BoxToBox Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 We're picking up with Bradford Park Avenue, a storied club who have played in all four top tiers in England, with a highest finish of 9th in 1914-15. After a long decline, being removed from the football league in 1970, selling Park Avenue in 1973(since demolished and now used exclusively for cricket) the club moved into liquidation in 1974. They then spent time as a Sunday league side. A new club was started in 1988 to play Saturday football, which merged with the Sundaly league side in 1992, moving to current ground Horsfall Stadium in 1995 and slowly creeping up the leagues to the Conference North. They had quite the ambitions at one point, with plans for a 20k stadium in Phoenix Park, Thornbury bordering Leeds in 2008 and expected to be back in the Football League for 2012. Which was the season they won promotion to the Conference North, in the end. Which is where we come in, trying to develop the club and push them up the leagues, albeit with some limits. The only signings that can be made are u-23 players, released from bigger clubs/academies, the idea being to help lads on that have been discarded by bigger clubs in the brutally harsh world of youth football. So, players released by clubs in the leagues above us, with foreign 1st and 2nd level clubs, etc, counting the same as PL, Championship, etc. If and when we reach the PL, only players released from clubs in Europe will be approachable. Also, I want to thank @Jupjamie, as the idea was all his. This is the man chosen to lead them forward, and already the team captain and key player dislike the lad. This is every player at the club. Already we're in trouble at LB, marked as one of the better players at the club, but he's 36 and slow as molasses, and with a slow LM ahead of him. There's no u-23 squad, surprisingly, and the u-18's is completely empty. Here we go... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Quaint little name from the past Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillercowDivine Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 This will not be easy. but I hope you are up for it. Good luck and make us all proud Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Well.... pre-season was a straight up disaster, normally I wouldn't bother with a pre-season update, but feel it's worth a look this year. I added a bunch of friendlies, in an effort to drum up some cash, the cup, mini league and Brighton game, which was estimated to bring in a 70k profit. Instead it cost us 40k and put us in the red. Luckily that Bradford friendly is a seasonal thing they do that gives all profit to Avenue, and got us just out of the red again. A draw with Hearts is good, though! Hopefully we can do better in the league, or this save could end quickly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Best of luck with this, chief. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 September now, and things are going much better after that dreadful pre-season. Not exactly flowing, free scoring football, but wins are wins. Should have done better against bottom dwellers Spennymoor, mind. Honestly, could end the season right here and I'd be dead happy as quality wise, we're very much a bottom half side. Dynamics are all flowing in the right direction. We did pick up a few players too. The ex-Stoke lad's not had a club since 2016, but is instantly our best defender. We needed a backup who could shoot, and Lofts, the ex-Hull man can certainly do that. I would have preferred a natural left footed LB, but Wassi the ex-Bolton(and formerly Man City) lad was the best available. Could still do with a left mid, or another LB and move Wassi to the wing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliscott Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Two minutes up the road for me Park Avenue so will be keeping an eye on this one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maw74 Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Nice idea with the player recruitment, this should be very interesting, good luck, will be following. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Beckham Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I like what you are doing by bringing in players released from top clubs to give them another chance at football, fair play to you mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 18 minutes ago, oliscott said: Two minutes up the road for me Park Avenue so will be keeping an eye on this one. Nice one! 4 minutes ago, Maw74 said: Nice idea with the player recruitment, this should be very interesting, good luck, will be following. Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 Surprising progress, the board are paying for my National A badge, and also... We've reached Fairly Basic coaching and Basic recruitment. Much work ahead, but better than Minimal/Limited. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 Two more, very, very busy months down, and what a difference. I abandoned the solid but unspectacular 4-4-1-1 I had the team playing for a backup formation that's 4-1-2-3 with 3 strikers, and we look a lot more threatening, albeit open to counters. Now in complete control of the league, and amazingly progressed to the first round of the FA Cup, League 2 side Grimsby should prove stern opposition, but maybe we catch them on an off day?! That last 1-0 over Blyth was the flukiest fluke ever, as we played the backups to rest the starters after a massive 6 pointer with Salford, as the next fixture is Grimsby away. We also had a few more lost boys join the cause... Released from National League side Chester, Evans here is a low risk punt(25 pound if he plays), apparently with a lot of potential(by our standards). 4 games later, he's looked the part(with a 7.33 avg. rating) covering on the wing and at left back as another left back's achilles tendon melted. Similar story for ex-Motherwell and most recently Burnley boy Leitch, who's a tidy enough DLP for where we're at, and is probably the most creative player at the club, to be honest. Lastly we have former Hull academy lad Hirst, who's frankly just a much, much better keeper than the lad that was 2nd choice before his arrival. Dynamics wise, the team are all pretty happy and onside. A good group of the lads are happy with me. Bizarrely, 4 of the "Others" are very important players and starters in their position, the other one would be first choice in the 4-4-1-1. Perhaps worth keeping an eye on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Is the team semi-pro? You've done amazing to get some players of that ability on £0 contracts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Not a half-bad start! I think hiring only big club dropouts might not be as much of a disadvantage as it can seem. Obviously any restriction is a disadvantage, as you might have to pass up on better signings, but I've found that this type of player, specially the newgens (in FM16/17) often have a lot of potential untapped and will still comfortably develop well into their 20s! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Interesting concept! Good to see the drop outs getting there second chance. Following Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 4 hours ago, mrdanbartlett said: Is the team semi-pro? You've done amazing to get some players of that ability on £0 contracts. Yeah, semi-pro. Sometimes it's just a case of waiting it out, the O'Reilly lad, for example, wanted a non contract of £900 a week, at one piont. 4 hours ago, noikeee said: Not a half-bad start! I think hiring only big club dropouts might not be as much of a disadvantage as it can seem. Obviously any restriction is a disadvantage, as you might have to pass up on better signings, but I've found that this type of player, specially the newgens (in FM16/17) often have a lot of potential untapped and will still comfortably develop well into their 20s! It's not a terrible restriction, really! It's one that gives pause for thought, though, and there should be plenty of moments of "this is what's available this year, and you have to work with what you got". There's already been a good winger that would have helped a lot that I had to turn down, as he came from a club no higher in the world than us. 2 hours ago, SixPointer said: Interesting concept! Good to see the drop outs getting there second chance. Following Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikulec Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 That's pretty much the start we'd expect from you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 1 hour ago, Rikulec said: That's pretty much the start we'd expect from you. Cheers, we're flying now, after that fright in pre-season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 On we roll to January, and things are still in full swing... I thought we were on to something playing on the counter, and even took the lead! They dominated though and we were lucky to draw and take them back to Horsfall. They took an early lead, as we again played on the counter. At that, I decided if we're losing, may as well go for it, and switched to 3 strikers and a control mentality. They were quite tired compared to my rested squad and the pressure told. Next up, Leyton Orient. We were surprisingly competitive, and viciously clinical, a real surprise against a side a division ahead of us, away from home. I attacked from the outset with three strikers, as they were a bit tired. Story will end here, but we should be quids in after this. I'd have liked to have visited Old Trafford or the Emirates more, as they always used to offer the biggest cash boost, and I'd be Spurs at Wembley would have been up there too, maybe the best. Still, this will be a massive, massive boon to the club. Still unbeaten in the league, and three draws looked like it might hurt us, but no team took advantage to close in on us. Against Brackley we were lucky to win a point, at Alfreton we chucked two leads, not good, and Tamworth was two leggy teams in second gear, rotten game. In other news, a new contract was offered, and readily accepted. More importantly, in a pre-contract offer, I managed to finangle this... Up to average! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Interesting concept Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikulec Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Poor Man City. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Going tremendously well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 11 hours ago, PaulHartman71 said: Interesting concept I'm glad @Jupjamie suggested it to me, I was really struggling to find a save. 9 hours ago, Rikulec said: Poor Man City. Not today, I'm afraid... Their day is coming though...... Albeit very, very slowly. I mean, we held them out for 25 minutes, that's something..... I guess?! They did play their best 11. Financially, it was brilliant, a full house and dropped 800k in the bank. 9 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Going tremendously well. Indeed! I couldn't be happier with how things have gone so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 27 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: Financially, it was brilliant, a full house and dropped 800k in the bank. That's amazing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 18 minutes ago, mjaferrie said: That's amazing! It should see us safely to the Football League and professional status. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanTerrier89 Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Well done so far! Great FA Cup draw as well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 2 minutes ago, GermanTerrier89 said: Well done so far! Great FA Cup draw as well! Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 Two more months down, and we're still flying high, despite a bit of a knock to form, we also had the first intake, which I was very excited for. Too many draws, quite lucky this is a one horse race. One of our key players, Nicky Wroe broke his foot, coming off the back of a badly twisted ankle and will miss the rest of the season. I wasn't too concerned as Robbie Leitch took over and was killing it. Bunch of Scottish League One sides offered him a contract in Feb. though, and he's non-contract, so I panicked and brought in another pair of mids. Ward here looks fairly handy, one time of West Brom, and more lately Carlisle. Hayford is a bit more versatile, and can work in quite a few roles across both systems I use. He was last at Sheffield Wed, and before that Spurs. Of course, after this, Leitch agreed a deal with Ayr, and I found out it wouldn't go through until summer... Still, all non contracts, so the finances won't be wasted. Anyway, on to the youth intake... *sad trombone* Almost every one of them is worse than the greylist players. I had planned on signing every youth, and seeing what's what, giving them a chance, but this bunch I'd just be wasting my time and theirs(this is something I'll hopefully be doing with future intakes). Even if some have reasonable PA for this level, we have like zero chance of drawing it out of them. Turnbull does look potentially good though, and James Bates has a decent personality, so we'll hang on to them two. Too small for a CB, as he's weak in most of the areas needed to make up for the lack of size, so he'll be a DM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 I love how good your defence is Smashing it mate! Keep up the good work, will definitely follow this! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 Well, season's finished up, and everything is blazing forward at real pace... Our form stuttered and stumbled through the run in, but no one close us down, so it made no real difference. When promotion was sealed, we were given next season's budget. Surprisingly excellent for this level, a boon from the Man City game. Then the real fun started... I was very surprised they accepted this request so soon! Being a pro side should be very handy in the summer market. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Great progress so far! 384K pounds is a huge transfer budget at this level! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Easy peasy and with the Manchester City bounty it shouldn't take you long to win promotion from the National League too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 You're quids in now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pompeyboyz Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Damn that's a lot of money for transfers. And you'll be able to shift it to make your wage budget better too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 23 hours ago, DavidBeckham said: Great progress so far! 384K pounds is a huge transfer budget at this level! Aye, I've not seen the like on any save before. 11 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Easy peasy and with the Manchester City bounty it shouldn't take you long to win promotion from the National League too. It's paid for a lot of big changes at the club, that's for sure! 35 minutes ago, deltablue said: You're quids in now Was, I'm most of it spent already. 1 minute ago, Pompeyboyz said: Damn that's a lot of money for transfers. And you'll be able to shift it to make your wage budget better too That's what I've been using it for, as despite only doing free transfers, we need the bones of a new squad, combined with any player we want to keep needing a new contract to move professional too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 Finally, an update! After some heavy trawling through squads and players and clubs and dustbins and.... We have a team, most of a team, kind of a team... More deals could be done in the coming months as the National League doesn't have many hard restrictions, and we still need players. Preseason started bafflingly well, but had it's low points too. We began with the Wolf Cup, who's records I plan on keeping track of season to season. Picking 3 of the biggest available opponents, sadly Watford weren't available to defend their crown. I was surprised we beat Kilmarnock, in an end to end spectacle. I was downright baffled that we held of Southampton, never mind when against the run of play, we poached an 86th minute winner! Then reality kicked in, and Bradford City kicked us. Hard. Luckily, when it came to competitive games, we well and truly kicked back, and kicked on. Starting with smashing Concord Rangers, who knocked us out of the FA Trophy last time we faced. Early lead in the league, could be in for an excellent season, but I won't count my chickens just yet, last season showed we do have the potential to stagger when things are going well. Anyway, on to the new boys... Spurs, Man City and Liverpool castoffs, respectively. Ayoola is an Irish/Nigerian ditched by Stoke, started on fire for us, with 3 goals and 5 assists. Duffus was released from Cardiff, and ex-Huddersfield lad Gibson seems a bit overrated star wise, but with an early average rating of 7.95, maybe I'm underrating him. Aspinall, an ex-Bolton kid is surprisingly well rounded for this deep in the world of football. Jameson is handy and cheap depth, ex-West Brom, and Ryan is a depth/prospect player formerly of Watford. Poame is ex-Sunderland, and I'm hoping his combination of Finishing, Composure, OTB and speed will make him a handy sub. One more lad in the works, and who knows as the months go on.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 14, 2017 Author Share Posted November 14, 2017 On we march. Every deal I've tried since, including much needed full back depth, has been picked off by another club. Bizarrely, one player who I really wanted as a CM, and had a deal in place for, got picked up by Crystal Palace on a one year deal. Nowhere near good enough for them, so will be available again next year, by which point I'm not sure he'll be good enough for us(), depending on the rest of this season.... On the pitch? Almost perfect... September especially, our front three shredded teams apart with direct, punishing attacks. Already we have four strikers with nine goals or more. The one loss, we were missing key forward Shola Ayoola, as he was away with the Nigeria U-20's, who then didn't give him a minute on pitch... Surprisingly, we missed him as much, if not more for his assists(11 already!) as his goals(9). He's shown some fine growth. A bigger surprise was Charlie Hayford, that panic signing last March. I left him on a non-contract after promotion, until after going down 1-0 away at Concord in the season opener, he quickly scored an equalizer and dominated them to a 1-4 away win in our first game in the division, and first pro victory, so I gave him a well earned pro contract. At which point he started growing like wildfire... Been undropable since. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Smashing as usual mate! Already pulling away from the chasing pack. Keep up the good work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 14, 2017 Author Share Posted November 14, 2017 44 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said: Smashing as usual mate! Already pulling away from the chasing pack. Keep up the good work! Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 15 wins in 16... how the **** is this even possible? I'm here scrapping like crazy for every single point, and you just blitz your way past every team straight after a promotion... madness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maw74 Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 BoxToBox should be banned from FM. Makes it look far too easy. Might change my mind about following this, makes me feel inept. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 1 hour ago, noikeee said: 15 wins in 16... how the **** is this even possible? I'm here scrapping like crazy for every single point, and you just blitz your way past every team straight after a promotion... madness. It's the best time to attack, every team expects an easy win against you and plays wide open. 1 hour ago, Maw74 said: BoxToBox should be banned from FM. Makes it look far too easy. Might change my mind about following this, makes me feel inept. Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 5 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: It's the best time to attack, every team expects an easy win against you and plays wide open. Yeah but as you win matches your odds go down and the AI quickly adapt to start playing more defensively So I'm surprised after 15 matches you're still rampaging past everyone. Though indeed it looks like the goal margin for each win has diminished. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 4 minutes ago, noikeee said: Yeah but as you win matches your odds go down and the AI quickly adapt to start playing more defensively So I'm surprised after 15 matches you're still rampaging past everyone. Though indeed it looks like the goal margin for each win has diminished. By this point form and morale are probably large factors. Plus, simply, 3 strikers is hard for most teams to deal with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 Into January now, and we've lost a few games! Nothing that's had any real impact mind.... Finally drafted in some much needed reinforcements. Money's a bit dodgy, but we have a golden opportunity at another good cup run, we're back in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, but against Carlisle, one of the worst League 2 sides, one we should feel comfortable with our chances against if we can curtail dangerman Callum Gribbin. Firmly on top as we enter the new year, everything's going all too well. Robinson, the ex-Sunderland fella is the much needed fullback depth. Telford is another Stoke lad(been a great source so far) who's a quite notable upgrade on the weakest of the front three, STCR. I felt we needed depth in midfield too, but what I ended up landing in Southampton reject O'Connor is (instantly) the best player at the club and already rated at League 2 level. On great wages too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 You don't play for draws, do you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 16, 2017 Author Share Posted November 16, 2017 9 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said: You don't play for draws, do you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Raaaaampaaaage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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