FM23 - Growing Gambia

[ToMexico!!]

June 2030

Quintuple-double ticked off. 

An easy league win but our winning run was ended after 54 games as we drew twice this season. We ended with +122 goal difference, slightly less than last season as we conceded 10 more goals this season compared to last. 

We defeated Fortune FC, Steve Biko and PSV Wellingara en-route to the final against Brikama Utd, we defeated them 5-0. 

In the ACL we beat US Forces Armees (Burkina Faso) and Sundowns (South Africa) to qualify for the group stages. We faced Zamalek (Egypt), Asante Kotoko (Ghana) and Young Africans (Tanzania). We topped the group with five wins from six games. An easy enough draw in the quarters, beating Angolan side Petro de Luanda (3-1) and then we faced Cape Town City in the semis. We won the home leg first 2-0 to give us a great chance to reaching the final for the first time. We went to South Africa and lost but only 2-1 which meant it was final time. 

We would face Egyptian giants Al-Ahly. At home first Ousman Ceesay scored another hattrick, his 61st, 62nd and 63rd goals of the season to help us to a 4-2 win. A week later we travelled to Egypt, in front of 30000 spectators we fell behind early but managed to equalise just after the break. Al-Ahly took the lead again and Moudo Barrow was sent off. Musa Touray struck his second of the game to tie things up before Yankuba Minteh scored in injury time to give the lead and seal the Champions League with a 7-4 aggregate scoreline. 

Our first treble secured. I would be shocked if we won the ACL again anytime soon.

Some big numbers, Ceesay with 63 goals, Minteh hitting 31 goals and 31 assists from right wing. Jarju with a quieter season but still 12 goals from CB. 

We're secured financially now for a good two/three seasons without having to do well in the ACL. We got £2.1m for winning the ACL. We'll look to improve the junior coaching again. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2030

Two more upgrades for this season. The youth intakes need to start producing potential first team players for the outlay we're spending on it. 

[ToMexico!!]

July 2030

I've decided not to renew and instead release the two Ivorians we had. Neither player really showed any growth in their attributes whilst with the club, you could say both have been costly mistakes a combined outlay of £250k was big money two/three seasons ago. 

This gives me chance to welcome back Djibril Cisse into the fold once his loan in Mali ends and give youth player Momodou Jobe a chance at CB after a successful loan spell at Fortune FC. We can then also scour the market for another foreign-born player to improve the first team, possibly at RWB. 

[ToMexico!!]

July 2030

It's been on and off for about two seasons but finally, it's over. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

November 2030

Four players join in a bid to try and increase the numbers across the squad. 

Ebrima Singhateh had been on my radar but wanted too much in wages, having flitted around the Czech lower leagues for a few years he was released and thus his wage demands were reduced favourably. Alagie Saine joins for depth in defence, we struggled a little there last season when injuries amassed. He's a player I've previously used in African saves, hopefully his lack of pace won't be tested too much. 

After a huge manual scouting mission around Europe looking for Gambian born players and adding them to a shortlist, I was surprised to see Lamin Sarr was interested in joining from Swedish side IK Sirius. We struck a deal for £200k rising to £250k for the goalkeeper, he will oust Diop for the number one spot and we will look to move the Senegalese national on to free up a foreign spot. Last to join was Adeniyi Onoja on loan from Nigerian side Rivers United, we do have an optional fee of £215k in the deal but we're unlikely to trigger it. 

We also have two deals in place for Eliezer Vianney and Stephane Tchamba, the two 17 years old will join in January. 

[ToMexico!!]

December 2030

Moses Jarju has started the domestic league season on fire, only two of those were penalties. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2031

Thankfully the season will be over by then but this is great news for the club. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2031

Another double was completed. We won the league with three games to spare and it wasn't unbeaten, we actually lost a game this season against Wallidan, a heavily rotated squad the excuse. 

We hit a new milestone this season as we plundered 150 league goals in our 22 games, an average of 6.8 per game. We only conceded seven in the league. We scored a further 13 in the Gambian Cup beating Greater Tomorrow, Falcons, Wallidan, and PSV Wellingara along the way to win our 7th of the save. We are still some way behind Wallidan's record of 23 wins.

We beat AS OTR (Office Togolaise Des Recettes) and Petro de Luanda to reach the group stages of the ACL again. We came second behind a strong Tunisian side ES Sahel, who won six from six. We managed to beat both Wydad Casablanca and Al Hilal Omdurman home and away. We were then drawn against Senegalese side Casa Sports in the quarter-finals but fluffed it, they hammered us 4-1 at home, and we went some way to repair the damage in the second leg, winning 3-2. 

A second successive season of 60+ goals for Ceesay, he missed the last two games of the season through injury so his record of 63 should have been surpassed. Lamin Dukureh with 34 goals and 35 assists is huge for the inside forward. Ceesay also surpasses 200 goals for the club in just 125 games, he's also only 25 so unless we find a much better player he could double his tally before he hits 30. 

A decline in the finances due to the improvement of the youth facilities and expenditure per month of the youth setup which amounts to around £150k per month. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2031

As we continue we're shocked with the news that the board wants to build a new stadium. No details as of yet but this is a good step in the right direction. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, ToMexico!! said:

June 2031

As we continue we're shocked with the news that the board wants to build a new stadium. No details as of yet but this is a good step in the right direction. 

I hope they name it after you mate.

[ToMexico!!]

32 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I hope they name it after you mate.

As much as that would be nice, I expect it will be some mundane name instead. 

[ToMexico!!]

August 2031

We're getting plagued by bids from teams from Qatar for numerous players including Jarju, Ceesay and Dukureh. So when a bid came in for Mbye I decided to cash in to hopefully stop some bids on other players. He's a player I didn't want to sell as he's been a great backup option for the left wing and upfront, providing 160 goals and making 96 assists. 

[ToMexico!!]

September 2031

Five of our first team are now looking to leave. Sarr is exploring his options which almost means he will leave at the end of his contract this season. Jarju has stated he's leaving at the end of his deal this season. Minteh wants to leave because I rejected a classic lowball offer. Dukureh and Ceesay both unhappy I rejected lowball offers for them. 

Unsurprisingly they are our five best players. Minteh and Ceesay have additional years on their deals. If I can get rid of the interest in Dukureh I think I can get him to sign a new deal. 

[ToMexico!!]

October 2031

One by one the above players committed their futures to the club once interest was dropped by their pursuing parties. 

We have just Jarju and Sarr left to try and tempt to stay but I think its extremely doubtful. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

November 2031

Two players join the squad this window. 

To bring in a player from German side St Pauli could be deemed as a bit of a coup, Muhammed Dahaba can play at RB, LB, DM and CM. Although he is right footed he's going to play at LB for us this season. Late in the window I realised we had a foreign spot available to use, after looking at my scouted players list I saw Ismael Omossola was available from Cameroonian side APEJES. We struck a deal for just £23.5k and in he comes to add a rotation option for DM and CM. I could look start retraining him as a Libero for when Jarju leaves the club. 

We also have a deal struck for 17 year old Eric Yahaya to join from WAFA SC. The young centre back has already played over 50 league games and will likely leave on loan for his first season with us until we either sell a foreign player or Thiam gains Gambia residency which is likely as he is waiting for the paperwork at this moment in time. 

[ToMexico!!]

January 2032

We make our first major sale. 

We sell Eliezer Vianney to Flamengo for £350k plus 40% profit. He's instantly valued at £7.2m+, so we should see some good money in the future. 

[ToMexico!!]

February 2032

The arrival of Eric Yahaya was confirmed in late January but it was another arrival that was more exciting for us. I had Gilson Varela on my shortlist for a little while and he finally was interested in joining. We struck a deal worth an initial £75k up front and three payments of £50k plus £25k once 50 games had been played. He is our Jarju replacement whilst he is here, valued at over £500k we can more than double our money when we come to move him on if the bigger clubs come calling. 

[ToMexico!!]

March 2032

Eliezer Vianney appears at #30 in the NXGN list. Since leaving for Brazil he's played just once but his value has increased even further to more than £15m. 

[Mr Jabay]

15 mill is quite the number! Hopefully an English club buys him

[ToMexico!!]

32 minutes ago, Mr Jabay said:

15 mill is quite the number! Hopefully an English club buys him

Its good money, he's played a fair few more games for Flamengo now. Maybe a season two of further development and we could get even more than we bargained for. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2032

Racking the trophies up still, another league and cup double in the bag. 

We returned to invincible ways as we won all 22 league games for a third time, scoring 147 goals and conceding nine in the process. We were close to setting a new record win this season, beating Team Rhino 13-0 which equalled a record we set seven years ago when we also beat Falcons 13-0. 

In the cup we were more prone to conceding goals, beating Real de Banjul (6-4), Team Rhino (9-0), Steve Biko (5-1) and PSV Wellingara (5-3) to win another cup. 

We beat Agrosport Clube (Sao Tome e Principe) and AS Otoho (Congo) to reach the group stages once again. We topped our group consisting of Coton Sport (Cameroon), Club Africain (Tunisia) and Vita Club (DMR Congo) with four wins and two draws. We beat Al-Ittihad Tripoli 7-1 on aggregate in the quarter finals before being beaten 5-4 on aggregate by RC Abidjan. 

We're building up quite a collection of visited places for continental games.  Blue is Confederations Cup / Red is Champions League

Huge returns for the first-choice front three, 135 goals and 91 assists is quite astonishing. Moses Jarju finishes his time with us with another double-figure haul, ending his Libero adventure as a 1-in-3 goalscorer. 

Money had been slowly trickling away through the season until we were knocked out of the Champions League and given near on £800k. We're getting bids in the region of £1m for both Ceesay and Dukureh so thankfully the board won't be getting itchy to accept just yet. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2032

Finally after 10 seasons we get an elite talent...

Lamin Carayol may just get promoted to the first team now in a bid to fast-track his development. 

We still need these intakes to be better, we're spending around £150k per month on the youth setup. 

[ToMexico!!]

September 2032

Vianney's clause is finally available to sell. 

This is huge money for us. Finances us for at least 3 seasons I reckon. 

[ToMexico!!]

October 2032

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, ToMexico!! said:

September 2032

Vianney's clause is finally available to sell. 

This is huge money for us. Finances us for at least 3 seasons I reckon. 

This is why I love reading your career threads. This is amazing to see.

 

[ToMexico!!]

6 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

This is why I love reading your career threads. This is amazing to see.

 

Thanks, it's a nice windfall. I'm hoping to sell one of my other foreign players in the coming season, ideally needs to be one of the defenders as we have two. 

[ToMexico!!]

October 2032

Out

Moses Jarju leaves the club and signs for French side Reims.

Our first choice goalkeeper leaves on a free, joining Swedish side Elfsborg. This leaves us extremely short here. 

A player I didn't want to lose but Minteh persistently moaned about wanting to move to a bigger club, he requested a transfer and a couple of Danish clubs came in for him but wanted us to pay half of his £450 p/w wages   so I offered him out and Qatari side Al-Markiya bit. 

In

Strange one this, I added Germany as playable in a bid to add some more Gambians to the database through their intakes and this guy popped up, signed as a back-up, according to his history has never played for anyone. 

We were lacking in goal and a number of players were unhappy, we were never going to find a Gambian national of the ability of Sarr. Jaiteh's signing still didn't appease the players' concerns. 

With the lack of bodies through the doors I decided to promote a few youngsters to the first team. 

Of the three Carayol will get the most game time. 

[Mr Jabay]

How's Gambia developing? Some promising youngsters in the U21s national team? Are players from Gambian teams leaving for better leagues in Africa?

[ToMexico!!]

12 hours ago, Mr Jabay said:

How's Gambia developing? Some promising youngsters in the U21s national team? Are players from Gambian teams leaving for better leagues in Africa?

The Gambia are currently 52nd in the world. They have been as high as 34th back in November 2027. They started the save in 118th, so they're much better than where they were. 

 They finished 3rd in the 2027 AFCoN so the world ranking reflects that. They played in the 2026 World Cup finishing 3rd in their group. They didn't qualify for the 2030 edition. 

All the players in the U23's and U20's are Gambian-based players, there isn't much quality beyond the players we have based in The Gambia. 

There are a few Gambian youngsters abroad who have yet to be called up but they may be waiting for call-ups from their respective home nations. 

Sainey Badjie | Kabba Saho | Momodou Faye | Ansumana Danso

Danso just recently chose to represent Gambia over Spain where he was born. 

No other Gambian players have left to join any foreign clubs of note, we're not at that stage yet. We will get to that stage at some point but other clubs I doubt it. 

I've recently added Germany as playable from view-only and I think i'll add Spain and France too, to try and increase the chances of Gambian youngsters abroad.  

[KristianT]

Really exciting to follow. You inspired me to do an ASEC save once and I really enjoyed it. I love that Africa is such an "unfinished" continent and that you can get massive results and talents after a few years.

[ToMexico!!]

December 2032

With the departure of Sarr, Jarju and Minteh from the starting XI this is how we shape up tactically and as a first choice XI. 

Same shape as we've been using for a long time but a couple of roles have changed. Varela was earmarked to be Libero replacement but he's just not as comfortable in that role, instead, we'll play him as a stopping ball-playing defender. Basically, be on the front foot, stop the attack and play a quick attacking pass. Interestingly he's played for Sao Tome e Principe a number of times but then was called up to the Angolan squad, didn't play and he's Sao Tomean again. 

With Touray operating as a Ball-Winning midfielder in central midfield we've opted to change Omossola to a Segundo Volante. Touray wins the ball then Omossola charges forward with it is the plan. I've also put him on penalties despite his attribute for that being so low. Omossola is also wanted by Portland in the MLS, if we get a bid I would let him leave but I'll hopefully try and create a bidding war for him. 

Dukureh has just signed another new contract with us, he's here for another three seasons. That gives us more chance of keeping him if a Middle-Eastern club comes in for him again. 

[ToMexico!!]

2 minutes ago, KristianT said:

Really exciting to follow. You inspired me to do an ASEC save once and I really enjoyed it. I love that Africa is such an "unfinished" continent and that you can get massive results and talents after a few years.

Thanks, @KristianT 

There's definitely been more African influence in the forum in recent seasons, it's good to see. Hopefully, future FMs can expand more into the continent to further attract save games and threads. 

What I love the most is finding those raw talents like Vianney and Omossola and selling them on for big money and rinsing and repeating. 

I've recently found this guy in the Ivory Coast, the same club as Vianney came from. For some reason, he wants to continue his development in non-league/academy football, rather than join us. There are plenty of other players like him, just got to find them. 

[ToMexico!!]

December 2032

New record win...

Our shooting is pretty wayward though, to be honest. 

 

[Mr Jabay]

Hey, thanks for your detailed answer. That's why I like 'Develop a Nation's saves:)

[ToMexico!!]

January 2033

Selling Omossola is now a priority, he's out growing the club at quite a rate. He's played eight games so far this season, scoring 13 and assisting six more goals. He's wanted by the big two in Portugal and Newcastle shows some minor interest. 

I can probably stretch his sale value to over a million if we get a bidding war started. 

[ToMexico!!]

January 2033

Didn't take too long...

It will be interesting to see if we get the full potential from this deal. He's immediately worth £24m+, we've loaned him back to give me time to find a replacement. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

10 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

January 2033

Didn't take too long...

It will be interesting to see if we get the full potential from this deal. He's immediately worth £24m+, we've loaned him back to give me time to find a replacement. 

Great windfall there mate. You are tempting me to start a save in Africa again. Maybe Zanzibar, Zambia etc.

 

[ToMexico!!]

18 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Great windfall there mate. You are tempting me to start a save in Africa again. Maybe Zanzibar, Zambia etc.

 

Been looking at other nations to try and Sao Tome e Principe or Comoros are looking favourable for FM24 at the minute due to the amount of each nation that come through Portugal and France. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

12 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Been looking at other nations to try and Sao Tome e Principe or Comoros are looking favourable for FM24 at the minute due to the amount of each nation that come through Portugal and France. 

Yeah that would be an interesting idea. I wont do it as I would prefer you to do it as I enjoy your FM journeys on here.

Also if you did start the Sao Tome or Comoros save on FM23 you can always transfer the save over to FM24.

 

[KristianT]

7 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Thanks, @KristianT 

There's definitely been more African influence in the forum in recent seasons, it's good to see. Hopefully, future FMs can expand more into the continent to further attract save games and threads. 

What I love the most is finding those raw talents like Vianney and Omossola and selling them on for big money and rinsing and repeating. 

I've recently found this guy in the Ivory Coast, the same club as Vianney came from. For some reason, he wants to continue his development in non-league/academy football, rather than join us. There are plenty of other players like him, just got to find them. 

Jeez, what a talent!

Love these saves for the same reasons. You know there is just not a big chance to find a good 16-year-old in Botswana or Uganda, but you are always on the look-out and then there suddenly is one and then you really want him.

If you don't mind I'd love to have your savegame file - either way I'll follow your story here.

[corinthiano]

6 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Been looking at other nations to try and Sao Tome e Principe or Comoros are looking favourable for FM24 at the minute due to the amount of each nation that come through Portugal and France. 

Those would be really challenging on a continental level, would be very interesting to follow!

[ToMexico!!]

23 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah that would be an interesting idea. I wont do it as I would prefer you to do it as I enjoy your FM journeys on here.

Also if you did start the Sao Tome or Comoros save on FM23 you can always transfer the save over to FM24.

 

That's true. Will see where I get with this save first though.

18 hours ago, KristianT said:

Jeez, what a talent!

Love these saves for the same reasons. You know there is just not a big chance to find a good 16-year-old in Botswana or Uganda, but you are always on the look-out and then there suddenly is one and then you really want him.

If you don't mind I'd love to have your savegame file - either way I'll follow your story here.

The amount of time I spend manually searching through teams in all many of the nations each season is wild. I don't have the scouts available to set up recruitment foci. And their quality is poor. Best I have is 10 JPA / 10 JPP

17 hours ago, corinthiano said:

Those would be really challenging on a continental level, would be very interesting to follow!

I thought that about Gambia but we got lucky winning the ACL but both of those would be on another level. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2033

Described as an excellent intake we have just one elite talent in Ebou Juwara. Poor personality x determination is not good but we'll take what we can get at the minute. 

Spoiler

Personalities on the whole are rather poor in this intake. Also, almost all of them lack any type of stamina. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2033

The domestic trophies continue to increase with another double this season. 22 from 22 in the league again, only 136 goals scored but just 10 conceded. We also beat Africell in the Gambian Cup final. 

In the Champions League we had another good season beating Al-Hilal Omdurman and Cape Town City in the qualifiers. We topped our group consisting of ES Setif, Rivers Utd and Club Africain with five wins and a draw. We then faced Orlando Pirates in the quarters, we beat them 4-0 on aggregate and then faced ES Tunis and beat them 3-0 on aggregate in the semi's. I then get a raft of international call ups for the African Cup of Nations. We're without our starting GK, RWB, LB, DM, MC and RW; our back up CB, LB, MC and AMC. Thanks scheduling. 

We lost both legs against another Tunisian side ES Sahel 6-3 on aggregate. 

Another huge tally for Ceesay, I didn't realise quite the season Tchamba had had until I did the table. Dukureh continues to be consistent with goals and assists. Jawara had his best season for assists at the age of 30. Overall, Musa Touray didn't get a look in at AMC so Jawara and Dukureh are likely to surpass his next season. Ceesay needs 66 more goals to reach 400 for the club. 

Our finances are extremely healthy. I'm just waiting on the stadium news before committing to another facility upgrade. Overall I would say the quality in the squad has dropped so I need to look at bringing in one or two to freshen things up, Omossola needs replacing permanently, our backup RW is leaving to go back to Czechia and backup GK is retiring. 

[ToMexico!!]

June 2033

To Mexico Stadium has a nice ring to it. 

Cheap as chips too, must be made out of wood. A stadium sponsorship that pays for it in two seasons. 

[ToMexico!!]

July 2033

Omossola has left the club after his loan back spell from Liverpool has ended. He's now worth £30+ million and we have the opportunity to sell the profit clause if we wish. 

Near on £8m is huge, it would double our balance but I feel we could get more, Omossola is listed for loan, so we'll keep an eye on where he goes and how he's doing and take view on selling the clause (if its available) at the turn of the year. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

4 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

June 2033

To Mexico Stadium has a nice ring to it. 

Cheap as chips too, must be made out of wood. A stadium sponsorship that pays for it in two seasons. 

I am happy they named it after you. Make sure the crown does a Mexican wave 

[ToMexico!!]

4 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I am happy they named it after you. Make sure the crown does a Mexican wave 

Just need a son in the game now to complete FM23. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

5 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Just need a son in the game now to complete FM23. 

Yeah definitely would be great if you had a To Mexico Jnr end up as your star striker.

 

[ToMexico!!]

August 2033

Vianney has moved from Flamengo to Benfica for £31m rising to £42.5m. We sold our 40% profit clause for £4.3m, if we had waited we could have earned around £12m rising to £16.5m. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and the truth is I took the £4m to ensure we stayed with a positive balance and secured a solid financial footing for the club. We have gained an extra £150k from this transfer anyway through solidarity payments.