The Sammarinese Challenge

robi84 · February 9, 2013

Disaster for Titani.

A frustrating debut season at Olimpico has ended in relegation.

Robi Esposito is said to be devestated, but will carry on in his quest.

Expecting a struggle this season, we showed some early season promise, and managed to sustain a lower mid-table position until the final third of the season, where a terrible run of form, dragged us deep into the danger zone. We really struggled to find consistent form, and never found a tactic that we were 100% comfortable with. Got battered some games, scored a hatful some games, then struggled to score in others. Frustrated! Finished the season 15th, and a play-off against AlbinoLeffe awaited. Drew home tie 0-0, drew away 2-2, i thought we'd done enough through away goals,but heartbreak as we were relegated as AlbinoLeffe were higher ranked team.

2012/13 Signings

Season Stats

[size=2]| Pkd  | Inf  | Name                 | Apps   | Gls  | Ast  | PoM  | Pas R| Tck  | DrbPG| Sh T | Yel  | Red  | Av Rat | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S4   | Unh  | Gabriele Pacciardi   | 34 (3) | 2    | 6    | 2    | 86%  | 4.25 | 1.09 | 34%  | 3    | 0    | 7.20   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STC  |      | Federico Rodríguez   | 33 (2) | 20   | 2    | 3    | 84%  | 0.83 | 0.67 | 50%  | 3    | 0    | 7.07   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| ML   | Unh  | Davide Poletti       | 32 (5) | 2    | 7    | 1    | 79%  | 2.05 | 2.80 | 41%  | 0    | 0    | 6.97   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| GK   |      | Generoso Rossi       | 32     | 0    | 0    | 0    | 69%  | 0.03 | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.89   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCR  |      | Alessandro Fogacci   | 31     | 1    | 0    | 1    | 77%  | 2.83 | 0.38 | 67%  | 4    | 0    | 6.72   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCL  |      | Alberto Galuppo      | 29     | 0    | 0    | 1    | 74%  | 2.85 | 0.34 | 0%   | 0    | 0    | 6.96   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DR   |      | Andrea Manucci       | 26 (1) | 0    | 1    | 0    | 82%  | 3.01 | 0.70 | 50%  | 1    | 0    | 6.86   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    | Inj  | Ibrahima Sory Camara | 26     | 0    | 0    | 0    | 81%  | 4.23 | 0.65 | 25%  | 3    | 1    | 6.86   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCR  |      | Andrea Tabanelli     | 23 (9) | 2    | 1    | 1    | 84%  | 5.39 | 0.79 | 24%  | 2    | 0    | 7.06   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    |      | Gabriele Farina      | 23 (3) | 0    | 0    | 0    | 65%  | 4.16 | 0.23 | 48%  | 8    | 0    | 6.56   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCL  | Inj  | Francesco Lunardini  | 23 (3) | 0    | 1    | 0    | 89%  | 4.07 | 0.42 | 25%  | 4    | 1    | 6.94   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| AMC  | Unh  | Fodé Mansaré         | 22     | 9    | 10   | 3    | 82%  | 1.19 | 2.20 | 51%  | 1    | 0    | 7.47   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    | Inj  | Giuseppe Ruggiero    | 17 (3) | 1    | 2    | 0    | 78%  | 1.41 | 2.12 | 42%  | 1    | 0    | 6.72   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S2   |      | Carlo Pelagatti      | 13 (4) | 0    | 0    | 0    | 85%  | 2.22 | 0.29 | 20%  | 0    | 0    | 6.84   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S5   |      | Vittorio Ferrero     | 12 (1) | 0    | 0    | 0    | 73%  | 2.55 | 0.64 | 50%  | 1    | 0    | 6.84   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MR   | Rsv  | Marco Villanova      | 11 (8) | 0    | 1    | 0    | 79%  | 1.89 | 1.97 | 29%  | 1    | 0    | 6.83   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DL   |      | Federico Mannini     | 11 (4) | 0    | 0    | 1    | 78%  | 3.52 | 0.63 | 0%   | 2    | 0    | 6.81   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S7   | Unh  | Massimo Coda         | 9 (16) | 2    | 1    | 0    | 85%  | 1.55 | 1.00 | 52%  | 1    | 0    | 6.77   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    | Inj  | Marco Burato         | 7 (3)  | 0    | 0    | 0    | 87%  | 2.48 | 3.20 | 8%   | 1    | 0    | 6.94   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    |      | Gonzalo Barreto      | 7 (2)  | 1    | 1    | 0    | 86%  | 1.25 | 2.03 | 38%  | 0    | 0    | 6.58   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S1   | Rsv  | Gianluca Vivan       | 5      | 0    | 0    | 0    | 60%  | -    | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.84   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S6   | Wnt  | Rocki Casieri        | 3 (8)  | 0    | 1    | 0    | 84%  | 1.51 | 1.51 | 32%  | 0    | 0    | 6.74   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S3   | Rsv  | Salvatore Del Sole   | 0 (6)  | 0    | 0    | 0    | 93%  | 0.00 | -    | 0%   | 0    | 0    | 6.92   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    | Rsv  | Roberto Crivello     | 0 (2)  | 0    | 0    | 0    | 77%  | 0.00 | 0.00 | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.40   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| [/size]

Best Signings

managed to snap up Fode Mansare on a free, retrained him as a 2nd striker and he had a storming season, 22 games, 9 goals, 10 assists, average of 7.47.

Federico Rodriguez came in on loan from Bologna, i had hoped he'd fire us further up the league, top scorer, but very inconsistent, scored 20 in 33 starts (however scored 5 in one game, and another hat trick)

Brought in Andrea Tabanelli, but struggled to keep down a starting position due to Pacciardi and Lunardini.

Biggest Dissapointments

Gonzalo Barreto arrived on loan from Lazio, despite being rated as our top forward, he managed just 1 goal in 9 games.

No youth intake worth noting.

We have some good players lined up for next season, so hope we can bounce straight back up.

Robi Esposito recently signed a new 2-year extension to his San Marino contract, and will not walk away, despite relegation.

May do a Pre-season report, noting signings and departures, expect a clearout following relegation, and will struggle to keep hold of some players, after some transfer requests following the drop.

FGreve · February 9, 2013

leonavich - congratulations with the 11th place. good to see that relegation first time in serie A is avoidable ^^

Nieuwenhuis also seems like a very good deal!

And good luck reaching your next season goals, especially the mid-table finish..

robi84 - bummer.. good luck next season, and good to see you'll keep doing this challenge despite the relegation ^^

robi84 · February 10, 2013

Robi Esposito is said ready to put last seasons disappointment behind him and focus on a successful campaign this time round.

Expectations

The board have asked for a mid-table position, media prediction is 9th and bookies odds we are 14-1 for the title.

No real expectations, but i'm hoping to better all these and push for an instant return to Serie C1.

Budget

For a mid table poistion the board were offering £0 transfer budget and £19K p/w. I chose to push for promotion with £21K p/w.

Following relegation, this was a £12K pw reduction on our wage budget, so we had to have a clearout, 26 players released, several out of contract from last season, the majority youth players who would never have made it. Another 11 players were moved on, biggest name name departures were Lunardini to Pisa, Poletti & Del Sole to Lecco, Coda & Pacciardi to Foggia all free (to get them off wage bill)

Managed to cut wage bill from £28K p/w to £15K p/w

Transfer dealings

Only permanent transfers were listed on end of season review as pre-contract signings

Gerardi from Udinese, Addae from Parma, Benassi from Carrarese, N'Suki from Juve Stabia and Gabriel from Juventus.

We've taken full advantage of the loan market and brought in 12 loanees for £0 loan fees and £0 wage contributions.

Best of these being Chara and Fabinho from Udinese, and Filkor from AC Milan.

FGreve · February 11, 2013

2017-18

okay so i was back in the Serie B again. In the previuos season i did some pretty solid signings and some interesting youth intake, so i knew i had a decent team which could claim a mid-table position. But my goal for the season was just to avoid relegation...

But it turned out i had underestimated my own team, and halfway through the season i was top of the table! but after the winter-break i had a bad run of form, with only 3 wins in 11 matches, but i held on to the top-spots despite some close competetion. But with some luck, i secured an surprisingly 2nd place and a promotion to Serie A, even though i was a newly promoted side! :O I didn't see that coming before the season, and goals for and goals against would also suggest a mid-table finish.. but i did actually have a very solid defence, but in some matches my defence just fell apart and conceded some heavy defeats..

In the Serie-C it was only necessary for me to use a 4-4-2, but coming up this season i wised to implement some more defensive tactics.. a such a 4-4-2 with 2 defensive midfielders were used (mostly because i didn't wanted to break up Lupi and Contis formidable partnership), and and old favorite of mine the 4-5-1 with 1 defensive midfielder..

I also turned down 4 offers to manage 2 serie A clubs and 2 serie B clubs.. ^^'

I didn't make big transfers this year even though the financial situation looked okay, so my focus was to strength the squad depth. The most conspicuous transfers were Alessio Luciani on a free transfer and Kenneth Zohore on a year-long loan deal..

The Zohore deal proved to be a much better deal than expected.. He'd only scored 8 goals in 84 apps before joining SM. But he became the topscorer at titani with 16 goals in 31 apps.

My team of the year.

So overall a fantastic year, but there were some bad news as well..

Wonder-boy Conti were out most of the season with injuries.

Wonder-boy Lupi are leaving the club on a free transfer due to breakdowns in the negotiations..

The board said yes to improve the youth facilities, but later cancelled the plans due to lack of funds..

robi84 · February 11, 2013

FGreve - good work, and good luck in Serie A, seems a million miles away for me, but i'll keep at it!

leonavich · February 12, 2013

I am quite happy with the improvements in our facilities over this season as we have managed to get to good facilities for most aspects, though I am having a hard time raising our youth recruitment up past average. The board has not allowed me to raise it in close to 2 seasons now. I am also hoping to see significant improvements in the corporate facilities once the stadium is built as they are still very poor.

I was wondering if people may know whether youth recruitment can be limited based on your country and its current co-efficients or quality of national/international football?

leonavich · February 12, 2013

Robi84 - Bad luck!! That's a shame that you hit the drop, but some good news is your signing on N'Suki! He was plying his trade in the Serie A for me last season quite well and as a rotation this season, so he will be the key to your success I feel. I can see you going straight back up with some of the players you have gained.

N'Suki 1, N'Suki 2

FGreve - Awesome success!! Very inspiring season to over achieve to such a degree. Good luck in the Serie A. Luciani is capable of keeping pace in the Serie A so I hope you will do well. A shame about the wonder-boys and the facilities being cancelled, but a season in Serie A will really help you out financially. Watch things get better fast!

leonavich · February 12, 2013

International 2023

We had quite a resurgent season last year and looked to take advantage by following similar tactics. We started with a tough win over Georgia and followed it up with a great European Championship win over Luxenbourg, 1-0.

Croatia got the better of us before a 1-0 win over Myanmar took us to the mid year point where we arranged a few tougher fixtures that we could still stay competitive in. The first was against South Sudan who we felt confident of beating, however ended up drawing 0-0. I was glad I had asked for penalties to be included in the match as the draw meant we would get some shooting practice. We failed and lost the shootout 4-3 but it was a good experience for the players. We then went on a 3 game losing streak, including a 5-1 loss to Croatia, before picking up another point over Luxembourg with a 1-1 at home. This also kept us off the foot of the Euro Qualifiers table for the second time running which is good news and good progress for the national side. Some interesting news during that thumping to Croatia as Mattiah Righi will go down in to the history books with the fastest ever Euro Qualifiers goal standing at just 11 seconds.

We ended the year with a 2-1 win over Tahiti and a 2-2 draw with New Caledonia which is respectable to round out the year.

The tactic of lower opposition seemed to pay dividends early in the 2023 season as we hit a record high of 109 in the World Rankings by April, however due to some dropped points and opposition now lower than our selves, we faltered and eventually dropped, ending the year at 135. I am hoping for a good youth intake this year to get some decent players in to the squad, otherwise we can not hope to get much higher in the rankings until we can beat or challenge better opposition.

2023 Best XI

Fixtures

International Rankings

2012 – 209
2013 – 208
2014 – 209 
2015 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/826/ranking171.jpg/"]171[/url][/b]
2016 – 190
2017 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/855/163rd.jpg/"]163[/url][/b]
2018 – 180
2019 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/15/rank114.jpg/"]114[/url][/b]
2020 – 145
2021 – 175
2022 – 131
2023 – 135

Overall Best XI

There are currently three San Marino Club players in the National team's overall best XI

International Awards & Achievements

[i]Most Caps[/i]  - Andy Selva             (74)
          - Cristian Bernardi      (68)
          - Luigi Bertolini        (68)
          - Damiano Vannucci       (67)
          - Maicol Berretti        (61)
          - Matteo Vitaioli        (56)
          - Manuel Marani          (55)
          - Aldo Junior Simoncini  (54)
          - Michele Cervellini     (53)
          - Alessandro Ceccoli     (51)

[i]Most Goals[/i] - Andy Selva             (10)
          - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/547/righi.jpg/"]Mattia Righi[/url]            (8)
          - Alessandro Valentini    (4)
          - Matteo Vitaioli         (4)
          - [url="http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2515/25caps3goals.jpg"]Leon Breakenridge[/url]       (3)
          - Dimitri Cogoni          (3)
          - Mattia Stefanelli       (3)
          - Roberto Angelico        (2)

[i]Most Goals in a match[/i]   - Mattia Righi       (3)

[i]Most Assists in a match[/i] - Tiziano Colantonio (3)

Records

[i]Highest World Ranking[/i] - [url="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7089/109ds.jpg"][b]109th[/b][/url] (2023)

[i]Fastest Goal in European Qualifications[/i] - [url="http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3749/fastestevergoalineuros.jpg"]Mattia Righi, 11 seconds v Croatia[/url] (2023)

FGreve · February 12, 2013

FGreve - Awesome success!! Very inspiring season to over achieve to such a degree. Good luck in the Serie A. Luciani is capable of keeping pace in the Serie A so I hope you will do well. A shame about the wonder-boys and the facilities being cancelled, but a season in Serie A will really help you out financially. Watch things get better fast!

thanks ^^

and i'm also very confident Serie A will help out financially.. the board have given me a massive transfer budget relative to the previos season (1M DKK the previous season to 62M DKK this season)!!.

FGreve - good work, and good luck in Serie A, seems a million miles away for me, but i'll keep at it!

thanks, and if you keep at it will come sooner than you may think ^^

Brizza · February 12, 2013

San Marino

Season 2 Roundup (2013/14)

Table

Transfers

Best XI

I'm writing this whilst in November of the following season, just killing a bit of time at work to be honest. This means I've forgotten to take as many screenshots as I'd like and that some player shots give a little of next year's game away.

So, this was a season I still look back on with no fondness. We started brightly and won our first four games (admittedly including 3 friendlies), then went four without a win, then won one, lost one, won one, lost one, repeat adinfinitum... or not - we embarked on my worst ever run on Football Manager - 10 games without a win!

Somewhere along here I got the hump with my loanees and sent them all back to Juve.

We broke this run with a 6-3 home win against Luminezze (trying desperately to throw away a 6-1 lead in the dying embers of the game) and only lost 1 in 8 after that.

Then as we were safe, I chucked some kids in and only picked up 1 point in the last 4 games.

An entirely schizophrenic season of highs, lows, highs, lows and highs.

Youth watch

News guys through -

Villa

Selva (this gets confusing, because I've already got one Selva, plus Andy Selva's still playing for SM at the age of 38)

And the existing Sammarinese players developed a bit. I was disappointed with Benedittini's performances throughout the year and Gualandi barely featured. I've had him on hardcore sprint training for the last 18 months, so he may play a larger part next season.

My main men

Men is probably overegging it. There's one and he's a child.

Giorgos Kyriakou He's probably my best player. Not a week goes by without me having to ignore a derisory co-ownershipbid. He now hates me, so I'm going to have to sell at some point (although he has 3 years left on his deal, I think, so maybe I'll wing it).

Money...

We are skint. My board slashed my wage budget to £12k a week (it had been as high as £40k at points, I think).

This meant that I had to ditch a lot of the higher earners. In fact anyone earning any semblance of cash was sold or fired.

Upside - I've finally got rid of all of the rubbish who were at the club when I took over. Plus, I have a lean, mean squad of hungry youngsters. Also, more chance to blood the Sammarineses!

Downside - Some of them are pants. I start the season with a child in goal and no recognised right back.

This reminds me - most of my backroom staff left at the start of the season and I couldn't afford to replace them. For a lot of the time, it's just been me and Christian, doing our thing.

International watch

2013 saw 1 win, 1 draw, 1 defeat. Sadly it's too long ago to show you a screenshot of the heroic win against Belarus, or the less glamourous 0-0 in Singapore (who pays for San Marino to fly to Singapore for a friendly? Maybe the match fixers?).

New season update

It'd be unfair to foreshadow too much. Suffice to say that having played the two least successful seasons in my 20 year FM history, I'm not especially confident in how it'll go with less than half the money to spend!

Arrivaderci!

PS: I'll start including more detail in my posts like leonavich does (ie the overall stats for me and San Marino as a nation). But 3 seasons in seems like a better place to start that.

leonavich · February 12, 2013

Brizza - Whilst you may be having a difficult time of things, I am really enjoying your story for the simple fact that you are running a tough ship and hanging in there. For whatever reason things just keep going against you and you keep surviving and holding on. For that, I think your team will come out stronger in a couple more seasons and I look forward to seeing you triumph over the adversity. Really looking forward to your next season! Hoping the fight back with a slashed budget is the stuff of movies!

leonavich · February 13, 2013

Club Mid-Seasons Review 2023-24

Key Transfers in

Nicola Girolamo (Co-Ownership Cesena) DLC - £0 buy out

Was a key figure last year and wanted to retain desperatley, however would of been happy had Cesena decided to pay money to buyout our 50% of the contract. They did not, so we have him for another season.

Ivano Dotti (Nocerina) AM/ST - Free

With Leandro leaving this season, and loanees such as Goosen not able to be retained, we needed to have backup fire power up front and on the cheap to keep our profit margin high and our wage bill low. Dotti was free and cheap with decent potential to replace N'Suki and Laurito should the time come. Nipped in with some goals so far this season and proving quite handy off the bench

Tino Schneider (Dortmund/Free Transfer) CM - Free

An absoulte steal from the Free agency pool, originally from Dortmund. 5 star potential and the ability to come straight in to the middle. If he is able to live upto to the ability, will become the heartbeat of the engine and Di Tacchio's long term replacement. Has played well and started every game he has played in so far this season. Lacking in the production of goals so far though.

Nico Bochini (Lanus) CM/AM - £925k

Did reasonably well last season and due to his knowledge of the tactics and squad, was brought in due to his relatively low price and wage. The second player from last years loanees to be signed to the club, after Rudd Niuewenhuus led the way last Winter. Doing quite well and slowly starting to improve his game as he gels.

Simongiorgio Marini (Padova) LCB - £775k

Signed by our U20's Manager for the reserves, has been moved up to the bench and will look to get more game time over the next few seasons as he looks to hae decent potential. Has been able to cover when called upon so far.

Key Transfers Out

Manuel Zollo (Free Transfer) DR - Free

Loaned out for 5 seasons and looked like he has potential in Serie B. Once we hit Serie A, was always going to be surplus, especially with the likes Bianchi playing as well as he did last season.

Alessandro Panarese (Free Transfer) ST - Free

Signed by the U20's Manager, Poletti, for his potential but never hit much of a chord with me. Was let go as soon as his contract ended.

Massimiliano Basile (Feralpi Salo) DM/CM - Free

Signed from Napoli and played with us for 3 seasons making 33 appearances. Decent squad player in Serie B, was not able to stick with the level of Serie A and only made one appearance. Was signed early in the Winter window on a Free Bossman and was out the door on July 1st to a Serie C1/A side where he will shine well enough.

Leandro (Foligno) ST - Free

Was carrying a high wage and needed to be shifted. In his 4 seasons he managed 36 goals up front from 129 games and briefly led our front line in Serie B over N'Suki. His strike rate was not high but feature highly off the bench so was quite affective as a late super sub. Some how, his new club Foligno are able to splash ok £7k a week on his wages in the Serie C1/A. Even in our squad in Serie A, that would place him as the 4th highest paid in the squad.

Guido Barbetti (Sassuolo) AM/ST - £675k

Always signed as cover and probably never really given a chance to show much of what he was capable of with only 19 appearances in his 3 seasons. However, the money coming from him his sale and the reduction of his near £5k a week wage has been a good bit of business as we got him on a free.

Roberto Gorini (Verona) DC - £350k

With us for 3 seasons, spending one of them out on loan, he looked a decent squad defender. However, with so many capable defenders, he was not really required. With his £1.5k wage being knocked off, we have extra in the budget, and he is now on £2.7k at Verona, so doing wuite well for himself. He managed 20 appearances in 2 seasons at the club with another 12 out on loan before the nice little transaction took place.

Willi Gaus (A.C. Milan Co-Ownership) DC - £400k

Looks to have decent potential with the right training and match time, however not really in my current plans. the Co-Ownership bid was too good to turn down and with the potential of a larger buyout if Milan want to sign him, there could be a good profit in the sale. Will spend the Co-Ownership duration at San Marino so we will still get some use out of him over the next 2 seasons.

Current Season Highlights

- We once again sold out all the tickets this season which gives us a good fan base going forward when the new stadum is built. To put it in perspective, San Marino has a total population of 32,020 and our stadium will have a maximum capacity of 21,760. That means if we were to max out the stadium, we would have 2/3rds of the country just in the Stadium!

- Training Facilities and Junior coaching are looking fantastic, however we are struggling to improe our youth recruitment. Once the Stadium is built, our corporate facilities should also finally improve. We are looking to adance the facilities even further and get them to "excellent" if possible.

- The second time I have been approached in my career, this time by Udinese (Whom I have the courtesy of playing in my next Italian Cup encounter as well!) Perhaps this approach was more to unsettle the squad coming in to the match as this proposition was on match day! The offer was rejected, naturally, however the trick seemed to work as we went down 2-1 in the Italian Cup match.

- We are currently meeting the boards request of a mid table position, sitting pretty in 9th after 18 games on 27 points.

- We are hitting record numbers for profit with the average month bringig over £1m. We currently sit on £18.5m in out kitty and will hopefully be able to pay off big chunks of the loan once the stadium is built.

- Ruud Nieuwenhuus wins our first major award, as he takes home the European Golden Boy Award for 2023. He hit 22 goals in 33 appearances in his race to win the award.

Brizza · February 13, 2013

San Marino

Season 3 Roundup (2014/15)

This one's for you Leo...

Season overview

Yeah, so... I wasn't expecting this.

At the end of last season, my budgets were drastically cut and I had to reappraise the squad. I had too many players who didn't fit the style of play I was attempting. So, I cut them and either didn't replace them at all or replaced them with even younger players who did at least fit my type. A key example was Coulibay who was my best player and one of the higher earners, but a target man in a fast counter-attacking formation was a bad fit.

We were knocked out of the Italian Cup in the preliminaries, but that turned out to be a blessing, as my tiny squad wasn't overstretched. My squad was so small that in a handful of games I could only name 3 subs, including a keeper, due to injuries and internationals.

I can't explain how it went so well. I guess a combination of us gelling and also the youngsters finally getting enough exposure to mentally deal with the level? We never went more than 2 games without winning and stayed in the hunt throughout.

Going into the end of season, we were actually 2nd and had played a game more, but Pavia inexplicably imploded and left us needing to win our last game to go up. We did that convincingly, but they also slipped up, making our win academic. We had sealed promotion to Serie B.

Our key men

Alessandro Sbaffo. The Italian match-fixing scandal came to our assistance again, after Albinoleffe's points deduction saved us from relegation in the first season, this time one of the main protagonists led us to victory. Sbaffo's ban actually came to an end during season 2 and he played 20+ games then, but this year he really came to the fore playing in the central creative role.

Benedettini (13). Our Sammarinese focal point. I didn't think this guy was going to make it, after a mediocre 2nd season, but this year he was excellent. I made him learn to play killer balls often, which I think may be a mistake in hindsight. I'll keep an eye on that. People are sniffing around for co-ownership, hopefully Serie B will put them off.

Giorgos Kyriakou. Missed the 2nd half of the season with a cruciate ligament injury. He'll make his way back part way through our Serie B campaign. Another whom the vultures are sniffing around. I was going to sell him because he never listens to my team talks, but maybe promotion will pep him up.

That's enough profiles. I'm getting bored.

Youth watch

Two new guys:

Patricelli (15) He'll eventually be good enough for Serie B and fits nicely into my formation.

Palmisano (15) The second best of a bad lot. I doubt he'll go anywhere, but suspect he'd die if I released him, so let's give him a year.

As a side note, I've been surprised with the quality of my youth products. We've not upgraded anything behind the scenes and I've got no Head of Youth Development (hah, imagine) or anything similar. Maybe once I'm in Serie B and I can spend some money they'll look less impressive to me.

Existing kids are progressing. You've seen Benedettini (13) up there, but we also have -

Selva (14) He's been okay when he's played and is also 1st choice at international level. He seems to be nearing his potential, so I accepted a coffer-swelling co-ownership offer for him of £350k. Seemed tidy for a reserve.

Villa (14) I don't think he's going to make it.

Awards

Rich rewards for:

Me!

Sbaffo

And the team

International watch

Was I supposed to appoint myself as San Marino manager at the start? Hope not, because I didn't.

Anyway, 2014 saw a draw against Andorra in a friendly and every other game was a defeat. Early 2015 has seen a draw in a Euro qualifier against Switzerland, thanks to an own goal!

New season update

I've literally just had the season click over, so beyond getting some cash in, that's about it. Hopefully I can sign some backroom staff and then pocket the cash to spent on facility upgrades in the future.

PS: Anyone know the story behind this lady? She seems to be part of my backroom as a media pundit?

robi84 · February 13, 2013

WE DID IT!!

Following the disappointment of last seasons relegation, our aim was to get promotion back to C1/A at first attempt, and we did it in style. We won C2/A with 4 games left, and finished the season 17 points clear of second place.

Seasonal Positions

Final League Table

I had hoped to be promoted back to C1/A and had a clear out from last season, many loan signings came in, and gelled very well, we started the season well and never looked back.

Season ended in disappointment as we lost 4-3 on aggregate to Paganese in C2 Super Cup.

Season Stats (pre super cup)

| Pkd  | Inf  | Name                  | Apps    | Gls  | Ast  | PoM  | Pas R| Tck  | DrbPG| Sh T | Yel  | Red  | Av Rat | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| GK   |      | Generoso Rossi        | 38      | 0    | 0    | 1    | 91%  | -    | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 7.06   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DR   |      | Andrea Manucci        | 37      | 1    | 3    | 2    | 87%  | 3.06 | 0.69 | 40%  | 2    | 0    | 7.16   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCR  |      | Maikol Benassi        | 36      | 0    | 0    | 2    | 73%  | 2.98 | 0.39 | 50%  | 5    | 1    | 7.11   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCL  | Rsv  | Ricardo Chará         | 30      | 1    | 0    | 5    | 71%  | 2.26 | 0.41 | 56%  | 1    | 0    | 7.34   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DL   |      | Ibrahima Sory Camara  | 33      | 2    | 4    | 2    | 81%  | 4.08 | 0.68 | 40%  | 7    | 1    | 7.11   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MR   |      | Marco Burato          | 30 (4)  | 8    | 4    | 0    | 83%  | 2.78 | 1.87 | 46%  | 6    | 0    | 7.08   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCR  | Inj  | Andrea Doninelli      | 28 (7)  | 5    | 8    | 1    | 88%  | 4.87 | 0.95 | 36%  | 5    | 0    | 7.31   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCL  | Trn  | Attila Filkor         | 20 (6)  | 0    | 5    | 2    | 88%  | 5.38 | 1.11 | 31%  | 5    | 0    | 7.32   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| ML   |      | Francesco Dettori     | 27 (3)  | 4    | 7    | 2    | 80%  | 4.93 | 1.08 | 43%  | 4    | 0    | 7.11   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STCR | Inj  | Simone Zaza           | 16 (8)  | 9    | 5    | 1    | 79%  | 1.99 | 0.97 | 43%  | 0    | 0    | 7.16   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STCL | Inj  | Fabinho               | 27 (7)  | 18   | 5    | 5    | 79%  | 1.68 | 0.74 | 46%  | 3    | 0    | 7.30   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S1   | Rsv  | Edoardo Pazzagli      | -       | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -      | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S2   |      | Carlo Pelagatti       | 6 (7)   | 1    | 1    | 0    | 80%  | 2.99 | 0.50 | 100% | 2    | 0    | 6.92   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S3   | Rsv  | Bright Addae          | 7       | 2    | 0    | 0    | 71%  | 2.71 | 0.14 | 75%  | 1    | 0    | 6.94   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S4   |      | Gabriel               | 18 (5)  | 0    | 2    | 0    | 88%  | 4.13 | 0.56 | 75%  | 2    | 0    | 6.97   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S5   | Rsv  | Francesco Di Tacchio  | 6       | 1    | 1    | 0    | 88%  | 3.51 | 0.53 | 50%  | 0    | 0    | 7.17   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S6   |      | Andrea Tabanelli      | 7 (15)  | 1    | 3    | 0    | 82%  | 3.61 | 0.34 | 27%  | 1    | 0    | 7.09   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S7   | Trn  | Federico Mattiello    | 10 (8)  | 3    | 3    | 1    | 82%  | 3.47 | 0.53 | 50%  | 1    | 0    | 6.99   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S8   | Rsv  | Federico Bernardeschi | 8 (7)   | 2    | 5    | 1    | 85%  | 2.32 | 2.44 | 22%  | 2    | 0    | 7.06   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S9   | Trn  | Fodé Mansaré          | 21 (10) | 10   | 5    | 4    | 86%  | 2.59 | 0.99 | 34%  | 3    | 0    | 7.21   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S10  |      | Federico Gerardi      | 10 (8)  | 3    | 1    | 0    | 85%  | 1.60 | 0.60 | 55%  | 1    | 0    | 6.74   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S11  | Rsv  | Givestin N'Suki       | 3 (7)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 75%  | 2.66 | 1.07 | 11%  | 0    | 0    | 6.63   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|      |      |                       |         |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |        | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Key Players

Generoso Rossi - ever present GK, Club captain, played every minute of our season, keeping 15 clean sheets.

Ricardo Chara - Loanee from Udinese, rock at CB, great partnership with Benassi.

Andrea Doninelli - Loanee from Genoa, MC chipped in 5 goals, 8 assists.

Fabinho - Loanee from Udinese, Striker, 18 goals, 5 assists, formed a great early season partnership with Mansare, later season partnership with Zaza.

No further signings were made since Pre-season report.

Flops

I was expecting a lot from Gerardi managed only 3 goals in 18 (10 starts), a mixture of an early season injury, poor form and Zaza impressing kept him out of team.

Again no youth intake to get excited about, all released.

Future Transfers

Loanee's Filkor and Mattiello sign permanent pre-contract deals.

Also bosman deals in place for AC Milan duo Rodrigo Ely and Mattia Desole, Parma youngster Nicola Del Pivo and Austrian Marcel Buchel.

Hoping to tie up deals from Simone Zaza, Ricardo Chara and Andrea Doninelli, all contracts expiring, moves depending on next seasons budget and clearing some wages.

Leaving

Fode Mansare signed a pre-contract agreement with Serie B side Nocerina in January.

It is doubtful that new deals will be offered to Tabanelli or Pelagatti.

Hope to sell Gerardi to clear wages to fund other transfers.

Robi Esposito recently committed his immediate future to Titani by signing a new 3 year contract, running until summer of 2017.

Awards

Robi Esposito - Serie C2/A Manager of the Year, winner

C2/A Team of Year - Rossi & Chara

Fans Player of Year - Andrea Manucci

leonavich · February 13, 2013

Brizza - Simply awesome. What a great season and on a paper thing line up. Good to see you turn the season over so convincingly and get promotion. You look like you have a good core and Benedettini is starting to look the goods both stats and performance wise. Some decent trainers and I can see him getting even better and being solid in your midfield during your Serie B run. Staying up I don't think will be a problem after this season's performance. But good luck in Serie B and can't wait to see how you improve the squad in the pre season.

Robi84 - Another amazing season! Its good to see two people have such great seasons. Not only did you dominate, but you brought in some great players in the process. Zaza is currently in the Serie A in my game and in to his 30's but to sign him now would be a great deal. You have some quality players in who can definitely compete in the Serie C1/A so I can see you surviving easily, even fighting for a play off place. Looking forward to seeing how your next season pans out.

Great seasons guys, You have motivated me to try and get my next update up as quickly as I can! Will try and finish of my season in the next day or two!

leonavich · February 14, 2013

Thought this was a nice way to start our match against a first place Juventus.

We scored first after the incident, but ended up taking a hiding as you could imagine, with the final score being 5-1 to Juventus. Needless to say, Pozzi will be unhappy at the rush of blood and at the dent in his pocket come this weeks wages.

leonavich · February 14, 2013

Club 2023-24

Season Review

After a good start to Serie A last season, we had high expectations on us to read an acceptable position in our second outing. Though this was a bit more pressure than I would of liked, I feel we made enough signings to remain as competitive as the previous season. We started the season the season shaky after needing penalties to see us beat Novara in the Italian cup 3rd Qualifying Round, before losing the opening Serie A game 3-0 to Milan. Wins over Como and Atalanta got us back in to a some decent form before a string of losses to Napoli, Ascoli, Udinese, and Sampdoria had us teetering on the relegation zone. A win over Lazio followed by a credible draw over Inter Milan got us back on track as we hit a 4 game unbeaten run, ended in a tough 2-1 loss to then first place Juventus.

Coming in to the new year, we then hit a 5 game ubeaten run with wins over fellow relegation candidates to get us back in to the mid table positions. We took this over confidence into our Italian Cup First Round proper and took a lost to then relegation battling Udinese, a game that we really should of won. We used the experience to dispatch A.C. Milan 3-1 before drawing our next 3 games and suffering some heavy injuries to key players like Borges, Bertolini and Nieuwenhuis. We then lost our next 3 before hitting our stride against Sampdoria, winning 3-1 and then dispatching Lazio 3-0 before some big losses to inter (2-0) and Juventus (5-1) brought us back down to earth. We ended the year brightly with 3 wins 2 draws and 1 loss including a 1-1 draw with Roma and a 2-0 win over Genoa CFC to give us a total of 52 points, 1 better than last year. We ended the season in 11th, the same as last season and one higher than the Media prediction of 12th.

This season really was like a changing of the guard as some players dropped right down the pecking order, and club legend Frederico Laurito put in his free transfer request to get a new challenge late on in his career. He then decided to one better that and announced his retirement for in a month's time. He managed to eclipse 400 games this season to become the firs Sammarinese player to reach such an accomplishment. This year saw a lot fewer goals come, as only Ruud Nieuwenhuis was able to hit double digits with 18, the next best being Givestin N'Suki with 8. Assists were also quite hard to come by as Nico Bochini only just made double digits with 10, Nicola Girolamo was close behind with 8 from defence. The good news though, was the spread of which the goals where created with virtually every player in the starting line-up managing to net at least once and most also managing at least one assist also. Jose Borges managed to reclaim the Fans Player of the Year for a third consecutive season to rank amongst one of the best players ever at the club, as well as one of the most popular.

Tino Schneider will need to get more involved alongside Bochini next season to provide more goal opportunities next season.

League Table

Squad

| Pkd  | Inf  | Name                 | Apps    | Gls  | Ast  | PoM  | Pas R| Tck  | DrbPG| Sh T | Yel  | Red  | Av Rat | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| GK   | Hol  | Alessandro Grilli    | 40      | 0    | 0    | 0    | 76%  | 0.05 | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.93   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DR   | Hol  | Marco Bianchi        | 35 (2)  | 1    | 4    | 1    | 67%  | 6.10 | 2.11 | 50%  | 8    | 0    | 7.14   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCR  | Wnt  | Simongiorgio Marini  | 21 (3)  | 2    | 1    | 2    | 69%  | 4.11 | 0.71 | 29%  | 3    | 0    | 7.34   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCL  | Hol  | Luigi Bertolini      | 30 (2)  | 1    | 0    | 0    | 70%  | 2.50 | 0.16 | 75%  | 5    | 0    | 6.80   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DL   | Hol  | Nicola Girolamo      | 36 (1)  | 2    | 8    | 3    | 61%  | 4.64 | 1.26 | 35%  | 6    | 1    | 7.08   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DMC  | Hol  | Francesco Di Tacchio | 18 (12) | 2    | 0    | 1    | 84%  | 4.21 | 0.45 | 40%  | 3    | 0    | 6.96   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCR  | Hol  | Tino Schneider       | 37 (1)  | 2    | 1    | 0    | 81%  | 4.38 | 1.29 | 39%  | 4    | 0    | 7.07   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MC   | Hol  | Nico Bochini         | 36      | 2    | 10   | 3    | 77%  | 4.95 | 2.03 | 43%  | 13   | 0    | 7.11   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCL  | Hol  | Luca Petrucci        | 30      | 5    | 2    | 2    | 79%  | 4.53 | 0.91 | 47%  | 7    | 0    | 7.08   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STCR | Hol  | Federico Laurito     | 12 (8)  | 4    | 4    | 1    | 80%  | 0.88 | 0.88 | 67%  | 1    | 0    | 6.86   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STCL | Hol  | Ruud Nieuwenhuis     | 37      | 18   | 6    | 5    | 76%  | 1.82 | 1.93 | 45%  | 9    | 0    | 7.08   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S1   | Hol  | Cristian Bernardi    | 1       | 0    | 0    | 0    | 45%  | -    | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 5.80   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S2   | Hol  | Edoardo Pozzi        | 11 (10) | 0    | 0    | 0    | 79%  | 5.63 | 1.03 | 23%  | 2    | 1    | 6.79   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S3   | Hol  | Dejan Danza          | 0 (14)  | 0    | 0    | 0    | 83%  | 3.54 | 1.18 | 43%  | 1    | 0    | 6.79   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S4   | Hol  | Denis Bellotto       | 7 (9)   | 0    | 1    | 0    | 77%  | 4.86 | 0.79 | 27%  | 0    | 0    | 6.79   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S5   | Hol  | Erick Cabalceta      | 7 (4)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 70%  | 3.24 | 0.26 | -    | 1    | 0    | 6.63   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S6   | Hol  | Ivano Dotti          | 7 (25)  | 4    | 1    | 0    | 82%  | 1.30 | 0.90 | 41%  | 1    | 0    | 6.85   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S7   | Hol  | Braian Ferretti      | 0 (15)  | 0    | 2    | 0    | 73%  | 3.99 | 0.36 | 0%   | 1    | 0    | 6.75   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S8   | Hol  | Tomaso Surano        | 27 (2)  | 2    | 0    | 1    | 69%  | 2.63 | 0.30 | 67%  | 4    | 0    | 7.05   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S9   | Hol  | José Borges          | 25 (1)  | 2    | 3    | 3    | 84%  | 6.57 | 0.37 | 28%  | 13   | 1    | 7.37   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S10  | Hol  | Alessio Luciani      | 13 (9)  | 0    | 0    | 0    | 75%  | 5.34 | 0.33 | 0%   | 5    | 0    | 6.43   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S11  | Hol  | Givestin N'Suki      | 26 (5)  | 8    | 4    | 1    | 79%  | 1.33 | 1.13 | 35%  | 4    | 0    | 6.95   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S12  | Hol  | Giacomo Tedesco      | -       | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -    | -      | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    |      | Livio Cinquino       | 0 (6)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | -    | -    | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.90   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    |      | Willi Gaus           | 7 (2)   | 0    | 0    | 1    | 64%  | 3.19 | -    | 100% | 1    | 0    | 6.64   |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|      |      |                      |         |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |        | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Player Awards

[i]Capocannoniere Serie C1/A[/i] 	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/5/topgoalscorer.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
[i]Player of the Season Serie C1/A[/i]	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/819/playeroftheseason.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
                               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/7/playeroftheyearm.jpg/"]Frencesco Di Tacchio (2015-16)[/url]
[i]Team of the Year Serie C1/A[/i]     - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/831/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
                               - Francesco Di Tacchio ([b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/831/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]2014-15[/url][/b], [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/685/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]2015-16[/url][/b])
[i]Capocannoniere Serie B[/i]    	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/255/topscorer.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2019-20)[/url]
[i]Team of the Year Serie B[/i]        - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/707/teamoftheyearh.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2019-20)[/url]
                               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/713/teamoftheyearn.jpg/"]Frencesco Di Tacchio (2020-21)[/url]
[i]European Golden Boy Award[/i]       - [url="http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4666/europeangoldenboyaward.jpg"]Ruud Nieuwenhuis (2023-24)[/url]

Club Achievements

[i]Highest League Placing[/i]         - [url="http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/6117/highb.jpg"]11th Serie A (2022-23)[/url]
[i]Most Club Appearances[/i]          - Frederico Laurito 403 (2023-24)
[i]Most Club Goals[/i]                - Frederico Laurito 238 (2023-24)
[i]Highest Transfer Fee Paid[/i]      - Ruud Nieuwenhuis, AZ, £4,000,000 (2022-23)
[i]Highest Sammarinese Transfer[/i]   - Luigi Bertolini, Pisa Co-Ownership, £90k (2016)
[i]Highest Attendance[/i] 	       - [url="http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5659/attendancel.jpg"]5,500 (2022-23)[/url]
[i]Highest Gate Receipts[/i] 	       - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/19/gatesve.jpg/"]£100, 000 (2020-21)[/url]
[i]Fastest goal[/i] 	               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/10/quickestgoal.jpg/"]14 seconds, Frederico Laurito (2016-17)[/url]
[i]Biggest Win[/i] 	               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/201/biggestwin65.jpg/"]6-5 v Alto Adige (2019-20)[/url]
[i]Consecutive Wins[/i]               - [url="http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/8365/consecutivewins.jpg"]6 (2022-23)[/url]
[i]Most Goals in Serie B Record[/i]   - 107 (2020-21)

100+ Appearances for San Marino Since 2012

| Name                 | Pos  | Apps |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Frederico Laurito*   | ST   | 403  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Di Tacchio*| MC   | 396  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Alessandro Grilli*   | GK   | 322  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Luigi Bertolini*     | DC   | 299  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Dejan Danza*         | MC   | 280  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Alessio Luciani*     | DCLR | 272  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Erik Cabalceta*      | CB   | 252  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Luca Petrucci*       | MC   | 265  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Edoardo Pozzi*       | MCL  | 223  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Marco Bianchi*       | DRLC | 237  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Givestin N'Suki*     | ST   | 215  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Jose Borges*         | DCM  | 206  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Giacomo Tedesco*     | DRC  | 155  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Vittorio Micolucci   | DLC  | 145  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Emanuele Allegra     | RB   | 144  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Giovanni Caruso*     | MC   | 142  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Matteo Paro          | DMC  | 134  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Pol Garcia           | DC   | 133  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Gabriele Pacciardi   | DMC  | 130  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Leandro              | ST   | 129  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Arturo Lupoli        | ST   | 127  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Marco Villanova      | AMLR | 126  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Carlo Pelagatti      | DRC  | 123  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Lunardini  | DMC  | 118  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Signori    | DCM  | 117  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Mattia Minesso       | AMC  | 112  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Nicola Girolamo+     | LCB  | 106  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Mattia Maggio        | ST   | 105  |
|----------------------|------|------|

*In the current squad
+New to the list of 100+

Fans Player of the Year awards

Name                   Year                Total
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Francesco Di Tacchio | 2015-18, 2019/20  | 4    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Jose Borges          | 2021-24           | 3    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Eric Cabalceta       | 2018/19           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Dejan Danza          | 2020/21           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Vittorio Ferrero     | 2013/14           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Federico Laurito     | 2014/15           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Davide Poletti       | 2012/13           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|

Overall Best XI

Legends

Frederico Laurito Stats Career Staff

Francesco Di Tacchio Stats Career Staff

leonavich · February 14, 2013

Pre season 2024-25

Expectations

Last season was bang on targe and this season they board epect much of the same. Mid table mediocrety, and that is all that I will be personally aiming for myself. With the new stadium coming in to play, I am looking to make some big revenue inroads this season, and will finally look to spend some cash once the debt has been knocked down significantly. This season, expect much of the same team with a few extra players to cover the departure of Laurito and lack of utilisation likely from a surprigly still exhuberant Di Tacchio.

Crucial will be the midfield as I am quite happy with the defence and Nieuwenhuis upfront, to put in not only some extra goals, bu help bring up the assist tally.

Transfers

Won the co-ownership bid for Surano, another good win for our defence with Cabalceta now into his 30's and playing less commanding football in the centersome players now out of their depth have been released, including Censoni and Tedesco in the back and Caruso in the middle. Laurito has retired, but has signed a contract in the backroom staff to be un under 20's coach.

Nico Bochini has had 50% of his contract purchased by Inter Milan for £825k though I am not confident of retaining past the two year point as he is a decent player already with a lot of potential. My aim is to get the most out of him this year and hope Inter pay large sums for the remainder of his contract.

Facilities

Moved in to the new stadium at the end of last season, so this will help boost our corporate facilities. With the extra stadium cash, I will be hoping to increase the facilities to maximum with the Youth networking already being agreed on. However our attempts to improve the youth facilities were knocked back by the board as they want us to focus on on bringing in players rather than building youth (Yipee ). A new feeder club would be great in an international market, as I have failed in this investmet the last 2 seasons.

TV revenue was also slightly higher, tipping the £27m mark which shows our improvement in stature and national presence and will go towards the debt and improving the facilities.

Moving in to the new "San Marino Stadium" as it was so cleverly titled, we now have the opportunity to choose pitch sizing, of which we have chosen one based on out style of play, being very narrow and through the middle.

Funding

We had a 3 year sponsorship increase to £2.6m per annum as well as a larger £27m TV revenue income. Our profits are soaring, and this has helped us make it into the lis of richest clubs, as we enter in at 75th on the list.

The large stadium should also bring in extra money should we fill most of the stadium.

We have also recently received our yearly shareholders announcement, which has some big profit margins for the season with £13m profit and over £44m in turnover last season. Not bad on a stadium capacity of 5,500 and no European Football.

Previous Season Goals

* Obtain a lower half finish. This is below board expectations, but I think is safer and more achieveable - ACHIEVED - Reached exactly what the board wanted

* Produce atleast one quality youth player of Sammarinese nationality - ACHIEVED - No standouts yet again, but I actually signed some youths this time around

* Release deadwood and lower the age of the squad - ACHIEVED - 3 players gone with more of the younger, not going to make it players, next out the door. Looking to sell off some players who are not happy or not really making the cut

Season Goals

* Produce on quality youngster for San Marino. Still struggling to really create another Bertolini.

* Make it past the Italian Cup First Round Proper. Not a prioriy but after Udinese won it, and I should of beat them, I feel we can ge further this time.

* Improve the midfield's assist numbers

Previous Future Goals

* Improve facilities to be on par with Serie A standards ACHIEVED - Looking to get them to excellent and aboe the average for Serie A now

* Get the stadium upgraded ACHIEVED - Completed and already moved in

* sustain longterm mid table positioning Progressive- So far so good

* Increase youth recruitment network to enhance player potential for youth contracts Failed - No youth recruitment upgrades in 2 seasons

* Make it past the first round proper of the Italian Cup within the next few seasons Failed - So close this year, so aiming to do this next season

Future Goals

* sustain longterm mid table positioning

* Increase youth recruitment network to enhance player potential for youth contracts

* Make it past the first round proper of the Italian Cup within the next few seasons

* Add an international, incentive based feeder club

Brizza · February 14, 2013

Thanks dude. Look forward to getting through a few years and making the sort of progress you've made!

Serie B going okay so far. Nice not to have the financial pressure for once. We're sat in lower mid table after 10 games.

Benedettini still only has 1 San Marino cap, in a friendly two years ago. I presume he's holding off to see if he gets an Italian call up. He'd make a huge difference to San Marino but I'm sure will never make it as a full Italian international (although it does now say he'll be a good Serie A midfielder in the future).

leonavich · February 14, 2013

Was it a full cap or an under 20's cap, as I am sure once you make a full international debut, you can't change your selection.

Either way, he sounds like he is developing nicely if he is shaping up as a good Serie A midfielder.

How safe from relegation are you so far? I think you will have a good indication of whether you will remain up or not based on the halfway point as results over the second games are usually fairly similar in the number of points obtained when around mid to lower mid table.

But good luck! You sound like you are coming along nicely and it will only be a matter of time before you are progressing to the Serie A.

leonavich · February 15, 2013

First game at the new stadium is an Italian Cup 3rd Qualifying Round match v Modena from the Serie B, where we are expecting to get an attendance of around 9,000 in the near 22,000 capacity stadium.

We won the game 2-1 to progress to the next round with Gioralmo scoring both goals from left back. Nieuwenhuis has an early goal disallowed before Gioralmo put us 1-0 up. Modena struck back, but a second half goal to give Gioralmo a double put us back in the lead and we never looked back, dominating possession.

Still in line for a new striker as our attack looked flat tonight.

LUFC 08 · February 15, 2013

Signed this guy for £5m in 2016 hes been absolute beast for my San Marino side... http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/5/asamoahe.png/

Scored 48 goals in 39 games in the 2018/2019 season helping us win Serie A by a country mile!

Still not having any success with the national side going into 2019/20...

leonavich · February 15, 2013

LUFC - Wow! looks to be a great signing! winning the Serie A already is an awesome feat. You mus be heading for European success soon.

The international scene is a lot harder, but with you in europe you should start to see some pretty decent youths coming through that can make the step up to the national side in a few years if not straight away.

leonavich · February 15, 2013

International 2024

Another decent season with not much movement around our ranking but this will change soon as we saw some average youth intakes that should fit in to the national team soon.

We started brightly with 2 draws, over the Maldives as well as Syria, before Slovenia and Croatia put us in our place with 6-0 and 3-0 hammerings. We managed to pull off a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan in a World Cup Qualifier before drawing 0-0 with Latvia which were both great results and put us on 4 points in the qualifiers. A lack of friendlies were arranged so I quickly put in one against a similarly ranked Ethiopian side who beat us 1-0 in a match we should of won as we had the upper hand.

So a fairly good season saw us fluctuate in our ranking, getting as high as 126th but ending the season at 131st. Some other news came in with the record appearances being surpassed by Luigi Bertolini who now has a total of 75 caps and rising as he is only 27 and is easily on track to break the 100 barrier. Cristian Bernardi has 73 caps and is currently 30, but being a goalkeeper should stick around long enough to fight Bertolini for the first player to reach 100 caps.

The national team also played a few games in the new stadium, and in fact where the first side to play on the new "San Marino Stadium" pitch in a World Cup Qualifier verse Croatia, selling out the stadium at 21,760 fans. Though the team lost 3-0, it was a momentous occasion and will hopefully lead towards larger strides in the development of the national side.

2024 Best XI

Fixtures

International Rankings

2012 – 209
2013 – 208
2014 – 209 
2015 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/826/ranking171.jpg/"]171[/url][/b]
2016 – 190
2017 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/855/163rd.jpg/"]163[/url][/b]
2018 – 180
2019 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/15/rank114.jpg/"]114[/url][/b]
2020 – 145
2021 – 175
2022 – 131
2023 – 135
2024 – 131

Overall Best XI

There are currently three San Marino Club players in the National team's overall best XI

International Awards & Achievements

[i]Most Caps[/i]  - Luigi Bertolini        (75)
          - Andy Selva             (74)
          - Cristian Bernardi      (73)
          - Damiano Vannucci       (67)
          - Maicol Berretti        (61)
          - Matteo Vitaioli        (56)
          - Manuel Marani          (55)
          - Alessandro Ceccoli     (54)
          - Aldo Junior Simoncini  (54)
          - Michele Cervellini     (53)


[i]Most Goals[/i] - Andy Selva             (10)
          - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/547/righi.jpg/"]Mattia Righi[/url]            (8)
          - Alessandro Valentini    (4)
          - Matteo Vitaioli         (4)
          - [url="http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2515/25caps3goals.jpg"]Leon Breakenridge[/url]       (3)
          - Marco Berardi           (3)
          - Marcello Bianchi        (3)
          - Fabio Cesana            (3)
          - Dimitri Cogoni          (3)
          - Andrea Pelliccioni      (3)

[i]Most Goals in a match[/i]   - Mattia Righi       (3)

[i]Most Assists in a match[/i] - Tiziano Colantonio (3)

Records

[i]Highest World Ranking[/i] - [url="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7089/109ds.jpg"][b]109th[/b][/url] (2023)

[i]Fastest Goal in European Qualifications[/i] - [url="http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3749/fastestevergoalineuros.jpg"]Mattia Righi, 11 seconds v Croatia[/url] (2023)

[i]Highest Attendance[/i] - [url="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2111/recordhighnational.jpg"]21,760 v Croatia[/url] (2024)

leonavich · February 15, 2013

Some of the more Interesting names of players I have been trying to sign over the last couple of seasons:

Ninja - Brazil

Jamaica - Brazil

Both have been a bit harder to get than I would of liked as their prices are much higher than I am willing to pay, however after this years striker issues, I may need to shell out and get another strong striker as the secondary role over the past few years since Laurito's decline and retirement has not been working out as well as I would of liked.

leonavich · February 16, 2013

Club Mid Season Review 2024-25

Key Transfers in

Tomaso Surano (Co-Ownership Cagliari) DC - £0 buy out

Another Co-Ownership where the other team failed to put in a bid and we re-signed him. Great buy as he has started to come in to the first team over the last few seasons and is now preferred ahead of Cabalceta who has been in poor form lately.

Khesa Lesesa (Young Boys) AML/ST - £2k p/m Loan

Signed to provide addition to the strike force but struggled to assert himself in the secondary atacking position. Starting to play better now that he is starting to fit in but unlikely to turn the loan move permanent due to below expected performances.

Brice Bonelli (Free Transfer) ST - Free

Signed to help with the early season struggles up front and was not able to hit the net early on either. Eventually hit some form and now has 6 from 15 to become the main secondary striker along side Nieuwenhuis. Already in his 30's so more of a stop gap until a permanent replacement can be found.

Marlon Bovu (Free) MC/AM - Free

No Idea why he was on a free and why no one had noticed him in Europe as he was playing his trade for Ajax CT in South Africa. An absolute gem and way out of my league. Struggled to negotiate a deal until the Director stepped in to help and have not looked back. 3 goals in 7 games with 2 assists and 2 Player of the Match awards shows we have finally found the player to replace Di Tacchio in the Attacking central midfield role. The midfield now looks solid with Petrucci, Pozzi, Bochini, Schneider, Borges and now Bovu. Expect great things once this group settles with the new South African signing.

Key Transfers Out

Giovani Caruso (Free Transfer) MC - Free

Struggled to assert himself in the past few seasons and was let go once his contract expired. Loyal over he years but not able to cope with the pace and talent of the Serie A. Has decided to retire at 30 years of age and is now an Assistant Manager. May be brought back in to the club on the backroom staff if he is willing to be a coach.

Mattia Censoni (Free Transfer) DC - Free

A player who came through the initial youth ranks when I started and did well to stay in the squad from Serie C1/A to the Serie A but his game time diminished over the years drastically. Also decided to leave the field for the backroom and may soon be joining as the new Director of football with an offer on the table until 2028.

Giacomo Tedesco (Free) DCR - Free

Once integral to the backline, things moved quickly last season and Tedesco was left behind. Wanted to keep him on the book badly as he was versatile and a decent player, but wanted far too much to warrant a contract renewal for a fringe player. His rise to Serie A and higher wage demands ruined his chance at finding a club and he decided to retire from the game completely at just 26. Will be sorely missed.

Nico Bochini (Co-Ownership Inter Milan) MC/AM - £825k

a large Co-Ownership sum was hard to turn down though he is a key part of my future plans. Will attempt to re-sign in the Co-Ownership once the contract is back on the table, however Bovu has proven to fill the gap well should we lose out on Bochini. Still at the club during the Co-Ownership so we still get good usage out of him.

Alessandro Barra (Co-Ownership Inter Milan) AM/ST - £550k

No plans to use him when this bid came in and made me instantly give him another look. Still doesn't look to impressive, so the deal was accepted but remains at the club in the under 20's camp. Will not be too upset if Inter buy out the contract however we are still looking for the striker to fill the gap since Laurito's departure.

Willi Gaus (Como) DC - Loan

Planned to use him this season and started brightly but his form dropped dramatically whilst the window was still open and a loan bid was accepted to give him the experience he needs. The Co-Ownership ends at the end of the year so his performance on loan will determine my interest in keeping him or not.

Current Season Highlights

A mixed season in that we are still in the hunt for mid table, though our form has been quite poor. We have struggled to score up front, especially in the second striker role which has left me looking for alternatives though we are starting to see some returns from the new players as they Gel. The midfield looks solid as does the defence, with our most crucial areas to build on now up front and the goalkeeper. Though Mid table was the aim for this year, so not looking to upgrade in these areas until summer at the earliest.

- Roma were the next team knocking on the door for my services. A tough call to turn down as they are a Serie A title contending team but my heart lies with the challenge and with San Marino as I slowly build a squad that should be able to to fight for Europe in the next 5 years.

- The new stadium has seen a large spike in attendance, but it will take a while to fill it to close to capacity on a regular basis. As a result our profit has fluctuated from £400k profit to £2m profit per month. Either way, we are on track to get the club in a very healthy financial position and reduce the debts quickly.

- The backroom staff has seen the addition of Lionel Messi as another Reserve Manager, as well as Fredy Guarin come in as a Fitness Coach. With these signings, we are now producing good results in training more consistently and have a healthy backroom staff of experience players.

- We have improved the Facilities further, however the Boardroom continue to block youth facilities. This year saw one player come through with good potential which will hopefully help overturn their decision as they start to see the work put in, finally pay off with the youth players.

leonavich · February 17, 2013

Club 2024-25

Season Review

In my mind, this was always going to be a season of consolidating and building the basis for a successful club. It was always my aim to maintain our previous positions in Serie A and reduce the debts as much as possible to set us up for the long term. We needed a decent season as well as the fans to show up and fill the stadium for this to be a successful season and to push the team on. Our first game in the new stadium was a 2-1 win over Modena in the Italian Cup with just under 10 thousand fans showing up, not too bad a way to start the season. We lost our first two games of the league though, including a disappointing 2-1 loss to cellar dwellers Brescia. We won 4 out of our next 6 and managed to fill over 19 thousand seats in the only loss of that run to Inter Milan, 1-0 which was a good sign that we were keeping our form and bringing in the fans.

We then got complacent and suffered 2 heavy losses, one a 4-1 loss to Juventus, the other an embarrassing 7-0 loss to Ascoli.

Our form remained hit and miss, though we did have a good 2-1 over A.C. Milan amongst them, but it wasn't until after Christmas that we started to really play well. We signed Bovu on a free over the winter window and went on a run losing only 1 out of 11 games. Though we had a number of draws, we managed to get ourselves away from the lower mid table regions and moved up to our usual mediocrity of 11th. We were once again knocked out in the Italian Cup First Round proper, but our wins over Palermo and Genoa put us in to 9th and a real chance of being above the mid table spot that has been ours the past 2 seasons. We suffered some injuries late on in the season, and as a result on picked up one point in our last 3 games but still managed to end the season in a record high 10th position.

We struggled early in the season to once again find the back of the net, with Nieuwenhuis hitting 17 times but the next best being Bonelli and winter signing Bovu on 7. Schneider managed 6 before succumbing to injury late in the season, but our defence hit in a number of goals with Sorano hitting 4 and Bertolini hitting 3.

Our midfield did what I expected though and dished out a wide variety of assists, with Schneider, Bovu and Borges laying on 5, 6 and 7 respectively. The forwards once again helped out well with Nieuwenhuis laying on 7, Bonelli 6 and N'Suki 4 in his limited appearances. The defence was once again helpful with Bianchi chipping in with 6 and Giorlamo helping out with 5.

Despite Bovu being the star after Winter, Borges held on again to claim another Fans Player of the Year award to claim his 4th in a row and be equal with Di Tacchio in winning the award 4 times.

We really need a longer term striker and more consistency, but the side looks like it might soon be able to contend higher up the table with player like Bovu being key players next season.

Another great piece of news, is that our debts have been cleared thanks to the sponsorship of the stadium and the large profits coming in each month. The team is now in a position to start utilising the profits to increase the playing squad quality, and with a host of players hitting the end of their career, the time for an overhaul will be within the next year or two. Expect to see players like Di Tacchio, N'Suki and Luciani make way for younger, better players for the Serie A as we start to push for higher mid table positions and possibly een Europe within the next few seasons.

League Table

Squad


| Pkd  | Inf  | Name                 | Apps    | Gls  | Ast  | PoM  | Pas R| Tck  | DrbPG| Sh T | Yel  | Red  | Av Rat | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| GK   | Hol  | Alessandro Grilli    | 27      | 0    | 0    | 0    | 77%  | -    | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.79   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DR   | Hol  | Marco Bianchi        | 17 (10) | 0    | 6    | 0    | 72%  | 5.33 | 0.98 | 33%  | 1    | 0    | 6.90   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCR  | Int  | Luigi Bertolini      | 31 (5)  | 3    | 0    | 1    | 74%  | 2.04 | 0.39 | 75%  | 3    | 0    | 6.94   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCL  | Hol  | Tomaso Surano        | 36 (3)  | 4    | 2    | 2    | 74%  | 3.09 | 0.22 | 63%  | 5    | 0    | 7.15   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DL   | Hol  | Nicola Girolamo      | 39      | 2    | 5    | 2    | 66%  | 5.60 | 0.92 | 23%  | 8    | 1    | 7.08   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DMC  | Hol  | José Borges          | 34      | 4    | 7    | 3    | 84%  | 5.67 | 0.72 | 47%  | 14   | 1    | 7.45   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCR  | Trv  | Luca Petrucci        | 34 (1)  | 4    | 1    | 1    | 81%  | 6.83 | 1.18 | 38%  | 6    | 0    | 7.13   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MC   | Int  | Marlon Bovu          | 15      | 7    | 6    | 6    | 73%  | 6.90 | 1.89 | 59%  | 5    | 0    | 7.89   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCL  | Hol  | Nico Bochini         | 17 (9)  | 0    | 3    | 0    | 78%  | 3.91 | 1.50 | 39%  | 5    | 0    | 6.87   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STCR | Hol  | Brice Bonelli        | 20 (5)  | 7    | 6    | 0    | 75%  | 1.94 | 0.48 | 39%  | 3    | 0    | 7.05   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STCL | Trv  | Ruud Nieuwenhuis     | 34      | 17   | 7    | 2    | 73%  | 1.91 | 2.18 | 52%  | 9    | 0    | 7.15   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S1   | Int  | Cristian Bernardi    | 14      | 0    | 0    | 0    | 74%  | -    | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.82   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S2   | Int  | Khesa Lesesa         | 11 (7)  | 2    | 2    | 0    | 76%  | 1.39 | 0.84 | 56%  | 3    | 0    | 6.91   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S3   | Hol  | Denis Bellotto       | 1 (8)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 72%  | 10.98| 0.55 | 17%  | 0    | 0    | 6.87   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S4   | Hol  | Ivano Dotti          | 7 (5)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 80%  | 0.46 | 1.22 | 33%  | 2    | 0    | 6.78   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S5   | Hol  | Alessio Luciani      | 1 (22)  | 0    | 0    | 0    | 74%  | 8.42 | 1.82 | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.55   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S6   | Hol  | Edoardo Pozzi        | 20 (8)  | 6    | 0    | 1    | 78%  | 4.36 | 0.79 | 27%  | 5    | 0    | 7.13   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S7   | Hol  | Francesco Di Tacchio | 4 (13)  | 0    | 0    | 0    | 81%  | 3.31 | -    | 67%  | 2    | 0    | 6.73   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S8   | Hol  | Givestin N'Suki      | 9 (10)  | 1    | 4    | 0    | 79%  | 1.07 | 1.60 | 33%  | 1    | 0    | 6.94   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S9   | Inj  | Tino Schneider       | 35      | 6    | 5    | 2    | 81%  | 4.75 | 1.32 | 41%  | 5    | 0    | 7.23   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S10  | Hol  | Braian Ferretti      | 3 (9)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 78%  | 4.25 | 0.28 | 50%  | 1    | 0    | 6.78   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S11  | Int  | Erick Cabalceta      | 3 (3)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 68%  | 2.97 | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.30   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S12  | Hol  | Livio Cinquino       | 1 (16)  | 1    | 0    | 0    | 75%  | 1.55 | 2.17 | 44%  | 0    | 0    | 6.90   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    | Lst  | Dejan Danza          | 1 (7)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 73%  | 6.49 | 1.39 | 57%  | 1    | 0    | 6.89   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|  
|      |      |                      |         |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |        | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Player Awards

[i]Capocannoniere Serie C1/A[/i] 	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/5/topgoalscorer.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
[i]Player of the Season Serie C1/A[/i]	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/819/playeroftheseason.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
                               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/7/playeroftheyearm.jpg/"]Frencesco Di Tacchio (2015-16)[/url]
[i]Team of the Year Serie C1/A[/i]     - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/831/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
                               - Francesco Di Tacchio ([b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/831/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]2014-15[/url][/b], [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/685/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]2015-16[/url][/b])
[i]Capocannoniere Serie B[/i]    	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/255/topscorer.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2019-20)[/url]
[i]Team of the Year Serie B[/i]        - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/707/teamoftheyearh.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2019-20)[/url]
                               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/713/teamoftheyearn.jpg/"]Frencesco Di Tacchio (2020-21)[/url]
[i]European Golden Boy Award[/i]       - [url="http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4666/europeangoldenboyaward.jpg"]Ruud Nieuwenhuis (2023-24)[/url]

Club Achievements

[i]Highest League Placing[/i]         - [url="http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/9538/10thseriea.jpg"]10th Serie A (2024-25)[/url]
[i]Most Club Appearances[/i]          - Frederico Laurito 403 (2023-24)
[i]Most Club Goals[/i]                - Frederico Laurito 238 (2023-24)
[i]Highest Transfer Fee Paid[/i]      - Ruud Nieuwenhuis, AZ, £4,000,000 (2022-23)
[i]Highest Sammarinese Transfer[/i]   - Luigi Bertolini, Pisa Co-Ownership, £90k (2016)
[i]Highest Attendance[/i] 	       - [url="http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/1589/recordhighclub.jpg"]20,038 v Juventus (2024-25)[/url]
[i]Highest Gate Receipts[/i] 	       - [url="http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/5380/gateshighclub.jpg"]£600, 000 v Juventus (2024-25)[/url]
[i]Fastest goal[/i] 	               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/10/quickestgoal.jpg/"]14 seconds, Frederico Laurito (2016-17)[/url]
[i]Biggest Win[/i] 	               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/201/biggestwin65.jpg/"]6-5 v Alto Adige (2019-20)[/url]
[i]Consecutive Wins[/i]               - [url="http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/8365/consecutivewins.jpg"]6 (2022-23)[/url]
[i]Most Goals in Serie B Record[/i]   - 107 (2020-21)

100+ Appearances for San Marino Since 2012

| Name                 | Pos  | Apps |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Di Tacchio*| MC   | 413  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Frederico Laurito    | ST   | 403  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Alessandro Grilli*   | GK   | 349  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Luigi Bertolini*     | DC   | 335  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Luca Petrucci*       | MC   | 300  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Alessio Luciani*     | DCLR | 295  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Dejan Danza*         | MC   | 288  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Marco Bianchi*       | DRLC | 264  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Erik Cabalceta*      | CB   | 258  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Edoardo Pozzi*       | MCL  | 251  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Jose Borges*         | DCM  | 240  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Givestin N'Suki*     | ST   | 234  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Giacomo Tedesco      | DRC  | 155  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Nicola Girolamo*     | LCB  | 145  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Vittorio Micolucci   | DLC  | 145  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Emanuele Allegra     | RB   | 144  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Giovanni Caruso      | MC   | 142  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Matteo Paro          | DMC  | 134  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Pol Garcia           | DC   | 133  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Gabriele Pacciardi   | DMC  | 130  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Leandro              | ST   | 129  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Arturo Lupoli        | ST   | 127  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Marco Villanova      | AMLR | 126  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Carlo Pelagatti      | DRC  | 123  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Lunardini  | DMC  | 118  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Signori    | DCM  | 117  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Mattia Minesso       | AMC  | 112  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Mattia Maggio        | ST   | 105  |
|----------------------|------|------|

*In the current squad
+New to the list of 100+

Fans Player of the Year awards

Name                   Year                Total
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Francesco Di Tacchio | 2015-18, 2019/20  | 4    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Jose Borges          | 2021-25           | 4    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Eric Cabalceta       | 2018/19           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Dejan Danza          | 2020/21           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Vittorio Ferrero     | 2013/14           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Federico Laurito     | 2014/15           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Davide Poletti       | 2012/13           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|

Overall Best XI

Legends

Frederico Laurito Stats Career Staff

Francesco Di Tacchio Stats Career Staff

leonavich · February 17, 2013

Pre season 2025-26

Expectations

Top half finish was the aim of the game this time around in the eyes of the board, and with the debt gone and some quality players in the wings, it was an acceptable request. I knew we would need a bit more depth and quality, and with a large sum of £35m in the kitty, I had all I needed. The plan for this year was to finally get a quality Keeper even though Grilli has been doing well enough and to get a capable defender to replace one of the central defenders and create competition. I was personally aiming for around 9th or 10th this season, similarly to last, however with a bit more consistency which would, given circumstance, take us as high as 6th though unlikely. I didn't want to push up too quickly as I wanted time to build a squad, and Bovu was the first corner stone to this last winter.

Transfers

Kept my Co-Ownerships as I hae noticed the habits of sides to bid nothing, though was not too concerned over Barra and Gaus if their contract had been bought out. Lesesa was bought even though he did not do exceedingly well last year, only due to the cut price of £130k that Young Boys were requesting. I am hoping that with Bovu in the side as a fellow South African, they will click and he will play much better. He also looks like he has the ability so am giving him a chance as he doesn't want more than £6k a week which is hard to find for top flight players in the Serie A.

Ospina was the Keeper of my choosing. At 36, he was much older than I wanted, but would provide the stop gap required while we find the replacement for Grilli. We could get a few years out of him as well as some good mentoring and he was on a free. He was also the cheapest of a decent bunch, costing £18k a week and being one of the highest paid players at the club.

Facilities

Facilities were pretty much as their peak, but managed to get the youth facilities upgraded again. The board are slowing down on the facility upgrades as we now have a good setup, but y next target will be further expanding our youth network and improving the stadium as we get larger as a club.

Funding

Our sponsorships and TV revenue are going up every year as we become more entrenched in the Serie A. This being our 4th season, I was happy at the spike of £6m for sponsorships which showed we are now being taken seriously and are no longer closer to relegation candidates, but a more mid table solidarity club. With our funds getting larger and the debts cleared, we should be looking to shoot up the table and fight for Europe in the next couple of seasons, though my aim is around 4 as I don't want wages to rise to quickly.

Previous Season Goals

* Produce one quality youngster for San Marino. Still struggling to really create another Bertolini. No stand outs again, but Fiorini made his San Marino Debut and scored to become the youngest ever scorer for the National team. The players are starting to come and quality should arise soon

* Make it past the Italian Cup First Round Proper. Not a priority but after Udinese won it, and I should of beat them, I feel we can ge further this time. Failed - Made it to same stage and lost out to Ascoli 2-1. Will be looking to do at least one better this year

* Improve the midfield's assist numbers ACHIEVED - Not only did the assist number improve, so did the goals and overall performance, partly due to the influence of the new pivot Bovu

Season Goals

* Make it past the Italian Cup First Round Proper.

* Have Fiorini improve to keep his spot in the national team

* Keep at least 15 clean sheets this season with a World class keeper now in goals (Previous best was 10 in Serie A).

Previous Future Goals

* sustain long term mid table positioning ACHIEVED - new target is top half finish. Aim of Europe in 4-5 seasons

* Increase youth recruitment network to enhance player potential for youth contracts ACHIEVED - youth recruitment was enhanced and we have started to finally see some players break through, but still nothing special, just mediocre to decent potential

* Make it past the first round proper of the Italian Cup within the next few seasons Failed - Again, so close but lost out again.

* Add an international, incentive based feeder club Failed - Links to Los Angeles and New York were rejected, and the board failed to find something. Will look in to Asia this season until our reputation rises high enough for the US

Future Goals

* Fight for Europe in 4-5 seasons

* Generate youth that are capable of fighting for a first team place in 3-5 years

* Make it past the first round proper of the Italian Cup within the next few seasons

* Add an international, incentive based feeder club

FGreve · February 17, 2013

2018-19

The previous 4 seasons have seen me being either relegated or promoted, and this season was no exception as my first season in serie A ended with a 18th place. So Olimpicp will once again offer Serie B football..

I was simply out-classed for most parts of the season, and all the luck i had in the 17-18 season was gone..

The season highlight was a 3-0 win against Manchester City in a pre-season friendly..

The financials are looking great and youth and training facilities are being upgraded at the moment.

Staff are being upgraded as well with Juve-legend Buffon joining among others.

The only glory fell to Jacopo Galimberti , who won the fair play player of the year. Galimbberti has been a rock in the defence ever since i signed on a free transfer 3 seasons ago, only missing 1 game! this year his performances were astonishing with a average rating of 7.41 (and he only scored one goal).

He also won the fans player of the year award..

My Team of the year.

So next season i will look to pull of the same trick when i was relegated from serie B, with a quick return. I have a good squad with many young players so hopefully they have learned from the experience.

FGreve · February 17, 2013

- The second time I have been approached in my career, this time by Udinese (Whom I have the courtesy of playing in my next Italian Cup encounter as well!) Perhaps this approach was more to unsettle the squad coming in to the match as this proposition was on match day! The offer was rejected, naturally, however the trick seemed to work as we went down 2-1 in the Italian Cup match.

hahaha classy move from udinese! just image that offer being made in real life and it was accepted :lol:

also nice to see Messi being part of your staff leonavich! good progress as well.

and congratulations to robi84 with his promotion and lufc and the conquest of the serie A title!

Brizza · February 17, 2013

A brief update, I'm most of the way through next season and this season was boring, so I'm getting it out of the way.

San Marino

Season 4 Roundup (2015/16)

Table

Best XI

Season overview

First season in Serie B wasn't too bad. We bobbled around in mid-table for most of the time, I wouldn't say it was boring, but it certainly wasn't exciting. We got ourselves into a position to push for the final play off position in the last 5-6 games and then promptly fell apart.

Youth watch

Everyone was rubbish.

My best player wasn't even Sammarinese.

Torricelli (16); Sechi (16); Marani (16)

Benedettini (13) is a turncoat.

Finances

I've got heaps of money. Sponsorship is rolling in, plus we're selling people on co-ownership, then the co-owner bids nothing for their half, so I keep them. It's dumb, but not as dumb as me getting the same offers over and over and over for my players to be co-owned. I hope this works differently in Serie A, else I'm going to lose heart with this challenge!

New season update

I've splashed some cash on a couple of kids from Scandinavia. I'm hopefully they'll help us push on.

leonavich · February 17, 2013

FGreve - Unlucky but at least now you have the experience. It can be tough to get back up though so good luck. I think with your key players firing, you should be fine and with the money that came in you should be fairly stable now to make the climb, whether it be over one season or a few more.

There is some kind of rule about that in football, right? You can't make/accept a bid on the match day of a game against the team you are about to play? Otherwise, if you accept, I can see some allegations coming along if the offer is accepted after you happen to lose with the team you have just left, to the team you have just gone to.

And thanks, this season I am hoping to try and make a break through the mediocrity I have been in for the last 3 seasons. Serie A can be difficult when you are trying to run a club on a shoe string budget. But now that we have some serious funds, I am hoping to break that mould.

Brizza - It can be frustrating seeing Co-own offers come in constantly, but think of it as a decent income until you are no longer the club that larger teams try and feed of. As my status in Serie A has gone up, the co-own offers have been going down, or at least become a bit more realistic in that I am getting much better bids. It does suck though when you want to get rid of a player and a co-own bid comes in instead.

Hang in there though, because once you make Serie A, you get a huge windfall of money and a large transfer budget. The wage budget is low comparatively but you can start to get some serious players in the team and it wont take long until you are up there with the Milan's, Inter's and Juve's of the Serie A.

Brizza · February 18, 2013

San Marino

Season 5 Roundup (2016/17)

Table

Best XI

Season overview

So... This was a cruise. I'm really surprised! We have always been defensively solid, but my new front three helped us have the cutting edge we needed at the top of the field.

Star men

I bought three new front guys -

Hans Staub - Mentally a bit weak, judging by his body language during games at least, hopefully further 1st team football will sort that out.

Timothy Billen - Stolen late on from Belgium when I was scouring the U19 teams for regens. I hope he's nowhere near his potential!

Hans Christian Dyrendahl - Another player who sounds like a baddie from Die Hard, but my best player by a street. Missed a chunk of the season through injury, but still sensational.

At the back, Glody Mutombo was a rock and replaced the disgraced the blacklisted Kyriakou who I've tired of ignoring all of my team talks.

Youth watch

I've decided to start keeping anyone with a semblance of talent. When I release my players, they all sit unemployed, then died. Hopefully by keeping them and giving them reserve team football, they'll develop and help the national team. The only guys with a bit of ability this time around are these two -

Zafferani (17)

Adamoli (17)

Faetanini (17)

Slim pickings, sure, but the first two are in the U21 squad already and Faetanini has made his full international debut. I just typed that "it's not a strong San Marino team" then I remembered that this had happened.

I'm also concerned I'm moving away from the spirit of the challenge and need to blood more Sammarinese kids. I've also told my board I want to emphasise youngsters from my academy (they're now annoyed at me not honouring this!). I may set myself some sort of limit in due course and always field x amount of Sammarinese eligible kids. I think this is only really worthwhile now I'm in Serie A though, as my facilities should hopefully improve.

Finances

We're sloshing in cash. I'm pretty excited about seeing what can be brought in during the close season. Not sure how easy I'll find Serie A!

New season update

I've just clicked over, so I'm just about to start scouring the world for fresh talent.

Facilities

I managed to secure Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment increases, so tried my luck with the next logical step...

They went for it. I've never, ever got the board to agree to this sort of thing in FM before!

leonavich · February 18, 2013

Well done Brizza! Things are looking up

Good job in getting to Serie A and getting the new stadium! hope next year is another solid run for you

leonavich · February 19, 2013

International 2025

We didn't start the year as best as I would of hoped, with a draw against Djibouti, but it was a good indication of where the team stood. We had not generated any exceptional players since Bertolini and Bernardi and both were either on the late end of their 20's or reaching their 30's. We needed some players to be blooded in and fast otherwise within a few seasons, our hard work to get this high up the rankings would be lost. I was scared for the national team in that sense, but was living in the now after our good performance against Slovenia. We lost 3-2 but it was a solid match that we had every chance of walking away with a point from. A heavy loss to Scotland 4-1 followed a 2-2 with Suriname and I was once again pondering the future of the national team.

We managed a 2-1 win over Comoros but then suffered another 4-1 loss, this time to Croatia. We hit one of our highlight games as we beat Azerbaijan in the World Cup Qualifiers 2-0 to make it 2 wins over them in the campaign. A narrow 1-0 loss to Latvia was credible and saw us end our World Cup bid on 7 points after a humbling 4-1 loss to Scotland. I decided on 2 relatively easy games against Macau and Cook Islands to give us some winning form to round out the year, but it only raised more questions as we won both games unconvincingly, 1-0 a piece.

The worry comes as despite our improved facilities, we are yet to generate a decent Sammarinese player at the club and we are now at a stage where the best two prospects are at their peaks or about to pass them. If we do not generate any players to be competitive at international level soon, I fear we may have to start over again from the International perspective. As a result, I will start offering more youth contracts out in the hope that one or a few become diamonds in the rough and make it to the international stage. Last season saw a few players get blooded, but they are not yet good enough. Our best prospect however refuses to be called up as he shares Italian nationality, though he is still far from good enough to represent Italy.

On the player spectrum, we had a good season from them with 14 goals this calendar year, with Daniele Ceccoli hitting the net 5 times. This also helped us move up the ranking slightly to a 121st position to end the calendar year. Our best since 2019.

With emphasis at club level on Sammarinese players at least getting contracts, regardless of whether they can make it at club level or not, we should at least see the pool of players increase and hopefully, the talent as well.

2025 Best XI

Fixtures

Players with Potential

International Rankings

2012 – 209
2013 – 208
2014 – 209 
2015 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/826/ranking171.jpg/"]171[/url][/b]
2016 – 190
2017 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/855/163rd.jpg/"]163[/url][/b]
2018 – 180
2019 – [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/15/rank114.jpg/"]114[/url][/b]
2020 – 145
2021 – 175
2022 – 131
2023 – 135
2024 – 131
2025 – 121

Overall Best XI

Overall XI Players who have represented both Club and Country

Cristian Bernardi

Luigi Bertolini

Tiziano Colantonio

International Awards & Achievements

[i]Most Caps[/i]  - Luigi Bertolini        (85)
          - Cristian Bernardi      (84)
          - Andy Selva             (74)
          - Damiano Vannucci       (67)
          - Maicol Berretti        (61)
          - Alessandro Ceccoli     (59)
          - Matteo Vitaioli        (56)
          - Manuel Marani          (55)
          - Aldo Junior Simoncini  (54)
          - Michele Cervellini     (53)


[i]Most Goals[/i] - Andy Selva             (10)
          - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/547/righi.jpg/"]Mattia Righi[/url]            (9)
          - Marcello Bianchi        (5)
          - Daniele Ceccoli         (5)
          - Andrea Pelliccioni      (4)
          - Alessandro Valentini    (4)
          - Matteo Vitaioli         (4)
          - [url="http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2515/25caps3goals.jpg"]Leon Breakenridge[/url]       (3)
          - Marco Berardi           (3)
          - Fabio Cesana            (3)

[i]Most Goals in a match[/i]   - Mattia Righi       (3)

[i]Most Assists in a match[/i] - Tiziano Colantonio (3)

Records

[i]Highest World Ranking[/i] - [url="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7089/109ds.jpg"][b]109th[/b][/url] (2023)

[i]Fastest Goal in European Qualifications[/i] - [url="http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3749/fastestevergoalineuros.jpg"]Mattia Righi, 11 seconds v Croatia[/url] (2023)

[i]Highest Attendance[/i] - [url="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2111/recordhighnational.jpg"]21,760 v Croatia[/url] (2024)

leonavich · February 20, 2013

Club Mid Season Review 2025-26

Key Transfers in

A smallish window this year as wages go up in our first big contract negotiation season in the Serie A. Two Co-Ownership deals where won but are not first team potential at the moment.

David Ospina (Free Transfer) GK - Free

Signed as the keeper to finally be the next step up in our bid to become serious players in the Serie A but has fallen well short of expectations. Has been conceding goals easily and struggling to cope with the speed of Serie A. Unless the second half of his season goes well, his stay and Titani will be short.

Khesa Lesesa (Young Boys) AML/ST - £130k

Did not have a great spell with us on loan last season, however Young Boys reduced his price to virtually nothing, and for such a small amount of money, he would be decent backup in the striking role. He was actually fairing well to start the season until he took a serious injury, keeping him out for 5 months. Will be due back in a months time and will hopefully continue to be a solid supporting striker.

Ademir (Flamengo) ST - Loan

For just £35 a week, he was perfect to add depth to the strikers. Another supporting role player, if he can pick up his performances, he may be signed permanently as he has a decent amount of skill in those boots of his.

Dirk Stahl (Stuttgart) DC/DM - Loan

A decent player already, his signing was purely to provide an alternative to Burges in the holding role as well as cover for any injuries in the back. The chance of keeping him on permanently is low due to his already established ability, but will be handy if it can be pulled off. Will remain as a bench utilisation player unless a deal can be ironed out as I do not want to become to reliant on his services unless they become more permanent.

Key Transfers Out

Fairly quite windows this season, with most going out on loans. A few of the dead wood layers were released but did not warrant an inclusion on this list due to their lack of appearances/impact over the years.

Dejan Danza (Free Transfer) MC - Free

Went out on loan midway through last season to try and show that he still had some spark in him but only managed one assist in 13 games in the Serie C1/A. Was a loyal midfielder, but with wages starting to creep up, those who were nothing more than fringe would need to go to continue the clubs rise. Still only 30 so may have an opportunity to continue playing for a few more years.

Nicolo Zanotti (Co-Ownership Napoli) MC - £500k

Not sure as to why Napoli have put in such an extravagant price for our Sammarinese youth product, however its a nice little addition the purse, he stays at the club and also has put me in aware of this kid for the National squad. Hoping to break his debut in the next International, though not much of a prospect for the club side at the moment.

Current Season Highlights

We are playing well in most games, but the signing of a top keeper to better the back has backfired majorly. Ospina has looked way out of his league and the 36 year old doesn't seem to be anywhere near the player he once was. Unless he picks up his game, his stay will be a short lived one season. We have been conceding a huge number of goals, an example being a 6-1 loss to Juventus and a 5-1 loss to Pro Vercelli. However we have been doing very well in attack and as a result find ourselves above the top half position and lurking around the European places in 5th.

- Two heavy losses shows that our Keeping and concentration in the back line woes are far from over.

- Marlon Bovu proves to be a huge difference to the team, picking up two awards over the break, as well as runner up in the Serie A Player of the Year Award:

African Footballer of the Year Award 2025-26

Serie A Foreign Player of the Year Award 2025-26

Runner Up Serie A Player of the Year Award 2025-26

leonavich · February 20, 2013

This is one of my proudest results in Football Manager history.

San Marino 4 (Nieuwenhuis 66, 90+3, Petrucci 90, 90+2)

Vs

Palermo 3 (Alex 3, Dybala 8, Nabih 37)

Palermo Flew out of the blocks and Summer target Alex dispatched a shot from the edge of the area to take an early lead. We were shell shocked and did not even have time to react as Palermo hit us again this time with a lovely ball in to Dybala who calmly finished to make it 2-0 in under 10 minutes. The game took some semblance of normality as possession football started to come in to play with Palermo maintaining most of the ball and the shots on goal. Eventually they broke us down again and Nabih hit a lovely shot at 37 minutes to seemingly kill off the match. We went in to half time well down in confidence and I was livid at the side with their performance but had no idea how to tackle the issue.

To say that we came out firing is an overstatement as the game hit a lull early in the second half, with Palermo now happy to sit on their lead, content that they had done enough. Our first goal came in the 66th minute through Nieuwenhuis who hit a poachers effort after the ball bobbled around and this didnt show me any signs that we had the ability to mount a come back. I needed to make some changes and fast, so Ademir was given a chance as Bonelli was playing poorly up front, firing blanks, while Borges was also subbed for Stahl in a surprisingly lacklustre performance. Bellotto was brought on for Bochini to try and get some better passes forward as opposed to making runs, which Bochini was struggling with.

Despite the changes, nothing looked like it was mounting as Palemo thwarted all our balls in to the box. Petrucci, who was not particularly having a good game up until this point, was a potential substitute that I was looking at but was I glad not to have made the substitution when the 90th minute appeared on the board. The midfielder, struggling to get good balls to the strikers, decided to head in to the box himself. Being the extra man in the area allowed him to make a run that went untracked until it was too late and he was on the end of a lovely header to score on the 90th minute, and make the scores 3-2 with only 3 minutes of stoppage time registered by the referee/ Palermo continued to remain defensive, happy to allow us range and to try and hold on to the lead. Petrucci, feeling good from his previous strike, took this as an opportunity and with a free kick on the edge of the area, decided to take a long range shot, this time driving it higher, into the top corner. Palermo were in shock, as just 2 minutes later the score went from 3-1 to 3-3. In the space of 2 minutes, Petrucci had turned the game on its head and sent the bench and Titani fans wild. I was ecstatic with the result, a draw with 2 goals in stoppage time, tremendous!

Palermo kicked off, with just seconds left to run on the clock, and looked downhearted at letting the lead slip through their hands. In fact, they were so shocked at the proceedings, that they failed to see a storming Nieuwenhuis running in on the back pass from the kick off. Nieuwenhuis' speed caught the whole match of balance as he got to the player when the ball arrived and won the challenge. All of a sudden, he was through on goal, one on one with the keeper, stoppage time all but over and the whistle in the referee's mouth!

He took a few steps and poked the ball forward on the floor as the keeper was still caught of guard with the sudden swing of possession, the ball rolling past the keeper before he could get down to it. the net rippled slightly as the ball crossed the line and hit the back of the net, the whistle blown just seconds later. San Marino had pulled of 3 goals in just 3 minutes of stoppage time football to register what may be considered the most show stopping finale to a game since the Manchester City v Reading ending for the Premier League title back in 2012!

I was in delirious celebration as the whistle sounded and run on to celebrate with the players. Though this was a regular season game, in the middle of the calendar, it felt like so much more. This was like a Champions League, a title... The World Cup. This was the best feeling in football. As the scenes died down over the next couple of days, I realised that we were no longer just a small club from a smaller nation. We were Serie A big boys, European contenders, and with the right stuff and performances like this, future champions! We were on a high and nothing is going to stop us until we reach the top now... Nothing!

Brizza · February 20, 2013

That's insane. I've never seen anything like it before!

leonavich · February 20, 2013

It was unbelievable! I went from raging to jumping out of my chair in the space of about 30 seconds real time, 3 minutes in game.

This season has been incredible! Will have the update up within the hour!

leonavich · February 20, 2013

Club 2025-26

Season Review

A season that had a lot riding on it, I came in with expectations of a mid to high mid table position. We needed to do well due to wages being restructured and some players starting to become ambitious and wanting to move to a bigger club to fulfil these ambitions. My season expectations changed once Bovu came to me, providing an ultimatum of Champions League football in 2 seasons or departing for pastures new and higher up the rung of the footballing world.

With this in mind, we hit the ground running, with a slow but comfortable 1-0 in extra time over Torino in the Italian Cup. We then won our first 3 Serie A games including a fantastic 3-2 win over Milan to start the season off undefeated. Our next game was against Juventus and was a wake up call as I realised the team still had a lot to work through, losing 6-1 in a demoralising loss. We came back with some thumping wins, 4-1 over Fiorentina and 5-2 over Ascoli before a 3-3 Draw with Como followed a 2-0 loss to Cesena to leave as loitering around the higher mid table positions as expected of us. We hit a rough patch with a 2-2 draw against last place Bologna before losing to Udinese before a solid 4-2 win over Roma got us back on course.

Back to the Italian Cup and we suffered a humbling loss to Empoli in penalties, after being 2-0 up in regulation time. Our first time out in the Qualifying stages for a number of years. Our form seemed to be dropping as we lost heavily to Pro Vercelli 5-1 before losing out to then first place Cagliari 3-1 and then Napoli 2-1. With our season falling off the rails, we managed one of the best comebacks of all time to come from behind to beat Palermo 4-3, scoring 3 goals in stoppage time to overturn a 3 goal deficit. The slide continued though with a loss to Parma followed by a draw with Milan and then two further loses to Juventus and Fiorentina. We

We were now in mid table and the winter window had shut, no allowing us any further strengthening. To make things worse, Bovu and a few players were becoming restless as they saw their chance of European football slipping due to inconsistency. While we were punching above our weight, I thought it best to have a team talk and get the troops back on my side and managed to sway most to remain loyal to the steady rise of the cause for another few seasons. We turned the tempo around and how as we dispatched Atalanta and Ascoli before some tough wins over last placed Bologna (3-2) and a tough Udinese (4-3). Roma handed us a deserved 2-0 beating, before we went 5 unanswered, all in crucial top of the table clashes, including big wins over Inter (1-0), Pro Vercelli (3-2), Sampdoria (4-2) and then first placed Cagliari (1-0). This un of results got us back up in to 4th and in the Champions League spots with just 2 games left to play. Our next game was against 5th place Napoli who were just two points behind us. We started the stronger and went 2-0, virtually guaranteeing ourselves Champions League football next season. But like our Palermo game, we gave the ultimate in opposing results as we let Napoli back in the match, and then became to defensive trying to hold the result, losing 3-2 in injury time to fall one point behind them and in to 5th. Shattered, the players resigned themselves to Europa football, which was still successful, but the Champions League was right there and made them feel distraught.

We had one game left though, against last place Palermo, the team we had such an amazing game against last time we met in the season. While Napoli had 13th placed Fiorentina. The table looked like this:

Plc Team..........W...D...L....Pts

4th Napoli.........18...9...10..63

5th San Marino..19...5...13..62

Napoli v Fiorentina First Half

Napoli hit first out of the 4 teams in the 8th minute before Spada struck 5 minutes later to make it 2-0 to Napoli. Our hopes took even more of a dent when Pasa was sent off in the 36th Minute for Fiorentina to put them a man down. 2-0 and 10 men, the game looked tied up and in the bag Napoli where going to the Champions League it seemed.

San Marino v Palermo First Half

We started the stronger, but as with most of our form late this season, we seem to be shy in front of goals. though we had the chances, we missed everything, spraying all shots high and wide. The pressure seemed to be too much for the players to handle and we went in to the break 0-0, with Napoli leading in their match.

At Half Time

Plc Team..........W...D...L....Pts

4th Napoli.........19...9...10..66

5th San Marino..19...6...13..63

Napoli v Fiorentina Second Half

Napoli seemed to be in cruise control as their game teetered along with not much happening, Fiorentina, also seemingly happy to sit back and not concede any further goals being a man down. This all changed with a quick 5 minutes of intensity as Falah struck not once, but twice in the 70th and 75th minute to put Fiorentina on level terms. This forced Napoli in to action as a draw would see them on 64 points, enough for 4th, only if we failed to win our match. With Napoli pressing, Fiorentina has a few counter attacking chances of their own and nearly took the lead if not for some great keeping. Napoli looked at the clock, and continued to press, if slightly more cautiously, however time wound down and another goal was not forth coming for either side as the match ended 2-2. All eyes moved to the San Marino v Palermo game for the result...

San Marino v Palermo Second Half

We continued our assault to no avail and thing took a turn for the worst when Lesesa was injured early in the second half and Ademir came on in his place. It took him only a few minutes before he made an impact, scoring a goal in the 58th minute to put us 1-0 up. Palermo stated to push, fighting with what they had left to not end out on the bottom of the table but I continued our high line as the scores where not in our favour in the other match, Napoli still up 2-0. Then, things changed. Napoli suddenly had a 1-0 goal lead, then that slipped and suddenly we were in front, in 4th place! I immediately set the blockade in motion as Palermo stated to fight frantically to salvage some points. we defended like never before and held on to the 1-0 lead to end the match. We looked over at the final scores and saw the results. They read...

At Full Time

A fantastic result and meeting the expectations of some players earlier than expected was tremendous. Not only was this another financial windfall, but it was a blessing as we now have happy players playing at the level they wanted to. We also shared some awards this year as Nieuwenhuis kept up his prolific scoring, managing to become joint top scorer of the year with 30 goals in 37 league games. Bovu also managed to get a result just as good by making the Serie A Team of the Year to become the first San Marino player to do so since Di Tacchio in the Serie B in 2021.

Nieuwenhuis ended the season as the top goalscorer by a long way, leading the charts with 30 for the year and having joint claim to the Capocannoniere as well as to the Golden Shoe Award, however our supporting striker has once again struggled to feature. Bovu and Petrucci where the next most prolific with 8 and 6 respectively from midfield with our next best strikers being Ademir and Bonelli both with 4. Lesesa may have been on track for a higher number tallying 3 early in the season, but spent 6 months out injured before further injuring himself at the tail end of the season and failed to add to his 3 strikes. Surano managed 4 from defence to once again be one of our strongest defenders from set pieces.

In the assists category, Bovu outshone all those around him with 14, but the best news was the impact the midfield was finally starting to have as Schneider, Bochini and Borges started to finally click, all picking up 6 assists each, making 32 of our goals from our midfield. Petrucci had another 3 to add as a key component of the middle also. Giorlamo was once again our most dominant in the back with 6 assists of his own, while Lesesa managed 5 as our best striker, despite his year long debilitating injury.

It wasn't all good news though, as this season saw some ego's clash for the first time as Bernardi and Borges clashed briefly in the dressing room. The argument was resolved easy enough, but it just shows how the pressure starts to take hold once the team are vying for serious positions at the top of the league. Also, our decision to break out and sign a world class keeper back fired as Ospina was nowhere near as good as I was expecting. This may be due to age, our our defences inability to guard him well enough, but conceding 67 is the clubs worst performance since arriving in the Serie A.

A few long staying players have finally decided to call it a day as well, with Cabalceta and N'Suki deciding it was time to leave the player ranks. Though they had the opportunity to leave and get a few more years elsewhere, their loyalty to the club has made them decide to retire and take up backroom roles. We are currently negotiating them staying on at the club as coaches. The saddest news though, is the loss of club legend Di Tacchio. Despite still being the captain and featuring in 16 games (albeit off the bench) he has also decided to retire at 36 years of age. Though I would of loved to have seen him stay, and tried to persuade him, he has decided to call it a day as the club starts to move on from his generation which was a solid Serie C, B and mid table A side. We are also negotiation keeping this legend in the backroom as his presence will be unmeasurable.

He bows out surpassing a huge milestone for 402 league games for the club, the only player to do so, as well as becoming the all time appearance maker at 419. He will be sorely missed.

The signs of a strong squad are finally showing and with the right players stating to come in to the side, there is still much more potential for the team to grow. Though they have gone a bit better than I intended this year, a striker, keeper and defender are all I need, more for depth than anything else.

Some good news from the youth team as we generated some decent players this year, one becoming the youngest player ever in the Serie A, not even being 16 years of age when making his debut. Better yet, he is Sammarinese! The only downside being that he plays as a winger and my current formation deploys a deep lying playmaker with 3 central midfielders. I am attempting to retrain him, but may look to work around him on international level as he could become a star.

League Table

Squad


| Pkd  | Inf  | Name                 | Apps    | Gls  | Ast  | PoM  | Pas R| Tck  | DrbPG| Sh T | Yel  | Red  | Av Rat | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| GK   | Hol  | David Ospina         | 36      | 0    | 0    | 0    | 74%  | 0.03 | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.76   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DR   |      | Simongiorgio Marini  | 37 (1)  | 0    | 5    | 1    | 69%  | 4.93 | 0.64 | 0%   | 5    | 0    | 7.12   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCR  | Hol  | Luigi Bertolini      | 35      | 1    | 1    | 1    | 74%  | 2.17 | 0.38 | 33%  | 2    | 0    | 6.95   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DCL  | Hol  | Tomaso Surano        | 40      | 4    | 0    | 2    | 77%  | 3.16 | 0.25 | 41%  | 3    | 0    | 7.30   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DL   | Hol  | Nicola Girolamo      | 39      | 0    | 6    | 0    | 70%  | 4.59 | 0.53 | 0%   | 5    | 0    | 6.85   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| DMC  |      | José Borges          | 38      | 3    | 6    | 3    | 83%  | 6.92 | 0.78 | 35%  | 10   | 0    | 7.43   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCR  | Wnt  | Luca Petrucci        | 36      | 6    | 3    | 4    | 80%  | 7.08 | 0.75 | 35%  | 8    | 0    | 7.20   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MC   |      | Marlon Bovu          | 30      | 8    | 14   | 5    | 76%  | 6.76 | 2.25 | 53%  | 13   | 2    | 7.68   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| MCL  |      | Tino Schneider       | 38 (1)  | 4    | 6    | 1    | 78%  | 6.09 | 0.99 | 50%  | 5    | 0    | 7.18   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STCR | Hol  | Khesa Lesesa         | 17 (3)  | 3    | 5    | 0    | 76%  | 2.84 | 0.84 | 38%  | 3    | 0    | 6.95   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| STCL | Wnt  | Ruud Nieuwenhuis     | 39      | 30   | 4    | 7    | 72%  | 2.43 | 1.06 | 57%  | 7    | 0    | 7.36   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S1   | Hol  | Alessandro Grilli    | 4       | 0    | 0    | 0    | 71%  | 0.00 | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.60   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S2   | Hol  | Edoardo Pozzi        | 4 (11)  | 1    | 2    | 0    | 79%  | 8.26 | 0.67 | 40%  | 2    | 1    | 6.85   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S3   | Hol  | Marco Bianchi        | 6 (5)   | 0    | 2    | 0    | 78%  | 5.19 | 0.76 | -    | 2    | 0    | 6.82   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S4   | Hol  | Ivano Dotti          | 4 (7)   | 1    | 1    | 0    | 75%  | 1.55 | 1.11 | 57%  | 1    | 0    | 6.74   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S5   | Hol  | Denis Bellotto       | 2 (9)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 72%  | 4.91 | 1.23 | 0%   | 1    | 0    | 6.85   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S6   |      | Dirk Stahl           | 5 (13)  | 1    | 0    | 0    | 80%  | 3.42 | 0.71 | 50%  | 0    | 0    | 6.89   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S7   | Hol  | Givestin N'Suki      | 1 (1)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 74%  | 0.98 | 0.98 | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.35   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S8   | Hol  | Erick Cabalceta      | 0 (1)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 50%  | -    | -    | -    | 0    | 0    | 6.80   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S9   | Hol  | Andrea Giacobbi      | 0 (3)   | 0    | 1    | 0    | 66%  | 3.13 | -    | 0%   | 0    | 0    | 6.60   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S10  | Hol  | Francesco Di Tacchio | 0 (16)  | 0    | 0    | 0    | 81%  | 5.81 | -    | 0%   | 0    | 0    | 6.80   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S11  | Hol  | Ademir               | 5 (16)  | 4    | 1    | 0    | 72%  | 3.13 | 0.39 | 40%  | 1    | 0    | 6.82   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| S12  | Hol  | Nico Bochini         | 10 (18) | 2    | 6    | 0    | 74%  | 5.27 | 1.28 | 35%  | 3    | 1    | 6.98   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    | Hol  | Alessio Luciani      | 2 (3)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 74%  | 6.44 | 0.32 | 0%   | 2    | 0    | 6.29   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    | Hol  | Brice Bonelli        | 14 (8)  | 4    | 1    | 0    | 74%  | 2.14 | 0.87 | 35%  | 1    | 0    | 6.85   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -    | Inj  | Valerio Cascione     | 0 (2)   | 0    | 0    | 0    | 96%  | -    | -    | 67%  | 0    | 0    | -      | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|      |      |                      |         |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |        | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Player Awards

[i]Capocannoniere Serie C1/A[/i] 	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/5/topgoalscorer.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
[i]Player of the Season Serie C1/A[/i]	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/819/playeroftheseason.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
                               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/7/playeroftheyearm.jpg/"]Frencesco Di Tacchio (2015-16)[/url]
[i]Team of the Year Serie C1/A[/i]     - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/831/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2014-15)[/url]
                               - Francesco Di Tacchio ([b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/831/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]2014-15[/url][/b], [b][url="http://imageshack.us/f/685/teamoftheyear.jpg/"]2015-16[/url][/b])
[i]Capocannoniere Serie B[/i]    	- [url="http://imageshack.us/f/255/topscorer.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2019-20)[/url]
[i]Team of the Year Serie B[/i]        - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/707/teamoftheyearh.jpg/"]Frederico Laurito (2019-20)[/url]
                               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/713/teamoftheyearn.jpg/"]Frencesco Di Tacchio (2020-21)[/url]
[i]Capocannoniere Serie A[/i]    	- [url="http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/833/topscorerx.jpg"]Ruud Nieuwenhuis (2025-26)[/url]
[i]Team of the Year Serie A[/i]        - [url="http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/7969/teamoftheyeard.jpg"]Marlon Bovu (2025-26)[/url]
[i]European Golden Boy Award[/i]       - [url="http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4666/europeangoldenboyaward.jpg"]Ruud Nieuwenhuis (2023-24)[/url]
[i]European Golden Shoe Award[/i]      - [url="http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7239/goldenshow.jpg"]Ruud Nieuwenhuis (2025-26)[/url]

Club Achievements

[i]Highest League Placing[/i]         - [url="http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/3030/record4th.jpg"]4th Serie A (2025-26)[/url]
[i]Most Club Appearances[/i]          - Francesco Di Tacchio 419 (2025-26)
[i]Most League Appearances[/i]        - Francesco Di Tacchio 402 (2025-26)
[i]Most Club Goals[/i]                - Frederico Laurito 238 (2023-24)
[i]Most League Goals[/i]              - Frederico Laurito 223 (2023-24)
[i]Highest Transfer Fee Paid[/i]      - Ruud Nieuwenhuis, AZ, £4,600,000 (2022-23)
[i]Highest Sammarinese Transfer[/i]   - Nicolo Zanotti, Napoli Co-Ownership, £500,000 (2025)
[i]Highest Club Transfer[/i]          - Nico Bochini, Inter Milan Co-Ownership, £825,000 (2025)
[i]Highest Attendance[/i] 	       - [url="http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/2492/recordattendance.jpg"]21,211 v Cagliari (2025-26)[/url]
[i]Highest Average Attendance[/i]     - [url="http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6669/attgi.jpg"]16,795 (2025-26)[/url]
[i]Highest Gate Receipts[/i] 	       - [url="http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2961/gatest.jpg"]£650, 000 v Cagliari (2025-26)[/url]
[i]Fastest goal[/i] 	               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/10/quickestgoal.jpg/"]14 seconds, Frederico Laurito (2016-17)[/url]
[i]Biggest Win[/i] 	               - [url="http://imageshack.us/f/201/biggestwin65.jpg/"]6-5 v Alto Adige (2019-20)[/url]
[i]Consecutive Wins[/i]               - [url="http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/8365/consecutivewins.jpg"]6 (2022-23)[/url]
[i]Most Goals in Serie B Record[/i]   - 107 (2020-21)
[i]Youngest Player in Serie A[/i]     - [url="http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4677/youngestseriea.jpg"]Andrea Giacobbi[/url] (2020-21)

100+ Appearances for San Marino Since 2012

| Name                 | Pos  | Apps |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Di Tacchio*| MC   | 419  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Frederico Laurito    | ST   | 403  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Luigi Bertolini*     | DC   | 370  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Alessandro Grilli*   | GK   | 353  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Luca Petrucci*       | MC   | 336  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Alessio Luciani*     | DCLR | 300  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Dejan Danza          | MC   | 288  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Jose Borges*         | DCM  | 278  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Marco Bianchi*       | DRLC | 275  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Edoardo Pozzi*       | MCL  | 266  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Erik Cabalceta*      | CB   | 259  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Givestin N'Suki*     | ST   | 236  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Nicola Girolamo*     | LCB  | 184  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Giacomo Tedesco      | DRC  | 155  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Vittorio Micolucci   | DLC  | 145  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Emanuele Allegra     | RB   | 144  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Giovanni Caruso      | MC   | 142  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Ruud Nieuwenhuis+    | ST   | 135  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Matteo Paro          | DMC  | 134  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Pol Garcia           | DC   | 133  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Gabriele Pacciardi   | DMC  | 130  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Leandro              | ST   | 129  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Arturo Lupoli        | ST   | 127  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Marco Villanova      | AMLR | 126  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Carlo Pelagatti      | DRC  | 123  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Lunardini  | DMC  | 118  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Francesco Signori    | DCM  | 117  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Tomaso Surano+       | DC   | 116  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Nico Bochini+        | AMC  | 115  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Mattia Minesso       | AMC  | 112  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Tino Schneider+      | MC   | 112  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Mattia Maggio        | ST   | 105  |
|----------------------|------|------|
| Denis Bellotto+      | MCR   | 101  |
|----------------------|------|------|

*In the current squad
+New to the list of 100+

20+ Club Goals since 2012

| Name                 | Pos  | Apps | League | Club | 
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Frederico Laurito    | ST   | 403  | 223    | 238  |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Ruud Nieuwenhuis*    | ST   | 135  | 80     | 81   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Givestin N'Suki*     | ST   | 236  | 70     | 73   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Francesco Di Tacchio*| MC   | 413  | 55     | 56   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Luca Petrucci*       | MC   | 336  | 54     | 56   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Dejan Danza          | MC   | 288  | 37     | 38   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Arturo Lupoli        | ST   | 127  | 37     | 37   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Leandro              | ST   | 129  | 35     | 36   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Edoardo Pozzi*       | MCL  | 266  | 23     | 25   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Marco Villanova      | AMLR | 126  | 23     | 24   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Mattia Maggio        | ST   | 105  | 20     | 20   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|

*In the current squad
+New to the list of 20+

20+ Club Assists since 2012

| Name                 | Pos  | Apps | League | Club | 
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Francesco Di Tacchio*| MC   | 413  | 109    | 114  |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Frederico Laurito    | ST   | 403  | 82     | 85   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Luca Petrucci*       | MC   | 336  | 42     | 47   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Givestin N'Suki*     | ST   | 236  | 43     | 44   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Dejan Danza          | MC   | 288  | 40     | 41   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Marco Bianchi*       | DRLC | 275  | 35     | 36   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Jose Borges*         | DCM  | 278  | 34     | 36   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Edoardo Pozzi*       | MCL  | 266  | 31     | 34   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Arturo Lupoli        | ST   | 127  | 32     | 32   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Nicola Girolamo*     | LCB  | 184  | 29     | 29   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Leandro              | ST   | 129  | 24     | 24   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Ruud Nieuwenhuis*    | ST   | 135  | 22     | 24   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Marco Villanova      | AMLR | 126  | 22     | 22   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Marlon Bovu*         | AMC  | 45   | 20     | 20   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Giacomo Tedesco      | DRC  | 155  | 20     | 20   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|
| Nico Bochini*        | AMC  | 115  | 16     | 20   |
|----------------------|------|------|--------|------|

*In the current squad
+New to the list of 20+

Fans Player of the Year awards


Name                   Year                Total
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Francesco Di Tacchio | 2015-18, 2019/20  | 4    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Jose Borges          | 2021-25           | 4    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Marlon Bovu          | 2025/26           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Eric Cabalceta       | 2018/19           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Dejan Danza          | 2020/21           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Vittorio Ferrero     | 2013/14           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Federico Laurito     | 2014/15           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|
| Davide Poletti       | 2012/13           | 1    |
|----------------------|-------------------|------|

Overall Best XI

Legends

Frederico Laurito Stats Career Staff

Francesco Di Tacchio Stats Career Staff

leonavich · February 21, 2013

A good start to our Champions League Campaign as we have a dominant 7 minute spell to overturn the result

The second leg was a more defensive approach as we had the 3 away goals. We sat back and let them come at us until around 70 minutes in when their life seemed to drain and the result looked beyond doubt. We changed our approach to a more attacking one and caught Zenit off guard, hitting the net through substitute Bonelli to win 1-0 in the second leg with only one shot on target from us for the game.

We were drawn as a 4th seed in the draw, with our group being as follows:

Group C

1st seed - Arsenal (Eng)

2nd seed - Valencia (Esp)

3rd seed - Rubin (Rus)

4th seed - San Marino (Ita)

I can see us having a good chance against Rubin and possibly getting a result against Valencia. I would be pretty happy to asses that we can take 3rd for a Europa Place after the group stages, but would not rule out a 2nd position should we play we against Valencia. Champions League is always a lottery so lets hope we have the right numbers!

FGreve · February 21, 2013

Wow leonavich that's some massive progress going from 10th to a champions spot! nicely done. and good to see you can compete in ChL with a win over Zenit, but what are your chances for further advancement?

and a absolutely crazy comeback in the Palermo game! i tried pull back 3 down in a half but that's nothing compared to that.

Brizza · February 21, 2013

Nicely done! That cash will be put to good use, eh? I'm sat mid table halfway through the first season in Serie A. The downside of spending all my money on kids is that they lack the mental skills, so I find I'm throwing away a lot of leads late on.

What do your better Sammarinese internationals look like? Any signs of your improved facilities helping out?

PS: I threw away a game conceding twice in injury time last night, made me smile to think of your Palermo match.

FGreve · February 21, 2013

2019-20

Things weren't working out as planned in the beginning of the season. Galimberti and sammarinese wonder-boy Arzili left the club due to some release-clauses were met by other Serie A clubs, and some other players such as my keeper Le Breton and Conti wanted to leave the club. But i did convince them to stay..

Some of the squad players left the club as well and were replaced by some interesting youngsters: Ruiz and Embela from Barcelona and Ricardo.

they didn't play much in the beginning of the season as my side struggled to find the necessary stability to compete for the top spots.. but a change in formation meant that instead of my 2 types of 4-4-2 (one with 2 central midfielders and the other 2 defensive midfielders), i began to use a 4-4-1-1. With 2 defensive midfielders and one attacking midfielder, which utilized Ruiz potential. And with that formation Titani never looked back. Going from a 12th place in round 19, to secure a 4th place and Play-off.

Past positions

In the play-offs I beat (also relegated) Sampdoria in the semi-finals before taking on Novara in the final.

The first leg was at a packed Olimpico. Another spaniard from Barcelona Alias came on from the bench to clinch a 1-0 lead before Captain Spendlhofer (who placed one of his best seasons in the Titani shirt) doubled the lead in injury time after a corner.

Spendlhofers goal proved to be vital as i lost the second leg 1-0. So after some very exciting matches, San Marino will once again play in Serie A!

Team of the Year.

Jerome Le Breton (GK) were also in the Serie B team of the year.

and work have begun to upgrade the youth facilities further more. I haven't really had a exciting prospect since i took up Arzili and Conti but hopefully that will change soon.

leonavich · February 21, 2013

Wow leonavich that's some massive progress going from 10th to a champions spot! nicely done. and good to see you can compete in ChL with a win over Zenit, but what are your chances for further advancement?
and a absolutely crazy comeback in the Palermo game! i tried pull back 3 down in a half but that's nothing compared to that.

I am not too confident of advancing much further than the group stage. I'm aiming for Europa through 3rd place to be honest. I think I can beat Rubin but not Valencia or Arsenal. I am starting to get some great players in the squad (Will see some in the transfers update) but its taking time to gel and as much as I love my backline, I think I really need to improve them (Bertolini, Giorlamo are the main two).

The Palermo game was fantastic. I have never experienced a game quite like it. It always gives me hope now when ever we are down and in the final stages, but it makes me rip my hair out as we are starting to be in these situations more and more against opposition we should be comfortably beating. The higher up the table and greater the expectations, the more stressful games get when you don't have the lead, that's part of the reason I love the slow successful rise. No pressure!

leonavich · February 21, 2013

Nicely done! That cash will be put to good use, eh? I'm sat mid table halfway through the first season in Serie A. The downside of spending all my money on kids is that they lack the mental skills, so I find I'm throwing away a lot of leads late on.
What do your better Sammarinese internationals look like? Any signs of your improved facilities helping out?

PS: I threw away a game conceding twice in injury time last night, made me smile to think of your Palermo match.

I made my record transfer this window on £7.75m for a striker and managed to get a decent keeper on the cheap, but I am still sticking with Ospina in the hope that he just needed time to settle. He has the stats, ability and the history so I have hope. My new keeper is only 29 too, so will blood him in to be first choice by next season.

I try not to buy too many kids because of that reason, I find that a nice mix and a gradual process of bringing players in works for a more consistent performance, otherwise too many new players usually ruins the chemistry. Bovu was brought in at 24, Lesesa at 25 and Bonelli at 30, but I also have Schneider who has come through the ranks since I brought him in at 18, Ademir was signed at 19 and Bochini at 20 so they kinds of go hand in hand, but its always one or two every season. This year I made a few signings for the first team/rotation and I think it has reduced our impact to start the season, so I am starting to go back to the players I had last season until the new ones become used to the squad.

I have started to add some new components to the updates, one being some potential future Sammarinese players in the International update. I will be doing this now as I am starting to get some decent players come through. I am including players who have San Marino availability and are under the age of 23, regardless if they have any caps or reject call ups in preference for Italy. It is kind of like a San Marino youth watch coming through the club.

I should have an International update today or tomorrow as I am in October and that will have an updated youth watch for Sammarinese eligible players.

P.S. Thanks for the feedback guys This has become an awesome challenge and I am really enjoying it.

leonavich · February 21, 2013

FGreve - nice work to get the promotion to Serie A! It can be very tough to get the promotion with so many teams scrambling for the spots and then the dreaded play-offs which can be a lottery. Seems like you have got in some good potential with those youngsters and the more game time you are able to give them the better they will get.

Who has been the most dominant team in the Serie A for you so far? (This is a general question for everyone really)

I have found that Juventus win the title a ridiculous amount of times since 2012:

Juventus 10 (runner up twice)

Roma 2 (runner up four times)

Inter 2 (runner up three times)

Yet Inter remain the best team in Italy year after year. Not sure hot to surpass Juve for the title, or Inter for the top ranking based on that! Just wanted to see if people have been experiencing the same type of dominance in their leagues?

Taunton · February 22, 2013

Nice to see your progress, especially leonavich. How is it with San Marinese youngsters? Are you producing any good ones, or is it far between the gems?

I play in San Marino my self, but are doing it another way with the San Marinese league and Tre Penne.

FGreve · February 22, 2013

FGreve - nice work to get the promotion to Serie A! It can be very tough to get the promotion with so many teams scrambling for the spots and then the dreaded play-offs which can be a lottery. Seems like you have got in some good potential with those youngsters and the more game time you are able to give them the better they will get.

thanks. and yes it is very tough indeed. halfway through the season i didn't think i was going to reach the play-offs, and the first time i got promoted from serie b there was more teams in the run for promotion.

Who has been the most dominant team in the Serie A for you so far? (This is a general question for everyone really)

I have found that Juventus win the title a ridiculous amount of times since 2012:

Juventus 10 (runner up twice)

Roma 2 (runner up four times)

Inter 2 (runner up three times)

Yet Inter remain the best team in Italy year after year. Not sure hot to surpass Juve for the title, or Inter for the top ranking based on that! Just wanted to see if people have been experiencing the same type of dominance in their leagues?

In my game Juventus have been champions 6 out of 8 times (runners-up only once..)! Palermo and Napoli are the only teams that have won the championship besides Juve..

A.C. Milan is oddly enough a mid-table team.. their highest ever finish is a 4th place while lowest is a 14th place!

BamaToon · February 22, 2013

Ah, yes, the old San Marino challenge.

I have not played any FM in a long time due to real-life commitments, but it is good to see this challenge still kicking around on the forums. I once tried it myself back in FM10, but I got frustrated as I could never get promoted out of Serie C2. I had several chances, but always lost in the playoffs, and never even attempted to manage the national side.

I seem to remember that someone actually won the World Cup with the SM national side back in FM06. Maybe I dreamt that, though...

Anyhow, leonavich, nice progress in your game. Your updates have been the most entertaining in this thread (no offense meant to anyone else, of course).

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The Sammarinese Challenge

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