FM26: 'Missing Managers'

Ever looked at the sideline and thought they looked a bit one-sided? That's because they are.

Despite the rise in popularity of women's football and the great strides that have been made on the pitch over the past decade, the gender gap has never been wider off it.

We crunched the numbers, and the stats made stark reading. In 2025, the average team has around 25 first-team players and in some cases, hundreds of additional staff, yet less than 9% of clubs have a female manager. In fact, we're still waiting for the first permanent female manager to be appointed in the professional men's game, whilst men make up the majority of managers in the Women's game.

With FM26 introducing the inclusion of women's football for the first time in series history, we wanted to not only shine a light on the disparity, but contribute to removing it from the beautiful game entirely.

Building on our award-winning partnership with Xbox and McCann for The Everyday Tactician with FM24, we created 'Missing Managers' - a real-world coaching initiative, powered by Football Manager, that opens-up new pathways for the next generation of female coaches via UEFA scholarships, fronted by US Women's National Team Manager Emma Hayes.

The campaign went live as part of Xbox Game Pass' promotion for the release of FM26, with a simple entry mechanic: complete the 'First Victory' achievement in-game, and submit proof via the Missing Managers hub as part of their application.

Lucky winners are then enrolled into the scholarships, supported by Sky Sports and The Powerhouse Project, where they will be mentored by experienced female coaches from WSL & WSL2 clubs. To make things truly meta, those that go on to secure their coaching badges via the scheme will also feature in future editions of Football Manager, as real coaches.

With Sky being the home of the WSL, we also created a series of 'Touchline Tips' to help new players complete the in-game task, which sat across their digital ecosystem. The videos featured talent from within women's football on a range of topics (Transfers, Tactics and Training) offering advice on the key things to do when applicants boot up the game - or when they take their place in the dugout, as managers of the future.

The campaign is live for the 25/26 season, with results expected in Q3 2026.