Stinging Scorpions

Stinging Scorpions (62264)
Managed By:	Broughy1322
Location:	Teesside, England
Founded:	24/09/2005
Fan Club:	The Poison Tails
Prize Shelf:
Arena:
Home Kit:
Away Kit:

Stinging Scorpions are a team in England managed by Broughy1322. They were founded on 24th September 2005 and therefore have a long history. They currently reside in the top flight of the English League System and in recent seasons have been enjoying the end product of a long rebuilding process.

The Club

Being nearly ten years old Scorpions have a long and interesting history. See the Complete History section for a very detailed account of every season since the team was created. This section features a little bit of history and some current information on the club and it's key features.

Players

A lot of fantastic (and not so fantastic) players have come and gone at Scorpions, but they all mean a great deal to the club.

Current Squad

Shirt Number	Nationality	Position	Name		Shirt Number	Nationality	Position	Name
1		GK	Grigore Tucan		9		IM	Alexander Quinn
2		WB	Robert Loftus		10		IM	Edmundo Peneira
3		CD	Paul King		11		WG	Amadou Faye
4		CD	Stephen Lankester		12		FW	Frederik Vinge
5		CD	Mikko Pyykölä		13		FW	Gabi Rednic
6		WB	Mahsun Manço		14		FW	Alexandre Fouquet
7		WG	Jorge Piedade		15		FW	Santi Botaya
8		IM	Maksymilian Krzyżewski		-		Coach	Carlos Bocage

This is an outline of the golden generation of players to be brought in to win Scorpions the title (see below for details). A player will not be added here unless he is going to stay at the club long enough to win the title. Intermediary players will be discounted.

The Golden Generation

The term "Golden Generation" is more often used with U20 teams in mind, where a U20 qualification campaign is sacrificed to give more experience to younger players and make them stronger for the following campaign. With Scorpions it is slightly different. After reaching Division II the manager realised that the team was ageing and that it was going to be very difficult to progress any further into the Premier League. With that in mind all the players were sold (with the exception of U20 star Robert Loftus) and Scorpions embarked on a 10 season plan to the top. 5 high quality potential defenders were bought and trained in defending to form the backbone of the team. These 5 players will take Scorpions to the top and the plan is to win the Premier League before Loftus' 30th birthday. The team are currently in the final stages of the plan and are fighting it out to take the Premier League crown.

Previous Stars

Click here to check out some of the greatest ever Scorpions players in the Hall of Fame. Check out the notable players part of the youth team section to see the best players Scorpions have produced and either trained or sold on. There are however some players whose names should be mentioned due to their achievements at the club. These were mostly bought and/or trained by the club and then moved on, but they are special nonetheless:

Name	Club Achievement
Antonio Arcone	Scorpions first ever buy, a striker who cost £4,000 and was sold a month later for £37,000
Cyril Hund	Scorpions first big sell, a keeper bought for £48,000 and sold for £849,000 6 months later.
Rusmin Zadnikar	The first big buy, Zadnikar was a multi-skilled inner mid with U20 chances bought for £670k and sold for £2.5 mil. Worth £3.8 mil later in career.
Kiril Yanakiev Omar Hassan	Two special midfielders who were bought for £176,670 and £233,336 respectively, played every game together, and were sold for over £2.5 mil each almost 2 years later. Mirrored Steven Bevan and Kalipada Tripathi from the Hall of Fame.
Ludwik Jerzyński	First 5 star player. In the top 10 for number of matches played for the club, he once became top league scorer after being injured for the first 7 matches.
Rickard Danielsson	Long standing keeper, bought for £2.5 mil and helped the club reach Division II. If he was sold 5 days later he'd have been with the club for exactly 2 years.
Silvio Trocchi Nino Kolopilalas	Strikers who were bought on the same day and spearheaded the campaign of consecutive promotions from V to II. Scored a lot of goals between them, and were eventually replaced by Alain Wyckaert and Oben Güz during the Division III season.
Michael Ahlberg Hinrik Hühn Kris Manders	The first a central defender, the other two wing backs, these three players were all bought on the same day and protected Danielsson at the back during the "V to II" promotion push. Ahlberg also had divine SP skills and the other two were being trained in wing, so eventually sold for a profit.
Sergio Mercader Sercan Atılay	These two high-PM inner midfielders were bought on the same day as the three defenders above and were trained in wing during the "V to II" promotion push. Mercader eventually sold for £4 mil, the highest ever sale by Scorpions at the time.
Lutz-Peter Beiboot Thomas Bowmaker	The final pieces in the "V to II" promotion jigsaw were these two inner midfielders. Beiboot had high passing and fancy skills, whilst Bowmaker was a typical English brute with high defending. Along with Hajduch (see youth section) they dominated the midfield as the team promoted to Division II.

Classic Logo

Home Kit - Seasons 37 to 39‎

Away Kit - Seasons 37 to 39‎

Home Kit - Seasons 40 to 44‎

Away Kit - Seasons 40 to 44

Major Achievements

Scorpions' biggest achievement thus far is reaching Division II in England after successive promotions. More detailed info is in the complete history section, but the short story is that after seasons of languishing in VI and V the team won two V leagues, one IV league, and one III league with qualifier in consecutive seasons to promote from V to II in 3 seasons. Cup runs, hatstats & stars records, and many more statistics can be seen at the bottom of this page. Scorpions have in recent times had a habit of outperforming the team abilities by winning matches and leagues against better opposition on paper. This remains a great achievement and helps motivate the younger players at the club.

Logo

Pictured on the left is the classic Stinging Scorpions logo. Designed by the manager himself, the logo was in place from the start of the club in season 27 until it was replaced by the current one in season 40 (pictured in the infobox above). The current logo was designed by a member of the logo thread on the global forum and was the result of Scorpions going through a dramatic presentational change in season 40 as they started progressing up the leagues (as too was the introduction of new kits - more below). Some fans can still be seen wearing old kits with the old logo as a mark of their time supporting the club.

Arena

Pictured in the infobox above, The Scorpion Arena has a total capacity of 72,000, is a formidable place to play and has hosted many Scorpions games. During their promotion push from division V to II during seasons 38 to 42, Scorpions managed a run of 30 home games undefeated. Considering the calibre of opponents played during this time, this is considered a great achievement for the club and shows exactly why The Scorpion Arena is so feared. Two highlights of the arena have been hosting U20 England vs U20 Suriyah and NT England vs NT Suriyah friendly games.

Kits

The kits of Stinging Scorpions have undergone many changes over the years as kit designer programs, as well as the skills of designers themselves, have improved. However the colour scheme has always remained constant - Scorpions' kits have always followed the same pattern of orange and black home kit with pink and white away kit.
The first kits Scorpions ever had only lasted two seasons and were highly basic, with plain colours and no details. In season 29 the kits were improved and more detail was added. These were pushing the limits of the "old" kit designer program though, and so lasted until the new designer was introduced in season 37. These early kits are pictured below.
The first kits created in the more advanced designer program are pictured to the top left and top right. They were very basic much like their earlier counterparts and lasted a similarly small time - 3 seasons. However as Scorpions progressed up the leagues it was clear more stylish kits were needed to go along with the new logo. With that in mind the kits pictured to the bottom left and bottom right were designed, starting with a template of shadows and then creating the Full Tilt Poker sponsor badge and the rest from scratch.
All the kits above had been created by the manager himself, but with the kit makers in The GMC doing some great work more advanced and professional kits were attainable. A request was filed and GMC kit maker naldm13 gave his design (which included a mini version of Scorpions' logo and Nike ticks for added authenticity). After taking the kit Broughy made his own additions and improvements, and later paquebot also put in some work, the result of which is the kits pictured in the infobox above. These were introduced in season 45 as the team started getting results again during their rebuild and are likely to remain as Scorpions' primary kits for many seasons to come.

Kits for seasons 27 & 28Kits for seasons 29 to 36

Mini Scorpions

Stinging Scorpions Youth Team is known simply as "Mini Scorpions" and has produced some fantastic players over the years. They play at "Scorpions Training Ground" which is adjacent to the scorpion arena. On rare occasions youth games have been played at the same time as senior games, creating a great atmosphere for the young boys hoping to break through into the senior team.

Competitive Performances

Due to the high quality of players that have come through the youth squad, the team has always been very competitive in whatever youth league it has participated in.

Early Leagues

Season	League Name	Teams	W / D / L	Position
1	Broughy's Youth League	8	13 / 0 / 1	1st
2	Broughy's Youth League	8	12 / 1 / 1	1st
1	The General Managers Club	16	18 / 4 / 8	5th
2	The General Managers Club	16	22 / 2 / 6	2nd
3	The General Managers Club	16	28 / 0 / 2	1st

The first ever youth league Mini Scorpions participated in was "Broughy's Youth League" which was created by the manager and included seven of his real life friends who were playing Hattrick at the time. This was an interesting period as every team was a brand new team (the youth academy had just been introduced) but in both seasons the manager's skills shone through and Mini Scorpions won twice in a row, losing only 2 games out of 28. As interest in the league waned it was rebranded "The General Managers Club" and opened up to the public, now with 16 teams participating. There was a greater challenge for Mini Scorpions this time, as 30 week long seasons and tougher opponents saw them finish 5th out of 16. Many of the same 16 teams stuck around for season two and as Mini Scorpions brought in some new faces and great talent, a closely fought battle ended with them finishing 2nd, just one point off 1st. The 3rd and final season of The General Managers Club was to be Scorpions time to shine however. With again many of the same teams staying in the league, Mini Scorpions found an array of talent the likes of which have never been seen again (including now U20 star Robert Loftus) and won the league by three points, breaking all league records along the way by winning 28 out of 30 matches and scoring 165 goals (they also acquired the goals against and goal difference records of 26 and 139 respectively).

The GMC Youth League System

Season	Division	W / D / L	Position
1	V	1 / 4 / 1	2nd
2	V	5 / 0 / 1	1st
3	IV	6 / 0 / 0	1st
4	III	4 / 0 / 2	1st
5	II	3 / 3 / 0	1st
6	Premier League	4 / 0 / 2	1st
7	Premier League	2 / 0 / 4	3rd
8	II	3 / 1 / 2	1st
9	Premier League	3 / 1 / 2	2nd
10	Premier League	3 / 1 / 2	3rd

The creation of The General Managers Club federation, inspired by the youth league of the same name, also saw the creation of The GMC Youth League System. Click the link for the full story, but it started off as a simple up and down promotion/relegation battle with multiple 4 team leagues all in sync. As it grew it took on the same style as the Hattrick league system with multiple leagues in the same division and double demotions from higher divisions, finally reaching a single premier league at the top. The table to the right lists the divisions as they would be today, so for example in season one Mini Scorpions were in the Non-League Premier, the 5th league in the system and therefore the equivalent of division V now (as it takes four promotions to reach the top). So, after a brief period of non-competitive league hopping to sync up, Mini Scorpions were ready to do battle again and fancied their chances after their showing in the last 16 team league. However they were only allocated into the 5th league from the top (out of 8) based on star ratings of the team. What followed was a mirror image of the senior team's promotion push, with Scorpions' famous "overperforming with an inferior team" nature shining through.
Season one saw four draws and one win on the final day which meant Mini Scorpions escaped promotion at the death and ended up 2nd. The following season they went one better and promoted, losing only 1 game, but season three saw a whitewash with Scorpions winning all 6 games. Season four was a close battle which Scorpions eventually won, taking them one league away from the top. The team then went undefeated in season five with 3 wins and 3 draws, and that was enough to take them into the Premier League after successive promotions each season to get there. Once there, the closest finish to the GMC youth league system's history saw Mini Scorpions win the whole thing at the first time of asking in season six. The winning margin was four goals, with 1st, 2nd & 3rd places all ending up on 12 points. Throughout the whole campaign Scorpions had stuck to their aggressive 2-5-3 high midfield high attack tactics and it eventually paid off with goal difference being key to winning.
As the top older players left the youth team it became harder to get results. This showed as Scorpions were narrowly demoted to division II again in season seven. Season eight however saw a rebound with the team winning the league straight away and promoting. Due to an accidental 10-0 defeat that season Scorpions made history by winning the league with a negative goal difference. Season nine saw the team rise back to prominence in the Premier League as a flurry of new talent shone through. The team battled hard against the odds but luck was not on their side as quite unlucky results left the team finishing 2nd. That bad luck would continue into season ten as some truly awful luck left the team with the same record as season nine, but finishing 3rd, despite clearly better tactical play. The talent then dissipated completely and the team tumbled down the rankings.

Notable Players

Scorpions have been lucky in the past with some wonderful youth players (such as current U20 star Robert Loftus). This section is for those players who have moved on from the team but still deserve a mention in Scorpions history.

Name	Noted For
Josh Hajduch	The greatest team player ever. He was the first ever youth pull from Scorpions new youth academy and the first ever promoted player. As captain he won the first two youth leagues with Mini Scorpions, and went on to be trained as a midfielder in the senior team where he played a key part in the promotion push to division II. Was with the team from the age of 15 until he was sold as part of the restructuring at 27. It is hoped he will return to the club later in his career.
Brodie Cant	Trained up by Scorpions with Hadjuch for a while, but was sold and became a competent inner mid.
Charlie Brinkman	A mono winger who was quick and ended up being trained by Scorpions for 2 seasons, selling for over £2 mil.
Lawrence Alexander	Probably the biggest waste. Promoted as a 17.0 year old excellent striker but bought by a noob.
Mitch Cuffe Warren Leather	All rounders who came out of the academy in recent times with specs and 4 passable/inadequate skills. It will be interesting to see how these players improve and if they will make a return to Scorpions.
Wilfred Price	Rivalled only by Loftus as Scorpions top youth pull, Price came out of the academy with excellent winger, solid passing, passable PM and passable defending. Although he had no spec, his overall skills were slightly better than Loftus and when sold at 17.0 years old he fetched £2.6 mil. His future is being watched with great interest.
Click To See	The team that won the GMC youth league system, playing in their traditional 2-5-3 formation.

Complete History

As mentioned earlier Scorpions have a huge amount of history. This section serves as a complete account of everything the team has experienced during its many seasons in existence. More detailed information on any of the player names mentioned below can be found in the previous stars section and at various other points in the article.

Previous Teams

Global season 27 was the start of the club known as Stinging Scorpions but before that records show the team having four separate guises, each with a different look and feel. Records only go as far back as season 15 which is most likely when division VI was introduced in England and when the club was initially founded. It is of interest to note that all the previous teams were situated in the league VI.771, making the club in it's current guise as Stinging Scorpions the first to break through to Series V and get out of that league.

Avon City FC
The first (and most notable) of these earlier teams on record was Avon City FC. Most likely a bot team created when division VI was introduced to England, they started in season 15 and remained in Hattrick until season 24. They gained mild success in their nine seasons in Hattrick by winning VI.771 in season 22 and having a number of 2nd place finishes. They never managed to promote though. After a 3rd place finish in season 23 the club was finally taken over by a real manager - to it's cost.

MFC4LIFE & brighton f.c.
The team that followed Avon were called MFC4LIFE and finished 2nd in VI.771 in their first and only season (24). However after being dumped out of the cup in round 1 of season 25 the owner decided to quit whilst he was ahead and the club was left in limbo again. The next team were called brighton f.c. and weren't even in existence long enough to record any results. The owner took over at the beginning of season 25 and by the end he too had left. These were troubled times for the club.

Quartz
Stability was clearly needed but this would not come just yet with Quartz, the team that took over from brighton. They inherited a clearly terrible performance from the previous team and finished 8th in VI.771 in season 25. Their first full season as a club was season 26 but they didn't do much better, improving by only one position and finishing 7th. They were knocked out of the cup in round 1 of season 27 but did win their first league game 1-0. These three points would end up being vital to Scorpions chances of not relegating. The club was about the get the stability and success it so desperately craved...

Seasons 1 - 5

Season 1 (Global 27)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
VI.771	6th	5 / 1 / 8	Round 1

Global Season 27 was the first for Stinging Scorpions, with the manager taking over after two league games (one won, one lost). The first game Scorpions ever played was against favourites for promotion AC Gingarno. It was not a pleasant experience for the home fans as the team of new boys lost 7-2. The score was 1-0 to Scorpions for a brief period when Ben Drane scored their first ever goal after 22 minutes, but it would always be tough against that opposition. Due to the obvious goalscoring talent, Scorpions started to train their boys in Scoring and began to play in more attacking 3-4-3 formations, also bringing in some new faces to train up in friendlies. The next two league games were both losses however, and it was not until Scorpions fourth league game that they saw the training pay off. After going 1-0 down at home to Breast Suckers United, the team rallied around and ran out 5-1 winners. Another two losses saw Scorpions on only 6 points from eight games and they were clearly faced with a relegation battle with six games left to go. Broughy learned quickly though and inspired his team to three wins & one draw in those final games, finishing 6th on 16 points and securing more VI.771 football next season.

Season 2 (28)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
VI.771	5th	6 / 1 / 7	Round 1

The cup would never be a strong point in these early days and the team were booted out in the first round. However it was the league that the manager was concentrating on (that would be used extensively throughout Scorpions history as an excuse for poor cup runs). After some good results at the back end of season 27 Scorpions again started well, recording three wins and one draw from the first six games. Before this season started the team had changed their plans and were now training defence. That compromised them in terms of goalscoring as they played 5-3-2 and 5-4-1 formations, but allowed them to get on the level of the top teams in the league in terms of letting goals in. The plan was to start training from the back, allowing the goals to come naturally later on. Two heavy defeats to promotion favourites Palace Exile at the turn of the season dampened spirits, but Scorpions still managed to go on and get three more wins in the final six games, allowing them to finish 5th in the league and on the same number of goals conceded as 4th place. The training was clearly paying off.

Season 3 (29)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
VI.771	4th	7 / 0 / 7	Round 1

Things were looking good for Scorpions. Now that the team had built a good defence from last season's training, they again changed their training type in the off-season. This time they moved to goalkeeping to bring in some much needed money and they would stick with it for a good few seasons to come. With a much better grasp on the workings of Hattrick, Broughy was confident that the new training would quickly turn the team into one ready to win the title by giving some tactical flexibility and quick profits. Things started well, with Scorpions winning their first game 3-1. However the next eight games saw a drastic turn in fortunes with only one win and seven losses (four of which were by a 1 goal margin). With five games to go this was the worst position Scorpions had ever been in, and it was mostly due to some bad luck in previous close games. The team would not give up though, and the ever improving goalkeeping skills of Cyril Hund along with the tactical flexibility that allowed the manager to use his players effectively saw the team score 28 goals and concede only four in the final five games. This superb run saw the team finish a comfortable 4th and it likely would have been much higher if luck had not deserted them in the first half of the season.

Season 4 (30)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
VI.771	3rd	9 / 2 / 3	Round 2

Buoyed by the superb run of five successive wins last season, season 30 saw Scorpions continue that form and get through to the 2nd round of the cup for the first time ever. They also won their first three league games, losing the fourth to newly relegated team Deli's Allstars. A much improved liverpool05 ran away with VI.771 this season by winning all 14 games, beating Scorpions twice along the way. However the three defeats mentioned were the only ones of season 30 as the tactical flexibility and profits of training goalkeeping started to shine through in the games. Scorpions drew with Deli's Allstars in the return game showing a marked improvement and gained 4 points from two games with fellow long time VI.771 friend theycallmegod (who had been in the league for three seasons before Scorpions joined). The team finished 3rd this season, 4 points ahead of the aforementioned theycallmegod and therefore showing fantastic improvement. Scorpions were on the up.

Season 5 (31)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
VI.771	4th	8 / 1 / 5	Round 1

The first few seasons in Scorpions career saw a very natural and gradual progression (6th -> 5th -> 4th -> 3rd / 5 wins -> 6 wins -> 7 wins -> 9 wins). This however was the first season to break that progression and give the manager a much needed kick up the backside. The first blow came from not making it past round 1 of the cup, a backwards step from the previous season. Scorpions then lost their first league game 3-0 at home to theycallmegod. After having some good results against them last season, better was expected and it left the team on the back foot throughout the league. Although Scorpions managed to win all their games against weaker opponents it was against the title contenders that they lost out, taking only 1 point (against Deli's Allstars) from six games. A close final week saw theycallmegod finally win the league after many seasons with a 4-0 victory against Scorpions, but a meagre 25 points and 4th place made the Scorpions manager realise he still had work to do.

Seasons 6 - 10

Season 6 (32)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
VI.771	1st	12 / 0 / 2	Round 3

For probably the only season in Scorpions history Broughy indicated he was going to concentrate on the cup rather than the league this season. It seems to be a winning formula as this would turn out to be Scorpions final season in the league which the manager was not too bothered about at the start of the season. During the off-season Scorpions once against changed their training regime. The money from keeper training had finally hit a peak and there was a clear weakness in the team - the midfield (the only area which hadn't been attended to). With that in mind the manager brought in some top of the range playmaking trainers with the team's new wealth (Zadnikar, Hassan and Yanakiev - see above) and duly set about playing them in the cup. They had an immediate effect as Scorpions won their first two cup games 4-0 each, reaching the third round for the first time. Although the third round game was lost, it seemed the new midfield was the missing piece to the puzzle and the first team began playing in league games again.
Scorpions had lost their first league game to Deli's Allstars away from home after playing their second team but managed to win their second. With the team now out of the cup it was time to proceed with all guns blazing. The team won their third game 5-0 but hit a snag in the fourth game, losing 2-0 to theycallmegod away from home. The team would not be disheartened though and set about tearing up the league, winning their next nine games on the trot (including a 4-0 drubbing of theycallmegod) to set up a title clash with Deli's Allstars. With one game remaining Deli's were 1 point ahead of Scorpions meaning anything but a loss gave them the title. In 3rd place was theycallmegod but they were too far off to trouble for 2nd. Scorpions had already secured their best finish yet.
After losing the first game of the season 5-1 to Deli's away from home, it was Scorpions turn to host and with nothing to lose the manager played a blinder, focusing attacks in the middle and maximising the midfield levels. The new midfield took full advantage and dominated possession throughout the match. New midfielder Zadnikar broke the deadlock after 35 minutes to put Scorpions in front but this was short lived as Deli's struck back just before and after half time to lead 2-1. On the 60 minute mark Scorpions managed to draw level. The game had been rough up to this point and numerous injuries to the new midfield of Scorpions had occurred. At this point things were looking grim since a draw wasn't good enough, but in the 69th minute Scorpions' goalkeeper Gatrumat Sen scored a dazzling free kick to put the team ahead 3-2. They held on for the final 21 minutes and Scorpions had duly won their first trophy, finishing 2 points ahead of Deli's after a wondrous season.
Things had finally come together. The tactics employed in the final game showed the manager had some talent as it allowed the team to win both the game and league with a worse squad of players. There was only one final hurdle to overcome - the qualification match. Never before had this team (in any of it's iterations) been promoted from Division VI, but that was about to change as Scorpions demolished Croydon Cosmos 8-2 away from home to secure their place in V.97 next season. Season 32 is undoubtedly the one that got Scorpions off to the start they needed to become successful. Another poor performance may have seen them go the way of the previous teams, but this season showed the manager just what he could do and how much his team had progressed. From this point on success was destined to happen.

Season 7 (33)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
V.97	7th	4 / 0 / 10	Round 2

This season Scorpions would win the BDF (Bottom Division Federation) Cup which kept the fan's spirits up in otherwise difficult times. Although clearly outclassed in the new series V league, the whole club was excited at the prospect of a new experience - a battle for survival. The main aim of season 33 was to simply finish 6th and gain a play-off match. Things started well after beating fellow newly promoted team Rudders Allstars 4-2 in the first game, and after a loss to a top team, Scorpions won their third match by beating Anning's Aces. Both wins had come at home, signifying the importance of the team's new midfield. However things did not continue very well and Scorpions only managed to win one more game in the next ten. The final game away to Rudders Allstars was a battle for pride, with both teams already destined for demotion. Scorpions won the game 4-1 to secure 7th place and at least took something from the experience. With a young team this season was more about consolidating ready to dominate whatever VI league the team ended up in. That is exactly what happened.

Season 8 (34)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
VI.861	1st	14 / 0 / 0	Round 4

Season 33 didn't see much in the way of improvement in the team as money was saved ready for the eventual demotion. A string of off-season purchases and a midfield that now had a seasons worth of extra training since the last time the team were in VI (the same players were still there) saw Scorpions dominate the league in season 34. The team won every game by 3 goals or more and kept a clean sheet for 1251 minutes of league football - it wasn't until the 81st minute of the final game that Scorpions conceded their first and only goal of the season. It is hoped that at some point the team will go one better and go a full season without conceding, thereby finally achieving the perfect season, but it is unlikely that their goal tally of 82 from this season will be beaten. This was also Scorpions first season of reaching round 4 of the cup, another record.

Season 9 (35)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
V.208	2nd	12 / 0 / 2	Round 3

A renewed confidence ran through the team for season 35 after the demolition of VI.861, and with the same players still present Scorpions felt much more prepared for series V this time around. Once again the same midfield remained, and once again they had a season of extra training since the last time scorpions were in V. This would prove crucial as the now much better equipped Scorpions team set about winning 12 of their 14 games in V.208, losing twice only to the eventual league winners, and finishing in 2nd place. This was a huge improvement on the last time the team were in V and it was clear the team had turned a corner. From this point on the team would see gradual improvements made as trained up midfielders would be sold, trainees bought, and the remaining money put into new first team players.

Season 10 (36)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
V.208	1st	12 / 0 / 2	Round 4

After the encouraging performance in the previous season Scorpions were confident of doing well again in the same league. That confidence only increased when it was realised that the newly demoted team was inactive and would turn into a bot (and therefore an easy win) half way through the season. This did not stop the newly promoted team beating Scorpions in their first game of the season though, as the team still had all its high quality players from the season before. A close 2-1 defeat to young crazed peelings in the third game had disheartened Scorpions as they now sat on a one win out of three record. The next 10 games were all excellent victories though, including a 5-0 win at home to young crazed peelings, and saw Scorpions go into the final game with a chance to promote automatically.
It was however out of their hands. The table had Scorpions on 33 points with young crazed peelings on 34. The teams weren't playing each other though (Scorpions had already lost 2-1 and won 5-0 against peelings), and that would be decisive. The poor fortune of playing the newly demoted team first in the schedule this season turned into good fortune as now Scorpions were playing a bot team - a certain victory. That meant anything but a win for peelings, who were playing 3rd placed team Albster FC away from home, would hand Scorpions the title. Even though Albster could not improve or worsen their league position at this point the team played it honourably and beat peelings 3-1, handing Scorpions the title and automatic promotion to series IV by two points. Scorpions had hit the big time.

Seasons 11 - 15

Season 11 (37)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
IV.13	7th	4 / 2 / 8	Round 4

Season 37 was Scorpions first in series IV and would be a mirror image of their first promotion to series V, ie. demotion by finishing in 7th position. Whilst the team was progressing nicely and gaining some nice ratings from a few new players brought into the mix (such as forwards Trocchi & Kolopilalas and keeper Danielsson), it was clear that it just wasn't ready for IV yet. A few good results were gained but Scorpions ended up 7th by two points, despite defeating the eventual sixth placed team 4-1 away from home in the second to last game. Clearly another regrouping was needed. The season was not a waste though, as the experience and money gained really helped in the next few seasons which ended up some of the finest in the team's long history.

Season 12 (38)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
V.181	1st	10 / 2 / 2	Round 5

During their time in IV the Scorpions team had matured and the manager learned many lessons. With that experience in the bank the team set about tearing up V.181 in the same way they had tore up VI.861 a few seasons ago. Things did not go as well as back then though with tougher opposition making it more difficult to lift the title. Despite this, Scorpions managed to win the league by 3 points but ended up facing a play-off match for promotion back to IV. Unfortunately injuries sustained near the end of the season saw the team lose their qualification match 3-1 and face another season in V.181.

Season 13 (39)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
V.181	1st	11 / 2 / 1	Round 5

Towards the end of season 38 Scorpions began to stall, and after losing the qualification match it was clear a shake up was needed. Season 39 would see the biggest team change for a long time with a switch to winger training during the off season. Three playmaking trainees were kept and the others sold on (youth talent Josh Hajduch being one of the survivors), and five new players were brought in to make this the biggest player change in Scorpions history. Mercader & Atilay were the two uber-winger trainees, with Hühn & Manders the wing back trainees. Ahlberg was the new central defender with divine set pieces skills. With this new team Scorpions once again won V.181 but this time gained automatic promotion. Scorpions were back in IV.

Season 14 (40)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
IV.35	1st	13 / 1 / 0	Round 4

Momentum was clearly with Scorpions at this point and with a new keeper, new defence, new wingers and new forwards all bought in the past few seasons, the midfield finally got the attention it needed for season 40. Beiboot and Bowmaker were brought in during the off season to form a partnership with surviving trainee and youth player Hajduch. This completed the team perfectly and these eleven players would go on to create history.
After their last experience in IV the manager was initially cautious on the hopes he had in IV.35 but he knew that this new team would be a big force in the league. That proved to be the case, winning their first game 3-2 away from home despite losing midfielder Bowmaker to a red card. The first home game the week after saw the new team really settle in and hit six past their opposition. Another narrow 3-2 away win and a further 4-1 home win set up a top of the table clash between Scorpions and "no to mk", at the latter's arena. Both teams went into the game having won their first four and both left undefeated, the score ending 3-3 after Scorpions took the lead on 3 separate occasions.
Whilst Scorpions went from strength to strength after this tough point away from home, no to mk faded and dropped points. In the return game Scorpions ran out comfortable 3-1 winners and ended the season on a 9 game winning (and 14 game unbeaten) streak. Finishing the season on 40 points was more than enough to gain automatic promotion to series III, the highest the club had ever been. The new team were working together perfectly and 3 consecutive league wins with two consecutive promotions gave the manager a lot of encouragement.

Season 15 (41)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
III.3	1st	9 / 3 / 2	Round 6

In previous seasons Scorpions had always followed a similar pattern of getting promoted, dropping straight back down, getting promoted again and quickly getting another successive promotion, only to once again drop back down. This two steps forward one step back approach had worked well so far, but it turned out that season 41 would be different. Due to the age of long time strikers Trocchi & Kolopilalas, new forwards Alain Wyckaert and Oben Güz were brought in during the off season. Unfortunately they were out with injury for the first few games and the old man Trocchi played out his final few games for the club. With the rest of the strong team being retained from the previous season, Scorpions set about winning their first game 3-0 at home but could not overcome a battle hardened III side in their second, losing 2-0 away.
However as soon as the two mercenary strikers got back to fitness the team improved, winning back to back home fixtures against difficult competition. In the fifth game Scorpions came up against Cleethorpes, a team the likes of which the manager had never encountered before. They relied on a huge defence (courtesy of their England NT goalkeeper Lyle Courtman, ironically a player who Scorpions manager Broughy1322 would use extensively during his time as NT manager a season later) and tried to either counter their opponents or press them into submission, winning on cheeky set piece goals. It had been a good tactic so far as they were topping the table with Scorpions and, facing them away from home, Scorpions fell to the same fate as others had before them, losing 1-0 to a goal from a corner kick.
The manager was clearly annoyed by these tactics paying off and urged his players to let out their frustration on the next four teams, which they did in style by beating them all. This set up the return fixture with Cleethorpes as a key one, with Scorpions one point ahead of their opponents at the top of the table. The team had learnt from the frustration last time though and went very attacking, playing 3-4-3 for the first time in a long time and winning the game 1-0. This was the turning point of the league as Scorpions went 4 points ahead at the top of the table and finally had some breathing space. It was some much needed breathing space though since Scorpions had three away games with four games in total to go. The team battled through two consecutive difficult away games to get a point from each, and won their final home game 3-0 (completing the whitewash of seven home victories) to set up a tense final week.
It all came down to this: Cleethorpes on 27 points with +10 goal difference, Scorpions on 29 points with +18 goal difference. Anything but a loss would see Scorpions win their fourth consecutive title, and at half time with Scorpions drawing 0-0 away to defence heavy counter attacking Dynamo Salopia & Cleethorpes winning 2-0, things were in the balance. Disaster struck on the 60 minute mark as a Salopia counter attack put them ahead 1-0 and, with only 30 minutes left, left little hope for Scorpions. With 15 minutes to go though the manager made an inspired tactical change by taking off the right wing back and replacing him with Robert Loftus, the Scorpions youth superstar winger, to massively increase an already high level right wing attack. It took less than 30 seconds for Loftus to make an impact as the equaliser was scored by midfield king Beiboot after an attack from the right. A tense 15 minutes remained but Scorpions held out and had won series III.3 at the first time of asking, albeit on goal difference (6 more than Cleethorpes)!
Much like their first league win in VI.771, there was one more hurdle to overcome in the shape of a qualification match against series II.2 side The Lionhood (who had incidentally beaten the winners of III.3 in a qualification game last season too). The Scorpions manager had planned for this however and actually took a risk in the Salopia game by playing it cool in preparation. A change in training intensity for the players helped them get into top form ready for the match and an all out Match of the Season game was ordered. The players duly delivered and recorded a staggering 4-1 win away from home to gain their best ratings ever and a much deserved promotion to series II.2. This had been Scorpions greatest season so far and after four successive league titles and three successive promotions it was time for the manager to run for the job of England National Team Manager, which he won. This would be the final bit of success for Scorpions for a while and to this day remains one of the greatest runs of a club team ever. The players who played for this fantastic iteration of the team will always be remembered by the loyal Scorpions fans.

Seasons 16 - 20

Season 16 (42)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
II.2	7th	2 / 0 / 12	Round 6

Scorpions thought they had hit the big time by reaching series IV. That was nothing compared to the dizzying heights of series II. Season 42 started well with a 4-0 home win to continue the great roll Scorpions had been on. After an away loss another home victory was recorded and things were looking good. The next two matches were however disappointing losses and with the manager pre-occupied by national team duties, the ageing players of the club were running out of steam. Once out of the cup at a record equalling round 6 it was decided that at the turn of the season Scorpions would sell up and start from scratch (see the golden generation section for more details). Scorpions finished 7th in the league and were demoted.
However, even though the season had been cut short records had tumbled all over the place. The third home game this season marked the end of a 30 game unbeaten run (and 22 game winning run) at home over the past 4 seasons since demoting from IV in season 37. Given the level of teams Scorpions were encountering, this is a staggering achievement. This season also saw Scorpions hit their highest ranking to date of 10th in England, and they hit a record 3388 members in their fan club. It also saw their biggest game attendance of 60,000 spectators. The legendary squad of players were now all sold except for one superstar by the name of Robert Loftus. He would fuel the squad rebirth and be the inspiration for the future.

Season 17 (43)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
III.6	8th	0 / 0 / 14	Round 4

Season 43 marked the first time in Scorpions history that they had a) never won a game, b) never gained any points, and c) finished 8th in the league. This was to be expected though as the re-build of the team began. With superstar Loftus playing for the England U20 squad and needing to finish his winger training before the move to defence, the rest of the team was filled with money-makers and in the 16 weeks the team made a total profit of £4,651,521. Mahsun Manço was bought for just over £3 million as the "other" wingback with Loftus and finished off his winger training in the same way. He would be the first of the new breed of players that would eventually help Scorpions lift the title.

Season 18 (44)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
IV.4	8th	0 / 1 / 13	Round 3

This season would see another horrible demotion as Scorpions continued on their rebuild. However they did change their training type for the first time in a while - to defending. The final three defenders from the "Golden Generation" were bought to complete the set (Paul King, Stephen Lankester & Mikko Pyykölä) and the team were finally on the right track towards the title. With five defence trainees who would be with the team for over ten seasons, and the other five there to make money, things were finally moving forward. This was the true beginning of the rebuilding plan that the manager had envisaged. There was also slight encouragement as the team managed to scrape a point in a hard fought match in the second half of the season.

Season 19 (45)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
V.85	5th	5 / 4 / 5	Round 3

Season 19 saw Scorpions finally stop the rot as they achieved their first win in a long time and found themselves able to compete in a league with reasonably weak teams. Even with a very weak team of their own Scorpions were able to tactically outplay their opponents in some instances and came away with five wins and four draws for a total of 19 points. The team missed out on 4th spot by a single point however so had to play a qualifier to stay in the league, but they won that comfortably 5-0 to secure their position for the following season.

Season 20 (46)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
V.85	1st	12 / 2 / 0	Round 6

In the off-season before Scorpions' historic 20th season the manager brought in some older players to boost the team's performance. Being cheap with wages and initial costs it was thought they would be able to do just enough to compete in the league, given the encouraging performances the season beforehand with a very weak team. It went even better than expected though as the ever-improving defensive line kept the scores low and some excellent tactical choices with home advantage helped the team progress to round 6 of the cup, equalling their best and narrowly missing out on round 7. In the league the team were a class apart, winning all but two games and recording no losses to put another trophy on the shelf for Scorpions 20th season. Auto-promotion ensured division IV football the following season and was the first reward reaped from the long term team plan.

Seasons 21 - 25

Season 21 (47)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
IV.11	1st	10 / 4 / 0	Round 8

Scorpions were promoted to what started the season as the toughest IV league in England, and finished as the 3rd toughest. After two games against the top two in the league Scorpions had managed to get 4 impressive points. However both teams then decided to quit hattrick, giving every other team in the league an effective 2 point advantage over Scorpions. Despite this, the team managed to go undefeated for the whole season in the face of some difficult opposition and secured auto-promotion with one game to go. In the cup the team also managed to reach round 8, the furthest ever, and were only defeated in extra time due to the poor stamina of the oldies in the team. A short while after that cup run however the team brought in five new players (3 inner midfielders and 2 wingers) to start the next phase of the long term plan, who helped win the league and made sure the team were prepared for division III. The team ended the season undefeated over 90 minutes in all competitive games for two seasons, and broke all previous stars and hatstats records. The plan was working.

Season 22 (48)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
III.2	4th	6 / 3 / 5	Round 6

With the team not yet complete the manager knew that the "earlier than planned" promotion to III would be difficult. However he didn't count on promoting to the hardest series III division there was, with teams who could easily hold their own in the English Premier League. According to other managers III.2 has historically always been the hardest division by quite some margin, and it doesn't help when you get no luck, as Scorpions found out one week when they were both harshly knocked out of the cup and lost their first home game in a long time, despite smashing their previous Hatstats record by achieving a total of 418 (without a MOTS). The team that luckily won that game would go on to win the league, but Scorpions managed to edge into 4th to ensure safety. Promoting would however be difficult in seasons to come.

Season 23 (49)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
III.2	3rd	8 / 2 / 4	Round 7 (8)

The hard slog in the toughest series III.2 continued. With the team still not complete this was another season of "doing the best possible", and after the title was unobtainable the team gave up 2nd place in order to have a better fixture list the following season. However it was not all bad, as the final two strikers were brought in at the end of the season to complete the team ready for next season, and Scorpions finished as one of the best in England in terms of ratings. In addition all seven home games were won, a feat equalled only by the title winners. Things were looking good for the future, despite the difficulty of promotion.

Season 24 (50)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
III.2	1st	14 / 0 / 0	Round 7 (8)

What a season! Scorpions 24th Hattrick season, the 50th overall, saw an incredible performance by the team not only in the league but in other competitions too. With Botaya & Fouquet, the newest players of the team, completing the line-up the 14-strong squad hit the ground running with a home win in game one. They then simply didn't let up, beating all opponents both home and away for the rest of the season, as the true potential of the team which had been getting built over the last 8 seasons was finally being shown. A flawless performance in what was consistently one of the hardest leagues in England saw Scorpions finally promote from III.2, after 3 seasons of trying, as the highest ranked team in III. They would follow in the footsteps of last season's III.2 winners, Low Fogrigg, and join II.2 for season 51. But that wasn't all. The need to play first team players (albeit in non-optimal positions) in non-league games meant a solid round 7 was reached in the English Cup, only narrowly missing out on round 8 with a 1-0 loss, and more importantly meant the team could compete well in The GMC Cup. In it's 11th edition, Scorpions had never been beyond the first knockout round of this cup competition and hadn't participated in most of them due to flagchasing. This season was different though, and after coming through the group stage with 3 wins and beating Cyclones F.C. in the first knockout round, it was time for Scorpions to shine. They broke the cup hatstats record in the quarter finals with 348 and then broke it again in the semi finals with 402 (and incidentally became the first team in GMC cup history to get over 400 hatstats). The final was against GMC cup veterans and previous champions Walton Troopers, but they weren't intimidated and won the game 5-1, once again breaking the hatstats record by achieving a performance of 423. That wasn't everything though, as Scorpions also won the inaugural Teesside Open tournament. Created by Broughy, this 12 team tournament invited all the best teams from the Teesside region to come and battle it out for supremacy. By winning all 7 games Scorpions proved their worth, and alongside two single match wins (one against next season's league mates and previous GMC Cup champions AFC Luddite) and an intermediary friendly win between cups, the team were on the biggest high of their history going into the final week of the season. All that was left was an end of season challenge between the UK and former colonies, where Scorpions had been drawn away from home against the Indian premier league champions. This was not a problem though as, despite losing keeper Tucan late into the game without replacement, Scorpions dominated and ran out 6-3 winners. Taking all matches into account Scorpions had won 38 out of 39 games in season 50, achieving a 97.44% win rate. This was a remarkable season and easily the best up to this point. Season 50 will go down in history as a wonderful one for Stinging Scorpions.

Season 25 (51)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
II.2	1st	14 / 0 / 0	Round 7 (8)

Nobody would have thought that the incredible events of the previous season could be repeated in Division II, but after spending 3 seasons in the most difficult Division III league and managing to win it with a 100% win record and as the highest ranked III winner, Scorpions were rewarded by joining a relatively weak Division II league. This was caused by 3 teams choosing to rebuild with the others being generally weaker teams than Scorpions. This all meant that the team breezed through the league on their way to the English Premier, winning all 14 games (which hasn't happened in Division II since there were bots in the very early seasons) and therefore promoting to the Premier League as the highest ranked team outside of it. After being in II.2 when the whole plan which brought the team to this point was started it seemed fitting that this was the league which was won to reach the top flight for the very first time. Things were about the get very interesting indeed as a new chapter in Scorpions' history was about to be opened...

Seasons 26 - 30

Season 26 (52)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
English Premier	3rd	7 / 1 / 6	Round 6 (8)

Scorpions first ever season in the Premier League was an up and down affair, but ultimately successful. Three good results followed by three bad ones meant the start of the season was shaky at best, but a strong second half allowed the team to finish 3rd despite being clearly weaker than other teams in some areas. These areas were soon addressed for following seasons and the lessons the Scorpions manager learned in his first season managing a top flight team would prove invaluable. The less said about the cup the better though.

Season 27 (53)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
English Premier	3rd	9 / 1 / 4	Round 8 (9)

To Be Written

Season 28 (54)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
English Premier	6th	6 / 2 / 6	Final

To Be Written

Season 29 (55)

League	Position	W / D / L	Cup
English Premier	???	? / ? / ?	Round ?

In progress

Statistics

Below lies a various collection of statistics, from the best/longest serving players to the most money in the Scorpions bank account at any one time. They will be updated when new records are reached and serve as a quick overview of the high points of Stinging Scorpions history.

Senior Team

Category	Match/Season	Value
Hatstats Record	479500259	520
Stars Record	479500265	111
Team TSI Record	Season 51	2,654,090
Highest Ranking in England	Season 53	1st
Most Fan Club Members	Season 52	3685
Most Friendly Spectators	253690813	7596
Longest Cup Run	Season 54	Final

Players

Category	Player	Value
Highest TSI	Robert Loftus	266,140
Most Stars	Alexander Quinn	13.5
Most Matches Played	Robert Loftus	284+
Most Clean Sheets	Grigore Tucan	63+
Most Times Captain	Robert Loftus	124+

Money

Category	Value
Most Money	£28,050,563
Most Expensive Signing	£3,860,000 (Grigore Tucan)
Highest Valued Sale	£4,000,000 (Sergio Mercader)
Highest Valued Youth Pull Sale	£2,635,680 (Wilfred Price)

Youth Team

Category	Match	Value
Hatstats Record	23928403	217
Stars Record	45919069	76
Highest Sector Rating	32331189	titanic (very high)

History at a Glance

Season	Global Season		Division	Position		Cup Round	Teams Remaining
28	54		English Premier	6th		Final	2
27	53		English Premier	3rd		Round 8 (9)	64
26	52		English Premier	3rd		Round 6 (7)	256
25	51		II.2	1st		Round 7 (8)	128
24	50		III.2	1st		Round 7 (8)	128
23	49		III.2	3rd		Round 7 (8)	128
22	48		III.2	4th		Round 6	512
21	47		IV.11	1st		Round 8	128
20	46		V.85	1st		Round 6	512
19	45		V.85	5th		Round 3	4096
18	44		IV.4	8th		Round 3	4096
17	43		III.6	8th		Round 4	2048
16	42		II.2	7th		Round 6	512
15	41		III.3	1st		Round 6	512
14	40		IV.35	1st		Round 4	2048
13	39		V.181	1st		Round 5	1024
12	38		V.181	1st		Round 5	1024
11	37		IV.13	7th		Round 4	2048
10	36		V.208	1st		Round 4	2048
9	35		V.208	2nd		Round 3	4096
8	34		VI.861	1st		Round 4	2048
7	33		V.97	7th		Round 2	8192
6	32		VI.771	1st		Round 3	4096
5	31		VI.771	4th		Round 1	16384
4	30		VI.771	3rd		Round 2	8192
3	29		VI.771	4th		Round 1	16384
2	28		VI.771	5th		Round 1	16384
1	27		VI.771	6th		Round 1	16384

• In season 49 the total number of cup rounds in England dropped from 14 to 13. The number displayed in brackets is the adjusted cup round (or, the round which the team would have been at had there been 14 rounds) in order to compare different seasons.