This weekend will usher in a season full of joy and excitement for millions of people all over the world – and boredom and misery for plenty of others.
English Premiership football is back o the telly! And today there will be plenty of people spending their lunch breaks making frantic but crucial last minute changes to their online fantasy football teams.
My fantasy football teams usually start the season off quite slowly, then have a midseason dip followed by a poor finish.
I know someone who selects the players for their team just by choosing the names they like best. With this in mind, I couldn’t resist selecting Norwich City’s Wolfswinkel.
Fantasy football has taken off big time. In fact, it was 20 years ago that the Daily Telegraph became the first British newspaper to run a fantasy football competition. It was organised by Andrew Wainstein, who is now the managing director of Fantasy League, which runs fantasy comps for an array of sports.
Wainstein has spoken about the ever-growing attraction of these games, explaining: "People have said that we were one of the first, if not the first social network.
"I think it’s a bit of a grandiose claim – it’s not one I made, but I know what they meant. It’s a glue that pulls people together.
"For some people, it’s about winning prizes but for a larger proportion of people it’s about competing with your friends."
Of course, you’ll be playing and interacting with plenty of strangers all over the world, too, and always in a friendly, troll-free environment.
So have you sorted out your team? Do you have a Wolfswinkel like me?
