Football Manager Computer Game To Help Premier League Clubs Buy Players

Premier League clubs "are to start using the database belonging to the computer game Football Manager to help identify and recruit new signings," according to Rob Bleaney of the London GUARDIAN. Sports Interactive, the creator of the best-selling game, "will begin feeding its extensive information into Prozone Recruiter, an online analysis platform which many of the top clubs use to scout new talent." Biographical, contractual and positional information compiled by SI over two decades "will be incorporated into the Prozone tool, which provides player data and archived video footage of tens of thousands of players from across the world" (GUARDIAN, 8/11). In London, Ben Rumsby wrote "the new venture is not the first time Sports Interactive has agreed to share its database, having struck a deal with Everton back in 2008." Football Manager "also created a real-life manager two years ago when Azerbaijani student Vugar Huseynzade was put in charge of FC Baku’s reserve team based on his success in the game" (TELEGRAPH, 8/11).