AM23

November 2034 In my first month I will be introduced to all of our three competitions immediately. My tenure starts with an away game to National League side Worthing in the FA Cup. Starting off with a win there will be very difficult. In the league Braintree are four points above us, while both Radcliffe and Marine are below us in the table. Especially the game against Marine should result in a win. Worthing - Blyth Spartans (FA Cup) xG: 1.42 - 0.95; Shots: 9(5) - 11(3); Possession: 68% - 32% Definitely not how I hoped to start here. Still, Worthing are playing a tier higher and were also flattered by the score a bit. Having to play our back-up goalkeeper didn't help our cause really. A well played out attack saw Worthing grab the lead, which was doubled just before halftime when we didn't react adequately enough to a corner. In the second half we went on the front foot a little bit more and finally got to creating some chances, but it was a Worthing free kick that put the scoreline at 3-0. Braintree - Blyth Spartans xG: 0.03 - 1.91; Shots: 1(0) - 9(4); Possession: 47% - 53% We do keep the league winning streak intact! What a performance this was really, as we only saw them able to attempt one shot from a free kick. The lead was thrown into our lap when Simon Baker was fouled with the ball ten meters away from him. He converted the penalty himself. Our second goal was assisted by inverted left wing back Rees Hodgin, who found himself back all the way on the right wing from where he pulled off a perfect low cross. Blyth Spartans - Radcliffe xG: 0.78 - 1.27; Shots: 10(4) - 14(4); Possession: 46% - 54% My first game at Croft Park ends undecided. A fair result too as Radcliffe gave us a lot more trouble than Braintree did a few days earlier. We did get the lead through an incredible solo by Shawn Glover, but just before the break a shot that hit two players on its way to the goal got the scores back level. In the second half Radcliffe missed a huge chance at the lead, while we were mostly holding on to the draw due to tiredness. The lack of squad depth already became obvious. FA Trophy up next. We will host Bradford PA there. They are in the relegation spots of our league, so should be a win for us. Blyth Spartans - Bradford PA (FA Trophy) xG: 0.20 - 0.76; Shots: 4(2) - 8(5); Possession: 47% - 53% That was quite appalling really. To be honest it felt like no team really deserved a goal in this game, but things changed after we got reduced to ten men. To late set pieces were headed home by a center back that scored just four goals in his previous more than 200 career appearances and that was that. I'm not too bothered about going out of this cup early given our small squad, although the way we played does worry me a bit. Marine - Blyth Spartans xG: 0.66 - 0.88; Shots: 6(3) - 15(5); Possession: 41% - 59% We had no business losing this one. Another set piece hurt us as they scored the only goal of the match through a direct free kick. We were unable to create real chances and couldn't score the headers and long distance shots we took. It hasn't been smooth sailing so far. Especially those last two losses have been a wake up call for me.

Blyth Spartans 34/35 So after almost 18 months without a job, I'm finally back into management again. Something that has made me very happy in the meantime is the fact that Warrenpoint Town managed to defy expectations and stay up in the Premiership, albeit by winning a penalty shootout in the promotion/relegation playoff. When I applied at the Blyth Spartans job I expected this to be a season of rebuilding, after which a title challenge should be possible next year. However, with the team suddenly going on a rampage under the caretaker manager, it suddenly feels like a lot more is possible already. The playoffs are only four points away, and although first place is still at quite a distance with an 11 point gap between us, it doesn't feel like that is impossible to overcome. Besides the league, we also still have two cups to play in. Thanks to some relatively good draws, the club has reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the fifth time in the twelve seasons since the start of this save. In the FA Trophy our campaign is yet to get started. Finances This is a big step up from what I'm used to. It has to be said that we are the 4th highest spenders in the league, but it is definitely way more than the budgets I had in Wales and Northern Ireland. Apparently life in this league is good financially. The balance has been slowly increasing as long as I can look back. A good opportunity to get some work done at the club's facilities. Squad Immediately after taking a look here I am left wondering who was in charge of the squad building here. There are only really 18 players that seem good enough for the first team, which seems like way too little for a 46 game league. I will need to find some more squad balance in the winter transfer window. David Bennett is a great goalkeeper, but is injury prone and currently also out for two weeks. Behind him the options are a lot less good. This team is as imbalanced as you will ever see. The players above are all able to play in defence, although two or three might be better in midfield. There is an abundance of center backs, but they are either very small, or unable to head the ball. Things are looking better on the sides where Sierra Leonean international Augustine Sanusie and Rees Hodgin look like good options. And this is the rest of the players... A lot more quality, but no depth at all in midfield and attack. Darren Robinson looks like a player that can be very important for the balance of the team. We have two incredibly fast wingers with Shawn Glover and Tom Ferry, but there just isn't much behind them. Table This is how it starts for me. Five games ago the situation was dire for the club, now things aren't looking all that bad. Getting to the playoffs was probably the pre-season goal, and that is still very achievable. Also, just look at how far Northampton have fallen.

I did look into that a little bit as well, but with the second tier as the highest playable level and its reputation still quite a bit higher than the Cymru North/South and Vanarama North/South I thought I'd leave that for later.

Job hunt Well, things didn't really go to plan here. As I said, I was mostly looking around for a job in Wales with the Cymru North/South still the lowest league in reputation, but I didn't really find a job that interested me. In the summer there were vacant jobs at the predicted top 3 of the Cymru South, but none of those teams really appealed to me, so I decided to holiday through the season and look at what jobs came free. I can now safely say that this was even less of a success, as barely any jobs became vacant in Wales, and the ones that did were all teams in relegation trouble. Now, I was not feeling like building up a club there again so short after my Llanidloes period, so didn't try to get any of those jobs either. In the end I had holidayed a full season without applying for any jobs, and when there were even less teams in Wales without a manager in the summer, I decided to widen my focus. Since the Vanarama North/South is currently only one place above the Welsh second tier in reputation, this is where I started looking too, even though my initial plan was to steer clear of England for now. In the summer I did apply for the Swansea Uni job in the Cymru South, but it seemed as if they had already decided on another manager when I did so, as he was hired just a few days after. For the rest no interesting jobs in either country were vacant, so once again I holidayed a few months. Then at the start of October finally there was a manager fired by a team that interested me. The most northern based team in the English six highest tiers to be exact. Blyth Spartans are currently playing in the Vanarama North for their 18th season in a row. In this time though, they have grown from a team fighting relegation to one of the best teams in the league. In the last seven years they got into the playoffs six times, although they never even reached the final. This season getting to the playoffs was once again expected of them with a 4th place prediction, but the first two months of the season did not go well at all. After 11 matches the team found itself in 20th place, just one point above the relegation spots, with only 8 points accumulated. Their manager was fired after only 106 days in the job and I applied. It took some time, but in the end I got a job interview, though after that another two weeks went by. I was quite irritated by this, as almost a month had passed from the moment I applied for the job until I was finally hired at the start of November. However, something very interesting had happened in that time. Under the caretaker manager, the club had notched up five straight league wins and is now already back in the top half, close to the playoff spots. Inbetween the league games, they also qualified for the first round of the FA Cup. So despite the awful position they were in, I am not taking over at a very bad time at all now. The Club Founded in 1899, the club is of course based in Blyth, a town of 37,000 not far north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Obviously, Blyth Spartans is named after the Spartan Army, which is also shown in their badge. They play their home games at Croft Park, with a capacity of 4,435. In most of its history, the club played in regional leagues. They enjoyed an especially succesful time in the Northern League, where they won the title no less than ten times between 1964 and 1994. In that time they also got the club's most famous achievement. In the 1977/78 season Blyth Spartans went all the way to the fifth round of the FA Cup, by beating Second Division Stoke City among others. They were eventually halted by Wrexham after a replay. After two consecutive promotions in the 1990's, the club found itself back in the 6th tier of English football playing in the Norther Premier League Premier Division. Due to changes in the league structure, this eventually became the 7th tier, but in 2005/06 Blyth Spartans won the title and thus got promoted to the Conference North. A 7th place in their first Conference North season turned out to be their best finish in a six year spell that ended with a relegation in the 2011/12 season. Things went from bad to worse as they only finished 16th in the Northern Premier League Premier Division the next season. The club turned their fortunes around again though, and won the league title for the second time in 2016/17 to get back to the 6th tier. Two top half seasons there followed, including one where they made the playoffs, but since then the club has been fighting relegation for the past four seasons. With that we get to the start of this save. Since then the club has made gradual improvements. After four years of mid table finishes, they achieved the playoffs in 27/28. Though the next season saw them a little bit lower again, the five seasons after where all finished in the playoff spots, with a 4th place as the highest. In those six attempts, the club never managed to get to Wembley, getting knocked out in the first round and semi final three times each.

It really is always interesting to see what's going on in all different leagues. I thought I'd do an update on it since I found some interesting things in there. I still hope I will eventually return to Llanidloes and win the league with them, but for now I don't have the patience for that yet. Finding a new job took some time but I have just signed a contract!

Game world - 10 years As that last season marked the 10th year of this save, I thougt it would be a nice addition to the thread to do an update on the game world. I always like to look around at what is happening at other clubs myself, so below here I'll give a little overview. I am mostly going to focus on the British and Irish leagues, as those are of course relevant to the challenge. National teams World Cup No surprising winners here. Argentina became the first country to retain their title since Brazil did so in 1962, after which France became the world's best for the third time in 2030. In 2026: The expanded 48 team tournament saw four teams make their debuts: Thailand, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan and Suriname. Not unsurprisingly, all teams came from the less succesful federations which had seen a significant increase in their participants. Of those debutants, Suriname were the only team to get to the knockout stage, which they did in style. In their final group game they got their second win of the tournament over no other than Brazil. It meant they finished in second place, with the latter only going through as a best placed third. China made their second ever appearance, but got the exact same result. Just like in 2002, they were sent back without scoring while conceding 9 goals in a group with Uruguay, Belgium and Costa Rica. All three North American hosts got through their respective groups. The second round saw Mexico take on the USA at the Azteca and beating them 3-1. Beating the Netherlands in the next round, Mexico got to the quarter final for the first time since 1986 and the third time in total, after having lost 7 consecutive round of 16 fixtures in previous tournaments. All of their three quarter final runs have come in home world cups. The third host became the surprise package of the tournament. After topping a fairly easy group, Canada consecutively beat Saudi Arabia, Portugal and Spain to reach all the way to the semi final, where eventual winners Argentina beat them 1-0. Japan famously beat England in the second round, but were harshly dumped out of the tournament with a 5-0 loss to Italy, who finally returned to the biggest stage of world football after 12 years. The final was decided in extra time, with all three goals being scored there and Argentina beating Germany 2-1. In 2030: Both two debutants came from Africa, as Guinea and Burkina Faso got into the tournament. Another team that got through qualification for the first time was Qatar, but they have of course made their first appearance in 2022. Guinea even got through their group in second place, but were beaten in the next round by Colombia. Host Türkiye left the tournament in disappointment. They only got through in third place with 4 points in a relatively easy group with Switzerland, Algeria and Jamaica, and were beaten by Spain in the second round. Despite a lack of surprises in the group stage, the tournament turned out to be real eventful on that front. Two German speaking countries got into the quarter final, but Germany were not one of them. The 2026 finalists were knocked out after penalties in the second round by Australia, who also beat Italy in the round of 16. They were eventually sent home in the quarter final by Switzerland, who had shocked everyone by beating Argentina the round before. The final was once again decided in extra time, after 1-1 was the score at the 90 minute mark. Randall Kolo Muani finally freed himself of his 2022 world cup nightmare by scoring a 118th minute winner to keep England from their second ever title. Euros England finally ended their trophy drought in 2024 by winning their first ever Euros. In the next edition Norway used their golden generation to their advantage, while Portugal win the most recent tournament. The Dutch were left disappointed twice in this time. In 2024: Both Estonia and Israel made their debut in Germany. The latter left without scoring a goal, but Estonia managed to sneak through as a third placed team thanks to a win against Romania. They then proceeded to shock Italy with a 2-1 win, before being beaten by the Netherlands in the quarter final. Hosts Germany had a tournament to forget. They got through a group of death with France, the Netherlands and poor Iceland in third place, but were knocked out by England in the round of 16. Austria beat France in the round of 16, but in the quarter final they too were knocked out by England. In a huge rivalry Croatia got the better of Serbia after penalties in the round of 16. The finalists knocked out the Iberian countries in their respective semi finals, after which England came out on top in the final with a 3-1 victory. In 2028: Georgia were the only debutants. They proved their value to the tournament by getting through their group over Poland and Austria, before Germany beat them in the round of 16. Türkiye hosted their first of two consecutive big tournaments, but were left disappointed here too. They got through their group in second place, only to be knocked out by the Netherlands in the next round. To everyone's surprise, the group of death containing England, Portugal and the Netherlands was topped by Slovenia. Title holders England left the tournament winless in 4th place in this group. Norway got their first tournament win by easing past Switzerland in the second round, before two very close 1-0 wins over Spain and Italy. In the final Erling Haaland was the big man with a brace, as they won 3-0 against Portugal to lift the title. In 2032: Kosovo participated for the first time and got through their group with 4 points, which included a draw against eventual winners Portugal. Hosts Spain topped a group were world cup bronze winners Switzerland were knocked out off, but lost in the second round to France. Ireland participated for the first time since 2016 and reached all the way to the quarter final. Denmark was the surprise package as they knocked out the last two winners. England was sent home in the round of 16 with a 2-1 and Norway found the same faith in the quarter final. In the end Portugal was too good for them in the semi final. The Netherlands had overcome France on pens in the semi final after a scoreless draw, but lost another final by two goals as it ended in 4-2. Copa America In 2024 hosts USA got two shock wins in a row by knocking out both Brazil and Argentina, before being heavily beaten by Uruguay in the final. Bolivia also surprised in this tournament, as they got to the semi final. In 2028 the USA got to the final again, but Brazil got their revenge there. In 2032 Ecuador made their nation proud, as they won their very first Copa America. AFCON No surprise winners in the African cup of nations so far. Ivory Coast have been very good recently, while Angola and Mali look like the most surprising finalists. Asian Cup Nothing special in the Asian Cup either. China got to the semi final in the most recent edition, which seems like a good sign for them. International Club Competitions Club World Cup Don't really know what to make of this competition so far, but it's clear that the European teams are dominant. If I'm correct 12 teams from Europe qualify every time, and only three times has a team not made it out of the group stages. In 2025 Argentinian rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors reached the quarter final, with the latter even going a round further, but after that no non-European team came past the round of 16. Champions League No big surprises in Europe's biggest club competition. The first two years of the save did see to new teams win it in Arsenal and PSG. Bayer Leverkusen looks to be the biggest shock in the final, while Juventus recently found there way back there too. Even in the semi final no real special teams have made it. Most notable there is Aston Villa in 27/28. Europa League Tottenham the only team to win it twice, while Sevilla didn't even manage a final somehow. Two French teams winning it looks like a nice bit of variety. Feyenoord getting to the final twice as the only team from outside the big five leagues. LaLiga and Bundesliga teams are awfully scarce here, with only Valencia having reached the final once. Conference League A good amount of variety in the conference league. AZ might have been the most surprising winners, but look at Pafos from Cyprus and Adana Demirspor from Turkey making the final! Great to see. England Premier League No surprising champions in England were Man City have continued being the dominant team. Arsenal have also established themselves well in this save. For the rest here are some things that caught my eye in English football: Premier League Manchester United only got into the top 3 once, although they were pretty stable just in or out of the UCL spots. Tottenham have become more of a lower top half side with 5th place as their highest finish, while also having ended their season in 9th (2x), 10th and 12th in recent years. Crystal Palace had an amazing season in 31/32 and got 4th place and a UCL ticket to show for it. No real interesting things have happened on the lower side of the table. Bristol City probably the least expected regular participant in the league, though they have been yoyoing with 3 promotions and 2 relegations. Championship Oxford United have become a regular here after a promotion in 27/28, though they have been very close to relegation for all of their 5 seasons with an 18th place as their highest finish. Both Wrexham and MK Dons got promoted from League Two in 24/25, quickly became stable in League One and both got promoted to the Championship in 31/32. However, neither of them managed to stay up in the previous season. League One Stockport County have done really well after their promotion to the Football League in 21/22, and after yoyoing between League One and League Two for a while have just gotten themselves up to the Championship by winning the 32/33 League One title. QPR have experienced an eventful decade with Championship relegations in 24/25 and 27/28. Things got even worse with a relegation from League One in 29/30, but they went straight back up and even got automatic promotion back to the Championship in the previous season. The third promoted team in 32/33 is the real surprise story of the save so far. Bromley won promotion to the Football League in the first season of the save and went up to League One in 27/28. Despite a relegation in 30/31, they have now gotten back-to-back promotions which means they will be making an appearance in the Championship next season. League Two Sheffield Wednesday fell all the way back to League Two in 28/29, and even finish 21st in their first season there. They have just won the title after 4 years of struggles to go back up to League One. A tycoon takeover at Tamworth helped them get up into the Football League with back-to-back promotions in 27/28 and 28/29. Although funding was withdrawn right after, the club have been steady in League Two for 4 years even reaching the playoff final once. Bristol Rovers had some slow growth in early years of this season getting close to promotion to the Championship a few times, but things went downhill quickly for them. Two relegations in three years mean they find themselves back in the National League next season. National League The Bury phoenix club played their first season in the National League North in 27/28, got promoted three years later and have continued a steady rise. They only missed out on promotion to the Football League by two points last season. All of Northampton Town, Cheltenham Town and Cambridge United quickly went down from League One to the National League and have been stuk there for several years now. National League North/South Crawley Town continued their slow downfall that started with a League One relegation in 15/16 and now find themselves towards the lower end of the Vanarama South table. The league positions graph of Newport County is a continuously downward sloping line with only one exception. They too are playing in the bottom half of the Vanarama South now. Scotland The Scottish Premiership is, unsurprisingly, still dominated by the Old Firm. The battle for third place has been as exciting as ever though. Falkirk started the save in League One, won back-to-back promotions to get to the Premiership, and in the remaining 8 years went up and down thrice. They will start their 4th Premiership spell in a short timespan next season. The famous Queen's Park of Glasgow continued their rise since turning professional and won promotion to the Premiership in 25/26. Two years later a 4th place finish saw them achieve European football for the first time in the club's long history. In that same season they also won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 135 years. After that they have remained steady in the bottom half of the league. In 10 years only two teams have been relegated from the Football League through the relegation playoffs. One of the teams promoted is Brora Rangers, who have gotten themselves up to League One by winning the League Two title twice. Northern Ireland After winning their first ever Premiership title in 22/23, Larne quickly became dominant in this save with 7 championships in the next 8 years. Their streak has been halted after I arrived in Northern Ireland, though I did not have anything to do with that of course. Record champions Linfield have had a hard time winning only one title, while also finishing outside of the top 3 regularly. North Belfast Derby side Crusaders won three titles in four years between 14/15 and 17/18, but showed decline in this save. They even spent the 26/27 season in the Championship, and have been a bottom half team since their Premiership return. Annagh United won promotion to the Premiership in 27/28 and had some very succesful times. Two top 3 placements followed quickly for them. Ballymacash Rangers provided a big shock by beating Larne in the Irish Cup final in 29/30 and thus winning it while playing in the Championship. Warrenpoint Town are of course the biggest risers since the save started as they are now back in the Premiership. Knockbreda started out in the Championship, but did not have a great time. Twice they even got relegated from the Intermediate League, although they are back in there now. Ireland Incredible how much variation there has been in the champions here. The 2026 season was just crazy. Drogheda United won their second ever title, only three years after having suffered a relegation. They won it on goal difference over Waterford, who had just bounced back from a 2024 relegation in the previous season. 7th placed Cork City finished the season only 7 points behind the champions. Drogheda United didn't build on their success, but got relegated in the next season instead. They ended 2027 one place below, of course, Waterford. In that 2026 something else happened. Dundalk, who won 5 titles in six years in the 2010's, were relegated and are yet to find their way back into the Premier Division. In the First Division, Bray Wanderers managed to finish second five times in six years, before finally winning the title in 2031. Also, Kerry FC have finishid bottom of that First Division in eight of the ten seasons. Often by quite a margin as well. Wales Yeah... Complete dominance from TNS. They did 'only' win the Welsh Cup five times though. It has proved very hard for promoted teams to establish themselves in the Cymru Premier. Colwyn Bay has been the only team to really do it, after their 23/24 relegation was followed by a dominant Cymru North win in 25/26. They also won the Welsh Cup twice. Six teams have remained in the Cymru Premier every season, and together with Colwyn Bay a mix of them almost always forms the top half. Haverfordwest turned professional as the second team in Wales in 2028, but it didn't make them any better and they have since gone back to being a semi-professional club. Penybont finished 5th in 23/24, but slowly declined since then and have now spent five years in the Cymru South. European Top Leagues Spain Real Madrid dominates with Barcelona behind them. No surprise to see that. Atletico have slowly declined and have now got a 7th place as their best finish in the past four seasons. For the rest things have remained similar to how they were in Spain. Germany The giants from Munich still hold a strong grip on German football, although they have been halted a few times. RB Leipzig won their first title in 31/32, even though they have only finished in the top 3 four times in this save. Bayer Leverkusen finished in that top 3 nine out of ten seasons, but they keep their 'Neverkusen' nickname. Four times runners-up in the league, once in the cup, once in the UCL and twice in the Supercup. Their infamous 2002 season still haunts them, as their last silverware is still the 1993 DFB Pokal. Both HSV and Schalke 04 have found their way back to the Bundesliga. The latter even reached the Champions League in 31/32. Italy The Serie A is as exciting as ever with five different champions in the past decade. Lazio is the most surprising of them all of course. AS Roma are the obvious absentee in the top 3. They have really fallen off and failed to get into European competitions in half of the seasons. Udinese saw a 34 year period in the Serie A end with a relegation in 29/30. France PSG are easing through the league almost every season. A 4 point gap was the smallest margin back in 30/31. Still, French football has been improving with multiple clubs doing well in European competitions. Lorient have seen themselves rise towards being regular contenders in Europe in this save. Portugal The big two teams still battling it out here. Sporting haven't been very good in this save and finished below Braga in the majority of seasons. The biggest surprise here is a third tier club in AVS SAD winning the Portuguese Cup in 30/31. Netherlands A healthy mix of champions here. AZ have been very good to get up to six titles in total. PSV have fallen off quickly and missed out on European football multiple times. 09/10 champions FC Twente suffered a relegation in 27/28 and haven't returned to the Eredivisie since then.

Season review 32/33 What a season it was in the end! Back-to-back promotions really is something special, even if I couldn't get a trophy of the list this year. We lived up to the high pre-season expectations of us immediately settling in the top half, and just got better and better as the season went on. Sadly we couldn't hold on to first place after the league split, but in the second leg of the play-offs we gave it everything for one last time to get this season the ending it deserved. It also meant the end to my very succesful spell at the club. I hope they can do well in the Premiership next season without me, though it will be difficult as the wage budget of Larne for example is 12x bigger. Competitions This graph really shows how we slowly worked our way towards the top. We started our stay in the Championship perfectly with a 3-0 home win, but failed to win any of our next 4 matches, which meant we were mid table after the start of the season. We then went on a very good run with 16 points from 6 matches, after which we hit a wall again failing to win the next 6 games. Halfway through November we were also halfway through the 'normal' phase of the league, and found ourselves in 5th place. From that point onwards things really started clicking, and to be honest I'm only noticing just how good our form from there was now. From next 16 matches we won 13 and only lost 2. At the end of that series the league was split, with us just having overtaken first place and already being 5 points clear at the top. But things had started changing already. Our defence wasn't as solid anymore as in the first 28 games of the season, and we felt that in the last five matches. We only got three points, all from draws, and gave away the title on the last matchday, while conceding 16 in those 5 matches. In the end, we still got the promotion we deserved via the play-offs. A great away win in the Irish Cup first round was followed up by a disappointing performance against Loughgall. No spectacular run this year. We got a very unlucky draw in the League Cup, although we were close to surprising Glenavon again. We missed a chance to double our lead from the spot and were made to pay for it. We first knocked out Premiership side Dungannon Swifts here, before once again failing to get the win we deserved against Glenavon in normal time. Nothing special in the cups this season really. Squad Colin Armstrong: Was a solid goalkeeper for most of the season, but he did have a bad run of form when it mattered the most, making some mistakes that might have cost us the title in the end. Aaron Paul: Another spectacular season from the right back, who filled an important role in my tactic. Being involved in a goal every three matches on average is very good for a defender of course. Raymond Caldwell: A solid season for the new central defender. He showed that he was a boost for the squad in quality. Curtis Nimick: Found his way back into the starting XI after initially being dropped with Matthew Carmichael being favoured. Not a bad season from him. Brian Quinn: A new left back with a decent season. Didn't really stand out. Andrejs Piedels: The defensive midfielder hasn't been talked about a lot, but has been very important for us as he started almost every match. Oliver Jefferies: He was the star signing we needed to really be able to battle at the top. Lots of goals and assists from midfield for him. A real shame for the club that Larne has snatched him away now. Lyndon Kane: The 36 year old kept his first XI spot in favour of Matt Connolly, although a long injury for the latter didn't help his cause. What a decision it has been to sign this man two years ago though. Eoin O'Reilly: Our best winger this season. Jack Kehoe was even more underwhelming than last year, but barely found his way into the team at the end of the season due to O'Reilly's goal scoring qualities. Aodhan Doherty: Another season where the captain was important with goals and assists. Ben Magee: Not as good a season for him as last year, but he fought his way back in the team after being dropped for a while, and still got a very respectable amount of goals. Progress Previous Clubs Llanidloes had a good start to their season, but fell far back and ended well below the media prediction of 5th place. On a positive note, they did manage to win some silverware in the Tier 2 League Cup.

Great to hear! My plan for the save is to keep the career path at least a little bit realistic, so I want to work my way up the leagues based on league reputation more or less. With the Cymru North/South still having the lowest reputation there is a good chance that I will be returning to Wales. The Vanarama North/South is low down too, so that might be an option, but I am looking to steer clear of England for now. As of now, I'm not eyeing any specific jobs. I'm also fidgeting with the idea of staying without a club until halfway through next season and take over somewhere then to change things up a little bit. Your career sounds great so far! Impressive that you immediately managed to topple TNS in Wales. They have won the league every single season in my save. Good luck with St Pats or elsewhere in Ireland, St Pats have actually been very succesful in my save winning the league three times so far.

Play-offs 32/33 We have to switch our focus fast now. The disappointment of losing the title is still fresh, but there is only 6 days between our last league match and the first play-off game. Our opponents Portadown have known that they would need to play in this for a while already, as they finished 12 points above 12th place, but 19 behind 10th. They just got promoted from the Championship last season after spending 9 seasons there, so I don't think they would want to get relegated back immediately. History is on Portadown's side, as they have won 19 of 28 games played between both team since the start of the save, with Warrenpoint only winning 6. Warrenpoint Town have been in one promotion/relegation play-off in this save. It was back in 2025/26, when they also ended 2nd in the league. That time around they lost 3-2 on aggregate against Harland & Wolff Welders. Warrenpoint Town - Portadown (First leg) xG: 1.04 - 1.47; Shots: 7(1) - 10(5); Possession: 55% - 45% We played in front of 2,000 spectators in a sold out Milltown for the first time with me in charge, but couldn't do enough to make them happy. We will go into the second leg with a disadvantage. In the first 30 minutes both teams put in one cross. Portadown scored their header, ours went over. It feels like every match has gone this way in the past month. Eoin O'Reilly did get the scores back level, but it didn't last long as a through ball put their striker in a one on one with Colin Armstrong who failed to trouble him. I have just announced I will leave Warrenpoint Town at the end of the season. I don't want this to become another Llanidloes where I don't want to leave, but can't win anything either. I was thinking about staying for one season if we do go up, as to try and help the club settle in the Premiership and make their stay there sustainable, but I'm not really in the mood for that right now. Also, I hope that announcing it at this point might set something in motion for us to still get that promotion. Portadown - Warrenpoint Town (Second leg) xG: 0.75 - 1.63; Shots: 10(4) - 11(4); Possession: 41% - 59% Oh yes! We turn around the deficit with our first win in 7 matches! Warrenpoint Town back in the Premiership after ten years. An early penalty helped us settle the nerves as Lyndon Kane converted it to get the scores level on aggregate. Suddenly we were the team on the front foot, though we couldn't create big chances. After almost an hour was played, Aaron Paul filled everyone affiliated to Warrenpoint Town with joy as he put in a thunderous effort that beat Portadown's goalkeeper. Still, there was a long way to go, and in the end our 3-0 in injury time turned out to be extra important as Portadown got one back after. What a moment to turn around your fortunes! Just an amazing end to the season, even though it didn't get me a trophy. The end of a chapter.

Carrick Rangers - Warrenpoint Town (Matchday 38) So for the third time in this save the final matchday will decide if my team gets the title. The first time we needed a result to go our way which didn't happen. The second time still wakes me up in my sleep sometimes. A win would have been enough, but we got a draw. That meant thing went down to goal difference, which was somehow equal as well. In the end I didn't get the Cymru North title with Llanidloes that I was longing for, as we scored less goals than Conwy. This time we are ahead on goal difference, and a win would put us in a very good position to win the championship. We will be playing Carrick Rangers away from home. In our previous games against them this season we got a 1-1 draw twice, and won the most recent game 1-0. I expect another close game. Institute will be playing Harland & Wolff Welders at home, so I will be keeping an eye on that match as well. No changes in our starting XI from the last match, as I thought we looked solid in that game. Kick-off Goal alert - Early news from the Institute game. They have gotten the lead through an early penalty. Looks like we are going to have to do thing on our own. 11:19 - We build up and keep hold of the ball after some struggles. Eoin O'Reilly cuts inside from the right just over the halfway line and finds Aodhan Doherty on the other side of the pitch. The latter opts for a quick shot from distance! It grazes the bar but ends up out of play. 29:13 - Carrick Rangers have a corner on the right side. They take it short and after a one-two it is passed to the end of the box where we have left one of their players completely free. It's a simple opportunity for him and he gets it in the back of the net. We have been the better team here, but our opponents score with their first shot. 34:23 - A free kick for Carrick Rangers now. Around 30 meters away from our goal but it's shot very well! Flying towards the right top corner! The sound of the crossbar is loud, some relief, but not for long. The ball bounces from the bottom of the bar just over the goalline. We're 2-0 down. Halftime - If any team has been better, it would be us. Two set pieces have put us in a very precarious situation though. I fear another final matchday disaster will be added to the list in 45 minutes. 45:00 - Immediately from the kick-off we build up towards their goal. We don't really get close though, and in the end Aaron Paul goes for a shot from distance which goes far wide of the goal. Goal alert - No help is coming for us. Institute are two goals up and we need a miracle. 54' - One change as I have taken off defensive midfielder Andrejs Piedels. On comes Lyndon Kane into central midfield, where we have three players now. Goal alert - Harland & Wolff Welders have gotten one back. If they draw, a draw is enough for us too. That still looks far away though. 68' - All stats are in our favour. We are playing more attacking and getting quite some shots of, but it hasn't resulted in any big chances so far. I have taken both wingers off. In their place we now have Corey Smith on the left and George Beaumont on the right. 85' - Nothing is happening anymore. I have given up hope. Goal alert - Is a miracle coming? An injury time goal equaliser at the Institute game. Full time - No. We can't do the job today. We actually won none of our games after the league split and that is where we have given things away. No trophy for me this season as we lose the title by one point. I have no words for this really. We were 7 points clear of Institute when the league split, but could only muster 3 draws from there. Especially the two comfortable leads given away in the games against Ards and Ballinamallard feel like they have made a difference, although we were also unlucky to lose this last game and not to beat Institute. We still have the play-offs to play now to at least get the club promotion to the Premiership. For me it isn't really worth anything at the moment. We will meet Portadown there. They are last year's Championship winners.

Warrenpoint Town - Institute (Matchday 37) Our last home game of the season might be the most important one of them all. A win here and we go three points clear of Institute with a better goal difference, though not one impossible to overcome. A draw would keep us in first place too, but a loss would do big damage to our title dreams. Institute are the team who have got everything to win. When the league was split they were three points behind the play-offs and seven points behind us. Now, three games later they have all but caught us already, while one more win in the last two games would at least get them a shot at the play-offs. The one thing we have to hold on to is our record against them this season. A 0-0 away draw was followed by a 2-1 win at home and a 2-0 win away most recently in January. Looking at the other teams, Ards and Harland & Wolff played before us and have drawn each other 1-1. Neither of them can win the title anymore. The only team still with a chance besides us and Institute now is Ballinamallard, but they would need us to draw now and both lose our last match, while also making up a massive amount in goal difference, so that's not going to happen. No big surprises in our starting XI. Most notable name is Matt Connolly, who came back from injury at the start of the month and is in the starting squad for the second time again now. For the rest I've made one change in central defence, where Curtis Nimick has been replaced by Matthew Carmichael. I was pretty consistent in my choice there, but with all the goals conceded I felt like something needed to change. Kick-off 07:16 - A corner for Institute is floated into the box where goalkeeper Colin Armstrong is strong in the air to catch the ball. A slow build up finds Aodhan Doherty a few meters over the halfway line, fairly central in the field. He sees a gap and gives a through ball to put Ben Magee one on one with their goalkeeper! It's a difficult angle and the shot is straight at their goalkeeper, behind for a corner. 12:52 - We win the ball on the edge of our own box and Matt Connolly dribbles forward with it quickly arriving at the halfway line. We pass the ball around on their half where eventually Ben Magee picks it up an odd 30 meters away from their goal. He turns around, decides for a dribble and leaves three man in the dust! He is through on goal again, difficult angle again, but this time from his preferred right side! The ball flies towards the far corner, the net moves, it's in! 15:28 - Matt Connolly dribbles again, this time on their half. Towards the box where Ben Magee is left unmarked, finds him and the latter shoots directly! It's in again, but the flag is up. Clear offside. Halftime - The rest of the half went by without any chances. We've been doing well in keeping Institute away from our goal, though I have experienced that things can change very quickly. 49:28 - We have a free kick around 25 meters away from goal. It looks a good position to go for the shot, but Oliver Jefferies surprises their defence by opting for a short ball to Eoin O'Reilly who is left unmarked outside the penalty area. He gets to the edge of the box and shoots! Just over. 59:09 - A goalkick for Institute is played high and we win the header in midfield. It falls back to one of there defenders at the halfway line. To quick passes and they sent a ball over the top, where their striker is quick to get there! One on one he easily slots it past Colin Armstrong. First chance of the match for Institute and the scores are back level. 66' - Last game was a midweek fixture and we are at the end of a long season, so there are some players getting tired. Aaron Paul has been replaced at right back by veteran Lyndon Kane, while in the center of defence Curtis Nimick comes in for Raymond Caldwell. 80' - The match seems to be in a stalemate. More changes for us with Corey Smith replacing left winger Aodhan Doherty, and Josh Andrews coming in at defensive midfield for Andrejs Piedels. 83:55 - A long ball from their goalkeeper is picked up by us in midfield. We get it to Matt Connolly who gets all the space he needs to dribble. He opts for the shot from 20 meters, but it is an easy save. Full time - 6 minutes of injury time result in nothing either, which means we will stay in first place. We can call ourselves a little bit unlucky not to have gotten more out of this match to be honest. Institute only had one chance, but they did score it which is what was needed for them. It will come down to the last matchday. It's a two horse race at the top. The team that doesn't win the title will go into the play-offs, though a promotion from there won't help my cause with the challenge of course. The one positive I can find, is that we won't be losing the title on goals scored this time around.

April 2033 We go into the deciding month in pole position, knowing that 4 wins would definitely be enough for the title, but we would probably still get there with only 3 wins. No easy games though, so some good form is necessary. We meet the two teams closest to us first. Warrenpoint Town - Ards xG: 2.14 - 1.43; Shots: 12(7) - 10(7); Possession: 58% - 42% A weird match that didn't contain any chances from open play leaves us in disappointment. A fair result, but it's always regretful to give a lead away, especially so late in the game. Nothing happened in a suspenseful first half, after which two penalties put us in the driver's seat with Lyndon Kane continuing his good form by scoring both of them. Things were looking good as our defence kept Ards quiet, but they created chances from three corners in the last 15 minutes, two of which eventually went in. Their equaliser was made possible by our goalkeeper Colin Armstrong being unable to keep hold of the ball, dropping it in front of an attacker for an open goal chance instead. The gap grows to five points as Ballinamallard loses again. The season seems to be just a few matches too long for them. It does look like there are a lot more teams in contention now however, with both Institute and Harland & Wolff Welders coming closer after a win. Ballinamallard United - Warrenpoint Town xG: 2.01 - 2.08; Shots: 13(6) - 13(5); Possession: 43% - 57% Oh come on! I don't know whether to be happy or sad after this game. Another comfortable lead given away as that awful complacency comes into play again. We were trotting along nicely and had Ballinamallard down and out of the title race just after halftime. Aodhan Doherty had provided the first danger as he hit the post after just 4 minutes. He also got an assist on Eoin O'Reilly for our second goal, after the former had already put it on a plate for our star midfielder a few minutes earlier. A corner looked to seal the deal in this match, but a crazy ten minutes came and suddenly the scores were level again. Things only got worse as Hynds scored his fourth goal to get Ballinamallard within 2 points of us on the virtual table, but one of the weirdest goals I've seen in a while saved us from that. In the last second of the game left back Trevor McLaughlin went for the shot with his wrong foot, and somehow the ball ended up in the back of the net after hitting no less than three opposition players. Institute win again and look like our closest title rivals. The door stays open for Ballinamallard, while the rest of the teams look to be too far away to give us any trouble. Harland & Wolff Welders - Warrenpoint Town xG: 3.13 - 2.19; Shots: 12(8) - 16(7); Possession: 41% - 59% Everything is falling apart! Our defence is suddenly letting us down game after game and goalkeeper Colin Armstrong is piling on the mistakes after a solid season. Is the pressure too much for us? In all honesty, it wouldn't even have been weird had this game ended in a draw, but it ends with us giving away our valuable goal difference as well. At 0-0 a penalty was given to us, but Lyndon Kane couldn't convert and at that point I already felt it coming. We were able to nullify their first goal, but two goalkeeper mistakes around the break later we were two goals down and we never recovered. Something inexplicable has been happening as of late. After 28 matches in the season, it was clear why we were so high up the table. Our attack didn't look anything special with 45 goals scored, but our defence was by far and away the best in the league with only 23 goals conceded. Now, 8 games later, our goal difference is 70-43. 25 scored and 20 conceded in eight games. I don't understand how such a bit turnaround can happen, but I can tell you I don't like it at all. To make matters worse, Institute have booked their fourth win in a row and might be the favourites for the title now. We play them next week at home in what will be a huge match. Meanwhile, we seem to have held on to our goal difference just about enough for that to be in our favour. With the next matches being so decisive, they will of course have their own posts.

March 2033 Just the two matches so far this month, though I expect 1 or 2 more to be added once the league is split. Our first match is very exciting, as it could see us go top of the table with a win. Ballinamallard United - Warrenpoint Town xG: 1.53 - 1.62; Shots: 7(3) - 11(6); Possession: 38% - 62% Wow! This could be a season defining comeback. An incredible way to take over first place from Ballinamallard. I don't think they'll get back there either, as they have really been struggling lately with only 11 points in their last 10 games. Both teams started the game nervously, but our opponents were the team that got rid of those nerves the fastest. We already lost both previous matches against them this season 2-0, so when that scoreline reached that exact score again I was already demoralized. My players weren't though and 10 minutes after their second goal Aaron Paul already scored the equaliser. Immediately after they missed a huge chance to get back the lead, which turned out to be their last. We came out of the dressing room well and kept them in check quite easily after Andrejs Piedels had put us in front. Despite three different goalscores today, the man who took home the man of the match award was good old Lyndon Kane. The 36 year old has been so important for us yet again this season starting in about 70% of our matches. Warrenpoint Town - Ballymacash Rangers xG: 2.75 - 0.35; Shots: 21(11) - 4(1); Possession: 67% - 33% A statement in the last game before the split! We get our biggest win of the season against the best team of the bottom half. Captain perfect Aodhan Doherty helped us get to a comfortable two goal margin with a goal and an assist before half an hour had passed, after which both midfielder Oliver Jefferies and winger Eoin O'Reilly scored their 10th goal of the season. The latter was especially good in this game as he created multiple chances for himself and got two goals in the end. What surprised me the most this game is that we didn't let complacency creep in after halftime. The league is split now, though it was already clear for a long time which teams would be on which side. In our half things are very close with every team still at a shot for promotion. Results have been very good for us on that previous matchday, which means we can afford to lose at least one game and probably more as I expect some competitive matches between all teams. Awards Second of the season after those good wins this month.

February 2033 A month full of opportunities for us, where the first match against Carrick Rangers is the most exciting one. We drew them 1-1 twice this season, while the club is yet to beat them in this save after 13 matches. After that we have gotten a draw that should see us get through to the quarter final of the Irish Cup, and three more league matches all against teams fighting relegation. Should be another good month. Some disappointing albeit not surprising news. Oliver Jefferies will join Larne on a free transfer next summer. It was already a sensation we even managed to get him in last summer, but we could only get him on a one year deal and he never felt like renewing his contract. Will be a big miss though as he has just been our best player this season. Carrick Rangers - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.37 - 0.69; Shots: 6(3) - 6(3); Possession: 51% - 49% No better feeling than this, an injury time winner! Can you still call something luck when it happens time and time again? For the third time in four matches we grab a late, very late 1-0 victory through a corner. This time around it was a short corner variant that did the trick as Curtis Nimick was left completely open at the far post. For the rest it was a match which would have been forgotten about by every single spectator had we not scored that goal, as no team made a real claim for a victory today. The best thing about that late goal is that it has sent us past Ards, who lost today, and into the play-off spot. Loughgall - Warrenpoint Town (Irish Cup) xG: 0.83 - 0.87; Shots: 7(2) - 13(4); Possession: 52% - 48% No cup run for us this season. We just weren't at our best today and fair play to Loughgall who are bottom of the table in our division to keep their defence together so well. For the third time under my reign at Warrenpoint Town we go to penalties, and for the third time we lose. Not a great record. The match did start very well for us, with the short corner variant working for the second game in a row to put us in the lead early. I already had the quarter final in my head at that point, and that complacency might have been present for some players too. Our lead was immediately erased and after that there just wasn't anything happening. The stats tell the story of the game, with so little shots and xG after extra time. Full focus to the league now. Dergview have been the only team to take points of us so far in the new year and we meet them again next week. This time at home, so a good opportunity to bounce back. Warrenpoint Town - Dergview xG: 2.02 - 2.77; Shots: 16(5) - 15(8); Possession: 51% - 49% After such a good run of form everything comes crashing down all of a sudden. A horrendous performance as we get battered by 9th place Derview for our second home loss of the season. Shameful. That first half was something I had not seen before from this team. Nothing worked in attack, opponents were left unmarked at the back, stupid tackles were made. Ben Magee brought us back in the game on the brink of halftime with his first goal in what seemed like forever, and after that we actually looked to have a good chance to at least get a draw. We improved our game in the second half and were a tad unlucky as we hit the crossbar twice, while Corey Smith shot the ball miles wide one on one with their keeper. At the end they scored from their first two chances of the half and that was that. Dollingstown - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.35 - 2.38; Shots: 3(2) - 18(7); Possession: 37% - 63% We struggle, but we fight and take three points with us in the end. When the early goal came, it felt like our season could be decided very quickly all of a sudden, but we hit the switch early this time around and got a very deserved win in the end. Captain Aodhan Doherty took his team by the hand in the second half as he scored the first goal and created multiple chances too. Finally, it was Ben Magee who got us in the lead to get us some relief. Great to see him scoring again after such a long time with no goals from him. Warrenpoint Town - Loughgall xG: 2.51 - 0.95; Shots: 19(13) - 10(4); Possession: 56% - 44% One man show! Ben Magee shows he really is back into form. His second first half hattrick of the season gets us some revenge on Loughgall in what turned out to be our biggest win of the season. Just an incredible performance and he got an assist too. The thing that has irritated me most about FM this year is the amount of complacency. I feel like no matter what you say at halftime, when you have a big lead your team just stops playing football at all or something. It has happened so many times that I've conceded two or more goals after the break when up by a big margin. I should probably stop being bothered by it, but I really can't as I feel like the complacency in real life is really not this obvious. Things still looking good here. We still play Ballinamallard United twice too. I was recently thinking that Harland & Wolff Welders would be our biggest rivals for promotion as they were the team in form, but their two losses this month have set them back. Awards Couldn't have asked for a lot more from him.

January 2033 An interesting game on New Year's Day as we meet a team who we haven't been able to beat in our previous two meetings this year. Against the other teams we meet in the league we have won four out of five games. Our bad luck in the cup draws continues as we meet mid table Premiership side Glentoran in the first round of the Irish Cup. Warrenpoint Town - Harland & Wolff Welders xG: 2.45 - 0.54; Shots: 16(7) - 6(4); Possession: 54% - 46% An impressive win to put a close rival at a distance in the table! They provided no trouble for us this time around and even created the chances for us quite a few times. A converted penalty was the perfect start to the game for us and with Harland & Wolff Welders unable to get dangerous in attack it became an easy game for us. What made things even easier was that they started playing the ball to our players in front of goal. None of our goals came with an assist. Corey Smith has recently gotten into the starting XI over Ben Magee and is justifying that decision with his 4th goal of the season today. Dergview - Warrenpoint Town xG: 1.51 - 1.30; Shots: 10(4) - 15(8); Possession: 49% - 51% The first time this season we lose points against one of the four teams fighting relegation. A fair result too, as we were second best for a good part of the match after getting of to yet another perfect start through Eoin O'Reilly scoring his 8th goal of the season. Dergview was dominant for a long time after that, and we only managed to create chances again from the 60th minute onwards. Irish Cup coming up next. I don't have any expectations of it really with the draw we have gotten. Glentoran - Warrenpoint Town (Irish Cup) xG: 0.51 - 1.25; Shots: 4(1) - 15(7); Possession: 42% - 58% What a performance! We dominate one of the most historical clubs in Northern Ireland for 90 minutes straight in their own stadium. I feared another cup exit despite tied scores after regular time like we experienced twice against Glenavon, but a late corner let the away section erupt. An amazing defensive showing laid the foundation for this result, so it was only fitting that center back Curtis Nimick became the matchwinner. We have had better luck in the draw this time, as we will travel to Loughgall in the second round. They are fighting relegation in our division. Warrenpoint Town - Lisburn Distillery xG: 1.52 - 0.24; Shots: 12(5) - 5(1); Possession: 59% - 41% Deja vu! Just like in the cup game we dominate but forget to score, only to be saved by an 87th minute corner scored by one of our center backs. This time around Raymond Caldwell was the man who ran away celebrating. We really did miss a few huge opportunities in this match, especially in the first half. In the end we get our 3rd win over Distillery in as many games this season. Institute - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.54 - 2.52; Shots: 6(0) - 16(4); Possession: 41% - 59% It's another great showing! Arguably our best match in a month, as we slowly took the game away from Institute and never let them back in it. The first 20 minutes went by quickly, but from there on we slowly started to take initiative. We already had a big chance to go 1-0 up towards the end of the first half, but Corey Smith couldn't get it past their goalkeeper from short range. We got our opening shortly after the break, when Oliver Jefferies hit the woodwork from a free kick and Aaron Paul was the quickest to react for the rebound. After getting the second goal we didn't get into trouble anymore either. A very good way to start the year this was, especially as Ballinamallard have continued slipping up and are now well within reach for us. Things are only getting closer at the top of the table though, with Ards and Harland & Wolff Welders in great form too. The latter might be the most dangerous team in the league right now and were pre-season favourites too. Only makes it more impressive that we beat them by three goals. We are also approaching the league split with only 6 games left to play before it. No real excitement there though as it looks quite clear which teams will end up in the top and bottom half. The top 6 playing an extra game against each other at the end is definitely an interesting prospect looking at how close things are. Awards