darren1983 Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) Welcome back everyone!! This is the new incarnation of the Youth Academy Challenge started by ri916 and continued by Braumiller before I picked it up, from now on rather than have a thread every year I think we'll just have an overall youth challenge thread so that people that might still be playing an older version can still record their progress and get involved with the chat. The Aim To win your chosen countries' top division and win the Champions League of your continent with a previously unplayable club using only your academy as a way of acquiring new players - this mean No Transfers of any kind. No buying back former players. Even on a free. No loans not even as part of a deal to sell your player. The Available Countries Previously any Country in Europe is eligible as long as you can get a previously unplayable side promoted from Holidaying, however from now on we're happy to extended it to the rest of the world as well as long as the team meets the criteria of being previously unplayable. The Reset Dates (Dates will appear when they have been confirmed for FM19 and if the country you pick isn't listed below just let me know the reset date and I'll add it) Argentina - July 15th Austria - June 14th Belarus Belgium - June 30th (but save on 6th April as that's when the playoffs are) Brazil - Jan 2nd Croatia - Czech Republic - June 30th Denmark - England - June 25 Finland - November 24th France - June 20th Germany - June 20th Holland - July 6th 2020 Iceland - Italy - June 30th Northern Ireland - Norway - Poland - June 20th Portugal - Romania - June 30th Russia - Scotland - 5th May for the playoffs Serbia - Slovenia - June 30th South Africa - July 15th Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - June 20th Wales - Database Settings Mandatory Only load the Nation you’re managing in Database size can be small, medium or large Advanced Options have to be as shown here --> Optional Any additional settings in the ‘Advanced Database Setup’ – Due to us not being allowed to buy players, adding extra players just adds to the realism of your game and potentially slightly increases difficulty. NOTE – It is highly recommended you add the highest unplayable leagues for your country, as this will help make sure the promoted teams (you will be taking control of) have players. As an example, this is what I loaded for England - Players from Top Clubs in Europe is also recommended Also from now on I will allow people to load more than 1 league in their starting database to add a bit more immersion into their saves. You don't have to add any more than the country you are playing in (my laptop is awful so I most likely won't be) but the option is there for people that want to. Steps When Getting Started Add yourself as an unemployed manager. Call him holiday man if you want. Go on holiday until the reset date of your nation or the day before if you’re planning on reloading. Retire the manager Add a new manager with your chosen nationality and the lowest possible reputation and qualifications Choose the newly promoted club of your choice Rules for the Challenge No loans or transfers in are allowed but you can sell and loan players out. If you are sacked, sorry, you have to start again. No save game editors are allowed. Only cosmetic database edits are allowed. (Team/competition names/logos) No international management until completion of challenge. Signing backroom staff is allowed. Signing players on trial or signing grey players isn't allowed. Rules for this Thread Player naming is allowed. General discussion on tactics is allowed, although people should not refer to downloaded tactics. They are not banned, but I would expect the majority of people to avoid them. Screenshots for anything are encouraged but please post links to your pictures, don't post them as images as it makes the pages slower to load. When you join the challenge, could you post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the league reset date. Progress of your club should be documented using this thread. The beauty of these challenge threads is to share your story and to read others. Please keep us updated, even if you are not performing as you may wish. Season Update Youth Candidates All Tagged Players Attribute page Transfers (to prove that you haven’t signed any players) Squad League Table Anything else is optional. Also, some people like to nickname/tag their best players from each youth intake in chronological order. For example, you could nickname your best player in the intake in season 1 as *their name* YP01a, and so on. But this is not compulsory if you don't wish to. I have copied and pasted last years starting post to get the ball rolling, I will update with necessary information as we get going (let me know dates for leagues so I can add them) Good luck to all Edited May 6, 2019 by darren1983 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) (tag me in the post when the challenge is completed and I'll add you here) User Version Team Nation Year Completed b101 FM18 Sampedrense Portugal 2030/31 XaW FM19 Kettering Town England 2035/36 thomas_e FM19 Real Jean Spain 2037/38 Edited August 20, 2019 by darren1983 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 Well the Beta is out, lets get going people. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 England is 25th June again. A reasonably local side to me are eligible for this for the coming season in Basford United(I think they are anyway). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I'm not sure where I'm going to do this yet, but to quote the epic Ramones; "Hey ho, let's go!" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley84 Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Although I might skip the challenge this year due to family and limited game time, as usual I did some searching (in FMT) in the European leagues and found some good shouts for those not willing to grind it all the way and wanting to start with overall better facilities: - Bulgaria > Neftochimic Burgas have good training and youth facilities, above average recruitment and topped with an 18k all seater stadium. - Croatia > RNK Split and Cibalia are both clubs with a decent base to build on and some history too, if you wanna play in the country second in the WC. - France > CS Sedan are still a good shout although their recruitment dropped a bit, but with good both facilities and 24k stadium. - Germany > If the 3.rd Liga won't be playable at all in the full version, there are some really strong contendents there: Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, 1860 Munchen or Hansa Rostock. - Italy > Serie D is filled with interesting teams to be: Bari with a huge stadium and new owner, Cesena with some great facilities, Modena, Como, Messina and Mantova. - Poland > You can have a go at the fallen giants (for Poland) of Ruch Chorzow (14 titles) or Widzew Lodz (4 titles). - Portugal > Beira-Mar is still on the list, together with other interesting choices as Salguieros or Barreirense. - Romania > strange situation as the 3.rd league is in game, but not playable in the beta. If things remain like this, there is Csikszereda Miercurea Ciuc with great youth facilities sponsored by Hungary. - Serbia > OFK Beograd might be a good choice to break out the Red Star - Partizan dominance. - Turkey > Bucaspor has good facilities and might be time to bring some glory to the city of Izmir, alternating you could try that with the other team from the city - Karsiyaka. Best of luck to all of you 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 Bari is where I've been planning ever since the end of last season when I saw they were relegated to serie D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I've decided on Austria and I'm currently holidaying through the year. I'll let you know what the reset day is when I get there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Still not had Basford United come up yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadCatPT Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 After a lot of reloading, this year I'll try it with Hitchin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadCatPT Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Screenshot: 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 1 hour ago, XaW said: I've decided on Austria and I'm currently holidaying through the year. I'll let you know what the reset day is when I get there. Well, the reset day is June 14th, but since none of the teams that kept getting promoted were alluring to me, I reconsidered where I want to play. I think I'll need to look around again, though England always appeal to me, and I don't think I've done a youth only there in forever... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 51 minutes ago, XaW said: Well, the reset day is June 14th, but since none of the teams that kept getting promoted were alluring to me, I reconsidered where I want to play. I think I'll need to look around again, though England always appeal to me, and I don't think I've done a youth only there in forever... England always tempts me too but my go to side (Dulwich) aren't eligible for the challenge anymore Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 1 minute ago, darren1983 said: England always tempts me too but my go to side (Dulwich) aren't eligible for the challenge anymore I'm holidaying now to see who I might get. dafuge haven't created his thread yet, so I can't look there for the eligible teams. Dulwich would be fun, but I'll see if I can get any other fun team through. I've played with Cambridge City before, but I think they are further down and ineligible now as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Ingersoll Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Sweden is dec 15th however the strange thing is if I holiday until the 14 or even the 1st, whenever I advance to the 15th, its always the same clubs. I need to find the cutoff date so clubs arent the same exact ones every time. Im testing right now to do just that 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Gato_In_Goal Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I can confirm that the reset date for the Czech Republic is June 30th. I have taken over Olympia Radotin who play in Prague. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Ingersoll Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 ok, pardon my ignorance if im wrong but how can you pick a country outside Europe, arent European clubs the only one eligible for champions league? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 5 minutes ago, Ross Ingersoll said: ok, pardon my ignorance if im wrong but how can you pick a country outside Europe, arent European clubs the only one eligible for champions league? There are Champions Leagues in every continent. The Libertadores in South America, for instance. In Europe it's the UEFA Champions League, in Africa it's the CAF Champions League. Though the European one is probably the hardest to win, with the Libertadores on a second. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 5 minutes ago, Ross Ingersoll said: ok, pardon my ignorance if im wrong but how can you pick a country outside Europe, arent European clubs the only one eligible for champions league? Each continent has a version of the champions league Asia - Asian Champions League Africa - African Champions League North America - North American Champions League South America - Copa Libertadores So if you start with a non-European country then the aim is to win that continents champions league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Ingersoll Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 yes, ok. it said champions league so I wondered, maybe I will try one in Brazil or Argentina, never managed there before. thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 I should probably make that part clearer tbh with you. I kind skim read it this morning when setting up the thread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Ingersoll Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 9 minutes ago, darren1983 said: I should probably make that part clearer tbh with you. I kind skim read it this morning when setting up the thread. it just confused me a tad, so thought I would ask Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Well, I've started in England, and since it's such a long way up I chose a team with rather good facilities. And that is Kettering! Here we go! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Gato_In_Goal Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Quick rundown on the state of the club after preseason. Facilities aren't too bad to begin with and it helps that we are professional (as are the other teams in our division). Our squad is thin, with only 14 players on the roster, and 4 of them being 14 or 15 years old. That being said, I've gone with a sort of a 3ATB tactic with the attacking wing backs being vital in any success. Emil Pavlov and Tomas Adam are two of our best players though, so the wing backs may work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_D_K Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Just FYI for those using England, there are FOUR feeder leagues into the VNN/VNS this year....when you add the advanced rules for England, you need the Northern/Isthmian Premier, plus the Southern League South/Central premier leagues Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoham Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 1 hour ago, G_D_K said: Just FYI for those using England, there are FOUR feeder leagues into the VNN/VNS this year....when you add the advanced rules for England, you need the Northern/Isthmian Premier, plus the Southern League South/Central premier leagues Selecting “Regional Premier Divisions” should cover all four. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mushtaq Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Keen to try this on FM Touch this year as I will be getting the game on Switch - are the youth intakes on FMT still very small though? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 As well as the dafuge challenge, I may give this a bash too. @darren1983can I suggest you add [FM19] into the title please? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Gato_In_Goal Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Youth Intake 2020 A youth intake was much needed after we lost a player for the season to a torn ACL and only had 13 players when everyone was healthy and active. Most of the players look to be no more than depth but a few of them I'm interested in. Tomas Cieslar (01a) is capable of contributing right away and can hopefully improve our league-worst scoring record. Jan Hajek (01b) fills a central midfield position that we had been playing a right winger in. In addition, I really like his mentals and he looks to have the most potential out of the lot. I think Pavel Havelka (01c) has lots of potential going forward if he can improve his technical stats and Jan Mares (01d) will likely start the remainder of the season since we only have one GK and he has much less potential. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Ingersoll Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Looks like my first go at any team in brazil and I settled on América Futebol Clube (RN). Big stadium and the simple fact that all squads combined have around 39 players. usually I always struggle with not enough bodies. Plus being American, The name caught my eye lol. I will post more about the club after I work on my skin a bit , kits and such. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I took a look at my team and tried to find out what we were good at, and the one thing that stood out were good wingers and attacking backs. So we are going old school with Wing Play! The only change from the standard Wing Play tactic is that I've changed from a Target Man to a Deep Lying Forward since none of my strikers can jump, pretty much at all. That is also the reason I added Low Crosses into the mix. Now, let's see how this works, if at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpS_Zen Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I will try this challenge again in england. I may wait the official release or the december update to try a real run. GL everyone ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Gato_In_Goal Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 This is the end of my attempt in Croatia. We were much worse than the other teams and averaged a meager 0.5 goals per game. Time to load up somewhere else, but I'm not yet sure where. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andershs Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 This is my manager for this first attempt on this challenge in FM19. Managing South Shields F.C. trying to overtake Newcastle and Sunderland with local players only. The facilities are minimal with respect to this challenge. Good luck to all! And @The_Gato_In_Goal, better luck on your next attempt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Wing Play seems to be working. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowy Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) Hednesford Town 2019/20 Manager Profile '19/20 As I was looking through the teams, I was surprised to come across my local team. I've not followed them for quite a few years now and had no idea what level they were at. After looking at their squad this save will be some challenge but first of all here is a quick overview of their facilities/finances. Facilities/Finances (Click to View) Squad (Click to View) Season Preview (Click to View) Edited October 20, 2018 by Crowy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Gato_In_Goal Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) Finland this time, hopefully it'll go better EDIT: And since its the beta, there's this issue. Might start somewhere else or wait it out we'll see. Edited October 20, 2018 by The_Gato_In_Goal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintro Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) Reset date for Belgium is 30 june. Since there is a playdown in the lowest league, promoted teams get decided on 7 april, so save on the 6th if you want some variety to choose from. Edited October 20, 2018 by Jintro 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Ingersoll Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 2 hours ago, Jintro said: Reset date for Belgium is 30 june. Since there is a playdown in the lowest league, promoted teams get decided on 7 april, so save on the 6th if you want some variety to choose from. wonder if thats the issue in Sweden as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Gato_In_Goal Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 47 minutes ago, Ross Ingersoll said: wonder if thats the issue in Sweden as well If I remember correctly, Sweden does playoffs as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Ingersoll Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 1 minute ago, The_Gato_In_Goal said: If I remember correctly, Sweden does playoffs as well might be it, thanks! having issues locking down the exact cutoff date Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintro Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 6 minutes ago, Ross Ingersoll said: might be it, thanks! having issues locking down the exact cutoff date In Belgium it was the day after the last round of the regular season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted October 20, 2018 Author Share Posted October 20, 2018 22 hours ago, DazRTaylor said: As well as the dafuge challenge, I may give this a bash too. @darren1983can I suggest you add [FM19] into the title please? I would do but I want to get away from it being only for the latest version of the game, to allow others that might be on 18 still to be able to post their attempt here and join in the discussion as this thread will likely be more used than the old one. A bit like the Ultimate Football Manager Challenge thread carries over due to the length of time it takes to complete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 2 hours ago, darren1983 said: I would do but I want to get away from it being only for the latest version of the game, to allow others that might be on 18 still to be able to post their attempt here and join in the discussion as this thread will likely be more used than the old one. A bit like the Ultimate Football Manager Challenge thread carries over due to the length of time it takes to complete. Then it isn't a level playing field. Your thread though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Gato_In_Goal Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 (edited) Youth Intake 2019 With the latest patch, homegrown players actually register as homegrown players for squad selection, so it's actually possible to play league matches. Anyways, it's now August and we've got the first youth intake in Finland. There are some decent players in there who may get some playing time, but we're not desperate for depth like in the Czech Republic. Klajdi Adili (01a) looks like the pick of the bunch while Arto Al-Take (01b) and Aki Kekkonen (01c) could challenge for sports in the midfield in the future. Jouko Väisänen (01d) will probably get retrained as an IF on the right wing and Gildas Dikundia (01e) provides some much needed depth and CB, but that's about it. Edited October 21, 2018 by The_Gato_In_Goal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatecoatedballs Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Took a leaf from the book of Xaw and started with Kettering town, I went 442 as well but a fluid counter tactic. The no1 keeper Paul White is injured for 3-4 months for me, so young Lewis Elsom gets to start. I only have 1 of each a striker and central defender, the others are going to have to be makeship (though O'Connor can play there at least) until the youth intake. On the third day or so I got messages that about 6 players rejected contracts, I didn't offer them one so it must have been the old manager, they are all on non contracts now. One of them Dion Kelly-Evans, our biggest prospect and none of them will talk to me about it. Anyway I'll do screen shots and all that a bit later, just setting up training and whatnot, then some real life football will get in the way. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taipan Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 I've also gone with an English save ending up with AFC Hornchurch. Still in pre-season and we have lost our only keeper (and a decent one at that) to Eastbourne. Even offered him the vice-captaincy to stay. I guess he believed being the back-up Keeper at Eastbourne on a week to week contract was the better career move. Now it is going to be double-interesting playing with a grey-out keeper all season with a squad of 18. It will make a good story if we do indeed survive the cut. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 8 hours ago, chocolatecoatedballs said: Took a leaf from the book of Xaw and started with Kettering town, I went 442 as well but a fluid counter tactic. The no1 keeper Paul White is injured for 3-4 months for me, so young Lewis Elsom gets to start. I only have 1 of each a striker and central defender, the others are going to have to be makeship (though O'Connor can play there at least) until the youth intake. On the third day or so I got messages that about 6 players rejected contracts, I didn't offer them one so it must have been the old manager, they are all on non contracts now. One of them Dion Kelly-Evans, our biggest prospect and none of them will talk to me about it. Anyway I'll do screen shots and all that a bit later, just setting up training and whatnot, then some real life football will get in the way. Ouch! White have been amazing for me so far, though I also have him on freekicks and pens and he has scored quite a bit! I'm playing Towers and Solkhon since they are the only central defenders I got, though Rowe-Turner can step inn in injuries. Kelly-Evans have a contract to the end of the season, so we shall see if he signs a new one.... I hope so! I really need a lot of players this youth intake, but we are still doing quite well. My "Wing play" didn't work out, so I decided to make my own to really take advantage of the players I have. After I switched tactics I've played 11 matches and lost none! 5 draws though, so it's not that amazing, but still a whole lot better than I expected! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 16 hours ago, DazRTaylor said: Then it isn't a level playing field. Your thread though. It's not a competition, just a thread for people that like to work as youth only, it doesn't matter if someone completes it in under 10 seasons or plays FM for 10 months and doesn't come close, it's the journey and not the destination that matters. In my head this thread will become more than people just posting their updates once a season and actually have some discussion about what works and what doesn't when training young players, especially with the new training and mentoring models in game. And yeah that might make it seem even more of a reason to call the FM19 thread but I just don't want people to feel excluded if they're not on the latest version. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatecoatedballs Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 (edited) Xaw, I don't have Solkhon in my save, he must have left mid season or something:( Edited October 21, 2018 by chocolatecoatedballs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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