The Football Manager match engine is being brought into full 3D with motion captured animations for each player, developed in conjunction with SEGA’s in-house studio, Sports R&D Division. You can now watch your matches in 3D from multiple camera angles, and can re-watch any part of the match by fast forwarding and rewinding the action using a new match time bar that flags the key moments in the game. There is also a new full screen TV view, where players can customise their match view by choosing the information they would like to view during the match, be it the latest scores or player performance stats for the match, and arranging this information onscreen using a new drag-and-drop widget system, that lets players customise their match day screen with the information that they need as a football manager.

Football Manager 2009 will also allow players to receive added help from their Assistant Manager with pre-match and in-match feedback on how the team is performing, as well as hints on how the team could play better. So if you can’t work out why your tactics aren’t working, why the opposition seem to effortlessly demolish your team, or why a new signing isn’t fulfilling his potential, having the advice of a good Assistant Manager will be an invaluable asset.

Steamworks will support both the retail and electronic versions of the Football Manager 2009 games giving players game updates, downloadable content, and patches. Also, players will be able to play from any PC in the world without needing their DVD copy of the game. STEAM will also host and distribute the Football Manager 2009 game demo which will be available when it is released a couple of weeks before the release of the full game.

Football Manager 2009 is now available for pre-purchase as a PC digital download from STEAM.

"Many of us at Sports Interactive have been big fans of Steam since it's inception, so to be working with them properly this year across releases of Football Manager on the PC is fantastic" said Miles Jacobson, studio director at Sports Interactive. "It gives us the opportunity for all of our games players to get any patches or updates that we make available quickly and easily, as well as a place for us to host any other downloads, such as demos and promotional videos, with super fast broadband speeds for download, and no issues with bandwidth, which we are hit with each time we release a demo".

"The Football Manager 2009 team has an incredible plan to extend the product beyond launch and achieve a level of connectivity with FM 2009 players that surpasses any prior release in the category," said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. "We're delighted to have Steamworks selected as the vehicle to help take this legendary franchise to the next level and look forward to offering the game to the millions logging onto Steam each week."

The media system has been vastly improved to provide the player with an unprecedented level of detail on what’s going on at their club and the in-game football world as a whole. Football Manager 2009 also sees the introduction of press conferences for the first time. Attend pre-match and post-match press conferences with local and national journalists but choose your answers carefully because they could come back to haunt you in the media at a later date!

The entire transfer system has been completely overhauled and re-written, providing an even more realistic simulation of real-life football, with the addition of transfer rumours so you can view the hottest news on what players are being speculated on, and who’s said to be interested in securing their services.

Players can be trained to learn a wide variety of ‘preferred moves’ to add to their game on the pitch that are applicable to their played position, so you can train central defenders to hold onto possession, or wingers to cut inside to bypass the full backs.

Football Manager 2009 allows you to play as a female manager for the very first time, so you can be the first woman to lead your favourite team to domestic and European glory. The game will also be fully updated for the new 2008/09 football season with all the latest league, club and player data, featuring over 5,000 playable clubs from over 50 countries, and around 350,000 players and staff from around the world, drawn fresh from the famous Sports Interactive database.

Football Manager 2009 is set for release on Nov. 14th in Europe, Nov. 18 in North America.