For those players that are serious about fantasy football it is their form of gambling. On a large scale it is possible to win life changing sums of money with fantasy football often in the thousands. On a smaller scale being a top fantasy football manager will win you pride. Winning your office dream team competition will give you the opportunity for months of gloating. In most cases you are going to be interested in the money!!

Prize money for fantasy football competitions varies immensely. Winning a major national competition can return as much as £50,000. One of the favourite national competitions for fantasy football is the Sun Premiership Dream Team. The sun offers a huge £50K prize for the season winner and regular monthly cash prizes for manager of the month. There are many smaller tournaments on offer across the internet with smaller prizes but less competition. Even an office competition usually has a prize to chase. 30 teams and each competitor paying £3.50 to enter will generate a pot of around £100. Most newspapers offer a fantasy football league and numerous sites across the internet. Just enter the words into Google and see how many you can find!!!

Team Selection is Key

In Fantasy football you will be given a set amount of money to purchase your squad and a price list of players. There has been much debate as to whether it is better to base your team on expensive stars and then fill the gaps with cheaper players that make regular appearances or spread your money across the board. My advice to you is this. Pick yourself two expensive star players and then spread your remaining funds. It is important that you have these two players as these will provide a weekly point income and other teams in your league will have this luxury. Pick your two stars first but be prepared to make changes towards the end. I suggest you think about goals when you select these two players and make your selections from the Premiership 'Big 4'. A lot of leagues will include cup competitions like the Champions League. By selecting your stars from the top 4 sides you are maximizing the amount of games your squad will play and therefore increasing points scored.

Goal Keeper

Do not go over the top when buying your keeper. Goal keepers do not tend to earn too many points as a rule and if your selection is weak it can even cost you points. Choose a mid range keeper that had a good previous season.

Defense

With your defense it is important to look at the form of the player's club. You need to decide which Premiership sides do not leak goals and keep regular clean sheets and then pick your players from these teams. This sounds so simple but will lead to major success.

Midfield

With your midfield players you simply want goals! Assists and any other point scoring methods will not equate to the points you will earn from a high yield of goals. You want to think about player that regularly push forward and always find themselves on the score sheet. Another thing to take into account is that 70% of penalty kicks are taken by midfield players. When you have identified the high scoring midfield players try to select the ones that take the spot kicks for their clubs. This can lead to bonus points.

Strikers

Make no mistake about it the teams that you find at the top of your fantasy football league will always have the highest goal tally. Try to select established players and steer clear of players that are new to their clubs. It is often tempting to purchase players that have just come over to the UK from the top clubs of Europe but it often takes them a while to settle in and begin their season with few goals.

Things to remember

Do not pick your side too early. A lot can happen over the summer preseason friendlies and the last thing you want is to lose players to injury.

Check the injury/suspension lists before making selections.

Some fantasy football providers off transfer windows. It is important to take full advantage of these and get rid of you players with long term injuries or under performers.

Keep a constant eye on the sports news to ensure that you have not missed any important factors.