Glossary

Plain-English definitions of every term you will meet.

Fantasy, in Plain English

Fantasy football has a language of its own, and it can feel like a lot at first. Search for a word you've come across, or use the letters to browse, and each definition points you to the part of the guide that explains it in full.

98 terms

Accurate crosses: A scoring metric for crosses that find a teammate. By default each one earns a small number of points for defenders, midfielders and forwards. Learn more in Scoring.
Active (league status): The league status while matchweeks are being played, after the draft and before the final matchweek. Lineups, trades, waivers and free-agent moves all run in this status. Learn more in Start Here.
Add/drop: A single move that adds one player and drops another, used when your squad is full. Position limits and injured-reserve limits are checked on every move. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Annual fund injection: A dynasty setting that adds extra waiver budget to every team each season. It can be shared equally, or weighted towards the teams that finished highest or lowest in the table. Learn more in Season End & Dynasty.
Archive: The commissioner’s end-of-season option that freezes a league as a read-only record. An archived league can be renewed later. Learn more in Season End & Dynasty.
Artificial opponent: In a league with an odd number of teams, the team without a real opponent each week plays an artificial one whose score is the average of every other team’s total. It isn’t a bye: nobody gets an automatic win. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Auto-pick: When a pick timer runs out, auto-pick chooses for you. It starts with the first player in your queue who is still available and fits a position you need, then the best available player at a position you still need, then the best player available overall. Learn more in The Draft.
Availability badge: A small tag beside a player who is out or doubtful, shown as OUT or DBT, or as INJ, SUS or ITL when the reason is injury, suspension or international duty. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Bench: Your reserve slots, equal to your squad size minus your starting XI. Bench players don’t score for you unless bench boost is switched on for the week. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Bench boost: An optional bonus a commissioner can switch on that adds your bench players’ scores to your total for one matchweek. Each team gets a limited number of uses per season, one by default. Learn more in Scoring.
Captain: A starter you can name each week for an optional scoring bonus, if your commissioner has switched captaincy on. By default the captain’s points are doubled, and the choice locks when his club’s match kicks off. Learn more in Scoring.
Casual preset: A league format preset for fun, fast, low-commitment play: 10 teams, cumulative points, a 15-player squad, a 90-second pick timer and no transfer deadline. Learn more in Leagues & Teams.
Champion: The team ranked first in the final league table once the last matchweek is complete. The regular-season table alone decides it, with no bracket after. Learn more in Season End & Dynasty.
Classic preset: A league format preset for familiar head-to-head play: 12 teams, a 20-player squad, an untimed draft and a single transfer deadline. Learn more in Leagues & Teams.
Clean sheet: A match in which a player’s team concedes no goals and he plays 60 or more minutes. It earns points for goalkeepers and defenders by default. Learn more in Scoring.
Club Value: The total market value of every player on your roster, shown on the Squad page. It is for information and doesn’t cost or earn budget. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Commissioner: The league’s administrator, who runs its settings, the draft and the end-of-season steps. It is the person who created the league unless they hand the role to another member. Learn more in Commissioner Tools.
Commissioner Tools: A commissioner-only area with three tools: Pause transactions, Manual roster move and Re-score matchweek. Other members never see it. Learn more in Commissioner Tools.
Copy to: A control on the Squad page that copies a matchweek’s lineup, formation included, to a later matchweek or to all remaining ones. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Cumulative points: A league format, called Total Points in the league settings, where your standing is your total fantasy points across the season instead of weekly wins and losses. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Custom preset: A league format preset that starts from basic defaults and lets the commissioner configure every setting. It begins as a 12-team head-to-head league with a 20-player squad. Learn more in Leagues & Teams.
Dispossessed: A scoring metric for losing the ball to an opponent. It is a small penalty by default. Learn more in Scoring.
Double matchweek: A matchweek in which a club plays twice. A player’s score for the week is his single highest-scoring match, not the total of both. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Draft: The event where every team takes turns picking real players to build its squad. Learn more in The Draft.
Draft board: The grid in the draft room showing every pick by round and team, filling in live as players are selected. Learn more in The Draft.
Draft Central: The league’s draft page, where the commissioner schedules, starts, pauses or cancels the draft and sets the draft order. Learn more in The Draft.
Draft order: The sequence in which teams pick, either random or set by hand by the commissioner. Every team needs a draft position before the draft can start. Learn more in The Draft.
Draft pick: One selection slot in the draft. Unused picks are assets in their own right and can be traded once they exist. Learn more in The Draft.
Draft queue: Your personal ranked wish-list of players in the draft room. A player drafted by anyone is removed from every queue, and auto-pick looks at yours first. Learn more in The Draft.
Draft room: The live screen where the draft happens, with tabs for Players, Queue and Team plus the draft board and pick clock. Learn more in The Draft.
Duels won: A scoring metric for contests with an opponent for the ball that the player wins. Each one earns a small number of points. Learn more in Scoring.
Dynasty / keeper league: A league that continues across seasons, where each team keeps some of its players. Budgets carry into the next season only if waiver budget rollover is switched on. Learn more in Season End & Dynasty.
FAAB: Free-Agent Acquisition Budget, also called waiver budget: the spendable pool you bid from when you make a waiver claim. You pay only the amount of a bid you win. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Formation: How many defenders, midfielders and forwards start alongside your goalkeeper, such as 4-4-2. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Fouls drawn: A scoring metric for winning a foul from an opponent. Each one earns a small number of points. Learn more in Scoring.
Free agent: A player who is on no team in your league and not on the wire. You can add him directly, and adding and dropping cost nothing. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Goals conceded: A scoring metric for each goal the player’s team lets in while he is on the pitch. It costs goalkeepers and defenders points by default. Learn more in Scoring.
Head-to-head: A league format where your team plays one opponent each matchweek and the higher score wins the matchup. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Immersive preset: A league format preset for deep club management: a 16-team dynasty league with a 30-player squad, an untimed draft, transfer windows and a $1B waiver budget. Learn more in Leagues & Teams.
Injured reserve (IR): Extra roster slots for players who are out or doubtful, for example through injury or suspension. They don’t count towards your squad size. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Invite code: The code that lets someone join a league, such as PREM-A3K9. The commissioner shares it directly or emails it from the league settings. Learn more in Leagues & Teams.
Keeper: A player you keep from one season to the next in a dynasty league instead of drafting again. Keepers use up some of your draft picks. Learn more in Season End & Dynasty.
Keeper deadline: An optional date set by the commissioner after which keepers can no longer be changed. Without one, keepers can be changed throughout the offseason. Learn more in Season End & Dynasty.
Key pass: A pass that leads directly to a shot. It earns a small number of points for any position by default. Learn more in Scoring.
League points: What the standings are ranked on in a head-to-head league: 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
League status: Where a league is in its life: Preseason, Drafting, Active, Offseason or Archived. The status decides what is open, so for example a lineup can’t be saved until the draft is complete. Learn more in Start Here.
Linear draft: A draft where the pick order is the same every round. Learn more in The Draft.
Live scoring: Scores update while real matches are being played and are replaced by official scores after full time. Provisional points can change if a stat is revised. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Lock: Once a player takes the pitch in a real match, he’s locked and you can’t move him. Lineups lock player by player, so you can still change players who haven’t come into the game yet. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Man of the Match: An optional bonus a commissioner can switch on for the highest-rated player of each finished real match among your squad. It is a flat 5 points by default. Learn more in Scoring.
Manage Bids: The window on the Squad page where you review, edit or cancel your open waiver bids. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Manual roster move: A Commissioner Tools action that adds or drops a player on any team in the league on a member’s behalf. Learn more in Commissioner Tools.
Market: The tab on the Transfers page where you browse every player, filter by position, club and status, and add, bid for or propose a trade for one. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Market value: A player’s price shown in the Market, based on recent and historical performances and scaled to your league’s budget. It is for information, because adding free agents costs no budget. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Matchup: Your pairing with another team for a matchweek, decided by whose players score more fantasy points. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Matchweek: A round of real fixtures. Fantasy matchweeks follow the real calendar, and a league can start part-way through a season. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Minutes played: A scoring metric that pays a small amount for every minute a player is on the pitch. Learn more in Scoring.
Notifications: Alerts for draft turns, trades, waiver results, player availability and watchlist activity. Each kind can be switched on or off under Settings in your profile, and roster-move alerts are off by default. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Offseason: The league status after the final matchweek, when the final table is recorded. The commissioner can then renew or archive the league. Learn more in Season End & Dynasty.
On the clock: The team whose turn it is to pick in the draft. In a timed draft its pick timer is running. Learn more in The Draft.
Pause transactions: A Commissioner Tools switch, also called maintenance mode, that stops every other member making new add/drop moves, trade proposals and lineup changes league-wide, while the commissioner can still act. Waiver bids and anything already pending aren’t affected. Learn more in Commissioner Tools.
Penalty drawn: A scoring metric for winning a penalty for your team. It earns a small bonus. Learn more in Scoring.
Pick timer: The time limit for each draft pick: untimed, or 30, 90 or 180 seconds. When it runs out, auto-pick chooses for you. Learn more in The Draft.
Point difference: Points For minus Points Against, shown as GD in the league table and PD on the Squad page. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Points For / Points Against: The total fantasy points your team has scored and conceded across the season. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Position limits: The minimum and maximum number of players a league allows at each position. Minimums count starters, bench and injured reserve, while maximums count starters and bench only. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Positions (GK, DEF, MID, FWD): Every player is a goalkeeper (GK), defender (DEF), midfielder (MID) or forward (FWD). Position decides which formation slot he fills and how many points each action is worth. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Preseason: The league status after a league is created and before its draft finishes. Teams join, the draft order is set and the draft is scheduled. Learn more in Start Here.
Preset: A ready-made bundle of league settings you can pick in the setup wizard instead of configuring everything by hand. Learn more in Leagues & Teams.
Projected points: An estimate of the fantasy points a player will score in the current matchweek, shown on the Squad page. It uses projected stats and your league’s scoring, and it isn’t a guarantee. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Re-score matchweek: A Commissioner Tools action that recomputes matchup totals and standings for a chosen matchweek, used after correcting a team’s roster or lineup. Learn more in Commissioner Tools.
Recoveries: A scoring metric for winning back a loose ball from the opposition. Each one earns a small number of points. Learn more in Scoring.
Review period: An optional commissioner setting that holds an accepted trade for 24 to 72 hours before it settles. Without it, a trade settles within a few minutes of being accepted. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Roster: All the players on your team: starters, bench and injured reserve. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Scoring category: The group a scoring metric sits in: Offensive, Defensive, Discipline or General. Learn more in Scoring.
Scoring metric: One scoring rule, such as points per goal or per clean sheet. Together the metrics make up your league’s scoring system. Learn more in Scoring.
Scoring preset: A ready-made set of point values: Balanced, Explosive or Technical. Custom starts from Balanced and lets you change every value. Learn more in Scoring.
Season Start: A wizard setting, labelled Start in Matchweek, that chooses which real matchweek your fantasy season begins on. A league can start part-way through a real season. Learn more in Leagues & Teams.
Shots on target: A scoring metric for shots that need a save or end in a goal. It earns a small number of points for outfield players by default. Learn more in Scoring.
Snake draft: A draft where the pick order reverses every round, so whoever picks last in one round picks first in the next. Learn more in The Draft.
Squad size: The number of players on your roster excluding injured reserve, between 15 and 30. It is also the number of rounds in the draft. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Standings: The league table, shown on the league home page, ranked on league points and then the league’s tiebreakers. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Starting XI: The 11 players who score for you each matchweek: one goalkeeper and ten outfield players in a valid formation. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Swap: The way you change a lineup on the Squad page: select a player, then select who to swap places with. Locked players can’t take part in a swap that crosses the starting XI line. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Team crest: An optional image for your team, uploaded from the edit-team control on the Squad page. Teams without one show an initials badge. Learn more in Squad & Lineup.
Tiebreaker: The rule that orders teams on equal league points. The options are Points For, Head to Head, Points Against, Bench Points and Discipline, applied in the commissioner’s chosen order. Learn more in Matchups & Standings.
Trade: A proposal between two teams to swap players, unused draft picks or budget, which the other manager accepts or declines. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Trade Builder: The tab on the Transfers page where you assemble and send a trade. A commissioner sees Process Trade there instead of Propose Trade. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Transfer deadline: The date, or the date ranges called windows, that limit when trades can happen. In a windows league it limits adds, drops and waiver bids too. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Transfer window: A date range during which moves are allowed in a league that uses the Windows deadline type. Outside every window, trades, adds, drops and waiver bids are closed. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Vice-captain: An optional back-up captain who receives the bonus only if the captain doesn’t play, in leagues that switch it on. Learn more in Scoring.
Waiver: A claim on a player that is settled when its window ends, rather than first come, first served. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Waiver bid: An offer from your waiver budget to claim a player on the wire, optionally naming a player to drop. Other teams can’t see it, and you can edit or cancel it until the window ends. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Waiver funds: Your spendable waiver budget shown on the Squad page, which is your budget minus the highest active bid you have in each open window. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Waiver priority: The order used to break ties between competing claims. Lower numbers go first, and a winning claim sends you to the back of the queue. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Waiver window: The time a player on the wire is open for bids. It is 48 hours by default, and a league can choose 24 or 72. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
Watchlist: A private list of players you want to follow, with its own tab on the Transfers page. You are notified when a watched player becomes available, is claimed or is traded. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.
The wire: Players inside an open waiver window, such as recently dropped players, who can only be claimed through waivers instead of added directly. Learn more in Transfers & Waivers.