Chrisofsmeg's Football Manager Thread

[Chrisofsmeg]

I'll be perfectly honest here. I very much doubt that any of you have any interest in the purpose of this thread. Unfortunately, I don't have anywhere else to ramble on about how I'm doing in my game, or anybody who might for a second listen, except my grandmother, and she only does it to placate me.

So I shall be sharing my wonderful achievements (or lack thereof) in Football Manager (Or soccer, for those of us who are American) in this thread. I shall update it to the point that I'm at in the game now in the near future and then after every in-game month that I complete. Sad of me I know, but I like to talk about it and it makes me happy

[Kunoichi]

I'll be perfectly honest here. I very much doubt that any of you have any interest in the purpose of this thread. Unfortunately, I don't have anywhere else to ramble on about how I'm doing in my game, or anybody who might for a second listen, except my grandmother, and she only does it to placate me.

So I shall be sharing my wonderful achievements (or lack thereof) in Football Manager (Or soccer, for those of us who are American) in this thread. I shall update it to the point that I'm at in the game now in the near future and then after every in-game month that I complete. Sad of me I know, but I like to talk about it and it makes me happy

Well believe it or not I do enjoy playing soccer video games, though don't really have a console to play on or anything. I'd probably not do very well to be honest lol Feel free to ramble on!

[Chrisofsmeg]

Structure of the English Football League System

Before I begin, I thought I'd provide some information so that those of you who don't follow football/soccer might actually be able to understand it!

There are six main national football leagues in England, and below them are many regional 'satellite' leagues, but the regional leagues aren't available in the game without patches, so they're completely irrelevant for the purpose of this post.

The main leagues are:

Barclays Premier League
Npower Championship
Npower League 1
Npower League 2
Blue Square Bet Premier League
Blue Square Bet North/South

It is a pyramidal league system and is organised in the following way:



Below this level is what is called non-league football, although the teams still play in a league, as shown below:

[Chrisofsmeg]

Cup Competitions

English FA Cup

The English Football Association Cup is the oldest football competition in the world. It is a knockout tournament with pairings for each round drawn at random. There are no seeds and the draw for each round is not made until after the scheduled dates of the previous round. The random draw also determines which team will play at home.

Each tie is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn, then a replay will take place between 1 and 2 weeks later, played at the stadium of the team that were away in the first match. If a replay is drawn, then the match is settled with extra time and then a penalty shootout if necessary.

There are 14 rounds in the competition, two preliminary qualifying rounds, four qualifying rounds and six rounds proper, then the semi-final and the final.

The preliminary qualifying rounds involve only teams that are in the regional divisions, as is the first qualifying round. Blue Square Bet North/South teams enter in the second qualifying round.
Teams from the Blue Square Bet Premier Division enter at the fourth qualifying round. The 32 winners from the fourth qualifying round are then joined by the 48 teams from Npower League One and Npower League 2 in the First Round (Often called the First Round 'Proper').
Finally, teams from the Barclays Premier League and the Npower Championship enter in the Third Round. At this point there are 64 teams in the competition.
The rounds continue with the fourth round, fifth round, sixth round (quarter final), semi-final and final.

After being presented with the trophy, the winning team also qualify for the Europa League in the next season. If the winning team have already qualified for the European Champions League by finishing 1st-4th in the Premier League, then the FA Cup runners up qualify for the Europa League.

If, however, the winning team have finished 5th in the Premier League, and thus qualified for the Europa League, then the FA Cup runners-up do not also qualify for the Europa League, with the qualification place being allocated to the 6th team in the Premier League instead. This scenario also occurs if the runners-up are not permitted to enter European Competitions for some reason.

If the FA Cup runners-up have also qualified for the European Champions League by finishing 1st-4th in the Premier League, then the Europa League qualification slot being allocated to the 6th team in the Premier League.

English Football League Cup (League Cup)

Unlike the FA Cup, the League Cup is contested only between teams from the Premier Division, Npower Championship, Npower League One and Npower League 2, as these divisions represent what is called 'league football', unlike the Blue Square Bet Premier Division and all divisions below it, which are called 'non-league football'.

The competition usually begins in the first round, although occasionally there is a preliminary round. The preliminary round is only used when the number of teams in European Competition affects the number of byes to the third round and it would not be easier to give the said club a bye to the second round. It is always contested by the two lowest ranking teams in the football league, usually the two teams that have been promoted from the Blue Square Bet Premier Division. They are single match ties that progress to extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary, with the winners progressing to the next round.

At the first round, all teams in the Football League (Npower Championship, Npower League One and Npower League 2) enter the competition, unless they are competing in the UEFA Europa League, and join any preliminary round winners. Sometimes, usually dependant on the number of clubs that are in the Europa League at this stage, it is necessary to give one or more teams a bye to the second round (usually the two highest ranked teams in the football league - generally two of the three that have been relegated from the Premier League).

The first round consists of teams put into broadly based North and South Sections, with half the teams from each section being seeded, and half not. The draw is first made to determine whether the seeded team should be at home or away, and the subsequent draw is made to determine which non-seeded team they shall play. They are single match ties that progress to extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary, with the winners progressing to the second round.

All clubs in the Premier League, apart from those that are involved in the European Champions League or the Europa League, enter at the second round, along with any teams that may have been given a bye to this round. They join the winners from the first round. The regional seperation of teams is abolished in this round, with half the teams being seeded, and half of them not, and a draw is made to determine whether the seeded teams will play at home or away, and then another draw is made to determine which non-seeded team they will play. The rules are the same as previously stated and the winners qualify for the third round.

At the third round, all premier league teams that were not included in the second round draw (those playing in european competition) are entered into the draw. The draw remains seeded following the same principles as previous. At this stage there are 32 teams in the tournament. The winners of this round qualify for the fourth round.

In the fourth round, seeding is abolished and any team can be drawn against any other team. The winners from this round progress to the quarter finals. The winners of the quarter finals progress to the semi-finals.

The two semi-final matches are played over home and away legs, with aggregate scoring used to determine the winner. If the aggregate score is level at the end of 90 minutes in the second leg, then the teams progress to extra time. If the scores remain the same after extra time, the away goals rule is used to determine which team qualifies for the final. In the event that the teams are tied on away goals, they proceed to a penalty shootout, with the winners qualifying for the final.

The final of the League cup is usually played in mid-march. After being presented with the trophy, the winning team also qualify for the Europa League in the next season. If they subsequently qualify for any European Competition by finishing 1st-5th in the Premier League, then the next highest place team qualify for the Europa League in the next season. Under no circumstances will the runners-up of the League Cup qualify for the Europa League, unless they finish high enough in the Premier League to qualify, or they win the FA Cup.

If a team wins both the FA Cup and the League Cup, and finishes 1st to 4th in the Premier League, thereby qualifying for the European Champions League, then the teams placed 6th and 7th will be allocated the additional Europa League places.

[Chrisofsmeg]

Cup Competitions Continued

There are many many more cup competitions. But due to the sheer number of them, I will only include those that are in the actual Football Manager game.


Football League Trophy (Johnstone's Paint Trophy)

All 48 teams from League One and League Two enter the tournament. Clubs are assigned to either the north or the south for the purpose of the cup draws.

For the First Round, in the North section, there are 8 matches between 16 teams, with an additional 8 teams receiving a bye to the second round. In the South section, there are also 8 matches between 16 teams, again with an additional 8 teams receiving a bye to the second round. The teams that receive byes are usually those that finished the highest in League One without being promoted the previous season, although there are variations in this due to the regional nature of the tournament at this stage. If there is a draw after 90 minutes, extra time is used, and subsequently a penalty shootout if necessary to determine which team progresses to the next round.

In Round Two, all teams with byes enter to join the 16 winners from the previous round. Again, there are 8 matches between 16 teams in the North section, and 8 matches between 16 teams in the South section. If there is a draw after 90 minutes, extra time is used, and subsequently a penalty shootout if necessary to determine which team progresses to the next round.

The next round is the quarter finals, with 4 matches between 8 teams in the North section and 4 matches between 8 teams in the South section. If there is a draw after 90 minutes, extra time is used, and subsequently a penalty shootout if necessary to determine which team progresses to the next round.

In the North/South semi-finals, the 4 teams in the North section contest two matches, as do the 4 teams in the South section. If there is a draw after 90 minutes, extra time is used, and subsequently a penalty shootout if necessary to determine which team progresses to the next round.

There is then the North/South Final. The two teams in the North section contest the final regionalised match between each other over two legs, home and away. If there is a draw after 90 minutes in the second leg, the match proceeds to extra time. If there is still a draw, the away goals rule is used to determine the winner. If the scores are still tied after this time, the match progresses to a penalty shootout, with the winners progressing to the overall final. The rules are the same for the Southern Final.

The overall final is contested between the winners of the Northern Final and the winners of the Southern Final. It is contested over one leg, with extra time and a subsequent penalty shootout used to seperate teams should there not be a winner after 90 minutes. The final is held at Wembley Stadium in London, where the winners are presented with the trophy after the match. The winners do not subsequently qualify for any additional tournaments the next season as a result of winning the Football League Trophy, European or otherwise. There is, however, a generous amount of prize money.



FA Trophy

The FA Trophy is contested between teams from the Blue Square Bet Premier, Blue Square Bet North, Blue Square Bet South, Northern Premier League Premier Division, Northern Premier League First Division North, Northern Premier League First Division South, Southern Football League Premier Division, Southern Football League First Division Central, Southern Football League First Division South and West, English Isthmian Premier Division, English Isthmian First Division North and finally the English Isthmian First Division South.

In other words, the FA Trophy caters for leagues from Levels 5-8 in the English Football League system, and is the only major trophy in English football that is contested by only non-league teams, the vast majority of which are Semi-Professional or Amateur football clubs.

The competition is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn completely at random,there are no seedings, and a draw takes place after all (or at least, the vast majority) of fixtures of the previous round have been played. However, the qualifying rounds are regionalised in order to minimise the teams' travel costs, as these are usually quite substantial otherwise and the teams competing make very little money.

There are currently 10 rounds, with four qualifying rounds, four 'proper' rounds, the semi-finals and the final.

Teams from the Blue Square Bet North and Blue Square Bet South receive byes to the third qualifying round. Those who win progress to the fourth qualifying round. The winning teams from the fourth qualifying round then enter the draw for the first stage 'proper'. The teams from the Blue Square Bet Premier receive byes to the first round 'proper' and enter the draw at this stage.

If a match is drawn, there is a replay, usually at the stadium of the team which played away from home in the first match. Drawn replays are now settled with extra time and penalty shootouts.

In the semi-final and final, if there is no winner after 90 minutes, the match progresses to extra time and a penalty shootout when required until there is a winner.

It is an important tournament for lower league teams as not only is it the only trophy that most non-league teams will have a chance of winning, it also has a large amount of prize money available, relative to its stature. The prize money for winning teams of the preliminary round is £2000 rising on a round-by-round basis to £50,000 for the winners of the Final. It also gives additional prize money to teams which go undefeated for 2 or more games, and additional prize money is also given to teams which win three or more consecutive ties at the first chance (i.e with no replays).

Rounds up to and including the semi-finals are drawn randomly so that each team has a 50/50 chance of playing at their home stadium in each round. The final is held at Wembley Stadium in London, a ground with a capacity of 90000 fans. Therefore it is highly desirable for teams to reach the final, as the number of tickets sold allows for a far larger amount of money to be generated by gate receipts than they would otherwise have, given that some teams at this level have a stadium with a capacity of only 500 people, for example.

[Chrisofsmeg]

There are two main European continental competitions, but I'm not going to bother writing about them until my team actually gets anywhere near them in the game, which, at a best guess, is 3-6 years in game. So yeah, I'll update this when I get to a point where I MIGHT reach Europe.

For now:


WATCH THIS SPACE

[Chrisofsmeg]

Right, this post is to tell you about the team I've picked to play with.

Ebbsfleet United FC, formerly Gravesend & Northfleet FC, are my local football team, and are affectionately known by its fans as 'The Fleet'. The manager of the team in real life is Liam Daish, who, during his playing career, made one appearance for The Republic of Ireland at international level. He has been in charge of the club for several years, but yes, enough about him, although I admire and respect him hugely, as he has a very difficult job with hugely restricted resources, as, in the game, I'm about to put him out of a job. Sorry Liam, but your days of getting us relegated are over

They have a stadium called Stonebridge Road, which has a capacity of 4098 people (800 seated), which they do not own and pay a total rent of £1 per annum for. I mean, wow. What kind of person rents anything for £1 a year, let alone a football stadium that's worth £2,000,000. However, due to the football league's rules, a club can only charge a certain amount of money when their stadium is rented, and thus gate receipts are rather limited, so therefore, one of my primary goals when I become manager will be to either a) get the club to buy the stadium, or b) get the club to build a new stadium. For the short term, I think plan A is the only relatively risk-free option, as it will only involve £1.75m - 2m for purchasing the stadium, as opposed to the £25m +++ that it will cost to build a brand new one. However, with success comes money, and with money, in football, comes the freedom to behave like an irresponsible moron with money, so, we shall see, I might get them to throw caution to the wins and build a new stadium if I do well.

The game begins at the beginning of the 2010/2011 season, so all the following data is based on what it was at that time:

The club was founded in 1946, shortly after the second world war. It is currently a semi-professional club, so the majority of staff, coaches and players are limited to part time contracts. Their reputation is really only known to the fans, others that are familiar with the lower leagues, and the general inhabitants of the local area. They're also pretty crap, as they were relegated from the Blue Square Bet Premier to the Blue Square Bet South last season, so I will be picking up the pieces of what's left of the players and trying to get them promoted at the first time of asking.

The club has always maintained a fierce rivalry with Dartford FC, Margate FC and Gillingham Town FC. They are currently in the same league as Dartford, so that should provide some derby entertainment.

Generally speaking, their finances are OK and the chairman loves the club and will never leave it.

As far as their facilities go, the stadium, Stonebridge Road, was built in 1905 and is in a relatively average condition. It is currently owned by a local company, has no roof and no undersoil heating, which is fairly typical of the lower league teams. The surface of the pitch is grass, the maximum pitch dimensions are Length:105m, Width:67m. The pitch is currently in good condition for the upcoming season.

The stadium contains average corporate facilities. They club also has a training ground which is adequate for its purpose and nothing more, unfortunately. It also has basic youth facilities and a fairly basic youth recruitment network to recruit talented young players as upcoming starts for the future. There are currently only 3 Ebbsfleet United ex-youth players that are playing professional football, one of whom I went to secondary school with. He was a bit of an ass to be honest, but I've never seen anybody so gifted with a football, not from around here anyway.

These players are:

1) Jimmy Bullard, who has had the most distinguished career of all of them, playing in the Premier Division for four different clubs, those being West Ham United, Fulham, Hull City and Wigan Athletic, and also spending some time with Peterborough along the way.
2) Luke Moore, currently playing for Gillingham Town FC in Npower League 2.
3) Matt Fry, the one I went to school with, who joined West Ham United when he turned 17, with Ebbsfleet United receiving a rather generous amount of compensation upon completion of this deal. He is still playing for West Ham United, although he is currently out on loan for the 2010/2011 season at Charlton Althletic FC.

Prior to the start of the 2010/2011 season, the club had three winners trophies to its name in its 66 years of existance, which you have to say, is truly, truly, dismal. These winner's trophies are the English Southern League Premier Division, which they won in 1968. They also won the English Isthmian Premier Division in 2002 (which in those days promoted teams straight into the Blue Square Bet Premier Division), and they also won the English FA Trophy in 2008, their highest profile win to date.

My mission is to get them all the way from the lowest playable English league in football manager right up to the top flight (The Barclays Premier League) and then onto Europe, where both glory, success and money await.

Those are my long term goals. Over the short term, my goals are to get the club back up to the Blue Square Bet Premier Division, get the board to purchase the stadium so that we can claim additional money from gate receipts, and then hopefully get up to Npower league 2 so that the club can become a fully professional team instead of semi-professional as it is now. It would also be nice to win the FA Trophy while we can, as once we get up to Npower League 2 and beyond we are no longer eligible to enter it, and also, it's the main prize/silverware available at this level of football, and I covet it, not to mention the bucketloads of money it will bring in relative to the status of the club.



Edit: It would also be really cool if I could avoid really really messing up and getting them relegated...AGAIN. Their previous manager has kindly made the job hard enough without me adding to it. Also it would rather mess up my game, as if I get them relegated, I will automatically get fired because they're ALREADY in the lowest playable league. But after five years of experience with these games, I'm fairly certain that I can avoid that. *sigh* - I really need a hobby. Oh wait, this is my hobby.

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