Embrace the Nostalgia of reliving 26 Years of Football History in Football Manager 2026. Download the Ultimate throwback database for FM26 & FM24. Rediscvover the Icons of 2000/01 Season with MadScientists latest Retro Database.
Imagine stepping into a time machine where you can rediscover all the turn-of-the-millennium legends like Luis Figo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho or Thierry Henry in Football Manager 26! For some, these football legends are just names from a different era. For others, it’s childhood memories – burnt into our football hearts forever. Whether you’re just searching for a new way to reignite your passion for Football Manager, or simply wish to relive those classic football moments, the brand new 2000/01 throwback database by The MadScientist FM has arrived to offer an alternative reality in Football Manager 26.
The 2000/01 Retro Database for FM26 and FM24 resurrects the stories of a bygone era, recreating squads and player data from the Championship Manager days for Football Manager 2026. Almost like a football archaeologist, MadScientist has spent months recreating the football world as it was at the start of 2000/01 season into FM26 and FM24.
Bringing you back to the 2000/01 season on FM26 or FM24, this Football Manager 2026 throwback database enables you to either create an alternative reality, relive legendary triumphs, overturn controversial results, resurrect overlooked talents, or craft alternate timelines where underdogs rise and icons never leave their boyhood clubs.
The 2000/01 retro database for Football Manager 26 and FM24, enables you to create your own unique story by reshaping the entire modern footballing landscape by re-writing 26 years of football history by travelling back to the time right before billionaire investors, multi-club ownerships, and mega money TV deals would make a huge impact on football’s evolution.
Rewrite 26 years of football history on FM26 or FM24 by experiencing the romance of the 2000/01 retro database for Football Manager 2026 by tHe MadSCienTiSt FM.
Released: 27 March, 2026
Last Updated: 29 June 2026
The .fmf file is a database version, whilst the .fm file is a save game version. If you use the .fm file, please make sure to keep a backup of the original file before saving your game for the first time, otherwise it will be overwritten.
About the FM24 / FM26 2000/01 Database by The MadScientist
For any passionate football romantic, the 2000/01 database represents the chance to create an alternative reality.
Whether you’re an historian chasing realism, a storyteller bent on “what ifs”, or a manager who likes to embrace the romance of football by re-experiencing clubs’ rise and falls, the greatest football icons or the development paths of wonderkids and talents that has shaped football since the start of the 21th century, the FM26 2000/01 retro database let you head back to a time where football was at its purest!
Here you’ll be able to head back to a decade where football was not (yet) solely powered by money from mega money TV deals, multi-millionaires and celeberty investors buying stakes in clubs, or consortiums with multi-club ownerships. Eventhough we had the world’s highest transfer fee broken twice in the summer of 2000, first with the transfer of Hernan Crespo to Lazio for €35Mill, and then Luis Figo to Barcelona for €62Million, it was still the time where such expensive transfers was fairly uncommon.
Although things would rapidly change over the next 10 years, football was still a different industry – one at the brink of a major financial revolution.
By downloading the Football Manager 26 2000/01 retro database by The MadScientist FM, you’ll get the chance to experience all the past legends of the millennium whilst being able to re-discover forgotten teams and stories from the good-old-days.
You’ll get an unique insight into a bygone era – enabling you to resurrect fallen giants, change the fate of dissolved clubs, such as Brescia, or create a dynasty of CS Sedan Ardennes, who was flying high in the French Ligue 1 in 2000 but now has fallen into the Regional 1 division.
Packed with authentic squads, historical attributes and other data mined from this historical era, this throwback database injects the texture of turn-of-the-millennium football into FM26’s engine. Featuring 10 playable leagues across seven nations with more leagues and nations being unlocked over the next couple of months.
It gives you a great insight into all the best players, new wonderkids and compete against some of the greatest managers in the 21th century.
Playable Leagues Within the 2000/01 Database
Serie A + Serie B- La Liga + Segunda
- FA Carling Premier League, 1. Division & 2. Division
- Bundesliga
- Eredivisie
- Ligue 1
- Primeira
- Premiership
- Süper Lig
- Alpha Ethniki
- Liga Profesional
Serie A + Serie B
La Liga + Segunda
FA Carling Premier League, 1. Division & 2. Division
Bundesliga
Eredivisie
Ligue 1
Primeira
Premiership
Süper Lig
Alpha Ethniki
Liga ProfesionalA Recap of the 2000/01 Season
Looking back to the 2000/01 season, it was the time where stories was made through manager’s tactical nuance, patience and consistency over short-term chase for trophies. Alex Ferguson has by then spent 14 years managing Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger was just in his fourth season at Arsenal, whilst you’ll face Carlo Ancelotti at Juventus right before his managerial career took off.
Still was the romance surrounding the underdogs and fairytale stories of those newly promoted clubs whuch could challenge the most successful clubs from the 1990s on more or less equal terms.
We had classic football clubs like Deportivo La Coruña, Leeds and Parma competing at the top of the table against Fabio Capello’s Roma, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal or Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Bayern Munich, or Alavés participating in the UEFA Cup final.
The football landscape was quite different back then. In Spain, Atletico Madrid was still competing in the first division along with Sevilla and Real Betis. Bradford City was competing for the second season in the English Premier League after getting promoted ahead of 1998/99 season after 77-year absence in the top flight. In Germany, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Mainz 05 was still battling in the top half of the 2. Bundesliga table but where far from those three promotion spots.
In France, Paris SG was far from the superteam they are now. Lens, Bordeaux, Monaco, and eventually Nantes (2000-01) had won the French Championship over the last few seasons, whilst Olympique Lyon was yet to win their first title(!) – revealing how opened the French top flight was.
When we look back at the 2000/01 season, the Italian Serie A was a horse head in front of the Spanish La Liga and the English Premier League in terms of popularity and revenues.
Although Real Madrid was the defending champions of the UEFA Champions League, beating Valencia 2-0, it was a different situation for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, which would not qualify from the group stage, and ended 18 points behind Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the Premier League.
Who was the Best Players of 2000/01 Season? A quick Insight into the Wonderkids & Icons
Still, for any youngsters, the 2000/01 season is deep in our hearts with fond memories that makes it all emotional and nostalgic to re-discover all our boyhood football icons re-created into Football Manager 26.
Although we’d like you to rewrite 26 years of football history on Football Manager 26 by discovering all the greatest football legends and wonderkids of the era yourself, let us showcase some of the best players within the FM26 2000/01 retro database – giving you a taste and feel of some of the gems from the good-old-days!
In 2000/01, there were several notable wonderkids that would turn out to be world-class players. At Feyenoord, we find a 16-year-old Robin van Persie. Franck Ribéry was at the same age but playing for USBCO, a club in the National 2. Philipp Lahm and Arjen Robben are also former Bayern Münich legends who are just teenagers in the summer of 2000.
The 18-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic was still plying his trade at Malmö FF – making his debut in the Allsvenskan the year before. In Scotland, one of the true Championship Manager wonderkids, Mark Kerr, was one of those cheap young gems both in CM 00/01 and in this throwback database. Another gem was Xabi Alonso (18), in the youth ranks of Real Sociedad.
Moving on to the greatest players in the 2000/01 season there were several notable players we remember fondly: Gennaro Gattuso (22), Clarence Seedorf (24), Cafu (30), Andre Pirlo (21), Frank Lampard (22) and many many more for you to discover!
Below I’ve attached a few screenshots of the best players in the 2000/01 database:
If you’re curious about the skin used for this retro database, we can reveal that this is the ASF Skin by LuckyLukeFM, which is available to download through Passion4FM.
How to get real club names on retro databases?!
Wonder why certain clubs have fake names on your 2000/01 db retro save on FM26? Look no further i have a solution for you! This guide will fix all the fake Italian club names, MAN UFC and fake Brazilian club names as well.
Load it, play it, and watch 26 years of football history bend to your vision – because in this retro sandbox, the past isn’t fixed; it’s yours to reimagine!
Bonus! The 2000/01 Facepack
As the screenshots of some of the most significant players within the 2000/01 database reveals, a compatible facepack is available to download. The Facepack contains 6.42GB of photos of players and staff – enhancing the immersion of playing a save game that takes place 26 years ago.
The 2000/01 facepack is available on The MadScientist FM’s Patreon.
Kits & Logo Pack for 2000/01 Database by MrTini23
In addition to be able to download a full facepack for the 2000/01 database, MrTini23, the creator of the MrTini23 skin, has spent time creating kit packs, logo packs and a regen mod for the 2000/01 database.
These packs of graphics for the 2000/01 database includes kits and logos for all top leagues, except Portugal for kits.
Apart from logos and kits, MrTini23 has also created a regen mod which is also available to download through his Patreon.
By downloading the full mod pack for the 2000/01 database, you’ll get
- Editor data file
- Game setup fmf for the playable leagues
- 3 regen mod edt files
- 3 pre-built save files
- Retro Logos
- Retro 3d + 2d kits
- Trophy pack
- Stadium pack (FM24 only)- Regen facepack (FM24 only)
How to install the 2000/01 retro database for FM26 & FM24
To download and enjoy the 2000/01 retro database on Football Manager 2026 you’ll have two different options; either installing the save game file, or playing with the .fmf editor database file.
This database works on both FM24 and FM26. The process is fairly similar.
1. Installing the Save Game File
The save game file has everything loaded, every playable league and all created players.
- Click the download button above
- Move the file into:
Your Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2026/Gamesfolder - Start FM26 – Select Load Game – Select the 2000/01 DB file
USEFUL TIP! When asked to save your career, make sure to select another name than the default otherwise the database will be overwritten and you need to download it again.
2. Playing with the FMF Editor file
The fmf file can be opened with the editor or to setup a custom career. It’s a viable option to the save game file.
- Move the file into:
Your Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 26/Editor datafolder. - In FM26 Start a new career. Then click the button at the top right corner saying DATABASE. Then click on the 26.2.0 Update button.
- Tick ‘The 2000 01 DB’ box – Make sure no other editor data files are ticked!
- Click Confirm and Choose Advanced Setup
- Choose your preferred leagues out of the playable leagues.
- Then press Approximate Player Count and choose ‘Advanced’
- Select the nations you want to load players from besides the active leagues, to make sure that as many players as possible will be loaded.
- Tick the boxes saying Players Based in Nation – Even if your computer says that the number of players exceeds the recommended level it will only load the approximately 16.000 players which is created in the DB.
- Finally, press Start Game and enjoy the nostalgia trip.
The process is quite similar for FM24.
Hope you’ll enjoy this retro database for Football Manager 2026, or FM24!
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
The Football Manager 2000/01 db .fmf file is ONLY compatible with the latest updated Football Manager 2026 database aka 26.2 update. IF YOU CHOOSE A FM26 DATABASE WITH AN UPDATE, IT WILL CONFLICT WITH THE 2000/01 db.
Social Medias & Credit
Huge thanks to the tHeMAdSCienTiSt Fm for giving us permission to showcase his amazing work to our audience. Despite the database is provided for free, he spends thousands of hours to recreate the footballing world for your pleasure, so show him your gratitude.
Make sure to support him by making donations to either Paypal or by subscribing to his Patreon.
For the latest updates, announcements of future projects or additions to the database, make sure to drop a follow to MadScientist and his associates down below.
►Follow on X – @MadScientistFM
►Follow on BlueSky – https://bsky.app/profile/themadscientistfm.bsky.social
►Website – themadscientistfm.wixsite.com
►Watch my Livestreams on Twitch – http://www.twitch.tv/themadscientistfm
►Browse my Steam Workshop Library – Steam
►Subscribe on YouTube – The Mad Scientist
►Support on Patreon – ThemadscientistFM
►Join my Discord – tHeMAdSCienTiSt
Huge thanks to MrTini23 for his dedication and help with creating a compatible kit pack, logo pack and a regen mod for the 2000/01 database.
– Follow on X: @MrTini23
– Follow on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mrtini23.bsky.social
– Support on Patreon – MrTini23
