Fantasy sports may have a tradition going back more than 50 years but the advancement of web technology has made it all the more compelling. It even makes games like Swansea v Wigan seem important.
By Darragh Harkin
The English Premier League is regarded by many people as the greatest football league in the world and to be a manager in that league can be a daunting task. Transfer policies, new rules and regulations with each passing season and the constant commentary from loud mouths mean it’s a job for only the fearless. Now, I’m not talking about the likes of Andre Villas Boas, Kenny Dalglish, Arsene Wenger or even Sir Alex Ferguson. Instead it’s men like Kevin Mytton and Mat Knight whose managerial prowess have impressed me so far this season.
These two gentlemen are managers currently at the top of their game, excelling in a league of over two million as opposed to that of a mere 20. They play Fantasy Football on fantasy.premierleague.com and after one week they sit on top of the ladder smiling down at the rest of us. These smiles may not last though as should either of them forget to change their team or miss a few games weeks they will slip away into obscurity.
Aljosa Asanovic helped my cause greatly, but a chance taken on Paulo Futre proved to be an ineffective gamble
At least the likes of Steve Kean and Neil Warnock will get the chop and a nice remuneration package should they do badly; Fantasy Football is not as kind. It may be a game created around a sport but by no means is it child’s play as it will take you on a ride with more highs and lows than the life of an elevator operator.
Based around the management of a selection of players and the different ways they accumulate points, the game although simple in theory has come a long way since its humble beginnings. The origins of Fantasy Football or Fantasy Sport go as far back as America in the mid nineteen fifties, when the founder Wilfred Winkenbach created a Fantasy golf game. From there it spread to baseball, basketball, American football, hockey and almost anywhere that men had a bit of spare time and a slight sporting interest. Fantasy Road Bowls may be closer than you think.
Fast forward a few decades to the summer of 1996. The European Football Championships were being held in England and my love for Fantasy Football was just about to begin. Once an older friend explained the basics of the game and pointed me in the right direction there would be no holding me back. Well, no holding me back in terms of my enthusiasm. But my skill levels were quite lacking.
I picked a team based on my limited knowledge of international football and hoped for the best. A dismal penultimate placed finish in a league of 12 would have put a better man off but I carried on and turned to football I was more familiar with. That was of course the FA Premier League and the then house-hold names of Cantona, Shearer and Klinnsman.
These top brass players coupled with bargain buys such as Craig Burley, Igor Stimac and his fellow countryman Aljosa Asanovic helped my cause greatly, but a chance taken on Paulo Futre proved to be an ineffective gamble. Disheartened but not beaten by a fourth placed spot in a private league of four, my attention turned to the World Cup of 1998.
The venue was France, the winner France and the most valuable player a French man. Thanks in large part to that French man being Zinedine Zidane a young Irishman picked up a crisp fifty-pound note. Yes, the French had “Zizou” to thank for the World Cup trophy but I had him to thank for my new football boots.
Though I sat in third place in a league of nine as the final game kicked off, two headed goals from Zidane allowed me to steal a first place finish that some would still argue I didn’t deserve. This was in large part down to a flawed bonus scheme and a primitive point scoring system but I was still chuffed with the win. The fantasy football that is played today is far more detailed while still holding the basics close to its heart.
Some days you will love the game and some you will hate it but it can never be called boring
The most popular way to play these days is on Fantasy Premier League. It’s free to play, has over two million competitors worldwide and bases it scoring system around EA Sports’ official match stats. No more than three players from any one team can be selected, with budgetary constraints and a fixed amount of players combining to limit you from having a “dream team”. Two goals in a big game by a talented Frenchman won’t save my season any more. Instead you try your best to predict how the season will pan out and which players you should have in your team at different periods.
A tweak here, a cheap biblical sounding Wigan midfielder there, a bargain in the form of Wes Brown and the ever competitive albeit pricey Robin Van Persie may give you a team worth talking about. Thanks to the growth of technology Fantasy Football is now simple and very easy to use. Whereas before a lot of the fun was taken out of the game by having to calculate your score manually and mailing in your team changes, now it can all be done electronically. (Yes, mailing or phoning in your team changes actually used to happen.)
Some days you will love the game and some you will hate it but it can never be called boring. I was fortunate enough to lead a league of 20 fine young football fans from August all the way through to the final day of 2007-2008 season, when my Fantasy Football world unravelled cruelly. I was beaten to the title in my own private league due to a hat-trick scored by the Brazilian Afonso Alves. Remember him? Nope, not many people do.
Somehow the victor was brave enough to make a Middlesbrough forward his captain when point-scoring was at a premium. Was this a move of genius or insanity? I am not sure, but it stole the title away from me and calls of choke have surrounded my Fantasy Football career ever since. Still, even this capitulation will not put me off as Fantasy Football is too good to miss out on. It even makes a game between Swansea and Wigan a little bit interesting as who knows what miracles big Danny Graham could pull off for the Swans.
Every tool that you need to play the game is on the computer screen or phone in front of you, and on that screen men like Grant Holt and Shane Long are just as needed as the likes of Luis Suarez and Wayne Rooney. Any one of these players could be your hero on a certain day or they could be on the sharp end of a hissy fit should they let you down.
That’s Fantasy Football, a game inside a sport that can be taken as seriously as the sport itself. Now all you have to do is pick the right team, something you no doubt know is much easier said than done.
Good luck. And for heaven’s sake put Vincent Kompany in your team, you will not regret it.
Have you taken your place in the super-fantastic Champion J-League here on JOE? We have well over 400 participants and after last week’s Fantasy Premier League site disaster, we’ve extended our deadline for entry until 11.30am today (Saturday). Email fantasyfootball@joe.ie before then to receive the code.
Tuesdays and Fridays are Fantasy Football days on JOE, with our review of all the scoring in the J-League and insider tips for the coming weekend.
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