Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 Friday 13th June 2025 Chorley Squad Goalkeepers -- Tom Booth (on loan) -- Matt Urwin -- Amir Papalia (U21) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 12 minutes ago, Stuniverse said: That's pretty much what the hover over text says as well, @Punch I do have my moments of brilliance 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 Friday 13th June 2025 Chorley Squad Defenders -- Kieran Burton -- Brennan Dickenson (out of contract) -- -- Camron Gbadebo -- Adam Henley -- Connor Johnson (out of contract) -- Matt Salmon (on loan) -- Adam Senior -- Tylah Wallace-Ming -- Scott Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 Friday 13th June 2025 Chorley Squad Midfielders -- Beineon Bolger -- Taylor Charters -- Lewis Johnson -- Davis Keillor-Dunn -- Joe Nolan -- Will Tomlinson (out of contract) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 Friday 13th June 2025 Chorley Squad Strikers -- Liam Golabek -- Connor Hall -- Harrison Nee -- Manni Norkett Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 Friday 13th June 2025 Chorley - Squad Dynamics How can I upset two players on my first day in the job? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 Friday 13th June 2025 Senior Affiliate -- -- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 (edited) Saturday 14th June 2025 New Manager Press Conference I may have jumped up from Tier 8 to Tier 6, but still only one journalist in attendance at my first press conference. At least The Non-League Paper's Sam Meakin was very professional. Edited April 8, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
samboing Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 Very late catching up with the save but I’m wondering if the finances are being eaten up in the bonuses being offered? Are they paid out at the end of the season hence why the finances are okay then take a massive hit at the tale end of the season? Also bad luck with how the season ended up also good luck with what’s in store this season! Keep up the good work 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtown1414 Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Stuniverse said: Friday 13th June 2025 Chorley - Squad Dynamics How can I upset two players on my first day in the job? Edited April 8, 2023 by dtown1414 wrong area to post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtown1414 Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 Posted in the wrong area. Nice move to go up two tiers. Good luck with that. Still can't figure out that drastic drop in finances at the last club. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, samboing said: Very late catching up with the save but I’m wondering if the finances are being eaten up in the bonuses being offered? Are they paid out at the end of the season hence why the finances are okay then take a massive hit at the tale end of the season? 2 hours ago, dtown1414 said: Still can't figure out that drastic drop in finances at the last club. I think the finance situation was the same at both clubs, it’s just that it was more pronounced at Belper Town (second club) because a) the players earnt more at Belper than the players earnt at Staveley Miners Welfare (first club) and b) at Staveley, we generally went deeper into the FA Cup and the FA Vase than Belper did in the FA Cup and FA Trophy so the prize money obscured the monthly losses for longer. Yes, League bonuses are paid at the end of the season and Cup bonuses were paid out after the final of those competitions so the bonuses would all come out at the end of the season. At the start of the season, at both clubs, we had the gate receipts from the high profile pre-season friendlies I arranged, plus the prize money each round for the cup competitions, that masked the monthly losses to start with. The frustrating thing for me is that at Belper Town (and Staveley Miners Welfare for that matter) I stayed within the budgets the Chairperson of the Board had set me. It wasn’t like I was overspending or anything. Edited April 8, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 3 hours ago, samboing said: Also bad luck with how the season ended up also good luck with what’s in store this season! Keep up the good work Thank you, @samboing. I’m excited about the season ahead with Chorley. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, dtown1414 said: Nice move to go up two tiers. Good luck with that. Thank you, @dtown1414. Yes, it was all a bit of a whirlwind and kind of took me by surprise as I didn’t apply for any of those jobs as the Chairperson approached me directly each time. I fully intended to stay at Belper Town and give promotion another shot, albeit I was under no illusions about how difficult it would be given the Board had raised the bar with their expectations whilst reducing my budgets. First there was around seven or eight football clubs that invited me to interview, but once I looked into them I declined all the requests because a) none of the football clubs were playing in a higher tier than Belper (Tier 8) so it was unlikely they’d be able to pay me and b) they were all too far away and not local. Things then quietened down until I got four more interview invites - three from football clubs relegated from the Vanarama National League (Tier 5) and one from a club in the Vanarama National League South. A part-time salary, plus managing two tiers higher than Belper, meant that it was a no-brainier to move football clubs. Like I sad, I wasn’t looking to leave Belper and didn’t apply for any of those jobs. I would’ve been strongly tempted to apply for the Alfreton Town job had it become available but, despite Alfreton’s relegation from the Vanarama National League North, they have kept faith with their long-serving manager Billy Heath. Edited April 8, 2023 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 (edited) Thursday 19th June 2025 My initial assessment of the Chorley squad Now that I've had a chance to take a look at the Chorley squad I've inherited (see earlier posts including screenshots of all the players), what are my initial thoughts? Well, I kind of don’t know at the moment. It’s game date 19 June 2025 and I’m waiting for the game to refresh for the new season which must be due soon. At the moment, I don’t know whether Chorley will play Vanarama National League North or South, although I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t North. I don’t know my budgets yet, I don’t know the season expectations yet, and I’m not sure if the coach report star ratings will be the same after the refresh (as Chorley got relegated) or get adjusted. I suspect they will stay much the same as my understanding is the star system is about comparing players within the squad, not comparing them to all players. In a first-team squad of 23 players I have one 4 x star player, four 3.5 x star players, two 3 x star players and everyone else is 2.5 x stars or less. I have too many defenders, not enough midfielders, four strikers and my best goalkeeper (and I do like a strong goalkeeper) is 2.5 x stars. Of course, it’s the 4 x and 3.5 x star players who are all unhappy and want to leave after relegation. As an initial comparison, I’ve asked my recruitment team to scout the best players I had at Belper or have previously managed to see how they compare to the Chorley players. I’m not sure how much more those players can step-up after going from Tier 10 (some of them) to Tier 9 and Tier 8. Can they step-up to Tier 6? Probably most surprisingly, in a squad of 23 players, I only have three players out-of-contract at the end of the season plus two loan players who will return to their parent clubs. All in all, I may be a bit limited as to what I can do transfer wise, especially if nobody wants the under contract players I may want to offload (or if those players don’t want to go). Edited April 9, 2023 by Stuniverse 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 Thursday 19th June 2025 Chorley arrange pre-season fixtures I've taken a bit of an educated guess as to when the Chorley squad might report back for pre-season training (I don't actually know) and when the season might start (based on the start date for this season just gone) and arranged some pre-season friendlies. The majority are home matches against high profile football clubs higher up the football pyramid to try and generate some income. Blackburn Rovers and Burnley both declined as they didn't think they'd gain anything by playing us. I've also arranged a couple of away games against rivals from lower down the football pyramid. I'll probably arrange some more pre-season friendlies once the schedule for the new season is out as I need to get to know my squad and I also anticipate a lot of trialists coming into Victory Park during pre-season. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 Well done landing on your feet! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 10, 2023 Author Share Posted April 10, 2023 3 hours ago, cerud said: Well done landing on your feet! Thank you, @cerud Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 (edited) Tuesday 24th June 2025 Chorley players out-of-contract I'm not sure if any of the contracted players have relegation wage reduction clauses, but the out-of-contract players look like they are right up there as our highest paid players. Having checked a few it looks like they have a 25% relegation wage drop. Edited April 11, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Staveley Miners Welfare extend Imbamba loan I can't see Joaquim Imbamba breaking into Chorley's first-team this season so I'm more than happy to do my former employer a favour as Staveley Miners Welfare will pay Joaquim's salary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Review: Vanarama National League 2024/25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Chorley relegated to Vanarama National League North The bookies expect us to finish 9th in the Vanarama National League North (Tier 6) this coming season. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 (edited) Wednesday 25th June 2025 Scouting Reports In The first scouting reports have come in on the best players I managed at Belper Town. Edited April 11, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Chorley Squad - Coach ratings Here's how my backroom staff rate the Chorley squad. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Board Expectations 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Chorley announce pre-season fixtures 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 10 minutes ago, Stuniverse said: Here's how my backroom staff rate the Chorley squad Looks like you can put together a good First XI, but there doesn't seem to be much quality behind them. Are you planning on the old 442 system or something different? Either way, I'd say you might want an upgrade on the right-wing. If you move some of that transfer budget into wages, you should be able to afford some reinforcements, no? Should be plenty of quality available on the free transfer market. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 2 minutes ago, warlock said: Looks like you can put together a good First XI, but there doesn't seem to be much quality behind them. Thanks, @warlock that's my assessment of the squad as well. 3 minutes ago, warlock said: Are you planning on the old 442 system or something different? It's too early to say as, I'm hoping, the squad will look somewhat different by the time we kick-off the Vanarama National League North season at home to Marine on Saturday 9th August 2025. We will train the 4-4-2 that I used successfully at Belper Town and Staveley Miners Welfare before that, and we'll probably go with it in the first couple of pre-season friendlies, but I'll also be looking to train two more systems and give them a go in pre-season as well. Too early, at this stage, to say what they will be though. Looks like Chorley went with a 3-3-2-2 type system last season. 9 minutes ago, warlock said: I'd say you might want an upgrade on the right-wing. Good spot. Thank you. 9 minutes ago, warlock said: If you move some of that transfer budget into wages, you should be able to afford some reinforcements, no? Yes, I think so, plus I'm expecting the majority of the first-team squad to get 25% relegation wage cuts. 10 minutes ago, warlock said: Should be plenty of quality available on the free transfer market. Absolutely. I'm waiting for the 1st of July to see who the North West football clubs above us in the football pyramid release and then I'll be inviting lots of players in on trial to assess them. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 (edited) Wednesday 25th July 2025 Will Tomlinson (DM, MC) - out-of-contract We don't have many central midfielders in the squad and Will Tomlinson is probably the best right-footed MC we have. But I'm going to need him to agree to less than the £400 per week he earnt in the Vanarama National League. Time to speak to his agent. Hmmmn... this might be one we have to wait on and play a long-game with. Edited April 11, 2023 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 (edited) Wednesday 25th June 2025 Connor Johnson (DC) - out-of-contract Right-footed Connor Johnson was a virtual ever-present last season as one of the centre-backs in a 3-3-2-2 system. We have seven centre-backs and Connor is the highest paid as well as also being the oldest at 27. I must admit, I'm not sure whether I want to offer Connor Johnson a new contract. Based on an initial chat with Connor's agent, it looks unlikely we'll be able to reach agreement either. Edited April 13, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Brennan Dickenson (WBL, ML, AML, DL) - out-of-contract Brennan Dickenson played 39 league games for Chorley last season and offers good versatility as he can play anywhere down the left as well as providing cover in central midfield. Brennan is 32 though and our (joint) highest paid player. Brennan doesn't appear to have an agent so I need to decide whether to talk directly to Brennan and offer him a contract. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Matt Salmon (DC) - loan from Port Vale expiring Left-footed Matt Salmon played 33 league games for Chorley last season as one of the centre-backs in a 3-3-2-2 system. Matt's not had much of a summer break as he's just come back from playing in the Under-20 World Cup where he represented Australia Under-20s who lost to the eventual winners, Norway Under-20, in the Quarter Final. I would like to bring Matt Salmon back to Chorley on loan but, unfortunately, his parent club don't seem overly keen on that happening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Tom Booth (GK) - loan from Crewe Alexandra expiring Tom Booth came in from Crewe Alexandra on loan last season and, from what I can gather, played well enough to become Chorley's #1 goalkeeper ahead of the more experienced Matt Urwin. Crewe Alexandra aren't keen on the idea of loaning Tom Booth back to us. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Wednesdaty 25th June 2025 TV Rights - Vanarama National League North We'll take every bit of money we can get our hands on thank you very much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Chorley's Fixture List 2025/26 Vanarama National League North Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 (edited) Wednesday 25th June 2025 Chorley - Contract Clauses triggered I'm assuming as it's not July 1st yet, that these salary clauses are factored into the Committed spending figure of £8,019.00 per week. Edited April 13, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Chorley - pre-season fixtures confirmed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Wednesday 25th June 2025 Continental C Licence... Mr Sharpe says NO! -- -- -- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Thursday 26th June 2025 Chorley's loan extensions unsuccessful -- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Monday 30th June 2025 Chorley players report back for pre-season Fitness -- Team Meeting Let's move on and talk about expectations. -- Dynamics Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 Tuesday 1st July 2025 Wage Budgets adjusted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Stuniverse said: Dynamics Urwin needs to be won over or shipped out ASAP. You can't have a team leader actively opposing you. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 (edited) 29 minutes ago, warlock said: Urwin needs to be won over or shipped out ASAP. You can't have a team leader actively opposing you. Yes, it is indeed a concern, @warlock On day one in the job, I had two players opposing me - Matt Urwin, of course, and Manni Norkett… but Manni has already got over whatever his issue was. To be honest, I have no idea what Matt’s beef with me is. His squad status was already ‘Backup’ when I arrived here and, with the loan goalkeeper Tom Booth having gone back to his parent club, Matt is the only goalkeeper I have… well, apart from U21 goalkeeper Amir Papalia. I don’t see a long-term future for Matt here - he’s 31, 2.5 star ability and 2.5 star potential, so he isn’t going to improve and I really want a first-team goalkeeper who is more than 2.5 stars. I haven’t tried offloading any players yet (not sure how easy that will be to do at this level) but I’m going to have to do that soon because I currently have a conveyor belt of trialists coming through the door at Victory Park, of which I’ve offered four or five contracts, which has pretty much blown out my wage budget and ability to offer more contracts. One of the trialists I’ve offered a contract to is a goalkeeper released by Blackburn Rovers. On the downside, all of the trialists I’ve offered contracts to have also received offers from other clubs. Edited April 13, 2023 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Stuniverse said: all of the trialists I’ve offered contracts to have also received offers from other clubs Always the way . Sometimes the only way to get rid of a troublesome player is to offer them out for free. You might lose a highly-theoretical transfer fee, but you save on wages and solve a problem. In my Darlington save I have been known to put troublemakers in the u18s until they get so hacked off they'll accept a mutual termination. Urwin might be difficult because of that ambitious personality - he might turn down perfectly good offers while hoping for a dream move. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 16, 2023 Author Share Posted April 16, 2023 On 13/04/2023 at 19:31, warlock said: Urwin might be difficult because of that ambitious personality - he might turn down perfectly good offers while hoping for a dream move. Maybe Matt Urwin should get his ambitious personality behind a Chorley promotion challenge! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted April 16, 2023 Author Share Posted April 16, 2023 Saturday 5th July 2025 Chorley v Preston North End Pre-season Friendly As I always do with the first pre-season friendly I'll be giving 22 players 45 minutes each. Victory Park, Chorley - attendance 4,100 (2,800 away) -- We'll start the game with Chorley players and then, at half-time, we'll give mainly trialists time on the pitch. We knew Championship Preston North End would be a very difficult opponent so I'm delighted that we held them to a respectable score, losing 2-1. I made 11 changes at half-time. I know we won't get a capacity 4,100 attendance every game but it was incredible to see a sell-out crowd for this game with Preston North End and their travelling fans. My Chairperson, Aron Sharpe, tells me we made approximately £18,450.00 in gate receipts from this game. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted May 3, 2023 Share Posted May 3, 2023 Just checking in. Been away a while. Not sure if this career is finished, but it was a good read! Thanks, @Stuniverse ! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 4, 2023 Author Share Posted May 4, 2023 On 03/05/2023 at 03:38, cerud said: Just checking in. Been away a while. Not sure if this career is finished, but it was a good read! Thanks, @Stuniverse ! Hi @cerud and everybody following this thread. Apologies for no updates in a while, I’ve just been incredibly busy and haven’t had any time to play FM these last few weeks. I will be continuing the save once I have the time again. Best wishes, Stu Stuniverse 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 No worries! Real life tends to get in the way for me as well 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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