It can be hugely fun in Football Manager 2023 to take control of the biggest football teams in the world and operate them at the highest level of the game. It means working with the highest leagues, biggest and best players, and most talented coaching staff there is in the game or the world.

However, for many players, it is a more interesting challenge to build from the bottom up and work with a team that begins their Football Manager 2023 journey in one of the lower leagues. Having an exciting place to build towards after a grind through the leveling-up process can be extremely rewarding and a different sort of managerial experience. If players are looking for this experience, these teams are the ones to go for.

6 Notts County

Notts County Football Club

If players love a club with history, Notts County is a great pick. They are the oldest professional football club in the world, and are currently in the worst state they have ever been in. After getting relegated from the English Football League in 2018 for the first time in their history, Notts desperately needs a hero to come in and get them out of this low point.

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It is an intense challenge to go from the usual high-budget teams to one that isn’t even in the Football League. However, Notts has a strong enough team at the beginning of Football Manager 2023 that getting back into the league isn’t too bad of a challenge. What's more, there will be plenty of opportunity to scout out other players and staff in the non-league environment that could be lured away from their current clubs with the high level of cash available at Notts. This team also boasts possibly the best non-league player in the world: Macaulay Longstaff, an excellent striker who wouldn’t seem out of place rising up the ranks.

5 Larne FC

Larne Football Club

If players want to go to a different country and league system than England with the potential to still create a splash, the quickly improving Northern Irish league is a good place to try. While often ignored in the context of UK Football, and particularly in World Football, the NIFL is an improving and fun league to take part in. Larne FC is a team that has quickly risen up the ranks since being bought by a new owner in 2018.

Larne hasn’t got much history since the club has only newly come into more money, but they’ve just had a 4th place finish in the premiership and are on their way to possibly gaining their first premiership title ever. Additionally, players can take on the challenge of trying to become the first Northern Irish team in history to reach the group stage of a European competition, a feat yet to be accomplished in real life.

4 Dorking Wanderers

Dorking Wanderers Football Club

If players are looking for another potential English challenge that is the complete package in terms of a dream “hero manager” role, look no further than Dorking Wanderers. Founded in 1999 and rising at an astronomical rate up the semi-professional leagues, Dorking has reached the National League and is just a step below the Football League system now.

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Having never been this high before, and still being a semi-pro club while being in such a freshly lofty position, they are the perfect place to start building a club from scratch as a manager. It would be an incredibly fun challenge to try and get a semi-professional club into the Football League system, and then finding a way to keep them there is an even more difficult and intriguing challenge.

3 Argentinos Juniors

Argentinos Juniors Football Club

If players are looking for a completely different experience in the game, they could try the comparatively alien Argentinian League for a switch. Argentina's Juniors are in the top division, but this is a lower league style of play and a completely unique league system for anyone used to the European divisions.

Argentinian football has several differences; for example, the huge 28 teams in their premier division. The relegation system is also based on an average over three years, and each team only plays each other once before a winner is crowned at the end of an intensively short footballing season. This makes for a completely alien challenge, and Juniors are the perfect team with a long but relatively unsuccessful history for the right sort of challenge.

2 Guangzhou City

Guangzhou City Football Club

The ultimate challenge for any manager is getting a new job as manager of a club that is in dire financial straits. Guangzhou city has a strong history in the Chinese Super League, but they begin Football Manager 2023 in financial administration and with absolutely nothing in terms of the transfer budget. Bringing in new players is near-impossible and this makes for a huge challenge.

The Chinese Super League is a rising division, but again, it is a relatively low league side compared to the major European leagues. The challenge of taking over as a manager there is compounded by financial troubles, compared with most Chinese teams which are willing and able to splash out to bring high-quality players from around the globe to their part of the world.

1 Cancun

Cancun Football Club

A team in the Mexican second division from a place mostly known as a tourist destination, Cancun is a difficult sell at the best of times. But the team isn’t completely bust on money, and could easily become more of a major competitor in the top Mexican league with the right set of hands at the wheel.

Building a team in another completely different part of the world is a fascinating challenge for a seasoned Football Manager player. Cancun has just enough money to make it possible. They can gain promotion and attract higher-level players without making the challenge too easy.

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