Gridiron 3

It has been a fantastic 20 years, but version 3 of the online football simulation game Gridiron has now come to a (hopefully graceful) conclusion after 40 seasons.

Indeed, if you include Gridiron 1, Gridiron 1.5 and Gridiron 2, Gridiron as a whole is now over 40 years old!

Two games based on Gridiron 3 are now to be launched by former coaches with our consent (which is subject to agreed caveats). In coin-flip order:

Please note: these are links to external sites not run by us. We can't answer questions about them (or accept responsibility for them!).

Will you launch a new version yourselves?

We've been here before. We wound down Gridiron 2 when the time was right. And we started again when Gridiron 3 was ready.

Gridiron 3 launched concurrently with widespread adoption of the web. And now, once again, we see fascinating possibilities in emerging technologies. We've already been exploring. So if you might be interested in a future version of the game, keep us updated on any change of contact details. You know our email addresses.

For now...

We will miss Gridiron 3 hugely. So many of us have made great friendships through the game. However, we must face the reality that after so long, this particular version of the game was becoming hard to sustain and grow in a changing landscape. Version 3 remained strong, and we would prefer it always be remembered so.

But most of all...

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this magnificent community, who has contributed in any way large or small, who attended one of the annual live draft events or supported us in running the game. Our particular thanks, too, to the mentors whose tireless commitment helped so many new coaches learn a challenging game.

This was never a two-man operation, it was always a community achievement. We are so proud that Gridiron 3 motivated so many contributors for so long. To them the thanks of everyone in the Gridiron community.

Our congratulations to the coaches who have been recognised with the Commitment to Excellence award, and to anyone who won a Bowl in one of our 6 leagues or College Game - that was some achievement given the calibre of the coaches and complexity of the game.

Finally, thank you so much to everyone who has written with kind wishes or expressing their appreciation of the game since we first announced this decision. We share everyone's sadness at this incarnation of the game coming to an end, but we have so many great memories.

Never say never again.

Rich and Rich