Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 1 deadline, how to change team name and Sky Sports Fantasy Football

Fantasy Premier League managers have just a few days to finalise their teams for the upcoming season ahead of the Gameweek 1 deadline.

The top flight will return on Friday night when Champions Manchester City travel to newly promoted Burnley and a long season of drama and unforgettable moments is sure to follow.

Millions of football fans play fantasy football to enhance their Premier League experience and National World has all you need to know for the upcoming season.

How do I change my fantasy football team name?

Fantasy Football managers can either choose to keep or change their team name from past seasons of the game.

The team name is a vital part of the Fantasy Premier League game as it is what each user's squad is known as in both private and public leagues. The team name is visible to the public online and should be chosen carefully.

Many players like to opt for a funny team name, often based on puns around famous football stars, whereas some save the stress of thinking of a joke and go for something more simple - check out these hilarious ideas.

When renewing a Fantasy Premier League account, users will be given the chance to change their team name. If you've missed that window, the team name can later be changed in the 'team details' section of the website.

The Fantasy Premier League game has cracked down on any potential homophobic, racist or offensive team names in recent years and will ask any players who pick a harmful team name to choose another one - in 2020 The Athletic uncovered that thousands of team names had used slurs against minorities.

When do I need to pick my Fantasy Premier League team by? Gameweek 1 deadline date and time

Fantasy football managers have had almost a month to agonise over their squads and tinker with transfers but the Gameweek 1 deadline is now near.

Users must finalise their teams by 6:30 pm on Friday, August 11. This deadline is 90 minutes before Burnley and Manchester City kick off the first match of the season.

From this time, teams will be locked in and managers will no longer have unlimited transfers. From that point onwards, one free transfer is awarded per week with any additional moves costing four points each time.

Fantasy Premier League vs Sky Sports Fantasy Football - which is best?

There are several versions of fantasy football available online, with different people preferring different games.

Over 11 million people play the official Fantasy Premier League game each year, which is by far the most popular and most common fantasy football game available for the UK top flight.

There are many prizes given out on a weekly, monthly and annual basis in Fantasy Premier League. The top fantasy manager every month and week gets a series of prizes including a football and EA Sports FC game.

There are alternative games, including the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game. This works in a very similar way but has a different user interface. Sky also offer a huge £50,000 jackpot for the overall winner in the game.