The FM24 Youth Academy Challenge

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Got this in my inbox. It's interesting as it's the first time we've had new TV deals for the top flight. I know it's no money so it could just be the game refreshing, but I wonder if the league has developed enough to where we get new deals and parachute payments and it will increase in the future.

[JAwtunes]

I am heading back to Africa for a second time.  Same nation (Guinea-Bissau) and same club (Bijagos FC).

Cardiff Corries legend from my FM22 save will again be my manger alter-ego for this one.

[HbG93]

1 hour ago, Nottingham Forest said:

I have managed to get one of the unambitious players into spirited. It’s not the end especially with bad mentors but I’ll take it.

Spirited is quite good no? Means they handle pressure really well. I hope so because I have left the spirited ones I have alone

Edited 19 hours ago by HbG93

[Trainspotting90]

Its possible to change club, but with same rules of only youngsters?

[Perre8]

Bury AFC - season 2 - Vanarama National

 

The actual intake was good, some nice players but personalities and/or determination level low.

Kane Smith best of the class, very good player hence the determination grrr

The league was extraordinary! This was the situation with one game in our hands, we managed to win against Dag&Red, qualifying ourselves for the playoffs!!

First round we beat Hartlepool, of to Torquay then!

After a very tight game we managed to take the win and go on to Wembley! Final against Yeovil.

We absolutely destroyed them!! With 38.000 witnesses.

Back to back promotions, very unexpected! So League Two here we come!

My central midfielder became topscorer of the league. With our Norwegian beast and our right midfielder in the top 10.

He is nothing special but he aces that midfield role!

After this terrific season we went pro, got some upgrades but also a facility downgrade due to technological reasons

 

[mschafer13]

Club Cipolletti 2036/37

Well....We did it! Finally won the league, thanks to River having more draws than us. Challenge complete!

Part of me wants to keep going. We made it to the semi-finals of the Club World Cup this year and I feel like we're really clicking now. Could be fun to see how far we can take it...is it even possible to make an Argentinean team the best in the world??

On the other hand, I kind of want a new challenge. Any good/fun nations where the youth challenge hasn't been completed yet? I don't think I'll be getting FM25, will hold out for 26, so I have plenty of time!

Those of you who have finished - did you keep going? Or try something new?

@darren1983

Edited 16 hours ago by mschafer13
forgot to tag darren!

[DomD]

@mschafer13 Congratulations!

[Neo_Geo]

SEASON 3 (26/27) - LEAGUE RUNNERS UP ONCE MORE AND ANOTHER WELSH CUP

In a season where I opted to play more youngsters and my defence current ability dropped heavily the squad pleasantly surprised me as we very nearly completed the same outcome as last season. A 2nd place finish to TNS who finished 1 point higher than last year with us being 11 points behind, 3 higher than last year. Our goal difference improved as we conceded 5 less and scored 1 more as I adjusted the tactic to make my fullbacks be on defend. In our head to heads with TNS we have 1W, 1D, 2L so we are starting to give them more of a game when we play.

In the cups we made the final of the Nathaniel MG Cup against Cymru North side Bala and I messed up with my selection and therefore tactics by not playing an AMC with an inverted winger and deep lying forward. As a result their DM played a blinder and despite me having the higher xG I couldn't get a goal whilst they scored a long range peach in off the post.

In the Welsh Cup I was able to exact revenge on Bala in the semi final (this time ensuring I played the correct formation) where we were comfortable at 2-0 only to concede in the 90th minute for a nervy finish. In the other semi final Barry Town beat TNS giving me the opportunity for an easier final than it could have been. In the final we were cruising 2-0 at half time, conceded early in the second, then added a third from the spot only for Barry Town to score in the 88th minute against the run of play and once again giving me a nervy end to the match. However, we held out for our second Welsh Cup and now have 5 trophies and 1 tier 2 league title for the save.

EUROPE

I figured this should have a section on its own given its probably the more interesting part of this save. Our first venture into continental football resulted in a 14-0 aggregate win over Inter Club d'Escaldes of Andorra with left winger Calum Huxley breaking a club and Europa Conference League record of scoring 5 goals in a single game.

The elation of such a comfortable win wasn't to last as in the next round it was Spartak Trnava of Slovakia. I knew it was going to be a more difficult tie but we found ourselves 2-0 down at home in the first 10 minutes and I had to make changes to avoid a mauling, the match ended 4-0 so it seemed the tie was over. We had a real go at them away from home with a 4-3 loss so ultimately we crashed out but the main thing right now is using that prize money to feed straight back into the junior coaching and youth recruitment.

 

YOUTH INTAKE

A fantastic intake this year with 3 first team players for my back 4 and a much needed boost to the ability at the back, There are some more options in other areas of the part with a couple of DMs coming through and also an AMC who I will need to work with quite closely as he's really my only option there when Toby Jones leaves the club this summer.

 

Best of Intake

Spoiler

  

 

Having a first choice right back, left back and centre back all from one intake was like Christmas Day and my birthday rolled into one. Griffiths and Lestre are also quite handy for depth.

 

CLUB NEWS

Rumours of a potential takeover appeared twice this season and whilst they were rubbished the first time they haven't yet for the second time. The board have continued approving my coaching courses and I now am on the Continental Pro course which in 3 seasons is fantastic.

I had to fight a lot again for the junior coaching and youth recruitment but they are now at 14 and 9 respectively with each just approved once more at the end of the season, again after having to persuade them but its certainly getting easier on that front.

I've stuck with the same staff apart from upgrading my physios and asking for more staff which the board allowed a further 2, so a general coach and goalkeeping coach were added to the mix to give me general, goalkeeping, fitness and assistant manager.

 

SQUAD NEWS

There will be a couple of the older players leaving this year with Toby Jones being the most prominent. His goals and assists were invaluable in season 1 and to a lesser extent season 2. Of the youth players I now have only Jahzeel Mahfood YP2-A is complaining about playing for a bigger club, it was hardly surprising as he won the player of the year award:

He has been excellent and obviously is a cut above the rest but he's contracted until 2029 and then with 3 years optional for the club, so to all intents and purposes he's here til 2032 or I decide to let him leave.

Here's the Best XI from the season, showing a slight decrease in the performance levels but overalls still performing really well 

Here's the current squad:

 

BINGO CARD

A few more targets thanks to losing the Nathaniel MG cup final, Mahfood's player of the year award and the Continental A license:

 

NEO_GEO'S FINAL THOUGHTS

Having managed to get a few more youth players with game time this year and a really good intake the future is looking pretty bright. The one blip is Mahfood YP-2A wanting to leave but I have him until 2029 and I can add another 3 years on when we turns 18 (so that's another 5 years that I can keep him here if I choose to). I'm hopeful if the latest intake improve from where they are that he might change his mind but we shall see. As long as the considering his options interaction doesn't happen there is a chance.

TNS continue to be too strong domestically for us to really think about winning the title but we are getting there. If next years intake plugs a few more gaps (another DC, an MC and an SC) then I think we really could push them all the way. Knowing how the challenge tends to go I'll get an overload in one particular position (certainly feels like a lot of wingers in my intakes so far).

Having a lot fun with this one at the moment and eager to get back into it for season 4.

[Neo_Geo]

Awesome @mschafer13 

Looks like you hit a rich vein of form at exactly the right time with your last 5 games, was River's loss on the penultimate day to you or someone else? If it was to you then that's such a vital win, love those type of wins.

[Trainspotting90]

Another rough season, but again, we still here, with Certaldo.

[LDB]

MATERA

Season 2  Update

2045-2025

Serie C - Group C

Again the second part of the season was worse than the first part, but this time we managed to never risk relegation, finishing closer to the playoff zone than to the playout one  

The youth intake this year was meh, our 2 best newgens of the first year are improving decently with our winger Danzi (who finished top assists for the team) receiving some interest from Serie B teams, he just turned pro so I hope I can renew him as soon as possible.

Finances aren't growing so it's very hard to improve facilities, as of now I'm trying to improve the skills of the staff, me included, with better members and with coaching courses.

But, thanks to Al-Ittihad and Napoli, we received 740k as solidarity bonus for the sale of Di Lorenzo for 74m, this will surely help to not go negative balance in this 3rd season!! 

For context, the Napoli IRL captain was a key member of Matera in 2015/2016 when the team lost 2 games away from promotion to Serie B and ended up going bankrupt and having to restart from 5th tier

Third season the goal is to confirm this mid-table finish with no stress, and let the youngsters grow more

[Skora11]

On 23/10/2024 at 19:08, mschafer13 said:

Club Cipolletti 2035/36

Still haven't won the league, but I did manage to win another Copa Libertadores! Not bad. Predicated to finish 18th and finished 3rd. Finally got a 4 star youth, though Man City have started poaching my players, so you win some, you lose some. Pushing on to win the League one of these years so I can complete the challenge! 

What is Tumiri's attributes like just coming through? 4 star CA for an already established top division side he must be unreal.

[Skora11]

17 hours ago, Thebaker said:

2026/27

Table | Squad | Transfers

Started the season really well going unbeaten for the first 9 games to go top. A sticky patch followed the first defeat where the club dropped out of the playoff spots by xmas. A renewed push in the at the end of jan sent the club back into the mix for the playoff spots making it with a game to spare. In the semi-final of the playoff the team faced S.Gijon B and won 3-1 away in the first leg before winning 2-1 at home with 2 late goals. In the playoff final the team faced another B team in Oviedo B. The away tie 1st leg was very one-sided and the team were lucky not to lose more than 0-2. In the home leg 2 goals in the first 7 minutes wiped out that advantage and although my team were slightly better could only draw the match 2-2 in the end.

Probably needed another season in this league to get some of the youth players up to a good level, but lost Llamas my 1st choice Gk at the end of the season as he wanted twice what i could offer him in wages.

Not entered in the Spanish cup but 5th should get an entry for next season.

Finances continued to drop until may when the board put £375K in and 19k crowds in the home playoff legs also helped.

Hoyos was again top scorer improving on last year. Several of the youth players have made the first team squad with Ramirez and Soriano producing as goal threats. Started the season with Dorronsoro at CB but he was  overtaken by Antonio by the end.

Youth preview was ok and was correct in that there were plenty of wingers, not sure how many will make an immediate impact.  Fraga, Moreno and Gill look the best.

  Hide contents

Youth Nationalities:

Continent			Europe			Africa			South America			Asia			North America			Oceania
Overall	48	100%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%	Country	#	%
Europe	42	87.50%	Spain	41	85.42%	Cameroon	2	4.17%	Brazil	1	2.08%				Mexico	0.5	1.04%	Australia	0.5	1.04%
Africa	3.5	7.29%	Bulgaria	1	2.08%	Mali	1	2.08%	Argentina	0.5	1.04%
South America	1.5	3.13%				Nigeria	0.5	1.04%
Oceania	0.5	1.04%
North America	0.5	1.04%
Asia	0	0.00%

 

  Hide contents

Season

League

Position

Spanish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2024/25

Federation 2nd Gp4

8th

2nd Rd

N/A

Jovanovic (12)

Carri (13)

5034

Adequate

Adequate

Average

Average

2025/26

Federation 2nd Gp4

13th

Not entered

N/A

Hoyos (11)

Tejada(7)

4520

Adequate

Adequate

Average

Average

2026/27

Federation 2nd Gp4

5th

Not entered

N/A

Hoyos (21)

Jovanovic, Soriano (25j), Ramerez (25c) (7)

6198

Adequate

Adequate

Average

Average

 

 

Youth Name	All time apps		Youth Name	All time Goals		Youth Name	All time Assists
Moises Ramirez (25c)	64		Luis Soriano (25j)	8		Luis Soriano (25j)	11
Saul Dorronsoro (25a)	57		Moises Ramirez (25c)	7		Moises Ramirez (25c)	8
Luis Soriano (25j)	49		Santiago Alarcon (25i)	5		Ivan Conde (26e)	5
Santiago Alarcon (25i)	39		Guillermo Villanueva(26a)	3		Saul Dorronsoro (25a)	2
Ivan Conde (26e)	33		Ivan Conde (26e)	1		Javier Ruiz (25h)	2

 

 

 

If similar to me, you will get a massive jump in season ticket income from Federation 2 to 1 which will see you break even mostly. The big money comes from TV revenue when you made the jump to the Second division where I think I am around £6mil per season or thereabouts. Only losing money now due to repayments on new stadium that is currently being built. 

[darren1983]

Well done @mschafer13have added you to the HoF 

[Thebaker]

31 minutes ago, Skora11 said:

If similar to me, you will get a massive jump in season ticket income from Federation 2 to 1 which will see you break even mostly. The big money comes from TV revenue when you made the jump to the Second division where I think I am around £6mil per season or thereabouts. Only losing money now due to repayments on new stadium that is currently being built. 

don't have to worry about stadiums since Xerez stadium is 20K and can be expanded. The club has 4200 season tickets but clubs with 2700 make far more as they charge twice as much, the team also gets no extra fans on the day or away fans.

[HanziZoloman]

vor 16 Stunden schrieb Padders:

Yes need him to sign a new contract soon (he won't talk to me at the moment)

Stay patient and can change quickly 

congrats to your recent progress 

[Winski]

Ungmennafélag Selfoss
Season review
Season 3 | 2026
Besta deildin

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

 

Another great season! Not as good as last season, when we won the Quadruple, but we won the Super Cup and the League. So for the second consecutive time we are the best team on Iceland. Fantastic! But this season was memorable in more ways, because we just became a Professional club! We are now the second club on Iceland who are Pro. Breidablik is the other team. It was just after the season was finished, so I'm currently hiring lots of new staff members. And I can tell you that this is a HUGE step forward! We can now hire lots of good coaches, and way better HoYD for example. So my staff will be brand new next season.
The reason why we could become a Pro-club, is because we are through to the Group Phase of the Conference League!! We started our European adventure in the First Qual. Round of the Champions League. We won both matches against Astana. In the 2nd Qual. Round we met Sheriff Tiraspol. We lost the away match(3-2), but we won our home match with 3-1! So another CL round for us! Here we met Dinamo Zagreb, and they were too strong for us. We drew 1-1 at home, and lost the away match: 3-1. So our CL run was over, but we qualified for the Europa League Playoff. We met Shamrock Rovers, but they were stronger then I expected. We lost our home match: 2-5. And although we won the away match (2-3), we failed to qualify for the Europa League Groups Phase. But we did qualify for the Conference League Group Phase! So we directly got € 2,9M. And with this extra money, we had enough on our bank to get a Pro-status.
I'll talk about our European matches in the Conference League in my next post, as the Icelandic season is over now.

Some players I want to highlight:
Jón Vignir Pétursson: our leader on the midfield. Very important for us.
Bjarni M. Benonýsson 26d: A youngster from Class 2026. I decided to put some of the most talented youngsters in my first team, and he's one of them. With 19 goals and 12 assists he had a fantastic debut season, and he was our Most Valuable Player.
Ólafur H. Pálmarsson 26f: another young player who played in almost every match. With 18 goals and 5 assists he can look back on a fantastic debut season!
Roel Bouius 26h: last but not least our talented Dutch young defender. He played in a lot of matches, and he is developing nicely. And what I also really like: his surname, Bouius, is very common in the region were I live(the Northern part of the Netherlands). So I checked his birthplace, and it's a very small place(Hilaard) just 9km away from my howntown(Leeuwarden).
 

Youth intake
Another fan-tas-tic intake! The preview was a very good one, and the intake gave us lots of Elite Talents. And some of them are really talented! I can't wait to develop them, especially because of our Pro-status and so better training schedules. I'm mostly excited by Van Kasteren 27f, an Icelandic guy with a Dutch surname. I really like his profile; I'll retrain him into a midfielder. Can't wait to see how he will develop!

Spoiler

 

Upgrades
Not upgrades on our Training- and Youth Facilities yet, as I waited for our Pro-status. So hopefully we can start building on our Youth- and Training facilities soon. We did upgrade our Junior Coaching budget and Youth Recruitment, so both are now maxed out.
Also no new updates on our new stadium. Hopefully we hear something about this soon!

Progress

[mschafer13]

3 hours ago, Skora11 said:

What is Tumiri's attributes like just coming through? 4 star CA for an already established top division side he must be unreal.

They're not actually that good! He's fast and has good technique but nothing extraordinary. Must just be the rest of my team is pretty average 

[djsterry]

16th season update 

Challenge part completed !!

Despite a poor performance in the league we bring home the champions league trophy

I've not experienced all the continents yet but I have found Asia and South America to be the opposite of Europe In terms of league/ Champions League difficulty. 

In Europe I found Champions League to be very difficult and winning the league much easier, I feel like asia's and south america's champions league is fairly easy compared to the league or maybe I just got lucky with draws etc .

Just about scraped 4th in the league and training facilities were downgraded to average.

My best player looks likely to leave as he wont sign a contract but he still has 2 years left.

I have only just realised the China has a wage cap for domestic players of 10k a week.

Only took me 15 seasons  that adds another level of difficulty as players look to leave once they reach a good level.

 

[Perre8]

27 minutes ago, mschafer13 said:

They're not actually that good! He's fast and has good technique but nothing extraordinary. Must just be the rest of my team is pretty average 

for a 16 year old Zorro they are pretty good 

[Skora11]

3 hours ago, Thebaker said:

don't have to worry about stadiums since Xerez stadium is 20K and can be expanded. The club has 4200 season tickets but clubs with 2700 make far more as they charge twice as much, the team also gets no extra fans on the day or away fans.

If it is the same with my RC Jaen save, once you get promoted you will charge at least double the price fro season tickets and STH's number will stay roughly similar so will get double the income from ST sales.

[Skora11]

48 minutes ago, mschafer13 said:

They're not actually that good! He's fast and has good technique but nothing extraordinary. Must just be the rest of my team is pretty average 

Pretty special for only 16, looks like an excellent box to box midfielder already.

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Good work @mschafer13
I say go to the Caribbean next for a fun challenge.

[HbG93]

Me:  clicking "Build New Stadium" to get a gauge about how impossible it is
them:

Hope I didn't put the club in debt forever 

[mschafer13]

43 minutes ago, The_Gato_In_Goal said:

Good work @mschafer13
I say go to the Caribbean next for a fun challenge.

Not opposed to that! Got any good DB with Caribbean leagues?

[mschafer13]

I forgot I had another save going in England with Dulwich Hamlet, now in 2065. This one is taking forever...Survived our first year in the Prem...might pick this one back up and see if I can complete the challenge