocking EPL season is better than nothing! It also, I realised, gave me a chance to bring my younger players through in a less intimidating league, and this, hopefully, would be to my advantage in the long-run. I did manage to keep more or less all of the promising players from the Premiership season - the ones who did leave were the older ones who had underperformed and never really looked like being Premiership quality, and yet I still made a massive profit.

I got in a lot of really good quality. Young quality. Apart from 20-year-old Markevich for £650k, I spent only £20k of the £6.75m I spent in pre-season on players over 19. They all had the potential to be proper Premiership players and whilst I have my doubts about some of them, there are several who do look like they'll be worth the rather inflated fees I paid for some of them. Then you look at someone like Fabian Erwig-Druppel (wow, what a name!), and at £2.5k, even though he's not as young, I think he might be the biggest bargain I've ever had.

After our amazing run to the final of the FA Cup last year, the Cup Runs included the Europa League for the first time. This meant that we went into the Carling Cup late, in the 3rd round, where we drew West Brom - which meant back-to-back games against the then-leaders of the Championship. Two red cards in the last half-hour of the cup game gave us no chance of progression in the Carling Cup - and it was 0-0 when the first red card came. In the league game a few days later, I felt much better as West Brom suffered a red card after half an hour with the score still at 0-0. Which is how it stayed after 90 minutes, but Boucher's 92nd minute winner was extremely satisfying! Revenge was sweet.

As for the Europa League - our first European outing....We got into the group phase, although we were 1-0 down in the first leg against Stabaek until the final minutes. The group of PSV, CFR Cluj and Anji gave me, I felt, a decent chance of progression - as long as PSV got maximum points from the other two, I felt that I could do enough to qualify. After all, I had beaten Man Utd to get into the competition! The first "legs" provided a bizarre set of results. Anji beat PSV 1-0 on the first matchday while i drew with Cluj, before getting a first win against Anji while PSV were beating Cluj 1-0. So far, so good. But it got a lot better very quickly. This remarkable result on 23rd October put us very much in the driving seat in the group. We lost narrowly in Eindhoven, which was disappointing as we could have nicked a draw - but it did mean that in a tight group, we had the edge over Eindhoven if it came down to head-to-head. It wasn't necessary. A convincing with against Cluj followed, meaning we needed just a draw at Anji to progress for certain, and even a defeat could possibly have seen us through. After taking the lead, we were pegged back just after half-time and two red cards before the hour mark made it hard in a snowbound Makhachkala made it look hard, but soon afterwards, Boucher put us back in the lead with just over 20 minutes to go. Of course, Anji got the obligatory equaliser with five minutes left to give us a bit of squeaky-bum time, and a goal-line clearance in the last minute of stoppage time was absolutely crucial. Conceding the lead cost us first-place in the group, which PSV claimed after beating Cluj - but we had qualified to ensure European football in 2032, and having played with 9 men for over half an hour, that wasn't too bad.

With the Europa League qualification sorted, the cup focus switched to the FA Cup for a while in January, and after our final appearance last year I was keen to try to go one better this time around. Luton were dispatched with ease, followed by mid-table Championship team Derby, who took us to a replay at Harrow Stadium, where they shocked us 2-0 after a shockingly bad performance from my lot. With promotion looking likely to be wrapped up quickly, I would have liked to continue the run in the cup and maybe gone on to win it, so that was annoying.

Schalke provided the opposition in the First Knockout Round of the Europa, with a plum tie against Bayern (assuming they beat my group opponents PSV) as the carrot in the 2nd knockout round. In the first leg at Harrow Stadium, we took the lead shortly before the half-hour. Just after it, we doubled the lead! This was crazy! We found ourselves 3-0 up against Schalke at half-time! It finished 4-0, and my jaw was on the floor. The second leg - well let's just say we never do things the easy way.

But Bayern awaited in the next round - and clearly I accepted that would be the end of the line. 3 suspensions, an injury, and ineligible players galore made it harder still. I was playing a couple of players I'd never heard of from my U18s!! My players did their best to make me think they could pull it off by scoring first in Munich, but they soon equalised, and then the stupid idiots proved that they can't learn from their mistakes as 5th choice right back Jason Rents was sent off, followed soon afterwards by Obiorah. We lost 3-1, so game over right? Or was it? The stupid sods scored first at Harrow Stadium too. Making me believe. They're so cruel. We ended up losing the second leg 4-1, 7-2 on aggregate. But for a first outing in Europe, I felt the run had been outstanding.

Back in the league, we had eaten Christmas Dinner on the back of 16 games unbeaten, second to West Brom only on goal-difference and with a game in hand. By New Years' Day, we had caught up the games missed during our Europa League group, and were sitting pretty on top of the league. We did then lose to Wycombe, despite 61% of the possession and 19 shots to 10, to end a 19-match unbeaten run in the league, but things were still looking good. A last-minute winner against 2nd placed Leicester was disallowed, which would have put me a full 9 points clear at the top. After another break for Europa League games in February and March, we were second, three points behind Leicester but with four games in hand.

Three points from four games in early April delayed promotion but was never going to prevent it. On April 17th, with five games remaining for me, and three for my rivals, promotion was secured. Returning to the Premiership at the first attempt, and despite a punishing schedule due to Europa League commitments, with remarkable ease. Motivation was clearly a problem for the team after that, and my last 5 games yielded only 2 points, which cost me the title which looked mine all season. How I didn't get 100 points is beyond me, although with 96 points, we have the highest points total with which anyone has ever NOT won the Championship, so I suppose we were a bit unlucky in that respect.

Key Players - quite a few this year after a great season.

Brahim Messaoudi* - relatively modest goals return but 20 assists and a massive 82 key passes made him invaluable.

Herve Guilbert and - not much separating these two - both key strikers scoring at just under a goal every two games.

Fabian Erwig-Druppel - same as the last two, but he has such an awesome name that he has to have his own entry.

- I hope that this is a return to form and its not just that the Championship is his level.

- surprised by his success - looks like a bargain buy at £1.5m from Southampton. Man Utd are sniffing around, though.

- continues his improvement with his best season yet.

- did equally well in midfield and attack, as .

- missed only two games all season and very consistent.

and

Sergey Markevich - my record signing improved throughout the season and looks like he will be a good investment.

- althouh he mainly played at right back, his best performances were in central defence - but he did fine in both, which is helpful.

- if we're buying into the theory that goalkeepers get lower AvR's in general, then Wilson is a real key player for me now. He's pretty good, and home-grown which is very helpful in all the home-grown toils I've had lately.

(*= fans' player of the year)

The team of the year

The historical best XI - no new inductees but current players Neumeier, Cabello and Monda are still there.

I won manager of the month in both November and December, which was nice because I dont win many - I have won 18 awards in my 20-year career and a fair few of those were Manager of the Year awards. Markevich won the Young Player gong in January. I only got 3rd place in the Manager of the Year awards, so I'm hoping that's an indication that my reputation is rather better than the last time I went up! Neumeier was selected in the Championship XI.

Key Records Broken

Highest Transfer Fee Paid: £2.9m for Sergey Markevich from Rubin on 8th August

Highest Transfer Spend: £9.75m although transfers section says £10.25m.

Valete (Or, key departures and their career stats)

THORSTEN WEISSMAN

Crucial in the promotion season in 2029/30, but couldn't make the step-up to the Premiership. I could have kept him on for another season in the Championship but I felt there were better options around.

APPS: 43, GLS: 11, ASSTS: 12, MoM: 3, AvR: 7.08

JOEL

A club icon, but started to lose his place in the team in the promotion year of 2029/30, and really struggled in the Premiership. I'm sure he would have done fine at the lower level but at 26, he wasn't likely to improve enough to do it in the Premiership, so I cashed in, selling him to Newport County for £2.1m. Just 21 times what I bought him for 4 years before!!!

APPS: 118, GLS: 39, ASSTS: 16, MoM: 7, AvR: 7.03

MARC WELLER

Had slowly started to establish himself as the first-choice full-back, although he like most others had a poor season in the Premiership, and disciplinary problems dogged his three years at Harrow with 20 yellow cards and two reds in only 68 games. £2.5m was too good to turn down, although I would like to have kept him.

APPS: 68, GLS: 0, ASSTS: 1, MoM: 2, AvR: 6.88

Next season, it's Premier League take two. I want to survive but I think we have the resources now to aim a bit higher than that. If I can spend a bit better than I did last time, who knows?

Targets for 2031/32

Promotion. SUCCESS

Save money for the Premiership to get better players in next time around. FAILURE but I think by investing in youth I've put myself in a good position to build.

Sign some good youngsters who will turn into quality Premiership players. SUCCESS - see above. Clarke-Harris was the outstanding one, but several other signings who didnt quite make the break-through aren't far behind.

Targets for 2032/33

Survival in the Premiership.

Cup run - I loved being in the Europa League - it's less pressure than the Champs League, and I want to be in it as many times as possible while I build to being a CL team.

Aim for a stadium expansion, although I feel it's likely to be a couple of years away.

In other news, Burnley beat Hull in the Cup Final (yes, you heard correctly). Man Utd claimed their fourth consecutive Premiership title, and AC Milan beat Juventus at Ibrox in a repeat of the 2003 final, also in the UK. Strange. And I continue to be linked with every single job that comes up - Man City and Spurs in particular this year. You'd think after 20 years at Harrow, they might realise I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!

Then just before I posted this report, I got my childhood dream. It hurt to turn it down. Henry Stadium, built in 2031, has just under 80,000 all-seater capacity with a retractable roof. Legendary players include Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Mario Cueto and Jose Pina. The Lampard Arena has also been built in the Western area.....

The European Championships saw the English Press demonstrate that they cannot learn from history.

PS - apologies for the mistake in my history which has now been corrected - I got 89 points in the first promotion from the Championship, not 90.

EDT: After the last post: I'm not yet a legend! Surely that's mad!

Season      Division	          Position     Points    Achievements

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

[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7278263&viewfull=1#post7278263]2012/13[/url]     Blue Square South         17th      45       Stayed clear of relegation.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7287208&viewfull=1#post7287208]2013/14[/url]     Blue Square South          3rd      80       Playoff runners-up.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7294922&viewfull=1#post7294922]2014/15[/url]     Blue Square South          2nd      91       Promoted via playoffs.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7300819&viewfull=1#post7300819]2015/16[/url]     Blue Square Premier       13th      64       Mid-table finish.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7305894&viewfull=1#post7305894]2016/17[/url]     Blue Square Premier       10th      63       None.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7313993&viewfull=1#post7313993]2017/18[/url]     Blue Square Premier       17th      57       None.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7322421&viewfull=1#post7322421]2018/19[/url]     Blue Square Premier       15th      56       Drew with Forest in FA Cup!
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7326026&viewfull=1#post7326026]2019/20[/url]     Blue Square Premier        7th      73       FA Trophy Winners.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7330382&viewfull=1#post7330382]2020/21[/url]     Blue Square Premier        4th      77       Playoff semi-finalists; FA Trophy Winners.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7334472&viewfull=1#post7334472]2021/22[/url]     Blue Square Premier        1st      90       Promoted as Champions; FA Trophy Winners.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7346166&viewfull=1#post7346166]2022/23[/url]     Coca-Cola League Two       1st      92       Promoted automatically, and at the first attempt!
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7354887&viewfull=1#post7354887]2023/24[/url]     Coca-Cola League One       3rd      87       Playoff Final runners up; FA Cup 4th round.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7364798&viewfull=1#post7364798]2024/25[/url]     Coca-Cola League One       7th      77       JPT Runner-up.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7368804&viewfull=1#post7368804]2025/26[/url]     Coca-Cola League One       1st      97       Promoted as Champions.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7374349&viewfull=1#post7374349]2026/27[/url]     Coca-Cola Championship    10th      68       Stadium Expansion planned to just over 7,000 all-seater.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7383513&viewfull=1#post7383513]2027/28[/url]     Coca-Cola Championship    16th      53       Expansion to 7,582 all-seater completed, further expansion of 1,580 seats planned.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7392674&viewfull=1#post7392674]2028/29[/url]     Coca-Cola Championship    10th      66       Expansion completed to 9,162 capacity.
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7396585&viewfull=1#post7396585]2029/30[/url]     Coca-Cola Championship     2nd      89       Promotion; Carling Cup Q-Final; FA Cup R5, incl. victory v. Tottenham; Stadium expansion announced (3,500 seats).
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7402642&viewfull=1#post7402642]2030/31[/url]     Barclays Premier League   20th      18       Expansion to 12,662 capacity stadium completed; FA Cup Runner-up & Europa Leauge Qualification.
2031/32     Coca-Cola Championship     2nd      96       Europa League 2nd K/O Round, Promotion.

[ejthegreat]

I've never been replaced as a manager following a takeover - I don't think it ever happens, its just press speculation. Might mean you need to start winning more though, if you want to keep your job for much longer afterwards!

Transfer fell through for the moment, although the chairman is 'looking to leave the club as soon as possible' so it can only be a matter of time really.

Good news is that we've started the season magnificently, except for one humiliating 8-1 loss to QPR where I had to field a 3rd choice left back and SWP ran rings around him. My left back's rating was 4.2 if that's any indication of how badly he was done that day. Am currently through to 4th Rd of League Cup and sitting 2nd in L1, having won 7 of my first 9 matches.

The big change this season has been formation, I've gone from the standard 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1 which drops back to a 4-5-1 when I need to. Only happened because my first two strikers got injured but it's been a very successful change so far.

[Dan BHTFC]

Just waiting now for a team to get promoted who I can apply for or should I just apply for any job?

[Dan BHTFC]

After several reloads I've been accepted as manager at Bashley F.C of the Blue Square South for the 2034/35 season

[GreyedOutMan]

Is this some sort of record? Obviously spread over three seasons since I was relegated and in the championship for the middle season.

EDT: So glad I posted, that, had a reverse forum curse and finally got a win against Forest! Hurrah!

[Dan BHTFC]

Is this some sort of record? Obviously spread over three seasons since I was relegated and in the championship for the middle season.

I've had that with some other saves with promoted teams into the Premiership

[GreyedOutMan]

Yeah - I checked it out and the (real-life) Premiership record is held by Derby, and is 32. However, 30 is a record within the game's timespan. I was just wondering if anyone had seen a longer run. In theory, you could fail to win in several Premier League seasons while you yo-yo between leagues, so there's no limit to how far the record could go.....

[High Flying Dwarf]

Is this some sort of record? Obviously spread over three seasons since I was relegated and in the championship for the middle season.

EDT: So glad I posted, that, had a reverse forum curse and finally got a win against Forest! Hurrah!

Oh dear...that's painful

[glennuk]

Just got caught up with updates!

WoW - Controversy - incredible achievements and loads o amazing players

Got a plane journey now, then a 2hour 30 minute wait in sao paulo airport - so will be playing my first season in the championship with Bury Town!

COME ON YOU BLUES!

[grff]

First ever venture into Europe with FC United, fourth pot, dreading the worst...... Barcelona, Milan and Fenerbahce. Great!