Season 2 saw us survive relegation by the skin of our teeth after a run of 3 months without a win.
Although we had an awful few months half way through the season, It was a momentous achievement and has now opened up the club for huge investment and improvement both on and off the field.
Club Improvements
The board showed their ambitions very early on with the announcements of some improvements around the club.
The above are going to be a massive help when completed and shows great ambition. The below was a shock....
A nice shiny new stadium is being discussed. This will be huge for the club. Lets keep an eye on how this develops.
Budgets & Season Preview
Much better budgets than last season and something to actually work with. Really looking forward to the players I can bring into the club.
Rank outsiders again as expected, It could be a long long season again.
Transfers
Lets start with the incoming transfers
A lot more to discuss than last season.
There are some squad players here as we need strength in depth but there is some serious quality. Lets look at the best signings in a bit of detail.
Medina could prove to be the signing of the save so far. He was wanted by a host of big clubs when his contract ran out at River Plate in Argentina. Somehow we stole him from under Juve, Inter and Roma's noses.
Cant wait to see him in the famous blue of Darmstadt.
Most will be aware of Angel Gomes from his time with Manchester United. A creative midfielder who became available on the transfer market I jumped at the chance and broke the clubs transfer record to bring him in. A cool 3.4 mil with add ons.
Jordan Fay is an interesting one. He has come through the youth ranks of Wellington Phoenix, on of our affiliated clubs. I paid a measly 700k and the hope is he will develop quicker with superior facilities.
Now for the outgoings
Couple of noticable departures as some of the promotion heroes move to pastures new.
Junio was signed for free in the summer and is a very exciting Left winger who will need game time to progress.
Pre Season
Not a bad set of results as we win 5 of the 6 games organised losing narrowly to Arsenal in the marquee game.
Some good goals to games ratios in there too *Cough* Medina *Cough*
Its August and Its The Start Of The Season
As always we begin our season in the first round of the Pokal Cup, although a competitive match it is usually treated as a friendly due to the quality of the opponents. Our draw this season was no different.
As expected it was a comfortable passage to the 2nd round of the cup. We then continued well into the league and through September only loosing once.
Big wins against Hamburg and Union Berlin were the highlight as Medina stamps his place in the first team with two hattrick's in 5 games. A great Start.
Another kind draw in the cup to as we face lower league opposition again.
October & November
October and November would be the first real test for us as we faced some of the big guns as well as continued our journey in the DFB-Pokal. Lets see hoe we get on.
Well, Well, Well October was one hell of a month. I know its only 3 games long but 2 huge wins against Leipzig and Dortmund (Our first of this save) show just how far we have come. Medina on the scoresheet in both games.
We also progressed in the cup as our Kiwi star, Fay came off of the bench to win it in the 93rd minute. We did lose 2 out if the 3 league games but against Bayern and Gladbach not much more was expected.
We had the draw for the next round of the cup too.
Another Budesliga.2 team, this draw has been kind so far.
December & The Half Way Point.
Just the four games in December before we reach the halfway point of the season already. We had a good start, lets cement it.
Not too bad, an unbeaten month but 3 draws out of 4. There were more points to be had this month, hopefully it wont cost us at the end of the season.
That is a strong start to the season, better than I could ever have expected. Lets keep that sort of form going.
Before we jump into 2024 there was a huge accolade won by one of our newest players.
Of course it was Medina. He has been on fire so far this season grabbing a hatful of goals already. Lets just remind everyone that he was signed ON A FREE TRANSFER.
January & February
All league action during January and cup action in February and against teams in and around us to. A little personal milestone during February too.
Could we put ourselves into a European qualification race?
Not during January as we fail to win, losing 2 out of 3. The only plus point being Chong's performances in front of goal. We are very reliant on Medina so it is nice to see one of the other lads chip in.
February was so much better. 3 wins in the league and a real battle in the Cup as we are taken to penalties by our lower league opponents.
More goals from Chong two as he gets 7 in 7 in all competitions.
Well our first real challenge on paper in the cup comes in the form of Hamburg. A place in the semi final awaits the winners.
March
A huge game in the cup dominates the March fixture list but it would be good to keep the league momentum going.
We will get to the cup in a second. A disappointing set of results especially as we conceded in the 87th and 88th minutes to draw against Leipzig and Dortmund respectively. The Mainz game was a bitter disappointment as we lose ground in the league.
How did we get on in the cup I hear you ask?
Well. A solid 2-0 victory over Hamburg with Gomes and Medina grabbing the goals.
We were drawn against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Semi Final.
April
Just like March the cup dominated the month as we prepared for the first ever DFB -Pokal Semi Final in the clubs history. Its a huge month for the club.
Well the league was shocking. Another big defeat to Bayern set the tone for the league performances this month. Very poor indeed and has cost us any outside chance we had at a top 6 place.
Did the cup cheer me up?
You bet it did. Two unlikely heroes as Sobiech scored from the spot before Osei-Tutu, the squad player right back who came on and grabbed his first goal for the club in the 93rd minute to win the game 2-1.
The final draw was announced after the game.
Going to be one hell of a final.
May
Its the final month of the season and that F word is on the tip of everyone's tongue in Darmstadt.
With all the league ambitions over for another season it was full speed ahead to the DFB-Pokal Final.
A Positive end to the league campaign with a draw and a win in the last two games. But that's not why you are still reading is it?
Shall we check out the final?
SV DARMSTADT ARE DFB POKAL CHAMPIONS
Everything clicked, it was the best performance I have seen from this team. Goals from Chong and Medina in the first half set us up for what ended up being a comfortable victory.
Darmstadt's first ever major trophy.
The cup win also means one other thing.......
Incredible.
Final Table
Well we were predicted 18th and managed to be 29 points better off than expected and only 4 points off of the top 6.
4 places higher than last season as well. Shows remarkable improvement.
Season Review
What a season. Thank you so much for reading through and I cant wait to lead Darmstadt into their first ever European season.
Cheers
Panda
If you have enjoyed this episode and want to see some of our adventures from FM21 you can see them below.
You can start on our Wycombe Wanderers Journey way back at the beginning here - The Wycombe Wanderers Journey sadpanda333.co.uk
We also recently had our turn in a joint save with other FM creators called "The Far East Express. Please check out our episodes with the link below. One hell of a journey going on in that save.
We also have an fascinating International save going as we attempt to take Jamaica to Gold Cup and World Cup glory after acquiring some new recruits who have been ignored repeatedly by England
