The FM23 Youth Academy Challenge

[Bartrcm]

Racing Mechelen - 1ste Amateur (3th tier) - Season 2023-2024

Predicted: 18th

Final position: 14th

 

We had a rough start with only 1 win and 4 losses in our first 5 games. But afterwards we played better, and got some good results. We were always between 10th and 14th place. Although I only finish in the last safe position, and were never really in any relegation battle. 

2 out of the 4 promoted teams got back to back promotions. @XaW: you know 1 of those teams, so no pressure.

 

Games 1

Games 2

Cup: didn't care about the cup, but made it to the 5th round where we were well beaten by a second division team.

 

Transfers: None, of course

Youth intake: We had an incredible preview (1, 2), and the actual intake (1, 2) didn't disappoint at all. I've signed all but the bottom 2 players, but the youngsters all wanted €500/week. Not realistic at all.

Aloysius Fisher (YP1a): ST

Kingsley Tagoe (YP1b): AMC

Noah De Poorter (YP1c): DC/DL

Haytam Idrissi (YP1d): DL

Théo Bidault: (YP1e): DR

 

A couple of the signed youngsters will get some game time next season, as a couple of first teamers have disappoint me this season.

 

Finances: Terrible!! We lost €1.5 million this season. If no investments of the board will happen, I'm afraid that this game will become unplayable. This is an overview of the expenses this season. Completely unrealistic. In real life we have turned brake even or even made a small profit the last 3 seasons, even during corona. No team in real life can survive these losses in a 3th division.

@XaW: as you are also playing in Belgium, do you encounter the same financial issues? I know from previous FM's that the finances in Belgium are a mess, but never had these losses.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Bartrcm

[fries]

Vanarama National League North

2023/24 (season 1)

Season Summary

The board and supporters had high expectations before the season started. We should qualify for the FA Cup's first round and gain a playoff spot in the league.

In the first part of the season, we had problems winning enough games. The opponents somehow often scored a late winner or late equalizer. 

We were in real trouble when we lost in the 4th qualification round of the FA Cup. Two players were furious and wanted a meeting with me (new feature??). I managed to calm one down and the other was sent to train with the youth and skipped off in January. However, the board and supporters were also very angry with me. The board asked for a meeting (new feature??), if I refused they would fire me. The meeting was about my future and if the club should have a new manager. I managed to convince the board that firing the manager was not in the club's interest and they should give me another chance.

Soon after the tactics clicked and we started to play well. The season had its ups and downs, most ups. But every time the form was bad I was called into a new meeting with the board. In total, I had 4 meetings with the board about my future throughout the season. The board never seemed to forget how we apparently shamefully lost to a better-ranked team in the FA Cup.

However, in the end, we had a very good run and managed to win a 2nd place in the league, with the most goals scored. We were ready for the play offs, and we manage to fulfill at least one of the board's high expectations.



The playoff semifinal was against AFC Telford. A close game. But in the end a youngster from this years intake, Walters, managed to score a late winner. 1-0 and off to Wembley.

The final against Darlington was again a close game. I trained setpieces in the week up to both the semifinal and final, and in the end, it paid off. My centreback, Liddle, scored a header after a corner which was enough to secure promotion. 

The most important players of the season was JJ Hooper with 33 goals and Doherty with 24 assists.

Liddle and Broadbent were a good pair in the defense but the backups are lacking. This can really cause problems in the next season as all the central defenders are aging. 

Mutombo was a newgen that was already in the club when I took over. At the beginning of the season, we had a few injuries in the midfield and I decided to give him the chance in the first team. Throughout the season he developed greatly from 1.5 stars to 3.5 stars. I hope to see better performances from him in the next season.


The first youth intake preview of FM23 looked great. 4.5 stars. I could really use the Centre-backs.


However, in the end, only the offensive players seem to have what it takes.




Walters is the most promising in my eyes. He got the chance at the end of the season and did very well. He scored 6 goals in 7 games where the most important was the winner in the playoff semifinal.



I did not sell any other players than the angry player that complained about our failure in the FA Cup.

 

Finances and Upgrades
I managed to upgrade my junior coaching and youth recruitment in the fall before my intake. And I manage to get two coaching badges and I am working on the National A Licence.





 

Next season
Next season is going to be difficult. Many of my first team players are aging and the finances look very bad. I do not hope the board's and supporters' expectations are as high as this season.

I have extended the contracts of the defensive backup players, but I hope the youth players can be backups in the offensive part of the team.

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by fries

[XaW]

@OlivierL - I put that post into spoilers, just so those who don't want number don't see them.  

[XaW]

2 hours ago, Bartrcm said:

2 out of the 4 promoted teams got back to back promotions. @XaW: you know 1 of those teams, so no pressure.

@XaW: as you are also playing in Belgium, do you encounter the same financial issues? I know from previous FM's that the finances in Belgium are a mess, but never had these losses.

No pressure, eh?  I'm currently safely mid-table, and I thought that was a good achievement! 

Yeah, I seem to be losing a lot of money each month, though i haven't gotten past November yet, so not sure about how it will be when the season is over.

[OlivierL]

3 hours ago, Bartrcm said:

Racing Mechelen - 1ste Amateur (3th tier) - Season 2023-2024

Predicted: 18th

Final position: 14th

 

We had a rough start with only 1 win and 4 losses in our first 5 games. But afterwards we played better, and got some good results. We were always between 10th and 14th place. Although I only finish in the last safe position, and were never really in any relegation battle. 

2 out of the 4 promoted teams got back to back promotions. @XaW: you know 1 of those teams, so no pressure.

 

Games 1

Games 2

Cup: didn't care about the cup, but made it to the 5th round where we were well beaten by a second division team.

 

Transfers: None, of course

Youth intake: We had an incredible preview (1, 2), and the actual intake (1, 2) didn't disappoint at all. I've signed all but the bottom 2 players, but the youngsters all wanted €500/week. Not realistic at all.

Aloysius Fisher (YP1a): ST

Kingsley Tagoe (YP1b): AMC

Noah De Poorter (YP1c): DC/DL

Haytam Idrissi (YP1d): DL

Théo Bidault: (YP1e): DR

 

A couple of the signed youngsters will get some game time next season, as a couple of first teamers have disappoint me this season.

 

Finances: Terrible!! We lost €1.5 million this season. If no investments of the board will happen, I'm afraid that this game will become unplayable. This is an overview of the expenses this season. Completely unrealistic. In real life we have turned brake even or even made a small profit the last 3 seasons, even during corona. No team in real life can survive these losses in a 3th division.

@XaW: as you are also playing in Belgium, do you encounter the same financial issues? I know from previous FM's that the finances in Belgium are a mess, but never had these losses.

 

 

So we have again financial issues in Belgium and U23 teams are wrongly included in the cups.  I would like to warn everybody about starting this save in Scotland. Last year i had a lot of issues with Caley Braves. I couldn't sign staff for my U18 , couldn't place adverts . Also not able to move players from senior of reserve team to U18 .

I tested this with four teams in league two (Scotland) and all those things are not fixed !

[robinac30]

After skipping last year's challenge, I'm having a go again this year.  Not that I've ever managed it, although did once get through to the group stages of the CL with Aberystwyth.

Gone for England this time, took the year off with Holiday Man, and then swooped for Merthyr!  Let's see how this pans out...

[XaW]

Looks promising!

[JAwtunes]

Cardiff Corinthians - Season 13 (2034/35) Review - FM22

I probably wont be moving to FM23 soon so will keep my Welsh journey going for a little longer.  This was another great season where we again managed to beat TNS to the league title and also managed to pick up our second Welsh Cup win.  TNS have now failed to qualify for the group stage of a European competition since the 2029/30 season and operation stave-TNS-of-money is going pretty well, though they are still professional.

This season saw us manage our highest ever average league attendance and we had the 5th highest attendance in the league.  Attendances as whole don't seem to be going up much in the league despite the improvements in the leagues reputation (up from 72nd to 67th in the last 12 months).

Cardiff Corries are now the highest reputation team in the Welsh league, moving ahead of TNS to 2.0 star (Regional).

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Top Division Reputations In Europe

Competitions

Premier League - 1st

Welsh Cup - Winner

League Cup 3rd Round

Europa League - Group Stage

Spoiler

League

League - Player Records

Cup

League Cup

Europe

Players - This is how we lined up this season

Spoiler

The Fans PotY and Young PoyY award went to our 20yr old midfielder (and occasional striker) Graham Byron 31d.

Spoiler

Youth Intake

We were told to accept a 4star Excellent intake.  When the intake arrived it was described as a 5star potential Golden Generation.

Spoiler

Preview

HoYD

Facilities and Youth Spend

We managed to negotiate improvements to both our youth and training facilities.

Spoiler

Youth Facilities

Training Facilities

Player Records

SUMMARY

Spoiler

[Bartrcm]

1 hour ago, OlivierL said:

So we have again financial issues in Belgium and U23 teams are wrongly included in the cups.  I would like to warn everybody about starting this save in Scotland. Last year i had a lot of issues with Caley Braves. I couldn't sign staff for my U18 , couldn't place adverts . Also not able to move players from senior of reserve team to U18 .

I tested this with four teams in league two (Scotland) and all those things are not fixed !

But the good thing is that youth teams (U18 & U21) play competitive games.

[WhiteCat33]

Guiseley AFC

Season 2: 2024-2025 Van National North

Competitions | Squad | Transfers | Finances | Supporters | Facilities

League: We had a great first half of the season, but absolutely came apart in the new year, with this absolute dumpster fire of end of year form when our strikers all but gave up. Thankfully, we had already secured safety so only getting 4 points in the last 10 matches still left us 12 points above the drop in 15th.

Spoiler

Cups: We were awful, but that's fine.

Youth Academy:

Youth Intake Preview: Looked pretty solid, with 8 A talents

Spoiler

 

Youth Intake: Not quite as outstanding as last year, but still good for a year 2 intake, lots of crazy nationalities which I love! Downside is I wanted a quality striker as mine have been terrible and neither option truly delivers

Spoiler

 

 

 

YI Player Highlights:

Okay he’s not the best but how could I not start with Hussein Nsabiyumva our Burundian LB. At least he’s fairly professional so he could develop and maybe be our first national team player? 

Spoiler

 

My #1 from the intake is Macaulay Brownhill who has the making of a playmaker, who can shoot from range 

Spoiler

 

The other 2* CA is Rob Howard our Irish Dual national AML who is a pace merchant for VNN with not much else. I’ll be training that dribbling and maybe he will be good cutting inside from the wing

Spoiler

 

Youth Development: From my Y1 intake I had 3 players enter the starting 11 getting 40+ Appearances each and all three have developed remarkably well, with Ali Edmondson 01a getting too good that already he won't sign a second contract  . Edmondson is also the only one of the three not to improve his technical attributes, but he's also a CB so his training focus doesn't help there.

Spoiler

Joe Vaughan 01c (RB)

Ali Edmondson 01a (CB)

Sean Howes 01b (CM)

Looking at two players who have good personalities, but spent half the year in youth and half as rotation subs, they are seeing the low-level development I expect for a part-time club:

Spoiler

Sebastian Golebiowski 01f (Fairly Professional) AMR/ST

Luke Farrel 01g (Ambitious) CM/LM

 

Then my one rotation CB who has a bad personality but got significant playing time:

Spoiler

Charlie Ridsdale 01d (Unambitious) CB

So far yes technical aren't developing well, but honestly how much different is this from part-time development in FM22?

 

Club Improvements:

Was able to increase our Youth Recruitment from Basic to Fairly Basic. Already Average JR Coaching so that wasn't going to get bumped up.

My Head Coach now has a National B License, but still has a ways to go in his development:

Spoiler

Season Thoughts: We improved our defense this year with our intake players, but our legacy strikers degraded substantially. Unfortunately, I will have to rely on them again as there isn't any quality Strikers in my first 2 intakes. I think we should be safe from relegation next year, but we really will need a striker to show up or things might start to get problematic.

[libbyshuss]

7 hours ago, OlivierL said:

Very nice team but are there no four tiers this year in France? After reloading them a few times i noticed promoted teams from Championnat National 3 , the 4th tier . Teams like Boulogne start in 3rd tier.

As far as I could tell they're still not playable. I'd have been more than happy to start down there but what can you do?

actually, i can go check again!

edit: yeah, fourth tier unplayable. Boulogne were promoted  from fourth tier after 1 season, they're currently playing down there in real life. It's all above board i promise!

Edited October 23, 2022 by libbyshuss

[OlivierL]

@Bartrcm in Belgium, after a holiday game(second season), the two promoted teams Berchem Sport and Cappellen are in deep red .

Cappellen started with +297K (euro's) and ended the season with 622k in red (i signed all the youth intake players to those wages are added from april). That is a loss of +-920k.

Berchem started with + 313K and ended at 1.356.608M . that is a loss of .1.7 M !  They signed a lot of free players (i wasn't the manager) and got promoted. 

I remember that i played with Aalst at FM21 , four or five seasons and the balance was fine because of a very big fanbase. I hope you (or maybe Xaw is he gets the same issue) can escalate this to the bug tracker.

Did a test with Aalst:

They started 30/6/23 with 403K

 
They ended at 30/6/24 -537k.

meaning a loss of 937k.

 

So at the moment no Belgium(or i should pick Aalst) or Scotland( Braves) for me :'( 

Edited October 23, 2022 by OlivierL

[OlivierL]

Reported the scotland issues again (like last FM) via bug tracker: 

Reported the Belgium finances issue here : 

 

I hope this will get fixed and maybe someone can add some more examples.

[Nottingham Forest]

Going to give this a try again with Basford United. Manager Profile below.

[Nottingham Forest]

Season 1

2023-24 Season

Vanarama National League North

Season Summary

On the face of things finishing 12th is a good start to this challenge. However, up until match 33 or so we were comfortably inside the play-offs. Unfortunately the standard drop off in form happened. From February we won 3 league games. In the FA Cup and FA Trophy we didn't get any lucrative ties as we only reached the Fourth Qualifying Round and Fourth Round respectively.

Youth Intake

I was hopeful but only one player looked like he could push into the first team although the keeper got in by default.

 

Finances are shot to pieces so no facilities improvements yet. Tyreace Palmer and Harvey Grice were the two standout players. Palmer a striker and Grice a left midfielder as we played a standard 4-4-2.

 

[Bartrcm]

2 hours ago, OlivierL said:

Reported the scotland issues again (like last FM) via bug tracker: 

Reported the Belgium finances issue here : 

 

I hope this will get fixed and maybe someone can add some more examples.

I've added my findings.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2024/25 Youth Candidates

Apparently a lot of potential but no doubt that it probably won't be reached.

[Daddy]

2024/25 Midseason Review:

I knew we'd give up goals, and we have. What I wasn't expecting was to not score goals. The last 5 have been undefeated so hopefully things are starting to turn around. Hopefully things keep progressing and I don't wind up as the first in the challenge to get sacked.

Just hoping anyone comes in ready to play. 

 

Unrelated...Go Phillies!

[SkiIIs]

Season 2023/24 - VNN - Chesham United

Given we started the season with 15 players (2x GK's), this was always going to be a tough ask so survival was the aim and fill out the team once the youth intake comes in.  After a month or so, we lost a non contracted player who decided that non league football was a better prospect than the contract we offered him which meant we didnt have enough players to fill the bench on a good day. 

The season played out as best as I could have hoped. There were times greyed out players had to start particularly in defence where we had 4 players only. We spent a total of 6 weeks in the relegation spots and from round 11 we were always clear of the spots. 

In desperate need of any type of player, the Youth Preview was all I could ask for:

The actual intake was horrible, not one elite talent across the park and unfortunately, Im going to have to start some of these without question.  

Lukas Deen is the pick of the bunch in a spot where he will replace our ageing Captain (36 years old) 2 star ability centre back. A couple of decent attributes to go with a good personality is all that i can hang my hat on. 

Finances are pretty bleak, we made a loss of circa 300k for the year which wasnt aided by any good cup runs nor any cash injections.  Despite having a negative balance, towards the end of the season just after we secured our spot in the league again, the Board approved an improvement to Youth Recruitment to Fairly Basic.  Wasnt able to complete any coaching badges was a bit of a let down, but ill keep asking. 

Something tells me the next couple years will be very tough and much of the same in this league until these youth players develop (if they develop). We're losing our best winger, 5 star CA because we couldnt afford to renew his contract even though he was keen to stay.  We pay him about 21% of the total wage budget at 1,600 a week, we could only afford half of that next year so he's leaving on a free. 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by SkiIIs

[libbyshuss]

Season 2 - 2024/25

Championnat National

Season Summary

A really good season on the pitch, in the league at least. We started really well with only one defeat in the first 8. We drew 4 though so we were never top, but still. A run of 5 wins in 6 just after christmas put us 3rd and within touching distance of a promotion place but we then went on a 6 game winless run and our form totally fell apart. We limped to a seventh placed finish which, to be fair, is still over-achieving for us

a first round cup exit again. I could do with a cup run really.

 

Players

The biggest success of the season was in the first XI. I promoted a couple of youth players already, such was my desperation. I don't normally like promoting players until they're 19/20 but I had nothing better. Most of the youth players performed really well and made some really positive improvements too.

Stephane Sorin 24B was the pick of the bunch. Played AMC and was consistently one of the best performers. He's still only 16 but already one of our most important players. 8 goals and 4 assists from 21 games is a cracking start from the lad. 7.37 average rating makes him our second best performer as well!

Lots of arrows in the right direction as well! AND a great personality. i love you Stephane!

Alexandre Labousse 24A - He's earmarked as a future striker for us but filled in at right wing for the season. He was so good whenever I played him he became first choice for the second half of the season. and he was also great, 8 goals and 4 assists from 19 starts. Another one that will be first choice next season.

Both jumped form 2* CA to 3.5* during the season as well, which is always lovely to see!

Youth

So after such a good intake last season I was really looking forward to this one. Would it be as good? Well, no.....

 

not bad! not quite as many A grades as last year, but 3 is still pretty good.

 

intake was ok but only two elite talents a little disappointing. Their personalities were only just ok as well (light-hearted and temperamental, which i hate the most!). I only signed about 4 in the end.

Finances and Upgrades

So this is the most worrying. I was well under the wage budget at only 13k a week but we still managed to lose around 800k over the season, which is totally unsustainable. And worryingly we seem to have lost any competition prize money, whereas we got loads last season

And it also meant that having no money the board would not sanction any improvements at all. Which is really upsetting when....

this happens!

So it's going to be a difficult challenge and realistically I'm going to have to cash in on a couple of those really good looking youngsters already. or pray for a takeover...

Career

 

[DazRTaylor]

I am still trying to find a save that will stick.

Club Introduction

SC Preußen Münster

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   Average              Average           Adequate              Average          Fairly Basic       National   (2.50*)

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     DFB-Pokal                    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 October 24, 2022 by DazRTaylor

[robinac30]

Halfway through my first season as manager of Merthyr Town in the Vanarama National League North, and it's tough going - although we're sat in 8th position just outside the playoff places, I fear we're not going to be there much longer.  Lots of suspensions, injuries and the inevitable tiredness that hits around the new year.  

As expected, the intake preview looks excellent - but then quite honestly I could scoop up a bunch of people from Tesco and they'd look impressive next to the cloggers in the squad at the moment, so I'm not going to hold my breath.  I guess we'll see what happens some time in March or April. 

 

Good thing about the preview though, is it matches my formation (4-3-3) pretty well - I guess that's down to ol Jim Hart, who let's hope is a decent pick for HOYD.

[Winski]

Tyresö FF

Well, here we go again! My first FM23 save, and we'll start in Sweden. I had a brief spell at IK Sleipner in FM22 and I really liked it. I had some other options as well (Czech Republic, Germany and Finland) but decided to start in Sweden.
I chose Tyresö FF mainly because of their logo and club colours. And it's a club from Stockholm(county), so hopefully a good starting point for getting some nice newgens.

The reset date is 26 December 2022. I just holidayed from the last match of season 2022 (26-9-2022) until 26-12-2022.

The Supporter Profile. We now got 130 ticket holders, and 5% of them are hardcore fans. Let's see if we can get that % up!

 

I made these home&away kits.

 

Let's go Tyresö!

[XaW]

                

XaW - Koninklijke Berchem Sport 2004 - Season 2023/24 - Nationale 1

Squad | Transfers | Finances

We are going up! I had my doubts, but towards the 2nd part of the season we really stepped up our game and climbed up into the playoff spots and on the final day we clinched 3rd to go into the 2nd tier. Quite good considering the youth intake came AFTER all matches were done. Looking forward to finally having a full bench next season!

Crocky Cup: We beat KSV Bornem and RC Hades before we lost to Royal Excelsior Virton in the 5th round.

U21 Team:

They seemingly played in 2 reserve competitions (bug it seems), so enough games for them! They finished bottom of the Belgian First National Reserve Division

And they finished 2nd last in the Belgian Reserve League 1B.

U18 Team:

They finished 10th in the Belgian U19 National 1.

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

None

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Apps
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Goals
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Assists
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Supporters:

Summary:

[Bartrcm]

47 minutes ago, XaW said:

                

XaW - Koninklijke Berchem Sport 2004 - Season 2023/24 - Nationale 1

Squad | Transfers | Finances

We are going up! I had my doubts, but towards the 2nd part of the season we really stepped up our game and climbed up into the playoff spots and on the final day we clinched 3rd to go into the 2nd tier. Quite good considering the youth intake came AFTER all matches were done. Looking forward to finally having a full bench next season!

Crocky Cup: We beat KSV Bornem and RC Hades before we lost to Royal Excelsior Virton in the 5th round.

U21 Team:

They seemingly played in 2 reserve competitions (bug it seems), so enough games for them! They finished bottom of the Belgian First National Reserve Division

And they finished 2nd last in the Belgian Reserve League 1B.

U18 Team:

They finished 10th in the Belgian U19 National 1.

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

None

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Apps
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Goals
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Assists
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Supporters:

Summary:

The pressure helped.  Congratulations on the promotion!

[XaW]

27 minutes ago, Bartrcm said:

The pressure helped.  Congratulations on the promotion!

Thanks! I had to deliver when I saw that!  

[WhiteCat33]

Suffice to say we are having an unbelievable start to the season:

They still have Jobe Bellingham who started and played in the game, my scouting sucks so hard to tell how good he actually is. No surprise but this match was the first ever Sell Out at the Nethermoor Grounds, what a match

Only 75k because the ground is so small, but I'll take it.

At least our next leg is away, albeit to a smaller side Carlisle. They are the side that took my starting star CB, so it will be interesting to see if my forwards can get through my old man and hopefully make ourselves a bit of money in the process.

In the league we are fighting for promotion spots. Having all new midfielders has made a world of difference and our strikers have already scored more goals than they did the entire last season

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by WhiteCat33

[The7Striker]

When @XaW turns the easy mode in the pitch and the hard mode in finances 

I just cant wait for the full release to join the journey

[XaW]

2 minutes ago, The7Striker said:

When @XaW turns the easy mode in the pitch and the hard mode in finances 

I just cant wait for the full release to join the journey

Haha, yeah, the finances are a bit of an issue...

[Makoto Nakamura]

2024/25 End of Season Review

Back-to-back promotions, we're up to the Northern Irish promised land! Now we just have to try our very best to stay there!

Geoff McKinty

Tiarnan McAuley - Ryan Russell (YP1e) - Andy Dunn (YP1k) - Connor Maxwell

Mark Shannon - Noel Halfpenny

Conall Delaney                                                         Denver Taggart

 

Andrew Caulfield (YP1j) - Chris Caulfield (YP1i)

 

Cup Watch:

Top 10's:

 

[OlivierL]

6 hours ago, Winski said:

Tyresö FF

Well, here we go again! My first FM23 save, and we'll start in Sweden. I had a brief spell at IK Sleipner in FM22 and I really liked it. I had some other options as well (Czech Republic, Germany and Finland) but decided to start in Sweden.
I chose Tyresö FF mainly because of their logo and club colours. And it's a club from Stockholm(county), so hopefully a good starting point for getting some nice newgens.

The reset date is 26 December 2022. I just holidayed from the last match of season 2022 (26-9-2022) until 26-12-2022.

The Supporter Profile. We now got 130 ticket holders, and 5% of them are hardcore fans. Let's see if we can get that % up!

 

I made these home&away kits.

 

Let's go Tyresö!

good luck mate ! nice kits and beautiful logo !

[Ralph96]

Hi, am new to this challenge, wanted to ask how it would work in Norway, as the lowest division is not playable. How do I get a team there?

[JAwtunes]

21 minutes ago, Ralph96 said:

Hi, am new to this challenge, wanted to ask how it would work in Norway, as the lowest division is not playable. How do I get a team there?

You holiday the first season and take over as one of the teams promoted from the lowest (non-playable) division into the lowest playable division.  If I remember correctly that means one of the teams from the fourth tier that are promoted into the third tier.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2025/26 Youth Preview

Surely this is bugged. 

[Ray46]

Sant Andreu: A Dutch manager in Barcelona

“Go out and enjoy”

 

Club and Manager Introduction:

 

As a middle aged Amsterdam born Dutchman you can probably guess who my biggest football hero is and what my favorite clubs are. Johan Cruyff, Ajax and Barcelona will forever be connected to each other. As you all know the way Barcelona have handled their business recently has disappointed a lot of their fans. Johan is probably shaking his head in heaven.

 

I have been reading the youth academy challenge forums for  a few years now. I love the stories some of you write and take us with you on your journey. I like the scouting, buying and selling part of FM, so I never committed to a challenge like this. The downside of scouting is that it takes a lot of time and when you have found your 15 to 20 wonderkids it gets repetitive really quickly and prevents me from going really deep into a save. This year is the year I’m going to try it and I decided to go to Spain. Four professional leagues to build up the club slowly and a mammoth of a task to beat Madrid and Barcelona. After I holidayed to the 10th of July I started looking for promoted clubs in the five different Segunda División RFEF leagues. In the Segunda División RFEF 3 my eye fell on Sant Andreu in Barcelona. 

 

The club has good starting facilities. Average training and youth facilities, average youth coaching and adequate recruitment. A modern 6500 all seater stadium with a synthetic pitch. After I googled the club I found out the stadium is just 10 km from Camp Nou. A 30 minute bike ride passed La Sagrada Familia. I realized I had found my save. I will take a club from Barcelona and lead it to La Liga and Champions League glory, just like my hero did with FC Barcelona. I will show the FC Barcelona board how it's done and build the club through my own La Masia.

 

The team is predicted to be 14th in an 18 team league. Five teams will be relegated, so we have a fight on our hands. Our odds to win are 150-1.

 

The plan for the first few years is just to not get relegated.

 

 

 

There is a good base of fans in our stadium which will hopefully help with finances.

 

Players:

The team is suited to play a typical Spanish 4-2-3-1 passing style. A strong team going forward with a lot of talent and experience. On the other hand we lack depth at CD and only one 15 year old GK, so we will be shaky at the back.

Of course no transfers were made.

 

 

First we had to get a staff and most importantly a HOYD; I have to say I was happy to find Mario Blanco. It’s his first job in professional football, but he is very suited to our club. Spirited personality is ok, 19 working with youngsters and he loves control possession and the 4-2-3-1.

 

Career overview:

Edited October 24, 2022 by Ray46

[WhiteCat33]

@Ray46 Welcome! Watch out you may get converted to this way of playing - I know I have been after just one year. 

[Perre8]

37 minutes ago, WhiteCat33 said:

@Ray46 Welcome! Watch out you may get converted to this way of playing - I know I have been after just one year. 

FM will never be the same again 

[OlivierL]

6 hours ago, XaW said:

                

XaW - Koninklijke Berchem Sport 2004 - Season 2023/24 - Nationale 1

Squad | Transfers | Finances

We are going up! I had my doubts, but towards the 2nd part of the season we really stepped up our game and climbed up into the playoff spots and on the final day we clinched 3rd to go into the 2nd tier. Quite good considering the youth intake came AFTER all matches were done. Looking forward to finally having a full bench next season!

Crocky Cup: We beat KSV Bornem and RC Hades before we lost to Royal Excelsior Virton in the 5th round.

U21 Team:

They seemingly played in 2 reserve competitions (bug it seems), so enough games for them! They finished bottom of the Belgian First National Reserve Division

And they finished 2nd last in the Belgian Reserve League 1B.

U18 Team:

They finished 10th in the Belgian U19 National 1.

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

None

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Apps
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Goals
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Assists
-------------------------------------------------------------
None

Supporters:

Summary:

@XaW what was your biggest cost last season? Ground maintenance ? It was +- 1M(euro's) in my holiday test. In the second season, after a few months of testing, it seems  nothing so i think that they were doing rebuild / expansion of the stadium ?

In november in the second season, Berchem receive a cash injection after a takeover in my save and i receive a message about a completed expansion

Spoiler

 

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by OlivierL

[WhiteCat33]

My 4th striker, and only YI frontline player, got 5 goals against Leamington:

I think the 1* rating is a little harsh. Yes he's slow, but he's got the Target Man attributes decently for our level.

[SkiIIs]

1 hour ago, WhiteCat33 said:

My 4th striker, and only YI frontline player, got 5 goals against Leamington:

I think the 1* rating is a little harsh. Yes he's slow, but he's got the Target Man attributes decently for our level.

even more harsh is the 2 star potential rating at 17yo with 10 determination

[Daddy]

2024/25 Season Review:

 

A third of the way through the season we were in last place. I lead the "sack race" at 7-2 odds. We were underperforming our xG by 8.5 goals. Our keeper is one of the worst in the leagues. I made a few seemingly minor tactics adjustments and it was like a switch flipped. We about broke even xG for the season. The keeper still sucks (more on him later). Team goes on a tremendous run and wind up just missing the playoffs. So many missed chances so it stings a little.

Not sure if this is a bug but I had several players I let go on free and it doesn't show up. Some guy got grumpy about something so I let him go. Not messing up my dynamics. Even though I hated him I needed to resign the keeper he was the best we had at the time, but he locked in a promise to improve training facilities. End of the season rolls around and there's no money so I can't do it. He gets whiney. I explain the board wouldn't do it. He said I need to be more persuasive. Dude persuaded his ass on out of here. Released on free.

I was able to get coaching and recruitment boosted and at the end of the season received a notice the board boosted the level to 4. Finances obviously aren't great, but I don't see that changing much without a lucky cup run.

Youth Intake:

Meet our new keeper. I'm sure he'll be bad too being thrown into the fire. Y25C comes in as a nice backup option with a few positions. Otherwise a lot got cut and others have a ways to go development wise.

2025/26 Season Preview:

I don't know why this design exists. Part of me thinks it was made just for me and this purpose.

Maybe it wasn't smart to get rid of that keeper. I also had a player retire, but I had stopped using him most of the last half of the season. Once again we're going to have to league the league in scoring to do well, but with the strong run we went on I think we should be pushing for the playoffs. 

[Ralph96]

In Croatia Season ticks over on 20th June, on May 28th the Promotion/Relegation Playoff from Lowest Playable Division is defined, so you can kind off "cheat" and see which lower division team can get promotion and save and reload until it wins. Seems like u also get different teams promoted when holidaying from May 28th to season tick over

[Muttley84]

Damn, reading all your starting posts here gives me such an itch to return to this and try again. Unfortunately I am still on FMT21...

[Ray46]

8 hours ago, WhiteCat33 said:

@Ray46 Welcome! Watch out you may get converted to this way of playing - I know I have been after just one year. 

Haha, thank you. We'll see, first have season went very well.

[Ray46]

8 hours ago, Perre8 said:

FM will never be the same again 

I feel the power of the dark side LOL

[glennuk]

Has anyone noticed any weird Youth Player progression yet? Been seeing some tweets from popular youtubers and generic FM accounts saying it is really messed up. Just wondering if anyone has noticed and if that has put them off this challenge for the time being?

The tweets and stuff I have seen is very generic with little to no actual evidence, so came to the place I thought would have the most knowledge

[Makoto Nakamura]

2025/26 Youth Candidates

A 4* CA goalkeeper? Lovely, but he's a bit short.

[DazRTaylor]

Youth Candidates

Season 2023/24

The Spartans

The preview was incredible:

Whilst we have plenty of potential in the intake, there are no standout superstars.  The personalities are very disappointing too.

[thomas_e]

Really impressive first season @fries, in every aspect! 

[XaW]

10 hours ago, OlivierL said:

@XaW what was your biggest cost last season? Ground maintenance ? It was +- 1M(euro's) in my holiday test. In the second season, after a few months of testing, it seems  nothing so i think that they were doing rebuild / expansion of the stadium ?

In november in the second season, Berchem receive a cash injection after a takeover in my save and i receive a message about a completed expansion

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Ground maintenance was the big one, btu we also had to enlarge the stadium which cost a lot, so it's partially understandable. The 2nd higher was staff wages at around £450k p/y.

3 hours ago, Muttley84 said:

Damn, reading all your starting posts here gives me such an itch to return to this and try again. Unfortunately I am still on FMT21...

You know what's coming...

46 minutes ago, glennuk said:

Has anyone noticed any weird Youth Player progression yet? Been seeing some tweets from popular youtubers and generic FM accounts saying it is really messed up. Just wondering if anyone has noticed and if that has put them off this challenge for the time being?

The tweets and stuff I have seen is very generic with little to no actual evidence, so came to the place I thought would have the most knowledge

There is a bug regarding the technical attributes and how the progress in the game. SI have said the fix will be save compatible, but not retrofit the lacking development. However, it seems to happen for all players, so it's not something that just happens to the human player.