The FM24 Youth Academy Challenge

[XaW]

1 minute ago, Cloud9 said:

Does the population of the area then not come into affect outside from the youth recruitment number? Or is that number simply a reflection of factors like population. 

I was looking at running this challenge with MK Dons (population 300kish), should I worry about Luton (25 kilometers away) competing for my intakes?

Thanks for the help 

Well, I think it impacts, but more from youth rating, I would imagine considering

Quote

Nation Youth Rating
The potential maximum quality and quantity of Juniors produced in that Nation.

So quantity as well as quality! But considering in my current save in Andorra I've had quite the spread of birth towns with one of the lowest youth recruitments (Fairly Basic), I imagine the game sure to fill out with quantity in any way.

[KOWAL]

Spoiler

 

Can i simulate 2 year and start challenge or no?

[Winski]

7 minutes ago, KOWAL said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Can i simulate 2 year and start challenge or no?

As long as it is with a previous unplayable team, then yes. So for example: in previous FM's I played with Garbarnia Krakow from Poland. But they are currently in the 4th Tier of Polish football. So if I want to play with them, I have to simulate two seasons to get them into the lowest playable league (2nd Tier in Poland).

 

 

[bg0123]

Usti nad Labem - Czech Second Division - 2nd Season (2025-26 Season)

Promotion! Happy to have done it in my second season in charge. Barely used any youth players yet so hopefully that changes soon.

Transfers:

Youth Intake:

Lumir Cicovsky is already good enough to best our best striker:

 

Next season will obviously be about survival. I'm confident we can do it but it will still be a battle. I will try to integrate some of the youth players in the team, my older guys are not gonna around much longer.

[Mahzun_Savas]

I am heading to England to lead Guiseley to glory.

[naterr]

2 hours ago, Mahzun_Savas said:

I am heading to England to lead Guiseley to glory.

Good luck! If I remember correctly Guiseley have some good facilities which could help!

[Mahzun_Savas]

44 minutes ago, naterr said:

Good luck! If I remember correctly Guiseley have some good facilities which could help!

They certainly have better facilities than some of the options. I also might be getting a tycoon takeover which will be interesting.

[andershs]

19 hours ago, HanziZoloman said:

Pls anyone, how to survive that damn Championship. 442/ 424/ 433 argh 

This simple 4-3-3 works for me, and has worked since Vanarama National North/South. It is more or less my only tactic. (You can invert it, if you like to create a bit of change)

What I have found is, that more complex tactics might be needed once you reach the Premier League, but I have very limited experience managing there.

[Cultured Left Foot]

If you'd like to watch this series, its a YouTube playthrough series : www.youtube.com/c/culturedleftfoot

 WE DID IT !!!!! C.D. TOLEDO ARE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS !!!!

 

WAHOOOOOO !!!

 

 

We beat Barcelona in the final 3-2 after an epic game ! 

 

We leave the club in fantastic position, the board have been superb and have been upgrading most times we asked.

 

They didn't really have an excuse given the financial bounty we've created for the club.

 

We won the club a number of honours incuding every available top competition in Spain.

 

And the climb up the leagues was consistent throughout the save.

 

But the key is the Champions League win !!!

 

This has been one of my favourite saves I've done since playing this game since Championship Manager 2 !! 

Absolutley Amazing.

 

Thanks to everyone for the support and the comments on the videos and my posts here. I can't believe I achieved this and compelted the challenge. I'll certainly back to do it again as a YouTube series on FM25. 

After not compelting the challenge in England last game itterarion, I'm delight to say Spain = Completed.

[Daddy]

congrats @Cultured Left Foot

[jrobertgordon13]

5 hours ago, Cultured Left Foot said:

If you'd like to watch this series, its a YouTube playthrough series : www.youtube.com/c/culturedleftfoot

 WE DID IT !!!!! C.D. TOLEDO ARE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS !!!!

 

WAHOOOOOO !!!

 

 

We beat Barcelona in the final 3-2 after an epic game ! 

 

We leave the club in fantastic position, the board have been superb and have been upgrading most times we asked.

 

They didn't really have an excuse given the financial bounty we've created for the club.

 

We won the club a number of honours incuding every available top competition in Spain.

 

And the climb up the leagues was consistent throughout the save.

 

But the key is the Champions League win !!!

 

This has been one of my favourite saves I've done since playing this game since Championship Manager 2 !! 

Absolutley Amazing.

 

Thanks to everyone for the support and the comments on the videos and my posts here. I can't believe I achieved this and compelted the challenge. I'll certainly back to do it again as a YouTube series on FM25. 

After not compelting the challenge in England last game itterarion, I'm delight to say Spain = Completed.

congrats!

[jrobertgordon13]

I'm beginning a new save in Germany on the console edition

[XaW]

Well done @Cultured Left Foot! 

[XaW]

We had a consortium takeover!

So, what did we get?

Ah... so nothing new then... 

[HanziZoloman]

Amazing piece of work, chapeau @Cultured Left Foot

[resurectedja]

What is SI basing this no players under 17 rule in Croatia?

There have been plenty of u17 players throughout the history of the first and second league. The top 15 youngest players in the history of the first division are all under 17.

Luka Vušković played for Hajduk as a 16 year old last season. And this season Leon Jakirević and Patrik Marić both played as 16 year olds.

[libbyshuss]

Scotland - 2027/28 - Cinch League 2

Tycoon Takeover Leavers The Blue Brazil Swimming In Cash!

So this season was far more about what happened off the pitch than what happened on it. Just before the season started we got a message that there was talk of a potential takeover by a UAE businessman who wanted to spend upwards of 24m to make cowdenbeath a force in Scottish football. I rolled my eyes as we've all seen these rumnours a hundred times before. two days later.....

It's the dream in this challenge!!! The new chariman immediately made us Professional and stuck a couple of million in the coffers. So, I went shopping!

He gave me a couple more youth coach improvements and youth recruitment improvements too. All of a sudden our facilities look crazy good for League 2!

After that, our own the pitch shenanigans took a back seat. we were the only full time professional club in the league though, so that should make a difference. Sadly, not enough as we just finished outside the play offs for the second season running

 

Youth

Now,  I was looking forward to this! double improvements should make a noticeable difference in the quality of intake, right?

Well, it really did! 13 elite talents! only 3 good! At least 5 good enough for the first team already!!

No real stand out future internationals among them but the backbone of the future first team for sure

 

Career

So next season the pressure will be on. The side will be half made up of 16 year olds though so who knows? Even so, we should be one of the favourites to go up I'd have thought.

 

 

[Perre8]

2 hours ago, resurectedja said:

What is SI basing this no players under 17 rule in Croatia?

There have been plenty of u17 players throughout the history of the first and second league. The top 15 youngest players in the history of the first division are all under 17.

Luka Vušković played for Hajduk as a 16 year old last season. And this season Leon Jakirević and Patrik Marić both played as 16 year olds.

There is an exception this year, i posted it in my opening post with Karlovac. If they are deemed high enough potentialthey can play. But i don't know the criteria.   

Edited May 26 by Perre8

[Ron_Swanson]

[FM23] Reymersholms IK - season 38 - 2060

Those intake don't look very optimistic in last few years

Another double with league title and domestic cup win. Champions League is still too much of a challenge, eliminated in knock out playoffs, but in current season we're placed in top 8 of group phase for the first time with set of great results so I'm looking forward for next rounds.

Ayham Homsi just broke a historic record of Swedish league becoming a topscorer with 40 goals, a total beast-mode, but now he wants to move for a bigger club so it will be tough to get a new contract (it's still 3 more years left). That couldn't be done with my best goalie Adam Larsson, he's moving to Porto but they agreed to delay a transfer until july.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2025/26 End of Season Review

Fixtures

So close but no cigar, we make it to the promotion playoffs but end up being knocked out at the first hurdle following a rather exciting 5-5 draw!

Overall Best XI

2025/26 Best XI

Roy Ouwerkerk

Miłosz Łukasik - Chakib Amaouche (YP1h) - Harrison Prince

Dustley Winklaar - Loek Bos - Denzel de Haas - Youri Zondag (YP1n)

 

 

Kevin Kantelberg - Renzo Paal (YP1m) - Mark Louwers (YP1o)

[BillHoudini24]

Are the Netherlands finally eligible for the challenge?

[jrobertgordon13]

1 hour ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

2025/26 End of Season Review

Fixtures

So close but no cigar, we make it to the promotion playoffs but end up being knocked out at the first hurdle following a rather exciting 5-5 draw!

Overall Best XI

2025/26 Best XI

Roy Ouwerkerk

Miłosz Łukasik - Chakib Amaouche (YP1h) - Harrison Prince

Dustley Winklaar - Loek Bos - Denzel de Haas - Youri Zondag (YP1n)

 

 

Kevin Kantelberg - Renzo Paal (YP1m) - Mark Louwers (YP1o)

I didn't know you were still doing the Goal scoring GKs 

[XaW]

 

XaW - Fútbol Club Casa Estrella del Benfica - Season 2029/30 (Season 6) - Lliga Multisegur Assegurances

Squad | Transfers | Finances

Honestly, I don't know how much better we could have done! Inter Club d'Escaldes are just unbeatable for anyone in Andorra at the moment. They won all league games, and also beat us in the cup final, so guess they had a perfect season! Other than that mild annoyance, I'm actually very happy with how things went this season. We managed to overtake FC Santa Coloma, and also fend off Carroi who had a good year to claim a great 2nd place. The team is settling in well, and we keep improving the club as a whole. All in all, we are on the right track, but we do have a mountain in front of us in Inter (I'm not going to bother with their full name anymore...). In Europe we are also making some small strides, so I can't really complain about the situation. The club also got taken over by a consortium, but they invested very little, and nothing much changed really.

Copa Constitució Protecvall: We beat Sant Juliá, Massana, and At. Amèrica to reach the final. There we lost to Inter to finish runners up.

Europa Conference League: After losing 2-0 away to Dudelange of Luxembourg in the first leg, my hopes were small, but we had an amazing home leg, and beat them 3-0 to progress into the next round. There we lost clearly to Neftçi Baku of Azerbaijan, but we did manage a solid 2-2 draw at home, but a 0-3 away loss meant we got knocked out in the 2nd qualifying round.

Best players from the academy:

Arturo Tejada 25a - Another strong season on the left wing, and contributes a lot of goals and assists.
Francisco Costa 29b - I converted him into a central midfielder (the attacking one) since he would have been 2nd choice on the left wing, but he showed me he is a really good player by becoming our top scorer from midfield!
Fabio Salmerón 26c - Since I don't have any central midfielders who are good on the defensive side, I've been using him as a B2B and he has done amazingly.

New club records:

Most assists in a season - Arturo Tejada 25a - 13 assists
Worst discipline - Adrián González 29a - 9 yellow cards, 0 red cards
Most league apps - Miguel Braz - 170 apps
Most league goals - Abdourahamane Abdou 25b - 73 goals
Youngest player - Quentin Riviere 30a - 15 years, 95 days
Youngest goalscorer - Quentin Riviere 30a - 15 years, 109 days

We got some more improvements done this season.

U21s

They retained the Andorran Under 21s Group 1 this season!

U19s

They retained the Andorran Under 19s Group 1 this season!

UEFA Youth League: They beat Vaduz of Liechtenstein before they lost to Cluj of Romania in the 2nd qualifying round.

Around the world

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

Lliga UNIDA - 2024/25

U21s - Andorran Under 21s Group 1 - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
U21s - Andorran Under 21s Group 2 - 2024/25
U19s - Andorran Under 19s Group 1 - 2026/27, 2028/29, 2029/30
U19s - Andorran Under 19s Group 2 - 2024/25

Player statistics:

Most apps for the club

Name			Nation			2nd Nation		Time at club	Apps
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abdourahamane Abdou 25b	Niger			<N/A>			2025-Present	150
Pascal Breuil 25c	Andorra			France			2025-Present	148
Arturo Tejada 25a	Andorra			Spain			2025-Present	132
Fabio Salmerón 26c	Andorra			Portugal		2026-Present	122
Sébastien Yongo 27a	Andorra			France			2027-Present	92

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation			2nd Nation		Time at club	Goals
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abdourahamane Abdou 25b	Niger			<N/A>			2025-Present	79
Arturo Tejada 25a	Andorra			Spain			2025-Present	33
Fabio Salmerón 26c	Andorra			Portugal		2026-Present	23
Pascal Breuil 25c	Andorra			France			2025-Present	17
Francisco Costa 29b	Portugal		<N/A>			2029-Present	16

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation			2nd Nation		Time at club	Assists
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fabio Salmerón 26c	Andorra			Portugal		2026-Present	32
Arturo Tejada 25a	Andorra			Spain			2025-Present	27
Sébastien Yongo 27a	Andorra			France			2027-Present	23
Pascal Breuil 25c	Andorra			France			2025-Present	20
Francisco Costa 29b	Portugal		<N/A>			2029-Present	11

Supporters:

Summary:

[JAwtunes]

congrats @Cultured Left Foot

[bg0123]

Usti nad Labem - Czech First Division - 3rd Season (2026-27 Season)

Good first season in the First Division. Although we ended playing the relegation group we were never in danger, I'm happy about the development of our now 17 year old striker Lumir Cicovsky who scored 27 goals in the league but wants to leave for a bigger club.

Transfers:

Youth Intake:

 

Not sure what to expect next season. I think that showed at times that we are a mid table team so I would be happy with that this season.

 

 

[Daddy]

Back to back Usti posts  

Season 8 - 2031/32 - Czechia - First Division:

Our first season in the top division went incredibly well. A really poor performance against Slovacko in the Champions group cost us a place in Europe. Regardless, the season was an incredible success when the only goal was to not go back down immediately. 

We're no longer flying under the radar and keeping my top players is now an issue. Not pictured is my star wingback who refused to sign and left right after the season rolled over. Fortunately, we've had some deep intakes and strong facilities are helping to replenish the first team. 

The end product didn't quite match the preview, but we could still add more depth that will help out. 

2032/33 Season Preview:

Clearly my expectation setting has been way too low the last few seasons, so I'm going to say we win the league  

[Vakama2619]

7 hours ago, BillHoudini24 said:

Are the Netherlands finally eligible for the challenge?

@Makoto Nakamura is using a custom database to tier 7 which has promotion between tier 2 and 3. I'm not 100% if that is allowed but it is still following the regular YA Challenge rules

Edited May 27 by Vakama2619

[Thebaker]

2025 (season 1)

Table | Squad | Transfers

Started the season with a full squad but quickly realised i had a lot of CM's and GK's but not much depth elsewhere. In spite of this the team was always fighting for promotion and led for much of the season before a late loss to Gute knocked them off the top. Won the last game to make the playoffs, but 1 win and 1 loss in the playoffs was not enough to progress further which is possibly a good thing as the team is not quite good enough. Not entered in the swedish cup.

Finances started ok but the club lost a lot of money over the season not helped by employing a DOF on my 1st day at 400p/w.

Star player was Jonsson who is rated a good player for the league above and miles above my squad, he was top league scorer with 20 from cm. Norby was also effective up front.

The youth intake preview had no cm or dm's which is unusual but came through as excellent with several needed positions. The best 2 were Andersson and Said

Youth Nationalities:

Spoiler

Continent			Europe			Africa			South America			Asia			North America			Oceania
Overall	32	100%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%
Europe	14.5	90.63%	Sweden	14.5	90.63%	Gambia	1	6.25%				Iraq	0.5	3.13%
Africa	1	6.25%
South America	0	0.00%
Asia	0.5	3.13%
North America	0	0
Oceania	0	0

 

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2025

D2 NS

2nd

Not entered

N/A

Jonnson(21)

Davidsson(7)

166

Basic

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

Edited May 27 by Thebaker

[BillHoudini24]

9 hours ago, Vakama2619 said:

@Makoto Nakamura is using a custom database to tier 7 which has promotion between tier 2 and 3. I'm not 100% if that is allowed but it is still following the regular YA Challenge rules

I am doing Greece this year, but it'd be fun to find a small team from my city for FM25.

The problem was that the Dutch FA was still considering changing the promotion/relegation situation in the second division. So far there is no promotion from 3rd/relegation from 2nd because most teams cannot afford to participate in the professional leagues.

My question was mostly focused on that, I know you can play custom databases that bypass that issue but I wanted to retain realism as much as possible in such a long term save.

Edited May 27 by BillHoudini24

[resurectedja]

FM23

Jadran Luka Ploče - Season 2 – 2023/24

To start the season, I randomly lost the locker-room !?!? I have no idea why or what, but a few senior members came to me and said so. But a promise seemed to solve it, in addition to a couple of weeks of praising training religiously. In terms of season preview, we were once again 1-50 to win the league and predicted to finish last out of the ten clubs in the reduced second division.  It was a decent season, we took care of business against the worst teams, sometimes surprising better, promotion candidates. But in the end we ended up seventh out of 10 clubs.

Our best player Paponja decided to leave us on free, going to Bosnia, signing for Tuzla City. He got rich in the process, going from 45k to 200k+ per year.

I also signed a new one year contract. There were plenty of takeover rumours, but it never happened. It never does, does it?

The attendances in this league are a tragedy.

Our facilities were downgraded, but the the reputation continues to increase, so I think it wont make too much difference for the intake.

The intake preview was absolutely spectacular. It promised seven talented player, with a bunch of As. Surprisingly, the intake was equally brilliant. We got 7 elite talents and 2 top talents. Krševan Jerolimov is a versatile wide attacker, solid athlete with no real strength. Juan Carlos Rubio, popurarly nicknamed Rubi is a son of a Spanish mother and now estranged Senegalese father. He moved to Ploče 3 years ago when his mother got a job opportunity locally. A smart, determined player, he has the ability to become our starting FB, and potentially one of the leaders of the team. Tonći Krištić is an athletic and aggressive winger with a bad personality. Krševan Nižetić, distant cousin of popular singer Luka, is a technically gifted wide attacker with a lot of flair. Viktor Matijašević is a tall, hardworking either footed central defender who might also turn into a very good BWM in central midfield. Krunoslav Sivrić will turn into a threat from both winger positions, similar to Mario Benko.

Our best prospect from last year Karoglan improved well, going from 1.5 to 2.5 stars. As soon as he turned 17 he started playing, scoring on his debut.

Our leading goalscorer was Antonio Raguž with 13

Ivano Čepo was our best rated player with 7.19

Ivan Paponja leads the assist chart with 11.

 

Next season I hope we win more than we did this year. It will be tough without Paponja tho. I plan on giving Karoglan as many starts as possible as well.

[resurectedja]

FM23

Jadran Luka Ploče - Season 3 – 2024/25

 

 This season, I decided to switch things up tactically, and go to a very direct tactic, something I call “Ah, **** it” tactic. I haven’t played with 3 strikers upfront since like fm12. The biggest reason for the switch is that I have 3 good strikers and 3 good midfielders, with no real threats on either wing spots, now that I shifted Karlogan to starting right FB. It has been a wonderful season for Karoglan. He developed better than I expected a player could at this club. he went from a 2.5 star winger to a 4 star Complete WB/winger and Croatian youth national. Hope we can keep him, but as you know, once players hit 4,5 stars its really hard to keep them at a club.

We had two hiccups at the beginning of the season, losing one, drawing the second. The loss against Dubrava was the worst last 10 minutes I ever had in 15+ years of playing this game. . The goals started to match the expected goals, and after 15 matches we found ourselves first with a point ahead of Dragovoljac. One 7 games and one 8 games streak of no defeats led us to a shocking promotion.

The success of this season led to my new one-year deal. The league win made me one of the top Welsh managers which is really sad.

The youth intake preview was once again amazing. We were supposed to get five talented players, including two forwards, a position increasingly important in this new system. The intake gave us 5 elite talents. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of CA. One 2 star and four 1,5 star talents is a lot better that I hoped for. This shows that our reputation keeps improving. Hopefully the promotion will be an added boost and we see a intake with a 2,5 or more CA player soon. On to the most talented players from this year’s intake. Dante Jovanovic is a resolute goalkeeper who would be starting for me if it wasn’t for that dumb rule. Great handling and reflexes, will need to improve on his athleticism. Boženko Kolega seems like a well rounded playmaker who will have to improve his dribbling. Michele Oremuš is explosive and technical on the left wing, but will be turned into an Advanced Forward. Domislić shares the name of my corrupt uncle, and that is where the comparison ends. He looks like our future number 9, a targetman who can finish equally well from a ground and from the air. Ratko Juras is a smart and technical holding midfielder. If he develops he will be another asset to my possession heavy playstyle.

Our best goalscorer was once again Raguž with 18 in 26. He was also our best rated player

Romić lead the creators with 8 assists

My only hope for next season is that we don’t get absolutely smoked and I don’t get the sack.

[libbyshuss]

Scotland - 2028/29 - Cinch League 2

Mediocre Blue Brazil Play Out Mediocre Season and Finish Mid-table

Pretty much sums our season up! we were consistently inconsistent and could never get going at all. We're still predicted last place finishes and the board expectations are nothing more than avoiding relegation so I guess in that sense it's a good season? Really I'm just killing time waiting for my youth players to improve

 

youth

Our new chairman who declared he'd stop at nothing to make us a Scottish powerhouse seems to have got a little bit bored with no new investments and no new upgrades this season. But after last years shenanigans our facilities are still really high for this level so I was expecting a nice intake again. And it delivered

Another 11 elite talents to go with the 13 we got last season. Surely there's a play off bothering XI in there somewhere?

Billy Martin has 3* CA which is quite exciting until you look at him and see how ordinary he is and therefore how terrible our first XI actually are.

 

Career

Just plodding along at the minute but the foundations are all there

 

 

[The7Striker]

 

Manager

Spoiler

After some time away, I'm back to the challenge.
This time in Slovenia, more precisely in the city of Ptuj, home of NK Drava Ptuj.
Lets see how this goes. 

 

Edited May 27 by The7Striker

[Makoto Nakamura]

2026/27 Youth Candidates

Another very good intake after we were able to get another Junior Coaching upgrade!  

Edited May 27 by Makoto Nakamura

[andershs]

Macclesfield FC (England)
Season 14 - 2037/38 - Championship

Another solid season in the Championship. This is very much our level currently.

League (Results 1, Results 2, Cups, League Chart) - We finished 10th. Midtable finish like last year. Solid season. Lost to Swansea in both FA and Carabao Cup. Nothing else to add.

Team (Details) - Not many changes here. Our goalkeeper and one of the best players in the club Astley Rawson - 28C is drawing interest from Premier League clubs. The media has mentioned prices of £22 mio. If a bid comes in in that region I have to accept it. I also have good cover in Mark O'Connor. While not as good yet, I think he can develop nicely. But there may be a quality decrease in the short run on that position. But I cannot say no to £15-25 mio. Jay Preece broke into the team this season. He looks promising. And Richard Marshall - 37B who came through last year looks like the real deal. He is developing nicely.
Bastian Heyer has developed into one of our best players. He has had a really good season as an Advanced Playmaker in central midfield. Moreover, Lewis Fensome was finally overtaken by Astley Rawson - 28C who now has 401 appearances for the club.
The increased training facilities seem to affect our players in a good way. It seems they are developing better than previously.
I think I am in for a long grind. My current team seems to be a midtable Championship team. And unless something changes drastically, I find it unlikely, that we can take the next step and gain promotion and stay in the Premier League. Currently the top 10 teams in this division are significantly better than us. But let us see.

Facilities - The board has decided to build a new stadium. A 18.710 capacity stadium for approx. £22,5 mio., which we will loan is crazy if you ask me. We just expanded our existing stadium to a capacity of 10.000. Maybe it could not be expanded further, but in that case just build the new stadium without expanded the old one first.
Other than that there has been no changes. The Training Facility improvement was the improvement that was completed last June just after the last update.

Finances - We are saved by the end of season money that ticks in. But if I can get £20 mio. for my goalkeeper, I have to accept, which will allow us to improve the training facilities even further.

Youth Intake (Dev. Centre, Preview) - Pete Howell looks good. Along with Paul Whitfield, Chris Forsythe, John MacDonald, Rúben Torres and Ceri Bellis. As I wrote in the last post. I have a harder time identifying good prospects. Instead, they tend to show up at 18-20 when they are promoted to the first team and have developed a bit.

No Transfers In - Nothing to note here. We sold Shaquille Bayode - 32D who whould otherwise have been released on the first of July. What analysis Derby made there is beyond me.

Goal for next season: Midtable finish again. Keep developing and improving the squad.

 

Edited May 27 by andershs

[Makoto Nakamura]

7 hours ago, BillHoudini24 said:

I am doing Greece this year, but it'd be fun to find a small team from my city for FM25.

The problem was that the Dutch FA was still considering changing the promotion/relegation situation in the second division. So far there is no promotion from 3rd/relegation from 2nd because most teams cannot afford to participate in the professional leagues.

My question was mostly focused on that, I know you can play custom databases that bypass that issue but I wanted to retain realism as much as possible in such a long term save.

 

17 hours ago, Vakama2619 said:

@Makoto Nakamura is using a custom database to tier 7 which has promotion between tier 2 and 3. I'm not 100% if that is allowed but it is still following the regular YA Challenge rules

See what @darren1983 or @XaW think, I'm happy to start in a different nation if it isn't allowed.  

[XaW]

3 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

See what @darren1983 or @XaW think, I'm happy to start in a different nation if it isn't allowed.  

This is a borderline thing for me. We usually say that lower league addons are only allowed if they follow the real life setup and rules as closely as possible. Since the Dutch FA has removed relegation from the 2nd tier, the nation is essentially not eligible this year, but at the same time, it might be allowed some time in the future.... I'm very much on the fence here, as I don't like gatekeeping this challenge, but at the same time we need some ground rules otherwise people could create superleagues and ruin the spirit of the challenge. And that's why I also think this is should be allowed, because it's clearly in the spirit of the challenge. Once again, I'm of two minds here...

Would also like to hear what @darren1983 thinks, but I would like to say that IF this is allowed, it should be on a case to case basis and not a set rule. Otherwise, where we do we draw the line? And this is not only for @darren1983, but also others who have been playing this challenge for years and know and understand the idea behind it. I'd like to hear what others think too about how we set up the rules, both now and going forward.

[bg0123]

Usti nad Labem - Czech First Division - 4th Season (2027-28 Season)

Horrible second season in the First Division. We hit a stretch where we lost 9 straight league games. Happy that we ended up regaining form in the end to safely escape relegation but I feel like this could be the norm in the next few seasons. Quite a few important players are leaving us including young striker and star of the team, 18 year old Lumir Cicovsky, who signed for Sparta after refusing to sign a contract with us.

Transfers:

Youth Intake:

 

Not a great intake this year. I have to start being creative with my training as we are lacking in fullbacks. This year will be a real battle against relegation, I may try and tweak my tactics more than usual. Fingers crossed I survive...

[darren1983]

2 hours ago, XaW said:

This is a borderline thing for me. We usually say that lower league addons are only allowed if they follow the real life setup and rules as closely as possible. Since the Dutch FA has removed relegation from the 2nd tier, the nation is essentially not eligible this year, but at the same time, it might be allowed some time in the future.... I'm very much on the fence here, as I don't like gatekeeping this challenge, but at the same time we need some ground rules otherwise people could create superleagues and ruin the spirit of the challenge. And that's why I also think this is should be allowed, because it's clearly in the spirit of the challenge. Once again, I'm of two minds here...

Would also like to hear what @darren1983 thinks, but I would like to say that IF this is allowed, it should be on a case to case basis and not a set rule. Otherwise, where we do we draw the line? And this is not only for @darren1983, but also others who have been playing this challenge for years and know and understand the idea behind it. I'd like to hear what others think too about how we set up the rules, both now and going forward.

Honestly my view currently is that I'm OK with custom databases that follow rules and setups as close to real life as we can find because, while I like we've opened up the challenge to many more leagues in the past couple of years allowing more people to find their own niche and story, we do need to to have at least some kind of rules in order to stop it from being a free for all with custom setups.

There was a thread last year (I think?) for the leagues that didn't fit in here so maybe worth looking for that if people are really tied to the idea of a certain nation that isn't usable in this thread. 

[andershs]

This season the club has clearly created a U21 team. My Director of Football is signing staff for it, I am asked to promote U18-players to it.

But I cannot see anything i Staff Responsibilities and I can still only see the U18 team in the main screen.

Have you experienced this?

[XaW]

5 minutes ago, andershs said:

This season the club has clearly created a U21 team. My Director of Football is signing staff for it, I am asked to promote U18-players to it.

But I cannot see anything i Staff Responsibilities and I can still only see the U18 team in the main screen.

Have you experienced this?

I had this before, and I think I either reloaded the skin or restarted the game, and then it showed in Staff Responsibilities.

[XaW]

6 minutes ago, darren1983 said:

Honestly my view currently is that I'm OK with custom databases that follow rules and setups as close to real life as we can find because, while I like we've opened up the challenge to many more leagues in the past couple of years allowing more people to find their own niche and story, we do need to to have at least some kind of rules in order to stop it from being a free for all with custom setups.

There was a thread last year (I think?) for the leagues that didn't fit in here so maybe worth looking for that if people are really tied to the idea of a certain nation that isn't usable in this thread. 

Good shout with the other thread actually. I had forgotten about that. I agree, as closely to real life as possible in here and anything else can be its own thread.

[andershs]

22 minutes ago, XaW said:

I had this before, and I think I either reloaded the skin or restarted the game, and then it showed in Staff Responsibilities.

Restarting Football Manager did the trick. Thanks!

[SkiIIs]

Season 2042/43 - Macclesfield FC - Premier League

The clear strategy was just to survive and the opening round loss of 5 - 0 to Man Utd was evidence that this was going to be a struggle. Next game we beat Forest 6 - 0 so maybe we have a chance??  We then went 1 point in 7 games albeit against Man City but that would evidently by the low point of the season as we turned that form around and won 5 out of the next 6.  We never dipped back into the relegation zone after that even after only winning two games in the remaining 17 games. 

For the first time in the save, i was approached to manage their national teams with a superb list of Brazil, Argentina, France and Netherlands on offer.  Was also approached by Spurs and Arsenal at either end of the season as well. 

Spoiler

Youth Preview

Looked like there was a rose amongst the thorns 

Youth Intake

Was surprised to see two decent prospects.

Jake Swann 43A is the pick of the bunch with a good personality. A player that might be suited better on the wing to utilise his pace, crossing and dribbling. 

Joe Haywood 43B has decent starting attributes for a midfielder but 3 determination and unambitious is probably going to hold him back from developing much.

Josh Kimber 43C might be the surprise packet of the intake. Whilst a little greener compared to the other two, he has the potential to develop into a first team squad

Edited May 27 by SkiIIs

[Mattc08]

TSV Alemannia Aachen 2027/2028 Season 4

 

Well that was a very entertaining season. After the first few months it looked like we in for a relegation battle but we began to turn things around in late January and we had an undefeated month in February which put us in a good position to finish mid-table. We ended the season in 11th.  Squad is starting to take shape with the likes of Kennedy and Hornbruch. However we suffered a big loss this season with Akinola asking for a transfer and as much as we tried to keep him in the end we had to sell him. We did get 8.5 million for him from Newcastle with a 50% sale. We were able to use this to upgrade some parts of the club which will hopefully help us going forward. 

Youth preview looked good with a couple of As and again it didn't disappoint with some top talents coming through and luckily enough a RB who may be able to replace the gap Akinola has left. Overall another great season and we keep moving forward to try and develop this team and ready them to fight for the Bundesliga 2 title. 

 

 

 

[Winski]

IFK Malmö

 

Well, my second attempt at this club! I didn't like the contract-rules in Denmark. And as I lost al my previous saves, I'm starting a new one in Sweden with IFK Malmö.

[libbyshuss]

Scotland - 2029/30 - Cinch League 2

Everything Comes Together For The Blue brazil As They Romp To Title Win!

The young players started to gel this season and we started to put some really nice strings of results together, which saw us bouncing around the top 4 spots for most of the season. Then a 7 win, 1 draw run in February and March suddenly saw us 6 points clear with 4 to play. We tried our best to throw it away with only one win in the remaining games but it was enough for us to snatch an unlikely title win. A years extra experience for the youngsters made all the difference!

 

 

Player of the Season

Based purely off Average Rating we had 3 tie at the top with 7.13 each! Here they are, just to give you an idea of the quality needed to get out of League 2 (it really isn't much in all honestly, these guys aren't the long term future of the side)

 

Gavin Jardine 26C - (AMC)

Made club captain at the tender age of 18, he really came into his own with the added responsibility. Ostensibly a striker he mainly plays AMC and does excpetionally well there. His only weakness is a lack of determination, strength and tackling....

Kevin Watt - AML

Breakout star of the season. Started as one of a mulititude of promising youngsters, got his chance just before christmas and took it with both hands, putting in some amazing displays. He's quick, determined, can dribble and cross. What more do you need for a winger?

Mark McLeod-Kay 28B

Made the first team last season and held his own as a 16 year old. I was hoping for more improvements from him this year but instead he just quietly got on with his job. A really consistent performer but he may have already hit his ceiling in league 2

 

Youth

another amazing intake with 8 elite talents coming through. Again, no obvious stars though so it'll be a case of trial and error to see how can cut it in the first team again. Farrance will likely be the first to get a chance, purely as he has the best personality!

 

Finances

So our UAE investor, who was mad passionate about making us a force to be reckoned with, got bored and retired after only 2 seasons, meaning a takeover was on the cards. It was completed by a local businessman who pledged to invest NOTHING in the club. d'oh! but thank you our old chairman, we'll never forget what you did for the club! wish we could say the same about your name!

Career

It's still early doors for this team and many of them won't progress beyond league 1 standard I'd have though, meaning just staying up is next seasons aim

[OlivierL]

21 hours ago, XaW said:

This is a borderline thing for me. We usually say that lower league addons are only allowed if they follow the real life setup and rules as closely as possible. Since the Dutch FA has removed relegation from the 2nd tier, the nation is essentially not eligible this year, but at the same time, it might be allowed some time in the future.... I'm very much on the fence here, as I don't like gatekeeping this challenge, but at the same time we need some ground rules otherwise people could create superleagues and ruin the spirit of the challenge. And that's why I also think this is should be allowed, because it's clearly in the spirit of the challenge. Once again, I'm of two minds here...

Would also like to hear what @darren1983 thinks, but I would like to say that IF this is allowed, it should be on a case to case basis and not a set rule. Otherwise, where we do we draw the line? And this is not only for @darren1983, but also others who have been playing this challenge for years and know and understand the idea behind it. I'd like to hear what others think too about how we set up the rules, both now and going forward.

I would allow it because Holland could be back available next FM. You or Darren can verify this case by case

I'm also in favour of allowing nations with only one tier if their reputation (or youth rating , or both) is very very low.. like Gibraltar  

[diegolawliet]

BAGSHOT - ENGLAND (9° LEVEL)

 

New try. Yes, again. This time I'll change a little bit the direction. It was being hard to me survive the relegation from the Vanarama National League North/South, so I thought: what if I start the journey in a lower league? Of course I had to download a database, but I think it is allowed for this challenge. It's the Dan's one, the one with 20 levels on England. I decided to start in the 9th, in the Combined Counties League Premier South. I simulated a season and I chose from one of the promoted teams: Bagshot. The squad is very short, so the challenge is always the same: try to not lose any player in the first title and avoid the relegation, so I can start building a team with the first generation of regens. Only one club will be relegated this season, I hope will not be us.

 

[+] Bagshot's squad
[+] Combined Countes League Premier South
[+] Season preview
[+] Manager's profile

 

 

Edited May 29 by diegolawliet

[Ron_Swanson]

[FM23] Reymersholms IK - season 39 - 2061 - CHALLENGE COMPLETED!

What a game that was! First, in 15th minute goal for Bayern, but thankfully it was an offside, then our boys stepped up, Ayham Homsi hit the post twice, we were creating more chances. In 68th min Karl-Johan Hallberg who was really tired and ready to be substituted made his last impact in this match and we're up 1-0. Not for long, just after the kickoff Bayern answered back. Just before end of regular time Robert Gustavsson saw his second yellow card but that didn't ruin teams morale. Extra time started with a hit in the face, Bayern takes lead, we have to switch to very offensive style because at this point we got nothing to lose. Then Michael Nyberg strikes the equalizer, Stefanos Anagnostidis made it 3-2, so now park the bus and pray. Unfortunately Bayern scored their third and all was decided in penalty shootout. I owe a bottle of good champagne to FC Porto who agreed to delay transfer date of Adam Larsson because this man saved two penalties and was a crucial part of that victory. Oh, and Hammarby just won Europa League a week earlier so Swedish teams became a strong force lately.

Maybe I'll stick with this career as a side job now, but I already have something fun in mind as my next chapter

@darren1983 looks like you can add Sweden into completed nations list

Edit: Just one more thing, managers career overview to prove 0 transfers in

Edited May 28 by Ron_Swanson