Get ready to dive back into the thrilling world of Fantasy EFL: the official Fantasy game for all 72 English Football League clubs, spanning the Championship, League One, and League Two!

It’s now live for the 2025/26 season, so you can start drafting your Gameweek 1 sides now.

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If you’ve never played the game before, managers essentially get a ‘Free Hit’ every single week.

There are no player price restrictions, and you pick your squad using a 7+2 format: that’s seven players and two clubs, every Gameweek. This format mirrors the 72 teams across the EFL, offering a unique twist on traditional Fantasy games.

In this article, we guide you through the basics of how to play the game.

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TEAM CREATION

Every week, your challenge is to pick seven top-performing players and two standout clubs from the 72 teams across the English Football League. That’s a pool of nearly 2,000 players to consider!

TEAM SELECTION + FORMATION

Your seven players must be chosen from the following positions:

• Goalkeeper: 1
• Defenders: 2-3
• Midfielders: 2-3
• Forwards: 1-2

Your team must then select one of the following formations:

• 1-2-2-2
• 1-2-3-1
• 1-3-2-1

SELECTION FOR THE FOLLOWING GAMEWEEK

A new feature for Fantasy EFL 2025/26 will allow players to create their team for the following Gameweek as soon as the existing Gameweek kicks off.

For example, if you have saved your team for Gameweek 1, as soon as the first EFL game in 2025/26 kicks off, you’ll be able to select your team for Gameweek 2.

RESTRICTIONS

Firstly, you cannot select more than two players per club each Gameweek (unless you use your to-be-explained One Club chip).

Additionally, you can only select a club a maximum of five times across the season, so think strategically. Once you have selected said club five times, they will lock out.

CAPTAINCY

Each Gameweek, you’ll need to select a captain for your team. This player will earn double points.

You’re free to change your captain as many times as you like, right up until their match begins and they become “locked” for the Gameweek. Just remember, you can’t pick a player who has already played in the current Gameweek.

You’ll also choose a vice-captain every week. Your vice-captain steps up to score double points if your main captain doesn’t play in that Gameweek.

The same rules about changing your vice-captain and not picking a player who has already played apply.

TEAM ROLL-OVER

If you don’t make any changes to your team, it will automatically carry over to the next Gameweek, and your players will continue to score points as long as they’re selected by their clubs.

Keep in mind, there’s a cap of five selections per club per season. If your rolled-over team includes a club that goes over this limit, that club will be randomly replaced with a different one.

MAX CAPTAIN CHIP

The Max Captain chip automatically assigns the captaincy to your highest-scoring player for that Gameweek, but only after all your players have completed their matches.

You can activate this chip a maximum of twice per season. Your first use is available until January 31, 2025, and your second from February 1, 2025, onwards.

To use your Max Captain chip, simply select the lightning bolt icon on the ‘My Team’ tab before the first fixture of the Gameweek begins.

ONE CLUB CHIP

New for 2025/26, the One Club chip allows you, for one Gameweek only, to select as many players as you like from one club, bypassing the usual two-club limit. This chip can be used at any point throughout the season.

You can only apply your One Club chip before the Gameweek kicks off and you can reset your One Club chip anytime before the first game begins.

To use your One Club chip, simply select the lightning bolt icon on the ‘My Team’ tab before the first fixture of the Gameweek begins.

UPDATING YOUR TEAM

Leaving your team unchanged? The game automatically keeps your same set of players and clubs and rolls over to the next Gameweek.

If a club pick has been overused (five picks max), it’ll be swapped out at random. 

LOCKOUT

Players and selected clubs become ‘locked’ as soon as their EFL game kicks off in the Gameweek.

That means you can no longer add or remove selections from that team.

Once your captain/vice-captain becomes locked, then you can no longer change your captain/vice-captain.

Lockout is automatically lifted once all fixtures in the Gameweek have concluded.

SCORING SYSTEM

There are a few tweaks this season to the scoring system.

Players and clubs are awarded points based on their performances during the season, with players scoring according to their position. 

The scoring works as follows:

Goalkeepers

Goalkeepers & Defenders

Defenders

Midfielders

Midfielders & Forwards

Forwards

Clubs

GAMEWEEK STRUCTURE

Each Gameweek runs from Thursday to Wednesday.

In Double Gameweeks, or even a potential Triple Gameweek, if a player or club plays twice, you get points from both.

Conversely, in a Blank Gameweek, you score zero points from a player who does not have a fixture.

PRIZES

You will be able to create and join an unlimited number of public or private mini-leagues.

Creating a public league means that this will be openly available for all users to join from the “Join a League” page, whereas creating a private league means that others can only join this league if you share the league information with them.

If you have created a league, you are able to remove users from your league up until that league starts scoring.

Now that you are fully familiar with the rules, it is time to build your Gameweek 1 squad and get fully involved!