PhysioRoom agreement for Football Manager 2005

Sports Interactive today announced that it has entered into a partnership with online sports injury specialist PhysioRoom.com. The site is designed to be the definitive resource for information about injuries sustained by soccer players in the English Premier League, and it's hoped that, as a result of the agreement announced today, the injuries sustained by players in Football Manager 2005 will be totally authentic.

"We are big fans of the previous [Championship Manager] management games that SI created and have spent far too much time over the years playing them," said PhysioRoom.com's cofounder Peter Lilley. "However, we thought the injury reports could be improved, therefore making the game even more realistic. For example, there were too many occurrences of one type of injury, and all injuries seemed to come about through random bad luck. In reality, the number and impact of injuries suffered by a club can be lessened by good managerial decision-making. We put this to Sports Interactive, and they were positive, because they were keen to improve realism in their new games."

"By incorporating PhysioRoom.com's experience into FM 2005, we're giving our users one extra, and invaluable, stream of information to help them in their day-to-day team management, therefore making the experience even more realistic," added Miles Jacobson, managing director at Sports Interactive. "Should your star player be returning from injury before a crucial match, do you take the risk of a relapse by playing him, or do you leave him out so he might regain full fitness in time for the remaining games of the season? The final decision will still be the manager's, but from here on, he or she will be making that decision from a more informed position."

Sega plans to publish Football Manager 2005 in Europe toward the end of this year. We'll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.