A dedicated Football Manager fan travelled to Wembley Stadium with a laptop so he could play an FA Cup final...and lost on penalties.
Alex, a 28-year-old Arsenal fan who lives in California, stumbled across National League strugglers Barnet by mistake during his years playing the game at university - and was desperate to help them climb the football pyramid.
After ten seasons of blood, sweat and tears, the London-born Gunner finally managed to reach a cup final, so he decided to bring the game to life after guiding The Bees to a clash against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United.
On a trip to Wembley with his university, Alex took full advantage of the opportunity by loading up his Barnet save on FM. "If you had the chance, why wouldn't you?" he told SPORTbible when asked about his motives.
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"I was visiting Wembley and even ended up snagging a job as a tour guide at England's home stadium. As a result, I had access to a majority of the stadium.
"My mate, Ian, walked around with me snapping pictures. No one else was there, and I can't say he was overly excited. He probably just thought I had a few screws loose. He obviously wasn't a Football Manager fan."
So how did the game play out? Barnet's form against United going into the final was poor, to say the least, but Alex claims it was a fairly evenly matched contest.
The game eventually went to penalties after a nervy 120 minutes. As the referee blew his whistle for Barnet to take their first spot-kick, things started to go downhill. And fast.
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"My boys didn't convert a single spot-kick," says Alex.
"The final score was a 3-0 defeat. It was a showing you would expect from a small non-league club. It was gutting."
The fairytale was over for Alex and his overachieving Barnet side. He closed his laptop and walked around Wembley with those missed penalties on his mind. But this wasn't the end.
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Alex was determined to lead this team to a happy ending.
"Fast forward five years from that FA Cup final defeat and my Barnet side have three Champions League titles to their name," he says.
"We have also won two FA Cup's and four Premier League titles. It's safe to say we got our revenge. Unfortunately, none of those other games happened at Wembley!"
Like millions of other fans around the world, Football Manager has played a big part in Alex's life.
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"It has been my game of choice since 2003, when it wasn't even called Football Manager. I love it because it feels like each save creates its own story that has a lot more detail than other football games.
"I work in Tech Sales by day, a youth soccer coach by afternoon and a Football Manager addict by night. And somehow I manage to stay on top of a relationship."
Featured Image Credit:Topics: GAMING, Football Manager, Football, Manchester United, Wembley