FM10 Small Club to Big Club Big Euro Nation Challenge

[Welsh Wizard]

My first league game

Great season G-Wiz got some great players

[The Art of Drowning]

My first league game

Great season G-Wiz got some great players

Nice to see someone else play as Elgin, nice 1st result too

I've spent our 1st year in the SPL with a squad worse than the 1 that took us up, due to the instillation of undersoil heating we were basically ruined financially so I had to sell the likes of Beckford to balance the books. The idea is to sign a lot of players on free's and then eventually sell them on at a profit to make us a bit of money.

Risky though because our squad is awful.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well I don't have any news on the Evora front, but I have some from my Fafe story as it continues...

Anyway

... I will then send you this afternoon by CTT - Office of Portugal in

padded envelope, the jerseys of the 1st AD equipment Fafe 2009/2010

Yes you read correctly, I have on its way from Portugal an AD Fafe Jersey...

[Benjaminoo]

Guess we needed the money..

[The Art of Drowning]

Well I don't have any news on the Evora front, but I have some from my Fafe story as it continues...

Yes you read correctly, I have on its way from Portugal an AD Fafe Jersey...

That is awesome, always like the idea of doing something like that.

[ghostwriter]

Renato Curi Angolana - Serie C1/B - Christmas 2014

After the transfer embargo of last year I had more problems this Summer; basically with the loan for the new (and slightly unnecessary) stadium, the board cut the wage budget. I was close to the previous one, now I was £4k over it and because of that they were only willing to let me offer players peanuts which obviously players did not like. I managed to get in an 18yo ST released from Udinese who has Serie B potential and the 2 players I signed last season (experienced DM/M C, fantastic 19yo Dutch AML) before this kicked in. Unfortunately I then had to sell to lower the wages before I could even contemplate signing anyone else. Admittedly I was going to sell most of the players I got rid of but I did not like being forced to and it takes time.

So, out went 8 players. Most were very much backups and would hardly have played, however a couple I would not have minded keeping but their high wages meant I had to get rid of them. The most difficult was Melinte (MR), he was one of the highest earners at the club so getting rid of him was not easy, there was interest at £40k but his wage demands were too much, eventually I gave up and just gave him away for free as I was in dire need of signing players. Not ideal.

With this out of the way, I realised a dire need of right sided players, insomuch as I only had 3 of them for 2 positions. I managed to get an MR and DR in but they are not anywhere near as good as the first choices and in any case I was trying to improve DR, not just get a backup in. I also got a very average 3rd choice ML in but he was on cheap wages and will be sold next Summer after hopefully having not played (he has already played 3 matches badly )

We started off by winning a Coppa Italia match (5-0 as well) and narrowly being beaten by a Serie B club in the next round. Serie C1/B started off with a solid 1-0 win over Grossetto before we visited Spal. We were dreadful, they had a ridiculous number of changes (20 shots in total) but somehow we took the lead with our first shot of the whole game. And we were hanging on as well. Until they scored with a total fluke in the last minute of injury time . Another 1-0 home win and we visited Pro Vercelli. And were even worse than against Spal, and this time they took their chances, 0-3 .

Another home win was followed by another dire away performance was followed by another home win. We avoided an away defeat (as it was against the worst team in the division, it should have been a win) and when we got another home win we were up to 3rd. But that was as good as it got. An unlucky 0-1 at a good Crotone side was followed by my ML getting a red card in the 11th minute at home to Celano, from then on we were battered and lucky to only lose 0-1. A third game without a goal and I was concerned. When an average Bassano side took the lead at our place I was very concerned, we managed to get an equaliser but really we should be winning those matches. 3 straight away matches brought us 3 goals but unfortunately 0 points; against Varese we were 0-3 down with 10 men after 20 minutes which is not ideal but we were unlucky not to get anything against Mantova or Rimini (we even took the lead in this one ). We closed off the year with a spirited draw at home to relegated Sassuolo.

8 games, 2 points have dropped from the heights of 3rd to the lows of 13th and only being out of the playouts as we have beaten Manfredonia. Basically a shambles. We have problems. One of which is scoring goals, never before in CM/FM have gone so far into a season averaging less than a goal per match. Another one is holding onto leads, several have been converted nicely into draws and defeats so far. We should be too good to go down but clearly my attention is now focused on the bottom rather than the top of the league. Will have another in-depth look at our tactics as it is pretty obvious that something is not right here.

The Summer signings have not been fantastic, apart from the sending off the ML has played well but both the DM/M C and the supposedly good ST have been average so far.

[StellaF1]

Hospitalet - Season 7 - Liga BBVA - 2016-2017

Table ¦ Graph ¦ Squad ¦ Transfers ¦ Finances

Pre-Season

Pre-Season was all about improving the squad were I could. This wasn't as much as i had hoped for as i couldn't afford the wages that a lot of the players were asking for. The main players that i did manage to bring in were Luca Milan, Piet Velthuizen, Pedro and Jeroen Gobel.

Despite the increase in the stature of the club we were not going to be getting any improvement in the gate receipts as we were already at full capacity for most games last year and apparently the council will not allow us planning permission to expand the stadium.

The Season

The season started off well enough as we quickly found ourselves holding a top 10 position in the league. Our young striker Daniel started the season in terrific form and early on found himself at the top of the goalscoring charts.

My new keeper Velthuizen who i had paid 1.7m for in the summer wasn't doing as well as i had hoped and i had been after Carlos Kameni all through the summer but he was asking for too much money. His demands must have come down when he still didn't have a club in September. So with his reduced wage demands I quickly signed him up despite knowing I couldn't register him for several weeks in the league. His performances in the cup told me he was my new number 1 GK. Speaking of the cup we managed to get through to the 5th round before we went out against Villarreal 4-2 on aggregate and after extra time.

Once December and January came around the season improved a lot as Kameni could now play and he was truly superb keeping us in the hunt in so many games and gaining several points for us all on his own. It was at this point of the season I realised how much the club was losing because of the increased wage bill compared to the non-increase in the gate receipts. So to balance the books a bit i went on a bit of a selling spree and sold a lot of players that hadn't played or had only featured once or twice.

After 24 games we had found ourselves in the totally unexpected position of 4th place and fighting for a champions league spot. We held onto fourth place for 8 games but a combination of injuries, tired players and facing a lot of the better teams in the league meant that we slipped down the table a bit at the end of the season, eventually finishing in 6th place.

Totally thrilled with how the season went and even more please as we qualified for the Euro Cup. We were even voted the Most Improved Team.

The Players

Carlos Kameni - GK - Brought in on a free in September. He was well worth the wait and every penny that i pay for his wages. Carlos was truly exceptional and was one of the main reasons we did so well in the league. 7.36 Average Rating for a goalkeeper is the highest I have ever had!

Piet Velthuizen - GK - Played as my 1st choice keeper at the start of the season but I was unconvinced by him and the arrival of Kameni saw him relegated to the bench.

Ricardo Alonso - DLC - This season saw another step up in class from this amazing kid. He had an awesome season which saw him being my first player to be picked in the Liga BBVA Team of the Season.

Luca Milan - DL - Brought in on a free Luca showed he at least has the potential to be a good signing for the club in the future. I could have used him more but he was fighting with Alonso at left back but i feel he will develop into a quality player.

Luca Bianco - DR - My main right back once again as he played in the majority of the games. Another player to get an average rating of above 7.

Marcio - DRC - One of my key defenders who had a great season and played in most of the games.

Antonio - DRLC - Another of my main defenders who played in most of the games. I would say that compared to last year he is one of the most improved players in the squad.

Silvano Raggio Garibaldi - DMC/MC - Used in these 2 positions on a regular basis at the start of the season but his starting appearances dwindled towards the end of the season as new signing Jorge played more often.

Pele - DMC - Pele was brought in on a free to challenge for the defensive midfield spot but in the end he only played in a handful of games and i will be looking to offload him in the summer.

Jorge - DMC - I bought Jorge for 2.5m from Cruzeiro in January as he was recommended by one of my scouts. He looks like a great prospect for the future and i played him quite a bit in the second half of the season to give him the experience he needs.

Hamid Zeroual - DMC - Used him more often than i have in previous seasons. I am hoping he has the potential to improve further but his first team opportunities may be limited as i have several players fighting over this position.

Francesco Viola - MC - One of the big surprises this season as Francesco played like he had done in Liga Adelante and fully justified the number of games he got this season as he contributed with 7 goals and 9 assists.

Zoltan Bagi - AMR - What a season Zoltan had. He certainly adapted better to the league this season than last and was one of my best players. His 7 goals was a good contribution but his 17 assists were even better.

Pedro - AMRL - Brought in on a free as he was supposed to be a big improvement for the left wing but he didn't settle into the team well at the start of the season and was generally unhappy. Thankfully he improved a lot towards the end of the season. Expect better from him next season.

Mihajlo Zaric - AML - Played in more games than I expected due to the poor start to the season Pedro had. He didn't provide too much and i will be looking at netting a tidy profit in the summer.

Joaquim Romao - AMLC - Joaquim was used mainly as a sub this season as he hasn't developed as I had initially hoped. I will be looking for someone a bit better in the summer if anyone wants the wages i can offer!

Jereon Gobel - ST - At 2.7m he is the most expensive player bought in the clubs history. He had a good first season as he notched up 10 league goals and assists.

Jean-Pierre Kremer - ST - He was used as and when he was needed but he lacks the quality needed to be a regular first team player for the team.

Daniel - ST - What a superstar I have on my hands here. Hope to keep hold of him for next season but he has several clubs chasing him. His season tally of 18 goals left him fourth highest goalscorer in the league. He also managed to achieve 2nd in the Spanish Goalscorer.

Next Seasons Aims

My aims for the upcoming season is for a respectable showing in our first European campaign and to also try and qualify for it the season after as well. I would like to try and get the finances sorted out but i feel that this is going to be impossible with only 6400 tickets being sold each week.

[minisav]

Unlucky ghostwriter Good luck with the rest of it

Well done Stella

Good luck in Europe

[The Art of Drowning]

Elgin City - Scottish Premier League - 11th - Survival

league Table

A thoroughly unenjoyable season, we were bloody awful and only survived thanks to a last day 0-0 draw at bottom club Kilmarnock. We sold a lot of players including Beckford and many of our new players left us in Jan as we just desperatley needed money. It led to us being a poor side.

3 Players to maybe build around the next year

Dan Ramsey Youth team product, been with us from the start and is finally looking like a decent player at this level. I trained him to be a left back too for emergency cover

Josh McEachran Tied him down to a long term deal, I hope he stays with us forever.

marko Vejinovic Dutch Free transfer was decent in midfield, not sure whether I will cash in or build around him.

Transfers

As I said many of the new players left in Jan to make a bit of money, the plan is to sell even more and only have about 4 of this squad left for next year. Need to start scouting all over the world and try and bring better quality players to Elgin. Tha plan is to check just about every big club in the world to see who they have released. The aim has to be to survive again but just to do it in a more comfortable fashion.

[rlipscombe]

Well I don't have any news on the Evora front, but I have some from my Fafe story as it continues...

Yes you read correctly, I have on its way from Portugal an AD Fafe Jersey...

brilliant.... i'd love a Real Oviedo, Como or Venezia shirt but can't afford things like that at the moment.... looking forward to seeing a pic of it when it arrives.....

[minisav]

Well done on survival Drowning

Hopefully you can build on that and push for a bit higher.

[Ohanzee]

Been way to long since I commented in here. I've only read through half of what's new since I was last active, but it's great to see so much progress. There's to much to comment on it all so I'll just say good luck to everyone! I see there's some people getting close to a big finale And a congrats to cookie15 on finishing it.

[The Art of Drowning]

Completely forgot to mention in my update that Hibs got relegated again to the Scottish 2nd Division.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

I will definitely be putting up a photo, the club themselves have asked for a photo of me infront of some points of interest in NZ so that will also be done.

[minisav]

Epic

I'm tempted by a Darmstadt top tbh. Still need to get myself a Scunthorpe one though. And maybe a Ventspils one to join my jumper.

[rlipscombe]

I will definitely be putting up a photo, the club themselves have asked for a photo of me infront of some points of interest in NZ so that will also be done.

brilliant. it's like you're an ambassador for AD Fafe! maybe they're hoping for a NZ fan club being established! you're going to make their 'little' club famous!

[The Art of Drowning]

Elgin City - Scottish Premier League - 3rd - European Football for Elgin

league Table

What a difference a year makes, thanks to the profit made in transfers last year and the ability to spread payments over 48 months we were able to build a decent side here. A few of them are far too good for us and they're already attracting attention from bigger clubs. Still got a lot of money in the bank but I imagine that will get eaten away by the long term transfers. Friendly Leagues against big clubs keep us ticking over for now.

Too Many players to mention but I'll try and do a top 3

Gabriel He is ace and can only get better, got big clubs sniffing around him already

Josh McEachran Thought i'd show his performances so far, still only young.

Silvio The genuine top class keeper we had been missing, again he could be here for years if we can keep bigger clubs off him.

Transfers

Big spenders this year and it was worth it, the main transfers missing off of that screenie are just more free players who were released from the big clubs. Most of them I signed with the idea of developing them and then selling them on for a profit.

The plan now has to be to topple the old firm, might take a few years though

[minisav]

Impressive stuff

I was going to suggest top 6 after last season but didn't want to sound too optimistic!

Good luck in Europe, the hardest part of doing the challenge in Scotland imo.

[The Art of Drowning]

Impressive stuff

I was going to suggest top 6 after last season but didn't want to sound too optimistic!

Good luck in Europe, the hardest part of doing the challenge in Scotland imo.

Thanks, makes it hard for a side like ours competing on all fronts. Look what happened to Rangers irl when they got to the Uefa Cup final. Think I will be resting a few players for the european games, league takes priority for now.

[minisav]

Rangers were incredibly lucky to be there tbf. Celtic were unlucky not to win it when they reached the final though.

Yeah, probably a good tactic until you can maybe sneak a CL spot or 2 so you have the money to have a bigger squad.

[The Art of Drowning]

Rangers were incredibly lucky to be there tbf. Celtic were unlucky not to win it when they reached the final though.

Yeah, probably a good tactic until you can maybe sneak a CL spot or 2 so you have the money to have a bigger squad.

Rangers got there on the back of brilliant defensive performances and a lot of luck, cost them in the league though with too many games in not much time. Like you say I'd rather wait until if and when we establish ourselves as a team who can qualify for the Champions League.

[minisav]

Any team could get some sort of success with 11 men behind the ball all the time tbh. I won't go there though.

Almost got the CL knockout stages qualified after 3 games!

Currently on a 12 game winning streak so all good atm

[Welsh Wizard]

28 games played and we have won div 3 . It was quite easy tbh.

Table

[minisav]

Well done

Typically my run ended the game after. Although a 1-1 draw against Bayern is hardly a poor result. Won my CL Group by a large margin. Still got a game left to play in that. Hold a 7 point lead in the league after 13 games.

[yababo]

WKE mid-season update 2012/2013 season 2

Decided to have another crack at my Durch save. At Christmas we are second bottom but it is tight. I think maybe another 5 wins would keep us up. But it will be tough as our defence is terrible.

[rlipscombe]

welcome back and good luck staying up yabobo.

[minisav]

Good luck

Got Man Utd in the first knockout stage of the CL. They must have coem 2nd in their group

[minisav]

Will be contesting in the German Cup Final again methinks. Have 2nd Division Aachen in the Semi-Final.

11 points ahead with 7 games to play.

And we beat Man Utd!

A 1-1 draw away in the first leg left me happy.

A 5-1 win at home left me ecstatic!

[minisav]

Turns out Aachen are in my division! Whoops! :o

11 points ahead with 4 games to play.

Beat Shakhtar

4-1 away set it up perfectly.

1-0 at home finished it off.

Semi-Finals here we come!

[minisav]

Report to come tomorrow btw, just finishing the season off now.

[rlipscombe]

looking good minisav. i'm sure the double is in the bag.....

[The Art of Drowning]

Yeah it sounds like you've had a succesful season this year. Beating Shakhtar is a great result, the eastern european teams seem to get really great regens, especially south american ones.

[Welsh Wizard]

Welsh Wizard - Elgin City -Scottish Third Division- 2010/11 - Season 1

Scotish Third Division

Table | Past Positions Graph | Player Stats

Predicted: 9th

Finished: 1st

League Cup - Lost 1st round vs Aberdeen - Fixtures

Scottish Cup - Lost 4th round vs Celtic - Fixtures

Challenge Cup - Lost 2nd round vs Partick Thistle - Fixtures

Team

Team Stats

Team General

Transfers

Everyone out and a mix of old and young in. From 41:eek: to 20 years old.

Finances

Key Players

Gary Arbuckle

Gary Wales

Guillaume Beuzelin

Old Firm/Premier League Watch

Celtic finished top with 92pts and Rangers 2nd 85pts with my parent Dundee Utd 3rd 23pts off Rangers.

Season        Division            Position                 Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11       Third               1st                      Champions/Promotion

[minisav]

Darmstadt - Minisav - German 1st Division - 2013/14

Table - Graph - Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2

German Cup Final - Fixtures

Transfers

Finances

A great season again. Pity we got beat with 3 games to go. It would have been nice to have gone unbeaten. German Cup was quite a breeze getting 4 teams in the division below or more including Koln in the final.

The Champions Cup

With finishing first in the league we went straight into the group stages. Sneaking an equaliser just before half time of the first match allowed us to win 2-1 and my confidence started to rise. Then we beat Chelsea at home. Other results started to go our way too. Chelsea managed to lose to Atletico and Steau away whilst I continued to win. It was sealed with a game to go where we lost to Chelsea away.

Knockout stages I got Man Utd again! Despite being 1-0 up in the first leg away and having an extra man we let them score. I was quite worried after last season but we were at home. We're quite the fortress there in Europe having beaten the likes of Man Utd and Barcelona there. We took them home and thrashed them 5-1 to get our revenge fully.

Getting Shakhtar in the next round pleased me. It was hardly a glamour tie but they are weaker than the other teams. A 4-1 win away proved this. We finished the job by winning 1-0 at home.

Up next in the Semi-Final were Olympique de Marseilles. I couldn't be sure of their strength and I was quite worried. Then the first leg went pretty well but they did get an away goal as we won 2-1. The second leg was uneventful except for Hernanes getting himself sent off with 35 minutes to go.

The final was going to be a re-match of some sorts. Last season we came against this team in the Euro Super Cup and we won 2-1. Despite this, I still wasn't confident. They were going for their 3rd consecutive Champions Cup trophy. We had work to do with Hernanes and another suspended.

Fixtures

The Match:

With the final being played in my homeland at the scum's stadium of Ibrox I was in familiar territory. It didn't start well. Diego popped up in the 38th minute to put them 1-0 up. Bugger. Typically of a final the game was incredibly tentative. The rest of the half passed by too quickly for my liking.

Half Time Score: Darmstadt 0 - 1 Juventus

I was not enjoying this. The 2nd half was much of the same and my head went into my hands when Bergamo scored their 2nd. I was close to tears when Marino added to their rout in the 85th minute. Never say die I believe is the saying. My players must have been screaming it. Dentinho grabbed what I thought was a mere consolation. Krivets decided to add to our 'too little, too late' with a 2nd in the 90th minute. A minute later the heroic Guidoni decided to get our 3rd. Juventus must have been sick. I would if they'd done what we had done. Here comes extra time I thought.

Full Time Score: Darmstadt 3 - 3 Juventus

Extra time was a non-event. Boring, dull, tentative and negative. Both teams too afraid to go forward. I wasn't really looking forward to penalties if I'm to be honest. However, in the 119th minute, that man, Guidoni, decided he would finish this game off once and for all!

Full Time Score After Extra Time: Darmstadt 4 - 3 Juventus.

Final

We have completed the treble!

Oh and the great squad that did this.

Squad part 1

Squad part 2

Season			League			Position			Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11		    Third Division		  1st			    Automatic Promotion
2011/12             Second Division               1st                       Automatic Promotion
2012/13             First Division                6th                       German Cup Winners
2013/14             First Division                1st            Champions, German Cup Winners, Euro Cup Winners
2014/15             First Division                1st            Champions, German Cup Winners, Euro Super Cup Winners
2015/16            First Division                 1st            Champions, German Cup Winners, Champions Cup Winners
[b]*******************************************************Challenge Complete*********************************************[/b]

[yababo]

Woonwagenkamp Emmen FC

2012-2013 (season 2) End of season update

League table

In a footballing sense we were awful this year but we survived. Progress is going to be tough as the stadium only holds 2500, plus it seems the gypsy camp it is located in is not much of a draw for top quality players.

The aim for the off-season are to improve the squad especially in defence.

The aim for next season has to be survival.

2011-2012 Jupiler League Promoted via play-offfs

2012-2013 Eredivisie 15th Survived

[The Art of Drowning]

Had a feeling this was your year Minisav. Congrats on completing the challenge.

[minisav]

Yeah, I felt it was this year or bust. Too many clubs are after my good players and some are starting to get old. I was also getting a little bored of the save. Fancy a new challenge.

[The Art of Drowning]

I know what you mean about clubs coming after your players, i'll mention more on that in my update in a sec. You gunna try another of the challenges?

[Razer82]

Minisav - Congratulations on completing the challenge.

Well done to the guys getting promoted - progress is always a good thing.

I need to get myself together, got 2 completed seasons with Fafe to post about, will look at getting those done over the weekend.

[The Art of Drowning]

Elgin City - Scottish Premier League - 1st - Champions

league Table

We were 9 points clear at 1 point but at the crucial stage of the season pretty much all of my players decided to be dicks and started kicking up a fuss about wanting to play for bigger clubs, in the end we limped to the title and even bottled the last game with a 2-2 draw, thankfuly Rangers only drew as well.

Key Players

Jorge Rivera Formed an awesome partnership at the back with young Brazilian Gabriel, the pair of them moaned a lot and will leave for big money.

Josh McEachran Surprise Surprise but he was brilliant again, one of the few not moaning.

Dan Ramsay Our only player to make it from our youth team so far, came through in the 2nd division and is still class at the top.

Vinicius Great goal scorer and will probably go on to be one of the best players in the world, he is leaving as well though because he is another fussy **** and wont sign a new contract.

Transfers

So it's great that we've won the league but it's come at a price, pretty much have to replace my entire team next year, luckily we can make a lot of money on the moaning guys to fund the replacements but it's pretty annoying to have to sell our best players as well as the fringe players I dont want

[minisav]

I know what you mean about clubs coming after your players, i'll mention more on that in my update in a sec. You gunna try another of the challenges?

Yes I definitely will. Already have a save that I could do the extended Dafuge one with. I may go for Dafuge's one as I enjoyed it last year. Also could go back to my old haunt of the South American one. Ah the choices.

Sticking with my Aberdeen game before I make the choice!

And congrats on winning the league. Good to see the Dons 3rd!

Minisav - Congratulations on completing the challenge.

Well done to the guys getting promoted - progress is always a good thing.

I need to get myself together, got 2 completed seasons with Fafe to post about, will look at getting those done over the weekend.

Cheers

[rlipscombe]

knew you'd done it minisav - congrats. quick work in getting it done!

[PaulHartman71]

FC Libourne-Saint-Seurin, 2023-24, Ligue 1

League Position - 13th: Past Positions

Squad

Transfers

Summary

In our second attempt at survival in Ligue 1, we were not only equipped with an improved squad, but more importantly, more money. I spent just under 5M in transfers this season, I payed a bit over the odds for a few players, but you have to if you want decent players unfortunately. It was a massive season in the club's history, not only did we survive in Ligue 1 for the first time in history, we also reached the French Cup quarter final for the first time in history. I'm not sure what will happen next season, I presume that we will have even more money to spend, which hopefully means I'll be able to bring in some better players and add more depth/quality to the side. It could also mean that the board decide to spend all of our money on stadium improvements, I wouldn't mind if they improved the training/youth facilities though.

Onze de départ

GK: Phillippe Brun, 29, Ivory Coast - Mathieu Dreyer was no longer good enough, so I brought in a decent Goalkeeper for 1.4M. It's also quite interesting to note that he used to play for us when we were in the French National division.

DR: Bart Theis, 22, Belgium - A new right back signed for 1M. He's a pretty decent player and in my opinion worth the 1M I paid.

DL: Giacomo De Bellis, 20, Italy *ON LOAN*- I couldn't find a decent left back to bring in, so I brought a player in on loan. He was very good and would be a good player for most teams in Ligue 1, wont be able to bring him on a permanent basis though.

DC: Alexandr Mit'kin, 28, Ukraine - The current record signing, I payed 1.7M to Lyon for him. He's an experienced pro, a good player for this division and well worth the 1.7M.

DC: Edgardo Flores, 29, Honduras - This season rotated to the center of defence, he's not my ideal man in this position and I'd like to bring someone new in next season. He'd be a good rotational/backup player though.

MR: Jérôme Hebert, 22, Français - Another good season for the homegrown hero.

ML: Gianmarco Gigli, 27, Italy - I didn't think he'd be able to make the step up to Ligue 1, but to be fair he did quite well. I might possibly sign a replacement for him though.

MC: Sergio Marbus, 31, Netherlands - In his fifth season as captain of the club, Sergio Marbus set a good example. He's probably only going to get worse from now on, but I'll continue to play him if he's good enough.

MC: Matthieu Causse, 27, Français - The long time central midfielder didn't have the best of seasons this year, and failed to really stand out that much. He had a decent pass ratio though, it was the 5th best in the league.

ST: Chakib Saber, 27, Morrocco - The second best striker had a decent season, not starting as many games as he would have wanted though. His 15 goals in 18 starts is pretty impressive though.

ST: Razvan Ionica, 26, Romania - After his amazing goal return last season, I had high expectations. Although 19 goals in 30 games doesn't sound very impressive, he was the 4th best goal scorer in all of Ligue 1.

-

Official Fans Player of the Year - Razvan Ionica

Unofficial Young Player of the Year - Giacomo De Bellis

Career Overview

Season     League   Position   Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11  National    4th       None
2011/12  National    5th       None
2012/13  National    7th       None
2013/14  National    2nd       Promoted 
2014/15  Ligue 2    18th       Relegated
2015/16  National    3rd       Promotion
2016/17  Ligue 2    13th       None
2017/18  Ligue 2    12th       None
2018/19  Ligue 2     7th       None
2019/20  Ligue 2     6th       None
2020/21  Ligue 2     1st       Promoted as Champions
2021/22  Ligue 1     18th      Relegated
2022/23  Ligue 2     1st       Promoted as Champions
2023/24  Ligue 1     13th      None



[b][size=3][u]Trophies won:[/u][/size]

[/b][size=2]Ligue 2 (x2) - 2020/21[/size] & 2022/23

[Razer82]

Razer82 – Associacao Desporitvo de Fafe – Portuguese Liga Sagres – 2014/2015

Liga Sagres – Media Prediction – 15th – Actual – 7th

Portuguese Cup – 6th Round – Lost 2-1 to Braga

Portuguese League Cup – 2nd place – 3rd Round Group B

Team Stats

Transfers

Top Scorer: Jussane (20)

Top Assists: Hugo Monteiro (16)

A series of friendlies against Liga Sagres sides started the season & 3 defeats didn’t leave me with much hope for the rest of the season for which we’re already predicted as relegation candidates.

Back to back defeats gave us a poor start to the season, but 3 games unbeaten changed our form from bad to indifferent. The form seemed to stay that way for the rest of the season as we were never able to record more than 2 consecutive league wins. As expected throughout the season we were not able to compete with the real big sides in the league, Sporting, Porto, Benfica & Braga all beating us each time we met. Towards the end of the season we actually had a chance of making it into Europe at the first time of asking but we needed a win in the final game with other results going our way. Neither happened & we fell short by just one league place.

This inability to compete with the big boys also led to our exits in both cups. After good wins in the first 3 rounds of the Portuguese Cup we faced Braga who easily defeated us to progress.

The League Cup saw us straight into 2nd Round Group Stage by virtue of being in Liga Sagres. 2 wins eased us into the 3rd Round. Sporting put an end to our hopes of getting any further by beating us 3-0 in the first game of the round.

Aims for Next Season

Qualify for Europe – Nearly made it at the first attempt so with a bit of good form next year we could get there.

Improve Finances - We've been in debt all season due to the all the signings fees from turning pro. This debt could well impact transfers next season.

[rlipscombe]

congrats on survival Paul - sure you'll kick on further next season now you've established yourself in Ligue 1.

Razer - solid season there. hopefully the finances don't hamper you too much and you can make Europe next season

As for me, my Venezia season is coming to a close. the brand new Collauto Park will be seeing Serie B football next season, and not the dream Serie A campaign......

[Liverbird93]

Started again but this time in Germany. With SV Wilhelmshaven.

Profile

[Ohanzee]

minisav - Congrats on completion. Well done!

The Art of Drowning - Grats on the league title. Do you go into the group stages of CL right away? If not I hope you get a lucky draw and get in, good money.

PaulHartman71 - Congrats on staying up this time. Well deserved! That's a great long game you have there, you still enjoying it more and more after so many seasons?

yababo - Congrats on staying up. Holland always interested me somehow, I always start every new FM with Ajax to get a feel for the game. Hope you'll keep it up and become as big as Ajax was in the early 70s.

Razer82 - That's a great first season up there. Nice to see Fafe doing well.

Liverbird93 - Good luck in Germany.

[rlipscombe]

good luck Liverbird. Germany seems to be quite popular this year and a good place to complete the challenge from!

I agree with Ohanzee - Holland is a league that tempts me to try with this challenge too. Unfinished business with Venezia first mind.....

[The Art of Drowning]

The Art of Drowning - Grats on the league title. Do you go into the group stages of CL right away? If not I hy.

Thanks, I did get the group stages right away, was drawn with Arsenal, Fenerbache and Sporting Lisbon.

Ended up 3rd in the group despite having a better goal difference than Sporting, gutting to miss out because of our results against them.

[yababo]

good luck Liverbird. Germany seems to be quite popular this year and a good place to complete the challenge from!

I agree with Ohanzee - Holland is a league that tempts me to try with this challenge too. Unfinished business with Venezia first mind.....

It is a bit lonely in Holland at the mo!

I am starting to enjoy the challenge now. It is really difficult to attract players but that's part of the fun too. My stadium can't be expanded so I am always going to be a selling club.