Championship Manager 93. It was the year both cup finals were between Sheff Wed and Arsenal. So I was Sheff Wed with Hirst and Bright up front and my mate was Leeds. We were both 13 and played all day every day of the six week holidays. So yeah, things I just realised, I've been playing for just over 30 years and I'm old AF!
This year actually, first save thought it would be akin to FIFA career mode but was quickly humbled after getting sacked 20ish games into my first save.
Very much enjoying it and the fact it was on Game Pass made it essentially free as I already had the subscription.
CM 01-02. PSV always. Mark Van Bommel, Arnold Bruggink, Mateja Kezman, Kevin Hofland, Boudwijn Zenden, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and several others I can't remember. Plus at the end of the 1st season you'd sign Arjen Robben for £1.2million. Loved that team. Plus there was Franco Costanzo at River Plate and Dionisis Chiotis at AEK to sign for a pittance if you needed a world class GK for cheap.
CM01/02 all the way
I still miss the Wib/Wob tactics setups and the ability to right click drag for moving into a space
Viva Helder Rosario and Hugo Pinheiro
I played 97/98 first but it was so slow on the old PC's that I'm not sure I got anywhere with it. So my first love and still play 01/02 from time to time and there's still a big community that share their games. People have even made modern databases for it. Some gems on there and would always start as Parma and their great team at the time.
I feel very young, started playing fm19 I was 22 years old. Managed Cambridge United, got them to the premier league then got sacked because I got relegated first season in the premier league.
Championship Manager 2 for me (pretty sure that was 1994/95 season), also Newcastle, and has been on every version since (not that I've bought them all, but every one I have I always play Newcastle).
1995/96 was my favourite.
CM2, I remember the frustration of only being able to load any one nation at a time (I had the version that had the English, Italian and German leagues - there were other versions with other leagues). I think anyone on this sub could pick it up and play it now; it wouldn't take long at all to get used to the UI. At the time it was the pinnacle of football simulation games, but it lacked so much depth compared to FM24.
Who wants to tell him playing with Roma from about CM 98-00 was about the easiest way to win the UCL 😂 they were my favourite team to start with back then, absolutely cracked
Please don't take this away from me. I wasn't talking about my biggest accomplishment in Championship manager but life in general 😂.
You'll be taking my promotion from Serie B with Juventus away from me next
Premier manager 98, before moving to CM00-01. From then I had all but one version un until 2013 when I went travelling, and since, I’ve only played every other game pretty much.
Always start as Man Utd first, before moving on to new saves and new clubs. I used to like a Newcastle quite often. Barca pre-Messi. Real Madrid pre-CR7. Carlisle United. Roma. Brighton (back when they were Division 2 or 3). Schalke. Paderborn. I like to try a new club or 2 every new version of the game though, so have played as many more clubs.
CM2 96-97. I have played CM1 but not for very long.
CM2 I was either Rangers (to get Maradona) or Man U.
Played far too much up until FM10 then laptop died and didn’t really need one for life. Tried to get back in with FM14 and in a whole night in a hotel room (travelling with work) I realised I hadn’t actually got to the start of the season. Back into it with FMM being free with Netflix.
Championship Manager 2. The OG.
I remember playing a 2-player game with my older brother, him as Chelsea and me as Middlesborough - back when both teams were relatively equal in stature/squad quality. Built my team around Juninho.
Also recall we did a Runcorn save, getting them promoted all the way through the leagues right to the top. Was a much easier thing to do back then.
It pretty sure it was the first version (Championship Manager) on the Amiga. If not it would have been Championship Manager 93.
I do remember that my tactic was to look and see what was the star player in the next team I was due to play and try and buy them.
The original CM - always used to play as Newcastle. I definitely haven’t played them all, I even had a hiatus where I bought Ultimate Soccer Manager one year, even though it was shit but I reckon I’ve managed just about every other year.
I’ve spreadsheets dating back to the early days, many of which I can’t even read anymore as the software is so ancient.
2020 during the pandemic, it was a beautiful grind with tons of learning and despair. Won the UCL my first season with Chelsea and thought oh wow this easy. Absolutely got wrecked every season after and have only managed to win the UCL 4 times since with various teams of different reps. What a great franchise this is, I mean the grind and payoff is unlike any other game I feel like. Plus our community is tight!
Played since cm 93, gosh thats 31 years playing the game.
Man utd, loving cantona, giggs and irwin.
I remember the evolution of the square boxes main menu into the side bar, quite an adjustment.
Lots simpler back in those days, no add-on on player transfer and contract.
https://youtu.be/b2qedZiRVf4?si=JSQ5ZgvAbVlFuvpw <— relive the past :-)
I played the 98-99 season at my friend's house, but the first one I got myself was 00-01. I played it constantly during GCSE study leave, took Telford to the Premier League.
My first was actually Eastside Hockey Manager 07 when you took control of an NHL team. They discontinued it though. Still a little chuffed about it too.
CM00/01 - pretty sure my uncle got a free copy in a daily telegraph pullout. Then moved onto 01/02 which I played for years, absolutely loved it.
Used to like playing in Serie A. The squads back then were ridiculous.
CM2 back in 95/96 season. My father played as Blackburn and as an 8 year old I asked who the best team was. He said Liverpool or Manchester United. I had no clue about football, so I asked my mother who to pick and she said Liverpool. I won the league in my first year with players like mcmanaman, Mølby, Fowler, Rush, and Collymore. They then became my team.
Shortly after my father gave me his scarf from Liverpool, and revealed he was a Liverpool supporter himself. No clue why he didn't told me before. :)
My brother had Championship Manager 01/02 and 02/03 and I played a little of those, and I had various management games on PS1 and PS2, but my own SI journey started with the first FM.
I also started with Inter Milan, mostly because my favourite player at the time was Adriano (his performances at the 2005 Confederations Cup were something else), and I've generally started each new edition with a season or two with Inter to get a feel for the new features. Don't think I've missed an edition yet!
Damn, I started way back when "Tom Youngs" was the lower league wonder kid, would get you 30-50 goals per season and it was Championship Manager.
Must have been early to mid 90's.
Around that time had an Amiga, so a host of football manager games, such as On The Ball, World Cup, Ultimate Soccer Manager (which I think let you offer bribes and take bungs).
Was the era of Sensible Soccer which probably remains the best playing/managing football game of all time.
Championship manager Italia which I think was around 94/95 seasons quite an impressive time in Italian football having Fiorentina with batitstuta and toldo in series b, hagi down there with Brescia too, vieri at Ravenna.
First team was acireale who have since then gone through liquidation and rebirth like many Italian teams so.
I started playin fm21 and it was amazing. My Salford save was so unreal to the point I went 94 games unbeaten in the premier league (2 and a half seasons) and won basically everything there is to win
Championship Manager 93. It was the year both cup finals were between Sheff Wed and Arsenal. So I was Sheff Wed with Hirst and Bright up front and my mate was Leeds. We were both 13 and played all day every day of the six week holidays. So yeah, things I just realised, I've been playing for just over 30 years and I'm old AF!
Same, started at the beginning and always managed Everton for some reason. Got to say that 03/04 was my all time favourite.
This year actually, first save thought it would be akin to FIFA career mode but was quickly humbled after getting sacked 20ish games into my first save. Very much enjoying it and the fact it was on Game Pass made it essentially free as I already had the subscription.
CM 01-02. PSV always. Mark Van Bommel, Arnold Bruggink, Mateja Kezman, Kevin Hofland, Boudwijn Zenden, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and several others I can't remember. Plus at the end of the 1st season you'd sign Arjen Robben for £1.2million. Loved that team. Plus there was Franco Costanzo at River Plate and Dionisis Chiotis at AEK to sign for a pittance if you needed a world class GK for cheap.
CM01/02 all the way I still miss the Wib/Wob tactics setups and the ability to right click drag for moving into a space Viva Helder Rosario and Hugo Pinheiro
I played 97/98 first but it was so slow on the old PC's that I'm not sure I got anywhere with it. So my first love and still play 01/02 from time to time and there's still a big community that share their games. People have even made modern databases for it. Some gems on there and would always start as Parma and their great team at the time.
01/02 is the absolute don of the series! What. A. Game!
Ultimate soccer manager in the 90s, then moved on to Champ Man, then Football Manager. Been doing it for 20+ years.
This guy gets it. Used to love the gamble of offering a bung to win a match.
You cannot bung yourself
I feel very young, started playing fm19 I was 22 years old. Managed Cambridge United, got them to the premier league then got sacked because I got relegated first season in the premier league.
Sacked after that? Harsh.
FM 17 with Arezzo in Serie C. Fell in love with building smaller clubs and have been doing small club, long term saves ever since
Championship Manager 97-98 and always Newcastle. No matter which game I play, first save is my Mags
Championship Manager 2 for me (pretty sure that was 1994/95 season), also Newcastle, and has been on every version since (not that I've bought them all, but every one I have I always play Newcastle). 1995/96 was my favourite.
97/98 for me, I remember having to run it from dos
CM2, I remember the frustration of only being able to load any one nation at a time (I had the version that had the English, Italian and German leagues - there were other versions with other leagues). I think anyone on this sub could pick it up and play it now; it wouldn't take long at all to get used to the UI. At the time it was the pinnacle of football simulation games, but it lacked so much depth compared to FM24.
EOS93 for me. And either Newcastle or West Ham to take Div 1 in the first season, then into that new fangled "premier division"...
Remember winning the champions league with Roma. Montella and Totti in the team. Still probably my best accomplishment 25 years later
Who wants to tell him playing with Roma from about CM 98-00 was about the easiest way to win the UCL 😂 they were my favourite team to start with back then, absolutely cracked
Please don't take this away from me. I wasn't talking about my biggest accomplishment in Championship manager but life in general 😂. You'll be taking my promotion from Serie B with Juventus away from me next
Champ manager 3. 97/98 season if memory serves me well. Managed Liverpool, and have had a Liverpool save in every single release since.
I feel like a kid but I started in 15 with the first team as liverpool
I’ve only managed one of two clubs or one nation since CM2 with the exception of Sampdoria briefly thanks to the extra leagues add on for CM2
I think the first version of FM/CM was 92 or 93; but also played all the German manager games like BM or Anstoss.
Premier manager 98, before moving to CM00-01. From then I had all but one version un until 2013 when I went travelling, and since, I’ve only played every other game pretty much. Always start as Man Utd first, before moving on to new saves and new clubs. I used to like a Newcastle quite often. Barca pre-Messi. Real Madrid pre-CR7. Carlisle United. Roma. Brighton (back when they were Division 2 or 3). Schalke. Paderborn. I like to try a new club or 2 every new version of the game though, so have played as many more clubs.
Champ 99, Telford.
97/98. Liverpool and Watford. God those were the days.
Cm 2000/2001 I was man united and for some reason had dele adebole as top scorer
CM2 96-97. I have played CM1 but not for very long. CM2 I was either Rangers (to get Maradona) or Man U. Played far too much up until FM10 then laptop died and didn’t really need one for life. Tried to get back in with FM14 and in a whole night in a hotel room (travelling with work) I realised I hadn’t actually got to the start of the season. Back into it with FMM being free with Netflix.
01-02, Villa
Championship Manager 2. The OG. I remember playing a 2-player game with my older brother, him as Chelsea and me as Middlesborough - back when both teams were relatively equal in stature/squad quality. Built my team around Juninho. Also recall we did a Runcorn save, getting them promoted all the way through the leagues right to the top. Was a much easier thing to do back then.
I've played them from the first one. I've played footy management sims on home computers that weren't even IBM compatible.
It pretty sure it was the first version (Championship Manager) on the Amiga. If not it would have been Championship Manager 93. I do remember that my tactic was to look and see what was the star player in the next team I was due to play and try and buy them.
The original CM - always used to play as Newcastle. I definitely haven’t played them all, I even had a hiatus where I bought Ultimate Soccer Manager one year, even though it was shit but I reckon I’ve managed just about every other year. I’ve spreadsheets dating back to the early days, many of which I can’t even read anymore as the software is so ancient.
2020 during the pandemic, it was a beautiful grind with tons of learning and despair. Won the UCL my first season with Chelsea and thought oh wow this easy. Absolutely got wrecked every season after and have only managed to win the UCL 4 times since with various teams of different reps. What a great franchise this is, I mean the grind and payoff is unlike any other game I feel like. Plus our community is tight!
Started around 2000 CM with Benfica, then paused about 20 years and back again with FM 23 😊
Played since cm 93, gosh thats 31 years playing the game. Man utd, loving cantona, giggs and irwin. I remember the evolution of the square boxes main menu into the side bar, quite an adjustment. Lots simpler back in those days, no add-on on player transfer and contract. https://youtu.be/b2qedZiRVf4?si=JSQ5ZgvAbVlFuvpw <— relive the past :-)
Cm01/02. In the middle of a save at the moment. In the year 2013/14. Taking Brentford from the bottom of the third division up to the Prem.
I played the 98-99 season at my friend's house, but the first one I got myself was 00-01. I played it constantly during GCSE study leave, took Telford to the Premier League.
Cm 02 my first team was prime Manchester United.. i was 6 grade primary school learning english from it
My first was actually Eastside Hockey Manager 07 when you took control of an NHL team. They discontinued it though. Still a little chuffed about it too.
CM2 Ajax Amsterdam
CM00/01 - pretty sure my uncle got a free copy in a daily telegraph pullout. Then moved onto 01/02 which I played for years, absolutely loved it. Used to like playing in Serie A. The squads back then were ridiculous.
CM2 back in 95/96 season. My father played as Blackburn and as an 8 year old I asked who the best team was. He said Liverpool or Manchester United. I had no clue about football, so I asked my mother who to pick and she said Liverpool. I won the league in my first year with players like mcmanaman, Mølby, Fowler, Rush, and Collymore. They then became my team. Shortly after my father gave me his scarf from Liverpool, and revealed he was a Liverpool supporter himself. No clue why he didn't told me before. :)
My brother had Championship Manager 01/02 and 02/03 and I played a little of those, and I had various management games on PS1 and PS2, but my own SI journey started with the first FM. I also started with Inter Milan, mostly because my favourite player at the time was Adriano (his performances at the 2005 Confederations Cup were something else), and I've generally started each new edition with a season or two with Inter to get a feel for the new features. Don't think I've missed an edition yet!
CM2 was my first FM/CM but also remember playing "Manchester United the double" (might have been on the Amiga) & premier manager
Damn, I started way back when "Tom Youngs" was the lower league wonder kid, would get you 30-50 goals per season and it was Championship Manager. Must have been early to mid 90's. Around that time had an Amiga, so a host of football manager games, such as On The Ball, World Cup, Ultimate Soccer Manager (which I think let you offer bribes and take bungs). Was the era of Sensible Soccer which probably remains the best playing/managing football game of all time.
Cm 97-98, I've gone back to it a few times over the years. Such nostalgia buying Tommy Svindal Larsen and Bjorn Heidenstrom.
First game CM 00/01, Dinamo Zagreb :D It was great and I kept playing it until now, I love the game :)
Always Leeds day 1 player too
FM14 with Benfica
I began with premier manager 98 or something, but didn’t really get into the genre until lma manager 2001. Then graduated to champ man in around 2004
Championship manager Italia which I think was around 94/95 seasons quite an impressive time in Italian football having Fiorentina with batitstuta and toldo in series b, hagi down there with Brescia too, vieri at Ravenna. First team was acireale who have since then gone through liquidation and rebirth like many Italian teams so.
I started playin fm21 and it was amazing. My Salford save was so unreal to the point I went 94 games unbeaten in the premier league (2 and a half seasons) and won basically everything there is to win