Football Manager player smashes Guinness World Record for longest ever game save

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By James Stroud

Published Oct 4, 2019

Sepp Hader spent 333 seasons on one save

For some, Football Manager is a way of life.

And that statement definitely applies to Michael Leniec from Poland.

Leniec was handed a Guinness World Record for 'the longest single game of Football Manager' in 2017 after playing through 221 seasons.

That's an incredible total and one that would have taken him thousands of hours to get.

However, he is no longer the record holder. It has now been broken by Sepp Hedel from Germany.

Hedel has completed 333 seasons and has spent an incredible 1,940 hours of real-world play time.

And he hasn't spent a single in-game day on holiday.

"The game always challenges you and I always developed new goals, so in-game vacation was not an option," he told the Guinness World Records website.

"You do not win the UEFA Champions League while chilling on the beach."

The German started a save on Football Manager 2017 while he was spending time in Africa and has become addicted ever since.

"The majority of the in-game years I played in Africa. When you are far away from home you don't have much impact on what's going on at home," he said.

"I played Football Manager since 2015, so it was something familiar and the game helped me to distract and keep occupied.”

He's now back in Germany and has admitted progress has been slower.

"Due to my job, I was only at home on weekends," he continued. "But I still had some time after work to play few hours a day."

He's managed just three clubs across the 333 seasons: FC United of Manchester, Bengaluru FC and Hereford.

"My favourite part of the game was to develop smaller clubs, so I started with FC United of Manchester who had their first Premier League win in 2037 after six second places! That was a special moment," he said.

"After 50 years in Manchester I had won everything, so I decided to try something new and signed with Bengaluru FC of India.

"This was a totally different style of play. You don't get millions due to advertising and TV rights, and you can't sign more than four foreign players, so I developed young players to achieve my goals.

"Eventually I returned to the Premier League with Hereford FC in 2277. However, I realised how insanely strong I developed FC United and it was even harder to beat my former club, but I finally managed to in 2289."

"Since every club was unique, I do not have a favourite. But shout out to Hereford FC."