How far can we go?
In what has become somewhat of a tradition in the FM Jellico household, when the new version of the game goes out of Beta, I start a save, with a throw away manager and 6-8 Nations loaded. Usually the “Big 6”, one Asian and one South American country.
This year, the Nations are:
- Brazil
- England
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Portugal
- Spain
In each Nation, the top league is playable, the leagues below are view only, which gives us a 72K size player database. On a tangent, the game is still running very well, every once and awhile there’s a memory issue, and I have to restart it, but that’s not a huge deal. One thing I have noticed is that this year is that when I compare the size of the save files from the FM24 version of the save I did, the FM26 save is bigger. In the past, the game refused to go on after the save file size hit 5GB, right now it is 2540 in game and the save file is 3.3Gb, with each save adding about 30MB to the file size. That means if the save file size is consistent, we will get ~166 files at 5GB, which is 830 years. Which while not a bad result at all, is not that close to the 1120 years we got in the FM24 version of the save.
So, we are going to try an be a bit more…structured with this review this year. The plan is to go 100 years at a time, Review each country, then the Continental competitions, the then World, and along the way, point out a few of the good and bad things we come across.
So with out further ado, let us start where I always start: Where is Crystal Palace, and how are they doing?
Relegated to League Two…moving on…
The English Premier League
From the 2025/2026 season, it was a 1 team League: Man City. Of the last 100 years they have won it 51 times. Arsenal won it a few times, Man United finally won it all in the 39/40 season, Liverpool in 40/41, Tottenham in 41/42 and 43/44, then it was back to the Man City train until 2062/2063, when Brighton finished 1st 4 of the next 5 years. Villa had a good run from 71/72 to 75/75, winning it all at the beginning and the end, and finishing 2nd the other 3 years, then it was back to Man City, who won the league almost every year or placed top 3 until 2096/2097, when Wolves kicked them to the curb. From 2096 to 2125, Man City has only won twice, with Wolves, Man United (5 times in a row starting in 2102) and Liverpool dominating the top spot, with Brighton competing and winning a couple of times as well.
This was the table at the end of the 2124/2125 season:
What some of you will notice right away is that Wrexham has indeed made it to the Premier League. They were first promoted in 2081, came right back down, bounced back and forth every few years afterwards, finished 2nd in the FA cup in 2114, were promoted again in 2121, and have stayed around so far.
Records wise, nothing too shocking really:
In looking thru the results the 2111/2112 season Liverpool scored 103 points, 29 ahead of City, going 33-4-1, their only loss against United. The best season, competition wise? In my opinion, it’s a tie.
The finish of the 2035/2036 season:
And most recently, the 2123/2124season:
A Note before Continuing
- The more leagues you have loaded, the more diverse results you will get, eventually, because
- It’s takes a couple of hundred years of simming to see those teams that dominate now fall off
- In many Continental and International competitions, the game is’weighted’ towards the countries you have loaded. Case in point, I did a version of this I called the “Small Country” save, where I loaded China, South Africa, Israel, Latvia, Scotland, Peru, and I want to say Slovakia, and about 300 years in all of those countries had teams winning international and continental competitions. It the smaller competitions you will start seeing some more diverse winners, the European Cup for example, before seeing things like Breiðablik winning the Champions League 3 times in a row as a Semi-Professional club…
So, the next few sections may be a bit…short.
Ligue 1, France
As expected, PSG has won the league, a lot. In fact, it would be easier to list when they didn’t win it after 2025/2026.
2076/2077, when Lyon won; and again in 79/80 and 80/81; Marseille winning it every other year starting in 81/82 until 88/89, and Troyes winning it in 2122/2123. I believe Marseilles has come in 2nd more than any other team in the League.
Weirdly enough, at least in my opinion, the most recent table wouldn’t look out of place today:
Beauvais being the one outlier really, they are a CN 2 Group B squad presently.
PSG ran the table in the 2028/2029 season, with no losses, but Pau had a woeful 2075/2075 campaign:
1 Win, 10 draws, 23 losses…PSG has won the league comfortable every year it won, and when it lost, it was close more often than not. The most exciting finish to the season? the 2123/2124 campaign:
Monaco drew 2 of it’s last three games, and PSG won on goal difference.
The Bundesliga, Germany
The most recent table:
If there’s one thing I have been surprised with so far, it’s the state of the Bundesliga. Usually it’s another version of what’s going on in France, 1 or 2 teams dominate, with the occasional outlier winning as well. Not this simulation, although there have been some teams on some nice runs.
Bayern won the league every year except 2033/2034, when RB Leipzig pipped them. the from 2037/2038 to 2047/2048, with the exception of 2 seasons where RB Leipzig and Bayern won, BVB ran the table. With the exception of a lone Hertha win in 2055/2056, the next years were Bayern, BVB and RB Leipzig going on runs. In 2069/2070, and then three times in a row starting in 2074/2075 Stuttgart won the league, another Hertha outlier in 2085/2086, the RB Leipzig winning it 11 times in 13 years, and then the 22nd Century started, and in 2101,2101, Freiburg has won the league every year 2104/2105. For me, what’s more exciting is you have teams like Hoffenheim, Kaiserslautern, and Koln in the mix as well, that’s usually not the case.
As a Kaiserslautern fan, I actually went to a couple of games there in the 80’s when my dad was stationed there, the less we say about the 2049/2050 season, the better.
With the exception of a couple of season where the top 2 teams were tied points wise and they went to the tiebreak, there haven’t been any real seasons of note in terms of close finishes. In terms of overall results though, I believe the 2080/2081 season was the roughest, most exciting one:
You have to go back to 2003 to see 65 points win the league, and the lowest ever was 43 winning it all in 97-98 (The Kaiserslautern miracle run). But the difference between Champions League Football and Conference League was 3 goals…
Serie A, Italy
Another league of the “Usual Suspects” early on, as Inter won every year from 2024/2025 to 2040/2041, except the one year Juve won it in 2032/2033. Napoli had a couple of wins, then it was Inter again, with a lone Juve win in 2047/2048, and then again in 2053/2054 and 20/56/2057. Lazio had a good run starting in 2060, winning it all six of the next 7 years, then Inter won it all again until 2081/2082, the loan break being a 3 year period starting in 2076/2077 when Milan won it.
Then it was Juve, Inter, Milan and Palermo making itself known, then another inter run until 2106, with lone Palermo and Juve wins scattered thruout. Since 2107/2108, Palermo and Inter have been duking it out, whoever isnt winning is finishing 2nd, the lone excpetion being Juve in 2122/2133.
Again, the most recent table wouldn’t look out of place today I think, just the top team really:
Palermo almost went ‘Invincible’ in 2112/2113, a loss to Como being the only thing that stopped them:
In 2075/2076 Milan was running away with the League until April and May, when it drew 6, won 1, and lost 1. The one loss to a midtable Bergamo team that that put them out of contention for good. Inter finished the season with 6 wins and 2 draws, Juve with 6 wins, a draw and a loss as well.
LaLiga, Spain
More Italy than Germany results wise, but not unexpected either: It’s been mostly Barcelona and Real Madrid. However, Athletico has won it a few times, as has Real Sociedad. Girona started popping up with the occasional win in in 2049/2050, and thereafter was a fxiture at 2nd or 3rd place more often than not, then they started winning more often, and starting in 2112/2113, they’ve won LaLiga 9 of the last 13 years.
Nothing out of the ordinary here table wise I believe:
Barcelona lost 1 game in 2093/2094, but to be honest I am more impressed with Sevilla 19 draws…
A 1-0 loss to Real Betis was Barcelona’s only blip in an otherwise very good 2093/2094 season.
Season wise, there have been more than a few times when the teams at the top have ended up on the same points,
The choice for the most exciting season so far in La Liga boils down to 3 seasons, but the participants and results are all the same: heading into the last week, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Girona are either tied on points, or one team is separated by one point from the others. All three teams draw, and the fans are probably disappointed as a result. I am choosing the 2017/73 season though, because all three teams had a chance of outright winning La Liga, instead they all drew, leaving Barcelona to win it all:
The Liga, Portugal
Speaking personally, I have not played a lot in Portugal. I had a banger of a Santa Clara save started when the country database I was using decided to bork everything, but of the “Big 5” European leagues, it’s the one I know the least about. Other than the fact it usually has three teams dominating it.
That’s has changed very little in this timeline.
Sporting, Porto and Benfica have pretty much dominated the last century, with Porto going on a run from 2044/2045 to 2078/2079 where they “lost” the league just four times. Gil Vicente and Boa Vista start winning titles every once and awhile, Gil Vicente had a run at the turn of the century where it won 5 out of 7 years, but both Porto and Sporting have started to fall off, as Braga. Gil Vicente and Boavista step up.
The current table:
Again, other than a few names at the bottom, nothing out of the ordinary here.
Records wise, no real Surprises here either, not a lot has changed since the simulation began:
Porto went 32-2-1 in it’s 95 point season, Sporting beating them 2-1 to ruin the ‘Invincible” season.
With regards to the most exciting season so far, it has to be the 2109/2110 campaign. Heading into the last week, Rio Ave was top of the League with 63 points. Gol Vicente and Boavista were also on 63 points, Benfica was on 61, so all four teams had the ability to win the league. In the end:
Rio Ave was the only team to lose, as a result going from 1st to 4th, while Gil Vicente ended up winning. Although in looking at the tables and fixtures, I am not sure why, as Boavista won and drew, and now the data is jacked up when I go back and look because of course it is…the results in the table don’t match up with Gil Vicenctes fixture schedule…sigh…
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
I will be the first to admit I do not know a lot about Brazilian football, and what I do know has been thru Football Manager more often than not. But I always try and include them or another South American Country because it leads to more diverse results down the road. I could have also sworn that I used the real name fix, but either SI is doing FM26 SI things, or I used the wrong name fix, because I am still getting 3 letter abbreviations for the team names…but onwards we go!
There has been a decent amount of diversity in the winners of the league the past 100 years. Flamingo dominated early on, but then fell off, with Botafogo , Santos, São Paulo, Vasco de Gama, Fluminense all winning titles, then in 2081 Cortiba (currently a Serie B team) won it all. Bahia has won the league, Cruziero has a title as well, so for the time being Brazil isthe place to be if you are a good team, because there are other good teams but no one team is dominating.
Even a bit more on the ‘odd’ side of things:
Not a lot of new records in the last 100 years, except for Figueirense (Currently a Serie C team in 2025), losing 32 of 38 games…
Season wise, the 2105 season was probably the closest so far:
Atlético Mineiro, if the fixture data can be trusted, went L-W-D-D-W it’s last 5 games. The Fixture schedule for Cruziero has the same result, just in a different order (W-W-L-L-D), and the Fluminese results don’t match up at all.
I suspect this part of the review may not be present in future posts…
The J1 League, Japan
Until recently I never added an Asian team to the countries, the primary reason being League depth. South Korea, Indonesia and China only go 2 leagues down, so as a result, you tend to get the teams winning it all in the 21st Century winning it all in the 27th Century. Japan though, with it’s 3 Leagues and Regional Leagues, is a very good country to add, not the least of which is the knock on effect of very good Japanese players going to European teams and being world Superstars.
That said, my knowledge of the J1 League is less than that of Brazil’s Serie A…
I can’t say anything looks out of the ordinary here, I don’t know what “ordinary” in Japan is. Hiroshima winning the league though, I know they are a good team, they have won the J-League more than any other team. They pretty much dominated until the 2050’s, Kawasaki-F managed to pip a few years from them, then came Urawa, Shimizu, and others. Tokyo-V dominated the 2070’s, a lone Sapporo win in 2073 the only blip there, then it was teams like Niigata, Yokohama F-M, Shonan and Sagamihara winning titles, which I think is a good thing. The last thing a person wants to see, having encountered it before, is one team dominating for the entirety of the save. Which happens more than you think.
CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS
EUROPE
The Conference League
This is probably, for me anyways, the most enjoyable competition to look at early on, because most of the participants are clubs from smaller nations that we do not have loaded, so the variety of clubs is quite good.
Obligatory Breiðablik appearence made…
What I like about this competition is yes, some of the bigger clubs (Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Parma, Bayer) do show up and win, it’s clubs like FC Blau-Weiß Linz in 38/39, OH Leuven in 57/58, LASK in 76/77, Goztepe in 92/93, Puskas Akademia in 98/99, or Hapoel Be’er Sheva in 2116/2117 winng. And as the Sim goes on, yes you will still see big teams win it, but a lot of smaller teams as well. Look at some of the teams coming, those could be the potential powerhouses next centruy.
Your Young Player of the Conference, 2125. Georgian Striker Zurab Telia, on loan from Porto to Torpedo Kutaisi:
The Europa League
As expected this early in the save, a lot of the “Usual Suspects” here, with a couple of outliers every now and again. Ajax in 34/35, Mallorca in 49/50, Derby in 68/69, Servette in 2105/2105, SK Sturmgratz in 2110/2111. This is where up and coming teams in the loaded leagues will start making their appearances on a regular basis. Oddly enough, and since I am wearing the bifocals it’s not impossible, there hasn’t been a repeat Europa League Winner since I started the save:
Your Europa League Young Player of the Season: Luke Anderson-Peters, from Chelsea:
European Football Championship
I’m not going to post the winners, because for the most part it’s the “Usual Suspects”, the Big Leagues I have loaded. The outliers though, will raise a couple of eyebrows.
Denmark beat France in 2044. Belgium Beat Germany in 2088. Romania beat Italy in 2112. Netherlands beat Spain in 2120. Every other competition was England, Spain, Germany, with the lone French win coming in 2052. England did “Three-peat” from 2028 to 2036.
The Champions League
Again, this early in the save, there aren’t going to be very many surprises. The newer winner reflect their own climb to the top of their respective Leagues (Girona and Freiburg), and while some winners may look like an outlier, Wolves in 2094/2095, they were the class of the English Prem then.
No, the outliers are going to be those clubs you wouldn’t be expecting to win it, SK Strum in 2116/2117, and Lille in 2109/2110, whose best finish in the save so far has been a series of 2nd place finishes early in the save, and a few second places since. They lost to Chelsea the previous year in the Europa League final, finished 3rd in France that same year to grab the last Champions league spot, and won it all the next season.
Your Champions League Player of the Season: Bruno Reisinho, Man United Striker:
The World Cup
To be honest, the result from this are a bit more diverse than I expected, with a couple of surprises as well:
The Ballon d’Or Winner
One hand, the screen for this is nice. On the other hand, it’s to small to be useful. You get, at best, 13 years of players in, that’s a lot of screenshots. So what I will do is this:
This is the current Ballon d’Or winner, Javier Mesias from Wolves:
Still going strong at 34.
However, from 2070 to 2079, Alejandro won the Ballon 7 times, including 6 in a row while playing at Athletico Madrid:
And because I am saving every 5 years, here is Alejandro from the 2069/2070 season:
The idea is to do updates every hundred years, hopefully we do get 1000 years out of the save. As I type this it’s currently, 2663 and the file size is just over 4GB, so we will see what happens.
For those of you who want to poke around, just be aware the data doesn;t always match up, but here is the save file for 2125:
https://www.mediafire.com/file_premium/80eysorkrz0hkm2/1000_yr_2125.06.20.fm/file
When the save concludes, that’s when I’ll upload all the 5 years files to my Mediafire. If there are other competitions you want me to look at, or other player categories, let me know.
Thanks for Reading!
FM_Jellico
THE FOOTBALL MANAGER BLOG OF FM_JELLICO 