dafuge's FM14 challenge

[Padders]

Yes great business

[Bill_Strevros]

I notice the opening post makes negative comments about using feeder club loans?

Do people use feeder club loans or not?

I have Watford as a feeder club so I am wondering whether I should loan players or not.

[darren1983]

Just stayed up in my first season in League Two. Needed to win my last game of the season and hope Harrogate lost. I was playing Bolton who were top! Unbelievably I won 2-1 and Harrogate lost. Very lucky to stay up but I will take it

Same as me in my first season, feels great

[Gypsum]

I notice the opening post makes negative comments about using feeder club loans?

Do people use feeder club loans or not?

I have Watford as a feeder club so I am wondering whether I should loan players or not.

Yes, use the loans. Years back it used to be very easy to get a massive parent club and loan players far too good for lower league football. I don't think that's really an issue now.

[Bill_Strevros]

Thank you Gypsum.

Unfortunately I mucked up my Wealdstone game, signed players for a tactic then realized it just was not going to work, so I am starting again.

[Bill_Strevros]

Australian manager Alec Wyre has taken control of the newly promoted Skrill North club Lowestoft Town and aims to transform the club into the largest club in Europe.

Alec Wrye Profile

However his first task is to ensure the clubs rise does end immediately with relegation into relegation obscurity.

To do this he will be relying heavily on a squad that contains star player Jack Ainsley at right back while the midfield will benefit from the experience of former Dutch international star Edgar Davids. Davids has returned to being a player only after being sacked as Barnet's manager. Up front James Darvill looks to be a handy striker although other options might need to be explored.

[Bill_Strevros]

I am struggling to work out a way to get any goalkeeping coaching to be done for the first team.

If I put my goalkeepers, even if they are overage, in the under 18 squad will they get coaching from the under 18 goalkeeping coach?

And then I can just play them in the first team from the under 18 squad.

Or is that cheating?

The silly thing is I can only have 3 staff working with the first team squad, the assistant manager, the under 21 manager and 1 coach.

While for the under 19s I can have 5 staff, the under 18s manager, the under 18s assistant manager, the under 21 manager, the head of youth development and 1 coach.

[glennuk]

Stuck on a rolling contract as a manager. Confused That even though i am doing above expectations in every way but wages, that the board continually refuse to give me a new contract.....is this a bug or what??

[Thebaker]

Stuck on a rolling contract as a manager. Confused That even though i am doing above expectations in every way but wages, that the board continually refuse to give me a new contract.....is this a bug or what??

This is a bug, saw it in the main forum. Oddly my contract was renewed.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

I notice the opening post makes negative comments about using feeder club loans?

Do people use feeder club loans or not?

I have Watford as a feeder club so I am wondering whether I should loan players or not.

I would but my board are still unable to find a parent team

[dafuge]

I notice the opening post makes negative comments about using feeder club loans?

Do people use feeder club loans or not?

I have Watford as a feeder club so I am wondering whether I should loan players or not.

Basically, it's what Gypsum said.

I think in the early years of the challenge it might have been banned completely as it was far too easy to get good players in on loan, but things have improved since then.

Personally, I never use them, but that's mostly just down to my transfer style, I don't really use any loans.

[Thebaker]

I would but my board are still unable to find a parent team

I have restarted as Wealdstone which have Watford, they didn't send any players on loan in the first season and don't pay any money so it doesn't provide much.

The board have attemped to bankrupt the club by building a new stadium ( with a debt of 2 million) even though the average attendence was only 25% of the existing one. Looking at wealdstones history you would have thought they had learnt

[Bill_Strevros]

I have restarted as Wealdstone which have Watford, they didn't send any players on loan in the first season and don't pay any money so it doesn't provide much.

The board have attemped to bankrupt the club by building a new stadium ( with a debt of 2 million) even though the average attendence was only 25% of the existing one. Looking at wealdstones history you would have thought they had learnt

From a quick read it seems Wealdstone were well and truly hard done by in that process. They seem to have worked long and hard to finally get the stadium built only for the builder to go out of business leaving them with an incomplete stadium and without the money to complete its building. Then Barnet have somehow got hold of the stadium without paying any money to Wealdstone and finished it and are going to use it as their home ground. Seems completely unfair.

[Thebaker]

From a quick read it seems Wealdstone were well and truly hard done by in that process. They seem to have worked long and hard to finally get the stadium built only for the builder to go out of business leaving them with an incomplete stadium and without the money to complete its building. Then Barnet have somehow got hold of the stadium without paying any money to Wealdstone and finished it and are going to use it as their home ground. Seems completely unfair.

That was my reading, i think some fans are bitter towards Barnet, surprised thay are not fierce rivals rather than rivals.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Basically, it's what Gypsum said.

I think in the early years of the challenge it might have been banned completely as it was far too easy to get good players in on loan, but things have improved since then.

Personally, I never use them, but that's mostly just down to my transfer style, I don't really use any loans.

I'm the opposite I nearly always use up my full quota of loans and where possible with zero wages, on FM10 my Nantwich side was nearly entirely made up of loanees (as non-domestic loans didn't count towards the limit) however Watford put a stop to that for this version with the new rules that now count non-domestic loans

[Gypsum]

Basically, it's what Gypsum said.

I think in the early years of the challenge it might have been banned completely as it was far too easy to get good players in on loan, but things have improved since then.

Personally, I never use them, but that's mostly just down to my transfer style, I don't really use any loans.

I'm not a big fan of loans, but they come in handy if I have a particularly weak position and can't sign anyone suitable. I prefer a more long-term solution.

[Gypsum]

Ok then...

[glennuk]

This is a bug, saw it in the main forum. Oddly my contract was renewed.

ANyway to fix?

[G_D_K]

Ok then...

And i thought my 2018 WC was Odd (3 S.A. teams and....Poland...as the final 4, with Uruguay winning it all!)

[Mushtaq]

Marine - Skrill North - 2014/15

After giving up on my Banbury save I have gone back to a team I have enjoyed some success with in previous dafuge challenges - Marine. Despite a 17th place first season finish I am actually already feeling a lot better about this save. The team has some talent and the middle table was very congested, and with a bit of luck we could have finished a lot higher. We were on track for playoffs around the new year but a dip in form cost us.

League Table

Past Positions

Cups - Knocked out straight away in FA Cup, had a win over Skrill Prem Halifax in FA Trophy before going out in 2nd Round.

Squad - Banged in a fair few goals but defence is a big problem. Will need to address this in the off season, as well as get rid of a lot of fringe players. Some good young talent however that has me hopeful.

Finances - Steady loss throughout the season with no cup run.

Key Player Profiles:

Matthew Harris - Signed to be my lone striker in a 4-4-1-1 and after a slowish start really came good late in the season - 31 goals from 45 appearances.

Aaron Flynn - Signed as a 17 year old to be my attacking midfielder. Did really well for such a young player.

Robbie Lawton - The veteran. Captain and player/coach. Solid but not spectacular performer. Hoping for one more decent year out of him.

End of season position doesn't tell the full story. Lost a lot of close matches and our poor defence cost us several points late in games. Plenty to build on though and I am reasonably positive about next season.

Career Overview

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15         Skrill North                17th              Survival    

[glennuk]

Happy Christmas to all the dafuginites

[sn0112]

I have just got the game as a gift today and would like to start this challenge. When I attempt to customise the number of players in the game I am seeing some differences from the screenshot in the original post - Once I select the three leagues on Dafuge's screenshot I am getting 18,000 players. Also, the 'County Leagues' tick box is no there. The game is running 14.2 patch.

Is this expected?

[G_D_K]

I have just got the game as a gift today and would like to start this challenge. When I attempt to customise the number of players in the game I am seeing some differences from the screenshot in the original post - Once I select the three leagues on Dafuge's screenshot I am getting 18,000 players. Also, the 'County Leagues' tick box is no there. The game is running 14.2 patch.

Is this expected?

When setting up the game, click the advanced setup on the league select screen I believe it is. That will open up a selection box where you can select the extra leagues required to start the challenge properly. And welcome to the challenge! Make sure you check out the dafuge challenge group in Steam --- we've a few regularly active in the chat there!

[deadfncat]

Currently in a bit of an annoying catch 22, Am currently in the Championship and am still using another team's stadium.

They are an unplayable team, Aveley, but we have spent millions upgrading it to the limit.

At the moment, the pitch is atrocious which really affects our form. However as I dont own the stadium, I cant relay it.

I also cant seem to fill it often enough to justify building a new one since our form is so crappy at home!

[Gypsum]

And i thought my 2018 WC was Odd (3 S.A. teams and....Poland...as the final 4, with Uruguay winning it all!)

England won the 2018 World cup in my game, with Stale Solbakken as manager and Charlie Austin banging in crucial goals. Oh, and they beat Germany in the final!!

[looking busy]

AFC Fylde - Season 2015/2016

After a strong first season I was confident of a top half finish, especially as I managed to resign most of my players from the season before. The finances were in the gutter, finishing the previous season more than £300k in the red and no sign of a take over during the off season.

The squad was a mix of youth and experience, and it proved to be a perfect combination as we had all but sealed the title on the penultimmate day of the season, we needed only a draw as we were 2 points and 12 goals better off than the team below. We got the draw and were promoted to the Skrill Premier as champions.

League table

The cups were pretty disatourous, especially the FA Cup which meant the finances got even worse. Finishing the season more than £500k in the red. We reached the 3rd round of the FA Trophy but only reached the 3rd round qualifying of the FA Cup, being knocked out by regional division side Blythe. Very disappointing.

Player of the season was undoubtedly Rhys Thomas, finishing top scorer in the division, and but for a poor display in the final game might have broke the 40 goal barrier.

Aims for Season 2016/2017 - I managed to resign all the players I wanted to, most took a pay cut but increased bonuses, it may cost me more in the long run but I needed to go in to the season with at least a fighting chance. Anywhere north of 20th will do me, infact I don't care if we survive on goal difference, although my blood pressure might. We desperately need a good FA Cup run, at least to the second if not third round. It won't dig us out of debt but it might at least bring it down a little. Hopefully the increased attendance we should get from being a division up will ease the slide towards the £1m+ in the red, which is where we are going. I've never been at a club that has gone in to administration but if the finances don't improve I might just experience it.

Acheivements unlocked - Iron Curtain, Overacheiver, Double Hattrick (Thomas scored 6 in a 7-0 win at Cambridge City.), Team performance, The Boss and You're Up.

[deadfncat]

Grays Athletic - SkyBet Championship - 2028/29 - Sixth (Playoff Final Loss)

We really struggled at the start of the season, yet were booting in the goals. A visit from an interdimensional traveler named Hypanimz who shared with us his Tactics playing in his dimension for Poole Town, got us back on track and an amazing November/December period followed. We struggled for a bit after that, but coming into March and onwards we were unstoppable. Scored an insane amount of goals and Garmey was on fire.

on the 20th of March, he scored a hat trick as we beat league leaders Sheffield United 5-1. This the week after he scored 3 against Swansea.

The final days of the season had heaps of drama as we had to play Aston Villa who were sitting 2 points and 1 spot above us on the table. A win and we were into the playoffs for the first time. We didn't play very well, but two Aston Villa own goals helped us secure the win.

We dominated Leeds in the first leg, playing at home and in the rain which are both things we struggle with. The second leg was tough and we went down early. Lucky for us, we clawed back a couple of goals and Paparella snagged us the winner in ET.

Blackburn dominated us in the final, but it was a great learning experience for the club. Not bad on the coffers either.

League Table

Games

Finances - The final really pushed us along. We are currently losing money with out poor attendences though.

FA Cup - A poor showing in the first leg against Peterborough, we dominated them in the replay. Chelsea were too much though in the next round.

Capital One Cup - We did really well and played a great game against eventual winners Newcastle.

Squad - Fantastic team. I knew it was amazing at the start of the season and it really frustrated me when we werent doing well. Our defence is our weak link and I am relying on too many loanees. This will be fixed in the offseason.

Key Player Profiles

Luis Miguel Elizondo - Amazing Defender who was gutted by a torn hammy when we started to hit our straps. Will be relied upon next year.

Augusto Paparella - Last season's player of the season, only knocked off by Garmey's stellar year. Linked well with Garmey and Steveland when needed.

Player of the Season

Paul Garmey - Another amazing season. He just keeps getting better and better. A mid season injury affected his goal total, but he still scored most in the league. Hopefully he is fit all of next season

Youth Players

nil. but hey, whats new?

Career Overview

Season       Team                       Country                  League                 League Finish             Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9104610&viewfull=1#post9104610"]2014/15[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill South       18th                 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9116552&viewfull=1#post9116552"]2015/16[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill South        2nd 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9128581&viewfull=1#post9128581"]2016/17[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     20th    
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9156295&viewfull=1#post9156295"]2017/18[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     20th                        FA Trophy Finalist
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9172908&viewfull=1#post9172908"]2018/19[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     18th                        FA Trophy Semi-Finalist
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9196746&viewfull=1#post9196746"]2019/20[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier     19th                                    
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9213236&viewfull=1#post9213236"]2020/21[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Skrill Premier      5th                         Promoted!/FA Trophy Win
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9220113&viewfull=1#post9220113"]2021/22[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2   22nd 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9230480&viewfull=1#post9230480"]2022/23[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2   15th  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9240272&viewfull=1#post9240272"]2023/24[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 2    4th                    Promoted via Playoffs  
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9244958&viewfull=1#post9244958"]2024/25[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    7th                    Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9252661&viewfull=1#post9252661"]2025/26[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    15th
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9265885&viewfull=1#post9265885"]2026/27[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet League 1    3rd                    Promoted/Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9281615&viewfull=1#post9281615"]2027/28[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet Championship 17th 
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364936-50-Shades-of-Seattle-Grace?p=9307671&viewfull=1#post9307671"]2028/29[/url]       Grays Athletic               England                Sky Bet Championship 6th                 Playoff Final Loss

Next Season

Promotion

New Stadium

Consistent football

Facility News

Game says in boardroom that it is building a new stadium, however I havent heard a peep about it.

Upgraded youth network and youth catagory though.

Major Competition Winners

Championship - Sheff Utd, Brighton, Blackburn, (Grays Loss in Playoff Final)

FA Cup - Man City

Capital One Cup - Newcastle

English Premier League - Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd, Norwich, Bournemouth, Southampton, Blackpool, Nottm Forest, Brentford. (awesome top 9)

Champions League - Man Utd

Euro - Newcastle

Hyundai A-League - Wanderers/Sydney

[ModernLefty]

I've had two frustrating seasons since the last one that I bothered to write up. I have improved my points total year on year yet always end up just outside the playoffs. I will get round to it at some point in one concise bumper Skrill south Truro adventure edition, when I finally feel the sweet taste of a promotion.

[glennuk]

Blyth Spartans

17/18 - 20/21 (4 Seasons in one post) - Glenn Crane

Due to disappointing times and lack of actual time I have not been doing full updates. But here is a snapshot of my next 4 seasons (Season 4-7)

So a first season update was here.

Season 2 and 3 are here

Season 4 (17-18)

Nothing really to see here. Was a disappointing season, finishing one place outside of the playoffs.

Was worried i may get sacked, as the board were not happy at all. High wages, and even though i met expectations they seemed to think i wasn't doing a good job.

So again i continued to see if i would keep my job which i ended up doing

So only screenshots are

League Table (6th)

Fa Cup 3rd round

The above was perhaps the highlight of the season, showing well in the cup for a change.

Season 5 (18-19)

A much more productive season, which means more details.

An 18 game unbeaten run helped us to the title, even though we waited until the very end of the season to gain the top spot.

Table

Positions graph

Transfers

We had a very solid spine to our team this season, and even though it was the same spine as last season, it stepped up a gear.

Wordingham at the back, putting in crunching tackles and knocking in a few goals, Lynch the creator and goalscorer from midfield, and Massanka a maverick up front.

Wordingham

Lynch

Massanka

So back in the Skrill Premier for another go...let's see what happens.

Season 6 (19-20)

The goal was survival, I don't think my sanity or contract would have held up to another relegation.

Strangely enough from the start of this season i was on a rolling contract that I can't get changed into a permanent one (Should make this that bit more challenging.)

From the start of the season there was constant speculation regarding the club, and a new chairman was appointed. Other managers were soon eating prawn sandwich's in the new chairman's box as he debated my future.

Luckily he decided In december that I was the man for the job, with some impressive performances. Survival of a takeover

I showed him that he made the right decision in January with 16 out of a possible 18 points

My January loan signing of an aging Nicky Maynard helped show that i had sense in the market too. 8 goals in 5 games was unreal.

Nicky left the club in april with an impressive record

Nicky Maynard

Still our season was an average one, surviving and finishing mid table (Although at one point we were 4 points from the playoff places 2-3 games in a row)

Table

Past Positions

Transfers

Squad

I am interested to see how Kai Naismith does, over the course of his time at Blyth, he is pretty highly rated, and looks like he could do some damage.

Season 7 (20-21) - Skrill Premier (Attempt 4)

My 4th season in the Skrill Premier, and I felt fairly happy with the squad at my disposal.

We started the season well and although we had a brief dip in form, November brought a change in fortunes and we soared up the table to the playoff positions.

We stayed pretty much in the playoff spots for the rest of the year, and were happy to jump out of the FA cup and trophy early on.

We ended up in 3rd on the last day of the season which was great for us as it meant we avoided Scunthorpe, who I personally thought were the best team in the league.

We coasted through the semi finals 2-1 agg against accrington and then this set us up for a final against NUNEATON (Who managed to beat Scunthorpe )

Playoff Final (We were pretty comfortable for most of the match and finally got the goal both managers agreed was deserved)

League Table

Past Positions

Transfers

Squad

Key Players

Another Loan signing was key this season in the face of Sean Noone a goal scoring machine

Wordingham was again key at the back, a solid defender and a player who i think can stay with us for another season or 2.

Kinsella has always been one to watch and he chipped in with 11 goals and 9 assists, as my not so attacking central midfielder.

Hitchings came for his THIRD season on loan at the club, and his most impressive yet with 23 goals in all competitions

Other notes

Ended up as Manager of the Year

Also our board have decided to upgrade the stadium

Goals for next season

Consolidate.

Hopefully we can Go Pro (No pun intended)

Try a good cup run to gain some money

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[font=Comic Sans MS]2014/15                    Skrill North                              4th                       Promotion via playoffs[/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS]2015/16                    Skrill Premier                           18th[/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS]2016/17                    Skrill Premier                           23rd                   Relegation
2017/18                    Skrill North                              6th
2018/19[/font][font=Comic Sans MS]                    Skrill North                              1st                       Champions (Promoted)[/font][font=Comic Sans MS]
2019/20                   Skrill Premier                           13th
2020/21 [/font][font=Comic Sans MS]                  Skrill Premier                           3rd                      Playoff Winners (Promoted)[/font]

[glennuk]

If anyone read all of the above....congratz.

Will try to do one season in one post from now on.

Also think i may take longest to do this challenge.

7 seasons just to get to league 2!!

[fcunitedfan]

Also think i may take longest to do this challenge.

7 seasons just to get to league 2!!

Something tells me you haven't seen Padders' posts in this thread.

[glennuk]

Something tells me you haven't seen Padders' posts in this thread.

Saw it at the start of the challenge when he went 5 or so seasons to get out of the Skrill North, but I thought he then got promoted.

Either way i would not be surprised that its not all smooth sailing for me now.

[danzman]

I have just got Football Manager 2014 for Christmas so after a bit of messing around with a prem team to get used to the ME I have decided to give this challenge another go (last time i tried this was FM11) so without further ado I hereby announce my new English fictional manager Gareth Lee the new manager at Stocksbridge Park Steels! Time to fail! lol

[glennuk]

Finally got rid of the rolling contract i was on, to sign a new 2 year contract. Plus got the board to up the wage from 11k initially proposed to 12k

And Blyth turned pro

[glennuk]

Anyone know why i can not offer trial to some players who have expired contracts. I thought maybe as they are in a different country....but some i can't offer a trial for, but can scout.

PS: Also checked...they are not retiring

[Wlv]

Haven't updated recently, sorry. 3rd Season in the Skrill Premier with Truro, First season I avoided relegation by a solitary point. Second season I was a point away from the playoff's and now in the third season I'm mid-table however I have a much better team - finally semi-decent players will let me offer them a contract.

[hashassin]

I left this challenge for a while, cause was upset with previous patch... In the meantime took over shrewsbury, got promoted to championship, then moved to watford, got promoted to premier league and in 1st season in prem i finished 5th... Thats enough motivation and proof for me that i can handle the game, thats why i will come back now to this challenge... but i dunno still whether to start again or carry on with my Buxton save (beginning of 2nd season)...

[hashassin]

I know we do it mainly for ourselves, but i have two saves with buxton... one in june, one september... But left it month ago, than had this short stint i mentioned earlier, and i would gladly go for this save in june to prepare differently for Skrill Premier... would it be against the rules?

[Hypanimz]

Poole Town - Premier League - 2030/31

This was a massive improvement on last season! We finished in a much more respectable and deserved 10th position. At one stage we were challenging the European places but we ran out of steam when injuries hit as we do not have much strength in depth. I said at the end of last season I would be looking at a new tactic and I think we found something I can work work. Hopefully I can find the right players this summer and now look to push on a bit more. Our best result of the season was a 5-2 victory over Man United at home. This shows we can match the big teams but we need to do it on a more consistent basis.

League Table

Past Positions[/url]

Cups - In the FA Cup we took Man City to a replay before being knocked out. In the Capital One Cup we made it all the way to the final with a quite simple run. In the final we met Chelsea who with always struggle with. Neither team really played well on the big day and we lost 1-0 from a set piece goal. Hopefully we will play better in our next final appearance. I really wanted to win the cup to help us push onto the next level.

Squad - Inter paid me £20m for my goalkeeper last summer which gave me extra funds to improve the squad which we did.I wil be looking for some new fullbacks this summer.

Finances- £7.9m profit. with £19m in the bank. Nice solid season.

Key Player Profiles:

Emmet Feehily - £2.9m bargain buy from WBA. 21 league goals in 33 league games. Great return.

Leonel Parodi - £6m signing slotted straight into my midfield and was fantastic. Fantastic player.

Good solid season. Really need to improve our end of season form to get to that next level.

Career Overview

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014/15         Skrill South                14th              Survival
2015/16         Skrill South                9th 
2016/17         Skrill South                2nd               Promotion and FA Cup 3rd round
2017/18         Skrill Premier              17th              Survival
2018/19         Skrill Premier              18th              Survival
2019/20         Skrill Premier              16th              FA Cup 3rd round. 
2020/21         Skrill Premier              1st               Champions!! & FA Cup 3rd round
2021/22         Sky Bet League 2            9th   
2022/23         Sky Bet League 2            1st               Champions & FA Cup 5th round    
2023/24         Sky Bet League 1            1st               Champions, JPT Winners & FA Cup Semi Final
2024/25         Sky Bet Championship        12th      
2025/26         Sky Bet Championship        4th               Promoted 
2026/27         Premier League              14th              Survival
2027/28         Premier League              13th
2028/29         Premier League              9th
2029/30         Premier League              15th
2030/31         Premier League              10th

[G_D_K]

Bedford -- Season 5 (midseason) Report, Skrill Premier League

Our first year in the Skrill Premier has been anything but comfortable. We languished at the bottom end of the table all season, making brief appearances in and out of the drop zone. What appeared to be a solid defense for the first few matches of the season has turned into a sieve...we're now in the bottom 5 in goals conceded. On the other side of the field...we're dead last in goals scored. Tom Collins has maintained the most consistency from the previous seasons, scoring 11 times so far....but only 5 of them are the important league goals.

I've been utterly unable to attract any decent talent....and even the potential loanees are proving worthless. A series of injuries in the middle part of the first half really hampered me, just when things were actually starting to look like changing. (Tom Collins had his first "long-term" injury of his career...a sprained ankle keeping him out for 5 weeks. First one, then my second midfielders, who have been key players for me for two and a half seasons now, were out injured -- leaving me a shell of a midfield.

As of the twenty-third match I lie in 22nd place on 18 points...having just lost to fellow relegation battlers whitehawk 1-0 (at their ground). The good news, only two points separate me from safety---hopefully we'll turn things around in the second half and make a battle of it.

Don't hold your collective breaths. I'm not counting on anything going right this season!

edit: I think my players are reading my blog posts...I need to post negative thoughts about them more often....in the 63rd minute of my 24th match, I'm away to 4th placed bristol rovers...and Collins has 2 2nd half goals to put us up 2-0! (We'd go on to win 2-1, conceding in the 86th minute and giving me heart palpitations...but we won!)

And, the second goal was Tom Collins 100th career league goal....all for Bedford!

The Miracle of Boxing day...that's what the fans are calling it!

[ManiaMuse]

Mr. Seal takes over Hinckley

Having guided Leamington to consecutive automatic promotions to League 2, Mr Seal got bored and decided he needed a new, non-fish related challenge. So he went back in time a couple of years, took a holiday for a year and then usurped the incumbent manager at newly promoted Hinckley.

First impressions are good compared to Leamington. More money for wages, (about 4k after getting rid of transfer budget), a bigger stadium (4329), no players on stupid salaries (max £230pw) and a surprising number of decent youth players (best player is a 17 y/o central defender).

How hard can it be?

[ukjag34]

Been playing fm for a fairly long time and have my own less challenging version of this challenge taking havant and waterlooville (my local team as far as birth location goes) to the premier league.

I was having a look around the forums having got the game a few weeks ago as I've been finding the game a bit easier this time round, with my havant and waterlooville side currently clear at the top of the skrill south in our first season and found this challenge as a result.

Therefore may I present

Aaron Jones new manager of Canvey Island

The gulls are sad to confirm the sectioning of Danny Seale shortly after he gained his goal of promotion to the skrill south His rampage with a water pistol on the first of april has left a deep shadow over this club. Nonetheless after extensive research Chairman Marcus Sutton has located a budding young manager whose qualifications include having kicked a ball once, a coke can twice and a particularly elusive pebble no less than three times.

We wish him the best of luck

Preseason

The gulls have had a lot of change, over the last month and a half, with the addition of an assistant manager, a coach a physio and two scouts to the backroom staff. A high regime of fitness training and turn over of players had increased the quality of the squad with several non contracts being signed to permanent deals and others leaving the club to make way for new blood.

The assistants reports have show positivity in level of talent however his previous experience of managing the monkey football team at the Cirque de Ipswich makes me doubt his word on the talent of my squad.

Key signing:

All signings have been contract signings with no money spent however I am particularly happy about

Sofronius Nikolaou- a talented 17 year old striker with high potential who I'm very excited to develop

Other signings

include two strikers at 27 who are strong target men mikel suarez and ryan moss

a good young keeper lewis kidd a defensive midfielder and a centre back to allow me to introduce my version of 4-4-2

Sadly jones showed a degree of incompetency and was forced to cut a talented older striker to ensure he remained under wage budget however with the difference saved he is currently scouting for youthfull talent to add to a flagging under 18s and reserve team.

Preseason went well with form improving from 4 losses to two solid wins.

First game of the season against bath lead to a 2-1 victory in a gritty contest with canvey island taking a quick lead only to be pegged back in the 70th minute however they controlled possession well in the dying embers of the match to close the game out.

A game against Woking away is to follow after only 4 days rest in a rough introduction to the skrill south.

[danzman]

Stocksbridge Park Steels

Two months has passed in my first season in the Skrill North with Stocksbridge and 9 matches have been played. During the first 5 games of the season we had terrible results having drawn two games and lost three games which had us sitting in the relegation zone in 20th place with just 2 points. After that our form dramatically changed and in the last four games we had won three games and drawn the other game meaning we now have 10 more points and are sitting in 13th place with 12 points 4 points clear of relegation and 5 points from the playoffs. We are also through to the third qualifying round of the FA cup after a 2-0 win over Marine. The draw sees us entertain Stourbridge away from home.

League Table

Current Squad

In terms of our squad we have played magnificently every game even in those we had lost. The key player seems to be Alec Denton who has scored 6 goals in 10 games as well as 2 assists. Quite often a midfielder crosses it over to him who seems to dribble past any defender he sees and puts himself in a 1 to 1 situation against the goalkeeper. However due to his low finishing and composure the majority of the times sends it wide or over the crossbar. The goalkeeper Dominic Comrie also seems to be a fantastic goalkeeper having kept 5 clean sheets in 9 games that he has been a part off and all of those games he pulls off fantastic saves to make sure we get the best result possible even if the opposition is absolutely dominating the entire game.

[Padders]

I've never seen Stocksbridge played with. Good luck

[danzman]

Thanks they are one of my most local teams out of all the teams available to play with for this challenge with the other one being Worksop. I suppose I wanted more of a challenge since Stocksbridge has a lower reputation and I'm really enjoying myself at the moment. Took me 2 hours of reloading to get them

[ModernLefty]

Finally I get abit of luck, just drawn Manchester City at home in the FA cup 3rd round, it's about time the debt is completely wiped out.

Edit: Just found out the television money is £120,000

[Lenzar]

Finally I get abit of luck, just drawn Manchester City at home in the FA cup 3rd round, it's about time the debt is completely wiped out.

Edit: Just found out the television money is £120,000

I drew City away and it made my Bury Town team rich.

Sadly that wasn't enough.

[ModernLefty]

It won't make the club rich, but I'm almost certain that in the long term it will do a world of good.

[deadfncat]

This could be interesting. Some investment for a new stadium is really needed

Also, Awesome goalkeeper name

[G_D_K]

Okay...it's amazing what moving back into your own stadium will do....since the stadium expansion was completed, we've gone on a 6W1D3L run, capped (so far) by this amazing FAT match. With the increased confidence, a better fanbase (I was averaging less than 200 "home" fans while we were an hour away at Luton during the expansion, now I'm up near 500 in our true home stadium), we actually look like we may stay up.

Getting some key players back from injury have helped, as has an actual decent loanee. We're currently 20th on 27 points (level on points with 17-19th placed, and with a game in hand on a couple teams). I'm starting to feel good about this season.

By the way, have I mentioned Tom Collins at all? With 19 matches and more FAT matches, he's already got 20 goals on the season. He's on pace to match or exceed his previous best of 36 in a season.

edit: Two matches after his 5 goal outing....he strikes again. The man is on fire!!!

edit: Just when I think it can't get better...

proves me wrong! That is now 13 goals in the last 5 matches!!! His heroics have moved me up to 16th placed on 36 points, 8 points out of the RZ w/ 15 matches to go.

End of January...was it even close??? It wasn't quite a scoop.... young DL Stainsby earned YPoM, but I only came in 3rd for manager of month.