dafuge's FM18 challenge

[superdad]

If I was a betting man, I wouldn't bet against one of my players winning Player of the season lol.

 

[superdad]

Altrincham F.C.

Vanarama North - 2018/19

League: I can't believe we won it in my first season  in charge! Salford held top spot for most of the season, with us hopping above them now and again. In the end, it came down to the last game of the season. We needed to win, and we needed Salford to lose. We won 2-0, and they lost 2-0 after going down to ten men in the fifteenth minute. If they hadn't had a player sent off, they probably would have won and we would have been forced to go through the playoffs. Thankfully that didn't happen, and we were crowned champions! Salford eventually got the second promotion spot, and they deserved it.

FA Cup: We made it to the 1st round, which wat surpassed expectations. To be fair, the teams we played in the previous rounds were lower reputation than us. Forest Green were just too good though, and beat us with ease.

FA Trophy: We had a great run in this competition. The highlight was beating Woking 4-1 in the 3rd round. Eastleigh, who beat us in the 4th round, went on to win the FA Trophy.

Squad: I brought in pretty much a whole new team of players during pre-season, and the team played brilliantly for a bunch of lads who had never played together before I took over the reigns at the club. My three man strike partnership was ridiculously effective, and the midfielders who supplied them racked up an impressive amount of key passes and assists.

Finances: The cup runs helped our finances, as did our final league position. Right now we're well in the black, and I intend to keep it that way by being as crafty as possible in the transfer market.

Awards and Other News: I won Manager of the Season. Helping me win that were Player of the Season winner James Poole, and Top Goalscorer Tom Peers. On top of all that, the Altrincham board announced plans to build a new stadium. 

Club Profile | Manager Profile | Facilities

Season          League          Position       FA Cup          FA Trophy          Top Scorer          Most Assists          Highest Avg Rating
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19         Vanarama North  1st            1st round       4th round          Peers(39)           Poole(27)             Poole(7.62)

 

[Andrew Haines]

Stalybridge Celtic

National League– 2021/22 – 1st

 Overview

 A much improved season and promotion into the football league as champions. We were exceptional all season and the only real disappointment was that we failed to hit 100 points due to three losses in the final five games.

The squad is strong in most departments now although defence is weaker than attack and I have struggled to find a really good no. 1. In the close season we received a bid of 3.6m for centre-back Alan Browne. This will mean we are secure in terms of finances for the conceivable future.

Key Players

Jack Roles – Cypriot midfielder released by Leeds and signed in October. Was a dynamic presence in the midfield.

Harry Charsley – Deployed in the wide playmaker role on the right wing Charsley was the player of the season.

Alan Browne – 27 year old Irish midfielder who was played as a centre back and did exceptionally.

 Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         Conference North                15th       
2019/20         Conference North                1st                                             Champions, Promoted      
2020/21         Conference National             7th                                      
2021/22         Conference National             1st                                             Champions, Promoted                                      

 

 

[superdad]

Great job Allan Haines. Good luck in League Two.

[KVJ92]

Just visited Old Trafford. Lost 4-1. But got £1.4 million.

Oh and the goalscorer? He is a regen from Marine! 

[superdad]

1 hour ago, KVJ92 said:

Just visited Old Trafford. Lost 4-1. But got £1.4 million.

Oh and the goalscorer? He is a regen from Marine! 

 

Nice one getting as far as the 4th round. It's great when you get a big money draw as well. Enjoy your wealth while it lasts. I'm sure the tax man will lol.

 

[KVJ92]

59 minutes ago, superdad said:

Nice one getting as far as the 4th round. It's great when you get a big money draw as well. Enjoy your wealth while it lasts. I'm sure the tax man will lol.

 

Won against two League 2 teams. Colchester is placed 5th in League 2 atm. 

And just got my regens, which are described as the golden generation! 

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Altrincham - League One 2021/22 - Season 4

After tearing up League Two in our first season in the football league I would be happy to just stay in League One this season, with the Board thinking the same expecting a safe Mid-Table finish, whilst the Media Predicted we'd just about stay up in 18th, with the Bookies giving us slightly better odds with a 16th placed finish. Whilst Striker McAuley was predicted to Top the Goalscoring Charts. And on the plus side my U23's finally got entered into the reserve league though a 10 game season isn't much use for keeping players match fit.

Reputation - Not much surprise that we are bottom of the list being one of only three Regional rep teams.

Transfers - Whilst the board expanded our Scouting Range to Europe I didn't really have the resources to search that far and mainly limited myself to poaching players from Ireland and Scotland now I had some money as I smashed our transfer record several times snapping up some cheap Irish Defenders and spending a bit more raiding Airdie's Youth team, though the most important business might be getting Lander back on loan.

Outgoing was Defender Feeney after moaning last season, then in Jan Keeper Logan somehow moved to Prem Palace, whilst I finally cashed in on Ethan Laird and promptly loaned him back for free

Though of course even with money in the bank my chairman decided we didn't need our Strikers and did his best sell off the two new guys I'd brought in on free's, first he accepted an offer for MacGillivray worth £500K but only £100K was guarenteed and to make matters worse he was the only player I had with value being worth £350K thankfully I protested that transfer and the chairman backed down, only to sell the other guy Wright to Fulham for £800K with no sell on fee

Whilst Brexit is going to be annoying as it appears we cannot even sign U18's from the rest of the UK as I have to wait for them to turn 18 before they'll join.

League Cup - Execellent run as we make it to the Third Round, beating Championship Winners Huddersfield on pens after they scored an injury time goal to send the tie to extra-time, we then beat Premership Leeds in extra-time, before getting hammered by a strong Everton side with Sandro being a £60m Striker whilst our performances were even more impressive considering I was using my second string.

FA Cup - Another excellent run though things didn't start well as we had to come from 2-0 down against League Two Bradford in the First Round with my Academy Striker Weatherall scoring a record six goals, whilst the game wasn't as one sided as the result suggests as four of our goals came after 85mins when as we took full advantage of them pushing forward for an equaliser. In the Second Round we easily brushed past North strugglers Brackley.

In the Third Round we faced Championship Sheff Wed and got off to an awful start falling behind within a minute, however we got revenge as Lander scored a last minute winner, which set up a Fourth Round encounter against Championship high flyers Cardiff and another late strike from Lander was enough to win a tight game and our reward was a home tie against fellow League One side Burton where two goals either side of half time from Glatzel secured our place in the Quarter Finals as the last Football League side and we got a big money tie away to Spurs who pulled out the big guns and unsuprisingly hammered us though we did have our chances we just couldn't beat Lloris and the plus side the game earned us over £1m as we made ~£2m from our run which nicely boosts our bank balance.

Checkatrade Trophy - Decided to take it seriously this season, though we were unlucky to draw to Burnley in our opening game and then narrowly beat Oldham and Walsall to top the Group, though thanks to Oldham's last minute goals against Burnley the Walsall result didn't matter as we both went through.

In the Knockout Round we easily beat League Two Stevenage and then thrashed Spurs reserve side (which may explain why they took us seriously in the FA Cup game which was later) and narrowly beat MBoro's reserves.

In the Semi-Final we faced a Carlisle side who were fighting for their lives at the bottom of League Two, with Lander coming off the bench to grab a brace to send us to Wembley, and whilst the game claimed nearly 2,000 people turned it sure didn't look like it.

In the Final we faced fellow League One side Shrewsbury and after a cagey first half we finally broke in the deadlock in the second half thanks to sub MacGillivray who after being released by Bradley broke down the left and whipped in a teasing cross for McAuley to head home, he then added his own goal again after being released by Bradley, who was then given all the space in the world to give McAuley a tap-in for his second.
 

League One - An excellent season as whilst we ended our run of back-to-back titles we claimed a playoff spot which was more than I expected. The season didn't start well as we lost three of our four opening games, albeit against the bigger sides, before claiming six wins in a row including a 4-1 win over early leaders Scunthorpe put us second after 10 games, but then lost the next three.

Going into December we rediscovered our form with four big wins including a 7-1 victory over Rotherham and a 4-0 defeat of eventual champions Bristol Rovers, it also took until our 17th game for us to draw our first game and we obviously had too much to drink over Christmas as we suffered three defeats which left us in third place at the half way point, one point behind Burton, five behind Bristol but seven points clear of dropping out of the playoffs.

As the season wore on I didn't put much effort into the promotion race instead concentrating on our cup runs, which left us with four straight defeats through March including a game against Coventry where we conceeded three pens - which was a real problem this season as we conceeded a league high 12 pens and that doesn't even count the pens that weren't scored.

Our poor run combined with having three games in hand meant we'd finally dropped out of the playoffs however on the plus side we were safe from relegation with nine games left.

With our cup adventures over we put our efforts back into the league and thrashed Luton, Charlton, Wigan and Southend which pushed us back into the playoffs but a crazy draw against Plymouth where we conceed two fluke own goals ended our automatic promotion chances, and then despite a defeat to Cambridge we secured a playoff spot with a game to spare, where of course we thrashed Burton thanks to a Lander hat-trick.

In the Playoffs we faced MK Dons and the First Leg didn't get off to a great start as we fell behind, however two goals in a minute just before the hour turned the tie in our favour, with Glatzel adding a third later on. In the Second Leg we again fell behind and when Glatzel missed a pen I was starting to get a little worried however a minute later he made amends and later sub Weatherall made things safe.

In the Final we faced Rotherham and were in control from the start with Lander opening the scoring midway through the half with a shot from the edge of the area, then at the start of the second half McAuley doubled our lead also with a shot from the edge of the area (which was surprising as only ~10% of our goals had been scored from here) and we then made things sure with a classic goal - Glaztel crossing for Lander to score.
 

Squad, Overview & Stat-Pack

In Goal in came NIrish Keeper Cameron Morrow who wasn't as good as Logan but has potential and after some good performance took Logan's place, he was also wierdly named signing of the season by the fans. The other option I have is Kithson Munroe who is also young but is developing nicely though I'm not sure if either will be good enough to start in the Championship.

In the Centre of Defence was Loanee Steven Courtney who had a solid season, but lost his place later on to Academy prospect Michael Tandy who impressed in the lower profile games and was given a run in the team later on where he continued to impress, playing to his left was Welshman Jordan James who arrived via NIreland and after a shaky start improved as the season went on putting in some strong performances and even claimed a Young Player of the Month award ahead of my Strikers, and on the right was NIrishman Thomas Carson who arrived in Jan and slotted straight in.

At Right Wing Back was Ethan Laird who was doing okay but kept on wanting out so I decided to cash in on him and brought him back on loan where he just provided cover, the main reason I let him go was because I'd retrained Academy prospect Alex Cox into a Wing Back and wanted to give him the matches.

At Left Wing Back I brought in Hayden Coulsen on a free after a couple of good seasons on loan but he didn't impress and lost his place to another Academy Graduate Aaron Bradley who I'd converted to a Wing Back to get him in the side.

In the Centre of Midfield it was all change as I raided Airdie for two quality Scottish Midfielders first in was Taylor King who had an excellent season starting off as my DLP before switching over to the Carrilero role, though it was a struggle signing him as he had a hip injury which meant the board vetoed his transfer twice before I eventually got him and partnering him was Jim Hamilton who arrived in Jan after finally turning 18 and slotted straight in as my DLP and becomes my first player to get the Promising tag. Providing cover was Thomas Scully and Jack Thomas and whilst both of them had good seasons and didn't really need replacing it was hard to resist signing the Scots as they have the potential to be great players.

Upfront leading the line was Garry Lander who was brought back on loan and continued to score goals for fun winning the Player of the Year and Top Scorer awards, and with Brighton just about staying up he'll be rejoining me on loan next season, though he is being pushed hard by my Academy Prospect Arran Weatherall who had an excellent season and is developing nicely, he even picked up the Promising tag and if we hadn't got promoted I would have made him first choice next season. On the Left was Paul Glatzel who again was in good form and down the Right was Glen McAuley and whilst he didn't hit the heights of last season he was in excellent form, providing cover was Delcan MacGillivray who had a solid season despite my chairmans attempts to get rid of him.

Dream Team - We still managed to get four players named which is more than Burton and Bristol combined though Glatzel was unlucky to miss out with the rest of my players not getting enough appearances to make the team.

Best XI - Not too bad considering the rotation this season and that would have been close to my early season starting XI.

Overall XI - The only change is to the bench as Bradley and Graham make it in place of Smith and Levingston.

Academy - Couple of players with potential this season first up is Striker Olly Gray who gets the Promising Tag straight off and he already looks impressive and did well when given a couple of games at the end of the season, opening his account to become our and League One's youngest scorer and if we hadn't gone up likely would have gone into my team for next season, though I wish he wasn't left footed as all my Strikers bar Lander are now left footed. The other player of interest I got through was Jimmy Doherty though I might make him a Striker instead of a Wing Back.

Finances - An excellent season as we now have nearly £4m in the bank, gate receipts increased four fold to over £4m thanks to the Cups, prize money was up £500K, season tickets and sponsorships doubled, with TV money up 50%.

Main expense again was our Youth Setup at £1.5m followed by £1m in tax, whilst our wages doubled, whilst our Bonus payments went up £750K.

On the plus side we made £1.5m profit in transfer fees.

Facilities - We got our Training Facilities upgraded to Adequate (2 star) and at the end of the season I used most of our bank balance to improve both our training and youth facilities to increase our Youth Level next season, also got the board to increase both our Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment which both should now be near enough maxed out.

Whilst at the end of the season the board announced another new Stadium, though it's still only in the searching for site status and hopefully it will take a few years again as the planned capacity is below the Prem requirements.

Profile - My Reputation increases to three stars and I bag the Continental B Licence which boosts most of my attributes by a couple of points.

Plans For Next Season

I wasn't exactly expecting a straight promotion to the Championship, as another year in League One would have allowed me another year to field and develop my youngsters and I'm not sure if they are ready for the step up yet.

So transfer wise the priority are Centre Backs and a Keeper, whilst also hoping my chairman doesn't feel the need to sell off any more of my Strikers.

State of The World

Premier League - City become the first team to win the league more than once, with Chelsea, Utd and Arsenal making up the top four, with Liverpool, Spurs and Everton all getting into Europe so business as usual this season. At the bottom newly promoted Villa go down as do Watford, with Stoke finishing bottom after finishing sixth last season. Whilst an interesting manager change see's Frank De Boer return to England as Spurs manager though it is after succesfull spells at Schalke, AC and Sevilla.

Championship - Huddersfield, Fulham and Leicester all get promoted, with Preston, Oxford (Our parent team ironicly) and Exeter all going down.

FA Cup - Utd become the first team to win it for the second time beating Chelsea on pens.

League Cup - Utd make it a cup double beating Spurs in the Final

Champions League - Real Madrid beat Bayern in Extra-Time to make four out of five for Spain, with Bayern knocking out City (SF) and Liverpool (1KO), Utd went out to City in the QF and both Chelsea and Arsenal went out in the 1KO losing to Dortmund and Barclona. Interestingly only teams from the top five nations made it to the Knockout Round; England (5), Italy (4), Spain (3), Germany (2), France (2)

Europa League - Valencia beat Benfica, with Spurs losing to Benfica in the SF, Palace losing to Valencia in the QF and Stoke losing to Gladbach in the 1KO.


Leaderboard points (FM Mode)(My Steam Username is same as here if anyone wants to add me)
(points / position)
Single Game: 3,417,793 (100,406)
Single Season: 1,090,552 (161,460)
Single Season England: 1,090,552 (82,173)
Single Season League One: 709,941 (9,933)
Single Season League Two: 749,065 (1,360)
Single Season National League: 1,090,552 (153)
Single Season National North: 868,235 (94 :cool:)

Career Overview

Season	League	League Finish	Achievements	Leaderboard Points	Av. Attendance
18/19	National North	1st	Promoted & FA Trophy Winners!!!	868,235	1,927 (31%)
19/20	National League	1st	Promoted & FA Trophy Winners!!!	1,090,552 / 1,958,787	3,022 (49%)
20/21	League Two	1st	Promoted	749,065 / 2,707,852	3,920 (87%)
21/22	League One	4th	Promoted - Playoffs & Checkatrade Trophy Winners	709,941 / 3,417,793	4,198 (98%)

[superdad]

Nice to see someone else enjoying an Altrincham career. You're doing brilliantly. How much money did you make from winning the Checkatrade Trophy?

[michaeltmurrayuk]

17 hours ago, superdad said:

Nice to see someone else enjoying an Altrincham career. You're doing brilliantly. How much money did you make from winning the Checkatrade Trophy?

We got ~£250K prize money in total from it, and another £60K from TV Money, not sure what the Final gates receipts were as it was the same month as the Spurs FA Cup tie but they might have another couple of hundred thousand, so it might actually be worth taking it seriously as that is fair amount of money at this level, I think the Premier League threw money at the comp when they let in the U23 sides.

Weirdly you get more money for winning that than the League Cup which only gives the winners £100K and other rounds nothing.

[superdad]

Nice! If I ever get to League 2, I'll take that competition seriously for sure. That is weird that you get more for winning the Checkatrade Tropy than you do for winning the League Cup.

I've restarted as Workington again (my first Workington save became corrupt just after my first pre-season), so it'll be a bit longer before I can attempt promotion to League 2.

[superdad]

This match was crazy! Up until that match, my scores had been relatively normal and realistic, then this happened!

[Andrew Haines]

Stalybridge Celtic

League Two– 2022/23 – 3rd

 

Overview

The board had again set high expectations, asking for the playoffs in our first season in the football league. We went one better and achieved automatic promotion. There were only a handful of changes to the squad for this first season in League Two so the core of the team was the same as that which won promotion from the national league. An important signing was Glen McCauley in attack although I had a heavy heart about dropping Will Keane who had been so good for the past couple of seasons. It was vital that we received a ludicrous offer of 3.6m for Alan Browne at the start of the season. These funds meant we never had to worry about cash and I was able to go out and spend where necessary.

We started strongly and looked to be sure bets for the title. Form was terrible in October and again in December meaning that form in 2023 had to be excellent if we wanted to push for promotion. We only lost once after the new year and this was enough to grab 3^rd spot and promotion.

Key to the promotion was the form of the strike force of George Thomas and Glen McAuley. They scored over 30 goals each and created numerous chances for each other.

Key Players

George Thomas – A regular in the Wales squad, the striker has possibly his best season of three seasons at the club hitting 31 goals.

Glen McAuley– Signed at the start of the season from Liverpool, McCauley hit  27 league goals in 33 games.

Jack Roles – The Cypriot international hit double figures in goals this season and was key in the midfield.

 

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         Conference North                15th       
2019/20         Conference North                1st                                             Champions, Promoted      
2020/21         Conference National             7th                                      
2021/22         Conference National             1st                                             Champions, Promoted   
2022/23         League Two                      3rd                                             Promoted   

 

[superdad]

Wow Andrew Haines, congratulations on the back to back promotions! That's great going. How is your progress in the cups? You don't put that in your season summaries.

Edit: I just clicked to view your league table, and it's for Vanarama National.

[Andrew Haines]

Oops, link updated now.

There wasn't much to shout about in the cups, hence not posting about them. I did get an FA Cup 3rd round tie with Arsenal at the Emirates this season.. I lost 10-1. It did bring a nice bit or revenue in. Previously I got to the semis of the FA Trophy a few seasons back.

I used to incorporate my cup runs into the reports. I've simplified now though because if I over complicate it starts to feel like a chore and I get behind on posting.. then I get too far behind and stop. This way It keeps me motivated.

...The board gave me expectations to finish in the playoff. At some point they need to chill out.

[superdad]

Reaching the 3rd round and being drawn away against Arsenal is great. Well done for that.

I understand your reason for cutting out the cup stuff. Writing up a massive report can take a long time and become tedious.

Good luck living up to the board expectations. It'll be tough.

[13-gigi]

Saved comfortably and avoided relegation with 6 matches to go.

We'll try to reach mid table again next season and starting to build up for Europe

[Andrew Haines]

Stalybridge Celtic

League One – 2023/24 – 12th

 

Overview

The board had again set high expectations with the playoffs our minimum requirement in our first season in League One. This was always a tall order and surely enough we fell short. 12^th place looks respectable but doesn’t really reflect on a season of struggle. A solid run in lifted us up the table but I spent most of the season with one eye on the relegation zone. We finished 20 points clear of the drop in the end but for most of the season we sat 5-7 points above it and I was genuinely worried we might head straight back down.

I have found it increasingly difficult to recruit players who improve on those I already have. Players released on a free transfer have been either out of my reach or no better than my current first XI. The only notable arrival this season was Edvard Tagseth who signed in September. The remainder of the squad were unchanged from the previous season with many players having been part of the side promoted from the national league. I think for next season if I am going to push for promotion I will need to see if I can get some top class loan signings.

Key Players

George Thomas – Thomas has now scored 127 goals for the club in just 4 seasons. This was his best return with 39 league goals.

Edvard Tagseth– Norwegian midfielder signed from Liverpool following multiple loan spells across Europe.

Harry Charsley – Another survivor of the side promoted from non-League. Had possibly his best season.

 

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         Conference North                15th       
2019/20         Conference North                1st                                             Champions, Promoted      
2020/21         Conference National             7th                                      
2021/22         Conference National             1st                                             Champions, Promoted   
2022/23         League Two                      3rd                                             Promoted   
2023/24         League One                      12th                                              

 

[Boyd The Beast]

Metropolitan Police FC

Season 3 - 2020/21

 

League -  Winning promotion last season saw us playing in the Vanarama National League this season. With many others getting promotion in their first seasons here I was hopeful to do the same. Looked to add some more quality where I could and was feeling optimistic at the start of the season with my picks ups and a good pre-season. We started of pretty inconsistent and was hoping that was just to the new faces still getting integrated in the team...this was not the case because all season our defensive mistakes kept happening. We hovered down above the relegation spots for most of the season and only finished 17th. Much work to be done next year

FA Cup - This year we progressed a round further and made it to the second round were we lost 2-4 against Bury. It wasn't a huge payday like some have gotten but this helped us greatly in the finance department.

FA Trophy - A disappointing exit in this competition as we lost 1-4 against Chester who are a division below us.

Transfers - Not as many as last year but saw as add some better quality players and some young prospects.

Finances - We did very well this season with finances and actually made a large enough profit to get out of the red!

Career History:

Season	League	Position	FA Cup	Achievements	Top Scorer
2018/19	VNS	19th	4th Qualifying Round		Harry Warwick (26)
2019/20	VNS	5th	1st Round	Promotion via playoffs!	Cameron Ebbutt (27)
2020/21	VNL	17th	2nd Round		Harry Warwick (26)

 

Club Information:

Season	Stadium	Avg Attendance	Training Facilities	Youth Facilities	Youth Level	Junior Coaching	Youth Recruitment
2018/19	3000	301	Poor	Poor	0	Minimal	Basic
2019/20	3000	381	Poor	Poor	0	Fairly basic	Fairly basic
2020/21	4297	546	Poor	Poor	0	Average	Average

[Higgo]

 

Kingstonian FC - Vanarama National League South - 2018/2019

 

Manager Profile

League Table - Finished 6th and got knocked out in the 1st round of the play-offs

FA cup - Knocked out 3rd qual round. 

FA Trophy - Knocked in 2nd round. 

Squad - DoF signed lots of players for me but the squad has some shocking defends that need replacing

Transfers - DoF signed all of them for me

Finances

Key Players:

Tom Derry - Top scorer for me and the league as a whole, 39 goals in 39 games

Morgan Crowther - Decent striker but did go something like 10 games without a goal. 23 goals and 20 assists in 47 game though.

 

Career Overview:

Season          Team              League                                     Position     Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/2019       Kingstonian            Vanarama National League South          6th         lost in 1st round of play-offs

Next Season:

Sign better defense and try to win the league

[superdad]

Workington A.F.C.

Vanarama North 2018/19

League: We had a fantastic first season in the Vanarama North league, spending the majority of the season in and around the top five. We scored a record breaking 113 goals, but conceded the second most amount of goals as well. If it wasn't for our strikers scoring for fun, we would have ended the season much further down the table. By the end of the season it was only our massive amount of goals for which won us the league, a feat which was deemed impossible for us to do at the start of the season. Bring on the Vanarama National league next season!

FA Cup: We were only expected to reach the 3rd qualifying round, but we battled our way to the 2nd round. Along the way we beat Royston, Boston United, Salford, and York. Oldham were far too good though, knocking us out of the cup and taking our chance for a money spinning 3rd round match. Still, we performed brilliantly and the board and fans alike were delighted that we got as far as we did.

FA Trophy: Another competition where we were expected to reach the 3rd qualifying round, but we weren't having that! Strangely, our first match was against the same Royston team we defeated months earlier in our first round of the FA Cup. We beat them with ease, then went on to defeat Basford, Salford, Eastleigh, and Wrexham on our way the the final. In the final we played Dover, and we took them all the way to penalties. As the penalty shootout came to an end, so did our dream of winning the FA Trophy. Such a cruel way to lose the final, but next year will be our year to win it!

Squad: Every player really pulled their weight this season, and barring a few too many yellow cards, the squad had a great season. The defence was a bit leaky at times, but our midfield and strikers made up for their shortcomings by racking up a massive number of goals and assists. 

Transfers 1 And 2: We didn't spend a penny in the transfer market. I brought in some great players for free, and got rid of the dead wood.

Finances: After winning the league and having great FA Cup and FA Trophy runs, the bank balance is looking very healthy. I'll still be very careful with my spending, but with a bit of wheeler dealing I should be able to keep the wage bill and transfer budget in check.

Awards and Other news: I won Vanarama North Manager of the Season. Tyrell McKenzie was Vanarama North Top Goalscorer with 25 goals. Two of my other players were in the top three, with Reece McGinley one goal and Andy Chadwick four goals behind. In other news, the board announced plans for a 1500 stadium expansion. In the meantime, we'llbe sharing a ground with Morecombe.

Club Information | Manager Profile

Season          League          Position       FA Cup          FA Trophy          Top Scorer          Most Assists          Highest Avg Rating
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19         Vanarama North  1st            2nd round       Runners Up         T McKenzie(25)      R McGinley(19)        R McGinley(7.44)

 

[Muggert]

It's been a while. I've completed season number 2 in Billericay. Closely fought promotion battle ending with an away loss to Leyton Orient.

Our finances are not looking good.

[Prank Emperor]

After nearly 4 months maybe more of being away from this challenge I return to my Billericay save! Look forward to more updates soon.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Altrincham - Championship 2022/23 - Season 5

So after a somewhat surprising promotion via the play-offs, the Boards hopes this season were to just not go straight back down, with the Bookies giving us no chance of staying up, though on the plus side six of us were given no chance and we only had to be better than three of them, whilst Stoke were expected to walk the league with the Media's pre-season dream team being pretty much the Stoke side.

Reputation - Increases to two stars but still leaves us rock bottom being the only Regional side.

Transfers - I was largely frustrated in my attempts to bring in Championship rated players, as English based players are worth and want silly money even in the Championship, and for the most part they aren't interested though when I did find a GK or Defender someone else would outbid me, so I was largely reduced to snapping up cheap youngsters mainly from Ireland, though in Jan I did eventually get a new Keeper.

Outgoings saw me sell off various squad players who weren't good enough, whilst I also loaned out various youngsters as I forgot you have less cup games at this level. Then in Jan I decided to cash in on Academy graduate Alex Cox as whilst he was a useful player £3m plus clauses was way too much to refuse and it stopped my chairman from selling off another one of my strikers.

League Cup - Again used this for my kids and they had a decent run getting to the Third Round though we suffered a poor defeat to fellow Championship side Bristol City.

FA Cup - No run this season as we easily beat Crewe before being torn apart by a strong MBoro.

Championship - I have no idea how we pulled this off as my side was pretty much the same as last season, we started the season well as my Strikers kept on bailing out my shaky defence as we had some silly results (as did the rest of the league their were a silly amount of 5-4 and similar results involving other sides as Stoke seemed to be the only side that knew how to defend).

Our initial problems in defence were caused by our inability to deal with attacks down the flanks and corners, not helped by most of my defence barely being good enough for League One, but after making some tactical tweaks we shored our defence up and after a solid run at the half-way stage we found ourselves upto second place, in part thanks to a last minute win over Wolves as we picked up a 'never say die' attitude as we claimed 8 wins and 2 draws thanks to goals in the last 10 minutes of a game.

With 10 games left we were safe from relegation and were somehow still in second a distant 12 points behind Stoke, but five clear of third placed Derby and eight from Swansea who were just outside the play-offs.

Over the next few games Stoke finally started to run out of steam as we slowly closed the gap to just five points thanks to some late goals as we beat Ipswich 5-0 (all goals coming in the last 10 minutes) and Stoke lost to Cardiff, but their were only four games left. In the next game we both came from behind to win again thanks to some late goals, which put Stoke up and us on the verge of promotion.

With two games left we secured our place in the Premier League after a shaky 0-0 draw against Watford, though Stoke won their next game to end our slim title hopes.

Getting promoted to the Prem was somewhat impressive considering we were utterly out of our depth financially we have by far the lowest wage bill in the league - £1.9m which is half the next teams and miles away from the £50m Stoke and Watford were spending and this was after Stoke raised nearly £200m from player sales!

And the real work starts now


Squad, Home and Stat-Pack

In Goal for the first half of the season was Kithson Munroe who'd displaced Morrow and was doing well enough, however in Jan I replaced him with Pole Kamil Grabara who is a lot better though he did have a slow start but improved as the season went on and will hopefully be good enough next season.

In the Centre of Defence was Promising Academey Centre-Back Michael Tandy who is developing nicely and a solid season apart from some shaky games, playing to his left was Welshman Jordan James who had a disappointing season and to his right was Slovak Filip Vasko who struggled to impress, and for the second half of the season they actually lost their places to two more of my Academy players the Promising Lamar Best and Paul King both of who are highly rated and put in some good performances despite them both only currently being rated as League Two players, though some new Centre-Backs are again top of my list for next season.

At Right Wing Back was Scot Gordon Stirling who was in good form though is taking his time learning the WB role. Though I had problems on the Left as Academy Graduate Aaron Bradley really struggled this season and looks like he might have reached his level, whilst NIrish Winger Simon Moore showed glimpses of his potential but struggled in too many matches so a new Left Wing Back is also needed.

In the Centre of Midfield I tweak things a bit with Scot Jim Hamilton being redeployed as a Roaming Playmaker to try and give a bit more control in Midfield and he had a solid season though more was expected considering he's my only Prem Rated player, this saw fellow Scot Taylor King switch over to the Deep Lying Playmaker Role which suited him better though he did suffer some niggling injuries which limited his appearances. Providing cover were two new signings Promising Georgian Iuri Shermadini who had a fine debut season after arriving on a free, though he appearances were limited later on as he is due a pay rise when he plays again and I'd rather he get that after the promotion rises, and this gave Promising Croatian Teo Cubrilo a chance to shine and he took it being named Signing of the Season and at least the Midfield is looking sorted next season.

Upfront Leading the line was another Academy Graduate Arran Weatherall who had a storming season as he continued to develop and was named Young Player of the Season, more impressively he kept Garry Lander out of the side as he had to settle for a backup role though he still impressed when called upon, on the Left was Paul Glatzel who continued to impress with another solid season, was on the Right was Irishman Glen McAuley who rediscovered his scoring touch ending the season as the leagues top scorer and won Player of the Year whilst he also broke the Leagues Average Rating Record (which was weirdly set by DLC Borthwick-Jackson). Providing cover was another Academy player Olly Gray who put in some impressive performances considering he's only 16 and hopefully these guys will continue to perform next season.

Academy - A bit disappointing this season though we still produced two guys with Potential - Right Back Dominic Yates and Defender Samuel Ibrahim.

Best XI - Squad rotation messed this up a bit this season, though not sure why Cox was picked ahead of Stirling, whilst Bradley is picked ahead of my three midfielders.

Overall XI - Some silliness going on here as the long sold Guru gets promoted from the Bench, Laird moves to CB letting in Cox, with Glatzel moving upfront freeing space for Kehinde in Midfield, though only the Strikers are still at the club.

Dream Team - Strikers Glatzel and McAuley make the team, with Stirling, Hamilton and Weatherall all unlucky to miss out.

Finances - Aren't looking that great though if we hadn't gone up we'd have got a solidarity payment to help out, main expense was our Youth Setup costs doubling to £3m though that is nothing compared to the Prem money on offer, the main problem was our income didn't increase this season whilst season ticket sales doubled to £1.2m and TV money was up £2m prize money was down £500K and gate receipts were down £2m cancelling out those increases, though last years figures were inflated by our cup runs.

Facilities - Got the Board to improve both the Training and Youth Facilities this season, whilst at the end of the season our Youth Level increased to 3.

Though the bigger story was the announcement that the board had finally set in motion plans for a New Ground and with a capacity just under 14,000 it at least meets the Prem rules though hopefully it has a high expansion capacity, they also named it after a legend but not me so I still haven't ever had a stadium named after me

Which means we will be spending the next two years playing at Bolton, in their ground which has double our new stadiums capacity so if we fill that our finances will be a mess after moving back home.

Profile - Couple of small increases to my attributes as I get the A Licence and embark on the Pro Licence, I also won Manager of the Year.

Plans For Next Season

Alright I really wasn't planning on going straight to the Prem, I was hoping for at least another season in the Championship to develop my kids, especially my defenders as none of them are ready for the Prem, I just have to hope I can quickly find and bring in some reinforcements otherwise it might be rare relegation, though even a seaons worth of Prem money would set us up for the future.

Transfer wise Centre-Backs and a Left Wing Back are top of the list, whilst we can hopefully keep hold of my better players, though my chairman is still being an idiot as he has already accepted a £10m bid for Weatherall which I've at least managed to protest

State of The World

Premier League - Utd become the second side after City to win more than one title, with Chelsea snatching second from City on the final day

League Two - Gillingham and Notts County get relegated out of the Football League for the first time in their histories.

FA Cup - Utd retain the cup thrashing Championship Wolves 5-0 in the Final.

League Cup - Chelsea become the first side to win this twice, beating Utd on pens.

Champions League - Has the English domination started as Utd beat Chelsea in a final hosted at Old Trafford. With Utd knocking out City in the Semi, ith Arsenal losing to A. Madrid in the Quarters.

Europa League - AC Milan beat Spurs in the final hosted in Italy. With Everton going out to Milan (2ndKO) and Liverpool losing to Gladbach (1stKO).

World Cup 2022 - Missed this last year, but Germany beat France in the Final. With England losing to Belguim in the Second Round.

Leading Transfers - Utd have been busy having seven of the most expensive signings, with City next on four. No regens on the list yet.


Leaderboard points (FM Mode)(My Steam Username is same as here if anyone wants to add me)
(points / position)
Single Game: 3,595,651 (98,119)
Single Season: 1,090,552 (161,460)
Single Season England: 1,090,552 (82,173)
Single Season Championship: 177,858 (31,475)
Single Season League One: 709,941 (9,933)
Single Season League Two: 749,065 (1,360)
Single Season National League: 1,090,552 (153)
Single Season National North: 868,235 (94 :cool:)

Career Overview

Season	League	League Finish	Achievements	Leaderboard Points	Av. Attendance
18/19	National North	1st	Promoted & FA Trophy Winners!!!	868,235	1,927 (31%)
19/20	National League	1st	Promoted & FA Trophy Winners!!!	1,090,552 / 1,958,787	3,022 (49%)
20/21	League Two	1st	Promoted	749,065 / 2,707,852	3,920 (87%)
21/22	League One	4th	Promoted - Playoffs & Checkatrade Trophy Winners	709,941 / 3,417,793	4,198 (98%)
22/23	Championship	2nd	Promoted	177,858 / 3,595,651	5,000 (100%)

[paulskln]

 Staines Town ( 2nd In National League South , 2nd Season) Promoted via play offs.

After losing in the play offs in my first season, i managed to get promoted via the play offs this time...Billericay where far to good and my team got hammered 6-2 by them towards the end of the season, they then pulled away and won the league by 17 points...

In my first season Staines scored 106 goals but let in 79..... I still used the same 3-4-3 WB formation, but with slightly better defenders we scored far less with 87 goals but let in only 56 ...

I used a really settled team again

Goalkeeper

Nathan Harness , signed on loan and was brilliant for 23 games then suffered a damaged spine and was out for 5 months...... Sam Wilson who was signed as backup on a free transer , played the rest of the season and was steady.

Central Defender's

Jamie Bradley-Green ... Signed on a free transer for Southampton, was the play off hero .... Only scored 2 goals all season, both from corners in the final against Poole..

Zico Asare ... Signed from Fulham on a Free, has good pace and acceleration , made 28 starts.

Kosovar Sadiki ... In his 2nd season for the club, a non-contract player, he is German but keeps getting refused a work permit, as he dont play for his country.... unlikely ever to do so...

Joshua Pollard ... Signed on loan from Colchester, easily the most talented of the 3 CB'S, Marking , Tackling, Pace, Acceleration all high for this level, i like this player and i managed to sign him on loan for a 2nd season....

Wing Back's

Brandon Barzey ... Right Wing Back... Now in his 3rd season with Staines, has made 78 Appearances for the club...Had a brilliant season making 9 assists...

Loic Hernandez ... Left Wing Back ... Young Frenchman , on loan form Barnet ... Will look to sign him permantly, his contract with Barnet runs out soon and ill try to sign him up.

Central Midfield

Tyrell Miller-Rodney ... Carillero ... Been with the club for  seasons, and his work rate and physical skills are all high.... He played 38 times this season but lost his place towards the end when i managed to sign Ben Dempsey on a free...

Ben Dempsey ... Central Midfield Attack ... My favourite player from the previous season, managed to sign him on a free and he took his place as the main playmaker...

Jamie Reynolds ... Carillero ... Now in his 2nd season , the former Spurs midfielder made 43 starts scoring 4 goals and making 8 assists...Made the place his own....

Forwards

Yiannis Constantinou  ... Deep Lying Forward ... Now in his 2nd season, he scored 17 goals ... Rated highly by my staff , he finally is looking good after an average first season for me...

Adam Davie  ... Poacher ... Signed on a free from Derby , he made 44 Apps , scored 22 goals and made 10 assists, his average rating of 7.07 included 3 Man of the Match awards.... Has great pace, great first touch  and  great finishing, only 20 years old , could be here a long time...

Elliot Buchanan ... Deep Lying Forward ... Another good season from the fans favourite ... He scored 28 goals and now has 71 for the club in total...Sadly towards the end of the season, he drastically lost form and lost his place....

Plans for next season

My boards expectations will be to avoid relegation, my personal goal is play offs....i wont tell my board or players this as im sure it will insettle them.

Looking to sign better Goalkeeper and both left and right Wing Backs.....

2018/19 National League South 4th place ... FA Cup lost in First Round ...  FA Trophy lost in first  round.

2019/20 National League South 2nd place ... FA Cup lost in first round ... FA Trophy lost in 3rd qulifying round.

 

[Prank Emperor]

My last season's first choice keeper who has lost his position to a new GK this season 2021/22 in League 1 has been constantly attracting Major interest from Manchester City!!! I cannot fathom what they see him, in fact he is leaving my club on free!

[superdad]

Shame you can't sell him to them before his contract expires.

[superdad]

Massive congratulations michaeltmurrayuk for reaching the Premier League. Fingers crossed you can stay up in your first season.

[Prank Emperor]

14 hours ago, superdad said:

Shame you can't sell him to them before his contract expires.

Indeed I could have made some good dough, but alas it was not meant to be.

 

In other news, I won League on a canter. Posting a detailed update in a bit once I finish the season!  @Warhawk

 

[superdad]

Workington A.F.C.

Vanarama North 2019/20

League: The media predicted we'd be facing a relegation battle, but a decent start to the season saw us hovering around mid-table. We then had a great run of results which pushed us into the play-off spots. With our good run continuing as we reached the halfway point, the only team stopping us and a couple of other teams climbing to the top spot was Port Vale. They had a brilliant season, and nobody could come close to them. By the end of the season we'd secured our place in the playoffs with a 3rd place finish. In the semi-final we faced Dagenham and Redbridge. We comfortably beat them 3-1. In the final we faced Sutton. We took the lead early, but they equalised on the 20th minute. We stayed level for the rest of the game, and eventually it went to a nerve wracking penalty shootout. We managed to win the shootout 5-4, and win promotion to League 2!

FA Cup: I didn't think we'd be able to do as well as the previous season, but we did one better by reaching the 3rd round! Along the way we beat Tiverton 6-0 in the 4th qualifying round, Southend 2-1 in a replay after a 1-1 draw in the 1st round, and Barrow 2-0 in a replay after a 2-2 draw in the 2nd round. In the 3rd round we played Reading away, and they easily beat us 3-0. We were once again the FA Cup biggest achievers.

FA Trophy: After having our hearts broken in the FA Trophy final last season, I was determined to win it this time round. The 1st round draw wasn't kind to us though, as we faced Wrexham away from home. We managed to scrape a 2-1 win, and not fall at the first hurdle. In the 2nd round we held AFC Fylde to a 1-1 draw away, and beat them 2-1 in the replay. The 3rd round put us against Havant and Waterlooville, and we easily won 5-1. In the 4th round, Barrow were out for revenge after we knocked them out of the FA Cup. They didn't get it as we beat them 2-0. This took us to a semi-final against Blyth. In the first leg we drew 1-1. The second leg wasn't so close, and we won 2-0 to book our place in the final for the 2nd year in a row! Unluckily, we were up against Vanarama National winners Port Vale. In the back of my mind, I was imagining the heartbreak of a second loss in an FA Trophy final. My team on the other hand, thought differently. We took the lead on the 20th minute, and although Port Vale levelled the game just before half-time, we got the upper hand on the second half and ended the match 2-1. We are the champions! It was the perfect way to finish the season, before we move up the League 2 and hopefully leave the FA Trophy behind for good.

Squad: There were a fair few changes to the starting line-up, but the team still played a great season. New boys Zac Corbett and Elliot Rokka made instant impacts, while Reece McGinley,  Tyrell McKenzie, and late on Andy Chadwick all had another great season.

Transfers 1/Transfers 2: I let a lot of players go when their contracts expired, including some players who featured heavily the previous season. I brought in a fair few replacements, players who I deemed better and more likely to succeed in the Vanarama National.

Finances: Our great cup runs once again saw us make a nice profit this season. We have been given a very nice transfer budget and a decent wage budget for our first season in League Two. I'll very likely transfer the majority of the trasfter budget into our wages instead, and look for free or low priced players to sign.

Awards and Other News: Although we only finished 3rd and gained promotion via the play-offs, I still won Vanarama National Manager of the Season. Elliot Rokka was Vanarama National Top Goalscorer with 24 goals, and Reece McGinley was second with 19. For the second season in a row, the board has announced a Stadium expansion. This one will take the capacity up to 5,750. On top of this, we're getting a training facility upgrade and new kit sponsorship.

Club Information | Manager Profile

Season          League             Position         FA Cup          FA Trophy          Top Scorer          Most Assists         Highest Avg Rating
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19         Vanarama North     1st              2nd round       Runners Up         T McKenzie(25)      R McGinley(19)       R McGinley(7.44)
2019/20         Vanarama National  3rd(Promoted)    3rd round       Winners            E Rokka(31)         E Rokka(15)          Z Corbett(7.16) 

 

[superdad]

Great job @Prank Emperor. Only one promotion away from the Premier League! 

[Prank Emperor]

6 hours ago, superdad said:

Great job @Prank Emperor. Only one promotion away from the Premier League! 

Thank you! It was nice to come back to this save after 5 months!

Promotion to EPL I think that's going to be tough one. However, I would be happy for mid table obscurity in championship for few season as I become more stable. Don't want to become a yo yo club.

[superdad]

1 hour ago, Prank Emperor said:

Thank you! It was nice to come back to this save after 5 months!

Promotion to EPL I think that's going to be tough one. However, I would be happy for mid table obscurity in championship for few season as I become more stable. Don't want to become a yo yo club.

I'm feeling the same way after back to back promotions into League Two. If I can stick around for a couple of seasons in the same league and establish a solid first team, I'll be more likely to avoid relegation when I finally make it to League One.

[Prank Emperor]

7 hours ago, superdad said:

I'm feeling the same way after back to back promotions into League Two. If I can stick around for a couple of seasons in the same league and establish a solid first team, I'll be more likely to avoid relegation when I finally make it to League One.

My squads saw a massive turnaround every season helping me rush up the leagues. I would prefer to stay in the championship than L2 or L1 as it will increase my club reputation rapidly hence making it easier to bring higher quality players.

[superdad]

2 hours ago, Prank Emperor said:

My squads saw a massive turnaround every season helping me rush up the leagues. I would prefer to stay in the championship than L2 or L1 as it will increase my club reputation rapidly hence making it easier to bring higher quality players.

I'm trying to do the same with my squad. I'm finding it hard to sign any League Two quality players though. The best I can get is top Vanarama National quality. My low wage budget doesn't help. I've got just under £15k to play with, and any players I try to sign want at least £1k.

[Punchdrunk]

Dulwich Hamlet - Vanarama South 2018/19 - Season 1

3^rd (Promoted via play-offs)

The board gave me a minimum target of a top half finish so I took that. I went off to a flyer at the start of the season and was scoring for fun and was undefeated for the first 6 games when I hit a slump. After that Dartford went above me and I could recover finally ending up finishing 3rd in the league. However I managed to get promoted in the play-offs beating Hungerford and Hampton & Richmond in the two games.

Odds - They had me as fourth favourites so about par to where I ended up finishing

Table

FA Cup - I was knocked out in the first round but that was more than the board expected so I was happy with that.

FA Trophy - I reached the final somehow by beating a few National teams before Barrow dominated me in the final.

Transfers  - Mainly brought in a load of youth players in that had been released and getting the core of my squad together.

Squad - Concentrated on having a small squad and bringing people in if required and keep players happy and wages down.

Top Goalscorer - Ronan Hale had a great season. Picked him up as a free and ended up scoring 38 goals in 55 games

Highest average rating – My target man (an existing player) was my teams overall highest average rating with 7.49 overall.

League player of the year – This went to my left winger who provided goals and assists throughout the season

Best Eleven

Finances – I made 500k over the season mainly due to high profile friendlies, good cup runs and good control of my wage budget

Profile – Gained my National C & B coaching badge over the season and currently studying for the A badge.

Manager of the Season – Won this mainly due to promotion and the FA trophy run

Stadium expansion - Due to my promotion they’ve started work to increase the capacity by 1,000.

Facilities

Reputation – An increase but no real change

Season Review

Career Overview

Season	League	League Finish	Achievements	Leaderboard Points	Av. Attendance
18/19	National South	3rd	Promoted via play-offs	22,186	1,663 (55%)

[Jellico73]

2022/2023 Season

After being in 2nd place most of last season, then losing in the Playoff final, I was determined to win the Vanarama this year.  Wasn't to active in the Summer transfer window, put picked up John Greenwood from MK Dons for a 39K transfer fee.

We started out strong, going undefeated in our first 11 games until losing to Orient, and then we blitzed the rest of the League, finishing with 33 wins, 7 draws, and 6 losses.  The number of matches won is a Vanarama record.

Playing our 3-4-3 were were prolific on offense, scoring 156 total goals (also a Vanarama record), which was a good thing because the defense still has problems stopping the opponent.  We gave up 93 goals, which wasn't the worst in the league, but it was close.  We were only shut out once in the season, a 1-0 loss to Chester.

Highlights:  Beating Fylde 7-4, and then beating Barrow (this years version of us last year, in 2nd place all the way before losing in the Playoffs), in the FA Trophy final.

Lowlights:  Losing to Barrow, who thumped us 6-2, and losing in the First Round of the FA Cup to a weak Peterborough team 5-1.

Financially we did not lose a lot of money, TV rights for League 2 put us in the black, and while we are going to lose money this season, it won't be a lot.  

Player of the season:  John Greenwood.  Playing AF on the right, he had 54(3) appearances across all non friendly competitions, 47 goals, 43 assists, 10 POM and a 7.68 rating.  Jaanai Gordon, playing Defensive Forward in the Center, had in 50(3) appearances also had 46 goals, 8 PK's converted, 11 Assists and 9 POM's with a 7.50 rating.  Tom Ashton, the third of the strike trio playing Poacher on the left, had 40 goals, 24 assists, 7 POM's and a 7.58 rating in 48(1) appearances.

As a result of our promotion the League 2, we have gone professional (which came with it's own set of headaches), are going thru another stadium expansion (or second in three years, and with next to no transfer budget are fighting to avoid relegation. I suspect a decent stay in League 2, as we build up the club for the future.

 

You can catch up with where we currently are here:

 

Thanks for reading!

Jellico73

[Prank Emperor]

Billericay Town F.C. 

Season Update 2021-2022

Table | Squad |  Transfers | Finances | Youth Intake | Injury Summary | Manager Profile | Affiliate Clubs

Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 | Fixtures 3

Board Expectations & Achieved

Sky Bet League One: Top Half | Won Title

English FA Cup: Reach Third Round | Reached Sixth Round got knocked out by West Ham

Carabao Cup: Reach Second Round | Reached Third Round got knocked out by Fulham

Checkatrade Trophy: Reach Sound Round | Reached Quarter Final got knocked out by Oxford

 

Yet again another season of over achievements, which we have made a habit of something! Preseason Promotion odds were really good with us at 6-1 for promotion, 4th highest in the league. However, the media prediction had us good for only a 14th placed finish, but we have made a habit of always overachieving and this season was not going to go any different! This was a record-breaking season for us as we stormed the league to a massive 112 points despite losing 6 games and scoring 117 goals both League records which I don't think any team is going to come close to breaking! We started the season the season with fantastic August, scoring goals for fun before stumbling in few results in September conceding the league top position to Birmingham who we chased all the way till mid-December. The second half of the season was disturbed by the January transfer window which saw 10 players leave, however, we soon recovered and kept brushing aside teams with ease, Birmingham was the only team to score the double over us. The month of November and December saw us go on a rampage as we put 6 goals past Swindon, Blackpool & Oxford with few other matches were we scored 5 or 4 goals. And our impressive performance in the league was recognised when we were labelled the Biggest Overachievers of the league.

Keshi Anderson made the lone striker position his own with Tyler Roberts challenging him. Our big money striker Joe Nuttall failed to make any sort of impression. Mid-November to combat fatigue and for rotation, Colin Bliss stepped into the striker role and scored 7 goals in 3 matches. Bliss has been with the club for 3 seasons all on loan and he stepped up quite well pushing Anderson all the way to the season as the two created monopoly over the striker spot, having impressed for 3 seasons Bliss is coming back to us for a 4th season on loan. The playing style I employ, the wingers are the main creators'  and all my wingers were on form. Jan Novak started the season on the right wing before being displaced by Nathan Holland later, the fan favourite Novak days at the club are likely over and is leaving on free at end of the season. Filippo Berardi was the destructor in chief and formed an able partnership on the wings with Novak, however, his untimely transfer allowed Godfried Frimpong to blossom who was at his destructive best. 

From the midfield Arturo pulled the strings able as he controlled the play around him nicely, he contributed nicely to the goals tally from the midfield. Alessandro Bordin was another impressive midfield maestro who racked 12 assists despite starting only 7 games of his 28 games. The defence was not as strong and tight as I wanted but was still good enough for league resulting in the least goals conceded. Macaulay Gillesphey was the defensive rock often saving us at key moments with his well-timed tackles and interception. Unlike seasons of past, no player was able to completely dominate the position with only Paisa held on to the goalkeeper's slot losing out the place to James Shea for rotation.

This season also saw me reach 200 games in management  all at Billericay Town

Joe Nuttall our all-time record transfer for €350,000 in August failed to make an impression and was sold in January for €250,000 at a loss to the club. He played only 7 league games 4 as a substitute costing us a princely €50,000 a game! We broke our transfer record for the second time within the season when we got Ricardo Fati for €500,000, who came highly recommended by our scouts and we were able to get him after pursuing him for nearly 18 months. Along with our star homegrown Francisco Amaral, I think Fati might be able to make the step up to English Premier League if we are able to hold on to them both. Holding on to Amaral has been a struggle with him being pursued by 20-30 clubs each window, thankfully my relationship with him id strong enough to not have him complain when I always cancel any transfer agreed for him. Two future potential players which were highly recommended by the scouts Diamantino Guerreiro  & Torkil Haakenstad were signed on from free transfer. These are essentially risk-free gambles hopefully resulting in quality players or at least a good resale fee and since they are U-18, they have joined the club on trial till the contracts kick in.

Filippo Berardi was our star player and was pursued hard by teams all January transfer window before Palermo made a cheeky bid with less than 6 hours to go for the window closing. The bid was what I considered to be highly undervalued transfer fee of €525,000 and the chairman accepted it even though that was barely above his value. Just hours ago the chairman also accepted a bid for Arturo my midfield maestro which was able to successfully protest and kept him at the club.  And that was not enough for the chairman as he accepted a bid for Marc-Gauthier Bedime for  €450,000 barely an hour after Berardi's bid, though I did not agonise much over losing Bedime as he was my backup Right full-back. Yet really unhappy my chairman interfered so much, however, these sales did put us over real good in terms of finances. James Shea a fan favorite who could not hold on this his GK place in the squad was pursued by Manchester City all season but with no bid coming in is leaving the season at the end of his contract.

 

Arturo was rightly awarded the Fans' Player of the Season for his massive contribution from the midfield, his presence was a big influence in the wingers and strikers being able to play so freely. His contribution to the team's cause was more valuable than his 11 assists and 8 goals as he beat top goalscorer for the team Keshi Anderson and defensive rock Macaulay Gillesphey. Arturo and Gillesphey were also selected in the Player's Team of the Year, while Arturo also won the Sky Bet League One Player of the Year award. Keeping the traditions of past 2 season going I collected the Manager of the Year award.

 

Billericay Town has built a reputation of being a giant killer in cups past season and that was continued this season as well in the FA Cup as we defied odds to reach the sixth round. We beat two championship teams Bristol City and Portsmouth 5-1 and 1-0 respectively. Portsmouth scoreline flattered them as we were unlucky to score a goal from open play despite having 11 shots on target and 61% possession. Despite our domination, we had to make do with a goal from Gillesphey from corner to allow us to progress. The sixth round saw us visit West Ham were despite being the underdogs we held our own as we lost 4-2 with Colin Bliss scoring a brace. We were own our way to forcing a reply, however West Ham scored to goals in quick succession with about 15 minutes to go deflating the team and consigning us to a loss. The two televised matches against Bristol City and West Ham United brought us a cool €440k.

The Carabao Cup saw us beat Championship sides Norwich and Ipswich before losing to fellow championship team Fulham 5-2. The Checkatrade Trophy was an easy run but we made a hash of our match with Oxford as we had to pay the price of the penalties with us losing 9-10 with my Goalkeeper Paisa missing the crucial penalty.

 

We successfully applied to Youth Category 3 from 4, this year's youth intake was horrendous and except for Amaral, there has been no noteworthy youth player coming through the academy over the years. With us now in the championship and no restrictions on scouting range hopefully I can bring in some quality future prospects U-18 on low or free.

 

The planned expansion by 751 seats was cancelled due to denial of permission by the local council but maybe for the best as it saved us the money and the miniscule addition of seats was not going to help.

 

Our smart chairman provided with a massive cash injection days after the audit and hence not getting hit by tax! Compared to our earlier seasons we were better financially as our transfer outgoings and good cup runs again did give us a good cash injuction.

 

Top Goalscorers: Keshi Anderson (29) | Colin Bliss (24)

Most Assists: Nathan Holland (15) | Godfried Frimpong (15)

Retirements at the club: None this season

 

Other News

Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Paris Saint Germain, Celtic, Feyenoord win the respective titles.

Manager favourite Reading FC struggled throughout the season with winning only one in the last ten matches. They finished 18th resulting in their relegation back to the championship. 

 

Next Season

With the massive turnaround in the playing squads every season, I was able to rush up the leagues quickly. However, now the plan is to stabilise for a few seasons and build for a future while the club reputation increases allowing greater scope in player recruitment. Next season hoping to avoid getting pulled into a relegation battle,

 

 

@Warhawk

 

[superdad]

Good luck next season @Prank Emperor. Hopefully your plans to strengthen your squad and raise the club reputation work in your favour.

[KVJ92]

On 05/05/2018 at 13:17, KVJ92 said:

Marine - Vanarama National League North - 2021/2022

 

League Table - Great season. 

FA cup - Not good. Lost in 3rd qual round. 

FA Trophy - Lost in 2nd round. 

Squad - Have to find out who is good enough to stay

Transfers

Finances - Not much left, as there were no good cup runs

Key Player Profiles:

Sean Connerton - top scorer both club and league wise. 

Matthew Vernon - 20 assists and 19 goals from the inside forward. (Loaned from Bolton, whos manager keep complaining that he isn't playing ML) 

Ethan Kershaw - 43 games in central midfield with an average rating of  7.62 including 8 goals and 11 assists. 

Career Overview:

Season          Team              League                                     Position     Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/2019       Marine            Vanarama National League North             12th         n/a
2019/2020       Marine            Vanarama National League North              5th         n/a
2020/2021       Marine            Vanarama National League North              8th         n/a
2021/2022       Marine            Vanarama National League North              1st         League winner

Next Season:

Survive!

I did indeed survive! 

Quick update with no screenshots. I forgot to update and is a bit further already.

Marine - Vanarama National League North - 2022/2023

League table: Ended 7th and got into playoff. Lost the first game. 

FA Cup: 4th round - Lost 4-1 at Old Trafford. 

Fa Trophy: 2nd round

Finances: Was at 1.4 - 1.5 million after Old Trafford visit.

Played 4-1-2-2-1. Rotated strikers due to injuries. Both Ryan Colclough and Sean Connerton was absolute beasts. Colclough with 43(6) games, 31 goals and 11 assists. Connerton with 32(16) games, 29 goals and 4 assists. And my AML with 33(3) games, 21 goals and 12 assists. All three was on loan. 

After the season we went Pro. Got 600k in transfer budget. 

Season          Team              League                                     Position     Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/2019       Marine            Vanarama National League North             12th         n/a
2019/2020       Marine            Vanarama National League North              5th         n/a
2020/2021       Marine            Vanarama National League North              8th         n/a
2021/2022       Marine            Vanarama National League North              1st         League winner
2022/2023       Marine            Vanarama National League                    7th         n/a

[superdad]

This is eeasily my most nerve wracking match so far. I've never had a penalty shootout go on for so long. What a great win against a Championship side though. We've been drawn away against Blackburn next round. We won't win, but the money from that match will be good.

[paulskln]

I have never had a player score 6 goals in a match before...What is the most anyone has seen? Lower League football is nuts...

[superdad]

7 hours ago, paulskln said:

I have never had a player score 6 goals in a match before...What is the most anyone has seen? Lower League football is nuts...

I bought a new striker, and he scored 8 goals in his first two league games (4 goals per game).

[Muggert]

Just finished my second season in the National. And it was a success!

 

 

Moved to first place in the 84th minute of the last game!

 

I'm having problems with imgur. What screenshot program do you guys use? I want it to be easy to crop and upload right away.

[superdad]

2 hours ago, Muggert said:

Just finished my second season in the National. And it was a success!

 

 

Moved to first place in the 84th minute of the last game!

 

I'm having problems with imgur. What screenshot program do you guys use? I want it to be easy to crop and upload right away.

Nice one! It's so much more exciting when it boils down to the last match or two.

I use Imgur as well. I don't have any problems with it.

[Prank Emperor]

After winning only 2 games in the first 9 matches, we have gone on 7 matches unbeaten run winning 4 matches in those helping us shoot up the league. 

 

[superdad]

3 hours ago, Prank Emperor said:

After winning only 2 games in the first 9 matches, we have gone on 7 matches unbeaten run winning 4 matches in those helping us shoot up the league. 

 

It would be crazy if you kept the run going, and got into the play-offs.

[Prank Emperor]

1 hour ago, superdad said:

It would be crazy if you kept the run going, and got into the play-offs.

I was in the playoffs momentarily, before I dropped out and just hanging outside the playoffs barely 2 points difference as I approach 1st Jan!

[superdad]

After losing our first match and drawing our second, I thought we were going to be battling relegation. Our form soon took a turn for the better though, and now we're hovering in and out of the automatic promotion spots.

[Prank Emperor]

The fairytale continues, we are definitely not getting relegated as 50+ point total is safety for the championship and we hit that with 4 more months to go! My aim this year was to consolidate for the season and target promotion in 24-25, at this rate it is highly likely I would finish in playoffs and not that far off the automatic promotion spot. While the EPL is lucrative financially and will be a huge boost, my squad will be nowhere good enough to finish any higher than 20th and the relegation could spell trouble for my club. Losing intentionally to not get promoted feels like cheating to me, I am praying that I don't get promoted but I will keep playing my best squad and tactics.

Cardiff predicted to finish 17th currently 3rd, I am predicted to finish 22nd currently 5th and Ipswich predicted to finish 20th currently in 6th. 3 Overachieving clubs in playoff spots.