[FAQ GUIDE] THE FOOTBALL LIFE COMMON QUESTIONS - READ THIS BEFORE ASKING!
LAST UPDATE: OCTOBER 2026
New to this game? You don't know what is Football Life? Do you want to mod it or solve some issue? Just keep reading and for sure you will get your answers.
Remember that we aren't the official SP Football Life team, but we give support and knowledge for it! So any question to the SmokePatch team should be given via their Patreon or website.
***--------------------------- GENERAL QUESTIONS ---------------------------***
**Q: Why my posts are getting deleted?**
A: This sub has high filtering activated to avoid for the 999th time the same questions and poor quality content. You will find answers for almost everything in this post or using the search function, as the same questions have already been answered.
**Q: Where are the most important things I should know?**
A: That this is a game from 2019 that is getting some huge mods thanks to AI but it won't fully transform the game as it is. Also, read this FAQ to get a general knowledge of everything around the game.
**Q: What is Football Life?**
A: Football Life is a standalone game that takes PES 2021 and patches it with a yearly season database of actual football. So there's annual releases, like
FL23 = season 22/23
FL24 = 23/24.
FL25 = 24/25.
FL26 = 25/26.
FL27 = 26/27.
**Q: Why does Football Life exist? Can I play PES 2021 instead?**
A: It exists for those that couldn't get a copy of PES 2021 at the time. KONAMI literally obliterated all the legit ways to buy a legit copy of PES 2021 on any platform, so Football Life is the only way to play PES 2021. There's no point on searching for Steam accounts or cracked PES 2021 as they will scam you or the game will crash a lot, because CPY version didn't got a proper way to work flawlessly without crashes.
**Q: Where can I play Football Life?**
A: Only for PC. No console version exists.
**Q: Where can I download Football Life?**
A: On official website via this link (there's a video installation video also): [https://www.pessmokepatch.com/](https://www.pessmokepatch.com/2023/09/spfl24.html)
**Q: What's the latest version of Football Life?**
A: Football Life 2026 in its version 2.2, released 12 May 2026 marking the 25/26 season end.
**Q: Will there be a Football Life 2027?**
A: Yes and the first details are here: [https://www.pessmokepatch.com/2026/07/FL27.html#more](https://www.pessmokepatch.com/2026/07/FL27.html#more)
Please note release date can be moved into a further date and all the features maybe are not fully implemented without bugs.
**Q: What will Football Life 2027 include?**
A: The biggest features for FL27 are the inclusion of the new regulations for Champions League, Europa League, 48-team World Cup and some more like full MLS/Argentina league teams. You can learn more of these here:
**Q: Is the game multilanguage? Can I put commentaries on my language?**
A: Both yes Text language is already included. Extra commentaries are downloaded via this link: [https://www.pessmokepatch.com/2023/01/2023coms.html](https://www.pessmokepatch.com/2023/01/2023coms.html)
**Q: What I have to do when I have all the partsXX.rar on the same folder?**
A: You only need to extract part01 and it will autodetect the rest. Then proceed installing the game with the usual setup.exe given after extracting all.
You will require a tool like WinRAR for that (which should be mandatory these days for a lot of other things).
**Q: Can it be installed on a Steam Deck?**
A: Yes. Follow the instructions there: [https://github.com/eskay993/gamefiles/tree/main/sp-football-life-2026](https://github.com/eskay993/gamefiles/tree/main/sp-football-life-2026)
**Q: Is the game safe?**
A: Yes, it is. It's usually detected by antivirus and Windows Defender as it contains code to make it work. You know, the game behind the scenes is kinda "baked" to make it work. Antivirus detect that code as malicious but it is a false positive. Make an exception on your AV or just disable them.
**Q: Can it be played online?**
A: Nope, as It doesn't have the online functions because KONAMI closed all the servers some years ago. Anyways, you can play with people via Parsec, an app that allows you to connect remotely to another computer, designed for those games that can't be played online anymore or have local multiplayer features.
**Q: Are there Classic Players in the game from past years?**
A: Yes. They are divided in 9 teams in Other Classic Teams, at the bottom of the list of the leagues when selecting teams. You will find more than 300 classic players there.
**Q: Why are there some outdated things, like old kits, logos, scoreboards...?**
A: Football Life is made by Smoke Patch team, which is mainly Dido (the creator of it) and some supporters. It is lightweight on purpose and that means it doesn't have all the features you can find out there. Updates coming around when American leagues start or when an EURO/World Cup is being played.
**Q: How can I support this game or official team behind it?**
A: They have a Patreon on this link: [https://www.patreon.com/smokepatch](https://www.patreon.com/smokepatch)
***--------------------------- TECHNICAL QUESTIONS ---------------------------***
**Q: I lost my FL\_202X start.exe. How can I recover it?**
A: You can actually play the game just launching the Sider.exe under SiderAddons folder and then your normal FL 202X.exe. FL202X start.exe just does that action in one. You have them in the backup RAR in game folder (pass is 123)
**Q: The game has awful performance and I have a powerful computer. How can I improve it?**