The Football Manager game was always a big part of my life. And it still is in some way, although I didn’t play the game for almost the whole year of 2025. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m writing this blog. I woke up on Thursday morning, I did my usual morning routines, walked the kids to the kindergarten and school, and when I came home after a short walk, I realised…
…I miss Football Manager.
I hadn’t played the game, written some blog post, edited the skin, created a graphical addon, or just read something from other people for too long a time. But I still open the Football Manager Slack every day to find out if there’s something new.
FM25 cancelled. It's not the end of the world - it’s my last published blog. I still agree with it; it was not the end of the world. Anything has changed because/due of cancelling the game release. But it’s been a long time since February.
I was sure I could replace playing the game with many other things - kids, books, work, a second part-time job, running, cycling, exercising overall, and many more.
And I made it. I spent as much time as possible with both my boys; we were on more trips during this calendar year than before (I blame the end of my football career rather than the absence of the FM in this case), and I was able to improve my times on both 5k and 10k distances a couple of times.
I didn’t feel like this in previous months. Maybe it’s because the news about the Football Manager 2026 was published. But I feel I’m missing the game right now.
I miss the urge to play.
I miss reading others’ blog posts. I even miss stopping reading others’ blog posts because they are boring to me. (Sorry, not everything clicks.)
I miss reading the Latte Quarterly Magazine.
I miss hating the game or the skin.
I miss being angry because I can’t play for a couple more minutes.
I miss the Running From FM challenge.
I miss the active Football Manager Slack.
I miss following the thread with my skin on the SI Forum to ignore questions that were already answered.
I miss everything FM related…
Sometimes, the social media algorithm offers me a video with the “warning signs of dads breaking” because of stress, pressure, family responsibilities, loneliness, etc. I have no issue admitting I’m lonely, and I’m even more sad and introverted in comparison with the “before kids” time. Especially after I stopped playing football in real life in November last year, and I lost my regular contact with my teammates.
It, of course, isn’t their fault. That’s not what I want to say. I have been working from home for seven years already. It was my decision to leave my dream job because I wanted to be at home for my family instead of spending six days of the week in the office or on the football pitch.
It’s probably just a combination of a couple of things. Winter is closer. Parliamentary elections in our country are closer with a depressive view of the win or partial win of the communists party. Midlife crisis? I fucking don’t know.
I bought a new bike after many years of saving money, but I got sick, so I was not able to try it. My Achilles hurts more and more after my usual runs despite following all medical tips and hints.
Everything is wrong right now, even though we are all healthy and there’s no war in our country.
And then I just remember Football Manager to make it even better…
I have no idea if this will change with the new game (November 4, 2025, will be released if you missed it), but even writing this short post helped me a little bit to feel more engaged with the Football Manager in some way because I mentioned it a couple of times.
Maybe I need to write more and think more about something other than only if the younger kid changed his underwear, about school homework, my job, and if I will earn enough to cover everything.
I don’t know, maybe I won’t like the new game, and this will be my last blog post. I already thought about going back and playing some older version if the new one won’t be good for me. But at least, I have something to think about.
I know it won’t be the same as before. We all grew up, we have kids, other responsibilities and hobbies. I know there are many more important things than just a video game.
But I miss it all.
Take care, everyone.