The FM20 Youth Academy Challenge

[OlivierL]

49 minutes ago, Fastbasher said:

Oh no they won't.

We need a minimum of 12 homegrown players in the matchday squad. Currently only 1 is considered homegrown, which means I can take 7 into each squad and 4 will need to sit out for 'greys' to take their place.

That what @stefaanpeeraer told me and was going to warn u about this  second season seems ok for him.

[OlivierL]

4 hours ago, Fastbasher said:

Yes it does.

3 wins and a draw needed from the next four games with Marseille as the final game.

But that doesn't matter......

SACKED after a 2-6 loss and only 50 seasons in charge.

During this time we won one French National title, two League 2 titles, a Ligue 1 title, a French Cup, three Euro Cups, a Trophee des Champions and a European Super Cup.

I also won French Manager of the year four times.

 

It was a great ride, but we came up short on the ultimate goal.

Seven staff members left after my sacking and are keen to continue working with me. But I think it's time for this manager to retire.

amazing 50 seasons ! when did u start ?

[Fastbasher]

55 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

amazing 50 seasons ! when did u start ?

Started on Dec 2nd 2019. But took a few breaks from it.

[_JHTB_]

CD Mensajero

2020/2021

Segunda Division B 13th

Fixtures (1) -- Fixtures (2) -- Stats -- Awards -- Season Review -- Transfer -- Overall Best XI -- Key Player -- Hot Prospect -- Squad -- Finances

League: The squad when arrived was actually pretty well balanced in with us having good players in numerous positions, though we did have 4 goalkeepers in our 20 man squad.We actually got off to a decent start in the league winning two of our opening 3 fixtures before a trend occurred. We won all our home matches and lost all our away ones, it wasn’t too troubling as we were picking up them wins. Before long we did start to lose our home dominance with a few heavy defeats thrown in. We found ourselves as high as 9^th as the season came towards the end however some pretty bad end of season form saw us drop down the league though we did secure our survival with 2 games remaining (both against teams below us in the league). We were a little suspect defensively at times this season though we did have an ok attack with one of our players registering 19 goals in the league.

Cup: We drew Rayo Vallecano in the Copa del Rey and despite putting up a decent fight lost the game 2-1.

Players of the year

Omar Fleitas: Fleitas is our best player in terms of ability and he showed that by outperforming the rest of the team from his midfield spot. He did only muster a goal and 5 assists in the season but he was a consistent performer when others around him weren’t.

Dani Lopez: Considering our position in the league for Lopez to almost reach 20 goals this season is a very good return. He was a lone striker so having just the one assist is to be expected.

Oscar: Whilst our defense was not the strongest there’s no doubt it would have been worse without Oscar in it. For the level we’re at he’s a very well rounded player.

Young Player of the year

Jose: A striker who came through the club before I joined had a remarkable improvement over the season and whilst only managed 6 goals from 34 appearances a lot of those were out of position or short cameos, he ended the season with 5 goals in our last 7 games.

Youth Intake

I had high hopes for the intake based on the initial preview and from a couple players who were here from the clubs last intake but I was to be disappointed as we got a pretty poor one with few players with 5 star potential.

Cristo Navarro 1a: On the offset Navarro doesn’t look terrible in terms of his technical ability however, physically he is left wanting. He will be utilised as a back up at right back allowing our 2^nd choice right back to maintain their spot at centre back.

Marino Canales 1b: A left winger who is likely to get a decent amount of game time. He does have a lot to improve technically but he has a solid base physically.

Adolfo Delgado 1d: Delgado was regarded as our best prospect by my HOYD and really he looks pretty decent, though I don’t use defensive midfielders in my tactic. I could probably tweak it to get him involved but I am retraining him as a centre back as I feel he can provide a good option there.

Acoron 1g: Acoron goes straight into the first team as our 2^nd choice left back which is the area where are team was the weakest with only one player who could really play here his technical defensive attributes look actually pretty good.

News/Looking Ahead

I had waited till the youth intake before making final decisions on contracts but as it is pretty much every outfield player getting a contract extension, we are releasing a couple of goalkeepers just because they’re unlikely to get used so it will free up wage bill and help relieve financial issues.

I’d take another season like this one next time out to be honest, give youth players time to develop and hopefully a better intake next time around.

The story so far

Youth Record Holders

[OlivierL]

 Brave calling !

Caledonian Braves - Season 2021-2022 (Season 2) review - Scottish League two

Pre-season | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 | Season review

Again a difficult season but we survived. after 18 games we had 11 points. After a 7 unbeaten run we managed to reach a safe position.

Squad| Best eleven| Transfers | Staff | Finances

We ware able to improve our quantity but not our quality. The 8 promoted youngsters from the first class were not ready to start, some of them played a few games. My main problem remains our goalkeeper and defender. We lack quality and numbers for those positions; Our strikers had a good season. Kelly scored 18 goals, Mclaughlin scored 11 and Docherty scored 14 goals.

Player of the season

Kelly scored 18 goals this season, last season he scored 4 . Kelly won the league 2 player of the season award. He extended his contract so he'll be my main man again next season. 

Young player of the season

Paulle 21C started 9 times this season. Not ready yet to get into the first eleven.

Youth updates

Class 2020 - Liard 20A : He didn't improve and played , i'll loan him out next season.

Class 2021 - Paulle 21C : He is not bad but his low determination as personality isn't good for the future.
 Youth intake - Class 2022

Youth intake preview

A golden generation.. again but with only wingers ? We play 3-4-3 with.. no wingers.
Class 2022

Signed 10 : The five players with the highest PA received a contract, and i signed 5 others with good personalties. We had a lot of pro players, one perfectionist and 7 unambitious.

Below the best three :

Bonvalet 22A  (prof) was the best player (PA) but not sure if he'll reach the first team. Ajroudi 22B will be retrained as a left wingback. He'll be promoted to the first team together with Nabab-Aquilon 22C , he could be a great DC (perfectionist , left and right foot).

Improvements

After many attempts my chairman upgraded both.

Next season

I was able to extend all contract of the squad players. i'll add two youngsters from the last intake and i hope that some senior players will improve. Ambition remains : playoffs in season 4, promotion in season 5.

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by OlivierL

[Fastbasher]

The youth intake came in quite late in Portugal. 4th April.

It looked pretty good for EA Braganca.

 

Just a shame I got sacked the same day, just as relegation was confirmed with 5 games to go.

 

On to the next victim I guess......

[Winski]

Weird. After losing almost every game in July, August and September we had a very good run in October. With the same players and the same tactic. The only thing that I changed whas praising my players more about their training week. Their morale was starting to grow again, so that must have helped a bit.

[XaW]

40 minutes ago, Fastbasher said:

Just a shame I got sacked the same day

Welcome to the club, mate..

[JLAB]

Just had my Youth Intake. Wasn't the best. Did have at least one player that I could be excited about though if he lives up to his potential in Mirko Gibhardt.

Ben Brosius is leaving us at the end of the season for our rivals FC Erzgebirge Aue at the end of the season for a free transfer because I couldn't get him to sign a new deal, so Gibhardt is a good replacement for my hopes and dreams in the mean time.

[Fastbasher]

Time for something a bit different. Meet the new manager of Bella Vista in Uruguay.

 

The club are a bit of a fallen giant in Uruguayan football. They have a long history, being founded in 1920 and won the Primera division in 1990.

For some reason they were relegated from the top flight directly to the third flight in 2013, but I haven't found out why. Now they've come up to the second division and I've taken on the challenge of leading them back to glory.

 

They start with only 10 players. Friday Mushili of Zambia provides some international flavour.  The first job will be to try to get those non-contracted players to sign real contracts.

[Fastbasher]

Fantastic. The reset date is 1st Jan, a youth intake came through on 28th Jan, and first competitive game kicks off on 27th Feb.

 

Good timing for reinforcements.

[JLAB]

So I'm realizing just how tight 3. Liga has actually been this season. Never seen such a tight league.

Yes, the top two places are running away with things, but the battle for 3rd (and the second automatic promotion place as FC Augsburg 2 can't be promoted) is far closer than any battle for a position I've ever seen. Seeing as there is just 8 points between the teams in 3rd and 15th, it's pretty much anyone's game, especially when the teams between 9th and 15th are separated by just a single point. The fight for promotion and to avoid relegation is as close of a battle as I've ever seen.

[XaW]

Witton Albion

Season 2024/25 (Season 5) Review - Vanarama National League North - England

League | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Wow, this was quite the season. A bit up and down, but it all comes back to injuries. Some big ones this season for the most imporant players, like Mark Thompson and the like. And we are really struggling without him! When he plays though, he is excellent. For the most of the season we hovered around the lower part of the playoff spots, sometimes dropping just out, but never far below. Going into the last few matches, I were sure we had blown it as we lost to two of the teams battling to avoid relegation, but after winning the last 2 matches of the season, we just about got into the playoff spots again.

In the playoff we just about beat Kettering Town in the First round. In the semi final we controlled the game, but struggled to break down Tamworth and it took a late goal after their red card to let us win it. The only the final remained, and it turned out to be the Mark Thompson show! He was simply amazing and his hattrick sealed our first ever promotion as we beat Nuneaton 3-2! Very unexpected, but it's mostly thanks to one striker! Going to be exciting to see how the next season fare, and if I can keep him!

In the FA Cup we beat Leiston, Bradford PA, Curzon Ashton and Wrexham before losing to Grimsby in the 2nd round.

In the FA Trophy we beat Southport before losing to Macclesfield in the 1st round.

Notable Players

Mark Thomson 23a - Who else? He had an amazing season for us scoring loads. He did miss out on 15 matches due to injuries though, so I hope it's not a recurring theme...
Padraig Browne 22f - An excellent season on the right wing and both scored and assisted a lot.
Isaac Babalola 23b - The other winger who also had a good season.

Youth intake

Youth intake - Pretty good, pretty good.

Sean Steadman 25a - Talented striker, and I hope he can be an understudy to Mark. Also a Model Citizen!
Wayne McGraham 25b - A promising defender that needs a bit of work.

[libbyshuss]

Season 2037/38

NordBet Liga

Finish: 1st

Season Summary

Back in the Nordbet but this time with my squad intact, and a stronger first team. We started brilliantly, winning 2-0 away at promotion rivals Vejle. From there, we never looked back. At one stage it looked like a surfeit of draws might cost us again but in the middle of the season we went on a 9 game winning run. The draws came back, with 6 of our last 9 games drawn but by then we were too far ahead. We won the league, winning 20, drawing 11 and losing only the one game

Battered 4-0 at home by Midtjylland in the Cup, wich does not bode well for next season however

Players

Henrik Kolding 33F - Well, he could not stop scoring! 38 goals in 33 games, over 8 average rating, he was a class apart, ripping the whole division to pieces. I'll miss him when he goes

Henrik Hansen 29A - the best season yet for our club captain, who is apparently thinking of moving on to a bigger club. Little does he know I'm thinking he might not uite be good enough for the next level and my young, fantastically names, Icelandic midfielder Jose Ferreira 35E is waiting in the wings

Club legend Simon Heine retired this season as well after 356 goals in 500 games for the club. 

Youth

Another good preview with the promise of riches, that I now routinely take with a pinch of salt

The actual iontake wasn't too bad, I signed up around 8 or 9, by far the most I have for a long time. The personalities and determination on them was really pleasing, the HOYD doing his job!

 

Finances and Improvements

So during the summer one of my youth prospects signed a new contract with an 800k release clause. He was worth 15k, so I thought it would be fine. Midjytlland triggered it! This put our cash reserves at over 6m and allowed me to finally upgrade our junior coaching and youth recruitment, which are both now excellent. I can see why the board held off for so long though - our youth setup expenditure went from 135k a season to 130k a month!

By the end of the season that 6m had dwindled down to nothing - we really needed promotion, financially if nothing else. 6m a season loss is unsustainable!

 

so next season? Can we finally manage to stay up? will my excellent youth recruitment give me excellent youths?

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by libbyshuss

[Crispypaul]

             

Crispypaul
Floy
Norwegian Eliteserien
2025

League - Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 | Table - another great season, we had an outside chance of the title but in the end that went to Rosenborg so we had to settle for 2nd and Europa Conference League football in 2026.

Cup - Fixtures - a great run to the final where Rosenborg just edged it.

Finances - great prize money from the cup and league finish meant we had enough to turn professional.

Transfers - a couple of small transfers out and Bologna Under 18s continue to sign our useless youth players for some reason (they have signed 4 so far)

Squad

Key players

Leif Otto Borhaug YP24e - wow.....comfortably our best player now and garnering a lot of interest.  Won the Eliteserien player of the year and breakthrough player of the year awards.  I am hoping he will stay although he is unhappy after I turned down an insulting bid from Lazio.  Capped by the U21s too.

Lasse Sigurdsen - 

Henrik Andersen - strong as ever

Robin Fredriksen YP19b - I don't think he'll get much better but fine for now

Espen Sanden YP21f - our best defender

Yang Junkui YP23b - great between the sticks still, and called up by the U21s

Thomas Haugeland YP22b - dropped off a bit but still a good 3rd choice striker

Anton Aker-Iversen YP23d - turning out to be pretty good

Nils Kristian Akersvatne YP21c - flatlining a bit but still a good CM

Youth Update

Won the U19 league again and the cup

Intake: a few more great prospects

1. Ronny Pettersen YP25a - beginning | season end - could be a really good right back

2. Phillip Nyhus YP25b - beginning | season end - good enough to be our starting right winger by the end of the season

3. Kristoffer Hansen YP25c - beginning | season end - promising keeper, I can see him being backup soon

4. Martin Norheim YP25d - beginning | season end - will need some tutoring

5. Espen Baras YP25e - beginning | season end - great det should help

6. Jesper Buckner YP25f (yes I know the screenshot is wrong!) - beginning | season end - could be a good defender

2024 intake

Steinar Dreyer YP24a - don't think he'll make it

Slobodan Kadric YP24b - a handful of appearances.  Capped by Bosnia U19s.

Jan Gunnar Ommundsen YP24c - crazy prolific again for the youth team and loaned him to a 4th tier side where he scored 5 goals in 6 games.

Ruben Blomlie YP24d - has done ok

Torbjorn Eide YP24f - not tagged before but suddenly made great progress and now our starting right back 

2023 intake

Sveinung Magnussen YP23c - tutoring has helped his det but not sure how far he'll go

Dag Erik Bredal YP23e - will loan him out for some first team football next season

Henrik Gjolstad YP23f - getting released

2022 youth intake

Anders Holtedal YP22c - joining Sogndal at the end of his contract

Bard Korshavn YP22d - better personality now 

Magnus Smorholm YP22e - sold to Halmstads early on

2021 youth intake

Van-Van YP21d - was loaned out but didn't do great so gone

 

Season	 	Division	Position		Cup		Notes						
2020    	D2	      	 1st      		SF   		League winners, promoted
2021		D1		 5th			4th
2022		D1		 7th			SF
2023		D1		 1st			4th		League winners, promoted
2024		Elite		 5th			4th		
2025		Elite		 2nd			Runnersup	Qualified for ECL

Future - another excellent season, will be interesting how we do in Europe.

[Crispypaul]

Excellent news!!

[Crispypaul]

Who says the expansion of the World Cup would devalue the competition?

[Panneton0]

I'm trying the Challenge for the first time! And it starts... now.

In my last save (no challenge, made all the transfers I could), I did send Boston Utd from Vanarama South/North to EPL champions. They won all League/Cups/Europeans competition, I got manager of the year, Players won golden boot, Ballon d'Or, best players, etc. etc....

Feels like my next step is to actually try what you guys are doing as it seems an absolute blast!

I'm keeping England as the Nation of interest here since it is the longest climb possible (I'm a marathon man)... And took the recently promoted FC United of Manchester. Let's try to bring the fan-owned club up to ManUtd level!!

The Coach
The Squad
The Facilities

Pretty good starting XI, except the poor lonely keeper. Already can't wait for my first youth intake!

I'll be going into this first season with a wide tactical approach, just using speed and dropping crosses in... Not my favorite style, but it's well suited for lower leagues, plus it seems efficient in current Game Engine.

This is my first try at this challenge, I hope it'll be an interesting one!

Edit: I just realized @darren1983 did try FC United right at the start of this thread and ended up with a sack after a couple of months... I truly hope I'll be luckier! 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Panneton0

[darren1983]

52 minutes ago, Panneton0 said:

I'm trying the Challenge for the first time! And it starts... now.

In my last save (no challenge, made all the transfers I could), I did send Boston Utd from Vanarama South/North to EPL champions. They won all League/Cups/Europeans competition, I got manager of the year, Players won golden boot, Ballon d'Or, best players, etc. etc....

Feels like my next step is to actually try what you guys are doing as it seems an absolute blast!

I'm keeping England as the Nation of interest here since it is the longest climb possible (I'm a marathon man)... And took the recently promoted FC United of Manchester. Let's try to bring the fan-owned club up to ManUtd level!!

The Coach
The Squad
The Facilities

Pretty good starting XI, except the poor lonely keeper. Already can't wait for my first youth intake!

I'll be going into this first season with a wide tactical approach, just using speed and dropping crosses in... Not my favorite style, but it's well suited for lower leagues, plus it seems efficient in current Game Engine.

This is my first try at this challenge, I hope it'll be an interesting one!

Edit: I just realized @darren1983 did try FC United right at the start of this thread and ended up with a sack after a couple of months... I truly hope I'll be luckier! 

I struggled and got sacked from several clubs to start with this year, have restared with FC United and have them in the Premier League some 20+ years in but am taking a break from the save for now. Good luck 

[Crispypaul]

Please no.

[XaW]

1 minute ago, Crispypaul said:

Please no.

Haha, that's brilliant! Eleganton is hillarious! 

[Fastbasher]

It's happened again.

Bottom of the league and relegated

Discipline was the problem. 63 yellow cards and 12 red cards in 20 games. We had too many players suspended and too many games playing a man or two down.

Nahuel Rodriguez YP21a was the worst culprit. 5 yellows and 6 reds in 13 games. He missed the other 7 games due to suspension.

[Fastbasher]

Back to Europe. Now with Nassjo FF in Sweden.

There are 17 players, but all of them are on amateur contracts. My task now is to try to get enough of them to sign part time contracts at this semi-pro club.

[_JHTB_]

CD Mensajero

2021/2022

Segunda Division B 13th

Fixtures (1) -- Fixtures (2) -- Stats -- Awards -- Season Review -- Transfer -- Overall Best XI -- Key Player -- Hot Prospect -- Squad -- Finances

League: I had planned to play the same system this season but after two 4-1 losses to kick the season off I quickly changed tack going from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 Diamond. It did give us an immediate reprieve but for most of the season we were very much up and down going on multiple losing streaks including some in which we were losing without scoring. I’d probably argue that we were worse this season than last but even still didn’t spend any time in the relegation zone. Interestingly we secured our survival at the same stage as last season with 2 matches remaining before drawing and winning our last two games.

Cup: No cup games at all this season.

Club Infrastructure: The club is struggling a little financially so there have been no facility upgrades nor have I managed to improve upon my National B coaching license. The board did pump in some money to help with running costs but we’re still losing money

Players of the year

Omar Fleitas: Back to back player of the years for Fleitas, though whilst he provided more assists this season (6) he probably wasn’t as good as the season previous though neither were the team.

Jose: A pretty decent season for the young Spanish striker registering 13 goals across the season. Though did have a few goalscoring droughts. He has developed a lot in the last season and is now considered the clubs key player – this last month he’s been on a great turn of improvement.

Adolfo Delgado 1d: Delgado 1d has benefited massively from our change in formation as our only real option in defensive midfield meant he was a regular starter and improved a lot over the season. I’m glad I didn’t stick to my original plan of turning him into a centre back.

Young Player of the year

Jose: Was always going to be him after getting second in the overall player of the year.

Youth Intake

The intake preview suggested that I could expect a couple promising strikers and some central midfielders and well we did get some but again the intake in general was weaker than I’d hoped. 

Jose Panadero 2a: The first of the two ‘Strikers’ that came through the intake. Physically he does look pretty solid, but he lacks in key areas for a striker. He may be retrained as a winger as he probably suits that better but his mental attributes aren’t fantastic.

Alexis Calonge 2b: A centre mid who isn’t awful and I feel can probably develop into a decent option in that position. Thankfully we have a fairly strong midfield at the moment to give him plenty time to improve to a standard that would see him in the team.

Jonay Ballestaros 2c: The second of the ‘Strikers’ who is really quite similar to Panadero 2a, terrible in striking attributes though has good physicals and is probably better suited to playing as a winger.

Nauzet Ingles 2d: Inlges 2d is the player I’m probably most excited by as he looks pretty well rounded and looks fairly solid mentally. He could be better physically and his personality isn’t the best but he’ll likely be in and around the first team as a back up next season.

News/Looking Ahead

Yet another season with the aim of just surviving and allowing players to develop whilst hoping for an intake with players in the positions I need. I'm fairly happy that I'll be able to survive again especially with some of our younger players developing whilst keeping hold of our better older players in the squad. I'm hoping more than one youth player breaks into the team this season though with most being back up last time out.

The story so far

Youth Record Holders

Edited August 27, 2020 by _JHTB_

[OlivierL]

great job @XaW going up. 

[JLAB]

FC Energie Cottbus - 2020/21 Season Review - 3. Liga

We came to the end of the season and managed to find ourselves in the playoffs much to my own surprise. I wasn't really expecting to get promoted, but also realizing that getting promoted would get us some pretty good money no matter where we finished in 2.Bundesliga, I decided to go ahead and see what we could do. Even more to be surprise, we managed to win 4-3 against Greuther Fürth to get promoted to 2. Bundesliga in my first season with newly promoted FC Energie Cottbus. I'm expecting us to be deep in a relegation battle next season in 2. Bundesliga and to quite frankly just be relegated straight back down next season. Either way, a successful season.

Though with the promotion, the board decided to be announce their plans to build a new stadium to replace our current one. I wasn't sure what to make of the prospect of the new stadium, but given that their reasoning was due to the high maintenance costs, I can understand it.

 

However, with the club currently £2.4M in the red, I find myself feeling a little nervous to see how much the stadium would cost and how big it would end up being once they finally announce their plans for the stadium. Hopefully with our sponsorship income bringing in £2.7M and the team that finishes in 18th place in 2. Bundesliga gets prize money of £6.74M, I like to think that the finances will start to improve, even if it means that I'll need trim the squad a bit more, having used 30 players in the 3. Liga last season, and had a starting squad where the oldest player was only 24 years old.

With the young players being players that I can trust to do well, I'm hopeful that the young squad we now have will go on from strength to strength and get better as we continue on. I just hope that we can give a good account of ourselves in the 2. Bundesliga.

If there was one thing that I could be really happy about, it was the development of Santiago Degenkolb, who finished the season on 12 goals overall this season, including 2 goals in the playoffs against Greuther Fürth, I'm curious about how he'll do in the 2. Bundesliga next season at a higher level, when the backroom staff only believe he's just become good enough for the 3. Liga at the end of the season. 

As for the player who I felt was our best player this season, I'd have to go with Felix Geisler, who managed to get 4 goals and 10 assists and an average rating of 7.07, which was surprisingly the highest average rating from players who played for Energie Cottbus consistently for us. With Felix Geisler being the oldest player in our starting eleven this in the game that won us promotion to 2. Bundesliga, I like to think that this bodes well for the future next season. 

[JLAB]

So I've got a question. I was able to suddenly gain a second team for Energie Cottbus after our promotion (Energie Cottbus II), and I noticed that they were able to find and sign players for the future, I assume that I should be turning that off, right, since that would come under the transfer rules and make the challenge null and void if they make any signings there?

[Jambo98]

Welcome to the NFL, as they say........ouch. Its gonna be a long season...... At least we scored! 

[XaW]

8 hours ago, JLAB said:

So I've got a question. I was able to suddenly gain a second team for Energie Cottbus after our promotion (Energie Cottbus II), and I noticed that they were able to find and sign players for the future, I assume that I should be turning that off, right, since that would come under the transfer rules and make the challenge null and void if they make any signings there?

Yeah, no signings at all, not to you, not to your reserves or youth teams. The only exception is when your team poaches a player automatically before they are created, much the same as when you get the message of a youth team member was poached by another club. But those are just semi-randomly done by the game itself.

[JLAB]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

Yeah, no signings at all, not to you, not to your reserves or youth teams. The only exception is when your team poaches a player automatically before they are created, much the same as when you get the message of a youth team member was poached by another club. But those are just semi-randomly done by the game itself.

That's good to know. Wanted to double check before I progressed any further forward after I checked the responsibilities and saw it was possible.

[XaW]

Just now, JLAB said:

That's good to know. Wanted to double check before I progressed any further forward after I checked the responsibilities and saw it was possible.

Yeah, my first order of business when I take over a club is to change all that to me.

[XaW]

Witton Albion

Season 2025/26 (Season 6) Review - Vanarama National League - England

League | Squad | Transfers | Finances

At the start we were predicted to go straight back down, unsurprisingly. We did start quite well though and were safely mid-table throughout the season. It's becoming more and more apparent we rely on a few players to carry us, because as soon as they are out injured, suspended, or just rested we tend to get thumped. And with Mark Thompson going into his final season, and not wanting to talk about a new one, I think I might have to sell him this summer to get anything from him. I'll try to get him to sign, but I think we need to cash in. So while we survived this season, I'm not that sure we can next season.

In the FA Cup we beat Scarborough Athletic before losing to Blackpool in the 1st round.

In the FA Trophy we beat Guiseley, Cambridge United and Hemel Hempstead Town before losing to Eastleigh in the 4th round.

Notable Players

Mark Thomson 23a - Another great season from our best player.
Isaac Babalola 23b - On the left wing, he provided a lot and played really well.
Padraig Browne 22f - Filling out the usual 3, he had a good season and both scores and assists for us.

Youth intake

Youth intake - Two excellent players, and the rest is rather poor.

Jonathon Knowles 26a - A promising defensive midfielder. Really like the look of him, except his unambitious personality.
Kigi Konneh 26b - A Saudi-Somalian goal keeper? Count me in! Looks like a real talent for us.

[Padders]

Season Review 2216/17

Relegated

[andershs]

@XaW: I share your excitement for Jonathon Knowles. His attributes are already impressive.

Only drawback is that he is not the quickest, and his Off the ball is not high. But still I would take him in a youth intake 9 out of 10 times 

[XaW]

1 minute ago, andershs said:

@XaW: I share your excitement for Jonathon Knowles. His attributes are already impressive.

Only drawback is that he is not the quickest, and his Off the ball is not high. But still I would take him in a youth intake 9 out of 10 times 

Yeah, he does have some lacking is certain abilities, but at this level? He could become great for us, I think.

[XaW]

Sad to see him go....

But at least we got a lot from it. And the potential to get more is there.

[libbyshuss]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

Sad to see him go....

But at least we got a lot from it. And the potential to get more is there.

At that level that's a pretty good deal tbh

sad to see him go though - i just hope he doesn't rot in sheffield united reserves only to be released on a free in 3 seasons time

[Padders]

Bit of an unfortunate name

[andershs]

2 hours ago, XaW said:

Yeah, he does have some lacking is certain abilities, but at this level? He could become great for us, I think.

Yes, you are right. I am looking forward to seeing his development  

Have you signed him on a part time contract?

[XaW]

33 minutes ago, andershs said:

Yes, you are right. I am looking forward to seeing his development  

Have you signed him on a part time contract?

Yup, signed him for 3 years and 3 optional to keep him as long as I can.

[Panneton0]

4 Months in with United FC

Mid-table for now, switched to a simple 4-4-2 high-pression mix with wide play.

Best thing at the moment? This:

[_JHTB_]

CD Mensajero

2022/2023

Segunda Division B 13th

Fixtures (1) -- Fixtures (2) -- Stats -- Awards -- Season Review -- Transfer -- Overall Best XI -- Key Player -- Hot Prospect -- Squad -- Finances

League: Due to last season’s poor crop of strikers through the intake with most better suited to the wings I changed up formation again now going with a 4-1-2-3 formation. We got off to a fairly poor start whilst we got to grips with our new formation before having what I can only describe as strong midtable form which we maintained for most the season. We did start dropping off a little as the season drew to a close as is fairly common for us now but this season secured our survival one game earlier. For the 3^rd consecutive season we ended with games against two teams in the relegation zone, though we couldn’t maintain our record of a draw and a win instead a loss in place of the win but it did let us retain our 13^th place trophy. Our biggest issue is scoring goals as defensively we were much improved this season.

Cup: From no cups last season to both a lower league cup which we reached the final where we lost 1-0 and a Copa del Rey tie against Eibar which we lost 3-1.

Squad: This season I wanted more youth players to stake a claim for first team football and Acoran 1g became our first choice left back largely due to lack of options. Victor 1e found his way into the squad at centre back following my expert observation skills noticing that the player who had been at centre back for the past two seasons was only 5’6’’.

Club Infrastructure: The financial situation at the club hasn’t gotten much better over the season however we did secure an affiliation with Barcelona which will give us an extra £68k per year which is nice. In spite of the finances I was able to complete two more coaching courses with me now on Continental C and we increased the number of first team coaches up to 6.

Players of the year

Omar Fleitas: 3 years in a row for Fleitas as the only player to average over 7 in the league. It was probably his best season yet with 2 goals and 7 assists in the league.

Adolfo Delgado 1d: Ever present for us in the league and now regarded as our best player. He had a solid season at defensive midfield averaging 6.93.

Zebenzui Rosa: Rosa is one of the players from the intake before I took over who this year cemented themselves as our first choice goalkeeper, 12 clean sheets is our record thus far and an average rating of 6.85 is pretty good for a goalkeeper..

Young Player of the year

Adolfo Delgado 1d: Fairly self-explanatory.

Youth Intake

The intake preview suggested we’d be getting a couple of central defenders as our better players though I was holding out hope for a left back. Another pretty poor intake – it may be time for a new HOYD. Not only did we only get one good potential centre back we got a right back not a left back. I forgot to actually screenshot the intake after renaming the players.

Andoni Mancisidor 3a: The key prospect from this years intake at right back. He does have a fairly strong left foot so I’m probably going to retrain him to play at left back as that is our weakest area of the team.

Airam Lampon 3b: A centre back who like a lot of our youth players is lacking in his physicals. He looks like he could develop to a fairly solid option for us though his personality isn’t the best.

Marcelino 3c: Centre mid who is lacking a fair bit, but he does have nice teamwork and work rate so should develop into a good option for us.

News/Looking Ahead

A few of our older players will be leaving as they decline physically to be worse than the young options from the academy though all of our key players are contracted for at least another season. Most the staff are still contacted though as I mentioned I may look for a new HOYD owing to our poor intakes thus far.

I think the aim this season has actually got to be to try and finish higher in the league perhaps trying for a top half finish. My hopes for next season's intake would be a left back a left winger and a striker so I'm prepared for a right back, right winger and goalkeeper.

The story so far

Youth Record Holders

 

[OlivierL]

U know it's going good if u receive messages like this (season 3)

 

 

Still early days of course  

Edit: lost 5-1 one minute after i posted this..

Edited August 28, 2020 by OlivierL

[Swindon69]

On 24/08/2020 at 11:37, _JHTB_ said:

I’ve decided to give this another go, but I have misplaced my old save file in Bulgaria so I’ve started anew. I landed on starting in Spain and ended up with Sestao River Club.

The club itself was founded in 1996 following Sestao Sports Club disappearing due to economic problems and since forming they have spent over half of their seasons at their peak of the Segunda Division B in Spain but were relegated at the end of the 2016-17 season to the Tercera Division. The club they replaced in Sestao Sport Club were in the second tier for a good number of their seasons but spent most in the 3^rd tier of Spanish Football though 8 of their last 10 years in existence was in the Segunda Division. Due to the location of the Club being in the Basque region I do expect us to be a common shopping ground for Athletic Club Bilbao in the future.

I have completed a season with the club as I wanted to make sure not to post my manager profile before I was sure the save game wouldn't end after one season so I’ll have the first season update posted before long.

Crikey that's a blast from the past I had a really enjoyable save with them some years ago - I'd play the club anthem before big games

[JLAB]

That moment that your young talent gets called up for Costa Rica, but missed club duty as a result of his international duty...

What an arrogant brat he is too.

[XaW]

Witton Albion

Season 2026/27 (Season 7) Review - Vanarama National League - England

League | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Well, after we lost Mark Thompson ahead of the season, I were apprehensive about our chances of success this season, but it turns out we did fine. We might have done even better with him, but we got a lot of money. Even if the board still refuses to go professional with over a million in the bank, I'll keep trying. We are one of only a few semi-pro teams floating around, so we definitely need to go pro soon. The season itself we along nicely. We were never in danger of going down, and like last season we finished mid-table without much issue. A good season for us seeing as we were predicted to go down this season as well.

In the FA Cup we beat Macclesfield Town, Barrow and Exeter City before losing to Premiership side Watford in the 3rd round. Unfortunately, it was home, so not much money was gained from it.

In the FA Trophy we beat Chester, Spennymoor, Chorley, Carlisle and Hartlepool to reach the final. Our surprise opponent were Gloucester City, a mid-table team in Vanarama North, the division below. We dominated the game, but at full time the score were 2-2 so we went to extra time. There we showed our quality as we scored two times more and clinched our first ever trophy!

Notable Players

Sean Steadman 25a - Being the replacement for Mark Thompson would never be easy, but I think he did a good job. Also helped out with his development this season.
Isaac Babalola 23b - An amazing amount of assists from him left winger role. Also pops up with a goal now and then.
Callum Bates 22g - Our chief at the back and a monster in the air. Very good at set pieces both for and against.

Youth intake

Youth intake - Really good personalities in this intake. Quite a lot of midfielders.

Max Clark 27a - Pretty talented and well rounded midfielder.
Martin Barbour 27b - A more attacking midfielder and I really like the look of this kid.

[_JHTB_]

50 minutes ago, Swindon69 said:

Crikey that's a blast from the past I had a really enjoyable save with them some years ago - I'd play the club anthem before big games

Unfortunately they didn't last long enough for me to research into any club anthems 

[_JHTB_]

What a useful cash injection 

 

[_JHTB_]

@XaW I'm surprised Steadman didn't get more cards diving into tackles with his 4 tackling. For the level you're at he looks like he'll fill Mark Thompson's boots just fine

[XaW]

1 minute ago, _JHTB_ said:

@XaW I'm surprised Steadman didn't get more cards diving into tackles with his 4 tackling. For the level you're at he looks like he'll fill Mark Thompson's boots just fine

Yeah, so am I, but I'm not complaining!  He is quite good, and had a great improvement this season when he got to play as first choice. I do have an issue with strikers since I only have him as a good striker, the backups are horrible, so I hope for some new ones next season!