Hellesdon FC - Waking up the Sleeping Lions

[ToMexico!!]

So, in the General Discussion thread I said that once I have finished 10 seasons with Hellesdon I would possibly made a thread after being disappointed I hadn't beforehand. Well here it is in all its glory. 

Some game background;

• Only England loaded but down to Level 11 of the football pyramid
• Player count is 145000...how I've come to that I cannot remember
• Instant Result Skin in use

Why Hellesdon?

• They're in Norfolk where I live, they are a suburb/area situated in Norwich
• They start life at Level 11 in the Anglian Combination Premier Division
• Why not?

How have we fared to far?

Quite well actually until we reached the Vanarama North where we have stagnated but are now an established mid-tabled club. 

The furthest we have gone in the FA Cup is the 4th Qualifying Round.

And in the FA Trophy we reached the 3rd Round in 2026/27. 

 

What is the clubs status?

We are a semi-professional club.

What are the facilities like? 

Beyond the board trying to bankrupt us with a new stadium we haven't done anything to the facilities. 

What are the finances like? 

The new stadium cost £1.8m with 800k in grants and the rest in a loan. We were also rupturing money over the course of a fair few season where we touched just shy of the million pound mark in the red. The board then decided to take out another loan to get us back into the black. However...

We've had a takeover!

Big Keith has come in a consolidated the two loans into one big fat one where we now actually pay more for per month than having two loans before 

Although we have a lot less interest to pay off. 

We currently sit with  in the bank. 

What is the clubs vision?

What formation have you been using?

A 4-2-3-1 in the last season, before that we played a 4-2-4 with wingers. 

 

What staff do you have?

First team staff only, until we are financially sound we will not have any reserve or youth staff. 

Whats your managerial record?

My next post will be a bit of a background of how the other clubs have fared in the save. The winners, the losers, the risers, the fallers. Which former players are now managers. 

[ToMexico!!]

Premier League              Championship                   League One                         League Two                        National League                 Vanarama North                  Vanarama South

      

 

FA Cup                                                                                                League Cup

  

Champions League                                                                        Europa League                                                                               
     

Conference League

 

Champions League dominated by English clubs a by product of only having England loaded. 

Highest Risers

• Morwenstow - St Piran League East to National League (6 promotions)
• Vickerstown - West Lancashire Prem to National League (6 promotions)
• Saltash Borough - St Piran League East to Vanarama North (5 promotions)

Biggest Fallers

• Bolton - League One to National North (3 relegations)
• Gateshead - National North to Northern Prem Division One (3 relegations)
• Stevenage - League Two to Southern League Division One (5 relegations)

Players to Managers

• Wes Morgan (Tranmere > Leicester > Ipswich > Southampton > Burnley) 
• Martin Skrtel (Sunderland > Reading > Crystal Palace)
• Kiko Casilla (Wycombe > Ipswich > Derby)
• Nicolas Tagliafico (Sunderland)
• Jo Inge Berget (Dagenham & Redbridge)
• Juan Mata (Doncastor > Oxford > Scunthorpe)
• Martin Dubravka (Colchester)
• Harry Maguire (Exeter)
• Erik Pieters (Stockport)

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by ToMexico!!

[ToMexico!!]

Season 11 Squad Preview - Vanarama North

Season reset has just happened so this is how the squad shapes up going into season 11. 

A couple of players have already left, we had a goalkeeper on a short term loan who has gone back to his parent club. All the remaining loan players are also due to go back. So really that leaves us with this...

Ok, so we have 11 players that are ours at the minute. One of those, Finn Heler is out of contract and wants more than double his wages to sign again, he's off when that expires. Every player that is signed to a contract is a first team player. Non-contract players are bench fillers. 

Whats our budget like?

Overspending already, looks like we will be reliant on loans again. I can also try and sign some more players on non-contract terms as they will be on pay-as-you-play deals. £300 p/w is not our limit, we can offer more but that's my limit. Only a special player will be offered any more. 

What positions am I looking for?

(in order of priority)

1. Striker
2. Goalkeeper
3. Centreback
4. Centre Midfielder
5. Anyone else that will sign for nothing or as little as possible...

 

 

[ToMexico!!]

The Struggle to Strengthen

Just four players have arrived so far this summer, I do have two more loan deals in the pipeline. Unfortunately I have missed out on some good players with them either opting to join other clubs or pricing themselves out of a move. 

Darren Coyle was a recommendation from my chairman who seems to be acting as my DoF. Corbett-Mills was released by Arsenal, the 18 year old is a central midfielder. McEachran-Shipperley is a GK and Kilcawley is also a MC, both join with no wage contribution. 

We're still £435 over the wage budget. Ideally we need to sign a striker still. 

However preseason is over and we begin the new league campaign against Bolton. 
 

[ToMexico!!]

FA Cup

We needed a bit of a FA Cup run purely for money purposes and we've done just that. We've reached the 1st Round proper for the first time having beaten fellow league side Runcorn Linnets, then Haringey after a replay and just now beat Halifax although they are 14th in the league below us. We've been drawn against...

Not the home money spinning tie I would have liked but we should earn something for our troubles. 
 

[Maw74]

It's always great to see how things go during saves, excellent stuff, also please please please I would love Tottenham's fortunes be matched in real life, well apart from the defeat to Man City obviously.

You have done great so far, you say you have stagnated but it makes it so realistic anyway, I say that but I hope you can manage to progress further without being in the VN for too long.

[ToMexico!!]

46 minutes ago, Maw74 said:

It's always great to see how things go during saves, excellent stuff, also please please please I would love Tottenham's fortunes be matched in real life, well apart from the defeat to Man City obviously.

You have done great so far, you say you have stagnated but it makes it so realistic anyway, I say that but I hope you can manage to progress further without being in the VN for too long.

Yeah you are right, no club in real life rises through the leagues like they can & do on FM. 

Spurs brought Poch back to the club this summer, they're currently 6th after 10 games. 

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview

This isn't the first offer of an interview we've had, in the past two seasons or so we've been given opportunities by Lincoln, Rochdale and Swindon to have an interview. 

However, AFC Wimbledon are the highest placed team to have offered, they are currently 11th in League One. Anyway, it was declined. 

We still only hold a National C license having not completed any courses since the start of the save and have a reputation of 1.5 stars. 

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview #2

Fylde are 20th in League One.

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview #3

3rd interview offer in 9 days.

Charlton are 18th in League One.
 

[ToMexico!!]

Costly Injury

 

Typical of FM for my best player this season to get injured for 3 months. He is currently top scorer in the league which isn't bad for a player who is on non-contract terms. In fact my only other player who has an average rating of over 7.00 is also a player on a non-contract. Maybe I should have all my players on those contracts 

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview #4

Millwall are 10th in League One.

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake 2030

With the fact that I have not been able to make any upgrades to the junior coaching or the youth recruitment this is the current state of my youth intakes.

Interesting to see we have a Belorussian national come through the ranks. I'll leave it to the HoYD to decide who gets a chance. 

[ToMexico!!]

2029/30 Season Review - Vanarama North

Prior to this season commencing the board had cut the wage budget to just over £2k p/w in a bid to combat the poor financial position we find ourselves in. The board only wanted us to avoid relegation but due to our past performances in this league of 12th-5th-9th-11th I always felt that as long as I could strengthen/replace the players leaving I could achieve another mid-tabled finish. 

Transfers

I previously mentioned that I really struggled to strengthen the squad in the areas I needed to. Only Corbett-Mills and Coyle were signed on to contracts, whilst Lyon and Seal both signed on non-contract terms. 

League - 9th 

We achieved what I had set out to do and finish in a mid-tabled position. With six games to go we were actually sat in the last play off place before losing to Scarborough, drawing with bottomed side Runcorn, losing to South Shields who were in 19th and then eventual league winners Warrington which dropped us to 11th. We managed to beat 16th placed Stourbridge to jump back up to 9th place. 

Cup Competitions

We reached the 1st Round proper of the FA Cup for the first time our history. We beat Runcorn, Haringey and Halifax before bowing out to League Two side Southend in a 4-1 drubbing. We only played two games in this seasons FA Trophy after we were beaten by Barrow in the 1st Round. We had actually beaten Bolton 1-0 in the 3rd Qualifying Round prior to that tie. 

Squad

Our three standout players, well those who averaged more than 7.00 were all players on non-contracts. Jason Dixon has now been with the club since 2024 and has now amassed 244 appearances for the club. We had some good contributions from midfield Chapman-Vincent and Pombo scoring some goals. 

Finances

This is how things look on the last day of the season. 

I'll be honest we were over the wage budget but what can you do with £2,075 per week. 

Season Summary

I will begin the season summary from this season as I recapped how we fared prior to this one in my opening post. 

[ToMexico!!]

2030 World Cup Final

So erm, yeah. Whilst a 7-1 win over your neighbours in the final is excellent, one player scored all 7 of Spain's goals!!! 

Prior to the final he had scored once in five games at the World Cup. Liverpool paid Sevilla £139m for him last season. 

[ToMexico!!]

2030/31 Season Preview

The expectation is just to stay in the league once again, I think a media prediction of 19th is a little harsh though. Some big clubs in this division still though, Bolton lost in the play-offs last season, Cheltenham, Hartlepool who have just been relegated to this division and Darlington who have done well in recent seasons. 

We've tried our best to strengthen where we can, we're a little light in defence but have loaned Jardine and Burgess to sit on the bench. We also only have on goalkeeper but I am on the lookout to bring one in on loan. Our key signing for the season has to be Eddie Leather-Kennington, the freebie who signed after his release from Arsenal.

The board have also been more stringent this summer by blocking a few deals I had lined up as they would take me over the wage budget, however we are over it slightly still by £98 p/w. As the season begins we're actually now in the red by £263k. 

[Maw74]

2 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

2030 World Cup Final

So erm, yeah. Whilst a 7-1 win over your neighbours in the final is excellent, one player scored all 7 of Spain's goals!!! 

Prior to the final he had scored once in five games at the World Cup. Liverpool paid Sevilla £139m for him last season. 

WOW , obviously saving the goals for the biggest occasion.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Maw74

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview #5

Hull are 21st in the Championship.

Job Interview #6

Sheff Weds are 18th in the Championship.

Both obviously rejected. 

[ToMexico!!]

2030/31 Season Review - Vanarama North

This season was predicted and expected to be another one of avoiding relegation but I wanted mid-table yet again. 

Transfers

I mentioned Leather-Kennington as being a signing to be excited about and you'll see why in a bit. We utilised the loan market again to bolster the squad numbers the best we could. The players that left were all back-ups on non-contracts. 

League

Well like I said, I wanted mid-table, the board expected us to just stay in the division and the media thought it would be touch and go. We got none of that...

We got bloody promoted...we had one more loss than last season but we were able to turn 8 other draws into wins and catapult us into the play offs. Our form towards the end of the season was strong and always felt we were in best shape going into the play-offs but never thought we would do it. Finishing 3rd meant we had a home semi-final game, we played St Neots and won comfortably 3-0 although they dominated us. We would face 2nd placed Kidderminster in the final, a tough test against a club who had beaten us once and lost to us once in the regular season. However we stepped up once again to slay the favourites with clinical finishing whilst being dominated again, 2-0 the final score. 

Cup Competitions

We reached the 1st Round of the FA Cup again this season, beating Canvey Island, Slough and Clitheroe before bowing out 3-2 against League Two side Scunthorpe three goals to two. The FA Trophy was disappointing we lost in the third qualifying round to eventual bottom club Alfreton, no excuses. 

Squad

Eddie Leather-Kennington... what a signing, what a player. 47 goals this season, 44 goals in the league which fell just short of Danny Rowe's record of 47. He was player of the month no less than 5 times this season. Unsurprisingly he won the player of the season award. 

He ably backed up by Miller, Freeman and Griffiths who managed to hit double figures for goals. It was also the same three guys who made the most assists with Griffiths single handedly making 18. 

Finances

Still losing money hand over fist. We actually managed to keep within the wage budget this season as we replaced the leaving non-contracted players with loans that didn't cost anything on the wage budget. 

Season Summary

Things are going to be tough next season, we're still semi-professional so operating on a part time basis. Our wage budget has been increased slightly to £2.7k p/w, so we have room in the budget for possibly two players. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Stadium Expansion 

Why yet? I don't know but its welcomed. 

[Maw74]

Well done on the promotion, great to see that it didn't actually take long in the end, hopefully you can stay up next season, progress at this rate would be great.

[ToMexico!!]

47 minutes ago, Maw74 said:

Well done on the promotion, great to see that it didn't actually take long in the end, hopefully you can stay up next season, progress at this rate would be great.

It was unexpected to say the least. The board has only increase the wage budget by £600 so i'll be looking to eek every penny of that into the squad. Already got a couple of deals in the pipeline. 

[ToMexico!!]

From Pitch to the dugout

Always fascinates me which players make the move from the playing surface to the training pitch. These are the select few from Premiership down to League Two at the minute. 

• Thiago Silva is currently manager of Huddersfield but guided them to relegation. 
• Cristiano Ronaldo is a coach at Man Utd
• Martin Skrtel is manager of Championship side Crystal Palace.
• Nicolas Tagliafico is manager of Ipswich and has Fabio Borini on his coaching staff.
• Giorgio Chiellini is Assistant Manager at Newcastle, whilst Ivan Perisic is a scout.
• Yannick Bolasie is Oxford manager in his first appointment. 
• Sergio Ramos is Reading manager.
• Kostas Manolas is Sheff Weds manager and has Henri Lansbury as a scout. 
• Jo Inge Berget is Sunderland manager.
• Milan Badelj is Swansea manager. 
• Lorenzo de Silvestri is Wigan Assistant Manager. 
• Martin Dubravka manages Accrington Stanley.
• Andre Pierre Gignac is assistant manager to Ryan Giggs at Barnsley.
• Kostas Fortounis is manager of Crawley.
• Piet Velhuitzen is Millwall manager. 
• Harry Maguire is Shrewsbury manager. 
• Kiko Casilla is Wycombe manager. 

 

 

[ToMexico!!]

17 Year Old Gem

How has this guy now been snapped up by anyone yet? Not even wanted by any clubs.

He came through the ranks at Stockport in the 2029/30 season. They have average academy facilities and fairly basic youth recruitment, with no past upgrades according to their landmarks. 
 

[ToMexico!!]

2031/32 Season Preview - National League

This could be a very long season, there are some historically big clubs in here and there are some clubs that are spending the equivalent to my whole weekly wage budget on one player. 

Peterborough, Grimsby, Salford, Burton, Newport County and Northampton are the big clubs. Saltash, who are favourites are a club who also started life at Level 11 in this save but have an exponentially bigger budget than ourselves. 

Not being predicted dead last is a shock, what has happened to Northampton for them to be apparently worse than us. 

The board want us to fight bravely against relegation and I think that will happen. I like how the board expect me to repair the financial damage, however we are trying our best to work with the wage budget we have. We're actually £67 over it but shhhh don't tell the board. 

Transfers

Like every season I'm still trying to hoover up any talented youngsters released by bigger clubs, as we've risen up another level more are interested but they also want inflated wages and I'm not willing to break the £400 p/w mark. 

Charlie Logan and Scott White came in on pre-arranged deals when the window opened, both will be starters. We then waited until players were released to sign some more. Mitchell-Heeley was released by Birmingham, the young Irishman is predominantly a CM but can play RWB, DM and ML . Another Irishman in Gareth Murphy joined the same day after his release from Nottingham Forest, he can play CB or RB. Nicolas Yearwood was about 4th or 5th in the pecking order of strikers to sign but with limited wages and every player before him wanting too much he joined for £80 per appearance. Last in was another non-contract player Dominic Eveleigh, he joins as a back up GK. 

I'm still looking to sign a few more players on loan to bolster the squad. 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Going fantastically well.

[ToMexico!!]

10 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

Going fantastically well.

We are doing rather well at the minute despite the limitations we face. 

Thanks for reading!

[ToMexico!!]

Expansion Complete - Nov 2031

 

[ToMexico!!]

Personal Landmark - Dec 2031

[ToMexico!!]

2031/32 Mid-Season Update 

So expectation was to be in this little group of teams but as you can see we're not...

....and we're not in this bit either...

...top half then?

yep! and a bit more...

7th!! after 29 games is incredible with the squad I have, the part time players, the limitations to the wage budget. The last three seasons 48, 49, 48 points has been enough to stay in this division. Are we mathematically safe? NO but are we probably safe? YES. 

We've had some big wins Salford away, Bromley home and away, Peterborough at home but also suffered some big losses; Barrow smashed us 6-1 at theirs and Saltash demolished us 6-3 at home. We've actually conceded the 3rd most in the league 48, only 23rd placed Boreham Wood (50) and 24th placed Northampton with 97 have conceded more. We have however scored the joint 5th most with 48. 

Leather-Kennington has been the driving force once again but is refusing to sign a new contract amid interest from a couple of League 2 sides. 

[ToMexico!!]

New Deal 

I've broken my wage structure to take advantage of the fact Eddie Leather-Kennington has no current interest in him from clubs higher up the pyramid. We're £282 over the wage budget but I felt that this deal is a must. At least if he keeps up his goal scoring form for the rest of the season and into the next one I can get a decent wedge of money for him. 

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview #7

This is the 2nd time Hull have offered me the opportunity of an interview. No thanks. 
 

[ToMexico!!]

2031/32 Season Review - National League

Expectations were just to survive, the mid-season update showed that we were well above target, could we keep it going?

Transfers

We added no further players to the squad from those in the season preview post. 

League

Form continued as consistent but we fell just short of finishing in a play-off place. Still a 10th placed finish was way beyond what we dreamed of prior to the start of the season. 

Northampton have just about the worst record I've ever seen on any FM game at this level. If we break the season into its two stages we were very consistent in fact. 

1st Half of Season

2nd Half of Season

Cup Competitions

We went out of both the FA Cup and FA Trophy at our first hurdle. We lost to Salford 3-2 in the FA Cup and 2-1 to Polperro of the Southern League Premier South after I rotated the team as much as I could. Polperro are a team that uses 2.21m per annum on wages. 

Squad

Outstanding performers were Eddie Leather-Kennington who scored 28 goals this season with 27 in the league but he was pipped at the post to finish top scorer in the league by one goal. Jason Dixon continues to defy he stats as the winger scored 11 and assisted 7 goals. Keasel Miller had an indifferent start and I thought he'd found he level in the National North but an injury to on loan winger Darren Orsi meant Miller came back in ended up contributing 10 goals and 8 assists. Ryan Carragher was in his 5th season on loan with us and he continued to shine from midfield as the only second player to achieve an average rating of over 7.00. 

Finances

Still not great but we lost less this season than we did last season. There were murmurs of another takeover in the pipeline so I need to pray that get taken over again by a board that can stabilise us financially and back us with proper budgets for this level. 

The board have increased the wage budget ever so slightly for next season, so with our over spend last season we now under the wage budget by £262 p/w. 

Season Summary

 

 

[ToMexico!!]

New Contract - May 2032

A wage increase is always nice but only a one year deal. 

Clubs will now have to pay a 60% compensation package to acquire my services. 

[ToMexico!!]

2032/33 Season Preview - National League

With another small increase to the wage budget I needed to make use of every penny. 

Not on this list is Ryan Carragher, he joins for a 6th consecutive season on loan from Colchester. Lets mention the other two loans first both Yordan Paliyski & Alan Leader are centre backs with Yordan being the better of the two and will be first choice along side Scott White. Declan Evans, my first signing was a scout recommendation and decent one at that. He was actually released by Faversham after joining them from Brighton in the 2028/29 season. 

Colin Kelly, Wayne Wraight and Bill Jones are three squad fillers, they come in to add depth to both full back and the striker positions. Last to be mentioned is Julian Meta, the young Kosovan GK comes in after his release from Brighton to become first choice. 

That leaves us with a much bigger squad than last season. 

I would like to bring in another couple of players on loan but am limited to those who require no wage contribution; either wing or striker are positions I feel that could do with a little more quality. 

We're predicted 23rd again and the board only want us to not be relegated back to NLN. We've been joined by former Championship side Charlton and Carlisle just to add a bit of strength to the league. Bolton promoted from NLN last season and big spending Bude Town from NLS, they have 4 players that earn more than my entire weekly wage budget. 

Eddie Leather-Kennington is 2nd favourite to finish as the league top goalscorer. 

[ToMexico!!]

Takeover Talks - Oct 2032

Only a local investor, I don't envisage our financial problems being sorted any time soon, even though it says about wiping the clubs debts. 

Edited April 2, 2020 by ToMexico!!

[ToMexico!!]

Takeover Complete - Nov 2032

It rumbled on for over a month but its finally done. 

No news of any money being pumped in but indication at the bottom of sorting the finances out. Lets take a look at them.

We're in the black but for how long? Is this guy an underwriter, will he keep putting money in every time we fall into the red? 

edit

This bodes well...

Edited April 2, 2020 by ToMexico!!

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview #8

Barnsley are 10th in the Championship. 

[ToMexico!!]

On 30/03/2020 at 11:57, ToMexico!! said:

From Pitch to the dugout

Always fascinates me which players make the move from the playing surface to the training pitch. These are the select few from Premiership down to League Two at the minute. 

• Thiago Silva is currently manager of Huddersfield but guided them to relegation. 
• Cristiano Ronaldo is a coach at Man Utd
• Martin Skrtel is manager of Championship side Crystal Palace.
• Nicolas Tagliafico is manager of Ipswich and has Fabio Borini on his coaching staff.  
• Giorgio Chiellini is Assistant Manager at Newcastle, whilst Ivan Perisic is a scout.
• Yannick Bolasie is Oxford manager in his first appointment. 
• Sergio Ramos is Reading manager.
• Kostas Manolas is Sheff Weds manager and has Henri Lansbury as a scout. 
• Jo Inge Berget is Sunderland manager.
• Milan Badelj is Swansea manager. 
• Lorenzo de Silvestri is Wigan Assistant Manager. 
• Martin Dubravka manages Accrington Stanley.
• Andre Pierre Gignac is assistant manager to Ryan Giggs at Barnsley.
• Kostas Fortounis is manager of Crawley.
• Piet Velhuitzen is Millwall manager. 
• Harry Maguire is Shrewsbury manager. 
• Kiko Casilla is Wycombe manager. 

 

 

A bit of an update and a few more new managers on the scene. 

• Tagliafico has moved from Ipswich to Bournemouth. 
• Fortounis has moved from Crawley to West Ham with a stint at Birmingham in between. 
• Kevin Kampl is Watford assistant manager.
• Kevin Strootman is Aston Villa assistant manager.
• John Stones is Barnsley manager, he was previously Exeter manager. Gignac is still assistant at Barsnley.
• Skrtel is now at Birmingham after leaving Palace.
• Bolasie has moved from Oxford to Brentford. 
• Badelj is now Newcastle manager.
• Anthony Lopes (ex Lyon GK) is Swansea manager.
• Benjamin Pavard is Dagenham & Redbridge manager in League One. 
• Saed Kolosinac is York manager. 
• Ryan Kent is manager at Accrington
• Harry Kane is manager at Wrexham in League Two.
• Isaac Hayden is Bath manager in NLS
• Leandro Bacuna is Lanreath manager.
• Luke Ayling manages Barking in the Isthmian Div One North
• Matty Longstaff manages Heaton Stannington.
• Adam Reach manages Westfields
• Josh Murphy manages Calne Town
• Pedraig Amond manages New Salamis in the Hellenic League Premier Division.
• Jack Grealish manages Romulus in the Midland League Premier Division

and Cristiano Ronaldo is unemployed. 

[ToMexico!!]

2032/33 Season Review - National League

Again this season the board wanted us to not get relegated, the media thought we'd go down still and I just wanted to see what the season had to offer, after last seasons 10th place, could we equal it or better it? 

Transfers

In January two more players joined on loan. Jiminez, an American striker and Williams a centre back. 

League

We did better last seasons finish by grabbing the last play-off spot. We could and should have done better, form was inconsistent at times, we drew every game we played in March, which was six in total but had a better April winning three on the trot, all 1-0. We finished the season in style by thrashing Darlington 5-0 to see us finish in 7th place and reach those play-offs. By finishing in 7th it meant we were the away team in the first round of play-off matches, we would travel to Boston for that match. Despite falling behind after 20 minutes, Boston were reduced to 9 men on the 72nd minute which allowed us to turn things around and win 2-1, Leather-Kennington scoring first and a 90th minute winner for long term on loan player Ryan Carragher. In the play-off semi final draw we were rewarded with an away tie against Carlisle. We were absolutely dominated 32-10 on shots, 13-5 on target. Final score 1-2. Jason Dixon struck twice to sink Carlisle who only scored their goal in injury time, on the final where we would face Ebbsleet in 7 days time at Wembley. 

We go into the game as firm favourites!

That form and head to head record proved true as we dominated them. Well by scoreline only...

We've done the impossible and won at Wembley to achieve promotion and reach the football league!!

Cup Competitions

I heavily rotated the squad in the FA Trophy against Northampton and deservedly lost, its not a competition I was prioritising. In the FA Cup however we played full strength, prioritising that over the league where possible. Ascot Utd took us to a replay in the 4th Qualifying Round but we got the better of them eventually. In the 1st Round we beat Curzon Ashton to reach the furthest we ever have, the 2nd Round where we would face Carlisle, a fellow promotion chasing side. However they got the better of us and won comfortably 2-0 in their own back yard. 

Squad

With more strength in depth this season I could rotate more easily which saw back ups play more than ever. However it was still Leather-Kennington who stood out with his goalscoring contribution, his 33 goals the season including 26 in the league was greatly received. Dixon continues to out perform his stats as he scored 14 goals and made 12 assists from right wing, he has now amassed 375 appearances for the club. New signing Declan Evans contributed 9 goals and 9 assists from AMC, I want him to contribute even more next season though. Both full backs Tebble-Challinor and Wayne Wraight made a decent number of assists with a combined 14. 

This squad is faaaaaaaaaar from capable of competing in League 2 but we will try our best. 

Finances

Improved significantly thanks to the board takeover, the board restructured the loan debt too after ploughing around £700k into the club. Following the success of promotion to the football league the club has turned Professional and a new wage budget of just under £8k p/w, which is terrible for League football. 

However, I have still not been offered a new contract and only have 2 months remaining on this deal. I might not even be managing the club in the new season after all my hard work. 

Season Summary

[ToMexico!!]

Stadium Expansion - May 2033

 

1500 more seats nearly at the cost of the original building of the stadium 

[ToMexico!!]

New Contract - May 2033

I've taken a pay cut to get away from just a one-year deal. Below are my current attributes;

But we are still at National C license level. 

There is currently no option to ask to go on a course. 

[ToMexico!!]

Club Vision - June 2033

With promotion to League Two in the bag the board have revised to basically try and stay up. I think that seems about right, before this board and the previous one had expectations in the FA Cup and FA Trophy. I think as we hopefully establish ourselves in the football league the board will add more to the vision of the club rather than just a league one. 

[ToMexico!!]

Early Signings - June 2033

Been spending some time scouting players, trialling some players, just straight out offering players some contracts and I've signed three players already. Remember we only have a weekly wage budget of just under £8k p/w to build a squad. Also with being in League Two I can sign slightly better players but they want more money. 

Cameron Fleming was first in, I checked the scouting list and his name popped up as recommended (by my only scout). I didn't think twice and I offered him a deal there and then. He joins from Tottenham and will be a good rotation option with Eddie Leather-Kennington. £575 p/w for two years, can also play AMR, a position I need to look at improving anyway. 

Will McDaid, another youngster but another good signing. Set to be released by Brighton I snapped him up on a 3 year deal worth £475 p/w, he will be first choice right back after Mitchell Tebble-Challinor demanded a new deal worth double his current one. A bit rough around the edges but has decent key attributes plus that 17 team work which will stand him in good stead. 

The latest signing was Jack Westervelt, a central player who can play DM, CM or AMC. Signed from Chelsea, this Australian kid should provide us with the creativity we need from midfield. A pricey deal however, he becomes our highest paid player but he has the potential to become a Championship level player according to scout reports. 

Still looking to sign at least a GK, CB, LB, AMR and an AML before the season starts. 

[ToMexico!!]

On 25/03/2020 at 15:24, ToMexico!! said:

Highest Risers

• Morwenstow - St Piran League East to National League (6 promotions)
• Vickerstown - West Lancashire Prem to National League (6 promotions)
• Saltash Borough - St Piran League East to Vanarama North (5 promotions)

Biggest Fallers

• Bolton - League One to National North (3 relegations)
• Gateshead - National North to Northern Prem Division One (3 relegations)
• Stevenage - League Two to Southern League Division One (5 relegations)

Both Saltash Borough and Vickerstown were promoted to League One last season. So from this post they have risen another two divisions thus been promoted 8 times since the beginning of this save. 

Morwenstow were relegated from League Two back to the National League so they had achieved 7 promotions by being in League Two. 

New Comers

Highest Risers

• Morwenstow - St Piran League East to National League (6 promotions)
• Vickerstown - West Lancashire Prem to League One (8 promotions)
• Saltash Borough - St Piran League East to League One (8 promotions)
• Clitheroe - Northern Premier League Div One West to National League (4 promotions)
• Runcorn Town - North West Counties League Premier to Vanarama North (4 promotions)
• Polperro - St Piran League East to Vanarama South (5 promotions)
• Lanreath - St Piran League East to Vanarama South (5 promotions)

Biggest Fallers

• Bolton - League One to National North (3 relegations)
• Gateshead - National North to Northern Prem Division One (3 relegations)
• Stevenage - League Two to Isthmian League Division One North (4 relegations)
• Cheltenham - League Two to Southern League Premier South (3 relegations)
• Macclesfield - League Two to West Midlands League Premier Division (6 relegations)

[Nobby_McDonald]

Very well done joining other tiny teams in the Football League.

Northampton Town have turned shockingly bad.

[ToMexico!!]

11 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

Very well done joining other tiny teams in the Football League.

Northampton Town have turned shockingly bad.

Thanks Nobby!

Yeah Northampton and Grimsby have had dire seasons in recent years. Macclesfield by far the worst former league club. I look forward to see more and more clubs drop down the pyramid. 

[ToMexico!!]

2033/34 Season Preview - League Two

Lets not kid ourselves we shouldn't be here, we shouldn't be staying up. We need to hope that there are two worse teams than us in this league. 

The board want us to fight bravely against relegation and the media just expect relegation. 

Transfers

Two further players joined on permanent deals; Harrison joined as back up GK after release from Wolves and Curtis who was also at Wolves, he will be back up for central midfield. 

Its in the loan market we did some further deals.

Spence is a centreback, Goldston is a right winger, Kubiak is a left back and Ejiogu is a left winger. We're actually paying some wages to Leeds for Goldston, not something I want to do at this level but with the quality of player available being quite poor I made the decision to spend a little of the wage budget. We have room to bring in one more loan player to be in line with the league rules. Ideally I would like to bring in either another CB or CM. 

Season Opener

We open the season against last season National League champions Charlton. I'm eyeing the FC United as hopefully our first points this season. We need to make home as much of a fortress as we can. In the last five seasons 45, 48, 51, 37 and 38 points have been enough to stay up. Ideally I think we need to find 48 points to stay up. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Helping Hand

We opened the season with a win thanks to Charlton going down to 10 men on the stroke of half time. Lets hope we can pick up some more wins along the way. 

[ToMexico!!]

Finally - Sept 2033

It took some convincing of the board though, they initially said that if Itook the course I would "be more attractive to prospective clubs" whicgh whilst true, there isnt an option to say don't worry I will never leave this club on my own accord. 

In recent times Jordan Turnbull has completed his Continental B license. Jake Gray is currently working towards his National B licence which is a first for me with Head of Youth Development staff. David Wheater has twice completed licences in recent times. I believe Scott Carson is on his third licence since being at the club.