Tikka Mezzala
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Posts posted by Tikka Mezzala
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I outlined above what the very general aims of this save are: to help Clydebank F.C. establish itself as a mainstay in the Scottish Professional Football League. Part of this process will include turning professional when the conditions are right, building up the club's infrastructure to a level more in line with professional teams in Scotland, building our own stadium in the town of Clydebank, and operating a profitable business model. All of this will help us rectify the historical failures of the previous incarnations of Clydebank F.C.
However, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and our first steps will take place in the unglamorous world of the West of Scotland Football League. Down here, it simply will not be possible to grow this club into something bigger and better. Our immediate aim, therefore, is simply to get ourselves out of this division at the earliest opportunity. Should we manage to climb out of the West of Scotland Premier Division, we will enter the Lowland League, which sits directly below the SPFL. That means we are two promotions away from League 2, the lowest division within the SPFL structure.
There are a couple of things worth noting at this stage: the West of Scotland Football League encompasses four divisions, so it will be possible for us to get relegated all the way down to the fourth-tier of the structure. Should we win the Premier Division, however, we would then move into a playoff phase against the winners of the South of Scotland Premier League and the East of Scotland Premier Division. Running adjacent to the three leagues you can see at the foot of the above pyramid are three other league structures that are based further north. These structures feed into the Highland League.
The West of Scotland Football League encompasses about half of Scotland's central-belt. It runs east to about Cumbernauld, south to New Cumnock, over to the west coast where you find Troon, Irvine etc. It, therefore, has the advantage of containing the most populous area of Scotland: Greater Glasgow. This brings the benefits of a larger concentration of football players, and theoretically more people to come and watch the games, buy the pies etc. It also provides greater opportunities for part-time players to find alternative employment to supplement their income, and therefore makes it easier to convince players from other parts of the country to move to your club. I mention this because I've had experiences of managing in the extreme north of Scotland, and found a lot of players were unwilling to relocate to places like Orkney, Fort-William etc.
The 2022/23 season will see us rub shoulders with some of the biggest teams outside of the SPFL. Darvel, Pollock, Kilwinning Rangers, and, of course, Auchinleck Talbot all boast decent supporter bases and good sponsorship incomes. Along with ourselves, and any potential surprise packages I haven't mentioned, these clubs will probably make up the front runners for the promotion battle.
Three clubs will also be relegated from the division, which is quite a significant trap door in a sixteen team league.
At this level of football, the money brought in via sponsorships makes all the difference. There's never going to be major sums on offer from prize money or transfer fees, so a generous community that pumps money into its local club means everything. As you can see, Darvel enjoy quite a significant advantage on this front. It's no surprise, therefore, to see their name at the top of the bookies' list of favourites for the title.
So this is the state of play in the league that we'll start off in. In the next update I'll have a look at the state of Clydebank FC on day one in the new job.
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Which meso-American empire invented the ball game? Did it spread outwards to other parts of the hemisphere prior to European arrivals? Did it even find its way up to North America relatively early on?
I reckon traders, sailors, and railway workers are gonna have a big role in shaping this world!
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In the late 19th century, Glasgow was at the heart of Britain's industrial boom. The city's main river, the River Clyde, was home to many shipyards that sent huge vessels around the world, adorned with the famous 'Clyde Built' trademark. In order to meet the demands of rapid growth, the city's industry spilled westwards into what is now West Dunbartonshire. Here a shipyard was founded that would eventually give birth to a new town: Clydebank. Where industry moved, workers followed, and in Scotland, where there are people, there is football. Not long after the establishment of the town, a football club was formed bearing its name: Clydebank FC.
The proletarian town of Clydebank now had its own team involved in the peoples' sport, and it would soon compete against teams from nearby towns and villages. Between 1891 and 1893, Clydebank FC competed in the Scottish Football Federation against clubs such as Albion Rovers, Falkirk, and Motherwell. It's first season was unspectacular; its second was nothing short of a disaster, as the club finished with one point after eighteen games, with only eighteen goals scored and a remarkable one-hundred-and-seven against! By 1895 the town's premier football club had folded, but they would soon be followed by another short-lived club called Clydebank FC, with this iteration only lasting three years.
In 1900, a junior team from the neighbouring village of Duntocher moved to Clydebank and changed its name to Clydebank Juniors. They would be joined by the third incarnation of Clydebank FC in 1914. The latest club played out of a greyhound racing stadium called Clydeholm, and joined the Scottish Football League until the club disbanded in 1931.
As members of the Scottish Football League, Clydebank FC rubbed shoulders with the biggest clubs in the country at that time, including Celtic, Rangers, Queen's Park, Dumbarton, and Third Lanark. But in 1931, the club would cease to exist. The town seemed as though it suffered from a curse when it came to football clubs bearing its name.
For a year in 1964, East Stirlingshire FC merged with Clydebank Juniors to form a new club based out of the town: East Stirlingshire Clydebank. The club took the former's place in Division Two, but opposition from both sets of fans made it a short-lived venture. A year later, East Stirlingshire would return to Falkirk the same club as before, while the former owners of East Stirlingshire would pursue the fourth incarnation of Clydebank FC.
The latest club played out of Kilbowie Park in the town itself, and they would go on to join the Scottish Football League in 1966. After a decade in the bottom tier, they would win the Second Division title in 1976, finishing seven places above East Stirlingshire. The following season they finished second in the First Division, gaining promotion to the top league. During this period, the club could count one of Scotland's greats among their number in the form of Davie Cooper. With the club now playing amongst Scotland's biggest teams, stadium reconstruction began. Kilbowie Park would become the first all-seater stadium in the UK.
Clydebank FC would become something of a yo-yo club, as they failed to properly get to grips with life in Scotland's top flight. Several relegations and promotions later, they would achieve their high-point whilst playing in the second-tier, as they made the last four of the Scottish Cup in 1990, losing 2-0 to Celtic.
The feat. of a Scottish Cup semi-final in 1990 was not to herald in a decade of success, however. By the middle of the decade, the club was experiencing financial difficulties, and when their stadium fell below new regulations brought in during 1996, the club became "homeless". During this time Clydebank FC played in Dumbarton and then Greenock. The homeless club were eventually sold to a Bermuda based businessman called Dr John Hall, who would try to relocate the club to Dublin, Galashiels, and Carlisle. The club's supporters, along with the footballing authorities, helped put a stop to the relocation plans.
In 1999-2000, Clydebank FC were relegated after winning just one game all season. The club's SFL and SFA identity finally disappeared in 2002. At this stage, Airdrieonians bought out Clydebank's remaining assets from the club's administrators, outbidding a fan-led consortium. The club was moved to Airdrie and competed in the Second Division as Airdrie United.
A year later, a phoenix club was formed by the fans. Airdrie United ltd. agreed to give up the unwanted naming rights and insignia of Clydebank FC, and so the fifth incarnation of the club was born. It joined the Scottish Junior Football Association, and entered the west region structure in 2003/04. Over time, the club would become one of the better teams at this level, regularly competing with other big hitters of the western junior leagues such as Auchinleck Talbot, Pollock FC, Darvel etc. In 2020, Clydebank FC became a senior club when all members of the SJFA West Region joined the West of Scotland Football League. The door was opened once more for the club to re-enter the professional league structure, the SPFL.
Clydebank FC begin the 2022/23 season in the West of Scotland Premier Division, part of the West of Scotland Football League structure. This feeds into the Lowland League, which sits directly below the SPFL League 2. This means that Clydebank FC are two promotions away from returning to the big time, and finally giving the town a stable football club that can put it on the footballing map.
At present, the club has been forced to ground share with its local rivals Yoker Athletic. Both clubs play out of Holm Park.
So with all of this historical context out of the way, the aim of this save is simple: I wish to return Clydebank FC to the SPFL, and once there, help to build it into an established Scottish Premiership club who can compete for European football and domestic honours.
Let's end the hurt, break the curse, and put a major footballing institution back on the Clydeside!
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Bring home the CL and add another star above that beautiful four leaf clover!
Hail, Hail!
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41 minutes ago, oche balboa said:
I would favour the Queen/Royal Family to have absolute power rather then the shower of politicians we have at the moment
I believe you!
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54 minutes ago, oche balboa said:
Modesty from Her Majesty
Suits you, Oche.
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29 minutes ago, Mahzun_Savas said:
Is the monarchy doing any harm?
Setting aside things like this, The Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission summed it up well in their recent open letter to the visiting representatives of the Monarchy:
Quote"The British Royal Family continue to live in splendour, pomp and wealth attained through the proceeds of the crimes.
“We know that the British Crown, both as royal family and as institution, is historically documented as an active participant in the largest crimes against humanity of all time,”
They symbolise a racialised and class-privileged social order. They aren't apolitical either.
We also have the case of Prince Andrew, who has surely damaged people's faith in the concept of justice.
The royals also have a long history of barbarism when it comes to animals.
The list goes on...
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Just now, oche balboa said:
Imagine having a President system in the UK.
Imagine having a proper democracy.
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2 minutes ago, mark1985 said:
No one is better than me purely because of who their dad is/was or who their grandad is/was or the fact that their ancestor 1000 was a little tougher/luckier/richer than mine or in the right place at the right time or had the right friends or whatever.
Unfortunately people internalise social structures/stratifications. I know we all contain contradictions, but this is a big one. At one level, liberal capitalism requires us to believe in basic equality between people and the agency of the individual to improve their social circumstances through talent/effort. At another level, the institution of Monarchy asks us to entertain the idea that inherited privilege, status, and power are compatible with this.
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1 minute ago, ginnybob said:
All you can do is look at trends from now. And that would suggest fewer people will be pro-Monarchy as the decades go by.
Here's hoping. I have zero respect for monarchy supporters. It's one of the saddest things I can think of. Really lack any self-respect or dignity, tbh.
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21 minutes ago, oche balboa said:
I would love to place a wager that it will but alas sadly we will be dead years beforehand.
How could you even begin to claim to know what the picture will be centuries from now. You're expressing a wish, not a serious prediction.
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34 minutes ago, Platinum said:
I would be extremely surprised if your DoF doesnt sign replacement goalkeepers. Have league games started for the season?
Yeah, I'm in October. Playing in one of the league below the National League, so players still seem to be able to move about outside the traditional transfer window.
I'm sure if I kept playing, he'd sign someone. But the damage done by his stupidity has already thrown us off track. So he can get in the bin, along with the save!
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1 minute ago, Platinum said:
Wow I've never seen that, but then I suggest Transfer Targets to my DoF rather than having my DoF choose.
Did your DoF not even attempt to buy a new goalkeeper?
I've not played much since the sales, out of sheer disgust really. But no attempts were made when the sales were in progress. Given that we're semi-pro, and the bids that were accepted involved no transfer fee, it's not even as though the DoF was waiting on the funds to come in to make bids. You can sign most players for nothing at this level, so the opportunity was there.
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1 hour ago, KingCanary said:
I know it isn't a simple thing but I do hope SI at some point will dive into making staff feedback useful as right now it is often bordering on the nonsensical.
For example in my latest staff meeting my DoF recommended both my first choice right and left winger be demoted from regular starter to fringe player 'to better reflect their ability in the squad and playing time.'
The only issue is the DoF rates both these players as being the best in my squad at their particular positions and both of these players have been regular starters in good form this season. I could understand if I really rated these players but the DoF doesn't, but his own report lists one of them as a 4 star and the other 3.5 star for their positions. Why, if he thinks they are both that good, would he recommend 'fringe player' is a better reflection of their ability with regards to our squad?
I know this is just something I can click past but I do wish for a day when staff feedback actually helped me make choice in the game, rather than being another thing to hastily click 'ignore' on.
I put my DoF in charge of transfers for realism purposes, and he sold all my goalkeepers. I had to play a greyed out keeper. That lack of intelligence on the part of the AI staff really bugs me. Selling all the bloody goalkeepers without even having a replacement lined up. It's not as though we were needing to sell off the family silver for financial reasons, or received offers that were irrefusable/met the minimum fee release clause. Just sold for the hell of it.
Makes it difficult to play the game with these parameters added for more enjoyment. Defo need to sort the staff out!
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13 minutes ago, Tikka Mezzala said:
Amazingly, our DoF has sold both our goalkeepers, with both players leaving on the day of a match. I now have zero goalkeepers for the game, so I'm having to play a greyed out player. I'm livid. Surely there should be a bit more intelligence involved here?
Absolutely livid.
Lost the game 0-1 to the only shot the opponent had. Contemplating resigning, because this situation is not acceptable. There should never be a decision like this. It's not at all realistic. We were under no obligation to sell either goalkeeper, let alone both.
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Amazingly, our DoF has sold both our goalkeepers, with both players leaving on the day of a match. I now have zero goalkeepers for the game, so I'm having to play a greyed out player. I'm livid. Surely there should be a bit more intelligence involved here?
Absolutely livid.
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So the end of September brought our winning streak to an end. We did manage to smash Berkhamsted 5-0 before National League side Brackley Town knocked us out the FA Cup. I actually think we competed well with them, and a replay would have been the least we deserved. But we passed up on our big opportunities, and the winning goal came from a very slack piece of play in our own backline. We pushed and pushed for the equaliser to no avail, but the efforts cost us two points in our next game, as we basically had to rotate the entire team due to fatigue. FC Romania were the beneficiaries of our trials, stealing a point on the road. But thankfully our two game winless streak was brought to an instant halt at Thame United in September's final match. We were 4-0 up at half-time in that game, and I put us down to cautious mentality, put the time wasting up, and had us stand off more in the second half to preserve energy.
Still feeling very positive about our chances in the league, but we've yet to face some of the sides around about us, so we'll see what shape we're in come the halfway point when we've played everyone once.
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Our honeymoon period continues. An incredible start to the season. I've opened up a bit of a gap between myself and the non-playoff positions already. Hoping to maintain that over the course of the season, so at worst, I achieve the expectations of the board.
Our reward for a 4-0 win over Whitley Bay in the FA Cup is a trip to National League side Brackley Town. They are sitting in 6th place in the Vanarama North, so clearly a team to be taken very seriously at this stage of the FA Cup. It would be quite the cup upset if we managed to progress.
Everyone has bedded in well and I feel like I'm in the happy place of just having to keep things ticking over with tweaks here and there. Usually I have to mess around a lot to arrive at a formula that works, but I've stumbled on a very decent setup straight away. I hope it continues to work against the rest of the league.
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I completed the rest of August's fixtures with a perfect record. More impressively, we've come through the six games with only one goal conceded (against Jarrow in the first fixture). Five clean sheets in a row, with eleven scored.
My rule of thumb is always to disregard results in the first weeks of a new job. I'm always looking for performances to indicate how we're progressing. Because you have the lack of cohesion, familiarity and so on, I always expect results to be a bit patchy at first, but if you are seeing positive signs in how the team plays, you can be fairly confident things will start to improve when the pieces fall into place. The fact that we have been perfect so far with our results is a huge bonus. I've had to rotate the squad quite a bit to cope with the midweek games, and we haven't seen a drop in the levels. So all the signs are hugely positive.
The expectations at the beginning of the season were to be competitive in the FA Cup, which I think we're doing after getting through the first two rounds, and to get into the playoffs in the league. So far we are laying down a marker. Hopefully September sees similar form.
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Pleased with the start. Playing a basic 442 with emphasis on the wings. I've really been focused on trying to get some basic partnerships in place (tall man, poacher; midfield sitter, runner etc). But everything depends on who is still at the club and who comes in when the window closes.
Got the FA Cup game next. Handsworth travelling down from Sheffield. Hoping to keep my skin in the game for the more lucrative rounds. But it's all about the league for us.
I feel I've got a system that is looking promising and a decent set of players. My job is pretty much keeping everyone happy and on course for a good run of form.
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I beat Jarrow 2-1. It was a very comfortable win, in truth. Should have been more comprehensive. But a few of my better players have been sold from under my feet a few days before the league is due to start. Including the guy I was hoping to rely on for goals. I hope the DoF has a masterplan in mind before the window shuts. I really want to get my squad settled and focus on the task at hand, but there's so much speculation flying about at the moment, I could potentially be looking at a huge turnover before the end of the transfer window. What shape we'll be in come September is anyone's guess.
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Got my first competitive game approaching: a long trip north to face Jarrow in the FA Cup preliminary round.
I'm quite happy with the squad, but there are offers coming in all the time for players. Not sure who'll be here at the end of the window. My DoF has been able to get some new contracts to key players. But it's still a fluid situation.
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I've left myself with the following responsibilities: appointing coaching staff/assistant manager; choosing the tactics; selecting the matchday squads.
All the transfers and hiring will be dealt with by the DoF and the Chairman. I feel that's the most realistic thing for an untried manager. I'm hardly going to be entrusted with running the club from top to bottom.
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I have a concrete offer from St Neots Town, a club based two hours away from Crawley, and half an hour up the road from Stevenage, where Lewis Young is from. I believe Ashley Young resides in Stevenage, so perhaps I could imagine the brothers shacking up while Lewis is doing unpaid work.
Think I'll take on the St Neots role, then. They are in the Southern League Division 1 Central. A couple of leagues below the National League South.
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Effort and Knowledge: Clydebank Football Club
in FM Career Updates
Posted
It's quite tough up there in the northern divisions. I had a hard time with Orkney FC recently.
I haven't seen these videos. Thanks for sharing them. I always enjoy learning about these stories. Scottish football is full of folklore and tragedies. Clydebank really seem to have been put through it all over the last century and a bit.