Oftentimes, football fans argue over which football videogame is the best representation of the beautiful game. The debate usually surrounds two much-loved games, FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer (PES). Yet, the discussion often misses out on another globally loved videogame, Football Manager.

Released every year as Football Manager since 2004, the game has grabbed a large segment of the football videogame market, offering completely different gameplay to its competition. Football Manager’s popularity continues to grow and is played by everyone from fans to celebrities. If you play the much-loved game or interested in playing the latest edition, here are some facts about FM you may not know about.

Football Manager Facts

1. The Film – Movie screenwriter Peter Sleeman wrote a script for an FM-based film. The film would have revolved around a young boy who plays FM and has to put his skills to the test when he lands a proper managerial job. As you can guess, interest in the film was limited.
2. The real-life FM – In November 2012, Vugar Huseynzade, a student in Azerbaijan, caught the attention of some top football professionals in the country due to his FM playing skills. FC Baku hired Huseynzade to manage their reserve team thanks to those FM performances.
3. Scouting players – FM has been used by professional football teams in more ways than to land a reserve team manager. According to reports, Premier League team Everton have used the game to scout new players. FM and Everton signed a contract in 2008 allowing the club to use the game’s database for scouting purposes.
4. Dedication to the craft – Michael Leniec holds The Guinness World Record for the longest game of FM. The record has been held since November 2017 when Leniec played a total of 221 years with Polish team Lech Poznan. His record came while playing the 2016 edition of FM.
5. Sike! – Football Manager played an April Fool’s joke on fans in 2013 when they announced the release of FM 1888. Players were to play with the 12 original football clubs over the course of the 1888-89 season. Game creators had a good laugh when a number of fans believed the announcement to be true.