Some of you who are more active on Twitter may have seen that there is a new game that has been introduced to the FPL community: ChampMan FPL. FFG contributors Joseph Crilley and Alex Ball (with a helping hand from VionylRichie) have been participating and here is Joseph to provide an explanation for what the game is all about.
An FFGeek introduction to ChampMan FPL by Joseph Crilley
You can follow Joe on twitter here
The game is normal FPL with a heavy dollop of nostalgia, a smattering of more chaos and a great community which brings it all together. Let’s take each of those points one at a time:
FPL Similarity
Essentially there is a simulated season of the 2001/02 version of the Championship Manager video game being run with no human input. Then there is a fantasy game consisting of around 1500 participants running alongside in the same manner as FPL with just a couple of differences. Managers are still required to select a 15-man squad from a budget of £100mil and then send out a starting XI in a permitted formation for each gameweek along with a specified captain. The main differences are that there are no price changes (great for planning ahead), the bonus points are based off the in-game player ratings and your team is submitted via a google spreadsheet. Aside from that, things are much the same including the scoring system, the chips and the swings in emotion!
The Nostalgia
As expected from a game which is almost 20 years old, there is plenty of chance for reminiscing as shown by some of these highlights from the opening 16 gameweeks:
– Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry are the most expensive players at 13.0mil with the former leading the goal scoring charts
– Middlesborough are the surprise package, flying high in 2nd place, led by Allan ‘The Postman’ Johnston who seems to deliver every week
– In somewhat less surprising news, Michael Owen has been injured for the entire season thus far
– Meanwhile, it’s a tie at the top of the assist charts between David Beckham, Dennis Wise and Tugay
– Wonderkid Joe Cole has been making his mark at West Ham and is now well-established in the first team set-up
– Newcastle are languishing in the relegation with their hopes pinned on the return to fitness of future pundit Alan Shearer
– And finally, Spurs record signing Sergei Rebrov is banging in the goals with a hat-trick in the most recent gameweek (shame he couldn’t do that when he actually played for us!)
Additional Chaos
So far this season, there has already been five gameweeks with at least one team blanking and three gameweeks where there has been a double for at least one team. Often the announcements come at short notice with the best example being in unlucky-for-some GW13. This week saw Man Utd and Middlesbrough, the top two teams in the league, without a game; news that only came to light after the conclusion of GW12. With Henry also suspended, this led to the most captained player being Shearer who then proceeded to limp off injured during the first half! This chain of events sums up the madness of ChampManFPL where red cards, injuries and early substitutions are the norm.
Great Community
It’s not an understatement to say that the creators of this game have done a sensational job in turning a bright idea into something brilliant. The official Twitter account provides great match day commentary while being sure to keep its followers well informed at all times. Their main source for this is a weekly stream on Sunday night where they provide injury updates, match reports and fixture information amongst other things. Overall, the creators are doing great work to offer some entertainment during these difficult times and help to fill that FPL void.
And that’s about all you need to know about the Champman game! Just one last point – the official account recently announced that they will be opening the league up for new participants for the second half of the season. So if this article has piqued your interest, be sure to keep your eye out for further updates. Alex, Richie and I will look to provide regular updates on how our teams are performing, at least while there is no regular FPL!
You can follow Joe on twitter here
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Also if you’re looking for new challenges there’s also the FFGeek fantasy Bundesliga league
