How PL Pairs works

Rule 01

Entering the game

PL Pairs is invite-only. There is no public account, registration form or self-service entry flow.

• Use the Join PL Pairs WhatsApp button; Nick decides whether a league place and private entry form are available.
• Preseason registration must arrive while the PRE window is open and before its configured deadline.
• Every registration is checked and applied manually by the Game Lord.

Rule 02

Building your squad

A complete squad contains eight Club + Player pairings. Half a tactical masterplan is still just half a submission.

• Choose two pairings from Tier 1, two from Tier 2, two from Tier 3 and two from Tier 4.
• The selected player must belong to the paired club when the squad is submitted.
• Every registration or transfer-window submission replaces the complete eight-pair squad for that window.

Rule 03

Club tiers

The 20 Premier League clubs are configured across four tiers, with five clubs in each tier.

• Tier placement controls squad construction and the opponent-strength multiplier.
• Each squad always contains exactly two pairings from every tier.
• Each pairing shows its confirmed club tier.

Rule 04

Club and player usage

The good options are deliberately finite. Use them now, or save them for the version of you who definitely has a plan.

• A club may be selected no more than three times across all approved windows in the season.
• Carrying a club into a later window consumes another use.
• Each appearance of a club in an approved squad consumes one of its three permitted uses.
• A player may appear in only one approved window for that manager and cannot be carried into the next window.
• Usage limits apply per manager. Different managers may select the same player or club.

Rule 05

Real-world player transfers

Player and club membership is checked against the official player list when a squad is submitted.

• A later real-world transfer does not rewrite a squad that has already counted for earlier Gameweeks.
• The same player remains attached to those earlier scores and squads.
• Any exceptional correction is a Game Lord decision, and the website will show the final decision.

Rule 06

Club scoring

Each completed Premier League fixture produces the Club half of a pairing score.

• Win: 6 points. Draw: 3 points. Loss: 0 points.
• Each goal scored: 2 points.
• Clean sheet: 2 points.
• In a Double Gameweek, the club’s adjusted fixture scores are added together.
• A club with no fixture in a completed Gameweek receives a zero Club Score.

Rule 07

Player scoring

The Player half uses the official FPL points for that specific Gameweek.

• We use the player’s official FPL points for that Gameweek.
• Season totals are never used in place of missing Gameweek points.
• Blank and Double Gameweeks use the official FPL Gameweek total.

Rule 08

Tier multipliers

The whole Club base score is multiplied when the result comes against a higher-tier opponent.

• Same-tier or lower-tier opponent: 1.00×.
• Opponent one tier above: 1.10×.
• Opponent two tiers above: 1.25×.
• Opponent three tiers above: 1.50×.

Rule 09

Pair scores and rounding

Club output carries most of the weight; the FPL player adds the boost.

• Pair Score = (Adjusted Club Score × 0.55) + (FPL Player Points × 0.45).
• The Club component and Player component are each rounded to one decimal place.
• The final Pair Score is rounded to one decimal place.
• A manager’s Gameweek score is the total of all eight official Pair Scores.

Rule 10

Weekly head-to-heads

Your weekly total is compared with the opponent assigned by the exact double round-robin fixture draw.

• Higher total wins the fixture; equal totals produce a draw.
• A win earns 3 league points, a draw earns 1 and a loss earns 0.
• Every active manager receives one fixture in each of the 38 Gameweeks.
• The 20-manager season is an exact double round-robin: every manager faces every other manager exactly twice.
• Every manager has exactly one fixture in each Gameweek.

Rule 11

Transfer windows

Changes are allowed only at six confirmed submission points across the season.

• PRE — Start Your Engines — GW1–GW5.
• TW1 — Oh Shit, I Fucked Up — GW6–GW10.
• TW2 — Christmas Countdown — GW11–GW17.
• TW3 — New Year, New You — GW18–GW23.
• TW4 — Post Jan Blues — GW24–GW30.
• TW5 — The Run In — GW31–GW38.
• The Game Lord controls when each window opens, its deadline and the Gameweek from which the squad takes effect.
• Follow the submission instructions provided by the Game Lord for each window. Contact Nick if you need to correct anything.
• Earlier squads stay attached to the Gameweeks they covered.

Rule 12

When results appear

Results appear only after the Game Lord has completed the Gameweek.

• Official football results and FPL points must be final first.
• The Game Lord checks the Club, Player and Pair Scores before locking the Gameweek.
• Only confirmed results appear on the website.
• There is no fixed update time; results appear when every required check is complete.

Rule 13

Awards

Awards add the glory, shame and receipts to every completed Gameweek.

• Perfect Picks: highest manager score. Twat of the Week: lowest manager score.
• Pair of the Week and Pair of the Weak: highest and lowest individual Pair Scores.
• Lucky Bastard: winning manager with the smallest winning margin. Demolition: biggest winning margin.
• Giant Killer: lower-ranked winner with the largest entering-Gameweek rank gap.
• Robbed: highest-scoring losing manager of the Gameweek.
• Every exact tie produces joint winners; there are no extra award tiebreakers.
• Awards shown here are the official Game Lord results.

Rule 14

Game Lord decisions and corrections

The Game Lord runs the competition and keeps the official results straight.

• Processed Gameweeks may be corrected through standard reprocessing until they are locked.
• Once a Gameweek is locked, it cannot be changed through the normal scoring process.
• Registration corrections and exceptional administrative fixes are handled manually.
• If an official correction is approved, the website changes only after the Game Lord confirms the new result.