Hey guys and welcome to my FM 2012 Scarborough AFC season 6 report. Last season saw the Seadogs win and gain promotion from the Blue Square Premier. We walked over most opposition and finally put Scarborough back to the division where it all went wrong. Jumping from ‘non-league’ football to the Football League is a big step and while the ride has been tame so far, I am expecting the bumps to appear soon. It may not be this season, but if I don’t keep the standard of my squad high the quality could soon catch up with us.
When you gain promotion to the Football League the first thing to do is turn professional (if your club hasn’t done so already.) CHECK
This very positive move left me with tonnes to do, but after offering the majority of my staff and players full time contracts I decided to take the next step into my own hands. Facilities and youth recruitment are vital as you move up the leagues, ours are naff and while I lacked the cash to improve the facilities the board did improve my youth recruitment.
Now we see what the board and media expect of me this season. As was the case during our last couple of campaigns the board expect relegation but still offered a nice budget due to our great financial position. I probably won’t spend a dime of that £444K transfer budget and may even transfer it to wages.
The media have us down for an outside promotion chance, but at 16-1 we are behind a pack of very good clubs.
With a tonne of cash in my back pocket, I set about the transfer market, with some names in mind I wanted to clear the floor first so offloaded any unwanted players. All the departures would have struggled in L2 and we even managed to rake in £185K.
Now for the really important part, my signings. After last season it became apparent that I wouldn’t need to do too much, but what I did need to do was strengthen the quality in depth. Hokan was probably the best signing, he is a quality left back for this level while Barmby will terrorize down the left wing. I decided to make up the numbers with loan signings from there on out as the quality of the free market was a little too low for my taste.
The squad depth image below says more than enough, we have great quality in depth now and League Two could have a surprise front runner should my assistants opinion prove accurate. Just watch out for Southern, he’s made massive improvements.
Results — August to October
My first few months back in the Football League were very fruitful indeed. We may have exited the League Cup early but my boys mastered their way to 11 wins and two draws from 13 games. An unbelievable start, plus we managed to beat League One’s Scunthorpe and Hull City to progress in the JPT.
Results — November to December
Our fantastic start continued as the Winter months saw my boys win all our games bar one. We were eliminated from the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy but that didn’t really bother me, I was just happy to progress past Stevenage in the FA Cup 2nd round. A quick glance through the results below will tell you who was to thank for our fine form, Southern had become a goal machine!
With the first half of the season over, Scarborough sat top of the table and holding a 23 point advantage over Torquay in second. This is by far my best start to a season and all the youth I have put together just seem to have gelled into one unstoppable machine.
Results — January to February
So Scarborough had been eliminated from the JPT and League Cup, leaving us with the remaining League Two calender and the FA Cup to focus on. But with more gaps showing between league matches I found the bank balance been flushed away, this led me to arrange no fewer than 5 Friendly matches. The cash didn’t exactly rush in but it put a small plug in the leak at least. A midst all this my side still fought on in the league to win all our matches bar one draw to Torquay. We even progressed in the FA Cup beating Rotherham before we were beaten in the fourth round at home to Liverpool. My boys were by far the better side and we dominated the match but just couldn’t match Liverpool’s EPL finishing.
Results — March to May
The final push of the season led to a lot of annoying injuries to my key stars. Obviously this had an adverse effect on our form, seeing Scarborough lose two and draw three of our last 12 leagues matches. Still good form indeed and Southern had well and truly put himself in the shop window for next season with the likes of Birmingham and Fulham making inquiries.
With the season coming to a close the league table reads utter domination, the Seadogs finished top by a staggering 36 points and we scored a total of 120 goals. Next season will see us in League One where the standard may be much higher, but its getting tough to tell where the brick wall will be built, because there is no sign of my boys hitting it yet.
As a result of our domination the awards were handed out mainly to Scarborough players. I won manager of the year, Nikolaou won player of the year and Southern won the golden boot with an immense 40 goals from 40 games.
Squad stats and finances
After a tremendous season many of my players deserve credit but none more than Southern who has scored 45 goals from 41 starts and even chipped in with 14 assists…this lad could be massive on any level in my opinion. Rather than go through all the players I will list my favorite four below the squad stats.
Favorite four players (click on players names to see their profile)
4. Ricci Hokan (DL, 19 years old)
3. Nikos Nikolaou (AMR, 19 years old)
2. Josh Ross (MC, 18 years old)
1. Jonathan Southern (ST, 18 years old)
This season was fantastic on the pitch, but we did lose a lot of money behind the scenes. After turning professional our wage bill went through the roof and our small stadium isn’t big enough to provide the funds required. We finished last season with £1.49 million in the bank, but we finished this season with £779K. The finances are still stable but next season will be very tough in that area.
Well my sixth season is complete and that concludes my 6th consecutive promotion. We still have a very good squad and with the youth I managed to find in the BSP and below we are destined to either succeed or cash in…I have already begun the seventh season and can confirm that one player has left without my say so, but that is all I’ll say. :) Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment below. I’ll leave you with an image of how my journey has panned out so far.
Johnny Karp
18 февраля, 2012 at 12:01
It was too easy again and that’s because your squad is already at Championship level in my view. Sorry to hear that you have lost one of your players but I guess that won’t make a huge difference because the squad is very strong overall.
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 12:41
I agree that the team is well above the standard of opponents we faced this season, I don’t think its quite ready for the Championship but with some good additions next season we should be able to gain promotion for sure.
rolando
18 февраля, 2012 at 12:29
Yet another absolutely storming season, I’ve never really seen anyone destroying competition quite like that and as Johnny said, your team is probably already a Championship contender. Not to mention the top guys on your team who could probably slot into a mid-low table side in EPL straight away. Hope you get to expand your stadium fairly soon, can remember struggling with tiny stadium myself, so feel your pain of losing lots of money. Anyway, good luck in League 1 and see you in EPL in two seasons :D
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 12:44
Thanks Rolando, the quality of regens we have acquired is the reason for our success so far, the lower leagues don’t seem to be producing the same quality now so I’ll have to fork out larger wages to attract top talent from higher up, but if my board will be flexible for now then we should be able to build a team to last us a few seasons then go from there. You’re right about the stadium, we desperately need an expansion.
Kevin
18 февраля, 2012 at 12:42
Hi Darren
Not too many left on your list now to cross out :) What a season for you, simply mind boggling and with such an array of young talent you should easily make it to the Championship for sure. Well done!
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 13:21
Thanks Kevin, I hold high hopes for next season I must admit but the further up we go the more interest my youth is gathering and its getting tough to fend the vultures off but lets hope everyone can remain at the club.
Dino Ozbolt
18 февраля, 2012 at 13:22
Well done, next season will be walk in the park again in my opinion… can’t wait to see how you will do in the Championship!
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 13:30
Cheers mate, I think we could do well next season too, but its all about preparing the club financially too which is the main challenge as our stadium is far too small.
Dino Ozbolt
18 февраля, 2012 at 17:46
true, haven’t thought of that while writing a comment!¨Sometimes it feels you need Old Trafford to cover up the wages and all. :D
Woody
18 февраля, 2012 at 13:32
Domination again is good to see
Hopefully play offs next season would be good to aim for
Anyway well done and good luck
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:05
Thanks Woody, I think the play-offs may be a minimum for us and it depends on transfer funds for what we can achieve beyond that.
Marcko
18 февраля, 2012 at 13:51
woahh those stats are crazy how did you get them there! :D congratz anyway!
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:31
Thanks Marcko, there’s so many different things to do that I wouldn’t even know where to begin…its just how I play the game really, lots and lots of attention to detail and trying to perfect everything from training to man management as opposed to just clicking continue.
Sears
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:10
FM need to make a more difficult version of the game for you :D All in all, another brilliant promotion. I really don’t see why you won’t be able to gain another promotion from League 1, but you may become stuck in the Championship for a season or two as the quality really increases there….. Anyhow, top stuff buddy :)
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:56
Thanks Sears, I agree we can get another promotion and then things will get tough but FM isn’t as easy as all my screenshots make it appear, I do a lot of research and many nights spent tearing through lists of players. As long as I keep the commitment in that area up we should be OK.
vaibhavc
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:14
6 down, 3 to go! Great season for you again Darren, I think that you can definitely get another promotion next season. And great effort in the FA Cup, you were great.
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:56
Thanks Vaibhav, lets hope for more of the same next season. :)
Nathan Kirby
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:17
Hi Darren.
Great to see your doing so well with my local side scarborough and some of your sqaud is showing great potential only a matter of time till you get to the premiership. Just a quistion how did you get scarborough on FM12 and all the other leagues because i woudnt mind having a crack with them is there a download you did from editor to get them?
Good luck and thanks.
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:57
Thanks Nathan, you can get the editor version I am using from here http://fmadvanced.forumfree.it/?t=59060264
saltwater
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:19
I normally get a cup of tea and read this on Sunday morning, so kind of shocked to see it today. Anyway, there was a thought in my mind that the football league would halt Scarborough, but I was wrong as the promation train shows no signs of stopping (Can’t believe Hartlepool went down by the way, Jeff Stelling won’t be happy).
Finally, please give us a hint to who left. Was it Southern??! Josh Moss??!
Good Luck.
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 15:41
Yeah I had actually done the post a few days ago and was going to wait until Sunday but thought I’d publish now. I was shocked to see Hartlepool go down too but there have been a few shocks to be honest. As for the player leaving all I’ll say is that one of the players mentioned is the one.
CsAtlantis
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:36
The problem with turning professional is that you have to give full time contracts to everyone, and your club just does not look rich enough, some player sales might be needed as you keep moving up, but at least your players are keeping up and staying one step ahead of the leagues they find themselves in!
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 15:43
Yeah it can be a pain but required for us to progress. We are not the richest of clubs, we don’t enjoy the greatest of facilities and especially not the best stadium…but with some decent cup runs we should cover our costs for next season at least.
Malhar Bhadbhade
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:39
Hey Darren,
absolutely no surprises there…knew you were going to get your sixth consecutive promotion. you’ve got a squad that could dominate league one too in my opinion..its going to be fantastic to see scarborough in the Championship and then in the premier league! amazing job mate! just as a matter of curiosity, which club is dominating Europe right now? and do you mind posting screenshots of one or two of the best regens in the world in your save (if you have the time). thanks a lot…keep up the good work! cheers!
Luke Foley
18 февраля, 2012 at 14:44
Ridiculously good season well done! I tried a story like this on fm2011 with Waltham Abbey, could you tell me if they’re available to play on the database your using, and if possible what database you are using?
Thanks and good luck with the move to League 1
P.S i hate it when my chairmen takes it upon himself to sell one of our gems hopefully you can hang on to most of them!
TheZiggy
18 февраля, 2012 at 15:06
Congratulations on another immensely impressive season, really ripping through the rest of the teams in the league. The loan market is very important in Leagues One and Two as it helps to save a lot of money. I think next season will probably be another very good one, and we might see yet another promotion.
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 15:58
Thanks mate, I am starting to feel the lure of loan signings more and more recently but still able to rely on those regens that have lasted since the BSN, so that has helped majorly. Fingers crossed you are right on the promotion.
Sasho
18 февраля, 2012 at 18:00
match preparation ? pitch size ? OI ? please :)
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 18:30
I have my assistant do the match preparation OI and the pitch size is irrelevant…I never pay attention to that.
Laxeyman
18 февраля, 2012 at 18:17
Incredible as usual Darren, your squad is just too good for League 2, and I think it’ll be too good for League 1 as well, as long as the player who’s left is not Southern. If it’s not, then I reckon you’ll romp League 1 as well :)
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 18:32
Thanks Laxeyman, it was certainly a dominant season and I agree we can keep going through next season…though all I’ll say to your comment about Southern is :(
Liam O'Rourke
18 февраля, 2012 at 18:22
Hi Darren
Greetings from Ireland. I have been checking this site since FM2011. I thoroughly enjoy reading about the rise of the basement boys to the Premiership. Though I’m a season ticket holder at Bray Wanderers in the Irish Airtricity League, I have a soft spot for Rochdale. I have just one question, how do you build up players stats, especially the younger players? I myself find at times, that it is hit and miss
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 18:40
To be honest Liam, it is hit and miss. If you sign the wrong player that either lacks the determination/work rate or just doesn’t suit your style then they won’t grow to an exceptional level and I have had my fair share of them in this save, I just choose not to share them as it wouldn’t really offer much to the story.
However, when you hot gold its evident within a few months which either in development or performances. I’d suggest reading this post https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2011/11/football-manager-2012-guide-to-win-with-malaga/ as it contains everything I do really.
Liam O'Rourke
18 февраля, 2012 at 20:12
Cheers Darren. I’m looking forward to reading about your League 1 exploits. Promotion all the way
David Wiggins
18 февраля, 2012 at 19:49
fantastic stuff yet again Darren! Is not Jack Barmby formerly of Man Utd? If so, that is Nick Barmby’s son!
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 20:31
Thanks David, interesting about Barmby, he’s certainly Nick Barmby’s son then because he starts at Man Utd, who’d have thought ;)
Martin - F.M.J.S
18 февраля, 2012 at 23:49
Another impressive season mate. Walsall must be hating you after knocking 13 goals passed them in one season :D. But your youngster have been great for you again. Good Luck next season mate.
Darren Smith
19 февраля, 2012 at 00:04
Thanks Martin, we enjoyed an amazing season.
Tegar Triemanudigdo
19 февраля, 2012 at 02:42
Another impressive season there! Southern just gone nuts in League 2! I can imagine many big clubs will be eager to sign him with a lot of money to get him, and your club will be able to used that money from the transfer. Anyway great job and can’t wait to see your next adventure in League 1.
Darren Smith
19 февраля, 2012 at 08:59
Thanks Tegar, Southern was massive this season and should really be plying his trade in the EPL, a lot of clubs have come calling of which I have rejected so far.
John Martin
19 февраля, 2012 at 10:10
Great stuff darren! Well done! Luge one should be a dodle. Just a question, in some comments u mention u spend ages looking through sheets of players and pay attention to every litte detail, so on averge how much time do you usaly spend a day playing the game?
Darren Smith
19 февраля, 2012 at 12:32
Thanks John, I usually spend around 3 hours a night during the week on FM and then somewhere around 10 hours on Saturdays and Sundays depending on my schedule.
John Martin
20 февраля, 2012 at 17:01
Thanks for the reply Darren. I decied to start one with Scarbrough and would just like to know if you know where to download the logos?
Darren Smith
20 февраля, 2012 at 19:40
Sure, here you go mate https://footballmanagerstory.com/forum/index.php?topic=1026.0
Bhargav
19 февраля, 2012 at 11:26
Quite a journey! It seems that there is no end in sight to your success! Especially after pushing Liverpool to the edge!
Darren Smith
19 февраля, 2012 at 12:34
Cheers Bhargav, I agree it does seem like we could keep going forever and while next season should be good I think it’ll slow down from there as the quality in the top two divisions is a gig jump. While we may look capable against the big teams that is down to the underdog effect which will disappear once we are on a par with them.
MRDNRA
19 февраля, 2012 at 21:39
Excellent progress Darren.
As a quick question, having downloaded the expanded database myself now, how long did it take you to create the game? It’s taking on my laptop about half an hour each time (I keep restarting for various reasons) and over an hour to go through one game week.
Darren Smith
19 февраля, 2012 at 21:48
That seems a little excessive, while the game is very slow compared to normal saves it shouldn’t be that bad. Although I have a great laptop so depending on your processor and memory it may be too slow.
MRDNRA
19 февраля, 2012 at 21:50
My laptop isn’t all that great anyway, I do have a lot of games installed which slows it down a lot anyway!
Darren Smith
19 февраля, 2012 at 21:52
When I play a normal game, going from one day to another just takes second but in the database game it takes like 10 times as long, so I can imagine a lesser laptop will be almost unplayable.
MRDNRA
20 февраля, 2012 at 00:59
It’s an exercise in patience that’s for sure. Finally managed just over a month in just under 3 hours though!
Lye
20 февраля, 2012 at 01:01
Hi Darren,
You have assembled a squad full of talent and i guess league 1 shouldn’t pose any problem for you too. Absolutely stunning and impressive season, it seems too easy for you at this level too. It wouldn’t take you too long to finish this story and just three more leagues to go. Southern is a massive player for you. I hope your chairman do not do anything behind the scene.
Darren Smith
20 февраля, 2012 at 11:42
Thanks Lye, I agree that Southern is very important and while we still may do OK without him I think he’d be in the team for many more years.
Rob Yeats
20 февраля, 2012 at 10:07
Excellent as always Darren, keep up the good work!
Darren Smith
20 февраля, 2012 at 11:43
Thanks Rob.
Ceej
21 февраля, 2012 at 14:00
Amazing achievement!
Especially baring in mind you would have had no good coaches, no good facilities and a terrible scouting range, and yet have signed clearly some of the best youngsters on the planet…
Can’t help but be sceptical! But if it is all legit, it’s amazing!
Darren Smith
21 февраля, 2012 at 18:29
Let me start by saying thanks for not outright accusing me of cheating which p****s me off no end, its refreshing to hear a skeptic be a little more open minded and political. Obviously it is all legit as are all my saves, I wouldn’t spend hours writing these stories, guides, tactics and creating/running the scouting network if I was a fake person who lied for attention. But I am not sure where you come from with the ‘best youngsters on the planet’ bit, they are ridiculously good for this level but nothing compared to regens the teams above me have.
Lemuel Lim
21 февраля, 2012 at 15:10
nice effort. keep it up. would like to see this team in the bpl one season.
Darren Smith
21 февраля, 2012 at 18:24
Thanks mate, that’s the aim anyway.
Kevin
21 февраля, 2012 at 17:30
Darren
What’s happend to your face or is that you? If it is you that is pure commitment to FMS!
:)
Darren Smith
21 февраля, 2012 at 18:20
lol, yeah that is me mate but using Photoshop I added some FMS war paint ;) Would be commitment if I actually did it to myself. ;)
Kevin
21 февраля, 2012 at 20:02
That’s hilarious.
By the way your wife must be very understanding for you to be able to play Football Manager for 3 hours each night or she works an evening shift LOL!!
Darren Smith
21 февраля, 2012 at 20:21
Well I like to think that I’m good at multi tasking (as in playing the game and offering my wife attention) but in reality she is just really understanding lol, don’t get me wrong its caused a problem or two but generally shes happy if I’m happy…lucky man I know!
Kevin
21 февраля, 2012 at 20:32
Well that’s a flipping brilliant arrangement :)
Johnny Karp
21 февраля, 2012 at 21:50
Looks great Darren! And a bit scary but that’s for the opponents I guess :)
Darren Smith
22 февраля, 2012 at 11:43
lol, yeah my mate says I look like a dead man in a coffin after a really weird funeral request. Didn’t mean to work that way but its still OK. :)
Davy Doyle
22 февраля, 2012 at 08:51
Great to see the club doing so well mate. Best of luck with next season
Darren Smith
22 февраля, 2012 at 11:42
Thanks Davy.
Ryan
23 февраля, 2012 at 17:43
Wow, absolutely amazing, another dominant season for Scaborough AFC! I’ve been reading your entire journey as manager of SAFC and tbh, I really expected you to struggle this season, finish mid — table, then push for a play — off spot/promotion, the following season, but you’ve defied the odds again.
Also congrats on going pro, you’re carving out a whole new exciting era in Scarborough AFC’s short history. I bet you’re already a club legend on the game, keep up the good work mate.
Darren Smith
23 февраля, 2012 at 18:09
Thanks Ryan, the team continue to surprise me too though I’m starting to see the bigger picture of reaching the top flight and we have some excellent players as a base. I am now a club legend which is great and I think one of my past players is an icon too.
David Faithfull
23 февраля, 2012 at 20:08
Darren great story so far mate you keep getting better and better. Your team are unstoppable!!
League 1 is pretty much similar to league two so do you think you will be able to win this league with ease?
Darren Smith
23 февраля, 2012 at 21:01
Thanks David, I have already finished the season and will have a post ready for the weekend, lets just say it was a surprising season ;)
Chris
24 февраля, 2012 at 00:58
Great work Darren, your story inspired me to take a very similar challenge up! A very good feeling to take a home-grown team many levels up and hopefully through to Champions League success!
I’ve got one going with Locks Heath (originally in the Hampshire Premier League, would be the 11th level/tier), I won it very easily in the first season and this season in the Wessex League Div 1 I’m leading that too, about 10 or so games in.
Question: when you first started the game, did you select «Add Players to Playable Teams» or did you just leave it as is?
Keep up the great work!
Darren Smith
24 февраля, 2012 at 11:46
Thanks Chris, glad you decided to take on your local team…for me this has been the most enjoyable game I’ve ever undertaken due to it being so personal.
When I started the game I just left the options as they are default which I believe is unticked for the option mentioned.
Chris
24 февраля, 2012 at 22:50
Well, Locks Heath, isn’t exactly my local team, I live in Australia. But hey, Locks Heath is starting to «feel» like my local team :p
I checked the add players option, and whilst it does make it easier for me, it’s a level playing field (in the lower divisions), as all teams have been given enough players for a team.
Freddie
24 февраля, 2012 at 16:29
Another nice season mate… 5 years and you’ll be beating barce!! :)
Darren Smith
24 февраля, 2012 at 18:14
Thanks Freddie, I’d say playing Barce in 5 years is impossible but I’m at the stage of not ruling anything out now. ;)
Ana Garcia
24 февраля, 2012 at 20:02
Super late response (as always! :))
So I cant really add too much to what has been already said! Congratulations on yet another promotion and good luck next season!
Darren Smith
25 февраля, 2012 at 12:33
Thanks Ana.
Panagos
9 августа, 2012 at 14:30
Hi Darren nice work with Scarborough..Can you tell me how are you find these excellent players for npower league 2?
Darren Smith
9 августа, 2012 at 19:19
I just do a lot of searching…send your scouts to Ireland and Wales and Scotland…also do attribute specific searches, just do loads of different filters. You won’t find anyone through the search if you just keep looking under the same terms.