Sunday Manager Board Game Review (2026)

About Sunday Manager, from BoardGameGeek:

Sunday Manager combines banter, unique atmosphere, multiple layers of strategy and the joy of managing a Sunday league team. You've just been appointed as the manager of a struggling amateur club, and the pressure is on. With only one month until the new season kicks off, your team is missing four crucial players. Management is nervous, wondering if you can pull the squad together in time. The fate of the season and the club's reputation is in your hands. Although this is your first season as a manager, the fans believe in you. Who will emerge as the best of all Sunday Managers? In Sunday Manager, players take on the role of football club managers competing to achieve the highest prestige points. Prestige represents the club's success, measured by acquiring skilled players, managing resources effectively, and completing specific in-game objectives. The game spans four weeks, simulating the intense final days of pre-season preparations. The game progresses through rounds, each broken into daily activities like auctions, events, and training. Managers start with unique resources, including financial funds, a sponsor, and club philosophy. Over the course of the game, they engage in auctions to secure players, use event cards for strategic advantages, and sell unwanted players. Key mechanics include careful resource allocation, tactical card usage, and strategic auction bidding. At the end of the game, all accumulated prestige is tallied. This includes squad prestige, bonuses from completed objectives, training progress, and any remaining funds. The player with the highest total prestige is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, various criteria such as locker room composition and transfer achievements are used to determine the winner.