How to get the better of your mates in a Fantasy League auction

If you’re unfamiliar with Fantasy League, read up on it here first. Once you’re done, you’ll want to crack on with this auction explainer too. 

In a nutshell: it’s the original fantasy football game, created in 1991 – that’s a full year before the Premier League was even born, kids. 

Unlike other versions of the game where teams are frustratingly similar, the auction format of Fantasy League means that every squad here is completely unique. That means it’s also about football knowledge and cunning, capitalising on the players you really want/need, and keeps managers engaged right through to the final weekend of the season. Leagues are tight and catching up is absolutely possible. 

Your auction can be held face-to-face or online. It’ll take 2-3 hours for the former if you do it properly, and the new platform has made the job of Chairman simple, with tools to manage bids and game rules. 

The online auction doesn’t rely on everyone being online at the same time, as it’s based on a series of rounds where managers submit sealed bids for their chosen players.

How to win

The Auction (yes that’s a big ‘t’ and ‘a’ – it’s serious stuff) is the most important and fun day of the Fantasy League season, so it’s vital that managers come prepared. Much of this is down to personality, naturally, and some will be more meticulous than others. Here are some tips… 

• Mark up your player list: Entry-level organisation. Print it out, get a highlighter and mark the players you’d like to buy. Use a few colours to note must-haves, maybes and potential bargains. 

• Prepare a spreadsheet: Gives you more flexibility to create columns and organise your wishlist by position, club, price and stage of the auction.

• Analyse value: Look at points from last season and try to work out how much to pay for a player based on the percentage of your total points he’s going to contribute. If you’re playing the Novice version of the game, your budget will be £200m – and to win your league you’d need around +/- 450 points. 

• Understand premium prices: In every position there will be a few standout players. You must respect this premium and be prepared to pay it up to a point – because if you don’t get one or two standout players, you’re unlikely to succeed elsewhere. Equally, know when to bow out if prices get too high. 

• Think about squad balance: You’re likely to have a squad of 15 and can play 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 5-3-2, 5-4-1 or 4-5-1, with any mix of positions on your bench. You want cover in every position but need to have some flexibility during the auction to go where the value is, and to cover positions where you know you’ve bought marginal players. It’s also worth thinking about an allocation of budget for defence, midfield and attack. It’s never going to be split evenly but you do need to be strong in at least two areas. Something like a 40-40-20 split can work well, in any order.

• List players you plan to raise: Your goal is to get others spending money on players you don’t want, so that you can pick up your choices for less. It means you have to be ready when it’s your turn to raise a player with some ‘bait’ for your rivals to feast on. Think of players who might attract inflated prices.

• Consider club quotas: In our Novice and Pro packages, you’ll be restricted to two players per club. Make sure you rate the players this way so you’re sure to get the ones you want, and not dodgy squad men.

• Remember fillers: Towards the end of the auction you’ll be weary, having missed opportunities and with limited players left on the list. Prepare a list of bargains for your last few slots, most likely as free pick-ups when your money has run out.

There’s no hard and fast way to win, and the problem with too much preparation is that you spend the whole auction deciphering your plan. But stick with the above and you shouldn’t go far wrong. 

Head to www.fantasyleague.com, set up your league and start inviting managers. They’ll love you for it.