History of LMA games

Our match report on the football manager series

LMA Manager

■ The original game highlighted its 3D match engine, 1999/2000 season stats and “immersive after-match TV show” as key selling points. It became a hit in the uk, with Codemasters promoting it as the “Playstation’s best-selling football management game”.

LMA Manager 2001

■ The sequel to LMA Manager was released in March of 2001, improving on its predecessor in almost every way. The big enhancement was that of the match engine, which now boasted more graphical fidelity and the ability to shout instructions at your players mid-game.

LMA Manager 2002

■ This was the first game in the series to migrate to Sony’s follow-up console, the Playstation 2. With it came another momentous jump in visual quality and the ability to manage teams from across Europe. It was also the final entry to be released on the original Playstation.

LMA Manager 2003

■ LMA debuted on the original Xbox with this version. The game featured an enhanced highlight system and various AI improvements, as well as ‘post-match banter’ from Alan Hansen and Gary Lineker. And for the first time, you could actually name a new stadium!

LMA Manager 2004

■ There was another sizeable overhaul in the visuals department for LMA 2004. The bright new menus freshened up the series’ look, while the big new feature was that of a Fantasy Team mode, allowing you to create a club and draft your own players.

LMA Manager 2005

■ The series experimented with the PC in 2005 under the title of LMA Professional Manager.

But it was the console versions that continued to prove most popular, implementing additional updates to the match engine and providing a more realistic transfer system.

LMA Manager 2006

■ It was time for another revamp with LMA ■

2006, with the game sporting a brand-new look. Both the 3D match engine and transfer market were again reworked, and you could also engage in 3D training matches and make your own manager (with PS2 Eyetoy support!).

LMA Manager 2007

Last but not least, the series made the transition to the Xbox 360. The match engine benefited from significantly improved graphics and widescreen support, and the game boasted “far more detail than ever before.” LMA 2007 was also released on the PS2 and PC.