The Scene: On A Positive Note…

Posted in Scene | On December 3rd, 2007 | By Kazzy

We’ve all heard the stories from wizened old Sceners about how the Scene isn’t what it used to be, how all the big sites have disappeared or died away and so on. Well, time for a change of direction. We’ve all surely heard enough of people pointing out the deficiencies of the Scene so it’s about time that we heard something positive about the Scene.

Personally, I have been about the Scene since November 2003 roughly but today, there is more bad press than ever about the Scene. It matters little what a website does, there will always be someone there to try and knock it. Well, this article aims to be a bit different. It’s about time the sites at the top of their Scene game got a bit of credit for what they do. So, without further ado, I bring you:

Susie (www.sortitoutsi.net)
The word Susie is practically synonymous with the word Scene in an FM Fansite sense. Sortitoutsi.net was the Queen of the Scene for a couple of years but has fallen away in the last 6-12 months. No doubt, Susie is still a formidable force on the Scene and is probably one of the biggest survivors from an early era of the Scene but she has lost her golden graphical touch to FMGLive (more on them later).
Still, Susie boasts an impressive repertoire of graphics that are uploaded by its massive fanbase. That brings me nicely onto my second point; the Susie community forums are always alive and buzzing with activity. While some may disagree with some of the postings, there can be no doubt that the Susie forums are always extremely active. The staff there are also very good, pro-active but not harsh, which is always a good way for a staff team to behave. With a new site promised and a staff team aching to deliver, there’s life in the old gal yet.

FM Britain (www.fm-britain.co.uk)
FM-Britain is one of the few sites that have been around for a while and have actually grown stronger than they once were. In its early days, FM-B was riddled with derogatory accusations about its members and the quality of their postings, as well as it’s primarily Susie-based member base.
FM-B has found its niche in the domain of tactics and has firmly placed its self in the driving seat for FM tactics; a mantle formerly held by Throw-In. FM-B has always quietly gone about its own business and therein lays a great appeal for those who visit the site and forums regularly. Its community is growing steadily and recently surpassed 10,000 members; a great feat for what is a fantastic site.

FMG Live (www.fmglive.com)
Currently down for maintenance at the moment, FMGLive crept up on the Scene to sweep and steal the Graphics Crown from under Susie’s nose. Since then, it has held that mantle with supremacy befitting such a great site. The graphics available to download are magnificent pieces of work from some highly-talented individuals. However, what has really set FMG apart from the other Graphics sites on the Scene is the creativity they show in creating new trends for the FM community. A prime example is the sheer number of different facepack styles they have available, such as the Polaroid-style facepacks and the fantastic Pokerfaces facepacks. It’s not just in facepacks though, as they have proven by the numerous amounts of new kit styles they have created. A brilliant graphical resource to the Scene.

Manager Crisis (www.managercrisis.com)
Manager Crisis has always been an understated site on the Scene. It’s been around longer than most sites (excluding the likes of Susie and Throw-In) but has never really been regarded as one of the “big guns” of the Scene. In the past, it has gone along quite merrily with its small but dedicated base of members but today, Manager Crisis is a site with ambition and drive to be considered as a big site on the Scene.
The main site is wonderfully structured, a joy for all your organised people out there. The content is very good with a lot of emphasis put onto written work. Also, they have the hilarious mase as admin, whose drunken antics are the stuff of legend! MC is a great up-and-coming site fighting to make its mark on the Scene

The FM Portal (www.fooballmanagerportal.co.uk)
I think Rob would gut me if I didn’t include the Portal! The Portal plays host to the Scene’s biggest and best collection of content. As the name suggests, The Portal links to sites and content all across the Scene. It also has its own forums in the guise of the Footygamer forums.
I remember Rob back when he was just a Wannabe (those who knew Rob’s former alias will get that pun) and I would never have thought he was capable of such a massive, time consuming and difficult task. I am glad to say though, he has proved me wrong and the Portal is probably the best resource the Scene has to offer with regards to finding the latest content submitted and new sites on the Scene. Very little falls under the radar of the Portal, a testament to the great job Rob is doing. I hope that he continues to do so as the Portal is a very valuable asset to the Scene.

Goal-Kick (www.goal-kick.co.uk)
Using the same wordpress CMS on their main site as us at Throw-In, Goal-Kick features a very nice theme on their main site and some very good, in infrequent, written content. The site has fallen on some hard times since its heady days when it won critical acclaim in the Scene Awards, winning the award of Best Community and Best Site.
Today, the forums are somewhat quieter and the site less active. That’s obviously not to say the forums are empty, far from it, as GK still plays host to a steadfast community of followers. Q is now one of the administrators there and is splitting his time between GK and his beloved FMUpdates. GK has lost its way a little but I’m confident that it will be making a comeback under Q’s watchful eye.

CMFrenzy (cmfrenzy.com)
Admittedly, I do not know an awful lot about the history of this site but it is certainly among one of the biggest sites on the Scene. It sports a very large community on its forums, spanning some 18000+ members, as well as a eye-catching main site and very good written content.
It has been around for a long time but went under the proverbial water until fairly recently when it has resurfaced and started to re-enact its past success. Despite the name, CMFrenzy do have FM content and, while there isn’t a lot of it, it is updated regularly, unlike some other sites on the Scene.

Hopefully, this Scene article has given you something a bit different. A positive outlook on some of the biggest sites on the Scene.

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