The FM23 Youth Academy Challenge

[OlivierL]

48 minutes ago, The7Striker said:

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

I think Eredivisie teams from Holland didn't agree about the future promotion from third tier to second tier and that is why it is canceled (at the moment). @flyd can probably confirm/explain this ?

[Daddy]

OK I'm pretty sure I've never tried Serbia before. Fairly decent facilities to start off made this an appealing club. 

From what I saw this is fairly close for the primary kit, including the main sponsor and no sleeve sponsor. I didn't really see a set second kit and the game has it as a primary white so I want to stick with that so I don't wind up where the game thinks it's a white kit and it's two teams in blue running around. I added black as a third color just to give something else instead of just blue and white. 

Not a ton is expected, the team has a fairly solid squad, but only one keeper. If the keeper gets a long term injury it'll be quite problematic. As with any first season I have no clue what to expect.

[JLAB]

4 minutes ago, Daddy said:

OK I'm pretty sure I've never tried Serbia before. Fairly decent facilities to start off made this an appealing club. 

From what I saw this is fairly close for the primary kit, including the main sponsor and no sleeve sponsor. I didn't really see a set second kit and the game has it as a primary white so I want to stick with that so I don't wind up where the game thinks it's a white kit and it's two teams in blue running around. I added black as a third color just to give something else instead of just blue and white. 

Not a ton is expected, the team has a fairly solid squad, but only one keeper. If the keeper gets a long term injury it'll be quite problematic. As with any first season I have no clue what to expect.

Good luck with OFK Beograd, I've got some very fond memories of the club. Allow me to give you a badge that doesn't have the white background for you.

 

 

[Daddy]

6 minutes ago, JLAB said:

Good luck with OFK Beograd, I've got some very fond memories of the club. Allow me to give you a badge that doesn't have the white background for you.

 

 

Thank you! I never think to remove the background for the badge.

 

[Reiver]

I just lost a cup game against a team that finished with 0.04 xG...

[the_hdk]

1 hour ago, The7Striker said:

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

so its suspended for 5 seaosns and 6th back in the game?

[The7Striker]

6 minutos atrás, the_hdk disse:

so its suspended for 5 seaosns and 6th back in the game?

They didnt said but someone a few pages back sim until 2030 and no one was promoted

[bjwphneb]

Facilities

Giving this ago for the first time ever with the mighty Rooks down on the south coast. A club and team I know very well. Arguably the best non league (or even EFL) pitch you'll ever see thanks to the women's team. After three retirements at the start of the 2023/24 season we are left with 14 players so the first intake can't come soon enough. Finances are good so and wage expenditure is minimal so if we can survive the first couple years we should be set for a good future. If not then expect a post in the near future announcing a new club.

 

[Neo_Geo]

4 hours ago, The7Striker said:

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

Good job I completed the challenge in Holland in FM 22 then 

if it’s 5 seasons then that’s a bit of a simulation before you can get going.

[hubwub]

CDS Tampico Madero - Liga BBVA Expansión MX - 2023/2024

CLUB: PROFILE | FACILITIES | HONOURS | BOARD VISION | SUPPORTERS | FINANCES

MANAGER: CHARACTERISTICS | ATTRIBUTES

Your girl just won Liga BBVA Expansión MX Torneo Apertura!

Undefeated through the regular season. Rough road during the playoffs. Thank god for being the higher seed during the draw in the second leg of the semi-finals. Then saw the first leg defeat in the finals against Celaya. I made line-up changes and thrashed them in the second leg. IT WAS AMAZING!

Tactics / Best XI in the first half of the season

Youth Intake Preview

Not sure, I'm happy with this. I needed more CBs and FBs. But I plan on retraining the CMs into DMs. My HOYD for those wondering, it's a regen with a Fairly Professional personality, 16 WWY, 10 JPA, and 7 JPP. We will see if the personalities and what I get is good come Spring.

Other news, I got a contract renewal for two more years right before the first semi-final leg. My finances are good but I'm losing money every month due to a big difference in wages. I will try and fix that.  Also need more coaches but I think my board will reject that.

Edited October 30, 2022 by hubwub

[Daddy]

2023/24 Midseason Review:

So much local sports this weekend to watch so I'm playing a ton. I've been wanting to try a completely different formation and this team actually looked suited to try Wide Centerbacks. Preseason, great. First two matches, great. Next five, nope. 433 and things take off. The schedule picked up and I was basically getting messages after each match that half the team was jaded, but I needed them as backups so while I didn't start they still had to play most of the time. Form dropped as we reached the winter break losing four of the last seven (one was a cup match). All by one goal so I'm pretty optimistic coming out of the break we get things going again.

After 30 matches the league splits in two groups of 8. Each team plays each other once. In the Top group the top two teams are promoted and 3rd and 4th face 5 & 6 from the upper division's group B for their spots. Group B has the bottom two automatically relegated and 5 & 6 playing for their spots. After explaining all that I am hopeful we finish in Group A and in the top 4. 

Intake Preview:

We need depth at Keeper and Centerback. Glad to see them listed as A & B

[DazRTaylor]

The Netherlands have no relegation, at least in the beta, from the second tier.  I holidayed for over a decade without any relegation.

So if you want The Netherlands, it would be the same as other nations.  Holiday for a season and take over the club that finished bottom.

[Nottingham Forest]

I am back. After a 3 season dabble with Basford and the unfortunate relegation I've decided to start with South Shields. On paper it's still a tough challenge despite them having a better setup. Manager profile below.

[Nottingham Forest]

I had wrote a really long post but my laptop has just crashed. So it's a shortened version.

Season 1

2023-24 Season

Vanarama National League North

Season Summary

One word! Heartbreak! Done in the play-off final. Cups we got to the FA Trophy Third Round(not bothered) and FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round where we lost to top of the National, Newport.

 

Youth Intake

Good intake. We got two improvements.

Other Bits

Due to my financial mismanagement Myles Boney(captain and keeper has left), Means that youth keeper gets a chance. 

Finances shot to pieces. £226k or so in the red although the chairperson has left and we've had a board takeover. Luckily the old chairperson put some money in beforehand.

[Ray46]

16 hours ago, WhiteCat33 said:

@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 👏 

 

The thread is awesome for sure. Every save is a story in FM, making the save as hard as this one adds even more drama.

[OlivierL]

1 hour ago, DazRTaylor said:

The Netherlands have no relegation, at least in the beta, from the second tier.  I holidayed for over a decade without any relegation.

So if you want The Netherlands, it would be the same as other nations.  Holiday for a season and take over the club that finished bottom.

Is that allowed in a nation like the Netherlands ?

[DazRTaylor]

6 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Is that allowed in a nation like the Netherlands ?

Surely it is the same rule for all nations and not cherry picking?

[OlivierL]

7 minutes ago, DazRTaylor said:

Surely it is the same rule for all nations and not cherry picking?

I can't remember when and what country, but i thought it was not allowed because of the level of that nation / competition. But it would be a really good solution if it was

 

[JAwtunes]

53 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

I can't remember when and what country, but i thought it was not allowed because of the level of that nation / competition. But it would be a really good solution if it was

 

Would this make League of Ireland eligible too? I love a good LoI save.

[the_hdk]

12 minutes ago, JAwtunes said:

Would this make League of Ireland eligible too? I love a good LoI save.

in that case many more nations would be able to be played

[XaW]

1 hour ago, DazRTaylor said:

Surely it is the same rule for all nations and not cherry picking?

Pretty sure we don't allow countries that don't have relegation from the lowest tier. Ref the South Korea discussion earlier.

The only place we do allow is for extremely lower league custom files where it really doesn't matter if it's the lowest team in tier 7 or a newly promoted from tier 8 in Liechtenstein, and the like.

@darren1983, thoughts?

[DazRTaylor]

I really don't understand why it is so rigid and infelxible.

Someone could simply start a new thread allowing these scenarios and then we have numerous threads all doing the same thing.

Is that really what everyone wants?

[XaW]

Just now, DazRTaylor said:

I really don't understand why it is so rigid and infelxible.

Someone could simply start a new thread allowing these scenarios and then we have numerous threads all doing the same thing.

Is that really what everyone wants?

Because the whole idea of the thread is to win the CL and top domestic division with a previously unplayable team. That's the key note of the challenge. So if the team that finished bottom is available, the whole idea of the challenge is no longer applicable. We have allowed it for extremely low tiers since it doesn't matter as no team that low is playable in the base game anyway, and the quality of the team is negligible. Sure, it may seem ridig at times, but the sole idea of the challenge has to be preserved, at least I think so. Darren has the final say as the runner of it though.

[darren1983]

12 minutes ago, XaW said:

Because the whole idea of the thread is to win the CL and top domestic division with a previously unplayable team. That's the key note of the challenge. So if the team that finished bottom is available, the whole idea of the challenge is no longer applicable. We have allowed it for extremely low tiers since it doesn't matter as no team that low is playable in the base game anyway, and the quality of the team is negligible. Sure, it may seem ridig at times, but the sole idea of the challenge has to be preserved, at least I think so. Darren has the final say as the runner of it though.

Yeah this really, the challenge is to take a unplayable team to the top so leagues in the base game that don't have relegation aren't used, it's why we don't have the MLS for example. This challenge used to be only in Europe but we extended it to the rest of the world to offer some variety and difficultly levels but one the main rules we've kept is that relegation from the bottom tier is part of it.

If people want to start another thread they're free to do so.

[Padders]

@darren1983just want to thank you for this great thread. I have played FM since CM 97/98 days and only play FM this way now because of this thread.

Covid and lockdowns were not easy for alot of people but it did allow me to complete that epic 200 season challenge on FM20

Keep up the great work 

PS I am still playing but still after 10+ seasons I keep getting sacked between seasons 1 and 3 

[libbyshuss]

I hope @Braumiller doesn't mind too much but I've shamelessly stolen their idea! I loved that infographic idea!

Season Summary

So off to Austria! Not an easy challenge with only two divisions as the teams that get promoted have to move from an amatuer/semi-pro league into a professional league, which is alwasy a huge leap. And so it proved, we were out of our depth for much of the season. A terrible run of 11 games without a win left us second from bottom in December and, with one game to play before the winter break, the board called me in to tell me that if I messed that game up then I was toast. the way we'd been playing I was certain the sack was coming. But we got lucky - they got a man sent off after 19 minutes and we won 3-0. 

After the winter break for some reason our morale was a lot easier to manage and we were able to start putting some results together. We still went into the last game of the season, away to the team bottom of the table, needing at least a draw for safety though. We won 3-1 and managed to stay up for a second season!

 

Youth

It's always a bonus getting a good youth intake in the first season. I was hopeful, what with my legacy squad being on the weak side. 

Preview was ok, but I wasn't too excited by the A grades for wide midfielders and defensive midfiedlers as I don't use them! It's the price you pay for prioritising personality over all else.

the intake was pleasing with 6 elite talents

The pick of the bunch was Dorde Grbovic 24A, a Serbian right back. He looks really promising with a Driven personality and 18 determination. Lovely stuff!

 

Finances and Upgrades

Not brilliant. Unsurprisingly we lost money throughout the season, but not as much as I'd feared. Still, not enough to grant me any upgrades other than my first coaching badge.

 

Career

[fries]

Vanarama National League

2025/26 (season 3)

Season Summary

The expectations of this season were to develop some of my young players and get a midtable position. It started out very well. I had four young offensive players that developed very well in Ergan, Oliver, Byran, and Walters. Early on, I changed my formation from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 (or maybe more of a 4-2-4) to fit all four players. It worked well. The classic striker pair Walter (the tall guy) and Byran (the fast guy) did very well and scored a combined 15 goals in October. Which meant that in the middle of November I was in the top 2 in the league. I really hoped we were able to fight for promotion.

However, an injury to Walters and later to Byran and a very bad and young defense meant that we drifted just out of the playoff spots where we remained for the rest of the season.

As you can see, we scored the most goals in the league. However, scoring a lot of goals is not enough if your defense sucks.

As mentioned before the 4 offensive young players, Ergan, Oliver, Byran, and Walters, developed very well and played very well too. I hope I can keep them all for another season.

Apart from the young offensive players, I have some old players with routine in the midfield, at the fullbacks, and in goal. However, the quality of the central defense sucks. Marcinkowski was my first choice and did OK. He is only 16 years old and I hope he can develop into a quality player next season. His partner was Harrison, who also is only 16 years old, but had an average rating of just 6.55.

The youth intake preview looked great. 5 stars. I could really use the Centre-backs and I was promised three promising players.


I was a bit disappointed about the intake. We had really invested in the facilities this season but no player was a stand-out. And a lot of the personalities are not great.

I was promised three central defenders. I hope that Mukuna or Rowan can develop into a starter next season.

Beck can maybe get game time in the central midfield, Fogarty can be a rotational player at the wing, Hansen is a great backup for Walters, and Sturgess is training to throw the ball long and flat.




I let Hooper go. The top scorer of season 1. However, he cannot compete with the young guys.

 

Finances and Upgrades
After I got the money from the Mutombo sale of last season, I managed to upgrade the facilities significantly. 
I upgraded my junior coaching and youth recruitment twice in the fall before my intake, and I upgrade both the youth and training facilities. However, the training facilities also degrade before the season.
I managed to get another two coaching badges and I am currently working on the Continental A Licence.

Next season
Next season I hope I can develop a few quality central defenders. I also hope to keep my young players through the summer.

In the end, it would be great if we can fight for promotion.

 

[JAwtunes]

42 minutes ago, libbyshuss said:

I hope @Braumiller doesn't mind too much but I've shamelessly stolen their idea! I loved that infographic idea!

That's cool and I too have shamelessly stolen @Braumiller's idea.  Mine doesn't look that good at the moment but I will try to tidy it up before my next update.

Spoiler

are you highest and average attendances the wrong way round?

 

[libbyshuss]

51 minutes ago, JAwtunes said:

are you highest and average attendances the wrong way round?

[The7Striker]

Did anyone noticed clubs with, lets say 6k stadium capacity and once promoted to playable leagues, change to a lower capacity one, like around 500 ? 

 

[Bartrcm]

17 minutes ago, The7Striker said:

Did anyone noticed clubs with, lets say 6k stadium capacity and once promoted to playable leagues, change to a lower capacity one, like around 500 ? 

 

This also happens in my save in France. 3 out of 4 teams that got promoted went to a smaller stadium than they original had. Seems very odd to me.

[Braumiller]

@libbyshuss & @JAwtunes that's awesome, I will in turn start stealing back ideas to use

I am currently using the free feature at www.snappa.com - there are a lot of infographic creator tools online, but they all have subscription models.  It is a case of finding one that has the minimum of what I want in their free model.

There is more I want to do, but a combination of time and finding one that works hasn't lined up yet

[Bartrcm]

SC Toulon - National - Season 2023-2024

Predicted: 16th

Final position: 7th

 

We started the season badly, with only 2 wins in our first 8 games. This left us in the relegation spots, and with 6 relegation spots this season, I thought we would have a very difficult season, but suddenly we played some very good football and we were on a run of  8 games without a defeat and we were a mid-table team. We stayed there until 3/4 of the season. The teams above us began to lose "easy" games, and before we knew we had a small chance to get promoted. This didn't happen, but we had a very good 1th season. When we wouldn't had such a terrible start of the season we would have every chance of getting promoted. Maybe we have another chance next season, but with 10 players older than 30, I'm afraid they will decline very fast, and we don't have good enough youngsters to replace them right away.

 

Games 1

Games 2

Cup: we were eliminated by a second division team in the 7th round.

 

Transfers: None

Youth intake: we had a good preview, but the intake itself was a bit underwelming. All tagged players were signed. The good new is that they max wanted €45/week. What a difference with Belgium.

Felipe Ferreira (YP1a): MC

Nathan Matando (YP1b): AMR

Thomas Puech (YP1c): AML

 

Finances: We made a profit! What a difference again with my save in Belgium. Due to this profit I could upgrade the junior coaching and youth facilities after the season.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Bartrcm
Added upgrade youth facilities

[Shankly84]

Time to give this another go. Haven't got a clue who to go. The last two FMs I have gone for Iceland and Wales. Thinking about a slighty higher reputation league this time...

[libbyshuss]

45 minutes ago, The7Striker said:

Did anyone noticed clubs with, lets say 6k stadium capacity and once promoted to playable leagues, change to a lower capacity one, like around 500 ? 

yes, happened to me with boulogne in France. Very annoying. 

[libbyshuss]

21 minutes ago, Braumiller said:

It is a case of finding one that has the minimum of what I want in their free model.

i used the one at https://www.visme.co/make-infographics/ which is pretty good. I've only just started playing about with it as well, there's loads more in the free version. It was pretty easy to use as well, which was the main thing I was looking for!

[The7Striker]

1 hora atrás, Bartrcm disse:

This also happens in my save in France. 3 out of 4 teams that got promoted went to a smaller stadium than they original had. Seems very odd to me.

@libbyshussThanks for your info too. I see this is a thing in the French league.

Got Sete promoted and they moved into a 400 stadium. The wierd is that finances doesnt show up the cost of it. And the old stadium was in an average status.

So I guess its time for a report so they can look around I guess.

Edited October 30, 2022 by The7Striker

[DomD]

On 27/10/2022 at 10:33, Sn00gle said:

For those who are considering playing in Poland and like a lot of RP and lore, I have prepared a list of several teams that can advance and you can go on!

Motor Lublin - A club with a millionaire mr. Jakubas, who is really pumping a lot of cash into the club's development. The money has allowed them to bring in some good players who can confidently compete higher. Start IRL hopeless red lantern, which recently emerged from the relegation zone thanks to a new coach.

Polonia Warszawa - With a French millionaire leading them after they went bankrupt and were relegated to the depths of Polish football. Being at the bottom, they have invested heavily in the academy which has been very successful and bigger clubs are stealing heavily from them. Currently 2nd place in the 2nd division. It's worth adding that they are a direct rival of Legia Warsaw so by playing them you have potentially one of the biggest derby's in the country. 2nd league newcomer.

KKS 1925 Kalisz - A very nicely developing football project that puts a premium on balance in the club. They recruit nicely especially the coaching staff (basically openly which is rather unheard of in Poland). They try to catch local outstanding young players.

Znicz Pruszków - I mention it only because this is where Robert Lewandowski started his adventure as a professional footballer. A club from near the capital of Warsaw. Thanks to this it has a good chance of generating good newgens from all the teams that can advance in Poland. 

Kotwica Kołobrzeg - The current revelation of 2-league games in Poland. They broke this year's record of consecutive wins and matches without defeat which puts them in the position of league leader. It's worth mentioning that they are also this year's newcomer. Despite this, they are not from the poorer clubs and are said to have large financial resources. I would say that they are such a club made of unwanted players who, properly guided, fired up. It has good training facilities.

Radunia Stężyca - If memory serves me correctly this is the club with the best training facilities available in the previous FM. This gives you a big advantage and ease in this challenge

Siarka Tarnobrzeg - A club worth mentioning. It is a very big pioneer of scouting development in Poland when it was still in the lower league. They put a lot just on its development which results in the sale of young players higher up and on a regular basis. It is worth noting that Mr. Dryś is the youngest head of scouting in Poland who is 18 years old... soo why not

Very nice write up. I was already thinking of doing some kind of save with Polonia when I realized that they had made it back up to the II liga.

[DomD]

1 hour ago, Bartrcm said:

SC Toulon - National - Season 2023-2024

Predicted: 16th

Final position: 7th

 

We started the season badly, with only 2 wins in our first 8 games. This left us in the relegation spots, and with 6 relegation spots this season, I thought we would have a very difficult season, but suddenly we played some very good football and we were on a run of  8 games without a defeat and we were a mid-table team. We stayed there until 3/4 of the season. The teams above us began to lose "easy" games, and before we knew we had a small chance to get promoted. This didn't happen, but we had a very good 1th season. When we wouldn't had such a terrible start of the season we would have every chance of getting promoted. Maybe we have another chance next season, but with 10 players older than 30, I'm afraid they will decline very fast, and we don't have good enough youngsters to replace them right away.

 

Games 1

Games 2

Cup: we were eliminated by a second division team in the 7th round.

 

Transfers: None

Youth intake: we had a good preview, but the intake itself was a bit underwelming. All tagged players were signed. The good new is that they max wanted €45/week. What a difference with Belgium.

Felipe Ferreira (YP1a): MC

Nathan Matando (YP1b): AMR

Thomas Puech (YP1c): AML

 

Finances: We made a profit! What a difference again with my save in Belgium. Due to this profit I could upgrade the junior coaching and youth facilities after the season.

Nice work!

What does the YP1a, YP1b, mean? Is that something you add as a nickname?

[hubwub]

1 minute ago, DomD said:

Nice work!

What does the YP1a, YP1b, mean? Is that something you add as a nickname?

It's a nickname to track your Youth Player / Product from your Youth Intake. In @Bartrcm, it's the first youth intake since they took over the club.

Everybody has different nickname conventions for tracking their youth intake.

[Bartrcm]

21 minutes ago, hubwub said:

It's a nickname to track your Youth Player / Product from your Youth Intake. In @Bartrcm, it's the first youth intake since they took over the club.

Everybody has different nickname conventions for tracking their youth intake.

Completely correct.

[The7Striker]

Well report is done, hope they can check it

 

[Makoto Nakamura]

2027/28 Youth Candidates

Absolutely dreadful personalities.

[The7Striker]

Since @Sn00gle and @XaW created a list for Poland and Norway, I decided to join the party and make for Portugal:

Clube Oriental de Lisboa - back in the old Campeonato de Portugal 1 divisão(Liga Bwin now), the club was a regular presence but times have changed and the last time Oriental was in a professional division was back in 2014 in 2nd tier.

Louletano - A great place to start with, play at Municipal do Algarve and has some good facilites. Can you get them higher than the second tier ?

Africanos de Bragança - Fancy a change in Portugal with Cape Verde players ? Thats the club

Sp.Espinho - Not what we call a fallen giant but Sp. Espinho did make a few good runs back in the 90's. Doing regular appearances in the 2nd tier and winning it back in 1992. Unfortunately since 1996/97 they dont join the top flight. So can you guide "TIGRES DA COSTA VERDE" back to the big boys league ?

Sacavenense - You probably know this club for the players that produces. José Fonte and João Pahinha are two of them. For this level they have nice facilities, can you produce the next wonderkid ?

Futebol Clube Barreirense - It was a big fall for this club. Long time ago Berreirense was a good club, playing in the 1st tier, reaching Taça de Portugal late rounds and even playing the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. But those times are gone, can you bring them up ?

Moura / Mineiro Aljustrelense -  This two clubs are more for the reagion they belong to. Since 2000/2001 season the top flight doesnt have an Alentejo club. Can you end this run ?

Interesting challenges:

Lusitânia dos Açores (Azores) / Caniçal (Madeira) - If you fancy to try Youth Challenge in an island, you can try to produce the next Pedro Pauleta in Azores or the next Cristino Ronaldo in Madeira.

 

Portugal was a lot of good clubs for this challenge but this ones look very interesting to me. Hope you enjoy 

Edited October 30, 2022 by The7Striker

[Tommo_]

What sort of database are you guys running for this type of save?

[The7Striker]

3 minutos atrás, Tommo_ disse:

What sort of database are you guys running for this type of save?

I only load the league Im in, in large DB. Then I add all the players from that country and internationals players from Europe.

Edited October 30, 2022 by The7Striker

[JAwtunes]

6 minutes ago, Tommo_ said:

What sort of database are you guys running for this type of save?

I load lots but you don't need to for this type of save.  The main reasons I do is because non-playable teams wont rehire staff (so when a manager is sacked they will remain managerless) and adding playable leagues makes transfer flows more realistic, which is a must for me for the nation I'm in.

Transfer preferences can be seen on transfermarkt.com

Spoiler

some examples

Wales

Estonia

N Macedonia

 

 

[Tommo_]

Thanks guys, I was wondering about transfers if you only have the league you're managing in loaded.

I'd expect to have bigger clubs trying to poach our best academy players plus others in the league. In previous saves only having one nation loaded meant the biggest team would sign the best domestic talent, such as Rosenberg, who had regular UCL, signed the best youngsters. 

It would make the save more realistic but more difficult if players were getting interest from big five leagues for example. 

[JAwtunes]

26 minutes ago, Tommo_ said:

Thanks guys, I was wondering about transfers if you only have the league you're managing in loaded.

I'd expect to have bigger clubs trying to poach our best academy players plus others in the league. In previous saves only having one nation loaded meant the biggest team would sign the best domestic talent, such as Rosenberg, who had regular UCL, signed the best youngsters. 

It would make the save more realistic but more difficult if players were getting interest from big five leagues for example. 

There is a really good thread about how to set up a realistic save on the general forum. It's always a trade off between speed and realism/size, but generally (for euro) good to have top 5 playable, several view only and neighbouring countries of the league you're in as playable. Happy to share my approach and rationale if that would help you? Its not particularly clever, i basically just use uefa rankings and size of transfers for different nations (weighted) to decide what to pick.

[BigJack]

FC United Season 3 - 2025/26

Season Preview

Preview

Predicted finish : 20th

Competitions

Overview

VNLN - League Table

FA Cup - Lost in the 4th qualifying round to Solihull Moors

FA Trophy - Lost in the 5th round to Hartlepool United. Records

Our best league performance yet as we finished in 10th. We was actually in the top 2 for a while and only dropped out of the play offs with 6 games to go, we had a chance of making them going into the last day but couldn't grab the win. It has still been a very good season but defence is the area that is costing us, as going forward we are so dangerous. We scored 5 goals or more on no less than 10 occasions in all competitions. With some improvement in the back line we should be looking to make the play offs next season. 

Playing Squad

Squad    Best 11    Transfers

Another season of improvement means the squad is looking stronger. We seriously need a decent RB though. There has been some real development from a few of our youth products alongside some of our legacy players performing really well, and the players deserving of a mention are:

Fallon 24a

Al-Taib 24b

Hollis 24d

Griffiths

Thompson

Onyeka

Youth Development

Preview    Intake

Collins 26a

Reed 26b

Lawton 26c

Mccluskie 26d

Murray 26e

Tembe 26f

6 elite talents and Collins and Lawton have made their debuts already. 

Finances and Facilities

Finances    Facilities

Another decent year in profit alongside getting upgrades to our youth facilities, junior coaching and youth recruitment networks.

Other

Club Records    

We have also started the Continental A License.