A Manager's Story (Create-a-Club, FM 17)

[Tom Ashley]

Hello, FOFCers.

I joined the site today after a long career as a lurker and an even longer one as a player of all kinds of sports games, both with cards & dice and on the computer.

I decided to sign up so I could have a comfortable place to write a story based on one of my favorite games of all time: Football Manager. There are places on the 'net where I could find a bigger audience for a FM tale, but their sheer size makes them seem a bit intimidating for someone like me, a relative newcomer to both FM and the real sport it simulates. Plus, I bought my first copy of FM after reading some of the dynasty stories on this very forum. It just seemed right to begin my own story here.

My Football Manager world is largely fictional. I used the Create-A-Club feature to bring to life a team of my own: Sutton Courtenay Football Club. I've stocked my team, and my entire FM universe, with "fake name" players. The other clubs and leagues bear their real names, but the players that wear their colors have pseudonyms. Tottenham's star forward, who wears number 10 and plays for England, is called Joe Marshall, not Harry Kane. That big Swedish striker who just signed for Manchester United? He's Fredrik Svensson, not Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Sutton Courtenay is a real English village, located on the River Thames in Oxfordshire. It's about 12 miles from Oxford; Abingdon and Didcot are the closest towns. I put Sutton Courtenay in the Hellenic League Premier Division, which is at Level 9 in the English football system.

Because I like telling stories, I'm going to do more here than provide match reports and transfer window updates. My manager character will interact with various people from the world of my Football Manager save, as well as with other characters of my own creation: family, friends, perhaps a nemesis or two. Right now, I don't know exactly where the story will lead. The events on the pitch will help guide me. That's going to be a lot of fun.

I hope some of you will have fun following a story like this one, in a setting that only approximates the real English football world. I'd appreciate any comments you feel like making, even if it's only "I'm reading this."

Thanks for reading, and special thanks to those of you whose Football Manager stories gave me the idea to try one of my own.

[Tom Ashley]

June 2016

By the broadest definition of the term, Tom Ashley could claim to be a professional footballer, if he were the sort of man to brag. Throughout his twenties, he'd turned out for a succession of semi-professional clubs: Stratford Town, Abingdon United, Oxford City Nomads, Didcot Town. Tom was never more than a part-time player, one who went to training after a full day at his "real" job as a teacher.

Three years ago, Tom discovered the enthusiasm he'd once felt for playing the game had faded. His mates threw a "retirement party" for him, and a group of them played a "testimonial" match with him on a fine Sunday afternoon. By now, Tom was working as an admission counselor and a dormitory proctor at Abingdon School, and he loved it.

He also helped coach the school's football teams, and he loved that just as much. The game of the mind appealed to him--it always had--and he found studying for his coaching badges to be a labor of love, rather than a task. He'd gained his National A license, impressive credentials for a man who coached schoolboys who were barely in their teens.

Now Tom was 32. His life seemed to have settled into a comfortable pattern. He was still single--he'd briefly been engaged to be married to a girl who didn't believe fidelity was a requisite for a relationship. He had a good job at one of the finest schools in England, and he had the chance to keep a foot in the sport he loved.

Then things changed.

It was a warm spring day when Tom spotted a news item about the creation of a new football club in the nearby village of Sutton Courtenay. The club's senior team would play in the Hellenic League Premier Division, a league Tom knew fairly well from his days with Nomads. The club was looking for coaches, and the more Tom thought about it, the more appealing the idea of putting in his name seemed to be.

He spoke to the proper authorities at Abingdon, and they gave him their blessing, provided his schedule didn't interfere with his responsibilities to the school. That afternoon, he sent his resume to David Gould, the new club's chairman. Gould quickly contacted him and invited him to come in for an interview.

David Gould was in his mid-forties, with a floppy mop of dark brown hair that made him look a bit like a fifth Beatle. He showed Tom around the club's facilities--nothing fancy, but adequate for a small club.

Then, he asked a question that made Tom stop in his tracks.

"Tom, how would you like to be the manager here?"

[Tom Ashley]

June 2016

Tom told David Gould he would need to make sure his primary employer would have no issues with him taking on an increased role at Sutton Courtenay. Gould shook his hand warmly.

"Take your time, Tom. The job's yours if you want it."

Martin Lowe was the head of Abingdon School. He was a football fan himself, a long-time supporter of his beloved Aston Villa. He hadn't hired Tom for his position on the basis of his football career--which was honestly nothing special--but that fact hadn't hurt Tom's chances, either.

"You do understand that your responsibilities to our school must always come first," Lowe told Tom. "You'd be relieved of your duties with our schoolboy teams, but you'll be expected to do your part in the Admission Office, as always. If you can do that and manage a football club, then by all means, take advantage of your opportunity."

Within an hour, Tom was on the phone with Gould.

Two days later, he signed a contract to become the first manager of Sutton Courtenay FC.

Tom wouldn't be paid much; only £50 per week. That didn't matter to him. Abingdon School paid him well enough, and gave him room and board on the school grounds. What was most important was the fact he'd be guiding the fortunes of a real, live football team.

[Young Drachma]

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you! Also following!

[Tom Ashley]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you! Also following!

Thanks, Young Drachma. I think I'll like it here. It's encouraging to see people visiting the page and, now, commenting.


1 July 2016

David Gould gave Tom a significant degree of input concerning the other members of his backroom team, especially considering Tom was new to the game.

Tom's right-hand man would be assistant manager Don Hancock. Don was two months older than Tom and came with high recommendations for his ability to motivate players, especially younger ones. Tom liked him right away, and believed they'd make a good team.

The Head of Youth Development was Kevin Davies, whose no-nonsense style appealed to Tom. He'd make a decent "bad cop" when one was needed, without coming across as a tyrant or a bully.

Calling Thomas Simpson the "Chief Scout" was a bit optimistic, since he represented the entirety of Sutton Courtenay's scouting team. Thomas seemed to know what he was doing, and looked like a good fit for a small, new club.

The club seemed to hit the jackpot with physio Chris Baker, a mature gent of 50 who had a real knack for young players and knew his job inside and out.

Tom thought the club might need one more first team coach, but he had another more pressing task to accomplish first: assembling a roster of players.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Welcome to the ol' place, seems like a good way to get your feet wet here afaic.

Have at it.

[Tom Ashley]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Welcome to the ol' place, seems like a good way to get your feet wet here afaic.

Have at it.

Thanks, Jon! It's been fun so far.


2 July 2017

July was a slow month in the admission office at Abingdon. A few students and their families might request a tour of the grounds, if they were still considering whether or not to submit an application for the upcoming term. Otherwise, Tom was fairly free to spend as much time as he liked on his new avocation.

Sutton Courtenay's grounds were called Drayton Road, after the thoroughfare on which they were located. There were seats for about 50 spectators, and Tom figured the place might hold 1000 or so, if all the terraces were full. The fact of the matter was that the club would be lucky to draw one-tenth that many fans.

The club trained at another pitch, called The Folly for reasons unbeknownst to anyone Tom spoke to. That was where the youth teams would play their matches, too.

The club's offices were located in a small brick building at Drayton Road. The staff there numbered two. An energetic young lad of 19 called Samuel Rice, whose official title was "Personal Assistant to the Manager," was available for everything from washing the kit to mowing the grass.

The club's receptionist and "Press Officer" was Eleanor Cooper. A willowy brunette, Eleanor wouldn't make a bad first impression on anyone who came to the office, and she seemed to be as smart as she was pretty. That was saying something.

As soon as Tom walked through the door that morning, Sam Rice handed him a list of forty-some players who would be attending the team's first tryout.

"A couple of these lads can play a bit," Sam observed. He pointed to the name of Peter Green. "He's a fair center half."

Tom nodded. "Make sure to point him out to me."

"You can't miss him." Sam grinned.

The other players Sam knew about were goalkeeper Dan Griffith and left winger Tony Jackson. A striker, Peter Noble, also seemed familiar, but Sam wasn't sure if Noble was indeed the player he remembered.

The tryout got underway at 10 A.M. About thirty-five players showed up; Tom, Don Hancock, and Kevin Davies ran the rule over them as they moved through a variety of drills.

Tom had what some might consider a somewhat unique approach to lower league football. It seemed to him that most managers at this level valued pace above all else. The lower league matches he'd watched featured fast players whose first touch could be abominable, whose technique was often clumsy, whose concentration was fleeting, and whose decision making bordered on the absurd. Tom decided to look for a different sort of player--one who might not be as quick or as physical, but who could play the game with some finesse. He reckoned Sutton Courtenay's style would be unfamiliar to his opponents, and might provide them with an advantage, particularly against a manager who wasn't tactically flexible enough to make a shrewd counter-move.

Sam was right. Tom picked out Peter Green immediately. Green was huge, standing 6'7" with the build of an American gridiron player. He could also move quite well for a big lad and was surprisingly nimble with the ball at his feet. Immediately, Tom penciled Green in as one of his first team center backs.

Dan Griffith looked like a decent 'keeper, and Tony Jackson showed some quality on the left flank. And Peter Noble was, indeed, the player Sam remembered. "Noble doesn't immediately impress you," Tom remarked to Hancock. "Then you take a closer look and you realize he's more than you thought." Sam remembered Noble having a knack for finding the net, even as a boy of 17 playing with grown men in a Sunday league. Now 20, Noble was no longer a boy, and he still had that wicked right foot.

Tom and his coaches compared their notes, and selected 16 players to comprise the inaugural first team squad for Sutton Courtenay FC. They were young--only goalkeeper Les Cole and defender Harvey Tolfrey were in their thirties. Another player, a 35-year-old midfielder called James Mitchell, decided halfway through his tryout that it was time to hang up his boots. Mitchell then offered his services to the team as a volunteer coach.

Tom looked at the other coaches and shrugged. "Help us evaluate these players," he suggested. Mitchell seemed to know a decent footballer from a poor one, so Tom accepted his offer and added him to the staff. Only then did the shaggy-mopped Mitchell reveal he held a Continental B license, giving him the best credentials among them, by a wide margin.

And that was how Sutton Courtenay FC became a team in fact, as well as in theory.

[Tom Ashley]

3 August 2016

Tom Ashley's first month on the job was spent refining his team's roster, preparing it for league play...and learning much, much more about the reality of managing a lower league club.

Tom didn't figure a boss like Juan Jose Rodríguez at Manchester City or Ferdinando Amato at Chelsea spent much time doing the small things he had to pay attention to each day--helping Samuel Rice make sure there was enough toilet paper, taking the team coach (a repurposed school bus) for maintenance. Even James Nolan, the manager of his beloved Preston North End (a Championship club), had a staff roster at his disposal that was bigger than Tom's first team.

All of Sutton Courtenay's players were signed to non-contract, "pay-as-you-play" deals. Midfielder Matt East, to whom Tom gave the captain's armband, and goalkeeper Dan Goodwin were joint high earners, on £50/game. Most of the other prospective first teamers made £40, and younger players and reserves might pull in £20. The club's wage budget was just over £600/week, and Tom had about £90 of that to work with.

Tom had found several new players in the past few weeks. He believed versatility was a crucial quality for lower league players to possess, so he looked for men who could play several positions effectively. A player or two like this on his bench gave him the tactical flexibility he wanted.

He found a perfect example of this type of footballer in Sheridan Edwards, a 20-year-old "midfielder" who was actually comfortable everywhere on the pitch except in goal. Michael Shaw was a slightly more offensive-minded utility player who was almost as versatile as Edwards. Young goalkeeper Rory Blanchard needed seasoning, but had promise. Another youngster, Priestley Chippendale, would have been an interesting player on the basis of his name alone, but he also demonstrated some talent in the middle of the park.

The prize discovery of the first weeks was wide man Jason Blanks. He was 26, and had turned out for a half-dozen very small clubs in the area over the past few years. Jason was an electrician by trade, and he'd never had a chance to demonstrate his skills with a semi-professional club.

"I had a few tryouts," Blanks recalled. "I don't run fast, and you can see I'm not a big bloke. I guess I don't look the part of a winger."

The 5'6" Blanks played with flair, and he dribbled as if the ball were attached to his foot. Tom also noticed the way he moved without the ball, putting himself in dangerous positions and drawing defenders away. So, despite his lack of pace, which was notable even by Sutton Courtenay standards, Tom signed him, and he immediately stepped into the first team.

Sutton Courtenay played six friendly matches during July and early August, winning three, losing two, and drawing one. Shaw especially distinguished himself during the preseason, playing himself onto the fringes of the first eleven as a striker or an offensive midfielder. Towering Peter Green missed three matches with a calf injury, but established himself as an imperious presence in the center of the team's defense. Goodwin could be frustratingly inconsistent in goal, but he could also produce highlight-reel saves.

Tom's first real test was approaching quickly. In three days' time, his team would face CB Hounslow United in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup. Were they ready?

"We'll see, won't we?" Tom said with a smile.

[Tom Ashley]

Here's the Sutton Courtenay team as it stands right now. Some versatile players are shown with more than one position group.

Goalkeepers


Goodwin is the clear choice for the number one shirt at Drayton Road. Blanchard would be second choice. Cole is mainly useful as a tutor.


Defenders


The regular defensive line features Jackson or Hughes at left back, Green and Connolly in the middle, and Pond on the right.


Midfielders


My usual formations are 4-4-2 and 4-1-2-2-1, so I need a lot of midfielders who can fill various roles.

The flat midfield four in the 4-4-2 includes Jackson or Holt on the left and Blanks on the right. East and Knight man the middle.

When I switch to the 4-1-2-2-1, I bring Pond up from right back to fill the defensive midfield role. Blanks remains on the right wing. Jackson drops back to left back, and Holt comes in to man the left.

The team isn't as well suited to play 4-1-2-2-1. Holt isn't as comfortable playing in an advanced position, and if Pond is playing DM, there's a noticeable lack of quality at right back.


Forwards


Noble is far and away the best striker in the team. Shaw, who isn't even listed as a forward, has emerged as the best option when want to use two forwards. Tymon isn't bad, but he didn't do much during the pre-season.

I really need to find another striker. I'm one injury away from a disaster here.