'Climb the Ladder'

What is the challenge?

The challenge revolves around being confined to specific area of the globe until we have met the criteria to pass on to the next round of the challenge. In essence we start on the lowest rung of the ladder and climb our way up each rung. This challenge is taken from the SI Forums and a user called ‘TerminalPortugal’.

How do we advance through each rung of the ladder?

To advance from each rung of the ladder we need to accumulate points in each area, and if we get enough points then we will be able to pass to the next region. Most regions (which on the graph provided are in grey) require 500 points to complete. The gold regions require 1,500 points to complete and gold regions require me to only manage in a country that is normally one of the best in the specific continent.

How do you get to 500 points or more?

We can only win points through winning trophies. Only top division league titles count towards our score, so if we take over a second division side in a particular country and win the second division this is worth no points. We also get points from cup competitions wins. In previous iterations that points totals were a little more complicated, but after thinking about it I have simplified it a little bit.

League Title = 100 Points

Any Domestic Cup Competition = 40 Points

Any Charity Shield or Cup Competition = 20 Points (this is where a competition is called a "Super Cup" or only has 2 participants enter the competition)

Any Top Level Continental Competition i.e. UEFA Champions League, Copa Libertadores etc = 500 Points

Any Secondary Continental Competition i.e. UEFA Europa League, CAF Confederation Cup = 200 Points

Any Tertiary Continental Competition i.e. UEFA Europa Conference League = 50 Points

Any Continental Super Cup i.e. UEFA Super Cup = 40 Points

FIFA World Club Cup = 80 Points

It is worth noting that much like every other Climb the Ladder challenge these are base points available for each competition. However domestic trophies degrade in value for every time we win them by 50% with the same club. Continental Competitions are unaffected and are always worth their base value.

Example

We are Liverpool FC in England and win the League, FA Cup and UEFA Europa League in Year One. We would gain 100 points for EPL win, 40 points for the FA Cup and 250 points for the UEL, for a grand total of 390 points for the season. If the next season we won The League, the FA Cup and English League Cup, the league would now be worth 50 points, the FA Cup 20 points, and the League Cup 40 points, for a grand total of 110 points. If in season three we won only the League and the FA Cup we would only get 25 points for the League and 10 points for the FA Cup for a total of 35 points, less than if we won the League Cup with another side all together.

Hence there is strategy involved in when is the right time to move clubs to maximise the points on offer, and we are incentivized to move instead of staying too long and reducing our potential point output.

Can You Lose Points?

Yes,

Being Sacked under any circumstances loses us 100 points, resigning to avoid a sacking is treated the same (this will be measured by if there are any articles that we are about to be sacked).

Where is the Full Ladder?

The journey will go through each of the Confederations and we will have to complete each step before moving onto the next and they go completely through a Confederation before we move onto the next. The order is the Oceania, North America, Asia, Africa, South America and finally Europe.

The order of the countries in the ladder beyond the confederation and then based around the existing reputation of the Premier Division in the country. The more reputable the higher in the list they came.

How Will You Provide Updates?

Probably a season at a time as this is such a long challenge that it will take hundreds of in game years to complete, provided the game managed to last that long. It hasn't ever lasted long enough to get to completion, so here's hoping that changes.

The updates won't focus too much on signings and things like since they are more or less irrelevant in the context of the challenge. I will be recording however the best goal scorer and assist makers during the journey and presenting that at the end of each update as well as a running tally of where we have been.

Where are you starting?

Well my manager will be from a randomly selected country, any across the whole journey, and will start at a randomly assigned club using the "Pick a Club for me" button, starting in OFC4. I will only ever have the countries loaded that are in the specific step I am tackling. Once I complete the step I will unload those nations and move onto the next step.

The next update will be the Manager Introduction

Career Progression:

Coaching Qualifications:
Continental C License: 11th January 2025
Cointental B License: 20th July 2025

Elrico Isaacs
 

Meet ‘Elrico Isaacs’, the new up and coming guy in the World of Football. Hailing from Namibia, and in particular, Walvis Bay. He has zero football experience and is a fresh face in the management world. Can he reach the top? Who knows, but he's willing to give it a go, starting in…

Weloy Strikers | 2023 | Micronesia

Welcome to Micronesia. The Federated States of Micronesia is a country spread across the western Pacific Ocean comprising more than 600 islands. Micronesia is made up of 4 island states: Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk and Yap. The country is known for palm-shaded beaches, wreck-filled dives and ancient ruins, including Nan Madol, sunken basalt temples and burial vaults that extend out of a lagoon on Pohnpei.

We'll be based out of the ‘Yap’ area, which is where Weloy play their home games. We play in the YFA Island Wide League, and have a media prediction of 3rd. Can we go better than that and gain promtion to the top league? No points on offer unfortunately as no cups, and no points for a second tier league. Let's go.

Now, of course, there isn't a lot of football to be played in Micronesian football. In fact, there are only 8 teams in the division, so it's a 14 game season spread out over 7 months. There are bound to be some long gaps in between games but considering the fitness of some of these guys, that is probably not a bad thing. 

By the time I had taken over at the club, we had already lost the first game of the season. Let's see how we continued…

After 14 games, we managed 7 wins. A 50% success rate which I'll take all day long. We did lose 6 games however including a 3-0 battering against the eventual league winners G&B Club. Our best win, was probably the 2-1 victory over O.I who finished as runners up. It's a league where anyone can beat anyone on their day, and tha'ts just how it's going to go. 

What a close league that is. The winners G&B Club ended up with 23 points, with the next 3 teams being a point behind on 22, being seperated only by goal difference. We were the bottom of that list, but I'm happy with a 4th place considering the squad I was left with. I'll be aiming to win it next season considering we were close this year, and I didn't think we even played that well.

The Squad

Anyway, I'll be back at the end of next season, hopefully having earned a promotion to the top league in Micronesia.
 

Weloy Strikers | 2024 | Micronesia

After our initial bedding in season ended in us narrowly missing out on the top spot by a single point, we were back with Weloy Strikers and were back with the aim of winning the YFA Island Wide League and get ourselves into the Pohnpei Premier League as we search for our first points of the challenge. 

I set about trying to get some players into the club that had the quality needed to get this promotion. We needed the best players in the league and I started with raiding the players listed on the medias best XI. A tactic that seemed to work pretty well in the end.

Transfers | IN

YFA Island Wide League | Results

A very strong start to the campaign saw us win 5 out of the first 6 games and also saw us fly to the top of the league in the process. Our only defeat was against Gagil where we were humbled by the better side. 2 more wins followed against Fanif & O.I, before a loss against fellow title challengers Nimgil Youth. They'd be challenging all year long with us.

A 3 match winning run follwed as we saw off Maap, Tamil recently relegated Island Pitbulls in convincing style. We came up against old foes Gagil again, and once again came away with nothing. The only team to do that to us all season. We managed points against everyone else.

As the season was coming to an end, we drew two games in a row against Fanif & O.I, before the final game was to decide it all. A win or bust game against Nimgil Youth, saw the winners crowned champions and the losers as runners-up. Luckily, a penalty from Dukay Kariti put us ahead and we carried that goal through to the final whistle and lifted the trophy. 

YFA Island Wide League | Table

Top of the tree at the end is exactly where we wanted to be. 29 points the final total, with 9 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses on the year. We'd be going up as Champions!

Squad

Next Update | 2025 | End of Season

Weloy Strikers | 2025 | Micronesia

Another season is now in the books, and could it be the end of our time in Micronesia? Well, you'll find out very shortly if that is the case. We were promoted up from the YFA Island Wide League to the Pohnpei Premier League after a great season last year. Instantly, we were made as the media's favourites to go and win the league this season. I must've made a good job of building the squad with good players eh?

I went about my transfer business with the same method as last year. Go and poach the bet players from the best XI as per the media team. It seems to work, so why stop something that is a good thing eh?

Pohnpei Premier League | Results

The league campaign followed the same sort of path as last season. We were on a roll early days, winning our first 4 games in the top flight, before drawing against COM-FSM. Back to winning ways before not managing a win in 2 games against G&B Club & Island Warriors. You play each other 4 times over the course of the season so there is plenty of time to get revenge against those who beat you.

Our best result came against Island Chuhuahua with a 6-2 victory. Results were generally god for the next 2 months, as we picked up 10 points from a possible 18 on offer. A good return for a title fight for sure. 

July was a great month as we were unbeaten, which put us in a commanding position in the league. A draw against International B, before 2 wins against G&B Club & Islands Warriors. 

The final 2 games were a bit of a let down, as we fell to a 2-1 defeat against Island Chihuahua and a 1-1 draw with Island Warriors on the final day. A fantastic season, but how did we end up in the table?

Pohnpei Premier League | Table

WE HAD WON THE LEAGUE! A dominant performance saw us win the league by a margin of 5 points. We had actually sewn the title up with 2 games to go, so I rotated the squad and that's why our results were poor over those games. The gap could've been bigger. A first top flight win for my career, and our first points of the challenge.

+100 POINTS

Next Update | The Next Country?