The Save I've Got Going On...

[Guest]

@Stan @Cannabis @...Dan @RandoEFC

So I've been playing a save recently and before I update it, I'd like you to have 1 guess. Which country am I managing in?

Here is a hint: mountainous country near South Africa that is also a monarchy.

I'm doing a youth only challenge there to win everything with only youth academy players.

After you have 1 guess I'll post about the actual save here.

I haven't tagged Dan cos he already knows.

[Stan]

[RandoEFC+]

Zambia?

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Stan said:

Just have 1 guess. Look at a bloody map 

4 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

Zambia?

Nope. A little more down south. It's a landlocked country

[Guest]

Ah fuck it.

I'm doing a youth only challenge in Lesotho. Trying to win everything with Liphakoe FC using only my youth academy.

I'm currently in 2026. Won just 1 domestic title so far.

[Guest]

Here is how my season went in 2025-2026.

I play a 4-6-0 and my shadow striker topped the charts. Siya Bereng also played well, with 9 goals and 7 assists but Leovegildo Pitso carried us at times. He's a bit injury prone and he got a few this season though so that hurt us a bit (no pun intended)

[Guest]

So I finished second last season and qualified for the African Confederation Cup (CAF Europa League basically). I beat a side from Zanzibar in the first round and got drawn against Sundy from Sao Tome e Principe. I was curious about this team, looked them up and found out they play in a city with a 416 population 

[Guest]

So an update. I just got knocked out of the African Confederations Cup. But just how far did I get?

Firstly, here is my progress on the league...

So we had a decentish start to the league. Perhaps could be better, but we have rotated a lot due to continental competition. Even still, we got some results. The LDF win was with a B team and we still beat them with a 1-0 victory, late into the game. I couldn't believe it.

Lucky Lebata is having a great season for us so far. His best start since he's generated at the club.

Here is the table at the moment. We are third but with a game in hand, a win puts us in first. I just hope LDF don't break the points record again like they did last year!

Now for the African Confederations Cup... this is essentially the African Europa League. We qualified by finishing second in the league last season. We needed to make a run to make some decent cash off gate receipts. So who did we draw?

It is non other than Polisi of Freddie Mercury's birth place, Zanzibar. They are half a star in a somewhat bigger reputation league than us. All grayed out players so it really depends on what the country's youth rating is. How did we do?

The rest of the info can be seen below this spoiler.

I was really scared at the first result. We went down on their first shot of the game, but managed to get 2 lucky set piece goals to turn it around near the end of the game. Sadly, they were able to get a late equalizer soon after.

So we had the task to win in Zanzibar. With complicated flights and no match sharpness, it was going to be a struggle. I was really worried with the game itself but then in the 45th, Leovegildo Pitso puts his 17 free kick taking to use by scoring one and I went wild.

So we were into the next round. We drew Sundy from the Principe island of Sao Tome e Principe. Similarly, they were only half a star meaning it was very winnable. Also grayed out players but I know for a fact that they have a better youth rating than Zanzibar. So we travelled to the town with a 416 population only to find a packed stadium. The whole town showed up. Away fans had also packed the other end, which bamboozles me as 77% of Lesotho's population makes less than $3 USD per day. Thanks for the realism FM! 

So how did that end?

This was a lot easier than I expected. We won both legs and were never under any threat of losing the game. They barely got any chances and the games were quite dull, but that's better sometimes to keep yourself relaxed. We took them back home and beat our average attendance record which was the home game vs Polisi by a total of THREE more people. Quite a staggering amount if you ask me. Gate receipts still getting better.

So we drew CR Belouizdad from Algeria, and this is where things get tricky. Algeria have a much better league than us, and anyone we have faced in the save thus far. So we were david and they were goliath. What would become of this result? Would we shock the continent and qualify for the groups, or go out and resort to focusing on the league only?

Nope. Not this time. We actually did well to hold our own in the first leg and nearly scored to make it 3-1 at the death. We also saved a penalty. It wasn't as bad as it sounds though. Things started getting hectic near the final minutes. Darn shame as this was probably one of the toughest ties we could have gotten, but the fact we drew them at home is an achievement in itself, even if we went out.

 

[Guest]

I've lost my voice celebrating the late goals.... champions with one game left!

[Guest]

So...

I broke the wins record with 17 in a season. Or rather I equaled it. Yet I still failed to win the league. This game 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Unlucky mate . The Liverpool of Africa ? Looks as though you're on the right track though, keep pushing.

I did actually say that to my FM buddies over discord... we really are the Liverpool of Africa 

Luckily we finished 2nd so we qualified for the African Confederation Cup. See, we need to qualify for this every year to go professional. Otherwise we just lose money. We need the gate receipts and prize money.

[Guest]

@Cannabis 

This is what we need.

[Guest]

Just now, Cannabis said:

Realistically where do you think you'll end up?

Right now I'm winning 4-0 on aggregate against a team from the Seychelles. Next round we're either getting Al-Rabta (Sudan) or Canon Yaoundé (Cameroon). So tough draw but hopefully if we do get through we then avoid an Egyptian (or any North African team) we can sneak into the groups.

[Guest]

Beat Foresters from the Seychelles. Got Al-Rabta from Sudan in the next round. I reckon that's a lot more winnable than Canon Yaounde.

[Guest]

Drew 1-1 away to Al-Rabta. We're basically winning going into the home leg. Great result!!!

[Guest]

...

[Guest]

Really pissed. If we didn't miss that penalty in the first leg, I reckon we would have done it...

We only won 16K for that. So basically we've been set back from pro for 2 more years.

[Guest]

Finished my season... I'll post my progress once my laptop restarts but in some news I FINALLY got up my youth recruitment. From limited to basic. It's something  

[Smiley Culture]

At the start did you use the first team players you had or did you sell off as many as possible? 

I take it you’re only using players that come from your youth intake, what do you do with the ones who are rubbish?

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

At the start did you use the first team players you had or did you sell off as many as possible? 

I take it you’re only using players that come from your youth intake, what do you do with the ones who are rubbish?

I had to check the "add players to playable teams" option so in short, I did use the first team players. I also altered a rule that I'm allowed to only sign players who generated at my club. So for instance is Mothoana leaves my club, I am allowed to sign him again at a later date because he came from my academy. Otherwise I'm not allowed, so I don't bother with scouts. I only have 1 because I need opposition reports.

Yes, I have to rely on my intake for new players. As for your second question - I don't sign the horrible ones. I have a few "rubbish" players in my starting 11 but since this league is trash, I sign them if they have some use to me. For example, Lucky Lebata.

As you can see, he is trash. Even for this league, his stats aren't very good. However he's got 1 stat that I exploit the shit out of, and that is his passing which is amongst the best in the league. So I just have him hold position as a DLP or an AP and have him dish out passes and involve him in the link up. So if they've got NO redeemable factor, I don't bother, but I try to sign most players anyways just to fill up the numbers.

[Guest]

YESSSSSS!

[Guest]

@Dan @Cannabis @...Dan @Smiley Culture @RandoEFC @Stan

So an update.

We won the league again last year, and this time we got a very winnable opponent in the first round of the African Champions League. We were drawn vs Elan Club of Comoros, who according to FM, don't even have a football league. So we beat them quite comfortably.

Very easy win. Geraldo Lekhooa scored all 5 goals in the tie and he's turning into quite the player I must say. Got him a few intakes ago and he's become one of my best players. I'll post the full squad up at some point but right now I'm just updating on the CAF campaign.

We were drawn against ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast, who tend to produce some quality regens on this game. They've also won the African Champions League once on this save. So not an ideal draw for us. Unfortunately it went as expected. We got crushed.

The first leg was actually pretty even in stats but they were so clinical in front of goal. Tape was their top guy and he destroyed us.

So we drop down to the African Confederations Cup. Remember we'd still win a good chunk of money if we play in the groups. So we got drawn against a team from Mozambique. Star and a half. We've already faced similar repped teams and got destroyed by them in the past.

So how did we do?

 

I have to say, I can't remember the last time I've celebrated this hard. Not since Peru qualified for the World Cup (yes, I have no life, I know). We were down 2-0 in the first leg, but with some changes to the 4-6-0, we were able to equalize in the game via Matete and Mothoana. 

The second leg, I ran around my room for both goals. I might have even woken up the neighbours haha. Unreal win, we've just qualified for the African Confederations Cup group stage. Not done the draw yet but I will in a bit.

 

[Guest]

Tough draw, but good practice!

[Guest]

I'm going mental, I just won in bloody Egypt  

[Guest]

Insane final day.

We won 1-0 at home but the Egyptian side got the home win against Gagnoa and went through. If we won and they lost we'd gone through on head to head.