I’m developing a football simulation game called Football Fictional World Simulator, and thought you might appreciate what happened to Derby in one of my saves.

It’s 2131. Derby have just gone from finishing 10th to getting 88 points, only to finish second because Manchester City got 89.

Their Argentine striker, Jorge Aguirre, had the season of his life: 22 goals and 11 assists in 33 league appearances. He’d arrived from Cremonese, having started his career at Racing Club.

Liverpool signed him the following year. Three years later, he won the Ballon d’Or.

Derby finished eighth after he left. They did recover to fourth a few seasons later, but I keep looking at that 2131 table and wondering what another year with him might have looked like.

I wasn’t even managing Derby. I found all this while looking through the club’s history and somehow ended up feeling gutted for them.

Apparently, even a hundred years into the future, 88 points still isn’t enough.

Football Fictional World Simulator on Steam