dafuge's FM20 challenge

[dafuge]

The Aim

To take a small club who were previously unplayable in an unedited game from the Vanarama National League North/South to Premier League and Champions League glory.

The Rules

Start the game unemployed and choose the advanced setup. Like last year, you have the option of loading whatever leagues you like at the start and throughout the game. All of the boxes should be left unticked apart from 'do not add key staff' and 'prevent use of in-game editor'. It should look like this.

Just like previous years, the players for the newly playable clubs need to be added which can be done using the 'advanced' option on the database size. The players from the four feeder league have to be added, which looks like this (the other two are right at the bottom). You can also add anything else you like to increase the size of the database.

The extra levels of detail that you can change while in the game are up to you, as they shouldn't make a difference.

Add yourself as an unemployed manager, the details are not important at all. I like to call mine 'Holiday Man'.

Go on holiday until 30th May (this is when the promoted clubs are decided), save the game then go on holiday until 24th June (this is when the promoted clubs are revealed). Unfortunately due to a change in the game, this gap will need to be repeated when reloading for different teams.

Retire your 'Holiday Man' manager allowing him to finish his career unbeaten.

Add a new manager, the personal details are completely up to you but I would expect people to use their own true nationalities and languages spoken. Coaching badges must be set to 'None', with past playing experience set as 'Sunday League Footballer'. The coaching attributes are completely up to you.

Choose one of the new clubs promoted to the Vanarama North or South to manage. A quick way to check the new teams is to find the 'England Overview' screen, then the 'season summary'. Just above the FA Cup summary you should find a list of the nine newly promoted teams.

They should appear in this list which shows the reputation of the possible clubs. The reputation should act as a difficulty level. The lower the reputation, the harder your game should be.

Reputations updated for FM20 release:

Isthmian League Premier Division

Bishop's Stortford     1850
Bognor Regis	       2100
Bowers & Pitsea        1300
Brightlingsea          1700
Carshalton	       2000
Cheshunt               1750
Corinthian-Casuals     1700
Cray                   1850
East Thurrock          2100
Enfield Town           2000
Folkstone              1950
Haringey Borough       1950
Hornchurch             2050
Horsham                1600
Kingstonian            2450
Leatherhead            1950
Lewes		       1900
Margate                2050
Merstham               1750
Potters Bar            1550
Wingate & Finchley     1750
Worthing               1900

 

Southern Football League Premier Division Central

AFC Rushden & Diamonds 1600
Alvechurch	       1600
Banbury                1750
Barwell                1850
Biggleswade Town       1900
Bromsgrove Sporting    1500
Coalville              1800
Hednesford             2000
Hitchin                2000
Kings Langley          1850
Leiston                1800
Lowestoft              2100
Needham Market         1850
Nuneaton Borough       2350
Peterborough Sports    1600
Redditch               1900
Royston                1850
Rushall                1900
St. Ives               1750
Stourbridge            2000
Stratford              1750
Tamworth	       2250

 

Southern Football League Premier Division South

Beaconsfield	       1600
Blackfield             1050
Chesham                2250
Dorchester             1950
Farnborough            2100
Gosport                2200
Harrow                 1850
Hartney Wintney	       1500
Hayes & Yeading        1850
Hendon                 2200
Merthyr                2250
Met Police             1950
Poole		       2100
Salisbury	       2250
Swindon Supermarine    1650
Taunton		       1700
Tiverton               1850
Truro                  2300
Walton Casuals	       1550
Weston-super-Mare      2100
Wimbourne	       1500
Yate Town              1450

 

Northern Premier League Premier Division

Ashton United          2150
Atherton Collieries    1750
Bamber Bridge	       1850
Basford		       2000
Buxton                 2050
FC United              2350
Gainsborough Trinity   2250
Grantham               2000
Hyde Utd	       2050
Lancaster              1900
Matlock                2000
Mickleover             1900
Morpeth                1750
Nantwich               2050
Radcliffe              1750
Scarborough Athletic   2100
South Shields	       2150
Stafford               1950
Stalybridge            2000
Warrington             2150
Whitby                 2000
Witton                 1950

It is now up to you to manage this club all the way to the Premier League title and UEFA Champions League crown. The challenge is complete once you have won both competitions, this does not need to happen in the same season.

You may not move clubs unless you are sacked.

If you get sacked, you can either take over a newly promoted club that satisfies the original criteria (check the club's league history), or just start again.

Any form of international management is not allowed, until you have completed the challenge.

Assigning parent clubs and loaning players is completely up to the player, although it should be noted that on occasions a parent club can lend players which will make the first season or two slightly less of a challenge. It is completely up to you how you play this one. Personally, I like to assign a parent club for financial benefits but never take any players on loan from them.

To sign a player, you must be able to scout them, this doesn't mean you have to, just he must be accessible to your scouts. If you have a foreign player on a free transfer who is willing to come on trial, you do not need to be able to scout them, as long as you have them at the club on trial so you can get a coach report on him. If an agent offers you a player, you can sign him without scouting him.

No external utilities such as scouting programs should be used and the database should be unedited (with the exception of cosmetic changes which cannot be discussed here). Should SI release a data update, this would be allowed but any other data updates are not.

Use of save game editors is strictly banned, whatever the reason. Ticking that box at the start should see to this.

Rules for this Thread

Player naming is allowed.

General discussion on tactics is allowed, although people should not refer to downloaded tactics. They are not banned, but I would expect the majority of people to avoid them.

When you join the challenge, post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the 24th June like this.

Progress of your club should be documented using this thread, we want to hear the story of your club all the way through. Please keep us updated, even if you are doing really badly.

At the end of every season, could everyone post some kind of season review, including at least a screenshot of a league table and the clubs transfer page. If you give this a title in bold it makes it a bit easier to pick out.

How to Post a Screenshot

• While in FM, press Alt and S
• A picture will be saved to a screenshots folder, in the FM20 folder in your documents
• Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Imgur
• Post the direct Url to the image here.

Enjoy

[gotlandskommun]

i will start this one with FC United

Manager profile

[Faramir]

I am starting out with Hornchurch, should be a good challenge.

[deadfncat]

I started with Biggleswade Town. havent played in a few years so pretty rusty!!

 

[SuperRedditch]

Tried a few clubs in FM20 and nothing is sticking, so here I am managing....

 

....Redditch, Of course.

 

Signed a few crackers already. Gonna walk this league I reckon (famous last words). Pace and Space is the plan at this level. Pacey players all over the pitch, every position, and play the ball direct into space to exploit the slow semi-professional defences.

Edited November 2, 2019 by SuperRedditch

[Dons]

After countless reloads, the lowest rep team coming up for me was Leiston. Dons is now the proud manager of this magnificent unknown team!

[G_D_K]

<reserved for uploading holiday saves>

 

Okay, here is an initial batch for those that don't want to worry about the holiday season.   I'll continue to add to this list of saves up thru release+ 1 week or so...there are 88 teams available for the challenge, and I hope to find a  Poole, King's s Lat least 60 of them.

This first batch is from the BETA version of FM 20, was loaded with 17 leagues in 5 nations (all of UK&I + Euro Top Div/Intl players), and has about 55K players in the database.  (Numbers in parentheses at end of line is my attempt to keep track of number of distinct teams I've found to that point).  Teams are listed in bold if it is the first time they appear on this list

Save 1:  Gosport, Barwell, Hendon, Kingstonian, Bognor Regis, Nuneaton Boro, South Shields, Warrington, Stalybridge (8)
Save 3:  Salisbury, Gosport, Tamworth, Kingstonian, Haringey, Truro, Matlock, Nuneaton Boro, Whitby (14)
Save 4:  Salisbury, Truro, Stourbridge, Chesham, Hendon, Nuneaton Boro, Hyde, Ashton Utd, Bognor Regis (18)
Save 5:  Truro, Kingstonian, Hendon, Hitchin, Gosport, Nuneaton Boro, Matlock, Warrington, Enfield Town (20)
Save 6:  Poole, Tamworth, FC United, Chesham, Warrington, Nuneaton Boro, Gosport, South Shields, Bognor Regis (22)

 

This following batch is BETA FM20, loaded with 59 Leagues/20 Nations (Western Europe/Scandinavia) and has an 85K player database:

Save 7:  Weston-super-Mare, Tamworth, East Thurrock, Chesham, Haringey, Nuneaton Boro, Warrington, FC United, Stafford (25)

Save 8:  Hendon, Stourbridge, Chesham, East Thurrock, Buxton, Nuneaton Boro, Bognor Regis, Warrington, Folkestone (27)

Save 9:  Merthyr, Lowestoft, Farnorough, Kingstonian, Tamworth, Nuneaton Boro, Hednesford, FC United, Hendon (31)

Save 10: Salisbury, Merthyr, Stourbridge, Hednesford, Kingstonian, Bishop's Stortford, FC United, Nantwich, Lowestoft (33)

 

Next batch has a massive 125K players loaded, with 62 leagues, 22 nations, and ALL international and top-division players worldwide.

Save 11: Salisbury, Stourbridge, Hednesford, Gosport, Farnorough, Poole, Matlock, FC United, Scarborough Athletic (34)

Save 12: Truro, Hednesford, East Thurrock, Hornchurch, Nuneaton Boro, Scarborough Athletic, FC United, Gospor  Poole, King's st (35)

Save 13: Truro, Merthyr, Lowestoft, Stourbridge, Kingstonian, Chesham, Warrington, Basford, Gosport (36)

 

This following batch is FM20, loaded with 59 Leagues/20 Nations (Western Europe/Scandinavia) and has an 85K player database:

(saves posted w/ no link will be uploaded shortly)

SaveRel1:  Chesham, Redditch, Hendon, Kingstonian, Stalybridge, Nuneaton Boro, Gainsborough, Warrington, Stafford (38)

SaveRel2:  Weston-super-Mare, Gosport, Lowestoft, Carshalton, East Thurrock, Nuneaton Boro, Scarborough Athletic, FC Utd, Buxton (39)

SaveRel3:  Poole, Lowestoft, Margate, Chesham, Hitchin, South Shields, Basford, Witton, Lewes (41)

SaveRel4:  Weston-super-Mare, Merthyr, St. Ives, Carshalton, Haringey, Nuneaton Boro, Grantham, Ashton Utd, Warrington (43)

SaveRel5:  Tiverton, Tamworth, FC United, East Thurrock, Farnborough, Nuneaton Boro, Buxton, Stalybridge, Hornchurch (44)

SaveRel6:  Salisbury, Leiston, Biggleswade Town, Merthyr, Chesham, Gosport, Haringey, FC United, Met. Police (45)

 

The following is FM20 Release database, UK&I leagues only (about 20K player database)

SaveUKI1:  Met Police, Lowestoft, Hednesford, Gainsborough, Farnborough, FC United, East Thurrock, Grantham, Stalybridge (46)

SaveUKI2:  Poole, Kings Langley, Hyde, Hendon, Whitby, Nuneaton Boro, East Thurrock, FC United, Witton (47)

SaveUKI3:  Poole, Biggleswade Town, Hyde, Farnborough, Ashton Utd, Nuneaton Boro, FC United, South Shields, Whitby (48)

SaveUKI4:  Merthyr, Stourbridge, Buxton, Chesham, Basford, Nuneaton Boro, Leatherhead, Hyde, Bognor Regis (49)

SaveUKI5:  Dorchester, Tamworth, FC United, Kingstonian, Hendon, Nuneaton Boro, East Thurrock, Hyde, Lowestoft (50)

SaveUKI6:  Truro, Met Police, Lowestoft, Stourbridge, Kingstonian, Haringey, Ashton Utd, Buxton, Grantham 

Save UKI7:  Salsibury, Hitchin, Rushall, Chesham, Hendon, Hornchurch, Gosport, FC United, Enfield Town (51)

Save UKI8:  Truro, Salisbury, Lowestoft, Royston, Kingstonian, Hornchurch, Gainsborough, Ashton Utd, Gosport (52)

Save UKI9:  Dorchester, Redditch, Buxton, Farnborough, Hyde, Nuneaton Boro, Mickleover, Grantham, Stafford (53)

 

Next batch has a massive 125K players loaded, with 62 leagues, 22 nations, and ALL international and top-division players worldwide.  Saves are from the release version.

SaveRelLg1:  Truro, Merthyr, Hednesford, Margate, Farnborough, Salisbury, Weston-Super-Mare, Nuneaton Boro, Buxton (54)

SaveRelLg2:  Salisbury, Truro, Stourbridge, Needham Market, Enfield Town, Worthing, FC United, Grantham, Matlock (56)

[darius9]

Hey, Dafuge, i think we should save at least on 30th of may, I saves the game on 31ist and always get the same teams on June 24th.

[dafuge]

45 minutes ago, darius9 said:

Hey, Dafuge, i think we should save at least on 30th of may, I saves the game on 31ist and always get the same teams on June 24th.

Did you holiday to the 31st or proceed to it by continuing?

The 31st worked for me when I tested it out but I’ll change it just in case.

[darius9]

2 minutes ago, dafuge said:

Did you holiday to the 31st or proceed to it by continuing?

The 31st worked for me when I tested it out but I’ll change it just in case.

I was quite amazed, i did not proceed. I saved the game on 31ist 0:00 but the game was already decided for me. But hey, for safety we should save on 30th, since we're holidaying anyway after that.

[MadMcMan]

I actually won the UEFA cup and Premier league in 2019 with Matlock but i got lazy updating my thread here.

 

This year i shall hopefully be taking Merthyr to the same levels.

 

[Champfan10]

I'm in this year as well, Merthyr for me as well.

 

Mr Champfan10

Edited November 2, 2019 by Champfan10

[oohlala111]

Doing a short term save with Man Utd to give me a basic introduction to this year's game but once that's done I'm going to attempt this with Buxton 👀

[anagain]

I'm going to give this a go with the place I often went on holiday when I was a kid. Bognor Regis Town FC. I also picked them because they have no manager at the start of 20-21.

Up The Rocks!

I'm a slow player, so we'll see how far this goes.

[Superowl90]

I'm starting this years challenge with Kingstonian. Never used them before so wish me luck haha

 

Here is my manager profile : https://imgur.com/a/EK05NOP

 

Good luck everyone 

Edited November 3, 2019 by Superowl90

[deadfncat]

This game reminding me how terrible I am at tactics

Any ideas on what to focus on for low level crap players?

[anagain]

14 minutes ago, deadfncat said:

This game reminding me how terrible I am at tactics

Any ideas on what to focus on for low level crap players?

Just the basics. Pace and long balls; strength and a robust midfield. The simplest formations are often the best at this level.

I'm going for a counter attacking formation with IF and a PF up front. In midfield I have the basics of a box to box and central midfield, and an anchor man to support the defence should the fullbacks get a chance to get forward. I wouldn't mind a DLF or a TM, but I'm a little short on strikers.

Against the better teams I can just sit back and frustrate whilst ping balls forward to pacey wide men. If I'm hopeful of a win I can let the midfield be more attacking.

A strong TM will be a very good asset at this level.

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

I can't download any of those save games. Anyone else have the problem?

 

Also, what are the chances of Wingate and Finchley appearing?

[G_D_K]

8 minutes ago, QuincyOwusu-Abeyie said:

I can't download any of those save games. Anyone else have the problem?

 

Also, what are the chances of Wingate and Finchley appearing?

Hmm...not sure what's up, but I'll look into it.

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

4 minutes ago, G_D_K said:

Hmm...not sure what's up, but I'll look into it.

Working now 

[andbec]

First time taking up this challenge. I have gone with an unknown to me club - Basford

 

 

[G_D_K]

13 minutes ago, QuincyOwusu-Abeyie said:

I can't download any of those save games. Anyone else have the problem?

 

Also, what are the chances of Wingate and Finchley appearing?

Yep...I see.  Just a hunch, but I bet daylight savings time just hit us and caught computers changing their on-board clocks.

[SuperRedditch]

PSA: Players on Non-Contracts with an appearance bonus take up your wage allowance but the game doesn't take it into consideration when you are offering contracts. I was 2k over my wage budget when I was sacked, but still had over 1k that I could use in negotiations. I don't know if this is a bug or intended,

[Prank Emperor]

Going to do this for the 4th consecutive year and 8th overall!!!

This time I am going to go for FC United though they have rep on the higher side, I cannot not play them as it will make an interesting story when they are in same league as Man Utd!!

Will start on full release.

[Wavelberry]

Are Hornchurch still called AFC Hornchurch? If so I'ma gonna need to go into the data issues fred.

[DazRTaylor]

I really want Bowers & Pitsea, but with a reputation of 1,300, that isn't going to happen.

[dafuge]

5 minutes ago, DazRTaylor said:

I really want Bowers & Pitsea, but with a reputation of 1,300, that isn't going to happen.

That is the FM19 reputation though, so it might be different.

[Danny_H22]

I normally attempt the Ultimate Challenge and it has been a while since I worked my way up the English leagues so I will give it a go!

 

[Scab]

Giving this a go with St. Ives.

In light of FM20 seemingly focusing on the long term, I'll be trying to do this in combination with the youth academy challenge. I have a tendency to not finish these challenges, so maybe a slower-burn club-culture-building approach will be a better fit. 

[Zilla Blitz]

I'm going to give this a shot as well, thanks for the new thread for FM20!

Rather than assigning myself to a newly promoted team, I'm going to create a manager with those starting characteristics, run the save until June, then apply for jobs at the newly promoted teams. I tested this with the beta version and four of the new teams that came up had manager vacancies. I was able to get job offers from three of them even though I was Sunday League/no badges/no experience. For me, that'll create a bit more of an edge to the start, not knowing where I might begin.

I am going to start on the 19th/20th, with the full release.

Really looking forward to this!

[Thebaker]

Has anyone on this thread noticed any teams with very good facilities which seem like a bug. I ask as i noticed that Lowestoft has variable youth coaching and recruitment (maybe 0 in the database) but in one came out with excellent youth coaching and recruitment. - the same as liverpool!

Edited November 3, 2019 by Thebaker

[G_D_K]

Making a preliminary start (at least unless/until I find someone more intriguing).  I lived just about 30 miles from Needham market in the late 80's and 90's, so I've decided to give them a go.  Meet the new manager of The Marketmen 

[XaW]

Alright I'm starting this again. And like last year I'm doing this at the same time I'm doing the youth only challenge.

I've taken over Stratford Town, wish me luck!

[Danny Nedelko]

I play without attribute masking so I don't post here but it seems way easier to sign players this year than in previous years. I have players in my squad that are better than some of my League 2 players in previous years.

[alpha_guru]

10 hours ago, Wavelberry said:

Are Hornchurch still called AFC Hornchurch? If so I'ma gonna need to go into the data issues fred.

They changed their name to Hornchurch FC at the start of the season; it's definitely not a bug.

[Wavelberry]

16 minutes ago, alpha_guru said:

They changed their name to Hornchurch FC at the start of the season; it's definitely not a bug.

I know, I was asking if the name had changed in game.

[Ozvaldez]

I'm another one going for Merthyr, as they are fairly local and I've been to see them a good few times.

If I can produce a Welsh international in the future then I'll be a happy manager!

 

[deadfncat]

anyone else drive their club into the ground financially? I cant remember how I used to do all this  2nd season after barely surviving last year and we are already 230k in the red

[Ross Ingersoll]

Will give this a go with The Met Police

 

[Thebaker]

48 minutes ago, deadfncat said:

anyone else drive their club into the ground financially? I cant remember how I used to do all this  2nd season after barely surviving last year and we are already 230k in the red

I'm guessing you have really poor attendances, last year i did this with Worthing and was never in financial trouble but then they averaged 700 in the first season. The number of home fans makes a huge difference at that level.

[deadfncat]

40 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

I'm guessing you have really poor attendances, last year i did this with Worthing and was never in financial trouble but then they averaged 700 in the first season. The number of home fans makes a huge difference at that level.

haha sure do. 200-300 every game

Bigger problem for me at the moment is signing players. This dude is well within the wage budget and is a free transfer. isnt signed with any club at the moment, but after i send a reasonable offer, the board rejects it

this is a bug surely?

Edited November 4, 2019 by deadfncat

[MikaelS]

Good luck everyone in your challenges

As always, if you want a real time chat with fellow players, feel free to drop by our Steam group: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/dafugechallenge

[OlivierL]

I tried this challenge last year because i was fascinated with the big amount of players you could and should get on trial and start signing them so u can create a good team.

I think it's safe to start on the beta if we go for Dafuge or Youth only challenge ? because errors in the database won't matter that much when u start lower league ?

 

[Vipertitan]

decided to give this years challenge a go with 
David Clark  
Manager Style
Ashton United 

Ashton United current squad

Edited November 4, 2019 by Vipertitan

[Zilla Blitz]

5 hours ago, deadfncat said:

haha sure do. 200-300 every game

Bigger problem for me at the moment is signing players. This dude is well within the wage budget and is a free transfer. isnt signed with any club at the moment, but after i send a reasonable offer, the board rejects it

(snip)

this is a bug surely?

That does seem like a bug, unless it's the 190 appearance fee that's calculated in to the wage limit? The appearance fee seems on the high end, but yeah, it doesn't seem like something the board should be worried about. Maybe worth reporting?

Speaking of Josh Kelly, I signed him this year on my current Hampton & Richmond team in FM19, in 2024 now. He's had a decent year for us in the Vanarama South, second in the team in scoring, mostly from an inside forward position in a 4-2-4.

[SuperRedditch]

6 hours ago, deadfncat said:

this is a bug surely?

 

On 03/11/2019 at 08:31, SuperRedditch said:

PSA: Players on Non-Contracts with an appearance bonus take up your wage allowance but the game doesn't take it into consideration when you are offering contracts. I was 2k over my wage budget when I was sacked, but still had over 1k that I could use in negotiations. I don't know if this is a bug or intended,

See if it's that. Check your wages via Finances -> Wages.

[Champfan10]

9 hours ago, deadfncat said:

anyone else drive their club into the ground financially? I cant remember how I used to do all this  2nd season after barely surviving last year and we are already 230k in the red

 It's the same for me at Merthyr, I've got about 10 players signed on contracts beyond the first season and it's July 1st 2021 so I'm basically starting again after finishing 18th.

[andbec]

22 hours ago, Danny Nedelko said:

I play without attribute masking so I don't post here but it seems way easier to sign players this year than in previous years. I have players in my squad that are better than some of my League 2 players in previous years.

 

That might be why a lot of players in the league want to join me, BUT, i cannot see their attributes, i cannot see anyones attributes!!! Until the scouts do their job, Im having to bring in a lot on trial. Adds to the realism i guess!!

 

[streety]

Holidaying now my holiday manager has packed his suitcase 

[Danny_H22]

Ten games into my FC United career and we’re sat in a playoff place. 

Completely revamped the squad with free transfers after taking several squads worth of players on trial. Pretty happy with my starting 11 but I know that I’ll lose some of my key players over the season as they are on non-contracts. 

Currently trying to get rid of some of the weaker players who are taking up too much of my wage budget, who just so happen to be influential figures in my squad so I can’t foresee any issues there...

I’ve managed non league several times and the thing to remember is to not get attached to anyone because you’ll either lose them on a free or they will be redundant the next season. It’s also not worth signing a 5 star potential player because initially you need to think short term and not waste your budget on someone who may never play a role. 

Haven’t managed to pick up anyone on loan yet because I’m quickly running out of scouting budget. Hoping to get a parent club soon