NGD's Solo League

I posted the same post on the ISF but thought it may be of more interest here.

After a couple of false starts I am starting my solo league tonight.

It is a one division comp - 8 teams - possibly with a 16 team cup. No plans to do relegation. Might do a re-election thing with bottom club if a non-league team does well in the cup etc. Not decided that yet.

The 8 teams are based on real teams and colours. These teams were the first heavyweights I had - so I'm paying homage to that. Can you guess the teams and refs? Do you care

Norton Wanderers
Redpool FC
Everlast United
Fullingham City
Newhouse Rangers
Burndale FC
Middleton United
Wolvendean Athletic

All clubs have 15 men rosters with fictitious players and managers, plus each ground is named.

I'll be using original HWs to start but plan to paint some away kits specific to the teams on replica - I'm imagining that the home sides strips will 'get a life' of their own too and I'll paint them up as and when the muse takes hold.


I'll keep you posted on the leagues progress.

GREAT STUFF, NGD!




Look forward to following all of the action.

Thought I'd update you on my league. 7 games played so far. I'm hopefully on course to finish season by the end of the year.

There's been lots of very close games so far. Redpool are top but have drawn their last 3 games 0-0

League table below.




I've painted up 8 of 16 teams (home & away) so far and am introducing them as I complete them. I'll pop some pics up shortly.


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Great thing about solo play is that its so unpredictable, you can get two 0-0 scores and then a 5-1. The whole idea of solo should not really work but somehow it does. Looking forward to seeing the teams.

Great stuff! Like Steve, looking forward to seeing some teams and action shots.

OK - I've got some more of the teams completed and based up ready for the solo league. I've tried to do something a little different with the kits, in an attempt to give each team its own identity. By and large I've achieved what I set out to do and am pretty stoked with them. Just gotta get them out onto the green now

First up are current league leaders, Redpool FC. They started life as Liverpool but now have their own red, white & teal kit.

The change kit has the teal and red as accents on the front and back of the shirt.

REDPOOL HOME



REDPOOL AWAY

Brilliant! Really nicely done. Top kits.

This is definitely the next step for me, once I have the stadium painted up and assembled. Busy at it today!

Very nice couple of kits there Will

Very nice, just seen your pitch side figures on the ISF which look great. I'm just converting some SSG figures into stewards.

Cheers gentlemen, I'm glad you like - I have some more photos to sort and will pop more teams up as I go.

Thx Gulls - I like the pitchside figs, which are also posted up here! I have a load of 'wehonest' figs that I'm going to stewardise too. A little dayglo vest is all you need

A couple of simple kits for Middleton


MIDDLETON UTD HOME





MIDDLETON UTD AWAY

Very tidy, Will!

All teams are done now -






TBH i have enjoyed painting these so much I'm planning a 2nd Division now too.


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Wow ! Painting teams is one of life's pleasures, you know you will do a 2nd division.

Brilliant, Will.
This is a pleasure to follow.

Just a few more teams - won't upload the lot as I wouldn't want to bore you. I will pop up some action shots in due course.

Not bored, Will. Keep 'em coming!

great teams mate

is that newhole rangers or newhouse rangers

Wheels have fallen off big time with the solo league. My online record of the league got deleted too quite a hassle.

Anyhow - all fixtures now re-entered & I've played 18 games in the last 24 hours - keen to finish this season by months end.

Here is the table after 10 games.

Everlast went from 8th to 4th with two great wins away from home. Both games could have gone either way with Norton missing a host of chances, and Redpool being wasteful in front of goal too.

Norton 2 v 5 Everlast
Redpool 1 v 2 Everlast

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Newhouse Rangers are sitting quietly in 6th having only lost 3. I fancy a few bob on them.

Hehe - thanks for your interest Gulls.

I had a few more games since posting. I want to finish up and start a new season in March.





Cocked up the run in due to playing the fixtures out of order because the online fixture list issue.

Well that put the kybosh on them !!

Final table

It's been a good comp & I've really enjoyed it. Quite low scoring - I think it is my keepers I've made, they are quite hard to beat. I've started adjusting my solo rules as I go too which has increased goals & excitement in the games - I think I still need to tinker with them further. I do use blocking flicks and intend to continue so realise that will lower scores across the board.

I'm also just planning a simple cup comp at the minute - just the eight league teams this time out. Also I've got one additional team to add to the league next time, and am considering a second. I don't really want byes so guess I'll have to create another team.

The Cup Competition is underway


Redpool FC 0 v 1 Norton Wanderers
Burndale FC 1 v 0 Newhouse Rangers
Middleton United 2 v 1 Wolvendean Athletic

Still to play

EVERLAST UND v FULLINGHAM CITY


Redpool out - shock that one. Burndale make it three wins out of three after doing the double against Newhouse.
Middleton came from a goal down to progress to the semis.

The final fixture to be played later today sees Everlast take on Fullingham. Everlast did the double over Fullingham this season so the form book favours them...we shall see.

Looks like a lot of fun. Really nicely done!
Needs a SOUTH HAMPTON UNITED added :-)

Cheers mate - the additional team are Sheil Park - They do play in red and white stripes though (currently represented by ref 52. Chances are they will morph into a Chelsea away kit from the 70's...the one with the green red stripe on the front - I've not quite decided yet.

A new team for the league Sheil Park as mentioned above. The new season is likely to start within the next week. I still have Shrugborough Town's away kit to do...

I realsied i didn't put up the full scores for the Cup Comp.

Fullingham surprise winners. I guess their name was on the cup after winning twice aet & pens. Burndale the bridesmaids again!

The NGD Solo League Season 2 is now well underway.

I'm also in the process of painting up extra teams - initially as part of an expanded cup comp but ultimately to include as either an extension to Div 1 or a Div 2 league.

I'm undecided whether to reduce the 1st div back to 8 teams. I like the quick (in theory) turn over and an extra division will inject extra excitement with relegation & promotion too.

I'll post some team/action pictures shortly.

Meanwhile here is the table- last years 1 & 2 place teams are struggling...to say the least!

I'm not into quick turn overs. My 1983/4 league has now been running for 18 months.

Looking forward to your photo's.

A recent fixture between league new boys Sheil Park (stripes) and Shrugborough Town (in their white away kit).

Redpool 1 v 0 Wolvendean

Action from a recent clash - Champions Redpool, currently languishing 3rd from bottom grab a vital win over league leaders Wolvendean.

Redpool, proving what they say, it's harder to retain a title, Will :-)

Indeed mate - they have hit a rich vein of form in recent matches and soared up the table. It is very tight in the NGD - not many points separating the clubs at present.

I'm featuring some action from the league on my new blog - check out www.subbuteonz.blogspot.com

I'm due to put up 6 new teams for a 2nd Division too.

A stunning match concluded the NGD season 2.

Top side Wolvendean played Redpool who at the start of play were sitting second, two points adrift.

The match started brightly and was an open and flowing affair. Wolvendean, who only needed a draw to clinch the title, did not sit back - but powered forward numerous times in the opening quarter of the game. They got their reward following a well worked move that left striker (insert name) one on one with the keeper. The keeper seemed rooted to the spot (as indeed he was...well, more like stuck to a door stop with some blu-tack) and the ball was slotted cooly home. The game continued end to end, but Redpool couldn't muster a meaningful shot on goal until just before the break when a slide rule pass was drilled into the net at the near post by Coca Kit.

After the break Wolvendean lay seige to the Redpool goal and increased their lead. Only a combination of smart saves and poor finishing kept the away in the game. However, as the half grew on Redpool increased in confidence and after a finely crafted move managed to regain parity with a well taken goal by Cooper.

Wolvendean initially rocked, continued to produce some moments to delight and looked to be taking the point they needed to be worthy winners of the league. Redpool seemed all out of ideas. With a minute to go a hopeful punt upfield left Redpool wideman Jared Quimby to chase but he failed to get there. What should have been a simple clearance turned to disaster, when the Wolvendean left back nervously missed the ball and found his head brushing the base of the advanced opposition player. The ref had no option but be point to the penalty spot. Kit stepped up to convert the kick and put the team in red (and sky and white) into the lead.

There was barely time for the restart before the ref blew the whistle (or in actual fact, for the song to finish – as I play by number of tracks rather than exact times...I like it better that way).

Redpool regain their title after a difficult season – Wolvendean will never come as close again without winning it.

Pictures to follow... (Got to get back to work )

So here is the league table after the final match.

It is noticeable how close the league is, even down to 5th/6th a couple of wins could see a side actually winning it. I'm considering ways of increasing the goals per game ratio. I've dispensed with blocking flicks in a number of games this season and yet still the goal tally hasn't reflected that. To be fair I do enjoy it the way it is, so may just come to terms with the fact that NGD is a low scoring league.

Next up is the Cup. The draw has been made and includes the six new teams. Newhouse and Sheil Park will be joining them in Division Two a few weeks from now.

I looked at my league after 18 games and the top three have the following goal records 32-18, 38-25 and 31-26. The bottom three 18-25, 19-28 and 24-33.

My rules are 10 minutes each way, no blocking, home team has only two flicks per player in opposition half and away team has only one per player. Goalkeeping, the goalie is mounted in diving position and placed for every shot. I did used to operate the goalie and shoot at the same time but you can't really shoot properly so I opted for Foxy's method which does work well.

I think its what ever you are most comfortable with after trial and error. The one flick per player on the away side does give a realistic home advantage. I still get a good number of away wins.

Cheers Gulls. An interesting insight into your methods. Your goals per game are certainly higher but the spread of GD is comparable I think.

After my Smiths timer crapped out, I don't play by the clock, I program my cd player to play a few tracks and then I stop when they end. It's interesting, as when I know the songs well, I know they are about to finish and that can add a bit of thrill factor - rather than watching a clock (does that make sense?)

I do static goalies like Jim too to as I wanted to get rid of the rod issue. I place them before shots - except corners where I can hit a moving ball without the defence moving.

I'll continue to adapt my rules - but as I said earlier it's working reasonably well - except for the meagre goals per game.

Two of my goalies...

I like the ingenious mounting. The one on the right looks like an old Rolo Mine are just sunk into a piece of BluTack on 10p coins.

I've recreated to actual English First Division seasons so far in solo play but it really is a marathon. Thinking of doing four divisions of12 with promotion and relegation but not actually playing all the games. May be using a Ralph system of dice or cards for the bulk of the games. I may just actually play the top division over the course of a season.

Great thread, Will, and lovin' your solo tweaks, Gully.
Many thanks for sharing

I see Redpool clinched the title again!
It's great to see patterns in the evolving history. It gives the clubs personality. Keep up the great work, Will. I'm off to check out your blog.

Thanks Steve, you are right the teams are definitely taking on personalities!

The cup comp started this weekend and features 6 non-league teams (these will form the basis of next seasons Div 2.

Here are 2 teams, both of which I used to play for, many moons ago & hence the naming. The kits are based on the real ones too, but I've adapted them as I wanted to do something a little different.


FORD CELTIC - This one looks a heap better in real life, although if I did it again I would change the green to something a little less army (if was much nicer wet)




AFC LITHERLAND

Quality, Will.
You need a website to host all this safely / independently.
Great stuff!