The Students of Ireland - University College Dublin

[ToMexico!!]

University College Dublin - Ireland

Ok, so some context, I've already completed 5 seasons with this save, a save which I didn't think I would stick with but progress has made me fall "in love" with this team. So I thought I would start a thread. 

UCD start life in the 2nd tier of the Irish football league and are expected to win the league. Facilities are pretty decent with Great training facilities and adequate youth facilities. Junior coaching and youth recruitment are poor. Not much money in the bank but they do have one key player Neil Farrugia, a French national who can play either wing but predominantly on the left. He can and has become a key player in this save. 

Season  | League           | Pos | Irish Senior Cup  | Irish League Cup    | Leinster Senior Cup  | Presidents Cup | IRN-BRU Cup              | Europe
2018    | First Division   | 2nd | 2nd Round         | Winners v Waterford | 4th Round            | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a 
2019    | Premier Division | 3rd | Semi Final        | 2nd Round           | Winners v St Pat's   | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a
2020    | Premier Division | 1st | Winners v Dundalk | Winners v Bohemians | Winners v Athlone    | n/a            | n/a                      | EL 3rd Qual Rd
2021    | Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round         | Winners v Athlone   | Winners v Shelbourne | Losers v Cork  | Winners v Kilmarnock Res | 3rd EL Gr E
2022    | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Galway    | To be played         | Winners v Cork | To be played             | 

This is our current progress. We face Dunfermline in the Semi-Final of the IRN-BRU Cup which is played over the course of the Scottish league system and we have played five of the six group games in the Europa League, with the final game being played in January after the Qatar World Cup. We're currently 2nd in a group of Brondby (beaten them twice), Austria Vienna (lost once) and Viktoria Plzen (one win & one loss). 

Squad

This is the current squad, we play 4-2-3-1 so we're midfield heavy and with so many cup competitions we rotate heavily. We have a few internationals mainly the guys on loan of which we've been pretty heavily reliable on to improve the squad, currently out in Qatar is Australian GK Cameron Walker who was signed by my DoF from Nott's County at the beginning of the season for 110k. Ben Sheaf signed on a free transfer after his release from Arsenal, he has excellent versatility in defence and midfield if needed. Dylan Watts, was signed for 5k from Shamrock and was once a UCD player but left for Leicester back in 2016. 21 goals and 14 assists from AMC is a great return. 

The retiring Jonathan Walters has been a great servant for three years, scoring 54 goals as a wide target man. On the other flank is the aforementioned Neil Farrugia who whilst great mentally and physically isn't great technically but scores and assists for fun. 92 goals and 90 assists in an incredible return, all whilst being my most injured player I think, only playing in 42 game this season of a possible 69 in all competitions so far. This seasons goal machine is another loan player, after two seasons of Burnley's Michael Fowler the DoF felt Mick Towers of Watford was the man to score the goals. He did just that with 47 goals in 54(7) games. 

Club

With the decent facilities to begin with we've done nothing with them, we've instead improved the Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment when we can and when the board want to. We now have Excellent Junior Coaching and Average Youth Recruitment. The average attendances are below half of the Belfield Bowl's capacity of 3000 so no improvements have been made there. We have over £6m in the bank thanks to those two EL Group Stage appearances in two seasons. 

All of these staff have been brought in by myself, we can improve on these too with the likes of van Nistelrooy and Manuel Pires (Monaco's former HoYD) interested in joining, I just can't offer the wages they want. 

The Future of this Save

We're only five seasons in and despite winning the league three times on the bounce we're far from dominant so improvement can always be made. We've got five domestic cup competitions and Europe to fight for. I have no rules for this save but have tried to sign Irish players when possible and that will improve my squad, also within these five seasons I'm yet to have a decent youth prospect come through so that is something to work on. 

Whilst gathering the information for this OP I have noticed that the owner is willing to listen to offers for the club. Honestly, I don't want a Tycoon takeover as that will take the enjoyment out of the save for me. 

[ToMexico!!]

Veteran 

After the 39 year old Jonathan Walters retired in the close season I wanted to bring in someone to replace him. Step forward...

Sebastian Giovinco, the 36 year old Italian has fantastic technical and mental skills but lacks the obvious physicals. He will predominantly be a bench player but can play in a number of positions across the front line and will rotate in the cups. He joins on a free transfer after leaving Toronto. 

[phnompenhandy]

Are you maintaining the spirit of the club as an Irish University? In my save they've just got promoted in 2019 but all their players bar 3 are Irish and of student age.

[ToMexico!!]

2 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Are you maintaining the spirit of the club as an Irish University? In my save they've just got promoted in 2019 but all their players bar 3 are Irish and of student age.

No. That may be an interesting way for a save but one that doesn't interest me. 

I don't think signing a 36 year old Italian follows that "spirit". 

[phnompenhandy]

42 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

No. That may be an interesting way for a save but one that doesn't interest me. 

I don't think signing a 36 year old Italian follows that "spirit". 

Could be a postgrad. I'm a uni professor, so when I was managing Edinburgh University got the real names and degrees of the players off websites and created a narrative about the side.

[ToMexico!!]

54 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Could be a postgrad. I'm a uni professor, so when I was managing Edinburgh University got the real names and degrees of the players off websites and created a narrative about the side.

About 75% of my squad will be post grad then  like I said I want to sign more Irish players but the quality isn't there, for example I've paid Limerick over 400k for what would be a national league player. 

What i'm trying to do is scout every single Irish player or player with Irish as a 2nd nationality in hope I can sign any that are being released by Prem/Championship clubs. 

[ToMexico!!]

Transfers

The mid-season window has opened and that's means the end of the season in England, prime opportunity to sign some released players from Prem sides. 

We signed two Brighton releasee's, Connolly a back up striker and we send an on loan striker back to Southampton, the other Towell will be first choice and actually scored twice on debut in the CL Qualifiers. O'Hora was signed from Coventry on a free transfer too, he comes in to supplement the squad. All three players are Irish. 

We're now back up to 13 Irish players in the squad, eight are British, two are foreign but have British or Irish 2nd nationality and we have just two outright foreign players in the squad now, with both of those having their contracts end this season. I will look to sign foreign players but would like to keep most of the squad from the home nations. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Europe

A quick update regarding our plight/fight in Europe in 2023. With the Irish season being in a singular year rather than over the course of two halves I will make further updates when a European campaign ends each season. 

In my OP I left it with us being in the EL Group stages with one game left to play after the Qatar World Cup, we won that game meaning we finished the group stage in 2nd place which we were rewarded with a 1st KO Round tie with Ajax. We lost what I thought was the first leg 3-0 but in fact it was the only leg and we were out. I checked back and every other KO round in my save so far was over two legs. 

This season we entered the CL qualifying stages again and we easily beat Shakhtar K. and TNS over two legs to reach the 3rd Qualifying Round, we'd began to struggle with fitness issues by this point, we played a stronger team away from home against Slavia Prague and were rewarded with two away goals and I rotated a little in the 2nd leg only to draw and go out on away goals. 

We dropped into the EL where we faced Dila of Georgia in the last qualifying round before the group stages, we won comfortably, we rotated heavily in the home leg. We've been given a fairly tough group with Gala and Celtic. I hope to take points off Vorskla. 

[ToMexico!!]

Walkers Dilemma

In the OP I mentioned that we had an International GK in Cameron Walker, well this lad can't make his mind up. When he signed he was English with Australian 2nd nationality, he was the called up and capped by Australia, played at least 5 times for them, winning the Asian Nations Cup, well now he's been called up to the England U20's and is English again. A bug maybe? 

You may also notice he's wanted by Liverpool, I tied him down to a new contract at the beginning of the season so he's here until 2026 unless Liverpool put in a big bid, we don't need the money though. 

[ToMexico!!]

UCD - Irish Premier Division - 2023

Another season over and another league win, we went unbeaten too, this season I felt we had a strong enough squad to use two teams, a league team and a cup team/mixture of first choice players. Although when played in Europe midweek we did rotate in the league games too and that's where we failed to win some of those games in the league. 

For me, Cups aren't really that important except European Cups of course so, our energy was focused on Europe and not domestic cups. An overview below...

We end the season with more than what that image shows though, as we won the IRN-BRU Cup once again beating Celtic Reserves in the final and also won the Irish Leinster Senior Cup beating Shamrock in the final. In Europe we finished 2nd behind Celtic, to advance to the 1st KO of the Europa League. 

A strong squad domestically, further improvements needed for Europe. Two stand-out players in Thompson (61 goals in 61 games) and Farrugia (37 assists and 20 goals). 

We're actually releasing three Irishmen at the end of the season, Miele, Dunleavy and Boyle all not good enough for this team now. Giovinco, after 5 goals and 7 assists is retiring. 

Over £11m in the bank now thanks to another European group stage, we've been given over £5m to spend, I want to try and replace those leaving with younger Irish players. We improved the YR and JC in the course of the season too, so they now sit at Above Average and Exceptional. I also changed my HoYD after this seasons poor intake. 

Season | League           | Pos | Irish Senior Cup  | Irish League Cup    | Leinster Senior Cup  | Presidents Cup | IRN-BRU Cup              | Europe
2018   | First Division   | 2nd | 2nd Round         | Winners v Waterford | 4th Round            | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a 
2019   | Premier Division | 3rd | Semi Final        | 2nd Round           | Winners v St Pat's   | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a
2020   | Premier Division | 1st | Winners v Dundalk | Winners v Bohemians | Winners v Athlone    | n/a            | n/a                      | EL 3rd Qual Rd
2021   | Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round         | Winners v Athlone   | Winners v Shelbourne | Losers v Cork  | Winners v Kilmarnock Res | 3rd EL Gr E
2022   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Galway    | Winners v Shamrock   | Winners v Cork | Winners v Celtic Res     | EL 1st KO Rd
2023   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Quarter Final       |                      | Win v Shamrock |                          | 

I've left blank, competitions i'm yet to complete. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Bowing out of Europe

We're into the new season and we were drawn against Nice in the 1st KO Round of the Europa League. We were at home in the first leg and thanks to an injury time goal we took a 2-1 lead to France. Armed with an away goal Nice, only needed a 1-0 home win and they were through to the next round. 

Another good season in Europe nevertheless, we're slowly building a better reputation on the continent, being able to attract better players to the club. 

However, there was one player that has left the club in a huff. 

Young Cameron Walker, who couldn't make his mind up whether to play for England or Australia, he left for Liverpool for up to £1.6m. He instantly became worth £8m on a contract worth 31.5k p/w, that brings the 30% profit from next sale into play. 

[ToMexico!!]

Transfers

In relative terms we spent big. 

Three loanees this season for depth at ST, RW & RB. We raided Dundalk, Cork and Limerick for some Irish players, of those Latham is first choice in GK. McCarthy from Limerick was loaned back to the selling club. Meireles is a Portuguese youth player from Andorran side Lusitans. Szep is a 20 year old Hungarian AMC, who will rotate with Watts in that position. Hutchinson is a reserve GK. 

[ToMexico!!]

UCD - Irish Premier Division - 2024

Another season down and another league win, however we were poorer than last season, we lost a game, we scored nearly 20 goals less but did have a better goals conceded record. 

Cups wise, we managed to add the IRN-BRU Cup to our cabinet once more, winning that for the 3rd successive time, we also won the Irish League Cup and Presidents Cup once again. 

In Europe we fared quite well, reaching the Europa League group stages once again after initially reaching the CL 2nd qualifying phase before bowing out to a strong Rosenborg side. We faced Buducnost twice, firstly in the CL then again in the EL 3rd Qualifying Round, beating them both times, Thompson scoring six out of seven goals in the second time we faced them. We had to beat APOEL in the last qualifying round to reach the group stages, we did that 4-2 on aggregate. Our reward was a group consisting PSV, Slavia Prague and Krasnodor. 

We did really well in what was billed as a tough group before the games started, we comfortably topped the group and qualified for the 1st KO Round again with a game to spare. 

I felt we were a little weaker than last season but we did change the squad quite significantly with 5 strong squad players out and 6/7 over the two windows in. We didn't score as many goals as last season, Thompson the obvious stand out with 48 goals, thirteen less than last season but it was Farrugia (5 goals and 15 assists less) who didn't contribute as much as I wanted him to. Latham in goal did an excellent job replacing Walker, he had 29 clean sheets from his 64 games played. 

We spent some more money on improving the Youth Recruitment but it didn't yield any results. We also convinced the board to spend £1.6m on improving the youth facilities which are still in the planning stage. 

We're back over the £11m mark thanks to Europe, we actually spent £2.6m last season on new players and have already spent £300k on a new player from this seasons budget of £5.8m. 

Season | League           | Pos | Irish Senior Cup  | Irish League Cup    | Leinster Senior Cup  | Presidents Cup | IRN-BRU Cup              | Europe
2018   | First Division   | 2nd | 2nd Round         | Winners v Waterford | 4th Round            | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a 
2019   | Premier Division | 3rd | Semi Final        | 2nd Round           | Winners v St Pat's   | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a
2020   | Premier Division | 1st | Winners v Dundalk | Winners v Bohemians | Winners v Athlone    | n/a            | n/a                      | EL 3rd Qual Rd
2021   | Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round         | Winners v Athlone   | Winners v Shelbourne | Losers v Cork  | Winners v Kilmarnock Res | 3rd EL Gr E
2022   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Galway    | Winners v Shamrock   | Winners v Cork | Winners v Celtic Res     | EL 1st KO Rd
2023   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Quarter Final       | Semi Final           | Win v Shamrock | Winners v Dundalk (Pens) | EL 1st KO Rd
2024   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Limerick  |                      | Win v Dundalk  |                          | 

 

[Sheriff7]

Your bank balance looks beautiful... 

[ToMexico!!]

17 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

Your bank balance looks beautiful... 

Its gone down again a bit now, the money for the youth facilities improvements has come out after planning was granted but its for a good cause. 

[ToMexico!!]

Europa League 1st KO Round

Upon topping the EL group we were rewarded with a two-legged affair with Lyonnais. 

A 7-3 aggregate defeat, whilst being a defeat, is quite good for a club of our stature. They have a strong squad including Dembele, Aouar, Traore, Tousart and Ndombele still, they have lost next to no first team players since the save began. 

[ToMexico!!]

Reinforcements

This is the whole transfer picture for the season but when I mean reinforcements I mean the last five players in, three names you all know there, Tom Ince and Sam McQueen (both released by Barnsley) and Joshua King (released by Bournemouth). All three are in their 30's but all improve the squad with Ince and McQueen becoming first team players. Kelley joins from Cork in a pre-arranged deal, he will eventually become first choice GK. Coulibaly is an Ivorian national who gives us another role up front as TM. 

King made his debut then this came about saying he had finally scored. 

[ToMexico!!]

Ince on Fire

A hatty and a handful of assists as we smash nine past Wexford in the League Cup. That makes it 7 goals and 12 assists in 11 games since signing for us. 

And that was also our 2nd 9-0 win of the season, also adding an 8-1 win in there too, all three of those big wins coming  within the last 11 games. Coincidence.

[ToMexico!!]

We're in the Money, we're in the Money

Below is the qualification route we took to see us qualify for the Champions League Group Stage for the very first time. 

A fairly straight forward qualification, although FH threw a spanner in the works taking an advantage to Ireland and after a 4-0 home leg win over Slavia Prague, we made hard work of it in Czech Republic. Anyway...

Massive money in. 

WUT.  

Nil points expected. 

[ToMexico!!]

UCD - Irish Premier Division - 2025

Another season and another league win, this season we lost 3 games as we struggled for form when competing in Europe and being backlogged with cup fixtures. 

In Europe we took the expected battering but we did set some records like goals scored in the competition and goals conceded. 

In the domestic cup competitions we won the IRN-BRU Cup, Leinster Senior Cup, the League Cup and Presidents Cup. 

We started fairly slowly goal scoring wise but soon started racking them up when the reinforcements came in. 

Eight players scored double figures or more for goals, five players also helped themselves to double figures for assists. 

Big money in the bank with a big budget to spend as well as the board doubling my wage budget. 

Season | League           | Pos | Irish Senior Cup  | Irish League Cup    | Leinster Senior Cup  | Presidents Cup | IRN-BRU Cup              | Europe
2018   | First Division   | 2nd | 2nd Round         | Winners v Waterford | 4th Round            | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a 
2019   | Premier Division | 3rd | Semi Final        | 2nd Round           | Winners v St Pat's   | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a
2020   | Premier Division | 1st | Winners v Dundalk | Winners v Bohemians | Winners v Athlone    | n/a            | n/a                      | EL 3rd Qual Rd
2021   | Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round         | Winners v Athlone   | Winners v Shelbourne | Losers v Cork  | Winners v Kilmarnock Res | 3rd EL Gr E
2022   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Galway    | Winners v Shamrock   | Winners v Cork | Winners v Celtic Res     | EL 1st KO Rd
2023   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Quarter Final       | Semi Final           | Win v Shamrock | Winners v Dundalk (Pens) | EL 1st KO Rd
2024   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Limerick  | Winners v Bohemians  | Win v Dundalk  | Winners v Linfield       | EL 1st KO Rd
2025   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Cork      |                      | Win v Waterford|                          | 4th CL Grp B

 

[ToMexico!!]

Its been a while since I updated in here but i've been ploughing along with this save and am now in 2030. We're up to 10 league titles and 39 cup wins. 

My club has gone from an UK & Ireland with a few foreigners to a near on full foreign squad, domestically we're a force whether we had those foreign players or not but its in Europe we've had to improve. This season I've had to sell my three best Irish players, two to Chelsea for £4.4m rising to £7.2m combined and the other to Liverpool for £34.5m rising to £50m. I had a squad revolt after selling him but have since got my players back on side. I have one prospect remaining but really need the academy to produce this season and next. I now have £58m to spend on new player if I want. 

Upon checking a few things I'm held in high regard by Gennaro Gattuso, Eusebio de Francesco and Brendan Rodgers, my esteemed friends. 

[ToMexico!!]

International Management 

I've been a wanted man, first Ireland offered me £15k p/w to takeover back in 2025 when Noel King retired, I rejected and Stephan Kenny has been there since. And this season England offered me a massive £88k p/w to takeover after the 2030 World Cup. Again I rejected and Super Frank Lampard left his post at Dundalk to take up the role. He takes over from the sacked Aidy Boothroyd . 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Recap

Season | League           | Pos | Irish Senior Cup  | Irish League Cup    | Leinster Senior Cup  | Presidents Cup | IRN-BRU Cup              | Europe
2018   | First Division   | 2nd | 2nd Round         | Winners v Waterford | 4th Round            | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a 
2019   | Premier Division | 3rd | Semi Final        | 2nd Round           | Winners v St Pat's   | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a
2020   | Premier Division | 1st | Winners v Dundalk | Winners v Bohemians | Winners v Athlone    | n/a            | n/a                      | EL 3rd Qual Rd
2021   | Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round         | Winners v Athlone   | Winners v Shelbourne | Losers v Cork  | Winners v Kilmarnock Res | 3rd EL Gr E
2022   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Galway    | Winners v Shamrock   | Winners v Cork | Winners v Celtic Res     | EL 1st KO Rd
2023   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Quarter Final       | Semi Final           | Win v Shamrock | Winners v Dundalk (Pens) | EL 1st KO Rd
2024   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Limerick  | Winners v Bohemians  | Win v Dundalk  | Winners v Linfield       | EL 1st KO Rd
2025   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Cork      | Winners v UCD Res    | Win v Waterford| Winners v Aberdeen Res   | 4th CL Grp B
2026   | Premier Division | 1st | Win v Shelbourne  | Win v Shelbourne    | Winners v Dundalk    | Win v Dundalk  | Winners v Inverness CT   | 4th CL Grp E
2027   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Win v UCD Reserves  | Winners v Bray       | Win v Shamrock | Lost Final v Raith       | EL Semi Final
2028   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Winners v Waterford | Winners v Dundalk    | Win v Derry    | Semi Final               | EL 1st KO Rd
2029   | Premier Division | 1st | Win v Dundalk     | Winners v Drogheda  | Winners v Shamrock   | Win v Waterford| Winners v Livingston     | EL 2nd KO Rd

This is where we at, prior to this season. So yeh, domestic gods with 10 consecutive league wins and numerous cup victories with the Leinster Senior Cup our most coveted with 10 wins. We've reached the CL Group stages on four occasions with two fourth placed and two 3rd place finishes. The 2027 3rd place finish led us to reaching the EL Semi Final and being hammered by Benfica. 

We have just short of 70m in the bank thanks to that sale of Patrick Cross for £35m (50m) to Liverpool. We have Great Training and Youth Facilities with Exceptional Junior Coaching and Extensive Youth Recruitment. And I've just asked for improvements to both facilities and also to increase the YR again, the facilities costing us £7.7m in total. 

 

 

[Deego619]

Thanks to this thread I just signed Farrugia for St. Pats for 40k  far and away too good for this division really.

Interesting that you're playing in the IRN-BRU cup, I'm not sure what the qualification is for that but it's just never appeared in my save.

Do you line up different tactically from domestic to european games? 

[ToMexico!!]

11 hours ago, JDeeguain said:

Thanks to this thread I just signed Farrugia for St. Pats for 40k  far and away too good for this division really.

Interesting that you're playing in the IRN-BRU cup, I'm not sure what the qualification is for that but it's just never appeared in my save.

Do you line up different tactically from domestic to european games? 

He's been an absolute stalwart, he's now 31 and just had his Testimonial. He's played 624 games, scored 219 goals and made 252 assists. Is considered a Legend at the club. 

Yeah I only began to play in it in 2021, so four seasons in. Its just another distraction but does give the back up players a game. 

No same tactic for home and away game and whether its a domestic game or a European game. 4-2-3-1 Wide, Vertical Tiki-Taka, Attacking mentality, then adjust a few players roles. 

[ToMexico!!]

This save is on hold for now as I can not for the life stop my players from becoming unhappy, which is effecting morale, team isn't performing as they were a season ago.

Squad's unhappy with lack of depth, sign some players, players moan as they think they're being replaced, register squad for Europe a few players miss out so they moan, sell a player who is influential but is old; someone moans. 

Rinse and repeat. 

[ToMexico!!]

So after trying multiple new combinations of leagues loaded I'm back with this save but with a twist. I've created a second save and resigned from UCD. I then added the English leagues as playable and holidayed until their introduction to the game nearly a season later. The only jobs available were promoted clubs into the Vanarama N/S which weren't appealing. I holidayed again until November then applied for available jobs. Those were Newcastle and Watford, both clubs were struggling down in 18th and 21st respectively, Watford gave me an interview and that who I took over, signing a £24.5k per week deal for 3 seasons. 

As I said above we join the club, languishing down in 21st, under performing the mid-tabled finish the board want now I've taken over. 

This is the 2nd time they've found themselves in the Championship having previously been relegated back in 2025/26. 

The squad on the whole is pretty poor and ageing, something I will look to address in the January transfer window. I have £9mil to spend on bringing in a couple of first team players. A RB, AMR and AMC are priority. 

[ToMexico!!]

Watford - Championship - 2032/33

A brief update upon finishing my first season in England...

A quick look at the transfers, highlighted were what I made. Two of my former UCD players joined the revolution. I didn't want to sell Roberts to Swansea but I didn't want another mutiny on my hands. 

Taking over we were in 21st place, upon finding a settled side we initially went on a 10 game unbeaten run which catapulted us up the table. A loss to Reading was followed by another seven game unbeaten run which took us into the play-offs. We then lost to fellow play off side Cardiff before ending the season unbeaten and finishing 6th. 

We played Aston Villa in the Play-Off Semi Finals, drawing the first game and winning 1-0 in the 2nd leg to face Cardiff, the team we lost to just eight games previously. In the play-off final we took our Welsh opponents to penalties where we dispatched them 4-1. An amazing feat to win the play-offs and be promoted to the Premier League. 

We've been given 55m to spend on new recruits in which we are needing a fair few, a GK, CB, CM x2 and ST x2. We have a lot of deadwood to clear out too. 

Season | League           | Pos | Irish Senior Cup  | Irish League Cup    | Leinster Senior Cup  | Presidents Cup | IRN-BRU Cup              | Europe
2018   | First Division   | 2nd | 2nd Round         | Winners v Waterford | 4th Round            | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a 
2019   | Premier Division | 3rd | Semi Final        | 2nd Round           | Winners v St Pat's   | n/a            | n/a                      | n/a
2020   | Premier Division | 1st | Winners v Dundalk | Winners v Bohemians | Winners v Athlone    | n/a            | n/a                      | EL 3rd Qual Rd
2021   | Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round         | Winners v Athlone   | Winners v Shelbourne | Losers v Cork  | Winners v Kilmarnock Res | 3rd EL Gr E
2022   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Galway    | Winners v Shamrock   | Winners v Cork | Winners v Celtic Res     | EL 1st KO Rd
2023   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Quarter Final       | Semi Final           | Win v Shamrock | Winners v Dundalk (Pens) | EL 1st KO Rd
2024   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Limerick  | Winners v Bohemians  | Win v Dundalk  | Winners v Linfield       | EL 1st KO Rd
2025   | Premier Division | 1st | Semi-Final        | Winners v Cork      | Winners v UCD Res    | Win v Waterford| Winners v Aberdeen Res   | 4th CL Grp B
2026   | Premier Division | 1st | Win v Shelbourne  | Win v Shelbourne    | Winners v Dundalk    | Win v Dundalk  | Winners v Inverness CT   | 4th CL Grp E
2027   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Win v UCD Reserves  | Winners v Bray       | Win v Shamrock | Lost Final v Raith       | EL SemiFinal
2028   | Premier Division | 1st | 2nd Round         | Winners v Waterford | Winners v Dundalk    | Win v Derry    | Semi Final               | EL 1st KO Rd
2029   | Premier Division | 1st | Win v Dundalk     | Winners v Drogheda  | Winners v Shamrock   | Win v Waterford| Winners v Livingston     | EL 2nd KO Rd
2030   | Premier Division | 1st | Winners v Cork    | Winners v Limerick  | Winners v Bray       | Win v Dundalk  | Winners v Cardiff Met Uni| EL Quarters
2031   | Premier Division | 1st | Finalists         | Quarter Finals      | -                    | Win v Cork     | -                        | -

Resigned, added England and Holidayed until June 2032

Season  | Division            | Position | Europe          | FA Cup      | League Cup    | Finances | Top Scorer       | Biggest Transfer | Other 
2032/33 | Championship        | 6th      | -               | 3rd Round   | -             | £15m     | Korosi (11)      | Hladun (£4.5m)   | Play Off Winners

 

[ToMexico!!]

Former Player Watch

There's only one player I want to keep an eye on at the minute and that's Patrick Cross, he's now 23 and just signed for Real Madrid...

He's cost them £104m. I know I had a clause in there for profit of the next sale, so UCD have had a windfall from Liverpool's sale. I look forward to seeing how he fares at the biggest club in the world. 

[ToMexico!!]

Watford - Premiership - 2033/34

The aim for the season was to survive and anything else was a bonus. I immediately began to scout and bring in some players who would improve the first team. 

I went back to my old stomping ground for a new striker, a youngster I had signed and in the subsequent years developed into a quality forward, a bargain £4.4m, his release clause. A second striker was signed in Blanchard from Club Brugge, he has become a wonderkid. A cheap transfer listed GK from Udinese was followed by Peruvian Percy to become first choice CM. Another cheap player in Polish CB; Wisniewski was signed from Pogon, he was first choice too. Wollerton and Culshaw are HoYD signings. A huge £17m was spent on another first choice CM, the young Brazilian didn't make as much of an impact I would have liked, however he did win the goal of the season award. Lastly was a cheap punt whose contract was running out, he can play AMR/L/ST. 

We were impressive overall.

7th with a negative double figure goal difference. OK, we lost heavily to the likes to Spurs (5-1), West Ham (4-0), Liverpool (4-1), Man Utd (6-2) and City (5-0) but thats to be expected. As long as we beat the majority of the teams below. We did however beat Liverpool (3-0) and Arsenal (2-1), a sign that we could compete. Fourth Round of the Carabao Cup and Sixth Round of the FA Cup was OK. Since taking the screenshot, Liverpool and ourselves have qualified for the Europa League. 

I have been linked with another job, Klopp's just been sacked at Anfield and they want me to replace him, lets see how that pans out. 

Season  | Division            | Position | Europe          | FA Cup      | League Cup    | Finances | Top Scorer       | Biggest Transfer | Other 
2032/33 | Championship        | 6th      | -               | 3rd Round   | -             | £15m     | Korosi (11)      | Hladun (£4.5m)   | Play Off Winners
2033/34 | Premiership         | 7th      | -               | 6th Round   | 4th Round     |          | Bianco (16)      | Tinguinha (£17m) | Record High

 

[ToMexico!!]

Watford - 2034/35 - Transfers

We were given a huge budget but I refrained from using it. Echeverria is first choice GK, Rodriguez at AMR and Chauvin at RB. Berka and Farouk are young rotational options. Spice and Quinn were HoYD signings. 

I still have £60m plus to spend on further signings if needed. 

[ToMexico!!]

This sort of thing doesn't happen too much in my saves, currently sat with a 72% win ratio and 55 league and cup wins. 

I've added the German leagues for next season onwards.  

[ToMexico!!]

72 year old Jose is retiring at the end of the season after spending £2.3billion on players and only 8 (yes eight!) cup trophies to his name. I'm in the frame, thanks but no thanks! 

I want to move to Germany, maybe 2nd tier depending on who's been relegated. 

[ToMexico!!]

Watford - Premiership - 2034/35

Come January we made some more signings. 

Brown was a HoYD signing. Parri was transfer listed, 24 year old CB, straight in as first choice. McLaughlin, another CB, young and home grown, back up. Leggitt, an 18 year old CM, one for the future. Grau, was pre-arranged, had to wait until he turned 18 to sign, massive price tag but look....LOOK!!!!

First choice, now a wonderkid 

Anyway. 

We finished 7th again, quite comfortably actually. Says we qualified for the Europa League again but they said that last season and we never entered it. We had good wins over Chelsea (3-2), City (2-1), Liverpool (1-0) but also had some heavy defeats Man Utd (4-0) & City (3-0). We lost less games than City too!!!!11!!! FA Cup was pointless, Carabao Cup semi finalists, losing to Southampton on pens. 

We're Rich still, big budgets, will use some. 

Season  | Division            | Position | Europe          | FA Cup      | League Cup    | Finances | Top Scorer       | Biggest Transfer | Other 
2032/33 | Championship        | 6th      | -               | 3rd Round   | -             | £15m     | Korosi (11)      | Hladun (£4.5m)   | Play Off Winners
2033/34 | Premiership         | 7th      | -               | 6th Round   | 4th Round     | £94m     | Bianco (16)      | Tinguinha (£17m) | Record High
2034/35 | Premiership         | 7th      | -               | 4th Round   | Semi-Final    | £77m     | Blanchard (15)   | Grau (£14.5m)    | -

 

[ToMexico!!]

Something I always like to do in my saves is bring in staff that were players in the game, whether it was at UCD and then onto Watford. A quick run through my back room before I look at other clubs in the Premiership. 

First Team; Pontus Jansson, first joined me at UCD at reserves fitness coach before leaving to manage Dundalk then Barnsley, returned to me as first team fitness coach at Watford. Coutinho, is a coach, Tom Trybull, also a coach, left UCD to join me and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who joined as GK Coach after retiring in 2031. 

Under-23s; Vincent Enyeama is GK Coach, he joined me at UCD back in 2022 after leaving Lorient. Adam Lallana is Assistant Manager he joined me at UCD in 2025 before leaving for Arsenal U18s in 2032 when I left Ireland. 

Under-18s; Luis Garcia (not the Liverpool one) retired in 2019, was an U19 coach for me at UCD for 12 years then left for Fulham U18's rejoined me this summer as U18 AssMan. Declan Rudd is GK Coach, Nicola Sansone was also at UCD with me, Alex Grimaldo was at UCD for a season before I left, was jobless for 3 seasons before rejoining me at Watford and lastly Piotr Trochowski who retired in 2019, was coach until 2031 then left for Chelsea U18s, rejoined me last year. 

Premiership

Arsenal - Mame Diouf, Kemar Roofe, Fraser Forster, Jacob Butterfield and Ciro Immobile. 
Brighton - Harry Kane (Manager), Kelechi Ineanacho, Nathan Redmond and Duje Duleta-Car.
Burnley - Radja Nainggolan (Manager), Josh Harrop, Riyad Mahrez, Callum Wilson and Asmir Begovic.
Chelsea - Michy Batshuayi, Kenji Gorre, Franckk Tabanou and Idrissa Gueye.
C Palace - Bruma (Scout).
Everton - Issac Success and Jack Cork.
Liverpool - Florian Kainz, Junior Hoilett, Jordan Ayew, Leandro Bacuna and Andrew Robertson.
Man City - Divock Origi, Oriol Romeu, Jonas Lossl and Vicente Iborra.
Man Utd - Anthony Knockaert (DoF), Duncan Watmore, Andre Schurrle, Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck.
Millwall - Angus Gunn (GK Coach).
Preston - Son Hueng-Min (Manager), Kevin Strootman, Daryl Janmaat, Kevin Wimmer, Almamy Toure and Sulley Kaikai. 
Southampton - Joselu and Ross Barkley. 
Swansea - Ryan Bertrand, Martin Olsson, Jarrod Bowen and Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Tottenham - Emerson, DeAndre Yedlin, Yannick Bolasie, Leonardo Bonucci and Danny Ings. 
West Brom - Naby Keita (DoF).
West Ham - Fernando Forestieri, Caglar Soyuncu and Jed Steer. 
Wolves - Jacob Murphy, Tasos Donis and Theo Walcott.