Very Old School player

Yes i'm a total old school fan of football management and it all started with kevin toms football manager for the spectrum ...well actually it started with LoGacta (look it up on ebay and youtube) which i still have the original, i used to roll dice for football teams scores and choose the different colour dice dependant on which team was playing...I also used to play by mail football league management too, i still have my PSL 1987 champions trophy i won with Sunderland....anyway i digress... then i used to play so many different football manager games (fa cup on spectrum, multiplayer soccer manager on the Atari ST...digressing again, must...stop). Then Championship manager came out (1994? 1995?) the rest is history.

I'm not sure i could go back now as its come along way but i still yearn for that excitement i used to get and wondered if anyone knows of any or plays any play by post/email football leagues? or if anyone knows of any 'old school' type management games?

Or is it that i dont get excited by football manager like i used to?....ok ok i still do but i'm past 40 now...i started very young!

i used to play a football management game by post too, must be 18 years ago now. it was somewhere in plymouth if i remember correctly, i live in suffolk. was it the same one you played?

Hmmm, there were a few i played, i think it was something like £1.50 per turn or something....i only remember PSL as thats what it says on my trophy, ill see if i can hunt it out...then i played one where they played the whole season on 1 turn, far too exciting, i couldnt wait for the post to come back. Then i tried a 'gang warfare' type PBM (Play by mail) where you had to try and get fame by burning churches and other things and trying to control blocks...all very exciting!

hmm i just found it...it was called 'its a crime' and is on www.kjcgames.com thanks Danny you just inspired me to find it again, it tells you all about play by mail and theres a soccer one too...i remember the name kjc games, they used to advertise in World Soccer magazine if i remember rightly...i think ill start it up again!

i remember i used to get about 7 pieces of paper through the post every other week, i think, and it was about a tenner a time, so hellishly expensive!!! but i used to spend hours examining those pieces of paper, my parents were'nt too keen on spending that kind of money tho, so only lasted a few months!

I did a PBM football management game for a short while; from what I recall, the company that started it disappeared shortly after, which was a shame. Also did a wrestling PBM game for quite a while, actually, and then 'e-fedding' came along and that died a slow death.

Most fun I had, however, was partaking in a PBM game by the name of Mortis Maximus, which was a kind of, futuristic, 'blood ball'. I believe it was based loosely around the Speedball video game series that was out in the late 80s/early 90s, and each 'turn' you played a game or two, set your line-up, could transfer players, as well as looking at add-ons/power-ups. Or something along those lines. This would've been in the mid-to-late 90s, so my memories of it are a little fuzzy, and I can't really be bothered to dig out the folder I had dedicated to each turn, and could never bring myself to actually throw away!

me and my older brother used to play brian clough's football fortunes on the spectrum. it was half computer game half board game!

ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games-inlays/b/BrianCloughsFootballFortunes.jpg

I used to play PBM football manager in the Apex Soccer League. Played it for a couple of years in 1989/90 I think it was and thought it was the best thing ever! I even used to phone other managers to try and make transfer deals!

On the day when the post arrived with my results it was so exciting. I'd study my team and other teams form before carefully writing in my instructions and tactics for the next round of games. Then I'd take my envelope down to the post office to buy postal orders to pay for my next round of matches. Good times.

Have you guys ever tried an old game called "the double"? Used to spend hours and hours with it on my old comodore. Good times...

Have you guys ever tried an old game called "the double"? Used to spend hours and hours with it on my old comodore. Good times...

spent many hours playing The Double on Spectrum. Others worth a mention - Football Director 1 & 2, Football Manager (original) and Soccer Boss.

dont forget on the ball and bundesliga manager hattrick!

What about the ZX 81 version?

hi recently installed champ man 00/01. I started with celtic and brought shearer and solskjaer. i won EVERYTHING in my first season. league both cups and champions league. Shearer scored over 60 goals and so did larsson i think. ill se if i can dig out the screens. i can remeber it took me lots and lots of seasons to win it all before so strange. oh and i think i only drew one game and didnt lose all season.

I had a couple of seasons worth of "Ultimate Soccer Manager" before I discovered CM 00/01. That was ok - you could build your own concession stands!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Soccer_Manager

There were bunging and game rigging actions too.

I still play the original FM whenever I get my spectrum out.

In off the post was one of the best and still going I think.

www.iotp.net

I had a couple of seasons worth of "Ultimate Soccer Manager" before I discovered CM 00/01. That was ok - you could build your own concession stands!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Soccer_Manager

There were bunging and game rigging actions too.

Ahh, USM. The only game that ran CM2 close, IMHO.

Did anyone else develop a vague interest in Brighton & Hove Albion after playing the demo for this game?

I have played so many over the years, I fear I am losing track of which one was which.

It may have been one of the Football Directors - but I'm sure you could edit the names of your players and they had ability ratings such as 6-, 6, 6+. It was always exciting to see someone move from 6+ to a 7! I recall renaming all my players, so I had strikers of Gullit, Rush and Best (and possibly me..). I also recall discovering my first ever cheat on this game - that you could take out a loan and if you managed to get to the 'take loan out' box before the screen refreshed and it greyed out, you could keep taking out loans - but only have to pay back the original. Ah, old school cheating!

I think I bought my first ever CM down a carboot the day before half term started - Bought and played to death on the Sunday, I couldn't wait to have a whole week to play it, only for my computer to break and require repair. Never has a half term felt so bleak.

It is odd that the games have moved on so much - but you often see posts how the magic of those earlier days have gone. I guess you love the game that got you hooked first and nostalgia can never be beaten.

I used to play all the old games for the Spectrum. The Double was ahead of its time although you could only play with a 4-4-2 formation. I remember buying the old Domark Championship Manager for the Amiga with the angry bloke pointing at you on the cover (1992/1993?). Even then it was a quality game, I remember Alan Shearer going on loan or being sold to Southend when he had just hit the big time in real life

many moons ago i used to play a management game on the amstrad, can't remember the name for the life of me, anyway it didn't matter what team you picked to manage you always started in the old division 4, the game had no licensing so you spent the first 15 minutes of the game re-naming your players (a copy of match or shoot magazine always came in handy for correct squads), the most stand out "feature" of the game was the fact that if you scored 4 goals you were certain to win the match for some reason and you were pretty much guarenteed a player to break his leg each season which ended his career and you would get a pitance in compensation

many moons ago i used to play a management game on the amstrad, can't remember the name for the life of me, anyway it didn't matter what team you picked to manage you always started in the old division 4, the game had no licensing so you spent the first 15 minutes of the game re-naming your players (a copy of match or shoot magazine always came in handy for correct squads), the most stand out "feature" of the game was the fact that if you scored 4 goals you were certain to win the match for some reason and you were pretty much guarenteed a player to break his leg each season which ended his career and you would get a pitance in compensation

I'm pretty certain the game you are talking about is 'Soccer Boss'

I actually had it a Spectrum but I had friends who had the Amstrad version. This was the very first Football Manager game I played and is the reason I've been hooked on them ever since.

I too grew up on Kevin Toms classic as well as Fooballer of the Year which was truly awsome. Try out the links below for a couple of suggestions, I play both and find them great to dip in and out of.

http://www.newstargames.com/index.html

http://www.soccermanager.com/

Not really a classic but wondering if anyone could help. I got a football game for the PC years ago well around about 2002 it was after the World Cup as it said "Well done Brazil" on the case. It was a yellowish case with just a football on the front of it. I realize this is very vague!

Well ill try some of yours suggestions people, thanks, ill keep updated if i find anything that 'gets me going again' Sorry Lucy 2002 is hardly years ago for us old people...cant help you on that one...

Player Manager on the Amiga was a pretty good game, you manage the team and play as well. unlimitted seasons. best game ever back in the day. You enter the game when you about 28 years old, and can play till like your 50 I think, but your really slow.

Hi Guys,

M first management game was Player Manager, what a game, how many season did I play on Atari ... a lot

I discovered "Guy Roux Manager" which was the french version of Championship Manager. It was edited by Domark if I'm correct, and I could not go past the first season. (stuck ?) If I remember correctly, the names were the right one, but not the first name.

Then Championship Manager, and then you know ...

I dont like the new versions, I'm still playing and enjoying FM2007 with Juve.

Dont you guy remember the atari version of CM Italia was bugged. The name generated were not good. Totally f*cked up I send back my order (from France) and it was never fixed I had to buy an amiga (what a shame) to play that great game, until I discovered I could win every game playing 0-5-5 : 1 goalie, 0 defender, 5 mid, 5 fw. There was injured Van Basten and Papin at that time at Milan .... God I miss those days

Premier manager 97 for the megadrive was my first. I used to take Wigan from division 3 all the way to premier league champions in successive seasons.

My dad once watched me play a game and said the computer must surely fix the score before it even starts the game. I was very upset by that remark. Still haunts me.

i remember most of those game the used to be in the back of match god the memories a young 18 yr old owen and signing a monaco player henry i think his name was always no matter what ff i was in id get done by georgie hagi if he was on the oppositions team god i think i spent enough for 30 coppies or more of the current fm gud times

http://www.kjcgames.com/extra/sampleturn.htm

I used to play the KJC games play-by-mail footie management game (Extra-Time), indeed was still playing it back in '97 when I started work at SI (and I seem to recall receiving a real plastic trophy for winning a league or something in it at one point - a very proud day I can tell you ).

I think KJC have taken Extra-Time online now, no idea what its like these days though I'm afraid.

PS - If you enjoyed our earlier games and want something with a 'flavour' of those I'd recommend trying out one of the Football Manager Handheld games, they're aimed at being a bit faster to play and more akin to our earlier titles than FM PC is today.

Thanks Mark, I will try one of those.

I think there's too much options now, even if it adds reality to the game, I'm still trying with the demo each year but can't go past a few weeks

Your best game for me is FM 2007 Even if I'm out of contract with Juventus but still kicking (scudetto, italian cup and uefa cup won last season

Wow so many memories have just got FM2011 after digging out my CM01/02. I have to admit after starting playing footie sims since I was 18, I'm over 40 now, I was pleaseantly surprised that the old addiction was still there love the graphics! My personal favourite amongst those above were Football Director and the Double, which if my memory serves me right had some graphics, I can still remember staring at the cover as I took the Woolwich Ferry home and reading the instructions, now that was a great game! A bit slow if I remember! Also Football Crazy was another brilliant game and this one you could get an editor too, but I still most of all remember reading a magazine about Championship Manager and how players got ratings, I went and bought it....AMAZING the first version had fictional players but real teams. When 93/94 came out I was hooked....Even took a week off work with my mate Malik pretending to be sick, we go through 13 seasons in a week playing round the clock, using fictional option which allowed us to have our own fictional universe...he was Tottenham and I was Arsenal we even had a folder which acted as our newspaper where would write down headlines (I've still got this somewhere) the rivalry was intense he won his title before me, but before long I switched after a couple seasons at the Gunners to Utd where by season 5 I had built a young side and we dominated, names such as Perry Crumplin, Nicky Whelan (Legend), Carl Cross and Jerome Atteveld we dominated! GREAT GAME I even mentioned this as best man at Malik's wedding.sad..sad, but here I am over 40 and reading above had made me realise I'm not the only one to still remember those old school days.....now I have to get back to the real world which thankfully after trying to recreate Barcelona via Cardiff City has at least an hour, maybe two at a stretch put aside for FM2011...Happy Days!

PS I Remember those e-mail games they looked good in the magazines I used to read always was tempted, but the one pound eighty five an hour for working at McD's on a weekend wouldn't stretch that far.....I had to put away some cash for my snow white jeans and farrahs! Thank you Mr.Byrite! The 80s you can't beat that period of time for gaming, anyone between 50-35 must remember we grew up in an era when video games were the business and by 1985 you either had a Spectrum or a C64 (C64 rocked!) later the Amiga and of course the only reason I bought an Amiga was for CManager and the only reason I bought a PC was for....CM and the reason I've dusted down my laptop last night was for.....FM, I think the electronic industry owes CM/FM BIG TIME, my wife however would beg to differ but that's another story

I used to play a PBM one it was £2.50 a turn I think, used to manage Honved it was quite hard to get a decent top league English side. I remember ringing other managers to try and negotiate a fee for a player on the transfer list.

Have you guys ever tried an old game called "the double"? Used to spend hours and hours with it on my old comodore. Good times...

The Double for the C64 was so addictive, and probably the toughest management game I've played. You had no visible stats to work from, the only idea you had of how good or bad a player was was via a very restrictive scout report or if you went to watch him play! (C64 version allowed you to watch the whole match with primitive stickmen 3D graphics lol). It took ages to build a decent team and you were only offered new jobs from the club that finished 3 places above you in the previous season (I remember getting offered Middlesbrough (my club) after about 2 years of trying lmao!)) Man that was a happy day! I played that game from 1986 on and off until around 1998 when my trusty old Commodore 64 finally snuffed it I then got it on a PC - c64 emulator but it just never felt the same after that.

I think I've played them all, the original 'Football Manager' circa 1982? on the Spectrum, The Boss, Football Director, Player-Manager on the Amiga, Ultimate Soccer Manager, Director of Football (where you could split the screen and watch 4 matches simultaneously!), Player Manager on the PC, TCM 2004 and the Fifa Manager series right up to 2010. Now I'm playing SI's incarnation - which is the best of the lot obviously, but The Double from 1986 still remains my favorite of all time due to how difficult it was to actually achieve 'The Double'.

My own hall of fame amongst the many I've played wish there was a list somewhere

Football Manager (the original)

Football Director (so many hours of my life on this game! First game where you could keep some set of stats, caps, appearances, goals and ages too if I remember)

The Boss (Crazy game that somehow I liked)

Football Crazy (brilliant game that you ordered from a mag)

Tactical Manager ( The original versions rocked!)

The Double ( Amazing game, CM before CM, right up there in terms of detail for it's time what was it £9.99 at the time?)

Ultimate Soccer Manager Series (played this in later versions was a good game)

Championship Manager Original (The turning point!)

Championship Manager 93/94 (The most addictive game in my gaming life)

Championship Manager Italia (Not such a big thrill for me, but remembered being excited about managing Van Basten, Gullit etc)

Champman 2 (Had to get a PC for this one - remember looking at a magazine as this was previewed, the screen shots blew me away a 386 or 486 PC became my holy grail) Neil Lennon and Danny Murphy became the gods I worshipped on CM2.

Champman 3 ( this is the era of my WAGs)

Champman 4 (See above)

FM Series ( played again up to FM2008 I think and loved it, just didn't have the time and have finally come "home" with FM 2011 a couple more years my son will convert tothe series and I would have come full circle at the moment he is just mastering PES and FiFa older versions for the PS2 of course as only I'm allowed on the PS3 till he turns 10 and stops supporting Bristol City.

Lovely trip down memory lane!

anyone remember tracksuit manager?

a true classic indeed

loved it

I also used to do PBM back around 93/94, Soccer Star I believe it was called. £1.50 a week, 50p per extra team!

Can remember receiving a ream of print-out every Saturday morning! Then filling in the team sheet and all of the instructions. People ringing me from different parts of the country to do transfer deals!

As for old football management computer games, the one that stands out for me is Kenny Dalglish's Soccer Manager on the C64.

Does anybody remember a game called player manager by Anco?

Was released on the Amiga in 1989 and was a great game where you was a player manager of your team, remember still being 50 years old and boy i was so slow running round the pitch lol

My first was Kevin Keegans Player Manager by Anco on the Super Nintendo, best christmas ever when i got that as a kid, i was hooked on footie management games lol

Anyone remember a manager game that used to be in a UK football mag? I can't recall the name of the mag, but there was a fictional team and you had to select a team and answer a series of questions to reflect the outcome of a match. Must have been the late 80s...maybe early 90s.

Can anyone remember Superleague for the ZX Spectrum. Excellent game, similar to Richard Tom's 1982 Football Manager but with a lot more depth added and a full match to watch instead of random highlights I think you could only buy it by mail order - it never got the exposure it deserved....