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Gundo's FM08 Small club from a small nation European adventure challenge


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96mins: Moreno played Sousa in and his shot is saved by Barlecaj. He is a man mountain for these one on ones. Incredibly in the same chance, Sporting came back again and produced a chance very similar again. Sousa was in on the angle and Barlecaj tipped it away. This time there were onrushing Sporting players looking for the tap in, but our defence got rid as soon as they could. Close.

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102mins: Barlecaj with another save, Moreno's shot was straight at him this time. Good save.

105mins: Surely a penalty?! Dumancic the sub swung a cross in from the left and Kostov leapt into Murat as he won the header. Our players surrounded the ref, nothing given. Gutted.

Half Time in Extra Time.

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112mins: Moreno so nearly gets his shot of but is closed down. The ball is won back by Sporting who spread it to the left flank at Kostov's feet. He put in a deep cross for right winger Matos to arrive and head the ball...in. Goal icon_redface.gif. Dammit! A great header from Matos and we're in serious trouble. All out attack from here. Come on boys!!!!!

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118mins: It's over. Despite Barlecaj making another save off Junior, Sousa followed it up and tapped into an empty net...Goal...2-0 down and no way back. The dream is over.

120mins: GOAL!! Am I wrong?! Jaime Garcia with a well taken penalty. But with only 10 seconds left ont he clock I think thats it.

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Champions League Final

icon_frown.gificon13.gificon_mad.gif

They are my feelings. We really just failed to make any real chances. I was very disappointed with Murat. But one of his weaknesses according to my scouts was "does not enjoy the big matches" so maybe I should have known... icon_confused.gif

That's the end of the season for us and I'll probably do the end of season update sometime soon. Obviously an immense season for us and even getting to the final was impressive enough, I can't help but feel we froze when it mattered. Hopefully it won't be long til we're back.

(Stupid Scandinavian Stadium icon_razz.gif)

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Unlucky iacovone icon_frown.gif

3 semis and 1 final, it can only be time.

And I am loving (ie. it is disgusting) the kit, The Shaman icon_biggrin.gif. somehow managed to be worse than the gentle violet one UGS have.

Speaking of which, 10 games gone in 12/13 and we are in 6th with a 6-0-4 record. Suspect that is more or less where we will stay as, as expected, St Gallen and Young Boys are strolling away with it. They have each played 9 games so far, and between them they have dropped 1 point and conceded 2 goals icon_redface.gif.

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Ivacone Made it to the final icon14.gif, but lost to not being given a penalty icon13.gif should have been penalties icon13.gif, I can imagne the feeling you felt when Sporting scored in extra time icon_frown.gif, I had a similar feelling when I played the League cup final with Notts County and lost to an extra time goal icon_mad.gif.

still I still believe you can make it Ivacone, the loss will only make you stronger and you can bounce back from this and win that Champions League! icon_wink.gif

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08/09 Midseason Update - Hetman Zamosc - Polish Second Division

17 Games played, Hetman are perilously positioned one point from safety. While this fits in nicely with preseason predictions, I promised the board mid-table to get some money for wages.

I signed 23 new players as I had only 2 senior players when I started, all 23 signed on frees. Most have been duds, but a trio of attacking midfielders, Piotr Nowosielski, Marcin Dudzinski, and Krzysztof Filipek have started to show some promise as Hetman rattled off 4 straight draws to hit midseason.

I'd say its 50/50 I'm going down, so I figured I'd get a midseason report up so there's some record of my having tried. I'll present screenies if I actually hit a full season. icon_wink.gif

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Ely Rangers Season 2010/2011

Welsh Premier League : 1st

Welsh Cup : 2nd Round

Welsh Challenge Cup : Group Stage

FAW Premier Cup : 2nd Round

Euro Cup : 1st Qualifying Round

Top Goalscorer : Robert Duffy 21

Highest Average Rating : Chris McAdam 7.66

They said it couldn't be done...

Champions

My third season saw us romp to the title and the title was won with 5 games to spare. We were ruthless, a 5-0 win at TNS and a 5-1 thrashing of Llanelli being the higlights. Throughout the team we were unmatched from Andy Hamilton in net too 20 goal hero Rob Duffy upfront we were unstoppable.

One of the finds of the season was that of Jonathan Measom, so impressed by him we rejected a 240k offer and a 50% sell-on clause from Plymouth which would've cleared all our debts. Infront of him was Jamie Wright, another gem, the mouthy scouser has attracted interest from English clubs.

The signing of the season for me was that of Matthew Bryant, released by Man City, Bryant entered where last seasons star Kieron Gibbs had left off, Gibbs was absent for virtually the entire season with cruciate ligament injuries Bryant hit 14 goals from the wing. On the other side was Chris McAdam, the Northern Irish youngster filled-in for Gibbs so much so that questions remain whether the former Arsenal man can reclaim his place. In the center of midfield David Gallagher proved admirable service along with ex-Aston Villa youngster Jonathon Hogg who hit double figures for the season.

Upfront Duffy was complemented by Ryan Donaldson, released by Newcastle the enigmatic Geordie has been a hit on and off the field with both fans and the Ely women!

Domestic success was also matched with Continental success, despite our 7-1 defeat by Czech outfit Banik Ostrava we enjoyed our brief foray into Europe.

Next season if possible of course qualification for the group stages of the Champions League, otherwise defending our Welsh Premier League title!

Club Info

Squad

Transfers

Domestic League Record

08/09 6th

09/10 2nd

10/11 1st

icon_biggrin.gif

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Meldert, Belgium - May 17th 2026

Mid-season table

End of season

Our 5th consecutive title, 8th in total. I wouldn't say that this one was tough, but it wasn't quite as smooth as last season.

We had a mediocre patch right after the winter break, and Club Brugge stayed within three points of us for quite a while. But we finished strong, anc once we won the direct confrontation with Brugge with a handful of matches to go, we could cruise to the title.

Still, it showed that, even though we've won the title five times in a row and are pretty much dominating domestically, we're not *totally* dominating. It's not inconceivable that a strong Club Brugge, for instance, could occasionally challenge us for the title.

Belgian Cup:

No sip-ups in our route to the final, though we did scrape through the semi final on away goals against Germinal Beerschot.

We met Standard again in the final, and easily won 5-1, lifting our third Belgian Cup, and our second consecutive double.

Euro recap:

We got pipped by Sevilla in the Third Qual Round, and then easily qualified for the UEFA Cup group stage.

We won our group with some impressive performances against, among others, Monaco and Man City, but then we thoroughly disappointed in the First Knockout Round and were defeated by Sparta Prague.

The squad.

No complaints about the squad, nor about squad depth. Good cover for every position, which comes in handy when playing in Europe.

The defense looked to be a bit shakier than last season, and I suppose it was, but the fourth quarter of the season was much improved - with 6 clean sheets in a row before the 5-1 Cup final.

Up front we're also pretty much set with a few quality players, and veteran Meldert star Alex Lambrechts just refuses to slow down. Now 32, his stats are dropping, but he remained the most efficient goalscorer by a country mile.

I fear that this may have been his last season as an undisputed first choice though.

The most promising new signing this season was right back Abdoulaye Bultynck. Signed on a Bosman from Charleroi, he already has several top teams sniffing around for him, so it won't be long before he'll get unhappy that I'm keeping him at the club for two more seasons.

Similar situation for left back Arne Cabeke. Purchased him as a youngster four seasons ago, and he started picking up caps early on already, but it wasn't until this season that I favored him over my other, homegrown, left back.

Finances.

No CL this year, only UEFA Cup, which makes a big difference in prize money, but we still ran a profit. Our stadium now has a respectable 38k+ seats, and we got a 37.5k league average this season, which makes for a comfortable income. The occasional lucrative player sale doesn't hurt either.

History:

2008/09: Third Division A - 6th

2009/10: Third Division A - 2nd (P)

2010/11: Second Division - 6th

2011/12: Second Division - 1st (P)

2012/13: First Division - 17th ®

2013/14: Second Division - 3rd

2014/15: Second Division - 1st (P)

2015/16: First Division - 6th

2016/17: First Division - 1st

2017/18: First Division - 2nd

2018/19: First Division - 1st

2019/20: First Division - 1st

2020/21: First Division - 4th

2021/22: First Division - 1st

2022/23: First Division - 1st

2023/24: First Division - 1st

2024/25: First Division - 1st

2025/26: First Division - 1st

Best performances in Europe:

Champions League - Group Stage

UEFA Cup - First Knockout Round

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Slavonija End of Season Update - 23/24 (Season 16)

League - 1st

Croatian Cup - 2nd Round (out on pens)

Croatian Super Cup - Winners

Champions League - Runners Up icon_frown.gif

Bit of disappointment in the Croatian Cup this year, losing on penalties in just the 2nd round. The league was wrapped up easily, still a shame we haven't had an unbeaten season yet icon13.gif. But we did score the most goals ever in one season (103) and pick up the most points (89) icon14.gif. Dinamo Zagreb failed to get promotion and languished mid table of the 2nd division icon_smile.gif.

Europe really was an adventure this season and we became the team to beat. Our reputation will surely rise after coming so close. For those that missed the drama, or have been living under a rock for the last day, we got to the final knocking out Inter (the holders) and Liverpool (amongst others) before falling to Sporting Lisbon icon13.gif.

Sinisa Lucic was the top goalscorer this year, with Hrvoje Dumancic getting the most assists in the league (15). Dumancic also picked up the Young Player of the Year award. Lucic was the winner of Croatian Player of the Year icon14.gif.

Club News

The stadium is now a 39307 all seater.

Club Info

Interestingly we still don't have a 'continental' reputation, despite getting to the final of the Champions League icon13.gif.

Post-season movements:

Dragan Brcic and Sebastjan Obal, 2 centre backs have left the club after wanting out. It's a blow to lose Obal but we bought a great replacement in Christian Janke. We also bought Valery Tarasov(or Mr Versatile). The only problem these signings bring is that they are foreigners. This means a lot of rotation will have to be done in the league.

Fans and My Player of the Year & Top Goalscorer - Sinisa Lucic - his best season for us and it shows he is not willing to be left behind as the quality of this squad is constantly improved.

Special Mention - Sahin Murat - Lucic's latest partner, replacing Panayotov. He had a great first season with us and with his pace, is always a threat.

Team of the Season - Fair.

Overall Best 11 - No new inductees.

Gundo - for you:

9 domestic titles

Uefa Coeff - 9th - 116.541 (up 4 places)

Nation Coeff - 12th - 31.950 (down 1 place icon_confused.gif)

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I'm just starting this challenge now. I've chosen to play in Hungary and have just gone on holiday. I've never managed in a nation with such a low reputation before but I have played lower leagues in england and Italy. Should be a fun but very tough challenge and I can't wait to get started. I'll post a screenie later on of my profile.

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Originally posted by iacovone:

Champions League Final

icon_frown.gificon13.gificon_mad.gif

They are my feelings. We really just failed to make any real chances. I was very disappointed with Murat. But one of his weaknesses according to my scouts was "does not enjoy the big matches" so maybe I should have known... icon_confused.gif

That's the end of the season for us and I'll probably do the end of season update sometime soon. Obviously an immense season for us and even getting to the final was impressive enough, I can't help but feel we froze when it mattered. Hopefully it won't be long til we're back.

(Stupid Scandinavian Stadium icon_razz.gif)

I am TRULY gutted for you mate. Very unlucky.

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Annihilator666 - Nortel - Season 29/30 - Northern Irish Premier Division

Manager Profile - Manager Profile

Table - League Table | Position Graph

Results - Results #1 | Results #2

Transfers - Transfers Summary

Finances - Finance Summary

Other Info - Club Information | Manager Information

Top Scorer - Urmo Rand

Fans' Player of the Year - Attila Gulyás

Records - Team Overall Records | Team Season Records

Best Eleven - Overall | Season

Champions League:

For the first year, I went straight in at the 3rd qualifying round. I drew CSKA Sofia, and saw them off with a comfortable 4-0 agg. win. Still seeded third for the group stages, I got: PSV, Bayern Munich and FC Copenhagen.

I pulled off a few fantastic results during the group stage. It started with three straight wins: 1-0 over PSV in Holland, 4-0 over Bayern at home finally a 4-1 win against Copenhagen the Danish capital. However, they got revenge in the return match, narrowly beating me 1-0. However, the team shook off that loss to do the double over PSV with a 3-2 victory at home. This result guarenteed qualification, and meant the last game against Bayern would only be to decide who won the group. Bayern needed a 4-0 to knock me off the top, and they came very close with a 3-0 win.

Champions League Group Table

I was hoping to emulate last year's run to the Quarter Finals, but I was effectively out after losing the first leg against Lyon - a 5-1 drubbing. They picked up another win the second time round, this time a more respectable 1-0 to knock me out 6-1 on agg.

Other Stuff:

The stadium was to be upgraded past the current 23k capacity, but the plans were blocked by the local council.

As the transfers screenshot above shows, I had to sell off A LOT of key players in the January transfer window as they were refusing to sign new deals. Out of the 8 players sold, 5 of them were first team regulars.

Gundo, info for your table:

17 Domestic Titles

Club Euro Coeff: 22nd, 78.412

Nation Euro Coeff: 13th, 25.000

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FK Vigor - Norwegian Second Division Group 3 - Start of Challenge

The Manager

After a disappointing end to our adventure in Croatia, I decided to jump longships and head over to Norway. Please welcome, errr, me!

The Club

According to Wikipedia...

FK Vigør is a Norwegian football club from Oddernes, Kristiansand. Vigør is the Norwegian name for vigor. The club colors are brown and white, and the club was founded in 1918.

The men's team currently resides in the Third Division, the fourth tier of Norwegian football, having last played in the Second Division in 2000.

The team colors can very well be seen in this super scarf. I already want one.

According to FM08... the club info stands like this

- Estimated Value: £150K

- Stadium Capacity: 2625

- Training facilities: Basic

- Youth facilities: Minimal

- Media Prediction: 13th (out of 14)

- Numbers of players at the start: 2 youth

- Transfer budget: £0M

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08/09 Hetman Zamosc - Polish Second Division

Final League Position - Tenth

FINAL TABLE

It was a tale of two seasons at Hetman, as we stormed to 28 points in the second half, doubling our intake on the first half. We needed most of them, as the relegation battlers accrued a decent rate themselves. The turning point was the signing of midfielder Darius Klus who was easily our best player after the winter break. Offensively, we did ok, but we concede far too many goals.

My hopes for next season pin on the same players basically, because our bank balance is ugly, and I'm sure the wage bill will have to be reduced. There is apparently no prize money in the Polish 2nd.

For what its worth, we were dumped out of the FA cup in the first round to non-leadue side Motor Lublin.

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Konquest - loving the colours!! icon_biggrin.gif there aren't enough brown shirts in football...

Ruud Van Nistelrooy 774 - welcome to the challenge and good luck in Hungary

Annihilator666 - unlucky in the champions league - did well to get out of the group. looks like a season of transition though what with the player departures

pjtopor - decent first season there, especially in the second half of the season icon14.gif it looks like quite a competitive league there.

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Chmel Blsany - Czech Second League - 1/3 Season update 2008/09

thought i'd do a little update after 9 league games as i feel like releasing my frustrations... My target for this season was to achieve a top-half finish this season, as i had managed to bring in quite a few promising players, either on loans or permanent deals. After 9 games, reality has hit home as we find ourselves 13th out of 16... icon_frown.gif our league record reads 1-4-4.

our main problem lies in defence. we are averaging almost two goals a game going forward, but we are shipping the same at the back, which i am finding frustrating. icon_frown.gif

i previously mentioned that i had set out in an attacking 4-2-4 formation which brought us plenty of high scoring games initially. once i spotted the weakness at the back, i adapted the formation to a slightly more conservative 4-4-2 attacking formation, but this made little difference. for the last couple of games i have reverted back to my Caerleon 5-3-2 formation, but this has seen us draw 0-0 and lose 2-0, iirc. the goals have dried up a little, which is frustrating given the attacking talent i have at the club (i have signed a few loan players from top clubs, who my scouts tell me would be good signings for the top league... one player is Thomas Necid, a young Czech ST who a few of you may have heard of....??)

the league as a whole is full of goals looking at the tables, so i have reached a bit of a tactical crossroads - should i go back on the attack and try and score more than the opposition, or tighten the back first and look to win from there...? icon_confused.gif decisions. i am drawn to going back on the attack, as my attack is of better quality to my defence, but we shall see.

another frustration is the Czech FA Cup, in which i have reached the 4th round, the last 16, following wins over two 'greys' and a penalty shootout win over Viktoria, a top-league team.

i am going to stick my neck out and say that we are too good to get relegated, but i need to turn around my form fairly quickly if i am to keep in touch with the teams above, as we are losing touch a little...

i will post some screenshots either tonight or over the weekend of some of my better players, as well as an update regarding my progress... hopefully it'll be good news!! icon_biggrin.gif

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Meldert, Belgium - June 30th 2026

End of season follow-up:

Overall Best Eleven

One new name, straight into the best eleven: central defender Allessandro Lodi replaces long-retired Wouter Corstjens. Lodi is a full season behind the player he replaced in number of appearances, but his AvgR is significantly higher.

Right winger Uros Topalovic moves from the bench to the first eleven.

With none of the key players leaving the club this summer, I'm hoping we can continue to progress. The last two seasons finally saw us continue in Europe after December, if only briefly.

So that will be the goal this season: get further in Europe than we've ever gotten. Which would mean CL First Knockout Round, or UEFA Cup Second Knockout Round.

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Afternoon folks...

Ely Rangers Season 2011/2012

Welsh Premier League : 1st

Welsh Cup : 2nd Round

Welsh Challenge Cup : Group Stage

FAW Premier Cup : Quarter Final

Champions League : 1st Qualifying Round

Top Goalscorer : Jonathon Hogg, Darren Tierney, Ryan Donaldson 14

Highest Average Rating : Matthew Bryant 7.70

Another season and another league title!!! Llanelli and TNS never really threatened us and a win at Llanelli actually won us the title with 5 games to spare.

European football came and went as quick as it did last season, going out 5-2 on aggregate to Shelbourne in the very first round. With no European commitments the aim was to retain the title. Progress in cup competition was limited mainly due to the Youth and Reserve players being used so the first team could concentrate on defending their title.

Pre-season saw a bid for Jonathan Measom our left back accepted by the board, the 240k and 50% sell on clause wasn't too shabby in order to clear our debts. The summer signings saw more strength brought to the squad rather than the starting XI with only Keith Flannery making any real impression.

Our settled squad continues to bond with many of the squad being tied to long-term contracts and full-time football.

Key men

Matthew Bryant - another season and another hatful of goals, Bryants reputation continues to grow.

Ryan Donaldson - joint top scorer despite being in and out of the starting line-up.

Darren Tierney - like Donaldson in and out of the side, Tierney did the job when called upon.

Jonathon Hogg - Hoggs presence in the Ely midfield stole headlines up and down the Welsh Valleys. Heralded as the pin-up boy of Welsh football he has been romantically linked to Britney Spears mother. Hogg denys the claims.

Club Info

Squad

Transfers

Domestic League Record

08/09 6th

09/10 2nd

10/11 1st

11/12 1st

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Re: the Polish second division.

It is quite an odd league. The newly promoted sides are roughly equivalent to Conference sides in ability and reputation. Then the established 2nd division sides are probably league one level. Then there's a group of 4-6 sides from the recently relegated and best of division that have Championship level talent. When you're playing them, every highlight you're waiting to get scored on. I actually thumped 2 of them in my late season vein of form and it felt like cup finals.

Really enjoying the league, I've never completed a season in a low rep league before. Here's hoping I don't get the sack anytime soon. icon_smile.gif

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Originally posted by NepentheZ:

Annihilator - you've got to see this..!!

After all those comparison's, all those similarities, I have found the mother to kill them all.

Annihilator - Ben Kenny

NepentheZ - Ben Kenney

But wait, it doesn't stop there. Oh no.

Really, you could not make this up.

Ben Kenney 1 - D.O.B - 21.2.1994

Ben Kenney 2 - D.O.B - 21.2.2003

icon_eek.gif

It's like my eyes are lying to me. How is this possible..!!

The Legend thats is Ben Kenney again! icon_biggrin.gif

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Good going bnek; don't take this as bitterness but you do seem to be having an easier time with TNS and Llanelli than I ever did it has to be said, they don't look quite so invulnerable in your leagues.

Having said that, you're still doing ace. KUTGW!

Oh one thing though. Those cup things you enter each year, they are there to be won y'know? icon_biggrin.gif

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