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The FM 'Give Youth A Chance' Challenge


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Thistles - With the retirement of Harris I only have 2 more players who came with the original squad, 34 year old legendary striker Marcus Griffiths and 33 year old defender Dale Evans. Whlst both made some apperances in the season just gone, I can't see either of them doing so in the Championship given their declining stats. The rest of the players have come through the youth system since my time as manager (and in fact the above two players also came through the Merthyr youth system, just before my time).

Also, despite me having Australian / Portuguese nationality, and having both English and Scottish staff, all youth players have been Welsh, with no 2nd nationalities at all, which is a little disapointing. Currently all of my senior squad have been capped at either U19 or U21 level (most at U21 level), but I am yet to have a player get a full international cap (except for ex-player Danny Wyatt, who got called up shortly after he left the club and has 2 caps)

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Okay, I've not played much since my last update. I've got to Christmas in 2013 and being professional is helping because I can train my players alot more. I started with 2 losses in the league, but since then I've gone 16 games (currently) unbeaten taking me top. The cups haven't gone too well, only remaining in the Norfolk Senior Cup.

Couple of my players have passed 150 appearances for the club which a nice landmark.

No worries in terms of my job though, even with 0% wages confidence. :)

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I'm starting this with Knaphill, as with so many others in the challenge, they're a local team. :) Funny thing is, I've played at the grounds for quite a few of the teams in their league, but can't wait to get going with this. Surely the most difficult challenge out there, but I trust, one of the most satisfying once you achieve anything.

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Into the first round of the FA Vase with a replay. A 0-0 followed by 3-1 at home over Ampthill does it with a hat-trick from striker Archer.

2 milestones in the game. We conceded our first goal in 747 minutes of football.

Archer ended a goal drought of 694 minutes.

:D

Currently 5th but would go top if I won both games in hand. Leaders have played 7. The team with the lowest played have only played 3 games!

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Ok im going to start my game. Gone for Downton in Wessex D1. The assistant reckons i have a few '5 star' players, not sure if this is true, but they look alright for the level.

Have a couple of decent 16 year olds that should be the mainstay in my back line.

I'm hoping that i get bought out and have my facilities upgraded so i can get some nice youth players.

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FM09 - Merthyr 2024/25 Mini-Update - Championship - Marky Mark!

I'm halfway through my first season in the Championship, and am currently achieving my goal of staying out of the relegation zone... just!

However, I've had two pieces of news I wanted to share which I thought just couldn't wait.

The first bit of news is some bad news (sort of), after a fantastic start to the Championship season by star striker Mark Quinn (5 goals in the first 3 games) the inevitable happened... Quinn offer too good to refuse

I say it was only sort of bad news because after having the $8.1M offer from Birmingham accepted I offered him out at $9M, and got a few more offers at the mew price, including one from Galatasaray which was accepted. Strangly though, despite this being more than the $8.1M which the chairman saw as too good to refuse, he allowed me to decide whether or not to accept it, so, given Quinn is only 21 and has a 5 year contract, I delayed the decision until the last day of the transfer window and then declined, meaning Quinn is mine at least until the next transfer window!

The 2nd piece of interesting news was that, after waiting 15 seasons, not one but 3 of my players were called up to the senior Welsh side - International Call Up

Whilst ex-player Danny Wyatt has managed 2 Welsh caps since he left Merthyr, this is the first time any of my current players have been called up, let alone 3 players being called up at once. I'm unsure whether it's due to the players having had a year of training in state of the art facilities, being at a higher profile (Championship) club, or there simply being an injury crisis in the Welsh national side, but both Quinn and Swann have now won 2 caps each, and with both of them in their early 20s, who knows what the future holds for them (probably something much bigger than playing for Merthyr, but I'll be delaying that as long as possible)

End of season update isn't far away, but if I don't get it done in the next day or 2 it might have to wait a few weeks due to travel plans

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$8M (AUD) is a lot, but given I've already the youth and training facilities are already state of the art (due to board takeover), and there is no need to expand my 10k capacity stadium as yet, money does not mean as much to me as it would otherwise - I'd rather see him go in a year or 2 for nothing than lose him now for $8M.

However, as requested, here are the best current Merthyr players:

Best Merthyr Player: Mark Quinn - 158 league games, 73 goals, 23 assists, 22 MOM, 7.04 average rating

At 21 he is by far the best player Merthyr has ever produced. Now valued at $6.75M (although have received offers of $9M for him), the star striker has already been capped twice (for 2 international goals) and has been named in the League Two and League One Players Select in his 5 year career so far. Whilst I know I won't be able to hold on to him forever, I'm going to hold on for as long as I can (thankfully he is on a 5 year contract, and seems happy to stay so far)

Best Merthyr Goalkeeper: Chris Thompson - 428 league games, 522 conceeded, 135 clean sheets, 6 MOM, 1 goal, 6.82 average rating

The 26 year old keeper has been a part of the senior side since he came through the ranks as a 16 year old, and has managed just under 500 apperances to date (keeping him on track for the 1,000 apperance challenge). His career stats don't make for great reading, but I play an attacking style which can often see me conceed 3 or 4 goals (especially this season!), so they are a little misleading. He has also been named in the League Two and League One Players Select.

Best Merthyr Defender: David Swann - 317 league games, 19 goals, 11 assists, 14 MOM, 6.88 average rating

The 24 year old central defender has been a key player to come through the youth system, especially given that most other Merthyr youth defenders have been useless! With decent stats in all the key areas, I was hoping he could lead the Merthyr defence for years to come, but he has recently refused to renew his contract and wants to move to a bigger club. With his contract running out at the end of next season, and my next best central defender now 32, I hate to think what might happen to the Merthyr defence in a couple of years. He has also been capped twice by the Welsh senior side.

Best Merthyr Midfielder: Jason Puncheon - 469 league games, 35 goals, 145 assists, 24 MOM, 6.97 average rating

There are no star midfielders in the side, but I've picked 30 year old Puncheon due to his many years of solid service (into his 14th season at the club). No standout attributes, but him being the first choice corner taker for most of his career and being re-trained to play on the wing has seen him lead the club assists charts for the last 11 seasons, with a record 27 assists in the 2021/22 season. He has twice been part of the League Two Players Select, twice voted Supporters Player of the Year, and has the honor of being one of only 3 club favoured personnel. Has also managed a re

(Next) Best Merthyr Striker: Daniel Hudson - 364 league games, 108 goals, 74 assits, 28 MOM, 6.97 average rating

Another striker, he has been the main striker in the team until Quinn's came into the side. At 27 years of age and at his peak, he is probably not at the same level as 21 year old Quinn, but is easily the next best striker in the side (with the reserve strikers not being no where near the standard of these two)

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I decided that seeing as it's amateur level, I'd better stay close to home, so looked at the London based Spartans South league. Now obviously, it has to be somewhere I can easily get to. Therefore the second best team in the league, below only the mighty Bedford Town Reserves, it'd have to be. Cockfosters. Infamous end station on the Picadilly Line which thankfully passes close to my house.

My first friendly was against a team that are in fact within walking distance of my house, Kentish Town. Unfortunately my prestigous neighbours were in the 9th league, so WAY too high for me to set my sights.

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Shawbury United Season Report 09/10

Club News 09/10

Obviousley not much to report here, being it first season etc. Only news was that four players were released the day I took charge.

So, here we go, the big challenge begins. I wasnt expecting much from my opening season, with me barely having played Football Manager and really struggling to get to grips with it, but instant success often isnt how these challenges go.

I decided id play an attacking 442, wide, direct passing and a quick tempo with lots of closing down to try and really get into the opposition. Well, it certainly worked at home, where we were unbeaten during the entire season, with 10 wins and 10 draws in 20 games, but unfortunatly it was our poor away form that destroyed our chances of promotion. With just 2 wins and 14 points on the road with finished a respectable 12th in the league, 9 points from a playoff spot. Interesting however is the fact that we scored the second most goals in the league, but conceeded the joint third most. That is obviousley what we need to address if we are to progress.

Onto the players, and they did quite well - the goalkeeper, Paul Moore is reasonable and despite a high conceeding stat I think he did better than that and often was not at fault.

The defence were a slight worry, despite the fact that they had most of the highest ratings in the squad, bizzarely. They arent a bad bunch, but we really lack a quality right back and a centre back. The left back, Ross Poole is a decent little player, and centre back Neil Ogden was comfortably our player of the season. Lee Harrison at right back did a decent job but his jumping of 4 always has me worried.

In midfield I was pleased, left winger Paul Roome is probably our best technical player, and had a good season, chipping in with 5 goals and 7 assists, whilst on the right, Kevin Wood had a good season also, 7 goals (majority penalties) in just 18 appearances was impresive. The centre of the park was bossed nicely by attacking midfielder Kevin Adams, whilst young defensive minded partner Billy Morris did a sturdy job in his 38 appearances.

Upfront was a tough one to call, I thought Peter Stephens would be our best player, but he wasnt. He dissapointed and only managed 7 goals all season, including an alarming figure of just 3 in 36 league starts. His partner Jason Skelton did a decent job, being our top scorer with 10 goals.

For the youths, im especially looking for a central defender and a top striker.

Also what was alarming was the HUGE number of red cards I recieved, 8 red cards in just 40 games meant I got the most in the division, whilst also worrying is just how many penalties there were, I got 11!?! Whilst other sides such as Champions Gornal, scored 16 penalties!? What on earth is going on here? I conceeded a huge 15 penalties which cost us plenty of points. It needs to be sorted.

Onto the cups, and how dissapointing - I was involved in the one, the FA Vase where we actually did very well, getting through 4 rounds (knocking out 3 Level 9 sides) before succumbing in the 3rd round Proper to Bethnal Green 2 - 1.

Still onwards and upwards - expecting to merely improve next season.

Predicted Finish: 16th

Actual Finish: 12th - League Table

FA Vase: 3rd Round - Knocked out away at Bethnal Green

23rd of June Balance: £-6.2k

End of Season Stats

Top Scorer: Jason Skelton (10)

Top Assists': Peter Stephens (11)

Highest Av. Rating: Neil Ogden (39 Apps, 7.17 Av.Rating)

Most MOTM: Neil Ogden (5)

Yellow Cards: Jordan Dennison (11)

Next Season Aim: Top 10 Finish

Code:

Season League Position Achievements

-------------------------------------------------------------------

2009/10 Level 10 12th None

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Shawbury United Pre and Early Season Update 2010/11

So, after the 12th place finish last campaign where could we compete next season? I was looking at a top 10 finish, but I knew Id need a decent intake of young lads to bolster the squad. Firstly, however:

Club News:

Club news, and surprisingly for this early on in this challenge there was quite a bit - firstly was the fact that two players were released at the back end of last season - First out the door was right winger Lewis Barrie who unimpressed in 2 appearances last season, whilst attacking midfielder Robbie Williams followed him, he did nothing to impress in his 15 (13 from the bench) Appearances last campaign.

Secondly was the biggish news that the club was being tookover - chairman Peter Duffin stepped down, and local man Tim Scott came in to fill the void, unfortunatly though no funds were invested. A very uneventful first ever takeover for me on FM.

And lastly the biggest news of the entire year, the youth intake. I was delighted with what I got, a big amount, 9 players, and some real quality in there. Lets take a look:

Alex Woodward - looks a decent left winger, with some pace and good crossing and dribbling stats. Would be first choice but the fact that Paul Roome was one of our best players last season.

David McMenenemey - He might have a ridiculous second name, but he too looks competant - I started him first game and he dissapointed, but he will certainly get more chances.

Gary Jones - Unfortunatly another right back, but he also looks good and a different type of player to young David. He got a chance and played very well, but senior player Harrison keeps his place for now.

Joe Bradley - Looks the best of the lot to me, very impressive and is a first teamer. Composed on the ball he is one of our best players already. If only he had a bit more pace he would be unstoppable.

Joe Evans - Young joe also has talent, but again suffers due to our senior left back Ross Poole looking very good. Definatly has potential however, and a free kick taking stat of 9 is handy. Will get a few appearances im sure.

John Head - I asked for a quality centre back, but unfortunatly I dont think he is the one. Hes not terrible but he lack of ability in the air really puts me off him. Will still get a chance.

John McKoy - Too short for a centre back, and unfortunatly for him my left side is strong. He will struggle.

Jordan Atkinson - I really like the look of this lad - good on the ball and a good little engine on him, is already making a bit impression in the centre of midfield and will be a regular.

Steve Reid - Another good prospect, and another who had made inroads in the centre of midfield, a good all rounder and one of the best passers at the club.

So all good, no great defender or striker but still very impressive, Bradley and Atkinson are the ones ive picked out.

Onto our early league form, and we are looking good - top of the league after 11 games, with an impressive 21 points, we are on for promotion. Still unbeaten at home, 26 games and running.

Onwards and upwards!

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Just started this challenge with St Blazey (picked because I liked their name :p)

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/7692/footymanagerprofile.jpg

Played 4 games so far drew my 1st game 1-1 and won my second game 2-1 the 3rd game was another draw but this time a 0-0. Now just played a cup game and you guessed it another draw so have the replay to look forward to!

Sitting 7th in the league at the moment.

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Guest lutonmadhatter

Hi all,

After lurking and privately trying out the youth challenges, i've decided to give it a shot publicly. But I didnt expect to be doing it with such a fantastic database down to level ten!

Gave myself a run out with Hucknall on the original database, and now have decided to try my hands at the Level 10. All I ever do is the 'dafuge' type challenges of FM, and the only other games I tend to try are Luton (Current Hometown Club) and Anderlecht (Where I was born in Bruxelles and also my cousin ( Jonathan Legear) Plays for them), but I expect this to be amazingly harder!

Thought I'd stay Local and go for the town literally a minutes walk from my house's team Dunstable, but not the mighty Dunstable Town FC of the Spartan Premier D1 (is that correct?) Oh no! But their feeder club that a even few of my old schoolmates even play for, AFC Dunstable!

I shall give updates in a few minutes once i've worked out how to post links etc.

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Guest lutonmadhatter

Right I think I've worked it all out so I'm gunnah give it a go. . .

Overview

For those that are interested, or just curious, here is AFC Dunstable's website , and here is the in game overview.

I couldn't really tell you much about them, except they are a feeder club (not officially on the game) for Dunstable Town Fc and ground share with them.

History

Not much history for Afc Dunstable really and no claim to fames, unlike suprisingly Dunstable Town F.C, who actually do (well a few as far as I'm aware).

But here it is anyway : History

Well there's the brief round-up of the sleeping giants of South Bedfordshire, and here (me) is the fool who is going to take them to the dizzy heights of the Sparten Premier, and who knows? maybe further.

Squad updates to follow. . . .

P.S May Thank mrblade who made the database truely brilliant mate!

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Guest lutonmadhatter

AFC Dunstable Squad

Not really too sure what to expect , as i'm writing this as I look through the squad. . .

Keeper

Ryan Vincent Looks best to start for me in goal this season. Got a bit of pace and can jump but is a bit eccentric at times by the looks of things and has pretty high aggression.

Centre Backs

Steve Byrne looks pretty good for this level. Good marker and looks like he likes to get stuck in with 18 aggresion. May be a challenge to keep him according to the press and with alot of interest in him, he is probably my best centre back.

16 year old Gary Harding looks set to be second in command to Steve Byrne at the back. It's a case of sorting through the best of a bad bunch and came out with him. Not bad at tackling, can jump a little bit and isn't exactly a slouch. He's only sixteen so could come on quite a bit I hope.

Full Backs

Right Back:

Jerry Towers is the best out of the two natural out and out right backs at the club. No slouch and can cross a bit. Can also play wing back if required.

Left Back:

Mark Hackney is another youth product put into the first team. Great tackler for this level I suspect and has high teamwork, balance, work rate and fitness ratings. Maybe not one to get forward and ping a cross in but I don't think many people will get past him at this level.

Centre Mid

First of the two youth products stuck in the middle of the park is. . . .

John Andrew is 16 years old and unless i've missed something, the best passer of the ball at the club with a rating of 8. That combined with good ratings of creativity, flair and excellent teamwork could work out OK in the middle.

Andy Goodyear is also sixteen and the second best passer of the ball with a rating of 7. Also can take an ok corner and can nip about abit with good workrate and pace.

Wingers

Richie Jackson is yet another youth prduct from Dunstable. Left footed player that I have put on the right but is again the best crosser of the ball who can play on the right. But fantastically this boy has a top speed of 16 and acceleration of thirteen with good agility and balance.

Andrew Gadsby is a natural left footer playing on the wing. Again another pick from the bad bunch although he can nip about a bit and is armed with a pretty good long throw, which I may decide to use as a stoke-esque weapon.

Strikers

Spencer Connely is a 6'4 man mountain who weighs in at just over 14 stone. Can finish and head a ball OK and can move a bit for a big guy, with good workrate.

Ashley Greenhouse is yet another youth product to start. He is fast, got amazing balance and can finish with an ok workrate. With his speed alone could work well and hopefully form a big man little man combo up-front with connely.

So there we go! Thats my first XI for a team I never thought id ever manage on FM in my life.

Will be interesting to see how the first season goes. Im not to sure where i've been predicted to finish , but staying up just to get the grips on things at this level would be good for my first season (and yes i know you cant be relegated at level 10! haha ).

I think My defence looks pretty strong but my midfield looks pretty weak and will be interesting to see how it hold up. I've got a feeling I may lose Byrne before the season starts aswell as Gadsby who has even more interest than Byrne now. But I feel i've got just as bad players to cover for them so it should'nt make so much of a difference although it would be a bit of a blow to lose Byrne.

As for pre-season, I havent got any friendlies schedualed except for the inter-squad freindly, so I may look into arranging a couple more quickly.

Further updates to come shortly. . .

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Through to the 3rd round of some cup or another. Got my best CM injured in the 6th minute. Typical I thought. Brought on a AMC and changed him to attacking playmaker. A minute later that sub gets an assist and I go 1-0 up :cool: No changes in scoreline after that.

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Annihilator666 - Lancing - Season 10/11 - Sussex County League Division Two

League Table

Top Scorer

Best Player

Didn't really make any progress this season. Finished a couple of positions lower in the league, but did make it through a handful more rounds in the cups. A couple of regens came through at the start of the season and went straight into the first team so hopefully they'll develop nicely.

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After trying Gundo's challenge last time I thought this would be a nice challenge as a follow-up. Have been reading this a lot during FM09, never took the time for it, now I will.

As I dont live in England I dont really have a local club Id like to take this challenge with. At first I thought of a club with the same name as my own club, Leek. But as a big Brighton & Hove Albion fan I just had to take a club in Sussex.

I want to start at the very bottom of the system, so it will be Clymping, predicted 18th in Sussex County D2. Just had a look at the squad. I played some matches with Tytherington, but even compared to them, this is total crap. And I love it :)

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Quite a strange start to the first season. In the league we're 17th with only 1 win from 8 games. The strikers can't seem to find the net, while there are plenty of opportunities. Stats like '7 shots, 0 on goal' are fairly normal here. Got to figure that out first.

In the various cups it's all positive, still active in all of them. Even teams playing a level higher are being beaten, always by a single goal or after penalty kicks. I think I'm going to adopt the counter-style I use against bigger clubs in the league, see how that's working out. My defenders get 7+ every week, so that's ok.

The youth squad will not bring me some decent players soon. Only a decent goalkeeper and a striker (with just 2 star potential according to the reports) with finishing 8 looks nice, and has already played some matches in the starting line-up.

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I have been thinking of this challenge lately and I dont really see the need for such strict and demanding start rules.

IMO people should be able to start from BSS/BSN, slightly lower or even foreign.

This challenge is just give youth a chance, IMO specifics dont count and either does where you do it.

What do people think ?

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I have been thinking of this challenge lately and I dont really see the need for such strict and demanding start rules.

IMO people should be able to start from BSS/BSN, slightly lower or even foreign.

This challenge is just give youth a chance, IMO specifics dont count and either does where you do it.

What do people think ?

I would definitely think it would be a lot more harder to attempt as a foreign club, especially an Asian one... (which I think is pretty much impossible :D)

Anyways, going to have a good at this as AFC Liverpool. :thup:

I think the squad looks pretty strong for a promotion push, although we'll probably lose all our players to other clubs. :D

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