Intro
Hello again, you might remember this post from a few weeks back where I went into detail on how I won the league in Afghanistan. Well, I'm back at it again but this time in the next country: Albania. (This is in a new save btw)
The Club
I decided to start in the lowest possible league in the database I had - in this case it would be the Albanian First Category. This is split into Group A and B, and through a random number generator I got Group B and my team: KF Elbasani. In the 2020-21 season they start in this division, but it appears they got relegated in real life to the 3rd tier of Albanian football - a sad thing for a club with decent history and a nice stadium, the Elbasan Arena (12,800).
Season 1
Season Aims
- Finish in the top half
- Make it to the second round of the cup
How It Went
The team was decent and should've been capable of getting promotion if we were lucky. I made a few free signings, sold a bit of deadwood and got a couple of loans from Superleague clubs (1st tier of Albanian football). Notably I got goalkeeper Mario Dajsinani on loan from Skenderbeu (they're big in Albania).
Preseason came and went as it always does, with advanced forward Shamet Luta shining with 4 goals in one friendly. Of course the real challenge was the league - but the first round of the cup comes first here. We drew the short straw in our draw, playing big boys KF Tirana, winners from last seasons Superleague. Leg 1 we lost 2-3 at home, not bad at all. Now onto the league. First 3 games were a little underwhelming, 1-1-1 record. Second leg of the cup we lose 3-1 away. Disappointed not to go further but I was glad to see us go up against such a big team and put up a good fight.
In our next 13 games we have a 6-3-4 record, enough to get us into the promotion stage of the league, where the top 4 teams battle it out to try and get promotion. 1st place gets automatic promotion and the second place team goes into the playoffs against the second place from Group A.
We couldn't stick it against the bigger teams in the group and finished bottom with a 2-2-2 record. So first season comes to a close, decent overall but nothing special.
Season 2
Season Aims
- Finish in the promotion stage
- Make it to the second round of the cup
How It Went
I get some more free transfers in, move some deadwood and pay big-ish for a couple of players, notable additions include Franck Valery-Bony (CB from Lushnja for free) and Jurgen Peqini (CM from Erzeni for free).
In preseason we score 19 goals in 4 games. Very good. Onto the cup now, we're drawn against KS Turbina Cerrik, from our own league. We're expected to win, and we do 3-0 at home, with a brace from Shamet Luta. One disappointing league loss in between the two legs and we aren't feeling too good. We go down early and end up losing 2-1, which sees us through. I'm happy enough with that.
Next game we lose against 8th place in the table, it should've been a win. Unhappy with the slow start, I shift to a heavily attacking tactic to take advantage of our aerially dominant center back duo which can stop route-one play from other teams. Next 5 games we win 3, tie 1 and lose another - but there's a good reason why we lost.
Now we have Mario Dajsinani on loan from Skenderbeu, and unfortunately for us they got shock relegation last season, and our backup keeper Daniel Kalemani isn't very good in FM (idk how he is in real life though, sorry Daniel). He lets in 3 easy saves and gets a 6.2.
Next game we bounce back against newly promoted Sopoti with a resounding 7-1 win. We go unbeaten in our next 5 games. Onto the next cup round, we're drawn against Teuta, who are enjoying losing a lot in the Superleague. We tie 2-2 away from home but we can't capitalise back home and lose 1-2. I was okay with this however, as the league form was great and we had a good chance of finishing top. Skenderbeu were 3 points behind us at every step and we couldn't mess up.
So it was very important as 2 games after the cup we played Skenderbeu again, tying 1-1. We win our next games to secure a promotion playoff, which starts off bright with a 3-0 win against Pogradeci. The next game is against Skenderbeu - and we lose 1-2. Next game we play Egnatia and lose 1-0. Our goals dry up but we have time before the final 3 games to try and secure promotion.
We regroup and win against Pogradeci 3-0 again (sorry). Second to last game of the season can secure the title if we win, but of course we play Skenderbeu. But who else but club legend and terrific striker Shamet Luta to score a hat trick and see us through to the Albania First Category - Group B title! We are promoted!
Final game of the season comes against Dinamo Tirana, winners of Group A. A vanity game really for a trophy, the Albanian First Category. It means nothing but gloating, and we breeze past 3-0 like its nothing. We feel unstoppable.
We win the league in front of our promotion rivals fans - is there a better feeling?
Shamet Luta finishes the season on an incredible 18 goals and 9 assists in 23 games with 7 POMs. Easily a club legend and our best player all season.
A piece of club history!
Now next season will be daunting but I believe we can survive it - the aptly named and terrifying Superleague. We're halfway there in Albania, but the second part is always the hardest. Wish me luck - I'll post again when I either stay up or go down!
That's all I have to say for now and if you have any questions do ask - I'd love to answer, and of course thank you so much for reading if you made it this far! Have a good day!
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/p5ydwgm2ll471.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/8xk8fytizl471.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/w45gckz46m471.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/wl0pavyf3m471.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/30xhj5ms8m471.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/s5ibxlhkfl471.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/qkcy8oha4m471.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/anz3tyvqzm471.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/mj6jfl9oen471.png){kind=link}
No comments:
Post a Comment