dafuge's FM16 challenge

[BucketofLithium]

Darlington 1883 21/22 Season End of Year Summary - League One

This season was notably different in the quality of players both availible to, and opposing, us. A lot of the sides were full of top class loanees from the Premiership, so the challenge was on to raise the level of my L2 side who qualified through the playoffs.

We again massively surpassed expectations, sneaking into the playoffs on the last day. Our form was shaky til around Christmas where we started a characteristic late surge up the league before guaranteeing the chance to go to Wembley and secure three promotions in three years.

The Semi against Rotherham saw us take a tight 1-0 win from Darlington Stadium before a 1-1 draw away sent us to Wembley again. The final was heart stopping, our 3 minute lead from Nelson erased by half time, Crawley heading in 2-1 up. Thankfully Jacobs' run from deep followed by a jubilant Nelson tap in saw us sneak ahead again; we put our backs to the walls and held on from 71 minutes despite a number of close calls. Another victory, 3/3 playoff finals in the bag. On to the Championship and another leap in both income and quality.

FA Cup: Into the 3rd round again after beating FC Halifax (who signed both Jack Tuohy and Niall Steel) and Swindon. We faced West Brom away from home and were roundly beaten, but at least picked up a decent paycheck.

League Overview

Finances If we keep making the Wembley final every season we'll keep in the black, the injection from it is massive. This serendipity was again invested into the facilities, which are beginning to climb out of the abysmal state they'd reached when I arrived.

Squad: Injury free again, not quite sure how I've avoided any serious blows yet. Treacy moved from Steel's understudy to first choice and captain this season and was notably solid. Our wingers racked up the majority of the statistics as per usual but Barezzani, who arrived in January, picked up a healthy haul by bursting into the box off of Danny Nelson's hold up play.

Transfers: We could scout Europe this year although the announcment only came after the Summer Window. We've continued to exploit Ireland for any potential talent and were rewarded with Treacy last year and Murphy this year. Barezzani would be signing of the season, just from the January window, if not for Murphy's blistering form which won him the award.

I used the loan market much more than in previous years, Cummings, Chambers and Palmer were all essential first team players that solidified my admittedly weak side.

Key Players:

Jimmy Wedge: Once again picked up more than his share of the goals from the left wing, bursting onto Murphy's crosses and between them making slow full backs shudder every week. The teams direct wing play relied on quality wingers and Wedge and his partner of crime were by far Darlington's most influential players.

Caolan Murphy: An astounding signing, destroying the L1 defenders with his direct running and physical attributes. I'd been eyeing him for a while and he wouldn't sign when his contract expired in december last season. Somehow no one picked him up leaving me to reap the rewards this year. Won both player of the year awards for the club and singing of the season.

Next Season

Hopefully bring in some actual quality with the money and draw of the Championship, this step up should be much more noticeable.

Other Notes

Club Overview at the end of the season.

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17   Vanarama Conference North    4th          Playoff - Loss   
2017/18 Vanarama Conference North      3rd	    Playoff - Win
2018/19 Vanarama National              20th         Survival!   
2019/20 Vanarama National              1st!!        Champions
2020/21 League 2                       6th        Playoff Winners
2021/22 League 1                       6th        Playoff Winners (again)

[gaz da man 2004]

just started with colwyn bay was hoping for Merthyr

[richeh88]

Not posted but doing this challenge! after 4 seasons in the north (9th 6th 3rd 1st) first season in the conference proper. Look how close it is! 7 games left.

[Thebaker]

Squad | Table | Transfers

2026/27

A disastrous season really as i was thinking about promotion and the team barely avoided relegation. Started badly especially away but picked up in nov and dec to give faint hope of the playoffs.

Drew most of feb and then only won 2 of the last 15 games. Ended with the worst away record in the league.

In the JPT the team reached the final to play Crewe for the 2nd year running. This was closer but still a win, 2-1 in ET.

In the league cup the team faced Prem West Brom away in the 2nd Rd. They won 2-1 in ET after matching them for most of the game. The team were well beaten by prem Swansea 1-3 at home in the 3rd Rd.

In the FA Cup the team reached the 3rd Rd again facing championship Blackburn. After drawing the 1st game 2-2 away the replay was lost 1-2.

Attendances dropped by a thousand for an average of ~2500, this impacted the finances and the club finished the season only just in the black.

My transfers went completely wrong this season which contributed to the poor season. I signed Jimoh who is a championship player but could not get a wp.

I let my back up LB Rolland (101 apps,1 goal) go only to see Byrne injure himself for 6 months. Todd who is awkard at LB ended up playing 5 games there along with Koc for a while.

Also let my back up RB Osei-tutu (232 apps, 3 goals) and CB Piroli (196 apps, 6 goals) leave which also left me exposed when i couldn't sign the replacements i wanted.

I did get a great offer for my 3rd choice keeper who was only L1 potential anyway and quickly sold him off. Brought in Hungary's keeper to strengthen the position.

The midfield did ok but there is little end product in terms of goals or assists.

The wingers in Wendling and Adarabioyo did well with Adarabioyo being the standout player in the squad.

Morris scored a good number of goals with Topi also weighing in.

Club icon Quintero (336 games, 82 goals) left for a new challenge - retirement as it turned out!

Club legend Saraiva also retired at the end of the season after 11 seasons. He played 520 games with 78 goals and 144 assists coming in that time. I offered him a job as an u18 coach which is the only staff position i had available.

2027/28

Squad | Table | Transfers

Started this season much better and the team was always in the top 4 for most of the season. Had one bad patch in late dec/early Jan but made it up, without pulling clear of the rest.

With 4 games to go the team drew away to Preston and lost at home to Colchester, this meant that the team was top on GD with 2 games to go but only 2 points separated the top 5. An away win at Hull kept the team top and took them out of the promotion picture.

A draw at home to Wycombe meant the team missed out on automatic promotion to finish 3rd.

In the playoffs the team drew 1-1 away to Tranmere before the 2nd leg at home also finished 1-1. A winner in the 1st minute of extra time was enough to win the match.

The team faced Luton in the final, this match also finished 1-1 and went into extra time. However 2 early goals in ET were enough to win the match 3-2.

Lost in the 1st Rd of the league cup away to L1 Charlton. After drawing 1-1 the team lost on penalties.

The team went out in the 2nd Rd of the JPT which probably helped with the league. In the FA cup the team reached the 3rd Rd again where they lost at home 2-3 to prem West Brom, this was in spite of having 15 shots to 7 on goal.

Finances improved immensely as a result of player sales, the board agreed to improve both youth and training facilities which is the first improvements made.

In goal i sold Nagy for 850K and made another 1 million though sell-ons. I brought in a young German keeper who is not as good. Dam ended up playing nearly half the games anyway.

Sold my best youth player from last season Subirats as the money was good for a 3.5 star potential player.

Sold on Jimoh since i could not get a WP for him, Gueye (146 apps,6 goals) had handed in a transfer request and so i reluctantly sold him on for 1.3 million

As a result i brought in Barthel to play alongside stalwart Gee. Martinovic continued at LB.

At RB Walford (149 apps, 1 goal) left after wanting too much money, Hodgkiss came on loan and did extremely well even though not rated that high.

In the middle the 3 of Brockholm, Bunjaku and Bartkus backed up by Todd proved too strong for most teams. On the wings Wendling had another good season, Adarabioyo become a club legend even though the club has never owned the player.

Morris was injured for about 5 months, as a result i brought in Takac who was outstanding and offered a lot more than Morris.

Season            League             Position       FA cup     FA Trophy/ JPT   League cup    Europe       Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17        Conference North        3rd       3rd Qf Rd    3rd Qf Rd       N/A          N/A          None
2017/18        Conference North        10th      3rd Qf Rd    3rd Qf Rd       N/A          N/A          None
2018/19        Conference North        10th      3rd Qf Rd    1st Rd          N/A          N/A          None
2019/20        Conference North        2nd       1st Rd       3rd Rd          N/A          N/A          Promoted
2020/21        Conference National     7th       4th Qf Rd    2nd Rd          N/A          N/A          None
2021/22        Conference National     4th       1st Rd       1st Rd          N/A          N/A          Promoted
2022/23        League 2                12th      1st Rd       1st Rd          1st Rd       N/A          None
2023/24        League 2                15th      2nd Rd       Qtr-Final       2nd Rd       N/A          None
2024/25        League 2                7th       2nd Rd       2nd Rd          1st Rd       N/A          Promoted
2025/26        League 1                11th      3rd Rd       Qtr-Final       1st Rd       N/A          None
2026/27        League 1                6th       3rd Rd       Winners         2nd Rd       N/A          JPT Winners
2027/28        League 1                17th      3rd Rd       Winners         2nd Rd       N/A          JPT Winners
2028/29        League 1                3rd       3rd Rd       2nd Rd          1st Rd       N/A          Promoted

[TFDM]

Double post for some reason...

[TFDM]

Do certain posts need moderating here? I tried to post my first season review last night but it hasn't come up.... I posted my profile okay... Any ideas? Hope I don't have to type it up again :/

Edit: Tried again and it was posted this time.

[Stu_UBJ]

One of these days I'll persevere and get one of these going!

[TFDM]

Darlington - Season 2016/17 - Conference North

League Table | Transfers | Squad

Decent enough first season in the Conference North. Apart from a spell from mid December to mid January where we dropped to within 3 points of the relegation zone we never looked in any real danger. However we never looked likely to climb much further than our eventual finishing position. This was largely down to the fact that we only managed to string two victories together once all season. Our away form was superb. We actually had the second best away record in the division. Our home form was a shambles however. We won only 4 times at home. Best moments were a 1-0 win over Tamworth, a 4-1 win over Hednesford and getting beat only once in our last 10 games. Next season I'll be hoping to sort the home form out a bit and try and look to nudge the team up into the midtable places while also adding a bit of quality. The squad is a bit large for my liking and lacks quality so I'll be seeking to address this over the summer.

Top Players

Lanre Olapade - Excellent season for the right back. Created lots of goals.

James Campbell - Likewise for the left back. Created plenty of goals as well.

Phil Turnbull - Lost Turnbull for a month or two towards the end of the season. Our best midfielder though and I'm looking to build the team around him next season.

Top Scorer

Piteu Crouz - Finished 5th in the top scorers list in the division with 19 leagues. Scored 21 overall.

Season          League                 Position       FA cup     FA Trophy/JPT   League cup    Europe       Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17        Conference North        14th           2QR        1st Rnd         N/A           N/A          N/A       

[BucketofLithium]

Darlington 1883 22/23 + 23/24 Season End of Year Summary - Championship

I currently have some time off so have zoomed through these two seasons in anticipation of getting to the Premiership, so the update will be short and combined. The team also didn't change a massive amount between the two seasons.

Season One: A strange season in that we sat one spot above relegation for the entire first half, before post-Christmas form saw us rocket upwards, outplaying every team in the division. I largely put this down to the players gelling and playing out of their skin, but unfortunately it couldn't be sustained and we finished some way of promotion.

Transfers: Being able to scout the whole world saw us pick up some far flung talents. Kawai on a free was a suprise and the Japanese international was awarded a work permit, something i've struggled with often losing high potential players to the European teams who don't require them. Garza and Kante were the signings of the season, Garza setting a new average record, a new assist record and winning player of the season in a team finishing 11th.

Season Two: The squad didn't change that much and Garza, the American wonderkid, resigned on loan. Far more consistent the team battled at the top for the entire season before a string of injuries felled us from the automatic spot. Thankfully a run in the last 7 games gave a playoff spot and Garza inspired a win at Wembley against former Premiership side Sheffield Wednesday. Garza won player of the season again and, spoiler, European golden boy at Christmas following our promotion!

Transfers: Not many additions, a few loans bolstering last years successful core. A lot of the L1 players left as did Taylor Deane for £450K to Villa, a good deal as I was no longer sure he'd reach his premiership potential, making a hefty profit for the club.

Key Players

Brian Garza: Season One.Season Two. What can I say, simply tore the league to shreds. The few time he was injured we struggled and how Dortmund let such a talented wonderkid come to our shoddy field and terrible facilities for two seasons in a row is beyond me. In any case he is an icon and loves the fans so if Dortmund continue to not play him, i'll see if Premier League football is to his tastes.

Yusuke Kawai: Season Two. He performed fine in his first season, picking up 15 league goals, but after settling in the Japanese striker hit glittering form he'd hinted at previously in the promotion season. 32 in 45 is a great return and this star of his national team will hopefully make the step up.

State of the Premiership

The league has been won, in order, by:

Arsenal, Man C, Man U, Man C, Man U, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Chelsea

Arsenal's last season under Wenger was successful, but they've plummetted to a Euro Cup side while the Manchester clubs asserted dominance on the league. Mourinho's Utd side won two successive titles, with Liverpool under Frank de Boer finishing 2nd twice before winning at the third attempt. De Boer left the club and with that Ancelotti's Chelsea picked up the next two titles. Utd, City, Chelsea and Liverpool are the clear 4 teams at the top.

Tottenham, Watford, Everton (now relegated) and Arsenal now challenge the Euro spots. Notably a tycooned QPR pipped the current seasons champions league spot from Liverpool. Other than that similar faces fill the league, although Reading and Cardiff have established themselves as strong mid table sides.

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17 Vanarama Conference North    4th        Playoff - Loss   
2017/18 Vanarama Conference North    3rd	Playoff - Win
2018/19 Vanarama National            20th       Survival!   
2019/20 Vanarama National            1st!!      Champions
2020/21 League 2                     6th        Playoff Winners
2021/22 League 1                     6th        Playoff Winners (again)
2022/23 Championship                 11th
2023/24 Championship                 6th        Playoff Winners

[smp20]

Manager Profile ~ Club Info ~ Facilities ~ Squad

I'm going again with King's Lynn, this time I have a new tactic and philosophy to give a whirl, untested in the lower leagues.

[smp20]

League Table ~ FA Cup ~ FA Trophy ~ Facilities ~ Finances ~ Transfers ~ Youth Intake ~ Best 11 ~Bruce ~ Armstrong

• An excellent first season sees us win the Conference North title with 100 points and never dropping below 2nd.
  
• We also had a great cup run, getting to the 4th round beating Rotherham and Wycombe on the way before being knocked out by Southampton.
  
• We proved we could compete with the Conference sides in the FA Trophy, however I was disappointed to lose in the final to a team below us in the table.
  
• Our facilities are improving, two upgrades to our junior coaching and one to our youth recruitment.
  
• Our FA Cup run and Wembley appearance see us in a very healthy financial state with £750k in the bank.
  
• Transfers - I relied on the loan market and I was able to get in quality and depth. Andy Johnson was a disaster, constantly injured and on £1k a week, but he scored some important goals.
  
• Performances were at a very high level throughout the squad, with Tincu our best performer as a roaming playmaker.
  
• Ben Bruce is one with real potential, I started scouting him after he scored a hat-trick vs us for Stalybridge. Looking forward to seeing him develop.
  
• Rene Armstrong is a great prospect from our academy and played extremely well in the 5 games he was given at the end of the season.
  

[miniman98]

Manager Profile | Previous Experience | Season Preview

A bit late but I've started up with Barwell in the hope I can drag another Leicestershire team to the top of the league. Sorry the previous experience screen is a little late, I forgot about it at the start.

Also, anyone point me to how to format links inline? Have no options on the advanced reply thing and I can't remember off the top of my head.

[Bennio]

Manager Profile:http://i.imgur.com/7e2sp5N.jpg Previous Experience: http://i.imgur.com/waPSnsK.jpg Season Preview: http://i.imgur.com/Waj8hMF.jpg

A bit late but I've started up with Barwell in the hope I can drag another Leicestershire team to the top of the league. Sorry the previous experience screen is a little late, I forgot about it at the start.

Also, anyone point me to how to format links inline? Have no options on the advanced reply thing and I can't remember off the top of my head.

Great miniman98. Then we are two. I tried Colwyn Bay on another save and are 2th 5 games remaining on that save. But this is a much harder challenge. Very few or none decent players want to sign so it makes it that much harder. Race you to the PL!

[miniman98]

Great miniman98. Then we are two. I tried Colwyn Bay on another save and are 2th 5 games remaining on that save. But this is a much harder challenge. Very few or none decent players want to sign so it makes it that much harder. Race you to the PL!

I've managed to put together an ok Mid-table side but it's definitely not easy. I'm also playing with normal LLaMa rules (everything your own, only sign players from your scouts, play as realistic as possible etc.) as I normally do so I'm expecting a long hard slog. I will take up that offer of the race though.

[Crazed]

I'm in my second season with Grantham sitting a couple of points above safety in the VNL and I'm finding it a real pain in the ass signing quality players. The most annoying thing is when the player you're trying to sign goes to a team 2 divisions below you for the same wage -- in non-playable team territory no less. Seriously **** FC United, they got relegated and still have the rep to take all the good players off the free agent market. Meanwhile the club goes deeper and deeper into debt, but at least I don't have to worry about the chairman selling players since they're decent/below average at best. At about what time in your save did you guys start to turn a profit? I almost feel like a I need to do well in cups for the money more than anything else.

I employ a 4-1-4-1 as my tactic and let me tell you, crosses seem to be my kryptonite at the moment, to the point that every time a player from the opposing team winds up for a cross I'm already ******** my pants. On more than one occasion I've somehow fooled the opposing team for one half going up 3-0 only to end 3-3 or end up with a nail biting 3-2 win, despite my attempts to close up shop either by parking the bus, going on the counter or trying to "kill" the game by passing the ball around.

[BucketofLithium]

At about what time in your save did you guys start to turn a profit?

I generally started turning profits when the League football solidarity payments came in. Making playoff finals is also massive and as you said the dream the cup run.

[TFDM]

Darlington - Season 2017/18 - Conference North

League Table | Transfers | Squad

In the end we finished a couple of places ahead of where we did last season which means an improvement. We made a poor start to the season and it took until game number five in the league to record our first victory - a 2-0 win over Alferton. We also had another poor spell in mid December which lasted until mid January. Only three points from seven games really put paid to pushing on any further in the league which was disappointing. Once we got that bad run out of the way we only lost four more times all season. Going to have to ponder over the summer where to improve but I have a feeling it will be in defence. Finances are looking good as well. A clause in the Dan Burn deal at Fulham meant we netted £500k last season and its helping our balance a lot. Played Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough in pre-season which led to a boost in finances as well. We've got £1.5 million in the bank at the moment. Next season we'll try to improve and push for a play-off place if possible. We need to try and avoid a bad spell like we have done the last two seasons. If we do that we should kick on.

Top Players

Phil Turnbull - Another good season for Turnbull. Figured in the majority of our season and didn't disappoint.

Jay Dowie - Jay was a signing we made last season and he's had another good campaign. Chipped in with a couple of goals in the league and created some as well. Him and Turnbull have formed a good partnership in midfield.

Lanre Olapade - Was out of the side early on in the season as I tried a more experienced right back but eventually he regained his place and, like last season, led the way with assists.

Top Scorer

Piteu Crouz - Finished way ahead of Nathan Cartman as our top scorer with 20. Already signed up for another season as well. Finished 2nd in the division's high scorer list.

Season          League                 Position       FA cup     FA Trophy/JPT   League cup    Europe       Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17        Conference North        14th           2QR        1st Rnd         N/A           N/A          N/A       
2017/18        Conference North        12th           4QR        1st Rnd         N/A           N/A          N/A

[dafuge]

Also, anyone point me to how to format links inline? Have no options on the advanced reply thing and I can't remember off the top of my head.

At the top of the forum, go to 'Settings' then 'General Settings' (on the left). At the bottom, select 'enhanced interface' and save the changes. This will give you access to the extra posting tools that make it easier to post links. Once you've done this, highlight the word you wish to turn into a link, then use the link button (looks like a little globe) to paste in the direct Url to your screenshot.

[miniman98]

Got it, thanks.

[Vipertitan]

Blyth Spartans - Vanarama National League North - 2016/17

In my first season at the club, my aim was to put a squad together that was capable of avoiding relegation was not expected to end up finishing were we did.

League Table

League Positions Graph-

I'm over the moon after the bad start to finish in a playoff spot but we got beat on penalties by Chorley.

FA Cup- Got to the third qualifying round played Harrogate and got beat in replay 3-1.

FA Trophy- Again another replay but this time we were playing Lincon and got beat on penalties .

Squad- Still room for improvement.

Transfers- I went Bit over board brining players i thought would help us get stronger.

Key Player Profiles

Florent Bojaj - one the new players i bought in got himself 5 goals out of 19 games not bad return.

Jordan Storey - signed on free transfer the best bit buying i done i think.

Tom McNamee - we had a bit of a row at start of season because was not playing him and now i glad i did decided to play him solid player.

Dan Maguire- our main striker currently come back from a long turn injuries.

Career Overview

Season     Team                 Country    League                   League Finish    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Blyth Spartans           England    Vanarama National League North     4th              

Next Season

Hopefully next season with a bit more stability we can make a decent push for promotion.

[miniman98]

Season 1 (2016/17): Vanarama North

Prediction: 21st (of 22)

Expectation: Avoid Relegation

Transfer: 0k

Wage: 5.3k/w

In: 9 for £0 (4 loan for £0)

Out: 17 for £0

Upon arrival, there seemed to be the backbone of a pretty decent team but one with no backup at all which made a larger squad the first order of the day. A decent DM was also necessary to play the formation I wanted so I brought in two as well as cover at LB, CB and GK. An early injury also revealed a desperate need for another decent striker so September saw Charlie introduced.

League: 18th

The season started terribly. No other way to put it. For the first 5 games we didn’t look close to competing in any of the games and every bit of luck seemed to fall to the opposition. It didn’t help that we had possibly the worst striker I’ve ever seen on any FM ever, Welsh Billy. Every single time he received the ball he would stop dead, let the defence catch up to him and then blast the ball straight at the defender’s knees. At a family game of french cricket he’d have been a world-beater but on a football pitch he was unbearably dire. Thankfully Charlie came in and as soon as he was put into the side we immediately looked more dangerous. Two games in and he scored a hat-trick for our second win of the season and that pushed our noses out of the relegation zone. Our form didn’t transform overnight but we were now actually in games and looking more like converting the chances we were creating. 4 wins in 5 in October pushed us up to 14th and that’s around where we stayed for the remainder of the season, staying a comfortable 7-10 points from relegation but not really able to push on up the table. Unfortunately we ended the season with a streak of bad luck similar to how we started it and even though we were never in danger of relegation we ended up finishing in a disappointing 18th despite easily having the points for a few places higher.

Cups:

Not much to speak of, made the expectations in each then went out to lower league Stourbridge and then Boston Utd on penalties after two rounds of extra time, who are quickly becoming my least liked team.

FA Cup: 3rd Qual Round

(A) 5-2 Gloucester

(H) 1-2 Stourbridge

FA Trophy: 1st Round

(H) 1-0 Blyth

(H) 2-2aet Boston Utd

(A) 1-1p Boston Utd

I’d really like to push on to at least mid-table next year as I think we definitely have the ability for that and the extra points we should pick up from having a decent striker from the start of the season can hopefully make that difference. A half-decent FA Cup run would be nice too as we leaked over 200k this season even with a 40k cash injection and the finances aren’t looking like improving.

Average Attendance: 260

Finances: -226k

Balance: -179k

End of Season Awards | Season Review

Season League Position FA cup FA Trophy League cup Europe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17 Conference North 18th 3rd Qf Rd 1st Rd N/A N/A

[Cloondawg]

Season 1 (2016-17) - Vanarama Conference North

Competitions:

Overview

League | (Fixtures)

Expectation: Mid-table, Finish: 3rd (Lost in Playoff Final)

A good start to my tenure at Blyth as we finished a lot higher than I would have expected. I credit this success mainly to an amazing start to the season where we won 9 out of the first 11 league games! However, from here we went on a very poor run with only 4 wins from 16 games, but thankfully managed to stay in and around the play off spots. It was very tight at the top of the league with 10 or more teams competing for play off places and the top 4 or 5 looking to win the title. Going into the last 2 games, we were 3 points off the top spot, having been top not long before that. 2 defeats in these final games led to a 3rd placed finish and set us up for a play off semi final with Nuneaton.

We managed to grind out a 1-0 win in a very tight game away from home in the first leg. This set us up nicely for the second leg, where we strolled to a 3-0 win to go through 4-0 on aggregate. In the final we faced Telford, who actually finished 6th, but were in good form. Unfortunately we lost 1-0 in a very tight game, where we just couldn't get going. We were hit hard by 2 injuries in the semi final 2nd leg to 2 of our centre midfielders, which meant a change of formation was necessary for the final and probably led to our defeat.

FA Cup

Expectation: Reach Fourth Qualifying Round, Finish: Second Qualifying Round

Defeat to Cambridge City, who really should have beaten, actually led to a terrible run of form between October and January.

FA Trophy

Expectation: Reach First Round, Finish: Second Round

My second string managed to comfortably knock out Chasetown and then North Leigh in our first two ties. However, a tough away tie against high-flying Sutton Utd who were near the top of the Conference South, which came right in the middle of my woeful run of form, was too much for us and we lost 3-0 in the Second Round.

Club:

Squad: I was handed quite a solid squad when I took over, with some of my best performers this season having already been at the club last year. I let a lot of players leave on free transfers though, who wouldn't be good enough at this level and a few were unfortunately signed to bigger clubs due to the part-time/non-contracts they were on. An issue with the squad may have been lack of leadership and experience, which led to inconsistency and the inability to arrest a seriously bad run of form during the season.

Transfers: I managed to bring in some decent replacements for these, which would bring enough quality to keep me in the division firstly and provide good cover in different positions. During our poor run of form I terminated a few non-contract players who weren't being used and used other spare wage budget that I had left free to bring in a couple more quality players that my scouts had found. I think after these new players bedded in, our form really improved and we managed to secure that playoff place.

Key Players: Sean Seavill: Brought in during bad run of form to add a bit of experience. He pulled the strings in midfield and was most consistent performer.

Michael Richardson: Best player at the club when I took over, gives energy to the team in midfield. He started EVERY league game this season and was very consistent in the engine room. Unfortunately he missed playoff final due to broken ribs suffered in the semis.

Joe Wright: Another player brought in during bad form who took a while to bed in. Once I found his best role/position in the team he provided important goals and assists from out wide.

Dan Maguire: At the club when I took over, he was top goalscorer this season with 16 goals and 8 assists.

Finances: Not looking great at the moment and I hope that promotion next season and increased attendances may help this.

Next Season:

With some good recruitment before next season, adding quality and experience to the squad, I think that another playoff push should be the minimum aim. If things go well, ideally we will have enough to clinch the title and move up a division.

Season     Team             League                             Finish    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     3rd       Lost in Playoff Final

[Tecmo]

2017-2018

Finally managed to survive a season with Slough Town FC!

Profile after the first season.

League Table

Solid 12th place finish for us. We started out a bit slow but then really took off when I found a strategy that suited the team. Sit back deep in a 4-4-2 then hit teams quickly on the counter. We managed to climb as high as 3rd 19 games into the season before an injury to our top goalscorer sent us in a 2 month tailspin.

We lost our first game in the FA Cup to a recently demoted Wealdstone team. Ironically, this was during our good run and was our only lost over a stretch of 12 games. We won our first FA Trophy game, defeating Swindon Supermarine in extra time 4-2 before falling to Torquay on the road 0-2.

We were led by a pair of strikers who made us one of the highest scoring teams in the league.

Marley Bishop-Wisdom was our best goal scorer, netting 18 goals and adding 8 assists in 30 appearances. It was his injury that coincided with our drop in form. The young Welshman signed on a free from Bristol City.

Jason Williams provided the muscle up front to complement Bishop-Wisdom's speed and netted 18 goals of his own along with 10 assists. He was signed on a free from Southend shortly before I took over the club.

MC Ethan Millar was our player of the year, controlling the midfield for us as a roaming playmaker and our highest rated player. He started his career at Bournemouth and signed with Slough last year, providing one of the major catalysts for promotion.

Nothing to report from our first youth intake, don't foresee anyone we picked up making an impact.

Financially we're bleeding money, as to be expected for a low level team that got knocked out of cup play early. The board has provided a couple of substantial cash injections already.

Hopefully we can keep this year's success going and challenge for a playoff spot next season. Offensively we look good, need to get the defense shored up though. I brought in a new goalkeeper and centerback during the winter transfer and they seemed to help solidify things and I had players in on loan at right back and defensive CM, hopefully I can bring them back again next season.

[Vipertitan]

Blyth Spartans - Vanarama National League North - 2017/18

This was quite a journey this season the team did well.

League Table

League Positions. After a poor start we found ourselves then we started pushing for the table. And winning the title on the last day of the season.

FA Cup-We managed to get to the first round this season we got blackpool but got beat 4-0.

FA Trophy- Got beat in first round by Braintree 1-0.

Squad- Still trying to find the right balance for the team but getting better.

Transfers- Bought in some free players and few them did well.

finances- i dont know what the board are doing with t he finances like starting to worry me.

Key Player Profiles

Devonte Morton - Florent Bojaj replacement for him he was mostly used in the cup games and did well.

Aaron Cunningham - loaned him from our feeder team Hartlepool United and was quality at the hart of the defence .

George Maris - my second forward played well when called upon scoring 12 goals from 29 games.

Dan Maguire- our main striker nice to have him fit all season he ended up scoring 24 goals from 38 games.

Career Overview

Season     Team                 Country    League                   League Finish    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Blyth Spartans           England    Vanarama National League North     4th              
2017/18    Blyth Spartans           England    Vanarama National League North     1st  Champions              

Next Season

with the club promoted to Vanarama National going to be tough hard season so i be pleased to avoid relegation is my target.

[Cloondawg]

Season 2 (2017-18) - Vanarama Conference North

Competitions:

Overview

League | (Fixtures)

Expectation: Mid-table, Finish: 7th

Overall quite a disappointing season after last years Playoff Final defeat. This was mainly due to a terrible start to the season, which was the opposite of last year. We ended very strongly with 4 wins from the last 5 games, but it was too little too late as far as the play off spots were concerned. Interestingly we were only 3 points worse off than last season, but it was obvious that the play offs were very unlikely from an early stage. The top spots were a lot tighter and I felt there was more competition from much stronger teams in and around us.

FA Cup

Expectation: Reach Fourth Qualifying Round, Finish: Second Round

A great FA Cup run this year where some good draw luck helped me on my way to the Second Round. I defeated Ramsbottom, Colwyn Bay, impressively Wrexham of the Conference Prem and Poole Town. I was hoping for an easier tie in the Second Round draw to be in with a chance of drawing a big club in the Third Round for a hugely needed boost to finances. I was drawn away to Colchester, who didn't have the greatest of attendances for our tie, so the financial benefits weren't great. A close first half was tied at 1-1, but in the end we were overwhelmed and Colchester finished us off comfortably.

FA Trophy

Expectation: Reach First Round, Finish: First Round

Another poor showing in this competition, which was overlooked due to resting players as I looked to correct terrible league form. We knocked out Frickley only to be beaten comfotably away at Solihull Moors.

Club:

Squad: I kept a large core of the squad from last season and tried to add a bit of experience and quality in some areas. We had a lot of consistent performers at a 7 rating or above, but in the end we were let down by poor returns from strikers. The ratings reflect our good performances, often we would rate highly in games that we just couldn't manage a result in even though we were on top.

Transfers: Unfortunately Joe Wright didn't want to resign for us, but we managed to secure most of the others players I wanted to remain at the club. We brought in a few who had been on loan last season on free transfers and managed to strengthen fairly well in most areas. It was a bit of a struggle to find quality in some areas.

Key Players:

Sean Seavill: Highest rated performer for the second season running. Controlled the midfield and added a few more goals and assists this time.

Michael Richardson: Second highest rated performer again. Alongside Seavill he was a mainstay in midfield. Finished with 11 goals, which was more than our strikers.

Thomas McAloone: Signed on a free transfer, the ex-Middlesbrough youngster was our top goalscorer from the wing. Might struggle to keep him for next season!

Shaun Densmore: A solid second season at the club for this experienced right back. Added a few important assists from the right.

Thierry Audel: I needed a solid experienced CB and he delivered. Provided much needed consistency at the back.

Finances: Looking even worse than last season. Promotion or another cup run is definitely needed soon!

Next Season:

Winning the league still seems unlikely unless we can find some sort of consistency throughout the season. Bad runs of form are costing us and this needs to be stopped before we can gain automatic promotion. I think a play off spot is achievable, but it may be difficult to pull a squad together to do this like in our first season.

Season     Team             League                             Finish    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     3rd       Lost in Playoff Final
2017/18    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     7th

[TFDM]

Darlington - Season 2018/19 - Conference North

League Table | Transfers | Squad

Another season of progression as we finish 8th in the table. A final game of the season win at Alferton essentially saw us swap places with them after starting the day in 11th. Unlike previous campaigns we didn't have any dreadful runs of form in the league which has been a real plus point. In fact its been a season spent hovering around the middle of the table. We were never in any danger of being involved in a relegation battle but frustratingly the play-offs never quite looked within reach for us.

I spent most of the season (like the last two) trying to persist with a 4-1-2-1-2 setup which only seemed to work here and there. With about 15 games I ditched it and went with a solid and simple 4-4-2 with two ball winners in the centre of the park. That switch has seen a definite up swing in form as the season finished. Indeed we even notched a couple of away wins after going 12 games without a win on the road. The only sides we lost against were teams in the mix for promotion during the closing stages of the season. There is definitely some mileage in the new setup so I'll be looking to use this for the duration of next season.

Our summer signings, with one or two exceptions, all seemed to perform pretty well and the squad is in a very good place. As long as we can keep a hold of people we shouldn't have to do too much business in the summer. We'll be looking to move on some of the backup defenders who didn't really trouble the first team to freshen things up. However I'm hopeful if we can keep the squad largely in tact with the new system we can have a proper push for the play-offs next term. Phil Turnbull and Piteu Crouz are already signed on for next season which is great news as they are big players for us.

Top Players

Jay Dowie - A really good season for Jay with an 80% pass completion ratio and a 73% success rate on tackles.

Nikolay Todorov - This massive Bulgarian lump arrived in the summer after being released from Forest. Took a while to get him going but came up trumps in the end. Maybe a doubt for next season. He doesn't look like signing a new deal.

Piteu Crouz - A predictably good season for Piteu. Top scorer and signed up for another season.

Top Scorer

Piteu Crouz - Finished with 22 goals with 20 of them coming in the league. Another good return. Finished third in the scoring charts and has now notched 63 in 116 appearamces during my time in charge.

Season          League                 Position       FA cup     FA Trophy/JPT   League cup    Europe       Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17        Conference North        14th           2QR        1st Rnd         N/A           N/A          N/A       
2017/18        Conference North        12th           4QR        1st Rnd         N/A           N/A          N/A
2018/19        Conference North        8th            4QR        1st Rnd         N/A           N/A          N/A

[G_D_K]

Sutton Coldfield

Season 6 (2021/22)

Table/Position Graph / Squad/ Finances / Transfers / Manager / Facilities /Annual Injury Report / Confidence / Competitions / Reputation

Season 6 was one in which Sutton Coldfield quietly stayed in the hunt, ready to pounce. A playoff contender from early on, they made the final push when it counted, overcoming adversity (in the form of injury to key players, especially the strikers), and doing just enough to stay in contention until making their move up the table in the final weeks. Last year's goal of solidifying the defense paid off -- as a team we finished in the top 5 in tackles won ratio (1st), and goals conceded (5th), while avoiding disciplinary issues (1 red/20 yellow were near top of league). Individually, DM Kamdjo (7th in Tackles/Match), DC Askins (1st in Key tackles), GK Wakerman (2nd in goals conceded) stood out to help create a successful season.

Offensively, perennial top goal scorer for the team,Liam Sayerscontinued to shine, missing out on top league goalscorer only by time played (23 league goals joint top). Simon Buckley (17 goals/3 assists) probably would have hit goals again but for injury, while Phil Rowell (11 goals) and late-signing (injury insurance) Jordyn Sheerin managed 7 goals/1 assist in limited appearances-- including a spectacular 10-minute hat-trick in the FAT Final. Right back Lewis Turner had a great chance at Player of the Year, with an AvR of 7.38 (8th), 8 Player of the Match awards (joint 3rd), and 25 assists (2nd). Left Back O'Sullivan was also a good signing, managing 2 goals/8 assists (7.27 AvR) in 23 appearances of his own.

PROMOTION/PLAYOFFS

As hoped and aimed for, we achieved a playoff spot, making the jump in match day 39 and not looking back (we hit 6th at the mid-point, and hardly looked at ending worse from that point). In fact, with 4 to go, I was quietly surprised to see that we had climbed to within 4 points of league Leaders Gateshead...but couldn't quite close the gap from there.

The play-off semi-final saw us going away to Cheltenham...a team we'd not had a lot of success against in 6 tries. We managed a crucial away goal in a 1-1 draw, which gave us hope headed into the home tie. As fate would have it....that 1 goal was all either team would score, as we battled for 120 minutes to a 0-0 draw and a penalty shootout at home. When my brand new striker Sheerin had his first shot saved, I thought we were going out...but star GK Paterson (whom I had signed in January -- a full 1* better than Wakerman in CA, and L1 potential) had something else in mind, and ended up with 3 saves during the shootout. When DC Askins scored our 4th, and Paterson saved Cheltenham's final attempt, we were through.

I had worried that we would end up facing FC United (another team that we have struggled in recent times against), but 5th placed Maidstone managed a stunning 2-1 away win to set up a winnable match for us.

Off to Wembley, in our first ever appearance (the first of two this year, as fate would have it). I'm sure the crowd of 38K were less than enthused at the match-up...and even more so 90 minutes later, as Liam Sayers' 30th minute goal was all the excitement to be had. Maidstone managed 14 shots, but only 2 on target, as our defense accomplished what I had set it to do all season long. 1-0 and promotion to League Football! We weren't quite done yet, however...

Cup Competitions

The FA Cup was curiously similar to the previous season...though we needed an extra match to get out of the 4QR vs Worcester -- eventually advancing by a 2-0 home win (after a goalless draw in the first meeting). That set us up for a 1st round win vs Havant & Waterlooville (Sayers scoring the first, and the winner coming through an OG mistake). The 2nd round saw us pitted.....once again.....vs L1 Preston...albeit this year at home. A scoreless 1st half gave us a glimmer of hope...but Preston piled on the pressure, and eventually ran away with a 3-0 victory, sending us crashing out once again. Same team 2 years running...same 3 goals.... If we make the 2nd round next season....I'll be praying for anyone but Preston!

The FAT was a far different story this year, and saw us make a run to the very end. Along the way to the finish (which saw us knock off the likes of Bristol Rovers, Alfreton, Halifax, Dover, and Salford), Buckely managed 6 goals, Sayers 1, right fullback Turner got his only goal of the year, and newcomer Sheerin nabbed one. This set us up for our 2nd appearance at Wembley in a week...and after our earlier success at that hallowed ground, I was gratified to see more blue jerseys than yellow. Unlike our previous meeting, we gave something to please the crowd, as Sheerin converted a penalty kick in the 1st minute, scored again in the 2nd minute, and completed his hat-trick at the 10 minute mark. The scoring would be just enough, as Braintree snatched one back at the whistle ending the first half, and nabbed a 2nd at the hour mark to make it a contest. Ultimately, we would hold on to grab a 3-2 win...our 2nd victory at Wembley in the space of a week, and our first trophy!

Additional Details

Team of the Season

Best XI Inductees -- Three players were considered to be good enough for the overall best XI: Lewis Turner (DR), Luke Wakerman (GK), and Bassala Sambou (DC) were the three new players inducted to the Historical Best XI-- Testament to my efforts of solidifying the defense

Fans Player of the Season: Lewis Turner was the Fan Favorite this year, while partner fullback Rian O'Sullivan grabbed just 17% of the vote and MC Max Clayton-Robb 14%

Signing of the Season: Rian O'Sullivan(DL) (free)

Young Player of the Season: Rian O'Sullivan (DL)

Other awards: I didn't quite make Manager of the year, but ran a close 2nd instead. I'll take it!

Top Academy Graduate

S1: Fullback Dave Clarke -- Potential to be useful in the lower leagues...perhaps he'll backup current starting fullback Hatch next season

S2: Matthew Rogers (AMC) -- looks to be a decent playmaking option already...I may have to adopt a tactic that uses an AMC and see if he can develop.

S3: Michael Mitchell (MC) -- good mental and okay physical stats to start -- if he develops he might be useful in the VN division. Time will tell.

S4: Michael Davies (AM(RLC)) -- not a position I'm currently using, but a 4-5 star potential youngster with great determination/teamwork.

S5: Royston Thomas (AM(R,L,C) -- I'm getting a lot of AM top graduates....I really need to come up with a tactic to use these guys!

S6: David Bedwell (AM©) -- Yet another AM© graduate. Decent starting physicals + teamwork...needs work on the rest in order to earn a spot.

[b][i]Team, Individual, and league records [/i][/b]
A host of records were set or broken this year: (* denotes ongoing record-bold indicates record broke current season)
[u][size=3][b][i]Sutton Coldfield-- Team
[/i][/b][/size][/u]
[b]Highest League Position --[/b] [b]2th[/b] [b]in Vanarama National (2021/22[/b])
[b]Highest Attendance -- 2715 (vs Cheltenham, VNL playoff semi final, 7 May 2022)[/b] (previous record: 1561  vs Altrincham, VNN playoff S/F, 11 May 2019)
[b]Highest Gate Receipts -- £41.16k (vs Cheltenham, VNL Playoff semi final, 7 May 2022)[/b] (previous record: £23.66K vs Altrincham, VNN playoff S/F, 11 May 2019)
[b]Average Attendance -- 535 (2021/22)[/b] (previous high: 426--2020/21 )
Biggest Win -- 5-2 (vs FC United, 31 Dec 2016)
Biggest Defeat 5-2 (vs Tranmere (VNL) 25 Feb 2020) (previous biggest defeat:  4-2 (vs Chester, 1 Dec 2018)
Highest Scoring Game -- 4-3 (vs North Ferriby, 20 Aug 2016)
Most Games won in a Row -- 5 (20 Apr - 8 May 2019) (previous high -- 4:  28 Oct - 25 Nov 2017)
Most Games without Losing -- 13 (23 Feb - 8 May 2019) (Previous high--8:  28 Oct - 23 Dec 2017 )
Most Games without Winning -- 8, (1 Dec 2020 - 2 Jan 2021)  (Previous high: 7 (23 Aug - 20 Sept 2016)
Most games without conceding -- 7 (1 Jan - 1 Feb 2020) (Previous high -- 4:  11-25 Sept 2018 )
[size=3][u][b][i]Sutton Coldfield -- Individual[/i][/b][/u][/size]

Top Goal scorer -- Liam Sayers --36 (2018/19) (previous record: Liam Sayers -- 21 (2017/18))
Top League Goal scorer -- Liam Sayers -- 29 (2018/19) (previous record: Liam Sayers -- 19 (2017/18)
Most Goals in a match -- Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson  -- 4 (10 Sept 2019 v AFC Telford) (Previous record: Aaron Knight -- 3 (20 Aug 2016 v North Ferriby)
[b]Most Assists -- Lewis Turner -- 27 (2021/22)[/b] (previous record: Lewis Turner -- 23 (2020/21))
Highest AvR --Lewis Turner -- 7.42 (41 app) (2020/21) (previous record: Ben Drenna -- 7.31 (35 app) 2018/19)
Most Player of Match awards -- Liam Sayers -- 11 (2018/19) (previous record: Liam Sayers -- 7 (2017/18)
[b]Most League goals for club -- Liam Sayers -- 117* [/b]Previous Record Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson (72)
[b]Most League Appearances for club -- Nathan Ben Askins (276*) [/b]Previous Record Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson (138)
Youngest player -- Jack Cooper (Striker), 16y227d (previous record: Dave Clarke (D(RLC)), 16y264d )
Oldest player -- Phil Trainer (DM), 35y272d (previous record: )
Youngest Goalscorer -- Dave Clarke (D(RLC)), 16y271d (previous record: Liam Sayers (Striker) 18y296d)
[b]Oldest Goalscorer -- Jordyn Sheerin (ST), 32y277d[/b] (previous record: Anthony McNamee (AML) 32y213d)
Fastest Goal -- Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson: 35s  (previous record: Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson (38s)
[b]Highest Transfer Fee Paid -- Martin Paterson (GK) -- £16K 1 Jan 22[/b]
[b]Highest Transfer Fee Received -- Jon Sephton (DC) -- [/b][b]£3K 3 Feb 22[/b]

Promoted from the Regional Premier Division Teams:

Kidderminster, Lewes, marine, Gainsborough, Solihull Moors, Tonbridge

League Winners (relegated)

EPL Chelsea (Hull, Leicester, Huddersfield)

Championship Southampton (Swindon, Luton, Bristol City)

League One Peterborough (Wrexham, Preston, Carlisle, Cambridge)

League Two Colchester (Accrington, Grimbsby)

Vanarama National Lg Gateshead (Dag & Red, York, Dartford, Doncaster)

Vanarama North Chester (Southport, Chorley, Brackley)

Vanarama South Dulwich Hamlet (Hayes & Yeading, Billericay, Bath)

Cup Winners

English FA Cup Chelsea (v Everton)

Capital One Cup Chelsea (vs Aston Villa) *Treble for Chelsea--2nd year running for Villa to lose in the final

Jonhstone's Paint Trophy Birmingham (vs Sheffield United)

English FA Trophy Sutton Coldfield (vs Braintree) ***1st Trophy for Sutton Coldfield!!!

Euro Qualifcation

Champions League Group Stage: Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City

Champions League best placed playoff: Arsenal

Euro Cup Group Stage: Tottenham, Newcastle

Euro Cup Playoff:

Euro Cup 3rd QR: Fulham

Euro Cup 1st QR:

Continental Achievements

Watford: Eliminated from Euro Cup Group Stage

Newcastle: Eliminated from Euro Cup First Knockout Round (by Olympique Marsailles)

Liverpool: Eliminated from Euro Cup First Knockout Round (by Gelsenkirchen)

Man Utd: Eliminated from Champions League First Knockout round (by Bayern)

Man City: Eliminated from Champions League Quarter Final (By FC Barcelona)

Chelsea: Eliminated from Champions League Quarter Final (by Bayern)

Arsenal: Eliminated from Champions League quarter-final (by Real Madrid)

Extra detail: none

What's Next?

Consolidate my position. I need quality in order to advance...hoping to get enough in to at least survive our first season of League football. My wage budget has increased from £8500(ish) to £14K --- which is still not a lot. Despite ending the season with a positive balance (if only just), the board will not entertain much in the way of requests. They took saw fit to take out a £200K bank loan (repayable in an ungodly number of £1.5k/m installments) in order to replace the synthetic field with a grass field....instead of adding the required # of seats to bring the stadium up to League standards. They still won't send me on a coaching course (6 seasons in, and I still haven't been allowed to go on one). On a positive note, they did make us professional...so at least I'll be able to put the lads on full time contracts and training regimens....which should help some.

I have already made note that I am losing a couple key players-- due to them not believing we have the team strength to compete in the league. Among them are my top choice goalkeeper Paterson and midfielder Clayton-Robb. Hopefully they will change their mind during the summer holidays!

Career Overview

Season             Team             League          Pos(Predicted)            Achievements
2016/17    Sutton Coldfield    Vanarama North        16(19)           Survived!        
2017/18    Sutton Coldfield    Vanarama North        10(20)           Solid-mid table finish
2018/19    Sutton Coldfield    Vanarama North         2(20)           Promotion via Playoffs!, VNN Overachiever
2019/20    Sutton Coldfield    Vanarama National     15(24)           VN Overachievers
2020/21    Sutton Coldfield    Vanarama National     11(24)           VN Overachievers
2021/22    Sutton Coldfield    Vanarama National      3(24)           VN promotions (via playoffs), overachiever.  FAT Winner (overachiever)

[Cloondawg]

Season 3 (2018-19) - Vanarama Conference North

Competitions:

Overview

League | (Fixtures)

Expectation: Mid-table, Finish: 9th

Another massively frustrating season where we looked good enough in parts, but kept throwing away important points. We started off really well and I thought that this was the season for promotion but inconsistency crept in and we struggled to gain any momentum. It was another close season at the top and we finished only 4 points outside the playoffs and 10 points off the top. We actually had the best defence in the league and the most clean sheets, but didn't score enough goals. In EVERY game but one that we lost in the league, it was by one goal and we lost 1-0 about 8 or 9 times!

FA Cup

Expectation: Reach Fourth Qualifying Round, Finish: Third Qualifying Round

Overcame Ramsbottom with relative ease and then faced Guiseley who we always seem to struggle against. They play a very long ball 4-3-3 where they pump the ball into the box and get a lot of crosses in. We eventually lost 1-0 here, despite being the better team in the game. Guiseley did finish 2nd in the league so they are good team.

FA Trophy

Expectation: Reach First Round, Finish: Semi Finalists

Our best run in this competition yet and some kind draws helped us on our way to a two legged semi final against Bradford PA. We knocked out Soham, both Wrexham and Cheltenham (who are a league above us), Worcester and Cambridge City along the way. I was very confident in the semi final, having beaten Bradford PA them twice already that season in the league, but a 1-1 draw in the first leg and a poor showing in the second leg sent us out, losing 6-3 on aggregate.

Club:

Squad: Although I kept a few key players that make up the core of the squad, there were others that didn't want to resign for another year on their contracts. I had filled the squad with a lot more cover in these key areas and tried to use loans a bit more. Unfortunately, we still didn't have the overall quality we needed to push up a bit higher in the league.

Transfers: A few of the more unproven came in and did really well, however some of the more experienced signings really struggled. Players like Gallagher and Rose impressed in midfield and will be retained next year.

Key Players:

Michael Richardson: Ever present in our midfield and another impressive season. He is our most consistent player by far!

Tyler Smith: On loan from Sheff Utd, the young right winger provided a league second best 13 assists and put in some good deliveries from the wing.

Sean Seavill: Another solid season from him, but he's getting a bit older now and seems to be slightly on the decline. Still good passing %'s though!

Danny Rose: Another experienced midfielder who added energy to our team, he did well playing in rotation with Richardson and Seavill.

Jerry Yates: Top goalscorer with 11 league goals. He got a lot of these early and I thought we had solved our problems up top but he faded massively as the season progressed.

Finances: Insecure now and showing no signs of improvement. It's a worry, but the club have invested money into the club a few times to keep us going.

Next Season:

I am happy with how our team is defending and with the best defence and most clean sheets, that is promising. We have to add some firepower and need a 20+ goal per season striker to challenge for play off spot or the title. Also a bit more creativity from midfield would be welcomed.

I would be delighted with a play off spot again next season and if we get a bit more momentum and then keep this going we could definitely win the league. However, it's tough with players not open to coming to our club over others and not having much wage budget to work with.

Season     Team             League                             Finish    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     3rd       Lost in Playoff Final
2017/18    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     7th
2018/19    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     9th

[kingjericho]

Tonbridge - Vanarama League South - 2016/17

League Table | FA Cup | FA Trophy | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Career Overview

Season     Division                   Position       Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Vanarama League South      10th

[GreyedOutMan]

Right. Time for my annual bash at this. Many people still active on this year's thread? Will read updates from here on but haven't got the energy to read previous ones! Reloading (and have cheat engine so shouldn't take too long!) - looks like Met Police might be a bit more achievable this year so might well take them.

[Major Baws]

Spent most of the afternoon reloading but have settled on Whitby.

Manager Profile

[GreyedOutMan]

The new manager of Salford is former legend from my Whitehawk save, Francis Burden!

[Vipertitan]

Blyth Spartans - Vanarama National League- 2018/19

League Table

League Positions.

with the club getting a shock promoting to the National League all I wanted to try and do was set about building a team strong a nuff to avoid relegation, But who would of thought we would of went on to win the League.

FA Cup-We got to the first round had to go play Oxford United and we put up a decent fight but got beat 2-0.

FA Trophy- Again squad rotating to give the fringe players a chance they did well but got beat by Brackley in a second round replay by 2-0.

Squad- I getting the right balance of the team need few more better players in for back up.

Transfers- I've had to let some players go because the wanted to much money so bought in players who wanted less money.

finances- the few cup games and letting players go has sort of reduce the debt were in but the club owners need to sort it out before gets out of hand and we get points deducted.

Key Player Profiles

George Maris - Bought in few seasons back on free transfer best bit buying i've done quality player.

Robbie Tinkler -back up player had decent season,all though only played a hand full of games.

Michael Richardson - got a broken leg currently out for five months hope he comes back stronger player after it.

Dan Maguire- pushed him out on the wing to play as an inside forward did well got 22 goals out of 54 games.

Career Overview

Season     Team                 Country    League                   League Finish    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Blyth Spartans           England    Vanarama National League North     4th              
2017/18    Blyth Spartans           England    Vanarama National League North     1st  Champions              
2018/19    Blyth Spartans           England    Vanarama National League             1st  Champions, Manager of the Year

Next Season

Avoid relegation and try go on a better cup run to improve the clubs finances.

[Cloondawg]

Season 4 (2019-20) - Vanarama Conference North

Competitions:

Overview

League | (Fixtures)

Expectation: Mid-table, Finish: 3rd (Lost in Playoff Final)

Great season where we finished on our highest points total yet, which would have seen us top in the last 3 seasons, however Lincoln and Stockport kept matching our results and in the end we only managed 3rd. After losing 1-0 in the first leg of the semi-final against Bradford PA, we fought back to win 2-0 in the second leg to set up a final against Lincoln. Since they finished above us, the tie was held at their ground and in the end probably gave them the slight edge as we drew 2-2, but eventually lost to a 119th minute penalty.

FA Cup

Expectation: Reach Fourth Qualifying Round, Finish: Second Round

Another decent run in the FA Cup for some much needed cash. We knocked out Worcester, Sutton Coldfield, AFC Fylde and Kingstonian before being beaten 2-0 by League 1 Bradford.

FA Trophy

Expectation: Reach First Round, Finish: Third Qualifying Round

Poor performance in this competition. Matlock dispatched of us in the first possible round.

Club:

Squad: Used the squad really well this season, with a few injuries meaning I had to rotate a lot of the players. Most of them contributed at some part of the season. I kept a core of the previous squad again and added a bit more quality and experience in places, especially up front where we needed firepower and they delivered!

Transfers: Fewest transfers so far and we added well. Bingham and Murphy scored 36 goals between them and then players like Conneely, Truelove and Bradley added experience at the back.

Key Players:

Michael Richardson: Our best player for the 4th season running and also fans player of the season again.

Sean Seavill: His age is catching up with him a bit as his physicals are dropping, but he was solid again this season and dictates play in the middle.

Seamus Conneely: Very versatile player, with lots of experience. Played mainly at right back and was solid throughout the season.

Rakish Bingham: Brought in as a second striker to partner Murphy and he was a revelation. Scored some crucial goals in important games - 17 in total.

Rhys Murphy: Signed to bring goals to the team that was lacking quality up front and he delivered with 19 goals.

Finances: Injections from the owner are keeping us afloat. The playoff final and FA Cup tie away to Bradford helped us out a bit. They still aren't looking great though!

Next Season:

This season we found a balance between attack and a defence which led us on some great unbeaten runs. Our defence was the 4th best and attack the 2nd best in the league. Keeping the majority of our key players will be crucial going into next season and adding a bit of quality if possible will help us out.

Our minimum aim should be a title challenge if not playoffs. I'm confident that if we can repeat last season and get the same amount of points, we can win the title and finally get promoted.

Season     Team             League                             Finish    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     3rd       Lost in Playoff Final
2017/18    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     7th
2018/19    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     9th
2019/20    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     3rd       Lost in Playoff Final

[Cloondawg]

Season 5 (2020-21) - Vanarama Conference North

Competitions:

Overview

League | (Fixtures)

Expectation: Mid-table, Finish: 1st

Finally achieved promotion at the fifth attempt in this division. After such a good season last year, I knew we would be right up there again this season and it should have been wrapped up long before the last day. At one point we had a 15 point gap at the top, but poor form towards the end of the season when the players began to tire and the pressure got to them almost cost us promotion. In the end, we held on and clinched the title.

FA Cup

Expectation: Reach Fourth Qualifying Round, Finish: Second Round

We always do well in the FA Cup and went on another decent run. We were afforded some good draws and knocked out Grantham, Hednesford, Braintree and Gainsborough. The second round gave us League 1 Birmingham away, which was too much for us and we lost 5-2.

FA Trophy

Expectation: Reach First Round, Finish: First Round

We beat Kidderminster, then Harrogate both at home before getting knocked out away to VNL Chester.

Club:

Squad: Largely the same squad as last season as I had faith they could deliver this time. We lacked a bit of depth in terms of back up quality, but due to a relatively injury free campaign this wasn't too much of a problem. I only used 22 players which was the lowest amount in the division.

Transfers: Added a few players to replace those who didn't want to resign as they didn't feature enough last season. This was mainly backup players with the exception of Redmond, Richardson (CB) and Hutchinson who played a lot in the first team.

Key Players:

Michael Richardson: Mr Reliable and club icon who was my highest average rated players for the 5th year running. He started every league game as usual.

Devonte Redmond: Brought him in to replace Sean Seavill who became a back up due to rapidly declining with age. He added quality to the midfield.

Rakish Bingham: Continued form from last season and was the top goalscorer in the league with 24 goals.

Matthew Wilson: Stepped in to replace Bell-Baggie on the wing, who left to Halifax. I was looking to sign someone in his place, but Wilson started very well and kept his place in the first team.

Lee Molyneux: Stepped up another level from last season and got 17 assists, which was the best in the league.

Finances: Looking the same each season and cup runs have really helped us out as well as injections of cash from the owner. The owner is looking to sell the club now though.

Next Season:

Not sure what to expect next season and how my team will compete. With some good new signings we may fair far better than we would at this point, but the main aim has to be to achieve safety ASAP and then see where we can go from there!

Season     Team             League                             Finish    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     3rd       Lost in Playoff Final
2017/18    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     7th
2018/19    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     9th
2019/20    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     3rd       Lost in Playoff Final
2020/21    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League North     1st       Promotion!

[Joe.]

I've attempted and failed at this challenge the past two seasons.. Might have to give it another go before too long.

[Tecmo]

2018-2019

Not quite the second season I had in mind as we didn't quite match our previous 50 point season.

League Table

We were never really in danger of relegation although we didn't secure safety until the second to last game on our way to finishing 18th. Defense is still the big problem as we gave up the second most goals, which was somewhat balanced by a decent offensive attack. Just giving up too many shots and too many quality chances. We moved away from our 4-4-2 in favor of a 5-3-2 WB alignment when facing dual strikers and that seemed to solidify things a bit. My thinking for next season is to alternate between the 5-3-2 and a narrow 4-1-3-2 next season.

Not much luck in the cups again, we drew at home against a strong Boreham Wood team in the FA Cup and got drubbed 0-3. We managed to advance past Grays in extra time in our first FA Trophy game 2-1 but then fell at Maidstone 1-2. Financially we could use a bit of a cup run next season.

We're digging into a decent hole financially, now about -105K Euros and that's been helped by cash inflows from the board.

Jason Williams and Marley Bishop-Wisdom led our scoring once again with 19 and 13 goals respectively.

MC Ethan Millar continues to be our best player, putting up a 7.43 rating. Luckily no one has come after him though and he hasn't shown a desire to leave yet.

Johnny Herd came in during last year's winter transfer window and really started coming into his own. Decent left wingback and set piece specialist.

DC Sam Barnes is our captain and a rock in the middle of the defense. Badly needs a decent partner or two though.

Not getting any help from our youth intake, best player this year was MC Alex Okoye who might become a useful playmaker for us eventually.

Once again looking to shore up the defense for next year. Really need at least one quality centerback and I'd like to find a holding/defensive midfielder. We have nowhere to go but up.

[Lenzar]

Dorchester Town - 2020/21 Season Report - Sky Bet League One

League

Some excellent comebacks prevented more than a handful of defeats, but we also threw away far too many leads - we were 2-0 down against Birmingham before forcing extra time, only to lose to an extra time goal.

Cups

We did fairly well here - we took our first EPL scalp in the League Cup, before another Premier League side tore us apart. Our tie against City in the FA Cup wasn't as lucrative this year as we were forced to play at our tiny (5k capacity) stadium. The result against Yeovil in the paint pot was one of our poorer performances.

Key Players

Craig Andrews

On loan from Spurs, Andrews was often far too skilled for League One's best defenders. When he wasn't scoring, he was setting up chances for others.

Charlie Harris

After a slow start, deadline day signing Harris became a key part of our attacking movements. His long range shooting troubled many keepers, whilst his surprisingly accurate passing cut through the opposition defence with a pleasing regularity.

David Donnelly

Another excellent midfielder, Donnelly ruled the centre of the park with a potent mixture of defence and attack.

Transfers | Season Best XI | Overall Best XI

Season  Division  Position Avg. Attendance  Leaderboard Points (Pos) Notes
16-17   VNS        2nd       902               7,101 (133,749th)     Promoted via playoffs
17-18   VNL        5th        1,009             38,997 (227,347th)
18-19   VNL        1st         1,066            621,208 (146,517th) Promoted as Champions
19-20   Lg2         5th        1,774            666,905 (216,035th) Promoted via playoffs
20-21   Lg1         3rd        2,545            754,473 (258,442th)

[GreyedOutMan]

After a draw with Altrincham and then a home defeat to Gloucester, the playoff race is too close to call. Anyone ever seen eight teams separated by just three points in the promotion race with one game to go before?

[GreyedOutMan]

Possibly my most nailbiting season finale ever!!!

[GreyedOutMan]

SEASON 2016-17

VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH

League

We were predicted to finish 9th, which is clearly just because Salford have the best rep of any team on this challenge. I know that, but it's still a bit odd for a newly promoted side.

FIXTURES 1: first half of the season was up and down, although the September/October winning run really put the cat amongst the pigeons.

FIXTURES 2: but then in March and April we blew everyone away, and broke a club record for consecutive wins.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH

Playoffs

We drew Chorley in the playoffs but decided that was didn't fancy it, capitulating in the first leg. In the second leg, we were all over them but with such a big deficit, I don't think my players believed...

SEMI FINAL 1ST LEG | SEMI FINAL 2ND LEG

Squad and Club Info

Squad | Transfers | Season Review | Awards | Fans Player | Top Goalscorer 1 | Top Goalscorer 2 (Level)

Season     Division                        Pos    FA Cup           Other Comps         Continental Comps    Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Vanarama National North         3rd    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final​

[Bennio]

BARWELL FC

SEASON 2016-17

VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH

This is easily the most challenging save I have ever had on FM. And I played the first version of CM to death on my Amiga as a kid and have continued to play the game through its many versions. I am really enjoying this challenge so far! Barwell was tipped 5001 for promotion and had all but two ok players in the starting squad. And with a reputation value of 1400 it became hard to sign any players of note until the scouting network was up and running, and the "desperate free transfers got available during the autumm. The team was against the wall for a long period of the first season. Especially since manager Bennio had told the board to expect a mid table finish. Mid season the team were really struggling and had only accumulated 16p after 17 matches. Former players and club icons started to question the job I were doing. Looking back it could be the that the great FA-cup effort saved me the job. Going all the way to the 2th round and crowned the competitions overacheivers in the end. Beating Port Vale 0-3 away in a classic acheivement for Barwell in the process. The board was pleased during this period but became more and more unpatient and though they were never lower then satisfied the situation didnt get any better when the team started to get points. The other teams around did just the same and it looked as though 50 points wouldnt be enough to stay up at some point. It was vital the team continued to produce results. And that was hard enough. Games usally ended in a draw or a 1 goal win or loss. It was close and many times unfair. In the end a third team in the relagation battle crumbled and we could draw a sigh of relief one game before the end of the season. It didnt look that way when we were under the relegation zone with 45p 3 games remaining. The team ended on 52p total and a great 17th position all things considered. Barwell became the league overacheivers.

League: 17th pos 52p (Predicted 22th)

FA-Cup: 2th round (v Sutton Utd)

FA Throphy: 2th round (v Woking)

Acheivments: League overacheivers, FA-Cup overacheivers

Key Players: Michael Tetteh (CM) 7.24 "Fans Player of the year", George Forsyth (CM) 7.24, Toppscorer: Jordan Walshaw 6.95 (12 League goals, 17 goals total)

Other: Avg attendance 243, Leagues lowest and a slight concern for the future. Overall balance 5,958

2016-17 VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH League:17th (22), FA-Cup: 2th round, FAT: 2t round, Acheivemnets: OA in League and FA-CUP

[GreyedOutMan]

Club logo - just search for an image online, and post the following without spaces:

[ img ] THE WEB ADDRESS FOR THE IMAGE [ / i m g ]

"code" - again no spaces

[ c o d e ] YOUR CONTENT HERE [ / c o d e ]

[GreyedOutMan]

I signed a decent player - he looked very sharp in the friendlies. Now this. Unbelievable.

[Badger With A Hat]

I am late to start, but will be giving this a go. I have to have a link to the teams that I play so I had to reload and reload and reload until a good option came up. I have family living in sunny Canvey Island so grabbed the chance to take charge there.

[/img]

I will update progress at the Mid Point and at the end of the year.

[GreyedOutMan]

Another new signing, one of the four best players in my squad, and this happens on his debut! Curses.

[Bennio]

Thanks but it didnt work. I have posted it as you told? What am I doing wrong?

[Bennio]

I got it to work using a forum link on the site I used. Thanks anyway GreyedOutMan.

[Bennio]

BARWELL FC

SEASON 2017-18

VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH

The 2th season we had a stronger squad and a foundation to build upon. The run in last season had been good and the off season gave us a chance to look at new players that could fit into our system. It was with great optimism we started the new season. Though the media had predicted us on 20th place and the team comparisment saw the team lacking in curtain areas compared to other teams, this team was much stronger then the one who battled bravely and on equal terms with the stronger teams in the division last year. It didnt go aswell as we thought at all though, and the team was rock bottom after 8 games into the season. We played well and seemed to be the better team but we just didnt pick up any points. It became better as the season progressed but after 29 games I reverted back to a tactic I have used earlier. It could be the 27 player transfers this season had made it a challenge to gel as a team. We were placed 13th in the league on 38p 10 points away from play off place. The team seemed to have stronger potential then it had showned up until that point. That decision was a good one and the team went on a winning streak and I winning the manager of the month award. The team didnt concede a goal for 6 matches and were unbeaten in 10 and went up as high as 7th place in the league. 5 games remaining we just manged to pick up 6 points and ended on a comfortable 10th place with 60p in the end. We had made progress and in a much stronger state then the relegation contenders from last year. Next season could see us in the play off spot! Only worring thing is the finances. 198k GBP in the red and revenues hard to come by. With average attendance at around 240 we are dependent on good cup runs.

League: 10th pos 60p (Predicted 20th)

FA-Cup: 4th Qualifying round (v Hednesford)

FA Throphy: 2th round (v Bromley)

Acheivments: 3th placed Manager of the year

Key Players: George Thomson (CM) 7.16 "Fans Player of the year", George Forsyth (CM) 7.15, Toppscorer: Jason Williams (CS) 7.07 (18 League goals, 21 goals total in 38 games)

Other: Overall balance -198k GBP

2016-17 VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH League:17th (22), FA-Cup: 2th round, FAT: 2t round, Acheivemnets: OA in League and FA-CUP

2017-18 VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH League:10th (20), FA-Cup: 4th Qr round, FAT: 2t round, Acheivemnets: 3th placed Manager of the year

[Lenzar]

Badger With A Hat good luck. Dafuge himself did the challenge in FM15 with Canvey Island so you've good company.

Anyone else finding it a little tougher to sign good enough players this time around?