When playing Football Manager, we all have our favourite saves or challenges we love to do, no matter if they are obscure or common. But sometimes, we fancy something different, a new challenge. And that is why I have scoured Internet articles for some of the most obscure challenges to perhaps entice you into a new path. Read on below for the Most Obscure Challenges in Football Manager.

The Curse of Bela Guttmann

Bela Guttmann is a name familiar with those who love a bit of football history. A Hungarian coach and former player, Guttmann coached a number of teams across Europe and South America, including his most successful stint at SL Benfica from 1959 to 1962. With Benfica, Guttmann guided the team to two European Cups in 1961 (against Barcelona) and in 1962 (against Real Madrid).

It was after the 1962 European triumph that Guttmann fell out with the Benfica Board (allegedly over pay) and quit the club. As the legend goes, he then placed a curse on the club by stating “Not in 100 years will Benfica ever be European Champions”. Well ever since, Benfica have reached FIVE European Cup finals…. and lost every single one! Even the Europa League finals of 2013 and 2014 were lost, meaning no European trophies for Benfica since 1962.

This is where you come in. Your aim is to win the Champions League with Benfica whilst developing the youth academy (something Guttmann did also). It’s time to exorcise a curse!

Peaky Blinders

We head over to Birmingham, England for this one to remember an historic gang that intimidated/owned the city: The Peaky Blinders. Many may remember the TV series of the same name, based on a real gang from the late 19^th Century (TV Series was based later) who engaged in illegal activities in the city (and beyond allegedly). Apparently, there are photos of them at local Birmingham football matches, so they must have had a fondness for the game.

Your challenge is to take the current Birmingham team from the EFL Championship to the Premier league and not only win the league, but go the whole season unbeaten. On top of this, you can only sign players with 15 or higher in Aggression, as well as play with high pressure against your opponents.

Dare we say, “Get Stuck in” as well!

Jackson Five

Now this one will be before my time (and a lot of yours I’m guessing), but the Jackson Five (pre Michael Jackson fame) had a few famous hits, including the song “ABC”, which is the point of this challenge.

Within the Top Five leagues in Europe, you must win the league with a club starting with the letter A (for example, Atalanta in Serie A in Italy). It is your choice which top league you start in. You must then follow the alphabetical order from A to C in conquering these leagues.

An example of how this could look has been included below:

Club	League	Country
Atalanta	Serie A	Italy
Atletico Madrid	La Liga	Spain
Brest	Ligue 1	France
Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	Germany
Chelsea	Premier league	England

As a small note, it does not matter if you move to a club of the same letter beginning (just like in the table above). The point is you must win the Top Five domestic leagues with clubs beginning with A, B or C. You can only apply for each club job once you’re ready to move on, so no in-game editor can be used here.

Team Dynamics

If anyone has played FIFA Ultimate Team before, you will be familiar with having player chemistry add up to make your team more effective. If you are not familiar with this, no fear, the challenge is quite simple. If you get it right.

Within your chosen club in any country, you must build your team with partnerships in different zones of the pitch. This is to be done using same nationalities for all players in a certain area of the pitch. For example, your Goalkeeper and two centre backs may all be French, whilst your two Strikers are both English. The picture below may be a better illustration of this:

The nationalities you choose are completely down to you (although your starting players may dictate this to begin with). With your team comprised of these partnerships in different zones of the pitch, you must then sign players with those same nationalities (including for your substitutes and reserves in the same positions).

The only other rule is nationalities cannot repeat in another zone on the pitch. You cannot create an entire Brazilian wonderkid team in other words.

Random Generator

Ok, this one is cheating slightly, but when it comes to obscure challenges, nothing gets more obscure than not knowing the challenge beforehand. In case you didn’t know of this, welcome to the Random Generator of FM Challenges.

All that happens is you go to this website (found on Google if you type in “FM Random Generator”) and click “Generate Idea” and you are given a challenge. This will include a club; formation and even conditions you have to follow throughout the save. These can be truly obscure and even downright terrifying to attempt.

Truly a challenge for the hardcore players among us. Or even for those who want some unpredictability in their Football Manager experience again.

Conclusion

There are many alternative challenges to the old favourites we’re used to in Football Manager, no matter how obscure they are. Ultimately, it is about enjoying the game and if that involves an “out of your comfort zone” type of save, then these obscure challenges may just be the thing for you.

Are there any challenges you have found or come up with on Football Manager that seem obscure? Let us know in the comments or on our Twitter links below!

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Follow me @Craig_FM1 for more FM23 content or find us on Twitter @DictateTheGame for more Football Manager news and content.

Check out these articles below for more on FM23:

• When Finding a Save Isn’t Straightforward
• Football Manager Basics (2023 Edition)
• Six Tips to Manage Finances in FM23