Welcome to Old-school CM Legends, the series where we look back at the stars of Championship Manager, Football Manager’s predecessor.
To kick things off, we picked six of the biggest names in the series.
1. Tonton Zola Moukoko
Edition: CM 99/00 | Position: attacking midfielder
In the game: perhaps the most famous player in CM history. Tonton Zola Moukoko, a Swede born in Congo, first appeared in CM 99/00, in Derby County’s youth setup. He had enormous potential and cost next to nothing (500k).
In real life: he never made it. After Derby he returned to Sweden and played in the regional leagues, for Carlstad United, Sleipner, IFK Lidingö and finally Kongo United, where he was already player-coach, until he retired in 2017.
Trivia: there are several Facebook fan pages dedicated to him, and Sports Interactive invited him to a five-a-side game as a tribute to the fame he gained in CM. It was the first tribute of its kind because of exposure in the game.
2. Maxim Tsigalko
Edition: CM 01/02 | Position: striker
In the game: Maxim Tsigalko was born on May 27, 1983, still in the Soviet Union. Many could not even pronounce his name (the correct transliteration is “Maksim Tsyhalka”), but that hardly mattered. The Dinamo Minsk kid was a goal poacher, capable of scoring more than 100 a season. All for less than 2k.
In real life: he retired at 26, in 2009, because of constant injuries. He seemed to be made of glass. He played for Dinamo Minsk and Naftan (Belarus), Kaisar (Kazakhstan), Banants (Armenia) and Savit Mogilev (Belarus). He won two caps for Belarus and scored one goal.
3. Ibrahima Bakayoko
Edition: CM 97/98 | Position: striker
In the game: Ibrahima Bakayoko, born on December 31, 1976, was the star to buy in CM 97/98, whatever team you had.
In real life: probably the most successful on this list. He started at Stade d’Abidjan, moved on to Montpellier and reached Everton, where fans nicknamed him “Baka-joke-o”: he cost around 5.1 million and scored just 4 goals. After that, anything but a stable career, with ten more clubs (Marseille, Osasuna, Istres, Livorno, Messina, Larissa, PAOK, PAS Giannina, Olympiakos Volos and Stade Bordelais), where he finished in 2013/14. For Ivory Coast he played 45 games and scored 30 goals.
4. Serge Makofo
Edition: CM4 | Position: striker (mainly)
In the game: Serge Makofo was born on October 22, 1986, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In every new game, he was a must-buy. He was at MK Dons, the newly created club at the time, and you could put him in any position and he would still shine. With the club’s financial problems, he went for peanuts.
In real life: he played non-league football, for “glamorous” clubs such as Maidenhead United, Potters Bar Town and Grimsby. He was so bad that the chairman of one of those clubs called him “a disaster”. He ended his career in 2016, at Edinburgh City, in Scotland.
5. Cherno Samba
Edition: CM 01/02 | Position: striker
In the game: born on November 10, 1985, in Gambia, he was the kind of striker who destroyed entire defenses. A real penalty-box monster.
In real life: he scored 132 goals in 32 youth games at the age of 13, so the hype seemed justified. But, as happened to so many African prodigies without a reliable birth certificate, he looked like a man playing against boys. Literally. Officially he was 27 when he was released by Tønsberg, in Norway, in 2012/13, and it seems he retired there. He played for Millwall, Cádiz, Málaga B, Plymouth, Wrexham, Haka (Finland), Panetolikos (Greece) and Tønsberg, and won two caps for Gambia. A short career for such a “young” player, right?
6. Taribo West
Edition: CM 01/02 | Position: defender
In the game: Taribo West, born on March 26, 1974 in Nigeria, started the game as a free agent. He was, obviously, every manager’s first signing.
In real life: another story with age thrown into the mix. After being fought over by Italy’s biggest clubs, he spent years touring leagues around the world, while competing with Abel Xavier for football’s most extravagant hairstyle. The Partizan chairman even publicly accused him of lying about his age: when he signed in 2002, he was supposedly not 28 but 40. He retired in 2007/08, at Paykan, in Iran.
Which of these six gave you the most joy in CM?
Read also
Did you make this download? Manage it on FMPortugal →
