[FM15 Journeyman] The life and times of Edward Brown

"Football is a sport of many things. Above all else it's a game of light and darkness."

"Light is the attacking kind football. The "attractive" kind. Its goal is a goal, a deciding factor happening. It's focus is on the attack and the win.
Many say it's the way the game should be played. The list of warriors of the light is long and the names on it are prestigious. The likes of Marcelo Bielsa and Arsene Wenger have pledged to give their fans the joy of watching attacking liberal football with varying success.
Football was at the beginning of times a game of almost pure light. Most of the team was devoted to provide a scoring opportunity. At best a team might have boasted a 7 men attacking force and they rarely tracked back. Back then it was about outscoring your opponent but things changed."/i]

"Italians are thought to be the first ones to come in contact with the dark side. They were the ones mad enough to think that instead of scoring there is something to be achieved with stopping the opposition from scoring. To kill the light of the game.
The army of darkness has been on the rise as of late. The likes of Stoke City and even the special one Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan have been accused of unattractive and dark football. They are the bad guys because their ruthless defense breaks has won them games they haven't deserved to win. And the worst part is they have found success with cohesive defensive style. Stoke are a formidable Premier league mid table team and Mourinho, as you know, is widely considered the best manager in the world."

"Of course in reality there is much more to football. It's not all black and white and this season like always I intend to take this team above and beyond. This team is about effective football. We are looking for players who work hard and keep heir head down. We want passionate and determined individuals. With your efforts we are looking to balance the darkness and the light. We will play like ying and yang in balance. We will attack effectively and defend cohesively. Some of you will make the cut some of you won't. And I will be the judge of that"

This is the speech I used to give every year at tryouts for the Akron Zips men's team. I came across it again while packing. So many things had changed in the last eight months. My mother passed away last March. Not too long after that the zips coaching team was disbanded. My life was at a turning point I could either give up my football dreams or try to make it big.

Of course quitting football was never an option.

It was the 25th of July.
I had been unemployed for five months straight. My only sources of income at that point were one off training sessions I coached for local teams. I was like a substitute eacher. I did what I was told to by the absent coaches. No time to get to know the team nor implement a cohesive mentality of my own. I hated it.


At that point I was desperate for a managerial job. I applied to any team I thought would be willing to take me but my lack of playing experience combined with the fact I did not possess a coaching badge proved more often than not to be a deal breaker. I did have coaching experience but no way to show it. The Akron Zips I had managed from 2008 till my disposal earlier this year were successful under my reign but there was really no way for me to have studied for a coaching badge at the time. My playing career had had a promising start but a knee injury put an early stop to it back when I was 17.

So there I was at a dead end. There was another training session scheduled for me next Thursday but I didn't want to do it. I had almost used all of the money I inherited from my mother as well.

It was about 3:30 pm when I got a call from an unknown number. The number suggested it was from abroad.

And indeed it was. The caller turned out to be one Luis Nascimento. Chairman to the Amarante Futebol Clube and they were interested in me. I remembered having an interview for the job last Friday. I didn't promise them any miracles but it seemed like they weren't expecting any. They were willing to sign me up on a one year deal with the team. They wanted me to sign the paperwork in person as soon as possible.

"A job! An actual job with money involved!" I thought to myself. I tried to contain my excitement but I was ecstatic to put it mildly. If it had been a face to face confrontation I would have more or less literally bitten their hand off. We reached an agreement quite rapidly and the call was over in about 20 minutes.

As it ended I ran to my bedroom. In my bedroom closet there was an old brown suitcase which used to belong to my father. I threw it on to my bed. My laptop was near my bed on a table. I turned it on and booked the first available flight to Lisbon.

My Adventure into management was about to begin.

There were no direct flights to Portugal for a week. I was eager to get to work with the team as soon as possible so I decided to make an extra landing in London. That way I could get to Portugal by the 28th of July. One of my friends promised to look after my house while I was gone. I did some last minutes preparations and then took a cab to the airport.

My career as a football manager had officially begun.


I am not a big fan of flying, I prefer to keep my feet firmly on ground but a boat ride across the Atlantic was too slow. Luckily I found something to read from my e-mail inbox. My new boss had sent me some background information about the team.

The team plays in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores. Serie Centro which is the third tier of Portuguese football pyramid. It was formed as far back as 1923. The team hasn't really set the world alight at any point in it's existence and the only trophies it has in its cabinet are AF Porto Divisão de Honra title from the 2005/2006 season and a Portuguese third division group B title from 2011.

The team going into 2014/15 season before my arrival.

I was positively surprised to learn that for a team of their size they have a relatively high end stadium. The Estadio Municipal de Amarante is an impressive 16800 all-seater and by the looks of it it's in a relatively good condition as well.



The team is based in the small town of Amarante in the Porto district. They are one of the many small teams of northern Portugal.

Of course Porto District is home to many bigger teams like Porto and Leixoes who play in the higher divisions. Amarante FC is the unknown team and has spend most of its existence yo-yoing between the third and the fourth tier.

Many people see them as as the relegation fodder of the season ahead. I was basically hired to keep them up in this division and that will be my main objective going into my first season in charge.