PREV
RETURN TO INDEX
NEXT
When I was young I dreamed and dreamed
About all the things that I was gonna be...
or captain of the England team "Great Expectations" -- New Model Army
Welcome to Brixton. I hope you didn’t take the Victoria line to its end at Brixton Tube Station and then walked to the stadium. That’ll work in the future but for now it’s best you take the Thameslink to Herne Hill station. Then walk across the fields to get to Brockwell Park, the home of South London’s greatest football club.
Brockwell Park stadium has a capacity for 7,000 football fans (5,000 seated & 2,000 standing for now) and is the current home of Brixton. By 1 July 2018 the 25,000-seat permanent home of Windmill Gardens will open.
Brixton formed on 1 January 2011, starting as a Youth Academy but not actually joining the FA officially until the start of the 2013/2014 season, when they entered the Southern Counties East Football League.
Gamewise, I really didn’t want to start by signing players and then come March having my Youth Intake go straight into the U18 team. So I went on Holiday until The Day and from there started.
We join our heroes on 13 March 2014. Despite having only grey players and no coaches (I’ll get to that later) with just my AssMan to run things, we are top of the table! After 27 games (of 36) played, we have 17 wins, 4 draws, and 6 losses for 55 points. We have scored 44 goals and conceded 28. Three teams are only 3 points behind us: Canterbury, Holmesdale, and Whyteleafe. Only the top team gets promoted so I better damn well lead this team to enough victories to seal that.
I do not have a Head of Youth Development (I’ll get to that later) to tell me we have “possibly one of the best players of his generation” or “a golden generation” but I do have an AssMan who “is excited by Gary Allan whom he feels has the potential to be one of the most gifted players to come through the youth ranks at Brixton in recent years.” Let us take a look at Mr. Allan!
Gary Allan, ST (Stars: 4.5/5.0) As Loki Doki would say, “Tasty!” It’s pretty clear that I’ve over-powered Brixton’s youth system. To balance that, when you are in the 9th level of England’s football pyramid, you don’t get the best descriptions on a player’s potential. My AssMan believes Allan’s Current Ability is that of a “leading player for most Southern Counties East sides” but his Potential Ability “can improve a lot in the future.” Unregardless™, it’s quite obvious that he’ll be our right-side Striker for years to come. The trick will be keeping him long enough to get easy promotions until at least League 2. 16 finishing on a 16-year-old!!! Wowza. I like to use my Strikers as Defensive Forwards when I’m defending a lead and I think he’ll do just fine with that. Oh, and AssMan reports that he is a Consistent player and his personality is Resolute. Tasty indeed.
Abdulhay Mumba, DC (Stars: 4.0/5.0) He’s a giant for his age and I wonder if he’ll grow any more. I love players who have high Teamwork so I’m very pleased. His Marking is great too but his Heading is a bit of a concern. He has the same AssMan report as Allan, well, they all do, for his CA and PA. Luckily, he is also Consistent and Resolute.
Paul Mellor, GK (Stars: 3.5/5.0) Beggars can’t be choosers but sure would have liked his Handling, One On Ones, and Reflexes to be higher. I also prefer my GKs to have an Eccentricity below 10. I guess his Teamwork makes up for that? He’ll probably be my Cup Goalkeeper as he has a strong Important Matches rating. I think he’ll improve nicely as he is Fairly Ambitious. Another interesting note about Mellor is that right out the gate I’m his Favoured Personnel.
Next item up for bid is our likely starting GK, Micky Madley. If he had a really high Eccentricity I probably would nickname him “Mad Micky.”
Micky Madley, GK (Stars: 4.0/5.0) Luckily, his Eccentricity is lower than 10. And his Handling and Reflexes are higher than Mellor’s so I’m happy. Just wish he had higher Teamwork. At nearly 6’1” at 16 is also promising; I hope he grows another 2 inches, at least.
Next is Mumba’s left-hand man, the left-footed Central Defender Lee Osborne.
Lee Osborne, D LC (Stars: 4.5/5.0) Unlike Mumba, Lee can actually head a ball! Also very pleasing is his high Bravery. Concerning, just like Mumba, is his lack of Aggression. I guess the general theme with him is that where he lacks in one place, he makes up for it in another. He is weak in Consistency and strong in Important Matches. Oddly, he is the first kid whose Favoured Club is Brixton. I guess the others are ingrates.
Our first midfielder is Wayne Walker. Coincidentally, I just started watching Game of Thrones so I think his nickname shall be obvious.
Wayne Walker, DR, DM, MC (Stars: 3.5/5.0) “White” Walker is the first player I’m not quite sure what to do with. I ultimately plan to use a 4-2-4 as my primary tactic, 4-4-2 Diamond for my counter-attacking formation and 3-2-3-2 for closing out games or as an attacking formation against really weak opponents. Ergo, I like my Wingers to be able to play as Midfielders too. And I like my Midfielders to also be Defensive Midfielders and Attacking Midfielders. He’s a bit short for what I like my midfielders to be. He’s fast and has good defensive attributes so DR/WBR seems like a good idea but he can’t cross to save his life. I guess time will tell. Did I mention that he’s Professional and Consistent? He’s a dual English-Northern Irish citizen so he too like Mumba might get poached for some U18 games.
Our next star-in-waiting is Left-back Gary Miles, the tallest 15-year-old DL I’ve ever seen.
Gary Miles, DL (Stars: 4.0/5.0) Gary will definitely be a DL/WBL but I’m thinking of adding DC to take advantage of his Heading and Jumping Reach. In a three-centreback formation he’ll be DC l and Osborne will slide to DC c, most likely in a Ball Playing Defender Role. I do like that his Aggression is above 10 but at 18…if his Sportsmanship or Dirtiness are high, he’s going to be a card magnet. He’s also the second player whose Favoured Club is Brixton. Yeah! (I wonder, is that an indication of a high Loyalty? I’ve never looked into that before.)
Our next youth is a speed-merchant but I think I’ll keep Shaun Smith as a Midfielder.
Shaun Smith, DM, MC (Stars: 4.5/5.0) I wonder what the over/under is for when he reaches 20 for Pace? Before his 18th birthday? With a high Determination and Leadership, I think he might be the Captain in the future (with Allan the Vice-Captain?) so I’ll keep him in the middle so he can dictate things. I’ll get his Defensive Midfielder up to Natural and later worry about doing the same for Attacking Midfielder. You know, for a 15-year-old, there’s no real weakness in his game except for Long Throws, which really doesn’t matter for someone who won’t be on the wings. (Third player who is a Brixton Supporter.)
And now we meet our likely second Striker, Sean Dunne.
Sean Dunne, DM, MC, ST (Stars: 2.5/5.0) Upon further review, I’m not so sure about him now. I’m going to play Allan on the right as an Advanced Forward so I’m hoping to find a worthwhile left ST as a Deep Lying Forward in a Support Role. Dunne doesn’t fit that bill. So he’s destined to be my third option and might not last long with the team if I can find a better option. (His height would make you think he might make it as a Target Man but I don’t use that Role in any of my formations.)
In think I know who will be my MR/AMR: Paul Ward
Paul Ward, D/M/AMR (Stars: 1.0/4.5) Ward is the first Candidate who does not have 5.0 Potential Ability. Aside from Natural Fitness, no Attributes stand out. With a Balanced personality and lacking Consistency, he won’t be a shoe-in past this year. But he can play 3 or 4 positions on the right side so he’ll get plenty of game time to reach his max potential.
Here we have our second midfielder, Reece Egan, who is more suited for Advanced Midfielder while “White” Walker is more suited for Defensive Midfielder.
Reece Egan, M/AMC (Stars: 1.5/5.0) This Spirited player is rated as Consistent and has some good technical attributes. I can see him as being a creator and will likely play as a right Advanced Playmaker in the 4-2-4. (Fourth player who is a Brixton Supporter.)
We have our first non-English player! Mark Bodin is a Welshman who won’t get many starts.
Mark Bodin, DC (Stars: 5.0/2.0) Poor Bodin, he’ll probably never get a start. He’s got somewhat fine defensive skills but for a DC he’s short, can’t jump and can’t head. He does have Pace and Acceleration so maybe I’ll convert him to DR and hope his Crossing gets to a respectable level.
Oh, hello there, Mr. Steven Bowerman! Would you like to be our left Striker?
Steven Bowerman, AML, ST (Stars: 2.5/5.0) This spikey-haired cherub with high Consistency will easily be our starting Deep Lying Forward. Look at that Teamwork! Look at that Natural Fitness! < Takei voice > Oh myyyy < / Takei voice > That 6 Stamina means he’ll be hard-pressed to finish out matches but he’ll be ready two days later. Oh and look at that Flair! Really good Finishing and Composure too. And I’m already his Favoured Personnel! I’ll probably eventually train him to be Natural at AML just for versatilities sake.
Seems we have our third option at MC with Leon Hill.
Leon Hill, DC, MC (Stars: 1.5/5.0) Boy, just look at that Dribbling…he’ll have to get by on his Passing and Physical attributes. I’ll add DMC before working on AMC. Might even try to get DC to Natural if he grows another inch or two. (Fifth player who is a Brixton Supporter but I’m not his Favoured Personnel, my AssMan Sam McCarthy is.)
Great! Just what I needed. Another DR. Welcome, Gerald Barness.
Gerald Barness, D RC, DM (Stars: 5.0/4.0) He can’t mark, he can’t cross, he’s too short to be a DC. I don’t know what I’ll do with him but he sure is fast. I guess for now he’ll be option 3 at DR. (Sixth player who is a Brixton Supporter.)
Did I mention I have an endless amount of DRs? Throw Chris Mason on the pile over there.
Chris Mason, D RC (Stars: 1.5/5.0) Well, I guess he’s Option 2 if “White” Walker is starting in the midfield. I mean, he’s not bad but kinda slow compared to the other options. I guess by the end of the season or the beginning of the next season I’ll know who I want at DR. He’s the first Englishman not from London, he’s from Enfield. (Our Welshman is from Cardiff.)
There we have ‘em folks, the 2014 Brixton Youth Candidates. We’ve got a lot of major winners and pretty good depth with only a few “duds.” You may have noticed that their Determination ranges from 11 to 19 and Natural Fitness from 9 to 19, which is pretty amazing. On the down side, only one player (Gary Miles) has a Stamina in the double digits. Dems da breaks! Luckily, the Southern Counties East only has 18 teams and the FA Vase is the only cup we remain in so fixture congestion is not a worry. They’ll be tired on Sundays but ready for training on Monday.
Will one of these lads be the Captain of the England team in 10 or 15 years? Only time will tell.