Ten Non-English Lower League New Save Ideas for FM24
Richard David Pike's Beyond The Big Five Newsletter: Edition 9
1) AC Perugia Calcio
The first non-English lower league save comes courtesy of Italy, where amongst its 2nd and 3rd tiers are scattered many a famous name from 1990’s Sunday afternoon Football Italia matchdays. One such name is AC Perugia Calcio, famous at the turn of the millennium for two final day Serie A title deciders, the 1990’s proved a second great era in twenty years for I Grifone, who spent seven seasons in Italy’s top flight, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup and being relegated to Serie B in 2003/04. However, in the 1978/79 Serie A season, Perugia provided the truly unique situation of recording an unbeaten Serie A campaign with 11 wins and 19 draws, yet only finished 2nd behind eventual champions Juventus.
Having gone through bankruptcies and reformations, Perugia have not tasted Serie A football since their last aforementioned relegation in 2003/04. Given twenty years have now passed since their second golden era passed, its now the time for a third great era with you at the helm. Perugia currently find themselves in Group B of the regionalised Serie C, the third tier of Italian football, so the route back to the top will not be straightforward. A new save idea crafted with 1990s Football Italia aficionados in mind.
2) Kerry FC
Often overlooked for low budget but fun challenges, the League of Ireland should begin to command more attention from FM players looking for niche new game saves. After many years operating on a semi-professional basis, League of Ireland Premier Division clubs have transformed in the last two decades, to a current situation where the majority of the league operates on a full-time professional basis. The introduction of the Conference League to European football also enhances League of Ireland clubs’ future exposure and should they make the group stages, their financial coffers.
However, rather than choosing a League of Ireland powerhouse club for a new save such as Shamrock Rovers, Kerry FC gives FM players not only a lower league save, but a clean slate to write their own history with a newly-formed club. Founded in June 2022, Kerry FC’s successfully applied to join the 2023 League of Ireland First Division as a semi-professional club, recently concluding their first-ever season. County Kerry in the province of Munster is very much an area where Gaelic football reigns supreme when it comes to sports. It is therefore up to you to build this new club up to shift attention to football by reaching the League of Ireland Premier Division, becoming its champions and eventually taking Kerry FC into European club competition.
3) SC Preussen Munster
Moving to another club from Munster, although this time one from the eponymous German city as opposed to an Irish province, the history of SC Preussen Munster will perhaps surprise many, especially given their unremarkable recent history. Founded in 1906, Die Adler achieved consistently good results in the pre-Bundesliga Westphalian Championship, Gauliga Westfalen and Oberliga West seasons. The most famous being in 1950/51, when as Oberliga West runners-up, Preussen Munster qualified for the season-ending German championship, finishing as runners-up to Kaiserslautern. These results saw Preussen Munster chosen as one of the founding members of the inaugural 1. Bundesliga season in 1963/64, it would however, prove bittersweet as they were immediately relegated and have never return to Germany’s top flight since.
Most of Die Adler’s recent history has seen them fluctuate between the 3rd and 4th tiers being only playable on FM24 due to winning the 4th tier Regionalliga West in 2022/23 and promotion to the 2023/24 3. Liga. Only based in the 10th largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Preussen Munster are very much in the shadow of more illustrious state rivals 1 FC Koln, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Borussia Dortmund. Can you put this more modest German outfit amongst the company of its aforementioned regional rivals by returning them to the 1. Bundesliga after a 60+ season absence.
4) Alta IF
Staying in a country’s third tier for team number four, we head north to Norway and in the case of the team chosen, very north. Alta IF were founded in 1927 and hail from the eponymous town in the county of Finnmark, Norway’s most northern county. Alta is the most northern settlement in the entire European Economic Area, posing significant logistical challenges for the local football team. Extreme meteorological conditions necessitate Alta to have two stadium for home games, the outdoor 3,000 capacity Alta Idrettspark in addition to the indoor 1,000 capacity Finnsmarkhallen.
Currently in Group 2 of the Norwegian 2. Divisjon, Alta have been as high as the second tier 1. Divisjon as recently as 2014. For two seasons between 2020 and 2022, former Blackburn Rovers and Norway international midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen, a Finnmark native played for the club. Can you be the coach in spite of all the aforementioned limitations the club faces to lead Alta to the top tier Eliteserien?
5) OFK Belgrade
Club number 5 in this challenge comes from Serbia and the return to FM playable leagues for the 1st time since 2016/17 of OFK Belgrade. The Romantics had spent the last 6 seasons in the regionalised Serbian 3rd tier before winning their regionalised Serbian group in 2022/23 to return to the 2nd tier Serbian First League for 2023/24. Under its former name of Beogradski Sport Klub (Belgrade Sports Club), OFK won 5 Yugoslav First League titles between 1930/31 and 1938/39. In addition, throughout both their Belgrade Sports Club and OFK naming, the club has won 6 Yugoslav Cups, the most recent in 1965/66.
OFK also have a short but storied record in UEFA competitions, reaching the UEFA Cup Winners Cup semi-finals in 1962 before losing to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur. In addition to this aforementioned best performance in European competition, OFK reached the Quarter Finals of the 1972/73 UEFA Cup and the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1958-60. Despite only being in the 2nd tier at present, OFK’s history still qualifies them as Belgrade’s 3rd club, despite the current presence of several non-Red Star and Partizan capital clubs in the Serbian SuperLiga. A dethrone the traditional capital heavyweights with a underdog save, can you get OFK back to the top flight and then end Red Star & Partizan’s dominance?
6) RFC Liege
From an historic Serbian/Yugoslavian club in need of a pulling up after hard times, we now head to Belgium for the next new save idea. RFC Liege are the 4th oldest club in Belgium being founded in 1895 and became the first-ever Belgian champions in 1895/96, the first of five titles procured by Les Sang et Marine. Their final major domestic honour came in 1990 with a Belgian Cup triumph before the club made headlines for the wrong reasons. Just months after the cup triumph, RFC Liege’s Jean-Marc Bosman was denied a release from his recently expired contract, a case which after 2 years at the European Court of Justice between 1993 and 1995 led to the Bosman ruling being introduced into footballing legislation.
It has been a tough 21st century for RFC Liege, the club lost their old Stade Velodrome de Rocourt stadium to demolition in 1995 due to financial difficulties and have even spent 8 seasons in the 4th tier of Belgian football. However, a promotion back to the second tier professional 1B Challenger League for 2023/24 could prove a step on the road back to brighter things. Can you firstly return RFC Liege back to the top flight Pro League, then get the better of local rivals Standard de Liege before going on to end a Belgian Pro League title drought dating back to 1952/53.
7) Maritzburg United
Club number seven is the first outside Europe and features the only playable African league in the FM Series. Since the South African Premier Division’s foundation in 1996, Maritzburg United have spent a good part of its existence as top-flight ever-presents. This long-run as a top flight club included a 15 season unbroken stay in the Premier Division between 2008/2023 before the club were relegated to the First Division for 2023/24.
Based in Pietermaritzburg, capital of KwaZulu-Natal province, the city shares a local rivalry with the larger and more well-known Durban. In fact, three sides from Durban (Golden Arrows, AmaZulu and Royal AM) in addition to a 4th KwaZulu-Natal club (Richards Bay FC) are a division higher than Maritzburg United at FM24’s start. Here is your chance to firstly restore regional bragging rights and create a new dynasty in South African football. Once you return Maritzburg United to the top flight, more trophy-winning opportunities open up, which include the Knockout Cup and the MTN 8 Cup, tournaments only accessible to clubs in the Premier Division.
8) FC Ryukyu
Taking advantage of the J-League becoming playable on FM24 for the first time, the next challenge is like the aforementioned Alta IF new save idea an extreme geographical one. FC Ryukyu have recently celebrated their 20th birthday having only been formed in 2003 and are based in the city of Okinawa on the Ryukyu Islands archipelago, located south of Japan’s Kyushu island and north-east of Taiwan. Okinawa Island where the eponymous city is based is the largest in the archipelago, with a population around 150,000, making it the island 2nd largest behind Naha with the Ryukyu Islands having a combined population of around 1.5 million inhabitants.
The only professional club based on the islands, FC Ryukyu turned professional by joining J3-League in 2014 and after five seasons at this level won the J3 title in 2018, to advance to the second tier. Back in J3, however, is where you will start your save following Ryukyu’s relegation from J2 in 2022. Being based outside of the mainland economic hubs of Japan could see you struggle to attract finance and players comparative to Tokyo-based clubs. A new save idea for those who love underdogs, can you take this team representing the Ryukyu archipelago to the top of the J-League system?
9) Santiago Wanderers FC
The final two new save ideas for this particular challenge are both South American based and feature the oldest professional clubs still operating in both nations. Firstly we head to Chile and Santiago Wanderers, part of the Club of Pioneers, owing to its status as Chile’s oldest club, being founded in 1892. Despite the name, La Verde are actually based in Valparaiso region, Chile’s second-largest metropolitan area behind Santiago. One of the dominant regional powers in Chilean football in its amateur era, Santiago Wanderers won 10 regional Valparaiso championships between 1907 and 1934 in addition to a national championship in 1897.
However, since the introduction of the professional era, Santiago Wanderers have only won 3 championships, the last in 2001, falling way behind Chilean football’s Big Three of Santiago trio Colo-Colo, Universidad de Chile and Universidad Catolica. The Big Three’s Chilean title haul by contrast to Santiago Wanderers in the professional era is 33, 18 and 16 championships respectively. To make your challenge harder, you start in the second-tier of Chilean football, where La Verde have resided since relegation from the Primera Division in 2021. Can you halt the Santiago three’s dominance and bring titles to Chile’s second metropolitan area?
10) Quilmes Atletico Club
From Chile, we head across to Argentina for the final challenge in the shape of Quilmes Atletico Club. Founded in 1887, the club is the oldest in Argentina still competing in tournaments organised by the Argentina Football Association. The handful of clubs older than Quilmes either no longer exist or no longer practice football as a sport. Based 11 miles south-east of Buenos Aires city in the eponymous province, Quilmes get their nickname of El Cervecero (The Brewers) as the city of Quilmes is the location for Argentina’s most popular beer brand (Cerveza Quilmes).
Quilmes’ last Argentine championship came in 1978, their last honour coming in the shape of a second tier Primera B Nacional title in 1990/91. Quilmes have spent 32 seasons as a top flight club, the majority of their existence being spent in the 2nd tier Primera B Nacional, the division you will find them in when you start your new save. Can you as a provincial Buenos Aires club dethrone the Buenos Aires city giants such as Boca Juniors and River Plate and one day take Quilmes into the Copa Libertadores?