Marching from the Abbey - My Cambridge story

joeWFC

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2010
Messages
277
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hello, this is my first FM story on here, I hope you enjoy it:D I don't play FM on steam so the squad was from when the game was first released (10.0). I have already played season 2009/10:S

cambridgeUnited_633790134224072500.jpg

Cambridge United Football Club

The club was founded in 1912 as 'Abbey United'. They are owned by Paul Barry and play at the Abbey Stadium (9,847 capacity).

Now to my 2009/10 season re-view (H)

Pre Season
In early July, Cambridge United sacked manager Martin Ling, and was replaced by a new unknown manager named Martin Ling. Cambridge fans first thought the board had re-appointed him, but after seeing pics and interviews of him it was a different manager, but with the same name. This was very weird and unique. He came to the club with the expectations of promotion, and said in his first press-conference it was a 'dream come true' for him to take charge at a wonderful football club.

He was quick to snap up Adam Phillip and Daniel Ayala on 6-month loans from Chelsea and Liverpool, he also persuaded Christian Gyan and Mickael Buscher to join on free agents. Soon enough he loaned another player from Liverpool, which was Brazilian striker Vitor Flora. With signings going smoothly, he then bought central midfielder Andy Fleming from Wrexham for £2,000.

Ling felt his squad was now good enough in all departments to put up a strong promotion push during the season.

August
On the opening game at home to Barrow, a double from Chris Holroyd helped the U's to a 2-0 victory. This was followed by a 2-2 draw at Ebbsfleet, Vitor Flora grabbing his first goal for the club. A trip to Chester was up next, which the U's fought out a dire 0-0 draw, but the U's were then to start a great run, and were 4-0 up at half-time against Crawley in the next game. Crawley got a goal back late on and it finished 4-1. For two consecutive games Cambridge were 4-0 up at the break, this time at Tamworth. But yet again we failed to score in the second half, and won 4-2. A late Daniel Ayala header gave us all three points at home to Gateshead, and a great performance at Rushden and Diamonds saw us win 3-1, with a cracking 35-yard own goal scored in our favour.

September
We put up a poor performance against Altrincham in the first game of September, but somehow won 1-0. A great bounce back saw us win 2-1 at SI's AFC Wimbledon, before Forest Green were beaten 3-1. Next up, the team I support (Wrexham) were to visit the Abbey. An unlikely brace from central defender Wayne Hatswell helped us to a 2-1 victory, the winner coming with a beauty of a free-kick. Our 8-game winning run was put to an end though, as we drew 0-0 at York. A cracking game followed at home to title favourites Luton, which we drew 2-2. A hatrick from Lee Phillips gave us all three points away at Grays Athletic, in an impressive 3-1 victory.

October
The month started at home to title rivals (at this point, I was racing clear at the top with them) and local rivals Histon. A game with few chances ended 0-0, with Lee Phillips wasting a great chance late on. We followed this with a 2-0 win at home to Ebbsfleet, Andy Fleming's goal would go on to be the official Blue Square Premier goal of the season, a lovely curling effort from 40-yards. A lucky 0-0 draw away to Hayes and Yeading followed, before beating Barrow 2-1 at home in the FA Cup. But one day our unbeaten run had to come to an end one day, as Kidderminster defeated us at the Abbey, 4-2. A superb start to the season, 17 league games unbeaten saw us fly into second spot, a distance ahead of third place.

November
A great start in November, as we trounced League Two outfit Grimsby Town 3-0 in the FA Cup, with Chris Holroyd grabbing all three goals to end a long goal drought. This followed with a scraped 1-0 victory over on-form Kettering Town. Luton Town beat us 2-1 at Kenilworth Road, before we beat Rushden and Diamonds at the Abbey. The month ended with a great performance in the FA Cup at home to League One side Charlton Athletic, but we lost the game 1-0.

December
December started with a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Chester City. We then found ourselves 2-0 down away to Eastbourne, but a spirited comeback saw us draw 2-2. A break from the league, and a break for me as I go on holiday for the FA Trophy clash against Rushden, which we draw 1-1. I come back to beat promotion rivals Oxford 2-0 at home with a great performance. The replay against Rushden saw us win a stunning game 5-4. But a bad end to the decade saw us lose 2-4 at home to Stevenage, and 1-0 at Mansfield.

January 2010
2010 started with a great late goal, as Lee Phillip's 94th minute goal saw us beat Stevenage 2-1 away from home. Kettering then beat us 1-0 in the FA Trophy. Eastbourne were well beaten, 3-0 the score. Kettering beat us 5-2 at Rockingham Road, little did anyone know that was to be our last defeat of the season. York were battered at the Abbey, 3-1 the score in that game. But the best performance of the season saw us beat third placed Oxford United 0-3 at the Kassam Stadium, a stunning performance which stunned me, and the fans.

February
Now to the business end of the season. A good performance saw us draw 1-1 at Kidderminster, who were well in-form. A great game at Crawley saw a Chris Holroyd hatrick help us to a cool 3-2 victory. In the next game, SI's off-form AFC Wimbledon were thumped 6-0 by the U's at the Abbey, with Chris Holroyd grabbing yet another hat-trick. Another Holroyd goal saw us win 1-0 at Forest Green, before a poor performance agains no win in 19 games Tamworth only saw a late own goal win us the game, 1-0.

March
A healthy 2-0 lead at high-flying Barrow was wasted by Danny Potter, as we drew 2-2. Then the big game, against title rivals Histon, and local rivals, they are also our only title rivals now. A great performance possibly helped us to promotion, with a 2-0 win. A late Buscher header saw us beat Salisbury 2-1. Another fantastic performance saw us beat Wrexham 3-1 in their own back-yard, Fleming scoring a stunner from 30-yards against his old club. We got closer to promotion with a 4-2 win at home to Grays.

April - Final Month
It starts, with Adam Phillip and Daniel Ayala leaving the club. Both have been great this season and we will miss them. In our first game we beat Gateshead 1-0 at their ground, great result but a less than convincing performance. Following this, a dire 0-0 draw at home to Mansfield Town. But Histon lost to Kettering, meaning we could seal the title in our next game at already relegated Salisbury. A good first half performance saw us go 2-0 up, but Salisbury come back to 2-2. But now we just need a victory to seal the title. Next game was at home to Hayes and Yeading, they take an early lead, but Chris Holroyd (who else?) fights back on his own, with a stunning hat-trick inside 20 minutes to make it 3-1. Yeading clinch another goal before half-time, 3-2. Nerves are starting to jangle, we don't want to have to travel to Altrincham to seal the title. But Danny Crow slots home late on to make it 4-2. Then the final whistle goes an CAMBRIDGE ARE PROMOTED TO LEAGUE TWO. A fantastic season, as we clinch promotion with a game left. In the final game we beat Altrincham 2-1 at their ground, whilst Histon lose 6-0 at home to Barrow, who needed to win to secure a play-off spot. We ended the season how we started it, 17 league games unbeaten! :D

Final Table
mr91d5.jpg


Top scorer for club - Chris Holroyd (30 league goals, 3rd in BSP behind Michael Nardiello (34), and James Constable (37))

Manager awards
Manager of the month awards
January 2010
February 2010
Manager of the season

Manager Players award
Player of the season
1 Adam Phillip
2 Chris Holroyd
3 Andy Fleming


ALSO..

Just a couple of records:$

Most wins in a row
2wnw7lv.jpg


Biggest victory of season
m9lw7o.jpg


League Two updates coming:D
 
Good luck mate.

I live near Cambridge so I'll follow. :)
 
good luck congrats on getting promotion to League 2 in first season
 
Thanks :D

Pre-season

Ins -
Danny Mitchley - Free transfer
Leon McSweeney - £45 from Hartlepool
Daniel Ayala - Free transfer
Adam Phillip - Season-long loan from Chelsea (parent club)
Stefan Holt - Free Transfer
Dedryck Boyata - Free Transfer

Outs -
Anthony Tonkin, Adam Marriot, Dan Gleeson - All released

I aim for mid-table safety in my first season, with maybe a push for the play-offs. I thought this squad would be good enough.

August review

Cambridge 3 Crewe 2(L2)
Great result in our first League game. An early double from Chris Holroyd got us flying at 2-0 up, before Mickael Buscher added a third before the break. We didn't look like scoring in the second half, a comedy own goal from Daniel Ayala and a close-range header from Calvin Zola set up a tense finish, but we held on to a good result, against the league favourites (according to Sky Bet).

Cambridge 0 Colchester 3(LC)
A poor defensive performance cost us here dearly. We looked like scoring, but unfortunately we couldn't find the back of the net. Goals from Steven Gillespie, Simon Hackney, and Anthony Wordsworth knocked us out of the Carling Cup.

Grimsby Town 1 Cambridge United 3 (L2)
A good comeback from the Colchester game here. Chris Holroyd got the ball rolling in the first half, then we were awarded a penalty and a great chance to double our lead. But Andy Fleming's penalty struck the post, but a minute later Danny Mitchley eventually doubled our lead. In the second half Nathan Jarman pulled one back for Grimsby, but instantly Danny Mitchley stroked the ball home to make it 3-1. We had late chances, and a late disallowed goal, but it finished 3-1 to the U's. A good start to the season.

Cambridge United 1 AFC Bournemouth 1 (L2)
A tricky game here at the Abbey. Chris Holroyd scored yet again to put us on track for a third straight league win. We held on for a lot of the game but Bournemouth equalised late on, shame I can't remember the scorer. :'( Our winning start ended, but this is still a good start. We were already believing against all odds we could clinch promotion again.

Burton Albion 2Cambridge United 1(L2)
Another tricky game here. But once again, Chris Holroyd gives us the lead, a great first few games for him so far. But a brace from Keith Gilroy ends our 20-game league unbeaten run. I was especially unhappy with the defending for the second goal, it was all over the place. We remained 5th though in the table.

Barnet 2Cambridge United 1 (L2)
An end to the league games in August at Underhill. It didn't go to plan at all, with Malcolm Christie scoring early on. We pushed and pushed for our equaliser all game, but on 83 minutes Nicky Deverdics made it 2-0 after sloppy defending. Chris Holroyd scored a wonder goal in stoppage time but it wasn't enough. We were poor infront of goal, up until the 93rd minute which wound me up.

BREAKING NEWS
Cambridge United sign Italy icon Christian Vieri on a free agent. Paul Carden tipped him as a definate buy, so I offered him a contract, and he accepted. He doesn't even want much money. This should be a good signing if all goes well.

Christian_Vieri.jpg


The striker scored 23 goals in 49 games for Italy, and his peak of his club career saw him score 103goals in 143 games for Inter Milan between 1999 and 2005.


Cambridge United 2Brentford 0(JPT)
Just the result we needed to boost morale, especially against rivals in the cup. Wayne Hatswell's trademark free-kick got the ball rolling, before the other centre back Brian Saah headed home a McSweeney corner late onto send us through.

End of August league table
Yes, I know its in windowed :$

9i5j60.jpg


September update coming soon:D
 
Last edited:
Nice work mate. :)

Love to see the mighty 'U's in the Premier League. :D
 
Good luck mate - should be an interesting challenge - league one isn't too hard when you get there! as i'm finding out with Hartlepool in my Brian Clough save - try and get Daniel Nardiello on loan or permanent from Blackpool
 
No updates until Tuesday, as I am on a different computer ...
 
Top