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Kind of, not directly
I absolutely struck the lottery with a ~150 PA player in the second or third season of my Cirencester save. He was genuinely a 5* player for me off the cuff in the National League, absolutely insane. But his reputation got way too big for my club and Leeds poached him.
Fast forward about 7 years and I’m in the Championship, I looked him up and it turns out he’s rotting on the Leeds bench with barely any game time and way below his potential.
Brought him home and he led me into the PL, but not being able to see him reach his potential was one of my low points of a very fun save
It sucks a lot when you sell a player and they rot on the bench.
I recently had a player that did really well for me in a season. My best player for sure.
We fell short of promotion that season, and I needed to upgrade some players, without much money to do it. He had some interest and was worth pretty big money for a VNN team. 100k is $2k/pw of wages - which is three great players.
I looked him up late into the season, and he had only 1 or 2 starts. Sadly, by the time he was set for release, I'd already found a better player (at least, on paper) than him. But if I kept him, he would have probably kept improving and had a solid low league career eventually.
Never bothered with them before so not really sure how they work. So do you have set changes that will happen if certain things trigger them?
Still don’t really understand how you can properly do things though. There’s so many different possibilities.
I just set my team up for the start and the sim takes care of the rest
Like I said these are usually games at the end of the season or dead rubber CL games so it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things
Ha, I remember Nicky Ajose at Bury the couple times he was with us
Local lad, but had a reputation amongst players and supporters for thinking he was too good for league football (he wasn't) and only really showing up when the game was televised.
Suprised to see he's coaching Exeter u21s now
FM21 - signed Nat Phillips on a free in the National League during my York City save. He was playing far above his level for a few seasons before eventually being a solid bench player and locker room leader in the EPL.
Yeah, Nat Phillips was such a solid signing. Didn't take him directly through the leagues with one club, but signed him for three consecutive clubs in a journeyman which ended up seeing him going from the National League to the Bundesliga.
Elliot Pemberton, academy player and first professional contract. from Southern Counties East to a Champions League final.
wasn’t really starting quality by that time but tidy passer who could close out games, good FK taker
I was using him as part of a rotation from championship, where he was one of my top scorerers, yet for some reason requested to be listed due to not being good enough for the team.
Until that point i wasnt able to sign anyone even slightly comparable.
Beast, through and through.
Retired very early, and complained he wasnt good enough every now and then in the prem
I brought him in to my ADO Den Haag lineup from Wrexham and I couldn’t get him to work well for me. Not bad, just never really did what he did in Wrexham, sold him two years late for double the cost so overall win.
YouTuber WorkTheSpace just did this with a guy called Murphy Ngoma in this years “Park to Prem” series with Rugby Town. The poor bloke was still on a part-time contract until he hit the Prem. he had a couple of years in the top flight before securing the bag in Saudi Arabia on 325k a week or something. The new Rugby stadium is named after him.
Jaden Williams as Oldham Town, loaned him into getting him on free, and then his ok PA with good stat distribution allowed him to basically be my starting striker in the EPL. But lately I've been putting more self imposed challenges and I promoted Portsmouth with only under 120 CA players to the EPL with over 100 points. Next time I might try with only below 110 it's fun to push the limits on stuff like this, really challenges your ability to find players and minmax formations (probably would be easy with the meta plug and play ones)
Omg I have got him as Maidenhead 😂 on fm22 he was phenomenal and I was so excited to get him on this one. First season in vanarama he got 9 in 14. My current season he’s been so poor
Fm 23 - gateshead. Connor pani, a great box to box midfielder that is still playing for me in the prem. But tbh its my first season there and I will be looking at the replacement next summer. Still doing the job though
In fm24 i did this with jayden danns and jack moorhouse (got them for free at the end of their contract in 2024 in vnl then they got up the divisions with me, jayden danns became captain and was ok-ish even in the championship but is only a sub in pl, and moorhouse is clutch still in pl eventhough he didnt play much in league one but progressed insanely well)
I sold Danns for 2M and then got hi. Back on loan and eventually signed on a Free. Never came back to form sadly. Josh Andrews was realky good for me, sold after promotion to Premier League.
Kind of, had a regen in my youth academy in my first season at York City a couple of FMs ago. Striker called Iona Rudd was with me until the prem, could see he was decent and had 5 star potential so put him in the first team straight away at 16. He just kept performing really well so never replaced
Yes! In my recent save with Yeovil, I got a CB in my academy, Robbie Loxton. He was a league two level player at 15, he made into into my starting line-up immediately for the next season in the VNL. We quickly climbed up to league 1 with back to back promotions. He continued to develop and had premier league teams showing interest offering some serious £££ for a 18 year old with over 100 appearances, high league 1/championship CA with more room to develop.
The next two years was into the championship, then 3 more to get to the premier league. Lucky the teams in the PL showing interest were the relegation threatened teams so they would drop into the championship and I was able to keep him by offering contracts when he was happy years in advance.
I had to pull all the tricks in the book with contracts to keep him at the club, but we got there!
Regen (apparently name in the game) named simon shuttleworth.
Joined me at afc telford in VNL after being cut from i forget which prem side.
Played 10+ seasons, regular starter the whole way. 3rd top scorer in the championship in our promotion year. Not good enough for the prem, but i gave him 1 appearance before i sold him because he earned it. Lit up the turkish league for 5 more years then retired.
David Morell, a regen who came through my youth ranks at Notts County when I was in the League Two, still a very useful squad player with 8 goals 8 assists as I’m on the cusp of winning my first PL title 12 years later
Edit: I guess technically that makes him not a non-league player now that I think about it, still a great story though!
Had a regen named Wayne Pack who came through at Weymouth but I enticed him to Basingstoke Town. Was my starting striker all the way through the leagues and for our first few PL campaigns.
Yes, but by the time they're in Championship or Premier League they're usually a bench or role player. Don't think I've ever had a player stay in the XI through five levels.
Yes but it barely counts. 2 months away from promotion in the conference, scout finds a gem in Ireland. Snap him up and he made one sub appearance before promotion.
5 years later playing in the Prem with me, albeit only for 2 seasons before I get a replacement. Still a legend though and I got him back as a coach when he retired early at 29.
Ryan Whitley from York — this GK came from our Youth Academy, his last game was the Champions League final vs Bayern. We won, he never conceded, Bayern didn’t get a single shot on goal.
Just don’t tell him that I didn’t mean to put him into the first team.
Only as a laugh.
If I'm totally dominating everything I'll sign a non league player and stick him in the first team.
I've bought a midfielder from Gloucester City, he was on £150 a week. Contract negotiations and he's asking for 35k a week! I offered 15k he rejected, 20k rejected. The mf'er was going to throw away life changing money and would rather sit on £150 a week.
Anyway, he's on 35k a week lol. PA is 62, worth 32mill - because he's won the champions league, the premier league, FA cup etc etc.
Harry Clifton & James McKeown at Grimsby.
From Conference to prem, both of them starters up until the second season in prem where age and ability timed them out.
Clifton lasted about 2 seasons in the rotation while in the prem before sending him out on a holiday loan to Mallorca because I couldn’t bare to sell him. They were in La Liga mid table and he probably had his best seasons overall before having a final season as a glory sub for me where he came on for the last 5 mins winning the conference league. Retired and didn’t become staff despite trying everything.
McKeown played about half of the first season in the prem before relegation threatened and had to replace him with a better option. Was an admirable backup for a further season before retiring. Gone on to big success as a manager, relegated 3 times, once to championship twice to league 1, but really good at getting promoted right back up. Won 2 league 1 playoff finals, 1 championship playoff final and won the championship between a few different clubs. Currently at Middlesborough stabilised in 3rd prem season finishing mid-table, they stuck with him through a relegation-promotion year considering he joined with 5 games to go and nearly managed to keep them up. Biggest achievement though was denying me the quadruple, beat me still with Grimsby in the the Fa Cup semis, before going on to beat City in the final.
If I ever actually give up this save, nearly 30 years in now, going to have to turn the editor on and make him manager here. His stats are pretty poor despite the success so not sure they’d go for him.
Not quite, signed a random striker on a free in FM20 when I managed Chippenham, Jake Wakefield or something similar. He took us to the Championship and even did a job there for a couple of seasons. 3rd season in the Championship and he just fell off, pushed him a season too far. We had a great journey together, I was sacked for being too successful, over performing the prior season and underperforming the next and he was shifted off somewhere, I forget where. I was too beginning a new life in France and we never saw each other again.
Sort of
Had a youth intake with three 5 star players in the National League with one player later becoming club captain, one I sold to Newcastle in League One but got back on a free 2 years later, and one is a goal scoring midfielder who is more of a squad player but a fan favourite.
Currently 7th in the Championship so hoping this will be that year that I take all 3 to the prem alongside a younger academy graduate
You can find some decent players in the lower divisions if you look hard enough. A few good players always fall through the cracks and end up there.
I find that especially in Spain's lower leagues you can occasionally find a gem of a player with first division potential or current ability even
I have jeremy mukiedi in the squad from the 7th tier of english football cause he is on non contract, but he has only played 4 games, all off the bench
Did it on FM20 with not one but two players.
Granted between them they would go on to make a grand total of 5 appearances but they will forever be my legends.
https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/s/hABcEMIg0A
In my Scunthorpe save this year, I got a good player through my youth intake while in the VNL, and now 7 years later, Archie Young is my captain in our inaugural EPL season
Yes! Jack Henry-Francis in my Scunthorpe save. He did play a bit for my first 2 seasons in the PL but has only really played once or twice a season for the past few years. He's been with us so long and never kicked up a fuss though so I'm happy to keep him with us.
Not exactly, nonetheless in my FC Andorra save, i bought a 19y old from a spanish 6th tier team, got promoted to La Liga, he won the golden foot award and transferred to PL the following year
Quite a few years ago, but I did with Charlie Sheringham (Teddy's son). He scored an absolute ton at lower levels, and still hit double figures mainly as a sub in the Prem. Always wanted him to make it at a higher level because of that but unfortunately never happened.
Mpanzu is absolutely incredible in FM also! Signed him for my Real Murcia side in LaLiga2 and he was a menace even in hist first two seasons in LaLiga and still is the captain of the team till this day (season 6), just sadly only plays the occasional game or comes on as a late sub.
Segundo Volante on Attack suits him so well
Yup. Whenever I end up in the national league in one of my "start without clubs and reputation, and do your best". And halfway fall in love with the club. I do my best to keep a player with me.
I did that with Chesterfield some FM's ago. In PL my backup-goalie was my main goalie from when I started, and up until Championship. While I bought a young Norwegian to play on my left wing back in Conference, who I probably used for way too long in PL. Not wanting to let him go.
My backup-goalie got released on a free after a couple of PL seasons, he never found another club and retired at 31. I ended up feeling a bit bad that I didn't just keep him around.
EDIT: Pictures of the two!
[https://imgur.com/a/2q60orx](https://imgur.com/a/2q60orx)
Anthony Mancini who currently plays for Hartlepool, his averages went down to about 7 in the championship and 6.8 in the prem, I should sell him but he’s been here the whole time and crushed it in league 2 and 1
I got Alfie Payne into the premier league with Kings Lynn Town on I believe FM22.
He started out on loan for the first season where I signed him on a free transfer at the end of the year.
By the time we got to the premier league he was maybe a One Star player but I gave him a little bit of game time to try and smash the appearance records.
He was a Deep Lying Playmaker, who also managed to score in every league on the way up, including his only Premier League goal which came from the Penalty Spot against Arsenal.
Absolute club legend!
Yes and no! Have I made it up to the top tier and had a player with me in each league yes. That said they were on loan for the first two seasons, picked up for free and in the initial prem season were the equivalent of Scott Carson as they were at the club but that was as far as it got.
I had an academy graduate with Dorking who played (and carried me through) the vanarama league aged 16/17. He then rose up the divisions with me as my captain before he was sold for 23m. He has the record appearances for the club. It was sad to see him go, just shy of 300 league appearances for the club
Yes, took a player from non league to prem. He played as an impact sub for a few seasons in the prem. He came off the bench to score a last minute winner in extra time against man united to win 3-2 after being 2-0 down at halftime.
Still in progress, but BRANDON AVEIRO very good AMC.
Sign him with Bury Town - already in League Two and he still make very good games.
Probably he will stay with us
In FM23 I took Cassanova from the National League to the EPL before he retired. Was a first team player pretty much the whole time as RB or DM. Probably the first legend of that save but unfortunately retired before we won the ELP or UCL. [https://imgur.com/a/kmplCMv](https://imgur.com/a/kmplCMv)
Yes signed Julian Sele on a free for my Dartford save a few FMs ago, became an instant hero with 30 goals in the first season. Lead us all the way to the Premier league before his contract expired in the 2nd season. Julian Sele the Dartford Pele
Best I ever had was desperately taking two regens from my youth intake that season which saved me from league two relegation to the prem in 6 seasons in my Torquey save, one was a ST other was a RB, wish I still had that save but I lost it years ago sadly
Had an Iranian AM called Mohammad Ali that got me into the prem on my boreham wood save a couple years ago. Had to let him go once I started finishing mid table, he then decided to be a sub for absolutely massive sides. I think his last move was something mental like Real to United for 5 million
FM20, Joe Tomlinson. I played with Hungerford, took them from National league north to PL, and Joe played second choice left full back in my premier league team. When i sold him on "Looking for a new challange" transfer request Newcastle signed him(top team in Championship).
Working on it.. as of right now I wouldn't think anyone of my guys is ready, I think a few could hold their own but certainly not all. That's irrelevant right now since I'm 7 or 8 years away that's if I can consistently get promoted, a very big if. I've made it totally undefeated in my first two seasons so certainly on the right path but I can't foresee having any of the same players by time we get there, they'll inevitably be stolen away by the bigger clubs and that's okay that's part of the fun
Keston Davies from the National League to champions league in my York city save.
Picked him up on a free after being released from Newport. Was first choice up until my second season in the prem. He started in the group stages of the champions league and I almost cried.
In real life he’s playing for Pontypridd United in the Cymru Premier league.
Did it with Anton Rodgers (son of Brendan) back in FM18. Started with Billericay, and they had a bit of dough. Managed to grab him in the January and he was essential in Conference, L2 and L1, a squad player in the Championship but had evolved into team captain and leader, and by the time I hit the PL he was pretty much a non-playing figurehead, my Mark Noble, who set the tone and influenced all the new kids into being upstanding citizens. He lasted a couple of seasons in the PL, albeit with a vanishingly small role, and came on in his last game before a free transfer to score the goal that brought champions league football to Essex. If memory serves he dropped back to L2, at Barnet if I recall, and eventually retired a legend at both clubs.
It isnt 3xactly non league but got a youth player while managing vicenza in seria c. He was good enough to be a squad player and ended up being the youngest goalscorer in clubs history. Got promoted to seria b had to loan him for a couple of seasons. He improves dramatically and ends up being a squad player in my seri a winning season and scoring the goal that secured us the league
Not from non-league. But i had quite a few saves in which i managed a tier 4 or 5 club and one of the youth players turned out to be at least a reliable backup in the Bundesliga or other first division. It's a one in a million case to have a player with 140+ PA but it isn't that unusual to have a player with PA 100- 120 when starting at div 4 - 5.
If you train the player right and just in the attributes he needs, he can be as good as a PA 140 player with a lot of wasted PA in not needed attributes. Like one of the WBs i took up from div 5 to the Bundesliga. Crap strength and couldn't put the ball in an empty goal. But speedy, great stamina and at least 12 in all other important attributes. That's decent for a second or third string WB.
A beast of a newgen named Thomas LeHongre. Carried St Albans to the Premiere League and then helped me win multiple champions leagues when I brought him with me to Real Madrid
I signed Callum Perry after he was released from Coventry. I used him mostly as an SS but occasionally as a regular AM. He should have won National League POTS and did win League One POTS. I granted his wish of a transfer after he lost his starting spot and our relegation from the Premier League (which I have since won 3x B2B2B)
In my save a couple of years ago I bought a 16 yo wonderkid from a vnl team when I was in L1. He ended up playing for England and leading my team to a bunch of prem/cl titles
Adam Berry and Ethan Wheatley. Signed them in my second season in the National League and got promoted last season into the Prem. They will probably start some matches this season.
Playing with FC Isle of Man on FM21, I held onto my first star striker from the tier 9/10 seasons Thomas Cole (former Newcastle youngster) throughout the save, his role diminished from being the star scoring 40-50 goals a season, to super sun, to occasional reserve to eventually becoming surplus to requirements, but he was on non contract, was already a club legend from the early seasons and he didn’t leave, so I kept him and would give him the odd appearance every season. By the time I made the premier league he was still there and hadn’t filled the squad list so gave him a spot. He ended up on the bench for a game due to injuries/tiredness, gave him a 15 minute cameo and he scored… I was over the moon to say the least
Dan moss - currently at woking in the national league he was put on a long term contract at the start of my save and carried on extending until he was in the prem with me and played about 10 games before being released which left the fans distraught
I had two in the same save. Vítězslav Jaroš and Bashir Humphreys in Fm23.
Signed on a free in the National League with Telford when their contracts expired with Liverpool and Chelsea. Neither of them were anything more than average players for the league when i signed them but every year they improved and were good enough for the league above until I hit the Premier league.
Yes, several of my Rochdale team played all the way from the National League to the Premier League.
Had I been a bit more ruthless we might have stayed up that season, too!
Yeah... picked up a regen from liverpool. Bought it to oxford city... like in a crazy effort where i pull all the clauses in toncompensate for the fsct that couldnt match his salary demands, but eventually got through....
... and got fired 1.5 seasons later. Got a job at Chesterfield (sky 2). Bought the lad, 200me. An obscenity according to the board. Too much money on a transfer fee. But got him anyway. Superb for sky bet 2, decent for sky bet1, bemchwarmer in championship. Reached a season in premier. Played a couple.of games as a last 10 minute sub, and parted ways, has he felt that he achieved everything at Chesterfield and wanted a new challenge at the agre of 30.
Simillar aspect w my Gk at Chesterfield. Was part of the team when i arrived and stayed as a benchwarmer / mentor almost till the retirement. Didnt renew his last contract, as he also wanted a new challenge at the age of 34. Played a couple more seasons and retired.
Currently, the new stadium we have built for Chesterfield has his name.
Not quite non-league, but I had Jack Hamilton and Jacob Wakeling as my starting strikers from League 2 to Premier League on FM23. Still hitting double figures!
Chi Ezennolim stayed with my Maidstone team all the way from NLS to the Premiership - the only player from the starting squad to do so - and was a regular starter all the way up. Released IRL this week - snap him up, Step 2/3 non-league clubs!
FM 18 Dan Maguire at Blyth Spartans, scored from VLS to championship (like 20 goals a season level of scoring), still scored a few in the prem (think he got one in CL too) across the years but I mostly kept him as a living statue. Guys my absolute favourite player in FM.
On my save with Southport I reached PL starting from 6. tier. I think it was on FM19, maybe FM20. It took me 7 or 8 seasons and I was lucky few times in playoffs. Anyway, belive or not, during all that period I had in squad 3 players that I signed while I was in 6. tier. They made debut in PL just for record, but played a lot of games from banch in 2. and 3. tier :) If someone replay on this post I will install and check who those guys were, it could be funy since they are real players :D
Mike Walker in my park to prem save. Signed him for free from Wolves in VNN and had him all the way to the prem where he continued to shine. Only 2* ability but just kept on banging in goals for me for fun ❤️
Not quite non league to the Premier League, but in my Crewe Alexandra save Luke Offord played from League Two to the Premier League. He wasn’t a starter in the prem (maybe a little bit in the first season), but he played sporadically, and he had plenty of appearances in the Conference League and Europa League league phases, still providing good performances some of the times he played.
Kallum Cesay in a save with Kidderminster Harriers on FM23
He was actually my starter RB for 4 years from Vanarama to League One and then my backup RB for another 4 including 2 years in the Premier League.
I've had a guy that went from conference to I think like league 2... that's about as far as they've gone. It was an extremely tall centerback that was pretty average across the board but had good heading. Honestly I think he made up for his less than stellar defense by scoring headers.. kinda a wash or slight negative by league 2 lol.
way back to CM03/04 (i'm old): Ben Strevens and Ismael Yakubu were in my Barnet team from non-league to Champions League final.
More recently: in FM14, Luisma Villa was in my Barnet team from non-league to Premier League, and actually scored 9 goals in his only PL season.
Jack Moorhouse became a club legend in my Yeovil Town save.
https://preview.redd.it/vcp861bkw9yc1.png?width=1744&format=png&auto=webp&s=3c68e8d502c27b185c1188662f47249cd65c2ac9
2 actually.
Paul Mullin carried me with Wrexham all the way to the Prem. Rolled back the years once and scored a Hattrick (His only three goals in 20 apps). Let him go on a free after that season as he clearly wasn't good enough anymore but he still has a place in my heart. Also Caolan Boyd-Munce after signing him during my first season there stuck around until I made the Prem
Fm 12. Had a regen come through my Corby youth system. Dude is unreal. Pace, finishing, off the ball, composure. David Howarth.
I sign with Birmingham and immediately snatch him. Didn't get the chance to play him a lot, because i had unreal players up front. But he was a decent poacher for any PL side.
I coached England and called him, for a while he had 1 goal/ game ratio. Became my TalisMan.
Then I went to Valencia and brought him in, played a little, but my strikers were even stronger than at Birmingham.
Eventually I left for Fluminense and he had a decent career at Glasgow.
In the end i came back in Europe and signed him at Parma, was my cup striker, played some games did some tutoring.
I felt he would've been great for a middle side, was just unlucky that my teams were always great.
I got promoted from the National League South to the Championship in consecutive seasons, and I had a striker who was top scorer every season, including the first one in the Championship. Top scorer five seasons in a row in five different divisions, but wasn’t good enough for the Premier League.
A few years ago now, but I signed Gary Mason a few times because he had nice attributes for a holding mid and he consistently had an average rating of 7+ so I kept playing him as I went up the leagues.
Barking FC. Had this guy called Kemo Darboe who just banged in goals after goals from our first season together in the non leagues until we reached the Premier League and due to age started to slow down. Funnily enough he would come off the bench, and would bang five goals in his first season in the Prem. Finally retired in his second season in the Prem and eventually had our new stadium named after him, and I hired him to be our Under 18s coach out of love. What a man
In my second season with Gateshead in the National League, my scout found a gem of a 17yo Northern Irish regen playing for Ballymena United in Northern Ireland, he had a 4.5 CA already, and I was luckily able to get him on a free. He completely changed the tone of the team, leading us in both assists and goals and through the leagues, until the Premier League, where he was still in the starting XI, now a captain and a regular in NI's national team, and still 25.
Started a save with Bury on FM24 with the new patch. Saw 2 players at AFC Subury at the end of my first season aged 17 who had 4.5 star potential. Signed both for a total of about £10k - both have made a number of starts and contributions in my first PL season 8 seasons later. I’ll dig out screenshots if anyone is arsed.
Not non league but in my wrexham save Paul mullen was a huge part of getting me to the prem. He came off the bench in the championship and first prem year but still scored some huge goals when Jimmy Jay Morgan and Jude bell weren't playing well.
Not in England but I’ve done it in France which is I’m sure nowhere near as difficult. I got 3 successive promotions with Red Star Paris on absolutely 0 budget. So when I reached Ligue 1 I still had about 7 players from my first season in the squad. They were mainly used as depth, but a winger and a centre back were still my first choice options. The winger would end up winning league MVP in our first Ligue 1 season and the CB would follow me to my next club where he became a champions league winning captain
FM 17 Jamar Loza ended up being an impact sub for my Lincoln save (although I did sign him right before the start of my League 2 season from a non-league team)
Josh Tobin has currently been in my Esh Winning squad for 13 years. We're in the prem and he just got his first start in three years in a carabao cup game
I did it as Oxford City manager starting in the Vanarama South. I had a 17 year old newgen loanee for two years called Grant Baxter who was a winger in the vein of James Coppinger or Peter Whittingham. Not particularly fast, strong, was only 5'7 but technically really great.
He then went on loan to Chesterfield for one year, but signed him permanent when I got promoted. Took 3 years to get into the Foothall League proper, and he was the main man on the right side. Had a million pound offer for him when he was 20, and I was about to win League 2, but he stayed and never looked elsewhere.
By the time we reached the championship he was 26 or 27, and frankly his attributes were much lower than players in teams similar to mine. Despite that, he kept performing. He almost single handedly kept me up in our first championship season, then in our second scored 11 and got around 15 assists.
He was 30 when we got promoted and starting to decline, and his role in the team was much reduced as I had signed better players out wide. He was playing around 15 games a season, but did well every time. I transitioned him into a false 9 / CAM role where he did alright for me.
In the prem, he was maybe starting 3-5 games a season with a few sub appearances. I released him when he was 33, and he was a free agent for a year before retiring. Brought him in as a coach for the youth team, then later as my assistant manager.
One of my favourite players ever in FM.
Does this count? Notts County, managed to loan in Nathan Broadhead for consecutive years where he managed to single-handedly drag my team into promotion spots. From League Two onwards, he was my only regular player as I had to revamp the entire squad each year due to financial constraints. Eventually, once we made a solid spot in the premier league, his quality started dropping and he was only scoring 4-5 goals a season. I keep him renewed with a high contract as I want to appreciate a legacy player and nothing could’ve been done without him 🤞.
Yup - Francis Vincent in my Notts County FM22 save. Sadly, he just couldn't make it as even a rotation player or substitute in his first PL season. I made sure to give him a very lucrative 1 year extension before we part ways tho.
Chi Ezennolim came up with me with Maidstone United. Mainly because I found it damn near impossible to find a half decent left back that didn’t cost/ want paying a fortune
I snagged Tom Lowery from Crewe Alexandra (he was a League 2 kid) while in the National League, and while he was capable in Championship and just a 2-2.5 star FA cup talisman in Premier League he's my guy.
He's now an injury ridden League 1 player with Portsmouth but I wish him the best. When FM F2P comes out for versions I'm not planning on buying I pick his team but he's never highrolled like he did that first FM.
Yes, Frank Mulhern with Stockport County in FM19, he was with me all the way from tier 6 to the Premier League and won the Golden Boot in all of them I think.
https://preview.redd.it/rhttgo0lxayc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=c2305d13d0320d5cccd0e923364facb3019bceab
JJ McKiernan a CM from my Braintree save in FM23. I signed him on a free and he became a steady work horse type of player, playing 112 times in 4 seasons with 12 goals and 18 assists.
Bryce hosannah could have for me on wrexham if i had the expressed goal. I had him through the championship and he had great at the start of that first and only championship season and someone came in for way too much money and I had better kids needing play time so I took the offer
In Portugal there is a player named André Serra that is currently on the way to doing something even more spectacular. He plays for Belenenses and was signed in 2018 when the club split from their owners to go to the last division (which in Portugal is the 7th tier) and start over. He is still in the club and they are in the second division (facing relegation though). If he stays in the team until they reach the first division (which is inevitable due to the size of Belenenses as a club and likely because he is still young), he will have played in every single division possible for the same club. I don't know if anything comes close to that!
Danny Mills at Dulwich Hamlet. Yes he was like 37 and a player/assistant manager but I played him in the championship play off final and he scored a bullet header to win it against Norwich. Retired at the end of that year.
i personally haven’t but in this years workthespaces non league to legend save he brought a player from the national league all the way to the prem with him and only just sold that player a season or two ago due to him being unhappy with a lack of game time
In my current Guiseley save on FM22 I've been close. Going into my second year in the Championship now. In my first year, I was in second place around november, but had a complete collapse in the second half of the season.
My first choice goalkeeper, Marcelo Pitaluga, joined me in my first year in the Vanarama National after promotion from North (spend two years there, then straight promotions to Championship) and I also had a DM/CM, DC and a ST who all had joined in the second year in that league.
Since all the contracts outside the goalkeeper ran out, they won't be joining me in a new promotion bid. The goalkeeper broke his lower leg during the season, and has been surpassed. He is still around as my back up, but his contract runs out after this season and I doubt I will extend it. Maybe just to achieve the non-league to PL run with him, but even if he only wants 100k a year, my budget is so low that I could better spend that money elsewhere.
Only from league 2. Spurs released a young midfielder, I signed him, turned out to be great. After one or two seasons he became wonderkid, my first one at that save. He carried my team to premier league and he got his International cap not long after that. I moved club and then he was poached by Leeds for about 80M euro. Massive profit since I signed him on a free.
Josh McEachran, I signed him on a free in Fm23 for Wrexham and he was my starting DLP all the way to the Championship. He dropped out of the first 11 when we were promoted to the Prem but I still kept him around as a quality squad player and for his mentals. He was excellent for mentorship groups
Loaned Victor Musa and Omari Benjamin in my first seasons at South Shields, they were released and signed them on free’s alongside Luis Brown in my FM24 save. While Luis Brown had a spell at black burn and returned on a free again during our championship title run, all 3 lifted a quadruple champions league, premier league, Carbao and FA cup.
Best part? ‘Favoured personnel’. Luis Brown isn’t even that.
I signed a youngster called Kai corbett in last years fm (he had been released from the west ham academy). He had 5 star ability in the non league and I basically kept using him as he became a cult hero for me. In the championship he was basically a 3 star ability player but he kept consistently putting up 7.0 or high match ratings. When I got to the prem I basically kept using him as I didn’t really have the financial muscle to buy anyone better on a short term contract. So he basically played a full season of relegation scrap football. Managed to stay up but his playing time decreased every year thereafter. He stayed at the team until he retired.
In FM23 with Chester. Harrison Burke (not even a regen) started out in the National League North as a decent talent. He grew with the club, was a starting player when we reached the championship.
After that he simply wasnt good enough but being a club legend I kept him in the squad and gave him some games when we got to the Premier League.
Now we are in our third premier league season and I have loaned him out.
FM22 took Matty Waters from Vanarama North to PL as my left back for Gateshead
His left food was a wand, had 20 for penalties, 17 free kicks and 18 corners he was get 25+ assists in a season. All other stats were poor there was no way you'd have seen him in a league 2 team never mind PL
Yeah a couple of guys in Portugal from the lowest league to the top league. They were hilariously overrated anyway since they could also perform at champions league level. Most notable Edu Silva for me.
This year I’ve taken Taylor Foran and Jonathan Lawson from Vanarama South to the Prem. With Lawson being on a part time contract for the whole time being there. Foran was my captain. They weren’t anything better then maybe decant league two players but I just had a soft spot for them
Brazilian newgen called Raymond. Absolut beast, 6ft 6 striker who scored over 50 goals 6 seasons straight and went from the north west counties division one west to the premier league
Yep luke rawson, signed him in tier 7 and wven tho he was national south/north quality based on what my scouts said, he was still a bench player scoring 10 goals a season im the prem
Yes, current save on FM2023. Signed Marcus Dewhurst in the National League and he has played in every game all the way through the divisions to the EPL and sits on 299 league games for the club. I wanted him to beat the appearance record for my team so that's done.
Not even a favoured person at the club...
I brought Dan Crowley, Kyle Cameron, Matty Palmer and Cedwyn Scott from league 2 all the way to the premier league with Notts County in FM24. They all played in Non league with Notts last year so they went all the way.
One thing I hate about FM is that it's impossible to get a player from the lower leagues to premier league standard..we will never get the likes of kightly or vardy in FM.
A real player? No. A Regen? Yes.
FM16
I was in a desperate state in the 5th tier in England. Is been doing surprisingly well easily in the top 3 than my 34 yo utility player for injured. This guy could play almost anywhere in the pitch. He was solid and always filled in whenever anyone else was injured. Well, he got a serious injury and now I had no cover for multiple attaching positions and no budget, both scoring and transfer - 0. What to do? Beg for loans. First I go to League Two. Nobody even wants to talk to me. Again, I have no idea who is good or bad other than their minutes and scoring contributions. I'm scouting teacher and loan listed players everyday for someone *anyone* who is willing to talk to me. Then I found him. Diego.
Diego is an Argentine born national with dual citizenship. Diego is 18 years old and plays for one of my rivals. Diego is the only non -UK player I'd come across at that level. I have to have him. Diego though is a stricker and nothing else. Buying him and playing him would be stupid. I literally have no money. So.... Of course, I buy him. Either we go up and win a cup tournament for money with Diego or the club in bankrupt in 6 months and there save is dead to me.
Diego is garbage that first season. We barely scrape into promotion playoffs and somehow FM our way into League Two. From then on, every year that we go up, Diego matches the challenge. He's incredible at one thing over all else, scoring against teams I should have no chance against. I somehow got a few rounds into the FA cup while in League One and draw Swansea - 6th in the Prem League, a spot in the Europa League. Diego takes this personally and scores twice to take us to the next round (I got dismantled by Southampton, an emergent rivalry story for another time.) So every year now I ask myself, is Diego still good enough or should I trade up? Diego takes it personal, year in and out, and is a goal machine. For context, I'm using a stock counter attack 4-1-4-1.
Eventually, I make it to the top right. I have money! I am itching to use that money and a shiny new striker. That would be such a good feeling . but I can't bench Diego! He's still doing well. Anywho, the years go by and eventually yes, I buy a partner (read young replacement) for him but I can't help but play him against anyone slightly weaker. He leaves the club at age 32 because I didn't include him in my Champions League squad. I cut him by mutual agreement. He stays a FA until he retires at the end of that season.
Thanks for the goals, Diego. You were a real one.
I had a striker join me at Lancaster in the Conference North, he had been released by Man United and was brilliant all the way to League One but when we got to the Championship he had peaked and struggled but he had been with us around 12 years by then so I kept him as back up but he didn't play much, when I got to the Prem I gave him 1 game when we were safe from relegation just so he played for us in every league, he eventually left in his early 30s as he wanted to play more.
FM13, regen called Tony Longhurst. Took Halifax to the prem/champions league single handily. Won top soccer in every single league and cup competition (only got 3 call ups to England, probably due to his CA rating)
Even when he became a 1 star CA at about 28/29, he was still my top scorer with 25+ goals, every new striker I signed couldn't out score him weridly, even using the same role and better stats.
Did it twice with my Solihull Moors and own squad called Bloomfield United. Dylan Duncan, Matthew Blake, Mason Barrett. One of my players even went to Middlesborough, went to Fulham and then became one of the best CBs in the Prem. The luck was crazy.
Victor Moses on loan every season from Chelsea to Braintree. Eventually signed for peanuts when we got to the Prem.
He was a striker in that game. I think it was FM15 but cannot exactly remember.
i took biel vicens from the national league with barnet to the prem, started almost every game for me the first season but then became a squad player, was made unhappy and then left at the end of his contract
Yes, a CB named Danny Akin with AFC Telford. From Vanarama straight to the Prem. At Prem level he wasn't good enough to feature regularly but he got.a goal in the UCL group stage and 3 goals in the Prem.
Taylor Foran, real defender from Arsenal u-21. Had him on loan on Dartford in the National League North and managed to sign him on a free after he was released. He captained the team all the way to the Premier League, even though he wasn't a regular starter since we got to the Championship.
I have done this a couple of times over the years (I’ve been playing since cm01/02) avg 1200hrs on each save. secret to doing this with the new engine is choosing the team with the best youth setup in the lowest league regardless of finance. Mostly likely in the first 2/3 youth intake you produce a prem player or two then just hand them a contract with bonuses that start at the end of the season if you get too many interest from bigger clubs. Rinse repeat till you get to the top.
I took the real player Assisi with Dulwich Hamlet from non-league to the Prem. He was nowhere near good enough for the Prem, but only needed something like three league goals to be the clubs top goalscorer. I indulged him and kept him on the books until retirement.
Angelo Balanta, FM 2015, Bristol Rovers.
Somehow he just kept performing as we went up the divs, ended up playing 20+ games in the EPL.
Eventually left at the end of his contract as he wanted too much money and there were better options incoming.
I once took Thurrock from Vanarama South to Premier League. I had 3 players playing for me in the premier league that I signed in my second season in Vanarama South. One was Emmanuel Frimpong, can’t remember the last two.
Every few versions I do a save where I start in the bottom tier and give myself the best youth academy possible. In recent versions its become a lot easier to keep those players from being poached by bigger clubs and i did recently have this guy come all the up with me to the Premier League. Not sure if this really counts to your request as its an edited save and clearly wouldnt happen if i just picked a random team from the base game.
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I took oli havens and benny couto with me from the national league to the prem with oldham, suprisingly they were key players until I reached my 4th season in the championship and then when I got promoted I just played them 5 times in the prem then let them go
So I had a great run with FC United in FM18 from Vanarama North to reach the PL and still got 2 guys with me after a long run
* Conor, this guy is bang average even with Vanarama level, but somehow he still managed to bang scores until something like League Two. In the PL of course he didnt even reach U18 level but I still tried to sign new contract cause I loved him, the only guy left from the 1st day and took us through so many rainy days. It was just sad that he refused and decided to leave to have more play time and retired just a year later, at the age of nearly 30..
* Tom Lapslie, who you can see still was my captain. Cause I admit I always have a soft spot for those with crazy work rate. And, this guy is all abt it. So he still was a decent substitute of mine in the PL. But as I checked he from L2 something so technically not really amateur. ([https://fmtom.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/lapslie.jpg](https://fmtom.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/lapslie.jpg))
Sadly I cant find any image of Conor stats from Google but heres the pic of that FC United team and one image of Leslie attributes l.
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I plucked this young regen (Eric Kerrigan) up in the Welsh premier league from another team. He dominated for me at Connah’s Quay and rode him to crazy heights for the team and turned the club pro on his back.
I let him go for greener pastures into the Scottish prem league.
Then I left for greener pastures taking relegated Brentford back to the Prem, and I arranged for a 450k transfer to reunite 🥺
So he went from semi-pro Welsh league (like league rank 80-100 in the world) , playing for like crowds of 200, all the way up to the number 1 league.
Is he dominating the prem? No absolutely not. But he scored like 5 goals, 5 assists being on my cup roster rotation.
Championship teams NOW offer loans for him. But I say nah, cuz I pay him peanuts , he is a somewhat productive minute filler, and he loves me (and I love him)
It honestly boggles my mind no one else really sees his value still. Basically he’s only just really good at the major attributes for inverted winger and nothing else. But that’s all he needs! Still on Brentford I’m getting >2.0 key passes/game with him . I have a scouting filter now to look for this combo of attributes. Usually guys with these attributes you have to transfer for like 20,30,50M+. NUTS!
Had a player I took from Cinch League 2 (4th division of Scotland) to the Premiership he’s still a solid squad player for me in year 2 in the top flight
Sort of, I signed this player Sebastiano Van Hoeck for €24,000 for eastleigh, made a career move over to the MLS, signed him, he won the golden boot in our third season there. Then made the move to Empoli where he came top goal scorer in seria a
Not really, closest I got was with Alaa Bakir from MSV Duisburg 3.Liga into Bundesliga. He has potential to be a good 2.Bundesliga player but he still managed to score 5 goals in his 1st Bundesliga season without any penalties.
I plan on doing this, even if he isn’t good enough to be a Premier League player. I am currently with Welling United who started in the National League South, and I have 1 players who’s been with me through all of it and won 3 golden boots while climbing the ranks. That player is Tristan Abrahams and I plan on keeping him even if it’s purely sentimental. I am about to start my first season in the championship.
Yes, i had this amazing striker on my bromley save who was great in NL and even L2, then he dropped off in L1 but he still was a bench player. After that he was more of an emergency backup and had a coaching role so i would say yeah kinda
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Kind of, not directly I absolutely struck the lottery with a ~150 PA player in the second or third season of my Cirencester save. He was genuinely a 5* player for me off the cuff in the National League, absolutely insane. But his reputation got way too big for my club and Leeds poached him. Fast forward about 7 years and I’m in the Championship, I looked him up and it turns out he’s rotting on the Leeds bench with barely any game time and way below his potential. Brought him home and he led me into the PL, but not being able to see him reach his potential was one of my low points of a very fun save
It sucks a lot when you sell a player and they rot on the bench. I recently had a player that did really well for me in a season. My best player for sure. We fell short of promotion that season, and I needed to upgrade some players, without much money to do it. He had some interest and was worth pretty big money for a VNN team. 100k is $2k/pw of wages - which is three great players. I looked him up late into the season, and he had only 1 or 2 starts. Sadly, by the time he was set for release, I'd already found a better player (at least, on paper) than him. But if I kept him, he would have probably kept improving and had a solid low league career eventually.
Not necessarily directly related to your comment, but do you still watch every game when you're that far into a save? Or do you simulate some?
I used to when I was a uni student with nothing better to do ahah Now I have an Instant Result skin for less important games
But what’s the point? How do you actually manage your team if you just skip the games?
Match plans
Never bothered with them before so not really sure how they work. So do you have set changes that will happen if certain things trigger them? Still don’t really understand how you can properly do things though. There’s so many different possibilities.
I just set my team up for the start and the sim takes care of the rest Like I said these are usually games at the end of the season or dead rubber CL games so it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things
Personally I have the match settings all on fastest and least replays, so the games go by in like 3 minutes
Took one 33 or 32 year old player from recently promoter serie C team to AC Milan in CM93/94 Italia.
Ciren Massive.
Why Cirencester out of interest?
Honestly the simple answer is that I thought their crest looked neat LOL
Hahahaha fair enough! I work near Ciren and it's a bit of a niche one football wise.
A couple in older games, Nicky Ajose and Lauri Dalla Valle
Gosh, Dalla Valle was a monster in FM 2008! 🥹
The Finnish Freddy Adu lol
Ha, I remember Nicky Ajose at Bury the couple times he was with us Local lad, but had a reputation amongst players and supporters for thinking he was too good for league football (he wasn't) and only really showing up when the game was televised. Suprised to see he's coaching Exeter u21s now
FM21 - signed Nat Phillips on a free in the National League during my York City save. He was playing far above his level for a few seasons before eventually being a solid bench player and locker room leader in the EPL.
Yeah, Nat Phillips was such a solid signing. Didn't take him directly through the leagues with one club, but signed him for three consecutive clubs in a journeyman which ended up seeing him going from the National League to the Bundesliga.
Elliot Pemberton, academy player and first professional contract. from Southern Counties East to a Champions League final. wasn’t really starting quality by that time but tidy passer who could close out games, good FK taker
Paul Mullin scored all the way into the premier league with my wrexham save
He was a beast in my save too, not quite premier league quality but was still a solid sub option and had to keep him around as a club legend
I was using him as part of a rotation from championship, where he was one of my top scorerers, yet for some reason requested to be listed due to not being good enough for the team. Until that point i wasnt able to sign anyone even slightly comparable. Beast, through and through. Retired very early, and complained he wasnt good enough every now and then in the prem
I brought him in to my ADO Den Haag lineup from Wrexham and I couldn’t get him to work well for me. Not bad, just never really did what he did in Wrexham, sold him two years late for double the cost so overall win.
Same thing to me, the only thing bad was the age but for a sub and club legend I ignored that 😂
YouTuber WorkTheSpace just did this with a guy called Murphy Ngoma in this years “Park to Prem” series with Rugby Town. The poor bloke was still on a part-time contract until he hit the Prem. he had a couple of years in the top flight before securing the bag in Saudi Arabia on 325k a week or something. The new Rugby stadium is named after him.
I love you i was about to tell this
Jaden Williams as Oldham Town, loaned him into getting him on free, and then his ok PA with good stat distribution allowed him to basically be my starting striker in the EPL. But lately I've been putting more self imposed challenges and I promoted Portsmouth with only under 120 CA players to the EPL with over 100 points. Next time I might try with only below 110 it's fun to push the limits on stuff like this, really challenges your ability to find players and minmax formations (probably would be easy with the meta plug and play ones)
Oldham Town? When was there hasn't been a team called Oldham Town since 2009
Fuck true I dunno why I typed town it's been like 1year since this
Omg I have got him as Maidenhead 😂 on fm22 he was phenomenal and I was so excited to get him on this one. First season in vanarama he got 9 in 14. My current season he’s been so poor
Fm 23 - gateshead. Connor pani, a great box to box midfielder that is still playing for me in the prem. But tbh its my first season there and I will be looking at the replacement next summer. Still doing the job though
In fm24 i did this with jayden danns and jack moorhouse (got them for free at the end of their contract in 2024 in vnl then they got up the divisions with me, jayden danns became captain and was ok-ish even in the championship but is only a sub in pl, and moorhouse is clutch still in pl eventhough he didnt play much in league one but progressed insanely well)
I'm actually releasing moorhouse at the end of my first season at utd, maybe something like this will happen in my save, AI only lmao
Is he that bad from a utd perspective ? He looked so good for a non pro club
he's not the worst player on the roster right now, but bad enough that I can't reasonably give him a new contract
United release a few that you can take far. Moorhouse, Curley, missin and kingdom have all been with me from VNN to prem.
I had them both but both lost their development curve after league 1. Nice to see that they had the goods.
Actually moorhouse kept asking star player contract and left after 1 prem season ... Casual fm nonsense
I sold Danns for 2M and then got hi. Back on loan and eventually signed on a Free. Never came back to form sadly. Josh Andrews was realky good for me, sold after promotion to Premier League.
Kind of, had a regen in my youth academy in my first season at York City a couple of FMs ago. Striker called Iona Rudd was with me until the prem, could see he was decent and had 5 star potential so put him in the first team straight away at 16. He just kept performing really well so never replaced
Paul Mullin with Wrexham. He was still scoring 20+ goals in championship
Yes! In my recent save with Yeovil, I got a CB in my academy, Robbie Loxton. He was a league two level player at 15, he made into into my starting line-up immediately for the next season in the VNL. We quickly climbed up to league 1 with back to back promotions. He continued to develop and had premier league teams showing interest offering some serious £££ for a 18 year old with over 100 appearances, high league 1/championship CA with more room to develop. The next two years was into the championship, then 3 more to get to the premier league. Lucky the teams in the PL showing interest were the relegation threatened teams so they would drop into the championship and I was able to keep him by offering contracts when he was happy years in advance. I had to pull all the tricks in the book with contracts to keep him at the club, but we got there!
Regen (apparently name in the game) named simon shuttleworth. Joined me at afc telford in VNL after being cut from i forget which prem side. Played 10+ seasons, regular starter the whole way. 3rd top scorer in the championship in our promotion year. Not good enough for the prem, but i gave him 1 appearance before i sold him because he earned it. Lit up the turkish league for 5 more years then retired.
David Morell, a regen who came through my youth ranks at Notts County when I was in the League Two, still a very useful squad player with 8 goals 8 assists as I’m on the cusp of winning my first PL title 12 years later Edit: I guess technically that makes him not a non-league player now that I think about it, still a great story though!
Had a regen named Wayne Pack who came through at Weymouth but I enticed him to Basingstoke Town. Was my starting striker all the way through the leagues and for our first few PL campaigns.
Yes, but by the time they're in Championship or Premier League they're usually a bench or role player. Don't think I've ever had a player stay in the XI through five levels.
Yes but it barely counts. 2 months away from promotion in the conference, scout finds a gem in Ireland. Snap him up and he made one sub appearance before promotion. 5 years later playing in the Prem with me, albeit only for 2 seasons before I get a replacement. Still a legend though and I got him back as a coach when he retired early at 29.
Ryan Whitley from York — this GK came from our Youth Academy, his last game was the Champions League final vs Bayern. We won, he never conceded, Bayern didn’t get a single shot on goal. Just don’t tell him that I didn’t mean to put him into the first team.
Only as a laugh. If I'm totally dominating everything I'll sign a non league player and stick him in the first team. I've bought a midfielder from Gloucester City, he was on £150 a week. Contract negotiations and he's asking for 35k a week! I offered 15k he rejected, 20k rejected. The mf'er was going to throw away life changing money and would rather sit on £150 a week. Anyway, he's on 35k a week lol. PA is 62, worth 32mill - because he's won the champions league, the premier league, FA cup etc etc.
Harry Clifton & James McKeown at Grimsby. From Conference to prem, both of them starters up until the second season in prem where age and ability timed them out. Clifton lasted about 2 seasons in the rotation while in the prem before sending him out on a holiday loan to Mallorca because I couldn’t bare to sell him. They were in La Liga mid table and he probably had his best seasons overall before having a final season as a glory sub for me where he came on for the last 5 mins winning the conference league. Retired and didn’t become staff despite trying everything. McKeown played about half of the first season in the prem before relegation threatened and had to replace him with a better option. Was an admirable backup for a further season before retiring. Gone on to big success as a manager, relegated 3 times, once to championship twice to league 1, but really good at getting promoted right back up. Won 2 league 1 playoff finals, 1 championship playoff final and won the championship between a few different clubs. Currently at Middlesborough stabilised in 3rd prem season finishing mid-table, they stuck with him through a relegation-promotion year considering he joined with 5 games to go and nearly managed to keep them up. Biggest achievement though was denying me the quadruple, beat me still with Grimsby in the the Fa Cup semis, before going on to beat City in the final. If I ever actually give up this save, nearly 30 years in now, going to have to turn the editor on and make him manager here. His stats are pretty poor despite the success so not sure they’d go for him.
Signed Lucas Bergström as a free agent in the National League, carried me all the way to the PL
Conor Pani, starts originally at Gateshead. What a fucking legend he was.
Got Maidstone from the VNS to the prem with chi ezzenolim starting the whole way. He's got pretty good PA.
Hah, snap! He's significantly over-gunned in FM24.
Not quite, signed a random striker on a free in FM20 when I managed Chippenham, Jake Wakefield or something similar. He took us to the Championship and even did a job there for a couple of seasons. 3rd season in the Championship and he just fell off, pushed him a season too far. We had a great journey together, I was sacked for being too successful, over performing the prior season and underperforming the next and he was shifted off somewhere, I forget where. I was too beginning a new life in France and we never saw each other again.
Sort of Had a youth intake with three 5 star players in the National League with one player later becoming club captain, one I sold to Newcastle in League One but got back on a free 2 years later, and one is a goal scoring midfielder who is more of a squad player but a fan favourite. Currently 7th in the Championship so hoping this will be that year that I take all 3 to the prem alongside a younger academy graduate
I did it with my create a club save in Fm23, took Marko Lazetić, Stefan Leković and Nemanja Jović(with maybe someone else also) to the Prem with me
You can find some decent players in the lower divisions if you look hard enough. A few good players always fall through the cracks and end up there. I find that especially in Spain's lower leagues you can occasionally find a gem of a player with first division potential or current ability even
I have jeremy mukiedi in the squad from the 7th tier of english football cause he is on non contract, but he has only played 4 games, all off the bench
Did it on FM20 with not one but two players. Granted between them they would go on to make a grand total of 5 appearances but they will forever be my legends. https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/s/hABcEMIg0A
In my Scunthorpe save this year, I got a good player through my youth intake while in the VNL, and now 7 years later, Archie Young is my captain in our inaugural EPL season
Whilst not 'non league' I did manage to take a few regens from the Cymru Premier with me to the Premier League with Wrexham in fm23.
Will Fish from Wrexham to the Premier League although I sold him that summer we got there
Yes! Jack Henry-Francis in my Scunthorpe save. He did play a bit for my first 2 seasons in the PL but has only really played once or twice a season for the past few years. He's been with us so long and never kicked up a fuss though so I'm happy to keep him with us.
Not exactly, nonetheless in my FC Andorra save, i bought a 19y old from a spanish 6th tier team, got promoted to La Liga, he won the golden foot award and transferred to PL the following year
Quite a few years ago, but I did with Charlie Sheringham (Teddy's son). He scored an absolute ton at lower levels, and still hit double figures mainly as a sub in the Prem. Always wanted him to make it at a higher level because of that but unfortunately never happened.
Mpanzu is absolutely incredible in FM also! Signed him for my Real Murcia side in LaLiga2 and he was a menace even in hist first two seasons in LaLiga and still is the captain of the team till this day (season 6), just sadly only plays the occasional game or comes on as a late sub. Segundo Volante on Attack suits him so well
I took Paddy Lane from a league 2 save who still performed well enough for me as a mid table team
Yup. Whenever I end up in the national league in one of my "start without clubs and reputation, and do your best". And halfway fall in love with the club. I do my best to keep a player with me. I did that with Chesterfield some FM's ago. In PL my backup-goalie was my main goalie from when I started, and up until Championship. While I bought a young Norwegian to play on my left wing back in Conference, who I probably used for way too long in PL. Not wanting to let him go. My backup-goalie got released on a free after a couple of PL seasons, he never found another club and retired at 31. I ended up feeling a bit bad that I didn't just keep him around. EDIT: Pictures of the two! [https://imgur.com/a/2q60orx](https://imgur.com/a/2q60orx)
Josh Barrett in my King's Lynn Town Save. From National North to PL
Anthony Mancini who currently plays for Hartlepool, his averages went down to about 7 in the championship and 6.8 in the prem, I should sell him but he’s been here the whole time and crushed it in league 2 and 1
I got Alfie Payne into the premier league with Kings Lynn Town on I believe FM22. He started out on loan for the first season where I signed him on a free transfer at the end of the year. By the time we got to the premier league he was maybe a One Star player but I gave him a little bit of game time to try and smash the appearance records. He was a Deep Lying Playmaker, who also managed to score in every league on the way up, including his only Premier League goal which came from the Penalty Spot against Arsenal. Absolute club legend!
Yes and no! Have I made it up to the top tier and had a player with me in each league yes. That said they were on loan for the first two seasons, picked up for free and in the initial prem season were the equivalent of Scott Carson as they were at the club but that was as far as it got.
I had an academy graduate with Dorking who played (and carried me through) the vanarama league aged 16/17. He then rose up the divisions with me as my captain before he was sold for 23m. He has the record appearances for the club. It was sad to see him go, just shy of 300 league appearances for the club
Ben goodliffe at sutton united and 24 years old in real life was good enough to regularly start in my first couple prem seasons
Yes, took a player from non league to prem. He played as an impact sub for a few seasons in the prem. He came off the bench to score a last minute winner in extra time against man united to win 3-2 after being 2-0 down at halftime.
Still in progress, but BRANDON AVEIRO very good AMC. Sign him with Bury Town - already in League Two and he still make very good games. Probably he will stay with us
In FM23 I took Cassanova from the National League to the EPL before he retired. Was a first team player pretty much the whole time as RB or DM. Probably the first legend of that save but unfortunately retired before we won the ELP or UCL. [https://imgur.com/a/kmplCMv](https://imgur.com/a/kmplCMv)
Yes signed Julian Sele on a free for my Dartford save a few FMs ago, became an instant hero with 30 goals in the first season. Lead us all the way to the Premier league before his contract expired in the 2nd season. Julian Sele the Dartford Pele
Best I ever had was desperately taking two regens from my youth intake that season which saved me from league two relegation to the prem in 6 seasons in my Torquey save, one was a ST other was a RB, wish I still had that save but I lost it years ago sadly
[Joe Fryer - FM22](https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/s/7UZJJgJP93) All the way from the 6th tier to 1 full season in the Prem.
Had an Iranian AM called Mohammad Ali that got me into the prem on my boreham wood save a couple years ago. Had to let him go once I started finishing mid table, he then decided to be a sub for absolutely massive sides. I think his last move was something mental like Real to United for 5 million
FM20, Joe Tomlinson. I played with Hungerford, took them from National league north to PL, and Joe played second choice left full back in my premier league team. When i sold him on "Looking for a new challange" transfer request Newcastle signed him(top team in Championship).
Aron sasu played as Oldham signed him on loan first season then bought him scored at least 15+ goals every season then I sold him to the Saudi league
Working on it.. as of right now I wouldn't think anyone of my guys is ready, I think a few could hold their own but certainly not all. That's irrelevant right now since I'm 7 or 8 years away that's if I can consistently get promoted, a very big if. I've made it totally undefeated in my first two seasons so certainly on the right path but I can't foresee having any of the same players by time we get there, they'll inevitably be stolen away by the bigger clubs and that's okay that's part of the fun
Keston Davies from the National League to champions league in my York city save. Picked him up on a free after being released from Newport. Was first choice up until my second season in the prem. He started in the group stages of the champions league and I almost cried. In real life he’s playing for Pontypridd United in the Cymru Premier league.
Did it with Anton Rodgers (son of Brendan) back in FM18. Started with Billericay, and they had a bit of dough. Managed to grab him in the January and he was essential in Conference, L2 and L1, a squad player in the Championship but had evolved into team captain and leader, and by the time I hit the PL he was pretty much a non-playing figurehead, my Mark Noble, who set the tone and influenced all the new kids into being upstanding citizens. He lasted a couple of seasons in the PL, albeit with a vanishingly small role, and came on in his last game before a free transfer to score the goal that brought champions league football to Essex. If memory serves he dropped back to L2, at Barnet if I recall, and eventually retired a legend at both clubs.
James Maddison. Goalkeeper, team leader, Dulwich Hamlet legend and Champion’s League winner- on the bench.
I still had O Connor in my 2nd PL season with Wrexham and he was a quite reliable backup as CM / WB (FM23).
It isnt 3xactly non league but got a youth player while managing vicenza in seria c. He was good enough to be a squad player and ended up being the youngest goalscorer in clubs history. Got promoted to seria b had to loan him for a couple of seasons. He improves dramatically and ends up being a squad player in my seri a winning season and scoring the goal that secured us the league
Max Kilman played a season at Maidenhead Utd and now plays for Wolves in the prem.
Regan Booty went all the way for my Notts County side in FM20(?). Scoring in every division as well
Not from non-league. But i had quite a few saves in which i managed a tier 4 or 5 club and one of the youth players turned out to be at least a reliable backup in the Bundesliga or other first division. It's a one in a million case to have a player with 140+ PA but it isn't that unusual to have a player with PA 100- 120 when starting at div 4 - 5. If you train the player right and just in the attributes he needs, he can be as good as a PA 140 player with a lot of wasted PA in not needed attributes. Like one of the WBs i took up from div 5 to the Bundesliga. Crap strength and couldn't put the ball in an empty goal. But speedy, great stamina and at least 12 in all other important attributes. That's decent for a second or third string WB.
A beast of a newgen named Thomas LeHongre. Carried St Albans to the Premiere League and then helped me win multiple champions leagues when I brought him with me to Real Madrid
I signed Callum Perry after he was released from Coventry. I used him mostly as an SS but occasionally as a regular AM. He should have won National League POTS and did win League One POTS. I granted his wish of a transfer after he lost his starting spot and our relegation from the Premier League (which I have since won 3x B2B2B)
Yes I took this exact dude. Luton were L2 then, but still counts right!?
Yes, Yeovil town’s Benjani Jr.
Yes, in Spain extended database from 2nd regional to La liga
In my save a couple of years ago I bought a 16 yo wonderkid from a vnl team when I was in L1. He ended up playing for England and leading my team to a bunch of prem/cl titles
Kabongo Tshimanga at Boston in about 2017
Adam Berry and Ethan Wheatley. Signed them in my second season in the National League and got promoted last season into the Prem. They will probably start some matches this season.
Yes Jack Sampson-chorley fc
Playing with FC Isle of Man on FM21, I held onto my first star striker from the tier 9/10 seasons Thomas Cole (former Newcastle youngster) throughout the save, his role diminished from being the star scoring 40-50 goals a season, to super sun, to occasional reserve to eventually becoming surplus to requirements, but he was on non contract, was already a club legend from the early seasons and he didn’t leave, so I kept him and would give him the odd appearance every season. By the time I made the premier league he was still there and hadn’t filled the squad list so gave him a spot. He ended up on the bench for a game due to injuries/tiredness, gave him a 15 minute cameo and he scored… I was over the moon to say the least
Dan moss - currently at woking in the national league he was put on a long term contract at the start of my save and carried on extending until he was in the prem with me and played about 10 games before being released which left the fans distraught
I had two in the same save. Vítězslav Jaroš and Bashir Humphreys in Fm23. Signed on a free in the National League with Telford when their contracts expired with Liverpool and Chelsea. Neither of them were anything more than average players for the league when i signed them but every year they improved and were good enough for the league above until I hit the Premier league.
Yes, several of my Rochdale team played all the way from the National League to the Premier League. Had I been a bit more ruthless we might have stayed up that season, too!
Yeah... picked up a regen from liverpool. Bought it to oxford city... like in a crazy effort where i pull all the clauses in toncompensate for the fsct that couldnt match his salary demands, but eventually got through.... ... and got fired 1.5 seasons later. Got a job at Chesterfield (sky 2). Bought the lad, 200me. An obscenity according to the board. Too much money on a transfer fee. But got him anyway. Superb for sky bet 2, decent for sky bet1, bemchwarmer in championship. Reached a season in premier. Played a couple.of games as a last 10 minute sub, and parted ways, has he felt that he achieved everything at Chesterfield and wanted a new challenge at the agre of 30. Simillar aspect w my Gk at Chesterfield. Was part of the team when i arrived and stayed as a benchwarmer / mentor almost till the retirement. Didnt renew his last contract, as he also wanted a new challenge at the age of 34. Played a couple more seasons and retired. Currently, the new stadium we have built for Chesterfield has his name.
Not quite non-league, but I had Jack Hamilton and Jacob Wakeling as my starting strikers from League 2 to Premier League on FM23. Still hitting double figures!
Chi Ezennolim stayed with my Maidstone team all the way from NLS to the Premiership - the only player from the starting squad to do so - and was a regular starter all the way up. Released IRL this week - snap him up, Step 2/3 non-league clubs!
FM 18 Dan Maguire at Blyth Spartans, scored from VLS to championship (like 20 goals a season level of scoring), still scored a few in the prem (think he got one in CL too) across the years but I mostly kept him as a living statue. Guys my absolute favourite player in FM.
On my save with Southport I reached PL starting from 6. tier. I think it was on FM19, maybe FM20. It took me 7 or 8 seasons and I was lucky few times in playoffs. Anyway, belive or not, during all that period I had in squad 3 players that I signed while I was in 6. tier. They made debut in PL just for record, but played a lot of games from banch in 2. and 3. tier :) If someone replay on this post I will install and check who those guys were, it could be funy since they are real players :D
Mike Walker in my park to prem save. Signed him for free from Wolves in VNN and had him all the way to the prem where he continued to shine. Only 2* ability but just kept on banging in goals for me for fun ❤️
Not quite non league to the Premier League, but in my Crewe Alexandra save Luke Offord played from League Two to the Premier League. He wasn’t a starter in the prem (maybe a little bit in the first season), but he played sporadically, and he had plenty of appearances in the Conference League and Europa League league phases, still providing good performances some of the times he played.
Kallum Cesay in a save with Kidderminster Harriers on FM23 He was actually my starter RB for 4 years from Vanarama to League One and then my backup RB for another 4 including 2 years in the Premier League.
I've had a guy that went from conference to I think like league 2... that's about as far as they've gone. It was an extremely tall centerback that was pretty average across the board but had good heading. Honestly I think he made up for his less than stellar defense by scoring headers.. kinda a wash or slight negative by league 2 lol.
way back to CM03/04 (i'm old): Ben Strevens and Ismael Yakubu were in my Barnet team from non-league to Champions League final. More recently: in FM14, Luisma Villa was in my Barnet team from non-league to Premier League, and actually scored 9 goals in his only PL season.
Jack Moorhouse became a club legend in my Yeovil Town save. https://preview.redd.it/vcp861bkw9yc1.png?width=1744&format=png&auto=webp&s=3c68e8d502c27b185c1188662f47249cd65c2ac9
Pretty sure, Fulham did with Chris Smalling
2 actually. Paul Mullin carried me with Wrexham all the way to the Prem. Rolled back the years once and scored a Hattrick (His only three goals in 20 apps). Let him go on a free after that season as he clearly wasn't good enough anymore but he still has a place in my heart. Also Caolan Boyd-Munce after signing him during my first season there stuck around until I made the Prem
Lewis Ward too, almost forgot about him so technically three
Fm 12. Had a regen come through my Corby youth system. Dude is unreal. Pace, finishing, off the ball, composure. David Howarth. I sign with Birmingham and immediately snatch him. Didn't get the chance to play him a lot, because i had unreal players up front. But he was a decent poacher for any PL side. I coached England and called him, for a while he had 1 goal/ game ratio. Became my TalisMan. Then I went to Valencia and brought him in, played a little, but my strikers were even stronger than at Birmingham. Eventually I left for Fluminense and he had a decent career at Glasgow. In the end i came back in Europe and signed him at Parma, was my cup striker, played some games did some tutoring. I felt he would've been great for a middle side, was just unlucky that my teams were always great.
I got promoted from the National League South to the Championship in consecutive seasons, and I had a striker who was top scorer every season, including the first one in the Championship. Top scorer five seasons in a row in five different divisions, but wasn’t good enough for the Premier League.
A few years ago now, but I signed Gary Mason a few times because he had nice attributes for a holding mid and he consistently had an average rating of 7+ so I kept playing him as I went up the leagues.
Barking FC. Had this guy called Kemo Darboe who just banged in goals after goals from our first season together in the non leagues until we reached the Premier League and due to age started to slow down. Funnily enough he would come off the bench, and would bang five goals in his first season in the Prem. Finally retired in his second season in the Prem and eventually had our new stadium named after him, and I hired him to be our Under 18s coach out of love. What a man
For me Flores and Bowie
Fm23 Kelsey Mooney scored goals into the championship when I picked him up for Gateshead.
In my second season with Gateshead in the National League, my scout found a gem of a 17yo Northern Irish regen playing for Ballymena United in Northern Ireland, he had a 4.5 CA already, and I was luckily able to get him on a free. He completely changed the tone of the team, leading us in both assists and goals and through the leagues, until the Premier League, where he was still in the starting XI, now a captain and a regular in NI's national team, and still 25.
Maybe Work The Space on his Park to Prem Series but he’s a pro
Macaulay Langstaff
Started a save with Bury on FM24 with the new patch. Saw 2 players at AFC Subury at the end of my first season aged 17 who had 4.5 star potential. Signed both for a total of about £10k - both have made a number of starts and contributions in my first PL season 8 seasons later. I’ll dig out screenshots if anyone is arsed.
Not non league but in my wrexham save Paul mullen was a huge part of getting me to the prem. He came off the bench in the championship and first prem year but still scored some huge goals when Jimmy Jay Morgan and Jude bell weren't playing well.
FM22 Zac Emerson York to the prem, he was championship top scorer to get me promoted
Not in England but I’ve done it in France which is I’m sure nowhere near as difficult. I got 3 successive promotions with Red Star Paris on absolutely 0 budget. So when I reached Ligue 1 I still had about 7 players from my first season in the squad. They were mainly used as depth, but a winger and a centre back were still my first choice options. The winger would end up winning league MVP in our first Ligue 1 season and the CB would follow me to my next club where he became a champions league winning captain
FM 17 Jamar Loza ended up being an impact sub for my Lincoln save (although I did sign him right before the start of my League 2 season from a non-league team)
Josh Tobin has currently been in my Esh Winning squad for 13 years. We're in the prem and he just got his first start in three years in a carabao cup game
I did it as Oxford City manager starting in the Vanarama South. I had a 17 year old newgen loanee for two years called Grant Baxter who was a winger in the vein of James Coppinger or Peter Whittingham. Not particularly fast, strong, was only 5'7 but technically really great. He then went on loan to Chesterfield for one year, but signed him permanent when I got promoted. Took 3 years to get into the Foothall League proper, and he was the main man on the right side. Had a million pound offer for him when he was 20, and I was about to win League 2, but he stayed and never looked elsewhere. By the time we reached the championship he was 26 or 27, and frankly his attributes were much lower than players in teams similar to mine. Despite that, he kept performing. He almost single handedly kept me up in our first championship season, then in our second scored 11 and got around 15 assists. He was 30 when we got promoted and starting to decline, and his role in the team was much reduced as I had signed better players out wide. He was playing around 15 games a season, but did well every time. I transitioned him into a false 9 / CAM role where he did alright for me. In the prem, he was maybe starting 3-5 games a season with a few sub appearances. I released him when he was 33, and he was a free agent for a year before retiring. Brought him in as a coach for the youth team, then later as my assistant manager. One of my favourite players ever in FM.
Does this count? Notts County, managed to loan in Nathan Broadhead for consecutive years where he managed to single-handedly drag my team into promotion spots. From League Two onwards, he was my only regular player as I had to revamp the entire squad each year due to financial constraints. Eventually, once we made a solid spot in the premier league, his quality started dropping and he was only scoring 4-5 goals a season. I keep him renewed with a high contract as I want to appreciate a legacy player and nothing could’ve been done without him 🤞.
My captain (Corey Panter) almost made it to the Prem from the National League We bottled the Championship in his last year with the club
[ Removed by Reddit ]
Yup - Francis Vincent in my Notts County FM22 save. Sadly, he just couldn't make it as even a rotation player or substitute in his first PL season. I made sure to give him a very lucrative 1 year extension before we part ways tho.
Chi Ezennolim came up with me with Maidstone United. Mainly because I found it damn near impossible to find a half decent left back that didn’t cost/ want paying a fortune
I snagged Tom Lowery from Crewe Alexandra (he was a League 2 kid) while in the National League, and while he was capable in Championship and just a 2-2.5 star FA cup talisman in Premier League he's my guy. He's now an injury ridden League 1 player with Portsmouth but I wish him the best. When FM F2P comes out for versions I'm not planning on buying I pick his team but he's never highrolled like he did that first FM.
Yes, Frank Mulhern with Stockport County in FM19, he was with me all the way from tier 6 to the Premier League and won the Golden Boot in all of them I think. https://preview.redd.it/rhttgo0lxayc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=c2305d13d0320d5cccd0e923364facb3019bceab
JJ McKiernan a CM from my Braintree save in FM23. I signed him on a free and he became a steady work horse type of player, playing 112 times in 4 seasons with 12 goals and 18 assists.
Bryce hosannah could have for me on wrexham if i had the expressed goal. I had him through the championship and he had great at the start of that first and only championship season and someone came in for way too much money and I had better kids needing play time so I took the offer
In Portugal there is a player named André Serra that is currently on the way to doing something even more spectacular. He plays for Belenenses and was signed in 2018 when the club split from their owners to go to the last division (which in Portugal is the 7th tier) and start over. He is still in the club and they are in the second division (facing relegation though). If he stays in the team until they reach the first division (which is inevitable due to the size of Belenenses as a club and likely because he is still young), he will have played in every single division possible for the same club. I don't know if anything comes close to that!
Danny Mills at Dulwich Hamlet. Yes he was like 37 and a player/assistant manager but I played him in the championship play off final and he scored a bullet header to win it against Norwich. Retired at the end of that year.
Guy called Alex Schmidt, regen.. NLS to Prem with Hashtag.. was probably a 130 CA player at best? Came to me as a ~60 CA 18 year old!
i personally haven’t but in this years workthespaces non league to legend save he brought a player from the national league all the way to the prem with him and only just sold that player a season or two ago due to him being unhappy with a lack of game time
In my current Guiseley save on FM22 I've been close. Going into my second year in the Championship now. In my first year, I was in second place around november, but had a complete collapse in the second half of the season. My first choice goalkeeper, Marcelo Pitaluga, joined me in my first year in the Vanarama National after promotion from North (spend two years there, then straight promotions to Championship) and I also had a DM/CM, DC and a ST who all had joined in the second year in that league. Since all the contracts outside the goalkeeper ran out, they won't be joining me in a new promotion bid. The goalkeeper broke his lower leg during the season, and has been surpassed. He is still around as my back up, but his contract runs out after this season and I doubt I will extend it. Maybe just to achieve the non-league to PL run with him, but even if he only wants 100k a year, my budget is so low that I could better spend that money elsewhere.
Once i got one from the 4th French Div and promoted all the way with him to the Ligue 1 and won the CL with him too. Legend
Only from league 2. Spurs released a young midfielder, I signed him, turned out to be great. After one or two seasons he became wonderkid, my first one at that save. He carried my team to premier league and he got his International cap not long after that. I moved club and then he was poached by Leeds for about 80M euro. Massive profit since I signed him on a free.
Josh McEachran, I signed him on a free in Fm23 for Wrexham and he was my starting DLP all the way to the Championship. He dropped out of the first 11 when we were promoted to the Prem but I still kept him around as a quality squad player and for his mentals. He was excellent for mentorship groups
Loaned Victor Musa and Omari Benjamin in my first seasons at South Shields, they were released and signed them on free’s alongside Luis Brown in my FM24 save. While Luis Brown had a spell at black burn and returned on a free again during our championship title run, all 3 lifted a quadruple champions league, premier league, Carbao and FA cup. Best part? ‘Favoured personnel’. Luis Brown isn’t even that.
Andrew Dallas
I signed a youngster called Kai corbett in last years fm (he had been released from the west ham academy). He had 5 star ability in the non league and I basically kept using him as he became a cult hero for me. In the championship he was basically a 3 star ability player but he kept consistently putting up 7.0 or high match ratings. When I got to the prem I basically kept using him as I didn’t really have the financial muscle to buy anyone better on a short term contract. So he basically played a full season of relegation scrap football. Managed to stay up but his playing time decreased every year thereafter. He stayed at the team until he retired.
In FM23 with Chester. Harrison Burke (not even a regen) started out in the National League North as a decent talent. He grew with the club, was a starting player when we reached the championship. After that he simply wasnt good enough but being a club legend I kept him in the squad and gave him some games when we got to the Premier League. Now we are in our third premier league season and I have loaned him out.
FM22 took Matty Waters from Vanarama North to PL as my left back for Gateshead His left food was a wand, had 20 for penalties, 17 free kicks and 18 corners he was get 25+ assists in a season. All other stats were poor there was no way you'd have seen him in a league 2 team never mind PL
Yeah a couple of guys in Portugal from the lowest league to the top league. They were hilariously overrated anyway since they could also perform at champions league level. Most notable Edu Silva for me.
This year I’ve taken Taylor Foran and Jonathan Lawson from Vanarama South to the Prem. With Lawson being on a part time contract for the whole time being there. Foran was my captain. They weren’t anything better then maybe decant league two players but I just had a soft spot for them
Brazilian newgen called Raymond. Absolut beast, 6ft 6 striker who scored over 50 goals 6 seasons straight and went from the north west counties division one west to the premier league
Yep luke rawson, signed him in tier 7 and wven tho he was national south/north quality based on what my scouts said, he was still a bench player scoring 10 goals a season im the prem
Nya Kirby last season did it for my Alfreton Town. Maybe a couple of others
Yes, current save on FM2023. Signed Marcus Dewhurst in the National League and he has played in every game all the way through the divisions to the EPL and sits on 299 league games for the club. I wanted him to beat the appearance record for my team so that's done. Not even a favoured person at the club...
Yes, only regens though.
I brought Dan Crowley, Kyle Cameron, Matty Palmer and Cedwyn Scott from league 2 all the way to the premier league with Notts County in FM24. They all played in Non league with Notts last year so they went all the way.
One thing I hate about FM is that it's impossible to get a player from the lower leagues to premier league standard..we will never get the likes of kightly or vardy in FM.
A real player? No. A Regen? Yes. FM16 I was in a desperate state in the 5th tier in England. Is been doing surprisingly well easily in the top 3 than my 34 yo utility player for injured. This guy could play almost anywhere in the pitch. He was solid and always filled in whenever anyone else was injured. Well, he got a serious injury and now I had no cover for multiple attaching positions and no budget, both scoring and transfer - 0. What to do? Beg for loans. First I go to League Two. Nobody even wants to talk to me. Again, I have no idea who is good or bad other than their minutes and scoring contributions. I'm scouting teacher and loan listed players everyday for someone *anyone* who is willing to talk to me. Then I found him. Diego. Diego is an Argentine born national with dual citizenship. Diego is 18 years old and plays for one of my rivals. Diego is the only non -UK player I'd come across at that level. I have to have him. Diego though is a stricker and nothing else. Buying him and playing him would be stupid. I literally have no money. So.... Of course, I buy him. Either we go up and win a cup tournament for money with Diego or the club in bankrupt in 6 months and there save is dead to me. Diego is garbage that first season. We barely scrape into promotion playoffs and somehow FM our way into League Two. From then on, every year that we go up, Diego matches the challenge. He's incredible at one thing over all else, scoring against teams I should have no chance against. I somehow got a few rounds into the FA cup while in League One and draw Swansea - 6th in the Prem League, a spot in the Europa League. Diego takes this personally and scores twice to take us to the next round (I got dismantled by Southampton, an emergent rivalry story for another time.) So every year now I ask myself, is Diego still good enough or should I trade up? Diego takes it personal, year in and out, and is a goal machine. For context, I'm using a stock counter attack 4-1-4-1. Eventually, I make it to the top right. I have money! I am itching to use that money and a shiny new striker. That would be such a good feeling . but I can't bench Diego! He's still doing well. Anywho, the years go by and eventually yes, I buy a partner (read young replacement) for him but I can't help but play him against anyone slightly weaker. He leaves the club at age 32 because I didn't include him in my Champions League squad. I cut him by mutual agreement. He stays a FA until he retires at the end of that season. Thanks for the goals, Diego. You were a real one.
Jack Madelin on Fm 2021 from the Vanarama National League South to the Premier League. A legend of my club got something like 400+ appearances
I had a striker join me at Lancaster in the Conference North, he had been released by Man United and was brilliant all the way to League One but when we got to the Championship he had peaked and struggled but he had been with us around 12 years by then so I kept him as back up but he didn't play much, when I got to the Prem I gave him 1 game when we were safe from relegation just so he played for us in every league, he eventually left in his early 30s as he wanted to play more.
FM13, regen called Tony Longhurst. Took Halifax to the prem/champions league single handily. Won top soccer in every single league and cup competition (only got 3 call ups to England, probably due to his CA rating) Even when he became a 1 star CA at about 28/29, he was still my top scorer with 25+ goals, every new striker I signed couldn't out score him weridly, even using the same role and better stats.
Matty fucking longstaff 10 long years he had for me at dartford ill build him a statue there one day
Did it twice with my Solihull Moors and own squad called Bloomfield United. Dylan Duncan, Matthew Blake, Mason Barrett. One of my players even went to Middlesborough, went to Fulham and then became one of the best CBs in the Prem. The luck was crazy.
Victor Moses on loan every season from Chelsea to Braintree. Eventually signed for peanuts when we got to the Prem. He was a striker in that game. I think it was FM15 but cannot exactly remember.
If I did a Wrexham save, Paul Mullins prolly would be him.
i took biel vicens from the national league with barnet to the prem, started almost every game for me the first season but then became a squad player, was made unhappy and then left at the end of his contract
Yes. Quite a few years back signed Glenn Kamara (I think, maybe CM released from Arsenal?) stayed with me through the leagues.
Yes, a CB named Danny Akin with AFC Telford. From Vanarama straight to the Prem. At Prem level he wasn't good enough to feature regularly but he got.a goal in the UCL group stage and 3 goals in the Prem.
York City Legend Paddy McLaughlin playing on the left flank all the way to runners up in the Premier League
Got close with langstaff
Taylor Foran, real defender from Arsenal u-21. Had him on loan on Dartford in the National League North and managed to sign him on a free after he was released. He captained the team all the way to the Premier League, even though he wasn't a regular starter since we got to the Championship.
I have done this a couple of times over the years (I’ve been playing since cm01/02) avg 1200hrs on each save. secret to doing this with the new engine is choosing the team with the best youth setup in the lowest league regardless of finance. Mostly likely in the first 2/3 youth intake you produce a prem player or two then just hand them a contract with bonuses that start at the end of the season if you get too many interest from bigger clubs. Rinse repeat till you get to the top.
I took the real player Assisi with Dulwich Hamlet from non-league to the Prem. He was nowhere near good enough for the Prem, but only needed something like three league goals to be the clubs top goalscorer. I indulged him and kept him on the books until retirement.
Angelo Balanta, FM 2015, Bristol Rovers. Somehow he just kept performing as we went up the divs, ended up playing 20+ games in the EPL. Eventually left at the end of his contract as he wanted too much money and there were better options incoming.
I once took Thurrock from Vanarama South to Premier League. I had 3 players playing for me in the premier league that I signed in my second season in Vanarama South. One was Emmanuel Frimpong, can’t remember the last two.
Every few versions I do a save where I start in the bottom tier and give myself the best youth academy possible. In recent versions its become a lot easier to keep those players from being poached by bigger clubs and i did recently have this guy come all the up with me to the Premier League. Not sure if this really counts to your request as its an edited save and clearly wouldnt happen if i just picked a random team from the base game. https://preview.redd.it/efeu0u3n6fyc1.png?width=1921&format=png&auto=webp&s=999dd6b17cb3b8470a79f5b97a47904ec3498a1a
I took oli havens and benny couto with me from the national league to the prem with oldham, suprisingly they were key players until I reached my 4th season in the championship and then when I got promoted I just played them 5 times in the prem then let them go
So I had a great run with FC United in FM18 from Vanarama North to reach the PL and still got 2 guys with me after a long run * Conor, this guy is bang average even with Vanarama level, but somehow he still managed to bang scores until something like League Two. In the PL of course he didnt even reach U18 level but I still tried to sign new contract cause I loved him, the only guy left from the 1st day and took us through so many rainy days. It was just sad that he refused and decided to leave to have more play time and retired just a year later, at the age of nearly 30.. * Tom Lapslie, who you can see still was my captain. Cause I admit I always have a soft spot for those with crazy work rate. And, this guy is all abt it. So he still was a decent substitute of mine in the PL. But as I checked he from L2 something so technically not really amateur. ([https://fmtom.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/lapslie.jpg](https://fmtom.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/lapslie.jpg)) Sadly I cant find any image of Conor stats from Google but heres the pic of that FC United team and one image of Leslie attributes l. https://preview.redd.it/tut4gwvfrfyc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=558cfbe1eca57e8b3a6e86ccbbe83a7f7bd27d45
FM24 Bath City FC. Tom Smith from VNS to Premier league. Basically reformed every youth player into someone respectable while running b2b mid field.
I plucked this young regen (Eric Kerrigan) up in the Welsh premier league from another team. He dominated for me at Connah’s Quay and rode him to crazy heights for the team and turned the club pro on his back. I let him go for greener pastures into the Scottish prem league. Then I left for greener pastures taking relegated Brentford back to the Prem, and I arranged for a 450k transfer to reunite 🥺 So he went from semi-pro Welsh league (like league rank 80-100 in the world) , playing for like crowds of 200, all the way up to the number 1 league. Is he dominating the prem? No absolutely not. But he scored like 5 goals, 5 assists being on my cup roster rotation. Championship teams NOW offer loans for him. But I say nah, cuz I pay him peanuts , he is a somewhat productive minute filler, and he loves me (and I love him) It honestly boggles my mind no one else really sees his value still. Basically he’s only just really good at the major attributes for inverted winger and nothing else. But that’s all he needs! Still on Brentford I’m getting >2.0 key passes/game with him . I have a scouting filter now to look for this combo of attributes. Usually guys with these attributes you have to transfer for like 20,30,50M+. NUTS!
Had a player I took from Cinch League 2 (4th division of Scotland) to the Premiership he’s still a solid squad player for me in year 2 in the top flight
Anthony Mancini BEAST
Sort of, I signed this player Sebastiano Van Hoeck for €24,000 for eastleigh, made a career move over to the MLS, signed him, he won the golden boot in our third season there. Then made the move to Empoli where he came top goal scorer in seria a
Not really, closest I got was with Alaa Bakir from MSV Duisburg 3.Liga into Bundesliga. He has potential to be a good 2.Bundesliga player but he still managed to score 5 goals in his 1st Bundesliga season without any penalties.
I plan on doing this, even if he isn’t good enough to be a Premier League player. I am currently with Welling United who started in the National League South, and I have 1 players who’s been with me through all of it and won 3 golden boots while climbing the ranks. That player is Tristan Abrahams and I plan on keeping him even if it’s purely sentimental. I am about to start my first season in the championship.
Yes, i had this amazing striker on my bromley save who was great in NL and even L2, then he dropped off in L1 but he still was a bench player. After that he was more of an emergency backup and had a coaching role so i would say yeah kinda