On Saturday, it shall return. Nine gruelling months of football, in which there will only be one winner, one team on top of the pedestal come May. I am, of course, talking about Fantasy Football. The Premier League restarts this coming weekend, the 20th anniversary of England’s top tier of the beautiful game and with it, fans up and down the country have been scampering to their laptops, computers and Smartphones to select the players they believe will bring them the bragging rights in nine months time.
Whether supporters utilise the Sun, Sky Sports, Premierleague.com; whatever, it is an important part of the season, it has to be said. Fans spend an exceptional amount of time tweaking their respective teams to ensure they pip their friends to the summit of the league. Minor changes here and there prior to the big kick-off as they look to get the best out of the budget available to them.
It only takes five minutes or so to create a team, but the aftermath can be overly time-consuming. ‘If I take out Glen Johnson and put in Angel Rangel, I can spend more money on a goalscoring striker’ or ‘Tim Howard is consistent in goal for Everton AND he scored last season, but the Toffees always start off slow…maybe if I take out Steven Gerrard, I could afford Joe Hart’.
In essence; Fantasy Football is a key part of the season for fans. It makes the campaign that more interesting between friends, allows further interactivity with rival fans and the chance to win prizes throughout the duration of and at the end of the year. So why not formulate a worthy XI, open up one of the many Fantasy Football sites and pick a team that will finish in top spot; it only takes five(ish) minutes.
Sky Sports Fantasy Football. One of the many available to fans.