Season 3, Matchday 1: Here we go!

The time is upon us.

All around the country, fantasy football teams have been submitted, replica shirts are being taken out the packaging and food wholesalers are emptying their shelves of soft buns, plastic cheese slices and those ridiculously large condiment bottles that I'm pretty sure can last an entire season. Programmes are being printed and the first hybrid scarves are making their way from China to a Premier League ground near you.

A quick reminder of how to play for those new to us, or with an inability to remember details after a 3 months hiatus:

Before every matchday (7+ games, too few skew the stats), the fixtures will go up here. Just copy & paste the fixture list into a comment and put the result next to the fixture. You have 3 choices: Home win, Draw or Away win.

ie Arsenal vs Aston Villa - ARSENAL
    Cardiff vs Chelsea - DRAW

and so on.

If you place accumulator bets with the bookmaker of your choice, then let us know the total odds.

That's basically it! All you have to do is remember to check the blog every week, and I'll always try and send reminders via facebook, twitter or text to those I can contact.

I do a bit of basic stattery each week and then a league table is produced, showing giving the best and worst average predictors. To qualify for the leaderboard, you have to play >2/3 of Matchdays; this is to prevent someone scoring a 9 on their first week and then not playing again to protect their average. At the end of the season, the winner gets their name added to the soon-to-be world famous Impossibilitee Trophy, unveiled for the first time, below!

Ooooh shiny!

This year, there is also a financial element for those who wish to get involved in a bit of serious competition. It will cost you £10 to play, with cash prizes for the top 3 players. You'll all still be in the same leaderboard, but have an asterisk next to your name (ie RD*).

The more people who play, the bigger the prize pot and therefore the more money given out as prizes, like the lottery. In the FA Cup game last year, we looked at 70% for the Winner, 20% for the runner up and 10% for 3rd place, and chances are it'll be something similar this year.

To enter, please either contact me directly (ccdaniels65@gmail.com, @ccdaniels65) and we can discuss what's the best method for you or pay through Paypal  with the gmail address above.

As I appreciate there are plenty of people on holiday, I'll accept new paying entrants until the end of September. As it's a seasonal average, there will be no handicapping. To clarify, this is totally optional - you are welcome to play and not pay if you'd prefer, it's just to increase the competition between those who are that way inclined.

We also have a few ideas under the hat, and a couple more up the sleeve here at Chateau Impossibilitee. There's even one idea hiding in a very embarrassing place, but that's enough of that. What we do want to do is expand in a direction that's going to retain the sense of community and fun that's here so from time to time, there'll be a poll where we canvass opinion or try and get some information to think about future direction. The first such poll is on the right, and if you'd be kind enough to quickly fill it in (you can select multiple options) that'd be awesome!

Any questions, please get in touch or leave a comment below.

Right, enough housekeeping, to the opening fixtures!

Liverpool vs Stoke - DRAW
Arsenal vs Aston Villa - ARSENAL
Norwich vs Everton - DRAW
Sunderland vs Fulham - SUNDERLAND
WBA vs Southampton - WBA
West Ham vs Cardiff - WEST HAM
Swansea vs Man Utd - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Spurs - SPURS
Chelsea vs Hull - CHELSEA
Man City vs Newcastle - MAN CITY

Total odds: 2063/1 (Paddypower)

So that's that.

Good luck guys, hoping loads of you sign up to the paying game, and that you all bring a few mates, colleagues, family members along to create a bit of local competition too! Wherever you'll be watching from this weekend, hope results go your team's way (unless they conflict with my team, in which case I hope you lose 6-0). Have a great weekend!