Football Manager series (original)
Encyclopedia
Football Manager is a video game series published and developed by Addictive Games
, the label set up by the game's creator Kevin Toms
. The first game was released in 1982. It was then ported to most home computers during the 1980s and spawned several sequels: Football Manager 2 (1988) and Football Manager World Cup Edition (1990), both designed by Kevin Toms, and finally Football Manager 3 (1992), without Toms' involvement. Football Manager 3 sold poorly, and as a result the series came to an end. The series was claimed to have sold over a million copies by 1992. The game was to start a whole new genre of computer game, the football management simulation.
, a clone of the Tandy
TRS-80
. This was a text only game. It was converted to the Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 and Toms created the software label Addictive Games
to launch the game in 1982. It was then ported to the ZX Spectrum
with added animated graphics showing match highlights.
The game was a huge success and was ported to a wide range of systems between 1984 and 1987. While the Amiga
, Amstrad CPC
, Atari ST
, BBC Micro
, Commodore 64
and PC versions, kept or improved all features such as the match highlights graphics, all others (including the Acorn Electron
, Atari 8-bit, Commodore Plus/4
and MSX
) were, like the original, text only.
and, apart from the match highlights on some versions, used only text displays and keyboard entry. The player chooses a team and then must try to earn promotion from the fourth
to the first division
(although the player can then keep playing for as many seasons
as they wish). The player also competes in the FA Cup
. While the team and player names are real, they are not accurately represented so whichever team is selected, the player always starts in the fourth division and their team is randomly populated with players. Each player has a skill rating and an energy rating. Players must be rested to renew their energy rating or if they become injured. The players' skill and energy ratings also change at the end of the season. The team has ratings of defence, midfield and attack (the total skills of all defenders, midfielders or attackers selected), energy (an average of all selected players) and morale (which increases when the team wins and decreases when they lose). The player can select their team to balance the skills based on the opposing team's ratings (eg to increase the defence rating if the opposition has a high attack rating).
As the match is played, the screen is updated if a goal is scored. For versions with animated graphics highlights, attempts on goal are shown in isometric 3D at either end of the pitch with a scoreboard showing the current score. The player can not affect the game while it is in progress.
The player must also balance finances. Weekly income and expenditure is calculated and bank loans can be taken out. There is also a basic player transfer system. Random players become available to buy which the player can bid for. If the squad reaches the maximum of 16, no players will be available to buy. The player can also list their own players for sale and then accept or reject bids.
Game progress can be saved at any time. A customiser utility was included with the game so players could rename the teams and players.
did comment on the lack of realism of the teams and individual player ratings. The excitement of watching the game in progress was often seen as the highlight of the game. Electron User
claimed the game was "one of the best strategy games available for home computers" with reviewer Dave Carlos stating "I doubt that this game will ever be bettered".
The game was nominated in the 1983 Golden Joystick Awards for best strategy game, eventually coming second to the Melbourne House
adventure game The Hobbit. In 1985, Tony Hetherington of Computer Gamer magazine included the game in "The Spectrum Collection" - "15 classic games that all Spectrum owners should have".
By 1991, when reviewing the £2.99 budget release, Amiga Power
awarded a score of only 19% as the game had been "out-featured by practically every other game in the genre" but was "still massively addictive" and referred to as a "classic" and "one of the legends of computer gaming".
in 1987, Kevin Toms concentrated on creating a second Football Manager game. Unlike the original BASIC only game, the sequel required machine code
which meant working with a number of developers for various systems. For the ZX Spectrum version, this was Bedrock Software. Unlike the first game that was stagger-released over a period of 5 years, Football Manager 2 was launched on all formats at the same time in June 1988, although it was available on a much smaller range of systems - Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST and PC.
Unlike the first game, there was no customiser utility with the original release but in 1989, Football Manager 2 Expansion Kit was released, both as a stand alone release and packed in with Football Manager 2. As well as being able to rename teams and players, this offered the chance to start in division one or play in other leagues such as the 'Euro Super League' or as a national team in a 'World Championship'.
or mouse
depending on system), rather than entering numbers. The game again starts the player, whichever team is chosen, in division four with a random allocation of players and the player must attempt to gain promotion to division one but now, as well as the FA Cup, the player can also compete in the League Cup
so eventually attempt to win the treble.
Added features include team sponsorship, a training screen which allows the choice of long or short passing tactics and the ability to place your players in positions on the pitch. This is done by moving boxes representing your players on a graphical screen while comparing individual opponent players' skills (although, like the first game, the opposing players are not named). This means opposing strikers can be man marked. Another main difference to the first game is the graphical highlights, now on all versions, that now feature the full length of the pitch over three screens rather than just the goal attempts. Also, at half time, substitutions and formation changes can be made.
said the game was "simply a football fan's dream come true. It's a beautifully structured and presented game and is engrossing, challenging and very, very addictive" awarding a score of 9/10. Sinclair User were similarly impressed giving a score of 94% concluding that it is "an improvement on a legendary game. It still looks tatty but plays brilliantly". In contrast, Tony Dillon in a review for Commodore User
gave the game only 2/10, labelling the game "a very big letdown" with "little or no improvement over the original". Additionally he said the mouse control on the Amiga version was "apallingly bad" (a criticism also levelled in the positive C&VG review).
dictating the release date, Toms felt the game was rushed and unfinished. This was the last involvement Toms had with either the series or Addictive Games.
The game was released in Summer 1990, to tie in with Italia '90
, on all platforms Football Manager 2 had been as well as the MSX. The game was released in a 'big box' with World Cup wallchart and competitions including a chance to feature on the cover of the upcoming Football Manager 3 along with Kevin Toms (although this was never honoured as Toms had no involvement with that game).
Although there is no financial element or any transfers, the basic team management elements of the previous games are still retained. There is more detail in the team set up such as each player being given tactics. The highlights are again shown over 3 screens (although played from top to bottom rather than left to right) but there is also the option of watching from an overhead view of the whole pitch.
The main addition to the game is the ability to talk to your players in the dressing room and to the press. A graphical screen is shown and the player can choose from a set list of phrases to answer reporters' questions before a game and motivate the team in the dressing room at half time. This affects the team's morale which in turn affects their performance.
gave a broadly positive review, particularly praising the new team talk and reporters' questions but questioning if it could win over new fans. It gave a score of 82% concluding "it's slick, well-programmed and it's got more depth than Marianas Trench, but if you don't like management games you'll probably end up using the pictures of Kevin Toms to throw darts at." Spanish magazine MicroHobby gave the game a score of 60%.
Release of the game was delayed. While a playable demo of the ZX Spectrum version was included on the cover tape
of the September 1991 issue of Your Sinclair, with an expected release date 'a couple of months' later, the game was finally released at the end of 1992. Also, though versions were planned and advertised for all of the platforms Football Manager 2 had been released on, the ST and Amiga versions were never released. The screenshots in the advertisements are not of any version that was released suggesting an ST or Amiga version had been developed.
As the 8-bit systems were declining in popularity by 1992 and there were more complex competitors available for PC (and the other 16-bit systems that the game was never released for) such as Championship Manager
and Premier Manager
, the game sold poorly.
for the first time) and the teams begin the first season in the correct divisions (the 91/92 season for most versions, the 92/93 season including the newly formed Premier League in the C64 version) but the player's team, as in previous games, will always begin in the bottom division. The players, however, do not resemble real footballers and have random names (always shown with middle initials). The game always begins with a team of aging players with low skill ratings.
There is much more detail for individual player attributes with three endurance and five skill values that can be altered through training. Each player also has a face which is shown when picking the team. Player contracts have to be negotiated and out of contract players will leave the club. The transfer market is much improved with each team in the league having named players for the first time with histories that can be studied when deciding to buy a new player. The matches are shown side-on with the whole pitch on screen. They are also meant to represent the whole game rather than edited highlights. Text commentary is shown at the bottom of the screen as the match is played. Unlike the previous two games, there is no chance to change tactics or substitute at half time. The team talk and reporter elements are also removed in this version.
awarded the game only 38%, again claiming it did not live up to Football Manager 2.
to the GP2X
and Google Android by Jonn Blanchard.
The Football Manager
name was revived in 2005 by Sports Interactive
as a continuation for their Championship Manager series
after they lost the naming rights following a split with their publishers Eidos Interactive
.
Addictive Games
Addictive Games was a UK video game publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s. It is best known for the Football Manager series of games created by company founder Kevin Toms...
, the label set up by the game's creator Kevin Toms
Kevin Toms
Kevin Toms, born in 1957 in Paignton, England, is a computer game designer who founded Addictive Games and is famous for creating the original Football Manager, a simulation game released in the early 1980s that included a portrait of his bearded face on publicity material and cassette covers.Toms...
. The first game was released in 1982. It was then ported to most home computers during the 1980s and spawned several sequels: Football Manager 2 (1988) and Football Manager World Cup Edition (1990), both designed by Kevin Toms, and finally Football Manager 3 (1992), without Toms' involvement. Football Manager 3 sold poorly, and as a result the series came to an end. The series was claimed to have sold over a million copies by 1992. The game was to start a whole new genre of computer game, the football management simulation.
Development and release
Toms developed the first game on a Video GenieVideo Genie
Video Genie was a series of computers produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA during the early 1980s. They were compatible with the Tandy TRS-80 Model I computers and could be considered a clone, although there were hardware and software differences.The computers making up the series...
, a clone of the Tandy
Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation was a family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Tandy was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store, and acquired RadioShack in 1963. The Tandy name was dropped in May 2000, when RadioShack Corporation was made the official name.-History:Tandy began in 1919...
TRS-80
TRS-80
TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
. This was a text only game. It was converted to the Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 and Toms created the software label Addictive Games
Addictive Games
Addictive Games was a UK video game publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s. It is best known for the Football Manager series of games created by company founder Kevin Toms...
to launch the game in 1982. It was then ported to the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
with added animated graphics showing match highlights.
The game was a huge success and was ported to a wide range of systems between 1984 and 1987. While the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and PC versions, kept or improved all features such as the match highlights graphics, all others (including the Acorn Electron
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
, Atari 8-bit, Commodore Plus/4
Commodore Plus/4
The Commodore Plus/4 was a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite ; it was billed as "the productivity computer with software built-in"...
and MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
) were, like the original, text only.
Gameplay
The game was written entirely in BASICBASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
and, apart from the match highlights on some versions, used only text displays and keyboard entry. The player chooses a team and then must try to earn promotion from the fourth
Football League Fourth Division
The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...
to the first division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
(although the player can then keep playing for as many seasons
Season (sports)
In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...
as they wish). The player also competes in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
. While the team and player names are real, they are not accurately represented so whichever team is selected, the player always starts in the fourth division and their team is randomly populated with players. Each player has a skill rating and an energy rating. Players must be rested to renew their energy rating or if they become injured. The players' skill and energy ratings also change at the end of the season. The team has ratings of defence, midfield and attack (the total skills of all defenders, midfielders or attackers selected), energy (an average of all selected players) and morale (which increases when the team wins and decreases when they lose). The player can select their team to balance the skills based on the opposing team's ratings (eg to increase the defence rating if the opposition has a high attack rating).
As the match is played, the screen is updated if a goal is scored. For versions with animated graphics highlights, attempts on goal are shown in isometric 3D at either end of the pitch with a scoreboard showing the current score. The player can not affect the game while it is in progress.
The player must also balance finances. Weekly income and expenditure is calculated and bank loans can be taken out. There is also a basic player transfer system. Random players become available to buy which the player can bid for. If the squad reaches the maximum of 16, no players will be available to buy. The player can also list their own players for sale and then accept or reject bids.
Game progress can be saved at any time. A customiser utility was included with the game so players could rename the teams and players.
Critical reaction
The game was well received by the gaming press although Sinclair UserSinclair User
Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum...
did comment on the lack of realism of the teams and individual player ratings. The excitement of watching the game in progress was often seen as the highlight of the game. Electron User
Electron User
Electron User was a magazine targeted at owners of the Acorn Electron microcomputer. It was published by Database Publications of Stockport, starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990....
claimed the game was "one of the best strategy games available for home computers" with reviewer Dave Carlos stating "I doubt that this game will ever be bettered".
The game was nominated in the 1983 Golden Joystick Awards for best strategy game, eventually coming second to the Melbourne House
Melbourne House
Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software, was a video game development studio founded in 1980 and based in Melbourne, Australia. The studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Melbourne House...
adventure game The Hobbit. In 1985, Tony Hetherington of Computer Gamer magazine included the game in "The Spectrum Collection" - "15 classic games that all Spectrum owners should have".
By 1991, when reviewing the £2.99 budget release, Amiga Power
Amiga Power
Amiga Power was a monthly magazine about Amiga computer games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996....
awarded a score of only 19% as the game had been "out-featured by practically every other game in the genre" but was "still massively addictive" and referred to as a "classic" and "one of the legends of computer gaming".
Development and release
Following the sale of Addictive Games to Prism Leisure CorporationPrism Leisure Corporation
Prism Leisure Corporation was a distribution and publishing company which primarily focused on reissues and compilations, often at low prices. The company was located in Enfield, Middlesex, United Kingdom, and founded in the 1980s....
in 1987, Kevin Toms concentrated on creating a second Football Manager game. Unlike the original BASIC only game, the sequel required machine code
Machine code
Machine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions executed directly by a computer's central processing unit. Each instruction performs a very specific task, typically either an operation on a unit of data Machine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions...
which meant working with a number of developers for various systems. For the ZX Spectrum version, this was Bedrock Software. Unlike the first game that was stagger-released over a period of 5 years, Football Manager 2 was launched on all formats at the same time in June 1988, although it was available on a much smaller range of systems - Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST and PC.
Unlike the first game, there was no customiser utility with the original release but in 1989, Football Manager 2 Expansion Kit was released, both as a stand alone release and packed in with Football Manager 2. As well as being able to rename teams and players, this offered the chance to start in division one or play in other leagues such as the 'Euro Super League' or as a national team in a 'World Championship'.
Gameplay
Gameplay is very similar to the first game, with mostly text based screens (although they are more colourful than the original and usually contain at least basic graphical elements). Input is mostly by moving a cursor (using either joystickJoystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
or mouse
Mouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
depending on system), rather than entering numbers. The game again starts the player, whichever team is chosen, in division four with a random allocation of players and the player must attempt to gain promotion to division one but now, as well as the FA Cup, the player can also compete in the League Cup
League Cup
In association football, a League Cup or Secondary Cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament to be called "League Cup" was held in Scotland in 1946/47 and was entitled the Scottish...
so eventually attempt to win the treble.
Added features include team sponsorship, a training screen which allows the choice of long or short passing tactics and the ability to place your players in positions on the pitch. This is done by moving boxes representing your players on a graphical screen while comparing individual opponent players' skills (although, like the first game, the opposing players are not named). This means opposing strikers can be man marked. Another main difference to the first game is the graphical highlights, now on all versions, that now feature the full length of the pitch over three screens rather than just the goal attempts. Also, at half time, substitutions and formation changes can be made.
Critical reception
Critical reception was again, generally positive although there were mixed reviews. In a highly positive review, based mainly on the ST version, Julian Rignall in C&VGComputer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
said the game was "simply a football fan's dream come true. It's a beautifully structured and presented game and is engrossing, challenging and very, very addictive" awarding a score of 9/10. Sinclair User were similarly impressed giving a score of 94% concluding that it is "an improvement on a legendary game. It still looks tatty but plays brilliantly". In contrast, Tony Dillon in a review for Commodore User
Commodore User
Commodore User, known to the readers as the abbreviated CU, was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. A publishing history spanning over 15 years, mixing content with technical and games features...
gave the game only 2/10, labelling the game "a very big letdown" with "little or no improvement over the original". Additionally he said the mouse control on the Amiga version was "apallingly bad" (a criticism also levelled in the positive C&VG review).
Development and release
Football Manager World Cup Edition was again designed by Kevin Toms with various programmers for different systems (including Bedrock Software for all 8-bit versions). A main figure in the management of the game was lost and not replaced and with the deadline of the World CupFIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
dictating the release date, Toms felt the game was rushed and unfinished. This was the last involvement Toms had with either the series or Addictive Games.
The game was released in Summer 1990, to tie in with Italia '90
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
, on all platforms Football Manager 2 had been as well as the MSX. The game was released in a 'big box' with World Cup wallchart and competitions including a chance to feature on the cover of the upcoming Football Manager 3 along with Kevin Toms (although this was never honoured as Toms had no involvement with that game).
Gameplay
Gameplay was radically changed from the previous two games. The player chooses a national team and must qualify for and then compete in the World Cup (although choosing champions Argentina or hosts Italy skips qualification). Player names can be entered at the start of the game ensuring they are correct.Although there is no financial element or any transfers, the basic team management elements of the previous games are still retained. There is more detail in the team set up such as each player being given tactics. The highlights are again shown over 3 screens (although played from top to bottom rather than left to right) but there is also the option of watching from an overhead view of the whole pitch.
The main addition to the game is the ability to talk to your players in the dressing room and to the press. A graphical screen is shown and the player can choose from a set list of phrases to answer reporters' questions before a game and motivate the team in the dressing room at half time. This affects the team's morale which in turn affects their performance.
Critical reception
The game was not widely reviewed but Your SinclairYour Sinclair
Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...
gave a broadly positive review, particularly praising the new team talk and reporters' questions but questioning if it could win over new fans. It gave a score of 82% concluding "it's slick, well-programmed and it's got more depth than Marianas Trench, but if you don't like management games you'll probably end up using the pictures of Kevin Toms to throw darts at." Spanish magazine MicroHobby gave the game a score of 60%.
Development and release
Football Manager 3, while already planned when Kevin Toms was still working with Prism Leisure on the World Cup Edition, was created without any involvement from the series' creator. Toms cited 'artistic differences' for the breakdown in the relationship between himself and Prism. The game was instead developed by Brian Rogers of Bedrock Software, who had actually been involved in programming the series since Football Manager 2.Release of the game was delayed. While a playable demo of the ZX Spectrum version was included on the cover tape
Covermount
Covermount is the name given to storage media or other products packaged as part of a magazine or newspaper...
of the September 1991 issue of Your Sinclair, with an expected release date 'a couple of months' later, the game was finally released at the end of 1992. Also, though versions were planned and advertised for all of the platforms Football Manager 2 had been released on, the ST and Amiga versions were never released. The screenshots in the advertisements are not of any version that was released suggesting an ST or Amiga version had been developed.
As the 8-bit systems were declining in popularity by 1992 and there were more complex competitors available for PC (and the other 16-bit systems that the game was never released for) such as Championship Manager
Championship Manager
Championship Manager was the very first game in the popular Championship Manager series of association football management simulation games. The game was originally released on the Amiga and Atari ST in September, 1992 and then ported to the PC/DOS platform soon after...
and Premier Manager
Premier Manager
Premier Manager is the name of a football management video game series started in 1992. Published by Gremlin Interactive, it was first developed by Realms of Fantasy, later passed to Spanish company Dinamic Software...
, the game sold poorly.
Gameplay
The game is completely redesigned and bears little resemblance to the previous installments. The game centres around a graphical screen of the manager's office with different parts of the game accessed by clicking on various items (eg the computer screen for results and fixtures, the picture of the team for training etc). The game features a full 92 team league system (including the Charity ShieldFA Community Shield
The Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
for the first time) and the teams begin the first season in the correct divisions (the 91/92 season for most versions, the 92/93 season including the newly formed Premier League in the C64 version) but the player's team, as in previous games, will always begin in the bottom division. The players, however, do not resemble real footballers and have random names (always shown with middle initials). The game always begins with a team of aging players with low skill ratings.
There is much more detail for individual player attributes with three endurance and five skill values that can be altered through training. Each player also has a face which is shown when picking the team. Player contracts have to be negotiated and out of contract players will leave the club. The transfer market is much improved with each team in the league having named players for the first time with histories that can be studied when deciding to buy a new player. The matches are shown side-on with the whole pitch on screen. They are also meant to represent the whole game rather than edited highlights. Text commentary is shown at the bottom of the screen as the match is played. Unlike the previous two games, there is no chance to change tactics or substitute at half time. The team talk and reporter elements are also removed in this version.
Critical reception
The game was not as well received as previous versions. Philip Lindey in Sinclair User suggested it was "difficult to get exited about Football Manager 3" and that it was overpriced, giving an overall score of 73%. Stuart Campbell in Your Sinclair thought the game was "not quite up to the standard of Football Manager 2, to be honest, with vastly inferior presentation and graphics, and lots of hanging around while the computer thinks and doesn't seem to be working properly", giving a score of 70%. Amstrad ActionAmstrad Action
Amstrad Action was a monthly magazine, published in the United Kingdom, which catered to owners of home computers from the Amstrad CPC range and later the GX4000 console....
awarded the game only 38%, again claiming it did not live up to Football Manager 2.
Legacy
Paul Robson developed a remake of the original game in 2001. This remake has since been portedPorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to the GP2X
GP2X
The GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and portable media player developed by South Korean company GamePark Holdings. It was released on November 10, 2005, in South Korea only....
and Google Android by Jonn Blanchard.
The Football Manager
Football Manager
Football Manager is a series of football management simulation games developed by Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game began its life in 1992 as Championship Manager; however, following the break-up of their partnership with original publishers Eidos Interactive, Sports Interactive...
name was revived in 2005 by Sports Interactive
Sports Interactive
Sports Interactive Limited is a computer games development company currently based in Old Street, Central London and owned by the Japanese software and video game company Sega. It is the developer of the popular games Football Manager, NHL Eastside Hockey Manager and Championship Manager Quiz, and...
as a continuation for their Championship Manager series
Championship Manager series
The Championship Manager series is a series of British football-management simulation computer games, the first of which was released in 1992.The Championship Manager brand and game was conceived by two brothers: Paul and Oliver Collyer...
after they lost the naming rights following a split with their publishers Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
.