5 things you didn’t know about Football Manager

by Chappers  11/07/2013 | 2:53 0 Posted in Hype n News, Opinion 

Football Manager is a game for some, a past-time for others and a way of life to many more but there isn’t a lot of information flying around that you wouldn’t have heard before so we have tried to do just that, deliver 5 key interesting facts about FM that you didn’t know.

Did you know that on the February 12th 2004 Sports Interactive announced that they had retained the rights to the source code of Championship Manager, the game that they had previously been a part of building. Though they were unable to use the name, SI used that as a platform to create the Football Manager series.

This was a real turning point in the history of the game, it could have easily lead to Football Manager not even existing or even worse for Championship Manager to dominate the market but thankfully it didn’t and we have that moment to thank for the game we have and love today.

In 2006, in its first week of release football manager 2006 became the second-fastest-selling PC game of all time in the UK. Proving its worth and increasing the gap between itself and its competitors.

The 2006 game set all kinds of records and was the best-selling version of the game at that point. Though the game was not noted for its massive changes or universal backing from die-hard fans it turned out to be a pivotal point in time for the forthcoming success of the series.

The 2007 version of the game had to be released early, on the 18th October 2006 the game was released due to some retail outlets ignoring the official release date.

Several outlets started releasing the game early, this also happened in the years that followed and lead to the online activation procedure that Sports Interactive use today.

Everton FC signed an official deal with Sports Interactive in 2008 allowing them to use the games database for scouting players and opposition for the coming season and has since been recognised around the world as a reliable source for accurate information on both subjects.

Who can blame clubs like Everton using the game as a network for scouting, though one does wonder what they got out of it (apart from Marouanne Felaini) you could argue that more teams should do the same.

In December 2008 SI announced a lucrative deal with Arsenal, that saw an exclusive version of the 2009 game being released. Included were all official squad player photos and an exclusive Arsenal skin.

Though this version of the game didn’t go down a storm, it only had a small appeal to the fans of the club, I am slightly shocked that this isn’t an angle that SI have used more frequently since.

In Azerbaijani in November 2012, a student called Vugar Huseynzade was given the role of managing FC Baku’s reserve team because of his massive success with the team on Football Manager.

Lucky fella, I know one of our authors has FM mentioned on his CV, as well as his Level 50 in Halo 3, needless to say that he is unemployed.