Here is our pick of 5 teams from the Vanarama National League that could be fun to manage on Football Manager 2023.
Here is our pick of 5 teams from the Vanarama National League that could be fun to manage on Football Manager 2023.
1. Notts County
Notts are the oldest professional football club in the world. The Magpies were relegated from the football league for the first time in 2018. Getting them back to the football league will be an interesting challenge because of the standard of opposition in the National League.
Notts County possess the striker known as the “non-league Haaland” in Macauley Longstaff. The 25-year-old is a quick finisher who has been valued by his manager “in the region of £20m”. Despite this tongue-in-cheek valuation, Longstaff has been rumoured to become the next £1m non-league striker, following in the footsteps of Jamie Vardy.
2. Oldham Athletic
After being relegated from the League Two last season, Oldham Athletic became the first former Premier League to play in non-league. It’s been a long and difficult fall from grace for the Latics.
Having been through financial turmoil for a long time, Oldham are now looking for a period of stability and hopefully a quickfire return to League 2. They have a decent squad, including John Rooney (Wayne’s brother), goalkeeper Magnus Norman and young midfielder Harry Vaughan. With the right additions, you should be able to lead the Latics to promotion.
3. Wrexham
Even before Wrexham were taken over by Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham were one of the National League’s biggest sides. Now the weight of expectation at the club has grown significantly. The Racecourse Ground outfit have some good players, a strong youth system and a professional setup which has them setup for success in the Conference. Wrexham came very close to promotion last season, losing 5-4 in the playoff semifinals to Grimsby Town after extra time.
Wrexham have a decent squad which includes superb goal scorer Paul Mullin, defender Aaron Hayden, and Jordan Davies. Can you get them back into the Football League after 14 years away and lead the Red Dragons to the success that the owners are looking for?
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4. Dorking Wanderers
Dorking Wanderers were only founded in 1999 and have quickly risen up the leagues. At the end of the Covid-curtailed season, Dorking were top of the National League South heading for promotion before the season was called null and void. Fortunately, last season, Dorking were promoted to the National League for the first time in their history. As a semi-professional club, the Vanarama National League will be an unprecedented challenge for Dorking. In order to stay in the division, Dorking will rely on the experience of former Gillingham captain Barry Fuller and striker Ryan Seager.
5. Wealdstone
Another semi-professional side to have climbed up the league is Wealdstone. Interestingly, back in 1946, Wealdstone were shown on the BBC’s first-ever live television match in the Amateur Cup final against their rivals Barnet. The London-based side have spent the last couple of seasons in the National League and are looking to press on to bigger and better things. Managing Wealdstone won’t be an easy endeavour, as the club have one of the smaller budgets in the National League. Wealdstone will rely on the creativity and goal-scoring of Max Kretzschmar and the leadership of Jack Cook.
