There are names that anyone who grew up glued to an 8-bit computer recognizes instantly. In June 2026, three of them were together in Portugal. It happened in Cantanhede.
The event was called Football Classics and took place on June 13 and 14 at the LOAD ZX Spectrum Museum. It was free and celebrated 40 years of football video games.
Who was there
- Kevin Toms, the creator of the original Football Manager, from 1982. That is where the name the Sports Interactive series would adopt more than twenty years later comes from.
- Jon Hare, the mastermind behind Sensible Soccer.
- Jon Ritman, the author of Match Day.
It was the first time all three had come to Portugal.
What happened
On Saturday there were interviews with each of them, autograph sessions, a football quiz and games on period hardware. In the evening there was also a session dedicated to Match Day 2. On Sunday, Toms and Ritman sat on a round table about how to make games that last for decades, and the band Level Up closed the event.
There was also a video appearance by Richard Moss, author of the book “A Tale of Two Halves”, about the history of football video games.
It was organized by the LOAD ZX Museum, a project of Cantanhede City Council and the Geração SPECTRUM Association, sponsored by Portuguese studio Redcatpig.
Why this means so much to us
Many of us got into FM because of Championship Manager. But before all that, there was a man called Kevin Toms getting an 8-bit computer to crunch transfers and results. Seeing him in Portugal, in a museum dedicated to those machines, deserves to be on record.
Were you there? Tell us how it was.
Sources: Echo Boomer (06/05/2026) · PCGuia · Cantanhede City Council
