The Weekly Cup: fantasy football for one gameweek, five footballers, a fresh competition every round

Most fantasy football asks for a nine-month commitment before anyone wins anything. The Weekly Cup is the opposite: One round. A small squad. A fresh competition every time. Pick five footballers for one gameweek, the highest score wins, then start another for the next round. It suits the group that wants something to argue about this weekend, a first try before a season league, and the chat that forms on a Friday and wants a result by Monday. This page covers the rules, how to run a cup every round, who it suits and what it costs, which today is nothing.

The rules

• Five footballers, five clubs. Pick five footballers for one gameweek: a round of matches. No two from the same club, so a cup is never one team’s midfield.
• A small budget. £35m in a Premier League cup, with prices that mirror the verified FPL dataset; £40m in a Champions League cup, from the UEFA Fantasy pool. The budget is the puzzle: one star and four finds, or five solid picks.
• A shape the creator sets. The five places are split across goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward; the standard shape is one goalkeeper, one defender, two midfielders and one forward, and the creator can change the split.
• Scoring. Your players earn points from their performances in those matches. In the Premier League a cup scores the same points as Gaffer Classic unless the creator picks a simpler preset; a Champions League cup uses the Champions League scoring shown in its rules. The Classic rules list every Classic threshold.
• One round. The cup covers one gameweek or one matchday. In the Premier League, lineups lock 15 minutes after the official FPL deadline; the deadline pages list every gameweek, and each cup shows its own lock time.
• The highest lineup score wins. The highest lineup score wins. Start another cup for the next round.

How to run a cup every round

1. Create it. Pick Weekly Cup in the game picker, choose the Premier League or the Champions League, and choose the next round. It takes a minute.
2. Share one link. Everyone who follows it creates an account and picks five footballers. Nothing to install.
3. Lock, then watch. Live totals show during the matches and are provisional until the data provider marks each match complete and the bonus is reconciled.
4. Crown the winner, start the next one. The table is final when the round is final. Create the next cup for the next gameweek and send the link again; a cup a week gives a casual group a season of its own.

Who it suits

• First-timers. Five picks and one weekend teach the scoring faster than a 15-player squad and a transfer plan.
• Casual groups. Nobody has to keep up for nine months; miss a week and join the next cup.
• Creators and communities. One show, one cup: a cup for every episode, stream or newsletter, with the same link every time.
• Champions League nights. A cup per matchday, from the UEFA Fantasy pool, for the group that watches the midweek games together.
• Season-league managers who want a side game. Run a cup alongside the Season league for the rounds your group cares about most.

What it costs

Weekly Cups are free to create today, for the Premier League and the Champions League, and a free league needs no deposit. You can create a free Gaffer game in a minute from the game picker. Where paid entry is available, a Season league can carry an entry fee and a prize split shown before anyone joins; the Weekly Cup is free.

Weekly Cup or Season league?

A Season league ranks total points across the season, with transfers between rounds and a captain who scores double; it rewards planning over months. A Weekly Cup ranks one round with five picks and no transfers; it rewards reading one weekend well. Many groups run both: the Season league is the table that matters, the cup is the weekend argument. Gaffer games explained sets the four formats side by side, and Elimination is the one where managers go out round by round. The official game stays separate: a Gaffer cup has its own five picks, so you set your official team and your cup on the same morning.