FM23 – Canadian Youth Only – Like Harrison Ford, I'm getting frantic, Like Sting, I'm tantric Like Snickers, guaranteed to satisfy, Like Kurosawa, I make mad films, 'kay, I don't make films, but if I did, they'd have a Samurai

[KibworthBull]

It's been one day since you looked at me
Cocked your head to the side and said, "I'm angry"
Five hours since you laughed at me
Saying, "Get that office cleared, your fired"
Three hours since I started again
I realized it's not quite right
In minutes you'd forgiven me
But it'll still be two days 'til I say I'm sorry.
So, what the heck does that all mean?

Basically...

Was enjoying the Lounovice save until they sacked me off, just when we were starting to see some fabulous looking players. Started a new save last night using the below Canadian database, but it wasn’t quite right, so we are going again.

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/569385-528-team-11-level-canadian-pyramid-22230/

 

Canadian Level 11 database, Youth Only.

We start at Level 10 – the 11th level is college football so we can’t get promoted out of that so we are starting at 10.

Our journey is with Scarborough Robbie,

The club is a homage to the Barenaked Ladies. BNL are a Canadian rock band, formed in 1998 and still going today – last year they played at the Royal Albert Hall in London, I was there, the 5^th time I have seen them live. They are MY band. The one that gets the toes tapping.

The in game current owner is Ed Robertson, who also happens to be the lead singer of the group – a lovely touch from the guy who created the database.

“The Robbie” play at the Birchmount Stadium – Home of the Robbie. To explain the name, the Birchmount Stadium serves as the primary stadium for the annual Robbie International Soccer Tournament, which bills itself as "the world's largest annual charitable youth soccer tournament." It is referenced in the BNL song “One Week”.

Diego Maradona played one of his last professional matches at the ground – according to Wikipedia.

A few aims:

Infrastructure

·        Reach the top grades for Junior Coaching, Youth Recruitment, Youth Facilities and Training Facilities. We are starting from the absolute

·        Have a waiting list for season tickets – we currently sell about 60-70 a season and the ground are an 8,000 capacity. So, we need to sell these out.

·        Get more twitter followers than the Canadian National League - 37,076 at time of the start and will keep updating that figure as we progress.

Trophies

·        Become the biggest side in Canada, North America and the World - based on reputation. At the start there are roughly 500 bigger teams in the Canada. We are Obscure. We don't even come close to appearing on either the European or World stages yet so let’s leave those as "in progress"

·        Win the North American Champions League with a squad of Academy Players

Global Network

·        Create affiliate links with clubs from all over the world - have an affiliate from each continent represent the first team AND their international full side

·        Have 100 nations coming through my academy - they have to make a first team appearance to qualify. One thing that has struck me in my “test” last night (I prefer test over failed save attempt) is that a lot of the Canadians have dual nationalities and it’s a really diverse country so should get some fantastic nationalities coming through.

·        Have a player appear in the NXGN top 50 wonderkids list that has come through the academy.

·        Have a player top the NXGN top 50 wonderkids list that has come through the academy.

 

International Credit

·        Have a player from our academy represent Canada at International Level from U19 to Senior

·        Have a player from our academy represent another nation at International Level from U19 to Senior

·        Create a team of full internationals from Canada - positions based on the Scouts opinion of their strongest position

·        Create a team of full internationals from another nations (excluding Canada) - positions based on the Scouts opinion of their strongest position

Longevity

·        Have a player from the academy make 1000 appearance for the club - only ever done this in Brazil

·        Have a player from the academy score 300 goals for the club - only had 1 player do this before and he wasn't an academy player

·        Create a team of 500+ appearance makers - positions based on the Scouts opinion of their strongest position

There will be lots of Barenaked Ladies references as we attempt to BRING IT HOME. Oh, and if I get sacked then the next manager in my head will continue the journey.

The first manager will be Boothby Graffoe, in real life he is a Stand Up Musical Comedian who often opens for BNL when they are in UK, in this reality he is a Panamanian with no qualifications or experience that settled in Scarborough and sent his CV in.

[Deisler26]

Oh you bastard

[KibworthBull]

Pre Season 2022

League 6 Ontario is the place we call home to start with. We will be playing in the Ontario regional leagues all the way up to Step 4, then it becomes nationalised. We are 50-1 to win the league. We've also got the Canadian Championship Cup to focus on. We enter this in the 3rd Qualifying - there are 15 or so rounds in this cup. We can't officially make the final either as that is excluded Amateur teams. Not that this should be a worry for a number of decades.

Intake day is sometime in September so will be outside of the regular season. So for this season at least it's as you were.

Pre Season was just about putting minutes into legs.

[anagain]

Interesting idea for a start. I wonder if anyone else is at quite an amateur level. I'm sure even phnompenhandy's Loch Ness team would be higher. 

The Ayr team intrigues me. I don't know if people are aware but there is a Canadian YouTuber named Quill18 who likes a bit of footsoccerball via FM and his favourite team is Ayr United.

Is this a reference?

Best of luck with those goals. 

[KibworthBull]

March 2022

The odds are that we will probably be alright
Odds are we gonna be alright, odds are we gonna be alright tonight
The odds are that we will probably be alright
Odds are we gonna be alright, odds are we gonna be alright for another night

Absolutely.

Christina's lad getting us off the mark in our debut game. Kris Hughes sets a club and league record for youngest player and goalscorer.

3 very solid cup victories against similiar standard teams, with the only blip being the defeat to Peterborough City.

[KibworthBull]

23 minutes ago, anagain said:

Interesting idea for a start. I wonder if anyone else is at quite an amateur level. I'm sure even phnompenhandy's Loch Ness team would be higher. 

The Ayr team intrigues me. I don't know if people are aware but there is a Canadian YouTuber named Quill18 who likes a bit of footsoccerball via FM and his favourite team is Ayr United.

Is this a reference?

Best of luck with those goals. 

Not sure on the reference - it's not my database but there are one or two strange sounding teams so it could be possible.

[KibworthBull]

April 2022

We learned a valuable lesson against Wisla United - take your chances. Dominated the game, couldn't find a winner and we are out! Claudio Aguilera also picked up a knock that puts him out for nearly 2 months.

We've also learned that this rag tag bunch of hopeless footballers is good enough to be more than competitive at the level.

The Scrosoppi FC victory was huge - away to the team in 2nd, with a near identical record.

The final lesson was (hopefully) learnt away to Etobicoke - close games out... 91st minute equaliser.

Our best performer so far.

To be called Everton you need to develop a thick skin so Bravery of 20 doesn't surprise me.

Just 7 games left in the season (it's a quick thing this low.) Looking very good for the play-offs.

 

[KibworthBull]

May 2022

Total domination with zip to show for it. Grrr Richmond Hill SC...

Total domination with plenty (eventually) to show for it. Take that Bradford Wolves.

3pts in the month.

Finances are terrible - we are losing about £20k per month keeping the ground up to scratch

[KibworthBull]

June 2022

Peterborough City ruined a perfect month for us in March. This was the chance for revenge. It didn't happen.

A point from the other league match in the month. We appear to be starting to fade a little bit.

All 528 Canadian sides enter the Canadian Open, we hosted a side 3 levels higher. There also only appears to be one round. Odd..

We got £6k for losing.

Never seen this in any league before. Well done Steve..

I'd be worried if the intake preview was any other picture

[KibworthBull]

July 2022

Home to 1st

Home to 2nd

That's our games this month.

About as tough as we can get.

 Jack Marriott and Claudio Aguilera are the heroes that got us past Scrosoppi FC - that's a double against them this season. An owl goal helped too.

Not sure I quite get the headline - we beat our U23's in a friendly - not sure that's much of a shock. Both of the friendlies were fitness exercises going into the crunch match at the end of the month.

Etobicoke secured their place in the play-offs with the victory.

It's 2 from 3 in the final game.

No Ed!!!! I know you've got a 2023 tour coming up (hopefully...) but say it ain't so..

[KibworthBull]

August 2022

One game. HIT or BUST.

Or more accurately. Do we have more games after this to try and get into Ontario5 or do we just sit back and await intake day in the next couple of months.

Defeat.. but it all depends on Peterborough City - they've broke our hearts twice this season.

We need them to fail to beat the bottom side in the league...

Did i say that out loud??

For about 16 minutes it all seemed possible

We miss out but everyone is happy.

[KibworthBull]

Season Review..

• League6 Ontario = 4th - Strong start - at the halfway stage we were looking good for the play-offs, heck with 1 game left we only needed a win to secure a play-off spot, but we fell away in the 2nd half of the season. The play-offs would have been a step to far.
• Canadian Championship = 6th Qualifying Round - we knocked out a couple of sides at a higher level before an extra time defeat to higher graded Wisla United
• Canadian Open - Lost in the rather odd single game format.

My player of the season was Claudio Aguilera - 7 goals in 16 games from Midfield, a 7.3 average rating.

Important youngsters...

Still waiting for the intake..

Achievements..

Still waiting for the intake..

Our new owner is glad of the extra N... although he has no plans to provide any additional cash.

[animal31]

On 29/11/2022 at 13:53, anagain said:

The Ayr team intrigues me. I don't know if people are aware but there is a Canadian YouTuber named Quill18 who likes a bit of footsoccerball via FM and his favourite team is Ayr United.

Yes, thats exactly why I added them; to coax him into playing

 

Which he has 

On 29/11/2022 at 14:17, KibworthBull said:

Not sure on the reference - it's not my database but there are one or two strange sounding teams so it could be possible.

Thres dozens of teams from low level soccer that are named like Unathletico Vancouver

 

the only teams that I added without any basis in reality are Ayr Sudbury, and the Robbie

  

On 30/11/2022 at 14:17, KibworthBull said:

All 528 Canadian sides enter the Canadian Open, we hosted a side 3 levels higher. There also only appears to be one round. Odd..

 

The canadian open is a single game showcase where only canadian players are allowed to play, giving teams an opportunity to play at BC place against the whitecaps, or against UBC or SFU when they dont exist in the same period as a couple of examples, in a nationally televised game, and every team gets a prize share, more for winning

 

There are 5 total rulesets for the Canadian open, and they rotate every year. So one year the Whitecaps will play Pacific, then they may play UBC the next, and then TSS Rovers, and then some sorry amateur side desperate for some gate receipts, before then playing Cavalry

 

Its basically a Canada day friendly, but the game is like "THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CUP YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO MAKE HISTORY"

You have a pretty decent chance of playing TFC at BMO, and if you do you'll see a portion of the 20k attendance, 25% if you lose, 45% if you manage the upset

Edited December 2, 2022 by animal31

[KibworthBull]

2 hours ago, animal31 said:

Yes, thats exactly why I added them; to coax him into playing

 

Which he has 

Thres dozens of teams from low level soccer that are named like Unathletico Vancouver

 

the only teams that I added without any basis in reality are Ayr Sudbury, and the Robbie

  

 

The canadian open is a single game showcase where only canadian players are allowed to play, giving teams an opportunity to play at BC place against the whitecaps, or against UBC or SFU when they dont exist in the same period as a couple of examples, in a nationally televised game, and every team gets a prize share, more for winning

 

There are 5 total rulesets for the Canadian open, and they rotate every year. So one year the Whitecaps will play Pacific, then they may play UBC the next, and then TSS Rovers, and then some sorry amateur side desperate for some gate receipts, before then playing Cavalry

 

Its basically a Canada day friendly, but the game is like "THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CUP YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO MAKE HISTORY"

You have a pretty decent chance of playing TFC at BMO, and if you do you'll see a portion of the 20k attendance, 25% if you lose, 45% if you manage the upset

That makes a lot more sense now, thanks for explaining.

I have a lot to learn when it comes to Canadian Football.

[KibworthBull]

October 2022

It's our first intake and it's..

lovely

poor

here

Was hoping for a little bit better - one or two different nationalities at least.

Matthew Nicholson (1A) looks like he is a decent-ish physical player. A good engine they might say. A 3rd best option at full back.

Our new No.1 keeper is Greg "Wardie" Ward (1B) . He looks like he can stop a shot. Possibly at this level it will be enough.

Davide Veronesi gets called out because he is San Marino dual national! He will be one of my better strikers next season. Could he be an outside bet for international caps?? He's rubbish but so is San Marino.

You get what your given...

Or as BNL would say - "Smile"

Edited December 2, 2022 by KibworthBull

[KibworthBull]

Pre Season 2023

Massive News...

The reality is that we cannot actually give anyone anything better than Non Contract yet, and we would have to give them appearance bonuses, so we are actually worse off... 

To add to that as well... all the youth contracts are set to £25 per week.. We are massively over our wage budget.

21 players were released at the end of the season to give as much chance to the graduates as possible. The only one to find a club was Cornell O'Connor who has stepped up a tier to join HNNK Zagreb Toronto

The U20s and U23s carried on playing until the end of November. The U23's reached the semi's but...

Both sides got promoted to the Ninth Division.

The actual pre-season fixtures were just testing the kids against as higher graded sides as I could - play against better players improves you the most, possibly.

Bookies know a thing or two.

[animal31]

I should also mention that the leagues dont always work as intended. The groups themselves work perfectly fine, its just the name of the league that may be a little jarring. They separate teams east and west fine, but Since there are so many teams in the West, in Vancouver and Manitoba, and because there are so many Toronto teams to the west of you, you'll probably end up playing in the Quebec league, along with teams from Ottawa and Gatineau, and others from eastern Toronto.

 

Canadas just so massively wide, its really hard to get things to work correctly but ill be working on it for future releases of the database

[KibworthBull]

March 2023

2 leagues matches in the first month, both away from home, one against a side relegated and the other against a side that reached the play-offs. Not an easy start.

Not that we seemed to care much, smashing 4 past the relegated side - Franco Marcellino (1C) getting the first goal from a graduate on debut.

He goes one better in the next one and adds an assists. He also gets into the Ontario6 and Tenth Tier teams of the week.

100% league record from the first month. Lovely.

We should have beaten Storm - only ourselves to blame for crashing out at the first hurdle.

[KibworthBull]

April 2023

Peterborough City did the double over us last season and their final day victory meant that we missed out on the play-offs, so this game means something. We may rue the 2 dropped points.

Missed chances cost victory... grrrr...

There is definately a ceiling at this low level - we cannot beat Richmond Hill either. 3 losses in 3.

Inside the play-off picture and there is a buffer but we could do with a few more points and quick.

This is a move 3 tiers higher.. our captain departs.

[KibworthBull]

May 2023

Bradford Wolves sat in 5th prior to kick off and hadn't won in 5 - the perfect chance to poor a little bit of misery dust over their cornflakes.. Kris Hughes made it 8 in 8

Hughes bought up the double figures in our first double of the season against Oshawa Kicks. A perfect month.

Just when we needed it.

[KibworthBull]

June 2023

This month is like an Elephant.

HUGE

Turned down my first job offer from elsewhere - tier 7 side.

Etobicoke Soccer Club have only lost once all season.. to us 7-0. They are top. Or at least they were. Stars Kris Hughes and Claudio Aguilera with the goals and they couldn't fully get back into the game.

We still can't get any change out of Peterborough City mind.

2 or 3 key players missed the Downsivew Rams match - more than happy with a point.

3 games left. 7th, 1st and 6th. It's in our hands.

Only a GOOD intake planned. 3 right wingers seems a little bit overloaded.

[KibworthBull]

July 2023

It's Canadian Open time - a competition that makes sense now! A chance for us to get some cash into the books. 

Full rotation against a lower graded side. We lost but got 6k into the coffers.

What could be a big win in the only league game of the month. They missed a penalty and within 5 minutes Kris Hughes scored the only goal of the game.

It's 3 from 4 and there are two games left.

First choice RB has decided to move to a higher level

[KibworthBull]

August 2023

The wrong time to lose. Our poor record against Richmond Hill continues.

We must beat Bradford Wolves. The top two will play each other, and Etobicoke are away to Oshawa Kicks - if they lose then we can get away with a draw.

Amazingly Etobicoke lost. And we won. So Hello Play-Offs.

This is our September. I fully expect us to finish near last.

[KibworthBull]

September 2023

We've never reached this stage before so welcome to the unknown.

Franco Marcellino (1C) has been our best graduate and he stood up and delivered against Unmasked FC

Ayr United showed us what you need to succed in the play-offs by snuffing out anything we could deliver, which meant we had to beat both Peterborough City and Richmond Hills

And we've never beaten either.

We are fading fast.

Absolutely no idea where this came from

One game left.

Against the Champions.

Unmasked play Richmond. We need Unmasked to win on penalties, and hope we can avoid a 3 or more goal defeat.

Franco Marcellino (1C) is a hero. That is all that needs saying. We've got Very Defensive for the last two matches and it's worked.

8 more games, we have to finish in the top 6 to get promoted

[animal31]

Sucks Ayr couldnt get it done in the Ontario Conference

 

Would have loved to see a game against them at the Rogers Centre in the League 6 Playoff Finals

Edited December 4, 2022 by animal31

[KibworthBull]

21 hours ago, animal31 said:

Sucks Ayr couldnt get it done in the Ontario Conference

 

Would have loved to see a game against them at the Rogers Centre in the League 6 Playoff Finals

Maybe next year..

[KibworthBull]

October 2023

6 games this month.

I can't see a scenario where we get promotion through the play-offs this season but lets give it our best shot and see where it takes us. All the matches take place at the Rogers Centre - 54,000 all seater stadium..

We are going very defensive and to try and stink our way to promotion.

First up a country.. Albania FC. 

We went behind twice but there is a fight in our side and we won on penalties - Mike Chandler "Bing" (1H) scoring the winning one. That's 3 points.

We came up dry against Aurora, losing 2-1, they were were shining like Aurora Borealis - to steal a BNL line.

3 games in 5 days will probably define our campaign.

Another graduate was the star of the show against 3Lacs (or Trois Lacs) - Greg "Wardie" Ward (1B) saved 3 spot kicks as we picked up our second penalty shoot out win of the stage. 

I've found a bug in the game.. we beat Peterborough City. I thought this was hard coded or something.

We've scored 11 penalties across 5 matches (including shoot outs) and another one was the decider against Club de Soccer Rivière des Prairies.

We had a 14 day gap then until Hillsborough United. Everyone else played multiple times in this window. Victory would have secured us promotion.

Boy it's tight. Hillsborough are done, FC 3Lacs have 1 left, and the chasing pack have 2 left. The bottom two have to win both of their games to catch us.

The club decided to go Semi Pro and ensured that everyone had £25 per week contracts when we were already £150k in the red. I never asked for it, yet I am getting the blame. Like being married..

You wait ages for content and everything falls in the same month - INTAKE DAY.

Jeremy Cornish (2A) becomes our 3rd good youngster on the left hand side, will need to learn how to play further forward but quite happy with him joining the fold. He's the only one that has a shot at helping in our push for promotion.

[KibworthBull]

November 2023

2 matches to go. 1 win secures promotion.

Both Centre Backs are out, but Franco Marcellino (1C) doesn't care. What a time to bag a hattrick. Promoted in absolute style!

We lost the final game but no one really cared.

Season Review:

• Positives
• Biggest positive was getting promoted (obvs...)
• Greg "Wardie" Ward (1B) established himself as first choice keeper and came 2nd in the tier for Clean Sheets
• Franco Marcellino (1C) was a gem on the left side - some key goals and a hattrick to secure promotion
• Matthew Nicholson (1A) was solid if unspectacular at Left Back - a strong base to grow though.
• 45% increase in twitter followers in 2023. Hoping to break the 100 barrier next season

 

• Negatives
• Our crippling debt means we cannot improve any of the facilities and means we are likely to lose players if interest higher up the chain is shown.
• Lots of dual nationals but so far only Canada have provided us with graduates

 

[animal31]

There seems to be a glitch only for ontario teams that causes them to go semi pro in League 6 ontario, but not league 5

 

You may be able to drop your status down to amateur now that you're promoted

[KibworthBull]

4 hours ago, animal31 said:

There seems to be a glitch only for ontario teams that causes them to go semi pro in League 6 ontario, but not league 5

 

You may be able to drop your status down to amateur now that you're promoted

Interesting. I'll investigate that one

[KibworthBull]

March 2024

A new year and a new tier and a new region. Due to the wide nature of Canada we've moved from Ontario to Quebec. I just see it as more friends to meet. Sadly Peterborough City have also been moved so our hate/hate relationship will continue.

The board won't give me the option of reverting back to Amateur status so the financial situation will continue - I wonder if the administrators could get called it at any point? I'll ignore things and hope they go away.

Our u23s got promoted so will grace Tier 8, whilst our u20s remain in Tier 9.

Pre Season was tough - the vast majority of these games were against sides several tiers higher.

The rehearsals don't matter. It's all about the main event.

It's all about the late, late, late shows..

Franco Marcellino (1C) and Drew Andrews (1F) dragged us back before Claudio Aguilera won it in the 96th minute. Possibly a few too many draws for our liking but it's an unbeaten start.

Safe passage in the Canadian Championship as well. Prize Money starts in about 10 rounds time so we can't get too excited by this... (10 rounds is an exageration but it's a while)

 

[animal31]

Round 10 may be where the real prize money starts, but technically the prize money starts in round 8, but only through gate receipt sharing. Winner gets an extra 20%. Round 9 also qualifies you for the Julia Grosso Cup. Its the top 24 performing teams from tier 5 and below. It would be quite the achievement to win the Grosso cup before even making it to tier 5, and would see a ton of prize money come in

Edited December 7, 2022 by animal31

[phnompenhandy]

On 30/11/2022 at 04:53, anagain said:

Interesting idea for a start. I wonder if anyone else is at quite an amateur level. I'm sure even phnompenhandy's Loch Ness team would be higher. 

 

I've restarted as an amateur outfit in Level 10, so not that dissimilar. Having just found this thread, I will be following it, being that it's in my ambit, as is very interesting!

Edited December 7, 2022 by phnompenhandy

[KibworthBull]

17 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

I've restarted as an amateur outfit in Level 10, so not that dissimilar. Having just found this thread, I will be following it, being that it's in my ambit, as is very interesting!

I did Scotland on the last version of FM I bought. Youth only, gave up after 11 straight seasons in midtable of the Highland League! I lasted longer than the club as they reverted back to the summer league after a season!

[KibworthBull]

April 2024

Karpaty brings back sweet memories of an old FM save where I was in the Ukraine and they were a rival. This is the Canadian version and how we start our April, in the cup. As like last year we created plenty but ultimately ended up on the losing side. Took them to Extra Time.

Life can be a real beach at times, a missed penalty and Cherry took the 3pts.

The revolution might have started, but perhaps we are being found out - a 3rd consecutive 1-0 defeat. They were bottom..

Kris Hughes, 4 minutes from time, saved us from a 4th consecutive defeat. A draw. Not great

We've definately had better months. We are not conceeding many - Outliers being the outlier when they scored twice. We just can't score right now.

Slightly before halfway and we are midtable.

And to make matters worse...

The best graduate we've produced in the two intakes so far, walks off to a 5th tier side on a free.

 

 

[KibworthBull]

May 2024

Let's forget that April ever happened okay... 

We are getting some luck, trouble is that it is all bad.

A draw against the Irish, should have been a win - they levelled in the 94th minute. We are 2 points off bottom and face the league leaders next. There was no miracle recovery.

We went strikerless against Darby FC with Dean Bowman playing the AMC role - he scored the only goal of the game. A bit of hail mary type tactical decision.

Bowman again the man in the next one, but we let in a soft leveller late on (theme developing)

6 games left. 4 of them against sides below us in the table. It will be our own fault if we get relegated.

[KibworthBull]

June 2024

Paw Patrol talk about "Mission Paw".. we are on about "Mission Staying Up". Two games this month. One in the league and the Canadian Open.

Jeremy Cornish (2A)  chose the perfect time to grab a hattrick. His first three professional goals. We were 0-3 and 1-4 at various stages before winning at the death. A massive victory as Zagreb are one of the sides below us in the table.

Trent Uni in the Canadian Open - long way from Nottingham to travel for their boys, but we appreciate the effort.. Cornish scored again, but we fell away badly, losing, just like last year in extra time. Still it's £6k in the coffers.

A really good striker could make all the difference.

[KibworthBull]

July 2024

The gap at the start of the month is 7pts, if it's still 7 at the end then safety will be secured.

Cherry Beach are 2nd and are very much looking UP.. and yeah.. they enjoyed their afternoon.

Whilst we have Jeremy Cornish (2A) we have some hope, and in fact his double to secure victory over Club Revolution FC secures our Step 9 future.

Not losing to Peterborough City feels like a win.

Looking strong for 6th

Paul, we are over £400k in debt, I don't think this will make much difference... especially as we are already well over it..

We've lost another key player to a higher grade side, it possibly gives a graduate a chance in the side though, so not all bad.

[KibworthBull]

August 2024

The season ends this month.

Jeremy Cornish (2A) has really been the shining light at the back end of the campaign. 7 in 11 games from Inside Forward on the Left. He was in fact our top scorer..

Last year's top scorer Kris Hughes has been very subdued.  20% of his league goals came in the last match of the season. But at least we ended the campaign 4 unbeaten.

Something about rats leaving a sinking ship? It's more a sidewards move than forwards as they are the same tier, but they are in contention for the play-offs.

[KibworthBull]

Sigh....

I absolutely hate it when a save doesn't quite fire.

This one seemed great but had a major flaw.

The finances are killing it.

We are losing £20k a month on our ground - just by existing there. That's around £140k a year - at the end of the 3rd year we are nearly £500k in debt - our income is around 5k a month - and that's a good month. Even if we went 4 or 5 tiers up, it would be the same issue. We would be bringing in more but the outgoings would be the same.

Our only way of bringing players in is through the youth intake and our facilities are all the worst levels they can be - we might get lucky and get one or two that could get us up a level but we can't keep any of them longer term.

As we are Semi-Pro the default contract is £50 bonus for playing - the board will only allow me £1 - which the players don't like so they move on. We lost 4 players like that last season. The only actual contract we can give players is a £25 a week deal when they first appear - this obviously adds to the debt as well. When they turn 17 we can give they become non-contract and we wait until they are poached.

If we had the finances to improve the facilities (a small debt) then we could continue as we would be improving our standing and be fighting on an even keel. Fighting with one hand behind my back is fun, two is nigh on impossible.

• If the ground was costing us a small fortune but we could strenghthen the facilities - then we would continue
• If the facilities we crap but we weren't spiralling out of control in the finances - then we would continue
• Both combined. It's toast.

If I was doing a normal save the finances wouldn't be a concern as we would get enough players in to keep things ticking over. But we have one source of players and that will never get better.

The database is brilliant but it hasn't quite worked with youth only.

[phnompenhandy]

Create a narrative along the lines of The Bare Naked Ladies have decided to sponsor your club to the tune of 150K per annum and use the editor to make it so.

[animal31]

100% use the editor if you have it

 

Add a ed robertson subsidy that matches ground maintenance for the year, since its probably not fair that an amateur teams owns a massive stadium

 

certainly gonna fix it for the next version

Edited December 10, 2022 by animal31

[animal31]

This happened in a test save

 

[SanTullo]

Good read thus far, I'm waiting to see if you'll run into my old club. The Bolton Wanderers, it should be full of dual Italian nationals lol.