The Idea and the Aim of the Save
This is my first career story on this forum.
My goal is to get FC Isle of Man as high as possible on the English football pyramid. I will be using mostly players from the youth academy, with two exceptions: I'm also allowing myself to acquire players from all the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories.
I chose this island-focused framing for the save, because I was reading a book about remote islands (Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky). For some of you these islands (especially the Crown Dependencies) are not that remote, but from the pov of a person living in the Nordics, almost everything feels remote. 😀
Usually my saves go on for 20-30 years before it gets boring, but I have had some saves that go until the 2070s. Let's hope this save would be one of them!
Before diving deeper into the save itself, I'll explain the name of the save.
Part 1: CDs = the Crown Dependencies
(the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man)
Players born in Jersey, Guernsey or Isle of Man are available for me to use. The most well known name (atleast for me) of current football players is Arsenal/Real Sociedad fullback Kieran Tierney, who's born in Douglas (the capital if Isle of Man).
I don't know if the place of birth is the best way to find these players in the game, so if anyone has better ideas, I'm happy to listen!
The location of the Crown Dependencies:
Part 2: BOTs = the British Overseas Territories
As well as "CD players", also all the players with any BOT nationality are available for me to use (doesn't matter if it's their 1st or 2nd nationality).
The BOTs are:
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory*
British Indian Ocean Territory*
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands*
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn Islands*
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha*
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands*
Turks and Caicos Islands
*afaik, these territories are not in the game (I haven't checked from the editor)
Map from Wikipedia showing UK & Overseas Territories:
Most of the players in these territories have England as their first nationality. For this save it doesn't matter if the player have BOT nationality as their 1st or 2nd nationality. There are quite many players with Monsterratian, Bermudian or Gibraltarian nationality, let's hope some of those want to join my team!
As the save goes on, I try to follow how players from Overseas Territories are doing in the game (and snatch the best ones to Isle of Man).
Part 3: Unkindness = a Flock of Ravens
The nickname of FC Isle of Man is the Ravens. A flock of Ravens is called unkindness, so that's the third part of the name of the save.
FC Isle of Man is a club that was formed in 2019. They started their journey on the 10th level of the English football pyramid, in North West Counties League Div 1 South in 2021/2022 season, winning the promotion play-offs. (The original plan of participating already for the 20/21 season didn't happen as the team was suspended from the league because of covid restrictions.)
After the promotion, the team has been participating the North West Counties League Premier Division. In 2022/2023 they finished 13th. This season (23/24) they are currently 14th IRL. In my save, I simulated the season and the team ended up as 16th with 56 points and a goal difference of –10.
What's Next?
The save starts from the beginning of pre-season 2024/2025. I have holidayed one season to get some players to the teams.
I will start by going through the team, facilities, expectations etc.
I've been heavily influenced by some of the great stories on this forum. @Punch had an amazing FC Isle of Man save in FM21 – and I really enjoy their current save with Guernsey. @Jimbokav1971 youth only saves have been an inspiration for me for a good few years. @Rainbowz has created Isle of Man nation database, which would create a whole new dimension to this save, but in the end I chose against using it in this save.
As this is my first time posting a story here, all the comments and feedback are much appreciated!