The FM24 Youth Academy Challenge

[Skora11]

 

 

RC Jaen Season 26/27

The upward trajectory continued as we managed to better our previous two seasons and finish the season as champions.

A win on the last day of the season was enough to secure the title by 2 points after runners up Albacete B won only 1 of their last 5 matches.

While this was great for the club, our best players had been wanting to leave to seek a new challenge and even after winning the title, they couldn't be convinced to stay. This meant the next season would be a struggle, with around half the squad made up of players under 20 and not yet ready for Federation 1. Although the board did revert back to their Pro status which at least meant full time training and development for the youngsters.

Some nice youngsters in my new intake but none quite ready to be thrown straight into the first team. A couple will become mainstays of the first team squad further down the line though.

[Skora11]

 

RC Jaen Season 27/28

Not much to report this season. The young team battled to the end but results didn't quite go our way on the last game of the season and we went straight back down. A good experience which would stand us in good stead for the upcoming season. No youth intake screen as had not taken a screenshot.

RC Jaen Season 28/29

After relegation the club had to return to being semi-pro. Even in Federation 1 the club was making a loss each month and had to rely on cash injections from the board. Our youngsters were really starting to progress though and managed promotion via the play-offs at the first time of asking back in the 4th tier of Spanish football. A great season for a team filled with 17-20 year olds.

RC Jaen Season 29/30

The 3rd tier of Spanish football proved a step too far once again, but like the last time we were extremely unfortunate not to stay up on the last day of the season. Most other seasons 42 points would have been enough to survive but we were relegated due o H2H against Algeciras. Relegation means back to being Semi-pro, however I was confident the squad had now grown enough to be able to compete and challenge for the title in the 4th tier, and if we go back up then we would have a great chance of staying there!

Edited Friday at 17:02 by Skora11

[mschafer13]

Taking a break from Denmark with a new challenge - Club Cipolletti in Argentina

 

Decent starting facilities, have certainly had worse in Denmark

 

Still, we were picked to finish dead last, with 3000-1 title odds

 

In the end, we finished 15th place, 14 points clear of relegation playoff, so we'll count the first season as a win

 

Couple decent kids in the intake, but we are very much heading into debt, so next season could be tricky

[JD78]

 

Bekescsaba 1912, Hungary

Season 24/25

Decided to start a new save. Had enough of Scotland for now. The appeal with Hungary was that there's only 2 playable divisions and they're both professional. Not played with a pro team for months so hoping to enjoy some faster progress for my players, we will see! Wanted a chance to finish before fm25 too. Fingers crossed. Also,I don't think anyone has completed Hungary before if the table is up to date?

 

Straight away I could see that the players were much, much better than I was used to seeing in the Scottish Championship. My team were predicted to finish 12/16 but I was hopeful I could do well after seeing the players. Things got a bit difficult though. There's a rule in this league that you must have 2 U20 players in the match squad and at least one U20 player on the pitch at all times. Fine for a YO save you'd think but for some reason there was no U20 players in my very small squad. Not sure why they didn't get a youth intake during the year of the holiday season but there we are. Next hiccup was a player getting a long term injury. I was still confident we'd finish above the bottom 2 and that's all the board wanted.

So 2 greyed out players were in the squad until the youth intake which was a bit of a pain as you had to select them every game, they didn't even stay in the saved 11. I could put up with it for 1 season though. I used a 424 tactic and usually had the grey player as the second striker and we did ok. After an inconsistent start we found some form and finished the season 5th. Just the top 2 go up automatically here, no playoffs. I was pleased with that though and the board were delighted and gave me a 2 year contract. They also let me do 2 coaching courses straight away. 

Facilities

Everything started quite low, around level 4 or 5. The club has a bit of money in the bank though and they agreed to an improvement of 1 step in training and youth facilities over the season. There were also 2 upgrades for junior coaching and youth recruitment. Lucky!

Youth intake

It was pretty good, can't complain! Forgot to take screenshots bit I'll upload next time. Best player was a left back. I already have a very good left back so I'm retraining the youth player to play right back as he has 2 good feet. Well see how that progresses next season. I'm hoping this player will cover the '1 U20 player on the pitch at all times' rule for the majority of games. There's also a winger that looks pretty useful. 

Hoping to push on for top 2 next season.

 

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Certainly one of the odder games I've had on this FM, needed 3 points to guarantee a spot in the knockouts and we did it in style.

[V50]

23 hours ago, Padders said:

Prime example of the awful players we get

2 and half stars and 4 potential

Just look at his stats,  rubbish

1 star to 2.5 star doesn't look much different with those stats, I'd just take a season of pain and put in a bunch of youngsters with the highest stars and/or best personalities. Anyone wit ha hint of professionalism and determination...

[Skora11]

 

RC Jaen Season 30/31

This is where the save really starts to get going. There were no out and out wonderkids come through the academy at Los Iagartos but there had been plenty with good potential and personalities.  These players now had experience of playing at a higher level and had 100 plus games under their belt. I was extremely confident going into the season that we could bounce straight back up once again, and the team proved me right by romping to the title and winning it with an 8 point margin.

I was now confident that going up a division wouldn't be too much for my players and could make a real go at finishing higher up the league than the previous attempts and have little to no danger of being involved in a relegation battle. The only disappointment to the season was the relatively poor youth intake where the only elite talent had a poor personality. David Estevez was the pick of the bunch and one that may have a chance of breaking through.

 

[Skora11]

 

RC Jaen Season 31/32

Heading into the season I was confident the squad was good enough to avoid relegation and finish around mid-table. However the season exceeded expectations and we were flying high in the play-off positions for basically the whole season. We hit a bit of a slump towards the end of the season but back to back victories in the final 2 matches of the season clinched 5th spot and a play-off match against Valladolid B. The expectations were low as we were just delighted to be there, but in the end we ran out comfortable 4-0 winners over the two legs. Next up was Villarreal B and again we went into the match as underdogs. We came out flying in the first leg and found us 2-0 inside the first 30 minutes and managed to add a third late in the game. The second-leg was all about keeping hold off our advantage and we managed to do that comfortably drawing 2-2.

 

Not only did we exceed expectations in the league but our youth intake was the best we had had in years. The picks of the bunch were Rua and Tome who both look as if they could break into the first team within a season or two.

 

Things were really starting to look up at RC Jaen with finally starting to build a positive bank balance and we were going into the Second division as clear favourite for relegation but plenty of optimism for the future of the club. The money on offer will be absolutely game changing and allow us to progress both on and off the park.

[petro_buchkovskyi]

On 23/01/2024 at 16:38, Johann said:

Can someone explain why is this happens? There's nothing in the rules about it.

 

LNZ Cherkasy has 32 pts at Group Stage, and at the Promotion Stage has only 5 pts.

Obolon got 23 pts at Group Stage and 19 pts at Relegation Stage.

 

All Groups

Promotion Stage

Relegation Stage

 

It doesnt make any sense, and its very annoying. 

I'm from Ukraine and I can explain it)

in the promotion league--promotional stage
points are taken into account only with the teams that took places 1-4

in the relegation league - relegation stage
points are taken into account only with the teams that took places from 5-9

if you have this save, review it according to these rules and you will see that it makes sense)

translated through a translator, so sorry

[Padders]

OMG 

First player over 2.5 stars in 180 seasons

Of course he wants a minimum release clause (locked in and no agent) of just £13m 

Edited Saturday at 13:26 by Padders

[Skora11]

24 minutes ago, Padders said:

OMG 

First player over 2.5 stars in 180 seasons

Of course he wants a minimum release clause (locked in and no agent) of just £13m 

Is there not a way you try and change contract offer and can get rid of it as it won’t be locked? Then just give him a big wage.

[Koetzer]

NK Kustošija Zagreb | Croatia

Manager profile

Trying to complete this challenge for Croatia. Kustošija never played in a top division, but has good youth setup.

Squad

Our best players are 25 or younger which is certainly good. Midfield is the strongest line with Šroler, Vajdovčić and Lovren (Dejan’s brother), but we lack a decent striker.

[Padders]

2 hours ago, Skora11 said:

Is there not a way you try and change contract offer and can get rid of it as it won’t be locked? Then just give him a big wage.

Went back and spoke to agent (no agent first time) and removed clause

On two year deal and option of 3 year extension 

[Padders]

Season 180 - 2200/01 - SBC

Promoted straight back to PL, finishing 2nd

Gone more Pep=ball and scored 105 goals

The back 4 are still poor

[Neo_Geo]

1 hour ago, Koetzer said:

NK Kustošija Zagreb | Croatia

Manager profile

Trying to complete this challenge for Croatia. Kustošija never played in a top division, but has good youth setup.

Squad

Our best players are 25 or younger which is certainly good. Midfield is the strongest line with Šroler, Vajdovčić and Lovren (Dejan’s brother), but we lack a decent striker.

Good luck, I enjoyed managing them just got tired of the youth ruling.

it’s a really strong starting squad, made a big difference on the field.

[Skora11]

1 hour ago, Padders said:

Went back and spoke to agent (no agent first time) and removed clause

On two year deal and option of 3 year extension 

Great stuff, and a defender that you desperately needed!

[mpm2342]

1 hour ago, Padders said:

Season 180 - 2200/01 - SBC

Promoted straight back to PL, finishing 2nd

Gone more Pep=ball and scored 105 goals

The back 4 are still poor

If you can't stop them, don't let them have the ball    Very nice season to go straight back up.

Season 180 ... what does your coach look like now?  are they 200 years old , or does the game force a replacement?

[Koetzer]

29 minutes ago, Neo_Geo said:

Good luck, I enjoyed managing them just got tired of the youth ruling.

Yes, it's a bit annoying, have to use third GK as a starter (he isn't much worse than two others though).

[mpm2342]

Crewe United 2040 Season Update

Season 16 Update:

Another successful season where we finished 3rd comfortably. Got off to a shaky start and had me worried for a while, but then got on a roll in the middle and end of the season. Europe prize money is now essential for the club as we are losing a lot every month. There is no domestic revenue to speak of as we only sell out 2,000 seats at home for two clubs.  I estimate we need about £800K to cover a season, so no more facilities upgrades until we can advance further in Europe and build up a cushion,

Transfers:

Spoiler

 

Youth Candidates:

The streak is alive and well with another "golden generation" that is 16 in a row, every season so far with one youth player who will make the squad day one - McKinney

Quite a mix of personalities this intake, but the good players are workable.

Squad Update:

Here is how the squad is rated heading into next season. Nice improvement from Breen who was out on loan and developed enough to step into the lineup. Patterson complained last season that he wanted to play with better players/team, so we agreed that he would be sold if a team offered £235K. Funny enough last season I was worried it would happen, but now Still has developed to be essentially the same rating, so I would really like it to happen ... lol.  Won't sell him though because depth is always good. Some shuffling of the depth chart in other places due to growth.

The squad rating improve 0.6 rating points, slower growth, but a definite closing of the gap to the backups and youth, so the squad is much more sustainable at this level now.

Bingo

Couple of squares I missed that were completed earlier

 

[Neo_Geo]

On 27/09/2024 at 13:58, XaW said:

Had a look in the editor, and I have a suspicion it won't happen if the "Trophy type" is not set:

If you can point to the file (url or upload) I can have a look for you?

It's set as a National Cup 1:

I'll see what happens if I win it again

[darren1983]

We're the best in the league  

[HanziZoloman]

vor 21 Stunden schrieb Padders:

OMG 

First player over 2.5 stars in 180 seasons

Of course he wants a minimum release clause (locked in and no agent) of just £13m 

Never had one of those and I am the one behind you I think. Congrats!!! Maybe you’ll need to change a bit? But for all that matters, you have my deepest credits for playing on that level with those players. 
 

@darren1983 wow!! Impressive!! 
please share some advise for my struggling team. Anything I need to be careful with? 
after our 7th place last year we’re struggling again and it’s so frustrating. 

Edited Sunday at 10:37 by HanziZoloman

[Neo_Geo]

I suspect I know the answer to this but I assume that for getting a team promoted to pick for the challenge you are not allowed to have the division the club you want to play as as view only and save scum to get them promoted?

I've been trying to get Largs Thistle promoted to the Scottish Lowland League but its just not happening and with the D10 pack from Timo the West of Scotland Premier is available so I was thinking it would be possible to view the league and save scum to get them to win the league and gain promotion.

As much as I have enjoyed the Malta save I think I'd have enjoyed it more as a build a nation challenge rather than a Youth Only and I guess I'm looking for something I can potentially complete and with a team that mean something to me (grew up in a village near Largs)

EDIT: I'm just going to simulate out season after season until they get up (they just don't seem able to get up in the first 2 seasons no matter how many times I reload)

Edited Sunday at 12:21 by Neo_Geo

[Padders]

18 hours ago, Skora11 said:

Great stuff, and a defender that you desperately needed!

Yes thought the same, desperate for one

[Padders]

17 hours ago, mpm2342 said:

If you can't stop them, don't let them have the ball    Very nice season to go straight back up.

Season 180 ... what does your coach look like now?  are they 200 years old , or does the game force a replacement?

It caps at 100 years old

[XaW]

20 hours ago, Neo_Geo said:

It's set as a National Cup 1:

I'll see what happens if I win it again

Well, that was my guess gone. Then I have no idea if there is another hidden option somewhere in the advanced rules... I can see it being an option, as you wouldn't want a trophy for winning stage 1, but rather have it in the last stage.

[XaW]

XaW - Praiense - Season 2028/29 (Season 5) - Liga Portugal Meu Super

Squad | Transfers | Finances

Well, colour me surprised! I did not expect this at all, and I'd rather expect a hard fought battle against relegation! The season started quite well, as we got a few narrow wins and a few draws to, what I thought at the time, was a bid to avoid relegation. When we later lost at home to Vizla I thought the honeymoon phase was over and we were in for a tough time, but we just bounced with 4 wins in a row after that. And from then on we were in a fight for both promotion and the title. Académico de Viseu, Feirense, and Benfica B was the teams we were fighting with. Of course this was already a good thing for us, as there is 2 promotion spots and a playoff spot too. And since Benfica B can't get promoted, we were looking good for a chance at going up. With a few matches remaining it was confirmed we got a playoff spot, and before the final match we were confirmed promoted, but not champions. We had a 2 point lead on Académico de Viseu and Feirense were 4 points behind. So we had to equal Académico de Viseu's result, but they had the better of us on matches between us, so if we drew and they would win it. Our match was a very tough away to Feirense, while Académico de Viseu faced Real at home. It was a tough match, and we got a bit lucky, but we hung on to an early lead to end as 1-0 winners and thus we claimed the title!

Allianz Cup: We beat Moreirense before we lost to Feirense in the 2nd round.
Taça de Portugal: We beat AVS SAD, Estoril Praía, and Leça before we lost to Chaves in the 5th round.

Best players from the academy:

João Neves 25b - A really good season on the right wing cutting inside. Lots of goals and assists too.
Jorge Aveiro 26c - Our main source of goals and also opens a lot of space for the other players.
Tiago Ledo 26g - A really good season in the defence, but could do more on set pieces.

New club records:

Most goals in a season - Jorge Aveiro 26c - 23 goals
Most league goals in a season - Jorge Aveiro 26c - 22 goals
Most clean sheets in a season - Pedro Fortes - 17 clean sheets
Most player of the match awards - Joelson 25e - 6 awards
Worst discipline - Tico - 9 yellow cards, 0 red cards
Most league apps for the club - Kinglord Safo - 183 apps
Most league goals for the club - Jorge Aveiro 26c - 52 goals

Due to lack of finances, there were no improvements accepted this season either. Still a year more until the new stadium is done though, so we are renting another nearby stadium.

Praiense B

No visible matches, only a few friendlies.

U19s

After getting promoted last season they entered the Portuguese U19 First Division Group B this time around. They struggled and finished 11th there and went into the Relegation Stage Group B. There they did much better and finished 4th and avoided relegation.

Around the world

Youth intake:

Trophy cabinet

Liga Portugal Meu Super - 2028/29

Liga 3 - 2027/28

Campeonato Nacional Prio - 2025/26

(U19s) U19 Azores Division - 2025/26, 2026/27, 2027/28

Most apps for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Apps
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manuel Silva 25d	Cape Verde	Portugal	2025-Present	126
Joelson 25e		Brazil		Portugal	2025-Present	123
João Neves 25b		Portugal	<N/A>		2025-Present	110
Jorge Aveiro 26c	Portugal	<N/A>		2026-Present	101
Grégory Dedieu 26i	Portugal	France		2026-Present	86

Most goals for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Goals
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jorge Aveiro 26c	Portugal	<N/A>		2026-Present	54
Diogo Lamas 25c		Portugal	<N/A>		2025-2028	37
João Neves 25b		Portugal	<N/A>		2025-Present	19
Joelson 25e		Brazil		Portugal	2025-Present	18
João Nobre 26h		Portugal	<N/A>		2026-Present	12

Most assists for the club

Name			Nation		2nd Nation	Time at club	Assists
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joelson 25e		Brazil		Portugal	2025-Present	23
João Neves 25b		Portugal	<N/A>		2025-Present	21
Diogo Lamas 25c		Portugal	<N/A>		2025-2028	20
Grégory Dedieu 26i	Portugal	France		2026-Present	15
João Nobre 26h		Portugal	<N/A>		2026-Present	11

Supporters:

YAC Bingo:

Summary:

[darren1983]

9 hours ago, HanziZoloman said:

Never had one of those and I am the one behind you I think. Congrats!!! Maybe you’ll need to change a bit? But for all that matters, you have my deepest credits for playing on that level with those players. 
 

@darren1983 wow!! Impressive!! 
please share some advise for my struggling team. Anything I need to be careful with? 
after our 7th place last year we’re struggling again and it’s so frustrating. 

It looks more impressive than it is, as we're now in the Premier League everyone that plays for us is counted as a player produced by us so our numbers are inflated. We have a lot of players that have played Premier League football but not really Premier League quality players  

[Neo_Geo]

The year is 2054 and Largs Thistle finally make it into the Scottish Lowland League...

Yes I simulated out for 31 years to finally get Largs Thistle to the point where I could take over.

Whilst this sounds like a pain it gives me a really unique starting point for a Youth Academy Challenge and with a team that actually mean something to me having grown up in Fairlie (a village one over from Largs) hence why I really wanted to get them to a playable position.

The Town
Largs is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about 33 mi (53 km) from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (An Leargaidh) in Scottish Gaelic.

A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town markets itself on its historic links with the Vikings and an annual festival is held each year in early September. In 1263 it was the site of the Battle of Largs, in which parts of a Scottish army attacked a small force of Norwegians attempting to salvage ships from a fleet carrying the armies of King Magnus Olafsson of Mann and the Isles and his liege lord King Haakon IV of Norway, beached during a storm.

Despite its diminished status as a holiday resort as times have moved on, much of Largs is still geared towards tourism. Largs is also home to the famous ice cream parlour Nardinis serving up frozen treats since 1935 where it was a must for anyone city dweller going "doon the water" (visiting Largs by paddleboat).

Largs is also know for the National Sports Training Centre, the UK's first inclusive[clarification needed] residential sports facility and caters for both elite athletes and the local community in a range of sports and activities. It was indeed here where managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Andre Villas Boas, Fabio Cappello, David Moyes and Brendan Rodgers took part in training spanning many decades.

Largs Thistle FC

Founded in 1889 The Theesel play at local ground Barrfields Park.

Thistle have never played higher than the West of Scotland Premier (6th Tier of Scottish Football) with their highest ever finish in season 2010/11 completing the campaign in 5th place.

Undoubtedly their finest moment came in on the 15th of May 1994 where, at Ibrox Stadium, they lifted the Scottish Junior Cup beating Glenafton by a single goal. I was actually one of 8000+ fans in attendance that day and whilst my memories of the day are not particular vivid I do recall the party like atmosphere on the train home from Glasgow to Largs!

In 2010 they once again reached the final of the Junior Cup but lost this time to Linlithgow Rose 1-0 at Rugby Park.

Memories of 1994

  

 

The Challenge

This challenge will be like any other attempt for me in that I'm not giving myself any further restrictions than the original challenge however having simulated 30 years to the 60th anniversary of their greatest moment this challenge will have a distinctly different feel to it.

To help set the scene allow me to share how world football looks like for the start of this Youth Academy Challenge in Scotland.

The champions League has been won by a team from the Big 5 every year except 2 where Porto have managed to win it so things have not changed a great deal. The Europa League paints a similar story however Aberdeen won the competition in 2049 which may have helped boost the Youth Rating for the country. In the Europa Conference Rangers won this in 2050 just a year after Livingston were runners up in the same year the Dons lifted the Europa Cup.

  

In Scotland each of the league season previews can be seen below:

     

As with most simulations in Scotland Rangers are no longer one of the big 2 with Aberdeen being the second force in Scottish Football with Rangers last title win in 2023/24 with Celtic winning 25 league titles and Aberdeen 5. The other notable changes are teams like Queen of the South and Stirling now being in the Scottish Lowland League and Inverness Caley Thistle sitting precariously in League 2.

The Scottish national side are 24th in the world and managed to finish runner up in Euro 2044 as the 2040s seem to have been a really positive time for the nation. The focus will not be on the nation itself it will be purely about overhauling Celtic as the top team before conquering Europe.

The season preview has Thistle predicted to finish 9th however the squad that I have to do this with is rather limited in size and hasn't got a single central defender!

And of course this wouldn't be a Youth Academy Challenge without the custom kits!

 

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

2 hours ago, Neo_Geo said:

Who doesn't love a good "inexperienced 70 year-old" manager

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Deportivo Quito sadly only have home and away kits, but I decided to make the foray into kit creation anyways. Produced by Ecuadorian kitmakers Marathon.

[XaW]

8 hours ago, Neo_Geo said:

Yes I simulated out for 31 years to finally get Largs Thistle to the point where I could take over.

Love it! I've had some plans to do so in various leagues to get lower league teams up. Go on geriatric newbie manager!  

[XaW]

Welcome to the Portuguese top flight!

Thanks for giving us the team who has won the league the last 3 years in a row away for the first match. 

This will do wonders for the morale... 

[Skora11]

10 hours ago, Neo_Geo said:

The year is 2054 and Largs Thistle finally make it into the Scottish Lowland League...

Yes I simulated out for 31 years to finally get Largs Thistle to the point where I could take over.

Whilst this sounds like a pain it gives me a really unique starting point for a Youth Academy Challenge and with a team that actually mean something to me having grown up in Fairlie (a village one over from Largs) hence why I really wanted to get them to a playable position.

The Town
Largs is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about 33 mi (53 km) from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (An Leargaidh) in Scottish Gaelic.

A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town markets itself on its historic links with the Vikings and an annual festival is held each year in early September. In 1263 it was the site of the Battle of Largs, in which parts of a Scottish army attacked a small force of Norwegians attempting to salvage ships from a fleet carrying the armies of King Magnus Olafsson of Mann and the Isles and his liege lord King Haakon IV of Norway, beached during a storm.

Despite its diminished status as a holiday resort as times have moved on, much of Largs is still geared towards tourism. Largs is also home to the famous ice cream parlour Nardinis serving up frozen treats since 1935 where it was a must for anyone city dweller going "doon the water" (visiting Largs by paddleboat).

Largs is also know for the National Sports Training Centre, the UK's first inclusive[clarification needed] residential sports facility and caters for both elite athletes and the local community in a range of sports and activities. It was indeed here where managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Andre Villas Boas, Fabio Cappello, David Moyes and Brendan Rodgers took part in training spanning many decades.

Largs Thistle FC

Founded in 1889 The Theesel play at local ground Barrfields Park.

Thistle have never played higher than the West of Scotland Premier (6th Tier of Scottish Football) with their highest ever finish in season 2010/11 completing the campaign in 5th place.

Undoubtedly their finest moment came in on the 15th of May 1994 where, at Ibrox Stadium, they lifted the Scottish Junior Cup beating Glenafton by a single goal. I was actually one of 8000+ fans in attendance that day and whilst my memories of the day are not particular vivid I do recall the party like atmosphere on the train home from Glasgow to Largs!

In 2010 they once again reached the final of the Junior Cup but lost this time to Linlithgow Rose 1-0 at Rugby Park.

Memories of 1994

  

 

The Challenge

This challenge will be like any other attempt for me in that I'm not giving myself any further restrictions than the original challenge however having simulated 30 years to the 60th anniversary of their greatest moment this challenge will have a distinctly different feel to it.

To help set the scene allow me to share how world football looks like for the start of this Youth Academy Challenge in Scotland.

The champions League has been won by a team from the Big 5 every year except 2 where Porto have managed to win it so things have not changed a great deal. The Europa League paints a similar story however Aberdeen won the competition in 2049 which may have helped boost the Youth Rating for the country. In the Europa Conference Rangers won this in 2050 just a year after Livingston were runners up in the same year the Dons lifted the Europa Cup.

  

In Scotland each of the league season previews can be seen below:

     

As with most simulations in Scotland Rangers are no longer one of the big 2 with Aberdeen being the second force in Scottish Football with Rangers last title win in 2023/24 with Celtic winning 25 league titles and Aberdeen 5. The other notable changes are teams like Queen of the South and Stirling now being in the Scottish Lowland League and Inverness Caley Thistle sitting precariously in League 2.

The Scottish national side are 24th in the world and managed to finish runner up in Euro 2044 as the 2040s seem to have been a really positive time for the nation. The focus will not be on the nation itself it will be purely about overhauling Celtic as the top team before conquering Europe.

The season preview has Thistle predicted to finish 9th however the squad that I have to do this with is rather limited in size and hasn't got a single central defender!

And of course this wouldn't be a Youth Academy Challenge without the custom kits!

 

Looking forward to this challenge being from Ayrshire myself. 

Nardini's definitely the second best ice-cream in Ayrshire though ...

[Neo_Geo]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

Love it! I've had some plans to do so in various leagues to get lower league teams up. Go on geriatric newbie manager!  

I had completely forgotten about the date of birth when creating the manager, just so used to it being 1 year of simulation but at least I have a chance of seeing the 100 year old capping now as I doubt I’d ever have the persistence required to hit 60 years of this challenge!

[Neo_Geo]

5 minutes ago, Skora11 said:

Looking forward to this challenge being from Ayrshire myself. 

Nardini's definitely the second best ice-cream in Ayrshire though ...

Ayrshire not really renowned for its football teams so quite the challenge ahead now with Celtic being utterly dominant.

Would that best ice cream be Mancini’s by any chance?

[Ron_Swanson]

Stal Stalowa Wola - Poland - PKO Ekstraklasa - season 10 - 2033/34

Preview looked horrible but everything went better than expected. A lot of positions covered with talent and quite nice CA's

A very succesfull season, first championship in clubs history and a semi final of Europa League

Training facilites have reached max level, but what's most important the details of new stadium were revealed. Will get nearly doubled capacity (although it'll still be one of smallest stadiums in Ekstraklasa) and the stadium will be named after one of club legends, a goalkeeper and long time captain Tomasz Wietecha

[Skora11]

1 hour ago, Neo_Geo said:

Ayrshire not really renowned for its football teams so quite the challenge ahead now with Celtic being utterly dominant.

Would that best ice cream be Mancini’s by any chance?

Good to see the main team in Ayrshire still in the top flight. 

Nah, it has got to be Varani's forum cafe.

[Padders]

Season 181 - 2201/02 - PL

I am absolute furious with this 

Sitting 9th in January, think we might finish a comfortable mid table

On 34 points with 12 games to go

We get ONE (ONE!) point from the last 12 games

Utter rubbish!

Relegated by two points

[Neo_Geo]

That's bloody harsh @Padders, I take it there was nothing you could pin the drop in form on and it was just the random awful run of form that this game can throw your way sometimes.

[Padders]

1 hour ago, Neo_Geo said:

That's bloody harsh @Padders, I take it there was nothing you could pin the drop in form on and it was just the random awful run of form that this game can throw your way sometimes.

Yep exactly that, no long term injuries, nothing had changed dramatically 

[libbyshuss]

Wels win the league again but nothing else

Still plodding on, still miles away from the Champions League

I don't get the season reviews any more for some reason, which is a bit sad!

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

     

Sociedad Deportivo Quito - Review Season 5

Another season in the books. Looking to repeat on our first title since 2011 and enter the Copa Libertadores for the first time this save. We started off the year by winning the Ecuadorian Super Cup. As has been the case recently, we made a run in the continental competition while slumping in the league's First Stage. Made it out of the group in the Copa Libertadores before losing to eventual champions Corinthians in the Second Round. Corinthians won the final 7-3, so our player should hang their heads high at securing a 1-0 win in the home leg before falling 5-2 on aggregate.
With only the league to focus on, we again made a Second Stage run and got to the point at which we were ahead of Barcelona S.C. and Liga de Quito each by 2 points before the final matchday. We would lose on goal difference with a draw so we needed a win, the issue being that our match was away from home to First Stage winners Independiente del Valle. While I was gearing up for the big match, I missed that for whatever reason the other contenders played each other the day before and their 0-0 draw secured us the championship berth. We went out and won 2-0 anyways, but that was the last of the success we had against Independiente del Valle, as we then proceeded to lose both legs of the championship 0-2 and 1-2. A second place finish still puts us in the Copa Libertadores Group Stage, so no complaints. Actually ended with 56 points for the second year running.

 

.

 

Remaining non-youth key players (I will post all the youth in a squad update with next month's intake):

Spoiler

 

With all the prize money we kept chipping away at facilities upgrades and imroved our junior coaching/youth recruitment one stage, but are now capped by our reputation. Will continue to put money into facilities next year when we get our Copa Libertadores money.

Will do some more loans of 18 year old squad players next year to try to boost their development.

[Skora11]

14 hours ago, Padders said:

Yep exactly that, no long term injuries, nothing had changed dramatically 

After a run of 4 or 5 games without winning do you hold team meetings/praise players that are training well each week to build confidence? I usually make sure I throw team bonding training sessions in every week when form is poor as well.

[kaivolax]

Season 11 Review

SC Westfalia Herne 04

 

League Table

A promising improvement in position and points finishing 6th. On the other hand a disappointing finish as we were even at the top midseason but a poor form after winter break saw us drop out of promotion race. In the cup we had luck in draws as we didn't meet a Bundesliga side until the semifinals. This time we were beaten by Mainz 2-1.

 

Youth Intake

Zehle and Jankowski look like decent striker prospects. Hopefully Jankowski has lots of potential so I can have a Liechtensteiner starter in the future.

 

 

Club Statistics and other stuff

Upgrades to training facilities and another upgrade will be finished in September. No new entries in bingo.

 

Season 12 Preview

Still predicted to finish last with a large margin. The U19s are still not playing in any competition so I'm wondering if they ever will.

[darren1983]

Dulwich Hamlet Premier League Season 2038/29 Season Review

 

League - First season after promotion and the step up was stiff, took us a while to find out feet but a good run in November/December saw us win games, including an crazy 2-0 win at home to Man City, and grind out points, which gave us a cushion over the bottom 3 and we managed to keep them at arms length and were actually comfortable in the end. 13th place is great but I fear this is the high point for the next couple of seasons. Think we'll be much closer to the bottom 3 going forward till some young player develop.

FA Cup - Villa just too good for us.

League Cup - Finally had a run in this, couple pen shootout wins and we were in the final against Newcastle. We just didn't turn up and were 2 down inside 16 minutes. Europe probably would have killed us but would have been nice.

Transfers - Lots out on loan and we sold a couple young players for OK fees. Nothing to right home about.

Squad - In our best 11 I think we have 10 players that, on their day, can play to a good level and more than compete in the Premier League. Trouble is the drop off in quality between them and the rest of the squad is too big and as a result we really struggle to hold on in games as either I leave the players on and their fitness means they can't hold on or I make subs and have to basically play league one, at best, players to try and hold on. Injuries and suspensions also really hurt us. This is the part of the save I always fins most challenging in England as the players at the top of the league are so much better than us that it's just about hanging on while players develop.

Youth Intake - The preview looked OK and turned out pretty well with me actually excited about a couple players. Also a really nice mixture of nationalities this year

Gabor Racz 39A - can play either side but with him being left footed think the right will be where we play him
Jordan Rigby 39B - like the look of this striker. If I can get his pace up a bit I think he'll become a real threat
Yussif Mensah 39C - looks a good player in the midfield 

 

Career Overview

2024/25		VNLS		1st 		Good			Average			Promotion, Manager of the year
2025/26		VNL		10th 		Good			Above Average		First coaching badge
2026/27		VNL		2nd 		Good			Above Average 		Promotion via playoffs, Manager of the season, second coaching badge
2027/28		L2		10th 		Adequate		Above Average		3rd coaching badge
2028/29		L2		12th 		Good			Above Average		Continental C Licence obtained
2029/30		L2		15th  		Good 			Good  			Continental B Licence Obtained. Started on Continental A 
2030/31		L2		11th  		Good  			Excellent		Finished Continental A Licence
2031/32		L2		2nd 		Good 			Excellent		Promoted. Manager of the year. Started final coaching badge
2032/33		L1		4th 		Good			Excellent		EFL Trophy winners. Promoted via playoffs. Completed all coaching badges
2033/34		Chmp		14th 		Excellent		Excellent 
2034/35		Chmp		10th 		Exceptional		Exceptional
2035/36		Chmp		8th 		Exceptional		Exceptional
2036/37		Chmp		8th  		Exceptional		Exceptional
2037/38  	Chmp  		1st  		Exceptional		Exceptional		Promoted as Champions
2038/39		Prem		13th  		Exceptional		Exceptional		League Cup runners up

 

[Padders]

7 hours ago, Skora11 said:

After a run of 4 or 5 games without winning do you hold team meetings/praise players that are training well each week to build confidence? I usually make sure I throw team bonding training sessions in every week when form is poor as well.

Always praise players for training well over 9.00

The meeting hit and miss, sometimes I do it sometimes I don't

I use to do the team bonding things in the lower leagues, not done as much recently tbh

[Padders]

Season 182 - 2202/03 - SBC

Promoted back as Champions (on GD)

We were only top in the last week! (bar the first few weeks)

Form was very good last couple of months, even though all those draws were very annoying

One more year of Sam Robinson (was a wonderkid) who I signed on a 5 yr contract at 18 and 3 yr optional extension and hasn't wanted to sign a new contract for years due to lack of quality in the squad

Intake looks really poor

 

[JD78]

 

I've been racing ahead with the save as I'm really enjoying it so I'm behind with the updates. I'll do a few updates over the next couple of days with 2 seasons per post. 

Recap - first season in Div2 we came 5th.

Season 25/26

League & Cup

We finished top of Div2 and were promoted. Quite an easy season in the end luckily enough. The project to re-train the youth left back to right back went well and he played almost every game and progressed well. We also had a DM and a winger from the intake that progressed this season too and had lots of game time.

Knocked out of the Hungarian Cup at the first hurdle which was a bit disappointing against a team from the same division at home. We'll take the promotion though!

Youth Team

Came second in their league. (Reserves just play friendlies.)

Facilities & Coaching Courses

Another improvement on junior coaching and youth recruitment. Another couple of coaching badges for me. They haven't said no yet. Still got about a million in the bank.

Youth Intake

A GK, CB, DM and a Winger all look good and will get games next season. 

 

Season 26/27

League and Cup

First season in Div1 and the board were happy with survival. We had a couple of runs with 4 losses on the bounce but we also picked up wins here and there and plenty enough to survive. We finished 8/12 well clear of the relegation places so I was very happy with that. Last season's youth intake players made a great impact and are improving. The board have let us employ more coaches for the 1st and youth team.

Made it one round further in the cup this year but then were knocked out by a Div2 team. 

Youth Team

Won their league this season! 

Facilities and Coaching Courses

Another couple of badges for me and a training and youth facilities upgrade too. 

Youth Intake

Oh wow! We got a striker who looked incredible at 15 years old. 2 star CA but you could tell he was a good one! He played the last 6 games of the season and scored 5 goals. He wouldn't sign youth terms without a minimum fee release clause. I was looking forward to seeing him play next season! 

We also got a CB who looks decent and a couple of DMs. 

 

Apologies for the lack of screenshots. I get so wrapped up in the game I forget. 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by JD78

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

1 hour ago, Padders said:

Always praise players for training well over 9.00

The meeting hit and miss, sometimes I do it sometimes I don't

I use to do the team bonding things in the lower leagues, not done as much recently tbh

You can expand the praise players to over 7.75 or so as long as you have the motivation to do so. 99% of time I get no complaints, but once every few seasons I'll have a player complain when a praised him for like a 7.80.