DigiPlay 6: Moving Forwards in Digital Leisure Research

Wednesday 14th Sept 2005
School of Sport and Leisure Management
Sheffield Hallam University

The Cult of Champ Man: The Culture and Pleasures of Championship Manager/Football Manager Gamers

Garry Crawford (Sheffield Hallam University)

This paper considers the popularity and social significance of the gaming series Championship Manager/Football Manager. Sport related games continue to be one of the most popular forms of digital gaming, and the series has proved to be one of the most successful of all time. Drawing on thirty-two interviews with game players and developers of this series, this paper argues that this series has proved particularly popular due to its 'intertextual' links to the sport of football, which allows this game to be drawn on as a resource in conversations and social networks. In particular, this paper argues that aspects of gaming, such as performativity and control, extend and crosscut with wider social formations. Hence, I argue that it is crucial that considerations of digital games seek to locate these within wider social and cultural patterns.

Key words: digital games, everyday life, football, performativity, sport.

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