The FM23 Youth Academy Challenge

[Daddy]

27 minutes ago, Braumiller said:

+1 here for Key highlights user.  This is what I run all my matches on

I use that set up for highlights but the during highlights speed a notch slower. 

Edit: I also work from home and will frequently pop over and advance a day or two between things I'm working on. If it's match day I'll usually do a half and then get back to work. Though if I'm running a large batch of tests I may get 5-10 mins to play.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Daddy

[libbyshuss]

 

Season Summary

A really pleasing season given that it was our first with a majority youth based squad and after losing our two best players last season. We were never in any trouble and got some really pleasing results along the way (5-1 against Brescia! Lovely stuff!). Consolidation is now the aim - it's slow and steady in a save like this!

Players

really pleased with the youth players I brought through this season

Dino Marascuilo 25C - I don't usually like playing youngsters as deep lying playmakers. In my head that's the job of a 35 year old Pirlo or something but this lad really stepped up and did well. His attributes aren't the best and his potential is only Serie B standard so there's a good chance he'll be nowhere near the first team in a couple of seasons time but for now he's a very welcome addition to the squad

Fabio Vaccaro 24B - My least favourite type of player - the one that throws his toys out the pram if i so much as offer a mild rebuke. But he's a speedy left winger, and i like my left wingers speedy. He's also right footed so i can invert him. Inverted wingers are my favourite!

Antonio Romagnoli 24F - The crappy keeper youth who is easily our best player now. Wants to leave for a better club and is happy to wait for a bid of 2.6m. I can't see it coming any time soon but given the binfire that is our finances I wouln't be too upset if it did.

Youth

Very interesting. The preview wasn't great and the intake was only a 3.5 star 'good' intake. But still had 4 elite talents! I can't wait to see an excellent intake!

Best prospect easily this fella, who I'm hoping will be a future international star! well, in Albanian terms anyway

All Time Youth Records and Stuff

Finances and Upgrades

So I spent £2m on my youth facilities, getting them all the way up to great. Hopefully it will pay off sooner rather than later as it has put my finances in a lot of trouble.

 

Career

It's fun here in Sicily. I'll be more than happy with another season of consolidation in Serie B. The squad is still much closer to relegation than promotion but we've got a really strong youth squad now so who knows in a couple of seasons?

[v1n1akabozo]

I might be in love with this guy. Five goals in the first two matches.

 

[Makoto Nakamura]

2041/42 End of Season Review

We've done it! We only scored 35 in 38 games in the league but we've managed to qualify for the Conference League for the very first time!  

Overall Best XI

2041/42 Best XI

Johnny Wright (YP7i)

Daniel White (YP18a) - Andy Dunn (YP1k) - Jim Fletcher (YP7d) - Gareth Huxley (YP2e)

Daniel Casey (YP3h) - Aidan Gorman (YP15c)

Macauley Joynes (YP1g)                                                         Gavin Huxley (YP5d)

 

Andrew Caulfield (YP1j) - Darren Metcalf (YP12f)

Top 10's

 

Trophy Count

[hubwub]

3 hours ago, Sn00gle said:

I never finish this challenge in my life  LoL

I do not play with instant results. I watch the games on extended highlights. T_T

[jepze]

  

Jepze - FC Claravallis Clervaux - Season 2025/26

Squad | Transfers | Finances | Supporters

Another season done and another trophy to my personal carbinet. But for the 3rd time ind the game, I just won the U21 division with the youth team. I hope i a manager would like the job instead of me, so I can concentrate on the first team. When we talk about the first team, we finished on a 9th place- It was a good start in a new league, our players develop, but we're still on our way down again, if you ask the media. every year, we gets one to 3 good players, who will give strength to the starting line-up, and that happend again, where we got a lot of defensive midtfielders, and i'm considering playing a 4-3-3 instead of a 4-2-3-1 for the defensive aspect of the game. Now we got the players to do that, so we'll play 2 different formations next year, because of some of our best players playing in the M (C) and AM (C) positions. In the cup, we lost in the first match again this year.

Competitions

League

Spoiler

Coupe de Luxembourg

Spoiler

Youth academy

Youth preview

Spoiler

Youth intake

Spoiler

Best prospects:

Spoiler

Aldin Ottelé (DM)

Thierry Moke (D (C) / DM / M (C))

Rayan Wagner (D (L))

Best XI

Spoiler

Trophy cabinet

None

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by jepze

[Makoto Nakamura]

We lose out to Red Star Belgrade but look at the money!!

SEASON 20 AND WE HAVE OUR FIRST UPGRADES!!!!

[WhiteCat33]

A.S. Rupensia Lusitanos Fiels

Season 7 202-2030: BGL Ligue (Tier 1)

 

Well, we couldn't do it our defense was horrendous this season and we just didn't have the players to make it better. I was called in by the board twice during the season. The first was in December after a 9 game winless streak, which we snapped with our only good run of form during the season to make them happy again.

Spoiler

 

The second time was March where I had to make the 1-month promise. Luckily, we had just 2 games and we won and drew which was sufficient to pacify the board. 

Spoiler

Then we reached the end of the season where we were in a relegation battle, but were in an okay position for the relegation playoff:

Spoiler

Unfortunatley we picked up just 1 win in 4, which set up a final day showdown with Junglinster who we had to beat to get to the relegation playoff:

Spoiler

They score first in the 29’ off a botched header by my CB and that is one of only 3 highlights in the first half. The 3rd being an offside equalizer by us that was rightly called back. Halftime I try to inspire the troops. That and subs do nothing and while we have 15 shots we only put up .58 xG showing how low quality our chances are and we lose 0-1 and are relegated ☹ Question now is will we be fired?

This was harsh. We were rated by the media 16/16 with 600-1 odds, so relegation was almost a certainty and the board initially just had 'fight against relegation', but at some point during the season up'd it to 'relegation playoff' so sacked us. Real bummer as I was enjoying this save.

0-2 in Luxembourg already this cycle.

Edited November 14, 2022 by WhiteCat33

[hubwub]

CDS Tampico Madero - Liga BBVA MX - 2026/2027

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

MANAGER: CHARACTERISTICS | ATTRIBUTES

Liga BBVA MX Apertura

1000-1 odds to win it. Drew against Pachuca. I'll take it. Roberto Firmino is gone from Monterrey, so he will no longer haunt my team.

Leagues Cup

The first round game against St. Louis should have been a draw. We will take our wins wherever we get them. Shocked that Pachuca and Monterrey got first rounded.

Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League

Philadelphia Union, we meet again. Can they be my first rival in-game?

Squad

Carlos Flores 24B, my newest vice-captain and the runner-up for the 2025/2026 NXGN award. His development since his arrival to the club.

Guillermo Valdéz 24A, third placed in the NXGN award again for the second straight year. Development for my star goalkeeper.

Mentoring

Spoiler

Mentoring is essential. It helps with getting your players be in one social group and move forward the general personality of your team. The current personality of my squad is Fairly Professional.

The way my team is setup right now in terms of mentoring is I have one player that is either a Team Leader, Highly Influential Player or Influential Player in the group. I try not to make it so that the mentor in the group has negative traits/attributes such as a fairly selfish player but sometimes you can't escape it. Next, I make sure that they are in the same determination level and personalities.

)

• GK mentoring group: Eduardo Leal 23A is Fairly Sporting (Professionalism: 1-14, Determination: 14 (1-14), Ambition: 1-14, Loyalty: 1-14, and Sportsmanship: 15-20). Gustavo Meza 25E is Fairly Determined (Professionalism: 1-14, Determination: 15 (15-17)). Guillermo Valdéz 24A is Resolute (Professionalism: 15-20, Determination: 15 (15-17), Sportmanship: 5-20, and Pressure: 1-16). I am hoping that being surrounded by higher determination attributes Eduardo Leal 23A should get a determination boost and change personalities.
• DC mentoring group: Israel Escobedo 26C has a Balanced personality with 9 Determination. We want to raise that same with David Rodríguez 26E Balanced and 13 Determination. Daniel de Hita Sánchez 25A is Determined with 19 Determination and José Juan García is Fairly Determined with 15 Determination.
• DL mentoring group: This one I'm so unsure of because of Edgar Zatarain who is a Balanced with 8 Determination. José Luís 26A is Fairly Professional with 11 Determination, Bryan Morales 26D is Realist with 17 Determination, and Armando Cordero 23B is Spirited with 12 Determination. This might have a negative effect on the other players, we will see after Apertura.

• DM mentoring group: What is this two players with Unambitious personalities? Well, 15. Iván Treviño 25C is Unambitious with 15 Determination and José de Luna 23E is Unambitious with 14 Determination. The unambitious personality is Determination: 1-17, Ambition: 1-5, and Loyalty: 11-20. Josué Valladares 24E is Balanced with 8 Determination who could be a problem for this group. Jordi Rocha 23C who is Resolute with 15 Determination could be the key person in making my Unambitious players in this group better.
• AMR mentoring group: Caleb Silva 25F Balanced with 5 Determination. Francisco Hernández 25B is Balanced with 14 Determination. Mentor Jhon Miranda is Balanced with 12 Determination. Víctor Leyva 23F is Fairly Determined with 15 Determination. Another experiment in raising the determination of a player.
• ST mentoring group: This one is the biggest mentoring group so far with 5 players. Moisés Benítez 24C is Fairly Professional with 12 Determination. Diego Gutiérrez 26B is Resolute with 17 Determination. Pedro Cisneros 25D is Resolute with 15 Determination. Mentor Arturo Rodriguez is Fairly Determined with 17 Determination. Carlos Flores 24B is Balanced with 10 Determination. I'm hoping that he who is my vice captain gets a rise in Determination.

The mentoring groups will be evaluated after the 2026/2027 season. Remember mentoring groups is a slow process similar to playing this challenge.

Miscellaneous

First award for myself.

The club is now three stars in reputation but still National.

My greatest pickup for this season so far is this staff member. It baffles my mind that this staff member is 18 years old and has a Model Citizen personality.

[The7Striker]

Looks a good one 

@WhiteCat33 thats harsh. I was enjoying your story in that club and country.

[libbyshuss]

1 hour ago, WhiteCat33 said:

This was harsh. We were rated by the media 16/16 with 600-1 odds, so relegation was almost a certainty and the board initially just had 'fight against relegation', but at some point during the season up'd it to 'relegation playoff' so sacked us. Real bummer as I was enjoying this save.

that looks really harsh. I'm sure the boards are much more trigger happy this year, some of the sackings we've seen seem really mean!

[XaW]

                      

XaW - Try Idrettslag - Season 2024 (Season 2) - 9. Division Oslo 1 (10th tier)

Squad | Transfers | Finances

Down here the seasons go fast. 12 matches isn't much, but we did enough to go up. FC Oslo 2 did give us a push for the top spot, so it was nervy down to the final day. I managed to get more improvements to Junior Coaching as well as Youth Recruitment!

No cups this year.

U19 Team:

They only played friendlies.

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

9. Divisjon Oslo 1 - 1 (2024)
10. Divisjon Oslo 1 - 1 (2023)

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Apps
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mats-Erik Taubo 23b	Norway		<N/A>		26
Sixten Diskerud 23o	Norway		<N/A>		26
Henrik Danielsen 23p	Norway		<N/A>		26
Håvard Leirvik 23d	Norway		<N/A>		25
Terje Engelbrethsen 23f	Norway		<N/A>		25

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Goals
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mathias Øfsti Talsnes 24o Norway	<N/A>		12
Edvard Giske Person 23a	Norway		<N/A>		11
Erik Jansen 23k		Norway		<N/A>		10
Sixten Diskerud 23o	Norway		<N/A>		10
Mats-Erik Taubo 23b	Norway		<N/A>		8

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Assists
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Edvard Giske Person 23a	Norway		<N/A>		11
Mats-Erik Taubo 23b	Norway		<N/A>		10
Håvard Leirvik 23d	Norway		<N/A>		6
Michael Bulay 23g	Philippines	Norway		5
Sixten Diskerud 23o	Norway		<N/A>		5

Supporters:

Summary:

[Makoto Nakamura]

2042/43 Youth Preview

Another supposedly perfect intake.

[WhiteCat33]

@The7Striker @libbyshuss It really does seem like the board is less forgiving of relegation in fm23. Here I thought a quick pop up into the topflight we could right our finances and build some experience, but sadly they crushed the dream of my Luxembourg Portuguese Academy! Pulled an Icarus and got ahead of myself with how strong our offense was. Now if I'm in the same situation where I could get a surprise promotion, I may purposefully sabotage it to stay in a lower division longer. 

Might be simulating seasons again for Luxembourg D5. There is a certain club that would make for a great Portuguese Academy Comeback:

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by WhiteCat33

[Neo_Geo]

@WhiteCat33you are on a mission…..I love it 

[WhiteCat33]

Intro:

Luke Farrell is pissed following his cruel sacking at the hands of the ungrateful ASRL Fels Board. This former player of English T7 side FC Guiseley, brought the tiny Portuguese-Luxembourg side up 4 promotions in just 7 seasons to the topflight of Luxembourgish Football and saw 5 of his players featured in Portugal’s U18 & 19 squads. Even with a bright future of youngsters, and a club for the first time becoming financially solvent all his accomplishments were instantly forgotten by the Board following their topflight relegation. Before he could even reach the locker-room his pink slip was signed, and he was cast out.

One would think such an up-and-coming coach would return to his homeland to ply his trade – as his own former club is in desperate need of a new direction - yet Farrell has unfinished business in Luxembourg. He has been captured by not just the forests and hills, but the tenacity and determination of the Portuguese immigrants whose communities blend their ancestral homeland with their beautiful villages across the principality.

While Farrell vows never to return to ASRL Fels, they are not the only amateur side from a Portuguese Community he can lead to glory. There is one team whose ambitions are stated in their name and desire heights never before seen by any Luxembourgish squad:

Introducing AS Luxemburgo Porto, who dare to become the most reputable Porto on the planet & to have more club-trained players in the national team setup! [And yes, I think 'technically' the red & black part is their badge, but the first image is of this photoshop on an FC Porto badge as well as can be seen on their jerseys in the news article]. In 2017 ASL Porto gained promotion to the Division 1 via playoffs, through a season of record defensive performances. Their Coach, Nuno De Almeida Costa, was quoted as saying “The club has not known the D1 for 33 years. The merger dates back to ten years ago. One thing is certain: the committee has ambition to spare. We don't want to stop at D1. I'm an ambitious coach”. Sadly, these ambitions were never realized as this ‘height’ wouldn’t last. In the following years ASL Porto have tumbled down the Luxembourg pyramid till in the Summer of 2023 they sat the bottom of the bottom in Division 3:

Spoiler

Start:

In comes Luke Farrell, the lower-league addict who the ASL Porto board have entrusted with the future of their side. I mean, how much worse could it get?!

Spoiler

 

While AS Luxembourgish Porto have a small supporter's section, they are highly motivated, and their passion sways the board so Farrell will have to watch himself this time and not tempt fate again if he'd like to keep his job!

Spoiler

Squad:

While his squad is predominantly youngsters who were hastily scavenged from the youth fields around the club there are two senior players who have been brought in by the chairmen in their disastrous 2022-23 season.

Spoiler

The first is a 31 year old Kosovan CD, who makes good decisions in his marking:

Spoiler

And the second is a super fit Luxembourger LM who has a bit of acceleration still in him:

Spoiler

With this meagre squad Luke Farrell is hungry for redemption, and to show the world where the best Portuguese Footballers hail from!

Edited November 15, 2022 by WhiteCat33

[glennuk]

On 10/11/2022 at 11:51, glennuk said:

Started an Indonesia save, but may not be worth doing quite yet, there are a few bugs which I think SI need to work out to make it a viable save.

See Contract issues and transfer window/registration dates - https://community.sigames.com/bugtracker/football-manager-2023-bugs-tracker/league-specific-issues/indonesia-official-league-specific-issues/

So even though the bugs are there in Indonesia League Two, I think they may be more visual and annoying than game breaking.

Basically:

Contracts: Manager (myself) and player contracts seem to end on Dec 31st even though that is in the middle (2/3rds) of the way through the season. However my contract as manager ran out (the board would not offer another one), but I was not fired. I eventually asked and got a new contract in March, making me think although the contracts say Dec 31st is the expiry, in game the AI is seeing it as 31st June. Going to test more with player contracts to see how that seems, but I have just been renewing contracts early (as in renewing in March 2024 for those who expire in Dec 2024), at this stage (end of season 1) I don't want to let anyone go.
 

Squad Registration: 

Summer Transfer Window is: 1st July - 25th August

Summer registration period seems to be: 17th February - 1st June

Winter Registration period seems to be: 15th October - 24th October

This seems to not make sense. You can sign players on the 1st July, but not register them until 15th October. My youth intake was 1st July, but they could not play for around the first 10 games of the season as they couldn't be registered.

 

However despite these issues (and doing well with Unterhaching), I may make Indonesia my main youth save.

 

Anyway, anyone else planning to start in Indonesia beware of the above.

Edited November 15, 2022 by glennuk

[Daddy]

2024/25 Midseason Review:

Overperforming start with an underperforming finish to the half. The whole league is tightly packed and first place has been traded quite a bit. Hopefully we get things back in gear and make a push back up the table. Don't think the team is ready to compete in the top division, but if the team can perform consistently we're good enough for a promotion.

Intake Preview:

Would have liked to seen a striker in there as our current striker will be gone at end of the year and no one really staking a claim to replace yet. Always happy to see lots of high potential though.

[SkiIIs]

Season 3 - 2026 - Expansion League

Opening Stage - We continued our good form from last years closing stage finishing top after a slow start.  We were 2 wins 6 draws at one point then went 7 wins and 1 loss in the last 8 games.  In the QF we were paired with Puebla, who we knocked out in the semis last closing stage. Away from home first we scored in the 91st minute in a 2 - 1 loss in a really strange game. We had 43% possession and lost out in xG 2.09 to 1.29 despite us having 15 shots (6 on target) against 6 (2 on target). Of course we conceded those two shots.   Home leg we dominated the match and scored early but conceded in the 67th minute for a 1 - 1 draw. They only had two shots on target.

Spoiler

Closing Stage - we were surprisingly a lot more inconsistent, needing to secure our top 4 position on the last day. We were given the opportunity for revenge as we were again paired with Puebla (common theme happening). Away from home and again the result was a 2 - 1 loss in a pretty even affair. Home leg in a tight affair, we managed to score the only goal in the 64th minute to progress to the semis. We unfortunately got Dorados who finished 1st. In what was an even affair, we lost the home leg 2 - 1 with what could have been an important goal by us scored in the 91st minute which gave us a little hope.  Check out the spoiler for the away leg:

Spoiler

 

Upgrades:

Spoiler

 

Youth preview gave four players an A, the intake was pretty good. 3 of the top 5 prospects have wonderful personalities. 

This guy is the my pick of the bunch as i need to bolster my midfield ranks. Sol A from last years intake is now one of my key players and i cant wait to pair Uribe next to him

[BrightLad5]

Having difficult in season 1! About 10 games in and sat in the relegation zone about 4 points adrift  Trying my best to do moral manager and praise conduct as much as possible, as well as praising and critcising training, last match, form... everything possible really. Even had a couple of success team meetings to get the boys moral up, but with each bad result it keeps slipping down to poor. I'm playing a tactic that I think is to the players strengths. it is a 4-3-3 DM wide, positive mentality with pretty basic match instructions but I'm conceding so much! Scoring isn't a problem but we cant keep a cleansheet! 

Training is slowly starting to produce some results, the players are no longer getting sub 6.0 training ratings each week and some are starting to get over 7.0 which is a positive.

Is there any tips anyone might have that can get me out of this slump? A big issue I feel is seeing out games 

[MikaV84]

I think this is pertinent to this challenge, but can anyone confirm that your U21 or U18 managers are arranging friendlies if tasked to do so? I've started three different saves to join this challenge, but i'm just not going to manually create friendlies for the U-xx teams to keep my players match fitness up, since this wasn't a problem in 22 and it's a brickwall of a problem in 23. I've clicked, unclicked and made Latvian spells on all the dropdowns and checkboxes and nothing helps. 

So, do you have a manager responsible to create friendlies for a youth team? Is he actually creating them? Let me know. And yes, i've reported the bug, just seeing if this is widespread and if there's a workaround - i think it's especially pertinent for this challenge. Cheers!

[The7Striker]

@WhiteCat33 "You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain" 

[jepze]

   

Jepze - FC Claravallis Clervaux - Season 2026/27

Squad | Transfers | Finances | Supporters

Another season is under our belt, and this was the season, where we didn't win the U21 league. But it was also the season, where i shouldn't manage them anymore, because we got an manager for them. It was the best thing in the whole save to this date. If we look at the first team, we got another promotion to the 1 division through a 3rd place in the league. The 3rd place was cemented by 7 wins in the last 7 games. The squad is playing good at the moment, but we need to strengthen the squad. We only got 2-3 players from the youth intake, who can help us immediatly next season. But this is also the time, where we got semi prof, but that will take a hit on our already damage finances, but hopefully it will not be as bad as i think. Yet again in the cup, we got out in the first round to a 2-3 defeat.

Competitions

League

Spoiler

Coupe de Luxembourg

Spoiler

Youth academy

Youth preview

Spoiler

Youth intake

Spoiler

Best prospects:

Spoiler

Alain Skrijelj (D (L))

Mohamed El Tahir (D (C))

Panagiotis Tsoulias (ST)

Infrastructur

Spoiler

Best XI

Spoiler

Best ever XI

Trophy cabinet

None

 

@WhiteCat33, hope it will go better with the Porto side. I'm a bit worried that the same will happen for me, but i'm a couple of season behind your save, but let us see.

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by jepze

[Makoto Nakamura]

2042/43 Youth Candidates

Poor personalities but this is one hell of an intake! The class of 2043 could bring through a whole host of first team players!!!

[JAwtunes]

1 hour ago, BrightLad5 said:

Having difficult in season 1! About 10 games in and sat in the relegation zone about 4 points adrift  Trying my best to do moral manager and praise conduct as much as possible, as well as praising and critcising training, last match, form... everything possible really. Even had a couple of success team meetings to get the boys moral up, but with each bad result it keeps slipping down to poor. I'm playing a tactic that I think is to the players strengths. it is a 4-3-3 DM wide, positive mentality with pretty basic match instructions but I'm conceding so much! Scoring isn't a problem but we cant keep a cleansheet! 

Training is slowly starting to produce some results, the players are no longer getting sub 6.0 training ratings each week and some are starting to get over 7.0 which is a positive.

Is there any tips anyone might have that can get me out of this slump? A big issue I feel is seeing out games 

It sounds like you're doing the right things, well what I would do at least, to bump up morale.  I guess you could try to add some team bonding the day before a match as that can apparently help, but praising conduct, training etc. is part of my gameday ritual now too.

[BrightLad5]

Maybe I just need to get the tactic cohesion up a bit more. All players are training in their playing roles so it is rising but some aren't quite all the way yet. I'll try adding the team bonding before the matches for the next few weeks and hope that has a boost! Thanks!

I feel a lot has come down to bad luck. Lots of late goals, missed a penalty early on in a game things like that. I've played several of the teams at the bottom of the table already though so i fear that tougher teams will negate any rise in moral/tactical familiarity but you never know. One win will change everything, but only having 1 win from 11 played so far this season isnt great 

[Neo_Geo]

Slight spoiler for my save but I encountered the new look Europa League (referred to as the Swiss model - fitting for my Swiss save )

So now its a single group and you play 8 different teams and have to finish in the top 8 to reach the knock out or between 9th and 2th to qualify for the knock out play off round.

Should make it interesting to see how it impacts the chances of qualifying (also removes the ability to make tactical alterations for the return game against teams in your group).

[Neo_Geo]

Just now, BrightLad5 said:

Maybe I just need to get the tactic cohesion up a bit more. All players are training in their playing roles so it is rising but some aren't quite all the way yet. I'll try adding the team bonding before the matches for the next few weeks and hope that has a boost! Thanks!

I feel a lot has come down to bad luck. Lots of late goals, missed a penalty early on in a game things like that. I've played several of the teams at the bottom of the table already though so i fear that tougher teams will negate any rise in moral/tactical familiarity but you never know. One win will change everything, but only having 1 win from 11 played so far this season isnt great 

Unfortunately I think a lot of the morale comes from your form, one win can seem to trigger a bit of a run.

Are you micro managing during the game with regards to the instructions? It may well be you need to pick your moments when to go on the attack and when to instruct to sit deeper based on the momentum of the match (if they added the graphic for momentum it suggest to me that this now plays a role in how your team perform and when they score/concede)

[Sanno11]

 

I have been enjoying reading all the progress made by everyone already, and the lure of trying this in England for the third time has caught me again. I have a history of disappearing after January, but I am ready to try again.

Morpeth were founded in 1909, so have a long history, which I find interesting. With it being based in the north east of England there will be plenty of rivalries along the way, ultimately Newcastle will be the Northern giant to compete with. The club is small, with an aging squad of 17 players and no facilities to speak of, so if we survive the first few years, perhaps we have a chance of progressing. 

Keep up the good work everyone.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Sanno11

[Neo_Geo]

@Sanno11best of luck, they say third time's a charm 

I honestly applaud all of those taking on England, its my kryptonite 

[thomas_e]

1 hour ago, MikaV84 said:

I think this is pertinent to this challenge, but can anyone confirm that your U21 or U18 managers are arranging friendlies if tasked to do so? I've started three different saves to join this challenge, but i'm just not going to manually create friendlies for the U-xx teams to keep my players match fitness up, since this wasn't a problem in 22 and it's a brickwall of a problem in 23. I've clicked, unclicked and made Latvian spells on all the dropdowns and checkboxes and nothing helps. 

So, do you have a manager responsible to create friendlies for a youth team? Is he actually creating them? Let me know. And yes, i've reported the bug, just seeing if this is widespread and if there's a workaround - i think it's especially pertinent for this challenge. Cheers!

I manually set up the friendlies for my U19 side. They already play in a league, but I need the friendlies to keep my first team reserve's match fit. I just arrange them on the same day every week and I do 15 games at a time when I set it up which makes it a pretty fast task to do. 

[MikaV84]

1 minute ago, thomas_e said:

I manually set up the friendlies for my U19 side. They already play in a league, but I need the friendlies to keep my first team reserve's match fit. I just arrange them on the same day every week and I do 15 games at a time when I set it up which makes it a pretty fast task to do. 

Thanks for the reply - have to tried to make the managers do it for you?

[BrightLad5]

16 minutes ago, Neo_Geo said:

Unfortunately I think a lot of the morale comes from your form, one win can seem to trigger a bit of a run.

Are you micro managing during the game with regards to the instructions? It may well be you need to pick your moments when to go on the attack and when to instruct to sit deeper based on the momentum of the match (if they added the graphic for momentum it suggest to me that this now plays a role in how your team perform and when they score/concede)

I am, but could maybe do more tweaks to individuals in games. I tempted to go on the front foot more. Our defense is bad and GK lets everything roll past him, but going forward most players are good for this level. Maybe I should just try the old fashioned "just score more than them" method and hope I get lucky?! 

[Makoto Nakamura]

2042/43 End of Season Review

No European football for us next season but we've still done well again, and for once we've had a really good youth intake! Hopefully we can build on this.  

Overall Best XI

2042/43 Best XI

Johnny Wright (YP7i)

Daniel White (YP18a) - Paul Dunn (YP13e) - Jim Fletcher (YP7d) - Gareth Huxley (YP2e)

Daniel Casey (YP3h) - Aidan Gorman (YP15c)

Jamie Hassin (YP17e)                                                         Gavin Huxley (YP5d)

 

Andrew Caulfield (YP1j) - Darren Metcalf (YP12f)

Top 10's

 

Trophy Count

[Ray46]

I have spent quite longer than expecting reading up all your challenges. Some nice adventures and cruel sackings. I try to upvote all your messages, but the forum won't allow me to do more today, haha.

I'm really fortunate with my Sant Andreu save, I inherited a complete squad with youth players that have developed beyond my expectations in the first three seasons. Also my club was already professional so I could attract staff with the right personalities. Spain has a lot of staff to chose from. Good personalities train well, which improves attributes, which improves performance, which improves morale.

I am micromanaging the morale, tactics, training, match fitness and finances a lot. I watch most games on Key highlights, but I do watch some games back to optimize how we defend set pieces or what happens with build up after a goal kick. That's how I made my Opposition instructions, it really helped the pressing.

It's also the reason I'm only 3 seasons in compared to some others who have done 23, LOL. I am really hooked on this save and this way of playing. (It's my first challenge). As I explained in my opening post, it's personal. I want revenge on the Barcelona board. I can't let Johan Cruyff down...

Edited November 15, 2022 by Ray46

[Conardo]

Ok, I have now decided that as soon as the San Marino Challenge is playable I will start here as well. However, my reporting frequency will be very low and I already know that I will never complete the challenge

I was totally hooked on reading along...^^

But the way is the goal

Edited November 15, 2022 by Conardo

[The7Striker]

1 hora atrás, Conardo disse:

Ok, I have now decided that as soon as the San Marino Challenge is playable I will start here as well. However, my reporting frequency will be very low and I already know that I will never complete the challenge

I was totally hooked on reading along...^^

But the way is the goal

@XaW can explain better, but if is only 1 division league, you cant post here. 

[XaW]

1 hour ago, Conardo said:

Ok, I have now decided that as soon as the San Marino Challenge is playable I will start here as well. However, my reporting frequency will be very low and I already know that I will never complete the challenge

I was totally hooked on reading along...^^

But the way is the goal

2 minutes ago, The7Striker said:

@XaW can explain better, but if is only 1 division league, you cant post here. 

Yeah, sorry, but only nations with more than one tier to be eligible for this challenge. San Marino only has one, if I'm not mistaken.

[Conardo]

I thought, I can start in the 4th/5th Italian league? With a editet league-file?

Edited November 15, 2022 by Conardo

[The7Striker]

14 minutos atrás, Conardo disse:

I thought, I can start in the 4th/5th Italian league? With a editet league-file?

That you can if the club gets promoted to another tier or finish in last place of the league doesnt have relegation.

When you wrote San Marino I thought it was the league itself.

Edited November 15, 2022 by The7Striker

[Conardo]

No, I just want to coach a team from San Marino

[thomas_e]

3 hours ago, MikaV84 said:

Thanks for the reply - have to tried to make the managers do it for you?

Yes. It works, but it doesn't work well. They very often arrange the matches at strange times, like the day before a first team game. 

[XaW]

1 hour ago, Conardo said:

I thought, I can start in the 4th/5th Italian league? With a editet league-file?

Ah, yeah, for the San Marino team in Italy, sure. I thought you meant the San Marinese league!

[XaW]

                       

XaW - Try Idrettslag - Season 2025 (Season 3) - 8. Division Oslo 1 (9th tier)

Squad | Transfers | Finances

Another season, another promotion! The youth intakes really makes us stronger each season. Even though it might have looked easy, it wasn't. Bislett were on our heels the whole season and only had a poor end and dropped off then. With only a single promotion spot, it was a closer shave than it appears. Once again I managed to get the board to approve improvements to Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment. The board also decided to make us semi-pro after promotion was secured! A bit early, yeah, but I don't mind.

No cups this year.

U19 Team:

They only played friendlies.

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

8. Divisjon Oslo 1 - 1 (2025)
9. Divisjon Oslo 1 - 1 (2024)
10. Divisjon Oslo 1 - 1 (2023)

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Apps
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sixten Diskerud 23o	Norway		<N/A>		43
Terje Engelbrethsen 23f	Norway		<N/A>		39
Edvard Giske Person 23a	Norway		<N/A>		37
Håvard Leirvik 23d	Norway		<N/A>		37
Michael Bulay 23g	Philippines	Norway		37

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Goals
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mathias Øfsti Talsnes 24o Norway	<N/A>		41
Sixten Diskerud 23o	Norway		<N/A>		25
Edvard Giske Person 23a	Norway		<N/A>		12
Erik Jansen 23k		Norway		<N/A>		10
Mats-Erik Taubo 23b	Norway		<N/A>		8

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Assists
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Edvard Giske Person 23a	Norway		<N/A>		13
Felix Horn Bergdølmo 25b Norway		<N/A>		12
Mats-Erik Taubo 23b	Norway		<N/A>		10
Pål Kristiansen 25o	Norway		<N/A>		9
Håvard Leirvik 23d	Norway		<N/A>		8

Supporters:

Summary:

[WhiteCat33]

Luke Farrell's Luxembourg Odessey

Of course, Farrell's second attempt at crafting his unique youth academy wouldn't be straightforward. What Chairmen Bob Schiltz failed to mention was that ASL Porto had been served by FC Porto with a cease-and-desist due to their 'homage' to the Portuguese giant's crest and name. So even though everything at the club still says ASL Porto if you look at the fine print of the paperwork "legally" he has signed for ALSS Luxembourg.

Spoiler

Fearing that he is in-fact signed for the ghost of a defunct club Farrell searched through the depths of the Luxembourg Football Federation's website and was thrilled to learn that in fact ALSS Luxembourg is in fact a real club that is in the South-East part of Luxembourg city near the rail-yards: FLF Extranet. However there is a problem... ALSS Luxembourg, as a club also exists and are in the 1st Division. And it becomes crystal clear they are the "new" ASL Porto when you find their facebook, which is the "ASL Porto" FB rebranded: AS Alss Luxembourg | Facebook. Not to mention they both share the same facilities at the Stade Boy Konen. And if  you check the Global Sport Archive, they are also registered there as having the ALSPorto as a historical logo and playing current fixtures AS ALSS Luxembourg - Soccer - Team Profile - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics - Global Sports Archive.

Spoiler

So it seems in fact he has signed for a defunct club  will the hits never cease for Farrell?!? He's just a simple man who wants to create the Portuguese National team out of Luxembourg, is that too much to ask for?

There is hope though (if the mods will allow it) there is another ALSS Luxembourg splinter organization that has dedicated themselves to "Street Soccer" while also drawing from the same Portuguese community that Farrell seeks to cultivate. While their main team plays in the Futsal league, it seems to Farrell that these renegades have taken over the open ASL Porto banner to take their high flair attacking football onto the grass pitch. ALSS | Luxembourg | Facebook. If they are allowed onto the grass it will be an all-out attacking style of play, where goals galore are demanded by the ravenous fans!

Totally understand @XaW if this club is a no-go, just figured I'd give it a shot! Luxembourg is fighting me, maybe I really am the villian @The7Striker 

@jepze My one piece of advice is don't under-estimate the power jump between the Division of Honour and the BGL League. I found it very difficult to handle their teams defensively, and with 4+1 relegation spots I couldn't get above the waterline. I would avoid promotion until you are fully confident in your back-line. I went in with a Division 1 level team and they just got murdered. I probably needed 2-3 more years in Division of Honour before I would have been ready as the final intake did give me some CBs but they still weren't very good. 

Edited November 15, 2022 by WhiteCat33

[Makoto Nakamura]

2043/44 Youth Preview

Not really a lot of point posting this anymore, everyone is great and no, we're not getting Defensive Midfielders.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Makoto Nakamura

[fries]

League One

2028/29 (season 6)

Season Summary

My young players keep developing and performing. And as a team, we kept winning. Not the title this time, but another promotion. 3 promotions in a row. I have never experienced this kind of success before!

We started by losing the first game of the season. Then we lost again to a League Two team in the Carabao Cup. In the next game, we won a narrow but undeserved victory. I though that this was our level and that we would fight to win games this season. However, after that, I changed the tactics to a 4-4-2 narrow diamond formation. And then we started winning.

We also won the Papa Johns Throphy.

My two strikers did very well. Byran scored 36 goals and Walters scored 25 while he assisted 19 goals too.

The rest of the team developed very well and also performed good.

The primary reason for my success in the last few seasons is my strikers. The first one, Walters, is regarded as the best player in the league. I just renewed his contract, but he has a rather low release clause.

Another reason for my success over the past few years is Byran. So far he has scored 161 league goals in 190 league games and was my top scorer for the forth season in a row. 

A rising star and a good performer in the defense is N'Guessan. He has developed very well this season.

Another promising and well performing player is Douglas.

N'Guessan was my first player of this save to be on the NXGN list. I think this is the earliest I have had a player on that list.

The youth intake preview looked great. Lots of A's and 5 stars.


The intake was okay with some okay personalities. The five most promising players got a little game time in the end of the season was promotion almost was home.





No significant transfers this season.

However, Egan, whom I sold last season was sold to another club from Brazil.

Furthermore, I sold the 50 pct. sell-on-clause we had on Mutombo.

Finances and Upgrades
I used the money from the Mutombo clause to upgrade the facilities. But the Mutombo money is also financing the youth set up which is quite expensive every month.





Next season
Next season, I hope to keep developing my players. I really hope to keep Walters. 
The promotions must stop now. The team is no near the Premier League level. I think we will fight to avoid relegation and maybe get a mid-table position.

[Shambolic]

I've neglected updates because I've been motoring along in my save. Still with Radcliffe and still in the Vanarama South but just wanted to share this horrendous news I got after my last match. My main striker, Liam Davidson, out for 6 months with a broken ankle. Currently on 14 goals in 9 games as we sit 3rd. Absolute heart breaker.

 

[Bartrcm]

After winning the derby this week, I just had to restart a save with my team Racing Mechelen. I know that there are financial problems in Belgium, but I can't resist.

[OlivierL]

Season Preview | Competitions

So back to back promotion and we are in the first tier after only two seasons! I love the city and situation but i really don't like the financial situation so i'm not going to continue at the moment and put this on a hold for now !

I simulated this save for two more seasons and every team in Belgium had arround 10m or more debt. Only Brugge was save.

A great prospect !

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by OlivierL