We’re coming up towards the 20th anniversary of the release of Championship Manager: Season 99/00. This was the first full game from the Championship/Football Manager series that I played, when I was nine years old, and I still have very fond memories of it.
Over the next year or so, I will revisit CM99/00 in an occasional series of articles right here on Fuller FM. Who knows, I might even write up a career story somewhere down the line.
In this first post, I will look at the 2019/2020 Premier League and English Football League managers and use CM99/00 to see what they were up to 20 years ago. I’m using the largest possible database with all leagues loaded, so if they’re in the game… they’re in the game. (Oh, wait, wrong franchise.)
This was, of course, inspired by Dave Black and his brilliant CM97/98 blog. Every year for the last few seasons, he’s looked at what contemporary Premier League managers were doing on Championship Manager 97/98. For example, this article shows last season’s PL bosses when they were 21 years younger.
UNAI EMERY (Arsenal)
Today, we know Emery for winning three consecutive Europa Leagues at Sevilla before replacing a certain Frenchman in North London. What you might not know was that he had an unremarkable playing career spent mostly as a left-winger in the Segunda División. 1999/2000 was his fourth and final season at Toledo after leaving Real Sociedad, where he had started out.
Being Spanish, it was typical that he should have excellent technique, creativity and off-the-ball awareness. Mind you, he was neither especially quick nor good at crossing – and his positioning was about as competent as Shkodran Mustafi’s.
DEAN SMITH (Aston Villa)
Now best-known as John Terry’s number 1, Smith used to be a rugged lower-league centre-back. Here he is as the captain of Leyton Orient, who had just lost in the Division 3 Play-Off Final to Scunthorpe. He’s certainly full of beans stamina-wise, but that Heading attribute looks a bit low for my liking.
The Black Country native began his playing career at Walsall in 1989, returning there as manager in 2011. He subsequently stabilised Brentford in the Championship before taking over his boyhood team Aston Villa last October and leading them to promotion – through another Play-Off Final.
EDDIE HOWE (Bournemouth)
Howe is Mr Bournemouth, having been there through almost every step of their rise from near-bankruptcy to Premier League mainstays. In 1999, the fresh-faced centre-back – and apparent long-shot specialist – was midway through an injury-curtailed career that saw him play over 250 league games for the Cherries.
Bournemouth were a Division 2 club back then. They had dropped down to Division 3 (now League Two) by 2008, when steady Eddie took the helm and overcame a 17-point deduction to avoid relegation. He’s been in charge pretty much ever since (excluding a brief spell at Burnley between 2011 and 2012) and is the PL’s longest-serving current manager.
GRAHAM POTTER (Brighton)
Two decades ago, Potter was a determined left-back playing for West Brom in Division 1. He wasn’t a regular starter, though, and he steadily dropped down the leagues before calling time on his playing career aged just 30. He’s since found more success as a coach, winning the 2017 Svenska Cupen with Östersund before returning to the UK to manage Swansea and now Brighton.
There are actually two Graham Potters in CM99/00. The other is a 20-year-old goalkeeper at Scottish Division 2 side Hamilton who quickly faded into obscurity.
SEAN DYCHE (Burnley)
Today, Dyche gets an unfair rap from some people as an advocate of ‘Brexit football’ just because Burnley don’t play continental-style tiki-taka. To be fair, it doesn’t help that he was once an uncompromising defender at Division 2 Millwall who was more likely to hoof a long ball upfield than calmly play it short from the back.
Even at 28, his exceptional influence and work rate showed promising signs of a future career as a football manager, if not as a spokesman for Strepsils throat lozenges. He left The Den for Watford in 2002, and he later coached the Hornets before moving to Turf Moor in 2012 to succeed… Eddie Howe.
FRANK LAMPARD (Chelsea)
Lampard was just starting out when Chelsea last had an English manager – Glenn Hoddle – in 1996. Three years later, the 21-year-old box-to-box midfielder was a key player at West Ham. Team talks at Upton Park must’ve been interesting, seeing as his uncle Harry Redknapp was the Irons’ manager, and his father – also named Frank Lampard – was the assistant boss.
In 2001, having graduated to the England national set-up, Frankie Jnr signed for Chelsea for £11million (which barely gets you a Championship right-back these days). He stayed there as a player for 13 years and has now returned to Stamford Bridge as head coach, so I guess he was reasonably successful.
(And yes, Lampard’s birthdate IS a day out. At least it’s nowhere near as inaccurate as this next one…)
ROY HODGSON (Crystal Palace)
I know Hodgson’s been around forever, but he was actually born in 1947 – three years later than his profile suggests on CM99/00 (incidentally, the same game that made Alex Ferguson six years younger). He went into management in 1976 and has since coached – at the last count – 16 clubs and four national teams, including England.
Here’s Woy on the central European leg of his journeyman career, managing Grasshopper in Switzerland after a short caretaker spell at Inter. For a polyglot, it’s odd that English is his only fluent language on the game, though he is accurately shown as having a way with youth players.
MARCO SILVA (Everton)
Housewives’ favourite Silva was a pacey and tough-tackling right-back who only ever played in his native Portugal. At 21 years old, he featured for Campomaiorense in the Primeira Liga, making a grand total of one appearance. He was actually only on loan from Trofense, though that wasn’t entered correctly in the CM99/00 database.
Silva saw out his playing career at Estoril, becoming manager shortly after his retirement in 2011. He later won the Greek league with Olympiacos before moving to England – and annoying Paul Merson, who apparently could’ve won the Greek league with Olympiacos himself. That’s the same Paul Merson who couldn’t get Walsall promoted from League One.
BRENDAN RODGERS (Leicester)
You won’t find Rodgers anywhere in CM99/00. At the turn of the millennium, the buzzword-loving Ulsterman was a 26-year-old youth coach at Reading. A promising playing career as a defender had been ended by a serious knee injury six years prior.
JÜRGEN KLOPP (Liverpool)
20 years ago, Klopp was little-known outside of Germany, where he was nearing the end of a professional career spent almost entirely at second-tier Mainz. The popular defender played in 325 league games for Die Nullfünfer before retiring in 2001 as their all-time leading scorer (though his 52-goal haul has since been surpassed).
The future godfather of Gegenpress stayed at Mainz as manager until 2008, when he began carving out his hipster reputation at Borussia Dortmund. After winning two Bundesliga titles, he succeeded Rodgers as Liverpool manager in 2015 and – of course – lifted the Champions League earlier this year.
PEP GUARDIOLA (Man City)
Before there was Pep Guardiola the elite manager, there was Josep Guardiola the elite midfielder. With his exceptional vision, passing range and tactical awareness, he was arguably the blueprint for future Barcelona and Spain playmakers such as Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. (Incidentally, Xavi was in CM99/00 as a 19-year-old Barça prospect, but Iniesta was too young to be included at 15.)
An injury-hit 1999/2000 marked the start of Guardiola’s decline as a player. He was transferred to Brescia in 2001 but returned to Camp Nou six years later, first as manager of the B team before succeeding Frank Rijkaard in the top job. And the rest, as they say in Catalonia, is “història”.
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJÆR (Man Utd)
Solskjær’s is the first (baby)face you see when you load up CM99/00 for the first time. His celebration after scoring the 1999 Champions League Final winner is the game’s default background image and adorns several screens, including his profile. While the Norwegian was never regarded as a world-class striker, he could always make an impact with his pace, work rate and cool finishing ability.
You won’t need the game to remind you about Ole’s reputation for being a super-sub at Manchester United, coming on late in games to score decisive goals – including that one in Barcelona. Two decades later, he’s back on the Old Trafford bench with some very different responsibilities.
STEVE BRUCE (Newcastle)
With a Work Rate attribute of 18, it won’t surprise you that Bruce had three jobs in 1999. As well as being a best-selling author of mystery novels, the 38-year-old Geordie was player-manager of Huddersfield in Division 1… at least according to CM99/00. He managed the Terriers for nearly 18 months but never actually played for them, having hung up his boots at Sheffield United in 1998.
During a managerial career that’s now into its third decade, he has had spells in charge of Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham, Aston Villa, Sunderland and now Newcastle. In addition, Steve’s son Alex has been capped by the Republic of Ireland AND Northern Ireland. I don’t think the Bruce family care much for football rivalries…
DANIEL FARKE (Norwich)
Not much is known about Farke’s early years as a striker in Germany’s semi-professional leagues. Fortunately, Canaries fansite Talk Norwich City revealed that, in the 1999/2000 season, the horse-riding striker scored 16 goals for fourth-tier Lippstadt. Unfortunately, Lippstadt weren’t included in the CM99/00 database.
CHRIS WILDER (Sheff Utd)
Wilder was a fearless and selfless journeyman right-back who played in 414 Football League matches for 11 different clubs between 1986 and 2001. Two years before his retirement, he was plying his trade for Division 3 Brighton, having just ended a second stint with boyhood club Sheffield United.
Since then, the affable Yorkshireman has enjoyed a successful managerial career that many of us FMers can relate to. Having risen up the leagues with Alfreton, Halifax, Oxford and Northampton, he took his beloved Blades from the bottom of League One in 2016 to the Premier League in 2019.
RALPH HASENHÜTTL (Southampton)
Hasenhüttl was a tall centre-forward who spent most of his playing days at home in Austria but ended it in Germany. He features for second-division 1.FC Köln on CM99/00, where he looks… mediocre. No wonder he didn’t add to his eight international caps, the last of which he won in 1994.
As a manager, he started out in the lower leagues before getting his wings at RB Leipzig in 2016, leading the energy drink advertising machine to 2nd place in the Bundesliga. He’s now into the first full season of what Southampton fans hope will be a Ralphalution at St Mary’s.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO (Tottenham)
Speaking of Southampton, that brings us on to former Saints chief Pochettino. The centre-back was arguably at his playing peak in 1999, starring as a tough, brave and astute stopper for Espanyol – whom he would later coach – in La Liga.
He was also at the beginning of a short international career with Argentina, which ended soon after his foul on Michael Owen conceded a costly penalty against England at the 2002 World Cup. The incident traumatised Poch so much that he cut off his hair and vowed never to win any trophies in his next career as as a top-tier manager.
JAVI GRACIA (Watford)
Watford have been through more coaches than National Express, but they’ve found a keeper in Gracia. Actually, he’s more of a defensive midfielder who has plenty of bite, as shown here gracing the Segunda División with Villarreal.
Javi spent nearly all his career in Spain’s top two divisions, playing for the likes of Valladolid and Real Sociedad before heading to El Madrigal. Since retiring in 2004, he has managed ten different clubs, never staying at the same one for more than two years. If the Hornets start this season poorly, you can bet that record will continue…
MANUEL PELLEGRINI (West Ham)
15 years before winning the Premier League with Manchester City, Pellegrini was already a decade into his coaching adventure. Specifically, he was managing Ecuadorian champions Deportivo Quito, who were in CM99/00 – but their 46-year-old Chilean manager wasn’t.
NUNO ESPÍRITO SANTO (Wolves)
Born in São Tomé and Príncipe but raised in Portugal, Nuno played exclusively in Iberia, save for a season-long stint at Dinamo Moscow. In 1999, he was keeping goal for Spanish Segunda Divisón side Mérida, where his team-mates included future Everton and Bolton midfielder Idan Tal.
Nuno was a professional for 18 years but fell just short of 200 league appearances, having spent much of his career as a bench-warming backup. Regular observations from the dugout have no doubt served the bearded one well at Wolves, guiding them into their first European campaign since he was six years old.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Two current Championship managers were also managers in Championship Manager 99/00. Neil Warnock was honing his grumpy old man act at Bury, while Leeds’ loco honcho Marcelo Bielsa was coaching his native Argentina. Also 20 years ago, Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate were metaphorical – and literal – partners in crime at Elland Road before going on to manage their childhood clubs.
| CLUB | MANAGER | WHERE WERE THEY IN CM99/00? |
|---|---|---|
| Barnsley | Daniel Stendel | Hannover 96 (S C) |
| Birmingham | Pep Clotet * | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Blackburn | Tony Mowbray | Ipswich (D C – Player/Coach) |
| Brentford | Thomas Frank | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Bristol City | Lee Johnson | Watford (M C) |
| Cardiff | Neil Warnock | Bury (Manager) |
| Charlton | Lee Bowyer | Leeds (M RLC) |
| Derby | Phillip Cocu | Barcelona (AM LC) |
| Fulham | Scott Parker | Charlton (M C) |
| Huddersfield | Jan Siewert | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Hull | Grant McCann | West Ham (M L) |
| Leeds | Marcelo Bielsa | Argentina (Manager) |
| Luton | Graeme Jones | Wigan (S C) |
| Middlesbrough | Jonathan Woodgate | Leeds (SW/D C) |
| Millwall | Neil Harris | Millwall (S C) |
| Nottm Forest | Sabri Lamouchi | Monaco (M RC) |
| Preston | Alex Neil | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| QPR | Mark Warburton | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Reading | José Gomes | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Sheff Wed | Lee Bullen * | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Stoke | Nathan Jones | Southend (D/M L) |
| Swansea | Steve Cooper | Wrexham (D RC) |
| West Brom | Slaven Bilic | Everton (D C) |
| Wigan | Paul Cook | Burnley (M C) |
* Pep Clotet and Lee Bullen are the caretaker managers of Birmingham and Sheff Wed following the summer departures of Garry Monk and Steve Bruce respectively.
LEAGUE ONE
A couple of current League One bosses are back where they were two decades ago. John Coleman was bossing Accrington in the Northern Premier League Division 1 North, while a 33-year-old Nigel Clough was playing for and managing Southern League side Burton. Both clubs and managers have come a long way since then, that’s for sure!
| CLUB | MANAGER | WHERE WERE THEY IN CM99/00? |
|---|---|---|
| Accrington | John Coleman | Accrington (Manager) |
| AFC Wimbledon | Wally Downes | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Blackpool | Simon Grayson | Blackburn (D/DM R) |
| Bolton | Phil Parkinson | Reading (DM C) |
| Bristol Rovers | Graham Coughlan | Livingston (D C) |
| Burton | Nigel Clough | Burton (AM/F C – Player/Manager) |
| Bury * | Paul Wilkinson | Northampton (S C) |
| Coventry | Mark Robins | Walsall (S C) |
| Doncaster | Darren Moore | Portsmouth (D C) |
| Fleetwood | Joey Barton | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Gillingham | Steve Evans | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Ipswich | Paul Lambert | Celtic (DM C) |
| Lincoln | Danny Cowley | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| MK Dons | Paul Tisdale | Yeovil (M C) |
| Oxford | Karl Robinson | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Peterborough | Darren Ferguson | Free Agent (M C) |
| Portsmouth | Kenny Jackett | Watford (Assistant Manager) |
| Rochdale | Brian Barry-Murphy | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Rotherham | Paul Warne | Rotherham (F RC) |
| Shrewsbury | Sam Ricketts | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Southend | Kevin Bond | Portsmouth (Coach) |
| Sunderland | Jack Ross | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Tranmere | Micky Mellon | Burnley (M C) |
| Wycombe | Gareth Ainsworth | Wimbledon (AM/F R) |
* At the time of publication, Bury were facing the threat of expulsion from the English Football League due to concerns over their financial situation.
LEAGUE TWO
How fitting is it that Michael Duff is coaching Cheltenham, 20 years after countless virtual managers discovered his right-back talents at Whaddon Road? He’s now rubbing shoulders with fellow Championship Manager icon Richard Wellens and former England defender Keith Curle.
| CLUB | MANAGER | WHERE WERE THEY IN CM99/00? |
|---|---|---|
| Bradford | Gary Bowyer | Free Agent (DM C) |
| Cambridge | Colin Calderwood | Aston Villa (D/DM C) |
| Carlisle | Steven Pressley | Hearts (D RC) |
| Cheltenham | Michael Duff | Cheltenham (D/DM R) |
| Colchester | John McGreal | Ipswich (D C) |
| Crawley | Gabriele Cioffi | Arezzo (M RL) |
| Crewe | David Artell | Rotherham (D C) |
| Exeter | Matt Taylor | UNCONFIRMED * |
| Forest Green | Mark Cooper | Rushden & Diamonds (AM RC) |
| Grimsby | Michael Jolley | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Leyton Orient | Ross Embleton ** | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Macclesfield | Tottenham (D/DM LC) | |
| Mansfield | John Dempster | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Morecambe | Jim Bentley | Telford (D LC) |
| Newport | Mike Flynn | Newport (AM RL) |
| Northampton | Keith Curle | Wolves (D C) |
| Oldham | Laurent Banide | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Plymouth | Ryan Lowe | NOT IN CM99/00 |
| Port Vale | John Askey | Macclesfield (AM RL) |
| Salford | Graham Alexander | Preston (D/DM R) |
| Scunthorpe | Paul Hurst | Rotherham (D/M L) |
| Stevenage | Dino Maamria | Doncaster (M L) |
| Swindon | Richard Wellens | Man Utd (DM C) |
| Walsall | Darrell Clarke | Mansfield (AM/F C) |
* In 1999, Matt Taylor was a 17-year-old goalkeeper at Everton’s academy. Though there is no sign of him at Everton, I did find a goalkeeper called Matthew Taylor at Northampton who was just three days younger than him. However, there seems to be no evidence of Taylor ever being contracted to Northampton, so I cannot confirm if it is him.
** Ross Embleton is caretaker manager of Leyton Orient following the tragic passing of Justin Edinburgh in June.
*** Sol Campbell left Macclesfield by mutual consent on the day before this article was published. A caretaker manager had not been named as of the time of publication.
I hope you enjoyed that trip through memory lane and are looking forward to more. If you have any ideas about future CM99/00 content that I can cover on this blog, then feel free to share them with me. You can either leave a comment here or tweet me @Fuller_FM.
Thank you for reading.
Fuller FM 
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