What is FM's Sons of the Rock?



So for Football Manager 26 (FM26), I am feeling the urge to do another Scottish long-play, having taken Bonnyrigg Rose from Scotish League Two to three Premiership titles over about fifteen seasons.




Last season I did a English Park to Prem challenge, taking one of local teams, Acle United, from tier 11 to win the Champions League over about twenty-five seasons, and I used to write an update for some of colleagues at work, who were either involved with the local amateur football scene, or were FM players, and some suggested I should blog it - I didn't in the end but I had talked about doing it for my FM25 save because FM25 was canned.

So why Dumbarton this time?

About a week ago, I contacted a colleague of mine based up in Scotland, and said I wanted to pick a team in League Two who were more of fallen giant this time, as Bonnyrigg's appeal was due to it being their first ever season in League Two.
This time round I didn't want a team where training facilities, youth facilities were all the lowest possible, and the stadium is very small, as it takes forever for them to be upgraded, as especially I unintentionally got promoted from League Two to the Premiership in about five seasons - another thing I want to avoid this time because it was horrible being so under-resourced and being seen at best as a top League One side in terms of reputation.

My colleague, suggested a couple of teams, and then said, why don't I manage his team, and when I looked at Dumbarton's recent history, fourteen seasons ago they started six year in the Championship, then had four seasons in League One, followed by two seasons in League Two, promotion to League One, before being relegated last season back to League Two.
They also went into administration mid-way through last season, and start this season with minus five points.
Finally, I love the Sons of the Rock nickname for Dumbarton, hence I have used it in my blog name.


Long Play Aims

Slow growth will underpin this campaign.
There are a few rules I aim to adhere to - most of which are to ensure I don't cheese the game.

1) No mass clear-out either at the beginning or the end of the first season.
2) No meta tactics, and for the first season, I will stick with the 4-3-3 formation they seem to be using this year.
3) This one may be optional for the start of the game, but no transfers in the first window.  There won't be any selling but if I feel the squads need padding out to avoid greyed out players appearing, I might get some free transfers.
4) Enjoy the slow journey.  Enjoy the highs and lows of each season.

Only One Problem

I've got to wait officially until 4th November before the game is out, but in reality there will be some form of early access, at a guess, around 22nd October.

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