Fantasy Premier League

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Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is the official free-to-play fantasy football game of the English Premier League. With over 10 million players, it is the largest fantasy football game of any domestic football league. [1]

Contents

History

Created by ISM (International Sports Multimedia) [2] and owned and operated by the Premier League, Fantasy Premier League was introduced in 2002 for the 2002–03 Premier League season. [3] It was launched in conjunction with the creation of the Premier League website. [4]

In its first season it had 76,200 players with first place winning a VIP trip to a Premier League match of their choice. [5] The player base has grown annually with the exception of the 2012–13 and 2023–24 season, surpassing one million players for the first time during the 2006–07 season and over 10 million entries for the first time during the 2022–23 campaign.

Gameplay

Classic

The classic Fantasy Premier League game is open to the public and is contested annually by millions worldwide. Participants must select a team based on real-life Premier League footballers who scored fantasy points based on those players' real-life statistical performances. Points accumlate across the season in order to declare a champion. As well as the overall global leaderboard, there are smaller automatic public leaderboards categorised by home country and Premier League club supported.

Draft

As well as the standard format, FPL introduced a draft mode for the first time in 2017. In this instance, managers join small private leagues of between 2–16 managers. There is no budget and instead managers take turns to select players for their 15-man squads. However, once a player has been selected, they are not available for any other managers in that specific private league to select. [8]

Challenge

In March 2024, FPL launched a beta version of a new DFS game called FPL Challenge. The mode is separate to the main game and requires players to build a squad for one single gameweek with a particular challenge unique to that gameweek also active e.g. unlimited budget, players in certain positions or for certain clubs score double etc. Unlike the classic and draft modes, the game is a short-form "daily" game with scores resetting back to zero after each round meaning there were no cumulative season-long leaderboards and prizes are awarded to the top three scoring managers for each individual round. [9] However, ahead of the first full 2024–25 season, FPL added a season-long leaderboard and the ability to create mini-leagues. Events were also introduced. An event is a short collection of four or five gameweeks with a broader theme e.g. five-a-side teams rather than the classic XI. Managers are able to track their mini-league standings during events as well as single gameweeks and season-long points. [10]

Winners

List of Fantasy Premier League champions
SeasonPlayers [1] WinnerNationalityTeam namePointsRef
2002–0376kGraeme HaddowFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Wee Wullie Winkie FC1,940 [nb 1] [11]
2003–04312kMuir O'ConnorFlag of Ireland.svg  Ireland The Lonely 112,151 [12]
2004–05472kAndy TomlinsFlag of England.svg  England Palace Excile2,253 [13]
2005–06810kTommy WilsonBlue Bridge Brigade2,326 [12]
2006–071.27mMike DolanDivers & Cheats XI2,268 [12]
2007–081.70mJohn FrisinaFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia FRISK UTD2,466 [14]
2008–091.95mSir MoultFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia MOULTANIC2,264 [12]
2009–102.10mJon ReesonFlag of England.svg  England Westfield Irons2,668 [15]
2010–112.35mChris McGurnFlag of England.svg  England Morons FC2,372 [16]
2011–122.78mSam PaterFlag of England.svg  England SamCity2,414 [17]
2012–132.61mMatt MartyniakFlag of England.svg  England Divine Mercy2,472 [18]
2013–143.22mTom FenleyFlag of England.svg  England Captain Suarez!2,634 [19]
2014–153.5mSimon MarchFlag of England.svg  England Atletico Marchid**2,470 [20]
2015–163.73mDimitri NicolaouFlag of England.svg  England Dimitris gavles2,458 [21]
2016–174.50mBen CrabtreeFlag of England.svg  England FC Crab Dogg2,564 [22]
2017–185.19mYusuf SheikhFlag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania Yusuf's Team2,512 [23]
2018–196.32mAdam LevyFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand #TheyAreUs2,659 [24]
2019–207.63mJoshua Bull [nb 2] Flag of England.svg  England The Bulldozers2,557 [26]
2020–218.15mMichael CooneFlag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Teddy Bears Utd2,680 [27]
2021–229.17mJamie PigottFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States Futbol Is Life2,844 [28]
2022–2311.45mAli JahangirovFlag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan FPL Gunz2,776 [29]
2023–2410.91mJonas Sand LåbakkFlag of Norway.svg  Norway Onkel Blaa2,799 [30]
  1. ↑ Points did not start accumulating in the first FPL season until gameweek 7 with the first six weeks considered preseason, allowing players to familiarise themselves with the game. [6]
  2. ↑ Aleksander Antonov finished on 2,575 points but was disqualified two weeks later by FPL "due to a breach of our terms." [25]

Highest scoring players

Below is a list of players who have finished a season as the highest-scoring Fantasy Premier League player.

Number of multiple wins shown in brackets.
Highest scoring players per season
SeasonPlayerPositionStarting priceClubPointsRef
2002–03 Thierry Henry Forward£11.0m Arsenal 271 [31]
2003–04 Thierry Henry (2)ForwardArsenal242 [32]
2004–05 Frank Lampard Midfielder£10.0m Chelsea 269 [33]
2005–06 Thierry Henry (3)Forward£14.0mArsenal239 [34]
2006–07 Cristiano Ronaldo Midfielder£10.0m Manchester United 244 [35]
2007–08 Cristiano Ronaldo (2)Midfielder£12.0mManchester United283 [36]
2008–09 Frank Lampard (2)Midfielder£11.0mChelsea226 [32]
2009–10 Frank Lampard (3)MidfielderChelsea284 [32]
2010–11 Luis Nani Midfielder£8.0mManchester United198 [37]
2011–12 Robin van Persie Forward£12.0mArsenal269 [38]
2012–13 Robin van Persie (2)Forward£13.0mManchester United262 [39]
2013–14 Luis Suárez Forward£11.0m Liverpool 295 [40]
2014–15 Eden Hazard Midfielder£10.0mChelsea233 [41]
2015–16 Riyad Mahrez Midfielder£5.5m Leicester City 240 [42]
2016–17 Alexis Sánchez Midfielder£11.0mArsenal264 [43]
2017–18 Mohamed Salah Midfielder£9.0mLiverpool303 [44]
2018–19 Mohamed Salah (2)Midfielder£13.0mLiverpool259 [45]
2019–20 Kevin De Bruyne Midfielder£9.5m Manchester City 251 [46]
2020–21 Bruno Fernandes Midfielder£10.5mManchester United244 [47]
2021–22 Mohamed Salah (3)Midfielder£12.5mLiverpool265 [34]
2022–23 Erling Haaland Forward£11.5mManchester City272 [48]
2023–24 Cole Palmer Midfielder£5.0mChelsea244 [49]

Other games

As well as the Premier League's own official game, there are numerous other fantasy football games based on Premier League play, some of which predate FPL. Media outlets such as The Telegraph and Sky Sports offer cash prizes for winning their own variations of the classic format. [50] [51] Draft Fantasy Football is an independent platform that offers both snake and auction draft games. [52] FanTeam is a gambling site that offers daily games as well as a pay-to-enter season-long game. [53] Sorare is a cryptocurrency-based game where users create teams by collecting and trading player cards and NFTs. The company signed an official four-year licensing deal with the Premier League in January 2023. [54]

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References

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  2. ↑ "The Online Era: The History of Fantasy Football". fpltips.com. 5 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "The FPL Era: The History of Fantasy Football". fpltips.com. 6 June 2023.
  4. ↑ "Fantasy Premier League (Info)". fantasy.premierleague.com (Web Archive). Archived from the original on 2002-10-16. Retrieved 2023-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ "Fantasy Premier League (Prizes)". fantasy.premierleague.com (Web Archive). Archived from the original on 2002-10-16. Retrieved 2023-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. 1 2 Reeves, Jamie (6 June 2023). "The FPL Era: The History of Fantasy Football (Part 3)". FPL Tips.
  7. ↑ "What does the Mystery Chip mean for 2024/25 FPL?". www.premierleague.com.
  8. ↑ Rehman, Abdul. "How to play Fantasy Premier League Draft". The New York Times.
  9. ↑ Shand, Holly (25 March 2024). "What is the new FPL Challenge game?". The Athletic.
  10. ↑ "FPL Challenge 2024/25 is LIVE!". www.premierleague.com. 24 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "Genesis of Fantasy Premier League". FPL Discovery. 12 May 2014.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "List of FPL Winners Since The First FPL Season in 2002/03". ALLABOUTFPL. 6 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "Fantasy Premier League? Completed it, mate!". Crystal Palace F.C. 31 March 2019.
  14. ↑ "Fantasy football winner reveals secrets of success". CNN.
  15. ↑ "An Interview with Jon Reeson". Fantasy Football Scout. 30 May 2010.
  16. ↑ "View From The Top - An Interview with Chris McGurn". Fantasy Football Scout. 21 May 2011.
  17. ↑ "FPL champion reveals nerve-racking season finale". www.premierleague.com.
  18. ↑ "Fantasy winner reveals simple secret of success". www.premierleague.com.
  19. ↑ "How 2013/14 FPL champion sculpted perfect season". www.premierleague.com.
  20. ↑ "Flexibility key to FPL champion's success". www.premierleague.com.
  21. ↑ "Premier Leagu's Interview with FPL 2015/16 Winner Dimitri Nicolaou". Fantasy Premier League Happy Hour. 25 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Meet the boss who beat 4.5 million managers to top spot". BBC Sport.
  23. ↑ "Yusuf Sheikh wins FPL Crown". Fantasy Football Scout. 13 May 2018.
  24. ↑ "Fantasy Premier League: The Kiwi who defied the odds". RNZ. 15 May 2019.
  25. ↑ "Fantasy Premier League champion disqualified and stripped of title". The Independent. 11 August 2020.
  26. ↑ "Fantasy Premier League new winner after disqualification". BBC News. 11 August 2020.
  27. ↑ ""It went to the bitter end" – Meet the Irish man who toppled 8.3m players to win Fantasy Premier League". Irish Independent. 24 May 2021.
  28. ↑ "Liverpool differentials steer US manager to FPL glory". www.premierleague.com.
  29. ↑ "Azerbaijan's Ali Jahangirov crowned winner of 2022-23 Fantasy Premier League". www.t-vine.com.
  30. ↑ "An interview with FPL 2023/24 champion Jonas Sand Låbakk". Fantasy Football Scout. 27 May 2024.
  31. ↑ "Thierry Henry's 2002/03 Season Record". Reddit. 2 June 2022.
  32. 1 2 3 Marco, Raphael (4 July 2023). "The Highest FPL Points Scorers In Each Season So Far". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
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  38. ↑ "First Impressions - FPL 2011/12 Price Guide". Fantasy Football Scout. 21 July 2011.
  39. ↑ "Team of the Season - Robin Van Persie". Fantasy Football Scout. 3 June 2013.
  40. ↑ "Team of the Season - Luis Suarez". Fantasy Football Scout. 23 May 2014.
  41. ↑ "Team of the Season - Eden Hazard". Fantasy Football Scout. 31 May 2015.
  42. ↑ "Best Bargain FPL Assets of All Time". ALLABOUTFPL. 25 June 2023.
  43. ↑ "Sanchez takes centre stage for Fantasy midfielders". www.premierleague.com. 27 May 2017.
  44. ↑ "Team of the Season - Mohamed Salah". Fantasy Football Scout. 27 May 2018.
  45. ↑ "FPL prices: Salah drops and stays in midfield". www.premierleague.com. 27 June 2019.
  46. ↑ "2019/20 Season Review". Fantasy Football Fix. 28 July 2020.
  47. ↑ "FPL in demand: Price rise not putting managers off Fernandes". www.premierleague.com. 27 June 2021.
  48. ↑ "How much should Haaland cost in FPL next season?". Fantasy Football Community. 11 June 2023.
  49. ↑ "FPL season lessons: Why midfielders dominated in 2023/24". www.premierleague.com.
  50. ↑ "Telegraph Fantasy Football help". Telegraph.
  51. ↑ "Sky FantasyFootball". www.skysports.com.
  52. ↑ "Getting Started - Draft Fantasy Football". Draft Fantasy Blog.
  53. ↑ "FanTeam - Daily Fantasy & Betting". www.fanteam.com.
  54. ↑ "Premier League backs Sorare's NFT fantasy football game despite crypto crash". www.ft.com.
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