I started playing Soccer Manager Worlds at the beginning of September 2011. I remember going to a barbers shop one Sunday for a haircut and overhearing a conversation between two guys who were discussing their adventures in the game. I quickly typed the keywords into Google, signed up and was hooked from the start.

My first ever club was Schalke but I didn’t last very long there before moving to Hamburg, Marseille and a couple of others before finally settling on Lazio in January 2012.

What fascinated me about the game was the realistic game play which I had never experienced before in any football manager game I had played previously.

Having league matches twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 20:00 gave me the feeling of being a real life manager and I could change tactics, play friendlies, make transfers or even scout for players between games.

Another thing that was exciting for me was that I could play against and interact with real people instead of all by myself against the computer AI.

The suspense I experienced while viewing results from the previous day’s games was simply unmatched especially when it was an important league fixture with a human rival or a cup semifinal or final fixture.

Because the game had predefined days for matches and I could play against human opponents, it had that realistic feel that other manager games simply did not have at the time which made me a staunch fan.

Not long after I started playing the game, I introduced some of my friends to the game. A couple of them signed up and soon stopped playing but the majority were hooked and we often discussed our experiences in our respective Game Worlds.

The best period of my SM experience was the time when I got almost all of my friends in our secondary school hostel to join a new Game World and we started playing each other week after week.

We spent quite a bit of time back then haggling over transfer deals and would collectively troll the unlucky person who lost heavily on the last matchday. I think it just proved that the best way to enjoy SM Worlds is to play it with friends.

It was the tail end of our seconday school days so we were only able to complete a season together but I’m proud to say that I won the league and a cup trophy that season which gave me the bragging rights.

Best Moment

My best moment was when I won the Division 1 title for the first time with Lazio with a 11-point gap over second place. It was amazing because the Game World was particularly competitive that year and I certainly didn’t have the very best players around.

The League title I won against my friends in the other Game World also counts among my best moments in the game so far.

Worst Moment

Worst moment also came with Lazio in my very first season in charge. I was in Division 2 with promotion already secured and the title within reach (I had a 9-point lead with just a few games left). But inexplicably, my team had a dramatic dip in form and lost most of the remaining games while my rival won and the worst part of it was that he was winning with very high margins (5-0, 9-1 e.t.c).

I eventually lost the title that year on goal difference and that really frustrated me so much that I quit the club immediately before returning a few months later to save the team from relegation.

I had another similarly scary experience another time which almost cost me the title but this time I was lucky the other guy drew his final game (because I also drew mine!).

To date, I have 16 trophies in four years which is not a bad return keeping in mind that I utilised only two club slots throughout that period but I have been unlucky in the SMFA Champions Cup despite reaching the final on more than one occasion.

Every now and then when I see my old friends from secondary school, they often ask “Do you still play that Soccer Manager game?”, “I do” I always say.

About the Author – Ayo Isaiah

Ayo is the Editor-in-Chief of One Shot Football. He is from Lagos, Nigeria and has been playing Soccer Manager Worlds for over four years. A staunch admirer of José Mourinho’s football philosophy, he prefers a more pragmatic approach to aesthetics.

Twitter: @O_S_Football

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• Realistic Game Play – Just like a real life manager you’re constantly looking for something to do for your team and club. If you’re not masterminding the tactics for the next game, you’re trying to make deals for hot players or talents.

• The Layout – I like the easy layout. It’s simple and fast. Not glossy but authentic. For the most part I play this game on my smartphone so I love how the images open up quick when you click on the links. And the fact that I can access the desktop version easily. 

• Transfers and Ratings – It is fun to make transfer deals. The amazing thing about this game is that if a player performs well in the real world his rating goes up in the Game World as well. He becomes a hot commodity. As if the Soccer Manger Game World is an artificial reflection of the real football world. I bet that if real life managers would check Soccer Manager now and then they would have some realistic feedback on how good or bad a player is.

•  Matchday – You really live towards matchday. There is nothing sweeter than clicking the play button and watching your team perform. Especially when you outclass your opponent. But when you lose it spoils your mood. You have to go back to the drawing board to find out what you did wrong and what your opponent did right.

It feels like a confession to say it, but myself and a group of young men have been playing SM for at least three years now and none of us can imagine life without it.

We are currently in the third season of the third incarnation of our league. As manager of Borussia Dortmund, I have won the Bantersliga title in the previous two seasons and all (apart from one – sorry Onix) of the managers have picked up silverware in the previous leagues, the Superbosh and the Standard League.

So far, so normal. But this is serious business, and we are devoted to it.

Devotion is certainly the word when you look at the lengths we’ve gone to for this online football management game. Dinners, trophies, dedicated Twitter accounts, video applications for vacant posts, photoshopped newspaper front pages – you name it, we’ve done it.

Before the matches even begin, the start of the league heralds the anticipated draw. Which team will we be paired with? Who’d get the comparatively weak Arsenal or Dortmund (who’ve won the last three titles by the way)? Who’d be facing each other in El Clasico? Who was off to Manchester?

The draw itself is the culmination of weeks of nerves. Mock draws are made with the results welcomed and scoffed at by managers in equal measures. When it comes to the real thing, the teams and names are paired from Kinder Egg shells, with cheers ringing out for good draws and heads slumping to the table or eyes looking to the sky questioning fate and destiny itself if the unwanted teams are plucked from the hat.

As soon as the name is drawn, the work begins. In our minds we jet out to our new homes to meet our squads. Each manager knows their targets. Each manager has a dossier compiled of their team’s strengths and weaknesses and what deals could potentially be done. The best external team, Atletico Madrid, are pillaged for their highly rated stars.

Transfer sagas are played out. Big deals fly in every direction. In incredible scenes, Messi and Ronaldo are traded for one another. Falcao is returned to Monaco on loan on the fly in a bid to sneakily secure his services permanently. Other managers notice and offers inundate the Stade Louis II. I’m offered everything including the kitchen sink for Kevin de Bruyne. It descends into chaos. But it’s amazing.

Once our squads are assembled, everything is put on hold at around 8pm on our gamedays, Thursdays and Sundays. We spend hours agonising over formations and tactics, tinkering away until we’re confident that we’ve picked the right lads to go out and get a result. Team news is announced via our managers’ Twitter accounts, often with crude photoshopping.

When the results are in, it’s straight to the WhatsApp group to discuss the night’s action. No spoilers though – wait until your opposing number has viewed.

We have an official media partner, The Bugle, which produces front pages based on the latest goings on in the league. Stirring up trouble is the anonymous Insider Twitter account, passed on in secret each season to a new manager to run. Bantersliga 365 and OptaSM have popped up too for odds and stats.

I’ve been lucky enough (or tactically astute enough) to win the league twice now, and it ranks up there with my proudest achievements. When Wesley Sneijder scored the goal that saw off Bayern and gave me an unassailable lead at the top I was in what can only be described as a state of euphoria.

That’s the thing about our love of SM. We ARE the managers. These are OUR squads. Winning is a joy, losing is a sickening punch in the gut.

And the best part about SM is that it has brought a new group of friends together through a shared love of this game. So, at the end of each season, there has to be a coming together of managers.

We don our best suits. We make sure our ties (official club merchandise) are tied and some of us have been known to throw in a scarf or a pin badge too. On the latest occasion, one of us made a 450 mile trip up from London to attend. Now that’s dedication.

Restaurants across Glasgow have been baffled. Just why has this group of young men gathered here, and why do they have trophies? Usually they assume we’re footballers, and to be fair, two of our number do play in the Scottish lower leagues. But often we use the excuse that we coach youth teams, or just have to confess it’s all about SM.

At the dinners the first exchanges between managers usually descend into frantic transfer negotiations within seconds. We vote on player of the season. We vote for a best manager and a worst manager. There is banter, there is serious discussion and there are, of course, the trophy presentations.

The Shield is presented. The Cup is presented. Then the league trophy is presented. And no expense has been spared – these are genuine pieces of silverware.

One of the most memorable nights of my life took place in Glasgow’s Viva Brazil as the Champions League theme blared through the restaurant’s sound system and a waitress brought over an ice cream sundae in one hand, and the league trophy in the other. The other diners were bemused – I was elated.

Now, I know this all sounds ridiculous, but I assure you that 100% of this is true. We are this devoted, we are this in love with the game that is Soccer Manager. I think I speak for myself and all of my fellow managers when we say that this game has brought something amazing into our lives. We’ve been brought together as a group, as firm friends.

Now roll on our tenth season celebrations. We’re off to Dublin for a manager’s weekend. What could go wrong?

About the author – Ross Crae

Ross has been playing Soccer Manager Worlds since 2012 and is now a self confessed SM addict who competes in several Game Worlds.

twitter: @RSCrae

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