2021
SM Top 120 Division 6 Preview
Top 120 Division 1 (Division 6) PREVIEW
Mission build a squad of minimum 21 with 40m all under 30Clubs and Starting XI's - Who do you think is the strongest? Who will win?
- Wolves - Anew Dayo
- Brighton - DP 91
- RB Salzburg - Andrew Bailey
- Union Berlin - Dave Brook
- Bologna - Paul Rimmer
- Sparta Prague - Daktaras Hausas
- Real Sociedad - Stephen Partington
- Young Boys - Hasan Lika
- Rennes - Chris East
- FC Midtjylland Dan Wallace










SM Top 120 Division 7 Preview
Top 120 Division 2 (Division 7) PREVIEWMission build a squad of minimum 21 with 40m all under 30Clubs and Starting XI's - Who do you think is the strongest? Who will win?
- Eintract Frankfurt - MANAGER - Carl Martin
- Racing Club - MANAGER - Conor Franland (Son of the great Neil Frankland
- OGC Nice - MANAGER - Stephen Beddows
- Red Star Belgrade - Paul Masters
- Fluminense - Shaun Adlem
- Leeds Utd - Lee Reynolds
- Palmerias - Pip
- Rangers - SSG (Dan Innes)
- Real Betis - Hashir Shakeel
- RB Leipzig - Ricardo Ferriera
The favourties - appears that Red Star Belgrade is there at 1/5 favs for promotion.










Season 15: Who were the TOP 10 YOUTH CUP PLAYERS
- Ferran Torres (15 Assists, 10 Goals) Man City

2. Darwin Nunez (10 Assists, 8 Goals) Man City

3. Erling Haaland (7 Assists, 10 Goals) Hellas

4. Ayo Akinola (11 Assists, 5 Goals) Barcelona

5. Marcos Paolo (4 Assists, 11 Goals) Man City

6. Kai Havertz (5 Assists, 10 Goals) Juventus

7. Alexander Isak (7 Asssists, 8 Goals) Benfica

8. Silva Brenner (10 Assists, 5 Goals) Anderlecht

9. Jeremy Doku (8 Assists, 6 Goals) Hellas

10. Thiago Araujo (10 Assists,3 Goals)Dortmund

TOP GOALSCORER - MARCOS PAULO, MAN CITY. 11 GOALS
TOP ASSISTS - FERRAN TORRES, MAN CITY. 15 ASSISTS.
Top 100 Leadership - A History, A Change and the Future...
Top 100 is arguably the longest living (current) interactive, large custom gameworld in Soccer Manager Worlds.
The gameworld began back in Summer 2015 - with 100 managed clubs and 6 years and 15 seasons later the gameworld is still full, still active and still very much competitive.
Each season on top of the usual competitions - the community also organise internal competitions - youth cups, world club cups - see all in the History page - [smtop100.blog/history/](https://smtop100.blog/history/)
So what of the original fathers of the gameworld and the future - current gameworld owner Sir Stephen Beddows explains all.
Beddows has thanked Mr Frank Hirst - the Godfather - and his lieutenant, the loyal David Marsden, recently unveiling a great honour to the pair in the middle of Top100 Towers for their hard work for Seasons 1-15. An honour which is set to draw thousands of SMW members to pay homage to their great sacrifices and work.
Moving onto Season 16 - 6 years since Top100's inception a new dawn (for better or for worse) is dawning - with Beddows officially joined by Dan Payne and Dan Wallace in managing the world - including the creation of Top120 - an add on to the main gameworld - so what has changed? and what has stayed the same?
David Marsden is taking a back seat and we wish him well and a massive thank you for his hard work. He is accepting SM Credits in payment for his hard work if anyone wishes to reward him?
World Club Cup - will remain the same - and managed by Mark Deadman and Dan Wallace
Youth Cup - to be organised and managed by David Marsden but seeks a helper to help him? Please drop Beddows, Payne or Wallace a message if you are willing to step up?
Contracts - to introduce a level of realism all Division 1 managers have agreed to a 3 season contract with specific season by season targets. The reason for this - simple - to keep it realistic and to keep the gameworld active. Could it have a negative impact - maybe? But an experiment we are willing to try. IF a manager thinks they have a club for live might it make them complacent and become a passenger to Top 100?
Plus the managerial merry-go round at the end of each season always has been an exciting addition that most custom gameworlds do not have - it rejuvenates the market and gives a level of jeopardy due to the bottom 3 in each division (max 15 potentially losing their jobs)
Please note all reappointed managers and new managers also have a contract. If a manager were to refuse could this could against them for future jobs? Or if they were to be sacked for finishing bottom 3 could they lose their job? Simple scenario really - if all managers agree bar 1 - would it be fair for that 1 to lose their job? I'd say so.
Top 120 - a stolen idea - but an add on league - the next 20 clubs who aren't in Top100 in a separate GW. Short seasons which for the first 4 seasons will more or less run alongside Top100. Achieve in Top120 and opportunities will arise in Top 100. It is a critical tool for us to be able to gauge if a manager is good enough to join the main world - will they contribute? will they be active in the market? On the newsfeed? On the blog and other platforms? Already in early September 2 will be promoted to Top100.
I think most will agree whilst not perfect Top100 is a model that many gameworlds have sought to learn from over the years and its longevity is testament to what hard work, drive and community shows.
If you are reading this as a non Top 100 member but wish to join the waiting list then see the link below
[docs.google.com/forms/d/e...](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesRAcpJagiiN4aTv2wZaNP4SN5kIUAcAXKLfnXWEpm2PrOqw/viewform)
All Managers' Team and Position History
I've updated my spreadsheet with all teams' position history with S15 final tables, and now added all managers' clubs with estimated season start dates (please feel free to alert me to any mistakes or omissions if you spot any, preferably in the comments here).
So now you can see exactly what your Top 100 managerial record looks like (particularly useful if you've had more than a couple of clubs, and perhaps if you are applying for a new job - or selecting the best candidate for a job!).
For example, here is Beddows' record in Top 100:

[googleapps domain=“docs” dir=“spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSPQPfjrO2okStPiRHR_4xr89a3-axuBJgHeSSLPttSd6L3zBvYxuHN5DDnCT9bK9SUHqyGzcL-L1Gf/pubhtml” query=“gid=1362529175&single=true&widget=true&headers=false” /]
You can still view each team's entire Top 100 record, e.g., Fiorentina who have just become available.

[googleapps domain=“docs” dir=“spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSPQPfjrO2okStPiRHR_4xr89a3-axuBJgHeSSLPttSd6L3zBvYxuHN5DDnCT9bK9SUHqyGzcL-L1Gf/pubhtml” query=“gid=1942795491&single=true&widget=true&headers=false” /]
And if you want to compare positions for each division over the seasons, e.g., Juventus' best ever season in the league (even with the lowest ever points total for a team finishing second):

[googleapps domain=“docs” dir=“spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSPQPfjrO2okStPiRHR_4xr89a3-axuBJgHeSSLPttSd6L3zBvYxuHN5DDnCT9bK9SUHqyGzcL-L1Gf/pubhtml” query=“gid=976195740&single=true&widget=true&headers=false” /]
How Many Points Do You Need (S16)?
I've updated my spreadsheet averaging out the number of points needed to win the title, avoid the sack, etc. across all seasons.
As the number of seasons increase, each additional season's stats make less and less difference to the average.
So this time I've only include the last five seasons' data (S11 to S15), on the basis that this may give a better idea taking into account any trends during this time.

Compared to all seasons' data (S1 to S14), we can see that it's slightly easier (haha!) to win D1 and to avoid relegation and the sack.
Winning D2, D3 and D4 is also easier, but D5 got a bit harder to win.
It's slightly easier to gain automatic promotion in D3, but harder in D5.
More points are now needed to survive in D4.
It's getting easier to avoid the sack in D2 and D5, but harder in D3 and D4.

Marsden's Red Shorts Drop Down
Die Rothosen were relegated back into Division Three on goal difference on the final day of Season 15 despite winning 3-0 at St James's Park against Newcastle's reserve team. North German rivals Werder Bremen lost at Schalke, sealing der Dino's humiliating fall.

It was the culmination of a poor season overall, of course, even if there was some bad luck along the way.

Only Swansea in S5 have won more games (13) than Hamburger this season (12) and been relegated. Swansea are also the only team to have finished with more points (45) than Hamburg and still been relegated to D3. Only Wolfsburg in S12, and Hoffenheim in S14 have accrued 44 points and gone down. 43 points is usually enough to avoid the drop, but not this time.

The season fell roughly into four quarters. HSV failed to win in their first ten games, and managed just three draws, no clean sheets, and were bottom of the table. Lucas Alario missed all of these games with an injury he picked up at the end of S14.

We dominated matches against relegation rivals Sevilla and Schalke, but recorded just just one goal and one point in those two games. Most of the others were close games on the stats, but losing by odd goal. Played mostly 4231B with Alexis Sanchez filling in at CF in place of Alario, and Zakaria Labyad coming in on the wing.

Upon Alario's return, the next nine games were a complete contrast, winning seven, all with clean sheets. We'd started playing the same 'slowball' system that had seen Hertha Berlin get off to such a great start in D1.
The turning point in our season really came when our much sought after youth prodigy Maxence Lacroix forced his way into the team. He'd been training hard, then one day (6 June to be precise) he suddenly (83 to 87) started to look like a much better option than Fortuna Wallace, who had hitherto been a mainstay at the back.
Half-time
In the return fixtures beginning at the halfway stage of the season, we managed two wins and three draws from the next ten games, but just one clean sheet (in a defensive masterclass at Benfica).
On 20 June, we got two red cards at Ajax (both first choice CBs, Fernandinho and Lacroix). Went 352 for next few games to try to compensate with quantity for lack of quality at CB.
By 18 July, things were looking desperate. We went all out attack playing oldskool Der Dino 343 and dominated the Nordderby with 'kick and hope' Bremen, only to concede a late equaliser.
The same tactic backfired catastrophically the following week when we lost 4-0 at home to a poor Lazio team. A mistake from the manager, when reverting to 4231B would surely have seen three points and safety?
The final nine games saw three wins and two draws, a slight improvement, and despite a late season trip to a motivational boot camp, it was too little too late. Young Lacroix played 18 games, during which time we had five wins and five draws (including four clean sheets), and was sent off three times!

Not many positives to take from our season as a whole. We knew it was likely to be tough following S14's 16th place escape, but felt we had made improvements with Rui Patricio and Luis Fernandinho coming in towards the end of S14.
Alexis Sanchez played all across the frontline and scored eleven goals - not a bad effort considering scoring goals was our problem all season with only bottom club Dynamo Kyiv managing fewer. And despite that run of seven clean sheets in nine games in the second quarter of the season, only Ajax, Newcastle and Kyiv conceded more than us over the season.

Although we reached the semi-final of the Youth Shield (thanks to DP 91 for including the final results in his must-read whole of Top 100 season mega-review), we had hoped to do better in the Youth Cup itself with our best ever team. But it never really clicked, much like for the first team in the league.

We did win a few new player lotteries this season, and hope that one or two will develop into players we can use in the first team or for trade in the future. We also made a couple of changes with next season's Youth Cup in mind.

Work to do next season. We came close to bringing in a new keeper and striker (but were informed by the manager we thought we'd agreed a deal with that we had 'the wrong Tavares' to offer as part of the exchange).
In the end, we've decided to stick with what we have for the most part (unless anything changes, and we've been there before). Apologies to Glen at Napoli for sticking with the plan for so long and ultimately suffering disappointment.
Back in D3 where it all started for Marsden in Top 100 in S2, where we will be up against some higher rated but to date underachieving teams. No easy games or divisions in Top 100. Long may it continue!
SHAKHTAR'S STORY SO FAR- THE JUSTICE ERA, AND THE FUTURE...
So, where to begin....well, as some of you may or may not know I was the manager of Aston Villa here for nearly three real life years, and progressed Villa and developed them and even gained promotion via winning the title a few seasons back. Fast-forward to 2021, and after 14-months away from T100, I was appointed the new manager at Shakhtar Donetsk, a side sitting rock bottom in Division-4 with no real hope and very limited players, the odd half decent player here or there, basically a side in need of some TLC, which is for sure a challenge that I was well and truly looking forward to.
With that, the deals began to flow, and if any of you have seen me around other Game-worlds in SM then you'll know that I do love a deal, or 20, and this was no different! Therefore, before we look at results and the near great escape, let's take a look at the players in and out;
IN;
- Zack Steffen (26 86)
- Tete Morente (24 84)
- Hamza Choudhury (23 85)
- Xian Emmers (22 78)
- Paxton Pomykal (21 77)
- Denis Bouanga (26 87)
- Chrish Fuhrich (23 82)
- Allasane Ndao (24 82) *was 78 on arrival
- Maksim Mukhin (19 80) *was 73 on arrival
- Mathias Olivera (23 86)
- Filip Benkovic (23 85)
- Lucas Tousart (24 89)
- Andreas Martin (22 82)
- Aleksander Buska (18 74)
- David Brooks (24 87)
- Chituru Odunze (18 65)
- Ismael Saibari (20 75)
- Levant Mercan (20 75)
- Patrick Burner (25 85)
- Romain Correia (21 75)
- Baris Yilmaz (21 77) *was 75 on arrival
- Tanner Tessman (19 78)
- Ghilsan Konan (25 86)
- Antonio Nusa (16 70)
- Augutin Obando (21 80)
- Karol Swiderski (24 83)
- Luis Abram (25 85)
- Justin Che (17 75)
- Jakub Moder (22 85)
- Frankie Amaya (20 80)
- Adrian Fein (22 83)
- Marco Richter (23 86)
- Aurelio Buta (24 85)
- Trevoh Chalobah (22 82)
- Emmanuel Dennis (23 87)
- David Turnbull (22 84)
- Cenk Ozkacr (20 76)
- Lorenzo Colombo (19 76)
That's a grand total of 38 new players into the club, which is quite mad considering the time frame of joining on the 3rd of July, but we knew we'd have to be busy in order to try and freshen up the side! We took some players from external and some from internal.
Now, let's take a look at the key signings here, one ready to go and one prospect I am keen to see progress...
Emmanuel Dennis (23 87)
The Nigerian striker has been a revolution since arriving in Ukraine, with five goal involvements in eight games so far for a side that were crying out for a goalscorer, and its expected the big Nigerian forward will lead the line for the side in Division-5 next season and try to make a similar impact from the start of the campaign.
Tanner Tessmann (19 78)
The American, is one of a few US talents in the ranks at Donetsk, with Justin Che, 17, the latest to arrive who looks a tasty talent, but we've picked out Tessmann, as a potential prospect to watch as he has just made the move to Venezia in Serie-A in real life, and I believe he will really kick on with them, and could be a gem of a player added from FC Dallas where he was impressive in the MLS... watch this space...
As mentioned with the Ins there were a lot of outs, not really anyone of that much note left the club, we opted to shift on a number of ratings in order to develop the side long-term, with the likes of Cedric Soares, Paulinho, Seamus Coleman, James Tomkins etc leave. We lost one asset in Malvin Bard, who looks a lovely player, but gained three youths in that process, as we continue to develop our plans here.
Well, thats all the incoming players, let's move onto the results....
When I took the club over we were sitting rock bottom with 12-games to go, with very little points, and then after initially losing our opening game 1-0 in a close encounter with PSV, in which their goalkeeper got a 9, and MOTM, which kind of summed up the task, but we dusted ourselves off and went again...
In my first 12 games, we won 6, drew 3, and lost 3, and narrowly went down by 2-points in the end, if only one of the draws were a victory, or even a lose that was close actually getting that win, but really it was always likely that we'd end up going down, but we knew we were doing the right thing in bringing down the age, trying to bring in talents and letting some older players that are better rated, but realistically for how long?!
It's a true shame that we couldn't amass enough points to complete what would've been the greatest of great escapes with 12 to go! But we have plans to progress and push back to Division-4 in the not so distant future...with that, what are the future plans?
THE FUTURE AND WHERE I SEE THE CLUB AND MYSELF....
So, I don't have any intentions of leaving Ukraine or Shakhtar Donetsk, unless of course for whatever reason I was asked to...hopefully won't come! We have a long term plan and look to try and develop via the internal market and continue to thrive and try and develop the squad, which I think we've done quite well at so far. We've even dipped our toes into the market again this last couple days, with Umar Sadiq a potentially lovely player coming, along with Lucas Tuta and Pedro Brazao.
We will always look to find those odd gems that get added, and are still external, and there are plenty still to come and still to be added, make no mistake about that, we've plenty we'd like to obtain! The plan is plain and simple, to build a sustainable, long term side that can develop and grow and eventually work its way back up the leagues and try get as high as possible, as quick as possible, but it is certainly no sprint and much more of a marathon to get there, and we won't take any quick shortcuts with ratings or oldies to get there.
I'm enjoying it and have loved beating top sides in this division, i'm just gutted that we couldn't quite do it, but the future is bright...the future is Orange...ah damn thats a copyright! haha
Here's to the future....
Hope you enjoyed the read...if you didn't then why did you get this far? hahahah!!!
#MonTheDonetsk
#TheJusticeEra

Napoli boss on long term planning and transfer merry go around
Napoli have confirmed all their transfer business is complete bar the completion of two pre-agreed deals which will see Vincius and Wood come in, with Bamford, Brereton and Erlic departing. "I've been as busy as I can ever remember of SM in the 13 years I have been a manager. I've spent many hours looking at players, speaking with Managers, Looking at the domino affect if I let this player go, or that player whilst trying to balance our incomings so we retain the flexibility we enjoyed last season in terms of being able to change formations successfully with the personnel we had at our disposal. We've had to make some big big decisions by letting the likes of Bamford, Milner and Philips move on. I think in Bamford we had a striker capable of getting 15 goals plus next season if we could bring in the players who can pick out the passes and create chances. The downside, those type of players come at a premium, no-one wants to part with their higher rated players, or those that will part with a 33, 34, 35 year old player on the decline want from you your highest rated players and best prospects in terms of rating and value increases. On the other side of the coin we've had approaches from half the league for our best players, but then when you engage with certain Managers their opening statement is for example "What do you want for Bamford?" You then tell them you are looking for and he offers you two 29yr old 86/87 rated players on the decline and has zero interest in parting with any of his own assets. I find that rather strange that they think you've been dropped off from Mars and are stupid enough to say okay. We've had this all pre-season with Rajkovic, lots of offers for our player of the year, who was arguably the most consistent in division 3, with 14 clean sheets, 8 Man of the matches and is expected to move the French Champions in real life to become their number 1. We are willing to sacrifice our best player, knowing it would leave us weaker in that department, with his replacement an 85 keeper, yet we are being offered players who would not get near our match day squad, have no prospects of rising, and to be honest, no-body else wants them. Why other managers even think that's a proposal is beyond me. We did have a deal in principal for Rajkovic with Fernandinho, however it was reliant on Hamburg selling their keeper, buying a striker and it rumbled on for weeks. It did hinder us on possible other opportunities to use Rajkovic in a 2 for 1 deal in other deals. In the end Hamburg pulled out of the deal, leaving us a little frustrated although thankfully we had already started to plan around that deal not happening. We moved quickly to agreed deals for Vidal, Moutinho and Matic, which were agreed quickly with managers who are always decisive and always balance the deal so both parties are happy with the outcome. What this pre-season has taught us in Top 100, is which managers you want to deal with, and which one's its pointless engaging with. I'd like to think my approach of, Everyone is for sale, gives the other manager a chance of securing the player, providing what he is offering is balanced and fair. Too many managers will hoard players waiting for them to improve, and will prey on weaker managers by trying to steal their best players with shocking proposals. I've seen a number of deals go through already this close season which just don't make sense. I think other the last few years Napoli have been subjected to losing all its best players by poor management. I know from what I inherited 3 seasons ago, to now, Napoli are suddenly looking at lot brighter. We have a really good starting line up now for Division 3 brimming with experience and decent ratings. However we have not just gone out and signed mid 30 players for short term success, we actually also have 36 players aged 25 or under with lots of improvement in them ensuring the team can continue to evolve and improve, and not find themselves 2 seasons from now with half the squad retired with no assets, and players on the decline. I genuinely fear for teams who have been totally asset stripped. Having witnessed it first hand at Napoli, it leaves you very much just making the numbers up. You don't get any recognition for the work you are doing or have done. People are quite short sighted and judge on trophies and promotions. This was very evident in applications I put in for other jobs over the close season, I felt my case was strong especially after taking on the team no one wanted, which was in fact my route into Top100. I was approached to take the job on, for my sins I had never even heard of the world, and certainly did not apply to join it, but took the gig on. At that time, I did not realise that any player with a pulse was pretty much snapped up or i'd be looking around obscure leagues for sub 80 rated players which may improve in 3 or 4 years. Everyone had been sold and I had 50 players with a value of £65 Million. I had nearly £600 Million in the bank, but cash is useless in this world. My best player had a rating of 88, second best 86 and then everyone else was 85 or lower. I had to google some of my squad, because I'd never heard of them, and I quickly realised I'd not be able to give them away. Fast forward three seasons Napoli finished 12th in Division 3, 4th Best defence, players people suddenly want, and going into season 16th I think could spring a surprise in the promotion stakes. I've read a number of reviews, watched a number of Video's and Napoli don't even get a mention. It will be interesting this season, those who suddenly start taking about Napoli, after I was overlooked for all these other clubs which became available at the end of season 15. I have great confidence in my own Manager ability. 13 years is a long time playing soccer manager, my trophy haul is quite large and my SM Diety is 658. Given I've not had a million clubs in that time either or played in hundreds of worlds, I'm more than confident that I more than match up with the managers in this game world and time will prove this especially when I get Napoli promoted. I strongly believe I'm in a very small percentage in this world capable of achieving that, from the starting block I had. I think looking at my squad now, a bigger percentage would fancy their chances of getting Napoli up, I just know that same percentage could not have built this team and would of walked away within months of taking up the position. Getting teams promoted is the easy part, keeping them up is the hard part. So right now although we've improved, had a high turnover of players this window, realistically I'm looking to improve on 12th with me targeting an 8th Place finish next season. Napoli right now, are not good enough for Division 2. Any promotion this season gives you the opportunity to jump ship for a better club, but leaves Napoli competing in a division 2 with a division 3 squad. Someone else gets the Napoli job, gets relegated, destroys any planning you put in place and the season after they become a division 4 club, hence my earlier comments about people being short sighted regarding how success is measured.
ZSP Season Review
After 5 seasons away from T100 I returned for season 15. Having previously spent enjoyable and fruitful seasons at Hertha and Benfica this time I headed to the beautiful city of St Petersburg.
ZSP had finished 15th in Division 3 the previous season and after assessing the squad I inherited I decided changes were needed but not immediately.
We brought in and let go a variety of players over the course of the season and transfer highlights are listed below
- Henrik Heggheim, DC age 20 – brought in for £340k from external. Highly rated in Norway but playing at a low level, the boy needs a move to a bigger league if he is to progress, worth a gamble.
- Martin Payero MC age 22 – bought from Banfield, quite highly rated in Argentina and has recently signed for Middlesbrough in real life, we have high hopes over time he will develop and rise in ratings enough to become a first team player
- Mathieu Valbuena AMRLC and Giovanni Moreno age 36 and 35 – both bought in from external purely as a rating, prior to my arrival we were using an 86 in the attacking midflield area and these extra rating helps boost the attack
- Giangiacomo Magnani DC– age 25 – another external signing, had decent game time in Serie A last season, could improve and raise to maybe 87 in a year or so, if not, not the end of the world we will let him go
- Ivo Grbic, GK age 25, surprised to see this lad external, definitely worth a punt in bringing in
- 3 x youngsters in Timothy Eyoma, Mads Bidstrup and Hianga M’bock – the latter is playing regularly in Ligue 1, Bidstrup looks like he could be used quite often by Brentford and Eyoma is a decent punt.
The season started pretty well for us and we managed to break the clubs unbeaten record by going 14 games without defeat. Unfortunately, we drew a lot of games – 17, which was the league’s joint highest figure alongside Lazio.
We missed out on the play offs by just 3 points but overall, on reflection I think it is progress for the side as we improved on last season.
Going forward we hope to compete for a play off spot again next season. Its great to see so many familiar faces still managing in here and good to see the social side is strong, I have been very slow socially this season but aim to pick up that side of things for next season.
Thanks for reading
Season 15 Summary & Top 100 History
As Season 15 comes to a close, a review of how far some clubs & managers have come, the achievements within Season 15 itself & the rankings of clubs Top 11 players moving forward into Season 16 & beyond. All stats, facts, figures, rankings & titles over the seasons mentioned.
Division 1
In 15 seasons we have only ever seen x4 winners of Division 1.
Manchester United - Season 1 (1)
Barcelona - Season 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 (9)
Bayern Munich - Season 4, 5, 8 (3)
Chelsea - Season 13, 14 (2)
These honours have been achieved by x6 managers in total.
Joe Jordan - Manchester United (1)
Scott Mckenzie - Barcelona (8)
Gursimran Brar - Bayern Munich (2)
Ruts66 - Bayern Munich (1)
James Mckenzie - Chelsea (2)
Dan Wallace - Barcelona (1)


Now in season 15, how does the Division look as Dan Wallace, Barcelona take his debut title win & their 9th success.

Thanks to Malcolm, stats & facts from D1 we have some early Season 15 numbers as well as end of season numbers to compare against. Both of these systems for evaluation will be referred too throughout the analysis.
When summarising those players on the pitch down from the 50 man squads available to clubs, Season 15 league winners, Barcelona, are in fact the #2 team in Division 1 whilst Season 13 & 14 winners, Chelsea, are in actual fact the highest ranking 11 assembled on the final day of Season 15, however they finish #5.
Fellow previous winners of Division 1, Bayern Munich, now managed by Bojan H, can be found in #4 position, their 11 however some 1.7 rating points below #1 Chelsea & 1.3 below #2 Barcelona.
Manchester United, the first ever Division 1 winners however cannot be found in Division 1, the side languishing in Division 3, hoping to find a return to Division 2 via playoffs.
Season 15s 2nd placed Juventus, managed by DP91 since day 1, the #4 side by their best 11 rating have never won Division 1, much to the common comments of some Top 100 managers. The Italians & Top 100s most successful Cup team, have constantly achieved high finishes within Top 100 but have moreover constantly been short of their first Division 1 title in all but 1 season.

FC Porto, the club somewhat a surprise compared to other names, to be found in the upper echelons of Division 1, are actually now Top 100s #3 rated side upon their best 11 ranking, achieving a 3rd placed finish in Season 15. Long serving Andre Guerra has overseen constant improvements for the Portuguese outfit, achieving an immense status for himself & his club. Could he go on to achieve a title win in Division 1 in the future & perhaps become Division 1s 5th club & 7th manager to achieve the feat?
Finally at the top end of the table & within a 92+ category for best 11s is Arsenal, now managed by Heath Brown. Under the stewardship of Heath in recent seasons, Arsenal have grown to become Top 100s #5 best 11 in fact & staked a claim in what is perhaps the Top 6 of Top 100.
Clearly however, there are not straight forward assumptions to be made of a Top 6, as Hertha Berlin snuck into said positions in Season 15, despite a 1.2 rating disadvantage by seasons end over #6 placed in the rankings, Bayern Munich. Hertha in fact achieved a +6 finish on their ranking position through the leadership of Regan Thompson, debatably providing one of the biggest shocks of the season when it comes to numbers.

In Season 15, Division 1 had a disparity in best 11 ratings of 5 rating points from #1 to #20 when it came to a close, quite a gap between the divisions best & worst, whilst the average rating for an 11 in D1 was 91.27. Both Real Madrid & Dortmund were of the average themselves by numbers, however finished in 16th & 11th respectively, maybe therein suggesting more importance to the squad game than the 11s alone.
In summary within Division 1, it may be suggested that a 93+ rated 11 could successfully challenge for the title, however as shown by the position of the highest ranked 11 in Season 15, it cannot be taken for granted that numbers alone will get the job done. Elsewhere, in achieving the average for the Division, you may ensure you can at least avoid relegation to Division 2.
Division 2
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Division 2 has had a whole host of winners over the years & only Dortmund & SC Internacional, currently managed by Dario Saviano in Division 1 & Robérto Downinho, now of Cruzeiro have ever won the division twice, perhaps therefore these two could be the more renowned 'bounce' sides in the past too yo-yo between the top two tiers.
Here's the history of Division 2 & the winning managers over the seasons.

The only manager to had actually previously been required to win Division 2 on multiple occasions to date was Robérto Downinho.

As for season 15, things have changed. Hellas Verona & Andre Libras-Boas have become the first same club pairing to win Division 2 on two occasions, perhaps a good title, perhaps not so much. Hellas have therefore joined Dortmund as a bounce side from Division 2 & Division 1, at least from the winners perspective as plenty more have needed to bounce between over the seasons, but none in doing so almost easily out of Division 2 but then to struggle a little in Division 1 & return to the 2nd tier.
Here's the Season 15 league table.

At the time of writing, Stoke City, managed by Sebastian Campillo will face off against Tottenham Hotspur, managed by Liam Pigott in the Division 2 playoff final, two teams that were only separated by 3 goals through 38 games, ensuring that one manager will be sincerely frustrated with another season in the 2nd tier come 8:30pm Monday 16th August.
Above them & already promoted are bounce side SL Benfica, managed by ruts66, whom have been in Division 1 in the past before finished 2nd in the table just 1 point above the playoff places & also just 3 points behind predicted & expected league winners, Hellas Verona. Benfica will move into Division 1 as one of the mid-table teams by strength of the first 11 at least & aim to stabilise their status as a Division 1 giant.
In 3rd & promoted on goal difference in one of the tightest seasons Division 2 or any division has seen over the years is Standard Liege, guided by Mike Scalotti. Standard, ever active in the market, have constantly improved their side, as standard, no pun intended, for Mike in his management processes & now hit the big heights of Division 1 for the first time as a pair, second time for Standard Liege. In this, Standard have became Belgiums 2nd side to make the top after Anderlecht some seasons back under the guidance of Gursimran Brar, whom breached through all 5 divisions.
A mention to Everton who missed out on playoffs by a solitary goal this season, a brutal way to miss out on the final day, perhaps RJ Alston will be looking to strengthen at both ends in a busy transfer window to ensure it doesn't happen in Season 16.
7th to 17th, separated by only 10 points is another big point in understanding just how competitive Division 2 was in season 15. Schalke, fairly recently managed by Andrew Achilleos, on the final day leaped out of the relegation places, managing to avoid the drop on a +3 goal difference over Hamburg, managed by David Marsden who will feel they just left it too late to escape the drop, having picked up 6 points in the last two games but still went down on goal difference.

Statistically, relegated & 20th, Dynamo Kyiv, managed by Gary Naylor we're expected to finish bottom upon their best 11 being ranked as such & they whimpered to the drop as well, some 20 points from safety in the end, almost only totalling half the points of the first team outside of the drop.
The final day actually saw Tottenham Hotspur as the biggest losers as they dropped from 2nd in the league, in the 3 automatic promotion spots, to falling out of them completely & even into the 2nd spot for the 4 in the playoffs. Despite this drastic & dramatic drop that would have hurt no end for Liam, Spurs actually overachieved most from their final league position versus the strength of their best 11 ranked players, therein ensuring that big praise should be given to Liam despite the final day drama. The playoff final will actually see joint 2nd highest overachievers Stoke City fighting it out for the final promotion spot aforementioned, a shame that both cannot go up & be praised for top seasons.
Doubling back, Spurs in fact would go on to finish runners-up in the playoff final to Stoke City.
Some big disappointments perhaps in Southampton & Rob Ryan with a -6 on their best 11 rank versus league finish however one win more would have seen a playoff finish & potential shootout for promotion, with Division 2 being so tight, the disappointments are almost wiped out due to the divisions competitiveness. Despite this however, from bottom to top a 3.8 variance in best 11s is quite a gap leaving much to debate. Levante under Salvatore Zerbo were another with a disappointing final day rank versus league position however they only made the market changes middle to late season meaning they can be discounted over the season unless comparisons to Malcolm' D2 stats & facts are made & debated as below.

Further down the table were Bremen under Paddy D, they & Paddy are a consistent in the market & can perhaps be afforded the changes made to the squad through the season as to why the end of the season values were predicted to be higher than final position suggests. The lowest return however came from Sassuolo, once risen to lofty heights under the stewardship of Bob 'Groucho' Sal & now returned to Division 3 under Chris Mackenzie whom understandable had not been afforded a luxury of time for dedication to SM & perhaps showcased the biggest example of the implications of not having time for attention to a side in Top 100. There are no doubts however that Chris can get Sassuolo firing again & back into Division 2 before long once more.
Division 3
Division 3 was won by Aston Villa, overseen by Adam in Season 15. Pre-season the side had a prediction for finishing in 2nd & they overachieved by going one better & winning the league by a solid 5 point margin & the best goal difference in the division. The end of the season best 11 stats actually suggested a similar outcome in that Villa should have finished 2nd yet finished 1st, highlighting the brilliant season for the club.

In 2nd place was the Jack Grealish army, managed by King Kev, the Turkish side actually achieving the highest PVA from Malcom's stats & facts & a +8 within the best 11 rankings, showcasing across various formats of analysis just how good the season was for Galatasaray SK. The 88.1 average of the best 11 players would statistically rank 10th, yet with Kev at the wheel, they finished some 16 points better off than 10th in the table.
The final automatic spot was achieved by River Play & Jay Jones, another of many over-achievers by statistical analysis methods. River in gaining promotion to Division 2 in Season 15 actually achieved back-to-back promotions after their Division 4 success back in Season 14, a tremendous achievement from Jay Jones. They finished 6 points above the top playoff spot, showing just how much the three sides at the top ran away with things this season in Division 3, a league separated top to bottom for first 11 strength by 2 rating points. River finished the season in top form which saw them leap above long time automatic spot side Dnipro managed by Mark Deadman. Mark was this seasons best overachiever across the whole of Top 100, a +15 finish on best 11 ranking, the 2nd highest PVA from Malcom' stats & facts which had actually predicted his side a 20th placed finish. Despite the heartache of missing out on promotion, Dnipro & Mark were one of the stories of the season as the very much unwanted Ukrainians almost achieved the impossible, certainly a manager of the season candidate.

Stats & facts predicted that Manchester United, managed by Ken Keeley would finish in 4th wherein that actually finished 5th, however within the analysis of the divisions strongest 11s at the end of the season, Manchester United recorded the strongest 11 in the league, perhaps doubly suggesting a disappointing season for the Red Devils. This however is perhaps not the final story as in the playoffs, United saw off Mark Deadman' Dnipro side on penalties, a killer blow to the overachievers whilst a debatably underachieving United got the end they very much should have & promotion back to Division 2 for the worlds biggest club.
Dinamo Zagreb managed by David Inglis finished as predicted by strongest 11 & -1 place within the stats & facts, a very on point season from the former Everton manager, accompanying them in the final playoff spot in season 15 were Simon Thomas' Monchengladbach side who overachieved in the stats & facts with a +3 & a +1 by best 11, another very on-point team for the season, perhaps ticking over for a big push at promotion in Season 16.

A second -4 on best 11 came in the form of West Bromwich Albion managed by Nuno Bento. The Baggies late run of poor form saw them fall short of the playoffs. A late big signing was not enough to enable WBA to get back into the playoffs & they'll now have another season in Division 3. With the side being just outside of the divisions current automatic spots however, it will be likely that they will be in contention for automatic promotion in Season 16.
Fellow Portuguese manager, Joao Alves who manages at Sporting CP will be another manager whose side should be in the mix in Season 16. The side has constantly improved in recent seasons & post season 15 has gone on to improve it's primary playing squad once more. At the end of Season 15 they sit in 6th for the current contingent of best 11s however with further changes on the horizon there will be yet another big contender for promotion to Division 2 next season. This being said, a poor final position from Sporting meant a disappointing review in both best 11s & the stats & facts, better times ahead.
The divisions biggest underachievers were Flamengo, managed by Mark Phelps. His all Brazilian project has many plaudits but perhaps they've been underachieving despite the cohesion you'd think to find in a side like his. A -14 by the best 11 ranking & a -12 & bottom placed finish from the stats & facts would suggest a very poor season, but despite this, Flamengo had a 2nd trophy added to their cabinet in Season 15 as we'll come onto later.
Dropping out of division 3 were 4 sides although only 3 of them were expected to be in contention for relegation by their best 11s rank & further supported by the start of the seasons stats & facts also. Division 3 perhaps therefore a very inactive division in theory for improvements to first 11s over the season when comparing the start to finish rankings for playing squads.
Finishing bottom were Con Mammoth' CSKA Moskva side whom were predicted to finish around 13th & by their best 11 thought to have been likely for a 10th spot. It is believed that Con can steer CSKA back to Division 3 with the strength of the side, however Division 4 possesses some top sides & a tighter level of competition from top to bottom & so it might not be so easy as first expected. Cologne, now managed by Gursimran Brar, in Season 15 by Giuseppe Glaviano are expected to be much changed under the management of Brar & one of the unpredictables for Season 16 due to this. A contract to enable a long term project build at the club should enable one of Top 100s most successful managers time to eventually put Cologne on the map in Top 100 going by his history with Anderlecht & additional successes with Bayern Munich.
Celtic managed by Hugo Costa finished a disappointing 19th however were predicted to do some in the pre-seasons stats & facts however his best 11 suggested a relegation avoiding 15th position was possible. The somewhat longer term build at Celtic & subsequent contract will hopefully see the Scottish side see better times in seasons to come. Finally is Davy Vanderendriessche' Club Brugge side, finishing as statistically predicted in 17th by best 11. A -5 from pre-season suggests that the tactics used by Davy in the market may have enabled a longer term build & future, however in the short term it has cost the Belgians a further Division 3 season. Division 4 will certainly be packed with very consistently rated sides & projects in Season 16.
Historically for Division 3, this is now the 2nd time Aston Villa have won the Division title however some 12 seasons later find themselves in no better position therefore. Sporting will be in a good position to perhaps win a 2nd Division 3 title in Season 16, perhaps following a pattern, meaning CSKA will win Division 4 in Season 16 & Division 3 in Season 17, no pressure Con!

Division 3 after Season 15 has now won the division on two occasions over the years, back in Season 3 & now in Season 15, although with two different managers whom now manage Swansea City, Rahul W, recently relegated to Division 5 & of course Aston Villa currently, Adam.

Division 4
Division 4 gets tighter still in the difference in ratings from the best 11 to the worst however at the top of the table, FK Partizan, managed by Nuno Marques ensured they delivered the expected outcome by their best 11 & further supporting squad analysed within the stats & facts, a brilliant season & 6 point cushion on top of a joint best goal difference. Subsequently Nuno has earned himself a new job in Top 100 for his achievements, showcasing plaudits being rewarded in Top 100.
Runners up, Crystal Palace had a very different expectation for the season, a prediction of a 9th place finish & an end of season best 11 rank which put them in at 8th shows just how good of a season on the pitch manager J Walker was able to achieve. Despite little in the way of market activity for improving his sides chances, J, guided the team to a 7 point margin over the playoff spots.
In the final automatic spot was Mr Trx, Malcolms Augsburg side. As the joint predicted top side for the season, in achieving promotion Augsburg certainly done well enough to not disappoint despite a 10 point margin of distance to fellow highest rated 11 FK Partizan. Within the stats & facts analysis however the German side finished as predicted in 3rd. A very respectable season for club & manager where expectations were certainly met in the final goal being the same, position or not.

The playoff final was contested by Feyenoord & ACF Fiorentina, the two lowest placed playoff finishing sides, however there were only 4 points to separate all four sides in the playoffs, certainly leaving little to begrudge between competitors. In the final, Feyenoord managed by Kevin McGregor were the eventual winners by a 2-0 margin over Broon' Florence side. Feynoord had recorded the least loses of the sides in the playoffs over the season & the joint second least for the league as a whole, certainly a factor into the playoff fixtures no doubt. Feyenoord were in fact predicted to finish 8th within the pre-season stats & facts & 6th within the best 11s for the end of the season, perhaps suggesting a bit of an overachievement for Kevin in what was clearly a brilliant season.
Lokomotiv Moskva were the divisions biggest overachievers for Season 15, finishing in 5th under Lewis Tugby' stewardship, actually attaining a second highest + rating by best 11s within the entirety of Top 100 behind Dnipro. With the last 6 games only totalling 5/18 points it could be suggested that the wheels came off at the end of what was a brilliant achievement.
The unlucky 4th placed side came in the form of Lille OSC, managed by Ross Falconer. Missing out on automatic promotion by 3 points + goal difference & falling out of the playoffs at the first hurdle, it was a tough end to a good campaign from the French side. In finishing in 4th however, both by pre-season stats & facts as well as best 11 rank, Lille overachieved slightly in Season 15, setting good foundations for another promotion push in Season 16.

Big achievers for bettering their best 11s rated position were PSV guided by Feargal Hickey finishing in 9th but having the 17th rated best 11 & Atalanta BC, managed by Walter Gogh who were ranked as the 18th best starting 11 however finished just below PSV in 10th. Both sides had therefore overachieved with a +8 finish in the league, although interestingly by the pre-season stats & facts the sides were believed to be likely of finishing only 1 place below the positions that they both ended up the season in.
One of the highest underachievers were the now departed from the game world, Michael H's Besiktas side whose best 11 was thought to be of a quality to finish 3rd in the league & thus in finishing in 11th they were quite some was down the table come seasons end to where he 11 could have been & this was furthermore supported by the pre-seasons stats & facts. It is certainly disappointing to see long term Top 100 manager, Michael, leave the game world & potentially SM in general, we wish him all the best & hope he will return to Top 100 in the future.

Division 4 is another division without a multiple time winner in 15 seasons however there has been one manager to win the division on two occasions, Mike Scalotti with both Southampton & Standard Liege, any club needing a manager here to take them out of the division need look no further, however with Standard Liege now risen to Division 1, could Mike ever be lured back down to do it again in Division 4.

The two biggest under achievers were also long term managers within Top 100, Roberto Downinho & Rahul W at Cruzeiro & Swansea City respectively. Swansea ended up holding up the division despite their sides best 11 ranking being #4 in the division in addition to the stats & facts prediction also. Rahul will nod doubt be disappointed with the season for the Swans & look to bounce back as soon as possible to Division 4. We know Rahul' credentials both on the pitch & in the market & as an asset to the community, there can be little doubt that Swansea will be there or thereabouts in Division 5. Roberto in addition has overseen one of the best builds in Top 100 history in the past with Internacional, now in aiming to change the fortunes of fellow Brazilian side, Cruzeiro, he will no doubt be another manager eager to show his credentials once more in Division 5 next season as the division perhaps sees one of its most competitive seasons to date.

A final shoutout to Shakhtar Donetsk & manager Nick Justice. Despite being relegated to Division 5, Nick, returned to Top 100 to take over the Ukrainian side in a believed unsurmountable position & almost pulled off perhaps the greatest escapes in Top 100 history. Two points & goal difference was the end by the final games full-time whilst however Shakhtar collected around 2/3 of their final points total in the short spell where Nick was in charge. Ever present in the transfer market in addition since his return, Shakhtar are building for a long term future. Whether or not they will be amongst the challengers in Season 16 will be up for debate, however few will argue the side being in good or not hands to enable their future to be a positive one.
Division 5

A runaway duo in Division 5 & overachievers, Girondins Bordeaux & West Ham United, managed in
A runaway duo in Division 5 & overachievers, Girondins Bordeaux & West Ham United, managed in Season 15 by Ash L & Joao Rocha. Both clubs achieved a +10 rank compared to the predicted finish upon the strength of their starting 11s in what were brilliant seasons & achievements for the pair. Pre season the stats & facts predicted a 9th place finish for West Ham United whilst Bordeaux were predicted to finish in 16th, really therein emphasising the achievement Ash managed with his side. Subsequently, Ash has now moved onto Valencia who were relegated from Division 1 in Season 15, whilst Joao Rocha is continuing his project with The Hammers at this stage.
The final promoted side leaped into the automatic spots on the final day. Leicester City & gaffer Doug Earle, the ever present market mover, pipped Sampdoria managed by Stephen Beddows on the final day, a drop in the final 6 games seeing the Italian side pickup only 9 points whilst Leicester City finished in fine form, taking 13 from the final 18 available. In addition to West Ham United & Bordeaux, Leicester City & Sampdoria were predicted to finish mid table at the start of the season by the figures in the stats & facts, however through Doug' wheeling & dealing at Leicester, his Foxes side actually finished the season with the #3 best ranked 11 in the Division, a brilliant achievement therefore both on & off the pitch in Season 15.
The final spots in the playoffs were taken up by Stuttgart managed by Mark Scott who finished in 5th, Montpellier HSC overseen by Franci Legend & Olympique Lyonnais managed by Andy VH. Stuttgart were another overachiever for the season, finishing some 7 places higher than the best 11 suggested they might, whilst even by the pre-season stats & facts they finished 6 higher than was suggested they would, highlighting yet another great season for overachieving in Division 5.
Montpellier in pre-seasons stats & facts we're predicted a 7th placed finish, they of course finished in 6th attaining a +1 here & finishing as expected by the end of season best 11 ranking, similarly to Doug' Leicester City side. Fellow French outfit Lyon, the last of the sides to make the playoffs dropped down to 7th on the final day of the season however they of course still managed to make the playoffs.

Sao Paulo, this season managed by Top 100s most successful ever manager to date, Scott Mckenzie we're predicted to finish 3rd in the stats & facts from pre-season & by seasons end had attained the highest ranked best 11, suggesting an improvement to the squad since Scott took charge. Despite this however, it will be seen as a transitional but disappointing season for the Brazilian outfit who will certainly be expecting to win promotion to Division 4 in Season 16 as they had finished some 7 places below where their best 11 on the final day ranked.
Torino, AZ Alkmaar, managed by Mac the Hat & Malaga CF whose gaffer is Price Michael Williams, were final overachievers in Division 5, a very topsy-turvy division in fact for Season 15 in which the majority expected to finish low actually finished high & vice-versa. Torino the highest finished side in 9th are currently managed by DouDou & have been active in the latter part of the season for transfers to improve the squad. The Turin side were predicted to finish 16th by final day best 11 rankings & as above 14th by the pre-season stats & facts, perhaps suggesting a longer term project has been taken by the manager at the helm.

The first of the big underachievers in Division 5 in Season 15 was debatably Sunderland & manager Josh Mcmillan, whose final day side had the 3rd best 11 in the division & a pre-season prediction for a 4th placed finish. Whilst there's improvement in the squads best 11 perhaps, there's certainly some disappointment in the season at the Stadium of Light. At this point however, it is key we point out that the best 11 to the worst in Division 5 was only separated by 0.9 rating points, really showcasing how tight the bottom division is in Top 100.
The biggest underachievers in Division 5, a side who had the 2nd best 11 in the division on the final day was Nicu Balan' Olympiacos side who ended in 16th place in the league. They we're also predicted in Malcolm' stats & facts to finish in 2nd place, earning them an unwanted 2nd bottom ranking for the PVA ranking attached to the stats & facts that is provided. Therefore a bigger underachiever came in Division 5, sadly in the form of Spartak Moskva & gaffer Lee Adams, whose 1st place stats & facts prediction & final position of 14th gave the club the biggest negative PVA value, which can be better understood within the stats & facts provided by Mr Trx/Malcolm. The club by best 11 on the final day however ranked as the 5th best 11 & therefore simply received a -9 in ranking, similarly to Sunderland & Josh McMillan.
Internazionale, managed in Season 15 by Steven Gerrard/Dan finished as predicted in a lowly 17th position alike to Independiente who were predicted to finish in 20th place & did as such at the foot of Top 100. Gianluca Ghio has now made assurances that better times are ahead for the Argentine outfit whom have finished around the foot of Top 100 consistently over seasons now & with such a comfortable cushion within the stats & facts as well as the best 11 rankings, there's a long road ahead for Gianluca to turn it around, however a youthful squad could hold a long term future of positivity if it has been assembled well. Internazionale will be under new management in Season 16 as Gyan the Cat takes control of the club he supports with the big task of returning a once big side to the top of Division 1, or at least into respectable places once again.


In Division 5, no manager has won the league title on more than one occasion & neither has any club won the league twice here however there are one or two names in the list that find themselves back in Division 5 all the same, such as FC Twente, currently managed by Marco G.
Cups
Within Top 100, we of course have plenty of cups up for grabs every season with the additions of the World Club Cup & Youth Cup added to the roster of standard Cup & Shield whilst there has even been further World Club Shield & Youth Shields added to offer a great depth of competition over the seasons. A rich environment for competition across all fronts is always something to be admired within Top 100.
In Season 15, Andrew Kelly & Real Madrid became the 2nd team in Top 100 history to make it to the Top 100 Cup & the Top 100 Shield final in the same season, Juventus & DP91 the club & manager to achieve this prior, winning both in Season 5. Real Madrid took home the Top 100 Shield, defending their Season 14 win & becoming the 2nd side to win back-to-back Top 100 Shields, the first again being Juventus whom won the competition three times in a row (Season 5, Season 6 & Season 7).
The Top 100 Cup in season 15 was however won by the all Brazilian side of Flamengo, with gaffer Mark Phelps winning the clubs second trophy, a great achievement for the dedication to Flamengo over the years in keeping to his project.
The World Club Cup in Season 15 was won by Arsenal, managed by Heath Brown whose work since taking over the club has been stupendous, putting Arsenal in debatable contention for top 4 & beyond finishes, perhaps best exemplified by this elite win.
Season 15s Youth Cup tournament almost had its first back-to-back winner in Juventus & DP91, however Manchester City & gaffer Alex McLean pulled off a brilliant win over two-legs, giving the Scot his 3rd & joint most Youth Cup wins funnily enough alongside Juventus & DP91. Alex' first win came in Season 8 & second in Season 12, also with Manchester City.
Elsewhere in the Youth Shield, Leicester City managed by Doug Earle won a brilliant first trophy for The Foxes as they beat Monchengladbach, overseen by long time Top 100 manager, Rob Ryan. The cup runs below for the Youth Cup & Shield, provided by David Marsden, whose top efforts compile the tournaments progress.


With 15 seasons of cup history, there's been plenty of winners over the seasons, with of course winners within Charity Shields also, for which there has been 5 different winning clubs & 6 managers; Manchester United (S2) - Joe Jordan, Barcelona (S3,S4,S7,S8,S10,S12,S13) - Scott Mckenzie, Bayern Munich (S5 & S9) - Gursimran Brar & Mike Scalotti, Juventus (S6 & S11) - DP91 & Chelsea (S14) - James Mckenzie.
In the S16 final there will be a new winning manager however & potential new winning club.
Cup Winning Club/Manager Partnerships
- Juventus - DP91 (11) - x2 Charity Shield, x2 Top 100 Cup, x3 Top 100 Shield, x3 Top 100 Youth Cup, x1 Top 100 Youth Shield.
- Barcelona - Scott Mckenzie (8) - x7 Charity Shields & x1 World Club Cup.
- Bayern Munich - Ruts66 (5) - x1 Charity Shield, x1 Top 100 Cup, x1 Top 100 Youth Cup, x1 World Club Cup & x1 Top 100 Youth Shield
- Bayern Munich - Gursumran Brar (4) - x1 Charity Shield & x1 Top 100 Cup, x1 Top 100 Shield & x1 World Club Cup
- Chelsea - James McKenzie (4) - x1 Charity Shield, x1 Top 100 Youth Cup, x2 World Club Cup
- FC Porto - Andre Guerra (4) - x2 Top 100 Cup & x2 Top 100 Shield
- Manchester City - Alex McLean (3) - x3 Top 100 Youth Cup
- Real Madrid - Roy Keane (3) - x1 Top 100 Cup, x1 Top 100 Shield, x1 World Club Cup
- Real Madrid - Andrew Kelly (3) - x2 Top 100 Shield & x1 World Club Cup
- Genoa - Frank Hirst (2) - x2 Top 100 Youth Cup
- Anderlecht - Gursimran Brar (2) - x1 Top 100 World Club Shield & x1 Top 100 Youth Shield
- Sevilla - David Senior (2) - x1 Top 100 World Club Shield & x1 Top 100 Youth Shield
- Flamengo - Mark Phelps (2) - x1 Top 100 Youth Cup & x1 Top 100 Cup
Plenty of managers have won singular trophies or multiples with different clubs & can additionally be found here; https://smtop100.blog/history/


Over the years, trophies have of course been on offer consistently every season with some 5 divisions, & 4 cups up for grabs at the minimum throughout (Top 100 Cup, Top 100 Shield, Top 100 World Club Cup, Top 100 Youth Cup) but of course subsidiary tournaments have also been available at times (Top 100 World Club Shield, Top 100 Youth Shield, Top 100 Youth Spoon). There is even of course as standard the Top 100 Charity Shield for the cup & D1 title winner every season also on the minor front.

All Major Honours
So, all in all, we're looking at a huge mixture of division titles & cup wins in 15 seasons of history in Top 100. Whatever subjective ratings an individual may put on title wins across divisions, cup wins across various competitions or comparisons between World Club, Cups, Shields or Youth competitions, winning any of the Top 100 competitions is certainly a great achievement in such a competitive game world like Top 100.
Whatever opinions, here are the totals across all competitions; Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, Division 4, Division 5, Top 100 Charity Shield, Top 100 Cup, Top 100 Shield, Top 100 World Club Cup, Top 100 World Club Shield, Top 100 Youth Cup, Top 100 Youth Shield, Top 100 Youth Spoon, here are the grand totals for managers over our 15 seasons.

Returning months later to reflect on what happened in Season 16, here were the major honour winners.

Like a bad smell…I’m back again!

Following a path a certain Paul Gascoigne once travelled I have ended up at Lazio, minus the maverick talent of Gazza!! This is a return to T100 again from the cold, I’ve done a few clubs here for those who don’t know me. The highlight a D5 title with River Plate, my first ever trophy in a big custom so will always carry a special place for me.
For those in here who don’t know me, Hi 👋🏻 my name is Norman Little and I’m a Newcastle fan for sins in a former life. I’ve spent over 10 years on soccermanager but it’s not been until I found interactive customs I fully threw myself into the game. T100 as mentioned was my first, but there has been others since. I’m all for custom GWs, I like rules and people being punished for not following. I like squad caps, and as I said last time in here 50 is probably on the high side but that’s not my call. I love smaller squads as I think if protects game worlds for the duration. It challenges you as a manager too, I’m in Socially active GWs with 25,26 man squad caps and deals fly around daily. Anyway.. on to Lazio!
Upon taking over Lazio it was clear the squad was not what I would class as appealing to me personally, Too big, Too much shite and not enough talents in youth squad. Now I know from my time here previously youth is hard to find, and you normally have to give away to get it. Now Lazio have been relegated to D3 it seemed like a perfect time to rip it up…although I do have a contract to hit still.
The deals have been turning since I arrived, I have been busy so this is first chance to properly write it up. Some talent has left Lazio, Kalajdzic the headliner, but we feel 4 talents was a fair price for him. Maitland-Niles, Bialek, Hickey & Matazo started that youth rebuild! External is obviously drier than Gandhi’s flip flops but we picked up young Brazilian Pedrinho, Bournemouth LB Zemura & Eliot Anderson who is highly fancied at Newcastle, just a shame he has a manager who is a idiot. Some squad players arrived, nothing special but I’d rather have players playing irl than just ratings sitting in squad. Weissman & Forster we’re surprising external pick ups, both playing in top flight of their leagues. Couple of pick ups from concerned players in Schaub & Gudmunsson and a key position filled with Neto arriving in goal. The best saved till last imo so far, we just agreed a deal for Vargas who is leaving the club, Danso is solid if unspectacular but the key for me was young Ansgar Knauff! I think this boy is gonna be a big player for Dortmund and I’m delighted I have him at Lazio. That’s the standard I’m looking for and I don’t mind giving things away for quality youth. Don’t be shy I’ll entertain most bids, but im not a fan of oldies, droppers or just random u21 players.

Anyway that’s me guys, looking forward to D3, and a few more deals!! cheers Norman
Season 15 - Division 2 Manger of the Season.
The following are based from my interpretation of the three most prestigious competitions in T100, in which every manager takes part:
- The League
- The T100 Cup & Shield
Sampdoria announce quartet of signings
Busy day at Sampdoria as they have concluded their business for Season 16 early with the capture of the following.
- Pepe - he might be 38 years old but his 90 rating is safe for a little while and at very worse he will drop to 88 - in any which case it will still be an upgrade on the current centre-back capabilities of Sampdoria. Pepe played under Beddows as Real Madrid and described joining a team managed by God himself once again was a no brainer.
2. Federico Fernandez - another who might be on the old side - but regular premier league minutes makes him a very useful addition. With a few good young centre backs in the youth side he will become a stop gap solution until the youngsters develop. Another who has played for Beddows in the past at Milan winning trophies such as Copa del Duomo, the Pavarotti Cup etc.
3. Sofiane Boufal - great start to the season at Angers in real life. Gives us extra options at front. Chance of an 87? Ligue 1 has always been undervalued by SM.
4. Zeljko Gavric - a youngster signed alongside Pepe as part of the Bradaric deal. Just moved to Hungary in real life and player with great potential and recently won his first cap for Serbian national side.

What did we lose Bradaric (86) Javier Hernandez (87) and long serving CB Siovas (87)
Can Samp challenge next season? Time will tell? Options in the forward might influence this?
Top 120 Bologna Squad Build

I thought I would share my thought process surrounding the players I have purchased. I think it will be tough going in the early stages for Bologna looking at the excellent job everyone has done assembling their teams. On the whole I seem to have gone with players a little lower in rating but with what I perceive to have a bigger upside.
GK R.SÁNCHEZ 23 years old 85 rated and valued at £2.8M
I spent £3.5 million to secure my number one target for the goalkeeper position. I felt at this sort of price point Sanchez has great upside. Brighton are a team heading in the right direction I feel and Sanchez is nailed on as their number one. He has received call ups from Spain who seem to have a crisis of sorts in the goalkeeping department at the moment and it is not inconceivable that with the wind in his favour Sanchez could grab the number 1 shirt for Spain in the not too distant future.
RB G.MENINO 20 years old 83 rated and valued at £3.0M
Costing £3 million and arriving with his shiny Olympic gold medal is promising young Brazilian Gabriel Menino. A regular for Palmeiras and always being linked with Europe's fines clubs, the boy looks to have a great future and his rating should only go up. His versatility is a bonus as he can play the DMC position which will help me out early doors when the squad is thin.
DC L.BADÉ 21 years old 85 rated and valued at £5.0M
Free agent Loic Bade was captured for £4 million. After breaking into the Lens first team and being a big part of creating a solid defensive foundation in their first season back in league 1, Bade saw a rise from 73 to 85 if just six months. IRL his performances were enough for Rennais to splash the cash and bring his in. They haven't started well but I have high hopes for Rennais this year as they look to have had a great transfer window. Bade has lots of room to grown and will hopefully be a big part of Bologna's future.
DC L.ABRAM 25 years old 85 rated and valued at £2.6M
I have to admit that spending £2.6 million on Abram was a roll of the dice. I can't confess to have ever seen him play but having just signed for a Granada team who have been punching above their weight for a while now, if he settles in well he seemed to have more upside than anything else I could see at this price point.
DL L.PITON 20 years old 80 rated and valued at £1.4M
I was running out of money and needed a left back. I spent just over £400k to take the young Brazilian with an eye on the fact that the Brazilian league was currently being reviewed. He has since had a rating increase from 73 to 80. I will need to upgrade at some stage I suspect but he will have to do for now.
MC J.MODER 22 years old 85 rated and valued at £3.0M
Moder cost me £2.5 million as he was a free agent. I feel Brighton could have a good season this year and Moder was very impressive when I watched him against Man City at the back end of last season. A young player who seems to be in and around the first team should see his rating increase as the season moves on.
MC R.VEIGA 26 years old 85 rated and valued at £2.6M
£3.1 million was spent on the basis of Brazil currently being reviewed and Veiga's stats showing that he should get a upgrade of 1 or 2 ratings points. I don't know much more than what Transfermarkt tells me but I will be happy if he sees an increase so I can at least turn a profit on him once the transfer bans expires.
AML SULEMANA 19 years old 82 rated and valued at £2.8M
Sulemana cost me £3.2 million but seems to have tons of potential. IRL he made the summer move to Rennais after being tracked by lots of the top European giants. Rennais could prove to be an excellent choice at this stage of his career and their attach should be frightening with him and Doku on either side of the attack. He scored on his IRL league debut and I have high hopes for him.
AMC PAULINHO 21 years old 83 rated and valued at £3.0M
Another Olympic gold medalist, Paulinho joins for £3.1 million. Paulinho hasn't really established himself at Leverkusen yet but I am hoping this could be his break out year. I have only ever seen him in 10 or 15 minute substitute appearances but seems to be a classy, skilful player who if he finds his feet could really make an impact at a team like Leverkusen.
AMR MOUKOKO 16 years old (or is he haha) 78 rated and valued at £2.8M
£5.5 million was a lot to spend and I had to think long and hard about this one. I decided it was worth the gamble on the basis he is already seeing minutes for one of Germany's top teams and his goal scoring record at youth level is silly. This will be boom or boost. I either have a future 90+ rated forward to build around or he is the second coming of Jan Fiete Arp.
FC KOITA 21 years old 83 rated and valued at £3.0M
£2.3 million seems cheap but I think a lot must have been put off by his injury and drugs ban. If Koita can get back playing and the cruciate ligament tear doesn't affect him too badly I have a player all the top clubs were monitoring and could be next of the RB Salzburg production line. A gamble but one I felt was worth the risk.
Outside of the starting lineup are the following mixture of potential, quad fillers and risers I can flip for profit.
GK TEIXEIRA - back up goal keeper and hoping for a rise in the current Brazilian review.
DC ORTIZ - hopefully will see a rise and value increase in the current Brazilian review and I can flip for a profit.
DC - AL DAKHIL dirt cheap and playing first team football in the Belgian top flight. Could be a riser or long term project depending on how he gets on this year.
DL VICTOR - hopefully will see a rise and value increase in the current Brazilian review . May even step into the starting LB spot if he gets above Piton's 80 rating.
AM PALAVECINO - Getting plenty of minutes for River Plate. Should see a rise in rating when they get to Argentina.
FC LOPES - hopefully will see a rise and value increase in the current Brazilian review and I can flip for a profit.
DC WOOH - Bought as a replacement for Loic Bade IRL and I am hoping he takes a similar career path. Started well and could be a hidden gem.
DC DEBAST - Anderlecht produce good young players and are not afraid to give them a chance in the first team. Hoping he can get minutes this season.
DC MBAMBA - over the moon to land this lad. Very exciting talent who is starting games and getting rave reviews at just 16 years old.
DM VARELA - can't say I know too much about him other than he has been getting minutes for Boca Juniors. Got to be worth the £300 spent.
DR HÉLIO - Cost £100, can play in lots of positions and will hopefully get a rise in the current Brazilian review.
FC ÁLVAREZ MARTÍNEZ - Young Uruguayan striker catching the eye and scoring lots of goals for Penarol. Hoping for a move to Europe at some stage. Can he be the next big thing from Uruguay.
FC SIRI - see above but replace the word Penarol with Danubio haha.
AM HENRIQUE- hopefully will see a rise and value increase in the current Brazilian review and I can flip for a profit.
Matic joins from Partizan as Napoli's recruitment drive draws to a close.
In what's been a flurry of activity over the last few days at Napoli, the latest key capture is experienced central midfielder Matic, who becomes the third player to swap Partizan for Napoli in this window, following the weekends capture of Moutinho and Vinicius. "Matic is one we had our eye on for a few days, but took our time in making the approach as we wanted to weigh up our options regarding Linetty who has gone the other way. Interest and bids from other clubs, lead us to accelerate discussions and get the deal over the line. Matic brings experience and will be in there with Vidal and Moutinho giving us some really quality both defensively and also in terms of creativity. In the last 3 days 16 player have left Napoli with 13 arriving, that's a big turnover and it's going to take a while for these to bed in. It's always a gamble when you change the squad so much, however I took the decision to make wholesale changes now, than to make constant changes throughout the season. I think this time tomorrow all our business will be complete bar possibly the departure of Rajkovic which still hangs in the balance"
Could Beddows become a God at Samp too?
What a season for Samp - up until tonight World Club Cup Semi Finalists - Youth Cup Semi Finalists and Beddows having to fight like a lion daily to thwart off bids from Doug et al for the likes of Maehle, Zappa, Bradaric and many others!
And tonight a play off final v Stuttgart? More heartache?

So onto tonight - Could Samp do it? Could they get back to Division 4? Watch the video to find out?
Post match incredible scenes just like 1991!
Here is one for the ages
Top 120 Leeds Squad Build.

A surprise whatsapp from Stephen Beddows was the catalyst for a return albeit in the feeder league Top 120. After taking a break from Top 100 it is true like Nick Wheels said in the recent Top 100 TV you find yourself drawn to coming back so here I am again.
Onto the squad build at Leeds, a very different challenge. £40m, to bring in at least 21 players and none aged over 30, a tricky task. Do you go with the balance of youth and some experience or for those wonder kids that one day may make it big or not? A balance was decided so Leeds could have a crack at getting out of Division 2. Moving on to the squad.
Goalkeepers
Aaron Ramsdale- top target in this position fought off competition for his signature. Linked with Arsenal in RL.
Marcelo Pitaluga- young 18 year old reserve keeper with Liverpool IRL. Talented young stopper one for the future.
Defenders
Liam Cooper- experienced CB brought in for £1.9m as a free agent.
Kristoffer Ajer- can play right back/centre back or in a defensive midfield great versatility which is always useful in a small squad. Moved to Brentford IRL and had a decent debut at home to Arsenal.
Max Kilman- can play CB/left back and as a left wing back. Bought as a free agent to add yet some versatility and a cheap option for an 82.
Ruan Tressoldi- just signed by Sassuolo and loaned back to Gremio. Only 73 rated CB and should get some sort of increase.
Matias Vina- 86 rated left back, can play CB and in a left midfield role. Recently moved to Roma IRL, a solid addition who again can play a few positions.
Ismael Doukoure- young 18 year old who again can play CB and LB, plus left wing back. Highly rated linked with Arsenal IRL and one for the future.
Ben Johnson- a player I like and rate. Hope he can get more chances at West Ham IRL. Can play in either full back position and slightly higher up.
Midfielders
Todd Cantwell- a player with a really bright future and a player I really like was the main reasons we beat a few clubs to sign him. 86 rated and will be a key player for Leeds.
Manuel Ugarte- recently moved to Sporting IRL, currently rated 82 so hoping he can push into the first team and push that rating up.
Ivan Ilic- can play all central midfield areas and turned his loan move to Hellas into a permanent one recently IRL. Dynamic midfield player only 20 another target.
Amadou Onana- defensive midfielder moved to Lille recently IRL. Can operate as a CB as well so give us more cover.
Bruno Iglesias- young 18 year old Madrid midfielder, brought in with one eye on the future.
Strikers/Wingers
Yoane Wissa- winger come striker moved to Brentford recently. Decent season with Lorient in Ligue 2 IRl last season
Kaoru Mitoma- signed by Brighton IRL and sent on loan to Royale Union in Belgium. Decent stats in Japanese league rated 82 only £1.6m for 82 rated player.
Keane Lewis-Potter- Highly rated young winger come striker. Watched high closely in league one last season IRL and looks a decent player. Certainly a player for the future, hopefully
Roberto Massimo- can play anywhere down the right and as a left winger. Made a number of appearances last season and started at the weekend IRL. Only 20 and hoping he can get more games and rise in rating.
Nico Williams- young 19 year old winger brought in for the future.
Miguel Rodriguez- young 18 year old winger come striker. Has made some brief appearances IRL for Celta.
Armando Broja- 19 year old striker loaned to Southampton IRL. Had decent season with Vitesse last season hoping for more this season to boost his 82 rating
Sydney Van Hooijdonk- 21 year old recently moved to Bologna. Bought as a free agent hoping for a little rise only rated 77.
Up and coming Partizan. Looking to get depth…
I’d like to take the time to share my thoughts on moving to Partizan. I’d like to thank those secret ones who voted me in as well. With such a good team to start with my aim is to keep much the same standard in the team. A few transfers have been agreed to strengthen areas and add depth.
yea I sold a 90 cb but have depth at cb and cm and a cf in Bamford. Plus the bonus of quality of youth coming in in Jacobs etc.








