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The Counties Championship: South Preview

Published on 23 April 202012 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

Welcome back to the Counties Championship – a new blog series on Fuller FM. I’m using Football Manager 2017 to find out what would happen if the 48 English counties took part in a national competition using only the best footballers they have produced. You can read more about it right here.

Ahead of the first matches, I’ll be previewing every team, assessing their strengths and weaknesses to predict who has the best chance of claiming silverware. In this article, I will look at the 12 teams that make up the South division.

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The Counties Championship: East Preview

Published on 22 April 202012 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

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The Counties Championship: North Preview

Published on 21 April 202012 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

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The Counties Championship: Introduction

Published on 20 April 202012 July 2026 by Chris Fuller2 Comments

Hello there, and I’m grateful you could join me for a new Football Manager blog series on Fuller FM. This adventure is going to be… quite different from my previous ones.

Over the last few months, I’ve been working on an FM database where the best English footballers represented counties instead of clubs. It’s like cricket in a way, except that the sport is much more exciting, and matches don’t grind on for five days.

I will be using Football Manager 2017 to see what would happen if the FA replaced the money-rich, import-heavy Premier League with a 48-team English Counties Championship. Teams can only use players who were born or raised in their respective counties, and any non-English players who don’t meet the eligibility criteria have been ‘sent home’.

Just to be clear, there are no political motives behind this project. It’s just a fantasy scenario that has interested me for a while now. Perhaps it might have piqued your interest as well…

In today’s opening post, I will explain this experiment and outline how the Counties Championship – and the knockout County Cup – will work.

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CM99/00 Revisited: Now Or Neverkusen – Part 10

Published on 27 January 202015 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

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And so it’s come to this. We’ve reached the finale of my Championship Manager 99/00 career with Bayer Leverkusen – football’s princes of heartbreak.

It’s April 2002, and my three-year contract at the BayArena expires in just three months. The DFB-Pokal and Champions League have eluded me, so if my reign is to end successfully, we need to turn on the style in our final seven Bundesliga matches. Anything less, and we shall remain ‘Neverkusen’ forever more.

There will be obvious spoilers from the start of this final chapter, so if you want to catch up before reading on, then please go back to Part 9 first.

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CM99/00 Revisited: Now Or Neverkusen – Part 9

Published on 20 January 202011 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

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It’s time for some more Championship Manager 99/00 action, folks! I’ve made it halfway through my third and final season at Bayer Leverkusen, and a new calendar year kicks off with ‘Die Werkself’ still in the hunt for all three major trophies.

If you’ve not read Part 8 yet, you can go back there and see how we fared in the final few months of 2001. Once you’re ready, we’ll move on into 2002…

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CM99/00 Revisited: Now Or Neverkusen – Part 8

Published on 13 January 202011 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

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I’m glad that you’ve joined me again for the latest stage of my German journey on Championship Manager 99/00. Bayer Leverkusen have made a promising start to the 2001/2002 season, but it’s too early to tell whether this will be the year that we finally win something.

In today’s chapter, Leverkusen will compete in all three major competitions as we go through the final three months of 2001. Don’t forget that you can go back to Part 7 if you want to catch up first – or even if you just want to have another look at our new signings. I wouldn’t blame you; our new Colombian striker really is a delight!

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CM99/00 Revisited: Now Or Neverkusen – Part 7

Published on 6 January 202011 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

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Happy new year, dear readers! And what better way to celebrate the start of 2020 than by… erm, going back to the summer of 2001!

Yes, folks – it’s time to begin the third season of my Bayer Leverkusen project on Championship Manager 99/00. If you’ve not yet read Part 6 to see how we ended the 2000/2001 campaign, make sure you’re up to speed before stepping into 2001/2002.

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CM99/00 Revisited: Now Or Neverkusen – Part 6

Published on 23 December 201915 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

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It’s almost Christmas, which means we’re all getting some more quality time with the people we love – and perhaps also the things we love. Yes, it’s time for another installment of my Championship Manager 99/00 blog career!

This latest chapter will see us go through the second half of the 2000/2001 season with Bayer Leverkusen. If you want to catch up with the story so far, you can revisit Part 5 here.

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CM99/00 Revisited: Now Or Neverkusen – Part 5

Published on 16 December 201911 July 2026 by Chris Fuller

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My three-year Leverkusen project on Championship Manager 99/00 has now reached its halfway point. Though I’ve yet to lift any trophies with the men in red-and-black, my second season at the BayArena has started brightly. Just don’t ask me what happened in the DFB-Ligapokal.

You can revisit Part 4 right here if you haven’t caught up yet. In that chapter, you’ll meet our big new signings for the first time and see how we got on in the opening fixtures.

This latest post will take us all the way up to the start of 2001. If our strikers continue to underperform, though, there’s a good chance I might delve back into the transfer market before 2000 is out…

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