[FM24] [EN] LLM - The Oldest Club in the World - A Carlos Dolbeth Adventure

[Burkina2008]

August 19th, 2035 - The EPL

With so many chances still prior to the start of the season, it was known that the end of June would bring new faces to the club, but the focus would have to be in retaining also the best elements and avoid any others leaving the team. On that exact day, two new faces, young players that were hardly going to be part of the plans of the season, but for the first time a bet in the future by Dolbeth. That was clear when the club announced for the first time that it would become a parent club to another team, on August 11^th it was announced that Portuguese First League minnows of Moreirense would be the first connection of the club in many seasons and one of the new arrivals made direct way to Portugal together with Imoberdorf. The other player, Stephane Vits, was also loaned out to Barrow from League One. The last arrival was Moroccan international central defender, Boutcha who seemed to be at least a valid choice for the bench if not a starter.

On the way out, two deals had already been agreed beforehand, as Maquet and Donovan made their way to other clubs. The exists from Kouda and Dudziak were not unexpected as they were part of the players that were not in Carlos’ plans, but the big upset came when the board accepted a bid by Al-Nassr for English wonderkid Ross Flood. But at least for now this was really the only player that left outside of the initial management team plan. The pre-season could not have gone better, in 7 games, the club managed to win 6, including a very well received presentation game against Leipzig with a goal galore win and only a single loss with West Ham United, but the bookies were all in agreement that this would be a very complicated season for the club who was more likely than not to be in the relegation battle from the start…

The start itself was in the Tottenham Hotspur stadium completely packed with 63000 fans and with Dolbeth and some of the older players and supporters of the club were seen in very emotional displays, close to tears in their eyer. The game itself was far from a dream for the club as with 18 minutes gone, the Spurs were already 2-0 up. Sheffield did manage to even things a bit but close to half-time the home team made it 3-0 leaving little doubt as to the result of the game. The second half was more Sheffield than Tottenham and Blasko even managed to reduce to 3-1…still the home team was much better in front of goal and managed to score a 4^th, out of 5 shots on target while Dolbeth’s boys were not competent in front of goal. Better the display than the result in a first slap of reality for Sheffield F.C.

Cronica Leonina!

Depois de uma época do quase no ano passado há esperanças de que este ano consigamos canecos. Alias pelo menos e já não me lembrava de uma pré-época assim, conseguimos manter os melhores jogadores na equipa e contratar bem. Mantem-se o treinador, temos Europa para jogar e penso que finalmente podemos destronar ou pelo menos competir para que os morcões (que no ano passado ficaram também perto de uma final da Champions) não cheguem a 12 títulos seguidos!

 

Obrigado a quem segue e sobretudo a quem comenta! 

Editado 16 Outubro 2025 por Burkina2008

[Burkina2008]

November 2nd, 2035 - Closer to heaven than hell

The start in the EPL had been as expected with Tottenham cruising, mostly in the result than on the field against our first timers in this division. That said, against teams outside of the Top6/8 the club was expected to do a bit more, so in the second game of the season in a refurbished Home of Football, now having around 1000 seats more, the team showed a completely different face against Leicester City which was also supposed to be in the fight against relegation. It was the first home game in this league and at the same time, the first win ever for the club. Emotions once again ran high with this 3-0 win. At least it was clear that the team could win against the non-European competition teams. A much harder time was expected at Old Trafford 5 days later, United had been a mid-table team in the last seasons, but it did not change the difference in budgets and category. Even that way and on a very tight game, Sheffield scored first and surprised the packed ground…it was not enough as the Red Devils managed to draw a few minutes later, leaving the oldest club in the world with a historic draw.

August ended with a battle in the Carabao Cup. As always playing with a half strong side, nowadays even the bench players seemed to have a winning chance on this one and away in Nottingham the team managed to get Forrest all the way till the penalties after a 2-2 regular time draw. Unfortunately, most would say, luck was not on Dolbeth’s side, and it was an early exit for Sheffield. September started with another two challenging games, a visit from Newcastle that quickly turned into a fair win for the Magpies, by 2-0, and a very cagey 0-0 draw at Anfield in another good result. After 5 matches, Sheffield played against 4 of the top 6, so the sole 5 points were not unexpected, but against Crystal Palace a better result was needed to get away from the relegation spots and again in another very tight match, a single penalty was decisive for Carlos to grab the 2 points. What was a bit unexpected was the goal galore in the last game of the month as the visit to Burnley yelled a 7-3 win.

The league paused for international action for a total of 29 games, something that Dolbeth hated and won the team in good form, people were afraid that this would be bad for the boys. It did not feel like it with Brentford visiting another sell-out Home of Football resulting in the 3^rd win in a row. Here 2-1 was an unfair result as Sheffield did good enough to get at least a 2-goal cushion. The month ended with a visit to London where for the first time in 4 games, Carlos could not get the better out of the Hammers struggling in the relegation spots. No fan could have asked for better…9 games gone, 15 games and surprisingly the first spot of the league was just 4 points away, while relegation was 7…it was a good start but let’s not celebrate already!

Cronica Leonina!

Até me sinto ridículo de ter dado tantos elogios a esta equipa…depois de uma boa pré-época, o início do campeonato foi desastroso. 1 ponto em 5 jogos, com derrotas contra tudo e todos…e depois do nada parece que a equipa começou a jogar a bola, sem contar duas derrotas para a Champions, vamos em 9 vitorias seguidas…, mas com o início que foi, duvido que consigamos lutar pelo campeonato

 

Obrigado a quem segue e sobretudo a quem comenta! 

[cadete]

Já nem tenho palavras para o Sporting...mas o Sheffield, início a surpreender muita gente e com resultados fantásticos contra o Burnley e nos míticos Anfield e Old Trafford.

[Banks29]

O arranque na Premier foi bem interessante, será que podem lutar pelas competições europeias até ao final ? 

[Maffu]

Como previsto, campeão no Ship. Nunca duvidei. Apesar de teres gasto pouco estás numa posição fantástica, bem acima do esperado. A ver vamos até onde chgas.

[Burkina2008]

Citação de cadete, Em 19/10/2025 at 14:49:

Já nem tenho palavras para o Sporting...mas o Sheffield, início a surpreender muita gente e com resultados fantásticos contra o Burnley e nos míticos Anfield e Old Trafford.

O Sporting esta no lodo

Citação de Banks29, Em 20/10/2025 at 03:42:

O arranque na Premier foi bem interessante, será que podem lutar pelas competições europeias até ao final ? 

Duvido

Citação de Maffu, Em 20/10/2025 at 16:39:

Como previsto, campeão no Ship. Nunca duvidei. Apesar de teres gasto pouco estás numa posição fantástica, bem acima do esperado. A ver vamos até onde chgas.

Vamos ver se nos mantemos na premier...

[Burkina2008]

December 31st, 2035 - Hanging On

It was difficult once again to demand more from Dolbeth and our boys, 9 games played, and the relegation battle was far far away. Well, that was until November came with just 3 games which resulted in 3 defeats, by the same exact result 2-1. While the visit to London where a visit to the Blues ending in 3 three points was nothing short of a mirage, the two home games against two teams which were common adversaries from the Championship, Brighton and Norwich a bit more, were expected. The first game was a very poor start from Sheffield F.C. in the first half where Brighton could easily have scored 3 or 4 goals. Ironic is that in a completely unfair fashion, the boys managed to get a draw, Betrand once again turned the game around completely in the second 45 minutes, where Sheffield seemed to be the only team on the field, only suffering a goal in the only shot from Brighton in the second half. Against Norwich it was exactly the first poor first half and a recovery in the second 45 minutes, but in this game the two goal advantage from the Canaries in the first half was enough to take the win.

The situation was not really critical but 1 point in the last 12 possible was not a good sign, so in the first game of a packed December, the boys could have used a revenge against Forest following the elimination from the Carabao Cup…well not a good result either, a 4-0 trashing. Surprisingly the team managed to get a point against Arsenal at home but returned to the defeat on a visit to Wolverhampton and a few days later in the visit from Man City to the Home of Football, although in this case in a very difficult matched where Carlos did manage to even things almost till the end against the billionaires. At this point with 15 games played, with only 2 points in the last 8 matches, Sheffield dropped to the relegation spots. There was already noise from the necessity to get some players in the winter break and the bad run even made this more a focal point. For now, the only name announced was a young Congolese goalkeeper but more is expected.

Somehow despite the crisis and getting close to year end, the boys got an unexpected win home against Liverpool in a heavy scoring a game which seemed to be the tonic to get back on track as the next match was an uncontested win at Southampton and despite a defeat on boxing day, curiously with the same result as the other game with the team from the same city, prior to the close of 2035, another important win over Aston Villa made the team climb back to a relatively safe mid table position with half of the league played. That said the table is ultra packed as always and anything is possible!

Cronica Leonina!

Depois de um início de m*rda e uma recuperação quase milagrosa, voltamos a apatia do costume. Novembro com jogos miseráveis contra o Estrela e Vizela, sendo que ainda perdemos na Champions contra uns trolhas da romena, mas depois vencemos o Ajax e empatamos com o Bayern. Alias Dezembro foi mais um mês daltónico em que perdemos com o Gil Vicente antes de empatar a 1 com o Boavista da Alemanha.

Obrigado a quem segue e sobretudo a quem comenta! 

[cadete]

Fase lixada, mas a vitória surpresa contra o Liverpool veio animar a equipa que partiu numa pequena fase de amealhar pontos importantes na luta pela sobrevivência.

[Burkina2008]

Citação de cadete, Em 23/10/2025 at 01:48:

Fase lixada, mas a vitória surpresa contra o Liverpool veio animar a equipa que partiu numa pequena fase de amealhar pontos importantes na luta pela sobrevivência.

Aos poucos e poucos vamos la chegar!

[Burkina2008]

February 29th, 2036 - Stealing some good players

Once again, it’s always good to remind everyone how unimaginable this climb would have seemed 10 years ago, or even 5 despite the climb to the professional leagues. Sheffield F.C. had made in the last 5 months, the first round ever in the English Premier League and for now was safe mid-table despite a bit of slope in the month of November. But the job of Dolbeth to get the team to safety once again was not yet complete, so another 18 games needed to be played in 2026. And the year started out well as a visit to Leicester was a nice 3-1 away win on an extremely cold day. Could this be a positive Omen for the team? We must wait and see as the next game was with Nottingham Forest, who had been for now the nemesis of our boys. Big defeat in the League, elimination in the Carabao Cup and now in a streak of bad luck, the northerners were once again in the first round that Sheffield F.C. was participating in the FA Cup.

Already with a new face in the team, Mik Akkermans, a central midfield arriving from Burnley, was in the bench but not used, and for the third time this year, Carlos could not do more than lose by a single goal against Forrest. A few days later came a bomb, as Matias Formosa, a Boca Juniors central defender that was being chased by many European giants, decided to join Sheffield, bringing more and more illusion to the fans. That said the fans would have to wait for February to see the new player in action, as the other two games for the league in January were still in the beginning of the month and even playing home, Tottenham challenging for the title came out with a good solid win and with the Red Devils, Sheffield only managed to squeeze a difficult point. 3 weeks of international break followed, and the winter market saw other changes. A few loans of youngsters were already expected and Myrvold with the arrival of Mayele, asked to leave, but the biggest bomb was when Newcastle formalized a bid of 26 million for Jordi Garcia which the club could not refuse.

When the whole thing seemed to be over, Dolbeth took a rabbit out of the hat and brought 33-year-old Portuguese defender Nuno Mendes. Clearly past its prime it can still be useful to lead a team that is still mostly composed of younger players. With all those players integrated, February was much better than January. Not the first game, as in London, the loss 4-0 against Palace was both unexpected and unfair, but the wins over Burnley and West Ham United, together with two draws, one of them a positive surprise, Sheffield manages to grab 8 points out of 15 during the month and with 10 games to play in the league maintains a good mid table spot, for now 7 points above water. Still there are no assurances in this league, but another 10 points should be enough to seal it!

Cronica Leonina!

Mais dois meses terríveis para o campeonato. Neste momento o Sporting esta a caminho do pior resultado de sempre! Derrotas com o Farense e Guimaraes, vários empates…um desastre. Vencemos mais uma vez a Taca das caricas e ainda podemos ir a final da taca, mas esta aposta da Europa acaba por ser infeliz porque apesar de termos vencido o Villareal em casa, f*demos nos penalties..

Obrigado a quem segue e sobretudo a quem comenta! 

[cadete]

Bem, derrota pesada contra o Palace, mas em contrapartida bons resultados contra Newcastle e Man Utd.

[Burkina2008]

Citação de cadete, Em 26/10/2025 at 01:46:

Bem, derrota pesada contra o Palace, mas em contrapartida bons resultados contra Newcastle e Man Utd.

Sempre aos altos e baixos!

[Burkina2008]

May 19th, 2036 - Death of an Icon

10 games to go and maintenance was close to being reality way ahead of time for Sheffield. The expectation was that 10 point in these 10 matches would be enough to get and March did start with a banger, in Brighton, a 4-4 result in a spectacular game that could have gone in either way, but the best was yet to come as in the first sunny afternoon of 2036, Chelsea, in the second place, and the major contender to expel Man City from the top, came to the Home of Football and was handed a 4-0 defeat. There have been good results this season, like the win over Liverpool or the two draws against Manchester United, but this game will make the history books with the caveat that all goals came in the second half. Single handedly Sheffield had almost made sure they would not get into the relegation battle and almost gave the title to Man City. The party was all night long and only Dolbeth, was nowhere to be seen.

Carlos was also not on the bench, so Pujdak took over, in the next game, a visit to Norwich, which ended up in a 1-1 draw and another important point. News from the club mentioned a small surgery that Carlos decided to do in his home city, Lisbon, and a few days later there was an interview and Dolbeth recovering from this unknown surgery seemed in good spirits. There was the 3-week international break, and he was back on the bench at home to get another good point at home in a 2-2 draw against Forrest but missed again the trip to London for a normal defeat with Arsenal and the following game against Wolves. Despite that loss, the game marked the mathematical safety that everyone was waiting for, still with 4 games to be played.

But that was not important if we knew about the news on May 3^rd. Dolbeth had been taken to hospital on the night of May 2^nd and in the early hours of the following day he was declared dead. Carlos had been battling liver cancer for more than a year and that was also the reason why he refused the offer from Sporting to take over the club of his heart…after that it was a dim end of the season for Sheffield. Not really due to the 4 defeats with every single club. It was just a sea of banners and a lot of the players crying…and end of an era, a man that brought Sheffield F.C. back to the top and that will never be forgotten!

Cronica Leonina!

Por respeito ao Carlos e com pena de não ter conseguido ver o Sporting campeão, pela primeira vez esta secção não vai ter um comentário aos jogos e final da época do Sporting

Obrigado a quem segue e sobretudo a quem comenta! 

[cadete]

Que pena que não chegou a treinar o seu Sporting. Deixou o Sheffield no topo e foi normal ver o final de época só com derrotas.