Any players of Football Manager or predecessor Championship Manager will know the great satisfaction to be had from grabbing yourself a wonderkid in the games.
Many wonderkids have caught the attention of the public over the years. However, most of them failed to live up to their supposed CM/FM potential.
Sometimes, the game researchers threw us a curve ball by giving a player an overpowered ability or potential. Nonetheless, these players were enjoyable to play with.
My favourite player who fell into that category was Icelandic international forward Andri Sigþórsson, who started Championship Manager 3 with unbelievable stats and maxed-out potential.
What was Andri Sigþórsson like in FM?
For those of our readers who are not lucky enough to remember the forward or, indeed, Championship Manager 3, I will tell you a little about him in the game and then go into what happened to him in real life.
He first came to the attention of players in Championship Manager 3, which featured a database of players from season 1999/00. At the time, Sigþórsson was 22 years of age and playing for KR Reykjavik in his homeland.
His stats were those of a far more high-profile player, with stats like 20 for bravery, acceleration, flair, teamwork and workrate. Coupled with 19 for balance and pace, he looked the whole package.
#cmheroes
Happy birthday to the Iceland Hero of Championship Manager 99/00, the mighty Andri Sigþórsson! Welcome in our CM Heroes Hall of Fame!#cmlegends #championshipmanager #cm9900 #cmaddicted #cmitalia #cmitaly #andrisightorsson #icelandlegend #reyjavik pic.twitter.com/CLm1Ismpb7— Championship Manager Scudetto Addicted Italia (@CMADDICTEDITA) March 25, 2022
The strange thing was that his stat for finishing was just ten at the start of the game, which is poor for a forward. However, this didn’t impend him at all when it came to scoring goals, especially as his finishing stats tended to improve after a few seasons.
He was a goal machine, often scoring multiple goals per game, even if he was thrown straight into a Premier League team. In fact, no matter which league he played in, he scored goals and was the closest thing to a guarantee of goals that you could have in the game.
Now, for somebody this good, you would expect that he wouldn’t come to your Championship or League One club, right? Well, guess again, as in my experience, he would move to virtually any club in England.
I only really played in England in CM3, which is a shame as, with hindsight, I would have liked to have tested how he did in other top leagues.
The other cherry on top of the very tasty Sigþórsson cake was the fact that he would usually cost less than £250,000 to sign. On that particular edition of the game, he was always my first signing at whatever club I managed.
He would go on to be prolific for a decade in the game, usually helping your teams to endless trophies during his career.
What about the player in real life?
It was always going to be hard for the forward to live up to his overpowered Championship Manager stats and potential.
He started his youth career at KR Reykjavik in 1992. However, he was only with the club for a year, as in 1993, he joined the youth ranks of German giants Bayern Munich.
The forward remained in Bavaria until 1996, but he failed to make it to Bayern’s first team. He endured an underwhelming spell with the club’s second team, where he played 13 times and scored just once.
In 1996, he returned to his homeland with KR. He was prolific for the club from the Icelandic capital, scoring 43 goals in 48 appearances for the club.
During his four years back in Reykjavik, the forward also had a short loan spell back in Germany with the lower-league side FSV Zwickau. He played five times and scored three goals in season 1997/98.
In 2000, Sigþórsson made a permanent move to Austrian football to play for SV Salzburg (Now Red Bull Salzburg). He continued to impress in front of goal, scoring a creditable 16 goals in 26 appearances in the 2000/01 campaign.
In 2002, he was once again on the move, as he joined Norwegian outfit Molde FK. In two seasons with the club, he found the net 12 times in just 17 appearances.
During his career, the forward also played seven times for his country, scoring goals against Poland and the Czech Republic.
Unfortunately for Sigþórsson, his playing career ended prematurely in 2004 at the age of just 27 after he sustained a serious knee injury. It was a shame for the player, as he was entering his prime as a footballer.
Despite retiring from the game, his interest is maintained in the beautiful game, courtesy of his daughter Amanda Andradóttir, who made her debut for the Icelandic women’s team in September 2021. At the time of writing, the midfielder has won 20 caps for her country.
The power of CM/FM
The stories of Andri Sigþórsson, Cherno Samba, Mark Kerr, and Maxim Tsigalko show what a popular computer game can do.
While most of the players enjoyed steady but underwhelming careers in real life, their names will still be remembered by millions of people because they played a part in many people’s childhoods, mine included.
These players will live on for as long as Football Manager exists, and for me, it is a beautiful thing.
Do you remember Andri Sigþórsson in Championship Manager 3?
