dafuge's FM14 challenge

[tresher]

Rushall Olympic F.C.

10/2017

First 9 league games have gone well and we are currently 1st (7-1-1) in Skrill North. Especially the rock-solid defense that has conceded only 7 goals in 9 games has been excellent. Of the individual players Junior Spong has continued his improvement and has netted 7 goals in only 8 appearances this season and is now at 30 goals total for the club (in 66 games). It is probably no surprise that the lead figure of the defense line, King David (real name David King) has also been outstanding (7.33 average rating in 8 games) as well as the year-younger, 18-year-old, Dave Browett (7.08 rating in 6 games). The trio has already signed a contract for the next season as well, together with 11 other players.

On the negative side, giving the youth a chance did not pay off and we lost our first FA Cup game to a lower level team shockingly 4-0 and the #1 goalkeeper Clive Gamble has not agreed to negotiate a new contract.

[Monkey_Pill]

This game is so annoying. I STILL can't get my team do do anything to control a game, pretty much never win a match with more shots or possession than the opposition. Every highlight seems to be a Skrill South side passing it around like Barcelona while my guys run around in circles and hoof it anywhere even when instructed to keep possession or pass it short. I'm still holding mid table OK but that's with wins despite every team have 3x more shots than me.

Rant over

[Thebaker]

Been a tricky start to my next season as most of squad have been picked off by other clubs. one who was a rotation on n/c contract went to a club a league below and lower rep to be a rotation player on n/c terms :confused:

I have signed a left winger from Fulham who one coach (17,17 in judging) says has prem potential, however he is 23 and unambitious which is why i did not have much competition for him.

[Thebaker]

This game is so annoying. I STILL can't get my team do do anything to control a game, pretty much never win a match with more shots or possession than the opposition. Every highlight seems to be a Skrill South side passing it around like Barcelona while my guys run around in circles and hoof it anywhere even when instructed to keep possession or pass it short. I'm still holding mid table OK but that's with wins despite every team have 3x more shots than me.

Rant over

Possession isn't everything, my team usually has 55-70% in every match. but in many matches i have half the number of chances of the opposition, or they score with every shot on target.

[darren1983]

Dulwich Hamlet The Skrill South Season 15/16

After a mid table finish last season I was hoping for a playoff push

The Skrill South - went a bit better then planned after matchday 9 Sutton Uted went top and from then on it was either them or us at the top as you can see from the graph, the turning point was a run of 4 games against 6th, 4th, 5th and then away to first place Sutton, a late winner from us gave us the kick we needed and it seemed to ruin Sutton, we ended 9 points clear.

FA Cup - poor, can't seem to do anything in the cups

FA Trophy - see?

Transfers - lost many players last season due to a budget cut (my lovely new chairman increased it when he took over) so a high turn over of players

Squad - the hero's

Key Player Profiles

Chisom Amadi - 30 goals in 37 league games, would have been nowhere near the top without him. His agent hates me though so looks like I'm gonna lose him this summer

Erhun Aksel Oztumer - out Turkish star 11 goals and 16 assists, missed (nearly) 3 months over the course of the season so need to find a back up for him this summer

Ryan James - A rock in the leagues best defence

Andis Nikolaou - My other rock

Yannick Nlate - French keeper that was released from Maidenhead, made vital saves throughout the season and was key for us

Career Overview

Season          League          Position          Achievements 

2014/15         TSS              12th              N/A
2015/16         TSS              1st               Champions

Aims for next season

Stay up

[mato997]

Not bad for first league game

Hopefully I can get promotion this season

[Swindon69]

Well my board upgraded my training facilities - I then noticed that Histon own the ground so I've spent money upgrading my teams bitter rivals facilities!

[Hypanimz]

Poole Town - Sky Bet Championship - 2024/25

I am really pleased with how this season went. We were very comfortable in the league and we finished a very respectable 12th place. After our first couple of games where we did struggle a little bit we picked up and moved into mid table. and at one point in the season we sneaked into the playoffs but then we had a slump of 6 defeats in a row. We eventually found our form again and we sat nicely in the middle of the table. A very good platform to build on for next season. Hopefully we can improve over the summer and have a real push for the playoff places next year or at the very least consolidate as a top half team.

League Table

Past Positions

Cups - We are h aving a lot of luck lately in the FA Cup and this continued again this season. We had a nice run with home victories against Wyombe and Sheff Wed before we knocked out Crewe (who had knocked out West Ham) in the 5th round which set up a tie against Man City at the City Of Manchester Stadium. We lost 3-0 and in all honesty it could and maybe should have been 10. They destroyed us. Shows that there is still a long way to go.

Squad - Squad did very well and the new signings settled in nicely. Hopefully I can improve some other areas and improve the supply to my main striker. If we cna do this i see no reason why we cant challenge the playoffs next season.

Finances - We were in debt but we got £2.1m from playing in the Championship which helped out alot.

Key Player Profiles:

Pete Munday - Spent £175k on him last summer. Money well spent after 40 goals and 15 assists in his debut season. Valued now at £1.8m

Bradley Watkins - Club captain who has been around since the Skrill Premier days. Had his best season to date.

Nigel McCarthy - Star centre back who scored 7 goals and even managed 8 assists.

Fantastic first season at this level. Looking forward to next season and I hope it wasnt a flash in the pan.

Career Overview

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15         Skrill South                14th              Survival
2015/16         Skrill South                9th 
2016/17         Skrill South                2nd               Promotion and FA Cup 3rd round
2017/18         Skrill Premier              17th              Survival
2018/19         Skrill Premier              18th              Survival
2019/20         Skrill Premier              16th              FA Cup 3rd round. 
2020/21         Skrill Premier              1st               Champions!! & FA Cup 3rd round
2021/22         Sky Bet League 2            9th   
2022/23         Sky Bet League 2            1st               Champions & FA Cup 5th round    
2023/24         Sky Bet League 1            1st               Champions, JPT Winners & FA Cup Semi Final
2024/25         Sky Bet Championship        12th      

[Mushtaq]

Good stuff Hyp. Flying along with Poole Town now.

By the way what is that skin you are using? Looks nice.

[Top Tiger]

Right then, last game of the season to play top of the league Chester who have walked the league with 90 points (think I am on 81), expected to be 5k at their ground.

In fairly good form defensively going into the play offs, but lost my DMC and most of my strikers, although Saurez is just back from injury, hopefully come through this unscaved ready for the play offs. The play off semis and final are very close only like 3 day break between them. Wish me luck.

[Top Tiger]

Right then, last game of the season to play top of the league Chester who have walked the league with 90 points (think I am on 81), expected to be 5k at their ground.

In fairly good form defensively going into the play offs, but lost my DMC and most of my strikers, although Saurez is just back from injury, hopefully come through this unscaved ready for the play offs. The play off semis and final are very close only like 3 day break between them. Wish me luck.

FFS, 2-0 down after 20 minutes just letting there AMC run riot, Mourinho sub needed here in the 20th min.

[Top Tiger]

Lost 3-0 first leg and drew 3-3 the second at home so lost 6-3 on agg, shame really with my defence been so good all season, bizarre. Anyway off to bed frustrated, be back tomorrow for another go at the Conference North! Oh and I hope Nuneaton lose in the final their manager is giving it all mouth!

[glennuk]

then lost 4 on the trot....thanks forum curse!! Still in a job, although i am sure i am in for the chop soon.....ahh well

Continuing this whilst watching the damn united, duno if it will bring me good luck or bad luck....ahh welll, has to be better than i am doing right now anyway

[glennuk]

My mid table Skrill North Blyth team, just beat a 1st in League 1 Bolton, 3-1 in the FA cup second round.

Probably one of my favourite results ever.

[Hypanimz]

Good stuff Hyp. Flying along with Poole Town now. By the way what is that skin you are using? Looks nice.

Thanks. I am using the OPZ skin. It can be found in the skinning forum.

[deadfncat]

Thanks. I am using the OPZ skin. It can be found in the skinning forum.

Mate you are smashing me now

Nice work!

[Sheppy12]

This has to be the highest scoring game i've ever been involved in.

From 1-0 up, to 5-1 down at half time. A rollicking at half time and we pulled it back to 6-4 before they finished us off.

They were one place below us in the table before kick-off...

[darren1983]

First season in Skrill Prem, won 2 lost 2 have just lost 2-0 at home to bottom of the table Newport we are away to 2nd place Bromley when this happens

[MyNameIsJohn]

I unfortunately lost my Skelmersdale save to a crash dump half way though the first season so am back up and running with Maidstone. Interesting project as finances are good to start with but the new stadium (with a synthetic pitch!!) could hold me back long term. Details below:

Profile

Finances

Stadium

[fcunitedfan]

I unfortunately lost my Skelmersdale save to a crash dump half way though the first season so am back up and running with Maidstone. Interesting project as finances are good to start with but the new stadium (with a synthetic pitch!!) could hold me back long term. Details below:

Profile

Finances

Stadium

That's a coincidence. I decided to carry on with my Maidstone save after a week away from the game, rather than playing my FC United save again. I'm in my second season, and sitting 3rd in Skrill Premier.

Maidstone are a good side, with a really helpful chairman. Currently we're still in the same stadium, but the capacity has been upped to 4000. Good luck with The Stones.

[fcunitedfan]

HAHAH WHAT?!? Surely Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini is having a laugh with the press...

[looking busy]

First season in Skrill Prem, won 2 lost 2 have just lost 2-0 at home to bottom of the table Newport we are away to 2nd place Bromley when this happens

Brilliant. Did they just give up after the first half hour?

[fcunitedfan]

Hmm, it seems I've made an ingame friend in Pellegrini. He was very polite pre and post match, and is in my "Best Opinion" list. He's a good manager to have as a friend, and his friendship could come in handy if I can rise up the leagues.

[darren1983]

Brilliant. Did they just give up after the first half hour?

Pretty much yeah. We only had 8 shots on target all game as well. 4 goals in 12 minutes killed them it seems.

[Hypanimz]

Mate you are smashing me now

Nice work!

Thanks buddy. It was a good season but it could all go wrong next season so I wouldn't say I'm smashing you. I hope it doesnt as I've signed a few gems with Premier League potential!

[Steve Odom]

HAHAH WHAT?!? Surely Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini is having a laugh with the press...

Especially your profile picture seems to indicate you're right.

[Swindon69]

Just checked on the Redditch team who beat be when they were bottom, one player got a hat-trick for them, that's the only match he's played all season

[michaeltmurrayuk]

I wouldn't worry too much. I've gone through 3 take overs in various version of FM, including the current one in my Dafuge challenge save and always survived despite rumours to the contrary.

I think Dafuge is one of the few (may even be the only one?) who's been sacked after a takeover.

[Swindon69]

That was when he was in the top flight too wasn't it?

[Mushtaq]

Gave up on my marathon search for Poole Town and have started as Banbury United.

Climbed into 10th place midway through November after a slow start.

Had a little FA Cup run too (losing to Yeovil in the first round proper) which helped the finances.

Something of a jinx post as I won just twice in my next 10 or so games. Have slipped down to 15th and the playoffs are now out of reach. Still confident I can finish strongly and get a top 10 finish.

[Aru]

Happy to announce that I am the new manager of FC United of Manchester

[dafuge]

That was when he was in the top flight too wasn't it?

Yes, with Staines. We were on a bad run of form at the end of the season but still beat our media prediction. As the season had ended I didn't get a chance to prove myself to the new owner.

That was on FM07 though, things have been improved since then.

[Steve Odom]

Something of a jinx post as I won just twice in my next 10 or so games. Have slipped down to 15th and the playoffs are now out of reach. Still confident I can finish strongly and get a top 10 finish.

IWhy are you so eager to challenge the Dafuge curse? I'd keep quite in that subject for the sake of your star players' health..

[ModernLefty]

Truro City

Final Table | Position Graph | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 | Finances |

A pretty standard year, managed to get the same amount of points as last year, with a weakened squad, yet end up 5 places worse of as a result, that's football! The goal difference ended up being negative due to me always risking not having a backup goalkeeper on the bench, which meant inevitably my goalkeeper was going to suffer at some point, and in the game against Hereford he did. Consequently that is now the Skrill South's top scoring game, with me on the wrong end of a 9-0 thrashing! It just required me laughing it off and moving on, these things happen. Otherwise there were some good performances, some frustrating performances and all the rest, but it's one to forget this year.

Season       Team                       Country                  League                 League Finish             Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15      Truro City                 England               Skrill South                4th              Playoff Semi-Final, League over Achievers
2015/16      Truro City                 England               Skrill South                9th              N/A

Key Players & Base Tactic

Rory McManus |Gareth Nicholls | Dan Evans

Snazzy new hair this time for the regens, as the O Leary's trainee regen hairpack has now landed.

I went on the attack this season, but I still can't bring myself to go to a 4-4-2, so an Italianate 3-4-1-2 eventually became the standard formation, as along the lines of Roberto Martinez's thinking, England produce's lots of centrebacks, wingers and strikers, so you might as well remove fullbacks, and give the wingers less defensive responsibility. Though I did go 4-1-2-2-1 against other 4-1-2-2-1, as it's pretty much is a 3-4-1-2 killer in the way it soaks up your strengths and exploits the 3-4-1-2's weakness down the flanks.

The return to playing two strikers season was also as they are some of the best players at the club, though until the end of the season Tyke Grant, not considered consistent enough to be a key player for me this year (though he got fan's player of the year, what Mcmanus has to do I don't know!), had a tough time, getting injured and generally not scoring for probably about 15 matches on the spin, but eventually after enough faith, he repaid me in that supporting striker role with some good performances that pushed us back up the table at the end of the season. Rory McManus was again top scorer with 22, but this time in fewer matches, only three less but, it means improvement. The two centrebacks, Nicholls and Evans were both so solid as to be anonymous, that's what you want, especially when playing attacking football. Also all the real drubbings I received were in the matches where I had to rest them, including that Hereford game.

Next Season

Same as last season really, especially as I lost my other great original Truro player, Jordan Cobb, as he wouldn't renew his contract, so all is good and rosy!

• Try either to scrape a promotion, or just to financially strengthen the position of the club, which is unsurprisingly a bit grim, while finishing at about the same position.
  
• A cup run, and abit of cash as a result would be great.
  
• Keep Building the squad in my image.
  

[Top Tiger]

Whats up with the FA Cup, I have scored 26 goals in about 10 games in the league, draw Scarborough Athletic away in the FA Cup qualifying rounds, and I lose 2-0 and are useless. Won two games in all cup competitions in 3 and a half seasons! Anyway time to do me report.

[fcunitedfan]

Decided to play my Maidstone save instead of continuing with FC United, just for a change of scenery. I've finished my second season, and will post my report soon.

[Swindon69]

Yes, with Staines. We were on a bad run of form at the end of the season but still beat our media prediction. As the season had ended I didn't get a chance to prove myself to the new owner.

That was on FM07 though, things have been improved since then.

Thought it was them - I've been doing this challange without sucess for a few years now!

[Top Tiger]

Corby Town

Club Overview 16/17

Transfer 16/17

Current Squad

League Table

General Comments

A good start, a poor middle and a good end would describe my season. My defence was a lot more solid, with two lines of four, and we where much more consistent. We where never going to catch Chester who walked the league after getting relegated the season before. In the play offs we came up against Nuneaton who had the best striker in the league. It was heated before the encounters, there manager spouting off. Anyway we lost the first leg 3-0 and drew the second 3-3 after being 3-0 down. Overall this was the biggest disappointing losing 6-3 on aggregate after been so solid all season. Nuneaton got promoted and I will just 'LOVE IT' if we beat them in the future.

Players Worth A Mention

Theo Streete, a rock at the back netting a few at the other end too.

Mikel Suarez, been class all season scoring the most hes ever done, thought it would be worthwhile uploading his history so far.

Aims For Next Season

Promotion, and to beat Nuneaton some how, maybe a friendly. Oh and to be the Stoke of the Conference North. Also Paul Butcher is going to be used a fair bit this season, also Corby seems to be good at developing strikers, Russell Hendrie.

Year        	League       Position       	             Achievements
2014/15	        TSN	     13th                            FA Cup Qualifying Round 4, FA Trophy Round 2
2015/16         TSN          9th                             Out both rounds of both cups, rubbish!
2016/17         TSN          3rd lost play off semi          First round of both cups.

Nuneaton will have it I tell you!

[Swindon69]

1st leg of the play-offs I went 3-1 up, with 10 mins to go made my three subs to keep the side fresh in the 83rd minute my CM who'd come on as one of the subs got himself sent off - currently 3-2 up with a min to play

2nd leg 4 mins 40 in 2-0 up 16 mins hit post 23:20 2-1 33:08 3-1 68 mins 3-2 final whistle 6-4 on agg PO Final to come.

[fcunitedfan]

Maidstone United FC - Skrill Premier - 2015/16

Club Information | Facilities | Manager Profile | Board Overview | Confidence

Football League, here we come!

League Table

Past Positions

Results 1 / Results 2

Things started off terribly with two losses and a draw, and the team sitting 23rd. With those first three matches in mind, I thought it was going to be a tough season for my team. Things started improving, but we couldn't get a great run of results going. Never the less, we hung around mid-table and at the half way point of the season, we were 11th. We then went on a great run, and steadily rose up to the play off spots. A 4-0 win against Salisbury saw us rise to the top of the table, and even though we lost four of our last ten games of the season, we managed to win the league due to the other teams in contention also having some bad end of season form.

FA Cup - At every stage, I thought we were going out of the cup. A few replays had me worried, but we somehow saw off everyone in our path until we came up against Manchester City. Shame it wasn't an away fixture as we didn't make much money from it, but I feel we did well to only lose 2-0 against the Premier League side. The money from the cup run came in very handy.

FA Trophy - Not much to say. It wasn't our priority, and I wasn't bothered about the early exit.

Squad - It may have took the team a little while to gel, but once they did, I couldn't be happier with the teams performance as a whole.

Staff - Some good staff members, but I'm going to be improving on my staff situation a lot when the club goes professional.

Transfers - A grand total of £0 spent, but pretty much a whole new squad brought in. There'll be further improvements for the start of next season, but I still intend to spend nothing.

Finances - Not bad, but the planned upgrades have eaten into my balance.

Key Players

Matthew Reece - Scored the most goals for the team, and set up the most as well. If he performs well pre-season, I'll be playing him in league 2 as I think he'd be up to the task.

Adam Farrell - Snapped him up in January, and he played great for the rest of the season. He was one of the main reasons we won the league.

Joe Burnell - By far my best midfielder. He probably won't be a first team regular next season, but he'll still play some part in the team as I don't want to let him go.

Vince Woodley - In his second season for the team, really pulled him socks up and put in some great performances.

Joel Coleman - With thirteen clean sheets and only 44 goals conceded, Coleman was really impressive in goal.

Awards

Skrill Premier Manager Of The Season - Jim Wheato

Skrill Premier Top Goalscorer - Matthew Reece

FA Cup Overachievers

Aims For Next Season

My main going is to avoid relegation and make some squad improvements. Second goal, make some money! An FA Cup run would be a great way to get some money rolling in, and an away draw against a Premier League team would be excellent.

Other News

Quite a lot to report here. A 2000 Stadium Expansion costing £92.25K will be finished in the next seven to eight months, and while the expansion is taking place we'll be playing our home games in an 8000 capacity stadium in Sittingbourne.

Training and Youth Facility upgrade, costing a whopping £1.1M! Both will be finished within the next six months.

A nice new Kit Sponsorship Deal, worth nearly £100K more a year for the next two years.

Career Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15         Skrill South          1st               Skrill South winners, FA Cup 4th Round
2015/16         Skrill Premier        1st               Skrill Premier winners, FA Cup 4th Round

[Swindon69]

PO Final 18 mins og 0-1`the opposition start with a 4-2-4 line up.

61 mins in I get the 'not responding' message

84 mins 1-1 apparently 23 fouls only merit 2 cards

117th min 1-2

Totally deflated - dominated the game lost to a sucker punch - still there's always next year.

End of season yadda yadda yadda

[Steve Odom]

Great, although lucky, run.

[Monkey_Pill]

After having a nightmare yesterday and losing 5 in a row pretty heavily I rejigged things yet again, going back to 2 up front and think I might be on to something. After winning 2 games in a row with last minute goals I'm currently on a run of 1 defeat in 12 games and just crept into the playoff spots. Exciting times.

[Swindon69]

I've suddenly acquired Chesterfield as a parent club!

[tresher]

Rushall Olympic F.C.

Rushall rejoice in promotion success

05/2018

What's a season without a dramatic ending? Rushall's season ending was the kind movies are made of! From the beginning of March, the club won 6 and tied 1 game out of seven and had already leaped to the first place of the league with very doable last two games. But the tied away game at Bury Town (at that point 18th in the league) saw that all crumble down and even a victory against Macclesfield was not enough to reach championship.

Finishing second in the league, Rushall faced Macclesfield again in the Skrill North Playoff Semi Final. The first game was tied 2-2 and things seemed promising when returning home for the second game... at least until Macclesfield took the 2-1 lead on the 40th minute and Rushall's Sam Keegan decided to collect a second yellow card for diving(!!!). One man down, Rushall managed to tie the game on the 76th minute and extra time was needed. Home crowd got what they were waiting for when 37-year-old Justin Miller launched that long flat row once again to wreck havoc in front of the goal. The goal was eventually marked as an own goal, although Alan Langford could have been seen to deserve it.

How about the final then? No lack of drama there either! Rushall hero, Junior Spong, returned in the game after a few weeks of being injured. Another red card, this time picked up by Alan Langford on the 55th minute, certainly did not promise an easy task to an already exhausted Rushall team. Junior Spong picked up a new injury on the 70th minute and things were getting darker and darker... until that cannon-like throw in of Justin Miller fired the ball into the box again and Dave Browett swiped it in the net. Amazingly that was the score in the end and Rushall Olympic F.C. are promoted to Skrill Premier!

So the experiment of developing a young team for two seasons was a success, although the second season seemed bumpy at times and we had plenty of trouble WINNING matches. Still, we scored the third most goals and conceded the least in the league.

League table | Final fixtures

Heroes of the season:

Junior Spong seemed unstoppable at times... except when he was stopped by an injury. 24 goals in 33 matches.

David King - the first name on my team sheet and the only defense man that ALWAYS plays when he's fit.

Clive Gamble finished the defensive work being solid in front of the net. Sadly it seems we are losing him at the end of the season.

Alan Langford may not be the most obvious choice for my MVP list but his 8 assists and 6 goals showed that the way I have been molding him from a brainless chicken running around the midfield into an offensive threat is beginning to pay off. Still trying to find a way for him to use those deadly Long Shots of his better.

[Mushtaq]

Banbury United - Skrill North - 2014/15

A very up and down first season. Just couldn't find any consistency. At times I looked like I would push into the top 10 and make a run for a playoff spot, then other times I was almost dropping into the relegation zone. Small winning streaks were followed by bigger losing ones. All up though a comfortable enough first season.

League Table

Past Positions

Cups - The highlight of the season was Banbury making it through to the FA Cup first round proper for the first time since 1973-74. We were matched against League 1 Yeovil Town and lost 4-2 in front of over 2,000 home fans. Tried plenty of fringe players in the FA Trophy and went out in the first round.

Squad - Brought in only a few players and that was mainly 16 and 17 year olds. The squad doesn't have a lot of talent but I was pretty happy with the way they fought and scrapped - we often found ways to win despite a lack of possession which was pleasing. Plenty of promising youngsters too with the first team fielding 4 or 5 16/17 year olds at times.

Finances - The small FA Cup run and tight control of the wage budget ensured we stayed in the black.

Key Player Profiles:

Scott Bridges - Not rated by the coaches but managed 25 goals and 11 assists in his 50 appearances. The next highest was 8 goals.

Luke Cray - 22 year old captain and rock solid defender. Hoping to sign up long term if I can.

Joe Talbot - Very capable shot stopper who kept us in many games. Not easy to find a reliable keeper at this level so again another player I am hoping to lock down for a few years.

A decent enough start and looking forward to cutting some of the fringe players and going forward with the younger players in particular.

Career Overview

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15         Skrill South                15th              Survival and FA Cup 1st Round    

[Mushtaq]

Right so Luke Cray and Joe Talbot didn't re-sign and have left, while Bridges only re-signed on a non-contract, meaning plenty of teams are sniffing around. Need to find some replacements!

[looking busy]

AFC Fylde Season 2015/2016 review

After loosing most of my best players between my first and second season it was always going to be difficult to acheive the 13th place finish I managed in my first season. the media reckoned so too, placing me as likely to finish 21st. With no money in the bank, £300k in debt and a wage budget of just £4.5k p/w. It proved a very tough season, most of my players wouldn't look out of place in the regional leagues but we ploughed on.

We managed to finished 17th League table - We never really got outside of the top half all season. The first half of the season relegation and failing the challenge was a real possibility with so many new players it took time for the team to settle, after changing formation a few times to get a decent balance, we did in January and about that time we started to pick up a few results and in the end the bottom 3 were quite a way adrift. We secured safety with 5 games to go, but then 17th was realistically the highest we could finish and so it was.

As ever at this level some players just aren't reaching their potential and will have to be moved on in the summer, but by the end of the season I was getting quite satisfied with the squad, I know I'm going to lose my best midfielder - Eddie Hughes It's a shame but our standing won't be enough to keep him, although with 12 yellow cards and 3 reds our disciplinary record will improve when he moves on.

The finances were as ever a problem. The board are making no moves to find some extra income, they have pumped some money to keep up afloat but it's not enough, looks like it will be down to me to get the club up the league on the budget we have.

Season 3 expectations - i'm reckoning midtable/ upper midtable is acheivable despite the financial pressures. Once i've stripped out the deadwood, only 3 or 4 players I'm left with a young squad who are more than capable of kicking on. I need to add a defender or two, a right winger and a centre mid. I have a formation i'm happy with, tactics that seem to work so if we can kick on this season we can get the club, the playing side anyway, in shape for getting us out of this bloody division. Think the season might be 1 too early but I'm targeting 2018 for making our debut in the Skrill Prem.

[Foxo]

Stamford Town FC

Starting League (following a years holiday): Skrill North

Founded: 1894

Manager Profile at start

Thanks to fcunitedfan/wheato for the kits!

This is a long long update so apologies!

Season 1

We began in the Skrill North, the clubs first ever campaign in the second rung of non league football having come almightily close on one previous occasion back in 2007, only to promptly get relegated the next year.

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2 - Fixtures 3

League Table - Squad Statistics was somehow missed for this season

Transfer Summary

Key Transfers - David Adedipe - Keke St Hilaire - Danny Carey-Bertram - Adriano Rigoglioso

A summary

Didn't expect to go up after a poor start so very happy with how we did. The above 4 players were brilliant, their stats show that. All big scoops too.

Season 2

Into the Skrill Premier then, and with no expectations we did brilliantly in the first game then fell into a slump, only to pick up spectacularly after Christmas.

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2 - Fixtures 3

League Table - Squad Statistics was somehow missed for this season

Transfer Summary

Key Transfers - Gareth Gwillim - Nicky Platt - Curtis Branson

A summary

A key goalkeeper signing in Branson, and a stronger defender than I previously had in Gwillim, led to a great season and only a collapse at the end of the season denied promotion. A good thing possibly.

Season 3

2nd season in the Skrill Premier and I wanted out fast. We started horrendously but post Christmas we were firing again.

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2 - Fixtures 3

League Table - Squad Statistics

Transfer Summary

Key Transfers - Bobby Traynor - Fabio Saraiva - Jesse Sharp

A summary

Sharp is a huge scoop - lad has Championship potential and just came through the Dartford academy and hadn't signed a full time future contract! A great season and a fantastic end, happy to be into the Football League.

Season 4

A season of consolidation was what I wanted. The start made me think I was getting the wrong opposite, the second half of the season was a shock but great to witness. It culminated in disappointment though.

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2 - Fixtures 3

League Table - Squad Statistics

Transfer Summary

Key Transfers - Abdul Rahman Al-Shihri - Christophe N'Daw - Dave Morrow - Joey Owen - Luke Johnson

A summary

Some cosmopolitan international signings and some clever raiding for Bangor City (noticed in steam chat as a hotbed by a few of us), led us to a very good season.

Season 5

Another League 2 season, I wasn't to be denied this time and made signings to that effect, having a fantastic season.

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2 - Fixtures 3

League Table - Squad Statistics

Transfer Summary

Key Transfers - Ben Walker - Dominic Adjei - Paulo Zambrano

A summary

Walker should have signed last season, went to go for a deal but he went to Leyton Orient on loan. Not to worry, another Bangor player in! Adjei while great has awful jumping, something that took me a long time to spot. Zambrano is a huge coup following his release from a Chilean side. Could have had him before but they kept rejecting trials, so had to wait for his release.

Season 6

Into League One then, and somehow straight out of it. But which way?

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2 - Fixtures 3

League Table - Squad Statistics

Transfer Summary

Key Transfers - Carlos Manuel - Dario Hojski - Edgar Fonseca - Lennart Thomsen

A summary

I need more English but I don't want to have the expense of not progressing, and those four were too good to pass up on after they accepted trials. Hojski the best on paper but Fonseca the best in performances. It took a while to get going but when we did, Fonseca was great as a supporting AMC, despite awful passing.

Season 7

Championship, a tough league at the best of times. Again I went crazy with foreigners as agents became interested in offering me players. Made it easy to trial them and sign them up. Plus being allowed to scout Europe was also a bonus and led me to the club record signing of Inaki Aguero to play left back. A great season though and some stunning results. When I drew Bristol City in the playoffs I thought that was it given my poor form against them this season, but we saw them off. Just. Hull were never really a threat and the best of the big teams we could have faced in the playoff final on comparative record.

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2 - Fixtures 3

League Table - Squad Statistics

Transfer Summary

Key Transfers - Alejandro Tilguath - Alfonso Ortiz - Inaki Aguero - Johnny Hansen - Rodrigo Larrondo

A summary

Ortiz was a huge scoop from Valencia Mestalla, but he hasn't improved since. I was struggling to understand why they sold him, until I noticed he's labelled unambitious. A shame. Larrondo probably the key signing though, shoring up midfield as Al-Shihri is steadily getting out of his depth.

Season 8

So we finally made it. But I wish we'd had another season in the Champ. Had two there with Stourbridge in FM13 and it made the first season up a lot easier. This was incredibly hard until something clicked when I put a Sharp with his 10 heading as target man with "pass into space" on. Suddenly we were all over teams, admittedly my January spending spree, and a change to a defensive 4-4-2 also had something to do with it....

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2 - Fixtures 3

League Table - Squad Statistics

Transfer Summary

Key Transfers - Anderson Banvo - Bert Overmeire - Bryn Gierke - Gustavo Armijo - Luca Fortunato - Luke Chamberlain - Milos Jovanovic - Thomas Rasnis - Riccardo Chiazzolino

A summary

On the last day we faced Swansea, and Palace played Villa. Villa scored after 87 minutes to win 1-0 through Harry Kane, but by that stage we were already 3-0 up and nervously watching for a Palace goal. I expected Palace to score after they had beaten Liverpool 3-1 the game before, but thankfully not. Signings wise, Chamberlain and Jovanovic were completely key, but Fortunato, Chiazzo and Armijo are my standouts. Fantastic from all three, Fortunato created the missing spark after January although he did score a hat trick of own goals against Arsenal and gave me an almighty scare. Only one other time had I been out of the bottom three all season. The first game. Good timing!

So onwards and upwards. I'm looking for 15th place or so this season, I don't think that form will continue and expect a few losses following strengthening. Ironically I am happy with my defence almost. Some more strength in depth will be key and is where we did well last year following January. The FA Cup run was strange, doing well in that but the second we got knocked out, league form picked up. Guess it's about players with very low pressure traits, something I've never really thought to take note of but was picked up by Steve in Steam chat.

Updates will be more detailed in future so I don't have 8 seasons to catch up!

[Steve Odom]

Well done Foxo!