In 1998 I was 17 years of age, and in advance of
starting college my first ever computer was bought.
I was very friendly with a neighbours nephew from Belfast, who was staying with her for 2 weeks.
Niall is his name, and he handed me a disk and urged me to put it into the computer, load it up, and life would never be the same again.
Back then very few games had activation codes etc, so you could load the one game onto as many computer as you liked.
So I popped in the disk and Clicked on “Run97-98” as requested, and a life long computerised love affair was born.
I was very friendly with a neighbours nephew from Belfast, who was staying with her for 2 weeks.
Niall is his name, and he handed me a disk and urged me to put it into the computer, load it up, and life would never be the same again.
Back then very few games had activation codes etc, so you could load the one game onto as many computer as you liked.
So I popped in the disk and Clicked on “Run97-98” as requested, and a life long computerised love affair was born.
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| Photo from: Abandonware.com |
I loved my football, and many an evening I’d sit in the kitchen with the radio on Medium Wave, straining my ears to hear the crackly up and down sound commentary of a Premier League game on BBC Radio, so I could join in the conversation on the match in school the next day.
At this time I spent hours playing “Kevin Keegan Manager” on my Super Nintendo, but it was nowhere near as good, or came close to the buzz I got playing Championship Manager.
Back then there were no Irish teams in it, but I didn’t mind that omission, so long as I was doing well in the league, and managed some cup giant killings with Torquay United.
I also dabbled in other managerial games, such as “Premier Manager” and “Total Club Manager”, and while these had better graphics, and you could build stadiums and so forth in them, the gameplay just didn’t cut it.
In 2004, Eidos Interactive, who held the licence to
the Championship Manager franchise, fell out with Sports Interactive, the firm
that developed the bulk of the in game match engine.
Sony happily snapped up Sports Interactive and the “Football Manager” franchise was born.
Sony happily snapped up Sports Interactive and the “Football Manager” franchise was born.
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| Photo from: Wikipedia |
With more money to play with, S.I. were able to hire more staff, and had a
longer lead in time, so a sleeker, more detailed game was produced.
Thus it was no surprise that, on the day of it was released, I visited a number of shops that sold computer games after work, and they were all sold out.
Thus it was no surprise that, on the day of it was released, I visited a number of shops that sold computer games after work, and they were all sold out.
Thus to me, it is no surprise, that despite being very much a niche game, in a
genre that generally would not be a big seller, the Football Manager series has
sold over 7 Million copies to date, far outselling other titles in the football
management category.
Some of my friends are not into football, and can’t understand how I could spend so many hours glued to a computer screen, willing on some player I had never heard of in my life until then.
They just don’t get the fact that, to me and many others, it is the ultimate Walter Mitty indulgence.
The adrenaline rush you get from seeing your team climbing up the table, aligned with the fact the Macedonian International you got on a free transfer has just scored his 16th goal in 12 games.
Hence once I ended up playing the game for hours
everyday for 2 weeks straight, as it just seemed that everytime I clicked my
mouse things turned to computer game gold.
starting off with Bohemian FC, and then Norwich, in my 12th season I ended up with Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.
Again with a bunch of free/very low fee transfers, I managed to come second in the league agonisingly finishing second a point behind Celtic.
starting off with Bohemian FC, and then Norwich, in my 12th season I ended up with Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.
Again with a bunch of free/very low fee transfers, I managed to come second in the league agonisingly finishing second a point behind Celtic.
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| Photo from: Gamehack.com |
This got me a move to Fulham, where I ended up winning the Premier League and
getting to the Champions League final.
Many’s a night I stayed up til 2am playing it, such was the rush I was getting from playing the holy grail of computer games.
How I wailed and gnashed my teeth when soon after the saved file crashed, and all my 15 seasons of work, and hopes I could retain the
Many’s a night I stayed up til 2am playing it, such was the rush I was getting from playing the holy grail of computer games.
How I wailed and gnashed my teeth when soon after the saved file crashed, and all my 15 seasons of work, and hopes I could retain the
Premier League title
with Fulham had vanished.
I am on my mid-term from College next week, and I
am really looking forward to having the time, between assignments, to give the
game another go, with the latest instalment Football Manager 2017 that I plan
to purchase next Saturday. Be it watching it happening for real in Dalymount
Park, or seeing it on my computer screen, as I am manager of Bohs in Football
Manager, nothing comes near the feeling you get when you’ve beaten Shamrock
Rovers!
Given the amount of effort that goes into producing
the FM games, and the fact that each year, somehow, they genuinely manage to
make the current instalment better than last years, I can see this game
franchise selling many more millions of copies, as the series just runs, and
runs and runs!
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