Championship Manager 26/27
Championship Manager 26/27 is a community project that takes the old Championship Manager 97/98 game and updates the squads toward the 2026/27 season. The write-ups describe it as free, not a business, and not a release from the current Football Manager publisher. It runs in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on a desktop. Phones and tablets are not supported. VZone alone estimates an approximately 8 MB first load and roughly five-minute new-game setup. Those are single-source, device-dependent estimates, not measured requirements or guaranteed timings.
Saves stay in the browser and can be downloaded as a backup. There is no online multiplayer in those write-ups. Known rough edges include a 1997 calendar, a champions list that still talks about 1985 to 1997, and a League Cup second leg that can repeat. I am passing those on as the articles' bugs, not as jokes I verified.
It is the right answer if you want that specific old interface and a current-ish squad in a tab. It is the wrong answer if you want the FM27 match engine, licences, or the November preview. The names sit next to each other in search because both say 26/27 or 27.
Is Championship Manager 26/27 the new FM?
No. It is a browser project built on the 97/98 game.
Does it cost money?
The write-ups say it is free.
Can I play it on a phone?
Those articles say desktop browsers only.