Your very first CM/FM memories ?

[johangod]

As I was reading an article about the 95/96 EPL title challenge I started thinking about all the years I've played these games. So I thought this thread might be something fun, you can write a big memoir or a short one, which ever one you'd like and even talk about it a bit going forward. I'll start.

My first real memory was playing CM3 with my mate at his house. It's actually crazy and a bit sick how much I remember. It was in the year of 1998 - CM99/00 was already out but we never had that game, this was at a time when games where being pirated on to CD's by burning them. One of our mates got the game and we all got a burned copy for our birthdays.

We where playing as Bayern Munchen at the time. and I distinctly remember we didn't even look at what position players where meant for, we just played them like we saw them play earlier that week in the CL when we were watching their games.

What I remember is we played a 442, with forward arrows on DR/DL and MR/ML going up 2x, meaning the DR/DL had arrows towards the MR/ML and they instead had arrows towards the FR/FL posistion. We had forward arrows for both of our MC's going to the AMC spot, and get this also our DC's had forward arrows towards the DMC spot. What I remember about player positions was that we played Mehmet Scholl on the right in the MR even though I later found out he was listed as an MC/AMC - we didn't care, we saw him play on the right in reallife earlier, so we played him their !

We won the league on goal differential on the last day, and we loved it !

After that we were properly hooked, we never really know though that their was a never version of the game out or anything, I remember I played a game with Man United with the same tactic but failed to impress, later in the year, probably in May I got a copy of CM99/00 - that game had now been out some time but I never knew about it. It looked very much the same and I don't really remember much from that game.

Then came the moment I remember also so vividly. I went into work with my dad during the holidays, it was a sunday just before christmas and at those times people just stayed at home on sundays short before christmas, people weren't out shopping or w/e. So 2 of his employs had their laptops with them to work (They were working in the store of a phone company as sales agents) and they were playing when no one was in the store, which was literally the entire day. I remember sitting their watching them just mesmerized. And I remembered one name. Pinga

So for christmas all I ever wanted was to get the same version they were playing. CM00/01 - but being so close to christmas my parents couldn't get me the game in time, but I got one for my January birthday.

First thing I did, start up the game, manage Juventus and buy Pinga - replicate what I saw one of them doing.

Now I had played 3 versions of the game but don't really remember playing night and day and being REALLY hooked. I just remember those glimpses of me playing the odd season with Bayern and Juve.

But then it happened. The game that I believe most people will go ahead and call the greatest of all. CM01/02. The last CM3 version and the one that changed it all.

This game I got for christmas, again a burned copy. I also remember getting the CD "Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Star Fish" - and that was basically how my year would turn out. I played CM night and day and listened to Limp Bizkit.

The brilliance was that all of my mates also got the game for christmas and it turned into our game. We talked about it all day long during school, wrote down players in books, tactics. We had notebooks that were specific "CM Books"

Since then I have bought each and every version on the day it came out. Went to mid-nightsales. Pre-Ordered on steam as soon as available ! This game shaped my teenage years immensely. I might have started to play other games and do more of that now. But I still always had stints where I could NOT get away from the game. That feeling when you have a good save going and you think about it all day and the play it as soon as you can long into the night.

I could actually write a whole lot more memories from the CM4 days and into FM but my coworker just asked what sort of essay I was writing so I guess I'll call it quits now.

Looking forward to reading similar stuff from you lads.

cheers

[Lawlore]

His name was Nicky Fuccillo.

Championship Manager '93 on the Amiga. Domark logo and heart-attack manager on the front, waits of over 45 minutes start the game itself.

Back in the days when all four English divisions had only 20 teams, so twelve real league teams of the time cruelly got the chop, banished to non-league without real players in their data.

And the team I went to see week in, week out, were one of them. Gillingham. Gillingham, with their bizarre in-game sky blue and black (?!) colour scheme, were one of them. As a ten-year-old boy, I was heartbroken to discover that. Sure, I'd moved the little cardboard shirts up and (mostly) down week-in, week-out on my wallchart. We barely stayed in the league, finishing second bottom after a sudden upturn (yes, upturn) at the end of the season which hauled us above Halifax to finish second-bottom and avoid the Conference. Even as a boy, I knew, deep down, that we were rubbish. But this, CM, was my game- I was in charge. This was my chance to change that, to lead us to glory.

But we didn't make the cut.

There was to be no Tony Butler, no Gary Breen and no Paul Baker.

I was gutted. I played a few saves as various big teams- back then, as I guess all kids do, I had my "big" team to boast about in the playground. Everyone else was a Man Utd or Newcastle fan (no, really), but I was still pretending to be a Liverpool supporter, based mostly on my love of Bruce Grobbelaar (yes, I know). But it wasn't the same. I knew Liverpool, I watched their games, but they weren't my team. I was born in Gillingham. My dad was a Gillingham fan. Gillingham were the side I went to see every week. And yet, I couldn't play as them.

Eventually, a friend pointed out the "Generated Players" option. I'd never given it a second thought, never really queried what it did. Imagine my shock to discover I could put Gillingham into the league- imagine my shock that the game would generate players for them. Not real players, but players nonetheless, players representing the team called Gillingham.

The colours might have been wrong, the players may have been fictional, but they were my team. And from that moment on, getting me to move away from the computer, getting me to do homework, getting me to get ready to go out- was near-impossible. I was hooked. I'm still hooked.

And the man leading the line, the name I'll never forget, that wonderful, fictional number nine. Nicky Fuccillo.

[RicardoW]

Playing CM 03/04 with Dagenham and Redbridge. Kind of fell in love with the club and am still checking their results each week, from my home in Holland.

[HTC]

1. The 2 DC tactic. (Was it the diablo one?)

2. Hours of joy using the "specific positioning tool".

3. The colours, interface etc. Great.

[DizzyPenguin]

To the OP, that is such a fantastic post. The best I have read on here in a long time.

My first game was CM2, but my first one with real properly treasured memories was shortly after that, CM97/98. I used to play with my best mate Will, he was Celtic and I was Rangers. I had Viktor Leonenko up-front, who was a legend for us! One year, Will had to win his final game of the season, against Kilmarnock, by 6 or more goals to nab the league title off me. He went 6-0 up, and then Kilmarnock scored a goal that will forever live long in my memory. It was a dagger through my mates heart, but it was the best thing ever for me.

Fiorentina also offer such amazing memories from that time and slightly later versions. Toldo, Torricelli, Rui Costa, Batistuta, Stefan Schwarz, PREDRAG MJATOVC!!

So good. The game isn't the same these days. It's better, of course it is, more realistic, more in-depth, more options, etc etc. But it just ain't quite the same...... or as special.

Maybe that's just because childhood is over. I'm 28, I have a 1-year old now, and priorities are changing. SI have - brilliantly - developed FMC for people in my situation, with not as much time on our hands, but the thing is I won't ever be able to bring myself to play it that way. I've never once touched FMC. It has to be all or nothing.

I'm just worried it's creeping towards 'nothing' now. It feels like the beginning of the end. I hope not.

God I miss childhood

[MasterOfSuspense]

CM Italia was the first I bought

Treasured memory was Gary Neville as a kid in an early version and a lower league star called Kiko Charana - maybe 17 or 18 years ago

... and the Tri Wasano editor

[Wigmore]

Playing CM 01/02 on an absolute dinosaur of a computer when I was 11 years old. Doing my homework whilst the game loaded (usually took about 45 minutes to load and half an hour to save).

[Soninho]

My first CM was Cm99/00 and thats the only game that have included the team of my home city so I could play them, (after this they dropped in divisions..)

But the greatest memory from this game is playing as Barca and using Reina in goal from day one, (16/17 yrs old back then), and having him on all set pieces!! Including penalties..!

Ended the save when he put his shoes on the shelf with Reina being the top goalscorer in Barca history!! Scoring around 10-15 goals/season for over 20 years. Beating Kluivert with big margin..!

[raymondafc]

Playing in the European Cup and checking out the opposition line up.

No.1

No.2

No.3

etc lol

I think the database has expanded somewhat since then!

[RobertPage]

i think it was CM03 or something like that. I used to sign Ronaldinho from PSG

[howhigh1337]

Football Manager taught me a lot about football universe, first impressions were fantastic - everything seemed so well thought and amount of information was overwhelming. I had feeling that game is perfect, can't even think about possible bug or something, always thought it's purely my fault if something went not right. Unfortunately I've lost this feeling lately, maybe because learned more about game and started to demand more...

[CSF90]

Playing CM 03/04 and making Stephane Dalmat my first signing (permanently for Spurs - he was on loan).

I'm sure I played CM 01/02 also, but I honestly can't remember much about it.

[brawla123]

CM 01/02 was my first of many. My first save was with Man Utd, I remember signing Ronaldinho who was probably the best payer at that time and he used to score almost every game. Back then the games didn't have 2D/3D match engines so you had to read the commentary! Good times.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Playing in the European Cup and checking out the opposition line up.

No.1

No.2

No.3

etc lol

I think the database has expanded somewhat since then!

Number 6 was their star player.

Sadly, I never got to the European Cup on the original Championship. The best I managed was bottom of the top division.

[Dagenham_Dave]

Played lots of management sims pre CM, dating back to Football Manager on the Spectrum (and all manner of mail order efforts in between), but the first CM I got was the 93/94 one. I think I may have had the 'red box' one previously but due to lack of real player names, I barely bothered with it.

But the 93/94 game was tremendous, lifting York City from the depths of the bottom league to European glory, which is still to this day the only version of the game where I've actually managed anything close to that. Andrei Kanchelskis was an absolute beast in that side. Happy days.

[Dagenham_Dave]

Unfortunately I've lost this feeling lately, maybe because learned more about game and started to demand more...

No, it's because you read these forums.

[av3ry]

First one I ever remember playing was something like CM2 Italy or something. Could only manage Italian clubs and I lost nearly every game. Failed miserably at about 3858 clubs.

First proper CM I played was CM 03/04. Slowly building Tottenham Hotspur from mid-table obscurity to a European super-power ending with 7 Champions Leagues in a row. Think I had the only decent regens because no-one could beat me after about 13-14 years.

[Insert_Goal_Here]

My first memory, and I cannot tell you which season it was, but I'm thinking 95/96 or 96/97. Me and my friend had a save going and I managed to sign Ian Rush and Cantona to my Norwich team, probably my greatest ever achievement. Well apart from 'discovering' Trezeguet.

[tieio]

I miss Robbie Fowler

[Insert_Goal_Here]

I miss Robbie Fowler

He misses you too, oh no wait that was cocaine.

[Johnyfooty]

CM03, my knowledge of football barely existed. My knowledge of the english language just as much. I ended up managing Catanzaro in Italy (was in C2 back I think), everything went crap.

Then I bought a player from Kazakhstan and started winning.

Didn't play seriously until FM10, but I never forgot the Kazak player, so from then I always try to improve smaller nations as far as playing football goes. Oh ye, and always choose team based on the colours/shirts when I go to a new country.

[scott MUFC]

FM12, gettin Blackpool back into the premier league at the first time of asking, got Seedorf and Tymoshuck for free, got a great mid table finish and won the league cup. got to the final of the Europa league as well, after winning the league cup in the previous season.

new season rolls along, look for players to strengthen, Spurs had won the league (?) so started there and found a £1m transfer listed Bassong, who I bought, start winning well, come the end of the season i win the title on the final day, and Bassong won the golden boot.

also fond memory of my East Stirlingshire save on FM12

signed Jamil Adam (remember him?) and James cronesberry, destroyed the league, and won the scottish league cup beating most of scottish league 1. including a 3-0 win in the final against Hamilton with only 10 men

[shengdiya]

no wait that was cocaine.

[SKELETOR]

Not sure what game it was, I think Dion Dublin was at Manchester Utd. I was around 13 and he showed me the joys of 'CM' by saying "look at this" and fining Dion Dublin over and over and watching him complain. I was sold.

[Lam3r]

Managing Gillingham on CM 97/98. 442 reigned supreme in those days!

[zvezda91]

I am playing CM from 93/94. First serious and addictive game was 97/98. That was legendary.

Of course, 00/01 and 01/02 were the most popular (with reason) franchise.

Now, I am playing only FM 2007. This game is awesome. I tried FM 2010 to 2013, but the feeling is not same. I just think is to complicate (even there is some great stuff that FM 2007 doesn't have).

I wish that gameplay is like FM 07 and some new stuff is from new manager (even matchplay graphic).

Is there any possibility that SIGAMES unlocked old games (like cm 01/02), so we can change some rules that changed after 7 years? Because, 2007. doesn't have editor who can change the rules.

Also, the game is completely different from default version with mode picture 180x180, new kits, some good skin (like skynews) and dark wood wallpaper.

[GSevensM75]

CM93 for me. Guiding Spurs to 10 titles in 13 seasons on the Amiga. Newcastle won 2 and Coventry won the other 1! I then had a stab at managing Barnet and took them to Premiership glory. Had a left back called Lee Thew who won an England cap even though I was in the old second division (now League One). Paul Wanless was another absolute star for me at Spurs and that Barnet game. Sheringham had poor stats but scored for fun. Always used to get frustrating when these players chose to go abroad and you could do nothing to stop it!

Also fond memories of playing with two of my mates on CM94. I was Spurs with Klinsmann and Teddy up top. My mates were Liverpool & Villa. Could never beat my mate's Liverpool team though in the league, although I often beat them head to head. I used to play a wide diamond formation, and he played 532 with one of the midfielders (usually McManaman) in the hole behind the strikers. It was almost like a cheat formation and the AI just couldn't cope with it. Funny thing is my diamond formation automatically stopped it because the anchor man would nullify his attacking midfielder.

Later incarnations I had a lot of fun with 01/02, taking Exeter to the top flight and having Robbie Fowler as my main forward. I was also one of the few who really enjoyed 03/04, although I refused to use the diablo tactic. I loved the interface for that version, and for me it's still the best interface the game has had. It's just a shame that the final release was still bugged to **** when the two companies split.

[sammynick1234]

Has to be FM2006 and and my Dads (wish it was me ) complete and utter European domination with Anderlecht - 20 seasons managed, 18 league titles, 16 champions league, 1 euro cup and 10 domestic cups!

Somehow managed it playing a basic 442... Back in the days when Silvio Proto, Van den Borre and Kompany turned in to the best players on the game!

[c.ronaldo7]

CM 01/02 for me. Countless hours pumped into the game back when I was about 9-10. Always signing Pawel Brozek, Kim Källström, Jonas Lunden and Kennedy Bakircioglü amongst many others.

Good times!

[Ricey]

CM 01/02 for me. Countless hours pumped into the game back when I was about 9-10. Always signing Pawel Brozek, Kim Källström, Jonas Lunden and Kennedy Bakircioglü amongst many others.

Good times!

I actually took days of work just to play 01/02, how sad is that? lol.

For me that was the best game ever made, and I've played lots from all genre's.

Kalstrom is definately my overiding memory, I can't fathom just how many times I signed him -)

[JPKC]

Will the OP be banned for admitting piracy of an SI product?

[9sublime]

Listening to Green Day's International Super Hits in my bedroom, getting spanked every season trying to play as Wycombe Wanderers on 00/01. The best nostalgia about that game is that the Wycombe squad in that game was the same that reached the FA Cup Semi Final in real life, although I never even achieved back to back wins from what I can remember.

[Beest4ever]

Amiga 600... Floppy discs sold in a box bigger enough to accommodate most breakfast cereal! At the time it was all about Premier manager for me... 1, 2 and three. That game was so ahead of its time. This was about '93. Champ came on the scene, seemed, slow, and a mass of numbers. A far cry from the fresh interface of Premier manager which was so easy to play. Bearing in mind i was only 12 at the time! Interestingly during this era, there was a whole host of football management games released, mostly all of them had plus points.

My love of football stadium and design was born here. I looked to buy every game with my pocket money in the hope they would allow me to build bigger and better stadiums!!!

Thinking back, its astounding how good those early football manager games were in comparison to other types of game released at that time.

[Lawlore]

Thinking back, its astounding how good those early football manager games were in comparison to other types of game released at that time.

It's true- the thing was the sheer variety. All of them had their own individual approaches and quirks, things they did well and things they did badly. Although I must say, I think CM established itself as my favourite even back then.

As a stadium-builder, I assume LMA Manager must be pretty high up your list (with the likes of USM)? Far and away the best one for that side of things that I know of, especially with the cheats to get loadsamoney...

[allyc31]

CM 0304

Orri Freyr Orskarsson and Nikola Dikoumeh.

Two centre forwards that won me the pl with Blackpool

[lostpoolie2]

Managing the team I support Hartlepool utd in the 1996 version I got to what is now the Championship from the bottam div. still the best.

[Beest4ever]

yep! LMA was great for the stadium construction, I cant recall the names of many of the titles I am thinking of... For nostalgias sake... gonna have a little web hunt see if i can give a little more detail!

[Beest4ever]

91 released 'The manager'; played lots of that. I also recall a CPU board game... where you advanced around a monopoly styled map in between matches. Genius, you could land on square that spawned new youths, or even kill off your players with freak accidents!!! Off topic, but fun!

[constantlybored]

Getting fired in a journeyman save in FM 12. Glamorous, I know.

[MasterOfSuspense]

I miss Robbie Fowler

Graeme Le Saux doesn't

[wackiewim]

Steve McManamam & Eric Cantona. No further comments.

[MasterOfSuspense]

Steve McManamam & Eric Cantona. No further comments.

Actually would love the challenge of managing someone like Eric

I don't suppose he'd sign for my Level 10 team though

[Drazkul]

I think i first started playing CM/FM around the 96/97 title - I remember always trying to stay in one position during a match in the hope of it influencing the result (i was 13). Obviously it didn't work and my PC may of taken a few kicks in frustration (i'm surprised how well it held up to be fair)

[birkelse]

cm 97 / 98 i think, first 2 players bought was Tommy Sindal Larsen and Bjørn Heidenstrøm.

[S.G.]

I got a demo disc free with a packet of cereal. I was young and easily amused back then and enthusiastically replayed the first season over and over until eventually receiving the full game for my birthday. I can't remember many details about my game but I was quite keen on Lomana Lua Lua, Stern John and Brett Ormerod. They each had 20 Finishing IIRC.

[Taunton]

CM 97/98. My mate and I was always Wolves and we bought a Brazilian called Bismarck who played in the AMC role. He did so well so we called that role the Bismarck role.

I think one was able to buy Maradona as well, but maybe that was an earlier version. Great memories.

[Stretch]

Michael Bridges smashing goals in left right and centre on 96/97 and leading my Hammers team to glory was my first experience. Became proper hooked with the early 2000s and the teamful of awesome Swedish youngsters

[Verby]

Playing CM it on the first xbox and it telling me I cant continue any longer. Can't remember how many seasons I was in.

Going round a friends house and about 3/4 of us all starting a game together, deciding who we're going to buy and sell before we started it.

Buying Martin Palmero, Saviola and Bobby Zamora every save.

[soldierblue123]

CM 1 on the Amiga... Mark Collis was god... he was so good it's untrue. Pele, Maradona etc all rolled into one.

[laBOMBA]

Peter Prospar on CM3. Legend!