Today marks the 20th anniversary of Championship Manager 4 – one of the most controversial games in Sports Interactive’s long-running franchise. To many fans, it was a groundbreaking release that introduced a 3D match engine to our favourite game. To others, it was a broken and buggy mess that was rushed out to the public before it was ready. Over the coming months, I will revisit the game in a series of posts.
In this article, I am celebrating the ‘survivors’ of Championship Manager 4. I have found 17 players in the CM4 database who are still playing football at a high level 20 years later, on Football Manager 2023. Some of these names will be familiar to you, but there are others that might not be so well-known…
GIANLUIGI BUFFON
We start this list of long-runners with one of the biggest names. As you can see from all those 20s, Buffon was entering his prime years with Juventus and Italy in 2003. Indeed, Juve got all the way to the Champions League Final that year, only losing to AC Milan on penalties.
‘Gigi’ was still playing top-level European football in 2020, becoming the first goalkeeper to keep a Champions League clean sheet in four different decades. Alas, despite winning nine Serie A scudetti with the Old Lady, his relentless pursuit of Ol’ Big Ears ended in failure, and he left Turin for good the following year.
Buffon re-signed for his first club Parma, where he made his debut in 1995. He’s now in his second season back in Emilia-Romagna, and he will be hanging around a bit longer after signing a contract extension until the end of the 2023/2024 season. He could well sign off back in Serie A, as Parma sit just outside the Serie B play-off places.
PETER CLARKE
If I asked you who was the oldest player currently contracted to an English Football League club, I doubt many of you would have said Clarke. Yet, at the age of 41, the Liverpudlian centre-back is still going strong… sort of.
On CM4, Clarke was an Everton reserve player on loan at Division 2 mid-tablers Blackpool. After failing to establish himself at Goodison Park, he rejoined the Seasiders permanently in 2004, beginning the second of three spells at Bloomfield Road. He went on to make at least 100 appearances each for Blackpool, Southend, Huddersfield and Oldham in a nomadic career.
After a spell at Tranmere, Clarke signed for their League Two rivals Walsall last summer. He made 16 appearances for the Saddlers in the first half of the season before being sent back on loan to Oldham, who are now playing in the National League.
RADAMEL FALCAO
Two decades ago, many of us were introduced to a 16-year-old Colombian named Radamel Falcao García. He was a great finisher and incredibly strong, but his weak technical abilities and limited pace did not suggest that this guy would become a superstar striker.
Not many people remember that ‘El Tigre’ actually debuted in 1999, playing for Lanceros Boyacá in the Colombian second division when he was only 13! His major breakthrough came at River Plate in the mid-2000s, and his career skyrocketed as he banged in goals for Porto, Atlético Madrid and Monaco (don’t mention his time in the Premier League).
Falcao isn’t quite the same force as he was a decade ago, but he’s still a formidable target man, and he is somehow quicker now than he was on CM4! The Colombia centurion is now back in La Liga with mid-table Rayo Vallecano.
CRAIG GORDON
Gordon is the first man on this list who plays for the same club on both CM4 and FM23. Two decades ago, the Edinburgh-born teenager was the understudy to Hearts’ first-choice goalkeeper Tepi Moilanen, whom he displaced during the 2003/2004 season.
Gordon was firmly established as a Tynecastle favourite and a Scottish international when he moved south to Sunderland in 2007. Sadly, his time at the Stadium of Light was plagued by serious injuries and he was released in 2012. It appeared that his career was over… but after two years away, he made an incredible comeback with Scottish Premiership champions Celtic in 2014.
Gordon enjoyed six years of unprecedented success at Parkhead, and then returned to Hearts in 2020. He continued to play for the Jambos and for Scotland with distinction… until a horrific double leg break against Dundee United on Christmas Eve 2022 ended his season. Craig has vowed to come back once again next term – and frankly, who can doubt him?
MAKOTO HASEBE
Hasebe started his Championship Manager career as a flamboyant attacking midfielder with J-League giants Urawa Red Diamonds. Though clearly a player with some potential, this was not a sign of things to come. For one thing, he is now better-known as a centre-back and defensive midfielder.
After winning the AFC Champions League title with Urawa in 2007, Hasebe got his big move to Europe the following year. He helped Felix Magath’s Wolfsburg win the Bundesliga title in his first full season at the Volkswagen Arena in 2008/2009. He has been a mainstay in Germany’s top tier ever since.
Following a brief spell at Nürnberg in 2013/2014, Hasebe moved to Eintracht Frankfurt, where he has served as captain and won the 2022 Europa League title. The former Japan international, who won 114 caps and played at three World Cups, will retire at the end of this season but intends to stay at Eintracht as a coach.
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC
He is Zlatan – and he is, quite simply, a Championship Manager icon. Since making his debut on CM3 with Malmö, the big Swede has been a go-to signing for many virtual managers. Unlike many CM wonderkids, this one actually lived up to the billing in real-life.
On CM4, you will find Ibrahimovic at Ajax, who had lured him from his hometown club in 2001. His 13 Finishing is on the low side – and perhaps also his 19 Determination – but this is clearly the aggressive and flamboyant centre-forward we know and love. (Or hate, if you’re a Pep Guardiola fan.)
Having scored countless goals and won many trophies across Europe, Ibrahimovic is now in his second permanent spell at AC Milan. Sadly, he missed most of the 2022/2023 season after undergoing ACL surgery in May, and he has only just returned to fitness – and to the Sweden set-up, where he’s enjoyed more comebacks than Cher. How long Zlatan can keep turning back time?
PHIL JAGIELKA
Jagielka was one of the Football League’s hottest talents on CM4, possessing plenty of stamina and some decent technical attributes. The Sheffield United prospect was a versatile defender and midfielder, though his goalkeeper rating of 3 is a little suspect if you ask me…
Jags eventually established himself as a centre-back, making over 300 Premier League appearances during a 12-year stint at Everton as well as becoming an England semi-regular. Now aged 40, his top-flight days are probably over, but he’s still a handy Championship defender for Stoke – and as a ‘Model Citizen’, he’s a perfect mentor for any young defenders at the Bet365 Stadium.
Some of you might also remember Phil’s older brother Steve Jagielka, who was a midfielder/forward at Shrewsbury for several years and was still there on CM4, just before the Shrews’ relegation to the Conference. Tragically, Steve passed away in March 2021, shortly after his 43rd birthday.
JOAQUÍN
Many of us were introduced to Joaquín at the 2002 World Cup, when he was a fresh-faced right-winger who took Spain to the Quarter Finals. He was an outstanding talent at Real Betis, having demonstrated devastating pace and great technical skill during his first top-flight season.
Joaquín never quite became the global superstar many people thought he’d be. His international career ended when he criticised coach Luis Aragonés in 2007, missing out on the chance to win three major tournaments in a row with La Furia Roja. At club level, he left Betis in 2006 – playing for Valencia, Malaga and Fiorentina before returning to the green half of Seville in 2015.
Even in his advancing years, Joaquín has been an integral player in Betis’ return to prominence, culminating in an emotional Copa del Rey win last season. Though his pace has diminished, his technical skills has not, and his ‘Spirited’ personality at least made him a fine mentor during my FM23 beta save with Los Béticos.
DEAN LEWINGTON
There aren’t many players who have played for the same club for 20 years, but Lewington has… technically. The determined left-back (whose dad Ray was managing Watford at the time) made his senior debut for Wimbledon on 5 April 2003, featuring as a substitute against Sheffield Wednesday.
In case you don’t know Wimbledon’s story, the team moved 50 miles north to Milton Keynes later in 2003, and then rebranded as Milton Keynes Dons in 2004. While many Dons fans switched to the newly-formed AFC Wimbledon, Lewington followed his employers from south London to Buckinghamshire…
…and he has never left. Lewington is the last remaining player from that original Milton Keynes team, and as of writing, he has played an incredible 874 matches for them (only Swindon legend John Trollope has made more appearances for one EFL club). He has been MK captain since 2008, part of the coaching set-up since 2018, and even had two spells as caretaker manager.
STEVE MANDANDA
Looking at Mandanda’s CM4 profile, there’s not much to suggest this mediocre goalkeeper in Le Havre’s youth team would become a Ligue 1 stalwart and Les Bleus international. Born in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), he moved to northern France when he was just two years old, but his French nationality is not on the game.
Steve didn’t break into Le Havre’s senior side until 2005, when he was 20. He went on to play 435 Ligue 1 matches in two spells at Marseille, which were truncated by a brief and injury-plagued stint at Crystal Palace. He also won 35 caps for France, serving as a backup to Hugo Lloris at three World Cups.
Now in the latter stages of his career, Mandanda signed a two-year contract with Rennes last summer. His attributes show a solid and reliable goalkeeper, if not necessarily an elite one.
ALLAN McGREGOR
Craig Gordon isn’t the only Scottish goalkeeper who’s back where it all began. In 2003, Allan McGregor was an emerging shotstopping talent at Rangers. As far as CM4 is concerned, he is a very familiar name to Yours Truly – I signed him for my Millwall team, where he was backup to the great Tony Warner.
McGregor went on to make 205 SPL appearances for the Gers, but became a free agent following the club’s liquidation in 2012. He then spent the next six years at Beşiktaş, Hull and Cardiff before returning to Ibrox, where he has remained a constant presence between the posts. Even at the age of 40, he was playing in a Europa League Final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
McGregor ‘only’ won 42 caps for Scotland, mainly because of his role in the ‘Boozegate’ scandal of 2009. A drinking binge with fellow Ger Barry Ferguson before a World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands led to him being banned from the national team. Ferguson never returned, but McGregor was forgiven and recalled a year later, eventually retiring from national duty in 2019.
JAMES MILNER
Has it really been two decades since a 16-year-old Leeds midfielder called James Milner became the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history? That record was later broken by Everton’s James Vaughan… but while Vaughan retired in 2021, Milner is 800+ games into a top-level career that is now into its third decade.
When Milner made his debut on Championship Manager 4, it was as an exciting winger, rather than a ‘boring’ utility player who is most often used as a midfielder or full-back. Indeed, when I played my first CM4 save with Arsenal, he was the very first player that I signed.
After spells at Newcastle and Aston Villa, the Yorkshireman went on to win league championships with Manchester City and Liverpool – and a Champions League with the latter. He also won 61 caps for England, but didn’t make his Three Lions debut until he was 23 – something that will be familiar to anyone who’s played Football Manager 2023.
FABIO QUAGLIARELLA
Italian football has its fair share of late-bloomers, and you could make a case for putting Quagliarella in that group. On CM4, he was an adequate if unremarkable 19-year-old striker whom Torino had loaned out to Chieti in Serie C1.
Quagliarella’s breakthrough at the top level wouldn’t come until the 2006/2007 season, in which he celebrated his 24th birthday. 13 Serie A goals for Sampdoria propelled him into the Italy set-up, in which he bounced in and out for the next decade as his form fluctuated.
He later won three scudetti in a row for Juventus between 2012 and 2014, and after a brief return to Torino, he rejoined Sampdoria for good in 2016. The experienced target man bagged a career-best 26 goals in the 2018/2019 season, but having failed to find the net once so far this term, it appears time has finally caught up with him.
CRISTIANO RONALDO
Although Cristiano Ronaldo was on CM01/02 as a 16-year-old, it wasn’t until CM4 that many virtual managers first noticed his talents. The Portuguese wonderkid might have been ‘CR28’ back then, but he still looked like a world-beating forward in the making.
Later in 2003, Sir Alex Ferguson took one look at him on a pre-season tour… and you all know what happened next. Seven league titles, five Champions League, 122 goals for Portugal, five Ballons d’Or, one weird bromance with Piers Morgan… and lots and lots of tears.
On the original FM23 database, Ronaldo was still in prime condition at Manchester United, prior to his public falling-out with Erik ten Hag. Since the winter update, he looks a shadow of his old self and is now making stupefying amounts of money in the non-playable Saudi league.
ROQUE SANTA CRUZ
It’s about time we put another South American on this list, isn’t it? With his blistering pace, great technical ability and expert finishing, Santa Cruz was one of Championship Manager’s most sought-after wonderkids for years.
When it came to CM4, the Paraguayan striker was midway through an eight-year spell at Bayern München, with whom he’d already won the Champions League in 2001. He then headed for the Premier League, scoring plenty of goals for Blackburn (where he was briefly renamed Satna Cruz) before a less successful stint at Manchester City (in the early stages of Sheikh Mansour’s sky-blue revolution).
After spending some time in Spain with Real Betis and Málaga, Roque returned home to Paraguay, for whom he scored a record 32 international goals. He was back at his first club Olimpia for six seasons and now plays for Libertad, for whom he scored in the Copa Libertadores knockout rounds just before his 41st birthday.
ASHLEY YOUNG
So yeah… this is how Ashley Young looked as a 17-year-old. With 4 Crossing, 4 Dribbling and 5 Technique, this right-winger really didn’t look like he would make it at Watford, let alone Manchester United.
Oh, but he did – and then some! Young broke into the Hornets side later in 2003, got them promoted in 2006, and has since played over 400 games in the Premier League. Nearly half of those were for United, where he won the title in 2013 after becoming an established top-flight star at Aston Villa.
Young later won another league title in Italy with Internazionale before returning to Villa, where the 37-year-old is now club captain. He’s more of an inverted left wing-back rather than an out-and-out winger these days, but his versatility is to be admired… even if his Tom Daley-esque antics aren’t.
And finally…
KAZUYOSHI MIURA
And so we finish with the oldest player in professional football, whose career began before the CM/FM franchise – and Yours Truly – were even born! The forward made his debut back in 1986 for Brazilian giants Santos, and an incredible 37 years later, he is STILL playing! (No wonder he has 20 Natural Fitness!)
The man who would be ‘King Kazu’ returned to his native Japan in the 1990s. Save for a couple of brief and unhappy spells in Europe, he has been a consistent presence in the J-League since its launch in 1993. On CM4, he was a sprightly 35-year-old at Vissel Kobe, from which he moved to current club Yokohama FC in 2005.
Unfortunately, SI lost their J-League licence before the release of Football Manager 2005. And because of Japan’s strict licensing laws, SI cannot include any real-life J-League players in the game, let alone any clubs! The only real-life Japanese players on FM are those who play overseas, which means Miura was absent from the series for almost two decades…
…until a few weeks ago. At the age of 55, Miura made a sensational return to Europe when he signed for Liga Portugal 2 side Oliveirense in January, which meant he was added to the game on FM23’s winter update. Although Kazu hasn’t yet made his Unionistas debut, FMers can now play with football’s ultimate survivor at long last!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this ‘then and now’ look at some of Championship Manager 4’s enduring stars. If you know anyone else from CM4 who is still going strong today, please let me know by leaving a comment below or tweeting me @Fuller_FM. I’m also happy to hear any suggestions for any future CM4 content.
Thanks for reading.
Fuller FM 