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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!!

INTRODUCTION We're back from Bolivia, back from unknown parts of the world. After all those months clawing away in the silver mines of Potosí, my eyes weren't used to the amount of sunlight to be found back on the surface. Therefore, a new save has emerged in another part of the world, much closer to home, where mining is still seen as a proud man's job. We've exchanged the silver for brown coal. We've reached the city with the largest coal fuelled thermal power plant of Europe. Feeling industrious? You bet. We've reached Bełchatów The city of Bełchatów (looking to @Rikulec as to verify that the pronunciation is, indeed, somewhere in the region of "Bear-cha-toof"), is located in the very center of Poland, has about 50,000 inhabitants and is home to one professional football team: Górniczy Klub Sportowy Bełchatów, aka the Miner's Sports Club of Bełchatów, aka GKS Bełchatów. GKS Bełchatów has been a team that's been around in the Polish top flight for the last twenty years, in and out at times, but it's been a respected side. However, after almost winning the national title in 2007, the team has slid down and is coming off back-to-back relegations. Its only trophy in recent years is winning the 2013/2014 First Division, in between two relegations. The club has finished second in a couple of national trophies. But all that is gone. As you can see, a serious slide has occurred in recent years for the Brunatni, or brown coalers. We start this save in the Polish 3rd tier. I'm here to try and stop that slide. The challenge is that I will not be able to bring in players to the club. All that will be done by my DoF, who will handle the incoming transfers. However, I will only allow players to be brought in by our DoF if they're 23 years or younger and coming from either Poland, or one of Poland's six surrounding countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania). This means I still have the possibility to veto the transfers, but that's just because I can't set out any targets as to nationality or age. If the player agrees to both conditions stated above, I will have no choice but to accept the transfer. Obviously, we will still be very much oriented towards our youth setup as well. It's not entirely youth only, but for a big part it is.

Polish club football. For anyone who is interested in polish club football, the downfall in the results of Polish clubs in europe is clear. In 1964 now 5-th tier Polonia Bytom won the UEFA Intertoto Cup, beating Lokomotiv Leipzig 5-4 in the final. This marked the first time a polish side won an european competiton, sadly it was also the last one. In 1970 Górnik reached the Cup Winners Cup final, beating Roma, Olympiacos and Rangers in the process, before narrowly losing out 2-1 to Manchester City. This was the last time a polish club reached a final of an european competiton. Legia also had a pretty good run in 1970, reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup before crashing out 2-0 to Feyenoord. In 1983 Widzew beat Liverpool and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. Sadly they lost 4-2 to Juventus, another polish team came so close, only to lose out when it mattered the most. In 1991 Legia reached the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup, beating Aberdeen and Sampdoria along the way. Yet again however, this proved to be as far as they got losing out to Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. In 2003 Wisła reached the 1/8 of the Uefa Cup, smashing Schalke 4-1 at their ground along the way. Lazio proved to be too strong however and beat them 5-4. In 2011 Lech reached the knock-out stages of the Europa League beating Juventus and Manchester City in the group stages. But now? Polish clubs can't even win against clubs from Moldova, Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Iceland to name few. It's embarrasing how bad the league is, despite how good our national team is and how high the interest in football is. We are now behind Macedonia and Cyprus in the UEFA's league rankings, it's shocking how bad the league has become. The whole Poland misses the times when our clubs could stand up against the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd. Now even Astana and Sheriff are too strong, it's about time to change this. Which leads us here. Olimpia Zambrów is a Polish football club located in Zambrów, Poland. It currently plays in Polish Third League. The team's primary colors are blue, white, and black. The club has never been higher than Polish Third Tier (second league= 3rd tier) and is a very small club, hence why it got relegated from the 3rd tier last season, where even my **** local team stayed up. I wanted to get them (Olimpia Elbląg), but they wouldn't pop up, so I went with Zambrów instead after holidaying one year, as it's 100% the smallest club that can possibly pop up. We barely have any players, let alone good ones. Don't let the stars fool you, 4'5* is barely good enough for this level. This is going to be a long year, trust me. The bookies seem to agree But hey! At least we have a lot leagues to get players from! I'm going to meet you just before the first game of the season, after the pre-season ends. Stay tuned

I came up with my own idea of a challenge, where I'm only allowed to sign players from one city. As this might be very challenging in top leagues I will start in the lowest possible level of Polish pyramid - B-klasa, which is 8th tier league (playable thanks to Polish Leagues Update, adding most of the leagues in Poland). I will take over one of the Warsaw based teams, which will allow me to have a huge base of Warsaw born players to choose from. Warsaw is a capitol of Poland and have plenty of teams in the whole structure, espeacially in the lowest leagues. Without further ado, let's meet the team: Jedność Warszawa (which can be translated as Warsaw Unity or Warsaw United). Jedność is a team founded in late 2014. Season 2016/17 is the first competetive season for the team and that's where my career will begin. Obviously, we have no real players in the team (so does the other teams playing lower than III Liga, which is a 4th tier), so my bunch of genarated players isn't the best at the beginning. We need to improve on many positions. Goals for the challenge: 1) Win the Mazovian Cup, a regional competition with participating teams from levels 5-8. 2) Beat every Warsaw based team in the game at least once (there is 26 teams to beat). 3) Get to the top division - Ekstraklasa. The only loaded nation is Poland.