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Late to the party, but better late than never...

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NEW GAFFER AT GRANTHAM

Following the sudden departure of Gary Sucharewycz after a severe bout of consonantitis, Grantham Town are pleased to announce the appointment of Law Martin, who has far fewer consonants in his name and is thus less susceptible to the illness. Martin will lead the club onwards following their promotion to the Skrill North, the club's highest division in recent memory. Although pleased, the Chatham-born 30-year-old seemed a bit confused. "Wait, this is a football club? That sign said "The Gingerbreads" I thought I was taking over a snack factory? You mean I drove my backside all the way up to Lincolnshire, and there are no snacks here?"

We wish Martin the best of luck in his new position.

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Blyth Spartans Season 2 2015/2016 Review - Skrill North

League Table - Transfers - Finances - Cups

Again frustratingly we had a fantastic start to the season and were competing for the title at Christmas but again a bad run of form meant that we had to settle for a play off spot. So we made the playoffs but unfortunately after a 1-1 draw at home to Worcester we endured heartbreak in extra time of the second leg.

Finances are looking very poor although they were helped by a decent FA Cup run.

Performances

Key Players:

3. Karl Ledsham, one of our summer signings, was very impressive in our three man midfield.

2. 19 year old Jake Wells was a rock in the best defence in the league.

1. Once again the top spot goes to Ben McKenna who, even though he missed three months of the season with a torn hamstring, was involved in 23 goals

Looking forward I think we can push on and get promoted next season. Up the Spartans

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Does anyone else have severe difficulty bringing players back from injury without them immediately getting injured again the moment you put them on a pitch. I wait until their fitness is up, bring them on just as a sub, but they drop dead in seconds.

In other news; Can Dorey and Neil tear **** up in the Premier league...?

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DAMN RIGHT THEY CAN!!

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Does anyone else have severe difficulty bringing players back from injury without them immediately getting injured again the moment you put them on a pitch. I wait until their fitness is up, bring them on just as a sub, but they drop dead in seconds.

It has happened a few times for me if I rush them back in or they are injury prone. Nothing out of the ordinary though

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Grays Athletic - Barclays Premier League - 2037/38 - First

I honestly didn't see this coming at all. We were poor going into November as usual and I decided to tweak my tactic in for a game against Newcastle. We were leaving too much space between the defenders and the two midfielders, so I dropped one back to defensive mid to see if it would solve the problem. Artoumian was perfect for this and the puzzle piece slid into place. We lost that game but showed promise and came out of the gate and scored 4 against Liverpool the week after. From then on we were pretty much unstoppable.

Either way, I didn't see us being able to catch Brighton and Man Utd. Brighton were at one point 10 points ahead and streaking for the trophy. A streak of poor form at the end of the season slid them down to fourth place however.

Man Utd did the same which I think may have been caused by their Manager retiring at the end of the season.

Either way, we took Man City apart on the final day which brought my tears of joy as I reminisced about games in the past where Man City would destroy me 8-0.

Premier League

League Table

Games

Finances - Looking very healthy at the moment, could be even better.

A stadium upgrade was put on the credit card which I don't understand, but taking 40mil into next season is very handy.

FA Cup - This cup run came in our huge run of form and the poor opponents we faced helped us along. We didn't hit a Premier League side until we got to the final and even then we had beaten Man City 5-1 the week before. They pretty much just laid down and let us take it. A great run by the boys

Capital One Cup - A decent run and a huge comeback win in the second leg of the semi final against Southampton. We were very poor in the final and looking back at how the season ended up, This trophy would have been a nice addition to make it the treble

UEFA Champions League - Group Stage

Our first trip to Israel saw us take on M. Haifa. We easily took care of them to move into the group stages.

I thought we had drawn the group of death, and after taking care of SK Rapid Wein OL and AC Milan drew their game. I was in front but expecting to have my butt handed to me.

However.......We took care of AC Milan at home and then travelled to Lyon where we put 7 on them. A disapointing return leg was out only dropped points, but we romped through the group.

Dortmund were first up in the first knockout round and they comfortably handed us our first loss of the competition. Still reeling, the boys put their heads back on and dominated the home leg, taking back the lead and taking us on.

PSG were up next and having dealt with them easily in previous seasons I was expecting to walk into the semis. I was wrong. really wrong.

AVB has turned his side around and they dominated us. We couldnt get a shot on target and they scored three with ease. The home leg wasn't much better and we were bundled out.

PSG went on to the final against Man Utd which they lost.

Squad - Getting some amazing results as my young side starts to get some experience. We need a new right back and some backup defenders, but I think we are doing well.

Transfers - George was an amazing striker who was struggling at Fluminense who have become my unofficial feeder club. I paid 10.25 mil and got a world class striker. He is amazing and I now have four world class strikers.

The other pickups are all youngers with high potential.

The only sale was a midfielder who had been injury prone so I gave up on him.

30 million and 35 million offers from Man Utd for Antonio and Thiaguinho respectively. Rejected both because they are integral players in my side, are both going to get better and also fk Man Utd :)

Key Player Profiles

Thiaguinho - Back in form this season. he didn't score as many, but he had a lot of competition in front of goal. 26 from 54 is a healthy return on any day.

Nicholas Brambilla - Amazing player who was yet again troubled by injury all season. His stats are amazing, but his natural fitness is concerning as I always need to sub him out just to keep him fresh. Definitely still a star however.

Player of the Season

Juan Igancio Galindo - In his first season as club captain, he lead from the front. My poor tactical choices led to a few extra goals going in early in the season, but once we locked out down he was on form. I think Antonio is a more skillful player, but Juan is a bit older and has a better head for the game.

Youth Players

Dom Houghton - He is killing it now. He has come a long way from the Unambitious 16 year old who could run but was as thick as a brick.

Bram Artoumian - Narrowly missed out on an international jersey for the World Cup, but he will be there in four more years. A brilliant player who is a vital piece of the puzzle now.

Mikey McGlynn - A decent player, I am just not sure of how he is progressing. He is currently with the England side at the World Cup.

Career Overview

Season       Team                       Country                  League                 League Finish             Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9104610&viewfull=1#post9104610"]2014/15[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill South       18th                 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9116552&viewfull=1#post9116552"]2015/16[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill South        2nd 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9128581&viewfull=1#post9128581"]2016/17[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     20th    
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9156295&viewfull=1#post9156295"]2017/18[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     20th                        FA Trophy Finalist
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9172908&viewfull=1#post9172908"]2018/19[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     18th                        FA Trophy Semi-Finalist
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9196746&viewfull=1#post9196746"]2019/20[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     19th                                    
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9213236&viewfull=1#post9213236"]2020/21[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier      5th                         Promoted!/FA Trophy Win
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9220113&viewfull=1#post9220113"]2021/22[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2   22nd 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9230480&viewfull=1#post9230480"]2022/23[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2   15th  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9240272&viewfull=1#post9240272"]2023/24[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2    4th                    Promoted via Playoffs  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9244958&viewfull=1#post9244958"]2024/25[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    7th                    Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9252661&viewfull=1#post9252661"]2025/26[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    15th
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9265885&viewfull=1#post9265885"]2026/27[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    3rd                    Promoted/Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9281615&viewfull=1#post9281615"]2027/28[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet Championship 17th 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9307671&viewfull=1#post9307671"]2028/29[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet Championship 6th                 Playoff Final Loss
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9313364&viewfull=1#post9313364"]2029/30[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet Championship 4th                 Playoff Final Win/Promoted
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9325046&viewfull=1#post9325046"]2030/31[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League      13th                 Survival
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9334990&viewfull=1#post9334990"]2031/32[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League      13th       
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9343032&viewfull=1#post9343032"]2032/33[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       5th                  FA Cup Win  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9357265&viewfull=1#post9357265"]2033/34[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       9th                  League Cup Win  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9362557&viewfull=1#post9362557"]2034/35[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       4th                  Europa League Final/CL Qualification/New stadium announced.
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9371763&viewfull=1#post9371763"]2035/36[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       8th                  CL 1st Knockout Round/FA Cup Runners Up
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9376925&viewfull=1#post9376925"]2036/37[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       4th                 Europa League Champions/FA Cup Semis
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9384631&viewfull=1#post9384631"]2037/38[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       1st                 Champions/FA Cup Winners/League Cup Finalist/Champions League Qtr Final/UEFA Super Cup Winner

Next Season

Retain our title

Build the squad

Push for the Champions League title

Facility News

Stadium upgrade of another 12812 seats into Garmey Park. Will cost 15.5 million and we groundshare with Brentford at their 33k stadium for a year.

Major Competition Winners

English Premier League - Grays, Man Utd, Chelsea, Brighton, West Ham, Man City, Arsenal, Southampton, Tottenham, Newcastle

Championship - Swansea, Everton, Nottm Forest (Norwich 8th)

FA Cup - Grays

Capital One Cup - Newcastle

Champions League - Man Utd

Euro - Man City

Hyundai A-League - Adelaide/Adelaide (Brisbane 5th)

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Grays Athletic - Barclays Premier League - 2037/38 - First

I honestly didn't see this coming at all. We were poor going into November as usual and I decided to tweak my tactic in for a game against Newcastle. We were leaving too much space between the defenders and the two midfielders, so I dropped one back to defensive mid to see if it would solve the problem. Artoumian was perfect for this and the puzzle piece slid into place. We lost that game but showed promise and came out of the gate and scored 4 against Liverpool the week after. From then on we were pretty much unstoppable.

Either way, I didn't see us being able to catch Brighton and Man Utd. Brighton were at one point 10 points ahead and streaking for the trophy. A streak of poor form at the end of the season slid them down to fourth place however.

Man Utd did the same which I think may have been caused by their Manager retiring at the end of the season.

Either way, we took Man City apart on the final day which brought my tears of joy as I reminisced about games in the past where Man City would destroy me 8-0.

Premier League

League Table

Games

Finances - Looking very healthy at the moment, could be even better.

A stadium upgrade was put on the credit card which I don't understand, but taking 40mil into next season is very handy.

FA Cup - This cup run came in our huge run of form and the poor opponents we faced helped us along. We didn't hit a Premier League side until we got to the final and even then we had beaten Man City 5-1 the week before. They pretty much just laid down and let us take it. A great run by the boys

Capital One Cup - A decent run and a huge comeback win in the second leg of the semi final against Southampton. We were very poor in the final and looking back at how the season ended up, This trophy would have been a nice addition to make it the treble

UEFA Champions League - Group Stage

Our first trip to Israel saw us take on M. Haifa. We easily took care of them to move into the group stages.

I thought we had drawn the group of death, and after taking care of SK Rapid Wein OL and AC Milan drew their game. I was in front but expecting to have my butt handed to me.

However.......We took care of AC Milan at home and then travelled to Lyon where we put 7 on them. A disapointing return leg was out only dropped points, but we romped through the group.

Dortmund were first up in the first knockout round and they comfortably handed us our first loss of the competition. Still reeling, the boys put their heads back on and dominated the home leg, taking back the lead and taking us on.

PSG were up next and having dealt with them easily in previous seasons I was expecting to walk into the semis. I was wrong. really wrong.

AVB has turned his side around and they dominated us. We couldnt get a shot on target and they scored three with ease. The home leg wasn't much better and we were bundled out.

PSG went on to the final against Man Utd which they lost.

Squad - Getting some amazing results as my young side starts to get some experience. We need a new right back and some backup defenders, but I think we are doing well.

Transfers - George was an amazing striker who was struggling at Fluminense who have become my unofficial feeder club. I paid 10.25 mil and got a world class striker. He is amazing and I now have four world class strikers.

The other pickups are all youngers with high potential.

The only sale was a midfielder who had been injury prone so I gave up on him.

30 million and 35 million offers from Man Utd for Antonio and Thiaguinho respectively. Rejected both because they are integral players in my side, are both going to get better and also fk Man Utd :)

Key Player Profiles

Thiaguinho - Back in form this season. he didn't score as many, but he had a lot of competition in front of goal. 26 from 54 is a healthy return on any day.

Nicholas Brambilla - Amazing player who was yet again troubled by injury all season. His stats are amazing, but his natural fitness is concerning as I always need to sub him out just to keep him fresh. Definitely still a star however.

Player of the Season

Juan Igancio Galindo - In his first season as club captain, he lead from the front. My poor tactical choices led to a few extra goals going in early in the season, but once we locked out down he was on form. I think Antonio is a more skillful player, but Juan is a bit older and has a better head for the game.

Youth Players

Dom Houghton - He is killing it now. He has come a long way from the Unambitious 16 year old who could run but was as thick as a brick.

Bram Artoumian - Narrowly missed out on an international jersey for the World Cup, but he will be there in four more years. A brilliant player who is a vital piece of the puzzle now.

Mikey McGlynn - A decent player, I am just not sure of how he is progressing. He is currently with the England side at the World Cup.

Career Overview

Season       Team                       Country                  League                 League Finish             Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9104610&viewfull=1#post9104610"]2014/15[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill South       18th                 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9116552&viewfull=1#post9116552"]2015/16[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill South        2nd 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9128581&viewfull=1#post9128581"]2016/17[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     20th    
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9156295&viewfull=1#post9156295"]2017/18[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     20th                        FA Trophy Finalist
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9172908&viewfull=1#post9172908"]2018/19[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     18th                        FA Trophy Semi-Finalist
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9196746&viewfull=1#post9196746"]2019/20[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     19th                                    
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9213236&viewfull=1#post9213236"]2020/21[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier      5th                         Promoted!/FA Trophy Win
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9220113&viewfull=1#post9220113"]2021/22[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2   22nd 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9230480&viewfull=1#post9230480"]2022/23[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2   15th  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9240272&viewfull=1#post9240272"]2023/24[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2    4th                    Promoted via Playoffs  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9244958&viewfull=1#post9244958"]2024/25[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    7th                    Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9252661&viewfull=1#post9252661"]2025/26[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    15th
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9265885&viewfull=1#post9265885"]2026/27[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    3rd                    Promoted/Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9281615&viewfull=1#post9281615"]2027/28[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet Championship 17th 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9307671&viewfull=1#post9307671"]2028/29[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet Championship 6th                 Playoff Final Loss
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9313364&viewfull=1#post9313364"]2029/30[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet Championship 4th                 Playoff Final Win/Promoted
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9325046&viewfull=1#post9325046"]2030/31[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League      13th                 Survival
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9334990&viewfull=1#post9334990"]2031/32[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League      13th       
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9343032&viewfull=1#post9343032"]2032/33[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       5th                  FA Cup Win  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9357265&viewfull=1#post9357265"]2033/34[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       9th                  League Cup Win  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9362557&viewfull=1#post9362557"]2034/35[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       4th                  Europa League Final/CL Qualification/New stadium announced.
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9371763&viewfull=1#post9371763"]2035/36[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       8th                  CL 1st Knockout Round/FA Cup Runners Up
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9376925&viewfull=1#post9376925"]2036/37[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       4th                 Europa League Champions/FA Cup Semis
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9384631&viewfull=1#post9384631"]2037/38[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Barclays Premier League       1st                 Champions/FA Cup Winners/League Cup Finalist/Champions League Qtr Final/UEFA Super Cup Winner

Next Season

Retain our title

Build the squad

Push for the Champions League title

Facility News

Stadium upgrade of another 12812 seats into Garmey Park. Will cost 15.5 million and we groundshare with Brentford at their 33k stadium for a year.

Major Competition Winners

English Premier League - Grays, Man Utd, Chelsea, Brighton, West Ham, Man City, Arsenal, Southampton, Tottenham, Newcastle

Championship - Swansea, Everton, Nottm Forest (Norwich 8th)

FA Cup - Grays

Capital One Cup - Newcastle

Champions League - Man Utd

Euro - Man City

Hyundai A-League - Adelaide/Adelaide (Brisbane 5th)

This is amazing to see. 20+ seasons is incredible and well done for keeping going. My Banbury career hasn't started great (W0, D1, L3) but seeing you finished 18th first season gives me confidence.

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This is amazing to see. 20+ seasons is incredible and well done for keeping going. My Banbury career hasn't started great (W0, D1, L3) but seeing you finished 18th first season gives me confidence.

Cheers mate. Just stick with it

My game is starting to get crazy now. Bayern just paid 19.25 million plus 25% of next sale for a fullback who isnt even that good. THanks guys! I only paid 4.5 for him 2 years ago.

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AFC Fylde – Championship 2023/24 – Season 10

After a mixed season last year the board wanted a top half finish and were willing to give me funds we didn't have to do it, the media predicted we'd finish bang in the middle of the league with the bookies giving us an outside chance of promotion.

Also after 10 years my board finally found us a parent side - Southampton the furthest away Premier side they could find, which didn't last long as they got relegated this season.

Transfers - Quiet season as I spent time bringing in players I needed, though I did bring in two 15yo Danes for the future with Midfielder Holt already having the promising tag, I also brought in Homegrown players Dyer (LB) and Smith (DM) on frees to add some squad depth, finally I managed to bring in two keepers Gussoni arrived on loan and whilst highly rated 18to Spanaird Julio Galdos arrived for a club record £2m.

Saleswise I got rid of a couple of squad players, before being forced to sell Coddingtown for a pathetic £2m in January.

League Cup - With nothing on offer in the League Cup I again fielded a second string who brushed past lower league Barnsley and Luton before being outclassed by Premier League Sheffield Utd. (being forced to play a midfielder at left-back didn't help matters).

FA Cup - It was a different story in the FA Cup as we brushed past Rochdale in the Third Round. In the Fourth Round we drew Premier League Newcastle at Home and were thankful injuries forced them to play a youth keeper who had a shocker, though we did nearly throw away a 3-0 lead, but Newcastle's come back was ended when they were reduced to 10 men. In the Fifth Round we were again drawn at home to Premier opposition this time facing QPR and whilst we didn't have much of the ball we took our chances when we got them to make it through to the Quarter Final, were we where again drawn at home to Premier opposition this time taking on parent side Southampton, unfortantely this time they proved too strong as we just couldn't get going our pitch being more like a swamp didn't help and two late goals knocked us out. We weren't even the overachievers this season as Everton made it to the Final after beating Southampton, though they did get thrashed by City in the Final but will be in Europe next season as a Championship side!

League - An excellent season as we romped to our first league title (well first trophy of any kind). We got off to a good start unfortantley for the first third of the season Sheffield Wednesday were unstoppable until December when they had half a dozen injuries and finally lost a game (to rivals Blackpool) and then drew to Reading allowing us to finally overtake them and their only win during December was annoyingly against us leaving them one point behind us at the half way stage.

In the Second half of the season we slowly pulled away from Wednesday and eventually claimed promotion with four games to spare after beating rivals Blackpool 2-0 and secured the title with two games left, which was good as we faced Reading and Wednesday in the final two games.

Our much improved defensive record helped this season - our commonest results were 1-0 or 2-0 wins and we only lost once this season when scoring first. Not sure exactly what was so different this season we just weren't making so many mistakes at the back and didn't conceed as many from set-pieces, the only real change I made this season was to my training previously I had low general balanced training and high player role training, this season I switched to average general balanced training with low/average player role training so not sure if that improved my team cohesion, or if it was just high morale, an extra season of development combined with better squad depth and less injuries.

Squad and Overview

In Goal Irishman Padraig Boggan had his best season yet as he finally showed what he could do with some fine performances with an impressive 17 clean sheets and he has even got himself capped by Ireland, giving him some competition seemed to up his game this season as I brought in Uruguayian Fabio Gussoni on loan to give him some competition, I also spent a record £2m on Spanish Keeper Julio Galdos who ended up spending the season on loan at Salisbury in League 2 helping them to get promoted - figured it was better for him to spend a year playing football rather than bench warming, Salisbury also have better facilities than me.

In Defence Curtis Hall was in good form at Right Back and has been here since the Skrill Premier, hopefully he'll make the stepup to Premier League football, at Left Back was Norwegian John Anders Etterstad who continued to improve and has got himself capped by Norway, providing cover was Ibra Dyer who been released by Palace and had done ok on loan last season, isn't likely to displace Etterstad but was an effective backup.

In the Centre of Defence we lost Keithlyn Coddingtown in January however he wasn't missed as Enthusiastic Austrian Patrick Burchert stepped up to fill his shoes with some fine performances and quickly formed a solid partnership with Croatian Vlado Kramaric. Providing cover was the highly rated Czech Zdenek Linhart who did well when called upon.

In the DM role Frenchman Paul Fuchs had another solid season, providing cover was Irishman Andy Smith who'd been signed on a free from Aston Villa but he didn't really impress.

In the Centre of Midfield Frenchman Christian Kieffer was again in fine form and rather randomly now has a Continental Reputation (!!!), providing cover was Promising American Chris Hewitt who put in some good performances. Alongside them were my Englishmen Ernie Hooper who had a poor season by his standards and Eddie Miller who was again loaned from Southampton and had another good season.

Upfront Captain Marc Guthrie had another solid season and like Hall has been with me since the Skrill Premier and will hopefully make the stepup next season and like Kieffer has randomly obtained a Continental Reputation, partnering him again was Turk Gurkan Akar who didn't hit the heights of last season put still had a good season, providing cover was Burkina Fasian Oumar Ouedraogo who again didn't really impress, partnering him was Czech Youngster Tomas Novak who did better than expected but isn't really ready for the Premier League.

Academy - My Academy finally produced some Football League standard players with the best of the bunch being Striker Bradley McGuire who has a Decent Prem Potential and the Promising tag :cool: (and rather nicely was born in Bolton, teaches them for poaching my academy players :)) and English born American Striker Fabio Adams.

Best XI - Fuchs is again cruely stuck on the bench with Kieffer again out of position in the DM role, as somehow Hooper got Kieffer's position, whilst the traitor Coddingtown is also relegated to the bench, whilst Academy prospect McGuire is also somehow on the bench despite only making three poor sub appearances?

Finances - Not great as end of season costs send us into the red, with the board taking out yet another loan to pay for our latest enforced stadium expansion and rather worringly we'll again be spending the season at Deepdale with their stupid square pitch which could prove a problem next season. On the plus side we at least got a bumper new shirt deal (though still tiny compared to other Championship or Premier sides)

Reputation - Our league win see's us leap upto Three Star National reputation making us the second highest Championship and more impressive we'll have the 13th Highest Reputation in the Premier League next season!!!

Manager - I reached 500 games this season and after winning the league I quickly became a club legend with Guthrie not long after being named an iconic figure, I also finally won a Manager of the Year award :cool:

Goals for next season

- Survive, failing that use the Premier League money to snatch up some cheap youngsters and continue to improve our facilities.

State of the World

Premier League - Spurs claim the title for the second season in a row and third overall, Chelsea and Arsenal have both won the league twice whilst Man Utd have won it three times, the best Man City have done is finish second four times, with Utd, Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea the other sides to finish second, whilst both Cardiff and Forest have finished third in recent seasons.

Whilst we become only the fourth new side to make it to the Premier League after Bournemouth (x2), Brighton and Hartlepool, everyone else who has been promoted have played in the Premier League IRL.

League One - Sunderland must endure a third season in League One after being relegated from the Premier League in the first season, non-league sides Luton and Barnet have made themselves League sides for quite a few seasons whilst Portsmouth and Middlesborough both return to League 2 for the second and third times.

League Two - Salisbury gain straight promotion from League 2 after having a Tycoon takeover a few seasons ago.

Skrill Premier - things get worse for Preston as they drop to the Skrill North, whilst former Premier side Bradford will spend another season in non-league.

Skirll North and Skrill South - things haven't been going well for AFC Wimbledon.

FA Cup - Has been fairly open with the likes of QPR, Wigan (beating City again) and West Brom all winning it.

League Cup - Has largely been won by the big sides though Utd have some how managed to lose the final an impressive six times.

Champions League - Paris have won it three times, Barcelona and Juventus twice, with Madrid, Spurs, Dortmund and City all winning once, Utd have managed to lose the final twice.

Europa League - Has been won three times by Chelsea and twice by Spurs, with City, Benfica, Lyon, Rubin, AC Milan and Dortmund all having one sucess.

World Cup 2022 was won by Chile on pens against Italy, England lost in the semi-final to Italy on pens and Wales made it to the Knockout Round losing to Argentina also on pens, both Brazil and Germany went out in the Group Stages.

World Cup 2018 was won by Holland on pens against Germany, England didn't make it losing to France in the Playoffs.

World Cup 2014 was won by Japan over Argentina, with Brazil, Holland, England and Ireland all going out in the Group Stages.

Euro 2024 was won by Spain who beat Scotland(!) in the Final, with England again going out in the Second Round and with Ireland and Wales both finishing bottom of their groups.

Euro 2020 was won by Italy over Serbia, England lost in the Second Round to Scotland who then lost to Serbia.

Euro 2016 was won by Portugal over Holland, with England, Scotland and Ireland all going out in the Second Round, whilst NIreland finished bottom of their group.

Leaderboard points (FM Mode)

Single Game: 1,389,533 (138,732nd)

Single Season: 944,378 (125,061st)

Single Season in England: 944,378 (67,719th)

Single Season Championship: 944,378 (1,773rd) - that's more like it :cool:

Career Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements                  Leaderboard Points (Season/Game)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15        Skrill North             3rd        Playoff Finalists                
2015/16        Skrill North             3rd        Playoff Winners - Promoted!                
2016/17        Skrill Premier           13th                                                  20,675 / 27,370
2017/18        Skrill Premier           5th        Playoff Winners - Promoted!                27,387 / 51,605
2018/19        League Two               18th                                                  46,936 / 98,541
2019/20        League Two               6th        Playoff Winners - Promoted!                51,575 / 150,116
2020/21        League One               5th        Playoff Winners - Promoted!                72,604 / 222,720
2021/22        Championship             16th                                                  119,257 / 341,977
2022/23        Championship             10th                                                  103,178 / 445,155
2023/24        Championship             1st        Champions - Promoted!                      944,378 / 1,389,533

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Cheers mate. Just stick with it

My game is starting to get crazy now. Bayern just paid 19.25 million plus 25% of next sale for a fullback who isnt even that good. THanks guys! I only paid 4.5 for him 2 years ago.

Really struggling with my tactics. Need to just stop changing them about every time I lose it probably isn't helping.

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One of the best early challenge tactics seems to be a 4-1DM-3-2 ---seen several use it in the N/S leagues. I had my DM on anchor or halfback (depending on quality of player), and 1 attack, 1 support, 1 defend (or 1 attack, 2 support for "easier" matches) in my midfield. Stopped the goal leakage pretty well..then just need to score one or two and win the match. Worked pretty well to get me out of N/S leagues (and working too in my Skrill Prem matches too).

And yes, changing tactics frequently won't help. Pick one or two, train tactics in match preparation, and get the tactical familiarity up as quick as you can. That will help as well.

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One of the best early challenge tactics seems to be a 4-1DM-3-2 ---seen several use it in the N/S leagues. I had my DM on anchor or halfback (depending on quality of player), and 1 attack, 1 support, 1 defend (or 1 attack, 2 support for "easier" matches) in my midfield. Stopped the goal leakage pretty well..then just need to score one or two and win the match. Worked pretty well to get me out of N/S leagues (and working too in my Skrill Prem matches too).

And yes, changing tactics frequently won't help. Pick one or two, train tactics in match preparation, and get the tactical familiarity up as quick as you can. That will help as well.

How important is tactical familiarity exactly?

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I would say, extremely important. The more familiar the players are, the better they will stick to your plan and no just play chase the ball around like a sandlot game :)

Hard to achieve in the first season (limited preseason), but in future seasons, definitely aim to get 90% or better with your tactics in the preseason if you can.

Be aware, the more changes you make to your squad (transfers, loans), the more you have to work on improving familiarity. If you make only a few changes from season to season, it's much easier to improve the familiarity (players from the previous season don't quite forget everything you taught them -- so the familiarity starts higher at the beginning of the season).

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I would say, extremely important. The more familiar the players are, the better they will stick to your plan and no just play chase the ball around like a sandlot game :)

Hard to achieve in the first season (limited preseason), but in future seasons, definitely aim to get 90% or better with your tactics in the preseason if you can.

Be aware, the more changes you make to your squad (transfers, loans), the more you have to work on improving familiarity. If you make only a few changes from season to season, it's much easier to improve the familiarity (players from the previous season don't quite forget everything you taught them -- so the familiarity starts higher at the beginning of the season).

Okay thank you. I've gone with standard, offensive and defensive tactics. Beat Boreham Wood 2-0 away at odds of 10/1 so can't complain :)

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Dulwich Hamlet Season 2022/23 - SkyBet Championship

After last seasons playoff final defeat, the challenge was to try and repeat or better that.

Championship - 2 points less then last season but we finished 3 places higher, crazy. Our home form was awful this season, just 8 wins with 10 draws and 5 losses. Our away form was by far the best in the league (in fact 49 of our 83 points came away from home) somehow this was enough to see us win the tittle and secure promotion to The Premiership. Graph

League Cup - couple of wins before our now usual exit to a lower league team

FA Cup - Our usual awful performance. I hate cups.

Transfers - Spent some money (just over £750k) replacing some good players with better players

Squad - will move quite a few of these on this summer, need better to stay up

Key Players

Paul Parker - once again our main goal outlet. Another 30 league goals from him this season takes his record to 142 league goals in 224

Simon Archibald - Scottish CB has become a rock in the heart of our defence.

Victor Moreira - picked up on a free after his release from Braga, soon became a key player as Archibald's partner.

Lee Curtis - picked up for just £12k from QPR, the attacking RB became a key attacking outlet for us

Dan Crowley - £325k signing from Blackpool, 6 goals and 8 assists from the attacking midfielder

Career Overview

Season          League          Position          Achievements 


2014/15         TSS              12th              N/A
2015/16         TSS              1st               Champions
2016/17         TSP              3rd               promotion (via play offs)
2017/18         SL2              20th              N/A
2018/19         SL2              3rd               auto promotion
2019/20         SL1              6th               N/A
2020/21         SL1              5th               Promotion via the play offs
2021/22         SBC              4th               Lost playoff final
2022/23         SBC              1st               Promotion as champions!

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How often do you change your mentality? Like if you're favourites for a match would you set it as control/attacking or leave it on what you train it at?

I tend to only change mentality for specific reasons --- I'm up 1-0 in a late in a game I'm expected to have difficulty in, I'll go defensive...I'm up against an opponent that plays forward a lot, I'll go counter...otherwise I stick with my basic tactical setup (whatever it might be for the tactic I'm playing for the season --- usually attacking or counter).

edit: in a given season I might have to very similar tactics...one for home/easy matches, one for away/difficult matches, where the only real difference is the mentality (and maybe some "shouts" that go with that mentality).

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So after winning promotion to the Premiership we get a board takeover (my 2nd in this save) and go into a transfer embargo, takeover goes through and the new chairman gives money for training ground and youth training as well as boosting my wage and transfer budget but won't let me sign anyone as he's still making his mind up if he want's to keep me on as manager :mad:

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Gypsum's End of season update - King's Lynn - 2026/27 - Premier league

League position: 10th (Position chart)

Media prediction: 19th

Our pre-season friendlies saw us embark on a tactical revolution. Gone was the more standard 4-4-2 with two wingers, and it was replaced with a controlled, fluid, short passing, wingless 4-1-3-2. And it worked wonders! Turning us from relegation battlers to spending the majority of the season in the top 4. The new signings were exceptional, especially our flying full-backs and packed midfield, the Swede Taavo from Bayern was a clear stand out star. Even the old guard chipped in, Bowen had one of his best seasons to date, and despite signing new strikers, the old Dorey and Neil combination proved the most effective with Dorey showing himself for the first time to be capable at this level playing as a false-9. But as the season rolled on injuries began to mount. At first we could cope quite well, but losing both good right backs for the last 5-6 games really hurt out tactical setup and saw us slump to 10th. Still, a very impressive finish considering out pre-season expectations. And a solid foundation to build on considering out excellent financial outlook, despite a new stadium and training facility in the works, and a recently improved youth setup.

Squad

Transfers

Finances

Star players;

Javi Flores - I deliberated over this signing pre-season. Makengo had impressed last season and replacing him seemed harsh, and Flores' lack of good attacking attributes may have meant he was ill-suited to the complete wing-back role I had planned. But once he signed he proved one of our best players, with relentless energy, quality defending and a constant attacking threat with his sheer pace and energy

Barry George Bowen - Surely a legend in the making, Bowen has now made 367 league appearances for us and looked pure class for most of the campaign.

ismet Tural - Another new signing which I had to deliberate over considering the strength we already had in his DM position. But Tural was a class ball winner.

Legends;

Ryan Neil - Career - Back to his best and staying largely injury free. Was amongst the top Premiership scorers until late in the season, where the team's form dipped. Still class, especially alongside

Ian Dorey - Career - After the disappointment of last season, Dorey found himself in the U21s while new signings had their chance. But as no real partner for Neil emerged, it fell back on Dorey to partner him up front, and he played admirably as a false-9, proving a great creative contributor and an occasional goal threat. He has now made 535 league appearances since coming through out youth system, and is just two shy of his double century of league goals. The Dorey and Neil partnership now has a combined total of 382 goals in 879 league games, fair to say they have been a pretty important part of my managerial career...

Year                 League                    Position              Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15           Skrill North                   7th
2015/16           Skrill North                   4th                Playoff winners
2016/17           Skrill Premier                 2nd                Playoff winners
2017/18           League 2                       10th               FA Cup 3rd round
2018/19           League 2                       3rd                Automatic promotion
2019/20           League 1                       8th        
2020/21           League 1                       4th                Playoff winners, JPT winners, FA Cup 5th round replay 
2021/22           Championship                   9th
2022/23           Championship                   11th
2023/24           Championship                   8th
2024/25           Championship                   6th                Playoff winners
2025/26           Premier league                 17th               Avoided relegation
2026/27           Premier league                 10th

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After having FM14 bought for xmas by the wife, and my usual annihilation of any chance that Tranmere Rovers might achieve anything, I saw this challenge and decided to take it up. So watch out Premiership, the south coast is about to add more shockwaves through the leagues!

Bognorregistownfc.png

BOGNOR REGIS TOWN F.C.

Following the previous manager's sacking, despite promotion, after the "Spaniel" incident, Bognor Regis Town FC are "pleased", (well not pleased, maybe a little apprehensive, but let's face it, our reasoning in employing him is that he can't have a worse managerial record than John Barnes) to announce our new manager. After numerous boyhood family holidays enjoying the hospitality of Butlins Bognor Regis*, the idea of managing such a sleeping giant as Bognor held too much appeal for him, that, and he also thought if he squinted enough, he thought he could see France, and that made him feel all continental :lol:.

* Other holiday parks are available

Stadium Bognor: http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/19/50/195048_6708d18f.jpg

Manager: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/845/wljo.png

Club Information: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/707/qr76.png

"Farce"ilites: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/19/7veq.png

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I've got 3 or 4 seasons to upload when I get chance.

But basically AFC Fylde are still struggling in the Skill Premier. After a promising first two seasons when we finished 13 and 14th. We've been involved in relegation battle for the last couple of seasons.

The board are refusing to let me turn pro, even though they agreed and then did a bunk from the club and the new board decided to conveniently forget that promise.

I've just lost my captain and best midfielder after he refused to resign. Heading in to my 8th season at the club and my 6th in the Skrill Prem. Our media prediction has risen to 21st.

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Banbury United: Season 1 - Skrill South

League Table

After it took me 7 league games to get my first win I knew this was going to be a long season. Survival was secured on the second to last day of the season with a 4-2 victory away to already relegated Bishops Stortford. No doubt my problem this season was lack of firepower up top, with just 48 league goals.

Top Goalscorer: Liam Hope - I suppose you can't really expect a 20+ goal a season man finishing 19th but he still did a decent job. Definitely need more striking options next season.

Highest Average Rating (10 or more games): Tom Batten - This was my left back who bagged me an impressive 9 goals, my second highest goal scorer! I think 5 or 6 of them 9 were free kicks, he is a beast at them! Oh and he also got 11 assists along the way. At the age of 18 I'm sure he'll be around for a while.

F.A Cup - Got to the 4th qualifying round after very creditable wins away to both Whitehawk and Chelmsford. Lost 1-0 away at Dartford who finished mid-table in the Skrill Premier so not too disappointed.

F.A Trophy - Got to the 1st round proper after beating Bedworth in a replay. Lost 2-0 away at Alfreton.

Not really sure what else to add as it's the first time I've done this. I'm sure next season is going to be just as tough, can't see me getting out of Skrill South for a while. Having said that, I've seen a lot of people finishing 16th - 19th first season then getting promoted the season after so who knows!

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Apologies for going off-topic in here, but would one of you kind people please mind telling me how you post pics with FM14.

Leon reminded me how to do it with FM13, but that was just isn't working. When I do it, I just get a picture of my desktop or whatever tab I have open behind FM14.

I can see how you lot are doing it but just can't get it to work.

Step 1. Click on FM14 icon on toolbar on right hand side, (to open already running FM14 game).

Step 2. Go to page I want.

Step 3. Click "prt sc".

Step 4. Click on windows button to get back to "Start sceen". (FM isn't running in windowed mode).

Step 5. Enter desktop.

Step 6. Click on paint.

Step. 7. Paste.

Step 8. Save.

Step 9. Upload to Photobucket.

Step 10. Link to here.

That's how it should work but it's just not.

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I find it easiest just to use Steam...F12 takes screen shot. Shift-Tab opens the Steam Overlay--view screenshots is available at the bottom of overlay. Select screenshot, add title (optional), and click upload. After upload is complet, select view online, copy the URL, and paste into the forums.

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I find it easiest just to use Steam...F12 takes screen shot. Shift-Tab opens the Steam Overlay--view screenshots is available at the bottom of overlay. Select screenshot, add title (optional), and click upload. After upload is complet, select view online, copy the URL, and paste into the forums.

Mmmmm. That won't work for me. F12 turns my "Flight mode" on which basically means no wireless connection. I'm sure there is a way to deactivate the "hot-keys" I think they are called, but this isn't really something I want to do.

Any other suggestions?

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Mmmmm. That won't work for me. F12 turns my "Flight mode" on which basically means no wireless connection. I'm sure there is a way to deactivate the "hot-keys" I think they are called, but this isn't really something I want to do.

Any other suggestions?

Hold down the 'Fn' key whilst pressing F12 that works for me :)

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Hold down the 'Fn' key whilst pressing F12 that works for me :)

Ok. Brilliant. That worked, but where do I locate the file now to get it into paint?

Ok. Forget that. It's saved them into Steam. That's cool. So where do I go from here?

Why is it so complicated? What happed to "print screen" - "paste" - "copy" - "upload". Bobs yer Uncle.

[Edit]

Atherton, how do you go from a pic saved to Steam to the Gyazo links I see above in your recent posts? Isn't it the same for me and Photobucket or whatever?

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Blyth Spartans Season 3 2016/2017 Review - Skrill North

Table - Playoff Final - Finances - Transfers

So we finally got promoted from the Skrill North at our third attempt. However I think we will struggle in the Premier with no money and not a great squad.

Key Players:

3. Ben McKenna was again superb.

2. Nathan Buddle rock in the defence again, and scored the late goal which sent us up.

1. Jordan Rugg scored 20 goals and ensured that we finished where we didi.

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Apologies for going off-topic in here, but would one of you kind people please mind telling me how you post pics with FM14.

I use http://www.irfanview.com/ and set it take screenshots whenever I press a certain button and have them saved into a folder in jpg format (under options -> Capture Screenshot). Then at the end of the season I go through and rename them and discard images that aren't needed.

To upload them I use this tool and upload them to imagevenue.com (it also allows me to customize the output coding so I just need to paste it into my update) - I used imageshack and their uploader for years but they recently started to remove filenames from uploaded files making it hard to work out which image was what (I basically type out my updates in Wordpad and then add the links to the uploaded images so need filenames to quickly match image to content), I tried various new hosts for FM14 and found imagevenue to be the better one - they leave filenames intact, provide a cleanish page for the image (though preferred imageshacks option to link directly to image rather than a page) and most importantly don't mess around with resizing the image like most other places do leaving it unreadable.

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So start of the season and I'm 150/1 to get promoted yet teams that just came up are 40/1? Where's the sense in that?

Also has anyone else had Banbury? A quick look through the thread suggests not.

EDIT: Someone on Page 2 did but can't find any updates from them. Seems they're pretty rare.

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Ok. Brilliant. That worked, but where do I locate the file now to get it into paint?

Ok. Forget that. It's saved them into Steam. That's cool. So where do I go from here?

Why is it so complicated? What happed to "print screen" - "paste" - "copy" - "upload". Bobs yer Uncle.

[Edit]

Atherton, how do you go from a pic saved to Steam to the Gyazo links I see above in your recent posts? Isn't it the same for me and Photobucket or whatever?

I don't bother with paint -- just paste the link direct from Steam online library. (You can see the link by clicking the view online button after the upload)--copy the URL from the browser titlebar.

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Season Seven (3rd in TSP) can only be termed a disappointment. A decent first half saw us achieve our first goal from last season--stop conceding too many goals. Indeed, through early February, we were among the top 5 or 6 defensively (and despite our lower goalscoring, sitting comfortably in the middle of the table). However, the final 10 games saw a remarkable slump, and taking only 9 points from our last 11 matches saw us slide right back down to 18th. (The final position was still enough for us to achieve our 7th consecutive league overachiever status, but could have been, indeed, had been, so much better prior to the slump). I suspect my offering low collective league win bonuses played some impact, as we didn't have a lot of late-season injuries to deal with as in the past.

Yes...for the first time, I had to offer low collective league bonuses (though I kept cup bonus as normal). The board only allowed me £3.6K/wk wages...and I was over that at the start of the season before even thinking about signing any incoming players. I dumped my full transfer budget (about £8K if I recall) and still had no wage budget room. The lower win bonus gave me some salary room to play with, and I ended up at about £4.8K/week available--- a value I could live with (though I stayed a couple hundred quid above the budget most of the season).

It could have been worse, but I dumped a large number of players after the previous season (a lot of youth contracts got cut short --- but also some veterans that I could in no way afford. In the end, our season start was okay--if featuring an abnormally high number of draws), and by December we were looking fairly comfortable. A good run saw us get through some cup rounds and heading into the new year with great morale. We did hit the normal January slump, but February saw us pick back up and reach a Bedford Historical high of 14th in TSP (with one or two games in hand at that), before the final slump sent us reeling back to 18th.

Despite all that, we managed to stay well out of the relegation zone (indeed, after week 6 or so it became evident that we were likely going to stay safe --- our final position of 18th notwithstanding...the point differential was very large from 18th to 19th, and really was that way all season long.

As usual, Tom Collins continued his magic, scoring 20 more league goals (nearly half of the teams goals), and adding 4 assists. More help was needed in creating chances, and that is something I will have to address in the coming season. Darrin Mitchell would only remain on a non-contract basis, but he stuck around all year, adding 12 goals and 11 assists of his own, still nicely complementing Collins. Playing him as a F9, he was the primary chance creator for Collins (in his advanced forward role). Hopefully I'll be able to resign him in the coming year ---his development has been outstanding as well. On paper, he is my best striker (4.5 star to collins 2.5 star as a striker---but he is not nearly as clinical in front of goal as collins) His CA/PA read Decent TSP/Good TSP striker, so he has room to grow.

Part of the reason behind the outstanding defensive run was newcomer Jake Bird (signed after I released previous net-tender Johnson as too expensive). He was pretty solid, with 10 clean sheets (and two assists) to his credit. I look forward to seeing him improve in the coming year (indeed, I released two goalkeepers that were chomping at the bit to get some first team time, but I felt couldn't compare to Bird). Hopefully he'll continue to improve this season.

Finally, Ryan Draper-Hicks continued to impress as the anchor of the defense, with an overal 6.91 AvR and a team high 7 Player of Match awards. It might have been much better, but he suffered a fractured arm at the end of January that kept him out for 4 weeks. Other than that, he was again solid this year, and is someone I am definitely looking to resign.

PLAYOFFS

Not this season!

Cup Competitions

Our FA Cup saw us progress easily through the early stages, with solid wins against Salsbury, Hampton & Richmond, and Boston United (3-1, 2-0, and 4-2 respectively) before we faced our biggest challenge to date, surpassing even our Middlesbrough draw last season. This year, a 3rd round away draw saw us play in front of over 31,000 fans at the Ricoh Arena (Coventry). The 4-0 scoreline wasn't as bad as it appeared (we had two goals disallowed for offsides), and indeed, I wasn't really worried about the scoreline...I was too busy counting £10 notes. That match alone nearly paid our £670K expenses for the entire season! Indeed, it was the sole reason we ended the season with a positive bank balance, (which in turn would allow the board to offer me an actual wage budget boost for the 21/22 season --- all the way up to £5.7K/wk as it turned out). Overall, very pleased with our run. Oh, yes....another overachiever mention for Bedford! That makes 11 overachiever mentions in 7 seasons for us!

The FA Trophy was also saw us progress past expectations, knocking off Coalville (who???) and Worchester before falling to Harlepool (who ended 4th in TSP) in a thrilling 4-3 match (heavily influenced by the referee. The referee, incidentally had a match rating of 4.1...one of the lowest I've seen to date. Tom Collins made another run at the competition top goalscorer, but ultimately fell short.

Additional Details

Team of the Season

Best XI Inductees

Historical Best XI

Fans Player of the Season (who else? :cool:) NOTE: For those of you counting, that makes 7 times in 7 seasons Tom Collins has pulled off Fans Player of the Season. He has been a club legend since (at least) season 5. He has surpassed the 200 senior goal mark, with 163 coming from league, and 43 from cup matches. He is by far the best player I've had in the few years I've run this challenge (at least, by results). Its a shame that so far in TSP, he has not even been shortlisted for player of the season.

Promoted from the Regional Premier Division Teams:

Southport, Hednesford, Billericay, BOgnor Regis, St. Albans, Chippenham

League Winners (relegated)

EPL Chelsea (Fulham, West Brom, Crystal Palace)

Championship Bourenouth (Sunderland, Preston, Swindon)

League One Northampton (Walsall, Crewe, Carlisle, Bolton)

League Two Southend (Forest Green, Bristol Rovers)

Skrill Premier Wycombe (Basingstoke, Matlock, Stockport, Boston Utd)

Skrill North FC United (Grantham, Lowestoft, Ashton Utd)

Skrill South Aldershot (Welling, Carshalton, Wealdstone)

Cup Winners

English FA Cup Everton

Capital One Cup Man City

Jonhstone's Paint Trophy Bradford

English FA Trophy AFC Telford

Euro Qualifcation

Champions League Group Stage: Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool

Champions League Best Placed Playoff: Arsenal

Euro Cup Group Stage: Everton

Euro Cup Playoff: Man Utd

Euro Cup 3rd QR: Southampton

Euro Cup 1st QR: None

Continental Achievements

West Ham -- Eliminated from Euro Cup Group Stage

Arsenal -- Eliminated from Champions League First Knockout round (by Paris Saint-Germain)

Tottenham -- Eliminated from Champions League First Knockout round (By Dortmund)

Liverpool -- Eliminated from Champions League Quarter-Final (by Paris Saint-Germain)

Man City -- Eliminated from Champions League Semi Final (By Juventus)

Man United -- Eliminated from Euro Cup Semi Final (By Chelsea)

Chelsea -- Euro Cup Winners!

What's Next?

Must end stronger next season! It looked like we were on pace for a very solid mid-table finish, before the final slump of March/April. As late as mid-February, our defensive posture was solid (I think we were 5th or 6th best defensively. The last 10 or 12 games saw that go to pieces. Perhaps the low collective win bonus for league had something to do with it (though we desperately needed the extra £1K or so / week that generated). Must have a top-half finish this season, or else I might just give up. Another strong showing in the cups (and a little luck with the draw) and we might have some finances to play with for facilities. Crossing my fingers there.

Career Overview

Season            Team                 League            Position(Predicted)         Achievements
2014/15           Bedford Town         Skrill South      19(22)                      Skrill South & FA Cup Overachiever
2015/16           Bedford Town         Skrill North      13(22)                      Skrill North overachiever
2016/17           Bedford Town         Skrill North      11(22)                      Skrill North overachiever
2017/18           Bedford Town         Skrill South      5(21)                       Skrill South, FA Cup Overachiever.  PROMOTED VIA PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!
2018/19           Bedford Town         Skrill Premier    19(24)                      Skrill Premier, FA Trophy overachiever
2019/20           Bedford Town         Skrill Premier    20(24)                      Skrill Premier Overachiever
2020/21           Bedford Town         Skrill Premier    18(24)                      Skrill Premier Overachiever, FA Cup Overachiver

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Hi guys, just stumbled across this forum and it sounds like an interesting new way to play.

Having spent 90 odd percent of my FM and CM saves to date playing as west ham i've decided to take up this challenge and managed to get another local club in the form of the mighty Urchins, AFC Hornchurch.

So here we have the incoming manager of newly promoted AFC Hornchurch. Im just about to kick off my first preseason. Fingers crossed, we dont go straight back down!

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Guys use imgur.com for screenshots.

I alt+f9 and throw all my pics into a folder for every season then create an album on imgur and drag all my pics into there. Once uploaded just open them and copy the url over

you can copy paste directly into the page too which is handy as well

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Hi guys, just stumbled across this forum and it sounds like an interesting new way to play.

Having spent 90 odd percent of my FM and CM saves to date playing as west ham i've decided to take up this challenge and managed to get another local club in the form of the mighty Urchins, AFC Hornchurch.

So here we have the incoming manager of newly promoted AFC Hornchurch. Im just about to kick off my first preseason. Fingers crossed, we dont go straight back down!

Welcome! The challenge is awesome :D

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