10. Climb the Football League pyramid with Salford City
These are heady times at Salford City. The Ammies have been promoted three times in the last four years, are bankrolled by a Singapore billionaire and a bunch of Manchester United legends, and Adam Rooney is banging them in like namesake Wayne during his heyday.
Flying high in the National League, Salford have their sights set on title success this year. With the kind of financial backing that makes Scrooge McDuck look skint, don’t bet against them making it four in five on the promotion front.
Coaching Salford on Football Manager 2019 is like playing Donkey Kong - it’s a case of ‘how high can you climb?’ Promotion in season one will be a doddle for FM veterans, but breaking into the Football League’s upper echelons - and maybe even the dizzying heights of the Premier League - will really test your managerial mettle.
9. ‘Do a Leicester’ with Kilmarnock
Trying to knock the mighty Celtic off their green-and-white perch with teams like Rangers or Aberdeen is a popular challenge among Football Manager fans, but here’s the hardcore version: turning humble Kilmarnock into Scotland’s answer to Leicester 2015/16.
Steve Clarke has done a fantastic job at Killie this season, and when he guided them to the top of the table (albeit with the Old Firm having games in hand) for a short time in early December, some dared to ask whether a true underdog story north of the border was about to unfold.
In truth, the Kilmarnock fairytale is unlikely to have such a far-fetched ending, but Football Manager 2019 experts have been known to pull off more miraculous feats than this. If you play the long game, invest smartly and carefully nurture those academy gems, who knows what you could accomplish with Killie in the coming years.
8. Make Barry Town dominant again
During the early 1990s, Barry Town enjoyed a period of dominance in Welsh football. They became the League of Wales’ first fully professional club, ate domestic trophies for breakfast and even pulled off a few historic victories in Europe, before a period of drawn-out financial turmoil slammed the breaks on their runaway success.
Since being reborn as the supporter-run Barry Town United FC, the Jenner Park outfit have clawed their way back into the Welsh top flight - not bad for a team which basically ceased to exist at one point - but the domination of the mid-90s still feels like a distant memory.
There’s a good reason why recapturing Barry’s glory days of domestic trebles is a tall order on Football Manager 2019 - it’s called The New Saints. The Oswestry side are the latest shark to stalk Welsh football’s goldfish bowl; overthrowing them with a side that was fighting a legal battle for the right to play competitive football only a few years ago is a test that will really separate the men from the boys.
7. Make 1860 Munich a match for Bayern
Life is tough when your local rivals are winning everything and you just keep slipping further along a downward spiral. No, we’re not talking about Manchester United - 1860 Munich supporters could teach the Red Devils a thing or two about living in a neighbour’s shadow.
They have a fan base to rival most sides in the Bundesliga and were in the Champions League as recently as 2001, but these days die Lowen are plying their trade in 3. Liga, the third tier of German football.
With historic clubs like Kaiserslautern, Karlsruher SC and Hansa Rostock to compete with, you’re likely to find things hard going in your first season in charge. While promotion is more than doable, it’s sure to be a long journey back to the upper reaches of the German football - and that's when the really hard work will begin. How many campaigns will it take you to make 1860 any kind of match for Bayern?
6. Win a domestic cup with Wigan
If Roberto Martinez can do it, surely you can make a decent fist of it on FM19? Wigan fans will never forget 11 May 2013, the day they toppled Manchester City at Wembley to bring home the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history.
Just getting the Latics back into the top flight would be no mean feat considering their budget is nothing to write home about compared to the Championship's big boys. A shock promotion isn't completely out of the question, though: there's a solid midfield to work with, featuring Josh Windass and Portugal youth international Leonardo Lopes, while striker Will Grigg is *checks thermometer* very much on fire.
Pulling off another unlikely cup triumph to emulate the class of 2013 can be your long-term goal with Wigan - bonus points if you manage to avoid relegation in the same season.
5. Get Cagliari back into Europe
Long-term projects and setting your sights high are what Football Manager is all about, and plans don’t come much more ambitious than guiding Italy’s ultimate yo-yo club to glory.
Cagliari have spent the best part of the last two decades hopping between Serie A and Serie B. They were last competitive in the top flight during the 1990s, qualifying for the old UEFA Cup in 1992/93 and reaching the semi-finals of the competition the following term.
Your job on FM19 is to whip Sardinia’s perpetual underachievers into shape and make mid-table mediocrity and relegation battles things of the past. There’s a solid foundation to build on as Cagliari recruited well this summer, snapping up Croatia international defender Darijo Srna from Shakhtar and re-signing Juventus youngster Alberto Cerri on loan.
It will take a lot of work and a lot of patience, but there’s the makings of a good side here and a skilled Football Manager tactician could achieve great things in a few seasons.
4. Rock North America with San Jose Earthquakes
They were the worst team in Major League Soccer last season, finishing bottom of the Western Conference by a 10-point margin. San Jose Earthquakes’ record of just four wins and a -22 goal difference was the worst in MLS history; needless to say, you’ll have your work cut out.
It isn’t all doom and gloom, though. They’ve managed to retain their top talent for next season, including prolific forward Chris Wondolowski, who was just one goal shy of finishing joint-top scorer in MLS last term, and MVP Danny Hoesen.
Your job is to take the worst and make them the best, recapturing the glory days of 2012 when San Jose won the Western Conference. Once you’ve got the Quakes measuring on the domestic Richter scale again, why not set your sights on continental success? This is a club who have reached the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League on three occasions, but how much further can you take them?
3. Lift European silverware with Club Brugge
They’re one of the biggest, most decorated and best supported teams in Belgium, yet continental success has always eluded Club Brugge, even at the peak of their powers. They’ve been finalists in both of Europe’s major club competitions, but haven’t been a force outside Belgium since a decent run in the Cup Winners' Cup in the mid-1990s.
That's hardly surprising given that domestic football in Belgium has always lagged behind the continent’s top leagues in terms of quality and resources, but Football Manager is all about thinking big and shooting for the stars.
Could it be possible to succeed where the great Club Brugge sides of old failed? Don't rule it out: the Belgian champions have a youthful crop of players and one of their most talented squads in years. Shoot for Europa League glory to begin with, but if you can keep hold of those wonderkids and keep the domestic trophies rolling in, why not aim even higher?
2. Get Nottingham Forest back into the Champions League
Here’s a bit of trivia for you: when Nottingham Forest lifted the European Cup for the second year running under Brian Clough in 1980, they became the only team to have won the continental gong more times than their domestic division - a record that still stands.
Almost four decades on from those glorious European nights, Forest are second-tier mainstays, although Aitor Karanka’s class of 2018/19 are doing their best to change that. Taking the Reds back to where they were under Clough in 1980, however, is surely a near-impossible feat for any coach.
But it doesn’t have to be that way on Football Manager 2019. Aim for a play-off push in your first season, then try to establish Forest in the top flight once you've sealed promotion. We won't lie to you, though: as far as FM challenges that involve reawakening a sleeping giant are concerned, this is about as tough as they come.
1. Bring football home
It could have been all songs in the street, it was nearly complete, it was nearly so sweet… but England proved no match for Croatia in the semi-finals of last summer’s World Cup.
Based on the Three Lions’ performances on the biggest stage since 1966, guiding an England national team to World Cup glory looks like one of the most hardcore challenges football management has to offer. But just how tough would it be on FM19?
With players like Harry Kane, Jordan Pickford and Raheem Sterling at your disposal - as well as talented youngsters such as Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden in the pipeline - going one (or two) better than Gareth Southgate isn't out of the question.
There are stacks of bonus points on offer if you land the England job on merit, rather than taking the easy route and starting the game as an international manager.
See also...
The 14 best Football Manager 2019 free transfers
The 12 teams we can’t wait to be in Football Manager 2019
