Nathan Owolabi is one of soccer’s most beautiful fairytale stories of 2024. The Englishman has done an unthinkable job with Bromley FC who have secured their promotion to the Football League for the first time in 132 years.
The English team beat Solihull Moors in the playoff finals at Wembley Stadium and can now call themselves proud members of the English Football League. The young Nathan Owolabi has played an important role in Bromley’s qualification, whose story is as noteworthy as his employer’s.
Earlier this year, gamer Nathan Owolabi was appointed Support Performance Tactician at Bromley Football Club through what he had learned playing Football Manager.
He helped the club secure promotion to the Football League on Sunday, the first time in their 132-year history 🏆 pic.twitter.com/fk9ijLaEiG
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) May 6, 2024
Nathan has been working as a Support Performance Tactician at Bromley FC since the beginning of the year. What is more remarkable is that the Englishman doesn’t come from a conventional soccer management background.
In truth, he was just a gamer who was a big fan of the simulation game Football Manager. His exploits at FM helped Nathan to be recruited by Bromley as a Support Performance Tactician. The story is inspiring and proves that the concept of acquiring badges is not the only way one can fulfill their dream of becoming a soccer manager.
Instead, all they need is the eagerness to know about the tactical side of the game and a pragmatic mind. Nathan had all these qualities and this has helped him etch his name in the history of Bromley FC for good.
How did Nathan Owolabi land his job at Bromley FC?
The Englishman had gotten the job through a contest organized by Microsoft. Microsoft’s subsidiary and the Football Manager game had collaborated to launch ‘The Everyday Tactician’ which promised to provide a gamer with an opportunity to become a Support Performance Tactician at fifth-tier side Bromley FC.
A three-part docuseries was also released on YouTube, documenting the winner’s story of adapting from the game to real-life situations. Nathan Owolabi was adjudged the winner of the contest and gained an important role at Bromley FC. He then got to know about the real-life details of the soccer world, where he learned about the intricacies of the tactics and also the art of holding negotiations.
Nathan might have never imagined that what had started as a pastime of playing Football Manager would make him one of the celebrated figures in the Esports arena. A team where he got to work through winning a contest has just ended their 132-year-old drought for EFL soccer in the very stadium, where Nathan was once employed as a tour guide.
However, one should not consider that Bromley FC is going to be the end of the road for Nathan Owolabi, The Englishman has already completed some courses on soccer management by England’s Football Association as he intends to launch his full-fledged soccer management career. And Nathan shouldn’t be afraid in this regard, as history is filled with many examples where Football Manager users have turned into real-life coaches.
Football Manager has helped many coaches launch their careers
The most prominent name that comes to our mind in this regard is the former Stade De Reims manager Will Still. The 31-year-old was recruited by the Ligue 1 side, after his marvelous record at the Football Manager game.
Although he did have a prior background in soccer management, it was his journey as an FM user that gained the headlines. The British-Belgian manager did a fantastic job at Reims in his first season, earning an 11th-placed finish.
The club had gone an unbelievable 19-game unbeaten streak in his first season, even beating the French giants Paris Saint Germain. Remarkably, Stade De Reims had to pay a fine of $27,000 every match that Will Still coached the side, as the manager did not hold a UEFA pro license.
🚨🔴 Will Still leaves Stade de Reims with immediate effect, it’s over between 31 year old manager and the French club. pic.twitter.com/pbGqXE8IqC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 2, 2024
Will has decided to leave the club in the 23/24 season with mutual consent amidst links with the vacant job at Sunderland. The Championship side has had issues with the managerial position this season.
Apart from Will Still, many managers have used Football Manager to scout players in real life. The former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is said to have been an avid FM player. Players like Antoine Griezmann, and Ousmane Dembele’s love for the game is out in the public due to numerous online videos showing the two French players having a go at the game.
Football Manager is certainly one of the best simulation games on the planet as it being proficient in it can really help one adapt to real-life soccer management. It would be interesting to see how many gamers turn out to be real-life soccer coaches in the future.