dafuge's FM17 challenge

Tecmo · July 8, 2017

Slough Town FC - 2026-2027

Crazy year and we definitely didn't do it the easy way but...Promotion!

We got off to a slow start as our offense sputtered with our best striker hurt. We sat in 17th after 7 games, but then things clicked and we climbed all the way to 2nd after 18 games. Another slump when my midfield got decimated by injuries dropped us to 8th but then 5 straight wins pushed us all the way to 2nd again. And then another slump with a 7 game winless streak dropped us all the way to 7th going into the final game of the season. We needed a win along with a loss and a draw from the teams ahead of us to reach the playoffs. We responded with our best game of the season, crushing Bath 5-1 while Woking and Billericay both lost away from home, sneaking us in on goal difference.

We got Hampton & Richmond in the first round, and a scoreless home draw sent us on the road for the second leg. There my defense came up huge with 2 goals off corners to give us a 2-1 victory to advance.

The final was played at Eastbourne Boro and, after a slow start and a fumbled goal allowed by my goalkeeper, we ratcheted up the pressure and took over the game, equalizing at the 60th minute and then taking the lead in extra time for a 2-1 win and promotion!

Cups

Cups didn't go terribly well. We won our first FA match at home against Enfield Town 1-0, then lost a tough draw at Dorchester 0-2. In the FA Trophy we got past Dover once again and beat up on Waltham Abbey 4-1 before getting crushed at Chester from the VNL 1-3.

Key Players

Left fullback Daniel Martin was our player of the year for the 5th year in a row (the fans are very biased towards him). He scored 3 goals and 9 assists, including our goal of the year on a sweet bicycle kick

Once again, loanee striker Shaun Patterson would have got my vote. 26 goals and 3 assists, including both goals in the playoff final. Really hoping we can keep him around another season.

Our defense was very solid this year, led by Graham Budd, who set a team record with 17 clean sheets in league play.

Finances

Yeah, not pretty as we are now insecure and 300K in the hole. The board has given me the same 6.5K a week for next season and I think they were on the verge of tossing me aside before we made the playoffs. I'm going to have to try surviving on the cheap next season and see if we can't get a run in the FA Cup.

Next season, just survive and try not to go bankrupt.

XaW · July 9, 2017

Season Summary - XaW - Merthyr Town - 2023/24

Table | Past Positions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Once again, a new tier and I didn't know how we would take the improved challenge. Turns out, don't worry the players will fix it. Last season we did great in the cups, but this year we went out early, so all focus was on the league for us from just about day one. We also went out swinging losing only 3 matches until December and were comfortably at the top, though Leicester, Aston Villa and Swansea were never far behind us. Going into January we had a very bad streak, but the other teams also struggled a bit so we didn't lose much from it. In February we played much better, but then we hit an injury crisis. We don't have many strikers, so when our 3 best ones got injured for most of March then we lost 3 games in row without scoring any. April saw us hit back a bit, but going into the final match of the season anything could happen. Our final match against Reading didn't go well when they got a pen after just 6 minutes and scored. We did hit back only a few minutes later, but the rest of the match we knocked on the door, but couldn't get past their goalkeeper so it ended 1-1. Looking at the other results I saw that Aston Villa and Swansea had drawn against each other, and Leicester hadn't managed to score at home to already relegated Brentford! This meant we are the champions! Premier League here we come!

We are also moving into our 10k stadium this summer, if everything goes well, so this will be a very exciting season for us.

In the FA Cup we got a rough draw and lost to Man Utd in the 3rd round. In the EFL Cup we lost to Burton Albion in the 1st round.

Some of the standout players we have at the moment are striker Matthew Gillam, though he was injured for the last part of the season, central defender Jack Fitzwater and midfielder Benjamin Garré.

For the youth watch, Martin Wesson got a couple of matches this season to keep his progression going. We also got in a new exiting midfielder in Kevin Stonehouse. Both are being tutored to improve both stats and personality.

Season	|       League	      |     Position	   |    Europe	  |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	|   Vanarama South    |       5th	   |      N/A 	  |    Marcus Forss (17)   |   Lost in the playoffs
2018/19	|   Vanarama South    |       2nd	   |      N/A 	  |    Ashley Pope  (31)   |   Won in the playoffs
2019/20	|  Vanarama National  |       7th	   |      N/A 	  |    Rob Green  (28)     |   Upper mid table
2020/21	|  Vanarama National  |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |    Rob Green  (23)     |   Promoted as champions
2021/22	|     League Two      |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |   Matthew Gillam  (30) |   Promoted as champions
2022/23	|     League One      |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |    Jamie Coulson (40)  |   Promoted as champions, won Checkatrade Paint Trophy
2023/24	|    Championship     |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |   Matthew Gillam  (19) |   Promoted as champions

XaW · July 9, 2017

BOOM!

Thanks for the offer, but not yet.

XaW · July 10, 2017

Season Summary - XaW - Merthyr Town - 2024/25

Table | Past Positions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Ahh, the Premier League, the pinnacle of Football! Now, how would my Welsh team do? Not that bad, actually. We started great as we won against Everton and Tottenham in the first two matches for some reason. Then we found out that we have some work to do as we played 5 games lost all and didn't score a single goal while conceding 14 goals. Welcome to the Premiership, eh? After the rough times we started to pick up some points here and there and we were never in any real danger of relegation, but we lost quite a lot of matches, and at times it effected moral. Some supportive talks helped out quite a bit, and in the end we finished in a very respectable 14th place. I think quite a revamp of the squad in necessary for us to progress since a lot of players have been with us up a couple of tiers now. I don't think that many players are good enough to help us climb further up the table, though we have some who definitely are. I hope to bring in some talents this summer to give us a bit more quality.

We moved into our new stadium this summer, but are filling it out from day one. I've gotten an expansion approved, so hopefully it will be big enough to satisfy demand. I've also started to improve our facilities now that we have a lot of money, so improvements should be done a bit into the next season.

In the FA Cup we beat Birmingham before losing to Stoke in the 4th round. In the EFL Cup we beat Bradford City, Northampton and Wolves before losing to Man Utd in the quarter final.

Some of the standout players we have at the moment are attacking midfielder James Johnson, defender Jake Cooper and striker Grant McIntyre.

For the youth watch, Martin Wesson are now a first team regular who plays very well. Kevin Stonehouse are slowly worked into the squad and are looking like he is improving a bit. We have a couple of others of notice as well in Rhys Collins, a very talented central defender. The most exciting though are one we just got in, John Michael, a very promising goalkeeper who rivaled our second choice from his appearance. When Kjetil Haug got injured I though why not give him a match or two towards the end of the season and he did fairly well for a 16 year old goalkeeper in the Premier League. I think he might fight for the main spot already next season, but he still have some things to work on. I'm mainly focusing on his aerial ability, so he is on a trampoline jumping all day to improve. Hopefully he will get a bit taller as he grows older as well.

Season	|       League	      |     Position	   |    Europe	  |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	|   Vanarama South    |       5th	   |      N/A 	  |    Marcus Forss (17)   |   Lost in the playoffs
2018/19	|   Vanarama South    |       2nd	   |      N/A 	  |    Ashley Pope  (31)   |   Won in the playoffs
2019/20	|  Vanarama National  |       7th	   |      N/A 	  |    Rob Green  (28)     |   Upper mid table
2020/21	|  Vanarama National  |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |    Rob Green  (23)     |   Promoted as champions
2021/22	|     League Two      |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |   Matthew Gillam  (30) |   Promoted as champions
2022/23	|     League One      |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |    Jamie Coulson (40)  |   Promoted as champions, won Checkatrade Paint Trophy
2023/24	|    Championship     |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |   Matthew Gillam  (19) |   Promoted as champions
2024/25	|   Premier League    |       14th	   |      N/A 	  |   Grant McIntyre (19)  |   Survived

XaW · July 10, 2017

Season Summary - XaW - Merthyr Town - 2025/26

Table | Past Positions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Now that we had a boatload of cash before the season my board were generous enough to give me a very nice £50M transfer kitty before the season started. I brought in a broad range of players, both for the main squad and some talented youths. I also brought into a couple of Australians and some Norwegians who didn't get work permits, so they are loaned out while I keep on trying to get a permit for them. Most of them are getting matches for their national team, so hopefully they will be able to play for us within a short time. When the season started we once again have a pretty good start, but then faced Man Utd, Chelsea, Everton and West Ham closely after each other and struggled. As the season went along we settled in as mid table and stayed there for the rest of the season. Still, a great season for us, and any season where we finish above Liverpool and Tottenham should be counted as a success in my book.

We are getting another expansion of our stadium, so we should be able to house about 23k when it's done. We are also improving our facilities at the moment, so they are also improving.

In the FA Cup we beat Cardiff, Southampton and Reading before losing to Newcastle in the 6th round. In the EFL Cup we beat Millwall, Everton, Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday before losing to Man City in the semi final.

The best players in the squad this season have been Petrit Neziri, a striker I bought of Arsenal for £11M, long servering central defender Jack Fitzwater and Aleksandar Mitrovic, the former Newcastle striker I got in on a free transfer.

Youth-wise Martin Wesson is a key player for us now and starts every game he is fit for. The same goes for goalkeeper John Michael who played every minute of every game this season and are looking more and more like a rising star. Kevin Stonehouse are a backup player at the moment, but gets rotated in for some matches. Rhys Collins got his first taste of football for us this season, but mainly down to injuries. He isn't ready to be counted on yet, but he is coming along nicely.

Season	|       League	      |     Position	   |    Europe	  |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	|   Vanarama South    |       5th	   |      N/A 	  |    Marcus Forss (17)   |   Lost in the playoffs
2018/19	|   Vanarama South    |       2nd	   |      N/A 	  |    Ashley Pope  (31)   |   Won in the playoffs
2019/20	|  Vanarama National  |       7th	   |      N/A 	  |    Rob Green  (28)     |   Upper mid table
2020/21	|  Vanarama National  |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |    Rob Green  (23)     |   Promoted as champions
2021/22	|     League Two      |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |   Matthew Gillam  (30) |   Promoted as champions
2022/23	|     League One      |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |    Jamie Coulson (40)  |   Promoted as champions, won Checkatrade Paint Trophy
2023/24	|    Championship     |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |   Matthew Gillam  (19) |   Promoted as champions
2024/25	|   Premier League    |       14th	   |      N/A 	  |   Grant McIntyre (19)  |   Survived
2025/26	|   Premier League    |       9th	   |      N/A 	  |   Petrit Neziri (28)   |   Mid table

XaW · July 12, 2017

Season Summary - XaW - Merthyr Town - 2026/27

Table | Past Positions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Before the season we once again got rid of some dead weights during the summer, we even got a bit of cash for a few of them. I also brought in some much needed quality in Dolberg and Carrassco. The real exciting transfer were the young French striker Ismael Celerier, but I failed to notice his work permit was denied before I accepted the transfer so I had to loan him out while applying for a permit. He did get one in January so I brought him back then, but his season was kinda done for. On the pitch, we played well and were for, for the most part, much better defensively than last year after a small tactic adjustment. We still sometimes suffer heavy defeats like 0-5 to Manchester City, 0-4 to Arsenal and 1-5 to Manchester United, but for the most part we didn't concede as much as last year. Going into the latter part of the season Manchester City had run away with the league with Liverpool and Manchester United trailing behind. After those three teams Arsenal, Everton, West Ham and ourselves fought for the 4th and final Champions League spot. With only a few games left Everton and Arsenal had fell behind and the fight was between West Ham and us. Before the final game away against Watford we had only a single point to go on. We took an early lead and won comfortably 3-1 to keep out 4th place and Champions League qualifying spot. We are heading into Europe next season!

I've arranged for a truckload of youngsters to come into the team in the summer, though very few have gotten a work permit. I think I'll be able to load out most of them and get a permit after some time. If not the fees are so small that I should be able to make some money anyway. We are once again improving our facilities and expanding our stadium. At the moment our capacity is about 23k and after the expansion we should have about 27k.

In the FA Cup we beat West Brom, Sunderland, Wolves and Liverpool before losing to Manchester City in the semi final. In the EFL Cup we beat Bristol Rovers and Coventry before losing to Manchester United in the 4th round.

The best players in the squad this season have been Aleksandar Mitrovic, a player I though would be backup but managed to fight his way into the team, Kasper Dolberg, our top scorer and our captain and right back Trent Alexander-Arnold who bombed up and down the right side delivering crosses to our strikers.

Youth-wise Martin Wesson is becoming an amazing midfielder for us and an important player for Wales. Kevin Stonehouse are rotated in and out of the team. Rhys Collins got some matches due to injuries and played so well he made the spot his own, he could be an important defender for us in the coming years. In goal John Michael are progressing great and his aerial ability are improving as well. He is now considered a wonderkid as well! I've added some new players and the first one is Drazen Juric-Bare. He is our own youth product, but came through our youth deal with NK Zagreb. This March we got three new talents in John Smith, Jack Edwards and Chinese Peng Dan who came through our youth deal with Shandong Luneng Taishan.

Season	|       League	      |     Position	   |    Europe	  |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	|   Vanarama South    |       5th	   |      N/A 	  |    Marcus Forss (17)   |   Lost in the playoffs
2018/19	|   Vanarama South    |       2nd	   |      N/A 	  |    Ashley Pope  (31)   |   Won in the playoffs
2019/20	|  Vanarama National  |       7th	   |      N/A 	  |    Rob Green  (28)     |   Upper mid table
2020/21	|  Vanarama National  |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |    Rob Green  (23)     |   Promoted as champions
2021/22	|     League Two      |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |   Matthew Gillam  (30) |   Promoted as champions
2022/23	|     League One      |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |    Jamie Coulson (40)  |   Promoted as champions, won Checkatrade Paint Trophy
2023/24	|    Championship     |       1st	   |      N/A 	  |   Matthew Gillam  (19) |   Promoted as champions
2024/25	|   Premier League    |       14th	   |      N/A 	  |   Grant McIntyre (19)  |   Survived
2025/26	|   Premier League    |       9th	   |      N/A 	  |   Petrit Neziri (28)   |   Mid table
2026/27	|   Premier League    |       4th	   |      N/A 	  |   Kasper Dolberg (22)  |   Qualified for CL

Lenzar · July 13, 2017

Tiverton Town will be eligible? Interesting..I grew up in Wellington, just up the M5.

Vipertitan · July 17, 2017

Bit late at starting this years challenge Dulwich Hamlet have named there new manager as David Clark

michaeltmurrayuk · July 17, 2017

Met Police - Premier League 2030/31 - Season 14

So after securing Champions League football again, the board were now Expecting it again but at least only wanted us to get past the UCL group stage. With the Bookies giving us the chance of a title challenge whilst the Media Predicted another fourth place finish.

Reputation - We finally become a Worldwide side but are still behind the big boys and Leicester. In Europe we make the top page sandwich between those well known German giants Hoffenheim and Mainz.

Rich List - We actually drop a place behind Bayern, whilst Wolfsburg are an interesting entry considering they got relegated to the Germany second tier this season.

Euro Rankings - We just about make it onto the top page of the rankings as we climb up 18 places.

Transfers - It was a slow but eventually an expense season, as I said at the end of my last update attempts to bring in a World Class Striker or Midfielder proved rather frustrating, though in the end I did snatch World-Class Greek Midfielder Papadedes from Leicester for a reasonable £45m, then with nothing looking likely City transfer listed Striker Diallo on deadline day (seems he only noticed after the group stage drawing that City weren't in the Champions League) and with not much time left I spent what could be a club record £88m on him, I also had to pretty much max out every bonus clause I could to get him to sign as I couldn't match the silly wages he was on at City. Then in Jan I splashed some more cash on a couple of Wonderkids who I may have over paid for a bit but the problem we have is we are up against the FFP wage cap so whilst the board are giving me a massive transfer budget they give me a negative wage budget which really limits our options.

Saleswise I moved on several youngsters who weren't likely to get in my team for good money, whilst Keeper Mokhele was sold after refusing to sign a new contract, Rashford was let go to free up some wages, then Madrid pinch my Wonderkid Diallo who complained when I rejected their initial bid and was forced to accept their improved offer worth upto £50m, though of course when he left he then wondered if he'd made a mistake - which was his own fault for pushing through a move. In January I cashed in on Midfielder Jefferson who again wasn't impressing.

FA Cup - the less said about this the better my kids did me proud beating Burnley before my first team let me down with a poor performance against Newcastle where our finishing again let us down. It was no real surprise as Utd retained the FA Cup beating Chelsea in Extra Time.

EFL Cup - Some more good performances from my youngsters as we easily made it back to the Final, where we faced City for the fourth time in a final, and whilst we'd beaten them in the previous three finals we hadn't beat them since the EFL Cup win last season and had suffered a record 7-0 hammering to them in the League this season, however the final was sandwich between two important Europa League games for City so they played a weakened side (whilst my former player Akbulut couldn't even get into their weak side) whilst I had Striker Diallo out injured and Right Back Quinhones suspended.

Despite controlling the Final we just couldn't score and the game went to extra-time where forgotten man Pinau-Beauvue came off the bench to grab an assist and then scored what may have been an offside goal late on to kill the game as we finally won something for a second time

Champions League - We were forced to start off in the playoff round where we drew Turkish side Besiktas who'd never made it past the group stage and we thumped them 4-0 in the First Leg in our newly Expanded Ground as Striker Rodriquez scored half of his seasons goals in just his second game, the Second Leg wasn't a great game as we needed Grande to rescue a draw with a late goal but we were never in any danger of going out.

Having made it to the group stage the Bookies didn't give much chance and with no City this season they pretty much expected Utd to win it again. In the draw we were again third seeds but got some luck as Belguim Champions Anderlecht were drawn as our first seeds, who'd only made it past the group stage once, though they had made it to the Europa Semi's back in 18/19. The second team out were Spanish side Bilbao who'd made it to the Knockout Stage in three of their previous six appearances, whilst they won the Europa League in the first season, completing the group were German side Mainz who despite their Worldwide Rep were making their Champions League debut (and had only been in the Europa League in the first season) after finishing fourth last season, though Germany did cheat having five sides after Schalke won the Europa League but failed FFP which let HSV in, though it seems Germany have been underperforming and will only get three sides next season.

Group Stage - Our Opening Game didn't start well as Mainz scored a free-kick within a minute, however Diallo took advantage of a defensive error to open his european account for us, defender Norris then headed home a free-kick to put us ahead before Traore scored a late header to secure the win. In our Second Game we dominated play against Anderlecht but some poor finishing let us down before Pinau-Beauvue came off the bench to finally put us ahead with Anderlecht's Wonderkid Defender then scoring a late own goal to secure the points for us. In Game Three we hosted Bilbao and again despite dominating the game poor finishing cost us as Bilbao scored from their only chance after we switched off from our own free-kick, in the second half Fabricio at least rescued a point. In Game Four we went to Spain and won a crazy game 6-3 as our attackers finally turned up, whilst our defence went walkabout but we had secured qualification, which was good because in Game Five we went to Germany and got thrashed as my defence decided to take November off - we conceeded 18 goals in six games, which was bad considering we'd only conceed nine in the previous 14 games this season. My kids at least recliamed some price in the Final Game as they easily beat Anderlecht to secure first place. Elsewhere Leicester had a torrid time finishing bottom of their group as they let England down.

In the Knockout Round we faced France side Lyon who's last two campaigns had been ended in the Quarters by the Manchester clubs, whilst they reached the Europa League Final back in 2027. With the First Leg in France things couldn't have gone easier as we smashed them Diallo opened the scoring early on and then things went worse for Lyon as their Midfielder Aerts was sent off for a two footed lunge, and in the second half Diallo scored twice more to secure his only hat-trick. In the Second Leg Diallo scored an early goal to kill the tie, whilst Pinau-Beauvue came off the bench to extend our lead before we switch off in the last five minutes allowing Lyon to claim a draw.

In the Quarter Finals we would face Real Madrid who'd only made the Final one losing to Utd and had rather interestingly been knocked out by Barcelona five times, they'd also lost to English sides five times. Whilst they beat Spurs in the Europa League back in 2026. With my team out of form I'd recently switched back to a basic 4-4-1-1 formation (that everyone else seems to be using) and with the First Leg at Home it worked wonders as we smashed Madrid - we fell behind early on before a Grande double either side of half-time put us ahead, I then made a tactical switch moving Fabricio upfront to replace Hinshelwood who was struggling (Diallo was out injured again) and bringing Rodriguez on to play on the left and that worked as Fabricio grabbed a brace whilst Rodriguez got a goal and an assist, though Madrid did pull one back in injury time. The Second Leg was more of a cagey affair but a Fabricio goal midway through the first half all but killed the tie, and whilst Madrid levelled on the night they never looked like scoring the other three they needed. Whilst in the other Quarter Finals there were a few shocks as Benfica knocked out Paris, Juventus knocked our Arsenal and Barcelona beat Utd on pens, meaning for the first time in six years their wouldn't be an all English final as we were the last ones left and surely this was our best chance of securing the trophy.

In the Semi-Final we drew Benfica who'd made it this far twice before only to lose to Arsenal (2017) and Utd (2023) so the omens were good. With the First Leg at Home we played out a nervy 0-0 draw as we missed a couple of golden chances but at least we didn't conceed an away goal however the bad news was Grande did his knee in and would be out for the season. In the Second Leg after another nerby first half we finally produced the goods in the second half as two goals in a minute from Diallo finally broke Benfica and then Papadedes scored his third goal in a week as he stepped up in Grande's absence having been moved further forward.

Having booked our place at Hampden Park we would face Barcelona who were the last non-English side to reach the Final, having lost two of them to City, and whilst they did lift it back in 2020 beating Arsenal they'd been knocked out by an English side every season since so again good omens. Going into the Final we were at near full strength with Grande the only player out, though he was just about fit enough to make the bench.

In the Final we got off to a great start as Fabricio scored a fine header after Barcelona failed to clear a corner and then Diallo helped repay his transfer fee just before half-time taking advantage of a mixup in defence (or a bug), which was good as Barcelona pulled one back straight from the kick-off, however after that the pressure didn't come and with the ref deciding to book nearly everyone I was dreading the red card, however instead it was Barcelona who were reduced to 10 men as Renato Sanches (who turned us down this season to join Barcelona from City) got a second yellow and allowed us to comfortably see out the game to lift the Champions League :cool: which completes one half of the challenge and actually pleased the board, whilst our 36 goals were a new competition record.

(couldn't be bothered doing vids of all the games this time, as it takes too long to upload them).

Premier League - Another frustrating season as we just cannot seem to push past fourth place. We started the season well enough winning five and losing just two of our first 10 games, which left us fourth but already six-eight points behind the top three who were flying. We then fell apart getting hammered 7-0 by City for a record defeat as we just gifted them goal after goal and conceeded as many goals in that game as we had done so far this season, next up we got beat by Utd but only 2-1 as we didn't bother to defend corners so I switched from 4-2-3-1 back to a flat 4-3-3 and that brought a narrow 2-1 win over Arsenal before we smashed Cardiff 6-0 with Pinau-Beauvue grabbing all of his league goals for the season in one game and hammered Burnley 5-0, winning both games with just 10 men each, we then beat West Ham and put three past Everton for only their second defeat of the season, but then over Christmas we drew to Norwich and lost to Newcastle.

So at the half-way point we were fourth, nine points behind City (who had a game in hand), five points behind Utd (who had four games in hand!), five behind Everton, but only ahead of Liverpool on goal difference and two points clear of MBoro, whilst Newcastle who'd just beaten us were six points behind but had two games in hand. Thankfully our form returned in the New Year as we claimed four wins in our next six games, beating a struggling Chelsea and drawing to Liverpool and Spurs.

Going into February everyone's games in hand had been played, so with 24 games gone we were still fourth, now 19 points behind Utd, 13 behind City, seven behind Everton, but six ahead of Arsenal so no-one was going anywhere for a while. However with the Champions League back our league form died as we lost to Leicester and Palace, drew to MBoro before being beaten 3-1 by City after missing a pen and we then got hammered 5-1 by Utd, which saw us drop down to sixth below Arsenal and Palace though they both had played an extra game.

So with us out of form I switch from 4-3-3 to an old 4-4-1-1 formation and that seemed to change things as we beat Stoke and beat Arsenal 3-2 to reclaim fourth with six games left - we were now three points clear of Arsenal, but were nine points behind Everton, 14 behind City (who had two games in hand), whilst Utd were an unreachable 25 points ahead. In between the Madrid games my kids did me proud beating Cardiff and Burnley before losing to West Ham.

With just three games left Everton were just about catchable being seven points ahead, but Palace were only one point behind us in fifth, whilst Arsenal were five back. Next up we went to Newcastle and whilst it was between the Benfica games I had to field my strongest side and Greek Midfielder Papadedes stepped up scoring his first two goals for the club after moving forward to replace the injured Grande and with Palace blowing a 2-0 lead to draw at Watford we had the advantage, though of course we then blew that drawing 0-0 against Norwich as Palace beat Spurs leaving us just one point clear with one game left which was against an Everton side with nothing to play for, however my players clearly had an eye on the Champions League Final and we didn't play well going behind early on before Hinshelwood came off the bench to at least claim a draw, though it didn't really matter as Palace conceeded an injury time goal against Liverpool to lose.

Whilst down at the bottom Leicester had a poor season not help by ourselves and Utd poaching their two best players

Manager Movements - Derby went through three managers this season and still finish rock bottom. A poor season for Arsenal cost Gallardo his job and he was replaced by Edgar Barreto who'd impressed at Leipzig after they lured him from Juventus. Chelsea fired Hubschman after less than a year in the job replacing him with former Dortmund boss Tuchel who'd been fired by Bayern 10 months ago. Leicester harshly fired Lennon after nearly seven years replacing him with Markus Babbel who'd done well with Mainz. Spurs fired Sedgwick who then took the Bilbao job which seems a weird choice, but replaced him with Gibraltarian Jansen Moreno who was their U18 Data Analyst!

Stat-Pack - Our most common result was a 1-1 draw, followed by 2-0 win and a 2-1 win. We had the fourth highest goals this season, but conceded the joint sixth most - though 17 of our 41 goals conceded did come against City and Utd.

Squad, Home & Review

In Goal I gave Argentine Wonderkid Aldo Perez the nod but he didn't really impress as he had an error prone season, providing cover was Russian Valery Yefimov who had an even worse season and looks like a new keeper is top of my wishlist next season.

At Right Back Brazilian Renato Quinhones was in good form and even scored a rare goal, provding cover was Suadi Waleed Zoulan who proved to be a solid backup. On the Left was Explosive Irishman Alan O'Shea who had a solid season, covering for him was Spanish Wonderkid Juan Pedro who was also in good form and my fullback positions at least look sorted.

At Centre-Back was World-Class Englishman Matthew Norris who had an excellent season as did his partner Clive Wood, providing cover was my other Englishman Simon Bennett who had a decent season but isn't ever going to challenge my first choice pairing, though all of these are only described as Good Prem players so I might need to replace them at some point with better players.

In the Centre of Midfield in came World Class Greek Kyriakos Papadedes who had a solid season and in Jan I snapped up Argentine Luis Ramirez to add a bit more steel to my side and he hit the ground running. Providing cover was Brazilian Luiz Lima who again didn't really impress nor did Russian Georgy Udaly and I might move them both on to free up some funds as I now have plenty of midfielders.

On the Right Wing was French Winger Ardiouma Traore who had a good season as he finally started to show what he could do, providing cover was Norwegian Sigurd Larsen who did well when called upon but isn't really good enough so I let him get his big money move to Spain, and which funded the move for Wonderkid Ross Ramsey who is already better than him and looks like he could be a great player.

On the Left Wing was Brazilian Fabricio who was in excellent form as he also rediscovered his form and was named Young Player of the Year as we claimed the award for the third year in a row, providing cover was Trinidad Youngster Colin James who impressed in the cups, though of course I did have a bit of a problem when I switched to 4-4-1-1 as I don't have any proper LM players, with Spanish Striker Alain Rodriguez being the best player I had for that position and played better their aswell though he was so bad upfront it was hard for him to be worse in midfield.

Playing as my Attacking Midfielder was World Class Italian Mattia Grande who had an excellent season as he pulled the strings in midfield and his 17 assists are a new club record beating the 15 set by Gori back in 2022. He also became our first player to make the World Team and was named Third Best player in Europe.

Upfront big money was spent on World-Class French Striker Ladji Diallo and whilst he didn't quiet hit the heights I'd hope for (loads of niggling injuries didn't help - he picked up eight injuries over the season keeping him out for ~3 months total) though his goals in the Champions League paid back most of his fee as he came third in the race for the Golden Boot and with less matches, he also claimed a rare Goal of the Month as he scored a nice goal from distance. Providing cover was Academy Striker Chris Hinshelwood who was given a chance after impressing on loan and put in some good performances and becomes my first academy Wonderkid :cool: The other option I had upfront was Frenchman Gregory Pinau-Beauvue who again failed to impress - all his league goals came in one game against Cardiff, though he did at least win us the EFL Cup after coming off the bench, and rather bizarrely Arsenal seem to want him back.

Prem Select - Wood and Grande make the team, though Norris is cruelly left out despite playing better than Wood in the same amount of games, Quinhones was also cruelly left out despite rating the same as the selected RB but with more games.

Champions League Dream Team - Though half of my side at least made this award, though both Fabricio and Diallo were unlucky to miss out.

Best XI - About right considering the formation changes, though Udaly was lucky to get in the side as Ramirez would have got in if he'd been here all season.

Overall XI - Couple of changes this season as Norris replaces Alberg in Defence, Lima finally replaces Lessi, though Mohammed was a weird pick to replace Porter though I expect Grande should make the side next season, whilst for some reason Pejakovic randomly replaced Akbulut on the Left despite having played less games with a worse rating he also retired five years ago, I can only assume a players current position rating affects this, which may explain why Fabricio is only on the bench as well.

Academy - No good players through this season as we are still only Level 2, though I did get Jack Stubbs who can play anywhere down the middle.

Finances - Despite the crazy transfer spending things are still good, whilst the game stated we'd fail the FFP wage rules until we got the prize money.

Shirtsales - Bit of a surprise as Diallo doesn't seem that popular with the fans.

Expansion - The board approve another expansion of our ground, boosting it to 30K which means we should no longer have the smallest ground next season, though it needs to be much bigger to compete with the top sides.

Profile - I made it to 700 games this season, I was also offered the England job again, whilst my reputation increases slightly.

Hall of Fame - I become the third best English Manager, though there seems to be a real lack of good English Managers as only myself and Hodgson have won anything this century.

Nationalities

28 ENG
4 BRA, ESP
3 FRA
2 ARG, RUS, KSA, SCO, WAL
1 BEL, CRO, GRE, NED, IRN, ITA, NGA, NOR, IRL, SRB, TRI

Squad Rules

Currently I have 9 FGN players, with a further 13 U21's, with a max of 17 Over 21's allowed.

For Homegrown rules we have 23 Club Grown and 13 Nation Grown with a further 24 due to become Homegrown.

Plans For Next Season

So with the Champions League secured the only priority from now on is the league, though I have no idea how we'll get past Man Utd best bet is to wait for Mourinho to retire or take an International job.

Transferwise the priority is a World-Class Keeper and possibly a World-Class Centre-Back ability wise rather than rep wise.

State of The World

National League - Dulwich nearly get promoted to the Football League losing the Playoff Final to my Feeder Club Boston. Stourbridge are also embarking on the challenge winning the North League

Europa League - Of course Man City win this beating Mainz in the Final. Chelsea lost in the Semi's to City, whilst Everton made it to the Second Knockout Round losing to Inter.

France - Paris retain the title again, with Monaco just behind them, whilst 30 odd points back are Saint-Etienee and Caen who are both surprise UCL qualifers.

Germany - Dortmund make it seven in a row, whilst Europa League side Hoffenheim finish rock bottom.

Italy - Inter claim their first title since the first season, just about beating AC and Juventus

Portugal - Benfica reclaim their title beating Sporting by one point.

Scotland - Celtic reclaim their title, with Hamilton second, whilst holders Hearts struggle to 6th and would have finished ninth if not for the split.

Spain - Barcelona reclaim the title with Real struggling to finish fourth.

World Cup 2030 - Quite a few shocks this year as hosts Spain fail to get out of the Group Stage losing to Colombia and Albania, Holland failed to get out of a group containing Iran and Switzerland, England finished bottom of their group though they did have France and Argentina. In the end Italy beat Holders Portugal in the Final thanks to an extra-time winner from my player Grande

Leaderboard points (FM Mode)
(My Steam Username is same as here if anyone wants to add me)
(points / position)
Single Game: 8,159,908 (49,864)
Single Season: 1,489,941 (159,959)
Single Season England: 1,489,941 (92,558)
Single Season Premier League: 1,489,941 (91,011)
Single Season Championship: 961,478 (6,593)
Single Season League One: 683,801 (9,907)
Single Season League Two: 733,684 (1,204)
Single Season National League: 1,099,379 (100 :cool:)
Single Season National South: 436,272 (175)

Career Overview

Season	League	League Finish	Achievements	Leaderboard Points	Av. Attendance
17/18	National South	11th	-	10,825	246 (8%)
18/19	National South	1st	Promoted - Champions!!!	436,272 / 447,097	270 (9%)
19/20	National League	1st	Promoted - Champions!!! FA Trophy Winners	1,099,379 / 1,546,476	571 (16%)
20/21	League Two	16th	-	42,187 / 1,588,663	1,095 (21%)
21/22	League Two	1st	Promoted - Champions!!!	733,684 / 2,322,347	1,671 (30%)
22/23	League One	6th	Promoted - Playoff Winners!!! Checkatrade Trophy Winners	683,801 / 3,006,148	2,902 (52%)
23/24	Championship	5th	Playoff Finalists	153,622 / 3,159,770	5,530 (100%)
24/25	Championship	1st	Promoted - Champions!!!	961,478 / 4,121,248	5,530 (100%)
25/26	Premier League	12th	-	168,015 / 4,289,263	20,146 (100%)
26/27	Premier League	10th	-	176,865 / 4,466,128	20,102 (99%)
27/28	Premier League	5th	Europa League Qualification	189,720 / 4,655,848	15,055 (100%)
28/29	Premier League	4th	FA Cup Winners, Europa League Winners	1,489,941 / 6,145,789	15,055 (100%)
29/30	Premier League	4th	EFL Cup, Super Cup, Comm Shield Winners. UCL QF	910,175 / 7,055,964	22,261 (62%)
30/31	Premier League	4th	Champions League Winners. EFL Cup Winners	1,103,944 / 8,159,908	22, 478 (99%)

Quasar · July 18, 2017

Wow Champions League before Premier League lol

michaeltmurrayuk · July 18, 2017

In this version my team seem to have become cup experts, though the other English sides all being poor in Europe this season helped

Big Geordie · July 21, 2017

Thinking of having a bash at this for the first time. I've picked one of Dafuge's saves in the OP, and I'm plumping for Blyth Spartans, who are my non-league team anyway, Normally have a save with them, but haven't as yet on FM17.

Andrew Haines · July 21, 2017

Merthyr Town - 2031/32

Championship - 1st

Overview

It's been a little while since I posted, mostly due to apathy. I was becoming a little bored with my save as I went through five seasons where I was trapped in a loop of only being good enough for the playoffs and not getting past the semi finals. This was driven by having to support a wage bill with sales of players. This meant every year I transferred a couple of players for big fees, replacing them with similar ability players for smaller amounts. However, the profit made here was eaten by the wage bill and therefore I was unable to significantly improve the standard of the team. The side was good but needed a jump in quality to make the step up to the premier league.

It looked like the above pattern would be repeated this season as I struggled to make signings during June. My expectation was to go into the new season with largely the same squad as last. At the start of July however players returned from loan spells and a number of quality players were transfer listed by their clubs. I was able to pick up two strikers, Smith and Wright for 1.4m and 1.5m from Arsenal and Man Utd as well as defenders Hall and Bell for 1.2m and 4.8m from the same clubs. This was bankrolled largely from the sale of midfielder Bryan Tierney to Palace for 9m. These four additions pushed the standard of the team up a notch and importantly gave me an impressive centreback partnership which had been lacking for years. The players gelled and finally we put form together for automatic promotion. We even managed to throw away a ten point lead with poor form at xmas and then recoup the advantage again by the end of the season.

The Team

GK - Chris Saunders - Signed as an 18 year old from West Brom. The ex-England u20 keeper has been first choice for four seasons but won't be good enough for the Premiership.

FB - Josh Vincent - A pacy young full back signed from Wolves three years ago. Was the player of the season last year.
CB - Trevor Davis - Davis signed from Man Utd six seasons ago and accrued 224 games.
CB - Toby Bell - Signed from Man Utd last summer for 4.8m. Formed a solid partnership with Davis at the back.
FB - Marc Hall - A bargain from Arsenal last summer at 1.2m, the rapid fullback was excellent.

DM - Robbie Black - England u21 holding midfielder arrived four years ago from Watford. He is getting a bit stroppy about a new contract..
CM - Michael Kelly - Kelly was a revelation this season and earnt a callup by England for the European championships. I was looking to offload him last summer without success so returned him to the team where he excelled.
CM - Harrison Whild - ex-Chelsea striker Whild arrived two seasons ago. He played as a number 10 last season but was converted to play the creative midfield role this season. Called up by England towards the end of the season.
CM - Chris Holmes - A 3.8m signing from West Ham last summer. He was a full back but I figured he would fit a left sided midfield role and converted him.

DLF - Billy Wright - 30 goals was an impressive return for Wright playing in the deeper lying forward position. He was a signing last summer from Man Utd for 1.5m.
AF - Daniel Smith - Smith arrived from Arsenal last summer for 1.4m and hit 29 goals.

Record

Season          League                                   League Finish     Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         Vanarama National League South           7th              
2018/19         Vanarama National League South           3rd              Playoff Finalists
2019/20         Vanarama National League South           1st              Champions, Promoted, FA Trophy Winners
2020/21		Vanarama National League		 1st		  Champions, Promoted
2021/22		League Two				 2nd		  Promoted
2022/23		League One				 7th		  
2023/24		League One				 7th		  
2024/25		League One				 1st		Champions, Promoted		  
2025/26		Championship				 13th				  
2026/27		Championship				 3rd		Playoff Semi-Finalists, League Cup Semi-Finalists		  
2027/28		Championship				 6th		Playoff Semi-Finalists		  
2028/29		Championship				 4th		Playoff Semi-Finalists		  
2029/30		Championship				 7th				  
2030/31		Championship				 6th		Playoff Semi-Finalists	  
2031/32		Championship				 1st		Promoted, Champions, FA Cup Finalists

Tecmo · July 23, 2017

Well that's a bit ridiculous

fairsy · July 24, 2017

On 11/15/2016 at 21:25, fairsy said:

Feel a bit p155ed off with this challenge - was doing ok in first season in conference with Lowestoft after promotion - 41 points after 32 games and comfortable in lower mid table......and then the new patch was downloaded and my season instantly crashed. Seems 3 at the back was totally ruined by the new (undisclosed) match engine changes.

So I then proceeded to lose 4 games in a row, conceding 14 goals in the process from about 7 CCCs.....I changed some bits about and thought I had craked it and picked up 7 points from 3 games, leaving me with 48 points from 39 games.......and then I lost the last 7 games conceding 22 goals and scoring just 8.

Before the patch
P32 - W12 D5 L15 - F66 A79
Post patch
P14 - W2 D1 L11 - F20 A39

I was subsequently sacked and currently have no interest in starting back up again as am frustrated with the game. Was really enjoying the challenge and felt I was making good preogress and building a good squad which would have gone on to be succesful.....but when it was based around 343 and I had no full backs it was hard to make any changes to the style and I was buggared

I have recently placed my toys back in the pram and have given this another go with Lowestoft.

Currently just after Xmas in my 3rd season and in the play off zone for promotion into the football league. The club is haemorrhaging money on a monthly basis, and despite a lucrative FA Cup draw vs Southampton, and a 4-4 draw at Crown Meadow the replay wasn't on the TV and I lost 1-0 in front of 16k so have had a little boost.

I've come up to an issue with loan players where their loans have expired in January but I am not able to re-loan them as a loan can not run into a period where the loaning clubs transfer window won't be open. It's incredibly frustrating that 3 of me key players have gone back to parent clubs and I can't replace them with the same quality.

Quasar · July 24, 2017

On 7/23/2017 at 16:02, Tecmo said:

Well that's a bit ridiculous

Wow I've never seen 3 in a row before, 3 in 4 days has been the worst for me

DefinitelyTaylor · July 25, 2017

I'm a little late to the challenge I know! But I thought I'd close out FM doing this challenge with the side I fancy doing a long-term save with on FM18.

Barnet · July 25, 2017

Challenge has taken a back seat for a while but in the premiership, so far, no good... 21 games, 15 points and -25 goal difference...

Not sure I can recover!

Big Geordie · July 29, 2017

Blyth Spartans Season 2017/18

Managed to sneak up via the playoffs (after finishing 2nd), beating Boston United 1-0 in the final. AFC Fylde went up as Champions. Top Scorer, Dan Maguire with 27 in all comps (only 16 in the league) and best player was winger, Jarrett Rivers who averaged 7.17 in 9 goals and 14 assists in all competitions. I've since moved on Maguire on loan to Stalybridge for the season as he's not really good enough for what I want.

FA Trophy - made the 4th round, before bowing out 5-2 at Lincoln.

FA Cup - 2nd round proper, losing 3-2 at home to Bradford. Game was televised which brought in some much needed revenue, which has since been swallowed up!

New season in the Conference is going to be a struggle, though I've won my first game 3-1 v Bromley. I've brought in striker Tom Craddock on a free, midfielder Eoghan McCawl (ex Hull) and winger, Brad Jackson (ex Burnley) Got a transfer budget of around 8K and fetching in loan players is proving to be a struggle as the quality just isn't there. I will be scouring the free market for some more experience. Gonna be a real achievement to stave off relegation.

Wells · July 31, 2017

Started with Stourbridge , gonna be fun.

EDIT: First season ended and we managed to finish 12th in the league, the fa cup also saw us being knocked out at first stage by some regional club, it was upside down season hopefully we can sign some better players and do well.

michaeltmurrayuk · August 8, 2017

Met Police - Premier League 2031/32 - Season 15

So after having completed half the challenge last season with our Champions League win, the only goal this season was to win the Premier League, though the Board would be happy for another top four finish with the Bookies preditcting we'd finish third behind the two Manchester clubs.

Reputation - The Champions League win boosted us to five star rep and made us bigger than City and the second biggest club in the World behind Utd.

Rich List - We climb upto sixth, with struggling Spurs seemingly hoarding money.

Transfers - Cleared out several squad players and also made a decent amount of money loaning out some of my youngsters. Purchase wise I struggled to find some World Class Players to boost my team so instead went after some highly rated but expensive Wonderkids.

Super Cup - We secured our second Super Cup with yet another shootout win over City, though we really should have won it in normal time twice letting city comeback into the game, however in the shootout my new 18 year old Czech Keeper became a hero on his debut saving all four of Citys pens :cool: though we weren't much better as Fabricio scored our first but we then missed our next two before Hinshelwood finally won it.

FA Cup - The less said about this the better as we somehow lost to League Two Mansfield who scored through a fluke goal.

EFL Cup - My kids at least did me proud here as we got the luck of the draw easily dispatching lower league sides Exeter and Wycombe and struggling Cardiff, which set up a Semi-Final against Liverpool who were easily brushed aside which set up a final against a Wolves side who needed extra-time to beat League One Leaders Coventry.

In the Final I kept faith with my kids and we utterly dominated the game but couldn't score until my two Belgian Wonderkids combined just before the hour - Schwarz chipped a free-kick into the box and Defender De Keyser beat the keeper to the ball to nod the ball into an empty net, and a minute later we double our lead as Wolves failed to clear a corner and Russian Attacker Udaly scored through a crowd of players. Then a minute after coming off the bench Brazilian Wonderkid Marcinho made sure as we made it three in a row and set a new record of 12 straight wins, beating Utd's record from 10 years ago.

Champions League - We went straight into the group stage as first seeds, though of course we got a tough group that included Real and Sporting, but my kids just about made it through as we lost to Real in our first game thanks to an unlucky later own goal, but smashed Ludogorets 4-0 in the second game as they conceded two own goals we then narrowly beat Sporting 3-2 with us both scoring an own goal and with us being down to 10 men for most of the game after Midfielder Min-Kyoo got himself booked twice in a minute, however we nearly blew it in Portugal losing 1-0 to a late Sporting goal which put them ahead on away goals. In the second to last game we got a 1-1 draw in Madrid but with Sporting winning they were now second on away goals, meaning we'd need a Madrid side with nothing to play for to grab at least a point. Though of course we made hard work of beating Ludogorets at home needing my Keeper to save an early pen before Italian Wonderkid Martini opened his account for the club with a late winner and thankfuly Sporting could only draw sending us through.

In the Knockout Round we draw the other Madrid side and claimed a solid 2-0 home win in the First Leg, however the Second Leg went horribly wrong as we conceded an early pen from a dive and after that just fell apart as we got hammered 4-0

It also wasn't a great season for the rest of the English sides, Everton went out at the same stage to Celtic on Away goals, City lost to Monaco in the Quarters and Utd lost to Real in the Semi-Finals (I at least had the excuse of fielding my second string) which meant for the first time since the second season their would be no English sides in the Final.

In the Final Monaco would go on to beat Real on pens, meaning I missed out on a £4m clause from Diallo's transfer.

Club World Cup - In December we made the trip over to Egypt and didn't make the best of starts as we needed extra-time to beat Suadi side Al-Hilal in the Semi-Final with two late goals finally breaking them, though it was a costly win as Grande who'd only just come back from a month out tore his hamstring and would miss the next three months of the season, also the fourth sub rule is stupid - it allowed them to replace an injured player in extra-time but I couldn't bring my side back upto 11 players as I'd already made my subs with Grande went off. In the Final we faced Brazilian side Mineiro and again dominated but struggled to break them down before Traore grabbed two goals in five second half minutes, Diallo made it safe late on before we both scored in the last minute.

Premier League - An excellent season as we finally secure the title. We got off to a Great Start winning our first seven games including a 4-0 thrashing of Chelsea, before playing out a 1-1 draw against Utd and then losing to Liverpool that allowed Arsenal to draw level after nine games and then suffered a shock defeat to Norwich after giving away pens in both games, which allowed Everton to draw level with ourselves and Arsenal at the top, but we pulled three points clear after beating Arsenal 3-0.

After returning from the Club World Cup things started to fall apart Grande was out injured long-term and Star Striker Diallo had his head turned by PSG as we drew to Wolves and then lost to Leicester as at the half-way stage we'd dropped down to fourth, two points behind City and three behind Arsenal though they'd both played an extra game and four points behind Utd who'd played two extra games, we were also level on points with Everton who'd also played two extra games.

Going into the New Year we smashed Everton 4-0, but then lost 3-0 to Chelsea, but then we won our next six games included a 2-1 win over City with their keeper gifting Diallo a goal, before Belgian Wonderkid Schwarz was allowed to just walk through their side, whilst we put four goals past Palace, Newcastle and MBoro and after 23 games we'd finally caught up gameswise and had returned to the top of the table one point clear of Utd, four clear of City and eight clear of both Everton and Arsenal who'd both fallen out of what was now a three horse race.

At this point we were struggling to score as we narrowly beat Bolton and Spurs 1-0 before struggling to a 0-0 draw against Cardiff, which saw us fall one point behind Utd but go five clear of City. We then played out another 1-1 draw with Utd before beating Norwich and with City beating Utd with 10 games left we were top again on goal difference from City who'd played an extra game and two points clear of Utd.

We then ground out 1-0 wins against Forest and Liverpool before the game decided to cheat awarding Arsenal a pen out of thin air (our fourth in the league), thankfully City could only draw to Norwich meaning with seven games left we were three points clear of City and six clear of Utd who now had a game in hand on us both.

We won our next two games without conceding and with City losing to Arsenal and Utd losing to Chelsea we were now six points clear with just five games left, of course we then drew a blank against Stoke but Utd lost to Palace all but ending their chances. Next week with City drawing to Watford we took advantage by thrashing Wolves to restore our six point lead.

Which took us to the title decider as we made the trip to City next and came back with a 2-0 win - Hinshelwood took advantage of another GK error to head us into the lead before Grande scored a trademark free-kick to secure the title and complete the challenge :cool: and was a result that harshly cost the City manager his job.

Elsewhere in the League their were some close calls, Everton beat Arsenal to the Champions League by one goal, whilst MBoro were relagated by one goal.

Stat Pack - Our excellent defence claimed us the title as we kept a league high 23 clean sheets conceding just 21 goals, with our most common result being a 1-0 win followed by either a 1-1 draw or a 3-0 win. We also finally solved our defending set-piece problem only conceding the one goal from a set-piece this season.

Squad, Home and Review.

In Goal I brought in Czech Wonderkid Jan Jakubov and after an excellent debut he made the position his with an excellent season as he claimed the Golden Glove Award, providing cover was Argentine Aldo Perez who after a shocker in our first game lost his place though he did redeem himself in the cups.

At Right Back was Attacking Brazilian Renato Quinhones who was on fire who enjoyed the freedom to get forward and was named Young Player of the Year, providing cover was Explosive Saudi Waleed Zoulan who had a good season and according to my staff has a World Class Potential though he is going to struggle to displace Quinhones. At Left Back was Explosive Irishman Alan O'Shea who was also in excellent form and even managed to not get sent off this season, providing cover was Spanaird Juan Pedro who was in good form but has been lured by the promise of money from Monaco.

In the Centre of Defence were my two World Class English Defenders Clive Wood and Matthew Norris who were again rocks at the back, providing cover was Strong Belgian Gilies De Keyser who provided some quality cover and should hopefully push for a first team place in the future, partnering him in the cups was English Wonderkid Adam Scott who is highly rated but struggled a bit though he wasn't really ready yet.

In the Centre of Midfield as my Deep Lying Playmaker was World-Class Greek Kyriakos Papadedes who did well enough in what is a fairly thankless role, providing cover was Brazilian Luiz Lima who had another poor season and after moaning will be got rid off well if someone will bid for him. Playing alongside them in the Box-to-Box Role was Belgian Wonderkid Steve Schwartz who after impressing in the cups was given a chance and in the league due to injuries and he took it putting in some excellent performances and he looks like he could be a great player and is looking a bargain at £30m, providing cover was Argentine Luis Ramirez who had a poor season but was only a stopgap solution.

On the Right Wing was French Winger Ardiouma Traore who had a solid season but went missing in a few games so I might need an upgrade, though I do have several promising youngster so hopefully one of them will break through with the best of the bunch being English Wonderkid Ross Ramsey who is highly rated but struggled to make an impression. On the Left Wing was Brazilian Fabricio who had a solid season and whilst he struggled to score (four of his goals came in the first two games) he was my top assister and the only one to get into double figures, providing cover was Croatian Wonderkid Robert Komorski who showed glimpses of his potential.

Playing as my Attacking Midfielder was World Class Italian Mattia Grande who had an excellent season until PSG tapped him up and he then got a long term injury which saw him miss most of the second half of the season, providing cover was Russian Georgy Udaly who did well in the EFL Cup, however he broke his ankle and missed the same period as Grande, which meant in Jan I spent £25m on Brazilian Wonderkid Marcinho who Arsenal were surprisingly willing to let go (though he did cost me 10 times what they paid for him last year) and he slotted straight in providing some much needed goal threat with my other players injured.

Upfront leading the line was World Class French Striker Ladji Diallo who started the season running as he finally recaputured his early City form scoring goals for fun but then PSG came calling with low ball offers and after that he pretty much went on strike putting in some awful performances resulting in him being dumped in the reserves before PSG stumped up a club record £93m for him and saved me another £8m as I would be due to pay City that if he played another game. Providing cover was my Academy Striker Chris Hinshelwood who had a solid season and stepped up when Diallo's head went though I'm not sure if he's going to be good enough to be first choice long term.

Prem Select - Clean Sweep for my defensive players, with Grande's injury costing him a place and Diallo's sulking costing him his.

World Team - Both Grande and Diallo make the team.

Best XI - Spot on though I'd put Papadedes in for Ramirez.

Overall XI - O'Shea comes in for Lewis at Left Back, whilst in Midield Fabricio replaces Doyle-Hayes.

Academy - no one of note this season, though I did get an Italian with that classic Italian name of Tom Hopkinson, I also got a couple of Colombians thanks to a feeder club but no one above three stars.

Finances - A small profit this season mainly from transfer profits. Whilst our stadium was expanded to a 30K capactiy and now looks like it belongs in the Premier League.

Profile - No real changes, though I did claim my seventh Manager of the Year award.

So after 5,439 days, 793 games, 1,229 goals, 190 players bought at a cost of £755m that is the Challenge Completed :cool:

Nationalities

26 ENG
5 BRA,
4 ESP,
2 ARG, BEL, FRA, NED, ITA, SCO, WAL
1 COL, CRO, CZE, GRE, IRN, IRL, RUS, KSA, SRB, KOR

Squad Rules

Currently I have 11 FGN players, with a further 13 U21's, with a max of 17 Over 21's allowed.

For Homegrown rules we have 31 Club Grown and 9 Nation Grown with a further 12 due to become Homegrown.

Plans For Next Season

With the Challenge complete not sure if I will carry on, might do som achievement hunting other than that I might just take a break until FM18.

State of The World

League One - bit of a surprise as Crawley beat Fulham in the Playoffs to reach the Championship for the first time.

FA Cup - Utd beat West Ham in extra-time to make it three in a row.

Europa League - Dortmund win it for the third time beating Arsenal 1-0 in the Final, thanks to a goal from a player Arsenal sold to Dortmund in Jan In the Semi Dortmund spoiled Plzen's fairy tail which was impressive considering this was the first time they'd ever got past the Group Stage in Europe. And more embrassement for English sides as Liverpool lost in the Knockout Round to Lazio and Palace didn't even make it out of the Group Stage.

France - Paris retain the title again but unbeaten and with 100 points, whilst Lorient finihs a distant third but are denied a rare place in Europe after failing FFP.

Germany - Bayern storm to the title ending Dortmunds run of seven in a row, though newly promoted Wolfsburg were unlucky after leading for most of the season they collapsed in the last 10 games and just about hung on for a Europa spot.

Italy - AC reclaim the title from Inter.

Portugal - Sporting pinch the title back from Benfica in a three horse race with Porto.

Scotland - Celtic fall apart but manage to beat Dundee Utd to the title on Goal Difference but with just 66 pts!

Spain - Barcelona retain the title

Leaderboard points (FM Mode)
(My Steam Username is same as here if anyone wants to add me)
(points / position)
Single Game: 9,458,326 (41,053)
Single Season: 1,489,941 (159,959)
Single Season England: 1,489,941 (92,558)
Single Season Premier League: 1,489,941 (91,011)
Single Season Championship: 961,478 (6,593)
Single Season League One: 683,801 (9,907)
Single Season League Two: 733,684 (1,204)
Single Season National League: 1,099,379 (100 :cool:)
Single Season National South: 436,272 (175)

Career Overview

Season	League	League Finish	Achievements	Leaderboard Points	Av. Attendance
17/18	National South	11th	-	10,825	246 (8%)
18/19	National South	1st	Promoted - Champions!!!	436,272 / 447,097	270 (9%)
19/20	National League	1st	Promoted - Champions!!! FA Trophy Winners	1,099,379 / 1,546,476	571 (16%)
20/21	League Two	16th	-	42,187 / 1,588,663	1,095 (21%)
21/22	League Two	1st	Promoted - Champions!!!	733,684 / 2,322,347	1,671 (30%)
22/23	League One	6th	Promoted - Playoff Winners!!! Checkatrade Trophy Winners	683,801 / 3,006,148	2,902 (52%)
23/24	Championship	5th	Playoff Finalists	153,622 / 3,159,770	5,530 (100%)
24/25	Championship	1st	Promoted - Champions!!!	961,478 / 4,121,248	5,530 (100%)
25/26	Premier League	12th	-	168,015 / 4,289,263	20,146 (100%)
26/27	Premier League	10th	-	176,865 / 4,466,128	20,102 (99%)
27/28	Premier League	5th	Europa League Qualification	189,720 / 4,655,848	15,055 (100%)
28/29	Premier League	4th	FA Cup Winners, Europa League Winners	1,489,941 / 6,145,789	15,055 (100%)
29/30	Premier League	4th	EFL Cup, Super Cup, Comm Shield Winners. UCL QF	910,175 / 7,055,964	22,261 (62%)
30/31	Premier League	4th	Champions League Winners. EFL Cup Winners	1,103,944 / 8,159,908	22, 478 (99%)
31/32	Premier League	1st	Club World Cup, EFL Cup, Super Cup Winners	1,298,418 / 9,458,326	23,259 (100%)
			!!!CHALLENGE COMPLETE!!!

Barnet · August 8, 2017

Tonbridge Angels

Season League Position FA Other Cup Euro Cups Achievements

17/18 Vanarama South 3rd 3rd Q 3rd Q N/A Lost in Playoff Semi Final (MOTY) P 42 W 21 D 14 L 7 GD 32

18/19 Vanarama South 1st 3rd Q 2nd R N/A Vanarama South Champions (MOTY) P 42 W 19 D 13 L 10 GD 22

19/20 Vanarama National 1st 1st Rnd Won N/A Vanarama National Champions (MOTY) P 42 W 27 D 9 L 10 GD 28

20/21 Sky Bet League 2 7th 4th Rnd 1st R N/A Play Off Final (WINNER) P 46 W 18 D 16 L 12 GD 16

21/22 Sky Bet League 1 4th 3rd Rnd 3rd Rnd N/A Play Off Final ( WINNER) (MOTY) P 46 W 21 D 11 L 14 GD 4

22/23 Sky Bet Championship 7th 3rd Rnd 3rd Rnd N/A None P 46 W 19 D 14 L 13 GD 10

23/24 Sky Bet Championship 7th 4th Rnd 3rd Rnd N/A None P 46 W 22 D 10 L 14 GD 25

24/25 Sky Bet Championship 3rd 3rd Rnd 2nd Rd N/A Play Off Final (WINNER) (MOTY) P 46 W 22 D 14 L 10 GD 25

25/26 Premier League 17th 3rd Rnd 3rd Rnd N/A Staying up! P 38 W 7 D 13 L 18 GD -33

What a season!

I'd like to say we were ready for the Premier League, we absolutely weren't. Coming up from the Championship is no fun at all, particularly with minimal budget and a poor reputation. Much of the squad we had assembled had reached their pinnacle in the Championship although Mark Guehi continued to perform admirably at Right Back for us (7.06) Everyone else was below a 7 which highlights the struggle we had. A 0-4 battering by Manchester United first game of the season was a sign of things to come and reverting to a 5-3-2 at times helped provide some solidity. We had to work hard to gather every one our 34 points! 40 points? Pah!

Throughout the season we began to scout heavily for new arrivals and with only loans possible early on in the season, the TV money meant that in January we could outlay a whopping £5.5m on 4 players, 2 CM's, 1 CB and a striker - all under 23 and with some potential by then I feel our reputation had picked up somewhat but was still 3*

A horrific run in of last 3 games of Arsenal at home, Man City away and Spurs away was always going to be a problem and 1 point from 9 never felt like enough. Fortunately it was. The complete ineptitude of Bournemouth, Southampton and Bristol City was staggering but satisfying. They all managed 0 from 9... Wow.

So we managed to stay up which is amazing and unexpected news. It was horrendously disheartening at times getting ripped to shreds and without the necessary quality to mount any form of comeback, but what a sense of achievement!

Stadium wise, we've moved into our 16,000 capacity sensibly named "Tonbridge Stadium" and I've immediately set out to expand it. Training upgrade in progress (2.5*) Youth in progress (2*) and given our wages are at the ridiculous end of low we are now "Rich" and making about £5m a month! WIth all the cash washing around, many of the club debts have been cleared.

So on to the next season. I have had a full clear out. 12 of the squad have gone and I've been spent some cash. It feels like our reputation has improved (although still 3*) as alongside a small number of free transfers, 2 year long "free" loans and sub-£3m bargains, I've spent £40m to "release clause" a striker who wanted to come! Maicol Serni is his name and he is a monster. Det 20, Fin 18, OTB 18, Acc 17, Bal 17, Pac 16, Sta 16, Tea 16, Wor 16. Lets see how he goes!

£50m in the bank, but I'll be looking to only add hot prospects or free transfers to the squad this season as I want to spend that cash on infrastructure. I will need home grown players if we're going to rock European competition.

A pre-season of expensive glamour ties against top European competition awaits. (not sure they'll help with rep but I hope they might)

Onwards!

Quasar · August 8, 2017

Congrats on the completion!!!

Barnet · August 9, 2017

Great job MichaelTMurray

tse1231 · August 14, 2017

Hello all,

Tried this in the past with varied success. Got Blyth Spartans on first attempt whom with their FA Cup history seem like a nice club to try.

Will update at the end of the season

tse1231 · August 27, 2017

Blyth Spartans - 2017/18

Outcome - Promoted via playoffs!

The league:

I had targeted a mid-table berth this year in order to consolidate the promotion that had brought Blyth into the challenge. That said I managed to recruit some very good quality loan signings and a great young striker on a free.

We started off slowly only achieving 11 points off the first 10 games, we then exploded into life going 12 consecutive games without loss to fire us up the table.

December, January and Feb saw us go through a very patchy bit of form losing to AFC Flyde and Worcester 1-6 and 2-6 respectively. We then won 6 of the last 9 to sneak into the playoffs with one to spare, we had Lowestoft away on the last day and with what I thought was little chance of moving up to 4th in the playoffs I played a very young team, fortunately they took the win and a loss for Alfreton at home to a mid-table team let me climb one more place.

In the playoffs, we drew Worcester whom we had exchanged home wins will this season but they were missing a key man due to injury and went down to 10 in the first 5 due to a straight red. As a result we took a 2-0 win away from home. Knowing the job was almost done I was keen to not take my foot off the gas and played a slightly more aggressive strategy for the away leg which proved to work with another 2-0 going our way.

After managing to sneak up to 4th in the table on the last day it would prove critical with Alfreton beating AFC Flyde 3-1 on agg, so we had a home final. Unbeaten in both games against them I was confident going into the last game and I was right to be so with a comfortable win recorded and promotion assured at Croft Park.

Star Men:

I always make a point in the VNN to have a slightly larger squad than normal to ensure plenty of rotation so it is hard to pick a single star so I have three:

Liam Nolan and Kayden Jackson both were instrumental on no-wage paying loans with Jackson averaging 7.11 from 42 games with 10 goals and 18 assists.

Charlie Dunkerley who was signed on a free from Hull managed to score 21 from 36 in the league but tailed off in the last 10, fortunately he is tied down for another year.

Cups:

For me a key part of this challenge with Blyth will be to continue the tradition the club has in the cup competitions.

We certainly managed that this year reaching the third round proper in the FA Cup earning a lucrative tie away to Aston Villa thanks to a few easier draws than I'd normally expect.

We also managed to reach the third round of the FA Trophy.

Both of the above awarded us a huge £84,500 in prize money which will be critical as we look to improve for next year.

Finances:

As mentioned above the cups have been a huge help this year allowing us to register a large profit for the season and a balance of £140k in the bank. We have improved youth facilities on the way which has been paid for in part by our cup run.

What next?:

Next season offers a huge challenge, my squad has been very reliant on depth but my budget has only gone up by £2000 per week. I may struggle to improve my depth enough to stay up.

Season          League                                   League Finish     Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         Vanarama National League North              4th          Promoted via playoffs! 3rd round FA and FAT

Deicide · August 31, 2017

For those of you that are doing English saves, I'm currently in the middle of my second season in the Championship with Sheffield FC and I'm now able to request "Increase youth level". I know what it is for, but since our finances arent too good and I'm hoping to persuade the board to build a new stadium (current capacity is only 2,500), I'm hesitant to request it. Am I right in thinking that this won't cost us any money?

Thanks in advance.

Barnet · September 13, 2017