dafuge's FM21 challenge

[dafuge]

The Aim

To take a small club who were previously unplayable in an unedited game from the Vanarama National League North/South to Premier League and Champions League glory.

The Rules

Start the game unemployed and choose the advanced setup. Like last year, you have the option of loading whatever leagues you like at the start and throughout the game. All of the boxes should be left unticked apart from 'do not add key staff' and 'prevent use of in-game editor'. It should look like this.

Just like previous years, the players for the newly playable clubs need to be added which can be done using the 'advanced' option on the database size. The players from the four feeder league have to be added, which looks like this (the other two are further down). You can also add anything else you like to increase the size of the database.

The extra levels of detail that you can change while in the game are up to you, as they shouldn't make a difference.

Add yourself as an unemployed manager, the details are not important at all. I like to call mine 'Holiday Man'.

Go on holiday until 19th June (this is when the promoted clubs are decided), save the game then go on holiday until 25th June (this is when the promoted clubs are revealed). Repeating these steps will give you a new set of clubs to pick from.

Retire your 'Holiday Man' manager allowing him to finish his career unbeaten.

Add a new manager, the personal details are completely up to you but I would expect people to use their own true nationalities and languages spoken. Coaching badges must be set to 'None', with past playing experience set as 'Sunday League Footballer'. The coaching attributes are completely up to you.

Choose one of the new clubs promoted to the Vanarama North or South to manage. A quick way to check the new teams is to find the 'England Overview' screen, then the 'season summary'. Just above the FA Cup summary you should find a list of the nine newly promoted teams.

They should appear in this list which shows the reputation of the possible clubs. The reputation should act as a difficulty level. The lower the reputation, the harder your game should be.

Reputations for FM21 beta:

Isthmian League Premier Division

Bishop's Stortford     1850
Bognor Regis           2100
Bowers & Pitsea        1550
Brightlingsea          1700
Carshalton             2000
Cheshunt               1750
Corinthian-Casuals     1600
Cray                   1850
East Thurrock          2000
Enfield Town           2000
Folkstone              1950
Haringey Borough       1950
Hornchurch             2050
Horsham                1900
Kingstonian            2450
Leatherhead            1950
Lewes                  1900
Margate                2050
Merstham               1750
Potters Bar            1550
Wingate & Finchley     1650
Worthing               2050

 

Southern Football League Premier Division Central

AFC Rushden & Diamonds 1600
Alvechurch             1600
Banbury                1750
Barwell                1850
Biggleswade Town       1900
Bromsgrove Sporting    1500
Coalville              1800
Hednesford             2000
Hitchin                2000
Kings Langley          1850
Leiston                1800
Lowestoft              2100
Needham Market         1850
Nuneaton Borough       2350
Peterborough Sports    1600
Redditch               1900
Royston                1850
Rushall                1900
St. Ives               1750
Stourbridge            2000
Stratford              1750
Tamworth               2250

 

Southern Football League Premier Division South

Beaconsfield           1600
Chesham                2250
Dorchester             1950
Farnborough            2100
Gosport                2200
Harrow                 1850
Hartley Wintney        1500
Hayes & Yeading        1850
Hendon                 2200
Met Police             1950
Poole                  2100
Salisbury              2250
Swindon Supermarine    1650
Taunton                1700
Tiverton               1850
Truro                  2300
Walton Casuals         1550
Weston-super-Mare      2100
Wimbourne              1650
Yate Town              1450

 

Northern Premier League Premier Division

Ashton United          2150
Atherton Collieries    1800
Bamber Bridge          1900
Basford                2000
Buxton                 2000
FC United              2250
Gainsborough Trinity   2100
Grantham               1900
Hyde Utd               2000
Lancaster              1950
Matlock                1900
Mickleover             1900
Morpeth                1950
Nantwich               2050
Radcliffe              1850
Scarborough Athletic   2100
South Shields          2150
Stafford               1900
Stalybridge            1950
Warrington             2150
Whitby                 1950
Witton                 2000

 

It is now up to you to manage this club all the way to the Premier League title and UEFA Champions League crown. The challenge is complete once you have won both competitions, this does not need to happen in the same season.
You may not move clubs unless you are sacked.

If you get sacked, you can either take over a newly promoted club that satisfies the original criteria (check the club's league history), or just start again.

Any form of international management is not allowed, until you have completed the challenge.

Assigning parent clubs and loaning players is completely up to the player, although it should be noted that on occasions a parent club can lend players which will make the first season or two slightly less of a challenge. It is completely up to you how you play this one. Personally, I like to assign a parent club for financial benefits but never take any players on loan from them.

To sign a player, you must be able to scout them, this doesn't mean you have to, just he must be accessible to your scouts. If you have a foreign player on a free transfer who is willing to come on trial, you do not need to be able to scout them, as long as you have them at the club on trial so you can get a coach report on him. If an agent offers you a player, you can sign him without scouting him.

No external utilities such as scouting programs should be used and the database should be unedited (with the exception of cosmetic changes which cannot be discussed here). Should SI release a data update, this would be allowed but any other data updates are not.

Use of save game editors is strictly banned, whatever the reason. Ticking that box at the start should see to this.

Rules for this Thread

Player naming is allowed.

General discussion on tactics is allowed, although people should not refer to downloaded tactics. They are not banned, but I would expect the majority of people to avoid them.

When you join the challenge, post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the 25th June like this.

Progress of your club should be documented using this thread, we want to hear the story of your club all the way through. Please keep us updated, even if you are doing really badly.

At the end of every season, could everyone post some kind of season review, including at least a screenshot of a league table and the clubs transfer page. If you give this a title in bold it makes it a bit easier to pick out.

How to Post a Screenshot

While in FM, press Alt and S
A picture will be saved to a screenshots folder, in the FM21 folder in your documents
Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Imgur
Post the direct Url to the image here.

Enjoy 

[darius9]

Legendary challenge. Thank you for your guidance. Already in holiday mode.

[G_D_K]

Okay, here is an initial batch for those that don't want to worry about the holiday season.   I'll continue to add to this list of saves up thru release+ 1 week or so...there are 88 teams available for the challenge, and I hope to find at least 70 of them.

This first batch is from the BETA version of FM 20, was loaded with 35 leagues in 15 nations, and has about 55K players in the database.  (Numbers in parentheses at end of line is my attempt to keep track of number of distinct teams I've found to that point).  Teams are listed in bold if it is the first time they appear on this list.  

(Note --- the teams are not all up on my mediafire account yet --- I'll be uploading them throughout the next day or so).

 

Batch 1: Beta DB 35Leagues 13Nations ~60K player DB

Save 1: Truro, Salisbury, Stourbridge, Tamworth, Kingstonian, East Thurrock, Ashton Utd, Merthyr (8)

Save 2: Truro, Poole, Stourbridge, Barwell, Hendon, Kingstonian, Scarborough Athletic, Basford, Worthing (14)

Save 3: Salisbury, Lowestoft, Chesham, Bognor Regis, Kingstonian, Enfield Town, Worthing, Nuneaton Boro, Morpeth (20)

Save 4: Salisbury, Weston-Super-Mare, Tamworth, Rushall, Margate, Enfield Town, FC United, Gainsborough, Nantwich (26)

Save 5: Salisbury, Tamworth, Hednesford, Hendon, Merthyr, Kingstonian, Warrington, Hyde, Hornchurch (30)

Save 6: Gosport, Merthyr, Tamworth, Margate, Bognor Regis, Nuneaton Boro, Enfield Town, Gainsborough, Leatherhead (32)

Save 7: Merthyr, Salisbury, Lowestoft, Hednesford, Carshalton, Margate, FC United, Warrington, Nantwich (33)

Save 8: Merthyr, Warrington, Hendon, Worthing, Hitchin, Kingstonian, Scarborough Athletic, Nuneaton Boro, Rushall (34)

Save 9: Truro, Gosport, Tamworth, Kingstonian, Bognor Regis, Dorchester, Stourbridge, Nuneaton Boro, Hendon (35)

Save 10: Truro, Poole, Tamworth, Lowestoft, Enfield Town, Kingstonian, Buxton, Hyde, Salisbury (36)

Save 11: Hendon, Tamworth, Needham Market, Warrington, Farnborough, FC United, Margate, Ashton Utd, Folkestone (39)

Save 12: Weston-Super-Mare, Salisbury, Biggleswade Town, Bognor Regis, Kingstonian, Nuneaton Boro, Witton, South Shields, Met. Police (43)

Save 13: Farnborough, Redditch , Stourbridge, Hendon, Bognor Regis, Kingstonian, Ashton Utd, Gainsborough, Worthing (44)

Save 14: Poole, Dorchester, Tamworth, Chesham, Lewes, Nuneaton Boro, South Shields, Scarborough Athletic, Stalybridge (46)

Batch 2: Beta DB 35Leagues 13Nations+ all players worldwide from clubs in contintal competition ~75K player DB

Save 15: Salisbury, Tamworth, Lowestoft, Kingstonian, Hendon, Haringey, Bognor Regis, Nuneaton Boro, Hednesford (47)

Save 16: Truro, Myrthyr, Leiston, Salisbury, Poole, Hitchin, Scarborough Athletic, Buxton, Gosport (48)

 

Batch 3:  Beta DB 17 Leagues/5 Nations (all UK&I) ~25K database

(I'll probably have some in this batch w/ no new teams, as I suspect many on older machines might want the smaller DB size)

Save 25: Merthyr, Hayes&Yeading, Tamworth, Kingstonian, Worthing, Nuneaton Boro, FC United, Warrington, Scarborough Athletic (49)

Save 26: Merthyr, Poole, Kings Langley, Barwell, Kingstonian, Leatherhead, Stafford, Ashton Utd, East Thurrock (51)

Save 27: Merthyr, Poole, Royston, Hitchin, Kingstonian, South Shields, Basford, Ashton Utd, Nantwich (52)

Save 28: Gosport, Hayes & Yeading, Lowestoft, Biggleswade Town, Kingstonian, Enfield Town, Ashton Utd, Matlock, Bognor Regis (53)

Save 29:  Truro, Tamworth, Stourbridge, Hendon, Kingstonian, Ashton Utd, Salisbury, South Shields, Morpeth (53)

Save 30: Merthyr, Truro, Needham Market, Kingstonian, Bognor Regis, Nuneaton Boro, Witton, Warrington, Whitby (54)

Save 31: Truro, Gosport, Lowestoft, Enfield Town, Haringey, Merthyr, Ashton Utd, Nuneaton Boro, Met. Police (54)

Save 32: Truro, Kings Langley, Barwell, South Shields, Chesham, Bognor Regis, Ashton Utd, FC United, Gainsborough (54)

 

Batch 4:  Release DB 17 Leagues/5 Nations (all UK&I) ~25k Database

(Will have batches w/ no new teams as many will want the smaller DB and the release DB)

Save 50:  Truro, Lowestoft, Warrington, Gosport, Chesham, Nuneaton Boro, Salisbury, FC United, Hyde (54)

Save 51:  Salisbury, Merthyr, Tamworth, Kingstonian, Hornchurch, Truro, GOsport, Nuneaton Boro, Worthing (54)

Save 52:  Truro, Rushall, Farnborough, Bognor Regis, FC United, Nuneaton Boro, Hendon, Gainsborough, Merthyr (54)

Save 53:  Hendon, Tamworth, Poole, Chesham, Kingstonian, Nuneaton Boro, Hednesford, FC United, Buxton (54)

Save 54:  Salisbury, Merthyr, Stourbridge, Lowestoft, Kingstonian, Enfield Town, FC United, Warrington, Worthing (54)

Save 55:  Truro, Salisbury, Lowestoft, Leatherhead, Hitchin, Basford, Whitby, Scorborough Athletic, Nantwich (54)

 

Batch 5:  Release DB 47 Leagues/15 Nations (Western Europe/Scaninavia) ~70K Database

Save 70:  Truro, Rushall, Salisbury, Hendon, Buxton, Nuneaton Boro, Worthing, FC United, FC United, Whitby

Save 71:  Truro, Merthyr, Kings Langley, Hendon, Carshalton, Nuneaton Boro, Weston-super-Mare, Gainsborough, Poole

 

Edited November 25, 2020 by G_D_K

[oohlala111]

once I've gotten to grips with the beta, I'll hopefully be giving this a go with Buxton. we invested a lot over the summer irl so hopefully they'll retain most of that core squad over the simulated year, ready to be taken to glory from the 2021-22 season!

Edited November 11, 2020 by oohlala111

[OlivierL]

Do u have a hall of fame like in the youth only topic ?

[dafuge]

12 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Do u have a hall of fame like in the youth only topic ?

We have in the past (we even had a website for a while) but I’ve just not been around much over the last couple of years.

[darius9]

Eyebrows have been raised in the world of football at the appointment of the 39 year old...

Ladies and Gents, here's the new manager of mighty Enfield Town

 

[Faramir]

Back to Needham Market for me, managed them several years ago in the challenge.

 

[G_D_K]

4 minutes ago, Faramir said:

Back to Needham Market for me, managed them several years ago in the challenge.

 

Good luck mate!  Gave them a go last year...played about 11 seasons, got them to Championship.  Was hamstrung in first 5 seasons or so by the stingiest chairman I've ever had in the series --- in that 5 seasons, I think I managed to prise a single extra scout out of him.  No cash injections, no facility upgrades, heck, not even a coaching badge!

 

[G_D_K]

Not guaranteed this will be my long-term save --- depends on how beta goes, and whether I find anything more interesting....but for now:  

Leiston has a new manager!  

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2284209565

 

[CMU Chips]

I have started with Worthing. Two games in and not fired yet. Will get screenshot of manager up once imgur lets me upload :P

Looking forward to another year of not finishing

 

E: me

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by CMU Chips

[KVJ92]

@dafuge are you planning to participate this year or no FM plans? 

 

[Dregganor]

Got a relatively uncommon club that I want to play, but accidentally have Spanish as a second language on my manager despite myself not speaking it... not the end of the world but it's going to bother the crap out of me.  If I retire my manager and re-do the profile and join the club again is it going to mess something up in terms of the challenge?

Edited November 11, 2020 by Dregganor

[G_D_K]

1 minute ago, Dregganor said:

Got a relatively uncommon club that I want to play, but accidentally have Spanish as a second language on my manager despite myself not speaking it... not the end of the world but it's going to bother the crap out of me.  If I retire my manager and re-do the profile and join the club again is it going to mess something up in terms of the challenge?

Yep...retire him and restart w/ your new manager, no problems with that route!

[Dregganor]

25 minutes ago, G_D_K said:

Yep...retire him and restart w/ your new manager, no problems with that route!

Thanks for the reply!  I tried remaking and unless I'm just missing something I think Americans are stuck with Spanish no matter what... Selected none in additional languages and still got it, so whatever I'll just roll with my original manager.

Decided to give Royston a go

[dafuge]

8 hours ago, KVJ92 said:

@dafuge are you planning to participate this year or no FM plans? 

 

I’m not sure just yet, but I am thinking about playing FM again for the first time in about 18 months.

I don’t have much time to play at the moment though, so I’ll wait for the full release.

[Justified]

 

This year this challenge fits in well with what I wanted to do. Return home  I was born in Hitchin and now determined to make them a super power!

[Thebaker]

Starting as Methyr - Profile.

In spite of their high rep, this might be a challenge in the first season as there are just 12 players currently at the club and 2 of them are silver star youths.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Thebaker

[Basschaapje.2]

Meet the new manager of Truto city, here he is https://imgur.com/G3rTOwA. Also the team is pretty small but i can make transfers in this challenge so hope to be okay.

[kingjericho]

Good luck to all. I did this challenge last year so this year I'll do something different  

[Ruh Roh]

 

 

Let's gooooo. Morpeth Town, known as "The Highwaymen." Got four goals from my striker in my first game, so I'm not expecting to hear too much from him for another couple months.

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by Ruh Roh

[KVJ92]

40 minutes ago, Ruh Roh said:

 

 

Let's gooooo. Morpeth Town, known as "The Highwaymen." Got four goals from my striker in my first game, so I'm not expecting to hear too much from him for another couple months.

 

Looking forward to see how you get on with them! 

I'm planning on taking charge of Morpeth at full-release

[Winti26]

I'm looking forward to come back to this my first try last year with Scarborough was one of the best save I'd ever played. Siming through season 1 right now. First time to test the allegedlly faster sim engine of this FM.

[DazRTaylor]

I am in on this challenge this year in a few ways.  My main save will be another FC United of Manchester attempt, using only youth products from the academy.  This will also be eligible for the Youth Only Challenge. I also like to change things sometimes, and I always like a good bash at this challenge, so I will be trying it the normal way, where I will be acquiring players.  All in due course.

[Winti26]

Okay after a creating a couple of sets I decided I go with Folkestone Invicta F.C..Why them you ask? Simple answer I like the Invicta in thier name it shows me they have some ambition. (Obviously they couldn't live up to thier name so far but maybe I can change that)

Here is my Coach Languages are not 100% accurate since my French is far away from fluent and I can't much Italian at all, but FM just makes every Swiss Person Fluent in these 3 languages.

[TheMadMonk]

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by TheMadMonk

[Lenzar]

Having messed around without really getting  a proper save for a couple of versions, I may well come back for another crack at this once the full game drops.

[kazemagic]

Legendary challenge. Will be back for the third time after i bought fm21 in march/june 21. Had great success with whitehawk (CL) in fm19 and Stourbridge (Prem and CL) in fm20

[Dons]

Yet another go with the challenge. This year I have more time to play, compared to last few years. Went with Needham.

[Lewis89]

After selecting the wrong feeder leagues 1st time around, we are back with the right set up and this time we are in charge of Cray

[Fletchdt]

Save file corrupted half way through 1st season

 

Edited November 24, 2020 by Fletchdt

[DazRTaylor]

I am doing a youth only save with South Shields and they can double up for this challenge so here we go.

Club Introduction

South Shields

The Manager

This is me.

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications          Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                      1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Youth Level  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Adequate             Adequate               3       Basic                 Average          Adequate           Local   (1.00*)

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Time At Club
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------



Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     F.A. Cup                    League Cup        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Appearances (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Appearances
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Goal Scorer (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Assists (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Assists
-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

[DazRTaylor]

End of Season Review

Season 2021/22

South Shields

League Table - We went off like a train and were neck and neck with eventual winners Boston United in January.  Then our captain got a season ending injury and results were dreadful after that.

Play Offs - We won six of our last seven league games, meaning we were in terrific form going into the playoffs.  That meant very little, however, as we lost at home to FC United of Manchester in the semi final, ending our season.

League Fixtures 1, 2 & 3 - A great first half of the season.  A very poor second half.

F. A. Cup - York City proved too strong in the fourth qualifying round, as expected.

F. A. Trophy - An excellent cup run, reaching the quarter finals before narrowly losing at home to Aldershot Town, despite leading at half time.

Pre Season Friendlies - A good run of results, with the defeats all being close and by teams who play at a far higher level than we do.

Squad - Some good prospects here.  I think we need another couple of seasons at this level for these youngsters to fulfill their potential.

Squad Dynamics - Very good as you would expect.

Transfers In - None.

Transfers Out - None.

Youth Candidates - A decent bunch for the long term, but no one who is immediately ready for the first team, even though I am going to play them anyway.  Steffen Steinmetz YP22A1 is regarded as the brightest prospect.

Finances - Surprisingly good, despite no real F. A. Cup run.

Key Players

Jason Gilchrist - The striker had an extraordinary season, scoring 42 goals in his 56 games.

Wouter Verstraaten - The big Dutch centre back was exceptional all season.

Dillon Morse - The captain broke his leg in January and it was no surprise when our form went off a cliff as a result.

Jordan Hunter - The best player at the club, he can play at right back, defensive midfield or central midfield.

Callum Ross - A mixed bag from the central midfielder.  I need him to do more.

Next Season

Another play off push would be lovely.

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications       Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                   1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1
2021/22    Minimal = (0.75*) ↑   National B ↑↑          6 ↑   6 ↑   2 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   5 ↑   6 ↑   6 ↑   4 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   6 ↑   6 ↑   7 ↑   6 ↑

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Youth Level  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Adequate             Adequate               3       Basic                 Average          Adequate           Local   (1.00*)
2021/22    Adequate =           Adequate =             3 =     Basic =               Good ↑↑          Good ↑↑            Local = (1.00*) =

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22      56        33       10       13         108              63                 +45

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Time At Club
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22          56        33       10       13         108              63                 +45              317 days

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------



Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     F.A. Cup                    League Cup        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       Vanarama National North               3rd       Fourth qualifying round         N/a           Lost in semi final of promotion play off.  Quarter final of F. A. Trophy.

Record Number of Appearances (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Appearances
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Eoin Mcardle YP22B2                       8

Record Goal Scorer (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    No one                                 0

Record Number of Assists (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Assists
-----------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    No one                                  0

 

 

 

[dafuge]

@DazRTaylorlooks like a decent first season, bit unlucky to miss out on promotion.

[Fletchdt]

@DazRTaylor Very unlucky to miss out on promotion & a great effort considering you couldn't sign anyone. 

[G_D_K]

Good luck to all of you with Needham Market (think I saw 4 of you this year)!  I hope COVID cash restrictions in the league hasn't made the chairman even more stingy than he was for me last year (I eventually got Needham to the Championship in FM20 --- but the chairman really hamstrung me in the early stages----in my first 4-5 seasons I only managed to get a single extra scout out of him --- no cash injection, no coaches....not even a coaching badge!  After 5 or 6 failed takeovers I vinally got rid of him in season 7 or thereabouts.  Didn't get much better, but it couldn't get any worse  

[Lewis89]

2021/22 Season review.

Competitions

Vanrama National League South - League Table    Results 1    Results 2    Results 3

FA Cup - Results

FA Trophy - Results

Its been a fantastic first season in charge. The base of the squad was already decent, and we trialled around 100 players and continued to add to the team over the whole season. We started on fire with a 13 game unbeaten run, before a small wobble that saw us win 1 of our next 5 games. Over the next 28 games, we lost just two more games as we romped to the title with 101 points. We also had a great cup run for so early in the save, getting to the 2nd round before losing narrowly to Wigan 2-1. The FA Trophy we sacrificed, our game was 3 days before the FA Cup game against Dulwich so we played a back up side and lost 3-0.

Playing Squad

Best 11    Squad 1    Squad 2   Transfers 1    Transfers 2

I can have 0 complaints with the team built for this season. With a step up in class, I will be looking to add a fair amount of players, and will do the usual of trialling as many players as possible over the summer. We dont have the money to really be paying any transfer fees so another summer of signing freebies is going to be the way forward. 

Youth Production

Intake

With the facilities we have I am not expecting to develop anyone of real quality for a while yet. I have signed everyone from the first intake just to start adding some depth to the youth sides.

Finances and Facilities

Finances    Facilities

The FA Cup run saved us from ever going into the red. And its likely we will need another to avoid the same next season. 

Other bits/Next Season

Manager Profile

The boards aim is to fight relegation bravely, but I think the current squad are capable of that, and with some additions over the summer I think we can avoid relegation comfortably. We also managed to get our national C and B licenses, and are currently studying for the A license.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Lewis89

[CMU Chips]

Season 1: Worthing - Vanarama South - 7th (lost in playoffs 1st round)

 

Why bother scoring I guess. Went with a more defensive formation and we ended the season with the second fewest losses in the league. Didn't matter, we drew every third game. Lucked into the playoffs after a run of form where I had a higher xG (by a significant amount in most cases) in 7 of the last 8 games. We won one. It was not one of the seven. In the playoffs we again had a higher xG (only 1.89-1.27 in this case) and were again defeated, this time a 2-1 loss thanks to an outside foot volley from outside the box, as most goals in the Vanarama South are surely scored. Oh well.

Most of the team won't be back, and of the ones that are, the majority are non-contract (because they refuse to negotiate) so they could leave at any time. Our top two players by average rating were our CBs, but average rating for CBs seems inflated so far. Biggest problem was that we only had one guy who could score. He got injured at the end of the season and missed the playoffs (and our last couple games). His replacement missed a sitter in the playoffs. At least they let me get two coaching badges.

League Table

Season Stats

Transfers

 

Year

League

Position

Cups

Training

Youth

Junior

Recruitment

Attendance (Cap)

Badges

Transfers (In-Out)

Top Scorer

Most Assists

Av. Rating

Clean Sheets

May balance

Total wages

2021/2022

Vanarama South

7th

FA Cup - 1st round, FAT - 3rd round

Basic

Poor

Average

Adequate

1123 (4500)

National B

14 - 4 (£0)

Euan Pollock - 26 (34)

Jesse Starkey - 10 (11)

Aarran Racine - 7.48 (51)

Tiernan Parker - 20 (23)

£14k

£5.1k p/w

[tremor]

Starting this years challenge with Scarborough, any team called the 'Seadogs' sounds like a swashbuckling attacking team to me!

[Thebaker]

Squad | Table | Transfers

This was a pretty poor season generally as the team seemed completely unable to defend finishing with the worst defense in the league and conceding over 100 goals. A particularly poor run in mar and apr has sent the team down the table to battle relegation, only by winning the last 3 games did they stave it off.

The team were the worst in the league for headers and tackles won, passes and crosses completed. They were towards the bottom for shots on goal or CCC and only scored 4 goals from set pieces and 5 penalties.

They did however get 55% of shots on target and converted 20% of shots which was the highest in the league to end as the league top scorers.

Lost in the FA cup 1-2 to Maidenhead in the 3rd Q rd and 3-1 in the 2nd rd of the FA trophy to Hampton and Richmond after a replay.

Finances were poor, losing money all season until a takeover at the end

The GK and defense were bad but were let down by a terrible midfield.

Up front were the stars of Duncan and Williams, Williams is the only player even rated as being good enough for the league.

 

Season	League	Position	FA Cup	FA Trophy	Top Scorer	Attendance	Training	Youth	Junior	Youth Rec	Notes
2021/22	Vanarama North	17th	3rd Q Rd	2nd Rd	Williams (34)	656	Poor	Poor	Adequate	Fairly Basic

 

[DazRTaylor]

I have lost my South Shields file.  Corrupted.  

Going to start over with FC United.

[tremor]

Anyone got a link to a decent logo pack? I can't find one with scarborough 

[DazRTaylor]

9 minutes ago, tremor said:

Anyone got a link to a decent logo pack? I can't find one with scarborough 

All I did was copy the entire "graphics" folder from FM20 and placed into FM21.  It worked a treat.

[tremor]

1 minute ago, DazRTaylor said:

All I did was copy the entire "graphics" folder from FM20 and placed into FM21.  It worked a treat.

Ah, thanks, didn't know that would work!

 

[Dons]

Needham Market
VNN
Season 21-22

Squad - Table - Transfers - Finances - Profile

The season started a lot better than expected, with 11 wins and 2 draws in 13 games propelling us to the first place. Then came 1 win, 6 losses and 1draw in the next 8 games. With a few ups and downs the table we sat stable in place 2-4 the remaining season and finished in 3d place. Boston took the title and were untouchable the last 10 games, despite loosing 3 of their 4 losses in the season. The following playoffs had us play York, where we advanced on penalties. In the playoff final awaited Kidderminster, a team we beat twice in the season. The final was no different and we beat them 5-1, seeing us promoted as runner-ups.

Tried a different approach this year and a completely new tactic, to what I am usually playing. Went with 5-2-3. From pre-season, countless trialists went to our club and decided to build from almost from defense and up. We conceded the 3d least amount of goals, as well as were top 3 goal scoring. Our two best players in the season. Yoane Zohore, a Birmingham reject was amazing, scoring 46 goals and 6 assists in the league. Having him sign a new contract was a major relief. Maxwell Statham, previously Tottenham and Watford (without making an appearance that is), was the rock of our defense. We were quite lucky with injuries, as it was possible to swap tired players as needed.

The cup run was pretty solid as well with a 1st rnd knockout by Doncaster (L1) in the FA, and Qtr Final exit to Scunthorpe in the FAT.

Personal highlight of the season was gaining 2 training license upgrades. Finances are bleeding, but looking forward to making the even more red next season.

YEAR  League Pos FA  FAT
21-22 VNN      3rd 1st  Qtr-F

[DazRTaylor]

Club Introduction

FC United of Manchester

The Manager

This is me.

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications          Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                      1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Youth Level  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Basic                Basic                  4       Adequate              Average          Fairly basic       Local   (1.00*)

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Time At Club
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------



Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     F.A. Cup                    League Cup        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Appearances (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Appearances
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Goal Scorer (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Assists (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Assists
-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

[tremor]

Sharp suit

 

[KVJ92]

To the ones that already started:

Have you found any bugs that made you want to restart the challenge at full-release? 

[ToxicPedro]

2021/22 Season review

Squad - Table - Transfers - Finances

 

Summary

What a season, in the League we was predicted to finish bottom and turned the table on its head ending the season as Champions. In the FA Cup we got to the 2nd round before getting knocked out by AFC Wimbledon. In the FA Trophy we made it all the way to the semi-final, before getting knocked out by Torquay United. On the negative side, my board refuses to upgrade the training facilities, even though the money is there. 

 

Key Players

Remaye Campbell - Signed on a free transfer, efficient in front of goal, the striker netted 42 times in 54 games. 

Luke Griffiths-  A player at the club when I arrived, contributed 25 goals and 17 assists in his 57 games

Mungo Bridge - Joined us in free transfer was immediately our most impressive defender

 

Career Overview

Season              League                  Positsion             FA Cup                 FA Trophy                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22       National League North          1st                Second round             Semi-Final                        Winners

 *Is it me or this year FM version is way easier than before? 

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by ToxicPedro

[TheMadMonk]

Season 2021-2022

 

Expectations were for a Mid Table finish, but the squad I inherited proved good enough to win the League with 3 games to go. These season end info screens need quite a bit of work in the readiness for the actual release - lots of empty place holders and incomplete information, but I suppose that's the point of a beta - to identify the bits to finish fully

 

Below are the Memorable Moments from the end of season review

 

The only real problems I had was trying to entice players to come and play for us - even an affiliate with Bristol Rovers only garnered 1 loanee. I did leave most of the general transfer business to the DoF, or I'd identify possible Transfer Targets and give him instructions to sign them up - I don't think he actually managed to sign anyone I identified !! 

 

The team of the season below is actually a little bugged -  as Reuben Collins was a standout player for us for the first half of the season, but the appearances and form rating shown on the below screenshot are his figures for the time he spent at Grimsby after we sold him in the January Transfer window - I may actually try and get him back on loan for next season
Kieran Hayes was an absolute beast for us in terms of Goals scored AND assists - and he spent most of the season in one of the three Attacking Midfield roles behind the Striker.

 

Hopefully for the step up I can entice at least a few decent loanees down to the South West - surely a season in Truro must be a better place for some decent youngsters to learn their trade, than training through the winter at the likes of Hartlepool or Gateshead ? If I can't get the DoF to up his negotiating skills then he looks like being replaced by the New Year.

Edited November 16, 2020 by TheMadMonk