Grass Roots Football Manager 0.253 (BETA)

Ever since I was a youngster, playing excellent football management games on my Spectrum and Commodore64, I was fascinated by the management game.

Along the years, many iterations of this incredible software came to light, especially the great Championship Manager games from Domark.

I loved CM, and this went on even with the newer Football Manager series. One caveat I found with these games were that they were just too complicated, and it took forever to complete a season.

Finally, one day (years ago), I decided to write my own pick me up game… somewhat simpler, less complicated, and one in which the players can either play this for fun, simply picking the best players, or as deep as they want, by raising youngsters, squad rotation, upgrading their stadium, taking care of finances or amenities.

The game looks simple, until you start getting injuries, or a freak goal which derails you. A refereeing decision goes wrong, a yellow card, then a red one. Down to ten men against a relegation haunted side.

Suddenly that one nil advantage doesn’t seem so safe. And in the 94th minute, deep into injury time, you concede an equalizer. That result slows your progress, and with two matches to go, you cannot afford slip ups.

This game has them all. Injuries, player rotation, fatigue, yellow cards, sending offs, refereeing skills, promotion, relegation, tactics, and of course, running commentary.

I have dedicated years and years into creating this game. Everything in it has been created by myself. Graphics play little part here, but I have tried to make them as period specific. Sounds are minimal, and I will also introduce a ‘BOSS’ key, as it has been requested so much.

One might ask… why does it look dated? Easy. It’s just a ‘dress’. But I wanted this game to be dressed in a retro theme.

For the moment it comes in a ZX Spectrum and a Commodore64 theme. A version is also on the way which utilizes Amstad CPC464 as well as a TI-99/4a 'dress'.

GRFM can be played on any PC from Windows XP to Windows 11. Fonts for both the Spectrum and the C64 will be installed automatically. An uninstaller is also available from the Control Panel. 

The game still has a lot of work to be finished, but it is totally playable without any hindrance or adverts at all.