Why we love Football Manager

March 30, 2020 Pelham [FMTahiti] Comments 0 Comment

Plenty of us love Football Manager. With the increase in numbers from the free week during the current situation there will probably be plenty more that get the addiction. It makes us dress up in suits for finals, and sometimes smash screens, but we love it all the same.

We all love different things about Football Manager too, and all play in different ways. Some of us fight from the non-leagues up, others go straight to the top. Some wheel and deal, and others splash the cash with reckless abandon.

We wanted to share what is is some of the Dictate the Game writers love about Football Manager, and how we got into FM to begin with.

Table of Contents

Crusadertsar

For me the reason I got into Football Manager back in 2013 was the potential for creating stories and discovering new clubs and leagues. Unlike other games with pre-set stories FM14 offered infinite possibilities. Every save was different and full of unique drama whether it was deep heartbreak of losing a relegation battle or a last minute triumph of a surprise promotion. My first ever Football Manager save was just such a happy promotion story. For this reason I will always remember Manisaspor, a little known club in Turkey which I led to Super Lig glory while learning the ropes of the new, for me then, football management genre. Good times!

Luke

As the youngest member of the DTG Crew, at just the tender age of 19, FM14 was my first game. I played just 200 hours as a fourteen year old student, but was instantly gripped. I’ve bought every game since. Whilst FM15 and 16 stayed around 300 hours due to GCSEs. I began Sixth Form when FM17/18 came out which meant I had a lot more spare time. The hours boosted to nearly 1000 on each game.

I love FM because of what is has let me achieved. I got to join DTG as a 16 year old, met people on here who’ve became friends of mine. To top this off, Ryan and I finally met last year at SI HQ, which was an awesome experience.

Ryan

A friend from school during an Engineering class told me to play it and I had absolutely no idea what to do. I joined a Facebook group a very long time ago and was completely bombarding them with questions. Over time, I started to understand the game more and here we are today.

Why I love Football Manager? I think it’s the community. I have achieved so much because of the community. I started playing for fun, then that turned in to a hobby, which led me to more responsibilities, over time. I then decided on starting a website, which I never expected to take off in the way that it has. From there, I have met friends for life, engaged in a lot more community driven activities and ultimately landed a job working for Sports Interactive. I just love the community feel and the sanctification of achieving what any aspiring manager wan

FMTahiti

The first I came across any kind of management game was going over to a friends house and watching him play CM97/98 over his shoulder. He was a Leeds fan though and that wouldn’t do so I went home and bought it myself so I could managed Huddersfield to glory instead. It didn’t go well (so an accurate simulation even back then).

The addiction didn’t start to kick in properly until I got CM99/00 and built either all conquering Huddersfield side with the likes of Kenny Lunt, Mads Jorgensen and Andri Sigporrson. Or an all conquering Telford down in the conference with Gez Murphy.

It kicked up a notch during my first year of Uni, playing FM05 all hours. Not only all hours but for about 3 years.I dipped into the other versions, but I had a save I loved so much I played it until my hard drive literally exploded. I broke the old firm apart with a plucky St. Johnstone, with a face in the game Mexican winger, Rodrigo de la Vega. A winger so good I named all my managers after him in all versions since.

What really cemented the game as my all time favourite though was around FM12 and FM13. My brother and I started playing network games, in a fictional set up based in Tahiti. We were living in different parts of the country but used FM to stay in touch. We had some hard times, and some family tradegies, but we could log on and play FM. Chat about our regens, steal each others players and claim bragging rights. It kept us close even with plenty of other stuff going on in the background. No other game did that.

Simon

FM provides me with the perfect platform to combine two things I love in life: art and violence. Few things give me pleasure like building a tactic that allows my Trequartista’s deft first touch to virtually break the ankles of his marker right before my defensive full back literally does it.

Tell us about why you love Football Manager

Some of our writiers have covered how they fell into our FM addiction, and why the love it. But we want to hear from you in the comments or via twitter @DictateTheGame. We’ll probably chat about it on the podcast as well!

Dictate The Game

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