[FM19] The Great San Marino Challenge

[Al Clark]

1 hour ago, rycl77 said:

HOF updated

@Lewis89 has a guy with 14 INTL goals.

[SoggyCabbages]

Been doing this challenge for the past few versions of the game now.

Got the club into Serie B, and it only just hit me tonight that I forgot to do the international side, which is gutting! 

[Lewis89]

Season 9 Review 2027/28 Serie A

Competitions

Results 1    Results 2    League Table    Season Overview

A truly historic season saw us secure our maiden Serie A title on the final day of the season. We was amazing this year, defensively we had an amazing run of 11 league games without conceding, I do not think I have ever done this on any FM before with any team so was delighted. The League was tight all season, and we only went top in mid April and with Milan wobbling, the 2-1 victory over them meaning we went 4 clear with 3 to play. We instantly gave those points back with a 2-0 loss at Lazio, our first league defeat in 24 games.  A solid 1-0 home win against Spal followed, and went into the final game 1 Point clear of both Milan and Juventus, we needn't worry, we faced Torino away and recorded a easy 3-0 victory, taking a 2-0 lead within 25 minutes and recording a famous league title. 

Playing Side

Squad    Transfers

Another brilliant year with all the players getting better and better. Defensively we are amazing, the RBs 2.5* CA being ridiculous when you look at his performances. Preisner and Mbia are monsters at the back. Midfield duo Mayada and Lamanna run games from deep, whilst wingers Castellanos, Koita and Dillan all caused defences havoc this season. Strikers Voicila and Nikolic were rotated all season and gave good returns with 13 and 21 goals. Voicila was sometimes played out wide also. Lamanna is returning to Lazio in the summer sadly, but Koita has been signed permanently, and with the young Sammarinese talent in midfield coming through, I don't think his loss will effect us much.  

Youth Production

Youth Intake

Like a prat I have forgot to take a screenshot of the youth intake and only took one of the message. We got a real gem this season though, with Stefano Beradi YP28A predicted to be one of the best players of hes generation. He also is single nationality so has been called up and played already for the national side. we also had a ST and RB come through who look like decent players, the RB being Italian only though which sours it for me.  The U20S gained Promotion from Div 2 to Div 1 finally, and will now be competing in the top league. 

Behind The Scenes

Facilities    Finances

Another upgrade to the youth and training facilities in currently ongoing, these cant be far from state of the art now and the level of youth players coming through is really starting to show now. As seen above the U20s were promoted this season, and the U18s are consistently in the play offs now.  We are also just 12 months away from moving into our new 16000 seater stadium and its really needed. Wages are constantly going up so the income will only help. Ive managed to avoid selling any of our key players so far, but with bids of £50m + coming in, its difficult to turn down. 

Aims For Next Season

Would love to send the old stadium off with a league win again, hoping to go further in the Champions League than this season and maybe finally have a run at the cup. 

Club Records

Records

EURO 2028 National Team Update To Follow..

Group Table 

Well that went as expected. The warm up games were good, we faced Trinidad and Tobago (89) and thumped them 4-0, then we faced Azerbaijan (184) and beat them 3-0 Results.  Paired against France, Croatia and Wales, I knew we was going to struggle, and did we. 3 losses, Croatia 3-0, Wales 3-1 and France 6-0. It was fun whilst it lasted, and at least we scored a goal. With a average age of just 20, hopefully we will be back soon. 

Nations League C Group 4

This September we return to Nations League action, in League C Group 4. We face Bulgaria(67), Israel(87) and Scotland(44). Having stuffed T&T who are ranked just below Israel, im hoping to get 6 points in those games, and see how we fare against the other two. Tricky games, but hopefully we can hold our own and at least not go straight back down.

Edited December 13, 2018 by Lewis89

[boroofbishop]

Don't think i'm going to bother doing huge club side updates as last season meant i've now won literally everything possible with the Club team, Serie A, Italian Cup, Champions League, Super cup (both European and Italian) and the Club world cup too.

This season (2026/27) i won Serie A by 16 points clear at the top ahead of Roma and the Italian Cup for the 3rd season in a row. In terms of Italy I'm the team to beat, however it is time to start introducing some youth prospects into the first team starting with CB Nicola Zafferani, still only 19, valued at £4.2m, next season i have a couple more to add into the first team that aren't quite ready just yet.

[Captain_al]

Can i just confirm, you can presumably sign foreign players?

To supplement the san marino club side and get you promoted?

or is it 100% san marino nationals?

 

[Lewis89]

3 hours ago, Captain_al said:

Can i just confirm, you can presumably sign foreign players?

To supplement the san marino club side and get you promoted?

or is it 100% san marino nationals?

 

That choice is your own mate. Can do this challenge a few diff ways, youth only, sign San Marino nationals only, or sign anyone. 

[dcu4life]

Season 4 (2021-22) Review - 6th in Serie B / Promoted Via Playoffs

What a season. I was purely hoping to avoid relegation, but ended up sneaking into the playoffs and achieving promotion, despite an awful second-half of the season where we won just 6 of our last 21 games. I had signed Frank Tsadjout on loan from Milan, but he completely stunk so I ended up playing Rossini (Sammarinese youth product from my first season) up top, and he finished with 15 goals, just missing out on top goalscorer by a single goal. I also sold one of my hot prospects (also key player) to Watford for $4M (with 50% sell-on clause) in January, which was sorely needed from a financial perspective but likely contributed to the poor form over the second half of the season. The sale allowed me to upgrade training facilities, youth recruitment, and junior coaching, as well as getting us out of a pretty bad financial hole.

Strangely, in the promotion playoffs, the teams I played all played weakened squads, including against Spezia in the final who played their kids, and I won 9-1 on aggregate. I'm wondering if anyone else observed this. Definitely takes some of the shine off promotion, but I'll take it

League Table:

 

Promotion Playoffs:

 

Youth Intake:

Very excited about Righi. Unfortunately now I have a glut of high potential Sammarinese forwards. Hopefully he's not good enough to play for Italy

 

Next Season Goals:

I'm worried that I got promoted too quickly. I need to completely overhaul the squad to have a chance to survive. We also have a super short preseason due to the Serie B playoffs and the 2022 World Cup, which pushes back the start of the Serie A season to July due to it being in the winter. And our first introduction to Serie A football is away to Juventus... wish me luck! 

 

Edited December 22, 2018 by dcu4life
adding note about youth intake

[WhitleyBayFC]

Season 1

Serie D Group D - Winners pipped Modena on the final day of the season.

Serie D Cup - Winners defeating Delta Rovigo 2-1.

Serie D Poule Scudetto Final - Winners 3-1 against Bari.

 

Top Scorer - Adama Fofana who came in on a free transfer grabbed 19 goals in 39 appearances. Another 3 players finished with double figures for goals though so it was nice to have goals coming from all over.

Highest Average Rating: Alessandro Pasquini 7.28 (41 Appearances, 13 goals, 9 Assists)

 

National Side

Played 9, Won 0, Drew 1, Lost 8. Scored 5, Conceded 27. The draw being 0-0 at home to Luxembourg.

Top Scorer: Matteo Vitaioli 2.

 

 

[DaveDurden1989]

Hi guys,

Totally new to this, but would love to join! When I get each achievement, do I just need to screenshot it?

Thanks!

[DaveDurden1989]

On 07/11/2018 at 17:40, theBlackPrince said:

I think I'm going to do the same thing man! Did you just try to sell off players from other countries to start? Or how did you go about that without losing your job? Looking forward to this!

[dcu4life]

Season 5 (2022-23) Review - 16th in Serie A

If I could title this season, I would name it "Andrew Pinamonti saves the day". This was one of the most frustrating season I can remember playing in my years of playing Football Manager. My fears from my previous update of getting promoted too early were well-founded, and in many other seasons we would have gotten relegated. I had very little budget, and was really unable to convince anyone of any reasonable quality to join. Almost all my signings ended up being busts. 

The season started off brilliantly, winning 2-1 away to Juventus, with my new striker we just bought from Genoa (Raul Asencio) scoring the game-winner. Unfortunately, that was his only goal the entire season, and by the midway mark we had 15 points and were languishing in 19th. I spent the remainder of my transfer budget $5M in January to sign Andrea Pinamonti from Inter (after begging the board to give me more $$), change my tactics from a possession/short passing 4-1-4-1 to a super direct 4-4-2 diamond. Pinamonti scored almost a goal a game, and we picked up enough points during the second half of the season (21 to be precise) to narrowly avoid relegation on the last day of the season. 

League Table:

 

 

Youth Intake:

 

Next Season Goals:

Overhaul the team and challenge for Europe. Also really hoping the National Team job opens up because I'm definitely getting that itch. 

 

Other Achievements:

My Sammarinese striker Rossini has already shattered Andy Selva's record

[Lewis89]

2 hours ago, dcu4life said:

Season 5 (2022-23) Review - 16th in Serie A

If I could title this season, I would name it "Andrew Pinamonti saves the day". This was one of the most frustrating season I can remember playing in my years of playing Football Manager. My fears from my previous update of getting promoted too early were well-founded, and in many other seasons we would have gotten relegated. I had very little budget, and was really unable to convince anyone of any reasonable quality to join. Almost all my signings ended up being busts. 

The season started off brilliantly, winning 2-1 away to Juventus, with my new striker we just bought from Genoa (Raul Asencio) scoring the game-winner. Unfortunately, that was his only goal the entire season, and by the midway mark we had 15 points and were languishing in 19th. I spent the remainder of my transfer budget $5M in January to sign Andrea Pinamonti from Inter (after begging the board to give me more $$), change my tactics from a possession/short passing 4-1-4-1 to a super direct 4-4-2 diamond. Pinamonti scored almost a goal a game, and we picked up enough points during the second half of the season (21 to be precise) to narrowly avoid relegation on the last day of the season. 

League Table:

 

 

Youth Intake:

 

Next Season Goals:

Overhaul the team and challenge for Europe. Also really hoping the National Team job opens up because I'm definitely getting that itch. 

 

Other Achievements:

My Sammarinese striker Rossini has already shattered Andy Selva's record

Nicely done mate. I just about survived my first season in Serie A. It should only get easier from now. You are allowed to just add a manager as national team boss, retire him and then apply yourself. 

5 hours ago, DaveDurden1989 said:

Hi guys,

Totally new to this, but would love to join! When I get each achievement, do I just need to screenshot it?

Thanks!

Basically yes. Although a end of season update makes for a good read.

[djwillster]

Hey guys not had a chance to play recently also to scared to since new update 😂 

[robredo87]

San Marino Challenge - Season 1 (Serie D) 18/19

Hello, everyone! Me and a couple of friends decided to take up this challenge this year (club and country from the start) but I've kept quiet so far until I had a few seasons under my belt. I've been keeping an eye from afar watching with a few of you successfully climb the leagues (especially Lewis89 and boroofbishop) before posting on here (as I've never done so before). I'll keep each one brief because there are three years to put on here.

Serie D was a lot of fun! I wanted promotion first season and it went down the final game of the season against Reggio Audace (who were only behind me on goal difference). I was at home and needed just a draw to win the league. It was a pretty tense affair but we won the game 2-1 with Matteo Gasperi bagging an 85th minute penalty.

 

Standout players

The season relied heavily on loanees from above divisions and free signings. D'Addario Alessandro, Cristian Negretti, Giuseppe Aurelio and Matteo Cannigia deserve their mentions, but it was Matteo Gasperi who stole the limelight by leading the scoring charts with 19 goals.

[robredo87]

San Marino Challenge - Season 2 (Serie C/B) 19/20

After the success of the first season there was no reason I thought we shouldn't try and push on an get promotion again. The plan was to do what I did the year before and get a load of loan listed players in on trial before picking the best for the first team.

I ended up destroying the league comfortably.

Standout players

Although my defence was solid, my attacking players were instrumental this year. Davide Marcandella ripped it up on the right wing with 15 assists and Lazar Nikolic scored 12 from the inside left. Samuele Mulattieri bagged 15 from attacking midfield, but top scorer Francesco Verde (18) was reliant throughout the campaign. Left back Federico Ermacora stood out as a top player at this level too.

Edited December 27, 2018 by robredo87

[robredo87]

San Marino Challenge - Season 3 (Serie C/B) 20/21

This season worried me. I felt like I'd been punching well above my weight so far, but kept the plan of trialling every willing player in the leagues above to get the best players in available. I'd played a few seasons in the Championship in previous games and found it so horrible to get out of. The second tier always seemed to be a bit of a bogie league for me...

I thought I'd done a great job by the time the season kicked off with the players that I'd bought in, but got a right kick in the teeth from the start. The first 10 games totalled a whopping 7 points. All of a sudden things weren't so great. I was hammering teams on paper but kept falling to defeat by a single goal near enough every game. So infuriating! Chopping and changing players from season to season must have been taking its toll. I decided to keep faith in most of the players until things started working...

It really started working! A 21 unbeaten streak until the end of the season sealed the title again and pushed us into Serie A with successive promotions from the start! 600/1 promotion odds at the beginning of the season would've seen me happy with 8th place at best, but the players pushed on to achieve the unexpected after Brescia blew a gigantic lead.

Standout players

All of them, really! But Federico Ermacora who I'd retained from the previous season performed admirably, with Alessandro Sala a driving force from centre midfield (with his dribbling and big game goals). Raimondo Lucera did well from the right wing (7 goals/10 assists), with the indifferent striker Olaf Kobacki (16) getting a some important goals towards the end. Gabriele Capanni was a wonder on the inside left with 12 goals and 20 assists. But without doubt the man of the season was certainly centre back Davide Bettella who bagged an outstanding 12 league goals! Most of them being match winners. There weren't many clean sheets with our attacking formation but I'm certain he was the man that got us up.

Next season

Simply to stay up and make money. The wage budget of £81k is great compared to what we've had so far, but there are going to have to be some nifty signings to keep us up. I'm hoping to find some gems on loan again but to also get my hands on some youngsters who can make some impact in the future. I've already blown our promotion profits on upgrading the youth and first team training facilities, as well as the youth recruitment services. I've also just moved onto the Continental A Licence on a personal level.

National team

Not much to shout about on this front. Managed one competitive win and a few draws over the years, but mostly a lot of maulings. I've had a few good players come through the system, who I've tried to give league time to...

Onto Serie A...

Edited December 29, 2018 by robredo87

[Lewis89]

National Team Update 2028

Results    Group Table

After Struggling at this summers Euros as expected we moved onto the Nations League C Group 4. In a group containing Bulgaria (67), Israel (87) and Scotland (44), I was unsure how we would fare. In the end we finished 3rd, taking 7 points in total with Bulgaria and Scotland both proving too strong for us at this moment in time. Least we were not relegated though, and will compete in League C again in two years time. 

World Cup 2030 Qualification

We have been handed a real tough group here. Belgium, Austria, Wales, N Ireland and Gibraltar. We should easily see off Gibraltar, but the rest will all start as heavy favourites against us. 

Overview

World Ranking    Squad    

Overall its been a pretty disappointing year, we started well with the EURO 2028 Play offs, and then a summer adventure to the EUROS. This gave me false hope as I went into the Nations League expecting to do better than we did. However progress is being made as we sit 130th in the world rankings, a high for this save. And with many young players coming through, the top 100 is well within our sights. Youngster Stefano Biordi yp28A, who was tipped as potentially being one of the best players of his generation has already began breaking records, becoming the Youngest Scorer in San Marino History as well as the Youngest Player to appear in the UEFA Nations League. 

 

[Lewis89]

Season Update 2028/29

Not going to do a long winded update for this season as its been one of frustration. We finished 2nd in Serie A, a huge 29 points behind invincible's Milan. Yes you read that correctly, Milan won the league unbeaten on 102 points. 

In the Champions League we lost to A Madrid in the last 16.

In the TIM Cup we lost to Juventus in the QF

The youth Intake was our poorest for a few seasons, which I have been expecting as most intakes have so far produced a few good players.

The big positive is we have officially moved into our new stadium. San Marino Calcio Stadium has a capacity of 16010, with the potential to be expanded to 32020. This should do the clubs finances some good. 

[dcu4life]

Season 6 (2023-24) Review - 6th in Serie A

 

A really good second season in Serie A ending in a comfortable qualification to Europa League. Last season's relegation battle was a distant memory. I was able to overhaul my team, signing a completely new midfield (4 CMs), as well as signing Marcus Thuram and Rhian Brewster on loan. We also had a nice run in the Coppa Italia. I thought I was going to 1-0 my way through the whole thing, but lost to Udinese in the semifinals. The highlight of my season was drawing 0-0 at home with Milan on the final day of the season to deny them the title, handing the crown to Napoli who won their first Scudetto since 1990. I'm a Napoli fan irl so this gave me great joy  

League Table:

Coppa Italia:

Youth Intake:

[Lewis89]

10 minutes ago, dcu4life said:

Season 6 (2023-24) Review - 6th in Serie A

 

A really good second season in Serie A ending in a comfortable qualification to Europa League. Last season's relegation battle was a distant memory. I was able to overhaul my team, signing a completely new midfield (4 CMs), as well as signing Marcus Thuram and Rhian Brewster on loan. We also had a nice run in the Coppa Italia. I thought I was going to 1-0 my way through the whole thing, but lost to Udinese in the semifinals. The highlight of my season was drawing 0-0 at home with Milan on the final day of the season to deny them the title, handing the crown to Napoli who won their first Scudetto since 1990. I'm a Napoli fan irl so this gave me great joy  

League Table:

Coppa Italia:

Youth Intake:

Nice progress mate. I've yet to reach a Coppa Italia Sf in 11 seasons. Napoli have been pretty average in my game whilst Milan are way too good. 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Lewis89

[dcu4life]

Season 7 (2024-25) Review - 4th in Serie A / Coppa Italia Runner up / Europa League Round of 16

 

Another productive season, this time finishing comfortably in a Champions League Spot. Lost the Coppa Italia Final on pens to Milan, despite having the better of the game, so that was a bit of a heartbreaker. In the Europa League, we were poor in the group stage, losing twice to Sevilla and drawing at home to Ludogorets. But we squeaked through and managed to beat Manchester United in the round of 32 (at this point Mourinho was still in charge, so that made the victory extra sweet). Unfortunately we got dumped in the next round by Wolfsburg - with about 15 minutes to go in the second leg we were ahead on away goals, then we had a man sent off, and my goalkeeper flapped at a corner and we went out

League Table:

Coppa Italia:

Europa League:

Youth Intake:

Not super thrilled about Casadei - we seem to keep producing good strikers so it almost feels like a waste to have another one, but Buscarini looks really promising. Upon the intake they said he could be one of the best players of his generation - hopefully we don't lose him to Italy in the long term (in the short term I don't expect him to accept a callup for many years). 

 

National Team:

I followed the advice of @Lewis89 to add a head coach then retire in order to free up the national team job. Thanks!! 

My first year of national team manager was a mixed bag. We had a super tough draw in the European National League, and despite finishing last I was encouraged by our performances, beating Hungary at home and generally being competitive in all the games, only losing one (Cyprus away) by more than a goal. 

 

We got an awesome draw for World Cup Qualification, having both Estonia and Faroe Islands in our group, even though we were seeded 6th. So far it's par for the course, losing away to Romania and Germany and beating Faroe Islands and Estonia at home. Here's the standings after 4 games.

 

Next Season Goals:

• Be competitive in Champions League - I don't want to expect to get out of the group given that we're going to be in the 4th pot. Really will depend on the draw.
• Mount a semi-serious title challenge
• Win Coppa Italia
• Finish 4th in world cup qualifying, and get a result against either Northern Ireland or Romania

[dcu4life]

5 minutes ago, Lewis89 said:

Nice progress mate. I've yet to reach a Coppa Italia Sf in 11 seasons. Napoli have been pretty average in my game whilst Milan are way too good. 

Yeah I've played FM for many years and this is the first time I've seen Napoli win the title, they even went back-to-back! I can only hope that happens irl

[Lewis89]

1 hour ago, dcu4life said:

Yeah I've played FM for many years and this is the first time I've seen Napoli win the title, they even went back-to-back! I can only hope that happens irl

I like Napoli, am planning a Trip to Naples in march with the Mrs, hoping to sneak a game in if I can.

[dcu4life]

Season 8 (2025-26) Review - 1st in Serie A / Coppa Italia Winner / Europa League Runners-Up

 

This was quite the charmed year for us, pretty much everything broke our way. Only one more point than last season (73), but hilariously that was good enough to win Serie A, despite us scoring only 50 league goals all season (my top goalscorer had only 7). We had a couple of home losses to Juventus and Torino in the final stretch run, but all the teams around us kept dropping points so that slip didn't cost us. The key game was winning 1-0 away to Napoli with around 7 games left. In the cups this season, we won twice in penalties and thrice on the away goals, so the success was more down to luck than anything else.

We beat Napoli in the Coppa Italia final 2-2 on penalties, despite giving up an early 2 goal lead, and I was thinking it would be heartbreak once again. 

In the Europa League we made it to the final before getting smashed by Leicester (who were 8th in the prem) in the final. I wonder if the prem teams are all just OP

Champions league was a bit of a disappointment, finishing third in a monstrous group with City, Barca, and Benfica. We could have made it to the knockout rounds by beating City at home on the final matchday, but we ended up losing 2-0. Can't be too disappointed as City ended up winning the entire thing. 

Also, Serie A lost its champions league place to France, so qualifying next year will be a bit tougher!

League Table:

Coppa Italia:

Europa League:

Youth Intake:

Still no promising defenders, but at least we got two great Sammarinese-only prospects

National Team:

A little disappointing. We did end up finishing fourth (only due to Estonia's ineptitude against Faroe Islands), but didn't manage to get a single point against any of Germany, Romania, and Northern Ireland.

For the upcoming Nations League, we got a really tough draw with Finland, Lithuania, and Azerbaijan. Hoping to just not be last. 

As for our players, we're pretty set in attack as we keep producing good wingers and forwards, but defense is still just awful. We've yet to produce even a Serie C level defender, and I still have a 32 year old Manuel Battistini as a regular.  

Next Season Goals:

• Get out of Champions League Group - hopefully being seeded first will be a boost. 
• Qualify for Champions League in the league, and mount another title challenge
• Don't finish last in Nations League

Edited March 14, 2019 by dcu4life

[boroofbishop]

Haven;t had the chance to play over the xmas period, gonna head back into it now, will keep you guys updates with the national team.

[Oktober]

Man, it has been a LONG time since I was around these parts, and this is still going strong! Think it was around 08 I got as far as the WC Quarter Finals. Was all 2D then back in my day!

Picked up my first FM since 13 and San Marino is ofc the first place I'm heading. Wonder how far off match fitness I'll prove to be? Holidaying for a year to take them over officially in Serie C.

[Lewis89]

23 hours ago, Oktober said:

Man, it has been a LONG time since I was around these parts, and this is still going strong! Think it was around 08 I got as far as the WC Quarter Finals. Was all 2D then back in my day!

Picked up my first FM since 13 and San Marino is ofc the first place I'm heading. Wonder how far off match fitness I'll prove to be? Holidaying for a year to take them over officially in Serie C.

I struggled to get them that way myself. Must have reloaded 100+ times aswel, some people have had success holidaying 2 seasons on past editions I think when Parma were in Serie D. Might be the way to go on this version also.

[Lewis89]

National Team Update 2029

World Cup 2030 Qualification

Group Table    Squad    Results

Was always going to be a tough group, Austria, Belgium, Wales and N Ireland all ranked higher than us so to finish 4th on 15 points delighted me. This impressive showing led us to our highest ever Ranking of 112th.  Homegrown ST Claudio Valentini yp19a is the nations record goalscorer on 24 goals. Hes failed to make any major impact at the club or out on loan but hes starting to score more regularly for the national side. I am really looking forward to next years nations league, and the top 100 should well be within our sights and maybe even another promotion.

First Eleven  433 wide

GK Lorenzo Moretti yp20b - 

 

LB Christian Zafferani yp24a

RB Alessandro Bianchi yp26f

CB Federico Balducci yp24d

CB Nicolo Giorgetti yp21a

CM Pietro Berto yp27a

CM Alessandro Gatti 23a

CM Stefano Biordi yp28a

LW Fabio Bernadi yp27c

 

RW Filipo Beradi

ST Claudio Valentini yp19a

Chose Italy Over Us:

GK Paolo Ceravolo yp25c

CB Filipo Valentini yp25b

ST Michele Righi 26a

As you can see we have developed some really good players, The star two, Ceravolo and Righi are both holding out for Italy, Ceravolo gets called up to Italy's senior squad most times, so im doubtful he will ever play for us. Righi is yet to be called up for a senior squad but gets into most U21 squads as does Valentini. All 3 would improve our national side considerably. For the players we have got, we are stacked in CM with 5 decent players to pick from, all of which should develop into Serie A standard players at the very least. Gatti has been a bit harshly treated being farmed out on loan season after season, but once we have won the Champions League and completed the club side of the challenge my focus will shift completely to developing Sammarinese players. 

[Lewis89]

Season 11 review 2029/30 Serie A

Competitions

Overview    Results 1    Results 2

 

A big season for us. Our squad is the strongest it has ever been, so i knew we had a real shot at glory in all 3 competitions. This rang true as we romped home to the league title, finishing 7 points clear of Milan. The margin should have been bigger, but having a 10 point lead going into march, we played a 2nd 11 in all league games before a Champions league fixture. 3 of the league losses were down to this.

In the Champions League, we were put into a very tough group alongside A Madrid, Man City and Shaktar Donesk. We managed to seal qualification with a massive 5-0 win away to Man City in the last group game, giving me confidence we was finally ready to compete in Europe having previously struggled. We saw off Porto, PSG and Chelsea en route to the final, where we would face A Madrid. This was there 5th final, having yet to win one. And this turned out to be the case again, as we sealed a first Champions League title on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Having been 3-0 nil up, it should have been so much more comfortable. We also broke the record for Most goals scored in a season in the Champions League.

In the Coppa Italia, we managed to get to our first ever final, but fell short with a 2-1 AET loss to Inter.

Playing Side

Transfers    Squad

The squad is quite simply amazing. We have real class in all areas, with back up players who are young and improving all the time. The wages are starting to get abit high now, so over the next few seasons i will more than likely start to move on those demanding too high a wage. 

Youth Production

Youth Intake

After having very little come through in our last 2 intakes, I am delighted to get Mirco Nanni yp30a in this years intake. Not only does he look like he could be a really good player, but hes also in a position that the national team will soon be desperate for. With Fillippo Berardi aged 33, he will soon need replacing and this lad will do just that. Single nationality just makes it all the more better. 

Behind The Scenes

Facilities    Finances

This is the biggest part for me. This was our first season in our new 16010 seater San Marino Calcio Stadium, and in September I asked the board to upgrade the stadium capacity, they did but it was only a minor upgrade of 1500 seats. Only to get this Stadium Expansion plans. An upgrade of 8005 seats is brilliant. We will also be relocated to Cesena's ground for this upcoming season which has a capacity of 23860, this should boost our revenues that little bit more. I'm guessing the 20 year new stadium thing is still hard coded into the game but the sooner we can max out the potential capacity of our stadium the better anyway. 

Plans For Next Season

Having completed the club side of the challenge, I am going to move most of my attention to the development of Sammarinese players, I have already done this to a degree, and will have to keep the club competitive or face the sack, but with super talented youngsters like Stefano Biordi yp28a, Filipo Valentini yp25b and Mirco Nanni yp30a waiting in the wings for gametime, its time to start giving them more minutes. Valentini still wants to play for Italy but I cant see him ever being good enough, the earlier he agrees the better for the San Marino national side. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Lewis89

[robredo87]

San Marino Challenge - Season 4 (Serie A) 21/22

Club overview

Expectations were to simply avoid relegation and after a shaky start we managed to climb up the league, leaving the predicted fight for survival behind us. We were punching well above our weight and found ourselves in a serious battle for the european qualification spots, but as we went into the final third of the season we hit a rough patch and dropped a lot of points against teams at the bottom. After the promise of another unbelievable season we soon found ourselves looking at a comfortable mid-table finish.

This was was until a slight change of tactics saw us pick up wins against Juventus, Udinese and Fiorentina as we went into the final game of the season sitting in 7th place. We were away to Milan whilst Roma (8th) were at home to Genoa. Roma had the head to head advantage over us so we needed a point to guarantee Europe, which meant were slim. We got hammered 4:0 (we missed a penalty at 1:0 down), whilst Roma beat Genoa 1:0, scoring in the 79th minute. The gutting thing is that with four games to go we had led 1:0 away to Roma, until we scored a deflected own goal in the 90+1 minute! Thanks FM. Great lampoon.

Anyway, it was a very enjoyable season and I'm looking forward to the next. Here are the final standings (Napoli completed the double!) and perhaps one of the craziest games I've ever been involved in!

Standout players

Davide Bettella was once again solid at the back (he only managed 2 goals this season, unlike his 12 the previous campaign), with other loanees Alessandro Sala, Vittorio Parigini, Angel Gomes and Eric Ayiah all doing very well. I'll try and get them all back for next season. I've also managed to get my hands on a few youngsters who were ready for first team action. I'm particularly optimistic about these two guys, who I think will go a long way.

Transfers

Finances and facilities

We're financially secure and have £20m in the bank. TV revenue is a massive boost in Serie A! Everything has been upgraded a couple of times now but there's still some way to go before anything's state of the art. The board announced a new (15,000 seater) stadium is in the planning, but I assume that'll take ages to get approved and built.

Youth intake

One absolute beast came through but he's holding out for Italy, which is a huge kick in the nads. I believe they only reconsider San Marino now if they don't get picked by Italy by the age of 24?

Next season

To get into Europe. With a few more young singings, good loanees and a little luck I think we could break into the top 7. If not, it wouldn't be the end of the world as we're making money and upgrading everything regularly, which is just as important.

I also want to hammer Roma twice.

National overview

Still not much to shout about. We've won a few competitive games and moved up to 187th in the world. We managed to score a goal against England and take the scalp of 80th placed Macedonia in the Nations League, which were both nice achievements. There are two games to play in that and we're currently in 3rd (3 points off top) so promotion looks beyond us. Elia Tomassini has already gone onto overtake Andy Selva's record of 8 international goals at the tender age of 18. Hopefully he keeps improving and he could go on to do wonderful things.

[dcu4life]

Season 9 (2026-27) Review - 1st in Serie A / Europa League Winner

 

This was not the hilarious title race as it was last year. We cruised through the season, going the entire campaign undefeated (although as I write a few games into the 2027-28 season we've already lost at home to Inter ), securing a second consecutive scudetto quite handily by a margin of 14 points. 

Again we got a tough group in the Champions League, with Real Madrid, Tottenham, and Spartak Moscow. A terrible performance meant we finished with 4 points (home win vs. Spartak, home draw vs. Madrid), but that was enough to get us to the Europa League, where we did one better than last year and won in the final, beating Milan 0-0 on penalties. The highlight of that run was overturning a 2-0 first leg defeat against Manchester United, scoring 3 goals in the last 10 minutes of the second leg to win 4-0 (4-2 on aggregate). I'm actually quite pleased we managed to win the Europa League, because I don't foresee us playing much Thursday football in the coming years. 

Lost in both the Italian Super Cup and Coppa Italia (QF) to Napoli.

League Table:

Europa League (only bottom half of bracket):

Youth Intake:

Still no defenders. My second choice left back on the National Team plays in the Sammarinese League :/ 

National Team:

The performance in the Nations League was pretty good, but unfortunately we just drew too many games and got 3rd place. Now it seems my job with the National Team is under pressure, but I've been doing really well in Euro 2028 qualifying so hopefully they won't fire me . 

Nations League Div D: (Lost away to Finland, Won away to Lithuania, the rest were draws)

Euro 2028 Qualification: (Home draw vs. Bosnia, away draw vs. Slovenia, away win @ Azerbaijan, away loss @ Denmark)

Next Season Goals:

• Go deep in champions league. 
• Finish 3rd in Euro 2028 qualifying, and hopefully don't get sacked

[DaveDurden1989]

Checking in during my 4th Season.. Had a player break the Selva scoring record! Matteo Vitaioli has it.. but I don't think it will be much longer.

Spent 2 seasons in Serie D, and am in my 2nd season in Serie C after barely surviving relegation.

I should have mentioned that I am doing an all Sammarese team, so things are a bit rough, but I'm grinding the best that I can!

Hope all of you are having fun with this challenge.

[kandersson]

Finally started my SM save! First season... almost perfect 

Signed some good players (mostly on non-contracts) for the division, dropped the useless serie D cup early and scored a ton of goals from attacking throw ins . Also won some games with the NT against Moldova and luxembourg in the Nations league. Youth intake was promising with three highly rated (for serie D standard) players all cap tied early for SM, plus the 'other' SM academy produced a 5 star striker (5 star for NT of course) who will also join the club when he'll turn 18. Finally, Udinese (who have a SM feeder club) produced a wonderkid caliber sammarinese defender, unfortunately equipped with the lethal dual italian nationality and obviously rejecting any call-up. Always nice to see other clubs producing quality SM regens though:

 

[Lewis89]

17 hours ago, kandersson said:

Finally started my SM save! First season... almost perfect 

Signed some good players (mostly on non-contracts) for the division, dropped the useless serie D cup early and scored a ton of goals from attacking throw ins . Also won some games with the NT against Moldova and luxembourg in the Nations league. Youth intake was promising with three highly rated (for serie D standard) players all cap tied early for SM, plus the 'other' SM academy produced a 5 star striker (5 star for NT of course) who will also join the club when he'll turn 18. Finally, Udinese (who have a SM feeder club) produced a wonderkid caliber sammarinese defender, unfortunately equipped with the lethal dual italian nationality and obviously rejecting any call-up. Always nice to see other clubs producing quality SM regens though:

 

That's a class first season 👍🏻

Udinese have only produced 1 Sammarinese youngster on my save and he was very poor. Good to see you back involved. 

Edited January 17, 2019 by Lewis89

[kandersson]

13 hours ago, Lewis89 said:

That's a class first season 👍🏻

Udinese have only produced 1 Sammarinese youngster on my save and he was very poor. Good to see you back involved. 

Thanks, I always start ta SM save at some point though I haven't gone very far since FM12. Your progress has been amazing so far, shame about that wonderkid striker defecting for Italy but remember you have the power to ruin his career .

[Lewis89]

3 hours ago, kandersson said:

Thanks, I always start ta SM save at some point though I haven't gone very far since FM12. Your progress has been amazing so far, shame about that wonderkid striker defecting for Italy but remember you have the power to ruin his career .

Thanks, I've attempted it on the previous 2 FM's but never got as far in as I have this time around. Luckily he hasn't played yet, and italys top two strikers are still some way ahead of him. I'm hopeful he won't get a cap. Ive seen it mentioned a few time since that 24 is generally the age they give up on Italy but not sure something like that could be set in Stone.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Lewis89

[FoxGe1994]

Nice to see other people play this challenge. 
I think i will show my best sanmarinesian Della Balda. 

And the best player to come from our youth - Giacomo Gennari - half italian - half sanmarianese. 
But he choose Italy

 

Still struggling in Serie C - because i have chosen to use my youth prospects and almost dont buy players, with means they develope pretty good. 

 

Edited January 19, 2019 by FoxGe1994

[Rolphynho]

Hello. I am pretty much what you would call a veteran of the game, playing ever since the CM 99/00 version. Also, I'm in love with lower league management, so I've decided to give this one a go, but with a little twist: I will attempt three challenges at once (doing the youth challenge and the all_european (less england) challenge as well).  Hence, I've chosen to load players from top European clubs, all players of Sanmarinese nationality & all the Serie D players. Then, of course i had to try the 1-year holiday and reload until promoted way to be eligible for the other two challenges. If anyone is interested, here's a link to a 30th June save with San Marino finally promoted: San Marino Serie C

Here is the starting screenshot: 

[Lewis89]

 

Major Game Update

At the start of the thread I mentioned my aim was to eventually add in a manager in the Sammarinesse domestic league, and having won the League and Champions League with San Marino Calcio, I believe now to be the perfect time to do this. Having looked into the league for a hour or so I have decided to go with San Giovani. We did have SP Cailungo as our feeder team but they are now a professional side and I wanted to start from the bottom. Quick overview of the club and domestic division incoming....

Club History     Board Expectations

Not won anything in 35 years, but did achieve a record high finish of 2nd almost a decade ago. The only silverware ever won, was the Sammarinese 2nd tier in 1995. With the board expecting us to finish bottom of the league, we can spend the season trying to lay some basic foundations down.

Squad

It looks quite decent for this level to be fair. My Assistant manager who was already here on my arrival is pretty decent so ill trust his judgement for now. 

Overview   Finances    Facilities

Still an amateur club, and a few sides now professional in this league it will be a challenge, especially as I plan on running this side of the challenge as youth only. Facilities as expected are poor, these need upgrading asap. The financial side im really surprised about, £958k in the bank is very good. As an amateur club we don't pay out any wages, so hoping I can get some upgrades in fast, as well as some coaching badges.

Domestic Division Overview

Ranking

Ranked as the 98th best league in Europe, sandwiched between the Armenian and N irish top flights. 

Past Winners

League    Cup

As you can La Fiorita are by far the dominant side domestically, and will be really difficult to overthrow.

Professional Sides

Interestingly we have 2 sides who are professional, Domestic powerhouse La Fiorita and former San Marino Calcio feeder club SP Cailungo. Whats more interesting is Fiorita are due to move into a 5300 seater stadium next season, and Cailungo are also in the stages of planning for a 6000 seater. Cosmos have already moved into a 5000 seat stadium also, so domestic football has grown in the game so far.

Semi Pro Sides

4 semi pro sides, Folgore/Falciano, Tre Penne, Tre Fiori and Fc Domagnano.

European Competition History

Looking over the history no club has ever qualified for the group stages of any European comp. La Fiorita regularly go out in the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League after losing in the Champions League 2nd Qualifying phase. Sp Cailungo have never made it past the 2nd qualifyinground of the Europa League. 

[robredo87]

Hey Lewis98. Congrats on both your club and national achievements so far! Impressive stuff. Can I just ask why you’re adding a manager in the San Marino league? Is it because you’re bored of the club side of the challenge and want to further the progression of the national side, through a stronger division reputation and better youth intake?

[Lewis89]

57 minutes ago, robredo87 said:

Hey Lewis98. Congrats on both your club and national achievements so far! Impressive stuff. Can I just ask why you’re adding a manager in the San Marino league? Is it because you’re bored of the club side of the challenge and want to further the progression of the national side, through a stronger division reputation and better youth intake?

Thanks man.

Not bored at all.....yet.

 just like the idea of being a ridiculously small club in a small league and trying to build them up. 

I doubt i will get them to a position where they are producing players who will make an impact on the national side, but I can have fun trying. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by Lewis89

[Lewis89]

National Team Update 2030

Nations League C Group 4

Results    Table

We were handed a tough group, Bosnia, Finland and Hungary, all teams ranked higher than us and all Favourites to beat us in every match. So to finish 3rd on 6 points wasn't that disappointing. I was hoping to do better, but being realistic, we properly should have came last. Another 2 years of development and hopefully when this returns we can push for promotion.

EURO 2032 Qualifiers.

Group Table   

Now this is very interesting, it looks a very even group which is extremely rare in qualifiers. The only stand out team being Serbia(15). The other sides, Gibraltar(208), Armenia(132), Finland(75) and Norway(62). Maybe not as even as it looked initially, but we should see off Gibraltar and Armenia, Finland we lost and drew with in the nations league, and Norway are not anything special, im hoping to take points of every side except Serbia and maybe even sneak 2nd place. Our opening Qualifying games are against Norway (H) and Finland (A), so a good chance to see where we stand in this group

[Lewis89]

National Team Update

We have played our first 2 qualifiers and pulled off 2 amazing wins. First up was Norway at home and we pulled off a memorable 2-1 win. Our second game was Finland away and after drawing 1-1 with them in the most recent nations league, I was hopeful we could at least get a draw. The final result of 1-0 kinda flattered us as they was the dominant side, but its the result that counts. 6 pts from 6 leaves us top of the table, 2 points clear of group favourites Serbia who only managed a draw away at Armenia. 

[dcu4life]

Season 10 (2027-28) Review - 3rd in Serie A / Champions League SF

 

Wow. What a difference a year makes. This was a pretty disastrous season where we finished with the fewest points in 4 years, barely sneaking into the Champions League places on the last day of the season thanks to Inter losing in the derby. At the beginning of the season two of our stars had their release clauses activated, and their replacements did not do so well. This, combined with what I think can be best described as simply bad luck, yielded a pretty rotten season. We were in 11th in late March.

On the bright side, we had a pretty nice run in the Champions League, but this was mainly due to luck of the draw than anything else. We had a pretty easy group, with Man United, RB Salzburg, and Dinamo Kyiv. Ended up finishing second despite getting 4 points against Man United (who ended up winning the whole thing), mostly due to losing to Dinamo Kyiv at home on the first matchday (also drew away to RB Salzburg). Despite finishing second, we drew Valencia in the last 16 (Man U OTOH drew Real Madrid so that was quite amusing), then Atalanta in the QF (yes, Atalanta made the Champions League QF). In the SF we drew Man City and got absolutely spanked. 

Won the Italian Super Cup against Inter (in pens iirc), lost in the Cup QF away to Juventus. Also Italy regained the 4th Champions League spot for the next season after retaking the coefficient lead over France. 

League Table:

Champions League (knockout):

Youth Intake:

Pretty poor this year unfortunately. 

National Team:

While 2027-28 was a relatively awful year for San Marino Calcio, it was a fantastic year for the National Team. We ended up finishing third in our Euro 2028 Qualification group of Denmark, Netherlands, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Azerbaijan finishing on 15 points. We almost beat the Dutch at home, but conceded a late equalizer. We've also crept into the top 150, and my 22 yr old star striker on San Marino Calcio, who is a dual national who's been in the Italy squad all year, got dropped for the Euros (Italy are hosting), so there is still hope there :). 

For the upcoming Nations League, we drew Luxembourg, Armenia, and Moldova. We should be able to get promoted (although unfortunately it's an off-cycle so no Euro qualification associated with this iteration). 

Euro 2028 Qualification: 

Next Season Goals:

• Go deep in champions league again
• Win Serie A
• Get promoted in Nations League

[theBlackPrince]

On 26/12/2018 at 20:29, DaveDurden1989 said:

I think I'm going to do the same thing man! Did you just try to sell off players from other countries to start? Or how did you go about that without losing your job? Looking forward to this!

I just put everyone for sale and into the Under 18's! I didn't lose my job nut results were tough. I haven't really got into this save and seeing other saves doing well in 3 or 4 years, may have to take another stab at this in a normal way!

[theBlackPrince]

Starting again, but no youth only this time! It's time I actually sign some players and try and build this team the normal way! Let's Go!

[theBlackPrince]

[Lewis89]

My San Giovanni adventure is coming to an end after just 1 season, having started the challenge not long after FM came out, it appears the San Marino Download I used Is flawed. Teams are earning £0 in prize money domestically. 

Is annoying but being so far in with San Marino Calcio I shall be continueing with them only. I will be keeping the San Marinesse League running in the background.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Lewis89

[Lewis89]

Season 13 review 2030/31 Serie A

Competitions

Serie A 

Results 1     Results 2    Past Winners

Our ding dong battle with Milan continued this year as we could only manage 2nd place, finishing 11 points behind the league winners. Most shockingly we suffered our worst defeat ever with a shocking 8-2 loss to Roma. 

Champions League - Our 2nd Champions League in a row means we are officially a European powerhouse, but what made me most proud this season was the 5-0 win over Basel. With qualification sealed, I played a team featuring 7 youth products and we romped home 5-0.

UEFA Super Cup -  A game that really could have gone either way, but we pulled through with a 2-1 win over Arsenal.

Club World Cup -  Our first appearance ended in glory with 2 easy high scoring wins.

Suppercoppa TIM Final - A 5-2 win over Inter.

TIM Cup - Still cant seem to win the cup. Our 2nd final in a row ended with a loss to Milan. 

Playing Side 

Squad     Transfers

 

Losing defensive stalwart Rony Preisner to Real Madrid for £80m was a bitter pill to swallow at the start of the season. Hes been such a key player for us for the last 6/7 years that he was always going to be difficult to replace. Miguel Negrete was bought in as a replacement and he had a very good season as we conceded 3 less goals than last year, and thats including the freak 8 we conceded at Roma. National team veteran Nicolo Giorghetti yp21a (92 caps) is being allowed to leave this summer for the good of his career. Hes not been getting enough games and has started to complain, as well as regress attributes wise, hes been sold to Lokomotiv Moscow for £21m. Its gonna be quite a big summer for us, as you can see in the squad list, we have 8 youth products in and around the first team, and am hoping to bring through a few more through this season. Ideally, id like to field a full homegrown 11 in at least 1 game next season. 

Youth Production 

Youth Intake

Nothing to shout about here really. We are crying out for a striker in the national side, so either of the two STs here may be able to improve us in a few years time, but noone here will have an impact in the near future. 

Behind The Scenes

Finances    Facilities

Finances are looking healthier every year, and with us banking £48m net profit from transfers in the summer. We are due to move back into our 24'015 seater stadium this summer, and I will be pushing to expand ASAP.

Next Season

To keep on developing the youngsters and try to win back the league from Milan.

 

National Team Update 10/06/2031

FIFA World Rankings    EURO 2032 Qualifiers Group A    Results

We have made a fantastic start to the qualifiers. 3 wins, against Finland 1-0, Norway 2-1 and Armenia 2-0 and a loss to Serbia 2-0 leaves us on a healthy 9 points and sat in 2nd place. With Gibraltar up next (should beat those), we have a real chance of finishing in 2nd place this time around. I doubt Serbia will drop many more points so cant see us grabbing 1st place so 2nd is the aim. This form has seen us finally break into the top 100 on the rankings 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Lewis89

[Lewis89]

Call me crazy but I shall be restarting the challenge. The issue with the Domestic league Download has really bugged me as I really want to manage there. I will be posting here again but will be managing both San Marino Calcio and San Giovanni from the start. This time around I will be using two database add ons by @claassen.