Mark's Gaming Blogs

Welcome to Episode 2 of "A Darlington Dynasty" in which we meet the team that greets us as the new manager of Darlington. We also profile the two of the three "star" players outlined as the club's best at the start of the game as well as a former Leeds midfielder who was at one stage labelled the new David Batty. We have at our disposal the following squad prior to making our forays into the transfer market: The squad features three players that at one stage, had experience of playing in the Premier League. We're hoping this experience will stand the rest of the side in good stead for the campaign ahead. Formerly of Southampton, Maddison has played alongside Matt Le Tissier and is seen to be the experienced head in midfield that the team needs. At 31, he is probably in the peak stages of his career and probably could play at a higher level. Safe to say, we might have to fend off a few transfer bids throughout the season. I will be looking at him to impose hi...

The Introduction So we have decided to go retro with our first steps into online gaming, and with it one of the best games ever produced: Championship Manager 2001/02. Released in October 2001, it is still as popular now as it was then. So who are we going to manage in our quest to be the best? Looking at it, it would be easy to choose a big name team and have star players at your disposal. So why not instead, start lower down the pyramid and into the reaches of Division Three where pretty football is not normally seen. This is the level where central defenders kick lumps out of strikers and sometimes you have to sell to survive unless you have a super rich chairman who will give you whatever you want. We've chosen to head to my native North East and to the town of Darlington to try and make them a footballing superpower.  With one-time criminal turned chipboard business owner George Reynolds as chairman, there's already intrigue in the air. Can we make a team that was in non-l...