8 September 2026
For a long time the answer to "what else is there on PC?" was "nothing, really". FIFA Manager died in 2013, LMA Manager and Premier Manager went years before that, and Sports Interactive was left with the field to itself.
That's changed a bit. FM26's rough launch sent a lot of people looking, and a handful of indie and community projects have quietly become good. Here's what's worth your time on a PC or Mac.
Made by the German team behind the old Anstoss series, and the closest thing to a modern FIFA Manager. You run the whole club, not just the team: finances, sponsors, stadium, youth academy, staff, and there's a full women's football mode. Matches are simulated rather than rendered in 3D, so it's quick, and a season flies by compared with FM.
The database is fictional unless you install community licence packs, which exist and are easy to find. It's on Steam, often discounted, and there's a free demo.
EA stopped making FIFA Manager after the 14 edition. A fan project has kept it alive with a full season update every year since, and the 2026 version is far more than a squad refresh: updated 2D and 3D graphics, over 500 leagues, the new Champions League format, bug fixes and performance work. It's essentially a new game released for free, though you need an original copy of FIFA Manager 13 or 14 to install it over. Those are cheap second-hand.
Free, officially, from Sports Interactive since 2008, and kept up to date by the community at champman0102.net with a fresh database every season. It's still one of the fastest, sharpest management games ever made. A modern Windows patch fixes the display issues. If you've never played it, you're in for a treat. If you have, you already know.
Yes, it's a mobile game ported to PC, and yes, it has microtransactions. But it's free on Steam, has real players and leagues, a 3D match engine and enough tactical depth to be worth an evening. Think of it as the light option: less to manage, more actual football.
If the boardroom interests you more than the dugout, this is the one. You're the director of football or chairman, hiring managers, setting the club's philosophy, negotiating sponsorships and building facilities. It's text-heavy and a bit rough visually, but there's real depth in the finance and recruitment side.
The odd one out. A turn-based tactics game where each match plays out like a chess match across the pitch, with a management layer on top. It's more RPG than sim, but the club-building loop is satisfying and it's a good palate cleanser between long saves elsewhere.
Text-based, quick, and focused on the strategic decisions a chairman makes: which manager to hire, when to sack them, how much to spend, when to expand the ground. Sessions are short. It's originally a mobile game but works fine on PC.
Another German sim, less well known outside its home market. A complete club management experience that's quicker to learn than FM and a bit less technical. Worth a look if We Are Football isn't quite what you wanted.
The man who made the first Football Manager in 1982 has spent the last few years making new ones. Simple, fast, charming, and available on Steam for not very much. It won't replace anything else on this list, but it's a nice reminder of what the genre was before it got big.
There's still no PC game with FM's combination of licensed database, tactical depth and career length. If that's the thing you can't live without, FM24 is still on Steam and a lot of people simply went back to it while waiting for FM27 in November.
If instead the appeal is a Premier League season you can play through in a few sittings, that's the gap Manager of Football is aiming at. Play it free in your browser.
For a free football manager game live for the 2026-27 season, check out www.manageroffootball.com.