The FM21 Youth Academy Challenge

[Panthermil]

Without breaking the rules of this thread.... any tips for getting your 1st season off the ground in England? Other than having more than 11 players with the team you choose (which eliminates at least half the teams)? I've always liked Dafuge's challenge but I recently upgraded from a REALLY OLD version of FM to this one and while I am doing ok (albeit a bit frustrated with my team at the moment) with my current challenge (my BIGGEST issue with that save is I have Farnborough and getting tired of the white on yellow text), I wanted to give this a try as well and see if I could get off the ground. 

 

** Nevermind, I found the posts that said to include all players in the country and more people might stick with the team.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Panthermil

[dkouv]

Xerez – Season 12 (2032/33)

La Liga 2 Dammit, so close! We started the season where we ended the last, i.e. in proper relegation form. But as the season went on, we started to pick up more and more results, mainly thanks to our increasingly solid defence, and were in with a chance of playoffs come May. We faced a crucial set of fixtures in our last 6 games, playing play-off rivals Alaves, Deportivo, Rayo Vallecano and Malaga before two tough away ties to Racing Santander and Cadiz. We managed to come through the fixtures with our playoff rivals unscathed, drawing 2 and winning 2 of the first 4 games, including a comeback from 2-0 down against Rayo. But then we lost our final 2 games, and ended up slipping out of the playoff spots on the last day thanks to a 1-0 defeat to our local rivals Cadiz - so annoying!

  

The team keeps improving though, and our youngsters are absolutely brilliant, winning their U19 league and finishing runners up in some kind of Spanish country-wide U19 competition. The only problem is their high salaries, I’m not sure I can sign many more players with these 2k wages for each youngster, and may have to sell some.

Players: Ricardo Masero 10c is turning into an absolutely brilliant player, exactly the kind of striker I like, a Lukaku’esque all rounder with strength, heading, creative flair and an eye for goal. He got 18 goals this season, and I expect him to keep going strong for some years to come. The main reason for our improvement was our defence though, with Alonso 10a and Nico Nunez 08a playing superbly, but I have so many good defenders I don’t mind losing one of them, it's Masero I have to hang on to, and it doesn't look like he'll be extending his contract.

 

Youth watch: The 10th intake just keeps on giving, with Alberto Pedraza 10e now a La Liga 2 quality winger, and both him and Masero have La Liga potential. Unfortunately last intake’s star player Adri Ledesma 11a has hardly developed at all so looks to be all about CA not PA, but even his CA is good enough to keep a starter spot in our team!

 

Youth intake [preview]: The last two intakes were good, but this one looks amazing - if these stars are any indication of quality (4.5* is a good La Liga 2 player), this will be the best intake of the save by far. We got some more defenders, but also a few positions we’re lacking, with Maldonado 12e and Carlos 12b sure to plug some holes in attacking midfield. I now have youth talent in all positions apart from a goalie, like I said, I just hope I can keep hold of them with the short contracts and high wages these guys are demanding.

   

Facilities: Managed to upgrade youth facilities once more but nothing else on the horizon unless I can sell someone for big money.

Transfers: nothing of note

Season    |  League               | Pos. |     Europe     |   Best player                   |  Notes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22   | Segunda B Grupo IV.   |  4   |     n/a        |  Lolo Garrido (AMC)             |
2022/23   | Segunda B Grupo IV    |  11  |     n/a        |  Miquel 01d (AMC)               |
2023/24   | Segunda B Grupo IV    |  5   |     n/a        |  Lolo Garrido (AMC)             |
2024/25   | Segunda B Grupo IV    |  3   |     n/a        |  Lucas Correa (DC)              | Lost in playoff final
2025/26   | Segunda B Grupo IV    |  1   |     n/a        |  Javi Gomez (MC)                | Promotion via playoffs
2026/27   | Primera RFEF Grupo II |  6   |     n/a        |  Miquel 01d (AMC)               |
2027/28   | Primera RFEF Grupo II |  3   |     n/a        |  Clement Nwachukwu 05a (AMC/ST) |
2028/29   | Primera RFEF Grupo II |  1   |     n/a        |  Sebas 01f (AMC/ST)             | Promoted
2029/30   | La Liga 2             |  16  |     n/a        |  Sebas 01f (AMC/ST)             |
2030/31   | La Liga 2             |  8   |     n/a        |  Gregorio Marin 03a (MC)        | Lost in playoff final
2031/32   | La Liga 2             |  11  |     n/a        |  Alonso 10a (DC)                | 
2032/33   | La Liga 2             |  7   |     n/a        |  Ricardo Masero 10c (AMC/ST)    | 1 point outside of the playoff spots

Facilities
----------
Season    |  Coaching     |  Recruitment      | Training Fac.  | Youth Fac.      |  Stadium
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22   |  Fairly basic |  Fairly basic     | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2022/23   |  Fairly basic |  Fairly basic     | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2023/24   |  Fairly basic |  Adequate         | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2024/25   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2025/26   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Below average  |  Adequate       |  800
2026/27   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Below average  |  Adequate       |  800
2027/28   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Below average  |  Below average  |  800
2028/29   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Below average  |  Below average  |  800
2029/30   |  Adequate     |  Excellent        | Below average  |  Below average  |  800
2030/31   |  Good         |  Exceptional      | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2031/32   |  Excellent    |  Exceptional      | Average        |  Average        |  7362
2032/33   |  Excellent    |  Exceptional      | Average        |  Good           |  7362

 

[toshimitzou1]

3 hours ago, libbyshuss said:

The only way I can afford to keep my wonderkids is to sell them to raise the cash to keep them! Aargh!!!!!

Yeah, I think at one point I was selling a top potential player each season for 10m just to maintain financial security. This was pretty much an endless cycle until I made it into Europe by improving a tiny bit each season. You are definitely on the right track.

3 hours ago, libbyshuss said:

We were doing well but had a run of five games including 4 against the top 4 clubs - Standard, Brugges, Genk and Gent.

If you remember my Aigaleo struggles we were in a very similar position: For Genk/Gent/Standard/Anderlecht I was facing trouble with Panathinaikos/AEK/Olympiakos/PAOK. Every year I felt that I would be lucky to get 1 point from those eight fixtures.

It was at that point that I changed my team instructions, mentality and overall approach to deal specifically with these sides and by proxy, be better prepared for difficult European games that were around the corner. A more pragmatic and lower risk tactic was deployed that allowed me to win against the teams around me and below me (albeit by small margins), and take points of the 'big four'. It was this tactical shift that really moved the goalposts back in my favour domestically and ultimately saw us through to EURO Cup II and ECL victories. Furthermore, it was designed so that when my 'wonderkids' were snapped up, the demands of the deployed roles and duties meant a lesser player was able to step into the vacant position without a dramatic demise in performance.

It is a big undertaking and comes with much risk. if I had got it wrong we would been in the doldrums for years. Just food - for - thought...

[libbyshuss]

9 hours ago, Panthermil said:

Without breaking the rules of this thread.... any tips for getting your 1st season off the ground in England? Other than having more than 11 players with the team you choose (which eliminates at least half the teams)?

the first 2/3 seasons in england are always a slog. It's usually just a case of survival for me!

[libbyshuss]

8 hours ago, toshimitzou1 said:

If you remember my Aigaleo struggles we were in a very similar position: For Genk/Gent/Standard/Anderlecht I was facing trouble with Panathinaikos/AEK/Olympiakos/PAOK. Every year I felt that I would be lucky to get 1 point from those eight fixtures.

I remember. It happened to me in Denmark and as Hitchin in Engalnd as well, it's always a good stage to reach as it shows you're almost there, but also ridiculously frustrating at times, 

 

It is a tough stage to get past though I find, probably becuase i'm neither brave enough or smart enough to make those changes needed to get past those big teams. Usually my attempts to be clever in those sort of games completely backfire on me! I'll try a few things, see what happens.....

 

[Padders]

Season #114 - 2135/36

Another frustrating season,

Went to bed last night in 9th place, just 3 points off the playoffs

Then reloaded the game this morning and got the following results

Plans for a new stadium

 

[ashton321]

 

Season 1 - Yuen Long

 

Competitions - Well here I am in Hong Kong trying a Youth Academy Challenge I think for the first time ever. I decided Hong Kong as I feel it will give me a good chance to learn how these things work. First up in the Sapling Cup we were awful we won 1 and lost 5 to finish bottom of our group and went out at the first possible chance. This was the same story in the Challenge Cup as we again lost out in the first round this time in extra time to Eastern AA. The League was fun, it seems to be a normal league and then split right at the end for just three games which I dont quite understand. We finished second bottom in the league or 7th as that sounds a little better. We then won 1 and drew 2 in the relegation group to secure our status for another year. In the FA Cup was the real story really. In the group we won 2 and lost one to go into the next round, which was the semi finals. Somehow we came through that against one of the better teams on pens. In the final we faced another very good team and it was one step too far as we got smashed 7-0.

 

Transfers

 

Finances - We had upgrades in the recruitment and also the coaching and more surprisingly in the Youth Facilities. This left us in a bit of a sticky spot. 

 

Youth Intake - A very good intake where some players will be first teamers right away. Maybe looks better than it is due to the poor quality of the squad. 

 

Stars

 

Biren Gurung - A poor striker who actually played well for me this year. 

Chan Pak Ho - A decent enough keeper for us at this level, seemed to do well and has some room to grow

Ousmane Soumah - One of the better players at the club, I used him up top and as a Shadow Striker. 

 

[toshimitzou1]

5 hours ago, libbyshuss said:

Usually my attempts to be clever in those sort of games completely backfire on me! I'll try a few things, see what happens.....

Same here. That was why rather than change approach for those specific games I made a wholesale change to my tactic that was ready to deal with them without making changes. Brave and Clever; I think you missed out Lucky as well! I should probably add, before all tough my games I adjust my training schedule to include set piece training in:

Defending Free Kicks and Defending Corners.

Furthermore, After a lot of tinkering, I have some really solid Defending set - piece routines. When I finally got those right we started shipping far less goals from Throw-Ins and Indirect Free Kicks; at one point it felt like every goal we conceded started from a throw -in or IFK. That change made as big a contribution to my success as any Team Instructions could.

Think less Clever, more Thorough.

Hope this helps!!!

 

 

[shaunvamos]

 
 

 

 

 

 

Well, the analyst report says it all really. We should've finished 2nd and gained automatic promotion. We were in great shape to do it too, as we were top of the table heading into the second half of the season. But we fell apart, only winning 1 of our last 13 games and sealing our worst finish in the league to date under the new management. The pieces are there to get promoted next season, but we need to make sure we stay consistent and not run out of steam. The young legs have got to get fitter.

 

 

 

Youth Intake

 

 

 

Daniel Baruchian 3A*  -  Yair Avitan 3B  -  Liel Zasno 3C

 

Spoiler

 

 

Not a golden generation, but easily our strongest intake so far. There are a few players that will be able to contribute immediately once they turn 16, and strengthen our team as a result. We also get our first non-Israeli (and no new Israeli locations), who on paper is our best player in the intake. Funnily enough, Barda 3D is a better left winger than Randell by a long way, so maybe the Ass Man/HOYD has got them mixed up. We've now maxed our junior coaching and recruitment as well, which should mean we'll be seeing plenty of quality in upcoming intakes.

 

 

 

Best XI

 

Gili Gola 1C*  -  Liel Cohen  -  Matan Dehadi

 

 

 

 

Gili Gola features on here as our best player, and what a player he was this season. Probably going to be the last we see of him, he thinks he's too good and won't renew his contract which expires at the end of next season. I may have to try and sell him. AT least the team is getting better as a whole.

 

Record Breakers

 

 

Transfers

 

 

 

Progress
 

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 38th Folkestone Intake Report and 34th Intake Review 

The preview was a rare for my save non-golden generation, but there are some possibly useful players here. In fact, apart from personality, it looks fairly good.(I know golden generation is just the average of the whole intake, but this looks quite deep, which is a worry because maybe in reality it’s not that deep or good). All but 3 are supposed to have at least 3 star potential, so I’ve signed hem all (apart from the bottom 3 that is).

I have a lot of suitable mentors to try to improve their personalities, but the newcomers are so bad I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to improve things before their influence goes from none to light.

Nicholas Hammond 38a -I will need a new right back to replace my starter who’s 32. I already have one or two from previous intakes, but it can’t hurt to have another possibility in Hammond. With a determination of 2 and Casual personality though, it’s going to be a tough road.

 

YP34 Review

Let’s see what I said at the time.

Quote

 

Honestly not the intake I was hoping for, or needed… All I got was another central midfielder, but it’s not terrible. I mean, my top guy, Kôji Sano 34a – A central midfielder from Japan, might actually turn out to be a star, even though he’s unlikely to feature in the first team soon.

There’s always next year, I guess.

 

Oh, Kôji Sano 34a. I kept the faith as long as I could. He’s started 55 matches, plus lots of time off the bench. His determination is good now I guess, although that’s because I fine players when they play badly, and Sano plays badly all the time. He is still supposed to have massive potential, but after 4 years, he’s just not that good; in coaches’ opinions, in performances. I’ve now dropped him. It’s probable that I started him in the first team too soon, but central midfield is a weak area.

James Loaring 34b – A left winger who has picked up a fair amount of playing time, mostly as a sub, but just didn’t develop. I’ve more or less given up on him. Maybe I’ll try to get him out on loan next season.

Martin Davison 34c- Even though he’s left footed, I’ve developed him as an inverted right back, or more accurately failed to develop him. Not a lost cause yet though. There will be a vacancy in the next few years that someone has to fill.

Miłosz Zajączkowski 34d – My starting right winger for the last season and a bit. He’s not great yet, but is making slow but steady progress.

There’s a couple of others out on loan, but I don’t think they’ll make the grade for us.

Have I ever quoted the Dylan song before. It's how I feel about this intake.

Quote

 

I’m not saying you treated me unkind

You could have done better but I don’t mind

You just wasted my precious time

Don’t think twice, it’s alright.

 

 

[OlivierL]

Intro | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7

Rot-Weiss Essen -  Season 8 Review - 2028-2029- Bundesliga - Champions !

Squad | Transfers | Finances | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 |

After being very close in the league last year, my ambition this year was to make it into the top four. After a very good second round, we were top of the league for the first time two games before the end of the season. If we did not lose at home against Hertha on the last matchday, the championship would be a fact! We did it. In the end, with almost always nine or ten academy players in the squad, only our forward Pronichev is still a 'real' player. Very proud !Now I give myself another four or five seasons to have a go at the champions league.

in the DFB-Pokal we reached the final and had to beat Bayern to win it.. We could have won the double but a late penalty misser decided that we don't win an extra trophy.

In the champions league we didn't had much luck with the draw. I hope we can compete in the near future.

Our second team didn't play in any  league system and our U19 won the treble.

Key Players

    
Two new faces : Gabrielli 25 is our new main DC , Cetinkaya 23 our new goalkeeper after our number one Golz got injured. Pronichev is one of the three key players since starting this save. I would got this far without him.

Bundesliga winners - First team

   

 

  


Academy graduate with most Appearances (This season)

Gabrielli 25 played the most games this season.

Youth Intake 2029

Not the best intake, two or three good prospects. Signed 14 of this class.

Gwiazda 29 is another striker option and the best of his class. Resolute and good determination.

Academy graduates promoted to the first team (Next Season)

    

Kozakowski 26 will become third GK, i'll try to retraint Buttner 27 as a dc . Kayode 27 could become a wonderkid for us and Keklik 27 will be our main winger in the next seasons. Koep 26 gets a chance in the pre-season.

Miscellaneous

Waiting for our new stadium .

And we have our first wonderkid ! Gamberini 25

A lot of poached players this year after a few seasons without poaching.

Season Facts

I'm on holiday for a week so i'll continue this save in october.. i hope i have five or six seasons left to challenge in the champions league.

Edited October 8, 2021 by OlivierL

[Zeldster]

Beijing have won 3 of the last 5 Super League titles and 2 of the last 4 FA Cups. I'd still be happy if we lose all 3 games as we have already cemented our first champions league spot.

Edit: Results

Why did I even say anything..

Edited September 23, 2021 by Zeldster

[libbyshuss]

4 hours ago, toshimitzou1 said:

Think less Clever, more Thorough.

i dunno, that seems both clever and thorough! but very helpful, thanks. for some reason extra defensive training like that before those big games never occurred to me, even though now it's pointed out to me it seems blindingly obvious!

[libbyshuss]

1 hour ago, vikeologist said:

His determination is good now I guess, although that’s because I fine players when they play badly, and Sano plays badly all the time

I have had so many players like that!!!

[libbyshuss]

well, this is an interesting turn of events.

 

I'm currently paying 95k per week in wages, which was nicely within the limits set. But now? ummm.........

[Padders]

Look at this guy!

Look at his fees for releases at 17 yrs old!

Edited September 24, 2021 by Padders
updated stats picture as was blocked

[ashton321]

 

Season 2 - Yuen Long

 

Competitions - First up in the Sapling Cup and the FA Cup were were awful and could not seem to string together any results and we went out in the group stage of both. I am a little bit upset by this as I felt we should have got through at least one of those rounds. In the League it was very similar to last year. We did well in the odd game but then just struggled, the top of the table is so much better than us its not funny. The Hong Kong Players in this league seem to be all relatively similar apart from the odd one or two. It seems to be decided on how good your foreign players are, I dont have great ones and two of those are retiring in the summer. I actually think it maybe more difficult next year for us. In the Challenge Cup we had some good fun. We beat two sides who were struggling with us in the first two games before overcoming another poorer side in the final to record my first trophy win. 

 

Transfers

 

Finances - Money is slipping away fast, we really need a take over. One has been rumoured for two years now. 

 

Youth Intake - Another decent Intake based on the quality of the squad at present though. Nothing is blowing me away

 

Stars

 

Yuen Tsun Tung - The number one defender at the club this year, not sure how long he will hold that title but a good player

Chan Pak Ho - Another good season from the undisputed number one at the club

Ousmane Soumah - Played a lot of the year as striker and seemed to revel in that spot. The main threat for us this year. 

 

 

 

[Padders]

Season #115 - 2136/37

Another really poor season.

In a real rut at the moment and can't seem to improve.

The last two years intakes have been decent, just hope I can get them into the first team and performing.

New stadium announced

Leighton Durnin who scored 549 goals in 676 games between 2030-49

Surprised it wasn't Sean Carey especially as Alan Harris was before Durnin!

 

[Johnny Ace]

I love this thread, every year, there's some proper FM legends on here

I had a go myself, holiday style to buzz through the seasons (it takes me weeks to do a full season) so I wasn't counting it on here

Basically, my career with Bognor went something like

Season 1: Finished 17th, decent intake with 2 players able to become squad players

Season 2: Finished 16th, useless intake

Season: 3 Finished 9th, useless intake

Season 4: 4 key players left, useless intake, 22nd & sacked

To sum up, it's bloody hard

If I find the bottle for FM22 I'll give it a good go

[Padders]

42 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

I love this thread, every year, there's some proper FM legends on here

I had a go myself, holiday style to buzz through the seasons (it takes me weeks to do a full season) so I wasn't counting it on here

Basically, my career with Bognor went something like

Season 1: Finished 17th, decent intake with 2 players able to become squad players

Season 2: Finished 16th, useless intake

Season: 3 Finished 9th, useless intake

Season 4: 4 key players left, useless intake, 22nd & sacked

To sum up, it's bloody hard

If I find the bottle for FM22 I'll give it a good go

Yeah those first few years are tough as the original squad gets older, you need decent enough youth players to step up

[Johnny Ace]

17 minutes ago, Padders said:

Yeah those first few years are tough as the original squad gets older, you need decent enough youth players to step up

I don't know how you do it but your annual updates are a fantastic read, kudos to you

 

[fries]

I try to play this challenge myself but without all the documentation. But I hope it is okay to ask a question here?

A short sum up of my attempt:
I chose South Shields in England and my results are:
21/22: 7th in VNN, lost in playoff
22/23: 7th in VNN, lost in playoff
23/24: 2nd in VNN, won the playoff
24/25: 2nd in VNL, won the playoff
25/26 currently at the 2nd place in league 2.

I have had som very good youth intakes and have replaced the original squad. I have also continuously upgraded my youth facilities which ironically is my current problem. Every month my youth facilities expenses are about 200.000 EUR and I am losing about 150.000 EUR. Before this season my expenses was much lower and I earned profits almost every month and have a balance at about 1.000.000 EUR. Thus after this season my balance will be negative or around zero. My question is will my income increase significantly if I gain promotion to league 1 or should I be prepared to sell my best players every year? And how have you handled this problem?

[shaunvamos]

  
 

 

 

 

 

Promoted!

This season was basically the opposite to last season, because this season we had a slow start with some disappointing results, but then we couldn't stop scoring. We scored nearly 20 goals more than the next best team, but our defence let us down early on which will need to be sorted as we start playing against better teams. No one was catching Beitar Jerusalem this season, I'm surprised they were even relegated. The aim is to stay up next season, we have a young squad and they've improved in leaps and bounds.

 

 

 

Youth Intake

 

 

 

Haim Eliyahu 4A*  -  Guy Shitrit 4B  -  Kobi Ezra 4C

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

I was very excited when I saw the preview, but when the actual intake came out I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Sure, there are still some decent players, but it was definitely oversold to me by the HOYD. We add another American from Michigan as well as a new Israeli city.

 

 

 

Best XI

 

Gili Rahamim 1D  -  Scott Randell 3G  -  Aviv Machluf 2G

 

 

 

 

A massive transition on the field this season as the academy products flood in. Rahamim 1D was exceptional off the bench and was rewarded with a starting spot after the youth intake, Randell had a stunning debut season and Machluf was incredible as well. We're going to be relying heavily on these guys to keep us up next season.

 

Record Breakers

 

Transfers

 

 

 

Progress
 

 

[RogerC]

Hello, I'm trying to start a new save with Jersey Bulls in the combined counties league (England L9), I forward to 25th JUN 21, select the newly promoted team but all the players are greyed out. Is this the way to start? Shouldn't I have proper players?

Could this be because of custom database modifications? 

Edited September 24, 2021 by RogerC

[ashton321]

 

Season 3 - Yuen Long

 

Competitions - The Cups this were awful. We got knocked out in the first round of the Challenge Cup in fairly comprehensive fashion. In the FA Cup we got one point from three games and we did not really turn up in either. In the Sapling Cup we did come a little closer grabbing 7 points but this was not enough to see us through. In the League Stage we actually got one more point than we had done in the past two seasons but this still found us in the relegation battle. In the end we had just enough to stay up. 

 

Transfers - Actually something of note this year. Couple of youngsters left on loan to get some game time. We also lost a couple of players who came through the academy, they looked good but once bids went in they wanted to leave

 

Finances - Awful, takeover rumoured again but nothing coming

 

Youth Intake - Same as the last two seasons, lots of potential but based on the current players we have 

 

Stars

 

Leung Wai Fung - Maybe the best player at the club, solid at the back and is becoming a bit of a legend at this point for us. 

Chan Pak Ho - The best keeper we have for now but one of the youngsters is catching up a little bit

Ousmane Soumah - Again a superb season, once again playing up top. I worry when he is no longer here. 

 

 

 

[JAwtunes]

Season 10 (2029/30) Review

First Team

Domestic Competitions - Another league title and another disappointing run in the cup.

Spoiler

Cup

European Competitions - We had a fairly easy run in the UCL qualification stage and made it thorugh the the group stage for the first time.  we finished 3rd (which is great) and slipped into the Europa League.

Spoiler

Champions League

Europa League

2030 youth intake - No description of intake given by HoYD in the preview.

Spoiler

SUMMARY

Records

Spoiler

Competitions

Inter player records

 

[libbyshuss]

7 hours ago, fries said:

My question is will my income increase significantly if I gain promotion to league 1 or should I be prepared to sell my best players every year? And how have you handled this problem?

it won't increase significantly in League 1.

Usually around that stage I have to sell a player a year. I always get sell-ons as part of the deal though, as that can save me having to make a sale later down the line. It is frustrating but I haven't been able to find a way round it sadly!

Once you get to the premier league the money is completely crazy though. you never have to worry again.

[Winski]

OUCH

In my long CM/FM career, I can't remember I have ever lost 10-0.............

[DazRTaylor]

Could of been a lot worse.  You were 7-0 down at half time.

[libbyshuss]

Belgium

Division 1A

2034/35 - Season 14

Career

A real jump forward on the pitch, not so much off it

League - So usually when I play I don't look at the league table until really late in the season, and just get a sense of how I'm doing from the results and fixture list. I couldn't understand how we seemed to be doing really well but always fourth. And when I finally looked at the table, with a handful of games to go, I was shocked to see we were only 3 points off top spot! We were still losing a few games but what was really pleasing was the upturn in performances and results against those top 5 teams. I didn't do anything hugely different either tbh, but what little I did seemed to make a difference. In the end we qualified for our first ever Championship group with a really pleasing 3rd place

We went into the group high in confidence, in good form, and only a point behind! so obviously my best player gets himself injured for 4 weeks....

In the end we did well enough to put ourselves within one game of an unlikely title

but we lost it, meaning we ended up 3rd overall. Still, it was a good end to a very good season and puts us back in europe, even if it just the Europa Conference League

 

Players

Our best XI this season. We're at the stage where 2.5 stars is rated as a top division player, so everyone is finally at least decent for our level

Mirco Coco 29C - had a really disappointing season last season. was 20, was not labelled a wonderkid, did not improve at all and had his worst return yet for me. He started this season the same and his value plummeted to 6.5m, from a high of 13.5m at 19. I was starting to give up on him when christmas kickstarted an amazing upturn in form. 18 goals in his final 16 games until injury ended his season early

Maroune Abbes 30D - first choice Belgium keeper now! Won me a couple of games on his own, he's so good.

Wonderkids

Jeff Leemans 30A - now 20, Arsenal just put in an offer of 90m for him. I got 15m of that, which was nice. 20 Belgium caps now as well. What a player I had......

Abbes 30D and Lefevre 29A - Abbes signed a new contract, but with a stupidly low release fee. Lefevre refuses to sign with 12 months to go but nobody wants him! no idea why, its kinda infuriating.

 

Youth

The preview looked really good and I got a little excited! I really shouldn't have.....

 

Blanchard looks ok, but we'll see

 

Finances and Upgrades

The Leemans money could not have come at a better time to be honest. We were so broke that the board halved my wage budget half way through the season, making me look really bad. They ended up taking out a huge 13m loan to cover our debt and I managed to ride out the poor wage management. But with the Leemans money we now have a healthy balance which I may foolishly waste on a few new upgrades.....

Career

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by libbyshuss

[Sn00gle]

First real money for Odra, Borussia started low but as Smuniewski got 2ml offer in contact I knew they will play it anyway but really wanted Percentage of next sale so went lower. Not really happy with that deal but Filip played poorly last season even with his high skills. We got bunch of players for his position maybe not so great but should deal with Ekstraklasa. 1ml from that went strating to upgrade Training fields. New Piszczek in right place

Edited September 25, 2021 by Sn00gle

[shaunvamos]

   

 

 

 

 

  

I did not expect this. I thought we'd escape relegation, but to qualify for Europe in our first top flight campaign is unbelievable. Our offensive power was really on display, scoring 15 more goals than champions Hapoel Tel Aviv. I don't really know what else to say, everything just clicked. Hopefully we don't falter next season, or get flogged in Europe.

 

 

 

Youth Intake

 

 

 

Sharon Gabay 5A  -  Neil Penprase 5B  -  Roi Alawa 5C*

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Two more Israeli cities, and a 3rd American, from Simi Valley this time. But more on him later...

 

I got a son through the academy! One with 5* PA! Granted, his personality is pretty terrible, but that'll be fined out of him. As well as him, there's a whole host of high PA players, none of which are probably ready for the first team, which is fine. But I'm hoping big things come from this generation. 

 

 

 

 

 

Best XI

 

Roni Davidi 1E*  -  Gili Rahamim 1D  -  Tal Nissim 3E*

 

 

 

 

We improved out of sight this season, which was probably reflected in our league performance. Our starting XI now consists of completely academy products, which means there are no ageing players, we're young and raring to go. Experience will come with time, but these young guys have been fantastic so far. A few new players appear as well, with special mention to our strike pairing, especially Davidi 1E*. To get the golden boot in his first season of top flight football is immense.

 

Record Breakers

 

Transfers

 

 

 

Progress
 

 

[ashton321]

 

Season 4 - Yuen Long

 

Competitions - As normal the cups were awful as we went out in the group stages. Apart from the Shield, which we somehow managed to win again. We managed to get two decent wins against teams similar to us. We eventually managed to sneak a win over a good side in the final to record my second ever trophy. The League season was my absolute favourite season I think I have played this year. It was a tactical battle all the way as I changed and adapted for almost every game. I am starting to feel like I understand the team and little bit and how we play. Whisper it quietly but we may actually make some decent progress next year

 

Transfers - Just a couple of youngsters who go out on loan this year

 

Finances - As usual awful, takeover rumour and nothing coming of it

 

Youth Intake - A good intake with one player who stands out as a first teamer from the get go Cheung Siu Lung looks a little bit special

 

Stars

 

Mahama Awal - Due to the change of tactic found himself playing up top and did pretty well in the role. 

Woo Chi Chung - Took the number one spot at the start of the year and has been superb

Ousmane Soumah - Is declining a little bit, but I think has another year or so in him I think

 

 

 

 

 

[RogerC]

22 hours ago, RogerC said:

Hello, I'm trying to start a new save with Jersey Bulls in the combined counties league (England L9), I forward to 25th JUN 21, select the newly promoted team but all the players are greyed out. Is this the way to start? Shouldn't I have proper players?

Could this be because of custom database modifications? 

Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks!

[libbyshuss]

49 minutes ago, RogerC said:

23 hours ago, RogerC said:

Hello, I'm trying to start a new save with Jersey Bulls in the combined counties league (England L9), I forward to 25th JUN 21, select the newly promoted team but all the players are greyed out. Is this the way to start? Shouldn't I have proper players?

Could this be because of custom database modifications? 

Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks!

I've not used custom databases so can't comment on that part but I know you need to add the highest non-playable divisions in advanced databse before setting the game up to prevent the greyed out players appearing. Every now and then I forget and get that problem.

I have no idea what happens if the custome databse makes a league playable that has no lower leagues in the advanced database though. 

 

[ashton321]

 

Season 5 - Yuen Long

 

Competitions - Once again the cups were awful, we have not yet managed to get out of the group in Sapling and only once in the FA Cup. Even the Challenge Shield was awful as we went out in the first round. The League was excellent though. We were brilliant and in the conversation for the title all year round, we seemed to have some of the kids coming on and making some real progress. We could not hold enough points in the Championship group as despite entering 2nd we finished 4th in the group. All in all a good season. 

 

Transfers - A few boys left on loan to try and get some game time

 

Finances - Awful no takeover rumours this year

 

Youth Intake - A good intake but not sure of any amazing players but time will tell

 

Stars

 

Mahama Awal - A little on and off this year as he got injured but also played in a number of spots

Woo Chi Chung - Superb from him again, he had a couple of wobbles but mostly very dependable 

Chow Kwok Wai - A good Defender that came though a few years ago

 

 

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2058/59 Folkestone Season Report

Another season in mid-table. Our league position and points were a slight drop, but I played a youth team for some of the final matches of the season to blood them, with predictable results. I think the team was a bit better, but European qualification seems a long way away still.

I’m clearly not going to complete this challenge before the new version comes out. It’s taken me almost a month to get through this season, probably in part because the save has slowed down because of its size.

I’m half tempted to abandon the challenge itself and start buying players just to see if I can win the league and Champions League in a few seasons that way, but I’ll give it 1 more Youth season at least I think.

Top Goalscorer – Dave Jackson 21b / Harrison Potter-Rusoke 33b - 17

We didn’t do well on this front. These 2 starters did ok, but my best striker from a few years ago, Dominic Riley showed signs that his serious injury last season might be a permanent setback.

As you may be able to tell from his regen number, Jackson is 33 now. He even has grey hair in his regen picture.  We don’t have a viable 3^rd striker who can actually grab goals though. Also HP-R is not rated that high on CA/PA, which was easier to dismiss in the 2 previous seasons when he scored far more goals.

Here were the minutes per goals for our top guys

Jackson – 150

HP-R – 169

Riley – 346

Dan Jones – 0 (only 2 sub appearances after last season’s poor production)

Ari Thorleifsson 33c – 96 if you include the Pap Johns Trophy and his international appearances for Faroe Islands

                                        0 if you just include the Premier League.

So the strikeforce is a bit of a worry with nobody massively promising coming through.

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Dave Jackson 21b – 6.98

I’m not sure I’ve ever had nobody over 7 before.

 

Man of The Match – Abdulrahman Zayed 31b – 4

Our goalie. 4 is a terrible top mark. Definitely a low.

 

Most Valuable Player– Colin Joseph 35a

Our left winger Kargbo could win this every season, but for years we need a good central defender, and now we have one who’s at the same star rating (4.5) as Kargbo.

Unlike Kargbo, he is not described as a wonderkid, at least not yet. Like Kargbo, Joseph wants to move to a bigger club, but like Kargbo, I still have him tied up for a few seasons. The clock is ticking though to improve our stature and keep these 2 players.

Another thing Kargbo and Joseph have in common is the likelihood of being the club’s first ever player to represent England at international level. Kargbo was born in Sierra Leone, so you’d imagine at some point he might get cheesed off and decide to represent them instead.  Similarly Jospeh could represent Dominica. But both of them stand a reasonable chance of representing the Sassenachs.

Most Appearances (Regens) – Jason ‘Nepotism’ Ramsay 1a – 719

Dave Jackson on 698. I didn’t start him in every match this season, otherwise he’d be closer to the record, but given the state of our strikers, it looks as though this record may fall next season as long as he doesn’t get injured.

 

Most Goals (Regens) – Michael Morgan 9a – 463

Dave Jackson has 417 goals now.

 

Barry Ramsay 29k (Son) Update

At the age of 25, I basically just employ Barry as a mentor to the U18s because of his Resolute personality. I can’t get any decent club to take him on loan and give him first team football, and if I sold him, he’d probably just be released after a year and have to retire.

Season	Division		Position	Notes							MVP										
21/22	VNL South		18th		Steered clear of relegaton thanks to good start.	Callum Davies
22/23	VNL South		16th		Only 2 places better, but a lot more points.		Henry Newcombe
23/24	VNL South		18th		Big step backwards in points.				David Smith
24/25	VNL South		15th		Consistently mediocre.					David Smith
25/26	VNL South		14th		Just outside playoffs for most of the season.		David Smith
26/27	VNL South		16th		Otherwise known as the year 1AD (After Discipline)	Ellis Andrews 2c
27/28	VNL South		19th		Narrowly avoided relegation places all season		David Smith
28/29	VNL South		15th		Tried different tactics. Didn't find a magic bean.	David Smith
29/30	VNL South		7th		Lost playoff semifinal, but a great improvement.	Ellis Andrews 2c
30/31	VNL South		12th		Second half slump into mid-table disappointment		David Smith
31/32	VNL South		7th		Lost in S/F of playoff					Ellis Andrews 2c
32/33	VNL South		9th		Didn't threaten playoffs				Ellis Drake 10a
33/34	VNL South		2nd		Lost last 2 matches of season and 1st playoff game.	Michael Morgan 9a
34/35	VNL South		4th		Knocked out Playoffs 1st round on penalties		Michael Morgan 9a
35/36	VNL South		6th		Knocked out in Playoff semifinal			Michael Morgan 9a
36/37	VNL South		5th		Knocked out in Playoff semifinal			Giorgos Kragiopoulos 11a
37/38	VNL South		1st		Won the league by a mile. 17th time lucky.		Michael Morgan 9a 
38/39	VNL National		1st		Back to back comfortable promotions			Jack Collett 13a 
39/40	League 2		2nd		Won last 5 matches securing automatic promotion.	Jack Collett 13a 
40/41	League 1		11th		Pushing for promotion most of the season		Jack Collett 13a 
41/42	League 1		5th		Lost in playoffs semifinal				Michael Morgan 9a 
42/43	League 1		8th		Losing streak, winning streak and then injuries		Kevin Spencer 17d
43/44	League 1		7th		One place outside playoffs.				Kevin Spencer 17d
44/45	League 1		12th		Outside playoffs all season. New stadium.		Pete Larkin 18d
45/46	League 1		2nd		Promoted last day of the season. 			Dave Jackson 21b 
46/47	Championship		20th		Plummetted near to relegation zone			Dave Jackson 21b 
47/48	Championship		15th		Terrible start but mid table safety after that.		Steven 'Shamrock' Larkin 21d 
48/49	Championship		14th		Good start but dropped away from playoffs.		Liam Carter 25d 
49/50	Championship		15th		Boring & disappointing season				Dave Jackson 21b 
50/51	Championship		4th		Promoted through playoffs.				Ross Gethins 22c
51/52	Premier League		20th		Won once in 2nd half of season and relegated.		Dave Jackson 21b
52/53	Championship		8th		Typical second half of the season collapse.		Dave Jackson 21b 
53/54	Championship		7th		Missed out on playoffs in final match injury time	Dan Jones 27e
54/55	Championship		7th		Missed playoffs on final day for 3rd season in a row.	Dave Jackson 21b
55/56	Championship		7th		Missed playoffs on final day for 4th season in a row.	Alex Taylor 21e
56/57	Championship		2nd		Promoted on final day of the season. 			Mohamed Kargbo 33a
57/58	Premier League		13th		Never in relegaton danger.				Mohamed Kargbo 33a
58/59	Premier League		15th		More mid-tableship.					Colin Joseph 35a

 

[libbyshuss]

So here's something strange I've enever noticed before.

My youth preview when it came through in December:-

It made me laugh!

And then, in March I went to the dev centre page and found this:-

The preview has changed! I've never noticed this before - is it a recognised thing?

My youth facilities were upgraded inbetween preview 1 and 2, could that explain it?

sorry if I'm years behind every one else!

[Nottingham Forest]

I think it can change. Although I've never personally seen it.

[shaunvamos]

    
 

 

 

 

We were a lot better this season, finishing in a comfortable 2nd. We also got a lot better defensively, which probably helped our consistency. Again, we still have a super young squad, so we're going to be even better next season, even if we don't go that extra step. Our debut in Europe was over before it began, coming up against a strong Apollon Limassol side. Hopefully we do little better next season.

 

 

 

Youth Intake

 

 

 

Stav Daniel 6A  -  Sharon Avinu 6B  -  Moshe Hadar 6C*

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

A couple more cities in Israel, most notably Be'er Sheva.

 

I think we've gotten to the point now where we have intakes with no players that can immediately contribute. But that's completely fine, I prefer to have these guys come up through the ranks and dominate at U19 level before graduating. It's still a pretty deep intake, with some great personalities. With training and youth upgrades on the way, these guys are going to develop quicker and hopefully pave the way for more quality players to come through.

 

 

 

 

 

Best XI

 

Yair Avitan 3B*  -  Scott Randell 3G*  -  Gili Rahamim 1D

 

 

 

 

Despite our improved performances this year, the average ratings didn't really reflect that. Special mention should go to Scott Randell 3G*, he's had quite the season. He was in the final year of his contract, with no intention to renew because he thought he was too good for us. He was very unhappy when I refused an offer from Porto because they didn't offer enough. Then, tragedy struck. He broke his leg and was out for 5 months. But I never lost faith in him, and as soon as he recovered he was back in the side. He repaid my faith by allowing me to extend his contract for another 4 seasons, and was one of our best players this season. He is truly deserving of his "Resilient" personality. 

 

Record Breakers

 

Transfers

 

 

We have our first major transfer out of the club. Machluf is one of the best players to come through the club, but he refused to extend his contract and was taken on a free by Swiss club Lausanne. We get some nice compensation for it though, and hopefully he has a good career for club and country. 

 

Progress
 

 

[libbyshuss]

3 hours ago, Nottingham Forest said:

I think it can change. Although I've never personally seen it.

first time I ever seen it. Had me really confused for a minute or two, but all the yellow writing is the same.

kinda interesting though!

[Proffa]

35 minutes ago, libbyshuss said:

first time I ever seen it. Had me really confused for a minute or two, but all the yellow writing is the same.

kinda interesting though!

I have never seen it either.

But not all yellow is the same, centre back text (one yellow line) has now become green (two different lines). 

[libbyshuss]

19 minutes ago, Proffa said:

I have never seen it either.

But not all yellow is the same, centre back text (one yellow line) has now become green (two different lines). 

You're right! I hadn't noticed that!

I wonder if it is cos my youth is grade finished between the preview and the intake, or it always has the capacity to change like that.

I'm definitely gonna keep an eye on it now, just to see

[DazRTaylor]

Yes I have had it a few times.  Usually due to a change in your current squad.  So have you sold anyone in January?  If so it may make your squad weaker, thus changing the intake from excellent to GG.

[Zeldster]

Shaoxing Keqiao

Season 9

Squad | Transfers | Finances

League: Another step towards the goal as we managed to achieve our best ever finish of 3rd as well as qualifying for the champions league for the first time! Our tactic seemed to nullify opponents this year as we had the 2nd best defensive record for goals against. That led to the joint lowest amount of defeats but still had to many draws which ultimately cost us the league. We went into the final game of the season, a title decider against Beijing which we lost to a 79th minute goal. Was just happy to finally qualify for Asia to test our selves against clubs across the globe, so wasn't to disheartened by our shortfall.

 

Cup: Was a season of improvement all round, as we reached our first final in the clubs history! Though our nemesis in the league was also our downfall in the cup as they beat us convincingly.

 

Youth Intake:

 

Summary:

A really good season all round, only real downside is that we didn't finish with any silverware! Looking at the Asian Champions League, Shandong have just won said competition who we was battling with for the league. They only overtook us on the last game of the season, so hoping for a good showing in Asia if that is anything to go by.

[libbyshuss]

9 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

So have you sold anyone in January?  If so it may make your squad weaker, thus changing the intake from excellent to GG.

yes! one of my best players too!

funny how much I've played this game and i'm still learning something new!

[libbyshuss]

Belgium

Division 1A

2035/36 - season 15

Season Summary

Another really strong season but again just falling short

League - weird, because we did really well, only losing 5 all season. Yet the number of draws and the strength of the top 5/6 sides in the division meant we noly finished 5th, sending us into the European play off group. We started top in the group, struggled a little bit, and were lucky to finish top in the end. It put us into a 'European play-off final' against Anderlecht, which we lost 4-2. I don't really understand what we were playing off for though as we both qualified for the European Conference League. Belgium is confusing.

Europe Conference League - much better than our previous performance! the play-off for the group stage sent us to Moscow to play CSKA, whic was a really tough draw, but we did really well to win both legs. The group stage saw us top a group with Ludogrets, Grasshoppers and AIK, losing only to Grasshoppers.  We then won both legs against Shaktar, beat Utrecht in both legs in the QF to set up a semi against fellow Belgians Standard. they won the first leg 2-0 and although we put up a good fight we could only win the return leg 1-0.  So close!

cup - FC Brugges did us 1-0 in the 7th round

 

Players

One of the reasons we're doing well is that the team is getting older and more experienced. Those Golden generations of 2029 and 2030 are coming of age

 

Youth

So the preview changed after I had to sell my 5 star left back Hubert Lefevre 29A. He refused to sign a new contract for some reason, and ended up leaving for mid-table Eupen for 2.5m in January. No idea why, but what can you do?

So originally I laughed but by the time of the intake it had changed to a golden generation!

considering the original preview I'm very happy with this intake!

 

Finances and Upgrades

Best season for a long time. The money from the Leemans 30A sell on and the European adventure meant we finished in the green for the first time. And were able to make some much needed improvements to our facilities. It's looking good for us at the moment!

 

Career

[ashton321]

 

Season 6 - Yuen Long

 

Competitions - A really frustrating season this year. We seemed to take some steps backwards which was really frustrating, I changed the tactics around a little bit and it was a mistake. In the Cups we once again did not do well. In the Challenge Shield we once again lost in the opening round, we went out in the FA Cup in the Group Stage as well. In the Sapling Cup we actually managed to get out of the group but then lost in the semi finals. In the League we were fairly poor we did not get into the Championship Group we only got into the relegation spot after finishing 5th, in the group we were poor and finished 2nd bottom

 

Transfers - A lot of guys left on loan to go and get some game time

 

Finances - We actually got put into a transfer embargo this year for the takeover but it fell through so our finances are getting worse

 

Youth Intake - Same ol same ol for the intake this year good potential not much initial quality except Chan Chi Fai

 

Stars

 

Mahama Awal - His last season as he refuses to sign a new deal. He will be gone but a decent end to his time

Woo Chi Chung - Excellent again he got a first senior cap this year becoming our first Full International. 

Tong Wai Kit - Came through a few years ago and has never really kicked on but he had a decent year

 

 

[RogerC]

On 25/09/2021 at 15:15, libbyshuss said:

I've not used custom databases so can't comment on that part but I know you need to add the highest non-playable divisions in advanced databse before setting the game up to prevent the greyed out players appearing. Every now and then I forget and get that problem.

I have no idea what happens if the custome databse makes a league playable that has no lower leagues in the advanced database though. 

 

I actually did that but it still happened.

[ashton321]

 

Season 7 - Yuen Long

 

Competitions - We did much better in the League this year getting to the Championship group, we did not trouble the top spots but it was refreshing after last year. In the Challenge Cup went out at the first stage, but the other two cups were amazing we got to the final of them both. We perhaps could have won them both had it not been for an early red card but the FA Cup was amazing for us. 

 

Transfers - Some youngsters left and a couple of older players left for fees

 

Finances - We finally got taken over, they considered replacing me with my assistant manager but I managed to keep the job

 

Youth Intake - Usual sort of intake for me, I will see what the quality looks like soon

 

Stars

 

Sze Man Pan - An amazing striker finally came through, he went onto break all records this year for us

Woo Chi Chung - Easily the best player at the club

Mok Ka Kit - Came through the youth ranks recently and has done very well