FPL mini league rules: what the official game decides, and the rules your league has to write itself

An FPL mini league runs on two sets of rules. The official game sets the scoring: a classic league ranks teams on total points, a head-to-head league gives three points for beating that gameweek's opponent and one for a draw, and a tie goes to the team with fewer transfers in classic or more total points in head-to-head. The rest is up to your group: who can join and until when, any entry fee, the prize split, what happens when two managers tie for a prize, and who settles a dispute. Write those down before the first deadline.

Classic or head-to-head

You do not have to choose. One team can play in up to 30 private leagues, so a group can run a classic league for the season and a head-to-head league beside it, where the table can look different because each week you only have to beat one opponent. Every league also gets its own cup, which starts later in the season.

How ties are decided

The official FAQ sets a different tie-break for each kind of competition:

• Classic league. The team that has made the fewest transfers ranks higher; transfers made with a Wildcard or Free Hit do not count. Level on transfers too, and the teams share the place.
• Head-to-head league. The team with the most total points ranks higher. If that is level as well, they share the place.
• Cup tie. Most goals scored in the gameweek, then fewest goals conceded in the gameweek, then a virtual coin toss.

A shared place works for a table, not for a prize. The Premier League's own answer is that a mini league decides for itself whether to allow only one winner and how to pick them, so write your tie rule down: tied places share the tied prizes equally, or the official order decides and a share settles anything still level. The prize ideas guide has payout splits for every league size.

Joining a mini league late

A classic league stays open until its admin closes it, so a friend can still join in October. A manager who joins late keeps every point their team has scored since the league's starting gameweek, while a team registered after the start has nothing for the gameweeks it missed. A head-to-head league locks once its fixtures are generated, and after that nobody joins or leaves. If your group forms mid-season, create a new league and set it to start scoring from the next gameweek, so everyone starts level.

Starting a second-half mini league from Gameweek 20

Gameweek 20 is a natural restart. The official game gives every manager two of each chip, one for use before the end of Gameweek 19 and the other from Gameweek 20 onwards, so the second half begins with everyone holding a fresh set. A group whose first-half table is settled by Christmas can run a second table from the turn of the year in one of two ways: in the official game, create a new classic league and set its scoring to start from Gameweek 20, so points before it do not count; or start a separate game for the second half, which on Gaffer means a free league created in the week before Gameweek 20 that scores from that round, with its own squads and its own table. Either way, agree the prize for the second table before Gameweek 20, and keep the first table’s prize separate.

What the league admin can and cannot do

• Invite. Share the league code or the invite link. Everyone needs an FPL team before they can join, and a new team appears in the table at the next points update.
• Close it. Only a classic league can be closed to new entries: Leagues & Cups, select the league, then Administer. It stays closed until the admin reopens it.
• Remove a team. The admin can remove a team from the league. A removed manager can try to rejoin with the code, so close the league as well if the removal should stick. A head-to-head league is locked once its fixtures are generated, and after that nobody joins or leaves.
• Renew it. Next season the admin of a classic league can renew it from the Leagues tab. A head-to-head league has to be created again each season.
• Not the scoring. The points and the tie-breaks are the game's, the same in every league. The official game is free to play and has no entry fee or prize pool for a private league.

The eight rules to write down before the first deadline

Everything the official game leaves open fits in one pinned message. Copy these into the group chat and fill in the blanks:

1. Format and start. Classic, head-to-head or both, and the gameweek it starts scoring from.
2. Joining. Open until which gameweek, and whether a late joiner can win a prize. Close the league after that.
3. Entry fee and payment deadline, if there is one: paid by the first deadline, or the manager plays for the table only.
4. The prize split, including any monthly or cup prize. The prize split calculator gives the exact amount for each place.
5. Ties for a prize. Tied places share the tied prizes equally, or the official tie-break decides. Pick one now, not in May.
6. One team per person. The official rule already says so; a second account for a second squad is out.
7. Dropouts. A manager who stops picking a team stays in the table, and any entry they paid stays in the prize pool.
8. Disputes and changes. Who decides anything these rules do not cover (the admin or a vote), and no rule changes after the first deadline.

Rules a Gaffer league enforces for you

Gaffer is a separate fantasy game, free to create today for the Premier League and the Champions League, where several of these rules are part of the league itself rather than a pinned message.

• Joining closes at the first deadline. Anyone with the invite link can join until the league starts; after that the field is fixed, so there is no late-joiner rule to argue about.
• One entry per account. A league takes one team per account, the Gaffer terms allow one account per person, and every league has its own squad, separate from the other leagues a member plays.
• Entry fees, where paid entry is available. The fee and the prize split are shown before anyone pays. A 5% service fee comes off each entry. The rest, the prize pool, is paid at the moment of joining into the league's own vault: nobody holds it, not the commissioner and not Gaffer, and the final table pays the winners automatically. Leaving before the league locks returns the entry minus the service fee; after the lock there are no refunds. Paid entry is for players 18 and over (or the age of majority where you live, if higher) in supported locations. It is not available in some US states and Canadian provinces or in a short list of countries, including those under comprehensive sanctions; the terms list them, and the location check runs when you create or join a paid league.