The new Barclays WSL and WSL2 Fantasy game has officially launched. It gives fans of the game the opportunity to build a team from a player pool consisting of the 26 teams across the two leagues – and more importantly, giving them a new reason to follow both leagues intensively.
Available on the WSL Football app and via the WSL Football website, the game has been developed after consultation with thousands of fans. Three themes were important throughout the consultation: community, accessibility and a game that keeps fans coming back every week.
The game differs from traditional fantasy games on some levels, and it remains to be seen how fans will react to these changes.
One game, two leagues
For the first time, players from both the Barclays WSL and WSL2 are combined into one pool. Fantasy managers can build a squad consisting entirely of WSL players, WSL2 players, or more adventurously: build a squad that combines players from both leagues. Fantasy managers just have to be mindful that they can only field three players from one club on their virtual pitch.
A bad start doesn’t have to ruin the season
The season is divided into six legs. The overall season leaderboard runs from start to finish of the season, but each leg also has its own leaderboard with its own set of prizes. This means that a bad start to the season does not ruin the full Fantasy campaign and there is always something to play for.
It also means that Fantasy managers who joined the game late still have an opportunity to win something.
A 100-million-pound budget
Fantasy managers select a squad of fifteen players – two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards, with a 100-million-pound budget.
Over the last couple of days, WSL Football have been building up towards the launch by revealing the prices for top players like Alexia Putellas and Bunny Shaw. The latter leads the ‘price list’ – if you want her on your Fantasy team, she’ll cost you a whopping 12.5 million pounds.
Changing the team
Each match week, the Fantasy manager picks 11 players to start, with their Captain earning double points. There are two transfers available weekly.
Once a match week begins, managers can still change their starting 11, bench order and captain between matchdays, provided the players involved have not yet played. Once a player’s match has kicked off, however, that player is locked for the remainder of the match week. This is a key difference to most Fantasy games already out there.
It’s not just goals that earn you points
Goals and assists definitely do matter. But with the help of OPTA data, Fantasy managers can also earn points when their players create shots on target, make interceptions or tackles, among others.
This means that the players who score the most aren’t necessarily the ones who earn the most points for your team. This makes the game appealing to those aspiring Fantasy managers who look beyond the highlight reels.
Compete against your friends
Fantasy managers can join up to 50 leagues, allowing them to compete against their friends, colleagues and fellow supporters.
Managers are also automatically entered into the overall league and the league connected to their favourite club on the WSL app.
Some new twists and turns
As you have read, the basic setup is familiar to anyone who has played Fantasy football before, but the game also introduces a number of new features and rules.
On the one hand, combining the two leagues into one game looks like a smart move by the creators. It should help maximise interest in the WSL2 and give the second tier a chance to build a broader and more engaged fanbase. On the other hand, there is a strong argument that simplicity is one of the keys to a successful Fantasy football game. The easier a game is to understand, the lower the barrier to entry, particularly for new fans who may be discovering both the women’s game and Fantasy football at the same time. Too many rules, options or decisions can risk making a game feel like work rather than fun.
The added flexibility to change players and your captain while a match week is already underway could certainly create some fascinating late decisions, particularly when team news drops. But again, there is a fine line between giving managers more control and making the game unnecessarily complicated. Ultimately, though, these are questions we can only speculate about for now. The real test will come once fans start playing the game, and we see whether these new features add to the experience, or simply make it harder to navigate.
