Anniversary Week: Championship Manager 97/98 – A Three Decade Love Affair | @FMCM_FC

Posted on October 30, 2026 by besta90

I’ve played this game for 3 Decades now and it still finds ways to surprise me and I’m still finding new players that I’ve never used before! The fact we are still talking about or writing about it or even just playing it shows it stands the test of time. Here is my ode to CM9798.

For me, it all started when i was 8 or 9 and my cousin came to live with my my family and I. He was a few years older than me and his football knowledge far outstripped mine. I was curious to find out how he knew so much. Who were these exotic players he knew from these far flung countries. He introduced me to a game on the PC, which felt so alien to me. The game had no players to control! Utter nonsense I thought. Turns out 8/9 year old me was about to embark on the greatest adventure and one of the greatest pleasures in my life.

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Anniversary Week: An Ode to Champ Man | @KingOfTheRooks

Posted on October 30, 2026 by KingOfTheRooks

It’s the 29th birthday of CM9798 tomorrow! What we need is a poem from Andrew…oh look he’s written one. Happy Friday, everybody

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on the match engine;

If you can trust yourself when all your singings doubt you,

And make no allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait 30 seasons and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied to by the league scouts, don’t deal in lies,

Or, being hated by the non-purists, don’t give way to those bar stewards,

And yet don’t win too much, nor talk too much bollox;

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Anniversary Week: What CM 9798 Means to Me | @CornishZak

Posted on October 29, 2026 by zakbrockman

Hello! It’s been a while…

No challenge, no database edits and no Neil Warnock blog… Instead, I thought I’d tell you what this little corner of the internet, and the game behind it, actually means to me.

When Championship Manager 97/98 came along, 11-year-old Zachary already had his eyes wide open thanks to CM2. But this was different… This was the first game proper that I got properly, completely, hopelessly addicted to. If Championship Manager 2 was the gateway drug, then CM 97/98 was the opening to a deep pit of longing that would last nearly 30 years…

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Anniversary Week: Championship Manager, me and Scott Lindsey | @Taitanator

Posted on October 29, 2026 by robtait411

The first Championship Manager I discovered was the original CM2. After school me and a couple of mates went round a friend’s house. He said, “You’ve got to see this new football manager game my uncle has.” 15 minutes later, once it had finally all loaded up, that was it, I was hooked and I ran home to beg my dad to let me buy it that weekend. I still have the original red CD in the black sleeve case with the yellow DOMARK writing on the outside.

My friend and I would spend hours playing football in the park by my house only to come back to mine and spend even longer playing CM2 together.

He ended up being my best man and we still talk about finding 88-year-old right back Scott Lindsey in CM2.

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Anniversary Week: What CM97/98 Means to Me | @NTR9798

Posted on October 28, 2026 by NTR9798

I can still remember the first time I ever played this wonderful game, but I was somewhat late to the party. It was sometime during the 1998/99 season, because Ibrahima Bakayoko was at Everton in real life, and I was baffled when my mate Alex, who introduced me to the game, told me that the Ivorian was absolutely class on the game. Looking back, you can see why this left me scratching my head…

Champ hero, real-life disappointment – Bakayoko

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Anniversary Week – Championship Manager 97/98: More Than Just a Game | @RossBell__

Posted on October 28, 2026 by RossBell__

Our ode to the beautiful game continues ahead of the big day on Saturday. I mean, it’s not that big, it’s just the 29th anniversary. Anyway, one of the biggest influences on my spare time over the past 10 years is here to explain his love of the game. Over to you, Ross Bell.

Championship Manager 97/98 will always be the one that started it all.

There are certain games that never really leave you. You might forget the results of countless matches or the names of half the players you signed, but one familiar screenshot can transport you straight back to a different time.

For me, that means 1998, sitting in my parents’ conservatory, glued to a computer screen and convinced I’d discovered the secrets of football management.

The game was Championship Manager 97/98, and it was never just a game.

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Anniversary Week: CM9798 and Me | @Matt_C_Wills

Posted on October 27, 2026 by mattcwills

All week, the Blog Squad will be paying tribute to CM9798 as we approach the 29th anniversary of the game on Saturday. There’s rumours of a quiz. Here’s Matt to kick us off.

Hi, I’m Matt Wills and you might remember me from such blog saves as ‘Vinny Samways neck is missing!’ and ‘P is for Philomen Masinga’, but right now, on the anniversary of the release of this great game, I’m here to discuss what Championship Manager means to me.

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Where Eagles Dare – Part 23: Both Teams to Score

Posted on October 25, 2026 by David Black

Hola, bonjour, good day. We’re back again with more from this trio of clubs, where the aim is to get them to meet in the Champions League final. We have two sides in Europe’s elite competition for the first time which means we are potentially just a few updates away from the end. There’s still a lot to achieve, certainly for Nice and Go Ahead, so let’s see what this week brings.

As I write this, the UK has a weather warning for extreme winds. Stay safe out there, it is pretty wild.

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Where Eagles Dare – Part 22: Keepers

Posted on October 18, 2026 by David Black

Good hello to you all! Happy Sunday and welcome back to this multi-club madness. If you’re new, I mean you’ve missed 21 weeks worth of action. You join us at the end of season 5, season 6 just one click of Done away. The aim is to get two of our Eagle based clubs to meet in the Champions League final and this will be the first season where it is a possibility. I wouldn’t say it was likely, but it’s possible. Here are the awards for season 5, featuring our captain Matthew Wicks, goal machine Ledezma, me of course and veteran striker Zamorano.

There’s lovely Ivan.

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Where Eagles Dare – Part 21: Lost leads

Posted on October 11, 2026 by David Black

Good morning or good evening, heck even good afternoon. Whatever time of the day it is, football is back! More importantly, BEEFCO is back for another week, and boy do we have a lot to get through today. It’s the end of the season for our three much loved clubs and for once, all three are in the upper echelons of their respective leagues. The aim of having two of them meet in the Champions League final has never been closer, but it could soon be a sort of reality. Or even further away.

Here’s my three less-sung heroes of the teams. Wicks is an England regular now, Tammer is a club legend (although starting to slow down as he approaches his 33rd birthday) and Arnau will shortly depart for nothing as he won’t sign a new contract. He’s class and I will inevitably sign him for Palace out of spite.

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