So, I just realised I might be really weird

[LewisQ]

I actually used to live in port christmas

Didn't know there was a real Port Christmas! Where is it? Hope the weather isn't as bad as its Avrilian namesake...

[LewisQ]

Interprovincial football returns this week. Players will put club loyalties aside for the greater good, in the second running of the National Trophy since its revival. This season's competition features a rather needlessly complicated structure, with the six provinces divided into two groups of three, playing four matches apiece over the course of the spring. Group A comprises North West, West and South, Group B contains holders Sakatar, North and East. The top two in each group will qualify for the finals tournament this summer.

North West were heavy favourites in last night's opening fixture against West at Galanta Hall, Aroa. West played a canny game, however, holding onto possession, spreading tension and disquiet in the capacity crowd, and then eventually taking the lead in the 89th minute, when Southern Sports Club defender Zack Pollock crashed home a header from Harrison's corner. Seconds later, however, Harrison's Amergina team-mate Trevor Ellis smashed home a remarkable volley from an acute angle to give North West an ill-deserved point in what was a thrillingly tense affair.

Attached is the first page of the teamsheet from last night's game.

[mirjoh]

You are a legend man, I think I might end up starting my own

[mirjoh]

I have a question. How exactly do you do the provincial cups

[thomas166]

Not quite weird in the same way but I interview myself as manager whilst I'm on the way to work and stuff, anybody walking must think I'm bonkers

[LewisQ]

I have a question. How exactly do you do the provincial cups

I just assigned the relevant teams to each provincial cup in the pre-game editor (back in 2010).

[abu645]

It's the summer of 2066 in Tontuga. The national team failed to qualify for the World Cup but have appointed a very experienced English manager (me!) as coach of the national team. At 85 years old, maybe the new manager is too old but he is the most successful manager that has managed in Tontuga. He is the manager of the reigning champions, Celeste Spiders, who have won four of the last five first division titles.

The Spiders have climbed back up the pyramid over the last ten years after dropping down to the Third Division. As one of the Grand 4 clubs from the Dutch Eastern province of Tontuga the have always had a rich history but more as a bridesmaid than the bride in recent years. They finished 3rd in the top division 5 seasons in a row between 2032 and 2037. This season they have a real chance of breaking their duck in the African Champions League after finishing runners up twice in the last three years.

In a remarkable development relating to the national census taking place in November 2066, all overseas players have been recalled. This has seen some huge names returning to play in the national leagues and provincial tournaments in the build up to the census. Included in this are Thijs Parrea, the goalkeeper capped 80 times by Italy who was the son of legendary Tontugan manager Santiago Parrea (manager of Elizabeth, Santana, Soria & Torino). Additionally Pedro Victoria, the free kick scoring Paris SG goalkeeper has returned to play for South Tusk Juniors of the second division. Mario Toledo the national team striker, who recently cost Tottennham £22m, has returned to play in the fourth division for his alma mater Leones who he won the first division with in 2055.

The national team are 47th in the World Rankings and have 4 Nations Cup wins to their name (2031, 2033, 2051, 2063) and five World Cup finals appearances, losing to Argentina in the second round in 2030 but failing to make it out of the groups in 2034, 2038, 2042 and 2054.

[LewisQ]

Mainstream attention is on the Interprovincial Qualifiers, with East and South making surprisingly strong starts in their respective groups (I play out Interprovincial games in FIFA 13 rather than FM, for a touch of one-off glamour), but back on the club scene, things are pretty tight at the top in Pro League First:

Surprise leaders United Deschen have stunned everyone this season. They come from Unzar, a small minority-language (Deschen) town in the west of Sakatar province. The town is laid out as a series of nested squares, and colloquially known as The Barracks. Just making it into the Pro Leagues was a huge achievement for them, and after narrowly avoiding relegation last season, everyone expected them to finally succumb this year.

By contrast, Ballinglin City and Mablonda Youth are two traditionally big clubs vying for a return to the top flight with relatively youthful squads. At the other end, Merlan are rooted to the bottom of the table. A well-run and fairly wealthy club from the compact, isolated and relatively prosperous Western town of Merla, they've been expected to break into Pro League Premier for the past decade. With relegation back to the third-tier Qualifying Groups now a distinct possibility, manager Trevor Milford (a former coach of the South interprovincial team) must be nervously feeling his neck.

[Rashidi]

I respect the effort that went into this. Quality:applause:8

[LewisQ]

Unusual incident in Avrilia this week; in the NFA Club Challenge (a cup competition for third-tier clubs), Yluf Argan's Rob McMahon managed to get himself sent off in both legs of the final, surely a unique achievement. He served his automatic ban in a league game that fell between the two legs. Yluf Argan still managed to win 3-1 on aggregate, however.

[shimera]

Incredible stuff there!

[abu645]

Lewis, what's the latest from Avrilia?

On my FM14 game we have reached 2073 and Leopold Petrol have won the first division for the third time in four seasons holding off perennial challengers Southern Cross. Celeste Spiders who won seven of the previous eight titles have dropped away since their manager quit. Many of the players from their successful sides have moved on.

[Russ S]

Are you ATL is disguise?

[LewisQ]

Hi Abu - I've been finishing off a film I was working on, so Avrilia fell into abeyance once the regular season finished (that, and my eight-year-old desktop PC is on its last legs). But, I have just finished the qualifiers for the National Trophy (the interprovincial cup which I play out in FIFA 13). They finished as follows:

 

GROUP A

1: EAST (P: 4 W: 2: D: 1 L 1: GF: 5 GA: 4) 7 PTS

2: SOUTH (P: 4 W: 1 D: 2 L: 1 GF: 5 GA: 5) 5 PTS

=====================================

3: SAKATAR (P: 4 W: 1 D: 1 L: 2 GF: 3 GA: 4) 4 PTS

This was a huge surprise, as East, with a squad stacked full of Pro League First and third-tier National Play-Off Round players, were expected to struggle. Instead, they beat both the favourites at home and won the group with two games to spare. Sakatar, the capital province with the biggest population and a star-studded squad drawn from all the country's leading squad, utterly flopped. Their players failed to cope with expectations and they didn't even manage a goal until the 84th minute of the 3-1 defeat to South in Terecuda which eliminated them from the competition. Former Freistadt manager Gavin Sherrard, now boss of the provincial side, is expected to be fired and replaced by the legendary Dr. Clarence Spencer, who won National Trophies either side of the great hiatus in interprovincial football (1994-2012).

 

GROUP B

1: NORTH (P: 4 W: 1 D: 2 L: 1 GF: 6 GA: 3) 5 PTS

2: NORTH WEST (P: 4 W: 1 D: 2 L: 1 GF: 4 GA: 4) 5 PTS

===========================================

3: WEST (P: 4 W: 1 D: 2 L: 1 GF: 2 GA: 5) 5 PTS

A group entirely decided by goal difference,  with the decisive result being North's 4-0 win away to West in the penultimate round, which left West needing to beat North West by three clear goals (they could only manage victory by 1-0, through a late o.g.). North seem to have finally shaken off the problems that have reduced their provincial side to abject underachievement due to regional and club rivalries within the squad (most notably manifested in a 5-1 defeat to a seconds-tring Avrilian Universities XI in a 2013 warm-up game).

 

East and North will now play-off for the right to host the four-team finals (due to be played in January) at the neutral Kohlerstadion in Kohlenburg, South province. Club football will now resume with the so-called "winter championship", as the group stage of the Christmas Cup gets underway.

[LewisQ]

So the season is finally drawing to a close with the Christmas Cup final on the 24th; worryingly for some, it will be the two super-clubs of the modern era who face one another at the National Football Stadium in Sakatar. Sakatar City - champions six times in the last seven seasons - will take on North Western giants Gold Sword. City cruised to the title and won the NFA Cup this year (along with the Sakatar Municipal Cup), while Gold Swords trailed in a poor second, but have been in better form than their opponents during the Christmas Cup.

Tomorrow sees the annual 18th of December showpiece game, the traditional start of the Christmas festivities in Avrilia (see earlier in the thread for the full list of results over the years). In keeping with recent practice, this year's game will be a full interprovincial between North and East for the right to host next year's National Trophy (interprovincial cup). This has irked some traditionalists who prefer the December 18th game to be an all-star exhibition match rather than serious business.

In further controversial news, the Altchan network has announced a major new football-related series for next year - The Fix. The programme-makers will take over an (unidentified, for now) Parks League team in one of Avrilia's major cities. Parks League are the highest rung of all-amateur football, outside the senior professional pyramid, but taken very seriously. The chosen team will be secretly tasked with producing a given result in each match, as a supposedly serious exploration of the art of match-fixing, although some fear a sensationalist trash-TV take on the issue. However, both the National Football Association and the players' union have given their approval for the project, to be run in conjunction with the General University of Sakatar.

NB: I intend to achieve this by taking control of a Parks League team and seeing if I can produce defeats/draws/red cards etc to order.

[phd_angel]

When I was a child, I used to spend hours indulging in fictional tournaments, stories and games, but that was among many activities (indoors, outdoors, alone, social, etc.). Now, I monitor myself regarding spending too much time on anything: FM, TV, work etc.  (See, for example, my post FM17 Addiction: How Many Hours You Play?)

Any psychologist will say that as long as there is a sense of wellbeing and it doesn't affect one's life functioning, then it's ok...

Being most jobs meaningless anyways, I'm inclined to say that any hobby you can make a living of (at least some $$$) is all the better. If you can be the new JK Rowling of football, go for it.

 

Edited December 27, 2016 by phd_angel

[Lucas_26_7]

That experiment sounds really interesting! You really seem to be dominating the competition.

A few months ago I said in here I had an ambition to start this sort of thing with my own country. Well a week ago I started doing it since I had a bit of time off and surprisingly it is coming together very quickly! The main difference in our worlds was that mine was created in adult life (did it at the start of the year). The in game editor also makes things so much faster. I just did a test save and I only have to do a few more things then I am done! One thing is though, is that I wanted to have a Christmas Cup like you do because I think that is a phenomenal idea. The only problem I am having is that no matter how I program it in the editor, the final and proceeding games won't stick on the chosen days, meaning the final is on the 29th of December rather than the 25th. Besides that, thanks for all your inspiration in creating this! I am looking forward to the Dedelux Super League being in full swing!

[Lucas_26_7]

How did the Christmas Cup final go?

[SimonNUFC]

I was always obsessed with statistics and detail as a child. I would sit on my Windows 98 computer, connected to the internet via dial up and create graphs and charts on Microsoft Excel. I'd have the league tables from the top four division in England all sketched in, as well as the squads, with the players squad numbers appearances and goals, all of which were categorised by position. Oh how I miss those stress free days haha.

Edited December 27, 2016 by SimonNUFC

[Marc Vaughan]

You're not weird at all - or if you are its in a good way imho

I think that so long as you're having fun then that's the important thing and everyone has the right to play in their own way ... besides if you want weird read on

I started off with management games before computers (yeah I'm that old ) by making a stat based Football RPG using subbuteo, rulers, dice and attributes which I forced my friends to play with me ... I then progressed into things more complicated which required computers to handle

(its also a little known fact that one of the test beds I created to try out new 'features' and concepts for CM3 was actually a football management game which used Orcs, Elves and such ... I considered throwing it out as a freebie for our 10 year anniversary at the time, but it wasn't polished enough )

[abu645]

Lewis, did you see that someone tweeted this thread to Iain MacIntosh the journalist and famous FMer and asked if you were really him?

[LewisQ]

On 28/4/2017 at 22:22, Marc Vaughan said:

You're not weird at all - or if you are its in a good way imho

I think that so long as you're having fun then that's the important thing and everyone has the right to play in their own way ... besides if you want weird read on

I started off with management games before computers (yeah I'm that old ) by making a stat based Football RPG using subbuteo, rulers, dice and attributes which I forced my friends to play with me ... I then progressed into things more complicated which required computers to handle

(its also a little known fact that one of the test beds I created to try out new 'features' and concepts for CM3 was actually a football management game which used Orcs, Elves and such ... I considered throwing it out as a freebie for our 10 year anniversary at the time, but it wasn't polished enough )

Let's agree that we're both a little weird! If it wasn't for my aversion to fantasy-based milieux, I would have been right there with you. My first attempts at playing out the adventures of Avrilian football happened with similarly epic levels of editing of the Striker PC game c. 1995. I also learned how to programme in QBasic in order to simulate the Avrilian cricket league when I was about 15. Thanks for taking an interest, Marc!

On 14/5/2017 at 15:11, abu645 said:

Lewis, did you see that someone tweeted this thread to Iain MacIntosh the journalist and famous FMer and asked if you were really him?

I didn't, but I just checked it out now. High praise from the high priest of FM-based obsessiveness.

In answer to the other question above, we (Sakatar City) got trounced 0-4 by Gold Swords in the Christmas Cup final, after conceding in the first minute. Then my PC basically exploded, and I proceeded to have a crappy few months which robbed me of any motivation to fix it. However, things have turned around lately, so, after managing to repair my machine, I got back to Avrilia and just today caught up on the time I'd missed (the game-date is now 18/05/2017).

As much as the whole fantasy-world, high-level editing aspect seems to have intrigued a lot of people on this thread, to me, it's the fact that I play in real-time that creates the most interesting outcomes. For example, Sakatar City legend Eamonn Pollard just retired in-game, aged 33.  He was a stalwart of my team for years, playing in the hole behind the strikers and lashing in goal after goal from long-range. There was nothing more exhilarating in the game than watching Pollard pick the ball up 30 yards out and knowing he was sure to hit the target. In recent years, he's drifted out of the team; the player we replaced him with, John Cox, is a much better all-around operator, but the visceral thrill of watching Pollard burst the net was special.

His finest season in the amber and black was 2012, when he won a Fehador Medal (20+ goals in a season) from midfield. Again, because I play in real-time, this was literally five years ago. I remember him netting a hat-trick of long-range screamers the day Fabrice Muamba had his brush with death at White Hart Lane.

[MBarbaric]

hey Lewis, how is Terecuda doing in the league? are workers in Southern province being paid and do they have health insurance? Do they go to matches, fire pyro and organize non league tournaments? is there an ultras group? 

[aditya]

wow i thought i was the only one, I used to recreate clubs based on our schools football team. Team A, B, C and D. same as in FIFA and PES

[qwerty22]

The graphical side of the game needs to be improved with an interactive clubhouse, stadium dressing rooms, kits trophies and stands. 

Create a club, a league, a nation are the way forward!

 

[LewisQ]

On 18/5/2017 at 23:49, MBarbaric said:

hey Lewis, how is Terecuda doing in the league? are workers in Southern province being paid and do they have health insurance? Do they go to matches, fire pyro and organize non league tournaments? is there an ultras group? 

Hi @MBarbaric! Terecuda are doing okay. They have the most passionate fans in the South by far, and some of the best displays in the country. Their average attendance is about 6,500, which is high for South province and for a small city. Terecuda City won Pro League First in 2015 and returned to the Premier after four years in the lower division. They stayed up fairly comfortably last year. At the half-way mark of the season, They're 15th (second-last and in the relegation zone), with just two league wins all season. But they have a strong defence and I think they'll be okay. They haven't done great in the cup competitions; their last cup victory was the provincial Southern Football Authority Elimination Cup of 2010, since when they haven't even reached a provincial final. Unusually, their manager Johnny Clancy has been in the job since I started this save seven years ago.

Southern province, which, outside of Terecuda, is typically conservative, held an election to the provincial parliament (known as the Southern Governorate) in 2015. A left-wing coalition won power, which means that, between national and provincial government, the workers are doing pretty well! The results were as follows:

Social Radicalist Party (national governing party, radical left): 30 seats

Avrilian Independence Party (relatively new centrist party): 29 seats

Southern Dockers' & Workers' Party (radical provincial left): 13 seats

Progressive Autonomists' Movement (left-wing federalist party): 12 seats

VoteSouth (right-wing party backed by Southern oligarchs): 10 seats

Free Provinces Party (ultra-conservative federalist party): 3 seats

Right-wing independents: 3 seats

Left-wing independents: 2 seats

Constitutional Justice Party (centre-left liberals): 2 seats

Human Values Party (moderate left-wing technocrats): 1 seat

National Welfare Party (left-wing, former ruling national party): 1 seat

National People's Party (populist nationalists, dominated politics in 80s/90s): 1 seat

 

The election resulted in a ruling left-wing coalition led by the Social Radicalists, with the support of the Southern Dockers' & Workers' Party and the Progressive Autonomists' Movement. The cabinet consists of the following (note the old-fashioned titles, Southern province being a deeply traditional society...) Note also that the SRP is divided into separate factions based on policy priorities and platforms, although they work together in relative harmony.

PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR: Richard Dawson (37, SRP, Programme Faction)

DEPUTY PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR: Hayley Moore (43, SRP, Liberty Faction)

CHAIR OF THE GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL: Hugh Esteridge (47, SDWP)

PROVINCIAL AUDITOR (ECONOMICS): Marianne Lewis (61, SRP, Programme Faction)

PROVINCIAL REPRESENTATIVE (EXTERNAL): Arthur Richardson (41, PAM).

GOVERNOR'S LANDSMAN (AGRICULTURE): Dónal Dempsey (52, SRP, Leadership Faction)

GOVERNOR'S SEA CHIEF (NAVAL/PORTS): Roger Collins (57, SDWP)

PROVINCIAL CULTURE SECRETARY: Maria Fallon (44, SRP, Programme Faction)

 

@oriole01, I'll try and answer your question in a bit.

[MBarbaric]

amazing LewisQ! 

Didn't expect so many good news. Wish I could go and visit the place. Love ground hopping and going to the terraces of Terecuda full of happy dockers would be quite a trip. And we dominated elections that is good, but i se no sport secretary. They should invest in free pitches and playgrounds all over the city to help the grass roots soccer. I would suggest paid coaches at grass roots level. That would ensure long term success of Terecuda City. Any way my proposal could get into the city council?

Edited June 6, 2017 by MBarbaric

[HawkAussie]

I've read this through and all I can say is it must of taken a long time for you to create and this and still enjoying what you do.

 

On to my story and since 2014 I have started to create an alternate history world in which football had an earlier World Cup and it started in 1906 instead of 1930. So throughout these three years, I have been working on this timeline and only recently started to put this timeline into a database for FM which has modified results from 1904-1954 (the last year to date that I have completed). This did involve World Cup alternate winners and alternate league champions with Manchester United missing from England as it folded in 1907.

 

The first database which is what I doing for my Hexagon Challenge had my first version of this database as it was all the way up until 1938 which is where I started it from. The second version which I am currently working on will have modified results all the way up until 1954 and the formats of all of the European leagues during that particular season.

[LewisQ]

A quick update on Avrilia: Sakatar City are on course for an unprecedented sextuple, with Pro League Premier, Sakatar Grand Provincial, Municipal Cup and ForceSport Super Cup trophies already glinting coquettishly in the trophy cabinet. They face NPO (third-tier) side Picavella Strollers in the NFA Cup Final at the end of September, with the Christmas Cup kicking off just after Halloween. City have a fairly easy Christmas Cup group. They'll face cash-rich, fan-poor Port Sunday, fallen Northern yo-yo club Clifton Town (both just relegated from Pro League First) and Terecuda City, who, as predicted above, are safe from Premier relegation with one round of games still to play.

One of the more baffling events of the season was the revelation that NPO side Insford Rail are to move to a new 56,000-seater stadium next January. The stadium, part-funded by the municipal government, will be the biggest in Avrilia by some distance. Bear in mind that Insford Rail are an historic but tiny club with average attendances of about 1,300.

The stadium build is part of the municipal authority's City II strategy, which aims to position Insford - just 30 miles from the capital Sakatar - as the second city of Avrilia. While the stadium will primarily be a concert/event venue, the Insford Rail move is more than a little bizarre. The club, originally a railway works team, is perhaps the sixth-biggest of Insford's eight senior sides, and last featured in the Pro Leagues in 1983 (although they're on-course for the convoluted promotion play-off this year).

NB: The above is my rationalisation of the stadium move. I have absolutely no idea why a club which can't fill a 1,400-capacity stadium is building the largest ground in the country. One of those delicious FM 10 quirks that keeps this save interesting into its eighth year!

 

[LewisQ]

Two significant recent events in Avrilia:

Chris McGillen became the first man in the history of Avrilian football to win a Cugador Medal for scoring 50 goals in a season. McGillen achieved the feat in Sakatar City's league season-ending 6-1 win at Ballynoun. The game took place just four days before the cup final against Picavella Strollers. With McGillen one booking away from suspension, he wasn't risked in the starting XI, but was given a place on the bench at his own request.

With City leading 3-0, McGillen was sprung from the bench. A composed one-on-one finish brought him to 49 goals, breaking his own record. Then, in the third minute of stoppage time, McGillen strained to meet Luke Williams's cross and head home his 50th goal of the season, an astonishing feat.

More history was broken four days later, as Sakatar City wrapped up the fifth leg of a possible sextuple. Third-tier Picavella were no match for the champions, who led 6-0 at half-time, with Kevin Roberts (tipped as McGillen's successor) scoring a hat-trick which secured his own Fehador Medal (for 20 goals in a season). The final score of Picavella 0-7 Sakatar City was a record margin of victory in an NFA Cup Final.

Sakatar City will now enjoy a five-week break before beginning their assault on the Christmas Cup, and the sixth leg of their quest for a clean sweep. Ballinglin City will face F.C. Freistadt in the Pro League Premier relegation/promotion play-off, while the final round of regular-season third-tier games will take place on Saturday, followed by three rounds of knockout play-offs. The Eastern Football Association Northern Plate and Eastern Football Association Southern Plate continue throughout the break, with Malternan looking to celebrate their promotion to Pro League Premier with a seventh consecutive EFA Northern Plate title.

[Sheriff7]

I couldn't do this because I want as much realism as i can have but you deserve Congratulations for this!! 👏

[Geordieboy52]

@LewisQ I was thinking about his thread today when I was looking at Reddit.  You need to head over there to: https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/ You might find you're not alone.

[simsy91]

LewisQ I've just read all the way through- this is fantastic! Not only am I impressed the the fictional nation, clubs, maps etc but also your backstory in terms of politics, language, ethnicity etc. which makes it that much more relatable and easier to imagine. I think you've done an incredible job and I feel very inspired!

I do like to create fantasy databases, but these have all been much more timid, such as merging the Malta/Gozo leagues or a database where East Anglia gained independence from England to start a new nation. I also made a Game of Thrones db but that didn't work too well! However I really like what you've done and I hope the creator in me can concoct something even half as detailed.

[Geordieboy52]

On 22/09/2017 at 22:44, Sheriff7 said:

I couldn't do this because I want as much realism as i can have but you deserve Congratulations for this!! 👏

How can you suggest this is not realistic!

[Sheriff7]

2 hours ago, Geordieboy52 said:

How can you suggest this is not realistic!

Did you read it or you just post for fun?He used editor and create a fictional country,fantasy league and teams...

[Geordieboy52]

Yep have been following this thread for a hell of a long time; he created an entire country, with political affiliations, history, employment, currency, as well as an entire backstory to go with every club, region, city and so on.  Just because it is fictional doesn't mean it is not realistic.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Geordieboy52

[forameuss]

18 minutes ago, Geordieboy52 said:

Yep have been following this thread for a hell of a long time; he created an entire country, with political affiliations, history, employment, currency, as well as an entire backstory to go with every club, region, city and so on.  Just because it is fictional doesn't mean it is not realistic.

And in that sense, it's considerably more realistic than the base game.

[Geordieboy52]

Just now, forameuss said:

And in that sense, it's considerably more realistic than the base game.

The detail he goes in to is to be applauded.

[LewisQ]

Thanks for the continued interest, guys! It's really encouraging.

The last goal of the Avrilian league season was scored by 35-year-old veteran Gary Lewis for Strayton vs. Marwell Rec. in the National Play-Off round. The four teams promoted to the Pro Leagues were Strayton, Dovestream, Union and Springhill, all from Sakatar province. I remember creating Lewis as the top striker in Avrilia at the height of his powers with Bluestripes in 2010. Things didn't quite work out that way, but he's still plugging away at third-tier level and it was nice to see him have one last hurrah.

We're now in the lull between the end of the promotion play-offs and the start of the Christmas Cup. Most of the action is in the East, where the regional plates for the northern and southern halves of the province have reached the semi-final stages. The Mellick Honour League is also the only one of Avrilia's major Park Leagues which plays into the winter. The Parks Leagues are the top level of amateur football, and all fixtures are played at the city's major parks (Parks Leagues are not part of the league pyramid).

This season, there's been a renewed interest in the Parks Leagues due to TTV's weekly magazine programme The Love of the Game, which has married highlights with colourful human-interest stories from around the amateur leagues. It's been a godsend for people disillusioned with the increasingly earnest nature of professional football. The Love of the Game achieved huge ratings for its final episode, which featured the climax of the Aroa Parks League season, when leaders Hillround took on second-place North West Telephone with the title at stake. North West Telephone took the honours with two late goals in a 3-1win.

Aside from being the only Parks League played over the winter, the Mellick Honour League is unusual in awarding 5 points for a win and 1 for a draw. This is because the north part of East province is based on my brother's influence over my life. When we were teenagers, we used to play the mediocre PC game Striker, and my brother would score our games by ranking goals on aesthetic quality (e.g., a good goal could count as three or four). The only way to replicate this in FM is to award more points for a win.

 

[Guest]

Love how this thread keeps popping up.

KUTGW! Lewis

[MBarbaric]

23 minutes ago, LewisQ said:

This season, there's been a renewed interest in the Parks Leagues due to TTV's weekly magazine programme The Love of the Game, which has married highlights with colourful human-interest stories from around the amateur leagues. It's been a godsend for people disillusioned with the increasingly earnest nature of professional football. The Love of the Game achieved huge ratings for its final episode, which featured the climax of the Aroa Parks League season, when leaders Hillround took on second-place North West Telephone with the title at stake. North West Telephone took the honours with two late goals in a 3-1win.

pure class. would love to see the episode.

[LewisQ]

CHRISTMAS CUP UPDATE

The group stage of the Christmas Cup has come to a close. Sakatar City's quest for an unprecedented sextuple will have to pass through Northern giants Pearsons, against whom they were drawn in the round of 16. Although Pearsons finished 30 points behind Sakatar City in the league and qualified 2nd in Group F behind Pro League First side Westcourt, it's as tough a task as the champions could have asked for, albeit somewhat cushioned by the home draw.

Elsewhere, crisis-ridden Gold Swords were the only one of the big four to crash out at the group stage. Gold Swords finished bottom of Group H, failing to qualify from the group stages for only the second time. Gold Swords were eliminated after a pulsating 2-2 draw with Pro League First Mablonda, suffering the further indignity of conceding from opposition goalkeeper Andrew Mahoney's long kick.

The other first-round games are Westcourt vs. Sandcombe, Ballinglin City vs. Kohlenburg, Chevaliers vs. Ferres, Port Sunday vs. Mablonda, Yluf Argan vs. United Deschen, Northwest Junior vs. Bluestripes and S.S.C. vs. Amergina.

SPORT IN AVRILIA

Football is by far the most popular sport in Avrilia. More bandwidth is devoted to it, across all media and platforms, than almost anything else in Avrilian society. But other sports are played extensively. In order of popularity, they are:

CRICKET: Unlike football, interprovincial competition is the bread-and-butter of the summer game. South has historically been the dominant province. Cricket has been contested at interprovincial level since 1966, when West took on South in a famous five-match series. The series was dominated by West's legendary batsman Hilary Thornton, whom many consider Avrilia's greatest-ever sportsman. Today, cricket is dominated by South, Sakatar and North.

RUGBY: Participation in rugby is largely confined to the country's upper echelons, but it remains a popular spectator support at interprovincial level. Rugby has traditionally been strongest in the rural parts of West province, where it's played by all sections of the community. However, in recent years North and Sakatar have dominated the interprovincial scene.

SNOOKER: Snooker enjoyed huge popularity in the 80s and 90s and still features regularly on sports channels. The sport has always been most popular in the cities of Insford, Sakatar and Collington. Insford is the game's spiritual home and its City League attracts most of the best players on the circuit. The three major annual competitions are The Independence (played in Sakatar in April), the Northern Open (Collington, September) and national championship the All-National, contested in Insford in December. The All-National rotates between Insford's three iconic venues of the Deck Club, Murrigan's and Leawood's. The North of the Line vs. South of the Line team event is also played in December and an immensely popular event on the Forcesport cable channel.

BOXING: Enjoyed its greatest popularity in the late 80s and mid-90s. Still three or four major TV events per year. Falling participation rates due to government concerns over its safety - a ban on public funding and televised coverage of boxing was briefly in place from 2012-2013.

BASKETBALL: Primarily a school and amateur sport, although the desire for content to fill broadcast slots has brought it to the nation's screens. The Pan-Provincial Basketball League was launched in 2014, and sees 8 teams from across the country compete for the national title (while still participating in their city's "gym leagues"). Saints' Cross of Collington defeated Black Knights of Sakatar (linked to the Chevaliers d'Avril football club) in last year's final.

GOLF: Golf was a hugely popular televised sport for a time in the mid-90s and enjoyed a brief resurgence around 2010. However, the lucrative televised tournament circuit is long gone and public courses are abandoned and weed-strewn. The tour now consists only of four national tournaments, and the once-popular North of the Line vs. South of the Line series is no longer contested.

TENNIS: Tennis is an almost entirely amateur and social sport in Avrilia. Most popular in the wealthy Southern city of Marwell, although the public courts of Collington and Sakatar also see some use. Martin Young of Marwell has dominated the sport over the past 15 years, winning 11 National Opens.

ATHLETICS: Athletics is very seldom seen on television and exists mainly as a participation sport. However, the Sprint Series (an event of 500m eliminator races) has some profile, as does the annual Sand Race which takes place in the southern Sakatar province town of Shaw's Sands, and sees competitors race the length of the beach across a series of dunes and obstacles.

CORNERBALL: An indigenous sport which most resembles a cross between handball and netball, cornerball is a niche interest with decent participation rates. The SouthEastern league is the highest standard, and has been dominated by rival Sakatar clubs City and Municipal since its inception (the two teams both once belonged to the single inner-city club where the game was invented).

CHESS: Popular in the 90s and still a staple of early-hours sports TV. Strongest in Collington and the north-Eastern city of Mellick.

CARD GAMES: Televised card games saw a huge spike in interest with the introduction of Forcesport's Card Night in 2008, a TV series which brought together some of Avrilia's finest players and proved an unexpected hit. Although interest has dropped off somewhat, the format remains popular. However, the show's popularity rests as much on the players' personalities and banter as the game itself. Fontana, a small town in West province with a seedy casino culture, is the epicentre of the scene.

DARTS: Largely a social game, came briefly to national prominence in the first decade of the 2000s, but has since faded again. 

Social sports are played informally throughout the country. "Hall games" - the type of games suitable for community centres and social clubs - remain popular. These included "cueing" (a billiards-like cue-and-ball game in which players have to rebound balls off a back cushion onto marked circles of a small table) and "rubbers" (two players on either end of a narrow hallway pitch a small, irregularly shaped rubber object at one another, the aim being to bounce it off the floor and hit the opponent or the back wall). Racing sports (whether horse, bicycle, motorbike or automobile) are almost unknown.

 

 

[LewisQ]

Sadly, there will be no historic sextuple for Sakatar City this season, after Michael Hatzke's 71st-minute goal condemned them to a defeat at home to Pearsons in the round of 16, in a contentious game which saw Lionel O'Connor's first-half goal chalked off for no good reason. Westcourt, Ballinglin City, Port Sunday, Northwest Junior, Chevaliers, Yluf Argan and Amergina (who won 5-3 away to S.S.C., having been 1-3 down) are the other teams through to the quarter-finals.

[Geordieboy52]

I'm going to say it, @LewisQ this is my favourite thread of all time, closely edging out @forameuss adventures in Gibraltar.

[LewisQ]

3 hours ago, Geordieboy52 said:

I'm going to say it, @LewisQ this is my favourite thread of all time, closely edging out @forameuss adventures in Gibraltar.

Great to hear that, @Geordieboy52! Particularly in comparison to such a brilliant thread.

There's some suggestion this year that the Fehador Medal for twenty senior goals in a season is losing its lustre, given the number of players who have reached that milestone. There was a time when thirty goals in a season was something only achieved by the greats - this year, Sakatar City's Chris McGillen almost made it to 60 (albeit that he's an outlier and the greatest goalscorer in Avrilia history). As you can see, the silversmiths and engravers of Avrilia have had a bumper year. 

Of those knocking on the door, Ben Lee, Daniel Hamilton and Steve O'Flanagan are still involved in the Christmas Cup and could yet reach 20.

[craigd84]

Have you ever released this database?

[LewisQ]

1 hour ago, craigd84 said:

Have you ever released this database?

I have, probably a couple of years ago at this stage (it will be further up in the thread, though the link will have expired). Also included a players' guide. There'd probably be limited interest in it now, given that it's an FM10 save.

[craigd84]

6 hours ago, LewisQ said:

I have, probably a couple of years ago at this stage (it will be further up in the thread, though the link will have expired). Also included a players' guide. There'd probably be limited interest in it now, given that it's an FM10 save.

Ahhh cheers, i reckon SI should implement a database converter 

[LewisQ]

The Avrilian season has now ended. Just to round up the results for those interested:

Sak = Sakatar province, Nor = North province, NW = North West province, Sou = South province, Wes - West province, Eas - East province.

LEAGUE COMPETITIONS

Pro League Premier

 Champions - Sakatar City (Sak). Relegated - Enverdale United (Sak), East Allen Sports (Nor)

Pro League First

Champions - Malternan (Eas). Promoted - Yluf Argan (Eas). Relegated - Clifton Town (Nor), Port Sunday (Eas), Otteldam (Sak), Southstown Blues (Sak).

Ballinglin City (Wes) beat F.C. Freistadt (Sak) in the Pro League Premier/Pro League First promotion-relegation play-off.

Qualifying Groups

Promoted - Union (Sak), Dovestream (Sak), Strayton (Sak), Springhill (Sak)

NATIONAL CUP COMPETITIONS

N. F. A. Cup Final

Picavella Strollers (Sou) 0-7 Sakatar City (Sak) - National Football Stadium, Sakatar, attendance 35,000.

Christmas Cup Final

Yluf Argan (Eas) 0-1 Pearsons (Nor) - National Football Stadium, Sakatar, attendance 35,000.

PROVINCIAL CUP COMPETITIONS

Sakatar Grand Provincial final

Julianastrasse 1-5 Sakatar City - Julianastrasse Stadium, Sakatar, attendance 1,782 (sell-out).

Northern Championship Trophy final

Ferres Town 1-2 National Sports Academy - Civic Ironworks, Ferres, attendance 12,000 (sell-out).

Western Provincial Football Combination Cup final

Fontana 98 0-1 Ballynoun Comrades - Brigade Park, Fontana, attendance 3,700 (sell-out).

Southern Football Authority Elimination Cup final

Picavella Strollers 1-0 Holmgrove - Valepark Arena, Picavella, attendance 4,000 (sell-out)

North West Province Gold Cup final

Gold Swords 2-1 Province F.C. - Galanta Hall, Aroa, attendance 26,000 (sell-out)

Eastern Premier Trophy

Malternan beat Yluf Argan 2-1 on an aggregate.

REGIONAL CUP COMPETITIONS

Eastern Football Association Southern Plate final (East province)

Yluf Argan beat Fishermen 5-4 on aggregate.

Eastern Football Association Northern Plate final (East province)

Northlands beat Malternan 3-2 on aggregate.

Four Villages Cup Final (North province)

Trotleigh 3-0 Skarmwell - Trotleigh Paddock, Trotleigh, attendance 1,200 (sell-out)

THIRD-TIER CUP COMPETITION

NFA Club Challenge

Doncada (Sak) beat Lakeley (Sak) 5-1 on aggregate.

CITY CUP COMPETITIONS

Municipal Cup final (Sakatar city)

Chevaliers d'Avril 0-1 Sakatar City - Victoria Castle, Sakatar, attendance 5,400 (sell-out)

New Year Cup final (Collington)

Collington Carpentry Works 0-3 Pearsons - The Workshop Fields, Collington, attendance 3,000 (sell-out).

The Challenger Goblet final (Insford)

Centralians 1-3 Bluestripes - Amenity Ground, Insford, attendance 3,000 (sell-out).

OTHER COMPETITIONS

Forcesport Super Cup

Sakatar City (Sak) beat Avrilia 5-0 on aggregate

Midnight Football Festival final

Codicilians (Sak) 0-0 Julianastrasse (Sak) - Codicilians 5-4 on penalties - Advent Corner, Sakatar, attendance 500 (sell-out)

Services Trophy final

Army Sports Club (Sak) 4-0 Naval Veterans & Recruits of Sakatar (Sak) - National Football Stadium, Sakatar, attendance 9,934

Parks Shield (Sakatar city)

Cathcoate beat Prince's 4-2 on aggregate.

[deecee110]

This is incredible. I love stuff like this.

 

When I was a kid I used to simulate all kind of sports with pen, paper and dice. I had football leagues, cricket, golf, horse racing and motor racing. Nowhere near this level of detail though. 

 

Wonderful thread!