Jamstock

So good to see another one of your brilliant stories Andy! I love the contrast of the two managers, I can imagine it really keeps things new and original for you, and also probably quite busy! Funnily enough both paths of the managers are ones I have previously attempted. On more than one occasion I have tried island hopping around the pacific, did not quite venture as low as the Wallis and Futuna Islands but props for slogging out that first season to get Dany's first piece of silverware. I would imagine not, but as an overseas French territory, would they have had a route to the French Cup? I know overseas territories are invited to play, perhaps if Dany happens to see a job opportunity in Tahiti or St Pierre and Miquelon she could make some waves on the French mainland. I have also attempted MB in the past, as they were the only 1st team (and looks like they still are) in the 4th tier (could even be the only 1st team in the 3rd tier as well when Ned gets them there). A definitive long term job that I didn't quite have the patience for when attempted, but a focus on the youth and homegrown talent may be the way forward, particularly until you can keep the other teams poaching your players Always happy to see one of your threads pop up, will of course be following along closely.

I am very similar. I will think of a genius idea and start obsessing over it and planning it and seeing if I can get DBs for it if needed. And yes, I do similar in terms of finding something that to me, is almost game breaking or breaks my idea of how the save should go in my head, and then I can't look past it. I get the personal attachment issue. Unless they are a team like my own club I always like a save or a club with a geographical element attached. That is how Orkney started actually, I loved how they played on the mainland despite being a remote set of islands. Attachment for me plays such a big part in this game, except if you do challenges involving multiple clubs, then you can't really afford to get too attached! Andy's right. At this point I feel like I know Orkney inside out on FM, and to be honest, that does take some of the magic away. Knowing every time who the squad will be and the work required from the get go. I am very slowly coming to terms with accepting that the Orkney challenge for me is a bridge too far and to move on to other ideas. I will definitely be trying to take some inspiration from Andy's immersion tactics to try and ensure I keep my interest levels up with saves. To give you an idea of my longest saves since I started properly playing the game with FM 2020, I took Lulea from the Swedish 4th tier to the Allsvenskan in 4 years I believe. I did 7 seasons with CSF Balti in Moldova, won them the Moldovan league and had a dream run to the group stages of the UCL. My longest was an attempted Hexagon challenge that took me to East Timor, Fiji, New Zealand, back to Fiji, and Tunisia I think, about 10 seasons all in. So I definitely have it in me, its just fully immersing myself and being able to consistently have the want and drive to play basically every day.

Ah thank you! I tried to incapsulate the way I see how you play the game. Yes that's exactly it, you have all the money but not necessarily the ability to use it all at once or even at all. But at least its there, and you could use it, the potential being the continued motivation. And yes, the money is there to help turn those teenagers into something close to wonderkids, if the board let you put the building blocks in place. Of course you do , that's a brilliant type of mod I hadn't came across before.

The fantasy element you add into your saves will definitely keep your motivation up to keep playing that's for sure, I would have never come up with that idea either! Yes I think the tweaking in the editor that helps you overcome the large challenges that without would not be possible is a great way to do it. As you've done, just because your team is rich with cash, you still need to spend it wisely to build the club up to a point where it can overcome that glass ceiling that vanilla clubs or clubs simply added to a DB with no real detail will suffer from. I think when I have seen someone do an Orkney save (once I saw a Finnish streamer playing it), he had given himself a sugar daddy in order to get promoted. I can see why your enthusiasm does not wane. I, like the majority of FM players, are focused on the goal, and not the journey. I like your approach and I think I need to concentrate on that more moving forward with saves. Focus on the how and the now, the fun is in the journey, building the club up as an entity form nothing, putting the building blocks in place to develop your own youth talent, and being proud of the accomplishments you achieve along the way instead of being solely focused on getting your team to the top. As I have seen with many of your saves, the journey and the experience is the save. Its not about getting to the top as quick as possible, consolidating and slowly building up until your interest fizzles away or other things get in the way. I will try to remember that philosophy moving forward I think. I am very sorry to hear about your mother, Andy, my thoughts are with you. I hope that if you are back over here you are able to get some time to explore some of your favourite spots, particularly up in Scotland. During a turbulent time I think being back in those landscapes and environment and the stunning surroundings will help you through this tricky time.

Your saves are always so creative I presume with these teams you eventually reach a natural peak, maybe tier 6 or 7, where the quality gaps really open up and your teams begin to struggle to keep up with the rest? I think that has always dissuaded me from really committing to English tier 10 to the top saves, as I know what the 6th and 7th tiers can be like, let alone the 5th. I could be tempted into using that nations DB you found on steam (I think I might know the one), especially as with international management there is very little you need to do apart from manage the games and pick the team, sounds ideal for an end of game cycle mini-challenge. On your original point, yes I would say this is one of the toughest challenges out there on FM. Its very subjective as to whether its the toughest, as someone can always create something harder - the San Marino challenge, but doing it with Tuvalu with only youth players born in one specific village, an example of how someone can take the supposedly hardest challenge and make it harder. I would definitely put it as the toughest challenge in the UK, I don't think any other leagues in the UK are that tough to get promoted out of with the contextual background that comes with the North Caledonian League, and yes, the fact no one has ever been promoted says it all, despite the relatively short life the system has been in place. Have you decided on any plans for FM25? Any desire to return to saves for these threads?

Alas, we are into mid August 2024 and like many other people, my motivation for FM24 is waning. I will confess that I am someone who launches into new saves on a regular basis, full of fresh optimism, motivation and determination. Only to encounter a situation that makes me demotivated or feel the challenge I have set has become too difficult for me to continue after a short period of time. That tends to happen pretty much every FM at some point of a save and in the past the Orkney save has always been my first choice for a save at the start of a game cycle. However, the obstacle that is this first promotion has always been my stumbling block, as I have already covered. This constant feeling of chasing the dream save that I fall in love with has only occurred on a small number of occasions, and I keep trying to replicate it, be it with Orkney or another club/challenge, which in a sense is the real Pursuit of Happiness as I titled this thread. Best I stop there before getting too philosophical . To take on this challenge at this point in the game cycle I hoped would keep me intrigued until FM25, but I am someone that does play other games from time to time, and I think a reset before FM25 will work well for me. In addition, the challenge set out here felt steeper than usual, and at the end of this first season, the lack of cash and the limited prosperity I felt meant it really would be a tall order, even if the challenge of promotion was easier than it actually is. If I do go for a 2nd season at some point (its always a possibility) I will of course update the thread. I am sorry if this is a bit of a let down, as I only did 1 season, but it was a good experiment for me to try out writing threads that I had planned on trying with an Orkney save back in November when I expected the DB to release. Thank you for your supportive comments and encouragement, I will absolutely still be present in the careers update section of the forums as I very much enjoy reading all your adventures. There's a chance I delve into a very short term save before FM25 as I struggle to stay away for too long, but I hope to return fresh for FM25 and all the excitement that is building up for what sounds like the start of a new era for FM.

End of the Season - April 2025 The end of season 1 is upon us and it turns out we were ever so close to glory. Going unbeaten to end the season, and if it weren't for the Golspie draw, we may well of won the league. This wasn't an easy run-in, both Golspie and St Duthus were competing and above us in the league and it would of realistically taken us to win all 4 to win the title. And here is how it ended up. Up until the last few games anyone in the top 6 still had a mathematical chance, but on the last day St Duthus did the business and fair play to them. (Only just noticed that instead of Draws, this league table is showing PW (Wins by penalties) but it is just the games that were draws, not sure why). Being realistic, I am happy with how we got on. St Duthus and Golspie had some cracking players that had mega seasons that just outdid us. With the squad we had, I cannot massively complain, and should give us a nice platform to move onto next season with. Before we get the game's official awards, let's check in on the squad and where we stand. So, here we are. I have given new contracts to Reynolds, Delday and John Pickles. I was concerned they would sign deals with other teams and none wanted stupid money. They are 3 players I see playing an important role next year. Drever would be next on that list for a new deal but didn't feel the need to do it straight away. Despite his record, his age and role, he is a little replaceable and so I would be looking to reduce his involvement next year. That being said I think he wins Player of the Year in my mind, top scorer, 2nd in assists, cannot look past him. Young Player of the Year for me is a no-brainer, its gotta be Darragh Reynolds. Coming through the youth intake I did not expect his level of involvement for this season and has been a breath of fresh air on the left wing. He will most definitely be involved next year and can be first choice if called upon. Other notable mentions are Dickson and Pickles who despite criticism from myself were constants and did a fine job on the whole, their places never in doubt. Same to be said about Stevenson and Baird, quietly going about their business, if unspectacularly. A shout out to Tulloch and MacKenzie, both unlikely to be here next year or playing a big role next season, but were great impact subs, MacKenzie scoring some vital goals off the bench. But what about next year? Majority of the squad are on one year deals and none of the loanees really stood out to deserve another spell (sorry East Fife twins). Ultimately we will try and keep the core of the squad (CB, CMs and STs) and just improve what we have. However, based off the next screenshot, this may be tricky. Yeah, that's depressing. For context, this season we had £203 p/w to work with, and the likelihood is some players will want increases. The only upside is we can cull a lot of the dead wood to be able to push this beyond £300 p/w but even still, we want to be offering £50+ p/w if possible to prospective signings. We also ran out of scouting budget at some point this season which we need back. It will be interesting to see what I can do with this wage budget, but I don't have high hopes. A quick note on the youth intake as I think it is worth mentioning (hoping for Reynolds V2). In relative terms, a decent intake. Obviously the potential ratings are very skewed but I think the elite talents will be worth looking at. I am not doing what the AI manager before did and sign a bunch, we have no youth team. But I think 1 or 2 are worth considering, the GK and DM for a start for depth and we will think about the others. I need some youth quality now and not in 3 years ideally. (I only signed the DM) In the process of progressing to the awards and the playoffs at both ends of the table have concluded. Bonar Bridge have been relegated into the Highland Amateur whilst our neighbours and rivals Shetland win the playoff to secure promotion! Actually quite happy with this, be nice to have a rival in the league! To show how tricky this league is to get out of, St Duthus did not win the mini-league and have not made it to the Highland League playoff, Dufftown will be taking on Strathspey over 2 legs. Eventually, the award winners came through, and it was as expected. Another example of the challenge of getting out of this level, Dufftown lost 4-1 on aggregate to Strathspey, who stay in the Highland League for another season. And that's a wrap on season 1! Overall, a decent start, but the future doesn't look massively prosperous with the lack of funds. An okay core of players to base the squad around, and we haven't bankrupted the club straight away. Some of the staff are retiring, as is the other Pickles brother (James) who didn't play, so some new faces needed behind the scenes. It may be a few days before you see an update ahead of the beginning of season 2. Time to get to work!

Thanks @Blarney! I do know the feeling, if I can fulfil this small achievement I will have scratched the itch I have had for a while on this game. I will still do other saves, but I wouldn't feel the need to come back to Orkney every year. I am also guilty of going through saves and ending them prematurely, so to avoid that, I set myself this small goal. All being well it doesn't take too many years

February 2025 Even though we have only reached February, we have 4 games of the season left. A semi-successful run since mid-December, with our first piece of silverware! Although, no prize money which is annoying. No success in the other league cup, and because the following game against Fort William was scheduled for before the cup game, then rescheduled I initially thought the cup game was in the league I think at this stage I have accepted we are not going to be winning the league. You really have no let up when the league season is only 20 games long and 4 losses is tricky when the league is this close this season. A 5 point turnaround in 4 games with our goal difference would really be a miracle! We'll have to see where we end up but based on recent results I am not expecting anything. Alongside on the pitch, we are studying for a new coaching qualification to gain a National B License and we lost Loudon, who we had on loan, because he was signed by Formatine, and I am sure I was not told? That was an odd experience . I didn't think it was worth getting a replacement so Oag has been filling in, meaning both East Fife twins are playing regularly now. In terms of the players, as we were concerned, the goals have dried up somewhat. Drever is still our top scorer though. As you can see, the high average ratings have also dropped off a bit. The strikers, Reynolds, Noble and Tulloch still holding averages over 7, but a noticeable drop off for everyone else. Worth noting Jessiman has said he is leaving at the end of his contract, and almost every first teamer had an offer rejected during the January transfer window, with no unhappy players thankfully. Apart from the strikers and the wingers, no other real stand out players at the moment, even the central midfielders are not having a massive impact on games. This could explain the drop off in our performances. We have created less, scored less, but still conceding a similar amount that we were before. So, what's next? Here is our run-in. All winnable but 2 against teams also competing for the title. Only one game in March means we'll be getting some friendlies in to keep sharpness up. I just don't see us overcoming the deficit we have and we'll be meandering towards season end. At that point it'll be really crucial to know what sort of budget we have moving forward. I won't be renewing contracts until then, with the exception of perhaps Delday and Drever, but we might be safe as long as other teams don't put contract offers in. I'll be doing a season review of the awards, who I intend to keep and let go, and how we approach season 2. That is, if we don't go on a miracle run and win the league I live in hope..

As discussed above, my only concern so far has been the defence, so I thought it would be interesting to look how our defence compares to the rest of the league. Well, I know we weren't conceding many, but I didn't expect this. Ultimately the most important stat from a defensive perspective, also really helpful for goal difference. This is a little more expected, a couple clean sheets, but not the most. So despite us not keeping many clean sheets, we just don't concede many goals. Which is why the current approach of outscoring the opposition is able to work, but I am wary of the amount conceding going up, and us not keeping enough clean sheets, but I suppose I am being picky. It is tier 6 after all. While we are in the stats area, I thought we may as well show this. A good way of seeing that we are not quite as hard up as other clubs, but some clubs really are spending a large amount this year on their wages. We appear to be the largest of the smaller contingent, and when you pair this with the league table, we are doing a splendid job. Out of the top 4 in the league, St Duthus are the biggest spenders, Golspie in 4th in the league really surprising everyone, but they seem to always be up there in this save. Let me know if you would like to see any other stats! I am happy to share

As a collective, the defence are doing fine. Perhaps not keeping as many clean sheets as I would like, but as we are scoring goals regularly enough I don't consider it too much of a worry, but maybe I should. I'm going to check our defensive stats against the rest of the league when I next load the save, be interesting to see how we shape up. I do see your point though. When I think about it, I don't remember having a great defence in many teams I have managed this year. I sort of accept their mediocrity and try and score more than we concede , but I am a stickler for keeping a similar defence in every tactic I use, a flat back 4 with CBs on defend, and depending on our level, FBs on defend or support, I keep it simple . At this point I am not really willing to experiment either! I can absolutely see heartbreak on the horizon, either running up short in the league title race, or play-off disappointment, we have been down this road before unfortunately have to stay optimistic though!

December 2024 I've come back a few games before I said I would, since I have flown through some games, and post New Year, the games slow down so thought best to update now when we are well into the league season and have concluded the group stage of the Football Times Cup. Despite a couple of results where I began to question our style and if we were up to scratch at the business end of the table, as you can see, I had nothing to worry about. Only losing a slim one to Golspie in the league and a couple of cup defeats. Highlight results for me was the 2-1 vs Fort William and the 2-0 over Inverness Athletic a couple weeks later. Both games were edgy and could've gone either way. In the Fort game we were in a battle and I would have taken a point. In the Inverness game it was 0-0 going into the final quarter of the game, again, happy to take a point, but a few subs and we turned it around for a brilliant away win before the cup excursion. Let's see how the results have left us. The league is very competitive this year, and we are so far keeping up with the pack. A couple games in hand and we are setup nicely for the run-in after the new year. League games are much more sparse once January comes around and will carry extra pressure if we are still in the title battle. Don't be fooled by the gap to the bottom, every team can beat everyone on their day, you don't see many absolute batterings in this league. I went with a rotation policy in the cup group stage, ensuring fringe players get a few starts, only excluding the youth players who are last resorts, but we have been lucky with injuries so far. It was nice to keep up some momentum in this phase as it would have been easy to put aside cup games and lose form and momentum. A semi final tie awaits later in the season, along with North Caley cup getting underway and already being out of the Jock Mackay. Let's see some stats. I have sorted the list by last 5 games ratings, to show the stand out performers, even if they have not been regular starters. Drever has benefitted from not really being rotated, with MacKenzie being the rotation option with Delday. Our young superstar Reynolds continues to thrive and look impressive, and his star rating is reflecting that now. A surprising one has been Tulloch, the backup RW who has come on for Noble and been the rotation option, but has been vital in a few games to step up and contribute. Otherwise, Baird, Stevenson, Delday, MacDonald the GK and both full backs have been absolute stalwarts. The team picks itself when games are not too close to each other. My only concern from these stats is the ratings of our defenders. Oag as part of the East Fife twins is not seeing as much playing time and his manager has complained at me already, but I made sure to give him a run in the cup games. Dickson and Pickles are the regulars but a few games they have struggled in. While we keep scoring and winning I don't see it as a problem but if we have a gap in the team, its here. Another nice surprise was being offered a new contract! Board are clearly impressed with how we are doing which is reassuring to know. So, we are probably over halfway through the season in terms of numbers of games. But as I mentioned, the schedule of games slows down as other cups start and free weeks pop up. I will be trying to throw in some friendlies when necessary. In the past I have found this to be an issue in terms of keeping momentum up in the latter stages of the season, and some cup games means league games get put to midweek, which is not ideal. But the league will be taking full priority here. I don't see why we can't keep this up and be challenging towards the end of the season, we are in a good place, players are happy, no injuries to speak of, just a few suspensions to consider over the next few games. Keep your eyes peeled, will be updating again before the end of the season, with an update on the run-in...

October 2024 As promised, I'm updating a few games into the season, and its a little disbelief at the start - we're flying! I'm going to go each of the 6 games we've played briefly, but on the whole, I've been so pleased with our approach so far. Controlling every game almost, creating loads of chances and scoring plenty of goals. Perhaps the only concern is we are conceding goals, but scoring enough for it to not matter. Also, the cup games against amateur minnows are great confidence boosters Starting off with a bang, controlled the game with them barely having a sniff till it was too late. So refreshing to start off positively. Another where we felt in complete control, a couple of goals to concede to an amateur side 3 divisions lower is a bit of a worry but we were so clinical, both strikers scoring too is always a bonus, and more for our young left winger, get used to seeing more of that in this update! Back to league action and another pasting, and look at that, our 16 year old winger with just the four goals! I'd of liked a clean sheet but cannot complain with another dominant performance. Really made to work for this one, which made it even sweeter. Once they equalised I would have been happy with a point in all honesty, but up pops Drever and we get a very very good win! To make it 3 from 3 in the league. We did come crashing down after that though, but I am happy to put it down as a freak result. We were by far creating more chances but they scored their first 4 shots and it was done in the first half. A few disappointing performances though, Esson filled in for Stevenson who had a knock, but led to us conceding a goal and had to be brought off at HT. None of the back line covered themselves in glory either, I think 2 penalties they scored in this game. Ah well, we had a cup game the week after against an amateur side from Aberdeenshire which was ideal to put this result to bed and move on. And of course, we did! Although our star boy Reynolds missed 2 penalties in the first half , was slightly worried when we were squandering chance after chance to make the breakthrough and missing penalties, but even at this early stage of the season, I had the belief that we would come good and we did. Let's look at some stats. Obviously early doors yet a mere 4 games into the league season, although the league season is only 20 games, but impressive starts from a handful of individuals. Mainly from the attacking end of the pitch - Drever, Reynolds, Delday and then Noble at the back. So good to see the strikers scoring, 10 between them already. Baird and Stevenson are proving to be a reliable midfield pair too. Only one of the East Fife twins has played regularly, John Pickles is holding his own at the back and keeping Oag from starting more than an odd sub appearance. Really no one has been a problem, but I suppose it is still early doors. At the next update I would expect these numbers to look a little different. So, long may it continue! I will update again somewhere around the halfway mark of the season, we have a run of league games in October and November, before a stint of Football Times Cup group matches (god knows why) and then the amount of games drops off after the New Year. In terms of targets for the season now, I think its still too early to tell. There is still time for it all to go wrong - But I don't see why we can't be towards the business end of the table...

August 2024 - Start of the season Firstly, thank you for your support and interaction with the start of this thread - wasn't too sure if anyone would take an interest! Its appreciated, and its fair to say your help will be needed based on this pre-season... A few observations before diving into our work heading into the first game of the season. We have very limited financial sway. Money is tight in this league anyway, but it seems giving the AI a year to operate isn't too smart Starting with around half the wage budget before we've done any business was not ideal and we were severely limited in competing with other teams in our league. We seem to be a small fish in this league in this save. In my past with Orkney, I've won the league from the get go and then dropped off slightly, but in this edition, whether its the database or the league in this season, teams seem to be carrying more might and more quality. Season 1 might have to be consolidation. As you'll see in our initial transfer business, and due to the issues mentioned before, the quality we have brought in has not been what I wanted and as such, we may need to consolidate first season, hold on to the quality we have, and build from there if we operate within our means, and of course don't get relegated otherwise I'll be ending this save straight away Let's have a look at our business. Baird was the previous gaffer's work, otherwise this is what we could manage, with one player to still confirm. As you can see we resorted to the loan market and maxed out what we could get. Let's dive into these. First up is Murray, free agent with previous experience with Maud in a division in tier 6, not amazing I know but a strong utility player IMO, can play a number of positions, will start off being used as a right 'winger', I quote as he doesn't really display winger attributes but I liked his flexibility, despite his promise level I can't see him being an important player. Next is probably our 1st choice winger, Sean who was previously at Fort William. Nice physicals, decent enough technicals and decent height for a winger, added bonus of being able to fill in at RB if necessary, as you can tell, I'm all about flexibility First of the loanees, from Forres in the Highland League, our new first choice keeper. We had only a backup and I was running out of options for a first choice on the market so looked for loanees through the help of our new DoF (It felt essential to get one for the help). Very happy with this pick up. Next is our first choice RB I think, and backup LB (again, flexibility). A free who has experience at this level, satisfied with this guy as a first choice this year, nice physicals, decent enough technicals for here. In an ideal world, he would be the backup to a better full back but alas, we had limited choices. Our new first choice LB, really happy with this guy, again, can play both sides and has excellent physicals. I actually think he would do a decent job as a winger (tell me if I'm wrong), but another nice pickup in a limited pool of players. Archie here, I wouldn't normally be signing, but we really did not have any luck signing left wingers, but as Jimbo mentioned in a reply above, being able to run is better than someone who can play and can't run. I thought I would use that theory with this guy, great physicals, lacking in technicals, decent height again for a winger, and on loan from a team in our league. Usually I don't get many players from the same level as Orkney but the pull of Orkney seems to be so weak I had no choice. Finally, two loanees from East Fife, I will call the East Fife twins. CB was a massive struggle to recruit for, we had only one capable CB before these two, and although these two don't stand out, I think they will do a job. Dickson will get the honour to partner Pickles initially and Oag will provide back up, most importantly about these loans is how cheap they are. Short term savings for long term sustainability, or at least that's the hope. I am waiting on a back up striker to confirm his arrival and our fairly thin squad will be set, I really stretched what we had to get what we needed, and past that, we just do not have the ability to bring in quality. Here is how I am going to line up initially. I would like to present to you, the Borat Bassett. This 442 I used in a brief stint in Kazakhstan is what I'll use as a starting point. If we need to be more positive, I'll push the wingers on but many don't know the position too well. I thought I would try out Reynolds, a youngster who came through the youth intake in 2024 who looks, on paper, a little better than Cameron but I'll be sure to give both a chance. So much will rely on Delday's goalscoring honestly, but hey, we have a team, let's see how we get on. At times I didn't think we would get one together! Initially we were 3rd favourites but then as the pre-season went on we dropped lower. I am slightly concerned by our prediction but I know not to read too much into it. In previous years with this save almost everyone on this list has challenged Orkney, Golspie are always up there and Loch Ness can be strong. I would not be overly unhappy with a mid table finish this year, as long as we have an elevated budget next year. Let us see how we get on. I will check back in with a brief update after a few games and we have bedded in the new players.

Thanks @Jimbokav1971! Much appreciate the advice too, having a hard time signing anyone at the moment who even close to resembles quality at this level. Definitely going to go with your approach of physicals first in this first season. Feel like it may be a year of consolidation, maybe some prize money from cups, and reassess the squad next year. Money is tight, and I don't think I will be able to expand the squad much above the starting 11 and the subs, but we will see.

Always good to hear from you Andy, and thank you. I had sporadically checked to see if you had started a new thread, but good to see you still keen to take on some very low level saves A shame about Loch Ness, I think their lack of a permanent home was harming them a bit too. Worrying about Inverness too, although will make for a fun FM25 save if they do fall down a bit, but a crying shame to a great club. I am hoping that not only will this thread help me keep invested in this save, that perhaps suggestions and advice from fellow users will give me tips that I need in order to conquer this!

July 2024 - Start of Season 1 And we're off! 1st July 2024. Let's do this. FYI, I like to check what level of qualifications the other managers in this league have before deciding what to give myself, this league has a real mix between National C-A, so I'll settle in the middle, National B License and Semi-Pro Footballer experience for a very small amount of assistance. Let's meet my staff. Everyone is contacted so there will be no one leaving, but its a basic set up, we are allowed 2 scouts, a head physio and physio, HOYD and DoF. Will be looking to maximise the scouting dept as best as I can, poor recruitment on expensive players has been my downfall in the past so I will be operating within the purse strings as much as possible. However, with our very simple aim of promotion, we are looking at the calibur of players to get us there, and if the Highland league is their ceiling, so be it. Now, let's what state the club is in. This isn't brilliant, if I'm honest. Not so much the amount in the bank, but the amount in the wages we already spend, we may well need to shift some contracted players early doors to make some cash available. I may try and see if some bigger clubs fancy a trip to the islands for pre-season too. Here is the state of the club currently, a lot of icons from the old guard of the club in its early years. No massive expectation from the board this year, although you may have noticed a lot of cups, we'll get to that. Here is how the club did in-game in 23/24, not a bad effort but in the boards eyes punching above its weight. Now then, the squad.. Its fairly thin, to say the least. It does include a few youth players from last year's intake. Clearly some work to do here though, despite what the star ratings may tell you. I haven't studied the squad, so I won't go into a deep dive of everyone, but here is a select few players who from the current crop I will be hoping make an impact. First up, is an absolute gem from previous saves. Liam has been pivotal in the first few seasons of each save I have done with Orkney, mainly operating as a striker, he scores absolute buckets of goals. I'll be looking to him for an instant impact. Most likely his starting strike partner is Aiden, a strong PR with another decent goal scoring record already, at this level the pace and a little bit of shooting competence goes a long way. This next one might be one of the first decisions as manager I have to make, already had contract offers from clubs as he is on a month to month basis, I think he's got some decent qualities to start as our CM, will be seeing if he wants a cheap new deal. This is one of the new recruits the previous gaffer brought in and I think he's useful. Probably a BWM to potentially partner Stevenson in a 2 man midfield as part of a 442 if we go that route (its likely), I like his physicality and height, and a little bit of technical competence for a hard working midfielder. As you can see, plenty of work to do. Will need to evaluate who else is left and see of what use they can be, I will probably keep most if not all of them for depth, because as you're about to see, we plenty in quite a few competitions... No less than four cups this season. I have put previous promotion failures down to pesky cup finals at the wrong days in the calendar causing clashes with important league games, but I want to ensure we have sufficient depth, although there is not much to be gained in all of these. Prize money is minimal with most only offering any to finalists and winners. I will also note the non-league cup. Not a cup IRL but something the DB creator has added in for the amateur clubs lower down in the more fantasy like element of the pyramid (fantasy amateur leagues included to ensure a path for amateur clubs all the way to the top that does not exist IRL). In my testing some clubs at our level were randomly excluded from it in some years, but hey ho, it might only be one extra game. In terms of the league, this is how it shapes up. You may be familiar with Fort William, the famous club that has had multiple documentaries made about and who FM youtuber Loki Doki did a series with back in FM19 I think (which arguably inspired my interest in lower league Scotland on FM). A couple bits of interesting news about this league ahead of the new IRL season, Loch Ness are not included (Commiserations, @phnompenhandy) , they gained a bit of internet fame for their incredible kits featuring the mystical creature but apparently didn't pay fines and some X users speculate their founder threw in the towel this summer. In return, Bunillidh Thistle have come back after a 4 year absence from the league. They are not in this save world. So, time to get to work on getting this club ready to be a bit of a force in this league. Not an entirely blank slate to start with but not far off. I will check in with you before the first games of the season to show you how our staff and player recruitment has gone on, and how we will be shaping up tactically. P.S: You may have seen the IGE in some screenshots above, I only use this to edit the names of competitions to accurately reflect their names IRL and use current sponsor names.

Hello! Welcome to my first ever save on these forums, a save I'm very familiar with already. Welcome to Scotland, but more importantly, welcome to the Orkney Islands! Why is this called the pursuit of happiness? Time for a little bit of backstory... This is not the first time I have attempted this save, in fact, this is now I think the 4th time and 4th FM edition I have tried this, with very very limited success. The real sticking point is that each save has failed before it has even started - failure to be promoted from the division they start in. Orkney play in the 6th tier of Scotland, specifically the North Caledonian League. Anyone familiar with Scottish football will know that most leagues have a playoff system to decide some promotion/relegation spots, except this section of the pyramid takes it a step further. The North Caley League is 1 of 3 at step 6 that feed into the Highland League, 1 of 2 that feed into the Scottish Football League. For Orkney to reach the Highland, they would need to win the league, win a 3 team mini league vs the winners of the other regional step 6 sides of North Scotland (Midlands League & North Region League Premier Division), following that is then a 2 legged playoff tie vs the bottom side from the Highland League. Now you may begin to understand my pain! The gap in quality between steps 5 and 6 is stark, and playoff football can be one cruel mistress, so maybe you are less surprised that in 10+ collective seasons across 4 different FMs that I have never gotten Orkney promoted out of the North Caledonian League. So, why try again? Honestly, I do not think I can ever play an FM cycle and not attempt this save if I do not succeed this first step, so ultimately, my goal of this save, unlike past Orkney saves where I aim to take them to the top of Scottish Football in a traditional LLM save, is to get Orkney into the Highland League. Succeeding that, I would hope to get them into League Two, but, let's be honest, its August, and excitement for the new era of FM that FM25 brings means that time is limited, so I want to temper my expectations to something more realistic with the time I can dedicate to this save. Usually, I would utilise Mozza's excellent Scottish Lower Leagues DB he puts out every year. However, I think his IRL football team commitments with Tullibody have taken up the majority of his time and alas, the DB he put out this year was a test file that had a few errors I could not overlook. Nevertheless, Rcqq on steam released a fairly accurate DB earlier in the game cycle that mixes some fantasy with realism that I quite like, and crucially, has accurately portrayed the tier 6 playoff system. Therefore, I will be using this down to tier 7, so I can actually be relegated if things go very badly (IRL there is no relegation from this league). I have also holidayed to July 2024 as when we are well into the game cycle, I like to be closer to the IRL date. Plus, I wanted to see if this would impact my luck at all if Orkney have already had a year in the game world to bed in. Time to introduce you to the club. Originally when I first came across the club it was because of its unique geography, located off the mainland of GB to the north-east, the club have to take ferries to each away game, of which all are on the mainland, and, as you can imagine, means they suffer in the winter. (Yes, really there is a village on the islands called Twatt ) Founded in 2012, the club play its home games at Kirkwall Grammar School in the main town of the island, Kirkwall. Albeit not having their own stadium and it is just a school astro turf, I can imagine its a bit of a saviour when the weather turns foul, plus having the option to play on grass in the spring time. The club has won the league once, back in 2018. So, there you have it. Hopefully you'll follow along for the ride, if you're a fan of @Jimbokav1971's brilliant Tullibody story and the numerous @phnompenhandyadventures in lower league Scotland (both big inspirations for me) then you'll enjoy this. And of course, all feedback is welcome as I mentioned at the start, I'm a complete rookie at these forums, so please be nice Next post, we'll dive into the team on FM and see what we got to work with...

Has the save reached an early end?

Congrats on a successful first season on Shetland and enjoy your break! At least there a guarantee of good weather over there, the UK seems to be getting storm after storm after storm, stuck in an indefinite loop of 7 degrees, high winds and non - stop f*cking rain, as you can imagine, the non leagues are going weeks without playing many games.

I too am still holding out for this! Really have dragged your side over the line here, and definitely gives food for thought over your early season planning (that worked so well at Kirkwall too? But never this many injuries). I suppose as ultimately it is a journeyman, and if you get promoted again next year you'll be off anyway, the dilemma is how much you focus on yourself and getting yourself up the ladder by focusing on short term winning and league improvements than winning cups and getting prize to help fund the club.

I understand your decision to can it @phnompenhandy, but you had a hell of a ride and I completely get what you mean. You step away from a save for a few days and all of a sudden you can't get back into it, its happened more times to me then I care to mention. Me? I'm still waiting on Mozza's final DB release (my guess being the xmas break has put that on hold sadly), so without losing this period of free time without playing some serious FM, I'm exploring alternative saves that I can keep on the back burner through the rest of the cycle. I have experimented with a Yorkshire independent nation database with its own footballing pyramid, but I think the fantasy element of the save is putting me off completely committing to a save in it. I would recommend anyone taking a look at it, its a fine piece of work and worth simming through a few years to see how they would get on. Its on the steam workshop. Hope you've had a fab christmas!

Wow, 2 nail biting last day promotions! I'm not sure I would be able to handle it! You're really flying up the leagues now, seems as if each year you don't seemingly weaken with the departures and the arrivals of some sub-par youths. One question, as you're in the West of Scotland setup, in real life this would be a nightmare, but how is the club coping with the travel? Do you notice it effect the players? I'm not actually sure how much the game takes travel into consideration. And the costs - I know you have a healthy balance now thanks to your cup exploits, but what sort of costs are you getting each month for the countless times you have to go down south and back?

That brings me hope of bringing my barren run to an end!

Fantastic job @Makoto Nakamura About time to see a North Caley team FINALLY get the promotion! Very inspirational and proves to me that it can be done!