Fantasy Premier League is free to play and the rules have stayed broadly stable for years. This page covers the ones that actually shape your decisions: squad structure, valid formations, the budget, deadlines and how points are awarded. Squad limits below are read from the official FPL API, so they reflect the current season.

Building your squad

You pick 15 players with a starting budget of £100.0m. The squad must break down exactly like this:

• 2 goalkeepers
• 5 defenders
• 5 midfielders
• 3 forwards

You may select a maximum of 3 players from any single club. This is the rule that quietly shapes most squads — it stops you loading up on the entire defence of the best team in the league, and it forces genuine choices when one club is in devastating form.

Player prices rise and fall through the season based on transfer activity. That matters for squad value over time, which the Price Changes tool tracks daily.

Picking your starting XI

Each gameweek you name 11 starters from your 15, plus a bench of four. Only your starters score, with one exception covered under automatic substitutions below.

Any formation is legal provided it satisfies these minimums:

• Exactly 1 goalkeeper
• At least 3 defenders
• At least 2 midfielders
• At least 1 forward

That gives you real flexibility — 3-4-3, 3-5-2, 4-4-2, 4-5-1, 5-3-2 and 5-4-1 are all valid. Most managers change formation week to week based on fixtures rather than committing to one shape.

Bench order matters

Your bench is ranked 1 to 3 (the substitute goalkeeper sits separately, since only a keeper can replace a keeper). Order them by who you would most want to come on, because you do not get to choose in the moment.

Automatic substitutions

If a starter does not play at all in a gameweek, FPL automatically brings on the highest-ranked eligible bench player who did play. “Eligible” means the substitution must leave you with a legal formation — a defender will not come on if doing so would drop you below three at the back.

This happens after all matches finish, so you cannot intervene once the deadline has passed. Getting bench order right is quietly one of the cheapest sources of points in the game.

Captain and vice-captain

Every gameweek you name a captain, whose score is doubled, and a vice-captain as backup. If your captain does not play, the armband passes automatically to your vice-captain.

Captaincy is the single highest-variance decision you make each week — a doubled haul can swing a mini-league on its own. The Captain Impact tool measures exactly how much ground your picks have won or lost against your rivals, and the FPL Assistant ranks options by projected ceiling.

Deadlines

Every gameweek has a deadline, typically 90 minutes before the first match kicks off. After it passes, your team is locked: no transfers, no captain change, no formation tweak.

Deadlines move around considerably — international breaks, midweek rounds and broadcast scheduling all shift them. Missing one is the most common self-inflicted wound in FPL, because your team simply rolls over unchanged, injuries and all. The FPL Deadlines page lists all 38 in your local timezone and offers calendar sync.

How points are scored

Scoring rewards different things by position. In broad terms:

• Playing time earns points, with more for a substantial appearance than a brief cameo.
• Goals are worth most to goalkeepers and defenders, less to midfielders, least to forwards — reflecting how likely each is to score.
• Assists are worth the same regardless of position.
• Clean sheets reward goalkeepers and defenders significantly, midfielders modestly, and forwards not at all.
• Goalkeeper saves accumulate points in blocks.
• Deductions apply for yellow and red cards, own goals, missed penalties, and goals conceded by keepers and defenders.
• Bonus points — 3, 2 and 1 — go to the best performers in each match, decided by the Bonus Points System rather than by opinion.

For the exact figures per position, see the dedicated FPL scoring guide. Live points as matches unfold are on the Live Table.

Transfers

You get one free transfer each gameweek. Unused free transfers can be banked up to a limit, and transfers beyond your free allocation cost points. Because this interacts heavily with chips and price changes, it has its own page: how FPL transfers work.

Chips

Chips are one-off boosts — Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain — and the current season provides two of each, split across the two halves of the campaign. Full detail is on the FPL chips guide.

Leagues

Everyone is entered automatically into the global Overall league and into leagues for their chosen club, region and starting gameweek. The competitive heart of the game, though, is private mini-leagues among people you know.

You join one with a code from whoever created it. A single private league holds up to 30 managers. Classic scoring — cumulative points, highest total wins — is the standard format; head-to-head leagues pair managers against each other each week instead.

FPL360 is built primarily around classic mini-leagues: the League Tracker for live standings, and the Mini-League Roast for a shareable weekly report on who blundered.

Frequently asked questions

Can I change my team after the deadline?

No. Everything locks at the deadline and stays locked until the gameweek’s matches are complete. This is why setting your team early, then revisiting before the deadline for late team news, is the safer habit.

What happens if I forget to set my team?

Your previous gameweek’s team carries over exactly as it was, including any injured or suspended players. Automatic substitutions still apply, so you will not field fewer than eleven, but you will not have addressed anything.

Do bench players score?

Not normally — only your eleven starters count, unless an automatic substitution brings a bench player on. The exception is the Bench Boost chip, which counts all fifteen for that gameweek.

Can I have more than three players from one club?

No. The three-per-club cap is enforced at all times, including when using a Wildcard or Free Hit.

Is Fantasy Premier League free?

Yes. The official game is free to play, and every tool on FPL360 is free and requires no FPL password.