Personal history Championship Manager
CM 4
| Uniao Sport Clube Paredes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Season | Second Division B North | Portuguese Cup |
| 2002/2003 | 9th | 4th Round |
| 2003/2004 | 16th | 4th round |
| 2004/2005 | 2nd | Not played |
| 2005/2006 | 11th (Not Finished) | 3rd round (Not Finished) |
| Sympathetic team, but struggling against a new game, a lot of bugs, a slow computer and only one promotion place. | ||
CM 01/02
| Colchester United | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Premier Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Champions Cup | Other |
| 2001/2002 | 5th Second Division | 4th Round | 1st Round | 1st Round Vans Trophy | |
| 2002/2003 | 5th First Division | 4th Round | Semi Final | ||
| 2003/2004 | 6th | Quarter Final | 3rd Round | ||
| 2004/2005 | 4th | 5th Round | 3rd Round | Quarter Final UEFA Cup | |
| 2005/2006 | 3rd | 5th Round | Quarter Final | Quarter Final | |
| 2006/2007 | 3rd | Runner Up | Runner Up | Quarter Final | |
| 2007/2008 | Runner Up | Quarter Final | Winner | Runner Up | |
| 2008/2009 | Winner | Semi Final | Winner | Winner | |
| 2009/2010 | Winner | Winner | Quarter Final | Winner | Intercontinental Cup Winner, Super Cup Winner, Charity Shield Winner |
| 2010/2011 | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Intercontinental Cup Winner, Super Cup Winner, Charity Shield Winner |
| 2011/2012 | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | World Championship Winner, Intercontinental Cup Winner, Super Cup Winner , Charity Shield Runner Up |
| Took up a long time favourite of mine. The release of CM4 stopped this game. Continued again after CM 4 kept dissapointing me. | |||||
| Columbus Crew - Veendam - Vitesse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus Season | Major League | Open Cup | ||
| 2002 | Central Conference 2nd | No play-offs | Quarter Final | |
| Veendam Season | Premier Division | First Division | Dutch Cup | UEFA Cup |
| 2002/2003 | 13th | |||
| 2003/2004 | 1st | Runner Up | ||
| 2004/2005 | 4th | Quarter Final | 3rd Round | |
| 2005/2006 | 7th | Not Finished | 4th Round | |
| Vitesse Season | Premier Division | Dutch Cup | ||
| 2005/2006 | 13th | |||
| 2006/2007 | 10th | 3rd Round | ||
| USA is a worthless competition. Scheduling bugs, absolutely no fun. Took over Veendam, bottom of the bottom division and brought them to Europe. Stadium problems caused a desperate move to Vitesse. I saved them from relegation, to be sacked the next season. | ||||
| Barcelona | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | First Division | Spanish Cup | Spanish Super Cup | Champions Cup | European Super Cup | Other |
| 2001/2002 | 1st | 2nd Round | Semi Final | |||
| 2002/2003 | 1st | Winner | Winner | Winner | ||
| 2003/2004 | 1st | Winner | Winner | Runner Up | Winner | Intercontinental Cup and World Championship Winner |
| 2004/2005 | 1st | Winner | Winner | Winner | ||
| 2005/2006 | 1st | Winner | Runner Up | Winner | Winner | Intercontinental Cup Winner |
| 2006/2007 | Not finished | Not finished | Winner | Not finished | Winner | |
| Just to proof that Dutch trainers can be succesfull in Barcelona | ||||||
| Rimini | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Serie A | Serie B | Serie C1/A | Serie C2/B | Serie C Cup |
| 2001/2002 | 2nd | Semi Final | |||
| 2002/2003 | 1st | 2nd Round | |||
| 2003/2004 | 3rd? | ||||
| 2004/2005 | 12th? | ||||
| Again from basement to ceiling, this time in Italy. Lost last seasons due to bad backups. I got in the Serie A eventually but had trouble to stay up. Stopped because there was no possibility for stadium expansion. | |||||
| Gremio Foot-ball Porto-Alegrense - Almirante Brown | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gremio Season | National First Division | Gaucho State Championship | Brasilian Champions Cup | Copa Libertadores | Copa Mercosur | Other |
| 2002 | Winner (1st) | Winner (1st) | Winner | Winner | Brasilian Cup Winner | |
| 2003 | Winner (1st) | Winner (3rd) | Winner | Winner | Winner | Intercontinental Cup Runner Up |
| 2004 | Runner Up (3rd) | Winner (1st) | Runner Up | 2nd Round | Semi Final | Inter-American Cup Winner |
| Almirante Brown Season | Second Division | |||||
| 2004/2005 | League 9th | Group 2 3rd | ||||
| Playing in Brazil is amazing, with an unbelievable number of competitions and a nightmare number of matches. It's really fun, although quite bug-ridden. Don't know why I could not compete in the Brasilian Cup after the first season. Argentine Second Division has a strange and ununderstandable format, which is probably wrongly implemented also. A waste of time really. | ||||||
| Stade Brestois 29 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | First Division | Other leagues | French Cup | League Cup | Champions Trophy | Champions Cup | Other |
| 2001/2002 | National 3rd | 6th Round | Pre-eliminary Round | ||||
| 2002/2003 | Second Division 3rd | 10th Round | Quarter Finals | ||||
| 2003/2004 | 5th | 9th Round | Runner Up | ||||
| 2004/2005 | 1st | Quarter Final | Winner | Quarter Final UEFA Cup | |||
| 2005/2006 | 1st | Quarter Final | Winner | Winner | Winner | ||
| 2006/2007 | 1st | Runner Up | Semi Final | Winner | Quarter Final | Winner Intercontinental Cup and Super Cup | |
| 2007/2008 | 1st | Quarter Final | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner World Championship | |
| Satisfying game with the same theme as the previous one but now in France. Way up was easier because of league expansions. Strangely enough never won the French Cup. Stopped the game because local authorities kept preventing stadium expansion. | |||||||
| SG Wattenscheid 09 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | First Division | Other leagues | Cup | League Cup | Champions Cup | Other |
| 2001/2002 | Regional North 4th | |||||
| 2002/2003 | Regional North 1st | |||||
| 2003/2004 | Second Division 1st | Semi Final | ||||
| 2004/2005 | 8th | 3rd round | ||||
| 2005/2006 | 12th | 3rd round | Winner Intertoto Cup Quarter Final UEFA Cup |
|||
| 2006/2007 | 5th | 3rd round | ||||
| 2007/2008 | 4th | Semi Final | Quarter Final | 4th round UEFA Cup | ||
| 2008/2009 | 1st | 1st Round | Winner | Quarter Final | ||
| 2009/2010 | 1st | Runner Up | Winner | Winner | ||
| Quite a rewarding game from the lowest German level to European success. Admittedly the German Regional Liga has enough of a reputation to attract good players easily. | ||||||
CM 00/01
| SK Brann | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Premier Division | Cup | Champions Cup | UEFA Cup |
| 2000 | 1st round | |||
| 2001 | 7th | Semi Final | Phase 1 | 2nd round |
| 2002 | 3rd | Winner | ||
| 2003 | 1st | 4th round | 4th round | |
| 2004 | 1st | Semi Final | Phase 2 | |
| 2005 | 2nd | Winner | Semi Final | |
| 2006 | 1st | Quarter Final | Phase 1 | |
| 2007 | 1st | Final (not finished) | Phase 1 (not finished) | |
| Again struggling in the first season, but then Brann easily became a European top team, putting Rosenborg in oblivion. Nice to experience how difficult a European season is for clubs playing a summer-only competition. | ||||
| KFC Lommelse SK | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | First Division | Second Division | Cup | Belgian Super Cup | Champions League | Other |
| 2000/2001 | 2nd | 5th round | ||||
| 2001/2002 | 3rd | Quarter Final | ||||
| 2002/2003 | 5th | 7th round | 2nd round UEFA cup | |||
| 2003/2004 | 8th | Winner | Winner Inter-Toto Cup, 4th round UEFA cup | |||
| 2004/2005 | 1st | Winner | Runner Up | 2nd round UEFA cup | ||
| 2005/2006 | 1st | 6th round | Runner Up | Quarter Final | ||
| 2006/2007 | 1st | Winner | Winner | Phase 1 | Runner Up UEFA Cup | |
| 2007/2008 | 1st | 7th round | Winner | Phase 2 | ||
| 2008/2009 | 2nd | Winner | Winner | Quarter Final | ||
| 2009/2010 | 1st | Semi Final | Winner | Winner | ||
| 2010/2011 | 1st | Winner | Winner | Quarter Final | Runner Up Intercontinental Cup, European Super Cup Winner | |
| 2011/2012 | 1st | Winner | Winner | Winner | ||
| 2012/2013 | Not finished | Not Finished | Winner | Not Finished | European Super Cup Winner | |
| After a difficult first season I brought Lommel to European fame. A very satisfying game with an ambitious board and a succesfull build up of youth players. | ||||||
| Kawasaki Frontale | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | J-League 1 | Emperor's Cup | Japanese Cup |
| 2001 | 14th | Semi Final | 1st round |
| 2002 | 13th | Quarter Final | 2nd round |
| 2003 | 10th | Semi Final | 1st Round |
| 2004 | 8th | 4th round | Runner Up |
| 2005 | 6th | Runner Up | Quarter Final |
| 2006 | 5th | 4th round | Runner Up |
| 2007 | 4th | Quarter Final | 1st round |
| Japan is an exotic place to play football. It's fun with all those unknown players and clubs. Unfortunately there is no Asian equivalent of a European team competition, so the game got less interesting in the end. | |||
CM 99/00
| Glasgow Rangers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Premier Division | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Champions Cup | UEFA Cup |
| 1999/2000 | 2nd | Winner | 3rd round | 3rd round Qualifying | 3rd round |
| 2000/2001 | 1st | 3rd round | Winner | 4th round | |
| 2001/2002 | 1st | Winner | Semi Final | Semi Final | |
| 2002/2003 | 2nd | Semi Final | Final | Runner Up | |
| 2003/2004 | 1st | Winner | Winner | Phase 1 | 3rd round |
| 2004/2005 | 1st | Winner | Quarter Final | Phase 2 | |
| 2004/2005 | Not finished | Not finished | Error in program | Not finished | |
| A contrast with the GIF Sundsvall game. Loads of money, lots of good players, living in the big seat. Only the first season was critical after the dreaded vote of confidence. Luckily they had a patient chairman. | |||||
| GIF Sundsvall | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Premier Division | First Division | Cup |
| 1999 | 4th round | ||
| 2000 | 14th | 4th round | |
| 2001 | 11th | 4th round | |
| 2002 | 5th | 1st round | |
| 2003 | 3rd | 3rd round | |
| 2004 | 14th | 4th round | |
| Even an experienced player can have hopeless games without any success. No money, disappointing players and no luck made up six horrible seasons. | |||
| Esbjerg Forenede Boldklubber - Aston Villa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esbjerg fB Season | Premier Division | Cup | Intertoto Cup | UEFA Cup |
| 1999/2000 | 10th | 5th round | ||
| 2000/2001 | 10th | Runner Up | ||
| 2001/2002 | 9th | 5th round | 2nd round | |
| 2002/2003 | 7th | 5th round | ||
| 2003/2004 | 8th | Semi Final | ||
| 2004/2005 | 6th | Quarter Final | Winner | 4th round |
| Aston Villa Season | Premier Division | FA Cup | League Cup | European |
| 2005/2006 | 1st (First Division) | 3rd round | Semi Final | |
| 2006/2007 | 6th | Semi Final | 3rd round | |
| 2007/2008 | 16th | Semi Final | 3rd round | Quarter Final UEFA Cup |
| 2008/2009 | 4th | Quarter Final | 4th round | |
| 2009/2010 | 12th | 5th round | 3rd round | Phase 2 Champions League |
| The famous Esbjerg game, see the story. When the board did not want to improve training facilities I moved to Aston Villa for glory in England. | ||||
CM 3
| PSV - Bristol Rovers - Aston Villa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSV Season | KPN Telecompetition | Amstel Cup | Cup Winners Cup | UEFA Cup |
| 1998/1999 | 5th | Winners | Group stage | |
| 1999/2000 | 4th | Runner Up | Semi Final | |
| 2000/2001 | 1st round | |||
| Bristol Rovers Season | First Division | FA Cup | League Cup | |
| 2000/2001 | 23rd | 3rd round | ||
| 2001/2002 | 2nd round | |||
| Aston Villa Season | First Division | FA Cup | League Cup | |
| 2001/2002 | 1st | 5th round | ||
| Could not get things going with PSV. Ajax and Feyenoord were virtually unbeatable. After a first round knock out in the Cup Winners Cup by Celtic, I moved to Bristol Rovers, struggling in the First Division. No luck there too, but in the Second Division we were going strong when Aston Villa came with an offer I could not refuse. I became easily champion in the First Division, but then a new version of the game came. | ||||
| Grupo Desportivo Estoril-Praia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Premier Division | Second Division | Cup |
| 1998/1999 | 10th | 3rd round | |
| 1999/2000 | 7th | 4th round | |
| 2000/2001 | 3rd | 5th round | |
| 2001/2002 | 12th | 4th round | |
| A long and slow build up to the Premier Division. | |||
| Athletic Club de Bilbao | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | First Division | Cup | Champions Cup | European Super Cup | Intercontinental Cup |
| 1998/1999 | 3rd | Semi Final | Winner | ||
| 1999/2000 | 3rd | Semi Final | Semi Final (game crashed) | Winner | Winner |
| I could never beat Barcelona and Real Madrid in any national event, but I always won a victory against them when playing in Europe. | |||||
| Cagliari - Nocerina | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cagliari Season | Serie A | Italian Cup |
| 1998/1999 | 16th (sacked) | 2nd round |
| Nocerina Season | Serie C1/B | Serie C Cup |
| 1998/1999 | 18th | |
| 1999/2000 | 17th (sacked) | 1st round |
| A new game, a new disaster. Two sackings in two seasons. | ||
CM 97/98
| FC Schalke 04 - Bayer 04 Leverkusen - ES Wasquehal - AS Valence - Montpellier Herault SC- Derby County |
|---|
| No results available, savegame lost |
| The first game that I could get something going. Schalke and Bayer were not bad and Wasquehal (then newly promoted to the French second division) a total disaster. But with Valence I was playing for promotion, when I could take over Montpellier. There I got results in the Champions League (several times winners) and the French Premier Division. When I got bored, I took over Derby County to lead them to the title and into Europe. |
| Heart of Midlothian - Crystal Palace - KSV Waregem |
|---|
| No results available, savegame lost |
| I remember being very upset when I was sacked in the second season with Hearts after a bad spell. I realised that this was a game that could look like the real thing. I then got the First Division job of Crystal Palace. I was promoted once, but could not do anything in the Premier League. I then quit for Waregem, by then in the Belgian First Division and already with some European results. I could get them in the top 3 of Belgium, but no chance of a championship. In Europe I once could get through to the Quarter Finals of the Cup Winners Cup. |
| Birmingham City |
|---|
| No results available, savegame lost |
| A very short game, less than one season in the First Division. I made a fatal error by overlooking a non-promotion clause in the contract with a player on which I spent almost all my transfer funds as an investment for the next year. Never happened again... |
| NAC - Veendam |
|---|
| No results available, savegame lost |
| My first CM game ever, with my favourite team NAC. Unexperienced as I was, I got sacked in the first season. Could get a job at Veendam in the bottom league (First Division). I learned a lot of the game there, but could not get out of the bottom part of the table. |