Thebaker

2021/22 Table | Squad | Transfers The team was inconsistent all season but still managed to stay i the playoffs until feb when a run of 5 points in 9 games finished any promotion hopes. Generally the team didn't score enough and lost too often to teams at the bottom. In the cups, the team were unlucky to meet top of L1 Swindon in the FA cup and lost easily. In the FA trophy the team lost to VNS rivals Wealdstone in a match were Harrow were in control until a red card in the 60th minute. Finances are quite stable with the new stadium leading to a rise in attendances and a record crowd of about 3400 for the first game with only 50 away fans. Defensively the additions of Purdy and Dreher led to a better defensive effort. Up front Youngs did well but Murrell was poor. I have high hopes for Bah if i could work out the best role for him. 2022/23 Table | Squad | Transfers Another inconsistent season where the team started badly seemingly conceding 3 a game. It only really improved in Nov when Bove and Warren came in. The team manged to get near the playoffs by mar only to lose 3 in a row to top 4 teams including a 7-0 loss to Southport. In the last game a playoff spot was still possible if Chester lost and Harrow won but a 4-0 win wasn't enough. The defense was the problem this season with mistakes in every game especially away, the team conceded the highest number of goals away. A really top striker could have made a difference as the strikers seemed to miss CCC's when the scores were level but couldn't miss at 3-0 down. In the cups the team were thrashed 0-3 at home by VNN Telford in the FA cup 1st Rd. In the FA trophy the team reached the 4th Rd and dominated the first game without being able to score. Halifax won the replay and went on to win the trophy. Finances have gotten worse as costs seem to have risen and wages as well. Tanganaga wanted to leave and did a Van Dijk by just playing badly such that i ended up dropping him for quite a bit, if the other defenders hadn't matched his poor efforts he would have not got back in. Warren was fantastic in midfield along with Rowe. Bove did well at the start before tailing off in form. Up front Youngs and Bah just didn't do enough, Murrell made up for it in some way with a club record for games. Season League Position FA Cup FA Trophy Achievements/Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Vanarama South 2nd 1st Round 1st Round Promotion 2019/20 Vanarama National 19th 3rd Round 1st Round Avoided relegation 2020/21 Vanarama National 8th 4th QRound 2nd Round None 2021/22 Vanarama National 12th 2nd Round 3rd Round None 2022/23 Vanarama National 8th 1st Round 4th Round None

Table | Squad | Transfers This season was both a step foward and and disappointing. The team started on fire not losing in the first 7 games and scoring 23 goals. This was followed by only 2 wins in 13 due to no central midfielders and then only 3 losses in 16 to get back into the playoff spots. A bad march meant that wins in the last 2 games against Accrington and Port Vale counted for nothing. The team seemed to play well against the better teams and then badly against team at the bottom. This form against poor teams carried over to the cups with a loss at the first hurdle to VNN strugglers Brackley in the FA cup and defeat to Woking in the FA trophy. The lack of cup progress has meant that the finances are looking a bit more worrying although not too bad. Moved into the new stadium at the very end of the season, its already looking small with such limited expansion capacity. In terms of the squad i strengthened the defense with Purdy and Tanganga who i hope will be in place for a while. The FB's need improving and upfront as Murrell and Youngs did well in patches but are inconsistent. Beyond them there is nothing, Whittaker come in on loan and had initial success before tailing off. Season League Position FA Cup FA Trophy Achievements/Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Vanarama South 2nd 1st Round 1st Round Promotion 2019/20 Vanarama National 19th 3rd Round 1st Round Avoided relegation 2020/21 Vanarama National 8th 4th QRound 2nd Round None

Table | Squad | Transfers | Cups This season was a struggle from the start as the team really didn't have the quality required to compete and no decent players wanted to join. I managed to beat the other teams at the bottom to keep in touch and hover around 21st. A run in Mar of 14 points in 7 games moved the team up the league, followed by a 5 match losing streak to leave the club needing a draw from the last game which they successfully did. In the FA Cup the team played 2 lower teams before meeting L1 Fleetwood in a televised match. Easily matched them to win 3-1 and went on to play championship Milwall away in the 3rd rd. The team were well beaten in front of a sparse crowd so i only made 90K from the match. The team lost in the first match of the FA trophy to VNS Welling Finances actually stayed quite steady over the year thanks to the FA cup run and a slight increase in attendances - thanks entirely to away fans, 500 in a crowd of 750 in 1 match. Harrow has almost no away fans, just 2 turned up to an august match. The squad needs improvement in defence generally and especially at RB, Brown is very poor even though rated as one of my best players. Up front i have high hopes for Murrell and Youngs was brought in as cover but ended as top scorer. Murphy was also very poor and i would have dumped him if i had more strikers. Season League Position FA Cup FA Trophy Achievements/Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Vanarama South 2nd 1st Round 1st Round Promotion 2019/20 Vanarama National 19th 3rd Round 1st Round Avoided relegation

It does come down to money though - Billericay and too a lesser extent Dulwich are very strong at non-league level on FM. This is due to money and attendances, For a harder game you should have gone for a team with neither. The example you gave in Southampton showed that, at L1 level they were richer and had more money than most. Luck with players also plays a part, sometimes players just do well for no obvious reason at a club after struggling at others, it happens all the time IRL. Edit: just made a offer for a released player rated at 5 stars, wanted 1K p/w which i couldn't afford, he went to Margate who are in a division below with a lower rep and signed for 300 p/w, something which i can easily afford - this doesn't happen to the likes of Billericay.

Bit concerned to get a message that the club had expanded plough lane by 10000 seats and taken out a loan of 915k to cover this. Thought this was a bug since Harrow are just staying there, checked finances and realized the 'club' must be AFC Wimbledon - panic over

@Swindon69 - well done on the massive improvement from last season and getting into the CL. Do you think you can challenge for the title?

Cheers, still using the same tactics but strangely kept a lot of clean sheets. The last update must have helped my tactics especially as wingers have more impact.

Harrow Borough FC 2018/19 Table | Squad |Transfers Restarted with Harrow, a team with no decent facilities and few players. They did have some good wingers and fullbacks and an ok GK. Started the season well until nov when the team struggled until jan leaving them midtable. In the new year the team were on fire helped by a few loan players, dropping only 4 points from 12 games. A slight wobble meant the title was never really on but after facing 4 of the other playoff teams in the last 4 games and winning them all the team finished 2nd. A 3-0 defeat of Dover was followed by a comfortable win over Dulwich to gain promotion. In the cups the team reached the 1st rd of the FA cup losing to L1 Charlton. In the FA trophy the team lost in the 1st Rd to VNL Whitehawk . The finances are pretty poor due to low attendances of ca300. Getting 50K from the Charlton match helped as did the playoff games. At the end of the season i noticed that Bury had a youth player come through from Harrow, I was able to sell the clauses for 70K. After promotion the board announced that the team would be moving into a new stadium with repayments at 8K p/m which would be a strain. Plough Lane would be the teams home for 2 seasons. The teams best players were the 4 loan players with Sotiriou being particularly good. Banya was the league player of the season. Season League Position FA Cup FA Trophy Achievements/Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Vanarama South 2nd 1st Round 1st Round Promotion

After getting sacked by Cirencester i have restarted as Harrow. After 11 seasons in total i have managed the Park the bus achievement which doesn't say a lot for my defending ability.

Nice one - that should set you up for future success

Some teams are much easier. Teams like Hereford, Billieracy and Dulwich have better squads and more fans so are richer. This means the squad dynamics are better and they can attract better players at the start. Other teams need a whole new squad nearly which also upsets the dynamics and results in the 1st season.

Table | Squad | Transfers It proved to be a tough challenge with Cirencester with a wage budget of 2.7k p/w and no transfer budget. The team needed overhauling and i ended with almost an entire new team. The team struggled the whole season, only surviving relegation with a game to go. The team was woeful at home picking up just 16 points and the defense was poor with no quality and a nutter in Rowe. The cups were limited in progress. In the FA cup the team conceded a 95th minute equalizer to Eastleigh when down to 9 men. They lost the replay. In the FA trophy the team were outclassed by Hartlepool. The lack of cup progress coupled with low attendances (averaging 300) meant that the finances are pretty dire. The standout player was Robinson just ahead of Stephens Staines Season League Position FA Cup FA Trophy Achievements/Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Vanarama South 19th 3rd Q Round 3rd Q Round Avoided relegation 2019/20 Vanarama South 13th 2nd Round 1st Round None 2020/21 Vanarama South 5th 2nd Round 1st Round Promoted 2021/22 Vanarama National 13th 4th Q Round 1st Round None 2022/23 Vanarama National 5th 4th Q Round 3rd Round Playoffs 2023/24 Vanarama National 17th 1st Round 3rd Round None 2024/25 Vanarama National 16th 1st Round Semi-final None Cirencester Season League Position FA Cup FA Trophy Achievements/Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2025/26 Vanarama North 19th 3rd Q Round 1st Round Avoided relegation

Well done on promotion @Swindon69

You would think 15k would be ideal, perhaps it takes into account the population of Hereford in the database.

I assume it could be expanded, 9k seems small though since your crowds must be reasonable by now