Antonín Kinský is the name on the guide, but the deadline is the point: Fantasy Premier League managers must lock their squads by 18:30 BST on Friday 21 August for Gameweek 1 of the 2026/27 season. For more than 13 million players, that turns a simple rules refresher into a final check before the first deadline lands.
Managers start with £100 million, build a 15-player squad and can pick a maximum of three players from any club. They then select a first XI before every Fantasy Premier League Gameweek deadline, so the opening decisions are not just about the first round of points — they set the structure of the squad around the budget and the club limit.
FPL Harry, Joe, Neale, Sam
The FFScout Podcast is a daily FPL podcast, with FPL Harry, Joe, Neale, Sam, FPL General and more fronting the conversation around the game. That matters because the basic rules are easy to gloss over until the deadline gets close: leagues can be joined through the Leagues tab, and those leagues can use either classic or head-to-head scoring.
Fantasy Premier League is described as free, fun and very addictive, and the guide also makes room for the awkward truth newcomers often need to hear: they are not actually idiots. The game is built so that simple mistakes carry a cost, but the system itself is manageable once the squad limit, club cap and deadline are clear.
Erling Haaland and captaincy
Erling Haaland is the clearest example of how captaincy changes the math. If he scores 12 points in a match, a manager who captains him gets 24 points, because the captain’s total is doubled.
That doubling is the reason the vice-captain sits on the bench in reserve: if the captain does not play, the vice-captain takes over and gets double points instead. The rest of the scoring is broader than goals and assists, with points also coming from clean sheets, defensive contributions, saves and more.
Bonus points and bench order
Each match gives at least three individuals between one and three bonus points, which can swing a Gameweek even when the headline scorer is obvious. Managers also need to remember the bench order, because when a starting XI player does not take part, a substitute comes in based on that order.
That makes the opening squad less about hunting one perfect XI and more about building a 15-player group that can absorb one missed start or one late tactical change. The practical move before 18:30 BST on Friday is simple: finish the squad, set the captain, and make sure the bench is ordered the way you actually want it.
Which players should make the Gameweek 1 cut is not answered here, and that is the right omission. The immediate job is to get the mechanics right before the deadline closes on Friday 21 August.
