Update 07.04.2026:
Update to version 5.1
For updates and further information, please check here
To install the skin, do this:
- Download the bundles archive
- Locate your game directory. For steam this will usually be:
\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 26\fm_Data\StreamingAssets\aa\StandaloneWindows64\ - For Gamepass installations it should be
\XboxGames\Football Manager 26\Content\fm_Data\StreamingAssets\aa\StandaloneWindows64\ - Make sure you have an unmodded Game, as you will otherwise create an unhealthy mix of modded files and those from this skin
- In case you're unsure, verify your gamefiles first!
- Copy and paste the files form the skin archive into the above game directory. When asked, choose to overwrite/replace the existing files.
The mirror links will now directly point to the Skinbuilder site - where you can download them and directly manage the Skin (including easy updates!) in the tool.
For some quick guidance, you might want to check here.
Credits:
My special thanks goes to lotsgon, sic, MW90, MrTini23, LuckyLuke - and in general to the community on FMML discord, for massive support and sharing stuff and ideas while trying to work into this new environment, as well as ongoing - as this is and has been incredibly valuable - and finally to my old friend Flut who teached me so many things in the past. To show my respect, I selected two of his backgrounds for the Startmenu.
Additional credits going to
- TinyHips for sharing his prematch lineups
- Ferrigi97 for providing a load of additional prematch lineups as of V3.0
Enjoy.
This is a call to the FM26 player community…
Support FMSB Development
If you’d like to support ongoing development of FM Skin Builder and help cover hosting, tooling and research time, you can do so via https://ko-fi.com/lotsgon. The builder will remain free to use — contributions simply help keep the project online, stable and improving over time.
Comments
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RipCity0
Hey, good job and a very nice tool!
One question. Is it possible to add the player faces next to the shirt in the tactics screen and 3D Game bar like in FM24 etc? Or is this still not possible?
Thanks and keep up the good work 🙂
xxx Darkside xxx
Thanks :-)
Regarding the faces - not yet possible unfortunately… Maybe some day…
Thomas Sinclair
Hey again Darkside! It seems the line up style I want is only showing in friendly matches, not in English League One. I've selected the correct folder (and only one, not all of them). Is this because the league is licensed? Do I need to delete some bundle files for it to work in all matches?
thanks for any help!
xxx Darkside xxx
Yes, it's because it's licensed league…
Matt270275
the screenshots of the blue theme have more of a transparent look to the tiles. they dont look like this on the DARKSIDE BASE download ? what is the BLUE bundle download for and where do you put the files ? thank you
xxx Darkside xxx
Base download = Skin Builder Skin, you need the tool to create/apply your own bundles. You can also change every change I made to your pers. liking
Blue bundle = compiled bundles - like the other skins. You just need to copy them into the bundle folder of the Game
moonwalker699
How can I install the version 2.6, without the new in between highlights screen?
Anyway, thank you for your fantastic work!
xxx Darkside xxx
in “tile-layouts” folder within the Skin, delete "MatchExperienceGridComposition-Large.json". Then do restore/build/apply …
moonwalker699
Thank you for your quick answer!!
Matt270275
can you tell me how to get the tiles transparent just like in the first set of screenshots please
Mark C 123
Something wrong with the action button here using one of your bundles.
xxx Darkside xxx
Yes, this had been overseen unfortunatley. Will be fixed in the next version.
Mark C 123
Ok thanks
Matt270275
can you tell me how to get the tiles transparent just like in the first set of screenshots please ?
xxx Darkside xxx
check into base.uss…
There actually only two pairs of dark colors - just play around with them… One is the base color, second one will be when hovering over the tile
Matt270275
can i remove these colours and revert to original. the original are transparent and i prefer them
Matt270275
forgive me for being vague but could you tell me how to do this please ? the original game panels are all see through and they are see through on the blue screenshot i sent you
Matt270275
look at your screenshot ive attached, all the tiles/panels are see through so you can see the background screen through them. how can i achieve this ?
xxx Darkside xxx
I've told you above…
In Skinbuilder, click on the base.uss file and then you see the variables and the colors. Check for the two dark pairs (start with one) and change their values to what you like… SAVE.
Do a restore/build/apply circle and see how it refelcts in your game…
Matt270275
ok thank you very much i do appreciate it
Matt270275
do i need to check the PACKAGES folder in Skinbuilder before i build ?
xxx Darkside xxx
No.
jeffnijmegen
I am trying my best to get this ingame,but everytime i try it wont work.
I put it in the map like it should but ingame nothing change.
But respect for the people that makes this,it does look a lot better !!
xxx Darkside xxx
If you are struggling with the tool (lathough it should be possible to get it in game with the little guide I've done in the first post) - you can always take the bundle version. It contains (almost) all features from the SkinBuilder version as well. YOu do install this like any other skin. Just copy the bundles into the Gamesfolder…
jeffnijmegen
I have the tool and was taking every step and it seems to work because it was added to the game,but when i start the game i dont see the difference.
I will look after work, thank you for response!
xxx Darkside xxx
If you don't see a difference - it was not applied to the game… Please recheck every step…
xxx Darkside xxx
Important Announcement:
Up form the next version, I will stop supporting the alternative colorversions (red, green). Preparing for the latest release of Version 3, I realized how much time consuming it is, to maintain three different versions and apply all changes to keep them in sync. So ongoing I will only develop the blue version and not catch up with all changes to red or green version.
Though for giving you an idea how a multi color version (by simply selecting a different color) can help for a convinient experience using multiple different base colors, I'll keep “red” and “green” versions in the skin - but their development will be frozen to V3 level.
So in future I will also just release the Skinbuilder Version and the blue bundles, whenever I publish an update.
abbespl
Ah, that's a shame - I was hoping for some dark theme instead of Blue in the future, Blue is not so eyes-friendly 🙂 Grey-ish color would be sweet 😉. Nevertheless, good job on this skin mate, the most innovative so far!
hellstorm77
hello Darkside i am getting an issues when i build it says
[read_type_tree_blob] WARNING: Empty string buffer (expected 0 bytes) - bundle may not contain modifiable assets
xxx Darkside xxx
Just a warning - ignore… There are several…