Football Manager 2023: Everything you need to know

Football Manager 2023 has arrived across on all platforms, with the game releasing on PS5 for the very first time.

This arrival isn't the only major change, with a host of new features and gameplay improvements arriving.

In our review of the game, we praised the new additions and the way that Sports Interactive has been able to make the game work on console.

With that in mind, we've got you covered for the ultimate guide on Football Manager 2023.

Football Manager 2023

Football Manager can be a difficult beast to wrestle with, especially with the game now available across all major platforms.

With that in mind, we've attached some helpful links below, as well as listing some of the key information you need to know in this article.

From wonderkids to tactics, we'll help you get set up in the best possible way.

READ - Football Manager 2023 Bargain Buys

READ - Football Manager 2023 Best Tactics

READ - Football Manager 2023 Top Tips

Winter Update Available NOW

The Football Manager 2023 Main Data Update went live on Thursday, 2 March, bringing a host of major changes to the game.

The FM23 Winter Update is highly anticipated every year as it brings new transfers, gameplay updates and bug fixes to the game. Changes in the 23.3 update include, but are not limited to:

• Stability and crash fixes
• Fixes to reduce mistakes from bad touches in certain areas of the pitch
• Fixes to defenders not preparing correctly for crosses in certain situations
• Improvements to defender reaction to long through balls
• Tweaks to make attacking players move quicker to support counter-attacks
• Improvements to how AI managers use different midfield role combinations
• Improvements to central defender and defensive midfielder positioning from long goal kicks
• Improvements to how attacking wide players track back when defending
• Fixes for defending wide indirect free kicks at the edge of the area
• 'Header won' statistic now only counts contested headers
• Improvements to the Recruitment Focus logic
• Fixed cases of reserve or youth team tactics appearing blank in the Development Centre
• Tweaks to development loans for AI teams
• Improvements to fixture scheduling, particularly the frequency of consecutive home or away games
• Updated substitution rules across various competitions

Not only that, some of football's biggest stars have seen huge upgrades in the most recent Football Manager 2023 update.

Final Data Update Arrives

Following the release of the Football Manager 2023 Winter Update, we've now received a further update to the game, with this being the last major update to be released by Sports Interactive.

This update is nowhere near as substantial when compared to the main Winter Update, but it has still brought some necessary alterations to the game.

The changes in the 23.4 update include, but are not limited to:

• Fixed rare crash affecting some users with saves started with December 2022 start date
• Addressed an issue where users can’t ask the board to upgrade Youth Recruitment to maximum level
• Addressed an issue where the Team Instructions will disappear when users change formation via the Formation dropdown menu in Tactics
• Fixed an issue where Wing Play and Route One tactical styles are missing from the Tactical Style dropdown menu in Tactics
• Fixed an issue where users were unable to unlock the ‘On Top of the World’ achievement on Microsoft Store

Click here to read the full pitch notes for the Final Data Update.

Licences

The Football Manager franchise doesn't languish behind other football games when it comes to licences.

This season, the newly-licensed competitions of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League are all included, giving you the opportunity to win some of the biggest club trophies around.

Australia 

• A-League

Croatia

• Dinamo Zagreb ONLY

Denmark

•  Superliga

England 

• Manchester City
• EFL Championship
• EFL League One
• EFL League Two
• EFL Cup
• EFL Trophy
• National League (including North and South)
• Watford
• Hashtag United (non-playable)

France 

• LFP Ligue 1
• LFP Ligue 2

Germany 

• Bundesliga
• 2. Bundesliga
• 3. LigaSupercup
• DFB 3. Liga
• DFB-Pokal

Gibraltar

• Gibraltar National League (post-release)
• National Team

Italy

• Benevento
• Bologna
• Cagliari
• Crotone
• Chievo Verona
• Empoli
• Fiorentina
• Genoa
• Inter Milan
• Lazio
• Lecce
• AC Milan
• Napoli
• Parma
• Roma
• Sampdoria
• Sassuolo
• SPAL
• Spezia
• Torino
• Udinese
• Hellas Verona

Netherlands 

• Eredivisie
• Eerste Divisie
• National Team

Northern Ireland

• Northern Ireland Premiership
• Northern Ireland Championship
• Intermediate League

Poland 

• Ekstraklasa

Scotland

• Scottish Premiership
• Scottish Championship
• Scottish League One
• Scottish League Two
• Scottish League Cup
• Scottish Challenge Cup

South Korea

• K League 1
• K League 2

USA 

• MLS (including new franchises Austin FC and Charlotte FC)

Wales 

• Cymru Premier
• Cymru North
• Cymru South
• Cymru Cup
• Cymru League Cup

With the ever-changing landscape of football gaming licenses set to bite FM23, we could see a change in some of the divisions included, but we are still expecting this year's offering to be more immersive than ever.

Football Manager 2023 Wonderkids

You can expect a large number of these FM22 Wonderkids to carry over their status into Football Manager 2023.

With some stars - Jamal Musiala for instance - having excellent seasons, don't be surprised to see the PA of some of these stars elevated to the next level.

Away from Musiala, SEP's Endrick is the new face on the block in FM23, with this Brazilian star certain to become world-class in your save.

Football Manager 2023 New Features

The Football Manager series is coming off of massive highs after the beloved FM 22, and heading toward FM23, Sports Interactive has released a breakdown of new gameplay features.

With that, here's everything we learned about FM23 gameplay and the new tools managers will have at their disposal.

Squad Planner

The Squad Planner will allow players to rank members of their squad to help visualize strengths and weaknesses, but it also includes players on your shortlist.

This offers a new resource where players can plan the immediate future of their club across short-term recruitment as well as current lineups. As a private list, it will also mean ranking your players won't hurt their feelings but will allow staff to work around your priorities as you plan them.

Match AI

Match AI and its animations are the means through which FM players experience the games they manage. With that, it's one of the most important parts of the series.

New Licenses

FM 23 will have new licenses for all UEFA Club Competitions.

This will change things on a deeper level in the game for things like club walkouts heading into the match, trophy celebrations, music, sleeve patches, and more to match the real things.

Supporters

A club is nothing without its supporters, and in FM 23, supporters will have more of a say with some unique improvements. This, of course, looks to better match reality where the right kind of negative feedback can lead to some massive renovations for a club in short order.

In FM 23, supporters will have more say over job security for managers and will have flexible levels of patience and passion around a manager's choices (whether tactical or recruitment related). They will also have new feedback fields so it's crystal clear the consensus at any given time.

New Agent Interactions

Agents have an important role in recruitment, at times helping you capture that needed star and other times being the sole barrier to them.

In FM 23, agents will have some new interaction options to better flesh out the recruitment process.

For instance, this year, when asking an agent about their represented players, there will be an option to further negotiate that salary demands are simply out of range for the club. This, among other new options, will let players push back on agent demands and give the process more of a push-and-pull feeling.

Further, this will help players to convert more often when working with favourable agents.