The Academics - AB Gladsaxe / FM24

[ellissilleellis]

History

Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe are the fourth most successful team in Denmark, but have been stuck in the third tier (2. Division) since 2017. The club is based in the Gladsaxe area of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, having moved from Nørrebro in 1965. They have a total of nine National Championships to their name, as well as one Danish Cup.

With their last first tier title coming back in 1967 and being out of Denmark's top flight since 2004, AB have been lingering between the second and third levels of Danish football for two decades. Out of their 51 seasons in the top tier, (now called the Superliga) they finished in the top three on 29 occasions, making them one of the most prestigious and successful clubs in the country. Their "golden era" spanned from the start of the 1940s until the 1952, where the club had won five league titles and coming runners up four times in just a number of years. However, success was scarce for over 40 years after that golden era, with the club winning the title just once between 1952 and the late 1990s, when they began to regain some prestige by winning the Danish Cup for the first time in 1999.

Following the turn of the millennium, AB reached another cup final before suffering their first relegation in nearly a decade during the 2003/04 season. They were relegated again in 2016/17, dropping to the third tier, where they have remained ever since.

However, there is some promise within the club as in 2022, the club was bought by a British-American consortium of over 50 members, each of whom have contributed more than $10k each to the club. This is perhaps why the club has a budget of near £3m in the Danish third tier, but to be quite blunt, I have no clue.

In May 2024, AB made history in Denmark, being the first professional club in the country to appoint a female manager, Fabiana Alcalà, albeit on an interim basis.

Background information & objectives

The club, nicknamed "The Academics," has a rather well-regarded youth setup and whilst not amongst the likes of FC København, FC Midtjylland or Brøndby, they have produced some past and present Danish internationals. One example is Lukas Lerager, an AB product from Gladsaxe who represented Denmark at the 2018 World Cup. The most famous footballer from the area is without a doubt Peter Schmeichel, unarguably one of the best goalkeepers of all time, as well as Daniel Wass more recently. This shows that there is a good amount of youth talent in the area, and also in the city of Copenhagen as a whole. However, with nowhere near the facilities of København, Brøndby, and FC Nordsjælland in nearby Farum, we will find it difficult to attract quality youngsters compared to those clubs. Despite this, our youth academy will be a key part of the save, and we will look to improve our facilities over time.

I am hoping to get the chance to chat to some current AB players and staff throughout the save, as well as progressing up the leagues and eventually toppling the top teams in the country. This is the first time I am ever writing a blog about Football Manager, so I am sure I will learn things along the way. I am quite a unique FM player in the fact I tend to not use traditional tactics and some may even class my style as a bit defensive, whilst also focusing on recruitment and financial stability. I disagree with instant resulting games and save scumming on a moral level, even though it is likely I'm going want to smash my PC at many stages throughout the save, I will persevere. #AltidAB 
 

[ellissilleellis]

Forgot to tell you, Niels Bohr, the Noble Prize winning science fella used to be a goalkeeper for AB back in the day. This is one of the strangest clubs I've ever discovered and I'm sure he will be turning in his grave when he sees the state of our goalkeeping department, not that I reckon he was any good because he quit for science things that I don't understand..so there's that.

[ellissilleellis]

[ellissilleellis]

Random updates and information before the season starts

Finances:
As stated previously, £2.8m bank balance at the start of the save. Not too sure why, might just be the ownership injecting money into the club after taking it over in 2022. This will naturally disappear and will probably all be gone by about 25/26, according to the projections but they always have to be taken with a pinch of salt

About the league:
12 teams, play twice home and away and then splits into a 6/6 split playoff, playing 10 more games in doing so. Top 2 teams get promotion to the second tier. To my knowledge, AB and Esbjerg are the only professional teams in the league with the rest being made up of semi-professional and even amateur. The season preview has us 4th, behind recently relegated Fremad Amager.

Squad
Third division of Denmark so it's hardly worth showing, 3 players in the media dream 11 but the rest are not horrendous for our level, but hardly world-beaters. Our highest paid player earns slightly over £2000 a week as is on a long contract, as most of our players are, so time will tell whether he is worth that amount of money.

Facilities
Mainly adequates and averages in terms of facilities but we do have excellent junior coaching but don't know how much of an impact this will have.

Affiliates
Thankfully, we do have an affiliate and thankfully, it is FC Nordsjælland, known for their academy and Right to Dream connections meaning we should get some of their youngsters (and most importantly, regens down the road) on loan which will boost our chances of success. This link will terminate when we eventually reach the Superliga. I will try to loan some of these in to fill some holes in the squad but only as rotational players and bench options. The 2. Division requires us to have 3/6 outfield players on the bench be below the age of 21, which I'm certain we can meet without any additions but would be useful to get some new faces in.

[ellissilleellis]

Update 1 - Pre-winter break - November 2023

We've reached the four-month long winter break - in one piece (barely) and top of the league, but it hasn't exactly been pretty as I started to think it would be...

 

We do sit top of the league, albeit on goal difference, which is very positive as the season preview only expected us to get top four. Ideally, we should be many more points ahead but results as of late have been very inconsistent, a complete contrast to our opening month.

We started the season in brilliant form, cruising through August without dropping a point whilst also progressing in the Danish Cup. Despite this, there was cause for concern as we were knocked out of said cup in Svendborg by SFB, a team from the division below us. It was a game we were heavy favourites for and with limited rotation, I thought it would be an easy win but unfortunately, absolutely not the case - we got dominated and deservedly lost, ending our Pokalen campaign. Since then, it has been purely inconsistent with FAR too many dropped points for my liking. On many of these occasions, we were the much better team but just could not find the back of the net, as well as having who I'm sure, is the worst goalkeeper in Denmark. We also concede penalties on a weekly basis, I'm not sure whether this is down to my players not being very good, the refs being crap (or even worse, biased!) or we just don't know how to tackle - either way, we're still top of the league as we enjoy our four-month long holiday. I do have some contracts expiring during this break but not exactly keen on extending any, whereas my highest paid player (£2.2k a week!!!) I am looking to move on as he does not even warrant half of that.

I did get some loans in from Nordsjælland, who on paper are the best players on the team, and possibly the league, but have been sub-par. Here are two of them:


 

Plan during the break is mainly scouting, there are many players in the league who are on non-contracts who we can pick up and add to the squad, as well as qualifying for the Championship Group, which we really should be doing. The league splits in half after 22 games, and there are 10 more to play in the Championship and Relegation (if it's called that?) groups. The £3m we had in the bank at the start of the save, let's say, is disappearing, and now more towards the high £1m range. NOT GOOD. But still unbelievably better than most of the teams in Denmark, certainly our league. We shall aim to organise some friendlies against big teams to try and solve this. Our average attendances are like 700, filling roughly 5% of the Gladsaxe Stadion, which isn't particularly fun either. 

Next update will probably be in a few months real time (when the winter break has finished!) and before the league splits. Until then, pray for my sanity.
 

#AltidAB

[ellissilleellis]

Also, a lot of blue teams in the league. Just an observation. Strange.

[keysi]

I spent 17 in-game years with AB back in FM16. It was one of my favourite saves. Good luck and enjoy it :-) 

[ellissilleellis]

Update 2 - Promotion stage - April 2024

We've blasted through the horrendously long winter break and have just started our promotion stage campaign, where it has been going pretty well...

 

Not dropped a point since returning and have churned out some really impressive performances, despite April being far too wobbly for my liking, conceding far too many goals - but at least we're scoring! The league table is as follows:

Not much transferring took place over the winter break, a few sub-par players leaving for free, whereas we brought in two fantastic loanees from our affiliate over in Farum once again, certainly amongst the best players at our level and some may even stay for next season, where providing there are no massive cockups, we will be in the second tier.

We did get our youth intake in April and....not good - but we are in the depths on Denmark. I'm going to offer two players contracts who may not ever be any good but definitely the best players from the intake:

Seven games left until the season finishes in June, and we should be up well before then. No idea why the season ends in June, when it could feasibly end well before if the slog of a winter break is shortened. Might have already met my nemesis, but I don't make the rules. The NordicBet Liga is in sight. #AltidAB

[ellissilleellis]

Things are really looking up. I might just be the greatest ever. Update today. #AltidAB #nordicbetligawontknowwhatshitit 

[ellissilleellis]

Update 3 - End of season - June 2024

Our last loss was in November. Here's how the rest of the promotion stage played out:



Pretty well, all things considered - meaning we win the league very comfortably in the end - with four games to spare. We did what we needed to do on Friday night up in Skive, and as results went our way throughout the weekend, we were crowned champions on Sunday, 19th May. 

The final league table is as follows:





Our team of the season looked like this:


Some players should be in there that aren't such as Lindgaard, Sidoel and Sertdemir but overall pretty accurate.

What I've discovered is you get 0 break in the Danish lower tiers - so we're straight into pre-season less than a week after the previous season finished. Financially, I'm not sure what to think as we start the season with £1m in the bank but it does run out quickly. This does not help:


All in all, things look good. I am someway through the transfer window and have worked WONDERS, with the season preview having us 7th, just below relegated from the top flight Hvidovre a few weeks before the season starts. You shall meet them all shortly. Squadwise, up front we are sorted, with some improvements needed in midfield. We have 3 defenders and my goalkeeper has no arms. We have also trimmed the wage bill down a lot, which is impressive considering the calibre of player we've brought in. This team is so much better than it was last season. Staff's not even worth talking about, I have none. I rejected a job interview from aforementioned Hvidovre in the summer and have a contract here until 2025. Will try to get loanees like Nielsen and Sertdemir back on loan, where as Walle Egeli is here until the end of the season anyway. Trust the process. #AltidAB