Tales of Fortune and Drama
1. THE GREAT GAME (Simon Smith/Joshua Aghanian)
This is without a shadow of a doubt the most famous game that has ever entered the realms of Championship Manager. It occurred when Joshua and Simon decided to start a game on CM2 97/98. Joshua picked Juventus and Simon chose Manchester United. The aim of the game was to win everything in England, Italy and France. This also included winning the European Cup with a club from each country.
It still astounds me until this day how we managed to get into it. Please bear in mind that we were crawling along on a P133 with a now pitiful 16MB RAM. Simon only managed runner-up spot in the first season, whilst Joshua won the title in Italy. The second season however saw both teams meet in the quarter-final of the European Cup. Joshua won over two legs, but only to be beaten in the final. Simon won the Premiership in this season.
The following season saw the two sides meet again in the quarter-final of the European Cup, only for Simon to win this time on penalties. Simon went on to win the European Cup. A few seasons had past (about 2003/04), and Simon had completed England and Joshua had done everything in Italy apart from the European Cup. Simon needed a move, and came up with a cunning plan that, in theory, would suit both players. Simon resigned as manager of Manchester United, and Joshua applied for the vacancy that was left behind. When Joshua was announced as manager Simon thought it was a certainty to get the Juventus job. Well, this didn't go to plan as Simon didn't get the job. Simon then was stuck in the abyss for a few years, only to suffer at lowly Ternana of Italy, Q.P.R. and Arsenal, at which his reputation was restored a little. In the meantime Joshua was cleaning up at Manchester United and managed a European Cup. In the same summer, approximately 2006/7, Joshua went to Bordeaux whilst Simon got the AC Milan job. AC Milan may sound easy, but the best player was a 35 year old Gareth Southgate and they were battling against relegation the season prior. Simon had to rebuild the side, and his first and best ever signing in the history of Championship Manager was to be Hamid Tagro, a 19 year old Frenchman who had 'fat' stats. Simon managed runner-up position the following season. Joshua was finding just how hard the French league was as he was battling in all competitions, only to be beaten in many finals.
At around the 2111/12 mark, Simon's AC Milan side was the best side in the world as he cleaned up in Italy and won the European Cup no fewer than 3 times on the run. Simon was now ahead of Josh, and only France evaded him. Simon went to Auxerre to see what he could do, whilst Josh snapped up the vacant AC Milan job, although Simon had done all of the work for him. Simon floated in mid-table in France, whilst Josh did the same but won the European Cup. The game wandered into the unknown at around the 2018/19 mark as Simon was back as messiah at Milan whilst Josh was at lowly Darlington, fighting for the Auto-windscreens Shield.
2. IFK GOTHENBURG GAME (Simon Smith)
This is Simon's great game on the new CM3 format. After 2-3 seasons of rebuilding the squad, Simon managed to win the European Cup Winners Cup. The following season, the UEFA Cup was IFK's property. During all of these seasons, and every season in fact (apart from the final one - season 2012/13), Simon won the Swedish League title and half of the time he won the Swedish Cup.
The holy grail was not in his hands yet though. In 2005, Simon managed to take his illustrious side to the European Cup final. His team was captained by a 23 year old Irishman named Denis Boyle, and the striking line was led by Kabba Samura. However, it was not to be as Simon lost the final 2-1 to Real Madrid, although Samura put IFK ahead. Joshua Aghanian witnessed this, and we both then questioned whether I'd be able to keep the side together and take them to another final. These worries were surpassed because in the following season Simon took IFK to another final, this time against Manchester United. Simon won, and had reached the one of the best achievements on the game: taking a shit team to the dizzy heights of world football.
In the following summer Bosman frenzy, Simon brought in around 6 amazing Argentine youngsters. However, Kabba Samura departed for a then record transfer any known human player has received, £22,500,000, to be exact, to Lazio. Two seasons later, in 2008, Simon managed to win the European Cup again. The finalists this time were Lazio, Samura included, but it ended up a comfortable 3-1, with Denis Boyle, my loyal captain and midfield megastar, cropping up with 2 goals. It was however destined that the super-clubs would be sniffing around him and I managed to salvage £18,500,000 for him, which isn't bad considering he was just a central midfielder (MC).
The following season (2009), saw Simon take IFK to his 4th and final European Cup final. This inevitably ended in defeat at the hands of Manchester United. The next few seasons saw a transition period (out with the old, in with the new/young). The game died however when Simon had to format his hard drive as it wasn't being assaulted by a nasty virus (which he then tried to infect other innocent peoples computers with, Mean Man).