FM19: Salford City Club Thread - Class of 92'

[stevemc]

Welcome to the Salford City Football Club thread (FM19)

Club Details

Status: Professional

Nickname: The Ammies

Founded: 1940

Owners: Peter Lim (50%), Phil & Gary Neville (10%/10%) Nicky Butt (10%), Paul Scholes (10%), Ryan Giggs (10%)

League: National League (England)

Captain: Liam Hogan

Vice-Captain: N/A

Squad Personality: Professional

Rivals: FC United, Maine Road, Droylsden

Legends: Barry Massey, Chris Lynch

Favoured Personnel and Icons: Gareth Seddon, Steve Foster

Ground: Peninsula Stadium (Formerly Moor Lane)

Capacity: 5108 (2240 seated)

Training Facilities: Poor

Corporate Facilities: Good

Youth Facilities: Poor

Youth Level: 0

Junior Coaching: Average

Youth Recruitment: Fairly basic

Finances: Okay

Transfer Budget: £100,000

Wage Budget: £32,572 p/w

Media Prediction: 1st

 

Salford City Football Club is a recently made professional football club in the Kersal area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which plays in the National League, part of the fifth tier of the English football league system.

[stevemc]

Club History

1940 to 1989

The club was formed in 1940 as Salford Central and progressed steadily through local leagues until, in 1963, when it stepped up to the Manchester League and changed its name to Salford Amateurs. Nicknamed "The Ammies" the club became a real force in the 1970s, winning the Lancashire Amateur Cup in 1973, 1975 and 1977. All the Manchester County Cups and the League title came the club's way and in one season of note the club won seven trophies. The ultimate prize – Champion of Champions – was secured in 1977. In 1979, after a decade of success, the club took its first major step towards securing its status in non-league football.

The players and committee took on the task of restoring the present Moor Lane ground. The pitch was in poor condition, the main stand roofless and derelict. Working all hours the challenge was met head on and Moor Lane was passed as acceptable for entry to the Cheshire League in 1980. When the North West Counties League was formed in 1982 with the amalgamation of the Lancashire Combination and the Cheshire League, the foresight of upgrading the ground bore fruit and Salford seized the opportunity of joining football's non-league pyramid. The transition has not always been easy but with the reorganisation into two divisions the club eventually took their place in Division One.

1989 to 2005

Salford appeared in the Manchester Premier Cup Final at Old Trafford in 1989 and the same season saw floodlights installed at Moor Lane and the dropping of the Amateurs tag to become Salford City. In 1990 the club celebrated its 50th year by entering the FA Cup for the first time and received national exposure on BBC Television's Grandstand's "Road to Wembley" feature. Relegation followed the same season, however. With League restructuring in 1992 the club regained its place in Division One and with ex-Manchester United starlet Billy Garton in charge finished ninth, the club's highest ever league position. The following years have seen improvement on this and under Andy Brown they finished third (on goal difference) missing out on promotion only in the last few games as well as again reaching the final of the Premier Cup. The last few seasons, under manager Gary Fellows, saw the club establish itself as one of the dominant sides in the North West Counties League having won the League Challenge Cup in 2006 and just missing out on promotion in 2007 with virtually an all local squad.

In the 2004–05 season, the club reached the third round of the FA Vase, and reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup in the following season, also winning the North West Counties League Cup, beating Cammell Laird in the final.

2005 to 2010

The 2007–08 season proved the most successful in Salford City's history, as they finished in second place in Division One (now the northern Premier League) of the North West Counties League, enough to clinch promotion to Division One North of the Northern Premier League, the eighth level of the English football league system.

Competing in the Northern Premier League Division One North for the first time, the team suffered a difficult start to the 2008–09 season picking up only one point from the first 7 games. Despite leading the team to promotion during the previous season, Gary Fellows was relieved of his managerial duties in October 2008 and was replaced by former Bridlington Town and Stockport Sports boss Ashley Berry. After only two months, with results still not improving, Berry left the club, and former Flixton boss Paul Wright was appointed manager. Unfortunately due to a pre-existing suspension from the Football Association, Wright was unable to start work until March, so his assistant manager, Neil Hall, deputised as manager for the first two months of 2009. By the time Wright took up his position, the club were languishing at the bottom of the league, having achieved one win and a total of eight points from their first 26 games, leaving them 15 points adrift from safety. An unlikely 5–3 away win at Lancaster City prompted a change in fortune, and with the new management team settling into their roles, the team proceeded on an astonishing run of results, garnering nine wins and a draw from their last fourteen games and finally clinching survival by two points with a 5–2 win away at Garforth Town on the last day of the season.

The 2009–10 season saw strong performances in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy, but the team continued to struggle in the league. In February 2010, having lost four consecutive home matches, the club parted company with Paul Wright. Rather than appoint a permanent successor, chairman Darren Quick took the unusual step of taking on the role of caretaker manager himself for the remainder of the season. Under Quick, the team enjoyed a strong finish to the season, amassing 36 points from the remaining games and finishing the league in 11th place (the highest league position in the club's history).

2010 to present

Despite the 2009–10 season's heroics, the team again struggled at the start of the 2010–11 season, and Darren Quick decided to end his tenure as caretaker manager, replacing himself with Rhodri Giggs who would act as player-manager alongside experienced coach Danny Jones. Results improved under Giggs with team finishing the season in 12th position. The club began well in 2011–12 with hopes of a playoff push, however a poor run of form at the start of 2012, combined with the frequent departure of the club's top players, resulted in a mid-table finish. After the final home game of the season, Giggs announced he was resigning from the post with immediate effect.

In May 2012, the club appointed ex-professional Darren Sheridan as the new manager. The 2012–13 season started well in the league, and the club also enjoyed a local derby in the preliminary round of the FA Cup against FC United of Manchester. Over 1300 fans were in attendance at Moor Lane to watch the Ammies narrowly lose in a five-goal thriller. Sheridan's tenure at the club lasted only 8 months though, and he resigned from the club in January 2013 after a review of the club's budget. The club appointed Andy Heald as caretaker manager, before announcing his appointment on a full-time basis a month later. Under Heald's leadership, Salford finished a disappointing sixteenth place in the Premier League Division North, but enjoyed a good cup run by reaching the final of the Manchester Premier Cup where they faced Mossley at Edgeley Park. Despite a rousing late comeback to level the score at 2–2, Mossley eventually triumphed 4–2 in the resulting penalty shoot-out. At the end of the season, Heald and his assistant Chris Thompson left the club by mutual consent due to business and family commitments.

Ahead of the 2013–14 campaign, the club appointed Barry Massay and Phil Power as joint managers and Salford based businesswoman Karen Baird took over as chairman from the long-serving Quick. The new management team got off to a strong start and were unbeaten after the first six games of the season, however form began to dip and in October 2013 the decision was made to reshuffle the management team with Power assuming sole managerial responsibility and Massay dropping down to an assistant managerial role, before subsequently leaving the club completely a month later.

In March 2014, news broke of the proposed takeover of the club by former Manchester United players Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, subject to Football Association and Northern Premier League approval, with the deal expected to be completed by the summer. The remainder of the 2013–14 season saw Power lead Salford to a 12th position finish in the Premier League Division North.

With the proposed takeover of the club completed, the new ownership team were present at pre-season training in July 2014, at which Giggs suggested the consortium had ambitious aims for the non-league club, with a target of Championship level football within 15 years. It was confirmed that Baird would remain the club's chairman and Power would continue as manager. Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, the club announced a showcase match against a 'Class of '92 XI' featuring all five of the new owners which Salford City went on to win 5–1. The 2014–15 season started with Salford unbeaten in the first 13 games. In September 2014, the ownership team announced that they had agreed to sell a 50% stake in the club to Singapore–based billionaire Peter Lim, the owner of Valencia CF.

Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson were appointed joint-managers in January 2015.

Despite the promising start, a dip in form during December resulted in only 4 wins from the following 11 matches which saw the team fall behind Darlington 1883 at the top of the league. As a result, Power was sacked in January 2015 after 18 months in the role. Owners Paul Scholes and Phil Neville acted as caretaker managers for the subsequent match against Kendal Town before announcing the arrival of the new managerial team of Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley. Johnson and Morley had led Ramsbottom United to promotion from the Northern Premier League Division One North during the previous season. The new managerial team went on to win 15 of the remaining 17 matches of the season, a feat which saw them regain their place at the top of the table. With Darlington 1883 failing to win their penultimate match of the season, Salford were crowned champions, guaranteeing promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The championship was celebrated with Salford recording their ninth consecutive win in a 5–0 victory over Ossett Town in front of a crowd of over 1100.

In October 2015, the club was featured in the BBC One series Class of 92: Out of Their League which was commissioned for a second series in February 2016.

The club reached the FA Cup 1st Round proper for the first time in their 25-year association with the competition having defeated fellow league side Whitby Town, Curzon Ashton and Bradford (Park Avenue) from the National North League and Southport from the National League in the Qualifying Rounds. In front of a sell out crowd of 1,400 with many millions more watching live on BBC Television, Salford scored a famous win over League Two side Notts County by 2–0 at Moor Lane. The 2nd Round saw them drawn at home to Hartlepool United, also from League Two, and again the tie was televised live by BBC Television in front of another capacity crowd. A creditable 1–1 draw meant a replay in Hartlepool – a game that was televised live by BT Sport – but despite outplaying their hosts in normal time, Salford with the backing of 500 travelling supporters eventually succumbed to two unopposed goals in extra time. Having been in the top five places for the majority of the season Salford eventually finished third behind champions Darlington 1883 and runners-up Blyth Spartans to claim a play off place. Ashton United were defeated 3–1 in the semi-final at Moor Lane which was followed up four days later with a 3–2 win over Workington at the same venue in front of nearly 2,000 spectators with 'the Ammies' scoring twice in the final eleven minutes to claim their place in the Vanarama-sponsored National League North for the 2016–17 season, the highest level the club has ever reached in its 76-year history.

On 21 April 2018, the club became champions of the National League North for the 2017–18 season with one game to play, thereby securing promotion to National League, once again re-setting the bar for the highest level the club has ever attained. Following this, on 8 May 2018 it was announced the joint managers had left the club by mutual consent, due to irreconcilable differences regarding performance and contract length. Shortly afterwards on the 14 May Graham Alexander was appointed as the club's new manager.

 

Colours & logo

The club's colours are red and white. Prior to the change in ownership in 2014, the club played in tangerine & black (earlier colours include tangerine & white and all navy blue respectively). The club's logo also changed in 2014 but both logos picture a lion. The old logo included the club's nickname "the Ammies".

 

Full time status

The club announced that from 1 July, players with the club would become full-time professional players.

[stevemc]

The Re-brand: Salford City FC Identity 

In 2014, the ‘Class of 92’ – ex Manchester United academy players, now legends, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville and Nicky Butt had become the new owners of non-league Salford City FC. Gary Neville commissioned Work Club to take on the task of rebranding them. Freelance designer, George Schon led the project from the initial pitch work right through to finished product.

They had acquired the club with a clear agenda to give something back to their community, to give other local lads the chance that they once had and to give the city of Salford a chance of professional football.

 The brief was to redesign the entire look and feel of the club; from manifesto to visual identity to architecture and the digital story, turning an eighth division, semi professional club, into a brand the Class of 92 and the people of Salford could be proud of. The heritage of the club and the city itself had to be acknowledged in the new design, and be infused with the ethos of no nonsense, honest, hardworking football, married with the ambition of the Champions League-winning new owners.

The motto of the city of Salford ‘Integrity and Industry’ and the existing club crest containing the Salford lion was the starting point for the new brand. The sideways facing lion of the club and city was turned to face forward, making it look confidently into the future. 

The mane of the lion is a 6 sided shield that was taken from the profile of a container ship commonly found a few miles away in the Salford dock, the 6 sides was in subtle reference to the original 6 members of the Class of ’92. 

The typeface, an element so core to the brand was also taken from the docks. SAA is the regulation font found on all shipping containers worldwide and would have been commonplace when the docks fully operational. In design it also perfectly embodied the club’s ‘Integrity and Industry’ values, with clear, hardworking letterforms.

Having flirted with five colours in their 40 year history, the Salford FC shirts are now the red that served the Class of ’92 so well for so long. 

[stevemc]

The Stadium: Peninsula Stadium (formerly Moor Lane)

The Moor Lane football ground is now unrecognisable from what it was like a year ago. The old ground has been completely replaced by four new stands, effectively making it a new stadium. Considering that this was all done in just ten months, is a remarkable achievement. The last stand to be opened was the new Main Stand on the Neville Road side of the ground. This all seated stand is a fairly simple affair with six rows of seats. At the back of the stand, there is quite a tall retaining 'wall' between the seating area and the roof. The team dugouts are located at the front of this stand. Although this stand on the Neville Road Stand replaced the old Main Stand, it is the new Moor Lane Stand opposite that has more facilities, with glassed corporate areas at the rear of it. It too is all-seated and is of a similar height to the Neville Road Stand. Both ends have new covered terraces, with the West Terrace, being the first of the new stands to be constructed of the new stadium. The East Terrace opposite is almost a replica of the West Terrace and all of part of this terrace can be allocated to away supporters. Two corners of the ground on the Moor Lane side are enclosed, although not used for spectators. The transformation of the stadium means that it now meets entry requirements for the Football League, which shows the ambition of the Club.

Overlooking the ground at the North Eastern corner is the tall spire of St Pauls Church, and the new floodlight panels at the ground are in the same outline shape as the Club badge. In October 2017 the Moor Lane ground was renamed the Peninsula Stadium in a corporate sponsorship deal. The new stadium was officially opened by Sir Alex Ferguson.

[stevemc]

Players and Staff

First team squad

 

Under-18 squad

 

Staff Overall

 

Coaching staff

 

Medical staff

 

Recruitment staff

[stevemc]

Key Players...

Chris Neal (GK) ****

A goalkeeper in his prime, should excel at this level, if not there is a capable understudy in Max Crocombe who has plenty of room to grow.

 

Nathan Pond (CB) ****

Aging but experienced centre back, despite his lack of pace, is a top drawer player for this level, and with a model professional personality, surely a great candidate for mentoring.

 

Danny Lloyd (AML) ****

Still only 26, a key player with room to grow further, capable playing off the left or right, took a drop from League One to play at this level.

 

Adam Rooney (S) *****

Important player in his prime, Adam took a drop from the Scottish Premiership and should comfortably score bags of goals at this level. Almost certainly the best striker at this level.

 

[stevemc]

So, why Manage Salford City?

A great challenge to take this nicely invested club all the way from the National League up to Premier League glory. The current set of owners want the club to go places, after a recent rebrand and rebuild of the Moor Lane stadium, the club is looking to take steps into the football league in the immediate future. 

Three promotions in three season since the takeover suggests that the club have a good platform in which to build from but the pressure will be on to continue this success and make your way into the football league. You'll have substantial backing and funds for the level you are competing it with a lovely new stadium to produce your football in. The coaching staff, medial staff and recruitment team is amongst the best in the league and should allow you to get off to a flying start - surely promotion in your first season is a formality...

Long term, can you reach the Premier League, and rub shoulders with locals such as Manchester United and Manchester City? Can you go one step further and compete in European football? 4 promotions are needed to reach the top tier. Whilst surely cementing yourself as a club icon.

Good luck...

[SirCular]

Finally managed to settle into my first long term save with Salford (again) after dabbling and failing to really get into any other saves.

Signings so far have been fairly limited as the squad is obviously more than good enough to win promotion in the first season, however, I did bring in the following players:

Gil Santos - AMR/AML/ST - Free Transfer - Guy looked ridiculous for this level and although he's on £3.9k per week, he'll be good for the next two tiers at the least whilst also being an option to turn a healthy profit if need be. Leeds and Montpellier both had bids accepted in the January transfer window but I was able to get the board to re-consider.

Jermaine Grandison - DC/DR - Free Transfer - He's been mentioned on a few threads here already. Solid Centre Back of Fullback for this level.

Bilal - AML/AMC - Free Transfer - Recently released from Real Madrid and looks to have good potential. Has appeared mainly as an impact sub for me from the Left Wing but has been solid so far when needed.

Al Hassan - ST/AMR - Free Transfer - Again, recently released from Lazio and looks to have good potential. Already has much bigger clubs sniffing around him so could be a profit maker if nothing else.

Ben Close - MC - Loan - Brought in from Portsmouth and has added a bit of steel to my midfield playing as CM Support. Brilliant first season loan signing. £0 fee and £0 wage contribution.

Ethan Robson - MC - Loan - Brought in from Sunderland and has easily been the standout player. Playing as a Deep Lying Playmaker he's been fantastic and currently has 19 goals and 26 assists in 52 games. £0 fee and £0 wage contribution.

 

[Amarante]

1 hour ago, SirCular said:

Finally managed to settle into my first long term save with Salford (again) after dabbling and failing to really get into any other saves.

Signings so far have been fairly limited as the squad is obviously more than good enough to win promotion in the first season, however, I did bring in the following players:

Gil Santos - AMR/AML/ST - Free Transfer - Guy looked ridiculous for this level and although he's on £3.9k per week, he'll be good for the next two tiers at the least whilst also being an option to turn a healthy profit if need be. Leeds and Montpellier both had bids accepted in the January transfer window but I was able to get the board to re-consider.

Jermaine Grandison - DC/DR - Free Transfer - He's been mentioned on a few threads here already. Solid Centre Back of Fullback for this level.

Bilal - AML/AMC - Free Transfer - Recently released from Real Madrid and looks to have good potential. Has appeared mainly as an impact sub for me from the Left Wing but has been solid so far when needed.

Al Hassan - ST/AMR - Free Transfer - Again, recently released from Lazio and looks to have good potential. Already has much bigger clubs sniffing around him so could be a profit maker if nothing else.

Ben Close - MC - Loan - Brought in from Portsmouth and has added a bit of steel to my midfield playing as CM Support. Brilliant first season loan signing. £0 fee and £0 wage contribution.

Ethan Robson - MC - Loan - Brought in from Sunderland and has easily been the standout player. Playing as a Deep Lying Playmaker he's been fantastic and currently has 19 goals and 26 assists in 52 games. £0 fee and £0 wage contribution.

 

I was just about to ask where are the potential signings. This is my first year playing with Salford City. I hope it can excite me enough to take them to the top flight and pinacle of footballing powers 

[XcilPersion]

Have been going with Salford for a couple of seasons now. Won the first 4 titles, especially the last one unexpected. Went into the Premier League with a Championship side and got 13th place and in my second PL season I am currently in 7th place after 33 games. Not likely to drop to 8, still a chance to even go top 4. Tough schedule ahead though, so who knows. Qualifying for any European competition this season would be incredible.

[stevemc]

1 hour ago, XcilPersion said:

Have been going with Salford for a couple of seasons now. Won the first 4 titles, especially the last one unexpected. Went into the Premier League with a Championship side and got 13th place and in my second PL season I am currently in 7th place after 33 games. Not likely to drop to 8, still a chance to even go top 4. Tough schedule ahead though, so who knows. Qualifying for any European competition this season would be incredible.

What sort of budgets did you get as you went up the leagues?

[XcilPersion]

24 minutes ago, stevemc said:

What sort of budgets did you get as you went up the leagues?

Basically nothing till I hit the Premier League. Relied on free transfers and loans.

[stevemc]

35 minutes ago, XcilPersion said:

Basically nothing till I hit the Premier League. Relied on free transfers and loans.

For some reason I was expecting some decent budgets

[XcilPersion]

Second season in the Premier League has finished. Goal was to avoid relegation. Was 99% sure I was going to make that (just did not want to make expectations of my board too high in case I would have another injury crisis like the season before) and was hoping for a midtable finish myself. Even did better than that by finishing in 6th, which qualifies me for the Euro Cup. Been put in a group with Lyon, Kyiv and Slavia Prague. Board set me the goal to get out of the groups and hopefully I am able to do so. Quality wise I think Prague and Kyiv can't compare with the top of the Prem so I am hopeful to achieve that. OL could give us very hard games though. The season so far has got me 7 points out of 4 games, of which 2 teams finished above me in the last season and another is Chelsea, who is still Chelsea imo and not some midtable team.

 

 

[haza555]

If ever there was a game to get me back into FM after a couple years absence...gutted but enthralled all at the same time,..

[XcilPersion]

6 hours ago, haza555 said:

If ever there was a game to get me back into FM after a couple years absence...gutted but enthralled all at the same time,..

90+2, 90+6, 90+8. Crazy. And statwise it's just one of those games you feel like you should win but your team ain't converting the chances as well as the opponent.

[haza555]

3 hours ago, XcilPersion said:

90+2, 90+6, 90+8. Crazy. And statwise it's just one of those games you feel like you should win but your team ain't converting the chances as well as the opponent.

Yep, dominated, Redshaw missed 5 or 6 CCC's.  Thankfully my subs got it done. 'Losing' it in stoppage time after winning it in stoppage time is tough though.

[MartinGregory84]

What sort of tactical set up is everyone using this year?

[Amarante]

4 hours ago, MartinGregory84 said:

What sort of tactical set up is everyone using this year?

4141. At this moment am doing a sir alex+pep style fusion. 

[XcilPersion]

I remember drawing to Spurs early in the season by conceding in the 91st minute thinking; 'this better not cost me my place to qualify for the Euro Cup'. Well, it didn't.. but it turned out to be even worse! Amazing season though, 2nd in the league by 5 goal difference and won the Euro Cup in 2024/2025. Hopefully even better next season but it will be nearly impossible to do just as well!

[DeanoFM]

On 18/11/2018 at 22:13, XcilPersion said:

I remember drawing to Spurs early in the season by conceding in the 91st minute thinking; 'this better not cost me my place to qualify for the Euro Cup'. Well, it didn't.. but it turned out to be even worse! Amazing season though, 2nd in the league by 5 goal difference and won the Euro Cup in 2024/2025. Hopefully even better next season but it will be nearly impossible to do just as well!

 

How you managed to take Salford City to 2nd in the prem in 6 seasons?

[XcilPersion]

On 20/11/2018 at 14:26, DeanoFM said:

 

How you managed to take Salford City to 2nd in the prem in 6 seasons?

You tell me. I am as surprised as you are probably. Won the Europa League, won the European Super Cup and after another half of the season I am currently in 1st after 22 games (6 points difference) and could not get through the Champions League group much easier than I did. Think key was finding the right players on loan and finding the right players that were free agent or that had an expiring contract. Did some manual scouting, putting hours in it also pays off. Also you should not be afraid to let the worst players on your team leave if you can replace them by a player that instantly improves the level in the starting XI. The former starter then becomes the sub.  First season in the Premier League was definitely the hardest by far, but luckily the board allowed a transferbudget from that point. Then also with some creative scouting and finding the right bargains you can come a long way. Now in my 3rd Premier League season I am still only expected to make Euro Cup qualification, so the 2nd place last season and winning the Europa League was not expected at all. But to be very honest, I am not even a very experienced FM player. I used to play a few years ago, did something similar with Luton back then (but did not win the Prem or CL in the end).

 

Edit: Season ended. Won the league, won the FA cup (extra time wins in the Quarters vs Liverpool and final vs Chelsea) and even though I got a bit lucky vs Arsenal in the Champions League (outplayed me in the away game but got the draw and away goals), the wins over Bayern and Barcelona were very deserved! Lost for words basically, not expecting to complete Salford City this soon.

[Amarante]

Promotion in March :

 

[Amarante]

On 20/11/2018 at 12:40, XcilPersion said:

You tell me. I am as surprised as you are probably. Won the Europa League, won the European Super Cup and after another half of the season I am currently in 1st after 22 games (6 points difference) and could not get through the Champions League group much easier than I did. Think key was finding the right players on loan and finding the right players that were free agent or that had an expiring contract. Did some manual scouting, putting hours in it also pays off. Also you should not be afraid to let the worst players on your team leave if you can replace them by a player that instantly improves the level in the starting XI. The former starter then becomes the sub.  First season in the Premier League was definitely the hardest by far, but luckily the board allowed a transferbudget from that point. Then also with some creative scouting and finding the right bargains you can come a long way. Now in my 3rd Premier League season I am still only expected to make Euro Cup qualification, so the 2nd place last season and winning the Europa League was not expected at all. But to be very honest, I am not even a very experienced FM player. I used to play a few years ago, did something similar with Luton back then (but did not win the Prem or CL in the end).

 

Edit: Season ended. Won the league, won the FA cup (extra time wins in the Quarters vs Liverpool and final vs Chelsea) and even though I got a bit lucky vs Arsenal in the Champions League (outplayed me in the away game but got the draw and away goals), the wins over Bayern and Barcelona were very deserved! Lost for words basically, not expecting to complete Salford City this soon.

Super Achievement that Treble too! Next Season you have to win all 6 trophies. 

[SirCular]

Seems to be pretty quiet in here so thought I'd post some progress. Haven't had chance to play a great deal over the last few weeks, but managed to get a few hours in last night and the night before. I'm currently sitting top of League Two and I'm 9 points clear of 2nd with promotion already confirmed.

Second season signings were as follows:-

Ethan Robson - Free - Released from Sunderland at the end of the first season having spent the entire year on loan and driving my midfield. Still top class for League Two and League One at least.

Nathan Phillips - Free - Released from Liverpool and has filled the void of the released and ageing Nathan Pond perfectly.

Gilson Costa - Free - Was strangely without a club for a year and was interested in joining me. Has 5* potential according to my Assistant and looks to be a mainstay in Midfield for a few seasons to come.

Thomas Touré - Free - Released from Angers and again I was surprised he was interested in joining, albeit in the January window. Definitely a player who will get game time and has forced me to switch to a more traditional 4-4-2 formation from the 4-5-1 I played to ease the reliance on Adam Rooney, who despite being the best striker in the league isn't particularly quick!

I've had some decent runs in the cups and actually got a lucrative away draw at Man Utd, they won convincingly but the money free'd up from the tie has allowed the board to give me a £1million transfer kitty for League One.

Brexit went ahead in my save and the Work Permit rules change to the minimum wage being a certain amount etc. Haven't had this outcome before so will be fun (or not fun) to see how this affects my transfer plans.

[haza555]

Into third season and currently 2nd in League One having had back to back promotions.

Eider Gudjohnson's son Andri is a machine for me. Didn't use him much last year but this year I put him into the starting line up at 18 as a poacher and he is scoring and assisting for fun.

[SirCular]

So I'm now underway with the third season, currently sitting 5th in League One after 3 games. Definitely a step up in terms of quality with some solid sides coming down from the Championship (Nottingham Forest and Wigan being the stand out sides). Ethan Robson picked up damaged cruciate ligaments in the first game of the season, meaning he's out long term and will probably miss the entire season. Other than that the core of my team remains relatively similar:-

Current Squad

https://www.imgur.com/nfhn1AM

Transfers

https://www.imgur.com/soXF7HA

I'm still crying out for quality fullbacks and both Grandison and and Gabriel just aren't up to scratch for this level really. Luhey has been an upgrade at left back however with Tom Walker having to fill that roll for most of last season.

Certainly hoping for promotion though based on some solid signings!

 

 

[jkae]

Need some tactic advice in the first season. 

I like using 442 in the lower leagues and ive signed Nile Ranger (i know bad idea) for a target man and Adam Rooney as a poacher but im so inconsistent. I beat hartlepool, who are top, 4-0 then loose to flyde, bottom, 4-1. a couple of screenshots of tactics would be amazing.  

[SirCular]

17 hours ago, jkae said:

Need some tactic advice in the first season. 

I like using 442 in the lower leagues and ive signed Nile Ranger (i know bad idea) for a target man and Adam Rooney as a poacher but im so inconsistent. I beat hartlepool, who are top, 4-0 then loose to flyde, bottom, 4-1. a couple of screenshots of tactics would be amazing.  

A copy of your tactics would probably be more useful - there might only be a couple of tweaks needed to make a big difference. Be mindful that a Target Man and Poacher are reliant on the service, both from wide areas in terms of crosses and through the middle with through balls. Both strikers you have there aren't necessarily quick or mobile so the focus should be getting the back into the box, as that's where they're predominantly going to be strongest.

[jkae]

Heres my squad and tactics, any feedback is welcome. Before anyone says it, i thought i could be the one to change Nile Ranger and I regret signing him already. 

[SirCular]

Having looked at your tactics, I would try changing your attacking width to normal, change your passing directness to normal, run at the defence more and also try it without passing into space. Whilst in transition, I always found distribution to both centre backs and full backs useful as it means you can keep the ball on the deck whilst getting it into danger men such as Danny Lloyd. Also I wouldn't play on the counter, you should be controlling games at this level. Out of possession - normal defensive line but a higher line of engagement.

That's just my opinion really based on how I was and am currently set up to play for most games. Let me know how you get on!

[jkae]

Brilliant thank you, ill give that a go and let you know. 

[Jimmy Blue]

Currently in my 4th season with Salford City. Will hopefully hit the big time this season. 

Gaffney is quality no matter how much he deteriorates over the years he always puts a shift in!

[SirCular]

Good to see other guys having success with some of the players I recommended. Gil Santos is definitely one of the highest recommended as he's solid right up the leagues with room for development. The whole Brexit impact doesn't look to be changing much in terms of Championship and Premiership sides - there's a minimum wage requirement of £8k per week to be considered, which in terms of current wages I have a few players earning £4-7k already in League One (phew!).

In terms of performances so far for me this season, Sean Goss has been outstanding and is already just 2 POM awards away from the record and I've only just hit February, not bad for his £28k transfer fee from QPR. Aside from him, Gedion Zelalem and Callum Camps have rotated for the advanced playmaker spot and both have performed brilliantly with Gilson Costa and Ben Thompson applying the bite in my midfield, operating between Box to Box and Ball Winning Midfielders dependent on how the opposition are set up to play. Adam Rooney again has been consistent although his lack of pace I feel is hindering the way my team operate - he has a quality stream of supply from the midfield but just doesn't have the legs sometimes to attack or get on the end of the through balls they thread, this will definitely be looked at going into the Championship.

This is certainly the most enjoyable save I've had on any FM for a while. I did have a couple of attempts last year with Salford but Brexit took the feel away from the game as I went up the leagues.

[Blue_4ever]

Started a game with Salford myself recently, tried a few other L2 and L1 clubs but then decided on the challenge of Salford after reading this thread. Just finished the first season as run away Champions, nothing more than I expected tbh, but didn't start that way as it took a bit for the team to gel together, most of the draws and defeats came between the months of Sep-Dec before I went on a roll. Had a good go in the FA Cup 3rd round against Leicester at home, they where on a poor run of form and I was flying, lost out 1 nil with Adam Rooney missing a penalty and a late Gil Santos goal ruled out for minimal offside. Have a final against Kidderminster Harriers to play so the lads have a day at Wembley to look forward to.

Stand out performers of the season have been Rooney with 44 goals, Christian Hill at LB with 18 assists, Gil Santos racking up 16 goals and 14 assists, for a half a season Jacob Brown coming in on loan from Barnsley playing the F9 role contributing 17 goals and 6 assists. At the back a rotation at the start of the season between Pond, Grandison and Piergianni was solid, but due to injuries needed extra strength in depth, with freeing up some fund with the sale of Jack Redshaw allowed me to sign a cracking CB in Ricardo Bagadur  and keeper Jacopo Furlan on frees, both made instant impacts on the pitch. My midfield was made up by 3 loanees with Rakeem Haper and Reece Cole by far being instrumental, also retraining Danny Lloyd to play the CM role, helped his unhappiness as I didn't find him the best wing player but had all the attributes to play in the middle of the park and proved to be a good decision.

Anyway here's now to a attempt to sign some new blood for L2 and a push again for another promotion.

 

[Blue_4ever]

Just finished another season managed to breeze through League Two without any major hiccups, went on for record points and wins in a season once again. Also went all the way in the Checkatrade Trophy with a tense final against Colcehester winning 3-2 with a 91st minute winner from on loan Jack Lankaster, was probably the hardest game I played throughout the competition. Again in the FA Cup made it to the 3rd round, this time against Premiership side Millwall and got well and truly smashed as I was 3 nil down after 14 minutes managed one back from Gil Santos but was just a consolation goal as they won a resounding 4-1. Having such a terrific season was down the signings I made (all for free), Charlie Colkett, Ross Draper, Ethan Robson and Sean Goss (on loan) put the backbone in my midfield chipping in 23 goal and 20 assists between them. My stand out performer of the season was Gil Santos, just seems to get better as the season goes along notching up 22 goals and 14 assists, Adam Rooney started off slow but ended up topping the charts with 29 goals and the surprise performer was Rory Gaffney scoring 18 goals in 30 appearances. As for the defence I signed Scott Wharton on loan from Blackburn to tighten up the back beside Ricardo Bagadur as I felt Nathan Pond was too slow, worked well as my keeper Jacapo Furlan ended up breaking the league record with 26 clean sheets.

Have my sights set on a few players already for a push in League One, I do feel that this will be more of a challenge than the past 2 seasons as my players where head and shoulders above their counterparts in VNL and L2

 

[SirCular]

So after a bit of a wobble over Christmas (injuries to pretty much all my main midfielders didn't help), I'm sat top of the Championship in February, 6 points clear of 2nd place who have a game in hand.

Signings wise, the main ins were:

Oliver Burke for a measly £110k. He was transfer listed having played just a handful of first team games in 2 seasons and he's been great in rotation with my regen AMR.

Yannis Ammour came in again for a small fee of £350k and has made the AML position his own. Impressive technical and physical stats and will keep his place should we get promotion.

Sergio Prandi is a regen from Uruguay who was on my shortlist for around 2 seasons prior to joining. Has always been coveted by major European sides and when his contract expired I made an approach only for him to accept a trial with Napoli. Not deterred I again approached and tied him down to a 4 year deal. Will post his attributes later on as I think he could be an absolute steal!

Jonathan Panzo was brought in on a season long loan from Monaco and again has slotted straight in at CB next to Nathan Philips. Provides me with a pacier partner and has sured up my sometimes rocky defence from last year.

Matthias Bader came in from Cologne and was my largest outlay at £600k. I'd been crying out for a solid right back having gotten by with sub-par players and he's been very consistent thus far. Another he will keep his place next season.

[Blue_4ever]

On 04/01/2019 at 10:30, SirCular said:

So after a bit of a wobble over Christmas (injuries to pretty much all my main midfielders didn't help), I'm sat top of the Championship in February, 6 points clear of 2nd place who have a game in hand.

Signings wise, the main ins were:

Oliver Burke for a measly £110k. He was transfer listed having played just a handful of first team games in 2 seasons and he's been great in rotation with my regen AMR.

Yannis Ammour came in again for a small fee of £350k and has made the AML position his own. Impressive technical and physical stats and will keep his place should we get promotion.

Sergio Prandi is a regen from Uruguay who was on my shortlist for around 2 seasons prior to joining. Has always been coveted by major European sides and when his contract expired I made an approach only for him to accept a trial with Napoli. Not deterred I again approached and tied him down to a 4 year deal. Will post his attributes later on as I think he could be an absolute steal!

Jonathan Panzo was brought in on a season long loan from Monaco and again has slotted straight in at CB next to Nathan Philips. Provides me with a pacier partner and has sured up my sometimes rocky defence from last year.

Matthias Bader came in from Cologne and was my largest outlay at £600k. I'd been crying out for a solid right back having gotten by with sub-par players and he's been very consistent thus far. Another he will keep his place next season.

What sort of budget did you get when you went from L1 to the Championship? Just played Fulham (now Championship) in the Carabao Cup and their players are well above my standard and also from looking at a few teams in there I'm gonna need to rehaul my squad. 

[SirCular]

I had some decent luck with the draws in the cups which obviously helped the bank balance. I think my budget was around the £900k mark, which I wasn't too unhappy with. I tend to try and build for the next season in January especially when I'm looking at promotion and often spread the deals over a few years. Loans are very handy though, Marcin Bulka has been on loan with me now for 3 seasons as he doesn't get a look in at Chelsea for example, he's easily the best keeper in the Championship currently and I'll definitely look to get a permanent deal done next season.

[Woolly]

I've started a Salford save also and currently sit top of the league at the beginning of November. Unfortunately I've not had the chance to see how well Rooney performs at this level as he seems to have developed an injury problem so far he has managed just 4 starts and 4 subs appearances (he has managed 3 goals) in the league thankfully I managed to pick up a young Welshman (21) callend Jamie Thomas (formerly of Burnley) on a free and he has more than made up for Rooney with a return of 13 goals in 20 appearances (includes sub) as has Gafney with 16 goals.  I lost Scott Wiseman at RB to a pre-season broken leg which lead to his retirement without even managing a game leading to me scrabbling around looking for a half decent RB, a search which ended when I got Aaron Lewis on a season long loan from Swansea, he has proven to be a godsend to be honest as I'm not sure that my other RB options are good enough at this moment.   

[s0ni42]

On 12/01/2019 at 09:59, Woolly said:

thankfully I managed to pick up a young Welshman (21) callend Jamie Thomas (formerly of Burnley)  

I have him in Wrexham save. Good player

[Woolly]

On ‎15‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 22:20, s0ni42 said:

I have him in Wrexham save. Good player

I would have to agree with you on that one especially when he is in double figures on my team and I haven't reached Jan in the first season yet. However, I have noticed he can be a little inconsistent but he is still young to be fair.  Rooney looks to have got over his injury problems for now but I just can't seem to find a place for him in my side what with the form of Thomas and Gaffney. Still top of the league and with a six point gap opened up between 1st and 2nd place. League clubs are already starting to sniff round my players and I'm expecting some bids to come in once the transfer window for the league clubs opens. 

[YasoKuul]

David Beckham is the final member of the Class of ’92 to take a stake in the club as CO92 become the majority shareholders with 60%, although Peter Lim remains the single largest shareholder with 40%: https://salfordcityfc.co.uk/david-beckham-to-take-stake-in-salford-city/

I think it's time to start another save in FM19 after a great save in FM18 with promotions up to EPL.

 

[SirCular]

17 minutes ago, YasoKuul said:

David Beckham is the final member of the Class of ’92 to take a stake in the club as CO92 become the majority shareholders with 60%, although Peter Lim remains the single largest shareholder with 40%: https://salfordcityfc.co.uk/david-beckham-to-take-stake-in-salford-city/

I think it's time to start another save in FM19 after a great save in FM18 with promotions up to EPL.

 

Think this might now mean Scholes will take over at Oldham! I'm due an update on my progress with Salford, currently sat in the European Places in my first season in the Premier League.

Plenty of players mentioned in here to help with your first season!

[jkae]

On 23/01/2019 at 13:44, SirCular said:

Think this might now mean Scholes will take over at Oldham! I'm due an update on my progress with Salford, currently sat in the European Places in my first season in the Premier League.

Plenty of players mentioned in here to help with your first season!

Ill be interested to see a screenshot of your club page. Im top of League Two in my second season, 14 points clear with 8 games left and im worried about the finances. I have been taken over already and they havent pumped anything in. 6k a week under my wage budget too, but with only 5k stadium capacity i cant see much income coming in anytime soon. 

Ive added some screens of my progress so far. Ive relied heavily on loans to keep the wages down and tried to offload a few of the higher earners. Adam Rooney just doesn't fit how i want to play and he is very tricky to clear from the books as no one gets near what he wants. 

 

 

[SirCular]

11 hours ago, jkae said:

Ill be interested to see a screenshot of your club page. Im top of League Two in my second season, 14 points clear with 8 games left and im worried about the finances. I have been taken over already and they havent pumped anything in. 6k a week under my wage budget too, but with only 5k stadium capacity i cant see much income coming in anytime soon. 

Ive added some screens of my progress so far. Ive relied heavily on loans to keep the wages down and tried to offload a few of the higher earners. Adam Rooney just doesn't fit how i want to play and he is very tricky to clear from the books as no one gets near what he wants. 

 

 

Will try and grab this for you later on tonight bud. With regards to the takeover, I had an attempted takeover collapse and Peter Lim is still very much involved. Decent luck with cup draws and the results I've had have definitely helped the bank balance and this should be do-able for most due to the calibre of players you are able to attract in the lower leagues.

The good thing about having Peter Lim still in place is that he's still classed as a tycoon and it's handy to have the injections up the leagues when finances aren't particularly great.

[stevecummins78]

Hi everyone,

I am managing Salford and we are currently third, a couple of points off top spot after 21 games but with a game in hand. So, we are doing reasonably well but I’m still of the view I am underachieving given the quality we have. Lloyd and Rooney are not dominating the league as much as I thought, despite me also bringing in Milan Lalkovic to supplement the attacking midfield options. Gaffney keeps getting injured and youn Tom Walker hasn’t done anything special.

Tactically I’m alternating between 4231 and a 424 wide depending on availability. I try to play positive/attacking football with higher pressing and working balls in to the box. I have found Jack Renshaw to be an excellent striker option so that means having to play two up front to keep high earning Rooney in the side.

At the moment my First XI is Neal in goal; Touray, Hogan, Pond, Wiseman at the back; Mafuta and Maynard in midfield; Lloyd and Lalkovic as wingers; and Renshaw and Rooney up front.

What did other managers find the best set up to be in the first season?

[Amarante]

On 30/01/2019 at 02:47, stevecummins78 said:

Hi everyone,

I am managing Salford and we are currently third, a couple of points off top spot after 21 games but with a game in hand. So, we are doing reasonably well but I’m still of the view I am underachieving given the quality we have. Lloyd and Rooney are not dominating the league as much as I thought, despite me also bringing in Milan Lalkovic to supplement the attacking midfield options. Gaffney keeps getting injured and youn Tom Walker hasn’t done anything special.

Tactically I’m alternating between 4231 and a 424 wide depending on availability. I try to play positive/attacking football with higher pressing and working balls in to the box. I have found Jack Renshaw to be an excellent striker option so that means having to play two up front to keep high earning Rooney in the side.

At the moment my First XI is Neal in goal; Touray, Hogan, Pond, Wiseman at the back; Mafuta and Maynard in midfield; Lloyd and Lalkovic as wingers; and Renshaw and Rooney up front.

What did other managers find the best set up to be in the first season?

I did a 4141 flat to great perfection, won the league in march. 

[stevecummins78]

These are my two tactics, neither is working out well!

 

 

[jkae]

Ive got my tactics above that i used to romp to the league in the first season and won League Two by March. I find using an attacking midfielder left too much space and weren't technically good enough to pull the strings. Ethan Robson was brilliant in my first season. I brung in a couple of freebies on the left, Bial and Monterio and i sold off tom walker as he didn't play, Gaffney never seemed to string together enough games for me to keep him in. Rooney was hit an miss too, but Danny Lloyd was my top goal scorer from IF on the right,.