tomas1 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 The FA Cup has been a competition that has always interested me. In the early days it was played solely by amateur teams with one team dominating it: Wanderers FC. Looking at the history of the club it won an incredible 5 FA Cups in the first 8 years and remains 1 of 2 teams to have won it 3 years consecutively. Unfortunately the team declined and eventually went out of business in the 1880s but still remains the joint 9th most successful team. The club reformed in 2009 for charity and 2 years later were approved to join the Surrey South Eastern Combination League. Since then they have been promoted 3 times to get to the Junior Division One (Level 14). It was then in 2016 when they hired a young, ambitious Scottish manager to take them up the leagues and back to the FA Cup. The reason Wanderers got their name was because they didn't have a fixed home venue and would travel around different grounds playing games. However in the modern day the rules are a bit more strict so they play their home games at the Mayfield Stadium in Thornton Heath, groundsharing with Croydon Athletic. Seasons 2016-2019 I am currently 3.5 seasons in to the game so hopefully will try to fill you in. We are currently in Level 12 having won 2 promotions in 3 seasons How's that for consistency! Levels 13 and 14 both had two promotion spots but annoyingly there was only 1 in level 12. Levels 13 and 14 have also been removed from the game so I don't have the league tables but here is last seasons: Kew Park Rangers have been with us since day 1 and are the reason for the 3 consecutive 2nd place finishes. Hopefully with them out the way we can finally win a league. Too many draws were our downfall last season but with some consistency we'll hopefully kick on and rise further up the leagues. Also in the cups we had two really good runs, winning our first silverware of my management here and reaching a quarter final as well. The Club Financially we're really sound and have been growing healthily over the past few years. Gate receipts and sponsorships are what is keeping the club afloat. In the first season we did struggle as we were only getting about 20 to the games but as the club has increased it's profile we have seen a dramatic rise in attendances and now we are getting around 100 people coming to the games. Also any money we are getting is going back in to the club and we have seen an increase in junior coaching over the years and we now are at Average which is higher than a few Football League clubs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Current Season Squad Key Players Table Results So far it looks like a similar story to last season. The draws are killing us. We started superbly but started to trip up. In draws vs Old Ruthlishians and Oxted we must have had a combined 50 shots but couldn't score (the only goal we scored was an OG). Since then our form has been up and down but we have only lost 1 game. The two teams we are up against are both recently promoted teams who are going to be tough opponents: TFT have probably the best squad of players in the division and Spartan Youth for some reason have turned Professional . We are still in both cups but have very difficult month ahead with away trips to both Spartan Youth and TFT. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 January 2020 Disaster! We had two of our biggest games this season back to back and if we had any title ambition we had to get at least 4 points from them... Unfortunately we capitulated both games. The game against Spartan Youth we found ourselves 3-0 down in the first 20 minutes. We managed to rally back to 3-2 before being suckerpunched late in the game. The real heartbreaker was the TFT game: we dominated them first half and should have been 3 or 4 up. Chance after chance after chance were missed but we managed to break through just before halftime. On 70 minutes they managed an equaliser before getting 2 goals in stoppage time. It took a lot of willpower to not throw my laptop out the window. Unfortunately it looks like we will need a miracle to get promoted this season and I just can't see the other two teams dropping points. Hopefully the next month will go a lot better, our record has been shocking recently with only 3 league wins in 11 games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Love the idea. Good luck -- I'll be following along! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesGuy Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 This a good idea, I'll surely be following! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlobaFMB Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I follow this. Great results for now. Good luck in future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Will the team remain strictly amateur? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenzar Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Are Old Plymouthians not a Devon team? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 On 07/01/2017 at 20:53, ManUtd1 said: Love the idea. Good luck -- I'll be following along! On 08/01/2017 at 06:20, BluesGuy said: This a good idea, I'll surely be following! On 08/01/2017 at 09:03, SlobaSFM said: I follow this. Great results for now. Good luck in future. Thanks guys! On 09/01/2017 at 14:28, Nobby_McDonald said: Will the team remain strictly amateur? Hope not! Think once we reach level 10 the team will turn semi-professional then fully professional once we start approaching the conference. Personally I think we're a few seasons off financially but as we increase our profile and more revenue comes in then hopefully it occurs sooner rather than later. 19 hours ago, Lenzar said: Are Old Plymouthians not a Devon team? I was thinking about that as well but it says online that they are based in Croydon. Interesting to see where that name comes from though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 February 2020 The month started very poorly as we lost in the cup we won last year to a team in the league below us but thankfully we managed to pick it up. Key players left us for better clubs which left us having to tweak things around tactically but hopefully we have found a system that suits the players we have... for now. The levels we are in are like the wild west with players constantly moving and leaving clubs and it is hard to maintain a settled squad. The sooner we get out of this chaos the better. Unfortunately it looks unlikely this season and our coffin looks very much nailed. We did make a very small chip at Spartan Youth's lead but with only 4 games left we are looking for a minor miracle. On the positive we are in a cup semi final and the aim is to maintain the form we showed at the end of the month and hold on to 3rd. We play TFT South West in the semis which is not the greatest draw. Youth Intake Not a bad intake but to be honest I am taking the Mourinho approach at this level and not really looking at the youth team unless there is someone exceptional in there. I do still intend on upgrading the junior coaching at any available point in the hope that someone good comes out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 March 2020 2 games, 2 wins, 10 scored, 0 conceded... I'll take that. The Wandgas game especially, we were so dominant. Sadly I can no longer get promoted but if we continue this form into next season we should challenge whoever doesn't get promoted between TFT and Spartan Youth (They play each other on the last day). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 End of Season 2019/2020 We got hammered in the semi final against TFT who have a ridiculous squad for a team of this level. Every player they sign is either a youth player from a premier league team or a reject from League 1/2 teams. League wise we're unbeaten in 6 and will need to continue this form in to next season if we want to be have any chance of promotion. Spartan Youth won the league beating TFT on the last day of the season and on our last game we had a very special performance from Jamie Bird. Squad Ignore the fact Joe Denny appears twice. Key Players Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 Preseason Expectations Pretty similar to last season with TFT favourites to go up. Personally I think it is going to be a big challenge to beat them, their squad is just ridiculous at this level. Transfers As soon as the last season finish, I scoured the youth teams of middle/ lower level Premier League/ Championship teams and seen who they released. After that it was all about scouting and offering contracts to players. The vast majority were either not good enough or said no to even a contract offer and from those that listened to the contract only a handful accepted. They all seem like fantastic players for this level and no doubt they will only be here a few months before getting snapped up by a bigger club. My director of football also came up trumps with a few good spots. Also a surprisingly low amount of players leaving. Miles was a key player for us but can be easily replaced by the new arrivals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 August 2020 Pretty much what I expected. We held our own against TFT and lost to 2 set piece goals. Looking at their record it's going to take a lot to stop them. With the hardest game of the season out the way hopefully we can kick on and but a challenge in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 September 2020 In terms of my own teams performances I couldn't have asked for better month and there definitely is a gulf appearing between us and the teams below us. Unfortunately the team above us just keeps winning however there have been a few 1-0s for them (and a few much larger scorelines). All we need to do is keep putting pressure on them and hope they slip up somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 October 2020 Another great month for us with 3 wins from 3 and we even managed to close the gap to 1 point after TFT drew with second bottom Oakwood. Some bad news at the start of the month though with Jamie Bird deciding he would rather be paid to play football and joined Hemel Hempstead a few divisions above us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 November 2020 Disappointing month! Lost in the cup and the gap is back to 3 points Managed to convince the board to increase the Junior Coaching budget. We're now operating at better levels than some Premier League clubs. Looks like the UK opted for soft Brexit Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 December 2020 Another superb month with 3 wins from 3. Only 11 points away from last seasons total which we are on course to smash Transfers Unfortunately Kieran James left after 7 goals in 7 for us this season. Thankfully my DoF managed to find a cracking replacement who bagged a hattrick in his first game. We were a bit weak at LB so managed to get that position strengthened. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 January 2021 The results against TFT flattered us, we did not play well at all and it looks like we're doomed to play another season in this wretched division. They did drop points against Hanworth so we do have a chance to close the gap if we win our game in hand. Transfers Three key players were poached from us by bigger clubs. We do have suitable replacements but is still frustrating when trying to keep a consistent lineup. We made just one signing this month to replace McKie/ Holden Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 February 2020 4 points behind with 4 games to go. Praying for a minor miracle. We've already beaten our greatest ever points total and are only 7 points away from equalling the last 2 years champions of the division. No departures this month which is always a big plus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 March 2020 No cup finals for us this season as TFT continue their dominance. 2 wins in the league keep us 4 points off the top with 2 games to go. Only 1 departure with our captain Aaron Parsons leaving. Thankfully we have enough depth at centre back to cover. Youth Intake Our best intake so far, good to see the investment is starting to pay off. Shaw looks great for this level and I hope he'll fulfil his potential. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 April 2021 TFT ran out unbeaten winner as we amassed our best ever points total. Best 11 Finances Next season is going to be big for the club. It'll be our fourth season in this division and after 3 seasons of finishing 2nd or 3rd we need to break through and win promotion. Judging by our results against the teams below us, next season is our best chance to get promoted and as long as we keep our squad together and build on to it then I think it can be achieved. Who knows though, anything can happen at this level! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabioke Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Love this thread! Especially the fact that you really need to work hard for your success. Can you show the average attendance per season page? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 Pre-Season 2021/22 Transfers Made the annual raid of players released from Premier League/ Champions clubs. Will be a few months before bigger clubs are in for them Our first ever U21 International Expectations Big expectations from the board August 2021 There's a fantastic sight! Hopefully we can hold on to top spot for the rest of the season. I think Hanworth will be our biggest challengers this season and we play them next. A good result will be a great marker to put down for the season. 1 hour ago, fabioke said: Love this thread! Especially the fact that you really need to work hard for your success. Can you show the average attendance per season page? Thanks mate, really appreciate it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 October 2021 Another near perfect month for us! Promotion should come sooner rather than later if we keep this up. Ugh, another key player has moved on, we do have a lot of strength in that position so it shouldn't be too much of a loss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 October 2021 Not the greatest of months but hey, we're still top. Threw away a 2-0 lead against Kinetic Croydon and scraped through on penalties against Fulham DFC who are in the league below us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 November 2021 If we perform half as good in the second half of the season the league will be ours. Love my board Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 December 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 January 2022 Closing in on the league title! Transfers Gutted to have lost 2 really good young talents but they are far too good for this level. We did bring in one and I have no idea how we managed to convince him to play for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 February 2022 12 points clear with 4 games to go, we are so so close! Transfers The DoF managed to find 2 really good players for this level and hopefully we can keep them around for next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Finally going to do it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 March 2022 Disappointing to be knocked out of the cup but TFT have smashed the division above us and have won every game except 1. Harry Forrester (currently of Rangers) scored their winning goal. However, 2 league wins can only mean one thing... FINALLY!!! Youth Intake Day The money put in to the youth setup is starting to pay off. Wynter looks a great player and I hope to give him game time in the last 2 games of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 End of Season 2021/22 Overall a superb season for us clinching a double and an unbeaten season! Finances Best 11 Transfers We managed to pick this one up before the cup final, had the perfect start to his Wanderers career when he saved a penalty 10 minutes in Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 'Moment to Forget' a 1-1 draw with second place, that's when you know you bossed the season, well done! I'm on my own Lower league save at the moment with the team local to me (town where I went school) i find that because I have 14 levels loaded, loading times take ages which is annoying, do you have the same issue? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisGers Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Just catching up with this and loving it so far. Looking forward to seeing how you fare in the league above. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 11 hours ago, clarkehwbu said: 'Moment to Forget' a 1-1 draw with second place, that's when you know you bossed the season, well done! I'm on my own Lower league save at the moment with the team local to me (town where I went school) i find that because I have 14 levels loaded, loading times take ages which is annoying, do you have the same issue? I know! This season was so satisfying finally winning the league. At the start I unticked the "add players to playable teams" tab which helped speed the game up and turned the Detail Level down the bare minimum. It still gets stuck at some points but it's certainly going faster than I expected. 11 hours ago, ChrisGers said: Just catching up with this and loving it so far. Looking forward to seeing how you fare in the league above. Cheers mate! Next season looks a tough one, a few very good teams in the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 Preseason 2022 Some very encouraging results here, particularly against Tilbury who play 3 leagues above us. Transfers We made quite a few signings from the Premier League/ Championship youth teams but so far only one worth reporting on. Expectations Expectations seem reasonable. A familiar face in the league with Spartan Youth who remain professional but have stagnated. Worplesdon will be our biggest rivals for the title this season. August 2022 WOW!!! I expected us to start well but not THIS well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 7 hours ago, tomas1 said: I know! This season was so satisfying finally winning the league. At the start I unticked the "add players to playable teams" tab which helped speed the game up and turned the Detail Level down the bare minimum. It still gets stuck at some points but it's certainly going faster than I expected. Ahh, I had add players to playable teams ticked, might start again with new settings then! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 September 2022 Terrible month! Not a single double figure result...someone is getting sacked! Jk we've been so dominant it's ridiculous. If we keep our scoring rate up we'll hit 200 goals in a season. Everything has seemed to click perfectly in to place. There's only two changes to the team from last year, the goalie and another striker and well he is banging them in. He's already surpassed the record for most goals in a season... in September. That being said, we still haven't been properly tested yet and we can't go in to games thinking the league is won, especially against the teams directly below us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisGers Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 12 hours ago, tomas1 said: I know! This season was so satisfying finally winning the league. At the start I unticked the "add players to playable teams" tab which helped speed the game up and turned the Detail Level down the bare minimum. It still gets stuck at some points but it's certainly going faster than I expected. Cheers mate! Next season looks a tough one, a few very good teams in the league. It's been tough so far, clearly. 51 goals in 7 games. Although, to be fair, there are a few teams breathing down your neck but I'm sure a gap will start to open up soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Brilliant! What's your method on scouting all these premier league 'Rejects'? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickl84 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Following this because I wanted to see a Lower league effort, even though I think your concentrating more on the cup I hope you can turn these into a Giant footballing machine. Loving the keeper and was hoping you could keep HD of the Kosovan defender, at 6 ft 4 he was a beast. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 11 hours ago, ChrisGers said: It's been tough so far, clearly. 51 goals in 7 games. Although, to be fair, there are a few teams breathing down your neck but I'm sure a gap will start to open up soon. I know, this league looks tight at the top despite the goal difference. Results against the teams around is what is going to win us the league 11 hours ago, clarkehwbu said: Brilliant! What's your method on scouting all these premier league 'Rejects'? Around the end of May I'll get a mail saying "English clubs release youth players" and then I'd go on the list and start scouting. 99% don't want to join us but you'll get a few desperate players wanting to drop down a few divisions. The majority of player then do end up leaving a few months later but it's good having them around for a bit. 5 hours ago, mickl84 said: Following this because I wanted to see a Lower league effort, even though I think your concentrating more on the cup I hope you can turn these into a Giant footballing machine. Loving the keeper and was hoping you could keep HD of the Kosovan defender, at 6 ft 4 he was a beast. Obviously the end game is to be top of English/ European football but I think the FA Cup will be a fitting achievement. I'm sure the BBC would have a field day if it happened in real life. Yeah the Kosovan defender was a tank, was gutted when he left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 October 2022 We dropped our first points of the season against our old friends Spartan Youth but made up for it by smashing the title favourites. This looks like a 3 horse race and it's going to be interesting: Worplesdon have made a few very interesting signings including James McClean, Marcus Olssen and Filipe Melo (of Sheffield Wednesday) and Spartan Youth are still a Professional club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Walking through this season too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 November 2022 More and more teams are parking the bus against us but another perfect month. Worplesdon are matching us all the way and I think this season will go down to the last few games. Disappointing to see him leave, he had a great record for us but we have lots of strength going forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I can't help but love the team names at this level... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 2 hours ago, ManUtd1 said: I can't help but love the team names at this level... The names are half the fun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 December 2022 5 wins from 5 and we continue a near perfect season. Worplesdon have continued to strengthen with Modou Barrow and Richard Keogh signing. Our wins have been getting tighter with teams parking the bus more against us. I predict a nervy final 9 games of the season and I don't think we can afford any slip ups. Our top scorer Dunford is out for 6 weeks so other players will need to cover for him. Transfers Frustrating to have lost him but these thing happen. Thankfully we seem to have found a competent replacement in Hall. Annoyingly he can't play for the first month because he's playing for the Philippines in the Asian Cup. He's probably the first player I've signed that I've vaguely heard of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomas1 Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 This better be a wind-up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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