The much-awaited update for Football Manager 26 has finally dropped on January 19. Patch 26.1.2 brings noticeable changes, with Sports Interactive going for an overhauled navigation, reworked Stages screens, and fixing stability issues.
This update rolled out on Steam, Microsoft Store, and Epic Store, answering a ton of stuff that had been bugging players for a while. It doesn’t overhaul the meta, but polishes the daily grind, making FM26 feel snappier, and the UI is improved.
Meanwhile, Console/Touch versions can expect a patch rollout later this week. More updates planned every 2-3 weeks, with Pass Maps next, proving that Sports Interactive’s roadmap is real.
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Football Manager 26 Patch 26.1.2 Official Changelogs
The hotfix brings various changes that include:
Technical Issues
- Various Crash and Stability fixes
- Fixed game freezing when using Instant Result during hotseat mode
- Stadium size now displays correctly, regardless of the graphics quality set
- Transition speed preference no longer resets upon game restart
- Continue Game Timeout preference option now functions as intended
User Interface (UI)
- Redesigned ‘Stages’ tile to be full screen
- Redesigned ‘Season Preview’ tile to be full screen
- Further navigation enhancements, including additional drop-down options in the main and secondary nav bars
- Improved functionality of customising/rearranging column placement on the first team squad view
- Fixed an issue where the Squad Registration for continental competitions would appear as closed despite the deadline yet to pass
- The squad list now updates in real-time if making changes while the ‘Pkd’ column is selected
- Fixed the ‘At Club Since’ column showing random numbers instead of years
- ‘Knowledge’ column can now be added to the Shortlist screen
- Fixed issue where the ‘Set Pieces’ and ‘Opposition Instructions’ buttons were greyed out in the Pre-Match Team Selection screen
- Fixed functionality for comparison between Coaching, Recruitment, and Medical staff when on the Club Site screen
- Staff attribute colouring remains constant when scrolling
- Filtering players by dates (such as contract expiry) now functions as intended within the Player Search
- The latest season is now selected to display by default within the player’s Career Stats
- Fixed the issue causing the Play/Pause button to stop working as intended when skipping a replay
- Added a scroll bar to Team/Player Analytics within the Data Hub
- Viewing Past Seasons within the Stages card now functions correctly
- When signing multiple players who are eligible to be sent on an intensive language course, the player names are now better displayed to highlight who is being sent
- “Set for Next Match” button now highlights when selected within the Tactics screen
- Fixed an issue that was causing a cut-off on the inbox items when continuing with the New tab selected
- Reasons given for certain achievements not yet unlocked have been reworded to prevent any ambiguity
- Squad depth will now display when requesting a team report from an AI club
- XG in the player form tile now reflects the true figure
- Removed duplicated responses within the conversation with the agent if asking about player availability
- League history graph no longer defaults to any specific team initially
Gameplay
- Tweaks to the amount of money spent on ageing players by Premier League/High-profile clubs
- Tweaks to player reputation boosts following matches
- When offering a player out via an Intermediary, users should receive more appropriate offers from AI Clubs
- Tweaks to AI player asking prices
- Outgoing transfers now total correctly within Potential Transfer/Wage Budget Impact
- Fixed an issue preventing the user from offering a wage that was previously agreed to by the player agent
- Fixed an issue causing a player’s displayed value to drop drastically with no logical cause
- Transfer fees are now correctly allocated in the NWSL when conducting a player for cash trade
- Wages will now correctly display in accordance with the preference set (weekly, monthly, annually)
- WSL Awards no longer get given to players not deemed to be eligible in the first instance
- The number of transfers in/out now correctly displays on saves ported from previous editions of FM
- Fixed an issue where the Loan Offer message would say there has been an optional fee of £0 agreed, if no loan fee was set
- Staff will now better action Opposition Instructions if set to do so via Staff Responsibilities
- Player Milestones now better reflect their actual achievements
- Tactics Induction now correctly gets prompted if the user joins a new club via Apply for Job
- Fixed an issue where a news item would discuss the team’s last game at their current stadium, despite the match taking place at a neutral venue
- South America – Copa Libertadores – Resolved the winner from the incorrect year, qualifying for the Intercontinental Cup
In-Game Editor (IGE) / Pre-Game Editor (PGE)
- Various Crash Fixes.
- Tweaks made to improve the functionality of the Scroll Bar.
- Making changes to stadium details now updates in real-time within the IGE.
- Fixed an issue preventing Continental/International rules from verifying despite being set up correctly within the PGE.
- Stopped the game from progressing to a Player report card when clicking attributes on the Player Edit tile.
- Added new editable fields to show OOP tactics data for AI managers.
- Improvements to the colour select field.
- Improvements to when the IGE button is disabled and enabled.
You can read the entire patch notes, along with videos, over at Football Manager 26’s official forum.
