VillaSmith

Rotating the team before a cup game and ensuring my starting team is as rested as they can be, so either actually rest them so they don't train or don't play them the game before if it's less than a full week between the matches, I may even rest players for two matches before to just make sure they aren't tired.

It's unsatisfying, but honestly it's luck. I do tend to concentrate on the cups when I try challenges like this, but I got massively lucky with my runs early on in the FA Cup and getting the big away days to Chelsea and Man Utd which allowed me to max out my Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment, also Tamworth started out with a HoyD that was actually pretty good and I still haven't found a replacement good enough yet, all of which ended up getting me some really good intakes early on. The other two things I focus on are morale and fitness, if both of those are good then you'll be able to punch above your weight. If morale is bad, don't be too harsh in teamtalks, once you get a feel for your team you should be able to tell which option will get you the green responses, and then praise every little positive you can just to boost morale, make sure you congratulate players on PotM performances or winning awards. For fitness I would often rest players between matches just to make sure they were at peak condition or as close as. It probably harmed the development of some players by not having training, but it helped win games and got me to professionalism much quicker. Honestly, I don't know if that's just a fluke or if it's even a good way to approach things, but that's what worked for me. Also, I have tried this challenge many times, and I usually spend a fair few seasons getting into the save before posting anything here, there have been many times I have started this challenge and completely failed

Season 11 - 2033/34 - Sky Bet League One League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - A very good, albeit long and tough, season, finishing up in 9th to get our highest league finish for the fifth year in a row. We started off brilliantly and even had a flirt with a title challenge, but eventually the hectic schedule caught up to us and we fell away from the playoff places into a comfotable top half finish. It was disappointing to not be able to maintain a playoff push, but since I expected to battle relegation again this season, I couldn't grumble too much. We benefitted a lot from having our backups take a step up this season so that I was more comfortable to rotate players in and out of the side, although we had a fairly settled starting XI for most of the season. We did go in to a bit of a tailspin around February time, but managed to just pull things together enough to stabilise and finish with some decent form. The shining light of this season had to be the partnership upfront between George and Hailey, netting 67 goals between them, with a total goal contribution between them of 90! Hailey's 39 goals, 29 in the league, was the highest ever league and total goals in a season for the club. Hailey really had a fantastic season, breaking the records for fastest goal (13s), most PotM awards (13) and highest average rating (7.23) for the club, plus he's now up to 3rd highest goalscorer of youth academy graduates behind Matt Oliver and Lewis Pearce, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him pass Pearce's 103 goals this season. George's season was also fantastic, he just got overshadowed by his strike-partner! Our intake from last year has already made a decent impact on the side with Reynolds and Waldo forming a good backup partnership to George and Hailey, grabbing 25 goals between them. Eddie Browne ended up securing a first team spot alongside Handzic in central midfield and had a good first full season. Diallo finished the season as first choice LB displacing Baker from the team, with Gibbons also getting some decent minutes at LB too. Maxwell had a good final season for the club too, doing a great job of filling the gap left by Brooks, now I just need to work our who's going to replace him! Cups - Another good season for the cups, although we didn't progress as far in the FA Cup as last year. We made it to the fifth round this year, with Coventry being the first side we faced that was above us in the pyramid. By the time we faced them we had dipped into some horrid form, and just didn't have enough about us to get past them. We manged to come from 3-1 down to make it 3-3 but they finished us off in the last 20 minutes as we tried to push for a winner. Stats wise we probably should've won the match, but given the previous runs we'd had in the FA Cup I can't really complain. Our EFL Cup campaign was our best yet, reaching the Quarter's only to fall to Championship Forest, but again a game which the numbers say we should have won, only to be denied by Forest playing the reincarnation of Lev Yashin in goal. We had some good wins on the way there, particularly the fourth round smashing of Brighton's second XI which I was really not expecting. I dared to dream of a semi final berth that would give us an away trip to Anfield or the Emirates, or even a local derby against Villa, but it wasn't to be. Finally the EFL Trophy, and my first trip to Wembley Although only the second time the club has ever gotten to Wembley, as I was disappointed to find out the club had played an FA Vase final there in the 80s. Inititally I didn't take this cup too seriously, rotating heavily to try and keep the first XI fresh, but as we progressed further the opportunity of that Wembley trip and lifting a trophy started to become more and more enticing. We faced Portsmouth in the final, but luck was against us as injuries and suspensions meant none of our starting midfield were available and we had to play a very hodge-podge side, which meant we just couldn't create the opporunities to get in to the game. Finances - Our cup runs brought in some decent money this season with the extra home games and the Wembley final, plus an average attendance of 4881 over the season meant we brought in quite a bit in gate receipts. But the the biggest boon to our finances had to be the Maxwell sale, bringing in £7m which we used to upgrade the training facilites (after they were downgraded over the summer) and to increase our Youth Level, which included finally increasing our youth facilities again despite our boards resistence. We are also looking to expand the stadium now too, although it's only in the planning phase currently, but hopefully that should bring in more money as we are still growing our supporter base. Even after all the outlays we still have roughly £4m in the bank, so we're in a pretty good position for a couple of years. Youth Intake Rafael Arana [34A] - Matthew Lamb [34B] - Shola Elijah [34C] - Fred Kasongo [34D] - Danny Knox [34E] - Stevie Munro [34F] - Javon Ho-Lung [34J] Another smallish intake, and unfortunately not quite as good as last year's IMO as we have less first team candidates, though potentially we have some good players here. Lamb and Arana are probably the closest to the first team, though they would both be way down the pecking order. I'm thankful to get Elijah and Munro through as we are hemorrhaging defenders every year it seems, though it'll take a while for them to get to first team level. Former Player Watch Jimmy Cook - A tough season for Jimmy, spending the first half of the season on Huddersfield's bench playing just 3 cup games, he ended up going on loan to Wrexham in League Two, playing 18 games and conceding 19 with 5 clean sheets, grabbing 7th and a playoff berth, though they went out to eventual winners Bolton, with Cook getting a dismal 5.4 rating in the first leg. His value now is at the £50k-£475k range, so may not end up bringing in much future cash for us. Adriano Muzonho - Another season out on loan for Adriano, this time to Moreirense in the Liga Portugal 2, where he underwhelmed with just 1 goal and 1 assist in 26 matches, although he mainly played off the bench. Despite that his value is up at £7.8m-£11.5m and has even started to attract interest from Leeds, so may see some further funds from Muzonho soon Haukur Mar Ottesen - Just 1 sub appearance for Reading this season for Ottesen, and a mediocre time in the their U21s, I get the feeling I played to Ottesen's strengths and other teams that don't need to rely on him won't get the same kind of form out of him. His value is at £75k-£750k now, so I may get a bit of cash still from him, but without gametime at Reading or loans out I can't see him progressing enough to get a decent fee. Nathan Watson - 1 league and 1 cup appearance for Swansea in the first half of the season for Watson, he failed to nail a spot for the first team and ended up at Port Vale in the National League for the second half of the season, only contributing 1 assist over 16 games, but a better spell than his one with Newport as Port Vale at least stayed up and got a mid table finish. Despite that his value has remained high at £2.7m-£5.2m even though Swansea almost released him on a free, so maybe there's still a chance of decent fee in the future. Evans Ackah - A few appearances early on for Blackpool but he wasn't quite ready for the step up to the Championship, so he ended up on loan to Wycombe in League One, playing 25 times and getting 1 assist. Ackah's value has stayed relatively low at £75k-£750k, so another where potential earnings may be limited. John Brooks - Brooks spent the season on loan at York City in League Two, playing 26 games with 1 assist, and just missing out on the playoffs to Cook's Wrexham. Brooks' value is the most unpredictable as it ranges from £12k-£6.2m, he could end up bringing in a good fee, he could get tossed aside it seems, but he still has plenty of time to earn a big fee.

Love a good old bidding war - initially agreed to sell him for around £1m, then kept offering him out and slowly negotiating the price up until I got to £7m

Season 10 - 2032/33 - Sky Bet League One League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - A tough season, but we managed to stay up with one game to spare! It was an incredibly tight scrap at the bottom, which I thought would be too tough to escape from as we really stuggled early in the season despite picking up some early wins. A shift back to 4-4-2 brought some good results in November and we made the most of playing our relegation rivals in December to drag ourselves into mid-table. We were very streaky this season though and we ended failing to win in 9 games before good old rivals Burton showed up to get another pumping by us After that we limped to the end of the season and with 4 games to go I felt like 4-6 points would be enough and very gettable with fellow strugglers Wycombe and Swindon in our run-in, but we ended up FM'ing eventually promotion winners Woking to derail their title challenge and give us the points that essentially kept us up! A win against Wycombe all but confirmed it, whilst Cambridge and Swindon faced each other in a game-in-hand survival decider, which Swindon won and sealed survival for me. Alex Hailey and Richard George ended up with a fantastic partnership up front, getting 35 goals between them and really filling the gap left by Muzonho and Ottesen. Brooks was formidable at the back, as was Ackah both developing fantaastically. Skjeldestad went from shaky back up for Baker to first choice CB over the season, making fantastic progress and nailing himself a starting XI spot. After Jason Hart's dislocated shoulder, he fractured his back after just three games, so Keith Curran ended up playing the majority of my games this season really stepping up and doing well, giving me a headache for next season as to whether he keeps the #1 spot for next year, especially having two major injuries in one season make me worried about Hart's longevity. Maxwell had a good first season too making a good partnership with Handzic in midfield, though I made the mistake of not offering him a contract when he came through and had to panickedly give him £1.4k p/w as Burnley almost managed to get him on a free transfer. All in all, a good season to stay up and for development, I'm confident we can stay up again next year as long as we don't lose too many players in the summer. Cup - A slight disappointment in the EFL Cup this year, we got to the 3rd Round again which is great, but no big teams as a money spinner We were fortunate to get two League Two sides in the first two rounds to help us progress, but we ended up with Blackburn at home just which ended up being too much for us. The EFL Trophy was better than last season, winning our group, but by the time the second round came around we were in horrid form and I felt it was more useful to rest the first team than progress much further, although if it wasn't for a 1st minute red card, I feel my back-ups could have gotten past Portsmouth, but it wasn't to be. I did look up how much you get for winning the EFL Trophy and almost decided to prioritise it as it does give decent money, netting at least £225k if you win it all, but the sub-1k attendances kinda balance that out and it ends up being an unneccesary distraction. Then the main event, the FA Cup, we were so close to Wembley! We were very fortunate again with our draws, getting League Two sides again in the first two rounds, which were useful "easy" games to help regain form when we were pretty bad in the league. We got Salford in the 3rd Round which was disappointing, but they were struggling enough in the Championship that we managed to cause an upset. The 4th Round drew us at home to National League Port Vale, which again helped us as we were struggling for league form at the time, and we managed to get past them fairly easily even with a rotated side. Millwall at home was the draw for the 5th Round, which was good for progression chances, but actually annoying as I just wanted a Premier League team at this point so I could get my money and concentrate on the league. But like Salford, they were struggling in the league (the two of them finished 20th and 21st in the end), so we ended up managing to knock them, we were second best for most of the game but Richard George popped up at the end of the game to send us to the QF! Newly-appointed Top 6 side Everton was our reward in the Quarters, which bagged us some decent change as they now play in the 53k Bradley-Moore Dock, but we were thoroughly out-classed by them (not surprising against Premier League challengers), a late-ish flourish to get back to 3-2 gave me some fleeting hope we might pull off a huge shock and get to Wembley, but it wasn't to be. Furthest we have gotten so far, and a magnificent run! Finances - The cup run helped our finances massively this season, as did the sales of Ackah and Brooks for a combined £2.4m (£1.2m of which came in this summer), plus the installments from previous sales. We're staving off serious financial trouble, but I think if we can stay in League One, we should be able to sustain ourselves with solidarity payments and 1 or 2 player sales a year, plus we continue to grow our supporter base which should help generate more cash and increase season ticket sales. We're not quite at the level to invest much more in our facilities, but hopefully we can get there soon, although I'm not sure I agree with our boards reasoning to not improve our youth facilities... Gestures broadly at my entire career at the club Youth Intake Connor Reynolds [33A] - Michael Gibbons [33B] - Marc Chapman [33C] - Izak Waldo [33D] - Joshua Diallo [33E] - Eddie Browne [33F] - Scott Dunn [33L] A much smaller intake this year, but one I'm very excited about. Connor Reynolds looks a great prospect and already a decent striker for this level, he even scored on debut coming off the bench against Everton to become ours and the Cups youngest player/goalscorer! Browne is another player that became a first team option after coming through, though more due to my light options in midfield, but I'm still very excited for him. We also won't be lacking for left sided options with 3 decent looking LB/LMs, plus some decent potential depth options up front with Waldo and Dunn. Former Player Watch Jimmy Cook - Spent the season on loan at Grimsby (Which funnily enough meant 2 matches vs Us in which he conceded 7 goals ) playing 47 games and conceding 61 goals, Grimsby ended up 17th in what ended up being a decent loan spell for him. Huddersfield got relegated to League One this season, so he may potentially be taking their #1 shirt next year, which should increase his value even further. Adriano Muzonho - No games for Stoke this season, and ended up on loan in the Portuguese 4th tier getting 4 goals and 2 assists in 17 matches. The highest valued of my sales at £900k-£9m, I get the feeling Stoke won't be selling him any time soon. Haukur Mar Ottesen - Little of note from Ottesen this season, one appearance off the bench in the EFL cup for Reading and then U21 football for the rest of the season, he didn't take part in Reading's title win. Plenty of loan interest in him now though, so hopefully he can some game time elsewhere next season. Nathan Watson - Loaned out to Newport in the National League, he played 46 games in total getting 4 goals and 4 assists, but was ultimately unable to help prevent Newport finishing 22nd and falling to the VNS. Surprisingly, it seems Swansea are already cutting him loose as he is transfer listed for £2.5m, unfortunate for the lad, but a potential £1m windfall for me!

Currently in 32-33, half the team wants to leave and the other half is too young, plus Jason Hart dislocated his shoulder and is out for two months, suffering is one way to put it But we randomly smash teams to keep our survival hopes alive, so I got that going for me.

A sneak peak at how League One is treating us We may not be good enough for this league, but at least our local boys can pull it out of the bag to claim the pride of Staffordshire label!

Season 9 - 2031/32 - Sky Bet League Two League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - The main takeaway from this season is I had the chance to potentially relegate Birmingham City from the EFL on the final day, but couldn't beat them rendering the whole season a disappointment really Seriously though, it was an unbelievable season, we got off to a good start but I thought the poor turn in September would result in a very patchy season, but then we went on to win 8 games in a row in the league and spent two months at the top of the table! The sheer amount of games in November and December derailed our initial title challenge, but we managed to pick form up towards the end of the season whcih put us back in the conversation as it seemed no-one wanted to win the title, case in point, with three games to go the top 5 sides were seperated by just 3 points, it's one of the tightest title challenges I've ever had. We did briefly get top spot back, and even took the lead against 2nd place Wycombe in the penultimate game, which would have won the title, but we let the game slip and only picked up a point on the final day so we slipped down to third. Keeping Ottesen and Muzonho for the second half of the season was crucial as it allowed me some consistency whilst I started to blood in some of their potential replacements for next season and adapt to a new tactic. What was reassuring about the tactic switch was that it resulted in my good run of form in March/April as soon as I made the change, getting a record of 6/2/2 in the final 10 games, so I'm confident in the 4231 I'm now going with to get the best out of this team. Evans Ackah stepped into Watson's shoes magnificanetly and became a key player this season making the role his own, whilst John Brooks cemented his place at CB alongside Robinson. Bonnevie and Handzic also made big strides, which has got me considering the possibility of dropping Atkinson from the team for the first time in seven seasons. Hailey's development and good finish to the season gave me confidence he can lead the line on his own next year even if there isn't much of a backup for him currently, making the Ottesen and Muzonho losses less of a blow. Looking at my loan players too it looks like it may be time to phase Jason Hart out of the team as Jimmy Cook has developed really well after three years out on loan, having a magnificent season for Hartlepool in the National League. Whilst I'm obviously delighted to be promoted, I am worried that it is far too soon, especially with players leaving, a lot of younger players are going to have to be thrown into the deep end I reckon, and I think I need a cull of some of the players that are just not good enough for this level despite their work to get us here, such as Pearce and McDonald. Cup - An extra cup competition means an extra potential revenue source! Our first foray into the EFL Cup was very succesful, although slightly disappointing that our first ever game in the competition was with the only other side to have never played in it, Dorking. However that did give me the confidence we could win the game, which we did. League One Chesterfield awaited in the Second Round, and they were not playing well at the time, having only scored one in their first four games, they would go on to fight relegation all season, only to save themselves with a flurry of wins in the second half of the season, but we managed to take advantage of their fraility in the cup. Man City away was our reward in the first round, a much needed money-spinner, and one we did very well in, even having a couple of chances to score, but ultimately going out 2-0. A respectable first attempt in the comp. The FA Cup was so close to embarassment in the first round, going behind early against National League Boreham Wood, we needed a 94th minute equaliser from Lawley to force a replay. Once we were back at the Lamb Ground, we whooped Boreham Wood, but it was too close of a scare. The Second Round we were much better, beating National League Chester with ease to return to the Third Round. Stamford Bridge once again welcomed us for the Third Round and once again ended our run. Not as competitive as my last trip here or the trip to Manchester earlier this season, as we went 2-0 down in 11 minutes, but still it was a commendable performance. The EFL Trophy was a disappointment really, we were out after 2 games and after losing to Newcastle U21s, I didn't feel it was worth the effort this season. Finances - Cup runs and player sales really helped this season, bringing in roughly £2.2m in total, without which we'd have been screwed. I'm hoping though that next season our income will start to improve with promotion, having the bigger stadium for a full season and our fan base taking another boost. Plus the reputation boost to ourselves and the players should mean we won't need to sell many players to cover any shortfalls if it comes to it. I'm cautiously optimistic that we're getting to a good position. Youth Intake Josh Evans [32A] - Jared Rowett [32B] - Derek Kelly [32C] - Gaz Mundell [32D] - Aaron Maxwell [32E] - Bradley Anderson [32F] - Richard Bannister [32G] - James Daly [32H] - Christian N'Gakosso [31I] - Lewis Joseph Gunnell [32J] A good intake, with a couple first team squad candidates. Maxwell I'm very excited for due to him being my first Perfectionist, and potentially looking like a good back up for Handzic. Rowett, Kelly and Mundell may benefit from my lack of forward options next season and get some game time, but they're definitely ones for the future. Evans continues my tradition of good GK options in my intakes, but will probably follow the path of my other GK's like Cook, Curran and Baptiste and spend some time out on loan before getting first team consideration.

After the first negotiation I locked it in and they just didn't walk away. My guess is because they offered a loan back anyway after agreeing the deal they weren't worried about having them right away so wasn't a big deal in the negotiation.

The academy is starting to pay off with two more sales in January Both had gotten unsettled after attracting Championship attention, so whilst I possibly could've gotten more for them, I didn't want to **** them off too much and took what I could get without worrying about too many add ons. It would've thrown a spanner into the team if they'd left mid season as we don't really have good enough replacements for them and I didn't want to search for a new tactic mid season, but you don't need a loan back if you demand the transfer happens at the end of the season *taps head*

To add to what @XaW and @darren1983 have said, Stourbridge only start with 16 players, so if they released players and didn't sign any youth players they're going to have a really small squad unfortunately. Personally I wanted to start a save as Merthyr for my attempt but had the same issue so had to choose someone else.

I don't think I've ever had an average attendance % that high as a team at this level, or any level even, the stadium expansion can't come soon enough!

The Zaha curse, good enough to be so important to a mid-table side that they don't want to sell, not good enough that anyone who can afford him is willing to pay up.

I'm only 8 games in to my first League Two season, but this makes me very happy Just local bragging rights, no other reason, honest...

My first big-ish sale of the save, Nathan Watson left on deadline day for Championship Swansea. £200k guaranteed with the possibility to rise to £425k with very achievable add-ons, plus 40% of his next sale and a friendly next summer which should bring in a further £30k-£40k. A tad disappointing as he developed into a key player for me last season and his ability at RB really helped my narrow formation work and added some needed width, so hopefully Evans Ackah can make the step up even though I just planned to use him as a backup this season.

Season 9 - 2030/31 - Vanarama National League League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - We are Football League! An amazing season, we started off well which gave me hope we could get into the playoffs, but everything just clicked around November as we went on a 21 game unbeaten run to put us right into the title challenge. We played some really good football and the 433 we're currently using is getting the most out of the players, especially upfront with Oliver and Pearce having fantastic seasons, whilst Ottesen became a useful battering ram as part of the front three. We also benefitted from a settled side with our starting XI now firmly entrenched, but also the back up players kicking on this season so that resting players often didn't cause a huge drop off in quality or performance. We're perhaps still a bit undercooked for League Two, but professionalisation will help massively in that regard. Matt Oliver became the first player to over 300 games and 100 goals for the club, and is fast approaching Daniel Creaney's goalscoring record of 115 goals, but still has a way to go to reach Yeomans' 400 appearances for the club, especially since he's still playing for us. We finally managed to tie down Baker to a new contract after having him for two years on a non-contract and seeing teams like Bolton and Swindon sniff around him, so hopefully we may be able to get some money for him if they are still interested over the next few years. This was the club's highest ever position, and first ever promotion to the Football League, which meant I got bumped up to icon status, and hopefully not too far from Legend Cup - A disappointing season for the cups, although I suppose it allowed me to focus on the league a bit more this season. We did go a round further in the FA Trophy, but were knocked out on pens in the fourth round after a truly awful performance against relegation threatend Bath City, so we couldn't even match our best run in this competition in what is hopefully our last ever entry. In the FA Cup we got through the qualifying and first rounds fairly comfortably, but ended up away to Cambridge who were just too good for us in the second round. Finances - No money spinning cup runs this season so we had a bit of a hit to our finances, which wasn't great considering that professionalisation will see us lose even more money next season. We are expanding the stadium to meet league requirements for next year, which should hopefully see some improved income, especially as we had a bump to our supporter numbers too and are projected to sell far more season tickets for next season, but the loan will add an extra £10k a month to our expenditure. We may need to seriously start considering either offering players out or scaling back the youth investment. EDIT - Forgot to mention that I made my first player sale this season, Milosz Stefanowicz returned to Poland for £10k. With the move to a narrow 433 there was little room left for him and he didn't adapt well to CM, and he got upset at his lack of game time so I cashed in as much as I could before his contract ran out. A bit sad to let him go as he'd made 293 appearances for me and contributed 24 goals and 49 assists, only Oliver (110G/32A), Pearce (99G/32A) and Atkinson (41G/64A) have contributed more goals out of all my youth candidates. Youth Intake Alex Hailey [31A] - Kenniel Francis-Burrell [31B] - Jan Arne Skjeldestad [31C] - Richard George [31D] - Jordon Dundas [31E] - Brennan Dawkins [31F] - Jarrod Carter-Byrne [31G] - Michael Smith [31H] - Sam Geary-Heaton [31I] A decent intake, one I'd be very happy with if it wasn't for the huge talent pools we had the last couple of years. Hailey looks a decent prospect and adds a bit more pace (relatively) up front for us, and even scored 4 and assisted 1 in the 7 matches he played in this season, so I'm excited to see how he'll do next season. There's some pretty decent personalities across the board with a couple of exceptions, so I'm hopeful this batch can meet their potential. I like the look of Skjeldestad, Dawkins and Carter-Byrne, so we may get some more depth at the back out of this intake too. My secondary aim for this challenge is to finally get a son on this game after 15+ years of playing, and we had two players called Smith in this year's intake, but neither were my son or even related for that matter.

A brief preview of how this season is going, probably the biggest game in the club's history, and I'm not liking our head to head record

Season 8 - 2029/30 - Vanarama National League League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - A fantastic season despite the mid table finish that had us in the top half for most of it, picking up 41 points in our first 28 games, only to pick up just 16 in the last 18 matches, but that still provided enough to secure Tamworth's highest ever finish! We changed things up this season, switching to a Narrow 433 to try to accomodate our best players, which saw the likes of Stefanowicz, McDonald and Jones slowly phased out as I began to rely more on players like Ottesen, Bonnevie and Handzic. Watson also progressed nicely this season and displaced Yeomans from the team, although I retrained him as a CB as he's a useful back up for the position, whilst I started to rotate Sang more with Brooks and Yeomans, with Robinson becoming the heart of the defence. We progressed nicely over the season, despite the downturn in form and I'm happy with how we're shaping up. The next goal now is a top half finish and hopefully professionalism so we can start developing our young talent a bit more. Cup - Another disappointing showing in the FA Trophy, but at least we went out to Tranmere this year who went out in the semi-fianl and got to the playoff final too. In the FA Cup we had another trip to the fourth round, playing non-league teams up to the third round until we had the relegation threatened Hartlepool, who we took to a replay and beat in front of a sell out at the Lamb Ground. Brighton at the Amex was our reward in the fourth round, but like our last trip to the south coast, the attendance was at around 60% which meant the gate receipts were quite as lucrative as I would've liked, but it still bumped the coffers considerably. Finances - As mentioned, the FA Cup run helped boost our finances, which was sorely needed after last year's half a million pound loss, I think I may have to just try to make the most of my intake for a few years and then consider scaling back the youth facilities. We did get a bump in our fans numbers, but we'll need to grow a bit more quickly to keep up with our facilities. Hopefully we can compete at the right end of the table and have a promotion run soon which can boost that further. However we are starting to be able to loan out players and even got a loan fee for Ben Hart, so we may be able to start profiting off some players soon or at least get some of the wage burden eased whilst also developing the young players. Youth Intake Aaron Baptiste [30A] - Aleksejs Morozs [30B] - Kyle Rivers [30C] - Adam Rowe [30D] - Gardner Blaney [30E] - Liam Edwards [30F] - Adriano Muzonho [30G] - Gerard Burke [30H] - Ben Warren [30I] - Nicky Rollo [30J] - Harry Cooling [30K] - Egzon Elezi [30L] - Ben Cervantes [30M] Another great intake, although not many immediate first team candidates considering we have a fairly settled side now, although Muzonho having a bit of pace might make him useful now I'm playing with three strikers. Baptiste is the stand out and another candidate to be the long term succesor to Hart, and since Hart is starting to be difficult with contract negotiations, it may be time to try to cash in on him soon, so gettting players like Baptiste (and Warren) to go alongside Cook and Curran from previous intakes, I feel well stocked between the sticks so it may not be the worst thing in the world for Hart to move on. Quite afew decent wingers in this intake which is typical as I've just stopped using them, so it may mean I look at switching back to a formation with wide players in a couple of years. I've tied down most players to contracts with extension clauses in now, but I'm starting to get interest from Championship and even a few Premier League clubs for these players, but no fees offered yet, but this may be the intake that starts to turn a profit for me. And now I'm caught up to the season I'm actually playing

Season 6 - 2028/29 - Vanarama National League League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - A tough first season in the National League, but we managed to steer clear from relegation for much of the season, starting off well picking up 19 points from the first 12 games which gave us some much needed breathing room as we hit some turbulent form between October and December. We were pretty patchy from there on until we had a bit of a purple patch in February and March to get us above 50 points which was my survival target at the start of the season. From there on out we were in pretty bad form and I rotated heavily to give some younger players game time so we perhaps finished lower than we could have but I was still happy to have survived quite comfortably in our first season. Our team is now close to 100% youth players with Yeomans being the only non-newgen still getting regular game time, and even he came from the youth academy, and I'll likely phase Hart, Cockerill-Mollett and Jones out over the next season. Cup - A poor season in the cups this year as the games right in the middle of our poor form. We fell at the first hurdle in the FA Trophy, getting knocked out by VNN Halifax Town in what was a pretty disappointing performance. We did slightly better in the FA Cup, although we required a replay to get past Southport in the qualifying round. Barnsley away awaited in the first round and they were just too good for us, we couldn't get in the game at all and only got a consolation late on. Youth Intake Taylor Bonnevie [29A] - Andrew Connolly [29B] - Keith Curran [29C] - Evans Ackah [29D] - Nathan Watson [29E] - John Brooks [29F] - Jarrod Evitts [29G] - Jakob Lawley [29H] - Llion Williams [29I] - Markland Dennis [29J] - Sam Aldridge [29K] - Pat Brady [29L] - Haukur Már Ottesen [29M] - Danildo Nunes [29N] What an intake! I've invested so much in youth facilities that YR and JC are both now at exceptional, which I believe is the highest they will go, plus the board upgraded our Youth Level to Level 3 over the summer, which has massively paid off with 14(!) 4.5-5 star potential players, although it's giving my finances a bit of a beating now. There's too many to go through, but Bonnevie is the pick of the bunch, and will likely go straight into the first team next season, whilst Connolly, Ackah, Watson, Brooks, Lawley and Ottesen all got some good game time at the end of the season, with Ottesen even becoming our youngest ever goalscorer at 15yrs 296ds, and will likely be squad players going forward. I was also happy to get some decent FBs again in this intake as Baker is still refusing a new contract, so will be free to leave in the summer, hopefully he'll stick around on a non-contract but we'll have to wait and see. On the whole I'm really excited for this group.

Season 5 - 2027/28 - Vanarama National League North League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - What a season, promoted at last! We were ran close in the end by Banbury but we managed to pull out of a bit of a tail spin at the end of the season to secure the title with 1 game to go, we were at one point in danger of blowing a 9 point lead, but got over the line in the end which gave me an opportunity to play a lot of youngsters in the final game. This season was probably defined by some key prospects stepping up to become key figures in the team. Whilst many of them were important players last season, it was only really Oliver that was a consistent performer for me, but this year Atkinson, Stefanowicz and McDonald all had their most productive seasons with 28, 22 and 11 goal contributions respectively. Sang became even more important and one of the first names on the team sheet, and Pearce stepped up to fill the role of the aging Alex Jones brilliantly, netting 28 goals the highest of any youth prospect so far. Also Billy Baker had a ridiculous season of growth, going from Cockerill-Mollett's 2.5 star rated back up, to the first name on the team sheet and the highest rated player in the squad at 4.5 stars. In fact, his progress has been so rapid, that he is now refusing to sign a contract with us as the squad isn't good enough for him. He has one year left on his youth contract, so we'll see if the rest of the team can catch up enough by the end of next season, otherwise we run a big risk of losing him on a free. Cup - Progress made in the FA Trophy finally! The furthest we have gone in this competition, making it all the way to the quarters before Ebbsfleet knocked us out, who were themselves challenging for the VNS title. Disappointing to not take advantage of our good form this year and make it further, but I feel we'll have plenty of time to try and win it over the next few years as I can't see us getting to League Two any time soon. in the FA Cup we managed aboth trip to the third round! We were extremely fortunate with our qualifying games, with Gainsborough providing the only real test, but with them at the wrong end of the VNN it was still relatively easy. We came up against Harrogate for the third year in a row and have become a real bogey team for them, managing to catche them in a run of horrible form. In the second round was probably our biggest scalp of the save so far with League One Morecambe, another team that was in a bad run at the time and we managed to take advantage of their fragility by scoring twice late on after conceded an early penalty. The third round saw another Premier League away day, this time to Southampton, which didn't generate quite as much as the stadium was only about 60% full, but still a good boost to the finances that allowed more investment in the youth programme, getting up to Excellent in both Recruitment and Coaching now. Youth Intake Davor Handzic [28A] - Jimmy Cook [28B] - Ruari Croly [28C] - Greg Whiteman [28D] - Tyreece Sang [28E] - Adil Mohammed [28F] - Joe Robinson [28G] - Ben James [28H] - Mike Ekwalla [28I] - John Dopson [28J] - Philip Prince [28K] - Daniel Atkinson [28L] Probably our best intake yet, nearly every player was classed as an elite talent. Handzic is the pick of the bunch, good enough to go straight in to the first team, a possible replacement for Alex Bradley and an upgrade on O'Brien. Jimmy Cook looks like he could be a long term challenger to Hart and Whiteman will likely be around the first team to challenge for McDonald's place. Croly looks like he has the potential to get a place up front, but I'll likely bleed him in slowly as we have quite a few candidates for that position. Mohammed came through at a useful time with Baker's refusal to sign a contract, so we may have a natural successor for him, but whether he can progress like Baker seems unlikely with his personality. And the last player I'll call out is Robinson as we have few CB's currently so he'll be a useful rotation player alongside Williams to deputise for Sang and Hart. Bring on the National League!

Season 4 - 2026/27 - Vanarama National League North League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - It was an odd start to the season where we only lost one game but seemed completely unable to hold onto a lead and looked destined for mid-table after only get 14 points in the first 11 games, then we went on a long run of good form that put is right into the promotion picture by the middle of the season. We ended up just missing out on promotion, both me and Boston missing out to Altrincham on GD on a tense final day. I'm starting to get sick of playoffs, knocked out for the third year in a row, we just don't seem to have the composure to see out the biggest matches, although we did show some character to get past Spennymoor in the semi-final, Oliver (wearing the armband after becoming VC this season) equalised with the final kick of the 90, and then Sang popping up from a corner to win it in extra time, we did brilliantly to stay in the game and it was encouraging that we started to be able to turn games like that around. The final however we were seemed to never get on the front foot. We were 2-0 down after 17 minutes, but managed to equalise in the 20th, despite the quick turnaround we couldn't use that momentum and Boston ended up getting 4-2 ahead before a late consolation from Atkinson. Again though it was a good season in which we progressed and the young players are starting to shape the spine of this team. Da Piedade started at the beginning of the season in goal, but was awful, which meant Hart ended up my starting GK which seemed a lot more solid. Sang forced his way into the CB position more permanently whilst Atkinson, McDonald and Stefanowicz became important parts of my midfield four, and Oliver became VC, but with captain Creaney really declining this year, he basically had the armband all season and took a leading role up front with Pearce getting some good minutes too. Cup - Another frustrating FA Trophy campaign, once again falling in the 3rd round, this time to VNS Oxford City. We went behind early on and just couldn't get much of a foothold back in the game after we were 2-0 down. It didn't help that it came in the middle of a packed December when I had to rotate players and I started giving player time off from training just to have them fit for the next match. Hopefully once the youth players start developing a bit more we can have a deeper squad that I'm comfortable to rotate a bit more. Once again though the FA Cup was a brilliant other story, I'm having some absurd luck with it on this save! When we faced off against League sides it was against two sides struggling for form and against relegation which gave us opportunities to cause upsets, although I was convinced I would go out to Hartlepool in the 3rd Round, but having most of our cup matches at home seemed to be a massive advantage. Then in the 4th round we got the absolute dream draw, away to Man Utd which netted us over £1m! Most of which immediately went into facility upgrades, although some was kept in the bank so I have a bit of a buffer financially as I can't rely on games like this every season. Youth Intake Billy Baker [27A] - Neil Bates [27B] - Emmanuel Okafor [27C] - Sam Darkin [27D] - Lewis Watson [27E] - Lewys Williams [27F] - Dalmar Creighton [27G] - Ryan Williams [27H] - Trevor Dixon [27I] - Eddie Lynch [27K] A good intake this year with a couple first team candidates in Baker, Okafor and Creighton, although I'm happy enough with my squad right now that I don't think I need to use them as anything more than back ups for now.

Season 3 - 2025/26 - Vanarama National League North League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - A disappointing season after last years flirt with a title challenge as we couldn't kick on like I'd hoped, although that is in part due to the stronger teams at the top of the table as whilst 84 points was enough for 2nd last year, it only got me 5th this year. Chester, South Shields and Fylde were just a cut above the league so there's no real shame in not keeping up with them. We struggled for goals this year as whilst Creaney seemed to get back in to form quite quickly, clearly his injury had hampered him as he dropped off towards the end of the season at couldn't reach the totals he got the last two seasons. Clement also struggled post injury return which meant I struggled with chance creation from midfield at times, although Atkinson and Stefanowicz stepped up from the wings as we moved to a 442 this year. I ended up relying quite heavily on youth players this year with McDonald, Atkinson, Oliver, Stefanowicz, Sang and O'Brien all becoming first team regulars and Ogden, Statham, Joseph and Pearce getting some good minutes too. Da Piedade started out well as my first choice keeper this year, however by March I was frustrated with him making big mistakes and I dropped him for Jason Hart, who has begun to develop nicely, although the shirt will be up for grabs again next season. Cup - Our FA Trophy campaign was frustrating as we eased past Coggeshall only to lose to Halifax on penalties despite their poor form in the National League, it was the type of fixture I would hope to get something from but we were unable to take advantage. The FA Cup was a whole different story, making it to the Cup Proper this season! Not only that, but we managed a couple of upsets knocking out League Two Harrogate Town who were struggling for form (they actually got relegated in 24th this season) and then had a real ding-dong of a match at home to Tranmere which saw 4 goals in the final 7 minutes of the match to put me in the 3rd Round! I hit the jackpot with a visit to Stamford Bridge which filled the coffers nicely and we even managed to put in a decent performance and get a goal. This cup run allowed me to invest in my Youth Facilities, Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching, so despite the end of season finances being in the red, hopefully we can start to see some improved intakes. Youth Intake Shamoy Jones [26A] - Gavin Williams [26B] - Jamey Turley [26C] - Conor Griffiths [26D] - Aron Holleran [26F] - Neil Pitchers [26H] (Forgot to take a screenie of the intake, so enjoy the preview) An okay intake, Shamoy Jones being the stand out with good technical attributes, but his physicals and personality let him down. Williams could be a useful option if I go back to using AMs but might not fit in to may tactics for a while. Turley and Pitcher could be useful with their passing ability but I'm happy with my CMs so can leave them to develop for a bit, and I may look at retraining Holleran to play up front with his finishing and composure as he could add some much needed pace upfront even if he's not particularly quick. I'm actually a few seasons in, but I'll try not to spam too many updates in herewhilst I catch up.

Season 2 - 2024/25 - Vanarama National League North League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - We had a fantastic start to the season and were firmly in a title race with Boston right up until January and playing some really good football, and what was most encouraging was that I'd begun to blood some of the youngsters with Oliver, Da Piedade and O'Brien becoming first team regulars, and Statham and Stefanowicz saw significant minutes too. But unfortunately we began to stumble from February onwards, allowing Boston to run away with the title, and then we ended up getting hit with a ton of bad luck, namely big injuries to three key players in Creaney, Clement and Jones, with Clement and Jones getting injured in the same game, leaving them all out for the rest of the season. Despite the disappointment of not being able to keep up my title challenge, I was still very happy with 2nd and a playoff berth, but injuries had taken their toll and our inexperience showed as we went out in the semi final to Gloucester City, whilst we had the better of the possession and chances, we just couldn't find the composure to get into the game. It was a good season and I feel it sets me up for a good tilt at promotion next year now some of the youth players have a bit more experience and we have a new crop coming through, plus we finished above Nuneaton and they also failed to go up via the playoffs which is a big bonus! Cup - A much better season in the cups this year making it to the 5th round of the FA Trophy, which came around just as I was hitting my downturn in form and I ended getting knocked out by Eastbourne Borough, but we had some good performances to get there so I'm happy with the progress. I also progressed in the FA Cup, making it just one game away from the Cup Proper but faced National League Chesterfield who were just too good for me. Youth Intake Matty Atkinson [25A] - Jason Hart [25B] - Jordan McDonald [25C] - Zibusiso Sang [25D] - George Osborne [25E] - Lewis Pearce [25F] - Kevin Harris [25G] - Rhys Clewlow [25I] - Tom Morgans [25J] - Francis Griffin [25K] Another good crop of youngsters with quite a few first team candidates already I feel. Matty Atkinson is the stand out and I think he could be an important player right away although he has a disappointing personality, but he definitely should be challenging for either Jones' or Clement's spot in the team whilst they recover from injury. McDonald and Pearce have similar opportunities whilst Clement and Creaney recover. McDonald I feel can provide some needed depth in midfield at least and all Pearce is missing is a bit of pace to be a great striker at this level, hopefully I can create chances for him in the box as he seems a great natural finisher. I'm glad to get another goalie in Hart, just to provide Da Piedade with some competition and I'm hopeful for Osborne too, but with a few decent RBs already at the club I can take a bit more time blooding him in.

Massively enjoyed my attempt with South Shields a couple years ago, so I'm taking another stab this year. This time a bit closer to home as I remembered to load the Southern Premier Central and have gone with my family's local team - Tamworth FC The Lamb Ground Starting Manager Attributes Pre-Start Youth Intake Phil Ogden [23A] - Luke Statham [23B] - Seamus O'Brien [23C] Tamworth have started with three decent prospects form their 2023 intake - Ogden has the most potential with an okay personality, he could be the successor to Cockerill-Mollett the current LB and one of the clubs best players, although with his poor marking and decent attacking stats I think moving him further up the pitch may suit him better. Luke Statham has good potential too with a good personality, but isn't quite first team standard yet, particularly with Tamworth's strongest players being across the back four. O'Brien has okay potential and a rubbish personality, but he could be a decent BWM option at least for the short term. Season 1 - 2023/24 - Vanarama National League North League Table - Fixtures - Squad - Transfers League - A good first year to the save spent at the right end of the table, competing in the playoff race for much of the season. In fact we went in to the final game in 7th with a home match against relegation bound Merthyr (who I'd considered being but they had barely any players left), easy! Well of course Merthyr won 2-0 and stayed up whilst we slipped to 8th. We performed poorly in the run in as the season began to take it's toll, losing starting midfield pair Jordan Clement and Alex Bradley to injury, plus starting CB Alex Collard to a straight red to miss the last 3 matches. Suprisingly even though my best players are probably in my defence, we could score this season but couldn't defend. In terms of youth development there wasn't much of note, only Seamus O'Brien got significant minutes as I struggled to find the third in my midfield three to accompany Bradley and Clement, and O'Brien found himself sharing minuted with Milnes and Mussa. He's developing into a decent DM for this level, but doubt he can be an important player long term. Cup - Lost on Pens against Boston in the FA Trophy, and only got past Marine in the FA Qualifying rounds before losing to non-playable, fierce rivals Stafford Rangers, so let's move on quickly from that shall we? Youth Intake Tyler Houston [24A] - Milosz Stefanowicz [24B] - Matt Oliver [24C] - Raul Da Piedade [24D] - John Morris [24E] - Victor Joseph [25F] - Chris Barlone [25H] Hard to tell if this is a good intake or our team is just so bad/small that any player is going to have 5 star potential. I'm hopeful for this crop though, with Oliver and Stefanowicz looking like they could at least be rotational players for the first team. Thankfully I got a keeper in this intake as Jasbir Singh retired this season leaving me limited with options in goal, so Da Piedade may need to be thrown in to the deep end. I'm hoping Morris and Houston can be useful next season too as my midfield options aren't great, but they may need some time to develop. Also a first season takeover! Although a suppoerter's trust may make this save a bit more challenging financially. it at least adds to the RP element of the save, a fan-owned, all-academy, non-League team climbing to Champions League glory

2027-28 Champions League Final V Second Half 47th Minute PSG earn a dangerous free kick out on the left early in this second half, the perfect angle for a ball across the box. Elliott stands over it. Whipped towards Gakpo at the bacl of the box but Keleba is there to win the header. It falls to Moleiro and Malmo can break now. Moleiro has runners with him. The Spaniard keeps carrying forward, it must be a 50 yard run by now, he lays it off to Bardghji in space on his right, into the box! But Marquinhos does really well to cover and get the block in. He holds up Bardghji on the wing and wins the ball back. Now PSG can counter as he finds Elliott up field, it's 3 on 2. Elliott beats Nazareno and plays it forward to Mbappé, a drop of his shoulder and he goes around GIla, through on goal! Oh and what a waste by Mbappé as he fires back across goal he hits it way over the bar and that will never trouble Ronning. What a start to the second half here, it looks like we're in for another furious, blood and thunder half, even those of you sat at home will be winded by the end of this! 54th Minute Oh some lovely passing here by PSG, as they knock the ball around the half way line whilst being harried by the tireless Malmo pressers, but they manage to beat the press and find De Ketelaere in the middle of the Malmo half unmarked. He turns and plays a CB splitting ball into Mbappé, through on goal only Ronning to beat! And he will kick himself for that! 1-1, he should have made it 3-2, but he opens his body and somehow manages to fire high and wide at the near post instead of across goal. That's two great opportunities missed by the Parisian, it should really be 3-3! 55th Minute Ronning takes the goal kick long towards Akman. He beats Marquinhos in the air and flicks it to Moleiro, first time pass into López's path! He bears down on goal and oh my word! Malmo are in dreamland!!! López places a driven shot from the edge of the box past Donnarumma to take the score to 4-1 just moments after Mbappé fluffed his lines at the other end! It's all going right for Malmo and all going wrong for PSG at the moment, this is turning into a magical night for Malmo! 61st Minute Malmo on the counter with Moleiro here, but Elliott manages to get back and wrestle him from the ball. A bit of quick passing at the back and Marquinhos finds De Ketelaere upfield. He takes beat, turns Keleba and plays Elliott into the space left by the full backs press. Elliott brings it down the right, reaches the edge of the box but Keleba has managed to scramble back and hold him up. Elliott turn and plays it to Hakimi on the support run, he goes past Knudsen and Moleiro into the box, to the byline, cuts back past Nazareno and shoots! Good save by Ronning to turn it over the bar. PSG have responded well to the goal and are starting to mount some pressure here. 62nd Minute Elliott comes across to take the corner from the left. Outswinger aimed at the edge of the six yard box and De Ketelaere leaps highest, and it's a goal! De Ketelaere flicks the ball across goal and it loops over Ronning into the side netting. Malmo were caught napping on that corner and PSG aren't quite out of this game yet! 4-2. 64th Minute Nazareno cuts out Neymar's cross towards De Ketelaere. The ball falls to Gila, who plays it out wide to Arenal. Long ball down the line for Bardghji, he beats Mendes to the ball, brings it forward and takes on Kimpembe. Cuts back and creates some space for him self, and lays it back across the box into López's path. Unmarked and ooh that's close! López fires it at the top left hand corner and the ball whistles past the wrong side of the post. Malmo were inches from retaking a three goal lead. The action in this game is far from over! 74th Minute Nazareno with the free kick just inside the Malmo half. He plays it wide to Keleba, oh but it's short! Elliott nips in and wins the ball. Passes to De Ketelaere, returns out to the right as Elliott runs to the wing. He cuts back and bisects Keleba and Jorgensen. Into the box from the right wing, squares up to shoot! And Ronning pulls off another great save to turn it over the bar. What a goal that would have been from Elliott. Neymar with the corner, swung to the back post but Nazareno heads it away. Vitinha is the first to get to the loose ball. Played back to Tielemans near the edge of the box. Takes a shot. Block but now th ball is bobbling in the centre of the box! A real scramble here to get to the ball! And Arenal ends up clearing it, but the flag goes up in the end anyway, Mbappé was offside from Tielemans' shot. Malmo living a bit dangerously there. 80th Minute Jorgensen trots over to the left to take this corner. He's not rushing to take it. He eventually swings it toward the near post. Nazareno!! Off the post and out for a goal kick! PSG will count themselves lucky there, Nazareno was given a free header and Donnarumma was rooted to the floor. We enter the last ten minutes, can PSG overturn this two goal deficit? 92nd Minute Corner to Malmo. Diomandé urged by the ref to hurry over to take it, and then by the assistant too as he stands over it. Malmo are really taking their time over everything as this game nears it's end. Diomandé eventually takes it, inswinger to the centre of the six-yard box, LARSSON!!!!!! Oh what a fairytale end to this game! The Malmo academy player, the Malmo captain, the local hero, he rises highest and powers a header off the underside of the bar to make it 5-2 to Malmo, and surely seals this game! The Malmo fans are delirious in the stands, the players and coaching staff don't know what to do with themselves, they have one hand on the trophy. 94th Minute Corner to PSG. Taken by Neymar, but Gila is there to head it away. Schjelderup heads it out of the box, but Vitinha is there to pick up the loose ball. He plays it Neymar drifting in from the wing. No-one comes to challenge the Brazillian, at the edge of the six-yard box and fires across goal, and it smashes off the post into the bottom corner! That makes it 5-3 but it's all too little too late for PSG, with just 2 minutes left in this game, there surely isn't enough time to mount a comeback. Full Time Willie Collum blows his whistle and brings and end to an absolute classic of a final, this game will be talked about for decades to come! Malmo are the winners in a 5-3 scorefest, the first Scandinavian winners of the competition, at the third time of asking. The players are in heaps on the floor, PSG's from another disappointing final loss, Malmo's from sheer joy. The Malmo bench is completely cleared out as the celebrations begin for the Swedes, a celebration I'm sure will go long into the night! After a terrific game and a terrific run to the final, Malmo are the 2027-28 Champions League Winners!