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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!!

After recently watching a lot of @AccessEuphoria's Building a Nation series recently, I decided that my desire to use the new scouting system is enough for me to step away from my FM17 save and play FM18 (again). Basically I'm going to build a nation (more specifically Croatia) with Hajduk Split. As with many leagues, I have never managed in Croatia before, nor have I ever seen anyone else do so, so this is uncharted territory for me. My goals for this save are as follows: Establish Hajduk as the best team in Croatia Challenge for the knockouts of European competitions Grow the league in both reputation and coefficients to challenge the big guns (England, Spain, etc.) Win the Champions League Make the Croatian top tier the best league in Europe. To achieve these goals, I will be doing a similar thing to the aforementioned Building a nation series and signing many regens to either play for us or to go to other teams in our division. I will also try to avoid signing top players from other teams in our division to allow those teams to also challenge in Europe. I have added the following leagues to allow for a large amount of regens to come through each year:

In this save, I will attempt to establish a great managerial career for my FM17 Champions League-winning captain - Croatian centre-back Sven Adzic. The only aim I really have is to win all of the honours possible in Croatia, preferably with HNK Gorica or Dinamo then move through Europe and hopefully getting to manage Chelsea at some point. Meet the Manager Adzic when I took over at Chelsea Adzic FM17 Career Adzic as a manager After a long and successful playing career with the Dinamo Zagreb, Chelsea and the Croatian National Team, Adzic retired and returned to Croatia and his hometown club, HNK Gorica. The owner has now put faith in the former national team captain to take control of HNK, with the view of reaching the top flight for the first time in the club's history during Adzic's reign, while overlooking Adzic's limited experience as a coach. The Club Club Overview The badge is beautiful, the facilities not so much but the squad is good enough to compete for promotion in the first season. Gorica won the league in real life, so I am expecting to be around there by the end of the season. I have already played through a large section of the season, so I am going to do a large update with the first season broken down, then I hope to update as events happen in the save. Also, apologies for the shambolic title, my mind is completely blank for what to go with. Save so Far Chapter 1 - Conquering Croatia (2017-2024) HNK Gorica (2017-2020) HNK Rijeka (2020-2024) Chapter 2 - The Spanish Inquisition (2024-2027) Valencia CF (2024-27)

Wait is over. Database is finally ready for release. In "last minute" I've decided to add another cup competition - Indoor championship for clubs of Croatian First League which was last played in 2009... Now, you can take control of every club in Croatia from 1st to 7th level. Except this "pyramid" database I've added pdf file with competition names on Croatian and English and database with legendary Croatian footballers. Some defunct clubs have been activated again, you'll see change in 2nd league or some lower levels... Also, you can take control of B teams when you find them... Only issue this database has, are regional divisions. Regional divisions are set for all clubs. However, number of clubs in each is league is "fixed" - maximum and minimum number of clubs is same. I had to do this because, unfortunately, when changing maximum and minimum number of clubs in league, after couple of seasons competitions stopped scheduling. So, it's possible that clubs change their county league in next season. It's not often but it's not rare either... Anyway, while playing county cup, you'll play against clubs that are in your county. For conclusion, I can say this is real Croatian football pyramid with custom tweaks and additions (custom promotions and relegations, added defunct clubs with squads etc.)... Around Christmas I'll add another update...Current version is 6.9. You can download this on link below: 20162017v69.7z Original post from October 12th Hi people! To mark my 10 year anniversary of playing FM I've decieded to create Croatian Football System - real pyramid with some custom tweaks for Football Manager 2017. I am working on this project for several months now and there is more than 100 000 changes... I was trying to do this for long time, but this year I took a serious approach... Currently, I'm working in FM2016 Editor and hopefully I will import this database in FM2017 Editor and game too. So what can you expect? 1. All league competitions in Croatia from 1st to 7th level with custom promotions/regulations, but close to "real life". 2. Real league rules such as number of foreign players, number of U21/U22 players in first 11, etc. 3. National and county cups with some my tweaks to make things more simple. 4. Real squads in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th level. (Sadly, for most lower leagues players I dont know playing positions, but in future updates I'll try to improve that and I'll add players for 6th and 7th level too.) 5. Text file containing English names for Croatian competitions, because competitions will carry Croatian names. 6. Real team colours, stadiums, managers. (However, when starting new game you'll need to tick option "Add key staff" because lower league clubs in Croatia rarely have assistant manager, scout, or even physio.) 7. Special database containing legendary footballers from Croatia and Croatian First Division. (They will be 18-year old players and they'll start career whete they started in real life. CA and PA will be used from older versions of FM. 8. Real media sources. 9. For now I'm not sure, but I could activate some defunct clubs with historic squads to play in Croatian Second Division, so it could be expanded from 12 to 18 clubs. 10. Some lower league clubs will be "sugar daddy" to make game more interesting. 11. Clubs will be added to some leagues to avoid odd number of clubs in legaues. If you have any questions feel free to ask...I'll add screens in following days, so you can see progress. I expexct to release database soon after release of FM2017.

One of the things that takes forever for me is starting a save on FM, going through league after league picking a team, I'll then start a save and within a matter of days I've had enough. Now I have narrowed my next save down to one of two teams, the first is NK Kustošija in the Croatian second division, now these interest me as there a Zagreb based team and I would like to build them up to hopeful overthrow Dinamo, and they also have the son of Zvonimir Soldo on there books so would be interesting to try and enhance his career. The other team is FC Maritsa Plovdiv in the Bulgarian second division again be interesting to build them up as they have clubs like PFC Botev Plovdiv and PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv already in the top flight so be nice to get them challenging against them, its also the club Hristo Stoichkov started his youth career so would be good to get another player of that level come through the youth ranks. Just after some advice from anyone who has managed in either league before I start with a save.

Im managing Hajduk in the Croatian first league. 10 titles in a row. Brought the reputation to a 4,5 star rating from a 2,5 star. Selling players for 40m euros. Euro cup QF. Several champions cup 1st rounds etc. Affiliates overseas for merchandising. The league is now 10th in Europe reputation- and coefficient-wise. However, sponsorship values remained basically the same from 2015-2025. Why is this? Does it have to do with the same charmain being in charge? Is it an error? Thanks

And now for something completely different. For this quick intermission between the end of FM17's life, and FM18 (although I'm undecided yet on if I'll buy it at first), I will play a little homage to some of my most entertaining careers in FM, whilst also attempting a little experiment I've been planning for a while. The background A country I've always had a little connection to - although from a very large distance - is Croatia. The 10-year old myself, at the peak of my childhood obsession with football, was most impressed with the appearance of this brand new country in Euro 96, led by a flamboyant, prolific striker named Davor Suker who had the cheek to do outrageous things like lob Peter Schmeichel from a distance. Two years later they'd outdo themselves with a run all the way to World Cup semi-finals, and with Portugal missing I was cheering for them over everyone else. Into the FM days and two of my finest careers have been in Croatia. Around the FM05/06 days I won my first World Cup with them, in a distant future holiday game, thanks to a bit of a bug in regen generation where CBs all had terrible jumping, so I just played into a very tall target man and killed everyone with crosses. In FM11, I had my first addictive, entertaining career in this forum in Gundo's FM11 challenge with Olimpija Osijek - a team that doesn't appear to be in the database anymore - in which I built a team around a few incredible South African regens, we dominated the Croatian league and eventually reached the Champions League knockout stages. The team I have not managed in Croatia since that FM11 adventure, so craving for those brilliant FM moments, returning there feels like the right choice for the experiment I want to run. My choice of club is NK Novigrad, also known as Club di Calcio Cittanova. Yes that's a club with a name both in Croatian and Italian. The reason is, it's based on the town of Novigrad, also known as Cittanova, right next to the Italian border, in a region of Croatia called Istria, which historically has belonged to both countries at different times, and still retains Italian as an official 2nd language. My thinking here is simple: let's see if I can get some Italian regens! NK Novigrad play in the 2nd tier of Croatian football, the 2.HNL. The manager To further open up the pool of regens, and also as another homage to another great career I also had in Eastern Europe, in FM15 with CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria, I will be reviving one of the manager aliases I used in that career: Klaus Alegrov. He is set as Bulgarian, so again, Bulgarian regens please! The challenge But what is the actual challenge or experiment I want to run? Well, I've often wanted to do a youth challenge but I've never been entirely comfortable with a) how little control you get about the development of your squad; and b) how much you miss out on the fun of signing players. So I decided to do something that's almost a youth challenge... but cheat. I will sign one single player per season. The idea here is: this opens up a lot of strategy. Do I hire a tutor? Or youngsters, so that I can maximise the playing time I get from them? The best available player, full stop? The guy to patch the hole of that position that's annoyingly never generated by my youth academy? Every single signing counts. Don't waste them. But, the dynamics surely will still be very similar to youth challenges. If I play my cards juuuuust right, in 11 seasons I can have a starting 11 of 11 signings, but the bulk of the squad are still youth academy players. So it's still of the utmost, critical importance to develop them. Given the very long term nature of the career, to speed things up, I will try to use instant result for once, except for key matches. I have only loaded the top leagues of England, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Portugal. I will also be using some of the pre-made tactics from @knap I used at the end of my previous career with Monaco; and the many, many tactics I developed over the years across that career. Right, I think everything's explained. Off to start then!