dafuge's FM13 challenge

[Gypsum]

Gypsum's Blyth Spartans / Season one / 2013/14

Blue square north: Final position 15th

Media prediction: 17th

In my first season I inherited a team with a solid defence but little backup, and being unable to make transfers as per the rules of ri916's Youth academy challenge it was a bit of a slog to get through the season, particularly the congested Christmas period. But with unsurprising inconsistency we managed to maintain a solid mid-table position and 22 points clear of relegation.

First team squad

U18 squad

Transfers

Key players;

Trevor Liddle (CB) - A solid defender and a handy weapon for an attacking set-piece.

Stephen Critchley (AMR) - A quick winger whose season was spoiled late on by injury.

Bob Fenton (ST) - A lively striker and my top scorer.

Youth intake;

Ben Hardy *Yp0 (MC) - One of my inherited players produced at Blyth. A classy midfielder who was key in build-up play.

Michael Tanner *Yp0 (ST) - A decent young striker who I hope to give regular first team football next season.

Craig Briggs *Yp1 (DC) - In my first youth intake, Briggs was the outstanding talent. A useful backup for my defence, who should threaten the first XI soon.

Year            League             Position             Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14           BSN                15th             Avoided relegation

Club development;

Facilities

Finances

The money saved by avoiding transfers meant I was able to prompt the Board to invest in a larger youth recruitment network, improved facilities and more coaches. Hopefully I will see some of the benefits come next season.

[Swinburn]

BASHLEY F.C.

2027/28 - Premier League

Club Information | Manager Profile | Confidence | Finances | Squad (1) (2) | Transfers (1) (2)

The League

League Table | Position Graph

The Continental Cups

Super Cup

Club World Cup Fixtures | Club World Cup Final

Champions League Group Table | Champions League League Fixtures

Champions League Final

The Domestic Cups

FA Cup Fixtures | Capital One Cup Fixtures

FA Cup Final

Key Players

Tim Madders | Simone Venturi | Joshua Lallement

Awards

Fan's Player of the Season

Joshua Lallement

Is he a defensive Messi in disguise? This is his fifth win, according to the in-game history books, so if I've not got this right in a previous one then replace whoever it is with Lallement as of 2023/24 onwards. An average rating this season of 8.02 in 52 appearances. Bloody astounding. He is stupidly good.

Top Scorer

Tim Madders

The league's top scorer in the Premier League last season, who played for Bournemouth at the time, goes on to be Bashley's top scorer in all competitions this season with 34 in 56. A slight change in where people played meant I effectively had three strikers (one was an inside forward at AMC) this season, with Madders sharing the spoils with James Byrne who had 27 in 51. Great first season for Bashley and may this be the start of many to come.

Millward Player's Choice Award

Manager's Player of the Season

Hans van der Werff

In the January window, I decided to make a very bold move for former Bashley player and then Man Utd player Hans van der Werff. Having sold him to FC Twente early in our Premier League days and seeing what he become in a few years since moving to United, I've been after a return for some time. I finally got it. He cost 30m, but I got him. And what a signing it was. He only had 14 games but he became one of our key players from the left wing, arguably my weakest position at the time. Glad to have him back.

Jordan Swinburn Award

Surprise of the Season

All the trophies! Well... ish.

We won the Premier League, Champions League, Club World Cup, Super Cup and FA Cup this season, plus we decimated the league on goal difference and scored far more than City. Very happy.

Aims For Next Season

All the trophies! Except not ish!

See above.

Meanwhile...

Interesting Findings

Carlisle gain promotion to the Premier League.

MK Dons get relegated from the Blue Square South.

Career Overview

Season      League                   League Finish      Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14     Blue Square South        17th               Survival

2014/15     Blue Square South        5th                Promotion - Playoffs

2015/16     Blue Square Premier      3rd                Promotion - Playoffs

2016/17     League Two               3rd                Promotion - Automatic

2017/18     League One               1st                Promotion - Champions

2018/19     Championship             5th                Promotion - Playoffs

2019/20     Premier League           12th               FA Cup Winners

2020/21     Premier League           4th                Qualified for Champions League

2021/22     Premier League           6th                Champions League Finalists, Capital One Cup Winners

2022/23     Premier League           6th                Europa League Winners, FA Cup Winners

2023/24     Premier League           2nd                Europa League Winners, FA Cup Finalists, Community Shield Winners

2024/25     Premier League           1st                Champions League Winners, Premier League Winners

2025/26     Premier League           1st                Champions League Winners, Premier League Winners, Club World Cup Winners, 
                                                       Super Cup Winners

2026/27     Premier League           2nd                Champions League Winners, Club World Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners, 
                                                       Community Shield Winners

2027/28     Premier League           1st                Champions League Winners, Club World Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners, 
                                                       Premier League Winners, FA Cup Winners

[Padders]

Great work Swinburn

Got some superb players there

[TacticalGenius]

had a corrupt save so am going to start again as was playing still using a save from game release so had no real benefit of patch fixes

hopefully now i may not concede over half the goals each season from crosses cause no matter how i set my tactics and utilised my full backs or wingbacks and opp instructions nothing seemed to work

ME fixes are totally identical for saved games as they are for new ones.

[Sean3h]

Lowestoft Town F.C

2018/2019 Season

I wanted survival, and ended up a point off a top half finish. If the chairman backs me with more money in the summer I'm aiming for Europe next year. The loan signing of Cristiano Ronaldo was a nice surprise, and he chipped in 4 goals and 4 assists - not too bad for a 35 year old playing wide on the right. Yaya Toure and Laurent Koscielny also impressed despite their age.

League table:

Lowestoft league position throughout the season:

Transfers:

Top scorer: Hezi Israeli with 15 goals in 30 (6) games

Top assister: Nick Powell with 8 assists in 41 (1) games

Top average ratings:

Carl Jenkinson - 7.24 from 46 games - 1 goal, 5 assists

Laurent Koscielny - 7.23 from 40 games - 0 goals, 2 assists

Nick Powell - 7.15 from 41 (1) games - 8 goals, 8 assists

Aims for next season: Europe.

Season	League	Position Achievements
2013/14	BSN	4th	 Promoted via playoffs	
2014/15	BSP	19th	 Survived administration & avoided relegation
2015/16 BSP     1st      Promotion
2016/17 L2      1st      Promotion
2017/18 L1      3rd      Promotion via playoffs
2018/19 CH      1st      Promotion
2019/20 EPL     11th     Survival

[Dexter_Morgan]

F.C. United of Manchester 2013/14 Review

Manager Profile I Transfers I Fixtures 1 2 3 I Table I Graph I Play Off Semi 1st Leg I 2nd Leg I Final I FA Cup Fixtures I Squad Overview I Mitchell

I've not played properly in England since FM 10 so have decided to have a change and come in to this thread (some of you might know i'm a regular in the Big Euro and Gundo challenges) and I only had FC in mind when I decided to do this so luckily it only took one reload to get them

On to my season now, it was a pretty frustrating one in the first half particularly, we were drawing far too many games as you can see in my fixture screenies and at one time I was thinking of restarting but the cup run (albeit we never played a team in a league above until the Arsenal game) just about kept me motivated enough to see the season out. I had let my DOF make the majority of singings and I was thinking that was my main mistake as i've never let him have as much control as that before and I was thinking the quality of player he was signing wasn't quite up to scratch.

It wasn't that we were playing badly but we weren't converting enough chances, then he pulled Mitchell out of the bag for me in January and everything changed. After the Arsenal defeat we went on decent run of winning games and it brought us back in to a position to challenge for the final playoff spot. Once we got there we did our best to throw it away with a pair of consecutive defeats but luckily nobody could pull away and we managed to claw it back and stay there for the last few games.

The playoff games were nervy affairs, a 0-0 draw at home to Stalybridge wasn't the worst result in the world but given they finished above us it was always a difficult task to take the tie, that was made harder by Stalybridge's early goal though it didn't change things too much as I knew we'd have to score there which we did later on in the first half. They dominated for a long spell of the 2nd half but couldn't get a breakthrough and we scored at just about the perfect time to send us through to the final.

I actually went in to the Ebbsfleet game confident of a win, but in the 1st 90 minutes we were very lucky to have took it to extra time. As the 2nd half went on I took a gamble that we could either sneak a goal or hold out for extra time and decided to hold on until either we trailed or the 90 minutes were finished so I could make changes on the wings because their full backs were shattered by 60 minutes and the decision to wait until 90 minutes was what won us the game as they couldn't cope with the fresh legs.

Financially we are looking decent with about £300k in the bank (mostly down to the Arsenal game) and i've been given £36k spending money and a £8k wage budget which should be good enough to ensure survival.

[samnewbrook]

@Rashidi - Making money, well im trying to! Only managed to play for the first time this week tonight, been struck down with the old "man Flu" or thats what the other half is saying! First month into the Blue Square Premier though and i have made a £7.5k profit, no cup games just league games, not sure if the compensation from Connor Roberts-Nurse is included in that though.

[Sholadona]

Blyth Spartans - Blue Square Bet Premier - 2014/15

League Table

League Positions Graph

A brilliant season. We spent the majority of the time chasing Lincoln and we managed to catch them up in the end.

FA Trophy - We played a full youth team for this game due to a congested fixture list and the result showed.

FA Cup - An absolutely fantastic run, ended by a 3rd Round defeat to the Premier League Champions. At least we scored 2!

Squad- A few of the squad from the success last season stayed however most were not used as a new squad was built.

Transfers - A lot of loan signings again and some of the dead weight were released

Finances - In the black again, FA Cup run helped again.

Key Player Profiles:

Phil Airey - Another great season for the striker, however he was second best this time round

Jordan Bowen - The versatile midfielder had another great season and contributed to a number of goals and assists

Matt Godden - The on loan man from Scunthorpe was our top scorer for the season and our best player

Graham Stack - Good solid goalkeeper

Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14   Blue Square Bet North    1st         Blue Square Bet North Champions
2014/15   Blue Square Bet Prem     1st         Blue Square Bet Prem Champions

Next Season

I'm not anticipating another promotion next season. Some serious squad improvement will be needed.

[Sholadona]

Soon after the season ended the board planned to add a few more seats to the stadium...

...which made my finances plummet right down

[dafuge]

Wingate & Finchley - Barclays Premier League - 2034/35

Last season we were one match away from completing an historic treble, could we go one better this time?

League Table

We didn't run away with it last season, but we still won the title with games to spare.

Community Shield - a last minute penalty won us this one.

UEFA Super Cup - it took us until extra time to really come to life.

FIFA Club World Cup - it should have been a lot more than 3-1.

Capital One Cup - I rotated the squad a bit, but it was a decent team that was beaten by Southampton.

FA Cup - it was a great run that ended with a very lucky final win.

UEFA Champions League - the only shock came in the semi final, but we made up for that. The final was over by half time.

Transfers - the signings were just kids, but the players sold were stars. Top scorer Renan was sold as I refused to pay him silly money.

Squad - even with the big names leaving, the squad is still strong.

Youth Products - the youth system is producing some great players, so I'll be doing my best to use them to replace players I've bought.

Key Player Profiles:

Christian Herman - top scorer as he took his chance with Renan leaving.

Santiago Vidalín - playing superbly in midfield.

Emre Korkmaz - yet another superb season.

Nader Al Wahaj - currently our best youth product and first choice right back.

Joseph Mulready - another player from the youth ranks who is making a big impact.

Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14   Blue Square Bet South    2nd         Promoted via playoffs
2014/15   Blue Square Bet Premier  19th
2015/16   Blue Square Bet Premier  18th
2016/17   Blue Square Bet Premier  6th
2017/18   Blue Square Bet Premier  3rd         FA Trophy winners and Playoff finalists
2018/19   Blue Square Bet Premier  12th         
2019/20   Blue Square Bet Premier  4th         Playoff finalists
2020/21   Blue Square Bet Premier  1st         Promoted as champions
2021/22   npower League Two        1st         Promoted as champions
2022/23   npower League One        1st         Promoted as champions
2023/24   npower Championship      20th
2024/25   npower Championship      1st         Promoted as champions
2025/26   Barclays Premier League  16th        
2026/27   Barclays Premier League  6th         FA Cup finalists
2027/28   Barclays Premier League  4th         Europa League winners
2028/29   Barclays Premier League  4th         
2029/30   Barclays Premier League  2nd         FA Cup finalists and Champions League winners
2030/31   Barclays Premier League  1st         CWC winners and Champions League finalists
2031/32   Barclays Premier League  1st         FA Cup and Champions League winners
2032/33   Barclays Premier League  1st         CWC and Capital One Cup winners and Champions League finalists
2033/34   Barclays Premier League  1st         Capital One Cup and Champions League winners, FA Cup finalists
2034/35   Barclays Premier League  1st         Capital One, FA Cup, CWC and Champions League winners

Next Season

The aim is now becoming clear, a period of a youth only squad is on the horizon.

[iArsenal]

dafuge you should try and win the CL now with just an English squad.

[dafuge]

dafuge you should try and win the CL now with just an English squad.

My aim is to win it with a squad of just youth products.

[Padders]

My aim is to win it with a squad of just youth products.

I'm trying so hard to get decent youth facilites, board finally agreeing with me now

Love having the youth come through and turn into stars

[4ndyMUFC]

ME fixes are totally identical for saved games as they are for new ones.

if thats the case why do they suggest to start a new game to benefit from fixes when they release patches

i'll give you an example my team in corrupt save reached the premier league but for the whole save no matter what tactic and instructions i gave my players over half the goals each season were conceded from crosses, since starting this new game using exactly the same tactic as i was using in the last save in the premier league but this time with a BSS team i am 9 games into season have only conceded twice in 1 game, a penalty and an error where keeper punched the ball and hit defender and went in, haven't conceded from 1 cross yet and have kept 8 clean sheets in other games

so how can a team of premier league players concede for fun from crosses when they train full time and have better tactical awareness, yet a team of amateurs and part-timers who hardly train, can defend properly and block most of the crosses into the box and if cross does connect with oppents players they close down effectively and stop any shot happening.

therefore i do believe to benefit properly from fixes in the patches it is better to start a new game.

[Padders]

My Leamington save was started on 1st November (looking on page 7 of this thread)

Now I know why I struggled for some long in the BS!! HA HA

[dafuge]

I'm trying so hard to get decent youth facilites, board finally agreeing with me now

Love having the youth come through and turn into stars

It takes ages to get them up to a decent standard, but once they are at their best you should see some decent players coming through.

[samnewbrook]

On a side note i have just been offered my first job, always nice to recognised. My office will only be at Causeway Lane (unless we happen to get a new stadium of course)

[Padders]

It takes ages to get them up to a decent standard, but once they are at their best you should see some decent players coming through.

Yes can't wait, think I'm at level 4

[mcgoobage]

It's taken me ages to get moving on this challenge (work shift work at LHR) so am sitting here reloading as we speak. Have decided to go with what the game throws at me and am on holiday until 25th. Update as to who I take over to follow shortly.

[gargra]

Florian Klotz is suffering from a serious viral infection. Out for 7-8 months

[Dexter_Morgan]

FC United of Manchester 2014/15 Review

Transfers 1 Transfers 2

League

Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 Fixtures 3 Table Graph

Playoffs

Semi Final 1st Leg Semi Final 2nd Leg Final

FA Cup

4th Qualifying Round (Beat Droylsden 2-0) 1st Round (2-2) 1st Round Replay 2nd Round 3rd Round 3rd Round Replay 4th Round 5th Round

FA Trophy

Knocked out in 3rd Round 1-0 at Stockport

Miscellaneous

Squad Overview O'Connor Finances

Another strong season for us as we won our 2nd promotion in a row. We had a high turnover of players again this year but the majority did a good job for us. The highlight of the season was obviously beating 4 higher league teams on the way to the 5th round of the cup and then managing a better display than last season against Arsenal. We did have a bit of a slow start to the season and it looked like it would be a struggle after the first month to even stay in the division but a few deadline deals made by the DOF strengthened us no end and we did improve a lot. The period between the 1st round of the cup and our exit was a bit hit and miss as players were rested before any cup game but the financial rewards meant I had to prioritise that competition whilst we were in it. Luckily by the time of our exit the gap was manageable and we had a strong end to the season to grab 4th. In all honesty if it wasn't for the cup I think we'd have been on a title push but luckily it worked out in the end.

We have a massive £250k budget to spend to avoid relegation this year and £27k in wages which with a lot of players leaving in the summer means I have a bit of space to move. The cup run shows that as we are we should be able to compete but i'm going to look at the long term picture and would rather have a season of struggling with potential than even think about another promotion because the turnover of players over the previous seasons has been high and will be again this summer, but after this year I want a more settled team.

Season             League              Position           Cup                  Europe                     Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2013/14       Blue Square North           5th           3rd Round               N/A                  Promotion via Playoffs
2014/15       Blue Square Premier         4th           5th Round               N/A                  Promotion via Playoffs

[SuperDan!]

Into my second season with North Ferriby now. First season was torrid but will update when I have the ability to post my screenshots on a computer and not viewing the forum off my phone.

This is my first ever save with such a financially poor team with bad setup, but the challenge is thoroughly enjoyable. How do some of you do it with relative ease?!

[Shambolic]

Here's my manager profile. Took the job at Whitehawk because frankly it's a brilliant name for a football club, hoping to gain promotion in my first season because I'm not looking forward to having to sign a complete new squad at the end of the season as the majority of my signings are on 1 year deals. Hoping for a cup run too.

[djclark boy30]

David Clark has been named new manager of Kettering, the current Kettering squad looks like this.

[TacticalGenius]

dafuge you should try and win the CL now with just an English squad.

My aim is to win it with a squad of just youth products.

I'm trying to do this too. Currently have 14 youth products in my First Team squad, and 2 more in the reserves.

My squad is all-English starting from last season (2039/40) and I've won the league, Club World Cup and UEFA Supercup with them so far, and I'm also England manager - where I've only called up my players in an attempt to qualify for and win the World Cup with my club squad.

[Shambolic]

Started so poorly at Whitehawk, the people I signed who were scouted as 5* at the time have now gone down to around 1-2*, and are only decent BSS level. Currently second bottom, signed a striker on loan from Millwall and a centre mid on loan from Stoke. Hoping they'll give my team some much needed quality.

[MarkBurns]

mmmmmmmm

[MarkBurns]

FC United- Blue Square North - 2014/15

League Table

League Positions Graph

Full of confidence going into this season, got off to a flyer with 3 wins & then a minor blip, on top from the start of the season & stayed there till then end, Kettering the only challengers 9 points adrift.

FA Trophy - Beat several higher league opponents before defeating holders Grimsby Town in nail biting penalty shoot out final.

FA Cup- Made it to 1st round again, before bowing out away at Walsall.

Squad- Kept faith with youth, already looks strong enough to challenge in BSP.

Transfers - My eye for a bargain paid dividends with free transfers & loan signings. Picking up Joe McKee on loan in Jan, set piece maestro, 12 goals & 4 MoMs, would oove to sign him full time.

Finances - Looking healthy thanks to prize money, budget for next season looks pretty good.

Key Player Profiles:

Dean Overson - Another great season for captain at the heart of defence, not sure he will make it to League level though. Westleigh Rush - Tipped as one to watch, outshone Lazaar & finished as top scorer with 24 goals.

Scott Rogers - On season loan from Rochdale, part of my very strong midfield

Chris Atkinson - Picked up on a free after leaving my real life local side Huddersfield. Rarely wastes a pass, an eye for goal & 15 assists as he picked up BSN Player of the Year.

Career Overview

2013/14 BSN - 7th Manager of Year runner up. 2014/15 BSN - 1st Champions, FA Trophy winners,

Next Season

A couple of additions should see us challenge for back to back promotions.

[Rashidi]

Our third season now with Stafford. We started the season decently drawing the opening away game and winning the next 4 on the trot, before having to face Arsenal, Utd, Utdd in succession. Lost the game to Arsenal on the last kick of the game, and were sent home empty handed after our 2 nil loss at Old Trafford.

Hell bent on giving a good show in the League Cuo, we travelled to Utd again a few days later and kicked them out of the competition after racing to a 2 goal lead at the end of halftime. The League Cup draw following the match produced nothing new : Chelsea our next opponents.

We are still a fairly average squad, but my scouts have been amazing they found 3 wonderkids aged 16 years old. I have already signed two and hope the third joins us in Dec. My board target is a mid table finish but i am gunning for a top 4 finish. This season should be fun.

[dafuge]

Wingate & Finchley - Barclays Premier League - 2035/36

Last season we won our second successive Premier League and Champions League double, so it was time to start aiming for something new. Over the next few years I will be looking to phase out the players I've bought to leave me with a squad entirely made up of youth products.

League Table

We spent most of the season chasing Manchester United, but they fell apart at the end of the season as their fixtures piled up.

Community Shield - a convincing win, despite Renan scoring against us again.

UEFA Super Cup - another convincing win.

FIFA Club World Cup - the scoreline flattered us, but it was an easy win.

Capital One Cup - it was close to an all-youth team, but they slipped up against Championship Leeds.

FA Cup - we made a real mess of this as a strong team lost on penalties.

UEFA Champions League - we slipped up in the group stage and paid the price for finishing second as we were edged out by Barcelona in the first knockout round.

Transfers - another huge profit as some of the stars were sold again.

Squad - the squad is featuring a lot of youth products, but it is being held together by a few key players that I had bought.

Youth Products - we are not far off from having a full squad, but they are still young and we are lacking in a couple of positions.

Key Player Profiles:

Joseph Mulready - selling my top scorer in favour of a youth player was a huge risk, but he did alright.

Santiago Vidalín - he's such a beast, I'm not sure how I'll replace him.

Emre Korkmaz - another player who will be hard to let go.

Léopold Agbodossinji - Ruele was sold to give him a chance, but he is awfully injury prone.

Gary Marsh - a decent winger, but he was bought so he will be off at some point.

Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14   Blue Square Bet South    2nd         Promoted via playoffs
2014/15   Blue Square Bet Premier  19th
2015/16   Blue Square Bet Premier  18th
2016/17   Blue Square Bet Premier  6th
2017/18   Blue Square Bet Premier  3rd         FA Trophy winners and Playoff finalists
2018/19   Blue Square Bet Premier  12th         
2019/20   Blue Square Bet Premier  4th         Playoff finalists
2020/21   Blue Square Bet Premier  1st         Promoted as champions
2021/22   npower League Two        1st         Promoted as champions
2022/23   npower League One        1st         Promoted as champions
2023/24   npower Championship      20th
2024/25   npower Championship      1st         Promoted as champions
2025/26   Barclays Premier League  16th        
2026/27   Barclays Premier League  6th         FA Cup finalists
2027/28   Barclays Premier League  4th         Europa League winners
2028/29   Barclays Premier League  4th         
2029/30   Barclays Premier League  2nd         FA Cup finalists and Champions League winners
2030/31   Barclays Premier League  1st         CWC winners and Champions League finalists
2031/32   Barclays Premier League  1st         FA Cup and Champions League winners
2032/33   Barclays Premier League  1st         CWC and Capital One Cup winners and Champions League finalists
2033/34   Barclays Premier League  1st         Capital One Cup and Champions League winners, FA Cup finalists
2034/35   Barclays Premier League  1st         FA Cup, CWC and Champions League winners
2035/36   Barclays Premier League  1st         CWC winners

Next Season

This was a tough season, but an important one for some of the younger players. Hopefully next season a few more of them can look more like Premier League quality players.

[wazza]

NORTH FERRIBY UNITED

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SEASON 2013 - 2014 - Blue Square Northern

MANAGER PROFILE

SEASON EXPECTATIONS AND MEDIA PREDICTION

To stay clear of relegation with a media prediction of 22nd

TRANSFERS

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KEY PLAYERS

Adriano Basso - Goalkeeper - 52 Appearances - 7.01 Average Rating - Conceded 40 goals, 21 clean sheets - Man of Match 2

Greg Anderson - Defender - 39 (3 sub) Appearances - 7.06 Average Rating - Scored 1 goal, 0 assists - Man of Match 1

Chris Bolder - Defensive Midfield - 40 (4 sub) Appearances - 7.04 Average Rating - Scored 2 goal, 4 assists - Man of Match 2

Ryan Williams - Midifield - 37 (2 sub) Appearances - 7.14 Average Rating - Scored 5 goals, 15 assists - Man of Match 5

Danny Holmes - Midfield - 45 Appearances 7.08 - Average Rating - Scored 4 goals, 5 assists - Man of Match 4

Sean O' Conner - Striker - 31 (6 sub) Appearances - 7.18 Average Rating - Scored 21 goals, 2 assists - Man of Match 2 (Player started to suffer a lot of injuries late in the season and never really found back his start of season early form, however the 21 goals he scored showed the promise what the player would have done if he didn't get injured)

PLAYER OF THE SEASON

Ryan Williams

TOP GOALSCORER

Shaun O Conner - 21 Goals - 31 (6 Sub) Appearances

ASSISTS

Ryan Williams - 15 assists - 37 (2 Sub) Appearances

PLAYER OF MATCH

Ryan Williams - 5 times awarded - 37 (2 Sub) Appearances

LEAGUE TABLE

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FA CUP

2rd Round - Lost 1 - 0 Scunthorpe

FA TROPHY

2nd Round - Lost 1-0 Mansfield

CAREER OVERVIEW

Season      League                     League Finish      FA Cup          FA Trophy            Europe        Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14     Blue Square North          3rd                2nd Round       2nd Round            N/A           Lost 1-0 in Play off final

NEXT SEASON

After losing in the Play Off final the season expectation are bound to increase. The club does not have much money and contracts need to be renewed for the majority of the squad, my aim has to be to keep the squad together this may prove difficult as key players like Basso have expressed interest to move to play at a higher level, other good players are also not interested in renewing the contracts.

[samnewbrook]

Unlucky Wazza, maybe next season you will go on and win the League! A complete revamp of the squad by the look of it as well, as far as contracts went after my first season i was in the same position as you but the players who didn't wish to renew stayed at the club on appearance fees. You never know Basso might sign a new deal during pre season or during the season and then you may get a club in and buy him in January, i got £10k in compensation for Connor Roberts-Nurse the start of my current season.

[Dexter_Morgan]

That must have been a tough one to take after being so close wazza

I'm currently going through another season of just hovering a few points below the playoffs, really tight division this year though and a few wins on the spin means you can really jump up a fair few places. Again i've had a decent cup run, much easier than last season though and the only team i've played above me before the 5th round was Fleetwood who are struggling in league one which always gave me a good chance. I'll do a full report in a while once i've finished the season off.

[wazza]

That must have been a tough one to take after being so close wazza

I'm currently going through another season of just hovering a few points below the playoffs, really tight division this year though and a few wins on the spin means you can really jump up a fair few places. Again i've had a decent cup run, much easier than last season though and the only team i've played above me before the 5th round was Fleetwood who are struggling in league one which always gave me a good chance. I'll do a full report in a while once i've finished the season off.

It was and I keep asking 'what if' in a decision I made in the play off final, It was 0-0 against a strong Stalybridge side until around last 10 minutes of extra time, where I decided to ditch my 4132 formation and go for broke playing 433 only to find Stalybridge to score the winner. If only I'd sat it out at 4132 and chanced it to see what would have happened in a possible penalty shoot out

[Dexter_Morgan]

Sometimes you have to gamble, in my playoff in the BSN I gambled on it being 0-0 after 90 minutes so I could get the poorer but quicker wingers on against a tired defence and that worked, but sometimes you take a risk and it fails. Still you should be stronger next season

I've got a few dilemmas in my save, we're only 2 points off automatic promotion (game in hand) but i'm worried 3 promotions in a row is going a bit too quick. On the other hand there's a few good freebies that will be available in the summer that are still reasonably young and could do a job for a few years, i'd have more chance of getting them on a bit cheaper wages if I was in league 1 but at the same time it's going to mean yet another influx of new signings and I want to steady that a little now. I have got £2M in the bank after my cup run so that does make me think 1 more promotion before settling down won't hurt, but I do need a spell of at least 2 seasons in either this division or league 1 so I can start building the training facilities up, let players develop ect;

[samnewbrook]

Matlock Town F.C. - Blue Square Premier - 2015/2016

The first season in the Blue Square Premier for Matlock Town, turned out to be a mid table scrap all season. We never looked like pushing for promotion and neither did we really look like relegation candidates.

Blue Square Premier

A slow start saw us around the relegation zone but with the league pretty tight a couple of wins saw us climb the table towards the top half. We then settled into a rhythm that usually went with us drawing a couple of games and then going onto win and then lose a couple. Draws really were the thorn in our side, usually taking the lead for the opposition to come back and draw 1-1 or occasionally we would concede a late goal and lose the game. Overall though i cant really complain with the league campaign, as a newly promoted team the plan is to stay up in the league, we did that more than comfortably.

FA Cup

After last season brilliant efforts in the cup i had high hopes this season, less games until the third big money round, i thought maybe i could get there this year. I should never set my sights on certain things, i get easily disappointed, managing just two games in this seasons FA Cup run. Dealt with a tricky tie at home to fellow Blue Square Premier side Stockport in the 4th qualifying round, i negotiated it easily the hope and belief was still there. The first round proper and the draw puts me up against top of the table Exeter at St James Park aswell. The game was over within the first ten minutes, one of those games where there are no highlights after the two goals have been scored, you do everything that you can but nothing works. The run was over to soon, there went my main hope of income into the club for the season and along with it my dreams of a big third round tie.

FA Trophy

Another awful run in the trophy, only getting two games one of them being the replay. Stockport County once again greeted me for my first round in a cup competition, a great game for the neutral saw a 3-3 draw. They came back to Causeway Lane and beat us 2-0 with a dominant showing, we created chances but were just not clincal enough, Stockport on the other hand were. They went onto to have a great season lifting the trophy and getting promoted via the play-offs.

Transfers

Not a lot of transfers in or out compared to the previous seasons. I feel as though i have a heart of a good squad now and only need to add players if players leave or are unwilling to sign a new reasonable contract. Connor Roberts-Nurse going for £10k compensation was a great deal, he wouldn't sign a new deal on my terms and had very little time remaining on his deal, poor business by Salisbury financially but good business on there part for getting a great defender for this level.

Key Players

Lewis McMahon

Another outstanding season when called upon for the attacking centre midfielder. Not as regular as the last couple of seasons and had to share his place with Tosan Popo but when he played he played brilliantly notching ten goals in the process.

Faisal Hemati

The young centre back has been here since i arrived. Aswell as being a constant whilst Connor Roberts-Nurse was here he was never the better of the two. Stats wise he isn't the best, but this season he has been my number one centre back and easily stepped up into the shoes that Roberts-Nurse left.

Pat Sheridan

This young Irish striker was released by West Bromwich Albion in the close season and i was alerted to him whilst searching for a backup striker for Joshua Cooke. A striker who looked perfect for this level, good physical stats and a good eye for goal. For a player who was supposed to be a back up he played in every match in which he was available, scoring 18 goals and 20 in total for the season. It took a lot of negotiating on my half for his wages, but i offered all i could for this little Irish man and eventually he agreed to come (que the weird looks from the fiancé as i did victory celebrations around the living room on the completed signing). He is one of these players that you know will help you through the lower leagues of your journey and then a side just promoted to the Championship will come and sign him up off you for a bit of money. These type of players that you make profit off in the lower leagues really help the club, heres to hoping he gets a few more goals next season.

Finances

Every year i bang on about my finances and the past two years they have come down, this year was more of the same. This season seeing the season just under £17k in the black, i am really yet to understand why, i dont know if it was bigger gate receipts but it certainly wasn't a good cup run. My tight control of the wage budget always helps but what ever the reasons i am very happy with the end result.

Next Season

Hopefully i will be able to drag myself a bit closer to the playoff spots but the main thing is to improve on the good work we produced last season, wether that be 11th place or 1st place. A better cup run would be nice and also to go professional would be a welcome addition.

Career Overview

Season League League Finish Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14 Blue Square North 16th Survived
2014/15 Blue Square North 3rd  Promoted via the play offs FA Cup Second Round
2015/16 Blue Square Prem  12th Survived FA Cup First Round

[Dexter_Morgan]

FC United of Manchester 2015/16 Review

Transfers

League

Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 Fixtures 3 Table Graph

FA Cup

Fixtures

Capital One Cup

2nd Round

Johnston's Paint Trophy

Quarter Final

Miscellaneous

Squad Overview Martin Finances

An unexpected promotion this season given we spent until January being very inconsistent, as I said earlier we were never too far away from the playoffs in that time and a strong run for anyone would see them push up a fair bit. In the end it was one stupid backpass in the home game against York in the 91st minute that stopped us going up as champions.

Another strong cup run ended up with us taking over £1M alone at the game against United. Possession in that game was pretty equal but they took their chances.

I couldn't be bothered to write this up last night But i'm already in November in league 1 and the difference in quality is noticeable. We should be looking at just avoiding relegation but with Leeds, Forest, Coventry, Portsmouth and Sheffield United in this division it is very strong.

I've managed to get a second upgrade on youth coaching and the recruitment network, whilst it hardly makes much difference with the poor facilities we had to start with anything to improve whilst I can has to be done, we've also got the youth setup category up to a level 4. Depending on finances towards the end of the season I would like to give the training facilities a boost too.

Season             League              Position           Cup                  Europe                     Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2013/14       Blue Square North           5th           3rd Round               N/A                  Promotion via Playoffs
2014/15       Blue Square Premier         4th           5th Round               N/A                  Promotion via Playoffs
2015/16             League 2              2nd           5th Round               N/A                         Promotion                

[Bidwell93]

Having finished uni exams and christmas it seems like an ideal time to fire up the FM again, and resume my battle to get the board to build me a stadium. Glad to see everyone progressing so well, cant believe how good your youth setup is getting dafuge, I've had 'top' youth facilities for a little while now (no clue what level that is) and the best player i've seen has been decent championship potential. Going to rely on bought players for a few more years yet, i think..

[Swindon69]

Going to give this a bash with Hitchin

[Andy1938UK]

Is it too late to join this challenge? I've played FM for a while but I'm new to the forum so would probably need a bit of help.

[dafuge]

It's never too late, people usually join throughout the year.

[Swindon69]

It's never too late, people usually join throughout the year.

Like me - just started as I was gifted FM

[Swindon69]

Well pre-season out of the way, mixed results but only lost 0-3 away to Fulham

[hashassin]

and i always wondered what people meant by saying "dafuge challenge"...finally i googled it, so i'm holidaying now

[Swindon69]

Welcome hashassin, it's fun but frustrating

[Dexter_Morgan]

and i always wondered what people meant by saying "dafuge challenge"...finally i googled it, so i'm holidaying now

It takes a bit of luck and patience but this, the big Euro, Gundo ect; are all worth while if you can stick with it mate.

When I first did one of these challenges in '09 the key is to always just make sure you survive the first season after any promotion because then there will be at least 2-3 teams worse than you and in that time your rep will have grown, though I completed all but the Asian version back then each year was a struggle and LLM in this kind does take a bit of getting used to, even people who have been doing these challenges longer than me struggle from time to time (evn i've not managed the sort of form i've got on this save so quickly before) but stick with it and I promise when you get it right it will be one of the most rewarding saves you'll ever have

[Tush]

Nicely said, Dexter_Morgan, everything you said

[hashassin]

my lowest start was league 2 plymouth, than blackpool, than Olympique M., than Arsenal, now Rossoneri in Serie A, bringing back trophies to the red side of San Siro but enough about irrelevant me, time to introduce my new me. Ladies (well, there surely are some) and gentleman, i give to you mr. Kazimierz Gorski. He (hopefully) is an incarnation of a polish manager, who is considered greatest of all time, as he guided national team to bronze medal in '74 world cup.

I chose Kettering, because they have decent facilities, pitch in great condition, so hopefully this will influence number of injuries. Plus i like their away kits, and interface So lets see if Poppies will be "Poppin them thangs" as 50 cent once said, i will update before first league match... or just ask question before

[Ruh Roh]

Just started up as United of Manchester, where I will have to rely on the most frustrating flair player in the FM database as well as a keeper who literally urinates every time he sees a cross come in. Transfer target Will Beesley made me promise to pay him an extra hundred pounds a week if he gets called up to the England senior team, which is adorable.

[Swindon69]

Oh good a clutch of new starters