With the latest edition of Football Manager just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about save plans for the next 12 months. Based on what we’ve heard about FM27, I think we can be a little more optimistic about the kinds of adventures we embark on than we were 12 months ago.
Despite FM26 not being the easiest game to get engaged in – and that’s being diplomatic – we took on several of the saves I was considering this time last year. That included starting with Parma during the Beta, the journeywoman adventure Trailblazer, a wonderkid factory in Japan and the start of our Turf Wars series with Barcelona-based Sant Andreu, in which we produced some outrageous homegrown talents.
This time around, I’m planning to kick off the Launch Preview – Beta, to you and me – with our traditional one-club save in Italy, before potentially bringing back a long-planned second edition of a favourite journeyman adventure. We’ll also find new Wonderkid Factory adventures, and I’m hoping to continue the Turf Wars series. So read on for a few ideas about where in the world FM27 might take us.
FM27 Beta Save: Scatenare Il Toro
We’ve kicked off previous versions of FM with Beta saves at AC Milan, Sampdoria, AS Roma, Empoli and Parma. This time, we’re sticking with the Italian tradition and, despite considering starting outside Serie A for the first time, we’ll take control of a club with a rich history that hasn’t won Serie A in 50 years.
Our mission will be to restore one of Italy’s most historic clubs to its former glory by taking the reins at Torino. Il Toro (The Bull) won its first title in 1928 before “Grande Torino” won Serie A five times in the 1940s, including four in a row between 1945/46 and 1948/49. That Torino team became the backbone of the national side, once providing 10 players in a single Italy lineup, led by Valentino Mazzola, the father of legendary Inter player Sandro Mazzola. However, the golden generation’s success ended prematurely on 4 May 1949, when their aeroplane crashed into the Basilica of Superga in Turin.
Torino’s last Serie A title came back in 1975/76, with only one runner-up spot in 1985. It has since played second fiddle to city rivals Juventus, with several seasons down in Serie B and a bankruptcy that saw the club denied entry to Serie A in 2005. We’ll aim to unleash (scatenare) the club’s true potential during the FM27 Beta. The short-term aim will be to finish above city rivals Juventus, with the longer-term goal of winning Torino’s first title since 1976 and lifting the club’s first European trophy. Plus, there’s the added bonus that they signed Daniel Bragança, one of my favourite ever FM players, on loan in the summer.
Potential FM27 Journeyman: Aventuras Américas
I previously planned to revive the adventures of Robinho Lazaró, aiming to win every league across the Americas, as my main FM24 save and then my main FM26 save. However, I never got around to it due to not trusting the previous game with custom databases. But we may revisit the save if FM27 proves stable enough.
On FM22, we embarked on an epic adventure across North and South America, then into Europe and back again, which saw Lazaró managing well beyond his 100th birthday. However, in the second iteration of the challenge, I want to expand the limits of the base game, which will depend on how customisable FM27 is via the pre-game editor.
Ideally, the aim will be to open up the entirety of North and South America, using the FM Editor to unlock every country across the two continents. According to Wikipedia, that would expand Aventuras Américas from the base nine countries to a massive 60 – that’s 47 in North America and 13 in South America. Our mission would be to win every top-tier title across North and South America and attempt to become champions of both continents. Based on the need to use the FM Editor, Aventuras Américas will have to wait until well beyond one month after the full launch of FM26, and more likely longer.
Turf Wars II – Capital Takeover
Following the success of our save with Sant Andreu, I’m keen to take on another challenge with a smaller side from a big city with historically successful rivals. My number one idea for this is attempting to usurp the established order in Scotland’s capital, which may well be our first save upon the full launch of FM27/
Edinburgh City was first founded in 1928 as an amateur club, with ambitions of becoming the city’s equivalent of Glasgow’s Queen’s Park. The club joined the Football League in 1931 but switched to junior status and ceased activity in 1955, when the council refused the lease on its home ground. It reformed as Postal United FC in 1966, joining the East of Scotland League, before becoming Edinburgh City in 1986. The club applied to reach the Football League in 2002, after Airdrieonians went bankrupt, but lost a vote to Gretna and then applied to join again after Gretna was liquidated in 2008, this time losing out to Annan Athletic.
Edinburgh City finally reached the Football League again in 2016, becoming the first club to gain promotion to the professional leagues through the newly established non-league pyramid system. It finished 7th in its first season and reached Scotland’s third tier for the first time in 2022. But a tumultuous period followed, including the board making some controversial name-based decisions, before a series of financial struggles saw it relegated back to League Two and handed a series of points deductions.
Our second Turf Wars mission will be to navigate the latest points deduction and climb through the leagues to challenge Edinburgh rivals Hearts and Hibs.
Wonderkid Factory Argentina – El Semillero del Mundo
Our Wonderkid Factory series are easily my favourite adventures. Having rolled the concept out in Colombia with Envigado, before taking in the Netherlands with AZ Alkmaar, Spain and Germany with Valencia and Mainz, Japan with Thespa Gunma and Brazil with Retrô FC, I think it’s high time to take it to Argentina. Before starting the Retrô save, I’d considered a save with Argentinos Juniors, who routinely roll out wonderkids for fun in FM.
The club, which is intriguingly nicknamed El Semillero del Mundo (The World’s Seedbed), has a rich history of producing top-level talents, including the likes of Juan Román Riquelme, Fernando Redondo, Esteban Cambiasso and Alexis Mac Allister. It also had a helping hand in the development of Diego Maradona who, after signing from Estrella Roja in 1969, made his professional debut for Argentinos Juniors. Indeed, his exploits for the club, scoring 116 goals in 166 league games, led the club to rename its stadium Estadio Diego Armando Maradona in 2004.
We’ll be looking to harness that youth potential on FM27, with the aim of winning the La Paternal, Bueno Aires, club’s first domestic title since 2010 and first continental trophy since 1985 with a team of fully homegrown stars.
Additional FM27 Save Ideas
As always, we’ll have a few ideas on the back burner to roll out throughout the FM27 lifecycle, especially if Aventuras Américas isn’t overly practical, including:
More Turf Wars Adventures
Other Turf Wars ideas include overcoming Celtic and Rangers with Partick Thistle or Queen’s Park, and challenging the big Istanbul sides with the likes of Turkish third-tier sides Beyoğlu Yeni Çarşi, Arnavutköy Belediyespor or Tuzlaspor, conquering Milan with Serie C side Alcione Milano, taking control of Paris with Red Star FC, and taking on the Buenos Aires big five with Ferro Carril Oeste or Atlanta.
Additional Wonderkid Factories
I’m always keen to develop more ideas for future Wonderkid Factory adventures. The current list includes the likes of Sweden’s Brommapøjkarna, which developed talents like Victor Gyokeres, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall, and Danish club FC Nordsjælland, which has strong links to Africa, Schalke 04 in Germany and FC Sochaux in France. I’ve also got my eye on clubs in nations like Belgium, where Anderlecht, Cercle Brugge or Standard Liége could provide fun challenges, Egypt, Portugal, South Africa and Uruguay, where Montevideo Torque is an interesting proposition.
Women’s Wonderkid Factory
An idea I floated in our 27 Teams to Manage on FM27 guide was to take control of WSL 2 side Durham FC using the Wonderkid Factory approach. Our goal would be not only to win trophies with the side that’s only ever competed in England’s second tier, but to establish it as England’s premier Lionesses production factory.
Build A Nation
Another option I’ve been toying with is to take on a Build A Nation save, where the aim is to help the nation you manage in to move to the top of the coefficient table. Nations I’ve considered doing this with include Norway, Romania, Denmark, Croatia and Serbia. However, the longevity and sheer difficulty factor of this save probably puts me off doing it as a blog save.
I’m sure more save ideas will come to me as the FM27 game cycle continues, but I’m sure these ideas will be more than enough to see us through at least the first few months…
Who are you looking forward to managing on FM26? And what do you think of our save plans for the game? Leave a comment below!
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