Good afternoon me mateys and welcome to my first blog. It’s been nearly 2 weeks now since the SEGA revolving doors flung me head first into my new position of “Community Officer” for Football Manager so it was, I thought, high time I introduced myself.

After a 2 year period of nomadic wandering since finishing University, which took me from an 18 month stint ‘working’ for the Home Office in Sheffield to 6 months getting well acquainted with my backpack, I arrived at SEGA a relieved man.

Touching back down in Blighty, I was not relishing the prospect of months of fruitless job searching. Yet, I barely had time to put a brew on and load up a new game of FM when I found myself in London Town being interviewed by some lovely chaps at the good ship SEGA.

And so it was that 2 weeks ago, knapsack stuffed with a few bare essentials, I arrived to be blinded by the bright lights of Watford, my temporary digs (big thanks go out to Sports Dave for his hospitality!).

It won’t be earth shattering news to any of you to hear that I am a HUGE fan of all things football and all things Football Manager. Somewhat of a recovering FM addict, I guess me getting this job is something akin to a recovering alcoholic getting a job in a pub. After missing out on most of FM08 due to travel and girlfriend commitments, I am positively brimming with excitement about the imminent arrival of FM09. The 3D match view has finally arrived and, I think, will only enhance the games playability.

Elsewhere, I am looking forward to using the new improved transfer system and to playing mind games with those pesky hacks with the enhanced media interaction features. With my managerial tendencies to err on the side of controversy, I could find myself in hot water with just about everyone!

I suppose I should tell you a little more about what I’m doing here. I can refute claims from my friends that I sit on my over-sized rear each day playing FM as being completely unfounded. Sometimes, I make the tea too!

Seriously though, I am based in our Brentford office where I officially belong to the Online Marketing team. But, what exactly do I do as Community Officer you maybe or maybe not, asking? Well, I will have a stab at explaining my main responsibilities.

Firstly, as my job title would suggest I’m here to ensure that our ever thriving FM community is taken good care of. Hopefully, you can expect a re-vamped FM affiliate scheme, a dedicated forum for webmasters and a generous helping of FM copies and merchandise. Ultimately, I’ll be aiming to work with Football Manager websites to both help and grow the community. So if you want to voice any issues or concerns or are in need of some advice then feel free to fire away at me.

Secondly, I’ll be trying to ensure that www.footballmanager.com is regularly updated with interesting content. I can guarantee the content side of things; I’d like to think you will also find it interesting! I love football and I love to write about football but sometimes the ‘creative juices’ can dry up so I’m always open to any suggestions. In fact, I can confirm that I will be inviting fan sites to submit interesting article ideas for the website. I’ll also be making sure the new Football Manager 2009 Facebook page is updated with all the interesting links!

On top of this, I shall also be working with other football sites and forums to make sure that FM09 gets all the recognition it deserves! Again, expect more competitions and more prizes, so if you regularly trawl through football sites to relieve yourself from boredom at work then don’t be surprised to see more FM competitions and prize give-aways up for grabs.

Right, I think that’s more than enough of my ramblings for now. My tea is getting cold and I need to finish it quick sharp if I’m to make it home in time for an evening in front of the box enjoying some UEFA Cup action.

It’s been a while since I’ve shared my tee for tea exploits, but everyone in my general vicinity has become somewhat addicted to a particular flash game with an incredibly simple premise. Check it out here. I know there’s a lot of Stick Cricket purists out there, but I’ve begun to think this simply hits it for six. The reason for this is, to put it quite simply, it’s the most addictive flash game I’ve ever played - and that’s a lot of flash games! Anyone remember Smack the Penguin or the Green Helicopter? Well I’m convinced this will turn your world into a black hole. I once played it so much that I couldn’t sleep at night. All I could think of was the haunting wavering batsman at the stumps, flailing at the build up of balls as they bounce down the wicket.

Since then I’ve seen brighter times, and I’ve weened myself off it a little (apart from the odd lunch play). Recently I smashed the record, posting a whopping 522. However, Dave, as per usual, had other ideas. Instead of going home, he stayed in the office until late yesterday in an effort to defeat the high score. Well, he absolutely smashed it, posting a whopping 805 in the process. That’s nearly a full two minutes at the crease! This afternoon I achieved the dizzy heights of 755, so it was a little gutting to see the regular Howzat! just short of Dave’s triumph. I reckon I’ll beat it soon though. Watch this space!

Unbeatable?