A Primer
For information on when to predict, please see instructions in the panel to the left. You will also find links to the upcoming fixtures there, and a calendar of the full season. Additionally there may be email alerts to remind you. Remember though the onus is on the competitor to get his/her scores in on time. If in doubt any week, just forecast all Premier League, Gillingham and UEFA games.

There are three weekend leagues, all linked to and derived from one set of domestic predictions per week based on the Premiership and Premiership+Gillingham FC. The fourth is a stand-alone league for UEFA competitions.

In a nutshell, members predict domestic games (Premier, Gillingham) most weekends, and UEFA games (Champions League and Europa Cup) most Tuesdays-Thursdays.

If in any doubt as to what to submit and when, members should always predict the weekend Premier/Gillingham fixtures and the midweek UEFA games - watch out too for the League Cup (Capital One Cup) and FA Cup games (see CUPS page)

All the season's fixture dates can be found under FIXTURES and CALENDAR in the panel to the left of this page.

How it works
You get one point for correctly predicting the result, and three points for getting the score exact (known as a 'maximum', for maximum score)

League positions are determined by total points scored (either by results or by maximums), followed by most maximums scored, followed by most games predicted (so it favours those who predict all the games - this is balanced by the Results League)

All Saturday, Sunday and Monday Premier League and Gillingham FC games are predicted.

Points scored for all other leagues are derived from predictions for this league, so competitors only have to do one set of domestic league predictions each week.

Additionally, the JPSL is used for qualifying for the Members' Challenge League (top 16), and for the FA Cup Play-off Round and First Round.

Qualification: All members entered

Background
The JPSL is the original league competition. It was first won by John Burrluck in 1980-1981. Originally maximums were only worth two points but this was changed when the Premier League changed from two to three points for a win.

There were no FPA competitions between 1983 and 1987 so there is a gap on the winners board from 1982 to 1988.

When the Results League started in 1988-1989, a name was needed to separate the two leagues and it was named the 'Standard' league - as the standard format. It could equally have been named the original league or the maximums league.

In 2011 after the death of founder member and league organiser Joyce Phillips, it was renamed the Joyce Phillips Standard League.

How it works
You get one point for correctly predicting the result, whether home, draw or away. League positions are determined by total points scored (results only), followed by best success percentage, so it helps those who have missed games. This is a balance to the way missed games affect the JPSL.

All Saturday, Sunday and Monday Premier League and Gillingham FC games are predicted if they appear on the pools coupon and a majority of the professionals predict them.

Points scored for this league are derived from predictions from the JPSL, so competitors only have to do one set of league predictions each week and not separate ones for this league.

Qualification: All members entered

Background
The RL was introduced in 1988-1989 as an alternative to the original, 'Standard' League (JPSL). The first winner was Mark Grunwell. To make it different and for added competition, a number of professional predictors were introduced, such as newspaper pools tipsters, and today we have online forecasters too.

For 2024-2025 our professional professional tipster rivals are as follows:

The Daily Star, UK newspaper pools tipster
PredictZ, online tipster
SoccerVista, online tipster
ForeBet, online tipster

The RL was traditionally seen as the harder one to win with less games and only 1 scoring point possible per game meaning the winner of the JPSL could be different to the RL, and more entrants with the professional representation. In recent years the JPSL has become as much of a challenge.

How it works
The ESL is a league that runs for most of the season based on all UEFA European Champions League games and any Europa League games that involve English teams. You get one point for correctly predicting the result, and three points for getting the score exact (known as a 'maximum' for maximum score)

Like the European Cup, predictors use the same UEFA games and this league is open to all.

So each week in addition to predicting one set of league fixtures (for the JPSL, above), competitors will also predict UEFA games whenever they are scheduled.

Qualification: All members entered, if they have not missed more than two full weeks or 32 games in a season, whichever is the greater. Then they miss one season.

Background
This was a new competition for 2012-2013, introduced to give everyone a chance of predicting regular European games, predominantly the Champions League but also the Europa League and Europa Conference League, where UK teams are involved. For the first time, all FPA predictors had a chance to predict UEFA games. The first winner was Mark Grunwell.

This league was introduced as a new major title along with the two other major league competitions of the JPSL, RL (and now the MCL), JP League Cup, FA Cup, European Cup and DB Group Trophy.

The first two seasons showed an inbalance of games before and after new year, so for the 2014-2015 season, all post-Christmas/New Year Europa League games - not only those involving British teams - were included. This meant more games and a more competitive league. It has taken a few seasons to finally decide upon what works. Too many games and it becomes hard to keep up predictions and members tend to miss many; too few games and the league becomes non-competitive with early leaders becoming hard to catch. For 2023-2024 the number of games will start at 16 a week. As Champions League games reduce, we will top up with Europa League and Europa Conference League games which by then are reduced to better quality teams. Though toward the latter (knockout) stages, the number of teams left become fewer and the final ESL weeks do not have many fixtures.

How it works
The MCL is a season-long, head-to-head competition where 16 amateur members play each other twice. The numbers are capped at 16 entrants so we have enough weeks to fit in all the head-to-heads. Each competitor plays 15 opponents twice, so 30 games over the season - so there are plenty of weeks if you've had a shaky start. We use the weekend domestic fixtures (Premier/Gillingham) so members don't need to predict any extra games. The league uses 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, then after points, league positions are determined by the following criteria:
- Maximums
- Points for/against difference
- Most points scored
- Most wins
- Head-to-head record between tied opponents; if they won one each, then total points scored over the two head-to-heads

Qualification: Top 16 of the JPSL

Background
This league was introduced to give some season-long interest that may give something extra, in late season for members out of the cups and behind the leaders of the other leagues. The look and shape of this league should be different from the regular Standard League, since members will get weeks where they may think they have done badly but still get a win against a lower scoring opponent, and vice versa. Additionally, the MCL uses only 30 weeks, fewer than the JPSL, so not all the points scored in the JPSL are used in the MCL. This does make it a very different league. The first winner was Mike Phillips.

For fixtures, see the fixture matrix and results at the bottom of any league predicting week.

How it worked
The PSL (formerly the Lawro Standard League) was the same as the JPSL, minus Gillingham FC, so it was based only on Premier League games. This was done to allow the inclusion of predictions by the BBC's football pundit Mark 'Lawro' Lawrenson.

Points scored for this league were derived from predictions from the JPSL, so competitors only had to do one set of league predictions each week and not separate ones for this league.

This league ended from 2018/2019 when Lawro was dropped.

Background
This league started in 2010-2011 and the first winner was Mike Phillips. The league more or less mirrored the JPSL, so was there any point in running it? Yes, as for those who didn't know or had no interest in the fortunes of Gillingham FC, it was a pure, exact scores and results-based Premier League-only predictions competition. Additionally it gave amateur predictors the chance to beat the BBC's no.1 TV football pundit. Lawro never did win 'his' league in eight seasons of trying, and this league was discontinued in 2018-2019, dropping Lawro in favour of bringing back some higher quality UK newspaper predictors. All titles won still stand.

How it worked
The PRL (formerly the Lawro Results League) was the same as the RL, minus Gillingham FC, so wass based only on Premier League games. This was done to allow the inclusion of predictions by the BBC's football pundit Mark 'Lawro' Lawrenson.

This league no longer ran from 2018/2019 with Lawro dropped, in favour of bringing back some higher quality UK newspaper predictors. All titles won still stand.

Background
This league started in 2010-2011 and the first winner was Mike Phillips. The league more or less mirrored the RL, so was there any point in running it? Yes, as for those who didn't know or had no interest in the fortunes of Gillingham FC, it was a pure, results-based Premier League-only predictions competition. Additionally it gave amateur predictors the chance to beat the BBC's no.1 TV football pundit.

Points scored for this league were derived from predictions from the JPSL, so competitors only had to do one set of league predictions each week and not separate ones for this league. Note that Lawro did win 'his' league in 2012-2013, and won it well; however, that was his only win in eight seasons. He was beaten seven out of eight times by the FPA's amateur members.

How it worked
Members predicted English Championship games (the league below the Premier) with the champion promoted and the second placed member promotion determined by combined performance in this and the Results League Division One (since we couldn't have more than two going up).

Any new members joining FPA in this period went straight into this division and had to earn their way into the Standard and Results leagues which are based on the Premier League.

Background
Originally introduced when the FPA leagues were so large, with the Standard League holding around 20 competitors similar to today, and the Results League had around 30 competitors made up of Members and Professionals. The first winner was Joyce Phillips.

It was felt that instead of having one large league of the SL, it would be more interesting to have two, so a SL Premier and a SL Division One, then Members had something to fight for at the end of the season even if they were near the bottom of the SL Premier. Also in the SL Division One, it was felt that there would be more end of season interest for those still in with a chance of promotion.

How it worked
Members and Professionals predicted English Championship games (the league below the Premier) with the champion promoted and the second placed member promotion determined by combined performance in this and the Standard League Division One (since we couldn't have more than two going up). The top Professional was also promoted as champion and some seasons two Professionals were promoted, with two relegated from the Premier Leagues.

Any new members joining FPA in this period or Professionals added in this period, went straight into this division and had to earn their way into the Standard and Results leagues which are based on the Premier League.

Background
Originally introduced when the FPA leagues were so large, with the Standard League holding around 20 competitors similar to today, and the Results League had around 30 competitors made up of Members and Professionals. The first winner was Poolswinner Gold, a professional.

It was felt that instead of having one large league of the RL, it would be more interesting to have two, so a RL Premier and a RL Division One, then Members had something to fight for at the end of the season even if they were near the bottom of the RL Premier. Also in the RL Division One, it was felt that there would be more end of season interest for those still in with a chance of promotion.