Nobby_McDonald Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 Well done winning promotion again but you haven't become the latest non league club to embarrass Port Vale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 Magic of the Cup For a fourth season in a row we have reached the 1st Round of the FA Cup but be defeated by league opposition in the previous three; Portsmouth in 2021, Cambridge in 2022 and Port Vale last season. This time we have a real chance of reaching the 2nd Round for the first time as we battle Dorchester of the Vanarama South, our divisional rivals who we have already played and beaten 2-0 in the 3rd game of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 A fantastic result to win 4-2 and progress to the 2nd Round for the first time. We've been drawn against Leyton Orient who are in League 2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 Into the hat In the 2nd Round we took on Shay Given's Leyton Orient and we would be on TV for the first time. 16th in League Two, Orient had a couple of decent players in Lukas Nmecha who I had previously tried to sign and Dion Periera and David Sesay both formerly of Watford. I wasn't expecting anything other than a straight forward Orient win and we would just pick up the gate receipts and TV revenue but... Into the hat we go for the 3rd round draw and a replay at home for the chance to progress. With 75k from the TV revenue and 25k in gate receipts I went straight to the board and asked for upgrades to both Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching of which they obliged, so both now sit at Fairly Basic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodesire Posted April 28, 2018 Share Posted April 28, 2018 8 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said: Into the hat In the 2nd Round we took on Shay Given's Leyton Orient and we would be on TV for the first time. 16th in League Two, Orient had a couple of decent players in Lukas Nmecha who I had previously tried to sign and Dion Periera and David Sesay both formerly of Watford. I wasn't expecting anything other than a straight forward Orient win and we would just pick up the gate receipts and TV revenue but... Into the hat we go for the 3rd round draw and a replay at home for the chance to progress. With 75k from the TV revenue and 25k in gate receipts I went straight to the board and asked for upgrades to both Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching of which they obliged, so both now sit at Fairly Basic. Very nicely done! Stats look great and extra money won't hurt, that's for sure.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 3 minutes ago, rodesire said: Very nicely done! Stats look great and extra money won't hurt, that's for sure.. Thanks!! Luckily enough the replay is also on TV so another 75k in the bank. We've been drawn away at Huddersfield in the next round, so nice incentive to try and win for a big payday in the 3rd Round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 The Dream is Over Unfortunately we lost at home to Leyton Orient in the 2nd Round replay thanks to a defensive error from our young left back from our throw in the big positives were we only lost 1-0 and we made a huge sum of money as we had a home crowd of over 12000. Thank you Charlton Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 Perfect Panagi This man just continues to amaze me, attribute wise he's not great, his level is probably that of Regional Premier Division but by god does he outplay those attributes he does have. Previous seasons he'd been playing as a poacher in a 442 formation but I've moved to a 433 and am playing him in his natural defensive forward role and he's doing just as good. 17 goals in 21 league games with 6 assists so far and 4 cup goals in 9 games with a solitary assist. His last outing was this superb hattrick to beat 7th placed Worthing after going 2-1 down. In his five and half seasons he now has scored 261 goals in 291 games and made 78 assists with 67 man of the match performances as we've gone from the Isthmian League Division 1 South in his first season to the Vanarama National South in this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 Shame you couldn't get the replay and that game against Huddersfield but that run has done wonders for your finances, Panagi has a phenomenal record considering your jumps up the league, it's great when from time to time you get a player defying his ability, used to be some great stories on Dafuge's and Gundo's challenges where there'd be players like that who were kept around for sentimental reasons and end up getting game time in a CL final or something Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 29, 2018 Author Share Posted April 29, 2018 2 hours ago, Dexter_Morgan said: Shame you couldn't get the replay and that game against Huddersfield but that run has done wonders for your finances, Panagi has a phenomenal record considering your jumps up the league, it's great when from time to time you get a player defying his ability, used to be some great stories on Dafuge's and Gundo's challenges where there'd be players like that who were kept around for sentimental reasons and end up getting game time in a CL final or something Definitely going to keep Panagi around for as long as I can for sentimental reasons, he deserves it. I think a CL final might be out of reach Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 29, 2018 Author Share Posted April 29, 2018 End of Season? So was coasting through to the end of the season and I hadn't checked the rules of the league and I finished 7th. Which somehow meant play-offs!! Cinderford won the league and from 2nd to 7th which is 6 teams enter the play-offs. We reached the play-offs on virtue of goal difference which made it even better. We play Worthing in a bid to reach the semi-final where the winner will play Torquay. Oxford or Wealdstone will play Kingstonian in the other play-off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 29, 2018 Author Share Posted April 29, 2018 That went well... One game too far for us as we got our arses handed to us Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 Vanarama National South - 2024/25 Promotion would have been a major step too far for this squad so at least another season in the VNS won't harm us. The gulf in class was clear with some teams being able to give their players upwards of £1,000 p/w compared to our £300 p/w limit but that didn't stop us from giving it a real go. We changed formation to the narrow 433 formation everyone raves about to combat the fact I couldn't find any decent wingers to continue the 442. Our biggest scalps were that of Kingstonian away with a 3-2 win and another 3-2 win at home to Worthing which I alluded to further up in the thread. I documented our FA Cup run earlier in the thread too but to recap we bowed out in the 2nd round to Leyton Orient after taking them to a replay, the financial reward was fantastic for this club. We lost in the FA Trophy 1st Round to Chelmsford after also taking them to a replay. Squad Again we didn't make wholesale changes, with just Jacob Whiteman joining the first XI in the 3rd striker slot alongside Bates and Panagi. Whiteman was one of the best performers in the team contributing 15 goals and 14 assists in the league with an average rating just over 7.00. The other obvious star performer was Nikos Panagi who ended the season with 28 goals and 11 assists and an average rating of 7.15. Club and Finances With the influx of money thanks to that FA Cup run we where able to do something we hadn't done yet in this save by improving both the Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching both to a Fairly Basic level. We also asked the board to improve the Youth Facilities which they obliged to but at a cost of £180,000, maybe because we have a Youth Level of 0. We also moved back into the AC London Stadium for the 3rd time after the capacity was increased once again to 3000. Next Season After what was a exceptional season for us I told the squad I wanted a mid-tabled finish not to over burden the squad with the expectation of achieving the same as this season. I've been given a transfer budget of 25k and a weekly wage budget of £4,300 which gives us chance to bring in a few decent players if I can find them. Season | League | POS | FA Cup | Finances | Youth Rec | Junior Coach | Other Achievements 2017/18 | Combined Counties Div 1 | 1st | - | 24k | Basic | Minimal | FA Vase 3rd Round 2018/19 | Combined Counties Premier | 1st | FA Cup Prelim | 56k | Basic | Minimal | Lost in FA Vase Final 2019/20 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 6th | 3rd Qual Round | 8k | Basic | Minimal | - 2020/21 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 1st | 4th Qual Round | -57k | Basic | Minimal | - 2021/22 | Isthmian Premier Division | 12th | 1st Round | 1k | Basic | Minimal | - 2022/23 | Isthmian Premier Division | 6th | 1st Round | -78k | Basic | Minimal | - 2023/24 | Isthmian Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round | -28k | Basic | Minimal | Stadium Expansion 2024/25 | Vanarama National South | 7th | 2nd Round | 120k | F. Basic | F. Basic | Lost in Play-Off 1st Round Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 A very good first season at this level. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 Retired Players entering Management I had a look a few seasons ago at who was the current managers of the Premier League teams and this time I wanted to have a look at managers who start as players in the game. I've skipped the Prem and will do an update in my 10th season of this save. Championship Bury Rio Ferdinand (obviously not a player at the start of the game but intriguing to see him go into management) Nottingham Forest Ashley Williams (formerly of Swansea and Everton, started his managerial career at Wales U20s and went to Middlesbrough in 2023) QPR Gary Sawyer (former Plymouth player turned Caretaker Manager, then went full time at Forest Green and then Chesterfield) Reading David Forde (managed Fleetwood and Fylde before his current club after retiring as a player at Cambridge) Sheffield Utd Darius Vassell (his history doesn't show him playing in Turkey(?) but was Watford coach before becoming Leyton Orient manager) Walsall Freddie Sears (retired in 2020, took up management at Aldershot before moving to Cheltenham and Halifax) League One Fleetwood Michael Bostwick (became caretaker manager of Lincoln, before joining Forest Green full time. Joined Fleetwood in the summer) Gillingham Wayne Rooney (Retired in 2019 and waited until 2022 to manage Ebbsfleet. Finished 18th and 16th with Gillingham) Oxford Utd Kaspar Schmeichel (joined Bremen as a player, returned to England to manage Lincoln in 2023 before moving to Oxford this summer) Port Vale Charles Itandje (the former journeyman keeper has managed Farsely Celtic and Barnet before Port Vale) League Two Bristol Rovers Jonathon Dos Santos (retired from Mexican side Pachuca in 2023, this is his first managerial position) Cambridge Utd Wes Brown (joined Port Vale as a coach, then caretaker manager, took the Halifax job in 2022, then Lincoln before arriving here) Coventry City Yannick Bolasie (also his first managerial position after retiring from football in 2024 whilst at Aston Villa) Halifax Town James McArthus (left Palace for Toronto, returned to England to manage Halifax in his first managers job too) Grimsby Town Eldin Jakupovic (went back home to Swizterland to play for Zurich, retired then joined Grimsby in 2023) Leyton Orient Shay Given (retired in 2017, joined Notts County in 2019, then Walsall and Yeovil before joining the O's) Peterborough David Fox (left Rochdale in 2020, to join AFC Wimbledon as a youth coach, took up his first managerial job this summer) Yeovil Town Curtis Davies (retired in 2021 whilst at Derby, previously managed Aldershot) Vanarama National League Accrington Stanley Albert Adomah (retired in 2022 after joining Billericay, took 3 years to get a managers position) AFC Fylde Birkir Bjarnason (left Villa in 2021 for Austria before returning in 2024 to Fylde) Aldershot Craig Bryson (3 time Scotland player left Aberdeen as a player in 2022, also his first managers job) Cheltenham Town Jamie Vardy (returning to his non-league roots, he retired in 2021, took the Macclesfield job in 2024) Dulwich Hamlet Bobby Olejnik (floated around the lower leagues before taking Cheltenham job in 2022, then Newport County a season later) Hartlepool United Craig Morgan (The Welshman's first managers job after leaving non-leagues Leicester Road in 2024) Vanarama North Bishop's Cleeve Chris Lines (former Mansfield player, managed Eastleigh for one season before joining his current club in 2022) Kettering Town Ronnie Henry (left Stevenage in 2020 to takeover FC Romania for 10 months, returned to management in 2024) Morecombe Gary Madine (took his first management job this summer after retiring from football at Leyton Orient) Vanarama South Chelmsford City Mart Yeates (left Eastleigh in 2019, took over Kidderminster in 2021 and joined the Essex club in 2023) Eastleigh Atdhe Nuhiu (the former Sheff Weds player first took over Newport County before joining relegated Eastleigh this summer) Farnborough Tom Cleverly (left Watford for Leicester then Mansfield as a player and this is his first managers job) Kingstonian Gary Hooper (Been with The K's since 2021 after leaving Sheff Weds) Maindenhead Gary O'Neill (got his first managers job at Maidestone in 2020, he took over here in 2024) Newport County Rommy Boco (the nomadic player retired at non-league Verwood Town and took over Newport after their relegation this summer) Wealdstone Aaron Lennon (the former England winger left playing in 2021 to become Wycombe manager then took Macclesfield in 2022) Step 7 Staines (IPD) Yan Klukowski (former Torquay player) Whytleafe (IPD) Kwesi Appiah (managed Royston Town and Folkestone Invicta previously) Burgess Hill (SPD) Jason Vandelannoite (the Belgian has managed Dartford and Hampton & Richmond previously) Chippenham Town (SPD) Kieron Agard (left playing in 2024) Salisbury Town (SPD) Paddy Madden (managed Boreham Wood before joining in 2024) Solihull Moors (SPD) Jamie O'Hara (first managed Welling Utd in 2022/23, before joining Solihull a season after) Weston-Super-Mare (SPD) Ched Evans (left playing in 2020, first managed at Telford) Altringham (NPD) Andrew Davies (retired in 2020, joined these in 2023) Durham City (NPD) Steven Davies (retired in 2018, took over Warrington Town in 2020, joined Durham in 2021) Rushall Olympic (NPD) Josh Payne (been with Rushall since 2022 after retiring in 2021) Stourbridge (NPD) Adam Hammill (only retired last season when at Chesterfield, took over this summer) Tadcaster Albion (NPD) Tyrone Barnett (only managers job since 2021 after leaving Port Vale) West Didsbury & Charlton (NPD) Nathan Arnold (former Lincoln player joined in 2023) Selected Others Enfield Borough Josh Labadie Dunston UTS Will Buckley Warrington Town Joe Skarz Alsager Town Matt Rhead Halesowen Town Andy Reid Hinckley Charlie Austin Mickleover Sports Martyn Waghorn Basingstoke Matt Mills Merthyr Town Lee Cattermole Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 Into the FA Cup 2nd Round Again We've managed to reach the 2nd round of the FA Cup once again and we've been drawn against... The run was much easier this time, playing three teams from divisions below us and beating Tom Cleverly's Farnborough in the last round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 Scalp!!! A huge win, we rode our luck for sure and went ahead through that own goal. We had more shots on target than our opponents and club legend Panagi sealed the win to record our biggest scalp and reach the FA Cup 3rd Round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blah_1123 Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 19 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said: Scalp!!! A huge win, we rode our luck for sure and went ahead through that own goal. We had more shots on target than our opponents and club legend Panagi sealed the win to record our biggest scalp and reach the FA Cup 3rd Round. Fingers crossed for an away trip to a big club? Imagine the money! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 And we get?! Big payday Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 We scored a goal!! But, conceded 7! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 How much did you get from that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 40 minutes ago, deltablue said: How much did you get from that? Not as much as I thought I would. Around 400k which helps massively but the attendance was only just under 20k despite Goodison holding 39k. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 Great first season in the Vanarama, great cup run too, shame you didn't get more money but even so £400k is a lot for a club your size Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 2 hours ago, Dexter_Morgan said: Great first season in the Vanarama, great cup run too, shame you didn't get more money but even so £400k is a lot for a club your size Thanks. Having another great season but its tight at the top. Anyone of 5 teams could win the league coming into the business end of the season. Yeh 400k was a bit disappointing considering playing away at a Premiership side but it gave me the chance to improve the Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching for a second time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 9 hours ago, ToMexico!! said: Not as much as I thought I would. Around 400k which helps massively but the attendance was only just under 20k despite Goodison holding 39k. AC London is hardly a big draw for the Evertonians. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 Vanarama National South - 2025/26 League Well, we finished 3rd behind winners Eastleigh and Lewes which meant play-offs again along with Torquay, Eastbourne, Newport and Wealdestone. Eastbourne narrowly beat Newport and Wealdstone beat Torquay 6-3. We faced Eastbourne and Lewes were pitted against Wealdstone. Finising as the higher team we had home advantage and that proved pivotal as we demolished Eastbourne 3-0, Panagii scoring twice. Wealdstone beat Lewes in the other semi-final, again as we were the higher team in the league we got home advantage. We had to make one change as centre midfielder Luke Peel was sent off in the previous round. It took 15 minutes for Alex Bates to strike with his 30th league goal of the season but Wealdstone restored parity moments later. 5 minutes after that my keeper got injured, now this was a huge problem, I never put a GK on the bench only in FA Cup games where we can have seven subs. Dilemma who would I put in goal, I had two defenders and three attacking options on the bench, I plumped for a defender, it was Jonny Herd, this was his last game in AC London colours as he was retiring at the end of the season. Could he be the hero we needed? We needed to get in front and hold on for as long as we could to win this final! Half time came and went, the game was end to end, both teams had chances but Herd kept them at bay. With half an hour left we struck. The Cypriot legend Panagi scored what was described as a fluke goal. Could we hold on still? Last ditch tackles, heroic defending and out Knight in shining armour Jonny Herd played a blinder and we went on to win the game and be promoted to the Vanarama National League. Unbelievable Jeff!! Will it change my mind about putting a goalkeeper on the bench? Probably not. Cups You all know about our FA Cup run to the 3rd round where we got demolished by Everton. The scored didn't matter we got there and got some money, that's what counts. We fared a bit better in the FA Trophy this season too by reaching the 2nd Round for the first time but we were subsequently knocked out by Dover of the Vanarama National League in a 6-4 away defeat. Squad It wasn't all about Nikos Panagi this season, Alex Bates really stepped up playing the Advanced Forward role to scored 46 goals in total for the season, which was three more than Panagi's total. Panagi did however contribute a huge 22 assists whilst Jacob Whiteman, the other of our front three scored 10 but assisted 20 goals. Luke Peel and Lewis Upton both new arrivals this season contributed 10 assists a piece from central midfield. Whilst another summer arrival Matt Smith scored 9 and assisted 12 mainly from the bench. Club & Finances Finances really grew thanks to the cup run which gave me chance to upgrade the Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching both again to an Average level, unfortunately it didn't reap any rewards this season with a very poor intake, probably my worst so far. Finger crossed for next season with a new HoYD and another upgrade as soon as the season starts hopefully. As it stands we have £460k in the bank with a net debt of just short of 20k. We still have a combined £475k to pay off the loans which run to 2029 and 2033. However with promotion comes reward and we have been given a transfer budget of just over £140k with a wage budget £50 short of £5k per week. I've managed to assemble a reasonably decent backroom team and tried to improve many of them through the various licences, I hope to change a few up especially DoF and HoYD to get some experience and better personalities on the team. Next Season No squad overhaul but again adding some quality here or there where I can, striker wise I'm happy of course but could do with another back up. Midfield is OK but would like to upgrade at least one of them and also improve a CB spot and the LB for definite. Survival is key, we face some BIG clubs, Blackpool, Accrington Stanley, Scunthorpe and Doncaster who were relegated to the National League this season. This an even bigger step up before with what would be deemed a poor squad. I think squad dynamics are a key part of this years game so if I can get the team into the first game of the season firing on all cylinders we stand some sort of chance. Season | League | POS | FA Cup | Finances | Youth Rec | Junior Coach | Other Achievements 2017/18 | Combined Counties Div 1 | 1st | - | 24k | Basic | Minimal | FA Vase 3rd Round 2018/19 | Combined Counties Premier | 1st | FA Cup Prelim | 56k | Basic | Minimal | Lost in FA Vase Final 2019/20 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 6th | 3rd Qual Round | 8k | Basic | Minimal | - 2020/21 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 1st | 4th Qual Round | -57k | Basic | Minimal | - 2021/22 | Isthmian Premier Division | 12th | 1st Round | 1k | Basic | Minimal | - 2022/23 | Isthmian Premier Division | 6th | 1st Round | -78k | Basic | Minimal | - 2023/24 | Isthmian Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round | -28k | Basic | Minimal | Stadium Expansion 2024/25 | Vanarama National South | 7th | 2nd Round | 120k | F. Basic | F. Basic | Lost in Play-Off 1st Round 2025/26 | Vanarama National South | 3rd | 3rd Round | 460k | Average | Average | Promoted via Play-Offs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Well done on promotion, get a few signings and you should be fine, usually the jump in quality between Vanarama National through to League 2 isn't that high actually so I wouldn't be too worried Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 4, 2018 Author Share Posted May 4, 2018 1 hour ago, Dexter_Morgan said: Well done on promotion, get a few signings and you should be fine, usually the jump in quality between Vanarama National through to League 2 isn't that high actually so I wouldn't be too worried Thanks. We've had a slight rep increase so hopefully we can sign a few decent players. I think two or three seasons in this league before making it up to League 2 would be about right, depending on who I can sign. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 4, 2018 Author Share Posted May 4, 2018 Teams with Tycoon's I had a news item of a club looking to sign a player on my shortlist and hadn't heard of them before so had a look and they were in the 9th tier, had professional status and were paying players upwards of £500 per week. So I had a look at their financial landmarks and saw they had a Tycoon takeover in March 2026, so this season. That got me intrigued and I spend over an hour going through every league I had loaded and looking at every teams takeovers and found some interesting things. The Failures A few teams had tycoon takeover failures and their fates have differed. Crawley had a potential takeover fail back in 2023 but that didn't stop them making slight progress by finishing 4th that season, 5th then 2nd to be promoted to League 1. Unfortunately they have been relegated back to League 2 a season later. Bradford's takeover failure came back in 2022 in a season where they were relegated back to League 2 after a first relegation in 2019/20 and subsequent promotion a season later. Blackpool had the earliest takeover attempt in 2017 when they were in League 1. Finishes of 7th, 9th and 9th were then followed by narrow escape from relegation in 2020/21 but were condemned a season later to League 2. Shockingly it was a double relegation as just a season later they were 24th from 24 and out of the football league. The ship was steadied with back to back 7th places but this season they finished 19th. A up and down story at Walsall as an attempted takeover in 2019 saw them relegated in 2019/20 to League 2, promoted a season later a 20th placed finish was followed by 4th then 14th and promotion in 2024/25 to the Championship. Unfortunately a 23rd placed finish this season see's them back to where they started. Funding Withdrawn Luton were jumping for joy in 2019 with a takeover but six years later crying into their cornflakes as their Tycoon withdrew his funding. Prior to his arrival Luton had got themselves promoted into League 1 and then into the Championship a season later. They have become the proverbial yo-yo club with relegation a season later followed by play-off success to go back again. A 19th placed finish ended the back and forth momentarily but were relegated again in 2022/23. 11th in League 1 a season after then saw them finish 1st in 2024/25 but relegated again this season. With no funding for the foreseeable future will they continue the trend? Rushden & Higham United play in the 10th Tier of the football pyramid and were taken over in 2022 but as you can see he then withdrew his funding a year later. They did turn professional and appoint Jay Rodriguez in 2025 but apart from a 19th placed finish in 2017/18 they have strangely finished 20th in every season since including this season. Still got Tycoons Eight other teams have tycoons in the 10 tiers I have loaded. I don't know if that's par for the course or a high/low figure. Will do a brief summary of each club. Taken over this season, league champions, professional status. Still amateur, relegated last season. Taken over this season, professional status. Relegated in 2023/24, promoted a season later. Taken over in 2024 with the club 14th in Level Seven. Promoted this season. Professional. Another takeover this season, started in Level 7, relegated in 2017/18, steady mid table since. Taken over in 2021. Promotions in 17/18, 18/19, 23/24 and this season sees them in VN. Another early takeover. Still in Vanarama National currently manager-less. The biggest team taken over. They were relegated in 1st season, took three seasons to come back up, five mid-tabled finishes since. Their best players are a 29 year old Charly Musonda, 28 year old Berkay Ozcan and regen Warren Jones signed from Newcastle for £47m and currenty valued at £66m. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 Great work on another promotion. No team has really bombed up the leagues then, certainly not due to a tycoon anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 You didn't cover this in your first post... I take it you're on FM18. Which database are you using and are you finding it realistic and stable? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 7, 2018 Author Share Posted May 7, 2018 8 minutes ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Great work on another promotion. No team has really bombed up the leagues then, certainly not due to a tycoon anyway. Thanks, just in the process of writing up another season. No not yet, I'm 10 seasons in now so hopefully can be a few teams really push on in the next 5 years. 7 minutes ago, Nobby_McDonald said: You didn't cover this in your first post... I take it you're on FM18. Which database are you using and are you finding it realistic and stable? Yeh i'm on 18. I can't actually remember which database i'm using but I know I got it off of the steam workshop, I'll have a look tomorrow if I can find it. Yeh i've found it fairly realistic, no issues that i've noticed so far. Stability has been fine too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 7, 2018 Author Share Posted May 7, 2018 Vanarama National League - 2026/27 Transfers Not done a transfer update before as I've not really had a budget or need to spend it. I was given just over £140k to spend but struggled to find the calibre of player that would join. Overall 11 players joined the club to bolster the ranks with the defence being targeted on major improvements. I actually signed five central defenders to shake things up including spending 7k on Harries from Mangotsfield. I spent nearly 8k prior to that on a new left back as Owens joined from Biggleswade. I signed one more striker too, Jimmy Marquis signing on a free to act as back up. In November I spent 2.5k on bringing in a new goalkeeper from Romulus. Howard, Nwafor, Hayward and Rowley-Watkiss were signed as Youth Prospects. League This year obviously all about survival and nothing more, we opened the season away to Chester and lost 5-3, a game I didn't expect to get anything from but what I did get was the knowing we would score goals. I just wasn't sure how to stop conceding them. After that we went on a mini run, two draws were backed up by three wins including beating Doncaster. Form dipped but we as we went without a win in eight games. After a win in the FA Cup we managed to break the run with a 2-1 home win over bottom club Telford. Two losses and a draw followed before Blackpool visited and we smashed then 5-2. Six more wins on the trot followed with South Shields, Bromley, Eastleigh, Salford, Chester and Tranmere were brushed aside we scored 25 goals in mini run. Stockport ended that run and a couple more defeats followed, we did stop the rot with a couple of wins here and there but two wins in 16 games was poor form although six of games ending draws meant it wasn't horrific. An away win at Blackpool and a last day win over Salford saw us end the season in a very respectable 15th place. Cups We entered the FA Cup in the 4th Qualifying Round when Bath City visited, a routine 3-0 win saw us into the First Round. We were pitted against against Barnet in the 1st Round and thats where we were knocked out in a 3-2 loss. In the FA Trophy we were drawn against the might on Boston United who were topping the table and we lost 3-1 at home after I rested a number of players. Squad The front six didn't change much as four out of five of the defensive unit were replaced. The defence were unspectacular but solid enough considering the changes in personnel. It was Alex Bates and Nikos Panagi once again who shone above the rest with Bates ending the season with 31 goals. Panagi on the otherhand took his time to get going and contributed 24 goals and 11 assists. Marquis signed as a back up ousted Whiteman from the first eleven and he scored 15 goals and made 15 assists. Club and Finances The stadium works were completed as the capacity was expanded to 4325 of which we had an average attendance of just over 1000. Both the Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching was improved which we reaped the rewards of this season with out first 'Golden Generation'. We made losses of just over 100k this season which i'm quite happy with considering we didn't have that FA Cup run this season. I've been given a wage budget of just under 7k per week and a transfer budget of 118k. Next Season Another mid-tabled finish would be great, consolidate and then go for it the season after. Hopefully I can try and improve my midfield options this coming season but won't limit myself to just midfield if the right player comes along. Season | League | POS | FA Cup | Finances | Youth Rec | Junior Coach | Other Achievements 2017/18 | Combined Counties Div 1 | 1st | - | 24k | Basic | Minimal | FA Vase 3rd Round 2018/19 | Combined Counties Premier | 1st | FA Cup Prelim | 56k | Basic | Minimal | Lost in FA Vase Final 2019/20 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 6th | 3rd Qual Round | 8k | Basic | Minimal | - 2020/21 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 1st | 4th Qual Round | -57k | Basic | Minimal | - 2021/22 | Isthmian Premier Division | 12th | 1st Round | 1k | Basic | Minimal | - 2022/23 | Isthmian Premier Division | 6th | 1st Round | -78k | Basic | Minimal | - 2023/24 | Isthmian Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round | -28k | Basic | Minimal | Stadium Expansion 2024/25 | Vanarama National South | 7th | 2nd Round | 120k | F. Basic | F. Basic | Lost in Play-Off 1st Round 2025/26 | Vanarama National South | 3rd | 3rd Round | 460k | Average | Average | Promoted via Play-Offs 2026/27 | Vanarama National | 15th | 1st Round | 350k | Adequate | AboveAverage | Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 Good to consolidate. Thanks for the information. Knowing what database will be great. I'm likely to get a new laptop later in the year so will probably get FM18 with a quality lower league database. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 8, 2018 Author Share Posted May 8, 2018 14 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Good to consolidate. Thanks for the information. Knowing what database will be great. I'm likely to get a new laptop later in the year so will probably get FM18 with a quality lower league database. I've found the fmf file in mydocuments and its called English Level 10 & Data Updates. Its by ivanwright26 on the steam workshop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Good season there, I take it looking at your goals against defence is where you'll be looking to strengthen most Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 8, 2018 Author Share Posted May 8, 2018 56 minutes ago, Dexter_Morgan said: Good season there, I take it looking at your goals against defence is where you'll be looking to strengthen most Well thats where I improved last season the most but still not good enough. Found a couple of defenders released by Premiership clubs who i'm looking at but don't want to overspend on their wages. Midfield is the area to try and improve, we lacked goals and assists from there last season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 On 08/05/2018 at 12:49, ToMexico!! said: I've found the fmf file in mydocuments and its called English Level 10 & Data Updates. Its by ivanwright26 on the steam workshop. Thank you fella. I'll check it out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 Slow progress this season as have been busy at work, been having interviews for a new job and having my son this weekend. But am in November, just got through to the 2nd Round of the FA Cup. Also I sit firmly in the play-offs with a few additions again this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 FA Cup 3rd Round Sometimes this club does something to make you fall back in love with them. We've been doing OK this season, not outstanding but going along strongly and we managed to reach the FA Cup 3rd Round once again, this time we faced Sunderland, who are in League One. We found ourselves pretty much dead and buried, 2-0 down at HT, 3-0 soon after. I couldn't be bothered to really make any changes, I was annoyed. Low and behold this happened.... Not a win but we salvaged a draw but at a cost as Panagi is out for 6 weeks getting injured near the end of the game. Looking forward to the replay! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 great result Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 Vanarama National League - 2027/28 Fewer transfers this season so no recap really needed but we didn't manage to strengthen the midfield but did bring in a new centre back pairing to try and solve the defensive frailties. We also brought in a new RB, who had been released from West Ham, he was solid but unspectacular then snapped up by Fleetwood in League 1. League We managed to finish an admirable 6th this season which was 9 places better off than last season. Like last season we opened the season with a heavy defeat, this time to Worcester City. A home win over Blackpool opened our account for the season. Form was decent throughout the season, with bursts of wins which kept us in the top half of the table. We scored goals for fun this season but also were very leaky at the back finishing with just a goal difference of plus 14. With two new improvements at CB this is disappointing. We had some big wins through the course of the season over the likes of Eastleigh and Dover. Cups In the FA Trophy we we beat Sutton Utd before bowing out to Loughborough Uni in the 2nd Round. The FA Cup was much better, beating Alfreton in the 4th Qualifying Round, Wealdstone in the 1st Round and Gateshead in the 2nd Round. That set up a tie with Sunderland who are in League 1. As I alluded to above we were 3-0 down at home before coming back to draw 3-3 taking the tie to a replay. At the Stadium of Light we put up a fight but succumbed to a 2-1 loss. Squad Beyond the front three there was very little in terms of contribution towards the goalscoring front. Marquis scored 25, Bates scored 26 and the legendary Panagi scoring 34 goals in all competitions. Marquis and Panagi made the bulk of the assists with only Whiteman who flitted in and out of the team contributing double figures also. This is something I really need to address next season to really push on. Club and Finances No improvements to the clubs facilities this season as finances had become depleted and I didn't want to take the club into the red. However finances did improve thanks to the replay against Sunderland in the FA Cup. We've been given a wage budget of £7500 p/w for next season with a transfer budget of just under £90k to bring in new players. Next Season Top half finish next season would be best for the club as we're not ready for the football league. We need to improve midfield without a shadow of doubt, we don't score enough goals nor give enough cover for the defence. Upgrades to both Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching wouldn't go amiss. Season | League | POS | FA Cup | Finances | Youth Rec | Junior Coach | Other Achievements 2017/18 | Combined Counties Div 1 | 1st | - | 24k | Basic | Minimal | FA Vase 3rd Round 2018/19 | Combined Counties Premier | 1st | FA Cup Prelim | 56k | Basic | Minimal | Lost in FA Vase Final 2019/20 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 6th | 3rd Qual Round | 8k | Basic | Minimal | - 2020/21 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 1st | 4th Qual Round | -57k | Basic | Minimal | - 2021/22 | Isthmian Premier Division | 12th | 1st Round | 1k | Basic | Minimal | - 2022/23 | Isthmian Premier Division | 6th | 1st Round | -78k | Basic | Minimal | - 2023/24 | Isthmian Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round | -28k | Basic | Minimal | Stadium Expansion 2024/25 | Vanarama National South | 7th | 2nd Round | 120k | F. Basic | F. Basic | Lost in Play-Off 1st Round 2025/26 | Vanarama National South | 3rd | 3rd Round | 460k | Average | Average | Promoted via Play-Offs 2026/27 | Vanarama National | 15th | 1st Round | 350k | Adequate | AboveAverage | 2027/28 | Vanarama National | 6th | 3rd Round | 440k | Adequate | AboveAverage | Lost in Play-Off 1st Round Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 Player of the Year 2027/28 To top things off club Legend Nikos Panagi won the Player of the Year for this season. His 31 leagues goals and 14 assists saw him crowned ahead of Gateshead's Wayne Clark who scored 35 league goals and Scunthorpes Ian Wassell who scored 34. Interestingly both players were on loan at their respective clubs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Good season there, big progress on last year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 11th Season Round-Up Domestic Premier League FA Cup League Cup Manchester United x7 Manchester City x4 Manchester United x3 Man City x3 Chelsea x2 Manchester City x3 Chelsea x1 Newcastle x1 Arsenal x2 Arsenal x1 Tottenham x1 Manchester United x1 Chelsea x1 West Ham x1 Watford x1 Liverpool x1 Europe Champions League Europa League Manchester United x5 Arsenal x3 Manchester City x2 Liverpool x2 AC Milan x1 Chelsea x1 Juventus x1 Southampton x1 PSG x1 Tottenham x1 Atletico Madrid x1 Juventus x1 Porto x1 Spartak Moscow x1 Biggest Movers and Losers Going Up Loughborough Uni 5 Promotions (Midland League Prem to League Two) Winterton Rangers 5 Promotions (Northern Counties East Div 1 to Vanarama National) Billericay 4 Promotions (Isthmian Prem to League One) Worcester City 4 Promotions (Midland League Prem to Vanarama National) North Shields 4 Promotions (Northern League Div 2 to Vanarama North) West Didsbury 4 Promotions (North West Counties Div 1 to Vanarama North) Winslow United 4 Promotions (Spartan South Midlands Div 1 to Vanarama North) Going Down Cheltenham Town 4 Relegations (League Two to Southern League Division 1 East) Blackpool 3 Relegations (League One to Vanarama North) Stevanage 3 Relegations (League Two to Isthmian Premier) St Albans 3 Relegations (Vanarama National to Isthmian Div 1 South) Doncaster Rovers 2 Relegations (League One to Vanarama National) Bradford City 2 Relegations (League One to Vanarama National) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 Points win Prizes I had a quick skim through the leagues to see how many points some teams amassed to win their respective leagues and I thought i'd show a few of them below. In no particular order... East Midlands Counties League Imagine going unbeaten, obtaining 116 points and still coming 2nd. :feels: Eastern Counties League Premier Certainly the most amount of points i've seen in this save so far. Midland League Division 1 Another 120 pointer season! Midland League Premier And another! North West Counties Premier Three teams with over 100 points... Northern Counties East Division 1 Finished 39 points behind the Champions, still promoted. Play-offs are daft sometimes! South West Peninsula Premier Unbeaten season and over 100 points to boot. Southern League Premier Fourth team with 120 points or more, highest up the non-league ladder too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Another very good season. Football League is within touching distance. These FA Cup runs are helping your finances. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 On 14/05/2018 at 23:09, Nobby_McDonald said: Another very good season. Football League is within touching distance. These FA Cup runs are helping your finances. Thanks. Yeh its not too far away but we have Accrington Stanley, Northampton, Bristol Rovers and a rejuvenated Bradford City to contend with this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 U18s on the Right Track Prior to 2026/27 season the youth team only played friendlies and competed in the FA Youth Cup. Upon the first team reaching the Vanarama National, the U18s were then entered into the Division 3 South-East with under 18s from QPR, MK Dons and Cambridge. In their inaugural season they managed to finish a very respectable 5th place. It was in that season that the youth intake saw two strikers come through which then really propelled the team forward in the 2027/28 season. Goals flowed in that season as Tony Hill who was eventually promoted to the first team that season scored 43 goals in 41 appearances with 26 assists. He was the better of the two from the intake but Jonathan Rutter went a bit crazy scoring a huge 74 goals in 76 games for both U18s & U23s along with 30 assists. As we play a 4-3-3 formation in the first team I had asked the youth managers to play the same way and the 3rd striker who I signed after his release from AFC Wimbledon also scored 58 goals in 68 games with 32 assists. The U18s went on to improve on their first season with a 3rd placed finish behind Charlton and QPR. They started this season in even better vein having won six out of seven games with Jonathan Rutter scoring 20 goals in 10 games overall. He really put AFC Wimbledon to the sword in his last match scoring seven goals in a 12-1 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted May 21, 2018 Author Share Posted May 21, 2018 Vanarama National League - 2028/29 League What a season!! I'll keep it brief, we have been promoted to the football league. We finished in a magnificent 3rd place behind winners Tranmere and runner's up Accrington Stanley who joined us in the play-offs. We faced Sutton in the semi-final after they beat Barnet. Managed by Jonjo Shelvey they took an early lead and took until nearly half time for us to equalise, the second half was much better and we scored twice more to win the tie 3-1 and take us to Wembley. Accrington beat Maidstone in the other semi and took the favourites tag and the home dressing room. An injury to starting centre back Alberto spoilt plans but I had a more than adequate replacement. Stanley started the better team but we grew into the game and scored 5 minutes before half time through Jack Joyce, his 31st league goal of the season. We continued to push for a second and that came with 10 minutes to go through club legend Panagi with his 29th league goal of the season. Into the football league we go. Cups In the FA Cup we reached the 3rd Round beating defeated by Derby County. We beat Loughborough, Halifax and Coventry City along the way. In the FA Trophy we beat Salisbury and Blackpool before being knocked out by Sutton Utd in the 3rd Round. Squad This season we made a few first team acquisitions, Jack Joyce signed from Paget Rangers, he originally started at Crystal Palace. Young Chilean Ivan Hall signed from Arsenal after his release to become first choice left back and midfielders Rob O'Brien signed for £70 () from Dorchester and Ryan Cook after his release from Southampton. For me player of the season was undoubtedly one of our own youth products. Tony Hill was promoted to the first team last season during an injury crisis. This season he was given a starting berth and he duly delivered with 39 goals in all and 20 assists. Jack Joyce and Nikos Panagi both made returns of 35 goals each and 21 and 24 assists respectively. Club and Finances Still a semi-professional club I don't think it will be long before we make the jump to being full time but money matters and we have just over 700k in the bank. Will be interesting to see what happens with our facilities now we have reached League football, we need to add more seats I would imagine as we only have 825 at the minute. Junior Coaching was improved to a good level and youth recruitment was kept at above average. Next Season We've been given £340k to improve the squad with a wage budget of £11.5k p/w which helps massively in our bid to stay up next season. Any improvements in the squad are welcome, we definitely need to bring in a new RB and some more options in midfield. Season | League | POS | FA Cup | Finances | Youth Rec | Junior Coach | Other Achievements 2017/18 | Combined Counties Div 1 | 1st | - | 24k | Basic | Minimal | FA Vase 3rd Round 2018/19 | Combined Counties Premier | 1st | FA Cup Prelim | 56k | Basic | Minimal | Lost in FA Vase Final 2019/20 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 6th | 3rd Qual Round | 8k | Basic | Minimal | - 2020/21 | Isthmian Division 1 South | 1st | 4th Qual Round | -57k | Basic | Minimal | - 2021/22 | Isthmian Premier Division | 12th | 1st Round | 1k | Basic | Minimal | - 2022/23 | Isthmian Premier Division | 6th | 1st Round | -78k | Basic | Minimal | - 2023/24 | Isthmian Premier Division | 1st | 1st Round | -28k | Basic | Minimal | Stadium Expansion 2024/25 | Vanarama National South | 7th | 2nd Round | 120k | F. Basic | F. Basic | Lost in Play-Off 1st Round 2025/26 | Vanarama National South | 3rd | 3rd Round | 460k | Average | Average | Promoted via Play-Offs 2026/27 | Vanarama National | 15th | 1st Round | 350k | Adequate | AboveAverage | 2027/28 | Vanarama National | 6th | 3rd Round | 440k | Adequate | AboveAverage | Lost in Play-Off 1st Round 2028/29 | Vanarama National | 3rd | 3rd Round | 716k | Adequate | Good | Promoted via Play-Offs Lastly Doncaster Rovers had a real shocker this season and were relegated to the Vanarama North with a record 10 points and a goal difference of -102 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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