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Posts posted by bestbrother
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2029
Pre-Season
A book balancing pre-season for us as we made a net profit of around $2,500,000 in the transfer market, selling Enrique Martinez for a club record $3,500,000 to Chinese outfit Hebei.
We would also lose highly rated Yerko Galdames for nothing to Colo Colo, a bit of bad business on our part as just a year earlier we rejected a $1,500,000 bid from the same club.
Income highly rated stopper Marco Guzman, as he had recently broke into the National team setup. Whilst we finally got our hands on Eduardo Soto from Colo Colo a player we had been chasing for a couple of years since he burst onto the scene domestically.
Alongside all this, the board have put into place an expansion to the new stadium. This will bring us upto 13000+ capacity and hopefully allow us to continue to push forward in the coming seasons.
First Half
We managed to survive a tough start unscathed, drawing with Campeon' Everton and than at Universidad de Chile, as we began life without a few of last seasons key players.
A 5 game winning run came next, 4 of which on the road as we found joy by using Claudio Rojas and Andres Arana as our strike pairing.
There would be a couple of defeats before the break, but we would sign off by hammering Huachipato 4-1 and as we have done before, sat healthily in the top 3 with a real chance of kicking on.
Mid-Season Break
We held our position here, the club is slowly leaking money and with no more plans to upgrade any in house facilities, we will be looking to sell to buy more often than not. However the board were happy to keep this squad together, to try and get over the hump and bring back silverware once more.
Second Half
Like a greyhound out of the traps, we raced back into form, first stuffing Everton 5-3, before winning another 6 on the spin, as our defensive strength came to the fore with a gaggle of 1-0 wins.
At this stage we were just 1pt off Universidad Catolica and well ensconced in a 3-way battle with them and 'La U' for the title. Sadly we got the yips, 1 point from 6 in home games against Palestino and Nublense hurt us. A useful draw at Catolica helped them more than us, before we saw our hopes go up in smoke by losing to relegation threatened Curico Unido 0-3.
Hope for 2nd place and an automatic Libertadores Group placing soon vanished, as although we went to Colo Colo and won 2-0, we again collected just 1 pt from 2 home games to see our season fizzle out in a respectable 3rd place, but oh so close to so much more.
On a league wide note, Universidad de Chile would win their first title since 2017 and their first since the change of format to a European style season
I cant explain what happened here, our Copa efforts are getting worse year on year, this time we managed to lose 0-4 at home to Palestino to leave us on the outside looking in once again.
A repeat tie with the team that dumped us out at this stage in our first effort in the Sudamericana. No guessing what happens next? We lose 2-3 on aggregate to Tolima as we dont ever seem to be ready for the early fixtures.
No where to be seen.... still.....
Best XI not generated by game?
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Andres Arana (61%)
Goal of the Season - Claudio Rojas
Young Player of the Season - Alexis Viale
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Marco Guzman, Agustin Catalan, Alexis Viale & Andres Arana
Campeonato Primera Champions - Universidad de Chile
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Santiago Wanderers
Copa Chile Winners - Union Espanola
Supercopa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Universidad de Chile & Huachipato lost in 2Q / Universidad Catolica & Everton de Vina lost in Group Phase
Copa Sudamericana - Union Espanola, Deportes Antofagasta & Santiago Morning lost in 1st Round / Everton de Vina lost in 2nd Round / Colo Colo lost in 3rd Round
0 -
2028
Pre-Season
It has been a successful era under Fabian Poblete but he hands over the reigns to Osvaldo Jimenez as we move forward looking to take the next step in our development.
With a new man in charge, he immediately set out to impress the fans by loosening the financial restraints, allowing us to spend over $4,000,000 on domestic based players.
However it would be the loss of Jaime Carreno that made the major headlines at the club as he chose against renewing his contract and took leave of the club for the 2nd time. It was a huge blow and hole to fill once more.
So, our incomings were focused on bringing a domestic core to the squad. Unfortunately we were suckered in to spending a club record $2,400,000 on Jorge Figueroa from Universidad Catolica. Figueroa was attracting large amounts of attention from Europe and to that end, we believed we could get the best out of him for a year and turn a healthy profit... hindsight will prove a wonderful thing.
First Half
We began slowly and never really got out of 2nd gear, doing enough to be in and around the Top 5, but never doing enough to break into the Libertadores fight.
Our usual defensive strength came unstuck as Kevin Mier who kept 22 clean sheets last season, would only keep 4 in the 1st half of the season as we couldnt find the right formula that saw us finish as Runners Up last time out.
Mid-Season Break
Nothing to see here, no further investment was made as although the bank balance looked healthy, we wanted to make the most of what we had. At this stage Jorge Figueroa had yet to score for the club, making more appearances off the bench than from the start.
Second Half
For once we came out of the break on a positive note. Deportes Puerto Montt took 5, San Antonio Unido 4 and then Union Espanola 3 as 4 wins on the spin shot us back into the mix.
The jitters then began to take hold, Campeon in waiting Everton would beat us, before we then saw 'La U' spank us on our own ground 0-5. From there we would win just one more game in our run in and although there was a smattering of draws, our final day 0-1 home loss to Colo Colo summed up everything that our season was.... new home, disappointing and enough but not enough.
Our first year at the William Marin Arena would see us win 10 of our 12 games, the opener at the ground was a 2-0 win over San Antonio Unido with Andres Arana scoring both. Note 3 of our 'home' games are played at the home of our opponent every year to allow for bigger attendances.. Colo Colo, Universidad Catolica and Universidad de Chile.
As for our plan to cash in on Figueroa... his 5 goal return (3 of which from the spot) from 24 appearances, leaves us without the expected windfall on the horizon.
A thrilling win over O'Higgins was all we could take from this years Copa as Universidad Catolica eased past us in the 3rd Round as we suffer an early exit.
A trophy, maybe not one of the major ones, but one of the three on offer in Chile. For the first time Santiago Morning are Supercopa Chile winners as we open the season beating Universidad Catolica to etch our name into the history books.
A tough Libertadores group played out as we expected. We beat Emelec (ECU) twice with ease, but with Racing Club and Boca Juniors were too strong and although we picked up a point against both, there was little else to celebrate as we wind up proud but 3rd.
3rd place means another crack in the Copa Sudamericana. Once again we slumped to a heavy loss on the road, losing 0-3 in Gimnasia (LP). The return was about salvaging pride, although it was close to being more as our 2-0 win gave us a thrilling but fruitless finish in our brief foray once more.
No where to be seen....
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Enrique Martinez (61%)
Goal of the Season - Yerko Galdames
Young Player of the Season - Enrique Martinez
Campeonato Nacional Young Player of the Year - Frank Palacios
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Frank Palacios
Campeonato Primera Champions - Everton de Vina
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Cobresal
Copa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Supercopa Chile Winners - Santiago Morning
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Palestino lost in 2Q / Cobresal lost in 3Q / Universidad Catolica & Santiago Morning lost in Group Phase
Copa Sudamericana - Colo Colo & Nublense lost in 1st Round / Universidad Catolica, Cobresal, Union Espanola & Santiago Morning lost in 2nd Round / Everton de Vina lost in 3rd Round
0 -
2027
Pre-Season
2 in, 2 out this pre-season as we had a net spend of around $400,000 bringing in attacking options Jaime Diaz and Andres Arana. However it was our outgoings that made more headlines as we cut our losses on $2,000,000 man Gonzalo Echeverria, as he scored just 9 times in 90 games for the club.
Alongside that we also made our minds up on Facundo Labandeira as after his 18 goal effort in 2025, we saw little positives from him as his 3 goals in 2026 meant we decided to move toward a new approach.
First Half
Onto the season then and our opener couldnt have been worse. At home, against Colo Colo... lost 0-4, a thumping and hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Fortunately it wasnt as we got ourselves together defensively, whilst figuring things out up-top with our new look strikeforce. Arana would score twice as we went to Union Espanola and beat them 4-0. Then a week later Nublense came to La Pintana and took 4 as well.
Jaime Carreno a firm fans favourtie continued to drive the team forward, scoring in a 3-0 win over Huachipato, following that up with another as we won 5-0 at Cobresal. We appeared to have found the right blend at the right time, alas there is another side who have that blend down to a tea.
Universidad Catolica have a stranglehold on the division and their 0-2 win over us before the break, ensured we had work to do in the second half of the season to catch and overtake them.
Mid-Season Break
We were as close as we had ever been and I pushed the board to be more ambitious, so we committed to a $3,000,000 spend in the transfer window, bringing in Chilean Enrique Martinez from Gimnasia (LP) and Peruvian Frank Palacios for over $1,000,000 a piece.
There had to be some give, so out went Zurbriggen who had fallen off a cliff in recent seasons, whilst the sale of Byron Nieto to Universidad Catolica for $1,300,000 concerned many fans as we made our rivals stronger in the process.
Overall the squad came out more balanced and more importantly younger. Financially we need to get back into the Libertadores to make the most of the squad, the pressure is on.
Second Half
So back onto the pitch and we would lose twice on the bounce, 0-1 at Colo Colo and Deportes Antofagasta as memories of recent season collapses came to the fore.
However that would be it, there would be no further losses as the team turned the corner and tried to turn the screw on Catolica. Once again our defense held up as we went on to concede a team best 20 goals across the season, with Kevin Mier adding 8 more clean sheets in the final 13 games.
Enrique Martinez proved to be an inspired piece of business, scoring 9 times as he helped us make the most of our solid approach to the game. Unfortunately we had too much to do and in the end we would settle for am impressive 2nd place, the best league performance for the team since the 1940s and a guaranteed place in the Copa Libertadores Group Phase for 2028.
A decent Copa run as we again attempt to win a major trophy, however we come unstuck in the Semi Finals as the dominant team in Chile Universidad Catolica took us apart over the 2 legs, as they moved towards yet another domestic double.
In and out, as we collapse against Colombians Santa Fe to end any hope of success abroad. The 1st leg came before the start of our league campaign and without much time to gel, we took a heavy 0-3 loss. A week later we lost 1-2 at home and that was that.
Oh dear, not only do Magallanes have to watch us have our best season in over 80 years, but they also suffer the humiliating fate of relegation to Segunda Division and will now stare into the abyss of Chilean football.
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Jaime Carreno (71%)
Goal of the Season - Jaime Carreno
Young Player of the Season - Enrique Martinez
Campeonato Nacional ANFP Player of the Year - Enrique Martinez
Campeonato Nacional Player of the Year - Enrique Martinez
Best Chilean Player of the Year - Jaime Carreno
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Kevin Mier, Simon Gonzalez, Jaime Carreno & Enrique Martinez
Campeonato Primera Champions - Universidad Catolica
Campeonato Primera B Champions - San Antonio Unido
Copa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Supercopa Chile Winners - Palestino
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Union Espanola & Palestino lost in 2Q / Universidad Catolica & Everton de Vina lost in Group Phase
Copa Sudamericana - Santiago Morning, Colo Colo & Union La Calera lost in 1st Round / Universidad de Chile lost in 2nd Round
1 -
10 hours ago, ucdark said:
As a Chilean I have to say, very good save!!! You have one fan here
Thanks for reading, appreciate the feedback, glad you are on board and hope I can do Santiago Morning and Chile proud
4 hours ago, ashjm said:Doing very well mate, really good read
Cheers mate, appreciate you taking your time to read and post. I hope to bring a bit of detail and information to how things are going on an annual basis, but feel free to ask anything about the team or save as well
1 -
2026
Pre-Season
Once again off field news headlined our pre-season as confirmation of the new stadium, its cost, name, capacity and all the intracacies around it have been announced. In 2028 we will open our new Stadium, named after club legend William Marin.
We then doubled down our efforts for success on the pitch. The promise was, we had to be competing at the top end by the break to ensure that we kept the squad together. So with that in mind, $2,300,000 was invested and 8 new faces joined a squad that had seen a gaggle of players released including former fan favourite Oyarzun as we rebuilt the defensive structure of the team.
The additions of Galdames, Catalan and Cuevas would give us a younger core to our defense, as all our signings would be of Chilean descent.
First Half
We had to start well and although we stuttered with some sloppy defeats, things looked positive as we began to score freely, beating Deportes Iquique 4-0, Everton 5-0 and Audax Italiano 5-1. The team had found its rythmn on the back of Peruvian schemer Jose Lopez.
Again there was a little stumble but a 3 game winning run toward the break saw us hit 4 more at Huachipato, as we sat nicely in 2nd place, 5pts behind Universidad Catolica but still handily placed.
Mid-Season Break
Then came the season breaker. The club was struggling financially, we had overstretched in the summer and the lack of success on the Continent had hit our income streams. This coupled with our stadium loan had left the board searching for answers... that answer came from San Lorenzo, as the Argentine giants put down $3,000,000 rising to $4,400,000 for Jose Lopez and that was that.
Our creative outlet had gone and goals would soon follow...
Second Half
From hopes of challenging for the title, we would slide down the table and in the end scrape into 6th place and just about ensure another crack at the Sudamericana next time out.
We would lose 8 games without scoring a goal, as for all our defensive efforts (4 of the 5 would earn team of the year honours) there was no one there to score. Alongside that we lost every home game after the break without scoring, collecting our 3 wins on the road as the decision to sell Lopez proved to be catastrophic for our ambition.
The reality is that the team will now head toward a rebuild. Familiar faces such as Labandeira and Zurbriggen have lost their touch and with their hefty wage, we cannot afford to carry anyone anymore. Our youth system is yet to provide us with any hope, we will once again dip into the transfer market hoping to unearth a gem or two once more.
Back to our standard here, losing to Union Espanola... you begin to wonder if the draw is rigged somehow! This time though it was just in the 3rd Round, so no Final heartache for us, although id rather be in there than not.
A brief foray into the Sudamericana for us, we beat out Venezuelan side Monegas, coming back from a 0-2 loss in the opening leg. However things came to an abrupt end in the 2nd Round as RB Bragantino gave us a lesson in Brazil, beating us 0-4 and ending our stint in the competition.
Magallanes came close, they lost in the playoffs... maybe there will be another Clasico in the Campeonato Nacional one day?!
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Simon Gonzalez (34%)
Goal of the Season - Claudio Rojas
Young Player of the Season - Agustin Catalan
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Kevin Mier, Byron Nieto, Agustin Catalan & Cristian Cuevas
Campeonato Primera Champions - Universidad Catolica
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Deportes Antofagasta
Copa Chile Winners - Palestino
Supercopa Chile Winners - Colo Colo
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Union Espanola & Huachipato lost in 2Q / Colo Colo lost in the 2nd Round / Universidad Catolica lost in Q/Final
Copa Sudamericana - Curico Unido lost in 1st Round / Santiago Morning lost in 2nd Round / Palestino & Universidad de Chile lost in 3rd Round
2 -
2025
Pre-Season
With the prospect of more Libertadores funds coming our way and a small increase in the TV rights for the Campeonato Nacional, we made the call to improve the squad arguably beyond our means.
This involved spending $2,500,000 on 3 new faces (well 2 and a free transfer) as our most notable deal saw $1,900,000 spent on highly rated Chilean wide-man Mario Ponce who we managed to get out of old foe Union Espanola.
First Half
For 11 games we were the leagues best team, no doubt. We topped the table with 9 wins, we had beaten 'La U', we had conceded just 4 goals and Labandeira was notching at the rate of a goal a game.
Then it just stopped. We would lose our final 2 games before a mid-season break and without the funds to improve the squad we would have to use the gap in play to try and find a way to bring confidence back to the camp.
Mid-Season Break
As mentioned there was little to see here bar get the club back on its feet and with the prospect of 4 straight home games to open up when we returned, there was an opportunity to make good on our start.
Second Half
Unfortunately it just wasnt there and our slim title hopes soon vanished as we drew 3 straight and never recovered. There was the odd win, but the defeats soon mounted up as we again failed to find the consistency needed to break into the Top 3.
Our early season form was enough to keep us comfortably in the Sudamericana places but there were just 5 wins from our last 16 games, as we would struggle to find the net, failing to score in 8 games and relying on 4 of those wins coming at home to again see us claim 5th place for the 4th time in our 5 top flight seasons.
Well at least we lost to someone other than Union Espanola, however we have every right to be frustrated with our penalty shoot out defeat to Deportes Puerto Montt, as we had a 2 goal lead and threw it away in our Quarter Final exit.
Back in the Libertadores and although we rallied to come back from a 2-3 home loss to Cerro Porteno in the 2nd Qualifying Round, we then failed by losing in Colombia to Ind. Medellin as we would rue a missed penalty and a late goal by the hosts to send us out before reaching the Group Phase.
We did however fall in to the Sudamericana and our hopes for a deep run looked good after we took apart Peruvian's Alianza Lima 4-1 on aggregate. Unfortunately we then drew Argentines Estudiantes La Plata and although we took them close, they held out to edge us by the odd goal over 2 legs.
Going to be a bit bare here for a while!
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Diego Oyarzun (34%)
Goal of the Season - Jose Lopez
Young Player of the Season - Jose Lopez
Campeonato Nacional Top Goalscorer - Facundo Labandeira (18)
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Diego Oyarzun & Facundo Labandeira
Campeonato Primera Champions - Universidad Catolica
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Deportes Iquique
Copa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Supercopa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Colo Colo lost in 2Q / Santiago Morning lost in 3Q / Union Espanola lost in Group Phase / Universidad Catolica lost in 2nd Round
Copa Sudamericana - Curico Unido & Union La Calera lost in 1st Round / Universidad de Chile & Palestino lost in 2nd Round / Santiago Morning lost in 3rd Round
1 -
2024
Pre-Season
Investment into the club continued off the pitch with the President committing to over $500,000 of advancements to both the training and academy facilities.
Alongside this, we invested heavily into the squad, using the money raised from our Copa Libertadores adventure to try and fund another run towards qualifying for the competition.
We did start our pre-season with a sale as Botafogo paid us $1,500,000 for Uruguayan Ignacio Laquintana, boosting our coffers even further. In return we would add 3 new faces, Chileans Baeza and Nieto would arrive to bolster the squads depth, before we went on to smash the clubs record transfer fee.
That fee would be $2,000,000 on Argentine Gonzalo Echeverria as we poached the promising teenager out of River Plate with a hefty gamble.
First Half
Honestly our start couldnt have been worse, bar a surprise win over Universidad de Chile (La U), we sat at the foot of the table. Then things picked up, we would go on to hit a 10 game unbeaten run as we found our scoring boots to hit reigning Campeon' Union La Calera for 4 and then repeat the feat the week after at home to Deportes Puerto Mott.
We put ourselves in the mix... the title race mix, Santiago Morning were beginning to look relevant and a good mid-season transfer window could make all the difference.
Mid-Season Break
There wasnt a break as such this year with the Copa Chile filling the void between league games, however we used the open market to add 5 faces, 1 familiar as we took our seasons spending to over $4,500,000.
Once again we sold before we dipped our toes into the water, selling Chilean fullback Victor Retamal to Colo Colo for a tidy $1,400,000, giving us a bit more punch in the market.
We once again broke the one million dollar barrier, signing Simon Gonzalez from Universidad Catolica, but the exciting news for all El Chago supporters would be the surprise return of Jaime Carreno. Just one year after his move to Racing Club, we bought him back for $625,000 as we finally could fill the hole left by him after his sale.
Second Half
With the squad reinforced with quality, hopes were high. Alas they were immediately bought back down to earth as we were unable to string back to back wins together, with a 5-0 win at Cobresal a highlight before the lowlight.
That lowlight was a 3 game losing skid that ended any outside hope we had of reaching the Libertadores via the league. All by the odd goal, but all critical blows to our position. We would rally to then win our final 3 games to secure 5th place for the 3rd time in 4 years, enough to clinch a Sudamericana placing... or so we thought..
However our Copa Chile exploits would reward us as once again although we came up short in the Final, Union Espanola had already qualified via the league and so we picked up the scraps as Chile's #4 entrant in next years Copa
Put it simply, we dont like Union Espanola. 2 years ago we lost to them in the Final, last year they beat us in the Semis on penalties... this year? Final and another defeat to Union Espanola.
We had a fairly easy run to the Final, even beating Primera B side Deportes Melipilla in the last 4, but once again we came unstuck against the Copa Chile specialists as our wait for a major honour continues.
Magallanes are closer to falling into the Amateur ranks than anything right now. That victory that saw us claim the title over them has proved to be a turning point in both clubs future.
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Agustin Guiffrey (37%)
Goal of the Season - Carlos Gomez
Young Player of the Season - Gonzalo Echeverria
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Diego Oyarzun & Juan Cruz Zurbriggen
Campeonato Primera Champions - Universidad Catolica
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Deportes Temuco
Copa Chile Winners - Union Espanola
Supercopa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Universidad Catolica & Union Espanola lost in 2Q / Universidad de Chile & Union La Calera lost in Group Phase
Copa Sudamericana - Curico Unido, Huachipato & Deportes Puerto Mott lost in 1st Round / Universidad de Chile & Union La Calera lost in 2nd Round / Colo Colo lost in Q/Final
1 -
2023
Pre-Season
A bit of a rebuild for us here as we spent most of our upcoming Libertadores money on 7 new faces to bolster the squad. We lost Ezequiel Fernandez back to Boca as his loan expired, but added depth and spent a club record $475,000 on Facundo Labandeira as the Uruguayan adds more depth to our attacking options.
We still await our first batch of Morning academy prospects with the club investing as we go towards our long term future.
First Half
Combining our league efforts alongside the a run in the Libertadores proved to be alot tougher than we had planned. We had a solid start, picking up 7pts from 9 but then things turned sour fast. There was a quick 6 defeats as goals dried up, bar a crazy 4-5 loss to Colo Colo, as we moved into the mid-season break in the bottom half, but still in touch with the Sudamericana places.
Mid-Season Break
The club was then left reeling as Jaime Carreno refused a new deal and moved on to Racing Club for $650,000 leaving a big hole in the middle of our squad. We did sign Kevin Medel to replace him, but with the team struggling for form, this left us hoping for an easy transition. The $220,000 deal took our spending over the $1,000,000 barrier a significant sum for a club our size.
Second Half
Things didnt improve, there were a raft of heavy losses, 1-4 to Union La Calera, 2-5 at Union Espanola as we would lose 8 games in a run that saw us flirt with the Top 8, but eventually fall away to a safe but disappointing 12th place.
In the end we finished just 1 point off qualifying for the Sudamericana, going to show how poor the bottom half of the league was, but we had little complaints, scoring just 36 goals and picking up just 13pts in the 2nd half of the season, a few more than the teams eventually relegated to Primera B.
Frustration for us here as we had the fantastic high of beating Colo Colo on penalties in the last 8, before we let a 2-0 aggregate lead slip in the Semi Finals to lose out to Union Espanola once more, 5-6 in a shootout.
Santiago Morning in the Copa Libertadores, let that sink in for a moment... now thats done with we hoped to make the most of our chance, not only to bring top tier Continental football to the club, but also to boost the bank balance with some glamour ties.
It began with a Qualifying round loss in Bolivia as Oriente Petrolero beat us 2-3, yet those 2 away goals proved crucial as a tough 1-0 home win advanced us to within a tie of the Group phase. In the 3Q we faced Athletico Paranaense of Brazil, again we gave ourselves a chance by drawing 1-1 away. Then at home, we trailed early but scored twice before the break to seal a 3-2 aggregate win and progression into the lucrative groups.
The draw looked tough and was, as Gremio (BRA), San Lorenzo (ARG) and Bolivar (BOL) awaited over the next few months. We began by winning in Brazil, stunning Gremio 1-0. San Lorenzo then bought us back down to earth, as we lost our first home game of the stage, whilst we then dismantled Bolivar 5-0 on the road.
Somehow we then did the double over Gremio, coming from a goal down to win thanks to Carreno in the 93rd minute. Again we followed that up with a loss to San Lorenzo, leaving the group with 3 teams fighting for 2 spots. It boiled down to us needing to stuff Bolivar, assuming Gremio beat San Lorenzo and other permutations.
We had made it and our reward would be another glamour tie against one of the Argentine greats Racing Club. We gave them a fight in the opening leg, 1-1 proving respectable, yet it proved too much in the return as we lost 0-4 in Argentina to end our run unceremoniously.
Would love to play these guys again, but they are no where near promotion.
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Ignacio Laquintana (45%)
Goal of the Season - Jaime Carreno
Young Player of the Season - Ignacio Laquintana
Campeonato Primera Champions - Union La Calera
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Nublense
Copa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Supercopa Chile Winners - Colo Colo
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Union La Calera lost in 2Q / Union Espanola & Santiago Morning lost in 2nd Round / Colo Colo lost in Q/Final
Copa Sudamericana - Audax Italiano lost in 1st Round / Palestino & Universidad de Chile lost in 2nd Round / Universidad Catolica lost in 3rd Round
2 -
2022
Pre-Season
A less eventful pre-season for us as the club had stabilised under new ownership as we prepared to compete both domestically and on the continental front in the coming season.
We made just 2 changes to the squad this year, bringing in young Argentine Ezequiel Fernandez from Boca Juniors on loan to anchor the midfield. We also added a backup Keeper in Chile U21 starlet Luis Ureta in a £150,000 deal from O'Higgins.
Outside of that we held on to our better players with Jaime Carreno, Juan Zurbriggen and the veteran Pablo Hernandez who participates in his last year of professional football.
Alongside this our hopes for a fruitful academy continue to go amiss, with the better players in Chile having the pick of the top clubs. Investment in this area is something we will look to implement in the coming seasons.
First Half
A solid start saw us collect 13pts from 18, as our only loss came at Universidad Catolica (1-2) as they proved to be the only goals we conceded in the opening 2 months of the campaign.
Things then turned sour, first up a 1-4 drubbing at Colo Colo led us onto a run that saw 4 defeats and 2 draws send us spiralling down the table as our attacking threat dwindled, with all 4 defeats seeing us lose 0-1.
Mid-Season Break
Once again we needed a fresh face to inject something new to the club. This time we explored the South American market and bought in Uruguayan Ignacio Laquintana to the club, spending £$300,000 in the process to improve our creative capabilities.
Second Half
Laquintana would have an immediate impact, scoring on his debut as we lost at home to newly promoted Nublense. However after that things improved, 4 wins from our next 5 would be highlighted by thumping Colo Colo 5-2 infront of 35000 fans at the Estadio Nacional.
The winning run continued with impressive wins over Palestino, Huachipato and a 6-0 demolition of Deportes Puerto Mott. We would go on to secure a spot in the Sudamericana with wins at home to 'La U' and Union La Calera, as we once again did enough to claim 5th place in the table winning 2 more games and gaining 3 more points than last seasons total.
However the best news was to come. Union Espanola would secure the title on Goal Difference, that coupled with them being our opponents in the Copa Chile Final meant that no matter the result, we would gain entry to the Copa Libertadores, just 3 years into our project.
In 2000 Santiago Morning reached its first Copa Chile Final, losing out to Universidad La Chile in what proved to be the last Final of the competition before a 9 year hiatus. In 2022 we reached the Final once more, albeit starting our run with a loss to Primera B side Barnechea.
We managed to overcome them on penalties, before moving on to beat top flight rivals Palestino, Universidad Catolica and Audax Italiano to reach the Final.
Once there we would face recently crowned Chilean Campeones 'Union Espanola. Union had come good once again after a run in the 1970s saw them reach the Copa Libertadores Final. This year the club were just too good for us over the 2 legs, beating us 0-2, before we rallied in the 2nd leg only to fall short and miss out on claiming a major piece of silverware.
A brief foray into the Continent saw us draw Colombians Tolima in the 1st Round. We would draw 1-1 at home, but had little response in the return as the travel affected us en route to a 0-2 loss and a premature exit.
Another season without a Clasico and again unless we draw Magallanes in the Copa Chile, next year will be no different as our rivals failed to make the Promotion playoffs.
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Jaime Carreno (58%)
Goal of the Season - Jaime Carreno
Young Player of the Season - Juan Cruz Zurbriggen
Chilean Footballer of the Year - Jaime Carreno
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Leandro Finochietto, Victor Retamal & Diego Ceron
Campeonato Primera Champions - Union Espanola
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Deportes Temuco
Copa Chile Winners - Union Espanola
Supercopa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Colo Colo lost in 3Q / Curico Unido, Palestino & Universidad Catollica lost in Group Phase
Copa Sudamericana - Santiago Morning & Audax Italiano lost in 1st Round / Deportes Puerto Mott & Palestino lost in 2nd Round / Colo Colo lost in 3rd Round / Union La Calera lost in Q/Final
1 -
2021
Pre-Season
If preparing for our first year back in the top flight wasnt exciting enough, we also had the drama that came with a change in ownership as Fabian Poblete took over as the new President and immediately made an impact in the months after...
It almost became over whelming, from the announcement of his arrival, to the transfer budget beyond anything we dreamed of, to the addition of a B Team in order to aid the development of our younger players.
However there was more to come as in order to move Santiago Morning into a brighter future, plans were put in place to build a new stadium to replace the ageing Municipal de La Pintana.
All that almost over shadowed our preparations as we had to rebuild the squad from last year, bringing in 6 new faces thanks to the fresh investment, with the $250,000 deal for Chilean midfielder Jaime Carreno setting a club record.We added to that with a pair of free transfers from Argentina as Finochietto would replace the outgoing Gelpi in goal, whilst Zurbriggen would give us more attacking threat as the veteran Jimenez moved on to pastures new.
First Half
Things began well for us as we adjusted nicely to our new level of competition, drawing at home to Deportes Iquique on the opening day, before thumping Union Espanola as we welcomed back top flight football at home, winning 5-0 with Lucas Fernandez notching a hat trick.
We continued to improve, beating O'Higgins, before picking up a useful point at 'La U' to consolidate our place in the top 5 of the table. But things were about to get a little rough...
A 1-5 stuffing at Huachipato started a run of 7 without a win, as we would lost 5 on the spin, a run that included another thumping this time 0-4 at Audax Italiano. It was a rude awakening and the mid-season split would again give us a chance to regroup for the run in.
Mid-Season Break
Our form had dropped dramatically and we needed to freshen up the squad, something we achieved by bringing in another Argentine in Agustin Guiffrey from Patronato. However it would be the signing of veteran Chile International Pablo Hernandez that would write all the headlines.
Second Half
We came back and began our rise back up the table, collecting healthy wins against Antofagasta, Deportes Iquique (Zurbriggen hat trick), Everton and away at O'Higgins. It was a run of results that would put us back amongst the mix for a continental place.
Home wins over 'La U' and a revenge victory against Huachipato kept us on track as Hernandez became a staple in our midfield. Alas a tough run of fixtures saw us lose at home to Colo Colo, before we lost to Universidad Catolica as they inched closer to winning the title.
A win over Audax Italiano would clinch a spot in the Copa Sudamericana for next season, but we fell just shy on the final day in our hopes of playing in the Libertadores as we drew at home to Cobresal as results elsewhere went against us.
Overall it proved to be a successful return to the Campeonato Nacional for the club. We won 14 games, scored 50 goals and qualified for Continental football for 2022.
"El Chago en Sudamericana"
Another 3rd Round exit for us this year as we ran into Palestino in bad form, losing both legs by the odd goal. Our conquerors would go on to win the competition later in the season.
No Clasico for our fans to enjoy this year, however I am sure they would have been placated with matchups against Colo Colo and La U instead. As for Magallanes, they failed to even make the playoffs and their only hope of meeting us at this stage would be in the Copa Chile.
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Jaime Carreno (52%)
Goal of the Season - Lucas Fernandez
Young Player of the Season - Jaime Carreno
Campeonato Nacional ANFP Player of the Year - Pablo Hernandez
Campeonato Nacional Player of the Year - Pablo Hernandez
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Pablo Hernandez & Juan Cruz Zurbriggen
Campeonato Primera Champions - Universidad Catolica
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Nublense
Copa Chile Winners - Palestino
Supercopa Chile Winners - Colo Colo
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Universidad Catolica lost in 2Q / Universidad de Chile lost in 3Q / Colo Colo and Everton lost in Group Phase
Copa Sudamericana - Palestino, Deportes Iquique, Union La Calera & Audax Italiano lost in 1st Round / Colo Colo lost in 2nd Round
1 -
2020
Pre-Season
There is little change in Chile no matter the level, even more so when competing in Primera B, just a bad season away from falling into what can only be called the abyss of amateur football. At Morning we had very little wiggle room for anything, so much so that we decided not to dip into the market and proceeded to head into the season with what we had.
This would instantly put pressure on a few key areas of the squad, Uruguayan shot-stopper Leandro Gelpi and on-loan Parnacan would anchor our defensive effort. Whilst veterans Orellana and Jimenez would likely be our offensive threats for the year.
Only one team would gain promotion automatically, with another coming via a playoff system. Last seasons 12th place finish was deemed below par... the onus was set to improve on that and alot more.
First Half
The season was arguably more a sprint than a marathon, just 28 games were to be played as the Chilean Federacion re-aligned its professional divisions in the coming seasons.
Immediately we got off on the wrong foot, a 0-2 home loss to Deportes Melipilla (and their 17 travelling fans) could have sounded alarm bells. But to our credit we bounced back and took control of the table, winning 11 of our next 12 games to hold a slender lead above rivals Magallanes.
It was a run that included 8 clean sheets, 6 straight wins at home and a crushing 5-2 win at Deportes Temuco as Orellana raced to lead the league in goals with 8.
Our final game before a mid-season break would be at rivals Magallanes. Not only did they sit just behind us in the table, but it would be our first taste of Clasico Metropolitano at the hostile Municipal de San Bernardo.
All I can say is thank god we had a break after this effort, as Magallanes romped away with a 1-4 win to not only take Clasico bragging rights, but also the lead in the division.
Mid-Season Break
The transfer window opened once more and the temptation was there to improve the squad, but with finances still tight, the only movement was out as 4 players left the club to ease our wages burden.
Second Half
We came back at the end of July and faced 2 straight away games to try and get over our Clasico embarrassment. Fortunately the appetite was still there and Gelpi resumed status quo by keeping back to back clean sheets as we jumped back to the top of the table with 1-0 and 2-0 wins.
Back at the Municipal de La Pintana we collected 3-1 wins over Rangers and Cobreloa to extend our lead at the top, but things would take a turn for the worse.
1 point would then come into the account from our next 3 games, as we failed to hit the net in away defeats to Valdivia and Copiapo, then drew 0-0 at home to Union San Felipe to disappoint the near on 3000 Morning fans in attendance.
Magallanes again usurped us, we needed to find a way back to form, thankfully Jimenez and Orellana stepped up to score in home wins over Barnechea and Santa Cruz, as we embarked on a 5 game unbeaten run to head into the seasons 2nd Clasico.
We hosted our rivals, 2pts clear with 2 to play. That meant a win here would do the damage and whilst our form was healthy, Magallanes themselves hadnt won for 4 games, losing their last 2. Over 5000 turned up as we sought not only revenge but the ultimate Clasico win that would clinch the Primera B Championship and promotion back to Campeonato Nacional.
It was tense and it took an hour for the deadlock to finally be broken as Lucas Fernandez (a teenage Argentine frontman) scored only his 6th goal of the campaign. 15 minutes later and there was another, as again Fernandez wrote his name into Morning history to give us a 2-0 lead and the smell of success. There would prove to be a tense finish as Magallanes pulled back a late goal, but there was to be no further drama and the celebrations could begin. We had our moments, dips in form, crisis of confidence, but as a club and team we stuck together and sealed the deal in the most dramatic and satisfying fashion...
"Escupimos a los cerdos de Magallanes"
In the end we will look back on our Copa Chile exploits with a little regret, as although at the time the League was our priority, our exit at the hands of 3rd tier Deportes Linares will rankle with us for a while as an opportunity to make the Last 8 of the competition.
Well it has been well documented how these games panned out. We lost in humbling fashion away from home as Magallanes put down a marker with their 1-4 win.
However in response our win at home not only saved face but also secured the Championship and promotion for us, in expense of them! To rub salt into their wounds, Magallanes failed to achieve promotion via the playoffs, putting the Clasico Metropolitano to bed for at least a year.
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Miguel Angel Orellana (34%)
Goal of the Season - Santiago Lizana
Young Player of the Season - Yonathan Parancan
Campeonato Primera B Goal of the Season - Santiago Lizana
Campeonato Primera B Team of the Year - Leandro Gelpi, Yonathan Parancan, Jose Luis Jimenez
Campeonato Primera Champions - Colo Colo
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Santiago Morning
Copa Chile Winners - Universidad Catolica
Supercopa Chile Winners - Palestino
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Palestino & Universidad de Chile lost in 2Q / Universidad Catolica lost in Group Phase / Colo Colo lost in Q/Finals
Copa Sudamericana - Coquimbo Unido, Union La Calera & Audax Italiano lost in 1st Round / Huachipato & Universidad Catolica lost in 2nd Round
1 -
:: Background ::
Club Founded :: 1903 as Santiago Football Club, became Santiago Morning after a merger between the former and Morning Star in the 1930s.
Club Rivalry :: Clasico Metropolitano vs UD Magallanes
Club Honours (Major) :: Primera Division de Chile (1) 1942
Current :: We will compete in the Chilean 2nd Tier (Campeonato Primera B) in the 2020 season. The club last competed in the top division in 2011, an end to a brief recent era of success that also saw the club lose in the 2000 Copa Chile Final (the clubs sole appearance).
2 -
Part 14 - Conquering it all!
The F.A. Premier League (2032/33)Pre-season
A raft of news hit the club this year as we continue to expand our global brand on the back of our dramatic Championship last year.
First up was the news of another huge partnership within Asia, as £1,000,000,000 hit our accounts on the back of the new soft drink 'Brummie Blue' that has hit China by storm. Then on the back of that, the board realised the potential of the club was somewhat hamstrung by St. Andrews, as although we expanded the ground in recent years, plans are now afoot to build a new stadium potentially holding 100,000 to 120,000 fans.
Our transfer spending remained low as although we added Abbess Laameche for £170,000,000 from Bayern, in total we came in just under £400,000,000 for the summer on our 5 signings that also saw the return of Maxime Lucas from Norwich.
The Season (pre-January Window)
Our title defence began with a shock loss to Nottingham Forest on the opening day as we stuttered along in the opening months, drawing 4 games as we sat quietly inside the top 4.
Things picked up going through November as we rallied to 5 wins, highlighted by a 6 goal drubbing of Watford, before Christmas threw a spanner in the works, with back to back defeats to Arsenal and Manchester City halting our race to the top.
The January Window
Nothing of note happened in January, but maybe it should have as a draw with Saints and then another loss to Arsenal kept us just shy of the league leaders. February began with another defeat to Forest but as we stuttered so did the others around us as the league headed toward a Champion with the lowest amount of points.
Back to back?
3 straight wins in March hauled us back into the mix as we knew if we could win out, then the title would be ours once more. Alas it proved to much, Burnley and Chelsea (eventual Champions) beat us, whilst draws at home to Liverpool and West Ham were costly.
In the end our 3 game winning run to finish the season was just not enough as we finished 3rd, 3pts off the title and a bittersweet taste to how the league season panned out.
Second City Derby
Insert Vera Lynn song here.
The F.A. Cup
The FA Cup is back in the hands of the Blues as we had a comfortable run to the Final, before beating Sheffield United in the nations showpiece event, to claim our 3rd success in 4 years.
Carabao Cup
We stuffed United in last years final, this year we would lost in a rematch as they came from behind to score the first goals against us in the Cup this season and beat us 1-2.
Charity Shield
Winners as City are stopped on penalties as we add another major piece of silverware to the expanding cabinet at the club.
An almost fairytale ending to a memorable season in Europe for us as we made it all the way only to fall short to Bayern Munich in a thrilling Final.
We had an easy group but managed to lose twice to Lille before qualifying for the knockout phase once more. Lazio would be our first test and a goalless draw at St. Andrews left us with all the work to do in Rome. Fortunately we scored a pair of first half goals to beat the Italians and advance.
Atletico Madrid proved no fools in our Quarter Final encounter, but we held the aces and eased past them towards the last 4 thanks to wins in both legs of the tie.
Our Semi Final hopes looked dead and buried after the opening leg as once again our European tour looked to be ending in Manchester. However United are not themselves and when Cudicio scored to make it 2-0 on the night (2-2 agg) in the 89th minute, it setup a spectacular extra time.
United again led, twice in fact, as at 3-2 on the night we needed 2 goals with just 5 minutes to go to progress. Step up the heroes Al-Hussein and Taurone, you would never imagine the scenes they triggered as a rammed St Andrews witnessed all the drama of a 5-2 home win to send us to the Champions League Final.
As mentioned our dream ended there, Bayern had a bit too much for us and ironically it was former Blue 'Jurgen Brinkhaus who did the damage with a pair of strikes as our tired bodies fell away toward a 2-4 loss.
FIFA Intercontinental Cup
As part of our European success we were invited to the global showpiece Club World Cup. An intriguing event that saw us collect the clubs biggest ever competitive win, stuffing Egyptians 'Pyramids 15-0 to start us off.
We then beat Al-Sadd 6-0 to advance to the last 8, where the Cup finally became serious. Once into the knockout, we beat Real Madrid 2-0, fellow English side Liverpool 2-1 as we setup a Final with Barcelona to crown the best club in the World.
Of course it had to be Blue, the World of football was Blue! An 84th minute winner by Brazilian Patrick Roberto was all it took as Birmingham had done it... BIRMINGHAM CITY WORLD CHAMPIONS!
Player Stats
| Position Selected | Inf | Name | Position | CON/SHP| Playing Time Happiness | Apps | Gls | Ast | Av Rat | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Maxime Lucas | GK | 88% | Satisfied | - | - | - | - | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Cillian Kelley | GK | 91% | Delighted | 62 | 0 | 0 | 6.83 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Eddy Tacita | D (C) | 97% | Concerned | 1 (2) | 0 | 1 | 6.93 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Carlo Volpes | D (C) | 97% | Delighted | 53 (1) | 1 | 1 | 7.08 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Eduardo Camavinga | D (C), DM, M (C) | 88% | Delighted | 51 (3) | 7 | 7 | 7.23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Mahmoud Al-Hussein | D (C), DM | 82% | Delighted | 52 (1) | 5 | 1 | 7.18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Jude Bellingham | D/WB (R), DM, M/AM (RLC) | 98% | Delighted | 38 (15)| 8 | 7 | 7.17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Jesús Galliquio | D (RL), WB (R) | 89% | Delighted | 50 (1) | 2 | 7 | 7.19 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Romain Oudin | D (RLC), DM | 96% | Delighted | 36 (9) | 1 | 0 | 7.05 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Keron Hoyte | D/WB/M/AM (L) | 88% | Delighted | 52 (1) | 1 | 6 | 7.03 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Moritz Eckhardt | D/WB (L) | 95% | Satisfied | 4 (14) | 0 | 1 | 6.74 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Carles Maestro | DM, M/AM (C) | 94% | Satisfied | 1 (16) | 1 | 2 | 6.88 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Patrick Roberto | M (RC) | 95% | Delighted | 55 (2) | 3 | 7 | 7.16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Benjamin Sturm | M/AM (C) | 96% | Concerned | 2 (12) | 0 | 4 | 6.85 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Luís Costes | M/AM (R), ST (C) | 96% | Happy | - | - | - | - | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Vinícius Júnior | M (L), AM (RL), ST (C) | 92% | Satisfied | 32 (2) | 5 | 5 | 6.80 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Lst | Mohamed Ihattaren | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | 87% | Delighted | 47 (1) | 9 | 16 | 7.15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | João Félix | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | 92% | Delighted | 21 (20)| 2 | 7 | 6.89 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Dário Tigana | M (R), AM (RLC), ST (C) | 100% | Delighted | 41 (1) | 18 | 9 | 7.48 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Emilio Taurone | M (R), AM (RL), ST (C) | 79% | Delighted | 26 (20)| 16 | 6 | 7.04 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | CJ Ramson | M/AM (L) | | Happy | 4 (19) | 1 | 6 | 7.13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Rafael | M (RL), AM (L) | 89% | Delighted | 46 (2) | 11 | 17 | 7.32 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Matteo Cudicio | AM (C), ST (C) | 77% | Delighted | 53 (1) | 30 | 7 | 7.33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Jan Strzalkowski | AM (R), ST (C) | | Happy | 0 (34) | 6 | 3 | 6.85 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Abbes Laameche | AM (RLC), ST (C) | 89% | Delighted | 54 (3) | 22 | 8 | 7.06 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Transfers In/Out
IN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2032 | Maxime Lucas | Norwich | £21M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2032 | Romain Oudin | Chelsea | £80M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2032 | Carles Maestro | Barcelona | £50M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2032 | CJ Ramson | Everton | £57M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2033 | Luís Costes | Inter | £70M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
OUT
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11/7/2032 | Mohamed Ihattaren | PSG | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11/7/2032 | Arjan IJzerman | Juventus | £35M (£42.5M) | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20/7/2032 | Ethan Ampadu | Bournemouth | £4.4M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
0 -
Part 13 - Unlucky for Some!
The F.A. Premier League (2031/32)Pre-season
A relatively quiet summer for us as we made a few adjustments to keep the squad competitive. In came Cillian Kelley for a World Record GK fee of £101,000,000, as we only added 2 faces in our pre-season endeavours. On the flip side we shook the squad up by selling off a cast of players who just failed to cut it at the club, as for once we turned a profit in the summer by bringing in over 1/4 of a billion to the coffers.
The Season (pre-January Window)
We came out of the blocks flying, too hot to handle as we would race towards December with just 3 defeats and 17 wins to lead the league with ease. Our results included 4s against Chelsea and Wolves twice, whilst Swansea and Norwich felt our wrath by taking 5 goal spankings.
Our home record was 100% going into the turn of the year, as we held a 6pt lead over the nearest challengers.
The January Window
With the title in our sights we had the option to add to our squad, spending £250,000,000 on 2 new reinforcements as we saw the chance to stamp out the competition.
Things started badly losing at Spurs, but we would instantly respond by beating Manchester United and then stuffing Bournemouth for 6. A couple of draws slowed us down as Liverpool remained hot on our tail, but we would end Manchester Citys hopes by hitting them for 4 at St. Andrews.
3 horse race...
The title would come down to who could hold their nerve, us, Liverpool or United. It was neck and neck, but when Liverpool came to town and inflicted our first home defeat of the year, many thought our hopes had vanished.
We had to respond and did so, scoring 16 goals in 5 straight wins to edge clear once more as just a few points separated the top 3. A draw at Stamford Bridge could have been costly, but when we beat Southampton at home we knew that a point in Wales on the final weekend would secure our first ever top flight crown.
Near on 50,000 Blues made the trip to Swansea that Sunday for an edgy affair. We should have gone 1 up as Cudicio missed a penalty, but it didnt matter. A resolute performance saw us have enough in the tank to secure a 0-0 draw and spark wild title celebrations by the mass of Brummies surrounding the Vetch.
13 years ago the club was on the brink of extinction, League One football beckoned, fans had lost faith, there was no hope, ambition or belief. Now, Birmingham City are Englands finest, the miracle of Brum had been achieved against all odds.
Second City Derby
Lets all laugh at Villa.... its going to be a while before we see the Vile, read the Birmingham Echo headlines. Not only did we not play them again! But this year sees them fall into the abyss that is League One football.
The F.A. Cup
Looking to win our third FA Cup in a row we made our way towards Wembley once more with a comfortable run, beating 3 Premier League teams. Alas our journey would end in a dramatic Semi Final, as with a 2-0 lead we proceeded to get 2 men sent off, gave up a pair of late goals and then fell apart in ET against Manchester United. An unceremonious end to our FA Cup dominance of recent.
Carabao Cup
Another tough cup run saw us beat Chelsea and Arsenal en route to a 2 legged win over Bournemouth, a team that we often appear to meet in Cup competitions. This would setup a Final against Manchester United and although we went 1 down, a 15 minute 4-goal blitz would see us stun the Red Devils and bring back the League Cup to Birmingham.
Charity Shield
Another shot at winning the seasons opener and another defeat to the Citizens, this time 1-2.
Our 2nd crack at Europes elite and this time we more than held our own. First off beating both Dortmund and Real Madrid in the Group phase, as we made sure of our qualification to the knockout phase by beating the pair 2-0 in matchdays 5 & 6.
In the last 16 and we stepped it up once more, beating Juventus home and away to seal a 6-3 agg progression and put us just 2 rounds away from usurping what Villa achieved.
Unfortunately in the Quarters we drew Manchester City and although we turned around a 1-2 first leg loss, we failed to hold on to our 3-1 lead, giving up a late City 2nd to allow them passage via away goals.
Player Stats
| Position Selected | Inf | Name | Position | CON/SHP| Playing Time Happiness | Apps | Gls | Ast | Av Rat | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Arjan IJzerman | GK | 100% | Alienated | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.80 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Cillian Kelley | GK | 96% | Delighted | 59 | 0 | 0 | 6.88 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Eddy Tacita | D (C) | 100% | Concerned | 6 (4) | 0 | 1 | 7.18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Carlo Volpes | D (C) | 90% | Delighted | 53 (1) | 6 | 2 | 7.15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Ethan Ampadu | D (C), DM, M (C) | 100% | Happy | 38 (8) | 2 | 1 | 7.09 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Eduardo Camavinga | D (C), DM, M (C) | 79% | Delighted | 45 (2) | 3 | 3 | 7.07 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Mahmoud Al-Hussein | D (C), DM | 83% | Delighted | 21 | 0 | 0 | 7.10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Jude Bellingham | D/WB (R), DM, M/AM (RLC) | 96% | Delighted | 39 (8) | 3 | 11 | 7.15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Jesús Galliquio | D (RL), WB (R) | 82% | Delighted | 49 (1) | 3 | 7 | 7.22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Keron Hoyte | D/WB/M/AM (L) | 80% | Delighted | 53 (1) | 4 | 6 | 7.06 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Moritz Eckhardt | D/WB (L) | 100% | Very Happy | 3 (15) | 0 | 2 | 6.79 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Patrick Roberto | M (RC) | 86% | Delighted | 50 | 5 | 7 | 7.15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Benjamin Sturm | M/AM (C) | 100% | Alienated | 1 (19) | 2 | 1 | 6.84 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Vinícius Júnior | M (L), AM (RL), ST (C) | 100% | Alienated | 3 (26) | 4 | 1 | 6.81 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Mohamed Ihattaren | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | 95% | Delighted | 13 (42)| 3 | 13 | 6.94 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | João Félix | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | 94% | Delighted | 41 (15)| 27 | 9 | 7.29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Dário Tigana | M (R), AM (RLC), ST (C) | 88% | Delighted | 45 (1) | 10 | 13 | 7.27 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Emilio Taurone | M (R), AM (RL), ST (C) | | Delighted | 47 (6) | 27 | 8 | 7.30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Rafael | M (RL), AM (L) | | Delighted | 43 | 11 | 16 | 7.28 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Matteo Cudicio | AM (C), ST (C) | | Delighted | 48 (6) | 22 | 10 | 7.30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Jan Strzalkowski | AM (R), ST (C) | | Concerned | 7 | 2 | 4 | 7.23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Transfers In/Out
IN
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12/7/2031 | Cillian Kelley | Real Madrid | £101M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2031 | Rafael | Hertha BSC | £100M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12/7/2031 | Keron Hoyte | Chelsea | £80M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2/2/2032 | Mahmoud Al-Hussein | PSG | £155M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
OUT
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24/6/2031 | Maxime Lucas | Norwich | £27.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/7/2031 | Ibrahima Sory Bangoura | Napoli | £19M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6/7/2031 | Paul Smith | Watford | £37.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6/7/2031 | Ayoub Lachhab | West Ham | £46M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12/7/2031 | Reiss Nelson | Southampton | £26M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 13/7/2031 | Christopher Lewis | Schalke 04 | £37.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 27/7/2031 | Sandro Tonali | Inter | £36.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23/12/2031 | Eric Mumuni | Swindon | Loan | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2/2/2032 | Jan Strzalkowski | AZ | Ln Fee £150K p/m | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2/2/2032 | Ademar Mendes Larghi | Werder Bremen | £16.75M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Part 12 - Time to Challenge
The F.A. Premier League (2030/31)Pre-season
For the first time in a while, money was no issue. Even better was the fact the board decided to put a few quid away for a rainy day..
With the new found confidence in our financial situation, we thought it wise to break our transfer record 3 times in just one summer! First up European Golden Boot Dario Tigana signed for £100,000,000 from Lyon as we looked to strengthen our attacking options.
Then to the delight of Brummies everywhere, we bought back home town hero Jude Bellingham! The teenager who left the club 12 years ago in a £7,750,000 move to Manchester City, signed back for the club in a then record £138,000,000 deal as our spending showed no signs of slowing down.
There would be further additions, Joao Felix coming in to finish his careers at the club, but our biggest deal would see a world record fee paid out. £200,000,000 was committed in the signing of Eduardo Camavinga of Monaco as the French schemer finally joined the club after years of chasing.
In total the club spent over £600,000,000 once more as we rebuilt the squad, as alongside our record signing we would recoup our highest ever fee in selling Romanian Ionel Grosu to Chelsea for £92,000,000.
Once again we topped the wages spent chart, bursting £8,000,000 per week.
The Season (pre-January Window)
Our new look money bags team opened up with a home defeat to Brighton as immediately we looked fragile after last years success. However it didnt take long for the squad to gel, racking up 5 wins on the spin that included our best ever Premier League win, 7-0 at home to Middlesbrough.
A loss to City slowed us down, but again we followed that up with 5 more wins, easing our way back into the title race. But yet again our December blues came to haunt us, we lost 0-4 at home to Liverpool as we collected 6pts from 18 on offer and slipped out of touch from the Manchester duo.
The January Window
January saw us spend another £100,000,000 + as we added Vincius Jr. to give us more experience and quality in the creative areas. On top of that the expansion of St. Andrews completed as we can now welcome 38000 ravenous Blues to watch the club.
On the pitch we beat Man City as part of a run that saw us piece together an 11 game unbeaten run to consolidate our place in the Champions League qualification race.
Can we Keep Up?
Our final loss of the year came at Tottenham as we finished February 9pts adrift of the league leaders. If we had any hope of chasing them down, we needed to win. Unfortunately even though we had notable wins over Manchester United 3-1, Reading 6-0 and also 4 goal wins at Burnley, Watford and Middlesbrough, we also drew 3 in a row and in the end had no response to the juggernauts of Manchester.
3rd place once again for us, but we are getting closer and with our financial woes behind us, we can look to build this squad ready for another crack in the coming years.
Second City Derby
We'll meet again, dont know where, dont know when...
The F.A. Cup
We blazed our way to a second straight FA Cup Final, battering teams on the way, that included a 4-0 win over Liverpool in the last 8.
Our Semi Final went all the way as we squeezed past Manchester United 2-1 AET to setup a rematch from 12 months earlier against Chelsea.
This year it proved alot easier for us to lift the Cup, scoring 3 second half goals to add yet more silverware to the bulging cabinet at the club.
Carabao Cup
After we beat Man City in the 3rd round, then Arsenal in the 4th you could be forgiven for thinking our name was on the Cup. Unfortunately our hopes were dashed in the Semi Final as United beat us over 2 legs, something we would avenge in another Semi later in the year.
Charity Shield
A season opener and a chance for some silverware, we put out a new look team and fell short at Wembley once more.
What a debut in this competition for us, a group containing PSG, Roma and Barcelona! We held our own until matchday 5, where a draw with PSG would have put us through. Sadly we lost 1-2 and then our loss to Barcelona confirmed our exit as 3rd place put us into the Europa League.
The draw gods again hampered our hopes as although we pushed AC Milan close, the Italian aces had too much for our inexperienced team missed out 3-4 on agg.
Player Stats
| Position Selected | Inf | Name | Position | Morale | Last 5 Games | CON/SHP | Playing Time Happiness | Apps | Gls | Ast | Av Rat| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Arjan IJzerman | GK | Perfect | 6.88 | 96% | Delighted | 58 | 0 | 0 | 6.89 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Maxime Lucas | GK | Poor | 6.88 | 100% | Alienated | - | - | - | - | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Christopher Lewis | D (RC) | Poor | 6.92 | 97% | Alienated | 15 (16) | 0 | 1 | 6.83 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Eddy Tacita | D (C) | Excellent | 7.02 | 87% | Satisfied | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 6.50 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Carlo Volpes | D (C) | Extremely Good | 7.30 | 85% | Delighted | 54 | 1 | 0 | 7.04 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Moritz Eckhardt | D (L) | Extremely Good | 6.80 | 100% | Concerned | 1 (2) | 0 | 1 | 6.90 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Ethan Ampadu | D (C), DM, M (C) | Superb | 7.00 | 89% | Satisfied | 38 (1) | 1 | 0 | 7.08 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Eduardo Camavinga | D (C), DM, M (C) | Perfect | 7.58 | 85% | Delighted | 46 (3) | 3 | 3 | 7.14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Ibrahima Sory Bangoura | D (RC), WB (R), DM, M (C) | Perfect | 6.66 | 91% | Concerned | 1 (14) | 0 | 0 | 6.71 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Ryan Sessegnon | D/WB/M/AM (L) | Superb | 7.54 | 89% | Delighted | 54 | 1 | 8 | 7.10 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Jude Bellingham | D/WB (R), DM, M/AM (RLC) | Perfect | 7.34 | 82% | Delighted | 40 (7) | 4 | 6 | 7.03 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Jesús Galliquio | D (RL), WB (R) | Excellent | 6.94 | 90% | Delighted | 48 | 2 | 10 | 7.21 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Sandro Tonali | DM, M (C) | Poor | 7.84 | 85% | Very Happy | 38 (5) | 7 | 10 | 7.51 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Patrick Roberto | M (RC) | Perfect | 7.58 | 94% | Delighted | 41 (5) | 5 | 5 | 7.07 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Benjamin Sturm | M/AM (C) | Poor | 6.74 | 100% | Concerned | - | - | - | - | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Vinícius Júnior | M (L), AM (RL), ST (C) | Superb | 7.54 | 91% | Happy | 10 (2) | 2 | 7 | 7.30 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Reiss Nelson | M (RL), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Extremely Good | 7.28 | 97% | Concerned | 12 | 6 | 2 | 7.32 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Callum Hudson-Odoi | M/AM (RLC), ST (C) | Superb | 7.00 | 100% | Concerned | 8 (27) | 2 | 2 | 6.77 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Mohamed Ihattaren | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Perfect | 7.24 | 92% | Happy | 12 (28) | 9 | 4 | 7.07 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | João Félix | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Superb | 7.34 | 93% | Delighted | 28 (17) | 11 | 9 | 7.01 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Dário Tigana | M (R), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Fairly Poor | 8.10 | 65% | Delighted | 47 (4) | 17 | 10 | 7.25 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Emilio Taurone | M (R), AM (RL), ST (C) | Perfect | 7.50 | 91% | Delighted | 53 (2) | 27 | 10 | 7.25 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Paul Smith | M/AM (L) | Poor | 7.46 | 99% | Alienated | - | - | - | - | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Matteo Cudicio | AM (C), ST (C) | Perfect | 7.48 | 75% | Delighted | 44 (5) | 27 | 6 | 7.35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Ayoub Lachhab | AM (R), ST (C) | Poor | 6.68 | 100% | Alienated | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 6.70 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Jan Strzalkowski | AM (R), ST (C) | Good | 6.98 | 96% | Concerned | 0 (4) | 0 | 0 | 6.63 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Ademar Mendes Larghi | AM (RLC), ST (C) | Really Good | 7.44 | 95% | Concerned | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Transfers In/Out
IN
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12/7/2030 | Jude Bellingham | Man City | £138M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24/7/2030 | Emilio Taurone | Inter | £47M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 25/8/2030 | João Félix | Liverpool | £49M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 29/8/2030 | Mohamed Ihattaren | Liverpool | £80M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2/9/2030 | Eduardo Camavinga | Monaco | £200M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11/1/2031 | Jan Strzalkowski | Lyon | £50M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2031 | Vinícius Júnior | FC Bayern | £90M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
OUT
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2030 | Emmanuel Mansilla | Stoke | £50M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17/6/2030 | Teddy Jenks | Watford | £15M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30/6/2030 | Romário Baró | Southampton | £30M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7/7/2030 | Alessio Riccardi | Juventus | £15M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 29/7/2030 | Amine Sellami | Middlesbrough | £17.75M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30/7/2030 | Alphonso Davies | Roma | £10M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13/8/2030 | Ionel Grosu | Chelsea | £92M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11/1/2031 | Florent Da Silva | Lyon | £35M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2031 | Reiss Nelson | Ajax | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2031 | Moritz Eckhardt | Lazio | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2031 | Eddy Tacita | Sporting CP | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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7 hours ago, ronnidalhoff said:
How on Earth do you make the board accept to buy players putting you in debt? In my games they just refuse to accept any transfers out of the budget they have set.
You have to be creative and play around with instalments
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Part 11 - Punished for Ambition
The F.A. Premier League (2029/30)Pre-season
Ideally you should go to Disney to experience a rollercoaster, but for all Brummies, there was no crazier ride than that on their own door step. It began with this news...
Excitement surrounded the club, who was this Tycoon, would he finally give the club the money to spend and compete in the Premier League, to finally punch on a fair playing field... it was a fabrication.
From the highs came the lows... First up was the inevitable points deduction as once again the club was punished for breaching the unfair FFP rules of the Premier League
Then worse was to come... all our hard work from the previous campaign had been stripped from our grasp
Thats right, a European ban takes away the clubs first chance to feed with the big fish. Its no surprise, UEFA dosent like upstart clubs coming in to share the pie, its a kick to the gut we didnt need.
The only way to recover from this was to spend and so we did, rebuilding the squad once more with another £300,000,000 spree, whilst also shifting high earners Mason Greenwood, Johnathan David, Filayko Tomori and Lucas Paqueta from our books.
The Season (pre-January Window)
Battling a points deduction we got off on the right foot, losing just twice before December as we immediately chased into the Top 4 race, collecting notable wins over Arsenal 4-2, Man. United 2-1 and the same scoreline beat Chelsea.
Sadly we hit the Christmas hump and slipped down the table on the back of 4 defeats to end the year. Saints, Wolves and Norwich all nipped us by 0-1 as for the first time the atmosphere around the club became restless. We felt like victims of our own success and now the players had to do it all again.
The January Window
January began we a defeat to WBA but then we had news of a large investment into the club. With our finances once again precarious (due to the lack of Champions League TV money), we managed to sign one of the biggest sponsorship deals ever in the sport. Over £800,000,000 came into the club as Birmingham became the communications hub of Europe.
With this money we invested in a couple of new faces and again sparked ourselves into life. West Ham and Burnley fell 3-0 and our charge towards the Champions League began once again.
Keep Winning!
There was only once course of action for the team and that was to win. So, with all our off-field problems now under control, the players put on a show. Man City 2-0, Everton 4-2, Chelsea 2-0 and Newcastle 4-0 were all wins sprinkled amongst an 8 game streak that shot us into the Top 4 with a month to play.
We had to keep it going, there was a defeat at Old Trafford but a 3-0 win at Spurs all but sealed our place in the Champions League, something we moved on to secure by edging Sheffield United 2-0 on the last day as we did enough to finish 4th despite our 5pt punishment.
Second City Derby
Nothing to see here, Villa remain a Championship club.
The F.A. Cup
It began at Basingstoke and ended at Wembley, but this time we got over our Semi Final hoodoo to reach the Final. as we made the most of a favorable draw to beat Championship Swansea in our Semi Final tie and setup a meeting with Chelsea.
As we had just edged them for the final Champions League spot, Chelsea had something to prove. However the club would win its first ever FA Cup and the 3rd major trophy of my spell at the club.
Carabao Cup
We had hoped to defend our trophy here, but fell foul to a strong United team who smashed us for 5, to end our hopes of a repeat success.
Banned, thats all there is to it.
Player Stats
| Position Selected | Inf | Name | Position | CON/SHP| Playing Time Happiness | Apps | Gls | Ast | Av Rat | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Arjan IJzerman | GK | 94% | Delighted | 17 | 0 | 0 | 6.89 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Maxime Lucas | GK | 100% | Concerned | 30 | 0 | 0 | 6.82 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Christopher Lewis | D (RC) | 100% | Concerned | 3 (2) | 0 | 0 | 6.84 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Slt | Eddy Tacita | D (C) | 100% | Satisfied | - | - | - | - | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Carlo Volpes | D (C) | 82% | Delighted | 41 | 1 | 0 | 7.11 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Loa | Moritz Eckhardt | D (L) | 100% | Concerned | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 | 8.20 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | PR | Axel Tuanzebe | D (RC), DM | 80% | Delighted | 40 | 1 | 1 | 7.05 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | PR | Teddy Jenks | D (C), WB (R), DM, M/AM (C) | 100% | Alienated | 2 (12) | 0 | 0 | 6.67 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Ethan Ampadu | D (C), DM, M (C) | 100% | Alienated | 13 (17)| 1 | 0 | 6.93 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Romário Baró | D (C), DM, M (RC), AM (C) | 96% | Delighted | 33 | 2 | 3 | 7.04 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Ibrahima Sory Bangoura | D (RC), WB (R), DM, M (C) | 100% | Alienated | - | - | - | - | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Alphonso Davies | D/WB (L), M/AM (RL) | 72% | Delighted | 32 (8) | 2 | 6 | 6.97 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Ryan Sessegnon | D/WB/M/AM (L) | 100% | Satisfied | 24 (8) | 0 | 2 | 6.75 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Mariano Cocimano | D (RLC), WB (R) | 100% | Concerned | 3 (12) | 0 | 1 | 6.75 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Jesús Galliquio | D (RL), WB (R) | 75% | Delighted | 41 | 2 | 5 | 7.12 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Agn | Sandro Tonali | DM, M (C) | 74% | Delighted | 37 | 7 | 11 | 7.34 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Lst | Alessio Riccardi | DM, M/AM (RC) | 96% | Delighted | 32 (1) | 4 | 6 | 7.19 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Slt | Karamoko Dembélé | WB (R), M/AM (RC) | | Concerned | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7.50 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Patrick Roberto | M (RC) | | Delighted | 34 | 2 | 8 | 7.12 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Florent Da Silva | M/AM (C), ST (C) | | Concerned | 18 (8) | 2 | 1 | 7.16 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Amine Sellami | M/AM (C), ST (C) | | Satisfied | 18 (2) | 3 | 3 | 6.87 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Benjamin Sturm | M/AM (C) | | Concerned | 0 (5) | 0 | 0 | 6.72 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Reiss Nelson | M (RL), AM (RLC), ST (C) | | Very Happy | 10 (11)| 3 | 2 | 6.92 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | FtT | Callum Hudson-Odoi | M/AM (RLC), ST (C) | | Delighted | 29 (1) | 4 | 6 | 7.01 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Wnt | Ionel Grosu | M (R), AM (RL) | | Delighted | 34 | 2 | 11 | 7.03 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Unh | Paul Smith | M/AM (L) | | Alienated | 9 (13) | 1 | 5 | 7.04 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Wnt | Matteo Cudicio | AM (C), ST (C) | | Delighted | 39 (1) | 30 | 3 | 7.32 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Ayoub Lachhab | AM (R), ST (C) | | Happy | 39 (5) | 25 | 4 | 7.30 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Emmanuel Mansilla | AM (RLC), ST (C) | | Concerned | 14 (15)| 6 | 4 | 6.82 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Wnt | Ademar Mendes Larghi | AM (RLC), ST (C) | | Concerned | 1 (2) | 1 | 0 | 7.65 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Transfers In/Out
IN
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 28/7/2029 | Emmanuel Mansilla | Juventus | £80M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/7/2029 | Teddy Jenks | Stoke | £50M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3/9/2029 | Jesús Galliquio | Liverpool | £80M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3/9/2029 | Ademar Mendes Larghi | Flamengo | £18M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3/9/2029 | Reiss Nelson | Arsenal | £80M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2030 | Benjamin Sturm | Schalke 04 | £50M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2030 | Arjan IJzerman | Ajax | £20M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
OUT
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/7/2029 | Mason Greenwood | Newcastle | £3.3M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/7/2029 | Lucas Paquetá | Juventus | £15M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16/7/2029 | Alessio Riccardi | Monaco | Loan | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 28/7/2029 | Bukayo Saka | Burnley | £20M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/8/2029 | Fikayo Tomori | PSG | £16M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3/9/2029 | Romário Baró | Southampton | Loan | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3/9/2029 | Amine Sellami | Young Boys | Loan | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3/9/2029 | Ademar Mendes Larghi | Flamengo | Loan | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3/9/2029 | Reiss Nelson | Birmingham | £80M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/1/2030 | Jürgen Brinkhaus | PSV | £17M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/1/2030 | Victor Osimhen | PSV | £33.5M (£41.5M) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2030 | Giorgos Mertakkas | Borussia Dortmund | £25.5M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Part 10 - Decade of Delight
The F.A. Premier League (2028/29)Pre-season
Our biggest pre-season yet as without any points deductions we had to make the most of our level footing with the rest of the league. St. Andrews became a revolving door as over 30 players moved one way or the other in our summer rebuild, with our spending breaching £600,000,000 as the signing of Alessio Riccardi from Inter saw us hit the £80,000,000 mark once again. (Notably our other £80,000,000 man Hannibal Mejbri would leave for £11,000,000 to Atalanta later in the season).
The investment effort saw us break £7,000,000 per week on wages spent, as we finally looked to the future, signing up a raft of younger players to give the Blues a new look as we enter a new decade of dominance.
The Season (pre-January Window)
Those deals all seemed on point as we raced away to 5 wins to start the season, beating Liverpool and then stuffing Chelsea 4-0 to give ourselves the best footing for the campaign. There were a couple of defeats, but at the end of November we topped the table with 34pts and just 2 defeats (Arsenal and Man. City away) .
We had a blip mid-December as Man. Utd and Tottenham both edged our ties 1-2, but we regained composure to finish the year with wins over Southampton and Sheffield United as we kept ourselves right amongst it in the title race.
The January Window
With a chance of the unthinkable in our hands, we again invested in January, spending another £60,000,000+ to take our season spoils to over £700,000,000. Again a pair of younger talented players came through the doors, however we would lose top scorer Troy Parrott as he pushed for a move to Liverpool and we agreed to a £60,000,000 package (a move we may later regret).
Back to the action and our good form continued with gusto, beating Stoke before stuffing Man. City and Bournemouth without conceding. We were on a high, but then shot ourselves in the foot as 4 straight away games yielded just 2 points, leaving us trailing the Manchester clubs and all but ending our title chances.
Nothing You Can Do!
Its a crazy league when you can go on 10 game winning run and still get no where near closing the gap on those above! Thats what happened to us here, as after our miserable away run, we came back to form, keeping 10 clean sheets from our final 11 games and only drawing one of those (on the last day at Norwich).
Goals were easy to come by, Wolves went down by 4, Newcastle 3 and Arsenal the same, as we kept as much pressure on the leaders as we could. The problem was that no matter our result, Manchester City (And to a lesser extent United) just did the same. It all meant that as easy as it was to claim 3rd... we fell 9pts shy of the title and a dream finish.
However in the midst of that emotion came the reality that we had made it... all our hard work, scrimping and scraping, the highs and lows, the long nights and cold mornings, it all meant that we had reached the Champions League. Birmingham City are now feeding with the elite, 10 years of toil and we beat the odds
Second City Derby
Well, well, well.. we played the Vile, it was as easy as the scoreline suggested as our 'reserves' come out on top in this cup tie, 3-1... a win that set us on our way to better things!
The F.A. Cup
Arsenal, replay, F.A. Cup hopes ended early but we had other fish to fry.
Carabao Cup
We had already won this trophy under my stewardship and you can double that, as we finally get over our Wembley hump, collecting our 2nd major trophy in the past 10 years.
It started with a waltz at Vile Park, then a stuffing of Norwich to progress to the last 16. Tottenham came a cropper on penalties, before we beat another London club in Chelsea thanks to a late Parrott strike.
Our Semi Final encounter began with a loss at Sheffield United (a team that likes to end our EFL Cup hopes), but we would rasp them in the 2nd leg, 4-0 to send us back to Wembley and a date with Championship high flyers Everton.
The Scousers put up a fist of it in the first half, but our quality shone through as we nudged home 4 without reply to claim another trophy and put the Birmingham Blues on top of the world once more.
Player Stats
Transfers In/Out
IN
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7/7/2028 | Alessio Riccardi | Inter | £80M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7/7/2028 | Ayoub Lachhab | PSG | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8/7/2028 | Callum Hudson-Odoi | Liverpool | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/7/2028 | Eddy Tacita | PSG | £45M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10/7/2028 | Amine Sellami | Man City | £40M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11/7/2028 | Matteo Cudicio | Udinese | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 28/7/2028 | Mariano Cocimano | FC Bayern | £48M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2/8/2028 | Victor Osimhen | Inter | £44M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11/8/2028 | Giorgos Mertakkas | Man Utd | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22/8/2028 | Ionel Grosu | FCSB | £15M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22/8/2028 | Moritz Eckhardt | PSG | £40M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24/8/2028 | Patrick Roberto | Palmeiras | £23M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2028 | Sandro Tonali | Liverpool | £70M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | 1/9/2028 | Ibrahima Sory Bangoura | Fiorentina | £20M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2029 | Carlo Volpes | Bologna | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2029 | Jürgen Brinkhaus | NK Lokomotiva | £15M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
OUT
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/7/2028 | Angeliño | AEK | £9.25M (£11.5M) | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/7/2028 | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | Torino | £3M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/7/2028 | Anthony Martial | Fiorentina | £5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7/7/2028 | Matteo Guendouzi | Southampton | £22.5M (£28M) | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8/7/2028 | Moussa Dembélé | Fenerbahçe | £2.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10/7/2028 | Sergio Gómez | Brighton | £34M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15/7/2028 | Justin Kluivert | Milan | £5.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15/7/2028 | Karamoko Dembélé | Osasuna | Loan | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16/7/2028 | James Maddison | Norwich | £12.75M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24/8/2028 | Patrick Roberto | Palmeiras | Loan | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/8/2028 | Eddy Tacita | Mainz | Loan | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2028 | Curtis Jones | Newcastle | £12M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2028 | Jonathan David | Leicester | Loan | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2028 | Moritz Eckhardt | Beşiktaş | Loan | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6/1/2029 | Troy Parrott | Liverpool | £60M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14/1/2029 | Hannibal Mejbri | Atalanta | £11.25M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15/1/2029 | Lucas Paquetá | Valencia | Loan | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/1/2029 | Amine Sellami | Real Sporting | Loan | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Part 9 - Round and Round We Go
F.A. Carling Premiership (2027/28)Pre-season
Before we get into our transfer dealings, lets reflect on our tour of Hong Kong as it rained goals in the Chinese state, with 17-0 and 19-0 wins being the highlight of our week long stay in the sun.
Back to the grind and once again we had to spend big to keep punching above our weight. There were rumours of financial strife at one point, but that didnt stop us committing to another £376,000,000 spree as we freshened he squad up with a younger feel to it.
The £80,000,000 spent on Lucas Paqueta equalled our club record deal, whilst at the end of it, our now £6,000,000 wage bill proved to be the biggest in the league as we finally top a table!
The Season (pre-January Window)
We were good, too good probably and then it happened.. but before that, our goodness saw us lead the league as we went on an unstoppable 8 game winning run as we picked up 31pts from the 36 on offer. Spurs were dispatched 5-0, we won at Maine Road by scoring 4, the Gunners were dumped at Highbury as it seemed to be our year.
Alas it wasnt to be...
Thats right, the receivers came back again and took over my office looking for anything or anyone to make a few quid off. 9pts came off our tally and back down the league we sank, the club had to deal with it off the pitch, on it? Well we slumped, collecting just 8pts from our next 7 games as our title hopes were left in tatters.
The January Window
We couldnt freshen things up here but we did get some investment that kept the wolf from the door..
This allowed us to keep the squad together, a small boost after another tough time. We began to win again and went into march on the back of a 3-0 home win over Man. City and then a 4-2 St Andrews blitz off Man. United. Our Champions League hopes were re-ignited and it was all hands to the pump to ensure we stayed there.
Sinking of the Good Ship Birmingham
Sadly we were taking on too much water. 3 home defeats in the row came from nowhere as we couldnt get any consistency going. In the end we were scrambling about to try and nick 6th spot, but it wasnt to be as Spurs beat us, then we drew at the team we needed to beat Wolves and missed out on European football.
The reality is that without a points deduction we would have finished 6th, just 2pts shy of European Cup football. Alas the establishment hates the apple cart wobbling, so if giving us a points deduction is what it takes, then we will have to suck it up and go again next year.
Second City Derby
Rinse and repeat, Villa are no where near our level and its becoming a bit embarrassing for them. Im likely to replace this section with Walsall or similar.
The F.A. Cup
A shock exit for us as Watford ended any hopes of a 3rd straight run towards Wembley.
Carling Cup
Deja'Vous here as we exit once more on penalties to Sheffield United in the 4th round. Not much more to say after that.
Inter Cities Fairs Cup
Back into one of Europes premier events and straight into the Group Phase as we took advantage of our growing reputation to earn a top seeding. We somehow managed to draw a group that could well have placed itself in the Champions League, but never fear, 6 games produced 6 wins as we rattled in 20 goals against AEK, Marseille and Partizan Belgrade.
Into the knockout phase and there we would win a Battle of Britain contest, slipping past Celtic 3-0 on aggregate as we marched into another European last 8. Sadly (again!) we drew the short straw and although we fought well, Sevilla had the nous to edge us as their 2-1 win at St. Andrews did all the damage.
Player Stats
| Position Selected | Inf | Name | Position | Morale | Last 5 Games | CON/SHP | Playing Time Happiness | Apps | Gls | Ast | Av Rat| | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Maxime Lucas | GK | Good | 6.88 | 96% | Delighted | 50 | 0 | 0 | 6.84 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Christopher Lewis | D (RC) | Fairly Good | 6.74 | 84% | Delighted | 43 | 1 | 3 | 7.09 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Axel Tuanzebe | D (RC), DM | Superb | 6.82 | 91% | Delighted | 34 | 1 | 0 | 7.04 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Ethan Ampadu | D (C), DM, M (C) | Good | 7.02 | 96% | Satisfied | 26 (11) | 2 | 1 | 6.98 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Romário Baró | D (C), DM, M (RC), AM (C) | Good | 7.00 | 87% | Delighted | 44 | 10 | 2 | 7.18 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Alphonso Davies | D/WB (L), M/AM (RL) | Good | 6.74 | 82% | Delighted | 35 (7) | 3 | 9 | 6.91 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Angeliño | D/WB/M/AM (L) | Fairly Good | 6.70 | 97% | Concerned | 0 (9) | 0 | 0 | 6.68 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | D/WB (RL), DM, M (C), AM (R) | Fairly Good | 6.72 | 100% | Concerned | 3 (3) | 0 | 0 | 6.73 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Fikayo Tomori | D (RLC), WB (R), DM | Extremely Good | 6.80 | 92% | Delighted | 42 | 2 | 4 | 7.14 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Ryan Sessegnon | D/WB/M/AM (L) | Abysmal | 6.64 | 95% | Delighted | 48 | 0 | 6 | 6.93 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Bukayo Saka | D (L), M/AM (RL) | Poor | 7.00 | 95% | Alienated | 2 (5) | 1 | 0 | 6.91 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Matteo Guendouzi | DM, M (C) | Okay | 6.62 | 95% | Concerned | 0 (8) | 0 | 0 | 6.60 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Hannibal Mejbri | DM, M/AM (C) | Good | 7.00 | 93% | Delighted | 36 | 10 | 6 | 7.39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Karamoko Dembélé | WB (R), M/AM (RC) | Fairly Good | 6.52 | 100% | Concerned | 4 (2) | 0 | 1 | 6.82 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Sergio Gómez | DM, M/AM (LC) | Okay | 7.16 | 100% | Concerned | 9 (17) | 5 | 1 | 7.03 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Jonathan David | M/AM (RLC), ST (C) | Very Good | 6.60 | 99% | Very Happy | 15 (24) | 6 | 5 | 6.97 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Lucas Paquetá | M (LC), AM (C), ST (C) | Very Poor | 7.06 | 91% | Delighted | 38 (1) | 10 | 3 | 6.99 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | James Maddison | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Fairly Poor | 6.78 | 86% | Delighted | 49 | 6 | 27 | 7.26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Mason Mount | M (C), AM (LC) | Extremely Poor | 6.72 | 100% | Concerned | 13 (9) | 7 | 1 | 7.05 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Curtis Jones | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Okay | 8.48 | 95% | Concerned | - | - | - | - | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Justin Kluivert | M/AM (RL) | Quite Good | 7.14 | 100% | Concerned | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 6.55 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Anthony Martial | M (L), AM (RL), ST (C) | Quite Good | 6.70 | 100% | Concerned | 0 (11) | 0 | 1 | 6.69 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Mason Greenwood | AM (RLC), ST (C) | Perfect | 6.80 | 100% | Delighted | 17 (28) | 8 | 5 | 6.91 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Troy Parrott | AM (LC), ST (C) | Good | 7.06 | 93% | Delighted | 51 | 27 | 7 | 7.21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Moussa Dembélé | AM (L), ST (C) | Quite Good | 7.52 | 100% | Concerned | 1 (2) | 1 | 0 | 7.07 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Transfers In/Out
IN
| Date | Person | From | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31/7/2027 | Karamoko Dembélé | Man City | £11.75M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2/8/2027 | Troy Parrott | Man City | £41.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3/8/2027 | Maxime Lucas | Chelsea | £49M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4/8/2027 | Ryan Sessegnon | Sheff Utd | £50M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5/8/2027 | Christopher Lewis | Fulham | £50M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12/8/2027 | Alphonse Areola | Birmingham | £17.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14/8/2027 | Çaglar Söyüncü | Birmingham | £3.4M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2027 | Romário Baró | Real Madrid | £50M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2027 | Jovane Cabral | Birmingham | £3.1M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2027 | Lucas Paquetá | Milan | £80M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
OUT
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10/7/2027 | Joe Willock | Brighton | £1M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12/8/2027 | Alphonse Areola | Krasnodar | £17.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14/8/2027 | Çaglar Söyüncü | Arsenal | £3.4M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2027 | Romário Baró | Birmingham | £50M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/9/2027 | Jovane Cabral | Sheff Utd | £3.1M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13/11/2027 | Lukas Klostermann | Al-Sadd | £3M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10/1/2028 | Mattia Viviani | Lazio | £5.25M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16/1/2028 | Dean Henderson | West Brom | £7.75M (£9.25M) | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Part 8 - Blues Clues
F.A. Carling Premiership (2026/27)Pre-season
This is the one, this is the season where finally something had to change. We are now well established in the top flight, one of the go-to clubs if you are an ambitious player looking to make bank and reap rewards on the pitch.
The bare facts are, we spent over Half a Billion pounds this summer, thats right a whopping £511,000,000 on rejuvenating the squad. Excellence arrived all over the pitch from our record signing Hannibal Mejbri (£80,000,000) from Man. United, through to England stars Mason Greenwood, Mason Mount and Axel Tuanzebe.
In total 13 players arrived this window taking our overall spending since my arrival in excess of £2,000,000,000. Its a fairytale for many Blues fans, being a club that had languished in the Championship for years whilst looking over their shoulder at the trap door to Non League football.
The Season (pre-January Window)
With all that investment we had to make a real go at trying to get into the Europa League, it wouldnt be easy, the squad would need to gel but in reality there is no reason why we couldnt break the stranglehold of the Top 6.
Things started well, too well infact,6 wins and 2 draws from our opening 8 games put us top! The mircale men of St. Andrews began to attract attention from all over the globe, it couldnt happen could it? Tottenham came here and lost, we beat Arsenal 4-2, Manchester City left on the back of a 2-0 beating. We had teams in our pocket and then came along United!
The reigning Champs and dominant force spanked us 1-4 and we never seemed to recover. It sparked a 3 game losing skid, leaving us with a December return of just 5pts from 18 on offer. That wasnt the only situation we faced... off the pitch things changed again, once more a new ownership came to town and immediately saddled the club with almost £1,000,000,000 worth of debt (a figure we would break in the coming months).
The January Window
New owners, but same ambition. We had to freshen it up, our chances of playing in Europe took a dent, so we went again spending another £120,000,000 that included bringing back Justin Kluivert and pushing our weekly wage spend beyond £5,500,000 per week, it was a risk, but Thursday night football on the continent is worth that risk!
It immediately worked out, we won 6 of the 8 games on offer through January/February, a run that included 4 wins in London topped off by a 4-0 romp at Tottenham Hotspur. It left us with hope of a Top 4 finish.. thats right, Champions League football looked to be in our grasp, heady days alright for the Blue side of Birmingham.
Stuttering and Spluttering
We needed to keep our heads, but it seemed to all come crashing down around us. Our run in saw us win just 3 of the 10 games on offer. Key defeats at the Etihad and at home to Southampton saw us tail off 4th place, as the pressure took its toll on our squad, seeing us fail to score in our final 3 games as we drifted away from the pack.
However there was no need to be sad, our home point vs Brighton on the final day would secure our best ever Premiership finish. A 5th place return ensured our place back at the European table
Second City Derby
Still no Villa and again more of the same next season as they failed in the playoffs once more. 8 seasons, just 2 games against the Vile and both a pair of 1-0 wins for us. 8 years of city bragging rights, the Blues will take that.
The F.A. Cup
Wembley again, FA Cup Semi Final again and we end up with the rough end of the draw, facing off against Champions-elect Manchester United. Prior to our Semi Final we hadnt let a goal in during our run, but that all changed as the Red Devils went off on us, scoring 4 and adding yet more Wembley woe to our fanbase. 1 win in 6 visits to the home of English football!
Carling Cup
We love a penalty shootout and we also love losing them as a promising run in the Carling Cup fell away at Brammall Lane. Barbosa's hat trick vs Wigan would be the highlight of his season, adding just 2 more in a dismal league campaign.
Player Stats
| Position Selected | Inf | Name | Position | Morale | Last 5 Games | CON/SHP | Playing Time Happiness | Apps | Gls | Ast | Av Rat| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Dean Henderson | GK | Fairly Good | 6.88 | 95% | Concerned | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6.85 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Alphonse Areola | GK | Good | 6.88 | 78% | Delighted | 36 | 0 | 0 | 6.89 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Axel Tuanzebe | D (RC), DM | Slightly Poor | 7.12 | 91% | Delighted | 36 | 2 | 1 | 7.09 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Ethan Ampadu | D (C), DM, M (C) | Quite Good | 7.04 | 99% | Satisfied | 12 (12) | 0 | 0 | 6.89 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Çaglar Söyüncü | D (C), DM | Quite Good | 7.08 | 89% | Delighted | 37 (1) | 1 | 0 | 7.11 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Angeliño | D/WB/M/AM (L) | Okay | 6.92 | 92% | Delighted | 39 | 1 | 7 | 7.12 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | D/WB (RL), DM, M (C), AM (R) | Abysmal | 7.02 | 99% | Alienated | 2 (1) | 0 | 1 | 7.13 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Fikayo Tomori | D (RLC), WB (R), DM | Excellent | 7.00 | 95% | Delighted | 43 | 1 | 4 | 7.13 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Lukas Klostermann | D (RLC), WB (R) | Quite Good | 7.06 | 98% | Concerned | 12 (5) | 1 | 1 | 7.12 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Bukayo Saka | D (L), M/AM (RL) | Quite Good | 6.88 | 92% | Satisfied | 22 (9) | 1 | 2 | 6.84 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Mattia Viviani | DM, M (C) | Fairly Good | 6.68 | 99% | Concerned | 2 (8) | 1 | 0 | 7.01 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Matteo Guendouzi | DM, M (C) | Fairly Good | 6.76 | 92% | Delighted | 17 | 0 | 3 | 7.11 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Hannibal Mejbri | DM, M/AM (C) | Fairly Poor | 7.44 | 96% | Delighted | 34 | 5 | 7 | 7.48 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Joe Willock | DM, M (C), AM (RLC) | Slightly Poor | 7.42 | 99% | Concerned | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.85 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Sergio Gómez | DM, M/AM (LC) | Fairly Good | 6.64 | 94% | Very Happy | 27 (6) | 1 | 2 | 6.85 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Jonathan David | M/AM (RLC), ST (C) | Quite Good | 6.68 | 94% | Very Happy | 18 (2) | 3 | 1 | 6.85 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | James Maddison | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Fairly Good | 6.60 | 91% | Delighted | 35 | 7 | 10 | 7.37 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Mason Mount | M (C), AM (LC) | Very Poor | 6.74 | 99% | Concerned | 10 (18) | 2 | 1 | 6.83 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Curtis Jones | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Slightly Poor | 6.66 | 99% | Concerned | 2 (8) | 0 | 0 | 6.67 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Justin Kluivert | M/AM (RL) | Really Good | 6.64 | 94% | Satisfied | 2 (11) | 0 | 0 | 6.63 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Gonçalo Guedes | M/AM (RL), ST (C) | Fairly Okay | 6.72 | 99% | Concerned | 7 (11) | 3 | 2 | 7.01 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Jovane Cabral | M/AM (RL) | Good | 6.90 | 99% | Concerned | 7 (7) | 0 | 1 | 6.87 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Anthony Martial | M (L), AM (RL), ST (C) | Fairly Good | 6.66 | 90% | Delighted | 18 | 4 | 1 | 6.89 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Mason Greenwood | AM (RLC), ST (C) | Superb | 6.60 | 95% | Delighted | 41 (1) | 14 | 12 | 7.20 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Gabriel Barbosa | AM (RLC), ST (C) | Fair | 6.78 | 98% | Satisfied | 3 (12) | 5 | 2 | 6.99 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Moussa Dembélé | AM (L), ST (C) | Quite Good | 7.24 | 99% | Delighted | 29 (7) | 22 | 1 | 7.31 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Transfers In/Out
IN
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Mason Greenwood | Man Utd | £48M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Harry Maguire | Birmingham | £4.6M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | Arsenal | £11.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Bukayo Saka | Arsenal | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Hannibal Mejbri | Man Utd | £80M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Curtis Jones | Brighton | £40M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10/6/2026 | Dean Henderson | Sassuolo | £24M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12/7/2026 | Fikayo Tomori | Lyon | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12/7/2026 | Angeliño | Arsenal | £30M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17/7/2026 | Moussa Dembélé | SL Benfica | £19.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 25/8/2026 | Alphonse Areola | Monaco | £30M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 26/8/2026 | Sergio Gómez | RB Leipzig | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 29/8/2026 | Axel Tuanzebe | Real Madrid | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4/1/2027 | Anthony Martial | Man Utd | £11.25M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7/1/2027 | Jonathan David | Lyon | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8/1/2027 | Justin Kluivert | Tottenham | £24M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/1/2027 | Matteo Guendouzi | Arsenal | £35M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
OUT
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | Birmingham | £11.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Bukayo Saka | Birmingham | £50M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Hannibal Mejbri | Birmingham | £80M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9/6/2026 | Curtis Jones | Birmingham | £40M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10/6/2026 | Dean Henderson | Birmingham | £24M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20/6/2026 | Nicolas Pépé | Al-Ain | Free | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/7/2026 | Pierre-Emile Højbjerg | DL Pro | Free | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/7/2026 | Bryan Cristante | Lazio | Free | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1/7/2026 | Nick Pope | Galatasaray | Free | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8/7/2026 | Ruben Loftus-Cheek | Osasuna | £13M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 26/1/2027 | Juan Foyth | Chongqing | £12.5M | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
0 -
Thanks for following @_Ben_ no offense over the Villa stuff
We did sell Bellingham early as i wanted the funds. But no we didnt retire his number or add any clauses... straight up cash deal.
0 -
Part 7 - Something Borrowed, Something New, Something Blue!
Premier League (2025/26)
Pre-season
For the first time under my tenure we did nothing, no new players arrived, a couple left but the upshot of our pre-season revolved around one decision...
There it is, another points deduction, just the 5pts this time as FFP finally bites (how we havent fallen foul of that yet im unsure). So with the wage budget gone, no money left in the club and the same squad as last year (bar Nketiah and Zouma), we head into our 4th top flight campaign with yet more uncertainty around the Blues.
The Season (pre-January Window)
Minus 5 it was then, but within 3 games we were back positive as 2 wins and a draw had us take in our best EPL start in recent memory. Sadly that didn last and once again the heavy defeats rolled in, 0-3 @ Arsenal and then 1-4 @ Sheffield United.
A win over Reading broke up our drab run of for, but when mid-December arrived and we had lost 1-5 to Chelsea, we had just 7 points on the board and look destined to fight another relegation battle.
Then as we were heading into a January window which could have seen our team ripped apart, the club ownership surprisingly changed hands. Rosemary Johnson had enough trying to manage our vast portfolio of debts and 'cashed' in by selling the club to an Irish Consortium led by Jack Brennan and David Hilditch.
The change of ownership also conincided with a change of fortunes. We would win our final 3 games of the year, including a 1-0 win at Old Trafford over the runaway leaders.
The January Window
Once again we had a transfer window of nothing, the new owners had no money to invest so we carried on with what we had, but for all the positivity coming out of our 3 game winning run to end 2025, we would then only win 3 more games in the rest of the season!
Languishing
Those 3 wins came spread across the remainder of the campaign, with our only home win coming in our last home game of the year against Burnley. In the mix of all of that, we drew plenty, including solid points at home to Chelsea and Spurs, but in the end 5 defeats in our final 6 games left us 14th but 10pts clear of the drop as we did enough to remain a top flight club.
Second City Derby
Villa made the playoffs.... but lost! Oh well, its nice getting 6pts off them but we are Birmingham and theres only room for one team here.
The F.A. Cup
Another solid cup run and our 5th trip to the Twin Towers in 7 years. However once again we came up short, losing another cup tie on penalties as Liverpool looked relived to edge past us in the showpiece affair. 3 players would miss for us as we again choke in the worst possible way.
Worthington Cup
Penalties again, as Wolves beat us to stop any repeat of our cup heroics.
Player Stats
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | Wnt | Arijanet Muric | GK | Okay | 6.68 | 100% | Very Happy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.80 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Nick Pope | GK | Okay | 6.88 | 90% | Delighted | 42 | 0 | 0 | 6.93 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DCL | Unh | Harry Maguire | D (C) | Poor | 6.64 | 81% | Alienated | 9 (6) | 0 | 0 | 6.87 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Juan Foyth | D (RC), DM | Quite Good | 7.02 | 100% | Delighted | 25 (8) | 2 | 0 | 6.94 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | | Ethan Ampadu | D (C), DM, M (C) | Fairly Good | 6.66 | 72% | Delighted | 35 | 0 | 1 | 6.90 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MCL | Trn | Bryan Cristante | D (C), DM, M/AM (C) | Fairly Okay | 6.76 | 89% | Delighted | 37 | 2 | 4 | 6.85 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DCR | Inj | Çaglar Söyüncü | D (C), DM | Okay | 6.74 | 83% | Delighted | 35 | 0 | 1 | 6.90 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Juan Bernat | D/WB/M/AM (L) | Fairly Okay | 7.00 | 76% | Delighted | 34 | 1 | 4 | 6.91 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Lukas Klostermann | D (RLC), WB (R) | Quite Good | 6.96 | 100% | Delighted | 37 | 1 | 3 | 6.98 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | Spt | Ruben Loftus-Cheek | DM, M/AM (C), ST (C) | Fairly Okay | 6.58 | 100% | Concerned | 0 (14) | 1 | 0 | 6.66 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | Lst | Marco Verratti | DM, M (C) | Fairly Poor | 6.78 | 93% | Concerned | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 6.63 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MCR | | Mattia Viviani | DM, M (C) | Okay | 6.82 | 75% | Delighted | 38 | 2 | 5 | 7.01 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | DM, M/AM (RLC) | Fair | 6.82 | 74% | Delighted | 8 (9) | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | | Joe Willock | DM, M (C), AM (RLC) | Slightly Poor | 6.68 | 92% | Concerned | 1 (17) | 1 | 1 | 6.80 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S7 | Wnt | Wilfried Zaha | M/AM (RL), ST (C) | Fair | 6.66 | 100% | Satisfied | 1 (11) | 2 | 0 | 6.96 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | | James Maddison | M (LC), AM (RLC), ST (C) | Fairly Good | 6.80 | 82% | Delighted | 37 | 9 | 8 | 7.05 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Gonçalo Guedes | M/AM (RL), ST (C) | Quite Good | 7.16 | 74% | Delighted | 42 | 10 | 5 | 6.95 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S6 | Inj | Jovane Cabral | M/AM (RL) | Quite Good | 6.74 | 82% | Delighted | 33 | 5 | 4 | 6.90 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | Loa | Nicolas Pépé | M (R), AM (RL), ST (C) | Okay | 6.66 | 94% | Satisfied | 3 (31) | 6 | 1 | 6.81 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | STCL | | Gabriel Barbosa | AM (RLC), ST (C) | Perfect | 6.68 | 79% | Delighted | 43 | 4 | 2 | 6.74 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | STCR | | Paco Alcácer | AM (L), ST (C) | Fair | 7.10 | 83% | Delighted | 21 (15) | 6 | 2 | 6.74 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Transfers In/Out
IN
Nothing!
OUT
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23/6/2025 | Eddie Nketiah | Crystal Palace | £8M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23/6/2025 | Kurt Zouma | Burnley | £2.9M (£3.6M) | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2/2/2026 | Brandon Williams | Crystal Palace | £300K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2/2/2026 | Ben White | Watford | £275K (£325K) | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
0
[FM20] El Chago :: Santiago Morning
in FM Career Updates
Posted
2030
Pre-Season
We would lose our strike force this pre-season as Claudio Rojas chose to sign a pre-contract with Everton, whilst we cashed in on Argentine Andres Arana for $2,000,000 as we balanced the books after 4 additions.
Chilean Internationals Mario Santos, Jonathan Castagnoli and Camilo Sesma would come in, whilst we also gambled on Brazilian wideman Jose Marcilio to make the adjustment to Chilean football.
First Half
This was probably our worst start to a top flight campaign, as after 10 games we found ourselves embroiled in a relegation battle, losing 7 of our opening fixtures as a new look forward line failed to fire.
Then May arrived and we travelled to bottom club Audax Italiano and things finally clicked into place, a 6-0 away win setting us up for a return to form. We would go on a mini unbeaten run until the break, easing us clear of the bottom 2.
Mid-Season Break
Once again we held our ground, not dabbling in the transfer market as again it would be a case of sell to buy, something we are not prepared to do at this stage.
Second Half
We had to continue our improvement in order to squeeze into the Sudamericana race, yet once again we struggled to score with goals coming at a premium. We found our way back by beating Everton 3-0, then doing Audax Italiano by the same score a week later.
Our fate sat in our own hands and although we lost 0-1 against Colo Colo, back to back away wins to end the season saw us nick 7th place, with Castagnoli coming good, scoring a hat trick in a 4-3 win at Curico Unido, whilst we clinched our spot with the same man scoring a brace to beat Santiago Wanderers 2-0.
We didnt lose yet we failed to lift the Copa, falling short in our 3rd Final under my tenure. Our run wasnt spectacular, drawing at least 1 leg from each tie all the way to our Final against Palestino.
So here we are in another Final but this time not against Union Espanola... surely its our time. Well the 1st leg ended goalless, whilst in the return we tied 1-1 after falling behind. The tie went to penalties and who would bottle it? Santiago Morning, Frank Palacios and Mario Ponce both missed and Palestino would lift the Copa with a 3-4 penalty shootout win.
Its almost heartbreaking, as we fall in the 3rd Qualifying round after pushing Argentine gigantes' River Plate to the limit. We had demolished Monagas to get here, then kept River to just an 0-1 loss at El Monumental.
Then back home, we turned it on and raced into a 3-0 lead within 30 minutes. Everything was falling our way... then we let it slip. River showed their class to fight back to 3-2 and then hold out to knock us out on away goals.
We rarely get far in this competition and although we beat Talleres Cba. in the 2nd Round, we then saw Danubio (URU) come to Santiago and hammer us 0-5 to all but end another continental run. We salvaged a little pride drawing 1-1 in the return leg, but we cant take much from that.
No where to be seen.... still.....STILL....
Notable Achievements
Fans Player of the Year - Mario Ponce (38%)
Goal of the Season - Osvaldo Jadue
Young Player of the Season - Jorge Figueroa
Campeonato Nacional Team of the Year - Alexis Viale & Johnathan Castagnoli
Campeonato Primera Champions - Universidad de Chile
Campeonato Primera B Champions - Rangers de Talca
Copa Chile Winners - Palestino
Supercopa Chile Winners - Universidad de Chile
Conmebol Competitions
Copa Libertadores - Santiago Morning & Union Espanola lost in 3Q / Universidad de Chile & Universidad Catolica lost in Group Phase
Copa Sudamericana - Colo Colo lost in 1st Round / Universidad Catolica, Huachipato & Everton de Vina lost in 2nd Round / Santiago Morning lost in 3rd Round / Palestino lost in Q/Final