I started this game at the end of last year after someone put together a database for Brazilian Leagues down to about Level 20.

I looked at those levels and decided I wouldn’t have the patience to start at the very bottom and work up, so I chose Level 13. At these levels teams compete on very much a regional basis and the one which attracted me was Flamengo Paraibano.

When I was growing up one of my favourite players was Zico, and he played for Flamengo. These guys are obviously not as big a club as them, but they play in the same colours so that was good enough for me.

If you're really interested in the club here is the link to the wikipedia page on them
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esporte_Clube_Flamengo_Paraibano

One of the enjoyable things about this challenge is the sheer amount of games you play. You have a State/Regional championship and then the proper League format. The State/Regional league has the same 20 teams in every year, whereas the proper league has promotion and relegation.

Here is a breakdown of the different competitions I can compete in.

Campeonato Paraiba

This is the State/Regional Championship made up of 20 teams, where you play 19 matches. The top two then compete in a play-off to determine the overall winner for the year. The season runs from January-May. The play-off is about 10 days after the league format ends.

Inferior 5th Divisao

This national league format has 22 teams and runs from June-December. You play each side home and away with 4-up and 4-down.

Copa do Brasil

Brazilian Cup competition which contains 10 rounds. It appears that Serie A clubs enter from Round 2 onwards, so you could meet a big team early and that’s the end of your chances. This competition runs throughout the year.

Trofeu de Divisoes Inferiores

This is a League Cup for lower divisions. There are 5 different ‘Inferior’ leagues which exist below the 8-level Serie structure. There are 9 rounds to negotiate.


So, to win all 4 competitions you would have to take part in an incredible 80 matches!


Flamengo gave me a decent wage bill and even though that puts us in the red every season, they keep pumping money back in. I managed to negotiate some good free transfers.

There are some interesting names in this club, the vice-captain is a player called Dude and then this guy



Well, the first season in the Campeonato Paraiba went quite well, we finished 4th. But we got an idea of the standard needed to win the league as the title went to a club who won every game!



We were knocked out of the First Round of the Copa do Brasil, but did really well in the League Cup winning my first piece of silverware



In the National League we cruised through to win the title by 11pts, conceding just 13 goals.




Our promotion has enabled me to upgrade the coaching staff and also ship out some of the top earning players who hadn’t made an impression in the first season.

Holy Moly, that's quite a challenge to undertake, will be interested in how you progress and see if you can get into the big leagues.

Finished the 2nd season and it was one of the most enjoyable I've played on FM. Won 3 of the 4 competitions I competed in, although at the level I'm at this is fairly easy.

First, the Regional/State Championship. Lead most of the way until drawing a couple of games towards the end and finished 2nd.



The top two then go into a play-off to determine the eventual winner.



Tnen we moved onto the National League and up to Level 12. Walked this league, losing just 1 match and not conceding many either. At one stage during the season we were on an unbeaten run of 81 matches.

As I said, its not particularly tough a challenge just yet, and we are attracting better players all the time. Interesting to see how we get on up another level



There are two cup competitions to compete in, during the season. The Copa do Brasil, which includes all clubs, and we made the 7th Round which is one before the Quarters. Lost to a club in the 2nd tier of Brazilian football, so we had a good run.

But the League Cup, we won for the 2nd successive season.



Quite happy with the progress so far, just wonder when it'll get tougher

Interesting stuff, what are the player stats like at that level ?

Keep up the great work, loving the career so far.