Retro Review: Simsoc 6

It’s time for another retro review of a football management game from years gone by. This one’s a bit obscure… but if you know it, you KNOW it.

The late 1990s was a golden age for independent shareware or freeware games – titles often made by nerdy (and usually amateur) programmers in their homes rather than by big studios. They might not have had as much substance or polish as those expensive major releases, but they could still be enjoyed by early online gamers for little or no cost.

Today, I’m looking at a freeware Windows game that I would describe as “an entry-level Championship Manager”. If you want a less intense experience than CM or Football Manager, with a healthy dose of nostalgia, this might be just what you’re after.

So, without further ado, let’s check out Simsoc 6.

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Nacka’s Yard: Season 10, Part 2 (2033)

We’re back once again at Nacka FC on Football Manager 2024… and if you’ve been following since the beginning, this is a particularly exciting chapter.

After an inconsistent start to the 2033 Allsvenskan season, Nacka are now preparing for their first ever matches in the Conference League. Can we survive the qualifiers and get through to the League Phase – with all the money, prestige and Ally McCoist waxing lyrical about us on Thursday evenings that will bring?

This chapter will also see us conclude my 10th season at Nacka. Please stay tuned for a MAJOR announcement at the end.

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Nacka’s Yard: Season 10, Part 1 (2033)

About this time last year, I would have been quite happy if I had never played Football Manager 2024 again. Six months later, and whoops… I’m about to celebrate a decade at Nacka FC!

In case you missed it, Nacka enjoyed a fantastic climax to their first ever season in Sweden’s top division. A top-four finish means that we can look forward to playing in the Conference League qualifiers in 2033!

But before that, it’s time to make plans for our second Allsvenskan season. Can we build on last year’s successes, or is reality about to bite us in the backsides?

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Nacka’s Yard: Season 9, Part 2 (2032)

Welcome back to “Nacka’s Yard”, where Nacka FC are getting stuck into their first season as an Allsvenskan club… and it’s been going surprisingly well.

We left things off with Nacka sitting fairly comfortably in mid-table, but how long will it last? Will reality bite us hard and send us crashing back down into the Superettan… or can we somehow keep climbing up the table, and maybe even make a push for the European places?

Now THAT would be insane…

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Review: FIFA Manager 2025

It’s March 2025, and after months of eager anticipation, FM25 has finally been released to the public! Well… kind of.

Of course, Football Manager 25 is dead and buried, leaving a huge gap in the market for this season. Could that gap be filled by one of Sports Interactive’s old rivals?

Although EA Sports’ FIFA Manager series was officially cancelled in 2013, the franchise has been kept alive by a devoted community of fans and creators who have been making their own updated databases for the past decade. So today, I will be checking out the 2024/2025 “season update” to see if it’s a worthy replacement for FM25.

This is my review of FIFA Manager 2025.

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Nacka’s Yard: Season 9, Part 1 (2032)

Embed from Getty Images

Welcome back to what’s guaranteed to be another exciting* chapter of my Football Manager 2024 series. This is my ninth season at Nacka FC, and it’s by far our biggest to date!

In case you missed it, the 2031 season was an unforgettable one at the Fisksätra, as a talented crop of attackers fired Nacka into the Allsvenskan for the first time in their history. We still can’t defend properly, but who cares?

So now the hard work truly begins. Can I build a team that can hold its own in the Allsvenskan… or will we be heading straight back down to the Superettan?

* Excitement not guaranteed.

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FM Logic: Transfers & Development

Football Manager is the most realistic sports simulation video game out there. We all know that. But it’s not perfect.

In recent versions of FM, and especially on Football Manager 2024, there have been some wonky game mechanics that often lead to unrealistic player development and transfers. Whether it’s talented players being stuck in the job centre for ages, or their clubs refusing to send them out on loan, you can find loads of weird cases of ‘FM Logic’ on your saves.

Here are just some of the examples I’ve found on my current save with Nacka FC.

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Nacka’s Yard: Season 8 (2031)

Welcome back to “Nacka’s Yard”, where it’s now Season 8 – The Ocho. Or perhaps we should say “Åttan”, seeing as we’re in Sweden.

I’m afraid that Season 7 was not a lucky one for us. We forgot how to score, our goalkeeper forgot what his gloves were for, and we also said farewell to our young Paraguayan hotshot Luis Mendoza.

There’s been a mini-rebuild and a tactical rethink ahead of the 2031 season, which will be our fifth in the Superettan. Perahps this is the year Nacka FC finally make it into the Allsvenskan?

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Retro Review: Lords of Football

We might have to wait until next season for a new Football Manager, but that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of football games on the Steam storefront.

A few weeks ago, I looked at a bare-bones Championship Manager clone that didn’t stray too far from the standard formula. The game I’ll be reviewing today is… well, let’s just say it’s VERY different.

For this Retro Review, I’m going back to the year 2013 (i.e. the last time Manchester United were any good) to find out what happened when some Italians decided to make their own FM… with blackjack, and hookers. Literally.

This is Lords of Football.

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Nacka’s Yard: Season 7 (2030)

FM25 might be cancelled, but my Football Manager 2024 save is still going strong. I’m just about to enter my 7th season at Nacka FC, making this the longest time I have spent with a single club in any of my Fuller FM blog careers.

After an encouraging end to the 2029 season, hopes are high that Nacka can push on in 2030 and get promoted to the Allsvenskan. If only it was that simple…

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