The Nostalgia Thread - Talking About Old FMs!

Thought I would take a walk down memory lane and install some of the old FMs this evening. I always get a bit misty eyed when a new FM comes out and I remember all of the old ones I spent so much time on. Pure nostalgia and, of course, it was always better in those days looking back!

At first, I was going to install the CMs too and start at the beginning, which for me was CM2. I've owned and played every version from there onwards. However, I didn't know how easy it would be to get some of the old CMs working (a recent attempt to get CM2 up and running took up way too much of my time!) so I decided to just start with the first of the FM series instead. So, starting with FM05, naturally. Just installing now.

I'll add some of my thoughts to this thread as I progress. In the meantime, what were everyone's favourites and what fond memories do you have of past FMs (or even CMs if you want to go back that far!)

Knew this was would be one of your posts as soon as I saw the title...

One of my best memories was going 'wow' after seeing the 2D graphics for the first time. I even remember the match it was! ha FM 2005 I think?!

I'm still actually playing 09, as I never could get into 10. Had some wonderful times with both Man Utd and Fisher FC on there, the sweetest of which was finally, after twenty-five seasons, getting Fisher out of obscurity and into the Prem.

Also found Jones Awuah, an awesome Ghana international, on 09, prompting many nights in the GD All-Nighter thread ranting about how good he was.

I think I still have 07 and 08 lying around somewhere. Might fire them up and have a go for old time's sake.

CM 95/96 - my first ever game.

My mates big brother had it and allowed me to add myself as a manager on his premier league game as Arsenal I think. I'd tell him what sort of players I wanted and he'd go buy them for me as I obviously couldn't stay at his house all the time. He'd then do prints of my side and their stats for me to look at overnight. Can remember him signing me Papin and Klinsmann up front, and Pablo Benegochea (?) as a 35 yr old AMC.

CM 97/98 - Notts County

receiving 6.5m for Tony Battersby as a premiership striker and replacing him with Jimmy Quinn. Also sold the legend that was Predrag Gaijc for quite a bit too.

The 97/98 free transfers of the Phiri brothers (James and Davis), Felix aboagye, Dennis Lota, Sam Ayorinde and probably my most favourite CM player ever - Euclides De Castro - you made 1998 for me, my friend...

Knew this was would be one of your posts as soon as I saw the title...

One of my best memories was going 'wow' after seeing the 2D graphics for the first time. I even remember the match it was! ha FM 2005 I think?!

CM4 & 03/04 featured the first 2D match engines.

And am I really that predictable.

So the first thing I don't like about FM05 is the resolution of the skin, which doesn't look as sharp and smooth as FMs since 08.

But I do really like the fact that it recommends I run a whopping 23 leagues from 11 nations, which is way more than FM10 will suggest (usually England down to League Two and the SPL on FM10)!

I haven't even got used to FM10 when SI is already launching 11.

My first FM: 07. Couldn't get into it at all. Then, I remember the day the FM08 demo was released. From the first moment on I was hooked.

FM09 was a steep learning curve somehow.

FM10 with the 09er skin useful.

Most likely I won't getting into FM11 if they don't release FM08/FM09 old style skin.

So, if I had to pick ONE FM for the lonely island, it would be FM08.

CM2 was wonderful, my older brother helped me and I started as my beloved Arsenal. My first match was a home draw against Nottingham Forest. We went ahead with John Hartson, but Bryan Roy levelled the match as a 1-1 draw. I got the sack halfway through 2nd season as I was awful. My older brother's attempts to help me resulted in him using up all the available manager slots somehow.

CM2 was wonderful, my older brother helped me and I started as my beloved Arsenal. My first match was a home draw against Nottingham Forest. We went ahead with John Hartson, but Bryan Roy levelled the match as a 1-1 draw. I got the sack halfway through 2nd season as I was awful. My older brother's attempts to help me resulted in him using up all the available manager slots somehow.

Pretty awesome that you can remember your first match on CM2!

Really weird not having any team talks on FM05.

No match build up. Just straight in.

And without team talks, it's just tactics and player attributes at work.

Plus, check out how basic the 2D match engine looks:

Weird.

Pretty awesome that you can remember your first match on CM2!

i know, a memory that i rather held on to. i remember bergkamp starting the season out for 7 months with injury. my first signing was kasey keller as back up to david seaman

It's also worth noting that in some areas, so little has changed between FM05 and the latest versions, which is even stranger.

any areas in particular?

The young players with potential in the game are mostly spot on, which goes to show the quality of the data which has always been a hallmark of this series, although there are one or two funny names here and there. But mostly excellent.

any areas in particular?

Well so much of it looks, feels and plays like the latter games.

I mean the tactics have mostly the same options (minus, of course, the tactics creator). A lot of the options are the same in different parts of the game. The messages are similar. The layouts etc.

I'm trying, really, to describe this weird feeling I have, which is somewhere between: 'wow look how far we've come' and 'the game hasn't really changed that much after all'.

It sort of makes you appreciate some of the progress over the years but also get frustrated at some of the stuff that just hasn't moved on at all.

Nii Lamptey

Ferrah Orosco/Marc Collis (testers that started CM94ish in the game at Cambridge)

Manual of CM93 having scores on each page for security protection - if you misplaced the book thugh, as long as you went 1-1 you'd get in after enough tries!

Insuring players

Goalkeepers only having 1 visible stat (influence)

CM Italia - Lentini injured for 48 weeks at game start

Foreign teams in CM93 not having players, just No. 9 ect. but prolific all the same

Bakayoko

Clive Tyldsely commentary

26 max squad size

Vidiprinter scores

Having your cursor in the "right position" pre 2D commentary

So many memories...

Interaction in FM05 goes as far as releasing manager comments, with all the comments the same as in latter versions.

I found training though, which is weird. A few sessions of 'pig in the middle' anyone?

Interaction in FM05 goes as far as releasing manager comments, with all the comments the same as in latter versions.

I found training though, which is weird. A few sessions of 'pig in the middle' anyone?

Ray Houghton been reading Lord Of The Flies pre-CM4?

Nii Lamptey

Ferrah Orosco/Marc Collis (testers that started CM94ish in the game at Cambridge)

Manual of CM93 having scores on each page for security protection - if you misplaced the book thugh, as long as you went 1-1 you'd get in after enough tries!

Insuring players

Goalkeepers only having 1 visible stat (influence)

CM Italia - Lentini injured for 48 weeks at game start

Foreign teams in CM93 not having players, just No. 9 ect. but prolific all the same

Bakayoko

Clive Tyldsely commentary

26 max squad size

Vidiprinter scores

Having your cursor in the "right position" pre 2D commentary

So many memories...

Awesome memories.

That's the stuff.

CM03/04 sponsored by Supt Rungratsamee. :*)

Really weird not having any team talks on FM05.

No match build up. Just straight in.

And without team talks, it's just tactics and player attributes at work.

Plus, check out how basic the 2D match engine looks:

Weird.

Matty Hann! Those were the days, classic FM.

It's weird how there's not much going on. The centre of the game isn't the 'inbox'/'news' screen.

You just hit continue a few times, see some scores, and then it's time to play a new match!

Edit - on the plus side, I've just been on holiday and a month has past in no time at all.

Matty Hann! Those were the days, classic FM.

Thought you might like that Jake.

Thought you might like that Jake.

Haha! Cant beat times like those. Best Saints team for years.

I miss those FM's, but I do prefer the more new versions of the game.

I remember in CM 93/94 your best player would move abroad at the end of the season, with you having absolutely no say in it

Every few months I get nostalgic and reinstall one of the old FM's, but I always get bored after a few hours. The relative simplicity of the earlier games works against them I've found, playing FM 06 for example is a nice diversion where you win everything and all your players' attributes are upwards of 15... for a couple of seasons, then it's back to whatever the newest iteration is.

Strangely, I'm finding that FM05 isn't as fast as I first thought. I'm not sure it's much quicker than the newer games. The lack of news just makes it feel a bit faster.

Ray Houghton been reading Lord Of The Flies pre-CM4?

oooo intellectual in the forums

ooo slightly off topic crouchaldinho, but i notice you are a st albans city man, well on fm09 i promoted them from blue square south in first season, got to final of setanta shield (or whatever it was called) knocking out all blue square premier sides, and then the ridiculous wage bill caught up with st albans the next season cos i left for a higher team. was a mighty season though

Haha! Cant beat times like those. Best Saints team for years.

I miss those FM's, but I do prefer the more new versions of the game.

A screenshot just for you Jake:

ooo slightly off topic crouchaldinho, but i notice you are a st albans city man, well on fm09 i promoted them from blue square south in first season, got to final of setanta shield (or whatever it was called) knocking out all blue square premier sides, and then the ridiculous wage bill caught up with st albans the next season cos i left for a higher team. was a mighty season though

Nice work. You should have stayed on and taken them further by the sounds of it!

I found training though, which is weird. A few sessions of 'pig in the middle' anyone?

Bloody hell, that doesn't half take me back. That was almost a brilliat idea. I could never seem to get a good training regime going though.

The hyped features for FM05 were -

Media - releasing manager & player comments

Tactics - tempo, creative freedom and width added

International competitions

Advertise for and hire backroom staff

Optimised progressing making it faster

A data editor

A new design (skin)

Accurate injury data

A screenshot just for you Jake:

Oh my goodness! Wow, brilliant!

Bet you were happy when you saw that Crouchy.

Nice work. You should have stayed on and taken them further by the sounds of it!

stevenage borough job came up who had been promoted, yet parted with graham westley, and i got them promoted in 1 season. i then left them and managed bosnia for 2 years

One positive thing for FM05 is that the manual is way, way better than the instructions for the later games, which seem to get worse each year.

Oh my goodness! Wow, brilliant!

Bet you were happy when you saw that Crouchy.

Some quite funny attributes.

stevenage borough job came up who had been promoted, yet parted with graham westley, and i got them promoted in 1 season. i then left them and managed bosnia for 2 years

Not Stevenage.

Screenshots of FM' 05: back then, it really looked like a football manager game. Nowadays, it has the charms of a do-it-yourself tax return program.

Some quite funny attributes.

Yes, finishing 19? I don't seem to remember that kind of record from him!

OH the memories.

I remember playing CM2 and being Nottingham Forest. Jerkan was superb (he was crap at Forest in real life) and I also always tried to sign Igor Pamic he was an excellent striker, though a bit injury prone.

I can also remember the addition of non real life players and one was Mark Van Ankeren and he was fantastic in the one game I saw him. I sold him for a massive profit but I could never find him anywhere again.

Great thread! Remember a mate getting this new game called 'Championship Manager' and upon loading it up on the Amiga it just seemed perfect. Before that we played Player Manager but that seemed lacking in features compared to this. Then the next day it crashed, mate took it back to the shop and they said that all copies had the same problem.

Months seemed to pass before it surfaced again - had to console ourselves with playing games like Football Masters.

Remember it taking about 2 hours to load up a new season then when the next version came it was something like 10 minutes!

lol at the remark of having the cursor in the 'right position' lol. Nii Lamptey was awesome! Used to play with a mate and his brother - all hunched around the Amiga with terrific banter on how we'r going to beat each other. Also you used to negotiate deals for players between the 3 of us. Invariably id have a decent youth player and then sell him when he's 30...then he'd score agsainst me! Terrific banter when stuff like this happened.

Remember CM2 being very difficult to wiin away from home and then when the patch was released with the Bosman ruling in (at least i think it was), found out that the poor away form thing was fixed.

CM97/98 - the ability to have more than one league! Took charge of Barcelona straight away to get my repuation up and won the European Cup. Quite preferred that back in the day you could run the maximum number of leagues the game had but when CM3 came it showed all these leagues you could run and I mistakenly believed you could run all of them but alas this wasnt to be the case. Even now I wish I could load them all but appreciate now they cater for everyone around the world.

After CM01/02 which incidently people regard as a classic, it was 'enough' for me as far as CM was concerned. I never realised there was a with and without ball screen and so found the game infuriatingly hard and wished i could - for the first tiime - see where my tactics were going wrong. Then when CM4 came out - sure there was a massive bug whereby it would change the scores - but the 2D was awesome.

Remember when it went to FM too and coming back from a gig in London, seeing the massive bill boards and after spending the night away from home watching and listening to good music, i couldnt wait to fire up the new FM.

Screenshots of FM' 05: back then, it really looked like a football manager game. Nowadays, it has the charms of a do-it-yourself tax return program.

Agreed! Whatever happened to the green grass? Bring it back!

Looks like I may have to miss out FM06. Just got the CD in the drive and it's not working.

Checked it out and it has a few scratches, which I assume are stopping it from loading unfortunately.

I know I played FM05 quite a lot but I think maybe FM06 I didn't play so much. So I was interested to go back and take a look at it.

Great thread! Remember a mate getting this new game called 'Championship Manager' and upon loading it up on the Amiga it just seemed perfect. Before that we played Player Manager but that seemed lacking in features compared to this. Then the next day it crashed, mate took it back to the shop and they said that all copies had the same problem.

Months seemed to pass before it surfaced again - had to console ourselves with playing games like Football Masters.

Remember it taking about 2 hours to load up a new season then when the next version came it was something like 10 minutes!

lol at the remark of having the cursor in the 'right position' lol. Nii Lamptey was awesome! Used to play with a mate and his brother - all hunched around the Amiga with terrific banter on how we'r going to beat each other. Also you used to negotiate deals for players between the 3 of us. Invariably id have a decent youth player and then sell him when he's 30...then he'd score agsainst me! Terrific banter when stuff like this happened.

Remember CM2 being very difficult to wiin away from home and then when the patch was released with the Bosman ruling in (at least i think it was), found out that the poor away form thing was fixed.

CM97/98 - the ability to have more than one league! Took charge of Barcelona straight away to get my repuation up and won the European Cup. Quite preferred that back in the day you could run the maximum number of leagues the game had but when CM3 came it showed all these leagues you could run and I mistakenly believed you could run all of them but alas this wasnt to be the case. Even now I wish I could load them all but appreciate now they cater for everyone around the world.

After CM01/02 which incidently people regard as a classic, it was 'enough' for me as far as CM was concerned. I never realised there was a with and without ball screen and so found the game infuriatingly hard and wished i could - for the first tiime - see where my tactics were going wrong. Then when CM4 came out - sure there was a massive bug whereby it would change the scores - but the 2D was awesome.

Remember when it went to FM too and coming back from a gig in London, seeing the massive bill boards and after spending the night away from home watching and listening to good music, i couldnt wait to fire up the new FM.

Great post.

My FM06 disc is broken!

Oh well.

According to the manual, FM06 brought us:

More manager/player interaction.

Manager negotiations (contracts, wages, transfer budget etc.)

New training module

In-game tutorial

New injury module

New tactical options - time wasting and player position swaps

New tactical tracking

Team talks

I didn't realise this was the version with team talks. I thought that was FM07 for some reason.

I've just picked up the FM07 box to install. Something about the greenness of this box seems special to me.

I think I'll carry on with this run through the old FMs another day though. There is such a thing as too much nostalgia in one sitting.

Not Stevenage.

yes, good old Boro

I'm probably the only person who remembers Adriano Marzeglia, what a beast he was.

yes, good old Boro

Abandoning the Saints to go to Stevenage? You wouldn't be welcome back in our corner of Hertfordshire.

My regen names always seemed to be amazing on the CM games.

Scott Rimmer, Dean Clarke and Enrico Caceres are some examples of my favourites from CM2 and CM3.

Ah, how I miss the likes of those legendary regens.