This is a simulation of what would happen if players could only play for the team closest to where they were born. I’ve also made the manager of each team a manager who was born fairly locally.
I’ll start from the team that came last to the team in first place, showing their squad and best XI. If you have any questions about a particular player or manager then drop me a DM. File will also be available through @fmbase soon.
I’m also only doing the English Football League. No non-league teams and not doing abroad (That’s a bit too far, even for me)
BUT ANYWAY, ON WITH THE SHOW
92) Forest Green Rover

Points: 3

Their best player was a 17 year old winger with 2 positioning. It was always going to be a tough ask for Lee Collier's men. Not a starting XI filled with household names.
91) Barrow A.F.C.

Points: 5

Barrow have a player you've heard of!! Nope, not that Ben Davies, the other one from Preston. Its still only enough to get Darren Edmonson's men five points. Talk about a one man team.
90) Scunthorpe

Points: 15

Don't be misled by the five stars. This is not a good team. Butroid, their best player, has made seven appearances for Scunthorpe in four years. Still, at least they've got more points than 2007/08 Derby... manager Neil Cox can be proud of his work
89) Morecambe

Points: 17

SCOTT MCTOMINAY F.C. Seriously though... even his work rate can't cover up for those red squares. Miracle worker John Coleman has his work cut out this time
88) Grimsby

Points: 34

Nick Barmby's barmy army just about avoids the drop zone. Their best player, Oliver Sarkic, was once on the books at Leeds... but didn't play once. The one that got away.
87) Fleetwood Town F.C.

Points: 34

Seriously these teams are absolute dross, and this is no exception. Where even is Fleetwood?? People who live there probably don't know. They now have Karl Robinson as manager though, which is nice.
86) Burton Albion F.C.

Points: 35

This is a bit more like it. Amari Bell from Blackburn, and two hot prospects that Derby fans will be familiar with. They also have Shaun Derry as manager. They still lost 70 games out of 91 though.
85) Accrington Stanley

Points: 36

Tbh, I'm amazed they won 8 games. Simon Wiles has worked wonders.
84) Lincoln

Points: 46

Manager: Chris Moyses

I never thought there would be a one man team where Sam Clucas was that one man, but here we are.
83) Rotherham

Points: 56

Manager: Mark Cooper

You're reading that right... one of the Longstaff brothers was born in Rotherham (according to Wikipedia). Also... theres been an awful lot of Northern teams so far...
82) Oldham

Points: 65

Manager: Mark Robins

Ben Pearson, Ryan Kent, Jordan Rhodes, Will Buckley... thats a midfield and attack that would just miss out on the playoffs in the Championship. Shame about the rest of the team.
81) Crawley

Points: 68

Manager: Ben Garner

Who is Dom Dwyer? And where is Crawley? Life's unanswerable questions.
80) Peterborough

Points: 74

Manager: Simon Rusk (who?)

The biggest win for Peterborough this season was keeping Izzy Brown fit for all of it. Well done lads.
79) Blackpool

Points: 76

Manager: Chris Beech

We're starting to get teams that don't just have to shoehorn in random 17 year olds now. Still, Blackpool are far too reliant on Tom Barkhuizen.
78) QPR

Points: 80

Manager: Stuart Pearce

QPR fans can count themselves unlucky here. Considering how close they are to Central London I really dont know how they find themselves stuck with literally just Josh Murphy. You guys really don't want to know what your rivals have
77) Swindon Town

Points: 82

Manager: Neil Ardley

KERRY! WHAAT?? KERRY! WHAAT?? SWINDON HAVE NO CENTRAL MIDFIELD...

... WHAT??
76) Wycombe Wanderers

Points: 84

Manager: Eddie Howe.

Wycombe have some good players... and a pretty good manager... but I think we can all see where the problem is...
75) Newport County

Points: 84

Manager: Tony Pulis

This is actually the perfect Pulis team. Not heard of a single one of them, a combined flair of about 10 but you can be sure they'll run their hearts out for 90 minutes. No one has a good long throw, sadly.
THAT'S THE LAST ONE TONIGHT. WILL TRY AND DO AS MANY AS I CAN TOMORROW.
Well I just had a look and I am still very much unemployed, so we GO AGAIN AT 12
74) Colchester

Points: 84

Manager: Simon Ball

Not many household names born in Colchester.
73) Burnley!

Points: 87

Manager: Adrian Boothroyd

The first big shock! Harvey Barnes and Co were predicted to come 39th but finish all the way down in 73rd. Well, its not actually a shock when you see they don't have a goalkeeper.
72) Blackburn Rovers

Points: 93

Manager: Gareth Ainsworth

Blackburn are wild. There best player is a Greek international who's never played in the U.K. Clearly he was born here, saw Blackburn and decided to make a run for it.
71) Cheltenham

Points: 94

Manager: Steve Cotterill

Another team that I feel should have finished a bit higher. Can only assume Eric Dier was in the toilet for a large part of the season.
70) Barnsley

Points: 96

Manager: Mick McCarthy!

John Stones has gone from playing with Aymeric Laporte to Mark Beevers. What an upgrade.
69) MK Dons

Points: 99

Manager: Garry Monk

I cant explain why but Garry Monk fits MK Don's unbelievably well. Dele Alli and Ben Chilwell is also a lovely link up- but they can't do enough to get the team above 69th.
68) Bristol Rovers

Points: 99

Manager: Ian Holloway!!

I feel both Bristol teams would do a lot better if they just combined forces... but for some reason I feel like neither fans will be happy with that.
67) Port Vale

Points: 102

Manager: Steve Bould

This team is SO Port Vale. Which basically means I haven't heard of any of them.
66) Plymouth Argyle

Points: 103

Manager: Darren Way

Cornwall: good for holidays, not so good at producing footballers. Still, a centre back partnership of Jack Stephens and Sean Morrison is very solid for this league.
65) Cardiff

Points: 104

Manager: Ryan Giggs

This is the funniest team in the whole thing. Have you ever seen any team more reliant on two players? Honestly, Cardiff are so lucky to have Brandon Cooper and Cameron Coxe.
64) Huddersfield

Points: 105

Manager: Leigh Bromby

This team finished above Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. How.
63) Ipswich

Points: 107

Manager: Chris Cohen

Is this better than the actual Ipswich team? I'm undecided.
62) Doncaster Rovers

Points: 110

Manager: Simon Weaver

Danny Rose doesn't have to ask for more playing time in this team.
61) Mansfield Town

Points: 110

Manager: Darrell Clarke.

I've been trying to think of something interesting to say about this team for five minutes but I can't. It's actually impossible.
60) Cambridge United

Points: 112

Manager: Alex Revell

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake...now that's a name I haven't heard in a while. Is this also one of the only one man teams where that one man is a goalkeeper?
59) Sheffield Wednesday

Points: 112

Manager: Chris Wilder

Look away now Sheffield United fans. I promise he was actually born closer to Hillsborough, I haven't just done that for giggles

...also...

JAMIE VARDY ALERT
58) Carlisle

Points: 113

Manager: Paul Simpson

This team was predicted to finish 79th and came 58th. When you have Glenn Murray, anything is possible.
57) Aston Villa

Points: 117

Manager: Graham Potter

Villa fans, you don't have Jack Grealish but you do have Marc Albrighton and Graham Potter is your manager...

...you're still thinking about Grealish aren't you
56) Bradford City

Points: 119

Manager: Stuart McCall

James Tavernier, Fabian Delph and... Mason Greenwood! Hotels of Bradford, get ready!
55) Southend

Points: 120

Manager: Tony Adams

Not a lot of stars in the team (apart from Tony Adams, obviously). But quite a solid and functional starting XI in fairness to Southend.
54) Swansea

Points: 125

Manager: Chris Coleman

The best team in Wales in this simulation. They don't have a Gareth Bale, but importantly they do have a defence.
53) Derby County

Points: 125

Manager: Nigel Pearson

Another solid, if unspectacular, team. Haven't had a car crash of a season.
52) Norwich City

Points: 125

Manager: Paul Warne

Why are Norwich producing so many good goalkeepers? Five out of the seven best players from Norwich are goalkeepers. Not great for their squad balance.
51) Salford

Points: 128

Manager: Michael Appleton

The team that everyone loves to hate. In this instance, there isn't much to hate, or love, about them.
THE TOP 50
50) Stoke City

Points: 128

Manager: John Askey

Stoke have some nice hot prospects- Morgan Gibbs White, Ben Brereton etc. Not especially useful though considering this is a one year simulation.
49) Oxford United

Points: 130

Manager: Martin Allen

You could tell me this was the actual Oxford squad and manager, and I wouldn't bat an eyelid.
48) Preston North End

Points: 131

Manager: David Dunn

I never thought I'd see the day where Phil Jones was by far the best player in a team. Tears in my eyes.
47) Sunderland

Points: 132

Manager: Nigel Clough

GIOVANNI REYNA SZN. Also the two Jordan's are pretty useful (Jordan Pickford is still good in Football Manager)
46) Crewe Alexandra

Points: 133

Manager: Neil Critchley

If Wrexham were in the Football League, Crewe wouldn't have half of these players. Anyway, that's a sexy attacking midfield trio.
45) Hull City

Points: 135

Manager: Mike Marsh

🎶 You're getting mauled by the tigers 🎶... not if Daniel James' recent form is anything to go by.
44) Gillingham

Points: 136

Manager: Neil Harris

Because of their location Gillingham basically got all players born in Kent...

...Kent hasn't produced many world beaters
43) Wolverhampton Wanderers

Points: 138

Manager: Sam Allardyce 😂

If I was Wolves, I'd stick to buying players from Portugal and not their immediate local area. Still, Big Sam has guided them to a respectable finish.
42) Rochdale

Points: 138

Manager: Gary Bowyer

A very respectable effort by Rochdale who have a bit of everything. A wonderkid (Dwight McNeil), experience (Craig Dawson) and a goalscorer in a World Cup semi final (Kieran Trippier).
41) Stevenage

Points: 138

Manager: Teddy Sheringham

Unluckily just outside the coveted London catchment area. Still, a decent team overloaded with central midfield options (they'll need that cover for Wilshere)
40) Walsall

Points: 139

Manager: Gary Rowett

Walsall were predicted to finish 63rd and finished 40th. Another Rowett masterclass with no budget.
39) Bolton Wanderers

Points: 139

Manager: Phil Parkinson

How is this team this high up? There best player by a mile is Dale Stephens ffs. Phil Parkinson take a bow.
38) Southampton

Points: 141

Manager: Paul Hardyman

Art imitates life. Once again, Southampton are reliant on Danny Ings. Swapping one of their strikers for a centre mid would have been nice.
37) Luton Town

Points: 142

Manager: Chris Hughton

Just like Norwich seem to only produce goalkeepers, Luton are great at producing quality full backs.
36) Wigan Athletic

Points: 144

Manager: Matt Taylor

Wigan fans will be begging the F.A. to implement these rules. They mow have Conor Coady and one of the hottest prospects in English football. Jesse Lingard, not David Brooks.
35) Leicester City

Points: 144

Manager: Graham Alexander

A very balanced squad with Leicester's own Hamza Choudhury at the centre. Done well to finish this high up the table given that there starting goalkeeper is a 17 year old with 8 reflexes.
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