fries

I just give them what they want. Especially the biggest talents with ok/good personalities. Of course you can/should leave out low potential players with bad personalities. How are your finances?

You are "just" close to administration. I and my club, Dulwich Hamlet, have survived 2 years now after this message. Cross your fingers and hope for the best. Maybe the board will invest some funds into the club or you will see a takeover. Maybe it was just an extraordinary cost and the club will be just fine from now on.

Sky Bet League Two 2027/28 (season 4) Season Summary Was excited to see how we could compete in the football leagues. It started great. In the second league game of the season, we beat Gillingham with massively 9-1. But then October came and we lost 6 league games in a row. But when the calendar said 2028 we started playing great again. In the end, we secured a 5th position and a play off spot. We continued to play a very offensive 4-4-2/4-2-4 tactic, and scored lots of goals again. 120 goals in 46 games. We also had a great FA Cup run where we beat the two League One teams, Exeter and Wimbledon, but lost to the Championship side Bristol City after a replay. In the play-off semi-final, we were up against Yeovil. I hate Yeovil. At least in this save. They usually beat me. In my first season, Yeovil won Vanarama League South with four points more than us, and we had to be promoted via play-offs. In my second season, we ended one position above Yeovil, with 3 more points. In my third season, Yeovil again won the league while we were second and had to go through play-offs. And then this season the beat us again. 6-2 on aggregate in the semi-final and no promotion for us. On the positive side, Yeovil ended up winning promotion so next season is Yeovil-free! The most important players are my front four. The striker duo, Frederick and Asante, scored 32 and 27 goals respectively. While the wingers, Morris and Baxter assisted 18 and 15 and scored 13 and 12 goals respectively. Unfortunately, both Morris and Frederick have been a bit unhappy throughout the season. Hopefully, I can keep the four for another season. Karakas from the 2027 intake was my super sub on the left wing and two striker positions. He scored 13 and assisted 10. Another important player is my Segundo Volante, Shukunbi. He scored 15 goals this season. Binnom-Williams was again important with 17 assists from the left full-back position. Morrow was sold in the summer transfer window. He was very angry and has a temperamental personality. I sold him for 750K£ and some add-ons. But the transfer date was agreed to after this season. The youth intake preview looked okay with 5 stars but not a single A. The intake was okay. Jacquart will probably be a starter next season on the left full-back. Cotton and Ezeh will also be a part of the first team as rotational players. Smith is my first young goalkeeper with both great potential and a non-bad personality. I hope he will develop into a future starter. As mentioned Baxter will leave after the season. Otherwise, no transfers of significance. Finances and Upgrades We moved into our new stadium before the season. Because of the continued financial trouble, we did not get any upgrades this season. There have been several rumors about takeovers. I hope someone will come and clear the debt. However, I managed to get assigned to a few new trainer courses, and I am currently studying for the continental Pro license. Next season Next season, I hope to gain promotion. If I can keep my best players, I think the team is great. I furthermore hope to develop the team.

I have had great success with playing my young talents at a young age. My theory is that when the training quality is so poor in the lower leagues it is better for their development to get game time. I see the best development from the players I use a lot. But this could of course be biased as I may tend to use my biggest talents most. But be aware, I have no great insight and it is only based on my own experiences.

Vanarama National League 2026/27 (season 3) Season Summary Before the season I was close to giving up. My morale was gone. The board had decided to build a new stadium which put the club into financial problems. We had to revert to a semi-pro status and we have no new upgrades in sight. But then the season started! In the youth intake of 2026, we got three exciting attacking talents. Therefore, I left behind the defensive 5-4-1 formation and employed a very offensive 4-4-2/4-2-4. The new tactic worked wonders. We started to score a lot of goals immediately. However, we also conceded a lot of goals. But in the end, massively 132 league goals were enough to secure a playoff spot. In the play-off semi-final, we were up against Rochdale. We scored an early goal and tried, maybe for the first time in the season, to defend the lead. It was successful and we were off to Wembley. The play-off final was against Swindon. We scored an early goal again. And then another. But Swindon made a great comeback and it was 3-3 with just a few minutes back. However, just before injury time, we managed to score after a corner. AND WE WON PROMOTION TO LEAGUE 2!!! It was a typical game for this season. Lots of goals in both ends. The most important players must be the striker duo, Frederick and Asante, with 39 and 37 goals respectively. Another very important player was Morris, who produced 27 assists and 13 goals. The young trio had a great season after they came through the intake just last season. The last guy of the front four is Baxter with 15 assists and 9 goals. Binnom-Williams was again important with 17 assists from the left full-back position. I will provide a screenshot of my 4 best players, Asante, Eze, Frederick, and Morris. The youth intake preview looked good with 5 stars but only a single A. The intake was great with Karakas and Vidovsek, who can provide some attacking depth to my team, which I currently lack. They look decent with ok personalities. Unfortunately, the third most exciting-looking player, Zakaria, has a bad personality. And Nembhard lacks any kind of physical talent. My former best player Wightwick left on a free transfer to Italy before the season. Otherwise, no transfers of significance. Finances and Upgrades Because of the financial trouble we did not get any upgrades this season. However, I managed to get assigned to one new trainer course, and I am currently studying for the continental B license. I hope the League 2 status and the new stadium, which should be ready for the new season, will help clear out the financial problems. Or that the board will just pay like they already did a few times in the season when the balance got too low. The gate receipts from the play-off final on Wembley actually helped a lot with £300,000 and cleared most of the negative balance! Strangely, my junior coaching is exceptional compared to excellent last season. But maybe it just takes time for an upgrade to have an effect? Next season Next season, I hope to be free of relegation. Hopefully, I can keep my best players and develop the team.

This stupid new stadium is not worth it!

Ouch - I don't hope this will destroy the club financially. I am also afraid it is too early and we will be bound to a too small stadium in the future. EDIT: Is this a potential bug? The club is now close to administration. This is going to be tough!

Vanarama National League 2025/26 (season 2) Season Summary The second season, and the first in the National League. The primary goal was just to avoid relegation. And we succeeded. We were never in danger and ended 11th in the league. In the FA Cup we lost in the fourth qualification round to the National League South side Billericay. More embarrassing, we lost to a lower league side Enfield Town in the FA Trophy. The topscorer of last season, Mills, declined in his abilities. However, he was my only striker and managed to score 19 goals in the season. He will retire this summer. Wigthwick is on paper my best player now. He also does not want to renew his contract. In January, the Serie A team Bari offered him and Bosman contract. I tried my best to at least get some value out of him which started a bidding war from Championship clubs. In the end, I had a bid of about 1 million £ with a transfer date after the season. But in the end, he chose to go to Italy for free Eze, who is also a newgen from the holiday season developed very well. His contract runs 2 more years but he is already angry I declined a few bids from Championship clubs. Unfortunately, the players of the 2025 intake have not developed much. Baxter, Morrow, and Low have improved the most. But only small steps. I hope they will breakthrough next season. The youth intake preview looked very good with 5 stars and a few A's. The intake gave me a lot of players with 5-star potential. But most importantly two first-team-ready players in Asante and Frederick. They are both strikers which is very important as my only striker Mills will retire. Also, Gent, Morris, and Moreno look decent with okay personalities. I hope a handful of this intake will play an important role on the first team next season. Asante is my new first-choice striker. He is very strong with 15 strength at only 16 years old. No transfers of significance. Finances and Upgrades I once again managed to upgrade both my junior coaching and youth recruitment twice this season. Both are now considered excellent! The finances look great, so I hope we can afford it in the long run. I also managed to gain a few badges and I am currently studying for the continental B license. Next season Next season I hope I can develop a few of my youngsters. I see no change of promotion and I think we will stay out of relegation danger.

Big things are happening in the small club. My best player and biggest talent Wightwick got his first international call-up! Unfortunately, it looks like he is lost for the club. His contract is expiring after the season and he is currently unhappy I rejected a bid from a Championship side.

Could be a bug. My first intake was also just poor apparently.

Vanarama National League South 2024/25 (season 1) Season Summary A new FM, and thus a new Youth Academy Challenge. I started with Dulwich Hamlet, and as I wrote earlier we started out very well. I employed a 5-4-1 tactic with a lonely striker, four central midfielders, and attacking fullbacks. After 22 games we had won incredible 19 games and lost 3. We was a clear number 1 in the league. But a bad form in December and in February meant that we threw away the first position. In the end, we managed to get the 3rd position and a play off spot for promotion. A very good first season! In the playoff semi final we were up against Southend, who we beat two times earlier in the season. The game started badly with a goal to Southend. But we later scored 3 and secured a spot in the play off final. The final was against Aldershot who have played great throughout the season with 100 points. The match started badly once again with an own goal after just two minutes. But once again we managed to come back and win the game. This time I was a bit lucky. Aldershot played well and eventually had a disallowed goal in the end. The most important player in my success must be Mills. He scored 48 goals in the season! From the player stats you can see how my chances are created. The ball goes wide to my full backs who centers the ball to Mills that scores. Both my fullbacks, Scarlett and Binnom-Williams had 16 assists this season. A few players have developed very well this season. My goalkeeper Lakin went from 3 stars two 4.5 stars and two players from the intake of the holiday years, Wightwick and Eze went from 2 and 1 stars respectively, to 5 and 3 stars. The 17-year-old players are from the 2024 intake while the 16-year-olds are from this season. Wigthwick is on paper my best player now, but he needs to step up his performances. He also does not want to renew his contract... The first youth intake preview looked good with 5 stars. The intake gave me a lot of players with 5-star potential. But it is very hard to judge who will make it. I had no great personalities but a few bad ones. Baxter, Proctor, Stanton, and Morrow got game time in the remaining games of the season. Morrow did well with 3 goals from freekicks but Proctor is closest to being a starter. No transfers of significance. Finances and Upgrades I managed to upgrade both my junior coaching and youth recruitment twice this season. The finances look great, so I hope we can afford it in the long run. I also managed to gain a few badges and I am currently studying for the national A license. Next season Next season is going to be difficult. I just hope I can develop a few of my youngsters and manage to not get relegated.

I am in the exact same position with Dulwich Hamlet. 6 games - 18 points. Was wondering whether I am a tactical genius, I accidentally found a game breaking tactic on first try, the Dulwich Hamlet team is OP, or I am just very lucky?

Last year, the first videos was announced in the afternoon while the beta was released about 24 hours later, as far as I remember. This year the alpha videos are released in the morning meaning that the beta will come this evening or at latest tomorrow morning. At least, that's my theory...

Lots of night activity on steamDB but not the usual morning updates. Is this a sign?

Vanarama National League North 2023/24 (season 1) Season Summary After a few months of not playing any FM, I thought it was time to start again. I don't expect to complete this challenge again before FM24, but I missed the grind. So here we are again. I started with Billericay. The best players initially in the club were not interested in signing a new contract and left the club just a week after I arrived. I was left with only 10 grown players in the squad and a handful of the youth players from the 2023 intake. But I had to work with what I got. So I employed a 5-3-2 tactic with two "pacey" strikers at the top, two central midfielders that run forward, and lots of passes behind the defense of the opponents. The tactic worked very well and ended midtable. Far from relegation and promotion. To be honest, none of my players had a great season. But my two strikers, Cerulli and Splatt, were important with 22 and 19 goals respectively. The first youth intake preview looked okay. 5 stars but bad ratings of each position. The intake gave me one first-team-ready player in Mauragis and a few with top potential. However the personalities are not great. Mauragis is a pacey striker and he is thus well suited to play in my tactics. He is not great, but his stars shows how bad the rest of the team is. He managed to score 2 goals in 5 games. No transfers of significance. Finances and Upgrades I managed to upgrade my junior coaching and youth recruitment in the fall before my intake. But the board is not willing to send my courses to get a badge. Next season Next season is going to be difficult. I just hope I can develop a few of my youngsters. I have about zero chance of getting a promotion.

Unfortunately, you cannot use him. It is against the rules as it counts as a transfer. It has been discussed a few times here. Your best bet is to try to cancel the loan back. If it is not possible I think you have to leave him on the reserve team

Premier League 2043/44 (season 21) Season Summary WE DID IT! The challenge is over. We won the league on the last day of the season! The league was very close. With one game left, we were number 2, two points behind Aston Villa. However, Aston Villa and Man City were facing each other in the last game, while we played a later relegated Stoke team. Villa and City draw their game! And as we won our game we also won the Premier League! As we won the Champions League last season and only needed to win the league in order to complete the challenge I played my rotational and reserve players in the Champions League this season. We did okay in the league phase and ended up number 11. But we lost in the first knock-out round to Rennes. We also won the Carabao Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Carle played well with 29 goals. He scored all his goals in the league this season. Smith also played very well from the midfield with 5 goals and 13 assists. Breakspeare did well in the goal. Both Savas and Jankovic had their breakthrough on the first team. Patrick Walters will retire after this season. He is a real South Shields legend who has played, scored, and assisted at every level since he was in my youth intake in Vanarama League North. He has played 629 league games. He was a regular starter from 15 years old to around 30. He now also managed to win both the Champions League and Premier League. I think I will show you a few of the best players of my League winning team Smith was not on the GOAL50 list. However, he is the 3rd-best player in the world according to another award. Carle was awarded the best U21 player in the world. He also won the best player and best young player in England. He was also the league topscorer for the third season in a row. A few other important players are Breakspeare, Pinkerton and Howourth I only had one player on the NXGN list this season. Savas was moved from my youth team to my first team midseason and played regularly in the second half of the season. The youth intake preview looked really great. 5 stars and 5 As. The intake was fine with 2 elite talents and a handful top talents. Bohea looked most promising. No transfers of significance. Finances and Upgrades After the Champions League win last season the club's reputation was raised to five stars. This meant that I was allowed to upgrade the youth facilities! Before this season the training facilities were downgraded. However, we upgraded them again just after. Next season I am not sure what to do next. I think I have 3 possibilities. Maybe I will try out a normal save, maybe I will try a new YAC-save, or maybe I will just continue playing with this team.

Thanks! My trophy cabinet is a bit strange: Vanarama National League (2027), League Two (2028), PJ Trophy (2029), Europe Leauge (2039), FA Cup (2043), and finally, Champions League (2043).

Premier League 2042/43 (season 20) Season Summary WE DID IT! We won the Champions League! In our second attempt in the tournament, we won. Unbelievable. Now we only need to win Premier League to finish the challenge. In the league phase, we played really well. We won against teams such as Bayern and Real Madrid and draw with Monaco and Dortmund. We also had four "easy games" against Sturm Graz, Celtic, FC Midtjylland, and FC Copenhagen. In the knock-outs, we beat Liverpool, Hoffenheim, and Man City. And finally, in the final, we were up against Bayern once again. They got an early red card. I tried to exploit the space they had to leave open without much success. But we managed to score after a free kick. However, we couldn't keep the lead. Bayern outplayed us and scored. We went into extra time and then penalties. Where we won in the end! It was also an okay season in the league where we got a 4th position. I have never been close to the title. But I hope it will come. Champions League was not the only trophy we won this season, as we also won the FA Cup. Both my first-choice forward, Carle, and second-choice forward, Owen, did very well with 34 and 24 goals respectively. Smith also played very well from the midfield with 14 goals and 8 assists. My wingers Jensen, Telfer, Hall, Maddison, and T. Walters also contributed with a lot of goals and assists. Breakspeare had a great first season in the goal. I think I will show you a few of the best players of my Champions League winnin Smith was again on the GOAL50 list. He is the 45th-best player in the world. Carle won a lot of awards. Two other players around the English national team are Breakspeare and Howourth I only had one player on the NXGN list this season. Jankovic is out on loan. But soon ready to play for my team. The youth intake preview okay. Only 4 stars and two A's. The intake was okay, but a bit disappointing. Only 1 elite talent and 1 top talent. Ian Walters is the son of my former captain and club icon Patrick Walters. But he is unfortunately not very good. Okoli looked most promising. No transfers of significance. Finances and Upgrades No upgrades this season. Next season I think I will try to prioritize the league next season. Hopefully, I can finish the challenge in a few years.

Edit: wrong post

Premier League 2041/42 (season 19) Season Summary Back from a few weeks' FM break. A great season. Until we hit a bad form in April we were actually title contenders. But in the end, we managed to get a third position and qualify for the Champions League. It is the best season so far in the league. We did well in the Europe League. But lost again in the semi-finals. Both my first-choice forward, Carle, and second-choice forward, Owen, did very well with 27 and 28 goals respectively. Smith, Jensen, and Hall also did well. For the first time in the history of the club, we had a player on the GOAL50 list. Smith is the 41st-best player in the world. Owen won a lot of awards from his performance in Europa League. I only had one player on the NXGN list this season. Hall was number two on the list, 2 years after he actually won the award. The youth intake preview looked very promising. 5 stars. And great ratings in a lot of positions. The intake was okay, but a bit disappointing. Savas looks great but he is the only elite talent. Savas looked most promising. No transfers out of significance. Finances and Upgrades No upgrades this season. Next season I hope we can get a Champions League spot again next season.

Premier League 2040/41 (season 18) Season Summary Back from a few weeks' FM break. An okay season. I manage to win the 6th position. And thus qualified for Europe League once again. We did well in the Europe League. But in the semi-finals, Chelsea was too much. Carla was the new first-choice forward this season and he did well and scored 27 goals. The second-choice striker, Owen, also did well with 19 goals. Cox did well in the central defense. My new winger Telfer did well in his first season in the first team with 10 assists. I had 3 players on the NXGN list this season. Carle won. The winner of last year, Hall, was only number 25. My probably future goalkeeper Breakspeare was number 43 on the list. The youth intake preview looked very promising. 5 stars. And great ratings in a lot of positions. The intake was okay, but a bit disappointing. Xhata looked the best. But he later dropped to only 4 stars PA. But most of the other players had bad personalities. Xhata looked most promising. I sold McCarthy before the season. He has played more than 250 league games for the first team. Finances and Upgrades No upgrades this season. Next season I feel like the team starts to stagnate. I do not know how to push for a higher spot. Next season, I hope to develop my young players in Europe League.

Premier League 2039/40 (season 17) Season Summary An okay season. I manage to win the 7th position again for the third season in a row. And thus qualified for Europe League. From winning Europe League last season we were qualified for the Champions League. The league phase went okay. We played well, especially at home, and ended in the 18th position. But in the first knock out stage, we lost over 2 games to PSG. Before the season I changed the tactics to a classic 4-3-3 from a 4-4-2 (diamond). Owen was the first choice forward and scored 21 goals. Not many players was spectacular this season. But the young offensive player Hall did very well. 12 goals and 5 assists. In the winter break, I sent a few young first team players out on loan. Thus a few players with game time this season is not shown here. We were out of both cups and I didn't believe we could beat PSG in CHL. Howourth now has the wonderkid description. I had 2 players on the NXGN list, Hall, that won, and last year's winner, Jensen. I think Carle would have been on the list if I did not loan him out. He, unfortunately, did not play much on his loan. Hall also won the Young Player of the Year award. I think I need to display my award winner: The youth intake preview looked very promising. 5 stars. And great ratings in a lot of positions. The intake was okay. Jankovic was the best and he is a model citizen. I am a bit disappointed with the number of top talents. But I like the many different nationalities. Jankovic was the best player of the intake. I am not really sure what to do with him, as I no longer use AMs. In the winter break, I sold Malley and Douglas. They have been an important part of the team for many years, but are not good enough any more. Malley has played 473 first team games and Douglas has played 375. They both came through in the intake in my last season of Vanarama National, and were both regulars in my first and only season in League Two. Finances and Upgrades After the season my training facilities were downgraded. But the board was happy to upgrade again. Next season Next season, I hope to develop my young players in Europe League. I need it as I am far from being a top 5 team.

Congrats @ludak! I would love to see a handful of your best players! Ristic looks great!