[FM20] [FM19] The Great San Marino Challenge

[Lewis89]

San Marino 2029

Nation    Group Standings    Results

2029 saw us competing firstly in the Nations League Division C relegation Play off which we lost. We then went into 2030 World Cup qualifiers and were well beaten. We didnt manage a single point but the positive is minus 18 is our best G.D in a single qualification campaign so far. We do have a much better Squad and pool of players available to us now and we really need to start getting our ranking down. 2030 sees us compete in the Nations League Division D alongside Andorra and Gibraltar. We should be beating both of them now and alongside some cherry picked friendlies against teams higher ranked than us who I fancy our chances against, we should be looking at a very good year ahead of us. Our best 3 players are below:

David Maiani (Cb) -  Not a youth product of ours, he came through at Pavia before signing at Lecce. We took him on loan for a couple seasons before a permanent transfer. Has been a mainstay of the national side and has already played 84 games at the age of 26.

Jacopo Stefanelli 28i (st) - One of our own, has scored 3 goals in 7 caps and could be a decent little player in a few years time.

Andrea Arzilli 27g (cb) - The centre back has had a half decent season out on loan and should partner Maiani for the next few years.

 

[Lewis89]

San Marino Calcio 2029/30

Senior Team

League Table    Squad    Competitions

Its been a roller coaster of a season and I cant help but be disappointed. We led the league going into match-day 37 by 2 points, then lost our last 2 league games to throw away our first Serie A title. Finishing as runners up for the second year running is still good but you can feel my pain. Fiorentina won the title for the second season in a row and are developing into a really top side, although they didn't finish 12 points clear of us like last season which is a good sign

In the Champions League we performed really well, Getting through a group that contained Ajax, Zenit and Benfica. In the first Knockout round we faced Barcelona and lost 4-1 over the 2 legs. 

In the Italian Cup we got to our first SF but bowed out to Lazio.

Reserve Team

League Table    

Runners up for the third year running, except this year they managed to seal promotion via the play offs. A brilliant performance but one that means playing in Serie B next season which is a massive step up in class. I can genuinely see them coming straight back down next season but thats okay, they are strictly here to provide first team football to national team eligible players.

Youth Development

Affiliates    Intake    

For the second season in a row we have produced a really decent looking prospect, the best thing here is he has no dual nationality so wont be getting poached from the national side. Tomassoni 30a is an AMC who looks a fine prospect and will be going straight into the senior national team. No other real stand out but a few should again develop into something we can use. The Under 20's amazingly managed to win the Champions League this year, which is a huge shock as the team is pretty average at best. The under 18's won the Division 1 title for the third year in a row. We only have 2 top prospects in all the youth systems but do have the best coaching set up and coaches and its paying dividends.  We are also starting to build up our affiliates, this is solely on youth terms and will hopefully improve our chances of better intakes.

Finances and Facilities

Finances    Facilities    Expansion

A first season in the champions league and our new stadium has seen our finances improve even further. Our top earner is currently on £80k a week and I dont really want us to go above that just yet although we can afford it if need be. Our stadium is being expanded to 17000+ this summer which is a slight improvement but I want to try get this expanded even further asap. Facilities wise we are at the maximum of everything bar youth facilities which is ongoing and due for completion in November.

Other Stuff

We are now 11 seasons into the game and I thought id just provide an overview of how the save is going. Inter and Juve were the dominant clubs in Italy up until last season, when Fiorentina took the mantle and have now won back to back titles. The Champions League has been shared around Europe with Benfica even managing to win it one season. Surprisingly, no club from Italy is yet to win it since the start of the save, Inter have been runners up twice though.

I do have the San Marino domestic league loaded for obvious reasons and there has been some visible progress here. Correct me if im wrong here as I should have took a note at the start of the save, but I think only one club starts as Semi-Pro and the rest are all amateur clubs, now we have 2 professional clubs and the rest are all semi pro. The league starts ranked around the 180/190 mark and is now ranked at 148th. No side has yet to qualify for a European Competition although Tre Penne have won 1 two legged tie in the EURO CUP 2.  

 

[FoxGe1994]

1 minute ago, Lewis89 said:

San Marino Calcio 2029/30

Senior Team

League Table    Squad    Competitions

Its been a roller coaster of a season and I cant help but be disappointed. We led the league going into match-day 37 by 2 points, then lost our last 2 league games to throw away our first Serie A title. Finishing as runners up for the second year running is still good but you can feel my pain. Fiorentina won the title for the second season in a row and are developing into a really top side, although they didn't finish 12 points clear of us like last season which is a good sign

In the Champions League we performed really well, Getting through a group that contained Ajax, Zenit and Benfica. In the first Knockout round we faced Barcelona and lost 4-1 over the 2 legs. 

In the Italian Cup we got to our first SF but bowed out to Lazio.

Reserve Team

League Table    

Runners up for the third year running, except this year they managed to seal promotion via the play offs. A brilliant performance but one that means playing in Serie B next season which is a massive step up in class. I can genuinely see them coming straight back down next season but thats okay, they are strictly here to provide first team football to national team eligible players.

Youth Development

Affiliates    Intake    

For the second season in a row we have produced a really decent looking prospect, the best thing here is he has no dual nationality so wont be getting poached from the national side. Tomassoni 30a is an AMC who looks a fine prospect and will be going straight into the senior national team. No other real stand out but a few should again develop into something we can use. The Under 20's amazingly managed to win the Champions League this year, which is a huge shock as the team is pretty average at best. The under 18's won the Division 1 title for the third year in a row. We only have 2 top prospects in all the youth systems but do have the best coaching set up and coaches and its paying dividends.  We are also starting to build up our affiliates, this is solely on youth terms and will hopefully improve our chances of better intakes.

Finances and Facilities

Finances    Facilities    Expansion

A first season in the champions league and our new stadium has seen our finances improve even further. Our top earner is currently on £80k a week and I dont really want us to go above that just yet although we can afford it if need be. Our stadium is being expanded to 17000+ this summer which is a slight improvement but I want to try get this expanded even further asap. Facilities wise we are at the maximum of everything bar youth facilities which is ongoing and due for completion in November.

Other Stuff

We are now 11 seasons into the game and I thought id just provide an overview of how the save is going. Inter and Juve were the dominant clubs in Italy up until last season, when Fiorentina took the mantle and have now won back to back titles. The Champions League has been shared around Europe with Benfica even managing to win it one season. Surprisingly, no club from Italy is yet to win it since the start of the save, Inter have been runners up twice though.

I do have the San Marino domestic league loaded for obvious reasons and there has been some visible progress here. Correct me if im wrong here as I should have took a note at the start of the save, but I think only one club starts as Semi-Pro and the rest are all amateur clubs, now we have 2 professional clubs and the rest are all semi pro. The league starts ranked around the 180/190 mark and is now ranked at 148th. No side has yet to qualify for a European Competition although Tre Penne have won 1 two legged tie in the EURO CUP 2.  

 

Affiliates will help you with better intakes - but i have never tried to get a player with dual nationality because of this.

They always have the nationality of the affiliates club - so they won't help the national team. 

 

Atleast thats what happened in my save.

Spoiler

 

 

[Lewis89]

7 minutes ago, FoxGe1994 said:

Affiliates will help you with better intakes - but i have never tried to get a player with dual nationality because of this.

They always have the nationality of the affiliates club - so they won't help the national team. 

 

Atleast thats what happened in my save.

  Hide contents

 

 

Fair enough. Have you ever had any players come through at their academies that are eligible for the national side? I haven't as yet. Think you would need to load them leagues which i may test next season. 

[FoxGe1994]

11 minutes ago, Lewis89 said:

Fair enough. Have you ever had any players come through at their academies that are eligible for the national side? I haven't as yet. Think you would need to load them leagues which i may test next season. 

Never had any players come through their academies either - even when loaded. 

Think the reason is that it takes 25 years to gain sanmarinese nationality - so they can't get it. 

[Lewis89]

Ahh thats a shame. I have had a couple with san marino as 2nd nationality come through at other Italian clubs, but none at any feeder teams either. Was hoping to maybe get one or 2 along the way.

[FoxGe1994]

1 hour ago, Lewis89 said:

Ahh thats a shame. I have had a couple with san marino as 2nd nationality come through at other Italian clubs, but none at any feeder teams either. Was hoping to maybe get one or 2 along the way.

Had some players come through italian clubs - 1-2 players each year, but only few decent ones.

Had 2 players with french nationality from french clubs (nothing decent) 1 player from spain(nothing decent).

I really love players with dual nationality. Had one czech/sanmarinese player come through which was decent + 1 player with scottish, but he did not look good at the beginning but suddenly he improved.
When i tried to capty him he choose Scotland - would have been a top 5 player for us. 

And then there is this beauty - who choose to play for Italy. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by FoxGe1994

[Lewis89]

2 hours ago, FoxGe1994 said:

Had some players come through italian clubs - 1-2 players each year, but only few decent ones.

Had 2 players with french nationality from french clubs (nothing decent) 1 player from spain(nothing decent).

I really love players with dual nationality. Had one czech/sanmarinese player come through which was decent + 1 player with scottish, but he did not look good at the beginning but suddenly he improved.
When i tried to capty him he choose Scotland - would have been a top 5 player for us. 

And then there is this beauty - who choose to play for Italy. 

Dual nationality is great, i had an argentine on a previous version who added a nice bit of flair to the national side. Ive not had any dual players come through my intakes yet, had a few foreign nationals though none to scream home about.

There is one right winger who currently plays for lazio who could really help our national side. He is 24 and has only played once for Italy in a friendly so i still have hope i can get him to play for us. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Lewis89

[FoxGe1994]

4 minutes ago, Lewis89 said:

Dual nationality is great, i had an argentine on a previous version who added a nice bit of flair to the national side. Ive not had any dual players come through my intakes yet, had a few foreign nationals though none to scream home about.

There is one right winger who currently plays for lazio who could really help our national side. He is 24 and has only played once for Italy in a friendly so i still have hope i can get him to play for us. 

Possible to se a picture of this right winger? 

[Lewis89]

16 minutes ago, FoxGe1994 said:

Possible to se a picture of this right winger? 

yeah sure. Benedettini. He came through at Mantova in 2022, moved to Lazio in 2023 and has played most of his 60 games the last 2 seasons. He is on the transfer list and it sounds harsh, but im hoping he drops into the wilderness abit and that helps him forget playing for Italy.

[FoxGe1994]

30 minutes ago, Lewis89 said:

yeah sure. Benedettini. He came through at Mantova in 2022, moved to Lazio in 2023 and has played most of his 60 games the last 2 seasons. He is on the transfer list and it sounds harsh, but im hoping he drops into the wilderness abit and that helps him forget playing for Italy.

Wow looks great - fingers crossed that he will soon play for San Marino. 

[Jack Jemison]

Season 5.

Back to Back promotions! Serie A here we come.

 

 

A boat load of loans and a handful of old Serie A campaigners carried the team with surprising consistency. A complete new team will need to be assembled with a giant transfer budget of $5m. Woo

The youth intake was garbage and I won't bother showing it. In better news, the junior coaching and youth recruitment have both been upgraded. Hoping to get training facilities going soon as well.

And so the Serie A slog begins. Will start paying attention to the international job if it becomes available and I will start providing some longer breakdowns of player acquisitions, sammarinese youth and other interesting things.

Luck will be needed.

[Lewis89]

San Marino 2030

Group Table    Results    

Its been a pivotal year for the national side, drawn in a generous Nations League Division D group alongside Gibraltar (208) and Andorra (195) I knew we had a strong chance of going straight back up. We started the year ranked 183 and with us having only 4 competitive fixtures it meant I could schedule in some friendlies against sides all ranked considerably higher than us, but sides I fancied us to beat. I chose Bermuda (169), The Soloman Islands (114), Syria (67) and India (96). We produced some fantastic results, with the win over India being hailed as the nations greatest result for years. Along the way we have set a new clean sheet record of 6 games without conceding. 

We now have a team that I think is capable of breaking into the top 100, but it is going to take a while due to only being able to cherry pick so many friendlies and we are still some way off competing in any of the qualifiers.  Our Squad is now pretty consistent with the same 23 players making the team when fit and I am hoping the fact 95% play in the clubs reserve or youth teams, that is what has lead to the good results and hopefully there is more development to come.

The one player who has to get a mention is Stefanelli 28i  who has been in immense form for us, he has hit 2 hat tricks this year, both against Andorra and stands at 10 goals in 12 caps, just shy of the national record of 17. 

Edited April 9, 2020 by Lewis89

[FoxGe1994]

13 hours ago, Lewis89 said:

San Marino 2030

Group Table    Results    

Its been a pivotal year for the national side, drawn in a generous Nations League Division D group alongside Gibraltar (208) and Andorra (195) I knew we had a strong chance of going straight back up. We started the year ranked 183 and with us having only 4 competitive fixtures it meant I could schedule in some friendlies against sides all ranked considerably higher than us, but sides I fancied us to beat. I chose Bermuda (169), The Soloman Islands (114), Syria (67) and India (96). We produced some fantastic results, with the win over India being hailed as the nations greatest result for years. Along the way we have set a new clean sheet record of 6 games without conceding. 

We now have a team that I think is capable of breaking into the top 100, but it is going to take a while due to only being able to cherry pick so many friendlies and we are still some way off competing in any of the qualifiers.  Our Squad is now pretty consistent with the same 23 players making the team when fit and I am hoping the fact 95% play in the clubs reserve or youth teams, that is what has lead to the good results and hopefully there is more development to come.

The one player who has to get a mention is Stefanelli 28i  who has been in immense form for us, he has hit 2 hat tricks this year, both against Andorra and stands at 10 goals in 12 caps, just shy of the national record of 17. 

Which database are you using? Considering changing to play in Italy instead of San Marino.

[Lewis89]

San Marino Calcio 2030/31

Senior Team

Competitions

League Table    Overview

This is our 7th season in Serie A and after coming 2nd the last 2 seasons we have finally sealed the clubs first title....just. With 2 games to play we led the way just like last season, but this time we won on matchday 37 and Juventus lost handing us the crown. On the last day of the season I played a majority young side and we witnessed a thrilling 5-4 loss against Sampdoria. 

In the Champions League we were given a group of Man Utd, Real Madrid and Marseile which proved too strong for us, and we finished 3rd which did at least give us a Europa League spot. We had another great run here getting all the way to the final for a second time, only to lose again but this time to Chelsea. They took an early 2-0 lead and although we dominated the last 60 mins we just couldnt score and they nicked another goal to beat us 3-0.

In the TIM Cup we got to another Semi Final but were beaten by Fiorentina.

Playing Squad

Squad    Transfers    End Of Season Awards

We have one of the youngest squads in the division, and up until last season I had been way to loyal to players who had been at the club for a while, this summer I decided to change and that went out and spent a club record £55m on new players to try an push for that first title. This clearly worked but the next preseason is going to be crucial, I have a few back up players I need to move on and will be looking for 1 or 2 new players to try improve our performances in Europe next season. We have 2 star prospects at the club, Andrea Protti 29a has had a brilliant breakthrough season. Started the season in the reserves and won player of the month in 3 of the first 4 months. I then promoted him and was using him as a back up AMR and he didn't disappoint. I am tempted to hold him back to try and prevent Italy calling him up but I think that could well be a lost cause. The other player is Alessandro Tomassoni 30a, he is an AMC and with single nationality, could be the face of the national team for many years to come. He only made three senior appearances this year but got a goal and a assist in those games. 

Reserves

League Table

A good start was followed by a terrible run and at one point they looked to be in a relegation fight, I signed a couple of promising youngsters in January and allowed some of the senior squad who were lacking game time to play for them form January onwards and they ended up 7 points shy of the top and would have been in the play offs if allowed. A solid season but proof the youngsters coming through the club are still not quite ready for this level of football yet.

Youth Production

Youth Intake    Under 20's

Easily our poorest intake of the last 3 seasons. No player really stands out as a top prospect although the GK could be the national teams number 1 in a few years if he develops. Signed about 7/8 of them but not expecting anything special.

The Under 20's have had a fantastic season. After winning the UEFA Youth League last season and finishing 7th in the league, they managed to bag our first U20'S Div 1 title, and almost sealed a double but lost in the UEFA Youth League final. 

The Under 18's lost in the Final and handed over the league title for the first time in 4 years. The U18's cup we lost in the 3rd Rnd. I think this is the only youth title we are yet to win awin the club.

Finances and Facilities

Finances    Facilities

We have maxed out everything we can facilities and coaching wise. We have taken a hit this year financially and there has been 3 factors in this. The first is we have been paying for the stadium expansion. The second is that whilst this expansion has been ongoing we have spent a season away from our stadium, and the board decided to do this at Rimini's Romeo Neri stadium. This is a 9768 seater so our matchday income has taken a hit. And finally we spent £55m in the summer. Next season we will be playing in our 23'638 seater stadium and I will be looking to upgrade this again as soon as possible. 

Other Stuff

 

Overall Best Eleven

We have had another 2 sides in the Campianato Sammarinese Di Calcio turn professional over the last 12 months which takes the total to 4. The league has also jumped 2 places to be ranked 146th in Europe. 

[Lewis89]

33 minutes ago, FoxGe1994 said:

Which database are you using? Considering changing to play in Italy instead of San Marino.

I have Classens San Marino one loaded. And I have used Italie (D7) Prima Categoria - By @Timo@ I had to edit the database myself to un extinct San Marino Calcio and add them and the reserves to the leagues etc.

[Lewis89]

San Marino 2031

League Table    Results    Squad    Nation

We started the year ranked 165th and 2031 saw us competing in the EURO 2032 qualifiers. We were handed a tough group, drawn alongside Croatia (29), Austria (30), Turkey (16) and Finland (74). All 4 sides being ranked in the top 75 and 3 in the top 30, I knew we stood little to any chance of causing an upset. We did get off to a perfect start, beating Finland 1-0 to record the nations first win over a side in the worlds top 75. This was short lived though and we failed to win a game for the rest of the year. The biggest disappointment was the 3 friendly draws. After last years cracking performances in friendlies, I tried to cherry pick opponents again and although we didnt lose, I was gutted to not have won any of the 3 games.

Our performances in the 2030 Nations League have however given us a spot in the EURO 2032 Play Offs Semi Final and the draw has seen us matched against Albania (68). This is going to be a tough game and looking at the names in the Play Offs, even if we manage to pull off a upset and get through, we will more than likely lose in the final anyway. The game against Albania will see Davide Maiani pick up his 100th cap for the national side. He wasn't produced by our academy, but has been a big part of our success. Signed on loan in the 2023/24 season, he spent a season with us before going back to Lecce for a year, they were relegated and we signed him on loan for another 2 seasons before making his transfer permanent. He has been good for us but has found his playing time start to dwindle and im debating whether to move him on in the summer so he can get some more playing time. 

[duesouth]

2030/2031 Season (FM19) - Part 2

San Marino Calcio

We came back after the winter break with a win and a draw - and then had Lazio away.  They weren't doing that well (mid table), but to beat them 5-2 was something.  March was an odd month - with just 3 games due to clashes with Cup games.  We did OK, but were a bit more hit and miss in April, but were still in with a shout of Europe.  I still hadn't quite decided if it would be a good thing, but just tried to win every game - and rotate as little as possible, as our subs bench is pretty thin.  We took another big scalp with Juve - stuffing them 4-1 - all 4 goals from striker Alessandro Muggeri (27 goals on the season).  Then with AC Milan on a great run - and Roma neck and neck with us, came home to Inter, who came into the game top.  We went 1-0 down in the first minute - but equalised  - only for them to go ahead again 10 minutes later.  We came out after half time and looked good - scoring on 49 and then the hour mark to go ahead 3-2.  However, Inter kicked off and equalised right away.  5 minutes later a free kick from Muggeri was saved - our left winger Falconi had the rebound saved, but veteran central defender Fredrik Knudsen smashed it home for a 4-3 lead.  At the point I went 4-1-4-1 and slowed the game right down - a bit early to try to kill it, but we couldn't live with them as it was.  That worked a treat and we held on for a proper win - the best of the save so far.  We almost took a point from Napoli in the next game, but they scored in the 96th minute to win it.  It was a little tight for Champions League spots, but we had 2 poor teams with our last 2 games (the bottom club and 17th placed) - but the games were on a Friday and Sunday - so just one rest day.  We won the first easily and I sent out my first XI for the second - and despite being tired we won 1-0 to secure 3rd spot and I got Serie A manager of the year.  I'm not sure the squad is quite that good - but after our right winger Di Lauro got injured 2 days before the transfer window - a loan signing from Southampton with 16 pace/18 acceleration was outstanding for us (7.46 avg rating, 6 goals, 5 assists in 14 games) really helped us, particularly on the break.  It might be "too soon" for Europe, but we'll see.  I've made a big bid for a central defender to replace the 34 year old Knudsen, who was always a 2 year stop gap signing.  I need to look for depth on the wings and at the back.

Youth Intake

This was much more like it, with 4 good potential, although one was low determination.  I've been scouting around for a new HOYD, but there are only 2 with determined personalities...

San Giovanni

Another league and cup double - the Cup dead easy as we were 3-0 up in the final after 12 minutes!  We've done the double 3 times in the last 4 years, so are now the dominant force in the league.  Most impressive, was winning without our star striker Emiliano D'Onghia who was out for 5 months with a horrible sounding injury - a blood clot in his lungs.  19 year old Marco Valentini (one of 4 Valentini's in the squad) stepped up with 14 goals.  Fingers crossed now for a nice draw in Europe!

Edit: My inverted wing back - Luca Vannucci won player of the season - he's a class of 2028 youth intake player:

Youth Intake

Not quite as good as some years, but still some good potential.  Striker Marcello Volpinari made his debut in the San Marino Cup semi-final and bagged 2 goals - so a nice start for him!

Edited April 12, 2020 by duesouth

[Musclement]

Hi everyone! I'd like to get some help to get started and join all of you on this challenge, I hope that especially @duesouth can provide a bit of advice, as I see you seem to be the OP. I will use the save game provided by BB to get started in the Serie C (1 year simulated). Next, I've downloaded this (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1916855633) through the workshop to replace Cattolica with San Marino Calcio, which was also done by BB. As much as I like the name of Cattolica, I love the colors, logos etc. of the original San Marino Calcio. Additionally, I have added the San Marino leagues (by Claassen), as that will hopefully give some better development to San Marino as a football nation.

 

Having done the above, could anyone please confirm whether this the setup that allows me to play the challenge properly? I worry most about the youth intake. Will these consist of (mostly) San Marinese (hope that's how I should call them)? Otherwise it will be a hopeless exercise. 

 

I'm planning to start with the San Marino Calcio job and combine it from the start with the San Marino national team job. Only remark in that case is that I have 100% knowledge of all the San Marinese players, due to me being the national team coach and having the full database at my disposal.

 

EDIT:

Will this challenge be doable without having a second manager, managing a local San Marino team? I'm reading your posts and it sees like many of you actually do. Will it somehow increase the CA and PA of the youth intake of San Marino Calcio and the country in general?

Edited April 11, 2020 by Musclement

[Lewis89]

San Marino 2031/32

Senior Team

Competitions

Overview    League Table

On previous saves I have found that once you win your first title, it is quite easy to go on and start to dominate the division. This year, Fiorentina have other ideas. They were simply too hot to handle this season and deservedly ran away with the league. They finished on 92 points which is the second highest of the save so far. We managed to seal 3rd place which is disappointing but I must say I weirdly enjoyed it, I am looking forward to next season already and the challenge of dethroning the champions.

In the Champions League we were handed a much better draw than last time due to being seeded 1st. Our group consisted of Liverpool, Olympiakos and Leverkusen. We topped our group having won 4 and drawing both games against Liverpool. In the last 16 we were matched against Chelsea who convincingly beat us in last seasons Europa League Final and with our league form inconsistent I worried they would do the same. We pulled off a fantastic 2-1 win in the home leg before playing even better in a 3-0 away win to gain our revenge. Into the QF where would face Atletico. They proved too strong for us, beating us 4-2 over the two legs.

Onto the TIM Cup and we have been getting closer and closer to winning it over the last few seasons and this season, we took that final leap. We saw off Parma, Fiorentina and Udinese on route to the final against Inter. It was a cagey affair and ended goalless after 120 mins, I think this is the first shootout we have been involved in, but we managed to seal the Cup in the end and with it the clubs first in history.

We lost in the Super Cup to Inter.

The most amazing thing about this season is......Look who finished bottom of the league!!! They have spent £1.2b since the save started.....Crazy.

Playing Squad

Squad    Transfers

We messed up our recruitment this summer big time, and nobody else is to blame but myself. I hate mega transfer fees and wages. At the moment our highest earner is on £100k a week. You may think that is a lot but when all tallied up, we spend £62m a year on wages compared to a league high of £196m (Inter). This is having a huge impact on who we can sign as we are missing out on players but I just cant justify it. The club do make profit so we could spend more without risking the clubs finances but I just dont want too. Our team is a young one still and we have alot of room for improvement. I will try to loosen the purse strings a little bit this summer. 

Reserves

League Table

The reserves have again done us proud with a 5th placed finish in Serie B. Youth product and national team star Stefanelli 28i even managed to finish the season as top scorer with 16 goals.

Youth Production

Youth Intake

I havent taken a screenshot of the intake sadly but you can see from the above that we got 4 players through who potentially can be 3* players. Nothing amazing but 3* is considered a decent Serie A player so they could do something with the national team in time. I may look to change my HOYD this summer. He has done well bringing through 2 special youngsters in his 6 years at the club, but I may look for one with a better personality. 

Finances and Facilities

Finances    Facilities

A much better year financially being back at our stadium which now holds 23'638. I have requested another expansion and the board have agreed to another 4000 seats.

Other Stuff

The domestic league still only has 4 professional clubs but has risen another couple places to 141 in the league rankings.

[Jack Jemison]

Season 6 - 24/25

Overview - 54pts - 11th - +6 Goal Difference

With us pipped at 1000-1 and favourites to be relegated, we had a very successful season finishing 11th. There was a time towards the end of the season where I thought Frosinone wouldn't win a game and Inter would go Invincible (which they managed). A really mad season where Trapani survived with 26 points. We managed 54 points and I this adding an extra 12 - 15 points could have us in the European spots. However, I have a feeling next season will have a much better showing from the lower rated teams. In the coming season I will look to be more competitive in the Italian Cup as we have yet to reach Round 1.

Transfers (Major Only) - Budget 5.5m

Petar Paraskov (2.4m) - Box to Box Midfielder, a constant in midfield all season and has recently started playing for the National Team. 

Lucas Erhardt (2.7m (7.5m w/addons) - Right Wing Back. Started his career with Back to Back red cards and went on to break the record for discipline issues. Solid but problematic.

Samuele Conti (3.6m (4.5m w/addons) - Attacking Mid. The shining light of the season, 8 Goals and 15 Assists and player of the season. 

Arnau Tenas - 2m (4.5m w/addons) - Goalkeepers. Solid all season but will look to upgrade in the coming seasons

Awards

Samuele Conti is a star at Attacking Midfield and deservedly won Young player of year and most of club awards. Hoping for the same net season. 

@duesouth Manager of the Year for me which is a surprise considering Pep led Inter to a treble and an invincible season. Mad.

 

Youth

A decent youth intake and I have high hopes for Marco Casali at Centre Back. Looks to be a good prospect. The rest will have to surprise me. 

Other

Training and Youth Facilities are being upgraded. Our Junior coaching is now exceptional and Youth Recruitment is considered Excellent. So, fingers crossed we get better intakes. Next on the list is the Stadium which we are consistently filling and desperately needs expanding on the 5500 capacity. 

 

[Lewis89]

4 hours ago, Musclement said:

Hi everyone! I'd like to get some help to get started and join all of you on this challenge, I hope that especially @duesouth can provide a bit of advice, as I see you seem to be the OP. I will use the save game provided by BB to get started in the Serie C (1 year simulated). Next, I've downloaded this (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1916855633) through the workshop to replace Cattolica with San Marino Calcio, which was also done by BB. As much as I like the name of Cattolica, I love the colors, logos etc. of the original San Marino Calcio. Additionally, I have added the San Marino leagues (by Claassen), as that will hopefully give some better development to San Marino as a football nation.

 

Having done the above, could anyone please confirm whether this the setup that allows me to play the challenge properly? I worry most about the youth intake. Will these consist of (mostly) San Marinese (hope that's how I should call them)? Otherwise it will be a hopeless exercise. 

 

I'm planning to start with the San Marino Calcio job and combine it from the start with the San Marino national team job. Only remark in that case is that I have 100% knowledge of all the San Marinese players, due to me being the national team coach and having the full database at my disposal.

 

EDIT:

Will this challenge be doable without having a second manager, managing a local San Marino team? I'm reading your posts and it sees like many of you actually do. Will it somehow increase the CA and PA of the youth intake of San Marino Calcio and the country in general?

It is doable without a 2nd manager, whether its easier/harder is difficult to say. It will help eventually but i tried it with 2 managers (1 at calcio and 1 in san marino league) last season. Its a very long process with just the 1 manager and i was 10 years in before i produced a player capable of making the jump to San Marino Calcio.

Im not sure it will effect the intakes at San Marino Calcio but i do know (or have read) that depending on how important football is in a country, this has some influence on intakes. You would probably need to develop the league as a whole rather than one team to see this have any effect. You can do this with one team but again its a long process of earning your domestic league european coefficients and that leads to more places in Europe for your league etc.

Also i personally wouldnt recommend starting with the national team, its a long slog between the start of the game and the point you can start picking up wins, each to their own though. Good luck whatever route you take. 

[Musclement]

7 hours ago, Lewis89 said:

It is doable without a 2nd manager, whether its easier/harder is difficult to say. It will help eventually but i tried it with 2 managers (1 at calcio and 1 in san marino league) last season. Its a very long process with just the 1 manager and i was 10 years in before i produced a player capable of making the jump to San Marino Calcio.

Im not sure it will effect the intakes at San Marino Calcio but i do know (or have read) that depending on how important football is in a country, this has some influence on intakes. You would probably need to develop the league as a whole rather than one team to see this have any effect. You can do this with one team but again its a long process of earning your domestic league european coefficients and that leads to more places in Europe for your league etc.

Also i personally wouldnt recommend starting with the national team, its a long slog between the start of the game and the point you can start picking up wins, each to their own though. Good luck whatever route you take. 

Hi Lewis,

Thanks for the quick reply! Super helpful. Managing a San Marino league club on the side will take too long for me to be honest, so I will just go with San Marino Calcio then. I will reconsider the national team, you make a good point. However, if I then want to be able to join the San Marino national team with my own manager, then I will have to wait for the job to actually open up, right?

 

On a side note, I see you are racing through your seasons incredibly fast. How do you do that? Do you simulate all matches or actually play them?

[duesouth]

13 hours ago, Musclement said:

Hi everyone! I'd like to get some help to get started and join all of you on this challenge, I hope that especially @duesouth can provide a bit of advice, as I see you seem to be the OP. I will use the save game provided by BB to get started in the Serie C (1 year simulated). Next, I've downloaded this (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1916855633) through the workshop to replace Cattolica with San Marino Calcio, which was also done by BB. As much as I like the name of Cattolica, I love the colors, logos etc. of the original San Marino Calcio. Additionally, I have added the San Marino leagues (by Claassen), as that will hopefully give some better development to San Marino as a football nation.

Having done the above, could anyone please confirm whether this the setup that allows me to play the challenge properly? I worry most about the youth intake. Will these consist of (mostly) San Marinese (hope that's how I should call them)? Otherwise it will be a hopeless exercise. 

I'm planning to start with the San Marino Calcio job and combine it from the start with the San Marino national team job. Only remark in that case is that I have 100% knowledge of all the San Marinese players, due to me being the national team coach and having the full database at my disposal.

EDIT:

Will this challenge be doable without having a second manager, managing a local San Marino team? I'm reading your posts and it sees like many of you actually do. Will it somehow increase the CA and PA of the youth intake of San Marino Calcio and the country in general?

As long as you have the 2 files in the OP, you should be fine.  If you are worried, you can try a test save and holiday forward to after the first youth intake date and check most are Sammarinese.

If you are NT manager, you will have 100% knowledge of the Sammarinese players - a small advantage early in the save, but you won't find many who can help you in Serie C - and certainly not in Serie B if you get promoted.

You can indeed do the save without having a second manager - in fact, I think most are just doing one.  I saw Lewis89 did this last year and I gave it a go.  I would say the San Marino League gets easy after a while - you dominate, although Europe is a big challenge.  As you can access Europe early, you can build the facilities quicker.  I went back to this save which is in FM19, and I'm in 2031/32 - and still the NT isn't great (I'm not managing it currently) - so as this is a long challenge, with 2 clubs it does take longer to play.  I enjoy it - just go with what you feel you will enjoy the most, as that's why we play.

Good luck!

[Lewis89]

6 hours ago, Musclement said:

Hi Lewis,

Thanks for the quick reply! Super helpful. Managing a San Marino league club on the side will take too long for me to be honest, so I will just go with San Marino Calcio then. I will reconsider the national team, you make a good point. However, if I then want to be able to join the San Marino national team with my own manager, then I will have to wait for the job to actually open up, right?

 

On a side note, I see you are racing through your seasons incredibly fast. How do you do that? Do you simulate all matches or actually play them?

Yeah i use the I.R for a lot of the matches but play all the bigger games and national team games. 

You can just sack the manager and apply for the job. I did this about 5/6 years into the save and got the job almost instantly. 

[Kazushi80]

Season 9 Review

 

San Marino Calcio

 

What a season. Qualified for the Champions League because of getting the 4^th place in the league with a lot of great performances. But the best part was Europe: First time participating and smashing through this new European Conference League thingy. At the end we won the damn Cup. YEAH!

 

But the most important part of our season was a nerve-wrecking winter with a big happy-end. Our super-striker Yan Cavalcanti got with the start of the winter transfer window offers from all over the place. Liverpool, PSG, Dortmund, Atletico,... Because he has a 60 million Euro release clause I couldn't do anything about it – and I couldn't give him a new contract, because he wants 3 times more than I am allowed to give.

 

So I was sure, that I'll lose him, but with every offer from one of the big european clubs there was this small news item, that he wants to wait if Roma makes an offer, because they are his preferred destination. And nothing happened, one week after another was going by. I got a little bit angry, because I feared the time was running out getting a replacement, because I couldn't make any offer without getting the money in for him (and 2 players I had in my sights were already going to other clubs).

 

And then a miracle happened: He just said, that he declined all the offers. He wants to stay here. Had that never happen, that a player just brushed so many big club offers aside and is happy to stay without wanting a new contract or something else. I think that made our big season possible (and I think I'll lose him in the summer now, but there should be enough time to find a new striker).

 

Btw: Our best season, yet, was the first one without one San Marinese National Player in the first team.

 

One good central defender and he wants to play for San Marino. That's promising...

 

San Marino National Team

 

Was a good campaign, because for the first time, we weren't smashed by the big teams. Lost the games, but only by smaller margins. Had a chance to qualify for the EUROs, too (I think because of our Nations League C title a few years back), but lost in a semi-final to Lithuania 0-1 after missing several chances to score a goal.

 

Season 10 Preview

 

San Marino Calcio is growing as a team and I hope to continue that and consolidate us as a Champions League team.

 

With the national team I try to win Nations League C again.

 

New Achievements

@duesouth

Win the Europa Conference League

 

Through The Seasons - San Marino Calcio

Season

Division

League Pos.

National Cups

GF

GA

Int. Cups

Squad

Most Goals

Most Assists

(Other) Key Player

One to Watch

Transfers

Miscellaneous

2019/2020

Serie D/F

1st

-

69

25

-

Squad

Matteo Vitaioli - 19

Piero Paludetto - 12

Riccardo Gaiola

Alex Canti

0 €

Promotion to Serie C

2020/2021

Serie C/B

8th

Coppa Italia: 2nd Qual. Rd // Coppa Italia Di Serie C: 3rd Rd

51

41

-

Squad

Matteo Vitaiol - 8

Stephen Danso - 8

Marino Bifulco

Andrea Vagnini

5k €

2021/2022

Serie C/B

2nd

Coppa Italia: 2nd Qual. Rd // Coppa Italia Di Serie C: 3rd Rd

62

32

-

Squad

Nicholas Bonfanti - 23

Ben Lhassine Koné - 13

Dario Maltese

Massimo Manzaroli

130k €

club turned professional // promoted to Serie B via playoffs

2022/2023

Serie B

1st

Coppa Italia: 3rd Qual. Rd

73

46

-

Squad

Riccardo Tonin - 31

Filippo Berardi - 13

Alessandro Lovisa

Jonathan Masi

8.25k €

promoted to Serie A via winning the Serie B titles

2023/2024

Serie A

13th

Coppa Italia: 1st Rd

58

71

-

Squad

Riccardo Tonin - 16

Filippo Berardi - 15

Luís Rocha

Nicola Gasperoni

- 740.5k €

2024/2025

Serie A

11th

Coppa Italia: 4th Qual. Rd

46

48

-

Squad

Nicolò Fagioli - 7

Filippo Berardi - 7

Ondrej Sedlacek

Nicola Gasperoni

-3,75 Mill. €

2025/2026

Serie A

7th

Coppa Italia: Quarter Final

47

40

-

Squad

Sergio Costa - 11

Nikola Ninkovic - 11

Francesco Laurenzi

Federico Zanotti

-14,25 Mill. €

2026/2027

Serie A

7th

Coppa Italia: 1st Rd

49

42

-

Squad

Yan Cavalcanti - 18

Ferdinando Canale - 7

Gabriele Perrotta

Federico Zanotti

22,25 Mill. €

moved into a new stadium // First time qualifying for Europe

2027/2028

Serie A

4th

Coppa Italia: Quarter Final

71

48

UEFA Europa Conference League: WINNER

Squad

Yan Cavalcanti - 38

Ferdinando Canale - 17

Nicolás Mendoza

Maicol Pesci

- 29,25 Mill. €

first european title

 

Through The Years - San Marino National Team
Year	World Ranking	Tournament	Pos	GF	GA	Most Goals	Most Assists	(Other) Key Player	One to Watch	Miscellaneous
2019	208th	Euro Qualifiers	6th	1	38	Tommaso Zafferani - 1	Davide Cesarini - 1	Elia Benedettini	Alex Canti
2020	185th	UEFA Nations League D	1st	18	3	Nicola Nanni - 4	Nicola Michelotti - 4	Filippo Berardi	Matteo Reggini	first win in a friendly against Andorra (3-0) // first win in a competiive game against Malta (4-0) // promotion to UEFA Nations League C
2021	158th	World Cup Qualifiers	4th	13	16	Nicola Michelotti - 3	Nicola Michelotti - 2	Alessandro Valentini	Luca Muccioli
2022	147th	UEFA Nations League C	2nd	7	5	Filippo Berardi - 2	Filippo Berardi - 2	Luca Muccioli	Jonathan Masi	Top-150 in the world
2023	144th	Euro Qualifiers	4th	12	18	Luca Cavalli - 2	Andrea Gualandi - 2	Luca Muccioli	Jonathan Masi	New All-Time Top Goalscorer
2024	122nd	UEFA Nations League C	1st	13	5	Stefano Selva - 3	Luca Muccioli - 4	Alex Canti	Jonathan Masi	Promotion to UEFA Nations League B
2025	123rd	World Cup Qualifiers	5th	12	35	Paolo Mularoni - 3	Luca Muccioli - 4	Alex Canti	Alessandro Toccaceli
2026	130th	UEFA Nations League B	4th	3	14	Filippo Berardi - 2	Nicola Michelotti - 4	Jonathan Masi	Alberto Zafferani	Relegated from UEFA Nations League B
2027	116th	Euro Qualifiers	4th	16	18	Filippo Berardi - 4	Filippo Berardi - 5	Luca Muccioli	-

 

 

 

[Lewis89]

San Marino 2032

Group Table    Results    Squad    Nation

2032 started with us competing in the EURO Play Offs as mentioned in a few posts above. Then we had the Nations League C to compete in. Our group consisted of Croatia (32), Montenegro (109) and Georgia (101). I knew we stood a good chance of survival even with them all ranked higher than us (150). I didnt however think we would finish 2nd. Croatia were obviously too strong for us but the 5-2 win over Montenegro was just amazing. They did however get revenge by beating us in the return fixture. The 2 games against Croatia went better than expected, we lost 3-2 and then 1-0, both very respectable results. Along the way Stefanelli 28I bagged his 18th goal for the national team which made him the countries all time Leading Goalscorer.  

We have been given a tough group featuring both Portugal and Switzerland in next years qualifiers so we can measure our progress even more.

 

On another note the San Marino u19's have managed to get through a tough Group in the first qualifying round for the 2033 u19s EUROS and have been rewarded with a 2nd Rnd Quaifiers group which looks possible to progress from. I have been struggling to find a manager for them since 2 years ago and have decided to take charge for these games to see if we can get to our first EUROS at any age group.

[Lewis89]

San Marino U19s

Table    Results    

I said we had a chance, I never thought we would qualify with such ease though. Its a great achievement for us but lets not get carried away, look at our  Group. I am expecting 3 losses being honest but we shall see.

[Lewis89]

San Marino Calcio 2032/33

Senior Team

Competitions

Overview    League Table

A brilliant season has saw us claw back the title from Fiorentina and win our 2nd title in  years. We started the season in some serous form and even when drawn in this Group Of Death we breezed through it. We had a wobble in March and this coincided with our exit from the Champions League against Dortmund in the QF.

In the TIM Cup we got to another Final but were totally outclassed on the day by Fiorentina and lost 4-2. Am actually really enjoying the rivalry that is now developing between us.

We also won the Supercoppa TIM for the first time.

Playing Squad

Squad    Transfers

I said I was going to spend money but in the end only signed 2 players but they played their part. We need a few signings for certain if we are to really challenge for the Champions League in future.

Reserves

League Table

Another solid season for them. No surprise to see Milan bounce straight back up.

Youth Production

Intake

Forgot to get a shot of the intake but you can see the players we signed here. A few really decent ones in my opinion but the best is Belgian.

Finances and Facilites

Finances    Facilities

The initial expansion was said to be 4000 it turned out to be 7528 to take us up to a capacity of 31166. This is in a country with an estimated population of 33000 (in game). We only sold out in games against the big sides this season and I think we have reached the current stadiums maximum for another 16 years.

Regarding the financial side of things, our best players are now starting to expect big bucks and I currently have kept to a £110k a week limit which isnt going to last much longer unless I sell them so I need to make a decision on that this summer.

Other Stuff

The San Marino domestic league has seen another 2 clubs turn Professional.  This takes the tally to 6. The league also rose another 5 places in the rankings to 133rd. Its slow but steady progress and I could kick it on by giving the clubs some money which I am against doing at the moment.

Edited April 13, 2020 by Lewis89

[LUFCspeni]

I've played this challenge off and on for years, so sad to see the real life club cease to exist. Even managed to complete it one year, with a youth product playing 1000 games for me.

Anyone know any more about the situation in real life? I wish the new club would get Sammarinese regens. I know their real life HQ is in San Marino so was hoping the youth would still go there. Doesn't feel right playing with editor files to something which isn't true to real life. 

[Musclement]

@Lewis89 How did you manage to get a Reserve/B (u23) squad? So far I have a -18 and -20 squad only.

[Lewis89]

41 minutes ago, Musclement said:

@Lewis89 How did you manage to get a Reserve/B (u23) squad? So far I have a -18 and -20 squad only.

In the pre game editor. Just select the league for the reserves. Its not possible in Italy otherwise.

[FoxGe1994]

I think i will retry the challenge as youth only.

Will keep you updated here and on a thread about clubs - hope you will follow the adventure. 

Edited April 14, 2020 by FoxGe1994

[Musclement]

4 hours ago, Lewis89 said:

In the pre game editor. Just select the league for the reserves. Its not possible in Italy otherwise.

Can this only be done before the start of the save? Or also mid-save? No experience with the editor..

[Musclement]

On another note... I just had to!

Edited April 14, 2020 by Musclement
Added comment

[Lewis89]

1 hour ago, Musclement said:

Can this only be done before the start of the save? Or also mid-save? No experience with the editor..

I think it has to be done before the start of the save but im not 100% on that.

[LUFCspeni]

For anyone playing in the SM league - which DB are you using?

[Musclement]

12 hours ago, Lewis89 said:

I think it has to be done before the start of the save but im not 100% on that.

Hm that wouldn't be great, that means I could never have a backup team in a proper division..

[nick91188]

14 hours ago, LUFCspeni said:

For anyone playing in the SM league - which DB are you using?

I used the Fusion DB from the OP. in 2nd season now and it seems fine

[nick91188]

Always been interested in this Challenge and decided to start it with Cosmo's FC in the San Marino League

Completed season 1 - Lost in the quarter finals of the final league stage play offs, after finishing 3rd in the first stage and 2nd in the final stage. I also lost in the cup semi finals. No Europe for me next season.

With the National team, I won my first game vs Kazakhstan 3-1 in the WC Qualifiers with heavy defeats v the rest. In early 2020 I beat Liechtenstein and Somalia in friendlies.

Achievements to be updated please: @duesouth

National team

Win a game and win a competitive game

 

Club Team

Qualify for Group 1 of the 2nd stage of the league season

Qualify for the Champions Playoffs (top 6 in Group 1, or 1st/2nd in Group 2

Edited April 15, 2020 by nick91188

[LUFCspeni]

Decided to give this a go. Completed this before with San Marino Calcio, so my manager is named after my 1000 appearance maker in that save. Started with Tre Penne as they have the best badge and kit. Started very well so far playing a bog standard 4-4-2 direct. I took over on the day of the Partizani game.

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by LUFCspeni

[Lanvigator]

Just got started with this challenge, I've opted to go down the route of youth only starting in D7 with San Marino Calcio.

 

There's more than 100 divisions in the 7th tier so even on my iMac processing is steady, but my first game in charge was with the national team and we're off to a winning start @duesouth

 

 

[Jack Jemison]

Season 7 - 25/26

Overview - 80pts - 2nd - +54 Goal Difference

A highly successful league finish at 2nd. Europe bound and the money bags are coming. Moral of the story is to trust young, cheap signings and also have 4 youth players from AC Milan. 

Transfers (Major Only) - Budget 13.75m

So I raided AC Milan's youth team with cheap signings and cheap loans.

 

Gianni Berni was a revelation with 28 goals in the league. The others really filled in the gaps at the back and defensively in midfield.

Youth

Our best potential player is Polish which is a bit disappointing. 

[duesouth]

2031/2032 Season (FM19) - Part 1

San Marino Calcio

After finishing 3rd last year, I wasn't sure how the new season would go.  We made one massive signing - a central defender from Napoli for £17 million - he'd been on loan with us earlier in the save and has real pace and quality.  We also signed a young left winger for £2.5 million from a Swedish club (he's taken a while to find his shooting boots, but managed a hat-trick in the Cup against AC Milan).  I was quite surprised that Southampton let us have right winger George Goodliffe on loan again - this time for the whole season.  To help the squad we signed backups at right back and central defender - and striker Zhang Yuning on loan from Borussia M'gladbach - plus some U20's.

Looking at the squad, I didn't think we would be top 4 again..., but I was wrong.  We started with a tough home game against Inter, but went 2-0 up early and held on 2-1.  That confidence helped us - and the results kept coming and coming - at the half way stage we have yet to lose in the league and are top, although Napoli are 3 points behind with a game in hand.  We also are through to the Italian Cup Semi-Final, after beating AC Milan 3-2 in an entertaining Quarter-Final.  Many of the games have actually been pretty comfortable, which is a little odd as I don't think we are that good - but I shouldn't complain I guess!!

At this stage, I didn't put any priority in the Champions League - electing to rotate and use my backups.  Last year when I did that, we lost about every game - but we are better now and we drew with Bayern and took 4 points from Celtic - losing to Barcelona both times.  We finished third and have drawn Villarreal in the Europa League 1st knockout round, which I'm OK with.

With the winter window looming, we have "Wnt" markers against a few of our players - so hopefully it will be like last year and we won't get any offers.

Youth and training facilities have been ungraded again - and are now good and great - with the next upgrade agreed by the board.  We have almost £51 million in the bank.

San Giovanni

There's no question the most fun I have in the save is the European qualification campaign with San Giovanni.  This year we got very close to the Champions League group stage, falling at the last hurdle to Basel - a nicer draw and we might have done it!  However, once we reached the group stage of the Europa League for the 3rd time in 4 years, we got another group of death and lost all 6 games - which isn't as much fun!

In the league, we've won every game to date - and we are through to the semi-final of the Cup - drawing the 2 away legs and winning at home.  We are a dominant force - some of the football and goals we've scored have been outstanding and a joy to watch - for sure glad I've made the switch back to FM19 as I'm enjoying the ME/football far more.

[LUFCspeni]

Season 1 completed. Bit of a disaster in the end. We went the whole league season unbeaten... and then lost in the semi final! Comfortably won the cup too. The club is going semi pro, which will be a huge advantage. Expecting to sweep the league next season. Will settle for a couple of wins in Euro qualifying. The national team (not managed by me) is doing well. They beat Kazakhstan in the European Qualifiers, and then won a couple of friendlies against Andorra and the Faroe Islands. My main tactic at the minute is to hoover up as many internationals as I can. 

Competition overview

Squad Overview

[lewis1792]

I have decided to start this as a San Marino League club and have taken the reins over at SS Virtus. This was purely based on them having the best logo! I will also be managing the San Marino National Team from the get go. I have just finished my 2nd season so will post updates on these now and update each season. 

 

SS Virtus Season 1 - 2019/20

SS Virtus Season 1 - 2019/20

Senior Team

Domestic Competitions

HONOURS - COPPA TITANO WINNERS

The first season was an great introduction into the strange 3 stage setup of San Marinese league football. We dominated the first two stages with only a draw against last season's champions La Florita preventing us from going the league stage of the season without dropping a point.  Our first domestic season ended in tears as we decided to wait for the crucial game of the season to lose our first ever competitive match. An extra time defeat to Folgore/Falciano saw us lose out on a first ever title and miss the chance to enter Champions League qualification. Our 8-0 mauling of Tre Penne in the cup final however did see us qualify for the 20/21 Europa League qualifiers. All in all a fantastic first season and plenty to build on.

European Competitions

Not yet!

Playing Squad

Just a screenshot showing transfers from this season as I write this retrospectively. We managed to bring in a large numbers of foreign exports from Italy in order to significantly boost the playing squad. I have decided certainly for the foreseeable to focus on bringing in the best players willing to play on our amateur contracts until such times as we can bring our youth facilities up to a standard where we can produce players capable of competing. The priority for the first few years will be taking advantage of our very low expenditure and hopefully making some inroads in Europe so that we can build our finances and turn Professional. The downside of being amateur is almost anyone who plays well for us is snapped up by teams in Serie C for nothing and each transfer window is a constant battle to keep offering contracts and ultimately replacing those weve lost. I have brought in 2 scouts and a Director of Football who have been pivotal in scouring the free transfer market for gems. The standout in season 1 was Mr. Jonas Schmalbach who came in January and finished the season with 15 goals in 11 games. I have no doubt he wont be here long!

Youth Production

My U19's won the U19's League Title but as yet there is no one of note in that squad. 

The cream of the crop for this season was Luca Penzo. He hasn't quite got enough to break into the first team as SS Virtus but almost certainly will be in the nation squad going forward.

Finances and Facilities

Balance at end of this season with 93k largely made up of gate receipts and TV money, the benefit of paying no wages was getting to keep it all.

SAN MARINO NATIONAL TEAM

This just didn't deserve its own post for this season. Lost every game and finished the Euro 2020 qualifying bottom of the table. I had the Nations League around the corner with Liechenstein and Faroes in my group. Onwards and upwards!

Edited April 16, 2020 by lewis1792

[lewis1792]

SS Virtus Season 2 - 2020/21

SS Virtus Season 2 - 2020/21

Senior Team

Domestic Competitions

HONOURS - LEAGUE WINNERS, COPPA TITANO WINNERS, SUPER CUP WINNERS - DOMESTIC TREBLE

Our second domestic season couldn't be described as anything other than complete domination. I continue to be surprised by how well my team is doing domestically. The standard of player at other sides in the division doesn't seem to be too far off mine but we seem to have too much going forward for most to cope with. I was pleased to secure the clubs first ever league title with a convincing win in the final over Cailungo, putting the demons of last season to bed and to do so remaining unbeaten was satisfying. We managed to secure the Super Cup and the Coppa Titano once again to get the treble and I have now officially entered the San Marino League Hall of Fame. 

European Competitions

The fun really began this season with our first venture into Europe. I had extremely low expectations when I looked at the standard of Olympia Ljublana's players. We went into the tie with a very conservative 541 formation but ensured that our wingers could still get forward and play as they do in the league. Securing a win in Slovenia was great and gave us something to hold on to at home. The reward was a financially lucrative tie against fellow Italians Lazio in the next round. It is safe to say I was more than happy to keep the score respectable and I was overjoyed at grabbing a couple of goals in the 2nd leg. All in all it was a good start to European football for SS Virtus which has given me confidence that we can slowly begin to compete in these qualifiers and perhaps bring our nation coefficient up. 

Playing Squad

Just a screenshot showing transfers from this season as I write this retrospectively. We were able to hold on to all but a few of our squad this season which greatly helped in keeping up our domestic consistency. I was able to bolster the squad with players that my DoF had suggested, largely those being released by Italian sides in the top 2 tiers. Again I can see us looking to constantly top up on key players as the lack of training in amateur football means that their attributes continue to drop as the seasons go on and we will require fresh meat. A special mention for James Uhunamere who joined having been released by Bologna. He has built up a partnership with Jonas Schmalbach up front which has terrorised San Marinese football with 34 goals between then in 40 combined matches.We also managed to bring in Simoncini and Battastini who currently play in my national team in order to meet our quota of 2 San Marinese players in each first 11. I'd love to one day have this number up at 11 but for now 2 will have to do and these 2 are the best we can get.

Youth Production

My U19's lost their league title to Tre Penne U19's which is no great shock as I continue my policy of only offering Youth contracts to players that are half promising for the national side. 

Jose Luis Avila is the only stayer from this years intake. I'm impressed with his handling, reflexes and kicking and he does have potential to make the national squad at some point. This is presuming the Argentina manager doesn't have a mental breakdown and call him up before me.

Finances and Facilities

 

Balance at end of this season was 450k, a significant increase on last season with the money-spinning Lazio tie being the biggest contributor. The balance was higher but we have been able to invest in both our Youth and Training Facilities, I will be looking to do this occasionally at the moment but I think the financial priority has to be going semi-pro or pro.

SAN MARINO NATIONAL TEAM

World Ranking: 204th

The year began quite well with us being able to pick up a first national win since 2004 against Liechtenstein followed by another away to Moldova. Our Nations League campaign started badly but ended better meaning we were able to secure 2nd place and the status quo behind Faroe Islands. Not coming bottom is a win for me! Ranking up to 204th follow a couple of wins. Fillipo Berardi has scored nearly every goal and as such is now sitting on 6 goals just 2 off of Selva's record, I will update if he makes it! I am fairly certain progress with the national team will be stagnant until SS Virtus take over world football. World Cup 2022 qualifying next - Gulp! 

@duesouth - Achievements so far

San Marino National Team - Win a game & Win a Competitive Game

San Marino League Team  - Qualify for Group 1, Win Group A, Qualify for Champions Playoffs, Win Group 1, Qualify for Europe, Win Champions Playoffs, Win Cup, Win Super Cup, Win Double, Win Treble, go undefeated domestically, Win a European Qualifying Game

Edited April 16, 2020 by lewis1792

[Lanvigator]

San Marino Calcio - 2019/20 - Prima Categoria Marche Group B (Tier 7)

 

Probably the only time I'll ever end up with a goal difference of +73 and finish third! As I'm doing this the youth only way and didn't add players to playable teams, for 26 of the 30 league games I played with only greyed out players. The top two were the only two with full playing squads so I suppose we did well to push them as close as we did. The last 4 league games after my intake ended 8-2, 6-0, 3-0 and 5-1, so if the season had been 38 games I'd have fancied myself to run them both down

 

This is an even better example of what real players can do at this level. The ridiculous 11-0 win in the final was against one of them teams who finished above us! We still only have a small squad and they're all only 16 or 17, but they appear to be far too good for this level (and hopefully the next!)

 

In reality these lads aren't very good and none of them will challenge the national team in the near future, but they are all in my first team now and will certainly play a major part in taking the club forward.

 

Retraining him to fit into my system so he hasn't played much yet, Moroni is the pick of the bunch although he has a terrible personality (1-3 Professionalism I believe) which will make it hard to develop him, especially without any mentors.

 

San Marino National Team

 

Ignoring the thumping from Belgium, three wins from 8 games is a pretty good return from my first year in charge. We've drawn Andorra and Malta in the Nations League and I'm quietly confident of beating both.

[Lewis89]

EURO 2033 U19's

Group

Our first game in this really tough group was against Spain. Looking at there side, and they had some very good players but I was surprised to see they also had alot  at the same standard as us. It was a tight affair, we took the lead after 15 mins started to dominate the first half but couldnt nick another goal. The second half was a reversal and they should have equalised but we held on for a memorable 1-0 win.

The second game was against a ridiculously strong England and I expected to get heavily beaten here. So to only lose 2-0 was not the worse outcome.

Our third and final group game was against Holland. Now we have played them in a qualifier a while back and drew with them so I thought this would potentially be the easiest game of the group. A 2-1 win kind of says it was, but we robbed them being honest. They had 27 shots to our 7, they also had 62% possession and if it wasn't for our goalkeepers heroics, we would have lost easily. Still a 2nd place finish in the group a and a place in the Semi Finals is something to be proud of. 

In the Semi Final we had the pleasure of facing France. I knew this was as far as our journey went as they have some players who would walk into our senior side let alone our youth teams. We tried but in the end, they ran out 3-0 winners and deservedly so. 

A good experience overall though and I think this may get us a spot for next years U20'S World Cup. I have not received any notification to back this up yet though so I am not 100% certain.

[Lewis89]

San Marino 2033

Results    Group Table    Squad    Nation

2033 Saw the senior side competing in a tough World Cup 2034 Qualifying group. The group featured Portugal (7), Switzerland (25), Bulgaria (55), Cyprus (98) and Lichtenstein (211). 4 out of the 5 teams ranked higher than us at 150th. We got off to a bad start losing our first 3 games, the losses against Portugal and Switzerland were expected but I hoped to nick something from the Bulgaria game. To then only lose 2 of our remaining 7 games was brilliant, even nicking a point Portugal and the best win of the save so far by spanking Switzerland 3-0. We lost all 8 games 4 years ago so to pick up 13 points is a massive improvement and  lets hope we get even closer to qualifying in 4 years time.

The big results this year have seen us rise to a save high of 136th in the FIFA Rankings, a jump of 14 places in 12 months. I am hoping to organise some decent friendlies next year and get some good results in the Nations League Div C to try break into the top 100 soon. 

The Under 19s have again topped the Group in EURO 2034 1ST Qualifiers. But have been handed a hell of a Draw to get to the finals. We beat Holland and lost to England at last summers finals but have beaten Ukraine before so its possible. I thought we may have qualified for the Under 20's World Cup but we haven't. Our performances last summer would have been good enough but its EURO 2034  that decides who qualifies.