Author: Chris Fuller

Turning professional on Football Manager

Published on by Chris Fuller

Football Manager isn’t just about the elite teams. Many FMers like to take a part-time team in a lesser-known league and gradually build them up into a dominant force at domestic and continental level.

A lot of us also like to take a provincial club from the lower leagues and take them up to the top flight. That’s what I’m doing right now on my Football Manager 2024 save with Nacka FC. After leading Nacka through consecutive promotions to the Superettan – the second tier of Swedish football – we have now reached an exciting but turbulent point.

This semi-professional club is about to turn fully professional for the first time. That means our players and staff can now work throughout the week… but it also means that we’ll be spending a lot more money from now on.

So, how can we best prepare for these challenges, so that we can continue to make progress? Here are my tips for turning professional on Football Manager… no, not like Lollujo or WorkTheSpace. Continue reading “Turning professional on Football Manager” →

Nacka’s Yard: Season 3 (2026)

Published on by Chris Fuller2 Comments

It’s time to pay another visit to Nacka’s Yard, as our rise up the Swedish footballing pyramid continues.

We were crowned champions of Division 2 Södra Svealand last season, but now we face some much stiffer tests in the Ettan Norra. Surely we can’t get ourselves promoted again… right?

This will be quite a long post, because there is so much to talk about as we head into the 2026 season. I hope you’re sitting comfortably! Continue reading “Nacka’s Yard: Season 3 (2026)” →

FM24: The ‘Regen Bug’

Published on by Chris Fuller

Let’s talk about a potential newgen bug I’ve found on Football Manager 2024.

In most cases, any players that FM generates – also known as ‘newgens’ – are entirely separate from and unrelated to any other player in the database. When Cristiano Ronaldo retires, he isn’t instantly replaced with another skilful Portuguese forward who has his same elite potential.

On FM24, though, some of these newly-generated players can develop… let’s call it an identity complex. Allow me to explain… Continue reading “FM24: The ‘Regen Bug’” →

Nacka’s Yard: Season 2 (2025)

Published on by Chris Fuller

Welcome back to Fuller FM, and to my Football Manager 2024 series with Nacka FC in the Swedish fourth tier.

In case you missed it, my first season was a success… well, kind of. We did win the trophy for the most Expected Goals and Expected Points in Division 2 Södra Svealand… but, er, we didn’t win promotion.

Now it’s 2025, and expectations are high. Can Nacka’s new signings bring us some actual silverware and take us up to the Ettan? Or am I going to have another nasty case of second-season syndrome? Continue reading “Nacka’s Yard: Season 2 (2025)” →

Nacka’s Yard: Season 1 (2024)

Published on by Chris Fuller

Great news! It’s Football Manager 25 release day!!! Wait… what?

Seeing as we’re stuck with Football Manager 2024 until March, I’m going to fill the void with a new save. I have taken over Nacka FC, who play in the fourth tier of Swedish football after a rapid ascent through the leagues. I also hope this save can rekindle my love for FM, after my frustrating experiences with Millwall and Wieczysta Kraków.

Usually when I start a new FM save, I impose some challenges (perhaps with time limits) that almost always end in burn-out and spectacular failure. Not this time. I won’t put unnecessary pressure on myself by demanding an Allsvenskan title within 10 years or whatever. I just want to have fun and see how far this save takes me until FM25 is released.

And unlike my previous Fuller FM stories, things are going to be pretty snappy – one season, one post. Today’s opening chapter will take us through the 2024 season – my first at “Nacka’s Yard”.

Continue reading “Nacka’s Yard: Season 1 (2024)” →

Football Manager 25: The Waiting Game

Published on by Chris Fuller

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Real Madrid are the European champions, spurred on by an enigmatic English midfielder. Arsenal actually have a decent team as well. Kylie Minogue is one of the world’s biggest popstars. Labour are in Government, and the Tories are in chaos. People are very worried about war in the Middle East.

And Sports Interactive have delayed the release of their new football management game until March.

Wait a minute. Have we gone back 22 years? Continue reading “Football Manager 25: The Waiting Game” →

Blog Update #8

Published on by Chris Fuller

Another season at Fuller FM is coming to an end and… well, it’s been a weird one, hasn’t it?

In my annual blog update, I will deliver my final thoughts on Football Manager 2024. I’ll also look back on everything I’ve posted here in the past year – including a frustrating career at Millwall and an even more disastrous one in Kraków – before looking ahead to the next Football Manager game.

But first, just in case you weren’t aware, I have big news! Continue reading “Blog Update #8” →

Football Manager 25: International Blues

Published on by Chris Fuller

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Let’s talk about Football Manager 25. Again.

Last week, Sports Interactive’s studio director Miles Jacobson released another Development Update for the next Football Manager game. He also patted everyone on the back after the recent FM World Cup in Liverpool, but who honestly cares about that now?

Anyway, this update is a big one, and Jacobson has some major news about how international management will work in FM25… or, more specifically, how it won’t. Continue reading “Football Manager 25: International Blues” →

Fuller FM Cup 2024: Part 3

Published on by Chris Fuller

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This is it – the final chapter of the 2024 Fuller FM Cup, where my finest Football Manager teams have been battling it out for supremacy.

Last time out, we played through the Group Stage – reducing our original line-up of eight teams to just four. The remaining quartet will now contest the Semi Finals, and the two winners will then play for ALL the marbles in the Final.

Whoever wins the trophy, let’s hope the celebrations don’t go quite as badly as when Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey in 2011. (I’m glad I didn’t hire Sergio Ramos to move my stuff into my new home!) Continue reading “Fuller FM Cup 2024: Part 3” →

Fuller FM Cup 2024: Part 2

Published on by Chris Fuller

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Welcome to the second part of the 2024 Fuller FM Cup, in which I pit together the best teams from all Fuller FM Cup 2024: Part 1my previous Football Manager saves.

Last time out, we met the eight teams who will contest the Group Stage. By the end of today’s chapter, we will be left with just four teams, who will slog it out for the most glamorous trophy in football.

(Okay, so it’s not quite as glamorous as the FA Vase – which my erstwhile local club Romford FC won last season – but it’s a trophy all the same!) Continue reading “Fuller FM Cup 2024: Part 2” →