Why This Save: The Climb Begins
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side.
It’s the climb.
– Miley Cyrus
A New Kind of Save
Every Football Manager player has a comfort zone. Mine? A one-club save – build something and obsess over it until it’s perfect, then refuse to leave because I’ve become emotionally attached to a newgen centre-back called Braima Encanha.
But FM26 changed everything. For the first time, women’s football is here, and that means the game world suddenly feels fresh again.
I didn’t want to run the same save with new data.
I wanted something that would push me.
Something that would make me learn again.
So I decided to climb.
When Sports Interactive confirmed women’s football was coming to the game, I didn’t just think, finally – I thought, this deserves something special.
So I built this concept around a simple idea: start at the lowest possible point, move through every league, and learn what makes each one different.
No shortcuts, no restarts, no skipping ahead. Just a Football Manager player finding her way through the new world of women’s football.
Why Kat & Veruca Returned
If you’ve followed my saves before, you might recognise the names.
Kat Roberts – Woman of Steel
Kat wasn't just a creation for FM23 – she was inspired by a real woman. Kathleen Roberts lived in Sheffield during the Second World War. When the men went off to fight, Kathleen and thousands of women like her were called into the city’s steelworks.
At just 18, she worked in the heat, helped keep a country going, and was later dismissed and told not to talk about it again. That story stuck with me – resilience, forgotten contribution, and quiet strength. Perfect foundations for The Climb.
Veruca Salt – A Cadbury Classic
Veruca Salt began life as the manager of Cadbury Athletic in FM21, one of my favourite chocolate-inspired saves.
For The Climb, she comes back not as a manager, but as the Head of Development – the planner behind the mountain while Kat takes each step.
Together, they represent both sides of how I play FM:
- Kat - the hopeful builder.
- Veruca - the practical planner.
The Philosophy of The Climb
The Climb isn’t about chasing perfection.
It’s about slowing things down and treating each club like a genuine stop on the journey – not just a line on a CV.
I want to build properly.
Learn properly.
Leave something behind before moving up.
Some seasons will be good.
Some won’t.
That’s the point.
If this save stands for anything, it’s that you don’t have to rush to enjoy FM.
Game Setup
The Climb uses the full women’s football world FM26 gives us.
All fourteen leagues. All eleven nations.
A complete ecosystem where every job, transfer and sacking shapes the journey.
- Australia – A-League Women
- Denmark – A-Liga
- England – WSL & WSL2
- France – Première Ligue Féminine
- Germany – Frauen-Bundesliga
- Italy – Serie A Femminile
- Japan – WE League
- Spain – Liga F & Primera Federación
- Sweden – Elitettan & Damallsvenskan
- USA – NWSL
- Wales – Adran Premier
- Full women’s database loaded
- Women’s leagues only for faster processing
- Start date: Summer 2025
- No editor changes, except for Real Name Fix
- Approx. 40,000 active players
The League System
The Climb works because the leagues aren’t just difficulty levels – they’re stages.
Each one has its own style and challenges.
The journey starts at the very bottom and works upwards.
No skipping, no shortcuts, no "I fancy France next."
You climb the mountain in order, or you don’t climb it at all.
The Route
This is the full path Kat has to climb - every league, from the very bottom of Wales to the top of England. Each stop is its own challenge.
14. Adran Premier (Wales)
Grassroots football: small budgets, big hearts.
13. Elitettan (Sweden)
A league for learning.
12. Liga F (Spain – Second Tier)
Tactical, technical, unpredictable.
11. WSL2 (England – Second Tier)
Relentless and competitive.
10. A-Liga (Denmark)
Efficient and disciplined.
9. Damallsvenskan (Sweden)
Proud and balanced.
8. A-League Women (Australia)
Fast and open.
7. WE League (Japan)
Precise, patient football.
6. Serie A Femminile (Italy)
Growing quickly.
5. Frauen-Bundesliga (Germany)
Structured and demanding.
4. Primera Federación (Spain)
Technical excellence.
3. Première Ligue Féminine (France)
Dominated by Lyon and PSG.
2. NWSL (USA)
Athletic, chaotic, impossible to predict.
1. WSL (England)
Elite players, big crowds, huge pressure - the final step of The Climb.
The Climb Hub is the main home for the save - chapters, league trackers - everything in one place.
Why This Order Matters
This isn’t just an FM ranking; it’s a rhythm.
Each league raises the standard and tightens the space for mistakes.
Facilities grow, budgets expand, and the stakes climb with them.
By the end, the journey mirrors women’s football itself - from local volunteers to global icons.
How I’ll Share Updates (Hopefully)
• When I start a new league, I'll post a setup explaining the challenge.
• After each season, I'll share a recap.
• Story chapters will appear when Kat and Veruca’s world needs the spotlight.
• Smaller bits will go on X under #FFMClimb.
• No pressure, no deadlines - just updates when they’re worth sharing.
Learning to Be a Beginner Again
I don’t know the meta tactics, the hidden stars, or the "best" roles yet - and that’s the point. The fun of FM26’s women’s database is that nobody has it mastered. We’re all beginners again, and The Climb leans into that. It’s about learning, adjusting, and improving one league at a time.
And if the journey ever reaches the WSL, it won’t feel like "beating FM." It’ll feel like the end of a story that began in a Sheffield steelworks 86 years ago and worked its way up through every level of the women’s game.
That’s why it’s called The Climb. It’s not about racing to the top. It’s about everything that happens in the middle - the rebuilds and the resilience. The long way around on purpose.
Why This Save (and Why Barry Town United)
I’ve already done the dynasties. I’ve done the long-term builds and the comfort-zone careers. The Climb needed something different.
Kat and Veruca deserved another chapter. Women’s football deserved a save built around it, not added onto something else. And Kathleen’s story deserved to sit at the heart of a journey where progress isn’t just measured in trophies.
So why Barry Town United? Honestly… because they start without a manager, I’ve been to Barry once, and I’ve watched an episode of Gavin and Stacey. That’s it. That’s the whole reasoning.
But it fits. A small club, an honest league, and a small starting point - a quiet first step before the mountain gets steep.
And Now, We Begin
So that’s the setup. A world built entirely around the women’s game, two familiar faces stepping back into the spotlight, and a starting point that’s humble enough to keep me going.
The Climb is going to move at its own pace. Some leagues will take time, some won’t. Some seasons will be smooth, others will be a lesson I didn’t ask for. That’s the fun of it.
Where the journey goes from here, we’ll find out together. For now, all I know is this:
it’s time for the first step.
