@Eternal
I did try your idea of installing older clients from 1.4 down to 1.0 but all have the same error 
So 0.19 has installed and I've linked my steam account etc..
but I'm unable to launch a game 
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "src\games\hostgamewidget.py", line 71, in _launch_game
File "src\fa\check.py", line 133, in check
File "src\fa\updater.py", line 170, in run
File "src\fa\updater.py", line 524, in doUpdate
File "src\fa\updater.py", line 540, in failureDialog
Exception: Update started at 2021-02-22 16:06:26
Using appdata: C:\ProgramData\FAForever
Connected to update server at 2021-02-22 16:06:26
EXCEPTION: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'C:\ProgramData\FAForever\bin\DbgHelp.dll'
Runtime info:
FAF Username: kaprob
FAF Version: 0.19.13+60
FAF Environment: production
FAF Directory: C:\ProgramData\FAForever
FA Path: : e:\steam\SteamApps\common\Supreme Commander Forged Alliance
Home Directory: C:/Users/Admin2/Documents
Platform: Windows-10-10.0.19041
Uname: uname_result(system='Windows', node='RobsPC', release='10', version='10.0.19041', machine='AMD64', processor='Intel64 Family 6 Model 63 Stepping 2, GenuineIntel')