The childhood bunk bed was a technicolour dreamcoat of late-night results, felt tip pen scribbled on the oak-stained frame a record of who was winning the ultimate, never-ending championship of brotherly video game encounters.
The history of our battles on Fifa and Pro Evolution Soccer died with the bunk bed. No-one wanted the 'Man Red v Merseyside Blue' decor, it seems. Time to move out and grow up, we thought, or at least channel more time into bleary-eyed Football Manager saves.
But every so often the teams we loved, formations we favoured and cult players we came to rely on spring up in nostalgia-fuelled conversation.
Trying to rank the most iconic football video game stars of all time is quite subjective, then - everyone has their favourite players, a personal bond with those little pixilated heroes who led them to virtual glory, the wonderkids they developed into world beaters.
But there are some who demand wider legendary status - the Fifa stars with searing pace, the PES forwards boasting net-busting boots, the Football Manager gems with outrageous potential.
