Wonderkids Series
Football Manager, 2026
Using Football Manager’s player access to explore the environments shaping football’s next generation.
MY ROLE
Led the series strategy and creative direction, redefining Football Manager’s approach to player access content.
CONTEXT
Finding the next wonderkid sits at the heart of Football Manager. It’s what the game is known for and a big part of why people play it.
It’s a world built on discovery. New players, unfamiliar leagues and stories that unfold over time.
Player access content consistently performed well, but it was mostly used to promote the product and its release cycle.
We pushed that further, using the access to move beyond product marketing and closer to football documentary storytelling.
STRATEGY
The series was built around exploration and discovery, both central to how people experience Football Manager. The films mirror that same instinct, searching for players, places and potential across the football world.
Access to Rodrigo Mora anchored the film in Porto, using place and environment to push creatively beyond standard player access formats and show what shaped his development.
The AS Monaco Scouting Report built on that, shaping the film around the place, its academy, its history and what makes the club a conveyor belt of elite talent.
The films stayed with the players and their environments. Football Manager came through in the narrative without turning the content into advertising.
WHAT CHANGED
It marked a shift in how Football Manager approached player access, giving the team more creative freedom to tell deeper stories about wonderkids and their development.
Football Manager’s identity came through in the narratives and the themes, without relying on direct product messaging.
The films became FM’s first and third highest-performing player access pieces, with the Monaco film later showcased at SEGA’s global summit in Tokyo.
HIGHEST-PERFORMING
player access films for FM
BROADCAST
at SEGA’s global summit
SET THE DIRECTION
for future Football Manager
access films
Images & Video: Wonderkids, Sports Interactive