This was the First football management game I ever played. You started with a club in what was the old Fourth Division - the club was selected at random by the computer.
The aim of the game was pretty obvious - to win the double which consisted of the First Division title and the FA Cup.
Unlike many of the complex games today this one was pretty simple. You could buy a limited number of players from the transfer list- no approaching clubs to get their best players, with some quality players such as the great kenny dalglish, mark lawrence and john wark form the great eighties liverpool side occasionally coming on the list, and of course Evertons tony cottee and neville southhall.
You could send scouts to scout players and teams. You formulated your tactics to suit each opponent, you got offers from other teams to manage them. You could look at all the division tables and fixture list to allow you to track the form of your forthcoming fa cup opponents.
When your players were injured you had to decide on the level of treatment for each injury - ranging from hamstrings to the flu - from none, easy to hard workouts.
The game was slow, to watch a game took an age, with the wee block players moving a second at a time, and games lasting probably around an hour, or you could go straight to the results, which was slightly quicker, but not much.
My
best team was swansea, where I reached the first division, and won the FA Cup, however after the game and during the pre season update the game crashed.
For me it was the first and one of the best football management games. Many followed but none were quite the same even today’s championship manager will never quite hold a candle to the memory of that game with hours spent playing. An amazing game.
Downside was the limited playability, nowadays you can jump between the beat leagues and international management, back then you couldn't. Definitely worth downloading if you like management games as this is where they all started. Before champ man and Football manager was the double, the treble and tracksuit manager. Download now.
