Fantasy football (association)

Fantasy football is a game in which the participants each assemble a team of real life players and then score points based on those players' statistical performance on the field.

Usually players are selected from one specific division in a particular country, although there are many variations. Fantasy football has evolved in recent years from a simple recreational activity into a big business industry due to the Internet.

Typical rules

(Note that different fantasy football sites have different scoring rules.)

The participant chooses 11 players typically containing:- 1 Goalkeeper, 4 Defenders, 4 Midfielders and 2 Strikers. There are often limits on selection criteria and the 11 players must come within a set budget. Some games have a squad based system where you decide which 11 players to play for each set of games.

Points are then gained or deducted depending on players' performances.

Positive

• +2 pts for full appearances (on the pitch for the entire game)
• +1 pt for part appearances (subbed on or off)
• +3 pts for a Key Contribution (playing a significant part in setting up a goal)
• +5 pts for scoring a goal (including penalty shootouts)

Goalkeepers and defenders only:

• +4 pts for a full match clean sheet
• +2 pts for a part clean sheet (not conceding a goal during a part appearance)
• +5 pts for a penalty save (goalkeepers only, including penalty shootouts)

Negative

• -5 pts for missing a penalty (including penalty shootouts)
• -2 pts for an own goal

Goalkeepers and defenders only:

• -1 pt per goal conceded (not including shootouts)
• -5 pts for being sent off
• -2 pts for being booked

There are hundreds of fantasy football websites, free and pay to play.

Fantasy football leagues have also been run for American football.

Yahoo! Fantasy Football

Yahoo! Fantasy Football is one of the most popular fantasy soccer games. It provides games for several different leagues, including England Premiership, Italy Serie A, Spanish Superliga, France Ligue 1, Copa Libertadores and Superliga Mexicana.

Their Premiership Fantasy Football is the most popular one. It shares the same scoring scheme as Italian Serie A and Spanish Superliga; while the France Ligue has its own scheme.

See also

Fantasy sports

External links

Major UK Fantasy Football game sites (all with over 10,000 entries):

• Telegraph Fantasy Football
• PremierLeague.com Fantasy Football
• The Sun Dream Team
• You The Manager
• Fantasy League Classic
• Yahoo! Premiership Fantasy Football

Other UK Fantasy Football Sites - hundreds listed within these two webpages:

• Online Fantasy Football Games
• FantasyFootballUK

Blogs on Fantasy Football

• Fantasy Premier League
• Fantasy Insider

UK Fantasy football information sites:

• FISO - Fantasy & Interactive Sports Online - Listing of UK Fantasy Football Games and Forum for Fantasy Sports Players.
• Fantasy Football Index - Comparison of the major fantasy leagues.
• Footballweb - UK Fantasy Football forum
• My TeamTalk - Forum for Yahoo Fantasy Football Players
• Funkin Sock Monkey - General Fantasy Football Statistics