FM23 Backgrounds (by stevemc) - Full Downloads Available NOW! (Update for Winter Patch)

[stevemc]

 

Welcome to my thread for full-screen backgrounds for Football Manager 2023.

*WILL BE FULLY AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD TUESDAY 8th NOVEMBER - I need the editor to link up some final bits of code in the config files*

As per the last 4 years, I work on background projects, I’ve been doing this for my own personal use, but decided to share with the community a couple of years ago and will continue to do so for FM23, something I've built up over 6-7 years now and continue to improve and flesh out further with each edition of FM.

I’ve made a lot of changes for FM23, 1000’s of additions and better-quality images included, code updates, future stadiums currently being built etc and I've been working on it intensively for the last 3 months. This is definitely the BEST and most comprehensive update I’ve ever done to these packs.

All are 2560x1600 resolution, which is basically current MacBook Pro Retina size, and the quality is superb (HQ) in most instances (forgive some of the obscure people/places). They have been compressed, twice, to their smallest file size possible without loss of quality so they are easier to download.

Screenshots are for reference only, ignore the quality loss, that’s just the Apple Preview ruining them to fit them under the 10mb forum post limit, they are high quality in-game.

Options available for this mod listed below, with the download link in each subsequent post:

1. Stadiums

2. Competitions

3. Nations

4. Continents

5. Referees

6. Manager/Staff

7. Supporting Skin

You will require a skin that supports transparency for these to work, so you’ll either need to make your own (from the Base Skins), download one or I’ve linked the skin I use in too (as I get asked via multiple DM’s every year for it). However I won't offer any support or changes on my skin as I'm not a competent skin creator and I made it for myself at my screen resolution.

You can pick and choose individual packs if you wish, but for a full working experience please use all 6 packs together as I’ve built them to co-exist with each other. If you do, your folder structure should look like this:

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨graphics⁩ ▸ ⁨backgrounds⁩ ▸ ⁨

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ graphics ▸ backgrounds ▸

Like every year, if you spot any errors or have any suggestions, image quality improvements or would like any additions for future updates, please comment in this thread below.

If you are going to redistribute these or include with a skin, please ask permission first.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do… 

Edited March 2, 2023 by stevemc

[stevemc]

1. FM23 Stadiums Pack

It currently covers 223 different countries (thousands upon thousands of stadiums covered), all playable leagues included, most deep into the lower leagues too, all over the world so it's extensive.

Stadiums in England are complete down to level 8 too (Northern Premier, Southern League, Isthmian League etc).

 

Steps to add to your game;

1. >DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE HERE<

2. Unzip and place here: ‎⁨ 

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨graphics⁩ ▸ ⁨backgrounds⁩ ▸ ⁨stadium

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ graphics ▸ backgrounds ▸ stadium

3. Go to preferences, ensure "Reload skin when confirming changes in Preference" is ticked (you may need to clear your cache too), click "Reload Skin" and click "confirm" (bottom right).

Screenshots are for reference only, ignore the quality loss, that’s just the Apple Preview ruining them to fit them under the 10mb forum post limit, they are high quality in-game.

Edited November 8, 2022 by stevemc

[stevemc]

2. FM23 Competitions Pack

It currently covers 528 backgrounds over the world, all playable competitions are included. Most with trophies or specific competition branding.

 

Steps to add to your game;

1. >DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE HERE<

2. Unzip and place here: ‎⁨ 

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨graphics⁩ ▸ ⁨backgrounds⁩ ▸ ⁨comp

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ graphics ▸ backgrounds ▸ comp

3. Go to preferences, ensure "Reload skin when confirming changes in Preference" is ticked (you may need to clear your cache too), click "Reload Skin" and click "confirm" (bottom right).

Screenshots are for reference only, ignore the quality loss, that’s just the Apple Preview ruining them to fit them under the 10mb forum post limit, they are high quality in-game.

• Addition required to update FA Trophy - read this

Edited November 9, 2022 by stevemc

[stevemc]

3. FM23 Nations Pack

It covers every nation in the world with their flag, waving.

 

Steps to add to your game;

1. >DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE HERE<

2. Unzip and place here: ‎⁨ 

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨graphics⁩ ▸ ⁨backgrounds⁩ ▸ ⁨nation

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ graphics ▸ backgrounds ▸ nation

3. Go to preferences, ensure "Reload skin when confirming changes in Preference" is ticked (you may need to clear your cache too), click "Reload Skin" and click "confirm" (bottom right).

Screenshots are for reference only, ignore the quality loss, that’s just the Apple Preview ruining them to fit them under the 10mb forum post limit, they are high quality in-game.

Edited November 5, 2022 by stevemc

[stevemc]

4. FM23 Continents Pack

It covers every continent in the world with a legend from years gone by.

 

Steps to add to your game;

1. >DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE HERE<

2. Unzip and place here: ‎⁨ 

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨graphics⁩ ▸ ⁨backgrounds⁩ ▸ ⁨continent

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ graphics ▸ backgrounds ▸ continent

3. Go to preferences, ensure "Reload skin when confirming changes in Preference" is ticked (you may need to clear your cache too), click "Reload Skin" and click "confirm" (bottom right).

Screenshots are for reference only, ignore the quality loss, that’s just the Apple Preview ruining them to fit them under the 10mb forum post limit, they are high quality in-game.

Edited November 5, 2022 by stevemc

[stevemc]

5. FM23 Referees Pack

It currently covers 467 referee backgrounds over the world, generally covering the top leagues/competitions - Premier League (+ Championship/L1/L2), Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1, Eredivisie, Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, World Cup etc - you get the idea.

 

Steps to add to your game;

1. <DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE HERE>

2. Unzip and place here: ‎⁨ 

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨graphics⁩ ▸ ⁨backgrounds⁩ ▸ ⁨referees

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ graphics ▸ backgrounds ▸ referees

3. Go to preferences, ensure "Reload skin when confirming changes in Preference" is ticked (you may need to clear your cache too), click "Reload Skin" and click "confirm" (bottom right).

Screenshots are for reference only, ignore the quality loss, that’s just the Apple Preview ruining them to fit them under the 10mb forum post limit, they are high quality in-game.

Edited November 5, 2022 by stevemc

[stevemc]

6. FM23 Manager/Staff Pack

It currently covers 5900 manager/staff backgrounds from all over the world; club and country (including an extensive selection of club legends - who doesn't like signing a club legend to coach their under 18s? ). Ajax & Germany staff backgrounds match the Real Name Fix config codes from sortitoutsi.

 

Steps to add to your game;

1. >DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE HERE<

2. Unzip and place here: ‎⁨ 

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨graphics⁩ ▸ ⁨backgrounds⁩ ▸ ⁨staff

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ graphics ▸ backgrounds ▸ staff

3. Go to preferences, ensure "Reload skin when confirming changes in Preference" is ticked (you may need to clear your cache too), click "Reload Skin" and click "confirm" (bottom right).

Screenshots are for reference only, ignore the quality loss, that’s just the Apple Preview ruining them to fit them under the 10mb forum post limit, they are high quality in-game.

Edited March 2, 2023 by stevemc

[stevemc]

7. My Skin

My skin is basically just all the hard work by @bluestillidie00 on the Base23 Transparent Skin, with a few tweaks I like, and so I can show my backgrounds packs through them. I'm not a big fan of wild skins, I like the skin that comes with the game, just with a few subtle tweaks.

• Stadiums on schedule screen:

 

• Shirt & Number on profile screen:

 

• Faces on tactics screen, team talks and subs bench

Plus font changes, colour changes and opacity for backgrounds to show through.
 

Steps to add to your game;

1. >DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE HERE<

2. Unzip and place here: ‎⁨ 

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨Skins ▸ ⁨PLACE SKIN HERE

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ Skins ▸ PLACE SKIN HERE

3. Go to preferences (and select skin), select the new skin in the dropdown menu and click "Reload Skin" (you may need to clear your cache too) and click "confirm".

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by stevemc

[stevemc]

My other FM additions:

FM23: Long Team Names File (England)

 

FM23: English Competition Colour Fixes

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by stevemc

[Watson156]

Great work as ever. 

[Rivanov]

Have you fixed transparancy for WTCS5 skin?

[stevemc]

Just now, Rivanov said:

Have you fixed transparancy for WTCS5 skin?

I’ve just replied in the other thread, no I haven’t, I’m not using the WTCS5 skin, just the Base Skin.

[Olas Nick]

17 hours ago, stevemc said:

1. FM23 Stadiums Pack

why no link to stadiums pack?

[stevemc]

20 minutes ago, Olas Nick said:

why no link to stadiums pack?

Read the opening post… 

[stevemc]

Download link for Stadiums pack now added.

Managers/Staff Pack and Skin will follow this evening.

[statomatic7]

48 minutes ago, stevemc said:

Download link for Stadiums pack now added.

Managers/Staff Pack and Skin will follow this evening.

Amazing work as always!! Thanks for your time and effort for creating these superb backgrounds

[BadAss88]

Couldn't play FM without these essential backgrounds!

Thx a lot for the great work you've done!

[LucasBR]

Hey Steve, thanks for your great work... Is it possible to use just some of the backgrounds in a carousel style-ish like CM01/02 without linking the images to a certain tab in-game? Thanks.

[stevemc]

1 hour ago, LucasBR said:

Hey Steve, thanks for your great work... Is it possible to use just some of the backgrounds in a carousel style-ish like CM01/02 without linking the images to a certain tab in-game? Thanks.

Honestly, I've no idea as I've never tried but it seems like it could be possible?

Edited November 8, 2022 by stevemc

[LucasBR]

16 minutes ago, stevemc said:

Honestly, I've no idea as I've never tried but it seems like it could be possible?

I guess I figured out a way, just need to sort the better resolution. Thanks again mate.

[judicious]

Great work, thanks!

[stevemc]

Download link now added for Manager/Staff Pack and the Skin. Enjoy! 

Edited November 8, 2022 by stevemc

[@rob_peat]

hey guys, i know the zealand skin had this problem last year. does anyone know who to get rid of the international numbers on the skin at all? is it just changing a line of text in the skin's files? @stevemc

 

 

[stevemc]

2 hours ago, @rob_peat said:

hey guys, i know the zealand skin had this problem last year. does anyone know who to get rid of the international numbers on the skin at all? is it just changing a line of text in the skin's files? @stevemc

 

 

Sorry mate I have no idea, I don’t use other skins.

[@rob_peat]

this is your skin steve, this is from the one you posted. "My skin is basically just all the hard work by @bluestillidie00 on the Base23 Transparent Skin, with a few tweaks I like, and so I can show my backgrounds packs through them. I'm not a big fan of wild skins, I like the skin that comes with the game, just with a few subtle tweaks."

any ideas @stevemc 

Edited November 9, 2022 by @rob_peat

[stevemc]

2 minutes ago, @rob_peat said:

this is your skin steve, this is from the one you posted. "My skin is basically just all the hard work by @bluestillidie00 on the Base23 Transparent Skin, with a few tweaks I like, and so I can show my backgrounds packs through them. I'm not a big fan of wild skins, I like the skin that comes with the game, just with a few subtle tweaks."

any ideas @stevemc 

Oh sorry, I think that "0" is because squad numbers have not been assigned Internationally. I'm not sure how you'd go about removing that "0" and if it can only be done on International kits (without effecting club kits), but I don't bother with International management on FM as it's absolutely terrible 

[@rob_peat]

there was definitely a fix, i think it was changing a number in the xml file to 0 or something so basically it's see through or something. I can't find the fix anywhere

2 minutes ago, stevemc said:

Oh sorry, I think that "0" is because squad numbers have not been assigned Internationally. I'm not sure how you'd go about removing that "0" and if it can only be done on International kits (without effecting club kits), but I don't bother with International management on FM as it's absolutely terrible 

 

[stevemc]

2 hours ago, @rob_peat said:

there was definitely a fix, i think it was changing a number in the xml file to 0 or something so basically it's see through or something. I can't find the fix anywhere

 

Someone will know but I’ll take a look around in the config file later 👍🏻

[stevemc]

5 hours ago, @rob_peat said:

there was definitely a fix, i think it was changing a number in the xml file to 0 or something so basically it's see through or something. I can't find the fix anywhere

 

 

This is the code in the player personal details panel.xml I can't see anywhere you could change to remove the international squad number whilst retaining the club number, without adding some code in?

 

Quote

                <!-- CONTAINER HOLDING KIT AND PLAYER PIC -->
                <container width="280">
                    <attachment_group class="horizontal_arrange" horizontal_gap="50"/>

                    <container width="225">
                        <layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" apply_to_children="true"/>

                        <widget id="bak1" class="kit_icon" image_alignment="left" width="250" kit_zoom_level="3" priority="1" late_loading="true">
                            <record id="object_property" get_property="Pers" set_property="objt"/>
                        </widget>

Have you asked in the Skinning Forum? Might be worth setting up a thread for it.

Edited November 9, 2022 by stevemc

[TCSSkin]

Download WTCS5, and copy this folder to your skin

"tcs5\graphics\pictures\kits\2d\numbers\large"

[stevemc]

Apologies, I've spotted one mistake, the FA Trophy has changed sponsor from Buildbase to Isuzu, so if you want this updating on the Competitions Pack, then add this file to this location and overwrite:

File:

109202.jpg

 

Location to overwrite file:

/Users/NAME/Library/Application Support/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2023/graphics/backgrounds/comp/109202.jpg

Edited November 9, 2022 by stevemc

[wisconsin]

1 hour ago, bluestillidie00 said:

Download WTCS5, and copy this folder to your skin

"tcs5\graphics\pictures\kits\2d\numbers\large"

 

Thanks!

[@rob_peat]

Thank you x

[wisconsin]

On 05/11/2022 at 21:06, stevemc said:

My skin is basically just all the hard work by @bluestillidie00 on the Base23 Transparent Skin, with a few tweaks I like, and so I can show my backgrounds packs through them. I'm not a big fan of wild skins, I like the skin that comes with the game, just with a few subtle tweaks.

 

Should this area show the score? 

[stevemc]

4 hours ago, wisconsin said:

 

Should this area show the score? 

It should, I've fixed it in this download:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/vrv715chm1zbvkh/fm23BaseTransTweak-fixed.zip/file

[wisconsin]

 

Worked a treat, boss. Thank you.

[murmoose]

Something that's driving me mad...

I've switched skins, reloaded etc, re downloaded, added one by one. Not sure if anyone else has noticed this?
For some reason the stadium background appears on every tab (club, training, staff etc) expect for Italian and Spanish teams I've noticed?
On others it defaults to the competition background instead.

Can't work it out my side, anyone else able to help?

[stevemc]

Sorry mate, I can't replicate that at my end.

Have you got another pack from somewhere else installed that's clashing?

[the_hoyle]

Love the backgrounds! Thanks for the great work.

[the_hoyle]

@stevemcI have tried updating a few of the backgrounds (including adding the one above you have posted for the corrected FA Trophy photo) but they do not update in the game. Do you know what will be over-writing the new file? The old one is either replaced or renamed so it should not be pulled through in the config

[stevemc]

1 hour ago, the_hoyle said:

@stevemcI have tried updating a few of the backgrounds (including adding the one above you have posted for the corrected FA Trophy photo) but they do not update in the game. Do you know what will be over-writing the new file? The old one is either replaced or renamed so it should not be pulled through in the config

You shouldn't need to touch the config file, if you are overwriting images like-for-like.

You just drop the image in the folder, it overwrites, and it reflects in game.

[the_hoyle]

13 hours ago, stevemc said:

You shouldn't need to touch the config file, if you are overwriting images like-for-like.

You just drop the image in the folder, it overwrites, and it reflects in game.

I have overwritten both files (109201 & 109202) but the backgrounds in game remain as the old versions. Not ground-breaking, and it could be something in the Tato skin that is overwriting your backgrounds not entirely sure.

[BadAss88]

23 minutes ago, the_hoyle said:

I have overwritten both files (109201 & 109202) but the backgrounds in game remain as the old versions. Not ground-breaking, and it could be something in the Tato skin that is overwriting your backgrounds not entirely sure.

 

Clear Skin Cache and Reload skin  

[the_hoyle]

Just now, BadAss88 said:

 

Clear Skin Cache and Reload skin  

Done that many times, as I have been updating a number of kits at the same time and I am testing how they look - I will try it ticking and unticking the options just to see if there is something stuck!

[Tyburn]

Sometimes, I’ve found, especially in FM23, the game just won’t read certain jpg files, even though there is no obvious reason.

If you are updating images, with ones you’ve found on the internet, occasionally, when looking at the image properties, the image will be “locked”. Try unlocking. Sometimes works.

The alternative is find another image. I’ve said this before, but when trying to find a stadium background image that the game would read, for the Cuban national stadium, I had to burn through 5 different files before finding one the game was happy with. For no obvious reason.

If all else fails! I have also had to create a new folder, that sits at the top of my backgrounds folder (name it 0-whatever) that has its own config file. For REALLY tricky image recognition. The game reads configs in the graphics folder in positional order. So if there is a conflict somewhere your new folder will be read first, and hopefully show the image you want.

[the_hoyle]

I have solved the issue and it was nothing to do with the images or what I downloaded. In my wisdom when trying to make the backgrounds work with Tato's skin before I was able to find a client object browser.xml that allowed backgrounds on the skin, I had copied and pasted the original comp folder into the skin files and this was taking precedence with the images.

I have deleted the folder and now the correct backgrounds show though!

User error for me... 

[giggsxbr]

在 2022/11/6 在 AM5点06分, stevemc说:

7. My Skin

My skin is basically just all the hard work by @bluestillidie00 on the Base23 Transparent Skin, with a few tweaks I like, and so I can show my backgrounds packs through them. I'm not a big fan of wild skins, I like the skin that comes with the game, just with a few subtle tweaks.

• Stadiums on schedule screen:

 

• Shirt & Number on profile screen:

 

• Faces on tactics screen, team talks and subs bench

Plus font changes, colour changes and opacity for backgrounds to show through.
 

Steps to add to your game;

1. >DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE HERE<

2. Unzip and place here: ‎⁨ 

[PC] Documents⁩ ▸ ⁨Sports Interactive⁩ ▸ ⁨Football Manager 2023 ▸ ⁨Skins ▸ ⁨PLACE SKIN HERE

[MAC] Users ▸ YOURNAME ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Sports Interactive ▸ Football Manager 2023 ▸ Skins ▸ PLACE SKIN HERE

3. Go to preferences (and select skin), select the new skin in the dropdown menu and click "Reload Skin" (you may need to clear your cache too) and click "confirm".

 

Hi, I love your skin. I'm still playing FM22 with you FM22 skin last year but I found that the stadium is not shown in the fixture tab. Why is that?

Edited January 15, 2023 by giggsxbr

[giggsxbr]

Now I know that the stadium picture on schedule tab is not the background pack. 

But if a new stadium is build for a club, how should I modify the config file? In my save, watford build a new stadium and I can't see the stadium picture.(stadium background is OK). Any thought on this one?

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by giggsxbr

[TCSSkin]

51 minutes ago, giggsxbr said:

Now I know that the stadium picture on schedule tab is not the background pack. 

But if a new stadium is build for a club, how should I modify the config file? In my save, watford build a new stadium and I can't see the stadium picture.(stadium background is OK). Any thought on this one?

 

They have a new stadium that you don't have an image for. You can see the ID under the name.

[stevemc]

On 13/01/2023 at 11:34, the_hoyle said:

I have solved the issue and it was nothing to do with the images or what I downloaded. In my wisdom when trying to make the backgrounds work with Tato's skin before I was able to find a client object browser.xml that allowed backgrounds on the skin, I had copied and pasted the original comp folder into the skin files and this was taking precedence with the images.

I have deleted the folder and now the correct backgrounds show though!

User error for me... 

Glad you got it fixed mate