“Look, good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living? That’s something else.” – Han Solo, 1977
I know you. You are a Football Manager. You are the master of your laptop. You once took Budleigh Salterton to the Johnstone Paints Trophy Final before leaving to conquer all of Europe at the helm of Go Ahead Eagles. Yes, you’re something special.
Are you bored of beating a computer? Do you yearn for the human touch? Your computer doesn’t howl with rage when you beat it. People do. We’re offering you the chance to shatter the self-esteem of people from all over the world. Can you destroy someone who seeks to destroy you? It’s time to find out.
After the success of The Set Pieces Subbuteo Cup in association with Camden Brewery, we’re going for something bigger. We could only fit eight people into the games room, but we can fit loads more into cyberspace. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
With the help of our friends at Sports Interactive, we’re launching the ultimate online Football Manager Cup. Sign up today and you could be one of 128 Football Managers hurled into a seven round knock out melee. We’ll have consolation prizes for some of you, but ultimately you’ll be playing for this:
Beautiful, isn’t it? And it could be yours.
So how is this going to work and what do you have to do? Don’t worry. This isn’t going to be a hassle. We’re not going to try and get 128 of you to all log on at an arbitrarily set time that suits no-one and melts the server computer into the carpet.
We want this to be a test of your managerial ability, not your fortune at drawing one of the best teams in the database. We’ve instructed Sports Interactive to choose 128 evenly matched teams from around the world. You will be assigned your team at random. And then we’ll draw the teams out of a hat at random.
We will contact you with detailed instructions of how to proceed. These will include the contact details of your opponent. You’ll have a week to contact them and fulfil your fixture at a time that suits you both. Take a single screenshot at full time, email it to HQ and you’re all done. It really is that easy.
Of course, if you’d like to do more than that, we’d be delighted. The Set Pieces will report on every round of the competition, but if you’d like to blog about it, upload videos, provide strategy guides or perform hideously self-indulgent interviews on yourself, we’ll happily link to your site.
The fixtures will be one-off matches with extra-time and penalties. If your striker breaks his leg, don’t worry. You’ll be starting afresh in the next round. If you reach the next round…
HOW DO I ENTER?
Only subscribers to The Set Pieces Newsletter will be allowed to enter. Sign-up details are here.
Email: [email protected] with the subject header, “FM CUP ENTRY,” in block capitals. Include your name, your favoured email address and your Steam name. Then simply tell us, in fewer than 50 words, about your worst ever FM memory.
The closing date for entrants is 1500GMT, May 25, 2015.
All competitors will be selected at the whim of the editor and no correspondence will be entered into with those who are devastated not to have been chosen. Though you will have our sympathy.
The competition will be played on Football Manager 2015, so make sure you’ve got that installed before you enter.
Good luck, everyone. And remember: On network play, no-one can exit without saving…
