The Ultimate Guide to Managing a Lower League Club on Football Manager

Photo Adapted From Football Manager 2021

So you’re looking to make the switch to managing a lower-tier club or you already did. Maybe you’re like me and got tired of winning all the time with the big guns (trust me I perfectly understand) or you just like a challenge. Whatever your reason is, one thing’s for sure: you’re in for a rollercoaster. With limited wage and transfer budgets, sub-par facilities, and average players, lower league teams are notoriously difficult to manage.

However, fear not, because achieving success is not an impossible task. To help you in the process, I have decided to distill the knowledge I have acquired over the years and craft the first ultimate guide to managing small teams. I will be addressing all the crucial aspects of the experience (transfer, training, scouting, etc.) in a series of Medium posts.

But First, A Foretaste of What Is Potentially to Come

My love affair with Football Manager started with the release of the 2016 version. Since then, I have consistently managed small teams in consecutive versions of the game, leading them to success in most of my saves. Through this, I was able to learn the crucial elements needed to thrive at a small team. These logical steps I will be sharing are proven and tested to work, as they have over multiple versions of the game.

Unfortunately, I do not have screenshots of my saves on past versions as I honestly never thought I would be writing this. However, here are images from my current campaign, and a glimpse of what your success could look like if you follow me on this journey:

Havant & Waterlooville F.C’s League Progression After Joining in 2019/2020: Two consecutive promotions

I led lowly-predicted Havant & Waterlooville F.C. to two consecutive league titles after a complete restructuring of the staff, strategic signing of players (which I intended to give my two cents on), and improvement of the (then semi-professional) team’s financial status.

First Image: Media original prediction when initially getting promoted: relegation. Second Image: Media prediction after signings. Third Image: Current position & league performance

In my current season in charge, I am topping the table with just one draw in 19 league games, after being predicted to go under at the start of the season!

But enough about me, this is about you. I guarantee that you can begin achieving similar success at your small club if you have the courage to try new things with me. Stay tuned for the start of the series! We begin by discussing the absolute first thing to do once you land in a small club (don’t worry if you’re already a decent way into the game, it’s never too late!)

P.S. I plan to share several posts as part of the series for the foreseeable future. This introduction is a living document; the table of contents below will be updated as new posts are published. Check back next week for more updates!

Table of Contents

• Post 1: 3 Initial Steps You Absolutely Must Take to Be A Successful Lower-League Manager