jordie1892

Another solid evening last week where FGFC had reached the dizzy heights of Division 3 earlier than expected, we now faced tough battles against opponents that would be pushing our current ProClubs players to their limits given most of us are still in the early levels looking for more Skill points along the way.
 
FGFC's first game was clearing out the cobwebs from the week before, coming close with a few chances from the 3 up top @Luseth, @Ally  and @LordBaguette but somehow finding ourselves 4-0 down without playing that badly. Clearly taking chances was going to be something we needed to do to have any chance staying up or even pushing for another surprise promotion. It also doesn't help if @Macca89 forgets which player he is on the pitch...😅
 
Whilst losing the first game, our shooting boots were back on for most of the night as we nicked 2 goals back in a 4-2 loss. What then followed was an unbeaten run of 8 games, including 5 wins; an incredible achievement with most of our Pros still in the low 80s. Some clean sheets had too, and it always helps when a team bossing us unfortunately had a bad connection at half time and couldn't carry on 😅😎
 
Great to see @Ally  getting on the score and assist sheets this week as she's been close to getting some on previous weeks. A pearler of a volley on one of her crosses from 'Hamez Rodriguez @James5497 in an emphatic 4-0 win against I Cusentini. A bit of game management from Pat De Groyne @jordie1892 in the 91st minute against Unsrs FC would've meant 6 wins out of 8...but it was well worth the giggle seeing another epic FG fail.
 
King Assistmaker @Macca89 had yet another fruitful night with 16 assists; only thing stopping him from 17 was some late trickery from Wacky Hair Queen Matty @Luseth, dazzling us with some fine red highlights this week. Promotion was eventually secured with a final game remaining to try and win Division 3 title. Fatigue had finally sunk in though in a 5-3 loss to Invictus CF.
 
Can't argue with a 50% win loss ratio by the end of the evening. Some great highlights below captured once again.
 
GGFG
 
FGFC Squad players across the evening: @James5497 @LordBaguette @Ally  @Luseth @GazzaGarratt @Macca89 @jordie1892 @Antpool84 @Findmartin
 
**Strange 4-5 second delay at 14secs but everything else is fine. Thats what you get sometimes with Twitch Highlights it seems!
 
 
  

Well, the day has finally come! 😅
 

 
If you've wondered why i've been reasonably more quiet of late and not updating a few events, my PPR, etc its mainly because whilst my own work has been extremely manic since the back end of last year, kids schools and work on the house just needed to happen now rather than later unfortunately. Every moment i did have spare though, I've stuck it into this place and tried to create something that gives you all a nice fuzzy feeling when you come to FG moving foward (even though, you really should feel that way already 😎).
 
So, enter the room, FG Achievements.
 
As a reminder to all, the objective of Achievements (with Medals) is to help us all interact more and have fun with each other on FG, and on Games we all play - Resulting in all of us using more/all of the fun features that FG has that you might not have even explored yet.
 
This FG Achievements system breaks down into the following parts; Ranks, Points and Medals.
 
Ranks
 
Shortly today/tomorrow, you will start to see that you will have an XP bar with your profile:
 

 
The more you interact with FG, the better it is for your own personal FG Rank. You'll also be able to see all the ranks and how many you've got to unlock on your own profile.
 

 
 
As a reminder of the FG Rank Badges shared on the previous article I did in January, are below. Each one will have a specific name with them that you can find out, when they're live:
 

 
 
Points
 
So, how do I get to rank up, Lee? Ah, thought you might ask that 😅. Pretty much nearly everything you do to interact with FG, will gain you points. Replied to someone's post? Rack up a point. Put up a video in the Video section? Grab 10 points. Vote on a Poll....or even someone voting on your Poll? Maybe even just logging in every day will get you something...👀
 
Points totals aren't shown anywhere as the main objective with points is to see how you can get your next rank. You'll see from your XP Progress Bar how many points you have until your next FG Rank (see first picture above) so its a good way to know where you are in the world of FG!
 
There is well over 200 different ways to grab points (and the following medals) so please do try and interact and get as much out of this system as you can!
 
 
Medals
 
Every loves a shiny thing don't they? Well, to aid your task to reach the top of the hill at FG, I've created an absolute shed of Medals - in fact, there is the best part of 200 Medals for everyone to try and achieve. They are broken down into two parts - FG Website and FG Games.
 
FG Website Medals will cover off all the following activity, and beyond:
Posts Topics Events Videos Polls Visits Follows Reactions PPR Guides Merch Quizzes Articles Memberships 👀  
FG Games Medals will initially cover 5 of our top games played in the community, however I want more added over time so will be asking for lots of feedback...and lots of help too!
Destiny 2 FIFA 22 Gran Turismo 7 7 Days to Die Valheim  
 
To help you understand what is available from a visual POV, I have created the following Infographics of all the medals so far. I will look to try and make a few more infographics along the way if people want to see what each medal gets you - I would encourage you all to take a look at people's profiles which may give you hints on how to obtain certain medals!! For Game specific ones, i'll create some form of Guide to help you all know what each one is, either in Guides or pinned in their forum section.
 
Please remember, this is an initial launch - if we can hit the ground running and everyone is enjoying the fun out of obtaining Medals, then we will absolutely be creating more across the board for both FG and the specific games we all play
 
 
Website Medals Infographics
 
 
 
 
 
 
FG Games Medals Infographics
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PLEASE TAKE NOTE
Its a brand new, never done before FG System. We will have issues problems from time to time so please share your thoughts and help us make it better! When its first turned on, it may take upto a few days to register everything - it has to run through every single rule i've created for every single FGer. Hopefully you'll see your Medals grow over time! We may tweak the Ranks and their respective points targets after going live if we find they are imbalanced in some way. Most Rules for points will be retrospectively activated when Live. There may be rules we add at a later date that will only look forward (e.g some Quiz ones will be created soon but look forward, not backwards) unless I rebuild the system...which may mean you get 're-awarded' automatic points and medals you had. Games will not look backwards - this is to help give everyone a chance to focus on starting out how to get them all and create some buzz about bringing FGers together. Most Games Medals are manually awarded with the help of the FG Team here. I expect us all to start talking and sharing information about our escapades as FG online in all of our games. It helps bring to life what we're all achieving together and it speeds up the validation time to award Medals. I will NEED HELP with this. If you're interested in supporting the cause in helping, please let me know. Its about doing things here but also encouraging FGers to get involved across all aspects of what we do.  
 
I really would love for you all to explore what we have available here. It's took me an absolute age to get it in a position to launch it as I wanted to give this the best chance of hitting the ground running. I'll set up a separate topic on the forums to capture any feedback and questions you may have about it all. We can then have separate topics where we can post up gaming updates to support the awarding of medals.
 
 
Its a great thing to finally do something I've wanted for here for years. Its like our internal mini FG game, with lots of fun and interaction. Keep an eye out for when you start getting awarded points, medals and ranks - it may even be worth turning your browser notifications on (check your 'Bell' icon next to your profile and enable them!) so you can start seeing them pop up on your phone and other devices 😎
 
The only thing left is for you all to enjoy!
 
GGFG

We're finally back with the reports and back with a bang too!
 
For the last month I think we've all been enjoying the FG inter-tourney Super League so our form and number of games has dipped somewhat on MNF sessions, however it all clicked this past Monday when FGFC dominated all aspects of play to get promotion back to our usual Division 3 status but also set up a very promising Season 78 to get back up to dizzy heights again!
 
The night started out in true typical FG fashion...by going 1-0 down 😄 I love the fact we're so nice to our opponents to give them a one goal head start. Although, we weren't phased by it much as our passes and link up play was on point from the off. Club Tropicana @GazzaGarratt has been changing his build to try a little more CF play and built up a great connection with resident big man Rodman @Lurch  which resulted in a brace for Tropicana, with the winner being an unlikely role reversal of the giant forward Rodman crossing it in for a big bullet header from the little pocket rocket Tropicana.
 
We were trying to make it hard for ourselves as we tried to build momentum as the second game started off with a straight red card to Jordan Prickford as they broke away after 5 minutes, and the 10 men of FGFC could only last 10 minutes before going 1-0 down again. A back and forth game however saw the game swing both ways up until it reached 2-2 at half time, followed by a fantastic second half with Teriyaki Project @Antpool84 turning into the follow up king, and Yeezy @jordie1892  finding his shooting boots once more to secure the 3 points.
 
Those results secured promotion back to Division 3, however 3 more points would secure the title and with 4 games remaining, we thought we'd have a great chance at finishing 2 full seasons if we carried on the winning streak. Alas, why is it always the way?? A 3-3 draw was first up - a ding dong affair with a never say die last minute goal from TestiCal @TheMuggySpud  to start the erupting scenes, but brought back down to earth when it was followed by a game that can only be described as the biggest script we've ever seen. The game started emphatically, a super 3-0 lead after 30 minutes with goals from Maccaroon @Macca89  and a double chip from Yeezy @jordie1892  led Gary Goals @LordBaguette  to even say his famous words of 'I smell a quit'. Oh, how wrong were we. The FIFA techymites were busy behind the scenes concocting their greatest achievement - and it really took the biscuit for sure.
 
Before the half had even finished they were back in to go HT with the score at 3-2; their second goal completely covered by 6 of us, but somehow the pass finds the man at the edge of the box for him to shoot through the same 6 players and keeper to find the one spot it could go in. Every attack in the second half kept on getting blocked and you could feel the pressure building up. Maccaroon making some crucial last gap blocks to push their ironic 100% pinpoint accuracy efforts wide. Thor then went for a second yellow just after the hour which felt inevitable. What came after was more unbelievable. 78 minutes saw the equaliser, a few more near misses for FGFC, followed by some intricate passes in front of us which somehow made Gary Goals slow down so the forward could have the ball and slot it home. The 5th and 6th followed in the closing stages where their team hit techybites special super button to renew their stamina and beat every FG defender to the ball to win 6-3. C'est la vie. Eventually, after a close fought 2-2 draw, a 4-2 win finally came; Maccaroon having enough of waiting to get another title by smashing a perfect 4 goals in from a hatrick of assists from Gary Goals.
 
Being back in Division 3 gave us all a lift, with renewed spirits coming from most of the team chipping in with goals through the night (even TestiCals @TheMuggySpud  notching from a classic team goal). A draw and 3 wins to end the night on was quite simply superb. There was some extremely solid defending through the team, with lots of blocks from Yeezy, Roberto Barlos @Findmartin  and Rodman. Teriyaki Project @Antpool84  has his dispossession boots on, grabbing the ball back multiple times in the middle to start off plays, resulting in more Follow Up King goals to add to his tally. Maccaroon continued to add goals and assists, with even a Penalty save in the mix too - right deserving being the top goalscorer and assist maker on the night (although he had to considering he was singlehandedly on his own with 2 red cards from earlier in the session 😄).
 
Averaging 2.9 goals per game, it really was a night to remember where FGFC, turned their seasons around with promises of maybe reaching the Holy Grail at some point in the coming weeks. GGFGFC @Macca89  @jordie1892  @LordBaguette  @Lurch  @Antpool84  @GazzaGarratt @TheMuggySpud  @Findmartin
 
Highlights below with some great goals through the night (My voice was muted on stream...which i didn't know. Probably best as you could hear what was going on over my excitedness 😬)
 
 
 

Race 1 - Dragon Trail Gardens Gr3
We did this track a few weeks ago with Gr2 but the tracks holds the same challenges, namely; getting through the chicane at the beginning of lap without losing too much time or spinning out entirely as well as tackling the long 4 apex right hander towards the end of the lap.
 
Qualifying
Qualifying is important for your starting position and with the limited time it can be a challenge to set a fast lap under pressure.  With Dragon Trail Gardens, the length of the start finish straight it is important to get a good run out of the final corner but @Macca89 and @Shucker spun on their first laps.  Though Shucker managed to get a good lap in at the end to line up 8th on the grid.  It was good to see Clive @Teenwolf25 doing well to qualify 9th as, I believe, it's his first time racing with us.
 
Race
It was decided by our benevolent overlord @phil bottlethat this race would be a rolling start which does have the benefit annoying @crispymorgan who had got released from the auto drive on the final corner.  It also spreads everyone out to help keep it clean through the first few corners though that didn't drop Kiwi and I pushing a little too much at the first chicane as we both pick up a penalty for cutting the track.  A few locks ups and a bit oversteer but everyone keeps it clean with Lee getting a good exit and a run to the hairpin; one of the best overtaking places on the track.  Lee misjudged his speed and brakes way too late having to take avoiding action to avoid rear ending Phil but then running wide as Phil pulls a textbook cut back to retake his position.  At the start of lap 2, sadly Clive undoes his great first qualifying by dipping a wheel on the grass and even through a valiant effort to catch the slide ends up fish tailing in to a spin directly in front of @Stretch616 who with nowhere to go T-bones straight in to the side.  Lap 3 is Phil's turn to get that chicane wrong as he runs wide through the first part, convinced someone hit him though the replay does absolve Lee @GazzaGarrattof any guilt so clearly it's Mike telekinetic powers, getting back on track with perfect timing to be broadside in front of Lee who helps Phil off in to more gravel.  Before Phil can reverse, the game resets him in to the path of Stretch who manages to avoid another crash by running wide allowing Paul @slamminbones to close up maybe have a chance in to the hairpin though Stretch manages to come on top this time.  The track had more surprising in store as @JBR-Kiwi , holding on to second place with @Mikepjbell nipping at his heels , runs wide at turn 8 dipping a wheel off the curb and in to the gravel sending him round and round.  Then just as Kiwi is recovering, Lee does a carbon copy of Kiwi at turn 8 and spins himself out though unfortunately Shucker was following Lee so also spins.  Though this isn't the last turn 8 has to offer as on Lap 5, Mike having been gifted second place following Kiwi's spin a couple laps earlier, also runs wide and spins on the exit though bonus points have to be given to Mike for the most consecutive spins of the week.
 
 
Results

 
 
Race 2 - Sardegna C N200
In a small change to the schedule, race 2 this was Sardegna rather than Red Bull Ring due to some not having Gr2 cars.  Sardagna is a fast flowing track with the only proper braking points being turn 1 at the final hairpin so in slow cars like N200 it's important to be smooth to keep your speed up as high as possible.  As usual, this race didn't have any qualifying as the grid is set as the reverse of the finishing positions of race 1.
 
Race
Unlike Race 1, this was a standing start though which caught Phil out as due trying to launch properly only bogs himself down as everyone else pulls away on the run to turn 1.  As I won the previous race, I started at the back but made a nice dive down the inside of turn 1 much to Mike's surprise but thankfully narrowly avoiding hitting anyone.  Turn 1 bunched up the pack and a few knocks going in to turn 4 saw a few us knocked a little wide costing time on the run down the hill.  Out front Kiwi and Tom @LordBaguette were having a good battle for the lead, Kiwi tried to take the inside line for the right bend before the final hairpin but causes both of them to run wide in to the wall though ever the gentleman Kiwi gives the place back to Tom.  Leading up to the final hairpin, I get a good run on Macca and move to the outside to take my normal line as I see Macca braking way too late so I leave the door open for him to overshoot the corner and run wide and giving me the perfect switch back to retake the place.  This put me on to the tail of Lee and Crispy which due to them battling between themselves I caught up quickly and thanks to a bit of contact and distraction of each other they both run wide at turn 4 giving me an easy double pass.  Mike, in third, in an attempt to close the gap to Kiwi in the lead tries some shake and bake with Tom by bump drafting him down the start finish straight.  This work out for Mike though the extra speed causes Tom to misjudge turn 1 and run wide and dropping him from 2nd to 7th.  Tom rejoining the track causes a few people to go offline giving me an easy pass on Paul and a run on Stretch up to the final hairpin which goes slightly wrong as Stretch moves to think about a pass on Phil clipping me on to the grass to the hairpin which causes a little contact at the hairpin but we both make it away without too much time lost.  Though it does allow a recovering Tom to catch up and he and Stretch battle over the next lap.  In the heat of their battle, there's a little side contact on the run to the final hairpin but rubbing is racing though it does cause both of them to run a little deep in to the hairpin as Stretch performs a perfect pit manoeuvre on Phil spinning him in to the inside barriers.  This drops Phil back as James @Lurch gets passed as they run down the start finish straight.  Phil fights back over the next lap and gets a good run on James down the hill though a small bit of contact sees Phil pull a nice drift king to hold the slide at the cost of some speed as Crispy and Lee sweep passed on each side just as Crispy runs on to the grass causing him to miss the apex of the hairpin and Phil to regain one place.  Meanwhile just in front, James gets a run on Tom out of the last hairpin and it becomes a race to the line which causes Tom to make some unorthodox moves to block James and hold on to 4th.
 
 
Results

 
Race 3 - Red Bull Ring Gr2
Red Bull Ring is a fast track with some slow corners at turn 1, 2 & 3 which can cause plenty of unforced errors in braking too late or too much throttle on corner exit.  As this race was the one to include tyre wear and a choice of tyre, it opens up the strategy as to what to run and if people will be pitting.
 
 
Qualifying
A fast lap at Red Bull Ring is all about that fine line of taking the shortest and fastest lines possible but without running wide or cutting the inside of corners too much else you can get a lot of penalties as Tom found out as he picked up a penalty at the final 2 corners which ruined his first flying lap.  Kiwi gets his first lap together and takes provisional pole which he further improves on over the next few laps.  Lee manages to put in a good lap early on to move himself up to 4th though this is soon down a position as Phil follows up to move himself to provisional 3rd.  I had been struggling to walk that fine line and picking up penalties preventing me from setting a fast lap but I get one in towards the of qualifying to take pole position.
 
Race
As race 2, this was a standing start which could be interesting with how tight turn 1 is though with the exception of a couple people running wide, turn 1 is kept clean.  Kiwi, who started second, has a better turn 1 than me and a better exit as he takes the lead on the long run to turn 2.  I try to retake the lead but out brake myself and run wide letting Phil to move himself up to 2nd place.  Turn 2 doesn't go too well for Tom or Mike either as they share a bit of contact though mostly get through unscathed.  There's a decent straight between turn 2 and 3 which gives me chance to line up Phil for a pass in to turn 3 for me to retake 2nd as Phil gets a love tap up the rear from Lee then a small side swipe from Tom.  Phil and Tom run side by side up to turn 4 but Tom out brakes himself and runs wide but manages to hold on to his 4th place though this is short lived as Tom gets a little out of shape through turn 1 of lap 2 which causing some fish tailing but through skill (or luck?) it's all gathered up and Tom carries on with his race.  Through all the action of the first couple of laps, Lee had managed to keep it clean to be in 4th but running wide on the exit of turn 3 sees him take a trip through the gravel.  Lee manages to keep the car pointing in the direction though and tries to rejoin the track as quickly as possible where he's side swiped harder than Mike on Tinder and spun off in to the gravel.  The start of lap 4 sees me almost copy Tom on the exit of turn 1 as I get a massive kick of oversteer, I gather it up but my mistake allows Phil to take 2nd place off of me.  Though Phil, in an effort to finish at least one race this week, doesn't fight too hard as I make a move at turn 2 to retake second much to Kiwi's annoyance.  The race then enters the spinning phase as Tom loses it at turn 4 shortly followed by Mike pulling a pirouette round the final corners as Tom takes another turn, this time on the way in to pits as the autodrive didn't take over fast enough.  As we move in to the final half of the race, the strategy comes in to play as Mike and I had switched to hard tyres for the race while everyone else had been running mediums.  As Phil had pitted for new mediums, this brought him out behind Mike who was still on his hard tyres from the start of the race so Phil tries to make a pass at turn 1 of lap 9 but doesn't managed it and tries again at turn 2 but out brakes himself and runs wide giving Mike a little breathing room.  Phil, on fresher and faster tyres, gains on Mike and tried again at turn 2 and turn 3 of lap 10 but again Mike manages to keep ahead.  Until Phil has a third attempt on lap 11 but this time Phil gets it all wrong at turn 2 and the game resets Phil giving Mike enough of a lead to hold on 3rd place until the end.  While Phil was making a meal of getting passed Mike, up front Kiwi and I had been having our own battle.  Both of us were trying to do the whole race without a pit stop however I was on hard tyres while Kiwi was on mediums.  This had worked out for Kiwi for most of the race as on slower tyres I was unable to gain on Kiwi.  However as the tyres became worn, the race came back to me around lap 9 as Kiwi's lead of ~5 seconds was down to just 0.2 by the end of lap 10.   I tried to make a move at turn 2 of lap 11 but due to some perfectly timed ghosting by the game Kiwi held on to his lead on the run to turn 3, I closed up and tried to run around the outside of turn 4 but without much chance of success as Kiwi squeezes me on corner exit.  Kiwi manages to hold a reasonable lead which I fail to close down on the run to turn 2 of lap 12 but due to having no tyres left, Kiwi brakes extremely early which catches me out and causes a little bit of contact but with some defending in to turn 3 allows me to take the lead and quickly pull away.  As Kiwi has a large enough gap to Mike in 3rd, he pits for new tyres for the final lap giving me a gap to cross the line for the win.
 
 
Results

A trophy secured and another oh-so-nearly season although it didn't look like it early on!
 
We welcomed new free agent Cal Nash @TheMuggySpud . Highly surprised to snap up the cool and calculated Irish dynamo all for a promise to buy him a Chicken Burger and a Sprite at the next big FG meet up. The first game of Monday Night Football we expected to use as watm-ups but needing 3 points from 2 games for the Division 4 title, it spurred everyone on to battle hard and comprehensively beat a strong Nuttin 2 Suttin side 2-0 at the first attempt. Another trophy in the bag!!
 
When it came to starting the Division 3 attack, the team took a while to settle in to the night - precisely 5 games actually 😬 - with people like @GazzaGarratt having internet problems and the usual strikeforce misfiring up top. Apart from a glorious 3-0 win, we took some heavy beatings, with a few of them being a little harsh but there wasn't much FGFC could do about some very good sides and defence splitting balls in which there was no way we could defend them, even if we had 110 Pace. Those through ball killer passes are a nightmare for flat footed defenders.
 
 
We needed something to stop the rot and to get out of our Baguette Blues we were having. Firstly, we'd spent a number of weeks trying some extra formations out from what we started out with for many seasons. A suggestion was put up to go back to the infamous 4-1-2-1-2 formation. Difficulty was that the ridiculous Pro Clubs mode has a bug that doesn't change the formation on screen but does in game. So for the first 17 minutes of the game, Gary Goals @LordBaguette  has to spend time switching people into the correct positions. Not ideal but it came just in time. The game against Royal Accademys ended up to be a balls to the wall, defending masterclass by all involved. The back 4 of Torpedo Tony @TonyAE86 , Sensual Chocolate @jordie1892 , Club Tropicana @GazzaGarratt and AI defender Jordan Prickford, were helped hugely with the concentration skills of Gin Tronic @tronic44 at CDM and the rest of the team. A winner from debutant Cal @TheMuggySpud , made the 1-0 win even more sweeter. No need to explain the rest, role the tape.
 
 
This gave the whole team new renowned hope for the rest of the night as FGFC before that were speeding for the relegation zone again. The 1-0 win was a catalyst for FGFC to obliterate their next opponents 6-0. A late inclusion jumping online straight into the back line was Roberto Barlos @Findmartin  immediately grabbed a clean sheet, the Assist King @Macca89  back on form with a Man of the Match performance and Rodman @Lurch back to his best with a hat-trick. James continued to show how amazing his alternate tall Striker really is ending the night top of the goals again, and more than double than anyone else.
 
A closer fought battle followed straight after but another strong defensive show proved useful yet again as Torpedo Tony shined through with some crunching tackles, one of which started the first goal where Maccanohairman crossed to the glorious heed of Rodman. The same show struck late on in the game too, even though I think we have to thank Jordie the Mindreader after Rodman had his pen saved 🤣
 
 
Just as there was a freak glimmer of promotion out of nowhere, it was quickly ended with 3-1 defeat to end Season 52, however remaining in Division 3 felt like a good result by the end of the night.
 
We're getting close, incredibly close, to the top two divisions and I think thats hugely commendable given the difference in experience everyone in FGFC has. So good to see some cracking teamwork yet again.
 
GGFG @Lurch  @JamaicanSteve  @jordie1892  @LordBaguette  @TheMuggySpud  @Macca89  @TonyAE86  @Findmartin  @tronic44 @GazzaGarratt
 

Race 1 - 12 Laps Willow Springs Gr4
 
Even though the Audi TT has been given a Balance of Power (BoP) nerf recently, this race looked like it was going to play out in a similar fashion to Laguna Seca a few weeks ago.  The Audi TT is significantly faster but is Front wheel drive and suffers excessive front tyre wear meaning a pit stop is required.  Choosing a different car though would mean being slower on ultimate pace but able to do the race without a stop.  Which would be quicker in this race of strategy...that @Mikepjbell screwed during practise by explaining the assists he use causing Phil to force them to be off for qualifying and the race.
 
Qualifying
Out of the 12 racing, only 4 chose not to use the Audi TT so qualifying was going to be difficult for us.  The four were myself in the Toyota GT86, The birthday boy @JBR-Kiwi in the Dodge Viper, @tronic44 in the Peugeot RCZ and first time racer @techno in a Lamborghini Huracan.  I got out the pits first and so crossed the line first, I set a new PB of a low 1:16 but this was short lived as Mike crossed the line shortly afterwards with a blistering 1:15.8 whose pace already surprised himself with everyone slotting in third down.  On the second flying lap, the times and positions didn't change much with the exception of Lee  @GazzaGarratt jumping up to fourth, then on his third qualifying lap take his first pole from Mike by a tenth.
 
Race
 
 
Unlike the last few weeks, we were doing standing starts, which saw Lee on pole get nothing but wheel spin allowing a better starting Mike to hold the inside in to turn 1 and take the lead.  A bit of door to door action saw Tom@LordBaguette get squeezed leaving Kiwi on my tail going in to turn 2.  Keeping an eye on Kiwi in my mirror, I missed my braking point for turn 3 allowing Kiwi to make a pass and move on up the podium positions.  This was relatively short lived though as on the tricky last corner both Lee and Kiwi run wide giving me an easy second and as Kiwi got a better run on to the start finish straight, it saw Lee drop from second to fourth in one corner.  Lee stuck close to Kiwi though and manages to re-pass him at the top of the circuit on turn 4 which also allows Tom get passed on the downhill section.  The leader, Mike, touches the dirt on the way down the hill allowing me to close and get a run on him in to the last corner but the Audi is monstrous through the final corner so Mike pulls a small gap.  Lap 2 it was Tom and Phil's @phil bottle turn to run wide at the final corner and losing them places.  Tom running wide, left Kiwi again chasing down Lee and on the following lap, making a pass on the downhill as Lee runs on to the dirt and very wide costing him several places.  As the saying goes, third times the charm, on my third attempt to follow Mike through the final corner he gaps me but I get a better exit and close up down the straight to take the lead through turn 1 which is all to brief as in a copy of Lap 1, I run wide in to turn 3 allowing Mike to retake his lead who then runs wide in turn 6 letting me back passed.  Kiwi has a couple of bad laps of running wide on the last corner and ends up behind @jordie1892 who battle for the place with Kiwi making the pass, Jordie retaking the position before Jordie runs wide on on turn 3 of lap 11.  To end the race Phil and @Lurch get close with their final position coming down to the final corner where Phil runs wide allowing Lurch to take the place by a little of one tenth of a second.
 

 
To somewhat show how tricky the final corner of this track is, I think half my notes for this race revolved around someone or other running wide 😆
 
Race 2 - 3 laps Sainte Croix A Gr3
 
There was no qualifying for this race as we decided to try out a reverse grid based on the results of the previous race.  The race is only 3 laps but as it is one of the longer tracks in GT Sport so there was going to be plenty of time for action as the faster cars at the back made their way through the pack.
 
Race
 
 
As race 1, this was a grid start which caused carnage from the start as @Shucker couldn't race but forgot to remove his entry so was at a stand still at lights out causing Mike some issues.  The majority of the pack got off well and running 3 or 4 wide heading for turn 1 was a risk for a big pile up but with the exception of Pete getting knocked wide and pushing Tom wide it was mostly clean.  The exit of turn 1 had Rich @tronic44 in the lead being chased by Kiwi, Lurch in 3rd with Phil and Lee bumper to bumper in 4th and 5th respectively.  Mike had recovered from a stranded Shucker and was 3 wide with myself and Gary going up to turn 2 where I managed to take 6th with Mike in 7th and Gary in 8th.  Rich makes a mistake runs wide at turn 6 letting Kiwi take the lead while Lurch runs wide out of turn 4 allowing Phil and Lee to close the gap.  Phil takes the inside in to Turn 6 but like Rich runs deep while Lee also follows while helping Lurch in to the wall too giving me an easy pass straight to 3rd place.  Sadly in recovery Lurch spins a few corners later and retires form the race.  Rich goes offline through turn 8 which allows me to run round the outside of 9 and take the inside of turn 10 to move myself up to second place.  Mike shortly follows with a nice move to overtake Rich at the hairpin at turn 13 with Rich losing a further place as Tom makes the pass down the start finish straight at the end of the first lap.  The race calms down after the manic first lap as most people have found their rough positions and running with gaps though a few mistakes give chances and passes.  I haven't really been able to close down the gap to Kiwi but in pushing Kiwi runs wide turn 10 on lap 2 allowing me to close right up but with some work still to be done if I want to get close enough to try a pass.  I fail to close the gap with my last option being to try and out drag Kiwi to the line but due to misjudging my speed from the tow I brake too late for the final corner allowing Kiwi a clear run to the line.  Lee, Gary and @slamminbones all get close with Lee managing to overtake Gary who shortly after takes the position though Lee manages to pass Gary right at the end.
 

 
Race 3 - 4 Laps Tokyo East Loop (Wet Race)
 
This race was scheduled for a previous week which due to time constraints it was not possible to do so it was re-run this week.  In the practise for the previous weeks race, Bones was quick and topping the times but was struggling to achieve the same times during this practise session.  Though I think everyone was struggling to adapt to the slippery conditions after two dry races on some of the softest and grippiest tyres available.  Due to the time, we didn't do any official qualifying for this race so the grid was decided by the  practise times.
 
Race
Sadly there is no footage of this race due to someone, who might have been me, forgot to save the replay which is a shame as the drag to turn 1 was interesting.  Again we started this race with a standard start but on Tokyo the start line is in a tunnel so the track is dry and it's a looong run to turn 1.  We all go off relatively clean but the differences in cars became apparent as Pete's speed saw him take the lead just as Phil in his Aston Martin also made a charge through the pack.  Phil takes a defensive inside line in to turn 1 and brakes early catching me out causing me to have dive for the outside as I brake later.   Due to the conditions both Pete and Lee run wide touching the wall but getting away mostly clean.  Pete takes a drive at turn 2 to take the lead from me as Lee runs wide again this time picking up a penalty for hitting the wall.  Towards the end of the lap, I make a pass on Pete retaking the lead as Lee closes up to Pete too.  Lee attempts to pass Pete by going round the outside but due to the lack of grip they run wide and in touching the wall, Lee spins and sadly the game doesn't reset him until most of the pack has passed.  Lee is chasing down Bones in to the final hairpin where Bones does his best Tokyo drift impression which Lee takes advantage of but Bones gets a better run and with the help of the tow repasses Lee down the straight.  At the end of lap 1, I cross the line in the lead with a gap to Mike in second who has a gap to Kiwi and Phil in 3rd and 4th who in an attempt to close in on Mike try some shake and bake bump drafting though Rich has been sneaking up on them and makes a surprise pass on Phil at turn 1.  Lee succumbs to some technical difficulties as his wheel slips on the desk causing him to go all pinball wizard by hitting every wall trying to re-clamp it.  Kiwi without the need for shake and bake, manages to pass Mike who then tries to convince Kiwi to slow down on the straight so he can be in the tow - for some reason Kiwi doesn't.
 

A game of 3 halves is what they say isn't it?
 
FGFC started the night in Division 4 after midweek impromptu meetups didn't quite pan out as we'd have hoped. Still, we were raring to go and eager to change our slow 'warm-up' starts and it paid off with a gruelling 1-0 over vanssssssss (I was tempted to carry on there for a moment...). A tremendous defence-splitting pass by Rodman @Lurch  in his commanding CDM role found Crunchy Connor @JamaicanSteve  to go through 1-on-1 to score the solitary goal.
 
The FG train was on a roll and swiftly made the next team quit, obtaining a default 3-0 win. Needing one more win to go up, we turned up against a better side in Team Taunt UK. A goal a piece in the first half meant it was a tight affair but early in the second half a lovely worked play down the left ended up Forlan @ChaosGladiator  putting a sweeping cross in, for what was to be the biggest salmon jump we've seen so far playing FIFA...or so we thought!
 
 
Division 3 carried on where we left off with a sublime 2-0 win; a brace from Rodman just showing how much of a utility player he is for FGFC, like the stellar Aaron Mokoena was back in the day for Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth. Memorable, right? 😎 After such a good start, we got to the end of the first Third of the night (although we didn't know this at that point in time).
 
The next phase of the night started with a 3-3 banger, all goals coming within 30 minutes of the first half. The Tennis match was soon over though with a cagey 2nd half of constant defending, not all because of the opposition mind you... 😄
 
 
A horrible patch followed with 3 back-to-back defeats. Some goals the back 4 couldn't do much about, whereas others we just kept on losing the ball in dangerous positions outside of the box. I think most teams will seem to have these spells through a night (I can hear Tom @LordBaguette  screaming in his sleep something beginning with S...) but i'd say we weren't flat throughout that period. Just on the wrong side of luck. Our 2-1 loss Jakes U15s could've been different if Gin & Tronic @tronic44 had expected the penalty to be passed to him, although it was still a cracking save.
 
Near the end of the bad middle spell, we were doing everything we could against some good, skillful sides but perhaps also having a ton of luck against us. 2-0 down at H/T to TTN GaMiNg, we battled to stop further goals coming through. Torpedo Tony @TonyAE86 , Roberto Barlos @Findmartin  and makeshift centreback @jordie1892  were pulling out all the stops keeping them to just one extra goal, going into the last 10 mins 3-1 down. Sensing we'd had enough of getting the wrong side of this luck, @Macca89 hot a screamer against the bar with Mulletov @G_dub52  crucially following in to force an headed own goal. It set up a tense finish, with TTFN getting a corner on 89 minutes and unusually it was FGFC that managed to break away, a side-splitting pass from Torpedo Tony allowed Mulletov and Sensual Chocolate @jordie1892  to play a one-two with Mulletov smashing the equaliser home.
 
You wouldn't believe that last minute winners aren't our specialism. However, when one last minute goal comes, another soon follows, as the saying goes. Toronto Rabbits put up a strong fight and we were deadlocked at 1-1. We thought we lost our chance - twice - but the following 30 seconds were truly incredible stuff. FIFA at his best. They still must be screwing over that since Monday.
 
 
Unfortunately, the damage was already done early doors in Season 46 resulting in FGFC bouncing back down to Division 4.
 
The last minute winners and desire from those games though did give us some heart at the end of the night as the third phase kicked off, we became more dominant in overall play. Sensual Chocolate found his shooting boots, alongside MaccaNoHairMan. Rodman went back up top and his found some form with his head, alongside Mulletov and Roberto Barlos that finished some lovely team goals. 9 goals in 3 games and a lovely 3 winning game streak to end the night on.
 
Moment of the night went to good ol' Torpedo Tony @TonyAE86 . It does have awful trouble with his WiFi at the best of times due to his Washing Machine being on 🙈🤣but this week's excuse for missing a 2 yarder was more down to some food stuck inside his controller. Don't ever change, Tony.
 
 
 
Overall, its clear to see we play better with 3 halves to the night 😎 GGFG all @Lurch  @Macca89  @JamaicanSteve  @jordie1892  @LordBaguette  @Findmartin  @ChaosGladiator  @G_dub52  @TonyAE86  @tronic44 @GazzaGarratt
 
 

 
 
 

Could we? I mean, how dare we? Try and stay in Division 2 and mount a challenge to the promised land? Nah, you're alright thanks 🤣
 
An incredible start to the night had us thinking the impossible of keeping ourselves in the mighty Championship and then mounting a challenge to get up to Division 1 for the first time in our FGFC FIFA 21 existence. A mighty battle started with FG going 1-0 down after half an hour. The main contributing factor went to Torpedo Tony @TonyAE86  having lag, but not by the conventional issues we usually find. This time out it was the...Washing Machine. Yep, apparently all of the spins impact his WiFi speeds these days. Having said that though, we immediately sprung into life with a bullet from Gin Tronic @tronic44 at the near post.
 
The positivity was growing, and with a goal from either side in a matter of minutes to make it 2-2, we found ourselves with a corner. Tony looking for our headshot king, Dennis Rodman @Lurch ...but we didn't expect the following at all.
 
 
Mulletov @G_dub52  rounded off a 4-3 win in our first match and we were pumped for what was to come. Forgetting the unfortunate blip straight after where we went unfortunately down 3-1, even though we dominated the play througout, the momentum was took forward to the third game of the night where it was a near perfect performance. The assist king @Macca89  got his shooting boots on and rounded up the Man of the Match perfect 10 performance with a sublime hatrick from some amazing assists and team play throughout a 6-0 riot. Tom @LordBaguette  was notching the penalties early doors and the back 4 of Club Tropicana @GazzaGarratt, Sensual Choc @jordie1892 , Dennis Rodman @Lurch  and Torpedo Tony @TonyAE86  had a stormer. Unfortunately, previous days results alongside the second game blip left FGFC needing yet another win just to survive relegation to Division 3. A stellar performance with yet another @Macca89  goal set us up nicely but an equaliser shortly followed and for all the tea in Rich's house, we just couldn't push a winner past the keeper. It was worth mentioning though James yet again kept us in the game again with some fine defending. A quick highlight reel below was a delight to clip.
 
 
 
So Season 44 was upon us and after a short break and a swap around of all our positions, we commenced another season in Division 3. When all the positions change up somewhat, we always struggle to find the momentum again and it hurt us badly at the start, going down heavily in a 3-0 loss. We dug deep to then take a 4-1 lead in the next game to nearly throw it away with two late goals...apparently something about James making a rare mistake had to to be noted down on the stats. I'm not that harsh though, so i'll just write about for everyone to see rather than stick on the infographic below 😎
 
Inconsistency was definitely showing again though with another 2-0 defeat hitting us hard, we then tried to buck the trend of losing too many matches early doors. With the game poised at 2-2 and battling extremely hard into the closing stages, GD Pontevel broke forward after another chance for FGFC was saved. The rest was history. Can somebody lend us a spare FIFA script when they get chance please?
 
 
 
A successful 3-1 win followed this stinging defeat, but we couldn't keep up the levels we had started out at the beginning of the night and aptly ended the evening in a goal crazy 5-4 defeat.
 
Not a night we expected and I think the results were extremely harsh on us all, especially when there was some lovely football being played and a few belters that went in. @Macca89  showed his worth this week topping the Goals and Assists columns with Connor @JamaicanSteve  starting to slot in nicely after his loan deal was made permanent when Chill Ya Beans United accepted FGFC's bid of 2 baked beans tins and a packet of Uncle Ben's Golden Rice. We're still fortunate they didn't check the Use By Date in advance.
 
Superb night of banter and laughs along the way as always. GGFG
 
@Macca89  @LordBaguette  @JamaicanSteve  @tronic44 @jordie1892  @G_dub52  @Lurch  @GazzaGarratt @TonyAE86  @Findmartin