Football Fanatic

Football Fanatic is one of the best organised, realistic, yet simple football management games around. It is comprised fully of text, so the lay-outs are easy to follow, with many short cuts to the various menus.
As far as realism goes, there are many great elements. You can manage a team from either the top division where you can win as many titles as you can over a period of many years, or take a 4th division team all the way to the top of the 1st division.
Other options such as training, transfers, tactics, financial management, player contracts etc.

.. Is all a key part of making the team successful?
The player database is from 2002, which is modern enough to have many recognisable names, while the teams are comprised from the top 140 or so of the best European teams around. This gives you an elite competition type feel to the challenge.
The skill sets of the players are interesting, with many different ratings, such as skill, experience, stamina, leadership etc...
The transfer market is quite realistic as well, with most of the big (and small) names available. This is good if you want to add your favourite players to your squad. The game engine is a text commentary, with team stats displayed along the way. While it is extremely simple, if you take it minute by minute, it gives a decent feel to the game without being a bore. The outstanding quality of football fanatic is that it doesn’t have any element that is unnecessary or a chore to work through. However, while football fanatic is one of the best football manager games around, it suffers from some generic complaints about football management games as well as a couple of tactical/strategy parts that struggle to make it a true soccer challenge.
The most obvious and common problem with management games is found here, is the transfer market, where it is too easy to simply buy big names, or older players for cheap money. And then it becomes a game of how high can you get your team to rate, (if your team is above 80 you are basically unbeatable no matter what tactic you use).
Another complaint is that at the end of the season you are given so much money that you buy your way to the problem above, which is simply buying so many good players that you can't lose. The tactical page is also an interesting part, as it is difficult to tell how the tactics influence the games. This is a weakness, as this element is usually strong in other management games.
But if you are after a challenge, where you can play a season and without feeling you have been given an easy run, it is a good, in depth, but quick game, that is good for a once over go.