[FM10] Why did I start this? And in Bradford of all places.

[Terk]

Yeah, that was the thought passing through my mind throughout my first season in my new career. I've been following Dafuge's progress with Tooting & Mitcham and the idea of starting up an attempt at his FM10 Challenge proved too much to resist. Now let me make this clear right off the bat, I suck ass at lower league management. Don't get me wrong, I love the challenge and have wasted many an hour in pursuit of success from the bottom rungs of the ladder, but from lower really that League One, I've never taken a club into the top echelons of the game. That disclaimer out of the way, it's onto the challenge.

With that the game was loaded and holidayed and it only took a short time to get the side I wanted, Bradford Park Avenue. Here the adventure begins.

[Terk]

Career Overview

Season League Final Pos. Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nuneaton Town
2010/11 Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi final
2011/12 Blue Square North 12th Sacked 11 games into the season

Canvey Island
2012/13 Blue Square South 10th None
2013/14 Blue Square South 4th Promoted via play-offs
2014/15 Blue Square Premier 3rd Promoted via play-offs
2015/16 League 2 8th None
2016/17 League 2 3rd Automatic Promotion
2017/18 League 1 4th Promoted via play-offs
2018/19 Championship 12th League Cup Finalists
2019/20 Championship 3rd Promoted via play-offs
2020/21 Premier League 17th Didn't get relegated
2021/22 Premier League 10th League Cup Finalists
2022/23 Premier League 3rd Qualified for Champions League
2023/24 Premier League 1st Premier League Champions
League Cup Winners

Managerial Record

Season Games Won Lost Drawn For Against Win %
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11 52 24 15 13 83 65 46.15
2011/12 12 3 4 5 14 14 25.00
2012/13 40 19 11 10 86 53 47.50
2013/14 51 28 12 11 89 48 54.90
2014/15 61 38 15 8 108 63 62.29
2015/16 54 25 17 12 90 70 46.29
2016/17 57 32 11 14 120 60 56.14
2017/18 59 31 15 13 123 90 52.54
2018/19 57 25 22 10 89 96 43.85
2019/20 54 29 15 10 100 73 53.70
2020/21 43 13 22 8 53 81 30.23
2021/22 54 24 22 8 92 64 44.44
2022/23 45 24 13 8 83 56 53.33
2023/24 54 39 10 5 131 60 72.22

Total 693 354 204 135 1,253 893 51.08

Canvey Island Club Records

Team Records

Highest League Position: 1st in Premier League (2023/24)
Lowest League Position: 12th in Isthmian Premier League (2008/09)
Highest Attendance: 25,060 vs Man Utd (Premier League, 26/12/2022)
Highest Gate Receipts: £975,000 vs Benfica (Champions League (Group Stage), 24/10/2023)
Lowest Attendance: 209 vs Thurrock (Blue Square South, 22/9/2012)
Average Attendance: 23,163 (2023/24)
Biggest Win: 10-1 vs Enfield (19/4/2003)
Biggest Defeat: 8-0 vs Everton (H) (Premier League, 14/3/2021)
Highest Scoring Game: 9-1 vs Blackpool (H) (League 1, 5/5/2018)
Highest Scoring League Game: 9-1 vs Blackpool (H) (League 1, 5/5/2018)
Most Games Won in a Row: 8 (16/3/2024 - 4/5/2024)
Most Games Lost in a Row: 7 (14/8/2012 - 25/9/2012)
Most Games Without Losing: 19 (4/11/2014 - 31/1/2015)
Most Games Without Winning: 9 (11/8/2012 - 29/9/2012)
Most Games Without Conceding: 6 (1/7/2021 - 3/8/2021)
Most Games Without Scoring: 3 (25/8/2012 - 15/9/2012)


Player Records

Top Goalscorer: James Foster (34, 2016/17)
Top League Goalscorer: James Foster (33, 2016/17)
Most Goals in a Match: Patrick Marongiu (5, vs Benfica - 24/10/2023)
Most Assists: Mark Hartmann (19, 2012/13)
Highest Average Rating: James Murphy (7.41 (40 apps), 2023/24)
Most Man of the Match: James Foster (10, 2016/17)
Worst Discipline: Tarkan Mustafa (12 yellow/1 red, 2009/10)
Most League Apps for Club: Steve Ward (500)
Most League Goals for Club: James Foster (118)
Youngest Player: Tommy Rivers (16 years 68 days, vs Aveley - FA Cup 2nd Qual Rnd, 3/10/2012)
Oldest Player: Craig Davidson (37 years 222 days, vs Dag & Red - FA Trophy 1st Round, 10/12/2011)
Highest Transfer Fee Paid: £19,500,000 (Andrade from Flamengo, 8/7/2023)
Highest Transfer Fee Received: £10,000,000 (Giampiero Maestri to Liverpool, 12/1/2022)
Total Transfer Spending: £38,000,000 (2023)
Total Transfer Income: £44,000,000 (2022)
Fans' Player of the Year: Patrick Marongiu
Fastest Goal: John Bostock (18 seconds vs Cardiff, League Cup 1st Round - 9/8/2016)
Youngest Goalscorer: Steve Cooper (16 years 305 days, vs Havant & W - Blue Square South, 29/1/2013)
Oldest Goalscorer: Wayne Rooney (37 years 103 days, vs Arsenal - Premier League 4/2/2023)

[Terk]

Roll of Honour: Domestic

Premier League

2009/10: Liverpool

2010/11: Arsenal

2011/12: Chelsea

2012/13: Chelsea

2013/14: Chelsea

2014/15: Arsenal

2015/16: Tottenham

2016/17: Man City

2017/18: Man City

2018/19: Man City

2019/20: Man City

2020/21: Man City

2021/22: Man City

2022/23: Man City

2023/24: Canvey Island

FA Cup

2009/10: Bolton

2010/11: Liverpool

2011/12: Everton

2012/13: Newcastle

2013/14: Arsenal

2014/15: Aston Villa

2015/16: Newcastle

2016/17: Q.P.R.

2017/18: Man City

2018/19: Arsenal

2019/20: Man City

2020/21: Chelsea

2021/22: Chelsea

2022/23: Chelsea

2023/24: Chelsea

League Cup

2009/10: Bristol City

2010/11: Tottenham

2011/12: Newcastle

2012/13: Man Utd

2013/14: Aston Villa

2014/15: Tottenham

2015/16: Aston Villa

2016/17: Aston Villa

2017/18: Everton

2018/19: Man City

2019/20: Leeds

2020/21: Man City

2021/22: Man City

2022/23: Man City

2023/24: Canvey Island

Roll of Honour: European

Champions League

2009/10: Juventus

2010/11: Benfica

2011/12: Man Utd

2012/13: Barcelona

2013/14: Fiorentina

2014/15: Real Madrid

2015/16: Juventus

2016/17: Barcelona

2017/18: Chelsea

2018/19: Inter

2019/20: Barcelona

2020/21: Juventus

2021/22: Chelsea

2022/23: Man City

2023/24: Juventus

Europa League

2009/10: Roma

2010/11: Galatasaray

2011/12: Chelsea

2012/13: Porto

2013/14: Arsenal

2014/15: Paris Saint-Germain

2015/16: Atheltic

2016/17: Atalanta

2017/18: Man City

2018/19: Barcelona

2019/20: Fiorentina

2020/21: Standard

2021/22: Roma

2022/23: Valencia

2023/24: Atletico Madrid

Roll of Honour: International

World Cup

2010: Brazil

2014: Morocco

2018: France

2022: Italy

European Championship

2012: England

2016: Italy

2020: Italy

African Cup of Nations

2010: Morocco

2012: Senegal

2014: Morocco

2016: Cameroon

2018: Ivory Coast

2020: Tunisia

2022: Nigeria

2024: Tunisia

Copa América

2011: Argentina

2015: Argentina

2019: Uruguay

2023: Argentina

[Terk]

Bradford Park Avenue

2010/11

Let me make this clear right off the bat, I suck ass at lower league management. Don't get me wrong, I love the challenge and have wasted many an hour in pursuit of success from the bottom rungs of the ladder, but from lower really that League One, I've never taken a club into the top echelons of the game. That disclaimer out of the way, it's onto the challenge.

Blue Square North

The target was to simply avoid relegation, and so in that respect we were a great success, and indeed the board currently think the sun shines out of my ass, but I'm frustrated. For so much of the season we hung around the edges of the play-off zone and I really felt we could kick on and nip into the top 5. With 6 games to go, we had a run of 3 home games on the bounce and we were outside the play-offs only on goal difference. We lost those three games and that was the end of our challenge. I'd have bitten your hand off for 10th at the start of the season, but now it seems like a bitter disappointment.

FA Cup

Well this sucked ass. We were given a target of the 4th qualifying round but exited at the 2nd in a 2-0 defeat to Farsley which could have been a lot worse.

FA Trophy

A bit better, we were expected to reach the first round and we went out in the 2nd having won a replay against Blue Square Premier side Altrincham; we really should have won the initial tie, but conceded a very late goal (the story of our season).

Transfers

All freebies and loans, and the two that stand out as real good pieces of business were Justin Gentle from Stafford (who topped our assist chart) and Tesfaye Bramble from Leiston (who was our top scorer). Given our financial position, I'm expecting the wage budget to go down next season so this part of the game will be even harder.

Key Players

Amjad Iqbal

Despite having a tackling rating of only '3', Amjad did a solid job for us in defence and led the side well as captain. Has been offered a contract extension, though I'm pretty certain that the BSN is the limit of his talent.

Justin Gentle

I'd like to claim credit for his signing, but it was already arranged when I joined the club. He may be one of the slowest wingers I've come across, but his crossing was accurate and key to the way we played the game. A good season, but I'm not sure if he has another one in his legs.

Richard Jackson

Plenty of experience of league football, Richard was our first choice right back all season and did a very good job. Didn't get beaten by opposition wingers very often and I'm hoping to get another year out of him yet.

Tesfaye Bramble

A player I took entirely on my new scout's recommendation, Tesfaye ended up as our top scorer, so a good spot he turned out to be. We basically planted him just outside the six yard box in each game and got Justin Gentle to bounce crosses off his head, but it proved to be an effective combination. A similar year next season would be nice.

Career Overview

Season              League               Final Pos.           Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11       Blue Square North            10th                    -

2011/12

A younger, fitter, faster squad would be a start. We have too many players the wrong side of 35, let alone 30 and we must be the slowest group I've ever seen. Fitness also became more and more of a problem as the season went on as we lost at least 10 points by conceding goals in the final five minutes. Hopefully this can be rectified for next season, but given that the club is now almost £200,000 in the red, I don't hold out much hope of even being able to strengthen my squad with free transfers.

[MeLikeFM]

Wasnt there an epic story in FMS with Bradford PA ?

Fate. Good Luck.

[Terk]

There was indeed, and that was one of the reasons I chose them. Peacemaker7 edited them into the conference and took them through the leagues on one of the CM3 versions.

[MeLikeFM]

There was indeed, and that was one of the reasons I chose them. Peacemaker7 edited them into the conference and took them through the leagues on one of the CM3 versions.

Its defenitaly fate. Your destined for greatness

[Cardiovascular]

Solid start Terk, and I see you're becoming more acquainted to the Career Updates forum now.

[Terk]

Solid start Terk, and I see you're becoming more acquainted to the Career Updates forum now.

It's a good place. I've not had much inspiration to write a story at the moment, but I have a pathological need to tell other people about my FM games. This seemed like the perfect place.

[Terk]

If we're all very quiet then we can pretend that season never happened I got sacked 18 games into my second season so I'm firing up a new save, which will continue in this thread. So if anyone asks, I was never at Bradford PA, I don't know anything about them.

[Cardiovascular]

Pretend what never happened?

[Pangaea]

Errr. Apply for a new position?

[iacovone]

Errr. Apply for a new position?

This to be fair

Also the thread title has suddenly become very apt...

[salkster2102]

You started as Bradford? I can name you a much better team to start off with in Dafuges Challenge. Though it might take a while to find them

[Terk]

Errr. Apply for a new position?

Yeah, I thought about that but I'd patched up to 10.2 after the start of the game so it made more sense to me to start again.

[Terk]

2010/11

Preview

Nuneaton Town FC

History

Nuneaton Town F.C is an English football club from the town of Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The team compete in the Southern Premier Division. This is the 3rd level of Non League Football. In the 2007–08 season they competed in the Conference North division, but due to a liquidation they were demoted to the Southern Football League Division One Midlands.

In 1889 Nuneaton St. Nicholas were the first team to play senior football within Nuneaton. Five years later they changed their name to Nuneaton Town, and played until 1937 when the club was disbanded. However, two days later Nuneaton Borough F.C. were founded but in 1992, the club was renamed Nuneaton Borough AFC. It was reformed as Nuneaton Town in 2008. The club is still known as Boro to those who support the team.

The club play their home fixtures at Liberty Way in their home kit of blue and white stripes.

Local rival teams include Hinckley United, Bedworth United, Atherstone Town, Tamworth and Leamington.

In June 2008, the club was reformed as Nuneaton Town F.C. Following Nuneaton Borough's liquidation The FA insisted that the new club have a different name, accompanied by a double relegation to the Southern League Division One Midlands. A campaign has since been launched by fans aimed at bringing back the club's Borough suffix.

On Saturday 2 May 2009, Town clinched promotion via the play-offs of the Southern League Division One Midlands, beating Chasetown 1–0 through Top Scorer, Rob Foster, this was in front of a Liberty Way record crowd of 3,111.

In August 2009 Nuneaton returned to the Southern League Premier Division. In November 2009 reached the first round of the FA Cup and took on Exeter City. On their way they beat Brigg Town, Carlton Town, Gainsborough Trinity and Kendal Town.

Info

Division: Blue Square North

Stadium: Liberty Way

Capactiy: 3,850 (1,200 seated)

Bank Balance: £25,627

Transfer Budget: £0

Wage Budget: £6,363 per week

Wage Bill: £5,279 per week

Board Expectation: Play-offs

Media Prediction: 5th

Having used the veritable DeLorean that is the 'new game' button, I arrived back in the summer of 2010 with my reputation unscathed by those clowns at Bradford Park Avenue. They had once again found their way into the division, but there was no way I was going near the Horsfall Stadium this time around, and I still held a grudge against the other promoted side, Farsley, for having dicked me out of the FA Cup in both seasons whilst I was with Bradford, so they weren't an option either. That left Nuneaton, because I ain't no shandy drinking southern softy and wanted to stay in the northern half of the division.

The squad looked decent but small, desperately short of goalkeeping and midfield talent, but with a potential star in former Sunderland striker Michael Proctor who, despite his advancing years, should be able to score at this level. The play-offs is a tough ask, but as long as I don't get the boot in the first season then I'll be happy.

[Feedolover]

Being Telford in the Blue Square North

Nuneaton got promoted to the league in the 2nd season, only to be promptly relegated back down with 13 points

You can't do worse, surely Terk?

Also, being reading your Liverpool career with great interest and enthusiasm, and wanted to ask your advice. How do you run two saves concurrently effectively? I always get too involved on one of them, and forget about the other save for ages. Then when I go back to it I just can't get into it.

[Terk]

Cheers, feedolover I definitely did better than relegation with 13 points

And on the subject of managing two careers, I find that the key is not leaving one mid-season. I play a season or two on one game, then move across and play a season or two on the other. If I leave Game A in mid season then I constantly want to go back to it and can't focus on what I'm doing with Game B, so therefore lose interest. I'm going to get Nuneaton through season two and then go back and play some of my Liverpool save.

[Terk]

Nuneaton Town

2010/11 Review

Blue Square North

For much of the first half of the season it looked like I was merely treading time until the board sacked me; indeed when we lost against Ilkeston in late December, the media were very much expecting the axe to fall. However, a few games prior we had switched to a 4-3-3 and it finally came good in the next match at Eastwood, sparking a fifteen match unbeaten league run which fired us well into play-off contention. A couple of draws (against Stalybridge and Workington) were followed by two defeats (against Alfreton and Corby) to end our run and put us in serious danger of losing our grip on 5th place right at the end, but we ended the season with two good wins (over Cambridge City and Ilkeston) to make sure we were in the play-offs.

In the play-offs we were pitted against Hinckley, and though we had much the better of the home leg, we could manage only a 1-1 draw. We were gifted a chance in the second leg when Hinckley were reduced to ten men right on half time, but we conceded from a corner on the hour and couldn't force our way back in. Hinckley went on to win promotion, beating Alfreton in the final.

League Positions Graph

FA Cup

We were forced into a replay in the 2nd qualifying round against Redbridge and managed to sneak through, but we couldn't repeat the trick against King's Lynn in the 3rd qualifying round, losing the replay 3-0 on our own turf.

FA Triphy

We met our target of the second round, having disposed of Forest Green and Market Drayton in the rounds previous. We drew at Alfreton in the 2nd round, forcing a replay at our place, but a poor performance saw us lose 2-1 and get dumped out.

Transfers

The squad was pretty small when I joined so we had to make up the numbers, and we did that pretty well, though it was some of our loan signings who fared particularly well, particularly those on three month deals such as striker Josh Knight, defender Luke O'Neill and midfielder Zeyn S-Latef. Goalkeeper Adam Legzdins did well enough in his short spell that, when Crewe sent him packing on a free transfer, we picked him up without hesitation.

Key Players

Ryan Austin

One of our two season-long loans, Ryan joined from Burton and was rock solid in the centre of our defence. He was the only one of our centre backs not to net an own goal and I'll be trying hard to get him back on board for next season.

Danny Cullip

A free transfer that I was very happy with, Danny brought a lot of experience to our defence and quite often ended up captaining the side, having taken regular captain Andy Duncan's place in the team. Despite his advancing years he's penned another one year deal in the hope that he can help take us up next season.

Chris Rowney

I never really considered him a regular starter in our midfield at the start of the season, but played as the defensive point on the midfield once we switched to the 4-3-3, he became invaluable. He had an eye for getting forward at the right time and that seriously helped his assist count and he'll be in the side from the off next season.

Robert Duffy

Brought in on loan from Mansfield, Robert took a while to settle into the league team but played well alongside Michael Proctor, and though he missed his fair share of chances, I'd be willing to look at bringing him back next season.

Michael Proctor

The undoubted star of the show, Michael was the fourth top scorer in the league, though he could have been joint top had he not missed three penalties in the course of the league campaign. I thought his pace (or stunning lack thereof) might hold him back a little, but he was consistent throughout the season and now stands as the club's top league goalscorer of all time with 25.

Next Season

After missing out in the play-offs, the next logical step is to aim for promotion. I'm sure that's what the board will want and it's what I want too. There are a good few players leaving at the end of their contracts in the summer, so it will be a busy period trying to bring players in, but if we can do that and build on the strengths we already have then I'm confident that we can at least match this season, and hopefully do better once the play-offs come around.

Career Overview

Season League Final Pos. Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11 Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi final

[Terk]

2011/12

Preview

Info

Division: Blue Square North

Stadium: Liberty Way

Capactiy: 3,850 (1,200 seated)

Bank Balance: - £205,000

Transfer Budget: £0

Wage Budget: £4,424 per week

Wage Bill: £3,316 per week

Board Expectation: Promotion

Media Prediction: 2nd

The board are adamant that this is the season for us to win promotion to the Blue Square Premier and have celebrated such raised ambition by cutting my wage budget by a third. I can understand that given the bank balance, but it makes things distinctly more difficult. A job lot of players were offloaded at the end of their contracts, giving me some space to work with in terms of bringing new faces in, but there will be no room for any poor moves in the market, and though the board rewarded me for my first season with a new two year contract, I'll have to work very hard to not end up on the scrapheap.

[salkster2102]

They cut your budget with you having 205k or is that 205k in the red? I had that happen to me on my Stocksbidge save after finishing mid table with the season after getting a wage budget of 2k. I somehow managed to win the league Hope you do the same Mr Terk.

[Dalbeider]

So far so good with Nuneaton, Terk. Reaching the playoffs in the first season is a good achievement in my books. Although my books may be biased because I suck at this game .

I've got a save for dafuge's challenge with King's Lynn around, midway through the first season, but I haven't touched it in a while after a decent enough start. I'll have to dig it out one of these days, if I manage to get away from my Colombian failure .

[rancer890]

Good first year with Nuneaton Town, Terk. Very nice of the board to raise expectation yet lower the wage budget...but compared what you dealt with at Anfield (nice work clearing the debt ), this should be a piece of cake.

Good luck next season.

[Terk]

Thanks for the support salkster, that's £200K in the red, so I wasn't surprised that the wage budget got slashed. I can't figure out any way to even come close to breaking even at this level of the game. And Dalbeider, in the lower leagues I think I may suck just as badly as you do And rancer, evidently winning the Premier League and CL with a debt-ridden Liverpool side is far easier than negotiating Nuneaton out of the Blue Square North

[Terk]

Second Season Shitness Syndrome strikes again. Things initially looked good, taking 7 points from the opening 3 games and playing well, but then it ground to a halt and we took only five points in our next eight matches and the board saw fit to sack me. Given that this is the second time this has happened at roughly the same point in the second season, you have to put two and two together and come up with the answer that I'm **** in the transfer market at this level.

[salkster2102]

Hasn't the assistant recommended you some good players? He did for me and so did my scouts. And with the finances i'm not sure if there is a bug on it. I'm guessing its the match day expenses which are doing it like mine our. I've laready had one loan for it and am surprised there isn't another one.

[Dalbeider]

at the manager profile picture, at the reason of its posting. I'm having flashbacks of a certain Eintracht Braunschweig save in FM09...

[Nobby_McDonald]

From what I've seen of Nuneaton... you're better off gone.

[Terk]

I'm certainly feeling that way, Nobby, after keeping a close eye on them for the remainder of the season In the 31 games that followed my sacking they managed to rise one place in the league table. Hope they crash and burn next year.

Hoping for third time lucky, Dalbeider. But I'll keep going on this challenge until I win at least one bloody promotion

And salkster, my assistant recommended me total duds and players who had no interest in joining. There wasn't anything in between, so I went with the opinion of my scout, and well, he recommended that I sign Armand One, which says enough about his judgement of a footballer.

[Terk]

In the middle of October 2012, I've just been approached by Canvey Island. Newly promoted to the Blue Square South, they got impatient very quickly, sacking their manager after he took just one point from 8 games. They won their next game with no one in charge and then offered me a 3 year deal which I readily accepted. 21st in the league, this could be tough

[Terk]

2012/13

Review

Canvey Island

I took over in October, nearly a year after getting the boot from Nuneaton, and we've had a pretty solid first year, certainly something to build on if I can avoid getting sacked in my second season this time.

Blue Square South

When I took over after 9 games, the club had just one win to their name and we're looking likely to live up to the media prediction of 21st place. I thought that major squad surgery would be needed, but to be honest, throughout the season the majority of the starting XI were players already at the club when I joined. Once we finally got our first league win under my guidance we began a steady yet relentless climb up the table which actually saw us in with a chance of sneaking a play-off place going into the final round of games. Forest Green pooped that idea with a 3-1 win at our place (for which they will be made to pay at some point in the future) but it gives me hope that we can be in the mix up next season.

League Positions Graph

FA Cup

The club had got to the 4th qualifying round before I arrived, and a home tie against Merthyr should have been easy enough to negotiate, but we got dumped on our asses as we still struggled to find some form.

FA Trophy

A much better run for which I was fully in charge, we started out with a win over Hayes & Yeading and followed that up with a 5-1 rout over Blue Square Premier side Dagenham & Redbridge. Eventual Blue Square South champions Chelmsford were dispatched next in a tight match before we ran out stunning 8-1 winners over Dartford. Rushden & Diamonds waited in the 4th round, but after drawing 3-3 at home, we lost the replay 4-2 at their place.

Key Players

The most pressing matter when I joined was to sign a goalkeeper (the only two on the club's books were only 16 years old and neither was any good even for that age). Rob Lainton joined for £500 from Airbus (and shall always be remembered as my first cash signing) but it was free transfer (and former Southend 'keeper) Jeet Padaruth who played the vast majority of games. He was nothing special, but solid enough to do the job.

Already at the club when I joined was Paul Hakim, who became the focal point of our three man attack and ended up with a haul of twenty-four goals in all competitions. Alongside him we loaned in Phil Taylor (I'm not even a darts fan and I couldn't stop from calling him 'The Power') and, like Padaruth, he did a solid if unspectacular job. My favourite player, however, was young midfielder Mark Hartmann, who showed an eye for a quick, defence splitting pass that was invaluable and earned him a new contract. He's made 79 league appearances already for the club and will likely make a lot more if we stay at this level.

Next Season

It'll be interesting to see what the board expect; this season they merely wanted us to fight bravely against the drop, so no doubt they're utterly delighted with me. The finances are, as ever at this level, a real problem as we side more than £160K in the red, so I wouldn't be surprised to see budget cuts, and if that happens then avoiding relegation will once again have to be the main item on the agenda.

Career Overview

Season League Final Pos. Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nuneaton Town
2010/11 Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi final
2011/12 Blue Square North 12th Sacked 11 games into the season

Canvey Island
2012/13 Blue Square South 10th None

[Dalbeider]

I'll wait until the end of your next season to pass judgement . But seriously, nice season, coming back from the bottom almost to the playoffs is a nice achievement.

About the money thing, try booking a few friendlies against Premiership teams (or their reserves) for the preseason, that could help a bit with the finances. Not so much with team morale, but whatever .

Also, nice posting time.

[Terk]

I'll wait until the end of your next season to pass judgement .

About the money thing, try booking a few friendlies against Premiership teams (or their reserves) for the preseason, that could help a bit with the finances. Not so much with team morale, but whatever .

That's definitely worth a try.

Also, nice posting time.

Student

[Terk]

New Club Records

2012/13

Top Goalscorer: Paul Hakim (24)

Top League Goalscorer: Paul Hakim (15)

Most Goals in a Match: Andy Burgess (3 vs. Dartford, 17th November 2012)

Most Assists: Mart Hartmann (19)

Most Man of the Match: Paul Hakim (7)

Fastest Goal: Paul Hakim (2 minutes 4 seconds, vs. Weston-super-Mare, 27th April 2013)

Youngest Goalscorer: Steve Cooper (16 years, 305 days)

[Terk]

2013/14

Preview

Info

Division: Blue Square South

Stadium: Park Lane

Capacity: 4,308 (500 seated)

Bank Balance: £163,204

Transfer Budget: £6,093

Wage Budget: £4,272 per week

Wage Bill: £2,465 per week

Board Expectation: Mid-table finish

Media Prediction: 13th

Pre-Season Odds: 50-1

Having not far missed out on the play-offs last season, I have sneaky ambitions of a top five finish this time around, but I think the board's aim is somewhat more realistic. However, should we have a mere mid-table season, I do worry about the club's finances, and whether the wage budget would then be able to sustain the sort of players who would be needed to push on for the top five. A new goalkeeper and a new striker and top of my list, though having got rid of a number of the overpaid players from last season's squad, I'll have to bring in quite a few just to get the depth right so that the occasionally crazy fixture scheduling at this level doesn't cost us.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Terk gets The Power reference before anybody else gets chance.

A good first season at Canvey given where they were when you took over.

[Terk]

I couldn't let someone else have that one, could I?

[Terk]

Canvey Island

Blue Square South

2013/14

Well, given that the board were expecting a season of mid-table obscurity, I think they will be pretty happy with what we achieved.

Blue Square South

The best defensive record in the league says something about our season, we built a very solid base and were very consistent throughout the campaign. As you can see from the league position graph, we were in and around the play-off places for the whole season, though despite a brief period of stunning form in the first half of the season we never looked remotely like claiming the title. Nevertheless, we comfortably finished fourth and booked a play-off semi final against Farnborough. Our spot in the final was sorted when we won the first leg 5-1, a second leg 1-1 draw just a mere formality. The final was against Ebbsfleet, who had collapsed in the final fifteen games from a comfortable lead, and we went ahead three times, eventually claiming the win that saw us promoted to the Blue Square Premier.

FA Cup

A good run in this, my first to the opening round of the tournament proper, was massively helpful to the cashflow, especially as our game against Colchester was picked up for TV coverage. The win against Wrexham was a real high point of the season, and to be honest I was glad that we eventually lost after a strong showing against Colchester as it would mean less disruption to our fixture list in the second half of the season.

FA Trophy

We stuffed Grays 6-1 in the 3rd qualifying round before being on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline against Gateshead in the 1st round. At least we reached the minimum target though.

Transfers

It was a case of getting a lot of players through the door this season, although the fact that some of them didn't work out meant that the squad was a little bloated (though still below wage budget) by the end of the campaign. My first signing for a decent fee, Ismail Yakubu at £3,500, was a big hit but the most satisfying was paying £1 for Jim Gordon from Brentford, and seeing him make a big difference to our promotion push.

Key Players

Undoubtedly our #1 player this season was striker James Foster. We picked him up on a free transfer after he was released by BSP side Crawley and his return of twenty-one goals and thirteen assists was a big reason why we did well. He proved to have a knack of scoring in 1-0 wins, and that level of importance saw him shortlisted for the BSS Player of the Season award.

My favourite player from last year, Mark Hartmann had another good season, but a two month injury gap coincided with a real loss of form for us and I hope he can make the step up in division next season. Jim Gordon proved to be a good late season signing whilst Ismail Yakubu was worth each of the £3,500 I paid for him.

Kyle Wilson was at times disappointing after his move from Havant & Waterlooville, but he started scoring regularly in the final third of the season, and his captaincy was vital throughout; the team performed far better with him around no matter what his level of performance was. The one player who continued to surprise me was goalkeeper Jeet Padaruth, brought in as a last option at the beginning of last season he has established himself well and truly as our #1 and fought off competition from four other goalkeepers who have been brought in during that time. Twenty nine clean sheets in seventy-nine league games for the youngster speak volumes about him.

Next Season

Stay up. Please for **** sake just stay up. Losing a bit less cash would be nice as well. The FA Cup run helped with the finances this year, but we still leaked money overall, just to a considerably smaller degree than last season.

Career Overview

Season League Final Pos. Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nuneaton Town
2010/11 Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi final
2011/12 Blue Square North 12th Sacked 11 games into the season

Canvey Island
2012/13 Blue Square South 10th None
2013/14 Blue Square South 4th Promoted via play-offs

[Dalbeider]

Woot, promotion \o/. And more importantly, two full seasons without being sacked . One of these days you'll stop sucking and the world will stop turning in awe .

Hopefully the slight increase in attendances in the BSP will help with the finances. Because I guess you weren't exactly filling the stadium in the BSS, right?

[Terk]

4,308 capacity, average crowd about 530 We got 2,500 for the FA Cup and 2,900 for the play-off semi final, so there is potential for decent crowds and I'm hoping that, if we have a decent cup run again we might, just might, break even next season.

And not quite two full seasons, I joined them 9 games into 2012/13. Don't get ahead of yourself on the me not sucking idea

[Terk]

2014/15

Preview

Info

Division: Blue Square Premier

Stadium: Park Lane

Capacity: 4,308 (500 seated)

Bank Balance: £232,715

Transfer Budget: £2,977

Wage Budget: £5,803 per week

Wage Bill: £3,196 per week

Board Expectation: Attempt to avoid relegation

Media Prediction: 24th

Pre-Season Odds: 33-1

Pretty well everyone, including my board, seem convinced that we're headed straight back down. I'm not being that defeatist yet, especially given some very creditable performances so far in pre-season. There don't seem to be too many weak teams in the division, maybe Forest Green and Corby, and there are a few that I would expect will give us a pretty good hiding (Tranmere to name but one), however, if we can defend on the same level as we did last year then I'll be happy that we have a chance at least.

[rancer890]

Good luck in the BSP Terk. Nice to see you paid 1 British pound (apparently there's a $ sign on Canadian keyboards ) for a player worth 10k now. Never knew a club would accept a 1 GBP transfer...

Prove everyone wrong this season!

[Terk]

\o/ I've signed a Canadian international for my BSP season \o/

The £1 fee was unnecessary to be honest, he was available on a free, I just wanted to see what was the lowest cash fee they would accept. Should have offered to pay it over 48 months

[rancer890]

\o/ You signed a Canadian.

A real player Terk? Or a newgen with Great Britain as 2nd nationality? I fancy you'll get to the Football League real soon with him.

[Terk]

Real player. Philip Appiah. Made his international debut in October 2011 game time. Used to play for Preston according to his history.

[Elrithral]

The £1 fee was unnecessary to be honest, he was available on a free, I just wanted to see what was the lowest cash fee they would accept. Should have offered to pay it over 48 months

Pfft you're not managing Liverpool

Great work so far.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Canvey back in the Conference. Well done Terk.

[Terk]

Cheers guys More great work this season

[Terk]

Canvey Island

Blue Square Premier

2014/15

The aim this season was nothing other than to avoid relegation, I've documented our FA Cup successes pretty well in here already, but suffice to say that the season in its entirety went better than expected.

Blue Square Premier

The league season got off to a good start (in light of our pre-season objective at least) with a couple of wins in our first four games, but three straight defeats brought us crashing back down to earth pretty quickly. From that point on, however we were solid as a rock, keeping eighteen clean sheets in the campaign and for the large part of the season occupying one of the play-off spots. The wheels wobbled for a while as the FA Cup exertions took their toll and defeats against Mansfield, Morcambe, Kettering and Darlington threatened to derail us completely, especially as our star player, James Foster, suffered a broken foot, but a 5-1 win over Macclesfield got the confidence flowing again and we closed out the season in third place.

That put us in a play-off semi final against Morecambe, and having stolen a late draw at Westgate, we scored early back at Park Lane to put us ahead on aggregate and from then we defended magnificently to book our place at Wembley. Mansfield overcame Chester in the other semi, so it was them we would face. They looked likely to overwhelm us in the first half hour, but we conceded only once and came roaring back in the second half, Mark Hartmann equalising from 25 yards before serial substitute Phil Parkin nabbed a winner three minutes from time.

League Positions Graph

FA Trophy

Nothing remarkable in this and to be honest I was quite glad when Forest Green scored an 89th minute winner against us as the last thing I wanted was another replay during a period when our fixture congestion was getting out of control.

FA Cup

The wonderful, money spinning machine that is the FA Cup. It almost didn't happen as we had to fight back from 3-1 down to force a replay against Braintree in the first round, but once we had beaten Morecambe in round two it was time to pray for the big boys. That didn't quite happen, but we dispatched Luton after a replay and did the same for Hull but without the need for a second go. Finally we got our draw, Newcastle away, and though we lost 4-0, we made half a million from the game and the run as a whole helped us post profits this season not far short of a million pounds.

Transfers

I think what proved to be key in this department was managing to pick up a number of players who had been released by League sides. Philip Appiah, John Mousinho, Kostas Tsioukas and others were sent packing by their clubs higher up the food chain, and they brought with them that extra level of schooling that served us well. I took a chance in dumping £12,000 in installments for Truro winger Nathan Woolfe and it didn't really pay off; he signed a one year deal and won't be getting a renewal this summer.

Key Players

As with last season, there can be only one star in here and his name is James Foster. An absolutely stunning season, curtailed by injury, James has fired his way into the record books as the club's leading league goalscorer in just two years with us and I'm starting to become convinced that he can be a real asset at League Two level.

Former Swindon trainee Mark Hartmann continued to impress me and now has over thirty assists in the three seasons that I've been at the club, but the most creative award for this campaign went to French winger Lassana Sidibé, whose pace caused problems for many a defence.

Honourable mentions should also go to Kyle Wilson, who returned from injury just in time to ensure that we held onto our play-off place; John Mousinho, whose versatility proved invaluable and Matty Darlow, our goalscoring centre back who proved to be rock solid as well and a good choice as a back up captain.

Next Season

Stay up. It's going to be massively difficult, though hopefully the cash from the FA Cup run this year will reduce the financial burden a little. I'm pinning many of my hopes on James Foster returning successfully from injury and scoring enough to keep us afloat. It's a lot of eggs in a small basket, but it has to be done.

Career Overview

Season League Final Pos. Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nuneaton Town
2010/11 Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi final
2011/12 Blue Square North 12th Sacked 11 games into the season

Canvey Island
2012/13 Blue Square South 10th None
2013/14 Blue Square South 4th Promoted via play-offs
2014/15 Blue Square Premier 3rd Promoted via play-offs

[Terk]

Terk's Canvey Heroes

Paul Hakim (AMR/ST)

(2012-2014)

Games: 89

Goals: 37

Assists: 15

Rating: 7.01

A vital part of the side that pulled us away from relegation in my first season, Paul scored fifteen league goals as part of a front three that helped me cement my popularity with the board. Maintained his place in the side during our promotion season, albeit largely on the right wing, and was in superb form throughout. In the end age caught up with him and he wasn't physically up to joining us in the Blue Square Premier, but he will always be fondly remembered at Park Lane.

James Foster (ST)

(2013 - Present)

Games: 91

Goals: 52

Assists: 18

Rating: 7.26

Signed on a free transfer after BSP side Crawley released him, James has come in and blown away my expectations, in just two seasons becoming the club's all time leading league goalscorer. His goals were a massive reason for the back-to-back promotions from the BSS and BSP, even if his season in the latter was curtailed by a broken foot. If he can continue his impact in league football then we may have a true club legend on our hands.