Proper Football Boss

Proper Football Boss 86/87 season - coming to Steam Nov 2026

Wishlist now!

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

Remember when football was proper? Official PFB trailer just landed and it's a beaut.

⚽ Coming to Steam, Nov 2026. Step back 40 years to season 86/87, when a tackle was a TACKLE. All in glorious Teletext style.

👉 Wishlist: https://t.co/Ktwc3GClw5

#FootballManager #RetroFootball

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

Our first review in the wild 😀

[Football Manager Addict @FM__Addict]

#GameReview We check out brand new retro football management game @Propfootboss and get stick into a season of route one with the Crazy Gang of Wimbledon. But could we spring any surprises? #RetroGaming #ProperFootballBoss

Read here: https://t.co/BSq1wLBKo6

[Football Manager Addict @FM__Addict]

#GameReview We check out brand new retro football management game @Propfootboss and get stick into a season of route one with the Crazy Gang of Wimbledon. But could we spring any surprises? #RetroGaming #ProperFootballBoss

Read here: https://t.co/BSq1wLBKo6

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

@ExtremeFootbal4 Peter Pervis

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

In the first in a series of deep dives about the making of PFB and 80's football in general, I thought the obvious place to start was with the game's design intentions.

My first goal was for players to get an immediate hit of nostalgia - to recapture that feeling of loading up an 8-bit tape game or slipping a disk into their Amiga. Putting rose-tinted specs aside, most of those 80s and 90s footy management games promised more than they could deliver.

Sure, games like Football Director and Kenny Daglish's Soccer Managerworked miracles with meagre 48k of memory, but I don't have those limitations. I wanted to pack in all the depth and features I always imagined I'd find from the screenshots and promises on the back of the cassette box.

Teletext is an obvious nostalgia trigger point. With the game's minimalist UI / design style, I figured it would really beef up the player's experience to provide fully interactive teletext league tables, results etc, almost exactly like you remember them from a Saturday morning browse, minus the smooth jazz piping through your TV (or maybe I should ADD the jazz).

In terms of gameplay, my core design tenet was to replicate the job of an 80s and 90's football MANAGER. Not a football club director. As much as I enjoyed selecting sponsors, setting ticket prices and improving stadia (in Premier Manager for example) that is NOT the job of a football manager, but instead falls to a commercial manager or similar role. So what is? The four t's: Training, Tactics, Transfers and the most important of all - TALKING. Talking means man management, probably the most important skill for any 80's football manager.

Few games give you dilemmas to deal with in your squad's personal lives. A sick child, or a drinking problem. Cliques and camaraderie. Sulky players and emergent youth stars. You'll interact with all these and more via the main hub news items, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Another thing you'll notice with PFB is you are rarely given information in absolute numbers. No coach can look at a player and say they are 67% fit, or their passing ability is 18. PFB uses a variety of verbal and visual indicators that give the player a solid idea of a player's fitness / ability etc without bombarding them with numbers. A quick glance at the squad page shows you who is match fit, and who isn't.

PFB hits Steam later this year. In the meantime, look out for regular updates and development deep dives! Meanwhile, if you're interested in playtesting or just want to get involved, head on over to our discord server.

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

@JohnMcM04582246 @Mexico86HQ Just pinged you another one from my gmail.

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

@JohnMcM04582246 @Mexico86HQ I got your email thanks. Replied a few days back but might have hit your spam as the reply came from my personal email.

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

@JohnMcM04582246 The Danes are pretty tasty. Who should I nerf to make Elkjaer better?

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

Our Mexico World Cup 86 demo is live and completely free to play now...

Perhaps you can fare better than we did with England!

#wc2026 #wc26 #FIFAWC2026 #FIFAWorldCup #Football #WorldCup #mexico86 #worldcup1986 #footballmanager #threelions #itscominghome

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

I WOULD LOVE IT IF WE BEAT THEM. LOVE IT!
Come On #England

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

Now we know how much they like backdoor action in #spain

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

What was the LEAST deserved run to a major international final?

A few teams really don't deserve to be in the #worldcup quarters. #Argentina have been poor and were so lucky to beat Egypt, with a little help from the officials. #Belgium are only here because Senegal imploded after totally outplaying them for 85 minutes.

Here are some: A medicore Germany side had an incredibly easy path to the 2002 final. Well beaten by Brazil in a wholly unmemorable game.

Holland played some great football to reach the 2010 final, winning three tricky group games and even beating Brazil in the quarters. They then decided to try to kick Spain off the park, accumulating a record 14 yellows and 1 red, ruining the showpiece event for every neutral. Football prevailed though, and Spain won 1-0. Baffling from the Dutch.

#England in 2024. We scraped our way into the final via a generous route, playing listless, inspid #football interspersed with moments of magic. We then failed to show up in a final we didn't really deserve to be in.

#wc2026 #worldcup2026

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

What's everyone doing with their #worldcup rest day?

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

@MMMuratoglu Very nice. Where?

[Müjdat Mustafa Muratoğlu @MMMuratoglu]

Bu hangi uygulamaysa tüm eski maçlara yapılmalı. 4k Hagi Batistuta, 94 formaları görmek bünyeye vitamin gibi geldi.

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

@Footballfights Love to see some of today's soft as shite lot deal with this treatment.

[Proper Football Boss @Propfootboss]

Interesting story. Do you rate Shilton or did he stay well past his welcome?

[Stu’s Football Flashbacks @stusfootyflash]

36 years ago today:

According to Chris Woods and Dave Beasant, before the 3rd place play-off at Italia ‘90, they were both promised a half each by Bobby Robson.

That was until Peter Shilton insisted on playing, so he could win his 125th cap.

Neither Woods nor Beasant got on.

[Stu’s Football Flashbacks @stusfootyflash]

36 years ago today:

According to Chris Woods and Dave Beasant, before the 3rd place play-off at Italia ‘90, they were both promised a half each by Bobby Robson.

That was until Peter Shilton insisted on playing, so he could win his 125th cap.

Neither Woods nor Beasant got on.

[I❤️Nostalgia '𝕏' @Ilovenostalgia]

We were obsessed with the ‘Future’ in the ‘80s. It was so exciting. We couldn’t wait to get there. We are here now and I want a refund and a return ticket 😂