
by D.N. Newyn
Jamie Harrington used to be a defender you could rely on, until the match-fixing scandal that ended his career and relationship like a rogue corner kick. Seven years and one ban later, he’s just another ex-pro flipping steaks on a rusted grill, pretending not to watch football (soccer) highlights through the neighbor’s window. When his brother, now a Premier League star, drags him into coaching a struggling Tier 7 side, Jamie expects nothing but mud and bad pitches. What he doesn’t expect is the game. Not the game. His literal video game. The old Football Management Simulator he’s been playing to kill time starts bleeding into reality. He sees player stats above heads, morale bars hovering like ghosts, and form graphs in real time. And they’re accurate. Now, for the first time in years, Jamie’s got an edge. A disgraced defender turned reluctant manager, a small-town club on the brink of collapse, and a gift that shouldn’t exist. With his new vision, he might just rebuild Dunsvale from the dirt and drag them all the way to the top of the Champions League. Every stat matters now, and he’s playing for keeps. [For every chapter I add on Royal Road from C6 onward, I’m adding an extra chapter on Patreon. The Patreon will always be ahead.]
| # | Title | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Chapter 1: Match fixing was easy then | 0 |
| 1 | Chapter 2: He’d brought chicken breast and didn’t even care to season it | 0 |
| 2 | Chapter 3: Advanced Playmaker ★★★★☆ | 0 |
| 3 | Chapter 4: You takin’ the blue tabs again? | 0 |
| 4 | Chapter 5: Football under anaesthetic | 0 |
| 5 | Chapter 6: Jamie takes this lot | 0 |
| 6 | Chapter 7: Activision-level greed | 0 |
| 7 | Chapter 8: Try setting training routines in FM26 without punching a wall | 0 |
| 8 | Chapter 9: Stuff a Sock in Cousin’s Gob | 0 |
| 9 | Chapter 10: C’mon, Jamie. Where’s your speech? | 0 |
| 10 | Chapter 11: You’ve clearly got an eye for structure | 0 |
| 11 | Chapter 12: Abusing the mechanics | 0 |
| 12 | Chapter 13: Player-manager | 0 |
| 13 | Chapter 14: Stop making out with the far post, Mansfield! | 0 |
| 14 | Chapter 15: You’re a pain in the arse | 0 |
| 15 | Chapter 16: If you go forward, you bloody well get back | 0 |
| 16 | Chapter 17: You look like you’re about to shed a hamstring like a lizard tail | 0 |
| 17 | Chapter 18: Less essay, more execution | 0 |
| 18 | IMPORTANT (Not that Important but still) | 0 |
| 19 | Chapter 19: The lads want to know more than just a coach | 0 |
| 20 | Chapter 20: That dawg in me | 0 |
| 21 | Chapter 21: Who says that in a pub full of people? | 0 |
| 22 | Chapter 22: Fulham vs Burnley | 0 |
| 23 | Chapter 23: Even pints weren’t exempt from quests | 0 |
| 24 | Chapter 24: You gonna need another napkin for your notes, professor? | 0 |
| 25 | Chapter 25: Call that grit | 0 |
| 26 | Chapter 26: What nickname you and my brother give me in Year Seven? | 0 |
| 27 | Chapter 27: Famous for dropping acorns on unsuspecting windscreens | 0 |
| 28 | Chapter 28: Remember in Stranger Things when Eleven had to face the Demogorgon? | 0 |
| 29 | Chapter 29: The Demogorgon had a personality | 0 |
| 30 | Chapter 30: This wasn’t the Michelin guide | 0 |
| 31 | Chapter 31: Has to be a goal | 0 |
| 32 | Chapter 32: An island the size of Lichtenstein | 0 |
| 33 | Chapter 33: The ball slid into the bottom corner | 0 |
| 34 | Chapter 34: Make me the villain | 0 |
| 35 | Quick Update | 0 |
| 36 | Chapter 35: Yeah, sure. But where are the tactical adjustments? | 0 |
| 37 | Chapter 36: Bullshit more, gain more | 0 |
| 38 | Chapter 37: Man’s thinking he’s Pep or something | 0 |
| 39 | Chapter 38: HOLY GOD WHAT WAS THAT | 0 |
| 40 | Chapter 39: The man had left his cards at home with the rest of his officiating skills | 0 |
| 41 | Chapter 40: You have to be good to get lucky | 0 |
| 42 | Chapter 41: It’s system exploitation time, baby | 0 |
| 43 | Chapter 42: You don’t overthrow someone for being mediocre and grumpy | 0 |
| 44 | Chapter 43: Maisie Burns was my savior | 0 |
| 45 | Chapter 44: Mitch Thompson was a weird one | 0 |
| 46 | Chapter 45: Coward pricks who don’t trust their own shapes | 0 |
| 47 | Chapter 46: Gareth Bale if in front of him is Marc Bartra | 0 |
| 48 | Chapter 47: That’s what separates a tactician from a coach | 0 |
| 49 | Chapter 48: You know a lot about this for someone who isn’t ‘in’ football | 0 |
| 50 | Chapter 49: The power of social engineering | 0 |
| 51 | Chapter 50: Time to stack boosters | 0 |
| 52 | Chapter 51: Quiet Quitting (Athletic Variant) | 0 |
| 53 | Chapter 52: FEED THE CAT! | 0 |
| 54 | Chapter 53: You’re a centre-back, not a bloody sports scientist | 0 |
| 55 | Chapter 54: Where the hell did they get this guy? | 0 |
| 56 | Chapter 55: If I was the head coach | 0 |
| 57 | Chapter 56: He really does walk like Sir Alex Ferguson | 0 |
| 58 | Chapter 57: Maybe she’s talking bollocks | 0 |
| 59 | Chapter 58: It would be a crime if he were to play for us | 0 |
| 60 | Chapter 59: Does the Bossman decide who plays? | 0 |
| 61 | Chapter 60: Passable? You live in Slough | 0 |
| 62 | Chapter 61: That’s how trials work | 0 |
| 63 | Chapter 62: Why were they still all down here? | 0 |
| 64 | Chapter 63: I did have a plan | 0 |
| 65 | Chapter 64: Like I was doing reality-TV psychology | 0 |
| 66 | Chapter 65: What was she even on about? | 0 |
| 67 | Chapter 66: Mitch was, understandably, livid | 0 |
| 68 | Chapter 67: Up the Bluebells! | 0 |
| 69 | Chapter 68: Bodies and timing | 0 |
| 70 | Chapter 69: You Can’t Win Anything With Kids | 0 |
| 71 | Chapter 70: That was self-inflicted structural instability | 0 |