Youth development is one of the delights in FM. The game (simulators in general) has the ability to create stories within its framework. One of my own favorites is when i got fired from my Turkish league team and got appointed mid season in Poland. Then this happened:

Finding youth players is the best. I got Ian and sold him for 9 million dollars. I transferred a young Italian striker that was languishing in a skrill south team for 7k and I sold him to Udinese for 4 million 2 seasons later.

Meanwhile bringing in guys thanks to those transfers that are just as good, just in different spots (I got two potentially fantastic players from Ireland), and at a fraction of the cost.

I put in over 550 hours into FM10 and it is the biggest emotional connection to any game I've ever had. Love those games

Loved the franchise since it's Championship Manager days, which I played to death as a kid. That said, I've struggled to enjoy Football Manager for quite a few years now which I don't quite understand. I bought FM2014 on Steam and I'm having a hard time getting into that traditional flow, even the classic mode (which should suit me more) is a little 'to' streamlined. I think the thing I loved about these games is seeing the alternative history take place, the transfers between clubs and the way the leagues/clubs would change over many many years. But FM2014 hasn't done it for me so far and I don't know why, last FM game I bought was 2010 which I struggled with to.

But boy, back in those championship manager days I loved the living heck out of them and eventually messed around with the editor, making my own league filled with friends and what not.

Nice post. It's pretty cool that someone unfamiliar with football can get into FM. It doesn't strike me as a game that's very friendly to newcomers of the sport. This has kind of changed my mind. Maybe GB covering Football Manager one day isn't so far-fetched...hmm...yeah...probably not...

I've played a lot of FM in the past. Used to play as Everton a lot (as I support them), but now I generally look to start as a small team and build myself up. Feels a lot more satisfying that way. I've managed in Poland, Russia, Holland, China...all over the place. Had a lot of fun doing it. I haven't played it a great deal recently, but I'm sure I'll get back into it at some point.

Being from North Wales, I was also pleased to see that you're managing Colwyn Bay. It's my nearest Welsh team that play in the English system. I've also managed them on FM myself. League 1 was as far as I got before the financial situation got too restrictive. Looks like you have a chance of progressing with the sale of that promising youngster, though. Hope you continue to do well.

Someone once described these games to me as real world pokemon crossed with... some other strategy game I can't remember. I blame lack of sleep. my point is, I'd really like to see Twitch Plays Football Manager.

@adzpearson: I did pick them on a whim more or less (Colwyn being the lowest level welsh team available to play in the English system). It taps into my appreciation of the underdog. Sales of youngsters definitely has to be the way I succeed, though, because we don't get many fans compared to everyone else in league 1. I am doing really well atm after finishing bottom mid last season, but most of it is me winning 1-0.

Also, lemme tell you, it was not very friendly. I spent the first 10-15 hours being angry at it, and then I watched some actual soccer matches, and then I read a bunch of faqs and then I spent the next 10-15 hours understanding it and still being angry.

I also prefer managing in England so far because, well, there are more steps. I've really wanted to take A.D. Melilla, which is one of the spanish cities in Africa, because having a high level team there would be hella ridiculous, but Spain also has a bunch more rules.

@animasta: Yeah, I could see how that would be the case with the newer games. Even as a long-term player, FM13 has never gone well for me. When I had some little signs of success, I was unfairly sacked by various teams. As soon as I saw that FM14 had similar issues, I've avoided it like the plague. FM12 was the last installment that was fair, but still challenging (in my opinion, at least).

Yeah, I considered managing Melilla myself. There's also one or two teams in the Canary Islands that play in the Spanish system. While it's not reflected in the game, I find it fun to imagine teams like Real and Barca travelling quite a fair distance to the home games of those teams. If you want another one, there's a team in the Russian 2nd tier (SKA-Energiya Khabarovsk) that are based all the way in the far east corner of Russia. Pretty much all their opponents are based in European Russia, so their journeys are...quite something....

But yeah, I'd recommend sticking to England for the time being. Much easier to get to grips with. When you're ready, some of the other leagues are fun.

It's funny to think of FM as a strategy game like CK2, but I suppose there are a lot of similarities. The main difference is how closely Football Manager is trying to simulate real life, I suppose.

I'm dreading the April release of FM14 on vita because it will probably be life-ruining.

Some of the magic disappears once you delve into what is going on under the hood. Actually most of the magic disappears, but it's still compelling.

never look behind the fm curtain