THE GAFFER *** WISHLIST ON STEAM NOW *** OUT OCTOBER 2026 *** THIRTY SEASONS, 1959 TO 1989 *** THE TOWN REMEMBERS EVERY WORD YOU SAY ***

THE GAFFER

THIRTY SEASONS OF ENGLISH FOOTBALL. 1959–1989.

Start at the bottom of the Fourth Division in 1959. Climb, or don’t — but everyone you meet remembers which.

CLICK THE CROWD, OR THE BUTTON ABOVE — MENU CLICKS ALWAYS MAKE NOISE
▲ WISHLIST ON STEAM UNDER THE BONNET

THE GAME, AS IT ACTUALLY RUNS

Real saves. Nothing staged.

The club hub — the objective, the ten areas, Hooligans Manor and the Snug.
THE HUB & HOOLIGANS MANORTen areas, one club. The pub below it never stops — and the six who actually run things wait in the Snug.
Squad management — every player's energy, form and rating, with formation and style below.
PICKING THE SIDEThe whole squad in front of you — every man’s energy, form and rating — with the formation and playing style a tap away.
A live match, Newport a goal up, both formations laid out beneath the pitch.
MATCHDAYBoth sides’ shapes underneath, live ratings on every man, subs and tactics one press away.
The half-time team talk, the squad listening, tone choices below.
HALF TIMEThe floor is yours. Calm, a rally, or the hairdryer — and it’s remembered either way.
The press doorstep at dusk — the gaffer facing Derek from the Gazette.
THE PRESS DOORSTEPDerek from the Gazette catches you on the way out. Every word’s on the record — and by morning the whole town’s read it.
A live radio interview, on air with the whole town listening.
ON THE AIRRoy wants a word, live. Whatever you say goes out to the whole town, unedited.
The training ground, the squad working, the gaffer barking orders.
TRAININGTwo sessions a week, every one costing you, and a report after telling you who’s about to make the leap.
The title screen — THE GAFFER, the Fourth Division, a new save waiting.
WHERE IT STARTS1959, the bottom of the Fourth Division, thirty seasons ahead of you. Start a new save, or load one back.

WHO WE ARE

Pitchwork Studios, Cardiff. We take real inspiration from the games of the 80s and 90s — not their limits, their honesty: a game you understood in thirty seconds, with real machinery running under a plain surface. That’s what we build now, with modern tools underneath a deliberately old surface. We use AI to word dialogue where it earns its place — never to decide what happens, never as a marketing line. The simulation decides. The model only phrases it.

NOTHING RESETS

A club that remembers you. Every person keeps a record of what you did and said, for as long as thirty seasons.

Money that ages with you. Wages, fees and prices are priced honestly for whatever year the story has reached — 1959 money is not 1985 money.

A job you can lose, or be offered a bigger one. Contracts run down. Do badly and it ends. Do well enough, and it might not be your own club that ends the conversation.

Six people who actually run the club. The vice-chairman, the sponsor, a businessman, a councillor, the mayor, the supporters’ chair — each wants something, and it moves the budget, the gate, and the job.

OUT OCTOBER 2026

Windows and Linux at release, with Steam Deck to follow. A macOS release is under consideration for later. Wishlisting costs nothing and genuinely helps a small studio.

▲ WISHLIST ON STEAM