
The group chat has already decided who bottled it. The only question is whether you are going to let a 34-point gameweek pass quietly, or turn it into one of the funny FPL league awards that gets mentioned until May. A good mini-league does not live on the table alone. It lives in captain disasters, absurd bench hauls and that one manager who claims every transfer was ‘always the plan’.
Weekly awards give those moments a home. They also keep the managers near the bottom involved, which matters more than most league admins realise. Not everyone can win the title, but everyone can win the Wooden Spoon of the Week.
FPL is a long season. By November, the early leaders are feeling smug, wildcard regret is spreading, and half the league has started saying they are ‘just playing for fun’. Awards add a fresh contest to every gameweek. A manager can finish tenth and still walk away with a trophy for the most outrageous differential or the most painful benching decision.
The best awards are specific enough to feel earned, but light enough that nobody takes them personally. Keep the joke aimed at the FPL decision, not the person. Calling out a triple-captain disaster is fair game. Turning a weekly award into a personal pile-on is how a lively league becomes a silent one.
Timing helps too. Post your winners while the football is still fresh, ideally when live points, bonus points and automatic substitutions have stopped moving. That way, everyone remembers exactly why Dave is receiving an award for starting a defender who did not make the squad.
For the manager who gambled on a suspiciously rotation-prone player and was rewarded with one glorious minute from the bench. It is especially effective after a manager confidently announced their pick in the chat on Friday night.
Give this to the manager whose captain blanked while their vice-captain casually scored 16 points. It is a classic because there is no defence. They owned the points, selected the player and then watched the armband ruin everything.
This belongs to the manager with a bench haul so large it would have transformed their gameweek. You do not need to mention the total too loudly. A simple screenshot of those red-shirted points sitting beneath the XI usually does the job.
For the manager who made a frantic string of hits, then scored fewer points than they would have with no transfers at all. This award works best with a mock quote such as, ‘Trusting the process’, followed by the minus-point total.
Every mini-league has a manager who pulls off a giant score, immediately declares themselves a tactical genius, then follows it with 39 points. Celebrate the huge week, but keep the award ready for the inevitable correction.
Not all funny awards need to be cruel. This one is for the brave manager who found a low-owned gem before the rest of the league caught on. If their pick delivers, give them their flowers. If it blanks, they may be nominated for Pep Roulette next week instead.
For the manager who came within a whisker of a monster score, only to be denied by a missed penalty, a disallowed goal or a late yellow card. FPL heartbreak is better when officially recognised.
This goes to the manager who spends all weekend hiding in mid-table, then appears on Monday night with three players left and a captaincy swing ready to cause chaos. Their score does not even have to be brilliant. The threat alone is enough.
Award it to the manager celebrating a captain goal after 12 minutes as if the gameweek ended at quarter past three. By full-time, the same captain may have been substituted early, booked and overtaken by every rival. That is the point.
For the manager whose carefully researched transfer was technically sensible, statistically sound and utterly useless. They can quote expected goals until next Tuesday. The zero points remain on the board.
This is for a manager who got lucky and is attempting to rewrite history. Maybe their captain was a last-minute switch. Maybe they nearly sold their top scorer. Maybe their defender’s clean sheet survived six minutes of stoppage time. Honour the confidence, however revisionist it may be.
Use this for a decision that actively harmed a manager: selling a player before a haul, benching the wrong goalkeeper, or taking a hit to remove their highest scorer. Keep it to clear, funny examples rather than everyday bad luck.
For a manager who has announced a huge rank rise after the Saturday matches, only for Sunday and Monday to reverse it. A temporary green arrow is still an arrow, apparently. The group chat should be allowed to disagree.
Give this to the player, fixture or FPL manager responsible for ruining a clean sheet at the death. A 90+4 consolation goal is not merely a goal. It is a personal attack on several mini-league managers at once.
Reserve this for the manager who ignored ownership, fixtures and every sensible warning because they backed a player from the club they support. When it comes off, it is magnificent. When it does not, at least they have principles.
Consistency beats complexity. Pick three or four recurring awards, then add one gameweek-specific category when something genuinely ridiculous happens. A league where every manager receives a trophy every week soon loses the joke. A league where the right moment gets recognised feels alive.
Make the format easy to scan in the chat. Start with the award name, name the winner, then give one sharp line explaining the crime or achievement. For example: ‘The Vice-Captain’s Curse: Sam. Captained a two-pointer while his vice scored 15. Football heritage.’ The shorter it is, the more likely people are to reply rather than merely react.
Visuals make the banter travel further. A weekly leaderboard, a captain comparison or a chart showing the latest rise and fall gives the award context. FPL.fun is built around that exact mini-league theatre, with live standings and shareable league content that makes it easier to spot the stories worth posting.
It also pays to rotate the tone. If one manager has endured three terrible weeks, give them a redemption category when they finally get a result. ‘Comeback Player of the Week’ can be just as entertaining as another roast, and it keeps the league competitive without making the bottom half switch off.
Avoid awards based on injuries, real-life issues or anything outside a manager’s control. The funniest FPL moments come from choices: captains, transfers, benches, chips and wild optimism. That is where everyone can laugh, including the person receiving the award.
Be clear about when points are final. Live scoring is brilliant for drama, but bonus changes and automatic substitutions can change a winner late on. If you post early, call it provisional. If you wait until the gameweek settles, make the reveal feel like an occasion.
Most importantly, do not let the league leader monopolise the attention. Funny FPL league awards are at their best when the table-topper, the transfer addict and the manager rooted to the foot of the league all have a reason to open the chat. Give every gameweek a story, and even a miserable 28-pointer can become worth remembering.