05-04-2025
On this day: 24-hour Football Manager marathon raises food bank funds
On this day in 2020, the Telegraph and Argus reported that a popular football fanzine team raised more than £10,000 for food banks by playing Football Manager for 24 hours straight.
The Square Ball, a Leeds United fanzine, hosted a live stream of the marathon on YouTube and Periscope.
The effort began at around 10am and aimed to support the Leeds Fans Food Bank, a collective effort from the club, the Leeds United Supporters' Trust, and fans to support food banks across Leeds.
The team chose the 2007 version of Football Manager for the marathon.
They said on X (formerly Twitter): "Not merely an attempt to escape our children, we're also doing it to raise money for Leeds Fans Food Bank.
"We won't be playing the current version, of course.
"In an attempt to forget about all the bad things happening in the world, we're going back to the summer of 2007.
"A happier time of, er, Ken Bates, administration, and -15 points."
The team welcomed several guests throughout the stream, including comedians Jon Richardson and Rob Mulholland.
By the end of the non-stop marathon, The Square Ball had managed to get Leeds promoted from League One into the Championship via the play-offs and Wembley.
There was £12,500 in the pot before the stream started, and the team managed to raise enough on top of that to hit the £25,000 at the end of the mammoth effort.
