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

[Motlhen]

Feb 2028

Another tight game that ended in a 1-0 loss where we couldn't convert our chances. Either side of that result we've been scoring freely and playing amazingly. With 8 games to go, I think the top spot is too far away for us to reach but we do have some breathing room before we would drop out of the playoffs.

[Motlhen]

Youth Intake 2028

From Enfield?
2024 (12 of 16)
2025 (9 of 16)
2026 (8 of 16)
2027 (13 of 16) 
2028 (11 of 16)

A lot of decent players, but no big stand-out immediate key players through the intake this season. I'm very happy that all the 2-star CA players are from Enfield, but I'm disappointed not have any strikers come through (Liburd is definitely not a ST, despite knowing how to play there).

The nicknames here incorrectly say BH01. I've changed them all to BH05 afterwards.

 

 

Still at Bush Hill Rangers?
2024 (3 of 12)
2025 (8 of 9)
2026 (8 of 8)
2027 (13 of 13) 
2028 (11 of 11)

[Motlhen]

BH05

[Motlhen]

[Motlhen]

Cockfosters

Cockfosters have sacked their manager for a 2nd time this season after struggling since Kelsey retired after a promotion-winning season last term. They have been abysmal, registering only one win in the league all season and have already been relegated back down to tier 9. Their reserves team has also dropped into the relegation zone and only have 5 games to save themselves from relegation down to tier 12!

[Motlhen]

Mar 2028

We're into the final of the Cherry Cup and seem destined for the playoffs. Berks County had a man sent off with 30 minutes to go and we couldn't pull level. If we had have won that game, we would have been 4 points off of the top (as the other teams around us also dropped points) and I would've started thinking about the potential of finishing in the top spot, but with that loss I think our slim hopes of that have gone and the focus remains on looking down the table, rather than up.

[Motlhen]

Cut Back on Youth Recruitment

I'm minimising the youth recruitment to maximise the numbers of local players. It takes a lot longer for the option to reappear in the board requests when you're reducing than when you're improving. I believe we've managed 1 reduction per year on average since trying to get this number back down.

[Motlhen]

Takeover

Right at the business end of the season as we'd prefer to stay away from distractions!

[Motlhen]

Apr 2028

We finished the league season well and smashed Chessington in the Playoff semi-final to set up a massive May with 2x finals to define our season.

 

[Motlhen]

Playoff Final

Risborough scored within a minute to signal the start of what would be a long afternoon for us. Luckily, the goal was chalked off for offside! We had a dominant 15 minutes and grabbed a goal through Westwood but from that moment on we couldn't get a foothold in the game. They spurned chance after chance and it was only when we gifted them a penalty that they managed to draw level. The last 10 minutes of normal time and the 30 minutes of extra time it was clear that both sides were out on their feet after a long season. Stray passes and hoof ball tactics go hand in hand. We didn't deserve to hold out, but we did and then GK Ruth saved their 3rd penalty and our all-time top goalscorer Hamilton scored the winning penalty to send us up to the 8th tier!!!

 

 

The day after winning promotion, I've finally done my time on the promise I made the board in the middle of last season to keep my job. They're now happy with me, but I've been far from happy with them recently and I am hoping that the takeover goes through so that I never have to hear from Mick Sampson ever again!

[Motlhen]

[Motlhen]

Takeover Complete

I have to admit, I was expecting a little more than £3.5k investment. It's not even 1% of the debt the new board was hoping to help us with. I asked for a couple of improvements and they were both rejected, but they have agreed to cut back on the Youth Recruitment again (just after I complained about how slow it takes to reduce this.) I need more than this from you if we're going to get on Mr. Lyon.

\

[Motlhen]

Cup Final

We've won our first cup competition with Bush Hill Rangers and our second trophy as manager! Our form was brilliant at the end of the season and we were in complete control of the final from start to finish.

[Motlhen]

Phase 2 - A Second Club

 + 

Morgan was the first player to be called up to a main International squad shortly after we signed him at Bush Hill Rangers. He still holds the records for oldest player & oldest goalscorer at the club, but has since retired and is about to embark on his first managerial role at Cockfosters.

Edited September 9 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Morgan's appointment at Cockfosters came before the end of the season, so I'll have to take you back in time a bit, before the Bush Hill Rangers promotion and cup win, to fill you in on what went on at our new club. To help anyone follow along, I'll colour code the Bush Hill Rangers & Cockfosters updates.

Apr 2028

On the day Morgan took the job, Cockfosters' main team were already destined to drop back down to tier 9 (sitting more than 30 points from safety), and their Reserves' team looked destined to be relegated down to tier 12! With the main team's fate already decided, the focus was on trying to save the Reserves who had a huge battle against relegation-rivals Everett Rovers on Morgan's 2nd day in the job.

 

 

The club has 4 teams in total, with an U21s' and an U18's too, but only 34 players on their books in total. Of these 34 players only 17 of them were from Enfield (recalling Bareck from his loan was the first move made by Morgan).

 

 

And he had the tough task of picking a squad without any help from the Assistant Manager (and only other staff member of the squad) who we had to let go as he was not from Enfield. Immediately, the Goalkeeper situation is alarming me and I've stuck with my gut about Ijaha being the better keeper despite his awful match ratings so far.

[Motlhen]

   Cockfosters Reserves

We scraped through against Everett Rovers with a 1-0 win and Hatfield town narrowly lost 2-1 to keep our survival chances slim, but in tact. But then I hit a problem. With only 17 Enfield-born players in the squad and two teams to field on the final day of the season, it made it impossible to stick to the Enfield-only policy. In the precarious position the Reserves' were in, I opted for the option that gave us the highest chance of survival and I fielded the squad of Enfield-born players for the first team and left it up to the (much better) squad of players NOT born in Enfield to fight to save the Reserves. And with two goals from Kane Mitchell and Hatfield getting two red cards to throw away their lead to Chalfont Wasps, we've survived! I was not expecting to have both teams to manage next season (as tier 12 is not loaded as playable in the game) so it is going to have to be a really busy summer for Cockfosters as we will look to build two more teams of Enfieldians!

 

 

.    Cockfosters

The Enfield-born players struggled at this level, getting thumped by Winchester and then putting on a dramatic spectacle at the end of the season in a 9-goal thriller at Chertsey, breaking the clubs record for highest scoring match in the process.

[Motlhen]

.    The Club

Shortly after joining, I was made aware that the owner was looking to sell the club. We have £300K in the bank and <£100K in debts and before long a new owner pumped a massive £4K in to help with the running costs of the club 

 

I'd be happy to use the balance to settle that debt - although looking at the above screenshot, I am not so certain what we owe. Our Net Debt is clearly stated as £96.8K. So why does it say £300K Remaining? Which is it? Either way, I'd love to be able to use the money we have to plug the hole we've dug and that way we'd stop accruing interest and will pay off less debt overall. Then we could start looking to build up the funds to start some facility improvements.

[Motlhen]

     Bids In 

Jake Clarke has had numerous nominal offers come in for him and every time I negotiate with £500K, the bidding club immediately pulls out of the deal, and that's that. So imagine my surprise when a nominal bid came in for Ndefo and I thought "oh that's nice to get another monetary bid for another player" went through the motions to renegotiate and 11th tier Boscastle locked in for £300K +50% of next sale!?

 

..and then imagine my heartbreak when Ndefo went and rejected their contract 

 

 

That deal would have sorted out the clubs finances for the foreseeable future and losing out on that kind of money at this level is tragic. I wonder how much longer it will be before someone comes in with another bid that could change the club's fortunes in a similarly drastic way as this one for Ndefo would have.

The bids we're getting for Clarke:

[Motlhen]

     Attendances

It was our first season in our new stadium and we saw the average home league attendance shoot up by an average of 35 fans per game (or a 54% increase on last season!) 

 

Year	Average Home Attendance
2023/24	21.9
2024/25	77.8
2025/26	81.7
2026/27	64.9
2027/28	99.8

 

Including all of the games, especially our first home game with a bumper crowd in the FA Cup, plus our playoff & cup runs, the overall average attendance was even higher.

 

 

 

 

Away attendances were massively skewed by the 10K+ crowd at Tower Hamlets for the opening of their new stadium.

This is the same chart as above, with the outlier removed.

Edited September 9 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Other Enfield Clubs 2027/28 Season

There were 2x relegations (Cockfosters & Enfield FC) and 2x more teams (Enfield Borough & Cockfosters Reserves) finished one spot above relegation. A very poor season overall for the Enfield clubs, with our Bush Hill Rangers promotion the only real positive. Hinton almost got another promotion, but agonisingly lost in the playoff final.

Since the start of the save, there have been 7 promotions & 3 relegations.

Tier 7

Enfield Town
8th, 17th, 17th, 16th, 16th

 

Tier 8

Enfield FC
12th, 14th, 12th, 10th, 18th

Cockfosters
9th, 5th, 3rd, 4th, 21st

Hinton
1st, 1st, 1st, 8th, 5th

 

Tier 9

Bush Hill Rangers
3rd, 1st, 3rd, 14th, 3rd

 

Tier 10

Enfield Borough
19th, 11th, 15th, 15th, 15th

 

Tier 11

Brimsdown
21st, 7th, 11th, 9th, 11th

Cockfosters Reserves
12th, 10th, 10th, 3rd, 15th

[Motlhen]

Top 10 Most Valuable Players by Year

Key (per year)
Largest Value
Biggest Increase
Biggest Decrease
New Entry into top 10

Name	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028
Ethan Nwaneri	£35,000,000	£37,000,000	£39,000,000	£32,000,000	£91,000,000	£89,000,000
Alfie Dorrington	£10,000,000	£13,500,000	£28,000,000	£40,000,000	£75,000,000	£41,000,000
Hector Kyprianou	£1,800,000	£3,500,000	£5,000,000	£8,600,000	£3,000,000	£10,000,000
Daniel Phillips	£300,000	£475,000	£240,000	£350,000	£1,800,000	£1,000,000
James Wiles			£700,000	£450,000	£800,000	£1,000,000
Ben Watt	£18,000	£425,000	£650,000	£650,000	£850,000	£800,000
Jack Roles	£110,000	£170,000	£150,000	£170,000	£0	£550,000
Sam Wilkinson						£475,000
Francesco Ancora	£20,000	£70,000	£120,000	£85,000	£230,000	£350,000
Rio Cardines	£475,000	£950,000	£850,000	£275,000	£0	£350,000
Paul Appiah	£50,000	£0	£190,000	£375,000	£275,000	£275,000
Josh Onomah	£0	£6,200,000	£9,200,000	£3,100,000	£0	£275,000
Tola Showunmi	£160,000	£180,000	£210,000	£210,000	£80,000	£220,000
Jeriel Dorsett	£500,000	£425,000	£275,000	£190,000	£0	£120,000
Andronicos Georgiou	£0	£0	£0	£0	£120,000	£95,000
Luca Gunter	£275,000	£240,000	£0	£425,000	£22,000	£75,000
Josh Davison	£180,000	£140,000	£0	£60,000	£45,000	£35,000
Callum Stead	£45,000	£80,000	£85,000	£0	£100,000	£0
Jake Livermore	£750,000	£0	£16,000	£2,000

 

Nwaneri has been pressing for a move away from Arsenal where he's struggling for regular game time.

 

Dorrington barely featured for Tottenham this season and saw his value drop significantly.

 

Kyprianou played a full season in the Championship and is now a key man for Sunderland.

 

And the 2x new names on the list are Cypriot International Jack Roles who has now transferred out to Cyprus after playing in England & Wales, as well as 16yo Sam Wilkinson who is a youngster that has come through the ranks at Crystal Palace and could be the next big star to come from Enfield.

[Motlhen]

Top 10 Highest Paid Players by Year

Key (per year)
Largest Value
Biggest Increase
Biggest Decrease
New Entry into top 10

No new entries nor any decreases this year as everyone in the top 10 lists continues to progress or stays on the same wage. Jack Roles's new wage is over double his last salary at his last club and they were relegated this season. £3.9K p/w to play in the Cypriot 2nd division! Luca Gunter has also over-doubled his salary YoY and is now earning more as a backup GK at Premier League Sheffield Wednesday than he did as a youth GK at Tottenham, despite not playing for either club yet.

Name	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028
Ethan Nwaneri	£220	£1,000	£18,250	£20,000	£65,000	£68,000
Alfie Dorrington	£1,000	£8,500	£20,500	£52,000	£54,000	£57,000
Hector Kyprianou	£3,500	£8,250	£16,750	£16,750	£16,750	£16,750
Ben Watt	£600	£1,100	£825	£850	£4,100	£4,300
Jack Roles	£1,200	£850	£850	£1,800	£0	£3,900
Rio Cardines	£220	£3,900	£4,000	£4,200	£2,900	£3,800
Luca Gunter	£3,500	£3,500	£0	£1,500	£1,600	£3,700
James Wiles			£220	£220	£2,400	£2,600
Daniel Phillips	£1,000	£1,600	£1,200	£1,700	£1,600	£2,400
Paul Appiah	£750	£0	£300	£2,000	£2,000	£2,000
Francesco Ancora	£30	£120	£300	£600	£1,500	£1,500
Tola Showunmi	£450	£1,200	£1,200	£1,200	£1,200	£1,300
Dillon Barnes	£0	£1,600	£0	£1,300	£0	£1,300
Jeriel Dorsett	£1,200	£775	£775	£950	£950	£1,200
Josh Onomah	£0	£23,500	£29,500	£29,500	£0	£925
Josh Davison	£1,800	£2,200	£0	£975	£675	£850
Joe Kizzi	£1,000	£775	£775	£1,600	£0	£525
Jake Livermore	£15,000	£0	£1,300	£1,300
Deniz Mehmet	£950	£950	£950	£0
Kevin Stewart	£0	£2,100
Jonathan Obika	£1,500

[Motlhen]

Monetary Transfers*
*The values I'm inputting into the list may look different from on the history page, but I am using the max potential fee, including add-ons.
 

Daniel Phillips £425,000

Barnsley made a tidy profit on him after signing him for free in the summer and selling him on to fellow League One Shrewsbury. He's now 21st and 23rd place in the list of all-time transfers with a fee rise of £265,000 from his last deal.

 

Francesco Ancora £230,000

The 20yo residing in Scotland has played in the 2nd & 3rd tier well enough to attract the interest of Premiership Dundee United.

 

Josh Davison £54,000

He was relegated after a couple of seasons with Sutton, then jumped up two divisions to join Fleetwood, but only featured once in another campaign where the team paying his wages found themselves relegated.

 

 

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
Ben Watt	2027	Sligo Rovers	→	Motherwell	£450,000
Hector Kyprianou	2022	Leyton Orient	→	Peterborough Utd	£450,000
Daniel Phillips	2028	Barnsley	→	Shrewsbury	£425,000
Francesco Ancora	2028	Airdrieonians	→	Dundee United	£230,000
Daniel Phillips	2026	St Johnstone	→	Hearts	£160,000
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
Jack Roles	2026	Crawley	→	TNS	£94,000
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
Josh Davison	2028	Sutton	→	Fleetwood	£54,000
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
Billy Bricknell	2016	Chelmsford	→	Billericay	£5,000
Gary Bennett	2000	Sudbury	→	Chelmsford City	£3,000

[Motlhen]

Internationals

There were no International Goals, Youth Apps or Youth Goals this season.

Year	Total Caps	Total Goals	Youth Caps	Youth Goals
2024	+61	+1	+1	0
2025	+63	+5	+6	0
2026	+52	+6	+8	0
2027	+40	+5	+4	0
2028	+55	0	0	0
Total	149	12	15	0

 

Daniel Phillips has knocked Boucaud off of 3rd spot in the list, with Barnum-Bobb following him up into 4th. Kyprianou & Dorsett are not too far behind either. The four players in bold are aged 27, 32, 27 & 26 so there are still a few years to go to add on these numbers. Will Chipolina & Etheridge be caught?

Alfie Dorrington is closing in on Livermore's record for International appearances for England and Nwaneri has also broken his duck this season. Rio Cardines not only broke his duck, but racked up 13 caps for Trinidad & Tobago.

Name	Nation	Years	Total Caps	Caps in 2026/27
Neil Etheridge	PHI	2008 - 2026	100
Roy Chipolina	GIB	2013 - 2024	73
Daniel Phillips	TRI	2021 - Present	55	+12
Jazzi Barnum-Bobb	VIN	2022 - Present	50	+10
Andre Boucaud	TRI	2004 - 2021	48
Hector Kyprianou	CYP	2023 - Present	43	+9
Jeriel Dorsett	MSR	2023 - Present	43	+8
Reece Beckles-Richards	ATG	2015 - 2027	26
Corrin Brooks-Meade	MSR	2015 - 2023	21
Steve Morison	WAL	2010 - 2012	20
Reiss Greenidge	GUY	2021 - Present	17	+1
Neil Kilkenny	AUS	2006 - 2012	15
Rio Cardines	TRI	2027 - Present	13	+13
Mikele Leigertwood	ATG	2008 - 2012	11
Jake Livermore	ENG	2012 - 2017	7
Dean Morgan	MSR	2014 - 2024	6
Alfie Dorrington	ENG	2023 - Present	4	+1
Kevin Stewart	JAM	2022 - 2024	4
Jack Roles	CYP	2018 - Present	3
Scott Sutter	SWI	2012	2
Elliott Charles	GRE	2011	2
Joe O'Cearuill	ROI	2007	2
Nathan Smith	JAM	2011 - 2012	2
Ethan Nwaneri	ENG	2025 - Present	1	+1
Dillon Barnes	JAM	2021	1
Ryan Mason	ENG	2015	1
Total			570	+55

 

[Motlhen]

Top 10 Highest Paid Staff by Year

Key (per year)
Largest Value
Biggest Increase
Biggest Decrease
New Entry into top 10

Ryan Mason is back at the top of this list. He was the manager of Bristol City in the Championship for the 2027/28 season, finishing 18th. He's now the manager of Nottingham Forest who were at the opposite end of the table in the Championship and he will be looking to guide Forest to promotion in the coming season after they just missed out this season.

Jonathon Obika has also had a decent payrise after he moved from U18s Manager of Shrewsbury (via being their Caretaker Manager a couple of times) to St Johnstone's first team manager in the Scottish Premier division.

Name	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028
Ryan Mason	£12,000	£12,000	£12,000	£0	£0	£20,500
Matt Wells	£8,000	£8,000	£8,000	£8,000	£8,000	£8,000
Mikele Leigertwood	£2,800	£2,825	£2,825	£2,925	£2,925	£3,500
Alan Connell	£3,000	£3,000	£3,000	£3,000	£3,300	£3,300
Jonathan Obika		£600	£600	£625	£625	£2,400
Stuart Douglas	£2,000	£2,000	£2,000	£2,000	£2,000	£2,000
Cheye Jude	£0	£0	£0	£1,800	£1,800	£1,900
Gary Sawyer	£300	£425	£875	£1,000	£1,500	£1,100
Danny Talbot	£1,500	£1,500	£1,700	£1,200	£1,400	£1,000
Piero Mingoia	£600	£650	£700	£775	£850	£925
Henri Lansbury	£0	£425	£425	£425	£425	£425
Hakan Hayrettin	£500	£190	£190	£190	£0	£0
Mehmet Ali	£2,000	£4,600	£4,600	£0	£0
Steve Morison	£3,000	£900	£0	£0

[Motlhen]

International Manager

 

After being Reading U18s Manager since 2023, Mikele Leigertwood has now been promoted to the first team Manager alongside his national responsibilities. Part of the reason Reading might have put this faith in him is that he had an amazing end to last summer in the North American Nations League, qualifying 10 points ahead of the competition!

 

He's also started well in the World Cup qualifiers, but still has to play group leaders Cuba.

[Motlhen]

Club Managers

[Placehold, will come back to this one!]

[Motlhen]

2028/29 Season

Priorities:

The idea behind having multiple teams in this project is to maximise the number of players coming from Enfield. I am hoping to create a player pathway to develop youngsters through the 2 Cockfosters' teams in the lower tiers before they are ready for Bush Hill's level. If there are any permanent transfers between the clubs, they will be for £0 +50% of next sale. This will be mutually beneficial as it means that the better players who move up from Cockfosters to Bush Hill Rangers, could sell for big(ger) money playing in a higher division at a higher reputable club, and it will also mean that any players moving down to Cockfosters who maybe never reached the heights required for Bush Hill will still get league football and be more likely to progress or be sold on.

     First Team, Tier 8

     First Team, Tier 9

     Reserves Team, Tier 11

 +      U18s Teams, U18s Leagues

Edited September 11 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

      New Contract

I've managed to increase my wage from £60 to £80pw after a few years of the previous owner being very stringent on how much he would pay me. 

[Motlhen]

     Staff Out

We have completed our first monetary transfer, and it was for our U18s Manager (& physio) Levi Pogue, who has been bought by Tier 11 Yorkshire Main for £5,250. He has impressed them by winning the U18s league with our U18 team and couldn't be convinced to stay as he wanted to take the step up to first team manager.

 

 

We were also not able to keep hold of Bricknell (Chief Scout) or Kirk (Scout & DoF) at the end of their contracts, so we have a few staff roles to fill again!

Edited September 11 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Squads

     First Team

This is the best of the players we've produced or brought in over the past 5 seasons.

 

 

      First Team

After a very busy summer, this is what the Cockfosters first team looks like, with only 2 (Oundjian & Bareck) of the starting XI having not featured for Bush Hill Rangers. All of the players brought in didn't make the BHR first team squad and have dropped down a level for first team football. The goalkeeper, defenders and two young strikers on the bench are all on loan with the option to be recalled or to be reconsidered for the BHR first team next season dependent on performances here.

 

 

      Reserves Team

The Reserves squad currently has 20 players, not the desired 22, and the recruitment is not finished. As new players come in, some players may be released down to the U21s or U18s.

 

 

     Other Players

These players all occupy spots in the Reserves or U18s teams at BHR. Players like Hayden-Smith & Greenidge we are looking to sell and youth prospects like Aktas & Medine will be loaned out to Cockfosters once they turn 17 to begin their pathway - either playing for their first or reserves teams in competitive matches.

 

 

     Other Players

We have managed to release all but one of the non-Enfield born players from the Cockfosters squads. They saved the Reserves team from relegation last season, so we wish them the best!

[Motlhen]

FA Cup Draw & Season Odds

&

&

No FA Cup for Cockfosters Reserves

[Motlhen]

Record Appearances (is this broken?!)

Jake Clarke now holds the record for number of league appearances for the club with 117, overtaking Jon Carter who got 116 apps (or 126 apps according to his history tab?! What am I missing, or is this broken?).

 

[Motlhen]

     Aug 2028

An incredible pre-season had my hopes up, but our start has been all over the place. We're still struggling to finish chances - in 2 games in Aug, we scored 7, and in the other 5 games in Aug we only score 2. I've stuck with Ndefo & Hamilton up front so far, but Greenidge is still sitting in the Reserves. I've been tempted to try to sell him as he has some interested clubs, but maybe I shouldn't and instead try him out as a 3rd option.

[Motlhen]

     Bids

I decided against cashing in on this £15,000 bid for Greenidge because our two main strikers haven't hit form and I am going to give him a chance in the first team this month to see if he can start scoring for us.

 

 

Jake Clarke has had quite a few bids over the past year or so, but this is the first time that a club from as high as League Two has put in a bid. £3,300 is not enough up front, I'd want him back on loan until the end of the season and I even pressed for a higher percentage of next sale. MK Dons weren't happy with the negotiations so backed out, but now I wouldn't be surprised if we receive a bid worth really considering before the transfer window closes.

[Motlhen]

     Staff

Recruiting staff from Enfield has been a big challenge this save so far. Adding in a 2nd club, I knew that the responsibilities would increase, but I was expecting Cockfosters Reserves to be relegated last season before our miraculous survival and I hadn't taken into account that a lack of other staff members would force me to have to pick the squads for the U21s & U18s as well (still a lot more to do despite playing all of Cockfosters games' on Instant Result.) So all-in-all 4 new teams!! Thankfully, that responsibility can now be past on as I have finally managed to find someone to join our backroom staff, and it is none other than the disputed all-time appearance maker for Bush Hill Rangers Jon Carter. He has signed a new deal to make him our HoYD as well as Coach and I am thrilled to be able to pass on a horde of responsibilities to him.

Edited Saturday at 08:48 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

     Sep 2028

It's been a rocky start with a lot of tactical tinkering trying to find the right system. We're definitely coming up against better players in this league so I'm trying to adapt our game to slow down and control possession but we are making too many mistakes. The formations I've been trying have been not-so-conventional, but with a few injuries I switched back to a wide 4-3-3 and we have won two on the bounce at the end of the month despite not being the dominant team in either game. 

 

Jack Clarke has scored 3 in 3 from centre-back and has been sent on a leadership course.
If he won't sign a new contract, I might look to cash in on him in January - as hard as letting him go will be.

[Motlhen]

This is why I love this game!

First round of the Velocity Cup, we get drawn against top of the league Rayners Lane. They get an early goal, followed by us conceding a cynical challenge sending us down to 10-men and the game is all but over. They add two more before half time and my mind is on damage limitation. Humphreys gets one back shortly after half time on our first chance of the match and then out of no where we have a penalty to bring us back to a one goal margin. McAvoy comes on with 20 minutes to go and not only slots in the leveller but then in the 94th minute, Clarke hoofs a ball towards the corner flag, McAvoy's fresh legs get him there first but it's him forward on his own against 4 defenders, he slips down the byline, skips past one and then rifles the ball across the goalkeeper right into the far top corner!!!

[Motlhen]

Brimsdown

The introduction of Dean Morgan as a manager into this project helped save Cockfosters Reserves from relegation (into an unplayable league) last season. They were in and around the relegation spots along with other Enfield-based team Brimsdown last season and with our management the Reserves are doing a lot better. Brimsdown on the other hand have already sacked their manager as they are bottom of the league. Adding another manager is not part of my plan, especially not so soon after adding in Cockfosters. For now I am hoping that whoever Brimsdown choose to take the reigns will be able to save them, but if their future is still precarious by the end of the season, they I may have to get involved again - and I'm not exactly sure how I would do that right now.

[Motlhen]

     Nov 2028

We've been much better and are on a decent run of 7 games unbeaten and we've crept up to the playoff spots! Hinton are another Enfield-based club who have stormed up the tiers from tier 11 (before we did) and are still managing to stay ahead of us after holding us to a bore draw at the Bush Hill Stadium. I'd love to finish above them.

 

 

Clarke's biggest recent offer was from League 2 Barrow. The biggest value we could get from the transfer is from the Percentage of Next Sale. Looking at their top players, there are some decent valuations. But the %oNS is not guaranteed and we won't know what Clarke's salary (or valuation) would be before he moves. I've upset him by rejecting this bid (and one from Irish Premier Division side Shelbourne) but we need to get more upfront for me to consider losing our best player.

[Motlhen]

     Nov 2028

Our unbeaten run came to an end with a poor 0-1 loss against Berkhamsted and losing on penalties in the cup after such an epic recovery in the first round is extremely disappointing and probably makes this month's results feel a lot worse than they actually are.

Edited Sunday at 14:17 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Youth Intake Preview

Two teams, means two intakes, means twice as many players (hopefully) from Enfield!
Since joining Cockfosters, I've managed to convince the board to improve the junior coaching budget and spent £190K on improving the clubs youth facilities.

 

 

[Motlhen]

Dec 2028

It's been a poor end to the year as we've only managed to get 2 points from 4 games, with 3 of those being at home! Again, our problem is scoring. We've been using McAvoy as a makeshift forward with Ndefo & Hamilton not contributing to the goals, but now he's not scoring and the team doesn't look like they know where the goal is.

Edited Monday at 09:12 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

Jan 2029

Starting the year with a loss that breaks an unwanted record was tough, but we bounced back to end the winless run. We've drifted well away from the promotion spots and I'm now more wary that we are only 10 points ahead of the relegation zone. 

 

 

 

We have had another takeover at Cockfosters with £5k added by the generous new chairman.

[Motlhen]

Transfer Out

The chairman has gone over our head to sell a player, and it's GK Johnnie Ruth. He'll be off to Bohemians at the end of the season (with a loan back option accepted, which hopefully means he'll stay for all of next season as well?) We have Slade & Mitchell as decent backups, but Ruth was key for us for the past 2 seasons. The overall value of the transfer is a guaranteed £11,250 rising to a potential £29,000, but with 40% of profit from the next sale. Once he moves clubs, I'll be checking his valuation!

 

[Motlhen]

Feb 2029

Something clicked in the last game of the month (after another dreadful run) and we were 3-0 up going into the last 10 minutes before we went down to 10-men and just about hung on. Hopefully the changes we made can carry that sort of performance into the final games of the season.

[Motlhen]

     Youth Intake 2029
 

From Enfield
2024 (12 of 16)
2025 (9 of 16)
2026 (8 of 16)
2027 (13 of 16) 
2028 (11 of 16)
2029 (11 of 16)

Edited Monday at 20:42 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

     Youth Intake 2029
 

From Enfield
2029 (10 of 16)

It's going to be tough to release Supple 

[Motlhen]

     Youth Intake 2029 Players
 

Harrison is very exciting. We needed a striker and I hope he can deliver!

[Motlhen]

..continued..

Again, as in some previous years, the lower-ranked youth prospects are exciting me more than some of the top prospects. Fairclough & Danquah look fantastic!