Hitler, Castro and ‘Oli Cromwell’ – Football Manager fan finds list of banned player names

It's a rite of passage for every Football Manager fan - that point in the game when the last active player has retired and you find yourself with a squad of computer-generated players.

These new superstars of the sport are randomly assigned names... well, almost randomly. One fan has discovered a list of banned player names in the data files of Football Manager 15, and it's quite literally a murderer's row of bad taste and indecency. Let's face it, nobody wants to sign Joseph Stalin or Saddam Hussein, and in addition to the historical, the list includes everything from the politically incorrect to the downright smutty.

Saw a file called "forbidden names" in my #FM15 folder. Guessing these are names the game will never use for regens.. pic.twitter.com/pzLlU68XPO — Paul (@ItWasJustBanter) November 16, 2014

Miles Jacobsen, head of Football Manager creator Sports Interactive, responded to the find, pointing out that in addition to reasons of common sense, the company's lawyers were heavily involved in maintaining the list, which has long been a feature of the game.  

@MancMike86 @ItWasJustBanter it's not new. It's names legal tell us to block. Has been in every game for as long as I remember. — Miles Jacobson (@milesSI) November 16, 2014

...although if you are determined to push the boundaries of taste...  

@MancMike86 @ItWasJustBanter you could always use the "nickname" feature in game to change any of your strikers to that name. — Miles Jacobson (@milesSI) November 16, 2014