[FM20] Irchester Utd. Tier 10. England. Home. Youth Only.

[Jimbokav1971]

My Welsh save was just getting too big and it was slowing things down too much to the extent that I wasn't enjoying playing anymore. As a result I have tried to do something different. Although I was born and brought up in London, I currently live in the Midlands, in a village called Irchester. They play at Tier 10, (it's really not a good standard at all), but as luck would have it there is a tier 10 database available. 

 

The 2 nearest towns are Wellingborough and Rushden. Wellingborough have a football club, (they are rubbish), but Rushden are probably better known for having a football club that climbed as high a the Football League in the early 2000's, but the club eventually folded due to financial irregularities and was re-formed as AFC Rushden & Diamonds. The next local club are probably Kettering Town, so there is the opportunity for some rivalries to develop over the course of the save. 

I've obviously gone for Sunday League reputation and no badges, although I've noticed that in real life more and more English people are doing their coaching badges and maybe we will eventually catch up with other parts of the World. In any case, no badges for me. 

I plan on doing as little as possible if I'm honest, so I will just try and delegate everything and will just see what I can get away with. 

The First Team Manager in real life announced that he was standing down recently, so there is a vacant position to fill. 

In recent saves this next page has been frequently updated. I don't think I have ever managed a club in FM that has never won anything ever. 

I'm going to go Youth Only, which means that this is not ideal at all. 

Facilities. 

The only way is up I suppose. 

Finances. 

Senior squad. We've got players representing Nations such as Antigua, Jamaica, Algeria, France, Portugal, Germany, Ghana and Turkey, (as well as all the home Nations), and while I will be tracking Nationalities produced by our Academy, inherited players will not count towards that. 

U23 squad. 

U18 squad.

I think this is what I'm going to track. 

After I confirmed the clubs code of conduct for the season, it dawned on me that I should continue to have a play with a poor disciplinary record. It's too late to change the code of conduct now so I will have to have a look at it again next season. At least I will have something to gauge it against then. 

[Edit]

I really don't enjoy the early stages of saves and I particularly dislike the 1st season. With that in mind I'm going to be going through the 1st season as fast as possible and I'm even letting the Ass Man select the match squads. 

I don't care about any of the players and really I just want to rush through the season so that I can laugh at the Intake generated at a club with 1.1.1.1 facilities. 

Edited June 25, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[oche balboa]

Good luck with this 

[KibworthBull]

Good luck with this. Not a million miles away from where I live (41.6 according to google..) - I've watched a fair few United Counties League matches in my time

[Maw74]

Good luck 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season 1 update. 

Youth Intake preview. 

Youth intake. We lost our Ass Man to Wolverhampton Sporting Community, (no idea what level they play at), and when the Intake came through we not only had no Ass Man, but we also didn't have a HoYD because the Chairman hadn't signed one. I am the only member of staff at the club. So while the intake looks amazing, (in terms of Nationalities), I have absolutely no idea if the players are any good. 

Nationalities represented via the Youth Intake. 

        

Pre-season. 

United Counties League Division 1. (Tier 10). I was undecided as to whether I wanted to gain promotion this season without winning the title, (because literally all I did all season was press continue), but our win on the last day of the season meant that we pipped Whitworths to the Runners-Up spot. 

United Counties league Cup. 

FA Vase. 

Goal-scoring keepers. 4 penalties from 6 attempts + 2 free-kicks and 5 assists for AHB. Just 1 assist for Oudjani (ALG) (FRA).

Squad by appearances. 

Overall Best XI.

Facilities. Our Training Facilities are now at level 2, (previously at level 1), but I never requested an upgrade, although it's possible that the board arranged it and I missed the message because I was speeding through the season. 

Finances. 

Transfers. I didn't even look at who was going where. 

Staff in/out. 

Records.

Tracker. 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, oche balboa said:

Good luck with this 

Thanks very much. 

Starting in a very laid back fashion and just seeing where it takes me. Going back to Youth Only and not having to worry about scouting and signing players is very relaxing. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, KibworthBull said:

Good luck with this. Not a million miles away from where I live (41.6 according to google..) - I've watched a fair few United Counties League matches in my time

I've just spent about 10 minutes trying to work out where you are. (Haven't even the slightest idea 10 minutes later). 

I'm a Barnet fan, (it's where I'm from), but I watch AFC Rushden & Diamonds when I can. There is something.... not sure what the word is, about seeing a league with so many local sides. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Maw74 said:

Good luck 

Thanks very much. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Recent intake update. (post new Ass Man joining). Jul 2020.

I don't think they are good. I just think the players already at the club were rubbish. 

(20d) Shane Walsh (IRL). 

He's not good, but then again we are playing in the 10th tier, (and if you have ever seen a game at this level then you will understand that it's a pretty accurate reflection). 

Edited June 25, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

New Ass Man. Jun 2020. 

He's not good, but he's better than having nobody at all. 

[Crispypaul]

Good start

My local side play in level 10 so understand the skills (or not) involved!

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Crispypaul said:

Good start

My local side play in level 10 so understand the skills (or not) involved!

When I first went to see Irchester play, I came to the conclusion that I had a season left in me. (I don't have a season left in me). 

[ellzo]

Sad to see the end of your last thread, but looking forward to seeing where this goes.

I love lower league management, usually run out of steam by the time I get near the top so end up taking few clubs to Prem or other equivalents and then never winning it. 

I often go to this part of the country, my family all live in and around Gretton. Just north of Kettering.

Good luck.

[Jimbokav1971]

Yeah, it was sad to see the end of my Welsh save, but at the same time winning a European trophy with Ton Pentre means that I achieved success of some sort anyway. In hindsight I shouldn't have moved to Cardiff. 

I don't know Gretton, but of course I know Kettering. Passing them is one of the "milestones" to target in this thread.

[Jimbokav1971]

Although I'm used to playing Youth Only saves, I'm not used to playing down at this level at all. 

I've seen the likes of @Makoto Nakamuraplay at this sort of level many times, and his style seems to be to just let players go, (they are either on Youth contracts or Non Contracts), safe in the knowledge that you are only 1 Youth intake away from another 16 players. 

Because I don't have experience at this level though, I see decent youngsters leaving and I'm  finding it hard to let them go without a fight. Any suggestions? 

The only thing I can think of is that I will try to sign them back in the next window, but would appreciate thoughts from anyone else. 

[Edit]

To give you a but more depth to what is happening, the guy scoring all our goals, (or at least a lot of them), is this bloke and he is obviously on a Non contract. 

Parkinson (ATG).

He's pretty rubbish, but you have to remember the level we are playing at and also that everything is relative. he can finish, is determined and very fit. His technique and workrate is also decent. Basically he's actually pretty good for this level, and this can be backed up by him scoring 31 goals in 43 games last season, and so far 21 goals in 23 games this season. In total, that's 52 goals in 66 games which is good in any save anywhere. 

You might notice that he is under "bid" at the moment and this has happened so often that I tend to not pay much attention anymore. Initially I was resigned to losing him, but he just keeps turning down all the offers, (possibly because he is playing every game). He's playing and scoring and that's just about all he needs right now. (Which probably means he will accept this offer and leave.......). I think I have to take that into account when it comes to team selection and even if a player isn't good enough to start games right now, if I think he has enough potential that means I want to keep him, then playing him, (even playing him before he is ready), is one of the few tools at my disposal to entice a player to stay while I can't sign them to a contract.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[ToMexico!!]

From my experience at that level and non-contracted players is that they won't move due to relocation issues. Players at the same level won't move to your club (in the Midlands) from either the North or South unless the terms you offer are significant enough to warrant them relocating which you can't really offer to them when offering a non-contract deal. 

I had it with AC London on FM18/19 and on this FM with Hellesdon in Norwich. 

[ellzo]

22 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

From my experience at that level and non-contracted players is that they won't move due to relocation issues. Players at the same level won't move to your club (in the Midlands) from either the North or South unless the terms you offer are significant enough to warrant them relocating which you can't really offer to them when offering a non-contract deal. 

I had it with AC London on FM18/19 and on this FM with Hellesdon in Norwich. 

I'm having the same experience in France, really can only sign player released from teams in the same regional league. 

@Jimbokav1971 I assume you would have the same problem if signing players, which fortunately you do not. I found a few years ago I took a tier 10 team to prem (Witney Town), the players on non contracts and amateur stayed with me but the players on part time deals left. Not sure if you will see the same, but if that is the case your youth are more likely to leave.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2020. 

Golden generation? Quite possibly, but everything is relative. 

[KibworthBull]

19 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I've just spent about 10 minutes trying to work out where you are. (Haven't even the slightest idea 10 minutes later). 

I'm a Barnet fan, (it's where I'm from), but I watch AFC Rushden & Diamonds when I can. There is something.... not sure what the word is, about seeing a league with so many local sides. 

Kibworth is between Market Harborough and Leicester - within 20 minutes of my house I have Oadby Town, Rothwell Corinthians, Desborough Town, Harborough Town who are all United Counties Premier or similar.

[KibworthBull]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Although I'm used to playing Youth Only saves, I'm not used to playing down at this level at all. 

I've seen the likes of @Makoto Nakamuraplay at this sort of level many times, and his style seems to be to just let players go, (they are either on Youth contracts or Non Contracts), safe in the knowledge that you are only 1 Youth intake away from another 16 players. 

Because I don't have experience at this level though, I see decent youngsters leaving and I'm  finding it hard to let them go without a fight. Any suggestions? 

The only thing I can think of is that I will try to sign them back in the next window, but would appreciate thoughts from anyone else. 

[Edit]

To give you a but more depth to what is happening, the guy scoring all our goals, (or at least a lot of them), is this bloke and he is obviously on a Non contract. 

Parkinson (ATG).

He's pretty rubbish, but you have to remember the level we are playing at and also that everything is relative. he can finish, is determined and very fit. His technique and workrate is also decent. Basically he's actually pretty good for this level, and this can be backed up by him scoring 31 goals in 43 games last season, and so far 21 goals in 23 games this season. In total, that's 52 goals in 66 games which is good in any save anywhere. 

You might notice that he is under "bid" at the moment and this has happened so often that I tend to not pay much attention anymore. Initially I was resigned to losing him, but he just keeps turning down all the offers, (possibly because he is playing every game). He's playing and scoring and that's just about all he needs right now. (Which probably means he will accept this offer and leave.......). I think I have to take that into account when it comes to team selection and even if a player isn't good enough to start games right now, if I think he has enough potential that means I want to keep him, then playing him, (even playing him before he is ready), is one of the few tools at my disposal to entice a player to stay while I can't sign them to a contract.

The thing that always bugs me about managing clubs at this lowest level is that you always have multiple bids for players ongoing. Makes squad building very tricky, especially in a youth only save as you obviously can't replace them.

When i do a save in an obscure Amateur country i tend to edit all of the clubs so they are Semi-Pro or Pro so you can retain players a bit easier - a personal preference admittedly.

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, KibworthBull said:

Kibworth is between Market Harborough and Leicester - within 20 minutes of my house I have Oadby Town, Rothwell Corinthians, Desborough Town, Harborough Town who are all United Counties Premier or similar.

It's quite... novel playing against local sides. I like it. 

In the 1st season we played against Rushden & Higham, Whitworths (who are based in Wellingborough), and Raunds. 

In the 2nd season we have played against Wellingborough, (who ground-shared with AFC Rushden & DIanmonds a couple of years ago). 

AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Kettering Town, Bedford Town, MK Dons, Northampton & Peterborough will also be landmark achievements if and when we meet, defeat and then bypass them. 

[Jimbokav1971]

9 minutes ago, KibworthBull said:

The thing that always bugs me about managing clubs at this lowest level is that you always have multiple bids for players ongoing. Makes squad building very tricky, especially in a youth only save as you obviously can't replace them.

When i do a save in an obscure Amateur country i tend to edit all of the clubs so they are Semi-Pro or Pro so you can retain players a bit easier - a personal preference admittedly.

I have a slightly different outlook in that none of the players at the club at this stage are likely to be any good, so does it really matter if they leave? I know that's a pretty dumbed-down vision, but it allows me to not get too caught up with things. In any case, I can obviously try to re-sign them in a later window. 

I'm not keen on editing at all despite the fact that I don't like non-contracts. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job interview offer #1. Jan 2021. 

I've never heard of Kirby Muxloe, but they are another Tier 9 side, currently playing in Midland League Division 1. 

[OlivierL]

Good luck, never heard of Irchester, great name  

[Jimbokav1971]

32 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Good luck, never heard of Irchester, great name  

Neither had I until I moved here. It's got a population of less than 5,000 so while certainly not a tiny village, it is still a village. There are remains of an old Roman fortification nearby and this gives the club it's nickname "The Romans". 

[Jimbokav1971]

 

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2020. 

Golden generation? Quite possibly, but everything is relative. 

Youth Intake day. Apr 2021. 

Nationalities already represented by previous Youth Intakes. 

New Nationalities in this intake.   

I know this is little more than a gimmick, but it's nice to track stuff like this. 

What did I want out of this intake? 

Well I was desperate for a decent striker, (or actually a striker of any sort), because we didn't get a single striker through the intake last season. 

I was also really keen on a left back. We had a Polish kid come through last season who I quite like, but I have been making do at left back. Having an Italian and a Norwegian come through in this position is is brilliant. (I love a foreign Nationality or 2nd Nationality because it just adds something to identifying the player). 

If I was going to be particularly greedy (& specific), I would have loved a left-footed big striker. 

(21a) Keith Moore (WAL) tops the CA list, and while we don't use an AMC, there is absolutely no doubt that he is good enough to start right now as striker. 

(21h) Sabbatus (LCA) has St Lucian as a 2nd Nationality and I like him, (despite his lack of finishing). It will be interesting to see if these young strikers can be as prolific as Parkinson (ATG), despite their lack of actual finishing. My suggestion is that they will be more prolific. 

The above 2 strikers are 5'9" and 5'10" respectively, so not "big" by any stretch of the imagination, but we do have utility player (21l) Mike Williams 6'7" who can cover a few different positions. One of our centre-backs scored 10 goals this season, so I think that (21l) Mike Williams 6'7" will slot in there now that we have a few more options up front. I'm going to call it now that he will score 10+ goals next season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Update. Apr 2021. 

United Counties Premier. (Tier 10).

Final League Table. 

FA Cup. 

FA Vase.

United Counties League Cup.  

Goal-scoring keepers. (20e) Saydee scored 4 goals from 5 penalties taken, but also smashed home 5 free-kicks, (which is decent). 

 

 

 

 

Discipline. 

Squad by Appearances. (Please note that some players have been released). 

Overall Best XI. 

Transfers.

Facilities. I asked once for upgrades and got pretty short thrift. 

Finances. 

Awards. 

Favoured personnel. I forgot to include Parkinson (ATG) who was listed as a Favoured Personnel last season but has moved up to become an ICON after this season. 

Records.

 

Tracker.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Something unusual. Apr 2021.

When I signed all the Youth Intake players, I got a bit carried away and moved some of them to the Senior Squad because I plan on them playing for the Senior side next season. The only problem is that I moved them before the Youth Intake v U18 game was played so the Youth Intake side had to draft in some extra players. Some "grey" players.

This is the 1 that I clicked on, (because he scored 2 goals).

If he was English I wouldn't have looked at him twice, but he's not English. He's Estonian and he scored 2 goals. 

I know we are told that there is little point in signing "grey" players because they will invariably be rubbish, but when the standard of our normal players is so poor, surely if there was ever a time to sign a "grey" player then this is it.....

It's going to be on a non-contract basis so there seems to be no downside to this.

Rubbish CA rating but 5.0 PA rating. Never had that with a "grey" player before. 

[KibworthBull]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Something unusual. Apr 2021.

When I signed all the Youth Intake players, I got a bit carried away and moved some of them to the Senior Squad because I plan on them playing for the Senior side next season. The only problem is that I moved them before the Youth Intake v U18 game was played so the Youth Intake side had to draft in some extra players. Some "grey" players.

This is the 1 that I clicked on, (because he scored 2 goals).

If he was English I wouldn't have looked at him twice, but he's not English. He's Estonian and he scored 2 goals. 

I know we are told that there is little point in signing "grey" players because they will invariably be rubbish, but when the standard of our normal players is so poor, surely if there was ever a time to sign a "grey" player then this is it.....

It's going to be on a non-contract basis so there seems to be no downside to this.

Rubbish CA rating but 5.0 PA rating. Never had that with a "grey" player before. 

I've found that the odd grey player is really good - probably out of a squad of 15 you'll have 2 or 3 decent ones.

[Jimbokav1971]

22 minutes ago, KibworthBull said:

I've found that the odd grey player is really good - probably out of a squad of 15 you'll have 2 or 3 decent ones.

That's not my experience, but I haven't signed a grey player for...... about 6 issues of the game so what do I know. I've also never managed at such a poor level I don't think. 

[RoguPL]

Well done. I live nearby Rushden as well ! Old Nene Park has unfortunately been demolished near Aldi. 

Can you just please explain the rules of your save ? By saying youth only you don't do any signings? This can take forever to reach any decent level.

 

Thanks

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, rrozek93 said:

Well done. I live nearby Rushden as well ! Old Nene Park has unfortunately been demolished near Aldi. 

Can you just please explain the rules of your save ? By saying youth only you don't do any signings? This can take forever to reach any decent level.

Thanks

Yeah, no signings, (with the exception of the Estonian "grey" player that I have signed just for a laugh). 

I'm on furlough at the moment so getting a fair bit of playing time, and I also use and "IR" button which means I get through things pretty quickly. 

I think a season every couple of days is reasonable, (I started the save yesterday and have done 3 seasons already). 

I guess we will just have to see how we develop. I've managed to get an Icelandic club out of the Group stage of the Champions League before without signing anyone, so fingers crossed I haven't lost my touch. 

[RoguPL]

50 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yeah, no signings, (with the exception of the Estonian "grey" player that I have signed just for a laugh). 

I'm on furlough at the moment so getting a fair bit of playing time, and I also use and "IR" button which means I get through things pretty quickly. 

I think a season every couple of days is reasonable, (I started the save yesterday and have done 3 seasons already). 

I guess we will just have to see how we develop. I've managed to get an Icelandic club out of the Group stage of the Champions League before without signing anyone, so fingers crossed I haven't lost my touch. 

 

TBF I played on and off FM since it became FM2005. but never tried playing this type of save. 

I see you have your own naming convention as well to track what year the player have been joint ? 

With the Icelandic side how far up did your facilities go ? 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, rrozek93 said:

 

TBF I played on and off FM since it became FM2005. but never tried playing this type of save. 

I see you have your own naming convention as well to track what year the player have been joint ? 

With the Icelandic side how far up did your facilities go ? 

Not far at all to be honest. 

I've just finished a save managing Ton Pentre in Wales and I got the facilities to 20.20.20.19 and that's the closest to maxed out I've ever got. We won the EURO Cup there, but were a few years off being good enough to challenge for the Champions League. 

[Jimbokav1971]

31 minutes ago, rrozek93 said:

I see you have your own naming convention as well to track what year the player have been joint ? 

Forgot to respond to this bit. 

The numbers inside the brackets at the front of the name indicate the year that the player came through the intake and the letter indicates where the player was ranked in terms if PPA (Perceived Potential Ability), against the rest of the intake. 

A * indicates that the player is special and later on in the save will be reserved for players who have 5.0 PPA, (but everyone has 5.0 PPA at the moment so I'm not doing that yet. 

A . means that the player is below standard for some reason and is surplus to requirements. 

A S means I want to sell the player.

A L means I want to loan the player out. 

A R means I want to release the player. 

If there are letters in brackets after the player name then that indicates that the player has a non-English Nationality or 2nd Nationality. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Discipline. Aug 2021. 

We've just drawn 3-3 with Boston Town in the league and collected 9 yellow cards and 2 red cards. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2021.

Whenever a Golden Generation is mentioned I prepare myself for disappointment. With the CA of our best players so low at this stage of the save, I think it reasonable for just about every intake to be a Golden Generation. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job offer #1. Dec 2021.

This was our 3rd interview, but the 1st time we have been successful. 

I have absolutely no intention of leaving, but noting who offers me a job at what level is just another way to track progress in the save. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job offer #2. Feb 2022. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job Offer #3. Feb 2022. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Have you ever seen a goal scored by a GK from open play? 

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2021.

Whenever a Golden Generation is mentioned I prepare myself for disappointment. With the CA of our best players so low at this stage of the save, I think it reasonable for just about every intake to be a Golden Generation. 

Youth Intake day. Apr 2022. 

It seems weird getting the intake after all the games have been played. Just doesn't seem right that I can't blood the youngsters in a single game in the season they come through. I feel cheated!  

What do I want in terms of this intake? I want defenders, defenders and more defenders, ideally with significant CA rather than PA. Is that too much to ask? The preview suggests that we're getting a GK, and an MC. Not ideal at all as even I can only play 1 GK at a time and (20e) Saydee is ranked 2nd in the squad by PPA. 

Squad by PPA. Absolutely everyone is 5.0 PPA and this is a Golden Generation, but as mentioned before, this says more about the CA of the players already here than the PA of the players in this intake, (I'm guessing). We will just have to wait and see how they progress and develop I think. Nobody jumping out at me right now. 

Nations already represented in previous Youth Intakes. 

New Nations represented in this intake. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary. Apr 2022. 

United Counties Premier (Tier 9). It was a tough start to the league campaign after I got the big pre-season team-talk hugely wrong and with just 2 wins in our 1st 12 games and we never really recovered. Scoring goals wasn't a problem, (we score a league high 101), but conceding goals was, (we conceded a league high 104). That's shocking! We scored 5 goals and 4 goals 3 times without winning. Just let that sink in. 4 different games where we scored at least 4 goals and we won none of them. 

Final League table.

FA Cup. 

FA Vase. 

United Counties league Cup. 

Goal-scoring keepers. (20e) Saydee has conceded a load of goals this season and we need him to do better next season. He scored 3 penalties from 5 taken, 1 direct free-kick and an absolute beauty from open play!  He's now on 14 career goals. 

Discipline. 

Squad by appearances. 

Overall Best XI. 

Transfers. We had lost 3 players who have come through our Academy, but I managed to re-sign 2 of them. Unfortunately we lost another. 

I don't really care how good the players are at this stage. I just want them back. 

(20j) Nik Kyriakou (CYP) is pretty average and is unlikely to make much of an impact in the next 12 months. 

We're lacking defenders and although (20a) Aaron Higginson is really slow, he's also good enough that he will start games for us. 

Facilities. 

Finances. 

Awards. 

Favoured personnel. (21a) Keith Moore (WAL) has gone straight in as an ICON after just 1 season at the club.

Records. 

Tracker.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Wanted. Aug 2022. 

Of course Parkinson (ATG) is wanted. He's been wanted by clubs since just about the day he scored his 1st goal for us, (and he has now scored 89 goals for us), but I have only just looked to see how many clubs are interested and who they are.

I don't know if he's going to stay or he's going to leave us. It's been his choice all along and he could have left at any time. He's no longer the main man for us up front and if he leaves we are far more able to cope without him that we would have been earlier in the save. He's only content and that could be the difference between staying and going. 

[Jimbokav1971]

I just thought I would leave this here. 

Enlarge the screen and be aware you are not watching a replay. This happens TWICE!

No, I am not responsible for this. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. Oct 2022. 

We've managed to generate some cash, (no I'm not telling you how), so I have decided to invest it in our facilities. 

I also asked for the Youth facilities to be upgraded but the board just refused on the basis of cost. I'm happy to get these 2 done so can't complain. 

There is no immediate increase showing, but I will keep my eye on it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Monthly updates from next season. 

While my usual style is monthly updates, I had decided to go for seasonal updates because I expect the save to be very much a slow-burner and for there not to be an awful lot to update you on in terms of progress. 

That was before this season's FA Cup run. 

FA Cup. We're still a Tier 9 side, and the chances are we might remain so for some time because there is only 1 promotion spot available from this level. Needless to say I'm REALLY pleased with this Cup run after not winning a single game in any of the Cup competitions last season. It's also worth noting the attendances too. Our average attendance last season was just under 300. This Cup run is going to skew this season's average considerably.

The only problem is that while we have only played 13 league games this season, we have already played 7 Cup games, (we lost in the FA Vase). The only cup I'm really prioritising is the United Counties League Cup, because we got to the Semi-Final 2 seasons ago and not only is it "winnable", but once we get promoted we won't get another chance to win it. 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[RoguPL]

On 26/06/2020 at 22:58, Jimbokav1971 said:

Forgot to respond to this bit. 

The numbers inside the brackets at the front of the name indicate the year that the player came through the intake and the letter indicates where the player was ranked in terms if PPA (Perceived Potential Ability), against the rest of the intake. 

A * indicates that the player is special and later on in the save will be reserved for players who have 5.0 PPA, (but everyone has 5.0 PPA at the moment so I'm not doing that yet. 

A . means that the player is below standard for some reason and is surplus to requirements. 

A S means I want to sell the player.

A L means I want to loan the player out. 

A R means I want to release the player. 

If there are letters in brackets after the player name then that indicates that the player has a non-English Nationality or 2nd Nationality. 

Thanks for taking time to explain this. 

 

I really want to see how your save develops. I like your tracking as well ! 

[Jimbokav1971]

56 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Facilities. Oct 2022. 

We've managed to generate some cash, (no I'm not telling you how), so I have decided to invest it in our facilities. 

I also asked for the Youth facilities to be upgraded but the board just refused on the basis of cost. I'm happy to get these 2 done so can't complain. 

There is no immediate increase showing, but I will keep my eye on it. 

Facilities updated. Nov 2022.

At the end of the month, our facilities have indeed popped. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, rrozek93 said:

Thanks for taking time to explain this. 

I really want to see how your save develops. I like your tracking as well ! 

No problem at all. It's a common question. 

I've just remembered that I use some others too. 

I don't like "wrong-footed" players, (despite the effectiveness of IF's), and as such it's hard to select a left footed winger to play on the left wing if he is only able to play on the right, (because when you filter by left wingers he doesn't appear). So if I have a left footed right winger who can't play at all on the left then I give him "ML" after his name to remind me that when I'm looking at right wing selection, I actually want this bloke to play on the other. In time he will be able to play on the left and will appear on the filter for that position, but until that happens I need a reminder.