Flair Football: FM: The Creation of Led Zeppelin FC

Hello dear readers,

I was messing about on Football Manager the other day, trying to sign up some obscure Brazillian talents. Needlessly to say, geography and bureaucracy managed to thwart my attempts every time, with each meticulously scouted player having his passport rejected at customs. Well, my assistant manager did warn me.

In my frustration, as always, I took to the Internet.

With four words – football manager foreign permit – into Google, and three hours later, Led Zeppelin FC was formed.

How, you ask? Well, having scoured the FM forums for an answer, it appeared that some bright sparks had hit on the answer to pesky foreign permit laws: the FM editor.

My Computer -> (C:) Drive -> Program Files -> Sports Interactive -> Football Manager -> Tools -> Editor -> Editor (application).

Apparently, once inside the editor, you have free reign. Change the nationality of the player to an EU-national (if you’re playing in Europe). I won’t go into details; you’ll figure it out yourself. Or here. Hey presto! Pesky FA laws abolished in seconds!

Naturally, it was like being a kid in a candy store. You could build stadiums, boost player stats, create a new backroom staff… create a new club…

It was just a natural extension, really.

Now I had the idea, I needed a source to draw inspiration from. I needed eleven players. I needed a backroom team. Who would make up the board room? Where would the team play?

Then, I hit the nail on its head. Music. Or specifically, music I like (or at least can stand for the mandatory three minutes on radio).

On a totally off-topic note, have you read this book?

I think it’s pretty great, and I feel it’s a really in depth look at rock music industry in the 70’s. After reading this book, I became an authority on rock music, or at least, as knowledgeable as any other guy who read the book. On the contrary however, the book was pretty much panned by the band itself. Well, according to what Jimmy Page said about it:

“I think I opened [the book] up in the middle somewhere and started to read it,
and I just threw it out the window. I was living by a river then, so it actually found its way to the bottom of the sea.”

Bottom of the sea? Talk about harsh. Simon Cowell, are you taking notes?

As a casual reader looking for an inside dig at the world’s greatest band, the book really encompassed what the experience of rock stardom was like and so I chose Led Zeppelin as the name of the club. Obviously, four guys couldn’t make up a football team (whatever they say at the pub) so I drafted in a sort of dream team. After three hours, I still couldn’t decide so I’m open to suggestions. Please leave a comment if you want to see your guy out there on field with Page, Clapton, Beck & Co.

Currently I need suggestions for:

First team subs

Backroom staff (Coaches and scouts)

Boardroom members

If you have any concrete suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

Some ideas I’ve been floating around:

B.B. King -> assistant manager?

Bo Diddley

Chuck Berry

Robert Johnson

Prince

Richard Cole