On this latest iteration of Football Manager (FM26), I’ll be heading to the lower leagues of Scotland with aspirations to develop a prosperous and well-managed football club, establish it domestically, then take it onto the European stage.
My travels will take me to West Dunbartonshire, to take the helm at a semi professional football club called Dumbarton. Founded in 1872, it’s one of the oldest football clubs in Scotland. Home fixtures are hosted at the highly scenic venue of the Marbill Coaches Stadium, with a stunning backdrop of Dumbarton Castle on ‘The Rock’. The club features in the Scottish League Two for the 2025/26 season, with much work afoot to take them up to the Scottish Premiership.
Having recently gone into administration, the club are in financial difficulty, and start the season with a 5 point deduction (reduced from 15 following a takeover by new company, Dumbarton Football Club 1872 Ltd). With that in mind, the short term goals will be to stabilize the club financially and maintain their current league status.
Goals
As I plan ahead in terms of the overall project, these are just some very broad goals to try and aim towards:
Short Term Goals
- Recover point deficit and avoid relegation
- Stabilize the club financially
- Find ways to increase income
- Develop a style of play
Medium Term Goals
- Gain promotion to the Scottish League One
- Gain promotion to the Scottish Championship
- Begin to develop youth academy/intake
Long Term Goals
- Gain promotion to the Scottish Premiership
- Qualify for Europe
- Lift a trophy
- Develop a new stadium
In a future post I’ll break these down into more granular detail, assess the squad, staff and facilities, design a playing style/philosophy, and list a plethora of mini-challenges to keep things interesting!
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