[FM23] The 44 - The EFL teams who have never been in the Premier League - [4/44] - Chapter 5: Colchester United FC

[Punch]

13 minutes ago, warlock said:

Still going well, especially in a promotion season. FA Cup run in the new year? 

Tweaks to the squad and tactic have worked wonders.

Kick off the FA Cup in January, although we got a tough draw straight up.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2024

We went on a stunning run at the beginning of the month that took as to the top of the table for a time.

Things started to level out late in the month as fatigue has started to take hold.

 

 

 

3rd place within striking distance of the top.

 

Another month in the red, our ground is hurting us, as we sell out every game, but with a 5k limit, we make no money out of our League gate receipts.

Bring on the FA Cup run.

 

Speaking of, we get a tough draw against Forest in the 3rd Round.

 

An easier month as we have only 4 League games to negotiate, rather than the 8 in December.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2024

An up and down month as we collect three wins and two losses, but we keep collecting points.

A monster upset as we knock off Forest at The City Ground as well.

 

 

 

Still hanging around the play off area, and still keeping pressure on the top 2.

 

FA Cup 3rd Round

A boilover at the City Ground as we knock off the Tricky Trees.

 

Another tough match in the 4th Round, and drawn at home means we won't make much money out of it either.

 

Transfers

We didn't buy any players, but we brought in 4 loanees to help our run to the line.

 

 

Monster money being spent by other clubs in The Championship.

 

We are so far out of our League here it;s insane. Amazing what we can do with free transfers and loans.

 

With a reasonable gate from the FA Cup, we were able to turn a slight profit this month.

 

A big month of games coming up.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2024

A mixed month as we win two and lose three in the League, along with an upset win over Swansea in the FA Cup.

 

 

 

We still hang around the play off spots.

 

FA Cup 4th Round

Two goals in 15 minutes and then a third before half time rocked the Swans as we bolted away with an upset win.

A full house at Wham Stadium, but it results in only a £124k total gate, which is a club record, but our share is less than £60k, showing how much we are hampered by the small stadium.

 

Somewhat improved by drawing Chelsea in the 5th Round,

Hopefully they pack it to the rafters to help us financially.

 

Another loss this month, but not as bad as it could have been as we collect £100k prize money from the FA Cup win.

 

The Board have agreed to fund my last licence.

 

We kick off the month with the FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge, before a solid month of League fixtures, with some tough games, that could determine if we are a promotion contender or not.

[Punch]

 

MAR 2024

After giving Chelsea a good contest, but ultimately crashing out of the FA Cup, we had a mixed month again.

Two wins, two draws, and a loss. Our first draw for nearly three months.

 

 

 

It's happening again. Another crazy table.

Multiple teams can still win the League, gain auto promotion, and reach the play offs.

 

FA Cup 5th Round

Even though we took an early lead, Chelsea were comfortable, and cruised to victory.

We did collect over £930k from a sell out at Stamford Bridge though.

 

That payday took us back into the black, for now at least.

 

Just the League to concentrate on now, with a game each week.

[Punch]

 

APR 2024 - Youth Intake

 

Only two real genuine prospects, the rest look pretty disappointing.

[FM-AP]

Impressive start to the champo!

[Stuniverse]

16 minutes ago, FM-AP said:

Impressive start to the champo!

Absolutely. @Punch is looking good for playoffs as a minimum and maybe more…

🤞

[Punch]

6 hours ago, FM-AP said:

Impressive start to the champo!

 

6 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

looking good for playoffs as a minimum and maybe more

Thank you both!

Amazing what we can do with a shoestring budget.

[Punch]

 

APR 2024

A good start to the month before we collapsed against Middlesbrough.

 

 

 

This crazy season continues. Two games to play, the title is still open, no one is confirmed a play off spot, and there are still two relegation spots undecided.

 

Two games to play.

[Stuniverse]

Wow! That is incredibly close.

Good luck 🍀⚽️🤞

[Punch]

 

MAY 2024 - Match Day 45

A disappointing result as we put in our worst performance of the season in one of the most important games.

 

 

Results put us on the brink of missing the play offs.

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Punch said:

Results put us on the brink of missing the play offs

Oh no . The playoffs suck, but missing out sucks more. Doesn't help that the game is away but... fingers crossed 

[Punch]

6 minutes ago, warlock said:

Oh no . The playoffs suck, but missing out sucks more. Doesn't help that the game is away but... fingers crossed 

Considering we were massive favourites to finish 24th, our wages are less than half of the 23rd ranked club, it's a miracle that we are even in the conversation at all

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Punch said:

it's a miracle that we are even in the conversation at all

Yes it is! And 'tis the season of miracles so just go and win it 

[Punch]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

'tis the season of miracles so just go and win it 

I like it

[Punch]

 

MAY 2024 - Match Day 46

It all ends in tears as we crash and burn thanks to a late goal by Pompey.

 

But wait...

 

Watford and Bournemouth BOTH lose as well...

 

Meaning we fall into the play offs, by a single point.

On goal difference, a draw for Watford would even have been enough to send them through, but they both lose.

Brighton take the title, and Fulham the automatic promotion place.

To be honest, we are not a lost cause in the remaining 4, as we are as much of a chance on any of them.

This is going to be a very interesting play off series.

 

Another crazy season, another crazy table...

[Punch]

 

MAY 2024 - Play Off Semi Final Draw

 

The Semi Final draw puts us up against Stoke in a two legged tie.

With a win each during the season, we are still in with a good show of getting a result here.

[Punch]

 

 

MAY 2024 - Play Off Semi Final 1st Leg

We more than held our own in this match, but a late Stoke goal, leveled the scores.

The equation for the 2nd Leg is simple, win, and we are into the Play Off Final at Wembley, and 90 minutes from a place in The Premier League. Lose, and it's another season in The Championship.

 

Ipswich hold a slim lead in the other Semi Final.

 

[Stuniverse]

Congratulations on making the playoffs, @Punch.

Doesn’t matter how you get there you are there.

A win, a draw, and a loss against Stoke this season. Anybody’s game in the second leg.

Good luck 🍀⚽️🤞

—

Interesting that with Ipswich also in the playoffs then two teams recently promoted from League One made it.

[Punch]

 

 

MAY 2024 - Play Off Semi Final 2nd Leg

A stunning result as we knock over Stoke at Britannia to claim a spot in the Play Off Final at Wembley. We are 90 minutes from The Premier League.

A clumsy Potters challenge gave us an early lead thanks to a penalty, which meant Stoke had to chase the game.

In doing so, we caught them on the counter to be two up after 19 minutes, although the hosts did hit straight back.

We caught them napping after the break, to make it 3-1, and they hit back again before the hour to make for a tense final 30 minutes.

With Stoke pressing hard, launching 30 shots on goal, we again caught them on the counter, and this time it would kill the game off for good.

We're off to the Final, season over for Stoke.

 

Blackburn overturned a 1st Leg loss to book a spot in the Final.

 

We have met 4 times this season, losing a friendly, winning in the League Cup, before a loss and a draw in the regular season.

This has the makings of a tight contest.

[Punch]

5 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Congratulations on making the playoffs, @Punch.

Doesn’t matter how you get there you are there.

A win, a draw, and a loss against Stoke this season. Anybody’s game in the second leg.

Good luck 🍀⚽️🤞

—

Interesting that with Ipswich also in the playoffs then two teams recently promoted from League One made it.

Thank you!

 

Ipswich had it in the bag, only to concede a 90th minute equaliser against 10 men, then lose in extra time. Heart breaking stuff.

[Jono Cpfc]

amazing job considering you're still using a lot of the original squad! 

[Punch]

6 minutes ago, Jono Cpfc said:

amazing job considering you're still using a lot of the original squad! 

Clever use of loans and a few free transfers has worked miracles.

[Punch]

 

 

JUN 2024 - Play Off Final

 

What's another crazy day in a completely insane season...

Two goals in two minutes, with our only two shots on target.

So often I have been on the receiving end of stats like this, so to see it go our way on the biggest day in the clubs history, was somewhat pleasing.

The boys then defended the house down, a final minute penalty, the only success for Blackburn.

We also managed to collect 7 yellow cards, and still keep 11 players on the field.

 

We are going up...bitter sweet in a way, as that makes next season my last with Accrington Stanley.

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Punch

[Punch]

2023-2024 Season Review

 

 

 

I had wondered about the plans for where we would play, as Wham Stadium is nowhere near the EPL requirements.

So a new stadium in the plans, that I probably won't see, and for the time being, we will share Turf Moor with Burnley.

 

£350k

I suppose it's better than the £70k we had been spending this season, but there are clubs in The Championship spending 3-4 times that amount.

 

Although it possibly won't matter, this next season could be a short part of the save, as I half expect to be fired by Match Day 12

Edited December 7, 2022 by Punch

[Stuniverse]

Congratulations, @Punch.

You are making this look easy 🤣⚽️😂

What happens now? A season in the Premier League with Accrington and then onto the next football club?

Keep up the great work!

[Punch]

39 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Congratulations, @Punch.

You are making this look easy 🤣⚽️😂

What happens now? A season in the Premier League with Accrington and then onto the next football club?

Keep up the great work!

Thank you! It was a massive shock that we went so well.

Yep, one season in the EPL then resign, and start again with another club on the list.

[Punch]

JUN 2024 - Pre-season

This is almost laughable.

There is clubs lower down the page, there is clubs on a different page...we are in a different book

 

 

That's a lot of money for a little club like us.

 

Even though it will be my last year, I signed a new contract, with a £20k pay rise per week.

 

We already started our squad build.

 

We splashed the cash on a player with multiple position possibilities.

This alone broke our individual and season transfer records.

 

We add another experienced defender, picked up on a free transfer from PSG.

 

The Board finally forced into an upgrade to meet Premier League requirements.

 

We kick of friendly season with a training camp in Portugal.

We have plenty of games scheduled, as we expect there will be plenty of changes to the squad to familiarise.

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Punch

[warlock]

Amazing achievement, and completed so quickly. Top class management 

[Punch]

5 hours ago, warlock said:

Amazing achievement, and completed so quickly. Top class management 

Cheers Warlock!

Let's see what we can do with one season in the Premier League.

[Sonic Youth]

Uh, what? PL already. Good thing I was sitting down already when reading this 

How does your board want you to play again? 

It’s almost worth playing a little more to see if they name the stadium after you, and then track how many clubs end up doing so in this challenge 

Looking forward to the upcoming PL season.

[Punch]

4 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Uh, what? PL already. Good thing I was sitting down already when reading this 

How does your board want you to play again? 

It’s almost worth playing a little more to see if they name the stadium after you, and then track how many clubs end up doing so in this challenge 

Looking forward to the upcoming PL season.

The stadium has already been named, after a club legend.

[Punch]

 

JUL 2024 - Friendly Season

A monster run of friendlies to get minutes in legs, and prepare the new arrivals for our tactics.

Plenty to like about what we seen with some great performances as we won every game, and conceded only one goal in the process.

 

The money is all over the place at the moment, with TV Revenue starting to flow, a new stadium to repay, and splashing the cash on transfers.

 

We continued to add both depth, and experience to the squad, and I am really liking what is starting to take shape.

 

We got in two quality goalkeepers who are both head and shoulders above Swain, our keeper from last year, and will challenge each other for starting spot.

 

Some quality and depth added to midfield, to allow for rotation as necessary.

 

A winger for each side, both quality players. Bowler loaned in from Forest just before the season began.

 

So this leaves our best squad, looking something like this.

We still possibly look a bit light in the center of defence, but the DoF is already onto it, sniffing around a few possible late transfers.

 

We still have a little bit of transfer budget available, and the Board found some more room under the wage budget, although we are still slightly under the original mark.

 

I can only laugh...we are so out of our depth here.

 

The time for talk has come and gone, we are about to officially be a Premier League club.

[Stuniverse]

Some good signings there, @Punch

What are the Board and Supporter expectations?

Edited December 8, 2022 by Stuniverse

[Punch]

Just now, Stuniverse said:

Some good signings there, @Punch

Whatvare the Board and Supporter expectations?

Yeah, if they work out anything like last season, we might be a fighting chance.

Easy, try not to get relegated, that's about it

[Punch]

SEP 2024

Just like that, we are a Premier League team.

We started off our campaign with a win over fellow promotion team Fulham, before securing a late draw against Sheffield United, although we were the better team, and then we were just outclassed my Man U.

 

 

After a not horrible start, we sit middle of the road.

 

Just one home game, and we set club records in our temporary home.

 

 

A thumping win over League Two Exeter sends us to the 3rd Round of the League Cup.

 

We will host Swansea in the 3rd Round.

 

Amazing what that TV revenue money does. Even with all our transfer spending, we still manage to turn a decent profit for the month.

 

We finally got a quality central defender to bolster the ranks.

We had our eye on a good young kid from Man U, but he wanted ridiculous money for an untested entity.

 

An international break to start the month, before 3 League games, and the League Cup 3rd Round.

[Punch]

 

SEP 2024 - Transfers

The transfer window closed in early September without us doing any further business.

We had a few nibbles, but the wages being asked were out of our range, so we make do with what we have until January.

 

Now it's time for the comedy segment

We have increased our wage spend 3.5 times on last season, and we are still 3 times less than the 19th place team

[Stuniverse]

5 hours ago, Punch said:

The transfer window closed in early September without us doing any further business.

We had a few nibbles, but the wages being asked were out of our range, so we make do with what we have until January.

Now it's time for the comedy segment

We have increased our wage spend 3.5 times on last season, and we are still 3 times less than the 19th place team

WOW!

Good luck. At least if the Board and Supporter expectations are to try and avoid relegation you should be allowed to manage beyond 12 games (lol) and are unlikely to get sacked...

Edited December 9, 2022 by Stuniverse

[Punch]

29 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

WOW!

Good luck. At least if the Board and Supporter expectations are to try and avoid relegation you should be allowed to manage beyond 12 games (lol) and are unlikely to get sacked...

Haha lets hope I get to finish out the season. I guess the results will determine that.

[Punch]

 

SEP 2024

Two losses and a win this month.

We pushed Leeds all the way before falling to an injury time goal, while Brentford lead 4-1 before we mount a comeback, to just fall short, and we then ended the month with a dominant performance against Brighton, but we struggled to hit the target. We just got lucky they were worse than us on the day.

 

We still amazingly find ourselves mid-table, but we are less than a win from the relegation zone.

 

 

We put in a good shift against Swansea, but it too a late winner to send us through to Round 4.

 

Where Manchester City awaits us.

 

Two months of TV revenue has wiped out our debt and put us back in the black.

 

Welcome to the comedy section again

 

Some tough games, and the League Cup 4th Round next month.

[deltablue]

That's an impressively tiny wage bill!

[Punch]

7 minutes ago, deltablue said:

That's an impressively tiny wage bill!

Everything about this club is impressively tiny compared to pretty much everything else in the League

[Punch]

 

OCT 2024

We didn't win a League game this month, but we weren't terrible, and still collecting points.

We frustrated Wolves and The Saints into draws, before scaring the hell out of Tottenham, he dominated us, but just struggled to get the ball in the net.

We also caused one of the shocks of the season by throwing Man City out of the League Cup...in their own house no less.

 

We fall to 12th, still just 2 points outside relegation, and only 4 from last.

 

 

A boilover in Manchester as we pull off one of the upsets of the year.

Funny part is, we looked fairly comfortable.

Amazing what playing without fear can achieve.

 

Something in the water in this round as Blackburn send Chelsea packing as well.

 

We host The Gunners in the Quarter Final.

 

We are rocking along financially at the moment.

 

A tough month of only League games. We will be doing well to come out of the month with any points.

 

[Punch]

 

NOV 2024

I said this was a month we could have gone without points, and it came very close to being the case.

We got belted 10-2 in the first three games...the ultimate case of 'acting your wage', only to turn it around and cause an upset over Arsenal.

 

The win ended a poor run...and in good news, I made it to match day 13 and I'm still employed

 

We drop to 16th, just one win outside the relegation zone.

 

We might be getting belted on the field, but the finances are looking up.

 

A huge month coming up, and another run of tough games.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2024 - Youth Intake Preview

I will have finished this chapter of the save before any of these kids get out of the 18s, not that it looks like any of them will with us anyway.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2024

A month of points accumulation.

After a defeat to Leicester, we overpowered West Ham late, scored another two late goals to stun Chelsea, scored late again to beat Everton, probably should have beaten Forest, and had to settle for a share of the points, before holding Newcastle to a draw.

We played well against Arsenal, but they over powered us in the final 10.

After going 6 without a win, we have now gone 5 without a loss.

 

We have moved up to 14th, 6 points clear of the relegation zone.

 

 

We gave Arsenal a good run but they over ran us in the end. A good result to make the Quarter Finals for the first time.

 

The gates record falls again.

 

The TV Revenue keeps the bank balance climbing.

 

We are off to York for the FA Cup 3rd Round.

 

Another big run of games in the New Year, the tough games just don't let up at this level.

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by Punch

[Punch]

 

JAN 2025

What! A ! Month!

This team just kept finding ways to win, except for the final game of the month, where we came from 2 goals down to secure a draw.

A stack of points this month drives us to 9th place, a long way from the relegation zone, and amazingly, one point from Europe.

 

FA Cup 3rd Round

A come from behind win to book our place in the 4th Round.

 

Where we travel to Brighton.

 

The money keeps rising, holding the club in good stead for the future.

 

Transfers

 

We added some depth to the defensive group.

 

Still hilarious

 

Not much happening next month.

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by Punch

[Punch]

 

FEB 2025

Not a lot to report this month as we had just two League games, which we split, either side of a disappointing FA Cup exit.

 

Our brilliant run comes to an end as we are beaten at Villa.

 

We sit 9th, which is an incredible effort in itself.

 

FA Cup 4th Round

We actually started favourites in this one, but it took us a long time to get going.

We came home with a wet sail, but couldn't get the second goal, so we exit.

 

Still a very profitable season.

I complete my final licence, nearly in time to resign

 

Just the League to concentrate on now. Need to hope some of these clubs are feeling the effects of mid-week games.

 

[Punch]

 

MAR 2025

After going 11 unbeaten, we lost three in a row before arresting the slide against Forest.

 

We fell just to the bottom half of the table, but with a game in hand on some of those around us.

 

The bank continues to grow and grow.

 

This is the schedule at the moment, but given how much it's been changing with European & Cup commitments, it will probably change.

But this could be another pretty rough month.