‘Rotterdam or Anywhere’
So I’ve finally done it, after 15 odd years of this hobby that I refused to admit is an addiction, I’ve decided to show one of my FM games to the public. Please be gentle with me, it’s my first time. So what team have I decided to take over for this event?
View attachment 30722
Why Sparta Rotterdam?
I fancied trying something different with my first public save, so I wanted to manage in a country I’d never managed in long term, which didn't narrow down my options as much as I'd hoped. I ‘umm’ed and ‘ahh’ed over which club I should take over, do I stick in Europe? Do I go to a lesser known country? Eventually I settled on Holland, a country with a history of beautiful underachievers; let’s not forget Cruyff’s total football of 1974 or the golden generation of the 90s, Bergkamp, Davids et al. Yet this nation that produced great footballers time after time had only 1 title to call their own, the 1988 European championship and they have failed to qualify for the last Euro and World cup. Holland is a faded footballing titan, maybe this can change.
Sparta Rotterdam immediately interested me, the oldest club in Holland with a huge influence both inside and outside their home country, they hosted the first ever Netherlands national team game and even their red and white striped kits were inspired by a visit to Sunderland in 1899. They are one of three teams in Rotterdam, along with Excelsior and the much more famous and successful Feyenoord. Their home ground is an old proud beast as well, Sparta Stadion, known locally as Het Kasteel (the castle)
View attachment 30721
View attachment 30720
Het Kasteel’s classic outside hides a much sleeker modern redesign underneath, hopefully something I can recreate with the team themselves.
Sparta’s greatest period of success came in the early 20th century, with 5 Eredivisie wins between and 1908 and 1915, they’ve fallen on hard times recently, after spending their entire history in the Eredivisie, they suffered relegation in 2002 and have been yo-yoing between the divisions since, spending 9 years in the Ereste Divisie, including 6 straight seasons before being promoted and then immediately relegated back last season. Who can help this old Spartan get back into fighting shape once again? Can someone rise to be the king of Het Kasteel?
View attachment 30719
Meet Thomas Koning, the new Sparta Rotterdam manager. A fan since his dad Peter brought a 11 year old Thomas to the Rotterdam derby with Feyenoord in 1981, 2-0 at half time, Sparta rallied like the ancient warriors of their name and won 4-2, 2 goals coming in the last 10 minutes. The unbelievable levels of grit and determination from the Sparta players inspired Thomas, he knew that one day he would grace the same turf.
Thomas blossomed into a gifted young playmaker in the midfield of the Sparta youth team, playing his first Eredivisie match as a fresh faced 18 year old in a cameo sub appearance. Tragedy struck the following season, just as Thomas was starting to break into the first team on a regular basis. He glided past an opposition defender with a beautiful piece of skill, drawing admiration from the crowd. This was soon replaced with angry shouts and jeers, as the beaten man lashed out high and late, sending Thomas tumbling and sparking a brawl amongst the players. Thomas hardly remembered anything, a flash of red and his captain coming over to ask if he was alright. The medical staff in the back looked at his damaged knee with grim faces. The diagnosis was a fractured knee cap and a torn ACL, he was told he’d lose a year of his career at best and more likely at least 2.
He was given a hero’s welcome when he jogged onto the pitch nearly 2 and a half years later, at the tail end of the 91-92 season Thomas returned to the side, once again being brought in with a short sub appearance. Despite the feeling of euphoria that came from being back on the pitch, Thomas knew he was not the player he once was. His silky skill with the ball never fully returned, despite him still being able to pick out a 60 yard pass seemingly at will and the confident swagger that he had begun to show before the injury was long gone. He soldiered on through the next few years, helping Sparta to reach a KNVP cup final in 96 and to avoid relegation in both the 98-99 and 00-01 seasons.
Near the end of the 2001 season, as Thomas was beginning to feel the old ache of the knee injury more and more as he passed 30, in came Frank Rijkaard as the new Sparta manager. Thomas thought this would be a dream come true, instead Rijkaard was ruthless, cutting him from the team and placing him on the transfer list, Thomas refused to leave the club he loved so dearly, a decision cheered on by the loyal fans who’d seen him stick by the club and give everything he could to them. Sparta were relegated in disgrace, Thomas made just 2 appearances at the end of the season, the long time spent on off the pitch made Thomas realise how worn down his body really was and he struggled to assert the influence he once did. Following the relegation, Rijkaard remained, his stance unchanged, Thomas knew leaving Sparta was just prolong his inevitable decline. He retired at the age of 32, making 218 appearances for Sparta along the way, scoring 36 goals.
After leaving Sparta, Thomas decided he couldn’t leave his sporting love behind, he worked with the KNVB to become a qualified coach, taking his badges and helping the up and coming next generation of youth players, including recommending youngsters such as Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay, both graduates from the academy of his beloved Sparta. Thomas missed his time in Rotterdam, the KNVB centre in Zeist had forced him and his young family away from the town where he was a local hero to a select few and every time he saw another young hopeful from there his head was once again filled with memories and his heart with yearning.
In 2011 he called Sparta’s newly appointed technical director, Wiljan Vloet and asked for a job. He was given a job as a youth coach, the money wasn’t as good as he was given working for KNVB, but he didn’t care, he would be back. He spent several years watching young hopefuls pass through the academy, eventually being promoted to both assistant manager, then manager of the youth team. Above him manages came and went, none lasting more than 2 seasons. Thomas was finally given the chance after Sparta’s relegation, after all, he lived and breathed Sparta, what better man to try and turn their fortunes around?
So what about in the actual game?
After that short novella (cheers if you read it all by the way) it’s about time I set out some goals and philosophies for this save. The big thing I’m putting emphasis on is youth development, not usual for an FM save I’m sure we’ll all agree. I want to get to the point where each match day squad has as players as possible who are home grown at Sparta’s academy. This’ll probably really start picking up 4-5 years into the save, where the first season’s 17 year olds have grown into their early 20s and become the next generation that hopefully will play a significant part in ending Holland’s recent international woes.
I won’t set any hard and fast goals, but I’ll highlight anyone who does well enough to get any recognition on the world stage, either with awards or international success.
Trophy/achievement-wise, there’s an approx. 10 year plan.
1st-2nd seasons: promotion to the Eredivisie, if Sparta are to be the best, the first step is to reach the top division, where they deserve to be.
3rd-5th seasons: Establish Sparta as an Eredivisie side, do a double over either of their crosstown rivals, Excelsior and Feyenoord.
6th-8th seasons: Start to push up the table and move into regular European competition.
9th season onwards: See a Sparta team win their way to the ultimate European prize, the Champions League.
Some lofty goals in there for sure, hopefully this team, along with their manager, will be spoken about in legend, like the warriors they are named after.
So I’ve finally done it, after 15 odd years of this hobby that I refused to admit is an addiction, I’ve decided to show one of my FM games to the public. Please be gentle with me, it’s my first time. So what team have I decided to take over for this event?
View attachment 30722
Why Sparta Rotterdam?
I fancied trying something different with my first public save, so I wanted to manage in a country I’d never managed in long term, which didn't narrow down my options as much as I'd hoped. I ‘umm’ed and ‘ahh’ed over which club I should take over, do I stick in Europe? Do I go to a lesser known country? Eventually I settled on Holland, a country with a history of beautiful underachievers; let’s not forget Cruyff’s total football of 1974 or the golden generation of the 90s, Bergkamp, Davids et al. Yet this nation that produced great footballers time after time had only 1 title to call their own, the 1988 European championship and they have failed to qualify for the last Euro and World cup. Holland is a faded footballing titan, maybe this can change.
Sparta Rotterdam immediately interested me, the oldest club in Holland with a huge influence both inside and outside their home country, they hosted the first ever Netherlands national team game and even their red and white striped kits were inspired by a visit to Sunderland in 1899. They are one of three teams in Rotterdam, along with Excelsior and the much more famous and successful Feyenoord. Their home ground is an old proud beast as well, Sparta Stadion, known locally as Het Kasteel (the castle)
View attachment 30721
View attachment 30720
Het Kasteel’s classic outside hides a much sleeker modern redesign underneath, hopefully something I can recreate with the team themselves.
Sparta’s greatest period of success came in the early 20th century, with 5 Eredivisie wins between and 1908 and 1915, they’ve fallen on hard times recently, after spending their entire history in the Eredivisie, they suffered relegation in 2002 and have been yo-yoing between the divisions since, spending 9 years in the Ereste Divisie, including 6 straight seasons before being promoted and then immediately relegated back last season. Who can help this old Spartan get back into fighting shape once again? Can someone rise to be the king of Het Kasteel?
View attachment 30719
Meet Thomas Koning, the new Sparta Rotterdam manager. A fan since his dad Peter brought a 11 year old Thomas to the Rotterdam derby with Feyenoord in 1981, 2-0 at half time, Sparta rallied like the ancient warriors of their name and won 4-2, 2 goals coming in the last 10 minutes. The unbelievable levels of grit and determination from the Sparta players inspired Thomas, he knew that one day he would grace the same turf.
Thomas blossomed into a gifted young playmaker in the midfield of the Sparta youth team, playing his first Eredivisie match as a fresh faced 18 year old in a cameo sub appearance. Tragedy struck the following season, just as Thomas was starting to break into the first team on a regular basis. He glided past an opposition defender with a beautiful piece of skill, drawing admiration from the crowd. This was soon replaced with angry shouts and jeers, as the beaten man lashed out high and late, sending Thomas tumbling and sparking a brawl amongst the players. Thomas hardly remembered anything, a flash of red and his captain coming over to ask if he was alright. The medical staff in the back looked at his damaged knee with grim faces. The diagnosis was a fractured knee cap and a torn ACL, he was told he’d lose a year of his career at best and more likely at least 2.
He was given a hero’s welcome when he jogged onto the pitch nearly 2 and a half years later, at the tail end of the 91-92 season Thomas returned to the side, once again being brought in with a short sub appearance. Despite the feeling of euphoria that came from being back on the pitch, Thomas knew he was not the player he once was. His silky skill with the ball never fully returned, despite him still being able to pick out a 60 yard pass seemingly at will and the confident swagger that he had begun to show before the injury was long gone. He soldiered on through the next few years, helping Sparta to reach a KNVP cup final in 96 and to avoid relegation in both the 98-99 and 00-01 seasons.
Near the end of the 2001 season, as Thomas was beginning to feel the old ache of the knee injury more and more as he passed 30, in came Frank Rijkaard as the new Sparta manager. Thomas thought this would be a dream come true, instead Rijkaard was ruthless, cutting him from the team and placing him on the transfer list, Thomas refused to leave the club he loved so dearly, a decision cheered on by the loyal fans who’d seen him stick by the club and give everything he could to them. Sparta were relegated in disgrace, Thomas made just 2 appearances at the end of the season, the long time spent on off the pitch made Thomas realise how worn down his body really was and he struggled to assert the influence he once did. Following the relegation, Rijkaard remained, his stance unchanged, Thomas knew leaving Sparta was just prolong his inevitable decline. He retired at the age of 32, making 218 appearances for Sparta along the way, scoring 36 goals.
After leaving Sparta, Thomas decided he couldn’t leave his sporting love behind, he worked with the KNVB to become a qualified coach, taking his badges and helping the up and coming next generation of youth players, including recommending youngsters such as Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay, both graduates from the academy of his beloved Sparta. Thomas missed his time in Rotterdam, the KNVB centre in Zeist had forced him and his young family away from the town where he was a local hero to a select few and every time he saw another young hopeful from there his head was once again filled with memories and his heart with yearning.
In 2011 he called Sparta’s newly appointed technical director, Wiljan Vloet and asked for a job. He was given a job as a youth coach, the money wasn’t as good as he was given working for KNVB, but he didn’t care, he would be back. He spent several years watching young hopefuls pass through the academy, eventually being promoted to both assistant manager, then manager of the youth team. Above him manages came and went, none lasting more than 2 seasons. Thomas was finally given the chance after Sparta’s relegation, after all, he lived and breathed Sparta, what better man to try and turn their fortunes around?
So what about in the actual game?
After that short novella (cheers if you read it all by the way) it’s about time I set out some goals and philosophies for this save. The big thing I’m putting emphasis on is youth development, not usual for an FM save I’m sure we’ll all agree. I want to get to the point where each match day squad has as players as possible who are home grown at Sparta’s academy. This’ll probably really start picking up 4-5 years into the save, where the first season’s 17 year olds have grown into their early 20s and become the next generation that hopefully will play a significant part in ending Holland’s recent international woes.
I won’t set any hard and fast goals, but I’ll highlight anyone who does well enough to get any recognition on the world stage, either with awards or international success.
Trophy/achievement-wise, there’s an approx. 10 year plan.
1st-2nd seasons: promotion to the Eredivisie, if Sparta are to be the best, the first step is to reach the top division, where they deserve to be.
3rd-5th seasons: Establish Sparta as an Eredivisie side, do a double over either of their crosstown rivals, Excelsior and Feyenoord.
6th-8th seasons: Start to push up the table and move into regular European competition.
9th season onwards: See a Sparta team win their way to the ultimate European prize, the Champions League.
Some lofty goals in there for sure, hopefully this team, along with their manager, will be spoken about in legend, like the warriors they are named after.
His name came up in a scouting recommendation and I simply couldn't resist. He'll mostly be a backup option, as I don't think he'll be able to play a full 90 minutes with any regularity, but when we're needing to hold a lead, his huge amount of strength and high mentals will definitely be needed. One final player I will mention before we dive into the season is one more young player who I neglected to mention in my first post, one who will certainly see some game time come the full season.