With the Premier League gearing up to get into full swing once more, the fantasy Premier League is also set to make a great comeback. Millions of people across the UK like to play the fantasy football league and it makes a great companion to the beautiful game itself. It gives everyone the chance to get involved – even if they’ve never kicked a ball or had anything to do with football before – is great fun and there’s also the chance to win some fantastic prizes. So, how does fantasy football work, why should you play and what can you win? Read on to find out more.
How does it work?
For those not already in the know, the fantasy football league runs alongside the real life Premier League. The performance of the players in real life has an impact on their performance in the fantasy Premier League, so anyone playing fantasy football should definitely keep an eye on the real thing to see how their players are getting on.
The premise of fantasy football is relatively simple: when you sign up with a fantasy football website, you are given a budget (this will typically be in the region of £50 million). With this budget, you will be tasked with selecting your own 11-man team. Each player has a value and stats information relating to their performance and other details, which you can use to decide who to choose.
Once you have picked all of your players and the Premier League season has started, your team can either win or lose you points based on how the players are performing in the real Premier League. For example, if one of your players scores a goal in real life, your fantasy Premier League team will win points. If, however, one of your players concedes multiple goals or gets sent off in a real match, your fantasy football team will lose points as a result.
Throughout the fantasy football league season, there will be several transfer windows where you can transfer players who are injured or underperforming for better ones that you think will give your team the best chance of doing well in future matches.
Why should I play?
There are many reasons to get involved with fantasy football. One great reason is that millions of people already play it and there is a great atmosphere on fantasy football league websites. You can expect to find communities and chat rooms that are great to get involved in, adding a social element to the game and perhaps even introducing you to new aspects of strategy and things about football that you’ve never even considered before.
It’s also easier than ever before to get involved with the fantasy Premier League. There is an ever-improving range of ways that you can play the game, making it extremely convenient. For example, you can now play fantasy football through social media such as Facebook, and there are apps for phones such as iPhones and Androids, so you can play the game on the go.
There are also options to play your team against the teams of people you know. So, if loads of people in your office or your family have signed up to play in the fantasy Premier League, you can create your own mini leagues to play against them. You can even make use of chat boards that are specific to your mini league so you can communicate directly with them whenever you are playing.
Many people also like to play fantasy football as it gives them the chance to act as a football manager. Let’s face it, there have been times when we’d all have liked to take over the role of managing our favourite team in the belief we could do it better, so now’s your chance to prove that you can!
What can I win?
There are also some great prizes to be won if your team does really well in the fantasy Premier League. Of course, one of the main prizes is the feel-good factor of doing really well (and perhaps beating all the friends and family you were playing against over the course of the season), but as well as the lovely sense of a job well done, there are real, tangible prizes on offer.
For instance, you could win some great cash prizes as fantasy football sites generally have a prize pool for the people who do really well. Some of these prizes are also worth up to £100,000 so if you manage to triumph in the fantasy Premier League, it will definitely be worth your while – good luck!