There is a strange thing about Football Manager.
For all the talk about tactics, transfers, wonderkids and the match engine, the part of the game you actually spend the most time looking at isn’t the pitch.
It’s the interface.
You navigate menus.
You check player profiles.
You negotiate transfers.
You manage training.
You read reports.
You plan your next move.
And you do all of that through the UI.
That’s why the FM27 interface could be one of the most important parts of the new game.
Sports Interactive has already said that FM27 will evolve the current design while restoring ideas and behaviours that players valued in previous editions.
After the reaction to FM26, that statement is particularly interesting.
So, before Sports Interactive starts showing us more of FM27, here’s what we want to see from the interface.
1. Make Navigation Faster
Football Manager is a huge game.
That’s part of its appeal.
But depth shouldn’t mean unnecessary friction.
One of the biggest improvements we’d like to see in FM27 is simply faster navigation.
If we want to go from a player’s profile to his transfer history, then to his attributes, then to his contract, the game should make that journey effortless.
The same applies to clubs, competitions, staff, scouting reports and everything else.
The best interface doesn’t make you think about the interface.
It gets out of the way and lets you manage your club.
2. Bring Back the Best Ideas From Previous FMs
This is where Sports Interactive’s comments about FM27 become particularly interesting.
The studio has specifically talked about restoring ideas and behaviours that players valued in previous editions.
That doesn’t necessarily mean simply copying an old UI.
It means identifying what worked.
Football Manager has spent years evolving its interface, and there are plenty of older design decisions that players still remember fondly.
If something from an earlier version was clearer, faster or more intuitive, why not bring it back?
New doesn’t automatically mean better.
Sometimes the best improvement is recognising that an old solution was already good.
3. Give Players More Control Over the Interface
Every Football Manager player manages the game differently.
Some people want huge amounts of data.
Others want a cleaner experience.
Some players live inside player attributes and statistics.
Others care more about reports, dynamics and tactical information.
FM27 should embrace that.
We’d love to see more customisation options for menus, screens, columns and information density.
Let us decide what matters.
If I want to see 20 pieces of information on a player profile, let me.
If another player wants five, that should be fine too.
Football Manager is a game about making decisions.
The UI should allow us to build an environment that suits the way we make those decisions.
4. Stop Hiding Important Information
One of the biggest frustrations with any complex management game is knowing that information exists somewhere but not knowing where to find it.
FM27 should make important information easier to discover.
If a player is unhappy, we should quickly understand why.
If a transfer is failing, we should understand what is blocking it.
If our tactics aren’t working, the game should help us identify the problem.
The information shouldn’t necessarily be simplified.
It should simply be better presented.
There’s a difference.
Football Manager doesn’t need to become a simpler game.
It needs to become a clearer game.
5. Make Player Profiles Feel More Useful
Player profiles are among the most frequently visited screens in Football Manager.
Yet they could do even more.
A player’s profile should tell us his story at a glance.
Who is he?
What is he good at?
How has he developed?
How has he performed?
What does he want?
What’s his role in the squad?
Where is he heading?
We want FM27 to make these answers easier to understand without removing the depth underneath them.
A new player should be able to understand the basics.
An experienced player should still have enough information to dig deeper.
That’s the balance Football Manager needs.
6. Better Information During Matches
The match interface deserves special attention.
When you’re watching a match, you shouldn’t have to constantly jump between screens to understand what’s happening.
The match itself should tell a story.
Why is your team struggling?
Where is the opposition creating chances?
Which player is being targeted?
Is your midfield being overloaded?
Is your press working?
The information is already there.
FM27 should present it in a way that makes the tactical story easier to follow.
That would make tactical changes feel more meaningful too.
You wouldn’t simply be reacting to a scoreline.
You’d be reacting to what you’re actually seeing.
7. Make the UI Feel Consistent
Consistency sounds boring.
It isn’t.
A good interface teaches you how to use it.
Once you’ve learned how something works, that knowledge should transfer to other areas of the game.
FM27 should have a clear visual and functional language.
Buttons should behave consistently.
Menus should follow logical patterns.
Information should appear where players expect it.
The more consistent the UI becomes, the less mental energy players spend figuring out how to use the game.
And that means more mental energy for actually managing the club.
8. Don’t Confuse Complexity With Quality
This might be the most important point.
Football Manager is complicated because football management is complicated.
That’s a good thing.
But complexity should come from the simulation, not from the interface.
There is nothing impressive about making a player click through six screens to find something that could have been displayed clearly on one.
We don’t want fewer options.
We want better access to those options.
That’s a crucial difference.
9. Give Experienced Players Shortcuts
Long-term Football Manager players know exactly what they’re looking for.
They shouldn’t have to navigate the same number of screens as someone playing the game for the first time.
FM27 could do more with shortcuts, custom dashboards and quick actions.
Imagine being able to build your own personal management dashboard.
Transfer targets.
Upcoming fixtures.
Training concerns.
Contract renewals.
Player development.
Scouting assignments.
Everything you care about in one place.
That would make the game feel much more personal.
10. Make the Interface Feel Like a Football Club
This is perhaps the most ambitious idea.
The UI shouldn’t just be a collection of menus.
It should make us feel like we’re running a football club.
Imagine opening your inbox and immediately seeing the issues that actually matter.
Your assistant has identified a tactical problem.
Your recruitment team has found a player.
Your academy has produced a promising prospect.
Your captain has raised a dressing-room concern.
The board wants to discuss finances.
The media is asking questions about your latest result.
These things already exist in Football Manager.
But FM27 has an opportunity to make them feel more connected.
The interface should become the place where your club’s story comes together.
FM27 Doesn’t Need a Completely New UI
Here’s the important part.
We aren’t necessarily asking Sports Interactive to throw everything away.
In fact, that could be the wrong approach.
The studio has already suggested that FM27 will evolve the current design while bringing back ideas and behaviours from previous editions.
That’s potentially the right philosophy.
Take what works.
Fix what doesn’t.
Remove unnecessary friction.
Improve consistency.
Give players more control.
And, most importantly, listen to what people have been saying.
Because the Football Manager community has already made its feelings about the interface very clear.
The FM27 UI Has a Lot to Prove
The interface might not be the feature that sells the most copies of FM27.
Nobody is going to put “better navigation” on a cinematic trailer and expect fireworks.
But it could be the feature that determines how players feel about the game after 50, 100 or 500 hours.
That’s what makes it so important.
A great UI disappears.
A bad UI constantly reminds you that you’re using one.
And for a game as deep as Football Manager, that difference matters enormously.
What We Want From the FM27 Interface
We’re not looking for a simpler Football Manager.
We’re looking for a better organised Football Manager.
Give us the depth.
Give us the data.
Give us the tactical detail.
Give us the huge databases and complex systems that make Football Manager what it is.
But make it easier to navigate.
Make it easier to understand.
Make it easier to personalise.
And if Sports Interactive can combine the depth of Football Manager with an interface that gets out of the way, FM27 could feel like a much bigger improvement than a list of new features would suggest.
The first real look at FM27 gameplay and features is coming in September.
That’s when we’ll find out whether Sports Interactive has addressed one of the biggest concerns surrounding the previous edition.
Until then, we’ll be watching closely.
And yes, we’ll be paying very close attention to the menus.
**Because in Football Manager, the interface isn’t just where you play the game.
It is the game.**
