FM 22 - Big City, No Cheer | A Wakefield AFC Story

[TheNotSoGoodManager]

BIG CITY, NO CHEER - A WAKEFIELD AFC STORY

According to The Athletic, Wakefield is the biggest City in England never to have had a Football League club. My aim? To take Wakefield AFC to the EFL.

BACKGROUND

Wakefield AFC is a football club formed in 2019 founded by a group of businessmen including former Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United goalkeeper Chris Turner. The club play their games at Post Office Road (known as the millennium stadium for sponsorship reasons), home of rugby league team Featherstone Rovers. The club previously played in Barnsley but wanted to move to a stadium within the WF postcode area.

SEASON 1 - Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Premier Division

Young manager Luke Joseph takes the step into management at the age of just 25 years of age and is appointed manager of Wakefield AFC. I sign a month to month amateur contract. Strap yourselves in for the long journey ahead.

I rock into the club and find no one. No players, no staff. I'm in trouble. So my very first step is to bring in an assistant manager and a scout. And I do just that!

I sign 33 year old Vince Upton as my right hand man and Matt Salkeld as my scout. Both on amateur contracts, like myself, we will do our collective best to push this club up the pyramid.

The next job was to bring in players who would kick off the new era here at Wakefield. I would say Matty Salkeld earnt his pay but um...

We bring in a staggering 33 players to the club. All of them join on amateur contracts. Now I would love to go through all of them one by one but that would be mental! However, I thought I would showcase the top 3 signings we made.

Seth Meeson is our first marquee signing. Recently released from Championship side Huddersfield, the central midfielder should become a key player in our journey. With the potential of reaching standards of the National N/S, the 19 year old is one to keep an eye on.

Thomas Cole is another young player we have signed for Wakefield. The 6ft Striker who has played his whole career in the Newcastle United academy joins the side with high potential. Again, like Meeson, he could reach the standards of the National League N/S.

And finally, Kain Reed, a 19 year old winger who has bundles of potential. Once again released from Newcastle's academy, Reed is an able player who should adapt throughout the pyramid. One to definitely keep your eye on.

Pre Season & September

I wont get into too much detail about pre-season due to the amount of transfers that was coming in, trialist and using different tactics but I do feel it's important you see how we got on.

Other than the Hull United result, a very good set of results. Thomas Cole scoring 4 vs Mickleover Reserves being the highlight of Pre Season as well as Josh Cooke scoring 2 and averaging a 7.5 rating throughout.

10 Season Ticket Holders! We take it.

With only 14 teams in the division, we only have a 26 game season. With no cup either we can focus all our efforts on achieving what everyone is thinking, becoming champions of the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Premier Division (wow that is long winded).

Saturday 4th September, 2021. The start of a new era for Wakefield AFC. And my god did it go badly wrong. We went behind early doors but a Josh Cooke double, with a goal coming in the 89' minute saved us the embarrassment of a poor start to the season. The remaining games of the season were fairly straight forward but conceding 2 to Swinton Athletic was disappointing. New signing (who we made just hours before the game) Kameron Stanley scoring on his debut was pleasing. Kameron is a striker with high potential that you should also definitely keep your eyes on throughout the years to come.

And after 4 games, and 4 wins we sit pretty at the top of the table a long side Sheffield Town. New Update Soon.​

 

[tazz1966]

awesome stuff buddy
may i ask what tactic are you using?
many thanx
keep up the good work

 

[TheNotSoGoodManager]

October, November & December

We start the update by providing some transfer updates and insights into the club itself. Firstly a signing.

We sign shot stopper Nykah Liburd-Hines on a free after being released from Hereford. He failed to make a single first team appearance for them. He will be our number 1 keeper for this season, and with the potential of becoming a National League N/S player, we're hopeful he will be our number 1 for many seasons to come.

Next up, an insight into the club.

Our finances are poor but that's my fault. I stupidly accepted the signing of Venâncio Monteiro in the summer which cost us £20,000 due to a work permit. This makes us financially "insecure". Monteiro has been absolutely brilliant for us though. Finances is something I will need to focus on in the coming seasons and I will be looking

And next the tactics. With (lets be honest) players that would walk into any team in this division, I play attacking football at a quick pace. I kept the tactic as simple as possible as playing this low down the pyramid, the simpler the tactic, the better.

Onto the results and more news.

At the start of the month we had the news that the chairperson is looking to step aside. Good or bad news?

October started brightly with 2 wins and 7 goals. Conceding 4 however was very disappointing. Josh Cooke scored 5 of the 7 and is loving his football at the moment.

Next we faced Penistone Church Reserves and wow wow wow, what a game. With an extremely comfortable 5-0 lead at halftime I told the boys to keep doing what they're doing. I think the word complacency could be use for our 2nd half performance. With Church scoring 4 in the 2nd half I really did think we were going to become Bottle Job FC. We hung on and claimed the 3 points.

The rest of October and the start of November was much more nerve settling as we score 13 goals in 3 games.

Looks like the drama is going to continue. We hang in Limbo.

Next up was Sheffield Town. The side that some how remained only 3 points behind us after winning all their games a part from one. We got off to the worst start possible going 1-0 down inside 2 minutes. However we pegged back 2 minutes later. Sheffield went ahead again in the 29th minute and we looked really shaky at the back. Sam Greenwood however pegged us back into the game and drew us level at HT. After HT, Sheffield never really got going and with us peppering their goal, we were bound to score soon. An OG on the 52 minute and a penalty from Stanley in the 74th was enough to take 3 points.

We continued our goal scoring form for the rest of the month and into December. Josh Cooke keeps on scoring!

However we finally taste defeat. Gutted is an understatement because I really wanted to win all 26 games. Josh Cooke scores our only goal for us. A missed penalty from the star man himself, you could tell it just wasn't going to be our day.

It was however, a great run.

But onto the positives, we remain 11 points clear at the top, scoring an impressive 62 goals in 15 games. Only 11 games remain.

Another amazing stat is that Josh Cooke has scored 32 goals for us this campaign. That's a goal every 42 minutes. Incredible!!!

And finally we have our early assessment on the youth intake for this year. With a 5 star intake I am extremely excited to see what talent comes through the door. The youth team is a key aspect to this club performing well. We need to invest (when we can) into our youth and with players that could potentially go onto bigger and better things, we will reap the benefits of that.

We don't have a game now until NYD so the players will be taking a well deserved break which will hopefully help them push on in the new year.​

 

[TheNotSoGoodManager]

JANUARY & END OF SEASON

With only 10 games left at the turn of the year, we really were in the driving seat and I mean not in the seat of a Peugeot or a Golf, we were in an F1 car. (Does that really make sense? You get the idea.)

After the disappointment of tasting defeat, we had to start the new year right. And we did. Once again, we were scoring and scoring a lot for that matter. We welcomed back Kameron Stanley from injury against Swinton Athletic who managed to score 2 including 1 Penalty. That man once again Josh Cooke scoring another goal to add to his ridiculous tally. We looked extremely comfortable against everyone.

With the 2-0 home win vs Wombwell Main, all we needed was to beat 2nd place Stocksbridge Reserves to clinch the title.

Away from Home, 2nd vs 1st. Lets do this.

And boy did we do it. 3-0 Away. 3 goals scored by well... Any guesses? Josh Cooke, Statue PENDING.

We are champions in our first season!

A set of results from January to March mean we take maximum points in 2022 so far and we will be playing our football next year in the Northern Counties East League Division One.

However what has come apparent to me, disguised by all the success from this season, is that everyone remains on amateur contracts. And it starts to worry me.

Callum Lenton (back up goalkeeper) and Thomas Cole (one our marquee signings at the start of the year) leave on free transfers to clubs in higher divisions. Now granted they weren't key players and Cole has been a huge disappointment (scoring 1 goal in 15 games), it panics me as clubs could be sniffing around for our key players.

And they do just that. Our main CM, Seth Meeson leaves. We didn't see eye to eye sometimes, and when I benched him after a few poor performances, our working relationship never recovered. All at Wakefield wish him the best for the future.

On a more positive note we get our youth intake in. An average intake is ok ish you could say but after beating our under 18's 5-3, there are definitely a few youth players I would like to sign.

Cameron Burrell & Gary Weaver are the ones to keep an eye on.

Back to results:

After the 3-0 drubbing of Stocksbridge Reserves, we continue our form until the end of the season, a part from our match vs Jubilee Sports. An extremely poor performance equalled to an extremely poor result. And we finish the year dropping points in two games in the season. I can't be too annoyed.

We finish the seasons on a whopping 73 points while scoring 96 goals in the process. Amazing and something I cannot see being replicated.

REWARDS

And as our relatively short season comes to an end. Let's take a look at our End Of Season Review.

I won't talk to much about the season review as it's all there in front of you however, I will talk about one man, Josh Cooke. 26 games, 42 goals, 14 POTM. That is simply incredible. An absolute amazing season by the 25 year old and probably the best he will ever have in his career. Will he become a Wakefield Legend?

A nice £300 gift from the league for winning the league. That will pay for a few beers that's for sure!

And due to our promotion we get the exciting news that Wakefield AFC turn Semi-Professional. An amazing achievement and now I might earn some money being the manager of this fantastic club.

And I get just that. £35 pound a week until June 2023. This club is going places.

After turning Semi-Pro, we get a wage budget. We can offer players MONEY! £1.5k p/w seems astronomical at this level but with the club wanting another title to add to the cabinet next season we better start offering some contracts. However, we have to be careful and not stupid.

I really like the spine of the this team and really don't want to ruin the dynamic between the players so I cannot see us signing too many players this summer. It will be more offering contracts to players who helped us achieve our promotion. I really believe at this level squad harmony is so important.

We get straight to work.

Other than Stanley who opted for a non contract, Alfrieri, Myring, Reed, Liburd-Hines, Eli & Greenwood all sign one year contracts to stay at the club. We have also offered Cooke a contract but we have, as of yet, not received an acceptation.

A busy summer comes up. I will update you all when I can.​

 

[tazz1966]

hey buddy, thanx for getting back to me
congrats on winning the league, good luck for the new season
look forward to reading more of ur story

 

[TheNotSoGoodManager]

SEASON 2 - Northern Counties East League Division One

Season 2 in charge of Wakefield AFC. A promotion in our first season is still fresh in our mind, and with many key players signing, this season is looking equally as promising. We have turned semi professional, we can now offer players contracts & we have even been given our first contract in management. I have a good feeling about this...

However let's start with some transfer news and lets look to see who is leaving and joining. As you saw from the last update we signed 6 key players onto deals for a least a season with only promising striker Stanley opting for a non contract. And that has bitten us on the backside. HARD .

Transfers - The In's and the Out's.

THE NEW BOYS

First signing is striker Lloyd Smith, a future prospect he will be ready to play first team football when called upon. One to keep an eye out on that's for sure.

Steve McNulty signs! An incredible capture for this club. Now he isn't a player who will be starting in the majority of games due to his age and the fantastic quality in Sam Greenwood and Jordan Eli that we already have at the back. However a player with huge experience in the EFL and non league, he will be vital leader in the dressing room and hopefully one the young boys can learn a lot off.

Next up is 19 year old midfielder Will Lancaster. Released from Barnsley academy, he signs on a non contract looking to gain first team football, and he will do just that. A great signing at this level and one we can hope that constant game time helps him develop into a quality player at non league level.

Next up is 20 year old Harry Stansfield. Another midfielder, we sign him on a free from Brigg Town. More of a back up player, he will provide cover for Lancaster.

Jacob Blyth joins us on a free after being released from Chorley. Again another player signing a non contract, he played 10 times for Chorley in the NLN last season scoring just the one goal. The 29 year old comes with plenty of experience from the EFL and non league and is another player who I am extremely happy to welcome to the club.

Our final signing is Joe Slinn, a back up goalkeeper that we sign from Newcastle Town. The young 23 year old shot stopper will be ready to step in if Liburd-Hines is unable to play.

Contracts

We offered out more contracts to players who were a member of our title winning season with 3 players agreeing terms. Montero, our amazing winger who notched up 20 assists in 26 league games last season. Josh Harrison who in attacking midfield scored 3 and assisted 10 and....

Wakefield AFC ICON Josh Cooke! Our star striker joins on a one year deal. He wanted to be an impact sub however josh I am telling you now, you will be starting.

Departures

It's always sad to see players leave, especially players who you really wanted to keep and to write them self into Wakefield history however, sometimes you can't get everything you want.

We first lose Adam Robinson who we signed from Northwich. He was ever present in the side knocking up 24 appearances last season while scoring 8 goals and assisting 7. Rushden & Diamonds were interested in him for a while and being offered £100 more a week plus playing at a higher level Adam couldn't turn it down.

Next to leave us not long after Adam was Kameron Stanley. A few injuries held him back last year but he made 14 appearances for Wakefield last year scoring an impressive 11 goals. Again an opportunity he couldn't pass, it was such a shame to see him leave as he just agreed a non contract with us & was going to be our main man up top.

Staff Changes

We also say goodbye to two staff members that helped us out massively in our title winning season.

Vince Upton and Scout Matty Salkeld leave as we look to bring in new members of the backroom team to help push Wakefield to the highest possible level.

We're not slow to act.

We bring in 3 new staff members for the first team. Firstly it's experienced non league manager Paddy Atkinson who has managed and coached a lot of teams around the non league pyramid. An exciting capture to the club.

Next is new scout Cameron Lyn. This is his first staff role in football after playing non league football his whole career. With judging ability and potential at 6 each, for this level, he is a brilliant member to bring into the club.

Lastly is famous ex premier league goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen (I think I have spelt that right) who joins as our goalkeeper coach. With two very talented goalkeeper's in the ranks I thought it was only fair to bring in a goalkeeper coach to work with them. Jussi became available and funds allowed so I did not hesitate and welcome him to the club with open arms.

Other bit's and bobs.

A few other things got brought to my attention in the off season. Firstly, even though we got promoted our sponsorship has dropped by £300! Bizarre?

Secondly due to our recruitment we're predicted to storm the league again. Check out the pre season odds below.

And finally our season ticket update. We sell 10, which has remained the exact same figure as least season. Not even an extra 1!

Pre season and the start of the league is nearly upon us. Stay tuned.​

 

[Ivers1975]

Hello,

Playing Wakefield in FM23, but for some reason I can not get the Wakefield logos to work. Downloaded several, checked the ID number (2000180901) and changed the png files as they had old ID numbers (4002015) Any ideas?