The FM21 Youth Academy Challenge

[keeper#1]

South Shields September 2022 Review

Not a bad start.  I'll be happy if we can keep up this type of form throughout the season.

KUTGW everyone!

[OlivierL]

6 minutes ago, keeper#1 said:

South Shields September 2022 Review

Not a bad start.  I'll be happy if we can keep up this type of form throughout the season.

KUTGW everyone!

Good job, Bolton :o 

[keeper#1]

I hadn't noticed that they fell into the National League until you pointed it out, @OlivierL

[witticism]

Here's how things stand a little past the halfway point:

I am happy but concerned. Promotion now would be murderous for my career prospects, we've not the depth nor talent to survive what with several starting players being over 30 and no u19 player yet eligible or of sufficient quality. We'll see how the second half goes.

[yowg8ynwa]

I stumbled upon this challenge by accident, but am suddenly very interested in participating.  Out of interest, has anyone ever tried the challenge in Asia?  I saw that the teams in the Hall of Fame are all in Europe...am interested in trying it either in Asia or Latin America.  Also don't know if I should wait until the full game comes out or go with the beta.

Thanks!

[DazRTaylor]

Youth Candidates

Season 2022/23

FC United of Manchester

A good intake this year with three players who will immediately join the first team squad.  Those three are shown below.

[witticism]

Football Club de Rouen 1899

 

It happened, amusingly, I was actually top of the table going into the last game of the season that even a draw wouldve seen me automatically promoted, but rng had other plans:

That 90+1 hurt I tell you

To playoffs we went then:

We did it, for better or worse. Return leg was not as comfortable to watch as the scoreline would make it seem but the victory brought us more good news:

 

 

Other things of interest:

 

Youth Intake Preview

Actual Youth Intake

Top Prospect

How We Lined Up

Edited November 19, 2020 by witticism
formatting

[XaW]

3 hours ago, yowg8ynwa said:

I stumbled upon this challenge by accident, but am suddenly very interested in participating.  Out of interest, has anyone ever tried the challenge in Asia?  I saw that the teams in the Hall of Fame are all in Europe...am interested in trying it either in Asia or Latin America.  Also don't know if I should wait until the full game comes out or go with the beta.

Thanks!

I'm not sure why not many have done it in Asia, but feel free to join us and do it!

Many do it in Europe, because, well Europe has the most leagues and are most familiar to most football fans, I assume.

As for doing it now or waiting, I'm doing it now, and I haven't had any issues yet. Most fixes will be implemented, but the few regarding rules and players and such will need a new game. But as long as the rules in the country you are playing in are correct, or at least workable, then it should be no harm in starting now.

[jmonfu]

Hi All,

Has anyone found a fix for the "you cannot offer a contract to free transfered players"?

Its a shame loosing 3 players to free transfers who had a really good potential.

[DazRTaylor]

End of Season Review

Season 2022/23

FC United of Manchester

League Table - A dreadful start to the season saw the club in the drop zone after six games.  We recovered somewhat though still finished below where we ended up last season.

League Fixtures 1, 2 & 3 - We were so inconsistent.  Long spells without winning following by long unbeaten runs.

F. A. Cup - We only made it to the fourth qualifying round this year.  Very poor.  Kidderminster Harriers proved too strong.

F. A. Trophy - Chester knocked us out at the third round stage.

Pre Season Friendlies - A poor pre season, with some real hammerings unfortunately.

Squad - The squad is improving though I really need some of these academy players to push on.

Squad Dynamics - Everyone likes everyone else it seems.

Transfers In - None.

Transfers Out - None.

Youth Candidates - A good intake with Ryan McCormick YP23C19 not only being the pick of the bunch, but he has made an immediate impact in the first team.

Finances - Very healthy, which has enabled me to increase the quality of the academy.

Key Players

Barry Wardrope - According to the coaches, he is now playing at Football League level.  Not sure how long we can hold onto him for.

Curtis Jones - Another stellar campaign from the central defender.

Chris Doyle - Jones' centre back partner and like Jones, he had a fine campaign.

Tre Pemberton - Playing on the opposite wing to Wardrope, he played well throughout.

Regan Linney - A decent campaign by the striker, though he has declined since last season.

Next Season

I would love to get back into the play offs.

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications       Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                   1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1
2021/22    Minimal = (0.50*) ↑   None =                 4 ↑   4 ↑   1 =   1 =   2 ↑   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑   4 ↑   6 ↑   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑
2022/23    Minimal = (0.75*) ↑   National C ↑           6 ↑   6 ↑   3 ↑   2 ↑   4 ↑   2 ↑   6 ↑   6 ↑   6 ↑   6 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   6 ↑   5 ↑   7 ↑   7 ↑

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Youth Level  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Basic                Basic                  4       Adequate              Average          Fairly basic       Local   (1.00*)
2021/22    Basic =              Basic =                4 =     Adequate =            Good ↑           Adequate ↑         Local = (1.00*) =
2022/23    Basic =              Below average ↑        4 ↑     Adequate =            Excellent ↑↑     Good ↑↑            Local = (1.00*) =

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22      60        33       12       15         126              84                 +42
2022/23      51 ↓      22 ↓     11 ↓     18 ↑        89 ↓            77 ↓               +12 ↓

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Time At Club
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22          60        33       12       15         126              84                 +42              316 days
2022/23         111        55       23       33         215             161                 +54              673 days

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------



Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     F.A. Cup                    League Cup        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       Vanarama National League North        3rd       Third round                     N/a           Lost in semi final of promotion play off.  Quarter final of the F. A. Trophy.
2022/23           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       Vanarama National League North       10th ↓     Fourth qualifying round ↓       N/a           Mid table mediocrity.  Third round of the F. A. Trophy.

Record Number of Appearances (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Appearances
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Ross Holland YP22A1                       6
2022/23    Scott Jones YP22F6                       40

Record Goal Scorer (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Scott Jones YP22F6                     1
2022/23    Scott Jones YP22F6                    13

Record Number of Assists (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Assists
-----------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    No one                                  0
2022/23    Scott Jones YP22F6                      1
           Tim Barker YP23L28                      1

Record Number of Clean Sheets (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Clean Sheets
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    No one                                     0
2022/23    Scott Mason YP22G7                         1

 

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by DazRTaylor

[benrollo]

@XaW did you find that loads of teams offered you £0 for youngsters over and over again? Or anyone else in this challenge in other countries for that matter?

I've just had 122 offers on deadline day, 120 of them being for £0! Now half of my squad are sad about not being able to move.

[XaW]

8 minutes ago, benrollo said:

@XaW did you find that loads of teams offered you £0 for youngsters over and over again? Or anyone else in this challenge in other countries for that matter?

I've just had 122 offers on deadline day, 120 of them being for £0! Now half of my squad are sad about not being able to move.

Yeah, same, but I've managed to placate them so far...

[benrollo]

Just now, XaW said:

Yeah, same, but I've managed to placate them so far...

I'm not in too bad a position because all of the players have 3 year contract extension options, I just need them to stay happy enough!

[scarp]

Happened to me aswell. Now I can tell the player is very special when I get a few thousands offer instead of 0.

[thomas_e]

6 hours ago, yowg8ynwa said:

I stumbled upon this challenge by accident, but am suddenly very interested in participating.  Out of interest, has anyone ever tried the challenge in Asia?  I saw that the teams in the Hall of Fame are all in Europe...am interested in trying it either in Asia or Latin America.  Also don't know if I should wait until the full game comes out or go with the beta.

Thanks!

I am doing it in Argentina now and enjoying it. I've completed it in Europe three times and the biggest difference is obviously the quality of players. The team you need to beat PSG and Man City in the Champions League is a different world to the team you need to win Copa Libertadores. 

It's also the question on what your goal is with the challenge. It seems like many people this year is trying the challenge in smaller nations in Europe. That is a lot of fun, but can a Norwegian home grown team win the Champions League? I hope im wrong, but I dont see it happening. 

I also considered Asia and I hope I will get the time to do the challenge there as well with this current version. Australia would have been my country of choice, but unfortunately they don't have any relegation/promotion. 

Edited November 19, 2020 by thomas_e

[witticism]

Quote

can a Norwegian home grown team win the Champions League? I hope im wrong, but I dont see it happening. 

I put 700 odd hours into a "regular' Norway save in 20 and at a glance, the bigger obstacle is keeping your players. I don't know if the nation youth rating changed this year but thats largely a secondary concern after the other obvious structural obstacles like tv money, and uefa ratings in my experience. I made it to the cl final last year multiple times but never could quite win it.

Comparatively, attempting this in France I imagine there is a not insignificant chance I will win European silverware before beating PSG for the league.

[scarp]

Brora Rangers - 2035/36

So most importantly.. We win the league! And it was not even close! We were first from the first match of the league and never really let anyone else take the spot. And another, perhaps even a bit more important thing - WE ARE TURNING PROFESSIONAL! Fantastic season all in all although we played pretty bad in cups. We were really lacking a right midfielder (and we still are) so that will be the huge issue in Premiership. Lets see if we can keep the team the same. No upgrades because I wanna see the impact of us turning pro on finances first and also because our youth setup cost us way too much already. This year's intake was kinda meh, I expected more but Sean Wilson will hopefully become our Roy Keane in the future.

Transfers | Youth in-take

Key players: Iain McCall, Ross Rae & Ethan Rae

Youth watch: Sean Wilson, Ross Love & Finn Groat

Academy graduates progress:

Spoiler

Changes are highlighted now.

[XaW]

Season 2028 - OBOS-ligaen (tier 2) - 7th season

So, after getting relegated last season, the goal was simply to bounce up again, and we did it! Not as easy as I had hoped, but we still did it. We did finish in 2nd place, way behind winners Sandefjord though. They just ran away with it and they had a 20 game unbeaten run in the middle there. So it was down to a 4 horse race along Aalesund, Tromsø and Ranheim. In the end we made it, even with a poor 1-1 draw against Mjøndalen in the last match. Now, let's hopefully stay up next season!

Transfers | Youth Preview | Youth Intake

A good intake, but not anyone spectacular this time. Still, more depth is needed as the original players are just about out now.

Key players: Einar Andersen 23f, Nasri Stubberud 23a & Adrian Grythaugen 25a

[thomas_e]

2 hours ago, witticism said:

I put 700 odd hours into a "regular' Norway save in 20 and at a glance, the bigger obstacle is keeping your players. I don't know if the nation youth rating changed this year but thats largely a secondary concern after the other obvious structural obstacles like tv money, and uefa ratings in my experience. I made it to the cl final last year multiple times but never could quite win it.

Comparatively, attempting this in France I imagine there is a not insignificant chance I will win European silverware before beating PSG for the league.

Just getting to the final is extremely impressive IMO, but with only home grown players it makes it extremely hard. 

I tried the challenge in Croatia last year and gave up when the board sold my best player for the third year in a row. And that was after winning the league. 

Edited November 19, 2020 by thomas_e

[witticism]

  

26 minutes ago, thomas_e said:

 gave up when the board sold my best player for the third year in a row

Oh this was a regular occurrence for me too, it never really stopped until I saved enough money from other sales to the point where the board stopped going over my head. Took 6ish seasons but that involved a lot of scouting prospects and stashing them in the b team. Would have taken considerably longer if I only had academy players.

Meanwhile my defense wants for pace and none of the prospects seem to have any, this season is going to be a pain.

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by witticism

[DazRTaylor]

The new youth intake preview is in.  It is better than last year, but I am not sure I need so many forwards.

[JLAB]

At least you'd strength in depth I suppose?

[JWB935]

Can I ask you guys what may be  a very obvious question?

The numbers and letters after a players name e.g. 28a

Is that the year the player was produced by the academy and the letter is what ranking the prospect is from  best to worst? e.g 28a is the best prospect from 2028?

Thanks

[XaW]

3 minutes ago, JWB935 said:

Can I ask you guys what may be  a very obvious question?

The numbers and letters after a players name e.g. 28a

Is that the year the player was produced by the academy and the letter is what ranking the prospect is from  best to worst? e.g 28a is the best prospect from 2028?

Thanks

For me it's <playername> <Year of intake><rank by assistant's view of potential>.

So I look at the intake and I name them after it, so if I'm in 2030 and I'm looking at the 3rd highest potential according to the assistant, his name is John Smith 30c.

[JWB935]

3 minutes ago, XaW said:

For me it's <playername> <Year of intake><rank by assistant's view of potential>.

So I look at the intake and I name them after it, so if I'm in 2030 and I'm looking at the 3rd highest potential according to the assistant, his name is John Smith 30c.

Thanks XaW

[JWB935]

4 minutes ago, XaW said:

For me it's <playername> <Year of intake><rank by assistant's view of potential>.

So I look at the intake and I name them after it, so if I'm in 2030 and I'm looking at the 3rd highest potential according to the assistant, his name is John Smith 30c.

Thanks XaW

I reread the opening post and it does mention it there too lol.

 

Good luck with the challenge guys. Cant believe how far in seasons some of you are already!

Edited November 19, 2020 by JWB935

[Shaun Knight]

Hi All,

 

I have been playing FM since the early Champ Man days but never attempted this as I love signing player too much lol..

But I feel I am ready to give it a go

So here goes.. C'mon you mighty Merthyr lol

 

https://gyazo.com/de6c652dc8e33dae65b5a80075fcdeb6

[benrollo]

2028 and 2029 Season Updates.

Overview
We made it to the Eliteserien! We came close in 2028, finishing 3rd and losing by one goal in the promotion/relegation final. In 2029, on the back of an excellent centre back pairing and strong keeper, we managed to get second place and automatic promotion to the big time!
 

Players

Departures and Past Players

Spoiler

 

Lars Erik Bergum Hansen is still in Denmark with Midtjylland, and managed to get a goal in the Champions League! He was used pretty sparingly so I'm not sure if he's a little out of his depth, but good on the lad.

Erik Fjeldstad hasn't played a single first team game for Malmo in more than 3 seasons at the club. Cheers for the £120k guys.

Lars Woien Sto was sold to Rosenborg prior to the start of the 2029 season for £475k, again accepted by the board, and again with no sell on clause.  He played 7 games for them in the Eliteserien last season.

Christian Kvitblik left us halfway through the 2029 season to join BK Hacken in Sweden. The board did a decent job here, selling him for £725k (rising to £950k) with a 30% of next profit clause that may net us a bit of cash down the line.

 

Key Graduates

Spoiler

 

Hakon Nielsen came through shortly after Lars Woien Sto was sold to Rosenborg, and his arrival really couldn't have come at a better time. I'd seen the rumours of a good striker in the class from the preview email, and I wasn't disappointed. Nielsen started from day 1 and bagged 18 goals for us.

Kim Eriksen and Guttorm Kvale look to be the best prospects in a relatively weak 2030 class.

August Fredriksen graduated a few years ago, but he's now going to have a much bigger role to play (see below for more on that!)

Top Performers

Without a doubt, our promotion was due almost entirely to just how stingy we were at the back. We conceded only 9 goals in the league all season!

Christian Kvitblik was a rock until he left for Sweden. Next to him, Sander Gronlien has developed into a hell of a player. He's already in the Norway U21 set-up and loads of clubs are sniffing around. Thankfully, he's one of the only players in my squad whose value has reached 6 figures - so we might actually make some decent money on him when he inevitably leaves. We have him tied down for the next 4 seasons at least (on £25 a week - more on that in a minute!)

In goal, Martin Eggen was really solid. Considering he only let in 9 goals in 28 games it's pretty amazing he only ended the season with a 6.95 average rating - a testament to the work the centre backs did in stopping clear cut chances. Sadly, Eggen got annoyed about our lack of depth up front (as we were on the way to getting PROMOTED FFS) and refused to sign a new contract, leaving us with a couple of fresh faced youngsters to go between the sticks.

Facilities & Finance

Our facilities are still the same, meaning we haven't managed to improve any element of them since 2024.

On the financial side, I had a bit of a shock when the board announced we were going professional without me even having to ask! At the time we had about £70k in the bank thanks to end of season prize money, and a few quid still knocking about from the sale of Kvitblik. Still, we're losing close to £200k a month on the youth set up, and now I am moving everyone over to full-time deals, meaning we're going to be strapped for cash for a little while yet. On the subject of full-time deals, one lad who isn't signing his is Sander Gronlien. He doesn't believe we have the quality to match his ambition (which is absolutely 100% true), and so he's still sat there on £25 a week whilst being valued at £500k.

Club Performance

As stated above, we've managed to make it to the promised land (or at least, the next stage of the promised land!). I have absolutely zero faith that we will be able to stay up, so really I'm just hoping that we can earn a few extra quid along the way before dropping back down to the First Division. To be honest, I'd be OK with selling some of my better players for decent offers as well if it means we can get our facilities upgraded and just make our future that little bit more secure.

Whilst we were on our way to promotion, our youth team managed to win the U19 Championship! It looks like our future is in good hands, even if the present could do with a few quid.

Finally, we also managed to field a full side of youth graduates at the end of the 2029 season - another proud day in the history of Elverum. We tonked Sandnes Ulf 3-0 as well, which was nice.

Here is my profile. I finally managed to convince the board to let me go for my Continental B license after 3 years of asking!

[OlivierL]

3 hours ago, JWB935 said:

Can I ask you guys what may be  a very obvious question?

The numbers and letters after a players name e.g. 28a

Is that the year the player was produced by the academy and the letter is what ranking the prospect is from  best to worst? e.g 28a is the best prospect from 2028?

Thanks

For me it is 'name' 'year' and ranked by my calculation of their attributes = CA .

Ronaldo 20A

[Braumiller]

Club Atletico Los Andes
Season 01 (2021/22)

On The Pitch - League Table

A fantastic season, culminating (eventually) in promotion at the first time of asking.  We started off playing an attacking 442 and we managed to just about come out on top of most games, conceding a bunch but often scoring more (just).  We then switched to a cautious 4411 and things tightened up immediately!  12 games unbeaten (9 wins, 3 draws) with 8 clean sheets put us firmly in the driving seat with Estudiantes (LP) also in form and creating a 2 way scrap for top spot.  We were very similar to the 2015/16 Leicester team, in shape and style.  Solid and organized and then up front we had Facundo Quintana with his 15/16 acceleration/pace combo and the trait knocks ball past opponent.

4 games to go and 5 points up we went to Estudiantes (LP) and lost a tight one, 0-1.  Now 3 games to go and a 2 point lead.  However, we rebounded and ran out 2-0, 3-0 and 3-0 winners to wrap up first place in our group.

We then had to play the winners of the other group, the winners being promoted and the losers dropping into the 'normal' playoffs for the 2nd and final promotion spot.

Played at a neutral venue, we played great and were 1-0 up at half time.  52nd minutes and we got a straight red (2nd of the season) and issues!  Hauled off the attacking midfielder and left Quintana even more lonely than usual!  5 minutes later he races onto a clearance and slots for 2-0!  Now we have something meaty to defend and saw the game out, even adding some icing with Quintana completing his hat-trick in the 91st minute, 3-0 the final score.  Promotion!

 

Off The Pitch

The first half of the season was awkward.  We had a handful of 35+ players who were overpaid and expecting game time, which they were not going to get.  One in particular, a team leader, took issue and caused a huge fuss.  The squad turned against me, and to be honest if we were not flying on the pitch I think it would have got out of hand.  As it happened, he set a Dec 21st deadline for me to fulfill my promise to him to get the team on my side (they mostly sided with him).  Well, his contract was set to expire on Dec 31st (looks like Argentina are just finishing up moving from a calendar year schedule to the more European Aug > May schedule?) and once we got close, I terminated his deal and the issue 95% just vanished .  If you come for the king, you better not miss  

December saw our first transfer bid received for a player.  Charlotte FC coming in for my 31 year old first choice DC offering 375k.  Ordinarily I would consider this (especially with our finances at the time!), but I needed Cepeda too much.  Rejected.

As our season finished and we waited for the playoffs to finish the board came to me and asked if we wanted to expand our scouting range.....  Er, nope.  After a little begging, they agreed to improve our youth recruitment!  Up to Good from Average!

 

Youth Intake - screenshot

Very healthy.  5 tagged, although I only expect a couple of surface in the first team

Yannick Gimenez Pilutik (01A) - A fantastic prospect with some great positives.  Two footed, good personality and a tasty starting set of attributes. Hoping to improve passing and vision and turn into my playmaker in central midfield.  Scored a cracker in his 2nd sub appearance.  Only real downside is injury proneness, which reared its ugly head with a 4 month spell out with torn knee ligaments

Gustavo Formosa (01B) - High potential GK.  Our first choice GK is only 19 and highly rated, so Gustavo is unlucky there

Jorge Roldan (01C) - The other kid I like the look of.  A natural striker, but hoping to round him out at AMC and play off of another striker.  Another good personality.

Juan Esteban Inchauspe (01D) - A striker without striker attributes and our second unambitious high potential kid.  I don't hold out much hope.

Julian Konecny (01E) - A versatile right sided player.  Aggressive, determined and hard working.  He could become a useful squad addition in the future if he progresses

 

Screenshots & Stats

Squad Stats

Transfers

 

[Braumiller]

3 hours ago, JWB935 said:

Can I ask you guys what may be  a very obvious question?

The numbers and letters after a players name e.g. 28a

Is that the year the player was produced by the academy and the letter is what ranking the prospect is from  best to worst? e.g 28a is the best prospect from 2028?

Thanks

Everyone has their own little wrinkle to it

Mine currently is {Player Name} ({My Season Number} {Ranking of potential})

So this past season being my first year of the challenge was Jorge Roldan (01C), with Jorge being the 3 best ranked youth in my 01st season

[OlivierL]

17 minutes ago, Braumiller said:

Club Atletico Los Andes
Season 01 (2021/22)

On The Pitch - League Table

A fantastic season, culminating (eventually) in promotion at the first time of asking.  We started off playing an attacking 442 and we managed to just about come out on top of most games, conceding a bunch but often scoring more (just).  We then switched to a cautious 4411 and things tightened up immediately!  12 games unbeaten (9 wins, 3 draws) with 8 clean sheets put us firmly in the driving seat with Estudiantes (LP) also in form and creating a 2 way scrap for top spot.  We were very similar to the 2015/16 Leicester team, in shape and style.  Solid and organized and then up front we had Facundo Quintana with his 15/16 acceleration/pace combo and the trait knocks ball past opponent.

4 games to go and 5 points up we went to Estudiantes (LP) and lost a tight one, 0-1.  Now 3 games to go and a 2 point lead.  However, we rebounded and ran out 2-0, 3-0 and 3-0 winners to wrap up first place in our group.

We then had to play the winners of the other group, the winners being promoted and the losers dropping into the 'normal' playoffs for the 2nd and final promotion spot.

Played at a neutral venue, we played great and were 1-0 up at half time.  52nd minutes and we got a straight red (2nd of the season) and issues!  Hauled off the attacking midfielder and left Quintana even more lonely than usual!  5 minutes later he races onto a clearance and slots for 2-0!  Now we have something meaty to defend and saw the game out, even adding some icing with Quintana completing his hat-trick in the 91st minute, 3-0 the final score.  Promotion!

 

Off The Pitch

The first half of the season was awkward.  We had a handful of 35+ players who were overpaid and expecting game time, which they were not going to get.  One in particular, a team leader, took issue and caused a huge fuss.  The squad turned against me, and to be honest if we were not flying on the pitch I think it would have got out of hand.  As it happened, he set a Dec 21st deadline for me to fulfill my promise to him to get the team on my side (they mostly sided with him).  Well, his contract was set to expire on Dec 31st (looks like Argentina are just finishing up moving from a calendar year schedule to the more European Aug > May schedule?) and once we got close, I terminated his deal and the issue 95% just vanished .  If you come for the king, you better not miss  

December saw our first transfer bid received for a player.  Charlotte FC coming in for my 31 year old first choice DC offering 375k.  Ordinarily I would consider this (especially with our finances at the time!), but I needed Cepeda too much.  Rejected.

As our season finished and we waited for the playoffs to finish the board came to me and asked if we wanted to expand our scouting range.....  Er, nope.  After a little begging, they agreed to improve our youth recruitment!  Up to Good from Average!

 

Youth Intake - screenshot

Very healthy.  5 tagged, although I only expect a couple of surface in the first team

Yannick Gimenez Pilutik (01A) - A fantastic prospect with some great positives.  Two footed, good personality and a tasty starting set of attributes. Hoping to improve passing and vision and turn into my playmaker in central midfield.  Scored a cracker in his 2nd sub appearance.  Only real downside is injury proneness, which reared its ugly head with a 4 month spell out with torn knee ligaments

Gustavo Formosa (01B) - High potential GK.  Our first choice GK is only 19 and highly rated, so Gustavo is unlucky there

Jorge Roldan (01C) - The other kid I like the look of.  A natural striker, but hoping to round him out at AMC and play off of another striker.  Another good personality.

Juan Esteban Inchauspe (01D) - A striker without striker attributes and our second unambitious high potential kid.  I don't hold out much hope.

Julian Konecny (01E) - A versatile right sided player.  Aggressive, determined and hard working.  He could become a useful squad addition in the future if he progresses

 

Screenshots & Stats

Squad Stats

Transfers

 

Good job, your balance seems to drop fast ? Because of the youth setup costs ?

[keeper#1]

South Shields September-October 2023 Update

We caught fire losing only three league matches out of 11.  As a result, we've zoomed up the table into the playoff positions.  Relegation is definitely not in the cards.

[filipefm20]

Finished the 4th season. After finishing 13th last season on the spainish thierd tier, i finished 13th this season. Once again a decent youth intake but my finances are really out of shape. 

Best youngster:

[Braumiller]

1 hour ago, OlivierL said:

Good job, your balance seems to drop fast ? Because of the youth setup costs ?

Actually no, and not ground maintenance either which was my presumption going into the year.  Our biggest expenditure was wages.

Pulling up a random save point from last season, February 2022 saw income of 101,309 and expenditure of 410,197.  The 6 biggest chunks of that were;

• Player wages - 178,912
• Staff wages - 54,224
• Bonuses - 42,160
• Tax - 35,862
• Youth set-up - 32,654
• Ground maintenance - 15,190

I have managed to trim wages a little and season ticket sales make up nearly 50% of yearly income, so our income is very cyclical.  Hoping promotion bumps up the income a bunch all over!

Being South America though, I am expecting player sales will be a key break-even tool.

[Bruce Drundrige]

On 18/11/2020 at 13:19, Bruce Drundrige said:

I'm trying with Bonnyrigg Rose in Scotland...

I have 15 players.

First season is going to be...interesting.

I really don't know why I've decided to inflict this challenge on myself but I've only played a handful of games and I'm addicted already. 

[yowg8ynwa]

17 hours ago, XaW said:

I'm not sure why not many have done it in Asia, but feel free to join us and do it!

Many do it in Europe, because, well Europe has the most leagues and are most familiar to most football fans, I assume.

As for doing it now or waiting, I'm doing it now, and I haven't had any issues yet. Most fixes will be implemented, but the few regarding rules and players and such will need a new game. But as long as the rules in the country you are playing in are correct, or at least workable, then it should be no harm in starting now.

 

14 hours ago, thomas_e said:

I am doing it in Argentina now and enjoying it. I've completed it in Europe three times and the biggest difference is obviously the quality of players. The team you need to beat PSG and Man City in the Champions League is a different world to the team you need to win Copa Libertadores. 

It's also the question on what your goal is with the challenge. It seems like many people this year is trying the challenge in smaller nations in Europe. That is a lot of fun, but can a Norwegian home grown team win the Champions League? I hope im wrong, but I dont see it happening. 

I also considered Asia and I hope I will get the time to do the challenge there as well with this current version. Australia would have been my country of choice, but unfortunately they don't have any relegation/promotion. 

I was thinking of doing it this weekend.  Japan would have been my first choice but they're never on the official db.  

[shaunvamos]

I think I've run into a save-ending bug...

 

 

 

 

 

I only have a small amount of home grown players, but shouldn't my youth coming through be considered as HG as well? They're all listed as having Croatia as the nation they've trained in, and some have been in the youth system for 4 years now...

First Belarus, now Croatia! Let's see if I can find a country where a bug doesn't screw me 

[shaunvamos]

Having a go in the Netherlands this time around:

 

 

 

Going through the third division teams they had the best junior coaching so it was an easy choice. What's not going to be easy is our chance of staying in this division. Predicted dead last  That being said, only one team gets relegated so all we need to do is not come last.

 

 

 

 

 

A decent squad to start with, and there's plenty of young talent there. The first thing I have to do is give everyone pro contracts, as they only just turned pro.

[DazRTaylor]

Good luck in the Netherlands. You’re going to need it.  One of the hardest leagues to do this challenge from as the first season is brutal.

[shaunvamos]

1 hour ago, DazRTaylor said:

Good luck in the Netherlands. You’re going to need it.  One of the hardest leagues to do this challenge from as the first season is brutal.

Thanks mate, I'm looking forward to it, I've never managed in the Netherlands before!

[thomas_e]

4 hours ago, yowg8ynwa said:

 

I was thinking of doing it this weekend.  Japan would have been my first choice but they're never on the official db.  

Would love to see someone giving it a go in South Africa!

[scarp]

@benrollo What is your youth setup expenditure? I am surprised it did not ruin you.

E: Of course the biggest congrats on the promotion! 

Edited November 20, 2020 by scarp

[benrollo]

21 minutes ago, scarp said:

@benrollo What is your youth setup expenditure? I am surprised it did not ruin you.

E: Of course the biggest congrats on the promotion! 

Haha thanks mate!

It's £177k a month, so we basically rely on selling at least one player per season alongside our end of season payments to keep us going.

The absolute state of our last 5 years' finances. The board have still given me about a £200k transfer budget each year (which by the way it would be great if I could tell the board to spend that on slightly better youth facilities instead). The big improvement in Jan 2028 is the combination of end of season payments, plus a £675k injection from the board!

[thomas_e]

Well done @Braumiller! It seems like we share some of the same experience in our first year. Promotion and a period of terrrible locker room atmosphere!! 

Good luck next season! 

[Anners]

On 18/11/2020 at 20:22, OlivierL said:

Good luck, amateur or semi prof team ?

Just a Semi-Professional outfit. It'll be very similar to @witticism but with probably less success!

Well done on the promotion @scarp! Really look forward to how you'll get on in the Premiership! Congrats to @benrollo and @XaWtoo. It seems everyone's getting promoted at the moment!

[DazRTaylor]

Youth Candidates

Season 2023/24

FC United of Manchester

Good grief.  I have an absolute monster.  A beast.  The rest of the intake is pretty special too.  Quite a few are immediately going into the first team squad. I am signing the entire lot to contracts.

[DazRTaylor]

Houston, we have a problem.

[XaW]

Wow @DazRTaylor! He is a beast indeed! Tie him down for as long as possible!

[DazRTaylor]

3 minutes ago, XaW said:

Wow @DazRTaylor! He is a beast indeed! Tie him down for as long as possible!

See the post above you.