Football Manager - The Joy, the addiction, the pain....

master-t

To be honest im sure this story will appeal mostly to those who have been to the edge and back with Football Manager(aka Championship Manager-that great year in 97/98 when myself and my local buddies Gary Clarke and Cillian Kelly all found the true meaning to the word 'life').

You see it starts off, like all drugs, with a small step,a small hit, a moment of weakness if you will, after all when you've bought the game after hearing many references to it, the least you can do is install it. Of course then you should run it, just to check it installed properly. Best way to properly check that is to start a new game off, you'll just play it for ten minutes, after all you've got to pick your girlfriend up soon so you can't play long. Time passes and you're sure its not been much longer than ten minutes but it seems darker suddenly and there is a shouting noise coming from somewhere close by which seems to indicate your girlfriends has got a taxi home instead. You avoid the fight by staying on the PC while she watches Hollyoaks and you stumble to bed hours later unable to sleep because you know that the left winger you need must be out there somewhere and you realised while cleaning your teeth that you'd not checked out the youngster your South American scout recommended.

Suddenly it's a few days later and while you found your left winger ages ago he wasn't enough to stop your season sliding into a fight against relegation that was only avoided on the final day in a West Ham style senario. You gave your celebratory press conference from the shower, by then you'd stopped questioning the presence of Garth Crooks in your bathroom. Its improved since then, you invested the time in setting up a detailed training program for each of your players which along with a couple of fantastic transfer coups from the Bulgarian second division helped avoid the relegation dogfight next time round. You've devoted a lot of resources to widening your scouting network in an attempt to build a new team with the classic blend of youth and experience as well as improving your coaching staff in a bid to progress as a club. It's all paid off and you're on the eve of a play off final. Somewhere in the background you can hear the sound of suitcases being dragged down the stairs and your sure your girlfriend seemed a little upset about something when you last spoke to her, not that you're quite sure when that was anymore.

It's been another week, maybe more, the days have started to blend seamlessly now and you've realised the silence around you has really helped your game as since winning the play off final it's been a bit of a revelation as your youth policy has born fruit and you've taken the Championship, and then the Premiership, by storm.Those great signings,the terrible flops,the players suggested to you by your mates Gary and Hannify and Cillo, buying the local lad Anthony Stokes for what seemed like an over-inflated price yet proving his worth to the fans...all this at one stage contributed to the clubs success and better more firmly established your ranking as 'National' amoung the other managers.You've stopped giving your press conferences in the bathroom, in fact you rarely go in there now anyway. Garth Crooks doesn't get a look in anymore either, you told Sky you'd only deal with Andy Gray now and luckily he's taken up residence on the sofa next to the PC and doesn't seem to mind that you've been wearing only your dressing gown for what must be over a week now.

It's been another increasingly hard to measure period of time and you've had to work hard to keep your focus as the European glory trail impacted on your league form and you flirted with relegation for a few seasons after your young starlets were bought by the money-flowing Chelsea. You removed the battery from your doorbell as it seemed easier than just ignoring the rings and your mobile phone hasn't been charged in god knows how long, it's worked though you've pulled your way back up the table and despite the media and fan pressure your job seems to be safe for another season. Then of course there is the FA cup final to look forward to. Dressed in your tux, well top half anyway, and a rose from the garden pinned on it, you are ready to lead your team onto the new Wembley pitch. Victory beckons, its 10 minutes to go, you are leading 1-0 to a under-strength Livepool side thanks to a Gerrard flu 4 days before the final. Then tragedy strikes.....your keeper conseeds a penalty. 1-1. ****e!! Lucky to still be on the pitch is the commentator's opinion. We are in stoppage time.....they have possesion....all of a sudden your team counter...the ball spreads wide......its back into the centre of the pitch....the young starlet from the U19's brings it forward...he lays it off to the big summer signing forward...GOAL!!!! Amazing!! They think its all over.....IT IS NOW!!! Your name is engraved into the clubs history books forever!! The fans can't stop chanting your name!! How long will this last though you ask yourself?

It's night time, that's about all you can tell, but right now you don't care about such things, unless Arsenal score twice at Blackburn in the last ten minutes and you fail to hold on to this one goal lead then that's it, the title is yours! You barely breathe, your hands over your face unable to watch as the minutes tick slowly by. Suddenly you see Arsenal have scored and you're under the cosh, the pressure seems to have got to your team and they are unable to break out of their own half. You make a decision, you haven't got this far by playing safe and the fans love your attacking style but this is the title decider and surely now if ever is the time for caution, a few deft clicks of the mouse and you've changed formation, brought on a defender for a striker and told the team to defend at all costs for the last few minutes. Your hands are back over your eyes as you pace the room unable to watch and yet unable to look away. Suddenly it's all over, you've held on, it was a tactical masterstroke and the title is yours! Tears streaming down your face you ignore Andy Gray's pleas for an interview and race round your house screaming with joy as the adrenalin kicks in. Gary Lineker and Alan Hanson catch up with you in the kitchen and you give in and do an interview detailing the ups and downs of your whole career, they don't seem to have noticed the smell of rotting food coming from the fridge, it's probably the excitement.

It's been a few season since that first taste of real success, its easier to measure time in terms of seasons now, night and day seem a little redundant, and you've won the title a couple more times, even picked up the European Cup on one glorious night.Your now ranked in the VIP elite section of the other managers with the words 'World-class' placed after your reputaion box.Held up there with the legends Alex Ferguson, Lippi, Paisley etc. There is a knighthood beckoning you're sure and you've just applied for the England managers job which the press seem to think you're bound to get even though your only a 21 year old Irishman,although in game life (which is really what counts) your approaching your 30th soon. Suddenly it all goes dark. You blink a few times, nothing. You stare at the screen for a while not sure what happens now, Andy Gray is no help, he's been sulking ever since you gave Linker that exclusive after your first title. Eventually you get up and wander downstairs, its dark there too, you trip over the edge of a pile of mail spilling out of the doorway into the hall - they look like bills, they look like old bills - they have the words 'Final Demand' stamped on them.

"What have I done?" you wonder, realisation starting to dawn on you as the FM mist starts to fade.The electricity has been cut off and all the power in the house has gone, yet all you can think of right now in this time of mayhem and chaos is......."when was the last time i saved????"

Words by Tom Muldowney & Paul Newcombe

Frisbee

Very good read and an experience I'm well used to at this stage...

master-t

Thank you.......after I posted it I realised afew spelling errors and gram mistakes.....ive edited them now.....I think.......

geoffraffe

Perfect, every detail brought floods of memories back.

A+

Perrin

I can relate.

master-t

Thank you for reading.......I feel most people can relate to this if you have ever played the game !!

Rowley Birkin QC

I haven't played this game since 2003, mostly because I didn't attend any lectures while I played it. Finishing college this year and as unemployment beckons I think I might open the playbook again....

Antilles

Fantastic work, OP. I've never played that game but I was very obsessive about World of Warcraft for a while and your plot is all VERY familiar. Well done!

OctavarIan

Ha no way, I was thinking of writing on this very topic since I quit Championship Manager 01/02 just the other day.

I can totally identify with where you're coming from man, damn game resulted in me missing the 2002 World Cup final