The premise is simple.
I’ll be attempting to do a Wales players only challenge. I’ve already seen people do it with Swansea and Cardiff, therefore I’ll be trying a different team. I’m choosing Colwyn Bay, who up to 2019 played within the English football system
I loaded the English, Scottish & Dutch leagues.
Goals? Well, the usual ones when you start in lower divisions, right? Within a period of years, attempt to establish Colwyn Bay as a Premier and European football contender.
This is the squad we begin with:
As they were non-league and had to put them in at the expense of Chester City, they don’t have any players
We only have a budget of 100 k, so signings will esentially be free transfer for the time being. We’ll need a little bit of a mix between Welsh and non-Welsh players to avoid having to play with “grey” players in the event we have players called up by the U-21 or the Wales national team.
Bearing that in mind, let’s hit the transfer market.
Despite the low stamina and strength, seems more than capable to do the job.
Experienced and seasoned guy with good defending qualities. Good influence too, so he seems like a good candidate to become the captain of this team. Either him or Van Der Hauwe
A few days later, we have news from these group of lads.
Good! Our first five signings.
Let’s go hunt for some more players to make up the numbers.
These are my next targets:
Let’s see what their decisions are:
Awesome, everybody signed up all of them. 10 players so far, let’s go get some more.
My next targets are:
Let’s see what they decide:
Nice! 5 more and we have a total count of 15 signings so far. We were lucky to pick Graham, as he was strongly recommended by one of our league scouts and was touted by teams with slightly better reputation than ours. We’re ok in the strikers and goalkeepers department so far. We’ll be needing a couple of central midfielders, two central defenders, a left full-back and I guess with that we could be ready.
Let’s get right to it:
What’s it gonna be, boys?
Another good signing party! We reached 20 signings now. As it was the case with Deniol Graham, gladly surprised that Andy Johnson decided to join us.
Up to this point, we have a pretty operational squad. We need just a bit more bodies to add depth in some positions.
For the moment though, the first match for Division 3 is just around the corner so we’ll have to deal with it right away with what we have.
Let’s set up the tactic and prepare our first game.
Usually when I’m starting in lower divisions, I pick 442 direct but this time I’ll be trying something that has worked for me in Scotland’s lower level and that I used in Arsenal with good results
For those who have played CM 01/02, you’ll know this one as IodineCF
Game 1:
Darlington 1 – Colwyn Bay 2
A promising debut at The Feethams Ground.
After the match, we can focus in looking for that players who will provide what we need.
He’s usually released at the start of the season, but Arsenal have chosen to keep him this time. They made him available for loan though, so I’ll bid for him.
Very good attributes, and fits especially in the midfielder where I need players who can cover and pass the ball well
No need for introduction here. And as he’s available for loan, it’s my cue to jump in and ask for him. Maybe we get lucky.
We’ll have to wait a few days though, to know their answer. Meanwhile, we have a game to play
League Cup 1st Round, Leg 1
Colwyn Bay 1 – Swindon 0
A good result at home against a D1 team. Hopefully it’s enough of a lead to carry on the next round.
Now yes, everybody answered.
Unfortunately Notman rejected us, but the rest of the guys join Colwyn Bay. With 23 players in the squad at the moment, it looks pretty good. Even so, we’re not going to close the door on future signings, just yet. If we have injuries and called-up players for the national team, we will consider bringing in a few more.
Game 2
Colwyn Bay 2 vs Torquay United 1
Just a change in the lineup. Jamie Day for Nathan Wigg and we move Andy Johnson to the AMC role.
Our second win comes from an inspired Gavin Allen, who scored twice.
On the rundown to the 2nd leg against Swindon, we have two injured players.
Fortunately, by the time of the match Russell recovered well but as a precaution I will play Thomas and Russell will go to the bench.
League Cup 1st Round, Leg 2
Swindon 3 – Colwyn Bay 3
Lineup changes:
Jamie Day is cup-tied, so we’ll have to revert to Nathan Wigg in midfield.
Brian Thomas starts, Russell in the bench
Close call, but we’re through to the next round!
Swindon won 2-1 in the 90 minutes, so we went to extra-time. We subbed in Deniol Graham and man, was he the right choice. His late goal three minutes from the end of the extra-time, sent us to the 2nd round. Now we have to wait for the result of Van Der Hauwe’s injury.
Phew!, just a few days. No worries then.
Game 3
Colwyn Bay 0 – Peterborough 2
Lineup changes:
- Dayfdd Owen for Pat Van Der Hauwe
- Chris Pike for Gavin Allen
Evenly matched game for both sides but their strikers were on the good side, and they took the win. Erase, rewind and move forward.
Game 4
Rochdale 0 – Colwyn Bay 4
Lineup changes:
Jamie Day for Russell Coughlin
Pat Van Der Hauwe for Mark Aizlewood in the bench
Boy, we came out on the rampage! Absolutely blistering first half for Nathan Wigg and Chris Pike who scored two each and gave us a 4-0 edge at half-time. From then on, it was just cruise control and no goals were added by either side.
Game 5
Colwyn Bay 4 – Scunthorpe 0
Lineup changes:
Mark Cross for Ricardo Gabbiadini
Another scintillating performance by our boys, obliterating Scunthorpe.
Game 6
Doncaster Rovers 0 – Colwyn Bay 2
Johnson gave us 3 points, because Chris was on great performance overall. Lincoln’s goal was the first chance they had in the game up to that point.
So that’s it for this episode, folks.
Tune in next wednesday for episode number 2 of this series with Colwyn Bay. See ya 🙂
CM9798 Gaming Journeys 