dafuge's FM20 challenge

[xilere]

1 hour ago, Scab said:

I think doing this challenge at all is a bit masochistic. 

South Shields start fully Professional.

For the others, you need to ask the board to go Professional and have them say yes. Likely won't happend before League Two as most Semi-Pro teams already lose money paying P/T wages, but if you somehow manage to increase the cash flow (cup success, probably) they might.

Hi Scab, thanks for letting me know. I've just found and read this whole thread and found your posts and progress to be the most entertaining/funny. So I'm happy to see you replying. Wish you luck mate, keep writing.

I think I'll go with South Shields for full contracts because I hate part time contracts. Not because it makes the game more difficult, I'm ok with the amateur difficulty but I can't connect with players with part time contracts. I want to OWN them as a manager, if you know what I mean... Kind of a god complex.

Edited December 19, 2019 by xilere

[Zilla Blitz]

3 hours ago, xilere said:

Hi Scab, thanks for letting me know. I've just found and read this whole thread and found your posts and progress to be the most entertaining/funny. So I'm happy to see you replying. Wish you luck mate, keep writing.

I think I'll go with South Shields for full contracts because I hate part time contracts. Not because it makes the game more difficult, I'm ok with the amateur difficulty but I can't connect with players with part time contracts. I want to OWN them as a manager, if you know what I mean... Kind of a god complex.

South Shields just got promoted to the Vanarama North in my current save (starting second season now) and they are ready to hunt bear. They look very strong.

[Tivvy18]

What would people consider to be the easiest and hardest teams to manage for this challenge? I'm struggling through my second season as Truro, due to my ability to play the game more than likely, and I'm getting the impression that improving the squad is going to be very difficult given few players are willing to relocate to Cornwall. I would guess London based teams would be significantly easier.

[kingjericho]

 

Warrington - Vanarama National League North - 2023/24

League - I experimented for a while a safer approach, which gave us a more stable defense, but also cost us some draws that should have been wins.

Playoffs - an immense disappointment in the final, this time we were clearly the stronger team but Gateshead had a perfect first half and destroyed us.

FA Cup - we achieved the minimums, not a lot to say more than that.

FA Trophy - I don't care much about this competition but it's never nice to go out in the first match.

Squad - a good, balanced squad, that at this level will always be at the level of the best other squads.

Transfers - the usual free agents in and a loanee who had a lot less minutes than I initially planned.

Finances - going down.

Career overview

Season    Division                          Position    Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21   Vanarama National League North    2nd
2021/22   Vanarama National League North    7th
2022/23   Vanarama National League North    2nd
2023/24   Vanarama National League North    2nd

Next season

This season struck me the hardest as we were clearly favourites in the playoff final, and we were on a good form. This makes it four playoff defeats in four seasons, three of them lost in the final.

[Tivvy18]

Thus ends my time as Truro manager. Not because of relegation. Not because of results (though I'm sure that was only a matter of time). But because I didn't drop our best left back despite promising the board I would do so. Obviously not playing him for a single match wasn't deemed as sufficient enough. Oh well...

That has to have been one of the worst times I have had playing FM. I cannot work out if my tactic was to blame or my players. Things were going ok until December and then it was as if my strikers all just forgot how to score. I think it was 3 goals from them in total since then and I was sacked at the beginning of April with 4 to play. Chances were created but they went straight at the keeper, wide of the posts or occasionally hitting them. It wasn't helped by the types of goals the opposition were able to score against me.

Time to consign this save to the recycle bin and think where to go next.

[Zilla Blitz]

8 hours ago, Tivvy18 said:

What would people consider to be the easiest and hardest teams to manage for this challenge? I'm struggling through my second season as Truro, due to my ability to play the game more than likely, and I'm getting the impression that improving the squad is going to be very difficult given few players are willing to relocate to Cornwall. I would guess London based teams would be significantly easier.

Nuneaton was on the easier side for me. It has a fairly high reputation compared to other promoted teams. I had a £9k wage budget, with only £4.5k already allotted on July 11, when I took over. (If you just assign yourself to the team instead of interviewing like I did, you might even have more.) 

So yeah, decent rep, high wage budget, and a good amount of wages free to work with.

[xilere]

On 19/12/2019 at 20:10, Zilla Blitz said:

South Shields just got promoted to the Vanarama North in my current save (starting second season now) and they are ready to hunt bear. They look very strong.

Just started with South Shields, they have a huge wage budget. I think it was like 70k (monthly) US dollars. 55k was used. I let some players go so I have more money to spend now. However, it's hard to find good players to sign with a trash scout. So I asked the management for the second scout and they said ok. But I still think they're very slow! And I have a hard time believing in scouts having seen how stupid they were.

Edit: Also the start of the league is brutal, at least 2 matches every week. Duh...

Edited December 23, 2019 by xilere

[xilere]

On 19/12/2019 at 16:13, Scab said:

I think doing this challenge at all is a bit masochistic. 

South Shields start fully Professional.

For the others, you need to ask the board to go Professional and have them say yes. Likely won't happend before League Two as most Semi-Pro teams already lose money paying P/T wages, but if you somehow manage to increase the cash flow (cup success, probably) they might.

Scab I'm wondering if you are still having fun with your save. Do you suggest dafuge+youth challenge to anyone?

Do you think it's worth it? Or is it just too painful?

[Zilla Blitz]

5 hours ago, xilere said:

Just started with South Shields, they have a huge wage budget. I think it was like 70k US dollars. 55k was used. I let some players go so I have more money to spend now. However, it's hard to find good players to sign with a trash scout. So I asked the management for the second scout and they said ok. But I still think they're very slow! And I have a hard time believing in scouts having seen how stupid they were.

Edit: Also the start of the league is brutal, at least 2 matches every week. Duh...

Yeah, it's nuts how much more money they have than anyone else in our league. And they train daily. I'd be surprised if they don't roll over everyone in our league this season. Media prediction at the start of the season is 6th for them, so we'll see.

Regarding the scouting thing... are you using trial contracts to bring in players with expired contracts (or non-contracts)? You can bring in a lot of trialists for free for a look see. That's more effective than scouting at the lower leagues if you're hunting for players to fill holes in your team quickly.

The first 2-3 months of the National North & South leagues are nuts the way they have them set up in FM. I can't imagine that's how they'll do it in real life when the league expands. I think the scheduling script just goes back to the beginning of the season if there are matches left over to schedule and drops them in at the earliest possible open mid-week option. I think I'll bring this up in the bugs forum. Not a bug, per se, but it's not realistic to have to play half your matches in the first 2-3 months of the season.

Edited December 20, 2019 by Zilla Blitz

[Scab]

18 hours ago, xilere said:

Scab I'm wondering if you are still having fun with your save. Do you suggest dafuge+youth challenge to anyone?

Do you think it's worth it? Or is it just too painful?

I'm having more fun than I've had doing just this challenge in many years, but I do think it depends on which parts of the game you enjoy most. You will not be producing good youth until you've had several facility upgrades, which you won't have until you have money, which you won't have until you either manage consistent cup success or luck into a spendy chairman. In other words: prepare for many years of slow progress, making the most of very little purely through tactics and motivating. This challenge already demands an extremely long-term approach so adding youth may be amplifying that too much for some, if only in pure time commitment.

[DazRTaylor]

On 19/12/2019 at 19:03, Tivvy18 said:

What would people consider to be the easiest and hardest teams to manage for this challenge? I'm struggling through my second season as Truro, due to my ability to play the game more than likely, and I'm getting the impression that improving the squad is going to be very difficult given few players are willing to relocate to Cornwall. I would guess London based teams would be significantly easier.

Easiest - South Shields, Salisbury & FC United for me.  The former has a whopping weekly wage budget of £17,000+ and are fully professional.  You should be in the Football League inside two seasons.  Salisbury, despite being part time, have decent gates and a weekly wage budget of over £8,000, which is also very large.  FC United have a smaller budget, but average gates of 2,000 at the start, means you won't run out of cash.

Hardest - Anyone with a low reputation.  Kings Langley came up quite regularly for me (maybe once very twenty reloads or so) and they start with a wage budget of less than £4,000 per week, which doesn't stretch very far at all.  I am sure this would be the same for most smaller clubs.

[profii]

On 10/12/2019 at 14:46, yellowforever said:

Nuneaton Town Season 2021/22

Season Review - Table - Transfers - Finances - Profile - Squad - Facilities

Well, I sped through this one! In all honesty it wasn't a particularly interesting season. The league itself was very tight and at one point it looked as if we may have been able to sneak into the playoffs, but unfortunately as injuries hit we dropped down the table like a brick. I didn't make many transfers and just decided to trust the guys who had got me back to back promotions, but there were a few key additions like striker Kion Etete, and turning Saul Shotton's loan into a permanant deal. One thing I struggled for was wingers, there simply were none of the required quality for either loan or free transfer, so I had to change shape to mitigate this. I also wanted us to be more attacking, and the result was lots of goals at both ends of the pitch. Finally got someone (reasonably) decent come through the academy, though by the time he's ready to start I have no idea where we'll be as a club. Stadium upgrade done, didn't really affect my budget/balance at all, but has left us with a hefty loan which is being repaid every month. Next season it'll be a push for promotion hopefully.

Do whatever you can to hang on to Etete, he is class. As it happens I also have Shotton in my save. Who are your scouts 

[Mediocre_Jake]

I have been playing this game for so many years, but I am still useless at it, so I avoided this challenge. Time for a shot at it. I start with Merthyr.

 

[Zilla Blitz]

9 hours ago, Mediocre_Jake said:

I have been playing this game for so many years, but I am still useless at it, so I avoided this challenge. Time for a shot at it. I start with Merthyr.

 

Good luck! You got this!

[xilere]

I can only offer 1+1 year full time contracts to players (as a professional club). On other countries/leagues I could offer 3+3 or 3+2 years. Is this a vanarama north/south thing or England thing?

I tried to see it in league rules but couldn't find anything.

[OrToDaRy282]

Meet the new female Geordie boss of South Shields FC. I'm gonna mix this with Youth Only.
I took this club purely cos of better facilities. I want it to go a little bit faster.
The Minyor Pernik save goes on hold cos I really want to mix these two challenges at the same time.

Anyway, let's go!!
Wuppertal is a sister city of South Shields. And "Sandancer" is a nickname of South Shield inhabitants.
So this will be fun!


 

[xilere]

On 21/12/2019 at 11:43, Scab said:

I'm having more fun than I've had doing just this challenge in many years, but I do think it depends on which parts of the game you enjoy most. You will not be producing good youth until you've had several facility upgrades, which you won't have until you have money, which you won't have until you either manage consistent cup success or luck into a spendy chairman. In other words: prepare for many years of slow progress, making the most of very little purely through tactics and motivating. This challenge already demands an extremely long-term approach so adding youth may be amplifying that too much for some, if only in pure time commitment.

To be %100 honest with you, I hate scouting and everything about scouting. But there's the rule. I'm tempted to go youth+dafuge just like you to get rid of scouting. Go figure how badly I hate this.

So what do you look for in a head of youh development? Also do you think Youth Recruitment /Youth Facilities /Junior Coaching are all equally important? Which one to upgrade first?

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by xilere

[OrToDaRy282]

5 hours ago, xilere said:

To be %100 honest with you, I hate scouting and everything about scouting. But there's the rule. I'm tempted to go youth+dafuge just like you to get rid of scouting. Go figure how badly I hate this.

So what do you look for in a head of youh development? Also do you think Youth Recruitment /Youth Facilities /Junior Coaching are all equally important? Which one to upgrade first?

 

If you're a small club like at the start of this challenge I'd go for - youth coaching - recruitement - training facilites & then youth facilities.
Why? The first two depend regen quality as a base. Youth facilities are how they train/improve that base quality before they grow into the actual intake.
I think training facilities are more important because they depend the growth of your whole team. They stop using YF after the intake.
 

[SnakeXe]

Hey folks, it's been a while - nice to see some familiar names still around (hat tip to dafuge, DazRTaylor and deadfncat - I'm sure there's more I've missed, sorry).

I've got a couple of weeks off for Xmas so decided to have a bash at FM again - gonna have a go with Salisbury since if I turn my head 90 degrees to the right I can see the top of their stadium

[tse1231]

 Gosport Borough FC - 2020/21 - VNS

 

Outcome -

Spoiler

Top Half finish

The league:

This year was all about survival, we started as heavy favourites to go straight back down in 22nd as 33-1 picks for the title. 

The pre-season came with significant movement on the staff and transfer front. I had roughly 6 players, no staff and £6.5k wage budget. c.100 trials and 14 signings later I had a very promising team.

The season went with no real note if I am honest, we were always between 6th and 16th, never really in a battle for relegation nor playoffs but I am more than happy with that year one.

Final finish 10th with 64 points and 0 GD.

Star Man:

Christian Saydee - ST - Free Transfer from AFC Bournemouth (side note this guy is very under-rated by FM, he's close to a premier league start). 22 goals and 4 assists in the league and a rating of 7.04. All for £225pw.

Cups:

Better than expected but not outstanding.

4th Qualifying round in the FAC

2nd Round proper in the FAT.

Nice little bit of money and well above board expectations.

Finances:

I inherited a very good situation from a cup run in the simmed year (they started on c. 650k!) which I added to with a larger than normal amount of friendlies (yes, its a bit gamey but I wanted to properly view my 100 trials).

£35,250 in prize money total.

Amount in bank as of 16th May 2021 - £1,066,282

We have remained Semi-Pro

Budget for next year is somewhat ridiculous at £10,569 pw and £411k transfers or £18,510 pw in wages.

What next?:

A big push for promotion with this budget, I believe should at least make playoffs.

Season          League                                   League Finish     Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21         Vanarama National League South             10th         Top half finish, 4th Qualifying round FA Cup and 2nd Round FAT

[Zilla Blitz]

57 minutes ago, tse1231 said:

 

Christian Saydee - ST - Free Transfer from AFC Bournemouth (side note this guy is very under-rated by FM, he's close to a premier league start). 22 goals and 4 assists in the league and a rating of 7.04. All for £225pw.

 

Damn it. I'm pretty sure I had a chance to sign him or had him on a non-contract for a bit. The name is familiar. I thought, "Nah, ain't got it," and passed/let him go.

[tse1231]

14 minutes ago, Zilla Blitz said:

Damn it. I'm pretty sure I had a chance to sign him or had him on a non-contract for a bit. The name is familiar. I thought, "Nah, ain't got it," and passed/let him go.

He's got 14 pace and acceleration in my save. Albeit with 8 finishing. He was frustrating as he missed 60% of chances but he created so many he made up for it! Pace is king in the VNS!

[kingjericho]

Well this wasn't the Christmas present I was looking for  

I am moderately salty, since I don't think I did that badly, although I bottled promotion in all previous seasons, but I had also a big dose of bad luck.

Once again the team is in the playoff places, the problem is the board's expectation is to win the league and in that regard we are falling behind, so that justifies the sack.

[Zilla Blitz]

16 hours ago, tse1231 said:

He's got 14 pace and acceleration in my save. Albeit with 8 finishing. He was frustrating as he missed 60% of chances but he created so many he made up for it! Pace is king in the VNS!

I looked him up in my save, and it was the previous season where I had him on a non-contract. He played seven matches and didn't score. I dropped him at the end of the season. I had better performing strikers, and didn't play a formation with attacking outside wings at the time.

He's got 16 acceleration, 14 pace, 8 finishing, and 4 technique in my world. I think it was the combination of low finishing and technique that led me to drop him. He's now with Alfreton Town, starts, and has 6 goals in 21 appearances. (We're halfway through the season.)

Now that I'm playing a 4-2-4, I could actually use him on the outside right wing. But I don't have any money left in the wage budget to attempt to nudge him from Alfreton Town at the moment.

3 hours ago, kingjericho said:

Well this wasn't the Christmas present I was looking for  

Ouch, that's harsh. Sorry for your loss!

What will you do next? Are you going to try again?

[kingjericho]

35 minutes ago, Zilla Blitz said:

Ouch, that's harsh. Sorry for your loss!

What will you do next? Are you going to try again?

I think I'll start  a new save somewhere else.

[Faramir]

Kingjericho- Sorry for the harsh treatment, please do try somewhere else.

[Scab]

On 23/12/2019 at 14:24, xilere said:

So what do you look for in a head of youh development? Also do you think Youth Recruitment /Youth Facilities /Junior Coaching are all equally important? Which one to upgrade first?

A good personality, followed by Working With Youngsters and JPA+JPP. Tactical style apparently matters too, at least for the players they say they influenced when you get your youth intake. I've previously read that all youth staff have a mild influence, not just HoYD, so I try to make sure they all have decent WWY/JPA/JPP, but I'm frankly not sure how outdated that information is.

Broadly I'd go by what Seb Wassell posted recently, though so far I've had to settle for the facility upgrades the club can actually afford rather than a preferred order.

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe @ Salisbury - Season 1 - 2020/21

Summary
Survival looked comfortable in the end but this season was really a long hard slog battling relegation - every time we put together a sequence which opened up a gap we'd lose a few and one of the teams below us would go on a run to drag us back in. An emphatic 3-0 win against Hendon finally secured safety with 2 games left. Looking forward to a clear out in the summer, plenty of panic signings both in the playing and backroom staff caused us issues. Hopefully we've put together the core of a team which can challenge next season.

Competitions
Vanarama National League South - 13th
FA Cup - 2nd Qualifying Round
FA Trophy - 3rd Qualifying Round

Squad

Transfers

Manager's player of the season - Adam Leathers
One of the few players consistently up to the required standard.

+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+
| Season  | Pos | League           | CL | EL | FAC | LC | FAT |
+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+
| 2020/21 | 13  | Conference South | -  | -  | 2QR | -  | 3QR |
+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by SnakeXe

[xilere]

18 hours ago, Scab said:

A good personality, followed by Working With Youngsters and JPA+JPP. Tactical style apparently matters too, at least for the players they say they influenced when you get your youth intake. I've previously read that all youth staff have a mild influence, not just HoYD, so I try to make sure they all have decent WWY/JPA/JPP, but I'm frankly not sure how outdated that information is.

Broadly I'd go by what Seb Wassell posted recently, though so far I've had to settle for the facility upgrades the club can actually afford rather than a preferred order.

Sen Wassel says: Junior Coaching (The quality and quantity of Junior Coaches at the Club) affects newgens PA and CA.

I still don't understand what junior coaching is. Is it about currently working coaches in U18 team?

[Scab]

5 hours ago, xilere said:

Sen Wassel says: Junior Coaching (The quality and quantity of Junior Coaches at the Club) affects newgens PA and CA.

I still don't understand what junior coaching is. Is it about currently working coaches in U18 team?

Junior Coaching is a facility upgrade (go to Club Info > Facilities and look toward the bottom of the list). I assume it's the coaching they get before they enter your youth team, i.e. before ages 14-16. So yeah, In FM terms it would/should affect their starting CA/PA.

[LeProfIamNot]

 

South Shields FC 2021/2022

League Table    Season Review    Stats    Transfers    Awards    Profile    Finances    Promotion Odds

 

Great season.  I turned over my squad again and signed another bunch of youngsters released from big clubs.  I completely decimated my dynamics.  No leaders, no experience, nothing.  After the recruitment, the bookmakers had me at 3rd but with the turnover this bad, I didn't think I could win the league or even come close.  That said, we were near the top of the table all year but Aldershot were just too good.  With 1/3 of the season left to go, they were 11 points ahead of us.  We were doing well but dropping points here and there to clubs near the relegation zone when playing away.  We were down to 6th position or so, and we made a few tweaks and I started to manage our squad selection and managed the schedule a bit better.  We started to hit a stride and Aldershot started dropping points at the tail end of the campaign.  With 5 games left to go, I noticed we were 2 points away from them.  I thought maybe we had a shot at taking it, but it wasn't to be.  We dropped some points, as did they, and we ended up in 2nd for the playoffs.  Playing both playoff games at home, we dominated, as we've done at home all season.  A fine campaign that got me 2 manager of the month awards, manager of the year, and promotion via the playoff.

Standout Performers

Kido Taylor-Hart was released from Arsenal and immediately took Harlem Hale's spot as the AML Inside Forward.  Hale played well, backing Taylor-Hart up and playing AMR though.  Kido was consistent pretty much all year and was a must start every game.

Joe Hardy was a beast.  We went into the campaign with last season's star, Murkendie, at striker, who had a minor injury early on and couldn't regain his previous year's form.  Hardy was my 3rd choice striker that just started to click and became a scoring machine.

Goals Moving Forward

Squad building again, except this time I have to avoid mass turnover.  I believe this squad, as it stands, can keep us up in League Two.  We had a financial windfall selling a transfer clause on a teenager that got us about 500k.  That and the board provided roughly 450k so we have a lot of money in the bank.  I want to try to be frugal this year by spending big in some key spots if possible, and saving some ammunition for next season.  We'll see how that goes.

Season Results

Season			League					Finish		Notes

2020/2021		Vanarama National League North		1st		1 Manager Of The Month, Manager Of The Year, League Champion
2021/2022		Vanarama National			2nd		2 Manager Of The Month, Manager Of The Year, Playoff Promotion

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by LeProfIamNot

[Winti26]

Scarborough Athletic Season 21/22

Transfer:

Last year I basically built a total new team, this year I kept around half of my old team and then slowley replaced whenever I found an upgrade. That left me in the end with only 4 players, who played for me in the first season, featuring in my season eleven. But I also set a focus on having more depth at every position since my lack of depth at Wing cost me last year in the playoffs.

Transfers 

League:

Part 1 Part 2

My Board wanted midtable finish but after ending last season in the semifinal of the playoff was my goal atleast get back into the playoffs. But the real goal was atleast 3rd place finish to avoid that first playoff round. And that's exactly what I did I wasn't even close to 2nd place but also far enough of 4th place that my 3 games before end of season didn't matter.

table

Playoffs: Okay I make it short. We lost in the semifinal to Fc United of Manchester. That was a really disappointing end to a great season. (United then lost in the final to our local Rival York City giving them finally thier promotion after they failed last year in the final and lost the title this year in the last game)

Playoff tree

FA Cup:

The Board wanted me to get into the first round after we lost our 4th round qualifying round last year. Our first game of the Cup  was at Leiston, we got an easy win and moved on the beat Mickleover Sports, another lower tier team. Now only one win away and the Stage we lost last year to Barrow. This year we face Telford United, who were also in our division and with us in the fight for the Playoff spots. Our advantage was that we played at home. In a hard fought game we won 2:0. Next round was in theory back to easy when we faced lower league Dorking Wanderers, but let's be honest here it was a strugle. We dominated the game but only won 1:0. But doesn't matter we advanced to the second round and we hoped for a top league 1 team or another lower league team, what we got was the worst possibilty National League Ebbsfleet United(at the current point of the simulation they stand in the play off final of the national league). We fought brave and got a replay at Ebsfleet after a 2:2 at home. Between that draw and the replay was the draw for the 3rd round. The Winner of this replay will host Manchester City. But we lost the replay and Ebbsfleet hosted City and lost to them.

Fa Cup games

FA Trophy

After the longish Fa Cup Part I make this short goal was the Second round I lost in the first. But after my big FA Cup Run I don't really care about that.

FA Trophy games

 

General Review 

Personal: I hope from one coaching course to another. Right now I study for the continental B License and my attributes are improving so much that I'm no longer a useless part of the coaching staff. Sadly my determination is still not high enough to convince the board to give me  a parent club.

Team: For me Team MVP has to be the scoring leader of the League in, on loan from Scunthorpe United, Harry Jessop(If somebody know how to pronounce his last name feel free to post it;)). But Fans Player of the Year was Curtis Morrison, honestly that a choice I could also agree on (it was close for me between Jessop and Morrison).  The award for Coaches favourite Player of the team goes to James Morris. He was my very first siging in this save, last years top goal scorer and this years he was captain, number 2 in goals and number 1 in assits in the team. I love him but sadly I think if everything goes like I plan for next season he will no longer have a major part in next years team.

22/23 Season Preview

Again first my personal goal: Easy I have enough from the National League North, so far we only knew one was get better then last year. Last year we saw we need to get at least 3rd to move directly into the semifinal we did it and still failed in the semifinal. This years lesson is forget the Playoffs the only reliable way to get up is championship so that's the goal. It's a high aim and I know that. For the FA Cup I got into the second round this year but we have to stay realistic so my goal is go back into the first round.

Now to what the board wants (here)

Let's start with the season expectation mid table honestly can't be our goal here, I accept it so I have more job security but everything else then a playoff spot is a big disappointment.

The Club culture still not a fan of make the most of set pieces. The other two are new and it won't change much on how I play, so I guess they are fine.

Finances

A preseason tournament with a couple of championship clubs brought me alot of money last year (I wasn't aware of how much it would bring me, so it feels a bit exploitish and I probably won't do it again) but with our cup run and improved attendance we would have written black numbers anyway. But we can't count on another big cup run, so we still have to be carefull about the money. 

 

Like last time to end it a short personal review: Still loving this challenge and I fell even more conected with the team.

 

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe @ Salisbury - Season 2 - 2021/22

Summary
A big improvement on last season but lots to work on. We were in the title hunt until the end of February then a 0-2-2 record in March dropped us off the pace and we never recovered, to the point where we could've missed out on the playoffs on the final day of the season. A surprise 2-0 win away at Boreham Wood got us to a semi-final but Dartford dominated the game, winning 4-2. A quick glance at the goals for and against columns in the league table will tell you where the improvement is required - we scored the 5th most but conceded 7th most. If I can put together a more structural foundation I'd hope for a proper title tilt next season.

Competitions
Vanarama National League South - 6th
FA Cup - 4th Qualifying Round
FA Trophy - 3rd Qualifying Round

Squad

Transfers

Manager's player of the season - Euan Pollock
Started like a train with 8 goals in his first 10, slowed after that as opposition defences learned how to deal with him but kept the goals ticking over regardless, inspiring some famous smash-and-grab away victories as teams left a bit more space in behind.

+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+
| Season  | Pos | League           | CL | EL | FAC | LC | JPT | FAT | Notes                      |
+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+
| 2020/21 | 13  | Conference South | -  | -  | 2QR | -  | -   | 3QR |                            |
| 2021/22 | 6   | Conference South | -  | -  | 4QR | -  | -   | 3QR | Lost in playoff semi final |
+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by SnakeXe

[tse1231]

Hoping to finish my second season off tonight but I wanted to share the league after 40 games. Never seen anything so close!

To add to this Gosport's fixture are on average in 13th, Wealdstone have an average of 15th and Maidenhead have 10th.

I still have to play Maidenhead at home which will be huge!

Edited December 29, 2019 by tse1231

[G_D_K]

8 minutes ago, tse1231 said:

Hoping to finish my second season off tonight but I wanted to share the league after 40 games. Never seen anything so close!

In for a fun run to the finish!

[numero uno gunner]

Hi all. I don't suppose anyone has had Yate Town come up on their reloads yet? I've been trying for a couple of hours and still no joy.

[tse1231]

 

 Gosport Borough FC - 2021/22 - VNS

 

Outcome -

Spoiler

Champions! With FAT!

The league:

After the consolidation year last season this year was all about pushing for promotion. As mentioned I was fortunate to be entrusted with a sizeable budget for the league and this allowed me to invest in great strength in depth. Although my small reputation even for the VNS stopped me signing any really key signings.

The season preview had us tipped for playoffs, we showed our class early with 5 wins 4 draws and a loss off the first 10 games.

This sort of form continued with the exception of a 100% November during which we won 5 out of 5 in all comps.

January brought the expected dip with 4 losses including at home to rivals Wealdstone. 

However we rallied going unbeaten from 12/2 until the end of the season (albeit with quite a few draws). 

From the above table I won 4 of my last 6 with 2 draws. Meaning I clinched the title on the last day by 1 point ahead of Wealdstone.

Star Man:

Bradley Rolt - ST - Loan from Peterborough - 32 goals, 11 Assists 7.38 rating in the league. Perhaps the opposite of Saydee last year. This chap was far less physical and more a finisher. But for 0 wages and a chance to sign for free in the off season he was an absolute steal!

Cups:

Outstanding across the board!

The FA cup saw us drawing non-playable teams which we easily dispatched until the 1st round proper when we got given a tasty home draw to Wycombe, which was then televised.

Wycombe were injury ravaged and pushing for league success so perhaps underrated us. Giving us a 2-0 win and a 2nd round tie with AFC Fylde (whom as it turns out would be somewhat of a cup nemesis for us this year. A 2-1 home victory followed allowing us passage into the hollowed halls of the 3rd round and a chance for the big draw. However a curve ball in Oxford City away was given to me and following a Rolt 89th min winner we squeaked through.

The FA Cup dream came to an end away to Chelsea where we took a 3-0 pasting. But pocketed a large cheque in the process and £284k in prize moneys.

The FA Trophy was a similar success with penalties being required 3 times to take us to the first Wembley final of my reign. An in form Swindon met us there, we were all square at 1-1 are ET. Naturally we won the cup on pens!  Interestingly this is Gosports second FA Trophy final, the first in 2014 they lost to Cambridge United 4-0 and I was in attendance.

Finances:

The cup runs have left us in very good shape. £1,531,554 in the bank as of 21st May a £209k profit according to the in game screen.

Included in this has been board enforced Training ground upgrades and Youth Facilities.

We have been set a budget of £20.5k wages and £205k transfer pool to keep us in the VNL. I don't expect to need that however. 

What next?:

Avoid relegation and put steps in place to push upwards the following season

Season          League                                   League Finish     Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22         Vanarama National League South             1st!         Double Champions with FAT. 4th round FA Cup
2020/21         Vanarama National League South             10th         Top half finish, 4th Qualifying round FA Cup and 2nd Round FAT

 

 

[SnakeXe]

Amazing season @tse1231 - your finances look set for several years!

[weepube]

Carshalton Athletic - Vanarama National South - 2020/21

League-  Predicted to finish 21st when we took over after a massive overhaul of the squad bringing in 10 players overall and releasing 13 we actually started the season predicted to finish 14th. We had a good august only losing twice we found ourselves just inside the playoffs. Flirting with the playoffs for most the season we finally dropped out towards the end drawing too many games and in our last 10 games we won 4 and lost 6 which lead to us missing out and finishing a respectful 10th. Surprisingly i managed to win Manager of the Year

Player of the Year / Young Player of the Year / Most Assists / Top AvRating - Matt Carter

Top Goalscorer - Yassine En-Nayeh

 

Cups-  Had a great run in the FA cup beating lower league Yate then two teams in our own league Hemel Hempstead and Hampton & Richmond to get through the qualifying rounds where we came up against National League side Dover. Scoring a late equaliser at Dover saw us claim a replay victory at home 2-1. This gave us a 2nd round tie with Sunderland at home giving them a great game and managing to snatch a deserved draw. The stadium of Light provided too much of a challenge for us in the replay losing 3-0. We reached the 2nd round of the FA Trophy where we lost another replay against National League Barnet 2-1.

Squad - Transfers - Competitions - Schedule 1/2/Cups - Finances -  Stadium Upgrade - Season Review - Season Awards

 

Season	Division			Pos	FA Trophy		FA Cup		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		Europa League		Champions League		Achievements
20/21	Vanarama National South		10th	2nd Round		2nd Round       N/A	        N/A		        N/A			N/A			        Manager of the Year

 

[SnakeXe]

Solid start @weepube - what's your aim for next season?

[G_D_K]

3 hours ago, numero uno gunner said:

Hi all. I don't suppose anyone has had Yate Town come up on their reloads yet? I've been trying for a couple of hours and still no joy.

Havent seen them yet.  Still running some holidays while ….. on holiday :P  up to about 60% of teams discovered.  Will try to remember and ping you if I find and host on the page 1 thread.

[weepube]

1 hour ago, SnakeXe said:

Solid start @weepube - what's your aim for next season?

Cheers, Yea looking to make playoffs media predicting 7th after preseason transfers currently top in late September but looking like a tight league this year, squad is a lot better than last season so hopefully stick it out this time and not fall away. I am off work until the 13th so looks like i should be able to get some serious game time in!

[CMU Chips]

1 hour ago, G_D_K said:

Havent seen them yet.  Still running some holidays while ….. on holiday :P  up to about 60% of teams discovered.  Will try to remember and ping you if I find and host on the page 1 thread.

I have seen all except:

AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Atherton Collieries, Alvechurch
Beaconsfield, Blackfield, Bowers & Pitsea, Brightlingsea, Bromsgrove Sporting
Corinthian Casuals, Cray
Hartney Whitney, Horsham
Merstham
Peterborough Sports, Potters Bar
Radcliffe
Stratford, Swindon Supermarine
Taunton, Tiverton
Walton Casuals, Wimbourne, Wingate & Finchley
Yate Town

[weepube]

So made it to the 3rd round of the FA Cup rewarded with a home tie against non other than Man Utd.👀👀👀 Lets hope my s**thouse tactic does the same to them as it did to Bristol Rovers and Exeter aswell as them putting out the kids!

 

[weepube]

Went well 

[SnakeXe]

  SnakeXe @ Salisbury - Season 3 - 2022/23

Summary
Team and competition records smashed all over the shop as we dominated the division to win promotion as Champions, that's more like it! My defensive reinforcements both improved the goals against column but also allowed us more attacking freedom so despite minimal additions going forward we scored even more. Perhaps some squad/tactical cohesion helped out there as well. A couple of mini cup runs added some interest as well, although no third round heroics for us (yet).

Competitions
Vanarama National League South - 1st
FA Cup - 1st Round
FA Trophy - 3rd Round

Squad
Some hard decisions imminent over who to retain for next season, there's definitely a smattering of quality there which I've already signed up to new deals, but the likes of Pollock, Neves, Saydee and Hoyle won't all make the cut despite all having really good seasons.

Transfers

Manager's player of the season - Isak Solberg
We had some great creative performances this season but it was kind of a squad effort overall so I'm going to pick out our goalkeeper - his arrival and bedding in coincided with our defence finally clicking so despite a mediocre average rating he's definitely my least replaceable player.

+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+
| Season  | Pos | League           | CL | EL | FAC | LC | JPT | FAT | Notes                      |
+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+
| 2020/21 | 13  | Conference South | -  | -  | 2QR | -  | -   | 3QR |                            |
| 2021/22 | 6   | Conference South | -  | -  | 4QR | -  | -   | 3QR | Lost in playoff semi final |
| 2022/23 | 1P  | Conference South | -  | -  | R1  | -  | -   | R3  | Promoted as Champions      |
+---------+-----+------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+

 

[SnakeXe]

Well there goes my 5 minute commute! Anyone know if this will have a negative impact on attendances? Eastleigh is over an hour away!

[SnakeXe]

  SnakeXe @ Salisbury - Season 4 - 2023/24

Summary
A very weird season - I did not get anything like the kind of reinforcements I wanted in the summer so I prepared a very defensive 4-4-1-1, planning to cling on in mid table with our good defence (having managed to pick up Championship stalwarts Mark Beevers and Kyle Naughton). In the early part of the season things went pretty much to plan - plenty of draws, smattered with a rare win, but crucially, even rarer defeats. Somehow, though, we climbed the table into the playoffs, and then all of a sudden we were top, despite having to play a counterattacking system even against the worst teams in the league! Even more bizarrely, we were able to ride the (very slow, frequently drawing) wave to the title, professional status, and league football. We even secured the title with a game to spare which enabled me to give a farewell to the likes of Pollock, Sheckleford, Leathers and Neves - great servants all, but barely good enough for this level let alone the Football League. Next season is going to be a real struggle.

Competitions
Vanarama National League - 1st
FA Cup - 1st Round
FA Trophy - 3rd Round

Squad
Excellent defence, further forward was very mediocre. Lots to do if we're not to come straight back where we came from.

Transfers

Manager's player of the season - Jeriel Dorsett
Representing the whole back 5 really, but Dorsett gets the nod over Beevers as the most consistent of the bunch. Along with Solberg and Morris will be the cornerstone of the team next season.

+---------+-----+-----------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+
| Season  | Pos | League                | CL | EL | FAC | LC | JPT | FAT | Notes                      |
+---------+-----+-----------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+
| 2020/21 | 13  | National League South | -  | -  | 2QR | -  | -   | 3QR |                            |
| 2021/22 | 6   | National League South | -  | -  | 4QR | -  | -   | 3QR | Lost in playoff semi final |
| 2022/23 | 1P  | National League South | -  | -  | R1  | -  | -   | R3  | Promoted as Champions      |
| 2023/24 | 1P  | National League       | -  | -  | R1  | -  | -   | R3  | Promoted as Champions      |
+---------+-----+-----------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+

Edit:

We're going back home! ...Eventually

[babibiru]

I am trying to do the challenge using FC United. 

For some reason, my loan players are not counted.  I can literally loan the whole team and play them at the same time. 

Is this new rule for VN league? 

[SnakeXe]

  SnakeXe @ Salisbury - Season 5 - 2024/25

Summary
Having been promoted with a very weak team last year, I knew a lot would come down to our summer reinforcements - fortunately this time we knocked it out of the park, with a much better squad relative to League Two than we had in the National League. The highlights were Holmes on loan from Wigan as our main striker, Seynaeve returning on a permanent contract after his successful loan last season in midfield, and former Sheffield United defender Chris Basham replacing Beevers as experienced foil for the talented Dorsett. We still stuck with the 4-4-1-1 but against teams with weak defences we were good enough to push the wingers up into a 4-2-3-1 and actually take the game to them. I knew we'd be competitive but I certainly wasn't expecting a third straight promotion as champions - a truly remarkable run for this team, especially the players who have been there for all three (Solberg, Lincoln, Morris, Craig, Bristow, McNamee and Hoyle being the players with all three medals). I'm confident we'll stay up next season but anything more than that really hinges on how the spine of Solberg, Dorsett, Seynaeve, Richards, and either Holmes or whoever replaces him, adapt to League One.

Competitions
League Two - 1st
FA Cup - 1st Round
League Cup - 2nd Round
Football League Trophy - Group Stage

Squad
The quality is improving throughout, things to address for next season are Peers, Nevers and Holmes loans ending (that's 139 appearances, 31 goals and 19 assists leaving for nothing), and whether Basham has another season in him.

Transfers

Manager's player of the season - Taylor Richards
Hard to overlook Holmes but Richards just edges it for me, his output was consistent throughout whereas Holmes had a few dry spells.

+---------+-----+-----------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+
| Season  | Pos | League                | CL | EL | FAC | LC | FLT | FAT | Notes                      |
+---------+-----+-----------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+
| 2020/21 | 13  | National League South | -  | -  | 2QR | -  | -   | 3QR |                            |
| 2021/22 | 6   | National League South | -  | -  | 4QR | -  | -   | 3QR | Lost in playoff semi final |
| 2022/23 | 1P  | National League South | -  | -  | R1  | -  | -   | R3  | Promoted as Champions      |
| 2023/24 | 1P  | National League       | -  | -  | R1  | -  | -   | R3  | Promoted as Champions      |
| 2024/25 | 1P  | League Two            | -  | -  | R1  | R2 | GS  | -   | Promoted as Champions      |
+---------+-----+-----------------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----------------------------+

Edit:

It's happening! 5000 is a little small given our eventual ambitions, hopefully there's room to expand there - but the main thing is I can walk to work again soon :P

Edited January 2, 2020 by SnakeXe