The story of...

My story of Dover Athletic...

Before this story I played with my favorite clubs like Southampton, Leeds, Nottingham Forest...
With all of them i was promoted to premiership and played verry good there...
But I wanted some biger challenge...
Then I read Joannes3000 story with Newport Co. and was thinking of taking club that is in lowest division in England, Blues Square Bet South...
I was looking for some club that has some known history, but I did not found one...
Then I saw something... I saw that Dover Athletic is the only one club in that league that has on jersey logo of sponsors and club logo.
So I said why not, I will take this club. So I been hired as manager of Dover Athletic.
Dover Athletic is semi-pro club founded 1983 (2years older than me ) and playing at Crabble Athletic ground. Media predicted my new club to finish 2nd in league. My chairman give me 0k for transfers and 2k for wages! ( verry generous from him)!
I was positivly looking at this challenge but then...
I was schocked when I saw my players, I thought are u kiding me or what? This bunch of people are my players? They look to me like bunch of 13-14 years old kids wanna play football in some park!!!
Looking at my staff I found only 4 people in my staff.
There was my assistant manager Paul Joynes, youth coach Michael Sandmann, physio Frank Clark and scout Darren Martin.
Was thinking “and I have to win this league with these players???“ !
Then I post here that i started to play with Dover Ath. so if can anyone help me with signins because no player that I wanted would not sign for me. Few people has suggested which players I should sign, and im gratefoul for that. ( I did not wanted to use genie scout, wanted to feel the real pain with these club). So I started with my season.

First of all I arrange friendly matches. I was looking for higher reputation clubs, wanted to get some bonus from tv.... so I arrange with Sunderland, Wigan, Bolton, Wolwes, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Dundee Utd., Yeovil, Bristol City and Brighton (of course i lose'd all of them).
Then I sold few players and bought more then few...

So my club did'it. With much troubles but at end sucessful!
We started great, first 12 games without lose, then my first striker Phil Younghuband got injured and was out for 4 months, started to lose games at home and my strikers was like kids (shooting 15times and only 2-3times on target), so I was on 4th place at half of season (in january). But then like from dead came my striker Manoel and my right winger(inside forward) Abdeltareck Sakali and we started to winnin again! At the end of season Manoel got top goalscorer and Sakali player of the season.



Cup's were not my target in this season so i did not performed well...

FA cup 2nd Qual.Rnd: Dover Ath. vs Folkestone 7-0
FA cup 3rd Qual.Rnd: Dover Ath. vs Frome 4-0
FA cup 4th Qual.Rnd: Dover Ath. vs Sittingbourne 7-0
FA cup 1st Rnd: Dover Ath. vs Crewe 5-2
FA cup 2nd Rnd: Plymouth vs Dover Ath. 3-2


FA trophy 3rd Qual. Rnd: Dover Ath. vs Needham Market 3-0
FA trophy 1st Rnd: Bath vs Dover Ath. 2-1

You signed many of my recommendations

I would hang on to Sall until about League 2, he is a quality player. As is Younghusband, maybe only BSP standard though.

yes I did and thank you for info about players and yes Sall is good player im going to see how he will perform in this season, and about Phil he is somekind not so constant as Manoel so i will give chance to Tom Hopkinson!

Season 2011/2012 Blue Square Bet Premier

After winning Blue Square Bet South league I thought it would be impossible to fight with this squad in next season on higher level, so I did alot of search... who to sign on what position... after hour's looking on my new signins i found few players that are on right spot (on my mind) for my team.



My tactic this year was 4-4-2 with gk (sweeper keeper),fullback's (attack), central defenders (stoper), midfielder's (central midfielder), wingers (support) and striker's (complete forward).
Tried to play shorter and i wanted to see how can my players do if I gave them more room for they creativity. We started with lose from average Cambridge Utd. 3-1. But after that they started to play well going on 9 games row without lose. Team was really playing good football and at half of season on 1.january my team was on 3rd place in league!!! We did miracles!!! I was so proud of them...
But then when I thought it will be easy from now, and was looking already for title fight happend this game with Crawley (in that moment 17th place in league)!




That was most strangest game I ever seen. One of theirs player got red card in 33rd min. (After red card I saw that there is no chance that we dont get 3points ) and after that in 45+2 min. Sall gave us lead! My opinion was to say to team that they don't get carrles and to go out and score another goal so we can finish this match with 3 points in our bag. 2nd half started and my strikers got few good chance's to score but all of them wide. But then I started to noticed that my players can't get shot on goal, so I did 2 changes (changed striker and mifielder for same position players ) . And then shock!!! They score!!! In 77minute after my changes Nigel Quashie has taken ball around of theirs box and started to run forward. He past 2 of my players and get to mid of pitch he was 1 on 1 with my defender! He past him also and scored from 25m!!! ( he was going to my keeper and he did not go to my box he just shot from 25m!). Then I tried to play with 3 strikers but my strikers could not find their net. It ended as you can see 1-1.
After that game everything went downhill! My team started to lose at home and away so after only one month we find our self on 11th place in league losing the AFC Wimbledon(1st) 13 points.

After that month I decided to change my tactic. We were playing 4-3-3, 3-5-2, 4-4-2 but none of this tactis gave us success. Then I change my tactic to 4-2-2-2 ( just like 4-4-2 just 2 wingers were now 2 inside forward's) . We started to winning again (going on 13 games without lose ) and finally at the end we won our last game against Grimsby 2-0 to secure 1st place and promotion to npower league 2!!!



FA cup 4th rnd Qual. Dover Ath. vs Dartford 4-0
FA cup 1st rnd Dover Ath. vs Guiseley 4-0
FA cup 2nd rnd Yeovil vs Dover Ath. 1-2
FA cup 3rd rnd Dover Ath. vs Burnley 0-2

FA Trophy 1st rnd Dover Ath. vs Eastbourne Boro 0-1

Just to ask: does anyone reading this??? should I quit with this story or should I insert something more?

Thank you

I am reading it I think you should continue with the story, it is going well. Maybe to improve it have different update posts, like on Joannes3000's ones, about expansion of stadium, feeder club, etc..

Well thank you verry much!!! I did not post that I was requesting from board to upgrade yout facillities and youth academy and they say that they would love it but simply dont have enough money
Thanx for youre suggestion anything else since I guess you are my only reader

Keep going with it and you will defiitely get more readers :D. I mean, my story only had a few readers, but as I posted more updates, more and more people read and commented on it!

well I could post more screenshoots of some interesting players in my squad, thank you again!

you have readers!!! keep posting, the more you write the more people will notice it well done on promotion two years in a row! your following in the footsteps of "joannes 3000" hopefully you can be promoted first attempt all the way to the top! :] if its possible would you be able to post your teams season stats, maybe a picture of your top players goals and assists?

Season 2012/2013 npower league 2


This is a proud day for my club and also me. Stairs to Dover Ath. we are no longer semi-professional club now are professionals. starts right now bitter struggle, is now moving down the good and bad things that adorn the great clubs around the world.


Board request


First of all I wanted to upgrade youth academy and youth facillities becouse I wanted to be a little more focus on young people from our own power plants, but that will not happen this season say's board, as they say that they would love to make it but they simply dont have enough founds for that.


Last year gave me a couple of quality players who have gone through thorns and remained on their feet, players who I have decided to set up in this season in the first 11. Of course I had to reinforce the team with a new fresh reinforcements, but as always board gave me the minimum (0k for transfers and 2k for wages). It meant only one thing, hard to search among the free players who is good for my team. After several hours' search, decision fell on the 2 more experienced strikers in attack and young midfielders and wingers. We have in tactics as well as at the end of last year 4-2-2-2 with 2 wingers who are inside forwards. Very offensive tactic is promising a lot of goals but a young and inexperienced defense received a lot. However Clubbing sale was billed with the new reinforcements in attack and midfield and therefore not let me bring one or more experienced defender that will with young players create sollid defence (experience is player more in the field). With this half made squad I was hopping for some top-half place at end of season.
The season has started disastrously, with only 5 games played, we were riveted to the bottom of the table with 0 points. However after a poor series followed the (by me) something incredible. Obviously the better team met and made up a team spirit that led to 21 matches without defeat.
After a bad start we found ourselves in an excellent position. Second in the table behind the Southend only 7 points. As the season progressed we change second place with Oxford, while Southend have now fled to 9 points difference. In the meanwhile, I noticed that our pitch (after the winter period)is in a catastrophic release and urged the administration to renew it. But they said no matter how much they would also like to, club does not have sufficient funds for this project. After that came this:









And only 18 days of that came this note to me:








I really wanted that some sheik comes as a Manchester City and to save me from this misery that we give to an eyedropper.



Meanwhile in league was 10 rounds before the end of season, our captain and top scorer Rory Fallon was hurt for a long 7 months. Since I had young strikers Phil Jounghousband, Patrick Van Meel and Julius Gombalo and of course the attacker with a little more experience but who did not show anything special in the attack but assists Steve MacLean. I put a young Jounghousband and Van Meel in the top of the attack but have not clicked, so I put MacLean at the top of the attack as a Poacher. Given that in almost the entire season he scored 11 goals, I expected that in the remaining 9 rounds, only complete the first 11 and help with his assists to new victories and secured the second place, which leads directly to the league higher. But this man did not want to just stay on assists, but the other 9 rounds, scored an incredible 12 goals, with whose help we surpassed and Oxford and Southend and won the league! At end of season he won 3rd place in goalscorer of the year:









A fantastic end of a fantastic season !!!



League table














Transfers












Tactics




This season I tried to play with few tactic's, first of them was classic 4-4-2 with wingers (suport) and strikers as target man(suport) and poacher(attack) but with this tactic I did not get what I wanted, domination and ofcoures lot of goals, next tactic was 4-3-3, with this one I wnated to get domination in midfield, playing with mcr(ball winning mid.-defend), mc (central mid.-attack), mcl(deep lying playmaker-suport), then with 2 wingers(inside forward-attack) and striker(target man and poacher), this tactic gave me better possession and more domination but up front something did not work well, and finally third tactic was my old one, 4-2-2-2 as I was posted before mcr(ball winning mid-defend), mcl(deep lying mid-suport) 2 wingers(inside forward-attack) and strikers ( poacher and trequartista), and this tactic was on spot for my team, on right winger i put my striker Phil Jounghousband who played verry well scoring and assistin almost every game.


Some of problems I had this season:

Playing with Hereford(23rd team in league) my defender Abdou Sall got red card in 7th minute, after that I saw that my tactic defence is not doing they job with 3 defenders at back, so i put another defender and at end my team lose that game. I was furious and fined him with 2 week's without his wage, becouse my opinon is that his red card cost us losing 3points. As 4 of my first team players really like Abdou Sall they were unhappy with my decision, I tried to talk with them but at end we almost get into fight. So I made some changes. All 4 players I removed to reserves and told them that im going to put them there, I did not wanted to have disharrmony in my squad, after 6 games 2 of them say'd that they now agree with my decision and whant to play again and 2 of them I will be sold on next transfer window.


At end I would sort out this two players:







They were playing all season on high level and im glad that I signed them. Both are young players so I predicted bright future for them in club!



Also Phil Jounghousband who played for me at right winger got into team of the year:

After good season came some changes in board:












I was hoping some wealthy gentleman to take on board but we were apparently got the same as what we had. Hopefully, a little larger budget next year.

I just recently joined this forum, and now I just read the whole story...

man I've become a fan of you !!!

keep running Dover A.F.C., I'll support you until you get into the Premiership, then I'll turn back to Tottenham

Well thank you verry much! It's always nice to hear that someone read all this! if u have some suggestions I would love to hear them... Once again thank you for reading and support