The Rule Book: Second Edition

Fantacy Football League

The Fantacy Football League operates through the fantacy website, which is maintained by the fantacy football league administrator who publishes the results, to which each of the twelve member clubs all contribute copy from their pressroom although their prime purpose is to seek to acquire fantacy points whereby they may challenge for each of the seven trophies awarded in the seven competitions each season.

To participate one must pay subscriptions and field teams comprising players and substitutes both of which may only play in such positions as do not fall foul of the bible rule and both of which may be acquired only following observance of due process for valid objections as to their acquisition having been afforded following the making of proper transfer requests (to be invigilated upon by the transfer czar), through trade or the incorporation of an LTG.

Once so acquired they shall be under contract whereafter they must immediately be paid a salary, have a pool price (which may or may not be their estimated value) and have a resale value The only permissible form of currency available to managers to meet their financial obligations is fantacy money which may be generated only by gate receipts, compensation, being designated the manager of the week, finishing in the cream, some sales to the pool, or from playing in the Challange Cup and the League Cup.

Less importantly, prize money (funded from subscriptions) shall be paid for winning either of the two aforementioned cup competitions and also for winning the Golden Boot, the Dirty Bastard Boot (in the Bollocks) and for being the champion or the runner up in the Premiership, which is comprised of 38 gameweeks, each with a predetermined kickoff time. For coming in the bottom six therein the classification of dross shall be applied and for coming last therein the provisions dealing with relegation shall apply which may include the appointment of a new manager.

No money of either kind, however, shall be awarded for participating in or winning the Care in the Community Shield or the Mug of the Year. Sanctions shall be applied and, furthermore, penalty money must be paid for committing punishable breaches of certain rules which, for the avoidance of doubt, may be varied only at fantacy meetings. For the purposes of achieving transparency insofar as is reasonably possible all other administrative matters and correspondence of a public nature shall be notified to the fantacy mailing list.

Fantacy Website

2 The fantacy website may be accessed here

Fantacy Football League Administrator

3 The fantacy football league administrator shall be Kevin Roberts and he shall be required to:

3.1 Apply his time, effort and attention towards the routine maintenance of the fantacy website.

3.2 Implement all requests (whether reasonable or unreasonable) in such timescales (whether realistic or unrealistic) arising in connection with the smooth and efficient administration of the fantacy football league as may be made of him from time to time by the managers, either of a routine nature as notified to him through the fantacy mailing list or of a non routine nature as may be decided upon at fantacy meetings.

Clubs

4 Clubs employ a team of players and are under the absolute control of their managers .

Pressroom

5 Each club shall operate a pressroom and offer copy, in whichsoever form as it may find appropriate, to the fantacy football league for incorporation into the fantacy website.

Fantacy Points

6 Fantacy points shall be awarded in accordance with teams' overall performances and each week those participating players shall acquire points for their clubs in the following amounts:

6.1 For each goal they score, players shall receive five points.

6.2 For scoring an own goal, players shall have deducted five points.

6.3 For receiving a red card, players shall have deducted five points and for receiving a yellow card they shall have two points deducted (but if they receive two yellow cards in the same match they shall have deducted the five points for the resultant red card).

6.4 For being credited on Soccernet as being the provider of an assist for a goal, players shall be awarded one point (29.03.09).

6.5 For being the taker of a penalty and not scoring from it, players shall be deducted two points and two points shall be awarded to whichever goalkeeper(s) took to the field for the opposing team during the match (by being on the field of play at some point during the match regardless of whether the penalty is missed during such period) (08.08.10).

6.6 Players shall also be awarded and deducted points in accordance with the position that they play in:

6.6.1 For operating in a goalkeeping capacity they shall, furthermore, be awarded points thus:

6.6.1.1 Six "boots on" points awarded for playing.

6.6.1.2 Three points deducted for failing to keep a clean sheet.

6.6.1.3 A further one point or half a point deducted for each further goal conceded playing at home or away respectively.

6.6.2 For operating in a defensive capacity they shall, furthermore, be awarded points thus:

6.6.2.1 Four "boots on" points for playing.

6.6.2.2 Two points deducted for failing to keep a clean sheet.

6.6.2.3 A further one point or half a point deducted for each further goal conceded playing at home or away respectively.

6.6.2.4 They shall be awarded one quarter of a point for each goal they assist (by being on the field of play at some point during the match regardless of whether the goal is scored during such period).

6.6.3 For operating in a midfield capacity they shall, furthermore, be awarded points thus:

6.6.3.1 One "boots on" point for playing.

6.6.3.2 Half a point or one quarter of a point deducted for each further goal conceded playing at home or away respectively.

6.6.3.3 They shall be awarded one point for each goal they assist (by being on the field of play at some point during the match regardless of whether the goal is scored during such period).

6.6.4 For operating in an attacking capacity they shall, furthermore, be awarded points thus:

6.6.4.1 They shall be awarded one point for each goal they assist (by being on the field of play at some point during the match regardless of whether the goal is scored during such period).

6.7 For the purposes of establishing fantacy points, the results, goal scorers, "real" world substitutes, assists, penalty misses, red and yellow cards and any other data required as reported on Soccernet shall be absolutely conclusive.

6.8 The allocation of Fantacy Points is summarised in tabular form in the Scoring System.

Trophies

7 Trophies shall be awarded to managers, as representatives of their clubs, for winning each of the competitions other than the Care in the Community Shield. Photographic representations may be viewed here.

Competitions

8 The seven competitions comprising the season are:

8.1 the Premiership

8.2 the Challange Cup (also known as the FAntacy Cup)

8.3 the League Cup

8.4 the Dirty Bastard Boot (in the Bollocks)

8.5 the Golden Boot

8.6 the Care in the Community Shield

8.7 the Mug of the Year

Season

9 Each season shall commence with the playing of the Care in the Community Shield and end with the playing of the Challange Cup final and take in the entirety of all of the other competitions. The end of the season shall be celebrated by the mother of all parties, hosted by the winner of the Premiership.

Subscriptions

10 Prize money shall be derived from subscriptions payable by each of the managers to the treasurer of the fantacy football league.

10.1 Subscriptions must be paid to the treasurer by the second of the fantacy meetings in the season. Failure to do so will result in:

10.1.1 Offending clubs’ bank account shall be frozen.

10.1.2 They shall thereby be prevented from entering into any trade or purchase of players from the pool.

10.1.3 The sanctions contained within paragraph 10.1.1 and 10.1.2 shall be applied until such a time as the defect shall be remedied and such remedy notified by the treasurer to the fantacy mailing list.

10.2 The amount of subscriptions payable are as follows:

10.2.1 Waged - forty pounds

10.2.2 Unwaged - twenty-five pounds

10.3 If the subscriptions are paid on time as required by these rules then the following discounts shall be applied:

10.3.1 Waged - five pounds

10.3.2 Unwaged - nil

10.4 The fantacy football league administrator shall be exempted from the requirement to pay subscriptions completely.

10.5 Any new manager shall be entitled to claim a ten pound discount on his subscriptions for the period of his first full or part season in charge of his club.

Teams

11 A team is the group of players acquired by a manager to play for his club and, to be considered legal, teams shall comply with the following conditions:

11.1 Teams shall consist of a maximum of eighteen players , comprising a maximum of eleven first choices and seven substitutes operating only in a 4:4:2 formation or less in each position. For clarity, the team is formed thus:

11.1.1 A maximum of one goalkeeper plus one substitute goalkeeper in the 'goal' position.

11.1.2 A maximum of four defenders plus two substitute defenders in the 'defence' position.

11.1.3 A maximum of four midfielders / attacking midfielders / wingers plus two substitute midfielders / attacking midfielders / wingers in the 'midfield' position.

11.1.4 A maximum of four attackers / strikers / forwards plus two substitute attackers / strikers / forwards in the 'attack' position.

11.2 Teams shall not include more than two players from any one "real" club.

11.3 If, at kickoff of a gameweek, a team that does not conform with the conditions outlined in paragraphs 11.1 and 11.2 takes to the field then a punishable breach shall have been committed, for which sanctions apply.

11.4 Teams are fixed at kickoff and howsoever they are constituted at that point in time shall determine all outcomes for that gameweek.

11.5 Consequently, teams are permitted not to conform with the conditions outlined in paragraphs 11.1 and 11.2, and shall not be considered to have committed a punishable breach, at any time after kickoff, including whilst games are in progress, until the kickoff of the subsequent gameweek.

11.6 If a manager conducts any trade between one kickoff and the next, it is incumbent upon him to ensure that the team that takes to the field at the next kickoff shall be legal, by informing the league, through either the fantacy mailing list or by recording during a fantacy meeting upon the meeting spreadsheet, the outcomes of all of his dealings.

Players

12 Players are footballers who may be acquired from the pool who are contracted to a "real" team whose results count for the purpose of calculating fantacy points.

12.1 They shall play only for the club to which they are under contract and for a Charity XI in the Care in the Community Shield.

12.2 Players may be acquired in the following three ways:

12.2.1 Following a successful transfer request.

12.2.2 By trade with another manager.

13.2.3 By incorporation of an LTG.

12.3 Players may play only in a position within a team which is not in breach of the bible rule.

Substitutes

13 Substitutes shall be permissible but only one goalkeeper and a maximum of two in each outfield position.

13.1 The selected players' details must be posted on the fantacy mailing list or notified directly to the fantacy football league using the voicemail/fax service.

13.2 Should any of the first choices not play for any reason then the first and then the second so nominated substitutes in each position shall automatically assume their place.

13.3 It shall be the responsibility of the managers to inform the League of all team selections prior to play in each week's competitions commencing at kickoff of a gameweek (08.10.06 Report 8.rtf), otherwise the previous week's selections shall stand.

Bible Rule

14 The bible rule provides that all players may only participate in any team playing at the position that they are described as playing at on the website of their “real” club.

14.1 This holds regardless of whether or not that record is actually correct and they shall not be fielded in any other position, unless they are incorrectly recorded out of position on the fantacy website, in which case, if no objection is raised at the time of purchase (i.e before the 'object by' time on the transfer request or during the auction at a fantacy meeting), they may continue to play in that position.

14.2 If no objection is raised thereto to be considered at the Cow Barn (second fantacy meeting of the season) and should no objection be raised at that time they may once again maintain their place out of position for the entire season and so on indefinitely.

14.3 They may, however, be moved by their own manager at any time from the position they were purchased to play in to the position they are described as operating in on their "real" club's website.

14.4 The Positional Tribunal is held at The Cow Barn meeting, at which managers may object to the position taken by any other managers’ player(s) and the player(s) may forcibly be compelled to take the position determined by the bible rule.

14.5 If the change of position results in the team being made illegal, as set out in section 11 of these rules, it shall then be incumbent upon the manager(s) whose player(s) has/have been moved to make their team legal prior to kickoff of the next gameweek, otherwise a punishable breach shall have been committed.

Transfer Requests

15 Transfer requests are the means by which players are acquired from the pool and are the most common method by which players are acquired by clubs, up to a maximum of two successful transfer requests in any given calendar month outside of any fantacy meetings which may or may not take place during that month (08.01.12). At such meetings there shall be no limit to the number of successful signings that may be made.

15.1 The method of making transfer requests at any time other than during a fantacy meeting shall be:

15.1.1 Managers must notify their intention to purchase a player by posting their initial bid to the fantacy mailing list stating their intended acquisition, the “real” club he plays for, the position in which they intend to field the player, the level of the bid made and providing a date and time by which the request shall be effected, known as the 'object by' date and time, which shall be at 21.30GMT on the fifth day after the initial bid is posted and advising that any objections or counterbids must be made before that time.

15.1.2 Other managers may then lodge counterbids by replying to the original email, detailing the level of their bid.

15.1.3 Any counterbids made in the 24 hour period immediately preceding the expiry of the ‘object by’ date must be made by telephone. In any event, any counterbidder must ensure that the original bidder has become aware of the counterbid, regardless of when made.

15.1.4 All bids and counterbids are binding and cannot be withdrawn.

15.1.5 Other managers may object to any premise of the transfer request, other than that the other manager wishes to make a higher bid, and, if such objection is upheld, the transfer request shall be cancelled and, if the nature of the objection does not prevent it, the manager shall be invited to resubmit the request in a valid form.

15.1.6 Following the expiry of the 'object by' time, whichsoever of the clubs has made the highest bid before such expiry shall be entitled to the transfer but shall only actually acquire that transfer upon having sent a ‘transfer successful’ email to the fantacy mailing list confirming the success of the bid.

15.1.6.1The transfer successful email must contain the words ‘transfer successful’ in the subject line and include in the subject or body of the email the name of the acquisition, the “real” club he plays for, the position in which they intend to field the player and the amount paid for the player.

15.1.6.2 The transfer successful email must arrive on the fantacy mailing list before kickoff of the next gameweek to progress immediately after the ‘object by’ date (06.04.08).

15.1.7 Should such confirmation of the success of the bid not be notified before kickoff it shall be the responsibility of the transfer czar to intervene to the extent that he is empowered so to do.

15.1.8 If the transfer successful email is not received and the player is therefore not incorporated into the team before kickoff of the next gameweek to progress immediately after the ‘object by’ date then the punishment will be that the player shall remain in the pool but the purchase price of the player shall be removed from the manager's bank balance. (06.04.08).

15.1.9 If this sanction has been applied, the transfer shall be treated as a successful transfer for the purpose of determining the number of successful transfers completed in a given month, unless the manager chooses to bid again on the same player after the player has been returned to the pool. In this case, the original, cancelled, transfer shall not count as one of the manager's successful transfers for that month (08.01.12).

15.2 The number of successful transfers that have been completed in a given month shall be determined using the 'object by' date.

15.3 The acquisition of LTGs shall operate in a broadly similar fashion save for that there shall be no limit to the number of them that may be acquired by clubs. Successful acquisition of an LTG does not affect a manager's monthly allowance of successful transfers.

15.4 There shall be no limit to the number of players that may be acquired through trade between clubs. Acquisition of players through trade does not affect a manager's monthly allowance of successful transfer requests.

Transfer Czar

16 A Transfer Czar shall be appointed each year and this appointment shall last for the season or until such time as another Czar is appointed.

16.1 It shall be his duty to ensure that all successful transfers are notified and he shall have the power, if necessary, to notify the fantacy football league himself of any successful transfer not notified in the manner prescribed by section 15.1.6 of these rules.

16.1.1 Should such notification be necessary then in those circumstances a charge of penalty money shall be applied to the bank balance of the defaulting club in the sum of half a million pounds of fantacy money and the sanctions applied that are detailed in section 15.2 of these rules.

16.2 Any manager may bring to his attention any failed notification or any other matter relating to transfers and upon receipt of such notification the transfer czar shall:

16.2.1 Cause such enquiries as may be necessary to properly investigate the matter to be made.

16.2.2 Produce a report of his investigation which, for the purposes of transparency, shall be published on the fantacy website.

16.3 His power to adjudicate shall be final although he may, if necessary, refer any matter arising to the adjudication of all member clubs at the next fantacy meeting.

Objections

17 Objections may be raised to any transfer requests for acquisition, either for taking up immediate positions within teams or for LTGs.

17.1 The most common objection is that another of the clubs wishes to sign the player concerned.

17.1.1 If such objection is raised at fantacy meetings, auctions shall immediately ensue and whomsoever is prepared to pay the most fantacy money shall acquire the subject contracts.

17.1.2 If such objection is raised following notification of intended purchases being posted to the fantacy mailing list in the form of a transfer request, an email auction shall ensue in accordance with section 15.1 of these rules.

17.2 Another manager may object on the grounds that the transfer request does not comply with the bible rule.

17.3 Another manager may object on the grounds that the subject of the transfer request, is already under contract to another club.

17.4 There is no exhaustive list of objections that may be raised but, for the avoidance of doubt, that clubs would wish to bid but are prevented from so doing in consequence of having utilized all their monthly allowance of transfer requests is not a valid objection.

17.5 If an objection is upheld then the provisions of section 15.1.5 of these rules shall apply.

Under Contract

18 In order to ensure fairness, the fantacy football league shall continuously review all contracts that subsist and ascertain a true contract value for each player.

18.1 Contracts are payable at gameweek 30 of each season and at the point at which a player signs a contract with a club (signing-on) (04.04.10).

18.1.1 The contract payment at gameweek 30 is akin to a contract extension fee. The fees to be paid in order for managers to retain the services of their players will be deducted from bank accounts at the gameweek immediately after the deadline day fantacy meeting (April Fools). With regard to each player on whom a contract is due, a manager may choose from these options: (04.04.10)

18.1.1.1 Managers may elect to pay the amount calculated in accordance with the statutory calculation (below). In this case the services of the subject players may be retained and their pool price shall be increased by an equivalent amount.

18.1.1.2 Managers may decline to pay the contract, in which case they shall choose one of the following options:

18.1.1.2.1 The player may be returned to the pool with all attendant provisions applying.

18.1.1.2.2 The player may depart in consequence of trade. A manager can avoid paying contracts by transferring their players to other clubs but will have to pay the player's contract if he should return (see section 18.1.2) (02.04.11).

18.1.1.2.3 The manager may retain the player at the club until the end of the season, at which time he shall become a free agent. He shall at this time return to the pool on a free transfer and the manager shall hold no claim to him. (04.04.10)

18.1.1.3 There exists a default position, which is that should a manager not indicate his intention at deadline day for how his players' contracts should be dealt with then the league shall assume that he wishes to pay said contracts in full and shall action this. Managers should be aware that this could result in the club becoming overdrawn, which is a punishable breach, for which sanctions apply.

18.1.2 Any outstanding contracts resultant from previous periods of being under contract at a club must be paid at signing-on.

18.1.2.1 Signing-on liabilities are fixed at the time a player leaves a club, based on his estimated value at that time, the pool price at that time and the number of appearances since a contract was last paid. If the player returns to the same club in the future, without having returned to the pool in the meantime, this is the figure that shall be paid. It is based upon his performances for that club for which he has not yet been paid a contract (04.04.10).

18.1.2.2 Any LTG's that a manager holds may accrue an estimated value if they play for a "real" team whose results are used to calculate fantacy points and as a result may accrue a contract value, for which a signing-on fee shall apply if they are subsequently incorporated into the team.

18.1.2.3 Any signing-on liabilities for players that they release through trade with another manager shall be made known to managers on their team page on the fantacy website (04.04.10).

18.1.2.4 When a player returns to the pool then all signing-on fee liabilities are cancelled. In this case the player has been returned to the open market and the market will decide an appropriate price for him. (04.04.10).

18.2 The contract value is calculated using the formula:

((estimated value - pool price) / 2) x (games played for club since last contract paid / 38)

18.2.1 This can be described as half the difference between estimated value and pool price multiplied by the proportion of games played for the club since the last contract payment out of the number of gameweeks in a season.

18.2.2 If pool price is greater than or equal to estimated value then the contract payable shall be zero.

18.2.3 The contract payable for a given player is dependent upon the number of times he has played for his “real” team, including as an unused substitute. For the purposes of the contract calculation, he is deemed to have played for his fantacy team if he has earned gate receipts, even if he should have been an unused substitute for his fantacy team. (02.04.11)

18.2.4 A full contract entitlement is reached after 38 appearances and scaled down in proportion for fewer appearances. i.e. if a player plays every week between contract payments he gets his full contract. (04.04.10).

Salary

19 Salaries shall be paid each week to all players contracted to clubs, at the rate of 0.4% of their estimated value (Oct 2007) at the previous gameweek 30. (13.02.11)

Pool Price

20 Pool price is the sum total of all monies that have been paid into the pool in respect of a given player since that player was last bought from the pool.

20.1 Pool price comprises the initial payment to the pool for the player plus any subsequent contract settlements that have been paid for that player.

20.2 Pool price travels with the player if he transfers to another club through trade and is reset to zero when he re-enters the pool (05.10.08).

Estimated Value

21 The value of players shall be their actual worth as calculated in accordance with the statutory calculation.

21.1 First, a fantacy rating is calculated for each player.

fantacy rating = (pts/game + pts/38) /2

21.1.1 pts/game = fantacy points scored per appearance (starts or substitute appearances for their “real” club) over the last 38 gameweeks.

21.1.2 pts/38 = fantacy points scored per gameweek over the last 38 gameweeks.

21.1.3 Therefore fantacy rating is the average of points per game played and points per week.

21.2 The average values for fantacy rating and pool price are then calculated for all players in a given position.

21.3 Players' estimated values are based upon the total amount of money that has been paid into the pool to buy the players who are currently in teams and on fantacy points scored.

estimated value = 0.25 + ( ( Pa - 0.25 ) / Ra^2 ) R^2

21.3.1 Pa = average pool price.

21.3.2 Ra = average fantacy rating.

21.3.3 R = player's fantacy rating.

21.4 A lower limit of 250,000 fantacy pounds (0.25m) is built into this equation to ensure that this is the minimum estimated value a player can have.

21.5 If a player misses matches in the previous 38 gameweeks his estimated value will drop, with the desirable consequences being his resale value will decrease and his contract will be less. Players out injured or residing on the bench will be worth less than those playing full time.

21.6 It would be undesirable for a player's value to fall to zero if, for example, he were injured for a whole season, so players' ratings are not adjusted if they have played fewer than 5 matches in the last 38. Players' ratings continues to drop until they have played only 4 games in the last 38 and then their rating is retained at the level it was at when they had played 5 games in the last 38. They then continue with the same rating until they have played more than 5 games in the last 38.

21.7 Players new to the fantacy football league shall initially have a fantacy rating of zero and an estimated value of 0.25m. This zero rating will be maintained until they have played the requisite 5 matches at which point they shall receive a valid rating and the estimated value will increase above 0.25m.

21.8 Wages are based on estimated value and are fixed at gameweek 30 each season, the time when all contracts are renegotiated.

21.9 On contract fixing day, the performances from gameweek 31 of the previous season to gameweek 30 of the current season are used to calculate the estimated value that is used to determine the contract payable.

21.10 An explanation of the differences between the system prior to April 2011 and the current system for calculating estimated value can be found here.

(02.04.11)

Resale Value

22 Resale value is the amount of fantacy money a manager will receive in compensation if he sells a player to the pool. It is calculated to be whichever is the lowest of the estimated value of the player or half the pool price (05.10.08).

22.1 On sale to the pool it shall not be permissible for clubs to nett more than the resale value but on trade no such restrictions shall apply as the fantacy football league endorses and applauds all free market principles and recognises that the freedom of clubs to pursue profit may not be fettered in any way whatsoever and for the avoidance of doubt that statement of principle extends to nullifying anything contained in these rules which may otherwise serve to so restrain unless and only in the event that managers embark upon a course of conduct which is complained of as fraudulent. In those circumstances a tribunal will be conducted at the next fantacy meeting.

22.2 During such periods as they may be imprisoned or under investigation for drugs offences players' resale value shall be nil but, for the avoidance of doubt, this shall not prevent managers from engaging in trade.

22.3 For those players who have retired, retired injured, died, or those players who were in teams 'relegated' from the Premiership, the resale value shall be nil (06.04.08).

22.4 The full estimated value, regardless of pool price, shall be paid by the pool for players who leave the premier league to play for a club in another league. Full pool price will be given in the unlikely event of estimated value not being available (24.10.10).

Pool

23 The pool is the residual list of players eligible to play in the fantacy football league but not contracted to one of the clubs.

23.1 Signings from the pool shall be made for a minimum of one quarter of a million fantacy pounds and returns to the pool shall be for resale value.

Trade

24 Trade between clubs is permissible and, indeed, is to be encouraged. Managers may trade between themselves and engage in swap deals on whatever terms as they may see fit.

24.1 The league cannot administer loan deals so they are not formalised by the league in any shape. Any movement of players between clubs is a transfer, which may or may not involve the exchange of fantacy money, and can be under whatever terms the managers agree upon. If the two managers agree to transfer back at some future point, it is up to the managers concerned. As far as the league is concerned, there are no 'loan deals' (06.04.08).

24.2 The fantacy football league operates on a free market philosophy and any restraint of trade is viewed as repugnant. Self regulation, however, carries burdens as well as benefits and any malpractice or misfeasance can only undermine the good repute of the organisation and any attempt to undermine the fragile economic integrity of the pool shall be frowned upon and may be punished by the imposition of whatsoever penalties as may be necessary as may be decided by a tribunal convened at a fantacy meeting.

24.3 There shall be no limit to the number of players that may be acquired through trade between clubs, other than the requirement to keep the team legal. Acquisition of players through trade does not affect a manager's monthly allowance of successful transfer requests.

LTG

25 LTG is an abbreviation for "Long Term Gamble" and refers to any footballers who may be acquired from the pool but who are contracted to a "real" team whose results do not count for the purpose of calculating fantacy points.

25.1 All of the usual rules of purchase apply, with the further proviso that the following minimum purchase prices shall apply, depending from which "real" league the LTG is taken:

25.1.1 Championship - 0.75m

25.1.2 League one - 0.5m

25.1.3 League two - 0.25m

25.1.4 Overseas - 2.00m

25.2 For the purpose of determining whether a footballer can be acquired as an LTG or whether he is in fact a player, he is only recognised as having signed for a "real" team when such has been announced either on the "real" team's website or on Premierleague.com. Until such time he may be acquired as an LTG.

25.2.1 For a transfer request for an LTG to complete successfully, the 'object by' time must fall before the time that the "real" team's website or Premierleague.com state that he signed.

25.2.1 If the time is not stated and the stated date is the same as the 'object by' date, it shall be assumed that he signed before 2130GMT, and hence should not be purchased as an LTG.

25.2.2 If no objection to the purchase is raised by any manager prior to the 'object by' time on the transfer request then the deal shall procede and the footballer shall be allowed to remain on an LTG for as long as is allowed for in the rules set out below.

25.2.3 If an objection is raised prior to the 'object by' time on the transfer request and is:

25.2.3.1 Upheld then the transfer request shall be cancelled and the manager invited to resubmit his request, but this time to purchase said footballer as a player.

25.2.3.2 Not upheld then the transfer request shall be allowed to procede to completion at the originally stated 'object by' time. If the final decision that an objection has not been upheld is made after the 'object by' time has passed then the LTG shall pass to the club that had lodged the highest bid at the 'object by' time .

(08.01.05 Report 22.rtf [see full meeting minutes for detail]).

25.3 Once acquired they may subsequently be incorporated into the team but only during any period when such footballers are contracted to play for a "real" team whose results do count for the purposes of calculating fantacy points.

25.4 Managers shall be under no obligation to incorporate them at such a time, or at all, unless they generate a contract value greater than nil (see section 18.1.2.2), then at the transfer deadline fantacy meeting (April Fools) they must be incorporated or relinquished, in which case the fantacy money paid for the LTG shall be forfeited unless they are otherwise sold.

25.5 If a footballer who is held on an LTG should play (starts, appears as a substitute or is an unused substitute) for a "real" team whose results do count for the purposes of calculating fantacy points then, from that time onwards, the club holding his contract shall pay him a salary at twice the rate of players, i.e. 0.8% of estimated value (08.10.06 Report 8.rtf) at the previous gameweek 30 (13.02.11), or pool price if this is unavailable.

25.6 If incorporated, all of the usual rules applying to players and teams shall apply.

25.7 A footballer held on an LTG cannot be sold directly to the pool, only players can be sold to the pool, so if a manager wishes to sell an LTG to the pool he must first be incorporated into his team, for which he must have a legal berth available to do so.

25.8 Prior incorporation is not necessary for the purpose of trade between clubs.

Managers

26 Managers' duties include an obligation to carry out business on behalf of their clubs and to notify to the fantacy football league of all such business decisions. Furthermore, they must seek to create as vibrant an identity as they are able by way of (but not limited to) picking and naming the teams, purchasing the players, creating nicknames, designing crests, composing terrace chants, naming stadiums etc.

26.1 Managerial vacancies may arise in consequence of sacking arising from relegation, resignation or eviction. Surprisingly, resignation is not uncommon. Eviction is less common but can only be decided on by a majority vote at fantacy meetings.

Fantacy money

27 Fantacy money is in the currency of fantacy pounds sterling.

27.1 Fantacy money shall be generated only from:

27.1.1 Gate receipts

27.1.2 Managers being declared the manager of the week

27.1.3 Teams finishing in the cream

27.1.4 Teams competing in the Challange Cup

27.1.5 Teams competing in the League Cup

27.1.6 Some sales to the pool (see resale value)

27.2 Clubs can also receive, and spend, fantacy money through:

27.2.1 Trade with other managers.

27.2.2 Gambling with other managers.

27.2.3 Sales and purchases to the pool.

Compensation

28 Compensation shall be payable to clubs in the form of fantacy money, in the circumstances outlined in section 22 of these rules only.

Gambling

29 Gambling of fantacy money by managers is permitted. Brian "long odds" Davis of Fungusspor is the fantacy football league’s official bookmaker. Freedom for clubs to gamble their assets as they see fit is, however, subject to the same broad statement of principle as is set out herein relating to trade.

Gate Receipts

30 Gate receipts are the clubs' primary source of fantacy money and are paid weekly at the rate of one fantacy pound for each spectator who watches any of their players perform in the "real" world although, if such performance is limited to the bench, only half the gate receipts shall be paid. No gate receipts shall be paid in the event that they do not make it to the bench.

30.1 Enhancements to remuneration are available:

30.1.1 In the League Cup:

30.1.1.1 Double gate receipts shall be paid for competing in the group stages and up to and including the semi finals.

30.1.1.2 Triple gate receipts shall be paid for competing in the final.

30.1.2 In the Challange Cup:

30.1.2.1 Triple gate receipts shall be paid for competing in the group stages and up to and including the sixth round.

30.1.2.2 Quadruple gate receipts shall be paid for competing in the semi-finals.

30.1.2.3 Quintuple gate receipts shall be paid for competing in the final.

(03.01.10)

Manager of the Week

31 Managers are designated the manager of the week for each of the thirty eight weeks comprising the Premiership that they field whichsoever of the teams that scores the most fantacy points in each such week. As a consequence:

31.1 They shall earn half a million pounds of fantacy money for their clubs.

31.2 Their designation as such shall be marked by the drawing around their results on the results sheet a black box.

31.3 If managers are tied on fantacy points then they shall be sorted thus:

31.3.1 First by goal difference.

31.3.2 Then by goals scored.

31.3.3 Then by ranking points (see section 41.2).

31.3.4 Then by attacking points (see section 41.2.2).

31.3.5 Then by defensive points (see section 41.2.1).

31.3.6 Then by team name in alphabetical order, alternating weekly between A-Z (on even numbered gameweeks) and Z-A (on odd numbered gameweeks).

(04.10.09)

Cream

32 The cream shall comprise the top finishing six in the Premiership and, as well as finishing in these positions being a source of fantacy money, the entire group shall form one of the two groupings for the next League Cup.

32.1 At the end of each season, the cream shall be paid by the Fantacy Football League the following amounts of fantacy money, according to their finishing position:

1st - 3 million fantacy pounds

2nd - 2½ million fantacy pounds

3rd - 2 million fantacy pounds

4th - 1½ million fantacy pounds

5th - 1 million fantacy pounds

6th - ½ million fantacy pounds

(06.08.05 Report 1.rtf)

League Cup

33 The League Cup is considered to be the third most prestigious of the competitions.

33.1 The fixtures for the competition weeks shall be announced in advance by the fantacy football league administrator on the results sheets as the competition progresses. All dates can be varied, except the final which shall be held at gameweek 19.

33.2 It takes place firstly in two group stages in which:

33.2.1 Those teams comprising the previous season's cream play each other home and away.

33.2.2 Those in the dross do likewise.

33.2.3 The criteria for winning, losing or drawing is on goals alone and own goals shall count for the opposition. Three points are awarded for a win, two points for a draw and no points for a loss.

33.2.4 For each group, mini league tables are produced and the top two finishing of each go into the semi finals and the winners of those on to the final.

33.2.5 If two or more teams finish the group stage level on points they shall first be sorted on goal difference and then on goals scored.

33.3 The semi finals are two legged games.

33.4 The final is a straightforward ninety-minute match played on Boxing Day.

33.5 In the event of a drawn semi-final aggregate score after two legs, or a drawn final, then the total amount of fantacy points scored during the given week(s) shall decide the winner.

33.6 Fantacy money is awarded to all participating clubs as set out in section 30.1.1

33.7 Both one of the trophies and prize money (or free subscriptions for the following season) are awarded to the winner, who must host a fantacy meeting the following February.

Golden Boot

34 The Golden Boot is one of the minor competitions and shall be awarded to whichsoever of the teams scores the most goals during the season. Both one of the trophies and prize money are awarded to the winner.

Dirty Bastard Boot (in the Bollocks)

35 The Dirty Bastard Boot (in the Bollocks) is one of the minor competitions and shall be awarded to whichsoever of the teams is given the most negative fantacy points for picking up red and yellow cards during the season . Both one of the trophies and prize money are awarded to the winner.

Prize Money

36 Prize money of "real" money of varying amounts, to be decided at fantacy meetings, shall be awarded to the managers of the clubs finishing either first or second in the Premiership , winning the Challange Cup, winning the League Cup (although in that competition the winner may instead elect not to pay subscriptions to the fantacy football league the following season), winning the Golden Boot and winning the Dirty Bastard Boot (in the Bollocks).

Relegation

37 Relegation shall be the sanction applied to teams for finishing bottom of the Premiership but this must be distinguished from ejection of the manager from the fantacy football league.

37.1 Failed managers may either:

37.1.1 Elect to continue to participate, in which case they shall host the first of the fantacy meetings of the following season where they shall have made available to them all of their clubs’ fantacy money held in their bank accounts together with the full resale value (07.08.11) of their players (who shall all be returned to the pool) with which to build a promoted team (who must operate under a new name) to compete in the next season’s competitions.

37.1.2 Request that a new manager be appointed.

37.2 There shall be two concessions as follows:

37.2.1 All LTGs shall remain with them and may subsequently be incorporated in the usual manner.

37.2.1 The first transfer of the season shall be a free transfer to the promoted team.

37.3 The sanction for finishing bottom for a second successive season is sacking.

New Manager

38 A new manager shall only ever be appointed to the fantacy football league in the event of one of the existing manager's resignation, eviction or sacking and may be identified and invited to participate ideally from a waiting list but in practice following a mad scramble with only seconds remaining before the season kicks off.

38.1 In the event of a vacancy arising through relegation he shall have made available to him all of the clubs’ assets and the same rules shall apply as apply to relegated teams save that, for the purposes of building a promoted team, he may retain as many of the players as he chooses, although the right to sell them to the pool for their estimated value should he not elect to sell them by way of the first piece of business at the first fantacy meeting shall thereafter lapse and, unless sold through trade, they shall thereafter nett only their resale value.

38.2 Should a new manager take over a club mid season, or in a position other than having been relegated, then he shall acquire all the assets of that club as they remain, having been abandoned by the previous manager, and shall take over the running of the club as it stands at that time.

Care in the Community Shield

39 The Care in the Community Shield is the least prestigious of the competitions and doesn't physically exist but is perversely the hardest to win as to enter it clubs must first win the Premiership the previous season. Participating teams play against the Charity XI "best of the rest" picked by the other eleven managers each given a berth to fill from their own players at random but in practice the Charity XI is either picked by the management of BSE Eindhoven or not at all owing to lack of commitment and/or charity.

39.1 The match is a straight head to head and is won or lost on fantacy points alone.

39.2 The only prize for winning it is respect, or it would be if it were respected. The fantacy website does not even record the result. The only records exist in copies of old match reports.

39.3 Neither one of the trophies nor prize money is awarded to the winner.

Mug of the Year

40 The Mug of the Year is the second least prestigious of the competitions and its present whereabouts is unknown. It is an occasional award made by the managers to one of their number for the most disastrous or stupid management decision of the season.

40.1 No prize money is awarded but it is one trophies of the fantacy football league and therefore it may be awarded to the winner if ever located.

Premiership

41 The Premiership is the most prestigious of the competitions and is decided on the results of thirty eight separate weekly matches, in each of which each of the teams are awarded either a win for which they gain three points, a draw for which they gain one point or a loss for which they gain no points.

41.1 After the conclusion of all the "real" matches in a gameweek, the teams are each ranked from positions one to twelve in accordance with the amount of fantacy points gained minus any fantacy points scored for scoring goals or own goals, known as ranking points (29.03.09).

41.2 Ranking points are split into three categories:

41.2.1 Defensive points are "boots on" points with deductions for goals conceded plus points gained for penalty saves.

41.2.2 Attacking points are real assists, fantacy assists and deductions for penalty misses.

41.2.3 Disciplinary points are deductions for red and yellow cards.

41.3 If teams are tied on ranking points then they shall be sorted thus:

41.3.1 First on defensive points.

41.3.2 Then on attacking points.

(02.04.11).

41.3.3 Then by team name in alphabetical order, alternating weekly between A-Z (on even numbered gameweeks) and Z-A (on odd numbered gameweeks).

(08.10.06 Report 8)

41.4 The number of goals scored for each team shall be the number of goals scored minus the number of own goals scored (29.03.09).

41.5 The number of goals scored by each team is then listed in order alongside the ranked list of teams, allocating the lowest number of goals to the highest ranked team and the highest number of goals to the lowest ranked team. These goals then represent the number of goals that have been scored against each team (29.03.09).

41.6 The first own goal scored within the league shall be awarded in favour of the team with the highest number of attacking points, the second in favour of the team with the second highest number of attacking points and so on (02.04.11).

41.7 If teams are tied on attacking points then they shall be sorted thus:

41.7.1 First on ranking points

41.7.1 Then on defensive points

41.7.1 Then by team name in alphabetical order, alternating weekly between A-Z (on even numbered gameweeks) and Z-A (on odd numbered gameweeks).

(02.04.11)

41.7 This process shall determine the resulting scoreline for each team's game in the premiership for that gameweek (29.03.09) and hence the number of league points awarded.

41.8 At the end of gameweek 38, the final table will determine which of the clubs are the champions, which are the cream (and that group will be paid fantacy money) and which are the dross and such categorisation will determine the groupings for the next League Cup.

41.9 The ultimate of trophies is awarded to the champion and prize money is paid to the champion (which shall be spent in its entirety hosting an end of season party) and to the runner up. The loser faces relegation.

Challange Cup

43 The Challange Cup is the premier of the fantacy football league's cup competitions. All twelve clubs participate and are paid fantacy money for each match they play. Each match shall be played the week prior to the "real" Challenge (sic) Cup round save for the final, which shall be played simultaneous with the final match of the Premiership.

43.1 In the preliminary stages the teams shall be divided into three groups. The fantacy football league administrator shall allocate all fixtures at random and from the hat.

43.1.1 Each team shall play the other three in their group in two-legged matches that occur simultaneously, within the same gameweek. These matches shall use the results of the premiership matches that the opposing teams played in the given gameweek to determine their outcomes. The result of a given team’s game shall be deemed to be the result of their home leg, with the goals for counting for them and their goals against counting for their opponent. This is reciprocated with their opponent. Both of these results shall then be entered into the group table (29.03.09).

43.1.2 At the conclusion of the group stage matches the top two from each group and the two highest scoring runners up will progress to the knockout stages.

43.1.3 If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):

43.1.3.1 Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question.

43.1.3.2 Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question.

43.1.3.3 Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question.

43.1.3.4 Superior goal difference from all group matches played.

43.1.3.5 Higher number of goals scored.

43.1.3.6 Higher number of fantacy points points scored this week.

43.1.3.7 Higher number of attacking points.

43.1.3.8 Higher number of defence points.

43.1.3.9 Alphabetically (sorted descending on odd numbered ffl weeks).

(04.04.10)

43.1.4 If it is necessary to separate two, or all three, of the runners up then, since they have not played each other in the group stages, the following criteria shall be used:

43.1.4.1 Superior goal difference from all group matches played.

43.1.4.2 Higher number of goals scored.

43.1.4.3 Higher number of fantacy points scored this week.

43.1.4.4 Higher number of attacking points.

43.1.4.5 Higher number of defence points.

43.1.4.6 Alphabetically (sorted descending on odd numbered ffl weeks).

43.2 During the knockout stages, once again the fixtures shall be drawn from the hat but those who were previously drawn together in the group stages shall not play each other again, unless three teams from the same group progress to the semi-final, or two teams from the same group progress to the final.

43.2.1 During the knockout stages, the two games that comprise the two-legged match shall be treated as a mini group of two teams and the winner of the group progresses (29.03.09).

43.2.1 If the two teams are equal on points then a winner shall be found in the manner described in section 43.1.3 (04.04.10).

43.3 In the event that all of the above fails to decide a winner, the game shall be replayed or, in the case of the final, the cup and prize shall be awarded to the winner of a bout of bare-knuckle boxing between the competing managers.

43.4 The winner is awarded the most prestigious of cup trophies and generous prize money.

Penalty Money

43 Penalty money must be paid to the fantacy football league by teams found guilty of committing punishable breaches and in the event of the transfer czar having to notify the fantacy football league of a late transfer successful email.

Dross

44 The dross shall comprise the bottom finishing six in the premiership and shall form one of the two groupings for the next league cup.

Punishable Breaches

45 The punishable breaches of the rules are as follows:

45.1 Fielding an illegal team. There are two ways in which an illegal team may be fielded:

45.1.1 Having, within a team, more than the legal limit of players from any one "real" team at kickoff of a gameweek, the sanction for which is that:

45.1.1.1 The league will ‘send to the stands’ whichever of the offending players will result in the lowest fantacy points total for the manager during that gameweek. In the case that fewer points are scored by playing all offending players, then all are played. This would be the case if sending a player to the stands would result in the bringing on of a substitute which would result in a higher total of fantacy points being scored. The league will send to the stands one player for each offence, each time maximising the loss of fantacy points.

45.1.1.1.1 For clarity, ‘offending player' in the context of paragraph 45.1.1.1 refers to any of the players from the "real" team whose legal limit has been exceeded.

45.1.1.1.2 ‘Sent to the stands’ means that any fantacy points scored by the player that gameweek will not be counted for the purposes of allocating fantacy points to the team and he shall earn no gate receipts. He shall, however, receive a salary from his club.

(05.10.08)

45.1.1.2 The sanctions contained within paragraph 45.1.1.1 shall be applied to each gameweek that the illegal team is fielded until the manager has made his squad legal.

45.1.2 Having, within a team, more than the legal limit of players in a given position (goal, defence, midfield or attack) at kickoff of a gameweek , the sanction for which is that:

45.1.2.1 The league shall first make the team legal by ‘sending to the stands’ whichever player(s) in the position(s) that has/have too many players will result in the lowest fantacy points total for the manager during that gameweek. The league will ‘send to the stands’ one player for each offending player , each time maximising the loss of fantacy points. The team will then compete in all competitions as usual.

45.1.2.1.1 ‘Sent to the stands’ means that any fantacy points scored by the player that gameweek will not be counted for the purposes of allocating fantacy points to the team and he shall earn no gate receipts. He shall, however, receive a salary from his club.

45.1.2.2 All points awarded for winning or drawing in the Premiership will then be deducted from the club’s points total in the league table. Any points awarded for winning or drawing in the group stages of any cup competitions they may have competed in shall be deducted from the relevant group table. If the team competed in a knockout stage of a cup competition then they shall be deemed to have lost and their competitor will progress to the next round.

45.1.2.3 The club shall be fined 1 million pounds of fantacy money.

45.1.2.4 The sanctions contained within paragraphs 45.1.2.1 to 45.1.2.3 shall be applied to each gameweek that the illegal team is fielded until the manager has made his squad legal.

45.1.2.5 A ‘skull and crossbones’ shall be inscribed alongside the club's name on the league table, which shall remain there until the end of the season.

(21.02.12)

45.2 Being overdrawn, the sanction for which is that:

45.2.1 All points awarded for winning or drawing in the Premiership shall be deducted from the club’s points total in the league table. Any points awarded for winning or drawing in the group stages of any cup competitions they may have competed in shall be deducted from the relevant group table. If the team competed in a knockout stage of a cup competition then they shall be deemed to have lost and their competitor will progress to the next round.

45.2.2 The club shall be fined 1 million pounds of fantacy money.

45.2.3 The sanctions contained within paragraphs 45.2.1 to 45.2.2 shall be applied to each gameweek that the illegal team is fielded until the manager has made his squad legal.

45.2.4 A ‘skull and crossbones’ shall be inscribed alongside the club's name on the league table, which shall remain there until the end of the season.

Rules

46 The rules governing the administration of the fantacy football league are formed by the opinion of the clubs as expressed through their managers at fantacy meetings (which for the avoidance of doubt is the only forum at which they may be amended) and any alterations or amendments shall be passed only by a majority view ascertained following a show of open votes.

46.1 The rule book shall take the form of numbered paragraphs with numbered subsections to aid easy referencing.

46.2 The rule book shall be available for reference and for inspection at all times on the fantacy website.

46.3 Changes to the rule book shall be tracked through the facility integral to the wiki.

46.4 For the purposes of email filtering, all correspondence that relates to the rules or rule book shall include the word 'rule' in the subject line. All correspondence that relates to the ratification of a rule or rules shall include the word 'ratification' in the subject line and all correspondence that relates to proposals for future rule changes shall include the word 'proposal' in the subject line. For example: "rule ratification: fantacy meetings", "rule proposal: illegal teams". The words 'rule', 'ratification' and 'proposal' should be avoided in all other correspondence as far as possible.

46.5 Procedure for proposing, ratifying and enacting changes to the rules:

46.5.1 At least seven days prior to each fantacy meeting, the Fantacy Football League Administrator, or his delegate, shall make available to all managers, through the medium of Googledocs or some similar document sharing service, a spreadsheet that shall make it possible to:

46.5.1.1 Record proposed changes to the rules with any options that are to be voted upon. There shall also be a facility for managers to record their vote in respect of each option.

46.5.1.2 Record business conducted during the course of the meeting.

46.5.2 Any manager who wishes to propose a change to the rules shall first put their suggestion into an email and post it to the fantacy mailing list for general discussion.

46.5.3 If their appears to be some merit to the proposal, the proposer, or his delegate, will insert the proposal, including any options that are to be voted upon, into the fantacy meeting spreadsheet in preparation for the next fantacy meeting . This should ideally be done at least seven days in advance of the scheduled date of the meeting, although there is facility for proposals to be made up to and even during meetings.

46.5.4 The proposal will be debated and voted upon at the meeting. Votes may be cast in advance of the meeting on the spreadsheet.

46.5.4.1 All votes, whether cast before or during the meeting, must be registered on the relevant spreadsheet in order to be counted.

46.5.4.1.1 If the proposal has been raised in the aforementioned manner, seven days or more before the meeting, then a majority of the managers in attendance at the meeting plus any managers who have cast their vote in advance on the spreadsheet must vote ‘yes’ in order for the proposal to be agreed.

46.5.4.1.2 If the proposal has been entered onto the spreadsheet less than seven days in advance of the meeting then a majority of all managers in the league must vote ‘yes’ for the proposal to be agreed (i.e. at least seven votes in favour) (03.01.11).

46.5.4.2 The vote must be concluded at the meeting since this is the only forum at which changes to the rules can be made.

46.5.5 If the vote at the meeting results in a change to the rules, the proposer, or his delegate, will summarise, in the form of a rule, the outcome of the vote and post it to the fantacy mailing list with an 'object by' date of seven days ahead of the date it was posted.

46.5.5.1 If no objections to the wording are raised it will be assumed that the rule, as written, represents a true reflection of the wishes of the meeting and the rule shall be deemed ratified. The proposer, or his delegate, will enter it into the rule book in the appropriate position.

46.5.5.2 If there are objections to the wording of the rule then all parties should try to resolve any differences through dialogue on the fantacy mailing list. If these objections can be resolved, the proposer, or his delegate, will enter it into the rule book in the appropriate position.

46.5.6 Alongside the new rule shall be entered the date the rule was agreed ( fantacy meeting date, with reference [including link] to the relevant spreadsheet).

46.5.7 The rule shall become enacted on the date that the rule was agreed at the meeting, unless the meeting voted and agreed that the rule should be enacted at some other time (e.g. at the beginning of the next season) (08.10.06 Report 8).

46.6 Extraordinary clarification of rules between meetings: In exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary for the Fantacy Football League Administrator, to seek clarification from the League on how a rule is to be administered in order to progress with publishing the results for a given gameweek.

46.6.1 The Fantacy Football League Administrator, or his delegate shall:

46.6.1.1 Inform the league through the fantacy mailing list of the issues involved and propose at least one solution.

46.6.1.2 Make available to all managers, through the medium of Googledocs or some similar document sharing service, a spreadsheet that shall explain the issue and offer at least one solution for managers to vote upon. There shall be a facility for managers to record their vote in respect of each option.

46.6.2 The issues shall be debated through dialogue on the fantacy mailing list.

46.6.3 Managers shall record their votes on the spreadsheet within a timescale determined by the Fantacy Football League Administrator but with the intention of clarifying the rule in time for the results to be published before the next gameweek begins.

46.6.4 The option that records the highest number of 'yes' votes shall be adopted. In the event that only one option is to be voted upon, it shall be agreed if a majority of the managers who record a vote on the spreadsheet vote ‘yes’.

46.6.5 Once the decision on the clarification of the rule has been made, the clarification shall be ratified using the process described in section 46.5.5.

Fantacy Meetings

47 Fantacy meetings are the preferred forum for conducting all business relating to the fantacy football league and the only forum for amending the rules. They can also be used for the purchase of players from the pool, transfer of players between managers and the purchase of LTG’s, as well as any other business or discussion that is deemed appropriate.

47.1 Meetings shall be conducted through the medium of Internet Messenger or some similar internet messaging system that allows for the recording of dialogue between managers as text.

47.1.1 This text shall be saved by one of the participating managers at the end of the meeting and posted to the fantacy mailing list and shall constitute the minutes of the meeting.

47.2 A meeting shall be deemed to have been convened when a minimum of two managers are in attendance and in dialogue through the medium of Internet Messenger. From this point, until the minutes are saved, it will be possible to conduct transactions and make decisions through the process of voting, that shall be considered valid and the will of the league. It is deemed good form to allow a reasonable amount of time for any managers to arrive who, through the fantacy mailing list, have previously expressed an intention to attend.

47.3 Meetings may be convened at any time but shall take place on five occasions each season. For guidance, the recommended dates are as follows:

47.3.1 On the date that the Community Shield is played in the "real world", the Opening Meeting shall be hosted by the manager of the bottom finishing of the clubs in the previous season.

47.3.2 On a date during the month of October, hosted by the manager of BSE Eindhoven at the Cow Barn.

47.3.3 On a date during the month of December, hosted by a volunteer.

47.3.4 On a date during the month of February, hosted by whichsoever manager has been the winner of the league cup.

47.3.5 On the weekend of gameweek 31, usually the first weekend in April (the April Fools’ meeting), hosted by whichsoever manager is the current leader of the Dirty Bastard Boot (in the Bollocks) trophy.

(02.04.11)

47.4 The precise date and time of the meeting will be agreed by consensus through the medium of the fantacy mailing list, in order to facilitate the attendance of as many managers as possible. All dates are variable except those of the Opening Meeting and the April Fools’ Meeting.

47.4.1 The usual time for meetings to start is 1200GMT on a Sunday but this can be varied if there is a clear consensus, as determined through the fantacy mailing list, that it should be otherwise and the host is in agreement.

47.4.2 The Opening Meeting and the April Fools’ Meeting shall be held on the dates specified above, at 1200GMT, unless there is a clear consensus, as determined through the fantacy mailing list, that it should be otherwise. If one manager objects to variation of the date and time of either of these two meetings then the meeting must be held at the aforesaid date and time. The reason for this is to allow managers to plan around these dates, in order to facilitate their attendance at these two most important meetings.

47.5 The role of the host is to make the final decision on the date and time of the meeting, within the parameters set out in sections 47.3 and 47.4, and to provide hospitality to whichever managers wish to attend the meeting in person at the host’s home stadium.

47.6 The usual protocol for the format of the meeting is to follow the following agenda:

47.6.1 The meeting is opened by dealing with any agenda items that have been raised in advance of the meeting on the meeting spreadsheet. Agenda items usually take the form of proposals for changes to the rules and there is a procedure in place which explains how this is to be conducted.

47.6.2 If the meeting is the Opening Meeting then the first item of business shall be the free transfer for the promoted team (see relegation).

47.6.3 If the meeting is the Cow Barn (second fantacy meeting of the season) then the positional tribunal shall be held, at which compliance with the bible rule shall be enforced, before any other business is entered into.

47.6.4 If the meeting is the April Fools meeting:

47.6.4.1 This shall be transfer deadline day and, once this meeting has closed, no further transfers of any kind shall be allowed until the Opening Meeting of the following season.

47.6.4.2 Contracts for all players under contract shall become payable, their contract values having been determined at gameweek 30.

47.6.5 The meeting then moves onto business which involves players, who play for "real" teams whose results are used to calculate fantacy points.

47.6.6 The meeting then usually ends with business that involves other footballers i.e. LTG’s.

47.6.7 In the context of a fantacy football meeting, the term ‘business’ refers to the buying and selling of players, either through trade between managers or between managers and the pool. This includes the buying and selling of LTG’s.

Fantacy Mailing List

48 The fantacy mailing list is the forum in which the fantacy football league shall conduct all business relating to the league that is not required to be conducted at a fantacy meeting.

Kickoff

49 Kickoff is the precise, fixed moment in time that the first game in a gameweek is scheduled to start, whether that game should begin at that time or some other time or be postponed.

Gameweek

50 The premiership is constituted of 38 gameweeks and the league cup and challange cup are also played within this structure.

50.1 A gameweek starts at kickoff and usually concludes when each of the 20 teams in the Premiership have completed a round of 10 games in which each of the teams have played once.

50.2 Gameweeks usually start on Saturday lunchtime and end on Monday evenings but this is by no means set in stone and they do sometimes start in midweek.

50.3 Should any of the matches in a gameweek be postponed then the gameweek shall conclude at the planned time and the rearranged game(s) shall be included in the gameweek that it/they is/are actually played within or the gameweek immediately before.

50.3.1 If this gameweek should be a week in which the league cup or challange cup are being played then the rearranged game(s) shall be included in the gameweek that immediately follows instead.

Results

51 The results of each gameweek's competitions shall be published by the fantacy football league administrator, through the fantacy mailing list. He shall endeavour to publish the results in good time before the kickoff of the next gameweek but this is not always possible.

51.1 If any manager objects to the results as published for any reason then they must make their objection known to the league through the fantacy mailing list as soon as possible and before the subsequent results sheet is published.

51.1.1 If objections are not raised before the subsequent results sheet is published then the results shall stand as published and cannot be altered.

51.1.2 If such objection is raised in time and upheld as being a valid objection the fantacy football league administrator shall correct the error, recalculate all affected results and publish an amended results sheet.

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For a long time we had:

1 - We know each players price and ffl points/game – we work out a fantacy rating for each player fantacy rating = (pts/game) * ( 1+ (pld/WEEKNO) ) /2

2 – We find the ‘average’ values for both ‘fantacy rating’ and ‘pool price’ for all players in a given position – these averages are used later and are calculated using only those players who have played 10 games or more (as above)

3 – We are interested in calculating a players estimated value based on their bought price and points scored (we used to draw a line of best fit through the scattered data) (but we now want to lock a lower price in at 0.25M as well as finding a polynomial to fit the data as opposed to a straight line. Therefore we need the estimate to be.

Estimate = 0.25 + ( ( Pa - 0.25 ) / Ra^2 ) R^2 ( where: Pa=’average price’ Ra=’average rating’, R=’players rating’ )

Where WEEKNO above went from week 1 of the season to Week 30 A players Fantacy Rating would fluctuate but only based on this seasons results.

Now - since introduction of new contract system... https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtrCTCud6WxvdERkOU9DSTRhOWI0V3RiUHY3b29GMVE&authkey=CM_Sv_UI

We don't base the Fantacy Rating on this season using the current WEEKNO to calculate rating. but find the players average points per game played - over the last 38 weeks and find their rating based on 38.

EG.

If a player scores 60 points in 38 games? we would want

( 60/38 + 60/38 ) / 2 = 1.579

As he has played a full complement of games over the last 38 weeks his points per game ratio is exactly the same as his rating.

If another player plays less games due to injury but still scores 60 points then you would expect this second player to have a greater pts/game ratio surely... hes better than the first guy! scores more points in general when he plays! If he plays 5 less games ie played = 33

( 60/33 + 60/38 ) / 2 = 1.690

Of course a player who has scored 60 points in only 12 games during the last full season must be shit hot compared to the other two guys.

( 60/12 + 60/38 ) / 2 = 3.289

So in effect the last fella who (when he plays) is a 5 points per game man gets his points per game ratio (or fantacy rating) lowered to 3.289 as hes clearly not worth a great deal due to his injury problems. but his rating is a lot more than the previous plodders who take an inordinate amount of time to reach 60 points.

Therefore fantacy rating = (pts/game + pts/38) /2

What we are looking for is an average of the points per games played and the points per season.

Now we have..

1 - We know each players price and ffl points/game – we work out a fantacy rating for each player fantacy rating = (pts/game + pts/38) /2 where pts/game and pld are players stats over the last 38 weeks.

2 – We find the ‘average’ values for both ‘fantacy rating’ and ‘pool price’ for all players in a given position – these averages are used later.

3 – We are interested in calculating a players estimated value based on their bought price and points scored (we used to draw a line of best fit through the scattered data) (but we now want to lock a lower price in at 0.25M as well as finding a polynomial to fit the data as opposed to a straight line. Therefore we need the estimate to be.

Estimate = 0.25 + ( ( Pa - 0.25 ) / Ra^2 ) R^2 ( where: Pa=’average price’ Ra=’average rating’, R=’players rating’ )

We will bring the graphs back at some point so that you can regain your visual on this calulation. Below is a lot of gumph from a previous email - and Phallic summary of new system.

As you can see if a player misses matches in the last 38 weeks his valuation will drop, with the desirable consequences being his resale value may well decrease and his contract will be less. Players out injured or residing on the bench will be worth less than those playing full time.

Of course, we don't want a players value to drop to nothing... or if your injured player is out for a whole season you don't want their rating to drop to zero and hence their estimated value to reach rock bottom 0.25m.

Therefore we don't adjust a players rating if they have played less than 5 matches in the last 38. A players rating continues to drop until they have played only 4 games in the last 38 and then their rating is retained and they continue with the same rating until they have played 5 or more games in the last 38.

Players new to the Premiership/FFL will initially have a rating of zero and an estimated value of 0.25m this zero rating will be maintained until they have played the requisite 5 matches at which point they will receive a valid rating and the estimated value will increase above 0.25m.

In old system we had. - averages based on players who had played 10 games or more. - estimated values were given to players who had played 5 games or more. This was due to us starting the calculations at week 1 ... our averages (price and rating) were only deemed valid after we had played 10 weeks of the season... hence contracts began to accrue at week 10.

In the new system we happily go with the averages of players who have played 5 games or more in the previous 38 weeks. So getting rid of the stipulation that a player must have played 10 in calculating the averages. We have plenty of players who have played a large number of games to be satisfied with the averages.

Wages, based on this value also change at week 30 instead of week 1 and managers would see the new wage bill which may make April meeting decisions easier ??

Kiev

Evening All,

As you probably know, KiEV and I have been working on updating the estimated values calculation. The problem at the moment is that the calculation only uses performances this season as under FFL1 we just had the current season's data and we only need the calculation to be good by week 30.

As the rules have evolved we now need our estimates to be good all the time as they affect players resale values to the pool, sales abroad, signing on liabilities, etc. so we want to make a simple change to the calculation. Rather than use just the current season's performances we want to use a rolling one season (38 week) window. So a player's estimated value today would be based on all his performances between week 27 last season and week 26 this season. Come contract fixing day we would use performances from week 31 last season to week 30 this season. The calculation is otherwise identical.

As well as giving us good estimates all season, this new calculation also has the advantages that our hard working players are rewarded for all their performances. At the moment those most crucial of performances in the title run-in between weeks 31 and 38 are never rewarded as we fix a value at week 30 and then start accumulating contracts again at week 1 next season.

There is also the question of what happens to a player when he leaves the premier league or doesn't play for a long time for some other reason. At the moment players with less than five performances this season don't get valued so we just stick with the player's value the last time it could be calculated at the end of a season. Under the updated system, because there is a rolling window, the player will be revalued every week until such a time as he hasn't played five of the last 38 games. His value would then remain static until such a time as he has played five of the last 38 games again. This would have the advantage that players who have been crocked for ages, dropped, or buggered off like Beckham would have their values tail off until they had played five out of 38

Players who have never played five games will have a default value of £250,000

I've attached a spreadsheet of showing what this would do to *projected* contract values this season. The total contracts for most clubs are pretty similar. The big changes are that Fungus would has a projected 4m contract to pay on The Drog and that KiEV's contract on Berbatov would be 4.7m rather than 8.1m. This is because they are both valued 22m under the rolling 38 week system whereas the current calculation values Berbatov at 29.6m and The Drog at 12.7 (which surely can't be right). It should be noted though that come week 30 these projected values will be closer than they are now as this season's weeks 27-30 will be included in both calculations and last season's weeks 27-30 won't be included in the rolling calculation.

For clarity, the projected contracts assume the players have the same values and play every game until contract deadline day.

Cheers,

Phallus

April 2011