CD Estrela - The Awakening of Amadora

CD Estrela. Former portuguese first division team that went into administration at the end of 2009-2010 and dropped down to the non-league. Located in Amadora,Lisboa , best known as Estrela da Amadora, are now fighting to go back to where they feel they should never have left.

Stadium

With a capacity for roughly 12,000 people , Estádio José Gomes is one of the biggest stadiums in Lisbon, only behind Benfica, Sporting and Belenenses SAD, all first tier clubs. It´s been Estrela's stadium since 1957 and is one of the most beautifull stadiums in the whole of Portugal

Titles

Since their first time around in 1932 , CD Estrela have won the Portuguese Cup back in 1990 and the second division title 3 years later, in 1993. They've been runners-up in the Supercup in 1990 and their highest league finish is 7th in the first division in 1994 and 1998

Famous players and managers

CD Estrela has been a launching pad for many managers and players. Have you heard of a certain Fernando Santos? Yes, that guy who won the Euros and the Nations League with Portugal, before all the fame and glory he was Estrela's manager from 1994 to 1998. Another manager to have been in Amadora is Jorge Jesus,former Benfica and Sporting manager, now in Brazil with Flamengo. Jesus was actually born in Amadora so you could say that this club has a special place in his heart ahah. Onto players now. Former Porto and Chelsea right-back Paulo Ferreira started here at Estrela, being developed in the youth academy and then moving to Estoril, before is big move to Porto. Another player you might recognize is Abel Xavier, who played in Estrela before moving to Benfica and then Liverpool. Former Portugal manager and former Benfica and Sporting midfielder Paulo Bento moved from Benfica to Estrela and then eventually moved back to Benfica after some solid seasons. And last but not least, Bebé. Yep , THAT Bebé. Manchester United's own spread his magic in Amadora before going is way into England.

Rivals

Estrela has one lonely rival, Sport Clube Damaiense or only Damaiense, who are 2 divions above so no encounters in the league yet but theres always the cup...

Transfer budget

Now onto proper FM, in this first season has being an amateur club (little curiosity," Amadora" actually means amateur in Portuguese, kinda ironic ahah) we don't have any money to spend. In this level tho we dont really need any because transfers here cost nothing. No money involved and no wages so that's an apropriet budget.

League and Cup

We are located in the 7th tier and not even playing national level football, for that we need to climb 3 more divisions so for now we stick to the Lisbon district. Predicted to finish 3rd and with the board expecting promotion, that's what we are aiming this season in the league, In terms of the cup, its not actually the Portuguese Cup but the AF Lisboa Cup, a cup for all non-league Lisbon teams. For this season board want us to reach the second round ,for that we need to win two games so it is achievable

Squad

Formed mostly out of kids, for this level is a very good team and can definitly grant promotion if they play to their full potential. Some names to look out for are Bernado Osório, 16 years old center-back , already key player and 5 star ability, doesn't mess around and has a very physical aproach; Roberto Lima ,17 year old attacking midfielder that can pass and finish well and last Bruno Correia, the oldest player in the squad with 25 , he's gonna be the heart of the midfield and hopefully will pass his experience to the youngsters.

So that's it for the first post , I'll try and update this in the middle of the season, bring the results ,transfers if any and other things you guys might want to see

Good saves everyone and I hope you enjoyed this little history class on Estrela
Looking forward to any feddback , good or bad ahah

Good luck with this, mate. It seems an interesting side!

A nice challenge here. Good luck, looking forward to future updates!

First of all, a huge thanks to ScottT and TheLFCFan for the support, definitely gonna continue with this save for a lot of seasons now.

Transfers

We needed strikers more than anything and we went to the market and got two, Gomes and Kutu. Our first signing was center-back Gao Hao from Sintrense, he'll lineup next to Osório. Looking at the subs, I felt the defense needed improvement and we brought in Rafael Prazeres, who was without a club. As for transfers out, even before the league could start, Chinese Second Division side Dongwu convinced Gao Hao to join them in January, meaning our first signing we'll be at the club for 6 months and leave to his home country.


Tactics

For this season, we will lineup in a 4-2-3-1 Wide. This will allow us to play out the back, to control possession and eventually get the goal. In the defense, we will try and press high to win the ball quickly and stop the opponent to get close to our goal. The starting eleven that I think will give us more chances to win is already formed as well. Any further instructions and mentality are displayed in the image below.


Pre-Season



Positive feedback from the pre-season games, only two defeats in 8 games, one being against Espinho, third-tier team. Lots of goals scored but a considerable amount of goals conceded as well so that's a point to improve on. Confident for the season ahead, hopefully, we can continue the good performances showed in the last games.

Cup Draw Preliminary Round



In the AF Lisboa Cup, we get drawn against fellow Mucifalense. Tough draw more than anything but we should be able to advance, although the away factor might affect our team's performance.

September



We won our first competitive game of the season, comfortable win as we advance in the cup. We also debuted in the league with a disappointing draw away at Carcavelos despite a good performance from the team . Hope October brings better finishing, strikers had lots of chances but couldn't put it in the back of the net and it ended up costing points already.

Cup Draw 1st Round



Damn. First Round now and the big teams come into play. We get Ponterrolense, mid-table side in the Pró-Nacional ( 2 tiers above our league) so definitely a challenge. This time we get home advantage so I hope the fan's support helps us overcame this one and reach the next stage in the cup, which would mean the board's expectation in this competition are fulfilled.

October



100%!!! We got our finishing on point and got 3 points every time we went out there. We surprisingly beat Ponterrolense 5-1 to advance in the cup, the first time against an upper-tier team and we smashed them, who maybe we can be a giant killer in the cup. On a negative note, we do always start losing so we need to improve that in the following months. So far we have a league record of 4-1-0, meaning we end October joint top with 3(!!) other teams, Carcavelos, Belenenses and Talaíde, It´s too soon to say how this league is gonna end but I think it's starting to shape up and it's gonna be a tough battle for promotion, as only the top two get promoted.

Cup Draw 2nd Round



Now have reached the stage we wanted, we get Alta de Lisboa, currently sitting third in Pró-Nacional and strong favorites to be champions. Whether we go through or not, it will definitely be a good experience to play a higher quality team and we can show higher tier teams that we can battle them equally.

November



Almost 100% win month in the league, we drew away at Linda-a-Velha in the only game we lost points this month. It’s now shaping up to be a two-horse race for the top spot between us and Belenenses and honestly, I couldn't be happier as that means we get promoted but it is still too soon to celebrate anything. Improved the defense as we concede only two goals, same as last month but not giving the opposition as many chances. In the cup, we got knocked out by Alta de Lisboa, a team that was very superior in the all 90 minutes so nothing we could really do about it. Happy with the team’s performance, however, as we got some chances and our goalie got MOTM. This means 100% focus in the league and as Belenenses are also out of the cup, a mega battle for the top awaits and the toughest challenge as well because Belenenses have a superb team but we have a warrior’s spirit and will do everything to top them.

December



Disappointment is the word to describe December. 1 win out of 3 matches and 5 points gained only. We drop to 2nd place but with the same amount of points as 1st place Belenenses, who drew 2 games this month as well. The departure of key player and captain Bernardo Osório as proven to be a major blow to our defense and performances, as we go from 4 goals conceded last month to 8 goals conceded in December. Hopefully, we can bounce back in January and go top as we face Belenenses in next year’s opening game.

League Standings



Entering January this is the league standings at the moment. Tight at the top, we are joint with Belenenses and have a 3 point lead over third-place Carcavelos, 4 point lead over Talaíde and Abóboda and 6 point lead over Olivais. No slips allowed from now on as the promotion battle is fierce and whoever breaks first will be out of the race.

Player Stats



In terms of player stats, the front three have been our gems. Mauro Rodrigues and João Gomes joint-top goalscorers, both with 10, leading the way in our victories and often securing us the 3 points, Gomes even being the league’s second top goalscorer, and Guilherme Cabral with the magic right foot gets the most assists to this point. Both Mauro Rodrigues and João Gomes share top spot in MOTM awards, 3 each, proving why they are such an important piece of this team.

Team Stats



Team stats-wise we are the most goalscoring team in the league with 31 goals, meaning our attacking way of playing is providing us with a lot of goals. However, we concede way more than we should with 13 so far, with the majority being after the departure of Bernardo Osório, who’s been irreplaceable so far and it is really affecting the team.

That is it for now guys, half of the season is gone now and I'm looking forward to updating you guys today again, if not possible definitely tomorrow il be able to bring you the end of this season.
Once again thanks for the support, it really means a lot and gives the motivation to continue to play and post it here.

The league form has been excellent. Hopefully you can keep this up and maintain your push for promotion. The goals seem to coming from all your forwards, rather than just one; that's something very important when you're in such a position. Tighten the defence up and you'll be set!

Nice little challenge you've got going here. And not a bad start at all. Looking forward to seeing how this goes.

Interesting team!

A very positive start has been made to the league campaign. Promotions looks a real possibility at this stage.

First of all, a huge thanks to ScottT, TheLFCFan and SonOfAnarchy for the support, it’s what's giving the motivation to come here and write every day.

January




So, incredibly heavy result in Restelo, a 7-1 defeat against top of the league Belenenses and there was nothing we could have done, Belenenes are just another level and have proved it against us once again. That also marks our first defeat in the league this season and only the second in official games. We bounced back against Parque das Nações, they never caused any trouble and it resulted in a relaxed 2-0 win. And then it all fell apart. A shocking home defeat to 9th place Operário, who at this point was in a 5 game losing streak, by 0-1, and with this we get further from the title and start to battle only for second place, as Belenenses get a 9-2 win to separate themselves from the rest. After last week’s disaster, we beat a contender for promotion, Carcavelos, who was sitting in 5th place, only 4 points behind us. With that, we finish this month in 2nd, six points from the top and with a two-point advantage over both 3rd and 4th place. The defense is still a problem, we got two new centerbacks but I believe the main issue is the left and right backs and all options tried to bring in someone new has failed. Sad to see our top goalscorer João Gomes out for the remainder of the season having torn his ankle’s ligaments and broken his toe. Hopefully, we can get back on form and smash the competition in February.

February




Not a positive month once again. We failed to beat both Malveira and Belas, the latter at home, letting Belenenses escape with a 10 point lead already. We’ve been struggling in defense since the departure of Osório, not being able to stop even the worst attack in the league, Amavita. The battle now is for second place and it’s going to be to the wire, as we are dropping so many points and so are the ones behind us. March will be a decisive month as we play both 3rd and 4th place away with only 2 points between us. The injury of João Gomes is having a huge impact as we fail to score in flagrant opportunities and it ends up costing points. The defense is yet to be upgraded as the pursuit of a left-back and right-back is still very difficult.

March



YESSSSSSS! We finally get ourselves together and destroy the competition. Aside from the 2-2 draw in Abóboda, we beat our direct rivals and get some distance from the 3rd and 4th place, both teams will play us next month and if we manage to win both we achieve promotion!! We solved the finishing problem by bringing Gonçalo Lourenço from Belenenses. He’s now scored 5 goals in 4 games and as been vital to secure the 3 points. In other good news, our main striker João Gomes as recovered well and earlier than expected and will be available for next month’s bouts.

April



Hard month. We beat Porto Salvo easily at home, dominated the entire game and didn't seem that they can hang in the top. And then Olivais. Sad result in the end but a fair one, we didn't do much to get the win, something that would confirm our promotion, and SL Olivais took advantage and got closer to us on the table. Belenenses have already confirmed promotion and nearly the title. Now into the last month of the league, we face the nightmare Belenenses at home, looking for revenge and seeling promotion. If such does not happen then the last two games will be super tight, as we could face a 2 point lead only. The end is near and hopefully it turns out to be a happy one for us.

May



BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!! GET INNNNNNNN. We’ve done it. What many thought it was impossible, we’ve beaten Belenenses. We suffered a lot but we overcame everything, silenced every doubter and beat the giants. And what better way to clinch promotion than in your stadium against the leaders, and it’s even more satisfying after what happened in the first game. We go up in second place and a very hard championship awaits us.

League Standings

The 2018/2019 season as come to an end for us, our league as finished and I couldn’t be happier as we achieved promotion. For all the curious, here are the complete league standings



Players League stats



Teams League stats



Club's Player stats



Club's Team stats



Season Balance

AF Lisboa Third Division Objective: Achieve Promotion ------>Achieved
AF Lisboa Cup Objective: Reach Second Round ------------> Achieved

At the moment we are under a transfer embargo because the club is in talks to be bought, at the time of this post I still have no idea how this is gonna end but as soon as I get that I’ll make an exclusive update on that.
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Once again thanks for the support, I'm loving to do this save, even more posting it here and I'm looking forward to updating you guys before the beginning of the next season’s championship.

U-P-D-A-T-E

Takeover complete! We'll see what this means to the club, hopefully, the new owner can take the financial part to a new level and helps us go back to the top faster. It seems that the new owner liked our job last season and sticks with us for the new season for now.



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Congratulations on promotion and best of luck next season. The takeover looks interesting!

Congratulations on promotion. And hopefully the new owner will give you the money to take yourselves to the next level.

After losing so heavily to Belenenses earlier in the season, to beat them with a 91st minute goal is incredible. Congratulations on promotion and hopefully the new owner will allow you to strengthen further in the transfer window.

First of all, thank you to everyone following this series, I'm really enjoying doing this and the support is the best part. Sorry to upload so late and very few things but time wasn't on my side today and I didn't manage to go further than this in the save.

League



Just like last season, there is a draw to determine the league's two tables (A and B). We got lucky. We avoid league favorites Belenenses and second favorites Atlético. We do get Sintrense B ( went up as well and played Belenenses in last season’s Champion Play-off) and Carregado who are strong favorites as well. We are tipped for 3rd overall, 1st in our table, which means we have what it takes for a back-to-back promotion. The board expects us to be around the top of the league but I aim a little higher, I'm going hard for promotion.

Transfers

We needed a lot of new talent and that’s exactly what he brought into the club. In total, we made 17 transfers in and 4 out. Unfortunately, last season’s late hero Gonçalo Lourenço decided to leave to Mealhada. On the other hand, he made an extraordinary piece of business bringing a veteran Hugo Santos. He spent most of his career playing in Portugal’s second division so needless to say his to damn good for this league. The other major signing is Michel, a 16 years old Brazilian striker that already has 5 star CA, just impressive signing and hopefully, he leads the way to promotion. However, I still feel the defense is a bit weak but once again we weren’t able to bring major signings in that part but we still managed to improve it a little bit with a new keeper, both left and right backs were replaced and a new center-back. Because at this point all contracts are amateur contracts, the takeover didn't really influence financially but I definitely believe that it encouraged players to join, knowing they could get paid in an earlier stage here, something that they would have to wait for until their club turned pro, which is fortunately not Estrela’s case.

IN:


OUT:


Tactics

Last season was a success and as a result of that, we’ll maintain our style of play and formation. The starting eleven however as suffered a huge transformation compared to the beginning of last season, as only two players keep their place from last season, Lima and Cabral. Cabral actually left for Loures in the middle of last season but returned this summer and goes straight back into the right-wing.



Pre-Season



Positive pre-season I think. We played a lot of higher-tier and quality teams and we were able to implement our style and have possession the most of the game. Finishing also looks on point with us converting a lot of chances. The defense is actually better than I thought it was and if they keep up the good work I believe we have strong chances of getting promotion early this season but let’s not get ourselves ahead in this one, it’s only pre-season. Also started a pre-season cup I’d like to do every year, I called it “ Amadora Cup” and the goal is to have this just before the beginning of the league to get the competitiveness flowing. Leiria claimed the first edition of the cup and we came in last unfortunately ahah. Curious to know how this team will do when “ it hurts”. I also think we can have a pretty good run in the cup this season, let’s wait and see.
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That’s all for today, once again I apologize for the late and small post but I wasn’t able to play and advance enough to update you guys. Probably this will happen often as I don’t have as many time as a did when a started this story. An update every two days is almost guaranteed but I’ll do my best to bring daily updates whenever I can.
Looking forward to updating this in the middle of the season ( End of December) and hopefully in a promotion spot.

Wow, that's a very busy pre-season campaign! Glad you managed to avoid some of the hotly-tipped sides in your league.