dafuge's FM17 challenge

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2022/23 End of Season Report 

 

I thought this was going to be my last season on the challenge. Early on, it looked as though we were going to be promoted, but in about November the bad injuries hit.

I’d already lost my star player and attacking midfielder, Jack Dyche, the previous season. His cruciate ligaments injury kept him out for 9 months, but honestly it was as much as career as a season ending injury. He came back a shell of the player. But hey, injuries happen.

But now this season in quick succession I lost an on-loan striker for the whole season with another cruciate ligament, goal-machine Sam Smith with a broken leg, (again, not the player he once was), and midfield general Klok for 3 months. Essentially these were my 4 best players at the time, and we never recovered. Dyche and Smith have never recovered, and remember these 2 have been the MVPs the last 2 seasons.  Klok would have been my MVP this year, had he not missed such na big chunk of it.

They weren’t the only injuries of course. All my strikers got injured. All of them. At one point I had 2 strikers capable of playing, and they both picked up slight injuries in the same match. Because the club is small, I have a good first team, but don’t have the money for a lot of depth.

We were still picking up good results in the cups, including reaching the 5^th round of the FA Cup.

As we plummeted away from the promotion places, I consoled myself that at least our good start to the season ensured that we wouldn’t be in danger of relegation.

I was wrong.

But as we fell near to the relegation places, I consoled myself that because we were playing all the other teams at the bottom in our final games, we wouldn’t actually get relegated.

Again, I was wrong.

In our second to last match we fell into the relegation places, and there we stayed picking up just 3 draws from our supposedly easy last 7 matches.

I didn’t care that much about relegation, because I planned to take a week’s break from FM before the new iteration came out. I was sure that I could wean myself off the game for that long.

I was very wrong. ‘My name is Vikeologist, and I’m an addict’.

I didn’t manage 24 hours.

Anyway, after just one day of FM18, I have gone scurrying back to the comforting arms of FM17. A tactic that works, instant result skin, and not looking at every player profile every day and asking myself, ‘Do they like me?’.

Hopefully I can go straight back up.

 

Top Goalscorer – James Few - 27 James has been on loan for the last couple fo seasons, and afeter the season I signed him permanently, but honestly for most of that time, his surname has referred to his goals.

 

Top Average Rating – Klok / Smith 7.27

 

Man of the Match – Few

 

MVP – Few, but given our relegation and the injuries, this is more of a participation award.

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2023/24 End of Season Report 

After last season’s relegation, I expected to get promoted straight back up, and we won the division without much difficulty. We were pretty much in the top 2 from the start, and after Christmas we pulled away.

This was my 6^th season of the challenge, and in 5 of them we’ve been either promoted or relegated. The other season we lost in the playoff final.

I can’t help thinking though that these last 2 seasons have been wasted time. I suppose my team is better than the team that finished in 7^th 2 seasons ago and were promoted through the playoffs, but financially we’re worse off despite good cup runs, and still can’t improve our terrible facilities.

Most of my best players are only on loan to us. As for the club’s own players, we have 5 with 3 star ability according to my best judge of ability.

There’s a lot of hard work ahead to get even into the Championship.

Still, I’m glad I came back to FM17 to finish this season. It felt like unfinished business.

I’m going to spend a day on FM18 to see if I can learn to love it, but it would be nice to complete this challenge. It feels though as though I’m less than half way there. However my chairman is now prepared to listen to offers for the club, so I’d really love to get a tycoon, as I think @XaW did with Folkestone earlier in this challenge.

Top Goalscorers – James Few & Sam Smith - 26 This strike duo has now notched up almost 200 goals for the club between them over the last 4 seasons, but 2 seasons ago, before his bad injury last season, Smith had 42 goals. Unfortunately they both need to be replaced.

Top Average Rating – Bryan Blissset 7.28 An on-loan central defender.

 

Man of the Match – Sam Smith - 8

 

MVP – Marc Klok My midfield general doesn’t get many assists or goals, and therefore few MoMs or a high average rating, but he is at the top for passes and tackles, as well as cards. I suppose one could debate whether he’s the most valuable player, but he’s definitely my most valuable psychopath.

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.	

 

[XaW]

8 hours ago, vikeologist said:

However my chairman is now prepared to listen t offers for the club, so I’d really love to get a tycoon, as I think @XaW did with Folkestone earlier in this challenge.

That's right, I had it a long while ago. I think I lost that save in a disc crash. Hopefully you'll get it!

[Andrew Haines]

Whitby Town

National League North– 2018/19 – 2nd

 

Overview

The ultimate objective of promotion was achieved but the season was a little disappointing. The team was good enough for automatic promotion but inconsistency struggling for a title challenge. Good form in the run in meant we climbed the table and ended up as runners up only two points from the top of the table. It just shows what could have been.

Despite the quibbling, we won promotion with a 2-0 win over Kidderminster in the play off final. Our runners up finish gave us home advantage for the game which we took advantage of.

The side has the core of a team that should push for back-to-back promotions. A couple of signings will be needed, we are still weak in defence but I am hopeful for next season.

Key Players

Kyle Vassell – The journeyman striker hit 32 goals in all competitions.

Moha El Ouarlachi – Ex-Barcelona left winger scored 11 goals and added 14 assists

Record

Quote

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         National North                  15th                                             
2018/19         National North                  2nd                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted

 

 

[TheEarl]

Still trying to maintain the leaderboards for this. Updated for your last post @vikeologist

@Andrew Haines you should now qualify for the leaderboards being in League Two, but should I remove your old introduction with Merthyr where as far as I can see you reached Premier League?

[Andrew Haines]

@TheEarl Yeah please, I'm aiming to press on with this game so take off the Merthyr one.

[Andrew Haines]

Whitby Town

 

National League– 2019/20 – 2nd

 

Overview

Promotion to the football league was achieved in our first season in the National League. We are yet to play really well but still have secured promotion two seasons out of three. The season started strongly but form was poor between October and February. A strong run in saw us push for the top spot but in the end we fell just shot finishing in second place. We fought back from 2-0 down against Fylde in the playoff final at Wembley to win 3-2

We are a short in a number of positions so re-inforcements will be needed. Before that my first task will be to secure key players on professional contracts and sort out a good backroom staff.

Key Players

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing – The ex-Bradford winger signed in December and performed well.

Nigel Hassell – I was overblessed with wingers so the ex-Man United youth player converted to full back where he did well.

 

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         National North                  15th                                             
2018/19         National North                  2nd                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted
2019/20         National League                 2nd                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted

 

[vikeologist]

18 hours ago, TheEarl said:

Still trying to maintain the leaderboards for this. Updated for your last post @vikeologist

@Andrew Haines you should now qualify for the leaderboards being in League Two, but should I remove your old introduction with Merthyr where as far as I can see you reached Premier League?

@TheEarl Thanks for keeping the leaderboard up to date. Looks like I might be pressing on with this challenge for the moment

[Andrew Haines]

Whitby Town

 

League Two– 2020/21 – 18th

 

Overview

In our first season in the football league we stayed well clear of relegation. I struggled to improve the side to any level in pre-season and this meant that we were never good enough to push up the table. I was reliant on loan signings to fill key positions and regularily had 3 or 4 loan players in the first eleven.

I think that next season I will need to concentrate on signing young players. Players of immediate ability are not interested so I will need to develop my own while I try to put a team together to push for promotion.

Key Players

Steve Ward – Striker on loan from Newcastle hit 22 goals.

Javairo Dilrosun –The Dutch winger played striker last season but dropped back to a more natural wide position this year.

 Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         National North                  15th                                             
2018/19         National North                  2nd                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted
2019/20         National League                 2nd                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted
2020/21         League Two                      18th                                             

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2024/25 End of Season Report 

All season we were part of a large pack of clubs at the top of the table, none of whom were able to pull away. We stood a good chance of promotion, but equally we could have failed to even make the playoffs.

With 9 matches remaining in 3^rd place, we played the 2 teams around us in back to back matches, both of which we won, and then 4 of the next 5 to see us promoted with 2 matches to spare.

That just left the matter of who would actually win the division, which was settled in the final match of the season between the top 2 sides; ourselves and Millwall. We needed to win to be champions, and we did just that to go top of the table for the first time since the second match of the season. That was enough to put me into legend status at the club.

Delighted to get promoted in our first season back in league 1, but also relieved. Relegation from this division 2 seasons ago, when I was just instant resulting my way to disaster because FM18 was about to come out, seriously derailed our progress. Still the case that I've been promoted or relegated every season apart from the one where we lost in the playoff final. Never a dull season. We've also won every division along the way. In fact, that's my excuse for being relegated 2 seasons ago. We had to pop back down to win it. It was all on purpose.

The last time I did this challenge, promotion from the championship to the premier league was the toughest to attain, and I’m expecting it to be difficult this time given that we are still a very small club with attendances of 4k, and facilities which (apart from a small stadium expansion) haven’t improved one jot since the day I took over the Conference south club.

My main priority next season will be to not get relegated and try to dramatically improve our finances and therefore our facilities.

At the start of the season I brought in lots of fresh young blood, but that was a bit of a waste of time without the facilities to develop them, and when I’m still maxing out my allowed 5 loan players in the first team every match, (and even more in the cups).

Top Goalscorer – Will Goodwin - 34 On-loan striker who I’ve already ensured is coming back next season along with most of our other loanees.

 

Top Average Rating – Javier Lasuen 7.28 Our attacking midfielder who would be perfect if we wasn’t injured a bit too much.

 

Man of the Match – Goodwin - 9

 

MVP – Goodwin Top goalscorer in the division.

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.

 

[vikeologist]

On ‎04‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 18:47, Andrew Haines said:

 

 

 I was reliant on loan signings to fill key positions and regularly had 3 or 4 loan players in the first eleven.

I think that next season I will need to concentrate on signing young players. Players of immediate ability are not interested so I will need to develop my own while I try to put a team together to push for promotion.

 

 

Congrats on your success so far. Sorry I haven't commented much so far. I guess now we only have each other in this desolate wilderness of last year's thread.

As I've mentioned above, except for one match, I had 5 loan signings in the first team, and much of the rest of the team are ex-loan singings I picked up at the end of their parent club contracts.

Not developing my own players could certainly be a problem, but I'm just not in a position facilities wise to do that. These are my facilities;

Corporate - F Basic

Training Fac - Poor

Youth Fac - Basic

JC - Minimal

YR - Limited

Folkestone probably are one of the worst clubs in this regard that you can have in the challenge.

 

How about your facilities?

[Andrew Haines]

Unfortunately I had a bad start to the season, the board wanted the playoffs but I was just above the relegation zone in November. I was a bit rash in the inevitable board meeting and said the next match would make up for it.. I got beat 2-1 at home. FIred!

I'm going back to play as Merthyr. I took them to the Premier League earlier in the year, I've got unfinished business. Starting fresh though as I never go back to a game.

profile

@vikeologist - I do a couple of Dafuges a year and I never develop my own players until I get to the Prem. I rarely improve facilities until at least the Championship. A youth system is a big drain on cash and players produced are usually outstripped by increased in stature of the club.

I went to Folkestones ground last month to get a picture of the ground for my graphics pack. Not a bad stadium for the level. 

[Andrew Haines]

Merthyr Town

 

National South– 2018/19 – 5th

 

Overview

Promotion at the first time of asking was a great result. It took a good tail end of the season to sneak into the playoffs on goal difference. It didn’t look good when we went down 3-2 at home in the first leg of the semi final. We led 2-1 but conceded two late goals. The result looked like it might go against us in the second leg as we drew 0-0 until the 64^th minute. Two goals from Dayle Southwell saw us through however as we dominated. The final was a different story, we led from the 7^th minute and it always looked like it would go our way. It eventually ended up 4-2.

 I will need to strengthen the defence next season if I am to have success again next season. Hopefully I can push on though.

 Key Players

Duckens Nazon – Haitan striker released from Wolves. Scored 11 goals in 13 goals in the run in.

Jack Compton –.ex-Newport winger gave width on the left. Added eight assists in 21 games.

 

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19         National North                  5th                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted

 

[Tecmo]

My Slough team has lifted 3 straight FA Trophies....not sure if I should be proud or sad that I can't get out of the VN

[vikeologist]

@Tecmo Don't know what to say. I'm as confused about how to feel as you are. Becoming a big club would just spoil the family atmosphere. Mind you, hard to think of a more depressing town to be based in than Slough.

@Andrew Haines Of course Merthyr. That's just about the most depressing town in Britain. To be fair, I don't live in Britain so the last time I was in Merthyr was maybe 25  years ago, (and more than 15 since I lived in Slough). Maybe they've changed. Anyway, congrats on promotion. Why did you start again on FM17. Don't have 18? Don't like 18? 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2025/6 End of Season / Playoffs Report 

Welcome to the playoffs; the heat of the meat at the end of my first season in the Championship. Every season I've been promoted, reached the playoffs, apart from the season i was relegated. let's not dwell on that.

I expected my time in this division to be a long haul. This is just my 8^th season of this challenge, and last summer was the first time I could afford to make any improvements to our facilities. I was hoping for a comfortable mid-table finish. Make a bit of money, build for the future.

However, we spent just about all of the season in the playoffs, and with 5 matches to go, we were in 3^rd with matches against the top 2 to come. However we lost both of those matches. In fact we lost 4 of our last 5 matches, (somehow we won the other one 6-0), so we’re the team with inertia.

 

Playoffs Leg 1

Spoiler

 

Ipswich 2 Folkestone 1

We were lucky just to lose by one goal. Ipswich could become our bogey side. We’ve now lost all 3 our matches against them this season. Our goal came late in the match, and gives us a bit of hope, but we’re going to have to play a lot better in the return leg. I just think it’s a bad match up for us tactically, and I’m not one to tinker with tactics.

I am making a few changes to the team though; 1 enforced through injury, but I’m dropping an on loan central defender and bringing in an on-loan central midfielder, Juninho,  who likes big matches and is a wizard at set pieces. He’s only scored 2 goals in over 30 matches for us the last 2 seasons on loan though, so I’m not exactly holding my breath.

 

 

Playoffs Leg 2

Spoiler

 

Folkestone 2 Ipswich 0

Swear to God, I wrote that last paragraph before the match.

In the 6^th minute, we get a direct free kick, and Juninho fires an absolute cracker in. 1-0 up.

11^th minute another free kick. Juninho floats it in, it’s headed back by the central defender I’ve brought in for my all time (Folkestone) MVP, Goodwin to smack the ball into the net. 2-0 up. The motion before the house is that I’m an absolute freaking genius.

22^nd minute, Goodwin has a gashed head. Do I take off my best player? The final (if we get there) is in 5 days time, and I have to do everything I can to have Goodwin there for that, (IWGT).

I bring on a defensive midfielder in his place.

That’s how the score stays. We’re going back to Wembley, (to play Watford, another team we’ve never beaten in 5 attempts), but thankfully Goodwin’s only going to be out for a couple of days.

 

 

 

Final (If applicable)

Spoiler

 

Folkestone 0 Watford 4

Well, that’s disappointing.

The reason they scored 4 is because I chased the game and went a man down due to a slight injury. The reason we didn’t score is because we were rubbish and didn’t create even one chance of consequence.

 

Post-Season Review

Spoiler

 

But getting to the playoff final in our first season is obviously great, and the money we received immediately afterwards, not just for the final, but for playing in the Championship generally, is transformational.

Mind you, we need the money, because we sold out our 7 thousand odd capacity most matches, and we can’t expand it.

So, the board have agreed to build a new (14k capacity) stadium, as well as improving the training and youth facilities. Because we had no spare money for the first 6 years, we’re going to be playing catch-up facilities wise for a few years yet.

 

Top Goalscorer – Will Goodwin - 39

 

Top Average Rating – Will Goodwin 7.41

 

Man of the Match – Goodwin - 7

 

MVP – Goodwin He’s been on loan with us the last couple of seasons, and once again he was the top scorer in the division. I have asked his parent club, Bournemouth how much they want for him, and it’s 8 mill, so that’s not going to happen for the moment, but I ensured during the season he’d be back for a third season, even though I now have to pay them a bit of money for him.

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final								

 

 

[Andrew Haines]

@vikeologist I don't buy the new FM until the patch in March. I found it frustrating buying it prior to this as I'd find myself starting a new game with every new patch and I like long term saves. Also I hate it when a new patch alters the dynamic of the game engine and a tactic I spent weeks working on no longer works effectively. Also there is usually a lack of skins for a few weeks.

I went to Merthyr earlier in the year to take a picture of the stadium. Horrible weather and as you say it's pretty grim. I live in the north and there's plenty of similar places around.

[Andrew Haines]

Merthyr Town

 

National League– 2019/20 – 1st

 

Overview

After last years surprise promotion, this years title win and second successive promotion was a massive surprise. As of early September my players demanded a meeting to express dissatisfaction with my performance. A poor start left us just above the relegation zone. Matters improved somewhat however and we quickly moved up the table. Form was good but we were still in the playoffs going into the run in. An unbeaten last eight games put us into contention and it was a straight head to head for the title with Stevenage. In the end we won the final three games which was enough to finish top.

We have some decent players who give us a good starting point. I have struggled to recruit in a number of roles however, particularly full back so this will have to be addressed.

Key Players

Mason Bennett – The ex-Derby County striker has some excellent physical attributes and scored 11 league goals.

Jermaine Hylton – In his second season with the club, Hylton score a prolific 31 league goals and added 15 assists.

 Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19         National North                  5th                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted
2019/20         National League                 1st                                             Champions, Promoted

 

[vikeologist]

@Andrew Haines Congrats on another promotion. Hylton's determination of 2 shows suggests that attribute isn't all-important for strikers. What's his personality? Your finances ok? You're still in line for straight promotions throughout the challenge. 

[Andrew Haines]

@vikeologist Hylton's personality is balanced. I think his position as an AF suited him. My tactic gives lots of chances to that player if they are quick. My finances are pretty decimated. The board has slashed my wage budget so I'm struggling to recruit. I'll probably be in midtable I expect. 

[Barnet]

Well, didn't quite manage it on FM17 (although I did get to Europe)  Off to FM18 to try again 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2026/7 End of Season (+Playoffs?) Report 

After losing in the playoff final in the last (and first in the Championship) season, I retained all my best players, including permanently signing a couple that had previously been with us on loan, and made a few additions which made me confident about this season. We could not fail.

But we have been awful all season. In the promotion race, but only because the teams around us have been equally awful. Our points total from last season (when we finished 4^th) would have been easily good enough to see us automatically promoted. Instead we spent the whole season in a oil slick of division wide mediocrity. With 5 matches to go the teams from 2^nd down to 5^th were all on the same number of points, with pretty much every other team in the division not far behind. But then we lost 3 matches in a row and dropped way out of the playoff places. A win in our penultimate match lifted us back up to 7^th, meaning that we needed a win (and help) in our final match of the season just to be in the playoffs again.

And predictably enough, we could even be automatically promoted.  All we need for automatic promotion is

1.    Leeds to lose

2.    Derby to lose

3.    Burnley to lose or draw (as long as they don’t draw something like 8-8)

4.    Millwall to lose or draw

5.    Wolves to lose or draw.

 

Doesn’t sound like much to ask does it.

But, on the other hand, because none of these teams are playing each other, we could very easily win and still not get into the playoffs.

Oh and hey, the 2 team below us are on the same points as us, so we also need to worry about one of them winning their match by more goals than us. And the teams in 10^th and 11^th could theoretically still make the playoffs.

So to sum up. If we win, we might finish 2^nd and be automatically promoted, or not even make the playoffs.

 

It doesn’t matter. We’re not going to win the match anyway, and a draw won’t even be enough to get us into the playoffs. This whole season has been STUPID!

Not that our last match is difficult. We’re away to Barnsley who sit 2 places above relegation, but on the same points as the 2 teams below them. Frankly this is just all cruel and unusual distress.

Final Match

Spoiler

 

Barnsley 1 Folkestone 3

The match itself was quite stressful. Both sides all out attacking, and me having to keep an eye on other results even when we established a 3-0 lead and locked up the win. In the end there was never a likelihood that we would move up to 2^nd, and we finished 5^th.

We’re into the playoffs. Again.

 

Playoffs Leg 1 (If Applicable)

Spoiler

 

Folkestone 3 Leeds 1

The whole match changed when one of their players was shown a straight red at the start of the second half. It was an even 1-1 match at that point, but with the extra man we were able to pick up a 2 goal advantage to take to the second leg.

 

Playoffs Leg 2 (If Applicable)

Spoiler

 

Leeds  8 Folkestone 1

I guess we made them angry. I decided to keep on playing the attacking football that had taken us this far, and….

 

 

Final (If applicable)

Spoiler

 

Post-Season Review

Spoiler

This was a massively disappointing season. I don’t know what’s wrong with the team.

Top Goalscorer – Will Goodwin / Fabrizio Partigianoni- 26 Goodwin was very disappointing. Coming from 34 and 29 goal seasons, I hoped that in his third season with us on loan he’d be even more productive. It may well be that my refusal to drop him is what actually cost us promotion. Fabrizio is actually one of our players, but spent a lot of the season on the sub’s bench while another loanee played alongside Goodwin.

 

Top Average Rating – Fabrizio P / Nathan Smith 7.17 Smith is a central defender, and was suspended for the whole of the playoffs. Obviously, I sort of wish I’d had him available for that second leg. Or that I hadn’t tried to hold on to the 2 goal lead by resting all my players and picking their waxwork doubles instead.

 

Man of the Match – Fabrizio P – 6

 

MVP – Fabrizio P

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.

 

[Andrew Haines]

Merthyr Town

 

League Two – 2020/21 – 1st

 

Overview

I completely forgot to post an update for last season. It wasn’t an exciting season. We finished 15^th and only showed flashes of promise. The team lacked quality with only Mason Bennet of real quality. This season was a different story. I had the three key attacking positions of strikers and left winger filled with class players. This helped to offset average players through the remainder of the team. In Mason Bennett and Jordan Blake-Cavener I had a prolific partnership that contributed 59 goals. On the left wing Ryan Hedge was excellent and added 12 goals himself. I struggled to recruit defenders and I was poor in the keeping department.

With this solid team together we dominated all season. If it weren’t for a collapse after promotion was assured we would probably have topped the 100 point mark. Five defeats from the last seven games saw our lead eroded.

Key Players

Mason Bennett – 28 league goals and 20 assists were an impressive return for the striker in his third season with Merthyr.

Jordan Blake-Cavener – One of a number of loan players to contribute to the team. The Leicester striker scored 31 goals.

 

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         National North                  5th                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted
2018/19         National League                 1st                                             Champions, Promoted
2019/20         League Two                      15th                                            
2020/21         League Two                      1st                                             Champions, Promoted

 

[Elrondsmith]

hi, im in for the challenge.

But i could only start on 1 of July. Maybe because of oficial update..

Here is my managers profile... Il try to write about club later and my progress, if have enough time.

I took Poole 

https://imgur.com/a/ABfcj

[vikeologist]

5 hours ago, Elrondsmith said:

hi, im in for the challenge.

But i could only start on 1 of July. Maybe because of oficial update..

Here is my managers profile... Il try to write about club later and my progress, if have enough time.

I took Poole 

https://imgur.com/a/ABfcj

You have to holiday for a year and manage a newly promoted club, (not Poole). Have a look at the start of the thread.

[Elrondsmith]

В 06.12.2017 в 01:45, vikeologist сказал:

You have to holiday for a year and manage a newly promoted club, (not Poole). Have a look at the start of the thread.

omg ) full year ? ))) i misunderstood description ( and started already ((( I checked that Poole also was promoted to league.. maybe you cant count my try?  i played only 2 oficiall matches. but spent prety mutch time on this club ) u know first few days with new club are tough ) If u can count my try. il continue, if no i will think about new try. but dont want much for now

If I make some leagues only watch.... Can I scout players from those leagues? Or I need to make them for available for play to scout there?

I hink il start new game and make it like it should be.. skip a year

[Swindon69]

Well this was a turn up for the books - probably my single best result so far. Just realised I've knocked out the Cup holders.

Oh an my "Reward" for beating Arsenal in the 4th round is Man. City away in the 5th.

[Swindon69]

congrats @Andrew Haines on your promotion.

[Elrondsmith]

Now I started properly

I took Dulwich Hamlet

https://imgur.com/a/lg7Qz

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2027/8 End of Season Report 

I didn’t understand what had gone wrong the previous season. We should have been good enough for promotion, but instead were mediocre, eventually going out in the playoff semi-final after losing 8-1 in the second leg.

Nonetheless, I largely kept faith with the team, and this time (after a dreadful first 2 matches) it was never in doubt. We were promoted with 7 matches to go, and frankly because it was so easy, the season was a bit boring and anti-climactic.

Still, having it in the bag so early meant that I was able to drop most of the on-loan players and just use my own guys.

We reached the EFL Trophy quarter final and were unlucky to lose on penalties to Man Utd after they scored an equaliser in extra time injury time.

Of course now all the players want new contracts, and boy, have their demands gone up now we’re going to be in the Premier League. Luckily almost nobody’s contract runs out next season, due to my thinking ahead. We’ve been spending too much as it is, so I’m wary of doubling and tripling players’ wages until I see just how much money rains down upon us in the top division.

The Premier league has a 12.5k minimum stadium capacity (plus undersoil heating). This meant that the plans for a new ground were accelerated, and we’ll have a new stadium in a year. Only 15k capacity, but it will have to do.

This means that for our first season in the top division, we’ll be playing in London, at Millwall’s ground. In real life this would be a disaster, with our fans having to drive for 2 hours or take a 3 hour + train trip, but we’ll see what happens in the game.

I have a 20 million transfer kitty, and I was tempted to spend almost all of it on (an admittedly quite good) central defender, but given that we are in the red, and have just taken on a huge loan to build the new ground, I’m quite reluctant to splash the cash that we don’t (yet) have.

Top Goalscorer – Fabrizio Partigianoni- 42 He’d been joint top scorer the previous season despite playing far fewer matches than my supposed star striker Will Goodwin (who I signed permanently at the start of the season after 99 goals in his 3 seasons on loan). This year Fabrizio was a permanent fixture, and delivered the goals.

 

Top Average Rating – Stuart Roden 7.55 My left back was on the sub’s bench for most of the season, as an on loan player was doing well. Once it became clear that we were going to be promoted though (which was roughly half way through the season), I dropped the loanees and Roden had a very good second half of the season. Over the summer Roden became (I think) our first ever current England international.

 

Man of the Match – Fabrizio P – 11

 

MVP – Fabrizio P

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.

 

[TheEarl]

Sorry not been in this thread for a long time. Happy to see some is still playing this on FM17. Updated the leaderboards!

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2028/9 End of Season Report 

Our first season in the top division, and for the first time a fairly boring and uneventful season. We started badly, but soon managed to find our way to mid-table and 10 points about the relegation places. We had a dreadful end to the season, failing win any of our last 9 matches, and only avoided relegation completely with one match to go, but 40 points was enough.

Good news, we played to packed out home crowds of 20k in London. Bad news, our new stadium opens at the start of next season with a capacity of only 15k. We’ll lose a lot of our loan players and will have to grow our own. Next season might be another battle, but at least we made some money to spend on new signings, if I can find any I like. The step up to competing for European places seems like it will be difficult.

Goals – Fabrizio Patigianoni - 24  Fabrizio continued to produce the goods in the top division. I’m not sure he’s good enough to be a long term option, but his place is secure as long as he continues scoring.

Average Rating – Yasser Ben Sassi – 7.19. I signed this very promising young striker last season, and was paying him a lot of money, so once we were in mid-table and Fabrizio’s strike partners weren’t scoring many, I threw the sassy one into the team, and he did very well, and is developing into a good player. He scored 11 goals in 12 starts, and did much better than Fabrizio, so let’s hope he can continue to develop. I can’t take it for granted.

I think having bad training facilities has really stopped players from developing, especially if they’re not playing. I’m improving the facilities as fast as I can. I probably need to cut a lot of players loose. Our squad is far too big.

Man of Match – Fabrizio – 7

MVP – Fabrizio

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2029/30 End of Season Report 

 

Looks like it's just me now. @Andrew Haines Have you given up?

Another really frustrating season, (never in any danger of relegation or a top 7 place), but honestly probably the most frustrating I’ve ever had in Football Manager because of one match.

Despite under-performing all season, we reached the FA Cup semi-final. If we reached the final we would probably face league champions Man Utd, the prohibitive favourites to win the other tie; which they did. Therefore I knew a win would probably take us into Europe for the first time.

We were playing a Championship side. For the sake of not offending anybody, let’s just call them Scum Utd. I hate this club, and particularly their fans.

We were 1-0 up having dominated the match but not taken our chances, until in the last 5 minutes of the match we conceded two goals and lost.

I can’t describe how angry and disgusted I was. I went out to the shops and bought a cat, just so I could kick it. Don’t worry. It was a huge 3 foot tall soft toy cat. I had to kick it myself. My strikers would have missed.

For the next week the only thing I said to my players was a four letter word. (Actually 5 letters since I was using the plural form).

The season had so many little disasters. I bought a striker in (admittedly on a free transfer, but on a big salary) who scored 1 goal in 16 league matches.

I spent a huge amount plus sky-high salary on a central midfielder. In theory he’s by far the best player at the club, but ended up with an average rating of just 7.04. To be fair, I think that’s mostly because he’s not that great at scoring, which isn’t really his job.

But I didn’t need a central midfielder. I needed a central defender and when one good enough finally became available at mid-season, I couldn’t afford the 15 million or so he would have cost.

Instead I was stuck with the same defender that’s been with us on loan from Man Utd for three seasons. He’s a huge monster of a man, and looks like a statue of a Greek God. Unfortunately he plays like a statue as well.

 

I still haven’t got over that FA Cup Final. It will haunt me for a long time in the same way that I am haunted by losing in the Confederations Cup final to a team I’d just thrashed in the group stage and my Mexico side losing to Jamaica, (JAMAICA!) on penalties in the Gold Cup. And those matches were in FM15.

 

Top Goalscorer – Fabrizio Noni  - 25 He’s nearly the club’s record goal scorer now with 117 all-purpose goals in 4 seasons, but he’s in danger of losing his place to a young Australian striker, Denis Martin-Millar, I signed mid-season

Average Rating – Noni / Yasser Ben Sassi – 7.17. These 2 guys are my strike partnership. Ben Sassi has by far the higher ability rating (3.5 stars to 2.5) and potential, but Noni does score a lot more often. The Australian kid, Martin-Millar’s going to start from now on. He’s far better than both of them and only 18 years old. He could well be a 1,000 goal scorer for the club if I ran him into the ground and played him every minute of every match, but he’s already a full international so I’m going to have to be careful with him. I’m sort of hoping Australia go out of the upcoming World Cup quickly. Because I’m lazy, I’m probably going to call him Denis M&M from now on.

Man of the Match – Noni / Ben Sassi – 4.

MVP – It would be me, for signing M&M, but it's not because I didn't learn from the past and played Tyson 'Statue' Shezi instead of buying a replacement.

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.
29/30	Premier League				14th		Lost FA Cup semi-final against Championship scum who therefore qualified for Europe instead of us.

 

[Andrew Haines]

@vikeologist Still going.. I almost gave up over Christmas but got back into it a few days ago. I haven't posted for a few seasons, mainly because my heart wasn't really in it at the time. I got stuck in a rut in League One.

I'll post an update at the end of the season. I've started enjoying it again so am going to press on.

[jsar]

finding the Championship a real struggle. 2nd season and finished 20th!  Thats Season 26/27. I guess onto 3rd season in the Championship hopefully this one can be a bit better!

 

[Lenzar]

@vikeologist you don't get the Europa League for losing in the FA Cup final anymore.

Does that ease the pain at all?

[vikeologist]

14 minutes ago, Lenzar said:

@vikeologist you don't get the Europa League for losing in the FA Cup final anymore.

Does that ease the pain at all?

I was delighted when I saw that the other team wasn't in Europe, and didn't get promoted either. I would have been gutted if I'd thought incorrectly that I'd got into Europe.

 

[Andrew Haines]

Merthyr Town

 

League One – 2025/26 – 2nd

 

Overview

Since my last update five seasons have passed. I was stuck in League One and on the verge of giving up and having a break until I get FM18 in March. I was demotivated to post updates. My attention was recaptured with a few good signings and I am back enjoying the game and out of League One finally. Not much has been missed in the intervening period. I made the playoffs three times and got hammered in the semi final every time. Form was inconsistent and I lacked standout players. This was part of the reason I was losing interest.

This season I made a number of key signings that really lifted the standard. At the back Steve Cook and Scott Perryman came in. This finally gave me a solid defence that had been lacking previously. Upfront, Mike Thomas signed and went on to score 39 goals. In honesty Thomas was a signing from desperation as I sold previous star striker Gregory Lashley to Sheff Utd for 1 million and found replacing him a massive struggle. Thomas was a revelation however and score 39 goals. I had a bit of history with him. He was a target four years ago when Chelsea released him as a 19 year old. He also had a spell on loan last season but rarely played. The only area of concern was central midfield which lacked steel. I brought in Andy Piriz Alvez on loan from Tottenham midseason and he helped address this.

We never really looked like pushing Champions Preston too hard, our main competition was the fight for second which we won. A run of seven defeats in November threatened to de-rail the season but this was followed by six wins in December which offset matters. In 2026 we only lost one game and always stayed ahead of the pack.

Hopefully promotion will mean funds to strengthen. The team is decent so hopefully we can stay away from relegation while we consolidate in the Championship.

Key Players

• GK – Alan Ayling – A 180k signing from Coventry mid-last season. Requested a transfer amidst interest from Sheffield United in January.
•  RB – James Wilton – Scottish left back picked up on a free following his release from Swansea.
• CB – Steve Cook – Wages of 5k p/w were an extravagance when acquired on a free from Cardiff but his performances matched it.
• CB –Peter Bates – Signed on a free from Chelsea, Bates was a competent presence in defense.
• LB – Scott Perryman – Left back picked up on a free from Wolves. Played okay and rounded out a strong defence.
• RW –Robert Taylor – Costing 110k from Fulham two season ago Taylor has improved above expectations to become one of the best players in the squad.
• CM –Andy Piriz Alves – Uruguayan midfielder signed on loan from Tottenham. Added bite in the midfield.
• CM - Liam Walsh – Once of Everton, Walsh arrived on a free from Derby where he had played a considerable number of Championship games.
• LW – Jack Matranga – 21 year old winger who signed from Man City two seasons ago. On of the stars of the side, scored 18 goals and assisted 18.
•  AF – Mike Thomas – 39 goal top scorer Thomas almost signed when released by Chelsea as a 19 year old. Came on loan last season and on a free this.
• DLF – Luke Hughes – Signed from Tottenham two years ago Hughes’ 19 goals from Tottenham was impressive from the deep lying forward position.

 

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         National North                  5th                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted
2018/19         National League                 1st                                             Champions, Promoted
2019/20         League Two                      15th                                            
2020/21         League Two                      1st                                             Champions, Promoted
2021/22         League One                      10th                                             
2022/23         League One                      6th                                             PlayOff Semi-Finalists
2023/24         League One                      6th                                             PlayOff Semi-Finalists
2024/25         League One                      4th                                             PlayOff Semi-Finalists
2025/26         League One                      2nd                                             Promoted

[vikeologist]

@Andrew Haines Congrats on promotion. Mid-table season after season is a problem for motivation in this kind of challenge.  My first 10 seasons were all 'interesting' and it's been frustrating having a couple of mid-table (lower-table if I'm being honest) finishes in my first couple of season in the Premier League. Hopefully things will kick into gear for you now, and you'll finish the challenge before you get FM18 in March, or maybe like me, play FM18 and almost immediately go back to FM17. (Of course by March FM18 may be a better game).

[Andrew Haines]

@vikeologist I find the biggest battle in a long term challenge is maintaining interest. I've never completed a dafuge challenge because I tend to lose interest once I have established a club in the top end of the premiership but before I win the Champions League. Really going to try and do it this time. I've definately got the interest back so hopefully this time.

I always found it frustrating buying FM before the final patch. Not really about bugs, I can live with that. I just found it annoying when new patches came out and I'd have to re-work my tactics. Also lack of skins and the like. I've stuck to buying in March now for three versions and it's much more satisfying.

[Andrew Haines]

Merthyr Town

 

Championship – 2026/27 – 15th

 

Overview

I was hoping to be able to bring in a decent number of players and really strengthen the team for our first Championship campaign. To assist I offloaded three of the weaker first team players for around the half million mark. I expected to replace with stronger players but the stronger players were not available. The best I could do was to put the youngsters I had signed from biggers clubs immediately in the first team rather than as competent squad players. Ryan Roberts, Andy Gill and Josh Collins were pushed straight into first team action. None were as good as the players they replaced but had plenty of promise.

With the lack of squad strengthening it was obvious that the season would be a struggle. We started badly and were rock bottom until late October. We then had an unbeaten run of eight games which lifted us out of the relegation zone. Form then blipped in December but recovered in the New Year. By March we were safely clear of relegation in lower mid-table which is where we ended, 14 points clear of relegation.

By the end of the season, the young players who had been blooded in the first team had all developed significantly to the extent where they were some of the strongest players at the club. Hopefully this bodes well for next season.

Key Players

• GK – Alan Ayling – A reasonable season for the ex-Coventry man.
• RB – James Wilton – The Scottish right back had a decent second season at the club.
• CB – Steve Cook – Club captain Cook performed well and is a regular in the Welsh national team.
• CB –Ryan Roberts – A free transfer from Tottenham, youngster Roberts developed quickly and looks like a real prospect.
• LB – Scott Perryman – The ex-Wolves left back is still one of the clubs strongest players but had a poor season.
• RW –Robert Taylor – Taylor’s fourth season at the club was another good one.
• CM –Andy Gill – Youngster Gill signed from Man City and went straight into the first team.
• CM – Adam Rogers – Rogers was an extravagant 1 million signing from Hibernian. Looks to be a real prospect.
• LW – Jack Matranga – Another good season for the ex-Man City winger in his third season with the club.
• AF – Mike Thomas – 31 goals was a good return for Thomas in his first Championship season.
• DLF – Josh Collins – Young forward who joined from Southampton on a free as one for the future, ended up as first choice.

 

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         National North                  5th                                             Play-off Winners, Promoted
2018/19         National League                 1st                                             Champions, Promoted
2019/20         League Two                      15th                                            
2020/21         League Two                      1st                                             Champions, Promoted
2021/22         League One                      10th                                             
2022/23         League One                      6th                                             PlayOff Semi-Finalists
2023/24         League One                      6th                                             PlayOff Semi-Finalists
2024/25         League One                      4th                                             PlayOff Semi-Finalists
2025/26         League One                      2nd                                             Promoted
2026/27         Championship                    15th                                   

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2030/31 End of Season Report 

 

After 2 frustrating seasons, things finally kicked into gear this year. We were near the top of the table all season, with aa good chance of qualifying for the Champions League, but equally facing the possibility of dropping out of the top 6 or 7 and not qualifying for Europe at all.

As the season came to its close, the top 7 had pulled away and went into our final match in 6^th with a good chance of moving up a couple of places. Basically we were about 99% certain of European football next season. The only thing that could go wrong was finishing in 7^th, and a Championship side, Crystal Palace, winning the FA Cup final.

After conceding a late equaliser, finish in 7^th we did. This is where I was glad that I had the bitter experience of losing to Scum Utd in the FA Cup semi-final and thinking they’d qualified for Europe by dint of being cup final losers.

Still, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach as I got ready to watch Tottenham (league runners-up) face Palace. Then the match got under way and Spurs won easily.

We’re in Europe, baby! Of course, having no coefficient, we will doubtless get a really tough draw and not make it to the group stage, but it’s still a big landmark for the club.

Top Goalscorer – Denis M&M / Yasser Ben Sassi  - 22. My strike partnership may have scored a lot more goals for us if they hadn’t disappeared in the middle of the season to play in the Asian and African Cups respectively. At least that allowed Fabrizio Noni to become the club’s record goalscorer. In fact he scored more goals per minute than the 2 starters, but they have a much hiher ratings and potential. As mentioned, I hope that M&M will be a contender for the 1,000 goal challenge, which would make me continue the save even once I’ve finished the challenge. Thankfully the Asian Cup is only every 4 years, though that’s far from the only competition I lose him for. Of course M&M only has 29 goals so far, so I am getting a little ahead of myself, but this was his first full(-ish) season, and from now on we should be playing a lot more matches.

Average Rating – M&M – 7.37  

Man of the Match – M&M / Noni – 5. Noni is the more deserving here, as he only started 10 matches.

MVP – I’m going to say Noni, now the record goalscorer, for stepping in during the international call-ups and proving the folly of all available judging current ability reports by still banging the goals in whenever he got a chance. Of course it’s tempting to start him despite his palfrey 2.5 star rating, but my 2 starters do get the job done as well.

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.
29/30	Premier League				14th		Lost FA Cup semi-final against Championship scum. 
30/31	Premier League				7th		Qualified for Europe thanks to a Championship side losing FA Cup final for second season in a row.

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2031/32 End of Season Report 

I had 2 aims for the season. Firstly to qualify for the Champions League. Got to be in it to win it. Secondly though, I wanted to actually win something. We haven’t actually won a cup since the FA Trophy 11 seasons ago. I thought we’d won the EFL Trophy, but checking now, we never even came close. Mama’s trophy cabinet needs filling.

Win something we did, the League Cup, and then also, and remarkably easily, the Europa League beating Benfica 5-1 in the final, after aggregate scores of 8-2,4-0,12-5 and 5-1 in the knockout rounds.

In the league, we never really challenged for the title, but were pretty much always comfortably in the top 4. We almost threw away our 3^rd place finish in the last match of the season, when I put on some subs to give them match practice for the imminent Europa league final, but thankfully a draw between the clubs in 2^nd and 4^th place saved us. Not that it would have mattered in the end because we won the Europa League.

It’s worth mentioning that we’re no longer really a small club now that we have a 30k stadium, (which we always sell out) and pretty good facilities, although of course it’s still hard to compete with the really big boys for players. Also, not surprisingly, we’re not broke.

Top Goalscorer – Denis Martin Millar -55

Average Rating – M&M – 7.57  

Man of the Match – M&M - 9.

MVP – M&M

A clean sweep. I was a bit disappointed to realise that he’s never going to get to 1,000 goals for me, as he’d have to play for about another 20 seasons, although you never know. He may well get to 1,000 goals if you include international goals, where he scored 15 in 7 appearances for Australia. He did want to leave at the start of the season, but obviously the whole squad is a lot happier now we’re in the Champions League, we’re winning stuff, and I gave the key players big pay rises to tie them up for a few seasons to come. M&M does have a £71 million release clause, but hopefully nobody will stump that up; (not least because half of that would go to his previous club).

He only scored 28 league goals, so he may not ever match this season’s tally because he won’t be thrashing sides in the Europa League (hopefully) and League Cup (which I probably won’t play him in). The poor kid has played 62 matches this season.

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.
29/30	Premier League				14th		Lost FA Cup semi-final against Championship scum. 
30/31	Premier League				7th		Qualified for Europe thanks to a Championship side losing FA Cup final for second season in a row.
31/32	Premier League				3rd		League Cup and Europa League winners.

Of course, I'm now potentially just 1 season away from completing the challenge. That would be nice, but I doubt it will be that easy. However we were far better the second half of the season, and we should be even better next season.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2032/33 End of Season Report 

After winning 2 trophies last season, this one was a bit of a disappointment. We were in a 2-horse race with Tottenham for the title, but the only times we were actually top of the table were when they had games in hand. 2^nd is our best finishing position, but we only actually secured 1 more league point than last season.

We might have succeeded, but with 2 months to go, and just before meeting Juventus in the Champions League Quarter-final, we lost 2 players to season ending injuries. One of them was our MVP Denis Martin-Millar, and the other was our 2^nd best central defender, Miguel Angel Obregón. The problem wasn’t that Miguel is a great player. The problem was our 3^{rd to}5^th best central defenders, and this was harshly shown up in the subsequent 7-6 aggregate defeat to Juve.

We don’t have a lot of depth in the squad, because I thought that we were going to fail domestic FFP because our wage bill has sky rocketed in the last year, chiefly in order to keep our first team players happy to stay at the club. In the end, we didn’t fail FFP, because our allowed wage shot up at the end of the season. I don’t understand FFP at all.

At least now we have lots of money; over 100 million, but the player I’d most like to sign is a central defender from Chelsea, who my scouts believe would cost between 100-140 million, so everything’s relative.

Even if we didn’t complete the challenge this season, we didn’t do anything to halt our progress. We’re in the Champions League again. We are richer. Our facilities are getting better. Our best players are happy to stay, although that often changes during the summer months. Most importantly, I’m still enjoying the challenge. In fact I’ll probably be a bit sad when it comes to an end.

Top Goalscorer – Denis Martin-Millar -29

Average Rating – M&M – 7.52  

Man of the Match – M&M - 9.

MVP – M&M

His tally of goals was almost halved, because of the injury, but also because he didn’t get to go to town on clubs in the League Cup and Europa League. Just hope his broken ankle doesn’t have any long-term detrimental effects.

Despite having 3 years left on his contract, I offered a new one to M&M to get rid of his 71 million release clause, which I think someone would have stumped up before long. M&M is now on about 140k a week, which is still a bargain.

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.
29/30	Premier League				14th		Lost FA Cup semi-final against Championship scum. 
30/31	Premier League				7th		Qualified for Europe thanks to a Championship side losing FA Cup final for second season in a row.
31/32	Premier League				3rd		League Cup and Europa League winners.
32/33	Premier League				2nd		Champions League Q/F

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2033/34 End of Season Report  that nobody is reading

Even though we won both domestic cups, this was a disaster of a season. We crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage, and didn’t qualify for next season’s version. We almost rescued ourselves in the last match of the season. We were 2-0 up, and that would have earned us a 4^th place, but ended up losing 3-2. If only I’d just gone ultra-defensive, which is exactly what I did a week later once we were 2-0 up in the FA Cup final.

I’d promised 2 of my players, including M&M, that they could leave if we didn’t qualify for the Champions League. Between you and me, I had no intention of honouring that promise, but luckily they’ve both given me another season to right the ship.

So where did it go wrong? At the start of the season I sold my left wing back for £25 million. He was 32 years old, and earning nearly 200k a week with 2 years left on his contract, I knew that selling him was going to seriously dent my chances of winning the Champions League this season, but it just seemed too good a piece of business long-term. I bought a young wonderkid replacement who was fine, and I also bought a new striker for 45 million, who was also fine, but ended up on the sub’s bench by the end of the season because my existing strike partnership of M&M and Ben-Sassi just complement each other so well. Ben-Sassi obviously didn’t play as much, but had his best season ever when he got the chance. And M&M, well as you will see below, he was transcendent.

If I’d spent that 45 million on a central defender, everything might have been different, but there were no central defenders good enough cheap enough, (and still aren't). I’ve also replaced my goalkeeper with a new wonderkid arriving in the summer.

So, this is definitely a setback, but at least we could still win the league next season, and that’s not out of the question.

 

Top Goalscorer – Denis Martin-Millar -63

Average Rating – M&M – 7.84  

Man of the Match – M&M - 18

MVP – M&M

A clean sweep for the third season in a row, but, oh boy, he had a season. He was injured for some of the season, and didn’t always play in cup matches, so those 63 goals came in just 52 matches. Hopefully he’ll be even better next season, but obviously every big team in the world is after him, and I keep getting reports of teams getting ready to bid 60million or so for him. As I’d have to pay half of that fee to his previous club, there’s really no chance of my doing that, but if he has his head turned, his performance may dip. Also, I’ve just realised, next season will be the Asian Cup, so I’ll lose him for a month then, and also his partner in the African Cup, so maybe the 45 million I spent on the other striker won’t be going completely to waste.

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.
29/30	Premier League				14th		Lost FA Cup semi-final against Championship scum. 
30/31	Premier League				7th		Qualified for Europe thanks to a Championship side losing FA Cup final for second season in a row.
31/32	Premier League				3rd		League Cup and Europa League winners.
32/33	Premier League				2nd		Champions League Q/F
33/34	Premier League				6th		FA and League Cup Double 

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2034/35Halfway There End of Season Report  that nobody is reading

Halfway there.

We finally won the league. We were 8 points clear when, like 4 years ago, we lost our 2 strikers for a month and a half because of the Asian and African Cups. Of course I knew this would happen, and that’s one reason I paid 45 million for a third striker in summer 2033, but he picked up an injury at the same time, and after my strikers returned, suitably jaded for a crunch match against our closest rivals Man City which we lost, our lead was down to one point.

Anyway, one of those strikers is superstar Denis Martin-Millar, our MVP for at least the last 5 seasons, and one of the 3 best players in the world, if not the best, so not really replaceable.

For a while our top of the table status was a bit wobbly, and it seemed that whoever did win the league was going to do it with a record low number of points. I’d suggest that this is because there are a lot of very good teams , rather than none, but it didn’t look impressive. In the final few matches though, we pulled clear and won the league with 2 matches to spare, ending up with a respectable 80 points.

We also won the Europa League, lost in the FA Cup final, and reached the League Cup semi-final with our reserve team. A bit gutting that we weren’t in the Champions League, as I may have been able to wrap up the challenge this season otherwise.

Top Goalscorer – Denis Martin-Millar -48

Average Rating – M&M – 7.89  

Man of the Match – M&M - 10

MVP – M&M

A 4^th clean sweep in a row. M&M’s 48 goals came in just 41 matches, as apart from his mid-season Asian Cup absence, he played few cup games of any kind. I gave up on him reaching 1,000 goals for me, as that’s never going to happen with 38 match league seasons, and I try to keep him as fresh and safe from injury as possible. He’s on 224 goals (for me) in four and a half seasons, and he’s 23. I wonder how many goals he’d have scored if he’d been able to play in all 65 matches, especially given our margins of victory without him. He’s signed a new deal for the next 5 seasons. There’s no chance of my selling him, because his previous club would get 50%. It’s probably Melbourne City planting all these transfer stories in the press, pining for the franchise changing money that will never come. Maybe I’ll sell him when he’s about 40, just so I can give Melbourne the cheque for half of whatever he’s worth at that point.

Of course, hopefully I’ll win the Champions League in the next 17 seasons before we get to that stage.

 

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.
29/30	Premier League				14th		Lost FA Cup semi-final against Championship scum. 
30/31	Premier League				7th		Qualified for Europe thanks to a Championship side losing FA Cup final for second season in a row.
31/32	Premier League				3rd		League Cup and Europa League winners.
32/33	Premier League				2nd		Champions League Q/F
33/34	Premier League				6th		FA and League Cup Double 
34/35	Premier League				1st		Domestic and Europa League double. Lost FA Cup final.

 

[vikeologist]

Oh no! We're in the Champions League Final. Admittedly we haven't played the second leg of the semi-final yet, but we beat Dortmund by five chickens to zero in the first leg in Germany. They must have been chickens because I'm counting them.

This is terrible. If I complete the challenge, I will feel compelled to give FM18 another try. The mere idea makes my heart sink with despair.

I just don't want this to be over. Being realistic, I knew it would have to end one day, but I don't want it to be taken away from me. 

Wish me luck; or bad luck. I'm so conflicted.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2035/6 Season and Challenge Completion Report  

Our final 3 matches of the season were going to be the final league match, then the FA Cup Final (or third in a row) and then the big one, the Champions League Final.

We went into the final league match 1 point ahead of Man Utd.  We’d basically been top of the table all season, apart from briefly in the final weeks of the season when Utd had played a match more than us, but our lead had gradually shrunk. We drew the match, Utd won, and we’d failed to retain the league at the last moment. Not that it really mattered.

Then the FA Cup Final. We won 2 years ago,, lost in the final a year ago, but this time, we won fairly easily. Not that it mattered.

The only thing that mattered was the Champions League, against Man City, at Old Trafford. Despite my last post, when it came down to it, I very much wanted to win this thing.

I wasn’t made any calmer by our superstar, Denis Martin-Millar, picking up an injury on the eve of the final. Of course we’re not a one-man team anymore, but there is a reason why M&M is my favourite FM player ever, and he has taken on almost Godlike powers in my mind.

So, to the final. We went 1-0 down, and then scored twice to go into the lead; and that was all in the first 5 minutes. This wasn’t going to be a cagy defensive battle. 3-1, 3-2, then 4-2 with half an hour to go. I went ultra defensive, but within a minute Man City has pulled a goal back. However we managed to hold on to the remaining one goal lead for the remainder and the title was ours; and with it of course the completion of the challenge.

Top Goalscorer – Denis Martin-Millar -36

Average Rating – M&M – 7.55  

Man of the Match – Rumyantsev- 9

MVP – M&M

This wasn’t M&M’s most dominant season, though once again, he barely played in the domestic cups. In fact Rumyantsev finished just 1 goal behind with 35 and was top scorer in the league. However, although they’re both world class strikers, M&M was and is just better, especially in the Champions League where it really counted. He’s 24 and on 260 goals now, so very unlikely to get to 1,000, even if I continued.

So, I think this may have been my favourite FM save ever, and I’m a bit sad it’s over.

Maybe it isn’t over. I might come back to it if it turns out I still hate FM18 as much as before. I’d have probably achieved the challenge much sooner if I hadn’t rushed through a season immediately before the release of the FM18 beta, and managed to get relegated. Immediately after winning the Champions League we had a board takeover completed (glory-hunters), and because we haven’t been able to increase or salaries very much, because of FFP, we are what one could only call extremely financially comfortable.

Funny story about the salaries. I noticed at the start of the season that suddenly we were going to fail FFP. Investigation showed that I had accidentally offered a hot prospect, and our third best right back, a 215k a week wage. He agreed to it straight away, so I didn’t spot my mistake until weeks later. I ended up shipping him out on loan (for his full salary) to Crystal Palace, where he swallowed up 10% of their salary despite not playing much. Better them than me. He would have accounted for 9% of ours.

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.
29/30	Premier League				14th		Lost FA Cup semi-final against Championship scum. 
30/31	Premier League				7th		Qualified for Europe thanks to a Championship side losing FA Cup final for second season in a row.
31/32	Premier League				3rd		League Cup and Europa League winners.
32/33	Premier League				2nd		Champions League Q/F
33/34	Premier League				6th		FA and League Cup Double 
34/35	Premier League				1st		Domestic and Europa League double. Lost FA Cup final.
35/36	Premier League				2nd		Champions league and FA Cup double. Lost league on final day of the season.

 

[Ispoa]

On 3/10/2018 at 05:09, vikeologist said:

Vikeologist's Folkestone Invicta 2035/6 Season and Challenge Completion Report  

Our final 3 matches of the season were going to be the final league match, then the FA Cup Final (or third in a row) and then the big one, the Champions League Final.

We went into the final league match 1 point ahead of Man Utd.  We’d basically been top of the table all season, apart from briefly in the final weeks of the season when Utd had played a match more than us, but our lead had gradually shrunk. We drew the match, Utd won, and we’d failed to retain the league at the last moment. Not that it really mattered.

Then the FA Cup Final. We won 2 years ago,, lost in the final a year ago, but this time, we won fairly easily. Not that it mattered.

The only thing that mattered was the Champions League, against Man City, at Old Trafford. Despite my last post, when it came down to it, I very much wanted to win this thing.

I wasn’t made any calmer by our superstar, Denis Martin-Millar, picking up an injury on the eve of the final. Of course we’re not a one-man team anymore, but there is a reason why M&M is my favourite FM player ever, and he has taken on almost Godlike powers in my mind.

So, to the final. We went 1-0 down, and then scored twice to go into the lead; and that was all in the first 5 minutes. This wasn’t going to be a cagy defensive battle. 3-1, 3-2, then 4-2 with half an hour to go. I went ultra defensive, but within a minute Man City has pulled a goal back. However we managed to hold on to the remaining one goal lead for the remainder and the title was ours; and with it of course the completion of the challenge.

Top Goalscorer – Denis Martin-Millar -36

Average Rating – M&M – 7.55  

Man of the Match – Rumyantsev- 9

MVP – M&M

This wasn’t M&M’s most dominant season, though once again, he barely played in the domestic cups. In fact Rumyantsev finished just 1 goal behind with 35 and was top scorer in the league. However, although they’re both world class strikers, M&M was and is just better, especially in the Champions League where it really counted. He’s 24 and on 260 goals now, so very unlikely to get to 1,000, even if I continued.

So, I think this may have been my favourite FM save ever, and I’m a bit sad it’s over.

Maybe it isn’t over. I might come back to it if it turns out I still hate FM18 as much as before. I’d have probably achieved the challenge much sooner if I hadn’t rushed through a season immediately before the release of the FM18 beta, and managed to get relegated. Immediately after winning the Champions League we had a board takeover completed (glory-hunters), and because we haven’t been able to increase or salaries very much, because of FFP, we are what one could only call extremely financially comfortable.

Funny story about the salaries. I noticed at the start of the season that suddenly we were going to fail FFP. Investigation showed that I had accidentally offered a hot prospect, and our third best right back, a 215k a week wage. He agreed to it straight away, so I didn’t spot my mistake until weeks later. I ended up shipping him out on loan (for his full salary) to Crystal Palace, where he swallowed up 10% of their salary despite not playing much. Better them than me. He would have accounted for 9% of ours.

Season	Division				Position	Notes										
18/19	VNL South				1st		Promoted on last day of the season after opposition missed a 90th minute penalty 
19/20	VNL National				3rd		Lost in playoff final. 	
20/21	VNL National				1st		League / FA Trophy double
21/22	League 2				7th		Promoted via playoffs after losing last 5 matches of season and falling from 1st to 7th.
22/23	League 1				21st		Relegated. My worst injury crisis by far in about 20 years of playing FM/CM. 	
23/24	League 2				1st		Fairly smooth ride to division championship.
24/25	League 1				1st		Late season spurt and secured the title in last match against Millwall who'd been top all season.
25/26	Championship				4th		Lost in playoff final	
26/27	Championship				5th		Massive decline in performance ending in our worst ever result, losing 1-8 in playoff semi-final 2nd leg.
27/28	Championship				1st		Promoted early and decisively.
28/29	Premier League				13th		Survied relatively easily despite late season slump.
29/30	Premier League				14th		Lost FA Cup semi-final against Championship scum. 
30/31	Premier League				7th		Qualified for Europe thanks to a Championship side losing FA Cup final for second season in a row.
31/32	Premier League				3rd		League Cup and Europa League winners.
32/33	Premier League				2nd		Champions League Q/F
33/34	Premier League				6th		FA and League Cup Double 
34/35	Premier League				1st		Domestic and Europa League double. Lost FA Cup final.
35/36	Premier League				2nd		Champions league and FA Cup double. Lost league on final day of the season.

 

Cheers, I'm in an fm 17 long term save. Took over Girona when they gained promotion, finished 4th the past two years, having a terrible season at the moment though. Encouraging story

[fcunitedfan]

Somehow managed to post in the wrong years challenge thread! 🤣