Fantasy Premier League season is upon us. It's time to download the FPL app, get transferring players and come up with a league.
You know how it works by now. Real-world Premier League stars score points in the game for the things they do during games. You just have to pick them in your team - but like real clubs, you've got a budget to stick to, too.
This is all your mates at work will be on about in the office for the next nine months of your life. But don't worry - we've got you covered. Anything and everything you need to know about Fantasy Premier League is covered in this handy guide.
Getting started
The basics of FPL
So you've agreed to join with a Fantasy Premier League team this season. What is it and what do you need to know?
Fear not - we've got you covered. Here's the ultimate beginners' guide to FPL, teaching you exactly what it is and how to get started with your team. We'll teach you how points work, how to buy and sell players and how to use the app.
You're going to need a team name, too. "Mike's team" or "Gary FC" will work just fine - if you're called Mike or Gary, of course - but it's an unwritten FPL tradition that team names make a pun on a player, manager or football club. Thinking "Gangster's Allardyce" or "Willian Dollar Baby".
Points can fluctuate within gameweeks but will be finalised by the time every match from that specific gameweek is complete. Basically, you might have to wait until the end of the Monday night game to see how your team have really done.
Transfers
How do I build an FPL team?
Structuring your Fantasy Premier League team relies on where you think the points are going to come from. Different positions get different points for different actions.
Once again, we can refer you to our guide on how to score points in FPL, if you're interested in getting to grasps with the nuts and bolts of that.
There are six players who have changed positions from last season too. Don't worry - we've listed them all in this guide, with advice on whether they're worth signing or not.
What's an FPL wildcard?
A Wildcard in Fantasy Premier League allows you to make unlimited transfers for your team. You can activate it twice a season: think of it as an extra transfer window to sort out injuries or poor form in your squad.
A Free Hit is similar to a Wildcard. It's a bonus chip that allows you to make unlimited changes to your 15-man squad - but with a twist: the changes are only there for one gameweek, before your squad reverts back to how it was before. This is used for short-term gains.
There are four bonus chips that you can use in Fantasy Premier League. This is the Wildcard, Free Hit - both used in the transfer section - Bench Boost and Triple Captain (both used in the team-picking section).
Each of these bonus chips allows you to maximise your points once or twice a season, offering different bonuses to you and rewarding risks that you take with your strategy.
Just as in the real world, Fantasy Premier League substitutes fulfil a vital role, whether it's covering for injuries or providing the impact your first team didn't manage.
A Bench Boost allows you to collect points not just for the first XI of your side but all four substitutes, too. This is one of your bonus chips and it can be activated once a season.
FPL leagues enable you to compete with other users.
As you can see from the image above, everyone is automatically added into leagues in Fantasy Premier League. There are prizes for each one, too.
The first league you're automatically in, is the Overall league. This is the big one. We're all fighting for the crown of best FPL player, after all. After that, you're in a league for your country, where you compete against everyone else from the nation that you put down.
The Gameweek league will tell you how well you did on a specific gameweek. Finally, you'll compete against other followers of the club that you support - so when you sign up and enter the club that you follow, you'll get added into their specific FPL league.
How do I create an FPL league?
Creating an FPL league is easy - and you can now add a League Cup to your regular league too, this season.
You might have FPL leagues with friends, family or colleagues - or you might not want to be part of a smaller league at all.
We've set up a FourFourTwo FPL league - it's completely free to join and the winner will receive a subscription to the magazine for a year.
Tips and advice
It's not about the taking part, is it? We've got tips to help you rack up a few more points along the way.
YOUR FPL EXPERTS
(Image credit: FantasyYIRMA)
FantasyYIRMA started in 2012 focused primarily on news and previews for the Fantasy Premier League. Following consecutive fantasy coverage across eight years and more than 300 gameweeks, we are confident in saying we’ve wasted a large portion of our adult life on Fantasy Football.
Check out our podcast Bang Average on your listening platform of choice where Ryan, John and MikeP chat all things Fantasy Football related each week.
FantasyYIRMA, who have years of experience and even league-winning seasons in Fantasy Premier League, have written a couple of great guides for FFT on how to get ahead of your mates. There are simple tricks to follow, believe it or not...
FantasyYIRMA's guide of 27 essential tips to master Fantasy Premier League is a must-read for you - whatever your experience or skill level. There, you'll find curated ideas from former winners along with all the best answers for the questions you have ahead of another brand-new FPL season.
Looking for that fast start to get a quick stride over your rivals? Then you'll need FantasyYIRMA's guide of how to get FPL points early in the season, which debunks a few myths and confirms a few biases.
