Skidrow’s release was celebrated (and vilified) for three reasons:
The user interface in FM 2012 is arguably the cleanest in the franchise’s history. It utilized a sidebar system that felt intuitive, avoiding the cluttered "dashboard" style seen in later years. 3. Iconic Wonderkids
Groups like SKIDROW provided "cracked" versions that allowed the game to run without Steam. While this is officially unauthorized, it created a lasting subculture of players who continued to play FM12 decades later on hardware or operating systems where the original Steam version might struggle with modern client updates. News - Football Manager 2012 Update Released - Steam