Before the crucial game at Nuneaton we had a good warm-up at home with 9th placed Alfreton. An early brace from Rhys Henry and a couple of own goals gave us a hefty four-goal lead at half time and we could have added even more after the break. Alfreton scored a consolation goal but they didn’t have enough strength to put on a fightback.
And now, the most important game of the season: away at Nuneaton. They were four points behind us and a win could have boosted their title chances. The first half was rather dull, typical for such high stakes games, we had better ball possession but there were no decent chances at all. Nuneaton started to show more in attack after the break but it was us who took the lead thanks to two substitutes: left winger Robbie Hume made a great run and crossed it for Pietro Palladino who volleyed it home! There was no reaction from the home side, we were in control of the game and added the second goal deep into injury time when Hume provided another assist for Rhys Henry‘s header. It was a vital win that brought the title a lot closer to Ellesmere Port :)
We had a few more hurdles to pass though and the first one was also the tallest: promotion contenders Eastwood were coming at Rivacre Park. The weather was quite unusual for March, there was snow all over the place, in the air and on the ground! The fairytale atmosphere didn’t prevent my side from playing a great first half in which we could have scored at least two or three goals. We only managed to net one though but it was a fine goal, a great team move was rounded off by Stefan Connor who smashed home from inside the box. Striker John Kennedy came back after an injury, he came in at half time to provide the assist for the second goal, a cool finish from Rhys Henry. Nuneaton lost their game so we were 10 points clear at the top with a game in hand!
We had two more games to play before the end of March and the first one was away at struggling bottom of the table Corby. We had the game wrapped up in around half an hour: first Stefan Connor rounded off a good team move, then he netted his second by taking advantage of a funny goalkeeper gaffe and then John Kennedy headed in his first goal after recovering from the injury. We could have done more damage after the break but we missed a penalty kick and hit the woodwork twice before Corby grabbed a consolation goal, a pretty nice goal too.
The last game of the month was at home with 10th placed Blyth Spartans, one of my favorite teams in real life football (I became a fan after managing them in FM 2009…) The first half was quite entertaining with both sides creating and missing good chances. We took the lead after the break thanks to a great goal from Rhys Henry, his 10th of the season, and then Michael Abnett doubled the lead by scoring a total fluke (definitely worth watching). Blyth got back into the game by taking advantage of some poor free kick marking from my defenders but John Kennedy put it beyond doubt a few minutes later.
That win secured us a play-off spot but we were looking good for the title since Nuneaton were 13 points behind us and we had a game in hand! We only needed a couple more wins in April to secure the title but it was a lot more difficult that I expected… Go to the next page to see what happened in April.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Plobdork
19 ноября, 2010 at 21:56
nice one johnny can i ask were you got the kit pack i have looked evreywhere
Johnny Karp
19 ноября, 2010 at 21:57
I’ll post the kit pack tomorrow, it’s just for Blue Square North though.
Laxeyman
19 ноября, 2010 at 22:04
Hi Johnny, despite the poor last month that was a great season, your side thoroughly deserve promotion, well done. Looking forward to seeing what you do in pre season, I’m sure you’ll unearth yet more gems. Congratulations again on promotion.
P.S I am into January on my Droylsden game, I’m currently 5 points clear at the top after 21 games. Hopefully I can carry on and celebrate promotion like you :)
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:02
Thanks Laxeyman, I guess we did deserve to get promoted. You should get promotion with Droylsden considering the cushion that you have but I’d be curious to see if you’ll have a similar poor run towards the end of the season. I hope you won’t :)
Sears
19 ноября, 2010 at 22:21
Hello Johnny,
congratulations on a wonderful promotion. Pre season will be essential, hopefully you can bring in some more good youngsters. Well done and good luck!
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:02
Thanks Sears, I’m already going through the shortlist, scout reports and so on… I just hope I’ll have a larger wage budget.
Vinners
19 ноября, 2010 at 22:48
Good work johnny! I signs Lewis too he was good for north but is poor in premier. You should try to arrange your own friendlies with maximum money making to try and cut your debt as it’ll help you in the long term. I am currently 9 points ahead after 20 games in the premier but after losing the first two games I now play with a defensive tactic which isn’t as exciting but gets me the wins! Good luck with preseason and finding those gems!
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:04
Thanks Vinners, I guess I’ll try the friendlies strategy. I won’t play with a defensive tactic though :)
Vinners
20 ноября, 2010 at 12:31
Yer that’s cool. I only had to use the defensive strategy coz they were all over me but I am trying to go back to my normal tactic as my players are getting used to it an in the long run it’ll be more beneficial
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 14:48
Yes, that’s a good strategy.
Darren Smith
19 ноября, 2010 at 23:12
Hey Johnny, what an amazing first season, well done mate. As always you are transforming the worst side in England, and I am looking forward to another overachieving season. Well done buddy,
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:04
Thanks Darren, it will all depend on what we’ll be able to do in pre-season.
Arjuna
20 ноября, 2010 at 00:01
Congratulaions Johnny,
You did really well to get promotion, and you should do well next season
Arjuna
managerstoriesfootball.blogspot.com
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:07
Thanks Arjuna.
JonnySniper
20 ноября, 2010 at 02:04
Well done Johnny. Top work. My advice would be see what you can do to bring the best players from the BSN with you on the step up to the Premier. Good luck. :)
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:09
Thanks Jonny, I have a rather extensive shortlist set up but my scouts might come up with more names during June and July.
cory berman
20 ноября, 2010 at 03:27
great first season, lets hope for the same next year
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:09
Thanks Cory, let’s hope… :)
Lye
20 ноября, 2010 at 05:13
Hi Johnny,
Congratulations on the title win. The promotion was never in doubt since you got to the summit. It’s another busy pre-season for you as you need to start searching for quality players. Have a good break. See you in the pre-season report.
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:10
Thanks Lye. Actually I don’t think that I’ll have such a long break, my fingers are already itching to get in some transfers :)
warren
20 ноября, 2010 at 08:30
Hi Johnny
A great end to a very successful season and I cannot wait to see how you fair in the blue square premier next season.
Good luck
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:10
Thanks Warren, I’m pretty curious to see my team in BSP too :)
Kevin
20 ноября, 2010 at 10:06
Hi Johnny
Congratualtions on securing your first FM 2011 title and it must be reassuring to know that your old Notts Co. tactic is just as effective in this version…unless of course you’ve slipped in a change somewhere :). Thanks for providing a quality story and an «edge of the seat» finish to the season.
Actually my place is such a mess all I have is an edge of a seat to sit on. LOL!
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 11:01
Thanks Kevin. I didn’t make any changes to the tactic! Good luck with the renovation, I hope that next season’s finale will see you sitting on a full seat :)
hils
20 ноября, 2010 at 11:54
Hi Johnny,a amazing ending to the first season!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully,you will continue your form!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think if you finish this quickly you will hopefully start a journeyman game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!
p.s.I have just started my season with derby and won 1 and lost 1 i think!!!!!!!!!!!!
hils
20 ноября, 2010 at 12:56
At the end of august derby are 17th in the league and derby were knocked out in the second round of the league cup!!!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 14:49
Not a good start, hang in there! The first month is always difficult but better days will surely come for your side.
hils
20 ноября, 2010 at 19:39
But we thrashed portsmouth 4-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 14:47
Thanks Hils. It’s too early to think about a future career though.
Ana Garcia
20 ноября, 2010 at 16:46
Great work Johnny, never doubted that you wouldnt win promotion! :)
Even better to go up as champions, interesting to see how your young side copes.
Good luck on next season!
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 18:56
Thanks Ana, I hope to build a good team for Blue Square Premier.
Sayam Khan
20 ноября, 2010 at 19:22
Hi Johnny, well done for this achievement, never doubted you wouldn’t gain promotion.
I bet the fixtures before confirming the title were scary!
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2010 at 21:11
Thanks Sayam. I admit that I was fearing that we would lose the promotion after the first three games in March…
Craig Nozz
8 февраля, 2011 at 14:04
AMAZING story mate! Using all my lunch breaks to read it
Think im going to start a new llm game tonight!
Can you tell me where you got your skins and backgrounds??
Johnny Karp
8 февраля, 2011 at 15:35
Thanks mate, I hope you still have some time left to eat during the lunch breaks :) About the skins and backgrounds, everything that I use can be found in the download page: https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/download/