The JK Alphabet Challenge

It's back!! probably the biggest challenge in FM history. I come up with the idea in FM13 and it was truly addictive and exciting though i started it towards the end of FM13 and was impossible to finish it! I would of started this months ago but I've been away on work purposes for the last 4 month, Hopefully not to late to start it and attempt to get it finished!

What is The JK Alphabet Challenge?

I will be going to every league possible around the world and winning the top league in each nation alphabetically, I have installed various additional leagues to give me more options. This game wont end until about 2090 and i have plenty of challenges to do. When i add the manager he will be set at Sunday League Footballer so by time i get to the big nations my rep will hopefully be World Class. One more thing, it doesn't matter which nation i decide to manage first as long as it begins with the letter "A" and i cannot go onto the next letter until all the leagues titles are won in that specific letter. Some of you may be wondering how the hell do i run all these leagues? Simple, i only add the nations from "A" at the start, and every time i win a league title they then get removed and once I'm onto the last "A" nation i then add all the "B" nations making the game relatively quick all the time! Follow me on this journey and enjoy! and just so you know the updates will be more in depth, more writing but i only update season by season.

There is a total of 113 nations.

The Nation List

Algeria
Afghanistan - Achieved with Toofan Hariord 2016/2017
Australia
Albania - Achieved with KS Burreli 2016/2017
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan - Achieved with Xazar Lankaran 2018/2019
Argentina

Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Belize
Brazil
Bangladesh
Bahrain

Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
Chile
Colombia
China
Chinese Taipei (China PR)

Denmark
Dominicia

England
Estonia
El Salvador
Ecuador
East Timor
Egypt

Faroe Islands
Finland
France
FYR Macedonia

Georgia
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Ghana

Holland
Hungary
Honduras
Hong Kong (China PR)

Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
India
Indonesia
Iraq

Jamaica
Japan
Jordan

Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan

Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg

Malta
Moldova
Montenegro
Macau (China PR)
Malaysia
Morocco

Northern Ireland
Norway
Nigeria
North Korea

Oman

Poland
Portugal
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Pakistan

Qatar

Romania
Russia

San Marino
Scotland
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
South Africa
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
South Korea
Syria

Turkey
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Thailand
Turkmenistan

Ukraine
U.S.A
Uruguay
U.A.E
Uzbekistan

Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam

Wales

Yemen

Zambia


Managing History

Season 2013/2014 - KS Burreli
Season 2014/2015 - KS Burreli
Season 2015/2016 - KS Burreli
Season 2016/2017 - KS Burreli
Season 2017/2018 - Xazar Lankaran
Season 2018/2019 - Xazar Lankaran
Season 2019/2020 - Toofan Hariord
Season 2020/2021 - FC Redbull Salzburg

Cup Wins

Season 2014/2015 - KS Burreli - Albanian Super Cup
Season 2015/2016 - KS Burreli - Albanian Super Cup
Season 2015/2016 - KS Burreli - Albanian Cup
Season 2016/2017 - KS Burreli - Albanian Cup
Season 2017/2018 - Xazar Lankaran - Azarbaycan Cup
Season 2018/2019 - Xazar Lankaran - Azarbaycan Cup
Season 2012/2021 - FC Redbull Salzburg - Austrian FA Cup

And so it begins...

I had recently in-inherited some money from a long lost relative which was around £30,000 courtesy of the BBC program Heir Hunters and I was sat in my cold, lonely flat in Derbyshire surrounded by nothing but fields trying to make a decision what i could do with this amount of money, do i put the money down for a mortgage and carry on with the 9-5 job for the rest of my life? or do i travel the world for a few years taking in the views and meeting new people?

Then i thought to myself.. I could visit some of the nations beginning with the letter "A" and work my way through the alphabet, but obviously with plane tickets and hotels £30,000 would only get me so far...

Then it come to me! Football Manager, i could go around some of the smaller nations and see if they have any vacancies for a Football Manager, surely in the whole of the letter A i would be set on by some club, surely? I mean I know it's a long shot and i have minimal experience but they don't know that, they wouldn't find me on Google of course but a few white lies here and there wouldn't be too bad!

So that was it, i was ringing, emailing clubs looking for a interview via Skype to see if there was any possibility of me starting my dream.





And so it begins...

The "A" Journey Begins






Algeria - Africa - Biggest Club - JS Kabylie
Afghanistan - Asia - Biggest Club - Toofan Hariord
Australia - Asia - Biggest Club - Melbourne Victory
Albania - Europe - Biggest Club - KF Tirana
Andorra - Europe - Biggest Club - Santa Coloma
Armenia - Europe - Biggest Club - FC Pyunik
Austria - Europe - Biggest Club - SK Rapid Wien
Azerbaijan - Europe - Biggest Club - PFC Neftchi Baku
Argentina - South America - Biggest Club - River Plate

Season 1 - The Club





It starts now, I've been offered a contract at KS Burrelli on a 1 year contract work £275 per week which is very steady but I've only got a season to impress and try and build a foundation straight away, luckily for me i started at Albania in FM13 versions on the challenge so i know how the teams work and which tactics to inforce and the first season is always usually the best in this challenge as no teams have got any managers nor many players so there is some hidden gems ready to be signed, my plan is pretty much the same as previously, try and get promoted, win a cup and get a move to a bigger club in the Superleague which is what happened last time.





What it says on the tin basically! A very poor club with really no expectations to do well and just sit mid-table for the rest of the season but i plan to change this. They was founded in 1952 and never really had any success whats so ever, i don't think they've ever been in top league of Albania so that alone will be a achievement. Very poor training and youth facilities so i cannot rely on the club to produce youngsters.





Not a lot to work with at all compared to KS Elbasani last time but it's a start and I'll just move what i can into wage budget but if not by the end of it I'll probably be around £400 over the wage budget as i have to spend and try to reach the top league it's a risk but a risk i probably have to take to get close or I'll be stuck in Albania forever. I can't rely on loan as it's impossible to get any loans in this division so it will just be free transfers.





A quick insight of the club and it's not the best sight, unbelievably poor club but most clubs are the same in Albania. I'm predicted to finish 12th but that's not true, this league someone predicted to finish 16th would probably win the league especially in the first season when all the new players come in and managers it's just impossible to say where you will finish which is probably the exciting, yet nervous element about this challenge in the first year.





So I've only been given 5 players and a few of them aren't very good, by the looks of them I'll be keeping Flogert Hima and probably one of the goalkeepers, I always play the same tactic on every FM game which is a 442 attacking with AMR and AML so usually once i join a club i release all ML, MR, WBL, WBR, AMC and implement my own style of play.





I don't expect any of you to know many of these teams so I'll tell you a few clubs to watch out for. Apolonia, Dinamo Tirana, Tomori. It's a decent size league with a Super Cup (FA Cup style cup i added) as well as the Albanian Cup.

Season 1 - Pre Season





As you can see I've been really busy and i didn't have a choice with only 5 players in my club something had to be done, I've signed quite a few youngsters so I'm hoping they adapt pretty quickly if not they will be a few changes in January as i need to perform this season, i was looking at the previous version and i got promotion first time with KS Elbasini but it could be a long shot to do such a thing twice in a row but like i said previously anyone can win this league and it's annoying because the first season your club is so inconsistent with all the new players coming in it take quite a long time for the team to gel.





What it says on the tin basically! A very poor club with really no expectations to do well and just sit mid-table for the rest of the season but i plan to change this. They was founded in 1952 and never really had any success whats so ever, i don't think they've ever been in top league of Albania so that alone will be a achievement. Very poor training and youth facilities so i cannot rely on the club to produce youngsters.





These friendlies was already on once i loaded the game and the game that we lost i wasn't even at the club so pretty good knowing once i arrived we won every game after that! They must of wanted to impress me. Saying that i haven't heard of any of the teams that i beat nor the one we lost to but hey it was a good pre season for friendlies and getting the fitness up to top notch.





This is my squad for the start of the season and not feeling very confident! Quite a few youngsters with the oldest player only being around 27! It might take me a year for them to shine through but in all honesty i haven't got a year i want promotion first season! If bigger clubs in Albania come in for your player and make him unhappy you don't stand a chance as the contracts are usually 1 year long and I'm only semi-professional so once a big club comes in you might as well just accept the offer.

Season 1 - Complete








So as I'm doing season updates because this challenge is ridiculously long i will do it in 3 steps but usually two the first step will be the club i sign for, the second will be a pre season and the third will be the complete season, if i make any signings in January they will come first like it has here. So these are my transfers around January in and outs, i played up till about October and the season i was having was ridiculously inconsistent some players was showing a glimer of hope but not enough in my eyes and i was around £600 over my wage budget so i at this point i thought it's going to be a struggle but i noticed my bank balance was very healthy for the wage i received at the start of the season, i went to a board meeting and asked for more wages in which they granted an extra £3,000 which was fantastic and gave me the chance to recruit a few players over this period as well as release some of the players i wasn't impressed with!








Here are the fixtures for season one, as i said above (if you read it all) i was very inconsistent at the start and once i made the signing from the 11th of January i went onto a fantastic run so it was a right decision to ask the board for more money! It's a very weird league i must say, i seemed to do very well against the bigger club but the smaller clubs where i thought I'd get 3 points i just couldn't score against them! My shots compared to theirs was ridiculous most games, could of been my tactics or the fact my squad just wasn't good enough. Added next to it was my cup fixtures, in the Albanian cup i didn't do very well and got knocked out in the first round but i did manage to go on a little run in the Super Cup (FA Cup Type) which was exciting but faltered at the quarter finals against a team a league above so wasn't to disappointed.





BOOM! Albanian First Category won, promoted to the Super League! My dream to finishing the "A" nation is one step closer, I've just got to somehow win the Super League now, and from past experience there's only 1 or 2 clubs that stand out in this league compared to the division below, it's quite a poor league so with a few signings next season I'm hoping to be up there. The clubs next season i need to watch out for are Skenderbeu and Kukesi there very rich clubs and I'm hoping to win a few cups with Burreli and maybe a 3rd/4th finish over the next few seasons then get a move to one of them.





Here is my knackered squad after a long season which shows you all the average ratings, apps, goals and contract expiry dates which is the important parts! A very good season for the players that managed to avoid my transfer spree and not getting released noticeably Ermai Grega the striker who i purchased at the start and managed to score 19 goals in 33 apps! His finishing is only 6 too... Whether he will be good enough for the next league i don't know, it depends what the quality of players available are to me.





And finally the finances for the season which doesn't look too good apart from the wage budget! I haven't received my money for finishing first or anything yet though so I'll be in a good state once i start receiving the money! The club will probably turn professional now I've been promoted so I'm hoping for at least £11k in wages which is only £5k more than what I'm on now which is probably what I'll get, any less and It will be a long hard season.

Season 2 - Pre Season





So come great news to kick pre season off, they've turned us into a professional club which is fantastic! It was a no brainer that it would happen, to survive in this league as part time would be suicidal. I would of probably resigned if they wouldn't of turned professional and gone else where. Lets hope the good news carries on with the budgets they give me...





So here are the budgets they gave me a choice of, i must have a pretty decent team as none of them are consolidate or avoid relegation so that gives me a little bit of hope! I went for the safe choice of a Mid Table finish as the budgets aren't really that different and i believe a Mid table finish or higher would be possible with a few more players coming into the team.





I decided to play quite a few friendlies to gel my squad together before a very important season ahead and we did really well! Most of the clubs was only a league below and we thrashed most of them scoring 25 goals in 10 games and only conceding 10, it seems my attacking is a lot better than my defence which is understandable as my signings was mainly attacking to get some goals in! I have some wage budget left so once some defensive players become available i will get some new players.





Here are the final transfers with 13 players purchased and 13 released so basically player for player, I'm quite confident at the moment I've picked up some great players though i still have no idea how i will do next season, Once I've played a season in the Super League I'll know where i need to improve so at the minute I'm quite clueless to as who's good enough for the season ahead.





Here is my squad for the forthcoming season and as you can see I've added quite a bit of experience to the team as last year was mainly youngsters and i don't think they'll cut it just yet so managed to get some players with some experience in and around the Albanian League.





And finally we have finances towards the end of pre season just before the league starts, very very good finances actually, I've got plenty of space left in the wages in case i have a long term injury or a player is useless i can pretty much replace them if the right player becomes available.

Season 2 - Complete





Here are the January transfers, just noticed a few gaps in the squad so i signed 3 players and released 4 in order to pay the wages! Some decent transfers which will hopefully see my form be a lot more consistent in the second half of the season






Here are the fixtures for season two! Some very good games and i dropped of towards the end of the season which was heart breaking! I played well over my expectations i set in the summer and was starting to grasp the league. I went on a unbeaten run between December and March which lead me to believe i could go all the way and finish top?!





Here are the Albanian Cup and the Super Cup results, delighted i won the Super Cup!! Had to go two extra time in both the Semi Final and Final which was nerve racking as i wanted to win my first ever trophy on this save they semi final and final was actually against clubs in the First Category which took me by surprise but once i knocked out Skenderbeau in the Quarter Final i knew i was in with a chance.





A fantastic season! absolutely delighted i managed to finish 2nd and make it into the Europa which I'm positive I wont get out the qualifying stages but hey, it will still be fun to play in. I'm in that horrible situation now though where i don't know whether to stay or go! We only get around 500 fans per day and my bank balance isn't too good which you'll see at the bottom of the screen, other clubs are getting 5/6k a game which is constant revenue for them where as us we are running at a loss constantly every month and soon the wage budget will go further and further down, unless i win the Europa which i doubt that would happen! I think I'm going to stay for another season try and get a few more quality players in and build on the team I've currently got at the end of the day we only finished 5 points behind Skenderbeau and they didn't beat me in the three encounters against them it's just i need consistency so I'm hoping they give me a little bit more wage budget so i can attract a few more players and hopefully come close to winning the league next season.





Here is the squad that played this season and they've done brilliant to achieve what they have, noticeably Bekrim who scored a fantastic 24 goals in 28 appearances! And my center back Teli was a absolute rock all season! I've got a few contracts expiring this year so I'll take a look at them and see which ones i plan on renewing!





Finances have taken a hit this season but it was always going to happen with the wages of players getting higher and higher and only a few hundred more people attending the games, I'm hoping the cup run see's me generate a bob or two for the forthcoming season, I doubt I'll get hardly any increase in the wage budget whats so ever.

Season 3 - Pre Season





So this is the expectation and budget I've gone for for the 3rd season which to be honest is very disappointing, pretty much the same wage and transfer money as last season and i have to challenge to title rather than finish mid table like last term! It's going to be tough i said at the end of last season i doubt I would receive much.





So this is the 2nd of August when i pretty much had my players signed and was around £2k over budget in the wages so i asked for more money after receiving a little bit of money for the Europa my bank balance was back to being OK and they granted me a extra 3k taking my wage budget to £15k, I have around £200 left in the wages which it's a good job i signed all the players before i asked for a wage increase because i wouldn't of been able to sign anyone with £200, nobody good anyway.





And now onto the friendlies, a few tougher games than last season in CSKA Moscow absolutely destroyed me 5-0, apart from that game we did quite well I still conceded quite a few and that was the problem last season but the signings I've made i haven't really improved the defence that much so hoping they hold on!





The transfers for this season with all of them being free transfers because I've go no money to buy anyone! Good thing about these kind of leagues players are always getting released making it easier to find quite a few good signings. I believe I've improved my squad with the signings i have made but some of them are mainly cover in case of injuries or suspensions which there are a lot of in the league.





Here is the squad for the forthcoming season, I've got quite a mixture of nationalities in the squad now which could prove to be a problem in some cases 14 nationalities in total! Luckily there are no rules for the league so i can sign who i want.





And we finish with the finances which are still quite strong for the start of the season after the players I've purchased! I'm hoping i don't get too many injuries or suspensions at one time as only got £200 in the wage left and don't really want to go over in case I'm here for another season (starting to hope I'm not!)

Season 3 - SPEECHLESS













WHAT THE HECK!! First time I've ever had a tycoon and probably the season i have to leave if i win the league!! Unbelievable.

Season 3 - Complete





Here are the fixtures for the third season in Albania, can you guess where i finished before scrolling down? Once again some good runs but then some inconstant performances.





The cup games now and I've retained the Super Cup and won the Albanian cup! A fantastic achievement that's now 3 cups in Albania!!





And now sadly the league table where i finished a place below last season, a 3rd league table position level on points with Skenderbeu and wasn't expecting Laci to win it, Skenderbeu usually win it every season! So that's quite a shock but on the plus note i have millions and millions and millions and millions and millions to spend next season, if i don't get promoted next season i will quit the challenge!!





Not enough goals scored from the strike force this season causing me to finish 3rd compared to finishing 2nd last season and Bekrim getting around 23 goals a decided to play the other striker instead of Bekrim and probably lost me the season!





OHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDD, roll on next season.

Season 4 - Pre Season





The board have made it quite clear on what they want me to achieve! If i don't finish first i think I'll get sacked and that makes problems for this challenge on a whole because no club now comes close to Burreli in this division now so i must finish first no matter what! 15 million to spend with potentially more if i adjust the budgets around which is absolutely remarkable and i don't know where to start!





A great pre season unbeaten.





Now you all know this was coming right? It had to be done, SPLASHED THAT DOLLAR! not like i have any money problems to worry about now is it? It's good to finally play with some players from the English leagues too!





Squad for the season, how good does that look? compared to last season think I've only kept two players, the goalkeeper and a left back apart from that fresh players and looking forward to the season ahead.





Spent all the money available with some left in the wages!

Season 4 - Complete





Here are the fixtures for the fourth season in Albania, we start off extremely well going on a 8 win streak i honestly thought I'd win every game form then until i decided to play a few fringe players to keep them happy against Tirana (the team who was 2nd in the league at this point, but i didn't even notice) and lead to a loss which then gave me two draws after that and Tirana was right on my case they wasn't dropping any points at all and i had just dropped a few points, luckily a few more wins here and there put my right back on top!





After all the signings i made i expected to win both the Super Cup and Albanian cup, instead i won one. The Albanian Cup for the second year running which was brilliant! The Europa i didn't even get a sniff as the qualifying rounds was way too early for me, it was the team i had last season with some of them released so i didn't even have players for certain positions, which was a good thing i came out of the tournament so early judging by the season I've had my team is pretty old and i doubt if i made it to the group stages i wouldn't of been able to perform so well in the league. Cups we don't care about it's mainly the league but i obviously want to win as many as i can to increase my rep for future jobs.





And here it is, FC Burreli top of the Super League for the first time in their history thanks to the Austrian Tycoon! It was pretty hard if I'm honest i need to go away and make a few tactics because towards the end i was slipping and KF Tirana went in front of me around March and i would of probably got the sack if i didn't finish first! Anyway that's Albania ticked off.





My strikers was fighting for that place up front all season Wellington got 10 goals, Berisha got 17 and Benitez got 10 so a very good season for the attacking side and the average ratings of all the players are pretty good, they are getting old now though.





Not much to really say about finances really, it's going to be one lucky mother f***er of a manager to get a job here.





The saddest part of a challenge when you start enjoying a save on this challenge, you have to leave and carry on! I'm leaving Albania loaded because I'm very interested to see how they get on and which players they sign in the future, I've even saved a separate save so i can one day start a FC Burreli save and conquer Europe and make football exciting in Albania, I've actually fell in love with the club FC Burreli.

Season 5 - The Club





So my journey now goes to Azerbaijan and I'm quite excited. I accepted a job offer at Xazar after they finished 2nd last season they got rid of their manager so i applied and they gave it me, i applied for quite a few jobs and got accepted, Newcastle United jets in Australia being one of them but i hate Australia so will prolong it as much as i can. The thing that caught my eye about Xazar was the ridiculous budget, so i did some digging on google and they are actually quite rich! The club was founded in 2004 by Azerbaijani entrepreneur Mubariz Mansimov and dubbed by the local media as "Caucasian Chelsea" due Khazar's strong financial position. Taken from Wiki. Most of the clubs in Azerbaijan are very rich probably something to do with the oil, the players available aren't too good just like in Albania but i plan to spend every single penny possible.





Just some of there recent honors here, i think the main club in Azerbijan is FC Baku who constantly win the league so they will be a team i definately need to look out and looking at the informantion page FC Baku are our fierce rivals, just like all big rivals they have a name. There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in the Azerbaijan Premier League, and this is particularly the case in Azerbaijan, where the game between Khazar Lankaran and Neftchi Baku is known as Böyük Oyun (The Great Game). Once again taken from Wiki.





Pretty similar to Burreli just less money for wages everything else is almost identical! Some money to play about with is just what i need, I've been looking at the FC Baku team and they aren't that great and I've been looking at the players i can buy who I'm sure would destroy this league which brings me to the question why didn't the previous manager sign any of these players?





Some information on the club, just look at that value £29m with 5 thousand odd season ticket holders, it seems like a very good club just in the wrong nation and league. I'm predicted to finish 2nd which i knew anyway after Baku won the league the last 2 seasons.





Here is the squad from January the 1st after all the contracts expire. It's a decent team with some good players so i won't change too much I'll probably sign around 10 players and release a few i like to have a big squad in nations like these probably two players for every position because the injuries and suspensions you get is just horrendous.





And finally the league, it's only a small league with 10 teams and you only play 18 games all season so it will be a pretty quick season, if you go on a run in league like this you'll probably win the league and if you lose the first 5 games you won't come any where near winning it.