[FM23] Keeping it Local

[Motlhen]

Using a league extension pack, I am going to start managing in the English 10th tier and only sign players born in my hometown, Enfield, and see just how high we can go!

Enfield, London

 

 

There are four teams in Enfield:

Tier 7

ENFIELD TOWN

 

Tier 9

ENFIELD FC & COCKFOSTERS

   

 

Tier 10

ENFIELD BOROUGH

 

I'm going to start at Enfield Borough, keeping an eye on the other teams above me. I'm only going to play players born in Enfield including those that come through any youth intake & the same will apply to staff signings. Let's see how this goes!

Edited January 4, 2023 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Profile

 

Club Info

 

Squad

We have got quite a few big gaps.

 

Staff

[Motlhen]

Staff (In Depth)

I'm happy that 3 of the 4 staff members I've kept at the club (the Enfieldians) have fairly professional personalities.
 

We have a pretty decent HoYD for this level. I'm hoping to keep him around!

 

We have a physio who can do a job for us, hopefully he can improve.

 

I am in half a mind to release our Recruitment Analyst as he's pretty poor.
I'll give him to the end of his contract and see if I can find any better replacement.

 

We have a sports scientist, but I would like an improvement here too.

 

 

 

Potential Staff Signings

I may have got my hopes up a little.. there's only one recommended staff signing and she wants 600% higher wages than what we can offer.
I guess I'll be doing all I can to keep hold of the four staff members I do have!

 

 

 

Staff from Enfield

These are my pick of the top 3 most famous staff members from Enfield:

 

 

[Motlhen]

Players (In Depth)

GK

Our number 1 (and only) goalie.

 

DEF

We only have fullbacks. Two players can play at centre-back and so I guess they will have to.
Harewood will be retrained as a centre-back as he has the best attributes to adapt to his new position.

 

MID

All of our central midfielders are attack-minded.
We need reinforcements!

 

ATT

We have good depth up front, but not much quality.
I sincerely hope that we never have to use Garside.

 

 

 

Potential Signings

Our staff have only recommended 2 potential loans and 2 potential transfer targets so we might not be able to strengthen the squad as much as I'd hoped.
At this point, any players we can get in will be helpful.

 

 

 

Players from Enfield (plus youth prospects)

We haven't signed these guys, I'm just keeping an eye on the best talents the region has produced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Motlhen

[phnompenhandy]

There's some big names dropped down to tier ten!

[Motlhen]

2022/23 Season

We were predicted to do pretty poorly, but there's no relegation to worry about from the 10th tier.

 

 

Transfers In

No permanent moves, but three waves of loanees boost our squad with quality and numbers for depth.
5 of the 7 players come from the other teams in Enfield.

 

 

Youth Intake

8 of the youth intake came from Enfield.
I was hoping we'd manage to get a backup goalkeeper, but it wasn't to be.
I'm very happy to get a central defender and a defensive-minded midfielder as they were two positions we struggled with this season.

 

 

Fixtures

After a blockbuster win in the first qualifying round, we were out of the cup with a whimper in the second qualifying round.

 

We started pretty well, but inconsistency crept in.
Winning 7-2 then two games later losing 7-2 sort of summed up our season.
We did out-perform our preseason prediction and overall I'm happy with the league performance, despite ending with disappointment with a loss in the playoff semis.

 

 

The Squad

Bringing in O'Neill on loan was key. He was our best player by a mile!
Youngster Harewood was key after I retrained him to play as a centre-back.
Josh Davies was the surprise package of the season with a phenomenal all-round performance.

[Motlhen]

Other Enfield Clubs

Cockfosters finished a respectable 6th and will remain in the 9th tier.

 

Enfield FC absolutely blew away the competition to be crowned champions and win promotion to tier 8.

 

Enfield Town battled through the playoffs to make it up to tier 6.

[Motlhen]

Transfer Activity from Other Players born in Enfield

Josh Onomah was released by Fulham, but picked up immediately by Hellas Verona where he helped keep them up in the Serie A.

 

Jake Livermore has been placed on the transfer list at WBA after a mediocre season. His career could be winding down.

 

Another player picked up by my scouts having been born in Enfield was 40yo Gibraltarian international Roy Chipolina.
He may well be the most capped Enfield-born player of all time!

 

 

New Youngsters

The three biggest players produced by other clubs this season.

[Motlhen]

Finances

I usually do alright managing finances, but this season I've made a huge mistake.

Despite not having any scouts, we somehow spent £114k on scouting costs in the last 12 months.
I (wrongly) assumed, no scouts means no scouting costs. I've created a big hole I'll have to help dig us out of.

[Motlhen]

...luckily I have been given a quick escape from financial turmoil!

 

This has meant we have arranged our debt into a loan and have a positive balance again.

[KristianT]

Very cool idea for a save. Following this.

[Motlhen]

I've never seen (or noticed) this before!

My old Chairman has retired from hands on roles in football and is only looking for part-time roles now.. as a director of football or a scout!
I will definitely keep trying to sign him, despite him not wanting to come back to the club yet.

[Motlhen]

Another cool thing I noticed.. 

On the staff front, we only have one staff recommendation (from Enfield) in the staff search. But Stacey Salis is waaay too good for our club, so for her to be interested ahead of much, much worse staff with way lower reputation was very surprising. That was until I noticed that she has a tendency to want to work in the lower leagues (not something I'd ever seen / noticed before!)

 

Apologies if these are commonplace parts of the game that I've missed 'til now, but I guess I'm noticing these things now as I've not played with these sort of restrictions before.

[Motlhen]

2023/24 Season

We have changed the regional division we are competing in at level 10 from the Eastern Counties League First Division South to the Spartan South Midlands League Division One.
Our odds have dropped from last season despite what I had hoped to be some squad improvements. Maybe there are better teams in this division than last season's?

 

 

Staff Ins/Outs

We lost our Sports Scientist as he didn't want to sign a new contract.
I managed to get our HoYD to sign a contract agreeing to also work as a scout before we brought in an out-and-out scout.
We also managed to pick up a fitness coach, who joins me & my ass man as the only coaches at the club.

 

 

Transfers Out

We released the worst player who was at the club when I joined as well as Charles as we did not need additional cover at LB and I didn't see any benefit of keeping him around.

 

 

Transfers In

We needed cover at goalkeeper with only one on the books, so as a priority I brought in Dipre on loan from Enfield Town.

The next two signings I made were the same two signings I made last season, except we are now bringing Purslow and O'Neill permanently to the club.
Sackey-Mensah & Mabete's additions will mean we have a much improved defensive line and I brought in Goss as cover & Mace became available at RB where no one had stood out to keep the first team spot ahead of him.

 

 

Youth Intake

10 of the youth intake came from Enfield and Sanogo could feature as a backup although I don't expect much from many of the others.

 

 

Fixtures

We managed to hammer Tower Hamlets in our most satisfying win of the season, knocking out the team that stopped us in the promotion playoffs last season.
But our cup run didn't last much longer.

 

 

In the league we started incredibly well and it looked like we would walk to the title, but a big mid-season blip required an impeccable end to the season to claim top spot ahead of East Socon who capitulated at the end of the season to finish 3rd.

 

 

The Squad

Josh Davies brings in another huge season as our box-to-box midfielder with an outrageous set of stats (18 goals, 14 assists, 28 chances created & 137 key passes). Ridiculous from a player not rated at all by our staff.
Last seasons backup striker turned into this season first team starter and Stockhill hit 46 goals in 34 apps to claim the league's top scorer trophy.
O'Neill also continued his incredible form after last season's impressive loan spell.

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

I had quite a few clubs interested in my services, but I'm sticking to Enfield!

         

[phnompenhandy]

On 28/12/2022 at 05:21, Motlhen said:

so for her to be interested

HER???? 

 

But seriously, you're going great. With restricted recruitment, you don't want to go too high too fast - you need to consolidate and nurture the young players to bring in or develop internally.

[Motlhen]

Other Enfield Clubs

Enfield Town & Enfield FC had great first seasons in their new league, both steering way clear of a relegation battle.

 

Cockfosters also had another decent season.
BUT remaining in the 9th tier means we will now be facing them in the coming season!

[Motlhen]

Best New Youth Prospects from Enfield (at other clubs)

 

 

Current Enfield-born Best XI

GK

 

DEF

 

MID

 

ATT

[Motlhen]

2024/25 Season

We're predicted to be well up against it and are favourites to return to tier 10.

 

 

Board Expectations

 

 

Staff Out

We lost our Assistant Manager to a Manager role.
Whilst I understand the decision, this one really hurt as we are struggling to bring in any Enfieldian staff.

 

 

Staff In

25 days later, I resorted to bringing in a very under-qualified Assistant.
Someone is better than no-one, right?

 

On a more positive note, the club now has a decent (for our level) GK coach.

 

Which leaves our backroom staff in a healthy position for the start of the season.

 

 

Transfers In

After successful loan spells last season, GK Dipre & Mace join us on a permanent basis.
Cheek & Martin both play in midfield and the loanees will battle for the same spot in the team.

We also brought in a right-back, left-back, right winger, left winger and a new defensive mid.

 

 

Transfers Out

Purslow left quite late in the window as he had lost his position in the team.

 

Conteh was brought in this season, but wasn't content to be a backup so left in late Feb to leave us slightly short at LB.

 

 

 

Youth Intake

Adams & Hendey are very exciting prospects!
Plus we got our first Enfield-born GK through our youth intakes.

 

 

Fixtures

FA Cup

We were quickly outclassed after the preliminary rounds.

 

FA Vase

I feel we were unlucky with the draw here, drawing giants Vauxhall Motors early on.
We battled well to force a draw, but lost to the lottery of penalties.

 

League

After a rocky start & no win in September, October's results made me start looking up the table.
But the rest of the season we could not find any sort of consistency.
I'm happy we stayed way clear of a relegation battle and am happy with our mid-table finish.
(Especially as we finished just above other Enfield-based club Cockfosters!)

 

 

The Squad

 

I want to highlight three players for their consistent high performance levels over the past 3 seasons.

 

 

[Motlhen]

Other Enfield Clubs

We battled with Cockfosters all season, just pipping ahead of them at the tail end of the campaign.

 

Enfield FC finished mid-table again..

 

..as did Enfield Town.

 

All-in-all a pretty unremarkable season for Enfield-based teams.

[Motlhen]

We've had another takeover.

 

 

I've been struggling to keep the finances above zero.
And we now have two bank loans to contend with.

[Motlhen]

After losing our Assistant Manager at the start of last season and resorting to bringing in a sub-standard ass man as a short-term replacement, I am delighted to have upgraded to an ex-player with a phenomenal career record. Scott McGleish brings a wealth of experience with him!

[Motlhen]

2025/26 Season

At least we're not predicted last!?

 

Board Expectations

 

Transfers

Only one transfer in and none out in an unusually quiet year.
Martin impressed on loan last season and earnt himself a permanent deal with the club.

 

 

Youth Intake

We've got four players that could make good squad options.

 

 

Fixtures

FA Cup

We smashed our attendance & gate receipt records on our way into the 2nd Qualifying round where a resurrected Macclesfield knocked us out.

 

FA Vase

Another tough draw in the Vase.
I really think we could be going further in this competition!

 

League

After a bad day 1, we started very well, then lost to Potton Utd & Hertford, the two teams we would be battling with for promotion for the rest of the season.
Our rivals, Cockfosters kept hot on our tails too so a couple of losses to them this season really hurt our promotion push.
But ultimately our end of season surge meant we pipped Hertford to 2nd place and made it into the playoffs!!!

 

Playoffs

But the playoff knockout game was heartbreaking.
After fighting back to level the game, we just didn't have enough in us to win during Extra Time and just like that a positive season comes to a disappointing end.

 

 

Squad

We used less players this season, using a more settled starting XI.
O'Neill is still by far our best player, but we lost him to injury a couple of times this season.
Josh Davies who had played brilliantly up until this season really dropped off and his form kept him out of the squad.

Edited January 9, 2023 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Other Enfield Clubs

Like us, Cockfosters had a much better campaign.
They were on our tail all season & at one point looked like they could jump into the playoffs themselves.

 

Enfield FC toyed with the idea of relegation every now and again this season, eventually finishing 6 points clear of the drop.

 

Enfield Town escaped being drawn into a relegation scrap after a bad start to the season.

[Motlhen]

Best new Enfield-born players (not at our club)

We've seen a big drop off over the past two seasons for the quality coming from Enfield.
These are the top 3 valued players that my scouts can find.

2024/25 Season (because I forgot to check last season!)

 

2025/26 Season

[Motlhen]

It's good to see we are gaining fans & reputation season-by-season.
Hopefully with this steady increase we'll be able to start attracting some higher reputation players!

[willemvandoorn15]

Love this save, good that you are managing so far down..

I hope u can aim for the playoffs in the next few season and maybe youll go up!!

[Motlhen]

7 hours ago, willemvandoorn15 said:

Love this save, good that you are managing so far down..

I hope u can aim for the playoffs in the next few season and maybe youll go up!!

Thanks mate!

We're battling up near the top of the table again midway through this next season, but with only one automatic promotion spot & one playoff spot it is proving tougher than I expected to get up to tier 8.

[DavidBeckham]

Really unlucky loss in the play-offs mate! We go again next season and with some strengthening you should be able to take the extra step! KUTGW mate!

[Motlhen]

2026/27 Season

We're steadily improving our odds season-on-season, but after last season our aim has to be top 2!

 

 

Board Expectations

 

 

Transfers Out

Massive disappointment as Harewood, one of the original squad from when I took over, has decided to leave to pursue a more lucrative salary.
He came to me as a right back, but I retrained his as a centre-back and he played 156 times for the club in all comps. He will be sorely missed!

 

After losing Harewood, we started getting monetary bids for a player for the first time, but it was our other starting centre-back Mabete.
No way I was selling for this cheap!

 

Not even for this latest amount (despite how much our finances could use it!)

 

 

Transfers In

It was clear we would need some reinforcement in central defence, so I brought in a player that had been on my radar for a while, plus two cover options.

 

&

 

We managed to loan in an exciting centre midfield prospect from Hertford.

 

Gorbell will be a useful cover option for either wing.

 

But the big, main signing was Ramadam.
We broke the bank a little bit with a £75p/w contract, but hopefully he can lead the line and propel us to new heights!

 

 

Staff

We almost lost McGleish but I managed to convince him to stay, thankfully.

 

 

Youth Intake

A disappointing intake this year, no one remarkable.
Annoyingly our first perfectionist personality is the worst PA player of the intake.

 

 

Fixtures

FA Vase & FA Cup

We were sent packing in both cups in the round we entered.
No cup prize money this season could hurt the finances.

 

League

A terrible September had us on the backfoot early & then we blitzed our way to top spot.
But we couldn't hold on to it for long & after a couple of very inconsistent months the gap was too far for us to close in again.
We came so close, but we just missed out on a playoff spot this season.

 

 

 

Squad

Ramadan delivered as I hoped he would. Smashing 51 goals in 40 games.
O'Neill is still by far and away our most impressively consistent players with yet another standout season.
& youngster Ian Adams is emerging as a great talent on the opposite wing to O'Neill.

[Motlhen]

Other Enfield Clubs

Tier 9

We had a great battle again with our division and borough rivals Cockfosters.
Once again, we came out on top!

 

 

 

Tier 8

Enfield FC had a disastrous season.
They fired their manager less than halfway through the season with the team sitting in the relegation spots.

 

..and the new manager was unable to save them from the drop.

 

 

Tier 6

Enfield Town on the other hand a fantastic season, squeezing into the playoffs!
They didn't quite make, but they can be proud of their efforts this season for sure.

[Motlhen]

This season was a poor one for us financially.
We really need to have a good cup run or succeed in gaining promotion.

 

We have a while until our debts are clear & we do not want to be racking up any more bank loans before then!

[willemvandoorn15]

You didnt promote again and lost motivation, i assume?

Im sorry to see it but getting out of tier 8 is pretty major task to begin with so good on you for trying.

[Motlhen]

2027/28 Season

Despite being down near the bottom, we've improved our odds a lot since last season. I fancy our chances!
Interesting to see Enfield FC so far down the season after relegation.

 

 

Board Expectations

 

 

Transfers In

Kitscha has been on my radar for a while.
He's a huge upgrade in goal and also will be working part-time as a scout too!

 

Joe Payne also comes in as a solid option in central defence or left back.

 

 

Youth Intake

Mahama could be a decent replacement for Kitscha when he retires!

 

Fixtures

FA Vase

 

FA Cup

A solid showing in the FA Cup this season.

 

League

Despite the new signings, we never really got going this season.
Losing home and away to Enfield FC hurt.
Another season of regression in terms of league position. It's proving hard to find the level of consistency it takes to hit that top, automatic promotion spot.

 

Squad

O'Neill & Ramadan were brilliant.
Hunter & Martin in midfield were sub-par & we struggled in defence but for Gordon.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Other Enfield Clubs

It was a pretty bad season overall for Enfield clubs.
Both Enfield Town & Enfield FC sacked their manager's at some point this season.

 

 

 

 

Which led to..

& as much as I would love to take this role. I feel I have unfinished business at Enfield Borough still.
 

 

Enfield Town bounced back with their new manager steering well clear of relegation by the end of the season.

 

 

Cockfosters had a great season, making the playoffs. Unfortunately they went out in the semis.
Enfield FC managed to recover to finish mid-table.

[Motlhen]

International Enfieldians

I had a look at players born in Enfield who play their football overseas.

 

& those who have gained International caps.