The beauty of Fantasy League Professional is that you are in charge. You can set all your own rules and decide how to run your league. The higher the package you opt for, the more flexibility you have. Read on for more details...
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Formations: 4-4-2, 5-3-2, 5-4-1, 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 formations are allowed, as selectable by the league chairman.
Transfers: Transfer allowance is set pre-season by chairman, and cannot be altered. Transfer windows and the Sealed Bid engine are not available in Standard leagues so transfers can be made at any time during the season.
If you select the Interactive or Premium packages you can customise all of these rules, plus select extras like online auctions and Sealed Bid transfer windows.
The customisable options for Interactive and Premium packages include the following:
League Size: 5 to 16 teams per league division
Squad Size: 11 to 18 players per squad
Club Quotas: One, two or three players allowed from each Premier League Club.
Formations: 4-4-2, 5-3-2, 5-4-1, 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 formations are allowed, as selected by the league chairman.
Transfers allowance: Allow unlimited transfers during the season or set season and monthly quotas of any amount.
Transfer windows: Set any number of "Sealed Bid" transfer windows throughout the season, or allow transfers to be made by each manager on an any-time basis.
Read through the League Rules section for more inspiration on how to run your league and read the transfer and scoring sections for information about scoring options and the online Sealed Bids engine.
As we all know football is no longer an 11-man game. For real-life managers, the key to success is rotating their players and getting the best out of individual match ups. Fantasy League caters for the individual needs of your league allowing you flexibility regarding squad composition.
Squad Size
You can pick a squad size anywhere between 11 and 18 players. With a squad of 18 the emphasis is on the auction and use of substitutions, while with 11 the transfer market should be very active. If you have a large league then the quality of your squads could really drop if you go up towards the 18 maximum, as the pool of good talent will dry up very quickly.
Club Quotas
If you are considering a larger squad then a club quota of 3 might be suitable. But think about the downsides of this. With 3 players allowed from the same club you will only serve to encourage the elitism that’s all too prevalent in the Premier League, with managers never looking outside the top five or six clubs. The other downside of 3 per club is that if someone manages to capture three Manchester United defenders then it's a 9-point start most weekends of the season…
You can also alter your Club Quota once the season has begun. But please note, that you can only alter the club quota upwards and cannot reverse it.
Formations
There are five valid Fantasy League formations which you can allow in your league, namely 4-4-2 i.e. four defenders (two full-backs and two centre-backs), four midfielders and two strikers, 5-3-2, 4-5-1, 5-4-1 or 4-3-3. Your formation can be altered from week to week depending on squad availability, tactics or even just to give the impression you know what you're doing!
Your managers can rotate their squads at will to change formation, as long as they are in keeping with the four laid out above and the ones that your local rules allow.
In summary, there is a lot to consider and you need to give some thought to what's best for your league. It may seem daunting at first but the flexibility allows leagues to customise their options to ensure all managers, whatever the league or squad size, can have a competitive and enjoyable season.
If you need some further advice from the experts, email us on prosupport@fantasyleague.com.
Once the auction is all done and dusted and the season has kicked-off, the transfer market can become the life-blood of your league, where crucial decisions can be made to shape the season - so it's well worth considering what kind and the number of transfers you'll allow in your league. Most transfers are made by picking up free agents from the available players pool, but there are still plenty of other options and details to consider.
Transfer Limits
Transfer limits certainly add a measure of realism to proceedings and prevent those with more spare time from dominating your league by making huge amounts of transfers. The Chairman's Office allows you to specify the number of transfer per month and for the whole season, as well as making sure that only the Chairman can process transfers.
Transfer Windows
Transfer Windows are another way to make transfers more exciting, as each manager must make their transfers at the same time and battle other managers for the signature of the latest Premier League starlet.
Transfer windows are set up using the Sealed Bids Engine, which is available to all Interactive and Premium leagues. The timing of transfer windows is fully flexible depending on the type of league you wish to run. You may decide to mimic the Premier League and have two transfer windows during the season. Or for players who prefer more wheeling-and-dealing throughout the season, transfer windows could be set up to occur on a weekly or monthly basis.
To facilitate transfers during the season, a season budget should be given to each team, which can be spent during the transfer windows to bring in new players. When the transfer budget runs out, then that manager can make no more transfers involving money.
You could decide that all mid-season transfers should not have any monetary value, with bids being decided by preference order set down in the Sealed Bids Engine.
For more details on the using the Sealed Bids Engine to set up transfer windows and specify tie preferences, please see the main Team Changes section.
Swap Deals
Your league could decide that, as well as the standard transfer system that allows player purchases from the free agent pool, managers should be allowed to do deals between themselves by swapping players. The Swap Deal facility gives the Chairman an easy and hassle free method of swapping players between teams. The facility is only available to the league Chairman to prevent any mischievous underhand dealings by managers.
Loans
With injuries a common occurrence, it's worth thinking about the possibility of allowing managers a certain amount of 'loan' deals during the season. This would allow a manager to bring in a player from the pool for one of his stars for a short time, safe in the knowledge that he could take that player back once he returns to fitness.
Transfer Deadline Day
Introducing a transfer deadline day prevents teams from making transfers after that point. Introducing a deadline ensures fair play in the title run-in, as teams are not able to pick up top-performing players from another team who may not be in contention. Arrange a deadline for transfers around March time and it will ensure that foul play and treachery need not be an issue in the season.
Money seems to dominate football at present and it’s no different with Fantasy League Professional. Everyone is given a budget to use at the auction so think of some ideas in which you could use this to liven up your league and keep everyone interested.
Budgets
Here are a couple of ideas for how to manage your budgets, or how to spice things up a little once the season has started:
- Give everyone an additional budget after the auction to use when looking to buy new players;
- A season long budget that has to last from the start of the auction through to the end of season;
- Top up funds by awarding more money to managers finishing well in the previous season, cup competitions or your own Manager of the Month winner;
- Allow managers to bring money back into their team by receiving money back from players sold. A percentage of the original price paid is usually a good idea;
- Ongoing budgets. If your league consists of the same managers each season then it’s possible to amend budgets based on previous seasons.
Mini Auctions
Why limit the auction to once a year? Sort out a time and a date in mid season and do it again. You can make managers sell a set number of players back to the pool with these players being added to the free agents list to be auctioned off all over again - if they're wanted. Managers are again left with the dilemma of whether to sell off an expensive signing to raise capital or stick with what they have.
Mini auctions could also completely take the place of transfers. Reward those who did well at the original auction and make those who didn’t cross off the days on the calendar until the next mini auction.
The default League Rules that govern the Standard package are listed below. Customisable rules are available for Interactive and Premium package leagues.
Squad Size: 15 players per squad
Club Quotas: Two players allowed from each Premier League Club.
Formations: 4-4-2, 5-3-2, 5-4-1, 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 formations are allowed.
Transfers: Transfer allowance is set pre-season by chairmen and cannot be altered.
Transfer windows and Sealed Bids engine are not available.