FM24 — Youth Intake Blog — CoffeehouseFM

I've been wanting to do a save with Mirandés for quite a while now. Initially, I had planned for this to be a FM25 save, but after watching Clayts' youth-only Catanzaro save on YouTube, I felt inspired to start it now.

Brief History

Club Deportivo Mirandés was founded in 1927 in Miranda de Ebro, Burgos, Spain. The club spent most of its history in the lower divisions of Spanish football, primarily in the Tercera División and Segunda División B. Their breakthrough came in 2011-12, when they reached the Copa del Rey semifinals, becoming only the third third-tier team in history to achieve this feat. This cup run brought them national recognition, as they defeated top-flight teams like Villarreal, Racing Santander, and Espanyol before falling to Athletic Club in the semis. Mirandés secured their first-ever Segunda División promotion in 2012, and after a brief relegation, they have established themselves as a solid second-division side.

Over the years, Mirandés has been led by several notable managers. Among them is Juan Manuel Lillo, who managed the club between 1988 and 1991 and is now best known as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City. However, their most prominent coach in recent history was Andoni Iraola. The former Athletic Bilbao player guided Mirandés to the Copa del Rey semifinals in 2019-20, mirroring their legendary 2012 cup run. His attacking philosophy and tactical intelligence earned him widespread recognition, leading to a move to Rayo Vallecano, where he later secured promotion to LaLiga.

After leaving Rayo Vallecano, Andoni Iraola took charge of Bournemouth ahead of the 2023/24 season. In his debut campaign, he led the club to their best-ever Premier League points tally, securing a 12th-place finish. Iraola has continued to impress in the 2024/25 season, guiding Bournemouth to 10th place after 29 matches. Along the way, his side set a club-record 11-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, cementing his reputation as one of the world’s rising managerial talents.

IRL (As of March 19th, 2025)

CD Mirandés are exceeding expectations in LaLiga 2, sitting in 3rd place. Under former Levante manager Alessio Lisci, they’ve become a breath of fresh air, they have the best home record and joint best defense in the league. What makes this even more impressive is that 13 of their 22 players in the squad are loanees, mainly from the Basque region. On top of that they operate on one of the lowest budgets in the division. It would be a phenomenal feat if they were to achieve promotion to Spain’s top flight.

In FM24

While in FM24, Mirandés' youth setup is nearly non-existent, with no academy coaching or youth recruitment, and their youth facilities are considered "basic." Financially, the club has £400k in the bank, but with a £4 million per year wage budget, that balance won’t last long. The squad is heavily reliant on loans—15 out of 27 first-team players. On a positive note, the B-Team is already in the Tercera División, just one step away from the playable leagues, which could be crucial for youth development in the long run.

Setup

On the backend, I’ve made a couple of adjustments. First, I decided to retain Alessio Lisci by converting his contract to a coaching role, as I felt bad leaving him unemployed. Second, I removed the option for outside takeovers, meaning we’re stuck with our current chairman.

For the database, I’m using SI’s latest official update rather than any of the community-created versions. As a result, my save does not include most of the 2024/25 squad, including the 13 loanees.

Additionally, I’ve loaded all European leagues to keep the game world as realistic and competitive as possible. To add an extra layer of challenge, I’ve also included the Qatari and Saudi leagues, as their financial power will likely see them poach some of my most promising youngsters.

Rules & Objectives

The rules for this save are simple: no signings—only homegrown talent. However, the goals will be far more challenging. I’m not setting any strict time limits for achieving them, as this will be a long-term project.

My first priority is financial sustainability, which will be crucial for investing in our non-existent youth academy. To achieve this, I have two main approaches:

Generating revenue through player sales—while ensuring it doesn’t hurt our chances of promotion.
Earning promotion to LaLiga as soon as possible—and hoping we can avoid relegation long enough to start saving our top-flight earnings.

Once the club is financially stable, the focus will shift to building a strong foundation by developing the academy and youth infrastructure. From there, our success will depend entirely on our youth intakes and my development skills, with the goal of winning a domestic or continental trophy while having the best academy in Spain.

We will no longer be a club that nurtures talent for others—instead, we will focus on developing our own!

Before I jet off, I want to address the elephant in the room—my U.D. San Fernando save. To be honest, I loved that save so much that I just kept playing, moving further and further ahead. Every time I thought about writing an update, it felt like it was I far too ahead and it was too late to catch you all up. Who knows? Maybe one day, I’ll fill you in on my time in Maspalomas. But for now, join me on this journey with C.D. Mirandés.

If this save catches your eye and you want to follow along, feel free to swing by and say "hi" in my Slack channel. You can also catch me on Twitter.

Thanks for dropping by! Until next time, José.

Hello friends! Let’s get straight to it.

Spain has always held a special place in my heart when it comes to Football Manager, whether it's been at the helm of Eibar, Marbella, or the Galacticos of Real Madrid. There's an undeniable allure to managing in Spain, the plethora of historic clubs in the lower divisions, the underdogs defying the odds, and my personal favorite, the spirit of Athletic Bilbao. And, of course, the ever-present challenge of dethroning giants like Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid.

This time around I will be venturing to the Western-most region of Spain, The Canary Islands. More specifically, Maspalomas, the southern most town in Gran Canaria, the home of Unión Deportiva San Fernando.

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So, Why U.D. San Fernando?

Heading into FM24, I knew that I wanted to begin my journey in the Spanish fourth tier. I spent a significant part of my real-life summer ‘23 researching the clubs that had fought their way back into the fourth division. There were several contenders like U.E. Sant Andreu and a handful of promising Basque clubs vying for my attention. However, a conversation with my friend OakyFM added a new dimension to my decision-making process. OakyFM was all set to embark on his own Spanish adventure with C.D. Mensajero in the Canary Islands. It was then that I realized my perfect match lay in the small, but full of potential, club on the southern coast of Gran Canaria.

History

U.D. San Fernando was founded in April 15th, 1992 after a group of locals wanted to create space for the youth of Maspalomas. Their goal was to help develop youth players in the southern coast of Gran Canary Island with the goals of making it to the professional game. By 1994, San Fernando had five youth teams and will go on to found their first team that same year, which would compete in the regional leagues. Fast forward to present day and they’ve find themselves back in the 4th tier of Spanish Football. San Fernando have continued construction on their Ciudad Derportiva de Maspalomas, which boasts training pitches for all the youth setups, and the headquarters for the club. They play their matches at the Estadio Eleuterio Valeron.

Developing the Next El Mago / Merlin

As I delved into the history of San Fernando, I came across a page on their website that features notable academy players. Right at the top of that list stands the illustrious figure of David Silva, known by many as "Merlin" or "El Mago," a true legend associated with Valencia, Manchester City, and the Spanish national team. Silva's football journey began at San Fernando but was offered a youth contract at Valencia when he was just 14 years old. He honed his skills in their academy until his 17th birthday, and then embarked on two pivotal loan spells, first at Eibar and then at Celta, setting the stage for the remarkable career that we all come to enjoy.

One of the key objectives for this save is to rewrite the narrative of David Silva's career, imagining a scenario where he never left the shores of Gran Canaria and played a pivotal role in San Fernando’s rise through the Spanish league system to gain promotion to LaLiga. This vision will serve as a cornerstone for the save - focusing on nurturing young talents from our academy, not merely developing them, but fast-tracking their progress to ensure they're primed for the first team.

To achieve this, my strategy involves investing into our youth coaching, youth scouting, and youth facilities. We'll make use of our U19s and B-Team, providing our young prospects with the essential game time they need, all within our club's framework. No need to ship them off on loan for exposure. And, of course, for those who may fall behind or not quite fit the first team, we'll set them on a new course to find a home that better suits their potential.

This will be a long term goal for the save so I understand that there will be moments when bigger clubs will come knocking for our youngsters but let’s hope we’re able to boost our reputation enough that our players won’t feel the need to leave our Canarian oasis.

Canario Only Recruitment

With seven distinct provinces and numerous cities scattered across the archipelago, we've got a wealth of untapped footballing talent at our fingertips. Our strategy? Simple yet unique - we're going all-in on recruiting players born in the Canaries. The Canaries are home to a rich blend of cultures, with approximately 10% of the population hailing from countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, and various other Caribbean, Central, and South American nations. Not to mention, you also have West Africa a stone-throw away.

To create this multicultural universe, I will be loading all South American leagues and players, as well as loading all West African players, as well Morocco. I will also aim to create affiliate clubs in both regions. As mentioned before, the focus of the save revolves around nurturing young talent, with the ultimate goal of influencing not only our own youth intakes but also those of fellow Canarian clubs.

Who Qualifies as a Canario?

Players born in the Canary Islands.
Players that have come through the academy of any Canarian club, regardless of place of birth.
Players recruited directly from any of our affiliate clubs.

Save Objectives:

Develop the next David Silva
Follow the Canario only recruitment policy
Be competitive in LaLiga
Win at least one of the following trophies: La Copa del Rey, a European competition, and/or LaLiga

In the upcoming post, I'll delve into our squad, tactical approach, and, perhaps most crucially, our recruitment setup.

If you're eager for a deeper dive into this journey, feel free to swing by and say "hi" in my Slack channel. You can also catch me on Twitter for additional content and insights.

Thanks for dropping by! Until next time, José.