FM26: 14 Leagues of Women’s Football

“No one wanted this!” I did, and according to Miles Jacobson (the head guy at Sports Interactive), so did the Lionesses. “It’s a waste of development resources,” to do what? Model a couple of figures to be smaller, more agile, and have a bump on their chests, or the scouting of players and leagues. “Well, no one is going to play it!” I am, because I’m certainly not managing Brentford’s men’s side, I’d rather take over at the Eithad, Emirates, or Goodison Park. The same Goodison Park that drew 53,000 people on Boxing Day (December 26th) 1920, not for a men’s game, but back when Alice Kell and Madeleine Bracquemond were kissing before games.

As teased earlier this week (and where I’ve pulled some of those quotes from), Sports Interactive has shown off Football Manager 26‘s latest addition, Women’s football. Basically tagged with the line “14 playable leagues across 11 nations and three continents,” I knew some of us had to adjust our expectations, especially after we saw the map lighting up with certain regions.

The press release notes, “In 2021, we revealed our plan to introduce women’s football to Football Manager. Doing this properly meant more than just plugging in female leagues[;] it involved factoring in the unique rules, players[,] and landscape of the women’s game.” Going on to note, “Since that initial statement, the women’s game has gone from strength to strength with more games held in major stadiums and record-breaking broadcast deals.” Despite that, I’m sure some are still going to shout down that Women’s football isn’t watched, isn’t played “properly” despite being more physical, and that apparently no one goes to the games.

“Our vision was always one world, one ecosystem. To integrate women’s football just as it is in the real world. Across all of our Football Manager 26 titles, you’ll be able to move seamlessly from managing in men’s football to women’s football and vice-versa, learning more about the beautiful game and enriching the quality of every career in the process,” continues the statement.

Before I moan about the leagues noted to be included, some of you people need a reminder that you can load and unload leagues separately. As noted here in the press release, “When you start playing FM26, your game world is yours. You have the option of selecting either a men’s team, a women’s team[;] or starting unemployed. From there, you can create your save database with a mix of men’s and women’s leagues, just men’s or just women’s. It’s entirely up to you. In FM26 Console, FM26 Touch[,] and FM26 Mobile, loading the men’s and women’s leagues from the same country will count as 2 nations towards your save limit.”

As the video released yesterday afternoon and the press release notes, 14 leagues, 11 nations, over three continents, though we can’t confirm them all. The confirmed list thus far is England’s Women’s Super League (1) & 2, the NWSL in the US, Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany, the WE League in Japan, Serie A Femminile in Italy, Sweden’s Damallsvenskan and Elitettan, Denmark’s A-Liga, A-League Women from Australia, the Adran Premier from Wales, and the last one noted is the UEFA Women’s Champions League. That’s 9 nations and a continental competition. So that’s 11 leagues of 9 nations, on three continents.

The trailer also notes that FM26 will feature the largest database of women’s football in any game, with the number quoted to be 41,752. As the press release defines a bit more, “Our FM26 women’s football database consists of more than 36,000 players and a further 5,000 non-players.” Clearly, there is more to be revealed on release, primarily the pre-release sometime in October. I’m excited for this addition, and I knew it was something to build on, but I find the decisions and what is/isn’t shown to be odd choices.

First off, the teaser lighting up the entirety of the UK on the map shown alongside the US, Japan, Australia, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, then a further two that haven’t been shown, Spain and France. Despite that, we have a screenshot of the setup showing England and Wales as separate nations, and it has loaded “(10/11)” Women’s leagues despite showing 11 leagues to load across 9 nations, while UI claims “active Women’s Nations (10).” So how many are there and why those leagues?

I don’t mind the playable leagues, but what bothers me is England and Wales being included while lighting up the entirety of the UK, which is “corrected” sort of in the trailer yesterday. However, I think it is worth noting that the UEFA coefficient for women’s football sees Wales 50th of 51 nations, down from 48th last season, while Scotland is 20th. Of the 132 coefficient teams, Wales has 2, and neither of them are Wrexham, while Scotland has 4 listed, and one of them is a wholly woman-owned independent team that isn’t the big names of Hibs, Celtic, or Rangers.

I just find it weird that one of the most competitive leagues is ignored. It was my excuse to write about FM26 last month, otherwise known as what I’d like to see, where I said the focus should be on European women’s leagues. I stand by that, though I do agree the NWSL, A-League, and WE League are fantastic additions. We’re missing Norway, Austria, Portugal, Belgium, and even the Dutch top tiers, which also feels odd. Not as personally odd as the lack of the SWPL, but the point is still valid; it is big names, big markets, and important leagues we’ll see next year and beyond, hopefully.

Complaints aside, the press release alongside the league reveals notes of unique aspects to the women’s game. This includes shorter contract lengths, money that is reflective of the real game, and how transfers are fairly dominated by free transfers. Not only that, there has been a change to the newgens and how they work, as well as tweaks to the matchday experience: Some newgen backroom staff will be exclusive to the men’s or women’s game, with a percentage of crossover.

While the match day experience gets a slight uplift to reflect those differences, the press release notes: “Aware of the differences between how men and women move, we’ve run a series of bespoke motion capture sessions with female footballers. Those animations are incorporated into FM26, alongside new character models, hair textures and styles, and kit settings. There are further differences too[,] that you’ll learn more about in our forthcoming Matchday Experience deep dive.” Finally, hair that might not look like it inhabits a person’s head but is part of it.

As I said at the top, I am the person who wanted this. I’m the person who will be playing it and making sure Hasegawa Yui gets a Champions League title. While anyone who wants to bemoan “development resources being wasted,” I think it is worth returning to the top of the introduction press release, where it says this has been in the works since 2021. If this addition takes away development resources from FM26, then it took resources away from FM22, FM23, and FM24, but that didn’t happen, did it?

Women’s football is finally coming to Football Manager early in November, or if you pre-order, sometime in October. Football Manager 26 is set to release on PC on November 4th, with pre-orders giving PC players advanced access/Beta/whatever, roughly two weeks before, when presumably we’ll get our first full look at the women’s game. We’ve already had a look at the match engine showcase, the UI, and now women’s football, so what do you expect to be shown next? The new men’s leagues licenses?