Newly Promoted Teams in the Lowest Playable Leagues

Hello fellow Vibers!

This is my very first article here on FMM Vibe so I hope you enjoy reading it!

The idea for writing this, albeit short, article came to me over Christmas (I know, it’s February already!), as I was interested in starting a lower league save but didn’t have a clue which team to pick. With 21 different countries to select, all with varying options for the number of loadable leagues, it was a bit of a minefield. I needed a way of narrowing my search. So, I decided if I was to do a ‘proper’ lower league save, I needed to start in one of the lowest playable leagues available in the game. Then I had the bright idea that I should restrict myself to only picking a team that had been promoted into that league at the end of the 2018/19 season (so would therefore be a newly promoted team at the start of the 2019/20 season). Great! I now had a plan! On to the ‘simple’ task of finding out which leagues were playable in FMM20 and then who got promoted into them. Hmm, not as simple as you think…

OK, so there’s 2 parts to this. Firstly, finding out how many leagues each country has available to play. As mentioned above, each country has a varying number of ‘tiers’ that can be selected. Some countries, such as Australia, only have the top division available (so just 1 tier), whereas if you decide to play in England there are 6 tiers available (from Premier League down to Vanarama North/South). In theory, countries with only 1 tier available can’t really be classed as a possible ‘lower league’ challenge, but anything requiring from 1 promotion to 5 promotions to reach the top could be considered ‘lower league’ I guess (my personal view is that at least 2 promotions should be needed to reach the top, but each FMM20 player here on vibe will have a different view I’m sure!).

Once I knew how many leagues each country had available it was time to start researching each of the lowest leagues and finding out who were the newly promoted teams…

…hmm, I very soon discovered that some of the lowest leagues available to play in FMM20 are not just a single division. Oh no. Some are as many as 3, or even 4 sub-divisions! Take Serie C for example: There is Serie C/A, Serie C/B, and Serie C/C! And as for Portugal, well I’ll have 4 ‘Compeonato de Portugal’ leagues please!!

OK, so this had taken an unexpected twist now. But I didn’t want to stop researching. If anything, it made me want to compile this list even more. I wanted to know, for each of these leagues, who had been promoted the previous season to have the honour of not only being a playable team in FMM20, but a potential managerial career for yours truly.

So, how did I get on? Well, I was able to almost complete the list. There were a few missing teams (some of my internet searches just led me on a merry-go-round), and some oddities too, such as Greece introducing a restructure of their league system in time for 19/20 (so all teams seem to have been ‘promoted’, or ‘selected’ to be part of the lowest league), and some teams not winning promotion as such but being ‘re-instated’ (I haven’t included these teams in the list below, at least I don’t think I have!). Therefore, can the Vibe community help? Please add comments to help make this list as complete as can be. Also, whilst I’ve tried to make this as accurate as possible there could well be other errors in my list, so again happy to be corrected by anyone in the know.

Anyway, listed below are, according to what I found online, the teams that were promoted for the 2019/20 season into the lowest playable league for each country:

Country	No. of Tiers	Lowest Playable League(s)	Teams Promoted for 2019/20 Season
Australia	1	Hyundai A-League	None
Belgium	3	First Division (Derde Klasse)	UR La Louviere Centre K Patro Eisden Maasmechelen Sint-Eloois-Winkel Sport CS Vise
China	2	First Division (Jia League)	Nantong Zhiyun Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic Sichuan Longfor
Denmark	3	2. Division	FA 2000 Holbaek B&I Naesby BK VSK Aarhus
England	6	Vanarama National League North	Farsley Celtic Kettering Town King's Lynn Town
		Vanarama National League South	Dorking Wanderers Tonbridge Angels Weymouth
France	4	National 2-A	FC Mulhouse Olympique Saint-Quentin SC Bastia
		National 2-B	Angers SCO Reserves FC Gobelins En Avant de Guingamp Reserves FC Rouen
		National 2-C	Angouleme-Soyaux Charente Bourges Foot FC Chamalieres Montpellier HSC Reserves
		National 2-D	Louhans-Cuiseaux
Germany	3	3. Liga	FC Bayern Munich II Chemnitzer FC Viktoria Koln SV Waldhof Mannheim
Greece	2	Superleague 2	Apollon Larissa Apollon Pontou PAE Chania Doxa Drama Ergotelis AE Karaiskakis PAE Kerkyra Panachaiki Platanias
Holland	2	Keuken Kampioen Divisie (Ereste Divisie)	None
Italy	3	Serie C-A	Calcio Lecco 1912 Como 1907 US Pergolettese 1932 US Pianese
		Serie C-B	FC Arzignano Valchiampo Cesena
		Serie C-C	US Avellino 1912 AZ Picerno SSC Bari
Northern Ireland	3	Bluefin Sport PIL (Telegraph Championship 2)	Bangor
Poland	2	First Division (Fortuna I Liga)	GKS Belchatow Olimpia Grudziadz Radomiak Radom
Portugal	3	PT Championship (Campeonato de Portugal) Serie A	Berco SC GD Braganca CSD Camara de Lobos CD Cerveira
		PT Championship (Campeonato de Portugal) Serie B	Ginasio C Figueirense CF Canelas 2010 Valadares Gaia SC Vila Real AD Castro Daire
		PT Championship (Campeonato de Portugal) Serie C	SC Beira-Mar GD Fontinhas GD Vitoria de Sernache Clube de Condeixa ACD AC Marinhense Uniao de Santarem
		PT Championship (Campeonato de Portugal) Serie D	CF Esperanca de Lagos SC Mineiro Aljustrelense Lusitano GC Club Sintra Football GD Fabril
Republic of Ireland	2	First Division (Airtricity First Division)	Unknown
Russia	2	First Division (National League)	FC Chayka Peschanokopskoye FC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk FC Torpedo Moscow FC Tekstilshchik Ivanovo
Scotland	4	Ladbrokes League 2	Cove Rangers
South Korea	2	K League 2 (K League Challenge)	Unknown
Spain	3	2nd Division B-1	Getafe CF B Las Rozas CF SCR Pena Deportiva Racing de Ferrol
		2nd Division B-2	Deportivo Alaves B Haro Deportivo Club Marino De Luanco CA Osasuna B
		2nd Division B-3	CF La Nucia UE Llagostera Orihuela CF AE Prat
		2nd Division B-4	Algeciras CF Cadiz CF B Merida AD CP Villarrobledo Villarrubia CF Yeclano Deportivo
Turkey	3	2. League (White Group)	Bayburt Ozel Idarespor Hekimoglu Trabzon FK
		2. League (Red)	Kirsehir Belediyespor
USA	1	MLS	Nashville SC (due to league expansion in 2020) Inter Miami (due to league expansion in 2020)
Wales	2	JD Cymru North	Colwyn Bay Llanfair United Llangefni Town Corwen
		JD Cymru South	STM Sports Swansea University Caerau (Ely)

 

 

To conclude…this article has been aimed at the lower league managers amongst us, and now we all know who the ‘ultimate’ lower league challenges could potentially be. These teams listed above are new to that division and new to FMM!

On a more personal level, have I started my ‘lower league’ career yet? Um, no. I had visions of all this spare time I would have over Christmas/New Year, but with my son’s 3^rd birthday just beforehand and constant trips to see family and friends, this ‘spare time’ never materialised (and still didn’t in January!). However, I will get there, eventually. My personal aim is to pick a league with 3 or more tiers available (so at least 2 promotions are required to reach the top division) and then to randomly select one of the clubs listed above, the aim being to take them to national and European glory in 30 seasons!

I also hope that this will also help others in future career choices (my initial aim was to just make this list for myself, but then thought sharing with the vibe community made quite a lot of sense). It’s been a labour of love in a way, and I’ve learnt quite a lot about the lower divisions of football during my research.

As I said, comments are welcome (including any corrections you spot) and I hope you refer to this article when making a choice about what (lower league) team you want to manage.

Lastly, enjoy your lower league careers ladies and gents!

Edited February 20, 2020 by omen_peter
Added Nashville SC and Inter Miami to USA.

[Thirsk]

Wow that must have taken quite a lot of time - from another lower league manager, thank you!!

I don't have anything to add unfortunately as I'm pretty behind playing fmm myself this year. But I'll definitely be returning to this list when I need a new challenge. 

[MikeF]

Great article. Thanks. Once I’ve finished my current challenge I’m going to dip into low league so this is useful. Nice to fine new teams in the game. 

[omen_peter]

11 hours ago, Thirsk said:

Wow that must have taken quite a lot of time - from another lower league manager, thank you!!

I don't have anything to add unfortunately as I'm pretty behind playing fmm myself this year. But I'll definitely be returning to this list when I need a new challenge. 

Thanks @Thirsk! Yep it took ages to compile that list but I enjoyed doing it.

 

10 hours ago, MikeF said:

Great article. Thanks. Once I’ve finished my current challenge I’m going to dip into low league so this is useful. Nice to fine new teams in the game. 

Thanks @MikeF!

[Mr Tree]

Epic work mate - hope we get to see you take a couple of these to glory? 👍

[omen_peter]

35 minutes ago, Mr Tree said:

Epic work mate - hope we get to see you take a couple of these to glory? 👍

Thanks @Mr Tree! Yeah would love to get stuck in to a long lowest league career soon. Keep on distracting myself from my 'Parking The Bus' challenge so better finish that first - ha!

[BatiGoal]

Great work, O'Peter, very useful for those attempting lowest league challenges. Hope someone can help clearing the few 'unknowns' in there. 

[Ian]

Nice work, Cove Rangers have taken Berwick's (one of my local teams) place in the Scottish league. They hammered them 7-0 in the playoffs last year to gain promotion. Berwick took a lot of heavy defeats last year (-64 goal difference) and this year they are continuing with the same trend of manure performances in the Lowland League so not sure we’ll see them back up for a while.

[mattydisc]

Nashville SC and Inter Miami are the new entrants to the MLS, though that is expansion rather than promotion.

[Scratch]

Great article. I'm stuck in a long term high level career, but I'll probably fancy something different by the time I get done with that and I think one of these teams might be it! Thanks. 

[omen_peter]

7 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

Great work, O'Peter, very useful for those attempting lowest league challenges. Hope someone can help clearing the few 'unknowns' in there. 

Thanks @BatiGoal!

4 hours ago, Ian said:

Nice work, Cove Rangers have taken Berwick's (one of my local teams) place in the Scottish league. They hammered them 7-0 in the playoffs last year to gain promotion. Berwick took a lot of heavy defeats last year (-64 goal difference) and this year they are continuing with the same trend of manure performances in the Lowland League so not sure we’ll see them back up for a while.

Thanks @Ian!

3 hours ago, mattydisc said:

Nashville SC and Inter Miami are the new entrants to the MLS, though that is expansion rather than promotion.

Thanks @mattydisc! Yes I did read about those teams. I guess this list is the teams you can take charge of straight away but I'll add them to the table when I get home later with a note alongside it.

 

2 hours ago, Scratch said:

Great article. I'm stuck in a long term high level career, but I'll probably fancy something different by the time I get done with that and I think one of these teams might be it! Thanks. 

Thanks @Scratch!

[FuddledFox]

Very nice work and really handy for everyone who likes a LLM save.

[omen_peter]

On 12/02/2020 at 15:10, Foxy said:

Very nice work and really handy for everyone who likes a LLM save.

Thanks @Foxy!

[Kanegan]

Brilliant list there mate. A handy guide for anybody looking for lower leagues.

[samhardy]

Nice one mate. Nothing like taking a minnow right to the top.

[d3rgal]

Great idea for an article!! I've picked up Padova in serie C this year. Not a promoted team but I feel the lower league squeeze

[Jack]

This has definitely planted a seed or two, thanks!

[Helmstuber]

Is it possible to start a save with Bayern Munich II?

 

[samhardy]

3 hours ago, Helmstuber said:

Is it possible to start a save with Bayern Munich II?

No you can’t play as reserve teams as they aren’t allowed to play in the same league as their first team. At least that’s the case in most countries so I can’t see why it would be any different in Germany.

[Helmstuber]

3 hours ago, samhardy said:

No you can’t play as reserve teams as they aren’t allowed to play in the same league as their first team. At least that’s the case in most countries so I can’t see why it would be any different in Germany.

Of course, don´t know what I was thinking

Would be really fun though to win the league and take players from Bayern Munich

 

[omen_peter]

On 13/02/2020 at 16:05, Kanegan said:

Brilliant list there mate. A handy guide for anybody looking for lower leagues.

 

On 14/02/2020 at 00:49, samhardy said:

Nice one mate. Nothing like taking a minnow right to the top.

 

On 14/02/2020 at 16:59, d3rgal said:

Great idea for an article!! I've picked up Padova in serie C this year. Not a promoted team but I feel the lower league squeeze

 

On 15/02/2020 at 21:47, Jack said:

This has definitely planted a seed or two, thanks!

Thanks all!

On 17/02/2020 at 08:03, Helmstuber said:

Is it possible to start a save with Bayern Munich II?

 

 

On 17/02/2020 at 11:14, samhardy said:

No you can’t play as reserve teams as they aren’t allowed to play in the same league as their first team. At least that’s the case in most countries so I can’t see why it would be any different in Germany.

Hmm interesting point there @samhardy. There are a few 'reserve' teams in my list. Wonder if this affects more than just Bayern Munich II? When I get a chance I'll load up these leagues and double check what teams are actually there to pick, and will update the table accordingly.

I've updated USA with Nashville SC and Inter Miami with a note advising it's due to league expansion.

Edited February 20, 2020 by omen_peter

[Keato03]

In the Republic of Ireland there is no promotion/relegation between the 2nd and 3rd tiers but teams can be invited to join. The most recent team to accept was Cabinteely in 2015 and Shamrock Rovers II joined at the beginning of this year.