FIFA World League Ultimate Challenge

[Tush]

Challenge sounds great, i would like to join, hopefully i will get to PC by evening...i'm not yet decided about which team i'll choose :-)

[chucklechuck]

Welcome PikaBen and Tush

[Tush]

I have chosen Qadsia (after like 45 minutes of deciding).

The club is from Kuwait, I will do introduction later :-)

My Manager's name is Thomas Tush, of Slovakian nationality (homeland)

[chucklechuck]

Overview of 2016/2017

After three seasons of steady improvement, Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar won promotion to Division Twenty and the main structure of the World League. 2016 also saw the first appearance of FH-ingar in the FIFA World Lower League Cup. In the end it was a good run with FH defeating Busan, Arsenal de Sarandí, and Hércules before being beaten 1-0 by Blackburn.

Carl Taylor was re-elected as chairman for the fourth season running even as though FH's finances worsened. Promotion from the Qualification Pool and wins in the Lower League Cup helped as did the sale of a few key players. At the end of the season, FH had a balance over a million pounds for the first time since Blizzle took over and the increased TV revenue and potential income from Division Twenty should mean that the club is now on a sounder footing financially.

Transfers/Contracts

Scottish defender Ross Perry, Brazilian right-back Diogo Mateus, and Icelandic full back Hrafnkell Ólafsson arrived at the start of the year. Blizzle has spent big during the Summer in an attempt to ensure the club stay up and has also looked at bringing more Icelandic talent into the squad. 19-year old defender Viktor Örn Ársælsson and Ingólfur Brynjarsson were signed for a combined total of £305k. Zach Pfeffer and Antonio Rozzi arrived on free transfers and high-profile French striker Wesley Saïd has been brought in on loan from Stade Rennais FC.

Unsettled defender Diego Opazo was sold to Barclays Premier team Swindon for £300k. After a superb season, Josildo left to join Qualification Pool side Vicenza for £350k and another fans' favourite, Emil Pálsson joined Division Ten's Karpaty for £125k.

- Wesley Saïd before arriving at FH-ingar.

World Qualification Pool

Alongside FH, Antalyaspor and Bournemouth were promoted from the Qualification Pool. Junior, Ceará, and Ruzomberok were relegated from Division Twenty.

The highest transfer fee of the season was for Adam Gielty who joined Slask from Hibernian for £2.7m.

Elsewhere

Chelsea won the World Premier League. Olympique Lyonnais, Liverpool, and CSKA Moscow were relegated. It was a successful season for Portuguese teams as Dynamo Kyiv, Porto and Sporting (POR) were promoted to the Premiership.

The League Cup was won by FC Bayern, the Lower League Cup by Italian club Spezia, and the World Trophy by Paris Saint-Germain.

The highest transfers of the season were:

Gareth Bale - Real Madrid to Chelsea - £33.5m

Thomas Müller - FC Bayern to AS Monaco FC - £30m

Adam Maher - PSV to CSKA Moscow - 29.5m

Gino Peruzzi - AS Monaco FC to Man City - £27.5m

Rodrigo - Benfica to Arsenal - £24.5m

Pre-Season

Josildo was voted fans' player of the year.

Here is a run-down on the probable first team for next season:

1. (GK) Linus Müller - Now established as the first-choice goalkeeper for FH.

2. (DR) Guðmundur Guðjónsson - Arrived on a free transfer. Will compete with Diogo Mateus for the right-back spot.

3.(DL) Adriel - Third season as the first-choice left-back for FH.

4. (DC) Ingólfur Brynjarsson - Signed from ÍBV for £195k, fans have been pleased to see Blizzle investing in the best Icelandic upcoming talent.

5. (DC) Boris Tatar - Tatar was celebrating this year as Montenegro gained European Union membership. He will now have freedom of movement within the EU although Blizzle is keen to keep the reliable centre-back at the club.

6. (DM) Ainsley Richardson - Continues to be FH's star player although with bigger clubs snapping at his heels, keeping him at the club will be an uphill struggle.

7. (MR) Sam Whitworth - As with his fellow countryman, Richardson, Whitworth has attracted interest from bigger clubs in the World League after an impressive season.

8. (MC) Joe Partington - The Welsh youngster had another solid season as a midfielder and attacking mid.

9. (AMC) Gastón Álvarez Suárez - The Argentinian had a reasonable season but will face stiff competition from the likes of Whitworth, Partington, and Chris Callaghan.

10. (SC) Wesley Saïd - Reck had another decent season, scoring 11 in 21 games but Blizzle may have spotted the man to keep FH up if the young French striker performs to the level he is capable of.

11. (ML) Antonio Rozzi - Blizzle has again looked to Italy to fill the gap on the left of midfield and with Emil Pálsson now departed a lot of pressure is resting on the 23-year old's shoulders.

Some stats about FH-ingar:

Average Age: 22

Best attribute: Pace (Ranked 1st)

Worst attribute: Average Height (Ranked 23rd)

Nations Represented (16 in total):

Iceland(34), Wales (7), Argentina (4), Brazil (3), Northern Ireland (3), England (2), Ireland (2), Sweden (2), Chile (1), Italy (1), Montenegro (1), Norway (1), Rwanda (1), Scotland (1), South Africa (1), USA (1).

[chucklechuck]

Overview of 2017/2018

2018 saw back-to-back promotion for Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar as they finished top of Division Twenty unbeaten. They'll be playing in Division Nineteen next season along with Club Africain and FC Timişoara. FH-ingar also had a decent run in the Lower League Cup, beating Goiás, Slask, Juve Stabia, and Al-Nassr (KSA) to reach the 5th Round before being knocked out by FC Metz.

FH improved their sponsorship deals considerably with two new kit deals worth £425k (an increase of over £300k).

One to Watch

Young Rwandan superstar Mohamed Turatsinze got his first cap for his country at just 17 years old. In his second international match he scored two past Central African Republic. Turatsinze appeared 4 times last season for FH and is currently on loan in the Barclays Premier at Preston.

The clubs first Faroese trainee, Símon Joensen, arrived. Blizzle declared himself pleased that his nation's influence is beginning to pay off although it's unlikely Joensen will have much of a long-term career at FH-ingar.

Transfers/Contracts

At the start of the season young Icelandic defender Birki Már Sverrison, Jamaican winger Daniel Johnson, and two young Irish defenders Alan Browne and Keith McGrath arrived (the latter two for a total of £230k). Perhaps the biggest transfer news of the season was the permanent arrival of Wesley Saïd who, after a successful loan to FH signed for the club under the Bosman ruling at the end of the season. A number of other high profile signings have been made by Blizzle in order to push the team towards promotion to Division Eighteen. German midfielder Fabian Schnellhardt, Brazilian left-back Rafael Vioto, young Welsh right-back Jonathan Keaveney, and Peruvian midfielder Junior Ponce arrived on free transfers. English defender Matt Partridge was signed for £60k from Derry City. 16-year old Paraguayan midfielder Víctor Mora arrived for £130k. Mora is tipped to be one of the best players that FH-ingar has been home to. DR Congo's Aristote Ndongala was signed from Dinamo Bucharest for £95k taking the total spent on transfers pre-season to £285k.

Some high profile players left on free transfers at the end of the 2016/2017 season including Davið Viðarsson, Skúli Friðgeirsson, Jón Ragnar Jónsson, and Brynjar Á. Guðmundsson. Viðarsson is now back and working as a coach at FH. Allan Lüttecke left to join IFK Göteborg for £99k and Hernán Altolaguirre signed for Aarau for what was at the time a record-breaking £1m. Pre-season, Blizzle has been very busy generating additional funds by selling players that weren't deemed quite good enough to follow the club to the nineteenth division. After an unsuccessful time at FH-ingar, Antonio Rozzi left on a free transfer. Asive Langwe signed for ES Sétif for £160k. Guðmunder Guðjónsson signed for Bolton for a record-breaking £1.1m. Boris Tatar joined San Lorenzo for £250k. Gastón Álvarez Suárez left for Gamba for £180k. Joaquín Arzura signed for Necaxa for £22k. Diogo Mateus joined Jaguares for £350k. Adriel signed for Grampus for £145k. After joining the club in 2005, Róbert Örn Óskarsson signed for Scholars for £40k. Daniel Johnson signed for D.C. United for £700k. And former top-scorer João Reck joined Roda JC for £140k. In total, the pre-season sales made £3.09m for FH-ingar, a new record.

The highest transfer fee of the season in Division Twenty was for Guilherme Lazaroni who joined New England from Jihlava for £2m.

- Davið Viðarsson: Legendary midfielder returns to FH as a coach in 2018.

Elsewhere

Juventus won the Premier League. Fiorentina, São Paulo, and, surprisingly Barcelona were relegated. Barca only managed 10 points in a disastrous season. Man Utd also had a tough time finishing 16th. CSKA Moscow continue to yo-yo between the top flight and Division One after winning promotion for a second time. They will be joined by Wolfsburg and Roma with Olympiakos narrowly missing out on goal difference.

The League Cup was won by Paris Saint-Germain, the Lower League Cup by Turkish club Gençlerbirliği, and the World Trophy by Premier League Champions Juventus.

The highest transfers of the season were:

1. The 2017/2018 season saw the 3rd highest transfer fee of all time and the highest in the history of the FIFA World League as Mario Götze joined Man City from FC Bayern for a whopping £70m. The next highest transfers this season were:

2. Christian Eriksen - Tottenham to Man Utd - £49.5m

3. Bruno Martins Indo - Liverpool to Paris Saint-Germain - £34.5m

4. Ole Junker - FC Bayern to Shakhtar - £33m

5. Mario Balotelli - A.C. Milan to Shakhtar - £31m

Shakhtar also signed Irakli Kobakhidze from Man Utd for £24.5m and their huge spending spree took them to 6th in the Premier League. Fans may well expect the club to scale even higher heights.

- Mario Götze lotsa money!

Pre-Season

Sam Whitworth was voted fans' player of the year.

Here is a run-down on the probable first team for next season:

1. (GK) Linus Müller - Had an impressive third season at FH with 12 clean sheets in 20 games.

2. (DR) Luke Pearson - 19-year English right-back on loan from Division 13 side Derby. Fans may be hoping Blizzle can pull off another loan-and-sign move as he did with Wesley Saïd.

3.(DL) Rafael Vioto - With Adriel gone, Blizzle brought in another Brazilian left-back in the shape of 22-year old Vioto.

4. (DC) Ingólfur Brynjarsson - Had a solid first season at FH but will be face new competition in 2018.

5. (DC) Birkir Már Sverrisson - Promising centre-back who will look to hook up effectively with his compatriot Brynjarsson.

6. (DM) Chris Callaghan - In his fifth season for FH, had a solid year and still only 19 years old.

7. (MR) Sam Whitworth - Fans' player of the year and Division Twenty's top assister with 11 in 18 games.

8. (MC) Ainsley Richardson - Now in his fifth season at FH although has given up the captain's armband to Whitworth for the coming year.

9. (AMC) Joe Partington - Only featured in 10 league games last season so will be looking to establish himself as a more regular fixture in the first team.

10. (SC) Wesley Saïd - 12 goals in 18 games, an impressive start to Saïd's career at FH although he'll face stiff competition from Turkish loan signing Hakan Özyar who has been tipped as a leading Premier League striker in the future and is being touted in the media as the next Hakan Şükür.

11. (ML) Junior Ponce - Blizzle has been struggling for a few seasons to find a dependable left midfielder and will be hoping his new Peruvian signing is up to the task.

[pricey687]

I'm going to start this tonight and I will post in the thread but I've got an unreliable internet connection and no Football Manager access most weekdays so don't expect me to finish the challenge - but god loves a trier - and I love FM.

[chucklechuck]

I'm going to start this tonight and I will post in the thread but I've got an unreliable internet connection and no Football Manager access most weekdays so don't expect me to finish the challenge - but god loves a trier - and I love FM.

Welcome and good luck!

[pricey687]

Jafar Nikahd

Jafar Nikahd is an ex-professional footballer turned postman from the land of Iran (AKA Persia) a country not exactly well known for it's football, for some reason Jafar was sick of being a postman and instead wanted to be a football manager and in the wake of the new FIFA World League , he decided that he would attempt to get a job at one of the teams in the league system, he dreamed of stardom, he dreamed of big budgets and most importantly he dreamed of winning the Premier League, and all these things would come true, for somebody, unfortunately not for Jafar who instead would have to spend his time at the Sammarinese football club Tre Penne, however Jafar had high ambitions and he knew if he worked hard, really hard, he just might be able to leave his job as a postman.

(P.S. pretend not to notice the terrible picture, I rushed it )

[abirdc]

The challenge sounds interesting. How many players do I need to load?

[chucklechuck]

The challenge sounds interesting. How many players do I need to load?

Up to you (and what your PC can handle!) Think I loaded a custom database with major players from each continent.

[chucklechuck]

@pricey687: Great intro, pricey Looking forward to hearing more about how Nikahd uses his skills as a postman in the league!

[podunkboy]

Hey, I think I finally figured this posting of Steam content out, after a year and a half of game save. Anyways, here's my coach's starting screen.

Our position at mid-season transfer period:

our team at transfer period:

end of first season position (Just out of the promotional playoffs):

[chucklechuck]

Version 4.2 is now up here for those wanting to start a new challenge - http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=207085818

Enjoy!

[arkitekt]

Ive started again with Valetta. Liking the new squad rules which are a good leveller. Im 5 games in and im seeing teams like EB/Streymur thriving with a team like Shirak struggling with the amount of fgn players in the game starting squad. Also liking the new cups too

[spotg]

tempted to start again myself. Would make using Lincoln(GIB) even harder!

[chucklechuck]

Ive started again with Valetta. Liking the new squad rules which are a good leveller. Im 5 games in and im seeing teams like EB/Streymur thriving with a team like Shirak struggling with the amount of fgn players in the game starting squad. Also liking the new cups too

Great to hear!

[chucklechuck]

tempted to start again myself. Would make using Lincoln(GIB) even harder!

Yeah the new rule definitely makes the development league a lot tougher. I'm sort of tempted to start again too although I'm up to Div 19 now.

[G_D_K]

I've decided to run this as a secondary challenge alongside my Dafuge challenge run. Looks like a lot of fun, and after perusing the teams, I couldn't help but pack my bags and head to Ba, a small city in the Fiji islands, where I promptly put on my dark glasses and removed what looked like a pen from my pocket. A flash, and the puzzled officials looked around in confusion, before hesitantly shaking my hand, and welcoming me to be the man in charge of The Men in Black!

The team doens't look like much, but it has a pretty nice stadium at least! (Of course, it is shared with every other national sport in Fiji, so I don't expect it to stay too pristine for very long!

We're expected to end mid-table,and judging from the squad, that will take some work!

edit: Hmm...I've a bit of a problem (I think?). I've got a wage budget of £4.1K/ wk, contracts totalling £140/wk, but can only offer new contracts of £20/week....is that normal in this league?

[chucklechuck]

I've decided to run this as a secondary challenge alongside my Dafuge challenge run. Looks like a lot of fun, and after perusing the teams, I couldn't help but pack my bags and head to Ba, a small city in the Fiji islands, where I promptly put on my dark glasses and removed what looked like a pen from my pocket. A flash, and the puzzled officials looked around in confusion, before hesitantly shaking my hand, and welcoming me to be the man in charge of The Men in Black!

The team doens't look like much, but it has a pretty nice stadium at least! (Of course, it is shared with every other national sport in Fiji, so I don't expect it to stay too pristine for very long!

We're expected to end mid-table,and judging from the squad, that will take some work!

edit: Hmm...I've a bit of a problem (I think?). I've got a wage budget of £4.1K/ wk, contracts totalling £140/wk, but can only offer new contracts of £20/week....is that normal in this league?

Great! Welcome and Merry Christmas

I don't know if your wage budget is normal. I haven't seen it that low at Inter-Godfather's or FH but haven't tested any others. Maybe you can fiddle with the transfer/wage budget ratio?

[TWFL]

Hi all,

I've started this up a while ago. Picked Sporting da Praia (Cape Verde) and am close to finishing my 2nd season. No promotions yet but a strong squad now after turning professional earlier this season. I will post some updates once I've completed this season.

[podunkboy]

Sigh - finished another season at Curepipe Starlight. Last 20 games, went 17 wins, 2 draws and a loss. Never moved out of 9th place because miraculously, the 8 teams ahead of me all did better than that. Told the team I was aiming for promotion next season, half the players told me I was full of it, and it would never happen. Was summoned to a meeting with the board where they told me I had not met expectations. We were a revolving door of injuries most of the year because they wouldn't spend the money to re-lay the pitch and it's condition was "terrible" all season long, causing 2-3 injuries a week. I had to beg for my job, and they imposed a "9 points in 5 games" deadline on me...even though the season was over. To be honest, since they're sitting on their pursestrings and won't spend money on training facilities, youth facilities...the turf in the stadium...I'm considering jumping to any team that will have me. I have what seem to be a great core of players, but they don't believe in me, the board wants to dump me, and we're drawing 350 a game. There has to be a better situation out there.

[AlexTHFC]

Going to start this, it looks like a great challenge

So, I took over Taipower, and here's the squad I've been given...

[G_D_K]

Great! Welcome and Merry Christmas

I don't know if your wage budget is normal. I haven't seen it that low at Inter-Godfather's or FH but haven't tested any others. Maybe you can fiddle with the transfer/wage budget ratio?

Wage budget alteration no good....added a test manager and looked at another team, they seem to have not the same issue w/ wage budget. Maybe because my team is amateur? Not sure if I'll be able to run this w/ a max £20/wk across the board for all player types.. (and for staff too)...might have to try another team

[chucklechuck]

Welcome, AlexTHFC Good luck!

@G_D_K: Is there not some kind of non-paid contract that you can sign players/staff on? I forget what it's called. It's just an amateur team after all so why should anyone be getting paid?

[AlexTHFC]

Forgot to save -_-

Will start again with a new team soon

[arkitekt]

Ive started again with Valetta. Liking the new squad rules which are a good leveller. Im 5 games in and im seeing teams like EB/Streymur thriving with a team like Shirak struggling with the amount of fgn players in the game starting squad. Also liking the new cups too

Im about 2 months into the 2nd season and im having a blast!

Missed out on promotion by 10 points finishing 7th which I thought was very respectable, and beating the local rivals in the process like Santa coloma (12th) and EB/Streymur (9th).

The finances are terrible, we have lost a cool million pounds in total last season, despite the very good cup run we had getting to the second round after topping our group, before being knocked out by the eventual loosing finalists Buriram.

Isidrio metapan, Dinamo tiblisi and ASKO were promoted from my group.

Currently we are 4 games in and its a perfect start with 12 points so far along with Kalju and Williams Connection.

More to follow

[G_D_K]

Welcome, AlexTHFC Good luck!

@G_D_K: Is there not some kind of non-paid contract that you can sign players/staff on? I forget what it's called. It's just an amateur team after all so why should anyone be getting paid?

Yes, I can sign players on non-contract basis (if they want). Can't get staff that way, and it appears I'm limited to £20/wk for staff as well as players....which means I can't hire any staff.

[PikaBen]

New game with new update 4.2, i play with Ajka (Hungary),that i put instead of another team, in Developement League only with player from the club

The manager is Allen Walker (from D Gray Man for fans) and he's Japaneese/Hungarian

[podunkboy]

After a rage-almost-quit-my-team, I stuck with Curepipe through the off-season. There was a notice that a consortium was attempting a takeover, and all transfers were blocked. Consortium came in, was threatening they wanted to bring in their own guy, but then decided to retain me because the team and fans loved me so much. 6 pre-season friendlies with a 5 win and 1 draw record, open the season with two wins (3-0, 4-0) and I get a warning that the board has lost all patience with me and I need a win to save my job...er, WHAT? I'm in first place and haven't lost a game in 3 months...and they're losing patience with me? Hope I win that next game...(problematic because that last 4-0 win, I had my two best defenders red-carded in the same game and had to play the last 20 minutes two men down.)

[ryanlion28]

Picking a team for this was one of the hardest things i have done in a long time, wanted to go with Valletta but the Maltese manager has instead decided to go to the Caribbean. To try and take the Bermudan North Village Rams to the top division. Should be difficult but don't think we'll finish anywhere near bottom

[ryanlion28]

In addition how to you find players?! My scouts aren't finding anyone whilst scouting in England?

[podunkboy]

In addition how to you find players?! My scouts aren't finding anyone whilst scouting in England?

You can set one of your scouts to "scout the next opposition", I know I swiped some players off my opponents that way. Do you have your Head Scout responsibility set to "assign scouting assignments"? In my 3rd year, my scouts have turned in something like 8,000 player scouting reports, so there's plenty of players out there.

[G_D_K]

Yes, I can sign players on non-contract basis (if they want). Can't get staff that way, and it appears I'm limited to £20/wk for staff as well as players....which means I can't hire any staff.

Okay...still don't know if this is broke, or if I've picked an impossible challenge team. Max contract for player/staff wages...£20/week. Max NON-CONTRACT appearance fee...£20/week. I think I will be utterly unable to sign anyone (at least in the first season) (that includes resigning my current batch of players), none of which want the current non-contract wage offering.

Going to be a rather quick save I think

edit: Got tons of money...and nothing to do with it...maybe I'll be able to get some youth facilities and get some cheap young players started in that way, until I can get rid of the amateur tag. (This is a good start!)

Good news, first match of season started, and I haven't been poached...couldn't get any coaches in, but did get an extra scout for the Head Scout (which I started with) to boss around.

edit 2: Ugly first match...goalkeepers get 3 yellow cards for handling the ball on a wet, windy day...this includes 2 for my (only) keeper meaning I'll be playing a man-in-gray instead of a man-in-black for my next match, unless I can find an emergency keeper before then--and there are no loan keepers to be found atm. Lost the match 1-0, which wasn't all that bad (I actually had a man advantage for about 20 minutes, as one of his midfielders received two yellow in short order). Was expected to lose heavily...so I'll take it...there are signs of hope at least.

[ryanlion28]

I have two scouts, both scouting 'England' as that's the only place of importance seeing as the world league is based there, but they've found one player, a Lesothan player who seems pretty poor, 3 star world development league player, they can't find anyone!

[spotg]

Recruiting your grey players can be really useful in the early days of this. Quite often you can promote 4 or 5 who are better than what you have.

At least, I did for Lincoln (GIB)!

[PikaBen]

Season 2013-2014

For my firest season on this World League with an Hungarian club i add in the developement League, the FC Ajka plays today in the Hungarian second League.

This challenge, i will try to do it only with players from the club, no more.

I'll be very fast for each post because i don't have the time to make too long post.

Well, this first season was great, i finished 3rd so im promoted, and i had a great cup, beaten in quater finals by Dynamos FC.

I have fex issue with my finances, due to the travel for the cup, it adds more cost, which is not balanced in the last patch i think. Well i am promoted so i don't care until i can sign my players for few years more.

My youth intakes was bad, i could'nt increase the budget of it so i have nothing good to show you.

[podunkboy]

I thought my team, Curepipe Starlight, was a strange name, until I saw my next opponent, Andall's School of Modern Soccer Paradise (Grenada).

Update: Curepipe's 11-0-0, 6 points clear, and the board...seem to be satisfied. Injuries are still a problem, because my pitch condition is just short of "abysmal". When I go in to ask the board for a pitch re-lay, it's always grayed out, so maybe we're just doomed to play on the surface of the moon.

[PikaBen]

Season 2014-2015

With FC Ajka in Qualification Pool i finished 26th with 37pts, i did a really nice start, being near the 10th place at the middle of the season. I also finished 3rd of my cup group (non qualified).

I won 2M€ this year, so im now ok with finances, i'll start to earn some money to improve my facilities

And i get 2 strike from my youth intakes with 5 stars, the first is supervised by Arsenal or Napoli (they offer 10k€ only).

[ryanlion28]

I have started again, the database was too big and was making my game run slower. I have started with Tahitians AS Dragon. Nice name, and considering the nations rise in fame from the confederations cup, i thought it would be good to start with them. The players in the team would get me about 20th. However i am missing a CB,GK,RB,LM,CM.. big investments into free transfers is needed

[Scarman]

This looks ridiculously fun, been looking for a long term save for FM14. Think I'll start this with Pago Youth from American Samoa, and bring in Liechtensteiner Sebastian Schneider from my Ruggell FC youth save to represent me as manager

Will do a proper introduction later, but I'll definitely be offering the greyed out players contracts. Completely blank squad. This shall be fun

[WifiUU]

I might do this challenge, I have done it without posting, but now I might start posting my process.

[arkitekt]

Ive just finished my second season with Valetta and we have finished 5th, but 8 points behind Jagadonia in 3rd. Hafia topped the group with Muharraq in 2nd. It was the same story as last year with a good showing through out the season but loosing to all of the top 7 teams, bar Muharraq who we miraculouly beat 1-6 away!

In the cup we provided a good showing once again, managing to top a group that included Shirak and Botosani. However we lost in the first round to our nemesis who did the same last year, Buriram Utd...grrrr.

The club is still loosing money hand over fist and a gamble taken at the begining of the season to sign high wage players may be the major downfall leading into next season as i may have to flush out my good players to save money.

[Scarman]

Pago Youth - The Beginning of a Struggle

Pago Youth take to the field as one of the stronger teams from American Samoa. They have won the FFAS Senior League four times out of the last six years, equalling the record held by PanSa for most league victories (though this could be false as 14 of the seasons on the ever relaible wikipedia have unknown champion). IN the 2012, Pago Youth went undefeated in the FFAS Senior League, ending the season with a 12-2-0 win record. Their stadium, while small, also has a beautiful backdrop.

That's about the end of Pago Youth's accomplishments however. American Samoa has historically been the weakest side in the weakest region of football. The national side holds the record of heaviest defeat in an international game, losing 31-0 to Australia. The clubs sides fair no better. In the OFC Champions League, no side from American Samoa has won a game, even the recent dominant force Pago Youth. Some years, the team that qualified do not even compete in the Champions League. Overall, American Samoa is the bottom of the barrel in terms of footballing prowess, and it will be a long while before this nation can compete with the likes of New Zealand and hope to qualify for a World Cup.

---

Liechtenstein superstar-turned-manager Sebastian Schneider will lead the Pago Youth as they look to compete in the FIFA World League. Looking through the squad (after signing greyed out players), the two that stand out to me are Ricardo Antonio and Ash Howley. These two are the best players I could find within the squad. Antonio looks a decent centreback and Howley looks as though he has a few goals in him. Overall, the squad is short on quality, and the lack of viable transfer targets will hinder progress in the first few seasons.

Luckily, the board seems willing to upgrade the training facilities, youth facilities, youth setup and junior coaching budgets to help produce American Samoa's next superstars. Along with this, I maanged to find one player that could improve the squad in Paul Khan, along with a coach who has fairly decent mental attributes. All in all, however, I can tell this is going to be a rough season.

I was thinking of making this a youth only save, but I think that would make this pretty much impossible. Instead I'm going to mainly focus on my youth, but recruit when necessary. At the moment, it doesn't seem like I have much choice about recruitment anyway

[podunkboy]

(Really need to post some updated screen pics from the past season...maybe this weekend after I get through work)

Curepipe Starlight of Mauritius, in their third season under manager Eric Seeger, finally topped the Qualification tables with 5 points to spare with a 23-6-0 season. The team was led by 21-year-old Elliot Richards of Wales, who notched 32 goals in 29 league games. His performances were a joy to behold, and when it was crunch-time, he answered with 10 goals in 4 games. He has, of course, been retained for the next season.

For a season that started out with a win or leave ultimatum and a consortium takeover, I finished "untouchable", and with a very nice increase in contract from $450/wk to $625/wk. Although our pitch condition remains "terrible", there is little that can be done, as "relay pitch" has been grayed out, evidently because we rent the stadium from another team, and they don't care about injuries. Our youth facilities are awful, but I was informed that due to finances, I'll have to develop players from the youth system and not from the transfer market (a complete switch from last season, where they didn't want to spend money on facilities and preferred to build through the transfer market.) I wanted to upgrade some of my staff over the off-season, but have to wait for their contracts to run out, as the board won't allow me to pay compensation for early termination. Rather strange as we still have $7.5 million of the $8 million transfer budget we started the year with.

I'm publicly only shooting to "remain out of relegation", but I think we can challenge for mid-league, once I clear out some of our less-qualified players and I see what the board's giving me to work with next season.

[ryanlion28]

Started again for the 3rd time with Valletta, a club i'm more close too as i'm part Maltese,the squad is very strong and i should be looking to make a promotion shot by season 2,maybe 3. However what's strange is some players are on about 200 a week whilst some are on 11K!

[Scarman]

Pago Youth - Not Quite The Worst Team

Season 2013/14

Finances | General Info | Facilities | Transfers

League Table | League Fixtures | Cup Table | Cup Fixtures

Not much to say about this season, we lived up to the media prediction of 29th in the league. We were simply outclassed by everyone. Surprisingly, a lot of games were close at halftime, either 1-0 or equal. We simply collasped after the break though, as the skill difference was too high.

Squad

Key Player - Ash Howley

Youth Intake

[center][b]World Premier League Results[/b]
Position|       Team      | Won | Drn | Lst | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     | Real Madrid     |  14 |  2  |  3  | 35 | 18 | +17|  44 |
2nd     | Barcelona       |  13 |  3  |  3  | 38 | 20 | +18|  42 |
3rd     | Dortmund        |  10 |  5  |  4  | 29 | 20 | +9 |  35 |
4th     | Juventus        |   9 |  6  |  4  | 40 | 24 | +16|  33 |
------------------------------------------------------------------
18th (R)| Napoli          |   3 |  5  |  11 | 16 | 29 | -13|  14 |
19th (R)| AC Milan        |   3 |  5  |  11 | 17 | 31 | -14|  14 |
20th (R)| Corinthians     |   3 |  5  |  11 | 18 | 36 | -18|  14 |[/center]

Next Season

Hopefully improvement is on the cards next season. We turned semi-pro, so hopefully we'll attract a higher class of player. If not, I'll continue to improve the facilities at the club and try and bring in talented youth players.

[center]Pago Youth Adventure

| Seasons |            League           | Predicted | Finish |
--------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 |   World Development League  |    29th   |   29th |
--------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[podunkboy]

So, things have been quiet around the thread, thought I'd bump it with an update:

Curepipe Starlight, after promotion to the World Qualification Pool, is one point out of 1st place at the mid-season transfer period. Things would be great if we weren't $7 million+ in debt and nearing Administration (NOT my fault!) The board gave me a $150K/wk salary budget, we're spending less than $50K/wk, I didn't even touch our transfer budget, and then the board quietly cut my salary budget to $10K less than what I was currently paying and took away the entire transfer budget. The team, in a rented stadium in Mauritius, only draws 600 fans a game and pays 40% if gate receipts as rent, whereas on the road, we draw 6,500/game. My status is untouchable, but I can't get a pitch replaced, or any upgrades to facilities. There is no TV money or prize money to improve out situation, so I'm likely going to drive the team into Administration and find a legitimate job offer in the aftermath. This board and this team had no business joining the world league system.

[podunkboy]

Okay, the Receivers came in and shut down my transfers, but then allowed one player to go for a transfer fee of $0 and he doesn't transfer until the end of the season, so I'm still on the hook for his salary. Another team made a paying offer, and they denied it as not being good enough. So, $0 IS good enough, but cash isn't good enough?

[chucklechuck]

Oh dear, podunk.

Thanks for the update! Looks like you have your work cut out. No idea why board/receivers would deny a paid offer. Was the free transfer already agreed when they came in?

I've had to pause my game as back at work and it's pretty hectic. Hopefully will get some time soon.

Still enjoying reading updates from everyone

[Villescrubs]

Is there a Canada team in here?