Football Manager Stole My Life Read online

  I contacted the club and they want to run up a little story on their website about us coming over and thankfully are being really helpful with regards to getting us tickets etc.

  Anyway, apologies again for posting a non PC related thread but most of us are active here and I wanted to share

  Thanks all.

  25-07-2011 23:46

  LA FURIA ROJA:

  FC Oss Researcher

  JOIN DATE:

  11th November 2008

  LOCATION

  Terrassa, Spain – FC Barcelona

  MEMBER

  #174408 (Formerly Aussieant32)

  POSTS

  3,453

  We also both signed a player, Steve Olfers, neither of us mentioned it to each other, it was just coincidence, anyway he sort of became a legend between the two of us so we both are getting Oss shirts with Olfers on the back!

  MY FRIEND

  LOVES YOU,

  MARK KERR

  GRANT SALES

  Back on FM2005, I loved a player by the name of Mark Kerr. A tenacious, scrappy midfielder with Dundee United who, according to the game, would be one of the greats. I bought him for every save I had, and ordered his shirt from the Dundee United club shop.

  Over Christmas, a friend mentioned that her boyfriend had tickets to the Dundee United players’ dinner and that Mr Kerr would be there.

  After much begging, recounting of FM stories and offering of favours, she promised to get me his autograph. So, fast-forward to the night in question, and she is sitting on a table waiting for the right opportunity. After a hour, he got up and started to head towards the door. My friend saw her chance. She barrelled after him as he passed through a door ... and straight into the toilets.

  They both stood looking at each other until she blurted out: “My friend loves you!”

  His face grew even more confused.

  She tried again. “On Football Manager. He says you’re a legend.”

  Another blank look.

  “Can he have your autograph?”

  Normality resumed and he signed a dinner programme for me.

  That and my shirt are in storage now, but it’s something I’ll bring up if I ever get to meet him myself.

  NO SUBSTITUTE

  FOR SLEEP

  CHRIS McINTYRE

  Back when I was 15, Championship Manager was my life. It was the craze in school.

  Everyone talked about it – who to sign, where we were in the league tables, boasting about cup victories and ganging up on the cheats who took charge of two teams to get players for free.

  Every spare minute was spent playing Champ Man – from the moment I got in from school until my alarm went off in the morning. I wasn’t sleeping throughout the week so I could play that extra game, win another trophy, finish another season and secure that one last signing. Unless I was physically kicked out the front door, there was no way I’d have left my computer screen. Then at weekends I could devote two full days to gaming.

  I remember my eyes were constantly heavy, but removing myself from the game wasn’t an option.

  Looking back now at photos, each day I looked rougher and rougher. But the bags under my eyes could have been 10kg kettlebells – I wasn’t giving into sleep.

  I lasted 11 straight days before crashing out on my school desk. I was sent straight to the guidance teacher, who started asking if I had problems at home. It was at that point that I burst out laughing and told him about the game. When I got home it had disappeared from my computer. I was in floods of tears, distraught after all the hard work I’d put in to achieve the dream team.

  I got a massive row from my mum and was sent to bed. I was so exhausted that I crashed out instantaneously and slept through the next day – missing another day of school in the process.

  After that, I knew I couldn’t keep doing that myself and that it was impacting on every area of my life.

  So I just played it at a friend’s house instead. I felt I was back in control but how wrong I was. I didn’t come home, we stayed up all night and my friend ended up getting hooked. That ended with a month’s grounding and hefty punishments.

  Thankfully I then discovered women and my life has changed for the better. But I still pine for a bit of Champ Man action.

  GOD SAVE

  THE QUINIELA

  JUAN C RIAL

  It was about 2004. I was unemployed and, even though I lived with my parents, only €150 remained in my bank account, so I almost couldn’t afford to pay my bills (internet, mobile, partying at weekends).

  I was a long-time gambler on the famous Quiniela in Spain (like the football pools in the UK) and I had the idea to generate a whole season of results in Football Manager and use them to bet on the fixtures for that weekend.

  The Saturday games were all okay, I hit four or five matches. At 6.30pm I turned the radio on to listen to the end of the Liga matches and I realised that I was hitting all eight games!

  Then in injury time the referee whistled a penalty for Mallorca. Samuel Eto’o – he was still playing in the Islands – missed!

  I looked at my ticket and saw that I had hit 13 games.

  So there was only one game left: Valencia vs Real Sociedad.

  I bet for a home win or an away win. The only result that was not good for me was a draw.

  Then I turned the TV on and started to watch it. In the second half, Sociedad scored twice, but in the last 20 minutes Valencia managed to draw – the luck I had with Eto’o was lost in this game.

  I won about €7000, so I could keep partying for a long time, but I always think that if the last result had been different, the prize would have been around €60,000. It could had changed my life.

  FM BROKE

  MY FOOT

  SIMON FURNIVALL

  I’ve been playing the game since CM97/98 and in that time I’ve broken toes on four separate occasions. I have a habit of kicking things when I’m angry and during my angst-ridden teenage years that meant kicking things very hard indeed.

  The worst occasion was back on CM01/02 when, having taken Scunthorpe from the third tier to the Premier League, a season-long battle against relegation ended with a final day game against Leicester. We needed a point to stay up but were losing 1–0 and missed a late penalty. I took it very badly, booted my desk and broke two of my toes.

  I went with the ‘tell the doctor and family as little as possible’ approach and would only let on that I’d kicked my desk because I was angry, not why I was angry. My family were already irritated by how much I played the game. If they knew it had caused physical injury I suspect that would have been the last time I played it. My friends, however, laughed themselves silly. Only one of them played the game, and he was a little more understanding, but any time I was ill or injured for the next few years jokes were inevitably made about it being CM-related.

  THE

  INTERVENTION

  MATT McMAHON

  Going off to university is an exciting time for most people, but despite all the wonders of being away from home with the world seemingly at my feet, I still craved the Champ Man hit and I didn’t have a computer of my own to play it on. The first few weeks were fine and dandy – I joined the football team, made new friends and got very drunk on lots of occasions. But still something was missing.

  I had an essay to finish and was moaning about having to go all the way into university to write it up when my mate suggested I could borrow his laptop. Whilst typing, I wanted a quick Champ Man break. Just a few hours or so to help ‘refocus the mind’. Suddenly it dawned on me that I could make a regular habit of ‘borrowing’ my mate’s laptop to ‘write essays’. I phoned home and asked them to post the Champ Man disc to me so I could realise this wonderful dream.

  I didn’t sleep well that night, excited at the thought of getting back into the Champ Man groove. I contemplated what team to manage, who to sign and what formation to play. It was going to be epic.

  I had to wait for a few days for the disc
to arrive. When I got my hands on the laptop, I played and played for all I was worth, we were like an adulterous couple spending every possible minute together, staying up late, making the most of our time together. On Champ Man days, when I had access to the laptop, I would annoy friends with my non-attendance at social gatherings. By that I mean trips to the pub.

  I did become aware that Champ Man was taking up a lot my time, but it always had, so I thought nothing of it. But university opened my eyes to many new things. Some people didn’t like football. Some people didn’t even like sports. Some had never even heard of Champ Man. This I had not bargained for – the lack of understanding from non-players was hard to take. There were comments made about me ‘playing Champ Man again’, threats about deleting my game. I wrote it off as banter.

  When there was a knock at my door one evening, my initial displeasure at the Champ Man interruption turned to blind panic. In a scene copied from the popular Channel 5 programme Rough American Cops Arrest and Pin Down Suspects in an Over-Aggressive Manner Causing Serious Harm to the Suspect, I was held kicking and fighting by three men while one took control of my (his) laptop, accessed my game and pressed delete. He made sure I could see him do it, too. I could see ‘Are you sure you want to delete ‘Forza Inter?’. I could see him click ‘Yes’ and not ‘Cancel’.

  Like a bullied schoolboy who knows his atomic wedgie is not getting any worse, I just sat there dumbfounded. How could they?

  RELEASE

  CLAUSE

  KIERAN MCKENNA

  A few of the lads at our school were obsessed with FM. We’d sit in little groups in our classes and talk tactics, as well as the little gems we’d uncover and the great results we had.

  One day we were sat in history class, scribbling down tactics in the back of our books when the teacher asked us what we were doing. When we couldn’t give a proper answer we were obviously in a bit of bother. I was told then that I wouldn’t be allowed to take history as a GCSE, and I would have to take Business Studies instead.

  I guess you could say it worked out. I took Business at A level, and then at university level and am working towards a degree.

  26-07-2011 23:29 #41

  LA FURIA ROJA:

  FC Oss Researcher

  JOIN DATE:

  11th November 2008

  LOCATION

  Terrassa, Spain – FC Barcelona

  MEMBER

  #174408 (Formerly Aussieant32)

  POSTS

  3,454

  Originally Posted by Random-86

  Some nice trivia you might like to know about them. FC Oss was previously known as TOP Oss, which was a little over a year ago now. You also mentioned they will be playing against Veendam. They are currently known as SC Veendam, but only a couple of months ago they were known as BV Veendam. Maybe you can impress some people with the not so obvious knowledge. FC Oss was the first team ever to relegate from the second division and, now, also the first team ever to be promoted to that division. Have fun in Oss.

  Cheers mate, i have actually sunk myself into the dutch system since taking over, I just fell in love with it. Barca will always be my team, not only cause of my passion for them but also as they are pretty deeply steeped into my family history, but I dont see the problem with having a 2nd team to love!

  On a side note, I have actually started my Oss save again, I got to the 2040’s but it just got too easy, I won the league last year by 14 points and the following I started with Ajax away, Twente home and PSV away, I won all 3 with a f/a of 16/0! So I am back to the erste and battling for every point

  31-07-2011 07:22 #51

  LA FURIA ROJA:

  FC Oss Researcher

  JOIN DATE:

  11th November 2008

  LOCATION

  Terrassa, Spain – FC Barcelona

  MEMBER

  #174408 (Formerly Aussieant32)

  POSTS

  3,455

  We booked out accommodation this morning :P

  just counting the days now, its going to be immense! Cant wait to pull on my first FC Oss shirt after all these years.

  OUT FOR

  THE SEASON

  HAKON POR PALSSON

  In 1998 I was 13 years old and I broke both my ankles and tore every sinew and ligament inside them playing football. It took me nine months to recover. On top of that my parents just got divorced and it was ugly, it tore my family apart. I couldn’t walk, I wasn’t fit enough to go to school, I was alone for most of my days.

  A family friend knew of my football enthusiasm and gave me Championship Manager 98. I finished 24 seasons in those nine months, leading Wolverhampton Wanderers to unimaginable glories. Twelve Premier Division victories, eight Champions League victories and so many Carling and FA Cups I don’t remember.

  Championship Manager got me through my injuries and was more or less my only companion. It gave me a reason to get out of bed.

  Finally my injuries subsided, though the repercussions still haunt me today (my Injury Proneness must be at least 17).

  Today a grown man with a family, a house and a dog, I still play, especially during the last five months – I got injured again and had little to do but physiotherapy and be with my family and my old friend, my grand companion, Football Manager.

  I would like to thank the Collyer brothers, and hope that eventually they get to read this story, for this never-ending, nerve-wracking, brilliant game they made. I probably owe them my sanity. Thanks Paul and Ov.

  FOR THE LOVE

  OF THE GAME

  MARK COOPER

  I’ve been playing Championship/Football Manager since the first game back in 1993. I had to play at my friend’s house, until I eventually bugged my father into stumping up for a PC in 1995. Neither I nor my friend had girlfriends at the time, which was probably a good thing.

  Four years later I decided to move to America with friends who had lived in England. My best friend bought me a copy of Championship Manager 99/00 as a going away present. I played it for months and months. I then started going out with a friend of a friend, and she knew I was right into the game. We got married in September 2001 and then all of a sudden the game just vanished. No explanation – it was just gone.

  More than a bit confused, I didn’t play the game for three years, as it wasn’t so easy to get hold of in America back then and the shipping would have cost too much to import it in. I got a lucky break when SEGA joined up with Sports Interactive and made it available as a digital download. I later bought the CD version, too. So I played the game again for a while, though it upset my wife. At the time I had no idea why, but she said she couldn’t understand why I enjoyed something with no flashy graphics that was basically just a list of stats.

  We decided to move back to Europe in 2007 and, amazingly, my copy disappeared again. I knew exactly where I packed it and was pretty upset, so my wife accused me of loving the game more than her. Despite living in Ireland, where it was much easier to get hold of the game, I didn’t play it.

  My wife walked out on me in August 2007, taking my children back with me to America. It wasn’t all bad. I no longer needed to rent the size of house I was in, and my landlord was happy because he was looking to sell the property anyway. So he let me stay there rent-free for two months. With the money I saved I bought a nice laptop and a brand new copy of Football Manager 2007 – two days after my wife left.

  I played non-stop for two weeks, then got my stuff together and moved back to America. For a few months I lived with my friends, going through divorce proceedings and playing the game.

  I started dating someone from my old work. We moved in together and I started playing FM on her computer. We had money problems, so I’d sold my laptop.

  Then one day my copy of the game disappeared into thin air – the third time it had happened. A friend told me my girlfriend hated me playing it as it stopped her playing Farmville on Facebook. Needless to say we didn’t last long, and I moved closer to my children in late 2009.
<
br />   I started seeing a woman I worked with, who is not into video games at all, but she likes to watch me play Football Manager. I’d tell her all my funny stories from the game.

  She’s now my fiancée and bought me a copy of FM 2011 for my 38th birthday. She’s never once complained about my playing it.

  So, in closing, if your wife or girlfriend harasses you about playing Football Manager, you can always find someone else that will accept your addiction.

  Eventually.

  GRAHAM

  ALEXANDER

  INTERRUPTED

  ADAM MORRIS

  I genuinely feel that if I’m mid-game and my girlfriend comes in, it has a negative impact on the team. It really does seem that her entrance into a room gives the opposition a lift. I sometimes call her their 12th man. I’ve got proof.

  Some years ago, while in charge at Partick Thistle, I had reached the Scottish Cup quarter-finals. My league form was drab, but I’d somehow managed to take Rangers to a penalty shoot-out at Firhill after a 0–0 draw.

  Kellie was at her friend’s house, so I had absolute concentration on the task in hand. The lights were low, Air’s Moon Safari was on in the background, and I had a glass of red wine to enjoy the occasion with.