For my main series “Totalitarian football” I’m going to be managing the made up club CSKA Aransk in the made up post-Soviet totalitarian Communist nation of Bordavia. I have covered the creation process in a series called “Creating Club and Country”:
The idea from the beginning was for CSKA Aransk to get invited into the Russian league system, where most of the adventure would take place. I was going to create a Bordavian league, but only the top tier, as a backdrop. However, after a literal hurricane of interest in getting involved in this adventure the idea took a turn into something completely different. Over 60 people have reached out and contributed with ideas for towns and clubs and stories. Bordavia has turned into a mystic but rather grim nation, full of quirks, stories and lore. I fell in love with both the commitment shown by you and the nation of Bordavia, which has lead to the creation process of an entire Bordavian database. This has been a real team effort, which I have enjoyed massively, but it has also meant that I haven’t had much time to write blog posts or record YT videos. Therefore I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone, by sharing stories from the nation of Bordavia up until the db release around Christmas.
The first post covered football in Bordavia in general and the “May scandal” of 2004 in particular. The second story comes from FM Greeno and tells the story of “his town” Sevedar! FM Greeno has a great YouTube channel where he is currently running a Newcastle save series.
The town of Sevedar
Population: 27.864
Location: Oblast 12, approx. 10km NE of Ozero Tayn
History
Until the 1930s Sevedar was a small village, records show it was originally founded in around the 12th century. It was a farming community, with guesthouses for people making the pilgrimage to Ozero Tayn (The Lake of Secrets).
Due to the discovery of a rich resource of plutonium, the town rapidly grew in the 1930s as people from other nearby towns and villages swarmed to find work in the mines.
By the 1950s the government decided that the town had grown too large and unwieldy, so began a program to bulldoze the existing town and replace everything with concrete panel buildings, providing standardised accommodation for the workers. As such, there is no “old town” to speak of in Sevedar, giving it a somewhat brutal feel.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, there has been very little investment in Sevedar, the plutonium mines have closed, and many retired miners still live in the community. Alcoholism and plutonium mining related health issues are rife among this aging population.
Sevedar is also famed in Bordavia for the large numbers of stray dogs that roam the streets of the town and surrounding areas, large packs that can be heard throughout the city howling day and night.
Economy
Since the closure of the plutonium mines the city of Sevedar has been in somewhat of an economic slump. The twon’s official major industry now is the production of munitions, with the company “Sevedarskiy zavod boyepripasvov vo slavu Bordavii” (Sevedar Munitions Factory for the glory of Bordavia)
Unofficially though there is a huge contributor to Bordavia’s GDP based in Sevedar. Graduates of the General Ivan Institute (see below) set up a hacking collective in one of the panel buildings, and have made vast sums by hacking companies and individuals in the capitalist West. It is estimated that this “industry” is now one of the top 10 contributors to Bordavia’s GDP.
Education
Sevedar boasts 2 high schools.
The most renowned is the “General Ivan Institute of Scientific and Technical Learning” where pupils receive a high level technical education from ages 11-19.
The “Sevedar College of General Socialist Eduction” is less respected generally, and provides a more general education, along with some apprenticeship options in manual trades, for pupils aged 11-16.
Culture
As the largest town in Oblast 12, Sevedar was chosen the 1960s to be the home of “Oblast 12 Palace of Culture and Workers Collective Education”. Designed by famed Bordavian brutalist architect Fyodor Samedov, it has become the most famous building in the city.
From this location the Oblast 12 Cultural Authority operate. They organise the famous Sevedar Christmas Festival, the highlight of the year in the town. For 3 days the main square in the town is decorated in festive lights, and people travel from all around the Oblast to see the sights, and eat and drink the local delicacies.
Each year on the opening day of the Christmas Festival the authorities relax the 1km safety exclusion zone around Ozero Tayn, (known locally as Lake Travm – the Lake of Injuries) and the local men compete in “The Ice Swim” to see who can swim the furthest under the ice. There are numerous fatalities each year.
The prize for the winner is to become the “Ice King” for a year, a privilege which also means you will marry the “Christmas Queen” on the closing day of the festival. The Christmas Queen is decided in a log carrying competition.
2019 Ice King Boris Karalov is a 3rd generation Ice King, while his wife Irina Karalova is a 3rd generation Christmas Queen, the first time this has ever been seen. It is expected that their children will be superb competitors, although rules state that their male and female offspring (should they produce both) will not be allowed to compete in the same year.
Sevedar is also home to the rock band “Yadernaya Travna” (Nuclear Injury). They are very popular in the southern Oblasts, but very much frowned upon by the authorities and General Ivan himself due to their subversive lyrics. Their concerts are regularly halted by the authorities.
Sport
The only sport to speak of in the town is football, with the team Pulya Sevedar, who are owned and sponsored by the local munitions factory.
Their colours are: Grey with lime trim (home) – Lime (away)
Their stadium is called Pulemetnaya Arena, which translates as the Machine Gun Arena. It has a 2,500 capacity, and games are regularly attended by senior members of the Oblast 12 Cultural Commission at the invite of the munitions factory owners.
Pulya Sevedar midfielder Sergej Balshar was recently voted Bordavia’s most handsome footballer, which won him a place in the 1st series of the reality show Love Mountain. He finished runner up (the show was won by Igor Uralov, Bordavia’s national Bear Hunting champion).
Addition by Mikaelinho – Sevedar’s 2nd team
We’ve actually had the addition of a second Sevedar team, courtesy of Kirill Kurbatov. It’s called Sevedar Atletik Klub and will be placed a bit further down the league pyramid. If Pulya fall down the leagues or if Atletik Klub gets promoted we could be in for a Sevedar derby in a few seasons though!?
This was the second “Tale from Bordavia” and I’d like to thank FM Greeno for his great contribution. There will be a new one every day leading up to Christmas. I hope you’ll enjoy these little stories and that they will spark an interest large enough to follow my main series “Totalitarian Football” and maybe even try the database when it comes out!?
I stream my “Building Bordavia” creation process on Twitch on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Come hang out and say hi!
I also upload episodes about the creation process to my YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss any content!
MikaelinhoFM 
Now that Bordavia is opening up to the west, is their a chance that Nuclear Injury might tour the UK?
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