
Here's an actual story of a fellow FM player that turned his passion for managing a virtual club on Football Manager to becoming a manager of a team in real life.
Without further ado, here's the full inspiring and impressive story of Pedro Maciel, FM addict and a player/manager of Malibu FC.
How it all happened
Being an FM lover and playing the game since the old Championship Manager (so old I remember coaching Henry at Juventus 😂) I always wanted to attempt it in real life.
Having played at a good level in Portugal, my country of origin, mostly in secondary Divisions, but always to a good standard, I always felt like one day I would be a good coach.
So life took me to Scotland looking for a better life and the first thing I did was finding a club I could continue to play for. That's when Malibu FC came into my life.
Met a guy that said he played for an amateur team and asked him if I could join. He said "Of course!" before adding "I got to warn you, we're shit!"
Didn't really care as I was already 33 years old and just wanted somewhere to train/play and keep fit. He spoke to the manager and he said I could come to the match the next day cause they were a few players short. Got there the next day and obviously without knowing me or ever seen me play I went as a sub.
Around 60th minute and while losing 6 - 0 he finally told me to go in. Asked me what position did I play and I replied Center Midfielder. He said, "Not today pal, you'll be a striker today". A bit confused but there I went. About three minutes later and with my first touch on the ball I managed to score on my debut. 😍
The game finished 6 - 2 and everyone were so happy for my astonishment. 😮 Asked them "Why are you guys so happy!? We just lost 6 - 2!" and the answer was "It's the first time we didn't lose by more than 10 goals" 😑😮 That was the first sign of change for me.
The season finished and the manager decided to walk. Bill, chairman/founder of the club, came to me and said I should be the manager next season cause I was the only one with some past football experience. I gave it some thought and since not getting any younger and always wanted to do it one day I decided to accept it as a player/manager role. Obviously, no money involved 😂
So that's how I started in the world of management.
I could now try to replicate my Football Manager success with a real team.
Managerial Career
Got the oldest team in an amateur league in Aberdeen, MALIBU FC. Bottom of the league for 32 years getting beat double figures every single game.
So we started by doing some scouting at schools and university's and started strengthening the squad.
The results;
1st season 3rd place 3 points from the top and we won the Cup. First trophy ever for the club. Chairman/founder was in tears. I did tell him we would finish top 3 at start of the season and he laughed.

2nd season we went and done it again. Finished 3rd yet again.
3rd season guess what? Yeah, 3rd again. Got to the cup final again, but lost on penalties after 12 penalties each. Would have been 2 cups in 3 seasons but it wasn't meant to be.
4th season and we were 5th when the pandemic started but had a good chance of getting top three again looking at the missing fixtures. League never finished so we will never know.
5th season starting as soon as all the conditions to return from a lockdown are ensured, and I would love to take this team to the next level - winning the league! But in order to do that we need to find a sponsor. That would allow us to get a new kit/balls/bibs/cones/jumpers etc as also attract better players.
Become a fan and a sponsor
We have a Facebook page and our number of followers started rising rapidly after our 1st season because there was a lot of talking in the city about how this team has improved so much in such short period of time.
The team's name is Malibu FC if you want to give it a follow on Facebook you can do it here.
You can also donate to Malibu FC via GoFundMe website, or by the embedded widget on this site.
On the GoFundMe page is the clear plan on how the donations will help Malibu FC help them progress as a team, you can read it here.
Hope you liked this football story cause I'm living my Football Manger dream.
Pedro Maciel - Malibu FC player/manager