Fantasy Football: How to play

Examples from the Barclays Premier League Fantasy Football Game

1. Find the website by typing some of the words above into Google. You will be guided to http://fantasy.premierleague.com/. Click on the link above to have a look at it now if you wish.

2. Start by glancing at the Rules and the FAQ. You need not try to understand everything yet. You need the general idea at this point and can return to them when you are enrolled in the game. The most important thing is to understand that your team does not play directly against other teams in the Classic Fantasy game. Intead you choose players who individually earn points for their performance in each Premier League match. The total of these points is your team's score. It might be anywhere between 15 and 100 each week. Your team is ranked in a league according to these points.

3. You can make a note or print out the list of how many points players can earn. You find it in the rules under the heading SCORING and it looks like this:


Points
For playing in a game1
For playing at least 60 minutes in a game (includes playing points mentioned above)2
For each goal scored by your goalkeeper or defenders6
For each goal scored by your midfielders5
For each goal scored by your forwards4
For each goal assist3
For your goalkeeper / defender conceding 0 goals (must also play at least 60 minutes)4
For your midfielder conceding 0 goals (must also play at least 60 minutes)1
For every 3 shot saves made by your goalkeeper1
For every penalty save5
For every penalty miss-2
Bonus points for the best players in a match1-3
For every 2 goals conceded by your goalkeeper or defenders-1
For every yellow card-1
For every red card (includes any yellow card points)-3
For every own goal-2

Make a copy of this and keep it available to remind you when you choose your team each week.

4. You will be able to choose 15 players for your squad and from these select the 11 you wish to play in each forthcoming match. You cannot choose more than 3 players from any one Premier League team.
Squad Selection rules:

A manager may enter one Fantasy Premier League squad, multiple squads will be deleted. Squads must consist of:
  • 2 Goalkeepers
  • 5 Defenders
  • 5 Midfielders
  • 3 Forwards
You can select up to 3 players from any one team.
Each player has been given a value. The total value of your initial squad must not exceed £100 million.



5. I suggest you now go to the Premier League Fanstasy Football site, register and choose your colours and your team. As you do this you will be asked to choose a User Name (FannyAdams) and a Password (Goodluck13). Make a note of these. 

You should use your real name to complete the rest of the registration and your address. You can choose to receive an e-mail weekly - a good way of  reminding you to choose your team for the next matches.

Don't worry about the 100 million limit. Instead choose AUTOMATIC  to select your squad and watch the screen fill with the names, teams and values of the players.

Underneath on the right there is a note of any amount underspent from the 100 million.


6. You can now make transfers, as many as you want until the season starts. This is why I suggested choosing a team automatically rather than work it out on a spreadsheet. (With a spreadsheet you have to keep looking back at the values of players and transferring them to the spreadsheet.) Click on a player, his value will be added to the amount available at the bottom right. Choose a player from the lists available at the top right of the page. 

You can see a list of layers by positions, eg all Defenders,
or a list of all players from your favourite, 
or any other, team.

The team you start the season with is still in the future. You have to start thinking about your strategy before getting the players you want in your team to start the season.