Poll: FM15 Story Of The Year

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Welcome, admins, members and guests alike - welcome to this year's installation of the most glorious and magnificent story writing competition in the FM universe - FM Scout's Story Of The Year. Over the course of the past 12 months, FM Scout has once again been graced by some of the best FM story writers in the world, including the likes of Neal, pompeyblue and Walter. And once again, with just a week before the much-anticipated FM16 beta, it is my pleasure to run (for the first time) the Football Manager 2015 Story of the Year!.

But first, a word from my fellow moderator Tallery.

Tallery:

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I asked Feliks if I could say a few words for this Story of the Year event, but in reality, once I’ve finished typing it all out, it will be more than a few words.
I want to start by saying a lot has happened this year. We have had a rebellion (that I am sure all of us will want to put behind ourselves), a joint winner two months in a row, and most importantly, a new host. This year saw the departure of the beloved Neal, who just simply didn’t have the time to host the second most anticipated event in the FM community (after the release of the new FM, of course). That marked the end of an era, an end of domination in fact, and therefore we should all just say thank you for a moment, a worship what he achieved here at fmscout.

So, in steps a young Aussie, who hadn’t really been with us long in the scheme of things, called Feliks. He’s done a fantastic job of picking up where Neal left off, and being a fantastic head of panel. And long may it continue.

And that lead to a promotion for me. I only joined the panel this year, and it has been an absolute pleasure to nominate the stories that appear for voting each month, and more than an honour to be deputy to Feliks too (that’s how I managed to wangle getting a few words in the post). But, as you may have seen – I posted my resignation from the panel after this year’s Story of the Year celebrations.

Also, we’ve said goodbye to some of the sites best ever story writers this year. Both pompeyblue and Josh_MU, whose stories were always top drawer – just like Matic’s screamer against Everton the other week – their stories and constant appearances in the SOTM vote will be missed, along with their presence inside the fmscout community.

With that done and dusted, let’s move on to the main event. Story of the Year. I want to congratulate all those who have written, persevered and poured hours of time and effort into their stories this year. I would say this year has been tougher than most, because of the lack of activity and replies in the forums, and that can mean it’s hard to motivate yourself to write and produce good quality work if you’re not reaping the rewards – I can tell you that first hand. But that being said, there can only be one winner, one supreme story that has conquered all, and that, ultimately, is what we’re all here to decide today. All the stories nominated, and others which have so narrowly missed out, have been top notch this year! But, today is about the stories nominated below - I wish all those who are nominated for this glorious event good luck!

Thankyou Tallery for those words. Now, let's meet your judges for FM15!


An inspired group of members no doubt, with a great deal of responsibility on their shoulders. 7 stories have been nominated this year, from a pool of candidates, and before I reveal to you the nominees for FM15, let's have a quick look at some of the "almost-got-nominated" stories.




The nominations for the 2015 Story of the Year, chosen by our esteemed judge panel, are as follows.....

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Neal's story 'The Laudrup Legacy' was one of the most popular of the Football Manager 2015 era. Detailing the careers of the experienced Michel Laudrup at Atlético Madrid in La Liga and his brother, managerial novice Brian Laudrup at Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Neal's compelling story provided everyone with an enjoyable story. In game, the task was tough: replacing two managers adored by their respective fans. This was no issue for Neal who continued the recent traditions for two of Europe's up and coming powerhouses. All this was capped off by the Story of the Month titles Neal won deservedly, and also ridiculous amount of replies he managed to amass in one season of writing (banter).


The FM13 Story of the Year winner was back with a bang for FM15, with his first big story since the legendary Beckham tale. Glenn T commandeered his beloved Liverpool in this one, turning them from "almost winners" to the very epitomy of winners with Brendan Rodgers. Glenn won a staggering amount of trophies (too much for me to list here - or even count) and his exploits with the Reds are probably the most successful the site has ever seen. The story was one half of a titanic battle in Story of the Month, drawing twice with pompeyblue as the site's 2 best stories went head to head. Glenn finished up with 3 SOTMs for the 2015 season, adding to his 7 (I think) awards in FM13. A true legend of the Stories forum and a very worthy nomination.

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Is there a better long-term writer on the site? I highly doubt it, because Justice has delivered his third dynasty save in as many years in The Royal Redemption. After finishing as runner-up in the 2013 edition of this competition with his Vauxhall story, and a SOTM-winning Luton story, the Irish tactical expert chose yet another English LLM team to control - Whitehawk FC. And over the course of over 15 seasons, he turned them into world-beaters. And I don't think any of us were surprised. Justice also decided to use another unusual manager, after the success of Bono in FM13, taking about 17 updates to announce that Greg Dyke Prince William would be the conqueror of the Football League. One of the best FM stories of the year? No doubt.

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After dominating Portuguese LLM on 2 occasions, Walter turned his eye to an even more exotic location for his FM15 tale - Venezuela. And what goes well with an exotic club like Hermandad Gallega FC? Why, James Bond as manager of course! The Aussie writer managed to combine the hardships of LLM with the extravagance of the world famous spy in this brilliant tale. One of the few South American stories to feature heavily on the site, Walt won a SOTM with this gem and is an obvious choice for a nomination.

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Emile Heskey may have something of a tarnished reputation as a player, but he set about to restore it in a new career of football management. In Feliks' story 'Emile Heskey - Rebuilding The Reputation' the ex-Leicester, Liverpool and England frontman began his career at London club Leyton Orient. Alongside the heroic efforts of players such as James Wilson, Jesse Lingard and Luke Garbutt, the O's steamrolled their way into the Championship and eventually into the Premier League (which never made into the story). A long story, no, but a quality one nonetheless.

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Dare to Dream, pompeyblue's tale chronicling his adventures with Havant & Waterlooville, was one of the best of Football Manager 2015. With ex-Portsmouth player Lee Bradbury at the helm of the Vanarama South outfit, the manager and club achieved incredible success in a save unluckily cut short through corruption. In his tenure at 'The Hawks', pompeyblue claimed thee promotions in as many years to elevate himself through the English league system. He looked set to earn more success in League 1 until the save, and story, was untimely cut short.

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pompeyblue's "Santiago Muñez: The Revival, Return and Uprising" is a fantastic story centred around Newcastle's fabled Mexican prodigy Santiago Muñez and his exploits as manager of his beloved Magpies under the new regime of Gavin Harris. Smart transfer business and intelligent tactical nous from the manager meant that Newcastle quickly returned to glories not seen on Tyneside for years. pompeyblue's story not only encapsulates the Football Manager aspect of the story but excellently details life off the pitch for Muñez and the people around him.

So there you are folks! Your nominations for the 2015 FMScout Story of the Year! Special thanks to Tallery and Walter for their contributions to this post, and also to everyone who contributed to the stories section this year.

VOTING CLOSES AT APPROXIMATELY 6.30AM GMT ON FRIDAY 30TH

Presentation is dank af Feliks

I'm truly honoured to be nominated for this prestigious award once again. Story writing has certainly been a fun experience for me and I hope that everybody who wrote a story this year had great fun too.

Congratulations to all nominated! As for my vote, I'm stuck between a number of candidates. I truly enjoyed Jamesg237's story this year and it's great to see he got an honourable mention. Feliks' and pompeyblue's stories were among my favourites too, and Glenn T never failed to impress me.

However, two stories stood out the most for me this year. Walter's tale of 007 in Venezuela and Neal's story of the Laudrup brothers were, in my eyes, the two best written and most fascinating stories, while still keeping a firm amount of FM involved. It tears me apart to pick between these two, but my vote does have to go to Walter. A fantastic member (former mod), a fantastic FM player, a fantastic friend and, most importantly, a fantastic story writer. Even if he doesn't end up winning I can safely say that whoever the winner is, he is certainly fully deserving of the award.

surely my vote for Glenn T!!. Sorry that I have only one vote. Otherwise my other will go to Sir Steve Justice

I'm in for Santiago Munez. There are some good active writers on this board and really everyone nominated is deserving of recognition. I hope to join that select group next year.

Great stuff, all!

"Serial Story Writer"

I thank you, sir! haha

some really amazing stories here, in what has been a fantastic, if sometimes turbulent, year for the site, but i've only got one vote, and i've got to give that to Justice for a consistently phenomenally written story

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The FM15 era is officially over. The FM16 beta has been released, and flocks of users are uninstalling FM15 in favour of the new game. But today, we honour the game that was Football Manager 2015 and the brilliant stories it created. Today I, Feliks, have the honour to present to you the winner of the 2015 FM Scout Story Of The Year competition.



He's finally done it! FM13 SOTY runner-up to Glenn T, and FM14 runner-up to Neal, Justice has finally broken through to win this elite competition with his classic story The Royal Redemption. The exploits of Prince William and Whitehawk FC took out the comp this year with 11 votes out of the 43. In second place, missing out by a solitary vote, was Glenn T with his Liverpool story. It was a tight race to the end, with Justice taking the lead on a triumphant last day to win this coveted award.

As Head of the Story Awards section, I would like to congratulate all stories nominated and especially our winner, Justice. The FM15 era may be behind us, but the FM16 era is dawning and it's sure to bring just as many brilliant stories. And who knows. Maybe you could be next year's winner.

Congratulations Justice! Very well deserved!

Congrats Justice

A big thank you to everybody who voted for me! While it was never my intention to win this when starting story writing, it is certainly a proud moment for me. There was a huge spread in votes which shows just how high the standard of these stories were, and I would like to congratulate all those involved. Hopefully we'll see such quality in next year's competition!