Football Manager 2020 shipped on 18 November 2019 with a database frozen on the 2019/20 season, and that database is the main reason anyone still loads it: Erling Haaland starts at Red Bull Salzburg, and every squad predates the pandemic. FM20's own additions were the Development Centre, Club Vision and the Playing Time Pathway, all of which behave differently from the systems that replaced them in later editions. Sports Interactive can only sell each edition while its club and player licences hold, so FM20 has been pulled from sale and cannot be bought new; the Stadia version died with Stadia in January 2023.
Starting Football Manager 2020 can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Football Manager 2020 is a sports game built around Club Vision and the five-year plan and The Development Centre. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Role
| Role | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Segundo Volante | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Mezzala | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Inverted Wing-Back | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Ball-Playing Defender | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Pressing Forward | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Mezzala. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Pressing Forward as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Club Vision and the five-year plan
Club Vision was new in FM20 and splits board expectations into three layers: club culture objectives covering transfer policy and playing style, a five-year plan broken down season by season with financial, infrastructure and competition targets, and ongoing objectives you are expected to respect throughout your tenure. It reaches past the boardroom into transfers and squad selection.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Club Vision and the five-year plan works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to English Premier League
Fully licensed in FM20 with the 2019/20 squads, which means Liverpool at their peak and a pre-pandemic transfer market with money still in it. The standard first save, and the one most FM20 community guides assume.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Development Centre hub: it's the most accessible early upgrade. One screen covering youth players, their development advice, ones to watch, and loanees with their ratings and minutes. Before FM20 this information was spread across half a dozen screens, and the consolidation is the edition's most quietly useful change.
Step 4: Understand The Development Centre
FM20 collapsed the scattered youth, reserve and loan screens into one hub. It flags ones to watch in your academy, highlights players whose development has stalled, and tracks loanees with their ratings and minutes so you can see who is playing and who needs recalling.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to German Bundesliga
The German national team returned to FM20 after being absent from previous editions. The league's youth development reputation pairs naturally with the new Development Centre, and squad rules around homegrown players shape recruitment.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Club Vision and the five-year plan
Club Vision was new in FM20 and splits board expectations into three layers: club culture objectives covering transfer policy and playing style, a five-year plan broken down season by season with financial, infrastructure and competition targets, and ongoing objectives you are expected to respect throughout your tenure. It reaches past the boardroom into transfers and squad selection.
The Development Centre
FM20 collapsed the scattered youth, reserve and loan screens into one hub. It flags ones to watch in your academy, highlights players whose development has stalled, and tracks loanees with their ratings and minutes so you can see who is playing and who needs recalling.
Playing Time Pathway
Contract talks in FM20 include the playing time bracket a player expects now, from Star Player down to Surplus to Requirements, plus an agreed future position on that ladder. Promise a teenager he becomes a Regular Starter within two seasons and the game holds you to it.
Technical Director and Loan Manager roles
FM20 added two backroom staff roles. The Technical Director handles hiring and firing of first-team staff and contributes to coaching development, while the Loan Manager takes over the administration of players out on loan. Both exist to remove clicks from a job that had accumulated too many.
Tactical styles and player roles
You build a tactic from a preset style such as Gegenpress, Vertical Tiki-Taka or Fluid Counter-Attack, then assign duties and roles per position. FM20 predates the tactical interface changes of later editions, so instructions sit where older guides say they do.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Following an FM21 or FM24 guide and looking for a Data Hub that FM20 does not have
2. Agreeing to Playing Time Pathway promises during negotiation and then never checking whether you are meeting them
3. Running a Gegenpress tactic with a 20-man squad and wondering why the results collapse after February
4. Ignoring Club Vision culture objectives while hitting every results target, then being sacked anyway
5. Assuming you can still buy FM20 on Steam; the licences expired and the edition was pulled from sale
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Club Vision and the five-year plan and The Development Centre
- Choose Mezzala as starting role
- Clear English Premier League main content
- Acquire Development Centre hub or equivalent upgrade
- Reach German Bundesliga
- Open Club Vision before your first transfer window and read all three layers. The five-year plan sets season-by-season targets and the culture objectives constrain how you are allowed to sign players, so a transfer that looks smart can breach an objective you never opened.
- Sign Erling Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg in the opening window. The FM20 launch database has him at Salzburg, before his January 2020 move, which makes this the last edition where he is available at a price a mid-table club can pay.
Tips for New Players
- Open Club Vision before your first transfer window and read all three layers. The five-year plan sets season-by-season targets and the culture objectives constrain how you are allowed to sign players, so a transfer that looks smart can breach an objective you never opened.
- Sign Erling Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg in the opening window. The FM20 launch database has him at Salzburg, before his January 2020 move, which makes this the last edition where he is available at a price a mid-table club can pay.
- Treat the Playing Time Pathway as a contract, not a suggestion. A promise that a player becomes a Regular Starter within two seasons creates unhappiness across the dressing room when you break it, not only in the individual.
- Check the Development Centre every few weeks rather than at the end of a season. Its whole purpose is flagging players whose development has stalled and loanees who are not getting minutes, and both of those are only fixable while the season is running.
- Hire a Technical Director in your first month. Staff contracts expire constantly at large clubs and delegating the hiring and firing removes a recurring interruption without costing you tactical control.
- Do not import tactics or advice written for FM21 or later. The Data Hub, the recruitment focus system and the later interface changes do not exist in FM20, and guides that assume them will send you looking for screens that are not there.
- Rotate hard if you run Gegenpress. The FM20 match engine models fatigue seriously enough that a pressing side with a thin squad loses more points to tired legs in March than to tactical inferiority.
- Reviews at the time flagged striker decision-making in the FM20 match engine as inconsistent. If your expected goals numbers look strong but the finishing does not follow, that is a known characteristic of this edition rather than something your tactic can fix.
- Use the 2019/20 database as the point of the exercise. Sandro Tonali at Brescia, Dejan Kulusevski at Parma and a pre-pandemic transfer market with real money in it are things later editions cannot give you.
- Buy nothing. FM20 is delisted because the licensing agreements Sega and Sports Interactive sign only allow each edition to be sold for a limited time. If you already own it on Steam it stays in your library, and the Stadia version stopped existing when Stadia closed in January 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still buy Football Manager 2020?
No. Sega and Sports Interactive sign club, league and player licensing agreements that only permit each edition to be sold for a limited period, so older versions including FM20 are removed from sale. If you bought it before delisting it stays in your Steam library and remains playable. The Stadia version is gone entirely, since Google shut Stadia down in January 2023.
Why play FM20 instead of a newer edition?
The database. FM20 is built on the 2019/20 season, so Erling Haaland is still at Red Bull Salzburg, Sandro Tonali is at Brescia, and the transfer market has not yet been reshaped by the pandemic. That snapshot is the whole appeal, since the newer editions are better in almost every mechanical respect.
What did FM20 actually add?
Four things worth knowing: Club Vision, which turns board expectations into a five-year plan plus club culture objectives; the Development Centre, a single hub for youth players and loanees; the Playing Time Pathway in contract talks; and two new staff roles, Technical Director and Loan Manager. The match graphics also received an update.
Is Football Manager 2020 Touch the same game?
No. Touch is the streamlined version built for Nintendo Switch and tablets, with press conferences and some staff interaction removed. Football Manager 2020 Mobile is a further-cut phone version. All three are separate products and all three have been delisted alongside the main edition.
How many leagues does FM20 have?
Over 100 playable leagues across more than 50 countries, with 26 leagues in 14 countries fully licensed. FM20 added Welsh second-tier divisions and brought Gibraltar into the series for the first time, and it also restored the German national team.
More Football Manager 2020 Guides
- Football Manager 2020 Football Manager 2020 Overview
- Football Manager 2020 Best Builds
- Football Manager 2020 Tier List
- Football Manager 2020 Walkthrough
- Football Manager 2020 Tips & Tricks
- Football Manager 2020 Weapons Guide
- Football Manager 2020 Combat Guide
- Football Manager 2020 Boss Guide
- Football Manager 2020 Maps & Locations
- Football Manager 2020 Crafting Guide
- Football Manager 2020 Classes & Characters
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- Football Manager 2024 Beginner's Guide: sports game with similar mechanics
