This is just more of a chat thread than anything else and does not really have to relate to FM11, but tell us about your best game/career with a lower league side?
Mine was on FM07. I loaded up all the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English leagues and got stuck in. I selected the mighty Sulphurites of North Yorkshire, Harrogate Town Football Club. Home ground, Wetherby Road with a capacity of 3,300 and 500 seated.
My journey began in the Conference North.
2006/07 - Conference North Champions (promoted) - Absolutely hammered the division. FA Trophy winners. FA Cup 2nd Round
2007/08 - Conference Nationl playoff winners (promoted) - After leading for almost the whole way, the goals dried up but I managed to squeak into the playoffs in 4th place and duly proceeded to win promotion via the playoffs. FA Cup 2nd Round.
2008/09 - First Stadium upgrade; they added a few more seats. Due to a complete lack of money in both transfer funds and wages, I scoured the lower leagues for bargains adn raided the relegated League 2 teams. League Two Champions (promoted) - Completely unexpected. I started slow but rocketed up the table. More amazing was that the guy who had finished top-scorer back in the Conference North finished top-scorere in League 2. Johnstone's Paint Trophy winner. FA Cup 3rd Round.
2009/10 - Another stadium upgrade; larger capacity and more seats. Continued hunting in the basement for talent, bolseterd by some loanees from the Championship. Started receiving my first job offers from League 2, League 1 and even a few Championship sides. Finished 5th in the league, yet another shock. Solid cup runs too. Retained the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, made the quarterfinals of the League Cup, beating Aston Villa en route, and played my first game against a Premiership side in the FA Cup by making the 4th Round where I was walloped by a high-flying Wolverhampton.
2010/11 - More stadium upgrades. Decided to stick with my squad, improved by my first batch of pretty good youth players. Spent 100k for the first time on a player, a GK, forget his name off-hand. League One Champions. Nearly made it a hat-trick of Paint Trophies, but tanked in the semi. Nothing special in the bigger cups again.
2011/12 - I was expecting to see my ****. Nope. Promoted as Championship Runners-up. Little Harrogate Town, Premiership side. Wetherby Road was now a massive 6,750 seater stadium. Cups went to **** though, nothing special.
2012/13 - Still could not afford much. Had very little hope for the new season. Amazingly, 3 first team players had started the journey with me in th Conference North. After 13 games I had managed a solid 4 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses and was 4 places clear of the drop. Then I walked out on them. I took charge of Aston Villa, who were 2nd from bottom and had just sacked their gaffer. Ended up mid-table with them and won the League Cup. Harrogate Town were relegated. I played one more season with Villa but lost interest after missing out on a top-6 spot on goals and subsequently retired, a legend at Town. Sadly, in my absence Town were relegated for the second straight season.
Honours:
League Cup winners 2012/13 (Aston Villa)
Johnstone's Paint Trophy winners 2008/09, 2009/10 (both Harrogate Town)
League One Champions 2010/11 (Harrogate Town)
League Two Champions 2008/09 (Harrogate Town)
FA Trophy winners 2006/07 (Harrogate Town)
Conference National playoff winners 2007/08 (Harrogate Town)
Conference North Champions (2006/07)
Mine was on FM07. I loaded up all the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English leagues and got stuck in. I selected the mighty Sulphurites of North Yorkshire, Harrogate Town Football Club. Home ground, Wetherby Road with a capacity of 3,300 and 500 seated.
My journey began in the Conference North.
2006/07 - Conference North Champions (promoted) - Absolutely hammered the division. FA Trophy winners. FA Cup 2nd Round
2007/08 - Conference Nationl playoff winners (promoted) - After leading for almost the whole way, the goals dried up but I managed to squeak into the playoffs in 4th place and duly proceeded to win promotion via the playoffs. FA Cup 2nd Round.
2008/09 - First Stadium upgrade; they added a few more seats. Due to a complete lack of money in both transfer funds and wages, I scoured the lower leagues for bargains adn raided the relegated League 2 teams. League Two Champions (promoted) - Completely unexpected. I started slow but rocketed up the table. More amazing was that the guy who had finished top-scorer back in the Conference North finished top-scorere in League 2. Johnstone's Paint Trophy winner. FA Cup 3rd Round.
2009/10 - Another stadium upgrade; larger capacity and more seats. Continued hunting in the basement for talent, bolseterd by some loanees from the Championship. Started receiving my first job offers from League 2, League 1 and even a few Championship sides. Finished 5th in the league, yet another shock. Solid cup runs too. Retained the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, made the quarterfinals of the League Cup, beating Aston Villa en route, and played my first game against a Premiership side in the FA Cup by making the 4th Round where I was walloped by a high-flying Wolverhampton.
2010/11 - More stadium upgrades. Decided to stick with my squad, improved by my first batch of pretty good youth players. Spent 100k for the first time on a player, a GK, forget his name off-hand. League One Champions. Nearly made it a hat-trick of Paint Trophies, but tanked in the semi. Nothing special in the bigger cups again.
2011/12 - I was expecting to see my ****. Nope. Promoted as Championship Runners-up. Little Harrogate Town, Premiership side. Wetherby Road was now a massive 6,750 seater stadium. Cups went to **** though, nothing special.
2012/13 - Still could not afford much. Had very little hope for the new season. Amazingly, 3 first team players had started the journey with me in th Conference North. After 13 games I had managed a solid 4 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses and was 4 places clear of the drop. Then I walked out on them. I took charge of Aston Villa, who were 2nd from bottom and had just sacked their gaffer. Ended up mid-table with them and won the League Cup. Harrogate Town were relegated. I played one more season with Villa but lost interest after missing out on a top-6 spot on goals and subsequently retired, a legend at Town. Sadly, in my absence Town were relegated for the second straight season.
Honours:
League Cup winners 2012/13 (Aston Villa)
Johnstone's Paint Trophy winners 2008/09, 2009/10 (both Harrogate Town)
League One Champions 2010/11 (Harrogate Town)
League Two Champions 2008/09 (Harrogate Town)
FA Trophy winners 2006/07 (Harrogate Town)
Conference National playoff winners 2007/08 (Harrogate Town)
Conference North Champions (2006/07)