Immediately, when you ask people what they want for FM27, they’re going to say the UI back to what it once was, increased immersion, and so on. But that stuff is obvious. I want to look beyond the obvious fixes and focus on cool new features that I really hope are in FM27.

Football Manager 26 has been a major disappointment, and the horrid user reviews prove this. The foundational issues with FM26 are so clear that Sports Interactive will probably have their work cut out just fixing the existing problems, but we’ve got to be ambitious.

If Sports Interactive wants to get the series back on track, they can’t settle for simply returning to FM24 levels. To put that into context, by the time FM27 is out, it’ll be three years since that point. Football Manager needs to show that a lot has changed in that time, and that they actually want to exceed expectations.

So, with that in mind, here’s my wishlist of things I want to see in FM27.

Random events

This is the main feature I want to see added more than anything else. To keep long-term saves interesting, we need more “random events” –  or at least a system you could toggle on or off.

Let me explain: I think we should introduce more unexpected changes in the football world. For example, league formats could change after a few years (imagine a league deciding to add play-offs, or expand or reduce the number of teams). Competitions might restructure, or rules like foreign player limits and VAR usage could be updated as time goes on.

In past FMs, we had the Brexit scenarios. This would be a broader system of dynamic world evolution that you could switch on for unpredictability. The idea is to mimic how real-life football in five to ten years can look completely different, new ownership models, new regulations, new formats and stop the game world from becoming too static in long saves.

Build-your-own stadium

If you’re anywhere near the Football Manager community on Twitter, you’ll have seen just how much hype BassyBoy’s 3D stadium megapack has generated. People clearly enjoy being able to move away from the default stadiums in the game.

We all had a phase in our childhood where we loved building a ridiculously oversized house in The Sims, didn’t we? How many of us played through the old WWE games designing stages and entrance themes?

Of course, there will be people who (rightfully) point out that this isn’t exactly realistic. When was the last time you saw a manager taking a central role in designing a stadium in real life? But I still think it should be an option if you want it and if you don’t want to deviate from realism, you can simply ignore it.

If you’ve managed a club for 20 years and they finally give you the chance to design the 100,000-seater mega stadium your club is moving into, you should absolutely have that opportunity.

Real consequences for debt

Football Manager 27 needs to introduce stricter punishments for financial mismanagement. For many of us, FM is easy now, it’s second nature, so much so that a hardcode mode for FM26 was released weeks after launch.

In the current game, boards often bail clubs out far too easily. Instead, FM27 could include proper consequences such as transfer embargoes, forced player sales, points deductions, or even administration and “phoenix club” relegations if a club goes completely bust.

This would make running a club responsibly far more challenging and far more realistic, because overspending wouldn’t just be inconvenient. It could genuinely jeopardise your club’s future.

Career path from youth level

A lot of players would love the chance to start their managerial career at youth or reserve level and work their way up.

Having U19 and reserve leagues playable and properly linked to the main career would allow you to develop a group of youngsters and then, eventually, step up into first-team management at the same club. It would feel a bit like proving your stripes before being trusted with the senior job.

Director of Football Mode

This one will definitely divide opinion, but we can’t ignore the fact that it’s one of the most requested features out there: an official Director of Football mode.

Right now, players can sort of jury-rig this by delegating match duties, but I’d love FM27 to let us play purely as a Director of Football, handling transfers, contracts, recruitment strategy, and long-term squad planning, while an AI head coach takes charge of matches.

This mode could introduce some really interesting dynamics. You might have to work around a head coach’s tactical philosophy, meaning you’d need to sign players that actually fit their system. There could even be disagreements, maybe the coach objects to a signing you make, adding an extra layer of tension and negotiation.

It’s a genuinely fresh way to play that could massively reinvigorate long-term saves. And if you don’t like the mode, you simply don’t have to use it. Simple.

Agent Mode

This would be a completely different type of experience, but hear me out.

An Agent career mode would let you switch perspectives and become a player’s agent instead of a manager. Your goal would be to build a stable of clients, guide their careers, negotiate contracts and transfers, earn agent fees, and watch your players either flourish… or completely derail.

Success could be measured by the money you earn, the level your clients reach, or the trophies they win. It’s a totally different angle on the football world.

I never said these ideas would always be realistic. And if this could never realistically be added to Football Manager, it could honestly work as an entirely separate game idea on its own.

Yearly Kit Updates

I’d love to see yearly kit updates added properly to the game.

Yes, I know there are already creators who design kits, but I’d love to see it officially built in. FM27 could generate new kits each season, or every few seasons and maybe even let the manager choose from a few design options.

Right now, kits are completely static. In real life, clubs change designs constantly. Having this in-game would massively boost immersion and help long saves feel visually fresh. It could be purely cosmetic, or even linked to sponsorship deals — for example, a new sponsor logo appearing when you sign a big commercial agreement.

Conclusion

Some of these ideas are unrealistic. Some of them we are probably never going to see.

But hopefully they spark a bit of conversation and maybe even help start the road toward some of these features appearing in the game one day.

What features would you love to see added over the next few years? Are there any ideas here that you think are completely unfeasible?