Unemployment Challenge: A Woman's Touch

Spurs and Odense will both continue post-exam stress; i've always wanted to attempt an unemployment challenge, and this will come with greater detail, more stats, and be more personal, as I play as myself!

About Me
Name: Katy Forrest
DoB: 19/01
Nationality: Scottish
Past Experience: Sunday League Football

The First Job: Stalybridge Celtic

Club Info

Date Job Taken: 25/7/13

Please try and stick with a story.....

I'm trying; my other two have been pretty intense and i've got exams going on, and in my others, i've either been sacked or the saves corrupted this and my other two i'll stick with, as stated in the top of the post

All the best with this...it is only now that I've realised you're female - despite calling you 'pal' and 'mate' on several occasions. You're the next Helena Costa (hopefully)! Good luck

July 27th 2013: The New Job

Stalybridge Celtic; A team playing in the Skrill North, founded in 1909. My new workplace. There's only two trophies in the trophy cabinet, both from the English Northern League Premier Division, from 1992 and 2001. The club's highest finish in the Skrill North was a 3rd placed finish in 2008, and our highest ever league position was 12th in the Skrill Premier.

Overall, the facilities are pretty basic, but the 6k capacity of the stadium is a plus, as if we can start to fill that we can bring in some decent cash. The team itself is in decent enough shape, but a few good signings are needed in places.

The board asked me to give them a mid-table finish, consolidating the work from last season, which is good; not too much pressure, and plenty room to manoeuvre in the league. I'll assess the guys over the next few weeks and come up with a formation we can play, and see who's staying and who's going.

July 30th: The Squad and Formation

After 3 days in training, i've finally come to a conclusion around the squad and the direction we're going to go in...it's going to involve some tough transfers out, and a lot of work, but the boys seem up for it.

Firstly, there are some great talents in this squad, and i'll outline them below.




So with these players, and some clever signings, I think we could do a good job in the league this season, but a Key point this season will be the tactics.


Essentially, we're looking to stay tight at the back, and frustrate opponents in midfield, while the false nine will seek to break out of midfield, and bring the Box-to-box midfielders into play to create chances

Nice, nice, nice, nice! Stalybridge not all that far from my hometown...well, about 45 minutes. So I'm rooting for ya!

McConville looks the real deal good luck on your endeavors

thanks guys! I'm really excited about this; some great-looking prospects in here!

August 17th 2013: The First Match

Opening day of the season. The buzz around the stadium was tangible; players and staff excited to get started, and the measly 317 people in the 6k capacity stadium made plenty noise, in spite of their small number.

Hednesford were our opponents; newly promoted into the leagues, and hotly tipped to drop straight back down, but we weren't complacent. We knew our gameplan, and we stuck to it. Tight at the back, careful going forward, not pushing too far too fast.

We were ahead after 19 minutes, Kristian Platt scoring a header from a Dan Hart corner which flew into the net past the diving goalkeeper, and sending our fans wild; the first goal scored in this season's Skrill North was ours!

For the rest of the game, we concentrated on containing opposition attacks, passing the ball and keeping possession, and probing their defence to find and exploit gaps where the opportunity presented itself. We created plenty chances, but struggled to hit the back of the net with them. Overall though, we played well, and a 1-0 victory is as good a platform as any to build a season on.

Good luck mate!

August 18th: Match Analysis - Hednesford

The opening game of the season always provides some dodgy nerves, and players can make some big mistakes, but we survived pretty well. A 1-0 win was well-deserved, and we worked hard for it, covering almost every blade of grass in a bid to close down opposition attacks.

However, nobody ran more than Stephen Tames, one of our strikers. he dropped deep and stayed there to support his team mates, covering 10.5km of ground over the match. His average position wasn't as high up the park as many would imagine a striker to be, but it worked well, and we frustrated the opposition.

Passing was one of the key things which I had told the guys to focus on; the more of the ball we see, the less our opponents see, and they duly delivered. Kevin Bleau was key in this, making 69 completed passes all up the right wing, including a couple of key passes which led to CCCs.


Martin MacLean, our loan signing from Brora was also Key in this match, his passing and tackling both excellent, and his movement also critical to the team. With 60 completed Passes, 3 key passes to break up attacks on our right wing, and 9.6km covered in the match, MacLean definitely gets my vote for Man of the Match, despite the league's stattos not agreeing.

August 2013 Roundup

Thoughts: Overall, this month has been incredibly pleasing. We played 5 matches, winning 4 and drawing one, to finish the month top of the league, and unbeaten!

Stalybridge 1-0 Hednesford
Kristian Platt (19)
Martin MacLean

Stalybridge 3-1 Colwyn Bay
Steven Tames (33, 81)
Sean McConville (38)
Steven Tames

Stalybridge 2-1 Gainsborough
Sean McConville (48, 91)
Sean McConville

Stalybridge 1-1 Bradford PA
Steven Tames (11)
Steven Tames

Stalybridge 6-0 Workington
Dan Hart (24)
Jordan Barrow (55)
Lewis Hatch (57, 79)
Alec Mudimu (75)
Sean McConville (91)
Dan Hart

League Table

League Awards

Player of the Month: Sean McConville (Stalybridge)
Manager of the Month: Katy Forrest (Stalybridge)

September 1st: The Transfer Window

So...My first competitive month at the club is over, and it's been a blast. Being top of the league, unbeaten in 5 games, and named Manager of the Month for the first time. The atmosphere in the dressing room and around the club in general has been incredible, with the fans, players and board giving me their full backing.

This window, we've made 4 signings, 2 on free transfers, one player for a fee of £3.6k, and one player on loan; the 4 of them are detailed below.