A new non league football manager game for PC and Mac excites fans as first screenshots emerge ahead of the 2026/27 season launch.
The difference from the Football Manager (FM) simulation game, this focuses on non league football, a completely different world as we know all too well.
On Non League Football Manager, developed and published by Black Cannon Studios, you can take control of any team between steps 1 to 6, the day jobs, ground-grading, gate receipts, cup runs, dual registration, 7-day approaches, facility investment, teams where clubs and yes, even a game where clubs will fold and reform.
The database will have over 1,000 clubs, their locations, the league structures, but footballers will be generated as licensing real player names isn’t feasible. But every save will be different and plays out differently. You manage the football, the club, the career, the matchday, transfers, finances, facilities.
As per the Steam website:
About This Game
It’s not about success. It’s about survival. Non-League Football Manager covers the entire English non-league pyramid — over 1,000 real clubs from the National League down to Step 6, with real grounds, real kit colours, and real local rivalries. Pick a club you’ve stood on the terraces for, or find one you’ve never heard of and make it yours.
Managing around real life
Lower down the pyramid, your players have day jobs. They miss training because of a late shift. They can’t make Tuesday’s away game because they work for a living. Availability changes week to week, and your teamsheet depends on who can actually get there.
Transfers work differently in non-league, too: 7-day approaches, dual registration with professional clubs, free agents, and the occasional agent to deal with. You need players who are good enough to win and close enough to make training. Geography matters as much as ability.
The ground, the money, and the cups
Your ground has to meet the league’s grading requirements: floodlights, hard standing, covered seating. If it doesn’t, promotion isn’t happening, no matter where you finish. Plan the investment early or watch the opportunity pass you by.
Gate receipts pay the wages. Sponsorship and matchday income keep the lights on. A cup run in the FA Cup, FA Trophy, or FA Vase can transform a season — financially, and in terms of what it means to the club. Drawing a League One side in the first round proper is the kind of day that defines a decade.
A match engine built for non-league football
Every match runs through a purpose-built match engine with live move-by-move commentary. You watch it unfold in real time — reading the game, making substitutions, changing shape, adjusting the mentality when you’re hanging on with ten minutes left. Derby matches feel like derbies. The crowd is different, the intensity is different, and the players respond to it. The engine was designed for non-league football, and it plays like it.
A living pyramid
Money is tight at every level, and the consequences of getting it wrong are real. Clubs can overspend, go into administration, take a points deduction, or fold entirely. Phoenix clubs reform at the bottom and start again. When you draw a National League side in the FA Cup, they’ve been having their own season. When you get promoted, the division you’re entering has had its own relegation battles and financial crises.
The off-season is alive too: contracts expire, boards set new budgets, managers get sacked, youth players come through. The pyramid reshapes itself every summer.
Your career runs through it. Build a reputation, earn the board’s trust, get offered bigger jobs — or lose the dressing room and start again somewhere smaller. Every job you take shapes what comes next.
It will be launched on PC and Mac via Steam first, with plans to then go on iOS and Android. For more information…
NON LEAGUE FOOTBALL MANAGER ON STEAM
NON LEAGUE FOOTBALL MANAGER WEBSITE
NON LEAGUE FOOTBALL MANAGER ON DISCORD
NON LEAGUE FOOTBALL MANAGER ON TWITTER
As mentioned, the new non league game excites fans as first screenshots emerge ahead of a planned 2026/27 launch…
@broctonfc: Can’t wait for this one!
@katej1984: Oooh, a chance to manage @LincolnUnited. In all my years playing Football Manager, they only reached a playable division once on there. Naturally got them to the Prem after leaving City, and the first game was an opening day derby.
@Spencomms: This actually looks incredible, I can’t wait for this.
@yellows4life: got to admit, very excited for this, for me, this talk of adding non league packs database etc or whatever to FM is confusing, be good just to have a game where its all there without having to deal with all the faff. can’t wait for it to come out
@RussWWFC: Looks like an interesting concept.
@HxtfcRichard: Interesting concept, but what happens if you win the National League? The game ends?
Delighted to be tasked with becoming the Media Manager for Non-League Football Manager! 🤩
Really excited about this project and what the game is aiming to bring to the world of #NonLeague football.
Check it all out over at @NLFM_Game.
More to come soon. Let’s have it. pic.twitter.com/tsL150sc5F
— Jamie (@JamieTarrant) May 26, 2026
