Which Gaffer game should you play? Formats, competitions, solo or groups, free or paid

Every Gaffer game scores the same thing: a lineup of real footballers you pick, earning points from what they do in real matches. What changes between games is how long they run, how many players you pick, how a manager goes out, and whether you play alone or as a group. There are four formats, two competitions open for new free games, and a choice between a free league and one with an entry fee where paid entry is available. This page is the map: read it once, then pick the game that fits your group and the time you have.

The four formats

Season-long. The classic fantasy league. Build a squad and compete across the season. Pick a squad of footballers. Their performances in real matches earn your points. Choose your lineup and make transfers between rounds of matches. A custom league lets you change the squad size, the player budget, how footballers earn points and which rounds the game covers; everyone plays by the same rules and the highest total lineup score wins.

Weekly Cup. One round. A small squad. A fresh competition every time. Pick five footballers for one gameweek: a round of matches. Your players earn points from their performances in those matches. It is the quickest way to learn the scoring, and the easiest game to run again next round.

Elimination. Survive each round to stay in. Miss the cut and you are out. Pick a lineup of footballers for each round of matches. The managers who survive the most rounds finish highest.

Groups. Team up with other managers and compete as a group. Managers play in groups, and each manager picks their own lineup of footballers. Group scores add up across rounds. The group with the most points wins.

Which competitions you can play

New free games are open for the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League through the 2026/27 season, plus Major League Soccer during its regular season. MLS games open when the builder has MLS rounds to choose; the last round of the 2026 regular season was on 7 November 2026. In the Premier League, Classic uses the familiar 15-player, £100m format with prices that mirror the verified FPL dataset; Gaffer Bonus uses its own formula, and lineups lock 15 minutes after the official FPL deadline, so you can set both teams on the same morning. Read the published Classic rules before your first league. In the Champions League, UEFA Fantasy owns the player pool, positions and prices, and a league can start from any upcoming matchday, so a locked league elsewhere never closes a new one.

Your official FPL or UEFA Fantasy team stays separate. A Gaffer league has its own squads and its own table, which is also why you can play a different squad in every Gaffer league you join: see Can you have two FPL teams?

Solo or as a group

Most leagues are solo: each manager picks a squad and the table ranks managers. Groups is the team version: managers play in groups, each manager still picks their own lineup, and each round the best member scores count toward the group score; you choose how many. Group scores add up across rounds and the group with the most points wins. It suits a league that is really three or four friend groups, an office against another office, or a creator’s community split into teams.

Free or with an entry fee

You can create a free Gaffer game for the Premier League or the Champions League today: one invite link, every member builds a squad, the table decides, and nobody pays anything. A league with an entry fee works the same way on the pitch; what changes is the money. Where paid entry is available, a Season league can carry an entry fee; the Weekly Cup and Elimination are free. Each entry, minus the 5% service fee, is paid at the moment of joining into the league’s own vault, the fee and the prize split are shown before anyone pays, the prize pool locks when the league locks, and the winners are paid automatically once Gaffer has confirmed the final table. Nobody holds the prize pool, not the commissioner and not Gaffer, and the commissioner can never move it. Leaving before the lock returns the entry minus the 5% service fee; after the lock a member cannot leave with a refund.

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. For the checks to run before paying into any league, see FPL money leagues.

How a league runs, start to finish

1. Create or join. Create a game and choose the competition, the format and the upcoming rounds it covers, or join one from the invite link your commissioner sent or from the public leagues list, where the rules and any prize split are shown first.
2. Pick your squad before the lock. Every league shows its lock time. In the Premier League that is 15 minutes after the official FPL deadline; the deadline pages list every gameweek.
3. Points as the matches are played. Live totals are provisional until the data provider marks each match complete and the bonus is reconciled.
4. The table decides. A Season league ranks total points, a cup ranks one round, Elimination ranks rounds survived, Groups ranks group totals.
5. Payout, where there is a prize pool. Gaffer confirms the final table and the winners are paid automatically from the league’s own vault, with no commissioner in between.

Where to start

• First time on Gaffer, or a casual group: a Weekly Cup for the next gameweek. Five footballers, one round, done in a weekend.
• The group chat that argues about football all year: a Season league over the whole season; see prize ideas.
• A cut every week, free: Elimination, with the lowest score going out each round.
• Several friend groups or communities: Groups, with each group’s best scores counting.
• Coming from NFL fantasy: How fantasy soccer works explains the salary-cap style of picking before you choose a format.