FPL

Everything you ever wanted to know about the FPL Bonus Point System – part two

The strengths of some of the great managers of the past, like Sir Bobby Robson or Sir Alex Ferguson, lay in their intuition and man-management skills. But data gives us an opportunity to be even smarter and more objective. It doesn’t mean we should ignore human intuition. They can complement one another.

– Matthieu Lille-Palette, Senior Vice President of Opta

Eye test versus Stats – the perennial debate among Fantasy managers.

Subjectivity versus objectivity.

The irony is that stats are produced by people using their eyes. But these trained loggers and data collectors see the game quite differently to the average football fan. 

They record every on-ball event following strict guidelines. And this impacts us as Fantasy managers not only in the way we discuss football, but also because Opta stats underpin FPL’s Bonus Points System.

READ MORE: Everything you ever wanted to know about the FPL Bonus Point System – part one

As well as exploring the structure of the BPS, this article will go into detail on how Opta ‘see’ a match – how they translate match events into statistics. 

It ignores the headlines such as goals, assists and cards, because they don’t require much interpretation, and instead focuses on the actions that make up the Baseline BPS. 

Exciting things like tackles and recoveries! Things that are very common in a football match and, because of their frequency, play a part in determining who ends up with bonus points.

The Frequency of Bonus Point Events
(click on image to enlarge)

The graphic above illustrates that frequency. It does so by averaging the totals for the top ten players in each metric over the last five seasons. So, for instance, the ten players who do best in recoveries will make an average of 336 in a season.

The most recoveries made over that period was 403 by Jordan Pickford in 2017/18, his first season at Everton.

However, the value of a recovery is diminished because you need to make three in order to get one point in the BPS. Indeed, the most common bonus point events are worth the least.

Points Awarded in the BPS
(click on image to enlarge)

So multiplying the two together – frequency and points – gives a better picture of which events are important.

Frequency of Bonus Point Events multiplied by Points
(click on image to enlarge)

The resulting image adds further weight to Neale’s assertion that “the Bonus Points System is, unquestionably, the forward’s friend in its current guise.

And this makes sense: that forwards benefit from the BPS compensates for them receiving fewer FPL points for scoring a goal.

But forwards aren’t dominating the bonus points this season because there are also several ways in which they lose out in the BPS. Along with a handful of wingers and attacking midfielders – notably Mohamed Salah – centre forwards are the main culprits for missing big chances, shooting off target and getting caught offside. 

The chart above also shows that clean sheets are more valuable than goals for defenders. In the last five years, the top ten players kept an average of 17 clean sheets per season compared to only four goals per season for the leading marksmen in defence.

The reason the BPS doesn’t favour goalscoring defenders is because they get six FPL points for each goal, the most of any position. So while Stuart Dallas tops the defender standings by 20 points he is only joint-seventh when it comes to bonus.

But Dallas is an outlier – his eight goals this season is more than any other FPL defender since Joleon Lescott in the 2007/08 season. Even out-of-position John Lundstram bagged just five goals in 2019/20.

Over the last decade the only defenders to come close are Marcos Alonso in 2017/18 and Martin Škrtel in 2013/14, who both netted seven times.

That pair performed similarly to Dallas in terms of bonus: Alonso earned 15 performance-related marks which, along with his 13 clean sheets, helped him to 165 points and a place in the end-of-season dream team; and Liverpool centre-back Škrtel picked up 16 bonus points, although with just eight clean sheets his final tally of 137 was some way off the 169 required for the dream team that year.

Profit share

Moving beyond the goals and clean sheets, there’s a nice balance to the BPS.

For instance, assists and recoveries are of roughly equal importance, according to the weighted graphic above, but they favour very different types of players. Attacking midfielders and wingers are the main positions that supply assists, whereas goalkeepers, centre-backs and defensive midfielders make the most recoveries.

When identifying the top ten players for each metric over the last five years, to add more detail to the four basic positions in FPL, their playing positions according to Transfermarkt have been included.

The table below, created ahead of Gameweek 34, lists the twelve players with at least 20 bonus points.

PlayerBonusPos. FPLPos. TMBPSMinutesBPS/90Club
Kane37FWDCF7972,63327.2TOT
Fernandes32MIDAM7922,82425.2MUN
Son25MIDLW6612,66922.3TOT
Martínez24GKPGKP7102,88022.2AVL
Alexander-Arnold22DEFRB6142,57921.4LIV
Shaw22DEFLB6042,38322.8MUN
Lacazette21FWDCF4461,86421.5ARS
Gündogan21MIDCM5631,86127.2MCI
Pope20GKPGKP6092,70020.3BUR
Vardy20FWDCF5712,39921.4LEI
Meslier20GKPGKP7152,88022.3LEE
Cresswell20DEFLB6092,75219.9WHU

The distribution of FPL playing positions couldn’t be more evenly balanced with three forwards, three midfielders, three defenders and three goalkeepers included. 

The list also features players from ten different clubs, which indicates that perhaps each team has a bonus-point talisman or bonus-point magnet. Players that are especially effective within their side’s playing style.

But looking at the more detailed playing positions, a slightly different picture emerges. The three defenders are all creative full-backs – see part one to understand how compound events and crosses help the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold in the BPS – while the midfielders occupy attacking roles.

Although he’s a centre-mid according to Transfermarkt, Ilkay Gündogan is the leading goalscorer for Manchester City this season and his 21 bonus points have all come in matches in which he’s either scored or assisted.

The obvious omissions are centre-backs and defensive midfielders. A criticism of the BPS, and more broadly FPL itself, is that these players are undervalued:

If FPL is a simulation based on the real game then some way should be found to recognise the important, often vital contributions of the likes of Kanté, Rodri, Fabinho, Højbjerg & Rice. They are hugely influential for their clubs and yet pretty worthless for FPL purposes.

– Ruth_NZ

Given the current structure of FPL, should the bonus point system compensate defensive midfielders in the same way it does forwards?

Forwards earn fewer FPL points than midfielders or defenders for scoring a goal but that’s counterbalanced with greater reward in the BPS. In the same way, could defensive midfielders be better rewarded for their actions on a football pitch given that they only get one point for a clean sheet and rarely pick up attacking returns?

It’s a sentiment shared by many but not all:

Bonus points amplify success and failure. This adds to the highs and lows that make the game so compelling. The game is called fantasy football. Defensive midfielders are not fantasy footballers.

– Baines on Toast

Another factor to consider in this debate is that while the Bonus Points System hasn’t changed since 2015/16, trends in football have changed, including the way Opta record certain stats.

It’s time to pay a visit to the Opta-metrist!

Opta Vision

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Manchester City 2019/20
(see video link to Wolves YouTube channel)

Opta’s eyesight is 20/20.

At first glance Moutinho’s corner appears to be flicked on by Jimenez. Even the commentator is fooled. But on closer inspection (go fullscreen and use the “>” and “<” keys to go through the video frame-by-frame), it’s revealed that Jimenez directs his header towards goal and the ball loops up off De Bruyne. 

Opta logged this as a shot from Jimenez and a shot blocked by De Bruyne.

The aim, when recording these events, is to document the story of the match.

The stats provide an accurate account of every on-ball event that took place in the game. And, through the use of video analysis, that record is arguably more accurate than what we see with the naked eye.

However, Opta don’t capture the off-ball events – and this is where the ‘eye-test’ can complement the stats. For Opta, if a player isn’t directly involved in the action, they are essentially invisible. So players getting into good positions, making runs into the box, will be missed by Opta if they don’t get picked out by a team-mate.

Average position by Gameweek for Ilkay Gündogan

This means that average player position is determined from on-ball events only.

Over 90 minutes a player could be involved in anything from 40 to 100 events. The majority of these will be passes but shots, tackles, blocks, fouls, aerial duels, etc., also log their pitch location. In total, 33 different event types are taken into account.

Similarly, when we talk about the number of touches a player had, it isn’t, pedantically, every touch of the ball but rather the sum of selected actions. So, for instance, a player might touch the ball two or three times when dribbling past an opponent but that would be recorded as one touch because it’s one event.

Opta do produce tracking data for player movements, but this is not currently part of FPL and isn’t included in the advanced feeds we get. More on the future of stats in part three.

The Emirates has never sounded so good

To explain how Opta record match events we’ll mainly refer to Wolverhampton Wanderers against Manchester City from last season. 

Firstly because it’s a terrific game of football, and secondly because it’s one of the few recent matches that can be found in full on YouTube.

It was the last fixture of Gameweek 19 and kicked off on a Friday night just a few hours before the Gameweek 20 deadline on Saturday morning – an example of the at times lightning-quick turnaround mentioned in part one.

It took place at a fervent Molineux stadium. A word of warning – it’s quite emotional watching a game with fans. While the Emirates may never have sounded so good with fake crowd noise, that’s definitely not the case at Molineux. The passion and the atmosphere contributed immeasurably to the spectacle.

The Story of the Match

From the kick-off Man City looked to attack.

Here’s how Opta chronicled the first 20 seconds:

Sergio Aguero successful 14.9 meter ‘Pass’; Rodri successful 42.8m ‘Pass’; Kyle Walker successful 4.6m ‘Pass’ (images 1 & 2); Riyad Mahrez successful ‘Take On’ (image 3); Joao Moutinho ‘Challenge’ (image 3); Mahrez successful 5.4m ‘Pass’; Aguero successful 4.3m ‘Pass’, a ‘Lay-off’; Mahrez failed ‘Take On’ (images 4 & 5); Leander Dendoncker ‘Tackle’ lost (images 4 & 5); Bernardo Silva successful 13.7m ‘Pass‘; Raheem Sterling successful ‘Take On’ (images 6 & 7); Ruben Neves ‘Challenge’ (images 6 & 7); Sterling failed ‘Take On’ (images 8 & 9); Matt Doherty ‘Tackle’ won (images 8 & 9); Matt Doherty Ball Recovery’.

Together with the pitch coordinates of each event, the angle of each pass relative to the direction of play and the end coordinates of the pass, that’s basically the Opta transcript of the opening passage of play.

Let’s look a little closer at those events.

What Happened Next? 

There were two tackles in that sequence: a ‘tackle lost’ from Leander Dendoncker and a ‘tackle won’ from Matt Doherty

Whether a tackle is won or lost depends on where the ball goes after the tackle.

So Dendoncker’s tackle is lost because the loose ball is collected by an opponent, Bernardo Silva, whereas Matt Doherty not only tackles Raheem Sterling but wins possession of the ball.

And for a tackle to count as ‘won’ it doesn’t have to be the player making the tackle who recovers possession, as long as the ball falls to a team-mate.

In the above example, Adama Traoré is tackled by Fernandinho but Bernardo Silva is on hand to pick up the loose ball (see video link to Wolves YouTube channel).

Fernandinho is credited with a tackle won and Bernardo Silva a ball recovery.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction

For both the ‘tackle lost’ from Dendoncker and the ‘tackle won’ from Doherty, the attacking player was given a failed ‘Take On’ or Dribble.

So because Riyad Mahrez was dispossessed, a failed ‘Take On’/Dribble was recorded. Even though Dendoncker didn’t win possession for Wolves, Mahrez failed to evade Dendoncker’s tackle.

In terms of the BPS, Mahrez is docked a point for being tackled – the single biggest factor in reducing a player’s likelihood of gaining bonus points.

There’s always this balance of attacking and defensive actions with each ‘Take On’.

The one exception to this rule is when the attacking player overruns the ball, when this happens there’s no corresponding defensive action.

In fact, that’s the only difference between a ‘Take On’ and a ‘Dribble’: if a player loses the ball by overrunning it, that’s counted as a failed ‘Dribble’ but not a failed ‘Take On’ – because he wasn’t attempting to beat anyone.

A successful ‘Take On’ and a successful ‘Dribble’ are exactly the same.

And for both the successful ‘Take Ons’ in the opening sequence, a failed ‘Challenge’ was given to the defending players.

Joao Moutinho got nowhere near the ball when attempting to tackle Mahrez, and likewise Ruben Neves was soundly beaten by Sterling and didn’t touch the ball. 

Challenging the BPS

Everything you ever wanted to know about the FPL Bonus Point System - part two

A ‘Challenge’ is always a negative event:

A player unsuccessfully attempts to tackle an opponent, making no contact with the ball as the opponent dribbles past them.

– Opta definition of a Challenge

But a ‘Challenge’ makes no difference when it comes to Bonus Points, which is good news for Moutinho because in each of the last two seasons no player has registered more. He had 82 ‘Challenges’ in 2018/19 and 93 in 2019/20, the highest totals over the last five years.

In other words, he’s rubbish at tackling.

It seems slightly unfair, therefore, that Dendoncker is marked down in the BPS despite being better at tackling than Moutinho. Dendoncker stopped Mahrez from progressing and was perhaps unfortunate that a team-mate wasn’t on hand to pick up the loose ball.

Nonetheless his ‘tackle lost’ is deemed an ‘unsuccessful tackle’ by the BPS.

Although Dendoncker doesn’t earn negative points, he does in a way because each ‘unsuccessful tackle’ is subtracted from the total ‘successful tackles’. And yet, according to Opta, the ‘unsuccessful tackle’ was in fact successful by definition:

Both [tackle won and tackle lost] are deemed as successful tackles however, the outcome of the tackle (won or lost) is different based on where the ball goes after the tackle.

– Opta definition of a Tackle

Perhaps, then, rather than awarding points for a tackle based on whether possession was won or not, should the BPS instead distinguish between a ‘Challenge’ and a ‘Tackle’, or just credit all ‘Tackles’ positively?

This would boost the BPS scores of the likes of Kanté, Ndidi, Rice, and Wan-Bissaka. 

Although there exists a slight bias in the rules in favour of full-backs like Aaron Wan-Bissaka, or any player who makes a tackle close to the touchline, because the outcome of a ‘Tackle’ is also considered ‘won’ if the ball goes out of play.

So the tackler doesn’t necessarily have to win possession – the ball can go out for a throw-in or corner to the opposition – he simply has to stop the possession sequence.

As you can see in these examples taken from Manchester United’s defeat to Burnley in Gameweek 24 last season, Wan-Bissaka is very good at these types of tackles: example 1, example 2, and example 3.

Over the last five years the vast majority of players who make tackles without winning possession or knocking the ball out of play are defensive and central midfielders.

A rule tweak to successful and unsuccessful tackles in the BPS would benefit these undervalued “water-carriers” (an Eric Contona reference about Didier Deschamps for those too young).

Defining Tackle

In the Premium Members Area, we are specific about the outcome of the tackle, referring to ‘Tackles Won – Possession’ and ‘Tackles Won – No Possession’. Even if ‘Tackles Won – Possession’ includes a ball going out of play when possession isn’t necessarily won.

Our stat ‘Tackles Won’ is the equivalent to Opta’s ‘Successful Tackles’ or simply ‘Tackles’. As mentioned, all Opta tackles are by definition successful.

And we term an Opta ‘Challenge’ as a ‘Tackle Lost’, which reflects the logic that ‘Challenges’ are always lost. Although, admittedly, this is not the same as an Opta ‘Tackle Lost’, a stat we refer to as ‘Tackles Won – No Possession’.

Finally, the Fantasy Football Scout metric ‘Tackles’ is the total of ‘Tackles Won’ plus ‘Tackles Lost’, or Opta’s ‘Tackles’ plus ‘Challenges’.

Hopefully this table helps to make sense of the different naming conventions:

OptaBPSFFS
TackleTackleTackle Won
Tackle WonSuccessful TackleTackle Won – Possession
Tackle LostUnsuccessful TackleTackle Won – No Possession
ChallengeTackle Lost
Tackles + ChallengesTackles
Tackles Won – Tackles LostNet TacklesNet Tackles

Tackle terminology

Looking at the data for this campaign reveals that Antonio Rüdiger has been the most effective tackler, only one of his 30 tackles was counted as a ‘Tackle Lost’ or Opta ‘Challenge’. 

While the worst culprit for ‘Tackles Lost’ is Moutinho’s countryman Bruno Fernandes. As the most-popular player in the game, his owners are no doubt delighted that these are ignored by the BPS!

In terms of ‘Net Tackles’, the difference between successful and unsuccessful tackles in the BPS, Yves Bissouma leads the way in 2020/21. Perhaps this explains why Manchester City are keen to buy him.

However, it’s not Bissouma but Luke Ayling who tops the list of Opta’s successful tacklers, or ‘Tackles Won’ as we term it. 

Coming up

The complexity surrounding tackles doesn’t end there.

Last year Opta’s parent company, the Perform Group, merged with STATS to create Stats Perform. With this union three new event metrics were added to Opta’s lexicon, including ‘Attempted Tackles’.

In part three we’ll discover what impact this had and how it affects the BPS, we’ll also look at events that aren’t tackles(!) and explore some of the blurred lines that exist in football stats.

And, as well as finding out what the future holds for sports data, we’ll see how some players are occasionally too good for the way stats are recorded, which, at times, leads to their abilities being overlooked.

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

95 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Rassi
    • 9 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    In before the first conspiracy theorist claims that "ThE tOweRs PreFer BrUno AnD he alWaYs geTs BOnUs."

  2. 03farmboy
    • 4 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    Anyone doing the euros dream team with the sun? Got any draft teams yet?

  3. FPL Virgin
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    ......... "but were afraid to ask!"

  4. FPL Virgin
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    The free hit chip should have an unlimited budget like the limitless chip in the Euros.

    Great idea.

    1. bitm2007
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      As somebody who waits for team news before making transfers and therefore ends up with a low TV (104.2m this season), I'd be in favour of that.

    2. FPL Theorist
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Wouldn't this take most of the skill out of creating a good FH team?

      1. FPL Theorist
        • 4 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        That said, I have thought it might be fun if they waived the 3-player-per-club rule when you are on a FH. For one week, you could then have a certain club's entire starting XI if you could afford it.

    3. Fulchester's New Centr…
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Somebody posted the other day about SPL fantasy league where the rules were a bit different: (i) one transfer a week, no banking; (ii) can play more than one chip/WC in same GW and (iii) something else (memory not what it was) and this would be like those, making the game "easier" with less reward for planning.

    4. Hangman Page
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      I think this would make it too easy.

    5. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Great if you want to copy.

  5. The Lighthouse Keeper
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    Very interesting article.

  6. AC/DC AFC
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    The minutiae...

  7. FPL Theorist
    • 4 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    Goalkeeper baps are the most messed up.

    It's too easy for a GK to get baps for not doing a whole lot in a 1-0 or 0-0 game. Whereas it's too hard for them to get baps for a heroic performance in a game where both teams score.

    They could start by doubling the bps for a save that prevents a big chance from being scored (compared to an ordinary save).

  8. Baines on Toast...
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    Fascinating article and not just because I was pleasantly surprised to see myself in the quotes.

    1. Haa-lala-land
      • 3 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Started at the bottom now you're here.

  9. Je suis le chat
    • 10 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    Great article, nice to see that AWB is a good pick as well as Rudiger. Hopefully nicely priced.

  10. No home advantage to the average team in 2020/21.
    RedLightning
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 13 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    As we suspected, playing at home offered no advantage whatsoever to the average Premier League team this season.

    In 2019/20, the average team scored 28.8 goals and conceded 22.85 in their 19 Premier League home matches (1.52 scored and 1.20 conceded per match), keeping 6.15 clean sheets and failing to score 4.20 times in these matches.
    The total number of goals scored was 1,033( 576 at home and 457 away).

    In 2020/21 however, the average team scored 25.7 goals and conceded 25.45 in their 19 Premier League home matches (1.35 scored and 1.34 conceded per match), keeping 5.65 clean sheets and failing to score 5.60 times in these matches.
    The total number of goals scored was 1,023 (514 at home and 509 away).

    1. Fulchester's New Centr…
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      As someone who has already decided to just watch the Euros and not have any "fantasy" involvement, I feel Redlightning's look at the dead team numbers on another thread and things like the above have been the highlight of the off-season for me. Would be great if they could be put together in one place as a review of the season (and I don't mean in the "Community Articles" ghetto).

      In short, thanks RL. Lovely stuff.

      3rd time lucky

      🙂

      1. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 13 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Thankyou, FNCF.

    2. RedLightning
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Correction:
      In 2020/21, the average team conceded 25.5 (not 25.45) goals in home matches,
      and the total number of goals scored was 1,024 (not 1,023), of which 510 (not 509) were by away teams.

  11. Hall of Fame updated
    Rotation's Alter Ego
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 12 Years
    2 years, 10 months ago

    As a heads up for anyone that may not have noticed - HOF updated this morning with the latest numbers, with the career tab (that anyone can view, unlike the live tab) also updating. Feel free to check out where you stand 🙂

    https://members.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/hall-of-fame/career/

    1. Fulchester's New Centr…
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Never occured to me that Ben Crellin is actually really good at this game.

    2. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Ta, what’s considered good in HOF? Top 1000? Top 100?

      1. Sharky’s Machine
        • 10 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        I’m up to 8th. I’ll take it! 😉

        1. Magic Zico
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 5 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          Blimey

      2. TorresMagic™
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        991 Ronnie Ruff 5736 140678 1375 47165 (4 seasons)
        998 Keith Johnston 13279 24254 12357 32440 191425 3422 17173 318449 253832 2418951 (10 seasons)

      3. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 13 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Top thousand is good, top hundred is excellent.

        Of our twelve Pro Pundits, seven (Fabio Borges, Darren Wiles, Mark Sutherns, Tom Freeman, Utkarsh Dalmia (Zophar), Andy LTFPL and Seb Wassell) are in the top four hundred, three more in the top two thousand and two not currently ranked.

        Of the 23 Meet the Manager interviewees, twelve (Tom Stephenson, Darren Wiles, Mark Sutherns, Richard Clarke, Sean Tobin, Phil Ampleford, Jay Egersdorff, Adam Hopcroft, Tom Freeman, Aleksander Vage Nilsen, Zophar and Tarek Balbaa) are in the top two hundred, three more in the top two thousand and eight are not currently ranked.

        Nine of the managers in Mods & Cons (Mark Sutherns, Tom Freeman, Geoff, Andy LTFPL, Mark Reynolds, The Magician (TorresMagic), Seb Wassell, Jack Penn and Neale Rigg) are currently in the top four hundred.

        Three of the fourteen winners of our featured mini-leagues and community competitions (Ray Freeman, Tristan Lomas, and Ville Tuominen) are currently in the top two hundred.

        1. RedLightning
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 13 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          All of the managers mentioned above have been playing for at least seven seasons, and most of them for ten or more.

          1. mixology
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 11 Years
            2 years, 10 months ago

            I remember Stephen Harrap was signed as a Pro Pundit in the beginning of the season. Im guessing he never got around to writing any articles?

            I'm pretty sure he was top 5 (possibly top 3) in the HOF before the season started and was curious to hear his viewpoints. It seems like he dropped down the rankings after this season's rank, unfortunately

            1. RedLightning
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 13 Years
              2 years, 10 months ago

              He was number 2 in the Hall of Fame last year but has had a terrible season (294k) and dropped to HoF #126.
              He had previously had nine top 10k finishes in the previous ten seasons, so either he's been too busy this season or there's some other reason. I hope he's OK.

              1. Ruth_NZ
                • 9 Years
                2 years, 10 months ago

                He and his wife had their first child about a year ago. Enough said.

                1. RedLightning
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • Has Moderation Rights
                  • 13 Years
                  2 years, 10 months ago

                  Thanks, Ruth.

                  1. mixology
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • 11 Years
                    2 years, 10 months ago

                    Cheers, both

          2. Magic Zico
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 5 Years
            2 years, 10 months ago

            Thank you this is very useful!

    3. Je suis le chat
      • 10 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Thanks, at 293 rank, slipping each year alas.

      1. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Is that a good rank, I wonder?

        1. TorresMagic™
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 14 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          Depends how long you've been playing and how much effort you put in.

          1. Magic Zico
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 5 Years
            2 years, 10 months ago

            Yeah, I saw some content providers let's say Black Box, Green Arrow and Let's Talk FPL that make me thinking that I won't be able to complete with these sort of guys considering their phenomenal efforts (bar some luck). Others generated crazy amount of info via data crunching and visualisations ... so top 1000 would be incredible for an amateur like me. It's probably not possible unless I increase significantly the effort?

            1. TorresMagic™
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 14 Years
              2 years, 10 months ago

              50K every season from now on will probably get you into the top 1000.

              1028 James Truswell 52615 52524 1569 66084 1707 16358 341798 1213787

              1. Magic Zico
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 5 Years
                2 years, 10 months ago

                Probably good advice on a target in mind there to balance between the effort and expected result. It's tough though to reach better than top 1% from 8M players year in year out. Some will probably criticise, "What's the point playing if not trying to win it?" 😉

        2. @persecuted_by_mods
            2 years, 10 months ago

            293rd best fpl player? Obviously that's a good rank

            Unless I've got HOF wrong

            1. Magic Zico
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 5 Years
              2 years, 10 months ago

              Sure, of course!

          • Je suis le chat
            • 10 Years
            2 years, 10 months ago

            Had a rank of 57k this year, struggling as find it very difficult compared to earlier seasons. Took 80 points worth of hits, mostly to transfer in and out Kane and Son. Will try to avoid this messing next season.

            1. Magic Zico
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 5 Years
              2 years, 10 months ago

              Same here 57K OR 😆 was lucky the last few GWs but made huge mistakes early of the season beyond 1M rank for half of the season. Pushed too hard taking 92 pts hits. Next season minimal hits and try to be consistent in picking captaincy.

      2. jtreble
        • 7 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Why aren’t the HOF rankings calculated as percentages?

        1. TorresMagic™
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 14 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          They are, 1st every season would be 100.

      3. ChuckN
        • 14 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        1005th. I'll take it.

      4. mir
        • 14 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        186!! I'll take that every day.

      5. Runaway
        • 12 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        I wasn’t expecting to see myself in #5, what a pleasant surprise 🙂

      6. sergeblanco
        • 13 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Cannot abide by a HoF no.1 not having data for 4 of the seasons ... the whole point of HoF is that it's a long-term legendary status!

        and I'm not just saying that because I was top 2.5k in '12 and top 500 in '13 😉

        1. FPL Theorist
          • 4 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          Who is more deserving than Fabio? He has five straight top 2k finishes and counting.

          It appears only 3 other managers (Yavuz Kabuk, Mark Hurst, Mato Stanic) have even finished top 10k in all of the last 5 years, let alone top 2k.

          1. HNI
            • 10 Years
            2 years, 10 months ago

            Borges is hands down best yes. Too bad he dint punt on Mane in last gw else would have finished top 500 again

            1. sergeblanco
              • 13 Years
              2 years, 10 months ago

              It's not about deserving ... a Hall of Fame is about long-term success ... it's why Salah isn't in the Premier League HoF ... yes best player in the PL right now but not a hall of famer.

              1. HNI
                • 10 Years
                2 years, 9 months ago

                7 years is long time in football. And in 6 of them he even finished in top 5k! Cantona was best for 5 years, yet he made HOF. SO you contradict yourself.

      7. HNI
        • 10 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        My HOF rank 26. Elite :p

      8. Buck The Trent
        • 12 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Was in the first page last 2 seasons, now booted to second page at #56 !
        (average OR 9758 in last 5 seasons)

      9. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
        • 10 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        3 figure rank I will leave it at that. Bit like Fudgys multiple top 10k boast

    4. Brehmeren
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Aguero to Barca done.

      1. Philosopher's Stones
        • 3 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        As good as he was, think he's past his prime. And starting to get a lot more injury prone. Strange deal from Barca, though all they've done is take strange decisions since last summer or so tbh.

        1. Brehmeren
          • 13 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          Yep, agreed. Looks like a deal made to make Messi happy.

          1. 3 A
            • 8 Years
            2 years, 10 months ago

            I’ve seen many fans & journalists question the Agüero signing. “They say, why sign Agüero, when you sold Suarez just last season?”

            Let me debunk this:

            1: Bartomeu’s board sold Suarez, not Laporta’s. Hence, it makes no sense to say, “Barça are hypocrites”, or “Barça have realised their mistake.” The board represents the club, remember that.

            2: Suarez was one of the highest earners in world football, reportedly earning over €20M per season. Agüero, on the other hand, will not even make a fraction of that amount, a far more economically viable signing.

            Let’s not spread misinformation, eh? Cheers.

        2. 3 A
          • 8 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          They sign free quality players (Free transfer) as they have a lot of debt.

    5. Fulchester's New Centr…
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Stanley Matthews back to Stoke done

    6. Philosopher's Stones
      • 3 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Copa America now has no host(s) as of today, with Argentina also removed from the tournament, 2 weeks before it's start. Strange times.

      1. Fulchester's New Centr…
        • 6 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Couldn't we just combine it with Euros, playing double-headers

    7. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
      • 14 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      “You won’t believe these 10 weird facts about FPL’s bonus system”

    8. FPL Theorist
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      A mathematician once calculated that to maximise one's chances of picking the best spouse, one ought to reject 1/e (about 37%) of the potential candidates and then pick the first one who is better than all previous candidates. I have often wondered if this finding has any relevance to chip-playing in FPL.

      Without subjecting yourself to too much "captain hindsight", do you consider that you played your Triple Captain:

      A. Too early; should have kept it for later
      B. Too late; should have played it at an earlier time but decided to wait
      C. The right time (regardless of whether you chose the right player in that GW)

      1. Drexl Spivey
        • 5 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Too late - should have bottled up and played it for either of three double right returns.

        1. Drexl Spivey
          • 5 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          *double digit

    9. Drexl Spivey
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Does anyone else feel a little bit bad about Frank Lampard?

      I mean he really did play his bit in Chelsea's fortunes of late.

      1. Drexl Spivey
        • 5 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Guess not.

        Blimey, this place is dead.

      2. FPL Virgin
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        They simply wouldn't have won the champions league without him this season.

      3. Qaiss
        • 8 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        He also said that the Chelsea players were not capable of winning the ‘big prizes’ after they lost to Leicester just before he was sacked. So not really. Their side is quality through and through and he couldn’t get the best out of them.

    10. saurabh.06
      • 9 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Somehow I cannot see Jorginho in eurofantasy. Is he out of the tournament?

      1. bitm2007
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Website hasn't been updated since he was added to the Italy squad yesterday.

        1. saurabh.06
          • 9 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          Ok thanks

    11. GP 50
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Is here a way to find out WHEN exactly someone left a mini league?
      Pool involved and a guy is claiming he left before it started, which is not true, but unfortunately we don't have any screenshots of the table throughout the season...

      1. donnellyc
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        Filter league table by month. Should show the months he was in.

        1. GP 50
          • 6 Years
          2 years, 10 months ago

          Unfortunately, it doesn't. It only shows currently present teams' rank throughout the months.

          1. donnellyc
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            2 years, 10 months ago

            Ah, sorry That would make life too simple of course. Sorting the admin of pay leagues is like a slow death. I would jump straight to the blindfold and thumbscrew option.

            1. GP 50
              • 6 Years
              2 years, 10 months ago

              Yeah, and whenever money is not collected upfront, there's always one *********** who pretends he didn't know..

      2. TorresMagic™
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        2 years, 10 months ago

        The admin can find that out.

    12. BobB
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      Where is the info on how to renew your membership on here?

    13. HNI
      • 10 Years
      2 years, 10 months ago

      https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/phil-jones-signs-new-contract-with-manchester-united

      Phil Jones for Life 😉
      Best player ever