The Fantasy League is back!

We know, we know... it is only July but hey - you weren't doing anything else during the Summer break were you?

Yes, it's the wonderful return of the official Fantasy Premier League competition for 2009/10 and more specifically SPAOTP's very own mini-league, custom-made just for you.

This'll be the third year SPAOTP has had a Fantasy Premier League running and we're hoping to attract even more competitors than the 67 we had in 2007/08 and the 121 we had in 2008/09. Chris Gordon was our winner last year with his team Leeds From The Front, but perhaps you can knock him off his perch?

If you think you can, here's what you do. First, take a trip to the FA Fantasy Premier League website and register to play. It's absolutely free and no harm will come to you.

Once you've done that, you need to pick a squad of fifteen players that you think will play well enough to score a hatful of points for you every week (more of which in a moment). From that fifteen, you'll choose eleven to play in your starting line-up whenever there's a match on and it'll be those eleven that will get you the points (hopefully).

The trick is to have enough decent players in your squad while not sending its overall value higher than the virtual sum of £100 million. Each player has a 'fantasy' value, and that generally reflects how good he is, so bear that in mind when you're about to pick Gerrard, Lampard and Robinho as it might leave you with no money left to buy any defenders or a goalkeeper.

And how are the points scored? Well your goalkeeper and defenders pick up four points for keeping a clean sheet (providing they've played for an hour or more in any given match), plus they'll pick up an extra six points for scoring a goal at any point. Midfielders score five points for every goal scored plus one for keeping a clean sheet and Attackers score four points for every goal they stick in the back of the net.

There are also added points if your player's voted one of the best in a match or has assisted a goalscorer, just as there are points deducted for missing a penalty or receiving a red or yellow card. Oh and if your nominated captain scores any points, they'll be doubled - a handy tip worth remembering, if you want our opinion...

Once you've had a quick look at all the rules and regulations that are available on the site, all you need to do is to name your team, give them an appropriately coloured strip (utterly pointless, but it gives your team some sort of identity) and find the option to 'Join a private league'. You'll be prompted to enter a code number, and that's where you'll type in 119473-33332 in order to be part of the SPAOTP Fantasy League experience.

And that's about it. All you need do then is sit back and wait for the action to begin on August 15th, assured in the knowledge that dozens of other players will soon be bowing to you as you race to the top of the league table. Well that's the theory anyway.

Feel inspired? Want to take part and help us make it an even bigger and better competition than last year? Then what are you waiting for - get along to the Fantasy League site and register your team now!

Oh and before we go - watch this space for more news about our other great games that you can play during the course of the season. We don't want you getting bored now, do we?