The FM24 Youth Academy Challenge

[Skora11]

Is anyone finding player's moaning all the time about training because it is a part time schedule?

Struggling early in my save with this, is it a case of just doing general overall training along with physical training every week?

Edited November 12, 2023 by Skora11

[Winski]

IFK Lidingö
Youth intake season 6 | 2029
 

Our sixth season, and so our sixth intake. We had a better preview then last season, so I had higher hopes about this intake. And the actual intake didn't dissapoint! We got 5 Elite Talents. And all 5 are really good talents! I'm happy with GK Augustinsson 29a, as I just sold my first GK to Feyenoord(see below). He's a bit short for a GK, but he looks really talented. The same can be said about Sigemo 29c and Isesund 29d. Both will go directly to our first team. So yeah, a very nice intake!

 

Spoiler

As I said above, I sold my best GK to Feyenoord for €2,5M. A very big transfer for us, and also for Rodríguez 25a. I rejected a lot of offers for him. But when Feyenoord came, I just couldn't reject the offer. They offered €1M at first, and I was able to negotiate it to (max) €2,5M.

[XaW]

Oh.... my....gawd....

[The Chairman Plays]

Wow! what an intake @XaW 

[Winski]

10 minutes ago, XaW said:

Oh.... my....gawd....

Wow

What an incredible intake!

[Neo_Geo]

Can't motivate myself to continue with Bronshoj after 4 first team players retired and it looks like Bruun YP25-A will be leaving.

I think I have newsaveitis, I'm sure of it 

For something completely different and going back to a 2 tier setup (where all of the clubs in the second tier are professional) I'm going to give Israel a go

I've also decided that rather than continuously chopping and changing formation I'm going to go for a specific formation and stick with it and retrain players specifically to fit that style (could be a total disaster but I wanted to try something a little different)

@darren1983 new season date for Israel is 19th June 2024 for different teams sim from 16th May 2024 (last league game in National League is 17th May)

For anyone looking to run this league here are the details of the 20 re-loads I did:

I have opted to take over at Hapeol Ra'anana a club who had been in the Premier League for 7 consecutive season s before having a downward turn:

 

The formation I want to play will be attacking and the board and supporter culture is a great fit for this challenge. 2,500 all seater stadium and decent facilities is also a bonus so here we go! (again)

The squad looks in really good shape with no one over 30 but with 4 27 year olds for that bit of experience.

I'll most likely not be making massive inroads into this save tonight, I'll have my club kits (3 of them) and Bingo Card to sort out then I can get to work on this one.....already have a good feeling about it (let's see how long that lasts!)

[Neo_Geo]

35 minutes ago, XaW said:

Oh.... my....gawd....

No excuses for messing up now 

I've never seen such an amazing intake, this one really does live up to the 'golden generation' tag

[darren1983]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

Oh.... my....gawd....

I think I hate you for this  

[jrobertgordon13]

2 hours ago, XaW said:

Oh.... my....gawd....

I think he fainted…

[SimplySamantics]

My first time trying this challenge! Wish me luck as I take over Finnish First Division side JIPPO Joensuu. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by SimplySamantics

[Neo_Geo]

@SimplySamantics welcome to the challenge and good luck in Finland

[glennuk]

@XaW - How'd you get that, when my Japanese intake was max 3 * PA and 0.5* CA. Life is not fair....FM is not fair....but I love it!!

I am sooooo jealous right now! Hope you get them all on 3 year contracts with +3 optional

Edited November 13, 2023 by glennuk

[PandaQC]

11 hours ago, timo said:

Five months in my first season with Minebea Mitsumi FC in Japan and my board declines every improvement to my Youth Recruitment. 

Finally good news. Thank you board !

[Gonner]

Austria Salzburg, Season 3, 2026/2027

 

Season Recap :

We managed to do worse than last season on the return phase, getting 13 points, so less than a point per game. This is still our best position to date, and our board is delighted that "we finish in the first half of the division" (I guess they are technically correct, but that's by the skin of our teeth boss). I am wondering what I should change to play better in that second half of the season, I play friendly games every Saturday during the lengthy winter break to keep everyone sharp, but we tend to begin on the wrong foot and then morale goes down and we get into a vicious cycle.

Transfers :

Révélation

Obviously no arrivals, we got rid of 3 players that were not in our plans during the summer break, all for free.

Finances : 

Révélation

Nothing really noteworthy, more competition prize money because we did go into the 1/4 Final of the Cup.

Squad :

Révélation

Another season using my 4-4-2 "Wing Play" and adjusting if I want to play my wingers as midfielders or in a more advanced position. 

We see some young guys taking good first team minutes, such as Fatih Gül, who is now our second best striker after Stephan Dorfmayr. Both of them like to play Poacher or Advanced Forward though, so sometimes I play one as a DLF to have better links with the midfield. Speaking of midfield, Abesser & Todorovic are now our go-to-pair. Despite Abesser being comfortable in a DM position, Todorovic is our BWM and Abesser is a CM / Automatic (he is most comfortable in "support" so I like being able to adjust how attacking I want him to be. We typically start the game as "balanced" or more rarely "cautious" when the other team is favorite by a wide margin).

Finally, Idrissa Bah has taken Mathias Hausberger's spot as 2nd best Centre Back over the course of the season. The only issue is that Theiner, our best defender by a mile has not changed his mind and will leave us at the end of June. Sorda (did not want to renew either) and Zottl (clearly past his better days) are also on the way out.

 

Admin & Facilities : 

Révélation

Did not succeed in obtaining anything from the board this season, but the good news is that both the board and the supporters expect me to develop players using the club's youth system. I am all for that guys ! 

Youth Intake : 

To the good stuff ! As a reminder, this was our intake preview : 

And this is what we got. Quite a lot of elite talents, at least on paper !

Milan Hasic : I keep on getting a young GK per year. Kovacic (2026 regen) is progressing well so he seems like our GK of the future, but I am all for competition.

Révélation

Lucas Baumjohann : I am a simple man, I see a Central Defender candidate, I am happy.  Obviously needs to be polished, but he looks to have good physical ability, I would not be surprised to see him knocking at the door in a couple of seasons.

Révélation

Patrick Sauer : Obligatory ""OH MY GOD it's happening" Michael Scott GIF here". Able to play LB & CB, Sauer is going to see first team minutes straight away as a LB considering the options I have (at the moment, it's either Bah, a CB, or Sandmayr / Wield, (both RBs) who have all been trained to play the position). Icing on the cake is his "Spirited" personality.  

Révélation

Phil Erdmann : My tactic (or, more truthfully, the tactic I find best-suited for the team) does not require an Attacking Midfielder. I will try to convert him to an "attack-oriented" central midfielder.

Révélation

Sebastian Kraft : Fötschl, our Left Winger, and probably our best player, has hinted that he would like to explore his options. So far, I have been able to play the "you are the star of the club, you love being here" card, but one day we might be too small for him, and, *fingers crossed*, Kraft might be able to replace him that day.

Révélation

Luca Götz : I believe Luca is ready for the first team. Him being behind Gül or Dorfmayr should be phenomenal ! Love that he is "fairly professional" as well. Our HoY is "balanced", which is OK I'd say, but if I can get better personalities I am thrilled.

Révélation

Tobias Hartmann : Another "second-striker", very versatile because he can also play on both wings. Love the very good natural grades in Teamwork, Work Rate & Natural Fitness.

Révélation

Tim Simon-Garatwa : First of our "top talent", and already the 3rd best striker of his class. I do not really see a path forward for him seeing his casual demeanor and the competition he is facing, plus  he is only seen as a 3.5* potential.

Révélation

Patrick Buschner : Has a bit more potential than his buddy Tim above but I have gotten better Right Wingers in the previous years, so there will be harsh competition for first-team minutes.

Révélation

Game in a nutshell :

Modifié %s à %s par Gonner

Edited November 13, 2023 by Gonner

[Gonner]

Question for those who have played this challenge for a long time : is a "loan back clause" accepted ? I have a player that has been linked with MU & Bayern during the winter mercato and he obviously wants to go but I need him to finish the season. I have managed to include a loan back clause, technically speaking it is as if he was going to sign at the end of the season. Can I do that or is this considered an incoming transfer ?

I have saved before agreeing to the proposal, just wanted to get your opinions on this please.

Thanks.

[BustaRaymes]

3 hours ago, Gonner said:

Question for those who have played this challenge for a long time : is a "loan back clause" accepted ? I have a player that has been linked with MU & Bayern during the winter mercato and he obviously wants to go but I need him to finish the season. I have managed to include a loan back clause, technically speaking it is as if he was going to sign at the end of the season. Can I do that or is this considered an incoming transfer ?

I have saved before agreeing to the proposal, just wanted to get your opinions on this please.

Thanks.

Sadly it's not accepted for this save. It's heartbreaking when a club offers the loan back and you have to decline, but it's the rules.

 

The only way to get them to leave at the end of the season is negotiating it directly in the bid at the transfer date, but it's always hard to push that to the buying clubs.

Edited November 13, 2023 by BustaRaymes

[glennuk]

Honda FC - Season 1 - End of Season Review

Still really enjoying the Japan save, although I am a bit afraid that my Youth intake was so bad. Even the 0.5 star CA youth have fallen to at best 3 silver star CA. (I know that is all subjective, but still....)

League - 10th

Mid-Table is actually a decent achievement considering that we have a relatively weak squad. We were never really in trouble throughout the season which has been encouraging to see. There were even a few moments where it looked like we may challenge for a playoff spot.

Cups

League Cup - Second Round

All Japan Cup - Second Round

We purposefully played a weaker team in the cups. Mostly just to get some fresher legs for the league. Honestly my squad is THIN

The Squad

We settled on a 4-3-2-1 formation, which is my preferred style. We have a glut of attacking options, with three good right wingers and I rotated them based on form, which is why my starting front three don't have the most starts. Kenshin Yuba came in after our best player was injured for the season and he took the right wing spot and made it his own, scoring and assisting 16 goals in total! Another surprise was Go Nakashima who was on the transfer list when I arrived at the club and didn't get a start for the first 10 games or so of the season, and then became my starting inverted winger on the left. Last but not least our ONE good CM, Ryusei Kusakari who is our only CM with above 2* CA (3.5* CA). Other than that our team is pretty poor. I really need next years Youth Intake to be better.

Finance

We just got our 3 Mil per year sponsorship before this screenshot, so by the end of the season I was just in the red by a few hundred thousand. The sponsorship should keep me afloat for a while though.

Upgrades & Facilities

As well as the previous Youth Recruitment improvement, right at the end of the season we also improve our Junior Coaching. So we now have:
Fairly Basic Junior Coaching

Basic Youth Recruitment.

[the_hdk]

Transfer History

The title was decided on the last game of the season and we lost it, at home, to Urawa 0-2. Painfull to gove away the title in such a way. Was a close battle between us both. We had 66% possession but could not convert. They had the chances. Otherwise still great season. We got our first Cup, The Super Cup!. Stadion is almost all sold out every game. And we are through in the Asian CL to the R16. Urawa with their third Championship.

IMAZEKI had an outstanding seaosn with 38 goals in  36 games. No way we can keep him around. Vultures form Europe are everywhere. Our first Ducthie Ashton VAN DEN BERGH broke into the first team and is a decent rotation player. Same can be said for the Korean-Japanese player SONG JUNG. Our Goaly NAKAMOTO seems to have won teh battle for teh first GK of Japan and has already 6 caps.

Portugal with back-to-back World Cup wins. And Jonjoe ROTHEL with his second ballon d'or.

Lost Title on last game

We sold two this year. FUJIKAWA was picked up by Fulham and KONDO went to Saudies.

We had three players in the Japanese team for the World Cup! Plus two former players. So we grew 5 players in the Japan WC team!. They lost out in 2nd round to Mexico on penalties sadly. 

SIMON intake 2034.

No foreign intakes, but what a talent. KATAYAMA already 2,5 ability and 5 star potential. We stuck Japanese GOLD. (Hence why I gave him blonde hair!)

At 15 already 16 Finishing!. 15 Technique. 18 Flair. His determination could be better but WHAT a PLAYER.

 

[Makoto Nakamura]

 2028/29 Youth Candidates

Oh my word. Relatively this may be one of the best, if not the best intake I've had!!

Spoiler

 

[JLAB]

Real Jaén - Season 2 - Winter Break and Surprise Promotion Challenge?

Sometimes, things start going so well for you that you can't stop playing. This was the case for me during my 2nd season at Real Jaén when we were suddenly not feeling like a side struggling for life in the Segunda Federación Grupo IV. We were enjoying a great start to life in the 4th tier of Spanish football, where we went unbeaten for the first time in the first two months of the season. We did suffer defeats, but the teams that beat us were also fighting for promotion.

Last year, I looked over my shoulder, nervously looking towards the relegation zone, but this year, we find ourselves in an unlikely battle for promotion. I don't expect us to keep this challenge up, but hopefully, it is a sign of good things.

Unfortunately, the same can not be said for our youth intake preview. While we're being told that it is an excellent intake, the grades that I was given tell me otherwise. If we get a good youth intake, I will be pleasantly surprised.

If you want to see the goals that we managed to score, then feel free to watch the video linked below. I even introduce you to my set-piece coach, who is currently being poached by a team in the league above us.

YAC - Real Jaén - Part 7

Edited November 13, 2023 by JLAB

[Makoto Nakamura]

2028/29 End of Season Review

Against Al-Kholood we conceded an 88th minute equaliser and against Al-Suqor we were 3-2 up until the 82nd minute so we could have finished five points better off but our position wouldn't have changed, and basing it on the last couple of seasons we'll finish 11th next season. 

Overall Best XI

2028/29 Best XI

Abdulelah Al-Ruwaili

Mohamed Al-Ali (YP3d) - Abdulrahman Al-Dosari - Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi (YP3h)

Saud Al-Shehri (YP4a) - Majid Al-Qumaizi - Khaled Al-Dawsari (YP2a) - Hamad Al-Shahrani (YP1g)

 

 

Abdulaziz Al-Harbi - Sultan Al-Qahtani (YP3n) - Othman Al-Ghamdi (YP4n)

[Neo_Geo]

So for my Hapoel Ra'anana attempt I've created my kits....

I've created a custom bingo card for Israel....

I didn't think I've ever start the save off completing any of these objectives but I found out that Hapoel Ra'Anana have over £5.3m in the bank!

Now I've sorted this out I can get started with the game when I get the chance!

[andydick]

SACAVENENSE

END OF SEASON 1 - 2024/25

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Portugal Championship (League): Finished 9th of 14, one place above the relegation zone
Portuguese Cup - knocked out at the first time of asking - Second Round

A mixed start to the season, but it started to go south as injuries racked up and we dipped in and out of the relegation places.  Just after midway though we put a run together which gave us hope of a play-off spot but a second injury (this time season ending) to our 'keeper meant we fell away.  Finished 9th, 1 place above the relegation spots, but never in any danger of going down, 16 points clear of 10th and 8 points off the play-offs.

Youth intake was described as a "golden generation" but we'll wait and see.  Definitely a couple of decent players there including a good back-up 'keeper.

Finances are a disaster, lost around 420K so far and we're only in April. 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by andydick

[TCH]

13 hours ago, XaW said:

Oh.... my....gawd....

What an intake! Would love to see those attributes!

[Ikthop]

@XaW and @Makoto Nakamura, those are some awesome intakes.  What did you guys do in terms of first contract with the best prospects of the intake? Youth contract first, straight into pro contract, or something else?

Edited November 13, 2023 by Ikthop

[XaW]

4 minutes ago, TCH said:

What an intake! Would love to see those attributes!

It's coming up in the update I'm about to start writing. At least for the two best ones!  

2 minutes ago, Ikthop said:

@XaW and @Makoto Nakamura, those are some awesome intakes. What did you guys do in terms of first contract with the best prospects of the intake? Youth contract first, straight into pro contract, or something else?

I think it's due to the fact that they club has approved a lot of the youth coaching and youth recruitment while we still have a squad mostly rated as decent for the tier below us. The best players in that intake is still only rated as "decent" for the league I play in. So they are certainly talents, but it's got more to do with the fact that I have really poor players already at the club!  

[Anners]

Previous Post:

On 09/11/2023 at 10:55, Anners said:

Previous Post:

2025/26 Season Report:

Club: Tranent FC (Scotland)
League: Scottish League 1

League:

This looks a comfortable mid-table finish, but it very much wasn't. We won 6, drew 1 and lost 2 of our last 9 games meaning 19 from 27. We actually started reasonably well in the season too, taking 4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses (14 from 27). Just nobody ask about mid season please. Especially November where we got hammered 6-2 by Edinburgh City and 7-4 by Hamilton.

Cups:

We didn't progress further than the Third Round again in the Scottish Cup, going out again to Championship opposition in Partick Thistle. For the League Cup (or Viaplay Cup as it's known), it was a bit of a different story. Wins over Queen's Park and Edinburgh City weren't too shocking, but we managed to turn over Premiership side Dundee United 4-0. Somehow. Which meant the table ended up like this:

That set us up with one of two best possible options (depending on which colour you prefer I guess...) you could ever hope for in a Youth Challenge. A tie away at Glasgow Rangers. We got thoroughly outclassed 6-1, but honestly, who cares at this point!? 260 glorious thousand pound in our pockets meant we were able to get nearly everything upgraded in our facilities as well as the more important youth setup! We're actually setup quite well financially moving forward, so hopefully we'll be able to get the youth products to match the healthiness of the bank balance!

Speaking of...

2026 Youth Intake:

When this screen came up, I was a bit disappointed as I thought we'd actually get nothing out of it, but the result:

Russell will go straight into the first team, but there's at least some potential for players here and the depth is sorely needed. Personality wise we're not great here, but it's not a complete disaster.

 

Oh, and I forgot to add!

Our old chairman left and we are now run by the Supporters' Trust. No money or anything was put in, but this was... nice? With how some people had problems with facilities last year with owners not upgrading, this might be a bit of a blessing?

Will be a couple of seasons reported here - had some major train delays which meant more FM but the internet connection was a bit crappy to keep up!

 

2026-27 Season Report:

Club: Tranent FC (Scotland)
League: Scottish League 1

League:

Bit of a tough year, narrowly avoiding automatic relegation. We were thrown into the League 1/2 playoffs (9th placed team in League 1 joins 2nd, 3rd, 4th of League 2 in a 2 legged knockout). I was slightly nervous, but considering the difference between top and bottom in that league was only 19 points, I was reasonably confident of being able to stay up.

Thankfully we did! Although we did end up getting the following news item:

I'm extremely proud but also extremely sad! I really wasn't confident going into the next year. Whilst our youth facilities had improved, we only had a backup right back come through. Apologies for no screenshot here! At the end of this season, we also lost our first choice left back (who promptly retired at 22??) who was one of our best players.

---------------------------------------------

2027-28Season Report:

Club: Tranent FC (Scotland)
League: Scottish League 1

League:

Sadly, we can't get away with it for another year. We decided that any football played in the league before Christmas was a bit pointless, picking up 8 points from the first 18 games. Then all of a sudden beat Morton 3-0 on Boxing Day and then remembered we are still a half decent football team! Rather than try to explain, a simple screenshot will show just how hot we were after Christimas:

Absolutely nuts and I'm pretty pissed that we've actually gone down automatically here.

Youth Intake:

We've got a screenshot this time... and a half decent player!!

Bailey McKay will slot straight into the first team challenging for a starting spot. Other than him, we're still somewhat struggling for youth products. For some reason, our board seem hesitant to create a reserve or youth team, so I'm having to be a bit more selective in which youth products to actually sign sadly. Trying to balance getting youth products into the club, but not overwhelming the coaching staff isn't something I envisaged when I started!

The board seem to be very happy with me doing all of the coaching badges, are happy to allow extra staff (to the point where we're very close to having the best coaching staff in League 1), yet seem to be stumbling a bit with the facilities. We're still incredibly healthy off the pitch (our bank balance is still above the £400k mark!), but it's a bit disappointing to not see bigger improvements in our junior coaching or youth recruitment. I'm not sure if that's me wanting the world, but considering the health of the club, we can afford to take the risk to go a bit further.

 

[BustaRaymes]

AC Bra 2024-25

 

Serie C

After a flying start with two wins in the first two games, we dropped off a lot. Always hovering around 16th and 17th, we had some decent results in the final few weeks to survive.

I was counting on a playoff (which is usually for places 16-19), but a rule I forgot about saved me in the end:

 

Squad

It wasn't ideal to play this attacking while short on wingers and strikers, but going with a more reserved approach wasn't working for us at all. So we went out to play football and if it wouldn't be enough, so be it. Marchisone, one of our star players, was out for months twice which made things even more difficult. Now that we've survived I hope to see more of him next season.

Tchokokam is a decent looking goalkeeper but I've been less than impressed with him. Let's hope he can develop a bit more and be more reliable than.

Rapolo is our star at the back. Experienced, good attributes and a bit of leadership as well. I hope he can hold out until some youth has come through.

In midfield, although Daqoune was not our best player statwise, he is vital to this squad. His role is extremely hard but important, so average ratings were mediocre.

I don't know how I feel about Mawete. He needed 22 games to get to 5 goals, but added 8 in the remaining 12. He will of course be starting next season. In the off chance he actually is Jesus Christ, I wouldn't want to be on his bad side.

 

Transfers

 

Youth intake

All of our prospects are on positions we have covered, so that is quite the letdown.

Eggemann has some pretty starting attributes, but the Unambitious personality sticks out like a sore thumb.

Capanna and Gualdi could do a decent job if they progress a bit in the nest 2 seasons.

Parisi is the one to be strengthening the first team. He's not a star but might be able to play a few games if needed.

Edited November 13, 2023 by BustaRaymes

[The Chairman Plays]

NK Bjelovar

Season one 2024/25

 

Spoiler

Season one was relatively easy. Tho our squad was slim and we had lot of young players. Our tactic worked towards attack but we concede too many goals. Also our problem was our set pieces. Too many corner goals for opposition. Well this season was easy, but I fear next year will be tough!

 

Spoiler

We started badly which was expected due new tactic and new manager. Still managed to pick up wins in the league games but our cup run was short. Only one game which we did lead till end but collapsed and did go out via pens. I think our end of season was outstanding and we managed to go unbeaten 9 games and only lost once in our last 15 games. Good seson I would say?

Spoiler

 

 

Our players played a lot of games. Two players stands out most. Borna Miklic who scored 25 league goals and Jovan Motika who scored 12 and assist 17 goals. Lot of good performances all in all!

 

Spoiler

No transfers naturally! Only one out!

 

Spoiler

 

Youth intake preview was promising and the actual intake also was quite good. Lot of youngsters to sign (signed all but one). 4 players stood out for me Adnan Seferovid 16yo midfielder, Damir Zelenika 15yo central defender, Mate Bilic 15yo goalkeeper and Vinko Prahic 15yo attacking midfielder. All those can be future stars in our squad if development is good! I'd say there were lot of good talented guys who to use in future.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the season was fast paced and lot of things happened! 

At first we saw news article that our chairperson was stepping down! I was happy about the takeover mainly because of our finances. We made 500k loss this year and only because insurances , and miscellaneous expenses! so naturally we'd like to have tycoon takeover to wash away those kind of expenses but no, takeover never happened and now we are still spending a lot. Luckily I managed to get new contract and 1st coaching course so Continental C License!  so at least that was nice thing. Not that nice was the announcement of turning back to semi-pro and that our training facilities downgraded! 

Still I think we had positive season and next year we hopefully can go further in cup competitions and maybe, just maybe we could snatch that promotion! But I wouldn't be disappointed if we won't win the league as long as we go forward! 

Edited November 13, 2023 by The Chairman Plays

[JLAB]

15 hours ago, XaW said:

Oh.... my....gawd....

The absolute state of this intake.

[Makoto Nakamura]

1 hour ago, Ikthop said:

@XaW and @Makoto Nakamura, those are some awesome intakes.  What did you guys do in terms of first contract with the best prospects of the intake? Youth contract first, straight into pro contract, or something else?

 

1 hour ago, XaW said:

It's coming up in the update I'm about to start writing. At least for the two best ones!  

I think it's due to the fact that they club has approved a lot of the youth coaching and youth recruitment while we still have a squad mostly rated as decent for the tier below us. The best players in that intake is still only rated as "decent" for the league I play in. So they are certainly talents, but it's got more to do with the fact that I have really poor players already at the club!  

Agree with XaW here, those with 4* CA are rated good enough for the level I'm at, 3* CA is a Third Division (4th tier) level player.

[SuperRedditch]

Leça FC
Season 2 - 2025/26
Liga 3 North First Stage - 6th
(Relegation Stage North - 1st)

 

 

I made it! Two whole seasons and I didn't get sacked. Portugal is wild, man. If you don't finish in the top 4, you're fighting relegation and points don't really carry over to the Relegation stage - you start with 1 bonus point per position you finished in the table. We actually started on fire and I thought we were certs for the promotion group, but then a run of horrendous form followed.

 

 

You gotta realise, there's only 18 games in the First Stage. This accounted for over half of the matches. Some of these games were rigged though. I'm telling you. RIGGED. We really struggled defensively. Here is a list of the things that we couldn't deal with:

Long shots, corners, free-kicks, crosses, cut-backs, passes, through balls, dribbles, long balls, short passes, shots, headers, volleys, anyone entering our final third with the ball, a gentle breeze.

After I had praised the entire squads conduct, criticised/praised their form, training and last match and had a Team Meeting, we finally won a game in the first Relegation Stage match and proceeded to "win" the group.

 

Oh and financially we are an absolute shambles, currently sitting at (£628,744). How does one make money in Portugal, pray tell?
 

The Squad

 

Top Scorer/Top Assister/Player of the Season - Lucas Gomes - Lmao, can anyone else say one man team?

Best developer - Bruno Neto 25c - Professional personality has seen a stark improvement in attributes,

Key defender  - Ibrahim Muhammad - Need to keep hold of him, is the only DC at the club with any ability.

 

The Intake

 

 

 

 

 

The preview keeps promising much and then slightly under-delivering. Although the PAs seem to be jumping around a bit more than they used to. The guy I tagged as "26e" now has 5* PA.

 

Next Season

 

 

[XaW]

 

XaW - Kettering Town - Season 2025/26 (Season 2) - Vanarama National League North

Squad | Transfers | Finances

A worse season than the last, but still we avoided the drop. The main difference is that we lost our best player during the off season, and thus we had to use a bit too many of the youth players. Luckily, this seasons intake took care of that problem for us going forward! Overall we had some highs, but a few too many lows. One issue is that my first choice striker is what I call a "spree scorer". He can score 5 in a game and then 3 the next one, but then he goes 10-15 matches without a goal. Quite the annoying type at times. We also concede a lot of goals, and many very easy ones that we shouldn't have. But playing a lot of 16 year olds, I shouldn't be surprised we act inexperienced, I guess. Onward to next season, and hopefully with more success with the new golden intake!

FA Cup: We beat Frickley Athletic, Radcliffe, and Warrington before we lost to Bradford City in the 1st round.
FA Trophy: We lost to Guiseley in the 2nd round.

We also got some improvements accepted this season.

Around the world

U21s:

They only played friendlies this season.

U18s:

They finished 11th in the National U18 League North East this season.

FA Youth Cup: They beat Hampton & Richmond before they lost to Taunton in the 2nd qualifying round.

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

None

Player statistics:

Most apps for the clubs

Name				Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Apps
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harvey Smith 25c		England		Ireland		2025-Present	53
Stuart Butterworth 25g		England		<N/A>		2025-Present	53
Murphy Nganga 25f		England		DR Congo	2025-Present	42
Vincent Schulz 25a		Germany		England		2025-Present	34
Kamil Stachurski 25m		Poland		England		2025-Present	27

Most goals for the club

Name				Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shaun Wilson 26b		Scotland	Wales		2026-Present	3
Wayne Newton 25e		England		Guyana		2025-Present	2
Kamil Stachurski 25m		Poland		England		2025-Present	2
Harvey Smith 25c		England		Ireland		2025-Present	1
Destiny Okwara 25i		Nigeria		England		2025-Present	1

Most assists for the club

Name				Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Assists
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kamil Stachurski 25m		Poland		England		2025-Present	5
Murphy Nganga 25f		England		DR Congo	2025-Present	4
Stuart Butterworth 25g		England		<N/A>		2025-Present	4
Harvey Smith 25c		England		Ireland		2025-Present	3
Wayne Newton 25e		England		Guyana		2025-Present	2

YAC Bingo:

Supporters:

Summary:

[XaW]

4 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

Agree with XaW here, those with 4* CA are rated good enough for the level I'm at, 3* CA is a Third Division (4th tier) level player.

That's the trick, have extremely poor players, it helps with the intake!  

[Makoto Nakamura]

2029/30 Youth Candidates

13 of last seasons intake has made an appearance this season, we could be in for another good class, minus the personalities!

[fries]

Just got a takeover. On the positive side, they invested £2.5 mill in the club.

But on the other hand, the new board is also buying two players. What are the rules here?

They are put into the reserves when they arrive and sold as fast as possible?

[SuperRedditch]

4 minutes ago, fries said:

Just got a takeover. On the positive side, they invested £2.5 mill in the club.

But on the other hand, the new board is also buying two players. What are the rules here?

They are put into the reserves when they arrive and sold as fast as possible?

I've been able to cancel a transfer the board have tried to do before on a past FM. I think I just went to the player and either went to Contract or Transfer and could back out of the contract offer/transfer offer.

[HanziZoloman]

"Some of us might hope." Earl of Grey

January the year 2052

Somehow with the help of the Internet we managed to turn things around for now. The Earl was close to being sacked but begged for another month to proof himself worthy enough to sail that ship back home. Well, he did, that mighty Earl of Grey.

"This is the hardest year. The other teams are so much better than us. But it's not the first storm nor it's the last." Chris Griffith told the News. The Segundo Volante saved some points with goals from the back. The brave man plays an important role in midfield since Vanarama South years, "we keep going" he said grinning his easy smile. He is a true Gentleman on and off the pitch and born for this task.

Spoiler

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by HanziZoloman

[Makoto Nakamura]

2029/30 End of Season Review

Phew, we managed to turn form around right at the very end to solidify our 8th place, smack bang in the middle finish.

Overall Best XI

2029/30 Best XI

Majed Al-Shammari (YP5d)

Mohamed Al-Ali (YP3d) - Yahya Al-Harbi (YP5f) - Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi (YP3h)

Saud Al-Shehri (YP4a) - Majid Al-Qumaizi - Khaled Al-Dawsari (YP2a) - Saad Al-Mansour (YP5p)

 

 

Abdulmajeed Al-Nakhli (YP2m) - Yazeed Al-Qahtani (YP5h) - Majid Al-Shammari (YP5g)

[Gonner]

Il y a 7 heures, BustaRaymes a dit :

Sadly it's not accepted for this save. It's heartbreaking when a club offers the loan back and you have to decline, but it's the rules.

 

The only way to get them to leave at the end of the season is negotiating it directly in the bid at the transfer date, but it's always hard to push that to the buying clubs.

Thank you. I will reload my save from my monthly auto-save that dates back from end of December. Good thing is that it will not change any competitive result, good thing about not having any game to play between December & mid-February anyway 

[Ron_Swanson]

[FM23] Reymersholms IK - season 3 - 2025

Not very useful in first squad, but maybe I can put one or two of them on the field sometimes. Rest will get their chance in U19's team

This year we got promoted, other teams lost so much points that we were able to claim the title. Core of my first 11 is still made mostly of legacy players and it won't change soon as youngsters are not developing

Great results made the board agree to my request and we got first upgrades, hoping for a better intakes in next years

[KingKCrush]

CSC Ghiroda - SuperLiga - Romania - Season 3 - 2027

It happened. It has finally happened. After an exhausting, hard-fought 80 league games in 2 seasons, it's over:

We had it in our own hands but we still couldnt do it. In the very last game of the season, we had to play Ceahleaul. At that point, they were 3 points behind us. All we needed was a draw, but they completely dominated us in the game. We took the lead but after just over an hour it was 6:1 to our opponents. We scored 2 more goals but honestly, anyone who concedes 6 goals against the second last team doesn't deserve to be in the 1st division. That sucks a bit right now but when one door closes, another one opens. We will use the next season to rebuild ourselves in the second division. This years YI will definetly help us with that.

Spoiler

 

Youth Intake

Last Years Intake lacked a little bit of CA & PA but had great personalities. After upgrading my youth facilities a few more times I was expecting a way better intake and the preview looks promising

Spoiler

The first time we see an A in the preview. This could be a golden generation and even tough I cant tell what the future holds for this years intake, I can say that this is by far the best intake we ever got:

Spoiler

 

 

We have some outstanding players with great CA and good personalities. I took 7 players and promoted them into the senior team already:

#1 - Striker - Alexandru Voicu

Insane pace, very good first touch and decent mentals. This guy is already crazy good and with that personality and some potential he might get way better and can truly lead us into a successful future.

Spoiler

#2 - Right Winger - Sergiu Dima

Very fast, fairly professional, good dribbler and can cross. Our current starting RWs contract is running out and our current backup is not good enough, so he comes in clutch and will be starter if he stays fit.

Spoiler

#3 - 5 CB, Playmaker & CM/inverse Wing Back

 

Spoiler

These guys have the CA to be starters for our team, with these personalities, I dont see a lot of improvements.

#6 & 7 Left Winger & GK

Spoiler

In comparison to the first mentioned 5 Youngers these guys are not quite good enough to be a starter, but they are very good back ups and they have to potential to win the starting job in the next seasons.

So we got 5 new starters, 2 new very good backups and the rest does have huge potential. In my opinion, this is a golden generation and I think we will have a lot of fun with these guys if they stay healthy.

Only 2 days after the YI, my HOYD was offered a position as head coach, which he accepted. This is a huge loss, because his personality (perfectionist) was extremely helpful. But we have found someone new. I am very proud to present the former Atletico Madrid player & World Cup finalist, Sime Vrsaljko as our new HOYD!

Spoiler

He is also a perfectionist and his preferred formation is also a 4-4-2, so he is a brilliant HOYD for us and I hope he stays with us for a long time!

Cupa Romaniei

We got knocked out in the first game against a team from the 3rd league. Embarrassing loss, but we dont care too much about the cup.

Finances & Facilities

Our only really important income were the TV Revenues. So because of the relegation we will loose a big part of that and we have to find a way to cut wages in order to save money and further improve our facilities. Our youth coaching is one step away from maxing out and our network is halfway there. This season we played our home games in Arad because our stadium was not big enough for the regulations (even though we never really reached over 1000 attendance). So the board is currently trying to find a way to get the club back home to Ghiroda.

Spoiler

 

 

Awards

As usual, we will give out some awards for outstanding performances:

MVP - Offense 

With 13 goals and 3 assists, David has once again become our top scorer this season. Although he missed a few chances, this is already his second season in a row with double-digit goals. Very good for a team that has always had to fight against relegation. Although we couldn't prevent that this season, he still deserves the award.

Spoiler

MVP - Midfield

In our first seasons this award always went to wingers but this season its different.  After incredibly good performances at the start of the season, David Pop, our center mid on attack, scored solid 8 goals and 4 assists and therefore also deserves his award.

Spoiler

MVP - Defense

We lost the last game against the second to last team with 6:3. We conceded almost 90 goals this season. 13 of these came from penalties, which is crazy high! The second worst team conceded 7, which is almost half of our number there. We are dead last in almost every defensive stat in the league. With this performance, there is no one who deserves this award so this year no one will get it.

MVP

This goes to David. He is our Top Scorer and the most consistent player this season.

Rookie of the Season

The players from this years YI will only be qualified for this award next year. From the players I promoted last year, Bogdan Pop was probably the best. As a  backup CB he managed to get 12 starts with an average rating of 6,66. Not good - but not as bad as the rest. So technically he was the best Rookie this season, not a very good one tho.

Spoiler

Most Improved Player

This award goes to last years Rookie Bradau! The Left Back started 24 games this season and scored his first professional goal! He was almost always the best in training and significantly developed his physicals and mentals. One of the few positive things in our defense this season!

Spoiler

 

Other

Buia, one of our better strikers and club icon, ruptured his Cruciate ligament. He would have been out for around 10 months and since he is already 32, he decided to end his career . Heavy loss for us.

Our set piece coach left us for CFR Cluj, a very good first league team. We conceded by far the most goals after corners, so thats strange.. Not a problem I wanted to fire that useless ***** anyway.

Our U19 won the "Campionatul National U19". Something positive this season!

Even tough we got relegated, we got 5,5k new followers! We almost reached 30k.

Oh almost forgot that: I accidentially fired my starting LB. He was also my Assistant Manager and I thought if I get a new Assistant, he still stays in the team as a player. Well I was wrong, extremely wrong. To think that I wouldnt have been relegated if I had one more point.. he could have saved me haha

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by KingKCrush

[Colossus]

Sociedad Deportiva Leioa

Mid Season Update/Youth Intake Preview

 

We are not good at all, but lucky for us, there are a couple of just atrocious teams in our division

 

Youth Intake being rated at 5 Star Golden Generation once again, but all positions rated D does not fill me with any sort of confidence

 

EDIT:

For some reason, it was showing the preview on my Dev Center before it showed up on my inbox, and I thought that I just missed it

That is a lot better. We could use any help that we can get

Edited November 13, 2023 by Colossus

[AndrikoDS]

On 07/11/2023 at 08:06, HanziZoloman said:

yeah and it's also much more fun. But really I've never enjoyed FM as much as with this one. 

btw do you have a YAC Save running?

Sadly not, I always start unemployed and try and work my way up job hopping and the like. I don't think I have the stomach for a youth challenge run, though reading this thread has made me change my approach to the youth teams and I am trying to make better use of the youth intake.

I am, however, tempted to try it now.

[HanziZoloman]

vor 40 Minuten schrieb AndrikoDS:

Sadly not, I always start unemployed and try and work my way up job hopping and the like. I don't think I have the stomach for a youth challenge run, though reading this thread has made me change my approach to the youth teams and I am trying to make better use of the youth intake.

I am, however, tempted to try it now.

I'll look forward to read from your progress if you do

[Anners]

4 hours ago, Anners said:

The board seem to be very happy with me doing all of the coaching badges, are happy to allow extra staff (to the point where we're very close to having the best coaching staff in League 1), yet seem to be stumbling a bit with the facilities. We're still incredibly healthy off the pitch (our bank balance is still above the £400k mark!), but it's a bit disappointing to not see bigger improvements in our junior coaching or youth recruitment. I'm not sure if that's me wanting the world, but considering the health of the club, we can afford to take the risk to go a bit further.

 

Interesting things are happening, but I'm not sure which one is true or what is affecting decisions:

- I've actually done all the coaching badges now - the club never said no to any of these. My manager reputation is reasonably decent for Scottish League 2.
- I'm making sure I'm only doing 1 year deals and asking for facilities immediately after signing the contract. It's worked 3 years in a row.

I'm presuming it's a mixture of the 2, with the addition of the board being pleased with what I'm doing (even with the relegation). If they could give me a couple of good players, I wouldn't complain though!

[fries]

2 hours ago, SuperRedditch said:

I've been able to cancel a transfer the board have tried to do before on a past FM. I think I just went to the player and either went to Contract or Transfer and could back out of the contract offer/transfer offer.

Unfortunately, I can't. At least not right now. I hope I get the chance to cancel before the confirmation of the transfers

[darren1983]

2025/26 season review Vanarama National league North

 

League - A good season where I set about just trying to to get more points than the previous season, that will usually mean you finish higher as well so that's always the target. I find the 2nd season in a league can be the toughest as you're no longer on the high of promotion and you're older players are another year older while you wait for the young players to adapt. However this year we did well, we lost around the same number of games as last season and think we won a couple less, the issues was draws. Just far too many really. We had a spell of 5 draws in 8 games around new year where we conceded in injury time in all 5 draws. We had real issues holding on to leads this season and defending corners - we conceded 18 goals from corners this year. My usual shutting down tactic not working in this version. In the end though our ability to score goals (4 players scored 20 or more) meant we were always in with a shout and in the end we managed to beat last season's points tally by 6 points and managed to finish 7th and get into the playoffs. Here we faced a Tamworth side we took 4 points off in the season and only finished 3 points behind. A 3-1 away win put us in the semis against Hereford who took 4 points off of us. We started well and took the lead then gave it away almost from kick off. We held them off but 2 goals from 2 corners in the final 20 mins meant we lost. Honestly the top 3 were so far and above the rest of the league this season that I'm not upset, though one of them (Hereford it turns out) will still be here next season and the relegated sides look strong too so I think next season will be even tougher than this one.

FA Cup - Made it to the 2nd round proper which was a nice little run. Got one of the hardest games we could as Bolton were 3rd in League One at the time. Far too good for us but made some money in the run

FA Trophy - Annoying to lose in the 3rd round to a team in the league below us but we're still running with a small squad so getting out of the cups before the new year maybe isn't the worst thing for us

Transfers - none in and none out. Very quiet. I hope to be starting to loan players out next season though

Finances - Cup runs and being at a decent club means we're pretty solid here. managed to ask for upgrades to Junior coaching and youth recruitment which were accepted but not shown up on my facilities page just yet

Youth Intake - the preview promised a good one (though not as good as some) and it turned out alright. Tagged 7 players with a handful more just missing out. means our U18's have depth now so I can start to move some up to be part of the full team now. We're gonna need that depth next season I think.

Ben Owen YP26A - this guys looks like he will be an decent option as one of our inside forwards
Keiran Simon YP26B - left winger with decent acceleration and OK crossing and dribbling, nice player to have off the bench I think
Archie Bartam YP26C - a full back which we really need as our only RB in the squad is actually a CM I had to train there
Jay Ward YP26D - a nice little looking CM
Joe Dunn YP26E - while we have 2 players able to play LB neither really excite me so good to have a young player there
Steve King YP26F - am retraining him to be a RB as think he offers us more there than as a winger. If it doesn't work out I reckon he could be a decent author 
Jamie Walker YP26G - when I saw a keeper on the list I was excited but he's fine, nothing more

 

Career Overview

Season		League			Position	Junior Coaching		Youth Recruitment	Notes

2024/25		VNN			13th 		Adequate		Average			Got first coaching badge
2025/26		VNN			7th 		Adequate 		Average 		Lost playoff semi finals. 2nd coaching badge

 

[darren1983]

3 minutes ago, fries said:

Unfortunately, I can't. At least not right now. I hope I get the chance to cancel before the confirmation of the transfers

You probably won't get the chance with transfers that are done with a board takeover. Will have to transfer list them and stick them in the reserves till they're sold.

Just post a screen shot at end of season, if they're still with you, letting us know they've not played any games for you.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2030/31 Youth Candidates

Last season 4* CA was good for my league, this season 2.5* is good for my league, we're getting much better!