There are a few video games that can claim to have reshaped a whole sport. Yet Championship Manager did just that, taking the action off the pitch and onto the sidelines.
A long time ago in Shropshire, England, Paul and Oliver Collyer began a project that would redefine sport. Worked on while the pair were at school and college, in six years, the brothers had built the world’s largest database of soccer statistics. It would go on to be one of the defining PC games of the era, spawning NFL and F1 imitations, while influencing everything from betting to real-world teams’ selection policies. This is the story behind Championship Manager.
The Concept Behind Championship Manager
For those who have never experienced Championship Manager, later renamed as Football Manager, then they can expect a very statistical experience. It involves taking the place of a team manager, who must buy players, select tactics, wrangle with backroom staff, and manage finances to bring glory to their chosen squad. Thus, unlike games such as FIFA or John Madden, where people dictate the action on the field and the players’ movements, this game involves planning and tactics, much like a real manager would employ.
In an interview with Retro Gaming magazine, the pair added that “We were playing the other games, League Division One, Mexico ‘86, the sort of international version of it, and Football Manager. We were checking out all the other games of the time, and deciding we didn’t like them very much, so, in our arrogance, decided that we might be able to do it better.” As they worked on the game, it was punctuated by large periods of inactivity, often six months at a time.
Its Influence on Modern Betting
Not only has it influenced gaming, but it’s also influenced modern betting platforms. Operators across the globe, from those in the US to betting Tanzania, have platforms built on statistical databases, the likes of which were pioneered by Paul and Oliver Collyer. When you log on, you will find a list of markets, upcoming matches, and possible outcomes, often broken down into odds and statistics. This UX did not come out of the blue. Cycle back to any Championship Manager game of the nineties and the parallels are obvious.
Added to this are modern betting methods, like live in-play betting. Without the ability to process this information in real time, as games are ongoing, live betting would never be possible. Yet it was something Championship Manager made sure was pivotal to its success, replacing visual on-pitch action with fast, up-to-date statistics.
The games database, built over the years, soon became a much lauded series of spreadsheets that was the most accurate mapping of football on the planet. Former Tottenham manager André Villas-Boas even admitted to using it in the transfer decision-making process.
Managerial Influences
In 2006, a resume was sent to the chairman of Middlesbrough Football Club, Steve Gibson. It was in response to a vacant managerial job at the club. In it, the applicant John Boileau listed his skills gleaned from his outstanding Football Manager season, including signing a level of top-flight players for Doncaster and taking lower league clubs to the Champions League. It was tongue in cheek, but it wouldn’t be long before it became reality.
Will Still was most recently the manager for League One club Southampton. An Englishman born in Belgium, he spent hours in the game, poring over its up-to-date statistics and absorbing tactics. He then decided to change his life path and study a management course. Working at Reims, a series of events then saw him take charge and embark on a 17-game unbeaten streak, including two draws against Paris St Germain.
Yet even before this, the power of the game database was well known. In 2009, Everton signed a deal with the game’s owners, Sports Interactive, to access their database for scouting and training purposes. This gave them up-to-date information on 370,000 individuals, including players and training staff, from over 20,000 clubs across 50 countries. The company said it was not the first time they had been approached by a team for access to the database.
The Future of Football Management
The beauty of the game lies in the fact that it essentially needs to be a series of spreadsheets, and nothing more. Graphics, improved physics, and other game associations don’t matter when it comes to managerial games. It is the quality of the data they have.
The title has now been cited officially in two divorce proceedings, yet it has brought a lot of joy to people across the globe. Others have tried to steal its crown, and there have been legal wranglings resulting in a name change to Football Manager. Yet this is a game that has captured imaginations, with people even going back to play old copies on outdated hardware for a retro football and gaming thrill.
