Football management sim Championship Manager 2009 will retail in April next year, according to developer Beautiful Game Studios.

"I think it's fair to say we needed to make a lot of changes," Roy Meredith, general manager of the Championship Manager franchise, told GameSpot. "Get back to a lot of the fundamentals of what Champ Man was about."

Meredith also explained that the development team will be investing more time and resources into this version than any other previous incarnation.

For the first time in the series, Championship Manager 2009 will feature a 3D match engine, boasting over 500 animations per player. There will also be additional playable leagues, with teams from Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Wales available for selection.

With competitor Sports Interactive releasing its flagship title Football Manager 2009 in November, strong rivalry is anticipated between fans of the two games next year.

A demo version of Championship Manager 2009 will be available in March, one month prior to the game's full release.