A new power in Manchester

Hey there guys, this is my first time writing a story
I've been playing fm since fm12, I know I'm not a veteran but I found this challenge one I would gladly try. I make no promises and will try my best
Hope you enjoy. I'll try to update it as often as I can
Have a good day

So we start our journey here in the Broadhurst Park, in Manchester


FC United of Manchester is a fairly recent club, and while struggling with their status they have achieved something noteworthy in such amount of time... Despite being relegated this season. That's why they deserve better. That's why they deserve to be the biggest in Manchester!
For now, this is our club overview


And, as such. this is me. Took the liberty of creating a random manager, born in Manchester, for roleplay purposes


So, without further ado, let's take a look at the squad and decide how we're gonna play this. Our squad is fairly large, boasting about 23 players. A decent sized squad for a non-league side. As for tactics this is how I've decided to go with. A narrow system with two strikers, due to the lack of quality in the winger department


As I'm writing this I've also gone ahead and did all of our pre-season friendlies, and I must say... pretty impressed

A home draw against Wrexham ruined the perfect pre-season, but considering that they're a division above us it was a nice result.

As far as transfers go, I haven't really signed anyone. I'm looking to build the club's finances, so we can sign decent players when we eventually get promoted.
Also, on that note, I did improve the staff of our club. Our coaching staff was already fully staffed when I arrived, so all i could do was hire some scouts and a physio (not keen on releasing staff members)


So, this is it for now folks, stay tuned in as we begin our campaign in the Vanarama National League North next time See you all in a bit

Good luck!

Best of luck with FC United. Kurt Willoughby will be an influential player, I bet!

So we finish our first month here in charge of FC United, and I must say... "Wow". 4 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses in 7 games is quite the good start of the season for us.
Also... the fixture congestion is bloody awful! Lots of rotation needed to keep our players fresh...

Now, a quick analysis of our main fixtures. The first one is the Stockport game

An amazing 6-1 win away from home, shoutout to Kurt Willoughby for scoring 4 of 6 goals in the game. All in all, a well deserved result

Secondly, the 2-1 defeat away from home at the Deva Stadium

A game where we were arguably the better team but a penalty and a late set piece see Chester go home with the victory.

The last game i want to talk about is the away defeat against Spenymoor

A game where we just did not turn up, as shown by our measly 2 shots on target. Granted, we were a man down for 86 minutes with a very tired team due to the Leamington game being only 2 days prior.

As a positive I'd like to point out our goalscoring vein. 17 goals in 7 games is no easy feat. Though, as a negative, we did not keep a single clean sheet during the month, and ended up conceding 9 goals. Something to reflect upon.

On that note, we now enter the month of September at 5th place, sitting with 13 points


This is our schedule for the next month

We are yet to know our opponent in the FA Cup, but i hope we can do well and at least meet our board's expectation.
I'll see again soon Have a good day

So, we start a new month here in Manchester. I've been fiddling with tactics for some time now, and I decided to abandon the narrow gegenpress system and adopted a 4-3-3 tiki taka system. And so far, I have to say, it's been going pretty good. This is our new tactic


So, having said that... this were our results in September


A nearly perfect month! I really can't believe how well our team is playing. This new tactic seem to be the opposite of our last one. We went one month with conceding one goal! 5 games, 0 goals conceded, but only 6 goals scored. Not the best goalscoring record, but amazing defensive work.

In terms of the games, we started off the month with a nice 2-0 win at home against Bradford. Nice clean sheet. Our second game was against Southport, who were top of the table. We manage a 0-0 draw, which felt bad, considering we were by far the better team, having missed a penalty. Their goalie was top notch this game, being named the MOTM


After the Southport game we got a 1-0 win away from home against Guiseley, nice tidy finish by Danny Racchi securing us the 3 points. By this time we already know we'll be playing non-league side Bamber Bridge in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round


Knowing this we can only hope to go through, and indeed we did. A 2-0 win away from home against them, with our centre-back duo scoring both goals

Around this time we also noticed our youth team got kicked out of the FA Youth Cup in the 1st Round


The end of the month saw us take on Nuneaton Town, a poor game by our team, being saved by our goalkeeper, Lloyd Allinson, who has been top notch for us. He saved a penalty for us, and Willoughby with his own penalty, now redeeming himself for the miss against Southport tucks it away


In terms of indvidual performances I'd like to point out Jack Banister, who we started playing with our new 4-3-3 system out on the left. The 19 year old has been one of our most influencial players with 6 assists on the league so far


We finish this month placed 3rd on the league with the same points as Southport



We start out October with a FA Cup Match against Lancaster City at home. A game we should be winning. Also, on the 3rd of October there will be elections at the club. Looking foward to see what a new board could bring us.
Thanks for reading, see you in a month ;P

Welcome back to the rise of FC United. We start our new month with a new president in charge of the club


Also, my work in Manchester was rewarded with me winning the Manager of the Month of September


Now, without further ado, let's analyze how our team fared in October

We start our month with a 1-0 home win against Lancaster City. A tough game, we made it harder for us. But, in the end, we managed to secure the win and move on to the next round. By this time we've already reached the board's expectations for the FA Cup. We later find out we are playing Gateshead, who are playing in the Vanarama National League, the division above ours


But before that game we still played Darlington at home. It finished a 5-2 win for us, with Willoughby bagging a hat-trick. We finally show better goalscoring prowess than last month, but in return we conceded 2, whereas last month we kept 5 clean sheets in 5 games.


Next we play Gateshead, a team struggling in the National League (they were 16th). We are the underdogs here, but playing at home we might be able to get something out of this game.

The game ended and the feeling of injustice reigns. We were arguably the better team, but alas, we just could not find it in us to beat their defense.

The following games saw 2 draws from our team. The first against the Kidderminster Harriers. 1-1 draw away from home. Joel Senior got his second sendind off of the season at the 87'. Jack Everest (our most recent signing) scored our only goal to secure at least one point.

He is a young 19 year young player with a lot of potential

The other game was a 2-2 home draw against Brackley Town, who were top of the league

I'd say a fair result, given what happened on the pitch.

We end off with a banger. A 5-0 win over Alfreton Town at home. Kurt Willoughby bagged another 2 goals giving us a confortable win to end the month

November is going to be a quiet month, with only 3 games scheduled, so our players can rest. We are also going to up the intensity of our training sessions to keep the match sharpness as high as possible


As always, thanks for reading, and see you in the end of November

A good couple of months for the club with only one loss and to a club in the league above you! A good start and lets hope you can continue that form into the end of the year!

So, the month of November starts and immediately we are bombarded with two good news. The first, not the best. I was 3rd for the October Manager of the Month award


The second and best news... Kurt Willoughby was named the player of the month for the Vanarama National League North, with 6 goals and an average rating of 8.10 in 4 matches!! Absolutely mental this lad


So, we move on to the fixtures...
The first one we travel to the Croft Park, home of the Blyth Spartans were we win comfortably by 2-0, Willoughby on the scoresheet again.
The second match, again away from home, this time in Edgar Street, home to Hereford, who were top of the league. We again beat them by 2-0, with Joel Senior getting on the scoresheet at the 76' minute. Another goal came 3 minutes later, with Willoughby converting from the penalty spot (he just can't stop scoring).
Our last game of the month was also our hardest one, as we were arguably the worst team. All in all we were more clynical, which allowed us to get a 3-2 win over Telford United


This made us go 11 games unbeaten in a row!! Unreal!


After this game we went on a little break, with no more games this month. I took this time to take a better look at the club and squad. As you can see below, our finances are in top shape (we started off with a little over 100k in the bank)


Also took a look at our team dynamics. There were currently 3 unhappy players in the team. One of them (Bradley Barnes) i will explain a bit later. Also, I've been giving Joel Logan some more game time, so he is sure to become happy again in just a matter of weeks


So, as I said. I took a look at the club and at the squad, and I tought we could have an upgrade to our 3 man midfield, which is why Barnes is worried. We signed this man below

Connor Oliver. A more defensive style midfielder. He's still 24 years old, so he is not an old player. Hoping to see good things from this guy

We actually sold one of our players too. The man in question is Liam Dickinson, The 32 years old striker just wasn't in my plans. Willoughby is in his best form, netting 16 goals in 17 league appearances, plus he is only 22 years old. Don't get me wrong. Dickinson was still a good backup, better than Lichtfield, our current backup striker, but he wasn't my main option to lead the front lines. So, as he was unhappy I let him go on a free to Kidderminster Harriers


As we were in a good spot, and the finances looked quite good I made two requests to the board. The first, I wanted to start a coaching license, which they allowed


The second, which they also allowed, was the increase of the wage budget


To wrap up the month we were told that we'd be playing at home against Coggeshall Town in the 3rd Qualifying Round of the BuildBase FA Trophy. It was a nice draw, giving us an opportunity to rotate some players in the beginning of December


So, this ends our month of November. This season is going absolutely amazing. I never would have thought that I'd be sitting at the top of the table going into December. Let's try and work hard to keep up our form boys!

Welcome back to my adventure in FC United;
We are now at the halfway point of the season, being in charge half a year.
So, how do we stand??

After a quiet November we have a steaming December. 7 games in just one month! The English calendar sure is packed. From those 7 games two of them counted for the FA Trophy. So, let's review our lad's performance
But before that. We have a loan getting terminated. Sam Baird joins the club after a relatively good loan spell at Droylsden. In my oppinion, i have no idea why this guy was loaned out. He is more than capable of breaking through the first team ranks, and only being 20 years old makes it so that he has a huge improvement margin


We start the month right as we manage to secure an easy 3-0 win against non-league side Coggeshall Town. Banister got himself a brace as Everest closed the score
Our next opponent in this competition is set to be Oxford City


We then go to the Bootham Crescent, home to York City FC, where we had a bad time. We started the game with an early goal by Everest, but then things took a turn for the worst when Joel Senior got sent off at the half hour mark. Playing 60 minutes with a man down is not an easy job. But York could capitalise on us being a man down and scored on the 72' minute by the hand of Alex Kempster. An 1-1 draw at the end of the day.

Decided to make things right as we played Curzon Ashton at home, delivering a 3-2 win. A brace by Racchi and a late winner by Bannister sees us end the night with a win


By this time I was informed that Billy Priestley's loan was about to end. Now, I am going to play our new "Bird" man ahead of him at centre-back. But letting him leave would leave us without a proper backup, and so I offer to extend his loan, which they accept


Moving foward. We visit the New Windmill Ground, home to Leamington FC in a game where we just didn't turn up... a 2-0 defeat away from home sees us love the 1st spot


Decided to tinker a little bit more with the tactics, creating a more direct style of play. Same formation, just more offensive minded. The result was an astounding 5-2 win at home against Oxford City. This win makes us surpass the board's expectations in regards to this competition. I doubt we can push much foward, seeing we are facing Ebbsfleet United away from home in the 2nd Round


Next game we played Chorley FC in our first ever Boxing Day at our home turf, grabbing an easy 3-0 win over them. "Bird" actually scored his first goal for the club. A nice header to a ball coming from a corner, making it 1-0. The other goals were scored by Willoughby and Banister, the usual suspects, seeing us return to the 1st place.

We wrap up this month with a goalless draw against Spenymoor Town. We came into the pitch set to get revenge over the 2-0 defeat at the start of the season, but our strikers could not capitalize our threats. It finishes 0-0 on the night with a sense of injustice.

This is it for the first half of the season. Next time I'll review some of the players in the squad, looking to bring some new faces to help the team. Our next game is on the first of January, again against Chorley FC, this time away from home.
Loving this team so far, they are exceeding my every expectation
As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in a bit

So, it's the 1st of January. We have a game today, against Chorley FC.
We're at the halfway point of the season, so it's time to start looking at the squad and the club as a whole. What are our weakest links. Who are our top players. How are we doing morale wise. Who do we want to let go, and most importantly, where and if i want to strenghten the squad


So... this is our current squad. This is my personal view, i do quite like this just to get an overall status of the players. As you can see, I've given a chance to almost all of our players, the only one yet to play a game being David Carnell, our backup goalie. The second player with the fewest games is Tyrell Palmer, having just one appearance on off the bench. He's not the worst kind of player, but I just don't see him develop to become first team material in the future. Despite that, I won't let him go since he doesn't have a contract with us. Granted, I won't offer him one either.
Lichtfield and Mike Jones are both some prospects for the future so I've given them some appearances from the bench, while Matt Dempsey has requested to leave due to lack of first team football, which I'm happy to allow.
Steven Affleck is another nice young prospect who I'll maybe look to loan out, since he is just not ready for the first team, as seen by his poor 6.7 average rating. Crawford is a nice player, who I'm sure is gonna develop well in the future, but since the arrival of Jack Everest his opportunities have been limited. Sam Baird, the "Bird" is another interesting player. Very young, big potential, and exhibitions that match that. A 7.25 rating from 3 starts and 3 appearances from the bench is quite good. Also, scored 2 goals for us in that time. Surely a player for the future.

In terms of our biggest perfomers, Jack Banister is up there with an amazing 7.40 average rating in 20 matches, counting 10 goals and 13 assists to his name.
Joel Senior is also one of our most important players, when he is not being sent off. His 7.24 rating is the second best in the team, and he already has 2 goals and 2 assists from 17 games as a Full-Back. Granted, 2 or 3 of those games he was sent off ahah
Our biggest goalscoring machine is of course, none other, than Kurt Willoughby. A player I've come to adore in this save. But despite his early season wonders, he seems to have fallen off the pace, perhaps due to the lack of competition for the role of main striker? Nevertheless, he bagged in 18 goals and 2 assists in 27 matches, with an average rating of 7.03.

Having taken a look at our young squad I've made some decisions.
MIKE JONES and STEVEN AFFLECK are to be loaned out
MATT DEMPSEY is to be let go
And, we must bring in another backup striker and a backup Right Full-Back

Having said that, I'll only be covering some games today, as I'll need some time to think and ponder on our strategy in the market. We have the games against Chorley, which we surely can't lose, and the one against Chester at home. So, let's see what kind of results can the lads get us

The first game is away, against Chorley FC. The boys bagged in a good result. with Baird getting named man of the match!


In between both games we did renew some of our most important player's contracts


We move on to our second game, at home against Chester FC. We have a tired out squad, most first team players being around 80% condition and Willoughby is out injured. We try our best and dominate the game, only allowing 1 shot to be made while getting 9 shots on target. Despite that their goalie was top notch and we could not find the back of the net. Perhaps another sign that I must bring him a new striker? Anyways, a 0-0 finish on the night sees us tied at the top with Kidderminster Harriers


In terms of competitions we've deen faring pretty well. We were supposed to be battling relegation but we instead sit at the top of the table. We've met the board's expectation of reaching the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup. And we are in the Second Round of the FA Trophy. All in all, a good start to the save and the best first half of the season I could expect!

This is all from me for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in a bit!

My heart almost stopped when I saw those wages and then I realised it was per month, not per week! You've been excellent so far and by far overperforming. I'm not too surprised to see Kurt Willoughby playing well, as I said in my previous post, but some of these other players have been excellent. Long may it last!