Greetings all - due to the success of my inaugural UK offline live face to face pub draft fantasy league and the friendships that have developed beyond all expectations between some members within the league have decided to expand for 2015. To both enhance the community spirit that has been created between all the GM’s via social media since the live offline draft - such as in a Google+ group and our own dedicated sports fan website GM’s from this league created (this one aka The Fan Pub). The common bond between us all has been a mutual love of American Football which many of us found sadly lacking in our existing offline friendships amongst most of our close friends/work colleagues etc.,.
The reason for getting this information out so early is apart from the fact I can not contain my excitement is also the fact that in my first year had a player fly in from the South of France and have since fielded interest from people in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland plus via my existing online NFL leagues have players from all over the world and feel some of those based in Europe with enough time and notice may well be interested in joining in with the fun of an offline draft. With the advent of budget flights, closeness of venue to a major international airport (London Gatwick) and deals that can be had with enough notice regarding hotel rooms etc., felt getting things nailed down ASAP would help maximise this opportunity for new players from further afield to join in with what has become more than just a NFL money league but a community of NFL lovers mostly based outside of America.
So this is how it works - the draft kit I got from NFL.com allows for a maximum of 16 teams so this is why each of my leagues will be 16 teamers.
Due to the first year some very keen people were unable to join in due to being out of the country for various reasons so have decided to expand this year to 2 leagues with one league drafting on the Saturday and the other league the Sunday. Also due to the friendships created from the first year in my inaugural league feel there will be enough interest for an ultimate full on intensive long term keeper type league.
So I propose to keep the first league pretty much the same as it is this year with just a few changes such as waivers being done with a waiver acquisition budget (WAB for short) next year as opposed to the ‘resets every week’ system the default was the first year which many did not like as they could not understand how it was worked out.
The entry fee and everything will remain the same - £100 @ team. Draft position and Divisions etc., will all be random and drawn on the day using envelopes - as was done the first year.
The second league will also be £100 entry per team and main difference from the Originals league will be that this league has more of a link year to year where you can plan long term and build up friendships and rivalries with the same GM’s for the most part returning annually along with being able to keep some players from your previous years finishing team (within the rules laid out). After the inaugural years random drawing for draft positions and divisions (using the same envelope system as in league one above) in future seasons the divisions will not change and be kept the same year to year with draft positions being based on the previous years results. This league has carry over unlike the Originals league which is a complete new entity year to year.
The venue for the drafts will be the Toby Carvery in Redhill, Surrey (same venue as last year) - Toby Carvery Redhill Restaurant • Home of the Roast Dinner
The new PPR, IDP, £100 keeper league (TFP ULTIMATES) will be done on the Saturday afternoon (Aug 29th).
The annual redraft £100 league (TFP ORIGINALS) will be done on the Sunday afternoon (Aug 30th).
For those of you coming from afar the venue has a Travel Lodge attached and I would urge you to book a room for the Saturday & or Sunday night as am hoping after the Saturday draft to have a social evening that night - basically am looking at doing a pub crawl around the local town of Redhill. Many of the pubs in the town have music at weekends but it’s really a great chance to just get to know your fellow GM’s and make the season far more enjoyable being able to put faces / people to the team names you will see in the league(s) for the rest of the season.
For those attending the Sunday Year II redraft league (TFP ORIGINALS) after it is concluded am planning to finish off the live draft weekend with a group Curry night at a venue 1 train stop away (towards Gatwick/Brighton direction) or a short cab ride for anyone that is interested but will need to get confirmed numbers in advance and make a booking with the restaurant. Have already made a booking but am sure can increase numbers - just let me know ASAP so I can inform the restaurant.
The curry houses website: http://www.ruchita.co.uk/
The hotel next to the Toby Carvery (live draft venue): http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/480/Redhill-hotel
The following are all the internal rules for the two different leagues…
**
LEAGUE 1 - (to be renamed ‘TFP ORIGINALS’) - UK NFL Annual Redraft League
** Currently Full
Sunday 30th August 2015 - 16 team standard scoring £100 NFL.com random re-draft league
£100 entry @ team x 16.
-£300 set aside for draft kit, winners ring or trophy (winners prerogative) plus a carvery for McBear (helps with draft).
PRIZES
Super Bowl Winner - £600
Runner Up (S/B loser) - £300
Third Place - £200
Highest One Off Weekly Scorer (including post season matches) - £200
*Any remaining funds from the £300 put aside to cover the draft kit and winners ring/trophy costs etc., will be saved towards buying a huge trophy down the line that all winners will have their details engraved on (sort of like the tall one in the TV series ‘The League’ for any of you that have seen that). When we have enough to get this it will be awarded to the winner annually and for them to look after until the next draft.
As this is a refresh annually money league will stick with all of the default settings on NFL.com - the only thing that will be changed is the waiver wire process to a WAB system (see below).
Waiver Acquisition Budget (WAB) - Each team is allotted a seasonal budget. This seasonal budget is the amount of points that each team has at their disposal to bid on available players. The team with the highest bid wins that player and is charged the amount of WAB points that they bid to obtain the player. If you bid on a player, but lose to a higher bid, you do not forfeit the amount of points that you bid. All of the WAB points that you bid will be returned to your seasonal budget. In the event of a tie, the team with higher waiver priority will win the bid. For more information, visit Waiver Acquisition Budget (WAB): Waiver Acquisition Budget
We will have 4 divisions of 4 teams - these will be drawn on the draft day itself prior to the live draft using envelopes.
Draft positions will also be drawn randomly on the day itself using envelopes.
It will be a snake draft so whomever drafts last in round 1 will be first to draft in Round 2 and so on.
Entry fees are to be paid in full by August 1st - anyone who has not paid by this date can be replaced.
I would like fees to be paid by PayPal please - though if you don’t have PayPal then cash or cheque (for the full amount) is fine.
Starting Roster Positions & Roster Limits
•Quarterback:
1
•Running Back:
2
•Wide Receiver:
2
•Tight End:
1
•Wide Receiver / Running Back:
1
•Kicker:
1
•Defensive Team:
1
•Bench:
6
CONFIRMED LIST
NAME / TFP Username (if member / when known) (area coming from) All info in bold when entry fee paid
1. JON CARTWRIGHT / JonCartwright - (Southampton, Hampshire)
2. ROBERT McGREGOR / mconabike - (Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
3. SEAN CONNORS / Outsiders68 - (Daventry, Northamptonshire)
4. ALAN ROBERTS (Co owner CHRIS JENNINGS) / Alan_Roberts - (Leamington Spa, Warwickshire)
5. ANDERS CLAUSEN / Superstar - (Windsor, Berkshire)
6. DREW JOHNSTONE / scrumhalf - (Florida, USA)
7. GORDON FRASER / CitrusPlayer - (Reading, Berkshire)
8. DEAN POOLE / Dean - (Wakefield, Yorkshire)
9. ADAM PHILBIN / neonadam - (Kingston, Surrey)
*10. CHRIS PARKES / eiskrap - (Basingstoke, Hampshire) S/B 1 winner
11. SHANI SENARATNE / Shani - (Enfield, Middlesex)
12. SIMON LIU / TheOnlySimon - (Kingston, Surrey)
13. GEORGE BELLHOUSE-EDWARDS / UkDetroit3Lions - (Manchester, Lancashire)
14. JAMES TAYLOR / jrt55555 - (Bristol)
15. BRAD ALLEN / - (Reigate, Surrey)
16. NOEL SYMONDS / bluelionman - (Merstham, Surrey)
FIRST REFUSAL / WAIT LIST TO GET IN LEAGUE 1
Name / TFP Username - (Location)
1. CHRIS WATERHOUSE / - (Norwich, Norfolk)
2. ANDY SMITH / Rick_Spangle - (Hove, East Sussex)
**
LEAGUE 2 - (to be named TFP ULTIMATES) - The Fan Pub IDP/PPR Keeper League
**
Saturday 29th August 2015 - 16 team PPR, IDP, WAB, Keeper & Draft Pick Trading £100 NFL.com annual continuity draft league
£100 entry @ team x 16.
-*£300 set aside for draft kit, winners ring or trophy (winners prerogative) plus a carvery for McBear (helps with draft).
PRIZES
Super Bowl Winner - £600
Runner Up (S/B looser) - £300
Third Place - £200
Fourth Place - £100
Highest One Off Weekly Scorer (including post season matches) - £100
*Any remaining funds from the £300 put aside to cover the draft kit and winners ring/trophy costs etc., will be saved towards buying a huge trophy down the line that all winners will have their details engraved on (sort of like the tall one in the TV series ‘The League’ for any of you that have seen that). When we have enough to get this it will be awarded to the winner annually and for them to look after until the next draft.
Inaugural Season Rules:
We will have 4 divisions of 4 teams - these will be drawn on the draft day itself prior to the live draft using envelopes.
Draft positions will also be drawn randomly on the day itself using envelopes.
In future seasons the Divisions will remain the same and draft spots will be decided by the previous years finishing positions using this formula -
For those teams that make the playoffs proper (teams finishing 1st-8th) draft order will be a reverse of the previous years finishing positions as decided by NFL.com - so the previous years champion will draft last in round 1 (*16th) and the team finishing 8th (*9th). [*excluding draft pick trading]
However if you’re not in the running for the title (i.e. in the playoffs proper), you are now playing for a higher draft position the following year - the way this works is the draft order for the non-playoff teams (9th - 16th) is inverted - to reward post season wins, however pointless they may seem at the time. The 8 proper playoff teams will still keep their draft positions (16th - 9th).
However the rest will go like this…
The team finishing 9th (i.e. best of the non-qualifiers) would have pick #1
The team finishing 10th (2nd best non-qualifier) would have pick #2
And so on, down to the team finishing 16th (worst non-qualifier) would have pick #8
I think this will be good for the league as you can’t just tank for a better draft spot the following year and also means if you sell all your best players for future higher round draft picks it will hurt you here in the post season games as these games are not totally dead rubber games anymore using this system and ultimately decide what spot you draft in the following season.
It will be a snake draft so whomever drafts last in round 1 will be first to draft in Round 2 and so on.
Waiver Acquisition Budget (WAB) - Each team is allotted a seasonal budget. This seasonal budget is the amount of points that each team has at their disposal to bid on available players. The team with the highest bid wins that player and is charged the amount of WAB points that they bid to obtain the player. If you bid on a player, but lose to a higher bid, you do not forfeit the amount of points that you bid. All of the WAB points that you bid will be returned to your seasonal budget. In the event of a tie, the team with higher waiver priority will win the bid. For more information, visit Waiver Acquisition Budget (WAB): Waiver Acquisition Budget
Keepers (from year II onwards)
Each team will be allowed to keep up to a maximum of 2 players however only one from each side of the ball (Offense/Defence). So in effect if keeping 2 players one has to be an IDP. You do not have to keep any players if you so wish, each team GM has the choice each year - 0, 1 or 2 players.
Keepers will cost you the draft position they were drafted in the previous season (regardless of who drafted them). Only exception to this is when the same owner keeps the same player in consecutive seasons - then the player shifts up 1 round per year - unless he’s a first round pick - for obvious reasons. Any player kept that was undrafted the previous year will count as a last round selection.
Lastly as Divisions will not change once they are set the first year as a bonus in future years each division can be renamed by the previous seasons Division winner.
Entry fees are to be paid in full by August 1st - anyone who has not paid by this date can be replaced.
I would like fees to be paid by PayPal please - though if you don’t have PayPal then cash or cheque (for the full amount) is fine.
Starting Roster Positions & Roster Limits
•Quarterback:
1
•Running Back:
2
•Wide Receiver:
2
•Tight End:
1
•Wide Receiver / Running Back/ Tight End:
1
•Kicker:
1
•Defensive Line:
1
•Linebacker:
1
•Defensive Back:
1
•Flex IDP:
3
•Bench:
6
CONFIRMED LIST
NAME / TFP Username (if member / when known) (area coming from) All info in bold when entry fee paid
1. SEAN CONNORS / Outsiders68 (Daventry, Northamptonshire)
2. JAMES TAYLOR / jrt55555 (Bristol)
3. DREW JOHNSTONE / scrumhalf (Florida, USA)
4. NATHAN WILLARD / USA_Wannabe (Southampton, Hampshire)
5. NEIL MALLON / ScoringSkins (St Albans, Hertfordshire)
6.
7.
8.
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10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16. NOEL SYMONDS / bluelionman - (Merstham, Surrey)
