Sports Interactive, in partnership with the Football League, has today announced the forthcoming release of Football Manager 1888, an all-new (or should that read ‘all-old’?) version of the best-selling game that celebrates 125 years of the world’s oldest league football competition.
The latest version of the iconic football management game offers players the chance to put their skills to the test in the very first season of the English Football League. Managers are given the option of taking over any of the original 12 clubs involved in the 1888/89 season and guiding them to league and cup glory.
Of course, football was very different in the Victorian era and these differences will present FM players with a whole new set of challenges.
Managers will have to master the different rules of the game, including; no substitutions being permitted during matches, the off-side rule not yet being introduced to the game and players flying into tackles without fear of being sent off or conceding penalties. Players must also overcome other, more unusual, tests to their management credentials when faced with their star players being forced into immediate retirement following a bad injury or their entire back four being drafted up to the army.
“This latest addition to the Football Manager family is so good, it’s unreal,” said Sports Interactive Studio Director Miles Jacobson. “We’ve worked hard to recreate the excitement of Victorian football and the results have to be seen to be believed.”
As well as being the latest game in Sports Interactive’s award winning series, Football Manager 1888 also celebrates the 125th anniversary of the Football League and creates history by allowing you to redefine the roots of football. You can take the crown of the first ever English league winner or face the humiliation of having to seek re-election to the league.
FM1888 sees the introduction of a range of new features and significant changes to some of the game’s existing elements to really put you in the shoes of a Victorian football manager. Some of the highlights include:
- 19th Century match engine
Everything on and around the pitch will look as it did when the league was first formed; from the muddy recreation grounds and the crowds of gentlemen spectators through to the players’ movements and the way the old leather ball moved (or, indeed, didn’t move) through the air.
- All clubs and players from the 1888/ 89 season
Manage any of the original 12 football league clubs across one league and go deeper than ever into Victorian football with a comprehensive database of more than 150 players and staff from across the United Kingdom.
- User interface
Football Manager 1888 boasts a brand new ‘late 19th century’ style interface and skin reflecting the game’s era.
- Play by the original football rules
Overcome all the hurdles that managers don’t need to worry about in the present game. Have an injury? Well you can’t make a substitution. Think he was off-side? Think again, there’s no such thing. And was that really a bad tackle? It doesn’t really matter, as yellow and red cards haven’t been introduced to the game yet.
- Overcome the challenges of Victorian football
You will experience real life problems of the era, such as; players being called up to the army leaving you with a hole in your squad and players having to retire from football with immediate effect following a serious injury.
- Plus all player and staff movements from the 1888/89 season.
For more information, please go to www.footballmanager.com/1888
