[FM23] Bringing the Exiles back to Wales

[DaneBramage]

April 2022: Another South Wales derby, another ill-tempered affair. Swansea City might have beaten Cardiff City 4-0 on the pitch, but none of the headlines were focused on that. Instead, it was the violence before and after the game that drew condemnation. 98 fans were arrested, 17 were admitted into hospital with injuries (luckily none too serious), and more than a dozen cars were left with smashed windows or slashed tires.

April 2022: Both clubs put out statements, predictably placing all of the blame on the other and playing down the actions of their own fanbase. Both clubs were fined significant amounts by the EFL.

May 2022: The EFL Championship season ended with Swansea in 15th place and Cardiff 18th.

May 2022: Representatives from both Swansea and Cardiff were called to a meeting with the EFL to address the ongoing issues. While it started calmly, tensions soon rose. A shouting match ensued with threats being thrown back-and-forth. Eventually the representatives from the two clubs had to be separated.

June 2022: In an unprecedented turn of events, Swansea and Cardiff were both kicked out of the Championship. 

June 2022: Feeling like their countrymen were being discriminated against, Newport County withdrew from League Two. While they weren't under EFL jurisdiction, Wrexham and Merthyr Town also decided to take action, resigning from the National League and Southern League Premier Division South respectively.

June 2022: Seeing an opportunity, the Welsh FA immediately invited Swansea, Cardiff, Newport County, Wrexham, and Merthyr Town to join the Cymru Premier. While this did inspire a lot of enthusiasm for the increased attention surrounding the league, not everyone was happy. The other teams in the league were of course dismayed by the higher level of competition they'd be up against, but the biggest slap in the face was the forced relegations of Haverfordwest, Airbus UK, Cardiff Met, Aberystwyth Town, and Flint Town to accommodate the newcomers. 

[DaneBramage]

So as you can probably tell from the intro post, I've taken the five Welsh teams that compete in English competition and moved them back to Wales. To keep each league functioning properly I've bumped a few teams up a division in England, a few down in Wales, and then five non-league clubs from Wales have been moved over to England to make everything balance. 

This is how the new look Cymru Premier shapes up, sorted by reputation, with the rest of the moves in the hidden screenshot.

Spoiler

Some of these five clubs already had rivalries, for a bit of spice I've amended them to 100/100 and added in the others. I've cancelled the link between Swansea and Newport.

I haven't changed anything else as that's about as far as my rudimentary editing skills will get me. I couldn't work out the age groups so they will probably still compete in England. 

I'm taking over at Newport County as I didn't want to take over at one of the big two, nor Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham either, and as this is possibly my last save on FM23 before FM25 is released I didn't want to start with one of the small clubs either. So it seems like a decent middle ground, not a complete long shot but not a favourite either.

Newport County are actually nicknamed the Exiles due to not being able to return to their old home ground when they went bust then re-formed in the late '80s, but it works for this purpose too.

[DaneBramage]

Our training facilities and youth facilities are both below average. Junior coaching is average, but youth recruitment is fairly basic. We have about £1 million in the bank.

This is the squad I have to work with. Can't say I'm familiar with any of them (maybe recognise the name Omar Bogle?), so I'll just see how it goes. There are players on loan from Manchester United and Liverpool (Charlie McNeill and Adam Lewis) so you'd hope there's some quality there. One thing that bugs me is how many players who can play in multiple positions, that generally annoys me as I don't know what to do with them. I like players who can just play in one position, keep it simple. 

Here are the media predictions, with us expected to finish in 4th place. Obviously the big two are at the top, but Wrexham are also fancied ahead of us despite being transferred over from a lower division. Merthyr however could struggle and will be looking to avoid finishing in the bottom two.

The media dream XI is entirely made up of Cardiff and Swansea players. 

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - August 2022

Our first game of the season was a tough one as we drew Cardiff in the League Cup. We managed to spring a big surprise though, keeping the game goalless in a dull 90 minutes then coming out on top in the shootout when Cardiff missed their final spotkick.

The Cymru Premier season started with matches against two of our fellow returning clubs. We battered Merthyr with ease, but Wrexham were tougher. They took the lead in the first-half through Paul Mullins, but we turned it around with a much better second-half display.

This was immediately followed by a shock loss though. Our first game against one of the 'original' Welsh clubs and it did not go to plan. Our strikers were poor, there was an xG of 2.22 so we should have done better, but few of our efforts were on target and we could only scorefrom the spot (incidentally, Aaron Lewis has scored a penalty in every league game so far - edit - no he hasn't, it was just three. Then the very similarly-named Adam Lewis got one). Gap Connor's Quay only managed three shots, only two on target, but both went in.

Cardiff have set the early pace, while we're ahead of Swansea having played one more game. Wrexham have made a disappointing start, having played more than anyone else but only winning once. Merthyr could be in real trouble, sitting bottom of the table yet to win.

Every team plays the others twice for a total of 22 games, finishing in January. The league then splits into the Championship Conference (top six) and Play-Off Conference (bottom six)

Edited September 7 by DaneBramage

[Rick87]

Good luck, keen to see if you can prevent Cardiff or Swansea dominating. 

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - September 2022

Ooof. Swansea gave us a bit of a battering to start the month, we offered nothing response. Men against boys. We responded well though with four straight wins in the league. The Ass Man had tried moving Calum Kavanagh up front, but because I know better I moved him back to the left-wing. Five goals later my decision was vindicated, though I do wish the strike partnership of Charlie McNeill and Omar Bogle did get on the scoresheet more often. I can't really complain though, we're not lacking for goals and seven different players netted this month.

We also gained a measure of revenge against Swansea, taking a second big scalp in the League Cup. While the Cardiff cup game last month was a borefest, this one was an eight-goal thriller. We thought we'd won it in the 95th minute, but Swansea equalised in the 96th. So it went to penalties and we kept our nerve in sudden death.

Top of the table! Perhaps not too big of a surprise though as we have played more than anyone else. Cardiff and Swansea are both still unbeaten and could go ahead of us if they win their games in hand.

Three teams still haven't won and Merthyr must be wishing they'd stayed in England. Cardiff's Sory Kaba is leading the scoring charts with 12 goals already.

[DaneBramage]

54 minutes ago, Rick87 said:

Good luck, keen to see if you can prevent Cardiff or Swansea dominating. 

Thanks! That's certainly the aim, but doing so will be tough. Especially when they start getting European money.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - October 2022

We gave Cardiff a fright, twice taking the lead, but ultimately they were stronger than us and deserved all three points. Aaron Wildig hadn't scored for us in his previous 16 appearances but had a field day against the hapless Merthyr with a 22 minute hat-trick. Back in August Gap Connah's Quay were the first side to defeat us this season but we got our own back in the reverse fixture.

We made comfortable work of Aberystwyth Town in the Welsh Cup and dominated TNS to reach the League Cup semi-finals.

Swansea and Cardiff have caught up their games in hand and jumped up to their expected positions in the table. When they played each other Swansea won 3-2, so the Swans sit in top spot. We sit pretty in 3rd with a healthy gap over Wrexham and TNS.

Merthyr have finally won a couple of games to climb out of the relegation zone. Sory Kaba (Cardiff) is on 17 goals, Joel Piroe (Swansea) is on 15.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - November 2022

During the thrashing of Bala Town both Charlie McNeill and Omar Bogle reached double-figures for the season. In fact, we thrashed everyone in our path this month. the Pontypridd game looks close but in reality we could have racked up a rugby score that day.

Swansea remain top of the table. Cardiff stay in 2nd, but they lost to Wrexham which means we could overtake them if we win our game in hand. When the league splits after 22 games Wrexham will also be in the top half, but it could go either way for Merthyr.

Edited September 8 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - December 2022

Ouch. Destroyed by Wrexham. They scored in the first minute and even though we equalised in the 18th minute, they immediately retaliated in the 19th and bossed the game from there. We also lost to Cardiff, not as heavily but it was expected nonetheless.

The story of the month though was the win over Swansea. We didn't play particularly well, we didn't create many chances, but those we did were of a high quality and we took them. A brace from Omar Bogle kept us alive during the 90 minutes, and Charlie McNeill stole all three points in stoppage-time.

Calum Kavanagh reached double-figures in the win over Newtown.

Swansea had a bad month - as well as losing to us they were also defeated by Penybont and could only draw with Bala Town. This allowed Cardiff to overhaul them and climb on to top spot, equal on points but with a domineering goal difference. Merthyr are in trouble again.

Sory Kaba (Cardiff) is still leading the scoring charts with 21, then it's Joel Piroe (Swansea) on 19, and our boys Charlie McNeill and Omar Bogle on 15 and 14. 

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - January 2023

The technical director is in charge of transfers and he's brought in Mamadi Camara on loan from Reading. He can play on either wing, we'll probably be using him on the right.

A disappointing exit from the League Cup. We had enough chances to score but couldn't take them and Wrexham scored from their only shot on target, one that our goalie really should have saved. In the Welsh Cup we had more luck, though made it tougher than we needed to. Mamadi Camara scored one and set-up another within the opening ten minutes, but we didn't add to our tally and when Porthmadog converted an 82nd minute penalty it made for a tense finish to the game.

We finished the first stage of the Cymru Premier season with an easy win over Caernarfon, and Aaron Lewis reached double-figures for the year (eight from the penalty spot).

We now have another ten games, playing each of the other sides in our half of the split twice. This is where Cardiff and Swansea could really pull away.

Merthyr missed out on the top half by one point (and goal difference).

Edited September 8 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

 

Newport County - February 2023

Wrexham have our number at the moment. This is the third time in a row they've beaten us. With morale down a bit we then suffered our first draw of the campaign, needing a stoppage-time equaliser to take a point from TNS. Things can change in an instant though and we picked up a good win away at Swansea, probably undeserved on the run of play but the three points are all that matter.

We then made it through to the Welsh Cup semis before a surprisingly easy win over Cardiff. Our keeper was MotM but I'm not sure why, he was hardly tested.

Swansea beat Cardiff 1-0 in the first game of the Championship Conference stage, so they've extended their lead. There's five games left though so if Cardiff beat them in the reverse fixture they could still take the title.

We look nailed on for third, and I think that would mean qualifying for next season's UEFA Conference League.

Sory Kaba (Cardiff) has failed to score in six games and has been caught by Joel Piroe (Swansea) on 21 goals, then it's Aaron Williams (Newtown) filling his boots against easier competition with 20.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - March 2023

This career won't be youth only, so there's no need for me to sign up loads of no-hopers from the youth intakes (though I might add in rules later on that we must include x amount of academy players in the starting line-up each game). Just the top five from this group were given contracts.

[DaneBramage]

 

Newport County - March 2023

I hate Wrexham. Four losses to them in a row now. But that was the filling in a turd sandwich. On the other side of that game we beat TNS to reach the Welsh Cup final, then battered them again in the league.

Unless Swansea drop the ball in their final three fixtures the order of the top six seems to be decided already.

And because the Welsh Cup final will be competed between us and Cardiff, I think this means we've definitely qualified for the UEFA Conference League.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - April 2023

Cardiff's hopes of winning a first Welsh league title were pretty slim at this point, and gifting us a pair of penalties basically ended their chances. They recovered to a take a draw but it was too little too late. Swansea only needed one more point to clinch the title, and they did it by battering us.

We capped off a successful campaign by sending the fans home happy with a big win on the final day. Two academy players made their debuts in this game.

I'm happy with this. I always thought the top two would be out of sight, so finishing 3rd was the aim and we did it, clinching European football in the process. We finished eight points clear of Wrexham who didn't give us as much of a fight as I expected them too, though they did come out on top often when we played each other. Of our eight losses, three were to Wrexham, two each were to Swansea and Cardiff, and there was one embarrassing defeat by Gap Connah's Quay who finished bottom of the table. Merthyr were miserable were relegated with barely a whimper.

In the post-season play-offs Wrexham were defeated in the final to miss out on UEFA Conference League action, the final spot instead being taken by TNS.

Sory Kaba (Cardiff) was top scorer with 27 goals, then Joel Piroe (Swansea) on 25 and Aaron Williams (Newtown) on 24.

Edited September 9 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - May 2023

We had all the early possession but couldn't make much of it until the 42nd minute. Calum Kavanagh swung in a cross and Omar Bogle was perfectly placed to head in his 23rd goal of the season. The lead didn't last long though, just before the interval Cardiff mounted their first real attack of the game and a player was bundled over in the box. The ref pointed to the spot, and Cardiff converted the penalty to equalise.

The second-half was lacking in excitement, both teams had one or two half-chances but nothing substantial, and the game was destined to go to penalties. 

In our very first game of the season we knocked Cardiff out of the League Cup in a shootout, so this was their chance for revenge. But it didn't happen. Goalie Joe Day saved their third effort, and when we hit a perfect five it was all over. A trophy in our first season!

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - 2022/23 Squad Stats

Pretty much everyone impressed really, but praise has to be given to the strike pairing of Omar Bogle and Charlie McNeill who scored over 50 goals between them, and were justifiably voted fan's player and young player of the season. They were ably supported by Calum Kavanagh on the left-wing who managed over 20 goal contributions, and Mamadi Camara did well in his half-season loan spell.

There was also an attacking threat from our full-backs, as Aaron Lewis scored 11 times (nine from the penalty spot, a 100% record) and Cameron Norman racked up 12 assists.

A number of contracts are up in the summer, as well as the loanees returning to their parent clubs, so hopefully the recruitment team have some gems lined up.

[DaneBramage]

2022/23 Wales wrap-up

Domestic Competitions: Swansea were favourites to win the Cymru Premier and did so, while we were outside bets for the Welsh Cup and did well to win it. But Aberystwyth Town winning the League Cup was a big shock, recovering from 2-0 down to beat Wrexham 3-2 in the final.

Welsh Clubs in Europe: Not a single progression. Everyone went out at the first opportunity possible.
The New Saints - Lost 5-0 on aggregate to Dinamo Batumi (Georgia) in the Champions League first qualifying round, then lost 2-1 on aggregate to Shakhtar Soligorsk (Belarus) in the Europa Conference League second qualifying round.
Bala Town - Lost 3-2 on aggregate to Llapi (Kosovo) in the Europa Conference League first qualifying round.
Newtown - Lost 5-1 on aggregate to Milsami Orhei (Moldova) in the Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

National Team: Finished 3rd in their Nations League A group to avoid relegation. Only picked up one point to end up bottom of their 2022 World Cup group. Rob Page was sacked and replaced by Claude Puel.

Edited September 9 by DaneBramage

[Carambau]

Catching up! Great first season!  

[DaneBramage]

2 hours ago, Carambau said:

Catching up! Great first season!  

Appreciate it, thanks. It's been a fun first season, not much pressure and can zip through it quickly.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - July 2023

A few players left when their contracts expired. Aaron Lewis was an important player last year but had decided to let his contract run out so he could move to a bigger club. He's since been snapped up by Cardiff. The other two were regular subs but the wrong side of 30 to get a new deal.

Four players have come in. Aaron O'Reilly is a centre-back who was on loan at Penybont last year so has some knowledge of this league, Jadan Raymond is a right-winger released by Crystal Palace, and Bryant Akono Bilongo on loan from Middlesbrough can play on the left or in the centre of defence. Most importantly though we have last year's top scorer Charlie McNeill back for a second season.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - July 2023

We kicked the campaign off with the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. And we gave the fans a real treat as we blew Progres Niederkorn away. It was 3-0 by half-time and ended up 5-0, and they were lucky that it wasn't more.

We weren't up to scratch in the away leg. With the job already done we rotated a few players and both centre-backs made mistakes to give goals away, and we lost 3-2 in Luxembourg. But it didn't matter, the aggregate score was 7-3 to send us through to the next round.

We received £83k in appearance money.

Edited September 9 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - August 2023

Twice we led at home against PAOK, and twice they drew level. Our performance on the night deserved the win but it wasn't to be, and this cost us. Away in Greece we were by far the inferior side and honestly should have lost be more than just the one goal, but that one goal was enough to knock us out of the second qualifying round.

There was still plenty of reason to celebrate though as we were given £689k for participating. Despite my persistent requests though, the board won't agree to any upgrades at this time.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - August 2023

There won't be any League Cup heroics from Aberystwyth Town this year, an Omar Bogle hat-trick saw them off. 

We dominated Wrexham but couldn't find a second goal, then they snatched an undeserved equaliser with seconds remaining. Still, at least it wasn't another loss. Omar Bogle continued his good form with a brace against Haverfordwest, and Aaron Wozencraft (17 years, 91 days) became our youngest ever goalscorer.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - September 2023

Two more loanees were added to our ranks. Marcel Oakley plays on the right or in the centre of defence, and Malik Mothersile can play on either wing or upfront.

Four straight wins in the league was great, especially with clean sheets. We scored plenty last year but conceded too many, so tightening things up at the back is encouraging. Speaking of scoring plenty, a rotated team absolutely mullered Albion Rovers in the Welsh Cup. Practically every time we touched the ball we grabbed another, Will Evans scored five and Malik Mothersile scored four.

And we used up our scoring form in that game. The strongest side was selected again for Llandudno up next, and somehow we lost. We managed 30 shots, but only four on target, and contrived to concede twice to a newly-promoted club who hadn't yet won a game this season. Disgusting.

A loss to Cardiff was less unexpected and we were eliminated from the League Cup. This is actually the first time we've lost back-to-back games. Another cup game followed, this time in the Welsh Cup, and we bounced back with a convincing win.

The big two and Wrexham are still undefeated, we sit in 4th place behind them. 

Its going to be a tougher fight this season as due to last year's poor performance by Welsh clubs, there will only be three European qualification places available.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - October 2023

Tough month. More losses than wins isn't something we're used to seeing. 

We won the two easy league games, but lost both of the more difficult two. I can cope with losing to Swansea and Cardiff, but we really need to start getting something from these Wrexham games. These are the ones that will decide whether we finish in 3rd or 4th. 

And speaking of losing to Swansea, they also knocked us out of the Welsh Cup. We won't be repeating that success this year.

Wrexham have built up a small gap ahead of us, there's some work to do now. 

Mark Harris (Cardiff) is leading the scoring charts with 12 goals, then it's Omar Bogle on 11.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - November 2023

All five of our games this month were against the also-rans of the league, so I targeted five wins and that's what we got. They weren't necessarily all walkovers, Malik Mothersile was the only player to show any class against Bala Town while everyone else had an off-day, and it took Sam Bowen and Offrande Zanzala coming off the bench to make the difference at TNS, but we got all 15 points.

Wrexham lost to Swansea so we've narrowed the gap, but our final six games of this stage include Swansea and Cardiff twice while they only have Cardiff once, so they could put some distance on us again.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - December 2023

Gaining a point from Cardiff is good, but it obviously doesn't balance out the anger of dropping points at Penybont. It was just a turgid performance and the Berate Entire Team button was used a lot. For the final 25 minutes we went all-out attack and we managed to snatch a draw, but Offrande Zanzala was fined a week's wages for his poor performance and it's hard to see him getting back into the team any time soon.

Mark Harris (Cardiff) still leads the scoring charts with 19, then it's Joel Piroe (Swansea) and Stephen Walker (Haverfordwest) both on 16. 

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - January 2024

At the start of this transfer window there were two new additions to the squad. Ethan Burnett is a midfielder on loan from Reading, and Dan Bowers is a young left-winger stolen away from an amateur contract at Cardiff Met. Over the last two seasons he has 11 goals and 11 assists in 45 Cymru South appearances.

I was annoyed by the fixture list giving us Cardiff twice in a row, followed immediately by Swansea. And yet somehow we managed to get seven points out of this run. Charlie McNeill had fallen out of my favour as he wasn't anywhere near as prolific as last season, and Manchester United had already decided to recall him when the window opened up again (apparently using him as an advanced forward instead of as a poacher was bad). But he signed off with a bang, coming off the bench to net twice in his final few minutes for the club to see off Cardiff.

Beating Swansea straight after that kept the good vibes coming, though they did half the work for us by gifting Omar Bogle with a pair of penalties to put away, Dan Bowers scored on his debut at Pontypridd and became our youngest ever goalscorer (17 years, 34 days).

With the upsets taking place this month the top four has tightened up going into the league split. We remain outside the top three, but it's now Cardiff that we're chasing down. We're equal on points, but they have a far superior goal difference. 

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - February 2024

How do you beat Cardiff and Wrexham, extend your unbeaten streak to 14 games, then lose to Haverfordwest?! We should never be losing to those kind of clubs. Maybe it was my fault for watching the game instead of using Instant Result. They just ran rings around us, for their second goal a player on the halfway line was surrounded by three of our lads and still got through, it was clear they were going to score before they got anywhere near the penalty area.

We should be celebrating the two big wins this month, instead that leaves a bitter taste. We should also be celebrating Omar Bogle who has now racked up 50 goals for the club (in 75 appearances).

While I'm annoyed with that loss, Cardiff and Wrexham fans will be more annoyed with their clubs. Cardiff lost twice this month, Wrexham thrice, and that's allowed Swansea to build a big lead, and us to jump into 2nd place.

Joel Piroe (Swansea) is now the top scorer with 22 goals, closely followed by Mark Harris (Cardiff) and Omar Bogle on 21.

Edited September 11 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - March 2024

No wins this month, but it's not disastrous. A point from Swansea is always an unexpected bonus.

The issue was not playing until the final whistle. Cardiff were all over us and it was a valiant effort that saw us very nearly hold out for a point, but we then conceded in the 92nd minute. 

Then Malik Mothersille was on course for a hat-trick against Wrexham but missed an 88th minute penalty, and Wrexham scored a lucky equaliser five minutes into stoppage-time.

Swansea have the title wrapped up with three games to go.

Cardiff probably have 2nd place sewn up, it's then between us and Wrexham for 3rd. Both of us have games in April against Swansea and TNS, we also have Haverfordwest while they have Cardiff.

The Welsh Cup final will be between Swansea and Cardiff, so assuming Cardiff don't collapse in the league, 3rd place will be for the final European spot.

[DaneBramage]

Full disclosure - I have used the editor this month.

A certain Welsh sex offender was hired as the new Wrexham manager, so I used the IGE to amend their CA, PA, and reputation to zero, then terminated their contract. They did not take charge of any games, and the AssMan is back in as the caretaker manager.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - March 2024

Rubbish. Lucky this isn't a youth-only save or I'd be really annoyed. Seven players have been signed on youth contracts.

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - April 2024

Offrande Zanzala might be banished from the starting line-ups, but he's still a useful presence off the bench. He came on at TNS to rescue point. 

We were unlucky not to get anything against Swansea, we were 2-1 up with ten minutes left then conceded twice. It kind of summed up our form at that point as it made it six games without a win. However, it didn't matter. Wrexham were in even more wretched form, eight games without a win, and they now couldn't catch us. 3rd place and European qualification was confirmed.

We battered Haverfordwest on the final day to gain revenge for the defeat in February.

Cardiff beat Swansea on the final day. It didn't mean anything really, other than keeping Swansea's winning margin in single digits. Apart from 8th-11th places, there were fairly substantial gaps of at least seven points between each team.

The top five is identical to 2022/23.

Last year's runner-up Joel Piroe (Swansea) finished the season as top scorer with 26, then it was Omar Bogle on 22.

Edited September 11 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - 2023/24 Squad Stats

Omar Bogle surpassed his total from last season to be our top scorer, hitting the net 29 times. It wasn't enough to get him voted as fan's player of the season though, this honour instead went to loanee Malik Mothersille for his 17 goals and 8 assists.

Other than Omar Bogle and goalkeeper Joe Day, nobody started more than 28 games (out of a possible 41). In some saves that's a sign of good rotation, in this one it's probably a case of me still not knowing my strongest team yet.

My best right-back, Cameron Norman, is annoyed that he didn't play enough. He's a moron. He was first choice when fit, but missed too much time injured. That's a him problem.

[DaneBramage]

2023/24 Wales wrap-up

Domestic Competitions: Swansea won a second consecutive Cymru Premier title, but couldn't make it a double. They lost 1-0 to a 95th minute Cardiff winner in the Welsh Cup final. In fact, it was Cardiff who won a double of sorts, as they also won the League Cup, beating Newtown on penalties.

Welsh Clubs in Europe: Better than last year as three of the clubs involved made it through a qualifying round.
Swansea City: Drew 1-1 but lost on penalties to Astana (Kazakhstan) in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. Beat Gzira United (Malta) 7-0 in the second qualifying round of the Conference League, but then lost 2-1 to F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) in the third qualifying round.
Cardiff City: Lost 3-2 to Sutjeska Niksic (Montenegro) in the first qualifying round of the Conference League.
Newport County: We beat Progres Niederkorn (Luxembourg) 7-3 in the first qualifying round of the Conference League, then lost 3-2 to PAOK (Greece) in the second qualifying round.
The New Saints: Beat Una Strassen (Luxembourg) 2-0 in the first qualifying round of the Conference League, then lost 2-1 to FK Qabala (Azerbaijan) in the second qualifying round.

National Team: Finished top of the qualifying group to reach Euro 2024. Beat Turkey and drew with Slovenia to make it out of the Euro 2024 group stage, but got hammered 5-0 by Germany in the second round.

Edited Thursday at 11:52 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - July 2024

We managed to get our junior coaching upgraded over the summer, it took two years for anything to be agreed to but we got there eventually. Obviously this isn't a youth-only save, but I will want academy players involved in future.

Three players who had been in and around the first team were let go when their contracts expired. Mickey Demetriou is probably the biggest loss and does leave us short at left-back, but he was frozen out at the end of last year when another game would have triggered an extension, and at 34 I could not let that happen.

Just the one incoming player at the moment, a Jamaican centre-back on loan from Liverpool. Lee Jonas has made three senior appearances for Liverpool, and also has a number of Jamiacan U23 caps.

Our campaign started early with the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. Our Montenegrin opponents Sutjeska Niksic had experience of beating Welsh teams - they knocked Cardiff out at this stage last year.

The first-leg was a bit of a drab affair, livened up by a moment of brilliance from 23a Daniel Jones. No one else was shooting, so the left-back lashed one in from 25 yards out. This was our first ever goal from an academy graduate, and he became our youngest goalscorer (16 years, 315 days). Unfortunately we couldn't hold out for the win. They had a throw-in from a dangerous position, it drifted through the corridor of uncertainty, none of our defenders reacted and their forward poked home from close range.

We burst out of the blocks in the away game, and the opening goal was well deserved. The ball was bundled out of their box after a corner, but only as far as Sam Bowen. Not long after the second-half we conceded a poor equaliser. There was no danger but Cameron Norman hit a suicidal backpass and their striker pounced. Priestley Farquharson doesn't normally get much attention, he just does his job at centre-back professionally, but he took the glory this time with a header at the back post from a corner to clinch the win.

£86k in the coffers for progression to the next round.

Edited Thursday at 14:29 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - August 2024

Five new players joined the club, or in one case returned. Adam Lewis (DL, DM) was here a couple of years ago on loan from Liverpool, the technical director noticed he was available and made a move. Charlie Winfield (DL, MC) has just been released by Barnsley after 22 League One appearances. Chanka Zimba (ST) left Cardiff after an unsuccessful loan spell in his homeland of Zambia.

Harvey Blair (AML, ST) is a Jamaican from Liverpool, but it might not last as they want him to play on the wing and I was planning on playing him upfront. Kieran Wakefield (ST) scored 7 times in League Two for Gateshead last season.

The results in the second qualifying round don't look too bad, but the performances were. We offered nothing, Latvian side Valmiera just smothered us and took their chances when they got them. I don't know if it's fair to be annoyed by this, what kind of quality are the top Latvian sides compared to Welsh? But I was anyway and the fining stick came out. Cameron Norman again made a mistake leading to a goal and he is on thin ice.

The silver lining of course is the £689k appearance money which will keep us ticking over nicely for another year.

Edited Thursday at 15:25 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - August 2024

I've taking control of signing players back from the technical director. He did find some good players, but it's also annoying as he just keeps trying to bring in more and more on loan, and we don't need that. Our squad is big enough, there's no need for additions now unless they're a real improvement on what we have.

The Welsh Cup game against Barry Town was closer than we'd have liked. We trailed for more than half an hour before a strong second-half turned it around.

We've made a perfect start to the league, three games, three wins, and 11 goals scored. A clean sheet or two would be nice though. Omar Bogle and Lewis Collins have both scored in all four domestic games so far.

Edited Friday at 20:23 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - September 2024

A mixed month, but one I think is okay. Losing to Swansea is never a surprise, and following that up with three league wins against lesser-fancied teams is exactly what we needed to do.

Going out of both cups so early and in the same month is a bummer, but when we were drawn against the big two the writing was on the wall.

Some of the players think otherwise though, four of them decided to call a team meeting to complain that we should have been winning the Welsh Cup this year. Obviously I went for the kick a chair and tell them to stop being unprofessional option.

We're in 2nd place at this very early stage, but Swansea have a game in hand.

Due to last year's European performances it's back up to four qualification places this year.

Edited Friday at 20:23 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

 

Newport County - October 2024

Poor. It's an unbeaten month but I'm not going to take any joy from that given the opposition. This should have been four wins from four.

We've just lost any sense of attacking fluidity and are struggling for goals. 

Still 2nd, still waiting for Swansea to catch up and overtake us.

Edited Friday at 20:24 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - November 2024

I thought I'd take a punt and see if we could get some upgrades sorted. I didn't expect both the training and youth facilities to be approved. This has wiped out our funds, going from a £1.2 million bank balance to £200k in the red.

I don't think I need to tell you how annoyed I was by the loss to Pontypridd. Not just Pontypridd, but bottom of the table Pontypridd. The third time in six games that we'd dropped points to some of the also-rans. Absolutely fuming. The fine jar was rapidly filling up. My laptop was nearly flying out the window.

I was pretty close to just turning the game off for the night and having a sulk. But I kept going, and two games later we beat Swansea and suddenly my mood was much better. We blitzed them in the first 20 minutes and although they fought back it wasn't enough. Swansea are a tired team though. While we had five games this month, they had eight. They're in the Europa Conference League group stage so they're not getting any rest during the week.

We're five points clear of Wrexham so have the front foot in the race for 3rd place. Cardiff have a ridiculous goal difference, they're just battering everyone in their path.

Top scorer so far is Callum Robinson (Cardiff) with 15, then his teammate Mark Harris (Cardiff) on 11.

Edited Friday at 20:24 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Newport County - December 2024

Useless and getting worse. In the previous two seasons we'd only failed to win six times against the also-rans, dropping 15 points (three draws and three losses). This season we're already on five failures, dropping 13 points (two draws and three losses).

I'm fed up of issuing so many fines, as far as I'm concerned every single player is available for sale in January. But there's no interest in any of them anyway, so I'm stuck with these clowns until the end of the season. A complete turnover of playing personnel is needed.

We've dropped out of the top three, and after the two heavy losses we've already conceded more goals than we did last year (with 12 games still to go).

[BML]

Did you amend the league rep or prize money before starting? I'm surprised the 'big two' aren't losing tonnes of players every season to bigger leagues/wages etc.