[{"TitleName":"Footballer of the Year","Publisher":"Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd","Author":"Chris Kerry, Greg A. Holmes, Peter M. Harrap, Steve Kerry","YearOfRelease":"1986","ZxDbId":"0001832","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 37, Feb 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-01-22","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishers: Roger Kean, Oliver Frey, Franco Frey\r\nPublishing Executive/Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nSub Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Lee Paddon, Hannah Smith\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Philippa Irving\r\nTech Tipster: Simon Goodwin\r\nContributing Writers: Jon Bates, Brendon Kavanagh, John Minson\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Dick Shiner\r\nAssistant Art Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrators: Ian Craig, Oliver Frey\r\nProduction: Seb Clare, Tim Croton, Mark Kendrick, Tony Lorton, Nick Orchard, Michael Parkinson, Cameron Pound, Jonathan Rignall, Matthew Uffindell\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nBookings [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Ian Craig\r\n\r\n101,483 Total\r\n92,992 UK and EIRE"},"MainText":"Producer: Gremlin Graphics\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAuthor: The Gremlin Team\r\n\r\nThis football strategy/simulation began life as a design for a traditional boardgame offered to GREMLIN some while ago. Now it appears as a computer-only entertainment. You are sweet seventeen and want to be a top footballer. At the start of your career you have £5,000 in cash, 10 'goal cards' and a pair of reasonably talented feet. Your ultimate aim is to become Footballer Of The Year and attend the prestigious award ceremony.\r\n\r\nThe first decision you make is which Division to play in - there are five skill levels available, represented by the four English Divisions and an international Super League. Goal cards are more expensive in the higher Divisions, and as they are traded for shots at goal, the number of goal cards you can afford has a bearing on your performance as a player.\r\n\r\nThe game is icon-driven from the main control menu. Accessing the globe icon reveals the performance of the team that is paying your wages - the number of goals scored, the team's morale and progress in the various competitions are revealed. The footballer icon leads to the report on the player's personal achievements: status points, the league played in and weekly earnings are shown on bar charts. A general rating is also given which summarises the footballer's overall skill level. An icon in the form of a scroll enables the player to attempt to gain a transfer, but it costs money to attract the attention of a scout - and a transfer request isn't always successful. Prices range from just £2.000 to £10,000 a go. A question mark icon conceals 'Incident Cards', which cost £200 a time and operate rather like 'Chance'cards in a game of Monopoly - money can be won or lost, transfers obtained and extra goal cards collected by buying a bit of luck (which isn't always good).\r\n\r\nIf things are going very badly, and the proverbial parrot looks so unwell that recovery is unlikely, the game can be abandoned by selecting the 'injured player' icon. There's also the facility to save a game to tape, via the tape icon, if building a career looks likely to span several long sessions.\r\n\r\nThe icon in the centre of the control screen - a football boot - leads to the football pitch. Selecting it reveals the player's financial reserves and offers the chance to buy further Goal Cards. The computer chooses the match to be played, and decides the number of shots at goal which the star will get if a Goal Card is cashed in - one, two or three shots are allowed and part of the strategy of the game lies in using the available Goal Cards to best effect.\r\n\r\nA mini arcade sequence follows in which the player gets to shoot at the goalmouth after positioning the ball. Sometimes a couple of defenders romp towards the ball, and if a shot isn't taken before they tackle the opportunity is lost. The goalie does his best to save each shot, and once the attempts at goal are over the match ends and a teleprinter types up the result before control returns to the main icon screen.\r\n\r\nFrom time to time, random events (taken from the selection of incident cards) affect the player's career. As the would-be footballing star improves his skills and earns more money, the financial impact of injuries and other misfortunes is increased - but appearance fees and racecourse winnings increase too.\r\n\r\nEarly in the game, the player has to choose an international side to play for, and once skill levels have been built up the star footballer is called upon to represent the chosen country in international friendlies - all useful goal-scoring opportunities that might influence the judges at the end of the year!\r\n\r\nWhen the season ends, a report on progress is prepared and teams may be promoted or relegated. Talented players may find a transfer deal... Finally, the shortlist of candidates for the ultimate accolade is presented and the judges sit in decision. Could you become Footballer Of The Year?\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q left, W right, P up, L down, SPACE fire\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2\r\nUse of colour: colourful icons, little elsewhere\r\nGraphics: nothing special\r\nSound: mediocre\r\nSkill levels: five\r\nScreens: seven","ReviewerComments":["This isn't a bad little game at all. Okay, so perhaps it won't appeal to your out-and-out arcade freak, but I certainly isn't dull. Graphically there is nothing here that is eyebrow-raising, but all in all it's quite neat. Icons, charts and the like are all well drawn, and the arcade sequence is adequate. The sound is dull - a tunette at the start and a few minimal effects are all you get. I don't see myself playing this forever, but it'll certainly keep me amused for a couple of lunchtimes.\r\nBen Stone","What a strange game GREMLIN have come up with here. I can't say that I've seen anything quite like it before, although it's similar to Football Manager - without requiring the same thought (if you see what I mean). It is easy to see past the smart exterior of Footballer Of The Year - it's really just a lot of cute little sections, none of which are amazingly good or dominant My favourite section is when you get the chance to shoot at goal - but I soon found even this a little too easy. This is a nice idea but whether you'll find yourself playing it again and again is a different matter - I found it started to get tedious after a while.\r\nPaul Sumner","This game has some nice screens with colour used well, especially on the menu. The football sequence is not very good - the goalie has not been animated very well and the defenders move in very bad diagonals. The arcade section doesn't require a lot of skill. There's a large element of chance as well as strategy, and skill is needed when it comes to juggling with all the variables and coping with financial decisions. The presentation falls down a bit: screen messages sometimes flash up too quickly to read and the computer bleeps at odd times. Maybe this game will only appeal to the real football fanatic.\r\nMike Dunn"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Reasonably good fun, but a little too easy.","Page":"28","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The main icon-controlled menu screen, where the campaign to become FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR begins in earnest."},{"Text":"Well Brian, I just stuck me boot out and there it was, in the back of the net!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"66%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"73%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"67%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"68%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 58, Nov 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-10-20","Editor":"Dominic Handy","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Dominic Handy\r\nAssistant Editor: Stuart Wynne\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Philip King, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Raffaele Cecco, Mel Croucher, Ian Cull, Simon Goodwin, Ian Lacey, Barnaby Page, Ian Philipson, Paul Sumner\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nAssistant Art Director: Wayne Allen\r\nProduction Team: Ian Chubb, Melvin Fisher, Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Yvonne Priest\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nSales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Andrew Smales\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris, Lee Watkins [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Sticky Solutions Department a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\nTotal: 96,590\r\nUK/EIRE: 90,822\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Footballer Of The Year\r\nProducer: Kixx\r\nPrice: £2.99\r\nOriginal Rating: 68%\r\n\r\nThis old Gremlin sports simulation was originally conceived as a board game, but eventually appeared on computer back in February 1987.\r\n\r\nThe game has you as a budding Gary Linker on the road to stardom. You have £5000 and ten goal cards which, as if you didn't know, are exchanged for shots at goal. An icon-driven control menu is used to access the various parts of the game - including many statistics. And if you think that you're too good for your current team (highly unlikely) a transfer can be requested.\r\n\r\nThe game's board origins aren't surprising when you see that as well as goal cards, incident cards can also be purchased. But after making a few strategic moves it's time to get out onto the pitch to play a match. An arcade sequence involves shooting at the goal mouth while avoiding the tackles of the defenders.\r\n\r\nFootballer Of The Year is an odd mixture of strategy and arcade skills which, unfortunately, fails due to the large amount of luck involved in making progress. Moreover success is extremely easy to attain so that any minimal appeal is soon lost.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"110","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Phil King","Score":"54","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"54%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 15, Mar 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-02-12","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Caroline Clayton\r\nProduction Editor: Sara Biggs\r\nAssistant Editor: Phil South\r\nStaff Writer: Markus Berkmann\r\nDesigner: Darrell King\r\nContributors: Luke C, Mike Gerrard, Ian Hoare, Gwyn Hughes, ZZKJ, Tommy Nash, Max Phillips, Rick Robson, Rachael Smith\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Julian Harriott\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nManaging Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nPublisher: Roger Munford\r\nPublishing Director: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1987 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"Gremlin\n£7.95\nReviewer: Luke C\n\nIt's extra-orrrdinary Brian! Everywhere you turn there's a new Spectrum soccer simulation (try saying that after a few Lucozades), aimed, no doubt, at the countless thousands who shelled out for Kevin Toms' golden oldie Football Manager.\n\nAnd gameplay in Footballer Of The Year isn't a millon miles from that old chestnut. You still play for a team struggling to escape the lower divisions, only this time you deal in goal cards, which enable you to have a potshot or two at goal whenever you play them. You can also buy Incident Cards (just like Chance and Community cards in Monopoly). As you score more goals and rise up the divisions you find yourself gaining status points and being transferred, often against your will. But there's a definite way to play it to win!\n\nThis involves buying as many goal cards as you can, using them sparingly and spending the rest of your ackers on Incident Cards. From then on in, there are only seven or eight hours of hard play before you finally make Footballer Of The Year. The gameplay's not too bad if you like that sort of thing and the graphics really are excellent. Parts of the game, though, are a mite dodgy. Theres no consistency about league positions - if a team's won ten games and lost 24, you wouldn't really expect it to be sixth in the league. Not only that, there's no difference in cup games between 1st and 4th Division teams and when the Footballer Of The Year ceremony comes up someone is invariably nominated twice, and still doesn't win.\n\nSo does Footballer Of The Year hit the crossbar or is it a winner? Well, Brian, without wishing to put the boot in, let alone brandish the red card, I'm afraid it's not at the top of Division One. Still, it's a game of two halves, Brian, and you could do a hell of a lot worse in 90 minutes.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"30","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Luke C","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 59, Feb 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-01-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nSenior Staff Writer: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nDesigner: Gareth Jones\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Andy Moss, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Jacqui Pope\r\nProduction Assistant: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Stuart Hughes\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. Please write Program Printout on the envelopes of all cassettes submitted. We cannot undertake to return cassettes unless an SAE is enclosed. We pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by PRS Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1987 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 90,215 July-Dec 1985"},"MainText":"FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR\r\nLabel: Gremlin\r\nAuthor: Including Greg Holmes and Christian Shrigley\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nReviewer: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nThe British-born goal ace topping the Superleague's scoring charts has walked out on Juventus.\r\n\r\nTerry Pratt (affectionately dubbed El Tel by unimaginative Italian soccer fans) has quit soccer, blaming the boredom of playing Gremlin's latest, Footballer of the Year.\r\n\r\nIt's, sort of, Football Manager only from the footballer's point of view (rather than the managers, as with Addictive's long-time best seller).\r\n\r\nThe snag is Footballer of the Year is sadly a minor-league game, lacking originality, playing skill and (most importantly) realism.\r\n\r\nThere's not even enough to the game to even let it succeed as an automatic soccer result and statistics generator.\r\n\r\nQuickly then, you become a footballer with a team in one of five divisions.\r\n\r\nChoose a division, team and nationality and the game is in motion. You are told of forthcoming fixtures and choose which to play your goal-cards in - only it really makes little difference.\r\n\r\nGoal-cards have a value of one to three and represent scoring opportunities - penalties or shots - for your player. The computer then lets you play through those opportunities on a pitch with a goal.\r\n\r\nMost of the time it's pretty well a two-in-three chance you'll score.\r\n\r\nNo skill, OK but how did your rivals get on? Are you topping the score charts in your division? What did the local press make of your debut?\r\n\r\nThere's no way of knowing.\r\n\r\nSo... do you want to buy more goal cards? No. Do you want to play a goal card in the next game? Yes... and round again.\r\n\r\nAnd how about El Tel's career? He joined Peterborough on a paltry £75 a week, scored 29 goals to help them to the top of Division IV and was transferred to Swansea (very much against his wishes).\r\n\r\nStill, a hatfull of goals for Swansea in the last five games of the season took them from 17th in the table to the championship - no mean feat.\r\n\r\nBored with life in Division III, El Tel started again playing for Juventus in the Super League. Thirty goals in 25 games meant there would probably have been no room for Ian Rush next season but, although Juventus were top of the table, our hero was still on £75 a week, still rated 'average' and only making ends meet through a succession of gambling triumphs outside of soccer.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Fails miserably. \"Disappointing eh Greavsie?\"\" \"What can I say Saint. They've let themselves down badly\"","Page":"46,47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Terry Pratt","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"1/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 64, Feb 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-01-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesly Walker\r\nSub-Editor: Seamus St. John\r\nDesign: Craig Kennedy\r\nAdventure Writers: Keith Campbell, Steve Donoghue, Matthew Woodley\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Garry Williams\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Katherine Lee\r\nAd Production: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\nCover: Mark Bromley (Who also did last months Space Harrier spectacular!)\r\n\r\n© Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nJuly-December 98,258"},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, Atari, C16 +4, BBC, Electron\r\nSUPPLIER: Gremlin\r\nPRICE: £7.95 (Spectrum/MSX), £9.95 (C64/Amstrad/Electron/BBC/Atari), £6.95 (C16 +4), £14.95 (all discs)\r\nVERSION TESTED: Spectrum\r\n\r\n\"Yeah, Brian. I was sick as a parrot and over the moon at the same time. I'd been playing for Spurs in Div. One for a few games when I was transfered to Wigan Athletic. OK, I hadn't scored many goals and I had a few words with the ref in our last cup match... but Wigan? Then I realised that my share of the transfer fee would help me buy that Porsche I'd always wanted and I'd be a proper superstar in a team like Wigan!\"\r\n\r\nSuch is the stuff of Gremlin's Footballer of the Year, the latest in a long line of games based on our national winter sport. Will it challenge Addictive's Football Manager for the computer cup?\r\n\r\nWell, now we've seen it, FOTY doesn't really set out to compete with the above mentioned classic. It's a whole different ball game - if you'll pardon the pun.\r\n\r\nYou don't play to help your team in this game. Your only aim is to claim the Footballer of the Year title, earning as much cash and getting a good reputation as your career progresses.\r\n\r\nYou start the game aged 17 with £5,000 and the whole world at your Adidas clad feet. You find yourself in a fourth division team - you can pick which one - and with a burning ambition to make it into division one.\r\n\r\nThe game is icon driven from a menu screen. You access the different parts of the game via an arrow cursor and the fire button. Here's a run down of the symbols and what they do.\r\n\r\nThe Globe shows you the state of affairs of your team, their position in the league table, their morale and the usual WDL-points table. The numbers show how many games your team has played - but if you go through more than one season in a session the numbers keep on adding up. They don't reset to the start of a new season. The number of goals you've scored and in which sort of game - cup, league etc - are also shown in another table.\r\n\r\nThe other teams in the league aren't indicated - so you could be top of the league but you don't know who is chasing you and how many points behind they are. This is a disappointing feature of the game and takes some of the interest away from the actual matches you get to play. But I suppose it comes back to the individual being more important than the team in this game.\r\n\r\nThe Footballer's Head icon gets you into a status screen which shows your skill rating, your earnings and the league you currently play in. Status points go up and down as you play.\r\n\r\nThe Scroll allows you to purchase transfer cards - once you've earned enough cash. Buy a card and you could be spotted by a scout from a bigger and better team. A successful transfer will bring more money and more status.\r\n\r\nThe Question Mark is a sort of Monopoly style \"chance\" section. Here you can buy an incident card for £200 a shot. This can lead to many things, a win at the Casino, a transfer, free goal cards, and disasters like injuries, burglaries and fines.\r\n\r\nSometimes nothing happens at all!\r\n\r\nThe Football Boot icon gets you into the game proper. There's an arcade section which allows you to control shots at goal - either proper goalmouth incidents or penalty shots.\r\n\r\nYou get the chance to have a shot at goal by purchasing goal cards. You begin with ten and can buy more as you go. The cost varies depending on what league you're in. If you run out you could try to get free ones by purchasing an incident card.\r\n\r\nBut there's no indication if the goals you score help your team to win or not.\r\n\r\nThe arcade section is fun. You have to set up your shots quickly if you're being chased by defenders. But a penalty allows you to take your time and beat the keeper. Graphics in this section are pretty good.\r\n\r\nAfter the game comes the Grandstand style teletyper which prints out reports of the matches you've played to suitable tickertape sound effects. You can speed up the printer by holding down a key - a good idea this as it speeds up the game.\r\n\r\nYou often get a chance to play for the international squad - but I was never good enough to have a crack at an international. I did get into trouble with the ref a few times, was injured and scored some beautiful goals - but I still didn't manage to win the ultimate accolade despite being promoted to the first division after a couple of seasons. You can jump right in at the top and try division one.\r\n\r\nBe careful how you use your goal cards. They are worth a set number of goal chances per match. Use them wisely and you'll be able to enjoy the arcade section throughout the season.\r\n\r\nThere seemed to be a couple of bugs in the version I played. I seemed to be playing Oldham many more times than possible in a proper season and the teletype machine developed terminal spelling difficulties after a couple of seasons. And since when has Roma been in Div One?\r\n\r\nFootballer of the Year won't replace Football Manager - but it adds a new dimension to computer soccer simulations. Despite its limitations it's fun to play and will appeal to all would-be soccer superstars everywhere.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"22","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tim Metcalfe","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Footballer of the Year allows you to play arcade-style football as well as trying to program in your football career."},{"Text":"The game keeps a record of your goal scoring exploits as well as your earnings."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]