Fantasy football is a game in which participants assemble an imaginary team of real
life footballers and score points based on those players' actual statistical performance
or their perceived contribution on the field of play. Usually players are selected from
one specific division in a particular country, although there are many variations.
The original game was created by Andrew Wainstein in England in 1991, when he set up
Fantasy League Ltd after seeing the success of American fantasy sports games in the 1980s.
Fantasy football has evolved in recent years from a simple recreational activity into
a significant business due to exposure via the internet.
An emerging variant is club-based fantasy football in which participants select
players from within their own club. Participating clubs typically have more than one
football team and adopt club fantasy football to increase communication and banter
between teams. Some clubs charge a nominal amount for players to enter a team and
either use the proceeds as a fundraiser or to fund the fantasy league prizes.
Club fantasy football leagues tend to be less sophisticated than the national
variety since most clubs run them on a spreadsheet. Niche sports websites now offer
online versions with both paid and free versions available.
Teams
Most fantasy football leagues, especially those run by national newspapers, ask you
to select 11 players within a price budget. There is usually a restriction on the
number of players per club; a typical selection would be to select 1 goalkeeper, 4
defenders, 4 or 3 midfielders and 2 or 3 forwards. Some games are squad-based, where
you choose not just a first XI but also a set of substitutes.
In smaller leagues played by a small group of people, players are bought by bidding
between the rival managers rather than for a set amount of money. This means a particular
player can only play for one team, and thus any points he accrues are credited to that
team only. Typically, most leagues offer the chance to transfer players in and out of the
team as the season progresses, in case of injury, suspension or loss of form.
Starter options
At the start of the season Fantasy football leagues can be set up in various ways.
For leagues with unique teams, i.e. leagues where every player exist only once, there
are at least two different starter options. Option 1 is a player auction. Every player
is auctioned and the manager of a community need to bid for the players. Manager have a
certain budget for the auction. Option 2 is a player draft. Each manager is allocated a
certain number of players.
For leagues without unique teams, i.e. every manager can own every player if he has
sufficient funding. Usually there is neither a draft nor an auction but managers can
pick their players until they have used up their budget. This starter option is used
by the most widespread fantasy football game Barclay's Premier League Fantasy Football.
With over 2 million people registering for the Fantasy Premier League each season,
there is no draft or auction option, as this would severely limit the amount of people
who could play the official game. By having a system that doesn’t require unique teams,
it allows managers to select the same players and gives them the ability to compete
against everyone else on a wider scale.
The auction
Various fantasy football games with unique teams offer the option of a player auction.
At the beginning of the season, players are put on a transfer market and manager can
bid for them. Some games even continue this auction system during the season (e.g. kaiser.
co.uk). Kaiser also offers the opportunity to take the league to the next season. In this
case new leagues can be started throughout the season without making it less interesting.
Other games with an auction system include plmanager.co.uk and fantasyleague.co.uk.
The draft
The draft is an option to jump-start a league. This is especially interesting for leagues
that are set up during the season. From day 1, managers can line up their team for the
next match day and trade players with other community member or the computer.
The draft is a common feature for NFL fantasy football games and the German Bundesliga.
At least one Premier League manager game offers a similar feature.
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