Football Manager: Codename 47, A Hitman Inspired FM Challenge

A must try Football Manager challenge inspired by another popular game franchise, Hitman. FM Challenge: Codename 47, part 1 of 2.

A must try Football Manager challenge inspired by another popular game franchise, Hitman. FM Challenge: Codename 47

What does Football Manager and Hitman have in common? Sure, both are popular game franchises, but one is a sports management simulator, the other a third-person stealth game. So, how can you have a Hitman inspired FM Challenge, you’ll ask. Easy, by using our imagination and all the unnecessary geography trivia, acquired precisely through games like Football Manager or Hitman.

Before getting into your manager’s details and attributes, set-up a game with the following countries (I suggest only loading the top 2 leagues in each country, where possible): Hong Kong, Colombia, Russia, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Romania. Each will be explained later if you haven’t played Hitman: Codename 47. If you did, everything should be clear.

Now let’s get down to business, the International Contract Agency has recruited you, and there’s no better cover than an up-and-coming football manager. Of course, like in every FM save, the first step is to create your manager. 

The Manager Avatar

The classic Agent 47 look is a must: a tall, fit, bald guy wearing a black suit, white shirt and red tie. You were born on September 5, 1964, but you don’t really look your age. Your first nationality should be Romanian, as you were created by a mad scientist in a menFranklintal institution in Romania, which was actually a cover for genetic experiments. You can add several other nationalities, such as American, English, German, or Swiss, because as an assassin, 47 held various fake passports. 

English, German, and French should also be added as spoken languages. The name you use is not actually so important. If “Agent 47” doesn’t seem fit for a manager, just use one of his aliases; there’s plenty to choose from: Tobias Rieper, John Smith, Mr Crooks, Mr Johnson, Mr Byrd, Fletch Fisher, Mr Julio, Jacob Leiter, Dr Cropes, Mr Metzger, Ben Franklin. Or just go ahead and invent one. 

All other details and stats should be left to your imagination and desires. Maybe just pick a Romanian club as a favourite, just to spice things up, as he might have developed a passion for football in one of his breaks from the asylum. Manager attributes are once again up to you, but you can roleplay a bit and give him high adaptability, determination, and level of discipline. Select your coaching badges and past playing experience based on the club you will manage first.

Mission 1

Welcome to Hong Kong,

Now that Mr. 47 has a name, a face, and a coaching badge, Diana Burnwood will give you your first assignment: the Lee Hong assassination in Hong Kong. Start unemployed with the coaching badge and past playing experience suggested for the Hong Kong “Prem” (alternatively, you can always cherry-pick one of the 8 clubs in the league). Take the first job you can get, and voila, this will be your perfect cover to wreak havoc in the Triad-controlled underworld of the “Fragrant Harbour”. 

Apart from shooting from rooftops at helicopters, your mission here, inciting gang wars between the Blue Lotus and the Red Dragon Triads, killing dirty cops in smelly fish restaurants, and navigating the sewers beneath Lee Hong’s compound, should be clear: gain some reputation as a manager. 

And what better way to do it than winning the treble: the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the League Cup! If that seems a bit too ambitious, your main objective should be the “Prem” and treat the cups as secondary missions. An interesting roleplaying opportunity is to avoid the two main clubs, Kitchee and Easter AA, representing the two feuding triads, and win the league with one of the other 6 clubs.

Mission 2

Welcome to Colombia,

After completing your tasks in Hong Kong, probably you won’t have enough reputation to jump straight to a Colombian First League team, so you will probably have to settle for the Second Division. But it’s ok, strolling around the rainforest trying to locate and kill notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Belisario Ochoa will probably take up most of your time anyway. 

The Amazonas region of Colombia doesn’t have any club in the top 2 leagues of the country, so it doesn’t matter what club you take over here. Apart from hunting down Ochoa, your first job here is to gain promotion to the Colombian Primera. 

Because your next missions will be more specific, you need to build up your reputation a bit more in this stage, so you will probably spend several seasons in Colombia, trying to win the national title and even make an impact in the Libertadores or Sudamericana continental cups. You can even change clubs and take over a bigger club like America de Cali, Atletico Nacional, or Millonarios in order to achieve this.

Mission 3

Welcome to Budapest,

While still in Colombia, keep an eye out for job openings in Budapest, Hungary. There are plenty of clubs here, but if you build up enough reputation in Colombia, you should aim for one of the top clubs: Ferencváros, Honvéd, MTK, or Újpest. 

Ferencváros is by far the best choice, having the biggest budgets, reputation and attendance rates in the league, but don’t lose time chasing the job here. Just go to any of the Budapest clubs once you’re done with Colombia. 

While trying to stop international terrorists Frtiz and Frantz Fuchs from blowing up the UN Summit, win both league and Cup in Hungary. Try to create some buzz for yourself in Europe, but don’t sweat if you can’t. It’s up to you how many seasons you spend here, but make sure to build up your managerial credits because your next job is about to take you in a higher reputation league.

Mission 4

Welcome to Rotterdam,

Now that you have some reputation as a manager in Europe, it’s time for your biggest challenge of this save: the Eredivisie. Of course, you will spend your nights in the huge port of Rotterdam, dealing with Dutch biker gangs and tracking down a Kazakh gunrunner, but we’re here to talk Football Manager. 

Feyenoord should be the obvious choice, but if you can’t get the job at De Kuip, settle for Sparta or Excelsior, which at this point might not even be playing in the top division. If you get the Feyenoord job, your objective is clear: win everything you can, the Eredivisie and the Dutch Cup, and also aim for the later stages of European competitions. 

At Sparta, you should aim for bringing their first trophy in a long time, Cup (last won in 1966), or League (last won in 1959). With Excelsior, just establishing them as a contender for European places in the Eredivisie should count as a win. It’s entirely up to you how much time you spend in the Netherlands, so you can set more lofty ambitions for yourself, regardless of the club you choose (you can also switch jobs if you want, just stay in Rotterdam).

Mission 5

Homecoming.

After finishing up his mission in the Netherlands, Agent 47 gets one more job that takes him back to where he was created, the Satu Mare Mental Institute run by the German scientist Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer. Killing him is just part of your story in Romania, don’t forget you’re also here to be a football manager. 

Because no Satu Mare club is playable in FM22, you can pick any Romanian club. Preferably, take charge of an established club like CFR Cluj, FCSB, Universitatea Craiova, or Farul Constanta and compete for the title in a very challenging league. 

This is the last mission of this challenge, so the objectives will be left to your imagination and ambition. Maybe just winning the Romanian top division and/or Cup will satisfy you, or you will go for loftier goals and try to bring European glory back to Romania. It’s entirely up to you.

Conclusion

At the end of this challenge, you should boast quite a diverse trophy cabinet, filled with trophies like the Honk Kong Premier League, the top 2 Colombian divisions, a Copa Sudamericana or Libertadores (optional), the Hungarian First Division, the Eredivisie, the Romanian First League, and with a bit of luck, even a Conference/Europa/Champions League title.

Hopefully, this challenge will be the first episode of a new FM Challenge series in which the Football Manager universe will cross over into other popular media such as video games, movies, TV shows, etc., recreating the journeys and roleplaying various well-known characters. 

The main reason for creating these challenges is not to showcase your undoubtedly great FM skills but to explore countries and leagues you wouldn’t normally try and create unique careers that would otherwise never happen in a classic FM save. Hope you enjoy it!

READ ALSO: Football Manager: Silent Assassin. A Hitman Inspired FM Challenge