It’s the 28th of December again, time to celebrate this website’s second anniversary! It all started on December 28th in the year 2008, a day in which I had nothing better to do than to set up this website :) Two years have gone by since then and I am amazed that I’m still keeping this website running with the same passion that I had back when it all began.
I could go on and on about these two years but I guess the best thing would be to let the numbers do the talking:
- — 726 posts were published
- — 10,512 comments were posted
- — 13,543 spam comments were deleted (yikes!)
- — around 500,000 different people visited the website at least once during these two years! Thankfully many of them came back for the new posts now and again! ;)
I’m quite proud of these numbers because when it all started there was just me and my computer! But I have to thank so many people for these two years…
Firstly I have to thank the people that come here to read the stories or ask for help with their game. Your passion for the game is admirable and this website would have been shut down long ago if we wouldn’t have had your kind support.
Secondly I have to thank the writers that were kind enough to publish their stories here, starting with Kevin, our friend from Canada, Laxeyman, the brilliant writer that entertained us with his FM 2010 stories, Ana Garcia, the loveliest manager in the world, and all the others that tested their skills and shared the passion with all of you.
Last but not least, I have to thank the fantastic people at Sports Interactive who keep providing a great game for us to enjoy. The game gets better and better each year and for that we have to be grateful to Miles Jacobson and his team for working so hard for our addiction :)
Since we’re around Christmas and it’s a festive moment I would like to give out some gifts for the people that have supported this website. I intend to make this a tradition from now on, so don’t worry if you won’t be getting any presents this time. Here goes:
Prize #1
To our top commentator, our friend from Singapore Lye Kuek Hin, I will give the book called «Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics» by Jonathan Wilson. Lye has posted more comments here than anybody else, 490 to be exact, so I guess you will all agree that he fully deserves the prize. I hope you will enjoy reading the book Lye! :)
Prize #2
To our first guest author and one of my best friends, Kevin Mayo, I will give a book about Manchester United since he’s a Red Devils fan. The book is called «Football — Bloody Hell!: The Biography of Alex Ferguson» and it’s written by Patrick Barclay. I hope you’ll enjoy it on the subway mate! :)
Prize #3
One of the gifts has to go to Ana Garcia, the most attractive football manager there is, real or virtual! Her stories are a breath of fresh air and a challenge for all of us males who think that we know everything about football. Ana will get an entertaining book, it’s called «Football Oddities: Curious Facts, Coincidences and Stranger-than-fiction Stories from the World of Football». I hope you will like it Ana.
Prize #4
Last but not least, Laxeyman will get a book about Liverpool FC since he’s a fan of the club. Although Laxeyman is no longer a member of our writing team I can not forget his brilliant posts that we have all enjoyed this year. The book is called «Red Men: Liverpool Football Club – The Biography» and it’s written by John Williams.
I would have wanted to give presents to each and every one of you but this is all I could afford this year. I hope to have more to offer next year when we’ll celebrate the website’s third anniversary but I will surely never have enough to show my full gratitude to all of you. I want to thank you all once again, readers and writers, for keeping this website going.
P.S.: For the gift recipients, please drop me an email with your postal addresses and if you already own the book that I’m offering you please don’t be shy and tell me about it, we can always switch it for another nice book about football.
Jack
28 декабря, 2010 at 17:21
Congratulations on running such a brilliant site Johnny! Keep up the good work :)
Johnny Karp
28 декабря, 2010 at 17:25
Thanks Jack :)
Sears
28 декабря, 2010 at 17:44
Wow, that’s wonderful achievement Johnny. This is a great website which hopefully will be here for many more years! I don’t know what I would have done if I din’t find this site. This time last year I was absolutely clue less about Fm. Now I know everything and it was you who thought me. Thanks Johnny, your a great guy. I never took notice of how many comments I posted here, just 22 behind Lye! I hope they all enjoy there books. Anyway, keep up the brilliant work mate, I love this ite.
Johnny Karp
28 декабря, 2010 at 17:49
Thanks a lot Sears, you have been a great supporter of the website for a very long time. I will surely have a present for you next year ;)
Sears
28 декабря, 2010 at 17:45
Sorry, meant to say »site» at the end instead of »’ite».
Victor
28 декабря, 2010 at 17:50
Congratulations!
This is a very very useful football manager website and here are some amazing stories.
Johnny Karp
28 декабря, 2010 at 18:00
Thanks Victor, I hope we’ll keep going for at least another couple of years :)
Darren Smith
28 декабря, 2010 at 17:59
Hey Johnny, congratulations on a great achievement. It feels like your site has been around much longer than two years, probably because of the volume of quality posts we’re all blessed with reading. Been an FM affiliate and site owner myself I can confidently say that your site has revolutionised the way we all blog and write about the game. Your posts have taught us all a lot and I look forward to following you and your site for many years to come. Well done mate, you deserve it!
Johnny Karp
28 декабря, 2010 at 18:01
Thanks a lot for your kind words Darren. I also feel that more than two years have gone by but you can’t argue with the numbers :)
Laxeyman
28 декабря, 2010 at 18:22
Great achievement in reaching your 2 year anniversary Johnny, the blog is the best I’ve seen on the web and it was a pleasure to write on here, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hopefully the blog can keep going for a long time, reading everyone’s stories is very enjoyable. Congratulations Johnny, you deserve the most credit of all.
Johnny Karp
28 декабря, 2010 at 18:26
Thanks Laxeyman, I’m very happy that you have been part of the team. I guess I deserve some of the credit, I agree, but it’s like a puzzle: it can’t be complete without all the pieces. And those pieces can be represented by the team that makes the game, the readers, the guest authors and, last but not least, me. :)
Andries
28 декабря, 2010 at 19:30
Hey Johnny,
Congrats on your two year anniversary!! You’ve done a great job! Superb website mate!!
Gr Andries
Johnny Karp
28 декабря, 2010 at 20:41
Thanks Andries, you have played a part it its development as well!
ravenie
28 декабря, 2010 at 20:07
A fantastic achievement for the site and for you Johnny. Merry Christmas and a good luck to a good Football Managering new year!
Johnny Karp
28 декабря, 2010 at 20:42
Thanks Ravenie, best wishes for the new year!
Ana Garcia
28 декабря, 2010 at 22:08
First off congratulations Johnny for a fantastic site and well done on reaching its second birthday!
Second, thank you for your kind words about me! Also thank you for a wonderful gesture but I dont think its right to accept it. I right for fun and for enjoyment I dont really want anything in return so maybe you could offer it to another person on the site.
Third, you deserve a huge amount of credit you have spoken about the people who have helped your site and we all know your to modest to take any acknowledgement! But without your passion and your will to help all members on the site (including me!) the site wouldnt be here today.
Plus you are a really nice guy! So well done! :)
Johnny Karp
29 декабря, 2010 at 10:55
Thanks Ana but please accept the gift, it’s not a reward or anything like that, it’s just a gift.
Kevin
28 декабря, 2010 at 22:40
Hi Johnny
Have been out all day so now just catching up and reading this article with some shock and awe.
First off I’m flattered to be considered one of your best friends and I consider it very much a privlidge not only to be your friend but also to be part of this great website you have developed over the last two years. What you have accomplished not only in the game itself but in bringing people together from around the globe is truly remarkable.
Any accomplishments and achievements in this great game we all so enjoy I owe down to your support and patience. I’d also like to thank you for providing the motivation to create my own blog at first and then to make the move here a year ago which I will never forget.
Thankyou for the kind gift (which you really didn’t have to do) that I will save for the 1 hour subway ride for sure :)
Happy anniversary and here’s to a fantastic!!
Kevin
29 декабря, 2010 at 09:00
Now I’ve found my glasses that would be a …..fantastic 2011. LOL!
Johnny Karp
29 декабря, 2010 at 11:00
:) Have a great 2011!
Johnny Karp
29 декабря, 2010 at 10:58
Thanks a lot Kevin, it is a privilege having you in the team and as a friend.
Lye Kuek Hin
29 декабря, 2010 at 03:22
Hi Johnny,
Well Johnny, i don’t know what to say for such a kind gesture of yours, thank you so much for the gift. Without this site, i will never have set up fmstory and enjoy the company of such awesome FM community. It just make playing the game even more meaningful. So amazing that it brings everyone living in different sides of the world together to talk about our passion.
Your blog has inspire many to set up a blog of their own and your achievements in the FM world is there for everyone to see. You inspire not only in real life but in the FM world as well. I foresee this blog to continue growing under your care. Happy anniversary and cheers for a better 2011.
Johnny Karp
29 декабря, 2010 at 10:59
Thanks Lye. I know that many people started similar blogs after finding inspiration here and that is something that makes me very happy, it’s the least I could do for the FM community.
Sayam Khan
29 декабря, 2010 at 17:50
Hi Johnny,
Firstly, big big congratulations on this achievment. I must praise you for the ammount of effort you have been putting into this. Well done!
Secondly, thank you for giving me the oppotunity to write for this website. I know i’m a slow player of the game and i’m not the most consistant, but thanks for letting me!
PS, you have 10,536 comments now! :-)
Johnny Karp
29 декабря, 2010 at 19:51
Thanks Sayam, I hope we’ll have an even better third year.
Chris
29 декабря, 2010 at 18:23
Congratulations on the 2nd anniversary Johnny,
I’ve only been using this site for about a year, I remember it was the 28th of December last year to be exact. thank you for having the passion to keep it going, I can’t wait to see what brilliant ideas you come up with in the next year. I do try and comment more often but what little free time I have is usually spent playing the game, I might even write that blog. :-)
Keep up the good work
Johnny Karp
29 декабря, 2010 at 19:53
Hey Chris, thanks. Enjoy the game, that’s the main purpose of this website!
James
30 декабря, 2010 at 01:22
Johnny, I simply dont know why you’re thanking all the readers … Because you are the one guy who has helped us, its been a pleasure reading pretty much everything on your website!
Best Wishes for the futute!
Johnny Karp
30 декабря, 2010 at 06:32
Thanks for the well wishes James. I have to thank the readers for multiple reasons: their coming back to read the posts is what keeps the website going and secondly I am learning a lot from the readers as well, maybe more than they are learning from me.
handyfernandy
30 декабря, 2010 at 04:32
Congratulations!
love this web, love this game,
INDONESIA football manager blog http://blognyafootballmanager.blogspot.com/
….
Johnny Karp
30 декабря, 2010 at 06:30
Thanks mate.
cory berman
30 декабря, 2010 at 13:07
hey Johnny, these blogs are brilliant and you deserve a lot of credit for that. Thanks for helping me out with my little problems here and there. I think thats why this website is so special. thanks agian and may it long continue
Johnny Karp
30 декабря, 2010 at 15:03
Thanks for the good wishes Cory. Helping people makes me happy so that’s not a problem at all.