dafuge's FM16 challenge

Vipertitan · March 6, 2016

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?

im in League two find it bit harder to buy players for blyth like to be honest with you.

TFDM · March 6, 2016

Darlington - Season 2019/20 - Conference North

League Table | Transfers | Squad

Another season of progress but there was heartbreak. We started the season well with only one defeat in the first 10 games. However this was tempered by a sequence of two wins in the next 10. Early December to mid February however we were unplayable. We lost only one game and at one stage looked like we might actually win the league. But we struggled as the season drew to a close. We won twice in the final few games and only just squeezed into the play-offs on goal difference after a final day defeat.

We played Boston in the semi-finals who finished second and remarkably turned our poor form around and secured a 2-0 home win. After going a goal behind early in the second leg we levelled thanks to Piteu Crouz and kept Boston out to book a place in the final. However it wasn't meant to be. We played Worcester (a team who we haven't got a great record against) and found ourselves 2-0 down after 35 minutes. After a half time set to and a change of strategy we looked far better in the second half. We pulled a goal back five minutes after the restart courtesy of Crouz and then substitute Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson bagged the equaliser on 91 minutes to force extra time. There is only one team in it now and its us. We take the lead thanks to Crouz's second goal of the afternoon and we're nearly there.

Worcester however pile forward and equalise 6 minutes from the end. We got to penalties and predictably we lose. It means yet another season in the Conference North.

Top Players

Phil Turnbull - Outstanding season from Turnbull. An absolute rock in the centre of the pitch.

Callum Chippendale - Found his place on the wing and chipped in with seven assists.

Liam Travers - A new signing to replace Nikolay Todorov and he chipped in with goals after a slow start.

Top Scorer

Piteu Crouz - Scored 20 goals and finished as the top scorer again. Also bagged two in the play-off final. I don't expect him to be here next season. Hes already on a lot of money for this level and doesn't seem keen on signing a new deal. Pity.

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
2019/20	       Conference North	       5th	      2QR	 1st Rnd	 N/A	       N/A	    Play-off Finals

Rashidi · March 6, 2016

I am back :-) 3 years later for another go. This time its Kingstonian. And I am doing a whole YT series on them. First season, midway point, top of the table.

GreyedOutMan · March 7, 2016

SEASON 2017-18

VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH

League

We were predicted to finish 4th, so actually one place lower than last year. And I think we might have made the playoffs, but a 90th minute equaliser in our penultimate game cost us second consecutive appearance in the playoffs. Disappointing, but two of our big signings (who would have been two of our four best players) were injured for, between them, about sixteen months, so I guess it's understandable. It's also worth mentioning that we were only three points behind last year's tally and it cost us six places. I'm not mentioning cups yet, because there hasn't been anything of note. When there is, I'll include a cups section.

FIXTURES 1: a dreadful run up to Christmas saw us go out of both cups and slip behind in the league.

FIXTURES 2: we improved after Christmas, but April was a killer month for us and cost us dearly, especially the Boston and Harrogate defeats: both teams who made the playoffs.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH

A frustrating season of no real progress of note. And money is now very very tight - it might be a while before I'm this strong again...

Squad and Club Info

A few things to point out from this year - loan signing Rhule is in fact called Nick, but I signed him purely for his high pace and finishing - he's crap in any other respect - and he scored all six of his goals off the bench, and was my most prolific goalscorer in terms of minutes per goal, hence the nickname. Klukowski and Walton were the two signings who were injured for most of the season.

Season     Division                        Pos     Pts    FA Cup           Other Comps         Continental Comps    Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    Vanarama National North         3rd      67    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
2017/18    Vanarama National North        10th      64    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None

Cloondawg · March 7, 2016

im in League two find it bit harder to buy players for blyth like to be honest with you.

Agree with this, I'm Blyth too and finding it tougher than last time. Although, it adds to the challenge and fun!

TFDM · March 7, 2016

Finding it very hard to sign decent quality players in the conference North. Also finding it a struggle to keep players who do well. Piteu Crouz for example was with the club when I took over. Scored 20 goals a season and fair enough he wants more money and refused to open talks. However it is now September in my latest season and hes without a club. Based on previous experience he'll retire in a few months like some other players who did the same. That seems daft.

GreyedOutMan · March 7, 2016

After the first five games I was in the playoffs. The only changes I have made since then have been to bring in a few players who are SIGNIFICANT improvements in terms of attributes. Someone explain to me how this is realistic?!

Bennio · March 8, 2016

After the first five games I was in the playoffs. The only changes I have made since then have been to bring in a few players who are SIGNIFICANT improvements in terms of attributes. Someone explain to me how this is realistic?!

They need to gel as a team. Maybe try Team Cohesion training and teamwork in match preperation. When the team gets bad morale stronger teams with great players tend to struggle.

G_D_K · March 9, 2016

Sutton Coldfield

Season 7 (2022/23)

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

Season 7 (first in League 2) was a season of (quite literally at times) survival. An injury ravaged preseason (which I blame the chairman on --- he took a £200K bank loan to replace the synthetic pitch we'd played on for years with a grass pitch) and first month of league football left me with 7 starters out injured --- most for 2-4 months. With no budget room, despite a small increase in wages allowed, meant I had to field a patchwork team most of the season. Even after the early injuries were cleared up, we continued to lose players for 3-5 weeks at a time, meaning we had very little in the way of continuity. Add to that the difficulty of adjusting to the pace of the new league and we were always going to have problems.

Our longest run was a 4-match unbeaten streak in March, and that was the extent of our consistency. On the other hand, our longest streak of matches w/o a win was only 6, and that was in August when we were at our worst as far as injuries go. Interspersed were just enough wins to keep us ahead of the drop zone...though it wasn't until we bested League Winners Forest Green with 5 matches to go that we secured our spot in League 2 for another season (though it took one more match to mathematically secure the spot, the goal differential was such that I wasn't worried).

There were not a lot of stand-out performances to speak of. Newcomer Devante Rodney has shown some promise...on paper he is my best striker, and he led the team with 13 goals, however he seems to lack consistency. To be fair, the lack of key players throughout the season certainly did not help, and hopefully if we can stay injury free, and pick up a playmaker or two in the off season, he'll start to thrive. Simon Buckley and Jordyn Sheerin did okay, both scoring 12 times, but neither looked completely comfortable with the pace of play in the new league. Meanwhile, Liam Sayers --- the leading goalscorer of the past 4 or 5 seasons, well completely off the boat, netting only 4 times all season (2 of those in the FAC against lower-league Marine).

Defensively, Lewis Turner and Frank Harper --- rotating in at the DR position, combined for 24 assists (12 apiece), and will continue to provide a spark in the coming season as they grow into their roles in the new league. GK Martin Paterson will be a great keeper---if I can manage to keep him on the squad. He's still signed for another year---but so far has refused to sign an extension on the basis that he doesn't feel the squad is strong enough to meet his ambitions.

PROMOTION/PLAYOFFS

It looks to be at least 2 years before we'll even compete!

Cup Competitions

Our inaugural match in the League Cup was actually very entertaining, as we went away to Brighton and scored 3 goals (Buckley with 2, while midfielder Lynch with a stunning free kick). Unfortunately, L1 Brighton was just to overpowering in their own attack, and they put 5 on the scoreboard against us, sending us out --- and setting the tone for the rest of the season.

Shortly after, we had our first ever Johnstone's Paint Trophy match, and once again we put up a valiant fight against a L1 team (Bradford City), but fell just short, losing 3-2 despite a late push to equalize. Simon Buckley once again grabbed a goal, while DC Bassala Sambou also got one of his own off of a set piece.

We had a better run in the FA Cup, making it to the third round by beating Bromley 4-1 (4 different goalscorers), and Marine (3-2, with Sayers getting 2 of his 4 goals of the season in the match). In an interesting draw for the 2nd round, it looked like we might face nemesis Preston North End in the FAC 2nd Round for the 3rd consecutive year, as with six teams left to draw the, our two teams were still in the bucket---but we got lucky and drew Marine instead. This win against Marine sent us to our first ever 3rd round appearance, with a trip away to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea. A 38th minute goal by youngster Phil Rowell gave us a 1-0 halftime lead, but Swansea pounced early in the 2nd half, scoring in the 49th minute and breaking the teams resistance. In the end, Swansea managed 33 shots (11 on target) in a 4-1 win, and out we went. The £170K(ish) in gate receipts did help though!

Additional Details

Team of the Season

Best XI Inductees -- Two new players -- DM Clovis Kamdjo and GK Martin Paterson were inducted into the Historical Best XI

Fans Player of the Season: Lewis Turner was a repeat winner of the Fan Favorite this year, garnering 55% of the vote, midfielder Ryan East grabbed 19% and Turner's rotation option Frank Harper grabbed 16%.

Signing of the Season: Ryan East (MC) (free)

Young Player of the Season: Ryan East (MC)

Other awards:

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.

S7: Callum Scott (MC) Decent technicals and great Mental stats for a 16yo --- some improvement in physical attributes and he might break into the 1st team soon. Starting 4.5* potential!

[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)
[b][i][u]Sutton Coldfield-- Team[/u][/i][/b]

[b]Highest League Position --[/b] 17[b]th[/b] [b]in Sky Bet League Two (2022/23[/b])
Highest Attendance -- 2715 (vs Cheltenham, VNL playoff semi final, 7 May 2022) (previous record: 1561  vs Altrincham, VNN playoff S/F, 11 May 2019)
Highest Gate Receipts -- £41.16k (vs Cheltenham, VNL Playoff semi final, 7 May 2022) (previous record: £23.66K vs Altrincham, VNN playoff S/F, 11 May 2019)
[b]Average Attendance -- 756 (2022/23)[/b] (previous high: 535--2021/22)
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)
[b]Highest Scoring Game -- 4-6 (vs Hartlepool, 17 Dec 2022)[/b] (Previous high: 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 Lost in a Row -- 5 (28 Feb - 25 mar 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 )
[b][i][u]Sutton Coldfield -- Individual[/u][/i][/b]

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 -- 119* [/b]Previous Record Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson (72)
[b]Most League Appearances for club -- Nathan Ben Askins (315*) [/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), 33y236d[/b] (previous record: Anthony McNamee (AML) 32y213d)
[b]Fastest Goal --[/b] [b]Devante Rodney: 24s[/b]  (previous record: Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson (35s)
Highest Transfer Fee Paid -- Martin Paterson (GK) -- £16K 1 Jan 22
Highest Transfer Fee Received -- Jon Sephton (DC) -- £3K 3 Feb 22

Promoted from the Regional Premier Division Teams:

Southport, Blyth, Histon, Aldershot, East Thurrock, Chippenham

League Winners (relegated)

EPL Chelsea (Reading, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace)

Championship West Brom (Burnley, Barnsley, Peterborough)

League One Luton (Newport Co, Barnet, Yeovil, Crewe)

League Two Forest Green (Gateshead, Port Vale)

Vanarama National Lg Accrington (Worcester, Macclesfield, Maidenhead, Skelmersdale)

Vanarama North Colwyn Bay (Solihull Moors, North Ferriby, Kidderminster)

Vanarama South Bristol Rovers (Bognor Regis, Boreham Wood, Bishop's Stortford)

Cup Winners

English FA Cup Chelsea (v Swansea) *Domestic Double for Chelsea---following the Treble from last year

Capital One Cup Man City (vs Man Utd)

Jonhstone's Paint Trophy Sheffield Utd (vs Coventry) **Sheffield Utd last year's runner up

English FA Trophy Stockport (vs Dulwich Hamlet)

Euro Qualifcation

Champions League Group Stage: Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City

Champions League best placed playoff: Man Utd

Euro Cup Group Stage: Liverpool, Tottenham

Euro Cup Playoff:

Euro Cup 3rd QR: QPR

Euro Cup 1st QR:

Continental Achievements

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

Fulham: Eliminated from Euro Cup First Knockout Round (by Sevilla)

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

Tottenham: Eliminated from Champions League Second Knockout Round (By Napoli)

Man City: Eliminated from Champions League Quarter Final (by Paris Saint-Germain)

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

Chelsea: Elimiated from Champions League Final (by Paris Saint-Germain)

Extra detail: none

What's Next?

We need a lot of help! I fielded the least # of players (24) as any in League Two --- mainly because I had no options. I only had about £1.5K free in salary room to start the season; my attempts at offloading players (mostly reserves who would never fit onto the team) in order to offload some salary were blocked by the board (insufficient funds to buy out the contracts I guess) --- trying to sell players completely failed. I'll likely get a small salary boost to start the next season, but am not losing too many players either. I can hope that injuries could be blamed for a lot of the inconsistency--- but that cannot be everything. Looking at my existing players --- I have a handful that have a CA of Vanarama National level, with the rest still being only VNN/VNS capable. I really need to upgrade my training facilities....but cannot envision that coming any time soon (I did persuade the board to open a training facility share/affiliation --- with Leiceter Road, who have at least one stage better training ground than Sutton Coldfield at present!). But, the board will likely have to take a loan out to upgrade the stadium to bring it to L2 standards --- an option they put off last season (instead opting to take a £200K loan, repayable at £1.5K/mo -- in order to replace our synthetic pitch with a grass pitch).

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)
2022/23    Sutton Coldfield    Sky Bet League 2      22(24)           Survived! Lg 2 Overachiever

Terk · March 9, 2016

Back for my first attempt at this challenge since FM10, when I took Canvey Island to back-to-back Premier League titles (without winning a single other league title along the way) but ran out of steam before I won the Champions League and completed the challenge. After much soul-destroying reloading (and being tempted to give up and join the masses managing Salford), I finally got the club I wanted, Marine. So here's my profile shot and confirmation of my past playing experience and coaching badges

Bartrcm · March 9, 2016

After finishing my youth challenge in Italy and don't get into another youth challenge, I'll give this one a new try.

Meet the new manager of Chesham. Haven't seen this team in this challenge, so decided to try them.

Vipertitan · March 9, 2016

Blyth Spartans - Sky Bet League 2- 2019/20

League Table

League Positions. I knew this season was going to be tough season but sadly we were rooted to the relegation fight all season and went down.

FA Cup-We got beat 1-0 of Dartford.

Capital One Cup- We got Rotherham United in our first round tie and got beat 4-0.

Johnstone's Paint Trophy- We Doncaster And got beat 3-0.

Squad-I thought i had build a decent team to avoid relegation, but was not to be.

Transfers-We had no money for transfers so free transfers and one loan player bought in.

finances-This is starting to get out of hand now the board need to sort this out soon or we go bust.

Key Player Profiles

Rene Howe - Bought in for his knowledge of the game to help my forwards understand this league played ok.

Ovie Ejaria - Former Workington player had decent first year.

Michael Richardson-Played well come back from a serious injuries.

Diego Hawkins-bought in last year but could not play due to not have work permit, he was shocking but hope to have better season from him this season come.

Connor Martin-club captain had decent season.

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
2019/20    Blyth Spartans           England     League   Two                              24th Relegated

Next Season

Get rid of some of the deadwood and try avoid relegation.

GreyedOutMan · March 9, 2016

SEASON 2018-19

VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH

League

We were predicted to finish 4th, the same as last year. And it started well, with three wins from the first five games. But after that it was a disaster! We only won back to back games once more before April, and worse still, it was usually 4-5 games between any wins. Relegation looked a slim possibility which was mad with the squad I had. Then suddenly, Adam Edgar woke up and scored 9 goals in 4 games, leaving me wondering what had happened to my team all season! We lost the last game which was annoying because it cost us a place, and I did nothing different against a side who were only just safe from relegation. But oh well.

I'll be massively overhauling the squad this summer: bunch of overpaid prima donnas, unfortunately. We have been gradually going backwards but this year should have been a lot better - the quality is there but the players just don't apply themselves. Only seven of my 19 senior players on contracts will be getting a new one.

FIXTURES 1: we were barely able to string two wins together - we only did it twice and never won three in a row.

FIXTURES 2: something happened in April, but it was far too late for a shot at the playoffs.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH

After a season of no progress, this was a massively negative season. We're so far off where I was in that first year!

Squad and Club Info

Season     Division                        Pos     Pts    FA Cup           Other Comps         Continental Comps    Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10747418&viewfull=1#post10747418]2016/17[/url]    Vanarama National North         3rd      67    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10749171&viewfull=1#post10749171]2017/18[/url]    Vanarama National North        10th      64    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
2018/19    Vanarama National North        13th      53    2nd Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None

Bennio · March 10, 2016

BARWELL FC

SEASON 2018-19

VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH

This season the media predicted us on a 7th place finish. We had done really well on the transfer market and strengthen the team with players like Bostens speedster Kane Felix, Lely Della Verde, Luke Lofts that later became only "Luke" among the fans, and Offrande Zanzala (that needed a little persuasion to sign). The feeling was very optimistic but could the team deliver? Last year the early stages of the season was a let down, but a change in tactic transformed the team to a even stronger unit. The intial fears were soon thrown out the window by the dominating performances on display. Winning most games comfortable with 3-4 goals the first 10 matches. Then suddenly we lost a match at home to the bottom team Kettering. Then lost the next 3 matches, and the great optimism turned to uncertainty around the team true capablities. Despite this the team held on to the 1st place leading with not more then 3 points for quite a while. Then the chasing teams lost ground and we led by nine points 27 matches into the season. A little slump in form reduced the lead to 5 points at one point, but a strong end to season made us win the league comfortable with 11 points. Champions! The great heroes of the campaign were Luke who scored 31 goals in 36 app. Dele Verde contributed with 19 assists from midfield and Alli Abdullahi was the heart and steel of a midfield that dominated most matches. Winning the average possesion with 56.71%. Almost 4.5% points better then the next best team. Only worring thing is, that despite all this, the team still had the worst average attendance in the league with 294. We need to get creative to get a positive cash flow. That now is 350k in the red.

League: Champions! 82p (Predicted 7th)

FA-Cup: 1th round (v Rotherham)

FA Throphy: 1th round (v Harrogate)

Acheivments: Manager of the year

Key Players: Lyle Della Verde (CM) 7.58 " "Fans Player of the year", Alli Abdulahi (DM) 7.47, Jack Phillips (CM) 7.31, Toppscorer: Luke (CS) 7.48 (29 League goals, 31 goals total in 36 games), Will Beesley (LB) 7.32, Luke Trottman (RB) 7.24

Other: Overall balance -350k GBP

HONOURS: 1st VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH 2018-19

PERSONAL AWARDS: Manager of the year 2018-19

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

2018-19 VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH League:Champions (7), FA-Cup: 1th round, FAT: 1t round, Acheivemnets: Manager of the year

,

michaeltmurrayuk · March 10, 2016

Skelmerdale - League 1 2022/23 - Season 7

Well it's been a while as I got distracted playing XCOM2 among other things, but finally got this season finished off this week, hopefully the next one won't take as long.

So after walking the league last season the plan this season was to stay up, though the board expected a mid-table position, with the media predicting we'd finish 15th, whilst the bookies gave us an outside chance of promotion, though they seemed to hedge their bets with the bulk of the sides in the division getting the same odds so this could be a close season.

Reputation - Bit of a surprise as our reputation hits the mid point and is better than quite a few 'bigger' teams.

Scout Range - More good news as the board allow us to scout Europe, not sure why they asked if I wanted our range expanded as it's not as though there is any cost or downside to expanding our scouting range, the costs come from the actually sending of scouts.

Transfers - Some mixed results as finding players wasn't a problem it was finding players whose demands we could meet, as players were wanting to be paid the same amount as the rest of my entire team aswell as wanting signing/agent fees we couldn't afford, competition was also fierce when we did find an affordable player another team quite often blew our offer out of the water, so I was limited to signing young players with potential who would hopefully improve as the season went on.

Though we did suffer a major blow on deadline day when my Chairman sold Right Back Facey to a Hartlepool side backed by a Chinese Tycoon for a club record £325K after I spent the summer rejecting lower bids for him, thankfully I had already brought in a replacement for him and in January I used that money to sign a Promising 17yo Icelandic Left Back for a club record £135K and he became my first and so far only actual purchase.

League Cup - Another year another defeat to yet another strong Championship side.

Paint Trophy - Woeful we just couldn't score and were knocked out on pens in the first round by Accrington.

FA Cup - Another decent run as we made it to the Third Round before being beaten by Championship side Ipswich.

League One - Interesting is the best way to describe this season. We started off with three straight wins and for the first half of the season we found ourselves in an unlikely title race and finishing the year unbeaten in 10 games to sit top of the table, however come the turn of the year we fell to pieces going six games without a win losing four of them as I lost the right side of my team to injuries whilst the left forgot how to play football.

We eventually claimed two wins in Feb, but that was a false dawn as we lost five of the next seven games as even the refs turned against us, we lost to Leyton Orient after the ref gave them a dodgy pen and then lost to MK Dons after we had a perfectly good goal ruled out for offside.

However despite our woeful form we still somehow stayed in contention for the second promotion spot as everyone below us kept on messing up, well apart from Crewe who walked to the title in the end and it wasn't until defeat to Carlisle in our 44th game that Swindon finally took the second place from us.

And as predicted by the media at the start of the season the league was very tight, with just two games left only the first and last positions had been claimed, with anyone down to ninth still having a chance of automatic promotion, the 13th placed side could still claim a playoff spot whilst the 14th placed side could still get relegated :eek:

Of course in the next game we all but blew our chances of finishing second after drawing to Barnsley we needed to win our final game and hoped Swindon lost to a Crewe side who were on their holidays, we also need at least a draw to secure a playoff spot with Leyton Orient level with us and four teams three points behind with three of them all having a better goal difference.

But in the end the final game didn't matter Swindon won to claim promotion and enough of the teams below us didn't win, all our draw against Oldham did was ensure they didn't overtake us, though Leyton Orient did.

In the Playoff Semi-Final we drew a Barnsley side we'd beaten and drawn to without conceeding against in the league, but despite dominating the First Leg we just couldn't score and fell behind to a goal from former loanee Peters, but thankfully a late goal from sub Bacon kept us in the tie. The Second Leg went the same way as we again controlled the game but were let down by our finishing before Striker Lavery recalled to the side scored a late penalty to book our place at Wembley.

In the Playoff Final we faced fellow newly promoted side Leyton Orient who had my former Keeper Lyness as their number one despite him not really being good enough for League 2, hopefully he wouldn;t come back to haunt me, of course we also had a rotten record against them having won just two of our nine encounters so far, the one thing we did have going for us was our 100% record in the playoffs having won both our previous playoff final matches.

The Final itself was a cagey affair with both of us being woeful in front of the goal and in the end an early goal from my Dutch Winger van der Meer was enough to settle the tie and send us up to the Championship :cool:

[video=youtube_share;biVyDd7cibI]

Also despite our woeful form in the second half of the season we still had the best defence in the league and kept the most clean sheets, which was good considering we scored fewer goals than the bottom club.

Squad, Overview and Review

I actually went through a couple of Keepers this season first up was Nick Pope who was brought in at the start of the season because he was the best I could find, though he did lose his place to Loanee Aaron Baines who eventually agreed to return on loan, however in January I snapped up Belgian born Moroccan Ilias Moutha Sebtaoui who'd been released by Man Utd and according to my staff is a Prem rated GK :cool:

At Right Back the loss of Facey was a disappointment however I'd already signed his replacement Tyrell Warren who was another former Utd youngster with a Prem Potential and his early performances quickly made us forget Facey however on Boxing Day he damaged his cruciate ligaments and would be ruled out for nearly a year and it was no concidence our form imploded after we lost him, to replace him I brought in Madela Egbo but he turned out to be useless so I turned to Stoke loanee Daniel Marshall who stepped up with some fine performances.

At Left Back after I lost Borthwick-Jackson I reloaned Jamal Nelson from Arsenal and he did ok, but lost his position in the second half of the season to Promising Icelander Helgi Bjornsson who cost me a fair bit of money but is very highly rated and even managed to keep the promising tag which is rare at this level and whilst he got off to an awful start he ended the season in excellent form.

At Centre-Back there was no real change as Stephen Arthurworrey and Samuel Friojonsson continued their partnership though they did both have some poor games and I'm not sure they will be good enough next year, and rather surprisingly Arthurworrey was named in the Team of the Year. Providing cover yet again was Fulham Loanee Craig Harvey and new signing Joe Cook though neither of them impressed.

In the Centre of Midfield was Dutchman Rodney Kongolo who had a solid season but much preferred the DM role, though he won't be around next season as NEC offered him a contract out of the blue though I didn't think he'd be good enough next season anyway. Playing alongside him in the support role was Nick Bacon who had another solid season the fact that he is my only set-piece taker helped him out, though with the change in Midfield roles in the later half of the season he lost his place to Jim Carroll who arrived from Stoke and was a slightly better option in the Ball Winning Role. Providing cover was Frenchman Morgan Vincent who started the season well but a long term injury set him back and it doesn't look like he'll improve enough, whilst Paulinho did well to come back from a long term injury but also isn't really good enough any longer and will be released along with Vincent, on the plus side Paulinho did set a new Appearance Record beating Lyness' 125 appearances with him finishing with 138 League Appearances, though this does seem to be a bit of a poisoned chalice as the record holder seems to quickly leave the club.

Playing further forward in the Shadow Striker Role was Frenchman Abdelhak Benaniba who was again in fine form though more goals would have been nice, and with the change in formation he dropped back into the more advanced MC role. Providing cover was a highly rated Spanish Youngster Asier Calle who arrived after being released by Lower League Sesato River and put in some good performances.

On the Right Wing was DJ Buffonge who continued to improve, though he did have some competition in Spanish Loanee Victor Lopez who started the season upfront scoring a few goals before switching to the Winger to cover the injuried DJ where he was much better and with Hull just about staying in the Prem hopefully they'll let me have him again next season, it was also rather worrying that he was my top scorer with just 10 goals

Starting the season on the Left was returing Loanee Gavin Forrester however he couldn't recreate last seasons form and lost his place to Dutch Winger Jordy van der Meer who arrived after being released by AZ and after a slow start ended the season well scoring the goal that sent us up.

Upfront Caolan Lavery did ok as he grabbed nine assists for the third season in a row but was fairly poor in front of goal, in the second half of the season I loaned in Jonathan White who gave us a bit more threat in front of goal but with Sunderland finishing bottom of the Prem I doubt they'll let me have him next season.

Stat Pack - Performances against the top sides let us down this season and like normal the first goalscorer pretty determined the games winners, with 1-0 and 1-1 being our most common results.

Best XI - Nearly right, but I'd swapped Benanib with Lavery and replace Lavery with Kongolo for the actual team.

Overall XI - Two changes as Benaniba comes in for Dobie in Midfield and Friojonsson replaces Oliver in Defence

Attendance - Nice jump in our attendance as they pretty much double over last seasons, though we still have the worst in real numbers.

Salary - Bottom again as we were way out of our league, next season should be fun, also not sure what is up with the spend column it seems to have reset everyone who spent money to £0, Hartlepool for example spent nearly £3m.

Finances - we end the season in profit thanks to the ~£800K bribe from the Premier League, though we did spend ~£900K upgrading our facilities this season so our finances are better than they look - Whilst the budget information is for next season, with this seasons transfer budget being left as zero as the £29K p/w wages took up all our budget.

Facilities - We got both our Training and Youth Facilities upgraded this season, though our training facilities are still woeful, the board also agreed to improve our Youth Level at the end of the season, but so far no option to improve our Youth Recruitment.

Knowledge - With the ability to scout Europe I spent the season trying to increase our knowledge, mainly by snapping up any decent coaches with some good knowledge.

Profile - Slight increases to some of my stats, whilst my Reputation gets a small increase to Decent, but the board rejected any attempts to get some more coaching badges, I also couldn't take a cheap new contract either with the board forcing me to increase my wage from £55 p/w to £425 p/w.

Plans For Next Season

As normal the main plan is to stay up next season, especially as apart from my Keeper and Young Left Back most of this team might struggle in the Championship considering the core of the team is the one that I had in League 2.

Priority new signings are a new Striker and a Centre-Back or two and possibly a new Midfielder, and I may also need to replace my loans players on the Right if I cannot get them back.

State of The World

Premier League - Man Utd claim the title for only the second time beating Chelsea by one point and that was thanks to QPR scoring in the 90th minute against Chelsea on the final day. Everton tip City to third place, with Liverpool, Spurs and Palace all claiming the Europa spots, leaving Arsenal without European football next season. At the bottom Villa and Sunderland go straight back down taking Derby with them.

Managerwise Pochettino is finally lured away from Spurs to take charge of Liverpool, which leaves Mourinho as the only original manager left.

In the Championship Bristol City and Bournemouth go straight back up with Charlton following them, at the bottom Brighton, Preston and Bradford all went down.

In League Two Ebbsfleet win the League whilst Doncaster are banished to the Conference.

In the Conference Hemel Hempstead get promoted to the Football League for the first time ever, whilst Bolton were only three points away from being relegated out of the game.

FA Cup - Saw Liverpool beat Arsenal to end the domination of City (3), Chelsea (2) and Newcastle (2), in the League Cup Utd claimed it for the first time with an extra time win over Everton.

Champions League - Chelsea claimed it for the third time drawing level with Paris who they beat in the Semi-Final after beating Bayern in the Final. Arsenal and Liverpool fell in the Quarters with Spurs making the Knockout Round

Europa League - Marseille became the first French side to win it with victory over Watford, doing one better than a couple of years back when they lost to Madrid in the Final. Both Manchester sides and Barcelona were knocked out in the Second Knockout Round.

France - Paris win the league yet again, with Marseille claiming the cup for an unlikely double.

Germany - Bayern claim the title for the first time in five years beating Dortmund to the title by one goal, whilst last years cup winners HSV finish rock bottom, and Gladbach win the Cup for the first time since 1995.

Italy - Shock as Sassuolo claim the title with an ingame record 89pts whilst Fiorentina get relegated, and they complete an insane season by winning the Italian Cup

Holland - Ajax make it three in a row, whilst Groningen claim the cup at the third time of asking.

Scotland - Celtic reclaim the title at a canter with second placed Rangers only two points ahead of seventh placed St. Johnstone who were stuck on the wrong side of the league split. Celtic also claimed the Cup, with Rangers getting the League Cup.

Spain - Valencia piped Madrid to the title with Barcelona a distant third. Whilst Madrid beat Valencia in the Cup final.

Leaderboard points (FM Mode)

(My Steam Username is same as here if anyone wants to add me)

(points / position)

Single Game: 1,326,308 (182,205)

Single Season: 627,616 (139,619)

Single Season in England: 627,616 (74,872)

Single Season League 1: 86,896 (15,461)

Single Season League 2: 627,616 (1,524)

Single Season National League: 483,959 (1,520)

Single Season National North: 17,771 (804)

Career Overview

[TABLE=class: cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ MsoTableLi cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_ghtShading cms_table_cms_table_m, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Season[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]League[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Position[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Achievements (Domestic)[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Achievements

(Europe)[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Leaderboard Points

(Season / Game)

[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Euro C/E

(Place)

[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Average Attendance

(League)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]16/17[/TD]

[TD]National North[/TD]

[TD]16th[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]8,690 / 8,690[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]320 (10%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]17/18[/TD]

[TD]National North[/TD]

[TD]3rd[/TD]

[TD]Promoted - Playoff Winners[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]17,771 / 26,461[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]350 (11%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]18/19[/TD]

[TD]National League[/TD]

[TD]4th[/TD]

[TD]Promoted - Playoffs. FA Trophy Winners[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]483,959 / 510,420[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]460 (15%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]19/20[/TD]

[TD]League 2[/TD]

[TD]12th[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]46,701 / 557,121[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]845 (21%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]20/21[/TD]

[TD]League 2[/TD]

[TD]11th[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]54,675 / 611,796[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]930 (20%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]21/22[/TD]

[TD]League 2

[/TD]

[TD]1st[/TD]

[TD]Promoted - Champions!!![/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]627,616 / 1,239,412[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]1,275 (27%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]22/23

[/TD]

[TD]League 1

[/TD]

[TD]4th

[/TD]

[TD]Promoted - Playoff Winners

[/TD]

[TD]-

[/TD]

[TD]86,896 / 1,326,308

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]2,697 (53%)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Cloondawg · March 10, 2016

Season 6 (2021-22) - Vanarama National League

Competitions:

Overview

League | (Fixtures)

Expectation: Avoid relegation, Finish: 1st

Wasn't sure what to expect at the start of the season and was really struggling to bring in quality for this level, which led to using a lot of last years squad who had singed on again as rotation or backup options. We barely had a squad together going into the first few games, but managed to not lose in the first 6. As we added a a few players throughout the season we only got stronger and kept on winning. Our success was largely down to our strength at the back and ability to grind out results. We had the best defence in the league and the most clean sheets. At the other end, Bingham hit 24 league goals which was 3rd best in the league. In the end, we ran away with a 10 point lead at the top and always looked likely for promotion.

FA Cup

Expectation: Reach First Round, Finish: First Round

Cruised through against Hyde in the qualifying round before being drawn against League 2 side Blackpool. We lost 5-3 in a thrilling encounter.

FA Trophy

Expectation: Reach Second Round, Finish: Fourth Round

A decent run and disappointed not to win this competition as it definitely was achievable. However, we used rotated squads a lot and after some great high scoring games against Guiseley, Dulwich Hamlet and Havant & Waterlooville we were knocked out 1-0 away to fellow title contenders Ebbsfleet.

Club:

Squad: My players definitely overperformed this season and lot weren't supposed to be great at this level according to scouts and my assistant manager. A lot of last season's squad also featured and did well stepping up a division. I definitely benefited from strong team cohesion and tactical fluidity given that a lot of my players had been together for 2-3 seasons now.

Transfers: Added a few players to try and add quality at this level including Toner on loan from Bolton who was my best player from CM and a few defenders on free transfer who all did well.

Key Players:

Sean Toner: CM on loan from Bolton who ended the season on a 7.49 rating and dictated play from the middle

Devonte Redmond: Continued his fine form on from last season and added more goals to his game

Abdulai Bell-Baggie: Returned to the club after a season away at Halifax and was a revelation with 8 goals and 12 assists from the wing

Rakish Bingham: Equalled his goal tally from last season with 24 goals and adapted well at this level

Jack Truelove: Another one who looked consistently solid like last season and did well stepping up a level - provided a few assists from LB

Michael Richardson: The fan favourite didn't feature as much this season and missed 3 months through injury, but he still contributed from CM and playing further forward as a SS

Finances: Prize money for winning the league has lifted the finances a bit, but with stadium works required to compete in League 2 (delayed until next season due to poor finances). We've gone professional and increased the scouting range to include Ireland though!

Next Season:

Really think it will be tough next season due to overperforming last season with a poor reputation and struggling to bring in quality players for this level. I think this could catch up with me this season and we will do well to avoid relegation, which has to be the aim.

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       Promoted as champions!
2021/22    Blyth Spartans   Vanarama National League           1st       Promoted as champions!

Major Baws · March 10, 2016

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

After a good start to the season I ended up getting the boot at the end of January 2017 following a wretched run of bad luck that sent Whitby tumbling down the table.

On my first reload after starting again, Mickleover Sports showed up. Don't mind if I do... Manager Profile

miniman98 · March 11, 2016

Season 2 (2017/18): Vanarama North

Prediction: 18th (of 22)

Expectation: Avoid Relegation

Transfer: 8k

Wage: 6.6k/w

In: 9 for £0 (2 loan for £0)

Out: 5 for £0 (1 loan for £0)

Despite the worsening finances, we actually got a raise on the wage budget so I set about trying to get a little extra quality in. One new ST, two new CBs a LB and a few CMs came in as a few big wages left as well but only the defenders actually proved to be any better than our current fare in the end.

League: 13th

We started out this season playing a hundred times better than last season, not that it was hard. Unfortunately we still couldn’t get the results and ended up only winning 2 in the first 10 leaving us just above relegation once again. A couple of wins either side of cup fixtures began to push us up the ladder though, if only slowly. By new year we were in the same place as last season, 14th with a 7 point gap to relegation and 10 points up to the playoffs. We were able to maintain that until the end of the season, finishing 13th but we could easily have been a few places higher if only our ****ing inability to hold onto a lead didn’t mean we drew 5 of the last 6 matches, 2 conceding in injury time.

Cups:

The cups this year were my saving grace. A win over non-league Shaw Lane then a comfortable 1-0 win against Worcester gave us Salford, who we dispatched 2-0 to put us through to the first round. The draw gave us another non-league side in Dulwich Hamlet and we looked to be going out until two goals in the final 10 minutes took us through. Unfortunately we didn’t get quite the massive payday we wanted, drawing Dagenham and Redbridge in the second round where we lost 4-1 though really only the 2-1 was deserved and the last 2 goals came as we were pushing to equalise.

FA Cup: 2nd Round

(A) 3-0 Shaw Lane

(H) 1-0 Worcester

(H) 2-0 Salford

(A) 2-1 Dulwich Hamlet

(H) 1-4 Dag & Red

FA Trophy: 2nd Round

(H) 2-0 Worcester

(H) 2-2aet Boston Utd

(A) 1-1p Boston Utd

If we could just hold onto a few more bloody leads next year it would be nice and with the extra points we might even be able to push up into challenging for the playoffs. Finances are still in the ******* though and the players have been starting to mutiny over it towards the end of the season. The cup run kept us afloat for a while but even with that the chairman had to put in 180k just to keep us down to a loss of 60k. I genuinely don’t know how we’re going to keep afloat without another takeover or some kind of miracle because I have no players to sell even if I wanted to.

Average Attendance: 326 (+66)

Finances: -65k

Balance: -266k

End of Season Awards | Season Review | Confidence 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
2017/18        Conference North        13th       2nd Round    2nd Round       N/A          N/A

Bennio · March 11, 2016

I feel you miniman98. My experience exactly

GreyedOutMan · March 11, 2016

So....this just happened....

miniman98 · March 11, 2016

I feel you miniman98. My experience exactly

I'm actually just nearing the end of the third season but i've definitely not had the same revelation as you. Stuck in mid-table mediocrity again but I have seen a huge leap in the quality of players willing to consider us and just signed an amazing goalie in January so I'm hoping that revelation will come next year.

GreyedOutMan · March 12, 2016

SEASON 2019-20

VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH

League - predicted finish: 6th.

We should have gone up automatically this season, to be honest. It wasn't very impressive from Christmas onwards: we were second over the festive period and had been top before that but after Boxing Day, our record was P21, W8, D2, L11. It was just about enough to secure a playoff spot, however, albeit only the last one, which was disappointing when it had looked like an automatic promotion push was on the cards. I rested players ahead of the playoffs which cost me my highest points tally with Salford.

FIXTURES 1: you can see here how split the season was - we didn't lose until late September and were top through November. After that, our form nose-dived.

FIXTURES 2: that three-game winning streak in late-Jan and Feb 1st was absolutely crucial.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH

Playoffs

Tamworth were first up, a team I had a marginal winning record against, so I was relatively confident if we could find a bit of form. I made the big call to put Adam Edgar in ahead of Marriott or Walton, who would have done good jobs for sure. The first half was tight - one scare from a corner after 25 minutes. But that was it in terms of highlights. I came out a bit more in the second half, determined to take a lead back to Tamworth. But it backfired: 11 minutes into the second half, we were behind after losing a player who ran onto a cross without challenge. The Edgar gamble hadn't worked so on came Marriott to partner Iftikhar. We hadn't had a shot on target. We did get one in the remaining time, through Iftikhar, but it was easily saved and we never once looked like scoring in this game...

First Leg

It did give us a chance in the second leg, though. We had to turn around what was some pretty abysmal form at this point, having lost more than half our games since Boxing Day. We had a team meeting and it did seem to have a bit of an effect. Kapend came in for Edgar for the second leg in the only change. I played the first half on "counter", hoping for a bit of a smash-and-grab. We got battered for the first half-hour, and could have been several goals down. But we got through to half-time with the score 0-0 on the night. Something needed to change, however. I allowed the players a little more freedom and told them to go for it. The first ten minutes saw us create no chances, so on came John Rooney for a bit of creative flair. But instantly, we were 2-0 down on aggregate, Tamworth's Luke Parkin free to slot the ball past Flatt in goal. It seemed it was all over. On came Jack Marriott, but it was right winger Andy Berry, with help from some poor keeping, who gave us a chance, potentially with 15 minutes of our season remaining. Time ticked away...10 to go. 5 to go. I went for the unusual change of putting on a second winger for my full back and had players in MR and AMR - mainly because I didn't have another striker on the bench! Last few minutes...

Typically anticlimactic. Not a single highlight, and a really disappointing end to the season.

Second Leg

Squad and Club Info

Records Broken

Most goals in a season: Bradley Iftikhar - 22, despite missing about 3 months of the season through injury. High hopes for him next year. Badly let me down in the playoff game, though.

Season     Division                        Pos     Pts    FA Cup           Other Comps         Continental Comps    Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10747418&viewfull=1#post10747418]2016/17[/url]    Vanarama National North         3rd      67    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10749171&viewfull=1#post10749171]2017/18[/url]    Vanarama National North        10th      64    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
[url=http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10754210&viewfull=1#post10754210]2018/19[/url]    Vanarama National North        13th      53    2nd Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
2019/20    Vanarama National North         5th      66    3rd Qual Rd      FAT: 1st qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final

GreyedOutMan · March 12, 2016

One of the more bizarre screenshots I've taken. Why? Well if I tell you that Telford are top of the league, you might agree with me...

Bennio · March 12, 2016

Good luck my fellow Barwell man. Focus on finding gems are a challenge intilally being at this club, but absolutely crucial to advance in this edition for a club like ours in my experience.

GreyedOutMan · March 12, 2016

Oh dear. Star player with 14 goals already in December...

Rashidi · March 13, 2016

Well my first season is done. Did pretty well, toughest first season I've ever had. We started off the season with a massive recruitment drive in the neighbourhood of london. 300 players later, we settled on a squad that could challenge for the title, and thats what we did, winning it in our first attempt.

Here's my manager profile

Our league position

I've also detailed my journey on youtube if anyone is interested. This has been one of my favourite challenges thus far. It's still one of the hardest

GreyedOutMan · March 13, 2016

SEASON 2020-21

VANARAMA NATIONAL NORTH

League - predicted finish: 1st

This season was meant to be all about one man: Bradley Iftikhar. He scored 14 goals and was our top goalscorer as expected. But that was in half a season, after which he got a dreaded cruciate ligament injury and is out until at least September. It was a shocker and we were struggling for goals after that although a decent regen came through who looks promising up there. However, our defence did us proud this year, and a run of four wins and three draws in the final seven games saw us grab a playoff place and our highest points tally ever. Not bad for a team missing their star striker (not to mention three other top players who all got injuries measured in months not weeks).

FIXTURES 1: a really dodgy start to the season cost us automatic promotion.

FIXTURES 2: the second half of the season was title-winning form.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH

In the first leg, we played beautifully in the first half, with young regen Martin Croasdale scoring two in six minutes early on. After that we kept it really tight and came away from the ground with one foot in the final. More importantly, our form looked fantastic ahead of a potential showdown with Telford who had beaten me twice this season already.

First Leg

In the second leg, I was slightly worried about complacency but figured they would have to come at us, so I decided to play on the counter. We dominated the ball but a fabulous cross saw us behind in the 19th minute and things were looking precarious. When Croasdale side-footed it to the Horse on 36', it should have been 1-1 and slightly less nervy but the goal didn't really look likely. A good position on the stroke of half-time was wasted by a wasteful shot from Croydon Boy (he started his career at Palace and has a long name that I can't pronounce!). Despite still edging posession in the early stages of the second half, we looked really vulnerable so with 25 minutes to go, I put an extra defender on. We held on for dear life and whilst we didn't really deserve it, we were in our first ever playoff final!

Second Leg

I assume because we finished below them, it was an away game at Telford. So I had to play cautiously on the counter in our first ever final. Couple of big calls, with Jack White ahead of Mike Conneh and Marley Watkins in for The Horse (real name Marcus Harness...). I figured he could always get back in the saddle (geddit? :-D) if we needed to chase the game. Watkins made a wonderful run in the opening seconds before blasting wide, but new kid on the block Martin Croasdale reacted well after his shot was saved to hit the rebound in. Then, ten minutes later, he repeated the trick with an emphatic finish. 2-0 up in just 13 minutes! Unbelievably, the fairy tale was not over yet. After just 25 minutes, Croydon Boy found Croasdale on the penalty spot and he calmly slotted away his 22 minute hat-trick on the biggest game in the club's history. I couldn't quite believe it. He's not exactly all that, but surely this cements his position in Salford folklore! The second half was uneventful in the extreme: the great thing is we totally deserved it on the day - we limited Telford to just 4 shots on target in the match, and just one CCC when the game was already essentially over, whereas we had 22 shots, 9 on target and 4 CCCs.

WHAT A PERFORMANCE

Squad and Club Info

Records Broken

Most League Appearances: Charlie Oliver - 157 apps, beating Danny Webber's record of 141.

Worst Discipline: The Fire - 13y0r

Highest Points Tally (VNN): 70

Youngest Player: Martin Croasdale - 16y45d v Alfreton (H), 6th March

Youngest Goalscorer: Martin Croasdale - 16y55d v Gateshead (H), 16th March

Most Games Without Conceding: 4 - 24th October to 28th November

Most Games Without Winning: 7 - 2nd May (previous season) to 22nd August

NEWS: 250 new seats to be installed before the start of the season.

Season     Division                        Pos     Pts    FA Cup           Other Comps         Continental Comps    Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10747418&viewfull=1#post10747418"]2016/17[/url]    Vanarama National North         3rd      67    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10749171&viewfull=1#post10749171"]2017/18[/url]    Vanarama National North        10th      64    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10754210&viewfull=1#post10754210"]2018/19[/url]    Vanarama National North        13th      53    2nd Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10758269&viewfull=1#post10758269"]2019/20[/url]    Vanarama National North         5th      66    3rd Qual Rd      FAT: 1st qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
2020/21    Vanarama National North         4th      70    3rd Qual Rd      FAT: 1st rd         N/A                  Promoted via playoffs!

Terk · March 13, 2016

Sacked by Marine, 12 games into the season. Drew my first game then lost 11 on the bounce. I think they made the right call.

Holidaying to start again.

sherwinriga · March 13, 2016

Terk, not the good beginning to start the challenge. I think you want to go back to Marine soon, right? In that case, just make things better when you go to another team.

Terk · March 13, 2016

I couldn't face restarting at Marine and going through all that again, so meet the new manager at Workington

libbyshuss · March 14, 2016

i finished Fallout 4 so I'm back for another go. Just taken over at Cambridge City!

LeProfIamNot · March 15, 2016

So I joined the forums because I saw this challenge and said yea why not. Every year I do the unemployment challenge but I like this idea more. I took the first roll and used a random number generator to pick the team and I ended up with:

Kingstonian Profile

Off I go!

Lenzar · March 15, 2016

How many pieces is your computer in now?

michaeltmurrayuk · March 15, 2016

Skelmerdale - Championship 2023/24 - Season 8

So after getting promoted out of League One at the first time of asking by the skin of our teeth, the board this season expected us to Avoid Relegation and actually gave me some money for the first time, though the Bookies didn't give us much chance of staying up with the Media Predicting we'd finish rock bottom, with all three of the promoted sides given no chance of staying up.

Reputation - Somehow we are ranked bang in the middle, with Crewe rather wierdly being one of the better rated sides, I can only assume the actual values of most of us are very close.

Transfers - Wtih money to spend it was a busy season as I blew past our previous transfer record with only our second purchase spending £550K on Forest Striker Osujl and not long after I spent £250K on Defender Jules, though best signing is German Striker Gullenbeck signed for a steal from Bayern, and in Jan I spent £400K on Madrid Defender Moreno, other signings were a mixture of free loanees and some cheap promising kids from around Europe. Saleswise I sold off various players who weren't good enough to make the step up and in the process got a club record £700K for Dutch Winger van der Meer who I would have liked to keep but that kind of money was hard to turn down and in January I sold off various squad players who's contracts were expirying with Portsmouth taking most of them collecting a decent amount of money for a few of them considering they'd be free in a couple of months.

League Cup - We finally won a game beating League Two Cambridge, before we got thrashed by Premier League Charlton.

FA Cup - Being in the Championship meant we started in the Third Round and just about beat fellow Championship side Norwich 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Benaniba who'd been reployed as a RM. In the Fourth Round we were rewarded with a trip to Prem Strugglers QPR who were lead by Draxler and a man of the match performance from my Keeper won us a replay though if we could shoot we should have won the game, the Replay went the same way with QPR finally scoring in the 120th minute only for it to be ruled out and we kept our nerve in the Shootout scoring all five of our pens as my Keeper saved their fourth to send us through. In the Fifth Round we were drawn away to fellow Championship strugglers Gillingham and again our finishing let us down and we'd have another replay. The Replay was a bit of a weird one as a crazy first half saw five goals scored with us grabbing three of them with the second half a drab affair as we held on to win. Booking a Quarter Final place against a Swansea side who were bottom of the Prem having one just once in the league (at Old Trafford) and had picked up more points in the FA Cup than they had in the league this season, and after an even first half things went horribly wrong in the second half as my DM Ferilli was sent off early for a stupid two footed lunge and after that they dominated the game but couldn't score until my DC hacked one of their players down in the box giving away a pen that they scored but somehow didn't get sent off, and then with us pushing forward they grabbed another in injury time to end our unlikely run. On the plus side our run earned us ~£1.25m which is a tidy sum.

Championship - Interesting is the best way to describe this season, we started the season off well winning two of our first four games, but then after getting thrashed by Charlton in the League Cup we imploded failing to win any of the next 12 games but we did at least draw five of them - as we just couldn't score and were making silly mistakes at the back which saw us drop into the relegation places before wins over Swindon and West Brom lifted us up the table and after four draws and a defeat in December at the midpoint we were two points clear of relegation and the good thing was their were nine of us involved in the relegation fight so consistently drawing was enough to give us some space.

We started the new year off with a bang a switch to a Wide 4-1-3-2 formation saw us thrash Burnley 4-1 with both of my Strikers scoring twice and we followed that with two wins, a draw and two defeats as we were getting a little overrun in midfield so I went back to basics switching to a Counter Attacking 4-1-4-1 formation that made us solid at the back and hoped to snatch a goal and it worked as we won six games in a row to claimb upto the heading heights of midtable and with 10 games to go we were 14 points clear of relegation.

However then things started to go horribly wrong after Swansea knocked us out of the FA Cup we started to pick up injuries, lost my DM for 4 games thanks to his stupid red card and completely lost the ability to score or defend as we failed to win any of our next seven games losing six, however our early form had done enough and despite losing the Birmingham we secured our Championship status with three games to spare.

Of course with nothing to play for in our last three games we went unbeaten drawing to Ipswich and scoring two late goals against Sheff Utd to draw there before beating Leeds on the last day with a late goal from Bacon that sent Leeds down

All three of us that got promoted also proved the media wrong by staying up.

The issue we had yet again this season was scoring goals we scored the third least amount of goals, that the least amount of shots and we joint bottom of the Shots on Target Ratio (36%) with only 10% of our shots ending up in goals, we also hit the woodwork with 7% of our shots, whilst at the other end we were fifth best for Clean Sheets (17) and Conceeded.

Shots Percentage - Interestingly the most commond spot for our shots was either straight down the middle or horribly wide left or right.

Squad, Overview and Review.

In Goal was my Moroccan Keeper Illias Sebtaoui who was again in fine form and with several Prem sides after him I really hope he'll sign a new contract as replacing him could be tough.

At Right Back I brought in last seasons loanee Daniel Marshall on a free after he'd been released by Stoke and he had a solid season though he did have a few games where he started making silly mistakes and gave away the most goals from mistakes.

At Left Back Icelander Helgi Bjornsson was in fine form however he is upset after I didn't let him join Newcastle on deadline day and it looks like I'll be forced to sell him soon.

At Centre Back Stephen Arthurworrey started the season but just wasn't good enough for this level and was replaced by Spanaird Stefan Moreno in January who started well but faded as we struggled, partnering him was Scot Zak Jules who added a bit of extra quality to my defence, providing cover was Croatian Jure Curic who also arrived in Jan and put in some good performances in the FA Cup.

Starting the Season in the DM position was Tim Willis who was loaned from Man Utd and he did well but lost his place after the tactical changed to Italian Loanee Federico Ferrilli who had a fine season starting off as my Ball Winner in the DM role before shifting upto the Box-to-Box Midfielder Role where he showed a keen eye for goal, the only downside was his stupid and costly red card in the FA Cup and it wasn't a great surprise that our form faltered with him suspended, of course he then got injured after serving his suspension and didn't play after the Cup defeat.

In the Centre of Midfield Frenchman Abdelhak Benaniba had a solid season but isn't really good enough for this level and with his contract up I made the tought decision to sell him at the end of the season, partnering him was Jim Carroll who also did well despite not reallly being good enough but will be kept next season as he is one of the few Homegrown players I have. Long term my hopes rest of Promising Swede Patrik Dahlstrom who had a slow start but put in some impressive performances in the Box-To-Box Role after our tactical change though a couple of injuries in the second half of the season limited his chances as did the fact that he is due a pay rise after his next appearance so with nothing to play for he was dropped to save money as he also has a year raise clause. Partnering him in the CM-Support role was highly rated Belgian Jonas Roose who was loaned from Arsenal in Jan after they pipped me to his signing in the summer.

On the Right Wing was Spanish Loanee Victor Lopez who started out in the AMR spot but struggled, he then moved into the Support Striker Role when I used two Strikers for a little and did well, but really excelled in the MR position where the deeper position allowed him to take greater advantage of his pace, the only downside is Hull now want him back Providing cover was Argentine Loanee Lucas Sampalo who did well when called upon.

On the Left Wing was Promising Bosnian-Born Dane Predrag Radic who showed signs of promise as I trained him to play on the left, providing cover was Argentine Loanee Maximiliano Ferrari who was in good form with both of them playing much better in the ML role rather than the starting AML role.

Upfront high hopes were placed on my record signing Nigerian Bede Osuji however he failed to live upto the promise as he started badly and didn't score his first goal until January when he grabbed two against Burnley, but with the tactical change he stepped up in the second half of the season, however he was overshadowed by German Patrick Gullenbeck who arrived from Bayern for a bargain £30K and had a fine season after a slow start where he was injured in the League Cup defeat but when back lead the line well before fading at the end of the season but is only young.

Best XI - Despite all the tactical changes this season this is more or less correct.

Overall XI - Rather weird that this switched to 4-1-4-1 after just half a season it never switched to 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, though the change means ST De Girolamo drops out for Paulinho with Benaniba randomly shoved into the DM position, with Arthurworrey replacing Henderson in Defence and Sebtaoui and Lopez making the bench. Also with six of the 11 leaving the club this season Sebtaoui will be the only current player left next season.

Stat Pack - 0-0 draw the most likely result, followed by a 1-0 defeat, with yet again the match most likely being determined by the first team to score.

Average Attendance - Still rock bottom though this is still due to our tiny ground as we did fill 80% of it.

Salary - We are so badly out of our depth here, with fellow newly promoted sides Swindon and Crewe tripling our salary.

Finances - Despite our FA Cup run we still lost money, well into you factor in the £5m Solidarity Payment we got which was greater than our entire income last season and is a third of this seasons income.

Facilities - Managed to get our Youth Recruitment increased (not that we have produced anyone worth talking about) but the board still won't improve our training facilities even with money in the bank at the end of the season, they also don't seem to have any interest in replacing our terraces with more seats.

Profile - Not much change but at the end of the season the board finally let me get the next coaching badge, I also reached my 400th game and out of nowhere started to get International offers with South Korea the first of several, haven't been linked with any foregin jobs yet though.

Plans For Next Season

The main goal is to survive again next season, we are no where near ready for a promotion push and if we can make some money will hopefully be able to develop the club.

Transferwise a new Midfield is really needed, whilst I also need to bring in Homegrown players as I keep forgetting the Football League require you to use six HG players in your match squad and players due to become HG don't count, though of course that brings the problem of english players being more expensive.

Though the plan at the moment is to just try and keep hold of my side as Blackburn and Newcastle have decided they want my entire team - They have already taken my Left Back and second choice Right Back and have upset both my Left Winger and Centre Midfielder and they are both scouting my backup Left Winger

State of The World

Premier League - Arsenals turn to claim their second title, making it two for both Manchester clubs but Chelsea are in the lead with three titles overall. With City, Liverpool and Spurs completing the top four, leaving Chelsea and Utd along with Watford in the Europa League, with Stoke also qualifying for the first time (through fair play I think?).

At the bottom Bristol City, Charlton and Swansea all go down, with Swansea winning more games in the last five (three from four total wins) games than they did all season after they had already gone down.

In League One Wigan are the latest former Prem side to get relegated to League Two where Hemel just about stayed up.

FA Cup - Chelsea thrashed Watford in the Final to claim the cup for the third time in game drawing level with Man City, with City claiming the League Cup for the first time with victory over Arsenal.

Champions League - Real Madrid claim the title for the first time beating a Paris side who have now lost three out of their six final appearances, with Porto an unlikely Semi-Finalist. For England Utd did the best reaching the Quarters losing to Paris, with Chelsea losing to Madrid in the Knockout Round on Away Goals, which meant City and Everton both failed to get out of the Group Stage, with Paris and Madrid both topping the groups.

Europa League - Stuttgart beat AC Milan in only the third final not to involve an English side, with City and Nice the beaten Semi-Finalists. Liverpool, Spurs and Everton all losing in the Second Round. And Palace didn't even make the Group Stage being beaten on pens by Gent in the Playoff.

France - Paris win the league and cup yet again.

Germany - Dortmund reclaim the title with ease, Bayern struffle to fourth behind Leverkusen and Stuttgart, whilst Wolfsburg and Schalke look to miss out on Europe due to FFP reasons. And at the bottom Werder get relegated yet again. With the Cup being won by Wolfsburg.

Italy - Juventus beat AC Milan to the title on Goal Difference, with Milan also falling foul of FFP, Sassuolo finishing third and they lost the cup on pens to Juventus.

Holland - Another title for Ajax, with Twente getting relegated - which makes them I think the first in game past winners to get relegated. Heerenveen claim their second cup trophy with a penalty win over Breda

Scotland - Shock here as Partick Thistle claim the title on the final day by two goals over Celtic and become the first non-old firm side to win the title since Aberdeen in the 1980's and Hamilton beat Celtic in the Cup on Pens.

Spain - Madrid reclaim their title and beat Valencia in the cup again.

Euro 2024 - Was won by Spain with an Extra-Time win over France, with England losing to Belguim in the Quarter Final and Scotland went out to Romania in the Second Round.

Leaderboard points (FM Mode)

(My Steam Username is same as here if anyone wants to add me)

(points / position)

Single Game: 1,431,244 (184,142)

Single Season: 627,616 (139,619)

Single Season England: 627,616 (74,872)

Single Season Championship: 104,936 (50,397)

Single Season League 1: 86,896 (15,461)

Single Season League 2: 627,616 (1,524)

Single Season National League: 483,959 (1,520)

Single Season National North: 17,771 (804)

Career Overview

[TABLE=class: cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_ cms_table_MsoTableLi cms_table_cms_table_ghtShading cms_table_cms_table_cms_table_m, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Season[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]League[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Position[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Achievements (Domestic)[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Achievements

(Europe)[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Leaderboard Points

(Season / Game)

[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Euro C/E

(Place)

[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #007ACC, align: center]Average Attendance

(League)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]16/17[/TD]

[TD]National North[/TD]

[TD]16th[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]8,690 / 8,690[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]320 (10%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]17/18[/TD]

[TD]National North[/TD]

[TD]3rd[/TD]

[TD]Promoted - Playoff Winners[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]17,771 / 26,461[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]350 (11%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]18/19[/TD]

[TD]National League[/TD]

[TD]4th[/TD]

[TD]Promoted - Playoffs. FA Trophy Winners[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]483,959 / 510,420[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]460 (15%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]19/20[/TD]

[TD]League 2[/TD]

[TD]12th[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]46,701 / 557,121[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]845 (21%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]20/21[/TD]

[TD]League 2[/TD]

[TD]11th[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]54,675 / 611,796[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]930 (20%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]21/22[/TD]

[TD]League 2[/TD]

[TD]1st[/TD]

[TD]Promoted - Champions!!![/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]627,616 / 1,239,412[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]1,275 (27%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]22/23[/TD]

[TD]League 1[/TD]

[TD]4th[/TD]

[TD]Promoted - Playoff Winners[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]86,896 / 1,326,308[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]2,697 (53%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]23/24[/TD]

[TD]Championship[/TD]

[TD]15th[/TD]

[TD]-[/TD]

[TD]104,936 / 1,431,244[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]4,058 (80%)[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

G_D_K · March 16, 2016

Oh dear. Star player with 14 goals already in December...

Ouch...that's really a rough one to take!

miniman98 · March 16, 2016

Season 3 (2018/19): Vanarama North

Prediction: 20th (of 22)

Expectation: Avoid Relegation

Transfer: 1.7k

Wage: 7k/w

In: 9 for 1.5k

Out: 5 for 5k (3 loan for £0)

Before the season we brought in a better goalkeeper, striker and right back to strengthen the side. That goalie lasted 9 games before I brought in another one and then in January I spent 1.5k to bring in another whilst selling the second on for 5k. All Change.

League: 10th

Three wins started off the season in fine form, having us up in third before our regular form set in. The occasional win managed to arrest our slide down the table a little but by January we were firmly back into mid-table mediocrity and sat in 15th at new year, still with a gap of 10 points to relegation but a long way from the playoffs. A couple of awful performances made me think we’d be battling relegation but the 1.5k keeper we brought in made a massive difference. All of a sudden the matches we had been closely losing we were drawing or sneaking a win in with his saves often making the difference. That pushed us back up the table and we finished in 10th with 3 1-0 wins and 3 draws in the last 6 games.

Cups:

Unfortunately not much to talk about in the cups this year. Made it just past the expectations in both before going out to teams we were expected to beat.

FA Cup: 4th Qual Rnd

(H) 3-1 AFC Fylde

(A) 2-0 Stourbridge

(H) 1-2 Marine

FA Trophy: 1st Round

(A) 3-0 Mossley

(A) 2-3 Hednesford

With the signing of our new keeper, things really did seem to come together at the end of the season and we looked like a really solid defensive team. If only I can sort out our strikers then I think we’ve got a chance to really kick on next season (Like I haven’t said that before). At one point my two main strikers had gone 10 and 8 games without scoring and our top scorer for the season was the right winger with 9. Over the past few seasons i’ve really let the squad size get out of control though so there’ll be a big departure of around 10 players over summer that I either don’t need or that I think I can replace for less money/better quality. That should hopefully free up some of the wages that have been killing us.

Average Attendance: 287 (-39)

Finances: -63k

Balance: -329k

End of Season Awards | Season Review | Confidence Review | Records

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

2016/17        Conference North        18th       3rd Qf Rd    1st Rd          N/A          N/A
2017/18        Conference North        13th       2nd Round    2nd Round       N/A          N/A    
2018/19        Conference North        10th       4th Qf Rd    1st Rd          N/A          N/A

GreyedOutMan · March 16, 2016

Ouch...that's really a rough one to take!

Still managed to get promoted :-)

Bartrcm · March 17, 2016

Chesham - Vanarama Conference South - Season 2016-2017

Predicted: 21th

Actual finish: 17th

We had a decent start of the season, but then everything wasn't going very well. We were in last place around game 25. Then we picked up some form, and had a run of 6 games without losing. But again, this good run was very short. We ended the season with only 2 wins in our last 10 games. At the end of the season, I was actually very happy that finished in 17th place, and were 10 points clear of relegation.

Games 1:

Games 2:

FA Cup: we actually had a very good run. We got elimintaed by Huddersfield in the second round, but that game was on TV. We gained €100K for this TV game alone.

FA Throphy: Didn't care about this cup, and got eliminated after our second game.

Youth intake: Got actually 2 decent prospects

Tony Marchall (YP1a): AML, U18 next season.

Sergio Iannotti (YP1b): ST, and actually natural in 4 positions. U19 next season.

Transfers: A couple good players joined us, but I also did some terrible tranfers.

Finances: We actually made some money this season, although I overspend around 1K/week on wages. The televised cup game saved our season.

Lenzar · March 18, 2016

Bartrcm - notice you got this guy in your intake.

libbyshuss · March 18, 2016

Cambridge City 2016/17

Summary

League

Board Expectation: Battle bravely against relegation

Media Expectation: 22nd

Finish: 13th

A good solid start led to a nice run of results before Christmas, culminating in a 4-0 win against top of the table Salford which saw us go 5th. A run of 1 win in the next 13 soon put any ideas of promotion to bed but we'd at least guaranteed survival.

Cup Competitions

Awful. Lost every cup game we played!

Transfers

Lots of free transfers. I realised too late that the squad was a little too young.

Finances

broke about even, which meant no money in the bank

Notable Players

Billy Crook - I needed an AMC and Billy was available as a non-contract player at Met Police. Performed above expectation for me.

Jack Hawkins - plays with a maturity well beyond his years. Whenever he was out we hit a patch of bad form. Hugely influential.

Next Season

I managed to tie down my best 5 or 6 players to another year so with the right strengthening and a bit of luck we could push for the play-offs.

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17   Vanarama Conference North      13th

darren1983 · March 19, 2016

Been super busy for the last 5/6 weeks and not had time to play FM at all

But had some time this week and lots of time coming in the next few so have refound my love for my Dulwich save. Finished my season (first in league one) last night/this morning so update is incoming.

darren1983 · March 19, 2016

Dulwich Hamlet - Sky Bet League One - Season 2022/23

League Table - bit of a shock this, very inconsistent during the first half of the season but still always around the playoffs, a move from 442 to 4231 saw us shoot up the table and with 4 games left we were 3 points clear at the top, 3 losses followed before a win on the last day saw us finish 3rd. Our big problem this year was defending, we had one of the worst goals against record in the league but were the top scorers. In the playoffs we drew with Portsmouth away before winning at home. In the final we scored 2 quick, early goals which was enough to Bristol City and seal promotion to the Championship.

League Cup - we're still yet to win a game in this competition. Maybe next year.

FA Cup - smashed by a side in our own league

Transfers - Not much money spent, making use of being able to scout all around Europe.

Squad - Needs to improve over this summer, still have players from our non league days let alone league two.

Finances - not bad really with our tiny stadium

Key Players

Antonello Ferretti - Signed on a free in the summer, top scored with 33 goals

Luke Whalley - right winger was key again, don't know if he'll be able to step up another level

Sante Meringolo - another Italian signed on a free, took some time to get going but when he did he became a big part in the way we play

Daniel Wright - our rock in the centre of the park, stats not great but we always played worse when he didn't play.

Dick Warren - our super sub, 11 goals with most of them coming from the bench.

Career Overview

Season         League                            Position       Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17        Vanarama National League South    1st           League winners and manager of the year
2017/18        Vanarama National                 13th
2018/19        Vanarama National                 19th
2019/20        Vanarama National                 16th
2020/21        Vanarama National                 2nd           Playoff winners and manager of the year
2021/22        Sky Bet League Two                2nd           Promotion
2022/23        Sky Bet League One                3rd           Promotion via the playoffs

Next Season

Stay up

New Stadium

GreyedOutMan · March 19, 2016

SEASON 2021-22

VANARAMA NATIONAL

League - predicted finish: 6th

We made a dreadful start and it looked like a relegation dogfight was on the cards but then we picked up in October and went on a brilliant run that meant promotion was a possibility for a while, until a poor run from mid-January which saw us pick up just two wins in the last 15 (including one on an irrelevant final day) and we had to settle for a mid-table finish. Indeed, with the last few games meaning little, the table looks far worse than perhaps it should: the players basically went on holiday once the promotion challenge was over. A particular low was the 4-1 defeat at fellow mid-table dwellers Braintree. Bradley Iftikhar's loss of form was probably the biggest factor in our fall from the promotion chase. He had a dissapointing year. But I'm hoping it's a blip and he will improve next year.

Performance of the season: Chester got into the playoffs and this convincing win at Deva Stadium was impressive.

FIXTURES 1: you can really see how well we played towards the end of 2021.

FIXTURES 2: January onwards was a shocker.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE

Squad and Club Info

Records Broken

Highest League Finish: 14th in Vanarama National League

Most Games Without Scoring: 5 - 22nd January to 5th March

Highest Average Rating: 7.51 - Gareth Walker (28 appearances)

I've changed the table slightly to reflect the different number of games in each league, and so "points" has changed to "points/game"

Season     Division                        Pos     PPG    FA Cup           Other Comps         Continental Comps    Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10747418&viewfull=1#post10747418"]2016/17[/url]    Vanarama National North         3rd    1.60    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10749171&viewfull=1#post10749171"]2017/18[/url]    Vanarama National North        10th    1.52    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10754210&viewfull=1#post10754210"]2018/19[/url]    Vanarama National North        13th    1.26    2nd Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10758269&viewfull=1#post10758269"]2019/20[/url]    Vanarama National North         5th    1.57    3rd Qual Rd      FAT: 1st qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10759027&viewfull=1#post10759027"]2020/21[/url]    Vanarama National North         4th    1.66    3rd Qual Rd      FAT: 1st rd         N/A                  [b]Promoted via playoffs![/b]
2021/22    Vanarama National              14th    1.35    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 1st rd         N/A                  None

Terk · March 19, 2016

My Workington team is officially 15 times better than my Marine one. Sacked with just one point after 12 games at Marine, I've got 15 points with Workington at the same stage. Hoping for a solid mid-table finish in my first season now.

sherwinriga · March 20, 2016

Terk, nice redemption on your new team! How many times Workington meet Marine in your season?

Terk · March 20, 2016

Terk, nice redemption on your new team! How many times Workington meet Marine in your season?

Thankfully none. In the new game Marine didn't get promoted. Although I suspect they'll have a few years yet to get themselves to this level before I win promotion to the National League.

GreyedOutMan · March 20, 2016

SEASON 2022-23

VANARAMA NATIONAL

League - predicted finish: 4th

After months of uncertainty and at least three transfer embargos, we were finally taken over. The new board invested a small amount and took out a loan to clear the immediate debts, which is probably the right approach although we are in desperate need of a cup run here to help out on the financial side. On the pitch, we were a bit up and down early on, and a dreadful run at the end of 2022 threatened to push us to the bottom half and possibly even a relegation battle. However, with a few shrewd signings in January, our form went from decent in the first half of the season up to December, to excellent from the end of December onwards after that blip, and we passed last season's points tally on 18th March with 7 games to go. We were 11 points behind runaway leaders Telford, but second playce was well within our sights and whilst it didn't really bother me who we played in the playoffs, the prestige of finishing 2nd rather than 4th or 5th was still quite a tantalising idea, and meant that if we were to lose in the playoffs, we would be better placed to add to the squad in the summer. But we promptly lost 3-1 to Ebbsfleet, a total capitulation having come back from 1-0 down, and then totally capitulated against 10-man Margate, losing 3-1 despite playing with the extra man for 81 minutes of the game! Suddenly, from having thought seriously about finishing 2nd, we were underdogs in the battle for a playoff place. But six points separated 2nd from 9th so a good run would see me get that place for sure. It was annoying because those defeats to Ebbsfleet and Margate saw me in 8th rather than 2nd by a point as I would have been with two wins there.

90 seconds into the home game with Wrexham, my newest winger, Hakeeb Adelakun, nodded us ahead. But with a minute, we were pegged back through an own-goal. But I sensed this was a game we really needed to win: half-way through the half, three teams were on 70 points ahead of me: a win here would give me the same number. 20 minutes into the second half, Brown got what I was hoping would be a winner. With two of the teams who had been on 70 having changed (one conceded and one scored), this left us in sixth as it stood. But with ten minutes to go, disaster struck as a perfect cross saw Johansson with no chance. 10 minutes to score a goal, or I felt my playoff chances were done. But within seconds, things got worse not better, with Wrexham completing the turnaround. I went for it, but there was no coming back. Three from three might give us a chance of sneaking into the playoffs, but we had collapsed badly since mid-March. The last game was against Telford and whilst they might have clinched the league by then, I didn't really feel that I could rely on them not caring about the result.

We more or less won the game against Hayes and Yeading in the first 2-0 minutes, through goals from Levi and Diedrick-Roberts, but did our best to throw it away just in the first half, with no marking whatsoever from a cross which left Johansson with no chance. Then, ten minutes into the second half, carbon copy goal and playoffs were looking a million miles away. A slice of good fortune saw us get a penalty with half an hour to go and we re-established our lead. Could we hold on this time to join Ebbsfleet on 70 points? Well, Ebbsfleet equalised at Barnet, so not quite, but we held on and moved up into sixth. But we were massively reliant on other results, now. Three wins would see us in the playoffs if Ebbsfleet dropped five points from their last three games or if Nuneaton dropped eight. There was also a chance of catching Barnet or AFC Wimbledon, but no matter how you polished it, things were not looking good for us. It got worse in the 20th minute of the penultimate game, when yet another free header saw us 1-0 down. Then another crossed was missed by goalkeeper, then defender, and our promotion bid was over. A shame, but then again, I wasn't expecting even a challenge for the playoffs this year.

We go again next year: I need to find some better inside forwards, and try to improve my defence a bit. The centre of my midfield and my target men are doing brilliantly. Unbelievably, the board were threatening to sack me and I have to get 9 points from the first 5 games. Seems a little harsh after a season of real progress.

Performance of the season: the four-nil win over Chester was also big but this game really put us in with a real chance of the playoffs. AFC Wimbledon did eventually make it there, too.

FIXTURES 1: really patchy....

FIXTURES 2: that run at the start of the year gave me some cruel hope, but those final seven games were unforgiveable. Wrexham were in the bottom half andf Guiseley only stayed up by four points. Those six points would have seen me finish 4th.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE and positions graph

Squad and Club Info

Records Broken

Most Assists: 15 - Kayne Diedrick-Roberts (aka Marlene)

Most League Apps: Charlie Oliver - 211

Season     Division                        Pos     PPG    FA Cup           Other Comps         Continental Comps    Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10747418&viewfull=1#post10747418"]2016/17[/url]    Vanarama National North         3rd    1.60    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10749171&viewfull=1#post10749171"]2017/18[/url]    Vanarama National North        10th    1.52    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10754210&viewfull=1#post10754210"]2018/19[/url]    Vanarama National North        13th    1.26    2nd Qual Rd      FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  None
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10758269&viewfull=1#post10758269"]2019/20[/url]    Vanarama National North         5th    1.57    3rd Qual Rd      FAT: 1st qual rd    N/A                  Lost in playoff semi-final
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10759027&viewfull=1#post10759027"]2020/21[/url]    Vanarama National North         4th    1.66    3rd Qual Rd      FAT: 1st rd         N/A                  [b]Promoted via playoffs![/b]
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/437642-dafuge-s-FM16-challenge?p=10767984&viewfull=1#post10767984"]2021/22[/url]    Vanarama National              14th    1.35    4th Qual Rd      FAT: 1st rd         N/A                  None
2022/23    Vanarama National               9th    1.52    1st Rd           FAT: 1st rd         N/A                  None

libbyshuss · March 22, 2016

Cambridge City 2016/17

Vanarama National League North

Summary

League

Board Expectation: Battle bravely against relegation

Media Expectation: 22nd

Finish: 13th

Another mixed season. Weirdly we played a lot better but just could't get any consistency together. We spent all season mid-table, getting close to pushing for play-offs but too many times we played well only to draw or narrowly lose. no wins in our last 8 games was a disappointing end but made little difference to our overall position.

Cup Competitions

A good run in the FA Cup saw us go out to Macclesfield in the 4th qualifying round after a replay.

Transfers

Some really good signings. We now have a good defence, excellent midfield but shocking strikeforce. That needs rectifying if we're to get anywhere

Finances

lost about 200k despite sticking under wage budget. It's really tough at the bottom!

Notable Players

S tephen Cawley - a consistent goal threat, camse on a free from Concord Rangers. Played shadow striker role really well

Jack Hawkins - Another excellent season from the club captain

Next Season

Weirdly, we find ourselves moved to the vanarama South. We need to push on and challenge for promotion but it'll take some good use of the transfer market.

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17   Vanarama Conference North      13th       
2017/18   Vanarama Conference North      13th

Tecmo · March 23, 2016

2019-2020

So, I thought we had nowhere to go but up after our 18th place finish last year. Well, there's always 19th.

League Table

Survival literally came down to the last day where we lost 0-3 but, luckily, Hendon lost as well.

We tried going with a narrow, short passing game with the thought of marking opposing strikers with specific centerbacks. Well, our centerbacks were not up to the task and short passing really didn't suit our team. We were 7 points away from safety in 21st place halfway through the season when we switched to a 4-4-2 counter attack that seemed to solidify our defense. We finally climbed out of the relegation spots with 8 games to go and held steady the rest of the way in 19th.

MC Ethan Millar was our player of the season and really controlled things in the middle. Losing him to an injury at the end of the season almost got us relegated.

DM Jacob Bell played alongside Millar most of the season as a holding midfielder. This was his second year on loan with us from Bristol so hopefully we can get him back again next year.

ST Jason Williams led us in scoring for the third straight year. Really struggled to find a second striker to pair with him though as Marley Bishop-Wisdom lost his touch around the net, finishing with only 5 goals.

DL/ML Johnny Herd was tied for 2nd place in the league with 13 assists, mostly thanks to his set piece ability.

Other than Bell I'll be able to bring back everyone I want. I also have a few young players that I'm excited about.

GK Olufemi Okafor was signed from Leyton Orient and became our backup, playing quite well when needed. He'll be the backup for one more season and the hopefully move into a starter role.

MR Lee Jennings came to us from Watford with the idea of being a wingback in our 5-3-2. He moved to a winger role at MR and really impressed me with his speed and work rate.

ST Robert Vahid is our first youth recruit that I'm really excited for. I gave him a couple senior team appearances at the end of the year and will try to get him as much playing time as possible next season.

FA Cup - We were knocked out in our first game for the third straight season, a rather humiliating drubbing by lower level side Havant & Waterlooville 1-4.

FA Trophy - We also continued our trend with the FA Trophy, winning our first game in extra time 2-1 over Chippenham before VNL side Kidderminster destroyed us 1-5.

Financially, still struggling of course. We 'gained' 35K this season to make our overall balance -73,388 euros thanks to a couple of cash infusions during the season.

Around the world

Brazil won the 2018 World Cup over Spain with Italy claiming 3rd place over Germany.

Chelsea won their second consecutive Premier League title this season while Manchester City is on a 4 year run as the league bridesmaid.

Bayern Munich has won two straight Bundesliga titles after Dortmund claimed the title in 2017/18.

Valencia was the surprise La Liga this season after Real Madrid had won the previous two titles.

Juventus is dominating Italy winning every title thus far while in France, PSG has 4 straight.

Barcelona won this year's Champions League over Atletico Madrid. Juventus won the previous season over Real Madrid and Manchester City the season before that over Dynamo Kiev. Chelsea won back to back titles before that.

England has won back to back Europa League championships with Liverpool this season and Arsenal the previous. Athletic Bilbao, Dortmund and Tottenham have also claimed this title.

Looking forward, we need to get better everywhere, simple as that. We're going to return to a more counter attacking, direct passing offense, probably using a 4-4-2 although we may give a 4-1-4-1 a try if we can't find a second striker this season. Big offseason needs are a second attacker, someone to play on the left flank with Herd and, potentially, another starting centerback.

TFDM · March 23, 2016

Darlington - Season 2020/21 - Conference North

League Table | Transfers | Squad

A great season where we finally nailed promotion after missing out last term in the play-offs. After game number 10 of the season we never dipped out of the play-off picture. In fact we were top for a fair part of the season and always in touch. However the FA Trophy and FA Cup proved a bit of distraction and in the final five games of the season we missed out on the league title. One win and only three goals in the final five games was our worst form of the season and on the final day it looked like we might actually miss out on the play-offs. However our goalless draw against Chorley was eventually enough... it actually cost them the title as well.

Thankfully we recovered in the play-offs. Two goals in the opening three minutes of the first leg against Corby proved crucial. We added a third before the end and the only blot on our copy book was a goal they scored in the final few minutes. The second leg at their place saw us romp into another two goal lead. They did equalise but by then the damage was done. We played Alfreton in the final and despite dominating we couldn't find the goal we needed until the final 15 minutes or so. They couldn't respond and that was it.

Some decent signings as well this season who made us better. Former Sunderland youth team player Ben Korosi chipped in with 19 goals while Alex-Ray Harvey was outstanding in the centre of the park alongside Phil Turnbull. We even resigned Piteu Crouz after he failed to find a club but it was a poor move. We never got him fit and he was well down the pecking order behind Korosi and Liam Travers and ended up leaving in March. Onto the next season and hopefully we can stay up in the Conference.

Top Players

Alex-Ray Harvey - Summer signing who formed an excellent partnership with Phil Turnbull in the middle of the park.

Phil Turnbull - Another season and another predictable showing from the skipper. Excellent work.

Liam Travers - Built on last season and finished top scorer at the club. Scored the only goal in the play-off finals.

Top Scorer

Liam Travers - 22 goals in all competitions for him. Another excellent return. Hopefully we can keep a hold of him.

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
2019/20	       Conference North	       5th	      2QR	 1st Rnd	 N/A	       N/A	    Play-off Finals
2020/21        Conference North        4th            2Rnd       4th Rnd         N/A           N/A          Promoted via the Play-Offs

Sign In

dafuge's FM16 challenge

Recommended Posts

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post

Share on other sites

Link to post