Hey there, folks. It’s time for possibly THE most important chapter of my Football Manager 2021 journeyman series so far!
It’s the 2026/2027 season finale, and Győr are closing in on a place in Hungary’s first division. In case you missed the previous chapter (and I suspect many of you have), we left them sitting 2nd in the NB II, with promotion looking almost certain barring a late collapse.
So, after seven years of frustration and failure, is THIS where Shama Deadman finally delivers his first career promotion – and maybe even a first league title?
APRIL 2027
So here’s the picture as we headed into the final nine games of the NB II season. We were 14 points clear in the top two, but we’d had some rough results of late. There was still the potential for our promotion dream to fall apart spectacularly.
And that brings me to the first game of our run-in – at home to ZTE. Victory here would give us a HUGE lead over our main promotion rivals, and when late first-half goals from right-winger János Géringer and centre-back Américo Pereira gave us a 2-0 lead at the break, things were looking very good.
But then ZTE fought back, scoring a long-range screamer on the hour mark to sow some seeds of doubt. As our attackers struggled to kill the game, our defence panicked and tightened up. ZTE took the initiative in stoppage time, when two late goals completed an epic turnaround – and cut their deficit on us to just 11 points.
I’d now lost all patience with our error-prone goalkeeper Svetoslav Vutsov. He had one of the lowest save ratios in the division, his decision-making under pressure was very poor, and he was probably the main culprit for our shocking collapse. I didn’t just want Vutsov out of the club; I wanted to send him as far away as possible!
Literally as far away as possible – 11,000 kilometres east, to Vladivostok! Enjoy the Siberian wilderness, Svetoslav!
Béla Fejér took over as first-choice goalkeeper, starting with a trip to relegation-threatened Dorog. A few months ago, this would’ve been an easy away win… but when the hosts scored from a corner just before half-time, a third straight defeat looked likely.
And then 18-year-old Norbert László came to the rescue. I almost subbed our loanee left-winger off because he seemed to be tiring, but he proved me wrong with TWO headed goals – one from a Simão Rocha corner, and the other from a Bálint Szabó cross. That earned us a 2-1 comeback win, and a much-needed boost of confidence.
László scored another header just six minutes into our home meeting with 8th-placed Vasas. That was very impressive, seeing as Norbert actually started this match on the bench, only to be thrown into action after our other left-winger Erwin Taha strained his groin early on.
More shocking set-piece defending saw us lose our lead in the 17th minute, but another teenage starlet would get us back in control seven minutes from half-time. This was how 17-year-old midfield playmaker Gábor Novák lit up ETO Park on his first ever league start!
Though Vasas barely troubled us in the second half, it was still an anxious wait before the final whistle blew on another narrow 2-1 victory. And with ZTE only drawing 0-0 at Soroksár, we were now 13 points clear again, with just six games to play. We were now only TWO wins from promotion!
Sadly, we couldn’t get a result from our next game. Our dreadful goalless record against Debrecen continued as the champions-elect ran riot at ETO Park. Through-balls and fast poachers are like kryptonite to our slow central defenders, and Loki frontman Márk Szécsi took full advantage, scoring all FOUR goals in a home hammering.
Stupid Szécsi striker!
After that, we went to Sényő, where a 42nd-minute penalty from captain Kundrák gave us the lead before we were pegged back. With his strike partner Nebo having another bad day and going goalless for a fifth straight game, we once again turned to our youngsters for inspiration.
With three minutes to go, Géringer joined forces with 16-year-old substitute striker Dániel Juhász for a last-ditch counter-attack. Juhász had endured two rotten months with injuries that had stunted his progress… but just a few moments later, all that was forgotten.
Dániel, you’re a star! And with ZTE only drawing 0-0 at home to Széged-GA, this is how the table looked:
12 points clear, with 12 points to play for! And because ‘Games Won’ is the first tie-breaker, there was no way ZTE could leapfrog us, even if they won their final four games and and we lost ours! It might not have been officially confirmed yet, but we were surely promoted!
Just to make damn sure, though, we got ourselves another away win against Szolnok. Lászlo and centre-half Attila Mocsi gave us a 2-0 half-time lead after Kundrák screwed an early penalty wide, and although the hosts did pull one goal back, there was no stopping the party.
And there it is! After four years away, Győr were returning to Hungary’s top division… and after SEVEN years at three different clubs, I finally had my first promotion!
MAY 2027
With 2nd place secured, we could take things easy for the final three games. I gave a few more opportunities to some of our best reserve and youth prospects, which might explain why the results weren’t that great.
We had a serious post-promotion hangover, almost losing to rock-bottom Csákvár before Nebo bailed us out six minutes from the end. Fejér had not covered himself in glory for the opponents’ goal, so I subbed him off and gave a debut to Under-19s goalkeeper Attila Benkő, who then started our next match.
In all honesty, Attila probably wasn’t cut out for league football. Though Kundrák got us off to a quick start against Tatabánya, Benkő then conceded two soft goals as we again had to fight back from behind just to salvage a point.
We did at least finish the season strongly, beating local rivals Gyirmót at home. Departing winger Bálint Szabó scored a stunner in his final match for Győr, before Nebo finished the campaign with a 23rd league goal. Sadly, our hopes of a first clean sheet since early March were dashed when young defender Tibor Fehér conceded a last-minute penalty, but ah well.
Things got quite ropey in the last few months, but we finished the season on 84 points – 14 more than ZTE. We were also the league’s top scorers by some distance. It’s just a shame about the defence…
2026/2027 SEASON REVIEW
Well… I think you can call that a successful season!
Okay, so the board are still a bit miffed that we couldn’t beat Budafok in Round 3 of the Magyar Kupa, but who really cares?! We’ve been promoted to the NB I – and 12 months ahead of schedule too!
We’ve also achieved this without breaking the bank. Our annual wage bill is £1.18million (only the 7th-highest in the NB II), and we’ve lost very little money throughout the season, maintaining an overall balance of around £2.5million. That situation will only improve with promotion, giving us a solid platform to really propel ourselves forward.
| Fans’ Player of the Season | Norbert László |
| Young Player of the Season | Norbert László |
| Signing of the Season | Dániel Juhász |
| Goal of the Season | Simão Rocha (vs Kazincbarcika, 28 February) |
| Top Goalscorer | Cyril Nebo (23) |
| Most Assists | Norbert László (12) |
| Most Player of the Match Awards | Cyril Nebo (6) |
| Highest Average Rating | Norbert László (7.43) |
There’s no doubt who our shining light was this season. The first thing I’m going to do after my summer break is phone Honvéd’s manager and ask if we can have Norbert László on loan for a second season!
The teenage winger was in outstanding form through most of the season, providing 10 goals and 12 assists. Whether he was using his pace and technique to cut inside, or whether he was staying wide to deliver a cross, Norbert was a constant threat to opposition defences. Wherever his career leads, I’m sure he’s going to become one of Hungarian football’s brightest stars.
László’s excellence was recognised, as he won NB II’s Young Player of the Year AND Player of the Year awards. He was also one of three Győr players named in the Team of the Season, along with Rocha and Nebo.
Rocha’s second season might not have been quite as stunning as his first, but he was still bloody good! Seven assists, three goals, a 7.30 average rating. While a few defensive errors slipped into Simão’s game later on, I’m confident that the Portuguese left-back will adapt well to top-flight football.
There’s no doubt that Rocha’s crossing talents were crucial to our success this season. We completed a league-best 25% of our crosses, and scored NINE goals from corners (nearly double anyone else).
Nebo scored 23 league goals and again narrowly missed out on the Top Goalscorer award, falling two short of Sényő’s Kristóf Korbély. The Nigerian was among four Győr players to hit double figures for goals (Kundrák was our second-top scorer on 13). As a team, we scored 91 goals in just 41 competitive matches.
We bossed many of our matches this season, recording a league-best 55% possession and averaging 18.4 shots per game, with a decent 11% conversion rate. Even Debrecen only mustered 13.9 shots per game!
As impressive as our firepower was, though, it merely distracted from the defensive issues we had. Though we had fewer shots against us than anyone else except Debrecen and ZTE, our opposition conversion rate of 14% was the highest in the NB II. In other words, we expect to concede one goal for every seven shots we face.
In this case, it’s easy to blame the keeper. Vutsov kept 11 clean sheets in 28 games, but his save ratio of 70% ranked him only 17th among all goalies in this division. Fejér and Benkő were hardly any better, so one of my first jobs this post-season will be to sign a more dependable number 1.
But I’m not pardoning the rest of our defence. While Pereira and Alex Szabó remained our most reliable centre-back pairing, they each struggled at times to stay composed or keep tabs on fast strikers. While Mocsi was better in those departments, his inability to regularly win headers also caused issues.
Another issue that needs addressing is our defending of set-pieces – especially indirect free-kicks, from which we conceded seven of our 40 league goals. We aren’t a particularly dirty team (we conceded the 5th-fewest fouls in the league) so we perhaps need to work more on our positioning and tactical awareness in those situations.
It’s hard to predict how we’ll fare in the top flight, but there’s one thing I’m certain of. If we go into the NB I with this defence, we will probably get hammered almost every week.
PLAYER-BY-PLAYER STATISTICS
LOOKING FORWARD
Wow. I was expecting bigger budgets for the new season, but probably not quite as big as these. A wage budget of £43,500 is nearly double what we’re currently paying our squad!
A £2.5million transfer kitty probably won’t turn us into title challengers immediately (after all, perennial champions Ferencváros spent £14million on new players this season). That said, it should certainly be enough to build a competitive squad which can survive this first season back in the top tier.
But now I must confront that dilemma almost every newly-promoted manager faces. Do I spend big this summer and overhaul the squad with better players, potentially upsetting the strong team spirit that took us up? Or do I trust most of our promoted heroes to carry on the momentum, at the risk of us being comfortably outclassed on a regular basis?
I’m definitely using some of that extra cash to improve our infrastructure. We’re currently upgrading our training facilities, which is an important step, as many of our younger players (e.g. Géringer, Pereira) have seen their development stall in recent months. We’ve also boosted our youth recruitment, and we’ve expanded our scouting range to cover the rest of Europe.
Heck, we could really splash out – and pay for some eye tests for our goalkeepers! And I mean those fancy professional tests with opticians and everything – not like those stupid British ones where you have to drive 500 miles to a castle on the other side of the country!
In terms of my development, it’s been a massive season for me. Not only can I put something on my CV that’s more impressive than “finished 3rd in the Terceira Liga once”, but I’ve also completed my UEFA A Licence! Just one more coaching badge to go!
The UEFA Pro Licence is that final step, which would allow me to manage anywhere – in theory, anyway (Manchester United have just sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjær, but I doubt they’ll ask me to replace him). But that A Licence is enough for Hungary’s top division, and it makes more sense to fully focus on coaching my team right now rather than start another course immediately. The Pro Licence can wait.
But if next season goes badly and I have to move, what are my options? My reputation is now 45% (between 2* and 2.5*), while Győr’s reputation is increasing to 2.5*, so I could maybe have a crack at a 3* job in a decent league. The ‘Big Five’ leagues are probably still beyond my reach, but a top-flight job in somewhere like the Netherlands, Russia or even Portugal (again) might be my next step.
At any rate, I’m happy to stay at Győr for at least one more season, as we look to establish ourselves in the NB I once again. Also, I’m getting a 15% pay rise, taking my weekly wages up to around £2,200… which is cool, I suppose!
At last, something to celebrate!
We’ll give Shama and the Győr boys some time to toast their success, and then we’ll return next Monday for the 2027/2028 season preview. The manager has a big rebuild ahead as he prepares for his first ever season in top-flight football!
Thanks for reading!
Fuller FM 
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