When the football season starts, watching your friends compare lineups and debate transfers can feel like you’re missing out on an inside joke. Perhaps Noah’s talking about captaining the wrong striker, or Isla’s gushing about how much that last-minute assist saved her weekend. FOMO can certainly set in, as you know and love the game just as much as everyone else. But without a fantasy squad to manage, it’s like watching the match from outside the stadium.
If you’re curious about getting into fantasy football for the first time but deterred by the numbers, know that the heart of it all is about amping up the excitement of matchday. Every pass, play and celebration matters that much more, and you get to turn every football game into an interactive experience—no matter how seemingly dull the fixture is.
Let’s get started so you’ll be ready to join in the banter in no time.
Kicking Off Your Fantasy Journey
Fantasy football involves picking real-life players during an actual season to create your own team and earn points based on how they perform week after week. That means every time a match comes on screen, every clean sheet, goal and assist doesn’t just matter to the team itself, but potentially for your fantasy team too. For football fans, it turns the sport into an even more interactive experience, as you’re in the position of manager, making the calls.
How Points Add Up
The point tally system is much simpler than you think. If your goalkeeper makes a save or your striker scores a goal, those actions will rake in the points. And the best part is that you won’t have to manually track or calculate these if you use a fantasy app. Some of the most common point sources include:
- Goals and assists
- Saves and penalty stops
- Minutes played
- Clean sheets
While you can earn points, you can also lose them. If a player gets carded, scores an own goal or misses a penalty, for instance, you’ll lose points. As there’s no universal scoring system, different fantasy platforms will award or take away varying point values for certain in-game events.
Building Your First Team
The draft is your chance to pick your starting eleven. Fantasy leagues will let you pick a set number of players to fill each position, typically eleven players plus a couple of substitutes in case of injury. So, you’ll need a goalkeeper, three to five defenders, three to five midfielders and one to three forwards. You might have around four to seven substitutes on the bench, where automatic subs will be made if a starter doesn’t play. Don’t worry—you can set your bench order to prioritise which player should come in first.
Depending on the draft format, players will get the opportunity to pick in a certain order. That means not every player you’ve got your eye on will be available when it’s your turn, so strategy matters. The most common draft order is the snake draft, where the last person in the first round gets the first pick in the second round, and it continues to snake back and forth. For beginners, this one is the easiest to grasp off the bat.
Keeping an Eye on the Season
Once everyone has built their team and the league is ready to go, fantasy football doesn’t end there. While it’s true that you could simply let the platform do its thing with the players you’ve chosen as your starters and priorities on the bench, the reality is that keeping a close watch is what leads to success. If you’re in it to win it, you’ll want to track things like player form, injuries, suspensions, transfers, rotations and fixture schedules so you can make adjustments accordingly.
Let’s say you didn’t bother to check any news before setting your lineup for the weekend. But minutes before kick-off, you find out that your star midfielder was suspended. In turn, that player earns you zero points, putting you several places below where you started. Even a few minutes spent reviewing statistics and news every week can keep your team competitive and help you avoid being bang in last place.
Trying Things Out for Free
Many rookie fantasy managers tend to simply dive in and see where the wind takes them. As an alternate idea, you could sign up for a free league where you can do a trial run without spending any money. It’s much like a free trial to a music service or a no-deposit casino offer that lets users explore and learn the ropes without any commitment. You could see how your decisions affect point scoring, learn how to rotate and prioritise players and try out different formations to see which serves you best. Risk-free practice is a game-changer, helping you fully understand the game before you commit and potentially agree to a last-place punishment.
Rookie Tips to Stay Ahead
Although you might not have a game plan in place yet, there are still a handful of habits that you could make work for you. Here are a few you’ll want to take note of:
- Balance planning and flexibility in case the unexpected happens
- Don’t solely draft from your favourite club, as you may be missing out on important players
- Use your bench wisely
- Track news and form
- Try different strategies to find out what resonates best.
The most important part of fantasy football is to have fun, and getting the hang of things is part of the experience. Rather than simply watching football as a passive viewer, becoming a manager will help you live the game.
