The FM20 Youth Academy Challenge

[Saethus]

Saethus - Coalville Town - The Ravens

A prelude:

I've never been one to post on the forums despite playing the games for a considerable time but I've been eager to post having followed others progression. Previously "attempted" this challenge back on FM18 but did it with Telford - as mentioned prior I've never been one to post on the forums so the leaderboard etc didn't mean much, but this time I've attempted it properly. I reloaded for 5 straight hours to get Coalville after getting them on my first attempt on a prior save, but forgetting to load the extra players (imbecile) so we were off to a GREAT start on that end - here's how it's been since;

I've just completed the 2028/2029 season. Yep. I have no clue if the lack of updates prior will cause an issue but I will cover everything as best as I can. First things first, I've made no signings. Here's how we've been getting on in previous seasons. It's been a grind, but a rewarding one as we've achieved promotion! Those first few seasons took more effort than I think I've ever really required from a save. As you can see, I more or less just holiday between my matches and then play them, push through the seasons and let the magic happen HOWEVER consecutive 20th placed finishes had me... concerned. Thankfully we recovered and it's been relatively rosey since.

Last season however, we conceded a TONNE of goals. This can more or less entirely be placed upon the board who decided to sell BY FAR my only acceptable goalkeeper. He was since sold on again and we received 40% of the profit... but I'm not happy. Something I was VERY happy about though was the sale of Greg Hilton 23a which I sanctioned. Here he is - he refused to sign a new deal (hence the 6k sale) but we received a HUGE 50% of his sale to Bolton - which the board have since agreed to spend on training facility upgrades. These are my only 2 notable sales - no other "YACHAL" player as I've named them has moved on to another club, with my only other sales being £0 sales of IRL players at the club.

The situation now:
Facilities l Finances l Squad

We've become a (seemingly) stable VNL side. The facilities (ESPECIALLY coaching/recruitment) are on the rise however as can be noted by the dates in the squad... recent intakes have been subpar on a whole. Financially we are afloat, however completely rely upon friendlies. Even with a large amount of money coming in from friendlies, we're by no means rich and the money is going straight in to youth development and facilities. In fact, pretty much all of our 950k from the sale of Greg Hilton has been pumped straight in to a training facilities upgrade expected to be finished early in to this upcoming season. As you can see from the squad, it's not exactly well balanced. We have some standout talents such as Jacques Grimes 25i, Josh Doughty 26a, Will Evans 25e and Nick Carpenter 25n. I have been lucky as these are GENUINE football league talents - but as you can see in the squad link, the rest of my side is nowhere near as talented, and hence we haven't yet produced an incredible VNL season.

I have tried to keep this post relatively short but informative - if there is ANYTHING else at all that anyone would like to see, then feel free to ask and if there is any interest I will continue to post regularly. The last thing of major note I will leave you with - my furthest ever round in the FA cup was just the first round (last season! we'd never made it that far before) HOWEVER we have won the FA Trophy albeit a fair while ago now and also somehow against a National South side... that's FM for you. Another thing I am curious about is the fact that I do not play at my own stadium due to capacity reasons - I feel like this is helping me due to not paying anywhere close to as much stadium maintenance/other stadium related costs which seem to hold you back at this level usually. 

That's it from me, I've never posted before so I hope this was adequate - as mentioned prior if you have any interest in any area of the save I'm more than happy to post screenshots/regular updates. Here's the game status also as I've seen it posted in multiple saves/challenges and seems relevant as I was a good 9 seasons behind before any sort of post... oops!

[andershs]

Cray Wanderers FC (England)

Start of challenge - Preseason 20/21

 

After my failed attempt at this challenge with Rushall Olympic FC, I am back, as I cannot stay away. This time with Cray Wanderers FC from London.

Meet the manager. The facilities are quite standard with respect to the level we are competing on.

 

[Saethus]

Quite a special start to the 2029/30 season... 

[OlivierL]

2 hours ago, XaW said:

XaW - Íþróttafélagið Völsungur - 2025

 

Great job , getting to the group stages ! Your finances look good now !

Edited November 30, 2019 by OlivierL

[XaW]

3 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Great job , getting to the group stages ! Your finances look good now !

Yeah, they did.... However, I asked for an improvement to the youth facilities the board accepted. Nice... then I saw the cost. A whopping £2m! So the finances are a fair bit lower, and we got a tax bill of half a million as well. But you gotta spend money to make money.

[DrPoods]

Great stuff, @vikeologist!

[basschaapje]

Youth update, i seem to have been blessed with a good intake if i have to believe this message. Honestly i don't think i'll get to see the day these kids arrive since im rock bottem with 7 points from 22 games!!  This is my first time doing this challenge so i didn't expect to complete it on the first try anyway. 

On the brightside, i'm through to the third round of the cup after a spectaculair win against PSV second in the top division .

PS. I changed my ingame to english so that y'all can read it.

[OlivierL]

IR Reykjavik - Season 2020 - review

Table- Squad - Finances - Transfers - Youth intake

First season finished in iceland with IR . I'm happy with how the season went.

1.deild Karla :

We started with a 7 games unbeaten run. We were very close behind the top 2 but then our form dropped and we got 2 points out of 6 games. Afterwards we came back and stay safe from relegation.

Fylkir won the league and we finished 7th.

 

Bikarkeppni Karla:

Our rival Leiknir R. won this cup and they are also a second division team. We did a great job but should have won against Por and got into the final! They finished 12th (relegation) in our league..

Deildabikar :

I'm a fan of this pre-season tournement. Good to test things in the future and to get their fitness level up ! We did a good job to get through our group with a win or good result against first division club(s).

Our formation :

Best players : Porsteinsson - Magnusson - Viljalmsson

Next season :

If we can keep our best player/midfielder Magnusson , then i hope we can push for top 5 next season. Magnusson could be 'replaced' by one of the new youth midfielders . I'm also promoting a young striker to the first team.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by OlivierL

[Saethus]

Coalville Town - 2029/30 Mid-season update

Unlikely to do a mid-season update often... BUT there's been big changes. First up, we got a takeover from a consortium who actually pumped a small amount in to the club - happy days... or so you'd think. The board from next season onwards now EXPECT me to make the playoffs of the VNL... that's not so good.

And here's why. My best player and star striker Jacques Grimes 25i has been sold. It's a GREAT offer though - and made even more great by the fact his deal was running out in the summer and he refused to extend. But he's had an absolute breakout season this year and those goals will be irreplacable. I don't expect him to be sold on for much however I absolutely had to stick the 50% clause in regardless - thankfully he chose Nashville because he had 10-15+ offers from other clubs that just attempted to get him on the end of his contract which would have been a DISASTER.

Much to my surprise, here's how the league stands in January - Grimes stays with us until the beginning of the MLS window in February so hopefully we can pick up a fair few points before then until it all falls apart!

[Soviet]

How to spot someone doing the youth challenge...

[danger_mouse]

Grantham Town FC - Season 2020/21 Review

Squad - Table - Graph - Transfers - Youth Intake

 

Vanarama National League North

League started so well, I was thinking to myself how so many people in here struggle so much. I overestimated things massively. The first month went to well we were in the playoffs. Then it all went downhill fast. October came thick and fast with 8 games in which we won 1, Nov we won once, Dec once, Jan once, theres a trend here. We didn't win at all in Feb and then the board gave me the Ultimate challenge of securing 8 points in 5 games, How on earth was I going to do that with my current form. Well we went March and April unbeaten winning 4 drawing 4, We needed a win on the last day of the season to stay up we were at home to already relegated St. Ives and we destroyed them 5-1. 

 

FA Cup & FA Trophy

Nothing to note in the cups, went out of the FA Cup in the 3rd qual round and was beaten in the 1st round of the FA Trophy 1-2 to Boston.

 

Youth Intake

We promoted last seasons youth intake to the first team to bulk the squad up with 6 players, making 31 apps in total between them, 7 goals and 1 clean sheet.

[Anners]

Caledonian Braves 2020/21 Season Update

Table | All Competitions | Squad | Intake

 

 

Season	League	Position	Notes
2020/21	League Two	3rd	Lost in Playoff Semi v Queen’s Park

Firstly, a bit of a note on the intake. I actually produce French players! As it's a French academy in Scotland, we're going to produce French youth players. It's fairly... weird, but I'm curious if this may give me the upper hand if I manage to get good facilities.

 

League: 

We finish 3rd in our first season which I'm extremely happy with. We did get knocked out in the playoffs by Queen's Park who eventually got promoted, but I'm pretty content with the first season. We only had 15 available players till the youth intake so it's set a decent bar. Not really much to say other than we were quite average for the entire season! 

Cups:

Well, this was a disaster. In the Irn-Bru Cup, we got knocked out by Rangers' Reserves. It's not a horrendous result, but I wanted a little bit more. In contrast, in the Scottish Cup we were dumped out where we entered in the 2nd Round by Highland League Inverurie Loco Works after a replay and extra time... and they had 10 men since the 30th minute. Ugh.

Notes:

The board have randomly decided to put in plans for a new stadium. I'm not exactly sure where the money is coming from, what they're actually building or anything like that! I imagine it's like the shelves you keep saying you're going to build..

Youth Intake:

As mentioned, we produce French players due to the club starting as a academy for French youth players in Scotland. That being said, it was a pretty poor intake. It's provided me with depth, so it isn't the worst thing but I did hope for better. Patrick Roussel is easily the best and will slot straight into central midfield and may be around for a few years as well. Robert Guerin has joint highest potential, but isn't the best player at the moment.

 

[andershs]

Cray Wanderers FC (England)

End of challenge - Season 20/21

 

OK. I give up. After 14 games, we are adrift and far from safety. We have won and drawn only twice. And there are no signs, that we can turn it around.
Moreover, my board are refusing intake upgrades which makes this attempt infeasible in the long run.

I must accept, that I don't have the skills and ability (and tactic) to gain success in this challenge in England this year.

I will return to Northern Ireland, and hopefully be able to survive there.

Best of luck to the rest of you.

Edited December 1, 2019 by andershs

[Winski]

End of season 2022/2023
League table | Finances | Youth Intake | Season Review | Transfers

Well, this was a very good season for us. I am very happy with our 3th place this season! In the playoffs we lost against Airdrie, who eventually promoted after winning in the playoff final against Cove Rangers.

In de Scottish Cup we lost in de 5th round against Partick Thistle.

This years youth intake was a good one, but none of the players are good enough to play in the first team directly. We'll see how they develop. These are the best players from this intake:

 

I changed my tactic halfway this season. I sold my main striker, and didn't have a good replacement for how I wanted to play. I read on Guido's Twitter about his strikerless formation. I tried to implement it into my own tactic. I used some of the roles/positions he is using, but tweaked it a bit. I almost didn't changed my team instructions.
I am very happy with the way my team adapted this new formation.

These were by best players this season:

I am very happy the way Black 22A and Logan 21A are developing. There is a lot of interest from Premiership teams for them, but they both signed a new contract recently. They are very, very important for the way we play at the moment.

I can't wait for next season, I really hope we can maintain our form and challenging for a playoff place again.

 

 

 

[davenumber40]

Looking at Iceland, it looks like most of the youth teams are separate entities from the senior sides. A couple of the sides I've looked at share training facilities and have a parent relationship with a U19 club.

 

For those of you who play in Iceland, do you make use of U19 loans rather than keeping them at the club? 

 

 

[OlivierL]

22 minutes ago, davenumber40 said:

Looking at Iceland, it looks like most of the youth teams are separate entities from the senior sides. A couple of the sides I've looked at share training facilities and have a parent relationship with a U19 club.

 

For those of you who play in Iceland, do you make use of U19 loans rather than keeping them at the club? 

 

 

It depends on how good they are and how old they are.

Only Volsungur (team @XaW) and IR (my team) have U19 or reserve side . The other teams have affiliates U19 team(s). I talked about it with Jimbo and he said that on FM19 and this FM it works and shouldn't be a problem. I had a bit of a problem with the number of clicks you have to make to send players to the affiliated club(s).

 

[OlivierL]

@Winski , nice formation ! Almost promoted  ! keep up te good work.

[Koetzer]

Sport Clube Freamunde - Season 2020/21

Campeonato de Portugal

A good mid-table finish, though only five points above the relegation zone. Also there's no direct promotion, top two teams from each of four groups qualify for the playoffs. That may hurt a lot when we will be strong enough to contest these places.

Taça de Portugal

Yes, you read it right. We lost in the 1st round and were promoted as lucky losers, so met the board expectation despite two defeats and zero goals  

Youth intake

Alves 21a | Monteiro 21b | Soares 21c | Miguel 21d | Baptista 21e | Peixoto 21f | Marques 21g | Nobre 21h | Oliveira 21i | Guedes 21j

The first intakes are often labelled as golden generations, mostly because of default squad's poor quality. However, some of these players certainly will play in the first team soon. Our best prospect is a goalkeeper, not the position we need to strengthen right now, but it's a huge luck for this challenge (in FM19 I haven't got a decent one for about 15 seasons, luckily my original goalie was young at start and haven't retired until the academy produced his replacement).

Squad stats

No one from the regular starters was consistent enough to reach even an average rating of 7. Our best goalscorer Paulo Costa at one point had a drought of 16 (!) games, and Guzman was the biggest disappointment (well anyway I'll have to sell him as he doesn't want to sign a new contract).

Transfers

Edited December 1, 2019 by Koetzer

[DrPoods]

15 hours ago, danger_mouse said:

Grantham Town FC - Season 2020/21 Review

Squad - Table - Graph - Transfers - Youth Intake

 

Vanarama National League North

League started so well, I was thinking to myself how so many people in here struggle so much. I overestimated things massively. The first month went to well we were in the playoffs. Then it all went downhill fast. October came thick and fast with 8 games in which we won 1, Nov we won once, Dec once, Jan once, theres a trend here. We didn't win at all in Feb and then the board gave me the Ultimate challenge of securing 8 points in 5 games, How on earth was I going to do that with my current form. Well we went March and April unbeaten winning 4 drawing 4, We needed a win on the last day of the season to stay up we were at home to already relegated St. Ives and we destroyed them 5-1. 

 

FA Cup & FA Trophy

Nothing to note in the cups, went out of the FA Cup in the 3rd qual round and was beaten in the 1st round of the FA Trophy 1-2 to Boston.

 

Youth Intake

We promoted last seasons youth intake to the first team to bulk the squad up with 6 players, making 31 apps in total between them, 7 goals and 1 clean sheet.

Nice work on survival!

Onwards and upwards!

[gechal]

I've come back from holiday in Holland on 6th July 2020, it's now 13 July and I see no new promoted side in the 2nd Division. What am I doing wrong?

Three relegated side still in there yet the promoted side have left

Edited December 1, 2019 by gechal

[Braumiller]

41 minutes ago, gechal said:

I've come back from holiday in Holland on 6th July 2020, it's now 13 July and I see no new promoted side in the 2nd Division. What am I doing wrong?

Three relegated side still in there yet the promoted side have left

There is no promoted sides in Holland after the first season.  You have to holiday two seasons in Holland.

[OrToDaRy282]

@Darren 1867: argentina reset date: 15/07.

I'm half way the season so far, doing great! Survival shouldn't be a problem.

[gechal]

16 minutes ago, Braumiller said:

There is no promoted sides in Holland after the first season.  You have to holiday two seasons in Holland.

Why is this

[Braumiller]

TABLE  //  TRANSFERS  //  SQUAD STATS

On The Pitch
Hopes were higher than last year after the finish to the season we had with our new set-up.  That fell as we struggled in our first 12 games, finding ourselves in 19th place.  The obvious issues we had was scoring (as we failed to hit the net in 6 of those 12) and stopping the opposition from scoring (1 clean sheet in 12).
So, it was time to change things up.  We ended up with a more defensive 4141.  It took time, but slowly things improved.  We gradually ground out draws, which improved morale and started creating partnership on the field and in turn we became noticably more competitive and started winning games we would have normally lost.
The second half of the season was very nice (for a bottom half team) and we won 5 of our first 11 games, all by a scoreline of 1-0.  That highlighted our new found solidity, but also shows how tenous things are.  Most of those goals were penalties or defensive errors and we rode our luck in keeping the clean sheets.
Eventually we rose to a very flattering 12th

Off The Pitch
Things moved along nicely here.  Our bank balance is very healthy currently and we have actually reduced the wage bill a little.  A dual pair of academy coaching and youth recruitment upgrades are fantastic news going forward.  Our poor training facilities are started to be upgraded (expensively!) and our coaching staff has allowed to be expanded.
 * Aug - Youth Recruitment Upgrade
 * Aug - Academy Coaching Upgrade
 * Dec - Coaches from 5 to 6
 * Dec - Training and Youth Training facility upgrades agreed upon - 1.4m (eek)
 * Dec - Improve Data Analysis (pennies...)
 * Feb - Physios from 2 to 3
 * May - National B License completed
 * May - Youth Recruitment Upgrade
 * May - Academy Coaching Upgrade
 * May - Coaches from 6 to 7
 * May - Training and Youth Training facility upgrades started (5 months, 1.4m)

For all the positives this year there is a sneaking suspicion that challenges are ahead.  A lot of currently influential players (both on and off the pitch) are starting to decline.  We have several areas of concern with little youth options currently.

Youth Intake
A better intake than last year (although it would have been criminal if it wasn't!).  There is retraining to be done to make it useful, but we have options.
Eric Stegeman (02A) - A pacey frontman is rarely a bad thing, but playing one up front means less chances and his poor finishing would make it hard to put faith in him to spearhead things.  Going to try and retrain as a left sided midfielder.  Crossing is bad, but pace and dribbling is good enough.
Sidney Meefout (02B) - My favorite of this intake.  DM is actually a position I am well stocked at currently, so I am going to try and turn Sidney into my (relatively) classy Ball Playing Defender.
Mohamed Tihouna (02C) - Some great versatility options with Mohamed.  His personality needs improving (already in a mentoring program), but he should be a great squad option.
Gerrit van den Beld (02D) - Promising youth GK option
Thom Ketting (02E) - Nothing jumps off the page with Thom, but if he scores goals we will be happy

Challenge History

Season	League	Position	Highest Average	Top Goalscorer	Top Assists	Top POTMs
01	Eerste	18 / 20	Stef Brummel - 6.89	Ahmed El Azzouti - 9 Danny van den Meirsacker	Many - 3	Ahmed El Azzouti - 2
02	Eerste	12 / 20	Eef van Riel - 6.88	Jeroen Bosch (00C) - 8	Mike van der Laar - 4	Jeroen Bosch (00C) - 4

Facilities

	Training	Youth Training	Academy Coaching	Youth Recruitment
Start	Poor	Poor	Fairly Basic	Basic
End of Season 01	Poor	Poor	Average	Fairly Basic
End of Season 02	Basic	Basic	Good	Adequate

 

[SpS_Zen]

First run failed! I needed only a draw in the last game, only a single goal. I got the oppoturnities for it, but this ended similary to the rest of the season. Indeed, i had the 4th most occasions created, but we were the worst attack of the league. 

I will try again with metropolitan police as this team is unique, and i want to find a way to succeed with them

[Braumiller]

Hmmm, so Eric Stegeman (02A) is attracting a LOT of interest during this preseason......  Still 3 weeks until the season starts, and.....

RKC Waalwijk offer for Eric Stegeman (02A) - rising to 77k, rejected
RKC Waalwijk offer for Eric Stegeman (02A) - rising to 200k, rejected
N.E.C. offer for Eric Stegeman (02A) - rising to 64k, rejected
RKC Waalwijk offer for Eric Stegeman (02A) - rising to 275k, rejected
Sparta Rotterdam offer for Eric Stegeman (02A) - rising to 77k, rejected
Sparta Rotterdam offer for Eric Stegeman (02A) - rising to 200k, rejected
VVV-Venlo offer for Eric Stegeman (02A) - rising to 70k, rejected

Starting to think they might know/think something I don't........

[DazRTaylor]

4 hours ago, gechal said:

Why is this

Because the Dutch second tier league have no relegation this season, but do from next in real life.

[DazRTaylor]

Can anyone let me know the exact dates for both Wales and Scotland for reset dates?  Also, what dates are required to change the promoted club(s)?

[syemo]

After finally catching up over the last day on this thread. I was looking for another type of save to get my hands on this year. Never attempted this type of save before. (was going to try san marino in this edition but i see thats not as easy as it once was with some editing to do, so this is the same type of save)

Normally i try and avoid England, but i am tempted to give it a try there.

I tend to enjoy a save around Scandinavia or some obscure country and see a few doing Iceland.

Some countries i'm torn between at present are Norway/Iceland, England/NI, Brazil, South Korea.

[schnauzer]

27 minutes ago, syemo said:

After finally catching up over the last day on this thread. I was looking for another type of save to get my hands on this year. Never attempted this type of save before. (was going to try san marino in this edition but i see thats not as easy as it once was with some editing to do, so this is the same type of save)

Normally i try and avoid England, but i am tempted to give it a try there.

I tend to enjoy a save around Scandinavia or some obscure country and see a few doing Iceland.

Some countries i'm torn between at present are Norway/Iceland, England/NI, Brazil, South Korea.

Do England if you feel like testing yourself to the full, but be warned it’s very very difficult! The first person to do the challenge on FM20 in England is going to be a legend 

[gechal]

6 minutes ago, schnauzer said:

Do England if you feel like testing yourself to the full, but be warned it’s very very difficult! The first person to do the challenge on FM20 in England is going to be a legend 

Has it been done in previous years?

Feels like I'm taking it easy just being in the 2nd league from the top compared to England.

Jesus just read on on the rules for the Dutch 2nd Division, what on earth have I walked into

Edited December 1, 2019 by gechal

[syemo]

Seasons are longer in england thats only the thing i think is putting me off.

England does seem hard to get up there but i guess if you win the premier league champions league probably not too far away? But in lesser nations the route to the top domestically could be shorter but europe might be a long slog?

[DrPoods]

4 minutes ago, syemo said:

Seasons are longer in england thats only the thing i think is putting me off.

England does seem hard to get up there but i guess if you win the premier league champions league probably not too far away? But in lesser nations the route to the top domestically could be shorter but europe might be a long slog?

Yeah. That’s pretty much how it works.

[schnauzer]

28 minutes ago, gechal said:

Has it been done in previous years?

 

I’ve personally never done the challenge before but I’m pretty sure that it has been completed in England on previous FMs

[OrToDaRy282]

XAW dit it last year with Kettering Town.
He's the only yet aside from the lad who did it with a Portuguese side.

[syemo]

to get a team from the Division One North West (one level down from the Northern Premier League) would i have to holiday 2 seasons? 

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by syemo

[Scab]

St. Ives 2030/31 Season Review

League Table    Playoffs    Youth Intake    Squad    Transfers

Back to winning ways! And playoffs! Which we lost, of course!

I'm happy enough. Atkins, Goode, Knight, and Seeby are our key players now; all from the academy with many years left to play. I still look to the likes of Osei-Bonsu and Wilson further down the pitch, but we have players coming through who I believe can fill those shoes, too. Actually seeing a squad of only youth players start to take shape — one that may even let us punch for the playoff spots — is a great feeling and even greater relief. Navigating that transition was the big challenge this season and it's gone beautifully!

Except... This is the third year in a row that our youth intake preview hasn't had a single + green line in it. Annoyingly, it is woefully accurate. Only signed four players this time, of which maybe Goode could be a half-decent defender and Furnell some sort of ultra-selfish poacher. On the other hand, Aspin and Stupple from previous years' intakes are actually developing and the coaches seem to think there's plenty more to them. A new defensive partner for Duncliffe and future striking partner for Atkins sounds like a plan to me!

Loaned Stringer to Brightlingsea to see if it may be the way to get youngsters to develop faster. Of course, they then went on to have the worst season I think I've ever seen anyone manage, losing 44 of 46 games with a GD of -113. So... I may not have gotten the answers I needed here? 🤔

Season    League              Finish   Notes
2030/31   Vanarama National   7th      Lost in Playoff 1st Rnd
2029/30   Vanarama National   15th     -
2028/29   Vanarama National   10th     FA Trophy runners-up
2027/28   Vanarama North      1st      League winners
2026/27   Vanarama North      2nd      Lost in Playoff 2nd Rnd
2025/26   Vanarama North      2nd      Lost in Playoff 2nd Rnd
2024/25   Vanarama North      2nd      Lost in Playoff 2nd Rnd
2023/24   Vanarama North      5th      Lost in Playoff 2nd Rnd
2022/23   Vanarama North      4th      Lost in Playoff 1st Rnd
2021/22   Vanarama North      9th      -
2020/21   Vanarama North      15th     -

 

[Fastbasher]

 

SACKED!

 

We lost too many players when we went down. After a board takeover and one loss too many, Putnok decided to let me go.

As time went by, it was getting harder and harder to catch the top Hungarian teams. This challenge is definitely exceedingly difficult in the smaller leagues.

An early cup win and entry into Europe would have been a massive boost, but the best we managed was two semifinal appearances.

[Fastbasher]

Time for a 4th try.

Meet the new manager of Annecy FC , newly promoted to the French National division.

 

There are some quality players in the squad. The best of which is former Liverpool player Anthony Le Tallec. Unfortunately he is retiring at the end of the season.

Annecy also has a few upgrades to infrastructure already, making it ideal for this challenge.

 

France represents a soft entry to this challenge. The lowest league you can start in is the third tier French National. But if it doesn't work out, you get a second chance playing in the 4th tier regional divisions.

France is also a top footballing nation which has the potential to produce high quality youth players.

 

[syemo]

@Fastbasher hopefully 4th times a charm. Have you changed country ever time? Was looking at france with bergerac might try them if i cant get the few teams im trying to get promoted in the england. (been holidaying most of last night) Can you start the challenge third season in?

[Fastbasher]

19 minutes ago, syemo said:

@Fastbasher hopefully 4th times a charm. Have you changed country ever time? Was looking at france with bergerac might try them if i cant get the few teams im trying to get promoted in the england. (been holidaying most of last night) Can you start the challenge third season in?

Yeah, I've tried it in several countries. Firstly in Italy, then Germany. Got sacked in both even before the first youth intake came in. Had a good run in Hungary. Now trying France.

 

I don't see why you couldn't start in the third season as long as it meets the criteria of the challenge. In Holland you have to start in the 3rd season.
But @darren1983 should give the final word on it.

[syemo]

Only teams im finding when im holidaying are the same 12 teams. In different orders. Going to try a few more times before i make my decision.

[Fastbasher]

I guess Annecy came up for you. How do they compare to the others?

I never reloaded, just took the one I thought was best from the 4 that came up 1st time.

[syemo]

I haven't done many reloads in France. But England Norway I have. In Norway a couple teams i fancy are in a group that is dominated by one team honefoss so I'm guessing it be hard to get them promoted. 

[Novafluff]

Nybro IF Season 2025 Review

Table | Transfers | Finances | Facilities | Youth Intake

Youth intake looks good. Not as good as last one but cant expect an Niklasson every intake. As usual most of our talent is in the final third positions (forwards and wingers) which i may have to adapt my tactic to fit in as many as possible. Jonathan Hallberg looks like the most promising

After an amazing first season in division one and then the intake with Niklasson i actually set high hopes this season that he would carry us into an promotion battle at least. We started of as an every other game team we won one then we lost one and this went on for the first 6 games then we fell into our worst form ever and we kept on losing and i kept switching around the tactic to try to find an solution. this meant we won a game here and there but mostly we were getting outplayed. loosing big a lot like 4-0, 5-1 and so on. Then when the intake came i switched back to our original tactic and we found a much more stable play again getting a lot of points in the end and just saving ourselves from relegation playoff. A very disappointing year were we got to fight on the wrong end. Niklasson became best goalscorer but i expected more of him as he missed a lot but defensive wise were the part that lacked the most as we broke record for conceding most goals ever in div 1.

Player of the season i still have to give to (05-A)Alexander Niklasson since he actually came 3rd top goalscorer in the league even though we fought in the bottom. scoring 16 goals in 30 games and grabbing an assist with an average of 7.18 so i shouldn't be so hard on him.

The team now mostly consists of academy players since only 3 players now are non regens in the starting eleven. The one performing best and probably will til the day he leaves is (05-A)Alexander Niklasson our super striker.

Finance wise still in the green but closing in on red numbers and with this season behind us i dont know how long it will be until we can get an promotion. We have to hope for a more stable next year now that everyone gets a year older.

Facilities we didn't touch as we cant afford it

Top Scorer: (05-A)Alexander Niklasson 16 goals 30(0) games

Most Assists: Fredrik Johansson 7 assists 25(1) games

Best Average: (05-A)Alexander Niklasson 7.18 avg 30(0) games

Best Prospect: (05-A)Alexander Niklasson 16 goals 1 assist 7.18 avg 30(0) games

Most promising prospect: (05-A)Alexander Niklasson 16 goals 1 assist 7.18 avg 30(0) games

Edited December 2, 2019 by Novafluff

[Fastbasher]

Well done on avoiding relegation @Novafluff

 

You may have set a record for one link in a single post. (Niklasson). 4 pounds per week wages is amazing value for money. What does he say if you try to offer a contract extension?

[Novafluff]

2 minutes ago, Fastbasher said:

Well done on avoiding relegation @Novafluff

 

You may have set a record for one link in a single post. (Niklasson). 4 pounds per week wages is amazing value for money. What does he say if you try to offer a contract extension?

Haha yeah i noticed when i set the lniks that i mentioned him a lot but he were the only light in the dark season  and i want to put links when i mention someone so its easy to see them when you read. Haha yeah that is what all my youths get paid. He doesnt want to sign as he doesnt believe the teams standard matches his own which is true. So he got 2 more years to play for us if no one takes him or he extends.

[SpS_Zen]

Il y a 5 heures, syemo a dit :

@Fastbasher hopefully 4th times a charm. Have you changed country ever time? Was looking at france with bergerac might try them if i cant get the few teams im trying to get promoted in the england. (been holidaying most of last night) Can you start the challenge third season in?

I did close to 50 reloads in england. What teams are you aiming for? I think the lowest reputation team promoted in my reloads was St Ives with 1750 reputation. Perhaps 1/7 you will have a 1850 reputation team promoted.

I advice you to have a back save when the team you want is promoted. It may be really complicated to have this team promoted again. 

[DazRTaylor]

I have seen King's Langley & Bamber Bridge (who I am using for the dafuge Challenge) as the clubs with the smallest reputation.

[DazRTaylor]

Ok, I am ready to start this and I have decided I will go to Scotland.  This save will compliment my Bamber Bridge one.

I am holidaying as I type.  Hoping for either East Kilbride or Kelty Hearts I guess.