PES Chronicles

My name is (not) Greg Downs and this blog is a chronicle about my experiences playing Pro Evolution Soccer.

I started playing PES on the original PlayStation. International Superstar Soccer Pro was its name way back then.

Before ISS came along, I used to love all manner of football games on my ZX Spectrum and my Mega Drive. I loved FIFA97 in particular. Then I started hearing about how this ‘ISS’ game was the real deal. About how it had this thing called a through-ball that FIFA didn’t have. About how it had in-depth gameplay that FIFA could only dream of.

One morning in town at the back end of 1999, I saw a copy of ISS and picked it up, bought it, went home, loaded it up – and it has been love ever since. Yes, love. Either you understand, or you do not.

I have owned and played every title since then. I have played – and still play – almost every day. This is not an exaggeration.

This blog is a regular account of my adventures in PES. At times I will get up close and personal with individual matches. At other times I will draw back to look at the bigger picture.

I am the kind of PES player who will start a Master League career and play almost nothing else for 12 months. I played 45 full seasons with the same team on PES5. I was unemployed for much of that year. Happy days.

I have been known to play online very occasionally. I will be writing here about everything, all of it, the whole kit and caboodle.

Greg Downs is not my real name. It’s the name I have taken in honour of a former Coventry City left back, of whom the now-notorious Ron Atkinson memorably once said: “He’s not the best defender in the world.”

This is the song we used to sing on the West Terrace at Highfield Road about Greg Downs:

#Greg Downs, Greg Downs. Greggy, Greggy Downs. He’s got no hair but we don’t care. Greggy, Greggy Downs#