San Giovanni - A REAL San Marino Youth Challenge

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Seeing as I don't really have the time to write monthly updates on a save at the moment i've decided to shelved my original San Marino challenge for now, and take on something which I will be able to update on a half seasonal basis due to the speed i'll be getting through the seasons and the number of seasons it'll take.

I've decided to take a club from the San Marino League System (Campianato Sammirenese) and take them as far as I can using ONLY players produced by the clubs academy system. Obviously the goal for any save is to take a club to Champions League glory, however this may not be totally realistic for a club from such humble beginnings. I will however continue to try and develop the facilities and hopefully see an increase in quality of the players coming through, which will also hopefully have a knock on effect on the national team (which I won't be managing)

I have chosen SAN GIOVANNI for this challenge, as they are predicted to finish bottom of the table first season, meaning aside from the Gibraltian teams they are probably the worse club in Europe, guess the only way is up eh?

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The club has never actually won the Campianato Sammirenese with their best finish as runners up in the competitions inaugural year. We also don't own our own stadium, instead sharing with neighbours Faetano. We have a mighty 62 season ticket holders who pay a whopping ?22 to see all our 13 home games every season.

The training and youth facilities are basically none existent, and this is something I will have to address in the future, however I think the first step is definitely winning the league so we can have ago at getting in on some of the European riches available. Prize money for winning the league itself is not worth having with the champions taking home a mere 25k.





I've actually already completed my first season so i'll report on that in one go shortly, then from then on it'll be reasonably frequent half season updates, as the standard of football is so poor I can't bear to watch some of the errors on the 3D match engine, and will instead whizz through the games using the commentary only option.​
 
2013/14

So we started our first season as 5000/1 rank outsiders to win the league, but despite this I had a look at the squads and aside from Libertas and La Fiorita there didn't seem to be much difference in quality through the rest of the division. I didn't really know what to expect but with no real pressure from the board I decided to treat the first season as a learning curve and take every position we finished higher than last as a bonus.

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The players, however, had other ideas. After a dreadful start where we picked up only 1 point from the opening 4 games we were rock bottom. I expected it to be a long, hard season and was fearing the worst.

Then something clicked.

We only dropped points in 3 games out of the remaining 24, losing only to title favourites Liberatas and away at Cosmos near the end of the season.

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We only went and won the ****** league! The fact we won it on goal difference made it even sweeter, we were trailing Libertas up until game week 22, and once we overtook them we were neck on neck as they also lost the same time we lost to Cosmos. To win the league in the first season was a stunning achievement and one I could never have imagined at the start of the campaign. This means we'll get an early stab at the Champions League qualifiers, and although I know we have absolutely no chance of making it to the group stages, if we can make it into the 2nd qualifying round theres around 400k prize money just for turning up! This is invaluable to a club like ours and will help me press on with facility improvements for the club.

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We suffered heartbreak in the cup final, losing to Juventus Dogana in a game where we never really turned up. I also rested a few players as this fell 3 days before the crucial final league game so it was probably my own fault we didn't win it.

Youth Intake

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I wasn't originally planning on turning this into a story so I didn't screenshot the whole intake, but these 4 here are the pick of the bunch. Gobbi looks a terrific prospect for this level, and seeing as there is no minimum age to play in this division he may well feature next season.

Something I didn't mention in the first update is that we are an AMATEUR club, meaning these young lads, or any other player in the squad for that matter can be pinched away from us at any time without a fee. I'm hoping that the board will choose to turn semi-pro sooner rather than later in order to prevent this from happening.

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This was another thing I didn't screenshot at the time, however at the end of the season the board decided to build us a new stadium! This came as a real shock to me as without European football first season we still didn't really have any money in the bank, the club instead choosing to take out a 1million loan to fund the project.

The stadium will be named after club 'legend' Yasar Yazici, but I have no idea yet how many it will hold.

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Season[/TD]
[TD]League[/TD]
[TD]Cup[/TD]
[TD]SuperCup[/TD]
[TD]Europe[/TD]
[TD]Club Value[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2013/14[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]Runner Up[/TD]
[TD]N/A[/TD]
[TD]N/A[/TD]
[TD]40k[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


From now on I will be doing half seasonal updates as i'm almost back up to date with where I am in game, hopefully the fact that I wont be signing players or watching the matches in 3d means there wont be too long between updates!

​
 
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Looks good mate, very interesting and original idea. Keep up the good work. :)
 
2014/15 - Part One


We managed to hang onto all of our players, despite some interest from other clubs in the division in most of our talent. Offering them a new amateur contract seemed to work and no one had their head turned. Winning the league last season entered us into the Champions League at the 1st qualifying stage, however we were unseeded and drew Faroe Islands club HB, with the bookies having us 10/1 outsiders to progress.

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Since when we do ever listen to what the bookies tell us. HB were comfortably despatched, and despite being beaten by BATE in the 2nd qualifying round we were not embarrassed, even managing a draw against them at home. We made over 400k from this 4 games which will prove vital in the clubs future development.

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Annoying we lost the Super cup to Juvenus Dogana, who are becoming a real thorn in our side. We were probably suffering a European hangover from the BATE games, and to be honest i'm not too devastated to have lost this one.

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Things are looking better in the Coppa Titano, where our back ups had two comfortable victories to set up a semi final tie against mid table Folgore, with either Tre Penne or our old nemesis Juvenus Dogana awaiting us in the final should we progress.

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We've been slightly less consistent in the league so far this season, however with 4 15 year olds now regularly featuring in the match day squads this is to be expected. I have left out some more experienced non homegrown players in order to try and develop our own talent as quickly as possible. It was nice to get our first win over Libertas however, who despite below par performances in the league still have the best squad by a distance

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We are once again at the top of the table at the halfway point, mainly because we are so difficult to beat. The title is far from cut and dry though and we will have to maintain our good form in the second half of the season to secure our second title in as many seasons.

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There's a real divide in the average ratings with attacking players tending to get much higher ratings than our defenders. I assume this is an issue with the game itself rather than my players as i've conceded the least goals in the league and am more than happy with my defensive displays. Young Bianchi (YP5) is the second leading scorer with 9 goals from central midfield despite only just turning 15 years old.

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With the money from the Champions League games the board agreed our first training facilities upgrade, though at only 95,000 i'm aware we have a long way to go before it starts to make any real impact. The board also agreed to upgrade the youth facilities at a cost of 140,000 but I again forgot to screenshot this so apologies.


I'm aware these updates are rather short and lacking in detail, however i'm hoping to power through the season as quickly as possible as it's obviously going to be a while before I get anywhere in Europe or produce high quality players. The next update will obviously include the Youth Intake too, but is there anything else that people want me to post in the updates? Any feedback (positive or negative) is most welcome!
​
 
2014/15 Part Two

So we went into the second half of the season 1 point clear of the chasing pack, however my fears of inconsistency came to light as we never really put a good enough run together in the second half of the season to win the title.

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The second half of the season turned into a bit of a farce with a ridiculous number of high scoring games with both me and opponents scoring with pretty much every attack. We also suffered from a number of injuries and suspensions as you get a ban for only 2 booking in San Marino apparently.

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Despite the distinctly average form we still managed to finish 2nd, and only 3 points behind winners La Fiorita who we pushed right up to the last game of the season. We finished a comfortable 12 points clear of 3rd and as a result will enter the Europa League 1st qualifying round next season.


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It was the same story in the cup with a 2 legged semi final defeat to Fogore after 2 stupidly high scoring games.

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It was probably to be expected that my defenders ratings would suffer even more in the second half of the campaign, however Villa was a shining light up front and went onto be runner up in the player of the season award, to who else but the Sammirenese legend Andy Selva.


Youth Intake

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Dont be fooled by the high potential ability ratings as that is of course only relative to the standard of players we have now. We did however get one good looking centre half prospect.

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Will more than likely be troubling the starters well before his 16th birthday.

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I received confirmation that 220,000 would be spent upgrading my facilities, and also learned that when completed out new stadium will hold 3,940, an enormous amount considering we average around 150 at present. The bad news however, is that the project is running 3 months behind schedule, so we are now not moving in until September.

The club also moved up 258 places in the European rankings to 471st.

San Marino moved up to 51st in the European co-efficients, meaning from next season we'll now have 3 teams in the Europa League qualifiers and not 2, all still in the first round.

All in all its a big disappointment to not retain the title, and we must look to wrestle it back next season if we want to keep improving the facilities and develop our young players in the future.

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Season
[/TD]
[TD]League[/TD]
[TD]Cup[/TD]
[TD]Super Cup[/TD]
[TD]Europe[/TD]
[TD]Club Value[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13/14[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]Runner Up[/TD]
[TD]N/A[/TD]
[TD]N/A[/TD]
[TD]40,000[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14/15[/TD]
[TD]2nd[/TD]
[TD]Semi Final[/TD]
[TD]Lost[/TD]
[TD]Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round[/TD]
[TD]375,000[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]







​
 
2015/16 - Part One

We again managed to keep hold of all our players despite a barrage of offers from around the division. I did let one or two players go however these were either none homegrown or players surplus to requirements.

I knew we needed to win the league this year as we need the Champions League money will be crucial to improving our facilities and producing better youngsters. It's frustrating that we're still an amateur club so we can't train properly and we're still at risk of poaching.

We were also taken over in the summer by a local businessman, but all he did was restructure the stadium debt slightly to make the monthly repayments less but over a longer period.

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But anyway, the season started with a no hope Europa League qualifier against Tromso of Norway.

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We actually ran them much closer than I'd ever expected and absolutely battered them in the home leg having 5 CCC's but couldn't find a second goal to take it to extra time. I was very pleased with the lads effort though, and definitely thought it boded well for the season ahead.

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And I was right. We had a barnstorming first half of the season, culminating with a 4-2 win away at my bogey side, Juvenus Dogana, which left us 6 points clear of them at the halfway point in the season. Our performances have been fantastic and I see no reason why we can't kick on from here and win the league comfortably.

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We again progress through the first 2 rounds of the cup with ease, and our old tenants Faetano await in the first leg of the semi finals.

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Left winger Cecchetti is the stand out performer with 6 man of the match awards, whilst talisman Villa is the leading scorer again finding the net 14 times in 18 appearances. Our young regens are still inconsistent but some are now 16 so over the next couple of season I will expect them to start performing well week in week out.

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Gobbi is definitely progressing the best of our young talents, and I have no doubt he'll be in the next San Marino squad now that he's turned 16. He's easily the best player in the division and according to scouts can still improve a lot in the future.

I'm fully expecting to push on and win the league from this position, and the cup would also be a nice bonus as i'm still yet to win it. We moved into our new stadium in September, and although we're obviously nowhere near filling it, our attendances have more than double since we moved in and we're now averaging close to 400 fans at every home game. Our training and youth facilities will be finished in february, just in time for our youth intake so hopefully we might see a slight increase in the quality of our graduates this term.


​
 
2015/16 - Part Two

We headed into the second half of the season 6 points clear of the chasing pack, and also still in the Coppa Titano. Did we complete a domestic clean sweep or did we fall apart again like last year?

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We had a solid second half of the season, remaining unbeaten until the last game where yet again Juvenus Dogana turned us over. They're now the only side in the league with a better head to head record against us. We only kept 3 clean sheets all season but with the defending at this level there's not a great deal I can do about it tbh.

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We won the title by a comfortable 10 points, and it was actually won 4 games before the end of the season. I felt this was a minimum requirement as we really need the Champions League money to push our facilities on the the next level.

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No idea what happened here. Fell apart in the second leg and starting to think i'll never win this bleeding cup.

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Villa was our leading scorer for a third successive season, although Canti wasn't far behind. He was actually a product of our youth academy in the first intake, but I didn't screenshot him at the time as I didn't think he'd make it. How wrong was I. Annoyingly our best CM Bugli decided to jump ship to La Fiorita in January, and is 22 goals and 18 assists over the last two and a half years will be sorely missed.

Youth Intake

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Again a lot of potential for this league but no one with any real starting ability this year, which is a shame as I can't develop players much while we're still amateur. Here are the two best ones anyway...


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We also received confirmation of the upgrades to our facilities, however they are both still listed as 'poor' on the clubs info screen.

We also broke our own and the division average attendance record, with a whopping average of 393 at our new stadium, more than double our average in the first two seasons.

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So with next season coming around i'm hoping to make it into at least the 2nd or maybe even 3rd qualifying round to help boost the finances. We already have over 500,000 in the bank so a decent run will push us over 1million and allow me to boost facilities and hopefully also turn semi-pro too. Winning the league every year is now a must also.

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Season[/TD]
[TD]League[/TD]
[TD]Cup[/TD]
[TD]SuperCup[/TD]
[TD]Europe[/TD]
[TD]Club Value[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2013/14[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]Runner Up[/TD]
[TD]N/a[/TD]
[TD]N/a[/TD]
[TD]40,000[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2014/15[/TD]
[TD]2nd[/TD]
[TD]Semi Final[/TD]
[TD]Lost[/TD]
[TD]Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round[/TD]
[TD]375,000[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2015/16[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]Semi Final[/TD]
[TD]N/a[/TD]
[TD]Europa League 1st Qualifying Round[/TD]
[TD]625,000[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]




​
 
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Yeah sorry mate had a really busy week at work. This story's not dead though.. i'll get an update up either tonight or at the latest tomorrow!
 
2016/17 Part One

So we went into this season as defending champions, and this allowed us another crack at the Champions League qualifiers. San Marino are now seeded in the first round so we were given what I expected would be a straightforward first round tie against Rock Cosmos of Gibraltar.

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Not only did we beat them we went on to take out Lithuanian outfit Ekranas after a ding dong affair which ended 10-6 on aggregate. Sadly FC Copenhagen were a step too far however we game them a real game at home and only lost 4-3.
We then dropped into the Europa League players where we were soundly beaten by Portuguese side Maritimo, but the money from this run will be invaluable to us going forward.

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We finally won the SuperCup at the second attempt, with cup winners Faetano easily dispatched here. You may notice Fabio Bugli in the screenshot, he decided to come back to us after we were crowned champions, and with him being an original youth player of ours I snapped him back up.

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The money from the Champions League run was once again used to improve the facilities, and with these together costing well over 1million i'm hopeful we might finally see an improvement in the standard of players coming through in the next couple of seasons.

I havent actually played many league games yet so this is going to be a short update with the league one coming later, i'll hopefully have the games played by the end of tonight and have the update up when I get back from football at around half 10.

​
​
 
2015/16 Season Part Two


I was hoping our little run in Europe would push us on in the League as we went in search of a second consecutive title. With upcoming improvements at the training ground it was imperative to win the league and keep the champions league qualifying money rolling.

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We did just that, winning 12 and drawing 2 of our opening 14 games and leaving ourselves 6 points clear of Juvenus Dogana, who are realistically the only team left in the league who can catch us. We have also impressively only conceded 6 goals so far, with defending seemingly vastly improved after the new patch release.

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For the fourth season running we easily made it into the semi finals of the Coppa Titano, will this finally be the year that we go on to win it?!

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Villa is our leading scorer yet again, but most pleasing was to see that SI have fixed the match ratings bug for defenders and particularly full backs, meaning my young star and the national teams best player (despite being only 17!) Gobbi averaging over 7 for the first time in his career.

With this being a short update i've decided to screenshot and briefly analyse all the players who regularly make up my starting 11 to give everyone an idea of the sort of quality i'm working with...

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These are the 11 that make up my strongest team, however as you can see they're not all currently fit. Gobbi is the real star of the team and still has room for improvement, however I also have high hope for young right winger Zanotti and 14 year old left back Conti. Centre half Ortibaldi and left winger Cecchetti, who has just broken into the San Marino squad, are the 2 original members of the squad from before I arrived at the club. Goalkeeper has been a real problem position for me where youth intakes are concerned and young Simoncini is simply the best of a distinctly poor bunch. (He must be doing something right mind as i've only conceded 6 all season)

The next update will contain the Youth intake, remaining league games and the cup semis, hopefully i'll finally win the only domestic trophy that still eludes me!​
 
2016/17 - Part Three

I was looking for us to build on our good start to the season and cement our place as the dominant side in Sammirenese football.

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And we did just that. We won every single league game in the second half of the season to romp home as undefeated champions. Interestingly last seasons runners up La Fiorita were nowhere near the pace, with Juvenus Dogana the only real challengers as they seem to hoover up all of the talent from the other teams in the league due to their 'secure' finances. Some of my younger players are becoming more experienced now and it is showing in their much more consistent performances.

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Somehow despite such a fantastic season we yet again failed to win the Coppa Titano!! We had a man sent off though which contributed to our downfall. I WILL WIN THIS ONE DAY ARGHHHH.

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Villa was our leading scorer for a third season on the bounce, and a fair few of our other youngsters also had excellent seasons. I'm still really struggling for a goalkeeper with none in sight from the most recent intake. And speaking of the intake...

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Not the best this year, however with 1.3m being pumped into the facilities this summer i'm hoping we'll see a slight increase as early as next year. Here are the two best ones below.

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I've been asking for a parent club since the start of the game, not really sure why as i'm not signing anyone but I guess I just wanted to see who they'd come up with. Anyway after 3 and a half seasons they finally found us one..

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They only went and got ****** Southampton! Not that i'm gonna be able to do anything with em, but even that 18,000 odd a year is good money at this level.

Our average attendance was again on the rise and is now up at 554, with our crowd of 1499 in the last league game of the season a new division record by some distance.

Moving onto next season and another decent progression through the first couple of qualifying stages would be nice to again help boost the finances. We're still amateur as well which is a real pain in the **** but turning semi pro means paying wages and I that will hit us hard financially. I'm also expecting to win our third title in a row and 4th in 5 years now that our players are starting to develop.


Apologies for the delay in this update, had a busy busy week at work and was down in London yesterday watching Sheff United at Leyton Orient. I'll be getting back up to speed with the updates from now on!




​
 
you are a hero!but don't u think that the san marino league will have no competitive teams?It will be only you, like, forever!Unless you take over another team after a while.
 
i'm hoping at some point the whole league turns semi pro and then pro, thats what happened on last years fm. The reason i'm not buying any players is to keep the league semi competitive by allowing the other teams to buy and try their best to keep up.
 
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