The FM22 Youth Academy Challenge

[WhiteCat33]

8 hours ago, BrightLad5 said:

It definitely puts the challenge into perspective and I'm looking forward to it!

On a side note, would people here say that it is more challenging starting with a team in a big city with lots of clubs soaking up the youth (e.g London) or more of a challenge in an area with less population and overall less youth players available (somewhere like Cornwall for example) On the face of it I would expect more of a challenge in the more rural area, but I can also imagine that any half decent youth prospects from a London based non-league team will be swiftly snapped up by Arsenal/Chelsea/Spurs instead of joining your teams academy...

In my experience its more challenging if you choose a rural club when playing in nations like England especially if you play on a Level 10/11 database. While the intakes at low levels will always get the random foreigners who get assigned to clubs, when you're in a bigger city there are just more players that are generated every year and it doesn't require any Youth Recruitment to get access to them. Sure you'll get the worst players available in the city, but when you play in a village like Knowsley like I did in the tier 11 database your intakes probably have all the town youth and can vary wildly in quality.

The other big difference is your attendance & just general income will be a lower for a rural club, which can make the lower leagues more difficult.

Playing in tiny nations like Malta its basically irrelevant as you become the best club in the country fairly quickly (7 years for me) so you just get the best talent generated regardless how tiny your town is.

[Neo_Geo]

@WhiteCat33 you've tempted me to run Malta in parallel (started season 14 now at Katwijk and managed to escape the summer window without losing any further players so I go again, but even just to see my manager with a change of suit I'm going to start up a second game)

Did you holiday a year then pick the lowest team or did you just go with the team predicted to finish last?

[WhiteCat33]

@Neo_Geo You should! It's an amazingly put together database. The 3rd tier is the "National Amateur League" which is divided into an A & B, so I simulated a year and chose one of the two bottom placed teams. If you want to make the challenge insanely difficult you can choose a team from the GFA 2nd division, which is a a parallel league for the smaller island. The only way you can get into Continental competition from that league is by winning the Malta FA Trophy to get the lowest entry into the EC2. I wasn't that brave...

Season is pretty quick here, especially now that only the Fall matters with Continental matches. I'll be interested to see how your intakes are, after playing in St Vincent I thought the quality in Malta would be similar but its been a lot better.

[Neo_Geo]

1 minute ago, WhiteCat33 said:

@Neo_Geo You should! It's an amazingly put together database. The 3rd tier is the "National Amateur League" which is divided into an A & B, so I simulated a year and chose one of the two bottom placed teams. If you want to make the challenge insanely difficult you can choose a team from the GFA 2nd division, which is a a parallel league for the smaller island. The only way you can get into Continental competition from that league is by winning the Malta FA Trophy to get the lowest entry into the EC2. I wasn't that brave...

Season is pretty quick here, especially now that only the Fall matters with Continental matches. I'll be interested to see how your intakes are, after playing in St Vincent I thought the quality in Malta would be similar but its been a lot better.

Thanks for the heads up on that, the GFA leagues confused me a little.

Looking forward to a change of pace, will holiday a new save tomorrow 

[Daddy]

After one day on my journeyman save I already missed this challenge. This time I was able to get Horsham to load up. I had previously mentioned wanting to use Horsham as the township in Pennsylvania is where I've spent most of my life. Since US has dumb rules and I can't do the challenge here, this is a good substitute. 

Not great facilities and even worse is the new stadium they're building has a monthly loan payment to deal with.

Data:

I've decided to take some of the spreadsheet info you all collect and start collecting things I fine interesting as well to share.

I had toyed with this before but it was a bit annoying, if it becomes annoying again it'll disappear from my posts.

things I already noticed after pasting these here, Season is missing from the facilities one, and it should be 2021-22 for the season. I'll have that cleaner next post.

2022-23 Season Preview:

These were in a kit pack I downloaded. I'll make my own next season probably.

The expectations are high enough, and the players I inherited are good enough that I'm not worried about relegation. I'll know more where the team fits in the league by the midseason. 

[Makoto Nakamura]

2024 Youth Candidates

Still dreadful. 

 

[BrightLad5]

9 hours ago, WhiteCat33 said:

In my experience its more challenging if you choose a rural club when playing in nations like England especially if you play on a Level 10/11 database. While the intakes at low levels will always get the random foreigners who get assigned to clubs, when you're in a bigger city there are just more players that are generated every year and it doesn't require any Youth Recruitment to get access to them. Sure you'll get the worst players available in the city, but when you play in a village like Knowsley like I did in the tier 11 database your intakes probably have all the town youth and can vary wildly in quality.

The other big difference is your attendance & just general income will be a lower for a rural club, which can make the lower leagues more difficult.

Playing in tiny nations like Malta its basically irrelevant as you become the best club in the country fairly quickly (7 years for me) so you just get the best talent generated regardless how tiny your town is.

Yeah this makes sense, particularly with the attendance and income which will be higher in London for example. I was thinking of going with Hanwell Town. They are a team that are based in Ealing in London, only a couple miles walk from Wembley Stadium. Founded over 100 years ago by some railway workers from Newcastle and they have kept that those links to Newcastle to this day. Black and White kits, call themselves The Geordies and Hanwell Toon  that kind of thing. They also have a strong youth development policy IRL with dozens of youth teams at all different levels.

Now though, I'm not so sure if I want to as being out in the rural area would add a different element of difficulty I guess. Hmm I'll keep looking at other options ad see if any others resonate with me more before I dive in!!

[Makoto Nakamura]

2024 End of Season Review

Four different groups of teams here, Tarvastu were easily the best team and deserved promotion, Tallinna Olympic (lost in the promotion playoffs) Kose, Eston Villa (Great name) and ourselves were the second group of teams and we've definitely overperformed so it was great for u to finish with a nine point gap over Tarvas who start the next group of teams with Zapoos, Teleios, Zenit Tallinn (another great name) and Tulevik U21 before we get to Viimsi Lovid & Tulevik III who were pretty useless.

Going with the great names though, in the Estonian III Liiga South there's a team called Maardu Aliens! And in the III Liiga West there's JK Poseidon.  

2023 Best XI

Martin Savitski (YP1p)

Sander Pärn (YP1f) - Sergei Poom (YP1j) - Pavel Pareiko - Peter Zajac

Nikita Smirnov - Beslan Bocharov (YP1m)

Pavel Matyushenko                                                    Jüri Mets (YP2g)

 

Lauri Mihhailov (YP1n) - Kristofer Kütt (YP1a)

[Neo_Geo]

 

Santa Venera Lightnings FC

Simply couldn't resist a complete different type of save so I have taken over the Maltese side Santa Venera Lightnings FC who finished bottom of the Bank of Valletta National Amateur League Group B

Let's go!

Edited August 16, 2022 by Neo_Geo

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

 

Survivals FC - End of Season - 2034

Squad | SLFA First Division | Transfers | Pernal Williams 30A | Romiel Lawrence 27B | Jonay Fernandez 31D

A solid season all around, won the league and CCC for the 10th and 5th consecutive times respectfully. Unfortunately, Eden Janvier 30B finally got fed up of us rejecting minimal bids from oil-rich sides and he's set to leave on a free at the end of next season. Even though he's our best midfielder by CA, his performances are beginning to drop and we are very deep in that position. The loss to SKC to knock us out of the NACL was our only loss all year other than a freak 1-0 defeat at home to AC Port of Spain after winning the first leg on the road 4-0. Hopefully a run in the NACL next season will win us enough money to upgrade the facilities again.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2025 Youth Candidates

There's no money to improve anything so it's a 4th season of everyone being at the same level.

[XaW]

   

XaW - Hyde - Season 2025/26 - Vanarama National League North

Squad | Transfers | Finances

A clear improvement this season. It started a bit slow, but we found some form towards the latter part and eventually sneaked into the final playoff spot. We managed to get past Kidderminster Harriers, but lost to York City in the semi final. Things are slowly looking better though, so hopefully we can go up soon.

FA Cup: We beat Stratford Town, Biggleswade Town, and Curzon Ashton before losing to Middlesbrough in the 1st round. 
FA Trophy:  We lost to Brackley Town in the 2nd round.

U18 team:

They finished 2nd in the National U18 League North West. In the FA Youth Cup they beat Nuneaton before losing to Ramsbottom United in the 2nd qualifying round.

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

N/A

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Apps
-------------------------------------------------------------
Robbie Brown 23f	England		Scotland	135
Fraser Bickerdike 23h	England		None		132
Joe Swinglehurst 24e	England		None		91
Zach Hubbard-Morton 24c	England		None		76
Kirk McGivern 25c	England		None		56

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Goals
-------------------------------------------------------------
Philip Brown 25b	Scotland	None		24
Joe Swinglehurst 24e	England		None		15
Robbie Brown 23f	England		Scotland	8
Michael Morton 25d	England		Ireland		4
Fraser Bickerdike 23h	England		None		3

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Assists
-------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Swinglehurst 24e	England		None		11
Fraser Bickerdike 23h	England		None		9
Robbie Brown 23f	England		Scotland	7
Philip Brown 25b	Scotland	None		7
Kirk McGivern 25c	England		None		6

[dcayton9]

America De Natal: 2031 Season Review

Cups: Another Potiguar win! Hoorah! (sarcastically) Aside from this, we reached the quarterfinals of Copa Nordeste though we weren't really trying. We also went out in the third round of the Copa Brazil to a much stronger Santos. We really had no chance there.

Serie A: We survived! By no means was it easy but thanks to a fantastic start we stayed up. In fact, we picked up about one-third of our 41 points in the first 7 games before fighting arduously through the final 31 to secure survival. We successfully set up a low block with less emphasis on pressing, which destroyed many of our player ratings but got results. We finished in the final spot for continental qualification for the Copa Sudamericana, so we will get our first taste of continental football next season! 

Facilities: No upgrades to speak of even though we sat with about three million in the bank all season. This indicates that the next level of upgrades will cost about that much, so until any major player sales go through, our level probably won't raise.

Squad: A little digression on the state of my squad. My players that are left from the first few intakes are starting to hit their primes, and while this should be good, the harsh reality is that they are mostly mediocre to good Serie B level players. However, they still are currently better than the prospects below them, all of whom have Serie A potential. This means to develop the prospects, I'll need to play the starters less but also continue to get results in Serie A. I can't afford a relegation, but thankfully the Copa Sudamericana will offer more opportunities to play youngsters and hopefully develop them to starting quality through the course of this season. We will reassess next season and hopefully move on, but also the fringes of the first team are becoming bloated with mediocre prospects that no one wants to take on loan but are under contract for a season or two longer. I need a good cleanup and to streamline my pathway to the first team for the brightest prospects and hopefully I can work on that next season.

Youth Intake: I already touched on it in a prior post, but our youth intake was incredible! Marco Ebert, new HoYD is doing big things already!

Three Stars:

• 2031 Player of the Year, Janiel 07A: Making a home on the right side of midfield, Janiel 07A brings defensive security and attacking thrust to his flank, ending the season with our squad's highest average rating and evaluated as a 4.5 star player. He's a complete midfielder and next year he'll likely make a move to the fabled CM(attack) spot. He's wanted by the top clubs of Brazil however, so that will be contingent on us keeping him. He did this all at 18 years old also and he has all the makings of a real wonderkid, which is funny as I wasn't particularly excited about him as a top prospect for the intake just three seasons ago.

• 2031 Breakthrough Player, Francisco: My own Joao Cancelo, Francisco is a perfect utility player able to cover at right and left back, with the skillset of a midfielder. I wish my squad was strong enough to use an inverted wingback, as he would play excellently there. We're working on his defensive attributes but he's one of the bright spots of my future team, and also one of my only foreign players, being Brazilian-Italian but opting to play for Italy U-20.

• 2031 Hot Prospect, Janderson Lenylthon 10A: I hadn't labeled him when I took this screenshot but Janderson Lenylthon is by far the best player I've received in an intake during this save. He has what it takes to become the creative centerpiece of the side and hopefully work in tandem with Janiel (if he doesn't leave) sooner rather than later. His physical attributes are great for a 15 year old and the technicals are too. I can see him locking down a starting role by 17 if he develops as expected.

Looking Ahead: As I mentioned on my squad section, next year will be about player development and survival, as I expect another hard season. My squad isn't hugely better so we're hoping for that improvement soon. The future is bright however, and locking ourselves in as a Serie A mainstay, is the next step to eventual challenge success!

 

[Anners]

Bonnyrigg Rose - Scottish League 2 - 2022/23 Introduction/Season Report

After a fair few resets before the playoffs (incredibly difficult not to get Brora/Spartans/East Kilbride/East Stirlingshire/Berwick), Bonnyrigg Rose are the favoured club (who actually got promoted through the playoffs in 21/22 in real life). The Rosey Posey, as they're known, are based just outside Edinburgh and this is the first time they have been present in the SPFL.

 

League - Cups (LC Table)

Scottish League 2:
We only had about a 16 man squad, but I was fairly disappointed we weren't able to challenge for the playoffs. We were expected mid-table and that's where we got, so it wasn't an awful season but just a bit meh.

Cup Competitions:
I'll condense the 3 cup competitions as it's a bit easier rather than showing so many screenshots. The League Cup was the first competition and we were actually unlucky to not get through. It was 9 points that was needed, so we just missed out. The only real disappointing game we played was in the Challenge Cup v Brora, but this wasn't a hugely important competition. In the Scottish Cup, we went out to Premiership side Livingston which was to be expected. Overall, quite happy with how the cups went altogether.


Youth Intake:

Overall, pretty decent. We get to fill out our squad a bit more and very much thankful for some more central midfielders. Highlight is Jim Smith, with not many others having the quality and good mentality to go together.

History & Facilities:

Quote

 

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Got a relatively easy draw this year. AC PoS are a Carribean side we beat last year in the CCC semifinals, CF Montreal have not finished in the top 2 in the MLS ever, and Monterrey have not won the Liga MX for a decade. That being said, we actually didn't concede a goal in the whole stage.

So that all set up a quarterfinal draw against Chivas, the current title holders. I expected our run to end there, especially after being dominated in the away leg. But the 2 goals we managed to pick up came in handy when we shocked them at home to win 4-2 ourselves, very much against the run of play. A victorious penalty shootout sent us into the quarterfinals in which we drew the weakest team left, Alajuelense from Coasta Rica, avoiding Colombus and Cruz Azul.

In a narrow match, we stole two goals, including a set piece, to put ourselves in a great position going into the second leg. However, once they leveled up the aggregate score in the first 12 minutes, and took a goal advantage into halftime, I was concerned. We were outplayed pretty heavily to that point, but a triple sub and tactical change at half kept things close until Romiel Lawrence 27B scored an 87th minute penalty to level up the score and send it into extra time, where we turned the tables on them, outplayed them, and got an 117th minute winner from Jonay Ferdandez 31D, probably the worst player on the field on paper.

We had already netted 2.2M from prize money in addition to gate receipts, and we're guarenteed another 1M if we lose the finals, and 5M if we win (plus completion of the challenge by 2035, which would be incredible). However, standing in our way was Cruz Azul, who beat Columbus 7-0 on aggregate in the semis and have won 5 of the last 6 NACLs. It was a Herculean task to say the least. Our path to victory had to be losing the xG battle, but keeping things close to steal a goal or two and limit their chances. We got the home draw, so anything can happen...

Spoiler

But it was not to be, we kept things close and scored a corner goal while catching them offsides on two disallowed goals, but we were by far the worse team here. Hoping in future runs someone can knock Cruz Azul out before we have to face them.

 

[V50]

2 hours ago, The_Gato_In_Goal said:

Got a relatively easy draw this year. AC PoS are a Carribean side we beat last year in the CCC semifinals, CF Montreal have not finished in the top 2 in the MLS ever, and Monterrey have not won the Liga MX for a decade. That being said, we actually didn't concede a goal in the whole stage.

So that all set up a quarterfinal draw against Chivas, the current title holders. I expected our run to end there, especially after being dominated in the away leg. But the 2 goals we managed to pick up came in handy when we shocked them at home to win 4-2 ourselves, very much against the run of play. A victorious penalty shootout sent us into the quarterfinals in which we drew the weakest team left, Alajuelense from Coasta Rica, avoiding Colombus and Cruz Azul.

In a narrow match, we stole two goals, including a set piece, to put ourselves in a great position going into the second leg. However, once they leveled up the aggregate score in the first 12 minutes, and took a goal advantage into halftime, I was concerned. We were outplayed pretty heavily to that point, but a triple sub and tactical change at half kept things close until Romiel Lawrence 27B scored an 87th minute penalty to level up the score and send it into extra time, where we turned the tables on them, outplayed them, and got an 117th minute winner from Jonay Ferdandez 31D, probably the worst player on the field on paper.

We had already netted 2.2M from prize money in addition to gate receipts, and we're guarenteed another 1M if we lose the finals, and 5M if we win (plus completion of the challenge by 2035, which would be incredible). However, standing in our way was Cruz Azul, who beat Columbus 7-0 on aggregate in the semis and have won 5 of the last 6 NACLs. It was a Herculean task to say the least. Our path to victory had to be losing the xG battle, but keeping things close to steal a goal or two and limit their chances. We got the home draw, so anything can happen...

  Hide contents

But it was not to be, we kept things close and scored a corner goal while catching them offsides on two disallowed goals, but we were by far the worse team here. Hoping in future runs someone can knock Cruz Azul out before we have to face them.

 

Amazing stuff. Shocked about how good the Saint Lucian prospects are. Would love to know their CA and PA.

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

45 minutes ago, V50 said:

Amazing stuff. Shocked about how good the Saint Lucian prospects are. Would love to know their CA and PA.

I'm planning on doing an entire squad review during the post for this coming intake. It's not a fluke that we're able to go into the knockouts, the players are legitimately talented. Also planning on checking CA/PA after I finish the save, mostly to see how many of the players joined the club when their CA was nearly at their PA.

[libbyshuss]

Croatia

Division 2

2034/35 (season 13)

Season Summary

Croatia is driving me nuts! 12 teams in division 2, only the champions get promoted, and i keep finishing second!!!!

I didn't fancy our chances much this season after the board sold my best two players out from under me over the summer but we actually starte pretty well. we still suffered a little from inconsistency but this was the one season in years that a single team wasn't running away with it giving us a real title battle for once.

Four games to play and the table looked like this:-

We had to play Junak away and the final game was home to Gorica......

The Junak game was mad, we lost it 5-3, and the table going into the final game looked like this:-

It was us at home to Gorica in a winner takes all game!!!!

which we lost 3-2.......

 

Players

You can see where my problem is. I got a good striker now, a good midfield, but a godawful defence. 

Nezir Nurkic 32A has already announced he wants to move to a bigger club. He's got two years on his contract though so I'll try and hold on to him if I can. But this board are happy to sell anyone fr a bag of frazzles and a panda pop so I'll be amazed if we do start the new season with him

 

Youth

We are still getting crazy youth intakes though! this is the first intake after we spent 500k upgrading our youth facilities. very nice!

 

 

Career

I'm determined to get out of this division! I can't believe I'm still stuck here! it's ridiculous! and as frustrating as it is, i'm still enjoying this save.

I've finished 2nd SEVEN TIMES!!!!!

 

 

[XaW]

This finish!

[WhiteCat33]

Mellieha Sports Club

Season 11 2032 – 33 Malta Premier League

Competitions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Continental Qualification

What a qualification campaign! Yes we got a good draw with an Albanian club first. Then getting knocked down by Sweedish IFK wasn't too shocking, but after that we did fantastic. Sarajevo have a lot of talent as they hold onto a lot of the B-H national team players and to shut them out completely shows how our defense has developed. Then Qarabag from Azerbaijan likes to pick up a lot of seasoned internationals and showed it in that first match. We went down 2-0 in the first half and came back scoring 3 in the second half to win 3-2! We kept it going when we flew all the way to them, and we get our first Euro Cup Group stage.

Euro Cup: Table

We did better than the results suggest. The first two matches we were even with Anderlecht and Rosenborg, but their talent showed as they scored their few chances. Lyon were just better than us, no question there and that last match against Anderlecht was the only one where we just weren't in the game. Again average age of the team is still 18 so this is all just experience and funds for the team.

Youth Academy

Youth Intake Preview 

Youth Intake – And here’s the dip in quality I anticipated. Year 1 of his recruitment and it’s a lot of Unambitious in the top talents.

Our one elite talent is a high potential either-footed CM. He will have to develop significantly in the U19’s to challenge for spots

We actually got a Left Wingback (I’ve been using all RBs thus far), perk of him having a 5-3-2 formation is we get the attacking FBs I’m looking for in my system. Shame he’s unambitious, right footed and low potential, but if my HOYD can bring in an Elite talent in this archetype I’ll be excited.

Star CM Players - I play with 3 CMs and a DM, so its amazing I've actually developed a full starting group!

Renzo Formosa 09b - In a bit of epic good luck my CM/DLP upgraded himself into a Model Citizen! He's actually not the best developing of my CMs, but that's because some of the others are just going crazy.

Brandon Salas 10b - My pure American player has been developing really well in the youth squad this year. He's still only 16 so I've got lots of hope for him. During Euro Cup congestion he got lots of starts in the domestic league.

Antonello Bonnici 08b probably played his last season as he won't sign a new deal. Interestingly no one bid his fee release clause of 105k so maybe he'll change his mind and sign a new deal? Would love to keep him.

Frank Formosa 09d - He has been constantly getting the 'good development; inbox messages and has really been excellent for us this year. I usually play him as my center holding CM.

Jullian Azzopardi 08a - The only one who hasn't been developing as he's Unambitious, but he started with such good mentals and shooting that he's been the best scoring of the midfielders usually playing CM(R).

Honorable Mention

Brian Baah 09c is our sub. Even with awful consistency he is a good sub for us.

 

Club Infrastructure

As we had another group stage coming I decided to upgrade my Training Facilities

 

Thoughts

We've still held onto everybody this season, with all but 1 set up on good long contracts. 2 more years of development and maybe we can start winning matches in the Group Stage? All depends if I can hold onto players. 

[Daddy]

2022/23 Midseason Review:

Started out very fast but then settled down in a very respectable top third team. I think we'll remain in the hunt for a playoff spot, but I don't think it's very likely to make it out this season. The teams above us pretty much beat us.

Intake Preview:

I don't expect many great intakes for a while. Right now I'm just looking to fill out some squad depth and hoping for a few players with potential. 

[BigJack]

FC United -  2030/31

Competitions

Overview

League 2 - League Table

Overall I think it has been a pretty decent first season at this level. We lost our star CB in the summer and I thought that would really hit us hard but a 17th placed finish is a decent season for a team that as usual is predicted to finish bottom of the table. 

Carabao Cup - Knocked out in the 1st round by Chesterfield.

F.A Cup - Knocked out if the 1st round by Stockport.

Papa Johns Trophy - Knocked out in the group stages.

Playing Squad

Squad    Best 11    Transfers

Another of solid development of some very talented players. I really need to start developing one of our keepers now though as we have 3 who are all rated high potential and I have been neglecting them for some reason. Key men this season were:

Essien 25b

Puukka 28c

Hird 24e

Burke 28d

Unable to convince him to sign a new deal, we have had to sell Gannon 25c for £20k + 50% of his next sale. Its a blow as our 2nd choice LB isnt anywhere near his standard but his contract was up in 4 weeks time so it was a no brainer. 

Youth Development

 

Intake

Our best intake for a few years and we have a real gem in Alcock 31a. Only issue is I am not sure exactly where to develop him. I could do with him in the middle of the park but I also think he would make a really good AMC. Aire 31b became the Clubs and League Two's youngest ever scorer with a goal on his debut. The intake has really added some potential depth to the squad and I think we have a good enough squad now to kick on and push for a top half finish over the next season or 2.

Alcock 31a

Aire 31b

Smith 31c

Finances and Facilities

Finances    Facilities

Our worst year yet financially and this is due to our youth set up costing us £199k a month which is too much for us, added to this being our first year as a professional club and we had to upgrade every bodies contracts etc.

[Neo_Geo]

Santa Venera Lightnings FC Season 1 Mid-Season Review

Unreal start to my tenure in Malta, breaking our biggest win record for the first competitive match with a 6-0 win!

Currently unbeaten in the league, in the Amateur Cup semi final (qualifying for the FA Trophy as a result).

This was all with losing my 4.5 star goalkeeper within the first month (got to love non contracts!)

I'd imagine at this level the Youth Intake Preview has even less significance however the fact one of the top prospects is a keeper is good as my current keeper  only has the silver star current ability

My formation isn't too dissimilar from Katwijk apart from playing more direct with an emphasis on counter attack (I originally started with my a flat 4-4-2 but my Japanese midfield performs far better as an AMC)

With 3 months worth of Friendlies and the interesting league and cup setup this is a really enjoyable save so far!

[DazRTaylor]

Relax folks, I am back.  I have found an Adorran database that includes their third tier.  Very excited.  New save incoming.

[DazRTaylor]

I have holidayed for a season and taken over at Sporting Club d'Escaldes, who finished bottom of their division.  This should prove quite a challenge, as we start in the third tier and we do not have a youth academy.

Club Introduction

Sporting Club d'Escaldes

The Manager

This is me.

Personal Coaching Data

Season    Reputation           Qualifications     Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start  Minimal   (0.25*)    None                 1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Poor                 Poor              Basic                 None             None               Obscure   (0.50*)

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                         Position               Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Haul

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

Trophy Cabinet

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



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

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     Copa Constitució                    Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Appearances (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Appearances
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Goal Scorer (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Assists (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Assists
-----------------------------------------------------------------

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

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Clean Sheets
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by DazRTaylor

[Neo_Geo]

Good luck @DazRTaylor

[dcayton9]

First day of the new transfer window and my player of the season is gone like that...

I had been working on convincing him to sign a new contract for about a season but because of the constant interest he wouldn't budge. His release clause was minuscule due to him still being on his first full time contract and I couldn't even raise it. However, it is still the most money up front that I've received for a transfer and should push my balance to the point that I can afford a facility upgrade!

 

[XaW]

I'm not sure how long I can keep Robbie Brown 23f.... According to the coaches he is good enough for League Two...

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

 

Survivals FC - Youth Intake and Mid-Season Analysis - 2035

Here we go a squad review (for the 4-2-3-1 I play) followed by a mediocre intake:

GK

Definitely the weakest part of our squad, although one of the new youths in this intake will be our starter going forward. Alexander Duncan 28A has underperformed his entire career, but holds the Survivals appearance record anyways since we had no other options until last year, when Caniggia Anderson 33I took his chance after Duncan got injured.

Spoiler

LB

Iran Janvier 28L is a solid starter, and his development really kicked off in his 20-21 age years. Before then, I thought we were going to have to replace him soon, but he’s settled into the role nicely. Jevick Joseph 32B provides cover and starts most league matches, and apparently has some more potential according to my staff.

Spoiler

LCB

Romiel Jones 31B is our most talented defender, even though he has already hit his PA. A bit on the slow side, but he has solid mental and decent technical skills, along with a Resolute personality. His backup is Melanius Cassius 30F, who has really improved since being promoted from the reserves. He will never been good enough to start, but is a serviceable backup.

Spoiler

RCB

Aside from the GKs, this is the weakest position in our side. Eden Fevrier 28M is more suited for a backup role, but starts due to lack of better options. Francis President 29H backs up him (altho has an arguement to start) and the RB position. And I recently called up John Perry Prospere 32G from the reserves since much of the first team was complaining about lack of defensive depth.

Spoiler

RB

From weakness to strength, Luis Alberto 33A is a star and one of the best players in our team. Currently on international duty with the Spain U19s, I had to promise him youth development to keep him happy over bids from the Middle East. Bologna were interested too at one point, but that faded. He’s under contract for 4 more seasons, so I get to keep him for at least then. Sherqwayne McDonald 28N backs up this spot and covers at LB.

Spoiler

MEZ

The midfield is our deepest part of the roster. The starter here is Eden Janvier 30B, who is set to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season. We won’t miss him too much, since Roman Prospere 33B is ready to push into the first team. Giovanni Bellas 29A offers very strong coverage in this position, and as the SS and the IW on the right.

Spoiler

BWM

None of our midfielders are truly cut out to play as BWMs, but our results suffer when we don’t have a defensive-minded player in this slot. I’m keen to develop Zaine Emmanuel 34A, so I rotate him pretty evenly with Jackson Williams 29E.

Spoiler

IF

We don’t have an established starter here either. Jonay Fernandez 31D is not rated by my staff, but always scores goals (31 in 33 career starts) so I have trouble justifying dropping him. Josh Amedee 34D is a youngster I’d like to develop in this spot, but he’s not performing to the levels of the others. And Berkley Myers 29D typically starts on the wing since he’s the backup up front.

Spoiler

SS

Pernal Williams 30A is the starter, although he is having a down year performance-wise. The aforementioned Giovanni Bellas 29A is his primary backup, but Jamie Richard 33G can also step in.

Spoiler

IW

Antonius Duncan 34E is the perfect player for this role. He can cut in on his left and score goals for fun. Had 16 in 14 matches in the NACL. Alvinus Nathaniel 28C and Jamil Joseph 32I provide cover.

Spoiler

P

Romiel Lawrence 27B is the oldest player in the squad at 23, and has the overall performances to back it up. He’s specialized for the P role and has 165 career goals for the club. Berkley Myers 29D and Jonay Fernandez 31D can back him up.

Spoiler

 

And now the intake! A solid one if not spectacular this year with lots of good personalities. Vivian Joseph 35B can immediately step into goal and a few others can be reserve/backup players, and then Antonius Joseph 35A is the one with potential.

[fries]

Vanarama National League South 

2025/26 (season 6)

Season Summary

Great season. We managed to secure a playoff spot. We started the season great, and the playoff was never really in danger. In the end we managed to get a 6th place. And as you can see we managed to win the playoffs and promote to Vanarama National League next season.

I was quite lucky in the playoffs. In the first match against Dulwich Hamlet, I was dominated and lost clearly on shots and expected goals. However, in injury time, Bone-Calver scored a late winner.

In the semi-final against Chelmsford, Bone-Calver and Snodin scored to fast goals. Which was enough to win despite a large number of shots and xG against my team.

In the final, we were up against Gloucester. They scored a fast goal but we managed to equalize just before half-time. Not much happened in the rest of the game, until the penalty shoot-out. Two saves and four goals secured the win and promotion.

I also did well in the FA Trophy where we lost to Colchester in the semi finals.

 

Rogers and Wright have continued their development this season.

However, my best player is still an aging Grubb with 12 goals and 18 assists.

Another important player is my goalkeeper Walsh. He has a high average rating, 9 goals from penalties, and was important in the playoffs.

Cassar and Armstrong did well in the defense while the young forward Bone-Calver was my topscorer with just 13 goals.

My preview was great with 5 stars. All in positions where I could use more players. However, I would also really like a new left fullback and a left winger.

 

My intake was great. The best so far. A lot of players with potential, and some okay personalities. Snodin is a new starter on the left wing. He managed to score 2 goals in my last two playoff games. Jones is a great second choice right fullback, Siemieniec is my 3rd choice centre back, and Issahaku is my second choice left fullback. Issahaku can maybe become a starter next season. Also, Way and Warwick managed to get game time this season.

 

My youth team managed to win their league this season. However, my board will not upgrade the youth level.

We had no transfers this season. 

Finances and Upgrades

No major upgrades this season, but I managed to get the Continental Pro trainer licence. We still have financial problems and I still don't know how to solve that.

 

EDIT: Well, we expand the stadium due to league requirements. Not that it is necessary with more empty seats.

Edited August 17, 2022 by fries

[Daddy]

things aren't going well the second half

[V50]

4 hours ago, XaW said:

I'm not sure how long I can keep Robbie Brown 23f.... According to the coaches he is good enough for League Two...

That positioning is damn attractive. What a player for the conference. And 18 determination! Shame he accelerates like a lorry up a hill

[WhiteCat33]

4 hours ago, The_Gato_In_Goal said:

 

Survivals FC - Youth Intake and Mid-Season Analysis - 2035

Here we go a squad review (for the 4-2-3-1 I play) followed by a mediocre intake:

GK

Definitely the weakest part of our squad, although one of the new youths in this intake will be our starter going forward. Alexander Duncan 28A has underperformed his entire career, but holds the Survivals appearance record anyways since we had no other options until last year, when Caniggia Anderson 33I took his chance after Duncan got injured.

  Reveal hidden contents

LB

Iran Janvier 28L is a solid starter, and his development really kicked off in his 20-21 age years. Before then, I thought we were going to have to replace him soon, but he’s settled into the role nicely. Jevick Joseph 32B provides cover and starts most league matches, and apparently has some more potential according to my staff.

  Reveal hidden contents

LCB

Romiel Jones 31B is our most talented defender, even though he has already hit his PA. A bit on the slow side, but he has solid mental and decent technical skills, along with a Resolute personality. His backup is Melanius Cassius 30F, who has really improved since being promoted from the reserves. He will never been good enough to start, but is a serviceable backup.

  Reveal hidden contents

RCB

Aside from the GKs, this is the weakest position in our side. Eden Fevrier 28M is more suited for a backup role, but starts due to lack of better options. Francis President 29H backs up him (altho has an arguement to start) and the RB position. And I recently called up John Perry Prospere 32G from the reserves since much of the first team was complaining about lack of defensive depth.

  Reveal hidden contents

RB

From weakness to strength, Luis Alberto 33A is a star and one of the best players in our team. Currently on international duty with the Spain U19s, I had to promise him youth development to keep him happy over bids from the Middle East. Bologna were interested too at one point, but that faded. He’s under contract for 4 more seasons, so I get to keep him for at least then. Sherqwayne McDonald 28N backs up this spot and covers at LB.

  Reveal hidden contents

MEZ

The midfield is our deepest part of the roster. The starter here is Eden Janvier 30B, who is set to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season. We won’t miss him too much, since Roman Prospere 33B is ready to push into the first team. Giovanni Bellas 29A offers very strong coverage in this position, and as the SS and the IW on the right.

  Reveal hidden contents

BWM

None of our midfielders are truly cut out to play as BWMs, but our results suffer when we don’t have a defensive-minded player in this slot. I’m keen to develop Zaine Emmanuel 34A, so I rotate him pretty evenly with Jackson Williams 29E.

  Reveal hidden contents

IF

We don’t have an established starter here either. Jonay Fernandez 31D is not rated by my staff, but always scores goals (31 in 33 career starts) so I have trouble justifying dropping him. Josh Amedee 34D is a youngster I’d like to develop in this spot, but he’s not performing to the levels of the others. And Berkley Myers 29D typically starts on the wing since he’s the backup up front.

  Reveal hidden contents

SS

Pernal Williams 30A is the starter, although he is having a down year performance-wise. The aforementioned Giovanni Bellas 29A is his primary backup, but Jamie Richard 33G can also step in.

  Reveal hidden contents

IW

Antonius Duncan 34E is the perfect player for this role. He can cut in on his left and score goals for fun. Had 16 in 14 matches in the NACL. Alvinus Nathaniel 28C and Jamil Joseph 32I provide cover.

  Reveal hidden contents

P

Romiel Lawrence 27B is the oldest player in the squad at 23, and has the overall performances to back it up. He’s specialized for the P role and has 165 career goals for the club. Berkley Myers 29D and Jonay Fernandez 31D can back him up.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

And now the intake! A solid one if not spectacular this year with lots of good personalities. Vivian Joseph 35B can immediately step into goal and a few others can be reserve/backup players, and then Antonius Joseph 35A is the one with potential.

You've done amazing work getting so deep in the NACL already with your squad, I never could get the NACL to line up for me like your latest campaign did. Thanks for taking the time to show us your full squad, having that clinical of a striker is a godsend so early in the save. I can see him leading the line for you till he retires.

How much is your club spending per-year on the Youth Setup? In my save they never seemed to spend over $1M USD, whereas in Malta my club is already spending $1.78M and its climbing every year. 

[Neo_Geo]

Santa Venera Lightnings FC Season 1 (2022/23) Review

Competitions

Spoiler

• BoV National Amateur League Group B - Winner
  
   
• BoV National Amateur League Play-off - Winner (JUST!)
  
   
• National Amateur Cup - Winners
  

Youth Intake
 

Spoiler

First youth intake in Malta gave me my first all Elite (though I know why because everyone has a similar potential to the first team which will be really low hence the 5 stars all round!) No strikers though which was a little disappointing, may need to shift to a 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1 Wide if Hudson is not up to scratch in the Challenge League

Cauchi seems to be the standout which is good since Emura is likely not to sign a new contract so this will allow me to continue with the same formation if I choose to.

Zammit is an either footed fullback at this level! His personality could be an issue but this is quite the unexpected graduate with good fitness ,work rate, aggression and tackling to go with it.

I like the look of Palmier as well although only 1 star ability just now, good bravery, teamwork, determination and tackling with a balanced personality that will do.

Club

Spoiler

• Nothing of note this season, finances aren't great (thought helped somewhat by the £10k prize money for the cup) so we won't be looking at any improvements for a while

Manager

Spoiler

• National C License attained with B License underway

Stats

 

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

1 hour ago, WhiteCat33 said:

You've done amazing work getting so deep in the NACL already with your squad, I never could get the NACL to line up for me like your latest campaign did. Thanks for taking the time to show us your full squad, having that clinical of a striker is a godsend so early in the save. I can see him leading the line for you till he retires.

How much is your club spending per-year on the Youth Setup? In my save they never seemed to spend over $1M USD, whereas in Malta my club is already spending $1.78M and its climbing every year. 

It's well under that. Right now we spend about $660K per year ($55k per month), and that's with Exceptional recruitment and coaching.

[libbyshuss]

Croatia

Division 2

2035/36 (season 14)

Season Summary

Finally!!!! Promotion is ours! Usually there's a team that runs away with it and finally it was us! We were great, from start to finish, and wrapped up the title with 3 games to spare. We then went and promptly lost 2 of those final 3 (and won the other 7-4!) but who cares? we're finally promoted!!!
 

 

Players

The secret was retaining Zlatko Solidic 33A and Nazir Nurkic 32A and resisting all attempts to sell them. They both sulked for a bit, Solidic was even sold by the board who reversed their decision after I whined at them, but both were professional enough to keep performing

Now we've got promoted they might even sign new contracts!

 

Youth

Still getting crazy golden generation youth intakes. To be fair, my youth facilities are nuts for this level so you'd hope the intakes would be good

Intake looks great on paper but a closer look reveals some rubbish personalities and determination levels. which barely ever make it

 

Finances

So the best thing about promotion? 

Finally! this will definitely help with player progression as it means I can get the buggers out on the training pitch more!

Promotion also means 1.5m in TV money, which although pales when compared with the £88m you get in England's Premier League, is hugely beneficial for teams like us. It also means I can do this:-

 

Career

Very excited for what we can do in the top tier of Croatian football! It took me so long to get here it better be worth it!

 

[Neo_Geo]

We’ll done @libbyshuss hopefully this is where the save really takes off.

Jurkovic looks to be an excellent DLP 

[libbyshuss]

1 hour ago, Neo_Geo said:

We’ll done @libbyshuss hopefully this is where the save really takes off.

Jurkovic looks to be an excellent DLP 

hope so, it took long enough! i'm too stubborn to quit though

Hopefully Jurkovic makes it, he does look like he could be an amazing DLP in a few seasons time. those starting attributes are ideal really

[XaW]

    

XaW - Hyde - Season 2026/27 - Vanarama National League North

Squad | Transfers | Finances

Finally! We are going up in the world! it took a while, but we are finally into the national leagues. This season was a clear improvement, and while I don't want to put all the blame on my previous goalkeeper, I did switch in a youth prospect there who did great! Even started the scoring goalkeepers challenge and he got 14(!) this season. We had a good shot at winning the league, but a small drop towards the end made sure we fell a bit behind. We did win the xG-table though, as the teams above us had Leicester-like seasons!

So we ended in 3rd and got into the playoffs. We saw off Spennymoor without much issue, but found the final against Brackley Town harder and it had to go into extra time before we got the win. A red card for them just after our goal was the final nail in the coffin to secure the promotion for us.

FA Cup: We beat AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Bishop's Stortford, and Barrow before we lost to Woking in the 1st round.
FA Trophy:  We beat Chelmsford City, Southport, and Chippenham Town before we lost to Barrow in the 5th round.

U18 team:

They finished 4th in the National U18 League North West. In the FA Youth Cup they beat Bridlington, Bamber Bridge, Warrington, and Port Vale before losing to Chesterfield in the 2nd round. 

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

N/A

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Apps
-------------------------------------------------------------
Robbie Brown 23f	England		Scotland	182
Fraser Bickerdike 23h	England		None		180
Joe Swinglehurst 24e	England		None		140
Kirk McGivern 25c	England		None		108
Philip Brown 25b	Scotland	None		105

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Goals
-------------------------------------------------------------
Philip Brown 25b	Scotland	None		43
Joe Swinglehurst 24e	England		None		18
Muhammad Bamidele 26g	Ireland		Nigeria		14
Robbie Brown 23f	England		Scotland	11
Marios Polykarpou 26f	Cyprus		England		11

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Assists
-------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Swinglehurst 24e	England		None		24
Philip Brown 25b	Scotland	None		16
Fraser Bickerdike 23h	England		None		14
Kirk McGivern 25c	England		None		10
Robbie Brown 23f	England		Scotland	7
Marios Polykarpou 26f	Cyprus		England		7

[BustaRaymes]

*FM20*

Littlehampton Town 2054-2055

Sky Bet League One

After just one season we dropped back into League Two. It was a harsh one too, as Oldham beat Bolton on the last day, dropping us below the line. We were pretty much without problems until halfway through the season, when the board thought it would be a good idea to sell our absolute star player.

Back to the drawing board we go, offloading quite a few players before resuming the way up.

 

Transfers

It was really tough losing Houston. We were in deep financial trouble so I expected them to accept an offer, but that's why I decided to sell Zion David at a hugely inflated price. We were in the clear with that money but as you can see Houstons transfer was finalized just a day too early. Still took the money for David as we can keep afloat for a few more seasons now and I'm really curious to see if he'll ever be worth that much.

 

Squad

Aaron Hudson and good old Russell Shaw were the better performers, and Resano managed 25 goals while playing for a relegation squad.

 

Youth intake

Hoped for quality, got quantity.

Pelkas looks useful, but has that awful personality. Moore's twofootedness looks cool, but he lacks most necessary qualities of a CB. Probably better off as a fullback.

Siegrist on the other hand has some nice starting attributes. Kelly is a bit of a boring fullback who might be better as CB, but looks overrated altogether.

Robinson however seems to be underrated at this time. Nice set of attributes already and a good personality.

[Daddy]

2022/23 Season Review:

Brutal run of form took us from having a shot at sneaking in the playoffs to start worrying about a free fall to the bottom part of the table. Even if we lost every remaining game we would have been barely safe. I started tinkering with tactics and just took my 4 best players and figured their best position and role and then just adjusted the tactic around them. I went from my standard 4-2-3-1 and settled on a 4-3-3- with 2DM. The result was 7 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses to close out the season.

All in all I'd say the first season was a very successful one. Starting a new save it's always, I hope we don't get relegated and end the save. I'd have liked to last longer in the cups, but during that awful stretch of form we got knocked out by teams we could have beat. 

released a few players, but I guess they were on non contracts so it doesn't count. Basically some grumpy players that weren't good enough to be a backup. Not going to let them unsettle the team.

The loan repayment is killing us. $195,703 last season. We would have made money and I could have invested that into facilities. I was able to get a few coaching courses approved so that's good. Until we can make some money though I'm a bit concerned about stagnating. Unless the owner invests.

Youth Intake:

No immediate blow away talents here, but a lot of players with potential to be as good and better than what I already have, so that's good.

2023/24 Season Preview:

After a season of using the real kits it's time to make my own again since I really enjoy it. Bringing back the Cobra Kai. 

I'm not sure why the media soured so hard on us. If we play at the pace we closed the season out we're a playoff team. That said I could see the season either going that well, or we wind up a few spots out of the playoffs. I think we'll be safe though.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2025 End of Season Review

We did it! It required two playoffs but we've managed to get promoted to the Semi-Pro 4th tier! And how do I know it's semi-pro? Because I'm on my first paid contract, a massive £6 p/w!

2025 Best XI

Martin Savitski (YP1p)

Sander Pärn (YP1f) - Sergei Poom (YP1j) - Markus Kask (YP2f) - Artur Stern (YP3a)

Nikita Smirnov - Joonas Tamm (YP2a)

Pavel Matyushenko                                                    Mikk Mottus

 

Kristen Tiik (YP2k) - Kristofer Kütt (YP1a)

[iamnobody]

I'm having problems getting excited about a new save.  I'm going to try an an area I haven't played much....South America.  I've loaded all the South American countries and I'm going to manage Liga Deportiva Universitaria in the 2nd division.  They were promoted from the third division and they are predicted dead last in the 2nd division.  

 

 

 

The squad looks complete except for a minor problem with no very few pure strikers.  Hopefully this will be resolved in the youth intakes.

 

 

The board is expecting mid-table.  I'm over budget already so we'll see what happens.

 

[WhiteCat33]

Mellieha Sports Club
Season 12 2033 – 34 Malta Premier League 
Competitions | Squad | Transfers | Finances | Club Info

This will be a long one. More happened this season than probably the past 5 combined, enjoy!

Transfers

I'm starting with transfers as it directly impacts how our season went as we lost our two star players this year one in each window.

August 2nd: Antonello Bonnici 08b - I knew the end was coming for this fantastic midfielder who had a tight 105k release clause and was wanted by Frank Lampard's Fiorentina. In a move I like to do I pre-emptively transfer-listed and offered him out for half the fee + 40% sell on. They return w/o the sell on and the half amount non-negotiable. A month goes by and Sassuolo become interested and what do you know this time when I offer it out they both give me the pittance of 35k  I consigned myself to getting but have agreed to the sell on. He chose Fiorentina, which was a great decision for him as he was instantly a rotation player for them getting 12 starts and 18 sub appearances for the club that finished 5th qualifying for EC2 next season. And for us the sell on should pay bank as his value is in the 1 - 5 Million range

January 2nd: Lydon Caruana 09a - After our Fall campaign Caruana's performances drew crazy attention from the bottom half Siere A Clubs. I did the same thing above, but this time set it at a higher value as he had a 160k release clause. Everyone bid for him. I tried to push a few to End of Season but they flat refused if locked or countered with a non-negotiable of instant. I left 3 that I negotiated for the same 61k fee, but 50% sell-on and they all agreed. He chose yo-yo club Parma, which I thought would mean he would get playing time but he only got 7 sub appearances. Here we got robbed silly as his value shot up to the $4 -7 M range before settling to a 1.5-3M due to not being played.

You know what hurts even more? A couple months after he gets sold Caruana 09a gets ranked as the #27 NxGn 2034 Wonderkid! I'm stunned I've already gotten a player onto the list, but you'll see why he earned it:

Continental Qualification

We did excellent qualifying for the Euro Cup for the second year in a row. No shame getting smoked by Partizan 7-2 Agg when we show up to take out the Serbian Runner-Up Čukarički with the win coming in the Away leg to boot! I'll be the first to admit drawing both a Latvian & Northern Irish opposition is extremely lucky, but I think we earned it with that final win.

Game Summaries:

Spoiler

CL Champ Path 1^st Round – Valmiera FC (Latvia) Now not to bungle against them for the 2nd time.

1^st Leg Away – We hit them early, even though one goal was disallowed we got 2 more that counted in the first half and they pulled one back on us. Second half was more of the same with lots of chances for us and we put two in early.

2^nd Leg Home – We are dominating possession with lots of chances, but can’t finish. Takes till the 63’ for Peter Attard 10a to get a goal. But really, we need to be better for the competition to come

CL Champ Path 2^nd Round – FK Partizan (Serbia) Well this is unfortunate...

1^st match Home – They get a goal super quick in the 10’. But in the 38’ they trip Attard 10a on a breakaway for a penalty and he converts! 1-1. 83’ though they slot a whipped ball across and finish it. a 2-1 loss.

2^nd Match Away – they get their payback as its this time us giving up a PK so they get on the scoreboard first. And get a second off a header and a 3^rd from a free kick play… It goes badly and we lose 5-1 in the end.

EC Champ Path 3^rd Round – Coleraine (N. Ireland) Now this is a much kinder matchup.

1^st Match Away – We get a Kickoff Goal 21 seconds in to start the match. Brilliant. 37’ we get our second though we’ve had tons of chances. And Caruana 09a finally gets a breakaway goal after so many chances to maek it 3.

2^nd Match Home – 2 min in and Caruana 09a already rounds the keeper for a goal. In the 11’ he makes it a brace. And they get a player sent off in the 30’. Going to be a fun one. 2 min later Caruana 09a made it a hat-trick. He makes it 4 in the 87’. What a game for him.

EC Playoff FK Čukarički Beograd (Serbia) Gross another Serbian team?

1^st Match Home – Cagey match where there were even chances for both teams but no goals. I have to say Caruana 09a had the best opportunities but couldn’t finish. 0-0 draw

2^nd Match Away – We actually are having the higher quality early chances. It takes till the 73’ when on our Corner they shove our CB so we get a penalty and Attard 10a converts to give us the lead! But of course then it looks like they will equalize on a FK but they were just off so it was disallowed. They are putting the pressure on like crazy but my GK is standing tall. And we did it! 1-0 for Melliha and another Euro Cup Group Stage!

Euro Cup Group Stage

We got a very reasonable group with Celtic, Feyenoord & Sparta Prague. No easy team in the group, but Celtic is one of the easier 1st Seeds to get matched with (as we are always a 4th draw), and we played fantastic in the first 5 games.

First 5 Match Commentaries:

Spoiler

Match 1: Celtic @ Home – Tragedy struck with Tailana making an own goal trying to block a cross coming through. To be fair to him, it would have been a goal if he hadn’t done anything but still is tragic. He then misses a header on a cross so they get a second goal. Awful game for what is usually a consistent CB. But we get Caruana 09a getting around the keeper in the 78’ and getting us one back! We’ve had a couple great corner chances that have gone just wide, but no dice we lose 2-1. Still happy with the performance 7 of my players were on 7.0 ratings.

Match 2: Sparta Prague @ Away – I’ve dropped my American back into a BPD position to replace Tailana after the last match. He’s not as good in the air, but is improving & either-footed. Having a playmaker in the back will help with buildup. We start strong and a long ball over the top to Caruana 09a sees us take an early lead in the 23’! 34’ they almost get their own long ball over the top goal but their striker was sitting offsides. Lucky. Team continues playing well through the second half, but no clear chances for us. And then in the 88’ they find an equalizer, I had subbed off my American for Taliana and he messed up again, yeah he’s done for European play… We draw 1-1 bringing him on at CB you can see their chances go through the roof in the xG table.

3^rd Match: Feynoord @ Away: They have a couple early chances, and though he is doing well Psaila 04c got beat in the 9’ for an early goal lead to the home side. And in the 25’ Caruana 09a comes off injured, which is unfortunate. They immediately get a second goal that we had no chance of stopping. Not looking good for us. 51’ we give up a penalty on a corner…

4^th Match: Feynoord @ Home: We have a golden early opportunity but can’t finish. Due to injury Carlo Sultana 08i is our starting striker and he comes up huge with a 7’ goal from range! We are getting tons of chances here even with them packing it in with a 5-3-2. We controlled the game with lots of opportunities, but that early goal was it and we win 1-0!

5^th Match: Sparta Prague @ Home: What an early goal 2’! Corner play to the far post which bounces off the corssbar to Caruana 09a who taps it into an empty net. Peter Attard 10a actually gets a goal himself in the 19’. It then gets worse for Sparat Prague when they tripp Attard 10a on a breakaway in the box. We get the penalty and he converts. Caruana 09a has a massive dribble through the center and places it far corner to get us up to a 4 goal lead. In the 64’ he makes it a hat-trick, what a game for us! Goal-fest as Azzopardi gets a long 25 yard goal to make it 6

Going into the final match we have earned an advancement at least to EC2 Knockouts! But this final game away at Celtic we have the ability to actually advance to the EC due to our stupid big win in the last match against Sparta Prague we are tied on GD. So a win by 1 should see us advance on GD. What a campaign already, but it could become legendary.

6th Match @  Celtic: 

Spoiler

To say it went badly is an understatement:

Resulting in us going to the conference league:

Matches:

Spoiler

European League Sudden Death:

First Knockout Round:

Spoiler

European Confrence League: First Knockout Round – Slovan Liberec from CZE

1^st Leg – Home: We are down our RB & GK as well as our star striker was sold over the winter window. Luckily we have a fairly weak opponent, so advancing is a true possibility here. 12’ our 16 year old LB plays a perfect ball in to Attard 10a who gives a clinical finish to give us the lead. And literally from the kickoff highlight we win the ball and Debattista 11b, my LB, hits a brilliant cross to the other striker Sultana 08i for another. He’s already got a 7.7 rating. He equals it out tho by giving up a penalty in a botched defensive collision. We are still up 2-1, but in the 82’ my American whose pissed about not being sold does awful and they score. Not happy

2^nd Leg – Away: 5’ we have a monster throw play where Attard 10a hits it cross the whole field to Sultana 08i to get us an early lead. Then in the 9’ he gets his own goal. Now not to blow our 2 goal lead again. My main GK is back and I am giving my problem CB another chance since the group stage mishaps. Off a long boot over the top Sultana 08i gets a cheeky chip over the gk to get a brace already. Things go quiet for most of the second half but Azzopardi 08a came on as a sub and scored his nasty 30 yard laser to see us up to 4.

Second Knockout Round:

Spoiler

European Confrence League Second Knockout: And we have a rematch against Cukaricki from Serbia! We beat them 1-0 after drawing 0-0 to get into the Euro Cup group stage, so can we repeat the feat to advance?! This will be a tough matchup. Thankfully my 3^rd striker has really stepped up since the transfer.

1^st Leg – Home: Damn we give up an early 5’ goal, but then on the 8’ they trip my player and gift us a penalty. Attard 10a delivers, we are back in it. Then a long ball by Formosa 09d over the top to Attard 10a sees him make the finish to give us the lead! We continue to dominate and then late in the 89’ we finally get a third from Sultana 08i to seal the victory. Looking good!

2^nd Leg – Away: First half goes well with no goals for anyone. We had plenty of chances but nothing came of them. Right at the start of the 2^nd half though they get a goal back on us. That final shot isn’t happenign for us. Not the greatest showing but it was good enough for us to win on Aggregate! We Advance!

Quarter Final:

Spoiler

European Confrence League Quarter Final: Malmo FF

They’ve done the QF draw and we actually got the best possible draw with Malmo / APOEL. The only other one close would be CFR Cluj / Pafos, which is basically the Cyprus teams and a lesser power team. Props to them both advancing.

1^st Leg – Home: Tragedy strikes in the 8’ they get an early goal off some bad defending the runners behind. We get our legs back under us and my young midfielder finds our pressing forward who rounds the keeper for a goal to bring us back level. Unfortunately they answer 5’ later with their own run through. We get a few chances but can’t make them count so will be headed to Sweden down a goal. Not a good start.

2^nd Leg – Away: We hardly had any chances in the first half, got to see something different if we want a chance. And it comes in the 47’ by Vella 09j who makes a run up and isn’t picked up and blast the ball home! Its Level now. Vella 09j made the same run again and the save was bottled by the GK and hit off a defender and went in. Trash goal, but I don’t care. We almost gifted them a goal with a bad passing by our backline but they blew the chance. They had another in the 95’ but my GK came up with the huge stop and we just totally stole that game with a 2-0 win that sees us advance over Malmo!

Semi-Final:

Spoiler

European Confrence League Semi Final: Dynamo Kyiv

1^st Leg: Away – Disaster as we give away a 2’ goal. Its that left side where we have our backup in that got beat badly and then my RB lost his mark. We are having lots of highlight chances but they aren’t producing high xG like theirs have and we enter the break down 0-1. 74’ it happens, their GK botches the handling of a very long FK so badly even the announcer says he’s to blame for it and my PF Sultana 08i is there to pick up the loose ball and put it home. We’re back in it! And then in the 90’ they give the ball away badly during build up and my dual Mezzala’s on attack counter hard with the right player Brian Baah 09c slotting a nice ball to our shooter Azzzopardi 08a who taps it in the back post. They flub a breakaway chance to bring it level but it ends 2-1 Mellieha, what a comeback!

 

2^nd Leg – Home: Can we hold the lead? Damn 20’ they beat us down the flank and their striker blasts it in. Its Level. And in the 26’ my backup LB falls over and lets his man through and they take the lead… Sulatana has had 3 breakaways already and can’t get the ball on the frame. And though we had good chances in the second half they get a third. But there’s hope! Edward Vella 09j makes a fast dribble into the box and his slotted cross across the goal mouth is hit by their own defender in for an own goal! 78’ I’ve just made a sub for my wide Mezzala, but its Sultana 08i who finally makes his mark he dribbles into the box and cuts back bringing 3 of the defenders with him and then he crosses to Attard 10a at the back post who taps it in. The stadium explodes: WE ARE LEVEL ON AGGREGATE!!! UGHHH 83’ they are pressing us hard forward and they catch us on the break to score again. HEARTBREAK, we were so close.

 

Was a wild day for EC2 matches today.

At least we get a pretty good consolation payday

Final:

Spoiler

Nope, not today  

Matches:

Spoiler

Malta National Team Main Squad | National Overview

My first team is all U21/Main for Malta with the exception of my American Brandon Salas 10b. There are only 2 starters not out of my Academy at this point, both on the left wing. Antonio Baldacchino was generated at Torino at 26 when I added the Italian leagues to the game. Then interestingly Victor Azzopardi generated at Napredak in Serbia. Then in the subs is James Galea St John, the only domestic player not from our academy.

They didn't do the greatest in WC Qualifying, but ended 2033 with two big draws with Germany and Wales.

Malta Premier League

For the domestic league, I’ve gotten its reputation up to Serie C! I think for this save the Italian leagues will be the benchmarks considering its in region and loaded.

Also Hamrun Spartans FC the leading oppostion in the league have gone professional! They are good about picking up trialists I bring in from around the world and should get even better now that they train full time. They have yet to make a group stage in EC2

 

Club Improvements

Lots here as we have earned lots of money this year. The big one is I decided to build our own stadium as we ground share a tiny 1k stadium for league and the national stadium for continental. Not too happy how small of a stadium they decided to build, but at least it's named after me?

Spoiler

Club info after the above upgrade but before the next upgrade, which will finish midpoint next season

 

Youth Academy

Youth Intake Preview

Youth Intake

Not very happy with the personality spread, and the elite talent CM is worse this year than last year. He’s either footed again which is interesting.

 

Performance Summary:

I take down a lot of information for each year, but haven't been posting it. Here are the league, cup & Continental records as well as our crazy goal scoring. Yes older-brother Caruana 02a had a 63 goal season his final year before departing for Australia in one of our last years where the main strikers also played most of the league fixtures. As you can see even with full rotation for a whole year the domestic league is no contest anymore. 

 

I'll save detailed bios of players for next season as I've got plenty down here already. I for sure stayed up too-late playing those final matches in the continental competition. We are on an amazing ride here in Malta!

 

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by WhiteCat33

[JAwtunes]

@iamnobodyI haven't really tried SA before either and was considering Ecuador recently too. It looks like a fun nation. Good luck!

[Neo_Geo]

@WhiteCat33you are setting the bar real high for me now 

Outstanding progress (by the way thanks for suggesting this save its a breath of fresh air for me - mid-season review coming up shortly)

[Neo_Geo]

Santa Venera Lightnings FC Season 2 Mid-Season Update

I just love the youth challenge at this level where a single youth intake can have a profound impact on your squad.

So I changed up to a 4-2-3-1 with 7 of my starting 11 now being from the Class of 23

In the league we started off with a 2-1 away loss to Dingli Swallows after one of my youth debutants was sent off, but since then we've not looked back and have catapulted to the top of the league. As you can see from the goals, ratings and PotM stats you can see Cauchi (23C) has been amazing and I opted to play him on the right wing to accommodate one of the other promising youngsters on the left with Emura through the middle. It's certainly paid off.

Here are my results...

QUESTION: @WhiteCat33maybe you can help me out here, I saw the draw for the FA Trophy was taking place but I didn't get to view the draw, it then passed and so too has the round where I was supposed to play (as seen above). Did this happen with you?

As I alluded earlier Cauchi (23C) has been the standout with 13 goals in 15 starts from the right wing and PotM in nearly half of those games.

 

I had to replace my Season 1 HoYD since he wanted stupid wages, my new HoYD is fairly determined rather than fairly ambitious which I am pleased with. Here's the preview for Season 2:

Happy to see at least one striker with healthy number of wingers, central defenders and also crucially DMs which I think I might need to consider if I stay on course for promotion (no idea what the step up in quality is like in this league).

At the moment I am stuck financially. I managed to get the National B License but the board won't fund any further or anything else for that matter and we now sit at -£52k which is pretty healthy compared to our competitors in the league (as most are between -300k and -500k with only one team in the black).

Cracking on with the remainder of the season as this has been super fun so far.

 

[WhiteCat33]

@Neo_Geo glad Malta is just as exciting for you as its been for me. Youre off to just as rocket of a start with perhaps back to back promotions!

And yes that happened to me as well my first year in the challenge league. My guess is the cup only takes part of the league so selects based on prior year record thus promoted teams don't get added. Don't worry soon enough you'll be winning it with your reject youngsters as well 😉

I just hope my new hoyd gets his recruiting network up and running as his first two full him classes haven't been good. With how well he trained the initial 3 though producing a NxGn wonderkid I know he's got it in him. That has been the true shock of the save the amount of attacking talent I've gotten so quickly. I need defenders badly though...

Edited August 18, 2022 by WhiteCat33

[WhiteCat33]

2 hours ago, iamnobody said:

having problems getting excited about a new save. 

Hope Ecuador does the trick. I was in the exact same place till I found this Malta save. 

[SkiIIs]

Season 2049/50 - Premiership

Challenge Complete - just not the way that earns a place in the HOF.  Coming off a tough year i thought the team would bounce back, but instead we declined once again and were in the relegation zone practically the whole season.  In the end we were relegated and the Board waited till a few days later to sack me despite being able to convince them not to look at the form table a few times.

It's a common saying in this thread that it's not about completing the challenge, it the journey and after 27 seasons or so, i can say this was one of the more enjoyable journeys.  The stagnation in the prem the last few seasons took its toll i think and got a bit mundane, but apart from that was an awesome slog!   We go again