Liverpool fan and hardcore gamer Darren Bland has broken the Guinness World Record for the single longest ever game of Football Manager. Bland, known as Wulfhammer in the gaming community, spent a ridiculous 173 days, 16 hours and 51 minutes to be precise from early 2013 to 2014 , playing as the manager of Italian Serie-A side Fiorentina. His single game lasted an astonishing 154 seasons.
Bland had to call it quits eventually, though, in the year 2163 of the game, after damaging his laptop with some liquid. In 154 seasons, he finished with a not too shabby 151 Serie-A titles and earned himself the “Legendary” status.
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Speaking of records, his biggest purchase was Luis Tejedor for £105m in 2040. A manager’s age in the game peaks at 99 but according to calculations, Bland would be at least 185 yeards old in the game.
Speaking to Guinness World Records Darren said, "In the real world I'm an 80's glory-hunting Liverpool fan, fallen on less glorious times, I had a previous save with me managing them for 80 odd years. But, variety is the spice and all that so, on this occasion, I plumped for Fiorentina.”
He also stated that he always finishes the game with the same football club as that with which he started. “ When I start a game with a club, I finish it with said club. Why abandon all the hard work just for some computer algorithm to muck it all up while I have to start the process all over?”
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He went on to talk about his reasoning behind choosing La Viola, saying "I chose Fiorentina because a) My all time favourite player had a mediocre season with them - the genius, the doctor, the bearded lord of the nonchalant style, Socrates from the wonderful 1982 Brazil team. And b) They play in purple ... Not a bad colour to look at for 154 years. If it's good enough for Prince.."
Seeing his success in the game might give Fiorentina a boost as they kick off their real life Serie-A campaign on Sunday against Genoa.
For all you fans out there, eager to have your shot at the record, Football Manager 2017 is set to release on November 4th, 2016.
