Hello again, everyone.
In the last post of my St. Andrews FC story, I described a "problem" I encountered that made my game experience less enjoyable. I apparently had a bad balance in my game world that kept lower-level teams, like the ones in St. Andrews' league, from actively signing enough players to fill out their squads. As a result, I was playing against teams full of "grey guys."
At the same time, AI teams weren't seeming to find my players, either. Honestly, it made the game seem a bit too easy, because I could send a full squad up against teams that didn't have more than three or four full-fledged footballers.
I spent some time trying to create a more enjoyable setup, and I think I managed to come up with something.
I'll be returning to the lower leagues of England again, but this time I'll be playing
Football Manager 16. There's an outstanding edited database available for that edition called
England, Enhanced, Expanded. It allows me to manage a team all the way down to Step 5 of the National League System, which is the ninth level in the English football pyramid. That's where I decided I wanted to start.
I decided to try my luck with
Loughborough University FC this time.
Loughborough is located in Leicestershire. The Scholars play at
Holywell Park, on the university campus; the training facilities are Impressive, which was one thing that drew me to the club.
Because we're a university side, we are all amateur, and I'm limited to signing players who are age 21 or younger. I think that will provide me with a fun challenge. I don't know if I can keep them in the team once they're past their early twenties.
I still need to fill a few spots in my squad, so I'll be back after I've completed my preseason. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy this ride for a while.
