The FM23 Youth Academy Challenge

[benrollo]

FK Zemun - 2024/25 Season Review

League Position - 7th (8th in Group A Final Phase)

Manager Overview

Amazing how much FM you can get played when the Mrs is away!

We went a couple of steps better this season, securing a top half finish for the final phase. There were a couple of rough patches along the way, but it's progress. We didn't do much in the Final Phase, but it was a chance to get some of the new youngsters in for some match experience.

Our top performances for the season came from Kenan Bozic 24-1 (7.01), Lazar Ristovski (6.97) and Marko Vancagovic (6.95). Lazovic - our star striker - got miserable halfway through the season and ended up getting sold (for a measly £10k) rather than letting him run down his contract. That opened up a spot up top for new boy Bozic, and he played well. It was actually Branko Gligorijevic 24-3 who started the hotter of the graduates, bagging the first graduate league goal in a 1-0 away win.

The youth preview brought more promising news. Could there be another golden generation on their way?

Er, absolutely there could yes. NINE elite talents! As with last season, I signed all 16 graduates to fill out the club, hopefully from next season I can start being a bit more selective.

Leading the way in the class were:

Nikola Pejovic

Marko Stefanovic

Ljubisa Rankovic

And filling out the other 6 elite slots we had Borivoje Lukic, Danilo Knezevic, Bojan Milovanovic, Milos Andrejic, Dusan Milutinovic and Dragan Tosic.

Pejovic got some good game time after graduating, and figures to give Bozic a run for his money.

Behind the scenes, we had some good and bad news. I managed to take 2 coaching courses, and now hold a National A license. Youth recruitment was upgraded too. Sadly, our training facilities degraded, and it figures to probably be a while before we can reverse that.

[the_hdk]

6 hours ago, XaW said:

Since @Sn00gle created a big list for Poland, I thought I could do the same for Norway, so here are a few clubs I think could be interesting to play in this challenge.

Lyn Toppfotball - A bit of a fallen giant of sorts. They went bankrupt in 2010 and folded before they were reforged at a lower level and has slowly worked their way up. They've struggled to take the last few steps up into the realm they think they should belong at.

Follo Fotballklubb - They might not be that interesting to everyone, but they are my local team, and I've tried this challenge with them several times, never finishing it. An interesting tidbit about them is that they reached the final of the Norwegian cup back in 2010, beating teams like Lillestrøm and Rosenborg to get there. They were, and are, a part time club, so if they had beaten Strømsgodset in the final they would have entered the Europa League while going down into the 3rd tier, as they go relegated from the 2nd tier the same season.

Eik Tønsberg - Fallen giant is a bit over an overstatement, but the club was a regular top team back in the day, only finishing 2nd as their highest place in the top tier. They are also from Tønsberg, the 10th biggest city in Norway, and the biggest without a top tier team!

Fotballklubben Senja - A club located far to the north of Norway, and on Norways biggest island Senja. I could have mentioned any of the teams from the far north, but I think the fact that they are located on the biggest island in Norway makes them stand out a bit extra.

There, those are the teams that stand out most to me as possible teams for the first season in Norway. No foreign investors or anything like that here, as all sporting institutions in Norway are owned by their members and the boards are elected, so no sugar daddies to be found here.

we shoudl add both lists to first posts to help newcomers to the challenge choose a club (and others want to (re) join

[darren1983]

So after those cracking posts by @Sn00gle and @XaW I have spent this evening trying to pick between 3 options, either continue with my FC United save (10 games in and we're top so it's going well) or try somewhere new in either Poland (with Polonia) or Norway (with Lyn) and well I have finally made my choice.

Welcome the new Manager of Lyn 1896

We start with quite the small squad 

But that's half the fun. I've always had a soft spot for Scandinavian football and while my own club has ties with Denmark I've gone with Norway for this, also have top flights on the 5 main leagues in Europe so that should add some danger with those clubs stealing my best players early. 

Not a massive fan of a running track around our pitch and I must find some kits but this is how we start

[darren1983]

Have added both sn00gle's and XaW's posts to the OP as well, if anyone else has some local knowledge of teams then feel free to post them and I'll add them as well.

Also it's crazy that the game isn't even really out yet and we're on page 8 - have no idea why this challenge is so popular but it's great seeing so many enjoy this style of playing FM. 

[Daddy]

 

Well we never fixed the underperforming offense or defense and that's the end of this chapter. At least the Phillies won so I didn't have a terrible night! Going to look for a country that I haven't tried and that hasn't completed the challenge yet next.

[BigJack]

FC United Season 2 - 2024/25

Season Preview

Forgot to take a screenshot but we was predicted to finish 18th.

Competitions

Overview

VNLN - League Table

FA Cup - Lost in the 4th qualifying round to AFC Flyde.

FA Trophy - Lost in 3rd round to Chesterfield.

Overall a very solid 2nd season. We started well and looked as if we could compete for a play off spot being only 6 points adrift with 6 games to play. But then we had a downturn in form and ended up finishing 14th which is still an improvement on last season. Hopefully we can kick on a bit more this year and aim for a top half finish.

Playing Squad

Squad    Best 11    Transfers

Starting to look a little more balanced with 2 intakes worth of players but we are still lacking quality in a few areas. Star men this season were Onyeka again who hit 32 goals in all comps. He sadly looks like he is leaving us at the end of the season on a free but I have hope I can convince him to stay. Griffiths and Thompson also played a good part in our season. 

Onyeka

Griffiths

Thompson

Last years intake has helped massively and the below 4 players have all played their part this season. Fallon 24a being the pick of the bunch and he is developing really well.

Fallon 24a

Al-Taib 24b

Mcdermott 24c

Hollis 24d

Youth Development

Preview    Intake

The preview got me excited but the actual intake wasnt as special. It has given us some more depth which we needed and the below 5 are the pick of the bunch.

Brammer 25a

Arthur 25b

White 25c

Estevez 25d

Durakovic 25e

Finances and Facilities

Finances    Facilities

Another decent year in profit and we also managed to get an upgrade to our youth recruitment network. I upgraded these too quickly last fm and it meant we ran at a small loss so I am going to try and judge it better this time around.

Other

Club Records

We managed to start the Continental C license this season so the badges are progressing nicely. 

Edited October 29, 2022 by BigJack

[DazRTaylor]

@darren1983Switzerland.  Save on 12 June 2023 for different teams.  League reset date is 30 June 2023.

Edited October 29, 2022 by DazRTaylor

[CardiffDragon]

10 hours ago, SuperRedditch said:

@CardiffDragon

 

Resized it for you, if you'd rather use a smaller logo.

thank you very much, much appreciated!

[Muttley84]

Well, it was fun while it lasted haha..

[Sn00gle]

Just wondering because there was some changes in Polish league and now Second Teams are able to play in 1st League which means that potentially this will make less teams promoted to choose so might be that you need to make some more reloads in game. I don't know if that was implemented in fm23. Same as bonus for playing youth players now is changed. Now teams must play designated time over season I believe 5k minutes to fight for bonus and if you dont reach it you will have to pay fine depends of how much minutes you are missing. There are 3 lvl's of such fine. 

I believe they still dont fix it as it was in FM22 but in Poland Winner of u19 league is playing in young Champions League but in FM22 the Winner of top team is sending their u19 team to that competitions. I think that is small but might have nice effect on your youth development.  

Are we able to check this in beta?

Edited October 29, 2022 by Sn00gle

[the_hdk]

2 minutes ago, Sn00gle said:

Just wondering because there was some changes in Polish league and now Second Teams are able to play in 1st League which means that potentially this will make less teams promoted to choose so might be that you need to make some more reloads in game. I don't know if that was implemented in fm23. Same as bonus for playing youth players now is changed. Now teams must play designated time over season I believe 5k minutes to fight for bonus and if you dont reach it you will have to pay fine depends of how much minutes you are missing. There are 3 lvl's of such fine. 

I believe they still dont fix it as it was in FM22 but in Poland Winner of u19 league is playing in young Champions League but in FM22 the Winner of top team is sending their u19 team to that competitions. I think that is small but might have nice effect on your youth development.  

Are we able to check this in beta?

well  might be good if someone can test it. in my few seasons I did not see any B team promote to Liga 1.

[Perre8]

17 hours ago, Bartrcm said:

As long as they don't fix the finances in Belgium it's impossible.

Very good list! In Italy you also have Chievo Verona that reloads sometime, but they seized to exist irl, so i think its a databug. But they have decent facilities etc. for this challenge. 

[Makoto Nakamura]

2026/27 End of Season Review

Another 10th place finish and survival! We need to just keep on surviving for the next few seasons whilst the youngsters come through.

Overall Best XI

2026/27 Best XI

Nathan Browne (YP3l)

Tiarnan McAuley - Ryan Russell (YP1e) - Andy Dunn (YP1k) - Gareth Huxley (YP2e)

Daniel Casey (YP3h) - Peter Morrow (YP1l)

Macauley Joynes (YP1g)                                                         Brian Boyd (YP2a)

 

Andrew Caulfield (YP1j) - Chris Caulfield (YP1i)

Trophy Watch:

Top 10's:

 

[XaW]

9 hours ago, darren1983 said:

Also it's crazy that the game isn't even really out yet and we're on page 8 - have no idea why this challenge is so popular but it's great seeing so many enjoy this style of playing FM. 

This challenge is just the best way to play FM! 
Also, I think it helps that we have a nice and friendly tone here where we focus more on helping each other, rather than directly competing against. Just my thoughts, anyway.

[Makoto Nakamura]

Poached by United, imagine what he could've been for us.

[15charactersmax]

Sacked and relegated at Mirandela in our second season. It came down to the last couple of games and we fell short. Kind of stings to go down with a -1 goal difference suggesting we weren't that bad, but the table doesn't lie. Gonna have another crack at it maybe in Sweden. I'll have a look around and see what feels right.

                                              

                                    

 

 

[Padders]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

This challenge is just the best way to play FM! 
Also, I think it helps that we have a nice and friendly tone here where we focus more on helping each other, rather than directly competing against. Just my thoughts, anyway.

Got to agree with that, this thread is superb. Everyone loves seeing how each other are getting on and supporting each other

Edited October 29, 2022 by Padders

[DazRTaylor]

 Now for somewhere completely different.  I am not sure if I have ever managed in Switzerland so here we go.

Club Introduction

FC Rapperswil-Jona

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  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Average              Adequate          Adequate              Excellent        Average            National   (2.50*)

Season Record

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

Overall Career Record

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

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position               Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Haul

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

Trophy Cabinet

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



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

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     Schweizer 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
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Clean Sheets (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Clean Sheets
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DazRTaylor]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

This challenge is just the best way to play FM! 
Also, I think it helps that we have a nice and friendly tone here where we focus more on helping each other, rather than directly competing against. Just my thoughts, anyway.

Agree entirely though I do dabble in the dafuge Challenge.  You post a season review on here and you will probably have a blue post (more than eight likes) the next time you log on!

This is the best thread on this whole foru, without question.

[libbyshuss]

Spain

Tier 4

Season 2

Season Summary

Well........

It started quite well. 2 wins in the first 3! we were scoring for fun, but also leaking goals for fun. But then...... well, we went on a poor run and morale was an absolute disaster. No matter what I did I could not improve it at all. The 4 best players all wanted to leave and announced they would be 'exploring their options' and that had an impact on everyone else, being team leaders. And once morale is down you're pretty doomed.....

Final game before the winter break I got this message

They gave me a month to sort it out and 'improve confidence'. Well, we only had 2 games due to the winter break! We lost the first, and drew the second 1-1, with the other team getting a 90+2 equaliser as well. 

And....

 

These are the results that did for us in the end:-

 

But really? It was the morale in the end

So..... two tries and sacked twice so far, and the game proper isn't even out yet?

 

I'll be back with the random factor!

[Neo_Geo]

12 hours ago, darren1983 said:

Have added both sn00gle's and XaW's posts to the OP as well, if anyone else has some local knowledge of teams then feel free to post them and I'll add them as well.

Also it's crazy that the game isn't even really out yet and we're on page 8 - have no idea why this challenge is so popular but it's great seeing so many enjoy this style of playing FM. 

For me the scouting and transfer system is still sorely lacking.

Appointing staff, using what you have in front of you to get a tactic that works, the continuous and single minded drive towards improving facilities then the potluck of the intake......you can't beat it in my opinion.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2027/28 Youth Preview

Another season with no DM's coming through.

[Ray46]

Update 2

 

Sant Andreu: A Dutch manager in Barcelona

“Go out and enjoy”

 

Season 23/24Summary:

 

We started the season well and stayed undefeated for 6 matches. This helped the team cohesion and the thrust in the manager. We only lost two league games until Christmas. But when we lost we lost big to Villareal and Valencia. We also lost the first round of the cup. Leganés play two divisions higher and the quality showed. Lots of high scoring games and the reason why is explained later.

 

In the new year we were defeated by Valencia again. They had the most quality players in their team. After that we went on a ten game unbeaten run. We kept close to Valencia and they started to lose points. Again lot’s of goals in the matches, trying to outscore the opposition.

 

So on the last day we needed a draw to secure the league title. In the teamtalk I said to the players, just like Johan Cruyff did in Barcelona’s 1992 Champions League final:

Spoiler

And we did win, against the run of play. But who cares.

 

So we are league champions and promotion to RFEF Primera 1

Surprising, but deserved. Most wins, best goal difference. Winning the title is really good for the club’s reputation and of course for the manager's reputation.

 

Tactics:

The original squad was just 19 players, of whom 8 were 16 years old. We had to play the whole season with only one GK. A 1* 16 year old. Also we had only one central defender. If I would put all senior players in their best role a 4-2-3-1 was the logical thing to do. Both wingers and the AM are the star players with plenty of skill and firepower. We were strong going forward and shaky at the back. 

 

I was really keen on trying the new low block options in my tactic, but soaking up pressure is not what this team is made for. So I had to use the same old counter press tactic. Our CD only strength was his jumping reach, so he won most long balls from pressed opposition GK’s and CD’s. And the less work our GK has to do, the better.

 

Players:

The player of the season is Pau Morer. An ex Swansea player who scored 18 goals and made 16 assists and 7 POM performances. Average rating of 7.58. My staff thinks he would even be a star player in the division above this one. Of course we tried to renew his contract, because he has only one year left. Unfortunately he is not interested in resigning. He is on a part time contract. Normally contracts in Spain have a compulsory release fee. His part time contract  hasn’t, perhaps we could try to sell him to invest the money in facilities. There has been some interest, but I think just riding out his contract and keeping his creativity in our team will serve us better.

 

 

Youth:

 

I replaced my HOYD for a better one. Professionalism is the most important attribute in player development IMO.

 

The youth intake preview was promising.

 

It turned out to be a good crop of players. 4 Elite talents and a lot of players with good personalities and /or MH styles. I dropped all players with bad personalities. The only complaint I can make is that I have only one GK in the intake and he is worse in potential than the GK I already have. So it will be key to keep opponents away from our goal.

 

 

Best talents.

A winger with the same potential as Morer. Will be in the rotation next season.

A full back, has two senior FB(L) in front of him in the rotation. So will have to be patient.

A DM/CM who will go into the first team rotation. He will replace my aging DLP. Obviously he is not a play maker so we will have to adjust the tactic for him. Unfortunately he is susceptible to injuries.

A defender. Bad personality. The only exception I made. I am forced to put him in the rotation. We don’t have any defenders and the potential is there. I have a lot of high determination players so hopefully the squad will change his determination positively. My best players aren’t great mentors, so it’s a gamble.

 

Finances and Upgrades:

We are bleeding about 500k a season. I have a lot of wage budget room, but I hope our promotion and attractive football style will attract some sponsors and fans.

 

 

No facilities were upgraded, but I will have a National B license this summer and I have a one year contract renewal. 

 

Career:

 

 

@WhiteCat33 and @Perre8. You were right a whole new way of playing. Normally I would search for a GK and a CD to fill the gaps in my team. Now I'm retraining players for multiple positions. The constraints give some freedom in some strange way.

[fries]

How was my October?

Pretty great I would say! My 17-year-old striker duo scored 15 goals combined in 5 league games.

[Ray46]

Update 2a; Because it’s awesome….

 

Sant Andreu: A Dutch manager in Barcelona

“Go out and enjoy”

 

Wow, the honour….

 

 

We go to a natural grass pitch as well, thank god. 

 

[WhiteCat33]

@Ray46 i also enjoy how the limitation actually makes you think about who the 'best worst option' is during these early seasons. I've had the same CD dilemma at Guiseley with this season being the first (and last for a while) where I've had two players who'd actually choose to play at cb.

I played almost entirely youth only last cycle, and this thread is a big contributor. Great niche community 👏 

 

[15charactersmax]

 

Hanvikens SK

Swedish second division south Svealand

Time to go again, this time in Sweden. Hanvikens are predicted 10th out of 14 so not a dead cert for relegation and have a decent squad with a lot of youth, in fact the oldest player in the squad is 27. I'll take survival in any form for the first season and see if we can get anything promising from our first intake. The standard of players is ehhh....limited at this level so hopefully integrating youth won't be as difficult as it sometimes is.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2022 by 15charactersmax

[Daddy]

4 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

 Now for somewhere completely different.  I am not sure if I have ever managed in Switzerland so here we go.

Club Introduction

FC Rapperswil-Jona

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  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Average              Adequate          Adequate              Excellent        Average            National   (2.50*)

Season Record

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

Overall Career Record

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

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position               Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Haul

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

Trophy Cabinet

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



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

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     Schweizer 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
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Clean Sheets (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Clean Sheets
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm always excited to see people trying Switzerland to see if it's just me who sucks lol

[VinnyChilds]

After starting one of these before with Worthing and not getting very far (in my defense, my ticker exploded and I was hospitalised for 5 months, unrelated I'm sure!), I think I'm ready to give it another bash now. So, without further ado:

Belgian new boys Diegem Sport have announced the appointment of untested newcomer Antoine Lechef following their promotion to the Belgian third tier. Situated in the suburbs of Brussels, they'll no doubt struggle to keep their best and brightest from the clutches of Anderlecht and Racing White, despite boasting impressive facilities for their standard.

The board are not expecting too much of their new man...

... which is probably just as well!

Keeping the fans onside shouldn't be too much to ask as I could fit most of them in the garden for a BBQ

The squad size was a decent 33 players before six departed prior to the new season beginning, either having pre-arranged transfers or simply refusing to sign new terms. With 7 of those still here being 16 or under from the previous youth intake, the 20 remaining seniors will be stretched to the limit. Predicted to finish 16th out of 18 teams, and thus automatic relegation, we'll have to see what the paper-thin squad can achieve. It doesn't help that the season's league opener is against the Bruges NXT side who are an astounding 92/1 ON for the title. Luckily the squad make-up allows for a choice of tactics within reason, though the centre midfield looks worryingly sparse.

Onwards and upwards!

 

[OlivierL]

1 minute ago, VinnyChilds said:

After starting one of these before with Worthing and not getting very far (in my defense, my ticker exploded and I was hospitalised for 5 months, unrelated I'm sure!), I think I'm ready to give it another bash now. So, without further ado:

Belgian new boys Diegem Sport have announced the appointment of untested newcomer Antoine Lechef following their promotion to the Belgian third tier. Situated in the suburbs of Brussels, they'll no doubt struggle to keep their best and brightest from the clutches of Anderlecht and Racing White, despite boasting impressive facilities for their standard.

The board are not expecting too much of their new man...

... which is probably just as well!

Keeping the fans onside shouldn't be too much to ask as I could fit most of them in the garden for a BBQ

The squad size was a decent 33 players before six departed prior to the new season beginning, either having pre-arranged transfers or simply refusing to sign new terms. With 7 of those still here being 16 or under from the previous youth intake, the 20 remaining seniors will be stretched to the limit. Predicted to finish 16th out of 18 teams, and thus automatic relegation, we'll have to see what the paper-thin squad can achieve. It doesn't help that the season's league opener is against the Bruges NXT side who are an astounding 92/1 ON for the title. Luckily the squad make-up allows for a choice of tactics within reason, though the centre midfield looks worryingly sparse.

Onwards and upwards!

 

I wish you best luck but don't forget that Belgium have a big financial bug at the moment.

[Johnny Ace]

Has anyone started this in Scotland?

I believe there's a relegation/promotion playoff between L2 and the Highland Football League

I'm 3 seasons holidaying in and the L2 team has won every time  I guess save scumming it is the easiest way around it?

[JLAB]

15 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Has anyone started this in Scotland?

I believe there's a relegation/promotion playoff between L2 and the Highland Football League

I'm 3 seasons holidaying in and the L2 team has won every time  I guess save scumming it is the easiest way around it?

It's honestly the way to do it, making sure the L2 team doesn't win the match so you can take over the team coming up.

Edited October 29, 2022 by JLAB

[Johnny Ace]

2 minutes ago, JLAB said:

It's honestly the way to do it, making sure the L2 team doesn't win the match so you can take over the team coming up.

3rd year was the charm, Brora Rangers made it into L2 but I'm DQed from the challenge

I'll start it up with the full game proper 

[DazRTaylor]

19 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

3rd year was the charm, Brora Rangers made it into L2 but I'm DQed from the challenge

I'll start it up with the full game proper 

Save on last day of season (6 May 2023 for this year) and holiday for one day.  If you like the team in the playoff, scum save until they win.  Otherwise repeat.

[OlivierL]

43 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Has anyone started this in Scotland?

I believe there's a relegation/promotion playoff between L2 and the Highland Football League

I'm 3 seasons holidaying in and the L2 team has won every time  I guess save scumming it is the easiest way around it?

Don't want to be a party pooper but don't forget that some teams in Scotland have issues .  Make sure you check if your team if one of the unlucky teams.

 

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, OlivierL said:

Don't want to be a party pooper but don't forget that some teams in Scotland have issues .  Make sure you check if your team if one of the unlucky teams.

 

Oh great!! This is just a warm up anyway  Will hopefully be fixed for release 

[VinnyChilds]

2 hours ago, OlivierL said:

I wish you best luck but don't forget that Belgium have a big financial bug at the moment.

Oh, didn't know that. I can't see anything relevant in the Belgium bug tracker, can you expand on this? Is this why I'm already €350,000 in the red 5 league games in?

[OlivierL]

3 minutes ago, VinnyChilds said:

Oh, didn't know that. I can't see anything relevant in the Belgium bug tracker, can you expand on this? Is this why I'm already €350,000 in the red 5 league games in?

 

[Johnny Ace]

Belgium was a financial nightmare last year too 

[darren1983]

9 hours ago, XaW said:

This challenge is just the best way to play FM! 
Also, I think it helps that we have a nice and friendly tone here where we focus more on helping each other, rather than directly competing against. Just my thoughts, anyway.

 

8 hours ago, Padders said:

Got to agree with that, this thread is superb. Everyone loves seeing how each other are getting on and supporting each other

 

7 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

Agree entirely though I do dabble in the dafuge Challenge.  You post a season review on here and you will probably have a blue post (more than eight likes) the next time you log on!

This is the best thread on this whole foru, without question.

 

6 hours ago, Neo_Geo said:

For me the scouting and transfer system is still sorely lacking.

Appointing staff, using what you have in front of you to get a tactic that works, the continuous and single minded drive towards improving facilities then the potluck of the intake......you can't beat it in my opinion.

Have echo these posts really, all I meant earlier was that it's crazy to me that so many people enjoy this way of playing.

I was saying recently that I think the reason the thread does well isn't anything I do but you guys (not just the 4 quoted) posting and chatting away that make this thread. You see others where people post a season update and there's little comment on it, and that's fine it's how many of these challenge threads are, but here it feels like we all want to see everyone do well and there's no competition in it, think we can all agree that padders 200 odd year save is one we all remember and is up there as one of our fave saves ever. If you're unsure about something or need advice then someone will be able to answer. 

I usually save my thanks for the end of the game cycle and guess I didn't say it for FM22 but it's great seeing this place so active once again.

[libbyshuss]

Ok, I'm back again. This time the random factor like a tractor threw up...

 

There were three options and one really stood out against the others. They're a 100% fan owned club nestled in the Alps: FC Pinzgau Saalfelden

Check out their ground!

 

 

Lovely stuff!

But I may not be there for long. Austria only has 2 playable divisions and the second division has a huge range of team abilities. And we are right at the bottom of that range.

 

i apologise in advance if this ends in the sack after 1 season!

[The7Striker]

So promotions and relegation in the 2nd tier of the dutch league are suspended for for 5 seasons. 

[SuperRedditch]

 

Season 3 - 2025/26

National League North - 16th

 

 

Although we finished 6 points clear of relegation, we won both of our last 2 games and in actuality it was insanely close. 50 points is supposed to be the "safe amount". A great season though, and our goal difference shows that we're actually competitive in most games.

Financially, we're improving. I realised that I'd been spending £7k a month on a scouting package, which was crazy. We're still losing a few thousand every month, but it's more manageable - especially if we can get a few rounds into the cups. That said, until we're turning a profit, this is our level. The awful training facilities mean the players barely improve. I don't know how much the first upgrade costs - maybe £100k?

 

Youth Intake

 

 

Crazy preview. Those 2x upgrades to Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment doing work.

 

 

Not quite as good as promised.

 

He's really not that incredible, but I've been desperate for a striker. Shame he's not faster.

 

 

Next Season

Well, I came close to quitting this save a couple of times in season 2. I'm happy to just slowly develop at this level though, try and get a training facilities upgrade asap.

 

 

[JLAB]

4 minutes ago, The7Striker said:

So promotions and relegation in the 2nd tier of the dutch league are suspended for for 5 seasons. 

Oh wow. That's a lot longer than expected. Wonder what changed.

[JLAB]

@darren1983 Just a heads up, on the front page you've linked XaW's post twice, but haven't linked Sn00gle's post.

[darren1983]

10 minutes ago, JLAB said:

@darren1983 Just a heads up, on the front page you've linked XaW's post twice, but haven't linked Sn00gle's post.

Cheers, changed it now

[Reiver]

31 minutes ago, The7Striker said:

So promotions and relegation in the 2nd tier of the dutch league are suspended for for 5 seasons. 

Are you sure it's that long? Both the English and the dutch wikipedia - which to be fair isn't the best source, mention it's only up to the end of the 22/23 season.

[Braumiller]

The Infographic

 

Notes

A very interesting second season.  After the first season of playing a fairly standard Gegenpress 433 we started to try and find our identity.  Pre-season was 9 games long, so I could experiment and we settled on a 442, which meant having to find a 2nd striker.  We settled on young Jose Nunez YP-01, who then burst on to the scene scoring both goals in an opening day 2-1 win!  He then didn't score the rest of the season....  His woes up front and our lack of striker options forced a tactical rethink.  We tried a 4411, but settled on a 4141 with more attacking central midfielders.  This coincided with the emergence of our first true youth prospect, Kevin Asterhed YP-01B.  Formerly playing a DLP, in the new formation he is an Advanced Playmaker with total freedom.  Happy with his emergence and hoping more follow.  For the second half of the season you could throw a blanket over the top 5 and it was a little disappointing we ended up finishing 5th out of the 5.  Only 4 points off of top and our fantastic home form deserted us in the final two games.  A draw and a loss which was costly.  More prospects in the youth intake, but honestly no-one who immediately excites.  Maybe the long preseason will give someone the chance to stake a claim.

Supporting Images

 

[The7Striker]

Agora, Reiver disse:

Are you sure it's that long? Both the English and the dutch wikipedia - which to be fair isn't the best source, mention it's only up to the end of the 22/23 season.

I reported to SI and they said it was a rule change. 

[VinnyChilds]

2 hours ago, OlivierL said:

 

Cheers, have added my own findings to that. Bit miffed now though, not sure I can bring myself to carry on with this save now.