The FM Library

Welcome back to The FM Library and our series of introducing members of our special community. This week we have delved inside The FM Library and spoken to one of our own, Kibworth Bull and got him to explain his love of Hereford, CM 01/02 and the Island of Sodor….

Creator Name & what made you choose it? I’ve had a few… currently I am known as the Kibworth Bull, as I live in a village called Kibworth and I support Hereford. Previously I was the FM Novice, as I wanted a name that suggested that I didn’t really know what I was doing and that could take the blame for any poor performances – in the end I got a bit bored of the name and creating so decided to drop it and went to Kibworth Bull.

Real Name? James

Football Team? Hereford FC – the phoenix club of Hereford United. Although geography and child care responsibilities mean I am a long distance lover right now – in my last season before parenthood I managed 50 games which I was pleased with.

Talk me through your FM journey – where does it start? When was the moment that you first clicked on that little icon – and when did you realise that you couldn’t stop!? It’s a mixed journey. It started with CM97/98 on my friends computer, and progressed with CM01/02 and stuck there for about 15 years – I bought a couple of the later FMs but never really got invested within the saves or the game – it all seemed to complex and slow – I like to play fast and the idea of it taking a month to play a season just made me quit – I could bash out a season on CM01/02 in a few days without real effort. The game is a release for me – I’ve got enough complex stuff to focus on in real life so having an hour or two in the evening when I can go into a different world is perfect for me. I only got back into Football Manager on FM17 as a good friend who had died the year before was added to the list of “regen” names and I wanted to manage him – I did during a Morecambe save. That simple act got me hooked again and I’ve kept going back for more.

Ok, you’ve been playing the game, what made you jump from “player” to “creator” and how have you found the journey? It was something I had considered for a while, but whilst on paternity leave I decided to record some content on You Tube – at this point I didn’t actually realise just how many people were doing this – I had watched WatchTheSpace and GoldenFm do some stuff and naively thought that they were the only people doing this – I had no concept of a community of creators back then. I started with a journeyman save which crashed after 3 episodes (always back up the save files…) and then did a homegrown series with Sunderland which ran for about 30 odd episodes. FM18 was when I really kicked on in terms of YT – I did a “Becoming a Legend” save with Gelios Kharkiv from the Ukraine, took them from The 1^st Division to domestic and Europa League glory over 110 episodes, producing 5 per week. I think that these were ok in terms of video’s but there is a difference between OK and GOOD and I didn’t have the desire or skills to step up a level – I was only getting 2 or 3 views per video so it was no great loss when I moved to blogging. I wanted to prove to myself that I could make video’s and I could. I’ve always enjoyed writing so my next step was attempting a blog and I used the 2^nd half of the FM18 cycle to do a youth academy save with Tamworth – over 18 seasons I took them from the Conference North to getting relegated from the Premier League in our only season at that level. I also blogged during FM19 – season updates which have a limited shelf life and limited appeal but it’s a way of sharing my saves and it works for me. I reached a point where I was producing a post a week and got tired of the process – now I just play and every now and then produce a piece on the Lutterworth Fox blog. It works for me.

What’s your style of play? Within the library we have a couple of guys who plough through seasons letting the Assistant Manager’s do the vast majority of stuff, mainly getting into the late 2060’s trying to complete bizarre and random challenges, but we also have guys who are very much into the finite detail and will manage every aspect and would consider a save done after 5 or 6 seasons. Where do you fit within the scale? There is of course, no incorrect answer.. Instant Result and go deep… I did only 1 save during the FM19 cycle which went into the 2050s and was epic – started in China, dominated there, moved to Greece and domination followed, then moved to Hereford and took them all the way to the top from the bottom – never done it before and it was nice to do it again. The beauty of the game is that it can be played in so many different ways is credit to the team behind it. As mentioned previously, I don’t want the complexity – find a tactic that works (downloaded), sign some players, win lots of games, sit back and relax… I understand why people go to the “nth” degree and do everything, but it does nothing for me. I used to play CM01/02 because it was quick and painfree, I now have a laptop that does FM19 to very near the speed of CM01/02 so I have found the balance between the almost new and the old.

Favourite version/save? Any particular bittersweet/comic/down right depressing memories? CM01/02 will always have a special place in my heart – I can remember a save with Welshpool where I used the editor to put them in the Welsh Premier League as a create a club type scenario – I’ve actually done this 2 or 3 times over the years and its always great fun – it’s an easy league to dominate and has no relegation, which means you can’t get fired in that difficult 1^st year. I took Albion Rovers to the Scottish Premier League after using the editor to set their finances to minus 30 million. I think what I am saying is that I don’t tend to do “normal” saves, for me the scenario needs to be set first – youth academy, massively in debt, car crash of a club – then build them up. Going into the biggest club in the world straight away just doesn’t play for me (again – each to their own…). FM has given me some lovely moments – in Gelios we needed a 90^th minute winner to secure promotion to the Ukrainian Premier League, that was a moment! In the FM19 Beta I was Arsenal manager and remember being 2-1 up against Man City in the 93^rd minute – we lost 4-2 – that still burns. I used to get a bit angry with these sort of situations but now I use Instant Result so don’t have that stress. I’ve become zen with it…

Which bloggers do you always make sure that you read? Probably got 3 that I make sure I read – Stratman Gaming (Alex) is probably my favourite of the 3 – he’s not massively prolific but his stuff is always good – the narrative is on the money and he gets the results as well. He manages to produce a story and that’s not something you always see within the community. Lutterworth Fox (Steve) is the protector of the community ethic – no man does more to bang the drum for others and deserves the views he gets on his stuff – he gets really deep into his saves and normally can do a season in 3 or 4 days, the man writes with his heart on his sleeve and the love for his save comes across. The FM Newby (Martyn) is the 3^rd guy I will call out – one of the friendliest guys around, and he probably doesn’t realise how good a writer he is, he is one who likes to play “slower” so doesn’t produce a huge amount of content but its always a pleasure to read it when he delivers. I call these guys friends as well – we’ve never met but we talk daily about our saves and are constantly sharing stuff.

Who within the community, seriously impresses you – produces the type of content that you just think “Wow, I couldn’t even contemplate producing stuff to at that level – for me it’s Laura/Chilled Moose and the face packs that she produces – some serious design talent there. This can be across any format of creation. Considering I wrote these questions, it’s probably no surprise that I agree with the writer and say it’s Laura – some serious design talent.. I speak from experience that it takes a lot of effort to produce a bang average blog / you tube channel so anyone that can produce content of real quality deserves adulation and respect. I would put the likes of Dr Benjy in that category as well – he is someone that deserves respect for the standards he sets.

What puts you off reading other creators blogs – what makes you click that “X” button in the top right of the page. For me it’s using the correct grammar for team names – I saw a blog about 18 months ago where the blogger named his opponent as oxford united and not Oxford United – I’m still angry about this… It’s very obvious when a person hasn’t proof read what they have written – if they don’t care enough to do that, then I don’t care enough to read it. (Editor: And he enjoys pointing it out sometimes!) I don’t like people who take their content too serious – it’s a bit of fun, have fun with it.

Ok, final question.. I have 5 minutes and I have a list of blogs in front of me – In 100 words, why should I click on your blog… Don’t click on my blog – it’s probably already been deleted, click on the Lutterworth Foxes as that’s where you will find my stuff. I am on the Island of Sodor – if that doesn’t peak an interest, then nothing will.