Nobbying Around FM18

[Nobby_McDonald]

Highest rating: Christian Owusu 7.7
Top goalscorer: Christian Owusu 56 in 55 games
Top goal scorer: Christian Owusu 49 in 46 games (top in league)
Most assists: Christian Owusu 18
Most man of the match: Christian Owusu 18

Player of the Year & Young Player of the Year

Southern League Player of the Year: Christian Owusu
Southern League Player's Player of the Year: Christian Owusu
Southern League Top Goalscorer: Christian Owusu (Jason Williams second)
Southern League Young Player of the Year: Christian Owusu
Southern League Manager of the Year: Simon Bailey
Southern League Team of the Year: Ian Rees, Tom Grant, Christian Owusu

[Nobby_McDonald]

Roll of Honour

 

PREMIER LEAGUE
Champions: Manchester United
Champions League qualifiers: Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal
Europa League qualifiers: Liverpool (5th), Tottenham Hotspur (6th), Everton (7th)
Relegated: Brighton & Hove Albion, Swansea City, Brentford

CHAMPIONSHIP
Champions: West Bromwich Albion
Promoted: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City
Relegated: Derby County, Bury, Fleetwood Town

LEAGUE ONE
Champions: Sheffield United
Promoted: Blackburn Rovers, Bradford City
Relegated: Luton Town, Lincoln City, Blackpool, Rochdale

LEAGUE TWO
Champions: Bristol Rovers
Promoted: Swindon Town, Southend United, Stevenage
Relegated: Accrington Stanley, Notts County

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Champions: Morecambe
Promoted: Leyton Orient
Relegated: Woking, Guiseley, Welling United, Wealdstone

NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH
Champions: Chester
Promoted: York City
Relegated: Alfreton Town, Leamington, Royston Town

NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH
Champions: Billericay Town
Promoted: Whitehawk
Relegated: Truro City, Merthyr Town, Chippenham Town

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Champions: Greenwich Borough
Promoted: Margate
Relegated: Kingstonian, Burgess Hill Town, Enfield Town, Haringey Borough

NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Champions: Curzon Ashton
Promoted: Gainsborough Trinity
Relegated: Farsley Celtic, Market Drayton Town, Stafford Rangers, Barwell

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Champions: Hereford
Promoted: King's Lynn Town
Relegated: Redditch United, Kings Langley, Stratford Town, Gosport Borough

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION NORTH
Champions: Mildenhall Town
Promoted: AFC Sudbury
Relegated: Aveley, Romford, Norwich United

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION SOUTH
Champions: Corinthian-Casuals
Promoted: Dorking Wanderers
Relegated: Molesey, Walton Casuals, South Park

NORTHER PREMIER LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION NORTH
Champions: Tadcaster Albion
Promoted: Clitheroe
Relegated: Droylsden, Bamber Bridge

NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION SOUTH
Champions: Kidsgrove Athletic
Promoted: Worcester City
Relegated: Coalville Town, Newcastle Town

SOUTHERN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION EAST
Champions: Marlow
Promoted: Welwyn Garden City
Relegated: Chalfont St Peter, Hanwell Town

SOUTHERN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION WEST
Champions: Wantage Town
Promoted: Bristol Manor Farm
Relegated: Bideford, Yate Town

TIER 9 PROMOTIONS
Abbey Rangers, Soham Town Rangers, Hackney Wick, Bracknell Town, Heanor Town, Carlton Town, North Shields, Burscough, Eastbourne Town, Herne Bay, Leighton Town, Wellingborough Town, Fleet Town, Bristol Telephones

 

FA CUP
Chelsea 3 Birmingham City 0

LEAGUE CUP
Arsenal 4 Chelsea 2

FOOTBALL LEAGUE TROPHY
Arsenal under 23s 1 Southampton under 23s 2

FA TROPHY
Barrow 1 Morecambe 2

 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Manchester United 1 Liverpool 0
Metropolitano de Madrid, Madrid

EUROPA LEAGUE
Manchester City 3 AC Milan 1
Olympic Stadium, Baki

 

FRANCE: Monaco
GERMANY: Borussia Dortmund
IRELAND: Dundalk
ITALY: Napoli
NORTHERN IRELAND: Glenavon
SCOTLAND: Celtic
SPAIN: Real Madrid
WALES: The New Saints

[King Costly]

Wow - talk about things going against you!

Unlucky Nobby, looks like promotion just wasn't meant to be. I thought the young lad making his debut was going to go and net the winner 

Has Owusu attracted much/any interest from higher divisions yet?

[Nobby_McDonald]

I know. The finish to the season was agonising and having been very confident of winning the league, it was wrenching to play through it.

Surprisingly, Christian Owusu has not gathered any interest from anybody, despite scoring 105 goals in 2 seasons in all competitions. It makes no sense.

[Nobby_McDonald]

CLOSE SEASON

A blow is dealt as the board cancel the training and youth facility expansions due to a lack of money. I'm going to factor this in when it comes to renewing my contract or not when it expires after next season.

European Championship qualifying continues and England chalk up 2-0 wins at home to Belarus and away to Lithuania.
One of the shocks of all time happens as Kosovo beat Germany 2-1.

Sean Dyche is appointed the new Manager of Newcastle United.

And Brexit happens.

[steff91]

Great save there Nobby,which leagues and nations did you setup for this out of interest?..

 

*Ignore that found it in the OP *

Edited September 17, 2019 by steff91

[kevhamster]

Very unlucky there mate.  Better luck for next season.

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 17/09/2019 at 08:41, steff91 said:

Great save there Nobby,which leagues and nations did you setup for this out of interest?..

 

*Ignore that found it in the OP *

Thank you Steff. I'm glad you enjoy it.

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 17/09/2019 at 11:11, kevhamster said:

Very unlucky there mate.  Better luck for next season.

Thanks Kev. As unlucky goes, that's the worst I can ever remember in one go.

[scott92507]

Are wonderkids generated randomly? Is there a chance that a wonderkid could show up in your youth intake?

[Nobby_McDonald]

As far as I know wonderkids are generated randomly. There is a chance I can get one in my youth intake, the chance increases as you have better facilities, coaching and a broader youth network.

[Nobby_McDonald]

PRE SEASON

Youth recruitment is improved and is now rated above average.
Junior coaching is also improved, now rated good.

Championship, League One and League Two have moved from work permits to the same new Brexit rules as the Premier League - 17 foreign players in squad limit and squad registration.

Diego Simone replaces Carlo Ancelotti at Manchester City, who had moved to Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola has gone to Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp moved to Atletico Madrid.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE TRANSFER WINDOW NEWS

Top three transfers
Marco Asensio (elite attacking midfielder) from Real Madrid to Manchester United for £89,000,000
Marco Reus (elite winger) from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United on a free
Daniel Sturridge (poacher) from Liverpool to Manchester City for £54,000,000

Biggest spenders
Arsenal £128,000,000

Most signings
Stoke City 12

[BenderXXX]

On 06/09/2018 at 23:55, Nobby_McDonald said:

New laptop, new game (well FM18 is new for me) and a new save...

I have downloaded some databases (Ivan Wright's being one - I think the World Megapack is another). I have then loaded England to level 8, Scotland to level 5, Wales to level 2 and the top league in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Northern Ireland and Spain.

I am starting with Bishop's Stortford in the Southern League Premier Division, having been relegated the previous season. Why them? I let the league pick a random team for me and they were the first one to come out from England levels 7 and 8, Scotland levels 4 and 5 or all of Wales.

Bishop's Stortford play at Woodside Park which holds 4,000 with 298 seats. Training facilities are below average, youth facilites are basic, there are no data analysis facilities, corporate is average, junior coaching fairly basic and youth recruitment is basic.

The board expect the playoffs, the media say 6th while the bookies have us at 7-1.

I'm given a 1 year contract on £725 per week, a lot for this league.

A look at the squad and a meeting with the backroom staff shows we have a really hard working squad who are a close knit group. Our strengths are passing and heading, though we have low levels of aggression and oddly for a hard working squad, commitment.
Our weakest area of the team is the entire midfield, both in quality and numbers. And while we have some really good strikers there are only four at the club. One of them is on a season long loan and another is only 16.

 

Will this be one club or journeyman? Time will tell. One thing I do know, I'm really enjoying so far going into September.

Hey Nobby, where can I find Ivan Wright's database?? I've been searching for it a while and I can't find it. 

Edit: I've got it! 

I want to start a new save with Market Dryton in the Northern Premier league, with your Newcastle Town in the league

Thank you!

Edited October 5, 2019 by BenderXXX
new info

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 01/10/2019 at 15:20, BenderXXX said:

Hey Nobby, where can I find Ivan Wright's database?? I've been searching for it a while and I can't find it. 

Edit: I've got it! 

I want to start a new save with Market Dryton in the Northern Premier league, with your Newcastle Town in the league

Thank you!

Good stuff. Enjoy your save.

[Nobby_McDonald]

AUGUST 2019

An unbeaten start is always a great way to start a season. However, it saw us win both away games yet draw two out of the three at home. Both the draws were disappointing. We conceded an Ekpiteta own goal in the 88th minute against Chippenham before equalising two minutes later, while we let a lead slip twice against Wantage. Still, no defeats is pleasing.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Bishop's Stortford 2 Dunstable Town 1 (Grant, Williams)
Bishop's Stortford 1 Chippenham Town 1 (Williams)
Truro City 2 Bishop's Stortford 5 (Owusu 3 (1 pen), Williams, Jeffers (pen))
Bishop's Stortford 2 Wantage Town 2 (Owusu, Williams)
Slough Town 1 Bishop's Stortford 4 (Williams 2, Owusu 2)

MATCH OF THE MONTH
This was the away game at Truro. Christian Owusu has found his shooting boots, scoring his first goal since March. Hard to believe when he scored 56 goals last season!

OTHER NEWS
Christian Owusu is named Young Player of the Month.
St Johnstone and Nimes are the early league leaders in Scotland and France.
The transfer window ends around Europe... The top league spenders are Premier League (£1.12b), Bundesliga (£451m), Ligue 1 (£333m), La Liga (£326m) and Serie A (£230m). Top club spenders are Bayern Munich (£192m), Paris St Germain (£145m), Arsenal (£128m), Liverpool (£120m) and Manchester City (£107m)

[kevhamster]

Promising start!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Thanks Kev. It is looking good.

I should have September's update up this time next week.

[Nobby_McDonald]

SEPTEMBER 2019

Another decent month. Out of five league games we win three, two of which convincingly after we drop captain Mark Hughes and put teenager Teddy Ford in his place as a regular starter for the first time and promptly scores in these two games. These two matches see us score four first half goals against Basingstoke and then batter Hitchin away. The only blot on the copybook was the last match at AFC Totton. This season is shaping up well.
The FA Cup was disappointing though, as we lose at home to a team in the same tier as us.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Bishop's Stortford 3 Marlow 1 (Owusu, Williams, Neville (pen))
Farnborough 1 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Owusu)
Bishop's Stortford 4 Basingstoke Town 0 (Ford, Owusu, Williams 2)
Hitchin Town 0 Bishop's Stortford 5 (Ford, Owusu 3, Rees)
AFC Totton 3 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Williams)

FA CUP
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND - Bishop's Stortford 4 Welwyn Garden City 5 (Williams 2, Drury, Owusu)

SOUTHERN LEAGUE CUP
SECOND ROUND - Bishop's Stortford 4 AFC Dunstable 0 (Owusu 3, Williams)

 

MATCH OF THE MONTH
Our dominance of Hitchin Town sees us put in a dominant performance where Hitchin simply couldn't compete with us.

 

ELSEWHERE
Chelsea have won their first six matches in the Premier League
Notable and shocking scores in Euro 2020 qualifying include...
England 2 Turkey 1
Georgia 1 Italy 0
Germany 1 Norway 2
Finland 3 Czech Republic 1
England 3 Republic of Ireland 0

[Nobby_McDonald]

OCTOBER 2019

A mixed month. Results were inconsistant with performances to match.
The game at Merthyr saw Jason Williams score after 10 seconds, our fastest ever goal.
The following match at home to Biggleswade saw us lose three strikers - Owusu, Williams and Pennock - to minor injuries, but enough to force them off or in Pennock case, limp on to the end of the match and Christian Nicholls scores his first goal for the club.
Needing to score up a leaky defence, I make the signing of unattached Nathan Collins, a youth product of Stoke City, whose most recent club was Cambridge United. He never made a first team appearance for either team, but I'm hopeful he'll produce the goods for us. It starts well, as we are 2-0 up at Leamington before his lack of fitness shows and he is subbed off. We then concede two goals in the last five minutes.
Such a promising start to the season, we have now relatively slipped down a little given we have played most games than those round us.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Bishop's Stortford 3 Salisbury 3 (Owusu, Williams 2)
Banbury United 2 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Owusu)
Merthyr Town 1 Bishop's Stortford 3 (Williams 2, Owusu)
Bishop's Stortford 1 Biggleswade Town 4 (Nicholls)
St Neots Town 1 Bishop's Stortford 0
Bishop's Stortford 3 Kettering Town 2 (Owusu, Williams 2)
Leamington 2 Bishop's Stortford 2 (Williams 2)
Bishop's Stortford 1 Hayes & Yeading United 0 (Dowsett)

 

MATCH OF THE MONTH
The home game against Kettering could be a big match in the season, both of us likely to be in or around the playoffs by the end of the season. We race into a two goal lead after 7 minutes, before Kettering peg us back by half time. We get the winner in the second half in front of our highest league crowd of the season so far.

ELSEWHERE
Jason Williams is named Player of the Month.
The first nations qualify for the 2020 European Championship are England, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Nobby_McDonald

[Nobby_McDonald]

NOVEMBER 2019

Nathan Collins has turned out to be an inspired signing. He has tightened up the defence tremendously and we've gone from a team that ships quite a lot of goals to a team that hardly concedes. Except for the two we conceded on his debut (which went in after he went off), we haven't conceded more than one goal in a single game. Just as pleasing, we're still banging them in at the other end, despite Owusu pulling knee ligaments against Weston-super-Mare (out 4-5 weeks) and we've suddenly become major contenders for the title.
In his first nine games with Collins playing, we don't lose. Then he twists his ankle against Bristol Manor Farm and is going to be out for 5-8 weeks. In the next game at King's Lynn in the cup, we concede four (albeit they are 11th in the National League North). Damn.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Weston-super-Mare 1 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Owusu)
Hartley Wintley 1 Bishop's Stortford 5 (Williams 3, Pennock, Sinclair (pen))
Bishop's Stortford 1 Weymouth 1 (Wakeham)
Bishop's Stortford 4 Bristol Manor Farm 0 (Pennock, Williams, Grant, Neville (pen))

FA TROPHY
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND - Wellingborough Town 0 Bishop's Stortford 4 (Owusu 3, Downes (og))
SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND - Bishop's Stortford 2 Maine Road 0 (Pennock, Williams)
THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND - King's Lynn Town 4 Bishop's Stortford 2 (Pennock, Williams)

SOUTHERN LEAGUE CUP
THIRD ROUND - Bishop's Stortford 4 Thame United 0 (Ford 2, Drury, Williams)

MATCH OF THE MONTH
While it wasn't the most entertaining game, it was the one that could potentially have the biggest impact come the end of the season. We were 4th as we hosted 2nd placed Weymouth, who had started tremendously well and had games in hand. We drew 1-1, a result I was satisfied with.

 

ELSEWHERE

Southampton are upsetting the apple cart and lie 4th in the Premier League.

Significant results in European Championship Qualifying...
Germany 2 Kosovo 3
England 2 Lithuania 0
Italy 2 Georgia 2
Moldova 0 Netherlands 0
The final round of matches see Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Serbia and Switzerland qualify.
The playoffs look like this...
Germany v Bosnia & Herzegovina
Iceland v Northern Ireland
Wales v Ukraine
Slovakia v Turkey
Romania v Albania
Bulgaria v Hungary
Georgia v Moldova
Kosovo v Belarus

[Nobby_McDonald]

DECEMBER 2019

A decent enough month on the whole. It didn't start well with a resounding defeat at home to league leaders Tiverton and two games later we throw away a three goal lead against Truro (we were 4-1 up at half time). Nathan Collins made his return from injury in the Wantage match and we proceeded to win our two remaining games of the month 2-1. The Collins Effect has returned.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Bishop's Stortford 1 Tiverton Town 4 (Owusu)
Chippenham Town 1 Bishop's Stortford 3 (Owusu, Rees, Pennock)
Bishop's Stortford 4 Truro City 4 (Williams 3 (1 pen), Owusu)
Dunstable Town 2 Bishop's Stortford 2 (Owusu 2)
Wantage Town 1 Bishop's Stortford 2 (Williams 2)
Bishop's Stortford 2 Slough Town 1 (Williams 2)

SOUTHERN LEAGUE CUP
FOURTH ROUND - Tiverton Town P Bishop's Stortford P (waterlogged pitch)

MATCH OF THE MONTH
The home game against Truro. Comfortably with a 4-1 lead at half time, we then throw it away as Truro score three unanswered goals in the second half. I hope these two dropped points aren't going to cost us come the end of the season.

NEWS
Our Player/Assistant Manager Mark Hughes announces he will retire from playing at the end of the season. Club captain for my first two seasons, he has spent most of this season on the subs bench as Teddy Ford has established himself alongside Ian Rees in the centre of midfield.
The World Cup European Qualifiers have been drawn and England have been dealt a fairly tough group with Bulgaria, Gibraltar, Latvia, Netherlands and Poland.

[Nobby_McDonald]

JANUARY 2020

A perfect month. Five matches, five wins. Very, very happy. Since Nathan Collins returned from injury, we have won all seven games and we have not lost in any of the sixteen games he has played.
At the moment at least... what a signing!

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Marlow 0 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Owusu)
Bishop's Stortford 2 Farnborough 1 (Grant 2)
Bishop's Stortford 5 Weston-super-Mare 1 (Owusu 2, Rees, Cagill (og), Williams)
Basingstoke Town 2 Bishop's Stortford 3 (Williams 2, Owusu)

SOUTHERN LEAGUE CUP
FOURTH ROUND - Tiverton Town 0 Bishop's Stortford 4 (Williams, Owusu 2, Bentley (og))

MATCH OF THE MONTH
Weston-super-Mare at home... simply... we smashed them!

 

ELSEWHERE

No non league teams reached the FA Cup Third Round.

The Winter transfer window ends...
MAJOR TRANSFERS
Sergei Mininkovic Savic (24 year old Serbian box to box midfielder) - Lazio to Manchester City for £60,000,000
Gustavo Gómez (26 year old Paraguayan central defender) - CSKA Moscow to Southampton for £22,000,000
Rúben Vinagre (20 year old Portuguese winger) - Monaco to Southampton for £20,000,000
MOST SIGNINGS - Salford City 9
TOP SPENDERS (Leagues & Clubs)
1. Premier League £228,000,000
2. Bundesliga £223,000,000
3. Serie A £55,000,000
4. Eredivisie £41,000,000
5. La Liga £37,500,000
1. Borussia Dortmund £67,000,000
2. Manchester City £60,000,000
3. Southampton £58,000,000
4. Bayer Leverkusen £46,500,000
5. Bayern Munich £42,000,000

[Nobby_McDonald]

FEBRUARY 2020

February started well. We despatched Hitchin with ease before a couple of draws against playoff rivals Weymouth and Totton (where the goalless draw is our first one since September 2018). Things go wrong at Wantage where we lose our first match in which Nathan Collins played (in his 20th match) and also Jason Williams twists his knee and will be out, thankfully, for just a week.
It gets worse at Salisbury who are sixth while we are second. Cameron Jeffers dislocates his shoulder after 29 minutes with the score 0-0 and we have no goalkeeper on the bench. I put Nathan Collins in goal and we lose 6-1. Jeffers will be out for 3-4 months so misses the rest of the season.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Bishop's Stortford 4 Hitchin Town 1 (Hands (og), Owusu 2, Wayne (og)
Weymouth 1 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Owusu)
Bishop's Stortford 0 AFC Totton 0
Wantage Town 3 Bishop's Stortford 2 (Owusu, Williams)
Salisbury 6 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Lawless (og))
Bishop's Stortford 1 Banbury United 1 (Rees)

MATCH OF THE MONTH
Not for the right reasons for us, but it is the heavy defeat at Salisbury. My long time tactic of not naming a substitute goalkeeper when I don't have more than five subs has finally bitten me on the arse. Salisbury didn't batter us in the game, they simply scored loads because for over an hour we didn't have a recognised goalkeeper and so the match towards the end became a damage limitation exercise... which didn't really happen either.

OTHER NEWS
It's youth intake time at the end of the month and again we have a pretty decent group coming through. Including thankfully and with perfect timing this goalkeeper who is good enough to go straight into the first team, so will definitely provide stiff competition for Cameron Jeffers next season as well as deputising for him for the majority of the remainder of this one.


Meanwhile in the Premier League, Chelsea are battling the two Manchester clubs for the title.

[Zilla Blitz]

Looks like this season could go any which way for you! You're not impossibly far from first with 9 matches left, and Farnborough, with their 2 games in hand, are closer than they would appear. Anything from 1st to 8th is in the works. Should be an exciting finish to the season!

[Nobby_McDonald]

I like exciting...

[Nobby_McDonald]

MARCH 2020

Only four matches this month which sees us win the two at home and lose the two away. The first defeat was at league leaders Tiverton while we sat 4th. We were two down in 27 minutes before Tiverton had a man sent off on 38. We then battered them for the rest of the match but couldn't get an equaliser.
Youth graduate Josh Egan made his debut in the next match against Merthyr. He had a solid debut and will go on to play every minute of the rest of the season.
Defeat ar Biggleswade saw us lose Jason Williams for 6-7 weeks with a calf strain.
The last match is the club's first fan day since I took over and a paying adult can bring in a child at half price. A relatively big crowd of 504 saw us win.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Tiverton Town 2 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Drury)
Bishop's Stortford 3 Merthyr Town 1 (Williams 2, Owusu)
Biggleswade Town 3 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Owusu)
Bishop's Stortford 2 St Neots Town 1 (Drury, Rees)

MATCH OF THE MONTH
Easily the match at Tiverton. It was the closest match, the most entertaining and had the most at stake.

[Zilla Blitz]

Every match so critical! That Tiverton Town match would have been nice to pick up points in. Good luck in the home stretch!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Thanks Zilla and as you're about to see, we're going to be picking up points...

[Nobby_McDonald]

APRIL 2020

Four matches. Four wins. A perfect month at the perfect time and not only that...
The first win is away to second place Kettering. We put in an excellent defensive performance and we have an unlikely goalscoring hero - Daniel Wakeham has been on the fringes for most of the last two seasons behind Christian Owusu and Jason Williams but in Williams absence, he has stepped up big time. With four games to play, we are five points behind Tiverton and three behind Kettering.
We then have a workmanlike win against Leamington, with Wakeham bagging another couple. Kettering win to go top on goal difference as Tiverton draw. Both have a better goal difference than us. Weymouth still have a chance one point behind us while Salisbury are still in touch but hoping for a miracle.
We squeak out a win at Hayes & Yeading. Kettering and Tiverton both draw while Weymouth have a big away win at Biggleswade. Two points seperate the top four.
The final game of the month sees the return of Cameron Jeffers and Tom Grant. We cruise into a 3-0 lead with Drury scoring a screamer from 35 yards. Things fall apart big time in the last quarter of an hour as Hartley Wintney score three goals in six minutes to equalise. I'm tearing what little hair I have out... until our star striker Owusu bags the winner in the second minute of injury time. It's going to the final game and there are still four clubs who can win the title. Kettering remain favourites having the one point lead and hosting AFC Totton in the final match. We travel to already relegated Bristol Manor Farm.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Kettering Town 1 Bishop's Stortford 2 (Wakeham 2)
Bishop's Stortford 2 Leamington 1 (Wakeham 2)
Hayes & Yeading United 0 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Richefond)
Bishop's Stortford 4 Hartley Wintney 3 (Wakeham, Drury, Owusu 2)

MATCH OF THE MONTH
The Kettering match comes very close. It was so important. And such a fantastic performance from defence forwards. However, I chose the Hartley Wintney match. We very nearly threw it all away, but Christian Owusu saved our skins.

 

OTHER NEWS

Adam Drury wins Goal of the Month while I win Manager of the Month.

The 2020 European Championship draw is made...
GROUP A
Croatia
Denmark
Portugal
Ukraine
GROUP B
Belgium
Georgia
Sweden
Switzerland
GROUP C
Germany
Poland
Scotland
Serbia
GROUP D
Ireland
Italy
Norway
Spain
GROUP E
Austria
France
Greece
Slovenia
GROUP F
England
Netherlands
Romania
Russia

[kevhamster]

Good luck for the final game of the season Nobby.  Hope you manage to win the title!

[Zilla Blitz]

Exciting finish to come! AFC Totton could prove tough for Kettering Town, not over by any means. Good luck!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Thank you @kevhamster and @Zilla Blitz.

[Nobby_McDonald]

MAY 2020

It's the final round of league games. Kettering host Totton knowing a win will seal them the title. We go to relegated Bristol Manor Farm, Weymouth go to Leamington and Tiverton go to Merthyr. We all know we have to win (us thanks to Kettering's far better goal difference) and Kettering slip up.

Jason Williams returns for us from injury. We get off to the worst possible start as Bristol Manor Farm score after only 3 minutes. Teddy Ford bags an equaliser after 35 minutes. Half time comes and all four title hopefuls are drawing.
We throw everybody forward and the kitchen sink at Bristol Manor Farm in the second half and on a rare occasion we can't bag a goal. So that's it for us, a draw won't win us the league unless Kettering lose by at least 13 goals. It's the playoffs again.

Kettering Town 2 AFC Totton 2
Leamington 1 Weymouth 1
Merthyr Town 1 Tiverton Town 0
Kettering are champions. How I am left cursing throwing away that three goal half time lead at home to Truro back in December.

We go to Weymouth in the Playoffs Semi Final. Weymouth take the lead on 33 minutes, though they're not in front for long as Ian Rees equalises on 39. Weymouth regain the lead on 70. We overload for the last 10 minutes but concede again on 86 and 90. Lost in the playoffs again. Feck.
(I've somehow managed to get a screen of the league meeting, not the playoff final. I'll try to remember to grab one next time I'm on the game).

[Zilla Blitz]

Tough finish, sorry to hear you didn't make it! Still, your offense led the league this season, looks like if you make a couple of improvements in defense you'll be set to go up for sure next year!

[Constantine]

Tough luck, sir Nobby, really unlucky, from that last league games to the semi final...

But the next season is the one, Lady Luck has some balancing to do.

[Normthebarman]

Tough luck Nobby. Better luck next season. 

 

On a side note, do you realise it's actually impossible for me to hear the word Billericay and not immediately think "Nobby"?

And send my regards to the Hut, will you? 

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by Normthebarman

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 07/01/2020 at 13:59, Zilla Blitz said:

Tough finish, sorry to hear you didn't make it! Still, your offense led the league this season, looks like if you make a couple of improvements in defense you'll be set to go up for sure next year!

Thanks Zilla.

It's actually the fewest goals we've scored in a season. We scored 109 in the first season and 105 last season. The defence is improving though.

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 07/01/2020 at 19:29, Constantine said:

Tough luck, sir Nobby, really unlucky, from that last league games to the semi final...

But the next season is the one, Lady Luck has some balancing to do.

Thanks Constantine.

The last two seasons we've simply not been able to finish it off. Last season was very much bad luck with losing all my senior strikers at one point. This time it was more that we bottled it. Yes, we lost goalkeeper Jeffers with a dislocated shoulder but a few days after Josh Egan came through the youth ranks and was a very able deputy. I now have two very capable goalkeepers at the club.

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 13/01/2020 at 22:46, Normthebarman said:

Tough luck Nobby. Better luck next season. 

 

On a side note, do you realise it's actually impossible for me to hear the word Billericay and not immediately think "Nobby"?

And send my regards to the Hut, will you? 

 

Norm! Hello! Ian and Liam say hi from The Hut.

And yes, I did have that epic with Billericay. Never quite replicated it anywhere. I was getting close to it with Newcastle Town back on FM11 though I was saved from doing a Derby in my only Premier League season by Notts County actually managing to be worse than me. I must have had the lowest points total for anybody to ever finish 19th in the Premier League.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Season by Season Summary

SEASON   TEAM                         DIVISION                                                                       POSITION   FA CUP                                             OTHER CUPS
2017/8     Bishop's Stortford   Southern League Premier Division                                 9th        Third Qualifying Round                 FA Trophy Third Round
2018/9     Bishop's Stortford   Southern League Premier Division                                 3rd        Fourth Qualifying Round              FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Lost in Playoff Final
2019/20   Bishop's Stortford   Southern League Premier Division                                 2nd       First Qualifying Round                  FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Lost in Playoff Semi Final
 

Note: Bold indicates promotion, italics indicates relegation

 

Trophy Cabinet

LEAGUES
None

CUPS
None

AWARDS
Southern League Premier Division Manager of the Year
2x Southern League Premier Division Manager of the Month

[Nobby_McDonald]

Highest rating: Jason Williams 7.63
Top goalscorer: Christian Owusu 43 in 48 games
Top league goalscorer: Jason Williams 34 in 40 games (top in league)
Most assists: Adam Drury & Jason Williams 19
Most man of the match: Jason Williams 12

Player of the Year

Young Player of the Year

Southern League Player of the Year: Jason Williams
Southern League Player's Player of the Year: Jason Williams
Southern League Top Goalscorer: Jason Williams
Southern League Team of the Year: Adam Drury and Jason Williams

[Nobby_McDonald]

Roll of Honour

 

PREMIER LEAGUE
Champions: Manchester City
Champions League qualifiers: Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur (Europa League winners)
Europa League qualifiers: Arsenal (5th), Southampton (6th), Hull City (8th)
Relegated: Crystal Palace, Stoke City, Newcastle United

CHAMPIONSHIP
Champions: Swansea City
Promoted: Brighton & Hove Albion, Reading
Relegated: Barnsley, Sheffield United, Bradford City

LEAGUE ONE
Champions: Derby County
Promoted: Peterborough United, Fleetwood Town
Relegated: Stevenage, Southend United, Gillingham, Wycombe Wanderers

LEAGUE TWO
Champions: Blackpool
Promoted: Plymouth Argyle, Crewe Alexandra, Cambridge United
Relegated: Eastleigh, Ebbsfleet United

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Champions: Billericay Town
Promoted: Barrow
Relegated: Whitehawk, Wrexham, Boreham Wood, Sutton United

NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH
Champions: Harrogate Town
Promoted: Spennymoor Town
Relegated: FC United of Manchester, Bradford Park Avenue, Nuneaton Town

NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH
Champions: Dulwich Hamlet
Promoted: Dover Athletic
Relegated: Poole Town, Hungerford Town, East Thurrock United

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Champions: Eastbourne Borough
Promoted: Bognor Regis Town
Relegated: Welwyn Garden City, Metropolitan Police, Mildenhall Town, Harrow Borough

NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Champions: Bedworth United
Promoted: Sutton Coldfield Town
Relegated: Grantham Town, Whitby Town, Tadcaster Albion, Hednesford Town

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Champions: Kettering Town
Promoted: Weymouth
Relegated: Hartley Wintney, Weston-super-Mare, Bristol Manor Farm, Dunstable Town

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION NORTH
Champions: Wroxham
Promoted: AFC Hornchurch
Relegated: Dereham Town, VCD Athletic, Soham Town Rangers

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION SOUTH
Champions: Whitstable Town
Promoted: Lewes
Relegated: East Grinstead Town, Sittingbourne, Herne Bay

NORTHER PREMIER LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION NORTH
Champions: Cleethorpes Town
Promoted: Goole
Relegated: Brighouse Town, Colne

NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION SOUTH
Champions: Buxton
Promoted: Peterborough Sports
Relegated: Halesowen Town, Barwell

SOUTHERN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION EAST
Champions: AFC Rushden & Diamonds
Promoted: Hertford Town
Relegated: Kempston Rovers, Barton Rovers

SOUTHERN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION WEST
Champions: Bridport
Promoted: Bristol Telephones
Relegated: Fleet Town, Gosport Borough

TIER 9 PROMOTIONS
South Park, Fakenham Town, Romford, Thatcham Town, Coalville Town, AFC Mansfield, Kendal Town, Newcastle Town, Molesey, Chatham Town, Chalfont St Peter, Wisbech Town, Lymington Town, Bridgwater Town

 

FA CUP
Manchester City 0 Manchester United 0p

LEAGUE CUP
Manchester United 0 Manchester City 1

FOOTBALL LEAGUE TROPHY
Manchester City under 23s 0p Northampton Town 0

FA TROPHY
Salford City 1 Newport County 3

 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Real Madrid 0 Chelsea 0p
Wembley, London

EUROPA LEAGUE
Tottenham Hotspur 3p Liverpool 3
Estádio do Dragao, Porto

 

FRANCE: Paris-Saint-Germain
GERMANY: Bayern Munich
IRELAND: Shamrock Rovers
ITALY: Juventus
NORTHERN IRELAND: Crusaders
SCOTLAND: Celtic
SPAIN: Barcelona
WALES: The New Saints

[Nobby_McDonald]

CLUB RECORDS
Highest gate: £16,650 v Welwyn Garden City (FA Cup First Qualifying Round)
Biggest defeat: Salisbury 6 Bishop's Stortford 1 (Southern League Premier Division)
Games without losing: 13
Games without winning: 6
Youngest player: 15 years 321 days - Josh Egan v Merthyr Town (Home, Southern League Premier Division)
Oldest player: 36 years 194 days - Mark Hughes v St Neots Town (Home, Southern League Premier Division)
Fastest goal: 10 seconds - Jason Williams v Merthyr Town (Away, Southern League Premier Division)
Fewest defeats: 8
League goals for club: 119 - Christian Owusu

LEAGUE RECORDS
Lowest attendance: 65 - Wantage Town v Hartley Wintney
Lowest competition average attendance: 363
Lost in a row: 11 - Chippenham Town
Worst discipline: 92 yellows, 6 reds - Biggleswade Town
Fastest goal: 10 seconds - Jason Williams for Bishop's Stortford v Merthyr Town (Away)

[Nobby_McDonald]

2020 European Championship
Holders: Portugal
Hosts: Various countries

GROUP STAGE - Denmark, Sweden, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, Romania

SECOND ROUND
Scotland 1 Portugal 2e
Croatia 4e Belgium 3
Italy 2 Greece 0
Poland 1 Ukraine 1p
Serbia 0 England 2
Austria 2 Netherlands 0
France 1 Spain 0
Russia 0 Switzerland 1

QUARTER FINALS
Portugal 1p Italy 1
Croatia 3 Austria 1
England 0 France 2
Ukraine 3p Switzerland 3

SEMI FINALS
Portugal 4 Croatia 0
France 0 Ukraine 1

FINAL
Portugal 1 Ukraine 2e
Wembley, London

[Normthebarman]

27 minutes ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

Norm! Hello! Ian and Liam say hi from The Hut.

And yes, I did have that epic with Billericay. Never quite replicated it anywhere. I was getting close to it with Newcastle Town back on FM11 though I was saved from doing a Derby in my only Premier League season by Notts County actually managing to be worse than me. I must have had the lowest points total for anybody to ever finish 19th in the Premier League.

The Hut was my first port of call but my login has understandably been deleted. 

 

Billericay was epic. I'm not sure how I'm going to get on with FM20. There's a lot of stuff to deal with. Started an unemployed save and got the Conwy Borough job. All part time with rolling contracts. I think I've only ever had two seasons, with my old Babelsberg save, where I had to deal with that. Its going to be interesting. 

[Nobby_McDonald]

CLOSE SEASON

Ideally I wanted to win promotion in two years, three at a push. I've not done that although Bishop's Stortford have improved considerably in my time at the club and we've scored over 100 goals in each season. Training and youth facilities are much better, the youth recruitment is significantly improved and we are getting through youth players who are much better than they should be for a team at this level. The wage budget is double what it was when I joined and for the first time, I am under it.
It's fun being there, but at the same time I'm not really getting anywhere.

Then when the board offer me a new contract that includes a pay cut of £150 per week I start to actively look elsewhere with only a month or so left on my current deal. Three jobs get my interest at Maidenhead United, Maidstone United and Tranmere Rovers. All three National League clubs offer me an interview.

So where will I be next season? Find out in my next update...

[Nobby_McDonald]

1 minute ago, Normthebarman said:

The Hut was my first port of call but my login has understandably been deleted. 

 

Billericay was epic. I'm not sure how I'm going to get on with FM20. There's a lot of stuff to deal with. Started an unemployed save and got the Conwy Borough job. All part time with rolling contracts. I think I've only ever had two seasons, with my old Babelsberg save, where I had to deal with that. Its going to be interesting. 

You could set up a new account at The Hut.

You'll have fun with that. I can offer one year part time contracts to my Bishop's Stortford players so I at least have them tied to the club for the season.

[Normthebarman]

Just now, Nobby_McDonald said:

You could set up a new account at The Hut.

You'll have fun with that. I can offer one year part time contracts to my Bishop's Stortford players so I at least have them tied to the club for the season.

Tried but doesn't like my email address. Says its not valid. 

[Nobby_McDonald]

1 minute ago, Normthebarman said:

Tried but doesn't like my email address. Says its not valid. 

Maybe write to Ian?

[Raware]

So.......where have you ended up?