M.C - Comments

All of the transfers and managerial changes should be included in the FM24 Data Update.

Can you provide a few examples of transfers/managers that aren’t showing in-game, please? This will help me investigate the situation.

We are actually working through the recently-finished nations, including Brazil, to update them to reflect the 2026 season at the moment.

In fact, Brazil is the one I'm working on right now. I'd estimate it being released into the FM24 Data Update by the end of this week.

In the future, please do post in English as this is an English-speaking forum.

However, on your question - the FM24 Data Update is being maintained and there are daily releases of the free version and releases every 20 minutes for the Enhanced (Paid) version of the update.

The basic concept of what is included is based mainly on community contributions. We have a system whereby all forum/community members are encouraged to submit transfers that are confirmed in real-life. To ensure quality control, we have a moderation process that each submission goes through - this does sometimes mean there is a small delay between a submission being made and that submission being approved and, therefore, being included in the Data Update.

As an example, over the last few days, a backlog of submissions built up - the moderation team is a group of volunteers and whilst we try to stay on top of the submissions near-immediately, sometimes personal lives can result in us falling a little behind. Right now, there are only two unapproved submissions - which have both been made in the last 60 minutes.

Therefore, if you were to download the latest version of the Data Update, I think you'd find it is very much up-to-date. If you find anything that has been confirmed in real life is not included, I would encourage you to contribute and make those submissions yourself through the https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update/contribute page.

The SortItOutSI Data Update is available via https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update. On that page, there are links to both the FM24 and FM26 Data Update, respectively.

Just to be sure: if you have merged the ‘main’ facepack (containing over 500,000 images) and the ‘new players’ facepack, it is likely this will result in none of the images from the main facepack working in-game. Each of these are separate facepacks, with their own, independent config.xml file. As such, if you put them all in the same folder, with one config.xml file overwriting the other, whichever config.xml file you're left with will only contain entries for some of the images.

Within the graphics folder, you need separate sub-folders for the ‘main’ and ‘new players’ facepacks, each containing the respective images and corresponding config.xml file.

All that being said, if you have seen that the UIDs don't match, then that is still an issue. I personally do not play FM26, but there are two reasons why the UIDs configured in the facepack and the game don't match:

1. The facepack hasn't been updated following a recent Sports Interactive update to FM26, which has offset the UID numbering.

2. You are using extra custom files that introduce new players, which has offset the UID numbering.

The solution for #1 is for the facepack to be updated by our staff team. The solution for #2 is not to use those extra custom files.

I have a feeling @Footygamer took steps to fix the Bukayo Saka one, specifically. I downloaded the latest version of the FM24 Data Update earlier today and Saka was back at Arsenal, as expected.

The ‘No Date Changes’ update does include the newly-created players. You are also correct that it hasn't been updated for some time. Please see the post a few replies up for a fuller explanation of the timelines associated with the ‘No Date Changes’ update: https://sortitoutsi.net/comments/get/862984.

It has always been a ‘secondary’ offering and it will be updated; although there are more pressing issues at the moment. For full clarity, the content of the ‘No Date Changes’ update is simply the main ‘contracts’ file, which contains transfers and newly-created players. It does not include any updates to any league structures/promotions/relegations, age offsetting, transfer bans or anything like that.

It is the ‘simple’ file that people may want to use when using custom, future start dates. It will still not enable someone to start in-game in Summer 2025 with a real set of 2025/26 league structures. But it does provide the option to not have player ages and so on offset, so it may be your preferred option.

As mentioned in the post earlier, this used to be updated daily when there was a requirement to manually publish the update. Since we moved to an automated creation of the ‘main’ update, the ‘No Date Changes’ has fallen by the wayside a bit. I believe it requires some data to be processed manually by the Site Admin, so it isn't something I can personally assist with updating more immediately.

There is - for full transparency, it used to get updated every day when the staff team had to manually process the files. However, recent improvements have automated the creation of the core update and, since then, the ‘No Date Changes’ version has not been updated as frequently.

It has always, mainly, been provided as an alternative primarily to tackle some awkward timing around when to establish the +1 or +2 year cycle. With it being the start of a new year, I know it is on the Site Admin's list to do…but there have been more fundamental challenges to tackle recently, so it remains on the to-do list. I can't commit a timeline, but there will be an update at some point soon I would expect.

I have just downloaded the latest version of the FM24 Data Update and run a test - I am not able to replicate the issue you are reporting. Each of Lazio, Napoli & Juventus have their real-life Presidents.

Are you able to confirm whether you are using any other custom files alongside the SortItOutSI Data Update?

Speculatively, I would try to disable the ‘Club Data Fix’ files from DaveIncid's pack, as well as the ‘Geographics & Languages' file. These feel like the ones that might be having an affect on a regionalised league down in the depths of the English pyramid system. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with DaveIncid's pack as I don't use it, hence my advice is fairly speculative - I had a quick look online to see what each file contains to make this suggestion.

Of course, whether you want to disable certain parts of the DaveIncid pack, or you prefer not to use the English Lower League database, will be a choice that is down to you.

For those of you having issues - a request for some extra information, please, so that we can try and troubleshoot and find a solution.

Firstly, can you all please confirm which version of the game you are using - FM24 or FM26? As we provide the new players facepack for both. For FM26, the reasons for facepack IDs being misaligned are more numerous - we have to pivot our ID numbering whenever SI release a new update for FM26 which includes new players added to the default database…as it offsets the ‘starting ID’ for newly-created players. So that could be a factor. For FM24, this is less a factor as the official DB is static and has been for some time (years) now.

Secondly, can you confirm how you are installing it? Are you ensuring it is placed in its own sub-folder within your ‘graphics’ folder, as it is a standalone pack (i.e. not to be merged with the main facepack)? Feel free to share screenshots if that is easier.

On the question posed about new players - yes, the SortItOutSI Data Update includes new players. Indeed, the facepack is a dedicated facepack for those new players and is designed for use when using the SortItOutSI Data Update.

If you are using ‘new player’ databases from elsewhere these could very much be interfering - as the game sequentially assigns UIDs to players from custom data files in the order they are read. So if you're using a ‘new player pack’ from elsewhere and it is being read first, it will cause all of the SortItOutSI Data Update new players to have different UIDs from the ones configured in the corresponding facepack.

In terms of gameplay, it is also likely you'll have duplicate players in the game. Our recommendation is not to use the SortItOutSI Data Update alongside other ‘new player’ packs/databases, for both the reason of duplicates and the potential to break facepacks.

It's a bit of a complex combination of factors, but I'll do my best to explain. Please bear with me and apologies if any of the explanation ends up being confusing.

As a fundamental position, the SortItOutSI Data Update for FM24 is designed around the game starting in Summer 2023 (i.e. the original game's standard, in-game start date). Whilst there are mods available that enable you to ‘fast forward’ the in-game date to (for example) Summer 2025, when you do that you make concessions about the league structure, promotions/relegations, etc - as there is no easy way to fast-forward to Summer 2025 and have the divisional constitution reflect what it is, in real-life, for 2025/26.

Due to this, the approach the Data Update takes is to accept that the in-game date will be Summer 2023 and it offsets everything about the footballing world by two years. So in-game in Summer 2023, the footballing world is in the state that it is in Summer 2025. This includes promotions/relegations, people's ages and contract lengths. For this reason, there's a fundamental concept of ‘ageing’ players by two years in place.

As you may be aware/will have noted, this ageing is achieved by a dedicated file for all of the players in the original database and can therefore be disabled. However, this cannot be achieved for newly-created players because you cannot ‘make a change’ to a person record in a data file if that person record doesn't exist in that data file. Therefore, we apply this ageing process by default - which is why there isn't a modular option to ‘disable’ the ageing process for newly-created players specifically.

The core, most popular and recommended way to make use of the SortItOutSI FM24 Data Update is to apply it in full and to accept the concession that the in-game date is going to be 2023 at the start. It's ultimately one of those concessions that need to be made as the game is now two years old. In simple terms, it is suggested to ‘pretend 2023 in-game is 2025’ and if you take that perspective, everything else is aligned in as realistic a way as possible. In our view (and I agree with this), this is a lesser concession than the concessions made to realism by using a future start date mod. But of course not everyone agrees.

With that in mind, we do also provide a ‘No Date Changes’ version of the update, albeit less maintained. It can be found here: https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update/no-date-changes-data-update. It has not been updated for a little while, however, but you may find this provides you the experience you are looking for.

As mentioned, if you do intend to use ‘future start date’ mods the key thing to know is that there will be deviations from realism in terms of promotions/relegations/continental cup qualifications as the game will simulate some of those things.

Morning. Can you please provide a representative example or two? I know there are likely many; but it really helps me to replicate/investigate if there are specific ones that I can look up in the data.

Understood. Just to be clear - whilst it is available to download on this site, it isn’t our official release hence we are suggesting to talk to the creator about it.

Yes, in answer to your question. The wonderkids facepack is a self-contained pack with its own config.xml file, so it needs to be in its own sub-folder within your main ‘graphics’ folder.

Definitely don’t merge it with the main facepack, as that will result in the config.xml file overwriting and break all 500,000+ faces from the main pack.

The wonderkid IDs don’t need the ‘face_’ prefix as they are unique. No other graphics in the game use an equivalent number. This prefix is introduced to support the way FM26 handles multiple game items (of different types) that share a common ID.

You can submit changes to any existing person, in general, who is in the official database.

However, there is no method to create a new non-playing staff member. So if the new Hartlepool chairman doesn’t exist, they can’t be created and integrated via the site. I will try and find some time in the next week or so to create an extra file with all of the new non-playing staff I can who are based in England.

Thanks for sharing - unfortunately, that doesn't really help me troubleshoot further though. Specifically, I am keen to see a list of all of the custom editor data files you are using. You can either share a screenshot from the folder or the pane in the game setup screen. The in-game screen looks something like the below. You may need to take a couple of screenshots to show all of the files in the list. I am particularly interested in anything that might be amending team alignment in England. In my example screenshot below, you can see the “England (League)” file which is the one from the SortItOutSI Data Update.

 

The English lower leagues files are not part of the official SortItOutSI Data Update so it is tricky to directly troubleshoot.

However, as you mentioned you are using this site's update, one thing you will need to ensure is that the “England (League)” file is not activated, so that the only file affecting the English league system is the other custom DB. That being said, the fact you're getting a warning with respect to the number of teams in the division suggests you don't have two files clashing.

What that error is ultimately saying is that the custom DB results in there being 17 teams in the Shropshire County Premier League, but that the rules for that division expect/require 16.

What you can do in order to isolate/troubleshoot is disable everything except the English Lower League DB. See if it works on its own. If it does, that means some other file is also amending English divisional structure and the two are clashing.

If it doesn't work by itself, I'd try and flag it to the creator of the file as that is where the problem will lie. If you want to share some screenshots indicating the full list of files you are using, I may be able to advise further.

I think I know what the situation is with Enzo Molebe, specifically. It's a nuanced one, but there is a logical explanation.

Enzo Molebe was actually in the original, official FM24 database (24.0). Under the same UID, 2000288922. For whatever reason, he was removed from the official 24.3 database. He was then reintroduced for FM26.

I suspect the logic in the site's system cross-checks that he existed in 24.0 and 26.0, therefore, determines that he should not be created in either game. @Footygamer - a nuanced one, here, but not sure if there is a simple way to have the logic cross-check the 24.3 database specifically, rather than 24.0, which would presumably tackle this one (and any others that might be in the same boat).

Just to confirm, I've gone in to the created version of Alex Peskovic and linked to the FM26 ID, so that specific one should be taken care of now.

@Footygamer - having done that, Alex Peskovic no longer appears on the list of newly-created players on the Pogon Szczecin club page (https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update/team/1459), which is what I'd expect. However, the FM26 version of the player doesn't either (https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update/person/2000518968), though I think that may be a site UI synchronisation thing. It should be noted that the FM26 version didn't appear in the Pogon Szczecin club page before I linked the ID, either.

Likewise, the newly-created player appears in the search but cannot be browsed to. Just mentioning in case that is unexpected behaviour and something you'd want to know about:

I can't answer about the future ability to add things like player position; but regarding your experience with Enzo Molebe and that concept: the current submission system has been designed to account for and enable exactly the scenario you describe: that is, to create a new player and have that created player only be added to the FM24 Data Update. As such, you should really have no need to create your own file to go alongside.

This is achieved by enabling users to link the newly-created player to an existing FM UID. When you create a player who exists in FM26 but not in FM24 and specify the UID of that player, the system on the website will recognise them as being in FM26 but not in FM24. As part of the Data Update creation process it will, therefore, not create them for the FM26 Data Update but it will create them for the FM24 Data Update. The same logic allows for those rare occasions where someone is in FM24 but not in FM26. Similarly, if no ID is specified it creates the player in both updates.

That is the basic theory/principle behind it. I haven't had a chance to look at the specific example you've cited, but a lot of work was put in to handle supporting both FM24 and FM26 to keep receiving updates of this nature and the system has been catering for that for a while now.

Unfortunately not - in terms of file structure, the non-playing staff changes (which are buggy) are in the same file as the transfers…and always have been.

Appreciate the situation with non-playing staff is frustrating - it is frustrating for the staff team, too. It's a tricky thing to solve; as we have to maintain data that serves as the basis for both FM26 and FM24 Data Updates and changes to the way SI structure their data throws up challenges.

I'll be honest, I don't know the very latest on progress of resolving the issue, nor the pathway to resolve it, so I can't give more than a simple response (as above).

OK, so I'm not going to recommend you to start re-downloading all the content and starting fully from scratch. Mainly because I am hopeful we can avoid that ‘last resort’.

Things we need to ensure/check/confirm are:

1. That every folder within /graphics/ that contains a config.xml file has the corresponding images, referenced by that config.xml, in that same folder. My advice to you would be to check each folder (I think you have a small number, going by the screenshot you shared initially) and to ensure none of those contain only a config.xml file.

To be clear: if you've ended up, by mistake, with a config.xml file in a folder without any images alongside it, if this file is being processed by the game it would result in no images showing. Because essentially what is happening is that this file is referencing images that - contextually - don't exist in the folder with it. So the game is being directed to image files that do not exist there - hence it shows a blank space instead.

I believe your entire facepack is within the /graphics/sortitoutsi/faces/ folder. If that is the case, I would recommend you remove the ‘__MACOSX’ folder and the ‘cut out configs’ folders that are directly within /graphics/. They serve you no purpose.

2. Can you confirm that directly within the /graphics/sortitoutsi/faces/ folder (where you have the face images) you also have a config.xml file? Not nested in any sub-folders - within the same folder that the images are.

3. Within your /graphics/sortitoutsi/faces/ I can see that you have an instance of the ‘cut out configs’ folder and it contains some files. What files are in there? Assuming you have a config.xml in the main /faces/ folder, I would recommend you remove that nested ‘cut out configs’ folder. Again, it will be serving no positive purpose.

4. Can you please attach the config.xml file that is currently in your /graphics/sortitoutsi/faces/ folder? This is the key file and I want to ensure that the version of the file you have in there corresponds to the facepack images you have. Fundamentally, all that is required to have a functional facepack is a single folder, within /graphics/, that contains the image files and the corresponding config.xml file for those graphics. My intention here is to simplify down to the correct, minimal folder presence so we can ascertain where the issue is.

Sorry you've not had a reply before this one.

Can you confirm the filename format of the individual images within your megapack? Are they simply sequences of numbers (e.g. 123.png) or are they prefixed with ‘face_’ (e.g. face_123.png)?

Secondly, can you confirm that the config.xml does, or does not, reference the the files by the equivalent name?

I do know - from looking at your account - that your download of the megapack happened around the time where there were some errant versions that had, unfortunately, been published. So I'm keen to get you up and running - and there will be a simple enough method - but just want to establish what you have in place at the moment.

If all player faces have disappeared, this indicates to me that the config.xml the game is reading is referring to images that aren't in the folder alongside it. Is it possible you have ended up with the config.xml file in a folder by itself? I'm speculating, but I wonder if you have ended up with an isolated config.xml file in the ‘cut out configs’ folder you have?

According to your profile, I don’t see any purchases/shop orders associated with your account.

Do you possibly have another account on these forums against which your membership is assigned?

For those who have already overridden the ‘complete pack’ XML with the one that comes with update pack 2026.01, the fastest way to get back to a mostly-working state is to grab the config.xml that is shared in the below post and use that.

https://sortitoutsi.net/comments/get/857472

This should get all of the faces from the 2026.00 complete pack working again. Those added by the 2026.01 pack won't be working yet - but that fix will get taken care of soon.

Please note: staff team are aware of the issue with 2026.01 not adhering to the new naming convention of the image files and/or config.xml. Apologies for the inconvenience - it'll get resolved as soon as we are able (with a replacement version uploaded).

In the interim, for anyone who has overridden their original config.xml with the version that comes with 2026.01 and no longer has access to the one they downloaded as part of the 2026.00 complete pack, my recommendation is to grab the config.xml file that was shared in the first comment of the following thread and use that (for now):

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/75605/important-breaking-changes-to-the-cut-out-player-faces-megapack

This should get all of the contents of 2026.00 working. It won't make the ones added by 2026.01 work, but it will get those most affected most of the way there.

All: I am pretty confident an error/oversight has been made in the 2026.01 update pack, as the files do not adhere to the new naming conventions (and the config.xml file does not prefix the references with face_ as it should). As a result, anyone who installs 2026.01 will end up in the scenario some others have experienced, above, which is that all cut-out faces stop working.

I have flagged this to the relevant staff members. My advice for now is not to download 2026.01. For those who already have downloaded it, apologies for this inconvenience. We'll work to get a corrected update/config.xml file out as soon as we are able.

Unfortunately, there's no support/method to submit position changes for any players who are in the official SI database through the site.

The only method to maintain positional changes would be to supplement the Data Update with a manually-maintained extra file - and I'm sure you can appreciate that doing this at a global scale would be a really large undertaking, which is why we can't really go down that road.

It's currently being updated less frequently / manually owing to the recent issues. The pause at the moment is whilst issues with some non-playing staff and contracts get bottomed out (there are no issues in the file available; but more testing needs to be done before we resume 20-minute, automated updates).

As a standard position - and for the vast majority of time since we moved to ‘updates every 20 minutes’ it has been getting updated every 20 minutes. So the answer to your question from a general standpoint is ‘every 20 minutes’, but not at the moment owing to some data integration bugs. An ‘every 20 minutes’ schedule will resume once the final/ongoing issues are tackled.

Yes, this is normal - the file named ‘sortitoutsi.net FM26 Data Update - Contracts.fmf’ contains all of the core changes; including transfers, changes to contract lengths and newly-created players.