Website: www.channel4.fantasyleague.com
Price: Free
Private Leagues: Yes

Strengths

*It’s free
*It’s monthly so is ideal for casual players
*It’s powered by Fantasy League
*So it’s got a simple scoring system
*You can set up private monthly leagues
*No multiple-entrant managers

Weaknesses

* It runs on monthly phases, so it’s no suited to conventional private league play
* There is no prize money
* You can only register one team

Game Rules

The Channel 4 game is unique in that in runs on monthly cycles. The season is split into 9 monthly periods and you pick you team off 11 players for each period. In between periods you can scrap your entire team and pick again for the following month. You are also allocated 6 transfers that you can make within a game month.

Each month you pick an 11 for a budget of £55 million from the familiar Fantasy League player list. Teams must be picked according to a 4-4-2 formation.

The scoring system for both games is based on the Fantasy League so it’s clean and simple. It’s 3 points for a goal, 2 for an assist. Keepers and Defenders meanwhile get 1 point for appearing if they play at least 75 minutes and 2 points for a clean sheet if they keep one.

Review

As I’ve mentioned, this game is rather unique. Because it runs on a monthly cycle it allows you to effectively create different team lineups each month as you compete for monthly prizes of Premiership match tickets. Because it is based on the Fantasy League system however, you are assured of a solid experience with an easy to understand scoring system. That combined with the monthly cycle could make it ideal for a monthly private league for those new to Fantasy Football.

The lack of significant prizes will certainly put off solo players. There is a grand prize for the manager with the best total number of points over 3 monthly periods, however a trip to LA to see Mr Beckham does struggle to compete with some of the prize money on offer in other games. However, I actually like this game because it’s trying to add something different. It’s taken the Fantasy League system and tried to differentiate itself from all the other games. It’s free and acutally presents a very diffent challenge in terms of picking an 11 that can produce the goods in a given month rather than over the course of entire season. That’s a welcome new challenge to even the most seasoned Fantasy Football Manager and when it’s free, you’ve got nothing to lose should you give it a go.