dafuge's FM17 challenge

[profii]

Blyth Spartans - Season 4

League 2 - 2020/2021 - Final Position 2nd.

I think i mentioned earlier in the thread we were 1000-1 outsiders despite a respectable mid table finish last season and an improvement in the attack options over the summer. We climbed the table early in the season and led the division for much of the season, however I dont remember having a lead of 5 points or more for pretty much the whole time. 
In January we forgot how to win but didnt lose our position until the penultimate day where we dropped to 2nd on goal difference, unable to win our final game, we were unable to take top spot back but, now we are in the realms of 4 teams being promoted so that's absolutely ok!

I had a lot of striking options and have a lot of players around the 10 goal mark, but no one really prolific. 


Transfers

Incoming

George Honeyman - AMC - Free - found him knocking around as a free agent before the players got released last season and snapped him up. Great player but his coach report says doesn't enjoy big games and it did show!
Joe Williams - MC - had him in the challenge last year and missed the chance to sign him when he was initially released from Everton, however Dag&Red couldn't hang on to him so their loss was my gain.
Brandon Barnes - one of my striking options but as I play 1 up top usually he mainly played, AML where he was ok
Liam Mandeville - Poacher who I couldnt really get firing on all cylinders. Will look to sell
Tom Hadler - needed a competant GK to replace the first major sale for the club! He did fine.
Jordan Grant (Loan) - DC - quality centre back, did really well, looks like his contract is up at the end of this season so will try and get him again for L1
Reuben Noble-Lazarus - AML - I really struggled for wingers so signed Reuben to pitch in, did an unspectacular albeit consistent job I suppose.
Reiss Anwuh - DL/R - full back is another area I struggled with so brought in a player who can cover either side.
Juanma - DC - Chelmsford City (40k) - Incoming transfer record! With Liverpool and Barca heritage I was pleased to introduce Juanma to the squad

Outgoing
Joe Fryer GK QPR - £51k - I just wanted the money and figured I'd find a free keeper, worked out ok, especially as Fryer was getting injuries last year and Hadler didn't 
Kevin Dixon AMC Sheff Utd - £85k (rises to 150k if clauses activate) - didnt think he would make it and again took cash!



Cups

Check a trade

Straight out the groups, not interested though, maybe as I build a competitive L1 team it might become of more interest to me.

FA Cup

A good run here actually, beating Peterborough, Kiddiminster Harriers, Flyde, then finally going out to Premier League Derby. 20k attendance in that fixture and also beat Flyde 6-1... Good for the finances

Other Stuff

Nothing too exciting this year, finances are at (60k) which is better than the (300k) last year (just waiting for prize money to come through etc)
The only other thing I can think of is achieved my continental C license and studying for B currently.

 

[jsar]

Well cant find my News Item but based on the fact that anyone foreign I have looked at needs (and fails to get) a work permit i must have had a Hard Brexit!

I can see this making the rest of the challange a lot tougher!

 

 

 

 

[GJS93]

On 1/3/2017 at 09:29, noikeee said:

Congrats on making it to the Premier League @deadfncat! In just 8 seasons, too!

big congrats! started the challenge as my first save, Lowestoft Town, won the National League North in my first season, managed to avoid relegation in my first year in the National League and looking to make big changes to the squad to go for promotion for 2019/20. maybe set myself another challenge of beating that total of 8 lol

[streety]

Kettering Town 2017/18- Season Preview

 

 

 

                                                                 

 

So the season in reality was apparently meant to be a relegation dogfight which was not what I was wanting this season to start. Not on my Watch!

 

 

The League

 

My team I felt was ready with the acquisitions that I had made in the transfer market. The league campaign started well with the team going unbeaten until I faced Bradford PA December in which I felt the ref made some dodgy decisions. AFC Telford taught us a footballing lesson losing 0-4. But overall it was a Fantastic league campaign with the team battling for promotion until the final game in which the last game was Salford who were 3^rd and us 1^st..A draw would seal the title for us

 

 

 

It was not meant to be a 2-0 loss and the title went to Salford..massive disappointment cue the ranting at the computer screen!

 

The Playoffs

 

So I was forced into the playoffs kicking and screaming after our final day defeat, Altringham were the opponents we took a slender 1-0 away win back with us to Latimer Park (even when I put a youngster on at RB ). The second leg was a belter Altringham wanted it to make up for the 1 goal deficit. The final score 3-3.. Job Done. My gut feeling on who I was to face was out of the other two teams was Macclesfield they had looked good all season but Solihull Moors beat them to the Final Which set the final up Perfectly I was quietly confident about getting a result.

 

 

 

Kettering Town V Solihull Moors – Playoff Final

 

The final was at home which I was happy about, the team started well and in the 12^th minute Lewis Hornby got the only goal of the game, although Solihull could of scored after a long ball over the top in which my defender slid in hard to clear..if he got it wrong it was a red card, The team held out and could of scored another if not for the cat like reflexes of Solihull Moors goalkeeper.  

 

 

 

The FA Trophy

 In all honesty the FA Trophy was not really a priority it was the league so Ebbsfleet got lucky the team could of beaten them in the home game but the replay was to much for the team and Ebbsfleet won through in the end

 

 

 

 

The FA Cup

 The FA Cup i took more seriously and again the team fell at a hurdle maybe the team was looking to go one round further Blyth were the team who knocked us out  

 

 

 

 NEXT SEASON!

The plan for next season is to improve the areas of the team that i have singled out for improvement at the back...And if Lewis Hornby saga continues a replacement for him his contract is whirling down and hes not remotely interested in signing a new deal, I'm resigned to losing him on a free. The squad needs trimming of dead wood but i think a couple of additions and the squad is nearly sorted. I have signed a contract extension so I'm staying 

[LeProfIamNot]

Dulwich Hamlet - 2020/2021 - Sky Bet League 2

League Table - Positions - Transfers - Season Review - Injuries - Finances - Awards - Players - Attendance

 

Expectations

Media - 24th

Board - Fight bravely against relegation

Actual finish - 6th

 

Overview

Overall a solid campaign.  This was the first season in my tenure that saw us dealing with a lot of injury issues.  We went into the season with a squad that I felt had considerable depth and I was hoping I could make a run for the playoffs.  We made the playoffs, but we went into them with next to no momentum.  The injuries lead me to overplaying a lot of my best players and we started to feel a little flat towards the tail end of the season.  We had absolutely no zip to our game and didn't put a convincing performance for the playoff.  Such is life.  Overall, the state of the club is excellent but I feel we need to mix it up a bit next year.  We've essentially been playing the same 5-3-2 formation for 3 years now and although it's been pretty successful, I still can't find the super players I need in the wingback positions which is to be expected at this level.  Although we're going to continue using it, we are going to work on implementing a 4 at the back system but I'm not sure yet what it will look like.  Probably a 4-3-3 DM wide which is what I switched from 3 years ago due to personnel issues.  All this aside, it was a pretty great year from a competition perspective.  Aside from our overachieving in league, we did pretty great in the cup competitions also.  There are some big question marks going into the next campaign, however, and I believe the next season or two will be huge in determining the future of the club.  There will definitely be some players leaving and we are about to have some severe financial issues due to the building of a new stadium but we'll have to see if I can find a way to persevere.

Players

For years now, it always seems to be the same players in this list.  I'm not sure how much longer we can continue to rely on Charlie Kendall and Daniel Carr, but I will let them do their thing until they run out of gas.  We do have two more to feature this time, though, which is a nice change.

Charlie Kendall

What else is new.  He continued his role as my target man, DLP, DF.  He went missing for a chunk of the season which had me severely concerned, but then started to figure it out again towards the end.  He broke the club assists record in the last game of the season and continued to look like somebody that I will need to keep signed for the next few years.  I'm going to look to get him a multi-year extension in the offseason, as his contract is up at the end of this next season.

Daniel Carr

The injury issues didn't  go away and as expected, continued to interfere with his performance.  He was hurt 3 different times this season and he struggled to find consistency due to the injuries.  Every time he showed he was getting back on track, he got hurt and then took some time after each one to find form.  All that said, when he finds his form he's still an electric player and prolific goal scorer.  He dominated the last month of the season, winning the league player of the month, scoring 8 goals in 4 fixtures.  He single-handedly took us into the playoffs with those performances.  I truly hope he can remain fit next season.

Joe Hanks

Nice to see a new face in this list.  This is one of the new signings during the summer window and he turned out to be a huge success.  I was looking for another midfielder that can pull the strings and although it took him some time to settle in, he became a staple in the best 11 by the second half of the season.  He gave Charlie Kendall a run for the assists record, tying it with 11 in 9 less matches than it took Charlie to get the record.  This guy was just such a huge influence on our side.  I brought him in as my set piece specialist and I can't say how many goals he was responsible for directly, but we scored 14 goals from corners, 5 more than the next club, and tied for first with 9 IFK goals.  I extended his contract to 2023 so I hope he can continue to be our maestro and improve.  Hopefully he'll get that assists record next season with a full set of fixtures played.

Rich Dearle

1.3 goals per game might not be the greatest, but this guy continued to make a ridiculous amount of saves, some miraculous, to keep us in so many matches.  He made the league team of the year, although that may be more due to his passing than his shot stopping.  He played almost every match of the season and was a real workhorse.  I'm hoping to get one more solid season out of him before looking to the transfer market to get him some competition.

FA Cup

This was one of the high points of our season.  We drew League 1 club Leyton Orient in the 1st round and they did not play their reserves for the match.  Most of the players featuring were best 11 players for them during their League 1 campaign.  We drew 0-0 with them at home and collected the financial gain of selling out our small 2500 capacity stadium.  We went to their grounds for the second leg and somehow managed to draw 0-0 to finish extra time.  Rich Dearle did an excellent job and helped us get through on penalties.  It was pretty magical.  The 2nd round drew us against league 2 side Doncaster away.  I rotated the side a lot and we still drew 0-0 to push the second leg to our grounds.  I felt we had the momentum for this match and I played my best 11.  Despite this, we lost 2-1 and our FA Cup dreams were dead.  We really should have won but whatever.  We made some good cash from it and this is a good thing.

EFL Cup

This may have been the most dramatic and pleasing moment of the season for me.  We drew Championship side Cardiff in the 1st round at home.  We packed in 2500 spectators for the event and it was magical.  Cardiff rotated slightly, but let's not focus on that.  We crushed them convincingly, 3-0, with a slightly rotated side.  It was a special moment.  The next round put us away at League 1 side Cambridge United.  It was a tough battle, but we couldn't see it through and lost 2-1.  I didn't care, though.  We beat the living crap out Cardiff and that's all that mattered to me.  The lads did a special thing and that's how I remember it.

Checkatrade Trophy

We ended up with the following group-mates: League 1 Millwell, Arsenal U23s, League 1 Colchester.  We played Millwell early in the season when in good form and stomped them 3-1.  I was starting to dream of making it out of the group stage but that wasn't in the cards.  We played admirably against Arsenal U23s and Colchester, but coudln't find a way to score, losing both matches 1-0.  Still, a much, much better showing this year than last, so we're improving definitely.

Finances

So this is definitely going to be an issue.  We moved to another stadium while our new one is being built.  I'm a bit angry at the board for building the new stadium.  I don't understand why we're not leasing because now we're stuck with a ridiculous loan payment or 75k per month which is a payment that we absolutely cannot pay with our current income.  Now, our attendance was 2415 per fixture, which is 85 seats short of a sellout, which means we'll definitely make more income with the increased capacity but I don't believe we'll make enough to cover the costs of the loan.  We have just under 1.2 million in the bank and if we perform similarly the next two seasons, that will be depleted by then due to the loan.  I feel that I may need to splash some cash for the first time in my tenure in order to make a run at promotion.  Or maybe the board knows something that I don't?

Season by Season Results

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

2017/18		Vanarama National League South	 	1st			Division Champion. Manager of the Season runner-up. 3 Manager of the Month awards.
2018/19		Vanarama National			3rd			Promotion by playoff. Manager of the Season. 1 Manager of the Month award.
2019/20		Sky Bet League Two			11th			We stayed up against extreme odds
2020/21		Sky Bet League Two			6th			Made playoffs, but lost in first round.

 

[DE-Z]

Here goes, first game of the season, away at Boston. A lot of my players are non-contract and are attracting bigger clubs. They won't sign contracts either as they are disappointed at being transfer listed. (I didn't list them nor can I remove them).

[Cherse]

Count me in!

 

 

[jsar]

Really need to do some Updates, 

Two whole season and a promotion since my last one!!

 

 

[jsar]

really cant figure out scouts or Directors of football etc.

Still recommending VNS players when I am now in the Championship!

[DE-Z]

          

       Workington AFC - 17/18 & 18/19

17/18

I have been so immersed in this game I completely forgot to update. 

First Season - League Table - http://imgur.com/dbKi8yB

A steady start to the season saw me top the league around November time. A dramatic collapse after the New Year saw me drop quickly down the table. I was genuinely fearing relegation at one point. Only registered 4 wins after New Year.

18/19

League Table - http://imgur.com/9qPTt5W

Results - http://imgur.com/Hu4SCBP (Broke several records for most wins, longest streak without losing etc.)

F.A Cup Run - http://imgur.com/dziaqxS

Finances - http://imgur.com/af3QjJq

U'18s League Table - http://imgur.com/V23nHbp

U'18s Cup Run - http://imgur.com/oRwhLwX

Stadium Move - http://imgur.com/GwCZQcK (First game of National is Morecambe at 'Home'  )

Cash Strapped - http://imgur.com/NyeQOcs

Overall a fantastic season with a Championship title arriving. I am planning on going into the National with a much smaller squad. Maybe 18 players to hopefully get out of the red and into the black. Start with the foundations first as they say. I seem to remember the National League being the hardest league in the game (in my experience) to get promoted from so I'm expecting a long stay. I'll be very happy if I'm in League 2 by 2025. 

Extremely promising to see my Academy perform exceptionally well. Sadly though, it seems a team effort as there are no individual players of note. 

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

2017/18		Vanarama National League North	 	13th		FA Cup 4th Round Qual, FA Trophy 1st Round 	
2018/19		Vanarama National League North		1st		Champions, Fa Cup 1st Round, FA Trophy 1st Round

[DE-Z]

Little update, really struggling in the league just over half way through... I decided to stick with the exact same squad that got us promoted seeing as they all had a year left on their contracts in the hope that I'll save the club some £££ but it seems it was a bad idea.

Anyhow, look at this amazing achievement...

I feel as if the clubs in my league understand my tactic where as the teams in the FA cup have no idea what to expect. The 2-0 win against Leyton Orient is my greatest to date. We were battered from start to finish. A goal in the 90th and 92nd secured it. Ecstatic scenes.

[chrishunt1212]

I've not done this challenge for a while, so I'm going to give it a go.  I've noticed that during the advanced setup the English league names differ slightly to what is on dafuges example.  Which ones would I need to select?

[QSF25]

On 3/1/2017 at 06:15, deadfncat said:

Cheers. 1 point in the first 10 games makes me think I may be back in the Champ before too long however

Hey at least you are doing better than I did. 

 

Atm im in the championship playoffs again.

[profii]

Blyth Spartans - 2021/22 - League 1 

Final Position 11th

 

Season Overview
A slowish start but we won a reasonable amount of games considering this was our first time in L1. We sort of maintained a mid table position for most of the season and nearly crept up to challenge for the play offs but it wasnt to be.
Our top scorer was Stefan Payne with 22  league goals and our highest rated player was Joe Williams, both players in their 2nd season at the club so good to see them make the step up from L2

By the end of the season just due to fitness and stuff I was playing a 4-4-2 diamond (narrow) and I was smashing teams with it... I might try a 4-2-3-1 with 3x AMCs next season.

FA Cup - we beat Bromley then Northampton before going out to PL Bournemouth in round 3- I did check finance before and after that game and netted approx £110k for that, so positive.
EFL Cup - out to Sheffield Wednesday in the 1st Round
Checkatrade cup - got through the groups but went out to Man City reserves in the knock out, first time we got past the groups, and I generally was playing fit players rather than good players so the extra prize money was welcome.


Transfers
All free's this year...

Sam Howes - solid GK, didnt actually notice he played a season at Gateshead prior to being released from West Ham, but did really well and got signing of the season.
Tolaji Bola - Centre half released from Crawley, good aerial player
Harry Anderson - right winger, decent enough but only managed to make 22 appearances through injury.
Joe Maguire - solid left back, did really well
Charlie Kirk - another decent enough player but didnt set the world alight, realised i made a promise to play him as a right winger and i haven't been...oops
George Green - great player who was able to play AML/C/R no problems
Aaron McGowan - another solid full back
Richard Brindley - primarily a full back but handy to play at MR/AMR when i wanted to be particularly defensive. Got some decent assists from there too
Kel Akpobire - good but not great striker, I'd really like to sign a striker that challenges for golden goal but it's tough with such little cash
Dion Conroy - a rotation CB who stepped up when required.

I also found an unattached Spanish regen and an italian Regen, both had no club, able to be scouted with UK and Ireland range and we in their respective international u19s
The spanish guy is a GK with prem potential, he isn't as good as Sam Howes but I've been giving him games, so hopefully someone will swoop for him. The italian doesn't join until the window opens but I dont think he will be as good.


Other Stuff - 

Chairman retired and a director took over, has since offered me a new contract so guess I am safe for now.
Finances are (180k) in the red but prize money hasn't been awarded, I'm sure I get at least £600k by the time we get going again.
I'm studying for my continental A license so fingers crossed that comes through soon

 

[GJS93]

end of season 2019/20, turned around a 10 point gap over Grismby with 8 or 9 games to go to finish top of the National League, 101 goals scored, 84 conceded...a lot of 3-2s, 4-2s, even had a 7-3, still working out if its poor defenders or my tactics lol. Took Plymouth to a replay in the 1st round of the FA Cup, narrowly defeated sadly. Zero money spent on transfers, all freebies with Kinsgley Eshun ex Brentford/QPR possibly the best of the lot and my first loanee Will Hoare from Crawley who ran the midfield for me, did sign Jordan Slew after being released by AFC Wimbledon and Joe Martin ex Millwall for a bit of experience but both flopped big time. Onwards to League 2, moved up to full time status and 2nd ground expansion to meet the requirements, costing £1.44million! OUCH! for 1250 more seats? seems excessive but is what it is, see how that affects player recruitment

17-18 National League North Champions; FA Cup 4th Round Qualifying Round; FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round

18-19 National League 16th place finish; FA Cup 1st Round, FA Trophy 1st Round

19-20 National League Champions; FA Cup 1st Round; FA Trophy 3rd Round 

[chrishunt1212]

I've selected the Ryman Premier League, Calor Southern Premier League and Evo-Stick Northern Premier League,  I think they are the correct ones for the challenge.

[Tecmo]

Noooo! Relegated on the final day with Thurrock as one of my defenders takes a red card and the team behind us wins for only the 2nd time in 15 games to vault past us.

To be fair, this was one of my most unlucky seasons ever. Best striker suffered a half season injury during the preseason and eventually my top 4 strikers were all injured at the same time. Then with 8 games left my backup goalkeeper was sniper by Dulwich and my starter was injured in the next game.

One more try...

[profii]

Does anyone else find that the game rates your team really poorly?

As per my post above, I just finished in the top half of League 1 - at this point I know where my weaknesses are so I've only brought in 5 first team players as that's all I really needed. I'm in December and I've only lost 2 league games so everything is really good.

At the start of the season,  I was 1000-1 for the title (ranked 24th of 24) and my scouts keep saying crappy conference players will fit in well.

It just seems like the general rating is a bit skewed this year.

 

[Stukey]

Returning to FM after a long absence. Decided to learn the game by taking on this challenge. Probably a terrible idea, but the decision is made now. After several rerolls finally got a Sussex team, so I will be taking this on with Bognor Regis Town.

[LeProfIamNot]

On 1/18/2017 at 06:24, profii said:

Does anyone else find that the game rates your team really poorly?

As per my post above, I just finished in the top half of League 1 - at this point I know where my weaknesses are so I've only brought in 5 first team players as that's all I really needed. I'm in December and I've only lost 2 league games so everything is really good.

At the start of the season,  I was 1000-1 for the title (ranked 24th of 24) and my scouts keep saying crappy conference players will fit in well.

It just seems like the general rating is a bit skewed this year.

 

I don't think it's much different than previous years.  Reputation takes a while to increase.  You need continued success, year after year, to increase it.  Look at the larger clubs in the division and the players they have and their attributes.  They're probably much better than yours.  You can overachieve and still be considered a small club/underdog.  Look at Leicester City from last year.  Nobody was even considering them a favorite to win the division until the last couple of months.  And even then, do you think they could attract a big-name player?  Do you think Pogba would have signed for LC, even after they won the division?  He would have laughed at them.

[chrishunt1212]

It took lots of reloads but I've finally got a local team, I'm now the manager of Matlock Town.

 

[QSF25]

I'm back in the premier and so far I am doing waaaaay better than my first season.

 

I just need one point more and I will have the same points that I did last time I was in the premier.

The sides like Arsenal and Liverpool are too much for me right now and I have gotten some lucky draws.

My game so far

[LeProfIamNot]

Dulwich Hamlet - 2021/2022 - Sky Bet League 2

League Table - Positions - Transfers - Season Review - Injuries - Finances - Awards - Players - Attendance

 

Expectations

Media - 24th

Board - Fight bravely against relegation

Actual finish - 3th (Automatic Promotion)

 

Overview

This was a campaign of two halves for The Hamlet.  I went into the season with the belief that we were now financially in trouble due to the new stadium loan.  I decided to bring in 6 players, which is a ridiculous amount for me.  I ditched the 5-3-2 to play my always favored 4-3-3 wide.  During the friendlies, I got this goofy idea to make a 4-3-3 narrow strikerless on attack mentality.  I took a real risk to get this thing working properly because I dropped my first two games of the season.  Everything clicked in the 3rd game, however, and we went on a ridiculous run.  Attacking with six midfielders, with pace and quickness took the league by storm and it was just too much. We steamrolled the first half and scored goals for fun, keeping clean sheets with high pressing and gorgeous attacking football.  The first half of the season we went 14-3-6 and I started to believe we were going to coast to the title, but Plymouth was there with me the whole time.  They were also unstoppable.  That all changed when the injuries and fatigue started.  A constant cycle of injuries in the second half had me chopping and changing a lot.  By then, the other managers were making adjustments to my tactics and using more defensive midfielders and central midfielders on defend, flooding the area to neutralize my two, flat midfield lines.  I reverted to the 4-3-3 wide to attack the flanks and did the best that I could with the players I had available at any given time.  There were times I was able to utilize the narrow 4-3-3, but the other managers just wouldn't give me the middle of the pitch anymore.  It was a struggle and a grind.  The second half we went 8-8-7.  Way too many draws, but we got so very lucky that the clubs around me were also paying horribly.  I feel that we won promotion due to a gimmick, and that we didn't deserve it in a way.  I really hope we can stay up in League One.

Players

Finally have some different faces this year.  The work we've been doing in the scouting department has really paid off.

George Thomas

The EFL League Two Player of the Year.  His second year in the squad was his breakout year.  His finishing was excellent when you could get him into space and on goal with direct play.  Playing possession, he was one my creative wizards pulling the strings.  He had a way of creating space for the wide forwards and his passing was pretty excellent.  His 7.42 rating lead the league, with the next best player at 7.28.  And the the next best player in the league with 7.24 is:

Elliott Whitehouse

I was watching this guy for three years and finally got him during the summer window when he became a free agent.  I played him as a BWM-S and with his specific player traits, he became a box-to-box nightmare for the opponents.  He really has no bad parts to his game.  A relentless defender when off the ball, and ridiculously creative on it.  Once he was settled, he was a must play.  I just have no other player that provides what he does.  Relentless defending and a dribbling creator?  He was definitely a big part to us doing well in the cups, as that's how he earned his spot in the first 11.  He's in the peak of his career and I fully expect him to play exceptionally well in League One.

Daniel Carr

Old reliable.  Been doing it since Vanarama North.  He's a Dulwich Hamlet legend, and for good reason.  I really wasn't playing him much in the beginning of the season but came to rely on him in the second half.  His injury woes didn't pop up either, and he was fit for the whole season.

Joe Hanks

Excellent creativity.  He complimented Whitehouse perfectly.  He rarely makes mistakes and does everything right in a completely un-flashy way.  He provided stability while Elliott Whitehouse was the glitz.  Excellent partnership.

 

FA Cup

Great cup run for us.  1st round opponent was National South side Dover at home.  I featured a completely rotated side and sneaked a 1-0 victory to a rather small crowd.  In round two, League Two side Luton away.  Again, I made 11 changes to the side and took a 1-0 victory to move into round three.  I made a commitment this season to rest my best players for cups, despite the desire, and it wasn't hurting me.  Yay!  And in the third round, who do we draw?  Chelsea.  Sigh.  They basically play their youth team and beat us 1-0.  If I play my best 11 we may have won.  Oh well. 

EFL Cup

This was rather funny.  We draw League One Leyton Orient away, the same club we beat last year with penalties.  No cinderella story this year.  We get knocked out of the first round 3-1.  Bah.

Checkatrade Trophy

Another improvement this year.  In our group is League One Charleton Athletic, League Two Barnet and Arsenal Under 23s.  We continue to feature our reserve squad in the first match against Charleton, and secure an easy victory, 3-1.  Next we were away to Barnet, and it just wasn't happening.  We lose 3-1.  Hulk sad.  So we then need a victory against Arsenal U23s, so yea, great.  There are players in this squad with 1 million+ values.  It was a nail biter.  1-1 into extra time and still no victor.  We win on penalties but fall a point short of moving passed the group stage.  If we could have scored another goal we would have made it through to the knockout round.

Finances

So I was very worried about the stadium loan but it turned out that it wasn't an issue.  We leased The Hive for the season, and with it came a 5233 maximum capacity.  I would have never expected it but our attendance more than DOUBLED this year.  We averaged 5000+ per game and kept the hive at near sellout for the campaign.  Last year I was angry at the board for building this new stadium, and now I find it was a fantastic decision.  With us moving into League One, I will expect our attendance to rise again.  I've been saying over and over how strong the supporters are for this club, but this is something else.  Our new stadium will be finished before preseason friendlies and I believe the capacity will be a few thousand larger than The Hive.  I think our financial future looks very bright.  I should be able to increase my wages again this year, and still pull a profit.  I just hope we can stay up in League One.  Winning promotion as the third best club in the division isn't the best way to win promotion.  Better than the playoffs I guess.

Season by Season Results

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

2017/18		Vanarama National League South	 	1st			Division Champion. Manager of the Season runner-up. 3 Manager of the Month awards.
2018/19		Vanarama National			3rd			Promotion by playoff. Manager of the Season. 1 Manager of the Month award.
2019/20		Sky Bet League Two			11th			We stayed up against extreme odds
2020/21		Sky Bet League Two			6th			Made playoffs, but lost in first round.
2021/22		Sky Bet League Two			3rd			Automatic Promotion. 1 Manager of the Month award. League Player of the Year in squad.

[GJS93]

first season in League Two, was sitting in a season high 6th spot after 19 games but went on a run of 3 wins in 19 before winning 3 out of the last 4, finished in 18th. wasn't in any real danger of relegation but some awful results/performances have been the final nail in the coffin for some players. FA Cup Plymouth again, a replay again lol, comfortably beaten in the end, hopefully get someone different next season lol. EFL Cup saw defeat to eventual League One Champions Port Vale, the Checkatrade Trophy I wrote off from the start, playing as many fringe players/youths as were allowed, get some game time in them, finished bottom of the group but will look for a better run next season. end of 4th season still £0 spent, wage budget has been doubled which will certainly help attracting new players, 2000 season ticket holders, crowds averaging 3150, slow but steady progress.

17-18 National League North Champions; FA Cup 4th Round Qualifying Round; FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round

18-19 National League 16th place finish; FA Cup 1st Round, FA Trophy 1st Round

19-20 National League Champions; FA Cup 1st Round; FA Trophy 3rd Round 

20-21 Sky Bet League Two 18th place finish, FA Cup 2nd Round (replay), EFL Cup 1st Round, Checkatrade Trophy Group Stage

[Quasar]

Barely in safety with Chesham at 19th in the VNL. We're in severe debt (<-400k) despite my staying a decent amount under the wage budget every season. No club will take me as an affiliate and players are starting to worry, though so far I've been able to have the captain calm them down. So far my wage budget is projected to be 3k per week for next season, so it's going to be difficult. Going to need to use a lot of non-contract and loan players and just hope. Not much of interest so I won't make a full post, mostly just surviving by scraping draws together and winning against the other bad teams. My goals for next season are to survive again in the VNL and start moving back towards a positive bank balance.

[deadfncat]

I havent played my save in about a month. Been playing too much Diablo 3!
Will have to get back into it over the next week hopefully and have another early Premier League update

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Met Police - National League 2019/20 - Season 3

So after the winning the league last season my hope was to continue my tradition of back-to-back promotions to the Football League, though the board were only expecting us to try our best to stay up, with the Bookies giving us pretty much zero chance of staying up, with the Media predicting we'd finish rock bottom, though my Striker Ladapo was given good odds to be the Leading Scorer.

Of course the main reason we were given no chance of staying up was because we'd been under a transfer embargo since April due to takeover talks which carried on until the the middle of August, when the new guy finally took over and did nothing but take out a loan to get us out of the red, though on the plus side he was willing to give me some staff wages so I could actually sign some staff members.

Reputation - Rock bottom alongside my local side AFC Fylde.

Transfers - By the time our embargo was over there weren't many freebies left, though I did spend a club record £200 on Left Winger Neale from Ilkeston, I've just rather lucky there is no transfer window in the Conference.

FA Cup - We started in the Fourth Qual. Round and of course got the biggest team League Leaders Cheltenham and we raced into a 2-0 lead, but some poor defending in the second half let them back into the game and our failure to take our chances meant the tie would go to a replay. In the Replay we again dominated the game but just couldn't score, and then in the last five minutes of the first half things got interesting as my Keeper saved a pen and then in injury time a poor back pass gifted us a goal. In the second half Cheltenham were reduced to 10 men when Pell got himself sent off for a pointless handball but then diaster struck as my Keeper came for and missed a cross gifting them a tap in and the game went to extra-time and then pens that we promptly lost.

FA Trophy - We started in the First Round against North side Hampton and despite being in control we just couldn't break down their 3-5-2 formation, with Winger Neale scoring a screamer from the edge of the area, they scored a free-kick and even with them reduced to 10 men we couldn't find a winner in extra-time so a replay it was. In the Replay we again controlled the game but couldn't find a way through until Gallagher scored a deflected goal at the start of the second half and that opened the flood gates as Hampton were forced to attack we carved them open time after time and claimed our first five goal win though we could have scored a dozen.

In the Second Round we entertained South side Hemel Hempstead and again some poor finishing let us down as that tie also went to a replay. We again controlled the game in the Replay and managed to win thanks to Midfielder Taylor scoring on the stroke of half time.

In the Third Round we faced a Lincoln side riding high in the playoffs where 15 of our fans saw Striker Ladapo score a tap-in after good work by Carr down the right to win an even game. This set up a Fourth Round tie against struggling Telford and we got off to a bad start after a woeful backpass from my left back gifted them a goal and we then lost my Keeper to an injury before my Strikers scored either side of half-time to book our place in the Semi-Final.

The Semi-Final drew us against a Dagenham side who'd knocked us out in the first season and with the First Leg at home we again dominated the game but just couldn't score so on the hour I switched from a 4-4-2 diamond to a flat 4-4-2 formation and within minutes the change worked as Ladapo finally opened the scoring and a late Doyle-Hayes goal secured the advantage. In the Second Leg I switched over to a Counter-Attacking 4-4-2 with the plan to just sit back and soak up the pressure as we again dominated and with Dagenham down to 10 men after the hour any fight was lost though Ward-Baptiste scored a cracking goal late on - Centre Back Ballard pumped the ball up the pitch, Ward then watched the ball fall over his shoulder and volleyed a fine goal into the corner of the net:

In the Final we were drawn against North side Braintree who'd just won the playoffs and had actually knocked us out last season, it would also be the first final for both of our sides. In the Final itself we controlled the match from the off though I forgot how big the Wembley pitch is, and first half goals from my Strikers lead us to lift the trophy and claim our first cup.
 

We also set a new FA Trophy record beating last seasons final attendance by one

National League - No idea how we did this considering most of my players were the same as last season, we started the season okay but lacked any consistency and spent the first half of the season bouncing up and down the top half as whenever we got within sight of the playoffs we dropped points and would fall away. It wasn't until Christmas when we finally kicked into gear winning three games in a row for the first time and with three clean sheets and that was with the games on the 28 and 29 Dec and 1st Jan and I had to do the last two without my GK and then a win over Aldershot pushed us into the playoffs, though things were tight at the top after 29 games Fylde had just taken first place one point clear of Cheltenham, whilst us Stockport and Chester were all one point back, however there were only three points seperating us from 10th placed Barrow, though did then draw four of the next seven games but we stayed within the playoffs.

With 10 games left Fylde were still top with 67pts, Chester were now second with 64, Barrow had climbed to third with 61 and were ahead of us on goal difference, behind us were Maidstone, Cheltenham and Lincoln all with 60pts and behind them were Stockport and Ebbsfleet with 57pts. We then narrowly beat bottom side Macclesfield after we were both reduced to 10 men for nothing challenges, but then lost our 13 game unbeaten run to Tranmere and followed that with a draw to second placed Chester which was our only TV game of the season, this left us in sixth place but we were level on points with Lincoln, Barrow and Cheltenham, with Chester two points ahead and Fylde four points clear as things were getting real tight in the race for the playoffs, but we responded by thrashing Stockport 3-0 as sub Ward-Baptiste inspired us in the second half, though we did lose my DM Musonda for the rest of the season, which saw me switch to a flat 4-4-2 formation, which promptly went and lost to Ebbsfleet.

With five games left Fylde were still top on 72 points, Barrow and Chester were on 71 each, then Maidstone, Cheltenham and us were on 68, but we had the worst goal difference, with Lincoln behind on 66. However the new formation worked in the next game as we beat Boston 3-1 which lifted us upto fourth as with everyone else dropping points there were now four of us on 71 points, with Fylde still top of 73. Of course we entertained Fylde next and in an even game we won 2-0 thanks to two early goals, which saw us climb to the top of the table for the first time with just three games left. In the next game we came from behind to beat Lincoln thanks to a late goal from Striker turned Winger Carr and then beat relegation threatened Sutton thanks to two early goals and meant with one game left we were three points clear of Fylde but with the same goal difference so we just needed a draw in our last game against Dagenham, however there was to be no worries as we claimed an easy 2-0 win in fromt of a record crowd of 1,450 but it didn't matter anyway as Fylde failed to win, and they were left to win the Playoffs - though the fight for the playoffs went down to the wire, going into the last game only ourselves and Fylde had secured a playoff spot, with anyone down to 12th placed Stockport had a chance of claiming one of the other three spots - with Maidstone (9th) taking the last spot from Lincoln, as everyone else outside of Chester and Cheltenham dropped points.

Squad, Home and Review

My Young American Keeper Gabriel Rosario had another solid season, with his seven FA Trophy clean sheets a new record, whilst his 23 clean sheets were a new club record.

At Right Back was Charlie Seaman who had another solid season and I was relived to get him to sign a new contract as he is by far my best player with a League One Potential, and had the Scottish clubs sniffing around and made me wait until the transfer window closed in March to sign a new contract. At Left Back was Kane Lewis who had a solid season despite not really being good enough but I couldn't really find a better replacement.

At Centre Back as Daniel Ballard who had a solid season, partnering him was Welshman David Stephens who'd been released by Boreham Wood (started off at Norwich's Academy) who did ok, providing cover was Ben Jones who rotated with Stephens but didn't really push on (his stats are broken because I loaned him out for a week before realising he was my only backup option).

As my Defensive Midfielder was Belguim Tika Musonda who'd also been released by Boreham Wood after coming through at Chelsea but never made an appearance or even got a loan and had a solid season in a role that the game tends to under rate.

In the Centre of Midfield as my Ball Winner was Conor Gallagher who had a good season though his rating was affected by his woeful free-kicks, playing alongside him in the Deep Lying Playmaker role was Irishman Jake Doyle-Hayes who was in fine form and hopefully these two will make the step up next season, providing cover was Jake Taylor who struggled a bit this season and I'm not sure its worth keeping him around.

As my Advanced Playmaker was Max Sanders who'd been released by Dulwich after coming through at Brighton but didn't really impress as much as I liked, which made the decision to switch to a flat 4-4-2 from a diamond easier, providing cover was Alfie Lewis who was doing well until he picked up an injury that ruled him out for the second half of the season.

On the Left Wing was Matthew Neale who was signed for a record £200 from Ilkeston after being released from Bournemouth and he had a bit of a slow start as I tried to fit him, however he excelled with the switch to 4-4-2.

On the Right Wing was Daniel Carr who was snapped up after Dulwich released him and had a slow start after picking up a couple of early injuries and never really impressed up front, however he was in fine form playing down the right.

Upfront leading the line again was Nigerian Freddie Ladapo who was in good form for the most part but would either have a storming game or an awful one having started the season as an Advanced Forward he ended up playing as a Supporting Target Man that seemed to work in the run up (though the game doesn't seem to break down ratings by role just position), with his 22 goals a new season record beating his last seasons tally by one whilst his 43 overall league goals for the club make him our Record Goalscorer (not that the game seemed to make any fuss about this - I only found it when looking at the records screen, but it spent all season telling me Doyle-Hayes was catching up to Lewis in the appearance record even though they were both playing in all matches so he was always the same amount away from the record). Partnering him upfront was Deep Lying Forward Aaron Ward-Baptiste who had another fine season, despite not being rated by my staff he was just deadly when you get him the ball in front of goal, though it likely helps that nearly all his attribute points are thrown into a couple of important attacking attributes.

Best XI - Pretty much spot on for the diamond formation.

Overall XI - No changes here, apart from Carr and Stephens making the bench, with Thomas the only ex-player in the team, though Taylor and Jones are no longer first teamers.

Goals - Pretty much all of them were close range, with a nice spread of timings apart from the conceeding of two injury time goals.

Assists - Through Balls and Crosses were most effective, whilst we were also a bit dangerous from set-pieces. Location wise ours were nicely spread out, though our right flank is rather weak.

Attendance - Still at the bottom, though on the plus side they did double on last season.

Salary - Rock bottom and by a bit, rather worrying is the fact that Fylde were spending 10 times what we could and it also puts them near the top of League Two and above several League One sides, which is not good for next season.

Finances - We end the season with a healthly balance which was pretty much due to the FA Trophy Final as we got £100K gate receipts from the trip to Wembley and £50K prize money. Otherwise financially there wasn't much change Season Tickets jumped up from £3K to £22K thanks to the board increasing the prize by nearly £100, we also got £130K prize money for winning the league but half of that went to the players.

Expansion - Doesn't look like that money will last long as at the end of the season the board announced another forced expansion (which should be the last until the Prem) which saw them take out a £1m loan (leaving us with ~£150K a year loan repayments for the next 10 years) which means we'll be borrowing Kingstonians ground (and just after they got it back from Wimbledon, though I think IRL Chelsea are buying it for their reserves?) Hopefully the new expansion will look interesting as the last one just filled in the corners and put seats behind the goals.

Profile - Couple of changes as my formation quickly switches to a flat 4-4-2, and most of my attribute increased by one, my reptutation increased to Minimal and at the end of the season the board finally agreed to send me on a coaching course. I also won Manager of the Year for the second time and played my
100th game.

At the end of the season we also finally turned Professional and the board also allowed us to scout the rest of the UK, they also finally agreed to find a parent team only to turn around a few days later and say they couldn't find one.

No sign of any Brexit talk so far, when did everyone else start getting their Brexits? I wouldn't mind knowing what I'm in for before I get to high up the leagues, but I doubt it would really affect me until we get near the top of the Championship anyway.

Plans For Next Season

Main goal next season is to survive and hopefully bring in some better players, a LB, DC and new Striker are top of my list though some squad depth would be nice. Also if we can raise some money I'd like to start building up the club, as League Two tends to be a safe place to sit and build with only two teams going down.

It should also be interesting with four challenge teams in the league next season, as we'll be joining Gateshead and Wimbledon in League Two next season.

State of The World

Premier League - Utd again beat Arsenal to the title with Spurs third again and Chelsea fourth, City finish 5th 13 points behind Chelsea, with Liverpool down in 12th, at the bottom WBA and Leeds go straight back down with Mboro bottom.

Manager wise City fire Conte and replace him with Villas-Boas, Liverpool replace van Gaal with Fonseca, Southampton replace Pellegrini with Di Matteo, whilst Alex Neil manages to get both WBA and Mboro relegated.

Championship - Leicester go straight back up, Aston Villa finally get repromoted and Brentford go up for the first time after beating Huddersfield in the playoffs. At the bottom Forest, Reading and Bolton all go down.

In the National League North Salford get relegated out of the game, whilst in the South Dulwich go up with 98 points.

FA Cup - Utd win the Cup at the third time of asking beating Burnley in the Final.

League Cup - Utd make it a clean sweep beating Chelsea on pens.

Champions League - Arsenal are again beaten in the Final this time to Barcelona and at Wembley as well. Spurs were beaten in the Semi-Final by Barcelona on away goals, with Utd falling to Real in the Knockout Round also on away goals, with both Chelsea (Inter and Barcelona) and West Ham (Paris and Juventus) failing to get out of their groups.

Europa League - Chelsea make up for going out of the Champions League by winning the Europa for the second time beating Sporting in Porto. With Chelsea knocking out Southampton (SF) and City (2KR) along the way, with Everton and West Ham losing in the 1st Knockout Round.

Brazil - Gremio comfortably beat Cruzeiro to the title.

China - Huaxia beat Guangzhou to the title. Whilst in 2019 there were zero foreign transfers, with just the two big transfers in 2020 so far - Imbula was signed from Stoke for £33m, and Buyalskyi arrived from Kyiv for £31m. Also just noticed that the second sorting rule in the league is your reserve teams ranking which is the weirdest sorting rule I've ever seen?

France - Paris clean up yet again.

Germany - Bayern make it four in a row beating Leverkusen, with Dortmund third. Leverkusen beat relegated Werder in the Cup.

Italy - Roma become the fourth winner in a surprisingly competitive league, with Juventus fifth. Whilst Fiorentina beat Juventus in the Cup.

Portugal - Benfica make it four in a row but only beat Porto thanks to a 3-2 head-to-head victory. With Sporting claiming the cup.

Scotland - Celtic walk to another title, with Hearts second, whilst Aberdeen beat Motherwell in the cup.

Spain - Barcelona claim the title for the first time beating A. Madrid on head-to-head results.

Euro2020 - France beat Portugal in the Final, England lost to Spain in the Second Round, Wales lost to Portugal in the Quarters, with both Scotland and Ireland finishing bottom of their groups, whilst NIreland didn't even qualify.

Transfers - Some interesting transfers this season, Utd sign Hazard from Chelsea for £69m, ter Stegen goes to Paris for £48m, Chelsea sign Dembele from Dortmund for £72m, Gabbiadini goes to Real for £73m, Coman returns to Paris for £59m, Utd sign Morata for £60m, City sign Embolo from Schalke for £73m, Arsenal sign Borthwick-Jackson from Utd for £25m without him ever playing for Utd ingame, who then sign Mahrez for £33m with City finishing off with Lindelof for £46m

Leading Transfers - Dybala's £104m move to Paris in 2018 is still by far the record, City have five of the leading transfers with Utd and Paris second with three each. Whilst A.Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool, Porto and R.Sociedad have all sold two

Leaderboard points (FM Mode)
(My Steam Username is same as here if anyone wants to add me)
(points / position)
Single Game: 1,546,476 (130,471)
Single Season: 1,099,379 (117,351)
Single Season England: 1,099,379 (62,308)
Single Season National League: 1,099,379 (100 )
Single Season National South: 436,272 (175)
(looks like a test game with Utd that didn't even get to Sept has more points than this so far so a score was only obtained for the NLS)

Career Overview

 

 

Season	League	League Finish	Achievements	Leaderboard Points	Av. Attendance
17/18	National South	11th	-	10,825	246 (8%)
18/19	National South	1st	Promoted - Champions!!!	436,272 / 447,097	270 (9%)
19/20	National League	1st	Promoted - Champions!!! FA Trophy Winners	1,099,379 / 1,546,476	571 (16%)

[Swindon69]

After around 4 goes back to try again - going for a fairly simple 4-4-2 and will be looking for strength, pace and other physical stats.

[bufferz]

Wife bought me FM17 for Xmas, and decided to do this challenge.  After a dozen attempts, I have ended up with Skem.  Let's see how this goes, though I don't hold out much hope! 

[Swindon69]

I've just noticed Huddersfield Town won the FA Cup in 2017!

[kempo]

First ever attempt at any form of challenge for me. Here goes nothing!

 

[Swindon69]

Good luck to you kempo

[QSF25]

Kettering Town F.C.

Profile | Squad | League Table | Finances

 

Expectations

The board only wanted to avoid relegation so I think we completed that task.

 

This season we already knew what to expect from bigger teams. We actually beat Man City 5-2 but the other teams  or top five were too strong for us to do some damage and either we lost or tied with them. 

 

We had a lot of youngsters this season as it was our mission to seek young capable talent that wished to play in the premier league. 

Our best striker David Mcmanus came from Aston Villa helping us strengthen the top side since our strikers werent mature enough to open the defenders from the other clubs. With his help the 2 youngster grew and became great choices uptop.

 

 

 

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         Vanarama North              18th              Avoid relegation.    
2018/19         Vanarama North              10th              Mid table.	
2019/20         Vanarama North              11th              Mid table.
2020/21         Vanarama North              1st               Winners!, 4 Head coach of the month.	
2021/22         Vanarama National           6th               2 Head coach of the month.
2022/23         Vanarama National           1st               Winners!, FA Trophy Winners!, 2 Head coach of the month.
2023/24         Sky Bet League 2            1st               Winners!(only lost 1 match) ,2 Head coach of the month.
2024/25         Sky Bet League 1            2nd               Promotion!!.
2025/26         Sky Bet Championship        15th              Avoid Relegation
2026/27         Sky Bet Championship        5th               Promotion through playoffs!
2027/28         Premier                     20th              Relegated but with dirty moneyz
2028/29	        Sky Bet Championship        6th               Promotion through playoffs! Again...
2029/30         Premier                     6th               EUROPE LEAGUE HYPE!
2030/31         Premier                     --				  

 

[Swindon69]

Blyth Spartans

Season : 2017/18

Division : Vanarama North

Position : 10th

Cups

FA Cup : 4th qualifying round - lost 0-1 away to Wrexham.

FA Trophy : 3rd qualifying round - an embarrassing 0-2 away to Bradford PA.

Top Scorer : Tommy Wood 25 goals

 

Having taken over at Blyth I undertook a fairly broad recruitment policy. After a reasonable start there was complete collapse in form resulting in 2 wins from 10. Following a switch from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1 I broke my losing streak with a 6-0 away win at the side 8th in the league!

 

[QSF25]

@dafuge Guys, England offered me "THE" job I have to decline right? 

 

 

[dafuge]

At this stage, you have to decline it.

You can take it once you have completed the challenge though.

[QSF25]

3 minutes ago, dafuge said:

At this stage, you have to decline it.

You can take it once you have completed the challenge though.

Oh well.  They will miss on actually winning the world cup.

[MrDarrenPerry1]

ok, its taken months, but i just won the CL with Dulwich Hamlet. the first two pics show my start and my finish. the remaining images show some of the journey. 

[MrDarrenPerry1]

and some more images....

dulwich eccentric would u.dib

dulwich eccentric would u.dib

[MrDarrenPerry1]

dulwich eccentric would u.dib

[LeProfIamNot]

@MrDarrenPerry1:  Congrats!!

[Swindon69]

Nice going - I've checked I'm on my 5th go!

 

[kez0940]

Started From The Bottom..Now I`M Here

 

My first ever attempt at a challenge like this and i`m really looking forward to experiencing something new.

The club that i have chosen to hopefully guide to the promised land is Tonbridge Angels

[bartolomeu dias]

Frickley Athletic, 2031, Champ League Title Holders

 

[Tecmo]

On 1/31/2017 at 12:29, Swindon69 said:

Nice going - I've checked I'm on my 5th go!

 

I feel you. Getting ready for my 3rd try, not to mention a couple failed attempts in Big Euro.

[Dons]

Basingstoke Town

Season Update 20/21
League Two
Position 2nd

Squad - Table - Graph - Cups - Transfers - Injuries - Finances - Profile - Manager Stats - Confidence Review - Season Review - Sponsors - Basingstoke Awards

Wanted to try a different approach in terms of tactics this season. Started with a 4-4-2, but that didn't have the desired effect and a couple of months into the season I reverted to 4-2-3-1. That really improved the performance, and we slowly crawled towards the top of the table. Come end of the season we had the promotion with a game ahead, and on the last match day we were play Covenry away, who was in 3rd position. A 1-0 win saw us secure the position, as unfortunately AFC Wimbledon also managed to win their last game.

Cups were a mixed joy with exiting in the first round in the EFL Cup. 4th round was the exit point in the FA Cup, where CH Ipswich beat us 3-2 away. The EFL Trophy was a joy. We went all the way to the finals, where Man Utd 23s beat us 2-0.

Only a few players will be mentioned this time.
GK Jonathan Flatt proved to be a beast in goal. 14 CLN in 46 games.
AMR Alan Kilday a new signing from Rangers has great stats and I hope we can keep him for some time.
AML Drey Wright was brilliant with 11 goals and 12 assists in 43 matches.
SC Rico Harte was our top scorer with 19 goals in 31 matches.

As per usual I ended up signing way more players than needed, which had an impact on finances, but still a few of them looks really promising. For next season the goal is to only sign players, whose CA is atleast the same as the position they could replace!

Season	League		Position	FA		EFL		EFLT		Euro Cups		Achievements
20/21	L2		2nd		4th rnd		1st rnd		Final		NA			Promoted
19/20	VNL		1st		1st rnd		NA		3d rnd		NA			Promoted
18/19	NLS		1st		2nd rnd		NA		Semi Final	NA			Promoted
17/18	NLS		8th		4th Ql		NA		1st rnd		NA			None

 

[profii]

Blyth Spartans - 2022/2023 - League 1 

Final Position - Champions

We came off the starting blocks on fire, undefeated until late November and then gradually went downhill from there. Throughout the new year I was drawing more than anything, then towards the end of the season the losses started piling in.

Even so, I'd managed to stay on top for most of the season.

 

Cups
We got to the FA cup 3rd round where we got knocked out by Barnsley
3rd round again in the League cup beating Southampton (reserves) before getting knocked out by Everton
But the best result was winning the Checkatrade trophy in front of a disappointing 8k strong crowd against Arsenal Reserves - luckily we avoided most of the premier reserve teams, then when we played Arsenal they had a man sent off so that helped. I seem to do well at penalty shoot outs which helped.


Transfers
All free transfers again, but selected particular qualities this year which was good and it seemed to pay off.

Connor Dimaio - A defensive midfielder, who I had hoped might get booked less than Kane Ferdinand. That quickly went out the window. I think they both got their 2 match ban for 10 yellows at the same time!
Matthew Gillam, still not the level of striker i would like but did ok.
Dominic Poleon - took a chunk out the wage budget but was a reasonable left winger
Dillon Phillips - gk that sat on the bench a lot 
Noah Chesmain - panic left back, had another player out of contract but no one came in for him so probably didnt need him, only made 2 appearances.
Aiden O'Neill - deep lying play maker, signing of the season but I didn't think he played well when paired with Joe Williams, he needed a proper ball winner by his side to be at his best



Finances
A good season so this was the first time I saw the bank account go over £1mil!

 

 

I got this far last year so now I'm in explored territory and can't sign a load of players i already knew of... scouting becomes  tougher although i can now reach europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kez0940]

 

2017-18 Season Review
 

Club Expectations: Avoid Relegation - Finished 15th
The season started off very poorly we couldn't buy a win and we was only picking the odd point here and there and we was getting rather frustrated that we couldn't turn the fortunes around even when the performances was good but no end result.
We was hovering around the relegation zone but luckily 2 teams which we found hard to believe was actually poorer than we was playing.We had a very productive team meeting and i`m pretty sure it went along the lines of the final Braveheart scene which no matter how many times you watch the film it still send goosebumps running up the arm.We managed to go and a decent run up to Christmas and opened the gap on the bottom 2 teams but was finding it hard to keep up with the teams infront due to lack of consistancy. After Christmas we dipped into the loan market and found a player that pretty much turned the clubs fortunes around with his prolific finishing in games that we would have thrown away in the 1st half of the season. Stevenage allowed me to loan a young lad called Jamie Gray who in his 10 appearances for The Angels scored 5 goals and provided 3 assists in games that we really needed the points.
Just rounding up the season we finished with our head above the water and finished mid-table which thrilled the board with the overall team performance.

Standout player for the season: Cemal Ramadan - 41 app - 21 goals - 8 assists - 6 pom
 

Next seasons expectations: Mid Table finish

Time to rebuild and strengthen and im for the next stage.

 

[Barnet]

Never done this before but just discovered this thread.  I always play LLM to the above rules, so, I am now the manager of Stourbridge   (1000-1, predicted 22nd)   Let the "fun" begin!

[Vipertitan]

                                                                                                   

                                                                                      Vanarama National League South 2017/18

                                                                                         

                                                                                Start Of Season          End Of Season Report

                                                                                                           

We were predicted by the media to have a relegation battle so I knew I had a lot of work to do to try stop that from come true.

League Table

League Positions Graph

We made a decent  start but hit form once we found our feet and got a settled team. We slumped  around  the turn of the new year. 

 

FA Cup we got  beat  of Bromley  after we drew the first game 1-1  we went to there stadium and got beat 5-2. 

FA Trophy  We Got beat in the first round by Maidenhead United 2-1. 

Transfer History I was looking for players on free transfer as we do not have much cash to spend on players, i also let few  deadwood  to go as well.

Squad With an average age of 25 i was looking to try and get some players that had good knowledge of this standard football to help the younger players. 

 

Key Player Profiles:

 

Kenzer Lee-Club captain of the  team was played well all season.

Reise Allassani -Top Scorer with 20 goals. 

 Lee Ndlovu  -Bought in as back up player original but then his work permit got rejected so i cant play him in first team. 

Danny Racchi-One of the better players at the at the club can play in few places too. 

Nat Jarvis-Bought in later in the season to help with the forwards crisis i had was ok but will be looking to get more from him next season. 

 

Career Overview

 season       Division           Position        Achievements     
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2017/18      Vanarama National League South  11    

  

Next Season

 

I believe the team has a good bond to avoid relegation next season, So a bit more squad depth needed.