Football Manager Fan Persuaded Wife To Honeymoon In Bulgaria So He Could Visit Second Tier Team He Was Managing

In years gone by, we have spoken to a wide range of die-hard Football Manager fans.

Tony Jameson, a former college lecturer turned comedian, once took his laptop to a wedding so he could "finish off" transfer deadline day. "I figured I could probably sneak away before the disco as I wouldn't be needed for anything," he told SPORTbible.

"I grabbed a bottle of wine and went back to the hotel room to get back on with my game."

We also had a chat with Jamie Towers, a 20-year-old from Ayr, who decided to celebrate winning the Scottish Premiership with Hamilton Academical by letting off a flare in his bedroom. "I just thought I'd do it for a laugh. When I was doing it, my next door neighbours started to cheer!"

And we can't forget the great Andrej Pavlović, a 22-year-old from Belgrade, who was offered a job at Serbian side FK Bežanija after sending the club a list of his virtual achievements in Football Manager.

"I'm not going to brag but I am somewhat of a legend in my FM universe," he told SPORTbible.

But in terms of paying the ultimate sacrifice to play out your Football Manager dreams, Tim Pyke might just take the biscuit after he persuaded his wife to honeymoon in Bulgaria so he could visit Nesebar, the second division team he was managing in the virtual world.

In an extract from the book Football Manager Stole My Life, FM-obsessed Tim tells the incredible tale of his honeymoon to Sunny Beach.

Sit back, relax and enjoy one of the greatest tales of the 21st century.

"It was 2007 and my future wife and I had set a date for our wedding - 08-08-08. a month later, we would go on our honeymoon," he writes.

"She had been looking at holidays in Spain, Greece or Portugal and I was all for it. But then came the fateful day I started beta-testing the Bulgarian league for Football Manager. I picked a random team. That team changed the whole concept of holidaying. That team was Nesebar, in the Bulgarian Second Division West."

He added: "I grew fond of them and followed their real-life progress. Then I got curious and looked at costs for holidays in Bulgaria. I found out about the holiday resort of Sunny Beach, right next to Nesebar's football stadium and the prices were excellent. Could I convince the wife-to-be?

"Yes I could. Two weeks all-inclusive was cheaper than one week half-board at any of the other locations, so it was set. September 5, 2008 I was flying out to Bulgaria. Now I needed to figure out a way to go and see Nesebar in action.

"A week into the honeymoon the opportunity arrived.

"We made some new friends out there and the girls wanted to split off to have some girlie time. I convinced the lads to go see the football. Although the wife knew I went to the football match, to this day she doesn't know I chose Bulgaria because of the team I saw play out there."

We salute you, Tim.