dafuge's FM16 challenge

[smp20]

Nice work Dons. I didnt want to spoil my update but i may not be able to do it for a while and i feel the need to share.

Had a good second season, including an amazing da cup run where we made it all the way to the final 8 beating a multitude of football league sides. We faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and lost 14-0.....

We also made it to the final 8 of the fa trophy and the fixture congestion has really messed up our league season. Weve gone from clear top to settling for the playoffs. Lets hope i win the lottery!

On the plus side, we now have nearly 2m in the bank

[Wlv]

9 games left of the 1st season as Dorchester. We're sitting in second place, 2 points off Oxford and we play them in one of the remaining fixtures. It's twitchy bum time!

[Liverbird93]

After Halesowen town went badly I've restarted as manager of Skelmersdale United

Profile

[Hypanimz]

Having already had two failed attempts I have restarted as Salford City. I am already 10 league games in and unbeaten so hopefully this goes smoother than my other attempts.

Edit: Stupid forum curse. Lost 1-0 after this post...

Since posting this I have gone on to win only 2 of the next 14 matches... Stupid forum curse!

[evry1sfavedave]

Dulwich Hamlet - 16/17 - Vanarama National League South (Halfway point)

It's been an up and down season so far with some great displays and some rather shocking performances too. An excellent start to the campaign was followed by a losing streak streak that ended when I changed up the tactics to a more attacking formation in order to take advantage of the abundance of attacking talent within my squad. We're currently in good form and I'm hopeful that we can continue our march up the table and possibly sneak into the playoffs, a strong mid-table position would be equally as pleasing though as I'm sure next season will be a vast improvement.

Squad

Competitions

Transfers

League Table

League - Team Stats

League - Player Stats

Dan Rider

A solid start to his career with 12 goals in 22 games. He is currently out for a couple of months with an injury but I'll be throwing him straight back in the team when he is fit again. He's being monitored by quite a few clubs and I fully expect to lose him at the end of the season if not beforehand. He does have work-rate issues and can be a little inconsistent but is still the best player I've got!!

[Thebaker]

Table | Transfers | Squad

Started the season well and after 12 games the team was top. Although the team couldn't keep that up they remained in the playoffs until about oct when a lack of strikers meant that i had to play midfielders up front, coupled with a loss of form from my other midfielders the team struggled until xmas. After finding and signing a few strikers the team picked up to be just outside the playoffs. By winning the last 4 games the team made the playoffs. Salford ran away with the league.

In the first leg away to Tamworth the team drew 2-2. The 2nd leg was really disappointing as the team went down 1-0 with barely a whimper.

In the FA Cup the team went out to Matlock after a replay in the 3rd Qrd. The team lost in the 3rd Qrd of the FA trophy to Bedworth. Both games were when the team had no strikers.

The squad didn't do badly as they were not very strong, most rated at regional division or decent VN ability. They did manage 111 yellows and 11 reds!

My best defender left in dec and the whole defence is weak, definitely an area for improvement along with a new goalie as Henry is on loan.

The midfield is aging and needs replacing, tackling was poor in many games.

Up front Gray was brought in as backup and was great finishing only 10 goals behind the top scorer.

Saraiva was a player who did well for me in fm15. After turning me down i persuaded him he could become a legend and he joined.

A revelation he was player of the month 6 times and player of the season for the league. My only disappointment was that i only scored from 2 corners and no direct freekicks which considering his set pieces was frustrating.

Season            League             Position       FA cup     FA Trophy   League cup    Europe       Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17        Conference North        3rd       3rd Qf Rd    3rd Qf Rd       N/A          N/A          None

[Andrew K]

Wow, Fabio is an impressive find for the lower conference. As a club without a good or even decent set piece man for my first season, I'm thinking that may be a critical role for these lower leagues.

[Thebaker]

Wow, Fabio is an impressive find for the lower conference. As a club without a good or even decent set piece man for my first season, I'm thinking that may be a critical role for these lower leagues.

He was still great in L1 last year and outstanding in the conference, first player i looked for. As i said his set pieces came to nothing which i could not understand, maybe i need better headers of the ball.

[Tecmo]

11 games left at Slough Town, last place and 9 points from safety. Likely doomed but we did just beat the 2nd place team away and we had a nice FA Cup run that ended with a profitable televised game against Bolton.

[MCPlay]

After ten matches as the manager for Hampton & Richmond I've played five 0-0 games, and only won twice. Sitting pretty at 16th. Defence seems to be solid, so if I can find a differencemaker offensively we should have a good chance of climbing the league table

[Wlv]

Dorchester Town 2016/17 Season Report

| League Table | League Fixtures 1 |​​ League Fixtures 2 | FA Trophy | FA Cup |



We started slowly, not conceding many and not scoring many. It was looking bleak to be honest, however a few tactical tweaks and we were flying by January. The end of the season was so close. I thought we'd won the league, only to see that Maidenhead had scored a late goal to take us on goal difference. The playoff Semi-Finals was run-of-the-mill, beating Dartford at their place 3-0. The final was tough, Oxford had been top for most of the season. Stewart Yetton came on with 10 minutes to go to score the winner.

Key Players

| Alex Salmon | Andre Da Costa | Rory Winters |



Alex & Andre came to us part way through the season and made a big difference. Alex especially with his goals. Rory was ever-present in the right back role. I doubt any of these players will be good in the National League.



Club Info



Squad | Finances | Manager Profile | Season Review | Youth Intake |



The Squad held up fairly well throughout the season, with plenty of cover for injuries. That said the cover wasn't great and we'll need to sign a lot of players in order to stay up next season. The finances did well too, especially with the play-off final being held at our stadium. Cracking youth intake (best I've had in a long time!!), the top 3 players could walk in to my first team - and they'll be getting the chance to impress during the pre-season.

Next Season Targets



- Stay up at all costs

- Develop the players we got in last seasons intake

- Do better in the FA Cup

​

[Hypanimz]

Just finished my first season at Salford. Will post my update tomorrow morning.

[IainWhite]

SEASON 2019-20 Sky Bet League 2

---

League

Well a remarkable season again saw us lose only 2 games all season which led us to run away with the league claiming the title with 5 games remaining and a League 2 record points tally. Reuben Noble-Lazarus won the Leagues player of the season and i won the manager of the season

FIXTURES 1 |FIXTURES 2 | LEAGUE TABLE | LEAGUE 2 PLAYER OF THE SEASON | MANAGER OF THE SEASON

Cups



No Cup run the season although we finally made it past the first round we were entered in the FA cup. Lost in the first round of the league cup. We made it to the Quater final of the Johnston Paints Trophy.

CUP FIXTURES



Squad and Club Info

Squad | Home Screen| Transfers | Season Review |Best 11 | Fans Player and Top Goalscorer

[size=2][font=Verdana]Season     Division                                   Pos    FA Cup        Lg Cup    Other Comps         Continental Comps    Notes[/font]
[font=Verdana]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]
[font=Verdana]2016/17    Vanarama National South          4th    3rd qual rd   N/A       FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  lost in playoff final[/font]
[font=Verdana]2017/18    Vanarama National South          1st    3rd qual rd   N/A       FAT: 3rd qual rd    N/A                  Champions, Manager of the year
2018/19    Vanarama National Conference   1st ​   4th qual rd   N/A       FAT: Winners        N/A                  Champions, FA Trophy winners, Manager of the year
[/font][/size][font=verdana][size=2]2019/20    SkyBet League 2                      1st    2nd rd         1st rd    JPT: Sth 1/4 final  N/A                   Champions, Manager of the year[/size][/font]

[camstar]

Is Peter Lim the owner of Salford, even if he is not listed on the board?

[deadfncat]

sitting in first place for most of the season and still the lowest attendance in the league by heaps. Classic FM

[Dons]

Dons and Bartcm, congrats on the promotions.

Nice work Dons

Cheers! It's harder in L2 to get the "good players" from Ireland, Wales and Scotland

Gratz on getting to L1 IainWhite!

[Dons]

sitting in first place for most of the season and still the lowest attendance in the league by heaps. Classic FM

Atleast the season holders are starting to increase drastically (well % wise atleast) from 120 to 180! But indeed, having 3-500 attendance is meh...

[Wlv]

Lazarus looks like a beast Iain! When did you sign him?

[Hypanimz]

Salford City - Vanarama North - 2016/17





We came so close. We started off with 9 wins and 1 draw from our first 10 league games but then the dreaded forum curse hit and we dropped like a stone as we only won once in the league in the next 3 months. After this I thought the season was over but a small tactical change then saw us win 9 on the bounce and rise back to 1st place in the league. We suffered another blip in February and March only picking up 9 points from a possible 24 and then the pressure hit my players as we fell away from automatic promotion with a couple of draws in the final few matches. We got through the semi finals of the play offs beating Bradford PA 6-5 on aggregate before we completely bottled the final and lost 2-0 to Worcester. Looking forward to a summer of improving the squad and going for promotion again.

League Table



Past Positions

Cups - Early exits in both competitions. Not to worried.



Squad - I think I made a mistake going with a very small squad as towards the end of the season we lacked cover as my players picked up injuries and plenty of suspensions. Improvements are needed in defence to add depth and also the centre of my midfield. These are my main tasks for the summer.



Finances - Bailed out countless times by the owners over the season.

Key Player Profiles:

Anton Forrester - Brought in mid season and played really well. Glad to get him on a extended contract for next season.

Conor Martin - Was at the club when I arrived and had a great season on the right of midfield.

Kasheme Walton - 23 goals and 13 assists is a good return, but the goals mainly came in bunches. Needs to be more consistant.

Next Season

I want promotion next season. We came so close this year and with the right signings I think it is possible.

Career Overview

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17         Vanarama North              3rd               Lost playoff final         

[Marchena]

Season update will follow, but just wanted to brag!

Promotion with three matches to go!

[tapwater]

Start of my save ~~~~

Hope able to update more on the forum for this year ~~~~

[IainWhite]

I got him on a free at the start of the last season. He knows he is a beast and will not sign a contract which is up at the end of the season so am trying to cash in on him now. But hes been injured for most of the current season just came back. I play him as a wide right midfielder on attack. Here are his current stats and history

[/img]

[/img]

[smp20]

Fantastic first few seasons Iain White, great stuff!

[smp20]

League Table ~ Play-offs ~ FA Cup ~ FA Trophy ~ Transfers ~ Finances ~ Facilities

Player Awards ~ Best 11 ~ Branford ~ Newman ~ Yong ~ Stewart ~ Hughes ~ Okuonghae ~ Cartman ~ Nasseri

Our 2nd season in Conference North turned out to be a very successful one. Our biggest success came with our marvelous cup run which saw us find our way through to the final 8. We managed to beat League 2 sides Newport, Dag & Red and Rotherham before forcing replays with both Bolton and Birmingham, drawing 2-2 away and winning 1-0 at home against both teams. Reality sunk in when we faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - a 14-0 thrashing and my worst in FM history. The blow was softened by the incredible money we made from the run and we are currently sitting with nearly £2m in the bank!

We also made the final 8 of the FA trophy and in hindsight I wish we didn't as the fixture pile up created by our cup success caused us real problems in the league. From December until April we were playing 2 games every week which was really taking its toll on the sides fatigue and at one point we only won 1 league game in 10. Prior to the new year we were top and very comfortable, but we came crashing down the table. A revival of form in the last 6 games gave us some momentum and we were able to secure promotion through the play-offs. Conference football next season awaits!

On to the players and there was one lad who had a surprisingly fantastic season. George Branford may look very average, but he made the deep lying playmaker role his own and was our Player of the Season. Both first choice wing backs, Newman & Yong had very good seasons with Yong's season only tarred by injury. Greig Stewart was another creative force in the middle alongside Branford, whilst Magnus Okuonghae recovered from a previous long term injury to become our signing of the season and the experienced centre back we needed.You will notice that we spent a little bit of money on two players, Neil Hughes and Andy Cartman, which is a bit deceiving as we only paid £1k upfront for each. They are both very promising youngsters and they have contributed very well this season, Hughes being our most present player.

At this moment, lots of our first team are uninterested in signing new deals and have just weeks left. I would hope they'd like to come with us up a league nad of course I'd be happy to give a big pay increase, but I don't even have the option at the moment. Lets hope this changes. Also, the board are unwilling to turn professional, but are happy to give me a £1m transfer budget. I am aiming for back-to-back promotions to force the boards arm.

[bazfmmad]

Hello,

Decided to give this ago this year as have lot more spare time on my hands.

After a few reloads an interesting team came up so please can i introduce you to the new manager of Mickleover Sports FC.

Hopefully will have a lot more information regarding the team by my end of season review but as requested here is my profile.

Wish me luck

Baz FmMad

[theHDTreatment]

Great to see this back up n running again this year and so many of you taking up the challenge. I've given it a go a few times with mixed results but this will be the first time documenting it. Good luck to all.

Profile

A quick look around shows I have only 14 first team players and no staff. Looks like a rebuild is on the cards though with a £10k transfer budget and £1.3k to spend on wages, I should be able to bring in some fresh faces.

Updates to follow.

[Druck]

I'm giving this a go.

Manager Profile

Personal Info

[deadfncat]

Metropolitan Police - Vanarama National League - 2018/19 - First

I was never really confident in the team, but we somehow cracked out the wins when we needed it. A late season string of 1 pointers got me scared, but we took the title even with our terrible defence.

Youth Players

nil

Career Overview

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

2016/17       Met Police               England            Vanarama National League South         5th                  Playoff Final/Promotion
2017/18       Met Police               England            Vanarama National League                17th                  
2018/19       Met Police               England            Vanarama National League                 1st                   Champions   

Next Season

Sign the better players to fulltime contracts

Scout all of the UK!

Sign some better players for the future

Facility News

Another Stadium upgrade to take us to 4000 seated

Major Competition Winners

Vanarama National League - Met. Police, Braintree

FA Cup - Man City

FA Trophy - Kidderminster

English Premier League - Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Man U, Newcastle, Aston Villa

Championship - QPR, Middlesbrough, Bournemouth

Champions League - PSG

Euro - Man U

[theHDTreatment]

@deadfncat Great stuff there. Did the board let you turn pro?

[smp20]

Nice work deadfncat. I competed with your 18-1 drubbing, losing 14-0 to Chelsea.

I imagine he has gone pro now theHDTreatment as staying semi-pro in League 2 is not an option.

[cmpn]

Salford City FC

Season Summary 2017/18



Vanarama National League - 1st Place

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances | Season Review | Player Stats

We started the season predicted to finish 6th, but we initially struggled to get things clicking due to the large number of new signings. After another rocky start, dropping as low as 20th, we finally managed to find some form when backup R AM Louis Dodds essentially forced his way into the starting 11 by banging in goals with amazing consistency. We quickly climbed the table to second place, with no sign of a slowdown on the horizon. A couple big defensive injuries and a perilous, but profitable, defeat to Chelsea in the third round of the FA cup marked a bit of a faltering point. In order to prevent a failure cascade, we used the January window to bring in a couple veteran Scottish midfielders, Paul McGowen and Paul Coutts. The two Pauls were not exactly world beaters, but they did bring some desperately needed stability to the midfield. After a disappointing loss at Newport County sent us out of the FA Trophy in the third round, the fellas were able to focus on the league. What followed was a magnificent 2 month run of wins, with a ridiculous amount of goals banged in by a resurgent Brad Inman and the hard-working Tom Hitchcock. We ended the season in a three-way race with Wrexham and Ebbsfleet, and ultimately won an historic second consecutive promotion under my tenure. Now the real hard work begins!

FA Cup: Lost in Third Round (v Chelsea)

FA Trophy: Lost in Third Round (v Newport County)

KEY PLAYERS:

Louis Dodds (AM R): 53 APPS, 33 GLS, 25 ASTS - AVR 7.66: Fans Player of the Season, Top Goalscorer, Highest Average Rating, Most Assists, Most Player of the Match Awards, Vanarama National League Player of the Season

Brad Inman (AM C): 49 APPS, 15 GLS, 24 ASTS - AVR 7.29: Run of form sparked the team's resurgence

Terry Kennedy (CB): 43 APPS, 337 HWN, 196 TCK - AVR 7.21: Defensive stalwart, really hates me for some reason and refuses to sign a new contract

My Profile.

Season        League                Pos    FA Cup      LG Cup    FAT/JPT      Note
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17       Vanarama North        1st    2nd Rnd     n/a       3rd Qual.    League Manager of the Season
2017/18       Vanarama National     1st    3rd Rnd     n/a       3rd Rnd      League Manager of the Year

[Hypanimz]

Salford City - Vanarama North - 2017/18





After losing in the playoff final last season I wanted to avoid that this year and get automatic promotion. We started strongly winning our first 8 league games and not losing until our 16th league game. AFC Fylde stuck with us in the early season and took top spot for a few weeks but we took it back quickly and never lost it again. We wrapped u the title with 5 games to spare and then went on to win only 1 from our final 5 games so it looks closer than it ever was. We had the best attack and defence in the league and completely deserved to win it.

League Table



Past Positions

Cups - A little bit better this season making the 4th Qualifying round of the FA Cup and the 3rd round of the FA trophy. I want a proper FA Cup run soon.



Squad - I made massive improvements in defence as that was my main aim. Seb Hines is a beast as this level. I also upgraded my wingers and they became an integral part of the team. my 4 strikers shared the goals nicely.



Finances - The ownership of the club changed hands this season, so this will be interesting to see what happens long term.

Key Player Profiles:

Anton Forrester - Picked up a couple of injuries but 24 goals in 37 games is a great return in his first full season.

Paolo Fernandes - Picked hm up mid season and is far too good for this level. Shame he wont sign a new deal and is likely to leave.

Seb Hines - The star defender. Cant believe he joined. Solid at the back and will be needed next season.

Next Season

All about survival next season.

Career Overview

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17         Vanarama North              3rd               Lost playoff final  
2017/18         Vanarama North              1st               Champions

[Thebaker]

After last years rather dirty effort with 111 yellows, 11 reds and 1500 in fines this season has started in similar vein. After 10 games i've totalled 34 yellows, 4 reds and £2000 in fines. It could get costly this season in fines although i haven't lost any of the games with 10 men

[G_D_K]

Ashton United

Season 1 (2015/16)

Table / Position Graph / Squad / Finances / Transfers / Manager / Facilities / Annual Injury Report / Confidence / Competitions / Reputation

Season One saw a very close fought fight for Ashton United...but not for relegation, rather, for the title. From late January on (until the final 3 matches), the top 8 points were separated by only 3-5 points, and there was always going to be heartache for some teams left out. Ashton stayed in the playoff hunt, jumping to the top half of the table in week 9 and never going below...from week 17 to the end we remained in and around the playoff spots...never more than 3 points away. With a defeat of Harrogate in match-day 41, Ashton was sitting 5th and in control of their destiny. A Gloucester 77th minute goal put our season on the line, but Burns replied with a brace (86th / 87th minute) to fire us into the playoffs.

All in all, a good season...though our goalscoring did slow down quite a bit down the stretch...and though we managed to do just enough to keep competitive...I'm convinced we need help to continue not only in the Vanarma National...but even if we were to stay in the VNN. We ended 3rd in goalscoring (80 goals), and joint 11th in conceded (59)...but just didn't have the feeling of being able to dominate at any point in the latter stages of the season.

Standout performances by strikers Aaron Burns (23 league goals/28 total) and John Lesley van Engel (21 league goals/ 23 total), with sub/rotation striker Martin Pilkington (11 league/14 total) provided the bulk of the teams' offence. Young fullback Dharius Waldron racked up 11 assists, and I hope I'll be able to hang onto the 20 year old in the coming season...at the moment, he's hesitant to resign.

PROMOTION/PLAYOFFS

In the end, it came down to the final match to make the playoffs. Having beat Harrogate in the penultimate match, Ashton Utd was sitting in 5th place --- 1 points ahead of Harrogate (with a GD of 4 worse), and 2 ahead of Tamworth (holding a vastly superior GD). A win would see us through. A Harrogate/Tamworth draw would see us through. And a draw w/ a Tamworth win would see us through. Tamworth started early doing their part, jumping to a 2-0 lead over Harrogate. All Ashton needed was 1 point or better to go through...and despite going behind in the 77th minute, a fresh Aaron Burns (who had missed the prior two matches through injury) took the role of saviour and fired in a pair of goals (87th and 88th min) to give us the win and secure our playoff spot (4th overall).

The semi-final would pit us against Solihull Moors - a team we'd lost 2-1 and drew 1-1 early in the season. A 2-2 home draw was hardly how I wanted to start out, but the lads responded well in the away leg, Burns and Pilkington matching the away goal tally and giving us the win. It was hardly an ideal win, as we lost one player for the final (injury to DM Waters). Ref had a ton of work to do, issuing a whopping 13 yellow cards (9 to Moors, 4 to Ashton) in what was likely the worst disciplined game (by the ref's measuring anyway) in history. The 3.0 match rating for the ref leads me wondering who had the worst discipline -- the teams or the refs!

That led us to the final vs Brackley ... another team that had our number during the season (4-1 loss, 1-1 draw). And....from the start, it looked like Brackley was the clear superior team. An early goal set us on our heels...and we were dominated in every phase of play. Possession 57/43 against Ashton. Shots 26-6 against Ashton. Yellow cards 3 to Brackley, 7 to Ashton...and putting us a man down in the 76th minute. Once again it was left for late, Aaron Burns scoring on a breakaway, stealing a poor pass at midfield and outracing the defenders, and placing the ball just past the diving keeper. That score gave us life, and an extra 30 minutes of play...which ended with the only chances going to Brackley's Sam Smith, who had a 100th minute shot inside the 6 yard box brilliantly parried by Ashton Goalkeeper Scott to preserve the draw and send us to a shootout.

The shootout was ended early, with Brackley's 2nd and 3rd shots both saved by Scott, and in a game in which we were utterly and totally dominated...we somehow pulled out the unlikeliest of victorys!

Cup Competitions

Not much going on in the Cups -- 2 early (and easy) victories in the FA Cup (vs Leiston [4-0] and Mossley [5-2]) led us to a 4th qualifying round tie vs in-form VN Wrexham (2nd in National division), and we were well beaten 4-1 ending that run. The two victories at least funded my wage budget for a couple of months!

The FAT saw us lead off against bottom of the table Stalybridge, whom we beat 3-2 via an Aaron Burns Hattrick...then we well and truly choked, losing in humiliating fashion to a Tolkien team (Glossop being Gollum's cousin) 2-0. No problem....we were at the stage we wanted to concentrate on the league anyways!

Additional Details

Team of the Season

Best XI Inductees --

Historical Best XI

Fans Player of the Season: John Lesley van Engle (43% of vote) somewhat surprisingly, as I expected Aaron Burns to win it

Signing of the Season: Sam Barnes (free)

Young Player of the Season: Fullback Dharius Waldron

Other awards: Manager of the Year went my way!

Top Academy Graduate

S1: Goalkeeper James Allison -- almost as capable as my current batch of Keepers...he'll slot into my rotation/backup role on the squad in Season 2

[b][i]Team, Individual, and league records [/i][/b]
A host of records were set or broken this year: (* denotes ongoing record-bold indicates record broke current season)
[b][i][u]Ashton United-- Team[/i][/b][/u]
[b]Highest League Position -- 4th in Vanarama North (2015/16)[/b]
[b]Highest Attendance -- 1293 (vs Solihull Moors, VNLN Semi-Final, 2017)[/b] (previous record:  )
[b]Highest Gate Receipts -- £19.6k (vs vs Solihull Moors, VNLN Semi-Final, 2017)[/b] (previous record: )
[b]Average Attendance -- 340 (2015/16)[/b] (previous high: )
[b]Biggest Win -- 6-2 (vs Corby, Oct 2016)[/b]
[b]Highest Scoring Game -- 6-2 (vs Corby, Oct 2016)[/b]
[b]Most Games won in a Row -- 5 (Oct-Nov 2016)[/b] (previous high: )
[b]Most Games without Losing -- 12* (Mar 2017-?)[/b] (Previous high: )
[b]Most Games without Winning -- 4, Aug 2016[/b]  (Previous high: )
[b]Most games without conceding -- 2(Sept 2016)[/b] (Previous high: )
[b][i][u]Ashton United -- Individual[/i] [/b][/u]
[b]Top Goalscorer -- Aaron Burns --27 (2016/17)[/b] (previous record: ) 
[b]Top League Goalscorer -- Aaron Burns --23 (2016/17)[/b] (previous record: )
[b]Most Goals in a match -- John Lesley van Engle, 4 (6 Sept 2016 v Lowestoft)[/b] (Previous record: )
[b]Most Assists -- Dharius Waldron -- 11 (2016/17)[/b] (previous record: )
[b]Highest AvR --John Lesley van Engle  -- 7.31 (2016/17)[/b]
[b]Most Player of Match awards -- Aaron Burns -- 8 (2016/17)[/b] (previous record: )
[b]Most League goals for club -- Robin Watson -- 251*[/b] (previous record) John Lesley Van Engel (103)
[b]Most League Appearances for club -- Robyn Watson (394*)[/b](previous record, John Lesley Van Engel (291)
[b]Youngest player -- Ben Smith (Striker), 18y281d[/b] (previous record: )
[b]Oldest player -- Jody Banim (Striker), 39y28d[/b] (previous record: )
[b]Youngest Goalscorer -- Dharius Waldron (DR), 19y229d[/b] (previous record: )
[b]Oldest Goalscorer -- Adam Morning (MC), 29y306d[/b] (previous record: )
[b]Fastest Goal -- Aaron Burns, 30 seconds (Nov 2016 -- vs Stalybridge FAT3QR)[/b]  (previous record: )

Promoted from the Regional Premier Division Teams:

Stalybridge, Hednesford, Hereford, Dorchester, Wealdstone, Lewes

League Winners (relegated)

EPL Chelsea (Middlesbrough, Hull, Norwich)

Championship Reading (Wigan, Blackburn, Charlton)

League One Portsmouth (Fleetwood, Crewe, Port Vale, Cambridge)

League Two Luton (Mansfield, Dover)

Vanarama Conference Kidderminster (Sutton Utd, Worcester, Stockport, Aldershot)

Vanarama North Alfreton (Hyde, Gloucester, North Ferriby)

Vanarama South Ebbsfleet (Havant & Waterlooville, Wealdstone, Dorchester)

Cup Winners

English FA Cup Chelsea (v Sunderland)

Capital One Cup LIverpool (vs Arsenal)

Jonhstone's Paint Trophy Crewe (vs Plymouth)

English FA Trophy Boreham Wood (vs Woking)

Football Manager Cup Watford (vs AFC Wimbledon)

Euro Qualifcation

Champions League Group Stage: Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal

Champions League Best Placed Playoff: Man City

Euro Cup Group Stage: Newcastle, Tottenham

Euro Cup Playoff:

Euro Cup 3rd QR: Liverpool

Euro Cup 1st QR:

Continental Achievements

Newcastle -- Eliminated from Euro Cup First Knockout round (by Villareal)

Swansea -- Eliminated from Euro Cup First Knockout round (by Wolfsburg)

Man Utd -- Eliminated from Champions League First Knockout Round (By FC Barcelona)

Chelsea -- Eliminated from Champions League Quarter Final (by Arsenal)

Liverpool -- Eliminated from Euro Cup Quarter Final (By Stutgart)

Arsenal -- Eliminated from Champions League Semi Final (by Juventus)

Man City -- Runner up in Champions League (def by Juventus)

Extra detail

What's Next?

The final matches, despite the result, have convinced me Ashton is not ready for the step up. New blood is definitely needed, both to strengthen the first team and to acquire some depth. I suspect a tough battle to avoid relegation is in the cards. Our wages increased by 25%...from £4K to £5K/wk...so I'm still severely restricted. An attempt to find a parent club to boost financials failed (board couldn't find a link). The board has already announced they will *not* be brining the stadium into compliance in this first year in the VN league...so they, too, suspect we will have issues staying up. If I didn't have my doubts, I'd go public to the media...but I just can't do it w/o the conviction we'll be able to stay up .

Career Overview

Season		Team		League		Position(Predicted)		Achievements
2016/17	        Ashton Utd	Vanarama North		17(4)		        Promoted via Playoffs / VNN Overachievers.  Manager of the Year		

[smp20]

Nice start with Salford cpmn & Hypanimz - they are certainly the most popular side for this challenge!

[theHDTreatment]

Decent first five games of the season. The counter attack is serving me well!

[Long Islander]

How do you create and post the results of your seasons? They all are in a box that is headed by "Code:"

Do you create it in excel or some other program?

[evry1sfavedave]

I shall post a full season review tomorrow evening but having won only 1 of the last 8 league games of the season I managed to scrape into the playoffs in 5th place after drawing with top of the league on the last day!!

Went 2-1 down in the first leg of the semi final, managed to win the 2nd leg 2-0 with the 2nd goal being scored in the 90th minute!!!

In the final I went 1-0 up and then got a man sent off. Finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. We scored early in extra time but they pulled it back before we scored a 3rd a few minutes later!!! 3-2 winners and promoted!!!

[cmpn]

How do you create and post the results of your seasons? They all are in a box that is headed by "Code:"

Do you create it in excel or some other program?

You can hit the # symbol in the advanced reply editor:

Or just use the [C0DE] (use O instead of 0, obvs.) block like so:

[C0DE] *results go in here. [/C0DE]

If you hit "reply with quote" on any of our posts, you can see how it's done. I just keep my results in a text file.

[mshort22]

Dipped into my student loan and bought FM16, giving this a blast with Hendon

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[cmpn]

Dipped into my student loan and bought FM16, giving this a blast with Hendon

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Bigup using student loan money to buy video games! Good luck (with the challenge and uni)!

[ifinnem]

Weird as many people seem to being saying it's hard to sign players.

Playing as Salford I'm literally able to assemble a whole squad of league 2 level players with potential beyond that. Will see how it goes as the save progresses, hopefully something is not borked (I'm can basically sleepwalk to League 2 for now)

[deadfncat]

Dont worry boys, we hit the jackpot!

Also, A-League with a pretty decent signing

[mikeytk]

Salford City - Vanarama North - 2016/17

What a season! Convincing champions at the first time of asking with 100 points and just two defeats. My success was built on a solid defence, with just 30 goals conceded all season and 20 clean sheets.

League Table

Cups - A good run to the FA Cup 1st Round Proper saw us get a draw at home to League One Burton Albion which was chosen for TV which netted me a smooth £70k+gate receipts. We were beaten 1-0 in a battling performance against a better team.

I played reserves in the Trophy as I'm not arsed and lost in the first qualifier 1-0 against some team I've never heard of. Meh.

Finances - I'm a little in the red but the cup tie helped tide us over for the season.

Key Players

James Talbot - Penalty-taking Goalkeeper signed at the beginning of the season. Solid in net with 20 clean sheets and scored 4/4 pens.

Jacob Blyth - Striker signed in January to bolster my attack quickly became first choice, winning all the end of season awards.

Adam Mekki - Former Tranmere winger also signed at the start. Assist machine and Conference North Player of the Year.

Next Season

My budget will be at the lower end of the Conference National but I reckon I can push for promotion next year, keeping the bulk of my current squad.

Career Overview

Season    |     League          |     Position    |    Europe    |    Top scorer    |    Achievments
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17   |  Conference North   |         1st    |      N/A     |  Jacob Blyth (18) |   Championes!, Manager of the Year

[Lenzar]

I see that again SI haven't addressed the issue of clubs below playable level having players that they couldn't realistically afford. Makes cup games against lower league opposition far harder than it should be because players who should be playing at much higher levels are hoarded by AI clubs who aren't held to any budget or other constraints.

[Marchena]

Colwyn Bay FC - Vanarama North - 2017/18

The second season was a huge success. Not only did we win promotion - we won promotion in style. Three games before the end of the season we already had the trophy in the cabinet. The squad was a bit older this year, I brought in some experience and that seemed to help. John Marsden proved to be the perfect man to replace Joey Johnson as he became our new league topscorer.

League Table

We were again consistent throughout the season. We were pretty much at top of the table all season long. We actually had a comfortable lead throughout the season. In the end I have some youngsters a chance to shine. We also dealt with a lot of injuries in the end, which caused us to loose points.

FA Cup

Not much to report.

FA Throphy

Nothing specific to mention.

Notable events:

Shaun Vipond - Mr. Long shots - Vipond gave us many defining goals with his ability to score goals from far out.

John Marsden league topscorer - John didn't only become league topscorer - he also won the best player award. Great season for the lad.

Youth intake - This young lad came at the end of the season with youth intake. I think he looks interesting. I already gave him a couple of matches at the end of the season.

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16   Vanarama North               5th         Loss in play-off finals
2016/17   Vanarama North               1th         Promotion

Next Season

Simple... Don't relegate.

[Foxo]

Long shot here, has anyone seen Needham Market come up? About to start with East Thurrock if not...

[Andrew K]

Long shot here, has anyone seen Needham Market come up? About to start with East Thurrock if not...

Neither in my 25+ reloads.

[Foxo]

I've done 2006 reloads and they haven't yet.

[Tecmo]

Slough Town is dead, resigned with 10 games to go and pretty hopelessly buried. Think I'll give them a try again before too long but for now I'm going to try Colwyn Bay. They were my last career in 15, never did manage to get them out of the VCN, just several seasons of mid table finishes.