The English football system has been stuck to its traditional pyramid system since the Second Division was created way back in 1892. However, in the summer of 2025, a cash-strapped English Football League went bankrupt and was bought out by an American investor.
We changed the long-standing rules of football to actively punish teams for winning matches. Teams gain more points for drawing and losing than they do for winning, and gain more money if they draw or lose a match.
In the last two versions of Football Manager, we've run experiments with Big Sam Allardyce stepping in to try and rescue teams sitting bottom of their leagues at Christmas time. We weren't planning to run it on FM24 but, with the delay to FM25, this Christmas period seemed like a good time to revive the series.
If you like the idea of the English "big six" languishing in tier six and the likes of Bonnyrigg Rose and Llantwit Major at the top of the pyramid, this will be the database for you.
Three months on from Big Sam Allardyce's shock departure as manager of Bolton Wanderers, Garth Crooks's words are ringing true as there's a new face in the dugout at the Reebok Stadium for the 2007/08 season.
The final part of this experiment series will see Lionel Messi placed at last season’s relegated sides and the clubs that were newly promoted to the Premier League.
Last time out in this FM Experiment, we explored how Lionel Messi would fare in 3 seasons with each of the Premier League’s main contenders. But what if he took a gamble and joined some of the league’s less-fancied sides?
Trebor Mahtal's overperformance had attracted the attention of one of the biggest clubs in European football. Parma came with an offer that upped Mahtal's wages to £86k per week until 2032.
Trebor Mahtal led his exciting West Ham wonderkids to back-to-back titles led by the exceptional Ronaldinho and Hidetoshi Nakata in 2025. And more exciting times were in store for Irons fans.
Trebor Mahtal led West Ham United to their first-ever league title in just his second season in charge led by future superstar Ronaldinho and a team that had been wholly rebuilt from the one he inherited.
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