The Isle of Wight Save:

In 46 days, I will be going on a trip with my lovely girlfriend to the Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. The island itself is most remarkable for its beaches and coastal scenery, having been used as the holiday residence for many famous personalities, including Queen Victoria. However, it would be a stretch to say that the island was a particularly remarkable place to be, as it has gradually morphed into more of a retirement home than a true tourist destination. That, however, is about to change (at least within the confines of my laptop). 

I've searched for a while to find the right save to start, the right club and country to manage, but most importantly, the right story to tell. There are probably easier places to manage in, and I doubt that an English LLM save would be the most original idea had on here. But I crave the challenge, and most of all, I crave the story. Premier League success on the Isle of Wight? That's a pretty good addition to the old FM CV. 

I've given myself just these 46 days. I want a proper limitation, a race against time. In these 46 days, I will write a story the likes of which the Isle has not seen before, a story of transformation beyond the wildest dreams of anyone in the region. It's a good thing the island is known for building parts for Britain's rockets, because we're going to the moon and nowhere else. This is THE Isle of Wight save. 

Save Setup:

Show Spoiler

The Challenge:

To win the Premier League and Champions League with a team from the Isle of Wight. The save will end on the 12th of August, when I visit the island. 

List of Seasons:

2023-24: Wessex League Division One

Trophy Cabinet

Empty……for now.

The Club

Choices, choices. Picking a club is probably the most crucial part of this process, and luckily, the Isle has a strong history of football and some pretty interesting clubs. Let's run down the choices. 

Cowes Sports F.C:

Founded in 1881, Cowes Sports were one of the “Big Three” clubs in the early years of football on the Isle of Wight. They were founding members of the Hampshire League in 1896 and won the first ever championship that year. The 20th and 21sts centuries have seen them bouncing up and down the Wessex leagues, before winning promotion to the Wessex Premier League in 2014/15, where they have since stayed. The club are also three-time defending champions of the Isle of Wight Senior Cup, but perhaps the most interesting fact about them is that former player Marc Burrows once scored the fastest goal ever recorded in football, scoring in 2.56 seconds in a reserve game in 2004. 

East Cowes Victoria A.F.C: 

Taking the Victoria from having its grounds within Osborne House, the late Queen's home on the Isle, East Cowes Victoria were established in 1885. They were founding members of the Isle of Wight League in 1898 and won the league in its original season, before moving to the Hampshire League in 1947. Their exploits in the 20th century featured a great deal of see-sawing up and down the Hampshire leagues, although they did win back-to-back Division One titles to attain promotion to the Wessex Premier League in 1987. While they've never enjoyed success of the kind since, and were relegated to Division One at the turn of the century, they have recently reached the second round of the FA Vase in the 2024/25 season. Their most notable player is former Southampton midfielder Nick Holmes, who spent a season in Cowes after nearly 450 appearances for the Saints. 

Newport (IOW) F.C: 

Founded in 1888, Newport were also founding members of the Isle of Wight League in 1898, winning four titles before their move to the Hampshire leagues in 1923. However, their time in the Hampshire leagues was much more successful than their counterparts, winning the first of their 11 titles in 1929 and matching their league form with cup runs, reaching the Second Round of the FA Cup twice. Their success even saw them promoted into the Isthmian leagues during their formation in the early 2000s, although they have since fell back into the Wessex divisions. They have also remained dominant on the Isle, winning 31(!) of the 50 Isle of Wight Senior Cups contested from 1970 to 2021. Yet, their greatest export wasn't a club legend, but an amateur defender who played a season for them in 1993, before going on to become a manager. Brendan Rodgers says hello. 

So, there you have it. Three excellent choices, each with their own slice of history. Which one shall I choose?

None of them. Because there is a fourth option, with a story far more interesting. 

Ryde Sports

Founded in 1888, Ryde Sports were one of the founding members of the Hampshire League in 1896, finishing with the wooden spoon in their first season in league football. However, they soon improved, winning the Hampshire League title in 1900 and continuing to win titles in both the Hampshire League and the Isle of Wight League into the 1920s. Together, along with Cowes Sports and Newport, Ryde were part of the “Big Three” of football clubs on the Isle of Wight. Their success probably peaked with their qualification for the First Round of the FA Cup in 1932-33, 

However, post World War II, the club encountered some hard times, suffering two relegations to Division Three of the Hampshire leagues by 1963. However, no sooner than five years later had they bounced back up to the top division, only to suffer relegation back to Division Three, even finishing bottom of the Hampshire pyramid twice. By 1990, they had recovered in fantastic style, climbing up the new Wessex leagues to the top division, where they were a force throughout the 90s. 

However, this story has a tragic end. The club ran into serious financial difficulties following the move to Smallbrook Stadium, resulting in a rock-bottom finish in 1997, scoring 2 points from 17 games. The club was wound up at the end of the year, and one of the largest sporting institutions on the island was dead. The phoenix club Ryde'98 was formed the following year, but never climbed from the bottom of the Isle of Wight league and also went extinct in 2004. 

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So why Ryde? It's not the most successful club on the Isle, it's not the oldest, and it has been extinct since the end of the last century. The club suffered a fate similar to so many clubs up and down the English pyramid - financial strife, footballing failure and death. The story, while sad, is unremarkable. 

But try telling that to the locals of Ryde. Throughout their existence, Ryde Sports was a community fixture, a source of pride for the citizens of a tiny but proud town. To this day, fans and locals bemoan the loss of their sports team and the further failure to replace them. The largest urban area on the Isle of Wight remains without a semi-professional club. The story of Ryde Sports echoes the story of the Isle itself - time-honoured traditions slowly wearing out in the face of the pressure for self-sustenance, communities slowly eroding as opportunities become scarce, leaving towns reliant on their visitors and losing their own identity. 

Smallbrook Stadium is a quieter place these days. Never a popular sight for the fans, it has become the home of the Ryde Saints, an amateur club in the second tier of Isle of Wight football. The primary attraction at the stadium these days is the Isle of Wight Warriors, a motorcycle speedway team. 

The Wikipedia entry on Ryde Sports ends with the following lines: “The Reds remain much missed. Many blame their tragic demise on their relocation and over ambition.”. It reads as a damning epitaph - in chasing the stars, they fell to an early grave. 

It might be appropriate to call this a “sleeping giant” challenge, yet neither word is appropriate. Ryde sits far behind the other clubs in prestige and the city has little sporting tradition left. And this club is not sleeping - it is dead, a carcass in the ground, a gravestone with nothing else to show for a century of tradition and community. 

But that is all about to change. Ryde Sports will rule the Isle of Wight once more. For the people of Ryde, I take on this charge. 

Pre-Season: 2023

As can be expected for taking over a club with no players, no staff and no existence prior to about 5 minutes ago, there was a lot to get through. I've just about managed to put the main pieces of the club together over a pretty choppy pre-season. 

Staff:

 Yep, that's a lot of money on staff for a side in the 10th tier. It definitely looks like it on the spreadsheets, that's for sure. But we need to climb quickly, and we can't afford anything to cost us promotions. The staff are pricey, but they're also far too good for this level and should give us an edge to keep winning, which should hopefully offset the financial damage. Also helps that pretty much everyone here has a ridiculous name, myself included. 

Speaking of which……anyone know a moneylender on the Isle of Wight?

Season Preview:

That looks a lot worse than it actually is. We've sacrificed signing high end talent (on account of the crippling wages) and settling for building a rounded team, without much star quality but with enough depth to sustain us over a long season. In fairness, I don't think we've put a half bad squad together. Speaking of which……

Squad:

The squad for this year. I don't think the “depth-over-quality” approach hurt too much, although we are lacking some of the top-end talent that the rest of the league seem to have snapped up. Lots of interesting players, though it's probably a little too soon to be picking out stars. My favourite of the lot might be Garry Jones, just because he is very much a Leighton Baines prototype - great leadership, defensively solid and a fantastic penalty. I'm making him club captain for this season, if that does make any difference. 

Tactic:

My tactical instructions stay pretty much the same at this level of football - long ball, highly direct with an emphasis on athleticism and dynamism over any technicality. We are as smash mouth as we can get, while still staying defensively sound with men behind the ball. The only real thing to change would be the shape and the mentality, depending on the teams we are playing. 

Pre-Season Friendlies: 

Pre-season (proper pre-season, we did get royally wolloped a few times before I ended up signing the team) got off to a pretty fun start, as we invited poor Bishop Sutton to our humble abode to crack eight goals past them. 19-year-old Welshman Cian Halpin was the pick of the bunch, and looks like a phenomenal one-on-one player. These guys are meant to be at our level in the pyramid, so I have good reason to be excited. 

A loss, yes, but a loss against a team that could probably be in the Vanarama leagues soon. You'd be hard-pressed to say we weren't at least equals with Dulwich on the day, and we definitely created our chances. Halpin missed a few too many today though - maybe a bit more streaky than I'd like. 

Regardless, just two games and there's already a good feeling around the club. We seem to have a tactic capable of keeping us competitive against the big boys, as well as destroying teams which aren't ready. Despite the season preview, we might actually be in a good position to go up this year. 

Season Opener: 

An ugly win, one that I'm not very proud of. We created a boatload of chances, but seemed to lack any finishing ability of worth. The front four all struggled to finish their prey, although we did manage one goal in the end. The two worst pieces of news though - captain Garry Jones is not the Leighton Baines impersonater I wanted - he's missed the first penalty he's taken for us. The more serious piece of news concerns our starting ball-winning midfielder, who's out for half the year. This is gonna be a bit of a slog.