Register on fantasyleague.com

First things first, click the Set up your league button on the top right of the home page, or on the Play Now button, and register on fantasyleague.com.

Now click Create Lobby, then name your league.

You can hold your auction online or at a venue. Read the auction guide for more information. Once you have decided between the two, select the required option in the dropdown list and click Create to continue your league set up.

You are now in your Lobby! This is where you can add managers to your league before the auction.

Click on the Add Your Team button. You are not adding your players at this stage, but you can select your team name and badge.

Add managers to your league

Click on the Add Managers button, and fill in the names and email addresses for the first five managers who you will be inviting to take part. You can have anywhere between five and 16 teams in a division. Then click Return to Lobby. If you have a large number of managers wanting to take part, you'll be able to add a second division later.

Once all the managers have created their Fantasy League accounts and joined your league, you need to click the Enter Auction button underneath the list of teams in your lobby. Remember - you need a minimum of five teams for the Enter Auction button to appear. Once you click this button you cannot add new managers at a later date, so make sure all your managers are signed up before activating your league! (Note: for offline auctions, you can complete this stage at a later date).

Offline Traditional Auction

1) Decide on Auction date and venue

Once you have a date, you need to decide whether you are going to meet up at someone's house, or perhaps in a pub or even the office boardroom!

2) Print Auction Pack

Click on the Auction Pack tab at the top of your League Lobby and print off enough Team Sheets and Player Lists for your managers. Also print off our special Auction Tracker sheet for the auctioneer to keep a track of bids.

3) Decide your league rules

League rules are fully customisable, but we also suggest some default settings for a balanced league if you prefer a quick start to the bidding process. Check out the League Rules section of the Game Guide for more details.

4) Hold Auction

Many leagues choose to run their auction in different ways, the simplest being for each manager in order to select a player and then start the bidding!

5) Confirm all the managers and teams

At this stage, you should check the managers and teams in your League Lobby to ensure that all managers who took part in the auction are there. You can add any missing managers, although they will need to set up a user account first. If any managers did not show up for the auction remember to remove them from the Lobby list before proceeding.

6) Input the players into each team

When you are happy that the details of all managers in the League Lobby are correct, click on the Enter Auction button to proceed through to Team Selection. The Chairman can enter each team's players in turn, or alternatively, each user can log in and submit their own players. Make sure to use the Team Sheet, that each manager filled in during the auction, to ensure the correct players are allocated to each team.

Online auction

1) Decide on start date

The beauty of an online auction is that your managers don't all have to be online at the same time, meaning its ideal for leagues who have managers spread across the country or the world.

2) Input your League Rules

Click on the Enter Auction button to proceed to the League Rules set up page. League Rules are fully customisable, but we also suggest some default settings for a balanced league if you prefer a quick start to the bidding process. Check out the League Rules section of the Game Guide for more details.

Warning! The Player List is locked when you set the date for your online auction so you might want to wait until the majority of squads have been announced. New players will then become available once you've finished your auction.

3) Set up first bidding round

A deadline must now be set for the opening round of bids.

4) All managers bid on players!

Each manager selects a full squad of players and bids what they think each of their selections is worth, up to the designated budget. Simply click on your team name and you will be directed to you team screen where you can make your bids! Don't forget, you can bid £0m for a player if you think you can get him on a sneaky free.

5) Process Bids

When the deadline passes, the Chairman process the bids for the round by clicking the Process Bids button. All the successful bids go into the teams automatically. Managers get the money back for players that they have lost out on.

6) Set up second bidding round

You then repeat the process until all teams are full by repeating steps 4 and 5. It will probably take at least three rounds of bidding to complete all teams.

7) Complete auction and start scoring!

Once all of the teams have been entered, you need to click the Complete Auction button to convert your league into its active state ready to begin scoring points!

Your team, and the teams of your rivals, should now be set up, so it's time to start scoring those all-important Fantasy League points!

All players score points for Goals and Assists, while defenders score additional points for Games Played and Clean Sheets - but they also lose points for Goals Against! All points are doubled during the Knockout Stage, and you can view the full Scoring System within the Game Guide.

Set your starting line up for the first matches of the tournament, based on the valid formations that were selected at the League Rules stage.

You can use our celebrated Supersubs tool to set your line ups for each upcoming set of matches, or make manual substitutions on your team screen in advance of each kick-off.

Make sure to visit your team regularly to ensure that all your active players are in your starting 11 before kick-off, or they won't score any points!

Depending on your League Rules, you may be able to make transfers from the free agent list at any time, or bid on players for an upcoming Sealed Bids transfer window.

You could even get in contact with a rival manager to propose a Swap Deal!

For full details on all team management features available to you, check out the Squad Selection and Changes section within the Game Guide.

Most importantly, enjoy the tournament as you attempt to lead your team to Fantasy League glory!