Resurrection: Championship Manager 97/98

[Continued] There were others too, but even with the Bakayoko knowledge there was always one major niggle: how overpowered Everton was. The Champ Man creators, the Collyer brothers, are huge Everton fans, and the famous programmed-in bias towards was the Toffees was arguably most obvious in CM 97/98.

It was bizarre irony then – or, as conspiracy theorists would suggest, more than a coincidence – when Everton actually signed Bakayoko a year after CM 97/98 came out. The series was and still is in its Football Manager guise considered quite the indicator of real-life potential for footballers who excel in it, but in this most famous of cases it proved as big a flop as Bakayoko was – sold within the year.

HIS NAME WAS NEVILLE
But to me and to many other players, Bakayoko was never a flop. So many footballers achieved such fantastic success in my CM97/98 games, the kind they could only dream about in reality. And, with all due respect to his talents, no more so than a man by the name of Neville Roach.

In reality, Roach’s career was that of a lower-league drifter. Apart from a spell of form at Basingstoke Town, Roach never really settled or shone at any of the many sides he played for.

In my CM97/98 reality, Roach was the Michael Owen that Owen still dreams about being. I signed him from Reading to Arsenal on a whim – I liked his name and he had a bizarrely plentiful range of 20/20 stats. The 17-year old somehow found his way into my starting line-up, I think through my squad being taken to by a psychopath with a hacksaw. Sure enough, Roach scored on his debut with a thumping header. Then he scored again in the next game, getting the man of the match award. Then he pushed out Petit for a starting place alongside Vieira, rollicking in match-winning performances and a series of crucial headers from last-gasp runs from the heart of midfield, over and over again.

I was in love with this mysteriously brilliant man. After noticing that he had an Influence stat of 20, I made him Arsenal captain, with Arsenal legend Tony Adams relegated from the position – yet oddly nonplussed about the whole thing. A week later, Roach got into the England squad. As captain.

He didn’t score a goal on his debut this time. He scored two goals. Two thumping headers. It was like Roy of the Rovers but without the illustrator. And with two World Cups.

That’s what was so great about CM97/98: the stories it provided. It was the Oblivion of its time, not just because it was absurdly successful on PC, but in how everyone had their story to regale others with – be it on the startling youngster they picked out of the haystack, or the time they came back from four goals down with four minutes to go to win the FA Cup. And people wanted to listen to the stories, too. Pub garden afternoons were spent talking tactics, discussing transfers, and fighting for bragging rights. Of course, no-one could beat the time I got Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Romario to all play in the same West Ham side. Yeah, I had to get that in here.

Maybe CM 97/98 is the most fondly remembered Championship Manager game because of its editor, which allowed you to make up players, stadiums, squads, the lot. For World Cup ’98, I put all my friends into the game at international level, including myself. So, I led England to the World Cup final, to face my best friend’s Italy side. 23 minutes in, he took me out of the game with a two-footed lunge. Red card for him, stretcher for me, and I watched my team lift the trophy from the sidelines. Unbelievable.

13 years on, I still haven’t forgiven him for that.

Sinan Kubba is Editorial and Features Director at The Game Reviews.

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