For the 9th edition of this series, we decided to put the spotlight on the youngest manager in Portugal: Afonso Gonçalves! Despite being only 18, he's already worked at Academia Sporting as a youth coach, was also a trainee assistant coach for the Under-18s at Boavista and even head coach of the Under-19s at Srª da Hora.
At such a young age, and with Football Manager having helped him develop this passion for coaching and tactics from a very early age, here we have a real-life example of how FM can help build careers in reality too, since it was in the game, as a kid, that he first experienced all the realism FM offers on the coaching side.
Join us in this conversation and find out more about this very young Portuguese coach!
FMPortugal.net: What was the first edition you played, and which star did you never fail to buy in every saves?
Afonso Gonçalves: I started with FM 2012, I was still 11, but I confess that back then I 'didn't even know' how to buy players! (laughs) I started playing more seriously with FM 2013 and always tried to buy Ezequiel Rescaldani, an Argentine striker who ended up playing for Málaga and who scored loads of goals!
FMPortugal.net: Do you consider yourself an 'ACE' at tactics in FM? With which club have you won, or come closest to winning, everything?
Afonso Gonçalves: A 'tactics ace' only in real life (laughs). In FM 2019, I had a career at Celtic where in the first season I won everything domestically and reached the Europa League semi-final. In FM 2018, I had a career at Milan where I also won everything there was to win domestically, right in the first season.
FMPortugal.net: As a manager, what appeals to you more: starting right away on Europe's biggest stages and winning everything there is to win, or starting with a club in a low division and building your team up until it wins the Champions League?
Afonso Gonçalves: Neither, really! (laughs) I prefer starting at a club I identify with, or that I've had some connection to in real life, like Celtic, or Aberdeen or Boavista.
FMPortugal.net: You're currently the youngest coaching staff member ever created in Portugal! Will you start bringing your 'player' with you to every club you go to? Or will you let him develop naturally and just follow his career?
Afonso Gonçalves: I can't resist the temptation and always end up signing myself! (laughs) I've already brought him along as assistant youth coach at Aberdeen and Bolton. I'm worried that if I let him develop naturally, in 10 years he might still be unemployed (laughs)… He can't stop!
FMPortugal.net: Is there a team you always have to manage in every new edition of FM? And as for players, is there anyone you always try to sign?
Afonso Gonçalves: It's impossible for me not to manage Celtic. It's a long-standing passion! As for players, I no longer have preferences. With every new save I prefer to discover and sign new players so I can broaden my knowledge.
FMPortugal.net: Confess: do you tend to restart when 'that' final or 'that' vital match goes badly for you?
Afonso Gonçalves: I don't like restarting the game, it takes the fun out of it. That said, if I'm winning a final and my laptop battery dies, I'll restart it even 1000 times until I'm winning again! (laughs)
FMPortugal.net: Do you have a funny story to tell us 'because of' FM?
Afonso Gonçalves: In FM 2019, in a save I was doing with a friend, I was managing Reading and he was managing Charlton (this was already in the 2nd season). Meanwhile, I ended up getting sacked from Reading for applying to other clubs, and I ended up at West Brom and my friend got hired at Reading, who were fighting for promotion against West Brom. When my friend got there, one of the best players (Jack Clarke) was against him, saying he wanted to be managed by me again and that he'd never be like me! (laughs)
FMPortugal.net: Lastly, setting 'virtual reality' aside for a moment, you're 18 and besides having worked at the Sporting Academy as a youth coach, you were also assistant coach for Boavista's Under-18s and head coach of Srª da Hora's Under-19s! How were those experiences, and what do you hope for — with your feet on the ground — going forward?
Afonso Gonçalves: The experiences I had were fantastic and helped me grow a lot as the young person I still am, and I'm now more focused than ever on the future. I like to say it was never having 'my feet on the ground' that brought me to each of these challenges, and I work every day to one day reach the Primeira Liga and, of course, to have a PA of 200! (laughs)
Quick Questions:
First edition you played?
2012
Favourite edition?
FM 2019
Favourite league(s) to play in?
Scottish and German
Favourite team(s) to play as?
Celtic, Nantes e Fátima
Favourite player(s) you've ever had in any edition?
Ezequiel Rescaldani in FM 2013 and Todor Nedelev in FM 2014
Biggest achievement(s)?
18/19: League 2 champion (Colchester); 19/20: League 1 champion (Barnsley); 20/21: Championship play-off winner (Preston) – All of this in one career on FM 2019!
With a career ahead of him, all we can wish Afonso is that everything goes well and that he keeps never having ‘his feet on the ground’, since it's this mindset that's also helping him have such interesting experiences at such a young age. We hope to see you at professional level in a few years, and if possible as successful as it turned out for Julian Nagelsmann.
Here's one of the best matches Afonso pulled off while managing his beloved club, Celtic:
