Career FMM19 - The Yorkshire Journeyman Challenge

[Jamiea94]

Hello everybody, I’ve been playing the FM series on various platforms for many years, but never actually signed up to any forums until now. 

 

I’ve decided to join now because I was at work the other day, debating on whether or not to buy FMM19, and I have convinced myself to start a challenge - one that I’m not sure has been done before - The Yorkshire Journeyman Challenge. 

 

The aim is quite simple, to manage as many Yorkshire teams as I can, within a 30 year career. But there’s a catch - I can only move on as soon as I have won silverware with my current club. If I’m sacked, it’s game over and I have to start the challenge all over again. 

 

On the start up, I will only select the top five tiers of the English leagues just to focus on this challenge on this particular save. 

 

There is certain rules, but not too complex; 

 

- Must only manage teams from Yorkshire. 

- Must resign at the end of the current season after a domestic cup or league title win. 

- Only allowed to sign 1 foreign player per team, every other signing must be from the UK or Ireland. 

 

The teams I can use are: 

 

- Huddersfield 

- Hull City 

- Leeds United 

- Middlesbrough 

- Rotherham United 

- Sheffield United 

- Sheffield Wednesday 

- Barnsley 

- Bradford City 

- Doncaster Rovers

- Halifax 

- Harrogate 

- Guiseley 

- York

 

Or any other Yorkshire team that makes it into the top 5 tiers. The first team will be chosen by the games random team generator upon startup, the first Yorkshire team to appear will be the first team I manage. 

 

I’m unsure if this has been done before (or something similar) but just thought I’d make my own challenge to make my saves more interesting, people are more than welcome to give this a try and post your progress below! 

 

I will try to update my progress often with my teams current standings, key players and signings etc. 

 

Thanks for looking and good luck! 

 

Edited November 13, 2018 by Jamiea94

[Jamiea94]

I have just got round to setting up this challenge after buying the game earlier today, but with having an iPhone XR I’m waiting on an update from SI to fix the skin for my handset, which hopefully won’t be too long and I can get stuck in to this challenge properly! 

 

Just about managed to set up the save and my first attempt though, so here is some screenshots below.

 

The first team I’ll be managing (selected by the random team generator) is Huddersfield Town. 

 

With a starting budget of £18m I’m going to look at bringing in a left winger and a goalkeeper, the aim for the first season will be to try to keep them in the Premier League for another season and get as far as I can in the cups. 

 

I’ll try to update this thread as much as I can, thanks for looking!

[BatiGoal]

I like the challenge and the inclusion of the 1-foreigner rule. But bit unlucky there with the starting club I think, no? Would've been easier to win silverware with a lower league team. 

Best of luck! 

[Jamiea94]

42 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

I like the challenge and the inclusion of the 1-foreigner rule. But bit unlucky there with the starting club I think, no? Would've been easier to win silverware with a lower league team. 

Best of luck! 

You’re more than welcome to give it a go yourself if you want! Hmm I get what you’re saying but maybe it’s easier to start higher up and get lower league jobs after a few seasons because of your reputation? Rather than the other way round? We will see I suppose! 

Just managed the one signing so far in Che Adams for £9m from Birmingham, he was class on my last FMM save for me. 

Mixed bag in pre season too, for some reason we played Man City away and got a right hiding! The real work starts now though! 

 

[BatiGoal]

2 hours ago, Jamiea94 said:

I get what you’re saying but maybe it’s easier to start higher up and get lower league jobs after a few seasons because of your reputation? Rather than the other way round? We will see I suppose!

Can't argue that. If you're going to be a successful manager it doesn't really matter where you start, does it 👍 

2 hours ago, Jamiea94 said:

You’re more than welcome to give it a go yourself if you want!

Thanks. One of the things that I really don't do enough is these types of journeyman saves. Gotta do one this year. Gotta! 

[Jamiea94]

Got my first league win in the first home game of the season against Leicester, following on from a 1-1 draw at Cardiff on the opening day. Then got outplayed at Liverpool in a 3-1 defeat which was ominous from kick off, with Man City visiting The John Smith’s Stadium next. 

Not a bad start three games in, sitting in 9th position in the Premier League, but I need to work on a more defensive tactic when closing games out and coming up against bigger sides. 

My next update will be when I reach January 1st 2019, with the league table, top scorers/assists in my team and Carabao Cup progress. 

 

Up the Terriers!

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by Jamiea94

[Jamiea94]

Made it to 1st January 2019, halfway through the first season at Huddersfield, managed to sort out a good tactic to remain solid at the back and good on the counter, hopefully get a few more additions in in this transfer window. 

 

Got knocked out the Carabao Cup in the 2nd round at home to Crystal Palace, but sitting in 10th position in the Premier League after big home wins against Arsenal and Man United. 

 

Che Adams has been a great signing, scoring 11 in 22 games and getting 5 assists, I’m looking to add another winger in this window to link up with him and hopefully manage a good run in the FA Cup, starting away at Fleetwood Town in the 3rd Round. 

 

Up The Terriers! 

 

 

[Jamiea94]

Won 2-0 at Fleetwood in round 3 of the FA Cup, with West Brom at home in the next round. 

Also just recorded this massive win away at Man City, playing a 3-3-3-1 on the counter, a tactic I used on FMM18 when I managed Cagliari and beat Juventus a few times. Was really surprised at this though, must of caught City on a rare off day! 

Up The Terriers! 

Edited November 17, 2018 by Jamiea94

[BatiGoal]

Good win there with a 3-3-3-1? Interesting tactic. KIU! 

[Jamiea94]

2 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

Good win there with a 3-3-3-1? Interesting tactic. KIU! 

This one! 

[Jamiea94]

Finally managed to sort the screen issues out on my XR after the latest update, and played for the first time in weeks, managed to get a huge result at Old Trafford to complete a league double over Man United. Only 5 games left of the first season and comfortably safe! 

[Jamiea94]

End of season 1 (2018/2019) 

 

Team: Huddersfield Town 

 

League: Premier League - 10th 

FA Cup: 4th Round Replay - West Brom (a) L 5-2 

League Cup: 2nd Round - Crystal Palace (h) L 1-2 

 

Top Scorer: Che Adams - 23 goals 

Top Assists: Steve Mounie - 10 assists 

 

Biggest win: 5-0 v Tottenham (H) 

Biggest defeat: 2-5 v Chelsea (H) 

 

Better than expected first season at Huddersfield, had a few huge wins against teams in the “top 6” but struggled against the lesser sides, something to build on for next season, and hopefully have a lot better run in both cups as this season was rather disappointing. 

 

Che Adams has been a revelation after his £9m signing from Birmingham, finished up Premier League top scorer (well, joint 😂), named young player of the year and also named in the team of the year. 

 

Next season will be interesting with the arrival of Kemar Roofe from Leeds, despite them being promoted from the Championship, hopefully get us scoring a lot more goals against the lower PL sides and a much better cup run. 

 

My next update will be the end of season two, to avoid spamming! Really hoping to finally get this challenge off the ground after screen issues!

Edited December 5, 2018 by Jamiea94

[Jamiea94]

End of season 2 (2019/2020)

 

Team: Huddersfield Town

 

League: Premier League, 5th 

FA Cup: Runners Up - Liverpool (N) L 4-5e 

League Cup: 4th Round - Arsenal (A) L 1-0 

 

Top Scorer: Steve Mounie - 27 goals 

Top Assists: Aaron Mooy - 20 assists 

 

Biggest Win: 7-0 v Crystal Palace (H) 

Biggest Loss: 4-0 v Tottenham (A) 

 

An impressive second season with Huddersfield in the Premier League, exceeding expectations and finishing in 5th place and qualifying for next seasons Europa League. 

 

Also reaching the FA Cup final and narrowly missing out to Liverpool was unexpected despite having a 2-0 lead, eventually losing 5-4 after extra time. 

 

This season I’ve developed an offensive tactic, becoming the leagues top scorers with 90 goals, and pretty much having faith in the same 11 players every week, only changing when needed. 

 

I brought in Jack Butland for £12m, Kemal Roofe for £13.5m, Danny Batth for £10m, as well as two youngsters, a Brazilian (my first and only foreign signing) central midfield regen, and a highly rated youngster from Nottingham Forest for £1.8m, Alex Mighten. 

 

Next season should be interesting with a European campaign to plan for as well, I’ll be looking to add more quality to the defence over the summer. 

 

Edited January 4, 2019 by Jamiea94

[Jamiea94]

End of season 3 (2020/2021)

 

Team: Huddersfield Town 

 

League: Premier League, 5th 

FA Cup: Semi Final v Chelsea (N) L 2-1 

Carabao Cup: WINNERS v Arsenal (N) W 4-0 

Europa League: Runners Up v PSG (N) L 2-1

 

Top Scorer: Steve Mounie - 28 goals 

Top Assists: Adama Diakhaby - 16 assists 

 

Biggest Win: 6-1 v Leicester (H) 

Biggest Loss: 4-0 v Man United (A) 

 

Season number three brought my first bit of silverware of my career; the Carabao Cup after an emphatic 4-0 win over Arsenal at Wembley. At this stage, we were still in the FA Cup and the Europa League, so I decided to play it out until the end of the season to see if I could win any more trophies before leaving. 

 

Made it to the FA Cup semi final and was outclassed by Chelsea in the end, going down to a 2-1 defeat at Wembley, the squad was starting to look threadbare with a lot of suspensions and injuries. 

 

Had a few huge results in the Europa League, beating Valencia, Bayern Munich, Sporting Lisbon and Borussia Dortmund in the knockouts, before narrowly losing 2-1 to PSG in the final after giving it a really good go, this turned out to be my last game as Huddersfield manager as I am resigning after the end of the season to look for my next job in Yorkshire. 

 

I also went even better than the previous season in the league, notching 75 points and finishing once again in 5th place, the key to my success has been the pressing tactic I have been tweaking in my time as Huddersfield manager, playing 4 at the back, 2 playmakers in midfield with an inverted forward on each wing, with a centre forward and advanced forward up front. This resulted in me scoring a lot of goals and being able to stop the bigger sides from playing in big games. 

 

I only made two signings in the summer transfer window at the beginning of the season, striker Jack Marriott joined from Derby for £12m, notching 10 goals and 13 assists in 46 games, mainly as a substitute. My other signing was Alfie Jones from Southampton for £9m, who I then loaned out to Aberdeen for the season to help with his development. 

Marc Albrighton also joined from Leicester in January for cover as I had a few injuries in the right wing area. 

 

I was impressed with the amount of goals I managed to get out of this team this season, with quite a few of my forward players hitting double figures, with Steve Mounie being named Premier League top scorer again for the second season running. 

 

All in all I am pleased with my 3 years at Huddersfield, managed to take them from relegation threatened to consistent finishes in the top 6 and eventually winning a cup. The wait now begins as to who I am going to manage next.....

Edited January 20, 2019 by Jamiea94

[Jamiea94]

Season 4 January Update (2021/2022)

 

After resigning as the manager of Huddersfield in the summer of 2021, the job opportunities in Yorkshire have been sparse in the 6 months I have progressed, only managed to apply for jobs at Barnsley, Doncaster and Middlesbrough and not got any of them. 

 

I have been offered 7 jobs with different clubs, all in L2 and VNL; Barnet, Hartlepool, Newport, Notts County, Port Vale, Torquay and Oldham, which is surprising considering I’ve just come off the back of a great season with Huddersfield in the top division. Still holding out for a job in Yorkshire, hopefully before the end of the season.... 

[Jamiea94]

Finally on 7th February 2022 League Two York City appoint me as their new manager, with them currently sat in a mid table position of 15th, hopefully make more of an impact next season after guiding them to as high a possible finish as I can this season! 

[Jamiea94]

End of season 5 (2022/2023)

 

 

Team: York City 

 

League: League Two, 7th 

FA Cup: 3rd Round v Brentford (A) L 3-1

Carabao Cup: 1st Round v Sheff United (H) L 3-1

Checkatrade Trophy: 3rd Round v Lincoln (H) L 1-0

 

Top Scorer: Rhys Healey - 33 Goals 

Top Assists: Owen Dale - 13 Assists 

 

Biggest Win: 4-1 v Northampton (H) 

Biggest Loss: 1-5 v Notts County (H) 

 

 

My first full season in charge of York ended in play off Wembley heartbreak as we came unstuck after extra time against Mansfield eventually going down 4-3. 

 

It was a rollercoaster of a season, started bright with a few blip results, then had an awful Dec/Jan until the form picked up for the last three months of the season allowing us to secure a play off spot with two games to go. 

 

The most worrying point is how many goals my team shipped this season (80 in the league) and this is something I need to address in the summer by bringing in a new defensive coach, and more experienced defenders with bigger ability than what we have now. The majority of my signings this season have been in attack/midfield, which has been why we have been successful going forward and scoring 91 goals in the league, the second highest. 

 

To summarise I am quite pleased with how the season turned out, but there is certainly more room for improvement and hopefully a big shake up in the summer will help us push further up the table and stop us conceding so many goals! 

 

Up The Minstermen!

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by Jamiea94

[Jamiea94]

End of season 6 (2023/2024)

 

 

Team: York City 

 

League: League Two, 9th

FA Cup: 2nd Round Replay v Peterborough (A) L 5-1

Carabao Cup: 2nd Round v Stevenage (H) L 0-2 

Checkatrade Trophy: 2nd Round v Rochdale (A) L 3-1 

 

Top Scorer: Rhys Healey - 37 Goals 

Top Assists: Lewis O’Brien - 17 Assists 

 

Biggest Win: 6-1 v Burton (H) 

Biggest Loss: 5-1 v Peterborough (A) 

 

 

 

After losing quite a few players out of contract at the end of last season, the tight wage limit meant we struggled to get new faces in, only managing to sign hot prospects for the future. 

 

This meant the start of the season was rough, flirting with the bottom two up until Christmas and having the board on my back, but once January came I managed to take a few youngsters on loan from Burnley and Hull, and also signed a new out of favour GK from Reading; Lewis Ward, who went on to only concede 22 goals in 19 games, a lot better turn around than the first half of the season and was a big factor behind us climbing the league table, and eventually just missing out on the play offs in 9th place. 

 

The goals conceded is still too high for my liking, despite me signing Harry Flowers for £140k to bolster the defence, although this has improved from last season, only conceding 65 in the league this season. 

 

Rhys Healey had another terrific season in the poacher role up front, notching 37 goals in 48 games and becoming indispensable to us. And also becoming the leagues top scorer. 

 

In the summer I am going to find a new full back for cover, and a new left winger as well as a strong B2B midfielder, to hopefully stop us conceding so many and push is further up the league, and maybe give us a better run in the cups. 

 

Up The Minstermen!

Edited June 30, 2019 by Jamiea94

[Jamiea94]

End of season 7 (2024/2025)

 

 

Team: York City 

 

League: League Two, 3rd PROMOTED

FA Cup: 3rd Round v Middlesbrough (H) L 3-5 

Carabao Cup: 1st Round v Northampton (A) L p1-1 

Checkatrade Trophy: Group Stage 

 

Top Scorer: Rhys Healey - 44 Goals 

Top Assists: Owen Dale - 16 Assists 

 

Biggest Win: 5-0 v Newport (H) 

Biggest Loss: 4-2 v Peterborough (A) 

 

Finally in my 3rd full season in charge of York, I achieved promotion on a very tight wage budget, after a great season where we only lost 8 league games, and 24 wins, 11 of which we ground out a 2-1 win. After a solid start to the season we found ourselves at the top of the table until a bad spell over the Christmas period made us slide down into the play offs places. But after only losing 1 in 17 after this we managed to hold off Carlisle and claim the 3rd promotion spot. 

 

Star striker Rhys Healey had another amazing season, bagging 44 goals in 50 games, which was a huge part of our success this season, especially after losing three key players to bigger clubs due to buy out closes; Lewis O’Brien (Blackpool £275k) Gavin Lyon (Celtic 850k) Gary Watkins (Southend £400k). This gave me a transfer budget of £2.1m to spend on strengthening the squad, however I could only spend £1.5k on wages a week, so this meant recruiting new players was quite difficult, so I had to look in the league below for backup for my first team players, and develop them over the remainder of the season. 

 

Made my first and only foreign signing at York: Mads Bech, a Danish ball playing defender on a free transfer after he was released by Brentford, he went on to play 43 games with an average rating of 7.1 a game. I also managed to get Marcus Maddison on a free transfer, who weighed in with 10 goals and 13 assists which was a huge contribution to our attacking threat. Other free transfers also included Cameron Walker, an ex West Brom striker who chipped in with a few goals and assists, and Tyler Denton, a Left wing back formerly of Leeds United who was also key to our promotion. 

 

After spending 3 seasons with York, and finally achieving promotion to League One, I have decided to step down and wait for the next job to come up in Yorkshire, hopefully with a lot kinder wage structure so I can bring in better players and not have to sniff around the lower leagues. Enjoyed my time at York, it was fun and very challenging managing in the lower leagues on a tight budget but hopefully I’d like to get a job in the championship and push for a Premier League return with my next team. Whoever that may be....... 

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by Jamiea94

[Jamiea94]

Season 8 update: In January 2026 I finally landed my next managerial job in Yorkshire, League One strugglers Barnsley offered me the position as manager after a bad run of form they find themselves just above the relegation zone with 15 games left. Most of the jobs I got offered ranged from bottom half of League One, top half of league two teams and National League teams near the top. But obviously non of them where in Yorkshire so I didn’t accept, until Barnsley came along. I have a transfer budget of £91k, which isn’t going to buy very much in this league, so I’m going to look at getting a few loans and free transfers in to help us stay up this season and reach a comfortable mid table position hopefully.