Punch

AUG 2042 - League Cup 2nd Round Draw We enter the League Cup in the 2nd Round, and we will head to Coventry City. We have never met in the League, but we have knocked them out of the League Cup twice.

We still have a bit of expansion room, so will be interesting to see how we go with crowd numbers this season.

AUG 2042 - Final Season Preview We finish our friendlies with two more convincing wins, against decent opposition. Plenty more minutes in legs, and plenty more goals, with O'Connor continuing his World Cup goal scoring form. No entries on the top goal scoring odds, despite Finnegan finishing just one goal behind Golden Boot winner Dunderski. Finnegan was also the best player last season, but again, the Bookies don't rate any of our players. They do like some of our players in the Young Player odds. The Bookies still have us at 12th place, with Liverpool the favourites for the title. A tough start to the season as we face reigning Champions, Tottenaham away, before hosting Newcastle.

Thanks Stu, we are getting closer to matching it with those bigger clubs. Haha, no news from the Board yet, so looks like we might actually get a season of Premier League football on the island

JUL 2042 A cracking start to friendly season, with goals galore, positive results, and plenty of minutes in the legs. Internationals Our England Internationals made it all the way to the World Cup Final, where they would fall 3-1 to Germany. Transfers We sent several players on their way. They were all fringe players who wanted to move on for more first team chances, and we were able to cash in on them. We are moving towards mid-table in the match day revenue stakes. A brilliant start to the season financially, with season tickets going out the door in a hurry, while we collect fees for several transfer sell on clauses. We have a few more friendlies before the season proper kicks off.

Shhhh!!! The season hasn’t started yet…still time for them to do something stupid and go for another expansion

JUN 2042 - Off Season things Internationals Plenty of players on International duty as the World Cup continues to roll on. The Board offered and I accepted a new four year deal, with a £3k per week pay rise. A real heart in mouth moment as the top prospect, who had not yet signed his contract, became the target of offers from several offers from rival clubs. A few days later, we breathed a sigh of relief, as he decided he was more chance of getting game time with us, and signed his contract. We dodged a real nightmare scenario with that one. West Ham have been coming hard after Chambers, with the offers continuing to increase... The latest offer rose to over £141 million, which is just insane money, but I really want to keep one of our best young forwards. This would smash both their highest fee paid, and ours received. For now, the Board is staying out of it, and for his part, Chambers does not seem concerned that I have been turning the offers down, so I am going to continue down this road for now. We enjoyed a reputation boost, now ranked the 21st team in England. Season Preview A tough start to the season facing the reigning Champions, before hosting Newcastle to start the season. The Bookies have us at 12th, which is our highest ever rank to begin the season, which has us at about mid-table, where the Board wants us. The money rolls in to begin the season. Friendly season is about to begin.

2041-2042 Season Review - Attributes The favourite time of year where we can see how the players have progressed, or not, and see how the squad might be taking shape for next season. Goalkeepers Redmond becomes our first ever 80 point goalkeeper, although his CA is still a fair way behind Hamilton, but equal with Al-Habib. Steady progress all around, although Mason appears to have peaked, and missed his chance to become a first choice keeper. Defenders Steady improvement all around, with plenty of solid options available, which is necessary as we are pretty hard on defenders. Midfielders We have a lot of midfielders on the books, and there are plenty of suitable options available for the rotation. Forwards It's interesting that the attributes rank Finnegan as our 5th best striker, but he is our best option as far as putting the ball in the net goes. Plenty of solid options available, and continued growth. Continued growth as our average goes over the 70 point mark, while our average age has gone above 21 for the first time in nearly two decades. Happy to see how the squad is coming along, and we continue to improve as a club, holding us in good stead to keep trying to push upwards in the Premier League.

2041-2042 Season Review - Stats Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards A massive 33 goals for Finnegan, 31 in the League, but worryingly, only one other player registered double figures. Finnegan is 10 appearances away from breaking Docherty's record, however, I am not sure anyone will ever break Ross Allen's record for goals. Hamilton and Finnegan extend their own respective Premier League records.

2041-2042 Season Review

Still has 4 years, plus an option in our favour, contract, so not in a hurry, or for a very ridiculous amount of money he isn’t

JUN 2042 - FA Cup Final Our second crack at the big dance, and it was a brave effort against the much more fancied Chelsea outfit. We were not aided by missing six first team regulars, although the Blues were in pretty much the same boat. We probably played better in the first half, but were not able to find a way through their defences. The second half was a much more even, with very few genuine chances created, and neither side was able to find a winner. Off to extra time, and we blinked first as Chelsea took the lead early in the first period. A second goal just before the half time interval broke our spirits, and the contest was just about over. We did push hard in the first part of the second period, but we just ran out of steam, and there would be no comeback miracle. While the end result is disappointing, the effort was brilliant, and to have even made the Final was punching well above our division. A healthy financial boost as we collect our runner up money, while we also receive nearly £2 million from our share of the gate, and a further £1.5 million from the TV revenue. With our season now officially at an end, it's time to go through some reviews.

JUN 2042 - FA Cup Final Preview A capacity crowd is expected at Wembley for our second run at the FA Cup Final. Both sides are missing a string of players who are now on World Cup duty, though Chelsea will start heavy favourites regardless. While we are looking for our first title, the Blues are looking for their 10th. We will need to overturn a poor history against them, as we have never beaten them.

There has been a couple of conflicting reports, even for West Ham, that he wants to go, and that he doesn't see it as a good move at this point in his career...typical media

MAY 2042 A pretty solid finish to the season, winning three of our last five to come home in 11th place. The mid table finish means the Board now considers us an established Premier League team, so I have achieved a club vision early. Awards season begins with Chambers taking out the Young Player of the Year award. Finnegan takes out several Player of the Year awards whit his 32 goal season, bring him in second place in the Golden Boot as well. Finnegan was also our only player in the Team of the Year. We buy no players, so we are always making profit in terms of transfers. We have the lowest wage percentage in the League, not surprising when our wage bill is so far behind the rest of the teams. The Chambers saga West Ham are apparently in the market to go after our young striker Chambers, and in this report, he is interested in a move... ...yet the next report says he wants to stay at his current club. Good reporting A big month financially as we get a large payout for our 11th place finish, putting us in a brilliant position going forward. World Cup We have 11 players, and 9 former players representing various countries at the upcoming World Cup. This of course creates a quandary, as the players have now left to report to their respective camps, meaning they will not be available for the FA Cup Final. Chelsea also have 10 players on duty, so it has made a bit of a mess of both teams.

MAY 2042 - Match Day 38 - Vs Brentford We welcome in a new era, getting to play our second ever game at our new stadium, and we get to celebrate with the Guernsey faithful by putting on a good show in a tight game. Three goals, all scored by Guernsey natives, and we keep a clean sheet to boot. A brilliant result in a great day for the club. We finish the season in 11th place, beating our 14th place finish from last season. Despite Spurs loss, they had already done enough to secure the title. The League season is over, but we still have the FA Cup Final to prepare for.

As of 2022 there was about 65 thousand people on the island of Guernsey, with about 25 thousand of those in St Peter Port, but that was 20 years ago in the game.

MAY 2042 MASSIVE NEWS - We're going home We are finally returning to Guernsey, and will be in our expanded stadium for the final match of the season. Welcome to the expanded Guernsey Stadium, where we can now hold nearly 25 thousand. The island will be jumping as we have a fortress that can be intimidating to our opposition. *In reality, this is BMO Stadium, home of LA FC from Major League Soccer in California, but it's one of my favourites to use as my background when I get a new stadium. Now just got to hope that the Board don't do something silly, like decide to add another expansion so we end up homeless for a third straight season

MAY 2042 - Match Day 37 - At AFC Bournemouth We were the away team at our temporary home ground, and got off to the worst possible start, being two goals down inside 15 minutes. From there however, we staged a massive fightback, and ended up running away with a comfortable win. Another hat-trick for Captain Finnegan, who has now gone past the 30 goal mark, giving him 50% of the League goals we have scored this season. Our win, and a loss for Manchester United means we have secured 11th place, regardless of what happens in the final match of the season. 11th place also betters our performance of 14th in our inaugural Premier League season last year. Up next We will host our final match of the season, which will be a bit of a dead rubber, as Brentford, while safe from relegation, like us, can't finish any higher or lower than where they are.

Thanks mate...although, ironically, we have not been on the island since we joined the Premier League

MAY 2042 - Match Day 36 - At Liverpool We put in a brave performance against the title chasing Reds, but came up short. It was a pretty tight first half, but on the stroke of half time, the hosts took the lead. A second goal near the hour mark wrapped up the three points for them, and left us showing we still have a long way to go to match it with the big clubs. A few make up games played today, and the loss means we can't catch Everton for 10th place. We will now have to concentrate on staying 11th in our final two games. Up next We are the away team at our temporary home ground as we face 15th place Bournemouth.

MAY 2042 - Match Day 35 - Vs Aston Villa Four wins on the bounce at 'home' as we put on a brilliant performance against Villa. The Villans had no answer as we went on the attack early, and had a two goal lead by the break. A third goal early in the second half killed off the game, and we were able to cruise to victory, although we gave up a silly injury time goal. Also pleasing was to see us score three goals, none of which were scored by Finnegan, showing we are learning how to win games without relying on one person to get the ball in the net. With three games to play we sit 12th, almost having confirmed a better finish than 14th, where we ran last season. Up next A tough ask as we travel to Anfield to face the 2nd place Reds, who are still in contention for the title.

MAY 2042 - Match Day 34 - At Chelsea We put up a tough fight but in the end, were no match for a determined Blues outfit, looking to secure Champions League qualification. A tight first half seen us go to the break all square, but we were unable to hang on, two second half goals secured all three points for the home team. Plenty of teams in action while we were on FA Cup duty, but the loss keeps us in 12th place. Forest and Watford are now confirmed relegated, and I suspect Boro will not be far behind. Up next We host 14th place Villa.

APR 2042 With several games rescheduled to next month, it ended up being a very short month, with one League game, which winning confirmed our place in the Premier League for next season, and an FA Cup Semi Final win, which sent us to our second ever FA Cup Final. Stats Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards With rumours continuing to swirl on and off that the Chairman wants out, I was surprised when I went to him and he agreed to upgrades for both the Youth and Training Facilities. Considering the massive financial investment this required, I was happy to see them both get approved. While we are not a big club, we are still one of the most profitable in the League. The Facility upgrades put a dent in the account this month, but we are still in a great place. Our final 5 League matches for the season, and while we have some tough games, we have already secured our place for next season, so we can relax and enjoy ourselves, although with every position up the ladder worth another £2+ million, it is in our interest to continue to push as hard as we can.

APR 2042 - FA Cup Semi Final - Vs Brentford It was a tough battle at Wembley as we hard to work hard to overcome the Bees. With a lesser schedule, we were able to play a near full strength team, and that may have proved the difference, as we were able to hold off the Bees in the first half. We finally found our own attacking groove in the second half, with two goals in 9 minutes breaking the game open, and ending the fight from Brentford. The financial benefits continue. We enter our second FA Cup Final where we will face Chelsea, who overcame Manchester United to book their place. Once again, we will have to overcome a side we have never beaten. Up next Ironically our next League match is also against Chelsea.