Guess Who’s Back:
Football Manager’s Return
Football Manager, 2025
A comeback campaign that reset the narrative around FM and brought it back into the football conversation
MY ROLE
Designed the approach to FM’s return, shaping the Premier League partnership and the creative direction for SEGA’s most-watched trailer to date.
CONTEXT
This was Football Manager’s first content in six months. After the cancellation of FM25, the studio had gone deliberately quiet.
FM26 marked a reset for the series. New engine, new visual identity and a broader cultural ambition.
The challenge was how to return without reopening negative sentiment, and take control of the narrative in a way that felt confident, credible and relevant.
STRATEGY
The return had to make FM feel like part of football again.
So we avoided relaunching the product in isolation and focused on anchoring it to a football moment. The opening weekend of the Premier League already carries a sense of anticipation: a new season, a clean slate and the feeling that anything is possible.
Inspired by Barclays’ 2022 campaign for the return of football and the emotional reset of a new season, we placed FM inside the moment, aligning with the Premier League’s “Guess Who’s Back” campaign instead of reappearing alone.
Peter Drury carried the trailer. A voice that’s defined some of football’s most dramatic chapters, brought the familiarity, authority and narrative weight required for the moment.
The creative was deliberately restrained. No features, no explanations, just a subtle acknowledgement that “the wait had been long”, a thumping heartbeat and a sense that something was coming.
WHAT CHANGED
The conversation shifted quickly from FM25’s cancellation to anticipation around the comeback. Coverage centred on the Premier League partnership, what the campaign signalled and growing excitement for FM26.
By placing the comeback inside the return of football, FM re-entered the conversation as part of what people were already talking about.
FM26’s marketing campaign kicked off with relevance and momentum.
MOST WATCHED
game trailer in SEGA history
14M+
views across Premier League-supported channels alone
NARRATIVE RESET
from FM25 cancellation to anticipation of FM26
Images & Video: Sports Interactive