[FM21] Sunday League to Champions League

[Motlhen 140]

Starting with no badges & no previous experience can seem a little unrealistic at times, but not so much in the 11th tier of English football.
Massive thanks to @lionel messi for the database.

I'll be starting out unemployed, applying to the amateur teams that are close in proximity to where I live in the real world & will try to keep the immersion with the ways that I play the game. Attribute masking will be on & I won't be using the player or staff search screens in the game: staff will only be signed from job adverts & players will only be signed from scout reports, inbox items etc.

Other self-imposed rules I like to play with are; not spending any money on transfers, managing finances in a realistic way to ensure the bank is balanced & as the club's manager, remain the highest paid individual at the club. None of this will be particularly relevant initially, but they're some ideas that will hopefully come into play sometime soon!

I've also started the game with a combo of @Daveincid & @majesticeternity's additional realism files (including ME's Youth Tournament pack) as well as the league megapack by @Weiry. I love looking at the progress/decline made by clubs from around the world & am intrigued by the differences to the save that the additional files could make.

If you haven't seen the edits made by these four, I highly recommend checking out the links I've posted here to their great work!

Edited 17 hours ago by Motlhen

[Motlhen 140]

The job hunt is on.

I'm a young Thai national, who's recently moved to England, with no experience or qualifications.

 

I currently don't speak English, but my standout attribute is my adaptability. Let's see how long it takes to learn the language. At least I'll be able to send my assistant manager to the press conferences without feeling guilty about it!

 

There are 48 leagues in the 11th tier, so I'm not short of options- but I'll be looking for a club in or around North London.

[Daveincid 577]

Good luck! what leagues have you loaded?

[Motlhen 140]

5 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

Good luck! what leagues have you loaded?

Cheers!

For now I've opted for the English pyramid only, purely because of the volume of leagues down in tier 11. My plan is to add in the top European leagues as I make my way up the tier's as I'm aware that your files work best with more of the top leagues loaded. All other leagues is on view only for now.

[Daveincid 577]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb Motlhen:

Cheers!

For now I've opted for the English pyramid only, purely because of the volume of leagues down in tier 11. My plan is to add in the top European leagues as I make my way up the tier's as I'm aware that your files work best with more of the top leagues loaded. All other leagues is on view only for now.

cool! I will definetly follow your career

[Motlhen 140]

I've been given an amateur contract to be manager of local side Bush Hill Rangers.
 

 

Predictions

We're playing in the Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division & are favourites for promotion!
But we might not find it that easy to finish in the top spot as 7 of the 16 teams in our league are reserve teams & therefore ineligible for promotion so we will have to wait and see how strong their squad's are.

  

 

Or we're predicted 9th? I guess different media outlets are reporting different predictions for our season.

 

 

Club Vision

In the first year, we are only being asked for a mid-table finish by the board.
That will be the minimum requirement to keep my job, but I think the expectation from the fans & players will be higher than that.

 

Staff

We have a huge amount of volunteer support from people within the community.
(I didn't check the 'Do Not Add Key Staff' box & the number of staff is a bit overkill, but will be the same for every team.) 

 

 

Squad

We have a healthy squad size for the new season & (as I've deactivated the first transfer window) we won't be looking to add to or reduce the squad.
The volunteers have pointed out who they think the best players are, which is a useful tool to get to a starting XI, but won't usually be how I select my side.

 

The squad is lacking a natural leader but we'll be keeping an eye on how Nwabueze plays in pre-season.
His influence makes him the standout candidate for the captaincy this season.

 

We have a pretty decent social core too.
The two main groups consist of players that grew up in the region and speak the "dialect" Southern British English. The core group consists of players with positive personalities but I'll have to keep an eye on Secondary Social Group A (SSGA) as they are a large group of players with poor personalities.
SSGB contains a Sierra Leonean & a Maltese. Both players speak English fluently, but have not been living in the area long enough to sound Southern British English.

 

The first half of this season will be all about developing a solid first team squad. I want to keep the squad quite tight knit so I hope to stay relatively injury free.
 

 

Finances

We have just short of £5k in the bank & don't have any wages to pay.
Fingers crossed our gate receipts cover our travel costs & any maintenance costs as we'll be using our positive balance to fund our scouting. 

[Motlhen 140]

I'm already loving the Sunday league tackles flying about in the friendlies!

 

Roberts just earned his place in the first team.

Edited Tuesday at 00:59 by Motlhen

[Motlhen 140]

Nevermind.

Roberts becomes the casualty of a similar tackle to the one he dished out above and will be sidelined for the start of the season.

I've sent him to see a specialist.

 

 

In other not-so-great news, it's been confirmed we are not favourites for the league.

We're still favourites for promotion, but the team to beat is Royston Town Reserves.

[Motlhen 140]

Pre-season Results

A hugely successful pre-season has come to a close with a dismantling of another tier 11 side Finchampstead.
We only conceded once from open play which came in the two-nil loss to tier 9 side P&T.

 

 

The Squad

Those who made the cut & will be in or around the first team for the first competitive matches:
 

GK

Omolabi has been good in pre-season, but we've asked him to go to the gym to improve his strength.
We're also trying to discourage him from playing his way out of trouble before he learns not to from experience.

 

Def

He's tiny, but really brave and will run a lot, just never very fast.
Considered to be one of our best players is right back Nwankwo.

 

Dobson will work hard for the team, but fittingly, the worst player in the Sunday league squad usually plays left back.

 

Our central defensive pairing are not tall, pacy or strong.
Opara can tackle & Evans is aggressive, they both have good jumping reach but we'll have to sit deep to avoid pacy attackers tearing us open.

 

Mid

Lochhead has been pulled back into midfield as our BBM or DLP option.
He's one of the best all round players in the squad.

 

Koroma comes in for the injured Roberts who would usually play alongside Lochhead.

 

Roberts has made a speedy recovery & should only miss one game.
His tackling ability will be missed in the season's opener.

 

Att

Despite not having any standout attributes, Nwabueze is our best attacking option.
& aptly Cross has the best crossing ability within the squad to make a half decent pair of wingers.

 

As the best dribbler in the squad, we'll be encouraging Lateef to run with the ball often.
Between him & Ferrier we'll hopefully score quite a few goals this season.

 

The Bench

Who do we have to call on for backup?

Edwards can cover on either flank, but is more defensive than our starters.

 

Berks, our captain, starts on the bench.
He'll be a decent alternative, but his aggression & bravery added to the fact he likes to dive into tackles is a recipe for cards & that worry is enough to keep him out of the starting XI, for now.

 

Cole can play as a BWM, but will be in the reserves when Roberts is fit & Koroma is on the bench.

 

We're retraining Caldwell as a Target Man, but for now he'll be a backup mid/att.

 

Bouvet is tall & can cross, which will suit our play when we are looking to counter attack or when we're holding on to a lead.

 

 

The Formation

 

 

Captain & Vice

Koroma will lead the team out on match day one, but both captain & vice are fringe players who will find themselves on the subs bench when we have a fully fit squad.
Nwabueze was a potential candidate for a stand-in captain. He's an influential member of the squad, but no leader.

 

 

Social

The two major social groups have become one, apart from Evans who is now part of the SSG.

 

We are set to get the season underway.

Edited Tuesday at 13:02 by Motlhen

[Motlhen 140]

September 2020

We've flown into the season, keeping up the form from our friendlies.

 

Title favourites Royston Reserves & Hatfield are the other two team off to a perfect start.

 

Filling in for injuries, Cole gets himself into the club's history books, and so does Ferrier.

 

We've made a small profit this month, but there's not much room to add any scouting costs when we want to improve the squad.

[Motlhen 140]

Oct 2020

This month I have brought in Jaswal to the team as his training rating has been the highest of the whole squad.
He's a pretty decent striker with good acceleration so should be able to cause some problems from the bench.

 

Findlay also comes in for Dobson who has not been playing well.

 

Roberts is off to another specialist, this time his hamstring.
We can't afford to keep sending players to specialists, but he's a top prospect in a weak midfield, so I think it's important to get him back as quick as possible.

 

Lateef is also out, he's been hugely important so far, so it's time for Jaswal to step up!

 

Findlay's been having a rough time and misses a few days of training for his mental health, meaning Dobson is back at left back again.

 

We've also started receiving offers for our players.
Or rather, our players have started receiving offers from other clubs.
There's not much we can do about it but hope that they choose to stay!

 

Why would they want to leave anyway?
Another 3 wins this month!

 

Hatfield have played a game extra, but sit level with us at the top.

 

Jaswal has stepped up with a goal & is rewarded with the club & competition record!

[Motlhen 140]

Transfer Out

Lochhead has left to go to Knowle, who are also an 11th tier side. 

He'd been tipped to be one of the better players in the team, but his few performances for the club won't be missed.
Still; sad to see him leave.

[Motlhen 140]

Finances

Another month of very slim profits means that we don't have enough money to put any funds into scouting.

 

But as there is the potential that any player could leave at any point with amateur contracts, we are lucky that a few players have been offering their services to the club. We've had a few (mostly much older) players come to train with us & offered out a few contracts to players that would improve the first team.

 

Transfer In

Cogan is the first to accept.

 

He's played in the 2nd down to the 8th tier so is dropping down the leagues to join us in the 11th.

[Motlhen 140]

Transfers In

More big signings have followed.
All of the players are very experienced and will go straight into the first team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Motlhen 140]

Nov 2020

We had a good month, with the new forwards really making their mark!
The big win against 2nd place Hatfield will hopefully be enough to keep us at a distance from the chasing pack and favourites for the title.

 

The only worry we have is the split between the original squad & new signings in our social groups.
The new signings come in with more experience and so are more influential players, let's just hope the two groups eventually can merge into one & we are still waiting for someone to step up to be a team leader.

 

 

We've broken both the youngest & oldest player records now this season.

 

 

Another positive month financially.
I know they are small positives, but I'm happy with anything that's this side of zero!

Edited Thursday at 19:43 by Motlhen

[Conardo 20]

Great Career-Story. Will follow this.

I have some questions because i will use a similar setup:

"I've also started the game with a combo of @Daveincid & @majesticeternity's additional realism files (including MI's Youth Tournament pack) as well as the league megapack by @Weiry. I love looking at the progress/decline made by clubs from around the world & am intrigued by the differences to the save that the additional files could make. "

1. What files from Dave and majesticeternity do you use exactly?

2. Do you use the whole package from Weiry? Maybe as viewable only?

 

(I am german so sorry for the bad style)

[Jaketomsett 55]

I will also follow this. I started a journeyman save this year,  but think if I get bored of that I'll be doing this type of save but probably as a youth only with instant result skin. Will follow with interest!

[Motlhen 140]

On 26/02/2021 at 08:12, Conardo said:

Great Career-Story. Will follow this.

I have some questions because i will use a similar setup:

"I've also started the game with a combo of @Daveincid & @majesticeternity's additional realism files (including MI's Youth Tournament pack) as well as the league megapack by @Weiry. I love looking at the progress/decline made by clubs from around the world & am intrigued by the differences to the save that the additional files could make. "

1. What files from Dave and majesticeternity do you use exactly?

2. Do you use the whole package from Weiry? Maybe as viewable only?

No apology needed!  

I have used all of Weiry's files as view-only for now, yes.
& here's the list of the files used from Daveincid & majesticeternity:

[Motlhen 140]

On 26/02/2021 at 09:58, Jaketomsett said:

I will also follow this. I started a journeyman save this year,  but think if I get bored of that I'll be doing this type of save but probably as a youth only with instant result skin. Will follow with interest!

Thanks! It's already crossed my mind that I might switch to IR Skin, but youth only is very brave, I wish you the best of luck!

[Conardo 20]

Tanks for answering the question. This is really similar to my upcoming project. Planing with the database of Lionel Messi (England down to 11).

 

"I have used all of Weiry's files as view-only for now, yes."  Isn´t that much slowing down the game?

Edited 15 hours ago by Conardo

[Motlhen 140]

Dec 2020

We lost Cogan to injury in his fifth game.
I have decided against sending the older players to specialists as the club simply cannot afford to.

 

 

We lost Edwards, who had featured predominantly from the bench, to another tier 11 side who must have promised him more game time.

 

 

I brought in two more of the players previously on trial to improve the quality on our wings.

 

 

 

With the improvements to the squad, our results are only getting better & better.

 

 

We aren't expecting much from the youth intake, despite the list of positives.

 

 

Only one home game of four this month so it's unsurprising we've made a slight loss this month.

[Motlhen 140]

8 minutes ago, Conardo said:

Tanks for answering the question. This is really similar to my upcoming project. Planing with the database of Lionel Messi (England down to 11).

 

"I have used all of Weiry's files as view-only for now, yes."  Isn´t that much slowing down the game?

I have found that view-only leagues have little effect on the processing speed.

From a post by @Mons here:
The only difference between loading a league as view-only and not loading it at all, is that you get to see the league table and other statistics. No extra players are loaded in a view-only league, other than players that would have been loaded anyway (i.e. higher reputation players). In this sense, there's little benefit having a league as view-only.

For the setup for my save game, I am happy that I get to see the other leagues (because I am nosey!), but as I am playing in tier 11 in England, there is little chance that my team will be affected by any teams outside of England. If I make my way up the leagues, I will start to change some of the nearby nations (Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland etc) into playable nations as it is possible that some of the teams in these leagues may be interested in transfer activity with my club. But that is a few years away yet!

[Motlhen 140]

Harefield United Reserves stopped our winning run by playing a really physical game.

Two tackles and a physical shoulder-to-shoulder sprint meant we had to sub off our right winger, then sub off the sub that came on to play right wing, then sub off the striker we stuck out on the right wing because we had no more right wingers.

[Motlhen 140]

I've brought in another right winger to cover for the injuries we've sustained & Fairclough will also provide cover at right back (although he can't tackle!)

 

Sinclair has also joined to cover the left side of our attack. He comes in with the best physicals at the club.

 

 

The league has become even easier as the league's top scorer has moved on from title chasers Hatfield Town.

 

 

We are also competing in a cup between the teams in our league. We've had the Quarter Final draw and play Cuffley in February.

Edited 12 hours ago by Motlhen

[Conardo 20]

 Fairclough experience isn´t bad

 

I tested your hint with Weiry files - the result was i´m browsing and looking leagues i´ve never seen before, and due the fact, that combined with the fantastic work of Dave and majesticeternity its a new game. But now i tooks me 1 hour to move to the next day, because there is so much to see. Maybe i should add, that my screenflow is also full of comeptitions ....

[Motlhen 140]

3 hours ago, Conardo said:

 Fairclough experience isn´t bad

 

I tested your hint with Weiry files - the result was i´m browsing and looking leagues i´ve never seen before, and due the fact, that combined with the fantastic work of Dave and majesticeternity its a new game. But now i tooks me 1 hour to move to the next day, because there is so much to see. Maybe i should add, that my screenflow is also full of comeptitions ....

The team is starting to be full of experience, just not speed, strength, agility..... 

There is definitely a lot more to distract you from your part of the game, but I look forward to being 10+ years into the save and seeing teams rise or fall through their respective leagues. In your test, has the processing speed slowed down? 

[Daveincid 577]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb Conardo:

But now i tooks me 1 hour to move to the next day, because there is so much to see

This! 

[Motlhen 140]

Another January transfer comes in as we sign Coker, who is a young central midfielder & very good all round player for our level. He could be a first team player for a few years!

 

 

& what a way to introduce himself on his debut!

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Motlhen

[Motlhen 140]

Jan 2021

Spence comes in to play left back.

 

 

We continue to romp the league.

 

Breaking the goal-scoring records two games in a row.

 

With the help of Seidi who is now the league's top scorer.

 

 

Unfortunately, despite three home games this month we made another loss.

 

Our expenditure has increased out of my control, with costs listed under 'Other' the driving factor.

[Motlhen 140]

Archie Omolabi appreciation post.

We've been able to build on our already strong squad this season without spending money on scouting because older players that are in search for a new club near the end of their careers have offered their services to us. We're very lucky to be in this position as the season would have been much tougher with the original squad. Having said that, there is one position on the pitch where players seem to mature with age much more than any other position & that is in goal. As such, we have not had any goalkeepers come to offer their services to the club. Until now.

Omolabi has been brilliant, preceding the two goal fests we experienced recently, he had conceded less than a goal a game & he is the only player from the original squad that has played every game for us so far.

 

 

But unfortunately for him, we have had the opportunity to strengthen in goal too now with Gough joining the squad after a successful trial period.

 

 

Another player who made a mark for us at the start has chosen to leave the club for more regular action too. Ferrier was still featuring from the bench, but that was not enough for him and we wish him the best.

 

 

Our new signings have transformed the squad & we now set up looking like this:

Edited 4 hours ago by Motlhen

[Motlhen 140]

After being told he was not part of the first team plans anymore, Omolabi has decided to move on.
It's very sad to see him go but he takes a step up to level 10 at Wolverhampton Casuals.