The FM24 Youth Academy Challenge

[HanziZoloman]

Great update @libbyshuss but so hard to take those out-transfers. I feel with you. It never happened with me, because no one really wanted my players 

@HaylingZar wonderful update and impressive run up the leagues! How do you set up tactically 

 

[naterr]

Tony Pizza at Kerala United FC - Go Hornbills! - Season 5

Durand Cup

Our preseason cup went well again, finishing second in the group but qualifying as the best runner up. Kolkata getting in our way again at the Semi Finals - They are a very good team now and will take a while to beat them consistently. 

Super League

Another year of defying expectations, they still predict us to finish bottom but I think we are more around the mid table in terms of quality. 

Missing out on the playoffs this year by 4 points was a shame, our form dipped in February and cost us here (slightly annoying that we have gone backwards!)

Youth Intake

We had our preview for the youth intake (and I remembered to screenshot it this time!). We are predicted to have an excellent intake but the best position is only rated as a C. Not sure why that happens!

Our new lot of players (victims) dropped ad another decent crop.

Not the "Excellent" bunch we were promised but a good few squad players to help out.

There wasn't really a stand out player here - star ratings were good but attributes were not!

Super Cup

Post Season cup was also good, but a very similar fate!

Another semi final loss to Kolkata. Is was close but we were lucky to do as well as we did.

Team of The Year

Madhu is the standout - but he is the only player in the team who isn't a newgen!

 

Next Year's team

Up top we are doing really well - in most games we do have an attitude of "we can score more goals than you"(it doesn't always work!) Rodrigues, Singh and Xavier are the standout players. We have really struggled to get decent full backs which is why Madhu keeps playing. Hoping to get some this year!

I tried to put a bit more info in this update including the team reports, if you want anything else in these let me know.

 

[Winski]

FK Rača Bratislava
Season review
Season 2 | 2025/2026
Niké liga

Transfers | Afiliates |Facilities| | Finances | Manager Profile | Club overview

 

Wow. What a season!! Our debut on the highest level, and we secured European football! We finished 3rd in the league. In the regular league we finished 2nd, and qualified for the Champions Group. We only won 3 out of 10 matches, but it was enough to qualify for the Conference League. I'm very happy with that!
In the Cup we lost in the Third Round against Slovan Bratislava.

Our topscorer was Peter Lukac 24c with 21 goals in total. So it was another great season for him. He's not willing to sign a new contract, and is unhappy because I triggered his one-year contract extension. He now wants to leave because he wants to play with better players. So maybe I need to sell him. But I hope that he wants to stay now we qualified for the Conference League.
Some other good players were Matej Ruzicka, Patrik Kochan, Milan Sekera, and last but not least Marcel Ujlaky 25a. He was the only Elite player of the 2025 intake, and had a good season. I decided to put him into the first team, and he did not dissapoint. He scored 7 goals, together with 4 assists. Not bad for a 16 year old youngster.

Youth intake
This season the preview was a better one. The intake itself gave us 6 Elite players, although I don't think that they all got lots of potential.

Spoiler

Upgrades
I was able to upgrade our Junior Coaching budget and Youth Recruitment both once.

 

Progress

 

Edited June 6 by Winski

[Padders]

21 hours ago, libbyshuss said:

Scotland - 2032/33 - Cinch League 1

Promising Season Sabotaged By Spineless, Short-sighted, Idiotic Board

As you may tell, I'm really cross! We were going really well with our top two players combining really well to rip teams apart. Then came January..... Inter Milan offered 24k for Callum Gordon 31A. He was rated as Premiership level so I knew it was unlikely I could keep him so negotiated with a 50% sell on. And then....

AAre you kidding me????? the best player we've ever had, and you give him away for 41k???? I didn't even have a choice to protest or ask them to renegotiate! i just had to take it! i quickly offered him out for peanuts +50% and got a load of bites but to no avail. He's gone! as he was under age he couldn't leave for Milan until the summer so at least I got him for the rest of the season. And his combination with Josh Farrance 30B was dynamite! so, on the last day of the January transfer window....

18k????? he was leading Championship level! scored 30 in 31! and again I had no choice but to just take it! at least i managed to get a 50% clause in here but still.

Losing Farrances goals effected us greatly and we struggled after he went. But somehow we managed to sneak into the play offs

Into the play-offs, where our form picked up a bit

Losing on penalties was harsh but at the same time we can be proud of our achievements.

But I am worried about next year. How do I replace Gordon and Farrance?

 

Youth

With a new intake! well... preview was poor.

and the intake was similarly poor. But one elite talent is promising. I forgot to take a screenshot of the actual intake but here he is, my lonely elite talent

 

Career

Ah gutting!

[Padders]

Season 118 - 2140/41 - SBC

Back to The Championship

Started so well, with 21 games unbeaten

But an utter bottlejob in the last few months of the season dropped us from top spot we had been in for 6 months of the season, to 3rd

We then of course lost in the Semi Finals of the Playoffs to Middlesbrough 3-6

A really poor intake

[HanziZoloman]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb Padders:

But an utter bottlejob in the last few months of the season dropped us from top spot we had been in for 6 months of the season, to 3rd

Ah gutting  guess you try again 

good luck. I also just survived Championship… I am on your heels 

[Padders]

Season 119 - 2141/42 - SBC

Pearce Eales left to Valencia, not wanting to sign a new contract

We didn't start well but turned it around and went on another unbeaten run beating the previous unbeaten record

Made it to 30 games

37 was the run in the end, nearly 6 months unbeaten

You just knew that once that first lost came it would cause a drop in form. The lose was Semi Final of the FA Cup vs Fulham

Even with the great run of form, the draws and one loss last few weeks meant we finished 2nd on 95 points

[libbyshuss]

Scotland - 2033/34 - Cinch League 1

Stupid Chairman Continues to Sabotage Club, Then Threatens Me With Sack!

I mean, the temerity!! So summer came, offers came, and our idiotic short-sighted chairman again could not help himself by selling off our better players for as little as possible. I had no room to protest or argue or anything!

Then our first stroke of luck! Dall rejected the contract from Falkirk and decided to stay with us! Score!

Then came the January window...... and again he was up to his old tricks. This time I had the option to complain, protest and argue! and so I did..... but it made little difference, such is his determination to be a simple minded buffoon.

I've never known anything like it! he's giving players away like confetti!

Anyway, with all that shenanigans it's not really surprising that we struggled this season, playing half our matches with undeveloped 16 year olds in the side. But we were able to put together enough results to not really get into trouble. Chairman was not impressed and gave me the dreaded improve in a month or your out speech. We did,and i spent all month side-eyeing him. What a gibbon that man is

 

Callum Gordon 31A Watch

Just in case any of you thought i was being too harsh on our nincompoop of a chairman this is Callum Gordon now, after he thought a straight up 41k offer with no sell on was an offer 'too good to refuse'

AAARGHHHHHH! I HATE MY CHAIRMAN SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

Youth

Although.... to be fair to the lad he did let us use our new found money to improve youth recruitment

And the best thing is the preview was rubbish and disappointing but the actual intake was pretty good. So with a good preview we could be up for some stunning intakes.

 

A few too many strikers but a good range of personalities. Pick of the bunch was this little fella:-

 

Career

I'm gonna see out this nincompoop of a chairman!

 

 

[reggaeboy81]

Hi is mexico playable for this challenege and if so what are the saves dates please

[HaylingZar]

13 hours ago, HanziZoloman said:

Great update @libbyshuss but so hard to take those out-transfers. I feel with you. It never happened with me, because no one really wanted my players 

@HaylingZar wonderful update and impressive run up the leagues! How do you set up tactically 

 

Many thanks for your kind words @HanziZoloman. I started off when in the lower leagues with a standard 4-2-3-1 gegenpress, using very few tactical instructions.  Now, I am using a 4-2-4 control possession tactic in easier games, and a 5-2-3 with similar tactical instructions for more difficult games. All of my formations use BPD as my defenders, DMs or VOLs as my midfielders, IFs on the wings, and AF striker role (with a PF as my second striker in the 4-2-4 formation. If I get a good CF I might try that as well). 

[Perre8]

NK Karlovac 1919 - season 3 (2026/27) - first division

 

Pre season started with the qualifying round of the Conference League, wich was pretty interesting...

We managed to qualify for the league phase of the Europa Conference League!

Money that we immediately spent on upgrades

We had a horrible start with a 0/9 out of the first three games, after that we picked up our level and went on to a 9/9! Meaning qualification for the KO playoff round.

In that knock out round we drew Wolfsberger AC, i knew that team from my previous save game in Austria but i got eliminated pretty easily.

We had a good run first time in Europe, but meanwhile it was costing us points in the competition, closing the first half of the season just in the middle of the table (wich is still good considering the combination with european football).

After the winterbreak we managed to focus on the competition and that resulted in a good run of form, picking up points and places in the table. 

Dinamo Zagreb pulled themselves together after a horrible season last year to take the title, we managed to come in on a very good second place!

Because Dinamo Zagreb won the double, we qualified for the Europa League instead of Conference League.

Best 3 youth players of the first team are

We got upgrades on youth recruitment and junior coaching, our facilites are looking very promising already

 

Edited June 6 by Perre8

[SkiIIs]

Season 2026 - Versport FC - J3 League

Season started off well again and we spent majority of the season in top spot, but never really managed to build a gap between 3rd spot. Similar to the season before we ran out of puff towards the end of the season and slipped all the way to scrapping into the play offs. Our play off game against 3rd spot was for some reason at home and we managed to go up 1 - 0 in the 32nd minute but then conceded after the break and Toyama went through as the higher seed.

We made some improvements throughout the year and have now got excellent youth recruitment and junior coaching so hopefully we should start seeing some good intakes come through.  Our level is still low so hopefully some that we can slot straight into the team would be nice. We also improved training facilities at the end of the year once sponsorship money came in, Im yet to see the youth facility upgrade become available throughout the save!

Spoiler

Youth Preview

It's getting better...

Youth Intake

Not quite there but i can see fruits.  Kanazawa looks handy

 

Edited June 7 by SkiIIs

[SkiIIs]

Season 2027 - Versport FC - J3 League

I used this season as a bit of a reset year. Each year we've made it in the play offs and failed at the first hurdle so taking a more longer term approach and tried to introduce some youngsters in the team even though they are quite far off the level.  All bar Kanazawa, our A prospect from last years intake who by the end of the year scored 16 and assisted 13 as a DLF and is probably our best ployer now. Unfortunately no ones else really developed.  And so the expected drop to 10th was probably the right result.

During the year we maxed out both our junior coaching and youth recruitment but that has now put pressure on our finances.  By the end of the year we were in the read by 800k so its something ill need to keep an eye on.  Im also studying for Continental A licence now. We also had our first youth prospect poached, but i dont think he was all that great. 

Spoiler

Youth Preview

Need a really good GK, sick of playing a 1.5 star keeper. We're good with forwards tho

Youth Intake

Intakes are definitely getting better however i was hoping for at least 1 player that goes straight into the lineup.  Although, i'll probably start playing this GK

Ryo Kikuchi is probably just at good as my starting GK which tells you a lot.  Hopefully by starting games he will improve quickly

Kengo Saito didnt take a snapshot at the time of the intake but did so at the end of the year. Will have to bide his time in the u18's as i have 2 decent strikers in the starting line up

Yuto Hayashi has a couple of decent attributes but his casual nature will definitely restrict his development

Edited June 7 by SkiIIs

[SkyjumperTalon]

Gonna give it another go... got sacked on my old Lokomotiv Leipzig save

 

[KOWAL]

 27/28 ENDED

Another disappointing season, we lost promotion on goal difference. The whole season was very good, unfortunately we didn't make it to the end again, which is a pity because I thought that promotion this season would be certain. The management board has again increased the level of junior recruitment, which is certainly a good thing. Next season I am 100% counting on promotion

We lost our best young midfielder

[Koetzer]

Livorno | Season 2041/42 | Serie B

Defeating Monza and Vicenza at home in April secured another promotion for us. We lost the title in a head-to-head game against Torino, but actually were much better during the season on goal difference and xG. Let’s hope this squad is now strong enough to survive.

Coppa Italia

Same stage and same place as last season.

Squad stats

The squad refreshed since last season, and three young players – Reda, Luka and Multari already became useful first team members (Vultaggio also had several good games but remains Balduini’s backup so far). Viligiardi, Leporatti and Rizza are not so young but reached their peak age and were the real leaders.

And after the season Luka became our first player capped for the senior national team (well, technically there was a San Marino international a few years ago but he never played for our first team).

 

Transfers – Formichi (269 games for us) and Metafonti (357, the last remaining player who was in the squad before me) left the team.

Youth intake (preview)

Duka *42a | Vetrini *42b | De Martino *42c | Papagno *42d | Porciani *42e | Granucci *42f | Nguema *42g

Two top prospects from this intake look really promising, I even gave them both playing time on the last matchday.

We got our first foreign affiliate in America (though no good academies to choose from).

[Matsusipida]

 

IFK Lidingö Season 18 / 2041

First season in the highest tier started brilliantly. In cup we were dropped in the group phase by goal difference.

Spoiler

 League started wery well with 15 points from the firts 10 games. a lot of goals were scored and conceded as the goal difference was 26-23. then we suddenly lost our form and only took 1 point from the following 10 matches. So the relagation battle was waiting for us. Late season team managed to get a couple of crucial wins and make it to the relagation playoffs.

In the first leg against Åtvidaberg we were the better team xg wise and in possession as well, but we could't take advantage and draw 2-2. Second leg at home was a thriller. they took the lead 59th minute and it looked like we were doomed to relegation. Our pain lasted untill 84th minute when James Kyambadde 34A scored to tie the game 1-1. Narrow survival on away goals it was. 

Spoiler

Spoiler

Mid season we sold our best player Johan Svensson 37A to Napoli (Parthenope) for 1,1M€+50% clause. after a couple of months clause was sold for another 5,73M€. He's probably the best player this club has produces so far and by far the best transfer.

Spoiler

Josip Kalinic 28F scored 12 goals. Jonathan Sletsjøe 30A had the higherst rating of regular players with 7 goals and 4 assists in 16 (+8) caps. Jörgen Nilsson 38B was our best defender and Jonas Andreasson 37B was called back from loan as Johan Svensson 37A was sold. Viktor Strandlund 32B has developed a lot as our GK, but he still doesn't perform at high level and we conceded around 20 goals more than xg projected.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Youth intake provided us with some new goalkeepers. not a bad intake but I'm not sure we need 4 GKs with 5star potential.

Oskar Waldström Soldati 41B is really promising looking defender with resolute character. Jacob Mellström 41A, Mustafa Hodzić 41C and Axel Freij 41D could all make it as well and I wouldn't count Jonas Schaaf 41E out either.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

transfers

Spoiler

Allready in preseason the board announced plans to build a new stadium. I guess it's a good plan as we sold out 14 of our 15 league home mathces. Finances are looking good and we made a healty profit regadless of facility improvements.

Youth facilities were upgraded twice and training facilities once after the season (so upgades should be seen next season).

Spoiler

summary

Edited June 7 by Matsusipida

[KOWAL]

I am selling the player but the club wants him to come back to me on loan. Is this allowed?

[Daddy]

24 minutes ago, KOWAL said:

I am selling the player but the club wants him to come back to me on loan. Is this allowed?

It is not. 

[KOWAL]

1 minute ago, Daddy said:

It is not. 

okay thanks so i rejected it

[KOWAL]

SEASON 28/29

As I wrote earlier, I felt that promotion would be certain this season and it happened. A very good season on our side.

but strange situation, after 5 seasons we are entering the 2nd Danish league, I asked the board if we could become a professional club, they rejected it and I see it in a few days.Our junior became the top scorer, I was very surprised, but my friend has a knack for scoring goals, 30 goals in 32 matches is impressive for a 17-year-old. Like 3/4 days after season ended and we lost our best player.

 

 

 

[Riebow]

KSV Oudenaarde Season review (26/27)

League

Another season of mid-table mediocrity. More youth players are finding their way into the first team, which bodes well for the future.

Croky Cup

We made it to the 7th round, but not a good draw away at OHL, so no big gate receipt.

Spoiler

Youth Intake

All C's, but an excellent intake. The result was a bit of a mixed bag. A lot of positive personalities, but no-one who would make the team instantly better.

Finances

Still bad, -800K in the red

Next Season

The youngsters are developing nicely, so next season we'll be churning out the older players and play with almost youth prospects only

[bg0123]

Usti nad Labem - Czech First Division - 14th Season (2037-38 Season)

Another great season as we accomplished our highest position yet in the league with third after the Championship round. We qualified for the Europa League. We were also able to finally improve our facilities for the first time.

[bg0123]

Usti nad Labem - Czech First Division - 15th Season (2038-39 Season)

A very good season overall even though we didn't make it back to Europe for next season. Playing in the Europa League really stretched the depth of the team to its limits. We ended getting out of the league portion but losing in the round of 16. Not bad for our first time in that competition. In the Czech league it was a bit difficult since we prioritized Europe but a good mid-table finish anyways. With all the money we made we were able to upgrade the facilities multiple times so I'm excited for the benefits that will bring us.

[Winski]

FK Rača Bratislava
Season review
Season 3 | 2026/2027
Niké liga

Transfers | Afiliates | Facilities| | Finances | Manager Profile | Club overview

 

Another great season for us! We finished 3rd in the League, and so qualified for the Conference League again! This time we won 6 out of 10 matches in the Champions Group, so things are getting better. The only thing we still can't do is winning against Slovan Bratislava. We played 9 times against them, but never won. We drew 3 matches, and lost the other ones.
In the Cup we lost in the Quarter Final against FC Spartak Trnava.


Europe
Our first European campaign, and it was a good one! In the Second Qual. Round we faced Maccabi Haifa. At home we lost 1-2. So I thought our chances were over. But we somehow managed to win away with 1-6!! It was really unbelievable. In the Third Qual. Round we won against Neftci(Azerbaijan). We won 2-0 at home, and lost 3-4 away but it was enough to qualify for the Fourth Qual. Round. We faces TSV Hartberg(Austria), but here we found our Waterloo. We lost 1-4 at home, and drew 1-1 away. But we can look back at a great first European campaign!
We also gained a lot of money

Best players
It's no surprise that Peter Lukac 24c was our best player this season. He scored 23 goals, but also made 17 assists. Fantastic, and he is only 19 years old. But the most important thing: he signed a new 4-year contract!
Also Marcel Ujlaky 25a had a fantastic season, scoring 22 goals, together with 10 assists.
Another Academy player who was important this season was Robert Horny 24g (I know, I know). At the end of the season he became a starter in our first team.

Also Matej Ruzicka, Samuel Budinsky and Milan Sekera were very important again.

Youth intake
The intake was very promising! And the actual intake didn't disappoint. We got 6 Elite Talents, and some of them look really talented. So the recent upgrades already paying off! There were also 2 players poached by other clubs.

Spoiler

Upgrades
We used the European money to upgrade our facilities. I was able to upgrade our Training- and Youth Facilities for the first time. I also upgraded the Junior Coaching budget three times, and Youth Recruitment twice.
At the and of the season the board made the decision to expand our stadium with 1500 seats It will only cost us 80K!











Progress

[SkiIIs]

Season 2028 - Versport FC - J3 League

Our fifth straight season in J3 was used as a transition season to ingrain more youngsters into the team and push out the ageing team I inherited at start.  On this basis, i wasnt expecting much from the season however we were surprised that after a sluggish start we went on some really good runs and with 8 games to go were sitting in second.  However, the same cliff that has hampered us in previous years hit about the same time and 1 win in 7 games put us not only out of automatic promotion but got us out of the play off spots.  Two wins in the end made it look respectable. 

Studying for my last licence so im glad we have this out of the way.  Surprised theyve let me continue all the way whilst sitting in the lowest playable league.

Youth Preview

Something to get really excited about!

Youth Intake

I swear I had taken a picture of the youth intake, my screenshots have been playing up a little but I did take a snapshot of the two best prospects (even though im sure i had taken 3)

Ive got Sho Nishimura 28C as my best prospect as he is a walk in starter for me so should develop nicely with his good determination and great personality

This fella is also a walk in starter and will slot in the Mezzala role well. Im playing 2 men up front this save but would have been suited in the Shadow Striker role i usually play so might change tactics when required. 

 

Edited June 8 by SkiIIs

[libbyshuss]

Ok, so I'm in genuine shock here and don't really know what to do.

We were having an amazing season - bottom in October but turning it around and finishing second and making the play offs. We win the semi-final convincingly and then, two days before the play-off final, I get this message:-

 

OK, so....... last summer I asked for a junior coaching budget increase. The board said they weren't sure it was worth it unless i played youth players. I said of course I'll play youth players! and that triggered a promise..... (i try and avoid promises at all costs if I can, but like most of them this one I didn't see coming)

So I had a year to 'give meaningful playing time to youth players'

I reloaded my last save (only 4 days before the sacking) and here are my stats:-

16 year old with 39 starts. 18 year old with 33 starts, 17 year old with 33 starts, 19 year old with 44 starts, 19 year old with 40 starts, 17 year old with 40 starts. Every single player through the youth academy (including grant, who was so poop I didn't even bother giving a number!)

lots of youth players playing there right?

so i check the status of the promise and.....

 

What?????? seriously, what????? So what does the game consider a 'youth player' then?

And to be sacked for this TWO DAYS BEFORE A PLAY-OFF FINAL is completely absurd, right? i mean, i know none of us play this game for the unfettered realism but COME ON!

 

so there you go. I'm genuinely in shock here!

[Perre8]

@libbyshuss that is really absurd getting the sack in that context! Gutted man! A new save?

[Winski]

@libbyshuss Ouch…. That hurts. I can understand why you are in shock. Is there maybe someone from SI we can tag here en give some information and explanation about this?? 

[HanziZoloman]

Ouch that hurts @libbyshuss I feel with you. It’s completely nonsense and it should be reported in the bug forum. It’s completely absurd, they need to do better. 

[libbyshuss]

1 hour ago, Perre8 said:

@libbyshuss that is really absurd getting the sack in that context! Gutted man! A new save?

yeah, i'm way too addicted not too! Hardest thing is always choosing where to go next

[libbyshuss]

44 minutes ago, Winski said:

@libbyshuss Ouch…. That hurts. I can understand why you are in shock. Is there maybe someone from SI we can tag here en give some information and explanation about this?? 

I've posted on bug forum. I'm starting to come around to the idea that it's typical of my idiot chairman and that maybe he didn't take too kindly to my constant undermining of his very existence. A bit of research has shown i'm not the only one who's been done by bizarre promises like this either.

[HanziZoloman]

vor 54 Minuten schrieb libbyshuss:

yeah, i'm way too addicted not too! Hardest thing is always choosing where to go next

Greece? It's sunny 

[libbyshuss]

9 minutes ago, HanziZoloman said:

Greece? It's sunny 

ooo, i've never done Greece! good call!

right, i'm off to Greece next!

[Perre8]

1 hour ago, libbyshuss said:

yeah, i'm way too addicted not too! Hardest thing is always choosing where to go next

Haha yeah me to, i can't play FM without the youth only challenge, very addictive! Curious were you are going to start.

 

[Koetzer]

Must be a bug. Right now I have one new player as a regular starter, three others in rotation, and the board is very disappointed in this objective (fans are pleased at the same time, and that's the only difference in their assessments)!

[KOWAL]

29/30 ENDED

The season wasn't the worst for us, but it's clear that our players are not yet at level 2 in the Danish league. After advancing to the playoffs, we only won one match, unfortunately. Recruitment of new juniors was very poor, so I didn't even take a screenshot.

[darren1983]

For the first time 

 

Season 2024/25 National League South

 

League - Ah the long slog of first season and being in England. I had forgot this pain! Was a good season we started slowly as I figured out the best 11 but then injuries and the relentlessness of England meant we often struggled to fill our bench but it also meant I was forced to keep the same 11 pretty much every match. After the battle we get at Christmas we really found form, so much so that we only lost 1 game from jan onwards. We were always in and around the playoffs as we always scored goals but then first Southend and then Torquay totally bottled the league (despite us only drawing with both) meant that with 6 games to go we went top. We then lost our 19 game unbeaten run to drop back to 2nd but 4 straight wins wo finish the season (we lucked out as 3 of our final 4 games were against sides already relegated) meant we not only finished top but won the league by 4 points. 

 

FA Cup - A good run in this, made the first round but League Two Harrogate were too good for us. Not a shock but nice to make the first round proper

FA Trophy - Shocking to lose to Whaltamstow as we twice threw away the lead but honestly was likely the reason we won the league as we had 4.5 months of nothing but league games which gave us some rest at times with our small squad.

Transfers - None in but losing 2 players who went back to their home countries really hurt our already thin depth

Squad - A small one but they done brilliantly, The 50 goals in 50 games from Danny Mills was key. I have no idea how or why he's scored so much and I doubt he'll do it at a higher level but he's pretty much all we've got. A lot of the squad can play lots of roles which cam in handy during the season and meant every got a fair bit of game time.

Youth Intake - The preview looked Ok and turned out well with just a few players tagged (though 2 of of them were tagged as 26 rather than 25 because I'm an idiot)

Stephen Black 25A - Coaches think he's a DM but he's clearly a CB for me
Grzegorz Lewandowski 25B - Gonna make a fortune selling those Lewandowski Dulwich shirts!  
Luis Muscatt 25C - My back up formation is a 4231 so he could be useful when we use that as doubt he's big enough to play as an 8 in my 433
Latrell McGillis 25D - Again I differ from the coaches who think he's a CB but I'll likely use him as LB. Either way he'll be cover and depth in 2 roles at least

Career Overview

Season		League		Position 	Junior Coaching		Youth Recruitment	Notes

2024/25		VNLS		1st 		Good			Average			Promotion, Manager of the year

 

[Neo_Geo]

CUP DOUBLE FOR CREWE UNITED AS IMPORTANT MILESTONE REACHED

After 9 seasons and 6 trophies with 3 second place finishes in the Sports Direct Premiership Crewe United have finally turned professional. After winning the national cup the board approached me for a change about turning pro after I decided to keep the European prize money in the bank rather than look to improve the facilities and that approach paid off. Unfortunately a year too late for signing Curtis Graham Y6-A on a professional deal before his move to Newcastle however the key players have now already been signed up on a full time contract.

Once again Linfield are just miles ahead of the rest and look unstoppable at this moment in time but turning pro will definitely help the players realise their potential more effectively and hopefully quicker.

This year I played around with a few different formations with a 4-1-4-1 DM Asymmetric trying to get more joy out of the games against Linfield by stretching them vertically and horizontally but I just feel the quality isn't quite good enough to pull it off. After realising that Harry McDermott Y4-A (my best AML) was not going to stay the club (considered options then demanded to be sold) and seeing a really good quality AMC coming through the intake I decided to try one of the formations I had been using in another save, the 4-2-2-2 DM AM Narrow. It will take a bit of time and a bit of tweaking to get this formation working but turning professional should really help with the increased training sessions.

On another positive note the coefficients placement moved up 5 places to 30th meaning 2 teams now enter the Europa Conference qualifiers at the second round, so if I only manage a 3rd place finish this coming season it won't have an impact in terms of the European games.

On the topic of Europe we crashed out at the third qualifying round this year to Brondby after losing on penalties despite dominating the return leg and just being unable to find a winner.

The Clearer Water Irish Cup final saw an absolute epic of a match. 2-0 up against Cliftonville after 26 minutes and looking comfortable before Aaron Morris Y8-A (my first choice keeper) was injured in the 34th minute, no big deal right? WRONG! Since the patch that sorted out keeper injuries I have opted the slightly risky approach of having more outfield options on the bench at the expense of my backup keeper, so in the 34th minute Geoff Armstrong Y4-A (3rd choice DC) dons the goalkeepers top and a pair of gloves......

I really thought it wasn't going to happen yet again in this competition but I just kept a higher line and a more aggressive press to try and keep the ball in their half as much as possible and luckily we won (as you can see from the xG they scored 4 from 1.62 whilst I scored 5 from 4.63 showing that their hopeful efforts were going in past my centreback!)

League

Spoiler

 

Domestic Cups

Spoiler

 

Europe

Spoiler

 

Club News

Spoiler

As mentioned earlier in this update the main story this year is going professional which came after the final of the Clearer Water Cup.

Given my approach this year was to keep the funds from Europe in the bank in the hope of having a large enough balance to request going pro I was delighted when the board beat me to it.

I feel this is a huge milestone for the save in Northern Ireland as I can really look to give my player development a real shot in the arm and see just how much potential some of these players have.

 

Youth Intake

Spoiler

Another decent intake with the highlight being Kenneth McMurray Y9-A who prompted a formation change to make use of 2 AMCs in place of width in the midfield. He's got a decent personality with good flair, vision, passing and finishing so I reckon he's more than good enough to play in the first team. The intakes are still predominantly Northern Irish and Irish as you'd come to expect with having Northern Irish HoYDs and coaches (I now have Alan Gow who is Scottish as my HoYD so we'll see if it makes any difference in a few years).

Player records now starting to be dominated by one man, Sam Knox Y4-A who netted 41 goals in 42 starts and 7 sub appearances with many of those matches being player as an Inside Forward on the left wing. 

 

Admin

Spoiler

As per usual no transfers in:

 

Former Player Watch

Spoiler

I've decided to add this section to my updates for my own curiosity as much as anyone else's to see where previous players that I have sold (that I would have kept otherwise) have ended up.

As of this point in the save there are really only 2 players to catch up on:

Johnny Barr Y4-A
Sold to Aberdeen for £10k +50% of future transfer on 26th July 2029

Barr has so far been unable to establish himself in the Aberdeen first eleven, however a fairly successful loan spell at Dundee United led to him playing a handful of first team games for Aberdeen this season. Transfer value sitting between £4.2m and £6.6m.

He has been capped by Northern Ireland twice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curtis Graham Y6-A
Sold to Newcastle United for £250k + 50% of future transfer on 15th June 2032

At 18 years old Graham has not featured for Newcastle at first team level and in the January window got a loan move to Hibernian where he scored 4 goals in 13 games.

Graham has won his first Northern Ireland cap and is valued somewhere in the region of £40m. I will be watching Graham's progress very closely and hoping that he isn't quite good enough for Newcastle or is too good for them as either way it'll be a very rewarding payday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Forgot to include that Curtis Graham Y6-A made the NXGN top 20

 

Next Season

Spoiler

Turning pro means everything regarding player development so the first step is to get all of the players I am certain I want to keep around for the foreseeable onto full time contracts. I've already tied up Sam Knox Y4-A for 2 + 2 years amongst some others that I feel have the highest potential.

I will look to continue to tweak the new formation and just keep trying to chip away at Linfield each season.

Cup wise I have won each of the domestic cups available (I couldn't care less about the SPFL Trust Trophy as that setup is a shambles and just adds needless fixtures....though once I have quality throughout the reserves and U18s I may look to blood them in this particular competition), so the focus really is on the league and also just trying to make it to the Europa Conference Group Phase.

I also need to try and find the time to play the game as I have been busy of late and struggled getting season 9 across the line!

 

Edited June 8 by Neo_Geo

[SkyjumperTalon]

HERLEV IDRAETSFORENING: 2024/25 Season

 

First season in the books, we were easily predicted to finish last the entire season and were underdogs for nearly every match, but were able to finish 4th before the league split, sealing our status for next season and giving ourselves a solid chance at fighting for promotion. However, in the championship stage, we struggled mightily, going 9 games winless and falling to 6th. 

[Neo_Geo]

8 hours ago, libbyshuss said:

I've posted on bug forum. I'm starting to come around to the idea that it's typical of my idiot chairman and that maybe he didn't take too kindly to my constant undermining of his very existence. A bit of research has shown i'm not the only one who's been done by bizarre promises like this either.

It’s got to be a bug, would be forgiven for thinking it’s just an unambitious chairman for the player sales but two identical promises and both failing despite very good evidence that you have played youth….it has to be a bug which really sucks because it’s ended a save you were presumably enjoying before all of this nonsense kicked off.

[Perre8]

1 hour ago, darren1983 said:

For the first time 

🤣

[HanziZoloman]

vor 7 Stunden schrieb libbyshuss:

ooo, i've never done Greece! good call!

right, i'm off to Greece next!

 Looking forward 

[Daddy]

Season 11 - 2034/35 - Czechia - First Division:

My goal was to compete for a European spot, and we just missed out on the championship group. We competed in the European playoffs and lost in penalties in the final, for a spot that ended up not going to Europe anyway lol. My hope coming off the congested season was the team would do better this year, but losing our star keeper and striker the previous season and then our best midfielder for this season really showed. By xG we should have been 5th. 

We did get an active player on the NXGN list. I'd say we're set there except his contract is in its final year, he won't renew, and will be going to Southampton 1/1 (not sure why the transfer date was set there). 

The one thing I can not complain about is that we get loaded intakes every season. For Reference three-star players are "First Division Standard", so about half the class has First Division potential. 

2035/36 Season Preview:

I'm a little nervous about this upcoming season. I don't think the bottom will fall out or anything, but I am worried about plateauing here. It's also very difficult to keep the wolves at bay to allow us to take that next step forward. I wouldn't be surprised if we fight for European finish, but I also wouldn't be surprised to just be midtable.

[Neo_Geo]

7 hours ago, Daddy said:

Season 11 - 2034/35 - Czechia - First Division:

My goal was to compete for a European spot, and we just missed out on the championship group. We competed in the European playoffs and lost in penalties in the final, for a spot that ended up not going to Europe anyway lol. My hope coming off the congested season was the team would do better this year, but losing our star keeper and striker the previous season and then our best midfielder for this season really showed. By xG we should have been 5th. 

We did get an active player on the NXGN list. I'd say we're set there except his contract is in its final year, he won't renew, and will be going to Southampton 1/1 (not sure why the transfer date was set there). 

The one thing I can not complain about is that we get loaded intakes every season. For Reference three-star players are "First Division Standard", so about half the class has First Division potential. 

2035/36 Season Preview:

I'm a little nervous about this upcoming season. I don't think the bottom will fall out or anything, but I am worried about plateauing here. It's also very difficult to keep the wolves at bay to allow us to take that next step forward. I wouldn't be surprised if we fight for European finish, but I also wouldn't be surprised to just be midtable.

Are you choosing to sell these players, is it minimum fee or is the chairman accepting them as they are too good like the infamous Cowdenbeath chairman for libbyshuss save?

My personal experience with my save in FM23 with Vitkovice saw me sell my best players continuously to Sparta Prague, then letting my better players move to clubs outside of Czech Republic. I ended up getting sacked when the team got too weakened and I started a horrid losing streak.

I've found since then that its sometimes beneficial to just stand your ground on a few players and maybe upset them as sometimes the club that wanted them lose interest and the player then backtracks saying they are now happy to stay at the club as there is no interest in them. The trick is always to try and ensure you don't lose the rest of the squad by treating them badly.

It will always come down to individual circumstances but you can't stay competitive on the pitch if you let your best players go if you can avoid it.

[HanziZoloman]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb Neo_Geo:

I've found since then that its sometimes beneficial to just stand your ground on a few players and maybe upset them as sometimes the club that wanted them lose interest and the player then backtracks saying they are now happy to stay at the club as there is no interest in them. The trick is always to try and ensure you don't lose the rest of the squad by treating them badly.

That’s true for me as well. For instance my long time star player Loric Kalala always looked for a PL side every season but is playing for Ricay now in his 10th year, as a captain. Still, this year he said it again, „I want move on“ but a few months later, „he’s happy to stay“. 
I wish I had some more serious offers for other players to clear my depts. 

[jamespthomas]

 Season 3 - 2026/2027

Start of Season Objective. 

Get Promoted. Retain (and hope board don't sell) Cesari, Develop Cesari, Pizzo, Giusti and Mancini, Upgrade a facility/recruitment/coaching. Win a round in the Serie C Cup!

Season Notes

Season was a huge success, after two consecutive 5th place finishes and quarters/semis of the playoffs. we were very lucky winning the Serie C/A with the lowest point total of a winner of all time. It all clicked well in a 4312 and some amazing growth by our youngsters.

Managed to get to the 3rd round of the Serie C Cup this time and won the Serie C Super Cup (round robin of the 3 Serie C winners).

End of season Squad / Player recap

Catalani, Giusti, Pizzo and Franklin all developed incredibly well and pushed us over the line following the two 5th place finishes. Franklin's 16 goals were the difference.He was a 2024 intake player in my u18s - I didnt play him last season due to form of Battistini, Mazzani and preferring Mancini but he has come on leaps and bounds. Viale now first choice GK but only 1.5 star CA.

Very excited by Pizzo and Giusti, some nice technical/Creative players.

Progress Summary

Achieved 3 New Bingo Card targets, The Serie C win, James Franklin (2024 intake) got a 7.18 rating for the season. Coaching badges upto a National A License.

Youth Intake Preview & Intake

Was so excited after the preview to finally get a new A rated goalkeeper!. 

The Intake matched it aswell! 

Riccardo Re. Finally a 5 star rated PA goalkeeper - except he doesnt look very good....Tall and good physicals and teamwork but Unambitious, 2 determination. low goalkeeping starting stats. Can't see him developing into the player we need. Russo looks interesting but not currently playing with wingers.

Cesari Watch

Alternated between centre back and full back, not developed too much. Missed maybe 10 games due to Italy u19s. Wanted by so many domestic clubs in January. Protested to stop one transfer and then offered him out on loan which seemed to slow down the offers.

Finances/Upgrades 

Still no upgrades but have managed to do 2 coaching badges. Lost £300k approx this season.

Stadium Watch

Still playing (renting) at the Ernesto Breda, the Inter Milan youth/womens team stadium. 

Very interested to see what happens with the Stadium after the next season in Serie B. Could mean an expansion, a move to a new stadium in Milan.

Or can we get relegated back to Serie C for not having our own stadium of sufficient capacity?

Next Season thoughts

Try to stay up in Serie B and hope next intake is a better one!. Desprately need a GK and to improve the squad.  

Will likely need to try and sell Cesari before the board accepts an offer. He's wanted by 23 clubs and looks like he's destined for the top so I'm hoping for £3m + and enough to upgrade some facilities!. My finances are terrible so hoping the board dont accept an offer.

 

[Daddy]

6 hours ago, Neo_Geo said:

Are you choosing to sell these players, is it minimum fee or is the chairman accepting them as they are too good like the infamous Cowdenbeath chairman for libbyshuss save?

My personal experience with my save in FM23 with Vitkovice saw me sell my best players continuously to Sparta Prague, then letting my better players move to clubs outside of Czech Republic. I ended up getting sacked when the team got too weakened and I started a horrid losing streak.

I've found since then that its sometimes beneficial to just stand your ground on a few players and maybe upset them as sometimes the club that wanted them lose interest and the player then backtracks saying they are now happy to stay at the club as there is no interest in them. The trick is always to try and ensure you don't lose the rest of the squad by treating them badly.

It will always come down to individual circumstances but you can't stay competitive on the pitch if you let your best players go if you can avoid it.

If I have a player locked up long enough I play hardball. All these players have refused to sign contracts almost immediately, so it usually becomes a choice to keep them until their contract runs out or sell them off. Plus some have come in so high the owner accepts. 

[Neo_Geo]

27 minutes ago, Daddy said:

If I have a player locked up long enough I play hardball. All these players have refused to sign contracts almost immediately, so it usually becomes a choice to keep them until their contract runs out or sell them off. Plus some have come in so high the owner accepts. 

If they are going out of contract it may be better just to hold onto them and gatekeeper that season to phase in their replacements, sometimes they will talk again other times they’ll just leave but unless you are being offered significant sums of money you’d be best retaining them.

In my latest season my best AML wanted to go (first considered options then wanted listed) I looked at my options for replacing like for like and ended up fielding a striker as an inside forward at first then changed my formation to remove the AML altogether. He left for nothing but having him that last season gave me the time to work out what I wanted to do next.

Not much you can do about the chairman unless you have 20 determination but even then it’s probably not going to change their mind.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2030/31 End of Season Review

Another season where we make the playoffs and finish with a positive goal difference, we've just got to keep this up!  

 

Still no upgrades but a good intake with some defenders coming through!

 

Overall Best XI

2030/31 Best XI

Iprotip Das

Amarjit Lyngdoh (YP4d) - Peter Singh (YP2e) - Thomas Fernandes (YP3b)

James Pereira (YP3a) - Deepak Singh (YP4c) - Rishi Rajput - Manuel Fernandes (YP3g)

 

 

Ayaan Shaikh - Michael Rabha (YP1a) - Roshan Fernandes (YP6a)