(FM24) Adeiladu Cenedl - Build A Nation Wales - Barry Town

[TheLutterworthFox]

Since quitting the FM blogging and FM community scene I’ve had a really good 3-4 week break and now my mental state is in a much much better place I really want to get back into FM with a new save to go alongside my new positive outlook. I said I’d never return to blogging and I stand by that but I cannot play FM and enjoy it without telling people about my saves, so I have decided to venture onto the forum.

I've been trying to work out something interesting but also something I know I’d enjoy, so I looked back through my old saves and one save stood out. That was the “Build a Nation” save which I did in Gibraltar. I really enjoyed how tough it was initially but how much joy it brought me when I saw progression, not only in the club I managed but also the other clubs in the league.

After all that I went away and looked at what nation I could do a new “Build a Nation” save in, after some researching and trawling I noticed something in the European rankings, if you look at each playable European nation and compare their FIFA World Ranking to their UEFA Nation Coefficient most clubs are pretty similar, for example England are ranked 2 in the World and in the co-efficient are ranked 1st but there is one team that stands outs when you look at the difference.

The table above shows each playable nation, their rank in Europe from the FIFA Ranking and where the nation is ranked in the coefficient. 

The one nation that stands out is Wales, ranked as the 18th best European nation, at one point they were up inside the top 10 in the World but have slipped. 

Their nation co-efficient though is a shambles, they sit 49th with only 5 nations below them. How can a nation do so well internationally but awful continentally?

Well the answer is simple, the biggest clubs in Wales don’t play in Wales! Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham and Newport, all of these play in the top four tiers of England leaving Wales with the likes of TNS and Connah’s Quay.

If we look at the reputations of the “Welsh clubs in England” it shows how much better these are than their Welsh domestic counterparts.

Cardiff 3*

Swansea 3*

Wrexham 2.5*

Newport 2*

TNS 1.5*

Connah’s Quay 1*

Colwyn Bay 1*

 

The Welsh league only has one professional club and that’s TNS, they are by far the best team in the Welsh system, winning 10 of the previous 12 league titles with Connah’s Quay winning the other two.

The reason why Wales is so far down the co-efficient system is clear, the clubs in the Welsh system are not good enough, as far as I’m aware a club that plays in the Welsh pyramid has never got to the group stage of a European competition, that needs to change!

So it’s time now to head to Wales and build it up to a superpower of European and Worldwide football!

This will obviously take time so I need to set myself some goals which I can tick off along the way.

 

Aim One

Get a club in the Welsh football system into the League Phase of European competition. With the change in the way the European competitions work from 24/25 this should be easy, in the saves I’ve played TNS have got to that stage with ease so it may not even be myself that does it! - COMPLETED - TNS QUALIFIED FOR CONFERENCE LEAGUE PROPER 2024, BARRY QUALIFIED FOR EUROPA LEAGUE 2026

 

Aim Two

Get a clubs reputation higher than Cardiff and Swansea (3*). 

With most clubs at 1* or less this could take time

 

Aim Three

Become the dominant force in the Welsh Premier

 

Aim Four

Once we have become the dominant force and are making money in Europe, filter this money down to other clubs in the Welsh leagues to help them improve their facilities, become professional and bring in better players, whether that’s signings or from the academy

 

Aim Five

Get the Wales National job

In most “Build a Nation” saves people start with club and country but I want to concentrate on the club side of it first, the Welsh national side are pretty good so I want to earn the job and also have a bulk of players in the Welsh system that are good enough to play for Wales before taking the job.

 

Aim Six

Take a club to European glory

 

Aim Seven

"Attempt" to get Wales to No. 1 in the UEFA Coefficient rankings

I know how hard this is, especially with how good England are so this may be impossible, hence why I’ve said “attempt”!

 

Aim Eight

Top the Wales, European and Worldwide Hall of Fame

 

Aim Nine

This goes alongside Aim Four, build a group of Welsh players from the academy who are good enough to play for the national side.

 

The plan to start this save is to take over a club in the Welsh Premier, not one of the better teams but a club where I know I can be challenging within a couple of seasons, I could start in the level below but I don’t want to spend years trying to get promotion and then establish ourselves in the top tier, let’s start there straight the way and see how quick we can overtake TNS! Also, this isn’t a one club save, I do plan on staying at one club for the foreseeable, preferably until I win a European competition, after that we shall see what happens.

Can it be done? I see no reason why not but I know it will take time! 

Now to decide what club to be, that will be the next post.

 

 

Edited February 28 by TheLutterworthFox

[Coxie84]

Can't wait to see how this pans out 

[TheLutterworthFox]

Club Decision - Welcome to Barry Town

When looking about to see what club I wanted to start with there was only one place and that’s Barry Town, a club I managed in an offline save on FM19 and enjoyed taking TNS on, this time though Barry Town are not as good as they were then.

 

For the 2023/24 season they have just returned to the top tier of Welsh football after a brief foray into the Cymru South.

 

The did have a dip in 2012/13 but rose back up quite quickly, spending 5 season back in the Welsh Premier before relegation in 2021/22, last season they eased to promotion in the Cymru South losing only twice.

 

The club are clearly in a good place, the season preview has them nowhere near relegation for the 2023/24 season.

A nice mid-table expectation!

 

They also have a decent base of facilities for a starter club in this save, they are no TNS but they have probably the 3rd or 4th best rated facilities in the league. It needs some work though if we are to start bringing through good enough players who can get into the national side.

Jenner Park has a decent capacity for this level, it’s the 7th highest capacity ground in the League but has an expansion capacity of 5k.

 

Financially the club are looking OK but the projected balance for the end of the next three seasons looks worrying, I’d presume though that most clubs that aren’t in Europe have the same issue.

Once we start getting into the European qualifiers this should start to level out, we need that income if we are to start improving the facilities and to also bring in better players.

 

Squad-wise we have a large enough group of players but, as you can see, there are some highly rated players and some no so much! I have ticked “add players to playable sides” so we do have an extra group of intake players which have been added.

 

31-year old Chris Hugh is one of our better players, at 31 though he doesn’t have many years ahead of him. For the next season or two though he will be a key player.

 

On the other end of the age scale is Striker Ollie Hulbert, I have to say this lad looks really good for this level and I expect him to score a bag full of goals.

 

Evan Press is a player I had with me on my FM19 save with Barry Town, he doesn’t look amazing but he will do a good job for the first couple of seasons. 

 

We also have a couple of decent youth players who got added at the start, one of them is Full Back Gwion Jones, I like the fact he has good leadership.

 

Winger Gordon Roberts also looks decent for a 16-year old but needs some work on his technicals.

Overall a decent base to work with, clearly it needs improving but we have very little money to spend, £0 transfer budget and about £400 of spare wages, we could maybe bring in one, two max before the season starts.

 

When it comes to squad depth and quality we do have decent number in each area, I always tend to start with a 41221 formation but that may change as we move through pre-season.

 

The only position we don’t have sufficient depth is in defensive midfield and when you look at the average ability it is the clear area for improvement.

 

Our best DM is also out best CM hence the ?. So a DM is the position we will look to improve this Summer, as we only have 3 natural CBs I’ll also look to bring another player in to play there, IF we have the wages to do that.

Edited February 12 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

2023/24 Season - Summer Transfers and Squad Update

It's been a busy Summer, I managed to get rid of three players who were nowhere near good enough, this free'd up around £700 a week in wages giving me a bit more to spend.

The squad needed improving, I mentioned in the last update we needed a new DM and a new CB, I also realised we needed a new GK and ST if I could find one decent enough on a low wage.

All-in-all six players joined and the squad now looks much more solid and rounded.

Kris Owen - Left/Centre Back

Signed to add a bit of depth to the squad, the good thing is he's on an amateur contract so no wage, he just gets paid when he plays

Cianole Nguepissi - Centre Back

A big chunk of the wage budget taken up but this guy looks amazing for this level.

Tobian Hurlock - Winger

Another player on an amateur contract, he adds some depth to the wide areas.

Henry Sandat - Striker

Signed on a season loan from Hull City, Sandat adds competition to Hulbert up front and is as good, if not better

Callum Hiddleston - Goalkeeper

A massive upgrade on what we had when I joined.

Oscar Halls - Central Defender

Another season long loan signing, this time from Plymouth, he adds good competition in defence.

As you can see we didn't sign a defensive midfield, I went in for loads of players but they wanted way too much money, even though the squad planner claims we have nothing when you look at ability we do have a couple of options to play there, if we struggle I'll look a changing formation, either to a flat-three in midfield or three at the back.

The ability ratings haven't really changed from how it looked prior to the signings but we have much more depth in all areas.

We are relying a lot on our best XI but overall we have enough depth and ability in the squad to be meeting expectations which is currently a top half finish.

I'm really happy with how the squad looks now and so far the results have been pretty solid.

I made sure we had easily winnable game in the pre-season friendlies and we managed to win most with ease, in the games we didn't I played a massively rotated team to see if any of the fringe/youth players were up to the task.

And what those signings and good pre-season form has done is push our media prediction in the league up to 4th place!

Here's hoping for a good start competitively 

Edited February 12 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

August 2023

What an amazing start, I expected us to do well but some of these results have been really good.

An unbeaten start, a couple of draws but even in those games we played well.

And we sit top of the league after 4 games!

Tactics wise I always tend to start with a 41221 and this save is exactly the same, in all the games bar the TNS match with a gegenpress style with a few tweaks to the players roles.

Pretty basic but as you can see by the results it's working well.

In the TNS match we went with "park the bus" and my god did it work, we actually had the better of the chances and, bar a late goal, completely nullified them.

This gives me huge hope, when we're at home we won't be so negative but it worked a treat against a team much better than us

Our good month was capped off with midfielder Evan Press winning the League Player of the Month, just a shame he has just told me he doesn't want to stay after his contract expires at the end of the season!

He will be a big miss if I can't keep him about

Edited February 12 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

September 2023

Another fantastic month, I can take a couple of defeats because even in those games we didn't play that badly, we just faced a team that took their chances. What has been nice is the games where we've gone behind and won, both Haverfordwest and Bala Town we went 1-0 down and came back in the second half, mainly helped by the substitutions. It shows the side have grit and determination. 

As expected TNS are top and unbeaten, to be 2nd is really pleasing, now we just need to continue our good form, European qualification this season is a must to help out with the ever decreasing finances.

Once again we made a big loss, around £28k which puts the bank balance in the red for the first time. There really isn't much I can do about it at the moment, we don't have anyone to sell to make money on, we could reduce the wage bill but that will only have a small effect on the losses, we need to get into Europe, just playing in one qualification round gives us around £80k.

For the second month in a row one of our players won the leagues player of the month, this time Winger Kyle McClaggon

He's not rated very highly but has been a massive source of goals from the right wing

 

[TheLutterworthFox]

October 2023

The month started so well but a few defeats has set us back.

We did however produce one of our best displays to beat TNS at home in the league!

Six points from four games though, even with the TNS win means we slip further behind them at the top of the table, the gap is now seven

I still have to be happy though, we are overperforming where we should be, we just need to stop these silly defeats, the defence needs a serious improvement over the Winter. The tactic seems to be working well in the main, the players have taken to the gegenpress style and we look really dangerous going forward, just defensively we lack a bit of quality.

 

[TheLutterworthFox]

November 2023

A really good month with some cracking wins 

We have five games of the regular season left before the league split and we are comfortably in second place, surely we can't challenge TNS for the title?

The big news is our star man Kayne McLaggon got injured in the last game and is out for at least 6 weeks, a huge loss.

Edited February 14 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

December 2023

After a shaky start we've ended with some really good results putting us well in the European places hunt 

One game of the regular season to go, we have cemented our second place spot

Now for some more bad injury news, we have lost Striker Hulbert for 3 months. This leaves us with just one first-team Striker meaning I'll need to somehow need to bring another Striker in

That is going to be hard seeing as we're well in the red and are overspending in wages, I need to try and ship out some of the poorer players who I don't want, that's easier said than done though!

The annual youth intake preview has also come through and although it says it's an "excellent" intake the rating don't tell that story!

Yeah not great.

I have got two new players coming in though, both on free loans to bolster the ranks

Ryan Lowe - Central Midfeld

Marlee Francois - Winger

Both add much needed depth, especially with the injuries we have

 

[TheLutterworthFox]

January 2024

A quiet month with one great win and an amazing 3-3 draw away to TNS!

It was nice to see McLaggon score twice in his comeback match after a 6 week layoff. That TNS game though was bonkers, especially I deployed the park the bus tactic!

8 games left and we are still solidly in 2nd place.

Transfer-wise nothing has happened, we lost one player after defender Oscar Halls was recalled from his loan spell, we are over wage budget and over £100k in the red so I cannot do any business, we just have to deal with what we have, get that European spot and then look at sorting the squad out in the Summer. We already have numerous players who have said they won't be renewing their contracts at the end of the season, these include LB Hugh, CM Press and ST Hulbert, 3 key players we'll be losing for next season.

[PhilH82]

I have noticed this a lot on this years game, the contradictory Youth Intake previews.  Which do you think tends to be more accurate, the role ratings, or description?
Going well so far, nice start, keeping pace with TNS!

[TheLutterworthFox]

2 minutes ago, PhilH82 said:

I have noticed this a lot on this years game, the contradictory Youth Intake previews.  Which do you think tends to be more accurate, the role ratings, or description?
Going well so far, nice start, keeping pace with TNS!

I've never seen it sway that much between awful rating but a really high description. Only about 6 weeks to wait to see how good it actually is!

[PhilH82]

I have had it a couple of times (but I have only had three intakes to date, I dont play very quickly...). Interesting to see

[TheLutterworthFox]

February 2024

Firstly MORE injury news as Winger Tobias Hurlock, who has played really well over the past few months has broken his ankle is going to be out for 8-10 months. The good news is McLaggon is now fully fit and Hulbert is a week away from a return.

And just when I thought the wheels were falling off we came back with an absolutely brilliant win to end the month, I just wish we'd have kept the clean sheet, once again we conceded a consolation goal late on.

It was a much needed win after whimpering out of the Welsh Cup and scraping 2 draws in the previous league games.

Interestingly enough TNS have also started dropping points, a defeat and a draw in their past two league games and they went out of the Welsh Cup in the Quarters. We're still six behind them and also six ahead of Connah's Quay in 3rd. 2nd looks the most likely but we need to keep winning games.

Here is out run-in, the next game is huge, if we come out without losing then 2nd is all but done, if we win and then beat TNS then we could be on for a late title challenge! 

 

[TheLutterworthFox]

2024 Youth Intake

The rating were really poor but the overall intake was previewed as "excellent", so which way did it go?

Well it looks excellent to me!!!

Three elite talents and two top talents! Not bad for an intake which was had a preview of "C" rated players at best! So are they actually any good or is it because our squad isn't that great?!
 

Jamie Roberts - Attacking Midfield

Flair, Bravery, First Touch, not bad at all! He needs work but then everyone does at this level!

Chris Perkins - Attacking Midfield

Another attacking midfielder, I may have to look at changing formation! Overall he looks decent, he has good determination and natural fitness, he can also take a free kick.

Luke Humphreys - Striker

No not the darts player, a half decent looking Striker, he has decent pace for this level, good determination, finishing and work rate. I like this lad!

Matthew Walker - Left Back

When I look for a player I look for four base attributes, determination, work rate, natural fitness and bravey. Walker has three of them way above the league average, he just need to improve his bravery, a solid, young player but he does need some serious work.

All four of these will come straight into the first-team squad and will be there as back-ups for the next few season, I personally prefer keeping my better youth players about, get them mentored by the older players rather than packing them out on loan

[TheLutterworthFox]

March 2024

Two huge games, win them both and we're in a title challenge, lose them both and we're hanging on to a European spot.

Well the first game was away to Connah's Quay, we played really well but we lost 1-0, we had two goals disallowed for offside and did not deserve to lose! 

We then faced TNS at home and put in a brilliant performance, they dominated possession but we put our chances away and came out with a 2-0 win.

That made up for the Connah's Quay defeat and cemented ourselves in 2nd place.

The final game of the month was at home to Penybont, our final match at Jenner Park this season, a win would guarantee top three and seal a European spot but we decided to not turn up and lost the match 1-0.

Three games, only one win, we now have two away games left, the title is gone but luckily a European place is pretty much guaranteed.

[TheLutterworthFox]

April 2024

We have two games left to make sure we secure a European place next season, what I've found out is that 2nd place guarantees a Europa Conference Spot, 3rd would do but it depends on the winner of the Welsh Cup, the final is between Cardiff Met and Haverfordwest, both outside of the European spaces, this means we have to end 2nd!

The first game of the month was away to 5th placed Bala Town, we deserved to win, they scored early and that was their only shot on goal, we managed to grab an equaliser but failed to make our dominance pay and ended with a 1-1 draw, this meant, with Connah's Quay winning, we went into the final game in 2nd but only on goal difference.

Into the final match, we had an away tie against Pontypridd, Connah's Quay were away to Bala Town, all we had to do was match their result to end in 2nd.

Well we put in one of our best displays in recent months to win the game 4-1 making sure of that runners-up finish! Fantastic!

A really pleasing end to the season.

Edited February 15 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

2023/24 End of Season Review

 

The New Arrivals

It was Tobias Hurlock who was our best performer of the new signings, what a shame he broke his ankle towards the end of the season. A solid campaign for him with 15 goal involvements in 24 starts.

 

A Season To Remember

A brilliant first season in charge, we over exceeded in the league, predicted mid-table, we claimed 2nd spot and Europa Conference League football next season.

 

Moments To Remember

Some really good wins over the season. 

 

The Finances

Green all the way but we end the season well in the red! We need to get through a round in Europe to make enough money to get back into the black! Can we do it though?!

We end £126k in the red, shocking and to be honest, bar European money I cannot see how we can improve it at the moment. We also have no budgets for next season, with the players leaving we lose around £2k per week of wages.

How You Lined Up

Its nice to see a few players end above 7 in the average rating, the full backs were really good for us this season, it's a shame that currently a lot of those players won't be here next season!

 

The Accolades

Lots of records broken this season, I guess that's what happens when there are no records to start with!

Left Back Chris Hugh won the fans player of the year award, well earned with 11 assists and 4 goals over the season, just a shame he is out of contract and is "considering his options"!

Ollie Hulbert ends as the fans young player of the year, a quality season for the lad who missed three month due to injury, he is another player "considering his options"

Kayne McLaggon ends as the clubs top scorer with 14 goals, another player blighted by injuries but still performed really well, especially when he isn't rated very highly, he is out of contract in the Summer and currently I cannot afford to offer him a new deal!

And here is whole squad

Now we look forward to next season, I don't want to call it a rebuild but it may just be that, if you look at the squad you will see we have 8 players out of contract and 5 players leaving when their loans are up, this will leave us with 15 players, most of them kids who are not ready for constant first-team football.

We need to improve the side, but we have to do on a shoestring! This is going to be an interesting Summer!

 

 

 

[TheLutterworthFox]

2024/25 Pre-Season

As expected it's been a busy Summer but the good news is that we managed to keep a couple of players that didn't seem to want to sign a new deal.

We still lost a lot of players, the big names there are Greening (DM), Tomlinson (RW), Press (CM) and Hiddleston (GK). For me Hiddleston is the biggest loss, I only signed him last Summer and I was gutted I couldn't keep him here.

We did manage to keep hold of Striker Ollie Hulbert and Wide man McLaggon which is a huge help and they were my two key men last season.

With the budgets in we were handed £6k per week of wage budget a small transfer kitty, this surprised me as we had lost so much money the season before, so to increase the wage budget by 50% was an odd one.

No way do I plan to spend it all, we need to try and keep costs low to stem the losses from last season, I do need to bring in a host of players though as after all the outgoings we were left with one kid goalkeeper, no right backs and only one natural centre back, we also needed a midfielder or two to replace Greening and Press.

But before I go through the incomings, a few updates on how Wales are doing in the rankings.

The league has managed to drop a spot in the competition rankings.

And worst news is Wales have dropped a place in the co-efficient rankings, down to 51st meaning we lose a Conference League spot.

We've also had some odd stadium news, Cardiff Met Uni will be ground-sharing with us this season, they will pay us a rental of just over £6k a season

Now to the incoming transfers, please welcome...

 

Sam McLintock - Central Midfield

My replacement for Evan Press, he looks half decent for this level

 

Craig Curran - Winger/Striker

Signed for his experience mainly but also the fact he still looks top quality for 34.

 

George Sheridan - Defensive Midfield

I looked at signing Sheridan last season but couldn't afford him, since his release from Aldershot his wage demands have dropped significantly, he should be a big player this season.

 

Caden Genovesi - Central Defender

I really like the look of this lad, he's tall and strong and is a big upgrade on what we had in defence last season.

 

Ryan Hiller - Striker

Signed on an amateur contract just to add some depth to the forward line

 

Ewan Griffiths - Goalkeeper

My new No.1, he 's only 18 but already looks pretty solid for this level.

 

Ryan George - Right Back

My new right back, he looks solid and has a good base but does need some work, especially on his technicals

 

There's still a good 7 weeks of the transfer window left but wanted to update prior to the Conference League qualifiers, another Right Back is much needed and possibly another Wingers, we are currently only spending half of the wage budget and a good £1k a week less than last season.

[TheLutterworthFox]

2024/25 Europa Conference League Qualifiers

We entered in the first qualifying round and had what looked like a winnable tie against Lithuanian side Kauno Zalgris.

Looking at their players attributes it was always a tie I thought we could win but after the first leg my hopes seemed to be dashed, we took an early lead but then our passing let us down as we conceded possession in silly areas and ended up losing the tie 3-1, an uphill battle as we head back to Jenner Park

But somehow we pulled off a miracle win, two first half goals levelled the tie and we snuck a goal in extra time to seal a 3-0 win and 4-3 on aggregate!

Into the second qualifying round and we had a really tough ask as we faced Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk, we were huge underdogs and Zorya proved their quality beating us in the first leg 4-1, we actually had some decent chances but failed to make them pay.

In the second leg we once again played half decent against a much stronger side, we matched them for chances but fell to a 2-1 defeat.

Overall though to get through one round is really good but the biggest news is this.....

We've made a total of £770k of prize money just for playing in those two rounds! That is absolutely massive!

The bank balance now sits at a whopping £648k!!!!!

[TheLutterworthFox]

August 2024

Its been one hell of a start!

Some brilliant wins, loads of goals and a 100% record!

Let's hope we can carry this on!!

Now a couple of pieces of good news, the Europa Conference League prize money has given me the chance to improve the junior coaching and youth recruitment.

This puts the junior coaching up to "good" and the youth recruitment to "average"

We've also continued our recruitment drive by bringing in five new signings.

 

Tyler Winters - Striker

A really good addition to the forward line, he will offer really good back-up to Ollie Hulbert and on a non-contract deal.

Theo Robinson - Right Back

I needed more option at right back and Robinson is a cracking deal for the club.

Eric Ameyaw - Central Defender

Eric adds some much needed depth to the defence.

Mael Davies - Right Back/Central Midfield

Mael was signed for his versatility and also the fact he's on a non-contract deal.

Samuel Oluwatobi - Defensive Midfield

Signed on a season long loan from Newtown, he looks pretty decent and, like all the signings, adds depth to the squad.

A really good window, the squad is now set and as you can see from the squad planner we have options in all areas.

It does say 1.5*s for DM and RW but I personally feel the ability rating of the players in those positions don't reflect how good they are.

Now a final piece of news, Aim One has been ticked off in the challenge as TNS managed to get through the Conference League qualifying rounds to seal a spot in the League Phase.

[TheLutterworthFox]

September 2024

Well after a great start we have fallen apart, I can take defeats to Connah's Quay and TNS but those losses to Cardiff Met and Bala really hurt! What a shambles! Now to try and work out what's gone wrong

The good news is no one is really running away with it and even TNS have lost twice, we just need to ride the storm and hopefully we can turn it around

[TheLutterworthFox]

October 2024

I think the corner is slowly being turned

Yeah we got hammered by Haverfordwest but it was an odd game where they had an xG of less than 1 but scored 5 times! Other than that it's been a solid month with 5 clean sheets along the way.

We're down in 5th but the table is really tight.

A quick word on a player who came through our intake last season and over the past month has slowly started making his mark in the first team. James Roberts has been playing as the Mez (S) in a midfield three and has been really good, scoring twice in 3 starts.

[TheLutterworthFox]

November 2024

One of the best months of the save so far.

Even in the defeat we played really well and deserved to win. 3 wins in the league as well, some great wins but I would love a clean sheet!!

Just look how close it is! We sit joint top and ahead of the mighty TNS!

This will be my last update for a week or so as I go on holiday in the morning. See you all soon

Edited February 16 by TheLutterworthFox

[BML]

In my save, TNS always seem to struggle domestically when they make the Conference League Stage, so this could be your year!

[TheLutterworthFox]

December 2024

Back from my holiday and straight back into FM!

A really good month with progression in the Welsh Cup and a win against Connah's Quay who, at the time, were top, the loss top TNS set us back but we did play well.

Just look how tight it is at the top!

3 games of the regular season to go before the league split and a further 10 games, only a point separates the top 4!

In other new TNS ended their Europa Conference League Phase with 4 points including a win over Gent and a draw against Lugano, they went out but those wins were huge shocks

[TheLutterworthFox]

January 2025

A brilliant month ruined by a shocking defeat right and the end!

And that loss dropped us from 1st to 3rd! It's so close!

Transfers news and we made two new signings in January.

Ryan Hanson - Central Midfield

A really good addition to the midfield, a huge upgrade.

Kian Pritchard - Winger

We were really short of decent wingers, McLaggon has been great but he has decided to retire at the end of the season and is declining rapidly, a top quality signing for this level.

 

[TheLutterworthFox]

February 2025

Too many dropped points for my liking, TNS we were 2-1 up and three it away but it was that 0-0 draw at the end of the month that had really damaged out title aspirations.

The good news is, sandwiched in between the league games was a Quarter final win in the Welsh Cup, we now face TNS in the semi final.

TNS now have a 4 point lead on us, we still have 6 games left and I'd say we need to win all of them, including TNS away to have any chance of winning the league.

[TheLutterworthFox]

2025 Youth Intake

All I can say is WOW!

Now clearly these rating are based on our current players, this big question is, are my players rubbish hence why the intake players CA/PA is so high or are these lads actually good?! 

David Price-Hall - Central Defender

A Croatian/Welsh defender! He looks OK, amazing? No but solid enough to be able to do a job in the future.

Alun Isaac - Central Midfield

Yeah, not bad, many attributes over 10, the average for this league is around 8-9.

Jonathan Browning - Defensive Midfield

Yeah he isn't great, his mentals are half-decent but his physical and especially, technical attributes are really poor

Aled Carroll - Right Wing

At 2.5* current ability I expected him to be good but, for this level, he already looks incredible, he does need to improve, mainly in his pace, off the ball and passing but he has a really good base to work with.

Gerwyn Owen - Left Wing

Good quickness, some great mentals both technicals need some serious work

And here's a selection of the "top talents", none of them are World beaters but could do a job with training and mentoring.

So it wasn't as amazing as I hoped but it gives us so many options to add to our first-team squad. These lads can progress in the main squad and get mentored by the more experienced players. What this means is the squad will be huge but I can now look to remove and release a load of the poorer players who are taking up wages, if I get rid of 10 I'll only need to bring 5 or 6 in, this means I can spend more on wages on these players! It makes sense in my head anyway!

[TheLutterworthFox]

March 2025

Well with that defeat to TNS the league title has well and truly gone, the good news is we got the better of TNS in the Welsh Cup and have made it to the final where we will face Airbus UK

3 games left, we have guaranteed top 3 but still need a few more points to end 2nd

[TheLutterworthFox]

April 2025

A solid end, I played the kids in the final game as I looked forward to the cup final and the fact 2nd was already wrapped up

A second successive season as runners-up but a point better off than last season. We do however end miles behind TNS.

Now to the cup final where we face Cymru North side Airbus UK, we were huge favourites and although we struggled to break them down we eased to a 2-0 win and with my first trophy in the save.

A really good way to end a solid season.

[TheLutterworthFox]

2024/25 Season Review

 

THE NEW ARRIVALS

There were a lot of signings over the season and most did a solid job, Ryan George (RB) didn't play as many games as he maybe deserves but Theo Robinson took the RB spot was sensational all season. Sam McLintock also had a good season in central midfield.

 

A SEASON TO REMEMBER

A fantastic second place finish in the league, a point better off from last season but the gap to TNS is still too much.

In the other competitions we:

Lost in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the Europa Conference League

Lost in the 3rd Round of the SPFL Trophy

Lost in the Semis of the Nathaniel MG Cup

WON THE WELSH CUP!

 

MOMENTS TO REMEMBER

 

THE FINANCES

A really good season financially, helped by the Europa Conference league where we made over £750k in prize money. This meant we could lose around £30k a month and still end the season well in the black.

Take that prize money out and we'd be £500k in the red! Next season we need to get through at least one qualifying round to help that bank balance continue improving

 

BEST XI

The Best XI is as expected really with no major surprises, it's interesting though to see only three players averaging over 7 in a season where we ended as runners-up

THE ACCOLADES

Theo Robinson dominated the awards, winning the club player and young player of the season, well deserves and he was pretty much our best player. He is going to be a huge player moving forward if we to challenge TNS.

Ollie Hulbert ended as the club top scorer, he also won the Cymru Premier young player of the season.

And here is the whole squad.

 

NEXT SEASON

Next season for me is going to be a big one, we need to get closer to TNS, three seasons in I would be expecting to be running them very close, in the other competitions it would be nice to retain the Welsh Cup but for me the League is more important. As for Europe, to get through a qualifying round will be good enough for me but if we can get a round further than this season I'll be delighted.

Squad-wise I expect quite a turnaround of players, with the good intakes we've had so far and the fact we have a lot of young player who deserve some game-time I plan to try and get rid of a lot of the older, poorly rated players, the likes of Curran, Hillier, Davies, Kyle and many more. If I can get rid of a raft of those player then I will look to bring in 3 or 4 players.

£100k in transfer money is good but, until we've progressed a round in Europe and I know we've made some prize money then I won't spend that but if I do get rid of some high earners who aren't good enough then I'll have more than enough wage budget to sign some high-quality players.

It may end up being a busy Summer but it will all depend on who leaves, the squad is currently way too big!

 

SEASON SPREADSHEET

 

 

Edited February 25 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

July 2025

A new season has arrived and its been another busy Summer, the first aim was to get rid of some of poorer, higher earning players

All-in-all 9 first-team players left, the biggest loss there was defender Nguepissi who refused a new deal, the other main first-team players to go were Wingers Curran and McLaggon, midfielder Davies and defenders Kyle and Owens, overall it cut around £2k off the wage bill.

With so many players leaving I needed to make a few signings, I didn't want to go mad but wanted to use the available wage budget to bring in some much higher quality players to play alongside the young lads we have at the club.

Ashton Fox - Central Defender

A massive improvement on what we have in defence, on a hefty wage but well worth it

Joe Woodiwiss - Central Defender

As you can see the centre of defence was my biggest issue and I've tried to bolster the rank, Woodiwiss adds some good depth

Harry Thomas - Central Defender

And a third CB joins, one for the future more than anything.

Kyrece Lisbie - Winger

We needed a new wide man with us losing Curran and McLaggon and this lad fits the bill.

Miller Fenton - Left Back

Signed on a season long loan, with Owens leaving it left us quite short at LB.

Reuben Marshall - Striker

A second loan signing, we only really have Hulbert as a decent Striker to Marshall comes in to add some competition.

 

So six in's, the squad is still way too big but its now full of our academy players, I have full faith some of them will step up to the plate.

Co-efficient News

Some good news in the co-efficient rankings as we rose 9 places up to 42nd, this regains our 3rd Conference League spot.

 

Europa Conference League 

Now to the results and July is Conference league qualifiers only, one again we did amazingly to get past the 1st qualifying round, beating Georgian side Dinamo Batumi, we then faced Norwegian side Stromsgodset and did really well to draw them at home before getting beat away.

And that once again gave us another £770k of prize money to add to the bank balance, it is now up to just over £1m.

The big thing I want to do with this money is to try and improve the facilities so this year is about spending it on the youth facilities.

A big chunk of money but hopefully it will help the young players here to train better and improve quicker.

[TheLutterworthFox]

August 2025

A really decent start

In other news TNS qualified for the Conference League proper for the second successive season

[TheLutterworthFox]

September 2025

The brilliant start continues!

Some really good wins there including a cup victory over TNS, we also drew them 0-0 in the league, a game in which we dominated

Sitting pretty at the top of the league!

[TheLutterworthFox]

October 2025

What an odd month it's been!

Our unbeaten run in the league continues but we managed to lose in three different cup competitions! That included two penalty shootout defeat, in the Welsh Cup loss to Llantwit we lost 18-17 on penalties!!!!

As hard as it is to take, for me this season it's all about the league and so far we are smashing it.

A nice 6 points lead on TNS

[TheLutterworthFox]

November 2025

A quiet month game-wise, mainly because we're out of all the cup comps!

The month started so well, we then faced Cardiff Met Uni and got destroyed in a shocking performance, our unbeaten start in the league has gone!

We still have a 5 point lead at the top with 6 games of the regular season to go before the league splits

[TheLutterworthFox]

December 2025

An absolutely stunning month

4 brilliant wins including an absolute hammering of TNS away!!!! What a result!

The best win of the save so far and that means we now have a huge lead on TNS at the top of the table.

10 points clear with 12 games of the season to go.

[TheLutterworthFox]

January 2026

We have suddenly decided we cannot defend!

So many goals let in but a bag full scored!!! That result at the end of the month though was the big one, we certainly have the beating of TNS at the moment and that win has pretty much sealed the title bar a complete capitulation!

The gap is now 11 points with 7 games to go, surely we can't throw this away?

In other news I've made one new signing in the Winter window as a new central defender joins on a free, amateur contract.

He's only 17 so has so much potential to grow into a quality player, he is already a starter in the side as he's way better than most of our other CBs

[TheLutterworthFox]

February 2026

Only two games this month, one poor defeat but we ended with a good win against Bala.

TNS have won both their games but we still lead by 8 with 5 games left

[TheLutterworthFox]

2026 Youth Intake

Again we have an "excellent" intake, even though when the preview came through it was all "C"'s and nothing higher.

But the question, as ever, is are any of them any good!?

Kenny McIntyre - Central Midfield

Erm, not great! 

David Chapman - Central Defence

Not bad at all! Great mentals, good physicals, he just needs to improve his positioning, heading and marking and he could be half-decent.

Stefan Jones - Central Midfield

Again, not bad, he has most of the right attributes to be a solid central midfielder, he just needs to improve in a few other areas.

Aaron Anderson - Defensive Midfield

Good mentals, can tackle and jump, he may end up being a better central defender if I can retrain him.

Grzegorz Dziedzig - Left Wing

Not amazing but he can cross and dribble, he needs some work but looks alright.

And here's the "top talents".

So overall its another solid intake, it helps bulk the squad out meaning I don't have to worry about signing back-up players, I can solely concentrate on bringing in top quality players on decent wages whilst trying to improve these lads through mentoring, loans and game-time.

[TheLutterworthFox]

March 2026

Three games this month and the first two went pretty well

4 points from a possible 6, the final game of the month was against TNS who, after winning both their games, had shrunk the gap to 6 points with 3 games left. We beat TNS away, we win the league, lose and the gap is down to 3!!

What happened next will live long in the memory, I expected it to be a tight game.......it wasn't!

 

WE ABSOLUTELY DESTORYED THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An insane win, beyond my wildest dreams and with that we claim the league title with 2 games to spare!

[TheLutterworthFox]

2025/26 Season Review

An amazing season is over, Cymru Premier CHAMPIONS!!!

 

THE NEW ARRIVALS

Some good performances from the newbies, especially Marshall up front who ends with 22 goals and Lisbie on the wing who grabbed 14 goals and 21 assists. 

 

A SEASON TO REMEMBER

Amazing!!! We won the league by 6 points, it would've been more but I played the kids in the final two games and we only gained a point.

In the other trophies though we didn't do as well.

Conference League - 2nd Qualifying Round

SPFL Trophy - Fourth Round

Welsh Cup - Second Round

Nathaniel MG Cup - Quarters

Disappointing but for me this season was all about the league and it paid off, next season we go into the Champions League qualifiers which should give us a raft of more prize money!

 

MOMENTS TO REMEMBER

Some incredible victories along the way, that 7-0 away win over TNS though will live long in the memory as it claimed us the league title

 

THE FINANCES

Mainly green once again with just the prize money dropping, this was all down to our poor showings in the domestic cups. 

The bank balance ends just in the black, the prize money we gained went all into improving the youth facilities, with another season in Europe this will help the bank balance and get it heading upwards.

 

BEST XI

A solid season with numerous players averaging over 7, That front 3 of Marshall, Hurlock and Lisbie was just sensational, unfortunately though we might not be seeing a couple of them next season. It was a shame to not see 2025 intake star Aled Carroll in the XI as he played a lot over the season, his average rating wasn't great but I felt he played better than both Hatton and Hanson in midfield.

 

THE ACCOLADES

No surprised here as Lisbie ends as player and young player of the year, alongside signing of the season, most assists, player of the matches and highest average rating! The big problem is his contract is up and he is refusing to speak on a new deal, hopefully Champions League football may keep him around

And here is the whole squad

 

NEXT SEASON

What a brilliant season, my third at the club and we claim the league title ahead of TNS. Now we have to start to build for a push at the Champions League qualifiers. 

The squad, as you can see above is really big but it's full of kids, academy lads who, although they are good enough to add depth to the side in the domestic games, aren't good enough to hold down a space to help us progress. I do want to keep playing them but what I need to do now is bring in some higher quality, more experienced players to help these kids grow.

We will be losing quite a few first teamers as their contracts are up and they won't sign a new deal, Genovesi, Hulbert, Lisbie, McLintock and Hanson will all leave, Lisbie is the only one I really want to keep, we'll also lost Fenton and Marshall as their loans are up. I will be getting rid of numerous players who just aren't good enough with the aim to bring in 5 or 6 players who massively improve this side to help take us to the next level.

The one thing I really want now is to get the board to agree to us turning professional, unfortunately that won't happen until the finances improve so whatever prize money we earn next season won't be spent, it will be stored to hopefully push the board to agree.

Three great seasons, it's nice to see our reputation has improved even if we're still well short of the Welsh sides playing in the English leagues. The league rep and co-efficients are also increasing and with TNS qualifying for the league phase of the Conference League this season the co-efficient next season is heading upwards as well and I think we'll go up to 37th, we still have a way to go, 32nd is where we will gain an extra spot in Europe.

[TheLutterworthFox]

July/August 2026

Two months in one, mainly because of our European qualifiers

But first, transfers.

Some big first-team players leave, the big loss there is last season player of the year Lisbie who refused to discuss a new deal, we also lost Hulbert (ST), Patten (CM), Genovesi (CB), McLintock (CM) and Woodliss (CB) who all left after their contracts expired.

With a lot of key men leaving we had to bring players in but this time we had to make sure they improved us for our run at the Champions league qualifiers.

Luke Mariette - Central Midfield

A decent player who is an improvement on what we already have, he can play DM. CM and RW naturally.

Japhet Mpadi - Winger

I'm really excited about this lad, good pace, he can cross and dribble, he just needs to learn to pass!

Josh Hinds - Striker

Another top quality signing, he ended as the Cymru Premier top goalscorer last season for Penybont with 27 goals in 30 games.

Luke Conlan - Left Back

We seem to have been short of left back for about two seasons! Conlan isn't rated very highly but I think his attributes are good enough for this level

Oliver Shannon - Central Midfield

Another versatile player who can play RB, DM, CM or RM. His mentals are what drew me to him.

Jason Williams - Left Back

I really like the look of this lad, he's only 19 and already a Grenada international. Top quality!

Steven Allan - Striker

And finally! WOW! This lad looks incredible, another option up top and this lad is going to be something else! I am so excited to see him bang goals in!

Some great signings and now we're fully set for a shot at the Champions League qualifiers, now my aim was to win one round, TNS had failed to do that in any of the past three season, although they had got into the Conference League proper the past two. Aim is too do what TNS did, well we did so much better than that!

JUST LOOK AT THAT!!!!

We got through three Champions League qualifying rounds including a ridiculous comeback away to Astana and then a brilliant win against Dinamo Minsk. We eventually came up against Dinamo Zagreb who were way too good for us in the first leg at home, we did however win the away leg, it wasn't enough though and we fell at the final hurdle.

But that means we qualify for the Europa League proper!!

Some really tough fixtures there! Aim there is to win one!!

The massive news is the prize money! For the Champions League run we gained £4.6m, we then got another £2.9m for getting into the Europa League!!! Just over £7.5m in the bank, that is absolutely massive! Now I can get the board to make us turn professional (I hope) and look at improving all the facilities!

Unfortunately though no other Welsh team made it through, TNS went the furthest, losing in the Conference League third qualifying round.

We've also had a good start to the domestic season with one slip up in the League Cup, it was in the middle of the Champions League qualifiers and they were much more important!

 

[naufal husain]

17 hours ago, TheLutterworthFox said:

January 2026

We have suddenly decided we cannot defend!

So many goals let in but a bag full scored!!! That result at the end of the month though was the big one, we certainly have the beating of TNS at the moment and that win has pretty much sealed the title bar a complete capitulation!

The gap is now 11 points with 7 games to go, surely we can't throw this away?

In other news I've made one new signing in the Winter window as a new central defender joins on a free, amateur contract.

He's only 17 so has so much potential to grow into a quality player, he is already a starter in the side as he's way better than most of our other CBs

how could you spot this player and got him on an amateur contract??? he's a good player at your level and is only 17!!! maybe good enough for league 1 if he develops well in my eyes

[TheLutterworthFox]

4 hours ago, naufal husain said:

how could you spot this player and got him on an amateur contract??? he's a good player at your level and is only 17!!! maybe good enough for league 1 if he develops well in my eyes

Came up on my scouting recommendations. I get lots and lots of rubbish recommended but every so often a gem appears

[TheLutterworthFox]

September 2026

Firstly, with all the money gained in our European adventure I have managed to get the board to agree to numerous facility upgrades, unfortunately though the option to ask to become professional isn't available.

I had to beg for every single one but the board caved in and said yes, this should take the training facs up to adequate, the youth facs up to average, the junior coaching is now up to excellent and youth recruitment above average.

Results have also gone really well in the league, as expected though we are struggling in the Europa League.

We are still 100% in the league which is great news and that win over TNS givers us a really healthy lead at the top of the table

7 points already!

[TheLutterworthFox]

October 2026

BIG NEWS!!! The board have agreed and from May 2027 we will be going professional! This is huge!

Result-wise it's been an absolutely incredible month

Only one game we didn't win, there's been some incredible victories, amazing performances including our first win the Europa League and progression in the Challenge Cup and Welsh Cup, I've been blooding the kids as well who have been performing really well.

Still 7 clear at the top and 11 clear of TNS!

As I mentioned, some of the kids have been playing so good and one of those is Striker Luke Humphries, he's scored 6 goals over the month including 4 in the cup game. He's currently averaging over a goal a game and has 8 goals in 545 minutes played!

 

[Chris391971]

I did this a few years ago on FM21 and made Bangor City a great team with only Welsh players, winning the league every year and doing well in Champions league, etc. I was also Wales manager and was World Cup runners up several times 

[TheLutterworthFox]

November 2026

An odd month with only one league game, the results look bad but with the teams we've played I am not that fussed

Two more defeats in the Europa League, a loss in the Challenge Cup but progression in the Welsh Cup and a solid win in the League.

8 clear at the top and with a game in hand! Stop the count!!