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LAD Changes The Game By Playing Football Manager At The Gym

LAD Changes The Game By Playing Football Manager At The Gym

Football Manager enthusiast Darren plays the game while getting a sweat on...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Those who go to the gym might end up listening to some music or whacking on a podcast. Darren Butler has a very different approach.

Instead, the 33-year-old has worked out a way to play Football Manager while he gets a sweat on at his local gym and it's genuinely a game-changer.

Darren, a big Reading fan, has played "at least" 12 different versions of the game and first started out playing the old Championship Manager games back in 1997/98.

Being an FM addict, he's recently started playing out his saves while on the bike at the gym - even if it might be going against company policy.

Image: Darren Butler
Image: Darren Butler

But just how has he managed to make it happen?

"I didn't even think it was possible until someone introduced me Cloud Gaming, but I get a good session more or less every time I'm on the bike," he told SPORTbible.

"Cloud Gaming is the short answer, but the long answer is I log into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate via the on bike web browser, I use it to play on my tablet too when I'm travelling."

Those who play FM will know that it feels you're getting your own workout in given the stress and tension that saves bring. The tactics, players not being happy with their role and results not being achieved can take its toll.

But interestingly, it has actually helped Darren with his workouts.

"I can't say I've noticed it having an effect on my heart rate, anymore than what exercising on the bike does, but I do find that im doing 10-15k on the bike now where I was only doing 5k previously," he added.

The save we see in the above pic is a journeyman save where Darren is aiming to win the top division and domestic cup with as many different clubs as possible.

The other one he has on the go at the moment saw him get the boot from Crystal Palace after 20 games and move on to Southend United, saving them from relegation and achieving promotion the following season.

His best achievement, however, came a few years back and was quite the underdog story.

"Easily I would say taking my hometown of Basingstoke Town all the way from Conference South to Champions League glory back in FM12," he explained, talking up his best achievement.

"The biggest story out of that save was buying Ben Wright in the first season and keeping all the way until his in game retirement. He played and scored consistently every season too."

Darren is now on the verge of setting up a YouTube channel to document his FM ventures and we're hoping he films all of his videos live from the gym.

Providing he remains discreet about it all, he'll soon be able to decide whether to deploy an enganche or a trequartista on Football Manager 2021 while doing some cardio.

The next installment in the Sports Interactive series on November 24th.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: gaming news, GAMING, Football Manager, FM