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Welcome to my first career thread. Having lurked on the site since the Beta of FM17, and being inspired to try different styles of gameplay, now comes my first attempt to document a save. Background Having grown up with CM01/02 and remembering the split between CM and FM, there were a few years away from the game, having purchased FM09 then a gap until 17, I was looking for something different than taking over Liverpool (own team) and failing to avoid the sack. Stumbling across the forum I was drawn to the different styles of play and challenges, trying out the British Steel Challenge in FM17, and a Youth Only save using the Level 22 database (only going to L10 though) with Hayes and Yeading in FM18. While I haven't decided to make the leap to FM19 yet, I want to try documenting a save, seeing what happens as I try, usually fail, and how strictly I can stick to the rules I have enforced. Game Setup As the title suggests I am loading up the divisions in Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. I have also added the big 5 as low as they will go (Claassen megapack loaded) as view only Filtering for the leagues available, I am going to start in Luxembourg as unemployed and to see what happens

In the Belgian Pro League, at the end of the season the division splits into the Championship Group and the Euro Playoff after 30 games. We don't care about the Championship Group. In the European Playoff teams placed 7-15 in the First Tier and teams 2-4 in the second tier face off for a shot at Europe. There's two groups within this stage, the group winners then face off against each other in a one off match, the winner of that plays fourth place in the Champ Group for an EL place. They win and Europe awaits. This is what we care about. Feasibly, this challenge could be easier in England or Germany, where one could manufacture an FA/League or German Cup Run backed by heavy financial assistance to keep and sign a strong enough core of players to compete regularly, relying on elements of luck. This one is more interesting for me though, because you can qualify for Europe through the League and not even be in the top division. But that's our challenge. Qualify for Europe while in the Pro League B I decided to start with a 3rd Division side, no real reason to it outside of the fact that I just preferred the clubs in that division, some of the Logos were quite nice and one of them even had a lot of history, being one of Belgium's most successful sides. Who are they? In terms of still active clubs in the playable leagues, they're the 5th most successful in History and the 7th overall. They're also the inaugural champions of the Belgian Pro League, a club that would relish a return to success. So... This is going to be immensely difficult. Time to get started.

FM18 All-European (Less England) Small Club to Big Club Challenge Introduction Welcome to a new chapter in the history of the ‘Euro Nation’ Challenge, born out of the recent history of the highly successful Gundo’s Challenge and the Big Euro Nation Challenge that spawned out of it. Originally set up as an alternative to the hugely successful Dafuges Challenge for FM06, Gundos Challenge offered an alternative for people who wanted to play in another European country. The Big Euro Nation Challenge followed for FM08 and, like Gundo’s Challenge, has had some fantastic stories over the years. These threads have always been hugely popular and successful thanks to those who played, and who still take part, in the challenges. Some of the stories are legendary, and hopefully more of these will be born in this, and future, versions of the game. The premise of the challenge is the same, and simple, to start with a previously unplayable club and taking them all the way to a National Title and then on to winning the European Champions League. With a variety of leagues, styles of play, different rules, and many different locations for your clubs there can be a lot of variety throughout the thread, providing a great atmosphere and stories for our users to become immersed in. General Challenge Info Possible Countries Austria Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Finland France - June 20th Germany Greece Holland * Hungary Iceland Ireland * Israel Italy - July 30th N. Ireland - 25th June Norway - January 13th Poland Portugal Romania Russia Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain - July 10th Sweden - December 15th Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales * Holiday for two seasons not one. League Reset Dates Austria - 13th June Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Holland * Hungary Iceland Ireland * Israel Italy N. Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales The Rules A) Game Set-up 1) Load One Nation Only (All Available Divisions within your nation) 2) Your choice of Database Size (Large Recommended) 3) NO Edited Databases of any kind 4) Customising Database You can add players to the database up to a limit of 100,000 in total in order to add more depth to your save and also add more difficulty down the line. Suggested Adds Players from Top Clubs/Top Divisions (Europe or All Continents) - This increases the challenge at Continental Level Players Based in your Nation - This can add up to 50% more players to your game Players Based in your Region (Central Europe/East Europe/UK & Ireland) - This can add extra players likely to join your club There will be a file correcting the club/competition names, I will advise use of this. NO other additional customising is allowed. 5) Attribute Masking should be Enabled 6) Disable Ingame Editor (Please do this) 7) Optional Ticks Add Key Staff (This will give you a Scout, Physio & Ass Man by generating them if your club is without) Add Players in Playable Nations (This will ensure all clubs have a minimum number of players, generating them if needed) The extra levels of detail that you can change while in the game are up to you, as they shouldn't make a difference. B) Steps in the Game 1) Add an unemployed manager; you will not use this man to manage your club. I like "Unemployed Man or Holiday Man" 2) Go on holiday until the reset date of your chosen nation (Should take about an hour) TIP - Changing Detail Level to None will make it go faster. (Remember to change it back afterwards) TIP - Saving on the day before this date may give you a better choice of teams by reloading the game then going on holiday for one day, I would strongly recommend trying this. 3) Add a new manager - Use yourself, or a created character to help build a story line a) Personal Details - Your Choice b) Tracksuit vs. Trainer - Your Choice c) Past Experience lowest Possible (Generally Sunday League) d) Coaching Licenses lowest Possible (None) e) Other options are up to you TIP - If you add the language of your country of choice it will make it easier at the beginning TIP - Training now includes you at some level depending on your abilities. 4) Choose to take over any club which has been promoted to the bottom playable league of your nation. TIP - Easiest way in FM17 to see this is on the "Season Review" screen, showing the "Promoted Clubs" TIP - You can confirm your club by checking the Domestic History's page for not being at this level since start of game 5) Retire your unemployed manager. 6) Manage your club to National Title & European Champions League Victory 7) Completing the Challenge. C) Signing of Players 1) You must be able to scout them TIP - You don't actually have to scout them, just be able to TIP - You can check your scouting range on the Scouting page 2) Alternatively (If you can't scout them), you must bring them on a trial first 3) You are able to sign anyone sent to you via Agent Offer TIP - Make sure you screenshot the Agent offer 4) In later versions you can get your DoF to find players, he will bring in players not in Scouting Range, these are also allowed. TIP - Grab a screenshot of your DoF signing them D) Posting 1) Player naming is allowed. (This is a warning for those of you who do not wish to see this) 2) Discussion of tactics is allowed. (This is another warning for those of you who do not wish to see this) Expected Updates We have minimum expectations when it comes to a first up post and also in the end of season updates. The Bold pages are necessary for everyone; the others are some suggestions that will get others interested in your posts and following your club. All other screenshots are welcome and encouraged, but we please ask that the majority are posted as links, because lots of pictures can make the page very slow to load. First Post: Domestic Leagues History (Club) Profile (Manager) Overview (Club) Squad (Club) End of Season Updates: Transfers (Club) - This is so we can see the ins & outs League Table (Competition) Squad (Club) Information (Manager) Profile (Manager) Information (Club) Profile (Players) Progress of your club should be documented using this thread; we want to hear the story of your club all the way through. Please keep us updated, even if you are doing badly. If you title your end of season report in bold this makes it easier to identify. Everyone will be supportive, and really get into your game if you give more detail. E) Other 1. If you are Sacked 1. You can Restart from the beginning or; 2. Continue your game and pick a new club (Under Same Rules) at the end of the next season or; 3. Add another Euro League/Remove Current League, holiday a whole season and continue 1. You can still only have one nation running at a time 2. Once the league becomes active you MUST holiday a full season 3. The club must be one of those unplayable from the beginning 2. No Restrictions on Parent or Feeder Clubs 3. International Management allowed from FM14 forwards (But you cannot start as an International Manager) The use of any external utilities and editors (Such as Genie Scout or FMM) are prohibited. As of FM14 there are also unlockables, these are also prohibited, please don't use them. It would be appreciated if you also ticked the box at the start which prevents the use of the ingame editor. How to Post a Screenshot 1) While in FM, press the 'Prt Sc' button (usually next to F12 on your keyboard). 2) Open an image editing program such as Paint and paste the image 3) Save the file as a JPEG or PNG 4) Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Photobucket or Imageshack 5) Post the direct URL to the image here. Alternatively using ALT + F9 in game saves a screenshot to your user data folder. (You can also edit this in the shortcuts options) The Euro Nation Motivational I would like to thank all of you who choose to participate in this thread this year, and to wish everyone taking on this challenge the best of luck on a long and hard journey to managerial success! I have personally had a number of hugely enjoyable saves over the years, first in Gundos challenge and then latterly in the Big Euro Nation Challenge. The atmosphere and support these threads have historically offered is key in making the thread, and your saves more enjoyable as I can testify to. I and some of the other regulars of these threads are here to help for the new challengers and hope everybody that participates contributes considerably to the thread. There is nothing better than getting immersed not only in your own game but providing the encouragement to other people's attempts too. Remember we are all fighting the same battle - to defeat the AI (and uncover fabulous newgens!) - Therefore it goes without saying that any form of cheating will be severely chastised. Don't do it! I know that it is painful to lose a European Final or to lose the title on the final day (I have been there myself on more than one occasion) but eventual success down the line is all the sweeter for those defeats. Good luck to all the participants – Here’s to a successful (and enjoyable) version!!

In charge of Coxyde FC in Belgium's 3rd Division Classic me, I get the 10 points in 5 games. Amazingly I win the next 4 so my job is same, problem is. with only 4 games left in the season and my contract running out (they also don't want to enter in to contract negotiations) surely I was going to get released? WRONG (I was shocked to) I was on a non contract, played the 1st game of next season, I won but it did't matter, got a vote of conference and new contract. Has anyone had this before? Screenshots below to help explain. Happy chatting

Welcome to KSC City Pirates, a Belgian club with a cool name and awesome logo that's currently playing in the "2. Provinciaal Groep 1" league, which is as far as I can figure out the 6th level of Belgian football..? See my illustration! I'm using Sangue Blu's excellent "Around The World" leaguepack to make this possible. The plan is to take this club all the way to the top (hopefully) and make them a top European team! Koninklijke Sporting Club City Pirates The man who's taken on this mammoth job is Mr. Wilhelm O'Roto - a Congolese/Belgian former footballer, he himself playing in the lower leagues of Belgium all his career. He hung up his boots at the ripe age of 40 years old and a few years later he landed a sweet job with a pirate club! Once we were shuffled in the door we got a warm welcome from our board. The expectations are quite reasonable I feel. Unfortunately for everyone involved the club doesn't really have much of any facilities... It has "potential to grow" I suppose? Hopefully with shrewd transfer dealings and clever tactics we can weasel our little pirate ship all the way to top of the Belgian league pyramid! Restrictions/Rules: As I've been reading more about the club and Belgian football in general (some great info on Belgium Youth Development!) I've decided to impose some restrictions on how I play: I can only sign Belgian players of maximum age 25. I can only sign non-Belgian players of maximum age 18. if a higher division Belgian club (or a top division foreign team) makes a reasonable offer for any of my players - I have to accept it. (An important part of the Belgium Youth Development is to ensure players are developing at the correct level for their talent) I'll always try to develop my own players rather than signing/loaning others, home grown players will always be given playing time (within reason). The club will try to develop technical and intelligent players as per the Belgium Youth Development policy. These restrictions will apply from now onward. I don't particularly feel like firing half my squad, nor do I want to restart. I think this first season will be about stabilizing the club, I might not get promoted on the first season. Securing the finances, getting familiar with tactics and players, finding some decent staff, etc etc. Club Info: Bored at work (don't tell anyone!) I was looking online for some information about the club and I stumbled upon some interesting things I thought I should share. This was the stadium for "Merksem-Antwerpen Noord SC" (their name at the time) from 2009. As you can see it looks rather drab and uninviting. In 2014 the club had some very exciting developments! All the images and information has been taken from a very excellent blog called "Pitch'd Groundhopping": Check out the article! It's a very enjoyable read