Why Max Dowman Isn’t in Football Manager 27 Even Though He’s Old Enough to Play
Where is Arsenal’s young star Max Dowman in the new Football Manager game? Fans have definitely noticed he’s missing from the latest edition.
Max, just 16 years old, is the youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer. Last year, when Football Manager 26 came out, he was too young to be included because of the game’s rules.
Since he was born on December 31, 2009, Max was still 15 when the age cut-off happened in August 2025.
Sports Interactive, the maker of Football Manager, usually requires players to be at least 16 to appear in the game unless special permission is given. But even though Max is now 16 and fits the age rule for FM 27, that doesn’t guarantee he’s in the game.
The reason Max isn’t included this year is due to licensing issues. In fact, he’s one of about 20 Arsenal academy players who’ve been taken out of the game database.
Other missing Arsenal youngsters are Gabriel Arteta (son of manager Mikel Arteta), Emerson Nwaneri, Jayden Oba, and Josh Sesay.
To fix some missing or fake player names, the community site FM Scout recently released an unofficial mod that replaces them with their real names.
You can pre-order Football Manager 27 now for Xbox or PC. The full price is £49.99, but there’s a 16% discount on the Fanatical website. Plus, you can get an extra 5% off with the code SPORTBIBLE5, dropping the price to £39.89.
Pre-ordering gives you access to the game after the five-day preview ends on November 3, 2026, and before the full release on November 9, 2026. Just enter the code at checkout to save.
Here’s a fun story from 2024: a retired teacher found out he’s connected to Max Dowman through family history while watching an England under-16 friendly against Italy.
Dave Male was on holiday in Murcia, Spain, and visited the Pinatar Arena, where the game was held. The England squad included well-known youth players like Amir Ibragimov from Manchester United.
But Dave’s eye caught the name Dowman on the team sheet. His grandmother, Maria Maud Dowman, was related to George Male — Arsenal and England captain from the 1930s and 40s.
Turns out, Max is a distant relative of George through their great, great, great, great grandfather William Dowman.
George Male made his Arsenal debut in 1930, helped the club win five league titles in eight seasons, and became the first player to win six English top-flight titles when Arsenal won again in 1948.
His name is remembered in two places near the Emirates Stadium, and after retiring as a player, he worked as a coach and chief scout at Arsenal.
Isn’t it amazing how football connections run deep through generations?