dafuge's FM18 challenge

[PS-GamerNeil]

Marine - End of Season 4 Review (21/22)

League Report: (League Two)
It was another remarkable season for the club as we clinched promotion to League One. After the struggles of last season adjusting to the higher division and tactical problems we managed to find some form in the second half of the season to secure 3rd place and a place in League One next season. The 433 formation that got us up to league two wasn't cutting it in this level of football so we tried switching to 5 at the back to give a bit more security in defense and this worked wonders for results. The first half of the season we hovered around mid table but after a few injuries to our strikers we brought the fan favorite 'Mr Marine' Matty Hamilton back into the starting 11. Only rated 2 stars in this division but that didn't stop him smashing in the goals as he fired us up the table and eventually into the automatic promotion places. What a season it was for Hamilton as he finished on 28 goals despite being a backup player and justifying my decision to offer him a contract extension last season. We could of won the league If he didn't pick up a 4 week injury at the end of the season as he missed the final few games and also the Checkatrade Paint trophy final defeat to West Ham Under 23's. Its going to take a bit of a clean out of the team for next season and hopefully bring in a few better players to help us survive League One.

 

Cup Report:
In the FA Cup we made it all the way to the 5th round before we was beaten by Championship side Wolves. This run helped the bank balance as the 1st round tie vs Bristol Rovers was televised that earned us £67,500 and the 5th round tie at home to Wolves brought another £110,000 in gate money and £247,500 in TV money.

The Checkatrade Paint Trophy was also a massive success as we made it all the way to the final and the clubs first visit to Wembley in there 128 year history. We face West Ham under 23's and this proved to be a very tough game as we lost 2-1. The trip to Wembley earned the club around £300,000 in gate money to once again boost the clubs bank balance.

The less said about the league cup the better... Lost in the first round 6-4 to Huddersfield

Transfers and Loans:
We did alot of business this season to try to bring in some better players for the team. The key signings this season where: Stefan Mols (7.09) from Blackburn on a free transfer, Goalkeeper Louis Ashton (7.09) on loan from Middlesbrough and Left back Ryan Harbottle (7.02) on loan from Westbrom. We also extended the loan deal of Richard Bell (7.35) from last season and the 19 year old striker on loan from Crystal Palace scored 25 goals. We picked up a lot of youth players released from teams in the premier league with high potential.

Key Stats and Records:
Top goal scorers: Robbie Parsons (31) - Matty Hamilton - (28) Richard Bell (25)
Most assists: Robbie Parsons (24) - Richard Bell (20) - Columbus Ibeh (17)
Average Rating: Matty Hamilton (7.43) - Richard Bell (7.35) - Robbie Parsons (7.30)

Player of the season: Matty Hamilton (57%) Richard Bell (18%) Richard Bell (15%)
Signing of the season: Stefan Mols (7.09) Free transfer

Season 21/22 Targets:
- Stay up in League One.
- Improve the backroom team.
- Bring in some higher quality players.
- Improve club facilities (training and youth).
- Make some money from player sales.
 

Career History:

Season   |   League             Position   FA Cup          Europa League     Champions League      Note
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19  |   Vanarama North     2nd        3rd Qual Rd     N/A                N/A                  Playoff Winners
2019/20  |   Vanarama Premier   1st        3rd Rd          N/A                N/A                  Champions
2020/21  |   League Two         16th       1st Rd          N/A                N/A
2021/22  |   League Two         3rd        5th Rd          N/A                N/A                  Promoted

Career Stats:

Played  |  W  |  D  |  L  |  For  |  Against  |  Win %  |  Time at club  |  Earnings  |  Trophies  | Total Transfers (£)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  222     121    35    66    523       394        54%       1,412 days       £110k          1            160k

Club Information:

Season   |  Stadium  |  Av Attendance  |  Season Tickets  |  Training Fac. | Youth Fac. |  Youth Recruitment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19  |   3,185          647                124           Poor            Poor          Limited
2019/20  |   4,435        1,093                191           Poor            Poor          Limited
2020/21  |   5,685        1,717                595           Poor            Basic         Basic  
2021/22  |   5,685        2,048                665           Poor*           Basic         Basic

*Currently upgrading training fac. to basic and will be Completed in October

 

[Swindon69]

Heading into my first season in the big bad world of the Football League, I've trialled around 100 players it feels like - no major gems found but a few squad players added.

I think there may be a bit of a purge of some of the fringe players who've come up with me from VNN.

[PS-GamerNeil]

Quick update from pre-season preparations...

We sold one of our best players for 650k that we signed for 3k just 3 season ago from Boston United. He wanted to leave to further his career

Made a cheeky loan bid and he came back a week later haha

[Warhawk]

Yeah, done that too, Lee Sands is still with us in January 2023 after I sold him in January 2022.

Anyway, my January schedule is a bit nuts.  After two matches in 3 days on December 31st and January 2nd (and we went up 3-0 in that second one despite playing a bunch of backups), we do get 6 days off, then we have 7 matches in the next 18 days, including a stretch of 3 matches in 5 days, and 3 cup matches in 6 days.  At Barnet in the FA Cup on the 7th, followed by at Chelsea in the Carabao on the 10th, home against Sheffield United in the Checkatrade on the 12th, and at Walsall in the league on the 14th, plus two more away league matches on the 17th and 21st and the second leg against Chelsea on the 24th.  If we get any injuries I'm gonna have to start recalling some loanees.

[Muggert]

On 27/11/2017 at 20:46, Thebaker said:

With Billericay surely you already have the players there to win the league. They are so strong the AI gets them into L2 on most games, so i don't think you need worry too much

Yes. And this version of Billericay has me as a manager. I would argue that most people would prefer the AI 😂

[Tyggis]

 

Dulwich Hamlet  - End of season review - 2018/19

Starting profile | Manager at end of season | Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | FA Cup | FA Trophy | Inbox season review

 

Decided to try out this challenge for the very first time. After reloading a lot of times and very nearly starting with Altrincham, I finally decided to go with the Hamlet.

Not quite sure what expectations I could have at the start of the season, but of course making the playoffs was a natural target. Decided to switch between  a direct 4-2-3-1 and a short passing 4-4-2 and it worked reasonably well. I thought we were more solid backwards than I'd expected and decent enough going forward. Dartford and Billericay were too strong for the rest of us all season, but we were firmly placed in the playoff spots since the start of September. Playoff games were tough, but we managed to pull through to gain back to back promotions, and we'll be looking forward to playing football on a national level next season. I had the pleasure of being voted manager of the season by my colleagues.

Our performances in the FA Cup and FA Trophy however were a bit disappointing.

Finances were surprisingly good. We made a taxable profit of £369K. The board granted my requests to improve both junior coaching and youth recruitment, as well as a National B and National A licence. We were the only team to sell out our stadium (twice), and averaged 57 % of our capacity. Average attendance ended at 1719. 

After the season the board decided to expand the standing area of the stadium by 1000. For some crazy reason, I was also linked to a vacancy at newly relegated Premier League side Middlesbrough.

@Warhawk, @HighFlyingDwarf 

[PS-GamerNeil]

9 minutes ago, Muggert said:

Yes. And this version of Billericay has me as a manager. I would argue that most people would prefer the AI 😂

Billie got back to back promotions in my save and are a mid table league two side now. Would be nice if they could keep up with my marine and get to league one 👍🏻

[dkouv]

King’s Lynn dafuge Challenge
 

Season 4 – 2021/22 – League 2

The season started with some confusion about turning professional – I requested it, the board said yes, and then said it would be done in a year :o But then we turned pro by the start of the season anyway.

Transfers: It was harder to find players this time, maybe because I was now looking for semi-decent released players rather than any old dross. So this season was mainly about loan signings – 7 in total, all good quality, and rotated for the 5 loan places in the squad. I managed to secure a few non-loan signings in the summer and a few more in the second half of the season. Another milestone was reached in the winter, as I sold off one of my younger players for £140k + add-ons to QPR. He wasn’t getting much first-team time, and I could use the cash to upgrade facilities.

League: Easily the most enjoyable season so far. The quality of the loan signings was good, and we hit the ground running, staying in 1^st even in the early stages of the season, and running away with the league later on, collecting 107 points in total.

FA Cup: An impressive win at home to League 1 Sunderland set up a third round tie away to Championship Sheffield Wednesday. We fought hard, but were denied a replay when they scored their winner with literally the last kick of the game. The extra cash came in handy, but I’m still waiting for that money-boosting tie away to a top premiership side.

Other cups: Out at the 1^st knockout stage in the Checkatrade, and in the first round of the League cup, but both were very close.

Best players: On-loan striker Karl Pashen finished top scorer, but I ended up signing my best player in January, with ex-Nottingham Forest and Cambridge striker Gerry McDonagh hitting 16 and assisting 15 in just 15 games. No other players really stood out, but a newly signed midfielder George Dowling had a good season.

Facilities: a training facilities + youth recruitment upgrade, plus a stadium seat conversion to meet the league requirements. Managed to scrape just enough cash for another training facility upgrade at the end of this season.

Season  |  League   | Pos.  |  FA Cup  | FA Trophy |  CL      |   EL       |  Top scorer        |  Top assists        |    Top rating        | Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19 |  Van Nth  |  5    |  R3      |  R1       |  n/a     |  n/a       |  Abioye (36)       |  Limb (17)          |    Limb (7.4)        | Lost in play-off final
2019/20 |  Van Nth  |  1    |  R3      |  won      |  n/a     |  n/a       |  Obiero (34)       |  Hmami (18)         |    Doughty (7.8)     | Promoted
2020/21 |  Van Nat  |  1    |  R4      |  R4       |  n/a     |  n/a       |  Keaveny (48)      |  Keaveny (25)       |    Keaveny (7.9)     | Promoted
2021/22 |  League 2 |  1    |  R3      |  n/a      |  n/a     |  n/a       |  Pashen (31)       |  Keaveny (18)       |    McDonagh (7.9)    | Promoted

Season  |  Finances  | Training Fac.  | Youth Fac.      | Coaching     |   Recruitment  | Stadium
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19 |   £82k     |  Poor          |  Poor           | Adequate     |   Limited      | 8200 
2019/20 |   £392k    |  Basic         |  Poor           | Average      |   Limited      | 8200 
2020/21 |   £447k    |  Below Average |  Basic          | Average      |   Basic        | 5700

 

[StevenStorm]

Lowestoft Town FC - End of Season 2024/25
18th in Sky Bet League One

Final League Table | Squad| Transfers | Schedule 1+2+3 | Awards | Season Review | Finances | Dynamics
Best Eleven

Lookback:
    We've successfully established ourselves in League One. From the start of the league we were actually playing some football instead of just hoofing the ball upfront. I had the feeling that we could beat any other team in the league without calling it a fluke.
    However we still weren't really successful. Most of the games still ended with us losing closly. At the start of the new year I decided to switch away from my successful 4-3-3, 4-5-1 tactics and give 3-5-2 a try since we had a overwhelming good midfield (in my eyes anyway).
    This gave us the turnaround and was also the major reason we reached the semi final of the FA cup - we lost to the Wolves 3-0 ... the first team to really take us seriously.
    Besides that it was a real uneventful season. I decided to splash the cash and invested 450k into the team.
    My main signing Darryn Connolly (325k) took a long time to get used to the league but now I'm happy with him - he fits perfectly in the 3-5-2 system. However I still think I spent 25-50k too much on him.
    Mitchel Candlin came for 40,5k from Walsall and was the League One striker I was looking for. He banged 34 goals, 10 assists in his 52 games for us - noteworthy are his 11 goals in cup competitions
    I got a new board ... they injected 250k into the club ... I would have prefered the old one with my philosophies still in place - they agreed in January to upgrade my youth + training facilities for 1.5 million though.
    We raised our Youth rating to category 4 ... not sure what that means to be honest even though I asked for it.
    And plans are in place to build a new stadium. I have no clue where the money is supposed to come from this ... but okay. No date, no capacity is set yet .. they're planning around 11.000 seats though.
    Our youth intake we nothing to mention this year ... I released all the trialists.
    But overall I made the club more professional and installed a Director of Football, Data Analyst and Head Of Youth Development.
    The biggest thing we've too work on is the defense again. 20 goals conceded from corners is 20% from our 98 goals. I'm looking into that and try to get better central defenders.
    
Outlook:
    I still want to take things slow. Next season would be the first I would consider a promotion possible but it will need some luck.
    I want to be in the top 12 of the league though. Hopefully our cup run and the avoided promotion has raised our reputation further ... our main sponsor deal last year was still only 75k.
    All my players are now reaching a point where it's getting harder to make them better. Hopefully the new training grounds will help here ... I'm also looking to overall the backroom staff.
    Also next season I've decided not to throw away the Checkatrade cup competition like I did this year
    I would love to sell some players for cash but nobody seems interested in my lads so far

 

Season	League			Position	FA Cup		FA Trophy		Top Scorer		Most Assists		Highest Rating
2018/19	Vanarama North			19th	2nd Qual Rd		1st Rd		Jake Reed (18)		Lewis Taaffe (11)		Eze Ebuzoeme (6.99)
2019/20	Vanarama North			5th	1st Rd		3rd Qual Rd		Tom Hitchcock (34)		Anthony Cook (15)		Bernardo Rosa (7.23)
2020/21	Vanarama National			19th	4th Rd		1st Rd		Daniel Griffiths (27)		Rachid Tiah (11)		Lezion Cela (7.06)
2021/22	Vanarama National			1st	4th Qual Rd		1st Rd		Daniel Griffiths (21)		Daniel Griffiths (21)		Marcus Dinanga (7.44)
2022/23	SkyBet League Two			3rd	4th Rd		1st Rd		Offrande Zanzala (29)		Daniel Griffiths (27)		Offrande Zanzala (7.40)
2023/24	SkyBet League One			20th	4th Rd		3rd Rd		Offrande Zanzala (16)		James Norman (11)		James Norman (7.12)
2024/25	SkyBet League One			18th	Semi final		2nd Rd		Mitchel Candlin (34)		Jonathan Llewellyn (14)		Mitchel Candlin (7.21)

 

[IainWhite]

Dulwich Hamlet Football Club – Season 2020/21 – Vanarama National League

 

League – Expected to finish bottom again We started off well winning 5 games in the first 12 we were very in consistent so i decided to drop the 4231 and changed to a 343 narrow as the 3 up top looks to be working well this season. This then lead us on a club record 17 games unbeaten winning 12 and drawing 5 until Wrexham who were second beat us 2-0 at home to peg us back to 3 points at the top. I then thought after such a good run i was being FM'd we struggled to find the back of the net in games and were being punished our form slumped and we dropped to 4th with 4 games left. In a desperate attempt not to drop out the playoffs with our form i went easy on the team giving the no pressure and good luck team shouts and it worked we won the next 3. Sitting second going in to the last game 3 points off Ebbsfleet who were playing Tranmere. We Just had to beat Maidstone and hope for a Tranmere win as we had a much better goal difference. 4-0 Win and Tranmere 2-0 up with 10 mins left Ebbsfleet scored late which left a nervy end to the game but as the final whistle went Dulwich were Champions and going in to the football league!

 

Cup – FA cup we reached the 3rd round where Leeds tore us apart 3-0 but the money was very nice!

FA Trophy we reached the 4th rnd where Weeling united beat us in a replay

Season Awards – 

 

Other Screenshots - 

So a new stadium to be built as we embark on our football league status.

Season	League				Pos	Achievements							
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19 Vanarama National South		1st	Champions, Manager of the season
2019/20 Vanarama National		16th	FA Trophy runners up
2020/21 Vanarama National		1st	Champions, Manager of the season

 

[Warhawk]

6 hours ago, Warhawk said:

Anyway, my January schedule is a bit nuts.  After two matches in 3 days on December 31st and January 2nd (and we went up 3-0 in that second one despite playing a bunch of backups), we do get 6 days off, then we have 7 matches in the next 18 days, including a stretch of 3 matches in 5 days, and 3 cup matches in 6 days.  At Barnet in the FA Cup on the 7th, followed by at Chelsea in the Carabao on the 10th, home against Sheffield United in the Checkatrade on the 12th, and at Walsall in the league on the 14th, plus two more away league matches on the 17th and 21st and the second leg against Chelsea on the 24th.  If we get any injuries I'm gonna have to start recalling some loanees.

After various rescheduling I managed to end up with another set of 3 cup matches in 5 days, and 5 matches overall in 11 days.  Wouldn't mind as much if I hadn't managed to go on a good run at the end of the year to get myself right on the cusp of a playoff spot.

[QSF25]

Witton Albion 2018/2019

My team 

[Upside Down]

Good first season with Witton, well done

I think the first attempting the challenge with them.

[DazRTaylor]

Even though I am done with FM18, I read this thread every season.  I always attempt it but I lack the patience to carry it out.

That said, during my reloads from 24 June 2018 to 25 June 2018, I have had a number of "rare" sides receive promotion and I have saved these games and am making this post to share these save files with you all.  Please note, as @dafugestates in the OP, you will need to retire the Holiday Man manager and start your own.  The save files are ready to play and the in game date is 25 June 2018.  I have highlighted in bold, those teams I consider "rare".

Save One - Kettering Town, Billericay Town, Merthyr Town, Stalybridge Celtic, Dorking Wanderers, Altrincham.

Save Two - Kettering Town, Billericay Town, Kings Langley, Margate, Altrincham, Grantham Town.

Save Three - Tooting & Mitcham United, Billericay Town, Kettering Town, Basingstoke Town, Altrincham, Ashton United.

Save Four - Billericay Town, St. Ives Town, Bishop's Stortford, Altrincham, Dulwich Hamlet, Buxton.

Save Five - Kettering Town, Shaw Lane, Dulwich Hamlet, Tonbridge Angels, Hereford FC, Stalybridge Celtic

Save Six - Kettering Town, Mickleover Sports, Merthyr Town, Billericay Town, Lowestoft Town, Ashton United.

Save Seven - Billericay Town, Brightlingsea Regent, Kettering Town, Gosport Borough, Ashton United, Stalybridge Celtic.

[Swindon69]

Ah the joys of the Checkatrade Trophy 820 in attendance

[Swindon69]

I've noticed that my bank balance is taking a real pounding this season.

[Tranmeremad]

On 27/11/2017 at 23:24, PS-GamerNeil said:

took me over an hour till I got marine. Keep trying mate Matty Hamilton is a beast

Not had a lot of time so still trying to get Marine or Warrington to the Conference North so I can manage them. Been doing it for the last hour now.....

[13-gigi]

Brexit!

[thomas_e]

 

Season review 2021-2022

League Table

Transfers

Finances

Bassala Sambou - Player of the year

Herbie Kane - Key Player

Jack Cork - Key Player

Javairo Dilrosun

 

A great season, securing my 4th straight consecutive promotion and league title. Some really good signings and a great streak of form gave me the title. Although the table makes it look like a walk in the park, it really wasnt, and I have to say I got lucky in many games this year! After Christmas we had a terrible run of form and even though we had a really good margin of points down to third place I got worried that it would all slip away! A great 5-1 win away to Walsall really was the turning point, after having just picked ut 4 wins in the previous 13 games. From that point it was never going to slip and my key players performed great in the final stretch of the season, winning the league with a 13 point margin. 

We made it to the 3rd round of the FA Cup, where we drew Tottenham away. It was always going to be an uphill battle, and we got hammered 5-1 in the end, against what was basically their U23 team. But it gave us some well needed income! 

In the Checkatrade Trophy we lost in the 3rd Round against West Ham U23s, and in the Carabao Cup we lost in the 3rd round away to Crystal Palace. Both really bad games where we should have done better, but the focus was always going to be on the league. 

Player of the year, again was Bassala Sambou, scoring 28 goals in 39 games. That totals 115 goals and 45 assists in 130 games! Fantastic player, although he really didnt manage to stand out when we were in periods of bad form. So how will he carry the team in the Championship? Not sure he will. 

We were able to sign Jack Cork on a free transfer in december. A great signing for us and Cork is more than good enough for the Championship. He will for sure be the heart of the team next year! 

Finances are decent and we are in no real need to sell players, especially as our income will be a lot higher in the Championship. Although a wage budged of 950k p/w will be a little slim next season.....

Securing the promotion is great, but during our bad stretch of form, some of my players showed their true colors, and most of them are far away from being Championship standard. With my loanees contracts expiring, this will be a very busy summer! Players like Jack Cork, Dilrouson and Sambou will all be in the squad next year, but other than them and a couple of others, we really need to sign new players for basically every position! Putting the Team Dynamics to the test!! 

We've had a fantastic four seasons, but there is no doubt that the consecutive promotions are going to stop now! We have absolutely no chance at this point to do anything more than battle for survival! 

Looking forward to next year! 

 

Season  |     League         | Position |      FA Cup     | Checkatrade Trophy | Carabao Cup |     
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018-19 | Vanarama South     |   1st    |     4th round   |      1st round     |             |
2019-20 | Vanarama National  |   1st    |     3rd round   |      2nd round     |             |
2020-21 | Sky Bet League Two |   1st    |     3rd round   |      2nd round     |  1st Round  |
2021-22 | Sky Bet League One |   1st    |     3rd round   |      3rd round     |  3rd Round  | 

 

 

 

[Kaiserwatman]

Boxing Day Entertainment at Moss Lane

[Upside Down]

5 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

Even though I am done with FM18, I read this thread every season.  I always attempt it but I lack the patience to carry it out.

That said, during my reloads from 24 June 2018 to 25 June 2018, I have had a number of "rare" sides receive promotion and I have saved these games and am making this post to share these save files with you all.  Please note, as @dafugestates in the OP, you will need to retire the Holiday Man manager and start your own.  The save files are ready to play and the in game date is 25 June 2018.  I have highlighted in bold, those teams I consider "rare".

Save One - Kettering Town, Billericay Town, Merthyr Town, Stalybridge Celtic, Dorking Wanderers, Altrincham.

Save Two - Kettering Town, Billericay Town, Kings Langley, Margate, Altrincham, Grantham Town.

Save Three - Tooting & Mitcham United, Billericay Town, Kettering Town, Basingstoke Town, Altrincham, Ashton United.

Save Four - Billericay Town, St. Ives Town, Bishop's Stortford, Altrincham, Dulwich Hamlet, Buxton.

Save Five - Kettering Town, Shaw Lane, Dulwich Hamlet, Tonbridge Angels, Hereford FC, Stalybridge Celtic

Save Six - Kettering Town, Mickleover Sports, Merthyr Town, Billericay Town, Lowestoft Town, Ashton United.

Save Seven - Billericay Town, Brightlingsea Regent, Kettering Town, Gosport Borough, Ashton United, Stalybridge Celtic.

Dorking Wanderers, WOW. That is an extremely unlikely promotion. 

[tremor]

7 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

Even though I am done with FM18, I read this thread every season.  I always attempt it but I lack the patience to carry it out.

That said, during my reloads from 24 June 2018 to 25 June 2018, I have had a number of "rare" sides receive promotion and I have saved these games and am making this post to share these save files with you all.  Please note, as @dafugestates in the OP, you will need to retire the Holiday Man manager and start your own.  The save files are ready to play and the in game date is 25 June 2018.  I have highlighted in bold, those teams I consider "rare".

Save One - Kettering Town, Billericay Town, Merthyr Town, Stalybridge Celtic, Dorking Wanderers, Altrincham.

Save Two - Kettering Town, Billericay Town, Kings Langley, Margate, Altrincham, Grantham Town.

Save Three - Tooting & Mitcham United, Billericay Town, Kettering Town, Basingstoke Town, Altrincham, Ashton United.

Save Four - Billericay Town, St. Ives Town, Bishop's Stortford, Altrincham, Dulwich Hamlet, Buxton.

Save Five - Kettering Town, Shaw Lane, Dulwich Hamlet, Tonbridge Angels, Hereford FC, Stalybridge Celtic

Save Six - Kettering Town, Mickleover Sports, Merthyr Town, Billericay Town, Lowestoft Town, Ashton United.

Save Seven - Billericay Town, Brightlingsea Regent, Kettering Town, Gosport Borough, Ashton United, Stalybridge Celtic.

Argh... totally torn now... Do i throw away 2 full seasons of work with Margate and start again with Brightlingsea Regent (just an awesome name) or Tooting & Mitcham (The Terrors is such an awesome nickname and i grew up round there)... argh the decisions!

Craziness... Brightlingsea are proffessional already!

[Hypanimz]

Hereford FC - Premier League - 2029/30

A very up and down season for us this year. We started well enough being around mid table and then had a massive slump and fell just 1 point before the relegation zone. Thankfully we picked up and had a good run of form towards the end of the season, although we drew a lot of those games we should have won them so I saw a lot of positives. Hopefully we can finally crack the top half soon. 

League Table

Past Positions

Cups - I wanted to reach a cup final so I went for it in the Carabao Cup however Man United knocked us out in the semi final. FA Cup as a quick exit in round 4.

Squad - I have stocked up on a few too many midfielders and my defence is weak at the wing back positions. I'm screaming out for a class striker as my current strikers miss a lot of opportunities. A revamp is needed soon.

Finances - Plenty in the bank despite spending £109m on new players.

Transfers - I sold £60m worth of talent over the season. with Sutcliffe going for a potential £40m. I panicked and overspent on Gale, hopefully he can come good.   

 

Key Player Profiles:

Berat Haxhaj - Bought 2 years ago for £4.5m and now worth £35m. Needs to score a bit more but a very good player.

Peter Deutschmann - Had a £4.9m release fee which I hit last summer to sign. Great first season.

Joao Rodrigues - Top scorer with again this season with 17. Just needs to convert more chances as misses lots. 

Next Season Aims

Break into the top 10. We are not far off doing this and then hopefully can really push on.

Other News

My homegrown star Garner played 30 times in the first team as a 16 year old this season and did pretty well. I cant decide if I should use him in midfield or upfront however.

Career Overview

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19         Vanarama South              9th               FA Cup 2nd round  
2019/20         Vanarama North		    3rd	 	      Lost in playoff final
2020/21         Vanarama North		    1st	              Champions and FA Trophy Winners
2021/22         Vanarama National           1st               Champions, FA Trophy finalists & FA Cup 3rd round
2022/23		Sky Bet League 2	    1st		      Champions  
2023/24         Sky Bet League 1            4th               Lost in playoff final
2024/25         Sky Bet League 1            1st               Champions, FA Cup round 5 & Checkatrade Trophy winner
2025/26         Sky Bet Championship        1st               Champions
2026/27         Premier League              11th              Survival
2027/28	        Premier League              12th      
2028/29         Premier League              14th
2029/30         Premier League              14th

 

 

[Kaiserwatman]

League - Squad - Dynamics - Transfers - Finances

The last season to be played out at Moss Lane was a pretty forgettable one and all promotion momentum appears to have dried up.  It could well have been worse as the club were threatened with relegation up to round February before eventually moving away from the drop zone.  There will be system changes next season as currently i am too open and whilst i got away with it over the past 9 seasons i now need to address it as the bigger clubs are exploiting the gaps . The club are currently hemorrhaging  money  whilst paying for the new stadium, overall £650k in the red despite the record sale of Michael Hill to Huddersfield Town.

In the Cup , there were wins over Oxford United and Witton Albion before losing to Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in Round 3.  Huddersfield Town ended any aspirations in the Carabao losing in extra time in round 2.

[Mr_Demus]

Margate FC 2018/19 season review

 

A rough start, but we found our footing. After nearly missing out on the playoffs, this happened League Table

Which means that we are off to the Vanarama National. I feel that we have a strong squad, but we still need to strengthen a lot if we want to survive

Top Scorer - he didn't perworm that good, but we are keeping him for next year

This guy joined us on loan from our parent club Peterborough late in the season, and what a difference he made. I really hope to be able to sign him permanently.

Finances aren't great, but as expected

Season          League                      League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19         Vanarama South              7th               Promoted 

 

 

[Dons]

@Hypanimz - My homegrown star Garner played 30 times in the first team as a 16 year old this season and did pretty well. I cant decide if I should use him in midfield or upfront however.

I would use him as shadow striker - Doesn't seem too many of those around, when searching the market?

[Hypanimz]

1 minute ago, Dons said:

@Hypanimz - My homegrown star Garner played 30 times in the first team as a 16 year old this season and did pretty well. I cant decide if I should use him in midfield or upfront however.

I would use him as shadow striker - Doesn't seem too many of those around, when searching the market?

I have been considering using him there but I don't tend to use an Attacking Midfielder. I would have to change my formation to fit him in which I'm not overly keen on doing.

[Swindon69]

On a side note I've just spotted Wayne Rooney is managing Bury.

[tremor]

Yep... couldn't resist.

Meet Raymond Bingham, the new manager of Tooting & Mitcham United

Going to see how it goes... it looks like it's going to be super tight to start; no squad, no staff and 8k for wages with zero for transfers almost zero scouting budget... on the plus side... if i can get it up and running, having an 8000 capacity stadium is a real bonus and the fact that there is absolutely no fat anywhere means i'm starting from scratch.

Margate is on hold... Up the Terrors!

[Warhawk]

So at the January deadline I made a move for Swindon's goalkeeper.  Swindon had been in the top spot since October after getting off to a 13-4-1 start.  I had been bouncing around mid-table for most of the season but at that point had basically established myself in the top 8-10.

I suspect they're regretting that decision at the moment.

[Warhawk]

23 minutes ago, Swindon69 said:

On a side note I've just spotted Wayne Rooney is managing Bury.

I mentioned it before but he managed Stevenage to a promotion from League Two in my game, then left for Oxford where he's gone 2-4-8 in the Championship since taking over in November.  Then again they had gone 4-5-10 before then so they're just not any good.  Giggs got fired from Gillingham after falling apart after making the playoff last season.  Adam Lallana got hired by Doncaster in November, went 4-1-0 in his first five matches, and 1-2-8 since.  Way down in the VNL, Jamie Vardy is managing Ebbsfleet after getting sacked at Hartlepool.

As for the PL, contrary to most people's experiences I've seen on here, Guardiola is still with Man City in 2023.  Zidane is managing Chelsea.  Man U hired Simeone in 2022 after he added two more Liga trophies in 2018 and 2021 along with 2nd in 2019 and 2020 and 3rd in 2022.  Arsenal hired Allegri in 2020 after he won 3 straight Serie A trophies.  And Mancini is with Liverpool.

[Warhawk]

So I ended up losing to Chelsea in the Carabao semis... but... uh... well...

8 days earlier Man City had beaten Chelsea 2-0.

[Swindon69]

My chairman decided to accept this offer

This is what he looked like

 

[Warhawk]

6 matches left and I'm sitting in a 3-way tie with Swindon and Burton on points for first place, though third in goal differential, and with Sheffield United one point back.  Tense stuff.

Also managed to take care of Cardiff pretty easily in the FA Cup 6th round, surprising since they beat Arsenal before losing to us.  Oddly it was Cardiff's second straight season in the FA Cup 6th round despite finishing 16th in the Championship last season and being 18th currently this season.  Easier than our 4th and 5th round matches, where we got lucky against West Ham and pulled out a closely played one against Middlesbrough.  We've got Huddersfield (who took out Southampton) in the semis; the other semi is Tottenham vs. Watford.  Some of the big teams cannibalized each other, Chelsea lost to Man City in the third who lost to Arsenal in the 4th, and Tottenham beat Man U in the 6th.

[Dons]

Burgess Hill Town
Season Update 2023/24

Sky Bet League One
Final Position 1st

 Squad - Table - Transfers - Finances - Dynamics - Injuries - Conf. Review - Review - Commercial - Board - Profile 

A solid season, where once again too many players were signed - but also quite a few offloaded. It was a season where there were many long term injuries with our previously first choice striker Leon Beadie being extremely unlucky. A 7 months broken leg in preseason, followed by a 4 month damaged achilles just shortly after returning to training. He only managed 45 mins of game time in total this season. Reece Miller, who has played 142 games and scored 72 goals where almost as unlucky. with 4 rather long injuries of 2x twisted ankles, sprained ankle and finally a 3 month broken ankle. These injuries forced me to go to the transfer market and look for replacements. Mark Higgins was purchased for 700k from Livingston and scored 13 goals in 20(14) matches. Rhodri Bridgeman purchased for 100k from Celtic was better than expected and scored 20 goals in 27(14) matches.

The season itself was really close in top 3. Second last game of the season saw us winning the title after beating Shrewsbury 3-1. We finished with 97 points. Luton and Swindon both really close with 94 points. Played mostly with my preferred 4-3-2-1 DM Wide formation, but also stuck with 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow and played around with 4-3-3 Attacking Narrow, as others are having great success with on forum.

Was able to sign a few more foreign staff and tried to sign several foreigners with the increased scouting knowledge. Signed Martin Meertens from N.E.C for 575k. He scored 14 goals in 20(7) matches which sounds better than it was, as there were a few hattricks and braces in those numbers. Last years Imad Faraj had a good season playing as both IF and SC and had 9 goals and 11 assists in 32(11) matches.

The Cups were only really good for the money with a 3rd round exit in Carabao to Man City and a 3rd round exit to West Ham in the FA. We got to the finals in Checkatrade and played Man Utd reserves at Wembley in front of a dissapointing low attendance of just under 10k. In a game we dominated, we only managed to win 1-0, but that was enough to lifting the trophy!

Finances was only kept up by selling players. We paid a lot of money to "tax and other". With a record sale of Brian Burns of potential 4KK and Gosling for potential 2.9KK we kept the black numbers afloat.

Board was in cheeful mood this season deciding to upgrade training  and youth training facilities and analyst center, as well as increasing youth level. In terms of youth, last seasons "golden generation" had me hoping for another batch of great prospects, but only to be saddened by a below decent intake. We are finally getting that new Stadium after filling the current one for almost 2 seasons. Will be great to move into 12.814 Burgess Hill Stadium once completed!

Noteworty players:

Matej Delac GK (previously FM series wonderkid) Will be joining from Huddersfield next season!
Rasmus Mouritsen DC - Is getting better and better. Managed to protes a transfer board accepted for 3.3KK. He will either become a star for us, or sold for a fortune (i hope) in the CH.
Ian Manning DM - Our key player and according to players, master defense coordinator. Since the screen he just signed a new contract earning 4.1k a week, making him one of my expensive players.
Andre Dozzell Mez - Was our best attacking midfielder this season. Looking forward to watching this former Blackburn player next season.

Season              League              Position            FA Cup                Carabao Cup   EURO                 Checkatrade   FAT
2018/19             Van. South          2nd                 2nd round             NA            NA                   NA            Winner
2019/20             Van. South          1st                 3rd round             NA            NA                   NA            2nd round
2020/21             Van. Nat.           1st                 4th round             NA            NA                   NA            Final
2021/22             League Two          1st                 3rd round             2nd round     NA                   3rd round     NA
2022/23             League One          12th                Semi Final            1st round     NA                   Semi Final    NA
2023/24             League One          1st                 3rd round             3rd round     NA                   Winner        NA

 

[Warhawk]

Just got out-shot 29 to 4 by Huddersfield in the FA Cup semis and won 3-1, and their goal came in the 89th minute anyway.  Crazy.  We benefited from an own goal and a penalty.

Currently in second by a point in each direction going into the last league match.

EDIT: And Watford beat Tottenham in the other semi.  Considering the 5 previous champs were Man City (twice), Chelsea (twice), and Man U, this is a rather surprising matchup.

[Faramir]

Our promotion run was amazing, but now we have to try and stay up in VNL with no transfer budget and only a modest increase of 2000/week to our wage budget. It will be a challenge, especially given our minimal scouting that we can afford. We scoured the free transfer list during the summer and managed to add:

 

Deren Ibrahim GK- 28 year old Gibraltan keeper with 6 caps- with his addition we finally have the solid  veteran keeper that we have needed.
Owen McCann- 16 year old English forward- very promising youngster and will see a lot of time up front
Jaydn Mundle-Smith- 19 year old English leftback- I was unhappy with Cristian Navarro's performance at the end of last season and Mundle-Smith will probably edge him out
Foday Nabay- 20 year old Sierra Leone International with 7 caps- a very good midfield addition and should play a lot
Dilan Markanday- 17 year old rightwinger that may well start over Max Booth
Jubril Adedeji- 19 year old Nigerian SC that should play a lot for us in leading the line
Sam Golan- 20 year old American DC that should play a lot in rotation with Sam Nunn or Emmanuel Omrore
Emmanuel Idem- 20 year old GK who has a better level of talent than nominal backup Arthur Janata.
Jermome Opuku- 21 year old DC with good pace and decent, not great skills.
Steven Cahill- 20 year old MC who I expect to start in the playmaking role- he isn't great, but just a good overall midfielder.
Jack Clarke- 20 year old MC released by Aston Villa who I have hopes for.
Leon James- 18 year old MC released by Leicester that might develop into an impact playmaker.

In addition, we landed Zhenyu He on another season-long loan from Notts County to give us more depth up front and 19 year old MC Sam Skeffington from Millwall. Skeffington is a large midfielder with a physical presence, but not much technique or skill yet and I see him coming in when we need defense in the midfield.

With the additions, we are spending 7229/week against our 6940/week wage budget. I felt we had to go over our budget to sign the depth players. Currently we have several orginal players that are being overpaid and will not receive contract renewals next season, so that will help the budget a lot next year- in the meantime the Board isn't protesting too much our slight overrage. We did lose Harry Donovan, who had playing time concerns left over from last season and refused to sign a new contract with us.

 

 

[Swindon69]

I was conceding goals from crosses from the wide midfielders so I set my 2 strikers that play off my main striker to man mark them - that seems to be working atm.

[Swindon69]

This is a bit rich given they took the decision out of my hands.

 

[Fadedaf]

Merthyr Town Season 2022/23 Report

League- I aimed for a comfortable mid-table finish in our first season up in the Vanarama National however we have been able to replicate the achievements of many others in this thread as we won the title on the first try! Back to back promotions and Merthyr are into the Football League! We started extremely well with 8 wins in our first 9 matches and we were able to stay near the top for the rest of the season. We dropped down to second for a little while in the middle of the season when we were afflicted with tons of injuries to key players but we got back in front and secured the title with a 5-1 thrashing of Accrington in our second last game. We actually broke the record for goals scored in a season with 123. 

Cups- Another good cup run this year, as in the FA Cup we saw off Guiseley before beating two League One teams in Exeter and Blackburn. We then took Championship side Preston North End to a replay in the 3rd round but were outclassed away from home. The FA Trophy saw us exit in the first game to Dartford with one of our worst performances of the season.

Finances- Much better, as our cup runs and larger crowds are really helping our finances stay solidly in the black. The board allowed me to complete my first coaching course this year and a youth facilities upgrade has just begun. 

Transfers- 17 in and 7 out as we had another big turnover. Many of the transfers in were just talented youngsters I brought in on no wages for the youth teams but a few new signings, notably the loanees such as Graham Nicholson and Ryan Reynolds made a huge impact. We also paid actual money for a player near the end of the season, picking up midfielder Christian Herc for 2K, so that's a big milestone ticked off.

Youth Intake- Pretty awful this year. We definitely do need that upgrade to our youth setup.

Best Players- Most goals: Graham Nicholson- 47 We had this guy on loan 2 seasons back and he was willing to come to us again from parent club Peterborough and he has only gotten better. An absolute monster at this level as he led the line consistently all season, especially as our young academy graduate star Sean Edwards spent a decent amount of time out injured. He smashes the previous record for goals in a season for the club and is now the club's all-time leading goalscorer despite only spending two seasons here so far.

Most assists: Chekaine Steele- 19 He breaks his own record for the third season in a row, the club legend keeps on improving.

Highest avg rating: Chekaine Steele- 7.76 He breaks this record as well for the third season running.

Most POM: Nicholson- 12 

 

Next year: The club really feels like it's moving forward now, and in League Two my preliminary aims will be for a comfortable mid table spot but with some good singings who knows what could happen. Hopefully I will be able to attract better players to the club and find some quality loanees. 

Season          League          Position       FA Cup          FA Trophy          Top Scorer          Most Assists          Highest Avg Rating
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19         Vanarama South  11th           3rd qual round  3rd qual round     Fleetwood(28)       Morton(10)            Patten(7.25)
2019/20         Vanarama South  14th           2nd qual round  2nd round          Walker(11)          Morton(7)             Wiltshire(7.27)
2020/21         Vanarama South  4th            2nd qual round  1st round          Nicholson(32)       Steele(15)            Steele(7.64) 
2021/22         Vanarama South  1st            3rd round       1st round          Edwards(31)         Steele(17)            Steele(7.73)
2022/23         Vanarama Nat.   1st            3rd round       1st round          Nicholson(47)       Steele(19)            Steele(7.76) 

 

[Warhawk]

Lancaster City

Sky Bet League One 2022-2023

Year-End Update

Calendar

         

Competitions

Sky Bet League One

My first and most important acquisition in the offseason was an 18 year old Northern Irish striker named Ronnie Gillespie from Glenavon.  He's most effective as a False 9, and appears to have enormous potential.  When I signed him the big knock was that my scouts reported he was inconsistent and had an unambitious personality, but the latter issue appears to have disappeared, and he is now apparently balanced.  He also scored 4 goals for the Northern Ireland U21s this season.  Also early in the summer transfer window I added 25 year old Cameroonian midfielder Noe Baba, formerly with Bristol, and 24 year old Greek midfielder Savvas Mourgos, formerly with Norwich.  The former was signed as a starter and the latter as a backup, and while Baba was good, Mourgos was one of our best players all season.  We also signed a third central midfielder, Neil Duffy, as a prospect, and while he was a bit streak during the season, he's developed well and looks really promising.  In September, being less than pleased with my defenders early in the season, I signed two more players; center back Matt Preston, formerly of Swindon, and left back Gideon Abu-Peprah, formerly of Crewe.  Both were decent but probably not long-term solutions.  We also signed another young striker named James Young and played him on occasion in the first team, and after loaning out winger Roy Langford for the first half of the season, we brought him back due to some injuries and he played very well splitting time with Callum Mahon down the stretch.  As for loans, we brought back Lee Sands yet again after selling him in the previous December window, and he partnered well with Gillespie.  We also brought back Max Vance, who we loaned last season, after a few attempts at a right back fell through.  The other pre-season loan move we made was to bring in our former goalkeeper, Jake Eastwood, as a backup that I was comfortable with when a hot prospect goalkeeper I had planned on using named Noel de Vos garnered some interest from other teams, and I ended up selling him for $1M plus 50% of the next transfer fee.  In the January transfer window, I bought Swindon goalkeeper Nick Hayes for $45k and sold Vickers for $35k, which constituted a modest upgrade, and perhaps just as importantly managed to get then-League-leading Swindon to shoot themselves in the foot since their replacement was not as good.

Preseason went reasonably well except for one game where we got destroyed by Liverpool, and we beat Northampton and Crewe (both in League 2 at the moment, although Northampton is about to fall out of the League after a second consecutive last-place finish) by 3 goals apiece.  Our league form was inconsistent through the beginning of October, starting out 4-3-6, and only had one set of consecutive wins, losses, or ties in the league, a pair of losses to Doncaster and Sheffield United that were actually surrounding a cup win.  Things started to look up with 3 consecutive wins, though they were followed by an 0-2-1 stretch with a 3-0 loss to Fleetwood.  At that point we went on a 6-1-0 run to firmly establish ourselves in the top half of the table going into January.  During most of this time, Swindon led the league, though they were starting to lose a bit of ground to several teams.  In particular, us, Sheffield United, and Burton all started making our moves in the second half of the season.  From the second set of matches in the season through the end of December, the three of our teams spent a combined 1 week in any spot better than 6th, a brief 5th place appearance by Sheffield United.  Sheffield United and Burton started making their moves in January, and after a brief rough patch in January where we lost 3 of 4, we made ours as well - from February 11th through the end of the season, we would go 11-3-1 in the league.  By mid-March, the top four spots had solidified.  Bradford City and MK Dons, who had previously occupied the second and third spots for much of the season, had fallen off, and the league ultimately came down to us, Sheffield United, Burton, and Swindon.  Swindon, who started the final stretch with a lead on the goal differential tiebreaker, were the first to fall off, losing two in a row and 3 of their last 5, finishing 4th.  Burton had been in second, but lost that spot with a loss to Scunthorpe.  They played well in their next four matches, going 3-1-0, to stay in the mix, but lost their final match 2-1 against Stevenage.  We found ourselves in third with 6 matches remaining, after spending a week in the top spot, and after a couple of draws we managed to finish the season with 3 straight wins, including 3-0 away to Portsmouth in our last match.  Unfortunately, only perfection would have allowed us to pass Sheffield United, as they finished the season on a 6-1-0 stretch.  We failed to win the title, but our win in the final week clinched second place, and Promotion from Sky Bet League One.

Final Table

FA Cup

A magical run for us in the FA Cup this season (and actually in all the cup competitions).  We kicked things off with another 3-goal victory against Northampton where, after finding ourselves down 1-0 early, we went into the half with a 4-1 lead, allowing an own goal in the second half but also scoring on a penalty to win 5-2.  We rode a 3-2 lead at the half against Newport Co to a 4-2 win, and they missed a penalty in the second half while Sands put it away in the 86th minute.  We beat Barnet in the third round 2-0 despite a relatively lackluster performance, setting up a home matchup against eventual 3rd-place finishers in the Championship West Ham.  We were fortunate to escape from a poor first half where we were out-shot 13 to 2 with only a 1-0 deficit, and a much more competitive second half allowed halftime sub Richard Stimson to score two goals and steal a fortunate 2-1 victory.  At Premier League Middlesbrough in the fifth round, we played a bit better than them in the first half and took a 2-1 lead just before the break, and were able to hold on for a win by that score despite not getting much going offensively in the second half.  Home against Cardiff in the sixth round, we controlled the game and had the bulk of the shots, but were tied at 1-1 in the half and only scraped a 2-1 victory despite a generally good performance.  In the semi-final against Premier League Huddersfield we got very lucky.  Despite getting out-shot 29 to 4 in the match, Gillespie scored in stoppage time of the first half and then on a penalty in the 69th minute, and they played one of our crosses poorly and allowed an own goal in the 79th minute, giving us a 3-0 lead, and we held on to win 3-1 after allowing a goal in the 89th minute.  In the final against Watford we were again outclassed, but luck was not on our side this time, and despite holding them to only one goal, we did not get a shot on target in the match and lost 1-0.

Checkatrade Trophy

As defending champions, we hoped for a good run, and we were relatively successful here.  Wins against Crewe and Walsall in the group put us in a good position, and a loss on penalties to the Man U U23s clinched advancement.  A fairly easy win against the Newcastle U23s set us up against our competition for the League, Sheffield United, where despite having 5 shots on target to their 1, we ended up settling the match in penalties.  Each team missed two of their first 3, until they eventually missed their 9th, and Peter Burgess put away the game winner.  In the quarter-final we got revenge against the Man U U23s, winning 2-0, before we gave up an early 2-1 lead against the West Brom U23s in the semi-final to lose 3-2.

Carabao Cup

After not getting out of the first round last year, we did much better this season.  We went down 2-0 early to Blackburn in the first round, before storming back to a 3-2 lead at the half, which we held onto for the win.  A 4th minute goal spurred us on to a 1-0 win against Derby in the second round.  At Sheffield Wednesday in the third round, we managed to hang in against a somewhat better team and take it to extra time tied 2-2, before Lee Sands scored in the 116th minute to secure a 3-2 victory.  We played a pretty strong game against Leicester in the 4th round, and got lucky against Newcastle in the quarter-final.  They took a 1-0 lead in the third minute, then we equalized in the 8th.  Despite allowing a lot of shots, we held out until Gillespie scored his second goal in the 91st minute to give us the victory.  Against Chelsea in the semi-final, we put up a valiant effort, but couldn't overcome their quality, losing 2-0 away in the first leg and drawing 1-1 in the second leg for a 3-1 loss on aggregate.

Squad & Awards

We had three strikers with at least 23 goals this season.  Gillespie was 11th in the league with 18 goals, and 33 overall, while Sands was 9th in the league with 20 goals, and 32 overall.  Gillespie was also 5th in minutes per goal.  Richard Stimson split his time with 24 starts and 21 sub appearances, as he scored 15 goals in the league (4th in minutes per goal) and 23 overall.  Gillespie set our club record with 17 assists, while Sands contributed 13.  6 different midfielders plus Stimson all had at least 6 assists as well.  Gillespie led the team in average rating, and was 10th in the league, while Mourgos was close behind him.  Gillespie also had 14 Player of the Match awards, a team record, and had 8 in the league, good for second place.  On the other end of things, our defense wasn't great, though Max Vance led the league in headers won ratio, and Nick Hayes was second with 17 clean sheets (though only four for us) and the third fewest goals conceded.

As a team, we scored the 6th most goals with 7th (interestingly, of the 3 teams that were promoted, we scored the most) and conceded the sixth fewest with 56 (7th if you don't include the playoffs).  We only conceded 9 goals from set pieces, and scored 14, an improvement from last season (in particular, Gillespie had a couple of absolutely beautiful goals from free kicks).  We weren't exactly great at keeping possession, crossing, shooting on target, or crossing, but we did manage to create quite a lot of chances (4th in the league).  We were much better at tackling this season though, finishing 4th in that category as well, and we managed to take 9 penalties this season, more than we usually get.

Nice looking youth intake overall for us this season, no 5 stars but 3 4.5 star potential players, we'll see how they turn out.  The best looks like it may be a center back (though he can play all 3 positions) named Craig Clarke, our scouts say he's a very consistent performer, with a driven personality and super-high determination.

Our players (and myself as well) received a variety of awards, listed below.

Fans' & Manager's Player of the Season: Ronnie Gillespie

Fans' Signing of the Season: James Young

Manager's Signing of the Season: Ronnie Gillespie

Fans' & Manager's Young Player of the Season: Ronnie Gillespie

Sky Bet League One Player of the Year: Ronnie Gillespie

Sky Bet League One Players' Select: Ronnie Gillespie

Runner-Up for Player of the Month (Ronnie Gillespie, December)

Third Place for Player of the Month (Lee Sands, March)

December Young Player of the Month: Ronnie Gillespie

April Young Player of the Month: Ronnie Gillespie

Runner-Up for Young Player of the Month (Lee Sands, March)

Goal of the Month (Ronnie Gillespie; December & January)

Manager of the Month (December, January, February)

Runner-Up for Manager of the Month (April)

Third Place for Manager of the Month (November, December, February)

Manager of the Season

 

State of the Club

From a financial perspective, the club had a profit of approximately $7.6 million last season, benefiting from our outstanding runs in the cups resulting in nearly $4 million in prize money and over $1 million in TV revenue.  We increased our season ticket threefold yet again, from over $300,000 to over $900,000. We have again been given an increased payroll budget and transfer budget, currently at approximately $77,000 per week at $6.6 million, respectively, which will hopefully come in handy as we try to address some of our weaknesses going into the Championship.

Our new stadium is complete, with a 5,000 person capacity.  We are spending $2.7 million to expand it to just over 6,800 seats, and are also making upgrades to our training facilities and youth facilities that cost about $1 million combined.  We were upgraded to a level 4 youth system.

I finished studying for my Continental A license, and am currently working on my Continental Pro license.

Our average attendance for the season was 4,097, third lowest in the league but, for the second season in a row, more than double last season's.  We had 4 sellouts at home, against Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester, and Sheffield United, while over 85,000 saw us play at Wembley in the FA Cup final (and over 65,000 in the semi-final).  54,000 attended our Carabao Cup quarter-final victory at Newcastle, and over 50,000 attended our Carabao Cup semi-final defeat at Chelsea.

My goals for the upcoming season are as follows:

• Avoid Relegation
• Reach the FA Cup 4th Round
• Reach the Checkatrade Trophy quarter-finals
• Reach the third round of the Carabao Cup

 

Season	 League			Finish  Achievements
2018-19	 Vanarama North		7th     Playoffs
2019-20	 Vanarama North		1st     Champions; FA Trophy Finalist
2020-21	 Vanarama National	1st     Champions; FA Trophy Winners
2021-22  Sky Bet League Two	1st     Champions; Checkatrade Trophy Winners
2022-23  Sky Bet League One	2nd     Promotion; Checkatrade Trophy Semifinalist; Carabao Cup Semifinalist; FA Cup Finalist

[Warhawk]

As soon as I post that, I'm pleased to say that Ronnie Gillespie's been called up by Northern Ireland to play on the senior squad in Euro qualifying, at the age of 19.

[Swindon69]

League 2 Champions - details to follow

[Dons]

Old - But looks like a really great player for a season or two.

[Mr_Demus]

Perhaps the challenge needs a Brexit rule? Or at least clarifications on how Brexit should be treated.

Since there is the possibility to turn it off, I think it should be stated that this isn't allowed. I know it says no unedited DB, but for some people this may not count in their minds.

I assume that the all players of this challenge plays fair, but clarification has never done any harm.

Personally, I love the randomness, and the fact that you may have to focus much more on youth than spending. But I can read on these forums, that a lot of people hate it as it makes the PL "literally unplaybles OMGZ"

Perhaps my suggestion is unnecessary, but I just thought that I would bring it up.

[thomas_e]

5 minutes ago, Mr_Demus said:

Perhaps the challenge needs a Brexit rule? Or at least clarifications on how Brexit should be treated.

Since there is the possibility to turn it off, I think it should be stated that this isn't allowed. I know it says no unedited DB, but for some people this may not count in their minds.

I assume that the all players of this challenge plays fair, but clarification has never done any harm.

Personally, I love the randomness, and the fact that you may have to focus much more on youth than spending. But I can read on these forums, that a lot of people hate it as it makes the PL "literally unplaybles OMGZ"

Perhaps my suggestion is unnecessary, but I just thought that I would bring it up.

I wouldn't say its an unnecessary suggestion! I would say its vital that people don't turn it off. 

I guess I got a semi-hard Brexit, with every non British player having to apply for a work application. Being in the Championship with an extremely limited wage budget this certainly brings a new set of challenges to the game. It's fun though, I don't mind it at all, just saying that people turning it off have it a lot easier and I don't think its fair to compete in this challenge if you have turned it off. 

Important point you're raising.

[Swindon69]

Personally I assumed that it's covered by the no editing rule.

[Mr_Demus]

45 minutes ago, Swindon69 said:

Personally I assumed that it's covered by the no editing rule.

I assume that as well. But assumption only takes us so far

[XaW]

Of course it's up to @dafuge to clarify, but as stated here I would assume the Brexit should not be allowed to be tampered with under the "no edits" rule. You might get lucky or unlucky, but that's part of the fun. I have the hard Brexit, but it makes for a different challenge, and one I've tried to handle by putting more focus on youth development than I would have if the Brexit hadn't happened.

[wicksyFM]

1 hour ago, Mr_Demus said:

I assume that the all players of this challenge plays fair, but clarification has never done any harm.

Another thing I think people attempting this challenge need to show is proof that they are playing with attribute masking enabled. I think a lot of people who attempt this don’t follow that rule as they are not asked to prove it