Gundo's FM08 Small club from a small nation European adventure challenge

[XaW]

Season Review 2008/09 - NK Sencur

This season was quite uplifting, but I got the the feeling of a "So close, but oh so distant" in the end. After a slow start where my team lay just above relegation, we suddenly found the form and started winning. In the end we finished 2nd. So we were up for the play-off. Here we met Primorje, who, to be honest, gave us a big lesson in football. The first leg away ended with a whipping. In the second leg we fought better, but if was not to be.

I was rather surprised by some of my players. Marko Makivic was crowned top goalscorer in the league with his 18 goals. However he wasn't the only one fighting for that; Matic Sever had a very good run before he was injured and lost the 6-7 last games. Our right winger Dragan Ovcina did very good.

In the Slovenian Cup we went out in the first round embarissingly against none league team Kolpa.

All in all, an uplifting season. I need to work on the defencive since we're conceeding like there's no tomorrow. If we can work this out next season could be even better.

[ghostwriter]

Baulmes - Challenge League - 27/28

Winter Break in a disappointing 8th place

It was a considerably more active 3 months off than normal. In came another GK, a 23yo who is actually the Bosnian no.1 although he has played more games for them in his career so far than he has done for his club side (a Luzern youth product). He is of a similar ability to Reich so this meant I could get rid of my other one, somehow managed to flog him for £400k. Out also went a backup DL for a similarly ridiculous £150k. Meanwhile I made my first ever purchase as a Russian DC came in for £3k from Delemont. I also got a backup MR from my parent team in on loan, not too sure why I did not do that earlier tbh.

Things did not really get off to a great start when play commenced either. A very lucky draw at Gossau was our 8th match without a win. That run was stopped but it was a very fortunate win over Martigny that did it. An acceptable draw against Yverdon was followed by an utter nightmare at home La Chaux de Fonds, 1-5 . Thankfully that had an effect as we promptly won the next 7; still no clean sheets but a new Baulmes record. Those wins included very good ones against Schaffhausen (they hate playing us) and Delemont. We lost the last 2 games but that made no difference as even if we had won them we would still have finished in 7th place. Our form was a little bit too erratic for my liking.

That was probably the best we could have hoped for after our collapse prior to the Winter Break. But still not really as good as I hoped. There is one reason for this position and these following figures demonstrate it quite well:

Number of games: 38

Goals conceded: 64

Number of clean sheets: 3

Date of last clean sheet: August 27th 2027

Number of games since last clean sheet: 32

And all this was despite having a brilliant GK who played very well. We very rarely won a match simply, and even if we were 4-0 up we just could not survive the last 10 minutes without conceding an unnecessary if unimportant goal.

Up front we scored less but Zobel and Hottiger were just as good with Albert, Lila and the wingers doing well.

Final Squad

Final Summary

Transfers - Gomez and Reich were as good as expected, Schiller was disappointing, Golubev played well but is vvveerrrryyyy slow, while the loanees did their job well, especially Pasqualetti, selling both GKs for nearly £1.5m was great business as were the other sales

Some of the better performers:

Best GK - Dirk Reich - got off to a bit of a slow start but was perfectly able to fill Noll shoes (who was just as good this season for Yverdon) despite the obscene number of goals we conceded, but that was mainly the defence's fault, he gets 15 shots at him per game one is likely to get past, more of the same please

Best Defender - Yves Pasqualetti - 3rd season in a row where our best defender has been a loanee, was supposedly the lesser of the 2 DCs from Neuchatel but proved that all wrong, his contract is up but given his age I presume he will sign another one which will hopefully mean he will be here for another 2 seasons on loan

Favourite Loanee - Reginald Clement - 4th season on loan here and again he did his job perfectly, was first choice DL and covered ML whenever Gomez got injured, that was more often than I liked, another one whose contract is up but he is getting to the age where it is not sure that Neuchatel will keep him on, so as it is highly unlikely he would sign permanently with us I suspect this might have been his last season here, which is a shame as I have become very used to having him around

Best Winger - Andreas Frohlich - Gomez (ML) is a much much better winger but spent too much time getting injured and recovering form that this guy actually ended up performing better, as last season there was a sparcity of backup so it was good that again he did not get injured, and again like last Summer I am hoping for someone better to come in but it is not the end of the world if he stays first choice, in any case he is the perfect bench player so he won't be going anywhere

Best AMC - Norman Albert - quietly great again, more goals and more assists than before but he had a horrific period before the break (as did everyone else tbf) where he was averaging around 6 for 10 games, after the break he suddenly found form and was banging goals and performances in left right and centre (4 goals in one game), Lila is a great improving backup so not certain he will play as much but if he does I want the post-break performances please

Best Forward - Alexander Zobel - more of the same, 4 less games, 4 less goals, overall he performed a little less well but as long as those goals continue I shan't complain too loudly, nobody seems too interested in buying him so I hope he stays for a few more years yet

2nd Best Forward - Julien Hottiger - don't think I have highlighted him before and he definitely deserves to be, less profilic than Zobel but 50 goals in 3 seasons is nothing to complain about, plays off Zobel very well, fantastic number of assists, equal best, their partnership is flourishing, and I hope it continues

So, this Summer as per usual I would like some defenders, a DL and at least one DC (although the loanees might do) are top of the list, also an MR and a backup ML are needed, and that is about it except for unexpected brilliance being available or players being sold.

Speaking of which, we are nearing £3m in cash so I would not mind some sales. Top of the pile of hopefully leaving players is Gastien. For some obscure reason he decided to sign a new contract which is great as I can now get some money for him. Second on the pile is Schiller, the other MC, he was disappointing but the coaches think he is class so hopefully some other clubs think the same. I hope within 2 years I can be pro.

A realistic aim would be top 5 and some nice prize money, optimically we could add a lot of sales to that and turn pro next summer. Not certain that will be possible though.

Best Eleven

Overall Best Eleven - now the 4-3-1-2 I play so several changes

UGS

08/09 - 22/23 Challenge League - 3rd-15th

Baulmes

23/24 - Challenge League - 5th

24/25 - Challenge League - 15th

25/26 - Challenge League - 6th

26/27 - Challenge League - 2nd (lost playoff)

27/28 - Challenge League - 7th

[saab693]

i get a warm feeling inside whenever i read your updates ghostwriter. Each time I see the season header i think "has he done it this time? Maybe....." And sadly you didn't again, but your commitment to this challenge is absolutely fantastic!

KUTAW (A for average)

[ghostwriter]

thanks!

i say the same words to myself at the start of each season .

and i keep telling myself that if ugs had not fired me then i would at least have won the title by now. but fire me they did, so onwards i must go in this bloody division.

i refuse to give up. i can't promise i will complete the challenge but i aim to get close at least (even if it is 2050!)

and don't worry the average work will continue apace

[Quackje]

I think we're all really routing for you to make it sometime, always the next season you can do it . I have to admire you for carrying on and on trying constantly but can't help think it'll be 2100 before you win champions league, good luck beating that target

[dafuge]

Just lost my first game in two and a half seasons

This time it was my fault, I've been resting lots of players and giving promising 16 year olds and youth team players a few games to try and keep my first team fit for the Champions League. This is the first time it has backfired.

[Guest]

Would anybody mind if I jumped back in with my 4th season at Baulmes?

You may remember that I was playing this challenge back in January, under my previous username "mr susan" that I couldn't get back into after returning a few months later and so created this one.

I can prove it's the same game I think, but if it is decreed that I must start again then I might just do that with a new Swiss team.

[Frazza Pee]

I have no problems with you jumping back in. The more the merrier.

[Guest]

That's great! I've got some quick news already:

An actual (100% capacity) full house welcomed us for our our first ever European game. Shame about the result, but I wasn't expecting a win; I was much more surprised by a perfect sell out than losing, as I've never ever seen that before on FM08.

It must have been one of Brøndby's most bizarre away games outside of the micronations, visiting a small ground in a tiny village on a Swiss hillside. That's one of the joys of being seeded I suppose.

[Frazza Pee]

1000 was a sell out?

[dafuge]

Season 2023/24 Review - Sirocco Works in the Carnegie Irish Premier League

This was really a transitional season, my youth and training facilities had finally been upgraded to the top levels so I thought it was about time I really turned my attention to developing youth both from the club and from abroad.

League Table

As soon as the title was confirmed (I'd already had one defeat) I threw the youngsters out, they got stuffed 6-0 by Linfield but managed to put in big wins against Dungannon and Bangor.

CIS Insurance League Cup - won beating Glentoran 4-1 in the final

County Antrim Shield - won beating Linfield 4-2 in the final

Irish Cup - won beating Glentoran 5-0 in the final

Setanta Sports Cup - won beating Drogheda Utd 6-3 AET in the final

Despite the poor form I still managed to get the results when it mattered in the cups.

The European Adventure

It started with the demolition of Tampere Utd and FC Kobenhavn in the qualifying rounds.

Group Results:

Rapid Wien    2-1 Sirocco Works
Sirocco Works 2-1 Roma
Sirocco Works 1-4 Liverpool
Liverpool     5-3 Sirocco Works
Sirocco Works 1-0 Rapid Wien
Roma          6-1 Sirocco Works

Group C

I thought I'd suffered a freak result in the first match and thought I'd be in the UEFA Cup at the worst. The last thing I was expected was to come bottom after going into the last game with a chance of coming second. Pretty disappointing, this is the biggest step back I've taken in Europe in years.

Squad 1 Squad 2

Transfers

I've brought in a lot of young players and tried to give them a lot of playing time so there's a huge number of players who have represented the first team this year. I've also been getting rid of the unhappy players which is why there is so much money coming into the club.

Star Player

He's always wanted by the bigger clubs so I doubt I'll be able to keep him long but Jamie has had an amazing season as the supporting striker.

Club Coefficient: 59.707 (36th)

Nation Coefficient: 20.333 (18th)

League Titles: 13

[daemonic]

23m in transfers is amazing ...although I'm sure you'd prefer the players to be at the club and happy...but thats part of the challenge I guess

[daemonic]

Sporting Fingal - Irish Premier Division 2014

Transfers

Bids galore were coming in in January and with a large number of midfielders on the books I accepted 250K bids for Islanders, Dick Holmes and Dan Barker, Barker having requested a move to a bigger club. So off they went to St. Pat's and Dundee Utd respectively.

In April the bids started to fly in for my 7 star rated MC, Lee Kemp who was at the club when I arrived and has been excellent every season. I bumped up the price to 1m + 50% sell-on and about a dozen clubs matched it with 29 in total being interested. The Chairman decided the bids were too good to refuse and he was off to Wigan. Also on the way out was ST, Chmura who I had high hopes for but he never quite made it. He was replaced by Torbjorn Tengesdal who arrived on a free from Fredrikstad. AML, Lee Lowe and DR, Anthony Allen also left during the Summer when they decided they wanted to play for bigger clubs. All this made the finances look very healthy but we would need to recruit some replacements pretty quickly. An AMRC, Steve Goodwin, an AML, Victor Pollock and AM/FC Lee Guthrie were brought in on frees. Guthrie was off to feeder club Chester for some experience, Goodwin and Pollock were pressed into first team action sooner than I'd have liked.

This seasons Islanders were from the British Virgin Islands. A dozen or so were trialled with a MC, ST and DL being signed up.

The Domestic Season

All-Ireland Cup

In the All Ireland Cup, we met our regular Northern opponents, Cliftonville & Portadown with Cork City completing the group. 6 straight wins and were into a semi-final against Galway Utd which we won easily 4-0. We took a 1-0 lead in the 57th minute of the final against Bohemians thanks to Alan O'Donovan's 14th goal in this years competition. Former Fingal player, Nick Moore equalised in the 90th minute to send the game to extra-time. Bohs went ahead in the 96th, before O'Donovan scored his 15th in the 101st minute. With 120 minutes on the clock penalties were looming until Harris picked up on a deflected free kick, lashing the ball into the net to win the All-Ireland Cup again. In 8 games O'Donovan was MOM 7 times and scored 15 goals, averaging 8.75...legend.

League

We started well, winning our first 15 games so by the time Bohs held us to a draw we were already 17 points clear. We only dropped another 2 points in the next 10 games allowing us to retain our title with 10 games to play. In the final 10 games we took our foot off the pedal, drawing 2 more games

We eventually amassed 100 points and finished a massive 36 points clear of second placed Bohemians and all with a squad with an average age of 21. Final Table

Irish Senior Challenge Cup

The cup started with routine 4-0 & 3-1 wins over Mallow and Sligo Rover respectively. Cork City away in the qtrs proved a tougher match, needing an injury time winner, Tengesdal putting us through with the last kick of the game. 3-1 up with 20 minutes to go in the semi away to Finn Harps and another final looked certain but they came at us and the game ended 3-3. The replay was really just an inconvenience as we hammered them 3-0 to go into the final where we'd meet Bohs in a repeat of last seasons final. It was a tough game but Mr. Goals, Alan O'Donovan got the winner in the 87th minute.

Europe

Champions League First Qualifying Round

Seeded as in previous seasons, we ended up with a short hop accross the Irish Sea to face Rhyl. 4-1 in the home leg, 5-2 in the away leg and we were through 9-3 on aggregate.

Sporting Fingal 4-1 Rhyl

Ryhl 2-5 Sporting Fingal

Champions League Second Qualifying Round

We were also seeded for the second round, this time a visit to Bosnia to face FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo. A dominant 3-0 win in the away leg was followed by a poor 0-0 at home but it was enough to see us through.

FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo 0-3 Sporting Fingal

Sporting Fingal 0-0 FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo

Champions League Third Qualifying Round

In the Third Qualifying Round we faced the other Sporting, some outfit from Portugal. They were so much better than us that them only winning the first leg in Portugal 2-3 was a travesty. 15 shots on target to our 3 said a lot. They battered us again in the home leg and we did well to only lose 0-1, going out 2-4 on aggregate.

Sporting CP 3-2 Sporting Fingal

Sporting Fingal 0-1 Sporting CP

UEFA Cup First Round

Heerenveen of Holland stood between us and the group stages. The first leg was at home and we outplayed them with 21(11) shots to their 9(5) but they were the more clinical finishers and the game ended 3-3. In the away leg we were easily beaten 1-3 going out 4-6 on aggregate.

Sporting Fingal 3-3 Heerenveen

Heerenveen 3-1 Sporting Fingal

Other News

Again, Alan O'Donovan was the star, scoring 67 goals in 56 appearances and winning the Irish Premier Division Player of the Year, Irish League Golden Boot, Irish Player of the Year, Irish Young Player of the Year, Irish League of Ireland Player of the Year and Fingal Fans' Player of the Year. The board also anounced another stadium expansion of 877 seats which will take us past 5000 capacity.

Best Eleven: Season | Overall

European Co-efficients

Fingal - 5.848 (283rd up from 332nd)

Ireland - 9.333 (31st up from 34th)

Sporting Fingal Trophy Room

Irish Premier Division x 3 - 2012, 2013, 2014

All-Ireland Cup x 3 - 2012, 2013, 2014

Irish Senior Challenge Cup x 4 - 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014

Irish First Division - 2008

[Guest]

1000 was a sell out?

Yeah, only 1000 capacity at Stade Sous-Ville unfortunately and the board are unwilling to expand while we're not yet established in the Super League. I'm surprised that it can even hold 1000 having looked at the pictures I posted above, but I suppose for a small village team it's more than adequate at their real life level.

[daemonic]

FM tends to be generous in regards to the capacity of a lot of teams that aren't in the available leagues at the start of the game. Makes life easier when managing one of them.

[ghostwriter]

Baulmes - Challenge League - 28/29 - Winter Break

Relatively busy Summer. In came 2 Serbian MCs; one of whom I had had on loan at UGS from 21-23, he is theoretically SL class but he was not exactly fantastic all those years back but we shall see. This meant I really had no need for Gastien or Schiller so I stuck large for-sale signs on their head and sat back to watch. And I managed to flog each one for £575k . I got in a promising young striker and, finally, a top quality MR and also a great DR. The good on-loan DC from last year came back as expected along with the DL. The defense was sorting itself out but was still lacking a second DL. It was time to make a second ever purchase, in came one from Yverdon for £14k who is just as good. And apart from a couple of backups that was it.

So, a stronger squad than last year. One which got off to a bit of an average start as we drew our first 2 matches, admittedly UGS and Wil aren't easy opponents but I'd have liked at least one win. Wohlen were unconvincingly beaten before La Chaux-de-Fonds visited and, well, thrashed us like they did last season :/. But then Martigny were thashed like they were last season. A bad draw at home to Concordia and finally we sorted ourselves out; 5 wins, 12 goals, 0 conceded. And then, again like last season, Yverdon and Noll visited and came away with a win.

When we 2-0 down at home to Delemont I started to dispair again, but we somehow turned it round and won. St Gallen totally outplayed before we embarked upon our second great run of the season; a club record 8 straight wins including Schaffhausen twice (once in the cup) taking us to an 8-2-2 record over them, UGS and Zurich. Up to 3rd. La Chaux-de-Fonds seem to have some curse over us as they again beat us but we finished off by beating Martigny to enter the break in 3rd place which is not bad and still gives us a chance. Problems being that St Gallen seem to be a class apart and if we finished 2nd we'd lose the play-off, so I am not too confident about getting promoted. I am, however, more confident about turning pro in the Summer. I reckon I need one more £500k+ sale and I could be there.

And this was not actually the end of the first part of the season. We had, for the first time ever, reached the q-f of the Swiss Cup. We faced our parent club, Neuchatel, which is good as we play them every pre-season so know them, but bad as they are the best side in Switzerland at the moment. In any case, we had no chance and lost 5-0.

[Frazza Pee]

Killyleagh will lose me if they don't improve the stadium. We keep breaking records but they don't improve it.

[daemonic]

Killyleagh will lose me if they don't improve the stadium. We keep breaking records but they don't improve it.

You may have hit the max expansion capacity. If you have enough cash in the bank they will probably build a new one.

[Frazza Pee]

I have about 500k which is enough to expand it imo. I know its not reached its expansion limit as they say they can't afford to expand it.

[Frazza Pee]

Promotion to the Premier Division with 3 games left. But I'm still not on the clubs favoured personnell

[daemonic]

I am, however, more confident about turning pro in the Summer. I reckon I need one more £500k+ sale and I could be there.

Fingers crossed someone offers you silly money for a player and you can have 5m in the bank at the end of May

[Frazza Pee]

If everything goes to plan we will have won every competition we entered this year. Just two more finals to go.

[daemonic]

I have about 500k which is enough to expand it imo. I know its not reached its expansion limit as they say they can't afford to expand it.

Sadly your opinion doesn't matter

I've found you need a couple of million in the bank before upgrades happen. Also, the board may say no all season and then go ahead and expand at the end of the season anyway. That's happened to me a few times.

[Frazza Pee]

Damn it. Well I should get some mony for winning the league.

[daemonic]

LOL, not in N.I.

I think the prize money for the Premier Division is only 20k

[Frazza Pee]

LOL, not in N.I.

I think the prize money for the Premier Division is only 20k

I'm in the First Division so it will be poor. But as I said if I win the two competitions I'm still in the final in I will have won Every competition I competed in.

[dafuge]

I'm starting to hit the wall again that stopped me from playing last time. All my best players are wanting to move to bigger clubs and because of the scout/coach report problems I've got I'm struggling to replace them efficiently.

I've tried developing youth but even that isn't working, I made a youth team player my first choice GK and even he now wants to move.

[daemonic]

@ Frazza - Player sales is how you need to make money in N.I. initially. Only when you start making the All Ireland Cup and Europe does prize money come into it. I seem to recall, offering a normal win bonus in the league meant whatever the prize money I did receive was actually paid out to the players.

Your on pitch performances sound great so I'd ignore the finances for a season or 2 and concentrate on dominating domestically and getting into more lucrative competitions.

[daemonic]

I'm starting to hit the wall again that stopped me from playing last time. All my best players are wanting to move to bigger clubs and because of the scout/coach report problems I've got I'm struggling to replace them efficiently.

I've tried developing youth but even that isn't working, I made a youth team player my first choice GK and even he now wants to move.

My Republic of Ireland game is developing a similar theme. I'm getting to the stage I assume players will only ever sign one contract with the club and I prepare to replace them every 2 years or so

[dafuge]

@ Frazza - Player sales is how you need to make money in N.I. initially. Only when you start making the All Ireland Cup and Europe does prize money come into it. I seem to recall, offering a normal win bonus in the league meant whatever the prize money I did receive was actually paid out to the players.

Your on pitch performances sound great so I'd ignore the finances for a season or 2 and concentrate on dominating domestically and getting into more lucrative competitions.

In the Premier League I'm getting £6k in TV money and £8k for winning it, my players get a bonus of £90k.

[Frazza Pee]

Thats quite bad.

[Frazza Pee]

So I've got one final left to play and one competition left to win heres hoping.

[dafuge]

Saying that, my bank balance is £72m.

Player sales is the way forward, you've got no chance of keeping your best players so you just have to make sure you get good prices for them.

[Frazza Pee]

That does seem the best idea.

[Frazza Pee]

Killyleagh Y.C 10-11 End of season update

It was a good season for Killyleagh, one they will never forget you will see why.

League

So I won the league with 3 games remaining so in those three games I played youth players thats how I lost 3 games. To sum the league up in one word, easy

Intermediate League Cup

It was a good season in this cup, seeing as we had never gotten past the first round before, it was a surprise to actually win the thing. Well done lads.

Antrim Trophy

Again good effort from the lads. I thought we were only going to get to the semis at best. But getting to the final and actually winning the thing made me feel so proud.

Intermediate Cup

I wanted the retain this cup and when I did I was surprised. It was to close for my liking in the end we got lucky. But still brilliant from the team.

Irish Cup

Again I was surprised to win this but I did and I was proud. In fact this took my trophy count for this season to 5 which is the amount we were competing in. I don't expect to win them all next year.

Players of the year

Hilton - Come on don't say you weren't expecting Hilton to be here. He scored 35 goals in 33 (6) games which, imo, is very good.

Wagner - My assistat says hes better at RB, I strongly disagree with him. Good performer this lad.

Last seasons aims

* Survive - Done.

* Strengthen club - Done

* Retain Intermediate Cup - Done

* Get passed the group stage of the Intermediate League Cup -Done

Next seasons aims

* Survive

*Retain at least 2 cups

*Gain about 500k

Other News

In other news I was in charge for my 100th game which as you can see from up above.

Also Doesn't Matter is now favoured Personnel

Thanks for reading.

[dafuge]

Winning the Irish Cup with a team that poor is a fantastic achievement, it wasn't until I'd won the Premier League twice that I managed that.

Gets you a European spot doesn't it?

[Frazza Pee]

I hope so. I guess I got lucky or my tactics just good.

EDIT: just checked, yes it gets you a UEFA Cup spot. That means more money and higher quality players.

[dafuge]

When I started my game the Irish Cup was the only route into Europe, I won the league and still didn't get to play European football.

It might be worth checking your nation's coefficients, you could find yourself playing in the Champions League next year.

[daemonic]

It does qualify you for Europe and the All Ireland cup...you'll get 120k just for entering that

[dafuge]

How did you find Wagner?

[Frazza Pee]

When I started my game the Irish Cup was the only route into Europe, I won the league and still didn't get to play European football.

It might be worth checking your nation's coefficients, you could find yourself playing in the Champions League next year.

We're in 46th place in the co-efficients and only one team gets into the CL so the UEFA cup will do me nicely.

[Frazza Pee]

How did you find Wagner?

Searched for unattached players and he was interested. And yes I did take him on a trial.

[dafuge]

Searched for unattached players and he was interested. And yes I did take him on a trial.

Have you got scouting knowledge of Liechtenstein?

I only ask as it has taken me ages to be able to find players from outside the UK and Ireland on my player search.

[Frazza Pee]

Have you got scouting knowledge of Liechtenstein?

I only ask as it has taken me ages to be able to find players from outside the UK and Ireland on my player search.

No I don't but I think because he is so good that he did appear.

[Frazza Pee]

I am 453rd in the club co-efficients and I have not even played a European game yet.

[Frazza Pee]

Where do you download the logos and proper names for the competitions? And also where do you download the badges? For the Northern Irish leagues and European competitions I mean.

[dafuge]

Where do you download the logos and proper names for the competitions? And also where do you download the badges? For the Northern Irish leagues and European competitions I mean.

The FMGLive forums are a great place to get graphics. You need to register but it is well worth it.

[Frazza Pee]

Thanks for that.

[Frazza Pee]

Killyleaghs first European outing resulted in a 4-2 defeat to Nurnburg wtf why were they in the first qualifying round?

[Frazza Pee]

And I was 1 person off of a full house. 1 to many prawn sandwiches I think.