FM 2012 Scarborough AFC season 12 report: Talk about competition!

Hey guys and welcome to my FM 2012 Scarborough AFC season 12 report. My boys may have failed in all the cup competitions last season but we won the EPL title in dramatic fashion. Three sides were in with a shout on the last day but my Seadogs reined victorious in a title race that I’d rather not endure again. :) After our first Premier League title I set myself two goals for the coming season. A) to begin building towards my Y2G system, this meant making money in the market and bringing in my first crop of youth and B) to try for the Champions League final, feels too far away right now but that is what we should aim for.

But before we crack on with all news Scarborough I have a minor update on my old strikers, Southern who now plays for Birmingham and Shepherd who plays for Manchester United. Both strikers play upfront for their nation now and seem to be first on the team sheet…between them Southern and Shepherd have scored 32 International goals including a goal a piece during the World Cup third place play-off.

OK, lets get back on track and update you on my pre-season. Very early in the season my board announced an initial transfer budget of £44.97 million with £1.6 million a week wage budget.

Between then and the  official board expectations I had signed a few names so my budget dropped to around £13 million but all that was irrelevant as I wanted to make a profit in the market anyway. What did matter was the board requesting a push for Champions League football and the media listing us as second favorites to win the title.

Before sharing my transfers, its worth mentioning that the board invested £7.5 million to bolster the bank balance during August.

This season I wanted to make my first steps towards becoming a self sufficient club. It will take many years before I can offload the big wage players without effecting my sides quality, but I took the first steps this season. All the players sold were either over paid for their ability, over paid full stop or not as good as other players on the market at a cheaper price. All my player sales totaled £65 million.

Some of my transfers in were direct replacements for players departing. Diomi joined for £15.75 million to replace Mangan on the right wing who left for £16 million. Hussein joined for free to replace my goalkeeper Mexilhao who left for £20 million and Brooks joined for £12.5 million to replace left back Juan Jose who left for £20 million. Most of the other signings will be for the future and are under the age of 20, around 5 of them are just 16-17 years old.

Premier League results — first half of season

After taking last season to the wire, I felt like a good start to the season was paramount. My boys seemed to share the same ambitions winning 11, drawing 5 and losing just one game during the first half of the season. Our only loss came to Chelsea who still seem like a thorn on my side.

After December Scarborough may be top of the league but only by one point to Manchester City who also have a game in hand. We are in a far better position than we were this time last season but there’s still a tonne of work to be done.

During January my board offered a change of expectations but I decided to stick with the top four finish and accept a budget of £15 million.

January saw a little transfer action as I offloaded my under performing 26 year old striker Vieira for £12 million. This was a lot less than I originally wanted after offering him out for £22 million so the end transfer was a slap in the face.

The main reason I parted company with Vieira was to make way for a new wonderkid, Luis Diez is 18 years old and cost me £21.5 million. That seems like a lot of cash but I think he could be the next big thing and I also invested a further £4.8 million on two 17 year olds. With my first crop of youth almost in place my seasons transfers have made a profit of £4 million which is what I expected.

With the bank balance dropping again my chairmen decided to invest yet more money during November and February. This investment totaled £57 million and has inspired me to start planning a summer clear out next season…but for now lets see how the second half of our season went.

Premier League results — second half of season

Going into the new year and my side started very well, from our next 15 fixtures we won 12, drew 3 and lost zero matches. That amazing run put us top of the league and looking good for the title before disaster struck. My Seadogs lost to Liverpool before beating Man Utd and then losing 5-2 at home to Arsenal, we also suffered a bad run of injuries. At that time Man City rose above us before Scarborough won the next two games and Man City lost the Manchester derby.

The league campaign was feeling heated with Scarborough top on 86 points, two points above Man City in second but also holding a favorable goal difference.

With one game to go Man City hosted Stoke and Scarborough were at home to Aston Villa. The only way we could forfeit the title was to lose and then watch Man City win.

The outcome of my match against Aston Villa was decided early on, the Seadogs ran rampant in a 6-1 victory. But we did lose star striker Fabricio to injury and our captain Ross will be suspended for the start of next season after his second red card of the season.

But at that moment nothing else mattered other than the EPL title. While Man City thrashed Stoke, it did little to help their cause as we racked up 89 points and won our second consecutive title.

FA Cup results

The FA Cup is the only trophy in English Football that Scarborough have not lifted and our wait for a complete domestic cabinet will go on. After progressing through the third, fourth and fifth round we were then beaten by Liverpool at Anfield.

League Cup results

We won this competition in 2021 and looked good for a repeat in the early rounds after thrashing Forest Green, Newcastle and Fulham. I then expected the boot as Chelsea were drawn in the semi-final. But to my surprise we went onto win the first leg 3-0 before pushing our luck at Stamford Bridge hanging onto lose by two goals and thus qualifying for the final.

League Cup final vs Cardiff

Venue: Wembley

Attendance: 90,000

Starting formations:

We may be against Championship opposition but I decided to field a near full strength XI bar my striker and right winger. With an attacking strategy employed and my eyes on the prize it is safe to say I was confident of victory. Rather than make you read too much I’ll let you watch the match highlights below.

Match highlights: Click here to watch the League Cup final highlights

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Match stats:

After a nervous opening that included the Welsh side pulling level, my boys dominated with 64% possession and 31 shots. We absolutely slaughtered Cardiff and my wingers proved too clever with their positioning, off the ball movement and creativity. Another trophy added to my collection and one that made this season a domestic double triumph.

Champions League results

Scarborough were placed in pot 3 for the draw which led to a rather interesting group. Marseille are very strong while we all know Real Madrid are one of the best but I was shocked to see Lecce in there. Either way we won 4 matches, drew away to Marseille and lost away to Real Madrid.

All very positive results in my opinion and they certainly made the group table look positive. Scarborough finished top, 2 points above Real Madrid.

The First Knockout round looked positive at first glance, but research showed Sporting Lisbon to be a tough opponent. Not only did they win the competition in 2014 and 2016, but they still maintain a very good squad. Despite the Portuguese champions quality my Seadogs progressed 5-2 on aggregate to the quarter-final where Real Madrid who won this competition 2015 await. I knew that beating the Spanish giants would come down to a clean sheet at home and we managed that with a 1-0 win. While we did concede during the second leg, we also scored an all important goal to progress 2-1 on aggregate.

That left one more opponent between me and my famous black suit!! But Manchester City were drawn for the semi-final which did calm my passions a little, my main English rivals have won this competition in 2013, 2020 and 2022. I entered the first leg away from home expecting to keep the scores respectable so my fans would have something to cheer for at home. But boy were my expectations wrong, we actually ran out 1-0 winners. I couldn’t believe it and then just as reality sunk in my boys went onto win the second leg 2-0!!!

That is right, we have made it to the Champions League final where my nemesis awaits. Chelsea beat Benfica and have setup a real dream final for the neutrals of Great Britain. Just to demonstrate how tough my Knockout round run was, below is a list of the Champions League past winners. You’ll notice that from the 11 in game years I have played, 7 of them featured Sporting, Real, Man City or Chelsea as the winners of the Champions League. This just demonstrates the quality of my opponents.

I am planning a Champions League final special post, so I am afraid you’ll have to wait for that…but it will be well worth the wait with tonnes of analysis and yours truly suiting up in black with a red tie! But before we finish today’s post, I have the usual end of season upgrades to share with you that totaled £5.8 million.

My board also agreed to expand the stadium again, this will result in a capacity of 20,255 at a cost of £3.8 million.

OK, that is officially everything for today, but stay tuned for the biggest game of my Football Manager career as I face Chelsea in the Champions League final…if the match itself isn’t enough for you to tune in for, then just drop by to see images of me wearing a suit while sweating it out on the biggest stage…I promised you all I’d come through and I don’t like to break my promises. ;) So before you read my next post, be prepared for me too…….