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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xxx Darkside xxx
If you just want to replace bundles - it's sufficient to just download the bundled version - at least if you're on Windows ;-)
swiss_lis
Thanks for your work and uploading the Skinbuilder files (as i have been enjoying trying to tweak and tinker a bit myself!)
Don't know if I'm being stupid with V3.7 though, seems a lot less packages/bundles being updated when build and apply skin. And so for instance, my main menu isn't updating from default?
xxx Darkside xxx
Check your mappings if everything is selected… The only one I have excluded for the release was “Messages” due to the removed layer (by SI) for those tiles…
You can map them, but a couple of pictures will be too bright, so text is hard to read. This will be fixed for the next version.
Other than that, there shouldn't be a major difference between 3.6 and 3.7 when it come to the number of bundles created during a build run…
killyouridols
Am I being Dense (Yes….) But can't see a pass map? Assume I've missed something simple as a new user, but the skin looks Amazing!
Edit: Its there in Defaul Skin, Assume I should just build this and Apply again?
swiss_lis
Very strange…. the actual download from website seemed to be corrupted somehow?! Despite showing same file size. But i have redownloaded and now all is well.
Sorry for false flag, and thanks again for your great work.
xxx Darkside xxx
Find them in Data-Hub…
or in match…
killyouridols
xxx Darkside xxx
Can't help you with that unfortunately - as the Data-Hub is untouched by the skin, means it comes from the base game 1:1 …
killyouridols
Thats what I would have expected, but the fact its showing in the default skin is a mystery.
xxx Darkside xxx
You're using skinbuilder version? If so, try this:
Other than that - no further idea what might be wrong…
killyouridols
Sorted. For some reason ui-tactics was outside the Packages folder (I have never been in there that I can remember) so I dropped it in the folder and rebuilt the skin.
Cheers Darkside
redmisty
Darkside, thanks so much for a terrific skin, loving using it! One thing: I'm not sure if you addressed this, I possibly misunderstood, but will the next version reintroduce the lovely message pictures again? I realise the latest SI update removed them. Sorry if I missed you addressing this earlier. Thanks!
xxx Darkside xxx
Yes, they will. Found a way to properly overlay them again, so text keeps readable 🙂
ANTH1973
Great skin only thing is I don't get the Sky Sports Transfer Talk image in the news background, I just get a sponsors board or paper and pen on a table. Is there a separate add on?
xxx Darkside xxx
https://sortitoutsi.net/comments/get/869309
xxx Darkside xxx
Why SI, why can't you just release the passmaps like this?
ForeverNedved
Hi Darkside, thanks for your wonderful work. I have a question for you: how do I remove the background images to have a neutral and dark background?
xxx Darkside xxx
Check the mapping in “graphics/backgrounds” and replace them to your liking…
xxx Darkside xxx
Update V 3.8:
As we have again seen skins published which have been poor unauthorized copy/paste jobs, I'd like to announce this:
If I see this happening again, I will immediately stop sharing Skinbuilder version and this time it will not return. We (the Skinbuilder community) have put hundreds of hours into our projects and it's not acceptable to simply copy/paste it and publish it as your product. We gladly share our work with the community but “stealing” is unacceptable.
Finally, here are some impressions from the latest version…
jeffnijmegen
great skin,only when i click on a player the game shuts off.
but i can click on the menu and everything.
you can help?
xxx Darkside xxx
No.
Doesn't happen for me. Make sure you installed it properly.
jeffnijmegen
I get this when i want to apply to game
I am a noob with this so what is the best i can do now?
ForeverNedved
If I may suggest something...you've definitely downloaded the wrong version of FM Skin Builder. It happened to me too, but then I fixed it.
jeffnijmegen
I did apply to game one more time and now i can play the game and everything works well .
Thanx for the reply 👍
Enos
I installed the 3.6 Windows bundle version of the skin last time. I'm ready to install the Windows bundle version of 3.8. I used Steam to restore all of my files. Are there any files I need to manually delete before installing 3.8? For the life of me, I cannot find installation directions for the Windows bundle anywhere.
ARookieKeeper
It really is disappointing to see some people resort to such a pathetic approach. I am making my own tweaks to Darkside's skin, but I would not just publish it, since it's for my own personal use. Because it's simply wrong.
These people put in a lot of time and effort to make such awesome skins for the community. Do not disrespect that!
JJefr000
is there anyway to change the colours of each position in the tactics menu aka gk,cb etc.
mrtkyk
Why did you remove the 2D simulation? It was one of the few things you did wrong in FM26. I have a request; I've attached a picture of an ASF patch you made, it looks really nice, I think adding it would be great. Everyone else uses blue in their themes, it's really awful, you can barely tell the difference. Your theme is black and it looks great, that's why I use it. If you added that, it would be amazing.
In the photo in file 1, the image I'm trying to explain to you shows how this screen appears when you press the info button. My friend made that screen blue, for example, it's awful, you can't even see it.
In file 2, you've removed 2D. Is there a reason for this? Isn't it better this way? Or is it impossible to place league pages and 2D at the same time?
xxx Darkside xxx
You can find it in the Skinbuilder version. Each position group can (obviously) be changed :-)
xxx Darkside xxx
Let me xplain it like this…
The skin is exactly how I like it.
I also gladly share it with the community and - for the time being - share my Skinbuilder version, pretty much the full version of all changes. Feel free to use it and do your very own personal version for yourself, where you can apply all changes you like, until it fully fulfills your personal preferences… but this - I don't regard as being my task…