Jumpers For Goalposts - Rules? Schmules!

Yes I know it’s dull, but we’ve got to have them otherwise things would be about as organised as England’s defenders during a set piece! Read, inwardly digest, and try not to fall asleep. I shall be asking questions later.

Although it's all listed below, the main headings are shown here, and are clickable - clever eh? See....I'm really getting the hang of this website designing malarky!

How Do I Create A Team?

1. Choose your Players.
You must select 11 different players from the list given to make up your team. This selection must include:

1 Goalkeeper
4 Defenders
3 Midfielders
3 Strikers

Each player is valued in £millions and the total value of your team must not exceed £50 million. You may only select TWO PLAYERS FROM ANY ONE CLUB.

The best way to do this is to download the all singing and dancing interactive-press-the-red-button-now JFG Entry Form . It's so clever that you just enter in the player numbers and it'll tell you if you broken the two player rule or spent too much money.

2. Choose a team name.
Sounds simple, but this is invariably the hardest part, and this year there's a prize for the best team name (as voted by the other managers), so it'll probably be even harder to think of one!

How Much Does It Cost and How Do I Pay?
Ah, the important bit. It costs £10 to play The Jumpers For Goalposts Fantasy Football League. Ok so this may be more than your average daily paper entry cost, but then you're not going to be competing against thousands of other people! To put it simply, you've got much more chance of winning.

As for how you pay, well once you've entered your team and I'll send you an email with details of how to get the moolah to me. But don't worry the email wont contain the words "Nigeria", "Prince Mummmababa" or "International Monetary Transfer".

But be warned! Anyone who hasn't paid up by Christmas will incur my wrath in a way i've not quite yet decided on. I may dock points, I may charge you more to enter. Who knows. Depends how I feel.

How Does My Team Score Points?

Your team will score points taken from all Premier League and FA Cup matches, using the following criteria:

1. All Players:
Appearance (in starting XI) +2 points
Appearance (as a substitute) +1 point
Goal Scored +5 points (excluding penalty shoot-outs see below)
Penalty Scored in a shoot-out +3 points
Key Contribution to a goal +3 points (excluding own goals...no really)
Man Of The Match Award +3 points
Sent Off -5 points
Booked -2 points
Own Goal -3 points
Missed Penalty -3 points (including penalty shoot-outs)

2. Defenders and Goalkeepers:
Clean Sheet (full match) +4 points
Clean Sheet (part match) +2 points
Penalty Save +5 points (including penalty shoot-outs)
Each Goal Conceded -1 point (not including penalty shoot-outs)

How Do I Make Player Transfers?

1. Once you've registered your team you can make six transfers per season, three of which can be taken at any time during the season. The other three must be taken between the dates of January 6th until January 28th (i.e. the Premiership Mid-Season transfer window) although these dates will be confirmed by email nearer the time. This may seem a bit mean but I don't want to spend half my life updating everyone's records every five minutes. You should submit your transfer requests via email.

2. The three time-limited transfers have to be taken during that time period. They will not be "rolled-on". Use them or lose them. If you are confident your team is doing well and you don't want to make any transfers then you don't have to, but note that any of the three transfers not used will not be available for use outside of that window. An email notification warning of the impending time limit will be sent out.

3. In addition to the six transfers, if one of your players becomes injured and is deemed to be ruled out for the rest of the season you will be allowed a 'free' transfer to change that player for an alternative. You will keep the points scored by the original player up to that point, but you will not gain all the points your new player has earned before he was a member of your team. Only points scored after he has joined your team will be added to your total score.

4. A similar situation applies if one of your team members is sold to a football team that is outside of the FA Premiership League - i.e. abroad or to a lower division side....like Carlisle.

5. The new member MUST NOT make your total team's cost exceed the £50m limit or put you beyond the two players from one team rule. This transfer will NOT count towards your alloted six transfers per season. To stop the last minute rush brought on by teams getting their crocked players fixed up, freebies will NOT be given during the last three weeks of the season.

6. Just to further confuse matters…as you are only allowed two players from any one team, there may be a situation when one of your original players changes teams (in real life) and thus puts you over the limit. In this case, the team that the player is considered to play for was the team he was with when you first submitted your team/transferred him in. Or in other words don’t worry. If you were fine to start with and he changes teams later then that's not your fault is it?!

7.Any changes/transfers made between midday Wednesday (i.e. after the weekly results appear) and before midday Saturday will be made instantly and the new player will start scoring for you in that Saturday's games. Any changes/transfers made after midday Saturday up until midday Wednesday (i.e. before the weekly results appear, but after games have been played) will be applied after the results appear. I.e. if you wish to change Player A for Player B and submit your request on a Friday, then when the results come out the following Wednesday, you will score points for Player B. However, had you submitted your request on a Sunday you would score points for Player A. Then, once Wednesday's results have been published, the players will be swapped and then you will start to earn points from Player B. Once again you will keep the points scored by the original player up to the point of changeover, but you will not gain all the points your new player has earned before he was a member of your team. Only points scored after he has joined your team will be added to your total score.

In other words, if you're going to make a change try and do it after the results have appeared and before midday the following Saturday. That way the change will happen instantly (and note will be backdated to the nearest results just released) and my life will be so much easier.

Confused? Well you try writing this... If you are unclear on any of this then please email me here.

8. Any request will be dealt with as promptly as possible, and if any delay has ensued the change will be backdated to the original request date.

How Will I Know How My Team is Doing?

Each week, this super duper website that's full of bells and whistles (can you tell I created it!?!?) will be updated with:

1. The Weekly League Table - This will show team names, team captains, weekly and total scores.

2. The Departmental League Tables - These will show how well your team is doing in the three areas of Defence, Midfield and Strikers. It's a bit OTT, but well, it's more fodder and may help you decide on transfers.

3. Positions Graph - If I can draw a graph, I will. It'll end up looking like a tube map on acid, but well it's a bit of a laugh.

4. Manager of The Month - Does what it says on the tin really, the manager that scores the most points in a given period of four weeks will get their name in lights. Well ok not proper lights, but they will get a trophy.

5. "Had you had the team from the start" - The ultimate "If Only" scenario will be played out before your very eyes.

After every round of the Cup Competition (see below), the JFG Cup page will be updated with results and the draw for the next round.

Also check the News Page for information. And if i'm really bored, I may email you as well. What a service eh?

What Is The JFG Cup?

1. By entering the league you will automatically enter a "bonus" Cup Competition. Some of your entry fee will go towards the final prize.

2.The Cup Competition is NOT linked to the FA Cup or the Carling Cup. It uses Premiership goals from a given weekend when all the Premiership teams are playing on a Saturday/Sunday. On this weekend, the League will still continue as normal.

3. You do not enter a separate Cup Team. The team you enter for the main league is used.

4. The competition will consist of six knockout rounds ina winner-takes-all format.

5. The draw for each round will take place a week after the previous round finishes or at least a week before the next round is due. The draw is a random picking of names from a hat, and the results will be posted on the JFG Cup page of the website.

6. On the notified weekends of the Competition, if a player in your team scores a goal, your Cup "Team" scores one goal. Thus the total goals scored by players in your team on that given weekend will be your total Cup Score. If a member of your Cup team scores an own goal this will count AGAINST you and your goal tally will decrease by one. The results will be published on the website on the JFG Cup page.

7. Which ever manager has the highest team score (see point 6. above) in a given Cup match, will progress to the draw for the next round.

9. If the goal tallies of the teams result in the Cup match being a draw, then the decision of who wins will be made on most points scored (in that given week) and then clean sheets kept. Beyond that, we will flip coins, draw straws and play rock/scissors/paper, or come up with something else. THERE WILL BE NO REPLAYS.

11. The winner takes all.

12. Knockout Rounds Dates:
Yet to be confirmed...

What Is The "Manager Of The Month" Award?

1. Once upon a time we used to have a separate award for whoever got the biggest score in a given week. However, that was a bit dull so I changed it to the "Manager Of The Month".

2. This award is given every four weeks to the manager who has scored the most points during those four weeks. So for example, the first manager of the month award is likely to go to the manager who is top of the leaderboard at the end of week 4. If it isn't then I seriously need to look at my calculator with a disapproving glare. I might even waggle my finger at it too.

3. From the moment the award is given, the scores are then reset and the new manager of the month totals wil be worked out for the next 4 week period, and so on until the end of the season.

4. There's no monetary prize for this, just one of the lovely lovely trophies to commemorate this achievment.

How Long Have I Got To Register?

The closing date for registrations is Noon on Saturday, August 16th, 2008.

What Can I Win?

You get the chance to win some hard cash and more importantly get to show everyone that you're the best football manager in the world. Ok, so maybe not the world, but it should give you bragging rights for a couple of months. Oh, and there's some of Taiwan's finest trophies on offer too. You can see them in all their glory on the Prizes page.

Now, this does depend on the amount of people/teams entered, but based upon the 64 people entered last year the prizes will be split as follows:

1st Place - £200 + Trophy
2nd Place - £100 + Trophy
3rd Place - £50 + Trophy
4th Place - £35
5th Place - £30
6th Place - £25
7th Place - £20
8th Place - £15
9th Place - £10
10th Place - £5

Mid Table Obscurity Award - £5

Best Team Name Winner - £10 + Trophy

JFG Cup Winner - £30 + Trophy

As we are a "Not For Profit" organisation the more people that enter the Jumpers For Goalposts League, the bigger the prizes will be (we deserve a sainthood really!). So go on, drag a mate in with you as well.

These prizes will be in cash and will be given out at the end of the season; along with those lovely trophies! In the event that any scores are tied then the winner will be decided on the most number of weeks spent at a highest position. I.e. if someone has a late charge, but another person has been at the top all the time then the latter would win.

Your Privacy?

Obviously by divulging your email to me I could go mad and send you lots of tosh. Don't worry though. I promise I wont. The most you'll get from me is a weekly email with the results (usually on a Wednesday) or the occasional personal one reminding you to make transfers or letting you know you've got a freebie transfer.

And Finally…

The decisions of the judges in respect of the league are final and binding. So there. But if you do have any questions then feel free to email me here. Oh and many congratulations for making all the way down to this bit. To be honest I would have fallen asleep hours ago........