Hundreds of thousands of fans crash website as they rush to download the Football Manager 2008 gold demo (PC)

Over 250,000 fans download the Football Manager 2008 Gold Demo as October 19th release date is announced

SEGA and Sports Interactive received an unprecedented response from fans desperate to get their hands on the latest version of best selling computer game Football Manager? as a demo of the game was made available online.

With less than three weeks to go before Football Manager? 2008 hits the shops on October 19th, Sports Interactive released the Gold Demo ? half a season of the game completely free for fans to download via NOTW.co.uk and Play.com. Systems at both of the websites struggled to cope with demand for the game as 225,194 people downloaded the demo on Sunday alone with a further 45,435 people having downloaded by lunchtime on Monday – crashing the websites several times.

The figures for the download in less than two days this year have more than doubled the number of downloads achieved in over three weeks in 2006, when close to 100,000 fans downloaded the demo via the same online partners.

The gold demo also made pre-orders for the game at Play.com soar by 500% and put the game in fourth place in the overall Amazon.co.uk games chart ? second only to three different versions of Halo 3.

?We are delighted with the response to the gold demo download this year.? Commented Miles Jacobson, Managing Director of Sports Interactive. ?We’ve definitely exceeded our expectations, which is a reflection of the massive Football Manager fan base that continues to grow with every new version of the game.?

This will allow players to select their favourite club or international team and guide them to glorious success by putting them through Cup matches, Leagues, European Championships and even major international tournaments, with over 5,000 playable teams from over 50 countries.

If you haven’t yet downloaded your copy of the Football Manager 2008 gold demo, then do it now at www.NOTW.co.uk and pre-order your full copy at www.play.com .

Visit www.footballmanager.net for all the latest Football Manager news.