Leagues to load, team to pick

I've been talking with Stam off and on about my next story for FM12 and here's my latest idea. I want to make my next story as close to a collective effort as possible. I want you, FM Scout, to pick the team I control. That, and I want you to suggest leagues to load up.

The main parameter in place will be that I will only load a small database of players. Unless SI dramatically changes the time it takes for games to sim, I don't want to be shackled with a huge database that will bog down the progress of the game. Otherwise, I'm open to any league(s) and any team(s).

I only have two teams in mind at this point to give you an idea of how I'd like proposals to appear.

Portland Timbers, MLS - this is my 'hometown' team. I live in the Portland Metro area so I have a natural affinity towards them. And now that they've made the jump to MLS this season, they are playable without having to mess around with the editor. The challenge of playing in the MLS would be interesting too, given the salary restrictions and talent available. Top level cup competition would be new - CONCACAF.

Some random team from La Liga - could there be a bigger challenge than trying to break the stranglehold at the top owned by Real Madrid and Barca? Would provide familiarity to the masses, as the top cup competition is the Champions League.

Some random team from Serie A - similar to my La Liga idea. A top heavy league led by three juggernauts, and Champions League as the top cup competition.

I would like to see you take on the La Liga challange, I've got a special place in my heart for Cádiz, I'm not sure wheter they were promoted to Liga Segundas or whatever the division under La Liga is called, but it would be fun to see someone else leading them to glory!

As far as the MLS-challange go I understand that it's something special with your hometown, but in my opinion you just wouldn't get the chanse to really rise to the top of the world as you won't be a part of a competetive leauge (compared to the best in Europe) or get to prove your self in CL

La Liga would be a great test, breaking past the top two of dominance is a challenge for any club. Are you thinking of starting from the bottom equivalent of say a "newport" again or just a current la liga team, i think you should start low again. I also think La Liga has greater depth in team strength than Seria A so would be a better long term test for you.
Personaly i tend to load the top divisions of ENGLAND / SPAIN / ITALY / GERMANY / and FRANCE / as these are the strongest five in this order i reckon in terms of players abilities and overall team strength. I load this many because not loading for example GERMANY / and FRANCE / results in a large number of good young players not being added to the database. My computer is quite fast though thankfully and so my current game also has the PORTUGAL and HOLLAND leagues loaded for those extra number of young exciting players i love to sign.
Anyway just some thoughts of help for you, and if you do chose a current la liga team id love to see ATHLETICO MADRID finally take the trophy ahead of their main city rivals REAL MADRID and of course challenge BARCELONA in terms of playing the best football in the world, they already have the types of player needed in SERGIO AGUERO to get you started. Best of luck next season

I would choose Portland Timbers because MLS is really quite good league to play in outside Europe.

I think that you should probably attempt the mls as well, seeing as the team means so much to you if you have enough spare time. But maybe just so that you can take a break from your main story every so often you are making on this site, it might prevent you from getting bored of it for example and keep things fresh. Im just not sure that managing an american team will ever give you the same feeling as your newport game for example, as the champions league will always be unavailable and arranging friendly matches against the likes of barcelona and man united will never be the same unfortunately.

Go Portland Timbers, its always a bonus when its your hometown team that your leading to success. I've also never experienced the MLS before so I'd like to see a story based there.

Perhaps load the top two leagues from Italy and Spain as well so If you decide you want to try those leagues out you can easily move clubs within your current career and carry on the same manager story.

Alternatively you could load the USA, Italy and Spain leagues and set yourself a limit of 3, 5 or 10 years at a club in each league and experience all three in one career. I've rarely had a career on FM where I've managed more than 1 different club (I usually start a new game with a new club). I would love to see a story like your current one that went through a variety of teams and leagues.

Something I think would be interesting is moving around ALOT, I mean maby even setting a limit for you self only to stay a season or so, with the goal to be top-manager in the Hall of Fame... I know it's not very conventional but thinking about it just makes me tingle... And I see many here have said that you should take on the MLS, but I don't think it will be competetive for very long as you managed to conqur the top leauge in the world in a matter of years...

My first choice, at the moment, is to play as the Timbers. It would be a dramatically different brand of football and I think the financial challenges would be interesting to deal with. That said, the changes may be too much and it may get stale for not only myself but for you, the readers.

The idea of moving around a lot and setting a time limit on teams is an intriguing one and I may just do that! Maybe set a limit of 10 seasons at any given club. The only difference would be that I would probably start as a mid-level team probably at the top division to get a head start on the process. If I were to take the time to build up a team, my tendency is to stay there ala Newport.

Thank you to everyone that's chimed in so far, and keep the suggestions coming!

Personally I don't think Portland Timbers would be a great shout because of the small amount achievable. Therefore leading to a shorter story in that you will have achieved everything in a short space of time. On that basis I think you should start with a lower league club, preferably a club close to your heart or that you are fond of so you yourself can enjoy the game?

But with the MLS you have the greater challenge of making the MLS the best league in the world.
Or I would say Spanish football. As others have said it would make an interesting challenge, breaking the dominance of Barca/Real, like Sir Alex did with Aberdeen over twenty years ago, just on a larger scale.

Due to the dynamic league reputation thats in FM11 you or some other readers might want to look at becoming the manager of a club in a smaller European nation and trying to transform that league into one of the best in Europe... its quite a challenge.

I've been doing a career with Brno in the Czech first division, 4 seasons in so far and we've moved from 18th up to 13th in the European coefficients gaining an additional spot in the Champions league qualifiers. I'm aiming to achieve more than last seasons lonely 1 point in the champions league groups and climb in the 12th coefficient spot and earning 1 direct qualification place into the Champions league group stage. After that the next challenge is overtaking Turkey who are in 9th place and earning 4 Europa league spots.

A quick update - as of right now I'm leaning toward taking on the challenge of playing in La Liga. Any recommendations on the team I should try? I'm planning on loading every league possible in Spain so I'm not opposed to starting at a lower level.

What about Deportivo Alves which is going to play in Segunda Division B. Or Cadiz which are also going to play in that league.

I would agree with most on here about going into the MLS because the restrictions and the experience are different and more challenging I think, quite like the Hyundia A-League in Australia, also a very challenging league that may be worth a try.

As for team, I think taking your home team up in rep is always better than a team you have no real affinity with. I always try that with my local team (Kilmarnock) in Scotland to take them up and I always feel like its a better experience than trying with a team I have no feelings towards say, Millwall in England for example. Which brings up a suggestion, why not try a team in Scotland, the quality of the leagues are not as good as England so that could be the challenge, to bring the league standard up and the reps up?

Hey, read your Newport '11 Story, Got to say that it was a fantastic read and congrats on the achievements!!

As for a new team, a small European team might interest you as they still compete in CL football and have a chance to usurp all the big name teams.


Good luck finding a new team and challenge!!