Fifty-seven years ago, on his 39th birthday, Trebor Mahtal left the streets of Mazabuka, in southern Zambia, for the first time to board a flight to Germany. After studying a few languages, watching as much football as possible and earning his National C licence, he went in search of his big break in football management.
The young Mahtal probably couldn’t have conceived the success or the number of clubs and air miles he would go on to rack up. The Zambian managed 28 clubs in 2,538 matches, winning 21 league titles and 21 cups. His clubs scored a total of 5,065 goals (1.99 per match) and conceded 2,707 (1.06 per match), and he racked up a career win ratio of 60%. Mahtal spent a total of £2.22 billion on 355 players and accrued £3.75 billion by selling an incredible 774 players.
He concluded his career without reaching the worldwide or national hall of fame due to his nomadic approach to management. That also resulted in him speaking fluent English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Malay and Spanish, and good Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Serbian and Slovenian.
Mahtal’s Long and Illustrious Football Manager Career
Mahtal’s career began all the way back in early June 2024, when he hopped on a Zoom call with the chairman of Latvian club SK Super Nova Salaspils. A few days later, Mahtal was heading for Latvia to begin his Football Manager career with a one-year deal worth £750 per week. He was given the task of rescuing Super Nova, who sat bottom of the Latvian league after 17 games, from relegation and not only achieved it admirably but led the club to the Latvian cup in his second season.
Mahtal cuts his managerial teeth in Ireland and Malaysia
Mahtal faced a long wait to find his second job in management, but six months later, he landed in Ireland with second-tier side Longford Town. He won the Irish First Division within five months, stabilised the club in the top tier and led them to Irish Cup in December 2028. An unexpected move saw Mahtal head east and nearly halve his wages to just £400 per week by moving to Malaysia with Perak FC. He guided the club to promotion by winning the MBSB Bank Championship in October 2029 then spent a few years building the club up in the shadow of the mighty Johor. But, in 2032, he finally delivered success by winning the Shopee Piola FA Malaysia and MFL Challenge Cup. He ended up managing 148 games at Perak, the fourth longest stint of his career.
First huge club and taste of South American football
However, Mahtal then spent 10 months out of football as he went in search of his next opportunity. That eventually took him to the other side of the world and by far his biggest job so far with Peruvian side Universitario. He revitalised the sleeping giant and led them to the first top-tier domestic title of his career in November 2035.
Mahtal’s ability attracts major European sides
Mahtal’s achievements attracted German side Eintracht Frankfurt, who handed him by far his biggest contract yet on £12.5k per week, in December 2035. Mahtal showcased his transfer acumen and his propensity for snapping up potential wonderkids, and led an exciting Eintracht side to Bundesliga glory in his first full season.
Next up, Mahtal headed for Italy with relegated Atalanta. He inherited an exciting young team, which he led to immediate promotion back to Serie A. After establishing them back in the top flight, his ability caught the attention of sleeping giant AS Roma – which saw Mahtal end his time at a club trophyless for the first of just two spells in his career. Roma handed him a massive £80k per week contract and, led by the goals of superstar striker Giacomo Cobianchi, he took Roma to Serie A glory and won Supercoppa Italia. Roma was the most successful spell of Mahtal’s career, winning an impressive 83% of his 54 matches in charge.
That success saw a true big boy of European football come calling as Manchester United handed the Zambian a whopping £120k per week. Mahtal inherited a team of elite players, including arguably the best player he ever worked with, midfielder Noel Fofana, and spent the biggest transfer fee of his career to sign winger Arvid Gouweleeuw for £80m from AZ. He swiftly led Man United to Premier League glory and went on to win his sole European Champions League, winning 75% of his 56 matches at the club.
A brief South American flirtation before returning to Europe
Mahtal fancied a change of pace following that big club experience, taking the unusual move to Argentina’s Racing Club. However, he inherited a club in crisis and ended the shortest stint of his career after just 18 matches with his second lowest win ratio of 39%.
Somewhat scarred, he chose to return to Europe for a new challenge and was approached by West Ham United, who gave him a 10-fold wage increase to £35k a week. He built a solid team and led West Ham to the Europa Conference League in May 2043. That success earned another big club opportunity as Juventus nearly doubled his wage to £65k. He spent a season rebuilding the Old Lady and led them to Serie A glory in May 2045. That earned another big job at Borussia Dortmund, who oddly halved his wages to £30k, where he immediately usurped Bayern to win Bundesliga and his first Europa League in May 2046.
Mahtal heads for Mexico
After plenty of European success, Mahtal fancied a taste of a different style of football. He headed to North America for the first time, joining Mexican club Nexaca on £12k a week. He spent a few Mexican campaigns building an exciting Necaxa side and won Liga MX Clausura in May 2048. That caught the attention of underachieving Tigres, who immediately kept Mahtal in Mexico and he swiftly led them to the Leagues Cup and won Liga MX Apertura in December 2048.
Another long stint in Europe
That success caught the eye of Spanish side Valencia, where Mahtal would enjoy the third longest stay of his career. He led Valencia into the Champions League then finished 2nd in LaLiga before leading an exciting young side to league glory in May 2051 led by future global superstar winger Romain Combes.
In typical Mahtal fashion, he opted for a change of pace as he headed for the first of three spells in Switzerland. Taking control of FC Zürich, he mounted a title challenge before winning the league and cup double in May and June 2053. Next up, he headed for Slovenia with NK Olumpija Ljubljana, where he swiftly won a league and cup double in his first season.
Another big club followed as Mahtal joined his fourth and final Italian club, AC Milan. Earning a big £60k a week, he stabilised and heavily rebuilt an aging squad, then finished second in Serie A while winning the Europa League for the second time in May 2056. Mahtal swiftly headed back to Switzerland to join his former club’s rivals Young Boys, leading them to the Raiffeisen Super League title in his first season.
Mahtal was keen for a bigger challenge and decided to target the letter Q with Scotland’s oldest club Queen’s Park. This ended up being Mahtal’s longest reign of his career, staying in Glasgow for just over four years as he led the club out 203 times. Using Queen’s Park’s strong youth recruitment, he built an exciting young team that gradually challenged Scotland’s elite and won the League Cup in December 2060 then a maiden cinch Premiership title in May 2061.
The final club of this European stint took Mahtal back to England for the third and final time. He took over at a strong Fulham, where he built another youthful squad to win the club’s maiden Premier League in May 2063.
Heading back to Asia and South America
Keen to broaden his horizons, Mahtal had switched on the Japanese league in the early 2060s and took advantage by moving to the J League for the first time with Gamba Osaka in May 2063. He took full advantage of the club’s exceptional youth production to slowly build a strong young squad led by centre back Hiroshi Nagai and striker Tetsuya Wada. And those youngsters became champions of Asia by winning the AFC Champions League in May 2066.
Next up, he headed back to South America with Chilean giants Colo Colo. After steadying the ship for half a season, Mahtal stormed to the Chilean title in November 2067. That attracted an Argentinian giant in Buenos Aires side Independiente. He again spent a year rebuilding the squad before winning Liga Profesional in July 2069. Those final South American stints saw Mahtal win 72% of matches at both Colo Colo and Independiente.
Mahtal rebuilds two German clubs to cup glory
Mahtal quickly headed back to Europe as he joined Hannover 96, who found themselves struggling in 2. Bundesliga. he led them away from any relegation concerns then used considerable finances to rebuild, win 2. Bundesliga in his second season and finish 8th in the first season back in Bundesliga. However, in that first season, a team of future superstars led by Janis Pogodins, who soon became the best striker in the world at Newcastle, went on to win DFB-Pokal in May 2072.
Mahtal enjoyed that time back in Germany so much that he decided to stay in the country to tick off the 24th letter of the challenge. They consolidated in 10th in 2. Bundesliga in his first season before strengthening squad to win the league and gain promotion in May 2074. Mahtal continued strengthening Dresden’s squad and won DFB-Pokal in their second season in the top tier. Dresden was Mahtal’s second-longest stint at a club, playing 164 matches with a 49% win ratio, the fourth-lowest of his career.
Ticking off K in Japan
With just two letters remaining, Mahtal aimed for the letter K. He took the reins at Kawasaki Frontale, who’d become one of the top five teams in Japan and, after just 10 months back in the country, he led them to the country’s primary cup competition, the J.League Cup in November 2077.
Mahtal finishes his career with the elusive X
The most difficult letter of the challenge was X, given no playable club’s name actually begins with X. Mahtal plumped for Swiss side Neuchâtel Xamax, who’d enjoyed a rise in fortunes of late. He quickly built a very competitive side that finished 2nd to his former side Young Boys in his first season. But a big summer rebuild saw them put that right to sign out in style with the Swiss league and cup double, including a new national record 100 points.
Below are a couple of charts visually tracking Mahtal’s career progression, both in Football Manager and in my Google Doc tracker.
The Football World in 2080
A lot of mad things have happened in this save and the world has changed dramatically, so I think it’s worth having a quick look at the state of things in 2080. For example, Mahtal’s former club Valencia are the most reputable team in the world, followed by Newcastle, Chelsea, AC Milan, Juventus, Nice, Atlético, Aston Villa, Atalanta, Barcelona and Flamengo. More randomly, Mexico is now top of the FIFA rankings ahead of Brazil, France, Italy, Argentina, Portugal, England and Japan.
Leagues and cups update
England: The likes of Man United and Man City have both been relegated during this save. Newcastle just won their third successive Premier League title, prior to which Aston Villa won three out of four. Tottenham just won the Championship and Man United beat Derby 3-1 in the playoff final.
Italy: Milan are the current champions, racking up a ludicrous 109 points with 1 draw and 1 defeat. Prior to that, Atalanta won back-to-back titles and Milan won the previous three.
Spain: The big story in Spain is that Real Madrid haven’t won LaLiga for 14 years. Despite Valencia being the world’s most reputable team, Atlético have won the last three titles, Valencia won it in 2077 and Barcelona won the previous six on the bounce.
Germany: Unbelievable scenes in Germany saw perennial winners FC Bayern relegated for the first time in 2076. They returned at the first time of asking, but rivals Dortmund have assumed their position as the dominant force, winning the last six titles. Gladbach won two before that, along with one for Wolfsburg.
France: PSG have been usurped as the dominant force in France by Strasbourg and Nice. PSG won the majority of titles up to 2066 and won three between 2073 and 2076, but Nice won three on the bounce before Strasbourg became the current champions.
Portugal: The only major European league that Mahtal didn’t manage in has seen a surprise contender challenge the big three. Vizela appeared out of nowhere in the 2070s, winning their maiden title in 2075 and adding three more in the last five years, with Porto and Benfica winning a title each. Leixoes have also become a strong force, finishing third this season above Benfica and Sporting.
Scotland: Massive change has occurred in Scotland, where Rangers just finished 9th and Celtic finished 5th. Indeed, Rangers haven’t won the league since 2041 and Celtic haven’t won it for 13 years, which is their only title since 2058. In their place have come Hibernian, who’ve won 9 titles since 2052, and Aberdeen, who’ve won 15 titles since 2053. But the current top team is Mahtal’s former club, who won the league in 2078 and 2080.
Champions League: Europe’s elite trophy has been shared around somewhat since Newcastle won four out of five between 2072 and 2076. Juventus won it in 2078 followed by Valencia and current holders Chelsea, who beat Villarreal 2-0 in the final.
Copa Libertadores: Argentinian sides have taken full control of South America’s elite competition, winning the last eight. Two of Mahtal’s former clubs have wno the last two, with Racing the current South American champions and Internacional won the previous edition.
European Championship: EURO 2080 is about to kick off, with England the current holders. England also won the first edition in 2024 before Ireland were shock winners in 2028. That was followed by wins for Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland again, Nerherlands again, Belgium, England, France, Portugal, Netherlands and France.
World Cup: Italy are the current world champions, beating Belgium in the 2078 World Cup Final. Denmark were surprise winners of the first World Cup back in 2026, beating Portugal, who also lost the second World Cup in 2030 against England. Portugal made amends by winning the World Cup in 2034 against Ukraine, before England and Germany both beat Argentina, then wins for Italy, France, Portugal and Argentina. Italy won it back-to-back in 2066 and 2070, before a surprise win for Romania against Norway in 2074. So how Mexico has become the best nation in the world is anyone’s guess!
Another Epic Football Manager Career Concludes
This has been another exciting adventure across the world of Football Manager, taking in four continents as we managed 28 clubs to 42 trophies. If you’re after a Football Manager save that’s a little bit different and allows you to take on new countries and leagues, I’d wholly recommend taking on the Alphabet Challenge for yourself.
We’ll be continuing our Football Manager 2024 story with Truro City and – having written this blog post to conclude the series way back on 23 July – we’ll have Football Manager 2026 content coming very shortly! Thank you for reading this series and stay tuned for more FM blog adventures very soon.
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