As Football Manager players, we get excited when a new edition of the game is due to drop. The editions of the games are not always that different, but as we all know, the game producers, SI, have attempted to make significant changes for FM25.
This ended in FM25 being cancelled and players having to play the same edition of the game, FM24, for two years. I love FM24 and have probably racked up over 700 hours on the game. It’s a good job I love it, as we don’t know when FM26 will be released.
The delay in the release of the new edition has made me think about how I can keep things interesting on FM24. Here are a few challenges I set myself to complete before the next edition comes out:
See how long I can play my big save
I started my main save in October, and I kept coming back to it as I challenged myself to see how many in-game years I could play. In previous editions, I have played saves for about 30 in-game years.
However, my current save is in the year 2071. It is the longest I have ever played an FM save. For some people, that may be small numbers, but I am somebody who gets bored with saves very quickly.
I always have one big save, but then I get distracted by other saves, so the big save never reaches that high a number in years. In my big save, I use a mixture of playing and simming games, as my Everton team wins the Premier League every season.
As my team is so good, I will sim some games safe in the knowledge that I will win anyway. I will watch games when I start exciting young players or new signings to see how they fare. Other games I may sim. I never sim whole seasons on this save. I only sim whole seasons for tactic testing articles for the Higher Tempo.
I am hoping to get to 100 years before FM26 is released. Judging by SI’s recent record of delays, I may have a long time to complete it.
Quit my job at Everton and join another club
Another challenge that would be difficult and almost painful for me personally! Quitting my job and starting again as an 80-odd-year-old would be difficult, especially as I have built up the team to such a strength that challenging would be close to impossible.
It would certainly keep my save interesting, as it would be something different. However, after spending all those years as Everton’s boss building the team up, I would struggle to settle at another club.
I have tried this sort of thing in previous editions of the game, but I usually get bored and go back to my old save, as I can’t get accustomed to the change.
Manage in a different league/continent
I have to admit in recent years, I have become boring when it comes to personal saves. My choice of club for my personal save is always the club I support, Everton. This hasn’t always been the case, though. I have used other clubs to do tactic testing or particular challenges, i.e., getting Hamburg back into the Bundesliga as an example.
When I first started playing FM and even the latter editions of Championship Manager, I loved nothing more than taking a club from the National League as it is now to the Premier League, winning the title and eventually the Champions League.
I also used to enjoy the challenge of taking Celtic as far as I could in the Champions League, even if it was difficult to mount a realistic challenge. The SPL was easy to win every season, so Europe’s elite competition was the big challenge.
Then there were the seasons spent as Barcelona in La Liga, attempting to beat Real Madrid to the Spanish top-flight title while also winning the Champions League. Spoiler alert: We managed to dominate La Liga and the Champions League.
I will attempt to do one of these challenges before FM26
In the next few months, I will attempt to use the scarce free time I have to try some of these saves out. My favourite one is Celtic, as I have always had a soft spot for Scottish football, primarily because of the number of Scottish personnel who have had a significant influence on Everton over the years, including a certain D. Moyes.
Playing as Barcelona could be an interesting and exciting save because of the quality of players in the Blaugrana squad.
Whatever challenge I complete, it should keep me interested in FM24 until FM26 comes out. Who knows, maybe I will complete my 100-year challenge. Keep checking back to see what challenges I manage.
