Fantasy football: A quick overview

After scoring a recent Premier League hat trick against Ipswich, Erling Haaland smugly asked his Instagram followers: “Did you triple captain me?” He was referring, of course, to fantasy football, the popular online game in which millions of managers field a team of league players on a weekly basis, competing for the highest points haul across the season.

Fantasy Premier League (FPL), along with the Women’s Super League (WSL) version and a host of other equivalents on the continent, has grown in popularity year on year, drawing more international attention to England’s top flight. I started playing FPL in the 2017/18 season and have entered a team ever since. It has become an essential part of my online year; you might call it an addiction.

FPL is all about the tactics, a months-long marathon where the smallest management decisions can cost you dearly in the global rankings. It’s an enjoyable mode of gambling with zero money on the line (that is, unless you have some dreaded arrangement with your friends regarding who finishes last in your mini-league). Most importantly, however, it’s an exceedingly fun way to face off against family, friends, or colleagues every week. Amongst my main competitors is my uncle over in Denmark, who hosts a league of around 20 friends every year.

Also, a mystery chip will debut in FPL this season, with its purpose yet to be revealed

One can simply enter for the fun of it, or, like me, you could take it a bit too seriously and end up poring over the strategic discourse on X and YouTube in order to craft the perfect team. In the world of FPL, however, you’ll soon find that any shrewd long-term planning goes out of the window extremely early on. As I write this ahead of matchday four, I already have several fires to put out in my team, and several bandwagons to jump on purely due to the FOMO of not owning in-form ballers.

Player prices are revealed in midsummer (each manager chooses 15 players starting with a £100 million budget), and from then on, it’s a few weeks of obsessive tinkering ahead of the first matchday in mid-August. The game provides players with three ‘chips’ to activate just once when they choose to during the season: ‘triple captain’ triples your captain’s points instead of doubling them; ‘bench boost’ adds your bench’s points total to your score for that week (points on the bench are usually redundant, which can be agonising at times); and the ‘free hit’ chip (not featured in WSL Fantasy) allows managers to overhaul their team for a single week, after which it reverts to its previous state. Two wildcards per season (also FPL-only) then provide managers with a permanent fix, to cleanse their teams of prior blunders and regroup for the fixtures ahead. This is because normally you’re only permitted to make one free transfer per week (two for the WSL game) – any more and you’ll be deducted points. Also, a mystery chip will debut in FPL this season, with its purpose yet to be revealed.

A successful FPL season is, as you can see, replete with variables to consider and keep on top of

Managers also have to navigate price increases and decreases when players drop in and out of form. Understanding FPL’s very own stock market is simple enough – if everyone transfers a player in, they will have a hike in price (and vice-versa). This can of course create sticky situations if you’re struggling to find that £0.1 million for the player you really need, so I would recommend downloading the Fantasy Football Fix app to watch out for imminent changes in value.

A successful FPL season is, as you can see, replete with variables to consider and keep on top of. Who do you bench? Who do you purchase, and for how long will you own them? Who is the safest captain choice? Which risky pick might bear points-laden fruit and catapult you up the rankings? To gain the answers to questions such as these, fantasy managers may wish to consult the wealth of online resources available. For example, Fantasy Football Scout provides players with with the most likely squad line-ups every gameweek, along with a host of other analytical resources. Many of said features are behind membership paywalls, so if you’re willing to deepen your FPL addiction with this exclusive content in exchange for bolstering your fantasy team’s prospects, then this is something to consider.

In the meantime, I can reveal with a regret I’ve grown used to by now that: no, I didn’t triple captain you, Erling. That’s the thrill of fantasy football. Opportunities come and go – it’s only down to you to take them

Of course, the completely free treasure troves of YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) are also invaluable places to turn to. Personally, I find the likes of Andy Mears (whose social media alias is Let’s Talk FPL) useful on both platforms – Andy’s gameweek deadline streams are particularly enjoyable. And on Fantasy’s X community, you’ll find plenty of data to sink your teeth into.

Fantasy football, in this sense, has become a cultural phenomenon and a tight-knit community in its own right since its 2002 launch, heightening the stakes regarding the way fans consume football. In 2023, there were over 11 million FPL players globally at the end of the season, whilst even the Premier League and Women’s Super League’s hottest talents are chipping in on the action – no doubt selecting themselves, as is probably the case with Manchester City’s hat-trick-scoring Norwegian. I’d highly recommend any football fans who haven’t yet joined them on the fantasy football scene to do so soon.

The Premier League season is obviously underway already (although it’s always better late than never), but there is still time before the WSL game kicks off on 20 September. In the meantime, I can reveal with a regret I’ve grown used to by now that: no, I didn’t triple captain you, Erling. That’s the thrill of fantasy football. Opportunities come and go – it’s only down to you to take them.