gowerNCFC

August - 2033 Well... I thought Molde were going to be much more of a challenge - 15-2 says otherwise! Rangers were much more of a match, as we scraped through 5-4, thanks to goals in the 88th and 90th minute. I'm fairly happy with this draw. The target to get through to the play off round is a minimum of 8 points - and this can be done. Wins against Dinamo and St Gallen are a must. Our league campaign is underway in spectacular fashion, as we smash in 22 goals, with a 9-1 and a 9-0 win. More importantly, we win 4-1 away at Hamrun Spartans, who haven't finished outside the top 3 in 15 years.

Season Preview On the eve of our new Premier League season, we are clear favourites to retain our league title. We have 10 of the media dream XI - due to the lack of not having a natural defensive midfielder in our squad.

July - 2033 Well that's July over. We opened up with a comfortable win against Hadjuk, before a couple of pre-arranged friendlies against Chelsea and Lecce. We did play a weakened team against Lecce, they're a team I'd usually expect to beat. The big one started this month. We drew Bulgarian champions CSKA 1948 in the second round - comfortably dispatching them 14-2 on aggregate. Next round we face a sterner challenge in the form of Molde.

Example of Sell On Clause We signed Ibon Sanchez for £19.5k, and sold him on for £75k without ever playing a game for us. He has just been sold for £6m - netting us a cool £1.260m.

Transfer Update - OUT Abel Naya leaves to join Villareal for £750k plus 40% of profit on next sale. We bought him for a year ago for £850k, and it didnt quite work out for him. Zarb was first choice AP, and Naya didn't impress when needed.

Transfer Update - INS The transfer window has just opened, and we have made three new signings. Let me introduce you to them. Landry Guehi joins from our favourite shopping market, ASEC Mimosas. £210k could prove to be a bargain as he has brilliant potential, and should improve rapidly with first team football. Alin Oprea joins from FCSB for £2.5m. It's a little bit more than we usually pay for players - so I'm hoping he can step up to the mark when needed and keep improving. Finally, Ibrahima Diop joins from Generation Foot. He has been loaned back out to continue his development, but this is one I'm real excited for. I believe he will be a £50m plus player in the future. Transfer Update - OUT Philippe Moukoko leaves to join Premier League Derby for £1.7m plus 40% of profit on the next sale. He joined two seasons ago for £43k, so overall it was a win-win for the club with this sale.

World Cup Qualifiers - June 2023 As mentioned on the update post - our road to the World Cup is going to be difficult. We've just played Bulgaria at home and managed a respectable 2-2 draw, and a narrow loss away to Croatia is about as good as we can expect. Standings It's going to be difficult to qualify from this group, but at the moment being competitive is what is expected.

Hey everyone. I've been playing as Balzan FC in Malta - attempting a build a nation save. It's been ongoing quite a while, and I thought I would attempt to put the progress into words... so here goes. The League This was pretty straight forward. The better the team has become, the more comprehensive the league title margins. We're by far the best team in Malta, and it shows. We rarely fail to win. Europe Naturally, success in the league has meant that we qualify for the champions league each season. Due to nation ranking, we start early, but we have managed to reach the knock outs quite frequently - but we do find ourselves getting outclassed by the big boys. Cup Pretty straight forward, apart from one season where the youngsters decided not to turn up... It's become a tournament for our second XI and youth prospects, but it's good for them to get first team experience. We have also won the Super Cup every season apart from one. The Ex-Players One of the things I've prided myself on within this save is developing players, and allowing them to leave at the right moment to bigger clubs. We managed to get Wolde on a free from an Ethopian team, solid him to Porto for £700k, who then sold him to Sociedad for £20m. This gave us a £7m in add ons... not bad for a free transfer! Gradel was signed from ASEC Mimosas for £210k, two seasons and 29 goals later he left for Chelsea for £8.5m potentially rising to £11.25m, not including sell on clauses. There are numerous players that we've bought, and had to sell quickly due to interest from the elite clubs. I am trying to be as realistic as possible when bids come in, as I have to accept the reality that we're a small fish in a very very big pond. Finances This is why we're untouchable in Malta. We've got such a big budget behind us, that when we lose players we can simply replace them with ease without having to break the bank at all. Facilities We have made a lot of progress here. We've managed to upgrade the training, coaching and recruitment to max - with the youth facilities slowly getting there as our reputation increases. We've produced some OK Maltese players, with the absolute standout being Alex Zarb - who is an excellent advanced playmaker. Tactics This very rarely changes, and has served us very well over the past 10 seasons. I find it to be very well balanced, and if you're a dominant team it will destroy teams. National Team Malta are improving - I have been managing them for the last couple of seasons. We managed to qualify for the Euros via the Nations League. We lost against Austria and Belgium, then drew against Wales so went out in the groups. World Cup qualification will be difficult as we have France, Croatia and Czechia in our group. Ouch. Nation Ranking The Maltese Premier League is now ranked 33rd in Europe, with the Malta overall 19th. We're gradually getting there but need some of the other Maltese teams to start qualifying for group stages now. The TV money is around £3m per year for each club - so fingers crossed some progress soon! I will be posting updates as often as possible on this - expect slow progress but this is a save I'm fully invested in so keep an eye out.

Good luck mate! Just into season 4 with Balzan - won the league first 3 seasons and into the champions league group stage season 3. The foreign rules are quite lenient if you're using a similar database (14 in the squad and 9 in the match day at anytime). Valetta have fallen off a cliff in my save, lower mid table now and hovering around the relegation play offs. Once you turn pro, the league is a breeze

Interesting journey so far mate. Only thing maybe to try different would be to have a lower turnover of players when joining a new team. Team Cohesion drops massively with high squad turnover, this could be effecting results early on - especially at Cov.

Nicely done there mate!! Looking good for completing Burkina Faso finally!

February 2024 A really solid month for us. Starting with a win away at Cowdenbeath, where we scored with our only shot on target. We then drew at home with Lossiemouth, where we scored with our only shot on target... theme here? We then beat Huntly at home, by scoring our only two shots on target... And finally drew away at bottom of the league Wick... with our only shot on target. So in February, we had 5 shots on target, and scored 5 goals. Great conversion! Table

January 2024 It was a quiet month for us, the game against Turriff was postponed to midweek which mean a couple of games back to back, but the lads passed the test. We started with a home draw against Forres Mechanics. A difficult game where we only had 28% possession, a point well earned. Next up our rearranged game against Turriff. A solid, if somewhat, unspectacular win. Finally a bore draw against Nairn County. They had 1 shot on target, we had none. Not a game for the neutrals. Table

December 2023 Another very mixed month! We went out of the highland cup - don't care. A solid home win against Banks o' Dee, followed by a creditable draw away at Rothes. The frustrating result was the loss against Inverurie, as we shaded the game. That also brings to an end our unbeaten home record. We see out the month with a bore draw against Keith. We failed to have a shot on target, but the defense held out well. Table

Well... I am looking forward to the inevitable disappointment from this attacking midfielder.

Get out of the league as quick as you can mate, as the play offs are difficult. You'll play off against the Highland League champions, and then the 10th place from Scottish League 2. Its tricky! I'm miles off that at the moment, and I'm already dreading it. I'm playing 4-5-1 at the moment and works nicely.

November 2023 We started the month with a fan day against rock bottom Deveronvale. A bumper crowd of 401 watched us scrape a 2-1 victory. Next up, a not so important game against Cowdenbeath. The board aren't bothered about the Highland Cup, so neither am I. Typically, we beat Cowdenbeath in the Cup, and then draw in the league. Finally, we see out the month with 1-1 draw away at Huntly. There was no way we deserved the point, and an 88th minute equaliser from us was thoroughly undeserving. Table

Speaking of upgrades...

The balance sheet outlines the need for either promotion, or a solid cup run. We are projected to lose a lot of money over the new few years - admittedly the wage costs increasing is highly unlikely with the youth only model, but ultimately, upgrades will only happen with money in the bank.

October 2023 We managed to draw away at Inverurie, by scoring our 3 shots on target. They tripled our xG, so this was a great point. An away win at Lossiemouth, by scoring our only shot on target. Clinical. A great win away at Forres, again we were battered but a switch to 4-5-1 is working wonders. Finally, we battle hard and lose away at Brora. Table

Thanks mate! I am using The (Real Life) Full Scottish Pyramid by Mozza. It's very good.

September 2023 You could call this, a mixed month. Blown away by runaway leaders Buckie Thistle, before a high scoring draw against struggling Wick. Financially, the Scottish Cup was going to be our main earning point... but we lost in the first round against Lowland League side Civil Service Strollers. Finally, we ended the month with a win against lowly Keith. He did well to score against eleven men. Table We have made a solid start, and I am happy with this. The key to this season was survival, and it's looking good to achieve that - even at this early stage. Next month we have four away games... ouch.

August 2023 We had a solid pre season, playing against some lower league teams. A good test against Celtic's B side, one of their goalscorers earns more in a week than our whole squad combined earns in a month. We've had a really good start to the season, I'm not sure we've deserved too many of these wins but we're doing well. We have a big month coming up. We face Buckie Thistle in what promises to be our toughest game so far, along with playing three of the bottom five teams. It's a good opportunity to put some distance between ourselves and those scrapping for survival. Our main focus this month will be progress in the Scottish Cup. That's where the money will come from, and progressing a couple of rounds is key.

Just to show you what we are up against this season...

This is how the Highland League looks for the 23/24 season. We are predicted at 1000/1 for promotion, and unsurprisingly tipped to finish dead last. The board are happy to just survive in this league, and that's what we'll be aiming to do.