The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

[Danny_H22]

Hypothetically, if I was to take a role in ROI, would the Leinster Senior Cup count? 6 of the 10 top division teams compete in that I believe.

 

EDIT - in theory, all top division teams could enter if they were from that region during that season 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Danny_H22

[vikeologist]

44 minutes ago, Danny_H22 said:

Hypothetically, if I was to take a role in ROI, would the Leinster Senior Cup count? 6 of the 10 top division teams compete in that I believe.

 

EDIT - in theory, all top division teams could enter if they were from that region during that season 

No, I don't think it can count. Looks like there's only 1 eligible domestic cup in Republic of Ireland in the game.

[joehelsing1]

Cavalry FC

Canadian Premier League 23/24 Season

I don't feel like we deserved to win the league, but we did thanks to some really weird playoff rules. This is how the table looked by the end.




We started off in poor form but over the course of the season built up to a run of great form eventually finishing 2nd in the league stage which qualified us for playoffs which involved 5 teams, strangely enough not including York United FC who placed 1st in the league. FYI, the playoffs are to crown the league champions. Due to our position, we faced Atletico Ottawa in the Playoff Semi-Finals which we lost 3-2. To my surprise, we were not out yet as we then faced Halifax Wanderers in the PLAYOFF PLAYOFF semi finals winning in extra time to see us through to the Final to again face Atletico Ottawa which we won 1-0 making us league champions. 

Overall this was a great achievement considering the lack of support from my players throughout the entirety of the season due to my lack of reputation and experience. My board refused 2 requests to go on a coaching course so I am no better off there however my reputation increased from 5 to 10% which I guess is something. I have no idea if I have qualified for the champions league next year so I am unsure whether to stick around to have a go at the Canadian Cup which would involve facing much better Canadian teams currently competing in the MLS. Perhaps I'll move on from here.

 

Season	Team		Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 Cavalry FC        1st? (Maybe 2nd?)  League Champions

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 Domestic Leagues
0/10 Domestic Cups
0/5 Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

[goonergez]

SuperSport United: 2026/27 Review

A year later than I had hoped, but I entered the new season as manager of one of the biggest clubs in South Africa. SuperSport United had taken a punt on hiring me as their new manager and it was down to me to deliver the goods.

I inherited a bloated squad but one filled with lots of promising younger players. That being said there was also a fair amount of a squad members who simply weren’t good enough to justify a spot. My job would be to add some quality to the squad as well as experience. I’d also spend a lot of my time trying to clear the squad. I don’t like to work with a massive squad, let alone one with a host of players I wouldn’t ever use.

The board wanted a top half finish which was actually quite a boost. This club should always be much closer to the top of the table than the bottom and so that would give me the opportunity to rebuild without a great deal of pressure. The pre-season wasn’t too bad although finding players of quality to bring in didn’t prove an easy task. I did strengthen but not as much as I would’ve liked. That being said Rome wasn’t built in a day and I had accepted the fact this wasn’t going to be a quick job for me. My main focus went on finding an out and out goal scorer and that took the majority of the summer. In the end we snapped up Ibrahima Sow who looked more than capable of pushing us on.

We didn’t start the season particularly well, struggling to find success. Consistency was our problem and we mixed some really good performances with some distinctly average ones. By the winter break we found ourselves lodged firmly in mid table and struggling to make inroads upwards. Outside of the league we did much better. We witnessed heartbreak twice though, losing in the final of both the Super-8 Cup and the Knockout Cup. The most disappointing being that we failed to score in either of the finals. A 0-2 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs lost the Super-8 whilst we suffered a narrower 0-1 defeat to Orlando Pirates in the Knockout. As disappointing as it was it was also nice to know that we can compete with literally anybody in knockout competitions.

The winter break saw me add a couple of new faces and it really payed off. We were much more consistent in the second portion of the season, going undefeated in the league until the final day. That unbeaten run saw us climb up the table to finish in 4th place. In fact we still had a chance of winning the league right up until the penultimate day of the season. For a first season at the helm it was a very pleasing one.

In the SA Cup we managed to navigate all the way to the quarter finals before losing out to Amazulu. Disappointing that we couldn’t go further but after two cup finals earlier in the campaign I couldn’t complain.

A great first season saw my side make great strides forward and leave me feeling somewhat confident in how I can achieve with this side. I didn’t expect to finish so high up the table at the first time of asking and having only had a couple of transfer windows to try and shape my squad. I’ll be looking to make some solid additions to help us put together another showing next time around. Ideally we can put together a title challenge and snap up a domestic cup competition. It would be nice to get off the mark in regards to the challenge. The only disappointment is that to have an opportunity to compete for the African Champions League we are going to have to win the domestic league as that’s the only means of qualification. It means I’m here for at least a couple more seasons at the very least.

Season	Team		Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 AmaTuks		5th
2024/25 AmaTuks		2nd (lost in promotion play-offs)
2025/26 AmaTuks		2nd
2026/27 SuperSport Utd	4th
2027/28 SuperSport Utd  tbc

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 Domestic Leagues
0/10 Domestic Cups
0/5 Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2058 Belgium World Cup Report 

Last year we lost in the final of the Nations League. This was my 3^rd time as runner up, and I’ve never won it, but it was reassuring that Belgium can compete with the big boys.

Then we struggled to even qualify for the World Cup. We ended up as the 2^nd place finishers with the best record, but a bit concerning.

We have some very good players, but not much depth. Just a few injuries can scupper us, and indeed our best player is out of the tournament, and our only good goalie will miss most of it.The squad of 26 was hard to pick, because there’s nowhere near 26 players good enough.

The FA expect me to reach the semifinals which is a bit of a stretch. We’re only ranked 7^th in the world.

Group Stage

Spoiler

Belgium      3-0    South Korea

Belgium      7-1    Guinea

Tunisia next.

 

Second Round

Spoiler

Belgium      4-0    Tunisia

Easy so far, but it gets much tougher next with Holland. France and Italy went out in the 2^nd round at the hands of Argentina and Brazil respectively, so we’re not the only ones to pick up a brutal fixture early.

Third Round

Spoiler

Belgium      2-1    Holland

Obviously a huge result.

4 years ago my holland team unexpectedly went out at the hands of Turkey, who then went on to beat Belgium in the Q/F and made it all the way to the final.

And our quarterfinal match this time round is…..Turkey.

Anyway, Spain and Germany went out this round at the hands of Portugal and Argentina. What this means is that there are some surprising and possibly weak teams in the last 8 such as Nigeria and Serbia, who are unfortunately not in our half. Still, the chance of revenge against Turkey is somewhat appealing. They surely can’t get me sacked two World Cups in a row.

 

Quarter Final

Spoiler

Belgium      p2-2  Turkey

The fact this even went to penalties was a huge injustice. They went ahead with a fluke deflection. We equalised through an own goal, but entirely due to our pressure. They went ahead with a dodgy penalty. We equalised and then had a last second winner ruled out. We had another last second winner ruled out in extra time, but I’d kept all my best penalty takers on the pitch, and Justice was served. Not this time, Turkey!

Incidentally Turkey only took 2 real goalies to the World Cup and the second one went off injured in this match, so they did have a striker in goal for the whole of extra time and the penalty shootout, so we didn’t necessarily cover ourselves in glory.

Next up is Argentina who have dispatched France, Germany and Brazil in the knockout rounds, possible the most difficult draw I’ve ever seen in a tournament. They required penalties to get past the first 2, but they’re clearly going to be formidable.

But at least I won’t be sacked.

Semi Final

Spoiler

Belgium      3-2    Argentina

It was a very tight game, but we’ve made our 3^rd final in a row, if you include the nations league last year. We lost to England then, and now, well you know where this is going, England in the final.

Final / 3^rd Place Playoff

Spoiler

Belgium      0-4    England

Like the Euro final 2 years ago, we had a player issued a straight red. Englans then took the lead, but we did have chances to equalise. We were only 1-0 down until the 89^th minute, but England caught us on the counter three times to finish the match.

After The Tournament

Spoiler

It’s not really funny any more, and I applied for bigger European jobs, (England, France, Spain).

France offered me the job, (because I resigned the previous time I managed them. This challenge would be a lot easier if I’d realised you had to resign, but I didn’t think it would come to this).

I don’t know whether to take it, because obviously there is a chance that I can win with Belgium. I just think France might be a better side. It’s noticeable that I struggle to find enough good Belgians to even fill up a squad, and don’t make substitutions in close matches because of the drop off in quality.

Tough decision. Do I gamble?

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

[joehelsing1]

1 hour ago, vikeologist said:

Vikeologist's 2058 Belgium World Cup Report 

Last year we lost in the final of the Nations League. This was my 3^rd time as runner up, and I’ve never won it, but it was reassuring that Belgium can compete with the big boys.

Then we struggled to even qualify for the World Cup. We ended up as the 2^nd place finishers with the best record, but a bit concerning.

We have some very good players, but not much depth. Just a few injuries can scupper us, and indeed our best player is out of the tournament, and our only good goalie will miss most of it.The squad of 26 was hard to pick, because there’s nowhere near 26 players good enough.

The FA expect me to reach the semifinals which is a bit of a stretch. We’re only ranked 7^th in the world.

Group Stage

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      3-0    South Korea

Belgium      7-1    Guinea

Tunisia next.

 

Second Round

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      4-0    Tunisia

Easy so far, but it gets much tougher next with Holland. France and Italy went out in the 2^nd round at the hands of Argentina and Brazil respectively, so we’re not the only ones to pick up a brutal fixture early.

Third Round

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      2-1    Holland

Obviously a huge result.

4 years ago my holland team unexpectedly went out at the hands of Turkey, who then went on to beat Belgium in the Q/F and made it all the way to the final.

And our quarterfinal match this time round is…..Turkey.

Anyway, Spain and Germany went out this round at the hands of Portugal and Argentina. What this means is that there are some surprising and possibly weak teams in the last 8 such as Nigeria and Serbia, who are unfortunately not in our half. Still, the chance of revenge against Turkey is somewhat appealing. They surely can’t get me sacked two World Cups in a row.

 

Quarter Final

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      p2-2  Turkey

The fact this even went to penalties was a huge injustice. They went ahead with a fluke deflection. We equalised through an own goal, but entirely due to our pressure. They went ahead with a dodgy penalty. We equalised and then had a last second winner ruled out. We had another last second winner ruled out in extra time, but I’d kept all my best penalty takers on the pitch, and Justice was served. Not this time, Turkey!

Incidentally Turkey only took 2 real goalies to the World Cup and the second one went off injured in this match, so they did have a striker in goal for the whole of extra time and the penalty shootout, so we didn’t necessarily cover ourselves in glory.

Next up is Argentina who have dispatched France, Germany and Brazil in the knockout rounds, possible the most difficult draw I’ve ever seen in a tournament. They required penalties to get past the first 2, but they’re clearly going to be formidable.

But at least I won’t be sacked.

Semi Final

  Hide contents

Belgium      3-2    Argentina

It was a very tight game, but we’ve made our 3^rd final in a row, if you include the nations league last year. We lost to England then, and now, well you know where this is going, England in the final.

Final / 3^rd Place Playoff

  Hide contents

Belgium      0-4    England

Like the Euro final 2 years ago, we had a player issued a straight red. Englans then took the lead, but we did have chances to equalise. We were only 1-0 down until the 89^th minute, but England caught us on the counter three times to finish the match.

After The Tournament

  Hide contents

It’s not really funny any more, and I applied for bigger European jobs, (England, France, Spain).

France offered me the job, (because I resigned the previous time I managed them. This challenge would be a lot easier if I’d realised you had to resign, but I didn’t think it would come to this).

I don’t know whether to take it, because obviously there is a chance that I can win with Belgium. I just think France might be a better side. It’s noticeable that I struggle to find enough good Belgians to even fill up a squad, and don’t make substitutions in close matches because of the drop off in quality.

Tough decision. Do I gamble?

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

 

Dude, I am feeling your grind here. I hope you get these competitions ticked off asap!

[Danny_H22]

2023/24 Lee Man FC

 

Usually when I attempt this challenge, I load up 10 or so random countries and add and remove countries as the years progress. This time, I decided to load the top league in each playable country and see what offers take my fancy. It took just two weeks for that offer to arrive, in the form of Hong Kong team Lee Man.

Lee Man were regarded as the second best team in the league, had continental football and 3 opportunities to win a cup. A perfect role to get off to a good start in the challenge!

And a good start it was! We stormed the league, winning 20 out of 20 scoring a nutty amount of goals along the way - with my starting ST and LW both notching over 30.

The cups followed along the same path and we finished the season as winning finalists on all 3 occasions.

Continental football didn't go quite as well and we were sent packing in the group stage, finishing second but missing out as teams in other groups had a higher points total. Not a problem as success was never on the cards.

I signed an 11 month contract at the start of the season and 11 months later I packed my bags and set off on my next adventure - taking with me a league title, 3 cups and a 6th ranked spot on the Hong Kong HOF.

 

Spoiler

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Danny_H22

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2060 France Euros Report 

 

I did indeed quit Belgium for France. I just think France are a slightly better bet.

We’ve put up very good results over the last 2 years, the sole exception being a thumping by Portugal in the Nations League S/F. I think that was just a fluky result.

The French FA are a lot more laid back than the Belgians. I just need to reach the Q/F, and it would be a surprise if we didn’t.

 

Group Stage

Spoiler

France        3-1    N Ireland

France        4-4    Serbia

We were 3-1 down, fought our way back to 4-3, and they scored a penalty in the 8^th of 5 designated minutes of extra time. Not sure how to check whether the ref was Serbian so I can report it as a bug. Hopefully it won’t matter in the scheme of things, because we only need a draw in the final match to top the group.

France        5-0    Bosnia & Herzegovina

Next is Scotland. Not sure I’ve ever played my own nation in this save.

I’ve checked and my Belgian team beat them 7-3 at the same 2^nd round stage 32 years ago.

 

 

Second Round

Spoiler

France        3-1    Scotland

Austria next. Not many top teams being knocked out but we’re definitely in the easier half of the draw. The main danger in our half is…. Well, I’ll tell you when we get there.

Quarter Final

Spoiler

France        6-1    Austria

Alright, so next is my last team Belgium. Honestly I think we are by far the better team, but Belgium do have 2 or 3 really good players. In fact they seem to have no injuries or suspensions, so the whole first team is pretty good.

Semi Final

Spoiler

France        0-5    Belgium

Absolutely outclassed.

Final

Spoiler

N/A

 

After The Tournament

Spoiler

Maybe leaving Belgium was a mistake. It’s starting to get a little bit annoying now. Nation after nation do better without me. Belgium won the final on penalties.

Holland offered me a job, without my even applying, but I’m going to stick with France for the moment. I might spend the rest of my lifetime moving between Holland, Belgium and France being the only manager not to win with them.

I probably should take a few days completely off FM.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-58			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U
58-			France			Euro S/F


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

[JamLUFC]

 

Season One - FC Gifu

After a year away from this challenge and with the introduction of the J-League wanted to give it another go, so loaded up with Japanese, Canadian, American and English leagues loaded. I've always struggles with this and similar challenges due to hating managing in South Africa so I'm parking that until further down the line. 

 

I applied for every job going and got offered a lot of under 23 international jobs as well as the South Sudan role which I nearly took but opted to wait out. I was then offered jobs with FC Gifu and Kamatamure Sanuki. Gifu wanted top five finish with nearly a £1m transfer budget whilst the latter only wanted midtable and a budget of a third that so I went for Gifu. It's not a road to glory so I'm hoping they're better placed to build my rep up and get me a top J-league job where I can eventually challenge for continental honours. 

[goonergez]

SuperSport United: 2027/28 Review

After a bright first season at the helm it’s fair to say this is one I would like to banish from memory forever. We made what I thought were some sensible additions in pre season but things simply didn’t click. We crashed out of the Super-8 and Knockout Cups early on and couldn’t string any form together in the league.

We quickly fell out of contention for continental qualification places and actually spent the majority of the campaign in the bottom five places. We only once managed three straight league victories and in the end the board relieved me of my duties after just 22 matches.

I can’t blame the board for getting me out of the club but I do find it quite a big setback. After such a bright first season I had real high hopes of an even better campaign. Defensively we were shambolic and up top Ibrahima Sow struggled to replicate his goal scoring exploits of last season.

That leaves me unemployed on desperately hoping somebody will bite the bullet and give me another opportunity. I still think I can nab a top job here but this is obviously a big setback. Hopefully come the end of the season I can grab myself my next role.

Season	Team		Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 AmaTuks		5th
2024/25 AmaTuks		2nd (lost in promotion play-offs)
2025/26 AmaTuks		2nd
2026/27 SuperSport Utd	4th
2027/28 SuperSport Utd  13th (sacked)

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 Domestic Leagues
0/10 Domestic Cups
0/5 Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

 

[goonergez]

Career Update: November 2029

It would take me a little over six months to grab a new managerial position as the close of the South African season did not bring with it the usual managerial roundabout. Frustratingly my departure at SuperSport United ended up justified as they put together a sublime run of form to climb up the table and finish in 3rd place. Even more frustratingly finishing that high resulted in qualification for the African Champions League as well. I was devastated when I found that out.

My new role would be to take charge of the side rock bottom of the league table as November took upon us.

In truth there is no way that AmaZulu should be that low down the table and it should be a relatively easy job to climb up the table. Pre-season predictions from the media were for a 7th placed finish and so clearly the side are underperforming. The squad has plenty of talented players and I am confident that we can comfortably steer clear of the relegation spots. I’ve also been handed a rather generous £500,000 transfer budget to bring in some new faces. Don’t get me wrong there are definite holes in the squad, but I am confident that there is enough quality to achieve my early goals.

The board want to avoid relegation but in truth I’m hoping for at the least a top half finish. I have three games before the winter break so plenty of time to get the back room staff sorted and to get the players used to my methods and tactics. I’ll also be hoping that we can put a run together in the SA Cup, as I want to get up and running with this challenge. It’s going to be a lot of hard work, but rebuilding this club is also a rather exciting prospect. Hopefully my abilities can see us perform well and climb the table quickly and efficiently.

Season	Team		Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 AmaTuks		5th
2024/25 AmaTuks		2nd (lost in promotion play-offs)
2025/26 AmaTuks		2nd
2026/27 SuperSport Utd	4th
2027/28 SuperSport Utd  9th (sacked after 22 games)
2028/29 AmaZulu		tbc

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 Domestic Leagues
0/10 Domestic Cups
0/5 Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by goonergez

[Steve Cobble]

On 06/11/2023 at 17:27, vikeologist said:

Vikeologist's 2060 France Euros Report 

 

I did indeed quit Belgium for France. I just think France are a slightly better bet.

We’ve put up very good results over the last 2 years, the sole exception being a thumping by Portugal in the Nations League S/F. I think that was just a fluky result.

The French FA are a lot more laid back than the Belgians. I just need to reach the Q/F, and it would be a surprise if we didn’t.

 

Group Stage

  Reveal hidden contents

France        3-1    N Ireland

France        4-4    Serbia

We were 3-1 down, fought our way back to 4-3, and they scored a penalty in the 8^th of 5 designated minutes of extra time. Not sure how to check whether the ref was Serbian so I can report it as a bug. Hopefully it won’t matter in the scheme of things, because we only need a draw in the final match to top the group.

France        5-0    Bosnia & Herzegovina

Next is Scotland. Not sure I’ve ever played my own nation in this save.

I’ve checked and my Belgian team beat them 7-3 at the same 2^nd round stage 32 years ago.

 

 

Second Round

  Reveal hidden contents

France        3-1    Scotland

Austria next. Not many top teams being knocked out but we’re definitely in the easier half of the draw. The main danger in our half is…. Well, I’ll tell you when we get there.

Quarter Final

  Reveal hidden contents

France        6-1    Austria

Alright, so next is my last team Belgium. Honestly I think we are by far the better team, but Belgium do have 2 or 3 really good players. In fact they seem to have no injuries or suspensions, so the whole first team is pretty good.

Semi Final

  Hide contents

France        0-5    Belgium

Absolutely outclassed.

Final

  Hide contents

N/A

 

After The Tournament

  Hide contents

Maybe leaving Belgium was a mistake. It’s starting to get a little bit annoying now. Nation after nation do better without me. Belgium won the final on penalties.

Holland offered me a job, without my even applying, but I’m going to stick with France for the moment. I might spend the rest of my lifetime moving between Holland, Belgium and France being the only manager not to win with them.

I probably should take a few days completely off FM.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-58			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U
58-			France			Euro S/F


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

 

Sorry, but this really made me chortle.

"This is starting to get annoying now"

[SkiIIs]

On 05/11/2023 at 00:10, vikeologist said:

Vikeologist's 2058 Belgium World Cup Report 

Last year we lost in the final of the Nations League. This was my 3^rd time as runner up, and I’ve never won it, but it was reassuring that Belgium can compete with the big boys.

Then we struggled to even qualify for the World Cup. We ended up as the 2^nd place finishers with the best record, but a bit concerning.

We have some very good players, but not much depth. Just a few injuries can scupper us, and indeed our best player is out of the tournament, and our only good goalie will miss most of it.The squad of 26 was hard to pick, because there’s nowhere near 26 players good enough.

The FA expect me to reach the semifinals which is a bit of a stretch. We’re only ranked 7^th in the world.

Group Stage

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      3-0    South Korea

Belgium      7-1    Guinea

Tunisia next.

 

Second Round

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      4-0    Tunisia

Easy so far, but it gets much tougher next with Holland. France and Italy went out in the 2^nd round at the hands of Argentina and Brazil respectively, so we’re not the only ones to pick up a brutal fixture early.

Third Round

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      2-1    Holland

Obviously a huge result.

4 years ago my holland team unexpectedly went out at the hands of Turkey, who then went on to beat Belgium in the Q/F and made it all the way to the final.

And our quarterfinal match this time round is…..Turkey.

Anyway, Spain and Germany went out this round at the hands of Portugal and Argentina. What this means is that there are some surprising and possibly weak teams in the last 8 such as Nigeria and Serbia, who are unfortunately not in our half. Still, the chance of revenge against Turkey is somewhat appealing. They surely can’t get me sacked two World Cups in a row.

 

Quarter Final

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      p2-2  Turkey

The fact this even went to penalties was a huge injustice. They went ahead with a fluke deflection. We equalised through an own goal, but entirely due to our pressure. They went ahead with a dodgy penalty. We equalised and then had a last second winner ruled out. We had another last second winner ruled out in extra time, but I’d kept all my best penalty takers on the pitch, and Justice was served. Not this time, Turkey!

Incidentally Turkey only took 2 real goalies to the World Cup and the second one went off injured in this match, so they did have a striker in goal for the whole of extra time and the penalty shootout, so we didn’t necessarily cover ourselves in glory.

Next up is Argentina who have dispatched France, Germany and Brazil in the knockout rounds, possible the most difficult draw I’ve ever seen in a tournament. They required penalties to get past the first 2, but they’re clearly going to be formidable.

But at least I won’t be sacked.

Semi Final

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      3-2    Argentina

It was a very tight game, but we’ve made our 3^rd final in a row, if you include the nations league last year. We lost to England then, and now, well you know where this is going, England in the final.

Final / 3^rd Place Playoff

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      0-4    England

Like the Euro final 2 years ago, we had a player issued a straight red. Englans then took the lead, but we did have chances to equalise. We were only 1-0 down until the 89^th minute, but England caught us on the counter three times to finish the match.

After The Tournament

  Reveal hidden contents

It’s not really funny any more, and I applied for bigger European jobs, (England, France, Spain).

France offered me the job, (because I resigned the previous time I managed them. This challenge would be a lot easier if I’d realised you had to resign, but I didn’t think it would come to this).

I don’t know whether to take it, because obviously there is a chance that I can win with Belgium. I just think France might be a better side. It’s noticeable that I struggle to find enough good Belgians to even fill up a squad, and don’t make substitutions in close matches because of the drop off in quality.

Tough decision. Do I gamble?

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

 

so bloody close!!!!

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2062 France World Cup Report 

 

World Cup number 8.

Perfect record in qualifying, but a couple of heavy defeats including the Nations League S/F.

One good thing about France is that they only ever expect me to reach the Q/F, though obviously that’s harder at a World Cup.

Going to rush through things to avoid getting my hopes up.

Group Stage

Spoiler

France        0-1    South Korea

France        3-0    Canada

Not a great start.

Second Round

Spoiler

France        5-0    Chile

Third Round

Spoiler

France        1-4    Croatia

Quarter Final

Spoiler

N/A

Semi Final

Spoiler

N/A

Final / 3^rd Place Playoff

Spoiler

N/A

After The Tournament

Spoiler

Back to Belgium who have won both the Euros and World Cup since I left. Going to France may not have been the right decision.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-58			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U
58-62			France			Euro S/F WC R3.


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

[ANGL]

 

 

Here we go again! We start in South Africa, where I didn't play in my first take at the challenge. Venda Football academy is predicted 7th in SA second tier, so let's go for it!

 

[OldManGravz]

The Beginning.....

Forgot to post my profile at the very start, but thankfully no badges or anything have been attained yet so I should still be ok:



I'm six months in and currently manager of the Black Leopards!



Plying their trade in the National First Division in South Africa, the team were predicted 12th in the season preview. At the international break, we are currently sat in 8th, 7 points off the playoffs. 

Will provide an update when the season ends!

 

Season by Season:

Season  Team                   Position  Notes and Achievements
23/24     Black Leopards 

Challenge Progress:

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations)

0/10 domestic cups ()

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()
 

[SkiIIs]

I've got a bit of catching up to do so apologies for the spam. 

Season 2027 - Vissel Kobe - J1 League

Some of you might know the club as the Japanese destination club for the likes of Iniesta and Mata (currently still there) but before the save began they had never won the J1 in their history.  The won it for the first time last season but found themselves in 9th position after slightly more than a quarter of the league games in but had 2 games in hand.  The talent was still there and had a decent transfer budget to play.   I won the 2 games in hand which put us in the top 4 and not too far away from first. 

We ended up breezing through the league quite easily not losing a game for the rest of the season and only drawing 3 games in about 20. 

In the AFC group stage, we topped the group and qualified directly winning all games apart from losing to Suwon Bluewings of Korea away from home 2 - 0.  These were ominous signs that we can compete well in Asia and hopefully we can reach and win the final next season.

In the J-League cup we made the round of 16 where we faced Gamba Osaka. At home we were up 3 - 0 at home in the 64th minute but then conceded 3 late goals in what was a rare capitulation. We then conceded two early goals in the away leg to practically kick us out of the cup. 

We fared better in the Emperor's Cup. We cruised through to the final where we faced Kyoto Sanga. I had only managed against them once and beat them 2 - 0 at home. It's a little strange that the final is played on New Years day which is a full month after the last league game.  It also coincides with an u21 tournament that was on and I stuffed up and didnt recall 4 starters that I could have pulled away for the tournament.   We dominated the final and it was telling that we missed the quality and we ended up losing 2 - 1.

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by SkiIIs

[SkiIIs]

2027 AFCON - Ivory Coast

My first AFCON tournament and one that absolutely killed me in the FM23 save.  The expectation is to win it so i fear if I dont get a tick for this challenge, it will result in getting the sack.  Was very lucky not to get sacked after the World Cup so have to make most of this opportunity in what is probably the best squad amongst Africa.

Group of Cameroon, Cape Verde and Mauritania meant that the result against Cameroon would be vital.  We beat them first up 2 - 0 and then cruised to two victories amongst the others to top the group.  Up next is Congo.

Second Round

Spoiler

An easy 5 - 2 win. We are leaking a couple goals but we're also scoring them for fun.  Up next is DR Congo.

QF (if applicable)

Spoiler

5 - 0 demolition. In the semis we have Burkina Faso.  This side of the draw has been super friendly to us.

SM (if applicable)

Spoiler

a tight 1 - 0 win.  Required a 76th Sebastien Haller penalty to get us through. Although a tight win, Burkino never really threatened at all.  In the final we meet Cameroon who we beat comfortably in the group stage

Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

I feel robbed.  It one that we should have won and only copped a second when we went gung ho attack.  I really hate this tournament!   

Pleasing thing is I kept my job and I've learnt from FM23 to avoid moving around too much

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by SkiIIs

[SkiIIs]

Season 2028 - Vissel Kobe - J1 League

After winning the league last season, this season was all about winning the Asian Champions League which is played in the first half of the season. If that went to plan then we would probably look to move on instantly, if not the aim would be to win a domestic cup and look to go again as I'm enjoying the stay here.  The J1 is quite brutal with lots of games within 3 days of each other. 

For the second round, its a draw and so we were given Suwon Bluewings who we had in our group stage and evened out 2 - 0 home wins for both matches. We were at home first up and scored in the 85th minute to make it a 3 - 0 handy win going into the away leg. We drew the away leg 2 - 2 to make it to the QF where we would play Korean opponents again in Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors who had been in the last 3 finals winning 3 years ago and coming runners up the last two years. 

We played the first leg at home again and again we won 3 - 0 scoring in the 85th and 90th minutes to all but get us through to the semis.  We backed up the first leg with a solid 2 - 0 win in Korea to put us through against local opposition in Nagoya Grampus who were doing ok in the league. 

We were away first up this time and we started extremely nervous as they had two goals disallowed in the 13th and 15th minutes.  We then settled and started dominating and opened up the scoring in the 66th minute.  We then found ourselves down as the home team scored in the 74th and 82nd minutes but we scored a vital equaliser in the 85th to end the game at 2 - 2 noting that away goals count in this competition. Need not to worry as we scored the only goal in the 61st minute and had two goals disallowed ourselves this time.  In the final we play Sharjah FC of the UAW in what would be a somewhat favourable tie.

The final is played over two legs and the first leg was at home.  We copped a goal early on in their first attack but managed to equalise just before the half time break. We created quite a few chances in the second half but couldnt find the go ahead goal until the 94th minute.  I was too busy celebrating to notice we then scored in the 96th minute again to give us a very handy lead going into the final leg.  In the return leg, we scored in the 22nd and 27th minutes to all but seal the deal.  Sharjah scored a couple in the second half but it wasnt enough and so the Asian continent has been completed!

In my short team, I recorded this win in the Emperor's Cup which is my largest ever competitive victory and most goals in a game for a single player of 8:

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by SkiIIs

[SkiIIs]

I was thinking of sticking around to win a cup unless there was a perfect opportunity that arose in either South Africa or the Americas.  A couple months later and this opportunity popped up which i had to take. Mamelodi just finished second in the league and have qualified for the Champions League.

Edited November 9, 2023 by SkiIIs

[Tubzinho]

Club Career

Year		Team (Country) 			League	Notes and Achievements
2024-2025	Royal Eagles (RSA) 		3rd		-
2025-2026	Amazulu (RSA)			1st		DStv Premiership Winners	
2026-2027	Amazulu (RSA)			1st		MTN 8 Cup Winners, Telkom Knockout Cup Winners, DStv Premiership Winners, CAF Champions League Winners			
2027		Rosenborg BK (NOR)		2nd		-
2028		Rosenborg BK (NOR)		1st		Eliteserien Winners	
2028-2029	Necaxa (MEX)			1st		Liga MX Clausera Winners
2029-2030	Necaxa (MEX)			2nd / 1st 	Campeon de Campeones Winners, Leagues Cup Winners, Campeones Cup Winners, Liga MX Apertura Winners, CONCACAF Champions League Winners, Liga MX Clausera Winners
2030-2031	Real Madrid CF (ESP)		1st		Copa del Rey Winners, La Liga Winners, UEFA Champions League Winners
2031		Shanghai Shenhua (CHN)		4th		-
2032		Shanghai Shenhua (CHN)		1st		Chinese Super League Winners, Chinese FA Cup Winners
2033		Shanghai Shenhua (CHN)		- 		Asian Champions League Winners	
2033-2034	AC Milan (ITA)			1st		Serie A Winners, Coppa Italia Winners					
2034-2035	Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)	1st		Ligue 1 Winners, Coupe de France Winners
2035		Internacional SC (BRA)		7th		Copa Do Brasil Winners, Copa Libertadores Winners	
2035-2036	SL Benfica (POR)		1st		Allianz Cup Winners, Liga Portugal Winners, Taca De Portugal Winners
2036-2037	VFL Wolfsburg (GER)		1st		Bundesliga Winners, DFB Pokal Winners	
2037		FC Bayern Munchen (GER)		- 		FIFA World Club Championship Winners
2037		Vålerenga Fotball (NOR)		8th		- 
2038		Vålerenga Fotball (NOR)		1st		Eliteserien Winners, Norwegian Cupen Winners
2038-2039	Glasgow Rangers (SCO)		1st		Scottish Premier League Winners, Scottish Cup Winners
2039-2040	Arsenal (ENG)			1st		Premier League Winners
2040-2041	Arsenal (ENG)			1st		Premier League Winners, FA Cup Winners																									
								
International Career

Year		Country				Notes &  Achievements
2022-2024	Brazil  			World Cup Winners (2022), Copa America (2024)
2028-2029	Ivory Coast			African Cup Of Nations Winners (2029)
2030-2031	Saudi Arabia			Asian Cup Winners (2031)		
2034-2036	France				Nations League Winners (2035), UEFA European Championship Winners (2036)
2037-2039	United States of America	World Cup Winners (2038), Gold Cup Winners (2039)

The Rules:
 
The 32 Competitions you must win to win the challenge

6 International Tournaments

- FIFA World Cup				- Brazil (2022), U.S.A. (2038)
- UEFA European Championship (Europe)		- France (2036)	
- AFC Asian Cup (Asia)				- Saudi Arabia (2031)						
- Copa America (South America)			- Brazil (2024)
- Gold Cup (North America)			- U.S.A. (2039)
- AFCON (African Cup Of Nations)		- Ivory Coast (2029)			
 
10 Leagues
THE BIG FIVE 
- La Liga (Spain)				- Real Madrid (2030-2031)
- Premier League (England)			- Arsenal (2039-2040, 2040-2041)
- Bundesliga (Germany)				- Wolfsburg (2036-2037)	
- Ligue 1 (France)				- Paris Saint-Germain (2034-2035)					
- Serie A (Italy)				- AC Milan (2033-2034)							

 
AND 5 OTHER TOP LEAGUES 
- DStv Premiership (RSA)			- Amazulu (2025-2026, 2026-2027)
- Eliteserien (NOR)				- Rosenborg (2028), Vålerenga (2038)
- Liga MX (MEX)					- Necaxa (Clausera 2029 & 2030, Apertura 2029)
- Chinese Super League (CHN)			- Shanghai Shenhua (2032)
- Liga Portugal Bwin (POR)			- SL Benfica (2035-2036)
- Scottish Premier League			- Glasgow Rangers (2038-2039)
 
5 Champions Leagues
 
- UEFA Champions League (Europe)		- Real Madrid (2031)
- Asian Champions League (Asia)			- Shanghai Shenhua (2033)
- Copa Libertadores (South America)		- Internacional SC (2035)
- CONCACAF Champions League (North America)	- Necaxa (2030)	
- CAF Champions League (Africa)			- Amazulu (2027)				

FIFA Club World Cup				- FC Bayern Munchen (2037)

10 Others (Domestic Cups from 10 separate nations

- Copa del Rey (ESP)				- Real Madrid (2031)
- Chinese FA Cup (CHN)				- Shanghai Shenhua (2032)
- Coppa Italia (ITA)				- AC Milan (2034)
- Coupe de France (FRA)				- Paris Saint-Germain (2035)
- Copa Do Brasil (BRA)				- Internacional SC (2035)
- Taca De Portugal (POR)			- SL Benfica (2036)
- DFB Pokal (GER)				- wolfsburg (2037)
- Norwegian Cupen (NOR)				- Vålerenga (2038)
- Scottish Cup (SCO)				- Glasgow Rangers (2039)
- English FA Cup (ENG)				- Arsenal (2041)

------------------------------------------------------------

Finally completed in FM23

[vikeologist]

26 minutes ago, Tubzinho said:

Club Career

Year		Team (Country) 			League	Notes and Achievements
2024-2025	Royal Eagles (RSA) 		3rd		-
2025-2026	Amazulu (RSA)			1st		DStv Premiership Winners	
2026-2027	Amazulu (RSA)			1st		MTN 8 Cup Winners, Telkom Knockout Cup Winners, DStv Premiership Winners, CAF Champions League Winners			
2027		Rosenborg BK (NOR)		2nd		-
2028		Rosenborg BK (NOR)		1st		Eliteserien Winners	
2028-2029	Necaxa (MEX)			1st		Liga MX Clausera Winners
2029-2030	Necaxa (MEX)			2nd / 1st 	Campeon de Campeones Winners, Leagues Cup Winners, Campeones Cup Winners, Liga MX Apertura Winners, CONCACAF Champions League Winners, Liga MX Clausera Winners
2030-2031	Real Madrid CF (ESP)		1st		Copa del Rey Winners, La Liga Winners, UEFA Champions League Winners
2031		Shanghai Shenhua (CHN)		4th		-
2032		Shanghai Shenhua (CHN)		1st		Chinese Super League Winners, Chinese FA Cup Winners
2033		Shanghai Shenhua (CHN)		- 		Asian Champions League Winners	
2033-2034	AC Milan (ITA)			1st		Serie A Winners, Coppa Italia Winners					
2034-2035	Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)	1st		Ligue 1 Winners, Coupe de France Winners
2035		Internacional SC (BRA)		7th		Copa Do Brasil Winners, Copa Libertadores Winners	
2035-2036	SL Benfica (POR)		1st		Allianz Cup Winners, Liga Portugal Winners, Taca De Portugal Winners
2036-2037	VFL Wolfsburg (GER)		1st		Bundesliga Winners, DFB Pokal Winners	
2037		FC Bayern Munchen (GER)		- 		FIFA World Club Championship Winners
2037		Vålerenga Fotball (NOR)		8th		- 
2038		Vålerenga Fotball (NOR)		1st		Eliteserien Winners, Norwegian Cupen Winners
2038-2039	Glasgow Rangers (SCO)		1st		Scottish Premier League Winners, Scottish Cup Winners
2039-2040	Arsenal (ENG)			1st		Premier League Winners
2040-2041	Arsenal (ENG)			1st		Premier League Winners, FA Cup Winners																									
								
International Career

Year		Country				Notes &  Achievements
2022-2024	Brazil  			World Cup Winners (2022), Copa America (2024)
2028-2029	Ivory Coast			African Cup Of Nations Winners (2029)
2030-2031	Saudi Arabia			Asian Cup Winners (2031)		
2034-2036	France				Nations League Winners (2035), UEFA European Championship Winners (2036)
2037-2039	United States of America	World Cup Winners (2038), Gold Cup Winners (2039)

The Rules:
 
The 32 Competitions you must win to win the challenge

6 International Tournaments

- FIFA World Cup				- Brazil (2022), U.S.A. (2038)
- UEFA European Championship (Europe)		- France (2036)	
- AFC Asian Cup (Asia)				- Saudi Arabia (2031)						
- Copa America (South America)			- Brazil (2024)
- Gold Cup (North America)			- U.S.A. (2039)
- AFCON (African Cup Of Nations)		- Ivory Coast (2029)			
 
10 Leagues
THE BIG FIVE 
- La Liga (Spain)				- Real Madrid (2030-2031)
- Premier League (England)			- Arsenal (2039-2040, 2040-2041)
- Bundesliga (Germany)				- Wolfsburg (2036-2037)	
- Ligue 1 (France)				- Paris Saint-Germain (2034-2035)					
- Serie A (Italy)				- AC Milan (2033-2034)							

 
AND 5 OTHER TOP LEAGUES 
- DStv Premiership (RSA)			- Amazulu (2025-2026, 2026-2027)
- Eliteserien (NOR)				- Rosenborg (2028), Vålerenga (2038)
- Liga MX (MEX)					- Necaxa (Clausera 2029 & 2030, Apertura 2029)
- Chinese Super League (CHN)			- Shanghai Shenhua (2032)
- Liga Portugal Bwin (POR)			- SL Benfica (2035-2036)
- Scottish Premier League			- Glasgow Rangers (2038-2039)
 
5 Champions Leagues
 
- UEFA Champions League (Europe)		- Real Madrid (2031)
- Asian Champions League (Asia)			- Shanghai Shenhua (2033)
- Copa Libertadores (South America)		- Internacional SC (2035)
- CONCACAF Champions League (North America)	- Necaxa (2030)	
- CAF Champions League (Africa)			- Amazulu (2027)				

FIFA Club World Cup				- FC Bayern Munchen (2037)

10 Others (Domestic Cups from 10 separate nations

- Copa del Rey (ESP)				- Real Madrid (2031)
- Chinese FA Cup (CHN)				- Shanghai Shenhua (2032)
- Coppa Italia (ITA)				- AC Milan (2034)
- Coupe de France (FRA)				- Paris Saint-Germain (2035)
- Copa Do Brasil (BRA)				- Internacional SC (2035)
- Taca De Portugal (POR)			- SL Benfica (2036)
- DFB Pokal (GER)				- wolfsburg (2037)
- Norwegian Cupen (NOR)				- Vålerenga (2038)
- Scottish Cup (SCO)				- Glasgow Rangers (2039)
- English FA Cup (ENG)				- Arsenal (2041)

------------------------------------------------------------

Finally completed in FM23

Congratulations.

[King Axther]

First time trying this, Hoping it will be enjoyable!

Manager profile: 

 

My first team will be "FC Dnepr-Mogilev" From the 2nd Belarusian league (That allows 0 foreigners so this will be fun), and this is a Calendar year league - the team is currently 11th after 12 games

 

Season	Team	Country	League	Position	Notes and Achievements
2023 (July)	FC Dnepr Mogilev	Belarus	Belarusian First League (2nd tier)

[The Art of Drowning]

Loaded a few leagues and started the save at the start of Brazilian pre-season which was apparently Christmas day 2023, didn't take long to get a new job and have ended up at FC Gifu in the J3 league.  They had a talented but ageing squad but around £900k to spend which was perfect for a full on rebuild, so that's exactly what I've done.  Ended up winning a very closely fought title race and then immediately became one of the favourites for the J2 title the following year 

Currently in season 2 and 8 points clear at the top of the J2, but I plan on moving on after this season.  It's been good to get some coaching badges in (currently going for Continental C) but we don't have the resources to challenge at the top of Japan.  Also don't have any homegrown players which will be a problem.

Also not sure if it's a bug, but my Indonesian free transfer striker Ezra Wallian is not showing up as a foreign player.  I'm not complaining but I don't think that's right?

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by The Art of Drowning

[The Art of Drowning]

I've just noticed it isn't a bug, Indonesia amongst a few other nations is not considered foreign

[OldManGravz]

A great run of form in the second half of the season ended with me lifting my first trophy in my initial season. Although it doesn't count towards the challenge as it is not a top league, winning the First National Championship has landed me in the DStv Premiership with the plucky Black Leopards. I was also able to secure my National C coaching licence within the first season and began my course for the National B Licence in the off season. 

Due to 90% of the team's contracts expiring at the end of the season, I've had my pick of who to keep and who to lose, and I've been able to balance the squad better for next season. A stellar youth intake in my first season means I have a few decent prospects I can use as cover in this second season also. 

In other news, my chairman resigned after giving me a new contract. His replacement has stated there will be no money invested in the club, and has now taken the rather rash decision of reducing the ticket price from £16 a ticket to £1 - vastly reducing my income despite the upward trajectory the club is on. I feel this may end in disaster as the club was already struggling in the First National Championship.



I'm hoping this guy is much smarter than I am giving him credit for, but I doubt it. 

 

Season by Season:

Season  Team        Position    Notes and Achievements
23/24    Black Leopards  1st        Promotion to the DStv Premiership, National C Licence achieved
24/25    Black Leopards          National B Licence achieved      

Challenge Progress:

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations)

0/10 domestic cups ()

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()
 

[OldManGravz]

Also taking my first steps into the international scene with Fiji! The Fijian FA aren't expecting much so hoping to mainly use it to build a bit of reputation and experiment with a few different tactics:

[The Art of Drowning]

FC Gifu

Meiji Yasuda J2 League 2025 Season

Back to back titles, this one was easier than the J3 League as we dominated the league.  Financially despite making a profit in transfers both seasons we are in trouble, that along with Walian agreeing to leave at the end of the season meant I had made my mind up to quit the moment the league was mathematically won.

Resigned with a few games left which left me wondering what country I would end up in next, and in a real departure we have a job in.... Japan.  Applied or jobs at Yokohama Marinos (10th in J1), Pohang Stealers (8th) and Shanghai Shenhua in China.  Had interviews at both Japanese clubs but decided to accept the Yokohama job due to their secure Financial Status.  They again have a very old squad which is in need of a rebuild, however some very interesting prospects in the academy who I immediately promoted to the first team for the remaining games of the J1 Season.  Ended up finishing 7th.

Season    Team        Position    Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024      FC Gifu           1st           J3 Champions
2025      FC Gifu           1st           J2 Champions

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 Domestic Leagues
0/10 Domestic Cups
0/5 Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments 0/1 World Tournament

Edited November 11, 2023 by The Art of Drowning

[The Art of Drowning]

Now for that rebuild, a lot of outgoings of the oldies.  Coming in:

Yosuke Ideguchi (released by Celtic)
Rafael Struik (Free from Ado Den Haag, Non-Foreign as he's from Indonesia)
Takhuro Nakai (Former Real Madrid - £2.1m)
Mohamad Rihanieh (£800k Syrian AMC)
Ivar Jenner (Indonesian on loan from Utrecht, also had him at Gifu)
Ekanit Panya (£257k and Thai so non-foreign)
Mikaze Nagasawa (21 Right winger from FC Tokyo for £975k)
Jhon Acurio (Free from Barcelona in Ecuador, paid a fortune in wages to stop him joining much bigger clubs)
Aleksander Hammer Kjelsen (£2.7m for the 20 year old Norwegian Centre Back from Valerenga)
Taichi Fukui (£1.5m for the former Bayern Munich Midfielder)
Gervais Yaha (£250 for the regen Ivorian Forward at ASEC Mimosas)
Nestory Irankunda (£1.3m from Adelaide)
Sander Navarro (Free Colombian right back previously at Millonarios)
Hiroyuki Nagano (Regen Centre Back on loan from Vissel Kobe) - There are some great Japanase regens, none of them want to sign permanently for me
Kim Ji-Soo (Korean Centre Back on loan from Brentford)

15 new signings along with several guys promoted from the youth team, so it will be a very different Yokohama this season.

 

 

 

[goonergez]

AmaZulu: 2028/29 Review

My early time in charge of the club has gone well and it leaves me feeling excited about what next season may bring. I said when I took charge that I was aiming for a top half finish and we quickly hit the gas to climb up the table. My first ten league games in charge saw us go unbeaten as we won 7. This saw us climb comfortably clear of the relegation places which was all the board really asked for. The only blot on a great spell so far was that we crashed out of the SA Cup at the first hurdle. A disappointing performance saw us lose out 0-2 to Cape Town Spurs, although that allowed us to focus on our league form which definitely proved beneficial.

Off the pitch we managed to add a couple of new faces to aid our cause. First up was striker Thembinkose Ndlovu who came in from TS Galaxy for a fee of £200,000. Another £200,000 was parted with to my former club SuperSport United for young central midfielder Monde Daniels. And finally £60,000 was spent on left winger Motheo Mapoho. I managed to keep hold of everybody I wanted to for now, although the end of the season will definitely see us lose some of our first team regulars.

For me next season is all about trying to grab a trophy. I don’t expect us to be able to front a title challenge but a domestic cup should be a possibility. With a well organised and productive summer in the transfer market we should be able to enter next season with a squad capable of competing. Winning a trophy would definitely be a welcome boost. My career has stagnated somewhat already and I’m keen to start pushing forward with this club. I’ve enjoyed the early days here, now it’s about helping to develop this club into competitors across all fronts.

Season	Team		Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 AmaTuks		5th
2024/25 AmaTuks		2nd (lost in promotion play-offs)
2025/26 AmaTuks		2nd
2026/27 SuperSport Utd	4th
2027/28 SuperSport Utd  9th (sacked after 22 games)
2028/29 AmaZulu		7th
2029/30 AmaZulu		tbc

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 Domestic Leagues
0/10 Domestic Cups
0/5 Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

 

[goonergez]

AmaZulu: 2029/30 Review

My first full season in charge of this club was eagerly anticipated and it’s fair to say it went about as planned. Pre season was busy as I dragged in three new players. Two of which came in from my former club SuperSport United. The first half of the season didn’t go particularly great as we crashed out of both the Super-8 and Knockout Cups at the first hurdle. In the league we did alright but we really struggled to gain any consistency.

When the mid season break hit I made it a priority to fix our defence and moved to bring in a couple of new faces. I went back to my old club SuperSport United to bring in goalkeeper Lawrence Mulenga on loan until the end of the season and parted with £200,000 to sign a promising young Kaizer Chiefs centre back . At this stage we hadn’t kept a clean sheet all season and thankfully that changed in the second portion of the season.

Suddenly we looked almost unbearable and we climbed up the table with ease. Marcia Brito was still scoring plenty up top and defensively we were much better. We managed to climb all the way up to finish in 4th place and cap off a really good campaign.

I am still hunting a first domestic trophy though as once again we failed in the SA Cup. We did well, before losing out on penalties to Sekukhune United in the semi finals. We should’ve won the game really but played the whole of extra time with ten men after a midfielder went off injured and I’d already used all of our substitutions. It was heart-breaking to get so close but also a good sign for the future.

I’m really pleased with how the season went even if I am sat here still waiting to tick off my first trophy for the challenge. After the setback of my sacking at SuperSport United it’s fair to say I’ve bounced back with this club and now I’m confident that I can chalk off trophies with this club. Next season I want to challenge near the top end of the table and also want to grab a domestic cup. I really want to qualify for the Champions League but Orlando Pirates are so strong and only the league winners grab a spot. I have no intentions of leaving unless the job with Orlando Pirates shockingly becomes available.

We’ve already confirmed four new signings with three of them coming in from SuperSport. Goalkeeper Mulenga joins us on a permanent deal when his contract expires as does centre back Thobani Hlophe. I’ve also given them £170,000 to bring in central midfielder Shiszhule Moleko who will add some much needed quality into our ranks. I’m still after a winter and possibly a striker too.

Season	Team		Position	Notes & Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24 AmaTuks		5th
2024/25 AmaTuks		2nd (lost in promotion play-offs)
2025/26 AmaTuks		2nd
2026/27 SuperSport Utd	4th
2027/28 SuperSport Utd  9th (sacked after 22 games)
2028/29 AmaZulu		7th
2029/30 AmaZulu		4th
2030/31 AmaZulu		tbc

Challenge Progress

Club

0/10 Domestic Leagues
0/10 Domestic Cups
0/5 Continental Championships
0/1 Club World Championship

International

0/5 Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournament

 

[vikeologist]

I'm going to put this somewhere near the start of the thread, but it seems clear to me (at least with FM23 careers continued into FM24) that if you wait for a nation to sack you, they'll never offer you the job again, but if you quit, even after going out in a tournament, you have the opportunity to keep going back, like a dog returning to its vomit.

Something to bear in mind.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2064 Belgium Euro and 2066 Brazil World Cup Reports

 

I think this is my 6^th Euro.

My top striker is out with a long term injury, and I think bad injuries have made some of my top players regress. There’s also the fact that some players are a bit over the hill.

Still we won the nations league last year (my first) and we stand a chance. Again, going to rush through to avoid getting my hopes up.

If we don’t win, I might be sacked.

Group Stage

Spoiler

Belgium      1-1    Ukraine

Dominated the match but toothless up front and suffered a late sucker punch.

Belgium      2-1    Czechia

Belgium      6-0    Ireland

So-so results, but no injuries, no suspensions. We topped our group, and what’s our reward? F****g Spain! However, they only picked up 3 points from their 3 group matches, (as did England) and they’re both fortunate to have progressed as 3^rd place teams.

 Second Round

Spoiler

Belgium      1-1p  Spain

Quarter Final

Spoiler

N/A   

Semi Final

Spoiler

N/A             

Final

Spoiler

N/A   

After The Tournament

Spoiler

Quit and took the Brazil job for the World Cup in 2 years time.

 

World Cup number 9. Also, I’ve only won 1 out of the last 11 international tournaments I’ve been in despite being one of the favourites for all of them.

It’s actually my 2^nd World cup with Brazil. The last time was 28 years ago when we lost in the S/F, and that isn’t one of the most recent 11.

Group Stage

Spoiler

Brazil          6-1    Ireland

Brazil          4-1    Tunisia

Second Round

Spoiler

Brazil          0-4    Holland

Third Round

Spoiler

 

Quarter Final

Spoiler

 

Semi Final

Spoiler

 

Final / 3^rd Place Playoff

Spoiler

 

After The Tournament

Spoiler

My only option was to return to Belgium for a ridiculous 4^th time. I wish I’d known that waiting for a nation to sack you means they’ll never offer you the job again.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-58			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U
58-62			France			Euro S/F WC R3.
62-64			Belgium			Nations League, Euro R2
64-66			Brazil			WC R2
66-			Belgium


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

[SkiIIs]

On 12/11/2023 at 05:48, The Art of Drowning said:

Now for that rebuild, a lot of outgoings of the oldies.  Coming in:

Yosuke Ideguchi (released by Celtic)
Rafael Struik (Free from Ado Den Haag, Non-Foreign as he's from Indonesia)
Takhuro Nakai (Former Real Madrid - £2.1m)
Mohamad Rihanieh (£800k Syrian AMC)
Ivar Jenner (Indonesian on loan from Utrecht, also had him at Gifu)
Ekanit Panya (£257k and Thai so non-foreign)
Mikaze Nagasawa (21 Right winger from FC Tokyo for £975k)
Jhon Acurio (Free from Barcelona in Ecuador, paid a fortune in wages to stop him joining much bigger clubs)
Aleksander Hammer Kjelsen (£2.7m for the 20 year old Norwegian Centre Back from Valerenga)
Taichi Fukui (£1.5m for the former Bayern Munich Midfielder)
Gervais Yaha (£250 for the regen Ivorian Forward at ASEC Mimosas)
Nestory Irankunda (£1.3m from Adelaide)
Sander Navarro (Free Colombian right back previously at Millonarios)
Hiroyuki Nagano (Regen Centre Back on loan from Vissel Kobe) - There are some great Japanase regens, none of them want to sign permanently for me
Kim Ji-Soo (Korean Centre Back on loan from Brentford)

15 new signings along with several guys promoted from the youth team, so it will be a very different Yokohama this season.

 

 

 

totally agree with the Japanese regens, seem to be an abundance of super talented 18 year olds when i was managing there!   Might be a good option for the youth academy challenge but not sure how the financials would go though...

[SkiIIs]

12 hours ago, vikeologist said:

Vikeologist's 2064 Belgium Euro and 2066 Brazil World Cup Reports

 

I think this is my 6^th Euro.

My top striker is out with a long term injury, and I think bad injuries have made some of my top players regress. There’s also the fact that some players are a bit over the hill.

Still we won the nations league last year (my first) and we stand a chance. Again, going to rush through to avoid getting my hopes up.

If we don’t win, I might be sacked.

Group Stage

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      1-1    Ukraine

Dominated the match but toothless up front and suffered a late sucker punch.

Belgium      2-1    Czechia

Belgium      6-0    Ireland

So-so results, but no injuries, no suspensions. We topped our group, and what’s our reward? F****g Spain! However, they only picked up 3 points from their 3 group matches, (as did England) and they’re both fortunate to have progressed as 3^rd place teams.

 Second Round

  Reveal hidden contents

Belgium      1-1p  Spain

Quarter Final

  Reveal hidden contents

N/A   

Semi Final

  Reveal hidden contents

N/A             

Final

  Reveal hidden contents

N/A   

After The Tournament

  Reveal hidden contents

Quit and took the Brazil job for the World Cup in 2 years time.

 

World Cup number 9. Also, I’ve only won 1 out of the last 11 international tournaments I’ve been in despite being one of the favourites for all of them.

It’s actually my 2^nd World cup with Brazil. The last time was 28 years ago when we lost in the S/F, and that isn’t one of the most recent 11.

Group Stage

  Reveal hidden contents

Brazil          6-1    Ireland

Brazil          4-1    Tunisia

Second Round

  Reveal hidden contents

Brazil          0-4    Holland

Third Round

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Quarter Final

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Semi Final

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Final / 3^rd Place Playoff

  Reveal hidden contents

 

After The Tournament

  Reveal hidden contents

My only option was to return to Belgium for a ridiculous 4^th time. I wish I’d known that waiting for a nation to sack you means they’ll never offer you the job again.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-58			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U
58-62			France			Euro S/F WC R3.
62-64			Belgium			Nations League, Euro R2
64-66			Brazil			WC R2
66-			Belgium


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

 

One of the most vital tips for this challenge.  I also wished I knew this for my FM23 career!

[SkiIIs]

Season 2028/29 - South African Premier League - Mamelodi Sundowns

This team came second last year and were qualified for African Champions League so I really couldnt have taken over a better team in South Africa. The goal is to spend only the one year and hopefully conquer the continent by winning the champions league, title and cup.  Lofty ambitions, from experience it's very achievable in this neck of the woods. 

The squad was already strong and only have 1 of the 5 allocated foreigner spots so i raided the continent I've spent my career to date in Asia on some of their cheaper talent to bolster the depth. 

The season started off an early on we needed to qualify for the Champions league proper. We had to play two rounds of qualifying which were a walk in the park however was a little bit short of depth as my new signings missed registration.  Strangely enough we were then not given another opportunity to register players again before the group stage kicked off.  The next opportunity was after our 3rd group game which is really strange.  It didnt matter as we ended up topping the group with 4 wins a draw and a loss.   We then played Asante Kotoko of Ghana in the QF and in the first leg we quickly headed into the first half away from home with a 5 - 0 lead. We ended up wining the tie 5 - 3.  In the semis we met Mouloudia Club d'Alger of Algeria where after 50 minutes of the first leg at home were up 4 - 0.  We won the tie 8 - 2.  In the final it would be Al-Ahly Sporting Club between us and the Cup, They had won the past two seasons and really are the powerhouse of African football.  We won the first leg away 4 -  1 after conceding first in the 2nd minute.  We won the tie 10 - 1 in what was a cakewalk!

We also won the league relatively easily as well.  As many would know, there's a lot of fixture congestion and i ended up sacrificing my best players in the league to focus on the cup competitions to ensure it was a 1 season and out tenure. This meant we dropped a couple of games but still won the league with some margin.

On the domestic cup front, the first final for us was the MTN 8 which we faced Orlando Pirates. Frustratingly, the final was played during international qualifiers so my much of my best lineup was absent and so we didnt put in our greatest performance.  We copped a goal in the first minute but managed to equalise just before the break.  We then conceded the only goal of the second half in the 78th minute to disappointingly lose my first final with this team.  The next Cup was the Telkom knockout where I lost my second final with this team, this time to SuperSport Utd in extra time. They scored in the 35th minute, we then scored in the 59th and 81st minutes before they equalised right away in the 84th.   The winning goal came in the 110th minute.  At this point, i was thinking this better not be a bloody trend!   The last cup is the Nedbank Cup which we ended up winning against Venda FC in the final 3 - 1 and got the Cup that we needed for this challenge.   Im already behind 1 cup after not winning the Emperors Cup in Japan so definitely didnt want to go down 2 cups.

 

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by SkiIIs

[SkiIIs]

So after conquering Africa, my next move was either going to be in one of the Americas and it didnt take me long before I was being interviewed.  I did throw my name in the hat for Liverpool and Real but didnt get to an interview for those roles.  I applied for both Corinthians and Internacional but the latter rejected my application so i accepted 'The People's Team'

They're struggling in the league but there is plenty of games left. The positive is that they are still in the Copa Libertadores getting out of the group stage and set to play Argentinian side Belgrano in the second round.  The are also in the Copa do Brasil quarter final having drawn to Serie C side at home 1 - 1 with the away leg going to be my second game in charge.

Edited November 14, 2023 by SkiIIs

[ralala]

Can I sign up for this with savegame export to newer versions of FM since that is a thing now? Then I might have a chance to complete it around FM2030 or so

[vikeologist]

2 hours ago, ralala said:

Can I sign up for this with savegame export to newer versions of FM since that is a thing now? Then I might have a chance to complete it around FM2030 or so

What is savegame export? If you mean the Ingame option to continue fm23 saves on fm24, then yes. I'm doing that myself.

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by vikeologist

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2068 Belgium Euros Report

 

Group Stage

Spoiler

Belgium      4-0    Scotland

Belgium      4-0    Greece

Belgium      5-0    Norway

 

Second Round

Spoiler

Belgium      6-3    Denmark

Quarter Final

Spoiler

Belgium      2-0    Spain

I was terrified. Close match.

Semi Final

Spoiler

Belgium      2-0    Romania

Don’t think about it. It’s just another match.

Final

Spoiler

Belgium      2-3aet         France

After the Tournament

Spoiler

We deserved to win, but we didn’t.

Wasn’t sacked.

Was offered the France job, and I think that would be a good move, but I made that switch before and it didn’t work out, so I’ve turned it down.

These reports are becoming very short, because I'm trying to disassociate from my endless failures. Instant resulted the group matches, and after losing in the final, I instant resulted that, and won every single time.  I might just Instant result whole tournaments in future.

 

[JamLUFC]

Season One - FC Gifu

First season in the bag was a pretty routine one, winning promotion with four games to go and the title with two left, hitting an unbeaten run of close to 30 games to close out the season after a mixed start. My biggest problem was throwing away leads, three games I led 3-0 at half time and ended up drawing, a fourth I did the same but did manage to score a late winner after throwing the lead away.

Plan for next season is a good midtable finish and try and get a job in the top division whilst building my reputation. I'm studying my National C licence so that's a step towards getting my first badge in place, and I've set a couple more leagues up in South Korea and Australia to become active to give me other opportunities for league titles. I actually think the Asian Champions League could be one of the hardest to win early with the Saudi clubs having stupid resources.

The Asian cup is due to start up in January too so I'll have an eye on international jobs which come available, as well as the African Cup of Nations.

Edited November 15, 2023 by JamLUFC

[lukefox44]

Luke Fox

Lee Man

2023 / 2024

 

Decided to give this challenge another go after a few years, here is my starting profile and first job.

 

Spoiler

 

Decided to go with Lee Man as i saw @Danny_H22 do very well with them.

Didn't go quite as well as winning all twenty league games, did go unbeaten with 2 draws though, won both the HK FA Cup and senior challenge cup as well. Did lose to Kitchee in the Sapling cup semi final in extra time though.

 

Spoiler

 

The AFC champions league wasn't much to shout about, out in the group stages, getting only 2 draws against April.25 of North Korea.

Wanted to give a special mention to my 6'7, 20 jumping reach striker, Kenny Aithu, scored an unreal amount of goals, not a defender in the country could match him aerially.

Spoiler

 

Lee Man were also kind enough to fund two coaching badges for me before we parted ways at the end of the season.

Spoiler

 

 

what's Next ?

I resigned at the end of the season as there was nothing more I could realistically do in Hong Kong. I think I want to stay in Asia for now, seems like a natural progression, Hopefully something interesting pops up there soon, if not I'm not fully against moving continent completely.

 

Challenge Progress

Spoiler

 

 

[ANGL]

VENDA FOOTBALL ACADEMY 2023/24

 

First season, first time playing in South Africa: an absolutely wrecking ball, dominated the league from the beggining to the end, with 2 of the 3 loses of the season coming in the last games, were I was already promoted to Premier Division. After some free signings on a low budget, we were expected to be 4th, so only a relative suprise here.

 

Not the same story in South African Cup, where we were knocked out in the preliminary round - a bad performance unfortunately

 

At the moment I plan to play next season in the top division - but we will see if there is a good job chance after the Premier Division ends!

 

 

 

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2070 Belgium World Cup Report

 

Group Stage

Spoiler

Belgium      3-0    Peru

Belgium      6-0    Jamaica

 

Second Round

Spoiler

Belgium      3-1    Mexico

Third Round

Spoiler

Belgium      3-4aet         Spain

Once again, we didn’t deserve to lose, but they won with a last minute screamer from long range.

 

Quarter Final

Spoiler

 

Semi Final

Spoiler

 

Final / 3^rd Place Playoff

Spoiler

 

After The Tournament

Spoiler

6 unsuccessful tournaments with Belgium.

12 years ago I left Belgium to take over France, and Belgium won the Euros and world cup without me. 2 years ago I decided to stay at Belgium instead of going to France, and France won the World Cup.

But the French manager left, so now I am off to France.

At least I’m making the challenge thread more active.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda	Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.
2036	Gremio		Bra L1		1st		Kluvert Ako Oru	League, Copa Lib S/F
2037	Flamengo	Bra L1		2nd		Endrick			Club World Cup, Brazilian Cup, Libertadores. Missed out on league by 1 point.
39/40	Man Utd		Eng Prem	1st		Diego Esedin		League, Carabao Cup, Champions League
40/41	Inter		It Ser A	1st		Dániel Kis		League and Cup double, plus Champions League.
41/42	Real Madrid 	Sp La Liga	1st		José Antonio Palacios	League / Cup double.
42/43	PSG		Fr Ligue 1	1st		Luis Ferro		League
44/45	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	9th					Took over after 20 matches in 11th. Losing cup finalists.
45/46	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup Q/F.
46/47	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		César Tedeschi		CL Q/F. Never close in the league.
47/48	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	2nd		Maximiliano Páez	Cup S/F. Finished well behind Bayern.
48/49	Leverkusen	Ger Bund	3rd		Bart Hanssen 		Came up just short in the league, but because other teams were poor.
49/50	Celtic		Sc Prem		1st		Moussa Ndayishimiye	League and 2 domestic cup treble & Champions League S/F.
50/51	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		Plug, play, pathetic.
51/52	Dortmund	Ger Bund	2nd		Tuğrul Özcan		
52/53	Dortmund	Ger Bund	1st		Noah Groot		Finally won the league. Losing cup finalists.
53/54	Porto		Port Prem	1st		Walter Frees 		League / League Cup double.
2055	Penang		Malaysia SL	6th					Took over after 14 matches. Lost in FA Cup Final. Won Malaysian Cup
56/57	TNS		Welsh Prem						Won league cup to complete domestic part of challenge.



International
Year			Team			Achievements
23-24			Fiji			Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23		Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran			Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco			ACON S/F
						WC R2
						ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium			Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico			Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35-36			Australia
36-40			Brazil			WC S/F, Copa America
40-42			Spain			WC S/F. Sacked.
42-48			France			2 Euros SF, 2 Nations League R/U
48-50			Italy			WC Q/F
50-51			Australia		Asian Cup
52-54			Netherlands		WC R3
54-58			Belgium			Euro R/U, Nations League R/U, World Cup R/U
58-62			France			Euro S/F WC R3.
62-64			Belgium			Nations League, Euro R2
64-66			Brazil			WC R2
66-70			Belgium			Euro R/U, WC R3
70-			France


Challenge Progress 30/32

Club
 10/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany)			
 10/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea, Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Malaysia, Wales)							
 5/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia, S America, Europe)		
 1/1 club world championship

International
 4/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America, S America, Asia)	
 0/1 World Cup		

 

[goonergez]

I think I may restart this challenge as I’ve ended up having a bit of a nightmare with it. After a season in which I finally got off the mark trophy wise (yet to post my review) my squad was dismantled by Saudi Arabia and the following season has been an absolute disaster. I’m getting close to the sack for what would be my second time on this save. I think I fancy restarting and trying a different path as two failures this early on really kill me. And that fact it’s taken around eight seasons just to get off the mark has left me pretty demoralised.

[The Art of Drowning]

Am I right in thinking that upon winning the J League I don't even get into the AFC Champions League the next season?  Instead it's 2 years later?  

[Danny_H22]

Shelbourne

 

 

2025

After my successful stretch at Lee Man, I stepped away from my Hong Kong adventure and returned home to plan out my next move towards managerial stardom. I spent 6 months biding my time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to arise before getting bored and setting off towards Ireland and my new role as manager of Shelbourne.

Shelbourne usually find themselves occupying a position near the top of the league, a tradition that my new board wanted me to uphold by competing for a top two position, despite a rather tough last 12 months where they found themselves finishing 6^th in a ten team league.

This challenge seemed achievable, especially with the addition of some extra bodies to help maintain squad fitness paired with the lack of European games to concern ourselves with.

And achievable it was! We started the league strong, and we finished the league strong – picking up an impressive 90 points, 21 points more than 2^nd place, as we cruised to a decisive league title.

The cups were a slightly different story, though. The Leinster Senior Cup starts early in the season and finishes early, too, but unfortunately as not all top teams are present in it, it doesn’t count towards the challenge goal. However, we had a pretty easy run to the final where we beat UCS 4-0 to win the trophy and maintain some momentum.

We next turned our attention to the Sports Direct FAI Cup, which would count towards the challenge goal and my place on the HOF. We soon found ourselves in a final against St Patrick’s Athletic after comfortably pushing aside 4 opponents. The final wouldn’t be as comfortable and an 18^th minute goal was enough to ruin our hopes and see that we wouldn’t achieve a first season double.

 

2026

With cup disappointment behind us, I decided to stick around another season to try and right the wrongs and leave Ireland with a clean sweep of trophies. I figured with a few shrewd signings, we could reenforce our already strong squad and make a run at the league and cup double. What I didn’t account for, however, is how many additional games my success would put upon us.

Winning the league last season gave us a spot in the first qualifying round of the Champions League – a round we were supposed to show up, have a nice daytrip in and then pack our bags and forget about Europe for another season. However, things didn’t go quite as expected.

First up we were paired against Rapid Bucuresti, a team that really shouldn’t have too much difficulty beating us. Well, it turns out that my boys like being an underdog and used that status to put six goals past Rapid over two legs, running out 6-2 winners and advancing to the next round, where we would face Lincoln Red Imps.

The team from Gibraltar worried me less than Rapid and after a 2-0 away win in the first leg, I was sure the return trip would be a breeze. Cockiness got nearly got the best of me and it took a 93 minute equaliser to snatch a draw and add our name into the hat for the third qualifying round.

This round saw us face off against Norwegian team Stabaek who proved too much for us, sending us packing to the Europa League with a 4-5 loss.

Not yet bored of European qualifiers (or Scandinavian teams) we had to beat AIK to earn the right to advance to the group stages. The home fixture was a tightly fought match where AIK proved a touch too strong for us, putting 4 past us on the way to a 3-4 victory and setting up an inevitable defeat in the return fixture. Well, that defeat would have to wait a little longer because my boys thrived in front of 33k fans and smashed AIK 3-0 at home to book a place in the group stage proper.

I will gloss over this stage because we really were out of depth, both in teams of ability and depth. Deserved losses to Maccabi Tel Aviv (3-1), Valencia (1-0) and Man United (6-0) were low points whereas draws against Adana Demirspor and Freiburg showed that my team were at least capable of picking up points. But nothing compared to the final group game where we put 5 past Quarabag on our way to a 5-1 victory.

These additional games really slowed us down in the league, with us having to play every 3 days whilst our competitors were playing once a week. I spent much of the season in 3^rd place, dropping points all too often when compared to the previous season and going into the final 8 games of the season, I was chasing both Derry City and St Patrick’s Athletic who had steadily racked up the points.

What I did have going for me, however, was games against both. Derry held me to a draw, but we clearly did enough to shake their confidence and they proceeded to drop points against several of the teams they faced in the coming games, eventually dropping to 3^rd and ruling themselves out of contention. St Patrick’s also felt our wraith and we took all 3 points against them to force a final day title decider.

Going into the final game, St Patrick’s had a 1-point lead over us, so we would need a win and for them to drop points. My best 11 were pretty tired and whilst I am happy to rotate pretty heavily usually, this wasn’t the game to do it. I took the risk of playing a depleted 11 in the hopes that we could get off to a strong start and secure an early win and I could then pull some of the leggier players at half time.

This didn’t happen, naturally, and to add to the excitement, my star right back got himself sent off in the first 8 minutes for a “reckless challenge” that was a good 3 feet away from the opposing player (this red card was later rescinded). Going into half time, both games were goalless and we were looking unlikely to retain our crown. That was until St Patrick’s conceded 2 second half goals whilst we put away a 73^rd minute penalty to retain our title by a whisker.

 

Our numerous cup runs were slightly more straightforward. We started the season with a win in the President’s Cup and followed that up by retaining our Senior Cup by beating Shamrock 2-1 in extra time. But neither of these mattered as we had our sights on the bigger challenge of winning the Sports Direct FAI Cup.

It took 2 comfortable victories and 2 wins on penalties to book a spot in the final against last year’s beaten semi-finalists Derry City. What started as a fairly straightforward game, with us holding a 4-1 lead going into the final ten minutes, soon turned into a nervy affair when Derry pulled two back and with-it momentum. But my boys are made of sterner stuff and we held out for the win, adding the FAI Cup to our ever-growing trophy cabinet.

Another successful season all round and I feel happy leaving the club in a much better place than I found them 2 years ago. The squad is definitely in the top 1 in terms of quality in the league and the coffers look a lot more handsome following our impressive European journey. I have a rough idea of where I want to head next, but at present there aren’t any available jobs that interest me. I will take another few months unemployed and see what happens.

 

Sidenote, whilst all of this was going on I was offered my first international role with Ivory Coast under 23s. I managed 2 games, won both and scored 14 goals before being offered the newly available managerial position with the full team. We have an AFCON to qualify for first, but I should have my first crack at international competition success over the next couple years.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Danny_H22

[SkiIIs]

4 hours ago, The Art of Drowning said:

Am I right in thinking that upon winning the J League I don't even get into the AFC Champions League the next season?  Instead it's 2 years later?  

It's the next season but the group stage starts in September 

[SkiIIs]

2029 - Barazilian Serie A - Corinthians

Having commenced exactly half way through the season and the team languishing in 12th spot, I didnt really have much hope for doing much in the league.  The board wanted to qualify for the Copa Sudamericana which was only one spot away so surely we could achieve that with plenty of games to go.

I was extremely thankful that the previous manager was able to keep us alive in the Copa Do Brasil which was up to the QF stage and the Copa Libertadores which was at the second round stage.  

With the Copa Do Brasil, we had already played the first leg at home of the QF which was against third tier Sampaio Correa and had only drew 1 - 1. The away leg would be my second game in charge, the first being a disappointing 2 - 0 home loss against Bragantino who were third in the league at the time.  Here was my chance to announce myself against easier opposition and lift morale around the place.  But it was quite the opposite, we conceded the first goal in the 9th minute and really struggled to create chances.  Thankfully, out of the 7 shots two of them went in with one being a penalty in the 85th minute to win the game.  In the SF we were given Bragantino at at this point, my league form with Corinthians was 2 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses so not really smashing it out of the park.   First leg was home and we created the better chances but couldnt convert any and hence fell behind just after the break.  We then failed to convert a penalty in the 70th minute but manage to equalise late on to take at least take something from the first leg.  In the away leg we again started off as the better team and levelled the tie in the 30th minute.  We then had a goal disallowed just before half time.  In the second half it was a different story and we ended losing the game 2 - 1.

In reality, i wasnt overly disappointed in losing the Cup as the main thought was to steal the Libertadores and conquer the continent in the shortest amount of time as possible. In the Second round we were given a favourable matching in Argentinian opponents Belgrano.  The first leg at home happened to be my 4th game in charge and hence the team were still getting adjusted to the new style of play i was trying to introduce. We only managed to pinch a 1 - 1 draw in the dying minutes of the game despite double the changes and triple the xG of our opponents.  We backed up this sort of performance in the away leg but this time converted our chances and by half time we were up 4 - 0.  In the QF we were given possibly the worst opposition possible in Palmeiras who were atop of the Seria A. We led into that game on the back of 3 disappointing draws in the league against easier opposition so i was absolutely astounded to walk away from the first leg at home 5 - 1 winners.  It was well deserved too!  Return leg was a cracking 4 - 4 where we were up at one point 3 - 1.  In the semi it was all Brazilian teams as you can imagine and we were given Internacional who i had rejected to join Corinthians only months ago, what revenge this could be!   We started building a little momentum heading into this tie winning 3 on the trot but i was equally as surprised where we won the first leg at home 5 - 0. We lost the away leg 2 - 1 in what was almost a dead rubber which meant we play Flamengo in the final.  The final was a tight nervous affair however we managed to score with one of our first chances to go into the half with a slender lead. We had managed to keep Flamengo really quiet in the first half but they slowly started to build the ascendancy and equalised after the break.  As the game wore on, we were just hanging on until Wendal our Segundo Volante scored his second in the 94th to win the Copa Libertadores!

Needless to say, I resigned shortly after and am absolutely stoked to avoid this brutal part of the world! 

Edited November 17, 2023 by SkiIIs

[SkiIIs]

2029 AFCON - Ivory Coast

Literally the day after winning the Copa Libertadores was the first group game of the AFCON hosted in Egypt where the expectation was to win it (similar to two years ago when we came runners up). 

Group containing Angola, Cameroon and Togo didnt pose a threat as we won all three games to top the group. We were given Algeria in the second round in what was an ok draw where we would play either Mali or Zambia in the quarters.

Second Round

Spoiler

7 - 1 demolition.  Next up is Mali who won in penalties so its probably a good chance to rest some of the tired legs

QF (if applicable)

Spoiler

2 - 0 win but it was obvious that using the depth players impacted performance.  Up next Ghana who knocked out Senegal in a tight game 1 - 0

SF (if applicable)

Spoiler

both teams created enough chances to win the game outright but the game ended up going to penalties. We scored a penalty in the 64th minute but were immediately pegged back. They then took the lead with 14 minute left where we equalised in the 82nd.  To my frustration, we then had a goal disallowed for offside in the 89th minute.  In penalties, they missed their first 3 and we scored our first three to get us into the final against Egypt, a whopping 3 days late.  Egypt were coming off a 4 day break.   This is how we entered the final (i dont know why they dont offer the rest players from training in the national squads):

Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

despite the tired legs, we managed to open the scoring in the 15th minute and here i was dreaming of getting two massive ticks for this challenge in the space of a couple weeks.  That lead however only lasted 15 minutes to head into the half level.  We then were given a red card straight after the break and were staring down the bottom of the barrel. Egypt then took the lead in front of their adoring fans and that was it.  Runners up 2 competitions running.   Luckily i wasnt sacked and kept my job. 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by SkiIIs