Fantasy Football League 2026/27: Introduction & Entry form

Welcome to the fourth season of Fantasy Football League. It will cost you only £5 to enter and that is for the whole of the 2026/27 season. The entry deadline will be midnight on Monday, August 31.

Fantasy Football League is based on the very successful Fantasy Non-League competition that I have run in The Non-League Paper for over 20 years.

You will be able to view your team’s progress throughout the season in The Football League Paper and on its website, the leaguepaper.com, and on my website with weekly updates on either Saturday evening or Sunday morning. My website can be found at https://iwfantasyfootball. yolasite.com/

TWO WAYS TO PAY:

ENTER AND PAY VIA CHEQUE/ DOWNLOAD FORM

ENTER AND PAY ONLINE

Pay £5 to enter and then you will get the link to the online form to enter.

Once again, the EARLY ENTRY BONUS will be in play. Those of you who play the Fantasy Non-League competition will be very familiar with this concept.

So, how does the Early Entry Bonus work? Well, if you are brave enough to enter the competition before NOON on Saturday, August 8, you will receive an EARLY ENTRY BONUS of 500 points.

The game starts on that Saturday, and all players start accumulating points from that Saturday whether they have entered before the start of the season or just before the deadline on August 31. Hence, the 500pts if you enter before a ball is kicked.

I still get emails and calls from Fantasy Non-League players commenting on the fact that we allow people to enter the competition nearly four weeks into the season. The reason for this is that The Football League Paper does not appear until mid-August.

Ideally, it would be better to start the competition before the season starts but if we did, we would miss a lot of possible players.

My normal answer to everyone that asks this question? Everyone can either put their entry in before the season starts and gain an extra 500pts or before the deadline at the end of August.

In fact, I know that many players in Fantasy Non-League enter at least two teams – one before the season starts and one before the August 31 deadline when they have had a chance to study the form of the first three weeks or so of the season.

There will be Manager of the Month At the end of the season there will be cash prizes for the top three places and a prize, which is personally my favourite, for finishing in bottom spot, so why not enter two teams – one to win it and one to lose it? I have discovered in Fantasy Non-League that it is in fact harder to finish bottom than it is to finish in first place!

Every season I like to make a few changes to the competition and this year is no different. This season there will be just two changes, so please make sure to take note of them:

The first change is to do with how you select your teams on the entry forms. For those of you who are veteran FNL players and have been with me from the start, you will remember that the leagues used to be split into sections. I have decided to bring this back. So, each league will be split into four sections, and you will need to pick one team only from each section.

The second change is quite controversial and many of you may be annoyed with me, but it is a decision I have been contemplating for a few seasons now. I have decided to remove the substitutions from the game. So, the choices you make in August will be with you for the whole 2026/27 season. This will mean you will really need to study your teams, and I know many of you do this anyway. (The only way you will be able to change a team is if,

2026-27 awards throughout the season. The top unfortunately, any team folds and leaves a three teams and the bottom team each month will receive a cash prize. In total, there will be eight Manager of the Month awards – the first will be in September and the last in April.

league. If this does happen I will inform you of the teams that are available to replace the lost team).

THE RULES FOR FFL 2026/27

(Please read these very carefully). You will need to choose 4 teams from each of the six leagues. As stated earlier, each of the leagues have been split into 4 sections and you must pick 1 team from each section. (This will give you a total of 24 teams). Then you will need to nominate your 5 FFL JOKER TEAMS from the 24 teams you have already picked. Those five teams will mean that you will receive double points throughout the season. That will include all bonuses awarded during the season. It will also include the End of Season bonuses. Then you will need to pick your SUPER JOKER, which must be 1 of your original 5 jokers. This will mean that you will receive treble points for that team. The SUPER JOKER could well be key to you either finishing top or bottom so pick wisely. (On the entry form in the paper, please put a tick against each of your chosen teams. A ‘J’ instead of the tick if you also want that team to be one of your jokers and ‘SJ’ against the team that you want as a Super Joker).

POINTS ALLOCATION IN ALL SIX LEAGUES. (Note: There are some changes from last season).

LEAGUE & CUP GAMES: Home win = 10pts + goals Away win = 20pts + goals

MY FANTASY WEBSITE – FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE 2026/27 iwfantasyfootball.yolasite.com

Home Draw = 2pt + goals Away Draw = 4pts + goals

Home Defeat = -10pts Away defeat = -5pts

Every goal scored = 1pt (This counts if your team wins, draws or loses).

Every goal conceded = -1pt. (Win & Defeat only)

Goal Bonus Points = 5pts (This is awarded if your teams score 4 or more goals).

Goal Bonus Points = 5pts (This is awarded if your teams score 8 or more goals).

Clean Sheet Bonus = 5pts (This is awarded for both wins and 0-0 draws).

Concede 4 goals = -5pts (This does not apply to drawn games).

Concede 8 goals = -5pts (This does not apply to drawn games).

(Two-legged ties count as two separate games. Cup replays that go to penalties: The penalties are only used to decide the winner. No points are awarded for the penalties scored).

BONUS POINTS FOR REACHING VARIOUS ROUNDS IN EACH CUP COMPETITION

At the third round proper of the FA Cup, not only will National League teams get the bonus so will League One and

Two teams. For reaching the quarter-finals and each round beyond in all the other cup competitions that are involved in the competition which are listed below = 25pts.

LEAGUE LEADERS & BOTTOM

CLUB BONUS: At the end of each month up to and including April, the top three teams leading each of the six leagues will be awarded 40pts, 20pts & 10pts respectively. The bottom three teams of the six leagues will be awarded -40pts, -20pts & -10pts respectively. (Please remember, and this is important, these bonus points will only count towards the main FFL season total and not the Manager of the Month points).

MANAGER OF THE MONTH BONUS

POINTS. Each month the best and worst team in each of the six leagues will be awarded 40, 20 & 10pts and -40, -20 & -10pts respectively. (These bonus points only count in the Manager of the Month calculations).

PLAY-OFF GAMES: The actual Play-Off games themselves will be awarded points as if they were league games. The Play-Off Final winners will be awarded 150pts for gaining promotion. The defeated team in each play-off final will be awarded 50pts. (All these points will be awarded at the end of the season).

END OF SEASON BONUS POINTS: (THESE POINTS WILL BE AWARD-ED AT THE END OF THE FFL SEASON IN MAY). – All League Champions will receive 250pts for winning their respective leagues.

Remember, if your FFL Joker team get these bonuses, they will be doubled. For example, a league champion picked in August at the start of the FFL Season will win you 500pts. Also, if your Super Joker is a league champion that team will gain you 750pts.

The following Leagues and Cup competitions will be involved in this season’s Fantasy Football League:

FA Cup, EFL Cup & EFL Trophy NATIONAL LEAGUE

FA Cup and FA Trophy. NATIONAL NORTH

FA Cup and FA Trophy. NATIONAL SOUTH

FA Cup and FA Trophy.

Please note, the National League Cup is not included in the competition.

Entry this season will be the same as normal – either via The Non-League Paper (from July)/The Football League Paper (from mid-August) or online via the FFL website. If you can enter online I would suggest you do as this is the easiest way.

FFL HELPDESK – 07909993854 EMAIL – [email protected] My Fantasy Website (iwfantasyfootball.yolasite.com)