dafuge's FM20 challenge

[MikaelS]

26 minutes ago, Danny_H22 said:

Ten games into my FC United career and we’re sat in a playoff place. 

Completely revamped the squad with free transfers after taking several squads worth of players on trial. Pretty happy with my starting 11 but I know that I’ll lose some of my key players over the season as they are on non-contracts. 

Currently trying to get rid of some of the weaker players who are taking up too much of my wage budget, who just so happen to be influential figures in my squad so I can’t foresee any issues there...

I’ve managed non league several times and the thing to remember is to not get attached to anyone because you’ll either lose them on a free or they will be redundant the next season. It’s also not worth signing a 5 star potential player because initially you need to think short term and not waste your budget on someone who may never play a role. 

Haven’t managed to pick up anyone on loan yet because I’m quickly running out of scouting budget. Hoping to get a parent club soon 

And it's all about pace

[streety]

Say Hello to the new Tamworth Manager

 

 

 

[TheDynamoFM]

Don't know what it is about Scarborough Athletic, they're a club that I grew irrational attached to a few FMs back.

Now to see where I can take them. 

[MadMcMan]

Merthyr have to be the only club in the game in the English leagues with both an u18 and u19 team with the u19's playing in the Welsh youth leagues?

[deadfncat]

Season 2 Review

[Scab]

St. Ives 2020/21 Season Review

League Table    Squad    Transfers    Finances

Straight up then straight down. Incredible early season form launched us into the playoff spots — heck, we were 1st for a brief moment in September — then it all came crashing down starting January. In the end, we only won 2 matches in 2021 and slipped all the way down to 15th. Felt bad, but I'm not overly concerned with chasing promotion until better players are coming through the academy.

The squad's so small I can barely rotate at all, but with some extra rest we made do. Lost Kelly in January as he wouldn't renew, forcing me to play grays at LB for 4 months, but thankfully managed to keep everyone else. The youth intake really wasn't much to write home about, but I'll take any squad player I can get at this point.

The board put in £110K back in November to keep us afloat. Fingers crossed that can continue, because we spent it all and then some already...

Aim for next season: Avoid relegation. Make money? Somehow?

Season    League              Finish   Notes
2020/21   Vanarama North      15th     -

 

[Danny_H22]

That St Ives badge is a thing of beauty 

[XaW]

XaW - Stratford Town - 2020/21

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

So here we are again, down in the regional divisions trying to survive, and with youngsters only! Just after I took over Stratford Town, we lost 4 of our best players due to everyone being on non-contracts, so I had a relative small squad to work with. But we actually did pretty good! I set the team up in a 4-5-1 where the only the wingers and the striker were responsible for the attacking, and went a bit direct over the top counterattacking, and it seems to be working. There are quite few goals both scored and conceded, compared to what I expected, so a lot wins were with a 1 goal margin, and the same with losses. I'm still tweaking it a bit, but I think I've found something that kinda works, at least. At a point we were fighting for a playoff spot, but in the end we finished in a very respectable 9th spot, 5 points of playoffs.

In the FA Cup we beat Brightlingsea and Alfreton Town before losing to Chroey in the 4th qualifying round . In the FA Trophy we beat Gloucester City, Stockport County and Darlington before losing to Tamworth in the 3rd round.

We had a pretty good youth intake where the highest rated youngster is Dave Clarke 21a.

The leading players this season have been Ivor Lawton, Nabil Shariff and Mitchell Glover.

[Badger With A Hat]

Redditch are currently the closest club to my house and I hate pretend commuting. So I am in with Redditch United

Edited November 6, 2019 by Badger With A Hat
update

[Crispypaul]

I started with Needham Market (will add profile later) just for the beta.

I don't have a reserve side - is that right?  IRL their reserve side play at Level 10 which I know isn't represented in game mind.

Profile

Edited November 6, 2019 by Crispypaul

[DazRTaylor]

11 hours ago, XaW said:

XaW - Stratford Town - 2020/21

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

So here we are again, down in the regional divisions trying to survive, and with youngsters only! Just after I took over Stratford Town, we lost 4 of our best players due to everyone being on non-contracts, so I had a relative small squad to work with. But we actually did pretty good! I set the team up in a 4-5-1 where the only the wingers and the striker were responsible for the attacking, and went a bit direct over the top counterattacking, and it seems to be working. There are quite few goals both scored and conceded, compared to what I expected, so a lot wins were with a 1 goal margin, and the same with losses. I'm still tweaking it a bit, but I think I've found something that kinda works, at least. At a point we were fighting for a playoff spot, but in the end we finished in a very respectable 9th spot, 5 points of playoffs.

In the FA Cup we beat Brightlingsea and Alfreton Town before losing to Chroey in the 4th qualifying round . In the FA Trophy we beat Gloucester City, Stockport County and Darlington before losing to Tamworth in the 3rd round.

We had a pretty good youth intake where the highest rated youngster is Dave Clarke 21a.

The leading players this season have been Ivor Lawton, Nabil Shariff and Mitchell Glover.

Decent first season.  👍

Out of interest, do Yeovil Town appears as an affiliate for you?

 

[Danny_H22]

Three crash dumps in a row in my fourth qualifying round replay - each time with me leading. Think that’s it for tonight 

[XaW]

XaW - Stratford Town - 2021/22

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Going into the second season I can clearly see that this will be harder than Kettering last year. The level of youth intakes are far worse, and the base level of players I started with are poorer as well. But with a good season last year, I hope we can keep the spot a few more years and get in some talented youngsters to help us up the leagues. The season started quite poorly and we dropped in and out of the relegation zone. But as the season kept going we established ourselves as a team just above the relegation spots. Towards the end of the season we even started a good run and climbed a bit up to finish well clear of the relegation spots. Even thought 16th is a bit behind last year, I still think it's pretty good. I got to introduce more youngsters to the first team, and a couple of them are even fighting for a starting spot already. So things are looking good, and I hope we can push on next season and continue improving.

In the FA Cup we beat Atherton Collieries and Tamworth before losing to Notts County in the 4th qualifying round. In the FA Trophy we beat Gateshead, Boston United and Chorley before losing to FC United in extra time after a replay in the 3rd round.

We had a decent youth intake where the highest rated youngster is Matthew Fogarty 22a.

The leading players this season have been Nabil Shariff, Mitchell Glover and Steve Ross.

And somehow our academy coaching and youth recruitment have improved. No idea how or why, I haven't asked for it since we don't have money, and I don't think I've gotten any inbox messages of it. I'll take it though!

[G_D_K]

Season Review (Season One, 2020-21)

Table / Position Graph / Squad / Finances / Transfers / Manager / Facilities / Annual Injuries / Confidence / Competitions / Reputation / Club Vision

 

SUMMARY

Season One finished about as I expected (and hoped).  Thru the first 12 matches, we maintained a position skirting on the border of the relegation zone, but only dropped into the RZ for a total of 3 weeks of the season.  We started breaking out near mid-season, climbing as high as 13, at which point we were about 8 pts from the playoffs and 13 or so from the drop zone.  Then, the fixture congestion cleared (9 matches a month seemed brutal!).  With less actual football, and only semi-pro training, the squad really dropped.  Starting on the boxing day match, thru until mid-March, we were terrible (we scored 9 goals in that 13 game stretch).  A tweak to one of my 3 trained tactics helped down the stretch, and we finished the final 5 matches of the season undefeated.  In the end, our position of 15 ( with a 14-point buffer between us and the drop zone) wasn't nearly as close as the season felt --- we weren't officially safe from relegation until 3rd match from the end.

The best standout player for the team was a young 18-yo goalkeeper I brought in, Ryan Hall.  The youngster single-handedly kept us in many a match, often making multiple saves seconds apart to keep the ball out of the net and us in the match.  I don't know how many matches he would post a statline like 24 shots faced, 12 shots on target, 11 saves.  Hall finished the season 6th in goals allowed (41 in 39 matches), joint 11th in clean sheets (13), 8th in Saves Held (94), 15th in Parried (45), and saved 1 of 3 PKs faced.  He currently rates as a decent VNN CA and VNL potential keeper.

Offensively, non-contract Jack Stevens led the team with 13 goals, but fell out of favor when I signed Josh Davison.  Davison started slowly, had a 4-5 week injury in the spring, but really took off after his injury to help season safety at the end of the season (5 goals in the final 4 matches, and 5 in his 7 back from injury) really helped.  

Overall, this might have been one of the strongest 1st season squads I've ever ended up with thru my history of this challenge, with 8 of my starters holding a CA rating of VNN level (several with VNL PA, and two with L2 PA as well).  My board vision included not signing any Over 30 players, and to sign young players, so we're a pretty young squad.  Hopefully with a couple additions we'll improve to a playoff run in season 2.

 

Promotion / Playoffs

While it looked for a while like we might challenge for a playoff spot, our terrible run starting in December kept us well out.  We'll try harder next season!

Cup Competitions

About the best to be said is we met the board's goals for the season!  We ended up with a 2-0 win in each of our opening matches of the FAT and the FAC, Lost 2-1 in the FAC3QR to (then 3rd VNS) Hampton & Richmond, and lost 1-0 in extra time to Tamworth from our own VNN.

Additional Details

Team of the Season

Best XI Inductees

Historical Best XI

Fans Player of the Season  DC Barret led the voting, garnering 37% of the votes, with leading striker Stevens (13 goals) getting 28% of the vote and fellow DC Barlow rounding out the voting.

Signing of the Season  Leading Striker Stevens was selected signing of the season.  He added 6 assists to his goal tally and had an overall AvR of 7.07

Young Player of the Season  Center Back Connor Barret managed a goal and 2 assists, 2 PoM, and an AvR of 7.09

Goal of the Season

Youth Intake Top Graduate

Spoiler

Season 1  Karl Ward, Midfield could slot into the wide spots of my 4-4-2 and 4-1DM-3-2 Wide formations.  Rates to be better (if he reaches his potential) than my current wingers.

 

TEAM, INDIVIDUAL, AND LEAGUE RECORDS

A host of records were set or broken this year:  (* denotes ongoing record -- bold indicates record broken this year)

Spoiler

Needham Market -- Team Records

Highest League Position -- 15th in Vanarama North (2020/21)

Lowest League Position -- 15th in Vanarama North (2020/21)

Most Points in a Season -- 57 (2020/21)

Fewest Points in a Season -- 57 (2020/21)

Most League Wins in a Season -- 15 (2020/21)

Fewest League Wins in a Season -- 15 (2020/21)

Most League Defeats in a Season -- 19 (2020/21)

Fewest League Defeats in a Season -- 19 (2020/21)

Most League Draws in a Season -- 12 (2020/21)

Fewest League Draws in a Season -- 12 92020/21)

Most League Goals in a Season -- 48 (2020/21)

Fewest League Goals in a Season -- 48 (2020/21)

Highest Attendance -- 884 (vs Bost Utd, VNLN, 6 Mar 2021)

Highest Gate Receipts -- £10.23K (vs Maidon & Tiptree, FAC2QR, 19 Sept 2020)

Average Attendance -- 416 (2020/21)

Lowest Attendance -- 301 (vs Matlock, VNLN, 17 Apr 2021)

Biggest Win -- 4-1 (Vs Alfreton (H), VNLN, 5 Dec 2020)

Biggest Defeat -- 2-4 (vs Merthyr (A), VNLN, 20 Oct 2020)

Highest Scoring Match -- 4-2 (Vs Tamworth (H), VNLN, 29 Aug 2020)

Highest Scoring League match -- 4-2 (Vs Tamworth (H), VNLN, 29 Aug 2020)

Most Matches Won in a Row -- 3 (19 - 26 Sept 2020)

Most Matches w/o Losing -- 8 (24 Oct - 5 Dec 2020)

Most Matches Lost in a Row -- 4 (15-25 Aug 2020)

Most Matches w/o Winning -- 4 (15-25 Aug 2020)

Most Matches w/o Scoring -- 3 ( 13-27 Feb 2021)

Most Matches w/o conceding -- 3 (19-26 Sept 2020)

Needham Market - Individual Records

Most League Goals by a Player -- 38 -- Luke ingram

Most Overall Goals by a player -- 13 (Jack Stevens (2020/21)*

Most League Appearances by a player -- 262 (Kieran Morphew)*

Most League Goals by a Player -- 11 -- Jack Stevens (2020/21)

Highest Average Rating -- 7.11 -- Connor Barret (2020/21)

Youngest Player -- Thomas Quinn -- 16y209d (vs Altrincham (A), VNLN, 24 Apr 2021)

Oldest Player -- Marcus Garnham -- 31y 11d (vs Blyth (H), VNLN, 26 Dec 2020)

Fastest Goal -- Luke Ingram -- 1m45s (vs Southport (H), VNLN, 16 Jan 2021)

Most goals in a Match -- 2 -- Jack Stevens (4-2 vs Tamworth (h), VNLN, 28 Aug 2020)

Most goals in a League Match --  2 -- Jack Stevens (4-2 vs Tamworth (H), VNLN, 28 Aug 2020)

Most Assists in a Season -- 6 -- Jack Stevens (2020/21)

Must Shutouts in a season -- 14 -- Ryan Hall (2020/21)

Most PoM Awards -- 5 -- Jamie Griffiths (2020/21)

Youngest Goalscorer -- Jack Stevens -- 18y44d (vs Farsley (A), VNLN, 8 Aug 2020)

Oldest Goalscorer -- Jamie Griffiths -- 29y82d (vs Hereford (A), VNLN, 27 Mar 2021)

 

The Rest of England

Spoiler

Promoted from the Regional Premier Divisions

Kettering, Weston-super-Mare, Lowestoft, Halesowen, Farnborough, East Thurrock, Nuneaton boro, Scarborough Athletic

LEAGUE WINNERS (Promoted / Relegated)

EPL:  Liverpool (Fulham, Leeds, Huddersfield)

Championship:  Stoke (Stoke, Southampton, Brighton / Peterborough, Burton, Rotherham)

League One:  Charlton (Charlton, AFC Wimbledon, Ipswich / Forest Green, Tranmere, Cheltenham, Bolton)

League Two:  Salford (Salford, Walsall, Port Vale, Exeter / Leyton Orient, Macclesfield)

Vanarama National League:  Barnet (Barnet, Yeovil / Torquay, Harrogate, Dover, King's Lynn)

Vanarama national North : Chester (Cester, Boston Utd / Leamington, Gueseley, Matlock, Bradford PA)

Vanarama national South:  Billericay (Billericay, Ebbsfleet / Oxford City, Eastbourne boro, Hemel Hempstead, Chippenham)

CUP WINNERS

English FA Cup:  Liverpool (vs Man City)

Carabao Cup:  Liverpool (Vs Chelsea)

Community Shield:  Liverpool (Man City)

Leasing.com Trophy: Aston Villa U23s (vs Hull)

English FA Trophy: Aldershot (vs Kidderminster)

EURO QUALIFICATIONS

Champions Cup Group Stage:  Tottenham (EURO Cup Winners), Man City (Champions League Winners), Liverpool (EPL Winners), Arsenal (3rd EPL), Man Utd (4th EPL)

Euro Cup Group Stage:  Chelsea (5th EPL), Everton (7th EPL)

Euro Cup 2QR

CONTINENTAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Arsenal - Eliminated from the Champions League 1st Knockout round (by PSG)

Newcastle - Eliminated from the EURO Cup 2nd Knockout Round (By Milan)

Liverpool - Eliminated from the European Champions League 1st Knockout round (By Real Madrid)

Chelsea - Eliminated from the EURO Cup Quarter Final (by Tottenham)

Tottenham - Won EURO CUP (vs AC Milan)

Man City - Won Champions League (vs Man Utd)

Man Utd - Lost the Champions League Final (vs Man City)

 

 

What's Next

For Season Two I hope to solidify the squad.  Definitely need a DL, perhaps need an MC, and likely need a striker as well.  Otherwise, we're all already at VNLN CA.  With poor facilities across the board, already £200K in debt, and only £1K short of my wage budget, there is not much to do.  The good news is now that we're starting at a relatively high TacFamiliarty, we should not struggle as much in the early part of the season.  Hopefully we'll get an extra FAC/FAT round, maybe make a little dough, and look to improve some facilities or coaching.  Already the crunch has prevented me from even going on a coaching course during the offseason -- so things don't look too rosy there.

Just about ever 3 weeks for the first...5 months or so, my chairman was quashing takeover rumors -- I thought that maybe we were changing hands...but, things quieted on that front.  Hopefully he'll look to inject some cash, because, yeah....£400k in the red at the end of this season will not be fun!

Career Overview

                Season                      Team                                    League                            League Position(Predicted)              FAT           FAC        JPT        LC      UEFA      CL

• Spoiler

  2020/21          Needham Market          Vanarama North                              15(23)                             1rd         3QR

   

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by G_D_K

[Scab]

St. Ives 2021/22 Season Review

League Table    Season Review    Squad    Transfers    Finances

Switched to an ever so slightly combative 4-4-2 2DM that's given us a lot of stability. We neither score nor concede very much, but that's quite alright while I wait for the youngsters to develop. Some of them are doing alright and getting starts, but it'll be a while before anyone's proper senior player material.

Not a whole lot else going on, to be honest. With no transfers and no money, my hands are tied. We're renting a new stadium for next season, so I'm curious to see what that might do to attendances and gate receipts.

Speaking of money, the board stopped injecting cash and we're now £148K in debt. Oops. Considering I'm well within my budgets, I'm just going to consider this a "them" problem and pretend all is well. 🤷‍♂️

Aim for next season: Stay mid-table.

Season    League              Finish   Notes
2021/22   Vanarama North      9th      -
2020/21   Vanarama North      15th     -

 

[Peter G]

Question.

 

I don't like playing with attributes hidden but If I still applied the scouting rule would that pass? I.e, can only approach if I can scout them?

 

Hoping to get Bowers and Pitsea come up..

[DazRTaylor]

I was going to wait until the full release to start, but I just can’t wait any longer.

After spending ages reloading, I finally got a team I haven’t had before in any FM (really wanted Bowers & Pitsea, but they are going to be ultra rare) in Royston Town so here I go.

Alt-F9 isn’t working for screenshots.  Any ideas how I can get this to work folks?

[dafuge]

53 minutes ago, Peter G said:

Question.

 

I don't like playing with attributes hidden but If I still applied the scouting rule would that pass? I.e, can only approach if I can scout them?

 

Hoping to get Bowers and Pitsea come up..

Hidden attributes is part of the rules, it needs to be done.

[dafuge]

17 minutes ago, DazRTaylor said:

Alt-F9 isn’t working for screenshots.  Any ideas how I can get this to work folks?

It has changed to Alt&s.

[DazRTaylor]

15 minutes ago, dafuge said:

It has changed to Alt&s.

That'll be why then.  

Thank you.

[DazRTaylor]

Here is me then, at Royston.

[Peter G]

Am I right in that some of the teams coming up only have 10-14 players? I've included their divisions below to add players etc.

[DazRTaylor]

49 minutes ago, Peter G said:

Am I right in that some of the teams coming up only have 10-14 players? I've included their divisions below to add players etc.

Yes.  Royston only had thirteen players when I took them over

[XaW]

XaW - Stratford Town - 2022/23

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

So the youngsters are coming more and more into the team, and with a lot of the established players continuously refusing new contracts, they have to step up. And the team really stepped up this season. We just simply played well this season. For a long long time we were part of the playoff spots, and we actually played really good. I had some tactical swaps this season, but I haven't really locked in how we should play yet. We are scoring very freely now, but we are still having issues in defence we need to work out. The team played well, but in the final match of the season we fell out of the playoff spot after losing to FC United. So close, and maybe we can give it another shot next season.

In the FA Cup we beat Mickleover, Brightlingsea, Halifax Town, Boreham Wood and Alfreton Town before losing to Leeds in the 3rd round. A real cup run that really helped our finances. In the FA Trophy we beat Lancaster before losing to Gainsborough Trinity in the 1st round.

We had a quite good youth intake with Trevor Ramsey 23a as the best rated talent.

The leading players this season have been Nabil Shariff, Charley O'Keefe and James Hancocks.

And now our academy coaching and youth recruitment are back to bad again... No idea why.

[OlivierL]

one question before i decide if i go for dafuge or youth (of both) challenges :

Quote

To sign a player, you must be able to scout them, this doesn't mean you have to, just he must be accessible to your scouts. If you have a foreign player on a free transfer who is willing to come on trial, you do not need to be able to scout them, as long as you have them at the club on trial so you can get a coach report on him. If an agent offers you a player, you can sign him without scouting him.

So if i can sign the player on a trial, it is ok ? or do i have to be able to scout him before i take him on trial ?

[Biscotti]

I think the bit you quoted answers your question:

Quote

If you have a foreign player on a free transfer who is willing to come on trial, you do not need to be able to scout them

That says to me that as long as they'll come on a trial to you, you don't need to be able to scout them beforehand.

[OlivierL]

3 minutes ago, Biscotti said:

I think the bit you quoted answers your question:

That says to me that as long as they'll come on a trial to you, you don't need to be able to scout them beforehand.

idd, thanks

[DazRTaylor]

At the start I just trial loads of players.  Over 90% of them are not signed, but I do find some gems.  I have three National League quality players from this and one of them has the potential to be a Championship player in the future, according to my Assistant Manager.  But then his judgement is questionable at best so maybe not.  

[Richdc92]

Has anybody loaded one with Yate Town playable? They're the side most local to me but they've got a really low reputation and after 20-30 reloads I've not had them come up once! Might have to stick with Weston Super Mare (reluctant to do so as I had a 14 year career with Weston on last years FM before they got relegated in real life)

[Superowl90]

 

 

 

 

First season done and dusted. I was fortunate enough to have a beast left winger at the club that ended up winning player of the year for me. we ran roughshot over the league and won as champions quite easily in the end, Expecting much more of a struggle next year as a lot of my players including my 2nd top goalscorer wanting to leave because of the low stature of the league we are in. 

Fairly easy to get promotion the first year with quick wingers and strikers and playing the long ball. Here is the league table as it finished at seasons end 

 

 

 

Half way through the year i kept getting rumors of a takeover that never happened. I was slightly hoping for it to be true as we ended the season on -60K but hoping with promotion brings more fans to the ground in the league above.

 

Here is my current squad and transfers i conducted prior to our promotion winning campaign

 

 

 

 

I'll keep people updated on how my season goes in the National Conference!!

 

Season    League              Finish   Notes
2020/21   Vanarama North      1st      Le Champions!!

 

 

[deadfncat]

Im not sure if my tactic is amazing or the staff ive hired are world class somehow, but this happened?

I am actually kinda unsure becuase everything seems to be coming up Milhouse for me and yay I guess? Watch it all burn next season I guess

 

 

[Britrock]

Cornwall's finest Truro City have a new manager

[Superowl90]

Quick update, trying to sort my squad out for first season up in National League and get a transfer embargo for a takeover for the whole pre season/ transfer window so i'm in abit of trouble i reckon haha. currently won two and drawn one so hopefully i can get some decent loans and frees if and when i can haha

[XaW]

XaW - Stratford Town - 2023/24

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Very close to the playoffs last season, and the hope of course were to get one further this time around. I lost a few more players during the summer, and the youngsters are really starting to impact the team now. Lots of them keep getting matches, and most are improving a lot. We started the season quite good and were part of the top of the table through the first half, though we are a bit inconsistent and suddenly stop playing well. But that is the name of the game with the youngsters, and hopefully this will improve as they get more experience. Towards the end of the season Kettering and Chester had ran away at the top, while Stockport, FC United and Brackley were safe for playoffs. The final spot were contested by Barrow, King's Lynn and ourselves. Going into the final match we had it by a single point a head of Barrow, with King's Lynn one point behind them. We lost at home to Brackley, and when both other teams drew it meant Barrow and us were at equal points. However, they had the better goal difference and ended up overtaking us to the final spot. So that's the second season in a row we lost out on a playoff spot on the final day... Hopefully we can do it next year. 

In the FA Cup we beat Mildenhall, St. Ives and Spennymoor before losing to League One team Salford in the 1st round. In the FA Trophy we beat Hyde and Darlington before losing to Gateshead in the 2nd round.

We had a good youth intake where Chad Belford 24d are one to watch.

The leading players this season have been Nabil Shariff, James Hancocks and youth prospect Kevin Clements 21b.

[Scab]

St. Ives 2022/23 Season Review

League Table    Playoffs    Season Review    Squad    Transfers    Finances

I swear I get knocked out of these playoffs every year... Still, 4th is great progress. Heck, the board still expects us to fight against relegation and the players get real mad whenever I suggest any more. Now I'd like to say we punched above our weight by staying organized and tight, but truth is we're all over the place. Not counting league winners York, we both score and concede more than the next 14 teams. It's been kind of a glorious mess — one we've had a knack for coming out on top of.

I'll give Forde a lot of credit as he responded magnificently to being moved back to midfield. I basically got tired of playing long to wasteful strikers and started going down the wings with the ST dropping deep and Forde arriving late. It looked good on paper, but I never expected 32 goals kind of good. Clifton still scores at his previous rate as the striker, so this setup has been a significant improvement for our attack. Now if only we hadn't conceded almost as many extra goals as well...

Finally had more cash injected. Twice, even. That and decent cup results are just about keeping us afloat. For now.

Aim for next season: Playoffs? Dare I say?

Season    League              Finish   Notes
2022/23   Vanarama North      4th      Lost in Playoff 1st Rnd
2021/22   Vanarama North      9th      -
2020/21   Vanarama North      15th     -

 

[Crispypaul]

Needham Market FC
Season 2020/21
Vanarama National League North

League - Table | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 | Fixtures 3 - started like a rocket with 22 goals scored in our first 4 games.  This continued throughout the season and we somehow ended up winning the league with over 100 points.  I have no idea how this happened except I have two League 1 quality players one of whom was here when I joined (see below).

FA Cup - Fixtures - a great run to the 2nd Round where we had heartbreak of being defeated on penalties to Carlisle after a replay

FA Trophy - Fixtures - another great run until a tonking by Morecambe brought us down to earth

Transfers - obviously a major overhaul here.

Key players:

Nick Tsaroulla - one of the League 1 standard players was this Cypriot U21 left back a former Spurs trainee I signed after his release from Brentford.  Sadly not interested in signing a new contract.

Jordao Diogo - the other was this Sao Tomean/Portuguse left midfielder whom had joined the previous season after playing in the Greek league.  Getting on a bit but a step above many other players.

Saif Mukadam - young but good central midfielder loaned from Walsall

Ryan Crooks - prolific young striker

Shola Ayoola - his Irish forward partner also had a hatful

Bobson Bawling - flying right winger loaned from NLS side St Albans.  Whom got relegated so that was a good decision there!

Finances - these were doing fine thanks to the cup runs until we needed an expansion for league rules and took out a massive loan.

Season		League		Position	Cup			Notes

20/21		VNN			1st			2nd Round	Champions, Promoted

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by Crispypaul

[OlivierL]

Poole Town Football Club - The start 24/6/2020

 

I'm going to try this challenge after doing a few youth challenges. I hope i can continue this save from the beta to full game .

I'm going to start with Poole Town . I hope we can work together with our neighbours Bournemouth .. and one day become bigger

i'll have to sign almost a complete new squad . The chairman was already talking about selling the club in the near future (club vision).

Club profile- Current squad - Club vision - Finances

Wish me luck ! PS : can i show and post the images about the table - fixtures - transfers - squad etc directly or should i use links ?

Edited November 12, 2019 by OlivierL

[HannibalSelecta]

Starting out with Kingstonian

Kingstonian Manager Profile

Edited November 11, 2019 by H1Selecta

[Superowl90]

2 hours ago, H1Selecta said:

Starting out with Kingstonian

Kingstonian Manager Profile

Good Choice

[Superowl90]

 

Another great season, We started the season off with mixed results but managed to float around the mid-table spot. Then it all changed. We signed this absolute beast!!! 

 

He scored almost a goal a game and we ended up winning the title on the last day. Beyond my wildest dreams. We also had another trophy in the way of FA trophy. That coupled with an FA Cup third round away tie led us to become quite well off in the finance department

 

 

 

Season    League                        Finish   Notes
2022/23   League Two                      -        -
2021/22   Vanarama National League       1st    Le Back to Back!
2020/21   Vanarama North                 1st    Le Champions!

I'll update again halfway through my first season in the football league.

 

Here is the final league table and my transfers for the season for any that is interested 

Edited November 12, 2019 by Superowl90

[Klemmari]

I have tried this challenge before in last year's FM but this is my first time posting about my progress. I am going to start with South Shields in this years game.

 

Edited November 12, 2019 by Klemmari

[DazRTaylor]

16 hours ago, Crispypaul said:

Needham Market FC
Season 2020/21
Vanarama National League North

League - Table | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 | Fixtures 3 - started like a rocket with 22 goals scored in our first 4 games.  This continued throughout the season and we somehow ended up winning the league with over 100 points.  I have no idea how this happened except I have two League 1 quality players one of whom was here when I joined (see below).

FA Cup - Fixtures - a great run to the 2nd Round where we had heartbreak of being defeated on penalties to Carlisle after a replay

FA Trophy - Fixtures - another great run until a tonking by Morecambe brought us down to earth

Transfers - obviously a major overhaul here.

Key players:

Nick Tsaroulla - one of the League 1 standard players was this Cypriot U21 left back a former Spurs trainee I signed after his release from Brentford.  Sadly not interested in signing a new contract.

Jordao Diogo - the other was this Sao Tomean/Portuguse left midfielder whom had joined the previous season after playing in the Greek league.  Getting on a bit but a step above many other players.

Saif Mukadam - young but good central midfielder loaned from Walsall

Ryan Crooks - prolific young striker

Shola Ayoola - his Irish forward partner also had a hatful

Bobson Bawling - flying right winger loaned from NLS side St Albans.  Whom got relegated so that was a good decision there!

Finances - these were doing fine thanks to the cup runs until we needed an expansion for league rules and took out a massive loan.

Season		League		Position	Cup			Notes

20/21		VNN			1st			2nd Round	Champions, Promoted

 

Good season, well done.  

You should sign Bobson Bawling permanently, for his name if nothing else.

[Crispypaul]

1 hour ago, DazRTaylor said:

Good season, well done.  

You should sign Bobson Bawling permanently, for his name if nothing else.

Cheers!  

He is available on a free but sadly not good enough for the VNL.  

I released nearly my entire squad bar a handful so have the wage budget for strengthening...if I can find anyone that is!

[Crispypaul]

Forgot to add one point - we didn't have a reserve team at the start but I asked at the end of the season and this was granted.  They're not in a league (and I don't think they will be for a while, probably League 2) but at least I can get backup players playing the occasional U23 friendly.

[djhagster]

11 minutes ago, Crispypaul said:

Forgot to add one point - we didn't have a reserve team at the start but I asked at the end of the season and this was granted.  They're not in a league (and I don't think they will be for a while, probably League 2) but at least I can get backup players playing the occasional U23 friendly.

Do you not have an under 18s? Just curious as i am involved with a club who are in the same league as their reserves and they do have a full academy set up. Maybe this needs to be reported to SI as a bug? Their set up is similar to Kings Lynn whos reserves play in the same division. In the game KL have an under 23s and under 18s.

[Crispypaul]

33 minutes ago, djhagster said:

Do you not have an under 18s? Just curious as i am involved with a club who are in the same league as their reserves and they do have a full academy set up. Maybe this needs to be reported to SI as a bug? Their set up is similar to Kings Lynn whos reserves play in the same division. In the game KL have an under 23s and under 18s.

Yes we have an U18 team albeit not in a development league (at least in VNN.  Might have changed for VNL although I don't have the game open to check)

[djhagster]

3 minutes ago, Crispypaul said:

Yes we have an U18 team albeit not in a development league (at least in VNN.  Might have changed for VNL although I don't have the game open to check)

Cool. I was looking at them for the Dafuge and saw that they didnt have any 'U' sides at the beginning so just interested thats all. Been reloading trying to get Corinthian Casuals to come up but no joy so far!

[Crispypaul]

1 minute ago, djhagster said:

Cool. I was looking at them for the Dafuge and saw that they didnt have any 'U' sides at the beginning so just interested thats all. Been reloading trying to get Corinthian Casuals to come up but no joy so far!

The Development Centre has meant that the U23/U18 sides don't appear on the sidebar unless you take full control.  Probably why you can't see them when reloading and choosing a club, but at least the U18s should be there if not the U23.

[djhagster]

22 minutes ago, Crispypaul said:

The Development Centre has meant that the U23/U18 sides don't appear on the sidebar unless you take full control.  Probably why you can't see them when reloading and choosing a club, but at least the U18s should be there if not the U23.

Ah ok, still getting used to the new game!

[OlivierL]

Good job @Superowl90