The FM24 Youth Academy Challenge

[darren1983]

Welcome back everyone!!

Well another year has passed and we're back at this insane challenge 

This is the new incarnation of the Youth Academy Challenge started by ri916 and continued by Braumiller before I picked it up. This new thread will also play host to people that are starting on older versions if they want, just easier to keep people active even if not on latest version. Please let me know if you’re playing on an older version though.

The Aim
To win your chosen countries' top division and win the Champions League of your continent with a previously unplayable club using only your academy as a way of acquiring new players - this mean NO TRANSFERS of any kind. No buying back former players. Even on a free. No loans not even as part of a deal to sell your player. 

The Available Countries
Previously any Country in Europe was eligible as long as you can get a previously unplayable side promoted from holidaying, however over the last few years we were happy to extended it to the rest of the world as well as long as the team meets the criteria of being previously unplayable and that is the same this year. Custom leagues will be allowed from now on however if you complete the challenge on a custom DB we'll list your achievement with note to say it was done on a custom DB because we have no way of verifying the DB. Not all leagues are able to be used though so please ask in thread, by tagging myself and/or XaW, to check before you start.

Helpful Information
There is often lots of speculation about what impacts the youth intake and what you as a player can do in order to get the best intake you can and the below is the information we have thanks to @Seb Wassell (sorry for the notification here mate)

Newgens & Youth Intake

Youth Recruitment
The Club’s recruiting of Juniors, those of home and foreign origin.

Youth Facilities
The training facilities available for Juniors (only).
Does NOT apply to visible players already at the club. All visible players currently at the club use Training Facilities regardless of age.

Junior Coaching
The quality and quantity of Junior Coaches at the Club.

Nation Youth Rating
The potential maximum quality and quantity of Juniors produced in that Nation.

Game Importance
How important football is considered to be in that Nation.

Producing Newgens
The Clubs with the best Youth Recruitment will generally pick up the best Junior talent from that Nation first, the scale of that talent being determined by the Nation Youth Rating and Game Importance. The lower the Youth Recruitment the further down the pecking order a club will find itself. Two clubs with identical Youth Recruitment will be sorted by Club Reputation. Being lower down this pecking order does not mean quality Newgens cannot be produced, it simply lowers the chances.

Youth Facilities and Junior Coaching then simulate and determine how that Junior progresses in the Club’s Junior system until a Newgen is produced and appears in game. It is at this point that the Current Ability (CA) and Potential Ability (PA) of the newgens are decided. The above factors all contribute to both CA and PA equally.

Head of Youth Development (HoYD)

The club’s HoYD is responsible for bringing Newgens into the club. He will influence what “type” of players are selected and can partially or fully pass on his personality to some of these Newgens. The “type” of players selected refers to a player’s position and style, for instance a HoYD with a preferred 4-5-1 formation and a Technical Coaching Style may produce more technically styled midfielders than another HoYD.
The HoYD will also influence the rare “freak” or exceptional Newgens that come through, modifying their ability and style.
This role is filled by the HoYD by default, however if none is employed whichever staff member is set to be responsible for youth development will fill this role.

Youth Intake Preview

In FM22 the Development Centre will provide a preview of the upcoming youth intake ahead of the day itself.
This preview will provide some information on the general quality of the intake, positions that are either blessed with or lacking in quality and any other notable highlights.
Currently it seems we DON'T get an inbox item for when poaching other teams players happens, but we instead get in an extra player in the first possible intake. Not ideal, and I hope SI will fix it, but at least it's possible to see after the player appears so worth checking how many players come through - it's usually 16 so any more than that and you've likely got a poached player in your intake 

Junior Player Poaching

It is possible for Juniors to be poached from another club's youth system. This will most commonly occur from smaller reputation club > larger reputation club.
When this occurs a inbox item is received, offering a few details (similar to that of the Youth Intake Preview) on the player that has been poached. Poached players will appear in the next appropriate youth intake.

Known Issues

As of right now there are none known so if and when we do find them I'll update this part

The Reset Dates
(Dates will appear when they have been confirmed for FM22 so please tag me when you know and if the country you pick isn't listed below just let me know the reset date and I'll add it)

Some leagues (any you find please let me know) don't have relegation for the firsts season so if you want to play in those leagues you will be required to holiday for 2 seasons. Norway for example the top two tiers run the first season and without relegation in the lowest one. Holidaying a season will make the other leagues start as normal season 2. So holidaying through that will allow the normal promotion to the 3rd tier. The reason for this is that all amateur football has been suspended this season in real life.

Also as of FM21 (I think it was) the sides that are picked to be promoted from the unplayable leagues are no longer picked the day before the league reset so we now have to holiday to a point usually a few weeks before the league reset. Save there and then holiday to the league reset in order to get different teams.

Holland - there was no relegation in FM23 so if this changes this year we'll add it

South Korea - Same as Holland really, relegation was postponed in Korea again so this country was not used for FM23, if relegation is there this year then it can be added

Andorra -

Argentina - January 1st

Austria - June 13th. Save May 31st for different teams

Belarus

Belgium - June 29th. Save March 30th for different teams

Bulgaria  - June 17th. Save May 24th for different teams

Brazil - January 2nd. Save Jan 1st for different teams

Chile - 

China - 

Croatia - June 19th. Save June 8th for different teams

Czech Republic -  June 30th. Save 28th May for different teams 

Denmark - June 30th. Save May 30th for different teams

England - June 24th. Save on May 24th for different teams

Faroe Islands - 

Finland -  December 16th

France  -  June 19th

Germany -  June 19th. Save May 25th for different teams

Greece - June 19th. Save May 12th for different teams

Hungry - June 19th. Save May 26th for different teams

Iceland -  December 9th. Save October 8th for different teams

Indonesia - 

Israel - June 19th. Save May 16th for different teams

Italy - June 29th. Save May 28th for different teams

Japan - 15th January, save on 30th November for different teams

Lebanon - 

Malta - June 20th

Mexico - 

Northern Ireland - 24th June. Save May 17th for different teams

Norway - January 13th

Poland - 

Portugal - 

Romania - June 12th is the final leg of promotion playoffs. 

Scotland -  June 24th.  Holiday until 4 May.  Holiday one day to generate playoff and see team you like.  Save and then replay until promoted playoff team wins.

Serbia - 15 June 2024.  Save on 25 May 2024 for different teams.

Slovenia - 30 June 2024.  Save on 25 May 2024 for different teams.

Slovakia – 28 June 2024.  Save on 25 May 2024 for different teams.

South Africa - July 14th

Spain - July 9th. Save June 23rd for different teams.

Sweden - 25th December. Save on October 15th for different teams

Switzerland - June 29th. Save on May 17th for different teams

Turkey -  June 20th. Save May 5th for different teams

Ukraine - 

Uruguay -

Wales – June 24th. Save May 1st for different teams

 

Database Settings

Mandatory

Database size can be small, medium or large

Advanced Options have to be as shown here – 

New in FM24

New to FM24 is the different style of game worlds we can have when starting a save:

As we sim the first season I think original or even real world are the only ones we should be using for this challenge.

Optional

 

Any additional settings in the ‘Advanced Database Setup’ – Due to us not being allowed to buy players, adding extra players just adds to the realism of your game and potentially slightly increases difficulty. NOTE – It is highly recommended you add the highest unplayable leagues for your country, as this will help make sure the promoted teams (you will be taking control of) have players.

As an example, this is what I loaded for England for example - 

Players from Top Clubs in Europe (or all players from whatever continent you are playing in) is also recommended

We used to limit this to just loading the leagues from the country you are playing in but we now allow you to load as many leagues as you to add a bit more immersion into their saves. You don't have to add any more than the country you are playing in but the option is there for people that want to.

Steps When Getting Started

Add yourself as an unemployed manager. Call him holiday man if you want.

Go on holiday until the reset date of your nation or the day before if you’re planning on reloading.

Retire the manager

Add a new manager with your chosen nationality and the lowest possible reputation and qualifications

Choose the newly promoted club of your choice

Rules for when taking over your club of choice

You're allowed to keep any player that starts under contract, you can extend their contracts as often as you like

Any players that are on loan at the club can be used but their loans can not be extended

If your board sign players for you and you can't cancel the deal these players can not be used, they must be sold ASAP, you should also post a screenshot in here when they've been signed so that we know they've been given to you

Rules for the Challenge

No loans or transfers in are allowed but you can sell and loan players out.

If you are sacked, sorry, you have to start again.

No save game editors are allowed. Only cosmetic database edits are allowed. (Team/competition names/logos)

No international management until completion of challenge.

Signing backroom staff is allowed. Signing players on trial or signing grey players isn't allowed.

Rules for this Thread

Player naming is allowed.

General discussion on tactics is allowed, although people should not refer to downloaded tactics. They are not banned, but I would expect the majority of people to avoid them.

Screenshots for anything are encouraged but please post links to your pictures, don't post them as images as it makes the pages slower to load.

When you join the challenge, could you post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the league reset date.

Progress of your club should be documented using this thread. The beauty of these challenge threads is to share your story and to read others. Please keep us updated, even if you are not performing as you may wish.

Season Update

Youth Candidates

All Tagged Players Attribute page

Transfers (to prove that you haven’t signed any players)

Squad

League Table

Anything else is optional. 

Also, some people like to nickname/tag their best players from each youth intake in chronological order. For example, you could nickname your best player in the intake in season 1 as *their name* YP01a, and so on. But this is not compulsory if you don't wish to.

Completions

Over the years I've been running the thread we've kept track of completions via the hall of fame and last season some excellent work by @OlivierL we have a list of countries completed

Spoiler

Good luck everyone as we embark on yet another crazy journey!

Edited April 21 by darren1983

[darren1983]

Over the last few years we have had a record (well a record since I started tracking it) number of completions so let's see what this year brings

User                    Club              Country               Year Completed          Version

Cultured Left Foot	C.D Toledo	  Spain			2046			FM24
Ron_Swanson		Reymersholms IK	  Sweden		2061			FM24
resurectedja 		Dept. Armenhio	  Argentina		2027			FM23
leyrtj			Lam Dong	  Vietnam*		2036			FM24
resurectedja		Chernomorets  	  Bulgaria		2043			FM21
Reibow			Olot		  Spain			2047			FM24
Anners			Tranent		  Scotland		2073			FM24
libbyshuss		Lyra Lierse	  Belgium		2064			FM24
Ice209			Bucovina Radauti  Romania		2045			FM23-24
glennuk			ReinBerg	  Japan			2053			FM24
Perre8			Wacker Innsbruck  Austria		2034			FM24
dkouv			Bora Rangers	  Scotland		2052			FM24
komein svedu		Carl Zeiss Jena	  Germany		2056			FM24
resurectedja		Merthyr	  	  England		2053			FM21
XaW			Veertien	  Japan**		2065			FM24			
TerminalPortugal	Electrico	  Portugal		2040			FM24
XaW			Ubuntu Cape Town  South Africa**  	2051			FM24
libbyshuss		TS Sporting	  South Africa		2038			FM24
XaW			Markham		  Papa New Guinea**	2043			FM24
XaW			Astros		  Curacao**		2037			FM24	
leyrtj			Mauriki		  Vanuatu*		2026			FM24
Colossus		Deportiva Leioa   Spain			2037			FM24
thomas_e		Energie Cottbus	  Germany		2038			FM24
XaW			Ubuntu Cape Town  South Africa  	2031			FM24
libbyshuss		Honda FC	  Japan			2042			FM24
the_hdk			Veertien Mie  	  Japan			2039			FM24
jstu9			Lami		  Fiji*			2035			FM23
libbyshuss		Aachen		  Germany		2063			FM23
Dr Pepepr Man		Bashford	  England		2041			FM23
leyrtj			Magesi		  South Africa		2031			FM23
grff			Otahuhu United	  New Zealand*		2033			FM23
grff			Al-Nojoom	  Saudi Arabia*		2033			FM23
Barnsley		FC United	  England		2053			FM23
grff			Ifeanyi Ubah	  Nigeria*		2033			FM23
fries			South Shields	  England		2044			FM23
ludak			OFK Beograd	  Serbia		2041			FM23
the_hdk			Polonia Warszawa  Poland		2039			FM23
thomas_e		Energie Cottbus	  Germany		2033			FM23
Neo_Geo			Chiasso		  Switzerland		2034			FM23
hubwub			Comunicaciones	  Argentia		2027			FM23	
hubwub			Tampico Madero 	  Mexico		2027			FM23
the_hdk			Karsiyaka	  Turkey		2039			FM23
HenTheChicken		Mumbles		  Wales			2046			FM23
glennuk			Worthing	  England		2056			FM22
thomas_e		Katwijk		  Holland		2036			FM22
Neo_Geo			Katwijk		  Holland		2038			FM22
Daddy			Karpaty Lviv      Ukraine		2041			FM22`
toshimitzou1		Haukar		  Iceland		2035			FM22
libbyshuss		Whitby Town	  England		2066			FM22
libbyshuss		Chaco For Ever    Argentina		2056			FM22
dkouv			Sant Andreu	  Spain			2039			FM22
OlivierL		Africanos Bragança Portugal 		2038			FM22
Ronaldo Beckham		Toulon		  France		2037			FM22
SpS_Zen			Heibei Kungfu 	  China			2032			FM22
fries			FC United	  England		2043			FM22
Daddy			Deportes Concepcion	Chile		2037			FM22
thomas_e		Unterhaching	  Germany		2040			FM22
Flashman\'s School Days	Tacuarembo	  Urugay		2032			FM22
Pauldinho7		Beira-Mar	  Portugal 		2042			FM22
DrJones			Huelva		  Spain			2031			FM22
SpS_Zen			Mbombela United	  South Africa		2038			FM22
Zdnap			Lotte		  Germany		2032			FM21
OlivierL		RW Essen	  Germany		2030			FM21
toshimitzou1		AO Aigaleo	  Greece		2041			FM21
darren1983		South Shields	  England		2046			FM21
TerminalPortugal 	Portalegrense	  Portugal		2043			FM21	
scarp			Bora Rangers	  Scotland		2049			FM21
libbyshuss		FC Mirassol  	  Brazil		2045			FM21
holidaysong		FC United	  England		2048			FM21
Slipky			Ashton United	  England		2036			FM21
steve.rush		Sannois SG	  France		2046			FM21
Cheez3y			Wits		  South Africa		2026			FM21
Armeniar		Sedan		  France		2035			FM21	
Cheez3y			Lyn TF		  Norway		2031			FM21
thomas_e		Sacachispas	  Argentina		2030			FM21
JAwtunes		Widzew Lodz	  Poland		2038			FM20
vikeologist           	Palermo           Italy       		2041   			FM20                         
thomas_e              	South Shields     England  		2040                    FM20       
dkouv                  	Scarborough       England  		2045                    FM20       
Miek                    Nuneaton Boro     England		2049                    FM20   
Padders                	Scarborough       England   		2277 (not a typo)    	FM20
thomas_e               	Energie Cottbus   Germany		2033                    FM20
XaW			Kettering Town	  England		2036			FM19
thomas_e		Real Jean	  Spain			2038			FM19
b101			Sampedrense	  Portugal		2031			FM18

* challenge was completed on a custom database.

** challenge is part of the insane idea of doing a youth only hexagon challenge  

Edited May 29 by darren1983

[darren1983]

Ideas for teams to manage

 

If anyone with any local knowledge as any ideas for interesting teams then let me know and I'll add them to this post for people

Edited October 19, 2023 by darren1983

[benrollo]

Heck yeah, let's do this! Currently holidaying in Japan to work out dates etc

[darren1983]

With all that done, beta is out - 

[Atrux]

Let's go

[DazRTaylor]

Here we go.  Early Access is downloading.  Let's rock.

[XaW]

Wooop!

[JLAB]

Alright, I know that I'll be managing in Spain when the full game releases on 6th November. Just not sure which team I am managing yet.

[benrollo]

Looks like Japan resets on the 15th January. Now to see who comes up with a few reloads

[the_hdk]

1 minute ago, benrollo said:

Looks like Japan resets on the 15th January. Now to see who comes up with a few reloads

yeah my first save will be Veertien...i have to as a dutchie

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Seeing everyone enjoy the new game will make me boot back up the Danish save and push through to try to complete it. Depending on how the save transfer feature works, I probably will end up buying FM24 and continue it

[benrollo]

1 minute ago, the_hdk said:

yeah my first save will be Veertien...i have to as a dutchie

haha yeah for sure! I'm hoping I can see Suzuka Point Getters come up.

Side note, I was wondering how promotion was implemented in Japan, because IRL teams have to have a license in order to be eligible to be promoted to the J3. I just had Tokyo Musashino get promoted in a re-load who don't appear to have a license, so I guess any team can get promoted!

[the_hdk]

1 minute ago, benrollo said:

haha yeah for sure! I'm hoping I can see Suzuka Point Getters come up.

Side note, I was wondering how promotion was implemented in Japan, because IRL teams have to have a license in order to be eligible to be promoted to the J3. I just had Tokyo Musashino get promoted in a re-load who don't appear to have a license, so I guess any team can get promoted!

awesome

[the_hdk]

they added giblartar!

[SuperRedditch]

Still no relegation in South Korea

[Padders]

We are in!

Lets go!

[benrollo]

OK, more Japan spam and then I'm done until I find the right team!

I've tested a few save points to get fresh teams on the 15th January, and it looks like 30th November might be the sweet spot. Save on that date, then holiday to the 15th January, and you should get fresh teams each time. Happy hunting!

[darren1983]

4 minutes ago, SuperRedditch said:

Still no relegation in South Korea

Bugger  

[libbyshuss]

4 minutes ago, Padders said:

We are in!

Lets go!

welcome back!

I'm downloading right now!

[the_hdk]

5 minutes ago, benrollo said:

OK, more Japan spam and then I'm done until I find the right team!

I've tested a few save points to get fresh teams on the 15th January, and it looks like 30th November might be the sweet spot. Save on that date, then holiday to the 15th January, and you should get fresh teams each time. Happy hunting!

graci mile

[Gonner]

Will try my luck at adding Austria to the list with Austria Salzburg !

[Kew1n89]

Damn it takes many loads too get Africanos Braganca ..

[Atrux]

For testing out the waters I took Honda FC, even though in real life Honda doesn't allow them to get promoted to the J3 League. Once I get settled I want to try Okinawa SV.

[benrollo]

6 minutes ago, Atrux said:

For testing out the waters I took Honda FC, even though in real life Honda doesn't allow them to get promoted to the J3 League. Once I get settled I want to try Okinawa SV.

Yeah Honda seem interesting. I'm on my 17th reset now and defo seen them the most. I wonder if that motor company money will help them out?

Seen 6 different teams come up, but not Okinawa yet. I'm going to keep going

Edit: Okinawa only got promoted into the 4th tier last season, would be a long shot to see them come up I think!

Edited October 19, 2023 by benrollo

[darren1983]

I have a feeling Japan is going to be popular - at least at the start  

[Ice029]

I didn't initially wanted to go with the hype but I did a few resets in Japan and after far too many Hondas I found a team with a 12/10 badge so I have to attempt a Japan completion:
 

Spoiler

Also manager:

[XaW]

@darren1983 - England reset is June 24th. Saving on May 24th gives new teams. Could be earlier, but just makes it easier to just select "next month"

[Mahzun_Savas]

Here I go in Spain with C.D. Palencia Cristo Atletico

 

[SuperRedditch]

The Macclesfield phoenix club is able to get promoted to the National League North now. Juicy option for anyone interested.

[DazRTaylor]

2 minutes ago, SuperRedditch said:

The Macclesfield phoenix club is able to get promoted to the National League North now. Juicy option for anyone interested.

Yep they will be my English club when I get around to them.  I did them this year (holidayed for three seasons to get them) and got them to the top flight,

[libbyshuss]

So I'm straight in to Japan, just took the first club that popped up.

Honda FC - looks pretty good! no doubt i'll be sacked 13 games in....

 

I'm quite excited!

edit:

well, this will make it interesting....

Edited October 19, 2023 by libbyshuss

[lewis_]

LETS GOOOO! Holidaying in Switzerland

[the_hdk]

let's go...after 3 hours of holidays...fianlly the club i wanted

 

[kndrx]

HERE WE GO!

[benrollo]

So after 69 (nice) re-loads and 8 different teams coming up, I've decided to go for...

Criacao finished 15th of 16 teams in 2022, but managed to avoid relegation because 2 teams from the JFL were promoted to the J3 league that season. Should be an interesting test!

[Johnny Ace]

You guys don't waste time, do you?! 

[Atrux]

1 hour ago, libbyshuss said:

edit:

well, this will make it interesting....

Same... Kinda weird though. Would have thought as Honda is not interested in a professional team, that they at least have a decent youth system.

 

Well, no JFL Team has Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching for those interested.

Edited October 19, 2023 by Atrux

[SuperRedditch]

Unfinished business from last year. Let's go!

[XaW]

Here we go!

[dondagz]

does anyone have a savefile with hashtag utd promoted? Been holidaying hours now

[SuperRedditch]

3 minutes ago, dondagz said:

does anyone have a savefile with hashtag utd promoted? Been holidaying hours now

I didn't see them in my ~3 hours of holidaying.

[dondagz]

1 minute ago, SuperRedditch said:

I didn't see them in my ~3 hours of holidaying.

if anything, most times they get relegated  

[HanziZoloman]

Ricay's in FM24 now. 

Sadly without the nice Logo. The Earl will continue his journey for sure.

Spoiler

 

[Ice029]

So I have a dilemma. When I joined the club I got an email with some ongoing transfers and of course I canceled everything. But I did not check other transfers and few weeks later when the season started these 4 dudes showed up uninvited at the club's door. Question is: since I had no saying in signing them, are they eligible or being transfers in season 2 they fall under the 'board signed players, send to 2nd team and get rid of asap'?

The dudes:

Spoiler

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Ice029

[benrollo]

1 hour ago, Atrux said:

Same... Kinda weird though. Would have thought as Honda is not interested in a professional team, that they at least have a decent youth system.

 

Well, no JFL Team has Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching for those interested.

Yeah that is painful. Hope my team at least have a few decent players kicking about to get off to a good start and get the board onside

[OlivierL]

4 hours ago, the_hdk said:

they added giblartar!

Gibraltar idd but no relegation so not playable for this challenge :'( 

[DrJones]

The chinese take over begins!

[XaW]

2 minutes ago, DrJones said:

The chinese take over begins!

One of the teams on my list for this version! Good luck!

[OlivierL]

I'm going to test Belgium (financial bug from last editions) . Belgium reset date 29 june. saving on 30 march will give different teams @darren1983