All images courtesy of English Fantasy Football
Hey there Sports Talkers, this is my first foray into your community and I wanted to share with you one of my favorite fantasy leagues -- English Fantasy Football (EFF)! Instead of the typical salary cap leagues out there, this league offers a draft at the start of the season, giving managers exclusive ownership rights to the players they draft.
I've been in this fantasy league for 12 years. I won promotion the first year I joined, which was also the first year that EFF had a second division, and I've maintained my status in the Premier League of EFF ever since. That's because each of our 10-team leagues relegates the bottom two teams and promotes the top two teams.
This is an absolute game-changer for competition during the EFF season since the threat of relegation means that managers without a chance at winning the league title still need to stay engaged throughout the season to ensure their team stays up.
In addition to the 18-game league season where we play each other team twice (home and away just like the big boys), we also have an EFF European Cup exclusive to each individual league and an EFF FA Cup that includes all the teams from all of the leagues together. That means there are three different pots to compete for and win through our fantasy season!
Every year I look forward to EFF draft day, one of my favorite days on my sporting calendar. Those that are local to the home base of EFF (Austin, TX) can enjoy the banter of drafting in person typically hosted at a neighborhood pub, but now with our functional website, the live draft happens with people able to participate remotely from anywhere in the world.
Nothing beats the excitement and friendly ribbing that comes from a live in-person draft, but at least in recent years, we've incorporated a video conference call on draft day so that the people out of state can still take part in all the banter.
So who do you think came out on top in the EFF Premier League draft?
I wasn't in love with my draft -- King's Road Club Bangers -- but felt like I was in the top half of rosters. I was forced to draft out of the 2nd position in a snaking draft, so I had to wait a long time after my picks in the odd rounds.
I wasn't able to secure a "premium" goalkeeper and I missed out on the Haaland lottery as well. It was complete stubbornness on my part to take Ollie Watkins over Mo Salah with the 2nd overall pick, but the Liverpool attacking front is crowded and it is not a side I care to root for (although I did take a flier on Thiago with the second to last pick of the draft). Will I be punished by this decision? Only time will tell.
We got off to a late start this year, so EPL Week 8 was the 1st week of the EFF league season. And wouldn't you know it, King's Road Club Bangers not only won, but we put up the high score of the week to go top of the table!
EFF Week 2 lines up with EPL Week 9, and planning the roster after an international break is always a bit of a headache. One has to monitor injuries, playing time, and flight arrivals for players who traveled to participate with their national teams. I also have a few injury concerns limiting the amount of flexibility I have with my gameday roster.
I always prefer to choose a 3-4-3 formation if possible, but I decided to hold onto the injured Awoniyi on my bench instead of dropping him for a healthy forward with the likes Michail Antonio or Matheus Cunha being the top available players at that position in my eyes. That being said, I was priced into starting a 3-5-2 formation.
I did make one roster move, dropping Zaniolo of Aston Villa, who was not getting much playing time, for Dominguez of Nottingham Forest, who has been impressive in his first three outings and has a soft matchup against Luton Town at home.
In my mind, the few decisions I had to make were:
- choosing a starting keeper,
- choosing from Aguerd or James for my defensive substitute,
- choosing which of my six healthy midfielders would line up as a substitute instead of a starter.
I decided to go with Jose Sa instead of Emi Martinez mostly due to the grind of international travel for the Argentinian, despite my opponent having a Villa defender and midfielder. Similarly, I decided to go with James on my bench over Aguerd, who was busy over the break playing for Morocco. Finally, in the midfield, I decided to put Enzo on the bench for the combination of his grueling international break and a tough matchup against Arsenal.
With just a few hours left until kick-off of the early match between Liverpool and Everton, this is what our head-to-head lineups look like entering Week 2 of EFF league competition:
Thanks to those making it to the end of my first article here in the Sports Talk Social community. Although EFF is now closed for new registrations this season, my hope is that people who enjoy this fantasy footie content will follow along with me this term and consider joining the EFF for 2024!
Up the Bangers! #carefree ⚽️