[FM 24] By Royal Appointment

Hello all, thank you for taking the time to check out my career.I am using the excellent non-league expansion by Lionel Messi which you can find HERE.

I now live in Cumbria, but for this save I will be returning to my hometown of Sutton Coldfield to try and bring some glory to this leafy suburb in North Birmingham.

With a population of just under 110k people, The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, to give it it's full name is a pretty big place, by far the largest constituancy in Birmingham, it is famous for having one of largest urban parks in Europe which played host to several events at the 2022 Commonwealth games. Whilst football is by far the most popular sport in these parts, the local club has long suffered from it's close proximity to Aston Villa, who severely drain the potential fanbase. Indeed Villa's training ground Bodymoor Heath is just outside the town.

Currently the Royals are In Northern Premier League Division One Midlands at Step four of the non-league system, where they have been since suffering relegation from the Northern Prem in 2018. My short term goal will be to return them to step seven within three seasons. I would then like to help my hometown club into the the National Leagues, which they have never graced before. Long term the goal is to reach the football league but that is a long, long way off yet.

So without further ado, here is a look at my initial squad at Coles Lane;

Solid enough to acheive the boards objective of a top half finish in the league this season I think. I have added some experience to the team by bringing in a few older players to blend with the youthful make-up of the team;

Danny Quinn - Journeyman striker who actually used to be my barber in real life when I lived in Ashby-de-la-zouch , he has spent his career representing a whole host of clubs in Leicestershire and joins us after being let go by Ashby Ivanhoe. He will provide a useful rotation option up front.

Matt Roome - Another one I knew from my time in the East Midlands, Matt was an academy graduate at Villa but failed to make the breakthrough at Villa Park, he has spent most of his career playing for Gresley Rovers and more recently Stapenhill in Burton-upon-Trent. He's an experienced fullback who's determined personality will be of benefit to the squad.

Jake Sheridan - At 37 Jake is obviously past his best, but he vastly experienced at National League level after playing for Tamworth, Lincoln, Alfreton and Boston United as well as a spell in the EFL with Notts County earlier in his career. He joins us in a player-coach role so he can transition from the pitch to touchline during his stay with us.

Callum Griffin - Central midfielder who will spend the season on loan to us from neighbouring Tamworth to add bolster our ranks.

The board expect us to finish in the top half of Northern Premier Midlands this season and work towards promotion back to step three over the next few seasons, not an unrealistic expectation;

I don't care about the Northern Premier cup, I will use that to rest my key players, however a good run in the FA cup and/or Trophy would be great to generate some funds. Sutton's best ever performances in the FA Trophy is reaching the third round in 2003/04; they have never been beyond the first round proper in the FA Cup (They last did so in 1992 where they met Bolton)  which seems like a good target to aim for over the coming years.

Here is the media's predictions for the coming campaign;

The champions are promoted automatically to the Northern Premier League, 2nd to 5th contest the play-off's to join them.

The fixtures against Boldmere St Michaels will be important to our supporters as we are only two miles apart from the Mikes. Coleshill and Walsall Wood are also less than ten miles away, so there will be plenty of local flavour to our season.