Over 1000 hours later, it is done. The Faroe Islands are a top 2 league.
This is the third iteration of my Faroe Islands build a nation challenge. I first attempted it back in FM21 with a custom club I created called FF Húsavík. While I do have many fond memories of that save, like Allan Olsen being a Faroese RW being the star of a Faroese club winning multiple UCLs, ultimately the save was limited by a poorly-made database and the even worse behaviour of the AI which was entirely unable to develop. I reached a peak ranking of 6th in the mid 2050s and that was after I took over B68 Toftir as a second human-controlled club. The second attempt came when I switched over to FM24, this time I created my own database with rules as close to the real thing as I could find and implement with my reasonable, but not great, editor skills. Again with FF Húsavík, and building the squad to closely mimic what I had done with the original Húsavík in those first 3 seasons, this savefile corrupted by the 5th season as I had just lost the UCL qualifying play-off on the 11th penalty.
Attempt number three thus began on the 19th of December 2023. I did not restart FF Húsavík, the second attempt was proof enough to never return to where you had been happy. Instead I took over Tvøroyrar Bóltfelag, or TB, the oldest football club in the Faroe Islands and one of the most successful with their 7 league titles, but last winning it in 1987 and having since become a yo-yo club, with TB in last place becoming a familiar sight. The 2021 season was an all-time low, with only 3 points from 27 matches, setting a league record for most defeats (24), most goals conceded (95) and tying the record for least wins (0). Funnily enough, 3 points is not the all-time lowest points total, a distinction that goes to NSÍ Runavík, with their 0 points in the 1976 season (one of the 7 TB league wins, coincidentally) albeit only over 12 matches, not 27.
I won't bore you with the season by season details (since there really is a lot I can say about this save), I'm going to paint a general picture. I only failed to win the league title in the 1st and 3rd seasons, winning 25 of the 27 seasons, 24 in a row. I made the UCL for the first time on my 5th season (on penalties, thus avenging my earlier loss on the 2nd attempt). First UCL knockouts came in 2030/31. First UCL final unexpectedly came in 2035/36, so much so that I made a video a few years ago for the occasion. That was such a fun season and many of the players on that squad were legends of the save, with many sticking around for UCL finals I would actually win, unlike that one where I got slapped 3-0. An 18-year-old Claudio Mellado chipping the PSG goalkeeper at the Parc des Princes to level it in extra time of a UCL semi final is the kind of feeling you can only get playing FM. That 2035/36 season will forever live on.
Three consecutive UCLs lost in the final proved to be the start of my villain arc, as I would win the 2041/42 UCL to finally end the curse and win a further 4 in as many finals until the end of the decade. 2049 and 2050 saw a 93 match unbeaten rampage in all competitions in which a (to my knowledge) world record 46 consecutive wins were set between the UCL, the CWC, the UEFA Super Cup, the Faroese league and the Faroese cup. The unbeaten run would end in the 2049/50 UCL quarter finals, as I lost 3-1 to Man City away. Seeing red after losing for the first time since god knows when, my players applied the Middlesbrough treatment and destroyed Man City 8-1 in the home leg. Could have been 10, realistically, were it not for the woodwork. The 2049/50 edition also saw TB set the record for most team goals in the UCL proper at 54, just 2 goals shy of the overall record of 56 goals including qualifiers set by, well, also TB back in 2036/37.
TB is the best club in the world, this is all fine and well, but what about the rest of the sheep farmers that make up the Faroese league? I "invested" (that is, signed utter dross for nonsensical prices) hundreds of millions among the other teams so that they could support their entirely unsustainable wage structures, I signed hundreds of young foreign players and immediately set them on the development list so that other teams would pick up one or two every season or so, and the end result was being stuck in 8th being the Netherlands and Portugal. Great. Also, I'm probably on many human trafficking watchlists by now.
That was until my SSD died and I had to have my computer repaired. I thought I had lost the save entirely, making attempt #3 follow in the footsteps of #2, but it turns out I had a backup from a year prior to what was then the present. Second chances are rare, but Víkingur Gøta grabbed it with both hands, winning the 2044/45 UECL in the final against Osijek. Admittedly, they had an easy run with OB, Lyngby and Osijek, but they did have to beat Sunderland in the SF. That was the turning point of the save. Next season, B68 Toftir qualified for the UECL for the first time, making it the first time in the entire save all 5 teams reached the league phase. HB and KÍ Klaksvík would be regulars in the knockouts, usually reaching the round of 16 before bouncing out.
Then, in 2046/47, Víkingur Gøta would fail to qualify for the UEL, dropping back down to the UEL, and they would win it again. Against Osijek in the final, again. Osijek fans must hate Víkingur Gøta at this point. Huge shoutout to Southampton for losing to Istra on the way in the most absurd way possible, much appreciated to not have to face a Prem team in the UECL. HB would make the UEL semi finals in 2048/49. B68 Toftir would make the UECL semi finals in 2049/50. And somehow KÍ never made a European semi final, despite being the second best team in the league and the only team not called TB to have ever qualified for the UCL league phase, and twice.
4 teams pulling their own weight (some more than others), TB destroying whatever opponent was put in front of them and only dividing by 5 teams meant an absurd amount of points over 2048/49 and 2049/50. The many, many years I had spent stuck in 8th almost broke me and I thought I would never make top 4. I eventually made it to 7th. A couple of seasons later to 6th. And now... I did not climb from 6th to 5th. I did not climb from 6th to 4th. I did not climb from 6th to 3rd. I climbed from 6th to 2nd!
Coefficient Farming Simulator 2K50
Since this is a summer league, the current league season is out of sync with European football, so next season will correspond to my season in 6th place. I'm actually a bit confused about the additional UCL spot for finishing 2nd in the seasonal ranking, I think it might apply to last season's league table but I'm not entirely sure who gets it and whether it means I'll have 3 or 4 teams in the UCL. I'll have to sim forward for a bit to see it. Anyway, here are some fun quirks:
- The second best league in Europe is 40% semi-professional.
- There are more combined seats in the league than population in the Faroe Islands.
- 42 out of the 55 players in the media best XI for the other 5 professional teams in the league have their wages paid by TB, either via loan or sold way below market value and with selling team wage contribution.
- Being a top 4 league means you either get relegated (9th-10th), exist (8th) or get Europe (1st-7th). An additional UCL spot for finishing 2nd in a season would mean you either get relegated or get Europe, no mid table mediocrity for anyone. As it stands, MB, with their cumulative 35 points over their last 67 league matches, are on course to get European football.
- B36 Tórshavn start out as arguably 4th best team but somehow managed to fall all the way down to the 4th tier (not really relevant for the coefficient but I just thought it was funny how they managed to do that.
I have no idea what will happen now that so many teams get UCL and Europe in general. A lot of money is coming into the league, that should be good, but these teams are definitely not UCL ready, maybe Víkingur Gøta can compete.
Anyway, I won the UCL final a few hours ago and with it the final tenths I needed to clinch 2nd in both the seasonal and overall rankings. Top 4 was already secured since before the semis, but then 3rd became a strong possibility, and eventually 2nd was on the cards too... So I just wanted to share this achievement which has taken me years!