KibworthBull

October 2054 We moved swiftly to accept £47k + 25% for someone who was our top wage earner AND was leaving on a free in 2 months. Valter did well for us but we won't look a gift horse in the mouth. Victory over Valour mean we finish the league in 1st place. A big win over Toronto before 2 meaningless matches in the league, set us up for the return leg. At one point we were 0-2 and looking very worried but 2nd half goals got us back and we progress to the final. A trip to the Pacific for the Playoff Semi First Leg, both ourselves and Forge do enough to suggest that the final is set in stone. Victory in Washington over DC United bought in 200k to the coffers. We get 3rd place so it's Play-Offs. The League Play-Off is confirmed as being York v Forge. But before that we take a slender lead from Vancouver in the Canadian Championship First Leg. We lost Saeed Al-Balawi to injury, but a late Ryan Hay winner gives us the title.

September 2054 We can split this month into thirds. We start with the league third - two games against Pacific and Forge - both are expected to finish in the playoffs. Despite having 9 away on international duty we get past Pacific. Forge are our mortal enemy this year - 3 straight defeats. We stuff them but lose our No.1 Keeper through injury - he's unlikely to feature again this season thanks to a broken hand. The perfect first leg in the Canadian Championship means we can fully rotate in the 2nd leg before an NACL game Thanks to DM Miloš Dunđerski getting sent off after 8 minutes we had to play most of the Chivas game with 10 - they edged it and it means we can't automatically qualify now.

August 2054 The NACL returns. But before that Jorge Torrico hit some form with a quadruple. In a way the NACL group games are fairly unimportant - we will qualify for a further stage, but getting top 2 means we bypass any play-offs. Which is fairly good as Leon taught us a few lessons. A complete contrast when we travel to America - New York Red Bulls are ripped to shreds. Gomez with 4 The Play-Off place was secured prior to the HFX win - that particular game was dull until the 86th minute and then we scored twice to win. Jorge Torrico has moved onto Legendary status and is on fire at the moment - 8 goals this month AND a new contract signed. The league looks quite good, but Forge have a games in hand

July 2054 The first game of the month is at home to the side propping up the table. Erick Gómez ticks off Ecuador and we win so a perfect day Gomez scores again in the Pacific - they are 3rd so it's a key win. Forge next, the side who have beaten us twice, and they make that three times. I fear the Play-Offs at this rate as undoubtedly we will play them. Christian Montalvo joined the club a couple of days before the Valour match and ticked off Peru (No.#122) Which completes South America - all 10 nations ticked off Forge lose, and ironically so do we, before we exact sweet revenge on Cavalry a couple of days later, not once but twice. We've also delved into the loan market to bring back Carlos Alvarez The league is a two horse race Ecuador Peru

June 2054 An odd month. Just two games. Two players are off to the World Cup. We've also bought a couple of players in - Carlos Leonardo is a Centre Back on loan from Clube Desportivo Primeiro de Agosto (where I am a Legend) - he is costing us nothing. Mohammad Mahmood is from the UAE and is a 19-year-old Centre Back, he's not registered but looks a very handy prospect - he came on a free. We'll get him involved in the Canadian Championship when that comes around. HFX get a pasting, Saeed Al-Balawi enjoys his day, a double and an assist mean he gets the MoTM and our 120th nation is secured with Saudi Arabia. Al-Balawi then goes nuts at Valour. 13 goals this month for the whole team. 10 of them for Torrico and Al-Balawi Table looks a bit nicer now Saudi Arabia

May 2054 4 games in the first 2 weeks of the month, then the registration window hits and we take a short break. Points dropped at Cavalry, and another own goal given away. I need to remind myself that Top 4 is all we need. Valter Muchanga has had a fairly quiet last 15 months or so, but he picked a nice time to grab a hat-trick against Ottawa. Ricardo Salvatierra moves onto 97 goals for the club. Saeed Al-Balawi has had a steady start - 3 in 11. He grabs the winner against HFX and smiles are all around. It took Víctor Caballero just 6 minutes to tick off our 119th nation against Edmonton. We then went a bit nuts. Salvatierra moves onto 99. Torrico not far behind him on 96 Our ability to implode against Forge is amusing to nobody in our camp - TWO sent off in this one. Torrico scores his 97th and then 2 minutes later sees red - 8 minutes into the game. Salvatierra scores goal number 100 but we fail to win AGAIN. And to celebrate his 100th goal - he has found another club. He was a top wage earner so we needed some more depth registerred. Paraguay

April 2054 We start away at Pacific. The squad balance is terrible. A few injuries and it could be a horrible season. We are paying players too much so can only register 16 of the 23 slots. We are able to play until the end of May without confirming the squad so have a small amount of flexibility at the start. It's a problem of my own creation. Víctor Caballero gets the MoTM in the victory, which means we just need him to score and that's a nation - I bet you forgot about that part of the challenge. Back-to-back victories secured thanks to 5 going into the Edmonton nets - new boys Erick Gómez and Saeed Al-Balawi are both off the mark. Forge annoys me, they beat us. That's all it takes to annoy me. We gave them an Own Goal too. Bounce-back-a-bility shown against Valour. We've eased the burden a little by selling off our Ecuadorian Left Back - the £575 per week we are paying him means we can register 3 or 4 of the kids. He goes in June but isn't registered anymore.

March 2054 It would be really, really, really, really, really, good if we could win the NACL this year. Another very even game and we ended up on the wrong side of it. Just. This means we have a lot to do in Mexico Alas, it's not our year. We've fallen at the Quarter Finals for the 2nd year in a row.

February 2054 Trying to get a squad capable of winning the NACL on just 13k a week is tricky. Lots of unhappy players because we can't register them in the league due to the limit, but they are free to play in the NACL. Two new signings. We didn't tick off a nation last season, hopefully we can get at least two this year. Saeed Al-Balawi is a 19 year old Saudi striker Víctor Caballero is a 24 year old Left Mid, or Attacking Mid. He's from Paraguay. Erick Gómez is a 21 year old Attacking Mid from Ecuador on a season long loan from SC Barcelona Both will be first teamers. We need to balance the books so lots of movement is expected. Alvarez was with me in Puerto Rico and he did a decent job, ideally I would have kept him around but it's decent money for someone I didn't register. Similiar story for Bolognini, he's 4th choice striker, so 100k is nice. But first, we have a double date with Seattle. Old Boy, he's 25, Jorge Torrico carries on where he left off last season, with a double and we take a slender lead over the border. 50,000 people watch us, not be SLEEPLESS in Seattle.. Deportivo Tuluca in the Quarters - they knocked us out last year.

November 2053 Can we pick ourselves up from the Vancouver defeat and get past Forge for the title? Course we can. 4 titles in a row. We've now got to find our way past Atlanta in the NACL. Jorge Torrico has barely the strength to smile, but he's won us ANOTHER match. Fabulous. We got £1.4m in gate receipts in Atlanta. Worth the trip alone. We've got to try and turn around a 0-3 scoreline against Vancouver, with 16 players away on international duty. Mega Lols! But then... I realised they were Friendlies, so they were all withdrawn Torrico again scores, this time a double, but it's not enough to completely turn it around. A nice bit of Mexican sun in late November. Cruz Azul. Victory means we go again after the Winter Break (in 2054 season, for us). You must know the drill by now. Jorge Torrico yet again. Our financial picture almost looks pleasant. We will play Seattle in the next Round

October 2053 Columbus Crew. We sat bottom of the group before the game - all sides qualify but if you get into the top 2 then the route is easier. We led 2-0 but Crew are 3 from 3 in terms of draws so it was no surprise that they scored twice late on. Defeat to Ottawa in a game that means nothing. 4 games in 7 days, with 10 players away on International duty. Thanks scheduling gods Massive win over CF Montreal. Also a 3 goal lead for the 2nd leg. 15-year-old Nathan Grainger scores on his debut. We could only field 2 subs against FC Edmonton. Ricardo Salvatierra getting a double. If you were late to Forge, then you'd miss the only goal - Kayne Morgan scoring his first for the club. We finish top of the league, again. Salvatierra with a treble and Montreal are sent on their way. In the League Play-Off, a scrappy draw at Cavalry means we have a few sleepless nights for the 2nd leg. A short trip to Mexico, and a must win game at Leon. A defeat means we must go via the play-offs. It wasn't pretty but we've got through to the League Final - two Craig Heard goals see us through. Everyone is shattered and we still have another game to go. Vancouver in the Canadian Championship 1st Leg Final. Smashed 3-0. Not the start we wanted. If anyone is still fit enough, we have 3 games in 10 days next month.

September 2053 Jorge Torrico is no longer a Jorge-foreigner. He's been in Canada for 3 years so is a dual national. HFX are defeated thanks to a first club goal for Mitchell Cox. At Valour in the Canadian Championship it was a very late show - all 4 of our goals in the last 10 minutes, it means we can relax for the 2nd leg and give some kids a try. We lost the 2nd leg, but won through. Another sale where the player was going to leave on a free at the end of their deal. No Sell on sadly

August 2053 Another win over Cavalry precedes our opening NACL fixture - Minnesota United. I'm a little frustrated with the point against Minnesota, we did more than enough to win the game but it wasn't to be. Victory over HFX secured our place in the play-offs. Edgar Alonso Bonilla was the key man, he wants to leave but for now he's pulling our strings. Toluca are too good for us, away from home the Mexican sides are. Even the best Canadian sides aren't competitive against our rotated sides. Just before the window shut, we strengthened our Centre Back options - Yves Koné is an Ivorian and was available on free. He has good sell on potential and looks a very tidy prospect

July 2053 I mentioned the Have and Have-Not in the last post - sod's law we have the have-nots in succession in July - 3 games in a row. I'm guaranteed to lose one now I've called them Have-Nots. We almost did against Valour, but Jorge Torrico and Ricardo Salvatierra got us out of a hole. We even got past Edmonton. Avoided the defeats to the have-nots And I managed to do the same against the Have's - or at least the Ottawa Have's. A good level of consistency was achieved. Forge have dropped off a little

June 2053 Sylvain Attisso has come in from the cold as injury to Paul Siewe has meant we've registered our Togolese keeper - he was in goal for the draw at Pacific. Jorge Torrico is coming back to full sharpness after his injury - a treble against HFX was what everyone wanted to see. International call ups meant the Ottawa draw can be seen as a good result. Cavalry inflict our first league defeat of the season. They scored their winner in the 94th minute - a defeat that dropped us to 2nd - but then we destroyed Forge and went back top. Canada is starting to turn into a 4 team league - ourselves, Forge, Calvalry and Ottawa are the HAVE's the rest are the have-nots.

May 2053 New month, Same Comfort(s) Cavalry are beaten away from home. Forge are 6 from 6 and top of the table - they are the toughest test we face. Everyone was quite happy with a point. Victories either side of that one mean we are well placed as usual. Forge dropped points so we sit top

April 2053 Single focus. All about York. A draw against Pacific was not the start anyone wanted, Comfort Nyati scored on his debut - he's a South African who has been bought in on loan for the season as Jorge Torrico is injured for the first 6-8 weeks of the season. Normal service resumed against Valour, Ricardo Salvatierra scoring twice, just before he got Canadian citizenship. The fans are really taking to Nyati - well once he got 4 against Ottawa, that moved him to 7 in just 4 games so they love him. Salvatierra now has 84 for the club. We don't need to finish any higher than 4th remember

March 2053 More NACL action. I'm as surprised as everyone else is! We've never been in the Quarters before, and the press seems to imply we have a good chance. We are not at our strongest - suspensions and match sharpness issues. A 4-0 pasting feels about right. It was a full house though. A draw in the return leg, in front of nearly 30,000 people makes the bank manager happy. Our best NACL campaign. Progress is being made. Internationally we are approaching a big moment - AFCON qualifiers. We need to beat Sudan to qualify. First timers in the squad are Andrew Ssenyondo (Midfielder, 17) - the Forward listed below is 34, and our record appearance holder and scorer - if Jr has the career of Snr then we are laughing. He's joined by Vitalis Mpande (Striker, 17) and Sadat Kasozi (27 year old DM) At one point we led 2-0 against the Ivory Coast, as you can see - it didn't end that way. Defeat to Sudan has completely derailed our campaign. It's another competition we miss out on. I've also stepped down - we've gone backwards over the past 3 seasons or so. We struggled to achieve in the end - it started brightly but has fallen away

February 2053 It's a new season and we continue our NACL campaign from last year - the first time we've gotten this far in Canada. In between the sticks we've signed Paul Siewe (Cameroun) and Jordan Pearse. Sylvain Attisso is on the transfer list as Siewe is far better and could get even better. He won't be registered. Dayle Winters comes in from Athletico Ottawa, and is a Centre Half and only 17, he'll help us make our U21 quota next year. He'll turn into a decent option for the level. Alikem Seko is another Centre Half, but has Canadian nationality, he's 25 and has come from Forge FC - he'll be a good option at both Right Back and his natural position. Gareth Chamberlain and Ryan Conteh both retired. All in, we bought in just over £1m in transfer fees, mainly thanks to Andro and Davis moving on - both were Centre Backs and Foreign. On the pitch, we resume our NACL journey. Tigres Home and Away. We lost 2-0 at our place, and faced an uphill battle to try and get anything out of it. And boy did we respond. Daniel Brindley has only played 3 cup games before this moment - not only does he take it too penalties, he scores one in the shootout. Love him already. Massive result

November 2052 Play-Off Final. It's our chance for our 20th league title. We started well and kept up the pressure and it's more silverware. We take a 4 goal lead into the Canadian Championship Final, and it gives us chance to rotate the side a little bit. Gareth Chamberlain and Ryan Conteh both make their final appearances for York United. Craig Heard is the League Player of the Year, Jorge Torrico is the Top Scorer and I am the coach of the year. The club are aiming big - I should be around long enough to see it through, although plans are a little sketchy right now. Uganda have another friendly - this time against Dr Congo. Vitalis Mpande is a young striker and John Ochan is a much older striker, but both could get their first caps. 6 of the starting 11 are teenagers - we are definitely in a transition phase. A tough year for us.

October 2052 Into the final knockings of the 2052 season and there is a lot to play for. We face America who aren't from America, and DC United who are, in the NACL - because of the rules we've already qualified but a top two place will mean we bypass the play-off. America (from Mexico) are blooming good, so a 3-3 draw is a great result, it also ensures we finish in the top two. We got past Valour in the first leg, a good result considering 6 are away with their national sides. Edgar Alonso Bonilla scoring in the 94th minute for the win. The two league games against Ottawa and HFX are just about getting through them without injuries or suspension. A nice moment for Academy Graduate Zoran Vojnović to score a double. Antonio Bolognini is another graduate getting game time this year, the double to see us past Valour brings him to 15 for the season. Jorge Torrico gives us a slender lead over Cavalry, and we defend it in a bore draw to get into next month's final. DC United get their first win and our first defeat of a successful campaign in the NACL Group stage. We power past Pacific to ensure that we've all but secured the Canadian Championship. Jorge Torrico doing the damage. For the national side, a couple of friendlies against sides ranked in the 50s - Mali (57th) and Costa Rica (51st). John Ochan is an AMC/SC and is a new name for the national team. The Mali match was my 100th for Uganda, An annoyingly poor result. I've got a 57% win ratio at this level, which is lower than the domestic scene. A better performance gets a draw from Costa Rica

September 2052 International call-ups mean we go into the Cavalry match without 6 members of the squad. We come back from 0-2 and 1-3 to claim a point. I'll take it. We are very close to securing the Play-Offs. We beat Pacific, mainly thanks to Jorge Torrcio and his brace. Victory over Valour secured our spot with 4 games to play. Which means we can focus on Forge week - Craig Heard gave us the impetus in the Canadian Championship, before a league draw, and we saw the tie home in the 2nd leg. Edmonton are bottom of the pile, and we end the month by showing them why. It's all in our hands After the shambles of the last qualifiers for Uganda, there is a sense of nervousness as we get the AFCON qualifiers going. Right Winger George Kasule comes in for his debut. Both Sudan and Liberia are games we should be winning. But both have beaten us in my time at the helm. Sudan, once again, prove too good for us, whilst Liberia are tanked. Despite that win, we drop 7 places in the rankings! George Kasule becomes our youngest player at 16 years and 54 days. It'll come down to Sudan at home.

August 2052 It's time to get our NACL on. Pachuca comes over from Mexico. We've never beaten anyone from that nation. Until Sean Davis popped up in the 90th minute to win it for us! We've never beaten a Mexican team in Mexico. Pumas up next. Sean Davis!!! The man I've been trying to sell - he keeps popping up with winners against Mexican sides. A perfect month as well thanks to the 1 win in the league. Everything looks very good right now

July 2052 A big win at Cavalry starts the month, they were 2nd. Further victories over Valour and Edmonton mean that the Play-Offs are becoming more and more secure - which is good as everyone is starting to get tired. Squad balancing is meaning I am not focusing on the matches so much, more on scouting and recruitment The positives, we've avoided the fine for the season - got over 2,000 minutes from U21s. And we are still top. The negative? Next month the NACL starts again. And we feel weaker than last year. The squad were concerned that we weren't strong enough at Left Back, and I've managed to find an Ecuadorian one

June 2052 June is a very busy month. The transfer window closed. Out goes Juan Fernando Peña back to Colombia and in comes Archie O'Boyle from our affiliate. It's a massive downgrade, but a good financial deal. Pena had ticked off Colombia and was on £1400 a week. We need to save cash. On the pitch we came from 0-2 to get a draw at Valour, Edgar Alonso Bonilla ticks off El Salvador at Edmonton. A brace and an assist gets him the MoTM. It's our 118th nation and the only one likely this season. A bore draw against Pacific - a lot of our squad were travelling for international games. The Ottawa loss is frustrating. But Top 4 is all we need. Another game against Forge where we blow a lead. League rules mean we are not able to be as strong as I want - we should be strong enough to finish top of the pile though. Uganda have two winnable friendlies. Home against two nations who are ranked slightly better than us. We are also full strength. Guinea, we get a draw, which moves us up to 69th, before we are blown away in the opening twenty minutes by Honduras. As a nation, we've never been higher than 63rd