If you’ve ever dreamed of being in the football industry, a local non-league team is giving fans of Football Manager that very chance in the hope of turning their in-game results into real-world success, offering up a share and board position at the clubin a truly one-of-a-kind challenge.
In a pretty remarkable and fun little story from just, non-league side AFC Crewe from just down the road in east Cheshire has announced they will be awarding not only an official share in the club but a position on their board to the first person who wins the Premier League with them.
So many new obsessive saves are about to be started over the next few days.
The long-standing footy sim is probably one of the most popular games in the UK and a huge sports title all around Europe, with millions of players trying to take teams at the very bottom of the football pyramid all the way to the top purely for fun — now they have even more of an incentive.
AFC Crewe are offering a share of the club to the first person to win the Premier League with us on @FootballManager
The first to do it will become an official shareholder and join the club's board who run the club online… exactly like Football Manager.
Gradually consolidating their position in the league as a completely fan-owned club, people can buy into AFC Crewe for just £3.99 a month, allowing them to take part in the running of the club by making key decisions in day-to-day operations.
Building on this model, they’ve opened up their ownership model even further with this FM 24 (Football Manager 24) competition and anyone who has heard the story of Will Still, the FM player whose love of the videogame led him to become the youngest top-flight manager in Europe (yes, seriously), will know just how influential this kind of knowledge can prove to be.
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As explained in the terms of the challenge, all players and would-be owners need to do is win the Premier League with them and “the first to do it will become an official shareholder and join the club’s board who run the club online. Current board members are also encouraging players to keep them posted.
You can keep us posted on your progress on here or the SI forums with the AFC Crewe – Journey up the Track challenge as well:https://t.co/v89ty81QVk
To take part, all you need to do is simply download the ‘E20 – England Level 13’ division from the lower league Lower Leagues Database HERE or via Steam.
We can’t explain how much we love this idea — especially because we know how many people are going to take it so seriously that they inevitably fall out with their partners after ignoring them for hours on end.
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Best of luck to all of you and we’ll see you out on the touchline.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
23rd January 2024 
