I'm not going to put any images of the database itself, and how awesome it is. Because FM26 is one of the most un-photogenic games of the year. But I will outline the changes, and hopefully it's enough for you to play it.
The 92-team Premier League begins with four geographical 23-team groups, for 22 matches. Based on standings, teams advance to Championship, Classification or Relegation Groups, retaining points. Championship, Classification and Relegation Group teams play 11 (or 9) more matches. 8 from Relegation Group(s) are relegated to the Enterprise National League, and 24 from Championship & Classification Group(s) enter the Champions Playoff directly, while 60 are sorted by a Wild Card Table for 8 Champions Playoff spots. After 31–33 total matches, the highest-ranked team earns the Premier League Fans' Shield. The 32 Champions Playoff teams play in a Major Nation to decide European Competition Qualification, and the Premier League winners. Teams are able to play a maximum of 38 matches throughout the season.
Opening Stage - Regional Groups
Teams are placed into four regional groups of 23 (North West, North East, South West, South East) based on their location relative to Derby. Each team plays 22 matches (one vs each team, home OR away).
Top 6 in Each Group: Championship Group(s)
Middle 12 in Each Group: Classification Group(s)
Bottom 5 in Each Group: Relegation Group(s)
Secondary Stage - Performance Groups
Each group keeps 100% of their points from the Opening Stage. Teams in the Championship / Classification Group(s) play another 11 matches, and teams in the Relegation Group(s) play another 9 matches.
Championship Group (North, South) — 12 teams each
Top 6 in Each Group: Champions Playoff
Bottom 6 in Each Group: Wild Card Table
Classification Group ( North A, North B, South A, South B ) — 12 teams each
Top 3 in Each Group: Champions Playoff
4th–12th in Each Group: Wild Card Table
Relegation Group (North, South) — 10 teams each
Top 6 in Each Group: Wild Card Table
Bottom 4 in Each Group: Relegated to Enterprise National League
Premier League Fans' Shield
So far, Relegation Group teams have played 31 matches and Championship / Classification Group teams have played 33 matches. The best overall-ranked team at this point is awarded the Premier League Fans' Shield.
Wild Card Table (North, South) — 30 teams each
All Wild Card teams are placed in either group, and are ranked by their overall performance so far to secure one of the eight remaining Champions Playoff spots.
Top 4 in Each Group: Champions Playoff
Champions Playoff (32 teams)
Teams play knockout rounds (First Round → Second Round → Quarter Finals → Semi Finals → Third-Place Playoff → Final) hosted in a Major Host Nation. European Spots are ranked by this stage, but FA Cup and Carabao Cup winners still have priority.
Participants:
12 from Championship Group(s)
12 from Classification Group(s)
8 from Wild Card Table
Teams can play a maximum of 38 matches in a Premier League season.
The 96-team National League is divided into four 24-team regional groups, where each club plays a full 46-match home-and-away season. Group winners earn automatic promotion to the Premier League, and enter a four-team Champions Playoff to determine the overall National League champion. Teams finishing 2nd–7th in each group enter regional Promotion Playoffs, which award four additional promotion places. The bottom two in every group are relegated to their respective Step 3 leagues. Depending on playoff involvement, clubs play between 46–49 matches per season.
League Stage – Regional Groups
Teams are placed into four regional groups of 24 (North West, North East, South West, South East) based on their location relative to Derby. Each team plays a 46-match season (home AND away) within its group.
1st Place in Each Group: Promoted to Premier League; Champions Playoff
2nd–7th in Each Group: Promotion Playoffs
23rd–24th in Each Group: Relegated to Northern Premier, Isthmian Premier, Southern Premier Central or Southern Premier South
Promotion Playoffs (North West Playoffs, North East Playoffs, South West Playoffs, South East Playoffs) — 6 teams each
Each of the four groups runs its own Enterprise National League–style promotion playoffs to determine which 4 additional clubs are promoted to the Premier League.
Champions Playoff (4 Teams)
The four teams to have topped the four League Stage Groups, already promoted automatically, play a mini-tournament (Semi Finals → Third-Place Playoff → Final) to decide the overall Enterprise National League champion. These matches are spread between the four Home Nations' National Stadia.
Teams can play a minimum of 46 matches in a Enterprise National League season, and a maximum of 48-49 matches (depending on if you're in the Promotion Playoffs or the Champions Playoff).
Other Fantasy Changes
Other than the obvious, there are other fantasy changes, outlined below.
The Premier League has around £90-120M in Prize Money & TV Revenue across a season, which I think is realistic as Solidarity Payments are no longer being paid to 72 EFL clubs which are now in the division.
The 96-team National League clubs can earn up to £3.6–4.4M across a season: TV Revenue; Up to £1.2M in Prize Money (and roughly £800K extra for winning the competition); £2.2M in Solidarity Payments.
Cup prize money has been updated to reflect the increased stature of many competitions. E.g: the Vertu Trophy, now technically a top-flight tournament, offers around £960K to the winners instead of £100K, while still involving the same types of clubs and youth teams. The biggest jumps are in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup Final(s), now worth around £11M and £8M. With the pyramid more compact, these increases feel necessary.
Updates
Another minor update, just a number of changes to do with when you'll get updates on fixtures chosen for television, and attendances for Final(s) of some stages of the Premier League and Enterprise National League. Changes below.
The Premier League Opening Group(s) now has a 18-Day Rolling Window for TV Decision Dates, with its first cycle kicking in 4 days before Matchday 1.
The Premier League Championship Group(s), Classification Group(s) and Relegation Group(s) now have 16-Day Rolling Windows for TV Decision Dates with their first cycles kicking in 2 days before Matchday 23 (First fixture in those group(s)).
The Premier League now has Fixture Attendance Info set, so that the Third Place Playoff and the Final of the Champions Playoff both have more realistic, increased attendances.
The Enterprise National League now has Fixture Attendance Info set, so that the Final(s) of the North West Playoff, North West Playoff, South West Playoff and South East Playoff, plus the Third Place Playoff and Final of the Champions Playoff all have more realistic, increased attendances.
The Enterprise National League now starts Matchday 1 one week earlier by default, it made sense to make the league align closer to how the Premier League has changed.
This has a bunch of mostly minor updates to the fantasy elements of the database, mostly aligning some elements of the Enterprise National League, with the Premier League. Changes are outlined below.
The Premier League now correctly has break periods set in the Opening Group Stage(s) to respect a Winter World Cup.
The default Matchday Rules of the Premier League (set via the Squad Selection Rules) has been altered, so that there can be no more than eight loan players in the Match Squad (Starting XI + Bench).
Seeing as the Enterprise National League is now the 2nd Tier in the English Football Pyramid... While the league DOESN'T take breaks for the September, October, November or March International Windows, managers can now opt to request for a match to be postponed if at least 10 of their players are called up for international duty.
The Enterprise National League DOES however have a break set in the Group Stage(s) to respect a Winter World Cup. Additionally if a Winter World Cup is scheduled, the league now has an Additional Helper regarding Winter World Cups in place, so that the league starts 2 weeks earlier (in Late July / Early August), and all other Fixture Dates take place 1 Week later than usual, which aims to help counteract the break and reduce potential fixture congestion.
The Group Stage(s) of the Enterprise National League now has a Rolling 21-Day TV Decision Date, which begins its first cycle 5 Days before Matchday 1 (This means, that from 5 days before the First Matchday, and every 21 days thereafter, you'll be informed as to which matches in the next 21 day window have been selected for Pay Per View broadcast.)
The Enterprise National League now requires stadiums to have minimum of 3,000 seats. However, a dispensation period of 2 years is given to current (and future) clubs, during which time, the requirement is reduced to 300.
To make the new-look Enterprise National League the destination for football prospects while promoting English Talent Generation, the default Matchday Rules have been expanded. In the Match Squad (Starting XI + Bench), teams may include no more than eight loan players (previously five), must have at least six English players (not necessarily as their primary nationality), and must include at least four U21 players, two of which must be U19. In the Starting XI, at least two players must be under 21.
The Substitution Rules of the Group Stage(s) of the Enterprise National League is now "5 from 9 in 3 stops" (Instead of "5 from 7"), aligning with the Premier League's Substitution Rules.
The Substitution Rules of the Playoff(s) of the Enterprise National League is now "5 from 9 in 3 stops, +1 ET" (instead of "5 from 7, +1 ET").
Aligning with these changes, the Substitution Rules of stage(s) of the National League Cup, FA Cup, FA Trophy, and Vertu Trophy are all "5 from 9 in 3 stops" or "5 from 9 in 3 stops, +1 ET", where applicable.
I have been notified of an issue with Premier League games being played during International Breaks. I have it set how it should be to avoid that, and its still doing it. So I've put together a working, but messy fix for it. Basically 5 days before and after each window, between those ranges, the league has manual breaks set.
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@miggu172 Apologies for the late reply. Yes, the four Semi Finalists get the Top 4 European Placements (which are Champions League by default), ranked by the Winner / Loser in the Final and Third Place Playoff. The next 3 spots are ranked by losing teams in the Quarter Finals, I'm not exactly sure how FM ranks the best / worst performances. A simpler way to explain it is that if you lose in the Quarter Finals, you have a 3 in 4 (75%) chance of getting European Football.
Just a quick question....how will european spots will be distributed exactly?
obviosly those arriving in the semifinals will enter UCL. but what about the other 3 (or more) spots?
Hello! Could you please tell me if you might be able to help us create a championship structure through the Editor? We’re planning an online tournament for about 50 players, and we would really appreciate any help you can provide.
@kubaqzn Since the Fixture Order is set to Random in the first stage (which makes sense since there's only Home or Away Matches, so doing the standard Double Header around Boxing Day / New Years makes no sense since you can't play the same team twice in that stage): Yes, the order of which team gets the bye in that week will also be random.
Probably a dumb question but I’m trying to figure out.
In the first stage there are 23-team group. So in each MD there is one team with a bye since 11 games in each group leaves one team not playing. Is it the order of bye weeks determined at random?
Looks like an interesting format, would see it happening for European football
@Ollie1999 I've checked the database, and thee Premier League is already set to Check For Clashes with All. So, it should be taking breaks for International Windows. I don't know why it isn't, it doesn't seem to be an issue with what I've set.
There's problems with players going on international duty and there's still premier league matches during the same time. Not a fun time having 90% of your first team leave for international as you have to play.
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Discussion: MLS & NFL-Inspired 92-Team EPL & 96-Team NL
10 comments have been posted so far.
Just a quick question....how will european spots will be distributed exactly?
obviosly those arriving in the semifinals will enter UCL. but what about the other 3 (or more) spots?
In the first stage there are 23-team group. So in each MD there is one team with a bye since 11 games in each group leaves one team not playing. Is it the order of bye weeks determined at random?
Looks like an interesting format, would see it happening for European football