Football Manager 2021 Review: 9 Ups And 3 Downs

by Andrew Pollard

1. It's The Perfect Tonic For 2020

Football Manager 2021
SEGA

For anyone who's ever played a single minute on Football Manager, you'll be well aware that the game can serve as a great escape from the real world.

Given how 2020 has been such a tumultuous and terrible year on a whole variety of levels, Football Manager 2021 is the perfect tonic for this most troublesome of years. Never before has the easy escape of an FM game being so welcomed as it it here in 2020 - and it's testament to Sports Interactive at how they've yet again delivered a game that is ridiculously addictive, ridiculously detailed, and ridiculously engaging.

As an example of this, this actual review of Football Manager 2021 was intended to be put together and ready to be published several days before these words are being typed. The reason for that delay? That's because FM21 has already taken over the life of your humble scribe.

Whether it's taking charge of a top level team or plying your trade with a smaller side, Football Manager 2021 is as all-consuming as you would expect and hope. With each passing year, it feels as if the Football Manager series gets better and better, and this is again the case as FM21 once more manages to top its predecessor.

Make no mistake about it, Football Manager 2021 is everything you'd hoped for and then some.

Advertisement
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.