GAMEPLAY

Throughout this game, you will be asked to make decisions, most of which require a Yes or No answer. To speed up play, we have included a quick confirmation facility. In addition to keying either Y or N, you are also able to use your joystick/mouse to enter either Yes or No. If you are using a mouse, pressing the LEFT button gives a Yes, while pressing the RIGHT button gives a No. When using a joystick, moving left or right has the same effect.

When the game has loaded, you will be asked if you wish to load a previously saved game or not. Press N(o), unless you have already played a game and saved it. If you have a saved game on tape/disk, insert the tape/data disk and press Y(es).

Then at the prompt, input your first and second names and the skill level (1-easy, 9-hard) that you wish to play at.

You will then be asked if you wish to customise your league by editing the teams names. If you wish to change any of the teams, press Y(es) and follow the simple on screen instructions, until you are satisfied with the changes you have made. Now comes decision time. Choose the league side that you wish to play for initially, and then choose your nationality, just in case you get selected for an International side.

And now...here we go('ere we go, 'ere we gooooo). In front of you is the main Control Menu. This is where all the decisions are made from. This is where it's at. (Fig.1).

Fig. 1 Control Menu

You are now at the beginning of a brand new season, having just signed for a UK Superleague side. Every time you click on the PLAY icon, you will play another match in the season. These matches consist of:-

League Matches
Gremlin Supercup Matches
Supercup Matches
European Supercup Matches
World Supercup Matches (if you make it as an international!)

PLAY (A) Before each match (if your team is playing that week), you will be asked if you wish to buy any extra goal cards. Goal cards represent the possibility of you scoring a goal, and initially you start off with ten cards. Extra cards cost £600 each. Your wages and your bank balance are shown, and you then make the decision to buy extra cards or not.

You will then be asked if you wish to use any goal cards in the coming match, and if so, how many (1-3). A selection screen will then ask you to decide which of the cards you wish to use. Each card represents a different tactical manoeuvre, which you will need to use to score a goal.

Each of the manoeuvres you have chosen will then be shown to you on a blackboard (fig 2).

Fig. 2 - A Typical Tactical Plan

The straight lines represent what your team mates are hoping to do with the ball. The dotted line shows your part of the plan. At the right moment in the game, you must follow the plan. intercept the ball in the right place and then shoot for goal. Therefore, you must commit each manoeuvre to memory.

Having seen a plan and learnt it, press FIRE to either see the next plan or to play the match. Now comes the moment of truth. Your player is controlled by the KEYBOARD/JOYSTICK - UP. DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT moves the player. FIRE kicks the ball. Watch the ball, wait for the right moment, run into position and put the plan into action. Score. As easy as that... At the end of the match, the results will be given for your game as well as all the other results for that day. Press FIRE to return to the Control Menu.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING (B)

Obviously, the more goals you score, the more money you will make. But playing is not the only way to make money. As a potential football personality, money can also be earned from personal appearances, media events and sponsorship deals. Nobody wants just a football player though - you have to have personality, intelligence and a knowledge of football to make it big off the field.

This is where the DOUBLE OR NOTHING icon comes in. Clicking on this brings up the 'Quiz Show' screen, asking first how much money you wish to gamble. Type in an amount (£10 - £500) and press RETURN. You will then be asked a football trivia question, and asked to answer either 1, 2 or 3. If you get it right, you get double your money back. If you are wrong, you lose the lot.

If you are right, you get the chance to either take the money now, or gamble it again on the result of another question. Get this right, and you will get the chance to play for the third and final time (or again just take the money and run). Get it wrong and all the money is lost. The decision is yours.

STATE OF AFFAIRS (C)

To check on how your team are doing in the league, click on the STATE OF AFFAIRS icon. This gives you the league table, along with the points won, matches played and goals scored for and against each team. This also gives you an idea of how all the other teams are doing, should you decide to...

TRANSFER (D)

If you have been scoring goals left, right and centre, but your team keeps losing its matches, maybe it is time to considers change. Let's face it, no matter how good you are, you will never be picked as Footballer Of The Year if you are playing for a useless team, who'll never win any cups or trophies.

Clicking on TRANSFER gives you the option of buying a transfer card, thus putting yourself onto the transfer market. A card costs £5,000, and buying a card gets you scouted for another team. Either the scout will not be interested in you, your career has not yet sufficiently impressed him, or he will want to buy you, on the condition that you either answer a number of trivia questions or score a number of goals in your next match.

The amount of money offered, and your cut of it, will be shown to you, and of course you have the option to refuse the offer. If you accept, choose either goals or questions to prove yourself to the scout. If you then answer the questions or score the goals in the next match, the transfer will take place. Now you will get the chance to beat your old side as well as everybody else in the country.

CAREER (E)

Clicking on the CAREER icon gives you a list of teams that you have played for, cup medals you have won, and your F.O.T.Y. record (how many times you have won it). Click again to return to the Control Menu.

SAVE/LOAD (F)

This icon gives you the option to either SAVE your career up to present onto a TAPE/DISK, or to LOAD in a previously saved career. If you wish to save your present status, position a blank TAPE/DISK (Disk must be formatted) and click on SAVE GAME to save out your career statistics.

QUIT (G)

Enables you to exit out of current game.

INTERNATIONALS

At certain times throughout the season, you will be considered for your International side, and offered a place on the condition that you score a number of goals in your next match. If you manage this, you will then play all the International matches for your country as well as your league matches, so improving your chance of becoming Footballer Of The Year.

To stay in the International side though, you must score at least one goal in every match that they play. Failure to do this and you're out.

END OF SEASON

At the end of the season, two awards are given. One is the top goalscorer award, given to the player who scored the most goals in the season. Winning this, if you can, helps enormously toward the winning of the big one. The Footballer Of The Year. Best Player in the Country. Can you do it? You'll have to play through the seasons to find out. Good Luck.