A revolving door at Blyth as Spartans prepare for the Championship

The Championship beckons for Blyth Spartans, so for a club whose ground is still 4400 in capacity, poor training and youth facilities and many of the squad have come up from the Blue Square North, a lot needs to change. 

Firstly I have realistic aspirations of the season in the 2nd tier of English football and as such told the board I expect a mid-table finish. A nice transfer kitty is welcome, however I adjusted it to give me more freedom in the wage department and rely on loans and frees rather than spending much of that money.

4th season, 4th promotion - The Championship beckons for Blyth

The impossible has become possible, Blyth Spartans, who, 4 years ago were in the 6th tier of the English football pyramid are now just one promotion away from the Premier League.

A final day victory against Yeovil Town ensured a 4th successive promotion for the north-eastern club. On what was one of the most dramatic climaxes to the football league for many years, the top 6 were separated by 3 points and all were in with a shout for automatic promotion. But at 16:45 Reading were champions, Sheffield Wednesday could only manage a 0-0 at home to Charlton and were thus leap-frogged by Blyth.

Blyth precariously perched at the League 1 summit

After a self imposed exile (University, work, marriage and honeymoon) I have continued with Blyth Spartans. We are looking for a fourth successive promotion into The Championship from League 1 and are currently 1st at the turn of the year into 2014.

The top 7 are separated by just 9 points. Blyth's cause was significantly aided by a fantastic domineering performance against promotion rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Massive change of personnel for Spartans in League 1

Firstly the now familiar routine of showing the media predictions of doom and the pitiful wage budget.

There's also been a massive change of personnel with a lot of reserve and youth players that weren't showing enough potential and progress. Also Hermann Depré was shipped out for £60K and Liam O'Brien £85K adding some vital funds.

Blyth's meteoric rise through the leagues continues

Not only is it a third successive promotion for Blyth Spartans but a third successive championship. We finished strongly with 8 wins out of the last 10 to finish 5 points ahead of Southend.

Blyth pushing for a third successive promotion

37 games gone in Blyth Spartans' League 2 campaign and things are looking good. 2nd in the race for the championship and only four points behind favourites Southend Utd. We are also 9 clear of 8th so at least a playoff spot looks likely.

 

Blyth Spartans tactics analysis

After back to back promotions and 103 wins out of 143 games, I thought I'd divulge my tactics. I do leak goals but score plenty too and a 72% win ratio isn't too shabby.

4 2 2RL 2 basically employs the wingers and full backs bombing on to deliver balls to the far post for either the opposite winger or the striker.

Encouraging start for Blyth Spartans in L2

Firstly, a strange coincidence, after Jamie Ness' wonder-strike in the real life Old Firm derby he scored an almost identical goal in a much more important game on my FM11 Blyth Spartans save. Compare the two below!

Blyth Spartans Have had a really encouraging start in League 2, lying 4th after 18 games. We started well beating Carlisle 3-1 on the opening day but have since crashed out of the League Cup and the St. Johnstan's Paint Trophy. although with the help form Jamie Ness' goal we're  still in the FA Cup, meeting Walsall in the 2nd Round.

Out with the old, in with the new - Blyth ring the changes

A new season for Blyth Spartans in League 2 and a real step up in class. The club has gone professional so all the part-time players need to be offered full-time contracts. In a lot of cases players were expecting a 100% hike on there current deals, something that I just can't afford and did not reflect their abilities. So some of the ageing French contingent had to leave as did Alassane Mendy, who wasn't developing as I'd hoped. Oliver Nicholas also left the club for a record £75K.

Lionel Zoko also left for a decent £35K, He'd become surplus to requirements as I'd captured some excellent loan signings (finally) from Newcastle in the form of Aaron Spear and Ryan Donaldson. Other stand-out signings are:

24 wins in a row, 117 points, Blyth Spartans destroy the Blue Square Premier

The headline almost says it all. Blyth Spartans had an emphatic second half of the season and racked up an unprecedented and record breaking 117 points with 38 wins, 122 goals and a goal difference of +81.

15 game winning streak - The Spartans march on

Blyth Spartans have beaten and extended their longest winning sequence to 15 games (and still going on). Spartans have had some scares, 2-0 down to both Braintree and Dover but coming back to thrillingly win 4-3. The run began after a disappointing loss to Lincoln, but since then the squad responded from a chastening by manager, Olly Hunter by sweeping away all in their path. Next up is Grimsby, and Blyth will hope to avenge the defeat at Blundell Park earlier in the season and continue the winning streak.

The run leaves Blyth Spartans top of the BSP, 18 points clear of The Mariners and looking nailed on for promotion.

Demolition of Telford & a great start in the BSP

Blyth Spartans went to New Bucks Head to take on AFC Telford and destroyed a very poor Lillywhites team with the visitors smashing home 8 goals, Pierrick Chaitreuil with a hatrick and ably supported by strikes from Sakali, Walker, Clamy, Lorie and Potier. Spartans were helped by Telford being reduced to 9 men in the second half as the Northumbrian team moved to the top of the Blue Square Premier. Blyth manager, Olly Hunter, was delighted with his team's performance. "It had been coming. We'd seen glimpses of what we can do in the last few games and we see what the lads are capable of each day in training. So for it all to come together today, it's great for the boys and the fans.

Byth Spartans in the Blue Square Premier

The media haven't been kind in their prediction for Blyth Spartans in the Blue Square Premier.

But I'm a confident manager so when the board asked me about aspirations I chose promotion. I do believe we can go up again with the quality in the team but i also chose promotion as it gave me more to play with in the transfer and wages budgets.

 A new season and my ruthless tactic of out with old and in with the new means the axe has fallen on some of the stars that helped me with promotion last season. Older players like Raphael Nade, Armand Ossey and Mohamed Benyachou all went abroad earning me £16K. I'd also got rid of some fringe players that were just not developing as I'd hoped - Dali Gomez, Peggy Lokando and Declan McAvoy, to free up some wage space.

Double time for Blyth

We are the Champions, my friends! Blyth Spartans romped home and clinched the Blue Square North by 8 points from AFC Telford, who were also promoted via the playoffs.

It's been a great season, not only winning the league but also the FA Trophy. Spartans met Blue Square Premier Mansfield Town in the final at Wembley in front of over 28,000 fans. Although we totally outplayed Mansfield they took a shock lead with just 5 minutes to go. But then this happened...

Blyth push on, are the Spartans heading for promotion?

Blyth Spartans are sitting pretty at the top of the Blue Square North. AFC Telford are still our main challengers but Gainsborough have dropped off and Guiseley and Alfreton have both had a distinct fall in grace.

I've also been busy in the transfer market, off-loading 8 players including "stars" Paul Brayson and Nicky Deverdics who, both at £450 per week, were a drain on my wage budget. They were also not performing and did not have the attributes to meet my growing standards. I really am pushing the boundaries of my wage budget  but I did bring in some replacements of better quality than I got rid of and on lower wages.

A good start to the season for Blyth Spartans

So, it's the middle of November and I'm pleased to report Blyth Spartans are doing much better than I expected we would, considering the amount of new signings brought in and departures from the club. Spartans are currently 1st in the table, 6 points clear of Gainsborough and 8 of AFC Telford and Guisely. We had a great run of results, unbeaten in 11 until the defeat at Corby where an injury to Liam O'Brien meant youngster Joe Segar, who although performed well the game before against Hyde, committed two mistakes and thus our run came to an end.

However, the very next game, Spartans met League 2 side Port Vale in the FA Cup 1st Round. I'd decided to bring back O'Brien, who despite only just recovering from a gashed leg, had a fitness rating of 72%. This gamble ultimately paid off as Blyth Spartans shocked the professionals 2:1! Hopefully we can get to the third round and draw a Premier League club away, to get some cash to help the finances.

A new start, a new job, a new challenge

I have started a new career in FM11. It would've been far too obvious to go for the team I support, QPR or for a big team in a big league like Juve or Barca so after searching long and hard for an appropriate team I finally stumbled across the lowest tier of English football, the Blue Square leagues. Here I deliberated on which team to choose, it is difficult as I don't know much about any of these teams and I didn't want to go for clubs that had a high media prediction. Eventually my choice was based on a mid-table side with a nice badge - Blyth Spartans. Blyth is a town of 36,000 people 10 miles north of Newcastle in the North East of England.

Spartans play in the Blue Square North league, effectively the 6th tier of football in England. I will have a tough time this year as the media prediction for Blyth Spartans is 11th. Alfreton Town and AFC Telford are predicted 1st and 2nd respectively.

The sacking of former manager Mick Tait was a blow to Spartans, but I received a warm welcome and a good deal of £500 per week from Chairman Tony Platten. I am expected to finish at least mid-table and have been given no transfer budget and a poultry £4,100 per week for wages.

The team report is not encouraging despite what assistant manager Chris Swailes says. The squad is thin, relying too heavily on the U18s and there are a few players who need to be cleared out. I think I will be busy in the transfer market in the weeks to come. First job however, is to arrange a few high profile friendlies to bring in some extra funds. 

As assistant Chris Swailes says, my two best players are midfielder and new signing from Barnet, Nicky Deverdics. Deverdics on the face of it doesn't look like he is that great, however he does have a lot of 8s and 9s, which with training, time and good form can turn into 10s and 11s.

The other is Paul Brayson, a journeyman striker who is above 10 in almost all the right areas for an attacker. He has good physical attributes, a splattering of OK mental attributes but crucially 12 for finishing. Disappointingly though only 3 for heading, this will cause a problem as I do like playing with wingers who whip crosses in.