Premier position for Football Manager - #1

Any game to be cited in divorce cases has to be the most addictive game EVER, right? Absolutely!
My wife ("PhotoPuddle") has grown to loathe Football Manager (nee Championship Manager) from Sports Interactive. It has stolen me away from her for thousands of hours over the years and cost me many bunches of flowers and romantic meals by way of recompense. Without a doubt, FM is my all-time favourite. More than just a game or an addiction, it's a way of life.
My first dalliance with football management was with Premier Manager on the Amiga. I loved hunting for new talent, deciding on tactics, arranging sponsorship and taking myfootball club to the top of the pile; I quickly got the bug. However, after friends started raving about championship manager (the orginal incarnation of Football Manager in 1992), I defected.I hated it. I couldn't see the appeal of playing what was in effect an overbloated database, with pages and pages of facts and figures. It was unlike anything I'd attempted to "play" before.
Unlike Premier Manager, there was no attractive interface and graphics, no sound effects and absolutely no variety. My allegiance rapidly switched back and I remained a fan of Premier Manager throughout the series, even when it migrated onto the Playstation.
The dust settled and it wasn't until a good few years later, after further coercion from friends and a few good reviews, that I thought I'd test the water again with Championship Manager 00/01.
Finally, I was converted. It was no longer a raft of numbers and names listed on screen but an attractive-looking management sim.I'm now an avid fan, religiously queueing up each year to buy the slightly improved update. Whether taking control of a Premiership giant or an international minnow, the game never gets boring - much to Reiko's disgust!

Rumour has it that the player ratings and scouting system is so accurate that even real-life managers have been known to have a play, turning up some top talent in the process! There's nothing better than Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger snapping up a player you discovered months before!

That's why I'm giving Football Manager the Megabits of Gaming Stamp of Approval!