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Drew. FC United. Coca Cola League One. 2015/2016

Table - Too easy, way too easy this season, apart from Sheff United and Brighton, the rest of the league were a joke, my attacking fron line were superb, back line were solid as a rock, just simply fantastic, and we set a new record for points accumulated as well :D

Graph - Matchday 24 onwards, way too easy, I'm guessing it's my tactics, teams are unable to cope with my front line, which is encouraging.

Transfers - Those that were not good enough for the step up were let go, whereas I brought in some quality from abroad, most of which were too good for League One.

Squad - Some fantastic performances from certain members of the squad this season, most notably Harald Meyer, solid at the back, and was a threat from the right wing when he ventured forward, I have big hopes for this kid, I beleive he can make the step up to not only The Championship, but also the Premier League as well; Lubomir Michalik was superb this season, an experienced head is always vital at this level, unfortunately he is nowhere good enough for The Championship, so a replacement is needed; Lawrence Leek was superb just like Michalik, fasntastic at the back and a threat up front from set pieces, a big season for him next season; Pavel kalivoda, wow, what a season from the young man, 11 goals and 17 assists from the left wing, what a fantastic seasona nd I will be hoping for more of the same next season; Phillip Foy is my player of the season this year, doesn't have the best technical attributes, but he has an eye for the goal and the way my wingers and midfield played, he was given plenty of opportunities at goal and took most of them.

Finances - Another F.A. Cup run proved to be beneficial to the club, a 4-0 defeat away to Arsenal £££

Promotion

Aims for nest season:

Improve the squad.

PROMOTION :D

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I strayed a little bit ahead in my game, so there's two updates here... so very long post.

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FC United of Manchester

Season 5 - 2016/17 – League One

Preseason - Media Prediction: 24th

We're Getting There...

Club Info

Into League One. Again, we were all predicted for failure. Another spoiler alert, this didn't happen.

The Season

Yet another fantastic season. We got promoted via the playoffs! Some nasty bloody playoffs they were too. The semi final was a tense moment. Completely blanked out at the end and forgot to screenshot my position graph, finances and confidence. It's okay though, I remembered to do it for the Championship season.

League One Table

AFC Wimbledon v FC United | FC United v AFC Wimbledon

FC United v Coventry

Transfers | Squad (1) (2)

FC United Awards

Fan's Player of the Year

Ondrej Srom

This guy was a little gem! 47 league games, 23 goals. Could not rate him higher. Fantastic little find and quite versatile too, being able to play at MR quite a lot during the season and still keep the scoring up!

Top Scorer

Ondrej Srom

See above.

The Jordan Swinburn Award (The Surprise of the Season award)

Getting promoted.

The Millward Player Choice Award (Manager's Player of the Year)

Ondrej Srom

Gotta be Srom.

Career Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements
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2012/13         Blue Square North         1st           Promoted - Champions 
2013/14         Blue Square Premier       13th          Survived Relegation
2014/15         Blue Square Premier       2nd           Promoted - Playoffs
2015/16         League Two                3rd           Promoted - 3rd
2016/17         League One                4th           Promoted - Playoffs

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FC United of Manchester

Season 6 - 2017/18 – Championship

Preseason - Media Prediction: 24th

One Last Step...

Club Info

Championship time! Just one more step! One again predicted by everyone to crash and burn.

The Season

Easily the best season yet. Without a shadow of a doubt. You'll see why! At one point in the season, I decided that I only wanted regens in the squad. Hense all the releases. Gutter of the season was Bertrand getting sold over my head though. He was a good good player.

Championship Table | Position Graph

Transfers | Squad

Finances | Confidence

The FA Cup Run

This season, we had an absolutely unbelievable cup run. It started roughly, with a 1-1 draw to Swansea. In the replay, we won 1-0. Then came the big test... Liverpool, at Anfield. I don't know how, but we delivered, winning 1-0. Things got a bit easier from here! Wigan at home in the 5th round, and we beat them 2-1. Then came Championship Hull in the 6th, only cementing the theory of my quarter final luck. We'd just beaten these 3-0 in the league, so I expected a win... and we delivered, just. 1-0 win.

So, we were in the Semi Final of the FA Cup. And then the worst happened. Our frequent worst enemy came out of the hat. Blackburn Rovers. Ever since I came into the Football League, Blackburn had knocked me out of the League Cup. In League Two, they won 6-2. League One, 3-1. This was our time for revenge. And revenge is what we got. Fantastic 3-1 win! The final beckoned!

In the other semi final, it was Manchester City v Southampton. I attended this game, as any manager would, and it went all the way to extra time. I was praying for a Southampton win... and then, out of nowhere, City scored. And it was over. City had won, so I had it all to do in the final. Talk about Mission: Impossible! So, Man City v FC United in the FA Cup Final of 2018...

And this happened...

Absolute heartbreak. We absolutely dominated that game. Dominated! Yet we lost by 1 goal. We completely caned City in every way but scoring. Absolute heartbreak.

FA Cup Fixtures

However, one good thing came from that cup final. Manchester City had already qualified for the Champions League. So, you know what that means...

Premier League AND Europa League, here FC United come!

FC United Awards

Fan's Player of the Year

Cyril Eto'o

Yes, we signed Eto'o. Cyril Eto'o! Absolute beast this guy... except in the cups. Guy couldn't score to save his life in the cups. In the league however, 24 goals in 38 games. Great talent, and also our top scorer.

Top Scorer

Cyril Eto'o

See above.

The Jordan Swinburn Award (The Surprise of the Season award)

The season itself! The fact we got over 100 points in the league, getting first, but also got into, yet lost (somehow!) in the FA Cup Final, was astounding. This was easily the best season I've had in the Championship on this challenge for 3 years.

The Millward Player Choice Award (Manager's Player of the Year)

Cyril Eto'o

It couldn't have been anyone else.

Aims For Next Season

Stay up, get another glorious cup run, and have a good crack at the Europa League! Bring it on!

Career Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13         Blue Square North         1st           Promoted - Champions 
2013/14         Blue Square Premier       13th          Survived Relegation
2014/15         Blue Square Premier       2nd           Promoted - Playoffs
2015/16         League Two                3rd           Promoted - 3rd
2016/17         League One                4th           Promoted - Playoffs
2017/18         Championship              1st           Promoted - Champions, FA Cup Finalist

And we're completely updated!

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Well I decided to keep going with Canvey Island despite worries over the reputation drop, and the fact that I basically only have 14 first team players this year, and it's fair to say I've been pleasantly surprised.

We've won our 1st three matches of the league including a thumping 5-0 win away to Havant & Waterlooville.

This match however had my bum making chocolate buttons for the last 11 mins or so! The 444 fans certainly got their money's worth in this one!

I'm really surprised at the marked difference in our performance this season though, as we look like an inferior side on paper compared to last year, yet we're performing much better. It's not even as if I have made any tactical or training changes? Not complaining though! :D

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Well done Swinburn and Drew! Looking forward to finishing up my season tonight and joining you in the Prem. Europa League football though - wow. Amazing achievement.

Europa League going very well, I've already secured first round place with a game to go. Only lost to Benfica in my group so far, which features Trabzonspor and H. Tel-Aviv. One game left, against Benfica.

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Chippenham Town F.C. 2013/2014

#24 - DizzyIzzyB13

2nd in Blue Square Premier (Play-offs) (pred: 24th) | Transfers | | | Player Stats ,

The League

We had an excellent season, spending the majority of it in and around the play-off places. A late season surge almost saw us take the title, going undefeated in 7 league games in March and securing me the award, but Wrexham's strong form held up while we lost our final two games to settle for second place and a spot in the play-offs.

In the play-off semi-finals, we were matched up with Farnborough. A goalless draw in the away leg took us back to Hardenhuish Park, where I expected a tense tie. But I was pleased to be disappointed, as we brushed them aside 4-0 to regain our mojo just in time for the play-off final. We were matched up with a Dagenham and Redbridge side who'd just lost to Ebbfleet in the FA Trophy final on the same Wembley pitch just a week earlier. Richi Barroilhet's 51st minute goal sent us ahead. We seemed to be coasting into the Football League... until the 80th minute, when disaster struck. Dutch centre back Arsenio Halfhuid tripped striker Sam Williams in the middle of our half and recieved his marching orders. Suddenly, we were forced onto the back foot, and Dagenham and Redbridge threw everything at us for 10 minutes. In truth, we were lucky to only let in the one goal in normal time, managing to drag ourselves into the extra period. I shuffled the pack, reorganising my players to try and provide a more solid defence. It seemed to work, as we forced a corner 6 minutes into the extra period and Sudanese substitute defender Gemi Yagoub headed it home to hand the lead back to us. But even as we celebrated holding on to the half, a futher setback occured - Luke Hendrie, a midfielder who was filling in in defence was stretchered off injured, leaving us with 9 men to hold off 15 minutes of all-out assault. They threw everything at us, coming closer and closer, even hitting the woodwork.... until Richie Barroilhet chased a long clearing free-kick, headed the ball over the keeper and put us 3-1 up with 5 minutes to go! And so, we held on, securing promotion with a

victory! FOOTBALL LEAGUE HERE WE COME!

The Cups (FA Cup (Expectations: 3rd Qualifying Round) | FA Trophy (Expectations: Learn from the experience of competing))

Bizarrely, our FA Cup campaign opened with us already exceeding expectations - the board expected me to reach the third round, despite the fact we'd been seeded to start off in the 4th qualifying round. On a more positive note, we had our first home game in the FA Cup under my stewardship after last seasons 6 successive away ties. Our opponents were rivals Swindon Supermarine from the southern Premier Division. Althouh the scoreline didn't quite reflect it, we comfortably eased past them with a

victory. We followed that up with a visit from Stalybridge Celtic in the first round, securing a solid
victory. In the second round, our parent club Swindon Town came to visit. we'd played them in pre-season friendlies in the last three seasons (including the 2011-12 seson when I wasn't in charge) and lost all three by a combined 9-0, so I knew it wasn't going to be an easy game. In front of a record 4,000 attendence, we managed to hold on for a goalless draw to take them to a replay at the County Ground. We gave our all, but ultimately the superior fitness of a full-time team shone through, and we exited the competition, losing
after extra time.

In the FA Trophy, we opened up with a

at Hardenhuish Park set up a replay at Aggborough. However, despite our best efforts, they proved too strong for a tired side, and sent us out of the competition
.

The Players

Top Goalscorer: Richie Barroilhet, 27

Top League Goalscorer: Richie Barroilhet, 23

Most Assists:: Jamie Maclaren, 11

Highest Average Rating: Will Evans

Fan's Player of the Year: Richie Barroilhet

Team of the Year

Internationals: Zak Ansah, Ghana U-20s; Phil Bassett Wales U-19s; Nikos Georgiou, Cyprus U-21s & U-19s; Jamie Maclean, Malta U-21s; Ivaylo Stanchev, Bulgaria U-19s; Gareth Swattridge, Wales U-19s

The Staff

Manager:

Assistant Manager: Jack Ward

Coaches: Louis Adamson, Ralph Duncan, Matt Heywood, Paul James (Fitness), Kevin Kelly, Scott Peat (Goalkeepers)

Physiotherapist: Steve Bradbury

Scouts: Wayne Beadle, Anthony Howe, Sam Marriott, Neil Pringle, Matt Shawcross, Ross Williams

The Finances

Although we're not doing too badly cash-wise, the decision of the board to invest in a new stadium has given us signficiant debts and a drain on our resources. In addition, the fact that the club has turned professional is going to change the amount players are going to demand from us, meaning we could face significant troubles next year. Sigh.

The Future

Next year is all about surviving, trying to build up enough cash to advance the club forward and working on ensuring we can improve our facilities.

[b][u][color="blue"]CLUB HISTORY[/color][/u][/b]

[b]SEASON	LEAGUE	POS.	Notes[/b]
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[b]12/13[/b]	BSS	[url=http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee69/DizzyIzzyB13/Chippenham/2012-13/BlueSquareSouth.png]5th[/url]	Promoted via Play-offs
[b]13/14[/b]	BSP	[url=http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee69/DizzyIzzyB13/Chippenham/2013-14/BlueSquarePremiertable.png]2nd[/url]	Promoted via Play-offs
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[b][u][color="blue"]TROPHY CABINET[/color][/u][/b]

None


[b][u][color=purple]MANAGER AWARDS[/color][/u][/b]

[b]Blue Square Premier Manager of the Year - [url=http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee69/DizzyIzzyB13/Chippenham/2013-14/BSPManageroftheYear.png]2013/2014[/url][/b]

[b]Blue Square South Manager of the Year - [url=http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee69/DizzyIzzyB13/Chippenham/2012-13/BlueSquareSouthManageroftheYear.png]2012/2013[/url][/b]

[b]Blue Square Premier Manager of the Month - [url=http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee69/DizzyIzzyB13/Chippenham/2013-14/MarchManageroftheMonth.png]March 2014[/url][/b]

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END OF SEASON

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HENDON F.C - Season 2025/26

League Table | Squad | Transfer In / Out

Our first season in the top flight and a top 10 finish. We started well then our form dipped towards Christmas, I thought we weere going to do a Blackpool! We found a few wins, confidence grew and we made a good finish. I didn't make many signings but I can see I need more quality in this squad if we are to break into a Euro place although we were only 3 points away at the end.

Season      Division                    Position        Cups
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2012/13     Blue Square South           6th             F.A Cup 3rd Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 2nd Rnd
2013/14     Blue Square South           5th             F.A Cup 2nd Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 1st Rnd
2014/15     Blue Square South          12th             F.A Cup 3rd Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 2nd Rnd
2015/16     Blue Square South           9th             F.A Cup 2nd Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 1st Rnd
2016/17     Blue Square South           1st             F.A Cup 2nd Rnd, F.A Trophy 4th Rnd
2017/18     Blue Square Premier        10th             F.A Cup 4th Qual Rnd, F.A Trophy 4th Rnd
2018/19     Blue Square Premier         1st             F.A Cup 5th Rnd, F.A Trophy Winners
2019/20     npower League 2             9th             F.A Cup 3rd Rnd, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT 1st Rnd
2020/21     npower League 2             1st             F.A Cup 2nd Rnd, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT Semi-Finals
2021/22     npower League 1            15th             F.A Cup 3rd Rnd, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT 2nd Rnd
2022/23     npower League 1            14th             F.A Cup Semi Finals, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT 2nd Rnd
2023/24     npower League 1             1st             F.A Cup 4th Rnd, Carling Cup 1st Rnd, JPT 1st Rnd
2024/25     npower Championship         1st             F.A Cup 5th Rnd, Carling Cup 3rd Rnd
2025/26     Barclays Premier League    10th             F.A Cup 5th Rnd, Carling Cup Quarter Finals

Next Season Targets

*Top 8 finish

*Get to the Carling or F.A Cup Final

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This is challenge has been the greatest amount of fun I think I have ever had in FM. Love reading everyones little updates that everyone posts. Playing as Worksop and doing ok, Season 2 and we are pushing hard in BSP. C'mon Tiggggrrrsss!!

Many thnx to Dafuge, DizzyIzzy, Swiburn, Dan, C&C.. your posts are great, keep them coming!

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#103

Marine FC – Season 1 (2012/13) Blue Square Bet North

Marine_F.C.logo.png

Media prediction: 22nd

Final position: 11th

Squad 1 Squad 2

Transfers

Competitions

Well, that was quite a pleasing season overall. As expected everyone I thought would be decent preseason turned out not to be good enough so I ended up taking advantage of non-contracts to bring in over 50 players throughout the season, and getting rid of the players from the last regime who were on ridiculous wages compared to their ability. But this never really had an adverse effect on the team’s performances throughout the season – playing an extremely narrow and very rigid 4-4-2, counter attacking with pacy wingers and strikers seemed to suit the team and the system was quickly picked up by new recruits. It provided a decent defensive platform (strikers at this level miss so many chances that on paper it looks even better than it did on the pitch) and was able to expose teams too keen to push their fullbacks up; our record against the top 5 was W5 D5 L2 in all competitions. Unfortunately when we had lots of the ball we didn’t really know what to do with it and we drew or lost far too many times against the teams at the bottom (we were spanked 5-0 at home by Solihull Moors and lost to bottom of the table Harrogate who only won another 5 games all season for instance).

We managed to reach the QF of the FA Trophy but then came up against a very impressive Welling team – it was obvious from the first few minutes that their pace and dribbling was going to cause us huge problems. It’s rather annoying that the gate money isn’t shared in this competition or the FA qualifying rounds since it does mean that it’s financially better to play for a replay when you get an away fixture.

Players

Callum Williams GK – reinforcing my feeling that star ratings for GK are not very informative at this level, I had a 4.5 star keeper who kept moving out of the goal-mouth on crosses allowing tame headers to bounce into the net or dropping the ball in a crowded penalty area, whereas 2 star Callum managed to avoid conceding such howlers throughout the season.

Jamie Grimes and Ollie Monguel (no I don’t know how to pronounce that!) DC – these two distinguished themselves from my other centre-backs with their consistency. Reasonably pacy and good in the air they will be my captain and vice-captain next season.

Shane Murray and Graeme MacGregor MC – both came in the second half of the season but they appear to be able to perform to their capabilities and complement each other well, they’ve also booked a first XI place next year. I have them for 2 more years on £6k a year contracts!

Ryan Bowman ST – he’s on a lot of money, but I know it can be difficult to find strikers that will actually manage to put the ball into the net so 21 goals as a deep-lying foward was enough for me to sign him on for another 2 years.

David Goldsmith and Marcus Carver ST – more second half of the season signings but again both of them seem to be able to get goals as poachers so I’m hopeful they’ll help us get more goals next season.

Andy Gavin DC, MC – he only turned 17 in February so frankly his consistency is astonishing. A super-sub who would come on when a starting centre-back or defensive minded midfielder was having a mare and steady the ship, I genuinely can’t remember a terrible performance from him. Strong in the air, strong in the challenge, sensible in possession – can you tell I love this guy? I hope to see him develop at the club for a long time.

Finances

Which leads me to the finances! This was a big thing for me since I don’t really want to run up huge debts and get totally unrealistic board injections while still a nonleague club (as happened to me last year.) I really don't understand how this works – my board gave me £190k to spend on player wages, I spent £110k of that and still ended up losing £40k over the season. I didn’t ask for anything extra from the board – no more staff than allowed, hired staff on wages nowhere near the maximum I could offer, no facilities improved – our attendances averaged 400 which is the same or more than most BSN clubs and had 7 money-spinning friendlies. Why would the board get this so wrong? How come the club was promoted with healthy finances but a wage bill that I couldn’t afford to maintain? And how on earth are the other clubs able to afford the wages they offer?

Reputation

WTF? 52 non-playable clubs are now rated as higher rep than me, a mid-table BSN, FA Trophy quarter-finalist. I have the same rep as Met Police for goodness sakes! WTF?

Next Season’s Goals

  1. Reach the playoffs
  2. Breakeven
  3. Develop a more attacking formation to hopefully attract more fans (also since 3 of 4 wingers were poached at the end of the season I can’t rely on my previous tactic to work).

Season      Division                    Position         Noteworthy Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13     Blue Square North           11th             F.A Trophy QF

Any tips on report style appreciated. :)

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HASTINGS UNITED (#68) Season 2 2013/2014

Table -- Squad -- Position -- Transfers -- Reputation -- Confidence (Competitions - Transfers)

The Season

Season 2 turned out to be a good one. We had a slow start in the beginning, but hit a good run of form about the time the cup matches started up. A couple of new signings finally gelled with the rest of the team, and Hastings was off to the races. Unfortunately, it was a race to second place, as Ebbsfleet took an early lead and never looked back. A great run of 15 matches undefeated put us solidly in contention for the playoff spots, until disaster struck. Fixture congestion (due to a pretty good cup run, as well as a couple of postponed away matches) caused a sever fitness issue. This was compounded by (or even caused) sever injuries to key players. New signing (Striker) Sean Cassidy missed 5 weeks from early January to a twisted ankle. Young striker Molyneaux missed 6 weeks from mid January to a sprained ankle. My star centre-back Tunnecliffe missed 3 weeks in mid February to a thigh strain. Just when it seemed like I was about to have a full squad, playmaking midfielder Padraig Byrne went down for three weeks in mid-march to a twisted knee. In all, I had 7 or 8 multi-week injuries simultaneously—this brought the run to a crashing end, and pushed me out of the playoff spots for a while.

However, the team kept its spirits up (we never suffered a morale problem), kept their heads up, and pushed forward. Come the final 4 matches of the season, they were right back in the thick of things, nosing in and out of the fifth playoff spot (actually hitting as high as second place temporarily)…but with a margin of 1 points’ difference between 5 contenders, it was always going to come down to the final match of the season. Match day 42, level on points with 3 other teams (Ebbsfleet had long clinched the first spot, and Dartford was comfortably sitting in 2nd with a 3 point advantage over the next four teams), we only had to match or exceed on other team in order to advance. (Our goal differential meant that even if we loss, as long as one other team lost, we were through). And, what a match it would be…our final match, home, to rivals Eastbourne Boro --- one of the teams in the mix for the playoffs. A draw (or better) would be enough to see us through.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out quite that way. An entertaining match and controversial refereeing saw Hastings lose 4-2. This wouldn’t be the first time this season that I blasted the refs during the post-match interview, nor would it be the first time the FA remained quiet about my outburst. (Though, I did sit out match…38 or 39, I forget which due to some of my comments  ). Fortunately for us, Farnborough dropped a couple of goals to already-relegated Staines, their loss sealing our playoff place.

The playoff semifinal was drawn against 2nd place Dartford, a team which took 4 points in our head-to-head matchup during the season. A lively, if scoreless first half, saw us pepper the opposition with shots, but unable to put the ball in the net. That changed in the 69th minute, as sub striker Molyneaux caught a defender in possession just inside the 18 yard line, took a step, and calmly slotted the ball past the keeper. The home crowd erupted in cheers. However, Molyneaux wasn’t quite finished yet, as, on 76 minutes, he scored the biggest goal of his young career, racing onto a through ball from right midfielder McCartan, racing into the box, and driving a ball low to the keeper’s right into the corner of the net. The crowd of nearly 3150 were ecstatic.

But, we still had an away leg to tend to, and it got off to a bad start. Star of the first leg Molyneaux went off injured in the 7th minute of the game. And, for some reason, it seemed at times we were playing 11 on 13, as the referees showed exteme bias towards the hosts, culminating in a straight red for star striker Mannion in the 57th minute for “catching boyle with an elbow” --- (in the same commentary “Boyle surely took a dive there”). So, still up 2-0 on aggregate, but playing down a man (or three, if you count the refs  )we had our work cut out for us. Fortunately, our back had frustrated Dartford all day, and, despite conceding the bulk of the possession throughout the game, Dartford was only able to capitalize once, as the lads somehow contrived to allow Charlie Sheringham free on a long ball in the 87th minute (we were playing a corner up at their end) which he blasted past the keeper from 25 yards.

The match ended 1-0, and we were through to the final against Truro...but it looked to be rough going. My appeal against the red card for Mannion was denied. Molyneaux was out 3 weeks. Striker Cassidy was away on international duty. That left me with my right mid/striker and 5th string striker King up front. In desperation, I brought up one of my top prospects from the recent youth intake and gave him a run in the final. (I’d hoped his 14 finishing, easily the top rating of any of my remaining strikers, would help). However, it was unlikely left-midfielder Konstantinos Laifis who gave our side the lead in the 34th minute, capitalizing on a mistake from the keeper (he collected, then dropped, the through ball from my right winger) and calmly finishing his chance. It was his second goal for the (short) season, and was the one that mattered most. Centre back Josh Jirbandy doubled our lead in the 52nd minute with a towering header from a corner, and, that was it. Hastings were through to the BSP!!!

Top highlights---as in our first season, we had a pretty good goal differential….we ended 3rd in goals scored at 76, 5th in goals allowed at 50. (Ebbsfleet managed 91 goals to 36 allowed, a whopping 55 G.D!) Unfortunately, I missed some of the individual and team records before the season cycled over, but the last I had checked, Tunnecliffe had been 2nd in AVR, 1st in Interceptions, 1st in Key Headers, 9th in tackles, and 3rd in MoM awards. Unfortunately, he did not take the player of season award, which went to Michael West of Ebbsfleet, who tallied 9 goals, 24 assists, and 6 MoM with an AVR of 7.4.

I actually had 3 players on the shortlist for player of season..Tunnecliffe, Byrne, and Mannion. Might be the most of my own team I’ve seen on that shortlist 

CUPS: A much better round of cup competitions than my first year (3QR in both cups then). In the FA Cup, I had easy lower league home ties vs Ilford and Weston-super-Mare (3-0 and 4-0 respectively), before facing my first challenge in the form of BSP Dag & Red. A stoppage time goal from Chris Molyneaux ensured a replay away at Victoria Road, however, the higher division team completely outclassed me, and I succumbed to a 4-1 defeat, ending my FA Cup in the 4QR.

The FAT saw a slightly better run, starting with a 5-1 demolishhing of fellow BSS outfit Hampton & Richmond in the 3QR, which put me through to the cup proper. A stoppage time goal from Striker Ben King gave me the home win against Kingstonian in the 1st round, putting me through to BSP Dover away at the Crabble Athletic Ground. We were huge underdogs, but the lads responded magnificently. Down 1-0, Mannion grabbed an equalizer in the 52 minute with a deft lob over the advancing keeper. Dover responded right back in the 55th minute, but again Ben King came through, blasting a 25 yarder from a narrow angle in the 76th minute, giving us a home replay. At this point in the season, with internationals and injuries, we were hurting…but goals from Mannion and ML Finlay sealed a 2-1 win and a trip to Edgar Street, where we faced in-form BSP Hereford. At this point, fitness, injuries, and fixture congestion caught up, and we went out 2-0.

Not the greatest of runs, but a little extra for the coffers, and hope of better things to come.

Players of Note

My choice for player of the season…backed by the fans----Jordan Tunnecliffe. Signed in my first season as a player who would push me forward, he did just that, anchoring a stingy defense that only came in fifth in goals allowed due to his own injury in the spring. His 7.28 AvR outdid his first seasons (7.25) and led the team. 7 MoM, 5 goals, and 2 assists has firmly cemented his place in the hearts of the fans.

Ethan Mannion, again my leading goalscorer, tallying 24 times in 51 appearances this season. He added 13 assists and 6 MoM awards to this total. His pass rating of 80%, and his 46% SoT (top 5 among strikers if I recall), led to a pretty decent 7.15 AVR for the season. I took a chance in early January and signed him to a £575/wk contract, praying we would win promotion so I could afford it without off-loading too much  It paid off!

17-year old Chris Molyneaux had another pretty good season, though with some extra players up front, I used him as part of a rotation rather than full-time. (Trying to keep him from a repeat of his injury-ridden first year). Making 16(19) appearances, he managed to grab 12 goals and an assist. Of course, his two goals in the home leg of the playoff semi-final will forever be remembered as the catalyst which propelled us forward! A serviceable 6.98 AVR, he added 2 MoM awards to his tally. We’ll have to see if he has what it takes to succeed in the BSP, as his training charts haven’t been overly impressive. Hasn’t peaked yet…but might need better training grounds to see his potential 

Striker Sean Cassidy was brought in to provide some extra power up front, partnering with Mannion and rotating with Molyneaux. Missed some crucial games due to international youth call-ups, managed 12 goals and 6 assists in 33(4) appearances. Overall a welcome addition, and tipped to be potentially better than Mannion. A more physical player, he can muscle his way through tackles that cause both Mannion and Molyneaux problems. A bargain for the coming year at only £100/week 

Midfielder Padraig Byrne was brought in at the beginning of the season to help James Brace control the middle of the pitch. Together, they worked admirably, notching 90 appearnces between them and providing a solid platform for both offence and defence. Byrne’s 13 assists, 3.17 Tack/game, 4 MoM, and 7.14 AvR had him on the shortlist for BSS Player of the season. Resigned at the end of the season to another year at £400/week.

Finally, this my “Young player of the Year” Dalvinder Malessa. Was the top rated youngster from the 2013 graduating class, I immediately slotted him in at the left back position to start the season. Along side Tunnecliffe and Jirbandey, he fit in perfectly, despite his youth. He put in 36(4) appearances, notching 5 assists, 4.03 tackles/game, and 2 MoM awards, enroute to a solid 9.94 AvR. Not a bad first season! Very solid progress on his training charts, coaches are predicting he might make League One in the future. Easily my top youngster!

Other Notes of Interest

As seen above, Hastings is no longer the lowest rep team of the BSS/BSN divisions, several teams (but, not until the promotion actually occurred. At the time of the playoff final, I was 2nd bottom of all BSN/BSS teams). Still bottom of all BSP teams, but definite progress upwards finally! There are a total of 8 BSN/BSS teams I am now ahead of reputation wise, while the closest BSP team is some 30 spots above me (200? 300? Rep points…more? <shrug>) I’ll take the progress I’m seeing…

Named over-achieving team of the BSS (again!)

Interesting 100th game in charge -- just happened to be the playoff final against Truro!

Best week of season

Team best XI

Overall best XI --- 5 new players inducted

Finances -- about £200k in the red. Decent cup runs, and 3 (small) cash injections from the board, have kept things manageable. Still need to turn this around in the coming season. Another cup run will certainly help there.

Budget wise, with the promotion, I’ve been given £4.8k (up from 3.6k) to work with. I decided not to push my luck and try for an increase---deciding that avoiding relegation is a good enough goal this year . After dumping a bunch of players I don’t think will help at the new level, I’m sitting on £3.8k/week, but have what I think is a solid foundation. Will try to bring in a couple players on the cheap to provide some depth in key areas, but I’m happy, for now, at what I have.

Season 3 manager profile

New Team Records

Highest League Position: 5th in BSS

Highest Gate Receipts: £24K v Dartford, playoff semi-final (~3150 attending)

Biggest Win: 6-0 v Chelmsford (Away)

Highest Scoring Game: 4-4 v Maidenhead (Away)

Highest Scoring League Game: 4-4 v Maidenhead (Away)

Most games without losing: 15 30.11.2013-5.2.2014

Most games without scoring: 2 3.0.2013 - 14.0.2013

New Individual Records

Top Goalscorer: Ethan Mannion --- 24

Top League Goalscorer: Ethan Mannion --- 19

Most Assists: Ethan Mannion --- 13

Most Man of Match: Jordan Tunnicliffe --- 7

Most League Appearances for club: Josh Jirbandey --- 138

Most League goals for club: Ethan Mannion --- 30

Youngest Player: Dalvinder Malessa --- 16 yr 117 days (at home, vs Lewes, 10.8.2013)

Fastest Goal: Ethan Mannion --- 26 seconds (v Hampton & Richmond, FAT 3Q rd, 30.11.2013)

Other competition winners

EPL: Manchester United (Relegated—Wigan, West Ham, Birmingham)

Championship: Norwich (Promoted – Fulham, Middlesbrough) (Relegated – Millwall, Derby, Peterborough)

League 1: Huddersfield (Promoted –Carlisle, Hartlepool) (Relegated – Port Vale, Tranmere, Charlton, Plymouth)

League 2: Rotherham (Promoted – Shrewsbury, Northampton, AFC Wimbledon) (Relegated – Wrexham, Cheltenham)

Blue Square Premier: Kidderminster (Promoted – Fleetwood) (Relegated – FC Halifax, Tamworth, AFC Telford, Eastleigh)

Blue Square North: Barrow (Promoted -- Alfreton) (Relegated – Guiseley, Lowestoft, St. Albans)

Blue Square South: Ebbsfleet (Promoted – Hastings Utd) (Relegated – Bishop’s Stortford, Staines, Kingstonian)

Regional Premier Div promotions: Basingstoke, Weston-super-Mare, Northwich, Corby, Harrow, Tooting & Mitcham (Still no low-rep clubs! Harrow and Tooting at 1150 seem to be the low of the season)

Cups:

FA Cub – Everton

Carling Cup – Wolves

Community Shield –Tottenham

Johnstone’s Trophy – Carlisle

FA Trophy Welling

UEFA Champ league group stage qualification: Man Utd, Man City, Everton

UEFA Champ League Best placed playoff: Chelsea

UEFA 4th Qual Rd: West Brom (FA Cup Runners up), Liverpool (5th in EPL)

UEFA Europa League 3rd Qual Rd: Wolves (Carling Cup Winners)

  Year                Division                          Position                    Other achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7211593&viewfull=1#post7211593"]2012/13[/url]              Blue Square South                    10th            FA Cup 3rd Qual rd, FAT 2nd Qual rd
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279812-dafuge-s-FM12-challenge?p=7235105&viewfull=1#post7235105"]2013/14[/url]              Blue Square South                    5th             Promoted via Playoffs, FA Cup 4Q rd, FAT 3rd Round, Manager of Year runner up

Goals for 2014/2015

Avoid Relegation! (50-1 odds to start season, predicted 24th. 2 of 4 teams promoted last season got relegated.)

Cup runs---1st round proper of FA Cup, At least semifinals of FAT

Manage budget---shrink deficit!

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Just finished the most INTENSE, nervewracking, emotional rollercoaster of a season ever. I really have not been this involved since forever.

This season involved me throwing chairs (A new high...or low....for me) punching computers, screaming at the monitor and getting numerous stomach/head aches hahaha but it has been worth it for my most enjoyable season yet!!!!!!

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In the second leg of the Liverpool League Cup semi final, we draw 2-2. Victor saves us from dropping our cup luck, even if it was a second leg. Meaning I'm in the League Cup Final, where we'll face Chelsea. Going to be very very tough.

Over in the FA Cup, we're into the 4th round. We're having to do a replay though after Chesterfield (in the Championship) held us to 0-0. Not good enough. Hoping that changes.

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My brief flirtation with an automatic promotion place in the Championship has ended thanks to a poor run of form. Should be good for the Playoffs though, mostly because there's a huge drop-off between 6th and 7th place.

Good luck! Hope you can join the Premier League lot in here.

Eventually! We record a league win! First one since the shock beating of Southampton! 4-1 v Blackburn.

I now have 4 cup games in a row. Chesterfield in the FA Cup, Werder Bremen twice in the Europa League 1st Knockout Round, and then Chelsea in the League Cup Final.

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BadgeTooting_and_Mitcham_United.png

#23 - Tooting & Mitcham - Premier League - 2017/18

League Table

Graph

Player League Stats

A great season did expect to struggle but first few results put the doubts to the back of my head. Finished 3rd but held the top spot more than any other side but the draws vs lower sides cost us in the title race.

Squad Stats

Transfers

Finances

Facilities

Finances looking very good and the youth and training facilities are getting improved but only I had to state the board could a favor to me after the increase of profile I've done with the club

3 more players in after the transfer update I did.

Eric Ali

John Kelly

Tom Russell

Key Player Profiles

Germán Villa

Leandro Almeida

Sergio Apud

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Fixtures

Group

Great run for our first time in euro. Sporting away was just to much of a test to get through.

1301426o.png

Fixtures

Final

Great run to the final where the very early red card put us in a very hard place but we managed to come back and win.

1301427.png

Fixtures

 

[center]
[b][u]Career Overview[/u][/b]

|  Season           Team        | League  |  League Finish |               Achievements                            |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  2012/13    Tooting & Mitcham |  BSS    |       1st      |  BSS Champions/FA Trophy Winners/3rd Round of FA Cup  |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  2013/14    Tooting & Mitcham |  BSP    |       1st      |  BSP Champions/FA Trophy Winners/3rd Round of FA Cup  | 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  2014/15    Tooting & Mitcham |  L2     |       1st      |  L2 Champions/JPT Winners/6th  Round of FA Cup        | 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 |  2015/16    Tooting & Mitcham |  L1     |       1st      |  L1 Champions/JPT Winners/5th  Round of FA Cup        |  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  2016/17    Tooting & Mitcham |  Champ  |       1st      |  Championship Champions/League Cup Winners            | 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  2017/18    Tooting & Mitcham |  Prem   |       3rd      |  Champions League Qualifiers /F.A Cup Winners         | 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/center]

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I'm gonna take a little brake from this save now. Getting tired of playing in England, but I think I'm gonna return.. Might try Gundos in the mean time...

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Nicely done Welsh Wizard! I have to ask, how the hell do you manage 3rd in your first season! I'm stuck down in 16th!

Thanks

Think my change to 41221 has played it's part and gived us a balance and the players I've signed fit perfectly. Based on this season a sigining or 2 for first team and better depth in some positions and the title is not out the question.

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Thanks

Think my change to 41221 has played it's part and gived us a balance and the players I've signed fit perfectly. Based on this season a sigining or 2 for first team and better depth in some positions and the title is not out the question.

Does not winning the EPL in your first season count as you coming "unstuck"? You always said you would at some point!

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#81 - Kingstonian. Season '14-'15. Blue Square South.

BSS position: 1st League table

FA Cup: 4QR

FA Trophy: 2R

Summary: A real surprise to get promoted, considering I had no wage budget to speak of, and was predicted a relegation struggle. We looked to be heading into the play-offs, but long-time leaders Eastleigh suffered an appalling loss of form that co-incided with my team properly getting their act together, and we overhauled them in the last game of the season. Past positions

Transfers: Transfers The usual turnover of youth prospects and very few established players as their wage demands are too high to justify.

Future prospects: Hard to predict how things will work out next season. A lot depends on the wage budget, if Chairman Hearn can open the purse strings a little.

1213 - BSS 5th (lost in play-off final)

1314 - BSS 12th (FAT runners-up)

1415 - BSS 1st (promoted)

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Thanks

Think my change to 41221 has played it's part and gived us a balance and the players I've signed fit perfectly. Based on this season a sigining or 2 for first team and better depth in some positions and the title is not out the question.

Oh you're using the 4-1-2-2-1 as well?

I've used it since League Two, and I have to say it's a fantastic tactic.

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Oh you're using the 4-1-2-2-1 as well?

I've used it since League Two, and I have to say it's a fantastic tactic.

What sort of 4-1-2-2-1 are we talking? DM - 2 CMs - AML/AMR?

I'm using 4-2-3-1 at the moment, and it seems to be doing okay in the cups.

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