[FM21] Network Game - Fylde & York - Seasons Complete: 2

[santy001]

So another FM rolls around and another battle between myself & @oliscottbegins. We've had a few tours around the world over the last couple of FM's, and while the saves have lasted a while they've not been the lengthy efforts we tended to get into while starting in the lower reaches of England.

So this year we're heading back to the Vanarama North. When last here we picked Salford and Harrogate respectively, going on some 50+ seasons and becoming dominating forces in world football.

Picking The Sides

So I leveraged a bit of my advantage as a researcher to be able to scout the clubs out and what offered us something of a more even keel. After deciding we wanted to go professional it narrows down the clubs quite a bit. 

Oli had first choice and opted for York out of the pool of 4 or so teams. I opted for Fylde as this meant we both had clubs who have a sugar daddy enabled. Not the top tier throw money at the club whenever possible way, but we should at least both be a bit better off financially with more support from the chairman. 

So It Begins

We're currently working our way through the two month long pre-season (I picked the standard option for England based off the premier league not realising our league didn't start until October) and padding out our squads for what looks to be a gruelling schedule. 

Having reached a point where both of us have said we think our transfer business is done, lets break down the signings.

This years thread might be a bit more picture heavy, so I might have to start putting spoiler tags in to reduce the bulk/clutter. As we begin signing youth prospects I think it would be ideal to chart their progress across our saves. 

Fylde Transfers

19 Year Old Samuel Faniyan:

28 Year Old Reece Brown:

41 Year Old Darren Ward:

30 Year Old Bondz N'Gala:

34 Year Old Jordao Diogo:

York Transfers

20 Year Old Nathan Tormey:

[oliscott]

First bit of news from me is what would have been my star striker for the coming year is going to be out for 10 months with cruciate ligament damage so I'm going to have to bring someone in likely on loan to plug that gap for the year. 

[oliscott]

First month of the season over with in a brutal schedule with games every two days sometimes. A good string of results has left me 4th in the league with a good platform to push on for top spot and wins in the cup means I will face Salford for a chance to reach the second round.

Young loanee signing Jake Young who has 13 in all competitions will return to his parent club at the next transfer window due to a disagreement with his role up front the mindless idiots!

[oliscott]

Jake Young is carrying me with goals, scoring one a game at the moment, going to have to see what I can do about that recall in January.

[oliscott]

First meeting between ourselves on the save and a gentlemen's four all draw. Pretty end to end with Sants winger running at me with Pace and me playing a combination of one touch and balls over the top. Conceding three penalties was always going to make it an uphill struggle though.

[oliscott]

Keep this form up and promotion should be a formality.

[oliscott]

Title wrapped up with six games to spare, Sant will contend the play offs.

[Hootieleece]

I will be following. I am playing with Southport FC. Did they stay up in your save?

Reece Brown makes a decent AMC for my go to 4-2-3-1 Wide.

[santy001]

@Hootieleece we've just finished the season, Southport didn't make it in the end. They finished 21st, 6 points behind Spennymoor.

[santy001]

Season Complete [1]: Double Promotion

So the first season is over, and we've both secured promotion. @oliscott as champions on 109 points and myself through the playoffs. Finishing a distant second on 90 points.

Here's the final league table:

[oliscott]

So with that season over just a few snippets from the first season.

 

The first a screenshot of the squad who played the majority of the games, a few really chipping in with the goals and especially the wingers with the assists.

 

Secondly the competitions page showing progression for the year. A good run in the cup to play Everton in the third round was a highlight, if not for a missing Jake Young I think I may have taken them there.

 

Speaking of Jake Young he really did smash it home this year, he missed some time in January when he was recalled and then at the end of the season with six weeks out so he could have reached 60 had that not have happened. Ive managed to secure him for next year as well so hopefully he can continue.

 

As for next year I have been given a 500k budget which seems very high for a Conference team, apart from the wingers and strikers pretty much everybody is replaceable if the right options come up. I have already secured another striker for competition and a Young Will Huffer on a free from BPA who should be playing a league or two above his current situation.

The aim for next year is straight promotion again with the approach I like to call Blunt Force Trauma.

[santy001]

Fylde: Season 1 - Grateful to be Promoted

Tough start to the season with some really ineffective forwards. I was forced into the market a couple of times to scour for loan signings as there was nothing left in the wage budget. Fortunately, two brilliant signings came along. Fabio Tavares on loan from Rochdale was what turned it around for my side in November. 30 goals in 33 games was a return upon which a promotion challenge could be mounted. A little later in the season, still looking for something more diverse upfront I signed Andre Thompson-Fearon on loan from Charlton. With decent pace and acceleration he proved to be a great impact sub with 9 goals from 20 appearances (17 of which were from the bench).

38 year old David Perkins scored 11 from central midfield, doing well to come back from a bad hip injury that left him contemplating retirement. This helped the team see out the season, and all in all it was a strong finish that led us into the playoffs in good stead. It could have easily slipped away, there were times when I was among the favourites for the news items "sack race" but goals always change everything for the better.

Fabio Tavares:

Here's the analyst breakdown of the clubs performance in the league:

Followed up with the 2020/21 Best XI:

 

[bryannufc]

Hi Guys I want to do this with one of my buddies but can’t seem to set up a league like this. 
Any info would be much appreciated. 

[vinny6876]

What happened in Season 2?? I really enjoyed your season 1

[santy001]

@vinny6876 I have a week on, week off work schedule & December has been a bit of a write-off due to myself & @oliscott getting lured in with the new Rebirth Island on Warzone. 

@bryannufc what issues specifically are you having?

[santy001]

The season two title race is very close though:

[santy001]

Season Complete [2]: Another Double Promotion

I had been a dominant force for the majority of the season, the opening day began with an 11-0 win over Southend. Coming into January Fylde were comfortably at the top of the table, the earlier screenshot was taken mid-way through the downfall when letting @oliscott back into the race. Following a good FA cup run, injuries broke down the Fylde team and York came strong through the rest of the season. There were a couple of instances during the remaining fixtures where either side could've secured the top spot as we both faltered. In the end though it was Oli's York side who secured the title again, albeit with a much smaller gap this time. 

[santy001]

Fylde: Season 2 - Genuinely Disappointed

I came in to this season strong, I'd made signings to pad out the squad with a somewhat luxury wage budget of £38k p/w prioritising signings who would really help the side push on. The season looked to be one of straight forward promotion, but the FA Cup came along and offered some interesting ties. A 6-1 win in the qualifying round over Chester was no great surprise. But we beat Plymouth 4-0 in an FA Cup First Round Replay (drawing the first 4-4) before getting Grimsby and winning 3-1, and then Sheffield Wednesday whom we beat 4-2. All of a sudden the fourth round is upon us, a tie at home to Everton. 

We beat Everton 5-4 with a last minute goal from returning loanee Fabio Tavares. I paid a heavy price though, during January I accrued 7-8 injuries, mostly to my wide men and forwards. The pace was lost and with it came a succession of defeats.

These three games were the invitation back in that @oliscott needed to ultimately secure the title.

At the start of the season I was vying to sign a player called Basala Sambou, he opted for Stoke on a permanent move but not able to find anyone else of his quality I went in with a loan bid that they accepted. 

He had a strong season leading the line, even though I had Tavares in again who pulled in 30 goals, it really was Sambou that was the driving force. There were some other key signings but none who had the impact of this guy on my sides fortunes. Sadly, it looks like a 25% reduction in the wage bill following promotion is going to curtail his time with the club. 

The Best XI:

Here's the analysts breakdown of player performance for the club: