[FM24] Born & Bred: Rising from Tier 11 only signing players born from one city

[Motlhen]

Oct 2024

A perfect month, finished off with a win over top of the table, means we are now the only unbeaten side in the league and are sitting pretty at the top. I've completed my first coaching licence, but not allowed to continue onto the next one straight away. And we've had our first international call up for a player in our squad with 41 year old Morgan looking to add to his 6 caps for Montserrat.

[Motlhen]

Our current Ass Man

Ryan Charles joined us as a Player / Scout with 'secondary' job as Assistant Manager (the reason it was this way around was that promising him a non-playing role as a Scout was the only way I could convince him to consider a contract offer, and then the Scout job part was non-negotiable).

On his debut he stepped up and scored 4 goals and a perfect 10.0 rating! But since then he hasn't scored and hasn't performed. In our first match in November, he managed to grab a brace after 11 hours of not scoring and in response he immediately hung up his boots to retire!? I guess he wanted to finish on a high, but it took me by surprise and if we didn't have such strong backups in attacking areas, I think I'd be a bit angry at this rash reaction. As it is, he will stay at the club as a Scout / Ass Man.

Edited August 2 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Nov 2024

A couple of off-field improvements alongside continuing our unbeaten run mean we are in a really good place. It would have been even better if we could have held onto our lead against 2nd place Lemsford, but an early red card meant that in the end I was happy with a draw.

[Motlhen]

Transfers In

A centre-mid to be a backup in an area we are not very strong and a youth player for the U18's.

 

[Motlhen]

Youth Intake Preview

I would love a decent goalkeeper! Hopefully if he is decent, he's also from Enfield.

With the 3 sets of double improvements on Youth Recruitment & Youth Coaching since taking over, I am hoping we will get some players with a higher CA than last year.

[Motlhen]

Dec 2024

A perfect month to end the year and at the mid-way point in the league we're 7 points clear and unbeaten!

[Motlhen]

Transfers In

I brought in quite a few players in January, but without impacting the first team as much as I had hoped. We have loaned in a better backup goalkeeper in Donkor, a better backup striker in Taylor and also reunited the Thrower brothers after Josiah's return from a poor spell in Birmingham. 

 

 

[Motlhen]

Transfer In

We did make one big signing this window and that is getting Waller-Lassen on loan. He will fit straight into the AMC slot, but can provide cover on either wing or up-front.

[Motlhen]

Jan 2025

Of course mentioning that we were unbeaten at the halfway point of the season meant that we lost our next game. Hopefully it's a blip.

 

I've managed to start my next coaching licence too.

[Motlhen]

Feb 2025

All of a sudden our dominance and league lead has disappeared. Lemsford's Will Dale scored a hattrick of penalties against us in a pivotal match at the top, we then dropped points at St Lawrence and at Hatfield and Lemsford are 1 point behind us with 9 games to go. Promotion seemed a formality, complacency has crept in and we need to improve to make sure we get promoted this season!

 

 

We've managed to progress further in the cup than last season and find ourselves against one of 2 remaining teams from the tier below in the quarter finals. I checked out our opponent and we are up against a team already promoted, top of the table and unbeaten all season. It's going to be tough to stop that sort of momentum!

[Motlhen]

Youth Intake

2024 (12 of 16 from Enfield)
2025 (9 of 16 from Enfield)

I was hoping for a bump in CA and we definitely got that! It's a shame that we have to release 7 (almost half) of the intake, especially the 3* CA DLC and GK as these players would go straight into our first team.

 

 

Once the non-Enfield players were released and the Enfield players signed, this is how their (BH02) star ratings compare to our previous intake (BH01) and one of our highest rater players Arthur (although he is in charge of star ratings, so there could be some bias involved). Clarke is obviously the stand out. Webb is good, but we have so many players in attacking positions, I doubt I will be able to find space for him in the 1st or 2nd XI. 

[Motlhen]

Other players from the youth intake that move into our 1st & 2nd XI

[Motlhen]

Transfer In

Alongside our youth intake, Weymouth released a 17yo striker who becomes a very strong backup. Welcome Hamilton who has made 6 sub appearances 5 tiers above our level!

Edited August 1 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Transfer Out

We have lost our first choice goalkeeper on deadline day! Terrible news. I have Donkor who I brought in on loan in January ready to step up, but without any goalkeepers from Enfield coming through our youth intake, this is an area we're quite thin in.

[BillHoudini24]

Cannot imagine the pain of having to release prospects like that

Good luck, I'm following from the start!

[Motlhen]

1 hour ago, BillHoudini24 said:

Cannot imagine the pain of having to release prospects like that

Good luck, I'm following from the start!

Yep, it's definitely tough and I imagine it's not going to get any easier - especially if/when we have a year where the top prospect is not from Enfield.

From last years intake only Gardner remains an active player at Hathersidge in their U21s. I think more of this years released players will end up with clubs too and I wonder if we will ever come up against a non-Enfield born player from one of our intakes playing for our opposition!? 

[Motlhen]

Mar 2025

After looking at Broxbourne's 24-game unbeated run I was definitely not expecting to absolutely smash then SEVEN-1 in the cup to make it to the semis.

 

The Broxbourne result came in the middle of a hectic month which saw us drop 4 points, but double our lead over 2nd place Lemsford. We have four games to go and we can't afford to slip up. Our new youth intake players have helped, especially Gary Farr who is playing well as a Segundo Volante on attack!

[Motlhen]

Champions!

We've continued our good form and both 2nd & 3rd have dropped points to mean that with 2 games remaining, we are champions! We were even given a guard of honour by Baldock Town Reserves in front 66 home fans to mark our first promotion.

 

 

Semi-Pro

Following the news of promotion, the board asked me if I would like the club to turn semi-pro. But before I even got a chance to respond, they had gone ahead with the proposed change meaning that now we will be able to offer players semi-pro contracts that will look like this below:

 

 

My Contract

Full disclosure this was done with the editor as I know of a bug that means moving from amateur to semi-pro as a manager means you will not be offered a monetary wage until turning professional.

Edited August 7 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Apr 2025

Our end of season form was superb. We stormed to a 7-point lead in the league with 5 wins on the bounce leading up to the final game of the season, the Aubrey cup final. Hopefully we will make it a league and cup double after finishing 21 points ahead of Cuffley, who we face in the final next week.

[Motlhen]

Cup Final

We didn't put the cherry on top of our season with a drab performance in the final. 

 

 

Squad

Ward-Cochrane, Chris Arthur & Shayne Phillips were the standout performers this season. 

I'll be aiming to sign everyone who I intend to keep in-or-around the first team squad onto semi-pro contracts. This should mean that they stick around for the short term, but still doesn't stop a bigger team coming in and offering them a contract with us having no means to stop them leaving.

[Motlhen]

Improvements & Finances

The board have continued to back our youth improvement efforts with another double of Youth Recruitment and Youth Coaching.

 

 

We then shelled out £160k on improving our training facilities and we could do so because we have quite hefty sponsorship income each year and our bank balance was healthy. We still have just over £100k but the board then also announced the official plans for our new stadium and we will be paying more than half of the £1.1 MILLION required to build it. We've taken out a 10-year loan, where we will be paying £6k/month towards settling our £575k debt (plus interest) - so with interest we will be paying £720k for the new stadium.

Our current sponsorship income adds up to £574k which we will get over the next 6 years (+ any new sponsorship deals). Hopefully our sponsorship income alone will be enough to cover the stadium costs, including interest, and we do not start haemorrhaging money. We will need to keep an eye on how much our youth improvements are costing us as this could quickly become an even bigger expense than the stadium (currently £1.2k/month).

 

 

On the plus side, away from worrying about finances, I am super happy that the club will be relocating back to Enfield from Ware!

[Motlhen]

Attendances (2023-2025)

Another positive for the new stadium was a big jump in attendances this season, which I would expect to see increase again after our promotion. Hopefully by the time we move to the new stadium, we'll consistently be seeing more than 100 at every game!

[Motlhen]

Other Enfield Clubs 2024/25 Season

Tier 7

Enfield Town 17th

 

Tier 8

Enfield FC 14th

 

Tier 9

Cockfosters 5th
Narrowly missing out on promotion by losing on penalties in the playoff final.

 

 

Tier 10

Hinton 1st (Promoted)
Enfield Borough 11th

Hinton made it back-to-back promotions! They also won the Aubrey Cup last season and made it to the final of the FA Vase this season.

 

Tier 11

Bush Hill Rangers 1st (Promoted)
Brimsdown 7th
Cockfosters Reserves 10th

 

Two (nearly 3) promotions and no relegations for clubs from the city is a great success!

[Motlhen]

Enfield Player Overview

Top 10 Most Valuable Players per Year

Once a player is in the Top 10 for a season, I'll keep tracking their value over time. For example, Josh Davison was the 9th most valuable Enfield-born player in 2023, then 12th most valuable in 2024, but now he has been released. Blanks indicate a season where the player did was too young to exist in the database (James Wiles) or retired (Jonathan Obika in the highest paid players list below). I'll also highlight the highest value from each year, which has consistently been Nwaneri, as well as the biggest jump in valuation which was Josh Onomah last season and Alfie Dorrington this season.

Name	2023	2024	2025
Ethan Nwaneri	£35,000,000	£37,000,000	£39,000,000
Alfie Dorrington	£10,000,000	£13,500,000	£28,000,000
Josh Onomah	£0	£6,200,000	£9,200,000
Hector Kyprianou	£1,800,000	£3,500,000	£5,000,000
Rio Cardines	£475,000	£950,000	£850,000
James Wiles			£700,000
Ben Watt	£18,000	£425,000	£650,000
Jeriel Dorsett	£500,000	£425,000	£275,000
Daniel Phillips	£300,000	£475,000	£240,000
Tola Showunmi	£160,000	£180,000	£210,000
Jake Livermore	£750,000	£0	£16,000
Luca Gunter	£275,000	£240,000	£0
Josh Davison	£180,000	£140,000	£0

 

 

Top 10 Highest Paid Players Per Year

Sheffield Wednesday's Josh Onomah has been the highest paid player for the past 2 seasons, before that it was Jake Livermore at Watford. The biggest increase in the last 12 months went to Arsenal's Nwaneri, who won another U18 personal accolade. His wage, valuation & performances are combining into a lot of hype around his future!

Name	2023	2024	2025
Josh Onomah	£0	£23,500	£29,500
Alfie Dorrington	£1,000	£8,500	£20,500
Ethan Nwaneri	£220	£1,000	£18,250
Hector Kyprianou	£3,500	£8,250	£16,750
Rio Cardines	£220	£3,900	£4,000
Jake Livermore	£15,000	£0	£1,300
Daniel Phillips	£1,000	£1,600	£1,200
Tola Showunmi	£450	£1,200	£1,200
Deniz Mehmet	£950	£950	£950
Jack Roles	£1,200	£850	£850
Jeriel Dorsett	£1,200	£775	£775
Joe Kizzi	£1,000	£775	£775
Luca Gunter	£3,500	£3,500	£0
Josh Davison	£1,800	£2,200	£0
Dillon Barnes	£0	£1,600	£0
Kevin Stewart	£0	£2,100
Jonathan Obika	£1,500

 

 

 

Monetary Transfers

Ben Watt was the solo player who moved for money this season. He was relegated with Waterford last season, but was bought back into the Irish Premier division by Sligo Rovers for £145k.

Name	Year	From		To	Fee
Ryan Mason	2016	Tottenham Hotspur	→	Hull	£12,500,000
Jake Livermore	2017	Hull	→	West Brom	£10,000,000
Jake Livermore	2014	Tottenham Hotspur	→	Hull	£7,000,000
Josh Onomah	2019	Tottenham Hotspur	→	Fulham	£5,000,000
Michael Duberry	1999	Chelsea	→	Leeds	£4,500,000
Henri Lansbury	2017	Nottingham Forest	→	Aston Villa	£3,500,000
Steve Morison	2011	Milwall	→	Norwich	£2,800,000
Hector Kyprianou	2023	Peterborough Utd	→	Sunderland	£1,500,000
Mikele Leigertwood	2011	QPR	→	Reading	£1,100,000
Henri Lansbury	2012	West Ham	→	Nottingham Forest	£1,000,000
Jay Simpson	2010	Arsenal	→	Hull	£1,000,000
Steve Sedgley	1994	Tottenham Hotspur	→	Ipswich	£1,000,000
Mikele Leigertwood	2007	Sheffield United	→	QPR	£900,000
Michael Duberry	2007	Stoke	→	Reading	£800,000
Steve Sedgley	1989	Coventry	→	Tottenham Hotspur	£750,000
Mikele Leigertwood	2006	Crystal Palace	→	Sheffield United	£600,000
Neil Etheridge	2020	Cardiff	→	Birmingham	£600,000
Steve Sedgley	1997	Ipswich	→	Wolves	£500,000
Hector Kyprianou	2022	Leyton Orient	→	Peterborough Utd	£450,000
Mikele Leigertwood	2004	Wimbledon	→	Crystal Palace	£155,000
Neil Kilkenny	2008	Birmingham	→	Leeds	£150,000
Steve Morison	2015	Leeds	→	Milwall	£150,000
Ben Watt	2025	Waterford	→	Sligo Rovers	£145,000
Greg Heald	1997	Peterborough	→	Barnet	£135,000
Keith Bertschin	1977	Ipswich	→	Birmingham	£135,000
Steve Morison	2009	Stevenage	→	Milwall	£130,000
Alan Connell	2011	Grimsby	→	Swindon	£115,000
Josh Davison	2022	Charlton	→	AFC Wimbledon	£75,000
Martin Grainger	1993	Colchester United	→	Brentord	£60,000
Roger Gibbins	1978	Norwich	→	New England Tea Men	£60,000
Steve Phillips	1980	Brentford	→	Northampton	£40,000
Greg Heald	1994	Enfield	→	Peterborough	£35,000
Glen Southam	2004	Bishops Stortford	→	Dagenham & Redbridge	£20,000
Jack Roles	2023	Woking	→	Crawley	£20,000
Scott Neilson	2008	Ware	→	Cambridge	£20,000
Scott Neilson	2010	Bradford City	→	Crawley Town	£15,000
Jack Chisholm	1949	Sheffield United	→	Plymouth	£12,000
Roger Gibbins	1989	Torquay	→	Newport County	£10,000
Greg Heald	2003	Barnet	→	Leyton Orient	£9,000
Alan Connell	2005	Bournemouth	→	Torquay	£5,000
Nathaniel Knight-Percival	2010	Histon	→	Wrexham	£5,000
Steve Phillips	1977	Northampton	→	Brentford	£5,000
Gary Bennett	2000	Sudbury	→	Chelmsford City	£3,000

 

 

 

International Caps

Enfield players were capped 53 times this season (one less than last year) with Daniel Phillips moving up to 3rd in the all-time caps list behind his fellow countryman Boucaud. Both Phillips and Beckles-Richards got 2 goals each with Barnum-Bobb's one goal in his 10 apps making it 5 goals in total for Enfield players this season (up from only 1 last season). There were no youth goals, but Dorrington, who got the only youth app last season added 7 more to his tally.

Name	Nation	Years	Total Caps	Caps in 2024/25	Total Goals	Goals in 2024/25	Youth Caps	Youth Caps in 2024/25	Youth Goals	Youth Goals in 2024/25
Roy Chipolina	GIB	2013 - 2024	73		5
Andre Boucaud	TRI	2004 - 2021	48		2
Daniel Phillips	TRI	2021 - Present	26	+12	2	+2
Jazzi Barnum-Bobb	VIN	2022 - Present	23	+10	1	+1
Corrin Brooks-Meade	MSR	2015 - 2023	21
Steve Morison	WAL	2010 - 2012	20		1
Reece Beckles-Richards	ATG	2015 - Present	17	+8	3	+2
Jeriel Dorsett	MSR	2023 - Present	17	+9
Hector Kyprianou	CYP	2023 - Present	16	+8			3		1
Neil Kilkenny	AUS	2006 - 2012	15				10
Mikele Leigertwood	ATG	2008 - 2012	11		1
Reiss Greenidge	GUY	2021 - Present	10	+6
Jake Livermore	ENG	2012 - 2017	7
Dean Morgan	MSR	2014 - 2024	6
Kevin Stewart	JAM	2022 - 2024	4
Scott Sutter	SWI	2012	2				2
Elliott Charles	GRE	2011	2
Joe O'Cearuill	ROI	2007	2
Nathan Smith	JAM	2011 - 2012	2
Jack Roles	CYP	2018 - Present	1				6		1
Dillon Barnes	JAM	2021 - Present	1
Ryan Mason	ENG	2015	1
Henri Lansbury	ENG	2009 - 2013					16		5
Keith Bertschin	ENG	1975 - 1978					13		7
Steve Sedgley	ENG	1987 - 1989					11		2
Josh Onomah	ENG	2016 - 2018					8		2
Alfie Dorrington	ENG	2023 - Present					7	+6
Michael Duberry	ENG	1996 - 1997					5		1
Cian Hughton	IRE	2009 - 2010					5
Danny Hill	ENG	1995					4
Harry Kyprianou	CYP	2018					4
Sean Shields	NIR	2013					2
Total			325	+53	15	+5	96	+6	19	0

Edited August 5 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Enfield Staff Overview

International Managers

Leigertwood is Reading's U18 manager and also the national manager of his home nation Antigua & Barbuda. Over the past few seasons he has twice come a close 2nd place to promotion out of the NA Nations League Division B, been knocked out of the Gold Cup playoff and most recently has qualified for the World Cup Qualifiers Third Round.

 

 

Club Managers

Mehmet Ali - Leyton Orient -  1 year, 253 days
Ali has led the O's to a 9th and 6th place finish in League One, missing out through the playoff semi-finals last season.

Danny Chapman - Harlow Town - 13 years, 61 days
Chapman lost in the playoff semi finals in the first season, but has guided Harlow to a league win & promotion to tier 9 this season. His record for longest tenure is going to take a while to beat, especially as I don't see him leaving the club any time soon.

Lew Clement-Peter - Minehead -> Tisbury United -  216 days
Lew was my first Assistant Manager. He left after our first season to join Minehead but only lasted 5 months before getting sacked for poor league position and moving laterally to Tisbury United less than a month later where he gained a respectable 4th place.

Seanan Winser - Bedford Albion - 1 year, 330 days
Wisner has led Beford Albion to 2nd place in the 12th tier, followed by an impressive 3rd place finish in tier 11 last season.

John Ross - Toby -> FC Peterborough -> Keyworth United -  80 days
Ross was sacked on Christmas by Toby and was manager of FC Peterborough going into the new year. He finished bottom of tier 10, was relegated and sacked and has now found a new job down in tier 12.

Steve Morison - Sutton -> Sutton United -> Unemployed
Morison was sacked as Sutton manager after finishing in 22nd in League Two. He then moved down 7 tiers to neighbouring Sutton Untied but was sacked before Christmas in his first season.

 

 

Top 10 Highest Paid Staff per Year

Ryan Mason remains the most paid staff member in his coaching role at Tottenham. 

Name	2023	2024	2025
Ryan Mason	£12,000	£12,000	£12,000
Matt Wells	£8,000	£8,000	£8,000
Mehmet Ali	£2,000	£4,600	£4,600
Alan Connell	£3,000	£3,000	£3,000
Stuart Douglas	£2,000	£2,000	£2,000
Danny Talbot	£1,500	£1,500	£1,700
Gary Sawyer	£300	£425	£875
Mikele Leigertwood	£800	£825	£825
Piero Mingoia	£600	£650	£700
Jonathan Obika		£600	£600
Hakan Hayrettin	£500	£190	£190
Steve Morison	£3,000	£900	£0

[Motlhen]

Retirements

Four big players for us retired (as well as Waller-Lassen, who was on loan). 

 

Staff Out

Charles remains our Assistant Manager, Scout and only other member of staff at the club after Chris Arthur has decided to take up the Ass Man role at tier 9 Consett.

 

 

Qualification

Thankfully I have completed another licence and improved my own stats to help out around the training ground.

[BillHoudini24]

Congrats on the comfortable promotion!

I like the detailed tracking of all the notable local people.

[Motlhen]

12 hours ago, BillHoudini24 said:

Congrats on the comfortable promotion!

I like the detailed tracking of all the notable local people.

Thanks mate!

I'm hoping that one day we will have some of our own players on these lists, although it could take a while... 

For now, it's providing me with a completely new way to explore a save. I never usually follow individuals across the save, especially not players/staff that have never been part of my own club. It's very interesting to see the highs (Nwaneri winning all the youth awards) and lows (Morison dropping down 7 tiers as a manager and still not lasting) and we are only 2 seasons in. 

[Motlhen]

Juggernaut

Whilst looking at our pre-season odds, I noticed that the entirety of the Media Dream XI belong to MK Dons U20s. The main team are a fallen giant and have some decent facilities that I guess are filling their youth teams with good players. But whilst this does give them an advantage, I wasn't expecting it to be such a huge advantage that they are unbeaten in 2 seasons with an absolutely phenomenal record of:

P: 48
W: 47
D: 1
L: 0

 

2023/34

 

2024/25

 

 

Luckily, MKDu20s are one of 5 clubs in our division that cannot be promoted this season. We are predicted 7th and I am quietly hoping we can at least make it into the promotion playoff spots at the first time of asking.

[Motlhen]

Transfers Out

Ward-Cochrane our top scorer with 40 goals in 38 (5) apps has left after being offered £300p/w by Halstead in tier 8. His goals will be hard to replace.
The other two transfers were for backup goalkeepers. We lost our main goalie Fordjour near the end of last season and had a loanee (Donkor) in goal in his place. We need to recruit some goalkeepers!

Edited August 6 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Transfers In

I noticed we were thin on goalkeepers nearing the end of last season and we had clubs sniffing around for a few of our current goalies so I signed Stewart permanently (or as permanent as an amateur contract can be considered) and Botawala on a 12-month load deal. It was only after that that both Bevan & Williams did leave and we only have 3 goalkeepers in total!!! We'll still need to continue recruiting in this area as we are weak in quality and thin in numbers.

The other two signings were made early in the summer too and are centre-backs. Mallinson was with us on loan last season.

After these signings were made, any further improvements to the squad wanted an actual part-time wage (rather than just an appearance fee). At the moment I am reluctant to start giving out contracts to anyone who won't significantly improve the squad, and we can't attract anyone who would do that! So for now I will consolidate the prospects we have in the squad and move who I can on to part-time deals and then make a judgement on our finances in January to see who we can recruit.

 

 

[Motlhen]

Transfer In

It remained a quiet window up until a week before the first game of the season where I decided to break the bank. Conteh comes in as a good centre-back, but a brilliant staff member for our level! He's going to be our HoYD and also our Coach. With Charles, who is Ass Man & Scout, we have 4 of the 5 main staff roles covered. We could really do with a physio!

 

 

Conteh is on £50p/w. For his level of backroom skills, that's a steal! (I'm on £60p/w). Looking at our finances, we can see the slight downward trajectory of the overall balance since we turned semi-pro (although our graphs are quite skewed by the purchase of the stadium and the loan taken to cover the costs).

[Motlhen]

Sept 2025

We've had a mixed start to the new season, starting well but then losing two on the bounce. A few tweaks to the tactic and starting XI has resulted in two wins and scoring 4 in each game. The 4-0 win against NW London in the FA Vase has set up an all-Enfield affair in the next round as we will face Enfield Borough.

[Motlhen]

Transfers In

We've signed a centre-back who is a decent all-rounder across technicals, physicals and mentals (usually at least one of these is non-existent). I have high hopes for Delo-Gutzmore who has already played 59 first team appearances at the age of 18. Hopefully he can help sure up our defence to protect from the fact we have sub-standard goalies! 

 

I've also signed a striker, who will challenge youngster Hamilton for the first team spot.

 

 

Transfer Out

We lost our current backup striker who only featured once as I always opted to field a youngster instead. Monks (above) is a much better player, so I'm happy to swap Taylor out for him in the 2nd XI.

[Motlhen]

Contracts

I've been tying down the players that I can to £20pw contracts with an optional 1 year extension by the club and an automatic 1 year extension on promotion. Some of these players I've shown already, but I guess it makes sense to reintroduce those who I am signing onto contracts as these are the guys who are featuring prominently and that I want to keep around.

In no particular order...

 

 

 

[Motlhen]

Continued...

 

 

[Motlhen]

Oct 2025

We struggled for a draw against a team without a win yet this season, but then won two without conceding. 

 

 

Our next game will be Dulo-Gutzmore's first game for us and we are up against the juggernauts MK Dons U20s. After signing our first few players to £20pw contracts, this is what we are up against in terms of wage comparison when we face them.

[Motlhen]

 

MK Dons U20s were on a 54 game unbeaten run, where in that run they had only drawn 1 and won 53 games. Then they played us and were FIVE-0 at the hour mark. We absolutely love playing against unbeaten teams. Our record for our biggest win (7-1) was against a team unbeaten in 24 games (with 7 draws). This feat surpasses that though, I would never have predicted we could pull off such an upset and this win brings us into the playoff spots and knocks MKDU20s off of top spot!

[Motlhen]

Gary Farr

Special shoutout to Farr after two hattricks in 3 games playing as a segundo volante. He's quickly becoming the first name on the team sheet and one of my favourite players!

[Motlhen]

Security

Moving everyone to part-time contracts means that, rather than clubs approaching the players directly, the are making us bids. It feels good to be able to reject these bids of £0 for our in-form players, in comparison to wondering and waiting whether they would choose to stay or choose to leave.

[Motlhen]

Transfer Swap on the Right Wing

In the space of a week we lost one of our top performers and signed a replacement in the same position (more by chance than on purpose).

Phillips wouldn't sign a part-time contract lower than £50pw and I cannot justify that level of wage for any player at the moment. He was consistently one of our top performers and will be missed. His replacement has one of the worst average ratings I've ever seen in any FM, and I just hope that his apparent quality will prove my doubts wrong.

 

 

 

 

[Motlhen]

Oct 2025

After stopping MK Dons U20s unbeaten run at the start of the month, we ended the month by almost stopping Moulton's too. But a late equaliser for them means that they stay 8 points ahead of us in the only automatic promotion spot and we are in the mix for the promotion playoffs in the chasing pack. (MKDU20s can't be promoted which is why the promotion spots have shifter down.)

[Motlhen]

Facilities

I thought the board had made a huge mistake when I first read this message. But actually, we haven't taken out a loan to improve the training facilities. We took out a loan to build our new stadium and as part of the new stadium our training facilities were improved. So the £575k loan here is (thankfully) not a new one, rather it is referencing the same £575k loan that we are already repaying.

[Motlhen]

Interest in Edgerley

We've been hounded for bids for Edgerley over the last month. The screenshot says 44, but there's been more than 50 offers for him. I extended his contract, but that didn't stop the bombardment, so I offered him a new contract 3 year deal. It's seemed to work as the bids have stopped coming in - and it also means I will be trying to extend the deals for our important players again. It's not long since I could only offer them all one-year deals so I was surprised to be able to do this so soon after. More work to do!

[Motlhen]

Transfer In

[BillHoudini24]

Adedeji looks class!

Once your facilities improve further, you'll have a great advantage over the competition!

Edited August 13 by BillHoudini24

[Motlhen]

14 minutes ago, BillHoudini24 said:

Adedeji looks class!

Once your facilities improve further, you'll have a great advantage over the competition!

Yep, he slots right into the first XI!

I'm hoping this year's intake is a very good one and then I think we should dominate at this level, rather than just being mixed in with the front runners.

All of my most recent attempts to ask for more junior coaching and youth recruitment improvements have been rejected by the board. Our finances are dipping closer and closer to zero each month, so I don't anticipate that we'll be able to afford any upgrades for a while. Hopefully we can jump up the leagues with the current quality of youngsters we're producing. 

[Motlhen]

Nov 2025

We've managed to squeeze through in the FA Vase and I am all for a long cup run to help (however marginally) with the finances.

 

Unfortunately, a loss and a draw in the league in a busy month mean we are now 11 points off of the automatic promotion spot and only 3 points from dropping out of the playoffs. 

[Motlhen]

Youth Intake Preview

Another promise of a decent keeper, we could really do with him being from Enfield this time!

[Motlhen]

Dec 2025

With only 3 wins from 6, it's surprising to see us end the year on the right side of the promotion playoff spots (3rd). We're still 11 points off of Moulton, but we're now 6 points away from dropping out of a playoff position. Gary Farr has continued to be a rock in the centre of midfield and it's good to see new signing Adedeji making a difference too.