26-09-2021 13:00

On September 26, 2001, twenty years ago to the day, ManagerZone first emerged on this new weird invention called "the internet". This was before phones were smart, before YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, a year before the Euro currency was launched and five years before the first lolcat meme made us giggle. We can probably assume that if ManagerZone was a character in a Tolkien novel, it would have long flowing beard, a cane, and use words like "thou".

We think it is pretty spectacular. But we are not just "still here", we are actually thriving, doing every bit as well as we ever have. At this point in time, there are no doubts regarding the games longevity and ability to transcend technological shifts or game trends, global recessions or even pandemics. ManagerZone is a game that requires patience at a time when the typical gamer wants speed. When games became small and lightweight we stayed big. When online games went all-out pay-to-play, we kept making it possible for anyone to succeed. It doesn't matter what happens around us. We will still be here, doing things our way.

There is something we would like to take this opportunity to say, and that is the following:

Thank you. All of you who have been along for the ride so far. Some new, others have stuck around for five, ten, fifteen or even twenty years. We have people still in the game who registered during the first few months, as amazing as that sounds. We think that a big part of the reason is the community: our admins, our National Coaches, our forum users, everyone who enjoys a good message board discussion or who takes pride in their club presentation page, or create content for The Zone, and so on. Squads and players are mere marionettes after all, and you are the puppet masters. You make the game come alive.

Us developers are watching the show from afar, trying to improve your experience when we can, but interfere as little as possible in a drama which have spanned across two entire decades, with literally no end in sight.

We have a few things happening this week. Today we have added a few free cups (Senior, U18, U21 and U23, you can join them all). Tomorrow we will launch the third version of our popular event, this time with a Time Traveller theme. We will also add new Club Membership badges later in the week, for those who have been around the longest (the other badges will also get a visual touch-up by the way). We also have another surprise in store for the coming week, so stick around. But for now, thou can join the free cups here.

Now let's make it thirty.