A fantastic edition of the series and the last of the brilliant Championship Manager games before Football Manager took over.
For people of my generation, I’m not sure the names of these guys carry quite the same nostalgia as Duff, Moukoko et al but still a wonderful way to escape the real world.
Kasper Schmeichel
Ok, so not really an EFL choice but I needed a keeper and he was seen as one of the best young goalkeepers in the game so I’m using the loan spells and the year at Notts County to justify the choice!
After loan spells in League 2 with Darlington and Bury, Schmeichel found himself at Notts County during their Sven-Goran Eriksson/Sol Campbell phase. He had reportedly cost big money and was earning big money in the Football League’s basement division as County pushed the financial boat out under the ownership of Munto Finance.
Once that bubble had burst, the stopper went on to do quite well for himself really, living up to the potential Championship Manager 03/04 predicted.
Billy Jones
The defender was only 16 when the game was released and was much sought after in the hope he would develop into a superb right back.
Despite his young age, he was on the list of many ‘must signs’ for players starting new saves. In the real world, he would eventually leave Crewe Alexandra for Preston North End for a fee set at a tribunal that could have gone above the £1 million mark.
After winning the Player of the Year award in 2010-11, he left Preston to join West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League. He would mainly serve as an understudy in his 3 seasons at The Hawthorns before making the move to Sunderland.
He remained at The Stadium of Light for three seasons until his release after the club were relegated from the Premier League. He joined newly promoted Championship side Rotherham United. Jones would be relegated and promoted with The Millers before finishing his career back where it started, on loan at Crewe.
Lionel Morgan
Another on every ‘must sign’ list, the young Wimbledon winger was available for around half a million initially but less when the receivers were called in.
He was the subject of bids from Tottenham Hotspur, in real life, at the age of 18 but Wimbledon rejected these advances. The £5 million sale of Jermaine Jenas to Newcastle United would lead to Wimbledon pulling the plug on a move as they felt the value of the transfer was too low.
As Wimbledon, in line with the game, called in the receivers a new reduced bid from Spurs was accepted only for Morgan to fail the medical. He would play only 3 further competitive games as injuries took hold.
Unfortunately, Morgan never got the opportunity to fulfil his in-game potential as injury cut short his career at just 21 years of age.
Since retirement, he has worked for a sports management agency and has gone back to his roots and is coaching children’s teams.
https://twitter.com/CM_9798/status/938811829362593792
Chris Hackett
I remember constantly trying to sign Hackett if I was managing in Division 2 or 3, usually costing me between £18-£30k and providing loads of assists.
He was only 20 when the game was released and was with Oxford United in Division 3, a club he would represent until 2006 when Hearts came calling and Hackett moved to Scotland.
Having only joined Hearts in January, he was on the move again in August after being restricted to only two appearances in Scotland. He signed for Millwall where he would feature almost 150 times over a 6-year stay.
After loan spells at Exeter City and Wycombe, Hackett would spend 4 years at Northampton Town and a brief loan at Barnet before hanging up his boots. He was last known to be working back at Oxford as an underage coach.
https://twitter.com/CM_0304/status/1326850376914640896
Supat Rungratsamee
This is one that, when playing the game the first time round, I had never heard of but is a name that conjures great memories for many game players. The Thai forward was a mere 15 years old at the time of the game release and was in the youth set-up at Portsmouth.
His real-life story is an interesting one too, with little known about him before he arrived on the South Coast. Down on the game as being 15 in 2003, it was later believed that Rungratsamee gave a false date of birth and his goal-scoring feats at an underage level were more down to him being bigger and stronger than his opponents rather than pure ability.
Following his release from Portsmouth, the forward took his skills to the kitchen where he worked as a sous chef.
Writer’s View
I was a little late to the Championship Manager party and certainly wasn’t someone on the forums and discussing hidden gems, meaning players like Rungratsamee have only become known to me years down the line.
Players like Schmeichel were always out of my reach financially but Hackett and Morgan were definitely on the shopping list.
I always wondered whether players paid much attention to the virtual world and whether it even causes a case of ‘what could have been’, certainly for someone like Lionel Morgan whose career didn’t hit the heights it was expected to buy through no fault of his own.
If only I had taken a closer interest in the hidden gems, perhaps I would have been more successful at this game! I do have a particular fondness for this version though as my home town club were always in the promotion hunt.
I have no doubt miss some wonderful players from the list so please do let me know who you think should have had a mention.
