no, I was yaysus on the old board as wellOriginally Posted by mugbull
no, I was yaysus on the old board as well
Alright, this update talks about Club Finances and Facilities. I've been digging around the leagues I have open (England, Germany, Italy, Spain) and marked up which clubs are Rich and which are Bankrupt. The latter's the easiest to sort out.
Atletico Deva of the Spanish second tier are under water. They're a club that was bounced between the third and second tiers. The club boasts a 3000 record attendance but they currently only have 2700 spots to play with. Stadiums will shrink if a club's financial position causes their ground to face negligence. I've seen this myself with Villareal as we took on extra seating to see El Madrigal's capacity go back to what it was. Predictably, their transfers are all freebies. Cup football hasn't brought any big paydays with a 3rd round exit the best they've managed.
Spain in general seems the poorest of the nations. There's a lot of small time clubs with tiny stadiums. I think those with youth academies are grandfathered in so their facilities don't change. Barca and Real Madrid have maintained a health bank balance, despite their relegation worries. Four clubs boast Rich status: Barca, Betis, Celta and Hercules. The latter has had a little bit of success with a UEFA Cup and Spanish Cup. What's mostly established their finances though, is a Ł26m fire sale during their promotion season from the Second Division. Mikel Arteta oversaw that transformation.
Bilbao are the only rich Second Division side but they're floundering in midtable.
The other Bankrupt side is Serie B's Monza. Bottom of the league, they have a tiny 2500 stadium. They're another selling club but that ground means you're always plugging holes. You can fill it all you like but they're not paying Ł100 a head to enter. They have had sporadic Serie A football (a 14th placed finish in 2014) unfortunately followed up by a relegation season. Its funny how the AI doesn't often upgrade stadium capacity but will condemn seats as soon as the going gets rough.
Everyone else in Europe is in decent enough health. Germany has the 2006 World Cup to thank for their massive stadiums. As a result, all but three of the Bundesliga clubs are Rich. Only Bayern and Hertha carry a youth academy, though. 7 clubs have grounds in excess of 100,000 capacity. Do they fill them? Do they fuck.If the 3 Rich Clubs in the Second Tier (Dortmund, Schalke and Frankfurt) got their act together, that'd be a full house. Dortmund are currently second and look a safe bet. Back to the top table, Offerbach's riches have come from player sales. Lubeck and Essen have followed suit but a German Cup win in 2023 has given the club some glory.
England? Yeah, it's fine. Mostly, sides are operating within their means. 10 Rich clubs in the Premier League. The biggest surprise inclusion probably being Southport. Their long climb up the leagues has seen an FA Cup and Champions League final. It's a very well-run club that's spent no larger than Ł4.5m on their record signing. Rich clubs further down the tree include some fallen giants. Liverpool and Leeds toil in the First Divison. Oldham have seemingly scrimped and saved to this status. As have Preston, although they did spend last season in the top flight. Both clubs have had trips to Wembley for cup finals.
We're not quite done, though. Watford and West Ham swan about with their top facilities and goad the Second Division with their not-as-good-as-they-should-be-ness. They both are trying for promotion. Big fishes in small ponds, eh? Tell that to Sheff Wed. The Third Division is doing their best to knack them. They're currently 7th. Could be worse, though Everton are struggling against the drop. IMAGINE CONFERENCE FOOTBALL AT THE KING'S DOCK.
Finally, to the stupid rich men of Italy. Big stadiums that are often council owned and shared between clubs so this should be easy. 10 Rich clubs sit in Serie A. All of them have won silverware. It's important to note this is includes the Fiorentina that hasn't been relegated to Serie D. As a result, there's a Ł7m 'Batistuta-sized' whole in their finances at the start of the save. They saw no urgency to plug this, selling Amaral for Ł825k. Next season, their prayers were answered. Enrico Chiesa going to Valencia for Ł12m. They followed this by going right back to spending. Ł17.75m on Landon Donovan, Matias Almeyda and Rogerio. I can only think a board came in to save them.
I guess the next update will be the 'Who's won what?' post.
LATE BREAKING NEWS
Southampton are adrift at the bottom of the Conference. Insecure finances as well. They could be our Leverkusen.
Last edited by Shindig; 20-06-2020 at 08:52 PM.
One of my favourite things about Hungarian football is the cup. Everyone - possibly in the whole country - enters in the first round, and the draw is just basically 1,000 bags of scrabble letters dropped out of an aeroplane.
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The full first round draw is more than twice as long as that shot.
I had to google what ESMTK was short for. Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás Testgyakorlók Köre Labdarúgó Egyesület. Erzebeti Spartacus. Elizabeth Spartacus. There's a section in their Wiki marked ... Name Changes.
1909–1924: Erzsébetfalvai Munkás Testedző Kör
1910: merger with Munkás Testedző Egyesület (MTE) and Erzsébetfalvai Remény SC
1913: merger with Erzsébetfalvai FC
1924: Erzsébetfalva became city as Pesterzsébet
1924–1939: Erzsébeti Munkás Testedző Kör
1939: merger with Drasche Grubacs SC
1939–1944: Pesterzsébeti MTK
1944–1945: Pestszenterzsébeti Kossuth Munkás SE
1945: Pesterzsébeti MTK
1945–1949: Erzsébeti MTK
1949–1956: Pesterzsébeti Vasas SK
1952: merger with Ferencvárosi Vasas
1956–1958: Erzsébeti Munkás TK
1958–1970: Erzsébeti VTK
1970–1973: Erzsébeti Munkás TK
1973: merger with Erzsébeti Spartacus
1973–1991: Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás TK
1991–1992: ESMTK-Bauinvest
1992–1995: ESMTK-Hungaplast
1995–?: Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás TK
?-?: Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás TK – Hungaro Casing
2007–present: Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás Testgyakorlók Köre Labdarúgó Egyesület
Blimey. If this is to be my year, it all hangs on whether I can keep Ed Virtue alive for another few weeks
37 in 34 in all competitions so far, just needs Antonio Conte (took over the England job from Sean Dyche) to put a cap on the man's head.
Last edited by wullie; 21-06-2020 at 12:13 PM.
Turned down England cos I want to learn Italian. Got 5 Italian players too, all called up
Alright, it's Honours time
Might as well start with the English winners. The Premier League has been won by eight different clubs in 2025 years. Man Utd and Chelsea lead the way with six whilst Newcastle managed 5 in a frankly ridiculous decade (2011-2020). Only one of them was mine.Next up, Tottenham and Arsenal managed 2 whilst Liverpool, Birmingham and Fulham have all taken 1. Man Utd's final title came in 2013 courtesy of a 26-match unbeaten run. Whilst Newcastle have since struggled after Trond Solleid's retirement. Arsenal are the current reigning champions in a tight four-horse race with Birmingham, Huddersfield and Crystal Palace.
Birmingham won it with 66 points, a record low tally in 2025 which beat Newcastle's previous haul of 67 in 2020. Looking at those types of records, Fulham won the title only scoring 46 goals. It surpassed the previous record held by the previous winners, Tottenham. To put things into context, Alan Shearer holds the record for most goals in a league season with 33. In the year he broke this record, he scored 46 goals in total.
Aston Villa have a rather unwanted record of 32 games without winning. A run that covers a relegation year that saw their last win coming in December (against West Brom). Once back, they took just 3 games of the new campaign to break the hoodoo by smashing Blackburn 4-0.
The FA Cup has seen a lot more get their hands on the trophy. 15 Clubs have graced the Wembley steps with Leeds and Chelsea taking the cup four times. I forgot one of Leeds' was mine. Newcastle's 2 victories make them the last of the duplicate winners. The single-figure club involves a real collection of hard grafters. Blackburn, Sunderland, Aston Villa, Gillingham, Coventry, Tottenham, Torquay, Bradford, Brighton and Charlton No side lower than the First Division has won it. Coventry became the first of that level to win since the Mackems but it's no surprise any more to see those clubs land a final spot.
In terms of sequences, Chelsea posted a remarkable 19 games without losing between 2007-2009. This saw a win followed by a run to the semi-finals the following season. The longest losing streak belongs to Dulwich with 12. This lasted almost 7 years.
The League Cup's winners are the usual suspects. Chelsea stand apart with 4 wins whilst Leeds, Newcastle, Sunderland and Sheff Wed all hold 2. Success with Newastle makes me the only manager to win all the major English honours with at the same club. Oh, Man City have won 3. Derby, Portsmouth, Gillingham, Norwich, Fulham, Millwall and Stevenage have all taken solitary cups. If you want a feel good story, Stevenage is it.
The only Second Division club to take silverware, Stevenage did it as part of a mammoth 65-game campaign which saw three tips to Wembley (A Vans Trophy final they won against Stoke and a play-off final win against Stockport) The final itself saw them face off against First Division's Torquay in a 3-2 win I really wish I had the match report for. Sadly, their UEFA Cup dream ended at the first hurdle. Atalyaspor beating them 2-0 on aggregate. A record Ł65,000 gate receipts for the home leg.
Last edited by Shindig; 22-06-2020 at 07:42 PM.
This is so depressing. Won the Championship at a canter. Getting ploughed in the Prem.
There's a certain level you hit (probably mid table Prem, ish) when the opposition finishing becomes clinical and it's hard to really do much about it.
Nice to see the racists on course for relegation
I think I’m going down this season, not cos we aren’t good enough but because I’ve had 3 of my first 11 injured long term, and one of the replacements for the injured right winger also injured
One too many bunga bunga parties.
Or notI think I’m going down this season, not cos we aren’t good enough but because I’ve had 3 of my first 11 injured long term, and one of the replacements for the injured right winger also injured
Despite beating Chelsea in the run-in too many draws let them in as they won every game otherwise. Clawed it back to a point so needed to better their result on the last day
A professional job done:
Could they slip up?
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Best skin for Touch?
Bit rapey.
Whichever has the lotion.
As a welcome consolation, I went on to win the FA Cup by beating as many big cheeses along the way as is possible (also Watford)
I dream of the day I can win the FA Cup. Nicely done.
Did we do it?
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I don’t think I’ve ever been relegated on FM.
I'm a twit
Wim Veyt would never have let that happen P_3. Never forget.
The 6th season in Hungary has been an absolute slog. I think we're still going to win the league, but it's been a huge struggle after completely smashing it in season 5. Tactics seem to last about 50 games and then that's it, you're done. Like real life, I guess.
All my first team centre backs.
Ferencvaros: I won the league and a 5th straight title, but it was an absolute tunnel of shit to get there. Every time we hit form, we'd then just lose 2-0 to some cow farmers. Vidi managed to have an awful season which took them out of the picture, and our challengers were first Mezokovesd (benefiting from me loaning them about 6 good players), and once they faded away, Puskas Academy and Debrecen. We got to 7 points clear but then shat the bed again and with 3 games to go it was:
1 Ferencvaros 62
2 Puskas Academy 60
3 Debrecen 58
Luckily, they both then completely went into the Mariana Trench so we were able to fall over the line and win the league, a coveted title because this year it gets us straight into the CL group stage. The main highlight of the year was the Ramic-Mazzonetto partnership yielding 55 goals between them, 31 of those to Mazzonetto who is really not that good on paper but one of my favourite players I've ever had on FM. A poacher extraordinaire, like a goulash-eating Ian Wright.
In Europe it was a bit of a non-event. In our one CL qualifying round we again drew Dinamo Zagreb, who had put us out in season 5 but this time we bested them narrowly to get into the CL group stage and reap its Scrooge McDuck style rewards. We were still seeded 4th by 0.5 of a point and got drawn in a horrible group with reigning champs PSG, perennial bully boys Atletico Madrid, and also Dortmund. PSG and Atletico were both far too good for us and thrashed us with ease home and away, but fortunately Dortmund are pretty toss at this point in 2023/4 and we defeated them twice to reach the Europa League. There we drew Porto and got completely turned over 2-4 at home in a game which has convinced me that pacier centre backs will be needed to progress up the European ladder.
With CL group football guaranteed and 9th place in the coefficient table just about maintained despite Scotland, Austria and Czech Rep being right on our tails, this seems a good time to try and throw some money at the problem and step up a level. Vidi got into the Europa group stage this time but only got 3 points therein. League rep has gone up a lot and is now on a par with top flights from Croatia and Sweden.
Saison 2028-29 - I am Daniel Levy's wet dream. Little to nothing is spent on improving the squad, yet each year I continue to guarantee European football. On with the transfers. The ball was dropped in the goalkeeping department as our trusted number one Edouard Mendy decided his future lay in Holland and moved to Feyenoord on a free. That move saw the return of Brice Samba, an experienced if unspectacular type. In defence arrived Smiffy alumni Benoit Badiashile for Ł9m. A pure athlete who at 26 could easily have another ten years at the top. The midfield is where things got juicy as a triple threat of Oliver Ntcham, Mickael Cuisance & Jeff Reine-Adelaide arrived for a combined Ł13m. Ntcham (31) enjoyed spells with Nice and Anger post Glasgow and is very much the complete midfielder. Cuisance (27) hasn't quite fulfilled his potential, but his technique is still filthy. Lastly Reine-Adelaide (29) who wound up in Turkey after winning zilch with Lyon. I'll look to implement him as a second striker.
National - I promised the board European football and I delivered as we finished in a flattering 4th. Celebrations come the end of the season, calls for my head were rife just a few months prior as we failed to find a win in eight matches. With our next game against PSG and the fans protesting () prior to kick-off, I could feel the steel against my neck. Thankfully anti-football prevailed and we robbed the Qatari Empire 1-0. With the troops rallied we regained our early season form and stole a march on both Lyon (5th) & Nice (6th) prevailing by the sole point. In third were a very impressive Strasbourg under the tutelage of Erik Ten Hag and above them a equally unimpressive PSG. Topping the table then were of course my old side Toulouse whose head coach Vladimir Weiss bolted knowing he couldn't repeat such a feat. The French Cup went to Rennes who narrowly defeated Angers of all teams.
L'Europe - Ah yes the Europa League. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't desperate to win it again, but this wasn't to be our year. Runners up in a group containing Krasnodar, Arsenal and Bulgarian whipping boys CSKA-Sofia, we would face Manchester United in the knockout stages. Unfortunately for us both legs arrived during our collapse of form and one goal was enough for the English.
Next season could be anything. Zidane's PSG are underwhelming, Toulouse have replaced Weiss with Montella and his all or nothing 3-5-2, Lille have spent big and the likes of Nantes and Bordeaux are steadily improving.
They all count. Is ten in a row inevitable?
It should be, unless one of the others somehow becomes much stronger in an unexpected way, but then there's no accounting for my incompetence.
Europe next season for Margate?
I'm a twit
I know! Its all a bit silly.Europe next season for Margate?
Made up a little for being pipped to the league by Chelsea by battering them 5-1 in the Community Shield, making up for the one we lost in 1987. I just hope there's a code I can put in to reinstate the Cup-Winners' Cup after not being allowed to DOMINATE the 87-88 version.
I've been offered the Chelsea job after the useless Zidane left for France following Euro 24. They are perennially 6th and miles off the pace. I wouldn't take any other gig but fuck me it's tempting. I might have to start another branch of the save and see if I get into it or not, and go back if I don't.
I still haven't started the latest season but one thing I did notice is Liverpool have brought in yet another new manager.
Welcome home?
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Stay in Budapest, Jim.
That's exactly what I did in both my Dinamo Zagreb and OFK Beograd saves any time an interesting offer came in. It's good to have somewhere to go that doesn't involve starting over completely should the save become stale.
How close is Mazzonetto to Phineas Maimela in terms of crap players doing the business?
Phineas was actually crap, whereas Mazzonetto is just pace 17, accel 17, finishing 15 and nothing else, so not crap but completely one dimensional.
I just played a couple of games as Chelsea (though I'll now go back to Ferenc as I'm enjoying that too much) and I noticed the new manager had immediately benched Mazzonetto for the shithead regen I use for cup games.
Last edited by Jimmy Floyd; 27-06-2020 at 02:56 PM.
I think this is my last season with Villareal. It's all gone right off the boil. 16 points adrift from Betis and struggling to stay in 4th. We're poor in Europe as well.
I never had Jimmy down as a sell out.
You think you know someone.
some of the job offers are downright stupid
utd, chelsea and atletico offering a job to some no-name manager in norway
Is that intentional?
Speaking of sellouts, I've finally brought enough money to the table to keep Barbero at the club. He spent the last six months of the season being very sad. He is now Ł1.5m richer and on Ł39,000 a week for six years. We finished second in the league after a blinding start where we were six points clear of Betis. They would, in fact, finish 23 points ahead of us.
In other news, Karl Ellis, a first season regen has 1000 games under his belt. He's 43 and manages Tranmere. Javier Saviola extended his contract again. He'll be entering his 30th year as a player. He's only failed to score in one of those seasons. Curiously, he went from 47 appearances in 2014/5 for Milan to 0 the following year. He's not injured so I have no idea what went on.
Newcastle have beaten Sunderland for a place in the Premier League. Southampton survived the Conference trapdoor by 3 points.
I wondered what on earth was going on here (CL group game), then I looked at the match stats:
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How is there time for all that to happen?
Can we have a career to date post, Shinners?
Sure.
Newcastle (2001-2013)
FA Cup (2005), Charity Shield (2005), League Cup (2009, 2011), UEFA Cup Runners Up (2009), Premier Division winners (2011)
We always looked solid in cup football with plenty of quarter finals and a Champions League semi. League was a different story until I picked up Saviola and Van der Vaart on unprotected contracts. Saviola scored a 40 yarder on his debut against the mackems and we took the league by two points from Chelsea. It all went south afterwards. Our UEFA Cup final was a 3-2 defeat against Juventus. The scoreline flattered us, if I remember rightly. We solved the Shearer-sized hole by bringing in Anthony Shandran. 7 straight seasons as our top scorer. 153 league goals in total, just 20 shy of Shearer's record.
Leeds (2013-2015)
FA Cup (2014), Charity Shield (2014), UEFA Cup (2015), Premier league runners up (2015)
Just a point separated us and winners Newcastle for that Premier League. I was peeved. I resigned from that job so I probably packed in as soon as it went south. I was doing club / country at that point so I probably just fancied sticking with the international side. A 2-1 win against Lazio won us the UEFA Cup.
China (2013-2025)
Asian Cup runners up (2016)
The game appears to have consigned the Asian Cup to the gulag. A 3-2 defeat to South Korea was as good as it got. The 2018 World cup was over at the group stage but we took 4 points from a group featuring Argentina (0-0) and Bulgaria (2-1). The 2022 World Cup saw an unbeaten campaign with 3 draws taken from Morocco, Finland and Portugal. The Asian Cup still happens but we only got invited to it once. We had an awful World Cup qualifying campaign in 2025 so I called it quits.
Wigan (2018-2023)
Second Division winners (2019), Promotion to the Premier League (2020), Champions League runners up (2022), League Cup runners up (2023)
Probably the most fun job. They were already Third Division champions when I joined and just kept that momentum rolling. We went up to the Premier League via the playoffs and managed two 3rd placed finishes. Paul Fowler's goals got us there but Chinese international Chao Lin led the line for the Premier League years. Fowler is still the record goalscorer for them. 65 shouldn't be that hard to beat. The Champions League final was against Newcastle. They turned up and we didn't in a 3-0 defeat. Then my successor Trond Sollied retired, having finished the work I started at St. James'. What a cunt.
Villareal (2023 - Present)
Second Division winners (2024), Spanish Cup runners up (2026), First Division runners up (2027)
I had delusions of grandeur about this one when we smashed the Second Division. 77 goals, 94 points (at that time a record) with Barbero scoring 34. It's been a time initially marked by poor finances and just having to make do with whatever ageing players I have. It's still a broadly iffy squad. I can't undersell how pissed off I was with the suicide in the cup final. I relived that a little with Leganes knocking me out of Europe. Barbero's form has dipped of late but he was top scorer two years running in the top flight. Four, followed by third and now a runners up spot indicates that, whilst Betis are running away with it, we're best of the rest.
Money's not as big an issue now with the stadium getting another expansion and the European nights always fill up. I could do without the two games a week whilst my squad is full of 30+ journeymen. Betis have been legitimately terrifying to play against. Luis Andres Perez Zabal has taken them to 5 league titles and 16 cups. He's got 20's for tactical knowledge and spotting potential with 15's just about everywhere else.
Freddie Shepherd and Gordon Milne update THE GAME REALLY DID REGEN THEM WITH THE SAME NAMES AND STATS.
Last edited by Shindig; 27-06-2020 at 07:58 PM.
Newcastle really coming back to haunt you.
Yeah, it was definitely a Frankenstein moment. They completely bottomed out when Sollied left though. I'm hoping for power vacuum once the Betis bloke retires.
I got the itch to play today and due to it being on Game Pass I thought I'd dip my toe.
I downloaded a huge league pack (obviously) and then did the fake name fixes (which took far too long as Game Pass hides the folder pretty damn well). Loaded it up to start and none of the new nations/leagues were there and a quick Google revealed that Game Pass' version does not recognise .fmf files.
I'll have to shell out tomorrow for the actual proper Steam version.
That itch has come my way too. I need a new laptop though.
My laptop seems to be able to fly through it but I still can’t see what’s going on with that skin.
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