[FM20] S.E.F Torres 1903 - Giving Voice to the Island of Sardinia: The Athletic Bilbao of Italy

[ArielOrtega10]

Club: S.E.F Torres 1903

Location: Sardinia, Italy

League: Serie D/Group G

Objectives:

1. Enforce a Athletic Bilbao stye transfer policy (Only Sardinian born or Sardinian Home Grown players)

2. Run an extremely tight financial ship (“The income from gate receipts must be able to pay the player’s wages in full.” )

Off the west coast of mainland Italy lies the island of Sardinia, a sleepy backwater known for its turquoise waters and spectacular beaches. The island has a population of 1.65 million and like most of Italy, football is the main religion. The challenge here is to take S.E.F Torres 1903, the oldest team in Sardinia, from Serie D (D4) all the way to Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League glory. This will all be done whilst adopting an Athletic Bilbao transfer style policy in which only players born in Sardinia or players that have Home Grown Status (through playing for any Sardinian team) can play for the club.  This internal transfer policy will align with the popular movement of Sardism, a social, cultural and political movement in Sardinia calling for national devolution, further autonomy, or even outright independence, from Italy. Sardism also promotes the protection of the island's environment and the preservation of Sardinian cultural heritage. Much like Basque nationalism, the beating heart of Athletic Bilbao's transfer policy, S.E.F Torres will become the symbol of Sardinia, giving the island a voice and global recognition.

Whilst the Sardinian outfit will look to the island for talent rather than further afield, the club's finances will be run meticulously, primarily focusing on the philosophy of “The income from gate receipts must be able to pay the player’s wages in full.”  S.E.F Torres 1903 has been reestablished three times since 1903 after falling into liquidation on numerous occasions. This will not happen again, a serious and responsible financial structure will be enforced. 

 

The Sardinian people are a proud bunch, they have their own language Sard, which many people still speak today. One of these proud Sardinians is the ex Semi-Professional footballer Pippo Mannu, born in Alghero, a town close to Sassari. He has a deep knowledge of all things Sardinia, there is nothing about Sardinian football this man does not know (it's such a small pool of players anyway). As an ex-striker he specialises in attack coaching however his main focus is really the mental side of the game, keeping a close bond with his players and nurturing any young talent.  Quite simply, Mannu loves his island, he loves his beloved Torres and dreams of the day his club can become a dominate European outfit and represent the island of Sardinia on an international scale.

S.E.F Torres 1903 are based in the city of Sassari in the north west part of Sardinia. Their two biggest rivals are fellow islanders Olbia and Cagliari who compete in Serie C and Serie A respectively. Cagliari, also the capital of island, is located on the south coast and the city of Olbia can be seen in the north west. The fodder and any loanees from these clubs will be crucial to Torres's success in the early stages. Whilst Torres have spent a brief period in Serie C before, they now find themselves stuck in the fourth tier. A media prediction of 8th places them comfortably in mid table, and a club vision of a top-half finish for the net five years definitely takes away the pressure and will allow Mannu to enforce his strict policies without being greedy for instant success.

Logistically, this isn't simple. Since you can not filter Place of Birth by a specific region of a country I have had to create a very extensive filter. By using the FM 2020 Editor, I was able to view all the locations in Sardinia a player can be born in. 390 in total. I then added each individual location to the new filter. A tiresome process. Moreover, any player that has played for a Sardinian team with home grown status as a result will also be legible. I have therefore added to the filter every Sardinian club from Serie A (D1) down to the Prima Categoria (D6), about 120 or so clubs in total that are based in Sardinia. I have since found out there is an easier way to do it by adding the prefix of (Sardinia) to each city in the editor but oh well it's done now and ready to go. Anyway, since many players don't have a Place of Birth on the game, a few will slip between the cracks in the filter. Unfortunately this is inevitable. I also loaded every player that has any sort of relationship to Italy by using the custom database giving me a player count of 45,180 and every Sardinian on the game. I hope.

 

 

To put this challenge into context, the Basque region has a population of 3.15 million, pretty much double that of Sardinia. I am confident however that there is enough talent to choose from. After applying the new filter to the player search engine and investing in the Italy pack for older players and the Serie D pack for younger (the Italy pack is currently unavailable), I have a pool of 618 players to choose from. This will inevitably grow as the club is able to buy more expensive packs and the regens start to appear who will all, by default, have an official Place of Birth therefore increasing the amount of players I can view.

The fairly basic Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment as well as the basic Youth Facilities is a worry. The improvement of these has to be a priority particularly with the strict transfer policy in place. To do this, I will keep a close eye on finances, making sure the club prospers through careful planning and handling of the financial structure. Club finances is something I have always enjoyed handling, however I have never made it one of the main focuses of my save. Not only do I want Torres to represent the island of Sardinia proudly, I want them to be rich and thrive in the difficult economic environment of modern day football, allowing the club to focus on facility upgrades rather than spending big in the transfer market.

To do this I will use the philosophy from the the highertempopress article in which “The income from gate receipts must be able to pay the player’s wages in full.”  This is a very useful article and it is worth reading for anyone interested in running a tight ship. This highly strict, and extremely difficult approach will lead to successful finances however it will make the game a lot harder, a challenge I can't wait to take on. I will regularly update this feed on the actions I have taken to achieve financial success. Torres have the largest stadium in the league, shared with fellow Serie D outfit Latte Dolce (Sweet Milk), also based in Sassari. The capacity is 3908 for normal matches, however the capacity can reach 9960 as an all seater. I am not 100% sure when and how I get to a point in which the whole stadium will be used so if anyone could advise me on that, that would be great. Nevertheless, taking 3908 as the potential capacity has economic potential. Currently at £9.00 a ticket, if I am able to sell out the stadium (unlikely in the early years I know), there is a good amount of money to play with. 

Torres's initial transfer budget is good, particularly for a club at this level. However, the fact that "30% of transfer revenue is made available until €2.32M revenue has been generated. There after, this will drop to 10%" is a cause for concern. I am unsure as why this may be the case, this seems a backward step, surely making more money would lead to more leniency, does anyone know anything about this set up? I am currently €1607 under the wage budget meaning I will be able to make some useful additions. Sardinians only of course. I will also be looking to offload any deadwood, particularly the deadwood that is being paid too much.

Alongside this philosophy I will have to take other actions to make money. When it comes to contracts I will not be offering any wage rises or silly clauses. I will look for affiliates and utilise friendlies against bigger clubs.  I will keep this series updated on all the steps I am taking to build the finances and am looking forward to having this as a core aim of the project. If anyone has any more tips or useful articles on making money, balancing book etc then feel free to let me know.

*There will be more information to come so follow the feed for any updates and I will see you soon*

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by ArielOrtega10

[Muttley84]

Sounds a lot like my save last year with Catanzaro and only using Calabrian players. Climbing up the leagues was pretty straightforward, but then we reached a ceiling in Serie A where we had pretty much all the good players in our team. We couldnt attract any other better players and the quality we had was low so we relegated and I gave up.

Would be interesting to see the best players on the market according to your filters (i assume Barella will be leading the line) to see how much of a challenge Sardinia is compared to Calabria. Though you might get a bit more extra players by using the homegrown option.

Either way, good luck! I will be doing something similar this year also, but in another country.

[deltablue]

This should be interesting.

[SRL88]

Good luck with this

[ArielOrtega10]

A quick update.

The current top players who are either born in or have Home Grown Status through playing for a Sardinian club are as follows. Barella as @Muttley84 rightly noted is undoubtedly the best talent Sardinia has produced in recent years, I will be keeping a close eye on him, however I am not sure the club will progress quickly enough to snap him up during his prime years. I may also be able to sign Sirigu in his late 30s if he doesn't retire which would bring some good experience to the team. I also have my eyes on Marco Sau, the legendary ex-Cagliari striker, although no Gianfranco Zola (the other legendary ex-Cagliari, Chelsea striker, Mr. Sardinia and general good guy), I am sure he will be able to do a job for me in Serie C or Serie D. Nonetheless, with the strict financial structure in place, as I am beginning to realise will probably stall the club's growth so all of these players listed here are a long way away from becoming serious transfer prospects. 

In regards to transfers, the current squad is being overhauled. Seven players have been put up for transfer (the players who are not Sardinian). This is going to significantly damage the team, I will not have a striker or a goalkeeper and the men who will be leaving are some of my best players. However, rules are rules, and the strict transfer policy must be adhered to. Moreover, this will bring in a lot of money into the club through the transfer fee as well as the money saved on wages. Until I know what my average attendance is going to be and therefore the money I am making on gate receipts I can not make a clear plan for my wage budget. Despite this initial hurdle, the funds gained will only help in securing the financial stability of the club and help me get closer to abiding by the rule of “The income from gate receipts must be able to pay the player’s wages in full.”  The strict transfer policy and strict financial policy are making this save very hard indeed.

The seven players highlighted are the unlucky seven. It's nothing personal, they are just not Sardinian! My team will look like this ^ once they have left the club, a very bare team. *Note, Daniel Bilea, although Romanian by birth, has been living in Sardinia since 2015 when he joined Cagliari's youth teams. The current Home Grown Policy is as follows "

UEFA defines locally-trained or 'homegrown' players as those who, regardless of their nationality, have been trained by their club or by another club in the same national association for at least three years between the age of 15 and 21."

Fortunately for Bilea, he passes the test and won't be joining the unlucky seven.

Although the team has now been completely decimated, fortunately I have a a fair few prospects in my youth squad. Many of them are out on loan and can not be recalled until next season but the ones who remain can fill some gaps for the meantime. There is a lot of potential there.

. 

Carlo Piana looks like an OK player from the best four selected here. I am sure a lot of first team experience for all of these guys will give their stats a good boost. Nonetheless, I will be exploring potential acquisitions as I do not think my youth prospects are going to meet the board's expectations of a top-half finish. The acquisitions must be cheap though, no overspending or breaking the bank will take place. I will update the feed in the next post on any transfers made. 

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by ArielOrtega10

[ArielOrtega10]

FINANCIAL UPDATE - CUTS, CUTS , CUTS

STAFF CUTS - €18153

The Director of Football is from Naples, unfortunately for him this is the end of the road. I do not want a Director of Football anyway. He gratefully accepted a mutual termination of his contract for €9415, he was on a 1 year contract of €18830/a so the club have made a €9415 saving in the long run. 

I have also mutually terminated the contract of two physios who are on €150 and €160 p/w (€7800 and €8320 p/a). I had three in the squad including a head physio who I have kept, both of them had 5 physiotherapy rating compared to the head physio who has a rating of 11. I do not think it is necessary to have all three and cuts have been made. 

Lastly, I have mutually terminated the contract of my U20s Fitness Coach; he added nothing to the training of the youth team, my first team fitness coach covering both Strength and Quickness adequately. He was on €100 p/w. 

All in all, I have spent €18153 on mutual terminations saving the club €18153 by the end of June 2019 since the mutual termination is half what they would have earned. 

 

The 'UNLUCKY SEVEN' - €213200

These unfortunate men are being sold as they do not adhere to the strict transfer policy. So far I have worked out that if I sell each player, regardless of their transfer fee, I will make a saving of €213200 p/a. That is a staggering amount of money for a club of this size. Of course some of this money will be reinvested in new signings but it will not be anywhere near this amount. Also, I have some players I may send out on loan and there are some possible other sales, all TBC, but so far so good. In the meantime I have upgraded every youth player to the first team to fill out the roster. I plan on giving them all a good shot in the friendlies to see if any of them are capable regardless of their stats. On first look though, a few decent acquisitions are required to improve the squad. Anyway, seems like there is an unintentional youth revolution happening at Torres. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by ArielOrtega10

[yungjude]

Can’t wait for the season to get underway and see how this develops. I imagine the first season is going to be your biggest hurdle before you have a chance to develop any players and make too many acquisitions. 

Might also be tricky to make any signing pre-season this first time around as you won’t know what the gate receipts are adding up to. Are you giving yourself any leeway on this?

[AidanH96]

On 26/11/2019 at 14:05, ArielOrtega10 said:

Logistically, this isn't simple. Since you can not filter Place of Birth by a specific region of a country I have had to create a very extensive filter. By using the FM 2020 Editor, I was able to view all the locations in Sardinia a player can be born in. 390 in total. I then added each individual location to the new filter. A tiresome process. Moreover, any player that has played for a Sardinian team with home grown status as a result will also be legible. I have therefore added to the filter every Sardinian club from Serie A (D1) down to the Prima Categoria (D6), about 120 or so clubs in total that are based in Sardinia.

Hi there, I'm doing a Cagliari save on fm22 & would really appreciate it if there's any way you could please link this filter as an attachment reply. It's a nightmare that you can't search by local region in game & it would presumably take a few painstaking hours to set up the filter myself. Many thanks!

[Cheez3y]

5 minutes ago, AidanH96 said:

Hi there, I'm doing a Cagliari save on fm22 & would really appreciate it if there's any way you could please link this filter as an attachment reply. It's a nightmare that you can't search by local region in game & it would presumably take a few painstaking hours to set up the filter myself. Many thanks!

I did this back in FM20 with Lanzarote, there isnt an easy way.

You need to do it manually.