The Headhunter - World Tour

[craigkillie]

One of the great joys as a supporter of a non-elite football club is taking on one of the big boys and giving them a bloody nose. In most cases, you won't be able to keep up with them over the whole season, but that doesn't mean that on any given Saturday (or any other day) you can't go out and smash them in a one-off game. One man has decided to take this to an extreme, by touring the world to knock the big boys down a peg or two.

Meet Howard Headhunter:

 

Howard was just an ordinary (but very small) man, but reading @oneteaminglasgow's thread on noted football forum "Pie & Bovril" inspired him to set out on his own quest. Howard's dream is not to win trophies or to have any sort of managerial success whatsoever, but is instead to become a form of footballing troll by travelling round every single playable league in Football Manager 22 and beating every club who has ever won a league title.

It doesn't matter if you were champions of Ireland in 1924 or Spain in 2020, Howard Headhunter is coming for you, and he is going to beat you. Howard loves an underdog, so he is going to achieve all of this without managing any club which has ever won a league title themselves. Howard is a big fan of international football too, and is going to also beat every single team who has won a World Cup or continental championship.

After committing to his quest, Howard realised the scale of the task which faced him. By his research, there were 540 different club sides who he would have to beat, as well as 66 international teams. This was going to take a long, long time, and he might never get there, but my goodness Howard was still going to give it a go. So he packed everything up, left behind his wife and kids, and set out on his adventure. Where would it take him?

Edited January 8, 2022 by craigkillie

[craigkillie]

Howard's Rules

• Howard will start unemployed, and with no previous playing experience or coaching badges.
   
• The aim is to secure a competitive victory over every single team who has ever won a league title and every country who have ever won a major international trophy.
   
• The list of club champions is obtained directly from the competition history on Football Manager. The only exception is that I have also included any playable clubs in the game who won titles in now defunct countries (Czechoslovakia, East Germany, USSR, Yugoslavia).
   
• The list of club champions is limited to clubs who still exist (obviously), and who started the game in a playable league. If a team drops out of the playable leagues during the game, we will keep checking up on them, but if we beat every other team and they still haven't returned then we will consider the challenge complete.
   
• The list of international champions includes the winners of the World Cup plus the six continental championships. The Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia both won the European Championships, so that means we have to beat every single country which was part of those at the time.
   
• To avoid a "painting the Forth Bridge" scenario, the list of teams to beat will only include clubs who won league titles in real life - titles won in FM after the game starts will not count.
   
• Matches in every single competition will count, including continental competitions (so, for example, you could beat a Peruvian team in the Copa Libertadores whilst managing in Argentina).
   
• A victory on penalties in a knockout cup match would count as a win, but a bonus point group stage shootout (eg in the Scottish League Cup) would not.
   
• If a cup tie is played over two legs, it is sufficient to record a win in just one of the legs, even if you are eventually knocked out.

Edited January 8, 2022 by craigkillie

[craigkillie]

Complete List of Champions

 

Spoiler

 

Team	Nation	Continent
Argentinos Juniors	Argentina	South America
Arsenal de Sarandi	Argentina	South America
Banfield	Argentina	South America
Boca Juniors	Argentina	South America
Chacarita Juniors	Argentina	South America
Estudiantes de la Plata	Argentina	South America
Ferro Carril Oeste	Argentina	South America
Gimnasia	Argentina	South America
Huracan	Argentina	South America
Independiente	Argentina	South America
Lanus	Argentina	South America
Newell’s Old Boys	Argentina	South America
Quilmes	Argentina	South America
Racing Club	Argentina	South America
River Plate	Argentina	South America
Rosario Central	Argentina	South America
San Lorenzo	Argentina	South America
Velez Sarsfield	Argentina	South America
Adelaide United	Australia	Asia
Brisbane Roar	Australia	Asia
Central Coast Mariners	Australia	Asia
Melbourne City	Australia	Asia
Melbourne Victory	Australia	Asia
Newcastle Jets	Australia	Asia
Sydney FC	Australia	Asia
Admira Wacker Modling	Austria	Europe
Austria Vienna	Austria	Europe
Blau-Weiss Linz	Austria	Europe
Florisdorfer AC	Austria	Europe
Grazer AK	Austria	Europe
LASK Linz	Austria	Europe
Rapid Vienna (& Germany)	Austria	Europe
Red Bull Salzburg	Austria	Europe
Sturm Graz	Austria	Europe
Wacker Innsbruck	Austria	Europe
WSG Tirol	Austria	Europe
BATE Borisov	Belarus	Europe
Belshina Bobruisk	Belarus	Europe
Dinamo Brest	Belarus	Europe
Dinamo Minsk	Belarus	Europe
Dnepr Mogilev	Belarus	Europe
Gomel	Belarus	Europe
Shakhter Soligorsk	Belarus	Europe
Slavia Mozyr	Belarus	Europe
Anderlecht	Belgium	Europe
Antwerp	Belgium	Europe
Cercle Brugge	Belgium	Europe
Club Brugge	Belgium	Europe
Genk	Belgium	Europe
Gent	Belgium	Europe
Mechelen	Belgium	Europe
RFC Liege	Belgium	Europe
Standard Liege	Belgium	Europe
Union Saint-Gilloise	Belgium	Europe
Atletico Mineiro	Brazil	South America
Atletico Paranaense	Brazil	South America
Bahia	Brazil	South America
Botafogo	Brazil	South America
Corinthians	Brazil	South America
Coritiba	Brazil	South America
Cruzeiro	Brazil	South America
Flamengo	Brazil	South America
Fluminense	Brazil	South America
Gremio	Brazil	South America
Guarani	Brazil	South America
Internacional	Brazil	South America
Palmeiras	Brazil	South America
Santos	Brazil	South America
Sao Paulo	Brazil	South America
Sport Recife	Brazil	South America
Vasco da Gama	Brazil	South America
Beroe Stara Zagora	Bulgaria	Europe
Botev Plovdiv	Bulgaria	Europe
Cherno More Varna	Bulgaria	Europe
CSKA Sofia	Bulgaria	Europe
Etar Veliko Tarnovo	Bulgaria	Europe
Levski Sofia	Bulgaria	Europe
Litex Lovech	Bulgaria	Europe
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	Bulgaria	Europe
Lokomotiv Sofia	Bulgaria	Europe
Ludogorets	Bulgaria	Europe
Slavia Sofia	Bulgaria	Europe
Spartak Varna	Bulgaria	Europe
Forge FC	Canada	North America
Audax Italiano	Chile	South America
Cobreloa	Chile	South America
Cobresal	Chile	South America
Colo Colo	Chile	South America
Deportes Magallanes	Chile	South America
Deportes Temuco	Chile	South America
Everton	Chile	South America
Huachipato	Chile	South America
O’Higgins	Chile	South America
Palestino	Chile	South America
Santiago Morning	Chile	South America
Santiago Wanderers	Chile	South America
Union Espanola	Chile	South America
Union San Felipe	Chile	South America
Universidad Catolica	Chile	South America
Universidad de Chile	Chile	South America
Beijing Guo’an	China	Asia
Changchun Yatai	China	Asia
Guangzhou FC	China	Asia
Shandong Taishan	China	Asia
Shanghai Port	China	Asia
Shanghai Shenhua	China	Asia
Shenzhen FC	China	Asia
America de Cali	Colombia	South America
Atletico Nacional	Colombia	South America
Boyaca Chico	Colombia	South America
Deportes Tolima	Colombia	South America
Deportes Quindio	Colombia	South America
Deportivo Cali	Colombia	South America
Deportivo Pasto	Colombia	South America
Independiente Medellin	Colombia	South America
Independiente Santa Fe	Colombia	South America
Junior	Colombia	South America
Millionarios	Colombia	South America
Once Caldas	Colombia	South America
Union Magdalena	Colombia	South America
Dinamo Zagreb	Croatia	Europe
Hajduk Split	Croatia	Europe
HNK Rijeka	Croatia	Europe
Banik Ostrava	Czech Republic	Europe
Bohemians 1905 (Czechoslovakia)	Czech Republic	Europe
MFK Vitkovice (Czechoslovakia)	Czech Republic	Europe
Slavia Prague	Czech Republic	Europe
Slovan Liberec	Czech Republic	Europe
Sparta Prague	Czech Republic	Europe
Spartak Hradec Kralove (Czechoslovakia)	Czech Republic	Europe
Viktoria Plzen	Czech Republic	Europe
Viktoria Zizkov (Czechoslovakia)	Czech Republic	Europe
Zbrojovka Brno (Czechoslovakia)	Czech Republic	Europe
Aalborg	Denmark	Europe
Akademisk Boldklub	Denmark	Europe
AGF Aarhus	Denmark	Europe
B.93	Denmark	Europe
Brondby	Denmark	Europe
Esbjerg	Denmark	Europe
FC Copenhagen	Denmark	Europe
Frem	Denmark	Europe
Hvidovre	Denmark	Europe
Lyngby	Denmark	Europe
Midtjylland	Denmark	Europe
Odense	Denmark	Europe
Silkeborg	Denmark	Europe
Vejle	Denmark	Europe
Arsenal	England	Europe
Aston Villa	England	Europe
Blackburn	England	Europe
Burnley	England	Europe
Chelsea	England	Europe
Derby	England	Europe
Everton	England	Europe
Huddersfield	England	Europe
Ipswich	England	Europe
Leeds Utd	England	Europe
Leicester	England	Europe
Liverpool	England	Europe
Man City	England	Europe
Man Utd	England	Europe
Newcastle	England	Europe
Nottingham Forest	England	Europe
Portsmouth	England	Europe
Preston	England	Europe
Sheffield Wednesday	England	Europe
Sheffield Utd	England	Europe
Sunderland	England	Europe
Tottenham	England	Europe
West Brom	England	Europe
Wolves	England	Europe
FC Haka	Finland	Europe
FC Inter	Finland	Europe
HJK Helsinki	Finland	Europe
IFK Helsingfors	Finland	Europe
IFK Mariehamn	Finland	Europe
Ilves	Finland	Europe
KuPS	Finland	Europe
KPV	Finland	Europe
KTP	Finland	Europe
SJK	Finland	Europe
Tampere United	Finland	Europe
TPS	Finland	Europe
VPS	Finland	Europe
Auxerre	France	Europe
Bordeaux	France	Europe
Lens	France	Europe
Lille	France	Europe
Lyon	France	Europe
Marseille	France	Europe
Monaco	France	Europe
Montpellier	France	Europe
Nantes	France	Europe
Nice	France	Europe
PSG	France	Europe
Reims	France	Europe
Saint-Etienne	France	Europe
Sete 34	France	Europe
Sochaux	France	Europe
Strasbourg	France	Europe
1860 Munich	Germany	Europe
Bayern Munich	Germany	Europe
Borussia Dortmund	Germany	Europe
Borussia Monchengladbach	Germany	Europe
Dynamo Dresden (East Germany)	Germany	Europe
Eintracht Braunschweig	Germany	Europe
Eintracht Frankfurt	Germany	Europe
Erzgebirge Aue (East Germany)	Germany	Europe
Fortuna Dusseldorf	Germany	Europe
FSV Zwickau (East Germany)	Germany	Europe
Greuter Furth	Germany	Europe
Hallescher FC (East Germany)	Germany	Europe
Hamburg	Germany	Europe
Hannover	Germany	Europe
Hansa Rostock (East Germany)	Germany	Europe
Hertha Berlin	Germany	Europe
Holstein Kiel	Germany	Europe
Kaiserslautern	Germany	Europe
Karlsruher	Germany	Europe
Koln	Germany	Europe
Magdeburg (East Germany)	Germany	Europe
Nurnberg	Germany	Europe
Schalke	Germany	Europe
Stuttgart	Germany	Europe
Viktoria 1899 Berlin	Germany	Europe
Werder Bremen	Germany	Europe
Wolfsburg	Germany	Europe
AEK	Greece	Europe
Aris Salonika	Greece	Europe
Larisa	Greece	Europe
Olympiakos	Greece	Europe
Panathinaikos	Greece	Europe
PAOK	Greece	Europe
ADO Den Haag	Holland	Europe
Ajax	Holland	Europe
AZ Alkmaar	Holland	Europe
FC Eindhoven	Holland	Europe
FC Twente	Holland	Europe
Feyenoord	Holland	Europe
Go Ahead Eagles	Holland	Europe
Heracles Almelo	Holland	Europe
NAC Breda	Holland	Europe
PSV	Holland	Europe
Sparta Rotterdam	Holland	Europe
Willem II	Holland	Europe
Eastern	Hong Kong	Asia
Hong Kong FC	Hong Kong	Asia
Hong Kong Rangers	Hong Kong	Asia
Kitchee	Hong Kong	Asia
Tai Po	Hong Kong	Asia
Debrecen	Hungary	Europe
Fehervar	Hungary	Europe
Ferencvaros	Hungary	Europe
Gyor	Hungary	Europe
Honved	Hungary	Europe
MTK Budapest	Hungary	Europe
Ujpest FC	Hungary	Europe
Vasas	Hungary	Europe
Zalaegerszegi TE	Hungary	Europe
Breidablik	Iceland	Europe
FH Hafnafjordur	Iceland	Europe
Fram	Iceland	Europe
IA Akranes	Iceland	Europe
IBV Vestmannaeyjar	Iceland	Europe
KA Akureyeri	Iceland	Europe
Keflavik	Iceland	Europe
KR Reykjavik	Iceland	Europe
Stjarnan	Iceland	Europe
Valur	Iceland	Europe
Vikingur	Iceland	Europe
Aizawl FC	India	Asia
Churchill Brothers	India	Asia
Chennai City	India	Asia
Kerala	India	Asia
Punjab FC	India	Asia
Arema	Indonesia	Asia
Bali United	Indonesia	Asia
Bhayangkara Solo	Indonesia	Asia
Persib Bandung	Indonesia	Asia
Persija Jakarta	Indonesia	Asia
Persipura Jayapura	Indonesia	Asia
Sriwijaya	Indonesia	Asia
Athlone Town	Ireland	Europe
Bohemians	Ireland	Europe
Cork City	Ireland	Europe
Derry City (& Northern Ireland)	Ireland	Europe
Drogheda Utd	Ireland	Europe
Dundalk	Ireland	Europe
Shamrock Rovers	Ireland	Europe
Shelbourne	Ireland	Europe
Sligo Rovers	Ireland	Europe
St Pat’s Athletic	Ireland	Europe
Waterford	Ireland	Europe
Beitar Jerusalem	Israel	Europe
Bnei Yehuda	Israel	Europe
Hapoel Be’er Sheva	Israel	Europe
Hapoel Haifa	Israel	Europe
Hapoel Kfar-Saba	Israel	Europe
Hapoel Kiryat-Shmona	Israel	Europe
Hapoel Petach-Tikva	Israel	Europe
Hapoel Ramat-Gan	Israel	Europe
Hapoel Tel-Aviv	Israel	Europe
Maccabi Haifa	Israel	Europe
Maccabi Netanya	Israel	Europe
Maccabi Tel-Aviv	Israel	Europe
AC Milan	Italy	Europe
Bologna	Italy	Europe
Cagliari	Italy	Europe
Fiorentina	Italy	Europe
Genoa	Italy	Europe
Hellas Verona	Italy	Europe
Inter	Italy	Europe
Juventus	Italy	Europe
Lazio	Italy	Europe
Napoli	Italy	Europe
Pro Vercelli	Italy	Europe
Roma	Italy	Europe
Sampdoria	Italy	Europe
Torino	Italy	Europe
FK Liepaja	Latvia	Europe
Riga FC	Latvia	Europe
Spartaks Jurmala	Latvia	Europe
Johor DT	Malaysia	Asia
Kedah	Malaysia	Asia
Kelantan	Malaysia	Asia
Kuala Lumpur City	Malaysia	Asia
Melaka United	Malaysia	Asia
Negeri Sembilan	Malaysia	Asia
Penang	Malaysia	Asia
Perak	Malaysia	Asia
Sabah	Malaysia	Asia
Selangor	Malaysia	Asia
Sri Pahang	Malaysia	Asia
Atlante	Mexico	North America
Atlas	Mexico	North America
CF America	Mexico	North America
Chivas	Mexico	North America
Cruz Azul	Mexico	North America
Leon	Mexico	North America
Monterrey	Mexico	North America
Morelia	Mexico	North America
Necaxa	Mexico	North America
Pachuca	Mexico	North America
Puebla	Mexico	North America
Pumas	Mexico	North America
Santos Laguna	Mexico	North America
Tigres	Mexico	North America
Tijuana	Mexico	North America
Toluca	Mexico	North America
Ards	Northern Ireland	Europe
Cliftonville	Northern Ireland	Europe
Coleraine	Northern Ireland	Europe
Crusaders	Northern Ireland	Europe
Distillery	Northern Ireland	Europe
Glenavon	Northern Ireland	Europe
Glentoran	Northern Ireland	Europe
Linfield	Northern Ireland	Europe
Portadown	Northern Ireland	Europe
Bodo/Glimt	Norway	Europe
Brann	Norway	Europe
Fram Larvik	Norway	Europe
Fredrikstad	Norway	Europe
Lillestrom	Norway	Europe
Lyn Oslo	Norway	Europe
Molde	Norway	Europe
Moss	Norway	Europe
Rosenborg	Norway	Europe
Skeid	Norway	Europe
Stabaek	Norway	Europe
Start	Norway	Europe
Stromsgodset	Norway	Europe
Valerenga	Norway	Europe
Viking	Norway	Europe
Alianza Lima	Peru	South America
Cristal	Peru	South America
Deportivo Binacional	Peru	South America
Deportivo Municipal	Peru	South America
Juan Aurich	Peru	South America
Melgar	Peru	South America
Sport Boys	Peru	South America
Universidad San Martin	Peru	South America
Universitario de Deportes	Peru	South America
Cracovia	Poland	Europe
Gornik Zabrze	Poland	Europe
Lech Poznan	Poland	Europe
Legia Warsaw	Poland	Europe
LKS Lodz	Poland	Europe
Piast Gliwice	Poland	Europe
Slask Wroclaw	Poland	Europe
Stal Mielec	Poland	Europe
Warta Poznan	Poland	Europe
Widzew Lodz	Poland	Europe
Wisla Krakow	Poland	Europe
Zaglebie Lubin	Poland	Europe
Belenenses	Portugal	Europe
Benfica	Portugal	Europe
Boavista	Portugal	Europe
Porto	Portugal	Europe
Sporting	Portugal	Europe
Arges Pitesti	Romania	Europe
Astra Giurgiu	Romania	Europe
CAO Oradea (& Hungary)	Romania	Europe
CFR Cluj	Romania	Europe
CSM Resita	Romania	Europe
Dinamo Bucharest	Romania	Europe
FCSB	Romania	Europe
Farul Costanta	Romania	Europe
Otelul Galati	Romania	Europe
Petrolul Ploiesti	Romania	Europe
Rapid Bucharest	Romania	Europe
Ripensia Timisoara	Romania	Europe
Steaua Bucharest	Romania	Europe
Universitatea Craiova	Romania	Europe
UTA Arad	Romania	Europe
Alania Vladikavkaz	Russia	Europe
CSKA Moscow	Russia	Europe
Lokomotiv Moscow	Russia	Europe
Rubin Kazan	Russia	Europe
Spartak Moscow	Russia	Europe
Torpedo Moscow (Soviet Union)	Russia	Europe
Zenit St Petersburg	Russia	Europe
Aberdeen	Scotland	Europe
Celtic	Scotland	Europe
Dumbarton	Scotland	Europe
Dundee	Scotland	Europe
Dundee Utd	Scotland	Europe
Hearts	Scotland	Europe
Hibs	Scotland	Europe
Kilmarnock	Scotland	Europe
Motherwell	Scotland	Europe
Rangers	Scotland	Europe
OFK Belgrade (Yugoslavia)	Serbia	Europe
Partizan Belgrade	Serbia	Europe
Red Star Belgrade	Serbia	Europe
Vojvodina Novi Sad (Yugoslavia)	Serbia	Europe
DPMM	Singapore	Asia
Geylang International	Singapore	Asia
Lion City Sailors	Singapore	Asia
Niigata Unicorn	Singapore	Asia
Tampines	Singapore	Asia
AS Trencin	Slovakia	Europe
FC Petrzalka	Slovakia	Europe
MSK Zilina	Slovakia	Europe
Ruzomberok	Slovakia	Europe
Slovan Bratislava	Slovakia	Europe
Spartak Trnava	Slovakia	Europe
Celje	Slovenia	Europe
Domzale	Slovenia	Europe
Gorica	Slovenia	Europe
Koper	Slovenia	Europe
Maribor	Slovenia	Europe
NS Mura	Slovenia	Europe
Olimpija Ljubljana	Slovenia	Europe
Amazulu	South Africa	Africa
Jomo Cosmos	South Africa	Africa
Kaizer Chiefs	South Africa	Africa
Mamelodi Sundowns	South Africa	Africa
Orlando Pirates	South Africa	Africa
SuperSport United	South Africa	Africa
Wits	South Africa	Africa
Busan IPARK	South Korea	Asia
FC Seoul	South Korea	Asia
Jeju United	South Korea	Asia
Jeonbuk Motors	South Korea	Asia
Pohang Steelers	South Korea	Asia
Seongnam FC	South Korea	Asia
Suwon Bluewings	South Korea	Asia
Ulsan Hyundai	South Korea	Asia
Athletic Bilbao	Spain	Europe
Atletico Madrid	Spain	Europe
Barcelona	Spain	Europe
Deportivo La Coruna	Spain	Europe
Real Betis	Spain	Europe
Real Madrid	Spain	Europe
Real Sociedad	Spain	Europe
Sevilla	Spain	Europe
Valencia	Spain	Europe
AIK	Sweden	Europe
Atvidabergs	Sweden	Europe
Djurgardens	Sweden	Europe
Elfsborg	Sweden	Europe
GAIS	Sweden	Europe
Halmstads	Sweden	Europe
Hammarby	Sweden	Europe
Helsingborg	Sweden	Europe
IFK Eskilstuna	Sweden	Europe
IFK Gothenburg	Sweden	Europe
IFK Norrkoping	Sweden	Europe
Kalmar	Sweden	Europe
Malmo	Sweden	Europe
Orgryte	Sweden	Europe
Osters	Sweden	Europe
Aarau	Switzerland	Europe
Basel	Switzerland	Europe
FC Zurich	Switzerland	Europe
Grasshoppers	Switzerland	Europe
Lausanne-Sport	Switzerland	Europe
Lugano	Switzerland	Europe
Luzern	Switzerland	Europe
Neuchatel Xamax	Switzerland	Europe
Servette	Switzerland	Europe
Sion	Switzerland	Europe
St Gallen	Switzerland	Europe
Winterthur	Switzerland	Europe
Young Boys	Switzerland	Europe
Basaksehir	Turkey	Europe
Besiktas	Turkey	Europe
Bursaspor	Turkey	Europe
Fenerbahce	Turkey	Europe
Galatasaray	Turkey	Europe
Trabzonspor	Turkey	Europe
Dynamo Kyiv	Ukraine	Europe
Shakhtar Donetsk	Ukraine	Europe
Zorya Luhansk (Soviet Union)	Ukraine	Europe
Central Espanol	Uruguay	South America
Danubio	Uruguay	South America
Defensor Sporting	Uruguay	South America
Montevideo Wanderers	Uruguay	South America
Nacional	Uruguay	South America
Penarol	Uruguay	South America
Progreso	Uruguay	South America
Rampla Juniors	Uruguay	South America
Atlanta Utd	USA	North America
Chicago Fire	USA	North America
Colorado Rapids	USA	North America
Columbus Crew	USA	North America
DC Utd	USA	North America
Houston Dynamo	USA	North America
LA Galaxy	USA	North America
Portland Timbers	USA	North America
Real Salt Lake	USA	North America
San Jose Earthquakes	USA	North America
Seattle Sounders	USA	North America
Sporting Kansas City	USA	North America
Toronto FC	USA	North America
Bangor City	Wales	Europe
Barry Town United	Wales	Europe
Connah’s Quay Nomads	Wales	Europe
Llanelli Town	Wales	Europe
TNS	Wales	Europe
Algeria	International	Africa
Cameroon	International	Africa
Congo	International	Africa
DR Congo	International	Africa
Egypt	International	Africa
Ethiopia	International	Africa
Ghana	International	Africa
Ivory Coast	International	Africa
Morocco	International	Africa
Nigeria	International	Africa
South Africa	International	Africa
Sudan	International	Africa
Tunisia	International	Africa
Zambia	International	Africa
Australia (& Oceania)	International	Asia
Iran	International	Asia
Iraq	International	Asia
Japan	International	Asia
Kuwait	International	Asia
Kyrgyzstan (Soviet Union)	International	Asia
Qatar	International	Asia
Saudi Arabia	International	Asia
South Korea	International	Asia
Tajikistan (Soviet Union)	International	Asia
Turkmenistan (Soviet Union)	International	Asia
Uzbekistan (Soviet Union)	International	Asia
Armenia (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Azerbaijan (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Belarus (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia)	International	Europe
Denmark	International	Europe
England	International	Europe
Estonia (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
France	International	Europe
Georgia (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Germany	International	Europe
Greece	International	Europe
Holland	International	Europe
Israel (Asia)	International	Europe
Italy	International	Europe
Kazakhstan (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Latvia (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Lithuania (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Moldova (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Portugal	International	Europe
Russia (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Slovakia (Czechoslovakia)	International	Europe
Spain	International	Europe
Ukraine (Soviet Union)	International	Europe
Canada	International	North America
Costa Rica	International	North America
Guatemala	International	North America
Haiti	International	North America
Honduras	International	North America
Mexico	International	North America
USA	International	North America
New Zealand	International	Oceania
Tahiti	International	Oceania
Argentina	International	South America
Bolivia	International	South America
Brazil	International	South America
Chile	International	South America
Colombia	International	South America
Paraguay	International	South America
Peru	International	South America
Uruguay	International	South America

Edited January 8, 2022 by craigkillie

[craigkillie]

I should share a few disclaimers before we get started. I have just bought FM22 after spending the last 8 years or so intermittently playing FM14, and this is literally the first game I've played on it. Even just at a brief look at it suggests there a lot of new features compared to what I'm used to, so it might be a bit of a steep learning curve for me. I'm also not promising to be playing regularly or rapidly, so it might take a long time to get done. Fortunately, as I've shown with my FM14 experience, I don't mind playing the same game for a while.

[craigkillie]

Starting Out

I kicked things off by picking eight of the lowest ranked leagues in the game in the hope of building my reputation and also hopefully getting a few teams ticked off at the same time. All the leagues start at different times so I kicked off the game on the earliest available date, 4th January 2021.

 

 

My previous Football Manager experiences have not involved my manager having any sort of stats, but these do not look good.

 

 

I kicked off the game by immediately applying for every single job vacancy, from the South African lower league to the German national team. Somehow I felt I had more chance of the former than the latter.

 

Within a week, amazingly, I had an offer of an interview and managed to convince some absolute mugs to give me a job. Where was I off to?

Spoiler

 

All the countries of the world to choose from, and we end up in Wales. Cefn Druids are a proud club, founded way back in 1872, and won the Welsh Cup 8 times in the days before Wales had a league.  They now find themselves as regular relegation battlers in the top flight - they finished bottom last season but were saved by there being no relegation due to the second tier season not taking place. Either the original FM database is wrong, or the updated names patch I downloaded is a bit overzealous, because I can't find anywhere else that includes "Ruabon" part in their name.

Wales has five teams that we have to beat - Bangor City, Barry Town United, Connah's Quay Nomads, Llanelli and The New Saints - and there are no prizes for guessing which one I'm going to enjoy the most. Unfortunately, Bangor and Llanelli are both in the second tier (and in separate divisions at that), so I'll probably have to take another job to get them, unless they get promoted or I'm lucky with cup draws.

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by craigkillie

[afc_blockhead]

Jesus christ.. this thread 

[welshbairn]

5 hours ago, craigkillie said:

Cefn Druids are a proud club

Great choice, my local club when I lived in Wales, they actually made it into the Europa League a few years back by being losing Welsh Cup finalists to New Saints who had qualified for the Champions league. Cefn, pronounced Kevin, is next to Trevor, pronounced Trevor .

[D Angelo Barksdale]

Party Rock is in the house tonight.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

I really hope this ends with you scrambling for a job in Scotland in order to beat Dumbarton and repeatedly failing after beating every other club on your list

[djchapsticks]

This looks like some fucking laugh!  

[craigkillie]

My start date of January seemed like a good idea at the time, but the Welsh season didn't start until August so I had a bit of a wait which I guess gave me a chance to assess my squad. I ultimately ended up having a decent number of ins and outs, including some players ending up in both categories. The standout player was former Premier League player and Wales international David Cotterill, but even at the age of 33 it was fair to say his career had hit the skids a bit.

 

 

The first month did not go particularly well, though I was putting that down to not quite having a grip of the game - prior to finding a better skin, I could barely work out how to make a sub or which of my players were playing well.

 

It would have been good to stay in the cup to have an extra shot at the champions I'm trying to beat, but the rest of the games didn't really matter in that respect. However, coming up next was a run of three games in a row against the only three former champions in the top flight.

 

Clearly I would be rank outsiders against the Nomads and TNS, but Barry are a bunch of midtable jobbers so I felt like I stood a chance there.

Edited January 13, 2022 by craigkillie

[RiG]

Massive fan of the £120 loan fee you received for Brandon Lockett.

Looking forward to seeing what lies ahead for Headhunter.

[craigkillie]

Champion Match 1 - Connah's Quay Nomads (1st meeting)

Fittingly, our first ever attempt at ticking a champion off our list came away to Connah's Quay Nomads, a name which never fails to send shivers down my spine. Nomads were reigning champions, but had made a poor start to the season, squeezing past lower league Colwyn Bay on penalties in the first round of the League Cup before losing at home to Haverfordwest. However, they had won every game since then.

 

Spoiler

 

What a start!

 

Spoiler

 

 

It didn't last long - they scored twice in the space of 4 minutes.

 

Spoiler

 

2-2 at half-time, and we were good value for it. Could we?

 

 

Spoiler

 

It wasn't to be - convicted drug cheat Jamie Insall scored a double, and we weren't helped by a red card from Jose Ferreira as we were trying get back into it at 3-2.

 

Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 0/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P1 W0 D0 L1

 

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by craigkillie

[craigkillie]

Champion Match 2 - The New Saints (1st meeting)

Next up was a home match against TNS, for so long the dominant force in Welsh football. After being knocked out of Europe they had won each of their first seven domestic fixtures before taking us on.

 

 

Spoiler

 

We'd hung in there for a while, but let our guard down just before HT.

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

From bad to worse - another daft red card while trying to get back into a game.

 

Spoiler

 

HELLO! Cotterill showing the sort of quality I've brought him in for.

 

Spoiler

 

Yet again we conceded quickly after getting back into the game, and that was that.

 

 

Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 0/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P2 W0 D0 L2

 

[craigkillie]

Champion Match 3 - Barry Town (1st meeting)

Barry Town won 7 titles out of 8 around the turn of the century and even beat Porto 3-1 in the Champions League (after losing the first leg 8-0). However, they soon went through financial trouble and spent a while in the lower leagues before bouncing back in 2017. They had two wins and four defeats from their opening six matches, so this was definitely an opportunity for success.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

A goal for Cotterill, but sadly not my one, and then yet another fucking daft red card. A big second half ahead.

 

Spoiler

Shite.

 

Spoiler

 

 

HWFG lads. One more and we could tick our first team off the list.

 

Spoiler

 

 

If Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool were "fucking mentality giants", then my lads are whatever the opposite of that is. Daft red cards and an inability to hold on to anything good for any length of time. A lot of work needed here.

 

Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 0/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P3 W0 D0 L3

 

[craigkillie]

Thanks Ella, just what I want to read after dinner.

 

 

Surely the night couldn't get any worse?

I had the next three matches to turn things around.

Spoiler

At least we got one win - would that be enough to buy me some time?

 

Spoiler

No.

 

[AsimButtHitsASix]

Peter Grant style start to this save. Loving it. Only way is up

[D Angelo Barksdale]

FM is a cruel mistress at times. Look on the bright side though, you might have been stuck in Wales for years trying to beat TNS.

[craigkillie]

If at first you don't succeed, managing Cefn Druids is not for you. However, there are plenty more clubs out there who may well be interested in a failed Welsh top flight manager, so we decided to immediately head to the job centre and apply for anything that was up for grabs. Various Welsh second tier sides expressed an interest, and I eventually made a decision:

 

The club is essentially an offshoot of a 1960s leisure centre by the seaside in Port Talbot, which is an ideal role for a Magnum Leisure centre stan like me. They are three-time League Cup winners and played in Europe in the 1990s, but have since found themselves spending most of their time outside the top flight. They sat in 10th place when I took over, and from the club's point of view my main goal was to help them into the top half, but my only real interest was in defeating Llanelli Town, the only former champions in the division.

As is usually the case when I take over a club mid-season, I didn't do a lot of work in the transfer market, instead focusing on trying to get the best out of the existing players. Jones was the only senior player I brought in - a forward who could play anywhere in the frontline of my bog-standard 4-3-3.

 

My start could not have been any more different to the one I endured at Cefn Druids. Five wins and four draws to kick off my reign in charge.

 

However, those games were just the warm-up to the main event. I'd only get one shot at Llanelli this season - could I make it count?

[craigkillie]

Champion Match 4 - Llanelli Town (1st meeting)

Llanelli were champions of Wales in 2007/08, but suffered financial meltdown a few years later and ended up reforming in the fourth tier. They returned to the top flight in 2018/19, but finished bottom and remain in the second tier. We were ahead of them in the table by the time this game took place - both of us in a comfortable mid-table spot.

My pre-match interview led to a fairly sensationalised headline from "The Welsh Football Informer"

 

On to the match itself.

 

Spoiler

 

A perfect start, a lovely curled effort from outside the box.

 

Spoiler

 

Jones again! My only first team signing coming up trumps in the biggest game of them all.

 

Spoiler

 

45 minutes away from our first scalp - just need to see the game out now. Our xG suggests we're perhaps a little bit fortunate, but this has been a bit of a trend through the unbeaten run - our defence and goalkeeper are really good. Hopefully they remain really good for another half of football.

 

Spoiler

 

They had 13 shots and 5 on target in the second half, but couldn't break down our brick wall. Job done!

 

Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 1/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P4 W1 D0 L3

 

Note that I'm keeping a spreadsheet of this which I'll share every now and then.

 

Spoiler

That's the only team in this division ticked off, so I wasn't entirely sure what to do. My run had given me an outside chance of promotion, but it's still a slim one with only the top side going up. I thought the best approach was to start applying for all availabel jobs again, but to stay in charge at Afan Lido rather than resigning, since a good run here would hopefully boost my reputation as a manager a bit.

I extended the unbeaten run for two more matches, but conceding a late equaliser in the Pontypridd game and then a defeat against leaders Swansea Uni all but killed off my promotion chances. Two wins there would have put me just a point off the top, but instead I'm seven back with six games left.