[NoSkillz]

Table of Contents for this dynasty, with links to every season on our journey, is listed in Post #3!

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It all comes down to this…

For eight years, we’ve worked our way up the ladder in England. I was hired at Dover Athletic FC by former chairman Jim Parmenter in early July 2010, as he looked to build upon the great success that my predecessor Andy Hessenthaler brought to the club in his three years at the helm.

My time at Dover started with the club in the Blue Square Bet South, one of the second divisions in the Football Conference in England. Along with the Blue Square Bet North, we were at the second level of the National League System, a semi-professional outfit and at the sixth tier overall in the English football league system, directly behind the Blue Square Bet Premier, npower League 2, npower League 1, npower Championship and of course, one of the most influential leagues in the world, the Barclays Premier League.

With able backing from my chairman, we built a club that dominated in my first year at the helm, gaining promotion to the Conference Premier in 2011. Over the following seven years, I’ve seen it all: huge wins in league play, devastating playoff losses that destroyed promotion dreams, cup success, a new chairman, games in stadiums that weren’t fit to hold matches in addition to games played on the largest stage, including Wembley Stadium, the Mecca in English football.

Our sure and steady climb through the ranks in England has astonished pundits and our opponents alike. We were a small club, with very limited financial resources yet here we are, eight years and four promotions later, holding on for dear life to 2nd place on the npower Championship table. Our early-season form in 2017/18 was incredibly good and for the first 20 games or so, we were comfortably leading the entire league. However, a month-long late-season swoon has seen us fall well behind 1st placed Bolton, who have long ago locked up the top spot.

There’s one game left on the schedule. We will be facing the Queens Park Rangers (QPR) at our home stadium, Crabble Athletic Ground, a 1000-seater with terracing that holds an additional 5500 fans. All 6500 tickets are sold well in advance and our fans are left to dream about what could be.

If we lose or draw, West Bromwich Albion will certainly overtake us and there is even a chance we’re passed by Derby County FC. If this happens, we’ll drop down to either 3rd or 4th place on the table and have to take part in a 4-team playoff. However, three points against QPR will lock down 2nd position on the table and gain our club automatic promotion to arguably the most famous league in football, the Barclays Premier League.

2017-18 npower Championship
WITH ONE GAME REMAINING

POS TEAM GP W D L GF GA G.D. PTS
1st C Bolton 45 32 6 7 103 41 62 102
2nd Dover 45 25 10 10 84 52 32 85
3rd West Brom 45 25 9 11 86 44 42 84
4th Derby 45 24 11 10 55 35 20 83
5th Wigan 45 24 4 17 82 56 26 76
6th Sheffield U 45 22 10 13 70 48 22 76

So, as I said earlier, it all comes down to this...

May 6, 2018 –

Dover Athletic FC (25-10-10, 85 pts – 2nd) vs. QPR
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK.

Dover: 4-4-2
GK – I. Wilke
D – B. Harris, L. McCullogh, O. Nicholas, C. Morrissey
M – S. Bouwman, L. Craig, D. Pratley, K. King
F – S. Rideout, Z. Bardi

Despite being out of form, we’re slight favourites over the mid-table Queens Park Rangers and being at home and needing a win, we’ll utilize our Control mindset.

9’ – QPR hits a free kick into our territory and DR Connor Morrissey out-jumps their winger and heads the ball up field. Our in-form striker Zoltan Bardi, on loan from Arsenal, uses his pace to beat the defenders and he’s in all alone. Bardi moves to his right foot and drives a low blast into the corner of the net! DOVER GOAL 1-0

14’ – A similar play develops off a goal kick, as our fine midfield acquisition Liam Craig out-jumps his opposite number and heads it over the QPR defensive line. Bardi’s strike partner, Simon Rideout is able to get to the ball first but shoots barely wide.

19’ – We continue to dominate. MR Keith King, a member of the Bahamas national team, sends the ball into space down the right and Bardi latches on to it. He swings a gorgeous cross into the box and ML Simon Bouwman heads the ball just over the bar.

20’ – DISASTER! QPR midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker starts the play and feeds the ball into the area to teammate Ian Black. Our fine young centre halfback Luke McCullogh, a permanent fixture on our backline, makes a horrible decision and pulls down Black by his shirt. Straight RED CARD! I’m forced to substitute ML Bouwman out for DR Jackson Ramm, moving Morrissey into McCullogh’s spot, Liam Craig into Bouwman’s wing position and then drop Bardi back from striker to MC, giving me a 4-4-1 formation.

22’ – Kris Commons steps up to take the penalty for QPR and makes absolutely no mistake. This can’t be happening…they pull level and we’re down to 10 men for the balance of the match. QPR GOAL 1-1

34’ – Despite being down a man, we continue to control play. We get a corner and Craig curls a ball to the far post. Morrissey wins the jump and powers a header that is just cleared off the line by the defender protecting the goal.

44’ – Our captain, midfielder Darren Pratley, plays the ball up to Rideout and his low blast is just turned aside by the QPR keeper.

45’+1 – On the resulting corner, Craig again gets a ball to Morrissey’s head and this time there’s no defender to save them. Into the far corner for the first half extra time stunner! DOVER GOAL 2-1

HALFTIME – We’ll move to a counter attacking mindset with a lead and only 10 men. Incredibly, that is Morrissey’s first ever goal for Dover in this, his 205th league game.

51’ – They are pressing and it’s Reo-Coker again doing the legwork. His through ball again goes to Ian Black but his shot in the area is way off target. Whew!

60’ – Reo-Coker takes a throw-in and threads a pass into the area to Doherty but his curling shot is gobbled up by a diving Wilke. Brilliant save!

67’ – We win another corner after a Rideout shot is turned aside by their goalkeeper Chris Dunn. Craig feeds yet another beauty into the box and this time it meets the foot of winger Keith King and he makes no mistake in depositing it into the net! Time to lock this sucker down! DOVER GOAL 3-1

71’ – Off a QPR throw-in, it’s Reo-Coker again getting a pass and heading up field. He exchanges passes with Ian Black, gets in the box and fires a missle into the top corner of the net. Damnit! Quick reply by Reo-Coker and we’re biting our fingernails yet again! QPR GOAL 3-2

75’ – Rideout grabs a Keith King through ball and is in alone but just boots it wide. So close!

76’ – Rideout is gassed and we bring in a fresh striker in Robert Kerkhof, with hopes of him using his speed on the counter-attack.

78’ – Bardi is injured in a challenge from Reo-Coker. Looks like he can shake it off but he’s ordered off the field by the referee for brief treatment.

90’ – We’re doing a great job of maintaining possession with the heat on. Craig gets the ball and dribbles down the left wing. He throws a cross from the byline into the box and once again, the ball meets the golden foot of Keith King. Easy tap in and the dagger has been laid down! DOVER GOAL 4-2

90’+2 – The official indicated that there were 2 minutes of injury time so we try to use as much time as possible by bringing in Spanish midfielder Carlos Gurpegi as a substitute for Bardi.

AND THAT’S IT!

Dover 4 – 2 QPR
Goals: K. King (2), Z. Bardi, C. Morrissey
Assists: L. Craig (3), C. Morrissey
Man of the Match: Liam Craig
Attendance: 6500

West Brom won, as did Derby County but it doesn’t matter in the end. We’ve done the impossible…

The little club that could, Dover Athletic FC, has earned promotion to the Barclays Premier League!!!

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I felt it was time to write a little bit about this particular save, as it’s brought me so much enjoyment over the past three years (I’m using FM2011) and it gives me a chance to document the experience. Many players take over big clubs when they play and that’s cool but I’ve always enjoyed taking on the smaller clubs and seeing what I can do on a limited budget.

Without question, this is the furthest I’ve ever gone in a game, starting with the 2010-11 season and as I write this, I’m smack dab in the middle of the 2019-20 season.

I plan on writing a recap of all the seasons I’ve played in this save, from our years in the semi-professional Conference right up through my first year in the Premier League with Dover. From there, I hope to deliver a dynasty similar in scope and layout to Radii’s incredible Woking/Ipswich dynasty “From the Bottom Up” which you can find right here: FM10 - From the Bottom Up - Front Office Football Central

Undoubtedly one of the greatest dynasties ever written on this forum, I’ll likely borrow quite a bit from Radii’s style and I’ve received his permission to copy at will. Many thanks to Radii for that and for his fantastic writing, something which sold me on Football Manager in the first place! I'm not entirely sure if I have the time to go into as much detail as Radii did but we'll see how things shake out.

While I’m doing this for me as a means of documenting the experience (and also getting some tactical tips from readers), I hope that it will be a piece that confirms that you CAN take a very small club all the way to the top of the food chain with the right tactics and player moves.

Now…how did I get to the Premier League and maybe more importantly – did I stay up after our first year? Season-by-season recaps from 2010/11 all the way to my current year of 2019/20 are forthcoming. I hope to have the 2010/11 recap up later today.

Thanks for reading!