CCLC #1: 21/02/27

Starting this blog most of the way through my journey, all you need to know is this really: In 23/24, we won the Vanorama National League South with 86 points (25W 11D 10L). We then immediately won the Vanorama National League with 98 points (29W 11D 6L), so close to being centurions! In Sky Bet League 2, we finished 2nd with 88 points (27W 7D 12L) beaten on the last day to the title by Colchester >😢 .

Now in Sky Bet League 1 during 26/27, we're sitting 12th with 36 points, stuck in a bad run of games; since the 5th of December 2026, we've only won 2 games. We've drawn 6 and lost 7. Having fiddled around with my 4-2-3-1 gegenpress a little bit, I've lowered our lines from forward to standard and have been sticking to playing our best players. I'm hoping that this consistency, along with regular team bonding and tactic studying sessions, will help boost the team back to winning a few games.

In the meantime, up the clarets!

26/27 Chelmsford City F.C. League One kits

CCLC #2: 25/04/27

And just like that, the season's over.

Since my last post, we only won 3 more games. We drew another 3, and lost 4. It would've been an overall dismal end to a mid-table finishing season, were it not for the final day. Knowing we were safe from relegation, and with key players Joe Muscatt (DM), Max Dyche (D) and James Berrry (AM) all out injured, all I asked of the players was a somewhat respectable showing. I expected a draw, or a 1-0 loss at worst. But instead, at the sunset of our first year ever in League 1, a miracle happened.

In the 48th minute just after the break, attacking midfielder and young favourite Luka Lynch received the ball from wing-back Trevor Clarke and played it through to striker Charlie McNeill, who easily slotted the ball into the open net in front of him. Then again, Trevor Clarke received a ball from a long-clearance, only for McNeill this time to cross it into the box. Lynch attempted to head the ball into the net, only for it to bounce to DM Caddick, who returned the ball to Lynch who belted it into the net with furious splendour! Finally, in the 70th, loan miidfielder Matos from Swansea kicked the ball up to attacking midfielder Adam (an unreliable project this season), who gave the ball to substitute striker Louis Swinnen to put away and secure a 3-0 victory over Rochester. This fantastic game sealed Chelmsford's 12th place finish, solidly mid-table, and saw Lynch win a player of the match award for the first time in months.

Heading into the summer break, I'm somewhat optimistic. We may not have climbed like we had done for the previous three years, but we're so close to the top we can taste it. We have some decent talents, and by utilising our £114k transfer budget in the sweltering heat, I'm sure we can solidify and challenge for the play-offs next year. The biggest problem will be our tactics, but I already have some ideas swirling for that…

But for now, thank you for reading, and up the clarets!

CCLC #3: 27/06/27

It's nearing the end of June, and I have been hard at work reorganising the squad. I'm letting a number of players go who were good at the start of this ladder climb, but by now have become emergency backups. Unfortunately, a couple of them refuse to go and remain a burden on the budget.

However, I am writing this entry due to a large development: Promising young AML Luka Lynch, who was so pivotal in that final match of last season, has agreed to a transfer of £300,000 from Swansea City (I had no choice in the matter as that was his release clause fee). But on the bright side, I immediately accepted a loan-back for the upcoming season so that we aren't left in the mud. This is the second player I've seen been swept from me for a large fee, after a youngster called Drissa Keita was taken by championship Derby when I was in League 2. Hopefully, the board will allow me to use some of the new funds to balance the books better.

Until next time, up the Clarets!

CCLC #4: 2/01/2028

Been a couple weeks since I've updated here - I've been on holiday IRL mostly, but have of course found the odd few hours for my favourite past time.

As well as selling Luka Lynch whilst retaining him on loan for the 27/28 season, I also brought in Crystal Palace youth AM/ST Ben Ashby on a free after he was not retained by the South London club, to bolster my attack. I additionally ended up signing Man City academy product Connor Lynch on a free, who can play in the AM(R) and ST positions. On the other side of transfer business, I sold striker Louis Swinnen for £220k (with add-ons up to £275k) to Bercham as he was (predictably) inconsistent in his one season at the Melbourne. In his third season at the club, young AM(L) prospect Sheikh Sohna was sent on his second season-long lloan, to Hemel Hempstead. Whilst I hope he can develop into an exciting future playerr, I'm not reliant on that outcome. Third choice striker Kyle Hudlin, who's sole benefit of having in my roster was his otherworldly 6ft9 height, has gone on loan to Harrogate. Another useful but ultimately unlikely project. Finally, long-time club servant Ody Alfa (one of my few remaining irl Chelmsford players) was sent on loan to Wealdstone in December so he'd shut up and leave me alone to my football.

In pre-season, the Clarets won 3 and drew 1 as we prepared for our second League One stint. Whilst we beat Sheffield Wednesday in our first game, the EFL Cup first round, we later were knocked out on penalties by Reading. However in the FA Cup we were knocked out in the first round by Gillingham, 2-4. In our Bristol St. Motors Trophy group, we managed a 1-0 win against Wimbledon and a 2-0 win against Walsall, losing to West Ham U21s on penalties. This put us through to the second round, where we lost 0-1 to Port Vale. This meant that by the start of December, we had been knocked out of every cup competition unfortunately, but we did managed further success in the Bristol St. Motors Trophy than previously.

But what appeared to be a bad cup run, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As meanwhile, in our 20 league games up to December, we'd only secured 8 wins and 6 draws. This left us 9th at the end of November, having sunk as low as 14th. But with no other competitions to concern ourselves with, the boys managed to crack on and light up League One - by winning all 7 of our games in December! This secured myself the Manager of the Month Award, beating Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Burton (how the hell did he wind up there?)

It is now the 2nd of January, and I have to decide whether to bring anyone in and possibly upsetting the careful balance of the squad, or simply pressing on and hoping for a top-half finish. We currently sit in the play-offs, and honestly making it to those games at the end of the season would be a miracle and best case scenario for me. Only time will tell.

But here's to hoping, and as usual, up the Clarets!

CCLC #5: 6/05/2029

I didn't update you here very much this season, because simply put, it didn't seem real from the getgo. So i'll start from the beginning, and try to keep this brief yet informative.

In June 2028, we began our transfer business quickly and aggressively. We brought in striker Caylan Vickerrs and left-footed DM Mahamadou Susoho on frees, followed by AM(L) and right-back Joel Bird on frees from Wolves and Man Utd respectively. This was followed by DM/M Alex Matos for £110k (up to £115k) from Swansea, who'd played for us on loan a few years previously. Finally, we rounded off this first lot with versatile attacking midfielder prospect Iwan Davies from Man Utd, DM prospect Scott Ryan from Arsenal, and AM(L) prospect Mustapha Flint from Newcastle - all on frees. As you can see, this new transfer strategy I was going to employ relied on bringing in released higher-tier talent for nothing, to later sell on for a profit.

July saw defender Jadel Katongo (from Coventry City) and right-back Judah Tawiah arrive on frees, September entailed goalies Jackson Smith come from Walsall for £10k and Iwan Roberts from Swansea for £10k. I sold defender Joe Rye to Forest Green for £50k as he just wasn't good enough for what I had planned. Backup keeper James Wright went to St Johnstone for £11k. Stoke City (who had been promoted to the Premier League) came in for Connor Lynch; I was happy to sell him for £400k considering he was just a depth option for me. 7 players were sent out on loans: AM(L) Simon Hunt and Striker Mark McDonald were sent away as truthfully I was likely going to be selling them next summer and didn't need them this year, newcomers Scott Ryan and Mustapha Flint also left as I had other players in their positions already, and fan-favourite Finn Wilkes went out as I wanted to trial my two new right-backs without losing a club servant. All in all, £861k in, £15k out. Not bad.

Pre-season entailed 4 straight wins, but what gave me early optimism was starting the season off with a 4-1 win against Cheltenham. The following game, however, we were knocked out 2-4 by Sunderland in the Carabao Cup. But from there, our league form was phenomenal - we racked up a record breaking 30 wins and 101 points! This miracle was more than enough to secure us the title and promotion into the Championship, as well as manager of the month 3 separate times. The other competitions, however, were mostly business as usual: we were knocked out of the FA Cup in the 2nd Round by AFC Wimbledon, and despite making it to the Bristol Street Motors Trophy Quarter-Final we were knocked out by Doncaster Rovers. But I'm more than happy to have bad cup runs if it meant we'd win the league. Striker Charlie McNeill was our leading goal scorer, bagging 20. Matthew Whittingham really showed what he was capable of this season and managed to get 11 assists.

Ultimately, I wasn't expecting this season to go the way it did. If I was being optimistic I would've said we'd crash out of the play-offs. Thankfully my risky transfer strategy worked a treat. Oh, and another good thing happened - in march our Chairman sold the club to a rich UAE businessman, who immediately began upgrading facilities and providing transfer funds. So if I'm lucky and do things just right, we could be in for at least a mid-table finish in the Championship. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. I'm just happy that I get to put gold in next season's new kit 🙂

As always, up the Clarets!