[FM24] - Llantwit Major - A club of misfits and scumbags in South Wales

[R7LHJ]

Welcome to my latest thread

For this save, im taking the reigns at the self proclaimed little brother of Boca Juniors (due to the simularities in Home kits), Llantwit Major. 

We are currently playing in the JD Cymru South, one league below the JD Cymru Premier.

The aim for the is to turn these ''misfits and scumbags'' into the dominate force in Wales. Along the way, we will grow the club to try and compete on the European stage and at the same time, attempt to improve Welsh football as a whole both domestically and internationally, ala 'Build a Nation'.

Why Llantwit Major?

Love the Twitter vibes (where the title line comes from), love the kits and excited by the prospects. I'll track as much information along the way, so we can see how much (if any!) progress is made.

 

Semi pro at the minute with veryy little money in the club. We've nothing to spend on transfers and very little room in the wage budget for any extra players. 

We did win this league in 2022, however, the club wasnt granted a license for promotion and instead, the team in 2nd went up! Time to right some wrongs!

Edited June 12 by R7LHJ

[R7LHJ]

Season Preview - 2023/24

Board want us to finish in the Top 3, something i think we may well struggle with given the quality of the squad and the limited space in either budget to allow for any realy quality to be bought in. The other worrying thing is that its only the league winner that gets promoted!

The odds seem to suggest we're fancied to push Carmarthen Town - interested to see how this one pans out...

A few ins and this is how we are shaping up at the minute, Axel Owusu will start when fit.

[R7LHJ]

Save Goals

Having given it a bit of thought, ive come up wiht the following goals to hopefully tick off throughout this save;

Domestic

• Turn Professional
• Gain Promotion to JD Cymru Premier - Complete 2023/24
• Win JD Cymru Premier - Complete 2024/25
• Win Welsh Cup
• Dethrone TNS as dominant force in Wales (over take them on League [16] and Welsh Cup [10] wins) - Current standing; League [1] Cup [0]

European

• Qualify for Europa League or Conferance League - Complete 2024/25
• Qualify for Champions League - Complete 2024/25
• Qualify for Europa League or Conferance League league phase
• Qualify for Champions League league phase
• Win Europa League or Conferance League
• Win Champions League

Club

• Academy product makes 50 first team apperances
• Academy product capped for Wales
• Sale of a player for £1,000,000+
• For myself to become a Club Legend - currently 'Favoured Personnel'

Edited June 28 by R7LHJ

[R7LHJ]

Half-way Point - 2023/24

JD Cymru South

No where near the start we anticipated. Unbeaten at the halfway point and absolutely flying. We need that top spot for promotion so lets see how the remainder of the season pans out.

JD Welsh Cup

4/4 see us into the quater-finals. We havent really been tested yet, that could soon change with the draw coming up for the later stages.

Nathaniel MG Cup

After dispatching Newtown of the JD Cymru Premier, we are now in the final and will face Prem opposition again. A good, favourable run has helped but another great chance for some silverware.

Tier 2 League Cup

In the semi's, aiming to win this cup now.

 

Edited June 19 by R7LHJ

[R7LHJ]

Update - Welsh League Cup

We beat Premier League side, Penybont (6th), 4-2 after an incredible second half come back to win the Welsh League Cup!

[R7LHJ]

End of Season Review - 2023/24

League - Delighted to finish as league winners. No one gave us a chance at the start of the season really but, although it was a tense ending, we held top spot for the majority of the season.

Welsh Cup - So very close! Runners-Up, losing the final on penalties to a established Premier League side in Cardiff Met Uni. This could of been a gateway into Europe but it wasnt to be.

League Cup - As told above, we won this cup and it was nice to do so. 

League Tier 2 League Cup - Semi-Finals - losing to a team in our league, who i thought we should have battered to be honest , so this will go down as a disappointing result!

Finances - We've lost about 6 grand this season, not ideal. Some competition money has been good and helped keep us a float. The board have given us some decent wages for next season but nothing for transfers! Looks like there maybe TV money next season, especially as the league splits for the end of the season. Round up here

Supporter Profile - wanted to track this as we come up form the lower leagues, to attempt to dominate Europe lol. 

Tracking

Nothing too much to report on here, will be tracking for historic purposes.

No side progresses very well at all, poor effort from Welsh champions, New Saints.

 

No European Championships this season for Wales as they lose the play-off final to Austria. They are also down a place in the World Rankings.

Edited June 21 by R7LHJ

[R7LHJ]

Season Preview - 2024/25

JD Cymru Premier League

The bookies have us as 601.00 to win the league  and the media think we will finish rock bottom! The boards expectation is that we fight relagation bravely. I think we can give it a good go, the turnover of the squad has excited me and i think we will be ok, perhaps better then ok

JD Welsh Cup

Be competitive. As last years runners up, maybe we can go one further? Could also be a route into Europe...

Welsh League Cup

Be competitive. Current holders, id like another good run.

Finance

Will cover the bulk on money talk at the end of the season but we will be reliant on better crowds, some TV money and any prize money we can nab. We have a decent wage budget and a transfer budsget of £0.

Transfers

Not covering too much of this as, this early into the save (and with amatuer/part-time contracts), the squad turnover will be vast.

[R7LHJ]

'The Split' - 2024/25

Well, its been quite the start to life in the Cymru Premier!

The race for Europe is on! We need it too, finances are baaaaaaaaaad

I feared the worst when we lost our No1 keeper for up to 12 weeks in October, the back ups just were not up to scratch - fast forward to January and we managed to bring in George Ratcliffe on a free after he was released by by Pontypridd who actually play in the league below us 

Upfront, the strikers we bought in duriong the summer just arent cutting it at this level but i guess thats part and parcel of the wheeler dealer transfer we are doing at this level. We have gone and bought in Saul Fox-Akande on loan from Morecambe, his contract expires in the summer and i will definately be looking at bringing him in on a perm.

I've now started to run my players stats throught my spreadsheet and its highlighted some potentially intersting re-jigs positions wise....watch this space.

 

Disappointed with a 4th round exit in the Welsh Cup but we have a huge game against TNS where we can go back to back in the League Cup.

Continuing to leak money and ive no hope of steming it anytime soon.

 

Edited June 24 by R7LHJ

[R7LHJ]

End of Season Review - 2024/25

League - WINNERS - an unbelievable season. We pushed TNS all the way and it came down to the final game of the season, which bizarely, they played a week before us. A drawer meant it was all over before we kicked off and we were crowned champions. With that, we qualify for the Champions League qualifiers. 

Welsh Cup - Out in the 4th round to Cardiff Met. Uni. who are rapidly becoming a thorn in my side!

League Cup - Runners up, losing the final 2-1 to no other then TNS.

Finances - bleak. We are currently 60k in the red and this needs to change. Im hoping some European money may help but we will need to win games, something the welsh sides struggle to do. We also need to start drawing in bigger crowds.

Supporter Profile

 

Tracking

Finances may well kill this save if we cant improve, soon.

Not a single game won, or even drawn, for the 4 teams that went into Europe this season. Can we fair any better?

Wales came 3rd in their Nations League B Group 1 so didnt pull up any trees and thier start to the World Cup qualifiers hasnt been much better, having just lost to Kosovo.

 

[R7LHJ]

Season Preview - 2025/26

JD Cymru Premier League

Media thinks we finish 10th (of 12) and the bookes have us as 9th favourites for the league with odds of 34.00. Wheres the love? We are defedning champions yet no one fancies us, no one but me! We are aiming to win it, again.

JD Welsh Cup

Reach Quater-Final - this is one id love to win.

Welsh League Cup

Be competitive. Not overly fussed about this one but we will be competitive.

Champions League/Conferance League

Be competitive. At this early stage of the save, anything is a bonus in the Europe.

Finance

A bit more to spend on wages and about £50,000 for transfers which, at the moment, i have no plans to spend (we cant afford it) so its frees and loans again. Hopefully, some european money could really turn things round for us.

Transfers

5 new signings at the time of writing. Quality over quantity this season.

[R7LHJ]

European Dreams

Our venture into Europe hasnt been the success id hoped for 

However, its really bolstered our bank account - a few more seasons of this will really help progression of the club!