Fantasy League: The Summer Round-Up

Right before we shut up shop for the 2025/26 season, I warned the team at Fantasy League Towers that it was going to be a bonkers busy summer. Well, it really was/is.

The World Cup kicked off to what I’ll politely call a lukewarm reception from me personally — the group stages and expanded format just didn’t spark joy. Then the knockouts arrived and suddenly I remembered why I like football. Scotland exited in heartbreaking fashion (not why I love football), and England did what England does best: parked the bus, left the engine running, and had a nap in it.

New Season, Who Dis

While the football was doing its thing, FL HQ was quietly plotting the 26/27 season behind the scenes like a fantasy football deep state. Step one: close the books on last season. Step two: the annual bloodbath that is the player position review — always heated, always entertaining, and always ultimately settled by cold, hard stats. This year’s notable reshuffles:

  • Gomez: FB → CB
  • Calafiori: CB → FB
  • Martinelli: STR → MID
  • Fernandez: DM → MID
  • Ngumoha: STR → MID

Rule Changes (or: The Sound of Silence)

We also do our annual rules audit, and for 2026/27 the verdict is… nothing’s changing. The penalty assist lives to fight another season, as does the 75-minutes-plus-clean-sheet bonus.

We’re still eyeing up an assist rule for direct free kicks, but it turns out defining “direct free kick” is basically a philosophical minefield once you factor in deflections, sneaky nudges from attackers, and defenders getting in the way. So for now, it remains firmly in the “great idea, nightmare to implement” pile.

Meet the (Same) Team

In the interest of not fixing what isn’t broken, Fred and Graham remain on support duty, I (Neil) am still steering the ship, and founder Andrew continues to lurk in the background plotting business development world domination — something we’re genuinely leaning into over the next three years. Small team, yes, but between us we’ve clocked up over 90 years of combined Fantasy League gameplay, so there isn’t a query you can throw at us that we haven’t already answered!

A Homepage Without Haaland

The Haaland homepage has been retired (RIP), replaced with a shiny new design courtesy of an agency who listened.
The thinking: our existing players know the game inside out, but newcomers need it explained like humans, not football hieroglyphics. More to come as pre-season rolls on. One nice perk already live — you can grab the player list without even logging in: fantasyleague.com/auction-guide

The App That Wasn’t

We’ve decided not to bring back the app this season in its current form.
Good news: if you save fantasyleague.com to your phone’s home screen, you basically get the app anyway, minus the part where we have to constantly renegotiate with Apple. We’re exploring better long-term options rather than dancing to Cupertino’s tune forever. Watch this space.

Socials: A Rebrand of Vibes

We’ll still be around on the major platforms, but let’s be honest — our managers aren’t exactly glued to X or Instagram. Facebook, maybe. So we’re rethinking our approach and putting more focus on explaining what actually makes this game special: fantasyleague.com/how-it-works

Spread the Word

We still reckon Fantasy League has the best community in fantasy football, full stop. If you can help us shout about it, we’d be properly grateful.

CALM:

For years, players have told us they love the game — 75% of leagues have been running for 15+ years. But lately we’ve heard about something running just as long alongside it: leagues quietly becoming the glue that holds friendship groups together through marriage, kids, divorce, and loss. Turns out Fantasy League has been the excuse people needed to stay in touch, long after the football chat fades into the background.

After 35 seasons, it felt like the right time to recognise that side of the game properly — so we’ve partnered with CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). Yes, they’re known for suicide prevention work, but really their mission is about pushing for a life that’s a little less miserable, for everyone. This partnership is about championing the value of a good chat and building awareness of what CALM does. Details below if you or your league want to get involved: fantasyleague.com/charity

As ever, huge thanks for being part of Fantasy League — we’ll keep doing our best to make it the best game around.

Cheers, Neil, Fred, Graham and Andrew.