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Kettering Town FC - Season 2 (2025 / 2026) Review - Vanarama National North League Performance We took a step forward this season and managed to finish in the playoffs! Unfortunately we lost 3-2 in the first round of the playoffs with a tough away fixture to AFC Fylde, but a great season nonetheless with a few younger players already beginning to show that they could be useful for us at this level. Next season the aim will be to finish around the playoffs again, but I wouldn't be surprised if we did drop off slightly. I am a bit relieved that promotion didn't happen tbh as the squad is nowhere near the National League level yet. FA Cup - Out in the 4th qualifying round despite taking higher league opposition Solihull Moors to replay, after having beat Kidlington and Leamington. FA Trophy - Out in the first game played (2nd qualifying round) with an away defeat to Blyth Spartans. Squad - Ellis Myles and captain Gary Stohrer are both 33 and past their best but keep turning in perfomances. Fortunately this year's intake gave us centre back Jared McNicholas and right back Myles Bucalossi to eventually replace them. O'Shane Stewart and Tyrone Lewthwaite again provided crucial goals whilst young Jay Balcomb, a youngster from the holidayed season I had written off, started to catch fire in the second half of the season! Vernon Pashley continued his progression and now has a strong partnership in midfield with our best player Huw Dawson! Lastly, new intake youngster Abdelilah Bahja was incredible in the final 7 games, coming straight into the side as soon as the youth intake dropped. He has already improved quite a bit and I'd imagine he will be our first player sale after a breakout season next year. Players of the Season 1. Huw Dawson - A brilliant defensive midfielder who we are lucky to still have 3 more years under contract. 2. Ellis Myles - Had a 6 month injury layoff last year and at 33 his attributes are dropping like flies but he had a great season at wingback. 3. Vernon Pashley - A player from the holiday season intake, I didn't expect much from him when taking over but he is very reliable and is improving well. Rookie of the Season (1st full season) Jordon Haystead - Not much to choose from as last year's YI was disastrously bad, but Haystead scored a few off of the bench. Some very good attributes but way more terrible ones! Youth Intake - Much better overall this year, with one star! You never can quite tell but I think with the rate Bahja is already improving I think he could maybe end up as a League One / Championship player - or perhaps even in his native Sweden! Bucalossi looks okay, should provide some rotation for us at RWB next season. Transfers - Nothing happened. Finances - The financial health of the club is very good, forecasted to be stable. Hopefully not far away from a training facilities upgrade! Other Updates - Studying for the Continental B coaching license. Improvements were made to youth coaching and recruitment to take them both to excellent level. League Finish History Y24/25 - VNN - 12th - 60pts, Y25/26 - VNN - 7th - 78pts. Facilities Training Facilities - Below Average, Youth Facilities - Below Average, Junior Coaching - Excellent, Youth Recruitment - Excellent. Average league home attendance & Number of Season Ticket Holders Y24/25 - 813 (128), Y25/26 - 888 (134).

This guy was playing in the Vanarama North last season

Kettering Town FC - Season 1 (2024 / 2025) Review - Vanarama National North League Performance A respectable mid-table finish in 12th position. I am pleased with this as the team is quite limited and we only had one central defender, who amazingly stayed fit all season! We were quite good in the first half of the season and looked good for a play-off run at times but wins were much harder to find in the latter half, and we ended up closer in points to going down then up but safe nonetheless. I had been hoping for a good intake to bolster a fairly weak and ageing squad but what we got was very disappointing. Kettering have some reasonably strong facilities for the level so this was a bit of a surprise. I now have a HOYD with a model professional personality so hopefully better results will follow. FA Cup - Out in the first game with a dismal 5-2 home defeat to Alvechurch. A shame to lose out on one of the main ways to make money at this level! FA Trophy - Out in the 3rd Round as we came up against higher division opponents in Boston and narrowly lost 2-1. Squad - Obviously a lack of quality in this squad and it could become more challenging next season as Ellis Myles, Rhys Sharpe and captain Gary Stohrer are getting older and so far no defensive replacements have been found in the intakes. Using a 5-2-2-1 has worked well to give a solid defence and getting some goals on the counter. O'Shane Stewart and Tyrone Lewthwaite have been crucial attacking options as the other forward Sam Bennett has been useless. The holidayed season did gift me with 2 useful youth players in Isaac Mohammed and Vernon Pashley - who managed to net 11 goals! I've locked down midfielder Huw Dawson on a 4 year deal after he improved quite a lot this year; I don't think he would be up for a new deal next season, so good to get it done. We badly need a good intake next year though, and I will simply just be targeting survival in the division for the 25/26 season. Players of the Season 1. O'Shane Stewart - 20 goal contributions and a consistent performer. 2. Tyrone Lewthwaite - Scored 17 vital league goals. Managed to lock him down to a new 2 year deal. 3. Gary Stohrer - Captain and consistent. Had to convert him to CB as the only other one was Lewis White. Rookie of the Season (1st full season) Vernon Pashley - What a season for the youngster. Only played him initially due to gaps in the squad but he became a valuable player and played in both the DM and AM roles in my 5-2-2-1 system. Has a driven personality but not developed much yet though unfortunately. Youth Intake - Despite some 5 star potentials the actual levels of the players is very poor. Jordon Haystead's physical attributes could make him an okay winger, but Elvis Gyamfi looks the best of the bunch to me and could get a fair amount of game time next year in the AM role. Transfers - Just some poor players who had been on non-contract deals moving on. Finances - Looking quite good, particularly after we upgraded youth rec and junior coaching this season. Our attendances are about average for this level but our playing budget is slightly under. Our facilities got downgraded mid-season so that will cost a fair chunk to restore unfortunately. Other Updates - Studying for the National A coaching license. Training facilities got downgraded mid-season but improvements were made to youth coaching and recruitment. League Finish History Y24/25 - VNN - 12th - 60pts Facilities Training Facilities - Below Average, Youth Facilities - Below Average, Junior Coaching - Adequate, Youth Recruitment - Above Average. Average league home attendance & Number of Season Ticket Holders Y24/25 - 813 (128)

Hi everyone, I've been tempted to have another try at this challenge again! I'll be starting at Kettering Town FC - the first season went quite well, will do the summary post in my next post

Dorchester Town FC - Season 7 (2028 / 2029) Review - Vanarama National South League Performance Been a while since my last update, trying to push through but we can't seem to make much progress! Well, we came so close to promotion and we were even leading in the playoff final against Barnet they overcame us. So annoying because I think the players are now good enough to stay up in the Vanarama National League. Hopefully we can achieve promotion again next year as the past 4 seasons have been a struggle to keep motivated to continue the challenge To be fair we got 23 points more than last year, which reflects the growth of our young players. Aaron Peel and Jesmond Micallef have joined the club of Miquel Hunte, Kieron Lambert and Aaron Dorrington as our star players. Micallef hit 26 goals (20 in the league) in a breakthrough goal-scoring season and became a full international for Malta. We were hindered early in the season by our board deciding to sell our star Australian centre-back Toby Miller to Melbourne City on deadline day - although they did put a clause for 30% of the next sale so we might make some money down the line as his current value range for them at 18 y/o is £150k - £1.5million! Young, 6'6, 17 y/o centre-back Josh McCarthy took his place for the remaining 3/4 of the season and did excellently and has become the new star CB of the squad. Our intake gave us two tidy players in midfield playmaker Sezer Amuca and winger Mitchell Morgan which bodes well for us taking the next step and winning this league (for a second time, and hopefully not returning again!!) next year. Newport County finally get back up to the 5th tier on the 4th time around. We outplayed Eastbourne Boro in the playoff 1st round, but they managed to take us all the way to pens. This led to the team being very tired for the 2nd round a few days later, a tough away game to Ebbsfleet. I felt sure we'd lose but we had an inspired 3-1 win. With the final at neutral venue of Wembley I had the feeling we'd do it, especially after going 1 up after 10 mins, but the ref gave one of those classic FM penalty decisions when the defender cleanly tackles and somehow the penalty is given, and the wheels fall off. Oh well, onto season 8! FA Cup - We take Bromley to a replay in the 1st Round after knocking out Faversham, Hampton & Richmond and Yeovil. FA Trophy - A good year in the cups as we made the Quarter Final! We beat Lewes, Ebbsfleet, Billericay and Lancaster but FC Halifax were too strong and prevented us from reaching the semis. Still, a quarter final is our best cup progress to date in the challenge! Squad - No longer reliant on Alfie Stanley's goals, and at the perfect time as he finally rounds down his contract in a month's time! He leaves having scored 126 league goals in 330 games and is listed in the club's icon page. He is only 27 and still plays regularly for me but he has lost his starting striker spot to Micallef. The challenge now is that Micallef is now our only decent striker - although Alfie Peel can play there and will probably have to next season. Miquel Hunte - who has opted to play for Suriname and is now a full international - has scored plenty of goals from midfield which has been important. Despite being our strongest player on paper, I'm struggling to get the best out of Kieron Lambert yet, although he improved on previous seasons having been moved from left back to defensive midfield. Oikonomou continues to improve as a keeper and Puddy is now an important starter too. I am also hoping for big things from Morgan and Amuca next season as they already cemented a place in the team having only just come through the academy in March. Players of the Season 1. Jesmond Micallef - Had the season I knew he was capable of, hitting 20 league goals. Very good all-round forward but to improve his heading to score more. 2. Miquel Hunte - 26 goal involvements (15g, 11a) in the league, he is so important for us. Has 3 years left on his deal and is keeping his options open so I might have to sell him to one of the interested sides in a year or two sadly. Not sure he will improve much more now though. 3. Alfie Peel - Will probably become the best player we have produced yet. Has brilliant physical and mental attributes but needs to sharpen his finishing to take the league by storm. Going to be difficult to keep hold of all of Peel, Hunte, Dorrington and Lambert this summer! Rookie of the Season (1st full season) Josh McCarthy - Done very well in stepping in to replace Toby Miller. Still only 17 and developing attributes really nicely, and with that resolute personality could end up being very important for us! Youth Intake - A solid improvement on last season's disastrous intake, and Morgan and Amuca are first team ready, but both need their poor personalities worked on. Kevin Davies and Joe Roberts also seem as though they may be good enough in a couple years' time. Next season will be the 8th intake for our HOYD which I believe means that it's his own crop finally? Transfers - As mentioned, Toby Miller snapped up by Melbourne City - hopefully they don't come for Mitchell Morgan later too as he is also an Aussie! Alfie Stanley will sadly be moving on and I will release Harvey Wilkinson (now 3rd choice keeper) and some hangers on from our early intakes Faton Hysa, Xavier Angell, Vinroy Dubidad. Finances - A great year for finances as the cup runs ensure that we make over £100k this season! We must be close to improving our 'below average' youth facilities now which will be important for pushing on. Other Updates - Continental Pro licence attained! Changed my tactics up a bit this year and will continue to refine next season. League Finish History Y22/23 - VNS - 7th - 75pts, Y23/24 - VNS - 1st - 92pts, Y24/25 - VNL - 24th - 38pts, Y25/26 - VNS - 18th - 49pts, Y26/27 - VNS - 16th - 59pts, Y27/28 - VNS - 13th - 62pts, Y28/29 - VNS - 4th - 85pts Facilities Training Facilities - Average, Youth Facilities - Below Average, Junior Coaching - Excellent, Youth Recruitment - Excellent. Average league home attendance & Number of Season Ticket Holders Y22/23 - 468 (104), Y23/24 - 507 (113), Y24/25 - 666 (169), Y25/26 - 435 (138), Y26/27 - 509 (138), Y27/28 - 519 (142), Y28/29 - 527 (144)

Dorchester Town FC - Season 6 (2027 / 2028) Review - Vanarama National South League Performance A very delayed update as my last one was about 3 weeks ago... I wonder if there has been something on during that time that has distracted me? This season was another mediocre midtable campaign as we finished 13th in the Vanarama South. On the positive side we are slowly moving forwards as we had 3 more points than last season and 13 more points than the season before last. I now have 3 brilliant players at my disposal in Miquel Hunte, Kieron Lambert and Aaron Dorrington but they can't carry the team to success on their own. There are too many weak positions in our starting XI to really kick on which is frustrating as I'm unsure of how much longer I can keep hold of this trio. Hunte and Lambert have been subject to offers from the Football League all season and Lambert in particular is the target of L1 sides. The progression of Brett Puddy, Alfie Peel, Toby Miller, Jesmond Micallef and Pantelis Oikonomou is all very encouraging, but I need at least a couple of them to reach the level of the aforementioned trio, and then for my academy - which has had the worst year yet - to start producing higher quality players more consistently. This has been a bit frustrating and slowed my game time down a lot but I think we can make a breakthrough sooner or later. In the league we made a decent enough start and briefly dallied with a playoff spot before being remarkably consistent in 13th spot (not exactly the consistency you want). Shoutout to Newport County for bottling a promotion from this division for the 3rd year running (this time losing in the playoff final to Dover). Coming down to our level next year will be Dartford, Maidstone and Gloucester. FA Cup - Just like last season, narrowly missing out on the 1st round. We made the 4th round qual. after beating Hythe Town and Whitehawk before losing to Southend in a replay after drawing the first game at home. The wait for a lucrative cup run continues! FA Trophy - Knocked out by Chorley in the 4th round after previously beating Lewes (7-2!) and Truro. Squad - Still fairly reliant on Alfie Stanley's goals - he had his best scoring season yet with 21 in the league - but with him only having 1 year left on his deal and refusing to extend it then it's encouraging that Micallef is starting to score more regularly. Hunte and Dorrington both regularly involved in goals and Peel starting to do so but could do with chipping in some more. Defensively we are weak, but Toby Miller has improved a lot to become our best centre back. Shayne Haines has also got back to his best form in a simplified 'anchor man' DM role covering the space behind our more attacking midfielders. There's a decent squad here I just need more quality coming through the youth side to push them to level needed to go up again. Players of the Season 1. Miquel Hunte - Our starman in midfield got 12 goals and 11 assists in all comps. 2. Kieron Lambert - Probably improved more than any player I've had playing this challenge before! Came through as a thoroughly unremarkable LB but is now rated as a top National League LB with L1/L2 potential. I have started to use him at DM and had great results due to his brilliant defensive abilities. 3. Brett Puddy - Continuing on from his breakout year last year with good development. His attributes look good for a DM but he's been great in the CM-A role for me getting forward and pressing the opposition defence high. Rookie of the Season (1st full season) Toby Miller - Only played 6 times in the league last season but played 30 times this one. Developed lots and doesn't have many weaknesses (bar aerial ability) for this level. Youth Intake - Some may have decent potential ratings but their personalities and current abilities mean I don't think they have any chance of achieving it. I believe someone said on this challenge thread that it takes 8 years for the HOYD's own players to come through, so I guess we are still 2 years away from being able to properly judge. Transfers - Nothing to update on here. Our captain, left back Callum Buckley will be leaving at the end of his contract to start a new challenge after 7 years at Dorchester, playing 207 league games in the time. Goalkeeper Harvey Wilkinson will likely also be leaving as Oikonomou is better and youth keeper Anders Cramer can deputise him. Finances - Same as the previous years - very consistent but we will still need either to go into the Football League, an amazing cup run, or an amazing fee for a player sale to be able to take the next steps of improvements though! One slight concern is that our wage bill is starting to creep up a bit due to players reaching 20y/o and approaching their potential abilities. Other Updates - Studying for the continental Pro licence! Attendances growing slowly still but still 147 less than the Vanarama National League season. League Finish History Y22/23 - VNS - 7th - 75pts, Y23/24 - VNS - 1st - 92pts, Y24/25 - VNL - 24th - 38pts, Y25/26 - VNS - 18th - 49pts, Y26/27 - VNS - 16th - 59pts, Y27/28 - VNS - 13th - 62pts Facilities Training Facilities - Average, Youth Facilities - Below Average, Junior Coaching - Excellent, Youth Recruitment - Excellent. Average league home attendance & Number of Season Ticket Holders Y22/23 - 468 (104), Y23/24 - 507 (113), Y24/25 - 666 (169), Y25/26 - 435 (138), Y26/27 - 509 (138), Y27/28 - 519 (142)

Anyone know if not having a recruitment package impacts the quality of the youth intake? Or if a better package leads to better players? I am consistently having poor intakes and beginning to wonder if it might be down to not having a recruitment package in order to save money...

Dorchester Town FC - Season 5 (2026 / 2027) Review - Vanarama National South League Performance A slight improvement on last season as we finish 16th, two places higher but with 10 more points than this time a year ago. Up until the last 15 games we had been in the running for a playoff spot but the form completely fell off - which did allow me to then experiment a little. Through the experimenting I now have a new tactical set up in a 3-5-2 with wing-backs which has been working nicely, and a few youngsters have impressed after having been given the chance. In terms of player performances, Alfie Stanley had his best season in front of goal yet, hitting 20 league goals. He has now got 91 in 249 league games for Dorchester and is something of a club hero but is still refusing to extend his contract beyond the 2 years he has left - a real shame as he is still only 25 years old. Miquel Hunte (Y3) has been the star again for us but has become more of a creator than a scorer in midfield for us. We turned down a paltry offer for him from L2 side Carlisle in January, which initially he was unhappy with but since put past him. Aaron Dorrington (Y4) has played very well and is now a key player, and Kieron Lambert has progressed a ridiculous amount in one season. Our latest intake's star Alfie Peel (Y5) looks to have real potential and could help us a lot next year. I have been a bit disappointed that there hasn't been more depth of quality in our intakes given our excellent youth rec and junior coaching ratings if I'm honest though! Next season I'd really like us to kick on and push for a playoff position, but it is really difficult when there are so many good clubs in the division. Next year we will have to contend again with Newport County and Torquay, and joining them will be Barnet, Eastleigh and Ebbsfleet who have all been relegated from the National League. Time to step up! FA Cup - So close to the 1st round! We made the 4th round qual. after beating Hayes & Yeading and Cray Wanderers before losing to Eastleigh on a replay. I could really do with a cup run to get us a Prem side in an away game at some point... FA Trophy - Knocked out by Crawley in the 4th round after previously beating Highworth Town and Hendon. Squad - A lot of carrying done by Hunte (Y3) and Stanley again. Scott Ford (Y2) was solid in defence for the third season running now but isn't progressing his ability. Pantelis Oikonomou (Y4) and new intake grad Anders Cramer (Y5) both showed some encouraging displays in goal which means we might finally have an improvement on Harley Wilkinson. Jesmond Micallef (Y2) has frustrated me as whilst he is a well-rounded striker now he isn't showing it in his performances. Overall we are seeing a good amount of improvement in the youngsters as the average age of all our academy grads is around 18 now. Players of the Season 1. Miquel Hunte - Our best player and our best performer for the season again! 8 goals and 18 assists in all competitions. 2. Alfie Stanley - 25 goals and 7 assists in all competitions. Much improved on last year but can still be better. We really need a good forward to be in a position to replace him when he runs his contract out in 2 seasons time! 3. Kieron Lambert - His average rating hasn't been good but I think that is a full-back thing? Has played well and his rating went from a 2 star to a 4 star in the space of a year! Sadly he has a broken ankle which will keep him out of pre-season but fingers crossed doesn't stop his amazing development. Rookie of the Season (1st full season) Aaron Dorrington - One of our best players now and there will surely be some offers for him next season. My only issue is that I don't know how way to get the best out of him yet. Youth Intake - I can't help but feel a little bit frustrated that we aren't producing better players yet with all things considered. Every season we get a bunch of players with 5 star potential, yet few ever progress much beyond where they started... Nonetheless, Alfie Peel could turn into an important player for us and I'm counting on it with that 20 determination rating! Anders Cramer and Josh McCarthy also both look okay. Transfers - Nothing to update on. Finances - Consistently stable despite the youth setup costs so that pleases me a lot. We will need either to go into the Football League, an amazing cup run, or an amazing fee for a player sale to be able to take the next steps of improvements though! Other Updates - Studying for the continental A licence! Also, the fan ownership takeover didn't come about in the end... We did have a slightly higher average attendance than in our promotion season from this league 3 years ago, which is good! League Finish History Y22/23 - VNS - 7th - 75pts, Y23/24 - VNS - 1st - 92pts, Y24/25 - VNL - 24th - 38pts, Y25/26 - VNS - 18th - 49pts, Y26/27 - VNS - 16th - 59pts Facilities Training Facilities - Average, Youth Facilities - Below Average, Junior Coaching - Excellent, Youth Recruitment - Excellent. Average league home attendance & Number of Season Ticket Holders Y22/23 - 468 (104), Y23/24 - 507 (113), Y24/25 - 666 (169), Y25/26 - 435 (138), Y26/27 - 509 (138)

That's really unlucky man! I had a very similar situation where we (Dorchester) got promoted too soon but my board were clearly more forgiving as I got to carry on after being relegated. Once you're on a losing run in a division with players well above the level of your own it's so hard to turn it around

Dorchester Town FC - Season 4 (2025 / 2026) Review - Vanarama National South League Performance Not disastrous in the end, but not especially encouraging. Crucially though we survived a relegation threat in 18th place after being in or around the drop zone all season long, struggling to find any sort of form. Had we gone down, it would have been back-to-back relegations and game over for the save! We still lacked quality in many areas of the pitch, particularly out wide (with Myrie-Williams still not properly replaced by anybody in the intakes) and in defence. The 4 players that announced that they wanted to leave caused havoc with the morale as they are all senior players. Fortunately Harvey Bertrand and Tom Purrington have now changed their minds on leaving after securing league survival and have penned new deals. Alfie Stanley still has 3 more years to go on his and whilst he hasn't played well for the 2nd season running, he was still our top scorer and will almost certainly see out his contract even if he won't renew. The only one to leave in this summer will be winger MJ Kedman after running out his deal, and to be honest he isn't very good anymore and I think he'll struggle to get a new club. Miquell Hunte (Y3) has been a revelation and without him we probably would have gone down. With Aaron Dorrington (Y4) coming through also in midfield now, I think we will be more able to control possession next season, which we haven't been able to do since Myrie-Williams and Soares retired. Next season has to be an improvement after 2 seasons in decline but I'm hopeful we can finish mid-table or better. I was also shocked that Newport County (who had dropped 2 divisions) didn't manage to go back up on the first time of asking! With them, Torquay, Bromley and Dover all in the division they will be a number of heavy hitters in this league even with Barnet and Eastleigh up. I'm still not really sure how we fluked winning the league a couple of seasons ago! Some good news too as we got our youth recruitment and junior coaching both up to excellent rating! Whilst this costs a lot we should hopefully recoup the losses with player sales before long. The downside was the average attendance dropping by over 200 people a game since dropping a level (666 to 435) - flipping fairweather fans! FA Cup - A decent run for a change! We made the 1st round by beating Wimborne, Whitehawk and Braintree before losing to League One's Doncaster Rovers away from home 3-0. FA Trophy - Exited in the first game we played (2nd round) losing 3-1 at home to Wealdstone. Squad - It was nice to be able to rely on the goalscoring abilities of a player other than Stanley! Miquel Hunte (Y3) was brilliant in his debut midfield, and I'm not sure how long we can hold on two him, but he is now contracted on a 3 year + 3 year option deal so he won't leave on the cheap! Micallef (Y2), Ford (Y2), Gilmore (Y2) and Lambert (Y3) all made nice progress throughout the season. Players of the Season 1. Miquel Hunte - 18 goal contributions (13G, 5A) in the league. Such a technical player in this division and I could see him being good even for League One or maybe higher one day. 2. Scott Ford - Finishing 2nd place for POTS again as his performances were really consistent in defence and scored a couple of free kicks. 3. Jesmond Micallef - His output isn't that impressive yet, but he never goes missing in games (unlike Stanley!). Not that quick but good technical and clever, kind of reminds me of Harry Kane (if Kane played at Dorchester's level ) Rookie of the Season (1st full season) Kieron Lambert - As Hunte was the POTS, I'll give it to Lambert who has played solidly at left back when called upon. He has a fairly professional personality and is good in the tackle with a great engine, so I think he could be a starter in a year or two. Youth Intake - The personalities weren't great across the board but there are plenty of 5 star potentials there and a few that look like they could make it. Clearly the star is Aaron Dorrington who could well be as good as Miquel Hunte and I'm excited to play both next season in midfield. Toby Miller has a resolute personality and could turn out well. Brett Puddy should get gametime next year and could make a nice combative midfielder to challenge Shayne Haines (Y0). Transfers - Nothing to update on. Finances - We recovered and stabilised after the youth training facilities upgrade and now have a little buffer again, but this will be tested a lot with the youth setup costs. Other Updates - I now have my continental B licence! There have also been rumours that a fan group will look to take over the club soon - even though I'm pretty sure Dorchester is already fan owned in real life... League Finish History Y22/23 - VNS - 7th - 75pts, Y23/24 - VNS - 1st - 92pts, Y24/25 - VNL - 24th - 38pts, Y25/26 - VNS - 18th - 49pts Facilities Training Facilities - Average, Youth Facilities - Below Average, Junior Coaching - Excellent, Youth Recruitment - Excellent. Average league home attendance & Number of Season Ticket Holders Y22/23 - 468 (104), Y23/24 - 507 (113), Y24/25 - 666 (169), Y25/26 - 435 (138)

Can you not recover it through your PC's recycling bin? If not, that is absolutely gutting!

That's good to know - I'm only mid-way through season 4 so I guess I need to be patient and trust that the next few intakes will be a lot stronger. Cheers!

Cheers! This is what confuses me about my players not improving as we have average training facilities, my typical training schedule looks quite similar to yours, and I have comfortably the best coaching set up in the league (see below) It feels like I'm doing something wrong or missing something but I have no idea what it is. I guess it could just be down to some players simply not improving due to their personalities, but I have players with 'fairly professional' personalities and even one 'driven' player not improving at all!

How do you guys set up your training schedules when players are part-time? I'm really struggling to see improvements in at least 80% of my young players Also, do you have them training at double intensity when full fitness? And any tips around making mentoring more effective other than choosing strong personalities etc.? Thanks!

> Gets relegated > Still predicted to finish bottom of the league just been relegated into