[FM20] You're not in Kansas anymore, You're in Andorra

[Lanvigator]

Andorra

 

Ever since the inclusion of dynamic league reputation on Football Manager I have always been fascinated by the idea of taking a smaller European nation and trying to increase the league standing and turn them into one of the continent's top footballing domestic nations. I've seen others manage it here but haven't done it before myself. Hopefully that is about to change.

 

Why Andorra?

They are obviously close to the bottom of the European Coefficient in 54th place, in fact at the start of the game only San Marino rank lower, with both recent additions to UEFA Gibraltar and Kosovo already above them. The other main reason is that (as far as I can see) there doesn't appear to be any limit on foreign players or non-EU players that can be signed in the Andorran League, at least not on this database. I should point out that this will be a Youth Academy Only save, but hopefully as I progress the fact that other teams in the country aren't bound by awkward squad registrations should help them to help me grow the league.

 

Game Setup

I'm running all the major European nations as well as the smaller home nations so that I hopefully get a variety of teams to face when (or more if!) I make it to the European qualifying rounds. I'm thinking of doing a small round up of the top leagues each season as it's always something I've enjoyed in other career updates on the forum.

 

The Team - C.F Atletic America

As if this challenge wasn't hard enough, the logical option here was to choose the team predicted to finish last in the second division, C.F Atletic America. 

 

On first look I can already see we have NO junior coaching or youth recruitment, which I've never seen before on FM. Will we even get an intake? Who knows. Guess we'll see in 9 months time. The club itself was only founded in 2010 and has no history to speak of, a third place finish in 2017 being the highlight of their infant years. I've just had a look at the league and although I'm not overly familiar with Andorra I have managed here in previous versions, but this is first time I've ever seen a relegation place for the team finishing last, and playoff for next to bottom. Looking at the squad I have compared to the rest of the league the goal here is absolutely to survive this first season and look to build from there.

 

 

The league splits after 18 games with a complete season being either 28 or 30 games, depending on which end of the split we're in. I'm planning on bi-monthly updates plus anything else of interest but we'll see how we go. Let's get this party started!

Edited April 22, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

Pre-Season

 

Let's start with the good news..

This is probably a good point to state that generally speaking as much as I love the game I'm not actually good at FM, so to see my rag tag bunch take on all comers and even muller some sides (no, they weren't very good either) is somewhat a shocking surprise. the only blot on the copy book was against Santa Coloma, but unless things have changed in the last few years then they are the best side in the country, so no shame there.

 

Now for the not so good news..

 

Ah now this is unfortunate. In my haste I'd failed to notice we are actually still an amateur club, so all my players are fair game. We are already thin on numbers, so losing players this quickly is bad news. We're down to 13 players and we'll be starting greyed out players at this rate! Luckily, the window is now closed so we'll at least have enough players to field a team for the first half of the season.

[Sheriff7]

Santa Coloma,Sant Julia and Inte club D'escaldes are the best team in Andorra now.Good luck!

[Lanvigator]

9 minutes ago, Sheriff7 said:

Santa Coloma,Sant Julia and Inte club D'escaldes are the best team in Andorra now.Good luck!

I remember having some battles with Santa Coloma on Fm2012! They had a decent little run in Europe so hopefully they will boost the league rep a little. Thanks!

[Lanvigator]

September and October 2019

 

So this was a little unexpected! Our first game against Penya Encarnada was very even, with them taking their chances and us wasting ours. After that 4 wins have rocketed us into the upper reaches of the table. Upon further inspection I noticed that we are only 1 of 3 amateur teams in the league (FC Ranger's & Extremenya being the others) so we're actually mainly competing against sides that are Semi-Pro, so that makes this start even more pleasing.

Third place early doors, and with B teams unable to get promoted this puts us in the promotion play-off spot, 5 clear of the team who beat us on the opening day. I'm still looking a lot lower than that though, and it's good to see we're already 11 clear of relegation and 9 clear of the playoff. Long may that continue!

 

Star Performer - Juan Torres

2 goals, 2 assists and a very impressive 7.72 average rating puts Juan well in front of the field so far.

Around Europe

No real surprises here, though nice to see Valencia leading La Liga after thumping Barcelona 4-0 on the opening day of the season. PSG and TNS are both already 11 points clear in their respective divisions after blistering starts.

[FoxGe1994]

Good luck - always funny to watch these kind of saves. 

I took the sanmarinese league and turned it into the 6. best nation - with 2 direct spots for CL group-stage, but lost interest in that save.

[Lanvigator]

15 minutes ago, FoxGe1994 said:

Good luck - always funny to watch these kind of saves. 

I took the sanmarinese league and turned it into the 6. best nation - with 2 direct spots for CL group-stage, but lost interest in that save.

Thanks, I'll endeavour to entertain!

 

That's very impressive, especially considering the number of Sammarinese nationals you need in the squad.

[Lanvigator]

November & December 2019

 

A much more mixed return, which was somewhat expected as injuries and suspensions took their toll on our threadbare squad. After Penya Encarnada beat us for a second time we were four without a win, being outplayed and I was starting to grow concerned but we came roaring back against Encamp and Ranger's to close out the decade.

We're still up in second, though the gap is much closer. We were as slow as fourth which really puts into perspective how important those two wins were. There's only 6 more games until the split so if I can stay in the top half until then we'll definitely at least be in the playable leagues next season. FS Massana are running away the the league and are all but promoted already with an impressive 10 point lead. On paper they don't seem better than some of the other teams in the league but no-one has really laid a glove on them so far, ourselves included.

 

Star Performer - Bruno Cordeiro

Our leading scorer managed to put his low self belief to one side and is now up to 5 goals and 2 Man of the Match awards so far this season. He's our only striker until we get a youth intake so a lot of whether or not we succeed relies on him staying productive.

 

Around Europe

• Valencia are still leading the way in at the halfway mark in Spain and now lead Barcelona by 5 points with Real Madrid down in 4th and 10 points behind.
• Only 8 points seperate the top 6 in England, with everyone down to Spurs still in with a realistic title shot.
• PSG are now 18 points clear having only dropped two points all season.
• Both Milan clubs are hot on Juventus' tail.
• Bayern have pulled 8 clear in Germany, with Dortmund not even in the Champions League spots.

 

In the Andorran top flight (or The Lliga Nacional de Fútbol for the purists)  FC Santa Coloma are already 7 points in front after 9 games, though that's hardly surprising looking at the quality of their players..

It looks like we have a loooong way to go before we get anywhere near them.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

Although the players themselves don't look particularly good, this is a relief considering I wasn't even sure I'd get a youth intake. Even more so considering we've lost another player. Down to 12 now..

Edited April 22, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

January & February 2021

 

An odd couple of months. In all honesty we weren't very good at all, losing to three B teams and drawing with another. What made it stranger is despite such poor form we became the first team all season to beat FS Massana, looking decent value for our 2-1 win. The players are struggling with having only 1 sub for some games and none for others, and regardless of quality we'll welcome the upcoming youth intake, just so we can fill the bench if nothing else. In better news, we got through the rest of the January transfer window unscathed with no approaches for any of our remaining 12 players.

Although 5th we're still only a point off the playoffs, but the most important thing here is that we made the top half of the split, meaning this adventure will at least made it as far as season two! I didn't realise that bizarrely the league splits into 6 and 4 rather than straight down the middle, so we were far more comfortable in the top half than I realised. Carroi's first team are marooned at the bottom of the Premier Division, so assuming they can't be in the same league as their B team I expect Extremenya to get a reprieve and Ranger's FC to move up into the relegation playoff rather than being flat out relegated. One thing I've noticed which I'm a little disappointed with is that the top league only play a 20 game season, which although it will help with the speed of this save won't be conducive to player development.

 

Star Performer - Isidro Rodriguez

In all honesty no-one really deserves this over the last two months, but Isidro was fairly consistent so wins the award. He's by far our best player ability wise, and at 34 may not get too many more chances to appear here. 3 goals and 2 assists over the last two months is a decent return for the skipper.

 

Around Europe

• Valencia still top La Liga and only Barcelona now have a realistic chance of preventing them winning their first title since 2004.
• Man City pull four clear of Liverpool after being level up until game week 25. Spurs pick up the Carabao Cup trophy after being Chelsea on penalties.
• PSG are still unbeaten with 26 wins and 2 draws yet exited the Champions League in the group stage after finishing third behind Inter and Ajax.
• Still all to play for in Italy and Scotland, where Juve and Rangers lead by 3 points and 1 point respectively.
• FC Santa Coloma are now 12 clear and all but champions but have had their squad decimated in January, losing 8 first team players to teams in both Spain and South America.

 

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

As if taking my players Isn't enough, now they've taken my assistant manager too!

[Lanvigator]

[Lanvigator]

Youth Intake 2020

Not the best it's fair to say, though I wasn't sure we'd even get an intake so I can't complain. At this point we just needed numbers and being amateur it doesn't cost anything so everyone was signed up for the time being.

Pierre-Eric Anziani - 20a

He's not actually bad for this level and will definitely be getting game time straight away.

 

[Lanvigator]

End of Season - 2019/20

We struggled after the split, the top two were just too strong for us in the end and only having 12 players for so long took it's toll on us. It was encouraging to see the final result after the influx of youth players which gives me hope for next season. At the start of the season I would have been over the moon to finish 8th considering 7 of the teams were Semi-Pro and we were Amateur, so this season goes in the books as a success for me. Although the image doesn't show it, Carroi B were indeed automatically relegated as their senior team finished bottom of the Premier Division. It was heartbreak for Extremenya who despite a playoff reprieve also went down after losing 4-3 over two legs to Casa Benfica, who will be joining us next season.

 

Juan Torres - Jonathan Salles - Alberto Ortiz

Nothing too spectacular here, with none of the original 12 averaging over 7. An eye catching debut from Santamaria 20c sees him top the list with a goal and assist on his debut.

This is excellent news. I haven't tried to offer any contracts yet, but I'm hoping it will allow me to offer proper contracts to stop any of my players getting poached in the future.

 

Andorran Clubs in Europe

FC Santa Coloma

A nice little run to the Europa League qualifying round in their maiden European season, even hold Celtic to a draw over 90 minutes. They are by far and away the best team in Andorra and will take some catching when I eventually do make it into the top league.

Engordany

This is more disappointing. N.Ireland are only just above us in the coefficients so we won't be moving up if our sides can't compete with them.

Sant Julia

This is a terrible outing from Sant Julia, getting soundly beaten by Welsh side Barry Town. I honestly thought they would win and was amazed they were so bad.

 

Around Europe

 

The image doesn't give the full picture as some leagues have European and relegation playoffs.

• Valencia held off Barcelona to secure their first title for 16 years. The opening day 4-0 win over Barca proved crucial as they only won the league on head-to-head record.
• Man City beat rivals Man United to their Premier League title in a row just by a single point, with only 9 points separating the top 7 teams. Watford, Brighton and Sheffield United are relegated.
• PSG finished with a record breaking 108 points (W35 D3 L0)  to win their third in a row by a ridiculous 33 points to second placed Lyon.
• Inter end Juve's decade of dominance with their first title since 2010. An awful season for Napoli sees them finish way down in 14th.
• Bayern, Celtic, Benfica and Ajax with their respective divisions.
• FC Santa Coloma win their 7th title in a row, finishing 15 points ahead of second placed Inter d'Escaldes. A worryingly large gap in what is only a 20 game season.

 

 

I'm thinking of switching to half season updates going forward as the seasons are so short and this is a longer term project, which will allow me to get through the seasons quicker.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

We have youth coaching!

[Lanvigator]

Pre Season 2020/21

Another decent pre season including a draw with Premier Division side Sant Julia. We were held to a draw by Case Benfica's B team and looking at their first team the newly promoted side look like they might be strong contenders this year.

 

Season tickets sales have more than doubled which is encouraging. Our reputation is still lower than a good number of non-league sides in Andorra so I think we really were at a handicap last season and hopefully this will start to balance out a little now that we're semi-pro. To save money I only offered semi-pro deals to the two stand out players I really don't want to lose, our goalkeeper Xavier Lopez and Peruvian midfield maestro Isidro Rodriguez.

Still predicted dead last but I think this is based on reputation more than anything. The other promoted team, Racing d'Andorra don't look very good to me and are starting the season with very low morale after a dreadful pre-season with 5 losses from 5 against divisional rivals.

[rodesire]

Best of luck!

From previous Andorran saves, Lusitanos are going to be a major issue down the road since they are classified as a Portuguese club and get Portuguese intakes with much better potential than the rest of the league!

Edited April 23, 2020 by rodesire

[Lanvigator]

11 minutes ago, rodesire said:

Best of luck!

From previous Andorran saves, Lusitanos are going to be a major issue down the road since they are classified as a Portuguese club and get Portuguese intakes with much better potential than the rest of the league!

Thanks!

That's interesting, I didn't know that. They're currently battling to stay in the Second Division. I hope they don't go down, they sound like they'll be helpful to me in trying to grow the league.

[Lanvigator]

Mid Season Review - 2020/21

 

We started the season against both of the relegated sides, a disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to Carroi was following with a big shock as we thumped the other relegated team Escaldes 7-2 away (they had a man sent off after 15 mins but we take what we can get!) After that our form was decidedly average through October and November before we finally started to click and we won 4 in a row in December, with performances far more convincing than the results show. There are big gaps between the league games, so planning in friendlies on the free weekends helps keep match fitness high and seems to give us a little edge over the other teams towards the end of games. On paper and in terms of infrastructure we're still handicapped against everyone else in the division except perhaps Racing d'Andorra, so this is another massive overachievement and I'm very happy so far.

As I predicted before the season started newly promoted Cast Benfica were indeed much stronger than the bookies though and lead the way, with us tucked in nicely in second place two points behind and five clear of Encamp in third.There's still 16 games left and I found it much tougher after the league split last season, but I'd be disappointed if we don't make at least the promotion playoff this time around. 

Star Player - Isidro Rodriguez

Our leading scorer with 5, albeit 3 from the spot, Isidro is easily the standout performer so far. 2 MOTM awards and an average rating of 7.21 put him well clear of anyone else and despite being 3 he seems to be getting better with age.

Around Europe

• There's a more familiar look to La Liga with Barcelona and Real Madrid leading the way, but don't write off Valencia retaining the title just yet, the lead the league up to game week 15 and are still only 4 points off the top.
• The traditional top 6 are back at the summit of the Premier League, with Liverpool and City regularly changing places at the top.
• PSG went 57 league games unbeaten before finally losing the last game before this screenshot was took, away at 7th place St. Etienne
• Dortmund lead the Bundesliga by 6 points with Bayern down in third.
•  FC Santa Coloma are top by just a point with Sant Julia hot on their tail. They haven't got over losing all their star players last January but I'd expect them to add one or two with their European money and still win the league.

 

 

[patchps15]

Interested to follow how you get on with this. I had a good long save with Sant Julia on FM18, which was a lot of fun. Wasn't youth only though. At. America were always awful on it, never got promoted in 25 seasons. I'm sure you will change that, and then some. Good luck!

[Lanvigator]

Thanks! I can't even remember At. America from my last foray into Andorra so they can't have been too impressive then either. 

[Lanvigator]

My starting left back leaving me for a non-league team is a blow.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

Better than last year's message

[Lanvigator]

Still looking good at the split. We've drawn more than I would have liked since Christmas but our last game was a massive 2-0 win away at Case Benfica, putting us just a point behind them 10 to go.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

Casa Benfica got their own back, beating us 3-0 in 24th game. 4 games left and we're left looking over our shoulders at Encamp, who have inflicted 2 of our 4 defeats already this season.

[Lanvigator]

Youth Intake - 2021

The youth intake has provided a little distraction from the promotion race, with the arrival of our group who I was told to be 'really optimistic about'. Let's take a look at the star of the group shall we?

In fairness he's actually not bad at all for the level we're at. I'm not sure how much growth potential he actually has for the technical side of his game, but that's a very good set of mental stats for the Andorran Second Division.

We've also had an Englishman through which is always worth checking..

Again, not bad for this level even if he is slower than a slug. That being said there's not exactly electrifying pace across the division so he'll fit in nicely.

 

It looks like the junior coaching upgrade has done its job in the short term, with four or five lads going straight into the first team squad for the final two games. Speaking of which..

We're guaranteed the playoffs with two games left. One is against the promotion groups whipping boys Atletic Escaldes who I've beaten three times already (once 7-2), the other is against Casa Benfica, obviously. The league's primary sorting rule is head-to-head, So lets take a look at our results against Casa so far this season.

One win, one draw, one defeat. To be put quite simply, 2 wins and we're up on head-to-head results, regardless of what Casa do in their other game.

 

[Lanvigator]

All to play for going into the last game..

 

[Lanvigator]

We did it! Against the odds we turned around a 6 point deficit in the last 4 games of the season to win the league. I honestly didn't expect this and I've no idea how we're going to fare in the top flight next season.

7 wins in our last 8 games were enough to haul in Casa despite the fact they thumped us 3-0 at the beginning of April. Inter d'Escaldes B managed to avoid relegation, beating Extremenya on penalties in the relegation playoff. Casa Benfica will be joining us in the top flight next term after beating last seasons promoted side FS Massana 4-0 in the playoff.

Two interesting things here. Firstly, FC Santa Coloma's long reign at the summit of Andorran football is over in season two of my save as Sant Julia pipped them to the title on the final day. They still haven't replaced all the players they lost and as other sides are getting stronger they seem to be declining very quickly. The other is FS Massana, who will be playing the Europa Conference League despite going down. How, you might ask?

I wasn't entered in the cup in the first season so managed to completely overlook the fact it even existed until I was put in here. I gave it up to go after the league, which in a way I've been rewarded with through promotion, but I lazily didn't check whether or not there's a European spot for the winner and it turns out there is! FS Massana beat Inter d'Escaldes B Team in the final (they're the only B team in it bizarrely) so I'll be going after this next season, especially with just a 20 game season in the top flight.

Isidro Rodriguez - Francisco Gonzalez - Antonio Rico

Our ageing Peruvian maestro led the way again with 9 goals, 4 assists and the only average rating over 7. He's 35 now and not sure how much longer he'll keep playing for, but hopefully we'll get to at least see him for one season in the Premier Division.

 

Andorran Teams in Europe

For some reason which I cannot explain, not all the European fixtures appeared in the clubs fixture lists, even with nothing filtered. I had to go looking for them in the actual competitions themselves, so this looks a little different.

F.C Santa Coloma

CL 1st Preliminary Round

CL Second Preliminary Round

Santa Coloma made it one step further than last year in what is hopefully another boost to the coefficient.

Inter Club d'Escaldes & Ordino

Europa League First Qualifying Round

Both disappointingly fell at the first hurdle. It got much worse for Ordino, who didn't actually win a game in any competition until the final league game of the season.

 

Around Europe

• Barcelona regained the La Liga title in style racking up an impressive 100 points. Real Madrid pushed them all the way and only ended up 6 behind on 94.
• Liverpool won their first title since 1990 pipping Man City on the final day. There was a ridiculous 17 point gap between the top 6 and the rest of the league. Leeds, Southampton and West Brom were relegated with Brighton, Sheffield United and play off winners Bristol City coming up.
• Juventus were back on top in Italy, beating Inter to the title by 10 points.
• Dortmund, led by goal machine Erling Haaland, ended Bayern's 8 year grasp on the Bundesliga, beating the Munich giant to the title by a convincing 8 points.
• Celtic, PSG, Ajax and Porto all won their respective title, Porto doing so with an unbeaten season and only 4 draws.

 

[Lanvigator]

Pre Season - 2021/22

Another decent pre-season, we won every game except the one against defending Sant Julia, but we did push them all the way.

After such a large increase last season I'm surprised the draw of top flight football has only managed to draw in 3 more season ticket holders..

They are very long odds for an 8 horse race. Lets hope we can keep proving the bookies wrong.

[Lanvigator]

It hasn't all been plain sailing this season, but this is easily the best result of the save so far.

[Lanvigator]

After both cementing themselves in our first team straight from the intake, Javier Romero and Jose Antonio Gonzalez receive our first international call ups of the save.

[shimera]

Everybody loves Andorra!

[Lanvigator]

Mid Season Review - 2021/22

 

A real mixed bag but certainly holding our own in our first ever season at this level. Strangely we seem to turn up against the better team and struggle against some of those down the bottom. The 0-0 against U.E. Santa Coloma was the most frustrating, with us registering 31 shots to their 0!

In the last Europa Conference league spot at the moment (though that may change depending on who wins the cup) and more importantly 6 clear of the relegation playoff and 9 clear of last place. We have lost our last two, but I'm not overly worried as we led both games and only fell apart when we had a player sent off in each. Big shout out to Casa Benfica who have gone from non-league club to just a point off the top of the Premier League in less that two seasons, making our 4-2 win at their place in October look even more impressive. The league splits in two after 14 games and I'd be delighted if we can keep ourselves in the top half when that time comes.

 

Star Player - Jose Jesus Pinero (21B)

The first time an academy player has taken the mid season star player award. Jose has racked up a mightily impressive 2 goals and 7 assists in his first 9 starts for the club. His personality being Mercenary coupled with him not been interested in signing semi-pro terms at the moment is a little worrying, but there hasn't been any interest in him so far.

 

Around Europe

• Business as usual in Spain with an unbeaten Barcelona leading the way from Real Madrid. Always like to see Athletic Club doing well with their Basque only policy so good to see them leading the chasing pack in third.
• After sixth and fourth place finishes, A Jadon Sancho inspired Chelsea have stormed away in the Premier League and are seven clear of Man City winning 17 of their 20 games so far. A tough season for Crystal Palace, who are currently cut adrift at the bottom with just 7 points.
• PSG, Juventus, Celtic and Ajax all have comfortable leads at the top of their respective divisions, as do Bayern who are looking to win back their title from Dortmund.
• There is unusual activity in N.Ireland and Wales, with regular top dogs Linfield and TNS both in second place chasing Larne and Gap Connah's Quay respectively. Neither Larne nor Connah's Quay have won a domestic title before, and with TNS winning the last 10 in a row it would be a major shock to see them knocked off their perch so early in the save.

 

[Lanvigator]

A golden generation you say? No positional weaknesses either.. looks promising.

[Lanvigator]

In 23 years of playing FM I've never had 4 players sent off in one game before. We actually conceded the first goal with 11 on the pitch, and the second straight after the first red from the resulting penalty. It seems we play better with 10, 9, 8 and 7 after all..

[Lanvigator]

5 games left and it's very much all to play for at the top..

[Lanvigator]

Youth Intake 2022

Well hello gold CA stars! My HOYD wasn't wrong about a relative golden generation and there's definitely some talent in here.

Already better than our starting left back and I'll be throwing him straight in the deepend for the remaining games.

Our starting goalkeeper is Xavier Lopez, who as well as being with the club since the start of the save is also probably our best player ability wise. Sanchez is a fair way off him but already better than our current number 2.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

Season Review 2021-22

A mixed bag of results but generally more green that red. 4 wins from 6 after the split reaffirmed my belief we performed better against the stronger sides throughout the season.

Whilst finishing second and qualifying for Europe in my first season in the top flight despite being huge favourite to go down is incredible, I can't help but think it could and should have been more. We went toe to toe with the established top two all season but looking at our results against the lesser sides gives more insight into where we need to improve. Just 9 points from a possible 24 against the bottom four teams, including just 1 from bottom club Penya Encarnada is where we lost the title in the end.

A cup win gives us our first 'major' domestic trophy of the save! We had favourable home draws all the way, with the 1-0 in the final against U.E Santa Coloma in the final a lot more comfortable than it appeared. We also got £12,000 prize money for winning the final, which although doesn't look a lot keeps us out of the red before we enter Europe next season for the first time.

Adrian Pena 21k - Ricardo Vila 20h - Jose Jesus Pinero 21b

I didn't bring Adrian Pena into the team until just before Christmas but when I did he just couldn't stop scoring. 17 goals in 14 games including 7 in the cup coupled with an average rating of 7.77 was a terrific return. Unfortunately due to our low reputation half of Andorra are now interested in him, even the Second Division teams and one non-league side!

Andorran Teams in Europe

Sant Julia

Not a good showing with a just a win over Tre Penne of San Marino to show for their efforts.

FC Santa Coloma

Poor, although Larne did romp to their first ever league title led by a young English striker who could quite easily play in League One.

FS Massana

I didn't expect much from FS Massana being a Second Division side and they still managed to disappoint.

 

Around Europe

• Another 100+ point, unbeaten season for Barcelona in Spain. It was all too much for the powers that be at Real Madrid, who sacked Carlo Ancelotti despite finishing the season with 97 points! Tough crowd.
• Chelsea win their first Premier League title since 2017. They were so far in front they decided to lose their last four games and still win the league by 4 points. Bristol City, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace are relegated, the latter only managing a miserable 16 points.
• Bayern win back their title in Germany, an impressive 88 point haul putting them 8 ahead of Dortmund. Wolfsburg's 24 year stay in the Bundesliga ended as they went down bottom with just 20 points.
• Juventus, Celtic, Ajax, Porto, TNS and PSG all retained their titles. Other than Juventus who have been unpredicatable, I'm not sure the other 5 are going to stop at any point in the next decade.
• As mentioned further up Larne dethroned Linfield to win their first ever top flight title. They ended up romping home by an impressive 19 points, though spearheaded by this guy it's hardly surprising 

 

I'd totally forgotten about FC Andorra who play in the Spanish league system until this season. I'd only had La Liga active so far, but I've added the second and third tier (where FC Andorra currently are) from next season to see how they get on.

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Lanvigator]

Isidro Rodriguez, the star behind our rise up the Andorran football pyramid has opted to retire. I'm disappointed he didn't stick around for one crack at European football (he was and would still have been our starting CM), but I am glad he finished the final season of career with a cup winners medal.

[Lanvigator]

I've got to be honest despite being fairly well versed in most European leagues this is a team I've never heard of and know nothing about. 

 

A quick bit of research tells me they're a Moldovan team, who in 2015 became only the second side to stop Sheriff winning the title there since 2001. They only have greyed out players, but they look better than my players so I expect a tough test here.

[Lanvigator]

A disappointing first foray into Europe. We threw the first game away conceding twice in injury time and had 63% of the ball and more shots in the second but kept getting caught on the break.

On the plus side the money from that little outing secured us another academy coaching upgrade.

[Lanvigator]

Pre Season 2022/23

Our first perfect pre season, albeit not against the strongest of opposition.

Nothing spectacular for us here, but what is interesting is the amount of sponsorship money coming in for Sant Julia, more than 10x FC Santa Coloma and 20x the rest of the division. Now I'm not sure what's caused it, so started by looking at reputation..

Nope, they're not even the most reputable club in Andorra. I'm not sure what's given them such a boost, but it's promising and hopefully something we can aim for going forward. We're finally higher up the rep rankings than all the Second Division sides (albeit still below all the Premier League teams still) so I'm hoping they'll now stop trying to poach my first time players.

The bookies weren't even slightly impressed by our strong season last term, putting us at even longer odds of winning the title this time around.

No need to expand the stadium any time soon.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Lanvigator

[Sheriff7]

They (Milsami) had some good results in Europe.Especially season  2015/2016

Edited April 25, 2020 by Sheriff7

[Lanvigator]

Four international call ups is a new record for us.

A quick look around the national side throws up something quite interesting.

Far and away the best Andorran footballer in the game. What is interesting about him is that he came through Villarreal's academy rather than a side with any links to Andorra, which gives me hope the national team can improve going forward.

[Lanvigator]

Mid Season Review - 2022/23

 

We started off the season by beating FC Santa Coloma in the Super Cup. I'm not too bothered about this competition in the long term, the only goal I have with it is to overtake FC Santa Coloma's record of 9 wins.

Unbeaten up until New Years eve, a particularly fruitful October and November flanked by mixed form in September and December. I really didn't see such a poor performance against Engordany coming, they played a fantastic counter attacking game and we came up more than a little short. I do wonder if we'll see more sides park the bus and try and hit us on the break as our reputation climbs, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

We're top going into 2023, but it certainly isn't comfortable with our nearest challengers just 3 points behind. We don't have the best form in January in previous years, but hopefully we can break that little curse this season and kick on from here.

 

Star Player - Adrian Pena 21k

Adrian is here for the second season in a row. Despite only scoring 6 in 12 he's averaging a very impressive 7.38 and has 3 MOTM awards. It seems the powers that be also agree..

The first time one of our players has won an award that until now I wasn't aware of. Hopefully we'll win a few more in the future.

 

Around Europe

• Real Madrid are out in front in La Liga for the first time in this save, with Barcelona 5 points behind. F.C. Andorra have made it into the second tier after promotion last season, but unfortunately are next to bottom and look like going back down.
• Man City are looking dominant in England with only Man City and Liverpool having any realistic hope of stopping them winning back their crown. Chelsea haven't managed to follow up their title winning season and sit in 4th. None of the bottom three have even managed to get 10 points on the board, with Norwich (6), Fulham (8) and Huddersfield (9) all looking certainties for the drop.
• Dortmund are back at the top of the Bundesliga with Bayern surprisingly down in third.
• This is not a drill! PSG are not top of Ligue 1. They are level with Lyon though and it wouldn't at all surprise me to see them overtake them sooner rather than later.
• Take a moment to feel sorry for Queen of the South, who are currently bottom of the SPL with 0 points from their first 14 games.

[Lanvigator]

Another golden generation..

[Lanvigator]

With clear disregard for my mid season review where I banished them to relegation, Fulham, Norwich and Huddersfield have all gone on terrific runs of form to climb out of the bottom three despite none of them having 10 points at the turn of the year.

[Lanvigator]

Youth Intake 2023

More gold stars is always good, there's one clear stand out here.

He's very good for our level. I think he'll be going straight into the starting 11 next season.

Needs a little work but I'm optimistic he can contribute.

[Lanvigator]

Season Review - 2022/23

We were very prolific in the second half of the season, hitting 4 goals or more on 5 occasions. Our form fell off a cliff at the end of the season, but there is a reason for that...

We won our first Premier Division title with 3 games to spare! I put some young lads in for the last 3 games to give them some first team experience and the better sides in the league took advantage and we got deserved beatings.

This was annoying, and prevented our first domestic treble. Morale dropped from the league defeats and bringing my first team players back couldn't change it. Inter d'Escaldes are a second division side and I'd much rather it was Engordany taking the final European spot next season.

Adrian Pena 21k - Vicente Montesdeoca 22h - Jose Jesus Pinero 21b

A tale of two strikers really. When I lost Pena for 8 weeks just after Christmas I was convinced the season was over, but Montesdeoca came in with an impressive contribution of 9 goals in 7 games (including 8 in his first 2!)

 

Andorran Teams in Europe

F.C. Santa Coloma

Now this is a European run! Santa Coloma made up for my disappointing showing by getting within one goal of a group stage appearance. We'll be taking their place in the CL next season and I'd be more than happy with a run like this.

Sant Julia

Sant Julia also made it though a qualifying round before being soundly beaten by the much stronger Czech outfit.

Casa Benfica

A poor showing not dissimilar to our own, Casa also finished rock bottom of the league and will be back in the Second Division next season.

 

Around Europe

• Real Madrid had a season to remember managing a mightily impressive 102 points to win their first La Liga title for 6 years with Barcelona just 4 points behind.
• Man City regained the Premier League title for the first time since 2020. Norwich, Southampton and Fulham were relegated and will be replaced by West Brom, Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.
• A shock in Italy as Lazio pip Juventus to win their first title for 23 years.
• Dortmund are back on top in Germany, winning the title by a staggering 16 points. Bayern finish second on just 68 and must be hoping one of Erling Haaland's raft of admirers offers enough to prize him away from Dortmund next term.
• A ridiculous second half of the season means PSG go from second place at Christmas to winning the title by 20 points.
• Celtic win their 12th title in a row with Rangers way down in fourth behind Aberdeen and surprise package Hamilton Academical.

[Lanvigator]

We were a 91st minute goal away from taking Steaua Bucharest to extra time in the Conference League playoff game.

We have now £1.3m in the bank which has allowed me to get another academy coaching upgrade past the board. Annoyingly, they keep denying me any facility upgrades and won't improve the youth recruitment either.

Despite us being the third reputable club the bookies have us at even longer odds to win the league. If I was a betting man I'd definitely be having a tipple on the defending champions at 150/1!