Football Manager to add women’s football, just not this year

This is a monumental step forward for the series (Picture: Sports Interactive/Sega)

It’s going to take a while, but Sports Interactive is working to bring women’s football into the Football Manager games.

With this year’s FIFA and PES (sorry, eFootball) instalments officially announced, that just leaves Sega and Sports Interactive to formally reveal their annual football game.

At time of writing, Football Manager 2022 hasn’t been announced yet but Sports Interactive has recently confirmed that it is working hard to finally incorporate women’s football into the simulation series.

Studio director Miles Jacobson has written a blog post about the importance of adding women’s football, how it’s something the studio’s been working on for a long time now, and that it isn’t making an entirely separate game just for it.

‘What we are doing is adding women’s football to FM… one sport, one game. FM players will be able to move seamlessly from managing a men’s team to a women’s team and back again. Women’s football will be a part of the living, breathing world that constitutes every one of your FM saves; that world will just be whole lot bigger and a little more varied.

‘There’s no hiding that there’s currently a glass ceiling for women’s football and we want to do what we can to help smash through it,’ he adds.

‘We believe in equality for all and we want to be part of the solution. We want to be a part of the process that puts women’s football on an equal footing with the men’s game.’

There’s unfortunately no completion date, meaning it will most likely not be a part of Football Manager 2022. What’s more, Sports Interactive is aiming to recreate women’s football as authentically as possible, which is why its inclusion is going to take a while.

As Jacobson points out, adding women players to the game isn’t as simple as slapping new character models over existing animations. Not to mention the inclusions of teams, leagues, and even things like the transfer system and wage structures, since they operate differently compared to men’s football.

Creating accurate stats for hundreds of new players is also no small task and Jacobson admits that the endeavour will cost millions and that the short-term return will be minimal, but he suggests that profit isn’t the priority.

‘We know that our voice is very powerful and we want to use it for good. Longer term, as the women’s game grows in popularity, the financial rewards may come, but at the moment we’re embarking on this journey because we know it’s the right thing to do.’

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The move is already receiving praise and support from figures within the football industry, including Chelsea FC Women manager, Emma Hayes: ‘Women’s football is capturing the imagination of fans across the globe and we’re making huge strides in terms of attendance figures and broadcast deals.

‘For the women’s game to get to the next level, though, it needs to be recognised as an integral part of the world of football, not something separate and different. We want future generations to grow up in a world where football isn’t divided into ‘women’s’ and ‘men’s’… it’s just football. The ambitious plan that the Sports Interactive team have for Football Manager will play a huge part in getting us there.’

Football Manager 2022 is expected to launch later this year.

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