Finding the right staff for your club in Football Manager 26 gets a lot simpler once you know what you’re doing. The new Recruitment Hub puts all your scouting, coaching, and backroom tools together in one place, but let’s be real — it’s easy to get lost navigating the new UI at first.
So, let’s dive in below as I walk you through how to search for staff, apply filters, and review profiles so you can build your organization exactly how you want.
How To Search For Staff In FM26
Click the global search bar at the top. Just type “Staff” and select either the Staff Database or the Staff tile when the results pop up. You can also find Recruitment or Staff from the top navigation bar and then choose them from the dropdown.
The new Recruitment Hub holds all the staff tools, such as “Staff Vacancies”, showing open positions.
Once you’re in the Staff Database or Staff Search, hit New Search or use the on-screen filters panel. By default, you’ll see a full list of staff.
If you use New Search, you can narrow down your options before scanning profiles.
Select the role you’re searching for and set contract filters such as Available Staff or Under Contract to narrow down your results. Also set reputation, nationality, and any language requirements where applicable.
These basic filters help cut down your list in no time.
Attribute Groups And Advanced Filters
You can also use attribute groups in the Recruitment panel and use them to filter by coaching, scouting, or medical ability. These specific attributes help with better and improved results.
Each staff role has specific key attributes (e.g, Judging Player Ability and Judging Player Potential for scouts, Tactical Knowledge for coaches).
Tip: Some users report Recruitment Hub filters resetting after viewing profiles. If that happens, reapply your filters before continuing.
Reviewing Staff Profiles
Click a staff member’s name to pull up their profile. Staff profiles include role suitability that shows how well a staff member’s attributes align with specific coaching duties. You’ll also be able to see their current club, contract details, language, nationality, and the reputation they hold.
Since numeric staff values were replaced with qualitative labels: Unsuited, Reasonable, Competent, Average, Good, Very Good, Outstanding, Elite, you must judge staff on these labels and role suitability rather than raw numbers.
Here is a label-to-number mapping for each label introduced in FM26:
- Unsuited = 1-3
- Reasonable = 4-6
- Competent = 7-9
- Average = 10-11
- Good = 12-14
- Very Good = 15-17
- Outstanding = 18-19
- Elite = 20
Double-clicking the dropdown box in attribute filters will also show the underlying 1-20 values. Use this information to decide if you should shortlist the staff or go ahead and make an approach.
Shortlist Or Approach
You can shortlist staff or start an approach straight from the profile or the search results. If your desired staff member is still under contract, you can make an offer or simply wait until they’re available. I recommend looking for unemployed staff to avoid the approach/compensation fee.
That’s how you search for staff in Football Manager 26.
