Shield Wall – A Spartan Youth Challenge – new beginnings in Bucharest

It’s been a long ambition of mine to do something special in the far East of European football. Perhaps it’s a matter of roots, after all, as being from Moldova I can identify with both the Slavic and the Latin cultures of Eastern Europe, and let’s be fair, football hasn’t been particularly great over there in the last decade or so. We used to have clubs like Steaua Bucharest, Levski Sofia, Wisla Krakow and Dinamo Kiev push for glory at least in the Uefa Cup, however in recent times, corruption and poor financial management have brought eastern european football to new lows. I had a few ideas in mind for a story with some proper romantic substance, but after learning I’ll have to wait another 2-3 months for the playable leagues I need to make it work, I’ve decided to take matters in my own hands until then

I created a club from scratch in the second tier of Romanian Football, and if you’re looking for an explanation for that title, here it is:

we’re talking abut a club with a specific identity and philosophy based on youth, discipline and athleticism

meet ‘The Lancers’ – Sparta București

newly founded club in the capital city, starting in the Romanian second league

Club philosophies:

– developing local talent 

– strict discipline management approach

– general coaching style focused on player fitness and athleticism

– does not sell players to rival clubs

 
I used the ‘create a club’ feature of the game to get this club into the 2nd league, replacing a club based in Bucharest called Juventus Bucharest which, as a Juventus (Torino) fan I find distasteful and completely lacking any concept of originality 🙂
A club with no real history or support, they won’t be missed. I removed all the players in the squad that were above 23 years of age to stress the focus on youth development, added the rivalries with local clubs Steaua București and Dinamo București in the club’s relationship screen and I left the rest untouched. Oh yes, designed the logo an the kits as well to add that special touch to the club’s identity.

Rules

– the club is not allowed to sign any players

– only youth academy players can play for the team

– players of any nationality can play for the club as long as they are produced by the club’s academy

Goals

– surpass local big boys, Steaua and Dinamo in achievements and reputation

– aim to improve the national team and the local league’s rankings

Meet the manager – Florin Avram

Mr. Avram is just 22 years of age, and with questionable experience in the game, many are wondering if the board didn’t employ him based solely on his looks and his ability to draw the feminine set of supporters in the stands. His coaching style, however, fits Sparta’s philosophy to perfection and his Moldovan nationality is sure to spark some of that good old nationalist debate in the newspapers. Plenty of stuff to get excited about for the board

Loaded Leagues

I want the game to maintain a healthy, natural balance, so I loaded a mix of the strongest leagues plus some of the neighboring nations to get a more realistic feel of managing in Romania

Board

Apparently, our chairman is some scary looking Hungarian. Not particularly excited about the apathy that will bring with it amongst the supporters, however we get off to an encouraging start in our relationship as he agrees to implement a key part of the club’s strategy in our club philosophies