Little Common (Football Manager 15)

[NarratorC]

I don't remember what I was searching for when I found this forum several months ago. I do remember seeing the heading "Dynasty Reports" and wondering what it might contain. That set me off on a wonderful journey down a winding road that led me to this post.

I love stories. I enjoy reading them, telling them, and writing them. That's why I became a history teacher. That's why story time has always been among the things my daughter and I have always enjoyed the most.

I also enjoy all kinds of games, including simulation games. They create stories of their own, so websites where people write and read these stories naturally had the potential to draw me in. I've spent time perusing quite a few of these sites, and this one is my favorite. The vibe here seems friendly and welcoming. We all need more of those things. I like the fact that there might be a dozen games featured on the front page of the forum at any given time.

This morning, I decided to make things official. I signed up for the forum so I can begin to tell a story of my own. Actually, it's not my story alone. I'll have some help bringing it to you.

My daughter Zoe loves soccer. (We call it football at our house, since neither she nor my wife pay attention to the American version.) It's another of the things our family has always enjoyed together.

Football Manager has been one of my favorite games for some time now. Zoe doesn't play FM, but she enjoys sitting beside me on the couch and following along as I play. I've bought the game faithfully since 2010, I think, but I've discovered I don't enjoy the most recent editions quite as much. The game is a lot deeper and more complex than it used to be. There was a time in my life when I would have been delighted by these changes, but now I find myself enjoying the slightly older editions more. My happy zone seems to be FM 2014/2015/2016.

A year or so ago, I saw a story about an Irish club, written by an author whose kids took an interest in the game and served as his unofficial boot room team. I showed it to Zoe, and she said "That would be fun for us to do together."

That's all it took.

I asked Zoe what kind of club she would like to help me bring to life. She thought about this for a moment before she told me she would like to start with a small team in England. She decided the English leagues that are playable "out of the box" were still too big to suit her. "Pick a really small team," she suggested. So I loaded a database that includes 10 levels of the English league system, and we started looking at the teams at the bottom level of the pyramid.

A number of teams caught our eye. Their names evoked all kinds of intriguing images, and when we saw a name we liked, we looked it up online to find out more about the club and the place they called home. We finally picked Little Common F.C. from the East Sussex town of Bexhill-on-Sea.



Our story begins in summer 2014. Little Common are playing in Division Two of the Sussex County League. We are a semi-professional club, and as the game begins, we don't have any players. Needless to say, we will have to fix that problem right away.

Our manager character will be Simon Ross, whose name we found while we played with a website that generates "fantasy" names of almost endless types. Born on the first of December, 1977, Simon played professionally in the English lower leagues and holds a Continental A coaching credential. We decided Simon also has connections to Denmark, because both sides of our family have Danish roots. We loaded the Danish leagues, so perhaps Simon might manage there one day.

As you can see on the map above, Little Common play at The Recreation Ground. We like that name quite a bit.



The Recreation Ground looks a lot like the pitches Zoe and I play on. You can see the lads in their claret home kit in this photo, as one of their players prepares to take a penalty.

We're looking forward to telling the story of this club through Football Manager. We hope to lead the team up the pyramid, and if that happens and bigger clubs come calling, Simon Ross might have some choices to make about his coaching future. Or, if the team falters, he might find himself sacked, cast adrift until another club decides to take a chance on him.

We'll all see what happens, won't we? Thank you for reading along so far!

[NarratorC]

August 2014

Here's the squad we've assembled for the 2014/15 season. The board gave us a wage budget of £1100/week, and we spent just under half that amount! I'm fine with that, because it means we can (1) possibly bring in new men during the season or (2) afford to sign the lads who graduate from our youth program in the spring.

Here they are!



Let's get to know each of them, very briefly.


The First Team

GK Joe Mellings
Age: 26
Former Clubs: Daventry Town, Histon
Joe is a serviceable 'keeper who organizes his defense well and has the ability to sweep up behind his defense.

D(R) Louie Meech
Age: 20
Former Club: Woking
Louie is fit and athletic, and he is comfortable moving up to join the attack.

D(L) Nat Hubert
Age: 18
Former Club: Worthing
Pacey Nat approaches the game with a professional attitude, and he can play all along the left side of the pitch.

D(C) Michael Hassini
Age: 19
Former Club: Southend United
Let go by his League 2 club, Michael's speed and composure should make him a star at this level.

D(C) Darren Blewett
Age: 28
Former Clubs: West Ham United, Southend United, Billericay Town, Heybridge Swifts, Brentwood Town
Well-traveled Blewett has a Premier League pedigree, and he'll take the captain's armband for us; he is pure class, comfortable bringing the ball out from the back.

M(R) Okay Oniah
Age: 19
Former Club: Ebbsfleet United
Okay will put in a shift, racing up the right and presenting a scoring threat without neglecting his defensive responsibilities.

M(L) Liam Cockerill
Age: 30
Former Clubs: Woking, Salisbury, Dorchester Town, Kingstonian
Liam gives us a veteran presence, and his set piece ability should frighten opposing defenses.

M(C) Troy Ferguson
Age: 23
Former Clubs: Chertsey Town, Farnborough, Staines Town
Troy adds steel to our midfield with his tenacious marking and fierce tackling.

M(C) Rob Magwood
Age: 22
Former Clubs: St. Albans City, Potters Bar Town
Midfield conductor Rob sees the pitch well and demonstrates a determined attitude.

ST Matthew Reece
Age: 21
Former Clubs: Fulham, Sutton United, Staines Town, Hampton & Richmond
Matthew isn't fast, but the former Fulham scholar's guile and technique should make him a perfect fit for the "creator" role in our strike partnership.

ST Jack Ross
Age: 20
Former Club: Oxford United
Jack plays with flair, and he is a natural scorer with a nose for the net.


Squad Players
In the past, when I've taken over a team without many players, I tended to bring in too many guys who thought they should play every match. In their defense, they were probably right; they were as good as the players I envisioned as starters.

This time, Zoe and I spent time looking for players who were content to accept backup roles. I think we did a good job of finding versatile squad players who won't whine when they don't start every match.


GK Paul Dennis
Age: 33
Former Clubs: Dagenham & Redbridge, Stansted, Bowers & Pitsea
Former number one Paul is now content to play second fiddle, offering stability when he's called on.

D/DM/M (R/L/C) Charlie Cooke
Age: 24
Former Clubs: Worthing, St Francis Rangers, Three Bridges
Versatile Charlie can fill a variety of defensive roles, bringing athleticism and tenacity to each of them.

D(C)/DM/M(C) Stacey Freeman
Age: 22
Former Clubs: Lewes, Eastbourne Town, Worthing
Stacey provides quality reinforcement in the middle of the park, tackling everything in sight.

D/M (R/L/C) Neil Lazarus
Age: 30
Former Clubs: Mansfield Town, Bedford Town, Kettering Town, Aylesbury United, Banbury United, Woodford United, Bedford United, Daventry Town
Neil has played all over England, and he can do a job all over the pitch; he's most useful as a tidy full back.

M(L)/D(L) Sidney Adams
Age: 18
Former Clubs: Worthing United, Worthing
Another product of our Worthing connection, promising wide man Sidney's electric pace should make him a dangerous impact sub.

DM/M(C) Dean Frett
Age: 31
Former Club: Eton Manor
Veteran Dean will be useful when we need a stout defensive presence in the midfield to close out a match, and he is a fine mentor for younger players.

M(R/L/C) Kieran Fitzharris
Age: 24
Former Clubs: Coventry City, Rugby Town, Bedworth United, Rushall Olympic
Kieran can play in the middle or on either wing, working hard for the shirt wherever he turns up.

ST Tommy Wright
Age: 21
Former Club: Histon
Tommy is a promising forward with a determined attitude and a poacher's touch in the box.

ST Joel Mason
Age: 30
Former Clubs: Potters Bar Town, Stotfold, Boreham Wood, Barton Rovers, Arlesely Town, Biggleswade Town
Joel is no youngster, but he is our fastest striker and nobody on the team works harder.

[NarratorC]

Preseason 2014



We were very pleased with our performance in our preseason friendly matches. Little Common held our own against Corinthians, who play at Level 9, and beat Whitton United, another Level 9 club. Gravesham Borough and Eltham Palace, two teams at our level (10) were also seen off, and we finished our preseason with a victory over plucky Rayleigh Town, a Level 11 side.

Jack Ross found the net ten minutes into our intra-squad friendly, and his scoring touch remained sharp throughout the preseason. Fellow forwards Matthew Reece and Tommy Wright[/b] also proved they could find the net.

Several midfielders acquitted themselves well. Liam Cockerill assisted on three goals. Troy Ferguson and Charlie Cooke's tackles thwarted one opposition attack after another. Rob Magwood completed 77% of his passes.

Darren Blewett and Michael Hassini began to gel into a stalwart pairing in the middle of our defense, and Louie Meech played well at full back. Goalkeeper Joe Mellings saved 63% of the shots he faced.

Perhaps best of all, we came through the preseason without losing any players to injury.


Tactical Talk

It seemed appropriate to line a small English club up in a classic 4-4-2 formation. However, we decided to see what would happen if we tried to play a more refined style; rather than belting the ball up the pitch to a powerhouse striker, we'll try to play from the back with more finesse.

Here is how our tactic is set up right now, with our regular XI on the pitch:





Hopefully this setup will allow us to play the way we'd like. We'll use a Standard mentality against some teams, and a more ambitious Control mentality against some of our weaker opponents.

[PilotMan]

Welcome to the board. Great start! I miss the old days when the Dynasty board was getting lit up by some great posters and great stories. That's what brought me here nearly 20 years ago.

[QuikSand]

great setup, welcome!

[Young Drachma]

Thirded, looks like a fun one. Welcome!

[NarratorC]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Welcome to the board. Great start! I miss the old days when the Dynasty board was getting lit up by some great posters and great stories. That's what brought me here nearly 20 years ago.

@PilotMan: Thank you! I think I'll go way back into the archives and see what I can find from back in the day. Maybe we can usher in a new Golden Age.

Originally Posted by QuikSand

great setup, welcome!

@QuikSand: I appreciate it! I'm having fun with it, and Zoe is too.

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

Thirded, looks like a fun one. Welcome!

@Young Drachma: Thanks very much! I'm trying to think of enjoyable ways to present the story. That, in itself, is fun.

I appreciate the warm welcomes. Thanks for the comments!

[NarratorC]

Where in the World?

As you might expect, the Sussex County Football League is located in the counties of East and West Sussex. Here's a map of England that shows county boundaries. The counties of Sussex lie along the southern coast, along the English Channel. Their names are underlined on this map.



Sixteen clubs make up Division Two of the Sussex County Football League for the 2014/15 season. The team atop the table after our 30-game season will be promoted to Division One, while the bottom team will be relegated to Level 11 (and out of the game, it seems).

This map shows the locations of the Division Two clubs. Little Common's location is marked by the pin with the club-colored circle around it, toward the eastern edge of the map.



It's a compact league, with clubs located very close to each other. Our longest journey, out to Midhurst & Easebourne FC, is 63 miles, a ride of about an hour and a half on the team coach. Although we don't have a fierce rival listed on our club information page, I'm guessing the short distances between the clubs will keep things lively.

If you don't need a lesson in the geography of English football, or simply don't want one, please accept my apologies. I'll get to the football very soon!

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by NarratorC

@PilotMan: Thank you! I think I'll go way back into the archives and see what I can find from back in the day. Maybe we can usher in a new Golden Age.



@QuikSand: I appreciate it! I'm having fun with it, and Zoe is too.


@Young Drachma: Thanks very much! I'm trying to think of enjoyable ways to present the story. That, in itself, is fun.

I appreciate the warm welcomes. Thanks for the comments!

You certainly don't need to go back that far to find some fantastic dynasties that are worth reading!

[NarratorC]

October 10, 2014

One thing we don't have to worry about this season is fixture congestion. For some reason, Little Common didn't enter the FA Vase. At first I thought none of the teams in our league were entered, but I checked their schedules, and about half of them took part in the tournament. That's disappointing, because cup competitions are always fun.

So, there are times when we go two weeks or more without a fixture. And that's why, after two months, we've only played five rounds of matches.



Oniah was more than Okay in our season opener, away to St Leonard's. He put a corner directly on Michael Hassini's head for our first goal, and slipped a perfect pass from Rob Magwood past the Saints 'keeper for the second. Saints tested Joe Mellings six times, but he refused to let one in.

Our opening match at the Recreation Ground went even better, with Oniah knocking in two more. Saltdean scored on their only shot on target, but by then the matter was already settled. Darren Blewett led a stalwart defensive display.

It's hard to blame Mellings for the goal, because the minor knock he'd seemed to shake off turned into a dead leg that shelved him for a week. Paul Dennis took the number one shirt against a tough Oakwood side, and he was superb. Paul turned back all five shots he faced, and Matthew Reece's late goal--his second in two matches--gave us three points.

Those points put us second, level on points with Wick and one behind in goal difference. As fortune would have it, the Wickers were our next opponents!

The first half was a tutorial in boring, dour football. Little Commoners fouled everything in sight. As we sat in our playroom "dugout," Zoe and I decided to unleash our attackers a bit more. That plan changed within eight minutes, when a rash tackle by Hassini--who was already on a yellow card for persistent fouling--earned him a dismissal. We held on, preserving a goalless draw that left the two clubs right where they were when the day began. Mellings, back between the posts, deserves a lot of credit for the result.

However, a week later, as we were beating Westfield away on an account-opening brace by Jack Ross, Wick struggled to a 1-1 draw with Steyning. So, with 13 points from our first five matches, the Commoners are top of the league!

The worst piece of news in an otherwise wonderful first two months was the loss of left winger Liam Cockerill, who twisted his ankle badly in the Wick match and won't be back in action for another month. Against Westfield, we moved Nat Hubert up to Cockerill's spot and brought Neil Lazarus in at left back, and things went well.

On a whim, we decided to see if there were any suitable wide men available for a short-term loan. Sure enough, we spotted Rory Williams, whom Gosport were willing to let us have if we paid £20 of his wage bill each week. So, for the next three months, we'll have Rory's services. Rory, 23, is fast as lightning and he works hard; he's probably a more dangerous offensive player, but he lacks the all-round game that makes Cockerill such a valuable player.

[NarratorC]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

You certainly don't need to go back that far to find some fantastic dynasties that are worth reading!

@ PilotMan: You're right! I've read many of the more recent ones. That's why I decided to join in the fun for myself.

[NarratorC]

November 11, 2014

The Commoners are engaged in an exciting battle for the top spot in the table with a very tough and talented Steyning Town side. We're one-third of the way through the season, and the table looks like this:



Wick, with whom we were dueling a month ago, have fallen off the pace a bit, but the standings remain fairly close, top to bottom. It looks like we're in for an exciting season!



Had we kept up the sizzling pace we set in the first weeks of the season, we'd be free and clear, but our form has been a bit more uneven lately.

The board declared a Fan Day on October 11, and although we lost to Storrington, a big crowd of 518 enjoyed the show. After we got another goal from a set piece by Michael Hassini to give us a lead at the break, we let in two late goals and let the points slip away. A poor clearance by Louie Meech turned into a quick Storrington score. Then captain Darren Blewitt tripped Glenn Probert in the penalty area, and the Blues wide man converted the penalty himself.

Blewitt's rough challenge was one of 15 fouls we committed that day, and it's rather typical of the Commoners' style of play. Without meaning to, we've assembled a squad full of hard men. Nine of our regular first eleven, including our goalkeeper, have at least 10 for Aggression (on a 20-point scale.) Blewitt, Rob Magwood (15 each), Jack Ross (14) and Troy Ferguson (12) are especially eager to mix it up. Charlie Cooke (14) and several other rough customers are available on our bench. Twice now, our employment of the dark arts have cost us. Zoe suggested we add "Stay On Feet" to our players' tactical instructions, but the lads don't seem to get the message.

A referee chastises our captain, Darren Blewitt, to whom he has just shown a yellow card.

We turned on the style against Rustington, scoring four times. Both strikers--Matthew Reece and Joel Mason, in the team to give Jack Ross a break--got a brace. Mason's second goal was an especially pretty team goal, and Reece's first was a laser of a free kick. Here was the point at which we noticed Steyning Town in our rearview mirrors. A run of 15 points in six games brought them within a point of us.

Our rambunctiousness cost us again against AFC Uckfield. Nat Hubert went in hard against an Uckfield forward and swept his legs from under him. Another penalty. Another goal. Magwood drew two yellow cards and was sent off. We might not have scored had we been able to play with eleven men, but now we'll never know.

Meanwhile, Steyning Town were beating Rustington, and consequently, they moved ahead of us, 18 points to 17.

Liam Cockerill returned to the bench for the Uckfield match, and just in time. Rory Williams cracked some ribs during the match and, with Liam back in action and with Rory facing a two-month layoff, we terminated RW's loan and sent him back to Gosport to heal. Rory was solid in his three appearances for us, and we at Little Common thank him for his service and wish him well.

We took the long-ish trip to Midhurst & Easebourne next. Before most of the 368 in attendance had settled in, Okay Oniah had already lashed a drive past their goalkeeper to give us a lead; only 47 seconds showed on the scoreboard when Okay's shot went in. It took 74 more minutes for us to sew up the victory. That's when Joel Mason, on for a banged-up Jack Ross, swept in Nat Hubert's cross.

Steyning drew with St. Leonard's, so we regained the top spot.

By the time we traveled to Mile Oak, the players had learned their tactics quite thoroughly. Zoe, who likes to read the scouting reports, noticed that the Oak had trouble with teams who play 4-3-3 with a defensive midfielder. That happens to be our second tactic, so we brought it out for this match.

The injury bug bit us again, and hard. This time it was Okay Oniah, our lethal wide man, going down with a bad ankle sprain.

Our physios prepare to tend to an injured Okay Oniah.

Without a natural right wing on the bench, we decided to bring on Joel Mason.

"We should let him try this," Zoe said, as she pointed to "Raumdeuter" on the list of possible roles for an AM(R).

I could certainly understand the appeal of employing a Thomas Müller playalike in a Level 10 team in southern England. So, we sent Joel out as our "space investigator," with license to do his thing wherever he saw fit.

For a striker playing out of position, Joel was fantastic. He completed all but one of the 23 passes he attempted, made two shifty runs past an opponent, and drew three fouls.

The pass map for Joel Mason, the Stevenage Raumdeuter.

We managed only an 0-0 draw against a doughty Mile Oak team, but it sure wasn't Joel Mason's fault we didn't score. We controlled the ball well and created some tantalizing chances, but we couldn't convert one.

The Raumdeuter got in the way of our striker a little bit, so if we do this again (Zoe hopes we will) we'll probably make the striker an Advanced Forward rather than a Deep-Lying Forward.

Steyning Town's 2-0 victory over Saltdean earned them the top spot once again.

The physio's report on Oniah wasn't good. His ankle will force him out of action until the New Year. The best natural right-sided midfielder in the team is our Swiss Army knife, Neil Lazarus. So we began to consider the prospect of bringing in a new man to hold the position until Okay is again okay.

This tale deserves its own post, coming up next.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just inserting another welcome and hat tip for the solid start.

A couple other observations of encouragement if I may

1) Never think that a lack of comments (which does happen)during a dynasty equals a lack of reader interest. I probably read 50-100 dynasty posts for every comment I make in a dynasty thread. You can get two dozen comments in a flurry, then none for two weeks, but it's entirely possible that the readership is stable the entire time.

2) Readership has its own ebb & flow because we seem to read in two fashions similar to how people watch television series: a few posts at a time / consistently OR in binges. Happens with newer dynasties that way more often I think, where some readers might wait until they figure there's a lot of posts to read in one sitting to get/keep themselves in the universe more until it gets established.

3) Have fun. For you (and in this case, your daughter as well). Format, pacing, style, all manners of those have been successful threads here & the most legendary dynasties all did things their own way. You're doing the work, if you figure out something that makes posting better for you 20-25 entries in, don't be afraid to make an adjustment. It's a pretty understanding audience in this sub-forum IMO.

[NarratorC]

"Possesses Long Flat Throw": the tale of Aaron Lacy

I've always enjoyed looking at the Preferred Moves some players learn and incorporate into their playing styles. These traits give the footballers who possess them a uniqueness that makes the game more fun and realistic.

Even players in leagues as insignificant as Division Two of the Sussex Football League have some of these moves in their arsenals. For example, the tidy Neil Lazarus Plays Short Simple Passes. Attacking full back Nat Hubert Runs With Ball Down Left and Knocks Ball Past Opponent. Not surprisingly, tenacious Charlie Cooke Dives Into Tackles. And left wingers Liam Cockerill and Sidney Adams both Avoid Using Weaker Foot.

Players can acquire some of these skills during training. Troy Ferguson is currently learning to Play One-Twos.

During one of the last matches we played, Zoe and I watched an opponent generate a dangerous scoring chance by launching a long throw deep into our penalty area. In contrast, our throw-in takers toss the ball rather casually to a nearby teammate, simply putting the ball back in play.

"Why don't any of our guys do the long throw? That's really cool," my daughter remarked.

I smiled. "Watch this," I told her. At the sound of those words, my wife turned to us and arched an eyebrow. She's learned to be wary whenever she hears those words.

"It's just a YouTube video," I reassured Zoe's mom.

So, we watched about two minutes' worth of Stoke City's Rory Delap launching long throws, set to the music of Holding Out for a Hero.

Rory Delap - A Heartfelt Tribute to the Beautiful Game - YouTube

Zoe was delighted. "Get HIM for our team!" she exclaimed.

We searched our game world to find Rory Delap. By 2014, Delap had retired, but he was in the game as a coach. Not surprisingly, the Ireland international wouldn't talk to us about moving to Bexhill-on-Sea and joining our staff.

My girl child was not going to let Rory's refusal derail her plan. She thought for a moment. "Let's see if we can find someone else who can do that," she suggested.



This player search yielded four options. Naturally, we picked out the player with the highest Long Throws attribute. This player was Aaron Lacy, a veteran right back with a Delapesque 20 for Long Throws.

And--even better--when we looked at Lacy's Preferred Moves, we discovered that he Possesses Long Flat Throw. That trait, combined with the aforementioned attribute, was the perfect combination. No footballer on the planet could perform this skill better than Aaron Lacy.

We had found the poor man's Rory Delap!

We sent our scout to take a look at Lacy. He returned with the good news that Aaron would consider coming to Little Common for a trial, and that he might accept a non-contract deal that we could afford.

Aaron's season had not started well. It appeared that Turnbridge Wells signed him at the beginning of the season, made him their captain...and released him in September. Aaron accepted our invitation for a one-week trial and, once he was at the Recreation Ground, we offered him a non-contract arrangement that would pay him £20 per appearance. He's willing to accept a role as a backup at this point in his career (he's 33).

He said yes, and our new weapon was made ready for deployment! Our throw-in routine now involves Lacy hurling the ball into the penalty area, where all the big lads are gathered, ready to head the ball home. Players like Jack Ross, Darren Blewitt, and Michael Hassini are all well suited to do some damage with Aaron's offerings.

While Okay Oniah is sidelined, Lacy will probably play regularly at right back, with Louie Meech moving up to the M(R) position. Once Okay comes back, we'll have some decisions to make. Will we employ Aaron as a secret weapon, ready to bring into the fray if we need a goal?

It will be fun to find out! It's already been fun. Any activity that ends with all three of us laughing and dancing to Holding Out for a Hero is a good one.

[NarratorC]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Just inserting another welcome and hat tip for the solid start.

@JoninMiddleGA: Thank you, both for the welcome and the advice. I appreciate it, especially coming as it does from a veteran of two decades on this forum.

And thank you, too, for reading and stopping by.

[Chas in Cinti]

Great start! Enjoying the read...

[PilotMan]

The "Tale of Aaron Lacy" was fantastic!

[NarratorC]

Originally Posted by Chas in Cinti

Great start! Enjoying the read...

@Chas In Cinti: Thanks very much, and thank you for stopping by. It's even more fun for me to write about, and Zoe is enjoying having her role in the story told, too.

Originally Posted by PilotMan

The "Tale of Aaron Lacy" was fantastic!

@PilotMan: Thank you! We had an absolute blast with that, too. I hoped I was able to capture how much fun it was.

Aaron Lacy plays a crucial role in the next chapter of the story, which will take Little Common to the midpoint of our season.

I truly appreciate the support and the comments. I hope you're enjoying the story as much as I'm enjoying playing the games and writing about them.

[NarratorC]

January 1, 2015

There is no winter break in English football. In fact, most leagues schedule a lot of fixtures during the festive period, and that can take a heavy toll on a team that isn't very deep. Fortunately for us, there was no match on the Saturday closest to Christmas, which gave our increasingly bruised and battered Commoners the present they needed most: rest.



Look at all those goals! In all but one of our last fie matches, at least one team scored three times. I wish it had always been Little Common, but such was not the case.

Our newest acquisition left his mark on each of these matches. It took less than three minutes for Aaron Lacy to inscribe his name in the lore of Little Common FC. Have you ever known anyone to get excited when their favorite team earns a throw? When a Worthing United player botched a clearance and put the ball into touch, about fifteen yards from the endline, Zoe and I looked at each other.

"Here we go!" I exclaimed.

"YES!" she replied, with a double fist pump.

Lacy took his position, backed up, and let it fly.

Incoming! Aaron Lacy releases a powerful throw.

The ball rose high and deep into the United penalty area as players from both teams scrambled into position to deal with it. Had its flight not been impeded, the ball might have landed in the six yard box, even with the far post.

Can you find the football? Look at the goal. There's the ball, about to be contested by Little Common's Darren Blewitt and Worthing United's Kieran Bothroyd.

In a movie, Darren Blewitt would have risen between two United defenders and powered the ball past the hapless 'keeper. Real life doesn't always work that way. Worthing United have a center back, Kieran Bothroyd, who is exceptionally good in the air. He leapt up and got his head to the ball first, but all he could manage to do was knock it clear, basically in the direction it had come from.

Rob Magwood was first to the ball and, as the United defense scrambled to find a man to mark or reestablish their shape, Magwood picked out Matthew Reece, who found a bit of space to the right of the penalty spot.

I'm sure it was hard for Worthing 'keeper Nicky Hardy to find the ball, with five of his teammates scurrying around in the box. Reece took full advantage of this chaos by hammering the ball low and hard to Hardy's left. The goalie never saw it. 1-0 to the Common!

The goal wasn't a direct result of Lacy's power throw, and Magwood deserves a lot of credit for the slick pass that found an unmarked Reece for the finish. But it was clear the Worthing United defense was a bit discomfited by the situation, and we took full advantage of their confusion.

Later in the match, Stacey Freeman headed just wide from another Lacy bullet. Aaron, who had been captain of two other clubs, got to wear the armband when Blewitt came off. All these events, plus a 3-0 victory, made it a red-letter day for all of us in claret.

Aaron made an impression in other matches, too. Against Haywards Heath Town, he got credit for an assist when Michael Hassini directed another long throw into the net. And Lacy is far from a one-trick pony. His long pass released Joel Mason for our second score in the Haywards Heath match. Aaron is a hard-working, determined player who has retained enough of his pace and stamina to run up and down the wing, and he crosses the ball well. He is a good teammate and a leader. Aaron is a very useful footballer for a team at our level.

His time at Little Common has not been all sunshine and roses, however. He was whistled for a hand ball in the box in our dire loss to Bexhill United, who converted the ensuing penalty. Aaron was far from the only player who had a bad day at the office against our local rival. Hassini was so poor that I called him out for it the next day. He blamed his midfielders for failing to provide adequate cover, which didn't exactly reflect well on his attitude.

We missed a chance to overtake Steyning Town once again, as they were losing to Wick that afternoon. In fact, it would be Wick who turned out to be our toughest challenger during December.

The board informed me they were "absolutely delighted" with my performance at my December touch-base. Two days later, this bit of holiday cheer was tempered by news from our physios.

Joe Mellings was diagnosed with a sports hernia. The reliable gloveman, nearly everpresent this season, would be unavailable for up to two months. While losing Joe was certainly a blow, we were confident that Paul Dennis could do a job in his absence. We didn't want to have only one goalkeeper in the team, however, so I showed Zoe how I could bring one of the "grey" players to life by offering him a contract. I picked a 15-year-old goalie called Aron Boardman, whose attributes made him seem like he'd be a decent choice for the bench. "Aron the Keeper" doesn't have quite the same ring as "Frosty the Snowman," but Zoe appreciated how Aron came to life that day.

The very same day, Jack Ross turned an ankle in training. His injury wasn't quite as bad as Okay Oniah's, and Jack will probably miss only a month or so. The capable Joel Mason stepped into the eleven in Jack's place.

Away to Seaford Town, Paul Dennis kept his second clean sheet in as many games. Meanwhile, Steyning's loss of form had two consequences. We overtook them at the top of the the league, and Wick pushed their nose ahead of them, too. That meant our final match of 2014, at home to Steyning Town, was a bit less dramatic than it could have been.

The game was a neutral's delight.

Dennis made a lovely double save, necessitated by a horrible mistake by the always-active Aaron Lacy. Aaron was pressed into duty as a center back, because Michael Hassini was serving a two-match ban for picking up his second red card. Needless to say, the rowdy center half found himself at the top of Santa's naughty list (and Simon Ross's, too).

Goals from Nat Hubert, Kieran Fitzharris, and Joel Mason gave us a 3-1 advantage with just under a half hour to play. We were particularly excited for Fitzharris, who took full advantage of a rare opportunity to start. He's been nothing but professional throughout, and he deserved to score a game-winner.

The fates had other plans. Dennis flapped horribly at a save-able shot by Marvin Potter, and he was victimized by a devilish free kick from Philip Gilkes in stoppage time. The 3-3 draw meant we lost another opportunity to gain some ground in the table, as Wick drew their match, too.



We are at the halfway point of the season now, and you can see how interesting things are at both ends of the table. Six teams find themselves within seven points of the top, and all these clubs can realistically consider themselves contenders for the championship and promotion to Division One. Meanwhile, three teams are level on 15 points at the bottom of the league, with Seaford Town's gnarly goal differential putting them last. And seven other clubs are within six points of the bottom...

That says to me that every club in Division Two will ring in 2015 with reasonable hopes of promotion or rational fears of relegation. We have an eventful five months ahead, don't we?

[NarratorC]

January 4, 2015

Believe it or not, football is played outside the counties of East and West Sussex. There's a big, wide, beautiful world out there, and I think it might be fun to take a look at what's happening in some other leagues.

The end of the year brought the selection of the World Team of the Year.



No doubt these names are familiar to fans of the beautiful game.

Neymar took home two more lovely pieces of hardware, as he was chosen World Player of the Year and claimed the World Golden Ball. Zlatan was runner up in both categories, with Carlos Tevez coming third in the Player of the Year voting and Lionel Messi rounding out the podium for the Golden Ball.

Manchester United (45 pts) are five points clear at the top of the English Premier League. Their cross-city rivals are their closest competitor; Manchester City are ahead of Tottenham on goal differential, with Arsenal and Liverpool, one point farther behind, round out the top five. Four clubs from England automatically qualify for the European Champions Cup

Chelsea and Newcastle currently sit sixth and seventh, and would join the fifth place team in the EURO Cup if the season ended today.

The season hasn't gone nearly as well for Crystal Palace, Sunderland, and Burnley. Those three clubs are currently in the relegation spots. Sunderland's poor start cost Gus Poyet his job; the Black Cats turned to the fiery Roy Keane to light a fire under the team.

Danny Welbeck of Manchester United and Leicester City's David Nugent lead the Premier League scoring race, with 12 goals apiece. Manchester City's Sergio Agüero (8.11) and a pair of Chelsea players, Eden Hazard (7.77) and Nemanja Matic (7.67), have earned the highest average ratings.

Denmark is the other league we have set to be playable in this game. AaB (31 pts) lead FC Midtjylland and Randers FC (30) in the Superliga standings.

Closer to home, in the First Division of the Sussex County Football League, Crawley Down have raced to an eight-point lead (46-38) over Rye United and look like the favorites to go up.

Two teams from this level will be relegated at the end of the season. One will end up in Division Two, and I'm not sure where the other will go (only one team is promoted from our league). Right now, those unfortunate clubs would be Loxwood (16 pts) and Lancing (14 pts).

[AnalBumCover]

Count me as one who reads and almost never comments. Welcome! I love how much you involved your daughter into the decision making processes (and the excitement you both share when a plan comes together)!

[Izulde]

Great start here. I particularly loved the Lacy story - his triumphs and his boneheaded moves alike.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Great start here. I particularly loved the Lacy story - his triumphs and his boneheaded moves alike.

I can expect his story end up being a remake of the classic baseball poem "Casey at the Bat"

Let's call it "Lacy at the Mark" (as in Penalty Mark)

[NarratorC]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Count me as one who reads and almost never comments. Welcome! I love how much you involved your daughter into the decision making processes (and the excitement you both share when a plan comes together)!

@AnalBumCover: Thank you for stopping by! Zoe and I are having an absolute blast. I'm lucky to have found another thing she and I love doing together.

I hope you'll keep following along, even if you don't drop a comment in the thread.

Originally Posted by Izulde

Great start here. I particularly loved the Lacy story - his triumphs and his boneheaded moves alike.

@Izulde: Thanks very much. The Lacy tale was a lot of fun to write about, and it's been an absolute riot to watch unfold on the pitch. He and his signature skill will play a role in the next update, too.

If I'd known how much fun writing for the Dynasty Reports forum would be, I'd have done it long ago. I'm glad I finally got on board.

[NarratorC]

March 6, 2015

It's graduation day!

Today, a fresh crop of young footballers graduated from the Little Common youth development program. Our Head of Youth Development, Louis Putman, is proud of his 2015 graduates, and I am starting to see why. They look like a very promising group of players to me.



The star ratings reflect how Assistant Manager Jon Atkinson compares the youngsters' talent to that of the players of the first team. Jon, therefore, believes the young lads have the potential to be better than most of the players in the team right now, and that is a good thing.

However, Jon is not an especially good judge of talent; his rating for Judging Player Ability is 4 and his score for Judging Player Potential is 5. Take from that what you will.

Zoe and I have already run our eyes over the players, and we are feeling good about what we see. In particular, we agree with Atkinson's prediction that Aaron Dunn "has the potential to be one of the most gifted players to come through the ranks at Little Common in recent years."

Barely sixteen, Dunn is already good enough to take the number one shirt. His reflexes are cat-quick and he marshals his defense like a goalie twice his age. He has a positive personality, too, determined and composed. He's not very tall and his positioning needs work, but it's easy to envision him as a player who could grow with the club if we move up the league pyramid.

Midfielder Reis Lovell is another player we like. He is a pint-sized playmaker with lots of flair, a future midfield maestro. He might pair one day with Kevin Barry, a box-to-box player in the making.

Several of the defenders look like players, including Mitchell Finlay, Scott Hadfield, Carl Craker, and Joe Coulter. Unfortunately, none of them except Coulter are very fast. If they're not quick at 16, they never will be. Finlay, however, has the prized Model Professional personality. So does Barry. I'm delighted to see two top lads in one youth class!

Fortunately, a few of the boys do have some pace. Grant Entwistle and Ben Brookes, in particular, are quick. Brookes is the only true center forward in the class.

On the whole, they are a determined, hard-working group of players, and we're going to enjoy watching them develop.

The youngsters lost 1-0 to the group of spectral footballers that make up our Under 18 team. I hadn't paid any attention to the U18s, since all of them were greyed out. However, once Zoe and I saw some of their names, we decided we had to bring them to life, the way we did Aron Boardman.

Matty Myles. Francis Mawdley. Malachi Loft. Christy Froggatt. Marcus Leacock-McLeod. Rapinder Henry. Luke Wash.

Who wouldn't want to write about characters with names like those, right? If they develop into decent footballers, all the better! We've moved them to our Under 21 team, which didn't have any corporeal footballers, either.

[NarratorC]

March 15, 2015

I decided to wait for the three-quarter mark of the season to update the story this time. I'm discovering that finding the right combination of playing the game and writing about it will be important, so I don't tire of either activity. As long as Zoe is having as much fun as she is right now, that shouldn't be a problem.



The new year began with some very good news for Simon Ross's future. The board, viewing my job status as Untouchable, offered to extend my contract for another year. Zoe and I decided to accept the offer, and we're signed with Little Common through June 2016.

Several of our current players will be, too. Over the past two months, the media have been calling to our attention the fact that different players' contracts would be expiring. We took that to mean they might be interested in staying, so if we decided we'd like that to happen, we brought them in for contract talks. Eight Commoners--all the regular starters except Joe Mellings, Jack Ross, and Liam Cockerill--are on board for another season, with pay raises that will kick in when this season ends. I'm thinking we'll re-sign the three other guys, too. Breaking up a side that's playing so well doesn't seem like a wise decision to me.



We are noticing teams starting to play differently against us now. St. Leonard's, for example, opened with two defensive midfielders in front of their back four. No wonder we had 61% of the ball, as they basically let us pass it around, looking for openings. Okay Oniah, in particular, found them. He completed his brace by finishing off a beautiful team move begun by our goalkeeper...debutant Aron Boardman!

Joe Mellings was ready to come back into the side for the trip to Saltdean, and now we have Aaron Dunn, whose potential almost demands he be given opportunities to develop. So the moments of glory for Aron Boardman may be fewer and farther between from now on. Whatever happens, though, he'll still have that January night against St. Leonard's, when he walked off the field with a clean sheet in hand, hearing the crowd sing his name.

The Saltdean match was exhilirating and frustrating in turns. Michael Hassini, who is lethal on set pieces, scored his fourth goal of the season. With a 2-1 advantage and with Saltdean going a man down, we thought we had three points safely in hand...but we tossed two of them away when we let them score off a corner in stoppage time.

We lost more than two points that day. Troy Ferguson pulled a hamstring, leaving a big hole in the middle of our formation. Troy's injury gave us a chance to appease the one player in the team who has been complaining about his playing time.

Dean Frett is a backup. He knows he is a backup. Alone among the lads we brought in to provide depth, he has pouted when he didn't get to start matches. Maybe he believes that since he is the club's vice captain, he should play more. At any rate, Dean got a run of four games in the first team, and that's calmed him down a bit.

He played well in our victory over a tough Oakwood side, which featured Aaron Lacy's first goal in a Little Common shirt. He lashed a Jack Ross cross across the face of goal like a boss. Wick went down next, after two early scores drew the life out of a big crowd at Crabtree Park who were howling for our scalps. Now we'd gone seven matches without a loss, and widened our lead to seven points over a resurgent Steyning Town.

Still, the Commoners find ways to frustrate us, even as they sit top of the league. The Westfield game provided ample proof of this.

Dean Frett responded to his opportunity to start the match by picking up two yellow cards and a dismissal within a six-minute span, late in the first half. Following his example, Dean's teammates accumulated five more bookings, reestablishing their reputation as the league's bad boys. (Our 37 yellow cards are seven more than any other team in the league, and half the clubs have fewer than half that many through 23 matches).

For a while, it looked like the slight advantage we'd gained with an early goal might hold up. But when three of a team's defenders are on yellow cards and the team is already a man short, they can't tackle boldly when opponents bear down on their goal. That's a big reason why Westfield were able to equalize in the 82nd minute.

Left back Nat Hubert, the one back liner without a yellow card, vowed he would not let something like that happen again. He went in hard against a Westfield forward...inside the penalty area...and the referee pointed to the spot.

Michael Hassini, furious, would not stop running his mouth. The referee showed him another yellow card, a routine with which Michael is all too familiar. Naturally, Westfield converted the penalty.

Simon Ross laid into the team after the game. Zoe weighed in, too. "Who is the referee? He's a putz," she declared with the absolute certainty of a child.

It turns out the ref was Mr. Irvine Woodward. A perusal of the referee stats revealed that Mr. Woodward had taken the whistle for four Division Two matches this season, in which he produced a total of 22 yellow cards--more than any other official has shown, in about half as many games as our usual refs have called. I will, from now on, check to make sure Mr. Woodward has been assigned to our matches and, if so, I will instruct the Commoners to refrain from tackling with such gusto.

Our winless skein now snapped, we returned to the pitch a week later for the Rustington match, which I'll describe in a post all its own.

The last two matches we've played are primarily interesting in that our victories gave us a bit of revenge against sides who either beat us (Storrington) or drew with us (AFC Uckfield) the first time we faced them.



We are nine points clear now, with seven games remaining. Let's close it out, lads!

Up the Common!

[PilotMan]

Screw that guy! Never surrender! Go in even harder! He is a putz!

[NarratorC]

Rustington v. Little Common
A Drama in Two Acts

It was a dark and stormy night.

No, actually, it was a stormy, windy February afternoon, which is nearly as dismal. Despite the weather, 304 people assembled at Rustington's Recreation Ground, bundled up tight, to watch the football. The crowd was half again as large as the club's usual attendance.

Our team sheet featured a few changes from the usual. Michael Hassini's latest infraction had earned him a three-game ban, so we brought Charlie Cooke into the side at center half. Troy Ferguson returned to the lineup, and Joel Mason was introduced in place of a fatigued Jack Ross.


Act One

The first forty minutes or so were rather dour. It looked like the teams would enter the break in a goal-less stalemate, a big contrast to our previous meeting, in which we led 3-1 at the half. Then, our tendency to defend our penalty area with unlawful belligerence reared its head once again.

Rustington goalkeeper Calum Coulson lofted a goal kick deep into the Little Common half. Iain Ashman outjumped Troy Ferguson and headed the ball along to Ikenna Ellis as our defense scrambled back.

Our high defensive line leaves us open to an occasional counter. It looked, however, like we had this one covered. By the time Ellis passed ahead to Sheridan Garrick, our defense was back in place.

Or so we thought. Garrick is a nifty player, and our center backs left just enough space for the striker to shift the ball to his left and slip between them. In his haste to cover his mistake, Darren Blewitt wheeled around and stuck out a leg, catching Garrick and sending him tumbling. Referee Matthew Knight promptly pointed to the penalty spot. Jason Mayunga converted it with ease to put the home side up, 1-0.

About fifteen minutes into the second half, Nat Hubert earned a booking. Taking no chances, Zoe and I decided to bring Nat off in favor of Aaron Lacy. Aaron seldom fails to make an impact on a game, and today would prove to be no exception.

First, however, the boys in claret and blue had to dig themselves into a deeper hole. You may remember me mentioning Charlie Cooke as one of the Common's most rambunctious characters. His combustible combination of Aggression (14), Bravery (11), and a lack of Composure (5) resulted in him sending Ikenna Ellis to the floor. Another penalty. Mayunga sent Joe Mellings the wrong way. 2-0 to Rustington.


Act Two

Determination is the attribute that most affects how a player will react when the going gets tough. I remember reading somewhere that a determined player refuses to hang his head when his team goes a goal or two down. While Zoe and I did not intend to turn our Little Common squad into a yellow card generation machine, we very deliberately looked for players with high Determination.

We gave Darren Blewitt the captain's arm band because he combined Leadership and Determination at a high level. With time running out and the Common still 2-0 down, Blewitt showed us we had chosen wisely.

Darren blamed himself for Rustington's first goal. Had he read the run of Sheridan Garrick more quickly, the captain wouldn't have had to make a desperate lunge at the ball to disrupt the Rustington man's chance. So, when Garrick dithered on the ball just outside the Little Common penalty area, Darren pounced and took the ball away from him.

Looking up, Blewitt spotted forwards Joel Mason and Matthew Reece, lurking near the midline. Both men were positioned inside their markers, the Rustington center halves. Darren probably thought? "Why not?"

Darren Blewitt starts the counter-attack with an audacious through ball.

He promptly hit a long ball up the middle of the park. Mason, Reece, and the defenders all raced for it. To his credit, Fope Worrall outpaced the others and got to the ball first, perhaps 30 yards from the Rustington goal. His first touch betrayed him, however, and instead of passing back to his 'keeper, he scuffed a squbbling ball into the path of a delighted Matt Reece.

Reece pushed the ball into space, ran onto it, and bore in on goal. He unleashed a fierce shot with his right foot--his weaker one-- that handcuffed Coulson and rippled the net.

Matthew Reece scores Little Common's first goal.

Rustington kicked off, and about fifteen seconds later, Joel Mayunga found himself with the ball in the center circle. But when he tried to pass the ball forward, Darren Blewitt read the play, stepped forward, and made the interception.

Two quick passes later, the ball was on Troy Ferguson's foot. He spotted Reece and hit him with an incisive pass, just as Mason was making a run up the left channel. Matthew quickly played in his strike partner, who even more quickly steered the ball past Coulson and in. In the space of 44 seconds, Little Common had drawn level, because their captain wouldn't let his team go down easily.

Joel Mason follows his shot as Little Common draw level.

The game had barely been restarted when Damian Curtis disrupted a Little Common attack by poking the ball away from Okay Oniah.

The ball went into touch. "Throw in! Let's GO!" Zoe shrieked.

Only one player's presence can create that level of excitement over a simple throw-in. And, remember, we'd brought Aaron Lacy on earlier in the half. So Aaron was the player who picked up the ball, even with the top of the 18-yard box.

Throw time means go time.

He let fly, and the ball streaked toward the near post, where a cluster of players awaited it. Again, Darren Blewitt inserted himself into the situation. It was he whom Louis Scopes shoved from behind, leading to the third penalty of the game.

Troy Ferguson is our designated penalty taker. He sent his spot kick low and to the right, and Coulson had no chance.

There wouldn't have been much celebration at the Rustington grounds when Ferguson's shot went in. The celebration happened in our playroom instead.

[NarratorC]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Screw that guy! Never surrender! Go in even harder! He is a putz!

@PilotMan: Having gauged the reactions of the Little Common supporters, I agree. I wonder what will happen if we add Get Stuck In to our team instructions?

[NarratorC]

May 23, 2015

Little Common entered the final stretch of our season with our fate in our own hands. Nine points clear at the top of the table, the Common were now clear favorites to win promotion.



I mentioned how our opponents were playing much more defensively against us now that we had established ourselves as a dangerous style. Whether they were battling relegation or challenging for the title, one opponent after another loaded their formation with defensive players and sat back, allowing us to keep the ball and hoping to score from a set piece or after a counter. As a result, we scored only nine goals in our last seven matches, after hitting 18 in the eight games before those.

Troy Ferguson's second half goal saved Okay Oniah's blushes, after the young wide man was responsible for an own goal against Midhurst & Easebourne. Steyning lost, 0-2 at St. Leonard's, so our lead grew to 12 points.

Two days later, we said goodbye to my assistant manager, Jon Atkinson. He left Little Common to take a similar position at Corinthian, who play one level higher in the Southern Counties East League. Zoe and I looked at the list of possible replacements and selected Jon Wordsworth, a former defender with Ossett Albion, Boreham Wood, and Hilpin who had been out of football for several years. Wordsworth is a clear upgrade from Atkinson, with the added benefit that I won't have to worry about calling him by his predecessor's name.

The Worthing United match made me wonder if Atkinson had taken our good luck with him when he left. Joe Mellings made a save, but proceeded to spill the ball over the line for a goal. Rob Magwood was booked twice and sent off. We had one last chance to draw level in stoppage time--a throw that was well within Aaron Lacy's range, but there was no magic this time. Steyning Town obligingly lost as well, so our lead remained intact.

We had been planning to give Aaron Dunn his senior debut all along; Mellings' error had nothing to do with Dunn's inclusion against Mile Oak. The local lad wasn't tested all day; our defense wouldn't let the visitors put a shot on target. Okay Oniah scored his first goal in three months to secure all three points...which put us eleven ahead, as Steyning could only manage a draw.

So Little Common entered the Bexhill derby with a chance to clinch the league championship. We would have to do it without our captain; Darren Blewitt was still limping from a knock he suffered against Mile Oak. Charlie Cooke would fill in for him at center half.

And we would have to do it with Irvine Woodward as our referee.

It took six minutes for Cooke to draw the game's first yellow card, for a full-blooded challenge of United's Pip Baker. Zoe and I were just fine with that. However, before I could shout to Charlie and warn him to play it cool, he barged into United forward Jake Webb and put him on the ground. We would now have to play 81 minutes of football with ten men.

Normally, a ten-man team faces a numerical disadvantage. Mr. Woodward solved that problem by showing two yellow cards to United midfielder Dean Bryan, whose involvement in the match ended on the stroke of halftime.

We finished the game with seven yellow cards to our (credit?). Our opponents, no angels themselves, picked up four more, which was four times as many as the number of shots they took. Mr. Woodward whistled for 30 fouls; 17 for us, 13 for them. The supporters deserved better than the 0-0 draw they witnessed.

We didn't know it at the time, but at the same time, Wick were walking off the pitch, 2-0 winners over Steyning Town.

That result made Little Common the champions of the Second Division of the Sussex County Football League!



The fans were over the moon, and so were the board.



The next two matches saw nine players take their senior bows. Taser Long, Francis Mawksley, and Malachi Loft debuted against Haywards Heath Town. Taser's day was definitely one to remember, as the young striker scored the match-winner in the 88th minute.

Our visit to Steyning Town was now anticlimactic, an occasion for six more kids to make their first appearances with the senior team. Grant Entwistle's free kick gave us the lead, but a full strength Town side prevailed in the end.

Grant Entwistle scored his first career goal on this free kick. The Common are sporting their gold-and-navy away kit.

The last match day of the 2014/15 season brought Seaford Town to the Recreation Ground. The Badgers already knew they would be relegated at the end of the season, so this match was the definition of a "dead rubber." Zoe and I decided the supporters would like to see the first team one last time, so we chose the normal first eleven. A record crowd of 740 turned out to watch the soon-to-be-official champions. They saw Matthew Reece score his 12th goal of the season, and they also got to watch captain Darren Blewitt volley home an Oniah corner.

They got to see Irvine Woodward, too. Our favorite referee was remarkably restrained, however; the yellow card he showed to Troy Ferguson was the only one our well-behaved lads picked up.



After a month or so of holiday, the lads will be back at the Recreation Ground to begin their first season in Division One. And I'll be back to post a season summary, too.

[NarratorC]

2014/15 in Review

Statistics, part I
The Regulars

These 16 players logged the most playing time for the 2014/15 Second Division champions.



Some statistical highlights:
Note: These stats are skewed a bit by the fact that most teams had a lot of grey players, especially before early March, when youth intakes happened.

• Matthew Reece was the league's top scorer with 13 goals.
• Jack Ross was fifth in the scoring race, and Okay Oniah was sixth.
• Rob Magwood's 10 assists led the league.
• So did Darren Blewitt's 11 yellow cards and Michael Hassini's three dismissals.
• The yellow card stats seem to be jacked up. Hassini had to have more than five yellows, since he never drew a straight red card. Charlie Cooke is shown with NO yellow cards, and I know he got two in eight minutes against Bexhill United. Maybe if you're sent off, you "trade" two yellows for a red.

Statistics, Part II
The Rest



Most of these players are youngsters, some of whom might become very familiar to Little Common supporters in the years to come. You can say you knew them before they were stars.



Rob Magwood is a worthy recipient of the supporters' award. His average rating was third best in the league, behind the players who finished second and third in the scoring race.

Zoe and I decided to sign most of these players for another season, giving them a chance to enjoy the fruits of the labor they contributed to our promotion. I'm thinking we'll probably lose a few of the non-contract players, as other clubs are already courting them.

The board is raising our wage budget to £1200/week. We currently spend about £850/week, so we have room in the budget to strengthen our squad if the need arises.

[NarratorC]

May 2015

I thought it might be fun to show you the 2014/15 Premier League table, too.



The blue half of Manchester earned bragging rights this year, as City stormed past United to win the league. Chelsea also enjoyed a strong second half of the season; they and Arsenal will compete in the European Champions Cup next year (That's the game's equivalent of the Champions League.)

Liverpool supporters might not be happy with a sixth place finish, but they'll enjoy the fact they pipped their Merseyside rivals, Everton, for the final spot in the EURO Cup (Europa League). Tottenham will also be enjoying European football next season.

Burnley supporters' hearts had to be in their throats on the last day of the season. Their club nearly lost their spot in the Premier League when Chelsea routed them, 4-0, at Stamford Bridge. Only the fact that West Ham United were suffering a 1-3 hammering at Manchester City saved the Clarets from relegation.

Instead, three London clubs will go down to the Championship next season. Taking their places will be league titleist Norwich City and playoff winners Reading and Huddersfield Town.

Manchester City hitman Sergio Agüero was named Player of the Year, and led the scoring chart with 19 goals. Tottenham's Christian Eriksen's 14 assists were best in that category.

Two clubs sacked their managers on the day after the season ended. Aston Villa bid adieu to Tim Sherwood, and hired veteran boss Dick Advocaat to take his place. Liverpool parted ways with Brendan Rodgers, after he failed to lead the Reds into the Champions Cup. When Real Madrid sacked Carlo Ancelotti, Liverpool moved in quickly, and Don Carlo joins an illustrious array of continental managers plying their trade in England.

[NarratorC]

Summer 2015

Wonderkids

Since we've turned back the clock six years in this story, some of the best young players in world football don't exist in this universe. If a player is 19 or younger, or if he was not yet widely known, he might not be part of our story. Zoe and I were disappointed that Christian Pulisic, for example, isn't in the game; he signed with Borussia Dortmund in February of 2015. Neither is Matthijs de Ligt, another of our favorite players. Matthijs would have been 14 when our game began, so he would be too young to be in the database.

The places of these players are taken by "newgens," like the lads who joined Little Common in last March's youth intake. I thought it might be fun to find some of the most promising young stars in our world and introduce them to you here. So I took a look at the Under 19/Under 20 national teams around the world, wondering if I would find any promising young players who exist only in our universe.

Most of the national teams have begun to call up the best of the "newgens" who entered the game last spring. Here are some of the ones I found:

Clive Pert, AM(C)/M(C)
Arsenal and England


Pert is an attacking midfielder with the technical ability and vision to orchestrate the attack for any team in the world.


Lewis Fraser, M(C)
Chelsea and England


Fraser is as gritty as Pert is flashy, a no-nonsense player who will add bite to the engine room for club and country.


Craig Breen, D(C)/D(R)
Chelsea and England


Breen is already a fundamentally sound defender whose lack of pace might be the only thing that keeps him from becoming one of the best center backs in the world.


Charles Koura, DM(C)
Juventus and Italy


Koura might be the world standard in defensive midfielders one day: a relentless tackler who reads the game well and is comfortable enough in possession.


Alessandro Granelli, AM(C)/ST(C)
Napoli and Italy


This powerfully-built forward is a surprisingly crafty dribbler who gets himself into dangerous positions with ease. Granelli lacks raw pace, but he is quick and agile.


Rignald Eisden, D(C)/D(L)
Sparta Rotterdam and Holland


Eisden is a mobile, tough defender who is good with both feet. Like Breen, he needs to build his strength, but he's only 16. Time is on his side.


Marjan Mitrovic, D(R)
Bayern München and Germany


Mitrovic looks like he'll develop into an old-school, defense-first right back, but he might turn out to be the best in the world at his job. He is an amazing athlete with a champion's mentality.


Martin Menard, GK
Paris St.-Germain and France


Quick as a cat and mentally tough, Menard is already a commanding presence between the posts. He has the potential to become one of the world's best goalkeepers.


Leonardo Martín, AM(R)/M(R)
Real Madrid and Spain


Martín might be pint-sized, but he is aggressive and feisty. And, as you'd expect from a Spanish wide man, he is fast and elusive. Any team in the world would love to have him.


Tim Adair, D(L)/WB(L)
Los Angeles and United States


Adair could be a rare player: an American footballer who becomes truly world-class. He is fast and has a non-stop motor, and he is already a regular for his club at age 17.

I wonder how good these players will be in ten years? Will we ever get to manage one of them?

[NarratorC]

June 29, 2015

The holiday is over, and Little Common FC players and staff are back at The Recreation Ground, ready to prepare for their first season in Division One of the Sussex County Football League.

I had fun making the map showing the locations of the clubs in Division Two last time, so I decided to do it again. We learned something very interesting.



Most of the clubs are located in East or West Sussex, as you'd expect the clubs in the Sussex County League to be. However, the game does something interesting when promotions and relegations require the game world to be balanced. The number of clubs in each league must remain the same. In order to meet this requirement, the game will sometimes move teams around. Sometimes it demonstrates a complete disregard of geography.



See those two pins, almost clear across the island? AFC Wulfrunians and Irlam have been assigned to the Sussex County League this season!

Irlam won the promotion playoff in Division One of the North West Counties League. Their victory earned them the chance to compete in a league in the South West corner of England. I hope the Irlam lads enjoy each other's company. They'll travel about five hours from their base in Greater Manchester twenty times this year.



Wulfrunians have nearly as unusual an assignment. A solid mid-table club in the Midland Football League, they'll leave the Midlands far behind every time they make an away trip. The journey to Wulfrunians, who play in Walshall (near Birmingham) is ONLY 204 miles, about four hours by coach.

It will be interesting to see if the game accounts for the travel costs Irlam and Wulfrunians have to incur this season. Travel costs are part of a club's budget. Little Common spent £2,361 on this line item last year.

A confession is now in order. Zoe and I use the in-game editor to peek around the world we've created and to make minor changes when we see fit.

Zoe used it to make Little Common's away kit look more like the one they actually wore, and she broke up the monochrome look of the home strip by adding some sky blue shorts for an alternative look. We don't use it to alter the outcome of the game. No enhancing the attributes of Little Common players, or miraculously curing their injuries. No reducing our opponents to shadows of their previous selves.

We might use the data from FM 2016 to create Matthijs de Ligt and Christian Pulisic, but we'll put them in their real teams...not at Little Common.

[NarratorC]

August 8, 2015

It's time for a new season!

Over the past few weeks, most of the players we brought in as backups last year accepted offers to play elsewhere. Stacey Freeman and Dean Frett are now with Chertsey Town and Croydon Athletic, respectively; both are making more money per game than we could pay them.

Kieran Fitzharris and Joel Mason both accepted opportunities to play at a higher levels, joining clubs in the eighth tier. Kieran accepted an amateur deal with Romford, and Mason scored a £190/week deal with Sholing. Tommy Wright went one better, signing for Hemel Hempstead Town of the Isthmian Premier Division (Level 7). He improved his financial situation, too.

We can't blame lads for leaving for more money, or to try their luck at a higher level. We can't really blame Paul Dennis, who decided to make a lateral move to a league rival, Horsham YMCA, where he can start. He'd have been third choice keeper at Little Common, at best. Sidney Adams' decision to move to the Midlands and turn out for Leverstock Green makes sense, too. Sidney will be in the first team there, after barely getting a game for us last season.

Charlie Cooke's choice makes less sense to us. He moved to Guildford, at the same level as Little Common, to play the same role in the squad and for five quid less per match. I suppose he can earn bookings as easily there as he can here.

As a result, our squad has been trimmed down somewhat. We brought in one new player and gave life to one grey guy. Otherwise, we filled out the senior team by promoting the most talented youngsters.



Since most of these players are familiar to you, we'll look at the team more holistically, focusing on position groups.


Goalkeepers
Mellings was the regular goalkeeper for a team that conceded the fewest goals in its league. He did nothing that would ordinarily cost a player his spot in the first team. However, in Dunn, we have a young 'keeper of undeniable quality.



Mellings organizes his defense better, and during the preseason he demonstrated the ability to distribute the ball more confidently. Dunn has the advantage in every other respect. His reflexes are quicker than quick.

It's going to be impossible for us to deny Dunn the opportunity to start. Fortunately, we'll be playing in two cup competitions, so it will be possible for us to give Mellings some games, too.


Defenders
The starting back four will be the same: Meech on the right, Hubert on the left, Blewitt and Hassini in the center.

The full backs were durable and efficient last season, and while neither of them dazzled on a regular basis, neither did they draw our attention with their mistakes either.

The center backs are pugnacious, tough customers, but both contribute to the attack, too. Captain Blewitt is a tidy passer, while Hassini poses a threat on set pieces.

We were afraid Lacy might join the exodus this summer, and we were delighted that he decided to stay. We rewarded him by making him vice captain. He announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, but we'll have his legendary long throw at our disposal one more time. Aaron can fill in on the right or in the middle of the back line.

Mitchell Finlay and Carl Craker are honing their craft with the Under 19s, and could appear in a few cup ties.


Midfielders
Cockerill returns on the left, giving us a steady veteran presence and a deft touch on dead balls. Mercurial Oniah will play on the right. He's a bit injury prone and he's streaky, but when he's on his game, he gives opponents headaches.

Magwood, the Supporters' Player of the Year, adapted seamlessly to the role of playmaker. He'll direct the team's attack from the center of the pitch once again. Ferguson returns to the all-purpose role beside him.

Waiting in the wings are Lovell and Barry. Both youngsters could challenge for playing time very soon. Lovell is especially suited to play as a pure number ten, while Barry could fit in any role. Expect both of them to start in the cups.

Grant Entwistle and Kevin Rowland are also youngsters with promise.


Swiss Army Knives
Two of our players are versatile enough to provide depth almost anywhere on the pitch.

You'll remember Lazarus, who remained loyal to the Common over the summer. He is our primary reserve on the left side of the formation.

The new man is Slaughter, whom we first spotted when we were searching for long throw specialists. We were pleased to see he was still looking for a club this summer, and he accepted a non-contract deal with us. Richard is good in any defensive role, where his marking and tackling are on full display. He's also a nifty enough passer to do a job farther up the pitch.

Lazarus (L) and Slaughter (R) might turn up anywhere.

Forwards
Reece will be ever-present, after leading Division Two with 13 goals last season. Ross will get the chance to hold on to his position, after an eight-goal return in 2014/15.

However, he'll be pressed hard by Long, who scored a combined total of 11 goals at three levels last year. In fact, our staff rate Taser a bit higher than Ross. Both of them will get plenty of playing time.

We needed a fourth center forward, so we brought O'Neill to life. He's a well-rounded player who could serve as a universal substitute.


The Back Room



Zoe and I left the staff members we were given at the beginning of the game in place for our first season. This year, we decided to hire a staff of our own choosing.

Assistant manager Wordsworth joined the team last spring.

We discovered our board would let us hire dedicated managers for both developmental teams. Under 21 boss Woods, who played as a defender for several teams, is an extremely good coach who is skilled with young players. Under 19 manager Smith just hung up his boots after a stint at Tividale. Like Woods, he is a talented coach, and he is a very positive motivator. Both are young; Woods is 34, Smith 29.

Taylor, our new Head of Youth Development, had a long career as a productive forward with a number of non-league clubs. The former Burnley trainee has a positive, Loyal personality, and he is an astute judge of talent.

Two new physios join our staff. Head physio Penfold was last employed at Three Bridges, and physio Avent spent time on the staff at Heather. Zoe is especially delighted to see two women join our team.

Gentle had been out of football since he retired in 2011, and his credentials as a scout made us wonder why. Similarly, Nightingale had been doing other things for several years before he answered our call. Both were forwards during their playing days.

I discovered the "real" Dominic Gentle passed away in 2016 at the age of 44, taken far too soon by an aggressive brain tumor. I hope we have the chance to keep him with us, in our football world, for decades to come.

[NarratorC]

Preseason 2015



Our preseason served as a profitable tuneup for the upcoming league campaign. None of our opponents, with the exception of a surprisingly tough little Hounslow Borough side from the 11th tier, were terribly hard to handle.

Matthew Reece found his scoring boots where he left them last spring. Fellow forwards Jack Ross and Taser Long were both in good form, too.

Rob Magwood and Kevin Barry performed the best among the midfielders. Okay Oniah, unfortunately, again displayed his tendency to pick up minor knocks. This time it was a thigh strain that will cause him to miss the season opener.

Joe Mellings refuses to relinquish the number one shirt without a battle. He played 180 minutes without conceding, saving the three shots he faced without mishap. Meanwhile Aaron Dunn was tested nine times in 244 minutes, and let only one shot slip past him.

[NarratorC]

Preseason 2015

I might not be updating quite as frequently, because (1) Christmas is quickly approaching and (2) Little Common's 2015/16 season will be significantly longer than last year's was.

The First Division has 21 teams, so the home-and-away structure gives us 40 matches, rather than the 30 we played in Division Two. I think I like the quarterly updates, so I'll stick with them for now. If I get the urge to write more often, I'll do so.

And we're entered in two cup competitions this year. The Board expect us to make deep runs in both of them, at the very least.



What's more, they also expect we'll win Division One in our first attempt! I'm not sure if that expectation is based on the game's calculation of our team's strength, compared to our rivals, or if our board are especially ambitious...or both. At any rate, we've been presented with a real challenge. Let's see what we make of it.

[NarratorC]

October 24, 2015

I didn't mean to be away THIS long.

With a 40-game season and two cup competitions, there were more than twice as many matches to play before we reached the first quarter of the season. (And I've been enjoying my college basketball season, too.)

Perhaps the board were right; perhaps the Commoners are indeed ready for the stiffer challenge of the First Division. After a rough start, the lads found their footing, and it's now been nearly two months since we lost a league match.



The First Division schedule can be frustrating at times. We might go three weeks between matches; that's why we traveled across the Channel to France for those two friendlies. Then, we might play three times in a week. Add in the cup ties--including a replay--and we've had to rely heavily on our squad players to come through for us.

Fatigued players are more apt to injure themselves, and we've dealt with that reality, too. Rob Magwood has played 36 minutes this season. That's how long he was on the pitch for our season opener before he tore his hamstring. The absence of our 2014/15 Supporters' Player of the Year provided an opportunity for young Reis Lovell, and Reis has grasped it with both hands.

Our tactic is designed to make the player in that role the heartbeat of the team and, while Rob and Reis interpret the role differently, they both produce impressive results. Reis is establishing himself as a threat to score himself, with two goals to his credit, while Rob has never scored a goal in a Little Common shirt. He did, however, contribute ten assists last season, while Reis is some way off that pace with two.

Jack Ross twisted an ankle, offering Taser Long the chance to show what he's made of. The youngster has created five goals, scoring two and setting up three others.

Another alumnus of the Youth Candidates Class of '15, goalkeeper Aaron Dunn, has been both spectacular (five saves, including a stunner, away to Selsey) and aggravating (allowing two soft goals at home to struggling Newhaven). Still only sixteen, Aaron is clearly a special talent, but he does remind us that he's far from a finished product.

We're on to the Third Round of the Southern Senior Cup, but we're out of the FA Vase, losing a Second Round replay to Wessex Premier side Horndean in heartbreaking fashion.

We went ahead through Ryan O'Neill, but Rapinder Henry drew two yellow cards in an infuriating two-minute display of recklessness. Horndean punished us by drawing level, so off we went to extra time.

A clumsy clearance by our Duncan Staires fell to the dangerous Taiwo Greening, and Horndean pulled ahead. Not a minute later, however, Taser Long equalized. Then Horndean's Robert Moreman was shown a second yellow. It looked like we'd play ten-man football for a few minutes, and then settle matters from the penalty spot.

But this is Little Common, where players get stuck in and where yellow cards are part of a day's work. Six Commoners were on yellows, so it was only a matter of time before one of them stepped out of line a second time. It was Nat Hubert, who had come on late in the first half to replace an injured Richard Slaughter. Rather predictably, the Deans took advantage of the situation and fired in a very, very late match-winner.

I wanted SO BADLY to rip the referee, a bloke called Neil Perkin, but the media didn't give me the opportunity in my post-match presser. They probably saved me a touchline ban.

It turns out that Mr. Perkin has also had the whistle for two First Division matches, in which he pulled 15 yellow cards. That's two more than our old friend Irvine Woodward has awarded in his two appearances.

Before we take a look at the table, it's time to bid farewell to Neil Lazarus, who signed with Croydon Athletic. Again, it's a case of a player taking the opportunity to earn more than we can pay him; Neil is on £85/week there.

His spot on the roster was taken by George Kimber, 22, who has patrolled the left side of the pitch for five different clubs in the last five years. George's calling card is his pace, and while he's not quite as versatile as Lazarus, he can play several positions. George also fits the Fairly Professional personality of our club perfectly.



The teams at the top of the table haven't played many matches against each other. For example, we haven't met Arundel or Rye United yet. They've played each other, and Arundel won 3-1. It will be interesting to see how the standings might change once the early form sides face each other.

[NarratorC]

December 30, 2015

2016 is upon us, and I hope the form we've established during the last weeks of 2015 continues in the New Year.



Arundel came to the Recreation Ground three points behind us at the top of the table. The score was 1-0 at the hour mark, when Arundel's Mark Wood was sent off for a professional foul. We put three more goals past their beleaguered gloveman, Jack O'Donovan, and Jack fumbled one into his own net.

A victory like that one over a strong side can give a club momentum. So can a change in tactics, like the one my daughter suggested.

Rob Magwood returned to the team for the Arundel game, playing 30 minutes as a substitute. He was fit enough to start against Hassocks four days later. That gave us a very nice "problem." Young Reis Lovell had played outstanding football in Magwood's place, pulling the strings from midfield like a veteran. Lovell deserved to keep playing, and Zoe realized this, too.

"Both Reis and Rob ought to start," she concluded. "Don't they know how to play a formation with three guys in the middle?"

While Zoe's technical vocabulary is simple, her understanding of the system is profound. The Commoners have indeed been practicing a 4-3-3 with a defensive midfielder. Troy Ferguson is actually more naturally suited to play as a DM. Lovell will feature as the creator, while Magwood takes the all-action role. Put very simply, our third central midfielder is better than our second center forward, and this formation allows us to put our best 11 players on the pitch at once.

Plus, the 4-3-3 includes the Raumdeuter, and that word makes Zoe giggle. Both Taser Long and Okay Oniah are decent "space investigators." So, too, is Boyd Adewunmi, a player we brought to life from the Under 21 team because we needed someone else who is comfortable as an attacking wide player. Adewunmi can play as an AML or an AMR, and also as a striker.

Beginning with the Arundel match, we've scored 17 goals and conceded only one. That run of form has allowed us to build a comfortable lead in the First Division race as we reach the season's halfway point.



Aaron Dunn has stopped leaking easy goals, and the presence of a holding midfielder has made it very difficult for our opponents to sustain their attacks. Sometimes Dunn spends most of the game prancing around his area, tested only once or twice all day. Aaron also amuses himself by looking for opportunities to pick out our attackers with long, accurate passes. He did this with especially devastating effect against Hassocks and Horsham YMCA, springing Taser Long and Matthew Reece free for easy scores.

The Commoners still enjoy full-blooded challenges. Not surprisingly, we have accumulated ten more yellow cards than any other team in the division. While I like seeing our team tackle with gusto, when important players end up suspended because they are booked so frequently, it can present us with additional challenges. Our center halves, Darren Blewitt and Michael Hassini, run afoul of the authorities on an especially frequent basis. They're outstanding players--their average ratings rank first and second among central defenders, and Hassini's is the highest in the entire league--so when one of them is suspended, we miss them quite a bit. Blewitt was just banned for two matches for picking up his second red card of the year.

Here are the stats for our most important players during the first half of the season:



Did you notice how many goals Hassini and Blewitt have scored? And did you see how many goals Aaron Lacy has set up? Lacy's six assists in league play is joint best, and I believe all but one have come from his fearsome long throw. The Bruise Brothers get their heads on many of Aaron's offerings, and they both find ways to direct corners into the net, too.

We're out of the Southern Senior Cup, falling to Hailsham in the Third Round. The board expected us to win the Cup, so they're not pleased with this outcome. But we can concentrate on the league now, and if we go on to win it, I doubt the board will be too disappointed with my work.

If they are, well...invitations to apply for other jobs are beginning to pop up in Simon Ross's inbox. However, right now Zoe and I are committed to staying with Little Common, hoping to lead them to their second straight promotion.

[johnloch]

Very interesting. I love your writing style. KUTGW!