“I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE FACT YOU COULD TELL YOU WERE IN A WORLD – A LIVING, BREATHING WORLD. IT WAS A ROLE-PLAYING GAME FOR FOOTBALL”
The multiverse theory dictates that every choice we make creates a parallel universe. If so, there’s a reality in which Championship Manager never existed. In its place: the music of ’90s band Elevate.
Former A&R manager Miles Jacobson and the game’s co-creator, Paul Collyer, first met when Miles, who had worked with the likes of Blur, Fatboy Slim and Feeder, saw something in Paul’s “difficult” London band and offered them a deal. With this single sliding door, the programmer could’ve dropped CM in a haze of Britpop. “Elevate had potential,” says Miles. “But every time someone told them that one of their songs was good, they’d rewrite it.”
“One of the stupidest things I ever did was say no to Miles over the music thing,” reflects Paul, smiling. “Still, it was never going to make any money, so we did the right thing.”
It would hardly be the last time Miles heard from Paul Collyer – or from his brother, Oliver.
Now, in 2022, it’s 30 years since the release of Championship Manager, when Miles – now the studio director of Sports Interactive, the company behind Football Manager – was one of the first converts. Written in a Shropshire bedroom by Paul and Oliver (‘Ov’ to his mates), it was developed only because they “hadn’t discovered girls yet”, as Miles jokes. It was a labour of love in between life, music and university – the latter finally abandoned by both – by a pair who just wanted to create something they’d enjoy playing themselves.
Three decades and millions of users later, it’s fair to say that others enjoyed it, too. This is the story of a cultural phenomenon…
“WHO CARES WHAT PC FORMAT THINK?”
“We thought other games were all a bit limited,” Paul tells , of ’s inspiration. “You could drop yourself into other games and be the centre of that universe – other teams wouldn’t have real players or real names. But we wanted to create a football world and throw the user into it.”
