Owners

[Fryer Tuck]

Aquaforce? - that's such a cool name!

If they started off as a u11 team, I wonder if they let the kids come up with the name haha?

I'm moving this quote here, because I've discovered a few things.

Aquaforce is actually the name of the sponsor, who are a utility services company in Barnsley. It's certainly up there with King Power, lol.

They eventually expanded their operations, and after a merger with a Worsbrough Common, they joined the Football Pyramid in the 11th tier in time (Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League) for the 12-13 season as Aquaforce Barnsley, also merging with Barugh on the way to finally become Shaw Force Aquaforce. They have earned three consecutive promotions to reach the 8th tier (Northern Division One South) for the 15/16 season.

Interesting to note is that they have an international player for the new season. Adam Priestley from Gibraltar! 24 years old, 10 caps. He's about to play a mainly better side in Germany. So you can certainly say the team is serious about making it four promotions in a row.

An ownership issue has come into play, their new kit for the new season:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shaw-Lane-Aquaforce/144668385742048

It's either blue and white stripes, or its something new, up for the fans to decide.

Changing the club colours is a big no-no in most cases. However, one of the problems of the current kit is that well... it's Sheffield Wednesday's colours and kit, which is a big problem considering the local rivalry between Barnsley and Sheffield. Some say that the current kit can actually turn fans away. I think the stripes will stay, it's just a matter of the colours.

Here's what the current kit looks like:

Also, I just included a picture of the mascot, who is Carl the Duck (Even more ATHF references! The nickname of the club is the Ducks), who totally doesn't look like Donald Duck.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

I'm moving this quote here, because I've discovered a few things.

Aquaforce is actually the name of the sponsor, who are a utility services company in Barnsley. It's certainly up there with King Power, lol.

They eventually expanded their operations, and after a merger with a Worsbrough Common, they joined the Football Pyramid in the 11th tier in time (Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League) for the 12-13 season as Aquaforce Barnsley, also merging with Barugh on the way to finally become Shaw Force Aquaforce. They have earned three consecutive promotions to reach the 8th tier (Northern Division One South) for the 15/16 season.

Interesting to note is that they have an international player for the new season. Adam Priestley from Gibraltar! 24 years old, 10 caps. He's about to play a mainly better side in Germany. So you can certainly say the team is serious about making it four promotions in a row.

An ownership issue has come into play, their new kit for the new season:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shaw-Lane-Aquaforce/144668385742048

It's either blue and white stripes, or its something new, up for the fans to decide.

Changing the club colours is a big no-no in most cases. However, one of the problems of the current kit is that well... it's Sheffield Wednesday's colours and kit, which is a big problem considering the local rivalry between Barnsley and Sheffield. Some say that the current kit can actually turn fans away. I think the stripes will stay, it's just a matter of the colours.

Here's what the current kit looks like:

Also, I just included a picture of the mascot, who is Carl the Duck (Even more ATHF references! The nickname of the club is the Ducks), who totally doesn't look like Donald Duck.

Haha - hopefully they don't get too 'big time' in the near future and rise to more prominence. The uncanny resemblance of Carl the Duck to Donald Duck might result in Disney taking legal action (not unlike what DC Comics did/tried to do with Valencia and the 'bat' logo I think).

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Haha - hopefully they don't get too 'big time' in the near future and rise to more prominence. The uncanny resemblance of Carl the Duck to Donald Duck might result in Disney taking legal action (not unlike what DC Comics did/tried to do with Valencia and the 'bat' logo I think).

Ah yes... that episode:

Also, it's not like videos combining the two have been made before...


The original bat is fine, since Valencia have been using it since 1919 (Batman since 1939). Don't know why they want to change, they have one of the best crests in football, as well as some pretty awesome seat art.

Screw the Bernabeu and Camp Nou, the Mestalla is where it's at!

Then again... at least it's more valid than some other claims... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/peterborough_united/2636801.stm

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Ah yes... that episode:

Also, it's not like videos combining the two have been made before...


The original bat is fine, since Valencia have been using it since 1919 (Batman since 1939). Don't know why they want to change, they have one of the best crests in football, as well as some pretty awesome seat art.

Screw the Bernabeu and Camp Nou, the Mestalla is where it's at!

Then again... at least it's more valid than some other claims... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/peterborough_united/2636801.stm

Haha if it really bothered her so much, couldn't she just buy the club and stop it from happening?

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Thought this was an interesting thing to mention and keen to hear thoughts of people on this.

Not only has Steve McClaren been appointed our new manager, he's been also appointed to the club's board (with Mike Ashley stepping down).

"Head coach Steve McClaren, chief scout Graham Carr and club ambassador Bob Moncur have today been appointed to the Board, joining managing director Lee Charnley.

Mike Ashley has relinquished his position on the board along with finance director John Irving, who is leaving the Club.

Newcastle United becomes the only club in the Premier League to have its head coach on its Board of Directors, a move which the Club feels adds significant strength to it."

http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20150610/club-statement-new-board-of-directors_2281670_4783052

 

[NUFC Tiger]

On the one hand I think its a good step in the right direction - hopefully this is a sign that the existing model at the club is being changed and the 'head coach' (manager) is given more power and say in matters instead of just being a puppet.

At the same time, it kind of reeks of the inmates running the asylum. I rate Carr as a scout and Moncur is a well meaning club legend but none of them have any financial expertise (to replace John Irving our outgoing finance director) or even business expertise which is a concern. I have always wanted more 'football people' on the board to try and help address the profit driven focus of the club but this seems to be an imbalance/going too far the other way.

Plus I feel its the board's responsibility (traditionally) is to assess and evaluate the manager's performance. Does that become distorted with the manager sitting on the board?

Very interesting development and I guess time will tell how everything works. Given our existing model was for Carr to scout, Charnley to negotiate and the coach to manage the team, maybe this will ensure more stability/unity at the club. Then again, I feel Charnley is horribly inadequate for the job as MD (essentially only getting the job by keeping his head down and being a 'yes man') but his head hasn't rolled despite his role in seeing the club go perilously close to the drop.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Interesting to note is that they have an international player for the new season. Adam Priestley from Gibraltar! 24 years old, 10 caps. He's about to play a mainly better side in Germany. So you can certainly say the team is serious about making it four promotions in a row.

Talking about internationals. FC United has finally made our own!
We had Rory Patterson in the past who moved to a higher divisional and got to the Northern Irish team. But now we have made Matt Walwyn an international for St Kitts and Nevis............assuming he gets a game vs El Savador tonight and/or on the weekend.

 

[SM]

Talking about internationals. FC United has finally made our own!
We had Rory Patterson in the past who moved to a higher divisional and got to the Northern Irish team. But now we have made Matt Walwyn an international for St Kitts and Nevis............assuming he gets a game vs El Savador tonight and/or on the weekend.

Is that even a country?

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Haha if it really bothered her so much, couldn't she just buy the club and stop it from happening?

Could you imagine if that happened? That means David Beckham could've played for Posh! In more ways than one!

Then again, I think she misses her high class shopping malls, something you won't get when you're out with the sheep.

On the one hand I think its a good step in the right direction - hopefully this is a sign that the existing model at the club is being changed and the 'head coach' (manager) is given more power and say in matters instead of just being a puppet.

At the same time, it kind of reeks of the inmates running the asylum. I rate Carr as a scout and Moncur is a well meaning club legend but none of them have any financial expertise (to replace John Irving our outgoing finance director) or even business expertise which is a concern. I have always wanted more 'football people' on the board to try and help address the profit driven focus of the club but this seems to be an imbalance/going too far the other way.

Plus I feel its the board's responsibility (traditionally) is to assess and evaluate the manager's performance. Does that become distorted with the manager sitting on the board?

Very interesting development and I guess time will tell how everything works. Given our existing model was for Carr to scout, Charnley to negotiate and the coach to manage the team, maybe this will ensure more stability/unity at the club. Then again, I feel Charnley is horribly inadequate for the job as MD (essentially only getting the job by keeping his head down and being a 'yes man') but his head hasn't rolled despite his role in seeing the club go perilously close to the drop.

I think you’ve summed it up quite nicely. It seems like a step in the right direction, especially in regards to the structure of the club, but also at the same time, as you have noted, you don’t exactly have people with much business sense. (I can’t really say for certain since I’m not entirely sure on the staff’s credentials. Has it been confirmed that Moncur is the new FD?)

Then again, you guys have made some decent profit, there’s no doubt about it. What the problem is that you’re not doing anything with it. You’re a footballing club first. Although I’m sure a certain person begs to differ. I think by this move, it seems Ashley is going to let football to the talking, on the pitch. After all, with the mega millions on offer, especially next season with 100m guaranteed just for finishing bottom, you’d really want to make sure you’re in the Premier League! (Oh god, what if that’s the reason why Ashley is doing something now? Making sure the team is in the league for the big pay day?)

I would like to think there are things set out in the constitution when it comes to the review of the manager, so you’re not going to have the Wally stink up the place, more so than it already is.

Funnily enough about the appointment, I think the move benefits both club and manager no matter what happens, dare I even say, relegation. Look at it this way, any up and coming manager avoided the club like the plague simply because the move would be a career-killer, even with the given conditions.

With Mclaren, let’s face it, his record isn’t exactly stellar. He’s done some nice things, but there’s more lows than highs. If he succeeds with Newcastle, then it will increase his reputation again. If he fails, he can blame the board, because everyone knows about Newcastle. The fact he’s already an established figure pretty much means he won’t lose any reputation, whereas the blow would be more harmful to an up and coming manager. For the club, I don’t think I need to explain the benefits of success, but even relegation would force an even further rethink of the structure, and finally let itself be completely open to the reigns of a talented manager. Newcastle already has the resources, and while the Championship is tough game, it’s still a very good place to get experience.

Honestly, in a twisted way, this partnership is perfect; good, bad, or anything in between. Let's just hope this is more like Twente, and less like, well twenty(ith).

Talking about internationals. FC United has finally made our own!
We had Rory Patterson in the past who moved to a higher divisional and got to the Northern Irish team. But now we have made Matt Walwyn an international for St Kitts and Nevis............assuming he gets a game vs El Savador tonight and/or on the weekend.

Great to hear! Now Harry has someone to play with. (Yep, we have St Kitts' best player, and he's only 20! I thought for certain he would play for Cyprus.)

Oh, speaking of FC... how about the tale of Austria Salzburg? A team like FC United, only they could potentially play in the top tier next season against the very club that sold itself out. However, in a twist to get promotion, they need to beat the feeder team!

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Could you imagine if that happened? That means David Beckham could've played for Posh! In more ways than one!

Then again, I think she misses her high class shopping malls, something you won't get when you're out with the sheep.

You could say it might spice up their family life too! (don't worry, I'll get my coat and see myself out).

I think you’ve summed it up quite nicely. It seems like a step in the right direction, especially in regards to the structure of the club, but also at the same time, as you have noted, you don’t exactly have people with much business sense. (I can’t really say for certain since I’m not entirely sure on the staff’s credentials. Has it been confirmed that Moncur is the new FD?)

Then again, you guys have made some decent profit, there’s no doubt about it. What the problem is that you’re not doing anything with it. You’re a footballing club first. Although I’m sure a certain person begs to differ. I think by this move, it seems Ashley is going to let football to the talking, on the pitch. After all, with the mega millions on offer, especially next season with 100m guaranteed just for finishing bottom, you’d really want to make sure you’re in the Premier League! (Oh god, what if that’s the reason why Ashley is doing something now? Making sure the team is in the league for the big pay day?)

I would like to think there are things set out in the constitution when it comes to the review of the manager, so you’re not going to have the Wally stink up the place, more so than it already is.

Funnily enough about the appointment, I think the move benefits both club and manager no matter what happens, dare I even say, relegation. Look at it this way, any up and coming manager avoided the club like the plague simply because the move would be a career-killer, even with the given conditions.

With Mclaren, let’s face it, his record isn’t exactly stellar. He’s done some nice things, but there’s more lows than highs. If he succeeds with Newcastle, then it will increase his reputation again. If he fails, he can blame the board, because everyone knows about Newcastle. The fact he’s already an established figure pretty much means he won’t lose any reputation, whereas the blow would be more harmful to an up and coming manager. For the club, I don’t think I need to explain the benefits of success, but even relegation would force an even further rethink of the structure, and finally let itself be completely open to the reigns of a talented manager. Newcastle already has the resources, and while the Championship is tough game, it’s still a very good place to get experience.

Honestly, in a twisted way, this partnership is perfect; good, bad, or anything in between. Let's just hope this is more like Twente, and less like, well twenty(ith).

Thanks for your thoughts FT. Some very interesting comments you make mate - some I hadn't even seen mentioned elsewhere!

Even after a day to digest it, I still can't make out whether this will be a good thing in the long run or not. It has the makings of an astute and inspired decision (or at least one that sees us improve in the transfer side of things, something the fans have been yearning for for some time). Then again, if it blows up miserably, then its just another humourous mistake by the regime.

As far as I’m aware, the most ‘business savvy’ member on the board is Lee Charnley (our MD) which isn’t saying a lot IMO. He has seemingly only risen through the ranks by being a bit of a ‘yes man’ – though to his credit, we did some much needed spending last summer of which he was part of so maybe he’ll do okay in this area again (most reports say Ashley has green lit spending). I think its more the day to day running of the club that is a concern (the lack of communication with the fans being probably the biggest concern). Of the others, there’s a well travelled scout in Graham Carr (who seems to be our unofficial director of football), our ambassadorial club president in Moncur (maybe his remit to being put on the board is to be the ‘PR’ guy) and McClaren (the manager).

There’s definitely money to spend in the bank ($35m pounds reportedly at the last set of results) plus given how close we came to falling off the PL gravy train, surely Ashley will realise money has to be spent to avoid what would be a 4th relegation battle in 7 seasons. The point you make about maybe this being Ashley’s real motivation (let’s be honest, wouldn’t be a big surprise) is also a strong reason for fans to not openly forgive the mistakes made and hope for a better future. He’s got to earn the fans trust back – as the saying goes, trust is easy to lose but harder to build.

I think the upcoming window will be a good indicator as to how much power McClaren has to do things his way and to see whether both he and Ashley are genuine about their desire to ‘win something’. I think most fans seem like they want to give McClaren a chance. He’s better than Carver and I think (maybe its just my eternal optimism speaking/hoping) he is at least marginally better than Pardew (at least has accomplished more in his career to date anyway). I think if he can restore the pride the players have in the shirt they wear, make us competitive and insert some energy, character and passion back into the team, that would be really nice. Playing strong teams in the cups will also win him approval too.

On the bit you posted about him being an experienced manager with perhaps not the best recent track record; There was a good piece by journalist Wendy Taylor I read yesterday suggesting that this appointment is kind of a ‘make or break’ for McClaren’s career. His star had risen with some impressive achievements at Boro but the England debacle really hurt him. He regained some creditability with a title with Twente but since then hasn’t had the best of successes. I think she basically said something like if McClaren doesn’t ‘succeed’ with us, he may not get a chance to manage at a ‘big’ (Premier League club) again where as if he can turn it around for us, he also helps redeem his reputation to a degree, in England. In a funny way, I think Pardew did the same – he had overseen a relegation with Charlton and then was sacked by (then) League One Southampton. By a stroke of luck (or maybe just by being casino buddies with Ashley lol) he found himself back in the PL with us and with a chance to try and re-establish his career as a PL manager. Given all the changes likely to happen in the coming weeks and months, plus how disjointed the club and the fanbase are, maybe an experienced head like McClaren (who at least should understand the NE mentality) is the kind of stable figure we need to see the Toon ship into calmer and safer waters.

I have no idea how it will all end but fair to say it can't end much worse than this season past...so with that in mind, I'll be keeping my fingers and toes crossed that history remembers this as a 'positive' step forward for the club.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Interesting to note is that they have an international player for the new season. Adam Priestley from Gibraltar! 24 years old, 10 caps. He's about to play a mainly better side in Germany. So you can certainly say the team is serious about making it four promotions in a row.

Read a match report of their game against Germany and seems Priestley even when close to finding the net! That would have been some moment for him and his country!

Seems like their hero though was Fireman/Goalkeeper Jordan Perez. They may have lost heavily but I daresay without a few of these impressive saves, the scoreline could have been much worse.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/14/firef...r-gibraltar-in-7-0-defeat-to-germany-5245292/

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Read a match report of their game against Germany and seems Priestley even when close to finding the net! That would have been some moment for him and his country!

Seems like their hero though was Fireman/Goalkeeper Jordan Perez. They may have lost heavily but I daresay without a few of these impressive saves, the scoreline could have been much worse.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/14/firef...r-gibraltar-in-7-0-defeat-to-germany-5245292/

That would certainly be some bragging rights, scoring against world number 1 Germany! That goal would've meant they're as good as Brazil! Lol. Though... it was a worse performance than last year, where they lost 4-0 away.

Some great saves there! Hopefully someone was watching! Jordan Perez from the Lions of Gibraltar!

Of course with small nations, come even smaller clubs. Players working a part time job with footy on the side. Of course, that doesn't stip some of them reaching the highs.

How about this beauty?


Not bad for a computer repairman, huh? Fastest ever goal at the world cup (qualifiers, but still counts.) A record that will likely be forever stuck with England. The shame of it all.

Fun Fact: Even if Poland won over the Netherlands by one goal, England would've still failed to qualify due to Davide Gualtieri's goal (England needed to win by at least 7 goals if Poland managed to win.)

Let's be honest, if you come by Gualtieri's shop, you're not going to ask him to repair your laptop: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-of-reliving-the-World-Cup-night-in-1993.html

 

[NUFC Tiger]

That would certainly be some bragging rights, scoring against world number 1 Germany! That goal would've meant they're as good as Brazil! Lol. Though... it was a worse performance than last year, where they lost 4-0 away.

Some great saves there! Hopefully someone was watching! Jordan Perez from the Lions of Gibraltar!

Of course with small nations, come even smaller clubs. Players working a part time job with footy on the side. Of course, that doesn't stip some of them reaching the highs.

How about this beauty?


Not bad for a computer repairman, huh? Fastest ever goal at the world cup (qualifiers, but still counts.) A record that will likely be forever stuck with England. The shame of it all.

Fun Fact: Even if Poland won over the Netherlands by one goal, England would've still failed to qualify due to Davide Gualtieri's goal (England needed to win by at least 7 goals if Poland managed to win.)

Let's be honest, if you come by Gualtieri's shop, you're not going to ask him to repair your laptop: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-of-reliving-the-World-Cup-night-in-1993.html

That's an amazing piece of history! How's that! He even got his name on a plaque and became a celebrity in his country for the goal!

I was a bit surprised he kept Pearce's shirt in his closet, I would have got it framed but each to their own I guess.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

That's an amazing piece of history! How's that! He even got his name on a plaque and became a celebrity in his country for the goal!

I was a bit surprised he kept Pearce's shirt in his closet, I would have got it framed but each to their own I guess.

Ah, come on mate, those San Maranese are humble people. They don't want to cause further public shame to the one that gifted him the goal. They want rather celebrate the fact they have the record, and they were skilled enough to get on the end of it!

After all, they celebrate the win/draw, the opposition manager gets the sack, lol.



A list of players and the jobs they did (2012):

GOALKEEPERS

Mattia Manzaroli, 21, San Giovanni - Office worker

Aldo Simoncini, 26, A.C. Libertas - Accountant

Federico Valentini, 30, S.P. Tre Penne - Bank clerk

DEFENDERS

Simone Bacciocchi, 35, Sporting Novafeltria - Hospital office worker

Gianluca Bollini, 32, Sporting NovaValmarecchia - Owns a removal company with his brother Fabio, who plays in midfield

Cristian Brolli, 20 - Student

Alessandro Della Valle, 30, Scot Due Emme - Bank clerk

Marco Muraccini, 21 - Student

Mirko Palazzi, 25 - Professional footballer with Rimini Calcio

Davide Simoncini, 26, Santa Giustina - Accountant

Damiano Vannucci, 35, La Fiorita - Gym owner

Fabio Vitaioli, 28, S.S. Murata - Owns a bar with his brother Matteo, who plays in midfield

MIDFIELDERS

Fabio Bollini, 29, S.S. Murata - Runs a removal firm with his brother Gianluca

Lorenzo Buscarini, 21, Cailungo - Student

Michele Cervellini, 24, Juvenes Dogana - Student

Enrico Cibelli, 25 - Barman

Matteo Coppini, 23, Atletico Montecchio - Works for an olive oil company

Alex Gasperoni, 28, S.P. Tre Penne - Owns a company which fits lighting in farm buildings

Pier Filippo Mazza, 24, Sant'Ermete Calcio - Student

Marco Rosti, 23, S.P. Tre Penne - Student

Matteo Vitaioli, 22, San Marino Calcio - Owns a bar with his brother Fabio

FORWARDS

Alessandro Bianchi, 23, Folgore/Falciano - Shop worker

Manuel Marani, 28, U.S. Russi - Works for a soft drinks company

Danilo Rinaldi, 26 - Works for a furniture company

Andy Selva, 36 - Professional Player


The team in 2014:

Fun fact: I actually own Rinaldi's Number 11 shirt from 2008-9 when they were playing qualifiers!



Speaking of professionalism, do you know what is the status of FGR's players? Are they semi-pros or fully professional?

 

[joy division]

We had McLaren as our assitant in our promotion push 13/14 and he didn't get enough credit for what he did at our club. Pretty much turned around any backroom and on field troubles we had on his own. He moved off to Derby mid season, our form instantly dropped and Derby went on a winning spree and were very unfortunate to miss out on promotion (to us funnily enough). Wish we could have signed him on for this coming season.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Ah, come on mate, those San Maranese are humble people. They don't want to cause further public shame to the one that gifted him the goal. They want rather celebrate the fact they have the record, and they were skilled enough to get on the end of it!

After all, they celebrate the win/draw, the opposition manager gets the sack, lol.



A list of players and the jobs they did (2012):

GOALKEEPERS

Mattia Manzaroli, 21, San Giovanni - Office worker

Aldo Simoncini, 26, A.C. Libertas - Accountant

Federico Valentini, 30, S.P. Tre Penne - Bank clerk

DEFENDERS

Simone Bacciocchi, 35, Sporting Novafeltria - Hospital office worker

Gianluca Bollini, 32, Sporting NovaValmarecchia - Owns a removal company with his brother Fabio, who plays in midfield

Cristian Brolli, 20 - Student

Alessandro Della Valle, 30, Scot Due Emme - Bank clerk

Marco Muraccini, 21 - Student

Mirko Palazzi, 25 - Professional footballer with Rimini Calcio

Davide Simoncini, 26, Santa Giustina - Accountant

Damiano Vannucci, 35, La Fiorita - Gym owner

Fabio Vitaioli, 28, S.S. Murata - Owns a bar with his brother Matteo, who plays in midfield

MIDFIELDERS

Fabio Bollini, 29, S.S. Murata - Runs a removal firm with his brother Gianluca

Lorenzo Buscarini, 21, Cailungo - Student

Michele Cervellini, 24, Juvenes Dogana - Student

Enrico Cibelli, 25 - Barman

Matteo Coppini, 23, Atletico Montecchio - Works for an olive oil company

Alex Gasperoni, 28, S.P. Tre Penne - Owns a company which fits lighting in farm buildings

Pier Filippo Mazza, 24, Sant'Ermete Calcio - Student

Marco Rosti, 23, S.P. Tre Penne - Student

Matteo Vitaioli, 22, San Marino Calcio - Owns a bar with his brother Fabio

FORWARDS

Alessandro Bianchi, 23, Folgore/Falciano - Shop worker

Manuel Marani, 28, U.S. Russi - Works for a soft drinks company

Danilo Rinaldi, 26 - Works for a furniture company

Andy Selva, 36 - Professional Player


The team in 2014:

Fun fact: I actually own Rinaldi's Number 11 shirt from 2008-9 when they were playing qualifiers!



Speaking of professionalism, do you know what is the status of FGR's players? Are they semi-pros or fully professional?

Haha that's so cool - imagine being a student and telling your uni mates you got to rub shoulders and swap shirts with big name stars.

How'd you come into possession of Rinaldi's shirt?

Forest Green's status was semi pro before Vince (owner) came in, he then turned all the players and coaching staff full time employees.

We had McLaren as our assitant in our promotion push 13/14 and he didn't get enough credit for what he did at our club. Pretty much turned around any backroom and on field troubles we had on his own. He moved off to Derby mid season, our form instantly dropped and Derby went on a winning spree and were very unfortunate to miss out on promotion (to us funnily enough). Wish we could have signed him on for this coming season.

Thanks for that joy division - always good to hear tidbits like this from fans of other clubs.

I'm still a bit unsure of how he'll go but he at least seems to be having a positive impact on the club, I'll be very interested to see how the players take to him and if he does anything big (like changing the captain) to put his stamp on the team or if he'll try and fix the many fractures around the club - I think the working relationship with our scout/de facto Director of Football Graham Carr could be a boon for the club. I'm also excited to see what his previous experience brings to the job (from reports, we might be going Dutch in the transfer market for example).

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Haha that's so cool - imagine being a student and telling your uni mates you got to rub shoulders and swap shirts with big name stars.

How'd you come into possession of Rinaldi's shirt?

Forest Green's status was semi pro before Vince (owner) came in, he then turned all the players and coaching staff full time employees.



Thanks for that joy division - always good to hear tidbits like this from fans of other clubs.

I'm still a bit unsure of how he'll go but he at least seems to be having a positive impact on the club, I'll be very interested to see how the players take to him and if he does anything big (like changing the captain) to put his stamp on the team or if he'll try and fix the many fractures around the club - I think the working relationship with our scout/de facto Director of Football Graham Carr could be a boon for the club. I'm also excited to see what his previous experience brings to the job (from reports, we might be going Dutch in the transfer market for example).

Indeed! Ironically one of the few places where young uni students can claim that thanks to the amateur status of the San Maranese. That reminds me, Adidas did a series that covered San Marino (It's a shorty, but it comes in 4 parts):




Got it off a very reliable seller who comes across some absolute rare gems (and can verify the kits), including player issue shirts for clubs and nations, big and small, from all eras. They had a few of the first version player issue shirts from the campaign. Needless to say that Selva’s #10 shirt went pretty quickly (His shirt was a fair bit dearer than the others). The one player I really liked was Rinaldi, and I did remember that he wore the number 11 in that game against Poland (First game) and the Czech Republic (First game as starter). Of course, one feature about the shirt is that they don’t actually have names on the back. The shirt maker (Virma) is quite small, and considering San Marino’s status on the world stage, there’s little point in creating fully personalised shirts. The only one you can say with certainty is Andy Selva, he’s been the number 10 for many years (Rinaldi is expected to succeed Selva for the number 10, since he does wear 10 when Selva doesn’t play). Also, the light blue shirts (that actually match the flag) are much nicer than the generic Adidas shirts they now wear (also unnamed).

Still, I have Rinaldi’s shirt, and I feel very happy of the fact that I have it. San Marino’s not exactly an easy country to get shirts of (I think it’s now easier to get them thanks to Adidas… Surely you can get them at the matches? Even then, I think it’s a generic dark blue shirt with a San Marino badge on it (if even that). I’d like confirmation on that.) Even if you do manage to find one, expect a lot of competition for them. It's got a cult following in England, for more reasons than one!



Great news! It seems that Vince has also carried his ambitions onto the football field too (At least it's more than just vegging out.) I believe he took over in 2010, and as things stand, they've been in the Conference since 1998 (which is also their highest tier), which is easier to go the wrong way than it is the right way (heck, they were speared relegation 10 years ago) given there's only two spots for promotion (And FGR have never finished in a playoff spot I believe). They could've easily been swept out now that more and more money is entering the Football League, and the Conference is becoming more and more professional. I think 5th is also the new PB. What has Vince got up his sleeve to push his club to the promised land?

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Indeed! Ironically one of the few places where young uni students can claim that thanks to the amateur status of the San Maranese. That reminds me, Adidas did a series that covered San Marino (It's a shorty, but it comes in 4 parts):



Got it off a very reliable seller who comes across some absolute rare gems (and can verify the kits), including player issue shirts for clubs and nations, big and small, from all eras. They had a few of the first version player issue shirts from the campaign. Needless to say that Selva’s #10 shirt went pretty quickly (His shirt was a fair bit dearer than the others). The one player I really liked was Rinaldi, and I did remember that he wore the number 11 in that game against Poland (First game) and the Czech Republic (First game as starter). Of course, one feature about the shirt is that they don’t actually have names on the back. The shirt maker (Virma) is quite small, and considering San Marino’s status on the world stage, there’s little point in creating fully personalised shirts. The only one you can say with certainty is Andy Selva, he’s been the number 10 for many years (Rinaldi is expected to succeed Selva for the number 10, since he does wear 10 when Selva doesn’t play). Also, the light blue shirts (that actually match the flag) are much nicer than the generic Adidas shirts they now wear (also unnamed).

Still, I have Rinaldi’s shirt, and I feel very happy of the fact that I have it. San Marino’s not exactly an easy country to get shirts of (I think it’s now easier to get them thanks to Adidas… Surely you can get them at the matches? Even then, I think it’s a generic dark blue shirt with a San Marino badge on it (if even that). I’d like confirmation on that.) Even if you do manage to find one, expect a lot of competition for them. It's got a cult following in England, for more reasons than one!

Great news! It seems that Vince has also carried his ambitions onto the football field too (At least it's more than just vegging out.) I believe he took over in 2010, and as things stand, they've been in the Conference since 1998 (which is also their highest tier), which is easier to go the wrong way than it is the right way (heck, they were speared relegation 10 years ago) given there's only two spots for promotion (And FGR have never finished in a playoff spot I believe). They could've easily been swept out now that more and more money is entering the Football League, and the Conference is becoming more and more professional. I think 5th is also the new PB. What has Vince got up his sleeve to push his club to the promised land?

Am I correct in saying San Marino have never won a competitive qualifier? I seem to think they may never even have scored a single point either? Always fascinating to read about these tiny nations taking on the world with part time footballers. Tahiti won plenty of admirers and fans when they played at the Confederations Cup a few years ago IIRC.

You rightly should be pleased to have Rinaldi's shirt in your possession. How many fans around the world can say they own a San Maranese top? Not many you'd suspect! I'd love to start a shirt collection myself and get them framed - just need to find some money for that hobby!

Yep, very exciting to think of the ambition and vision Vince has for the club - I wish Mike Ashley took a leaf from his book! I believe we're the longest tenants of the Conference National and have gone close to dropping out a few times over the journey (often being saved by other's going into administration). We actually qualified for the playoffs this season past - the first time in the club's history but were knocked out by Bristol Rovers (who went on and went up). As you say, the league is getting tougher and tougher every season - perhaps a flow on effect of more money at the top of the pyramid and that filtering down the football hierarchy.

Vince's ultimate ambition is to get the club to the Championship but from what I've seen, he's not going to go out and spend crazy money to achieve that. It seems more of a slow/measured build up which I'm fine with. That being said, we've apparently been busy just signing our 5th player this window - Aaron O’Connor from Newport County. Apparently he rejected offers from some other clubs in the division to join us citing the club 'matched his ambition' - he was their leading scorer last season and previously helped them win promotion to league 2 back in 2013. From all reports, we're gearing up for another promotion push - hopefully we can go that extra step next season.

 

[Magma]

andy selva, fm legend

 

[Fryer Tuck]

You are correct in saying they’ve never won a competitive qualifier, seeing how they have won just one game in their entire existence, against Lichtenstein, Selva with the winning goal. However, they have gotten three draws in qualifiers, the first two have resulted in the opposition manger in getting sacked. Turkey in 1993, Latvia in 2001, and Estonia last November. Tahiti had done respectfully, although it has to be said that more respect should be given to New Caledonia, the nation that actually knocked off New Zealand 2-0! Tahiti obviously took advantage of a tired New Caledonia, lol. The Solomon Islands almost forced the Kiwis into overtime for the 3rd place match. The Kiwis were quite clearly rattled.


I’ve always wanted to try get a shirt from all of the FIFA nations (maybe some non-FIFA nations if they present themselves). Looking around, I’m surprised that hasn’t been done, but the collectors did note one thing: The African teams are a problem. Apparently the shirts some African teams wear are actually knockoffs, which means it’s difficult to tell if what you have is the ‘real’ deal, or just a knockoff of a knockoff. Also, some of the kits the smaller teams have can be quite interesting.


Remember the ‘worst team in the world’?

Even San Marino had their fair share:

Well, at least it’s great to hear that the man really wants out, and knows better than to go crazy in throwing his money. Like everything at the club, he wants something sustainable. After all, no good getting promotion to League 2, only to find yourself on the way out in the first season. You want stability. Of course, it does help when you’ve got someone who has the coin. Fleetwood Town heavily benefitted from the Vardy transfer. A million pounds is very usual money in that league. Then again, to strike the right balance between spending and stability is the key.


Well the fact that you have players wanting to join you because of your ambition is a very good sign that you have demand, and not merely on a monetary level (though I think it helps a lot, especially with Vince at the helm), which at that level, would be a determining factor (The weird thing is, You’ve got money being a notable factor in the Premier League, which decreases in importance the lower you go, before it spikes back up in the Conference purely because of professionalism.) After all, some clubs, like Luton, could offer some decent coin that could be above League 2 standards, but because of the current status, the player won't go. But yeah, that’s pretty big that, rejecting Newport to come down to FGR. Then again, there isn’t too much difference these days between the bottom of League 2 and Conference top half… but the difference between Conference teams… hoo boy.


Actually, here’s a piece that could be of interest of you: http://thetwounfortunates.com/from-blue-square-premier-to-football-league/

But yeah, if you want up, it's either as Champions, or the big gamble of the playoffs. Some demand one more place for promotion: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...current-system-simply-isnt-fair-10271862.html (I also like the usage of Jamie Vardy as the face of non-league football)

It's an interesting question, while it means more teams going up, it also means more professional teams going down. One also wonders what it means for the Tier 6 teams if the Conference becomes fully professional despite its status as an amateur league. It also raises the question if this is sustainable, because unlike the FL, you've got a further reduction of money even for League 2 standards. Would there be enough money to support these clubs. It's bad enough that the chances of a club defaulting increases at this level.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

You are correct in saying they’ve never won a competitive qualifier, seeing how they have won just one game in their entire existence, against Lichtenstein, Selva with the winning goal. However, they have gotten three draws in qualifiers, the first two have resulted in the opposition manger in getting sacked. Turkey in 1993, Latvia in 2001, and Estonia last November. Tahiti had done respectfully, although it has to be said that more respect should be given to New Caledonia, the nation that actually knocked off New Zealand 2-0! Tahiti obviously took advantage of a tired New Caledonia, lol. The Solomon Islands almost forced the Kiwis into overtime for the 3rd place match. The Kiwis were quite clearly rattled.


I’ve always wanted to try get a shirt from all of the FIFA nations (maybe some non-FIFA nations if they present themselves). Looking around, I’m surprised that hasn’t been done, but the collectors did note one thing: The African teams are a problem. Apparently the shirts some African teams wear are actually knockoffs, which means it’s difficult to tell if what you have is the ‘real’ deal, or just a knockoff of a knockoff. Also, some of the kits the smaller teams have can be quite interesting.


Remember the ‘worst team in the world’?

Even San Marino had their fair share:

Well, at least it’s great to hear that the man really wants out, and knows better than to go crazy in throwing his money. Like everything at the club, he wants something sustainable. After all, no good getting promotion to League 2, only to find yourself on the way out in the first season. You want stability. Of course, it does help when you’ve got someone who has the coin. Fleetwood Town heavily benefitted from the Vardy transfer. A million pounds is very usual money in that league. Then again, to strike the right balance between spending and stability is the key.


Well the fact that you have players wanting to join you because of your ambition is a very good sign that you have demand, and not merely on a monetary level (though I think it helps a lot, especially with Vince at the helm), which at that level, would be a determining factor (The weird thing is, You’ve got money being a notable factor in the Premier League, which decreases in importance the lower you go, before it spikes back up in the Conference purely because of professionalism.) After all, some clubs, like Luton, could offer some decent coin that could be above League 2 standards, but because of the current status, the player won't go. But yeah, that’s pretty big that, rejecting Newport to come down to FGR. Then again, there isn’t too much difference these days between the bottom of League 2 and Conference top half… but the difference between Conference teams… hoo boy.


Actually, here’s a piece that could be of interest of you: http://thetwounfortunates.com/from-blue-square-premier-to-football-league/

But yeah, if you want up, it's either as Champions, or the big gamble of the playoffs. Some demand one more place for promotion: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...current-system-simply-isnt-fair-10271862.html (I also like the usage of Jamie Vardy as the face of non-league football)

It's an interesting question, while it means more teams going up, it also means more professional teams going down. One also wonders what it means for the Tier 6 teams if the Conference becomes fully professional despite its status as an amateur league. It also raises the question if this is sustainable, because unlike the FL, you've got a further reduction of money even for League 2 standards. Would there be enough money to support these clubs. It's bad enough that the chances of a club defaulting increases at this level.

Geez, must be tough for their fans - sounds like favourable results are few and far in between! It would be fun to see a 'minnow' group one day for countries like San Marino, Lichtenstein and Luxembourg to see who would prevail haha. Do San Marino have the worst record in competitive fixtures in Europe? Following on from our F1 chat, I just noticed they haven't had a GP since 2006 as well. Would San Marino perhaps have a team playing in the Italian lower leagues (or do they have their own competition)? Maybe its something that could be looked at to try and raise the standard of football in the country in search of that first competitive win?

Not sure if it has been done but if you could get a shirt for every national team, that would be a fair collection. Could open a museum or something too to showcase them.

I don't mind those San Marino kits - they kind of remind me of Napoli (how I'm sure they wish they could play at a similar level!)

Yes, we're very lucky to have a seemingly patient owner at the helm with deep pockets to boot. The club was on its knees before Vince came in and he's helped transform us from a semi pro club clutching to the lowest rung of the conference table to a team that seemingly pushing closer every season to finally a belated foray into the Football League. On the bit about Vardy and Fleetwood town, not sure if you have heard of him but we had a striker once called Stuart Fleetwood - who banged in the goals for us. We ended up selling him to Charlton for about 88k pounds IIRC (which was huge money for the club then). But back on Vince, he seems very patient and hasn't demanded instant results or anything like that which helps create a stable club and platform to build on. Certainly a breath of fresh air from some of the times when rumours of administration were lurking about the place!

I think the wages (by comparison) would have some part in a player's decision to join us - certainly some clubs have criticised that they can't compete with the wages we can offer (not sure if we are seen as a Man City or Chelsea of the lower leagues haha) but I think the overall club as a package would be pretty attractive. There's a clear ambition to get into the football league, the facilities are supposedly better than even a few League One clubs and the profile of the club has risen since Vince has come to town - small things like having Puma as a kit sponsor are IMO quite impressive for a non league club. Certainly though, I'd still see us as a bit of a small dog next to a few of the bigger clubs in the division.

That piece was quite interesting - due to how few avenues to promotion to the Football League are (2 spots every season), the non league landscape really is starting to look like a pit where every club is trying to climb over each other to escape it. As the article mentioned, it now seems like if you're not looking firmly ahead and pushing yourself to go forward, then you're looking nervously over your shoulder at the prospect of being over taken by clubs who might have once be a few leagues below you.

I do wonder if they'd ever consider making it 3 teams going up and 3 coming down - with how competitive the league is becoming, I'm sure the temptation for some clubs to overspend in a gamble to crack into (or back into) the Football League is tempting...and also runs the risk of it becoming unsustainable/non viable. Was interesting to read that the 2 biggest jumps in quality are between the championship and premier league & with the conference north/south with the conference national.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Well, yeah. It doesn’t exactly help when San Marino don’t play teams on their level. Their most commonly played teams are Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and England! They have never played Andorra or Malta, and have played 5 games total against Liechtenstien and the Faroe Islands.

Thankfully, you might get that wish… well, I can’t promise all of them playing together, but thanks to a format known as the Nations League, coming to you in 2018, we will see teams playing with other teams of their level in a promotion/relegation system! According to the format, the bottom 16 teams will be League D, and they will be separated into 4 pools of 4. The seeded teams will be determined by national team coefficient, not by FIFA ranking. So if the Nations League started for the 15/16 season, top seeds would be Lituania, Moldova, Azerbijan and Latvia for League D. So you could get a pool like Moldova, Cyprus, Liechtenstein and San Marino. The top team of the pool gets promoted to League C. San Marino would play 6 games against those teams in their Pool for promotion, and also qualifying for Euro 2020 (That’s for another time). As a very interesting note, at least one of the bottom 12 teams in League D will get a spot in Euro 2020.

Theoretically, San Marino will actually have more chance of qualifying for the Euros, as they just need to finish on top of their group, which the highest ranked team could be Lithuania, and then just win two play off matches against the other winners in League D (Say… Azerbaijan and Belarus). Do that, and history is made!


In terms of competitive record… funnily enough, the answer is yes. San Marino has only one win, Lichtenstein. Even Gibraltar has two; the Faroe Islands and Malta. Andorra’s not much better with three (Albania, Belarus, and Macedonia. Have to admit, those are some good wins.)


In regards to domestic competition, yes and yes! San Marino Calcio, the only professional team in San Marino. Usually they hang around C2 (4th Division), but unfortunately, they finished bottom and hence relegated last season, which means they will play in the amateur Serie D (So the Italian Conference, if you must.) Funnily enough, despite the name, there are more Spanish speaking players than actual San Maranese (including professional player Mirko Palazzi!) The club is similar to Swansea and Cardiff, as it is older than the domestic San Maranese league, and since we’re talking Italian Football, that’s where they would like to be. Their hopes is to one day be in Serie A. Their highest ever place is 17th in their group in C1… which is a relegation playoff spot.


Then we come to the domestic league of San Marino, the Campionato Sanmarinese. Thank goodness for the league files in FM, because this is a must in order to get some talented San Maranese. The Campionato is split into two groups, one with seven, the other with eight, at random. It used to have a promotion/relegation system, similar to English County Cricket, but that was given up for the current format in the mid-90s. Just think about that for a moment… there is a club that used to be the bottom club of the San Maranese 2nd division. Imagine playing a player for that team. Anyway, the top 3 clubs of each group goes into the playoffs, where the Champion is determined in a six round final series. The Champion of the Campionato plays in the Champions League in the First Qualifying round in early July. Just for reference sake, the Campionato season starts in early September. The winner of the Coppa Titano (The domestic cup, and I kid you not: It has the same format as the Wizard Cup (when they have groups, that then go into a playoff)) and 2nd place in the league playoff go into the Europa League at the first qualifying level. As the 53rd ranked nation in UEFA, they have 3 representatives n Europe. If San Marino perform well enough to reach 51st place (currently Armenia, though Wales is 50th!) then the 4th place team will enter Europa as well.


Funnily enough, there’s only one team in UEFA that doesn’t have a league, and that’s Lichenstien, due to the fact that a UEFA recognised league needs at least 8 teams, and Lichtenstein (where all of the teams play in the Swiss Leagues) has only 7. They only get one place: The domestic cup place, which means Europa League. The only way for a Lichenstien team to qualify for the Champions League is if they win the Swiss Super League. At least FC Valduz is a semi-regular in the top tier. But the Champions of Lichenstien can never be in the Champions League.


Gee whiz, I could turn this into an article. I hope you’re still with me. I didn’t actually think I’d be talking about the Campionato. Thank god for dynamic league reputations in FM.


It would be an amazing effort. I mean, if you can get your hands on this shirt, you deserve some serious cred:

Outside of trying to convince a player to give you his shirt after a match, the only other way to get this shirt, aside from a miracle on eBay or a very reliable seller? A trip down to Mogadishu (or try mailing the Somali FA for one). Also, another note, the Somali national shirts are knockoffs themselves. They’re generic Adidas shirts with Somali branding on them.





Fleetwood… Fleetwood… sorry to say the only Fleetwood I know off the top of my head has Town come after it, and I’m sure you know why, lol. Hmm… no wonder why I haven’t heard about him, he never actually played for Charlton… though according to this… he’s back at FGR? Lol. But nah, he got the club some well earned money. 88k is nothing to sneeze at in the Conference back then. I’m glad Vince is patient, and is not demanding instant results. That sort of thing is very valuable in the lower leagues, especially with more competition, and most definitely in the Conference of all places.


Indeed, and by looking at the photos at some of the happenings around the club, I think as a non-league, or even League 2 footballer, the club does have its perk and serious promise for potential. Of course, having an eco-tycoon with deep pockets does help a lot. I mean, it’s a good point. Imagine having a club the size of Bristol Rovers down in the Conference, a club that has spent its whole life in the top 4 leagues (Well, not the top tier) and is the 2nd biggest club of Bristol… that’s a very big fish. I mean, nearly all of the clubs are either from small towns, or from the boroughs of London or some other major city. Of course, Rovers’ struggle in the Conference should also go to show that not everything is easy. You get down there, and there are many clubs willing to eat you up. Heck, Torquay is probably the biggest club in the Conference. They are FL long stays before their first relegation, before promotion the next season. After they got relegated again, they have struggled. The Conference is not a pretty place for former FL clubs. Grimsby are struggling to get out, and Luton were stuck for a while. Remember that they used to duke it out between Hull and Watford respectfully. How times change. The Conference is a pit (you know which way I mean). As noted, only two go up, but a whopping four go down. Unlike the Football Leagues, it could take just as much as one player (and I’m only talking about a good player, never mind a great player) to dramatically change the hierarchy, turning midtable teams into promotion contenders. The swings can be quite wild.


I think it should stay at 4 down, giving chances for Tier 5 teams to come up from both groups, but the argument for three is an interesting one. As noted, a big team that spends a little too much time in there, going for an aggressive strategy, will find themselves folded. At least in the FL, there’s enough money to ensure that a club will survive, like Portsmouth… however, a club that is in financial trouble in League 2 is at high risk of folding. At the same time, you’ve got a lot of strong teams in the Conference, to a point where I bet even FGR could have a good shot at finishing mid-table. The difference in football quality is very narrow, but it has the potential to widen with the new TV deal with further funds trickling down the leagues. Of course the consequence means the Conference is basically League 3 when its meant to be the top of amateur football. Amateur clubs from Tier 6 are going to find it very difficult to play pro clubs from the Conference. I almost dare say it could be bigger than the PL/Championship gap in terms of relative proportion, because you have guys making a living off their football, vs the part time footballer, who has an accounting job that pays his bills.

For the record, I'd like to see 3 up, but who knows if that will become a thing.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Well, yeah. It doesn’t exactly help when San Marino don’t play teams on their level. Their most commonly played teams are Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and England! They have never played Andorra or Malta, and have played 5 games total against Liechtenstien and the Faroe Islands.

Thankfully, you might get that wish… well, I can’t promise all of them playing together, but thanks to a format known as the Nations League, coming to you in 2018, we will see teams playing with other teams of their level in a promotion/relegation system! According to the format, the bottom 16 teams will be League D, and they will be separated into 4 pools of 4. The seeded teams will be determined by national team coefficient, not by FIFA ranking. So if the Nations League started for the 15/16 season, top seeds would be Lituania, Moldova, Azerbijan and Latvia for League D. So you could get a pool like Moldova, Cyprus, Liechtenstein and San Marino. The top team of the pool gets promoted to League C. San Marino would play 6 games against those teams in their Pool for promotion, and also qualifying for Euro 2020 (That’s for another time). As a very interesting note, at least one of the bottom 12 teams in League D will get a spot in Euro 2020.

Theoretically, San Marino will actually have more chance of qualifying for the Euros, as they just need to finish on top of their group, which the highest ranked team could be Lithuania, and then just win two play off matches against the other winners in League D (Say… Azerbaijan and Belarus). Do that, and history is made!


In terms of competitive record… funnily enough, the answer is yes. San Marino has only one win, Lichtenstein. Even Gibraltar has two; the Faroe Islands and Malta. Andorra’s not much better with three (Albania, Belarus, and Macedonia. Have to admit, those are some good wins.)


In regards to domestic competition, yes and yes! San Marino Calcio, the only professional team in San Marino. Usually they hang around C2 (4th Division), but unfortunately, they finished bottom and hence relegated last season, which means they will play in the amateur Serie D (So the Italian Conference, if you must.) Funnily enough, despite the name, there are more Spanish speaking players than actual San Maranese (including professional player Mirko Palazzi!) The club is similar to Swansea and Cardiff, as it is older than the domestic San Maranese league, and since we’re talking Italian Football, that’s where they would like to be. Their hopes is to one day be in Serie A. Their highest ever place is 17th in their group in C1… which is a relegation playoff spot.


Then we come to the domestic league of San Marino, the Campionato Sanmarinese. Thank goodness for the league files in FM, because this is a must in order to get some talented San Maranese. The Campionato is split into two groups, one with seven, the other with eight, at random. It used to have a promotion/relegation system, similar to English County Cricket, but that was given up for the current format in the mid-90s. Just think about that for a moment… there is a club that used to be the bottom club of the San Maranese 2nd division. Imagine playing a player for that team. Anyway, the top 3 clubs of each group goes into the playoffs, where the Champion is determined in a six round final series. The Champion of the Campionato plays in the Champions League in the First Qualifying round in early July. Just for reference sake, the Campionato season starts in early September. The winner of the Coppa Titano (The domestic cup, and I kid you not: It has the same format as the Wizard Cup (when they have groups, that then go into a playoff)) and 2nd place in the league playoff go into the Europa League at the first qualifying level. As the 53rd ranked nation in UEFA, they have 3 representatives n Europe. If San Marino perform well enough to reach 51st place (currently Armenia, though Wales is 50th!) then the 4th place team will enter Europa as well.


Funnily enough, there’s only one team in UEFA that doesn’t have a league, and that’s Lichenstien, due to the fact that a UEFA recognised league needs at least 8 teams, and Lichtenstein (where all of the teams play in the Swiss Leagues) has only 7. They only get one place: The domestic cup place, which means Europa League. The only way for a Lichenstien team to qualify for the Champions League is if they win the Swiss Super League. At least FC Valduz is a semi-regular in the top tier. But the Champions of Lichenstien can never be in the Champions League.


Gee whiz, I could turn this into an article. I hope you’re still with me. I didn’t actually think I’d be talking about the Campionato. Thank god for dynamic league reputations in FM.


It would be an amazing effort. I mean, if you can get your hands on this shirt, you deserve some serious cred:

Outside of trying to convince a player to give you his shirt after a match, the only other way to get this shirt, aside from a miracle on eBay or a very reliable seller? A trip down to Mogadishu (or try mailing the Somali FA for one). Also, another note, the Somali national shirts are knockoffs themselves. They’re generic Adidas shirts with Somali branding on them.





Fleetwood… Fleetwood… sorry to say the only Fleetwood I know off the top of my head has Town come after it, and I’m sure you know why, lol. Hmm… no wonder why I haven’t heard about him, he never actually played for Charlton… though according to this… he’s back at FGR? Lol. But nah, he got the club some well earned money. 88k is nothing to sneeze at in the Conference back then. I’m glad Vince is patient, and is not demanding instant results. That sort of thing is very valuable in the lower leagues, especially with more competition, and most definitely in the Conference of all places.


Indeed, and by looking at the photos at some of the happenings around the club, I think as a non-league, or even League 2 footballer, the club does have its perk and serious promise for potential. Of course, having an eco-tycoon with deep pockets does help a lot. I mean, it’s a good point. Imagine having a club the size of Bristol Rovers down in the Conference, a club that has spent its whole life in the top 4 leagues (Well, not the top tier) and is the 2nd biggest club of Bristol… that’s a very big fish. I mean, nearly all of the clubs are either from small towns, or from the boroughs of London or some other major city. Of course, Rovers’ struggle in the Conference should also go to show that not everything is easy. You get down there, and there are many clubs willing to eat you up. Heck, Torquay is probably the biggest club in the Conference. They are FL long stays before their first relegation, before promotion the next season. After they got relegated again, they have struggled. The Conference is not a pretty place for former FL clubs. Grimsby are struggling to get out, and Luton were stuck for a while. Remember that they used to duke it out between Hull and Watford respectfully. How times change. The Conference is a pit (you know which way I mean). As noted, only two go up, but a whopping four go down. Unlike the Football Leagues, it could take just as much as one player (and I’m only talking about a good player, never mind a great player) to dramatically change the hierarchy, turning midtable teams into promotion contenders. The swings can be quite wild.


I think it should stay at 4 down, giving chances for Tier 5 teams to come up from both groups, but the argument for three is an interesting one. As noted, a big team that spends a little too much time in there, going for an aggressive strategy, will find themselves folded. At least in the FL, there’s enough money to ensure that a club will survive, like Portsmouth… however, a club that is in financial trouble in League 2 is at high risk of folding. At the same time, you’ve got a lot of strong teams in the Conference, to a point where I bet even FGR could have a good shot at finishing mid-table. The difference in football quality is very narrow, but it has the potential to widen with the new TV deal with further funds trickling down the leagues. Of course the consequence means the Conference is basically League 3 when its meant to be the top of amateur football. Amateur clubs from Tier 6 are going to find it very difficult to play pro clubs from the Conference. I almost dare say it could be bigger than the PL/Championship gap in terms of relative proportion, because you have guys making a living off their football, vs the part time footballer, who has an accounting job that pays his bills.

For the record, I'd like to see 3 up, but who knows if that will become a thing.

Fair read FT! Got there in the end.

I'm pretty intrigued by that Nations League! Sounds like an interesting concept and potentially a way to help give the fans of some of the traditional minnows a better chance of seeing some success. Will the Euros (the competition) be expanded to accommodate for this as well? I can imagine some nations might be opposed to diluting the competition with 'weaker' teams or perhaps (if they are taking some of the spots from the groups, then teams that aren't regular qualifiers (Scotland for example) might feel they are being neglected/having their own qualification process made more difficult.

San Marino Calcio - I was sure I'd seen a 'San Marino' team in one of the lower Italian leagues on FM a few years back - but wasn't sure if they were actually affiliated in any way with the country or if it was just a name. Interesting that you mention there are more Spanish speakers in the squad than San Maranese! Does the club have a big following? I'm guessing they would be the most prominent sporting team in the country?

Maybe next time I boot up the FM editor, I'll make it so that it only takes 1 year to gain San Maranese citizenship, so they can potentially cap more talent. (I do the same with the Philippines...as well as giving them a few unknown South Americans to help make the team more competitive lol).

That Somalia shirt isn't too bad - would be pretty interesting to see what would happen if someone wrote a letter to the Somalian FA. I wonder if they would oblige the request?

Ah no matter - but yes you're right, he's come back to the club on loan after jumping around between other clubs for a few seasons. Sadly hasn't found that golden goalscoring touch this time around but still managed to get a few apps in. I like the patient build up style of Vince too - he's clearly got a long term vision for the club and doesn't want to deviate from that. Every season we seem to get a bit stronger as well which can only be a good thing. Given how tough the conference is, I'm sure there is plenty of pressure/temptation to sack managers/turn over squads in order to find a quick route to promotion. As you say, there are still some 'big' clubs who've predominantly been League clubs throughout their existence or are based in larger cities or towns so without the money and facilities, we are probably still a small club in the wider scheme of things (though attendances and season tickets have improved steadily every season since Vince came in I believe).

By the way, when I went to have a look for the latest FGR news this morning, I was directed to an article about the recently released James Pearson - apparently he previously played for us as a reserves player! How's that for a coincidence!

http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.u...-ex-Hartpury/story-26717553-detail/story.html

 

[Fryer Tuck]

I think it’s the change that a lot of people have been asking for, because as things stand; the smaller European teams don’t really get a chance to properly develop, not to mention you can end up with some absolutely boring groups with only one winner and one going to the playoffs. There are some groups where you’ve have two teams going for it, but the group order gets determined pretty quickly, and there’s no real reward for the lesser teams. Of course, just when they expand the Euros to 24 from 2016 onwards to make it more interesting, people of course complain about saturating the competition (24 out of 54 getting in? Yeah.) So with this change, teams of a similar level now have better opportunities to develop. It’s funny how they did give a place to League D. It’s a bit similar to the AFC Challenge Cup. I personally like the idea of a League D team in there. It’s a good experience and a chance to celebrate Europe. However, the exact number that go into the Euros will need to be revised. As things stand, the Group Stage is a joke (24 becomes 16).


Yep, Two San Maranese vs Two Spaniards and an Argentine. The rest are Italians. Definitely got the interest of the people, lol. Well, that’s a good question. According to the figures… San Marino Calcio have a 7,000 seat stadium… and their average attendance… is 303. The 2nd lowest out of all the teams in the Top 4 Divisions in Italy. In regards to attendances for the Campionato… that’s a bit tricker to find. Though looking at some of the videos, I think reaching three digits is a big deal.


The Campionato Grand Final:






Mind you, the trophies and medals look pretty decent.

(Fun fact: Every team but San Giovanni has won silverware.)

Lol, the Footballer Citizenship act! Help make the team the strongest it can be (Ironically, the Vatican want make a team out of their colleges, which would be a mix of talent around the world. They also hope to get a Serie A team as well) that would be amazing. Imagine all the potential talent you can net. Truth be told, I have tried campaigns before in FMs past by introducing a supergod of a player (perfect stats) into the team, and just seeing what happens. There are some very amusing results. Oh god, the Philippines, the one name that came to mind was Matthew Hartmann. That guy did very well for both Leicester and the Philippines in defence. Unfortunately, while in the game he had 100+ caps, was in the still in the same team with Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo, Adu, and Rossi, the real one only has 6 caps to his name. (Did you ever get World Cup 2010, being very hopeful, only to find that there were no Philippines?)


I would really like to, but I am a little worried. At least that option beats the hell out of… well, actually going to the capital to get it (apparently the guy that got that shirt actually went to Somalia to get it.)


I'm sure he'll break out one of these days. It has been a steady buildup, yes. But I think this season is going to be a very important one for you guys. I think you guys were on top for a while, now is the time to ensure that you stay on top come the final game. All too often a playoff team gets swallowed up from behind, especially after a disappointing loss (then again, it was Bristol Rovers. Then again, if I recall correctly, I think you got a win over them?) I think a playoff team in the Conference really has about 2-3 years of being ‘peak’ before they get caught and need to build up for the next attack. I think you guys have at least one more year, but I dare say that the expectations for this season have risen. You have gotten that taste, and now you must get more of it.


At this junction, what were your biggest strengths and weaknesses last season, and out of those five players you’ve signed, do they address those weaknesses, or do they seem more like depth players? (Were injuries a concern at all?)

I didn’t know that… wait, reserves player? Released by Rotherham, can’t even make the first team for FGR, and yet is playing (or was) for a Premier League team… Jamie Vardy, eat your heart out… James Pearson is where its at! (Alright, I know he was like 16-19, but still, you expect better pedigree!)

That said… I do wonder if you guys are going to give him his second chance? He’s was actually quite decent for the reserves, so, I guess he could start? If Vince believes in the idea of second chances, that is.

 

[Jatz]

My goodness there's some serious text in this thread